Tag: poverty

“Robin Hood In Reverse”: The Pentagon Is Stealing From the Working Poor to Pay for War and Enrich Contractors

In an era of high prices for fuel, food, and housing, an extra $4,000 could make a lifesaving difference for many families. But instead, that’s what the average household had to shell out for the Pentagon last year.

That’s right: The average US taxpayer in 2025 had over $4,000 taken out of their paychecks to fund the Pentagon, according to the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. In the coming years, that amount is set to rise as Congress considers a $1.5 trillion war budget for 2027.

For the growing number of working poor in the United States, that money can mean the difference between making rent or falling behind, or between being able to afford an emergency trip to the doctor or going without care.

Money directed to the Pentagon represents nothing but betrayal for many Americans. A large majority oppose our wars, especially the latest conflict in Iran. And roughly half of the Pentagon’s budget flows to for-profit contractors, fueling the billionaire (and now even trillionaire) class.

Take SpaceX, one of many companies built on government contracts funded by taxpayer dollars. Elon Musk’s company would not exist without US taxpayers. As early Tesla investor Ross Gerber put it, “There would not be (Tesla and SpaceX) if it weren’t for the government.”

Early investments and contracts from the US government helped propel SpaceX to success, while continued awards from the Pentagon provided the stable revenue that made the government one of Musk’s largest customers. The company is now valued at more than $1 trillion. Private investors alone did not make Musk a trillionaire—taxpayers across the United States did.

But Musk isn’t the only person who made himself rich off the backs of American workers.

Lockheed Martin receives over 70% of its revenue from US government contracts. The numbers for Raytheon and General Dynamics are similar. These military contractors simply would not exist without the taxpayers—and a new $1.5 trillion budget would send hundreds of billions of dollars more to people who already have more than most Americans could even conceptualize.

At the same time, while taxpayers are subsidizing the military-industrial complex, the jobs those industries are allegedly providing are in decline, with the war industry creating over 2 million fewer jobs than it did 40 years ago.

Worse still, under the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” Republicans passed a year ago, the money for these ever-rising Pentagon budgets comes directly from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, and other programs that help Americans make ends meet.

Under those cuts, millions of Americans—including children—have lost SNAP benefits already. And that’s impacting not just families but the farmers who helped feed them.

SNAP benefits were “guaranteed money in the pockets of farmers,” said Reese Amxy, a policy organizer at the Illinois Stewardship Alliance. But 150,000 people in the state have already lost eligibility.

It’s not just Illinois. Arizona has seen the steepest decline, with 50% of recipients—nearly half a million—already losing benefits. Louisiana (21%), Florida (20%), Oklahoma (16%), Virginia (16%), Texas (14%), Wyoming (13%), and Arkansas (12%) round out the rest of the hardest hit states so far.

Yet the person who lost SNAP and the farmer who lost their income alike will be asked to foot the bill for the $1.5 trillion war budget. This is Robin Hood in reverse. Worse still, the weapons those taxes buy are often to use to kill children like ours in Gaza and Iran.

The weapons and tech CEOs that would benefit from the massive war budget, and the politicians bought off by them, seek to keep this cycle going next year at an even grander scale. Americans need to demand their lawmakers say no more Pentagon spending—and invest in the things that actually keep our communities safe instead.

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Inside Montreal’s homeless hellscape

Tents, discarded belongings and makeshift camps are becoming increasingly common as governments spend billions on social programs while many vulnerable Canadians remain without stable housing or treatment.

Several homeless individuals in Montreal recently spoke with Rebel News about how addiction, rising rents, incarceration and personal choices pushed them onto the streets.

“I had a place to live, but I didn’t do what I needed to do. It cost me everything,” a person experiencing homelessness explained. Another said drug use contributed to his homelessness, but was not the only cause. “It contributed, yes. Of course. But it wasn’t the only reason.”

The interviews also revealed why some residents refuse to stay in shelters, despite the dangers of sleeping outdoors. “Because we don’t want anything to do with shelters,” one man said, citing schedules for meals, showers and curfews. “I’m 57 years old, you’re not going to tell me what to do.”

Others described theft, unsafe conditions and workers they claimed were not trained to handle overdoses. One resident said he lost “between $20,000 and $30,000 worth of belongings” over two years at a shelter.

Drug use remains visible throughout the encampments. One interviewee admitted: “I use a bit of cannabis and a bit of speed,” while another acknowledged using hard drugs and said he could remain awake for days.

Rebel News also questioned people about ‘harm-reduction’ policies. Asked whether providing free drugs helps, one replied: “No. Honestly, no.”

With winter approaching, many say they will remain outdoors. “We’re always afraid of winter,” one resident said. “Otherwise, we’ll reinforce the tents.”

The testimony paints a grim picture of a system struggling to move people from survival toward recovery, stability and reintegration.

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Zohran Mamdani’s New York City Includes a 12-Block-Long Homeless Encampment in Manhattan

New York City appears to be on the verge of replicating Los Angeles by establishing its own crime-ridden skid row in the form of a 12-block-long homeless encampment that continues to grow on Manhattan’s West Side.

Those who live, work and visit nearby are telling at least one news outlet that the city is failing to address the tents, trash and reported illegal activity in the alarming stretch of vagrant dwellings between the Intrepid Museum and the Jacob Javitz Center.

“I think it’s embarrassing,” said Joan G., a woman who asked for anonymity told Fox News Digital near the encampment.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, meanwhile, told reporters he’d do something about the mess but failed to give a timeline, the New York Post reported this week.

“This site has been noticed and it will be cleared,” the mayor said. “As with any site once we notice there is seven days until the point of clearing. Each of those seven days is characterized by outreach from city workers looking to connect those who are present with services, whether it be services at a shelter, medical services, or supportive services beyond that.”

He did not say when the seven-day waiting period kicks in, according to the Post report.

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Pollution from Musk’s unpermitted xAI power project hits hardest in Black communities

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has installed 59 natural gas turbines for its Colossus 2 data center project in Tennessee without securing federal clean air permits, according to communications between regulators and xAI representatives.

Potential emissions from the turbines are far beyond the threshold that would require a federal permit, and would be released near predominantly Black communities already estimated to be suffering disproportionately high rates of lung disease, according to a Reuters analysis based on government data and information in the correspondence with regulators.

The findings, which have not been previously reported, reflect how exploding electricity demand from AI data centers is driving companies to build off-grid power plants at a pace outstripping environmental oversight, with potentially big risks to public health.

The number of unpermitted turbines identified by Reuters is about double what xAI has publicly acknowledged. The company previously said it was running 27 unpermitted turbines for Colossus 2 as of January and has argued the permits are not required. At least 57 of the 59 turbines are located in Mississippi, just over the state line from Tennessee where the data center is located.

The xAI turbines are among scores of off-grid power plants for data centers proposed or under construction around the country. Local authorities often fast-track approvals in just weeks or months, without the years of environmental studies and public hearings typically required for such power generation projects that connect to the grid, Reuters has reported.

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The Business Of Homelessness

Several months ago, I wrote an opinion piece questioning Miami Beach’s homelessness policies, the City’s compliance with state law, the effectiveness of taxpayer-funded programs, and the measurable outcomes residents were receiving for millions of dollars in public spending. The article was published by Miami’s Community Newspapers. Today, that article no longer exists on its website. Readers attempting to access it are greeted with a 404 error page.

I have no interest in speculating about who made that decision or why. What interests me is the larger question: why is there such resistance to a public debate about homelessness in Miami Beach? Because the questions raised in that article have never been answered.

For months, I have asked for a real discussion about homelessness in Miami Beach. Not a press release. Not a presentation. Not carefully crafted messaging. A debate. Policy against policy. Outcome against outcome. Fact against fact. Those opportunities have never been granted.

That alone should concern every resident and taxpayer.

When government is confident in its position, it welcomes scrutiny. It does not avoid it. It does not rely on talking points. It does not ask the public to accept conclusions without examining the facts. It engages, explains, and defends its decisions in full view of the people it serves.

Instead, Miami Beach continues to celebrate low point-in-time homeless counts as proof of success. That may make for a favorable headline, but it does not necessarily mean the problem is being solved. A point-in-time count is exactly what it sounds like: a snapshot. One night. One moment. It does not measure how many people return to the streets days later. It does not measure treatment outcomes. It does not measure recidivism. It does not measure whether people are actually escaping homelessness. It measures optics.

The uncomfortable reality is that Miami Beach has built a system that explains inaction instead of delivering results.

The City’s ordinance conditions enforcement on the availability of shelter and services. In practice, that means enforcement becomes optional. No shelter available means no enforcement. No enforcement means no compliance. No compliance means the problem continues. Florida law does not provide cities with an indefinite loophole to suspend action. The State made its expectations clear. Prohibit public camping. Enforce the law. Provide structured alternatives. Use available treatment resources. Intervene when individuals are in crisis.

More importantly, the State backed those expectations with funding, treatment programs, crisis stabilization resources, Baker Act authority, Marchman Act authority, and legal tools designed to address homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse. The authority exists. The resources exist. The question is whether local government has the will to use them.

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Mamdani’s “COGE” commission to prepare deeper cuts to New York City social programs and regulations

On Thursday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the formation of a Committee on Government Efficiency (COGE) to examine the New York City Charter for efficiencies: that is, to search for ways in which social programs can be cut.

“The Commission on Government Efficiency will take a hard look at how City government functions and identify the reforms we need to deliver faster, smarter and more effectively for working people,” Mamdani told the media.

The Charter is essentially New York City’s constitution. It defines what authority belongs to the mayor and other officials and what to the City Council; laws, timelines and mandatory minimum rules for city reserve funds; the multi-step public review process required to build housing, change zoning laws or approve major infrastructure; and the scope, duties and enforcement powers of every city department.

The Charter does not control funding but does dictate the operational rules that heavily control, protect or limit social spending. For example, the Charter legally mandates the existence of agencies like the Department of Social Services and the Human Resources Administration, which a mayor cannot simply abolish to save money. The Charter also sets the exact legal procedures for how the city buys goods and hires outside nonprofits to run homeless shelters, daycare centers and after-school programs.

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Secret Trial of Pfizer RSV Vaccine Killed Two Infants in the 1960s — Their Families Just Sued the U.S. Government

The families of two Black infants who died during a 1960s experimental RSV vaccine trial have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S., alleging government researchers enrolled the babies in a dangerous medical experiment without their parents’ knowledge or consent, The New York Times reported.

The lawsuit, filed May 22 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other researchers, in 1965 and 1966, subjected dozens of infants — most or all of them from low-income Black families — to testing of Pfizer’s Lot 100 experimental vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

Two infants, Victor Marcellus King and Ross Otto Hambrick, later died after developing vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease (VAERD), a severe respiratory illness caused by the vaccine.

VAERD occurs when a vaccinated child who never had RSV is exposed to the virus and develops a more severe case of RSV than they would have if they hadn’t received the vaccine.

The suit was filed by Sharlette Hambrick and Darius King, acting as representatives of the estates of their deceased brothers. They allege federal researchers failed to obtain informed consent from the children’s parents, withheld critical information about prior vaccine failures, and continued the study despite mounting evidence that the vaccine was causing severe reactions in participants.

The complaint also alleges that the tissue samples from the babies who died were later used to develop the RSV vaccines and monoclonal antibody shots that have been approved in the last several years — providing a financial boon for drugmakers.

“Medical research in the United States has a long, troubled racial history,” the complaint states, comparing the alleged conduct to other notorious examples of unethical experimentation involving Black Americans, including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks.

The infants’ families were unaware the babies had been subjected to the experiment until a reporter from Undark magazine contacted them while investigating the story in 2023.

The reporter found the babies’ names in a doctor’s government-issued laboratory notebook and other paperwork from the clinical trial, the Times reported.

Parents not told infants were being enrolled in trial for experimental vaccine

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Socialist Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles Complains After Activists Set Up a Homeless Encampment Outside of HER HOUSE

Nithya Raman is a member of the Los Angeles city council who is running for mayor on the far left. She wants to be the Zohran Mamdani of LA.

That’s not even an exaggeration, by the way. She has the same political philosophy as Mamdani, is supported by all the same types of people, and like Mamdani, she was born outside of the United States but feels completely entitled to run one of our biggest cities.

Recently, some activists set up a homeless encampment outside of her house. They were trying to make a point about her support for occupy-style tent encampments. She had the nerve to be offended by this.

The New York Post reports:

Brutal karma for Nithya Raman as she goes ballistic over staged homeless encampment outside her home

Socialist LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman is getting hammered online after appearing visibly rattled by a staged homeless encampment protest outside her own home.

“I’m glad my kids didn’t have to see that,” Raman told comedian Adam Conover on his podcast released Wednesday before adding, “I thought this campaign was going to be about bike lanes and transportation.”

Raman was referring to a staged Memorial Day protest outside Raman’s Silver Lake-area home.

Footage from the stunt shows homeless people climbing out of tents, staging an open-air barbecue and one individual walking around carrying a bucket as neighbors recorded the scene.

The podcast was quickly shared on online with comment exploding because Raman has spent years defending homeless encampments near schools, parks and neighborhoods across Los Angeles while opposing tougher enforcement restrictions.

Critics immediately accused the Democratic Socialist councilmember of showing a stunning lack of self-awareness as families across Los Angeles continue dealing with encampments outside homes, playgrounds and schools.

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Humiliation Ensues for Failed LA Mayor Karen Bass After She’s Confronted with a Brutal Question Regarding City’s Homelessness Crisis

LA Mayor Karen Bass has made the best case for why Spencer Pratt must replace her after she got confronted by an actual reporter with a question over a major broken promise she made to voters.

During an interview on CNN on Tuesday, journalist Elex Michaelson pointed out that Bass failed miserably to keep a promise she made in 2023 to end street homelessness in three years. As everyone knows, LA still has one of the worst homelessness problems in the country.

Bass responded by essentially admitting she was too naive to understand the bureaucracy rampant within the government, but insisted she was making progress. How embarrassing.

She also claimed that this was the first time there had been any decrease in homelessness.

But Michaelson was unimpressed. He told Bass she was only 17.6% of the way toward her goal after three years and asked why anyone should trust her to finish the job.

Bass’s only response was to tout her meager progress, which, at this rate, would amount to only 1/3 of her initial pledge.

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James O’Keefe Confronts Woman Federally Charged For Illegally Paying People to Register to Vote on Skid Row 

James O’Keefe on Wednesday confronted the woman who was federally charged for illegally paying people to register to vote on Skid Row.

A woman who was caught on O’Keefe Media Group’s undercover camera illegally paying people to register to vote on Skid Row in Los Angeles, California, was federally charged this week.

The Justice Department on Monday announced that Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong was charged with one felony count of paying another person to register to vote. She is facing a max of five years in federal prison.

“False registrations undermine Americans’ faith in elections – even more so when payoffs are involved,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“This Justice Department is committed to ensuring that all U.S. elections are fair and free from illegal meddling – so that all Americans can accept the results with confidence,” she said.

The O’Keefe Media Group in March released its investigation into a California elections fraud cash for ballots scheme.

James O’Keefe and his team of journalists went undercover on Skid Row in Los Angeles, posing as homeless people.

‘Petitioners’ told the undercover journalists that they are paid between $7-$10 per signature. Some of them earn up to $1,000 per day.

“California NGOs Encourage Fake Addresses To Homeless People To Sign Petitions & Register Voters, A State & Federal Felony. Footage Shows 28 Instances Of Cash Changing Hands For Ballot Signatures & Voter Registration Forms,” they said.

Brenda Lee Brown did not want to speak on camera so she let O’Keefe into her apartment to talk off the record.

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