Tag: taxes

UK Turning Into ‘National Health State’, Says Think Tank

The UK is turning into a “National Health State,” the Resolution Foundation has said, after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £29 billion annual increase in NHS funding.

The think tank’s analysis of Reeves’s Spending Review estimates that by the end of financial year 2028–29, the health service will account for half (49 percent) of all day-to-day public services spending, up from 34 percent in 2009–10.

On Wednesday, the chancellor announced a record £29 billion funding injection, which the Treasury said will deliver on the government’s promise to cut waiting lists, improve patient care, and modernise services.

Resolution Foundation Chief Executive Ruth Curtice said in a statement, “Health accounted for 90 per cent of the extra public service spending, continuing a trend that is seeing the British state morph into a National Health State, with half of public service spending set to be on health by the end of the decade.”

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) noted in its initial response to the Spending Review that the funding increase for the NHS was substantial, but questioned whether it will be enough to get the health service back to meeting its 18-week target for hospital waiting times within this Parliament, something which the think tank said was “enormously ambitious.”

£6 Billion to Speed up Tests and Treatments

After the Spending Review, Reeves announced that £6 billion of the allocated funds will be used to deliver up to four million additional NHS tests, scans, and procedures over the next five years.

This will be spent on ambulances, new scanners, increasing diagnostic centre capacity, and more Urgent Treatment Centres.

The government will also invest £30 billion in day-to-day maintenance and repair of the NHS estate, with over £5 billion allocated for critical repairs over the next five years.

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US Sent Israel Hundreds of Missiles Days Before Attack on Iran

Just days before the surprise and unprovoked Israeli war on Iran, the US shipped Tel Aviv 300 Hellfire missiles. An Israeli official implied they were used in the assault.

On Friday, Israel launched an offensive war against Iran, striking military sites, nuclear facilities, and carrying out targeted assassinations of top officials. Middle East Eye reports that on Tuesday, just three days before the attack began, the US sent 300 Hellfire missiles to Israel.

One Israeli official indicated that the precision air-to-ground munitions were used in targeted attacks on top civilian and military leaders. Ali Shamkhani, a senior aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in his home on Friday.

Shamkhani was part of the negotiation team engaging with the US to work out a new nuclear agreement. American and Iranian officials have engaged in five rounds of talks, with a sixth previously scheduled for Sunday. Tehran recently indicated it believed a deal was possible.

However, following the start of Israel’s undeclared war, Iran called off talks with the US. New York Times UN correspondent Farnaz Fassihi said Iranian officials made it clear that Tehran views Shamkhani’s assassination as “Israel targeting and killing nuclear diplomacy with the US.”

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Trump Officially Begins Phasing Out FEMA: ‘We’re Going to Give Out Less’

One of the more controversial arms of the government under the administration of former President Joe Biden could soon cease to exist as anyone knew it.

Biden’s successor, President Donald Trump, has made that much abundantly clear.

The embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency is going to be “wound down,” per the president’s orders, as described by Reuters.

FEMA, which has an annual budget of about $30 billion, will start being phased out as its responsibilities get doled out to other departments.

For example, federal disaster aid funds will now be distributed directly from the White House.

Trump was speaking to reporters on Tuesday when he made his intentions for FEMA crystal clear.

“We want to wean off of FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state level,” Trump said, according to The Hill. “We’re moving it back to the state so the governors can handle it.”

The president also claimed that federal aid will be tightening up a bit — though he made sure to note that he thinks states will still appreciate what they receive.

“We’re going to give out less money,” he said. “It’s going to be from the president’s office.”

He added, “As an example, I just gave out $71 million to a certain state. They were looking to do about 120 [million], they were very happy with the $71 million.”

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EU transfers €1 billion in aid to Ukraine — von der Leyen

The EU has transferred €1 billion of macro-financial aid to Ukraine, bringing its total spending on supporting Kiev since the beginning of the special military operation to €150 billion, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

“Today we disburse a new €1 billion to Ukraine, bringing our total support to almost 150 billion,” she wrote.

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US quietly sent hundreds of Hellfire missiles to Israel before Iran attack

The US quietly delivered hundreds of Hellfire missiles to Israel before its unprecedented attack on Iran on Friday, Middle East Eye can reveal. 

The US sent around 300 Hellfire missiles to Israel on Tuesday in a large-scale stock-up of supplies before its attack, and as the Trump administration was saying it was ready to continue engaging Iran in nuclear talks. 

The transfer of such a large quantity of Hellfires suggests that the Trump administration was well-informed of Israel’s plans to attack the Islamic Republic of Iran, two US officials told MEE on the condition of anonymity. 

The US’s delivery of Hellfires or other large quantities of weapons in the lead up to Friday’s attack has not been previously reported. 

The US military helped shoot down Iranian missiles that were headed towards Israel, two US officials told Reuters on Friday.

Hellfires are laser-guided air-to-ground missiles. They would not be useful for Israel to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, but for precision strikes. 

Israel’s military used more than 100 aircraft in its attack on Friday, which used precision tracking to target senior military officials, nuclear scientists, and command centres.

“There is a time and place for Hellfires. They were useful to Israel,” one senior US defence official told MEE. 

Israel killed scores of senior Iranian officials and nuclear scientists on Friday. 

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About That White Guy Laughing in the Face of a Black Mom Trying to Get to Work…

I mean, I wish I could say you can’t make it up, but the Left has become so unspooled that nothing shocks. It doesn’t mean it makes it any less entertaining, however. There are anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests and riots popping up nationwide. There’s bound to be shenanigans at this ‘No Kings’ event today, especially in Philadelphia. We’ll keep you abreast of that, but remember that anti-ICE protest in New York City? A horde of white liberals blocked the road, which prevented a black mother from getting to work. They laughed at her face and told her illegal aliens’ kids were more important.

Well, that guy in the video is reportedly a Black Lives Matter activist, Trevor Britvec, who got a six-figure settlement from the city during the 2020 summer of mayhem.

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California Democrats Dumped $73M into Migrant NGOs Opposing ICE

California’s Democrat-controlled state legislature has pushed tens of millions of tax dollars into the hands of non-governmental organizations that work to thwart deportation and out ICE agents, according to a report.

Five of these far-left, pro-illegal alien organizations have received $73.6 million in state tax dollars since 2023, according to a report by budget watchdog group Open The Books.

According to the review of state spending, the notorious group Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) was the biggest recipient of state funds, with handouts of a whopping $35,226,566 during 2023 and 2024.

CHIRLA has reportedly been at the center of efforts to track where ICE agents are working in Los Angeles so that activists can be dispatched to the area, often followed by rioters and agitators. The group has set up a tip line for members of the public to out ICE agent activity, as well.

“Aside from their current activities fomenting unrest in L.A., CHIRLA runs many different campaigns and programs as a part of their regular operations, including the ‘Wise Up!’ program to teach high schoolers how to become activists,” Open The Books reported. “The CHIRLA website states this program is an ‘initiative to organize high school students—both undocumented and allies—around immigrant rights, and full access to educational opportunities.’ The website further states WiseUp! ‘activates students’ by ‘engaging them civically to fight in the legislative arena and the public square for measures that ease their access to education and citizenship.’”

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Critics Call for End to US Aid to Israel After Iran Attacks

Progressive U.S. lawmakers and human rights defenders demanded an end to unconditional American armed and diplomatic support for Israel after it launched a series of attacks on Iran early Friday, reportedly killing senior military officials and civilians including nuclear scientists, women, and children in a dramatic escalation that Iranian leaders vowed to avenge.

Iran, later on Friday, reportedly fired hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel, and smoke was seen rising from the city of Tel Aviv as Tehran began its retaliation for the large-scale attack that Israel’s military committed just hours earlier.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) wrote on social media that “all of Israel is under fire.” Minutes later, the IDF said that the “Iranian attack is ongoing,” noting that “dozens of additional missiles were launched toward Israel.”

The Israeli military instructed residents across the country to “remain close to protected spaces” and minimize “movement in public areas” until an all-clear is given. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Unnamed U.S. officials told the Associated Press that American military assets were being used to help the Israelis intercept incoming missiles from Iran, though the sources, according to the AP, “did not say how the U.S. provided assistance.”

Iran’s retaliation followed at least five waves of Israeli airstrikes targeting not only Iran’s nuclear facilities but also its military leadership and capabilities, Al Jazeera reported. In addition to airstrikes, Israeli and international media reported that operatives from Mossad, Israel’s foreign spy agency, also conducted assassination and sabotage attacks in Iran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Major Gen. Hossein Salami and Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major Gen. Mohammad Bagheri were assassinated, as were numerous Iranian nuclear scientists [and key nuclear negotiator Ali Shamkhani.]

Israeli attacks targeted cities including the capital Tehran, Natanz, Isfahan, Arak, Tabriz and Kermanshah. Iranian television reports showed bombed-out apartment towers and said that an unknown number of civilians including women and children were killed in the strikes. [The New York Times cites Iran’s Fars news agency’s report of at least 78 deaths and 329 injuries.] 

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Hegseth Says DOD Was Spending Tens of Millions Sticking Marbles Inside the Rear Ends of Cats During Jaw-Dropping Senate Testimony

President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, testified before the Senate that the Department of Defense was spending tens of millions of dollars on tests that involved sticking “marbles in the rear ends of cats.”

Hegseth brought up the cruel and wasteful animal research during his testimony before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense on Wednesday.

The exchange began as Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin grilled Hegseth about his administration ending many wasteful research grants.

“Give me an example of a ‘boondoggle’ in medical research and defense health,” Sen. Durbin said, likely unprepared for the response.

“I mean, we’re talking about some stuff I shouldn’t say in public, you know, marbles in the rear ends of cats, tens of millions of dollars,” Hegseth said while pantomiming inserting a marble in a cat’s rectum. “Things that don’t have a connection to what you’re talking about.”

“Is this like three hundred and fifty year old Social Security check that the president told us about?” the senator shot back.

Hegseth replied, “I respect completely the issue that you’re speaking with, and this department couldn’t be more sympathetic to that and ensure that it’s funded. But the Defense Department has been a place where organizations, entities, and companies know they can get money almost unchecked to whether or not it actually applies to things that happen on the battlefield.”

Sen. Rand Paul thanked Hegseth for highlighting the spending that he worked with White Coat Waste, an organization dedicated to ending taxpayer-funded animal testing, to expose.

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Democrat Governors Are Rolling Back State-Funded Healthcare for Illegal Aliens – Why is the Left Not Protesting Them?

Some liberal Democrat governors are starting to roll back state (taxpayer) funded healthcare for people who are in the country illegally. Why is the left not protesting them? Could it be simply because the left gives Democrats a pass? Do they even know this is happening?

Under Gavin Newsom in California, the state is so broke that they are being forced to do this because there’s simply no money for it and the program came in costing billions of dollars more than people were told.

The same thing is now happening in Minnesota under Tim Walz and Illinois under JB Pritzker, all far left Democrats.

NBC News reports:

Democratic governors seek to roll back state-funded health care for undocumented immigrants

A trio of states with Democratic governors viewed as potential 2028 presidential candidates have taken steps in recent weeks to freeze or cut government-funded health care coverage for undocumented immigrants.

Democratic Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Tim Walz of Minnesota have largely attributed the proposals to budget shortfalls stemming from original plans to expand health care to immigrants without legal status.

But the moves also occur against the backdrop of broader debate within the Democratic Party over how to handle immigration, an issue that dragged it down in the last election and that President Donald Trump and the GOP have continued to try to capitalize on…

The latest development came in Minnesota on Tuesday, after both chambers of the Legislature passed a bill to end state-funded health care for undocumented adults…

Newsom’s plan in his 2025-26 budget has called for freezing enrollment for undocumented adults to receive the full scope of the state’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal…

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