Tag: taxes

Behind Democrats’ Sob Stories Is A Push For More Tax Dollars To Insurance Companies

Democrats like Sen. Amy Klobuchar are framing the fight over the government shutdown and a Republican refusal to keep funding health insurance subsidies as an attack on individuals.

Poor Bill and Shelly Gall — why are congressional Republicans being so mean to them?

The story Klobuchar links to does this remarkable thing, and read this carefully:

The Galls are among roughly 22 million ACA marketplace enrollees — about 92% of all enrollees — who face the prospect of higher premiums in 2026, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

Democrats are pushing Republicans to extend the enhanced subsidies that make enrollees’ health premiums cheaper, as part of a deal to end the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1. Republicans have said they want to negotiate any extension of ACA subsidies outside of legislation that would reopen the government.

See the premise? Subsidies “make enrollees’ health premiums cheaper.”

They don’t. They make enrollees’ health premiums divided, splitting the cost between the person paying for the insurance and the taxpayers who fund the subsidy, but they flatly don’t make the premiums cheaper.

It’s like you go to the supermarket and buy filet mignon, and it only costs you a dollar — wow, filet mignon is so affordable now! — but the supermarket bills the federal government for $25 every time you make that purchase, and the government gets the $25 from you as taxes. The thing costs what it costs. Subsidies don’t make it cheaper. They just hide the expense at the point of purchase. Subsidies shift and obscure.

Klobuchar claimed, “Early retirees like Bill & Shelly will see their health insurance premiums increase nearly 300%—from $442 to $1,700 per month…” But the cost of their health insurance isn’t changing at all. What’s changing is who pays for it. And if Bill and Shelly pay taxes, they’re paying, at least in part, for their own subsidies. They’re taxed so that their taxes can be transferred to them as subsidies. What a remarkable game.

But then take it one more step.

Democrats frame the subsidy as a payment to Bill and Shelly, and don’t you want poor Bill and Shelly to have nice things? But the payment doesn’t go to Bill and Shelly. It goes to health insurance companies. It’s a subsidy to industry, allowing corporations to hide the cost of their product. It’s a federal gift to private corporations.

As the subsidies die (among other political changes), health insurance companies are talking about the market headwinds that they face: “trouble in the government-funded insurance sector.” The submarine warfare masked with photos of poor Bill and Shelly is over the explosive growth of health care spending as a share of GDP, and the attempt to hide it by paying for it in less-noticed ways. Here’s the big finish from a story this week about the poor recent performance of UnitedHealthcare stock:

Still, shares of UnitedHealthcare remain down some 35% in 2025 as the company struggles with rising medical costs and reimbursement cuts. And these pressures, in turn, reflect the deepest fault lines in the U.S. system, including a population that’s aging faster than the workforce paying for it, medical inflation that outpaces wage growth, and a financial model that assumes employers, taxpayers, and patients can endlessly absorb higher costs—even as the federal government shuts down amid an affordability fight.

The financial model assumes that taxpayers can keep paying more. The fight isn’t about Bill and Shelly. The fight is about a spectacularly unaffordable health care business model that relies on the federal treasury:

The federal government subsidizes health insurance for over 150 million Americans through various programs and tax benefits. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that in 2023, those costs and subsidies added up to $1.6 trillion, net of offsetting receipts, mainly from Medicare and Medicaid. A small portion of that spending — $91 billion, or 6 percent — goes toward subsidies for health insurance purchased through marketplaces established under the ACA and related spending.

The ACA subsidies are only $91 billion a year, though, so it’s practically nothing.

See also this 2023 CBO report, which projects explosive growth in federal health care costs over the next decade.

We’re not having a debate about giving money to Bill and Shelly so they can enjoy their early retirement. We’re having a debate about how much money the federal government — meaning you, if you pay taxes — is going to give to private corporations. Congressional Democrats are servicing their corporate clients.

“Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage.”

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Judge Orders Bureau of Prisons to Provide Sex Change Surgery to Transgender Pedophile Inmate

A federal judge has ruled that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) must provide sex change procedures to a convicted pedophile who recently began identifying as transgender.

Brian Buckingham, 47, is serving more than 21 years in prison for sexually abusing his 10-year-old son and producing child sex abuse images. Shortly before sentencing, Buckingham began identifying as “Nani Love” and claimed to be female, Reduxx reported. 

In court filings, Buckingham claimed that being unable to access previously provided “gender-affirming” treatments, like hormone therapy, had worsened his depression and suicidal thoughts, The Post Millennial reported. Attorneys for Buckingham argued the sex change procedures were “medically necessary” to treat gender dysphoria and that denying Buckingham access to them is a violation of his Eighth Amendment rights.

Magistrate Judge David Christel ruled in September that Buckingham is “likely to succeed” on his claim that the BOP’s denial of sex change procedures is cruel and unusual punishment. In his ruling, Christel cited evidence that the BOP first acknowledged Buckingham’s requests for sex change procedures but then “discontinued them without reason.” 

Christel’s recommendation was ultimately adopted by U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez who ordered the BOP to provide consultations to Buckingham within 30 days for laser hair removal, facial feminization surgery, and voice therapy. 

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Carney gov’t refuses to reveal how much foreign aid funds ‘gender identity’ and ‘decolonization’ projects

The Carney government has refused to say how much of Canada’s ballooning foreign-aid budget is being spent on controversial “gender identity,” “anti-racism,” and “decolonization” projects overseas — claiming that releasing the numbers could endanger the people and organizations receiving the cash.

In a written response to order paper question Q-327, tabled by a Conservative MP and published on November 3, 2025, Global Affairs Canada said it could not release a full list of projects or dollar amounts because of “confidentiality requirements” and alleged “security concerns.”

“The Department is unable to provide a full list of contributions related to this request due to confidentiality requirements,” the reply stated. It continued:

These are the most common reasons projects are considered sensitive: the organization or individuals might be in danger if it becomes known that they are receiving funds from a foreign government; [or] implementing a project related to sensitive topics such as two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional sexually and gender-diverse people rights, human trafficking, early/forced marriage, [and] human rights defenders.

The department added that “danger” could mean a partner organization might be “forced to close,” employees could be “arrested,” or participants might face “harassment from the local population or government.”

This is a convenient excuse for shielding ideological spending from public scrutiny, particularly as the Carney government continues to expand its “values-based” foreign aid agenda, pouring millions into identity politics abroad while Canadians face record food-bank use and housing insecurity at home.

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Explosive report claims a network of charities connected to George Soros funneled $40M to support Zohran Mamdani’s political rise in tax-dodging scheme

Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is facing explosive allegations that it benefited from tens of millions of dollars in donations funneled from George Soros-linked charities as part of an elaborate scheme that may have violated federal tax laws. 

The 34-year-old State Assemblyman’s team has always claimed that he rose from obscurity to become New York City‘s mayoral front-runner thanks to an organic, grassroots movement involving many small donations and hundreds of young people with backpacks canvassing on his behalf.

But the Daily Mail can reveal that that narrative is now being called into question  according to a report from a watchdog website.

The findings, from conservative investigative site White Collar Fraud, alleged that a network of tax-exempt organizations connected to billionaire financier Soros shrewdly coordinated political and ground operations to support Mamdani in a scheme that involved laundering more than $40million in charitable donations through nonprofits and redirecting them into political activity.

Soros’s group disputes the report’s findings of improprieties, saying it is ‘riddled with inaccuracies, false assumptions and misinformation’.

‘The math isn’t the only thing that doesn’t add up,’ a spokesman for the Open Society Foundation – that was founded by Soros and is now headed by his 40-year-old son Alex, told the Daily Mail. 

‘The grants it cited – many of which we were earmarked for specific projects and causes elsewhere around the country as we have disclosed – were made years before the mayoral race even began.’ 

But White Collar Fraud investigator Sam Antar told the Daily Mail Soros-affiliated entities may have violated federal tax laws. Antar has filed 11 whistleblower complaints with the Internal Revenue Service as a result of his investigation.

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White House to Launch Website Exposing Criminal Illegal Aliens Who Have Received Medicaid

The White House will launch a website on Monday night exposing criminal illegal aliens, including murderers, rapists, and burglars, who have received taxpayer-funded Medicaid benefits, Breitbart News has learned.

The website features mugshots and photos of dozens of illegal aliens convicted of brutal crimes, undercutting Democrat claims that illegal aliens have not received healthcare benefits.

The top of the page chronicles the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal aliens convicted of crimes who have received Medicaid benefits, as well as Democrats’ efforts to restore Medicaid benefits to illegal aliens and noncitizens:

The Trump administration has intensified enforcement against criminal illegal aliens receiving taxpayer-funded Medicaid benefits, arresting hundreds of unauthorized individuals since taking office, including those with serious criminal records who exploited taxpayer-funded Medicaid illegally or through loopholes. This crackdown, driven by executive orders prioritizing public safety and fiscal responsibility, has led to the swift deportation of many individuals convicted of heinous acts, ensuring that previous resources meant for American citizens are no longer diverted to subsidize violent criminals.

Compounding the crisis, Democrats have refused to pass a clean budget bill to end the shutdown unless Republicans concede to their demands for $1.5 trillion in new spending, including restorations to Medicaid expansions that would effectively extend coverage to over 1 million illegal aliens, funneling an additional $200 billion to such programs over the next decade at the expense of U.S. families.

At least five of the two dozen individuals listed on a glimpse of the page reviewed by Breitbart News were arrested for either murder or manslaughter.

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Trump administration says SNAP will be partially funded after judges’ rulings

President Donald Trump’s administration said Monday that it will partially fund SNAP after a pair of judges’ rulings required it to keep the food aid program running.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture had planned to freeze payments to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting Nov. 1 because it said it could no longer keep funding it due to the shutdown. The program serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net. It costs about $8 billion per month nationally.

It’s not clear how much beneficiaries will receive, nor how quickly beneficiaries will see value show up on the debit cards they use to buy groceries. The process of loading the SNAP cards, which involves steps by state and federal government agencies and vendors, can take up to two weeks in some states. The average monthly benefit is usually about $190 per person.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the nation’s largest food program, said last month that benefits for November wouldn’t be paid out due to the federal government shutdown. That set off a scramble by food banks, state governments and the nearly 42 million Americans who receive the aid to find ways to ensure access to groceries.

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Government Shutdown Could Delay Home Heating Aid for Millions of Low-Income Families

A critical federal home heating assistance program that provides billions in relief to low-income families every year is at risk with the government shutdown now in its fifth week.

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides $4.1 billion in funds to 5.9 million households to help heat and cool their homes, for energy crises and home weatherization, and minor energy-related repairs. Now that temperatures are dropping across the country, some states are cautioning that the funds for the program are being delayed by the shutdown.

This comes as low-income Americans are also grappling with the sudden postponement of benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food stamp program, which provides  food to 41 million Americans every year.

SNAP funds might start rolling out as soon as Nov. 5 after judges last week ordered the Trump administration to tap into emergency contingency funds the government said was illegal to access for this purpose.

The administration had said it couldn’t use the emergency funds for food stamp benefits during a shutdown after removing a Sept. 30 memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) website that stated the opposite, that “these multi-year contingency funds are also available to fund participant benefits in the event that a lapse occurs in the middle of the fiscal year.”

While the Trump administration said on Sunday it will not appeal the ruling on SNAP, that doesn’t address the funding shortfall for LIHEAP.

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‘New Sheriff in Town’: USDA Secretary Rollins To Reform SNAP Program

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that her agency has found massive fraud in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It must be reformed, she added. 

When President Donald Trump’s administration asked states for food stamp data to eradicate fraud, waste, and abuse, many states sued, Townhall reported. 

Trump’s Executive Order 14243, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos,” aims to eradicate fraud, waste, and abuse in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which feeds about 41 million people. 

A May 6 USDA directive requires states to provide the names and Social Security Numbers of food stamp beneficiaries. 

Also in May, the federal government shuttered a $66 million SNAP scheme in New York, in which a federal employee helped loot public benefits meant for hungry, vulnerable people. 

Rollins said that the program gives food benefits to illegal aliens, and others abuse the system meant to feed hungry, low-income families. 

“The Democrat Party has turned its back on working Americans and built its entire strategy around protecting illegal aliens. They know if the handouts stop, those illegals will go back home, and Democrats will lose 20+ seats after the next census,” Rollins said. “There’s a new sheriff in town. @POTUS will not tolerate waste, fraud, or abuse while hardworking Americans go hungry.”

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‘Massive Fraud’ Uncovered in Food Stamp Program, Says Agriculture Secretary as Benefits Lapse

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Sunday said that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, is “a broken and corrupt program,” after benefits lapsed over the weekend due to the government shutdown.

In an interview with Fox News, Rollins said that while the Trump administration is moving to get the program restarted, 21 states refused to hand over data to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on whether illegal immigrants were receiving these benefits. Thousands of cases of illegal benefit use were also found, dozens were arrested for SNAP fraud, and thousands of dead people were still receiving benefits, she said.

“And guess what? In just the states that cooperated, we’ve already uncovered massive fraud,” she wrote in a post on X on Sunday.

After the second Trump administration took over, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched an investigation into SNAP fraud and abuse, said Rollins. She said her department asked all 50 states to send in data to the government for a review but 21 states did not.

Rollins suggested that if certain SNAP benefits are cut off, illegal immigrants will self-deport and added that it would change the outcome of the Census, causing House districts to be redrawn.

The Department of Agriculture planned to withhold payments to the food program starting Saturday until two federal judges ordered the administration to make the payments. It was unclear when the debit cards that beneficiaries use would be reloaded after the ruling.

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Illegal Aliens Milk SNAP For Taxpayer-Funded Free Food

Many illegal aliens who are not eligible for SNAP benefits were nonetheless saved from scrambling for food Friday when a judge forced funding for the program to continue in November.

Both the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) have been under threat as the budget impasse in Congress continues. SNAP was slated for suspension on Nov. 1 when the federal SNAP funding mechanism ran out. An appropriation bill must be passed to fund it.

But Judge Indira Talwani has ordered the USDA to use contingency funds to pay for SNAP at least partially, and to find more funds to fully fund it. “And while these contingency funds reportedly are insufficient to cover the entire cost of SNAP for November, [the USDA] also may supplement the Contingency Funds by authorizing a transfer of additional funds,” Indira wrote Friday.

A better solution would be to end the government shutdown and pass an appropriation bill to fund the government (a solution Democrats are loath to adopt). But while government workers miss paychecks and federal services are shut down, taxpayers are still feeding many illegal aliens.

Data from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) shows that many households led by illegal aliens who are not personally eligible for SNAP would be hit if a SNAP free food freeze is ever allowed to happen. In many cases they have been receiving SNAP for their children, born in the U.S. after the mother illegally entered or overstayed in the U.S.

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