Tag: taxes

The Pentagon Budget Normalizes War

Two dogs walking. One of them says to the other: “I bark and I bark, but I never feel like I affect real change.”This is the caption of a New Yorker cartoon by Christopher Weyant from several years ago. It keeps popping up in my head — I mean, every day. Like everyone else, I want what I do to matter, to “effect real change.” What I do is write. Specifically, I swim in the infinity of possibility. Humanity can kill itself or it can learn to survive. Most people (I believe) prefer the latter, which is all about discovering how we are connected to one another and to the rest of the universe. This is what I try to write about.

Then Congress passes another military budget. And once again, there’s the New Yorker cartoon.

“An emerging compromise on annual defense policy legislation will endorse a $45 billion increase to President Joe Biden’s defense spending plans,” Politico reports. “. . . The deal would set the budget topline of the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act at $847 billion for national defense.”

You know, more than the world’s next nine defense budgets combined. We have more than 750 military bases around the world. We’re sending billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Ukraine to keep the war going, in the wake of our two decades of war in the Middle East to rid the world of terrorism . . . excuse me, evil. As a result, the planet is bleeding to death. Not to worry, though. We still have nukes.

How safe and secure can we get?

And here’s Northrop Grumman, presenting to the world the B-21 Raider, an updated nuclear bomber, a.k.a., the future of Armageddon. No need to worry. When Armageddon is ready to happen, it will happen smoothly, at the bargain cost of $750 million per aircraft.

Northrop Grumman itself puts it this way: “When it comes to delivering America’s resolve, the B-21 Raider will be standing by, silent and ready. We are providing America’s warfighters with an advanced aircraft offering a combination of range, payload, and survivability. The B-21 Raider will be capable of penetrating the toughest defenses to deliver precision strikes anywhere in the world. The B-21 is the future of deterrence.”

We’re dancing on the edge of hell.

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FBI whistleblower: Bosses cooked books on Jan. 6 inquiry to snooker feds for more funding

An FBI whistleblower has accused bureau officials of cooking the books to conceal the number of man-hours devoted to the Jan. 6 investigation and inflate time spent on other cases.

According to the anonymous whistleblower, the subterfuge is intended to bolster the bureau’s budget requests to Congress when House Republicans control the purse strings next year.

According to a whistleblower disclosure submitted to Congress, a top official in the FBI’s counterterrorism unit at the Washington headquarters pressured the bureau’s field offices to stop agents from clocking hours when they are working on investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The supervisors in the field offices were told the agents should instead claim they were working on international terrorism and other investigations when recording hours in the FBI’s time and attendance system, known as WebTA.

The Washington Times has reviewed a draft of the whistleblower disclosure.

The FBI told The Times that the allegations were inaccurate but did not elaborate.

The new allegations add to a flood of FBI whistleblower disclosures to Congress in recent months about widespread misconduct, mismanagement and politicized investigations at the bureau. As The Times has reported, the more than a dozen whistleblower disclosures will fuel congressional inquiries regarding the FBI and Department of Justice when Republicans take over the House in January.

The FBI has poured resources into investigations of crimes stemming from the pro-Trump mob storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Nearly two years later, at least 964 people have been charged.

One of the most high-profile cases resulted in the conviction last month of Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers militia, and his top lieutenant, Kelly Meggs, on rarely used charges of seditious conspiracy.

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Biden Wants $8 Billion In Taxpayer Funds To Shut Down Coal Power In South Africa

With the UN and other interests already interfering in Africa’s energy development, Joe Biden announced at the US-Africa Business Forum a plan for American taxpayers to shell out at least $8 billion to shut down effective coal fired energy plants in South Africa so they can be replaced with far less effective and far less efficient green-energy alternatives.

In other words, the goal of climate change cultists is to use $8 billion of America’s money to diminish South African infrastructure. 

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Visualizing The Amount Of US Taxpayer Dollars Flowing To Ukraine In 2022

The below graphic illustrates in a two-minute video the total amount of US aid enacted or proposed for Ukraine in the year 2022, after the Russian invasion has surpassed ten months.

In the visual which over the last several days has been shared widely – each dot represents $100,000 in US taxpayer dollars, and is broken up according to type of support, with military aid (in red) being the largest expenditure by far…

Visualizing U.S. Aid to Ukraine from Will Geary on Vimeo.

Last Friday the Biden administration unveiled another $275 million in weapons and defense equipment for Ukraine, notably including more anti-air missile systems, which crucially will come via the presidential drawdown authority, meaning the Pentagon will pull arms from its own stockpiles to fulfill the package.

To understand some of the above figures which enter the tens of billions range in each category, it’s important to remember that the way in which the White House almost routinely at this point announces aid packages can be confusing. These announcements have more to with with describing how specifically the administration intends to use the money which has already been appropriated by Congress. 

As seen in the below chart, there’s also the key distinction between what has been proposed vs. already enacted…

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Biden Administration Approves Health Insurance for Illegal Immigrants in Washington State

The Biden administration has approved a waiver that will allow Washington state to offer health insurance to illegal immigrants.

The waiver, known as the “State Innovation Waiver” was submitted by the state in the spring and approved by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury Department on Dec. 9 under section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to officials.

Washington requested the waiver in an effort to expand residents’ access to qualified health plans, stand-alone qualified dental plans, as well as the state affordability program regardless of their immigration status.

“The waiver will help Washington work towards its goals of improving health equity and reducing racial disparities by expanding access to coverage for the uninsured population through the state Exchange, all the while not increasing costs for those currently enrolled,” the departments said (pdf).

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Pete Buttigieg often flies on taxpayer-funded private jets, flight data show

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, an advocate of increased government action to curb carbon emissions, has taken at least 18 flights using taxpayer-funded private jets since taking office, Fox News Digital has learned.

Buttigieg has traveled across the country — visiting Florida, Ohio and New Hampshire, among other states — and out of the country using a private jet fleet managed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to flight tracking data reviewed by Fox News Digital. The flight records align with Buttigieg’s schedule of external and public engagements obtained by government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT).

Buttigieg’s predecessor, Elaine Chao, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, faced criticism for using the same jets on seven occasions in 2017, costing taxpayers nearly $94,000, Politico reported at the time. And Trump-appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price was forced to resign after reportedly taking 26 private jet flights that same year, costing taxpayers about $1.2 million.

Bipartisan leaders on the House Oversight and Reform Committee had opened an investigation into several senior Trump administration officials’ use of government-owned and private aircraft for travel days before Price submitted his letter of resignation.

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CA pledges $5 million for cash payments to pregnant Black women

The state government of California has pledged $5 million to provide a “pregnancy basic income” to pregnant “mothers and other birthing parents.” However, they must be Black. All other races are being snubbed.

This money will fund the expansion of the Abundant Birth Project [ABP], a program of the San Francisco Department of Public Health [SFDPH]. ABP provides twelve months of cash payments to Black and Pacific Islander women who become pregnant in San Francisco County. Recipients must make less than $100k per year. These payments are referred to as “pregnancy basic income.” A group of self-described “anti-racists,” called Expecting Justice, operates the program.

Using state funds, pregnant Black women in Los Angeles, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Riverside Counties will now be eligible for twelve months of cash payments ranging from $600 to $1,000 per month. They can begin applying for this free cash at the beginning of 2023.

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US to unveil new military aid package for Ukraine

Washington is about to send another security assistance package to Kiev, which will include anti-drone and air defense systems, Reuters reported, citing sources. The $275 million measure is expected to be officially announced on Friday.

According to officials and documents cited by the news agency, the security aid will also include rockets for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 155mm ammunition, Humvee vehicles, and generators. At the same time, there are no details on the air defense equipment, the report says. In addition to this, the contents and the size of the aid package may change before it is approved by US President Joe Biden.

The new measure is expected to be covered by the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows Washington to dispatch military equipment quickly and without congressional approval.

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St. Louis mayor plans reparations committee for black residents

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones signed an executive order to establish a volunteer panel that will determine the degree to which black residents of St. Louis have suffered from racism. The stated goal of the committee is to explore the history of “race-based harms” in St. Louis and reveal the “present-day manifestations” created by said history.

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, Jones came to the conclusion that the panel was needed after a “growing tapestry of equity-based analyses” shed light on the city’s history of violence, segregation, and exploitation that she says has left it as one of the most divided cities in the country.

“I look forward to reviewing this commission’s work to chart a course that restores the vitality of Black communities in our city after decades of disinvestment,” the mayor remarked in a statement. “We cannot succeed as a city if one half is allowed to fail,” she declared.

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