Posted on 02/05/2023 7:07:14 PM PST by RandFan
It’s not a doomsday clock or a pedometer, though it’s been confused for both.
The copper-cased ticker affixed to Rep. Thomas Massie’s lapel is a debt clock, tracking the country’s debt in real time using a complicated algorithm of the Kentucky Republican’s design — and raising eyebrows in the process.
Since Massie, who has voiced reservations about hiking the debt ceiling, debuted the device in late January, he’s worn it around the halls of Congress, to votes and at an event in his home district. It’s been the subject of dozens of tweets and a handful of news stories. On Tuesday, Massie will don the provocative accessory at the State of the Union address.
“Say what you will about him, but George Santos had a good idea,” Massie said of his embattled Republican colleague from New York. “He said we should all wear one to the State of Union.”
Despite Santos’ urging, it’s unlikely that other Republicans will start appearing in the halls of Congress with similar debt clocks. Production is simply too time consuming.
Massie, who studied electrical and mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, first got the idea around Christmas and decided to order the parts. They include an Arduino ESP32, an advanced microcontroller that he programmed to scrub current and historic debt totals posted on the U.S. Treasury’s website to approximate the real-time debt, which exceeds $31.5 trillion and has hit the country’s statutory borrowing cap.
The difficult part of the process, Massie said, was writing the roughly 500 lines of code that feed the ticker — including programming that gives the steadily growing number a blurred effect, to hammer home the growth of the country’s mounting debt.
“My design specification was to instill anxiety among my colleagues,” Massie said. “And it’s hit the mark.”
With or without his debt clock, there’s anxiety enough to go around the Capitol regarding the debt ceiling.
Republicans have largely vowed to reject any deal to raise the debt ceiling that doesn’t curb spending. Democrats, meanwhile, have asked for a clean increase to the country’s borrowing limit. Neither side has indicated much willingness to negotiate, raising concerns over a potential default on the country’s debt if a deal isn’t reached.
President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy had a preliminary meeting on Wednesday but made “no agreements, no promises” on the debt ceiling, McCarthy said.
Some Republicans have suggested cutting entitlements, like Medicare and Social Security, though McCarthy has since snuffed out the idea. Massie, like McCarthy, believes entitlements are a nonstarter.
Instead, Massie has floated the idea of a continuing resolution that would fund the federal government at 99 percent of its current level.
“A 1 percent cut is an incentive for both Republicans and Democrats to come to the table,” Massie said.
He should borrow Flavor Flav’s
Could have sworn this headline was from the Babylon Bee
"Pedometer"? Is that something that counts how many kids Joe has fondled?
Yeah Boieeee!
Bring a white balloon and see what happens
😂😂😂😂👍 You beat me to it. ⌛
Interest payment on debt this year : $850B
A pedometer for Pedo Joe.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.