Tag: taxes

Waste of the Day: Postal Service’s Record Payroll Leads to Losses

Nearly 20,000 people made $100,000 or more.

The Post Office brought in $80.5 billion in operating revenue, $916 million more than 2024. The boost was attributed to “strategic price increases” in postage costs, especially first-class mail.

Combined with $89.8 billion in expenses, the Postal Service had a $9 billion net loss. That was better than the $9.5 billion the Postal Service lost in 2024, which makes it appear as if its business model is improving. However, those figures include expenses and revenues that Postal Service management has no control over. Salaries, pensions, workers’ compensation, rent and more are mandated by Congress. Interest rates affect investment income.

When looking at only the spending that’s planned directly by Postal Service management, the Post Office had a “controllable loss” of $2.7 billion in 2025. That was the worst since 2020. Controllable loss was only $1.8 billion in 2024.

Over the next 10 years, the Postal Service plans to spend $20 billion on deferred investment and maintenance to upgrade and repair buildings and technology.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

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Republican bill aims to give Americans in Israeli military same benefits as US soldiers

Two Republican congressmen have introduced legislation that would provide the same employment and economic protections to Americans serving in the Israeli military as US citizens who get deployed to serve in the US military.

The protections sought by the two lawmakers, Guy Reschenthaler and Max Miller, come in stark contrast to how other countries have been called upon to treat their citizens who have gone to serve in Israel’s military.

“Over 20,000 American citizens are currently defending Israel from Hamas terrorists, risking their lives for the betterment of our ally,” Reschenthaler said in a statement.

“This legislation will ensure we do everything possible to support these heroes who are standing with Israel, fighting for freedom, and combating terrorism in the Middle East.”

By introducing this legislation last Friday, the lawmakers want Americans serving in a foreign military to be treated in the “same manner as service in the uniformed services”.

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Tren de Aragua Brutally Tortures and Kills Innocent People While Benefiting From Federal Funds

When reports of the brutal Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua first appeared, Democrats denied its existence, claiming it was an anti-immigrant myth perpetrated by Republicans. That denial began to unravel after the Aurora, Colorado incident in August and September 2024, when video surfaced showing armed men inside an apartment complex.

Governor Jared Polis’s office initially dismissed claims of an “invasion,” with a spokesperson saying the narrative was a “feature of local officials’ imagination” and suggesting the allegations were being used for political theater.

Several mainstream media echoed that dismissal, describing Tren de Aragua as a new “bogeyman” or even a hallucination. While acknowledging the gang’s existence, they argued that reports of organized violence amounted to a fabricated “invading army” narrative designed to fuel anti-immigrant sentiment and justify mass deportations.

In reality, the gang is very real and has been brutally torturing and killing people while also taking advantage of federal and state benefits programs. ICE has been arresting its members and leaders, but those cases receive little attention from the mainstream media because they do not fit the narrative.

Last January, a 58-year-old woman in Burien, Washington, just south of Seattle, was kidnapped from her apartment complex by two illegal aliens, Alexander Arnaez-Gutierrez and Kevin Sanabria-Ojeda, who have confirmed ties to the Tren de Aragua gang. The attackers tortured the victim by using a power drill on her hand to force her to reveal her ATM PIN and the location of her jewelry. They also beat her and eventually shot her before leaving her for dead. The woman survived by playing dead until help arrived.

On January 8, 2026, ICE arrested an illegal alien, Venezuelan national, and confirmed Tren de Aragua gang member, Yorvis Michel Carrascal Campo, in Colorado Springs on charges including murder, racketeering, and drug trafficking tied to crimes in New Mexico. According to a federal indictment, Carrascal Campo participated in the June 2024 kidnapping and killing of a man and helped conceal evidence of the crime. The victim’s body was later hidden in a remote area of New Mexico.

Under President Trump, federal investigations into Tren de Aragua have focused on how the gang exploits migrant infrastructure by embedding itself within legitimate support systems run by nonprofits and funded by the federal government. While these programs are intended to provide humanitarian aid, investigators say Tren de Aragua has used them as hubs for recruitment, logistics, and criminal activity.

Federal agencies and congressional committees have focused on multiple locations where Tren de Aragua established footholds, most prominently New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel. FEMA and DHS opened investigations into claims that Tren de Aragua–linked groups, including Diablos de la 42, were operating out of city-run shelters.

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‘Staggering’: Trump SBA Suspends 111,620 California Borrowers-Finds Nearly $9 Billion in Suspected Small Business Fraud

The Trump administration’s Small Business Administration announced Friday that the agency has suspended 111,620 California borrowers connected to $8.6 BILLION in suspected pandemic fraud.

In a press release, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler noted, “Once again, the Trump SBA is taking decisive action to deliver accountability in a state whose unaccountable welfare policies have created a culture of fraud and abuse at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers and small business owners.”

“Today, we announced we have suspended nearly 112,000 borrowers tied to at least $9 billion in suspected fraud. This staggering number represents the most significant crack-down on those who defrauded pandemic programs, and it illuminates the scale of corruption that the Biden Administration tolerated for years.

“As we did in Minnesota, we are actively working with federal law enforcement to identify the criminals who defrauded American taxpayers, hold them to account, and recoup the stolen funds. As we continue our state-by-state work, our message is clear: pandemic-era fraudsters will not get a pass under this Administration.”

Loeffler took to X to add,  “California, just like Minnesota, invites criminals to abuse the system with socialist welfare policies. Fraud scaled up massively during the pandemic – and the Biden Admin failed to stop it.”

“In San Diego, I visited a single address tied to 14 different ‘small businesses’ that were formed during the pandemic, who received $2M+ in COVID-era loans that still haven’t been fully repaid.”

“The era of abuse is over.”

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Democrats Hate Anyone Who Doesn’t Love Crime And Fraud As Much As They Do — Even Leftists

Democrats hate certain other Democrats and leftists about as much as they hate you, and their targets are quite revealing.

In Los Angeles, elected City Controller Kenneth Mejia has unearthed significant social services fraud and waste and is pushing to fund more investigators — without success — so he can dig deeper. Mejia is way left, a high-octane Bernie bro who ostensibly “left” the Democrat Party in 2024. He has at times identified with the Green Party, apparently because the Democrats were much too far to the right for him. But Mejia is also a certified public accountant and a true believer in leftist social intervention, and he takes it personally when people steal from government programs that are supposed to help the poor. Mejia’s investigators are the reason a homeless services contractor in Los Angeles is awaiting trial on a massive list of state and federal felony charges for fraud.

Mejia revealed earlier this week that real estate and private equity “executives” as well as multiple “billionaires” are “pouring money” into the 2026 controller’s race to “oust” him amid his reelection bid.

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61 Percent of Illegal Immigrant Headed Households Were on Welfare in 2024: Center for Immigration Studies

Over 60 percent of illegal immigrant-led households and 51 percent of legal immigrant households received some sort of welfare benefits in 2024, compared with just 37 percent of natural-born citizen households taking taxpayer benefits, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies.

The study, released on Wednesday, paints a concerning picture of welfare use by both illegal immigrants and natural-born U.S. citizens.

“If we wish to avoid high use of welfare by the foreign-born in the future, then moving to a system that selects immigrants based on their education or skills makes it much more likely they will earn higher incomes and not need welfare. Since more than one-fifth of all immigrant households using at least one welfare program are headed by an illegal immigrant, enforcing immigration laws and reducing the size of the illegal immigrant population would also be helpful in lowering future immigrant welfare use,” said the Center for Immigration Studies.

Researchers found that 61 percent of households headed by illegal immigrants, 51 percent of those headed by legal immigrants—whether naturalized citizens or visa holders—and 37 percent of natural-born citizen households received some sort of welfare.

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Deploying Troops to U.S. Cities Cost Half a Billion Dollars in 2025

After threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act to put down sometime-violent protests in Minneapolis with military force, President Donald Trump appears to have backed off, standing-down the troops slated for deployment. That’s a win for domestic peace, reducing the chances of worse conflict on city streets than we’ve already seen over the past year. It’s also a boon for taxpayers, given the high price tag—a half-billion dollars to date—that comes with deploying soldiers to patrol American communities.

Military Occupation of American Cities

In response to vigorous resistance to the Trump administration’s often-brutal immigration enforcement, the federal government several times deployed National Guard and active-duty military personnel to American cities. In the name of suppressing crime (in the nation’s capital) and protecting federal personnel and property, the president sent or attempted to send troops to Democrat-led cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis, Portland, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. The deployments look as much like schemes to humiliate the president’s political opponents as they resemble enforcement of federal policy.

Judicial responses to the deployments have been mixed, though leaning toward deep skepticism. A federal judge ruled that use of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts domestic use of the military. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked military deployments to Chicago, also with reference to the limited permissible use of the military. Now, with tensions rising, the White House looks to be pausing its efforts to militarize immigration enforcement.

Given the conflict we’ve already seen related to immigration enforcement, including the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents, that’s a relief to those of us hoping to avoid worse social unrest and to avert—or at least delay—what appears to be a looming national cataclysm. But at a time of rising federal deficits and debt and semi-serious attempts to slash government expenditures, stepping back from sending troops into the streets could also save money.

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Not Just the Somalis: Nigerian Honored by Gretchen Whitmer Exposed as Massive Day Care Fraudster – Stole While Trashing America’s ‘Structural Racism’

Michigan might have its own fraud scandal brewing.

After widespread fraud was uncovered in Minnesota’s day care and other government-funded social service programs, most of them run by people linked to the immigrant Somali community, the public’s crosshairs turned to state officials, particularly Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Surely these people were not stealing billions from hardworking Americans without having help from public officials?

Similar questions may soon be asked in Michigan of its own programs and its Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer.

A former professor, Nigerian immigrant Nkechy Ezeh, pleaded guilty last month to wire fraud and tax evasion in a scheme that defrauded Michigan taxpayers out of over $1 million, according to news site MLive.

The misappropriated money had been intended for Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative, an early childhood education program for disadvantaged children. Ezeh was the founder and CEO of ELNC.

“The nonprofit closed in 2023 after Ezeh and former Director of Finance and Administration Sharon Killebrew were accused of embezzling more than $2.5 million combined over several years,” WZZM-TV reported.

Killebrew, 70, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud a federally funded program, according to MLive.

Ezeh faces 20 years for wire fraud. The charge of tax evasion could carry an additional five years in prison.

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Anti-ICE Resistance Manuals and Training Discovered at Minnesota Schools Receiving Federal Funding

Minnesota ICE Watch, the organization that Renee Good and her wife were members of, distributed a document known as the “De-Arrest Primer,” which instructs activists on how to physically interfere with law enforcement officers during arrests. The manual provides detailed guidance on pulling detainees from officers’ grips, pushing and pulling officers, breaking holds, and opening law enforcement vehicles to free suspects.

The manual also teaches the use of coordinated chanting to create confusion and overwhelm officers during active arrests, as well as surrounding officers until they release detainees.

The guide openly acknowledges that these actions may constitute criminal offenses but argues that the risk is justified. Each successful interference is described as a “micro-intifada,” framed as a tactic meant to spread, replicate, and inspire wider disruption. The manual claims these methods originated in pro-Palestinian campus protests and presents them as a model for broader resistance activity.

While no single formal publisher is identified, the manual appears to originate from broader activist and radical networks that promote direct physical interference with law enforcement. It has circulated widely through Instagram and other activist communication channels and has been used in training individuals described as “constitutional observers” or “ICE watchers.”

Minnesota ICE Watch reposted the manual in June, prior to the 2026 surge in anti-ICE activity, and linked it to training sessions focused on disrupting arrests.

Mainstream media coverage has frequently described ICE Watch activity as “nonviolent observation,” omitting the physical interference tactics detailed in the manual. The document, however, is clear evidence of organized agitation and deliberate instruction in confronting law enforcement.

Numerous anti-ICE training handbooks and manuals are being produced and circulated in the United States. Some are linked to specific anti-ICE resistance groups that also provide training, organize protests, and conduct patrols. These include organizations such as COPAL MN (Comunidades Organizando El Poder y la Acción Latina), the Immigrant Defense Network (IDN), and related groups.

Much of the training, organizing, and distribution of anti-ICE resistance has taken place at schools receiving public funds, raising questions about whether groups instigating actions against the government should be allowed to receive taxpayer money. Furthermore, mainstream media have attempted to present the anti-ICE resistance training at schools as a reaction to the Renee Good shooting. However, many of these groups were already active at schools prior to the January 7, 2026 shooting.

Because of the deployment of nearly 3,000 ICE agents to the area in late 2025, several parent-teacher groups at the school attended by Renee Good’s son had already formed volunteer “safety committees.”

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Leftist Group Gets Millions of Taxpayer Dollars to Help Illegal Aliens After Trump Order Bans It

The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is promoting his investigation of a leftist group that received massive amounts of taxpayer dollars from the Biden administration to help illegal immigrants while omitting that the Trump administration kept the cash flowing. In fact, a $200 million program that gives illegal alien minors free lawyers was briefly cancelled and quietly reinstated by the Trump administration within days, though there is no mention of the abrupt about face in the probe announced last week by Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, a former collegiate wrestling champion serving his tenth term in the House.

Shortly after President Trump issued an executive order, back in mid-February 2025, ensuring taxpayer resources are used to protect the interest of American citizens and not to incentivize or support illegal immigration, the $200 million allocation for migrant kids got axed. The money was going to the same leftwing nonprofit that Jordan’s committee is investigating, though the veteran lawmaker’s new audit only mentions that it is focusing on how the open borders group has spent hundreds of millions of dollars awarded under Biden-Harris. The target is the Acacia Center for Justice, a Washington D.C. nonprofit that partners with a national network of human rights defenders to provide legal defense to immigrants at risk of detention or deportation. “Acacia envisions a nation with a transformed immigration system that embodies freedom from detention, due process, and equal protection, where every person facing the prospect of exile and community separation has access to meaningful legal defense,” the group writes on its website, which assures its network of attorneys fight for all immigrants regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, race or previous interaction with the criminal system.

Just a few days after suspending the $200 million annual program that funds the Acacia Center’s initiative to provide illegal alien minors with free legal assistance, the Trump administration quietly restored it with no further explanation. The center’s executive director, Shaina Aber, celebrated the speedy reinstatement of the government’s multi-million-dollar UAC defense program, saying in a press release that “it is unconscionable” that children who arrive in the U.S. unaccompanied by parents or legal guardians should be forced to represent themselves in immigration court. The hefty award is part of a billion-dollar commitment launched in 2022 by a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agency known as Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to legally represent underage migrants, known as Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC), who cross the border without a parent. Over 600,000 UAC have crossed illegally into the U.S. through Mexico since 2019 and Uncle Sam spends hundreds of millions of dollars to house, educate, feed, entertain and medically treat them. Under Trump’s America First policies—and his executive order banning the use of taxpayer resources to incentivize or support illegal immigration—that was supposed to change.

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