Tag: taxes

Challenges Persist In Getting Astronauts To The Moon; NASA Again Delays Launch Date

America is falling behind in the race to send man to the moon again: NASA has once again delayed its launch dates, this time citing major safety concerns.

NASA delayed the missions in an announcement last week, citing unresolved issues including a battery, the heat shield, and a circuitry component responsible for air ventilation and temperature control.

The first crewed mission around the moon, Artemis II, was pushed back to September 2025. The first crewed mission to land on the moon since 1972, Artemis III, was pushed back to September 2026. Artemis II was originally scheduled for this November, and Artemis III was originally scheduled for December 2025.

According to NASA, the Artemis IV mission to land astronauts at the Gateway lunar space station remains on track for 2028. Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight, was originally planned to launch in November 2018 but didn’t launch until November 2022.

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Biden Again Warns the US Could Fight Russia Directly If Congress Doesn’t Approve More Ukraine Aid

President Biden on Friday called again for Congress to approve more spending on the war in Ukraine, claiming that if Russian President Vladimir Putin is successful in its war, it could risk pulling the US into a direct confrontation with Russia.

Biden made the comments in a statement on a Russian attack on Ukraine that was said to be the largest of the war. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russia fired over 150 missiles and drones across the country and killed 31 people.

Biden said Ukraine was able to intercept some missiles with US-provided air defenses and added that “unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people.”

The president claimed that the stakes of the war extend beyond Ukraine to the US’s European NATO allies. “When dictators and autocrats are allowed to run roughshod in Europe, the risk rises that the United States gets pulled in directly,” he said.

Biden and other officials in his administration have been using this argument in their pitch to approve the over $60 billion they’re seeking to fund the proxy war in Ukraine for another year. The central claim is that if Putin wins in Ukraine, he will move into a NATO country next. But there’s no indication Russia wants a fight with the alliance, which could quickly spiral into nuclear war.

Putin recently responded to the claim, calling the idea that he has his eyes on NATO territory “nonsense.”

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Department of Defense Inks $235.8 Million Contract for Anthrax Vaccines

Biopharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions (EBS) signed a massive $235.8 million contract with the Department of Defense to supply the U.S. military with its BioThrax anthrax vaccine.

Yahoo Finance reported the Biothrax anthrax vaccine is expected to be used by all branches of the U.S. military.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that the FDA approved Emergent BioSolution’s Cyfendus anthrax vaccine for adults 18-65 in July of last year.

Just months later after its approval, Emergent BioSolutions announced that the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) “exercised an option valued on an existing deal to procure additional doses of its recently approved anthrax vaccine Cyfendus (AV7909).”

Emergent BioSolutions EBS signed an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) procurement contract for a maximum value of up to $235.8 million with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to supply its anthrax vaccine BioThrax.

The vaccine is intended for use by all branches of the United States military as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for anthrax disease.

The procurement contract consists of a five-year base agreement ending on Sep 30, 2028, with an option to extend the contract for an additional five years to Sep 30, 2033.

Before the end of the initial five-year base period, the DoD should place a minimum guaranteed purchase order for $20.1 million worth of the vaccine product. For the following years, the annual order size should be at least $20 million for a total value of up to $235.8 million.

In recent months, the Federal governmet and state officials have been preparing for a possible anthrax outbreak.

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US Military Build-Up Since Gaza War Began Has Cost $1.6 Billion 

The Senate is planning to add money to upcoming legislation to fund President Joe Biden’s military buildup in the Middle East and war in Yemen. Senator Susan Collins says the legation should be a priority as US Central Command is quickly depleting its funds. Senator Jack Reed believes Congress will need to pass multiple rounds of funding to allow Biden to wage war across the Middle East. 

Following the Hamas attack on southern Israel, Biden ordered thousands of troops and multiple aircraft carrier strike groups into the region. Politico reports the Department of Defense informed Congress the deployment of additional troops and warships to the Middle East over the past four months has cost $1.6 billion. The Pentagon estimates the cost will be $2.2 billion over the course of the year. 

The cost estimates do not include the price of the interceptors and munitions used in fighting the Houthis. Congress has not authorized Biden’s war in Yemen or the military surge in the Middle East. A growing number of American lawmakers, including within Biden’s party, have voiced opposition to the White House waging a war in Yemen without Congressional authorization. 

A Pentagon official said at some point, the holes in the Department of Defense budget will have to be filled by Congress. An official told Politico, “It will be, I think, a hole that we would want to be filled. It is a bill that will be due and we will have to pay for it within a limited amount of resources.”

The Senate is now preparing to fund the conflicts in the Middle East, but there are no plans to authorize the war. Politico reports Congress is considering several options for authorizing the war spending. The outlet explains, “Lawmakers are aware of the unplanned cost and are weighing how to pay for it. Options include adding it to the annual spending bill, adding it to the $111 billion emergency supplemental for Ukraine and Israel, or funding it through a stand-alone supplemental for war costs.”

The White House has been pushing Congress to pass a $111 billion bill that provides funding for the wars in Ukraine and Israel, the military buildup in the Asia-Pacific, and border security. The legislation has been delayed for several months over debate on immigration policy. 

Sen. Collins, a Republican member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is urging the body to take action. “[US Central Command] needs [the funding] sooner. They’re fast running out of funds,” she said.

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BLM protesters who participated in 2020 riots will receive $10 million from Seattle

The city of Seattle, Washington, agreed Wednesday to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit from a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who participated in the violent and destructive 2020 riots following the death of George Floyd.

A Wednesday press release from the city revealed that Seattle is settling a complaint filed by a group of 50 protesters in September 2020 who claimed they were injured by police while participating in the demonstrations. Seattle admitted to no wrongdoing.

According to the city, the complaint involved hundreds of interactions between the protesters and local law enforcement officials, over a million pages of records, over 10,000 videos, hundreds of witness interviews, and extensive court filings.

“This decision was the best financial decision for the City considering risk, cost, and insurance,” Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison said. “The case has been a significant drain on the time and resources of the City and would have continued to be so through an estimated three-month trial that was scheduled to begin in May.”

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Americans Are Paying a Massive Price To Maintain the Empire

Two press reports stood out to me this morning: the release of the names of two US Navy SEALs who drowned two weeks ago in the Arabian Sea and the Air Force’s production authorization for the B21 Raider bomber. Both stories symbolize an imperial inertia that defines American national security policies, an inertia that is damaging our democracy and jeopardizing futures.

The SEALs died taking part in a blockade mission against Yemen, a mission that dates back nearly a decade and is part of a two-decade-long history of US military action against Yemen (the US first launched a drone strike in Yemen in 2002). US policy towards Yemen is part of the larger, failed and counterproductive Global War on Terror, which itself is part of a larger, failed and counterproductive US Middle East policy. US Middle East policy, in its current form, goes back to the 1970s and is part of a larger, failed and counterproductive US militarized foreign policy. Can anyone go to the families of those two SEALs killed carrying out those policies and explain what their deaths were for without resorting to grotesque and false tropes of freedom and security, the same aspirational and patriotic fairy tales that have been used to justify 250-plus military operations by the US since 1991?

The other story relates to the authorization of production of the B21 Raider, which is set to replace the B1 and B2 bombers but not the 70-year-old B52s. That the youngest B52 was produced in 1962 and won’t be replaced, but the bombers built in modern times must be replaced, tells you a great deal about the strategy of the American weapons industry. This fleecing of the American taxpayers by the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) is nothing new. Both political parties have hollowed out the American economy to the benefit of weapons makers. If any citizen has the gall to ask their members of Congress why our living standards are so far below those of the world’s other wealthy nations, the answers come back as some variation of “we can’t afford those things.”

What’s new about the B21 is that the cost for years was classified, even to members of Congress. Budget figures, as well as contract details, production schedules and test results, are still being kept hidden. Reports say Northrup Grumman will produce 100 of the planes, and, with an estimated total program cost of more than $200 billion, keeping quiet about the price tag of $2 billion airplanes is a politically savvy move if not a democratic one.

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Pelosi, AOC, Other House Dems Hit with Ethics Complaint – Accused of ‘Repeatedly’ Misusing Funds

An ethics watchdog has filed an ethics complaint against 10 Democratic lawmakers, claiming that they are using public resources for partisan political purposes.

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust said the Democrats “repeatedly” used official resources for political gain, according to a news release on its website, naming Democratic Reps. Nancy Pelosi of California, Cori Bush of Missouri, Jamaal Bowman of New York, Sean Casten of Illinois, Greg Casar of Texas, Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida, Ted Lieu of California, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Ritchie Torres of New York.

Although Democratic Rep. Ayanna Presley of Massachusetts was not mentioned in the release, exhibits of her allegedly using official resources for political gain were included in the examples filed with the complaint.

“The law at issue is simple,” the release said, noting that government resources cannot be used for “campaign or political purposes.”

The release said that “official House photographs and video, government buildings, a Member’s official website and social media accounts, and anything created by government employees” are considered off-limits.

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Federal agency spent $20 billion to welcome migrants over last two years

The federal agency responsible for busing, sheltering and supporting the largely unauthorized immigrant population pouring across America’s borders spent nearly $20 billion over the last two years, according to a new report.

Most of that money was spent on sheltering and caring for immigrant children who are in the U.S. illegally, with other funds also going to help new arrivals from Afghanistan, Cuba, Haiti and other nations favored by President Biden’s immigration policies, according to OpenTheBooks.com.

It’s not just more people. The Office of Refugee Resettlement, part of the Health and Human Services Department, is expanding the type of assistance it offers to include helping migrants access loans, build credit or collect direct cash payments.

“Regular Americans are underwriting the generosity. And it’s the hardworking taxpayer who is feeling the strain as migrants are resettled in their neighborhoods across the country,” said Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of OpenTheBooks. “Exploding expenditures on everything from resettlement to auto loans are further incentivizing a vicious cycle at our borders.”

He called the money a version of “financial self-harm.”

ORR’s work has been controversial for a decade, dating back to the Obama-era migrant surge in 2014, when immigrant children unaccompanied by a parent streamed in illegally. Under federal policy, those children are supposed to be quickly transferred from Homeland Security to ORR for placement in government-funded shelters while the government searches for sponsors to take them.

The children have taxed schools’ resources and in some cases have been used as child labor, in addition to other social ills. The children from the Obama surge, for example, helped fuel a revival of MS-13, the murderous immigrant-heavy gang, from Virginia to Massachusetts.

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Biden is set to RAISE taxes to help fund social security benefits as the president desperately tries to make up ground in polling against Trump ahead of the general election

President Joe Biden‘s camp is examining strategies to make up for lost ground in the upcoming presidential election, and raising taxes on the wealthy to bolster Social Security is on the table.

According to a recent party nominee satisfaction poll by ABC News and IPSOS, Donald Trump leads at 72 percent among leaned Republicans, with Biden trailing 57 percent among leaned Democrats.

According to the latest Harvard-Harris poll, Trump holds a 53 to 47 lead over Biden in general election polling.  

With Trump emerging as the most likely GOP frontrunner, the current President’s aides have floated the idea of imposing new taxes on the wealthy to help further fund Social Security benefits, sources tell the Washington Post.

As the former President has vowed once again to protect Social Security if elected, some Biden advisors believe this move could help define the contrast between economic policy on either side of the aisle.

It would require Biden to expand his proposed tax increases, although they would not affect people earning under $400,000 per year, people familiar with the matter told the publication.

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Davos Globalist Demands Worldwide ‘Coordinated System of Carbon Taxes’ at WEF Summit

The climate change agenda can only be fully if international carbon taxes are implemented on the global population, Saudi Arabian Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan proclaimed at the World Economic Forum meeting this week.

During a panel discussion on the “Global Economic Outlook” on Friday during the annual WEF meeting in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos, Al-Jadaan argued that in order to solve the supposed climate crisis, a global carbon tax will be required.

“There is no realistic solution to the climate transition that does not involve a globally coordinated system of carbon taxes,” the Saudi politician said.

Al-Jadaan rejected the notion that such a system would hit the poor and developing nations the hardest, by hindering industrial growth and spurring inflation, arguing that such countries will face even worse outcomes if climate change is not prevented by international intervention.

“There’s a perception that it’s unjust, it’s unfair, it will lead to inflation. In fact, quite the contrary. If we don’t do this, the countries that will suffer most ultimately are the developing countries. They’re going to be the worst affected by climate change,” he said.

“What we need is a system of carbon taxes coupled with subsidies for developing households and a stream of funding for the developing world, to allow them to engage in investments and mitigations and adaption that allows them to keep growing. And that’s a real opportunity,” Al-Jadaan continued.

“It’s a fair solution and it’s the only realistic solution, and we can’t keep ducking it,” he concluded.

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