Tag: taxes

Cash For Migrants: FEMA Isn’t The Only Agency Spending Big

Elon Musk reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent $59 million last week alone – all on immigrants in New York City. Part of that was for housing, including luxury properties like The Row and The Watson, meant for tourists headed to see the marquees of Broadway. (Later the feds clawed back $80M from the city).

Open the Books previously reported that FEMA had an enormous $8 billion shortfall in its Disaster Relief Fund following the catastrophic damage of Hurricane Helene.

Well, FEMA is not the only agency that’s been spending gobs of taxpayer dollars on the immigration crisis. Programs span various agencies.

Included is the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), housed inside the Department of Health and Human Services subagency called the Administration for Children and Families.

ORR has spent over $22.6 BILLION since 2020 on grants to nonprofits providing everything from help accessing Medicaid to help building credit, help with home and auto loans, and cash assistance. Yes, cold hard cash!

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Microsoft Drops USAID-Funded NewsGuard After Ted Cruz Starts Digging

Microsoft has dropped NewsGuard, a left-wing fact-checking organization they partnered with that has helped the advertising industry justify blacklists for independent conservative media sites such as ZeroHedge.

The move came after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) began investigating Microsoft for funding the online “media literacy” censorship tool created by NewsGuard to help guide “learners of all ages through the overwhelming landscape of online news and information.”

Now we come to find out that NewsGuard was funded by USAID…

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EPA Threw Away BILLIONS Ahead of Trump Presidency

There is still outrage surrounding the elimination of the EPA. People do not realize just how much money this agency blew through on absolutely nothing. Biden admitted that the Inflation Reduction Act, the most expensive spending package in US history, was about CLIMATE CHANGE at its core and had nothing to do with inflation. Those at the EPA called the act “Biden’s climate law” and were eager to spend the proceeds. Efron told an undercover journalist that they were preparing to spend the money as quickly as possible right up until inauguration day.

The EPA was aware that Trump would likely eliminate their impractical agency. “We gave them [nonprofits] the money because… it was an insurance policy against Trump winning. Because they aren’t [a government agency], they’re safer from Republicans taking the money away,” he said. The EPA awarded nonprofits between $50 and $100 million EACH toward the end of Biden’s presidency.

The Biden Administration effectively permitted this agency to “throw gold bars” off the edge of the Titanic and needlessly spend public funds. All of these investigations lead to the same conclusion. The government provides nonprofits with a large sum and those agencies then funnel the money to smaller agencies, whether its related to climate change or funding terrorism. This is precisely why Trump attempted to freeze all federal funds upon taking office.

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Trump’s War on Fraud: MORE Staggering Government Waste Numbers Revealed!

On Thursday, President Trump unveiled startling revelations about government waste and fraud, in a report from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk. During a press conference following the signing of a significant executive order, Trump discussed new reciprocal tariffs and DOGE’s eye-opening discoveries. “Whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less,” Trump asserted, as reported by The Gateway Pundit. He emphasized the need for fairness, declaring, “In almost all cases, they’re charging us vastly more than we charge them, but those days are over.”

Trump is on a mission to slash wasteful government spending that has long been siphoning taxpayer money through fraud and abuse. The findings are quite staggering: up to $521 billion federal dollars are lost to fraud annually, with 2023 witnessing an estimated $236 billion or more in improper payments. Since 2003, an astonishing $2.7 trillion has vanished in improper payments, meaning payments funneled to the wrong recipients. The numbers for 2024 were equally disconcerting, with $162 billion in improper payments, including a $15.9 billion loss in the Earned Income Tax Credit, $10.5 billion in food stamps, $8.7 billion in the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, $6.5 billion in Supplemental Security Income, $5.6 billion in unemployment insurance, and $8.3 billion in Social Security Disability Insurance and Survivors Insurance Program, which included $6.5 billion in overpayments.

The Gateway Pundit has been diligent in exposing these massive waste figures, including the $2.7 trillion squandered since 2003, an issue highlighted by Marjorie Taylor Greene’s DOGE Subcommittee. Trump has made it clear that this is merely scratching the surface. Imagine the potential savings for American taxpayers if Washington stopped obstructing President Trump’s efforts to audit government spending with Elon Musk’s team. “That’s what Elon’s working so hard on with his group of almost 100 geniuses,” Trump remarked to reporters.

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Congress Discovers $2.7 Trillion in Fraudulent Government Payments — Why Is This Not a Bigger Story?

On Wednesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) held her DOGE subcommittee hearing and announced it has discovered that over the past 20 years, the U.S. government has squandered $2.7 trillion on improper payments. Just last year alone, the government handed out $170 billion to individuals who were deceased, criminals, or otherwise ineligible for government programs.

Even more alarming, the government made $44 billion in payments with no clear record of where the money actually went — officials simply don’t know.

Medicare and Medicaid are the biggest culprits when it comes to these improper payments. The Biden administration lost a staggering $764 billion due to a combination of inaccurate record-keeping, bureaucratic incompetence, and outright fraud.

Where’s the outrage? Where’s the media coverage? 

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14 States Sue To Block DOGE From Uncovering Government Abuses, Slashing Waste

We are now firmly in the lawfare stage of the second Trump presidency, with Democrats filing a flurry of lawsuits to hinder the new administration’s agenda until a strong ruling from the Supreme Court eventually sets precedent.

In the latest legal move, a group of 14 states have sued Elon Musk and President Donald Trump, alleging that the authority granted to the billionaire and his team at DOGE is unconstitutional. The states, including Arizona, Michigan and Rhode Island, have taken aim at efforts to dramatically reduce the size of the federal workforce, including dismantling entire agencies, as well as their access to sensitive data.

“The founders of this country would be outraged that, 250 years after our nation overthrew a king, the people of this country—many of whom have fought and died to protect our freedoms—are now subject to the whims of a single unelected billionaire,” said Arizona AG Kris Mayes in a statement reported by NBC News.

The lawsuit argues that Trump violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution by creating DOGE – an unofficial government agency, without congressional approval, and for granting Musk “sweeping power” without the advice or consent of the Senate through a confirmation hearing.

“President Trump has delegated virtually unchecked authority to Mr. Musk without proper legal authorization from Congress and without meaningful supervision of his activities,” reads the complaint. “As a result, he has transformed a minor position that was formerly responsible for managing government websites into a designated agent of chaos without limitation and in violation of the separation of powers.”

The states seek a court order blocking Musk from making changes to government funding, canceling contracts, making personnel decisions, and more.

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‘Obama Bros’ admit they should’ve done ‘some of the stuff’ Trump is doing with DOGE

Former aides to President Barack Obama admitted on an episode of “Pod Save America” they should have done “some of the stuff” President Donald Trump is doing with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

When discussing DOGE’s initiatives to cut federal spending, the “Obama Bros” admitted to “lamenting” their situation.

Jon Lovett, a former Obama speechwriter, implied he “didn’t know” they could make government so efficient. 

“Honestly, some of this is pretty annoying because it’s some of the stuff we should’ve done. We didn’t know you could do some of this,” Lovett said. 

Jon Favreau, also a former Obama speechwriter, shared Lovett’s frustration, admitting the Obama administration tried to cut through bureaucracy and create government efficiency, but “it’s hard to do.”

“We all know that government is slow. We all know government can be inefficient. We all know that the bureaucracy can be bloated. We all worked in the f—ing White House. We tried to reorganize the government. We tried to find efficiency. It’s hard to do,” Favreau said. 

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Mythologies About Musk

Here are some of the untruths told about Elon Musk and DOGE:

“Musk has no right to cut USAID.”

Elon Musk and his team are not cutting any federal programs.

They are auditors. They were given legal authority under a presidential executive order creating the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Its mandate is to identify waste, abuse, fraud, and irrelevance in the federal budget at a time when the U.S. is $37 trillion in debt.

The agency will expire on July 4, 2026.

Ultimately, Musk can propose program cuts, but Trump holds the authority to approve or reject them. He may or may not act on all, some, or none of the DOGE recommendations.

“No one elected Musk.”

Like hundreds of government officials, Musk was appointed by an elected president to run an agency that does not require Senate confirmation.

Musk is as legally legitimate as the national security advisor and his National Security Council, none of whom require Senate confirmation.

Does the left believe former national security advisor Jake Sullivan, who made decisions far more pivotal than Musk, had no authority to do so because he too was neither elected nor confirmed by the Senate?

“It is a dangerous precedent to give a private citizen billionaire like Musk so much power.”

In fact, Musk has far more legal authority than did FDR’s best friend Harry Hopkins. Hopkins moved into the White House and de facto set U.S. foreign assistance policies toward Stalin’s Russia.

Musk’s position is more akin to past captains of industry like Henry Ford, Henry Kaiser, and William Knudson appointed by FDR to run the wartime economy.

None of them were either elected or confirmed by the Senate. All of them helped to save a poorly armed U.S. after the debacle of Pearl Harbor.

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EPA head Lee Zeldin reveals no real oversight of shocking $20B that Biden admin funneled through Citibank: ‘Tip of the iceberg’

A $20 billion Biden administration green-energy slush fund was collecting interest at a private bank and is being distributed without proper oversight, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin reveals in an exclusive interview.

President Joe Biden’s EPA parked $20 billion at the financial institution, which The Post has learned is Citibank, as part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. But the awardees weren’t announced until August 2024 and Citibank was not brought in until September — after Biden’s disastrous June debate performance led him to withdraw from his re-election effort in July, making for a very different race with Vice President Kamala Harris the Democratic nominee.

Zeldin’s team is looking into whether former EPA employees are working at any of the grantees, which include the Opportunity Finance Network (receiving $2.29 billion), where vice president Laura Silverman says she brings “economic, financial, and social justice to communities,” and the Native CDFI Network ($400 million), which has featured Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as a speaker. Power Forward Communities, a $2 billion recipient, has no list of employees on its website — but does have openings for government affairs VP, communications VP and special assistant.

The others: Climate United Fund (which got the biggest grant, nearly $7 billion), Coalition for Green Capital ($5 billion), Inclusiv ($1.87 billion), Justice Climate Fund ($940 million) and Appalachian Community Capital ($500 million).

Here Lee Zeldin tells The Post’s Kelly Jane Torrance why it was “a high priority for me and my great team to get to the bottom of these questions as quickly as possible.”

This was on our radar during the transition, when the video was posted online at the beginning of December of the Biden EPA political appointee admitting on camera they were “throwing gold bars off the Titanic.”

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Elon Musk’s ‘Proof’ of Government Waste Is in the Pudding

Earlier this week, Elon Musk appeared at the Oval Office with President Donald Trump; Musk’s son, X Æ A-Xii, even made an appearance. Citing a desire for “maximum transparency,” the tech billionaire discussed the efforts of his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to identify and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government.

Here was how The New York Times described the press conference: “In Oval Office, Musk Says Without Proof That Bureaucracy Is Rife With Fraud.”

Later, the newspaper tweaked the headline to read: “At Oval Office, Musk Makes Broad Claims of Federal Fraud Without Proof.”

To be maximally charitable to the Times, they did not actually state that claims of federal fraud are baseless, just that Musk failed to proffer examples. Musk did cite examples of government processes clearly in need of updating, including the infamous, inefficient limestone mine where government employee papers are kept—something that sounds completely ridiculous but actually exists.

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