Tag: taxes

Here Are All The Transgender Medical Experiments Your Tax Dollars Are Funding Through Obamacare

In a social media post last week, President Trump noted that what Democrats are demanding in exchange for their cooperation in reopening government would require more than $1 trillion in spending and “force Taxpayers to fund Transgender surgery for minors.” Indeed, taxpayers are already funding such surgeries via Obamacare subsidies — and Democrats have shut the government down as they demand that Covid-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which expire on Dec. 31, keep flowing to insurers covering these treatments.

Insurers Are Covering WHAT?

Take Colorado, which requires all insurers to cover so-called “gender affirming care” as an essential health benefit. The state’s Division of Insurance lists all the surgical and hormonal treatments that insurers cover. The list, which runs the gamut from facial feminization to gluteal implantation and implantation of testicular prostheses, includes treatments that many Americans would at best find wasteful and at worst consider morally objectionable and offensive.

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Dems Want Medicaid For Millions Of Biden-Era Migrants But Use Sneaky Wordplay To Pretend They Don’t

The federal government shut down on Wednesday after Democrats refused to vote on a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded for the next seven weeks. When Republicans pointed out that Democrats were unwilling to vote to fund the government without restoring health care eligibility for illegal aliens, the media and other Democrats jumped into action, “fact-checking” Republicans and claiming that wasn’t true.

These “fact checks” rely on the ludicrous claim that foreign citizens who were dumped into the United States by the millions by the Biden administration via blanket parole grants are not really “illegal” aliens.

Democrats refused to fund the government without a funding proposal that would, in part, rescind Subtitle B in Title VII of the One Big Beautiful Bill. That section had narrowed the eligibility requirements for government health care benefits (like Medicaid), restricting eligibility for certain foreign nationals, such as the 2.8 million otherwise inadmissible aliens who received blanket parole into the United States from the Biden administration.

But rather than acknowledge that Democrats’ proposal would extend federal health care to parolees, leftist mouthpieces insist that those millions of parolees don’t count as “illegal aliens” and therefore that no illegal aliens are getting Medicaid benefits.

That’s what Neera Tanden is doing when she insists the Affordable Care Act “bans care for illegal aliens.”

Or Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, who claimed: “Undocumented immigrants aren’t even *allowed* to access Medicare, Medicaid or ACA credits.”

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in an X post: “‘Health care for illegal aliens’ is the new ‘immigrants are eating cats and dogs in Springfield.’ The Republican playbook is simple: make up a baseless lie, repeat it every chance you get, hope and pray that everyone blames Democrats for the crises you created.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said: “To be clear, undocumented immigrants aren’t even allowed to enroll in federally funded health coverage.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNBC it is an “outright lie” and that “federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to provide medical coverage to undocumented individuals.”

New York Rep. Jerry Nadler said on X that “undocumented immigrants are not eligible for the ACA. Period.”

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“Farmageddon” – Farmers Across the U.S. Sound the Alarm on the Disaster Unfolding from Trump’s Tariffs

As the U.S. now heads into the Fall harvest season, the impacts of Trump’s tariffs are being more clearly seen, where farmers all across the U.S. are sounding the alarm about the collapse of our agricultural system, with one out of every three farms going out of business in certain parts of the country.

What we are seeing this Fall in the U.S. are the effects of a mass loss of farm labor due to deportations, increased prices on farm equipment and other farm materials that are mostly imported (like parts for John Deere tractors), and of course the loss of the China market, the country where most U.S. farm products have been exported to in past years.

Ohio family farmers describe life under Trump tariffs: ‘We’re in a hell of a mess here.’

“We’re in a hell of a mess here,” said Ohio farmer Chris Gibbs as he worked on his combine at the start of harvest season.

“A severe cash flow mess,” he sighed. “A working capital mess.”

Gibbs, who farms more than 500 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and alfalfa hay in Shelby County, along with a 90-head cow-calf operation, described the five-alarm fire raging in the farming community from Trump’s blanket tariffs.

Some growers have called the fallout from his chaotic trade war, and the reciprocal tariffs it provoked, a “farmageddon” that could ruin what made rural America great.

It’s that bad.

The Trump tariffs are shrinking incomes and exploding expenses for farmers, who, thanks to a president they still overwhelmingly support, fear losing their farms.

Many don’t know how much longer they can hang on.

Trump’s punitive tariffs on foreign buyers made their crops less competitive in markets around the world (and drove down prices more) while other senseless tariffs on fertilizer, steel, aluminum, and lumber just sent the cost of doing business through the roof.

The double whammy of Trump tariffs is especially painful for family farms that make up about 87% of all farms in Ohio.

Individual farmers struggle to break even, buy supplies, sell their crops, and build a sustainable future with long-term customers.

But the current tariff dance with Trump keeps them up nights.

Everything a farmer buys “from phosphate and potash to agricultural chemicals, herbicides, machine parts, is up by 50% over the last decade, while our proceeds from the sale of crops is down by 40%,” said fifth-generation Ohio farmer Joe Logan.

The former president of the Ohio Farmers union — a group focused on family farmers — maintained “the industrial agricultural community is chugging right along, raking in billions of dollars” while family farmers are not making any money.

Instead, they’re battling irrational tariffs, rising costs, high interest rates, farm bankruptcies and abiding dread.

How will they move crops without buyers or the major trade deals Trump promised to fix what he broke? (Full article.)

The biggest crop losses to China are American soybeans. Last year China bought $12.6 billion of soybeans, and this year they have bought ZERO, since Trump levied tariffs against them earlier in the year.

Instead, China has turned to Brazil to import soybeans, and after the Trump Administration just gave Argentina a new $20 billion bailout package to “help their economy,” Argentina immediately removed their own tariff to China and sold them several shiploads of soybeans, betraying U.S. farmers.

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CNN’s Jake Tapper Corners Hakeem Jeffries on LIVE TV — Confronts Him on Hidden Provision That Gives Illegal Aliens Healthcare Through Emergency Medicaid and Asylum Loopholes

CNN’s Jake Tapper grills House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on live television about hidden provisions in the Democrats’ spending bill that fund emergency Medicaid for noncitizens, exposing the healthcare-for-illegals loophole Democrats don’t want Americans to see.

The confrontation came amid the ongoing government shutdown, where Democrats are blocking a clean continuing resolution unless Republicans cave to their demands for bloated spending, including the extension of Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of 2025.

But Tapper wasn’t letting Jeffries off the hook with the usual Democrat talking points about protecting Americans.

Tapper was forced to read aloud Subtitle E of the bill to Jeffries, a section Republicans have rightly exposed as a Trojan horse for open-borders healthcare handouts.

Jake Tapper:
Donald Trump blessed it as well. Let me ask you about a provision that the Republicans are talking about quite a bit. I know you want to talk about, and Democrats want to talk about, extending the Obamacare subsidies which expire at the end of 2025. But they talk about the provisions, and it’s right here—Subtitle E.

This has to do with the repeal of health care subtitle changes, and specifically what it is. How they characterize it is: you want to give health insurance to undocumented immigrants. I understand that’s not really an accurate depiction, but what it does do is—

Hakeem Jeffries:
It’s a lie.

Jake Tapper:
It’s a lie. But what you support does bring back funding for emergency Medicaid to hospitals, some of which does pay for undocumented immigrants and people who don’t have health insurance.

Also, there is this provision, and it’s not about undocumented immigrants. It’s about people with asylum seekers and people with temporary protected status, et cetera, et cetera, but about their ability to get Medicaid.

They’re non-citizens. They’re not undocumented, they’re not illegal. Why even include that in a bill, knowing that they’re going to seize right upon that and use that as a message?

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Leaked texts on Scott Bessent’s phone suggest the White House got played bailing out Argentina—and U.S. soybean farmers are the casualties

“Finally—just a heads up, I’m getting more intel, but this is highly unfortunate,” the text said. “We bailed out Argentina yesterday and in return, the Argentine’s [sic] are removing their export tariffs on grains, reducing their price, and sold a bunch of soybeans to China, at a time when we would normally be selling to China. Soy prices are dropping further because of it. This gives China more leverage on us.”

A second message said, “On a plane but Scott I can call you when I land.”

Last week, Bessent outlined on X a plan to financially support Argentina following extensive talks between longtime allies President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei, a libertarian economist with a populist, Trump-like appeal, known for wielding a chain saw and cloning his enormous mastiff dogs.

The Treasury has arranged a $20 billion swap line with Argentina’s central bank, part of an effort to infuse the South American country with capital. Stabilizing Argentina ahead of an October midterm would help Milei’s chances of staying in power. Milei has had more success taming Argentina’s hyperinflation than first expected, but has been dealing with a brewing currency crisis and several corruption scandals.

Amid Argentina’s talks with the U.S., China ordered at least 10 cargoes of soybeans from the South American country, Reuters reported, citing multiple traders.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Treasury Department did not respond to Fortune’s requests for comment.

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OMB Director Russ Vought Strikes Again: Eliminates $8 Billion in Green New Scam Funding to Liberal States

Russ Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (ONB), stripped $8 billion in funding for green new scam projects in numerous far left states.

The projects are in the following states: CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MD, MA, MN, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, and WA.

This comes after Vought announced this morning on X that he had frozen about $18 BILLION in infrastructure projects for New York City, saying he was trying to ensure such funding would not go to fund DEI projects.

“Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,” Vought wrote.

“More info to come soon from @USDOT.”

As The Gateway Pundit reported, the Schumer Shutdown took effect at 12:01 am after two measures to avert the government shutdown failed in the Senate.

The measures needed 60 votes to pass. The GOP-backed measure failed to pass in a 55-45 vote – Rand Paul voted with the Democrats.

The Democrat Party and Paul decided to put the welfare of illegal aliens, surgeries for transgender minors, and more garbage ahead of keeping the government running.

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Govt Shutdown: Ro Khanna Admits Democrats Are Fighting to Get Free Health Care for Illegal Aliens

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) admitted that the government shutdown fight is over Democrats seeking to provide free health care to illegal aliens — paid for by American taxpayers.

In an interview with Fox Business this week, Khanna said the government has shut down in part because Democrats are looking to make it easier for illegal aliens to secure taxpayer-funded healthcare benefits.

Khanna, though, tried to downplay the issue by claiming only a small amount of taxpayer funding is going toward subsidizing healthcare benefits for illegal aliens.

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California Marijuana Tax Cut Officially Takes Effect, With Planned Increase Delayed Through At Least 2028

Three months into a major marijuana tax hike in California, a new law putting a pause on the increase has officially taken effect.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the tax relief legislation from Assemblymember Matt Haney (D) late last month. Now, as of Wednesday, consumers will not be paying the increased excise tax—at least until October 2028.

“We’re rolling back this cannabis tax hike so the legal market can continue to grow, consumers can access safe products, and our local communities see the benefits,” Newsom said at the time of the bill signing.

Haney said that “California’s cannabis economy can bring enormous benefits to our state, but only if our legal industry is given a fair chance to compete against the untaxed and unregulated illegal market.”

“AB 564 helps level the playing field,” he said. “It protects California jobs, keeps small businesses open, and ensures that our legal cannabis market can grow and thrive the way voters intended.”

State officials announced in June that the cannabis excise tax rate would increase from 15 percent to 19 percent on July 1, prompting concern from industry stakeholders and consumer advocates.

Newsom previously supported including a tax freeze in a budget trailer bill, but that didn’t come to fruition. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D) also backed the delay, but Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire (D) reportedly blocked it from the budget legislation.

Before being amended in committee, the newly enacted legislation’s pause of the cannabis tax increase would have been in effect until June 30, 2030. After that, on a biennial basis, regulators would adjust the tax rate “by a percentage that will generate an amount of revenue that would have been collected pursuant to the cultivation tax imposed prior to its discontinuation, as specified, not to exceed 19 percent,” according to a summary.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, however, moved to shorten the period that the reduction will be in effect, to October 2028.

The new law will make it so the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), working with the Department of Finance, will be required to “adjust the cannabis excise tax rate upon purchasers of cannabis or cannabis products” based on the “additional percentage of the gross receipts of any retail sale by a cannabis retailer that the department estimates will generate an amount of revenue equivalent to the amount that would have been collected in the previous fiscal year,” the text says.

The department will need to “estimate the amount of revenue that would have been collected in the previous fiscal year pursuant to the weight-based cultivation tax” and “estimate this amount by projecting the revenue from weight-based cultivation taxes that would have been collected in the previous calendar year based on information available to the department.”

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Illegal Alien Superintendent Lied About PhD, Loses License, And Earns District A DOJ Investigation Into DEI

Ian Roberts, the Iowa superintendent who was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement last Friday after fleeing from a traffic stop and ditching his district-issued vehicle (in which a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash and a hunting knife was recovered) – completely lied about his bona fides. 

He’s also lost his superintendent’s license, while the DOJ launched an investigation hours after ICE detained him. The 54-year-old native of Guyana entered the United States on a student visa in 1999, overstayed, lied on a form claiming he was eligible to work when he was hired in 2023, and now faces deportation. 

According to the Des Moines Register, Roberts never obtained a doctoral degree from Maryland university – something which would have been easy to verify during the vetting process. Roberts has “long stated that he received a doctoral degree from Morgan State University in Baltimore. But a university spokesperson told the Des Moines Register on Monday that Roberts did not obtain a degree from the school, despite attending Morgan State from the fall of 2002 through the spring of 2007.”

He attempted to obtain a doctorate in urban educational leadership. Despite his failure, Roberts has claimed on multiple occasions to have “completed” the degree at Morgan State, including in a 2009 self-published book. 

A November 2024 article published on the Des Moines Public School website claimed “Roberts excelled academically and… completed education programs at Coppin, St. John’s, Morgan State, Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and an MBA at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.”

Meanwhile, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners revoked Roberts’ superintendent’s license on Sept. 29. 

What’s more, the Justice Department opened an investigation into the school district hours after Roberts was detained. According to the Washington Examiner, the DOJ wrote to interim superintendent Matthew Smith informing him of the investigation into the district’s alleged DEI programs. 

“Our investigation is based on information that DMPS may be engaged in employment practices that discriminate against employees, job applicants, and training program participants based on race, color, and national origin in violation of Title VII,” wrote Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon. 

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Michigan Marijuana Industry Rallies Against Tax Hike Proposal That’s Advancing In The Legislature

The proposed new wholesale tax on marijuana products to fund road repairs in the next state budget and years down the road is much too high and would result in job losses for a booming Michigan cannabis industry, advocates and lawmakers said Tuesday as they rallied for a lower tax rate.

At least two Democratic lawmakers who attended the rally—state Reps. Donavan McKinney of Detroit and Mike McFall of Hazel Park—also signaled that they were working behind the scenes to get that rate much lower before a final vote is taken.

At present, both McFall and McKinney said they would vote no on the final budget if the rate remained.

Michigan lawmakers reached a loose framework to fund the government last week, but it included a new 24 percent wholesale tax on products sold at dispensaries across the state. That sent the cannabis industry and their allies into a frenzy as they warned that such a tax would hamstring the industry’s growth and result in fewer jobs.

On Tuesday afternoon, lawmakers were still in the throes of hammering out a final budget plan, with no clear end in sight despite signals that the government would stay open and not shut down on Wednesday when the new fiscal year begins (though by the end of the day lawmakers passed a temporary budget extension through October 8).

Still, the money for the Legislature’s road funding plan had to come from somewhere, whether that was from schools—which advocates rallied against Tuesday—or from the new proposed tax on pot for potholes.

Those working for or on behalf of the cannabis industry gathered for a rally on the Capitol steps in Lansing to send lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who had earlier in the year proposed a more than 30 percent tax, a clear message: Keep off their grass.

“Our industry is not their piggy bank. Our wallets are not their budget overruns,” said Mike DiLaura, CCO and general counsel for House of Dank, one of many cannabis companies operating in Michigan. “It is our time, not just as an industry, but as citizens of this great state, to put our feet down and say, ‘enough is enough.’”

DiLaura continued by saying that the industry has, since recreational cannabis was legalized in 2020, raised nearly $2 billion in taxes for Michigan over the last five years.

“But they say it’s not enough,” DiLaura said. “When will it ever be enough?”

Several other advocates and industry leaders spoke at the rally, all mentioning that even if they lost the battle to either stop the tax hike or reduce it, they would continue the fight in court or seek a full repeal of the law down the pike.

The rally also featured two allies in McKinney and McFall.

Both said they voted against the proposal in House Bill 4951 when it passed the House last week, noting that their communities have greatly benefited from recreational cannabis shops and associated businesses like grow operations.

“Hazel Park was all in on marijuana from the very beginning. As some of you might know, we even gave Tommy Chong the key to the city at one point,” McFall said. “But what a lot of people don’t realize is how this is going to impact local municipalities. They’re talking about cutting revenue sharing, which is the money that goes back from the state. This is also going to impact that.”

McFall said Hazel Park got half a million in tax dollars last year, and that money helped pay for emergency services and other amenities.

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