Tag: taxes

EU Covid grants in Poland spent on yachts, luxury cars and swinger club – Politico

Poland has suspended the distribution of EU funds intended for post-Covid pandemic recovery in the hospitality, tourism, and culture sectors, following controversy over alleged misuse of the money. Some of the funds were spent on boats and luxury furniture, as well as a grant registered to the address of a swingers’ club, Politico reported.

The scandal erupted after the Polish authorities published interactive online maps displaying grant recipients in a bid to showcase openness of the recovery program. The data, however, revealed that the funds bankrolled yachts, a pizzeria that added tanning beds, and, in one widely shared case, a business in southern Poland registered at the same address as a sex club.

Finance Minister Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz said on Tuesday that no additional funds would be released until each of the roughly 2,400 grants, totaling around 1.2 billion zlotys (€282.3 million/$330 million), undergoes individual scrutiny.

The HoReCa scheme, part of Poland’s long-delayed EU Covid recovery plan, aimed to support small tourism and hospitality businesses hit by pandemic restrictions. Poland was eligible for nearly €60 billion from the EU’s Recovery Fund, but access was blocked under the previous government due to a rule-of-law dispute. The new government unlocked the funds after the 2023 election by addressing EU concerns.

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UK Government Used ‘Accountancy Trick’ To Hide 90% of Cost of Giving Away Strategic Islands: Report

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stands accused of using an “accountancy trick” to mislead the public over the true cost of giving away British Islands hosting a strategic U.S. airbase in the Pacific Ocean.

The true cost of giving away a chain of strategic islands in the Pacific is £35 billion ($46bn), not £3.4 ($4.5bn) as the government attempted to claim, a report states. The Prime Minister has been accused of misleading Parliament over the figures.

The British Indian Ocean Territory was given away by the British government to Mauritius, a country with questionable links to the Islands  but which nevertheless successful in using the International Court of Justice and the United Nations to award itself a claim, earlier this year. This plan, pushed through by international law extremist Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in spite of widely-discussed concerns about the wisdom of handing over such a strategic asset to an African state increasingly drifting towards China’s orbit, and the exorbitant cost.

Under the terms of the deal, the UK handed over the land under the Diego Garcia airbase, a joint UK-U.S. facility which is crucial for military reach across the Middle East and Asia as well as intelligence interception, and will lease it back for 99 years. Starmer’s government defended this expense on the grounds that it was good value for money and not even nearly as expensive as claimed. While the government said the deal would cost £3.4 billion, the Conservative opposition claimed it was more like £30 billion.

Now it is claimed an “accountancy trick” to hide the cash figure of giving away British islands from the public has been revealed. The Daily Telegraph states documents gained from civil service actuaries show the Starmer government knew the true cost of the deal all along but this was reduced from £34.7 billion using inflation estimates and a “controversial accounting method sometimes used for long-term projects”, the Social Time Preference Rate.

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California City Approves $100,000 Fund to Help Migrants Pay Rent

The Santa Ana city council approved a new $100,000 fund of taxpayer dollars to pay the rent of illegal migrants who are “affected by immigration enforcement.”

Not only did the city approve the program, they also gave it an official title in Spanish, not English. The council passed what it is calling the “Santa Ana Ayuda Sin Frontera” program (“Help Without Borders”).

The program will allow migrants to apply for funds for overdue rent, utility bills, and other household expenses, according to a press release on the city website.

“Our community stands strongest when we support one another, especially in times of uncertainty,” Mayor Valerie Amezcua said in the release. “This assistance program reflects the Santa Ana City Council’s commitment to protecting the dignity and stability of each resident impacted by the recent, unjust immigration enforcement actions.”

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The USAID Of Broadcasting: PBS Parent Company Funnels Tax Dollars To Cushy Lobbying Firm

When DOGE dug into the financial tentacles of USAID, it found troubling examples of overspending and funding of unchecked, woke programs outside the agency’s mission. At the now defunded Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) a similar Gordian knot of spending patterns has diverted millions of dollars from broadcasting content to the public, enriched elite nonprofit leaders, and wedged public television (PBS) and public radio (NPR) into producing left-leaning content.

With the passing of the Big Beautiful Bill, Congress gave CPB no funding at all — a shock for CPB, which was expecting $1.07 billion for 2026 and 2027.

As The Federalist previously reported, CPB is a nonprofit created by Congress in 1967 to administer funding for public radio and television stations. It has many highly paid employees in Washington, D.C., and an elderly CEO, Patricia Harrison, 86, who received $524,000 in compensation in 2022, according to the CPB’s most recently available 990 tax exempt form.

CPB announced on Aug. 1 that it will both “wind-down” operations and advocate for Congress to restore funding. The defunding will be felt by the many nonprofits that received money from CPB or that exist because of public broadcasting. One of them is the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS).

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The Debt And Deficit Problem Isn’t What You Think

In recent months, much debate has been about rising debt and increasing deficit levels in the U.S. For example, here is a recent headline from CNBC…

The article’s author suggests that U.S. federal deficits are ballooning, with spending surging due to the combined impact of tax cuts, expansive stimulus, and entitlement expenditures. Of course, with institutions like Yale, Wharton, and the CBO warning that this trend has pushed interest costs to new heights, now exceeding defense outlays, concerns about domestic solvency are rising. Even prominent figures in the media, from Larry Summers to Ray Dalio, argue that drastic action is urgently needed, otherwise another “financial crisis” is imminent.

The problem with Larry Summers’, Ray Dalio’s, and many others’ warnings of impending financial doom is that they have been warning of that very problem for decades. Such was the point of our previous discussion:

“It doesn’t take much to understand that Ray Dalio, a hedge fund titan, is like every other human being and is prone to error. I will not dismiss Dalio entirely, as his track record of managing money at Bridgewater is nothing to be scoffed at. However, his track record is far less enviable regarding debt crisis predictions. Here is a brief timeline.”

  • March 2015 – Hedge Funder Dalio Thinks the Fed Can Repeat 1937 All Over Again
  • January 2016 – The 75-Year Debt Supercycle Is Coming To An End
  • September 2018 – Ray Dalio Says The Economy Looks Like 1937 And A Downturn Is Coming In About Two Years
  • January 2019 – Ray Dalio Sees Significant Risk Of A US Recession
  • October 2022 – Dalio Warns Of Perfect Storm For The Economy (That was also the stock market low.)
  • September 2023 – Dalio Says The US Is Going To Have A Debt Crisis

But you can even go further back than these when he wrote about some of his biggest mistakes about a decade ago:

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New Report Reveals Truth About Rep. Jasmine Crocket, She’s a ‘Diva’ Who Brutalizes Her Staff

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a rising Democratic voice known for her attacks on Donald Trump, is facing allegations from former staffers that she mistreats employees, avoids work, and demands VIP treatment at taxpayer expense.

Key Facts:

  • Multiple former aides told the New York Post that Crockett rarely shows up to her D.C. office and berates staff.
  • Allegations include demanding luxury rental cars like Escalades, requiring staff to open doors for her, and refusing to use personal vehicles for official duties.
  • Sources say she focuses on media appearances rather than district issues.
  • Past incidents include skipping ahead of disabled passengers in an airport line and dismissing concerns from gay staffers over derogatory language.
  • Staff turnover is reportedly high due to what sources describe as a toxic work environment.

The Rest of The Story:

Crockett, elected to represent Texas in 2023, has gained national attention for her fiery committee speeches and frequent televised criticism of Trump, calling him “a piece of s***” and an “enemy to the United States.” While this has boosted her profile online, former staffers paint a different picture of her off-camera conduct.

One ex-aide told the Post she often “lays around her apartment” instead of working from the Capitol, showing little interest in staff or local matters. Another source described her as “more focused on, ‘Get me on The View,’” than on serving constituents.

Staff say Crockett operates from a luxury office building rather than her official office, instructs aides to rent high-end SUVs for short trips, and insists on door service. These demands, they say, divert attention and resources from policy work.

The Post report also detailed past controversies, such as Crockett cutting in front of wheelchair-bound passengers to board a flight and brushing off staff complaints over her use of the term “butch” toward GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. One aide recalled her telling critics, “You’re stupid if you think so.”

Multiple former employees say the office culture leaves Black female staffers feeling disempowered, with confrontations sometimes ending in tears. In one instance, Crockett reportedly told a staffer, “Do you really want to be here? And if not, you can leave!”

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Teachers’ Union Chief Randi Weingarten Questioned Over Scandalous Spending Including $100,000 Limo Bill

On Thursday, the Education and Workforce Committee sent a letter to American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten demanding answers and accountability after details surfaced regarding the union chief’s excessive and potentially improper spending on luxury travel.

The letter, from Education and Workforce Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chairman Rick Allen (R-GA) demands details from Weingarten regarding public records that show that, since September of 2023, the partisan Democrat cheerleader spent $100,000 on private limousine services.

Walberg and Allen write, “The Committee has received reports describing first-class travel, family-related expenses, and large vendor payments that appear unrelated to legitimate representational activities.”

“If substantiated, these allegations reveal a troubling lack of accountability within AFT leadership. It is the Committee’s responsibility to conduct oversight to protect union members. As such, the Committee seeks to ascertain the truth of these allegations and whether the alleged conduct may warrant reform of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA).”

“The magnitude of recent AFT officer reimbursements raises questions about the adequacy of your current treasury oversight practices. AFT’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Form LM-2 shows that you received $42,105 in additional disbursements on top of your $457,769 gross salary (which, notably, is more than six times the average teacher salary of $72,030).”

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Trump moves to shut down NASA missions that measure carbon dioxide and plant health

The Trump administration is moving to shut down two NASA missions that monitor a potent greenhouse gas and plant health, potentially shutting off an important source of data for scientists, policymakers and farmers.

President Donald Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 includes no money for the Orbiting Carbon Observatories, which can precisely show where carbon dioxide is being emitted and absorbed and how well crops are growing.

NASA said in an emailed statement Wednesday that the missions were “beyond their prime mission” and being terminated “to align with the President’s agenda and budget priorities.”

But the missions — a free-flying satellite launched in 2014 and an instrument attached to the International Space Station in 2019 that include technology used in the Hubble Space Telescope — still are more sensitive and accurate than any other systems in the world, operating or planned, and a “national asset” that should be saved, said David Crisp, a retired NASA scientist who led their development.

They helped scientists discover, for example, that the Amazon rain forest emits more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, while boreal forests in Canada, Russia and places where permafrost is melting absorb more than they emit, Crisp said.

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NYC to shut down last migrant hotel after shelling out $170 million to crime-ridden shelter

It’s the end of an error.

New York City’s last-standing — and most notorious — migrant hotel will soon stop housing illegal border crossers, The Post has learned.

The once-four-star Row NYC hotel on Eighth Avenue in Midtown was repurposed in October 2022, so its 1,331 rooms could be used as a shelter while the Big Apple dealt with the crippling migrant crisis, but Mayor Eric Adams confirmed the city’s $5.13 million-a-month contract with the hotel won’t be renewed in April.

The deal has allowed the hotel — which is owned by Boston-based real estate titan Rockpoint Group — to already rake in more than $170 million.

It’s unclear what the future holds for the establishment, which once charged $414 to $435 per weeknight for standard rooms before becoming a shelter. Reps for the company did not return messages.

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Leftists Melt Down over Trump Administration Targeting DEI Broadband Subsidies

Congressional Democrats are panicking over the Trump Administration’s reforms to the wasteful Biden-era Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Biden’s 2021 infrastructure bill allocated a whopping $42.5 billion to distribute to states to subsidize high-speed internet for primarily rural and underpopulated areas, which the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunication and Information Authority (NTIA) distributes.

Like most of Biden’s “infrastructure” programs, BEAD was filled with DEI mandates, climate regulations, and crony favoritism, which limited most funding to fiber internet, while virtually banning low-earth-orbit satellite internet. The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress signaled early this year that such wasteful programs would be targeted by the Trump White House.

Fortunately, the Senate recently confirmed Arielle Roth to lead NTIA, which will administer the program and implement the Trump administration’s reforms. Roth served as the top telecom staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the Senate Commerce Committee, where she helped the Senator document the BEAD program’s abuses, giving her the perfect experience and skills to implement these reforms.

As Sen. Cruz noted, BEAD’s “technology bias against non-fiber broadband will drive up costs by billions of dollars and likely deprive some communities of any broadband access at all.”  Four years after the Bill’s passage, BEAD failed to connect one household to the internet.

Fiber internet is often inefficient in sparsely populated areas. Some proposals, approved by the Biden NTIA, charge tens of thousands of dollars per home across many states. The Biden NTIA even proposed giving $547,254 for one “underserved” location in Washington, D.C. (hardly an underserved area for high-speed internet).

Trump’s FCC Chairman, Brendan Carr, called BEAD a “$42 billion program for expanding Internet infrastructure into a thicket of red tape and saddled it with progressive policy goals that have nothing to do with quickly connecting Americans,” specifically calling out the “DEI requirements,” “Climate change agenda,” and “technology bias.”

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