Tag: taxes

CDC to Spend Millions of Taxpayer Dollars on Gun ‘Health Threat’

President Biden’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is gearing up to spend millions of taxpayer dollars fighting the “serious public health threat” posed by gun violence.

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky referenced gun crime in various cities and said, “Something has to be done about this. Now is the time — it’s pedal to the metal time,” CNN reported.

“The scope of the problem is just bigger than we’re even hearing about, and when your heart wrenches every day you turn on the news, you’re only hearing the tip of the iceberg. We haven’t spent the time, energy and frankly the resources to understand this problem because it’s been so divided,” she added.

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New San Francisco Initiative to Pay Individuals Not to Shoot Others

Anew program in San Fransisco will pay people at high risk of shooting someone not to pull the trigger to help alleviate rising gun violence in the city.

The Dream Keeper Fellowship is set to launch in October and pay 10 individuals $300 each month to not be involved in shootings, Sheryl Davis, executive director of the Human Rights Commission, told Newsweek in an interview Tuesday.

Davis explained that the program is not “transactional,” but will rather focus on making investments in communities most impacted by violence.

“It’s not necessarily as cut and dry as folks may think. It’s not as transactional as, ‘Here’s a few dollars so that you don’t do something bad,’ but it really is about how you help us improve public safety in the neighborhood,” she said.

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Even as Afghan War Ends, GOP Attempts to Add $25B to Military Budget

Just as the United States completed its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan on Monday after two decades of war and occupation, House Republicans announced plans to push for a $25 billion increase in annual military spending—a proposal that progressive lawmakers and advocacy groups swiftly rejected.

Led by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, the GOP intends to pursue a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment that would add $25 billion to President Joe Biden’s $753 billion topline military spending request for Fiscal Year 2022.

The House Armed Services panel—which is awash in donations from weapons makers and other major industry players—is expected to begin marking up Biden’s request on Wednesday.

“Rogers’ amendment would dole out $15 billion to address a spate of military unfunded priorities that weren’t included in the Pentagon’s budget request,” Politico reported Monday. “It would add $9.8 billion to weapons procurement accounts, including money for four more Navy ships, more planes and helicopters for the Navy, Marine Corps, and National Guard, and upgraded Army combat vehicles.”

Approval of the GOP’s amendment would bring the House version of the NDAA—a sprawling annual defense policy bill that typically passes with overwhelming bipartisan support—into line with the Senate’s. Last month, as Common Dreams reported, the Senate Armed Services Committee agreed to pile $25 billion onto Biden’s proposal, which already calls for an increase over Trump-era Pentagon spending levels.

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Human-animal hybrids: Senate approves billions of dollars for their chilling creation

After a long debate, The Senate approved with 68–32 votes a budget of $250 billion to continue with the controversial creation of hybrid beings by mixing human and animal genetic material.

The bill called the “Endless Frontier Act,” was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, according to Life Site on June 14. 

Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) referred to the ethical incompatibility and the need to establish clear definitions on the matter in an attitude of submission to international competition.  

“We shouldn’t need to clarify in law that creating animal-human hybrids or ‘chimeras’ is ethically unthinkable, but sadly the need for that very clear distinction has arrived,” said Lankford, who, along with Sens. Mike Braun R-Ind.), and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) sought to criminalize the creation of such creatures.

He added: “There’s a real difference in taking human cells and injecting them into a mouse for cancer research and for other research. That’s been done, and it’s been done for a very long time, and we’ve had time to be able to process that, but trying to be able to create life is a very different threshold for me.”

Senator Daines noted, “In trying to compete with China, we shouldn’t become like them, It’s critical that we draw a bright line against unethical forms of research that fail to recognize the distinct value of humans over animals.”

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Biden’s 19-minute Afghan speech cost taxpayers $30,000

President Joe Biden’s brief visit to the White House yesterday to deliver a speech blaming Afghan officials for the fall of their nation to the Taliban cost taxpayers at least $30,000.

The main added cost came from Marine One’s rushed round-trip from Camp David, where the president has been vacationing since last weekend.

Biden was not expected to fly to the White House, but the building disaster prompted his team into crisis mode, and he had to hustle back to deliver a 19-minute , nationally broadcast speech to reporters who were not allowed to ask questions.

The most recently produced Navy and Marine Corps budget documents showed that the hourly cost of flying Marine One, in this case, a VH-3D Sea King, is $28,524. The flight from Camp David to Fort Lesley J. McNair and back lasted at least an hour.

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Pelosi Raises Salary Cap For House Staffers to $199,300 as Biden Inflation Hurts American Families

Speaker Pelosi on Thursday announced House staffers can earn up to $199,300 salary.

Pelosi raised the salary cap for top staffers from $173,900 to $199,300 to help recruit top talent.

“As Speaker, I have been proud to take steps to ensure a diversity of experience and talent among staff, so that the halls of Congress, at every level, truly reflect those who we are honored to serve,” Pelosi announced.

“To that end, today, it is my privilege to announce an important new reform for our institution: raising the maximum annual rate of pay for staff to $199,300. This order will help the Congress recruit and retain the outstanding and diverse talent that we need, as it also helps ensure parity between employees of the House of Representatives and other employees of the Federal Government,” she added.

Meanwhile inflation and rising gas prices are hurting American families.

Gas prices have spiked 41% since Joe Biden was installed in January.

The national average for a gallon of gas is $3.186 – over a $1 per gallon increase in the last year.

U.S. producer price inflation soars 7.8% annually in July, the highest increase on record.
The “experts” said it was going to come down from 7.2% this month. Boy were they wrong.

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