Tag: taxes

ORCHESTRATED CENSORSHIP: $2.4 million in U.S. government fund to Poynter Institute raises alarms

In a shocking revelation that underscores the insidious reach of government over media and online speech, the Media Research Center (MRC) has uncovered that the Poynter Institute for Media Studies received at least 2.4 million in government funds from 2013 to 2025. The majority of this funding, totaling over 1.67 million, came from the Small Business Administration (SBA) during the Biden administration, with additional significant contributions from the U.S. Agency for Global Media and the State Department.

A historical context of concern

The Poynter Institute, home to the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), has long been a focal point of controversy, particularly among conservatives and those advocating for free speech. Since its inception in 2015, the IFCN has certified and supported over 170 fact-checking organizations worldwide, a network that has often been accused of bias and censorship. The allocation of taxpayer dollars to such an entity raises serious questions about government influence over the media and the suppression of dissenting voices.

Government-funded censorship: A dangerous precedent

The funding of the Poynter Institute is not merely a case of irresponsible spending; it is a potent example of the government’s role in shaping online discourse. The IFCN, with its extensive network of fact-checkers, including Poynter’s own PolitiFact, was integral to Meta’s (formerly Facebook) fact-checking program. This program, which flagged content and reduced its visibility by up to 95%, was a powerful tool for suppressing speech—particularly conservative viewpoints.

“The critical issue here is the extent to which the government is funding organizations that have a direct hand in moderating and censoring online content,” said Tim Graham, a senior analyst at MRC. “This is a clear violation of the First Amendment and a dangerous precedent for free speech in America.”

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You Get What They Pay For, War

Readers here have heard of Ray McGovern’s MICIMATT, the military-industrial-congressional-intelligence-media-academe-think-tank complex. It’s gargantuan and lubricated with enormous sums of money.

Consider think tanks. Go to thinktankfundingtracker.org and you’ll see useful information like this:

Top 10 Think Tanks That Receive Funding from Pentagon Contractors

  1. Atlantic Council $10,270,001
  2. Center for a New American Security $6,665,000
  3. Center for Strategic and International Studies $4,115,000
  4. Brookings Institution $3,475,000
  5. Hudson Institute $2,240,000
  6. Council on Foreign Relations $2,095,000
  7. Stimson Center $1,555,763
  8. Aspen Institute $1,125,000
  9. German Marshall Fund $871,010
  10. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace $620,008

I wonder why these think tanks tend to favor the agendas and interests of America’s various weapons makers? Hard to offer “neutral” or “balanced” advice when so much of your funding is coming from the merchants of death.

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DOGE says it found nearly untraceable budget line item responsible for $4.7T in payments

The Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) discovered an identification code linking U.S. Treasury payments to a budget line item, which accounts for nearly $4.7 trillion in payments which was oftentimes left blank.

“The Treasury Access Symbol (TAS) is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item (standard financial process),” DOGE wrote in a post on X. “In the Federal Government, the TAS field was optional for ~$4.7 Trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible. As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.”

The agency thanked the U.S. Treasury for their work in identifying the optional field.

According to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which is under the Treasury, TAS codes are used to describe any one of the account identification codes assigned by the Treasury and is also referred to as the “account.”

All financial transactions made by the federal government are classified by TAS when reporting to the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The discovery was announced on the same day DOGE appeared to have populated the DOGE.gov Savings page, which, as of Monday evening, said the total estimated savings since the establishment of the department total about $55 billion.

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Former RNC Chair Who Now Works for MSNBC Has Total On-Air Meltdown About Elon Musk and DOGE

Michael Steele was the chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2009 to 2011. In the Trump years, he has shown himself to be a complete RINO, an anti-Trump wingnut who feels more at home on the set of MSNBC where he currently serves as a regular contributor.

Over the weekend, Steele had an on-air meltdown over Elon Musk and the work he is doing with DOGE.

It’s a real mystery why Republicans did so much losing on this guy’s watch. It’s amazing that he was once paid to run the RNC.

FOX News has details:

MSNBC host demands Democrats ‘show that you give a damn’ about Trump, Musk in fiery rant

MSNBC’s Michael Steele unloaded on Democrats during a rant on Saturday, demanding they start to show they care about people “losing their jobs” and President Donald Trump’s early actions as president.

“I’d just like you to show that you give a damn!” Steele, a former RNC Chair turned MSNBC host, said. “That you get a little emotional about the fact that people are losing their jobs indiscriminately! That this individual sitting down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has given absolute power to one man, who brings his son into the Oval Office, whose son says to him, ‘you’re not the president! You shouldn’t be in that chair!’ Now, where did he get that from? He got it from his daddy! Because that’s what his daddy thinks of the man who brought him into the Oval Office.”…

“They’re in your bedrooms!” Steele continued. “They’re in your living rooms! They’re in your businesses! They’ve got they got your data, dumb a–! They got all your stuff! Elon Musk has his tentacles in everything you’re doing! Not just off of X, but he’s in the Treasury Department! He’s in the Labor Department! He’s in Department of Homeland Security!”

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Education Department Cuts $600 Million From Ideological Training Programs for Teachers

The U.S. Education Department on Monday said it has canceled $600 million in grants for educator training programs that promote “divisive ideologies.”

The grants had been awarded to teacher preparation programs that trained future educators in what the department said were “inappropriate and unnecessary topics,” such as critical race theory, which promotes the fundamental framework view that racism is embedded in all institutions and aspects of society; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and social justice activism. Some of the defunded programs also included race-based teacher recruitment and staffing strategies, according to the department.

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Trump and DOGE Want To Cut Waste? This Upcoming Test Launch of a Nuclear Missile Is All Waste – and Dangerous Folly

At a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on last Thursday, President Trump once again reiterated his desire to cut military spending. He stated that the United States, Russia, and China should reduce their “defense” budgets in order to focus on more productive things.

“It doesn’t really make sense, does it? We’re spending the money against each other and we could spend that money for better purposes if we get along,” Trump said. “And I’ll tell you, I think that something like that will happen.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a town hall with troops at the Pentagon, also hinted at military program cuts. And Trump says DOGE will look at the Pentagon.

Trump was more specific when discussing nuclear weapons. “There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons. We already have so many you could destroy the world 50 times over or 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and [Russia] is building new nuclear weapons, and China is building new nuclear weapons.”

Trump is right about the danger of nuclear weapons. (However, during his first presidency, he withdrew the U.S. from the vital Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces and Open Skies treaties.) If he is serious at all about his supposed goal of cutting military spending, “getting along” with Russia and China, and not wanting to build new nuclear weapons, a very effective way to achieve all three would be to eliminate intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) right now.

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Biden Weaponized the IRS Against a Trump Nominee Before Leaving White House

Joe Biden weaponized the Justice Department against Donald Trump and Trump supporters; it should come as no surprise that on his way out the door, he decided to weaponize the IRS against incoming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth revealed on Monday afternoon that the Biden administration flagged him for an IRS audit. “Of course the outgoing Biden IRS rushed an ‘audit’ of the incoming SecDef,” he wrote in a post on X. “Total sham. The party of ‘norms’ and ‘decency’ strikes again. We will never back down.”

According to the document, the family’s federal income tax return indicated they owed the federal government $33,558.16, which they paid right away to prevent additional penalties.

Hegseth was one of the first people Trump nominated to serve in his administration. “I am honored to announce that I have nominated Pete Hegseth to serve in my Cabinet as The Secretary of Defense. Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First,” Trump said in a statement on Nov. 12, 2024.

Hegseth, a veteran of the Army National Guard, was previously flagged as a possible “Insider Threat” and ordered to stand down from Joe Biden’s inauguration back in 2021.

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GOP Rep. Tim Burchett Says Democrats Are “Terrified” Because DOGE is Going to Find a “Paper Trail” of Money That Went Overseas and Ended Up Back Into Pockets of Lawmakers

Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN) said the Democrats are terrified of Elon Musk and DOGE because there is a “paper trail” of money that went overseas and right back into their pockets.

“You’re going to see a paper trail come back to Washington, DC. That’s why a lot of people are nervous. You’ll see a lot of retirements. They are stealing from the American taxpayer and now they’ve got their hand caught in the cookie jar, and all they can do is attack Elon Musk,” Burchett said on Fox News.

It is all hands on deck to stop Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing federal data so the Trump Administration can cut wasteful government spending.

A coalition of Democrat state attorneys general recently filed a lawsuit to stop Elon Musk from accessing federal data.

Blue states such as Arizona, Michigan, Rhode Island, New Mexico, California, Massachusetts, and others filed a lawsuit arguing President Trump violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution when he created DOGE and gave Elon Musk ‘unchecked power.’

Democrats have also been holding protests and lashing out at Elon Musk.

86-year-old Maxine Waters, the Democrats’ top attack dog, called Elon Musk a “gangster” and a “thief.”

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Elon Musk’s DOGE Team Uncovers Over 25 Million People Ages 100+ in Social Security Database, Some Older Than the Constitution: “There are a Lot of Vampires Collecting Social Security”

Elon Musk’s DOGE team has unearthed jaw-dropping irregularity from the U.S. Social Security database.

The numbers are truly mind-boggling: over 25 million Americans registered aged 100 and older, with some purportedly older than the U.S. Constitution itself.

Late Sunday night, Musk tweeted a staggering claim accompanied by a table of ages, suggesting that the Social Security Administration might be paying out benefits to “vampires.”

“According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the ‘death’ field set to FALSE. Maybe Twilight is real, and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk quipped.

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Top Auto CEO Says He May Pull Production Out of Mexico If Trump Follows Through on Tariffs

The CEO of Nissan has said he may be forced to move production out of Mexico if Donald Trump imposes tariffs on exports.

The head of the Japanese automaker made the comments during a press conference on Friday.

“From Mexico to the U.S., we are exporting a significant number of cars this fiscal year,” Uchida said, according to Reuters.

”320,000 units are exported from Mexico to the U.S., and if the high tariffs are imposed, we need to be ready for this,” he continued.

”Maybe we can transfer the production of these models elsewhere if this were the decision, we will think how we can make it a reality while monitoring the situation.”

“We are exporting a large volume to U.S., so if there’s a high tariff, this would have huge implications on our business, so we need to monitor this carefully.”

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