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Congress is considering raising or removing the debt ceiling as one of the ways to prevent a government shutdown. In an attempt to prevent a significant disruption in government right before the holidays, President-elect Donald Trump and fellow Republicans have made what is perhaps the most extraordinary demand. The reason for this is because Republicans, who claimed that government spending was out of control, attempted to use debt ceiling rises to pressure Democrats into making concessions in recent decades. Why has the Republican Party's perspective on this uncommon limit abruptly shifted? Debt limit and default The U.S. government borrows money to help pay its costs, much like a lot of other organizations. The debt ceiling stipulates that the U.S. Treasury will eventually run out of...

A man in New York City temporarily cleared the renowned ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center for his boyfriend's fairytale proposal. A few years back, Craig Buchholz and Sebastian West went to the rink for one of their first dates. They returned on Thursday, and this time, according to NBC New York, Buchholz collaborated with ring sponsor Chase Freedom to clear the rink so he could pop the question to West. At first, when someone announced that the rink needed to be removed for cleaning, West went to skate off the ice with the others. Then Buchholz knelt down and produced a tiny box containing two rings, one for each of them. West told NBC New York that he first went ice skating at the Rockefeller Center rink. He said, "It's great to be back a few years later and now engaged, and I have ...

Elf the Musical, which is currently appearing on Broadway for a brief period this holiday season, allows fans of the 2003 Christmas film Elf to follow Buddy's adventure. As the human kid raised by elves who journeys to New York City in search of his biological father, Grey Henson plays Buddy, the elf made famous on the big screen by Will Ferrell. Henson has acted in films such as Shucked and The Book of Mormon. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his portrayal of Damian in Tina Fey's Mean Girls Broadway adaption. However, he claimed it was difficult to deal with the burden of portraying a character that people were already familiar with and adored. Henson recently remarked, "I think people are pleasantly surprised by how different it feels, even though they come in expecting a certain p...

If Congress does not take action to stop a government shutdown that would impact millions of workers before the Christmas holiday, federal wildland firefighters are preparing to forfeit their $20,000 retention bonuses. In a profession where some firefighters get as little as $15 per hour for risky, backbreaking work, firefighters have been fighting for years to establish a permanent pay fix. According to Bobbi Scopa of the advocacy group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, it's like constantly raising false alarms. For live coverage, follow along. As congressional leaders race to find a solution before the government shuts down at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday if an interim financing agreement is not reached, their fight for greater pay is in jeopardy. In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law inc...

Giving season has arrived just in time for a 20-year-old Oregon cancer survivor whose prosthetic leg was taken from his vehicle earlier this month. Atticus Root's family raised around $12,000 in a few weeks, which is more than enough to purchase a replacement for the device he has been using since bone cancer forced the amputation of his left leg at the age of 14. However, according to his uncle, Root has been depressed ever since thieves stole his prosthetic leg from his car on December 8 and no amount of money has been able to make it better. Joshua Veldstra told NBC News, "He just can't catch a break kind of situation." He appears to have a positive outlook on the situation, or at least he is making an effort to do so. However, it's a terrible thing. Who, after all, would steal a prost...

Elon Musk stormed into Friday's election in Germany, declaring his support for a far-right anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant party under the watchful eye of the nation's domestic intelligence agency. In reference to the Alternative for Germany party, the tech billionaire wrote on X that only the AfD could save Germany. During its routine news conference on Friday, the German government declined to comment. On February 23, the most populous nation in Europe is anticipated to cast its ballot. After losing a vote of confidence, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left coalition government fell up on Monday. This is only the sixth time that a referendum of this kind has been called in the 83 million-person nation that has the greatest economy and the largest population in Europe. It was necessary si...

WASHINGTON—Ahead of a deadline that would compel millions of federal employees, including air traffic controllers, border patrol agents, and U.S. troops, to work without pay for the Christmas, House Republican leaders were frantically trying to devise a solution to prevent government shutdown hours on Friday. Bipartisan House and Senate leaders reached a deal just three days ago to keep the government running, but President-elect Donald Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk sabotaged the agreement at the last minute, demanding that the debt limit be extended or eliminated to accommodate Trump's agenda for the following year. Stay tuned for real-time updates. On the House floor, a backup plan that Trump and Musk had supported was thwarted by Democrats and 38 Republicans who opposed the d...

According to a Commerce Department measure issued Friday, prices scarcely moved in November but remained higher than the Federal Reserve's target when compared to a year ago. The Fed's favored inflation indicator, the personal consumption expenditures price index, increased by just 0.1% from October. The metric showed an annual inflation rate of 2.4%, which was below the Dow Jones prediction of 2.5% but still above the Fed's 2% target. Additionally, the monthly result fell 0.1 percentage points short of the prediction. Core PCE, excluding food and energy, rose 0.1% each month and was 2.8% higher than it was a year earlier. Both figures were 0.1 percentage points below the prediction. Since the core estimate does not include the erratic gas and grocery categories, Fed officials typically vi...

The three biggest banks in America are being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for allegedly failing to safeguard consumers from fraud on Zelle, the payment network they co-own. The lawsuit claims that over the course of the network's seven-year existence, Zelle users have lost approximately $870 million as a result of these purported failings. It also targets Early Warning Services LLC, Zelle's official operator. According to a statement by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, the country's biggest banks hurried to launch Zelle because they felt threatened by rival payment apps. Zelle became a gold mine for scammers by neglecting to implement appropriate precautions, sometimes leaving victims on their own. Charges include: Poor identity verification methods, which have allowed ...

Do you enjoy Starbucks holiday drinks? You might not receive them this week. Starbucks Workers United declared that baristas in three major markets—Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle—will go on strike beginning Friday. According to the union, the action is a reaction to the coffee chain's inability to settle hundreds of unresolved unfair labor practice allegations and to present reasonable economic offers at the negotiating table. According to its website, the union, which began organizing in 2021, represents around 10,500 union workers and 525 union outlets. According to the Associated Press, Starbucks owns around 10,000 locations in the United States. The group stated onX that although Starbucks has made public promises since February that they plan to conclude contracts by the end of the...