Tag: politics

Mamdani Brags He Eliminated NYC’s $12 Billion Budget Deficit, But Then a New York Outlet Dug Into the Numbers

On Tuesday morning, New York City’s ultra-progressive mayor, Zohran Mamdani, took to X to take quite a boastful victory lap.

“When we came into office, we uncovered a $12 billion budget deficit,” Mamdani posted to X. “Today, I’m proud to say we brought it down to zero.”

“We didn’t close the gap on the backs of working people,” he continued. “We closed it while funding parks, libraries, safer streets and making historic investments in public housing. Call it Pothole Politics. Call it Democratic Socialism. It’s government that delivers for the people who make this city run.”

“That’s what New Yorkers deserve. And that’s what we will keep fighting for every single day.”

In a vacuum, this certainly sounded like it should’ve been a good Tuesday for NYC residents. But shortly after Mamdani’s post went up, the New York Post came out with a blistering rebuttal of Mamdani’s claims — and a much closer look at the numbers that Mamdani largely avoided delving into.

Blasted for including “a menu of hidden fee hikes” in his budget plan, the outlet pointed out that this deficit “fix” from Mamdani was anything but.

And notably, some of the harshest criticisms lobbied against Mamdani came from a fellow Democrat.

“Banking on yet to be determined revenue-raising gimmicks and identifying fake savings are not wins,” an unnamed Democratic operative told the New York outlet.

The operative savagely added, “This budget plan is as real as Kim Kardashian’s lips.”

So why is this budget plan so inauthentic?

Critics argue that the holes in Mamdani’s budget vision become glaringly obvious once you look beyond the lofty rhetoric and into the actual revenue proposals being floated by City Hall.

According to city budget documents cited by the New York Post, officials are eyeing a laundry list of new fees, fines, and enforcement crackdowns to help plug fiscal gaps.

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Democratic Socialism Works! Leftists Go Nutty for Mamdani After He ‘Balances’ the NYC Budget

Well, friends, if you support President Donald Trump and oppose the left, the game is up. He’s done it. Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s bright young communist mayor, has balanced the city’s budget without raising taxes or cutting a dime from social services. Leftists already loved him for being a Muslim, a migrant, and an America-hating Marxist, and now they love him all the more, for don’t you see, he has proven, in the teeth of racist, xenophobic, far-right opposition, that socialism works!

If you believe that, I have a very fine bridge that would make a lovely addition to your backyard, and it’s extremely reasonably priced. But over at Threads, Mark Zuckerberg’s leftist facsimile of Elon Musk’s X, they’re in full celebratory mode, and from the looks of things, the champagne is flowing freely. One leftist laid out the sober (alleged) facts: “They called him a communist. Said he’d destroy New York. 131 days in he balanced a $12 billion deficit without cutting a single service. This is what we’ve been asking for.” Another responded: “This is exactly what they were afraid of. He’s proving that it can be done and all their fear mongering is just bulls**t.”

Many leftists were sure that Mamdani had performed this particular trick by doing what patriots refuse to do: soaking the rich the way they deserved to be soaked. One wanted even more: “i’m sorry am i getting this right? NYC Mayor Mamdani taxed wealthy people on properties they own if they don’t live in them, it balanced the city’s multi-billion dollar budget immediately, and all the wealthy people are still wealthy? am i getting this right? they’re still wealthy, right? and no middle or lower financial earners saw any additional tax? am i getting this correct?” In a word, no, but don’t let me spoil the party.

The reality, as the New York Post explained Wednesday, is that New York City’s budget is “only ‘balanced’ with gimmicks that guarantee oceans more red ink in the years ahead. With a late assist from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s own flim-flammery, the new, $124.7 billion Mamdani spending plan relies on one-time cash infusions, postponed payments and dubious calculations of future tax windfalls and theoretical savings.”

Hochul helped out by giving the city $4 billion, so Mamdani’s balanced budget is indeed a triumph of socialism: the city is solvent not because it spends responsibility and within its means, but because it got a handout. As long as the handouts keep coming in and Mamdani can keep on spending other people’s money, everything will be fine.

A crash is coming, however. City Comptroller Mark Levine explained that Mamdani’s “balanced” budget “‘relies on $2.8 billion in one-time measures’ and short-term savings, without addressing ‘the fact that City government continues to spend more than we take in, even in a year of record revenues.’” One day the money is going to run out. Mamdani can hope that he will be out of office by then and can blame someone else. One Threads user tried to sound a note of caution amid all the celebrations: “I am a Mamdani supporter and proud leftist. Please understand that he did this by delaying funding pensions, which has historically been a disastrous way to kick the can down the road.”

But the can is kicked, and so for the time being, Mamdani can bask in the glory of an accomplishment that he didn’t really accomplish. Another Threads leftist rejoiced in this triumph of socialism: “Mamdani socialist a** is on these other politicians NECKS honey. Balanced the budget. Banned ICE. Created a snow shoveling workforce, handled two storms, filled thousands of potholes, extended free childcare, opened an office for deed theft, held numerous town halls for tenant rights. Got the city to engage civically in multiple initiatives. He’s even killing it on social. lol.”

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Republican South Carolina Senate Leader Kills GOP’s Redistricting Effort: ‘Competition Makes Us Better’

The Republican leader of South Carolina’s state Senate defied President Donald Trump and voted against a redistricting effort that could have slashed the state’s only Democrat-led congressional district, arguing that “South Carolina is stronger when we have a vibrant Democratic Party.”

State Sen. Shane Massey’s (R-NC) first time talking to the president came last week when Trump called him to discuss how he wanted the redistricting to happen, the New York Times reported.

Contrary to Trump’s wishes, Massey joined four other Republicans in voting against the proposal that would have allowed for the Senate to reconvene later this month for a redistricting effort.

The legislature has until 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 14, to approve House-passed changes to the sine die resolution, which would state what the lawmakers can take up after that date.

“Now, the state appears unlikely to join the redistricting frenzy that has taken hold across the country,” the Times reported.

Massey delivered a dramatic speech on the floor Tuesday before the 29-17 vote, arguing that he has “too much southern blood in me to surrender.”

“Our state is stronger with vibrant parties,” the senate leader stated. “I think we, as a whole, are stronger when we have a clash of ideas. I think that’s true at the national level, I think it’s true at the state level.”

He continued on to argue that “Republicans are stronger when the Democrat Party is vibrant and viable.”

“You are. Competition makes you better, y’all,” he added.

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It’s Time For Reparations For Taxpayers Forced To Pay Reparations

Reparations have become quite popular among the “white guilt” liberal set who insist the rest of us pay for crimes 21st century Americans did not commit. The redistribution of wealth schemes driven by identity politics are popping up in leftist-led cities across the country. They seem to be making critical race theory charlatans and professional race-baiters a lot of money while sowing more division and discrimination.

How about reparations for taxpayers forced to pay unjust reparations?    

Take Evanston, Illinois, for example. The Chicago suburb teeming with self-loathing, wealthy white liberals and misplaced Big 10 football and basketball teams in 2019 became the first U.S. city to launch a reparations program. The city of some 75,000 souls has committed $20 million to the cause of assuaging its guilt for past transgressions of segregating and redlining black residents. 

The money is supposed to compensate today’s black residents for past racial injustice. The recipients were not enslaved nor are they necessarily victims of discrimination. But they get a hefty check, regardless. 

‘Incredible’

In its latest round of redistribution with one-sided representation, Evanston announced in February that it will be issuing $25,000 individual payments to 44 people, according to the city’s Reparations Committee. The money, Fox News reported, comes from $276,588 in Evanston’s real estate transfer tax, a collection from the sale of property in the college town. The city also levies a tax on cannabis sales, although that revenue stream reportedly hasn’t been sufficient to meet the reparations wish list.

City leaders would also like to strap a tax on Delta-8 THC products —  weed lite, if you will — to keep the reparations train rolling. 

Last June, the Reparations Committee announced it had doled out a total of $6.36 million “to ancestors and direct descendants of the Black Evanston community,” the Evanston Roundtable reported. 

At the time, Tashiek Kerr, assistant to the city manager, (not to be confused with the assistant to the regional manager), said Evanston officials had met with “116 out of 126 residents in the direct descendants group,” the newspaper reported. “These residents are related to Black Evanston residents who lived in Evanston from 1919 through 1969.” 

A total of nearly $3 million was disbursed to those residents, with another 135 recipients sharing $3.5 million, all black applicants who claim to have faced discriminatory housing practices. The payments are supposed to be used for housing assistance — mortgage payments, down payments, home repairs and the like. 

The committee’s chairwoman, Robin Rue Simmons, described the funding totals as “incredible.” The audience burst into applause, the Roundtable reported. 

Here’s the phrase that pays: 

“However, recipients in the next round are wondering when it will be their turn. Rue Simmons said it is undetermined due to funding,” according to the newspaper. 

And so it goes with the history of reparation proposals and plans. Like all leftist money grabs, it’s never enough. (*See the expansion of welfare, affirmative action, the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977”, etc.) 

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Stacey Abrams Dragged Into Georgia Subpoena Showdown Over Massive Campaign Finance Scandal

Stacey Abrams is once again under a harsh spotlight as Georgia lawmakers dig deep into what they call blatant campaign finance violations tied to her voter outreach network.

The state Senate’s Special Committee on Investigations announced that Abrams and two key allies have been subpoenaed, promising that they “will follow the facts wherever they lead.”

The panel’s vice chairman, Senator Greg Dolezal, made it clear that the days of political favoritism are over in Georgia.

“Georgia law requires transparency and accountability in our elections,” he said.

For a state that has endured years of Democrat-fueled election drama, many see this latest subpoena as long overdue.

The subpoenas were issued to Abrams, along with New Georgia Project figures Lauren Groh-Wargo and Nsé Ufot.

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This Has Gotta Stop: The View Puts Targets on VA Supreme Court’s Back With Fact-Free Meltdowns

Even if it wasn’t obvious before, it’s certainly been abundantly clear since the start of President Trump’s second term in office that Democrats have no qualms whatsoever about fanning the flames using outright lies and purposeful deception to the point it spurs their outrage mobs to take violent action in the name of  “democracy” and “social justice.”

We saw it, for instance, in the early to mid part of 2025, when Tesla dealerships and vehicle owners were being targeted by unhinged leftists who took it upon themselves to either try to run folks off the road for the crime of owning a Tesla or to shoot up and light showrooms on fire with incendiary devices because Elon Musk was a powerful ally of President Trump’s.

Notably, when prominent Democrats in Congress were asked to unequivocally condemn such actions, they refused. Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for example, was asked at the time about the incidents and whether he condemned them. His response?  “I can’t talk about Tesla, but Elon Musk is a disaster for America, and America knows it,” Schumer stated, contributing to the anti-Musk hate.

Elected Democrats, of course, are not the only ones who deliberately stoke divisions along familiar lines that have the net effect of putting targets on the backs of conservatives, something that we unfortunately saw with the assassination of TPUSA co-founder Charlie Kirk. 

Their allies in the mainstream press and among the political/social commentariat also eagerly do the dirty work, a disgraceful tactic that was on full display during the Monday broadcast of The View, where, unsurprisingly, the co-hosts were livid over the Virginia Supreme Court’s (SCOVA) ruling on Friday that effectively nullified the proposed 10-1 D/R congressional map Democrats wanted to put in place before the 2026 midterms.

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‘The View’ Is a Cancer on the Culture and the Country

It almost seems impossible, and I wouldn’t believe it if didn’t see it with my own eyes, but through the miracle of “new math” and the sheer stupidity of the ABC New product “The View,” it is not possible to bring five human beings together and make their collective IQ less than the sum of their individual IQs. How can people coming together be dumber collectively than individually? Skill, I have to assume, and really trying. I say trying because all the ladies on The View are so dumb that they have to be trying, like the whole show is some sort of dare. The end result is a show that makes its audience dumber – a cultural cancer on the country.

In order to avoid any standards to skirt from lawsuits, and to deny anyone not a doctrinaire leftist claims of “equal time” on the public airwards, The View is part of ABC News, not ABC entertainment. Those of us who work on the public airwaves know that there are rules before elections that require, should a candidate ask for it, that they get equal time as a guest on a show 30 days before a primary and 60 days before a general election. 

It’s rarely an issue, as few Democrats have the guts to appear on conservative talk radio because they can’t actually defend their agendas or policies, so they don’t ask for that time – and it has to be asked for. But conservatives aren’t afraid of leftists and would happily take on the five harpies on the show. Producers, however, know that would be an absolute disaster for the show, so they will never allow it. As a “news” show and a “journalistic” outfit, they don’t have to. 

It’s not surprising ABC would do this, but you’d think Disney might want to protect the brand. Maybe they are.

It doesn’t much matter which day you watch the show – and I have nothing but respect and sympathy for Nicholas Fondacaro at the Media Research Center whose job it is to watch it every day – an unsuspecting viewer will come away misinformed and probably dumber. From “Dr. Jill Biden would make a great Surgeon General because she’s a great doctor” to “Republicans have overruled the will of the voters” in Virginia because the State Supreme Court tossed out the unconstitutional power grab Democrats tried to rush through, you’d have to try to get the basic facts of daily life and basic civics as wrong as these women do.

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Young socialists don’t know what they don’t know

Some timorous types caution against underestimating the Dem socialists, portraying them as “smart,” especially in their quest for raw power. They are not — they are morons.

One of the few Dems with an ounce of common sense today is Senator John Fetterman. The hooded one is plain-spoken, plain-dressed, and, when it comes to the socialists in his party, speaks the plain truth. He recently relayed that people he met who suffered the indignities of socialism and communism abroad consider socialists in this country to be “morons.” This seems self-evident, but it’s useful to corroborate such propositions quantitatively, where possible.

Turns out that Gen Z (too many of whom can vote, being in the range of 14-29 immature years of age) are officially the first generation who are literally dumber than the previous generation. Countering the Flynn Effect, they scored lower on standardized tests (including literacy, numeracy, and IQ measures) than the preceding millennial generation. So when commonsense Americans with some real-life experience wonder who on Earth could vote for a socialist, here is your answer: the cognitively challenged — literally — Gen Z nitwits.

It is well documented that young people played disproportionate roles in electing mayoral morons like Mamdani and Katie Wilson. Mamdani deservedly gets most of the appalling attention, but Wilson is a deluded Seattle socialist who is in over her head. Only recently escaping from her parents’ financial tentacles, she represents a “failure to launch.” The woman who immaturely smirks and welcomes the prospect of job-creators abandoning her city is mentally unsound by the Puget Sound. Her minimal experience comes from leftist indoctrination and mouthy community organizations (while daddy paid the bills), not real life.

No problem — the Gen Z morons supported her. In fact, they were both elected by misguided youth inculcated with bookish notions (to the extent their literacy levels allowed) of socialist utopia that never align with the real-world necessities. Fetterman is right, but, disconcertingly, Dem socialists are more dangerous than good-natured morons. Whereas capitalist-oriented, free-market systems are adaptable (pure capitalism has never really existed at scale), central-planning socialists needn’t bother with such inconvenient flexibility. After all, they already have the ultimate answers to optimizing the means of production and distribution (and all that accompanies that).

So, not only are they quite literally illiterate morons, they foolishly believe they’ve stumbled upon the absolute answers to socialist Shangri-La. That’s very un-Socratic, and typifies dogmatic postmodern academia. By contrast, the Socratic Method entails continuous probing and questioning of ideas — even socialist ones. Indeed, the main reason the Oracle of Delphi proclaimed Socrates to be wise is because he recognized that “I know that I know nothing.”

Described as the “gadfly of Athens,” Socrates’s epiphany came from the continual questioning of so-called intellectuals of his day. Perhaps they are analogous to our modern-day “experts” who lead us up the garden path. Socrates was wise because he recognized his own ignorance. Gen Z socialists are proven morons (per test scores, in addition to their voting patterns and general deportment), who don’t know what they don’t know.

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‘We must not become a caliphate’: Fury in Austria as study finds 41% of young Muslims say their religion supersedes local laws

A new study in Austria has found that 41 per cent of young Muslims agree with the statement that their religious beliefs supersede the country’s laws. 

The report, which explores religious attitudes among young people, was commissioned by the City of Vienna and was based on interviews with 1,200 people aged between 14 and 21. 

Researchers also found that 46 per cent of young Muslims interviewed believed people should be prepared to ‘fight and die,’ Austrian newspaper Heute reports. 

In addition, 65 per cent said Islamic rules should apply strictly to all aspects of daily life. 

Responding to the study, General Secretary of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), Nico Marchetti, said the findings paint a ‘devastating picture’ and must serve as a ‘clear warning signal.’

He said: ‘If 41 per cent of young Muslims place Islamic precepts above our laws, then that is a situation we cannot accept. Anyone who comes to us must adapt and become part of our society.’ 

The ÖVP General Secretary continued: ‘Austria must not and will not become a caliphate. Anyone who rejects these principles has no place in our country.’ 

The findings also prompted a strong reaction from Austria’s right-wing opposition party FPÖ. 

Politician Harald Vilimsky said on X: ‘We’ve been warning about this for decades. Got insulted and slandered for it. Now Sharia is entrenched in Europe.’

Vienna’s FPÖ leader Dominik Nepp said the results were ‘an alarm signal for the whole of Austria’ and blamed the situation on decades of failed migration and integration policies under the city’s Social Democratic leadership.

Islam is the largest minority religion in Austria and is practised by 8.3 per cent of the total population in 2021, according to Austria’s Federal Statistics Office. 

There has been fierce political debate regarding Muslims in recent years over integration, security concerns and restrictive legislation targeting Islamic culture. 

Last year, Austria’s lower house of parliament passed a ban on Muslim headscarves in schools for girls under 14. 

The ban, proposed by the ruling coalition of three centrist parties, was also backed by the far-right Freedom Party, which was alone in calling for it to apply to school staff as well. 

The only party to oppose the proposed ban was the smallest in parliament, the Greens, arguing it violates the constitution.

Rights groups have criticised the plan.

 Amnesty International said it would ‘add to the current racist climate towards Muslims’. The body that officially represents Austria’s Muslims has called it an infringement of fundamental rights.

‘This is not about restricting freedom, but about protecting the freedom of girls up to 14,’ Yannick Shetty, the parliamentary leader of the liberal Neos, the most junior party in the ruling coalition, told the lower house.

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GOP Senator Name-Checks Top Dems Over Party’s Violence Problem – Not a ‘Both Sides’ Issue

Political violence has become a major factor within left-wing politics, according to Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.

“Political violence has become a core pillar of what the Democratic Party stands for,” Tuberville wrote in an opinion piece from Breitbart.

“Since Donald Trump came on the scene more than ten years ago, Democrats have lost their minds. An uncomfortably large number of Democrats now think it is okay to murder someone you disagree with politically,” he said, noting that glee over murder erupted “last year when leftists were celebrating the murder of Charlie Kirk.”

“And we’ve seen it again and again on display every time a sick assassin gets close to taking out President Trump,” he continued.

Tuberville cited several recent examples: “Former Vice President Kamala Harris called Trump a ‘fascist.’ Former President Joe Biden repeatedly referred to Trump as a ‘threat to democracy.’ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Trump a ‘rapist.’ Rep. Jasmine Crockett has referred to Trump as a ‘wannabe Hitler.’”

Breezing through the descent to such rhetoric that marked President Donald Trump’s first term and the lawfare that marked the Biden era’s attempt to weaponize the Department of Justice, Tuberville took on the argument that political violence is endemic to both sides in modern America.

“The inconvenient truth for Democrats is that political violence is not a problem on both sides of the aisle. I’m not saying no Republicans have ever committed atrocious acts of violence against Democrats — but it is far more common on the left,” he wrote.

He noted that attempted assassin Cole Tomas Allen “doesn’t appear to have been radicalized by some overseas cult.”

“Perhaps more disturbingly, he was indoctrinated by mainstream Democrat politicians, CNN, and MSNBC.”

“We need to stop sugarcoating this and start calling it what it is. Until Democrats start policing the kind of speech cavalierly thrown around about President Trump and Republicans, this violence will continue,” he wrote.

“In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder in September, you heard Democrats on TV briefly talking about ‘unity.’ But here’s the thing – you can’t have unity with people who want you dead,” Tuberville continued.

“There will be no unity and no peace until Democrat leaders like Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, and Gavin Newsom tell their party to stop referring to the President of the United States as ‘Hitler,’ ‘fascist,’ ‘rapist,’ ‘pedophile,’ and ‘a threat to democracy.’”

“This type of false rhetoric is incredibly dangerous and radicalizes people to the point of violence. It needs to stop now,” Tuberville added.

Tuberville is not the only Republican to call out Democratic rhetoric leading to left-wing violence.

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