Tag: taxes

Tim Walz Demands US Taxpayers Pay for “Damage” Caused by ICE in Minnesota – “You Don’t Get to Break Things and Then Just Leave… They Left Us with Serious Damage, Generational Trauma”

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Thursday demanded that the federal government now pay for the “damage” they caused in Minnesota following the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from immigration operations in the state.

First, he thanked the radical left-wingers in Minnesota for violently driving federal agents out of the state, which resulted in the death of two anti-ICE rioters. He then revealed that he plans to provide forgivable “$10 million one-time targeted loans” from the Minnesota small business emergency fund.

But Walz wants US taxpayers to foot the bill. “The federal government needs to pay for what they broke here,” Walz said. They are going to be accountability on the things that happen, but one of the things is the incredible and immense costs that were born by the people of this state.”

These costs reportedly include $1 million in rental assistance for those impacted by immigration raids and $4.3 million for police overtime pay while far-left Anti-ICE rioters took over the streets.

“They left us with serious damage, generational trauma. They left us with economic ruin in some cases. They left us with many unanswered questions,” Walz said during the press conference.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, rioters took over the streets of Minneapolis and lit a dumpster ablaze following the death of Alex Pretti, an armed leftwing agitator who had prior violent run-ins with federal agents.

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Not Just California: Washington State and Illinois Eyeing Millionaire Taxes

Even as billionaires flee California to escape a potential wealth tax, proposals to raise taxes on millionaires are advancing in Washington state and Illinois.

Legislation to impose a new 9.9 percent tax on income above $1 million a year advanced this week in Olympia, Wash., passing the Senate Ways & Means Committee. The Evergreen State currently has a tax on capital gains and a 0.58 percent payroll tax dedicated to funding long-term care insurance, but no other tax on ordinary income.

The governor of Washington, Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, has largely backed the tax increase, saying he would use the revenues to increase spending on K-12 education. The Washington Education Association, the teachers’ union, lists “[t]ax the ultra-rich” as its top legislative priority. The state is already in the top 10 in the nation in per-student spending, but in the bottom 10 in the nation in demographically adjusted results on standardized tests.

The Tax Foundation has warned that “the proposed tax would yield a top rate of more than 18 percent in Seattle when combined with two Seattle wage taxes and a statewide uncapped payroll tax, making it the highest rate on wage income in the country.”

“Fundamentally, whatever its finer points, this is a high-rate income tax in a state that already imposes aggressive taxes on businesses,” the Tax Foundation said. “With this legislation, Washington would double down on being a high-tax state, particularly for businesses and for some of its most mobile taxpayers.”

Meanwhile, in Illinois, the Illinois Federation of Teachers is planning to descend on the state capitol in Springfield on Feb. 17 for its annual lobby day. The union says it will give the state’s governor, Democrat J.B. Pritzker, a letter touting “Massachusetts’ early results from its millionaire’s tax.” In a Jan. 14 statement, Stacy Davis Gates, who is president of both the Chicago Teachers Union and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, also cited the Bay State example, writing, “Massachusetts’s 4% surtax on millionaires generated nearly $6B billion for public services since its passage — Illinois can do the same.”

Massachusetts has been struggling with an exodus since its millionaires tax went into effect in 2023. Even Cape Cod Potato Chips left the state, and the Wall Street Journal devoted an entire recent article to the collapse of Boston’s luxury condo market.

A former governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, a Democrat who served from 2009 to 2015, has been pushing a plan to add a 3 percent surtax for millionaires on top of the state’s existing 4.95 percent flat rate. The Illinois Policy Institute warns that the state already “has one of the highest total effective tax rates in the nation and the highest in the Midwest,” and that the existing high taxes are one reason the state is losing population.

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Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Tax the Rich’ Agenda Runs Into a Brick Wall of Reality as He’s Grilled by NY Lawmakers in Albany

New York City’s new democratic socialist (communist) Mayor Zohran Mamdani was grilled by state lawmakers in Albany this week over plans to fund his agenda by taxing the rich.

This is the difference between campaigning and governing. Many, if not all, of Mamdani’s ideas sound great on paper to leftists. Implementing them in real life is a different thing, entirely.

Some of the people who questioned him are undoubtedly wondering why he can’t even seem to be able to get the snow removed or pick up the city’s trash.

WRGB News reports:

“Honeymoon is over” Zohran Mamdani grilled by lawmakers as he proposes to “tax the rich”

Mamdani is asking for a 2 percent raise in personal income taxes to the top one percent of New York City residents, arguing someone making $1 million can afford $20,000 in more taxes, and that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would deliver federal tax cuts to more than make up for that sum.

Lawmakers then had the opportunity to question Mamdani’s proposals on all of the above. Lawmakers from other cities shared concerns that if New York City received more money, they would receive less. Many asked about his proposal to increase taxes on the wealthy, and the impact it could have not just on New York City, but the rest of the State as well. Others questioned Mamdani’s actions in addressing antisemitism.

“Once the honeymoon is over, which I think you’ve just felt, you may well prefer three minutes to 10,” State Senator John Liu, Chairman of New York City Education Committee ( D ), told Mamdani at one point. “Speaking of which, you know, it’s mid-February, so I will respectfully say that the time for blaming past Mayors and Governors is passed. We need to hear the details of your plan. And it’s good to hear your revenue proposals.”

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Illinois City Issues $25,000 in Cash to Black Residents for Reparations

More than a million dollars will soon be doled out to black residents of Evanston, Illinois, under the city’s reparations program.

Evanston’s Reparations Committee announced last week that 44 people will be getting $25,000 each, for a total of $1.1 million, according to the Chicago Tribune.

All 44 are descendants of individuals who qualify under the city’s program that pays out reparations to black residents who claimed they experienced housing discrimination between 1919 and 1969.

The payments are intended to be used for housing expenses, Cynthia Vargas, Evanston’s communications and community engagement manager, said.

Through Jan. 31, the city has received $276,588 for the Reparations Fund from its real estate transfer tax. The city’s Cannabis Retailers Occupation Tax, which by state edict does not share amounts, also kicks in to the fund.

No private donations have been reported to fund the program.

To keep the cash flowing, the city is debating putting a tax on Delta-8 THC products such as gummies or vapes.

Second Ward Councilmember Krissie Harris noted that the city is not holding back on cash to those who qualify, but it has to wait until it has the revenue to spend.

Evanston made history by being the first city to pass a reparations plan.

It set a goal of handing out $10 million over a decade to black residents, according to Fox News.

Judicial Watch has sued the city over the program, saying it violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

In its lawsuit, Judicial Watch argued that the “program’s use of a race-based eligibility requirement is presumptively unconstitutional, and remedying societal discrimination is not a compelling government interest.”

“Nor has remedying discrimination from as many as 105 years ago or remedying intergenerational discrimination ever been recognized as a compelling government interest,” the lawsuit said.

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Walz administration claims fraud in Minnesota is not ‘uniquely bad’

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) published a so-called “fact check” this week which attempted to “correct misleading information and outright false claims about Medicaid fraud in Minnesota.”

In its fact check, DHS pushed back against claims surrounding Minnesota’s ongoing fraud problems. One of the claims the agency “fact checked” was an unattributed statement which said: “Minnesota’s fraud problem is uniquely bad.”

Shockingly, DHS rejected that claim.

“Fraud is a nationwide challenge and is not unique to Minnesota,” it said. “Higher visibility does not equal higher fraud. Targeted misinformation thrust Minnesota in the spotlight, but we are committed to leading the nation in Medicaid program integrity and fighting fraud.”

Attempting to support its argument, DHS referenced fraud scandals that have occurred in other states. Among them was a $490 million healthcare fraud scheme in California, a $2.5 billion Medicaid scheme in Arizona, and an alleged $14.6 billion Medicaid and Medicare fraud scheme that occurred in New York, Illinois, California, and North Carolina.

While those schemes are substantial, all of those states are larger than Minnesota, and some of those states are significantly larger than Minnesota. Yet, Minnesota still rivals, or outpaces, the fraud schemes being perpetrated in those states.

Since 2022, federal authorities in Minnesota have prosecuted fraud in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme. Additionally, the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office estimated that fraud in 14 state-run, Medicaid-funded programs could exceed $9 billion since 2018.

Dozens of people, the overwhelming majority of whom are from the Somali community, have been charged and convicted in Minnesota’s ongoing fraud saga. Fraud has turned into the top political issue in Minnesota, and Gov. Tim Walz was all but ushered into an early retirement because of it.

On top of this, federal prosecutors in Minnesota have repeatedly highlighted how Minnesota is an outlier when it comes to this fraud.

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“They Thought They Were Untouchable”: US Seizes 134 Acres In Texas Used By Mexican Cartel

More than 134 acres in Texas that was being used by a drug cartel for smuggling activities has been taken over by U.S. authorities, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a Feb. 10 post on X.

“We took the land and everything on it,” the post said.

A video shared with the post showed law enforcement officers arresting several people.

“They thought they were untouchable. They were wrong. Over 134 acres of land and property, taken from the westside Gulf Cartel, a terrorist organization operating near Rio Grande City, Texas,” according to the video.

The Gulf Cartel is a drug trafficking organization from Mexico that moves arms and migrants into the United States, and has engaged in the kidnapping and murder of American citizens. Drug cartels have been known to use U.S. lands to grow marijuana, with such activities exploiting sanctuary state policies and the sovereignty of native tribal lands.

In a message to the cartels, CBP said, “You think this is just about arrests? It’s not. We are dismantling your operations from the ground up. We’re cutting out your safe houses, your staging areas, your corridors. This is your warning.”

Over the past year, authorities have seized several cartel-linked assets.

In May, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two high-ranking members of the Cartel del Noreste (CDN), a drug trafficking organization from Mexico. As a result, all assets and interests in assets of the designated individuals in the United States were blocked.

In March, the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six people and seven entities for being involved in money laundering activity to support the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel, resulting in blocking their assets in the United States.

“Laundered drug money is the lifeblood of the Sinaloa Cartel’s narco-terrorist enterprise, only made possible through trusted financial facilitators like those we have designated today,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time.

“Treasury, as part of a whole-of-government approach to addressing this pressing national security threat, will use all available tools to target anyone who assists the cartels in furthering their campaign of crime and violence.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has introduced the Cartel Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act to seize cartel assets, according to a Dec. 18 statement from the lawmaker’s office.

The bill would authorize President Donald Trump to commission private U.S. operators under letters of marque to take over cartel assets on land and sea. A letter of marque is a written authority granted to a person by the government to seize the goods of enemies. Such letters once used to be a common tool against piracy.

Under the bill, private operators would have the right to employ “all reasonably necessary means” to seize assets outside the United States.

“The Constitution provides for Letters of Marque and Reprisal as a tool against the enemies of the United States,” Lee said.

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State senator tells Congress: ‘Minnesota is ground zero for the fraud epidemic’

A Minnesota state senator took the national stage Tuesday and delivered a blistering assessment of the state’s handling of taxpayer dollars.

Sen. Mark Koran, R–North Branch, testified before a U.S. Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs subcommittee during a hearing titled “Examining Fraud and Foreign Influence in State and Federal Programs.”

The hearing, chaired by U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., focused in part on what lawmakers described as widespread fraud in Minnesota’s social welfare programs.

Koran, who has served nine years in the Minnesota Senate and on the Legislative Audit Commission, painted a picture of systemic failure.

“I appreciate the opportunity to share my insight on the fraud as I’ve seen it in my nine years as Minnesota state senator as well as being on the Legislative Audit Commission,” Koran began.

He described the bipartisan commission as responsible for appointing the nonpartisan legislative auditor, whose job is to review programs across state government and flag misuse of taxpayer dollars.

“I can tell you that most of these audits are bad,” Koran said. “One of the most common failures is state agencies not verifying that grant recipients did the work that they were paid to do.”

He cited a January 2026 audit in which, he said, “state employees were backdating and fabricating documents after an audit had started, looking to mislead our auditors.”

“Fraud in Minnesota is pervasive and systemic, from the executive branch through the state agencies,” he said. “Even when the legislature puts safeguards in place, they’re often ignored and there are rarely any real consequences.”

Koran did not mince words when describing the scope of the problem.

“The devastation of this incompetence and complicity totals far more in dollars than the media, Gov. [Tim] Walz, or the Democrats admit in public. It’s not millions, it’s not hundreds of millions, it’s billions of dollars stolen,” he testified.

He placed part of the blame squarely on Gov. Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

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State Department Hones In On Left-Wing NGOs As Vectors Of Chinese Influence Operations

It appears the Trump administration is finally getting serious about dark money-funded NGOs that are sowing chaos on America’s city streets, with apparent links to foreign influence operations. More alarmingly, these same nonprofits appear to sit at the center of the protest industrial complex and are actively amplified and promoted by prominent members of the Democratic Party. This highly organized and well-funded protest machine has waged an endless decade-long color revolution-style operation of chaos against President Trump.

The New York Post reports the State Department has sent a report to Congress connecting the left-wing nonprofits Code Pink and the People’s Forum to Chinese propaganda influence operations, mostly because of their direct association with China-based Marxist Neville Roy Singham, who operates the so-called “Singham network” of nonprofits.

The Post wrote:

“Partisan hacks spent years peddling the phony Russia collusion hoax while turning a blind eye to the sprawling web of far-left activist organizations who push the agendas of the Chinese Communist Party,” Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers said in a statement provided to The Post.

“Organizations like Code Pink and the People’s Forum denigrate the United States, whitewash the violence of Marxist regimes, and run cover for China while enjoying an influx of cash from a donor network with connections to the Chinese Communist Party,” Rogers added.

“The State Department will pursue complete transparency for the donor and NGO networks that lobby for our adversaries and seek to weaken the resolve of the United States.”

And continued:

The report on “Countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference” alleges that China “spreads propaganda through influence campaigns run by nonprofit organizations like Code Pink, the People’s Forum and groups linked with the notorious Singham network.”

The so-called “Singham network” are nonprofits funded by tech mogul Neville Roy Singham, whose wife is a co-founder of Code Pink.

Singham, an American expat living in China, “works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide,” the New York Times reported in 2023.

“Chinese diplomats, state media, and pro-China influencers use social media, content-sharing agreements, and local partnerships to publish pro-CCP propaganda,” the report continues. “China invests in [public diplomacy], exchanges, reporting tours, and educational and cultural initiatives to boost its image.”

“The Department assesses that China, Iran, and Russia aggressively use state media, proxies, and digital platforms to spread propaganda and falsehoods, undermine U.S. credibility and policies, and expand their influence.”

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Ilhan Omar Posts Stunning Tweet that Seemingly Calls for President Trump’s EXECUTION After He Comments on Somali Fraud

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) made an extremely disturbing statement on X that many are interpreting as a call for President Trump’s execution.

On Tuesday, Trump sat down for an interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business to discuss his administration’s efforts to crack down on the massive fraud happening across America, espically in Minnesota.

At one point, Trump specifically referenced the Somali community’s role along with Omar’s in the fraud.

“Somalia has come in here. What they’ve done to our country, these people, they’ve come into our country, and what they’ve done with that fake congresswoman. She’s so bad,” Trump to Kudlow.

Omar was furious at what she read. She proceeded to blast Trump as the head of the “Ped*phile Protection Party” before talking baout what Somalia does with p*dophiles.

“The leader of the Ped*phile Protection Party is trying to deflect attention from his name being all over the Epstein files,” Omar wrote.

“At least in Somalia, they execute ped*philes, not elect them, she added.

Did she call for Trump’s execution? You be the judge.

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“Train Wreck” US Adds $481 Billion In Debt In 3 Months

The government hit the debt ceiling back in January which blocked any net new debt from being created from January to June. Once the debt ceiling was lifted, the government wasted no time in catching up for all the months where borrowing was frozen. Over the last 7 months, the government borrowed an incredible $2.28T!

Note: Non-Marketable consists almost entirely of debt the government owes to itself (e.g., debt owed to Social Security or public retirement)

January was a very small month, but the chart below shows that $2.3T was borrowed for all of 2025. This follows $2.6T and $2.2T in 2023 and 2024. Needless to say, there seems to be a new standard of $2T+ annual borrowing. This will likely mean adding $10T every 4 years at current rates. More than likely that is going to accelerate going forward.

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