Tag: taxes

Gavin Newsom Launches ‘Free Diapers’ Program That Has a Curious Connection to His Wife’s Pet Project

California Governor Gavin Newsom is launching a new project in his state that will give new parents hundreds of free diapers. Sounds great, doesn’t it? New parents need diapers. Lots of them. Win win, right?

ABC 7 reports:

California families welcoming newborns will soon receive hundreds of free diapers before leaving the hospital under a first-in-the-nation program announced Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom’s office said. The initiative will expand to more hospitals statewide, though the governor’s office did not say how many. The state has partnered with nonprofit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers under the label “Golden State Start.”…

The state set aside $7.4 million in last year’s budget to roll out the initiative, and this year’s budget proposal includes an additional $12.5 million to implement the program for the upcoming fiscal year ending in June 2027.

Do you like this idea? Well, like all things Democrats offer for free, there is a catch.

As Kevin Dalton pointed out on Twitter/X, this program has a direct connection to Newsom’s wife and a charity she runs:

Gavin Newsom just announced a shiny new taxpayer funded program giving free diapers to newborns leaving California hospitals and his administration is partnering with Baby2Baby with almost $20 MILLION in state funds to manufacture them.

I’m sure it’s a total coincidence that one of Baby2Baby’s Co-CEOs, Norah Weinstein, sits on the board of Gavin Newsom’s wife’s California Partners Project.

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IRS Erroneously Awarded Millions in Tax Breaks to Noncitizens.

 WHAT HAPPENED: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) paid $213 million in Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) to foreign citizens with nonwork Social Security numbers in 2023 and 2024, according to a report from the agency’s inspector general. These numbers, issued for limited purposes such as accessing services, are not intended for work eligibility or tax credit claims.

 DETAIL: The report said the IRS lacks sufficient data from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to determine why certain nonwork Social Security numbers were issued, limiting the agency’s ability to automatically block improper claims. Investigators found the IRS identified about 12,600 suspicious returns through risk-based screening and manually reviewed roughly 5,100 of them, preventing nearly $11 million in improper payments. Auditors said the IRS’s current system relies heavily on manual reviews and cannot efficiently detect all ineligible claims because the agency does not receive complete information from the SSA about whether the Social Security numbers were issued solely for federal benefits, which would disqualify recipients from claiming the credit. The watchdog report also noted that refundable tax credits remain highly vulnerable to fraud, with the Earned Income Tax Credit alone generating an estimated $21.1 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2025.

 IMPACT: The misuse of the EITC, a program designed to support low-income workers, not only drains taxpayer funds but also undermines trust in government oversight. In 2025 alone, the IRS estimated $21.1 billion in erroneous EITC payments, with both fraud and unintentional errors contributing to the problem. This ongoing issue highlights the need for improved interagency cooperation and data-sharing to prevent future losses.

 KEY QUOTE: “Having timely, updated, reliable eligibility information would enable immediate eligibility determinations and would avoid costly, resources intensive, post-filing determinations,” said Kenneth Corbin, chief of the IRS Taxpayer Services Division.

 FLASHBACK: In 2017, the inspector general recommended that the IRS collaborate with the SSA to improve data-sharing and prevent misuse of nonwork Social Security numbers. Despite initial exploration of the issue, no viable solution has been implemented in the years since.

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Massive Health Care Fraud Ignored as Billions Drained From Ohio Taxpayers

Mehek Cooke, senior national security and legal analyst at The Daily Signal, warned that the growing fraud scandal in Ohio is not an isolated case but part of a systemic failure across welfare programs nationwide.

Appearing on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” Thursday, Cooke said she discovered widespread health care fraud last December that is allegedly draining billions in taxpayer dollars. She brought this evidence to government officials, but many failed to take it seriously.

“This was the tip of the spear,” Cooke said of Ohio, pointing to similar fraud cases in other states. “Any time you have a welfare program, there’s going to be fraud because government is so complacent.”

Cooke described her firsthand efforts to investigate suspicious activity in Ohio’s home health care system, including making door-to-door inquiries in areas receiving significant taxpayer funding in Franklin County. Several whistleblowers alerted Cooke in December to alleged home health care fraud in Ohio, claiming that patients were entering doctors’ offices, claiming they needed home health care services. Upon evaluation, providers determined that they did not qualify for those services, but some of these individuals then threatened that if the paperwork was not rubber-stamped, they would return to providers who would approve it.

After receiving this information, Cooke said she brought the alleged fraud to the Ohio attorney general’s office and the Department of Medicaid.

Cooke also visited close to 100 home health care offices. What she found raised serious concerns about whether services were being legitimately provided.

“So, when you knock on doors, most of these people are in the Somalian community. They don’t speak English, so I’m wondering how they’re even providing services,” Cooke said. “It’s hidden behind closed doors.”

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Conservative Host SHOCKS “Muslims-Only” Waterpark Event Organizer After Exposing a Series of Humiliating Truths About Her “Job” to Her Face

A conservative activist who played a role in exposing a disgusting and racist “Muslim Only” celebration completely embarrassed the organizer of the event after exposing a series of embarrassing truths about her line of work.

As The Gateway Pundit reported, a taxpayer-funded waterpark in a Texas city sparked online fury earlier this week after announcing it would openly discriminate against non-Muslims to celebrate an Islamic holiday.

Epic Waters in Grand Prairie released fliers for a June 1 event celebrating a major Muslim holiday called Eid al-Adha. The event was supposed to require a “modest dress code” and solely serve Halal-slaughtered meat.

Epic Waters, which was funded by an additional sales tax on Grand Prairie residents, would have essentially resembled a hard-core Islamist country rather than the great state of Texas.

The Blaze’s Sara Gonzales was extremely instrumental in exposing this disgusting religious discrimination to the rest of the country. The backlash soon became so severe that the event was cancelled.

On Thursday, Gonzales invited the organizer of the “Muslims Only” stunt, Dr. Aminah Knight, to her podcast to discuss how she felt about her little party getting canceled. But, unbeknownst to Knight, Gonzales had a major surprise up her sleeve.

Gonzales stunned Knight when she revealed that the bigot runs a daycare center called “Excellence Early Learning Center” in which the word “learning is spelled “learing.” Just like one of the Somali Daycare Centers in Minnesota!

Gonzales next asked if it was appropriate for her to teach kids when she can’t spell a basic word correctly.

Knight was left speechless and stunned when confronted about this, so Gonzales started mocking her. Then, she meekly said it was a typo.

Gonzales then informed Knight that her registration to run the business had been involuntarily terminated and asked how the daycare center was still operating.

Knight had no clue how to respond. She proceeded to complain that she had been brought on to answer questions about the cancellation of her event.

Gonzales informed that they had already discussed this and hoped Knight had learned a lesson about not discriminating based on religion.

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Texas ‘Muslim Only’ Waterpark Organizer Runs a Misspelled “Learing Center” for Kids

Only in 2026 America could a taxpayer-funded waterpark become the backdrop for a “Muslim only” event that blew up so spectacularly it ended up scrapped by order of the Texas governor.

The mastermind behind the fiasco, Aminah Knight, is now under fresh scrutiny for running a child care center with a glaring typo in its name, the “Excellence Early Learing Center.”

The facility, located in the Fort Worth suburb of Hurst, proudly advertises itself online with that same misspelled banner, something most educators would rush to fix within moments.

Knight, who is listed as the owner, operator, and curriculum designer, boasts of academic credentials from both USC and Vanderbilt University. Yet, somehow, “learning” got lost along the way.

The daycare’s pitch includes buzzwords common in modern progressive education circles: “multiculturalism,” “small classroom sizes,” “healthy eating,” and a “loving environment that feels like home.”

Staff reportedly hold degrees from “their home countries” in fields ranging from biology to accounting.

The center seeks to project an image of inclusivity, except when the conversation turns to who’s welcome at the local waterpark.

Earlier this month, Knight’s separate group, DFW Epic Eid, made headlines after it rented out Epic Waters in Grand Prairie, an enormous $88 million facility funded by local taxpayers, for an Eid holiday celebration labeled “Muslim only.”

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Another Activist Judge Issues Laughable Ruling About DOGE Grant Terminations

We’re getting tired of activist judges undermining the Trump administration and its work to control wasteful spending, end fraud, and right America’s fiscal ship. Countless judges have ruled against the Trump administration not because the administration is wrong, but because they don’t like the President and his policy choices, and another judge did that with a ruling against Elon Musk’s DOGE.

Here’s more:

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency “blatantly used” race, gender and other protected characteristics to execute the largest mass termination of federal grants in the history of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal judge ruled on Thursday. 

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon declared the terminations unlawful, concluded that the DOGE staffers lacked the authority to make those decisions, and blocked the Trump administration from carrying out the grant terminations. 

“There can be no serious dispute that the review process implemented by DOGE did not conform to, or even resemble, NEH’s ordinary grant-review process,” Judge McMahon wrote.

So, awarding grants on the basis of certain characteristics is good. But ending discriminatory grants is bad. Got it.

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Bernie Sanders Attacks Google Founder and It’s Pathetic

Google is so ubiquitous that it’s not just a website. It’s a verb and part of our lexicon, fundamentally changing the way we get information and explore the Internet. While opinions may vary on whether or not that’s a good thing, founder Sergey Brin created a product that changed the world and deserves every penny of the wealth he earned.

Unless you’re a Democrat who thinks Brin is just being greedy for daring to participate in the democratic process that Democrats claim to love so much.

That’s what Bernie Sanders believes, and he attacked Brin for having more wealth while opposing the California Democrat’s plan to steal money from billionaires.

Remember, the proposed legislation has a provision that will allow California Democrats to confiscate a percentage of everyone’s wealth down the road, including middle- and working-class Californians.

Sanders, on the other hand, has done nothing of value. He was so lazy a socialist he got the boot from at least one commune. Despite that, he’s managed to game the capitalist system he despises, making a fortune and owning three houses.

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Federal Court Strikes Down Trump’s 10 Percent Global Tariffs

A U.S. trade court has ruled against President Donald Trump’s 10 percent global tariffs.

The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled 2-1 that a 1970s law doesn’t allow the president to enact sweeping tariffs worldwide.

The State of Oregon, a spice company called Burlap and Barrel, and a toy company named “Basic Fun Inc.” challenged the tariffs.

Article 1, Section eight of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to levy duties, collect taxes, and more.

Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 gives some of that power to the president. It allows the president to impose temporary surcharges up to 15 percent.

On Feb. 20, Trump announced a 10 percent tariff on imports effective on Feb. 24 through July 24. 

Trump justified the tariffs because the U.S. runs a trade deficit with many other countries.

The plaintiffs claimed that the president doesn’t have the authority to invoke those tariffs “because large and serious balance-of-payments deficits cannot occur in a floating exchange rate monetary system,” according to the 88-page ruling.

The plaintiffs suffered economic harm, price erosion, a loss of goodwill, damaged reputation, and more, the court ruled.

“Finally, considering the balance of hardships, a remedy in equity is warranted, and the public interest would be served by a permanent injunction,” the ruling said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has also ruled against Trump’s tariffs. That ruling ordered the U.S. to refund tariffs, which is expected to cost about $166 billion.  

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California’s ‘Billionaire Tax’ Could Reach Far Beyond Billionaires

Last week, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) announced it had gathered more than 1.5 million signatures — nearly double what it needed — to put a sweeping new wealth tax on California’s November ballot. The initiative is called the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act.

The name is designed to make you stop reading. Don’t.

SEIU has spent months positioning itself as the champion of nurses, teachers and caregivers. What it has actually done is run a $24 million campaign to put a measure on the ballot that could eventually be used to tax virtually any Californian who owns assets — with no return trip to the ballot box required.

The measure would impose a 5 percent tax on the total net worth of California residents worth more than $1 billion as of Jan. 1, 2026. Buried in the fine print is a provision allowing the California legislature to expand the tax — lowering the threshold, adding asset categories — by simple majority vote, without voter approval.

The Tax Foundation has warned that the measure’s design could push the effective rate on some taxpayers well above the advertised 5 percent.

SEIU leaders will tell you pensions and retirement accounts are excluded. That’s true … for now. What the union won’t tell you is what happens to those pension funds when California’s investment climate deteriorates.

CalPERS — the pension system for California public employees — manages roughly $556 billion in assets and is already facing more than $179 billion in unfunded liabilities.

CalSTRS, the pension fund for California’s teachers, manages a portfolio of more than $400 billion. Both depend on a functioning private economy and stable financial markets.

When founders and investors are forced to sell equity stakes to pay a tax bill, and when the state’s wealthiest residents continue to leave, the damage doesn’t stop with them.

It reaches the pension checks of the workers the SEIU claims to speak for.

The Hoover Institution estimates the permanent loss of income tax revenue from departing residents will leave California worse off — not better off — by $25 billion.

Nearly 30 percent of the billionaire tax base had already left the state before the initiative even qualified for the ballot. Six billionaires departed publicly before the Jan. 1 residency deadline, including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

More have reportedly followed without any fanfare.

Every departure costs the state years of income tax revenue, capital gains and related economic activity California can’t afford to lose.

SEIU and its enablers call this a healthcare funding measure — a response to federal Medicaid reforms. It isn’t.

California already has the highest income tax rates in the nation. Its budget problems aren’t a revenue problem. They’re a spending problem that’s outpaced even California’s substantial tax base for years.

SEIU claims to speak for hundreds of thousands of workers whose retirement security runs through CalPERS, CalSTRS and a California economy that keeps generating jobs and investment.

A measure that accelerates capital flight and weakens pension fund returns, then hands Sacramento the tools to expand asset taxation without a vote is not a benefit to those workers.

California voters should read past the name of this initiative before they decide whether to support it. The SEIU is counting on them not to.

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Mamdani Berates Billionaire Outside His Residence Near UnitedHealthcare CEO Assassination Site

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin responded to a viral Tax Day video from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in which he was filmed outside of the billionaire’s penthouse promising to charge new taxes on the property of wealthy individuals.

The democratic socialist, whose city is facing a budget crisis, released a video on April 15 vowing to impose a new pied-à-terre tax on the non-primary residences of wealthy New Yorkers.

Mamdani is seen in the video on the street outside Griffin’s penthouse, which was purchased in 2019 for $238 million — marking the most expensive home sale in American history, according to a report from Fox Business.

“This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million, whose owners do not live full-time in the city,” Mamdani said in the video.

“Like for this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million,” he continued, calling out Griffin by name.

Griffin responded with remarks at an investment conference in Oslo, Norway, saying that he was disturbed by the “personal attack” and the possible security ramifications.

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