It’s Political: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pushed through a bill by a mere two votes to raise the debt limit while drastically cutting spending, setting up a clash with the Democrats and President Biden. The bill would reduce spending by 14 percent over 10 years, a drastic slash.

  Speaking to reporters afterwards, McCarthy credited Republicans with “lifting the debt limit,” although it hasn’t happened yet and has a slim chance of passage in the Senate. It would face a presidential veto if it were to survive.

  The problem with the bill for Biden is that it puts him in the position of having to negotiate terms for raising the debt limit, which he has said is “not negotiable.” Refusing to raise the debt limit amounts to refusing to pay bills already incurred. Biden and the Democrats have said they are willing to negotiate spending separately from the debt limit. The President said, “I will meet with McCarthy, but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended.”

Tuckered Out: The exit of Fox News host Tucker Carlson from the network was hastened after the Fox board of directors and top executives were shown a trove of hateful and offensive messages written by Carlson that had been redacted in the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit, The NY Times reports.

  Fox’s trial lawyers had the materials for months before the top floor people saw them, the Times reports. Carlson has a reputation for being foul-mouthed, at the least, and insulting to management. The paper does not reveal what the messages said, but given what has already gone public, they must be pretty bad.

  Carlson has been silent about his  firing, but last night he posted a polemic on Twitter about how the American media don’t cover the real issues. He signed off, “See you soon.” 

J’Accuse: Former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll testified in federal court yesterday in her rape and defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump saying, “I’m here because Donald Trump raped me and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen” On the witness stand Carroll said, “He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back.”

  Carroll never made a criminal complaint back in 1995 or ’96 when she says Trump assaulted her in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman store in Manhattan. Two friends say she told them about it at the time. 

 Carroll first went public with it in her 2019 memoir, “What Do We Need Men For?” She wrote that Trump entered the dressing room, slammed her up against a wall and raped her. We won’t go into details, but she did in her book.

  Trump said at the time it never happened and, “Number one, she’s not my type.” 

  Trump has refused to attend the trial and has not said whether he will testify in his own defense. He has annoyed the judge posting complaints about the case on social media.

Don’t Mess With Mickey: The Walt Disney Company has sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, claiming he has waged “a targeted campaign of government retaliation” for Disney’ criticism of the Florida education law nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay” that prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity with young students.

  “In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind,” Disney said in its complaint filed in US District Court for the Northern District of Florida.

  Disney has a big gay constituency and when the company spoke up about the education law DeSantis denounced it as “woke” and used his stand for fundraising. He has since attempted to control the special independent district, a government of its own, that runs Disneyworld in Orlando.

  The lawsuit says that “In America, the government cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”

Speak: A federal appeals court last night rejected Donald Trump’s emergency attempt to stop former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying before a grand jury investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Pence could appear within days.

The Obit Page: April Stevens, who teamed with her brother Nino Temple to create the 1963 hits song “Deep Purple,” has died at age 96. The song had been a hit for Bing Crosby, but it was a Grammy winner for Stevens and her brother.

“When a deep purple falls
Over sleepy garden walls
And the stars begin to twinkle in the night
In the mist of the memory
You wander on back to me
Breathin’ my name with a sigh”

The Spin Rack: During a White House by President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea, President Biden said that any attack by the North “will result in the end of whatever regime were to take such an action.” —  American long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall was suspended for one month and stripped of her indoor national title after she tested positive test for THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. She won the title February 17^th with a 6.99-meter jump at the indoor national championships in Albuquerque. — Montana House Republicans voted to bar transgender legislator Rep. Zooey Zephyr from the rest of the session because she said on the floor that Republicans would have “blood on your hands” if they voted to bar gender transformation care for minors. She will still be allowed to vote remotely. — Theranos blood-testing fraudster Elizabeth Holmes has been granted a delay in reporting to prison while her case is on appeal. She was supposed to go today. — Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said she doesn’t think 80-year-old President Biden would live to finish a second term.

Below the Fold: Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has issued a departmental dress code requiring that employees must dress in a “manner consistent with their biological gender.” The Stetson-wearing commissioner outlined a code of suits and jackets for men, and pant suits or dresses for women. He didn’t say whether cowboy hats are required.

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