Tag: welfare

Following the Money on RFK’s Top Targets, Pharma Ads & Soda

What do Big Pharma ads on TV and Diet Coke have in common? Both are targets of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the new head of the Health and Human Services department.

In his early efforts to press the “Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy has singled out two seemingly different issues: those ubiquitous television ads for pharmaceuticals, and whether people on federal food assistance programs should be able to buy soda and junk food on the taxpayer dime.

Popping open a can of Diet Coke to open the latest episode of The Drill Down, host Peter Schweizer savors the taste of crony capitalism.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign to swiftly bar the use of food stamps to buy soda is fueling tensions between his team and the Agriculture Department. Of course, the American Beverage Association, a trade group that lobbies on behalf of “Big Soda,” is firing back, too.

HHS wants the Trump administration to approve petitions from the governors of Kentucky and West Virginia to ban soda purchases from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) program for the first time. But the USDA controls the program, not HHS. So that sets up a conflict, and for the beverage industry the stakes are very high.

The SNAP program costs $100 billion per year and serves about 42 million Americans.

Co-host Eric Eggers says that Coca-Cola would see a 2.5 percent decline in worldwide sales if sugary sodas were no longer covered by SNAP nationwide. Coca-Cola is just one of many makers of soda. Moreover, about 25 percent of all SNAP program spending is done at the cash registers at Walmart, so its influence will be felt as well.

The show also takes on another perennial issue and MAHA target — pharmaceutical advertising on television.

Every American is used to hearing and seeing ads for miracle drugs when watching television, especially news programs and sports. They often show bright, happy old people whirling around in golf carts or briskly walking while a voiceover speed-reads a cocktail of terrifying potential side effects.

“I’m generally a free-speech guy, but what is the purpose of these ads? They are meant to create demand for new, expensive drugs,” Schweizer points out.

Here also is the brewing conflict with those who make money based on those ads — media companies that sell those ad spaces to Big Pharma. About 30 percent of the ads sold for any news show on TV are for pharmaceuticals. Many people have noticed how generally easy the news media at those networks go on pharmaceutical companies.

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Elon Musk Confirms Widespread Voter Fraud as Millions of Non-Citizens Get Access to Social Security, Medicaid, and the Ballot Box — Millions Referred to DHS for Illegal Voting Prosecution 

Billionaire entrepreneur and Trump advisor Elon Musk dropped a bombshell this weekend during a fiery 100-minute town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he campaigned for conservative judge Brad Schimel in the state’s upcoming Supreme Court election on Tuesday.

Joined by Antonio Gracias, a private equity titan and a key member of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team tasked with rooting out waste in the federal government, Musk unveiled a shocking chart: a dramatic spike in Social Security Numbers issued to non-citizens, soaring from 270,000 in 2021 to a mind-blowing 2.1 million in 2024.

That’s almost 5 million non-citizens now embedded in the system—collecting benefits, draining taxpayer dollars, and, most alarmingly, infiltrating the voter rolls.

“This is a mind-blowing chart,” Musk declared, pointing to the data. “This wasn’t an accident. This was a massive, large-scale program under the Biden administration to import as many illegals as possible—ultimately to change the voting map of the United States, disenfranchise the American people, and lock in a permanent deep-blue, one-party state from which there’d be no escape.”

Gracias, founder of Valor Equity Partners and a self-described son of legal immigrants, echoed Musk’s outrage.

“We went to Social Security to find fraud, and we stumbled on this by accident,” he said.

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RFK Jr. Moves to Cut Soda from List of Approved Food Stamp Purchases – Pay Attention to Who Is Fighting Him on It

If HHS Secretary and healthy food advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has his way, SNAP will stand for Soda Not Allowed Period.

On Friday, Kennedy brought his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign to West Virginia, where Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced that he will be seeking permission from the Department of Agriculture to put soda on the list of items that cannot be bought through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, often referred to by its former name of food stamps, according to The Washington Post.

“Taxpayer dollars should be targeted toward nutritious foods,” Morrisey said.

Kennedy issued a full-throated request for states to copy Morrisey’s lead.

“I urge every Governor to follow West Virginia’s lead and submit a waiver to the USDA to remove soda from SNAP,” Kennedy said in a statement, according to Newsweek.

“If there’s one thing we can agree on, it should be eliminating taxpayer-funded soda subsidies for lower income kids. I look forward to inviting every Governor who submits a waiver to come celebrate with me at the White House this fall,” he said.

Waging a SNAP war on soda is opposed by Valerie Imbruce, director of the Center for Environment and Society at Washington College.

“Controlling how the poor eat is a paternalistic response to a problem that is not based in SNAP recipients’ inability to make good decisions about healthy foods, it is a problem of the price differential in choosing healthy or junk foods,” she said.

“Soda and candy are much cheaper and more calorie dense than 100 percent fruit juices or prebiotic non-artificially sweetened carbonated beverages, thanks to price supports and subsidies by the federal government to support a U.S. sugar industry,” she added.

The soda industry was also miffed, the Post noted.

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The most outrageous benefits scandal of all: How taxpayer-funded firm set up to help the disabled is now handing its £4 BILLION stockpile of cars to people who are obese or ‘depressed’ – and even letting friends and relatives use them

The way Aaron Hooper told it, he was so disabled he didn’t have the strength to grip a knife and fork or move more than a few metres without a wheelchair.

The 31-year-old was sufficiently convincing for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to put him on disability benefit and he was awarded a brand-new car under the Motability scheme, which offers anyone in receipt of a ‘qualifying mobility allowance’ a free car, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for a portion of their disability benefits.

It was only when his mother came under investigation for suspected benefit fraud that a different picture of his physical abilities emerged.

DWP staff not only observed him walking a mile unaided through the Devon town of Axminster with a guitar slung across his back but also lifting heavy weights at a local gym.

It was his exploits in the fitness centre’s car park that were most telling, however. In a video the gym uploaded to Instagram, Hooper can be seen demonstrating his strength by pulling his car several metres across the tarmac using a rope attached to the tow hitch of the vehicle.

Hooper’s case is not just a salutary tale about the gullibility of the civil servants who police our bloated benefits system, but a reminder of the perks available to some of the 2.8 million people currently economically inactive due to ill health.

Last year, a record 815,000 claimants made use of the Motability scheme. This represents an astonishing increase of more than 170,000 customers in just 12 months thanks to a surge in people claiming disability benefits, which boosted Motability’s turnover to a whopping £7 billion.

This boom has proved extremely lucrative for the scheme, which enjoys a uniquely privileged position. Not only is it a private company, jointly owned by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest, but enjoys a guaranteed revenue stream in the form of state-funded benefits and has a de facto monopoly.

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Chancellor set to cut welfare spending by billions

The chancellor has earmarked several billion pounds in draft spending cuts to welfare and other government departments ahead of the Spring Statement.

The Treasury will put the proposed cuts to the government’s official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), on Wednesday amid expectations the chancellor’s financial buffer has been wiped out.

Sources said “the world has changed” since Rachel Reeves’s Budget last October, when the OBR indicated she had £9.9bn available to spend against her self-imposed borrowing rules.

The OBR’s forecast is likely to see that disappear because of global factors such as trade tariffs, as well as higher inflation and borrowing costs in the UK.

The Treasury will on Wednesday inform the OBR of its “major measures” -essentially changes to tax and spending in order to meet the chancellor’s self-imposed rules on borrowing money.

The government has committed to get debt falling as a share of the economy during the course of this Parliament, and to only borrow to fund investment, not to cover day-to-day spending.

Such rules, put in place by most governments in wealthy nations, are designed to maintain credibility with financial markets. Reeves has repeatedly said her rules are “non-negotiable”.

The spending cuts drafted by the Treasury will help plug the gap that has emerged in recent months, ahead of the OBR publishing its forecast and Reeves giving a statement on 26 March.

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SCANDAL IN NEW YORK! Governor Kathy Hochul, “The Queen of Corruption,” Allegedly Rigged to $9 Billion Medicaid Contract.

An explosive lawsuit accused this darling of the Democratic left to have shamelessly manipulated the bidding process for a massive Medicaid contract—a program partially funded by the federal government—to favor her out-of-state cronies. The prize? A cool $9 billion.

Yes, you read that right: $9 billion! This isn’t a typo—it’s the size of the foot Hochul could have allegedly been rigged to fatten the pockets of his pals while everyday New Yorkers watch their healthcare system crumble.

Welcome to the circus of progressive corruption, where hypocrisy is the currency and taxpayers are the clowns.

The accusation targets the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP), designed to help the most vulnerable with in-home healthcare.

Hochul and his administration allegedly twisted the bidding process to hand the judgment contract to an out-of-state company, bypassing all transparency and fair competition.

The result? A firm with no roots in the state pocketed control of a vital program, while local providers were left high and dry.ADVERTISEMENT

Democratic Representative Ritchie Torres, in a rare moment of clarity for someone from his party, blew the lid off the scandal and demanded an investigation .

Torres points out that this company started hiring staff for the contract before it was even officially announced!

Coincidence? Please—this reeks of a fix from Albany to Manhattan.

Torres didn’t mince words: “There’s something rotten in the state of New York under Kathy Hochul’s watch.” And he’s right, even if it’s a Democrat saying it.

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GOP Congressman Tells Welfare Recipients To ‘Stop Buying The Medical Marijuana’ And Eating Cheetos

A GOP congressman is peddling a stigmatizing message to justify a new bill on adding work requirements for certain federal benefits, implying that it’s necessary to prevent people from buying marijuana with taxpayer dollars and lazing around on the couch while eating Cheetos.

During an appearance on Fox Business on Wednesday, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) was asked about recently filed Republican legislation that would impose restrictions on access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—specifically mandating that able-bodied people under 65 work at least 20 hours per week in order to receive the assistance.

That’s already part of federal law, but lead bill sponsor from Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) claims his America Works Act would close “loopholes” that have been exploited in certain states.

Fallon, for his part, decided to justify the legislation by playing into cannabis stereotypes and arguing that federal dollars are going toward medical cannabis purchases by welfare recipients.

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Study: Majority of EBT-Eligible Food Products Are Ultra-Processed

We’ve all been there: you’re waiting in the checkout line at your local Save money. Live better™ Walmart, or wherever fine groceries are sold, and in front of you is a family of four — all obese if not morbidly so — with a cart chock full of Dr. Thunder (Walmart’s Dr. Pepper knock-off) and Hot Pockets and stuff like that.

“EBT,” they say when the cashier reports their bill.

Then you realize — with a disparate mix of revulsion, empathy, and helplessness — that you have just subsidized their slow-burning suicide and the homicide of their equally fat children.

One advocacy group recently attempted to quantify this phenomenon.

Via GoCoCo (emphasis added):

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has come under increasing scrutiny for how its benefits are spent. Critics point out that the program may be “encouraging families to eat highly processed, unhealthy junk food” rather than nourishing them with wholesome options. This concern prompted us to conduct a detailed investigation into the foods eligible for purchase with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards (which deliver SNAP benefits) at one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers…

Our analysis of more than 13,000 SNAP-EBT eligible products reveals a stark nutritional reality. The vast majority of items that SNAP recipients can buy are highly processed. Notable findings include…

62% of EBT-eligible products studied are ultra-processed foods…

Nearly half (47%) of the products contain artificial flavorings…

8% of products contain additives that are banned in California or in California schools…

Over 160 products contain Red Dye No. 3, which has been recently banned by the FDA.

Of course, one of the biggest reasons this mass-scale human tragedy is allowed to play itself out is the influence of big food lobbyists in Washington (and at the state level) who bribe politicians and policymakers to include ultra-processed foods manufactured by mega-corporations like Nestle, Coca-Cola, et al. in the EBT program.

Often, these lobbyists go as low as weaponizing accusations of racism against anyone who objects.

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How the Democrats Used Welfare to Intentionally Destroy Black Families

The story of welfare in America is not just about helping the poor. It’s about control. It’s about power. And it’s about the slow, deliberate dismantling of the Black family. What started as a well-meaning program to lift people out of poverty turned into something far darker. The Democrats, who championed these policies, created a system that didn’t just fail Black families—it actively worked against them. Let’s break it down.

The Birth of Welfare: A Trojan Horse

Welfare in America didn’t start with the Democrats. It began in the early 20th century as a way to support widows and orphans. But in the 1960s, under President Lyndon B. Johnson, welfare took on a new form. Johnson declared a “War on Poverty” and launched programs like Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). On the surface, it seemed like a noble effort. But the fine print told a different story.

AFDC had a critical flaw: it rewarded single-parent households. If a father was present in the home, the family often didn’t qualify for benefits. This created a perverse incentive. Men were pushed out of the household to ensure the family could receive financial support. The result? A skyrocketing number of single-parent homes in Black communities. In 1960, about 22% of Black children were born to single mothers. By the 1980s, that number had more than doubled. Coincidence? Hardly. This was a calculated move. By breaking up the family unit, the government gained more control over individuals. A fractured family is easier to manage, easier to manipulate, and easier to keep dependent.

The Cycle of Dependency

Welfare didn’t just encourage single-parent households—it trapped people in a cycle of dependency. The more people relied on government assistance, the harder it became to break free. Jobs were often out of reach because welfare benefits would be cut if someone earned too much. This created a “welfare cliff” where working didn’t make financial sense. Why work 40 hours a week when you could lose your healthcare, housing, and food assistance?

This system didn’t just keep people poor—it kept them powerless. Black families, who were already facing systemic racism and limited opportunities, were hit the hardest. The Democrats framed welfare as a safety net, but in reality, it was a trap. And once you were in, it was nearly impossible to get out. This dependency also had another effect: it guaranteed votes for the Democratic Party. When people rely on the government for survival, they’re less likely to vote against the party that provides those benefits. It’s a clever strategy, but one that comes at a devastating cost.

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Cash For Migrants: FEMA Isn’t The Only Agency Spending Big

Elon Musk reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent $59 million last week alone – all on immigrants in New York City. Part of that was for housing, including luxury properties like The Row and The Watson, meant for tourists headed to see the marquees of Broadway. (Later the feds clawed back $80M from the city).

Open the Books previously reported that FEMA had an enormous $8 billion shortfall in its Disaster Relief Fund following the catastrophic damage of Hurricane Helene.

Well, FEMA is not the only agency that’s been spending gobs of taxpayer dollars on the immigration crisis. Programs span various agencies.

Included is the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), housed inside the Department of Health and Human Services subagency called the Administration for Children and Families.

ORR has spent over $22.6 BILLION since 2020 on grants to nonprofits providing everything from help accessing Medicaid to help building credit, help with home and auto loans, and cash assistance. Yes, cold hard cash!

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