This isn't really about a fine. Musk is being sued by other another company. They claim that Musk saved $200m on his Twitter purchase by failing to disclose in time. In other words he bought some shares that would have cost him more if he had disclosed.
Of course his savings was someone else's loss of potential profit, and they are suing Musk to get that profit back.
This isn't a criminal trial, so intent doesn't matter so much. The purpose of the trial will be to determine whether the plaintiffs lost money, and if so how much he owes them.
This is a civil lawsuit. The only question is how much money he owes the plaintiffs.
He bought the shares for his private account, not on behalf of his companies. There was no reason for accountants at his companies to get involved, they probably don't even have access to his private account.
Worse how?
The Speaker is ultimately a mouthpiece for the party. Speakers do not advance a personal agenda, they do what the "majority of the majority" wants them to do. The new Speaker will be no different in that regard.
However, a Speaker is also the point of contact for the opposing party. A Republican Speaker can disagree with Democrats about literally everything, but they shouldn't lie to Democrats, renege on deals, etc. If nobody can trust you, then you are worthless as an intermediary. So McCarthy was among the worst possible people for the job.
Most Republicans don't want a shutdown, they know it's political suicide. McCarthy made a deal with Democrats to avoid a shutdown because most Republicans (privately) pressured him to do so.
Most Republicans don't want a shutdown in November, either. They are the majority party so they have the power to choose a speaker who will avert one. So Democrats don't necessarily need a plan, the process may remain completely outside their control.
If Republicans end up needing Democratic votes to elect a Republican Speaker, then they will need to offer something to Democrats, because by itself electing a Republican Speaker is not in the interest of Democrats.
All of the above is already crystal-clear to both parties. The ball is in the GOP majority's court, they get to choose the next move: work together with the Freedom Caucus or work together with Democrats.
McCarthy knew that a government shutdown would have pissed off even more Republicans in Congress, including all of those in vulnerable districts.
For example, Boebert's district. Notice how for once she didn't vote alongside Gaetz? Behind closed doors, there were plenty of Congressional Republicans telling McCarthy that making make a deal with Democrats was preferable to a politically suicidal shutdown.
Democrats didn't vote to vacate because they like to watch chaos. They simply will not support McCarthy unless he offers something in return. Their vote is a bargaining chip and they aren't throwing it away.
They won't.
I see what you did there...
Nothing is infinite. But fresh water is renewable, which means it can be used sustainably.
What a weird take. Nobody is punishing people who smoke.