Tag: taxes

Climate change fanatics want to bankrupt the entire world for little to no reward

These urgent priorities could easily require an additional 3%-6% of GDP. Yet green campaigners are loudly calling for governments to spend up to 25% of our GDP, choking growth in the name of climate change.

If climate Armageddon were imminent, they would have a point. The truth is far more prosaic.

Two major new scientific estimates of the total global cost of climate change have been published recently.

These are not individual studies, which can vary greatly (with the costliest studies getting copious press coverage). Instead, they are meta-studies based on the entirety of the peer-reviewed literature.

One is authored by one of the most cited climate economists, Richard Tol; the other is by the only climate economist to win the Nobel prize, William Nordhaus.

The studies suggest that a 3 degree Celsius temperature increase by the end of the century — slightly pessimistic based on current trends — will have a global cost equivalent to between 1.9% and 3.1% of global GDP.

To put this into context, the United Nations estimates that by the end of the century, the average person will be 450% as rich as he or she is today. Because of climate change, they will feel “only” 435%-440% as rich as today.

Why is this so different from the impression we have been given by the media?

Alarmist campaigners and credulous journalists fail to account for the simple fact that people are remarkably adaptable and tackle most climate problems at low cost.

Take food: Climate campaigners warn we’ll starve, but research shows that instead of a 51% increase in food availability by 2100 if there were no climate change, we are on-track for “only” a 49% increase.

Or weather disasters: They killed half a million people annually in the 1920s, whereas the last decade saw fewer than 9,000 fatalities each year.

The 97.5% reduction in mortality is because people are more resilient because they’re richer and can access better technology.

Extremist climate campaigners and far-left politicians reveal their true colors when they push for “de-growth” to cut emissions.

Making people worse off and reversing gains against extreme poverty would be a tragic mistake, making it harder to address all our other problems.

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Federal Agencies Made Over $161 Billion In Improper Payments Last Year: Watchdog

The U.S. government made billions of dollars worth of improper payments in the most recent fiscal year, with several agencies found to be non-compliant with regulations on the matter, according to a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

“Since fiscal year 2003, executive branch agencies have reported cumulative improper payment estimates of about $2.8 trillion, including $161.5 billion for fiscal year 2024,” the Jan. 23 report from the agency read.

An improper payment is one made by the government that “should not have been made or was made in an incorrect amount,” including duplicate payments, money sent to ineligible recipients, and payments made for goods or services not received.

The $161 billion is enough to buy over 380,000 homes in the United States, according to median home sales price data tracked by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. It is lower than the $236 billion in improper payments estimated to have been made by federal agencies in fiscal year 2023. Annual improper payments have remained above the $150 billion level since 2019.

The Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) mandates that agencies identify risks related to improper payments and take corrective actions, while also reporting improper payments within the programs they administer.

GAO found that 10 agencies under the Chief Financial Officers Act were “noncompliant with PIIA criteria for fiscal year 2022.”

The 10 agencies are the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Treasury, Veterans Affairs, and Small Business Administration.

Out of the 10, nine were found to be noncompliant with the PIIA criteria for one or more programs or activities for two consecutive years—fiscal years 2021 and 2022. The only exemption was the Department of Homeland Security.

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Thermonuclear Crack: The Death Wish of the ‘Elites’

Isn’t it high time we “augment” our nuclear force “posture”? Shouldn’t we fight to achieve peace through nuclear “strength” and “deterrence”? Isn’t it smart to “refurbish, rebuild, and modernize” the nuclear triad? What a great “investment” that is! And a “job-creator” too!

These are some of the buzz words thrown about by the nuclear “elites” in America. They want to sell us on new ICBMs (the Sentinel), a new stealth bomber (the B-21 Raider), and new nuclear SLBMs (on Columbia-class submarines). All this thermonuclear stupidity is projected to cost roughly $2 trillion over the next 30 years. Quite the “investment,” right?

What the “experts” don’t talk about is the genocidal and exterminatory nature of these thermonuclear bombs and missiles. They don’t talk about the destruction of most life forms on our planet due to thermonuclear winter. They don’t talk about the enormous and rapidly mushrooming cost of these weapons. (For example, the B-21 has already climbed from $550 million per plane to $750 million; much like a missile, Sentinel costs have rocketed upward even more rapidly.) And they sure as hell don’t talk about the immorality of mass murder.

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In 2024, 11 states surpassed $1 billion in legal marijuana sales.

Collectively, these states accounted for a large majority of the $23.2 billion sold across the 21 states with operational recreational markets.

California led the pack with $4.2 billion in sales, followed by Michigan, which brought in $3.1 billion. Illinois ($1.8 billion) and Massachusetts ($1.75 billion) also contributed significantly to the billion-dollar club. Other high-performing states included Colorado ($1.35 billion), Missouri ($1.36 billion), and Arizona ($1.21 billion).

Maryland, Washington, and New Jersey each reported $1.1 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, New York, in its first full year of sales, reached $1 billion, demonstrating its potential to eventually become one of the largest marijuana markets in the nation.

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Biden Admin Quietly Spent $15 Mil To Distribute ‘Contraceptives and Condoms’ in Afghanistan—and Said Doing So Would Take ‘Some Coordination’ With Taliban

The Biden administration quietly awarded $15 million in taxpayer funds to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to help distribute “oral contraceptives and condoms,” a non-public congressional funding notice reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon shows. In doing so, the administration acknowledged that “some coordination” with the Taliban would be “necessary for programmatic purposes.”

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) earmarked the cash infusion, which has not been previously reported, last July. It transmitted the funds to Afghanistan in August, according to the funding notice and congressional sources familiar with the matter.

The $15 million USAID and its partner groups spent to “procure contraceptives,” including “oral contraceptives and condoms” in the Middle Eastern nation was part of a $100 million package meant to support “basic rights and freedoms” and empower “women and girls” living under Taliban rule. The terrorist organization, the USAID funding notice states, does not allow “young women and girls” to go to school or work in most professional fields.

It was the Biden administration’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan three years prior that led to those restrictions. The Taliban took over Kabul even before the final U.S. military planes left the city, and they quickly banned girls from school beyond sixth grade, making Afghanistan the only country in the world with such restrictions.

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Did Trump Halt Aid to Ukraine?

Yesterday, there were a number of “headlines” in the US media claiming all foreign aid was stopped—except for Israel and Egypt. But the Pentagon weighed in today denying that it affects Ukraine:

“A Pentagon official confirmed that Trump’s executive order freezing foreign aid applies only to development programs, not security assistance to Ukraine.” -VOA

When I spoke with Judge Napolitano and Nima today, I had not seen these reports. However, while Trump’s order does not curtail security assistance (i.e., weapons, vehicles and ammunition) already in the pipeline, it does freeze the assistance funds that flow through State Department channels:

The Trump administration has reportedly frozen USAID projects as part of its foreign assistance audit

The Trump administration has frozen projects in Ukraine that were funded through the US Agency for International Development, Reuter reported on Friday, citing a USAID official.

The official told the news agency that USAID officers responsible for projects in Ukraine were told to stop all work. The projects that were frozen reportedly include support for schools and healthcare, including maternal care and the vaccination of children.

So part of the Ukrainian grift machine is shut down for the next three months. That is a start in the right direction.

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NY coffers hit new high from marijuana tax receipts: ‘It’s extraordinary’

New York’s coffers are starting to get a financial high from marijuana sales after a slow start.

The Empire State is expected to generate $161.8 million in tax revenues from its legal weed business for the fiscal year ending March 31 — or four times what it raked in last year.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget released last week also projects generating $248 million in revenue from the state-licensed cannabis industry for the next fiscal year running from April 1 to March 31, 2026.

That’s a lot of green — up from $43.3 million raised in 2022-2023 amid a fitful rollout of the program.

State budget officials predict the revenues will then grow to $339 million in FY 2027, $363 million in 2028 and $374 million by 2029, based on expansion of the legal market.

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Fury as transgender killer is allowed out of prison for surgery to reduce the size of Adam’s apple

A transgender killer was allowed out of jail to have surgery to make him look more feminine.

Alan Baker – now known as Alex Stewart – is serving life for the ‘wicked and brutal’ stabbing of a man he met on an online dating site.

But it has now emerged the 36-year-old – who is behind bars at HMP Greenock, Renfrewshire – has had an operation to reduce the size of his Adam’s apple.

Last night, critics demanded to know whether the taxpayer picked up the bill for the work.

Susan Smith, of campaign group For Women Scotland, said: ‘We are disturbed to learn a dangerous prisoner was allowed out to seek unnecessary cosmetic surgery.

‘We doubt that a female murderer would be allowed day release for Botox or a nose-job.

‘How was this funded and at what cost to the taxpayer? At a time when resources are stretched both for prison and health services, this looks like a profligate indulgence of a manipulative man.’

Baker, of Bonhill, Dunbartonshire, was jailed for a minimum of 19 years for the murder of father-of-two John Weir in 2013.

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Pfizer Agrees to $60 Million Settlement in Kickback Scandal for Allegedly ‘Bribing’ Doctors to Promote Migraine Drug — Defrauding Medicare and Other Federal Health Programs

Big Pharma Pfizer has agreed to a hefty $59.7 million settlement to resolve allegations of a kickback scandal that has defrauded Medicare and other federal healthcare programs.

The scandal revolves around Biohaven Pharmaceutical, a company acquired by Pfizer in October 2022, which engaged in unethical practices to push prescriptions of its migraine medication, Nurtec ODT, also known as Rimegepant.

Whistleblower Patricia Frattasio, a former sales representative at Biohaven, played a crucial role in bringing these malpractices to light, leading to a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act in 2021.

The U.S. Department of Justice disclosed that from March 2020 through September 2022, Biohaven manipulated the healthcare system by offering kickbacks—including speaker honoraria and lavish meals at upscale restaurants—to healthcare professionals.

Allegations include that Biohaven paid some healthcare providers over $100,000 to boost prescriptions of their migraine medication, Nurtec ODT, resulting in fraudulent claims to federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

This egregious scheme involved not just ordinary incentives, but also repeated, unnecessary educational programs that offered no real benefit to attendees, turning these events into mere facades for bribery.

This practice, aimed at increasing Nurtec ODT prescriptions, breached anti-kickback statutes designed to keep medical decisions free from financial influence.

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Trump Vows To Deliver ‘No Tax On Tips’ Campaign Promise

President Donald Trump has stressed a “no tax on tips” policy during his Las Vegas visit. 

On Saturday, Trump spoke at the Circa Resort and Casino and discussed his agenda for American workers, stressing a “no tax on tips” policy. 

“Any worker who relies on tips [as] income, your tips will be 100% yours,” Trump said.

Trump went on to address Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R-Nev.) . 

“You think that had an impact on the election?” Trump asked. “What, a half a point? It’s pretty big….nationwide over four million workers depend on tip income, including an estimated 700,000 single moms.”

“And here in Nevada…think of it, a quarter of the typical restaurant workers’ pay comes from tips. I didn’t know that,” Trump continued. “Impacted workers are some of the very citizens who were hit hard and very hard by the ravages of the Biden economy, which was inflation.”

“When I think of Biden, I think of incompetence and inflation,” Trump said

Given that Nevada tends to vote blue, Trump earlier this week said that he would travel there to “thank” people for choosing him in the November election.

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