OnPolitics: Pentagon will deploy 3,000 troops to Eastern Europe
Happy Groundhog Day, OnPolitics readers!
The national debt surpassed $30 trillion for the first time Tuesday, fueled in part by the coronavirus pandemic and what economists describe as years of unsustainable government spending that could have long-term consequences for every American.
The mounting debt can impact the health and economic security of Americans in numerous ways – hitting their pocketbooks through higher interest rates, for example, or syphoning off government funding needed for other programs.
What caused this massive debt? Economists attribute much of the spiraling debt to interest payments, growing health care costs and an aging population.
The federal government also has spent $6 trillion over the past two years to help Americans recover from the financial fallout of COVID-19. Tax cuts that Republicans pushed through Congress in 2017, with the promise they would pay for themselves, are projected to add $1 trillion to $2 trillion to the federal debt over a decade, according to government estimates.
It’s Amy and Chelsey with today’s top stories out of Washington.
Pentagon to deploy 3,000 troops to Europe amid Russia-Ukraine tensions
The Pentagon will deploy 3,000 troops to Germany, Poland and Romania as tensions rise with Russia over Ukraine, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Wednesday.
The troops are not among the 8,500 placed on heightened alert last week to support a NATO quick-reaction force if it is activated, Kirby said. More troops have been placed on alert, according to Kirby, but he did not indicate how many.
transformed from MLK’s Operation Breadbasket to People United to Serve Humanity.
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Race, gender factor into decision on Supreme Court nominee
Amid President Joe Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman to succeed Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer upon his retirement, a growing number of Republicans are accusing the president of unfairly focusing on race and gender in his selection. Biden’s commitment, some say, was a political maneuver rather than a sincere gesture.
Meanwhile, some Democrats say those critics are against adding diversity to the court.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told ABC over the weekend that Biden’s handling of the nomination was “clumsy at best” because it “adds to the further perception that the court is a political institution.”
Biden said he would reveal his nominee by the end of February.
Looking for more to read? USA TODAY reporter Nichelle Smith on growing up Black and proud “when Black was beautiful.” — Amy and Chelsey
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