3/11/2023

My dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Please join me in wishing Merilee Eusebio a happy 84th birthday. She is one of the elders of our Meeting, exuding a cheerful presence & making everyone feel welcomed & valued. She has been to divinity school & uses her knowledge to enhance her ministry. I feel blessed to be in her sphere.

            What do you think of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the nation’s 16th largest bank? Do you think it will spark market turmoil? Surely, it will have ripple effects when folks don’t get their paychecks. Don’t be too quick to jump to their rescue, those tech billionaires can afford to lose some $$.

            It’s too bad news of SVB overshadowed your press conference about your new budget. Speaking of which, do you agree with the CSM that we are headed to the “mother of all budget showdowns?” They reported that while most of the Congress is posturing, Sens. Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, and Angus King, an independent from Maine, are collaborating privately with some 10 other senators to figure out how to keep Social Security & Medicare solvent. Please give a rouse for those folks!

            Is the WP accurate in reporting you had a good meeting with Ursula von der Leyen yesterday & you figured “a workaround. Since the Inflation Reduction Act does not technically define what constitutes “a free-trade agreement,” they believe the countries are able to meet the requirement by signing a more limited trade deal instead.” You are so crafty!

            On a different matter, thanks for your recent pledge of in humanitarian assistance of $26 million  for the Rohingya crisis. That should help folks in Cox Bazaar feel seen & heard. We need to do more, but every little bit helps.

            BYBS,