Tag: taxes

“Full-On Truman Show”: Former State Dept. Official Exposes USAID’s Censorship Machine In Brazil

Former State Department official Mike Benz laid out USAID’s sweeping involvement in Brazil’s political and institutional landscape, detailing a network of American funding that reached media organizations, universities, activist groups and organizations involved with the country’s election system.

Benz, who serves as executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, broke down the extent of USAID’s footprint during an appearance on “The Benny Show” with host Benny Johnson.

“What’s happening in Brazil was a full-on Truman show. You had the media funded by USAID. You had the universities funded by USAID. You had the staffers of the Supreme Court and the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), the election court, USAID. You had all the constitutional law advocates funded by USAID. You had the LGBT activists funded by USAID,” Benz explained.

“It’s full spectrum. If you were to walk down a city block in Sao Paulo or, I don’t know, Brasilia, you would have a 360 vision of institutions funded and puppeteered by USAID without ever knowing it,” the former State Department official added. “In fact, USAID, knowing what they were doing, and I need to be careful about what I can and can’t say here, let’s just say, would anyone be surprised, for example, if USAID was going around and telling its grantees in Brazil to remove the USAID logo so that it doesn’t get out that grantee’s connection to USAID?”

Benz said USAID’s influence could continue even after its funding disappeared because institutional and legal changes remained in place.

“They knew what they were doing. They knew how sensitive it was. Would you be surprised, for example, if USAID, which basically set up the censorship state in Brazil, and this is actually something, let me quickly pivot to say, it is true that this is the first Brazilian election since the 2020 municipal elections in Brazil that does not have USAID money slushing around Lula and his allies, but is still an election that is in many ways under the thumb of the ghost of USAID,” he said. “There is something I call kind of the clockmaker’s dilemma, which is USAID, even when you remove it, the institutional and legal changes that a country goes through can live on even if you cut USAID funding down to zero.”

Benz then zeroed in on two of Brazil’s most powerful institutions, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and Superior Electoral Court (TSE): “For example, in Brazil, you have this apparatus through the STF and TSE, the Supreme Court and the basically election court that determines all things around elections, and basically after Bolsonaro won in 2018, the TSE court with Alexandre de Moraes, the famous Voldemort judge, they declared disinformation a threat to free and fair elections, not just disinformation during an election season, but disinformation any time, misinformation, disinformation any time about anything because it could pollute people’s, I don’t know, sense of what’s true or false in the information ecosystem, and so it could have an impact on an election three years away if this false information is allowed to circulate online.”

Benz also went into detail about USAID’s connections to Brazil’s election and judicial establishment.

“That was set up by USAID, USAID flooded the zone, USAID had contact at every level with the TSE court, with the Alexandre de Moraes court,” he said. “I testified to the Brazilian Senate Relations Committee and put pictures from USAID’s website of Alexandre de Moraes being trained by CEPS (Competitive Economy Program), the USAID grantee, by NED (National Endowment for Democracy), the USAID grantee has gotten $3 billion from USAID and was created by the Central Intelligence Agency.”

Benz’s remarks come just days after Brazil’s conservatives delivered a powerful showing at the ballot box. Flávio Bolsonaro finished first in the opening round of the presidential election, taking 47.03% of the vote to left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 45.16%, setting up an October 25 runoff.

Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party emerged as the largest party in both houses of Congress, winning 121 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and expanding its Senate delegation from 15 to 28 seats.

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Coast Guard places $248 million order for first MQ-9B drones

The Coast Guard is purchasing MQ-9B drones for the first time, ordering four of the high-flying unmanned aerial vehicles for just under $250 million.

The aircraft will support the service to oversee offshore waters, conduct search and rescue operations, and help counter drug trafficking operations, among other things, the Coast Guard said in a news release today. They are not expected to carry weapons, a service spokesperson told Breaking Defense.

“The MQ-9B long-range unmanned aircraft systems will expand our reach and strengthen our ability to protect the nation,” Anthony Antognoli, the assistant commandant and program executive officer for robotics and autonomous systems for the Coast Guard, said in a statement. “This investment will give Coast Guard crews a longer-range view of our maritime domain, helping them detect threats earlier, make better-informed decisions and act faster across our missions.”

The Coast Guard first revealed its plans to purchase the drones last year, thanks to funding the service received from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that passed in July 2025, Military Times previously reported. 

The Coast Guard said today that funding for the MQ-9B acquisition stemmed from the FY25 reconciliation package that included nearly $25 billion for the service, along with FY26 appropriations. The MQ-9B purchase totaled $247.8 million for the four aircraft, along with ground control stations and other supporting equipment, the Coast Guard said. 

The Coast Guard has previously teamed up with the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and flown CBP’s MQ-9A drones for operations out of Texas, according to a Coast Guard factsheet. The Coast Guard noted in today’s release that the aircraft supported CBP to seize 60,700 pounds of illegal drugs and the apprehension of roughly 20 “smugglers” in FY26. 

The MQ-9B SeaGuardian is designed to conduct maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations for more than 30 hours at a time with a mission radius of roughly 1,200 nautical miles, according to General Atomics, which builds the aircraft.

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U.S. Military Lost or Damaged 81 Aircraft Worth Up to $3.3 Billion in Iran War, Report Says

At least 81 U.S. military aircraft have been lost or damaged since the war with Iran began, with losses totaling as much as $3.3 billion, according to a Congressional Research Service report released Oct. 5. The tally was compiled from statements by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the Pentagon Inspector General and news reports, and the report’s authors noted the number of aircraft “may remain subject to revision due to multiple factors” [1].

The losses include some of America’s most advanced warplanes, including one damaged F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter and 12 F-15E Strike Eagle fighters that have been destroyed or damaged, according to the report [2].

The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The report, updated Oct. 5, drew on military statements, news reports and findings from the Defense Department’s inspector general [3].

Fixed-Wing Losses Include F-15Es, F-35A, A-10s and E-3 Sentry

Twelve F-15E Strike Eagles were destroyed or damaged. Three were shot down in friendly fire over Kuwait on March 2, and another was shot down over Iran the following month [4].

One F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter was damaged when it came under fire from Iran on March 19.

The disclosures come as the financial cost of the war, which began Feb. 28 with coordinated U.S.-Israeli strikes, rises.

Drone Losses Led by 45 MQ-9 Reapers, Fleet Below Requirement

At least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones were lost, with each estimated to be worth between $30 million and $50 million, according to the report.

The Reaper, used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, close air support and combat search and rescue, accounted for more than half of the losses [5]. The scale of the Reaper losses tracks with earlier independent reporting: Iran destroyed approximately $1 billion worth of U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drones during the conflict, according to a Bloomberg report published May 21, representing roughly 20 percent of the Pentagon’s pre-war inventory of unmanned aerial vehicles [6].

The drone losses have forced the Air Force to look at alternatives. The service more than doubled the value of its contract with DZYNE Technologies, now part of Ondas, for long-endurance surveillance drones that could complement the MQ-9 Reaper and help fill intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission gaps following the reported heavy losses in the U.S.-Iran conflict [7]. The seizure of a U.S. Navy Dive-LD uncrewed underwater vehicle by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz in September also handed Tehran a rare opportunity to study and potentially reverse-engineer a sophisticated undersea surveillance asset, a setback for the Pentagon and drone maker Anduril [8][9].

CENTCOM Estimates War Cost at $43.6 Billion

U.S. Central Command estimated last month that the total cost of the war in Iran had grown to $43.6 billion — a $5 billion increase from August. Weapons costs also jumped by more than $6 billion in just over a month, from $21.7 billion listed in the latest Congressional Budget Office report to $28.1 billion in the latest figures, according to the report.

The Congressional Research Service report attributed the aircraft loss figures to its analysis of available data.

The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment, officials said. The Congressional Research Service published a similar report in May that put the number of lost or damaged aircraft lower, reflecting the accumulating toll of a conflict that has now run more than seven months since U.S. and Israeli forces commenced military strikes on Feb. 28.

Report Details Aircraft Losses as War Costs Rise

The Congressional Research Service report lists 81 U.S. military aircraft lost or damaged in the Iran war, valued at up to $3.3 billion.

CENTCOM’s $43.6 billion war cost estimate and the weapons cost increase were provided in the report. No immediate comment was issued by the White House or the Pentagon, according to the report. The report’s authors said the tally was compiled from statements by the Pentagon, U.S. Central Command, the Pentagon Inspector General and news reports, and that the “number of aircraft may remain subject to revision due to multiple factors” [1].

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Donald J. Trump: The DSA President

The administration is running a television advertisement in which President Trump says, “Together we will defeat communism, socialism, and Marxism in America.” Government-financed propaganda promoting an unpopular head of state is something one might associate with a communist country. The irony doesn’t end there. The ad’s target is the Democratic Party and its leftward shift, as evidenced by its “democratic socialism” problem. Yet it is Trump himself who has unlocked the door the left has long sought to open: the normalization of government ownership of private companies.

While the government has occasionally taken stakes in private companies, it has generally done so—rightly or wrongly—as a temporary measure to address a perceived emergency. However, never in U.S. history has the executive branch taken ownership stakes in private companies simply because the president wanted his own federal investment portfolio. And this administration has done so without clear legal authority.

As of this writing, the administration has announced deals giving the federal government equity stakes in 34 private companies and counting. Thus, after Trump has spent much of his second term acquiring the means of production, his pitch ahead of the November elections is that he will stop Democrats from … acquiring the means of production?

To be sure, there are anti-market Democrats who have long desired to make government ownership of companies a permanent federal policy tool. Indeed, how they have responded to the administration’s equity deals offers clues about how they may deploy this tool when Republican dominance in Washington ends.

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Money allocated for home repairs instead went for a Lamborghini

Federal disaster money meant to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy instead helped finance a contractor’s Lamborghini, Porsche, Jaguar and real estate after he defrauded Long Island homeowners.

Alexander Almaraz, owner of the construction company Design Concepts Group, was sentenced last month to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Key facts: After Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast in 2012, New York awarded $1.2 billion in federally-backed grants to help almost 13,000 families rebuild their homes. The funds came from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery Program.

Twenty homeowners hired Almaraz using $1.5 million in grant funding and $1 million from their personal savings. He was supposed to lift their houses onto temporary supports to replace their damaged foundations and then lower them back into place.

Almaraz admitted in court that he never intended to perform the work. He used the money to buy luxury cars, pay his credit card bills and purchase land in Missouri.

Almaraz also told the homeowners they could not live in their houses while he was supposedly working on them. Many moved into apartments Almaraz managed, and paid him rent.

Almaraz then moved to San Antonio without fixing the houses.

One homeowner told CBS New York that he paid Almaraz about $150,000 and was left with a home he could not live in. “The hurricane was terrible, but dealing with him was ten times worse,” he said.

The Department of Justice said it will determine how much restitution the victims will receive at a later date.

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Dem Stefany Shaheen Says ‘We’ve Got to Roll Back These Tax Breaks’ for New Hampshire Families

New Hampshire Democrat congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen, the daughter of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), said this week that she wants to reverse Republican tax reductions, after previously supporting tax and fee increases as a Portsmouth city councilor and receiving financial and political support connected to her mother.

Shaheen said this week, “I believe it’s a matter of electing people who have the will to fight for the issues that matter most to the majority of people, and we’ve got to roll back these tax breaks. And again, let’s be clear: my opponent supports them.”

Rolling back the tax provisions would result in a 20 percent tax increase for New Hampshire families and bring back taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security.

“Silver Spoon Stefany Shaheen just told voters everything they need to know: In Congress, she’d ‘roll back’ tax cuts that have made life better and more affordable for New Hampshire families. It doesn’t get any more out of touch than that. Granite Staters deserve a fighter, not a nepo baby,” NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole told Breitbart News.

Shaheen’s record as a Portsmouth city councilor also includes votes and proposals that increased taxes and fees. During her time on the council, Shaheen brought forward a motion to increase the city’s hourly parking fees by 25 percent.

A year later, Shaheen voted in favor of Portsmouth’s first budget to exceed $100 million. The budget included a property tax increase and another increase in parking fees.

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Trump Threatens Billions In Federal Funds If NYC Doesn’t Put ‘Little Italy’ Back On Map

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to withhold billions in federal funding from New York City unless the city updates a map of immigrant communities to include Little Italy.

In 2023, the city created a map, “New York City Immigrant Enclaves,” that maps ethnic communities across the city, such as Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, Little India and Little Manila in Queens, and Little Palestine in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. However, the map omits Little Italy as well as ethnic neighborhoods of Irish and Jewish communities.

Speaking at a Columbus Day celebration at the White House, Trump threatened to cut billions in city funding. “So you have Yemen covered, Haiti covered, Guyana covered, Senegal covered. I think it’s a disgrace. We are going to work on that immediately,” said the president.

The city budget relies on federal funding, with as much as $8 billion in the city’s 2025 fiscal year budget coming from federal sources – most of that going toward education and social services. Federal grants also support counter-terrorism funding for NYPD bomb squads and emergency preparedness teams.

In October, 26,500 New Yorkers lost federal SNAP benefits for food assistance under expanded work requirements set up by the Trump administration. Starting in January 2027, possibly 900,000 New York City residents relying on Medicaid may lose health coverage when new federal work requirements take effect. This federal aid goes to individuals, not the city, but the city and state are scrambling to compensate lower-income New Yorkers for these lost benefits.

The 2023 immigrant enclave map resurfaced on social media back in July, and the City Council’s Italian Caucus released a statement on X that it was deeply disappointed with the city for omitting the contribution of Italian-Americans.

“Italians are not a footnote in New York City history – we helped build it,” City Council’s Italian Caucus said in a statement on X on July 10. All four members of the Italian Caucus are Republicans.

When asked about leaving out Little Italy, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the map predates his administration, but that it would be updated in the future to include Little Italy and others.

“It’s clearly not an exhaustive list of the more than 200 ethnic enclaves,” Mamdani said July 11.

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HUGE 2A Victory: ATF Ends Registration for Suppressors and Short-Barreled Rifles For ALL Legal Purchases

In a massive win for the Second Amendment, gun owners across America will no longer be subject to a long, drawn out process in order to purchase rifles with barrel lengths shorter than 16″ known as short-barreled rifles (SBR), short-barreled shotguns, or suppressors for their firearms.  

Previously, purchasing an SBR or suppressor generally required a $200 National Firearms Act (NFA) tax, an application to the ATF, a thorough background check, and a long wait for ATF approval.  Even then, oftentimes gun owners would utilize a gun trust to register the item rather than individually register them.

However, following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, the NFA’s transfer tax was reduced to $0 for suppressors and SBRs.  In August, a federal district court in Texas ruled that once Congress eliminated that tax, the 1934 NFA’s authority to require additional registration and transfer procedures could no longer be sustained.

Initially, the injunction allowed the purchase of the devices without the extended ATF process but only applied to SilencerShop.com and the Gun-Owners of America, who were plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

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A $120 Can of Spam Busts Open Seattle’s Food Stamp Fraud

Look in the mirror: You’re looking at an attractive, smart, hardworking taxpayer. 

And here’s where hundreds of millions of your food stamp tax dollars are going: straight into the hands of addicts, the pockets of pimps, and the funds of charlatans. 

It wasn’t bad enough that California hospice owners were driving Ferraris bought with stolen tax money, and that FireAID donations were given to nonprofits that had nothing to do with actual, you know, fire aid. Now we discover that food stamp fraud is taking place in the open on the streets of America, and nobody’s doing anything about it, apparently.

Independent reporter Nick Shirley, with a group of other indy reporters, revealed the open-air federal food stamp fraud taking place on the streets of Seattle. 

Shirley, San Francisco-based street reporter Darren Stallcup, Seattle’s Jonathan Choe, and other intrepid indy reporters followed the money. 

Choe tells Shirley that EBT cards litter homeless encampments, where they receive so many of them that they begin to throw them away. Many of those “homeless” drug zombies use their food stamp cards to buy drugs. 

Choe and Shirley found EBT cards and sought to follow the lucrative scam from beginning to end. Shirley lays out how simple this is in a new video displaying how one abandoned EBT card can buy drugs, sex, and a $120 can of Spam.

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The $17 Trillion Tax Hike That Leaves Social Security Broke

If you take a look at your last pay stub, you will find a line marked OASDI. It stands for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, which is the formal name for Social Security. The tax on that line is 6.2% of your wages. What you do not see on that stub is that your employer paid a matching 6.2% of your paycheck directly to the U.S. Treasury. On a $60,000 salary, those two halves equal $7,440 a year. Exactly $0.00 of it went into an account bearing your name. Every single penny went out immediately as a check to a current retiree or a disabled American.

The entire system rests on a beautifully simple, multi-generational promise: Today’s workers carry today’s retirees, and tomorrow’s workers will carry us. For decades, more money came in than went out. But instead of saving the surplus, Washington borrowed the extra cash, spent it on daily government operations, and left a stack of non-marketable IOUs in a drawer. Federal bureaucrats call that paper a “trust fund.” In reality, calling it a trust fund is like putting an IOU in your kid’s piggy bank and telling them their college tuition is fully funded.

Since 2021, the program has paid out more than it takes in. To cover the shortfall, the government has been cashing those IOUs, forcing the Treasury to borrow massive amounts from the public. By 2034, the drawer for the combined retirement and disability funds will be completely empty. By law, that means every retiree’s check will instantly face a devastating 17% automatic haircut.

Enter Brian Poindexter, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Ohio’s 7th District. He claims he can fix it. Today, the Social Security tax stops once a worker earns $184,500 in a year. His plan calls for three dramatic shifts: remove that income limit so high earners pay on every dollar, let people collect full checks at a younger age, and make the checks bigger. Removing the cap, he confidently promises, “will instantly make it solve.”

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