Tag: taxes

Social Security Clean Up Continues, 12.3 Million Finally Marked as Deceased

After 11 weeks, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has hit a milestone in its major cleanup initiative to remove more than 12.3 million names of Social Security number holders whose dates of birth make them over 120 years old.

DOGE team members continue to deal with what they call “complex cases” that remain, including investigating instances where an individual has two or more different birth dates on file.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) touted the efforts of DOGE to root out fraud, calling the cleanup of Social Security rolls “remarkable.”
Earlier this year, DOGE chief Elon Musk warned of millions of Social Security recipients well over the age of 100 who were still collecting benefits.

The number of potentially fraudulent Social Security number holders included some 7.2 million individuals who would be between 120 and 139 years old, another 4.8 million who would be between 140 and 159 years of age and a group of 124,000 individuals who would be more than 160 years old.

In March, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issued a statement saying:

“The data reported in the media represent people who do not have a date of death associated with their record. While these people may not be receiving benefits, it is important for the agency to maintain accurate and complete records.”

The SSA database, which tracks the numbers issued, has existed since 1936 and was flagged during a review in March of 2015 that discovered that the death records had not been updated for 6.5 million individuals over the age of 112, all of who were presumed to be deceased.

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Sen. Joni Ernst Finds ‘Huge’ Fraud in the $60 Billion Federal Employees Spent with Gov’t Credit Cards: Charges at Casinos, Bars, Pay-Per-View UFC Fights

On Thursday’s “Alex Marlow Show,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) talked about wasteful spending on government credit cards.

Ernst said, “[T]he federal government, through GSA credit cards, has 4.6 million active credit cards and accounts…we have a little less than half that number in federal employees.”

She added that “a lot” of card usage occurs during federal holidays and on days like New Year’s Eve at “nightclubs, bars” and on “Sunday afternoons, okay, a big UFC fight or something pay-per-view.” And there are also cash withdrawals at casino ATMs.

Ernst further stated that about 500,000 cards have now been canceled.

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Colombian woman charged with illegally voting in 2024 election stealing $400,000 in taxpayer funded benefits

A Colombian woman living illegally in the United States lived under a stolen identity for more than two decades, improperly received more than $400,000 in stolen federal benefits, and illegally voted in the 2024 presidential election, federal prosecutors said Thursday. 

Lina Maria Orovio-Hernandez, 59, also obtained welfare benefits, a REAL ID and eight other state ID’s, the Justice Department said. 

Orovio-Hernandez allegedly used the stolen identity to submit a fraudulent voter registration in January 2023, and cast a ballot in last year’s presidential election, prosecutors said. She was captured on surveillance camera at a bank wearing an “I voted” sticker on Nov. 5, 2024, Election Day, according to court documents. 

She is charged with false representation of a Social Security number; making a false statement in an application for a United States passport; aggravated identity theft; receiving stolen government money or property; fraudulent voter registration; and fraudulent voting. Orovio-Hernandez has been held in federal custody since February, when she was charged with identity theft and other offenses. 

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China’s Solar Firms Face Potential Tax Credit Freeze Under House ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

Chinese clean energy companies would be excluded from tax benefits they enjoyed under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), should the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, currently considered by the U.S. Congress, become law.

The act, a budget reconciliation package aimed to implement President Donald Trump’s policy agenda, was passed by the House of Representatives early Thursday by one vote. China solar importers are asking the Senate to change course in their version of the bill.

The IRA, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022, is often dubbed the “Green New Deal.” It provided tax write-offs to clean energy producers and manufacturers, primarily of EV batteries, battery storage, solar, and wind.

For China, the IRA was mostly a solar story.

China is the world’s No. 1 solar manufacturer. Its solar companies account for eight out of the top 10 globally, according to researchers at Photovoltaic Brand Lab.

Since the law, no other country has invested more in solar projects in the United States than China.

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Ideological Capture At Professional Societies

Disassembling and “deleting” federal agencies is proving to be a difficult task for the Trump administration, which has been working to slash bureaucratic red tape and federal spending, especially for left-wing radicalism like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).

Unlike some of the intermediate steps President Trump has taken through Executive Order, truly closing an agency will require a 60-person majority in a Senate vote, a tall order with only 53 Republicans in the upper chamber.

But there are still some low-hanging fruits left for the administration to pick. Chiefly, it can end relationships with all professional societies promoting principles of DEI and radical gender ideology.

The federal government contracts with a myriad of these organizations across all the major agencies. Professional societies set the atmosphere and guidelines for practitioners in their fields, and they can have hundreds of thousands of members.

If those organizations become ideologically captured, the impact will be felt across society.

There is no reason for the federal government to fund such organizations. DOGE should identify these organizations and give Congress and taxpayers the information they need to make informed budget decisions.

Doing so will allow state and local governments to make better decisions as well.

As DOGE continues the work of identifying bloat, some of those activities and decisions will shift to state and local government where they rightly belong. But elected officials will still be presented with the same outside groups seeking their business. Officials at the state and local level, and taxpayers who fund those entities, have the right to know more about organizations seeking public funds.

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Justin Trudeau Getting Two Pensions And Severance Worth Over $8 Million

Nothing like being rewarded for a job well done. Or, in Justin Trudeau’s case, bringing an entire country to the brink of losing the respect of the entire world.

Maybe that’s why Trudeau is reportedly getting not one but two pensions, and a $104,000 severance, totaling more than $8 million,  according to the Toronto Sun.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released a chart Wednesday estimating pension and severance payouts for departing MPs.

“Pensions for former MPs depend on length of service and the rules at the time,” said CTF National Director Franco Terrazzano. “When Canadians see some of these numbers, the clear takeaway is that these political pensions are costing taxpayers too much money.”

The Sun writes that Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is eligible for two pensions: one for nearly 17 years as an MP and another for his 10 years as PM. Together, they’re valued at about $8.4 million. Starting at age 55, he’ll receive $141,000 annually from his MP pension, and another $73,000 a year from his PM pension when he turns 67.

“Trudeau is also going to be getting a severance just shy of $105,000,” Terrazzano added. “When we speak of leadership at the top, the first place for politicians to reign in the perks is to end the second pension for future prime ministers.”

A total of 110 former MPs qualify for either a pension, severance, or both. Those who served fewer than six years are eligible for severance worth half their salary—$104,900.

Notable names entitled to both pension and severance include Niki Ashton, Rachel Blaney, Jagmeet Singh, Seamus O’Regan, and others.

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Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Defunds Medicaid-Covered Transgender Surgery

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending budget, lovingly dubbed the “one big, beautiful, bill,” strips Medicaid’s funding for transgender surgeries — a move that will impact a large portion of such procedures if it passes the Senate.

The reconciliation budget, which narrowly passed the House of Representatives early Thursday morning in a 215-214-1 vote, would have initially prohibited Medicaid from covering “gender transition procedures” for children, until a late Wednesday amendment struck the words “minors” and “under 18 years of age” from that section, the Independent reported.

Gender transition treatments that would no longer be covered include puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgeries. 

A 2023 study by gynecologists from Columbia University and the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, revealed that a staggering 25 percent of so-called “gender-affirming” surgeries in the United States are covered by Medicaid. 

Out of the 48,019 patients identified in the report who underwent such surgeries, over 12,000 were Medicaid recipients. 

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Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Strips Al Capone-Era Tax On Suppressors

Gun rights groups celebrated Thursday morning after the House narrowly passed President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” in a 215–214 vote. Organizations like Gun Owners of America praised the legislation for including the Constitutional Hearing Protection Act (CHPA), which eliminates both the federal registration requirement and the $200 tax on firearm suppressors. The provision drew sharp criticism from anti-gunners and leftist media outlets as the bill now heads to the Senate. 

“The House of Representatives passes GOA-backed language 215-214 to ELIMINATE the unconstitutional taxation & registration of suppressors under the NFA,” GOA wrote on X, adding, “The bill heads to the Senate, where GOA will fight to include protections for short-barreled firearms too.” 

GOA’s Deputy Director of Federal Affairs, Benjamin Sanderson, said in a short video posted on X that the organization has been working on a budget reconciliation strategy to deregulate suppressors for the past year. He thanked the millions of GOA members who have supported their efforts.

Since being classified under the Al Capone-era National Firearms Act, suppressors have been subject to a $200 tax stamp imposed by the ATF. If President Trump signs the Senate version of the “Big, Beautiful Bill,” purchasers only need to pass an FBI background check to acquire a suppressor.

“Shall not be infringed—or taxed. I’m proud that we secured the elimination of taxation and registration of suppressors in budget reconciliation. It’s past time we restore our constitutional 2A rights,” stated Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), who originally introduced CHPA.

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Fury as Welsh Labour government spends £250,000 on project to count MOTHS while it cuts public services

Taxpayers have been left furious after the Welsh Labour government spent £250,000 on a project to count moths – while it cuts public services. 

The ‘Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn’ project is surveying the moths’ limestone habitats on Llandudno’s Great Orme headland and in neighbouring areas. 

It was handed a grant of £248,348 by the Government’s Nature Networks Fund, and will be delivered by the Heritage Fund.

The under-fire government claims it with help protect at-risk insects, including the Horehound Plume micro-moth. 

A Tory councillor branded the spending ‘ridiculous’ – as families struggle with the cost of living and local authorities cut frontline services.

Llandudno’s Louise Emery hit out after a grant was awarded by the Welsh Government to Conwy county council.

She said: ‘Rather than for the benefit of invertebrates, how about Welsh Government benefit schools and communities by properly funding local authorities to improve education and provide basic services such as maintaining highways and public toilets?

‘It’s about priorities, and establishing the number of moths on specific limestone headlands should not be a priority when Welsh Labour in Cardiff continue to tell local authorities they have no money. This is utterly ridiculous.’

The project, which also works with schools, found ‘a staggering’ 1,109 horehound plume moth caterpillars on the Great Orme in Llandudno.

Cllr Emery continued: ‘There is money available from Welsh Government but only for certain things, so while local authority budgets are really being squeezed, Welsh Government finds money for projects such as the Cryptic Creatures of the Creuddyn.

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Liberal Boomers lined up for Carney—now their grandkids are lining up at the food bank

In 2021, 5.8 million Canadians lived in households struggling to put food on the table. By 2024, that number shot up to nearly 10 million.

Newly released data from Statistics Canada shows that food insecurity in this country has taken a horrifying leap, with a staggering 72% increase in just three years.

Among children, the picture is even bleaker. Nearly 2.5 million Canadian kids—one in three—now live in food-insecure households. That’s not some distant tragedy in a far-off land. That’s right here, in your neighbourhood, in your kid’s classroom.

And while families are rationing groceries, Liberal Boomers just handed the reins to Mark Carney—the unelected high priest of net-zero—who’s promised to keep punishing farmers, truckers, and the energy industry with his anti-energy policies. 

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