Ayanna Pressley’s ‘Cancel Rent’ Hypocrisy, Exposed

The congresswoman’s rental income is another reminder that landlords are not all wealthy CEOs or big companies.

“Landlord” has become a dirty word in progressive politics. From the #CancelRent movement to support for the CDC’s unlawful “eviction moratorium,” prominent left-wing politicians want the government to back the “good guys,” renters, at the expense of the “bad guys,” landlords. So, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley may have some explaining to do.

The Massachusetts Democrat and #CancelRent advocate has apparently been a landlord for several years now, according to new investigative reporting. She has reportedly earned tens of thousands of dollars in rental income from a Boston property.

“Pressley’s 2020 financial disclosure, filed on Friday, disclosed between $5,000 and $15,000 in rental income from a Boston property in her husband’s name,” Fox News reports. “The property was converted into a multi-family apartment after it was purchased, according to Pressley’s disclosure.”

It’s unclear whether or not Pressley chose to “cancel” rent for her own tenants.

“Pressley’s office did not immediately return Fox News’ request for comment on whether she and her husband canceled rent for their tenants at any point in 2020,” the report continues. “She disclosed the same range of rental income – between $5,000 and $15,000 – in 2020 as she did in 2019, before the pandemic began.”

However, the moral of the story here is much broader than another instance of possible hypocrisy from big-government politicians. (There’s been no shortage of such examples during the pandemic to date). In fact, the congresswoman’s rental income is another reminder that landlords are not all wealthy CEOs or big companies.

Ayanna Pressley is not a multi-millionaire. She is not “the 1%.” In fact, she came from poverty and has an inspiring story of making it against the odds. And now, she is, most likely, somewhere in the middle or upper-middle class. But so are many other landlords, despite progressive rhetoric that paints them all as wealthy and greedy.

According to CNBC, around 14 percent of landlord households earn less than $50,000 annually. Another 15.4 percent earn $50,000-$89,000, while roughly 30 percent are in the $90,000-$200,000 range. In short, a huge portion of landlords are working or middle class.

So, government interventions into the rental market are not the benevolent interventions protecting the working class from exploitation by the rich that #cancelrent advocates claim. Canceling rent, eviction moratoriums, and similar policies are arbitrary and unfair measures that make some working class people winners but others losers. Congresswoman (and landlord!) Ayanna Pressley, of all people, should know that.

WATCH: Why the CDC’s Eviction Moratorium is INSANE (and Illegal!)

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. Like this story? Click here to sign up for the FEE Daily and get free-market news and analysis like this from Policy Correspondent Brad Polumbo in your inbox every weekday.

DEATH BLOW: Here’s What’s Inside Comrade Bernie Sanders $3.5 TRILLION Budget

This is an act of war.

What’s Inside Sen. Sanders’ $3.5 Trillion Budget

By Joseph Lord, The Epoch Times, August 11, 2021 Updated: August 11, 2021

On Aug. 11, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) publicly released the full text of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) $3.5 trillion budget proposal. A few hours later, the Senate narrowly confirmed the budget 50-49. Now, the budget must win approval from the House of Representatives after they return from their recess.

The outline is expected to be the first step in the Democrats’ ambitious plans for increased Federal spending on “human infrastructure,” including education, health care, and housing initiatives. However, the resolution does not include an increase to the debt ceiling, setting the stage for another political battle when Congress returns.

On Aug. 9, Sanders discussed the components of this ambitious plan on the Senate floor, saying that that the $3.5 trillion budget proposal and reconciliation bill would be “the most consequential and comprehensive piece of legislation for working people… that [the Senate] has addressed since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”

Some of the expenses in Sanders’ budget are nothing new—around $800 billion annually for national defense, $70 billion annually for international affairs and foreign aid, $45 billion for research, NASA, and other scientific pursuits, and $20 billion in subsidies for farmers. Still, many of the expenses listed here are new and ambitious.

Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants

Sanders began his speech unveiling the budget by saying that the time “is long overdue for comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship for millions of undocumented workers and families in this country.”

Giving citizenship to illegal immigrants has been a top priority for the Democratic Party since 2016. As part of this proposal, the party is doubling down on that by allowing for up to $107 billion in spending by the Judiciary Committee.

Free Child Care and Secondary Education

A large portion of the budget is devoted to education, with over $726 billion slated to go toward various programs like childcare, pre-K, and tuition-free community college.

Sanders criticized the state of childcare in the country and asserted that the legislation would ensure that “no working family in this country should be paying more than 7 percent for their childcare.” Sanders said this would be accomplished through providing subsidies to parents to help them afford childcare and by providing higher wages to childcare workers.

The legislation would also provide free pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds. “God didn’t create an education system that begins in Kindergarten,” Sanders explained.

Finally, the Democrats have no intention of forgiving student debt or making all public colleges and universities free, but the plan does provide for tuition-free two-year community college.

Federal Housing

The budget also allocates $332 billion toward government subsidies for low-income and affordable housing. Sanders criticized the high number of homeless people in the country, and this budget resolution paves the way for the Democrats in Congress to pass more comprehensive housing reform laws.

New Healthcare Reforms and Funding

Another huge focus of the budget is expansion of the Federal Government’s role in health care. As with child care workers, Democrats hope to increase health care worker wages. Sanders criticized the lack of paid leave in the United States, and said that with the new budget the party also plans to legislate paid family and sick leave.

Additionally, the proposal would devote $18 billion to the Veterans Affairs Committee in order to upgrade VA facilities.

‘Extremely Aggressive’ Policies to Move US Away From Fossil Fuels

The budget allocates $198 billion to the Energy and Natural Resources Committee with an additional $67 billion directed toward the Environment and Public Works Committee. With this funding, Democrats plan to “transform [the U.S.] energy system away from fossil fuels … in an extremely aggressive way” through research and deployment of alternative energy and increased spending for regulatory agencies like the EPA.

Sanders also proposed that Democrats would create a “Civilian Climate Corps,” which he said would give young people the opportunity “to get decent pay and to roll up their sleeves … in order to combat climate change.” Sanders implied that this “Climate Corps” would help in the “extremely aggressive” transformation away from fossil fuels, but he did not elaborate on the way that the group would help achieve that.

Democrats are looking to further move the nation away from fossil fuels by providing incentives to businesses for reducing carbon emissions and by fining polluters.

New Tax Rules

Given the huge $3.5 trillion price tag on this resolution, there are also plans to change tax rules to finance it.

The budget proposes expansion of IRS tax collection without raising taxes on people making less than $400,000 per year; instead, the party will focus on raising taxes on the very wealthy and corporations.

On top of this, the party plans to increase the child tax credit.

Deficit, National Debt to Skyrocket

With such an expensive price tag, and despite new tax rules, the national debt and the deficit would climb as a result of the budget. According to estimates in the bill, the deficit would increase from $1.3 billion in 2022 up to $1.8 trillion in 2031. Because of this deficit, the national debt would be $45 trillion by 2031.

What’s Next for the Budget Resolution

With its passage by the Senate, Sanders’ budget proposal will go to the House of Representatives.

In a letter to legislators, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) stated that the August recess would be interrupted in order to consider the proposal; the House is now set to return to session Aug. 23.

Even then, the party may have a tough battle to pass a final budget. Progressives in the House are adamant that the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the budget reconciliation proposal be considered together or not at all. At the same time, some moderates have shown hesitance to approve the huge price tag of the budget but support the bipartisan bill. In a letter to Nancy Pelosi, a few of these moderate elements wrote: “As soon as the Senate completes its work, we must bring this bipartisan infrastructure bill to the House floor for a standalone vote. This once-in-a-century investment deserves its own consideration, without regard to other legislation.”

Because of this internal disagreement, the final fate of the Senate’s budget proposal is unclear.

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DEMOCRAT WAR ON AMERICA: Biden Wants To Cut Funding for ‘Border Security Assets and Infrastructure’ by 96%

No borders? No country.

Biden Wants To Cut Funding for ‘Border Security Assets and Infrastructure’ by 96%

President Joe Biden has now revealed there is at least one area in which he is a fiscal conservative: When it comes to providing the infrastructure needed to secure the border, he wants to spend far less than the government currently spends.

By Terence P. Jeffrey | August 4, 2021 | CNS News:

His administration has presented Congress with a Department of Homeland Security budget proposal that calls for slashing spending on what it calls “Border Security Assets and Infrastructure” by 96%.

In fiscal 2021, Congress approved $1,513,000,000 in funding for border security assets and infrastructure. Biden is now asking that Congress approve just $54,315,000 for fiscal 2022. That is a reduction of $1,458,685,000 — or 96.4%.

What exactly is Biden cutting?

Biden’s DHS has presented Congress with a 562-page “overview” of its fiscal 2022 budget proposal for Customs and Border Protection. The explanation for its “Border Security Assets and Infrastructure” plan is presented on pages 326 through 350 of this document.

The presentation divides “Border Security Assets and Infrastructure” into six categories: Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT); Remote Video Surveillance Systems (RVSS); Mobile Video Surveillance System (MVSS); MVSS-M2S2 Modular Mobile Surveillance System; Border Security Assets and Infrastructure End Items; and Border Wall System Program.

In fiscal 2020, it received $1,375,000,000. In fiscal 2021, it received the same amount.In the past two fiscal years — as reported in Biden’s proposal — the Border Wall System Program has been the most significant of these. “This investment,” it says, “includes real estate and environmental planning, land acquisition, wall system design, construction, and construction and oversight of a physical barrier system.”

Now, if Biden gets his way, the federal government will not spend one penny in fiscal 2022 on planning or constructing a “physical barrier system” at the border.

“Integrated Fixed Towers” are the next item in DHS’s budget proposal for border security. “This investment,” according to the proposal, “provides automated, persistent wide-area surveillance for the detection, tracking, identification and classification of illegal entries in threat areas where mobile surveillance systems are not a viable and/or long-term solution.”

How much does Biden want for this piece of infrastructure? Nothing.

In fiscal 2020, Congress approved $1,142,000 for these towers. This fiscal year, it approved nothing. Biden wants to make sure it approves nothing again.

“Remote Video Surveillance Systems” are the next item in DHS’s budget proposal for border security. “This investment,” says the proposal, “consists of permanently mounted remotely controlled systems of daylight or infrared cameras, which enhance situational awareness of border activity and facilitate proper law enforcement resolution.”

How much does Biden want for this piece of infrastructure? Nothing.

In fiscal 2020, Congress approved $40,740,000 for these surveillance systems. This fiscal year, it approved nothing. Biden wants to make sure it approves nothing again.

“Mobile Video Surveillance System” is the next item. “This investment consists of sensor equipment mounted on a telescoping mast of a light-duty pickup truck,” the proposal says. “MVSS can be rapidly deployed to provide the best visual range for surveillance of several miles and provide situational awareness to the USBP.”

In fiscal 2020, Congress approved $14,800,000 for these systems. This year, it approved nothing. Biden wants nothing again.

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Democrat Autocrats Prep Massive Infrastructure Bill, Plan to Push Through Before Most Can Read It

The one-party totalitarians are now pushing to pass bills that haven’t even been written or finished, a bill that will certainly bankrupt and ruin this nation.

One Payoff in the Infrastructure Deal Is So Blatantly Corrupt That You Almost Have to Respect the Hustle

From the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Schumer wants to rush the bill through so he can move on to Bernie Sanders’s $3.5 trillion budget resolution that he will then sprint through on a party-line vote. He wants to pass both before the Senate’s August recess. Amendments will often be offered and voted on while the nation sleeps to meet this artificial deadline that is convenient for the political class but not for informing the public. Both parties operate this way now. But it isn’t the right way to run a democracy, and no wonder Americans hold Congress in such low regard (WSJ).

From Ben Shapiro: Total number of people in Congress who will read this before voting: (Twitter).

Dan McLaughlin: At this stage, even the staffers may not read the thing (Twitter).

Another story notes

“The new $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill contains billions of dollars to upgrade border crossings — but no money at all for the southern border wall, which President Joe Biden abandoned, despite an ongoing surge of illegal migration (Breitbart).

Democrat Joe Manchin hasn’t said if he’ll vote to approve (Washington Times).

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

SHOCKING: U.S.FALLS FAR SHORT Of Second-Quarter GDP Growth Projections

The American economy was literally shut down. We should be breaking all records and forecasts. But the Democrats have imposed economy and freedom killing restrictions on us all. Communist China, who dropped the COVID bio-weapon , is doing gangbusters. Thanks to the Democrats.

We’ve been overthrown.

U.S. Falls Far Short Of Second-Quarter GDP Growth Projections

The American economy missed second-quarter GDP growth projections by a significant margin.

By Daily Wire, July 29, 2021:

According to data released by the Department of Commerce on Thursday, the annualized GDP growth rate rose to 6.5% between April and June of this year. Although improving from 6.3% in the first quarter of 2021, the metric fell short of the 8.4% Dow Jones estimate.

According to a press release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis:

The second-quarter increase in real GDP reflected increases in consumer spending, business investment, exports, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by decreases in inventory investment, housing investment, and federal government spending. Imports, a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

The increase in consumer spending reflected increases in services (led by food services and accommodations) and goods (led by other nondurable goods, notably pharmaceutical products).

The increase in business investment reflected increases in equipment (led by transportation equipment) and intellectual property products (led by research and development). 

CNBC notes that investment and savings rates dropped in the second quarter:

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Wall Street Journal: States Run by Democrats Struggling to Recover

This is the main export of the Democrat party – misery and unhappiness.

WSJ: States Run by Democrats Struggling to Recover

From the story: Unemployment was lowest in Nebraska (2.5%), Utah (2.7%), South Dakota (2.9%), New Hampshire (2.9%), Idaho (3%), Vermont (3.1%), Alabama (3.3%), Montana (3.7%) and Oklahoma (3.7%). All are governed by Republicans, except Vermont, which has a GOP Governor and Democratic Legislature. By contrast, the states with the highest unemployment are all run by Democrats: Connecticut (7.9%), New Mexico (7.9%), Nevada (7.8%), California (7.7%), Hawaii (7.7%), New York (7.7%), New Jersey (7.3%) and Illinois (7.2%). Mere coincidence?

WSJ

RELATED ARTICLE: States That Voted Biden Lost Twice as Many Jobs Amid Pandemic

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Disney is Moving 2,000 Jobs From California to Florida—Here’s Why

One of the great things about America’s 50-state federal system is that people can vote with their feet in response to different policies. In that sense, California just lost yet another foot-vote referendum.

“The Walt Disney Company is the latest business to plan to move some operations out of California in favor of a lower-taxed state,” Fox Business reports. “Disney will move about 2,000 jobs from its California headquarters to a new campus in Florida.”

In a letter to employees, Disney executive Josh D’Amaro explained that the decision to relocate the jobs is in part due to “Florida’s business-friendly climate.”

“Florida is known for its rich culture of hospitality and active lifestyle as well as a lower cost of living with no state income tax,” D’Amaro also wrote.

While this decision was reportedly made before COVID-19, Disney did criticize the heavy-handed way California’s state government approached the pandemic, with its executives blasting the state’s shutdowns as “arbitrary.”

Disney becomes just the latest in a long series of businesses abandoning California for greener pastures. The California Policy Center has documented an extensive list of celebrities and enterprises to leave the state due to its high taxes and unfriendly business climate. This includes major corporations like Hewlett Packard, Oracle, Palantir, Dole Food, Nestle, Toyota, and many others, moving thousands of jobs out of California. Notable celebrities and entrepreneurs including Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and Ben Shapiro have all left the state in recent years as well.

In fact, California’s population declined in 2020 for the first time in years. The 2,000 Disney employees relocated to Florida will likely meet many other ex-Californians there.

There’s simply no denying the fact that wealth, businesses, and people are pouring out of California. And there’s not much mystery around what’s motivating the exodus, either. California has the 8th-highest state and local tax burden, according to the Tax Foundation. And it’s ranked as having the 49th-worst—yes, seriously—business tax climate. The results are predictable.

And the foot-voting verdict is clear. When given the option, people overwhelmingly choose economic freedom over big-government stagnation.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

TYRANNICAL: Democrats To Ram $3.5T Biden Agenda Through Senate Without Bipartisan Support As Inflation Skyrockets

Legal plunder. This is communism.

Democrats To Ram $3.5T Biden Agenda Through Senate Without Bipartisan Support As Inflation Skyrockets

By: Ryan Saavedra • Daily Wire Jul 13, 2021 •

Senate Democrats will reportedly ram through a $3.5 trillion spending bill that will “enact the full array of President Joe Biden’s social welfare” agenda without any bipartisan support in a Senate that is split 50-50.

“The proposal sets an overall limit of $3.5 trillion for the spate of Democratic policy ambitions that won’t make it into a bipartisan infrastructure deal, if Congress can reach one,” Politico reported. “Formal text of the Senate’s budget resolution has yet to be released. If that measure can clear both chambers with lockstep party support, it will unleash the power to circumvent a GOP filibuster using budget reconciliation, the same move that Democrats used to pass the president’s $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package in March.

The move comes as Biden has continued to see his approval ratings slide, especially among Democrats, who want him to be more radical in ramming through his agenda. The news comes as inflation has skyrocketed in recent months, driven in large part by the massive government spending from the Biden administration.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Unlike Hobbled U.S., China Stops COVID Stimulus Spending, CUTS It’s Deficit To 3.2%, Economy Recovers Pre-China Virus Momentum

Beijing ☭ Biden to Tax American Business at Higher Rate than Communist China

Report: True National Debt Exceeds $123 Trillion, or Nearly $800,000 per Taxpayer

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VIDEO: Protect Yourself — Economic Illiterates in D.C. Destroying Your Financial Future

Any American with a brain can see inflation is slamming all of us and from every angle. It’s not just the price of gasoline. Inflation is affecting food, cars, TVs, transportation – every aspect of the U.S. economy – thanks to the “geniuses” in Washington D.C. They have launched an all-out attack on our free market system designed to ultimately cause it (and our financial lives) to collapse! You must protect yourself! Graham Ledger speaks with the CEO of Beverly Hills Precious Metals Exchange, Andrew Sorchini, about why gold and silver is the best way to insulate our micro-economies from the finical disaster that will occur in our lifetimes.

Call 866-346-5325 and tell them that Graham Ledger, The Ledger Report sent you.

©The Ledger Report. All rights reserved.

At Least 1.8 Million People Refused to Return to Work Because of Generous Welfare Benefits, Poll Shows

The real number is probably even larger.

Here are FEE, we predicted from the beginning of the pandemic that Congress’s decision to create an unemployment benefits system paying most individuals more on welfare than they earned by working would backfire. We weren’t the only ones. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office similarly cautioned that this move would cause unemployment and hurt the economy.

The system has offered many unemployed households the equivalent of $25/hour in benefits for staying home. It was always obviously illogical, based on the work disincentive it creates. However, in the year and a half since, there has been an enormous, concentrated, politically motivated effort to deny that the excessively generous welfare benefits are playing any role at all in joblessness.

A new poll makes this continued denial impossible.

For context, we currently have 1.2 unemployed people for every unfilled job opening. Small businesses are also reporting massive shortages of willing workers, even as they raise wages.

So, Morning Consult surveyed unemployed Americans and asked them why they turned down job offers. About 13 percent openly admitted their reason for not returning to work was “I receive enough money from unemployment insurance without having to work.” If this representative sample is extrapolated across the entire unemployed population, that equates to 1.8 million Americans who admitted to declining to go back to work because they could earn more on welfare.

Meanwhile, another 12.1 percent said that they were not offered enough money to return to work. This subjective determination is likely also influenced by the generous benefits as a fall-back option.

Click here for a graph from Axios showing the full results.

Here we have solid confirmation that millions of people have remained unemployed because of the federal government’s reckless expansion of the welfare state. This is, on its face, even more vindication for the many conservative-leaning states that canceled the benefits early. And it offers even more compelling weight to the argument that the federal welfare expansion ought to be allowed to lapse in September as scheduled. (There will undoubtedly be a push to extend it; the “temporary” program has already been extended several times.)

But the Morning Consult poll results are also, most likely, a wild underestimate.

Just think about it: Would you admit, if a pollster called you up, that you’re lazily staying on benefits because it pays more than working? Probably not. There’s a very real phenomenon in polling results where people, quite naturally, skew toward offering answers that are more flattering to them than the unadulterated truth. We can’t know the full extent, but I think it’s safe to assume that the real figure is much higher than 1.8 million.

Of course, we never should have needed poll results to tell us that disincentivizing work would lead to fewer people working. That’s what basic economics taught us all along.

COLUMN BY

Brad Polumbo

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is a libertarian-conservative journalist and Policy Correspondent at the Foundation for Economic Education.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

BIDEN’S INFLATION NATION: Inflation Rate Jumps, Highest Since 2008, Prices Up 5.4% in June

Ouch! The Biden Administration’s out-of-control tax-and-spend policies are driving up inflation to levels that we have not seen since the Great Recession of 2008. Watch your wallet, America.

Making every dollar you earn and you spend worth measurably less. Never would have happened under Trump.

BIDEN’S INFLATION NATION: Inflation Rate Jumps, Highest Since 2008, Prices Up 5.4% in June

By Hannity.com, July 13, 2021

The inflation rate in the United States jumped to 5.4% in June as prices for consumer goods soared; posting the fastest pace since 2008 while the economy struggles to recover from the COVID-19 shutdown.

“The Labor Department said last month’s consumer-price index increased 5.4% from a year ago, the highest 12-month rate since August 2008. The so-called core price index, which excludes the often-volatile categories of food and energy, rose 4.5% from a year before,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

“The index measures what consumers pay for goods and services, including clothes, groceries, restaurant meals, recreational activities and vehicles. It increased a seasonally adjusted 0.9% in June from May, the largest one-month change since June 2008. Prices for used cars and trucks leapt 10.5% from the previous month, driving one-third of the rise in the overall index, the department said. The indexes for airline fares and apparel also rose sharply in June,” adds the newspaper.

Read the full report here.

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NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY: Federal, State and Local Government Spending Analyzed

Stephen Moore is the senior economic contributor for FreedomWorks. He communicates FreedomWorks’ vision for a pro-growth economic agenda to grassroots activists and media nationwide, as well as conducting original economic analysis. Stephen previously served as president of the Club for Growth, chief economist of the Heritage Foundation, and as a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board.

©Conservative Commandoes Radio. All rights reserved.

$100,000 Gone with the Wind

Some people have money “to burn.” Others seem to have enough to throw into the ocean or down the toilet. Such was the case the other day with a 24-year-old rapper, Kodak Black, who was videoed throwing hundred-dollar bills off of a boat into the ocean. Many wonder, “Now, where exactly was that boat?”

According to complex.com (6/30/21): “It’s unclear how much money Kodak threw altogether, but some people online are claiming it’s somewhere north of $100,000. As if that wasn’t wasteful enough, Kodak proceeded to throw more money away Wednesday morning. In the short clip posted on Twitter, he is seen putting about $1,000 into a toilet bowl before flushing the money.”

Apparently, this publicity stunt had something to do with a feud Kodak Black was having against another rapper. Perhaps this was a form of boasting, along the lines of: “I don’t need you—I’ve got so much money, I can throw some of it away.”

Some interpreted the stunt as an anti-Capitalist statement.

Another tweeted: “$100K in Haiti could build homes for the almost 60,000 people who were left homeless and living in camps since 2010.”

When young people come into a lot of money quickly, they don’t always appreciate the value of a dollar.

The Book of Proverbs says, “An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.”

Since the rest of us spend so much of our time working hard to make money, it’s worthwhile to think through a few key principles about money, from a Judeo-Christian perspective.

  1. Money is a means of exchange. In previous times, shells, tobacco, and other things were used in place of money.
  2. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone had to pay for that lunch. If the government provides some sort of social welfare payment to Citizen A, it does so at the expense of Citizen B.
  3. Capitalism is a system that allows people to reap and retain the fruit of their own hard work, and has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. Socialism and Communism, meanwhile, have plunged hundreds of millions into poverty—while autocratic leaders enjoy a lifestyle beyond the dreams of the sultans.
  4. The greatest among us is the servant of all. Money and prosperity often comes to those who find creative ways to serve those around them (in a system that allows and rewards such things).
  5. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
  6. He who loves money can never get enough money.
  7. Those who chase get-rich schemes rather than earning money through work do badly in the long run (and maybe the short run too). Lottery winners consistently find that it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. They lost friends. They blew the money on frivolous things, and then it was gone.
  8. Slow and steady beats chasing fantasies. People value money much more when they work

hard and smart for it, and it slowly accumulates.

  1. You can’t take it with you. Even if you’re buried with gold (like the pharaohs were), what is that to a corpse? What does it profit you if you gain the whole world and lose your soul?
  2. Give a nice portion of what you make to charity (at least 10%).
  3. Save a nice portion of what you make for the future.
  4. Make more money than you spend.
  5. Avoid debt as much as you can.
  6. If you have debts, pay the smallest one off first
  7. Pay each one off until they are all paid off.
  8. Don’t ever worry about “keeping up with the Joneses.” If the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, you should see their water bill.
  9. Read and study Proverbs every day. It will change your life.
  10. Treat others as you would want to be treated, says Jesus.
  11. Personal peace of mind exceeds a fat paycheck.
  12. God owns it all. We are just stewards, who will one day give an account.

When I heard about Kodak Black’s stunt of throwing tens of thousands of dollars into the ocean, I couldn’t help but think of a music video from another singer a few years ago.

I confess I had never heard of Drake until he filmed a music video in Miami, and I personally knew someone who worked on it. The song was called, “God’s Plan,” and videographers captured Drake walking around Miami giving thousands of dollars to real people in need.

Generosity with money indeed fits “God’s plan” much more than just throwing money away to make some point—a point lost on the rest of us who struggle to pay our bills and just make a living.

©Jerry Newcombe. All rights reserved.

PODCAST: Biden and the Democratic Congress’ Wild Spending & Georgia’s New Election Integrity Law

GUESTS AND TOPICS:

PHIL KERPEN

Phil Kerpen is the Founder and President of American Commitment AND he is also President of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. Kerpen is also a nationally syndicated columnist.

TOPIC: Wild spending by Biden and the Democratic Congress!

DAN GAINOR

Dan Gainor is the Vice President for Tech Watch, Business and Culture for the Media Research Center and a veteran editor whose work has been published or cited in most of the nation’s top publications and broadcast programs.

TOPIC: New election integrity law passed in Georgia and how the Left and the Media are lying about its provisions.

©Conservative Commandoes Radio. All rights reserved.

Ohio GOP Attorney General WINS Lawsuit Against “Biden Relief” Bill UNCONSTITUTIONALLY Bars Tax Cuts

Democrat communist fiat averted.

Obscene legal plunder impeded …. for the moment.

Ohio GOP attorney general prevails in lawsuit alleging Biden relief bill unconstitutionally bars tax cuts

By: Zachary Halaschak | Washington Examiner | July 02, 2021:

A federal judge has ruled that a provision in President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill limiting state tax cuts is unconstitutional, handing a victory to Republicans.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost had filed a federal lawsuit against the Treasury Department and its secretary, Janet Yellen, alleging that a provision in the $1.9 trillion Democratic spending package that prohibits states from using relief funds to offset tax cuts or credits “directly or indirectly” is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Cole issued the permanent injunction against what Yost dubbed the “tax mandate” on Thursday, ruling that the provision exceeds the federal government’s power over states.

“The federal government has to stay in their lane, and if they don’t, we’re prepared to bump them up against the guardrail and keep them where they belong,” Yost told the Washington Examiner in a Friday morning phone call.

Cole ruled that the tax mandate “falls short of the clarity” that Supreme Court precedent requires for the Constitution’s spending clause as it relates to conditional grants to states. The judge also rejected Yellen’s argument that Treasury Department regulations clear up the ambiguity of the provision.

“Accordingly, the Court finds that the Tax Mandate exceeds Congress’s power under the Constitution,” Cole concluded. “The Court further finds that Ohio has met the conditions for injunctive relief to prevent the ongoing harm that this constitutional violation is causing.”

It is likely that the federal government will appeal the ruling. A spokesperson with the Treasury Department told the Washington Examiner after the decision that the department disagrees with Cole’s opinion and is exploring options regarding the next steps.

“We are confident that the act is constitutional and Treasury is committed to implementing it in a manner consistent with Congress’s direction so we can continue to promote a robust and equitable recovery,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Yost touted the ruling as “a huge win for our federalist system” and pointed out that while Democrats might be disappointed with the decision, they might see it differently in the future. He said he sees the judgment as having broader implications than just this one provision.

“The progressives are going to be howling right now because they don’t like the idea that the federal government can’t tell Ohio what to do with its tax policy, but they’ll be quoting this decision soon enough to a Republican president who might want to tell a blue state how to run their state,” Yost said.

While Ohio was the first to sue the Biden administration over the tax mandate, it is not alone in its litigation on the matter.

Several other states have joined another federal lawsuit contending that the mandate violates the 10th Amendment, the conditional spending doctrine, and the anti-commandeering doctrine. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich also filed a lawsuit attacking the provision.

Yost said that while the ruling in his case won’t directly affect the other lawsuits, he thinks that Cole’s ruling will be closely examined by judges across the country.

“It’s a really well-reasoned opinion by Judge Cole, and I think other federal judges will read it and find it well reasoned,” he said. “So, it doesn’t have any direct power, but it is very persuasive.”

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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Biden Says July 4th Just Got Cheaper!

I begin today with two wise old African proverbs from the country of my birth, Rhodesia.

Shona Proverb:- “ The innocent looking people are often the guilty.” In Shona that would read “Imbwa nyoro ndidzo tsengi dzamatovo.”

An old Shangaan proverb: “Don’t replace a puff adder with a black mamba.” Or in their language “Huma Mheri kunghena mamba.”

The Biden WH just tweeted that the cost of a July 4th Bar B Q just got cheaper for his American proletariat! How much cheaper? Great question. Let me tell you here! Hold your breath. Here it is! $0.16!

Apparently they worked out that the average cook out went down that huge amount and it is therefore a sign that prices are coming down and the rumors about hyperinflation or just inflation is just that. Rumors. Sent out by white supremists. Conservatives. You know? The evil Trump supporters. In other words you and me!

Biden is trying to say that his economic plan is working and things are just hunky dory!

Hmmmmm…….I for one am not feeling that.

I understand that Biden probably has not been to a gas station lately, or if by chance he had, he probably forgot! After all, his mental capacity is very diminished! The average price across the country for a gallon of regular gas is now $3.15, the highest price since 2014 and an increase of a massive 42% from just last year under the Trump administration.

Home prices have gone up 24% this year moving more and more average Americans away from the dream of home ownership. That, Sniffer Joe, is $0.16 every 1.3 seconds! Takes care of that $0.16 saving on our cookout!! Yay!!

By the way according to the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service there is not one product or price category that has gone down in 2021 over 2020!

This is the tweet sent out by the lunatics in the WH press office supposedly from Biden! “Planning a cookout this year? Ketchup on the news. According to the Farm Bureau, the cost of a 4th of July BBQ is down from last year. It’s a fact you must-hear(d). Hot dog, the Biden economic plan is working. And that’s something we can all relish.”

What comic! They should all be on stage! I suggest the first one outa town!

©Fred Brownbill. All rights reserved.

Covid Ensured Massive Wealth Transfer

For a period of well over a year, our government, Republican and Democrat, used Covid as a way to create the largest ever wealth transfer from average Americans to those that were already extremely wealthy. The destruction of the Middle Class.

I am not sure Americans actually even will come to terms with what I just wrote. I mean I am incensed but I do not hear too many of my fellow Americans saying a thing. They are not in the streets. They don’t even appear to be too upset???? I am sure some people recognize this fact but just seem accepting of it. When I immigrated to the USA in October, 1994, if you had asked me if Americans would have just folded over, bent over and taken a rough insertion by these enemies of the people, I would have said NO. HECK NO. NOT AMERICA!!

I read an English blogger the other day called Algora. She wrote the following after a massive London protest against the tyrannical Covid regulations and the One World Order. Reading the below sadly appears true about America today.

She wrote: 

“And where are similar protests in the USA? Oh, that’s right. You have to go to a public school board meeting to see parents up in arms about COVID measures because they want to keep using the Nanny State’s school system to babysit their children so they don’t have to. And if we do see protests, they will probably be much smaller than this one in London today, with BLMers on one side and Trump supporters on the other, and they won’t be protesting against the Globalists, but fighting each other instead. If the masses do rise up together to overthrow tyranny, I’d bet on the UK over the US any day. It looks like they are fairly unified in taking down Boris Johnson and the rest of the hoodlums in Parliament.”

How sad that the above is how America and Americans are seen in the world today. No pride in that. Just shame. All gone since the fraudulent elections of 2020 which bought a mentally challenged traitor, crook and pervert into the White House.

The reduction in our rights, freedoms and liberties already lost will never return without bloodshed and sacrifice. Even then maybe some will be lost for ever.

For years the government has been interfering at the expense of small businesses but ensured the rewarding of large corporations and companies. Everything it touches from healthcare to education, home ownership to food has cost us billions in tax money and overruns that has badly affected the middle class. We have the Federal Reserve, which should not exist, printing money 24/7 like there is no tomorrow and suppressing interest rates at speeds not seen before. Why? To continue the wealth transfer.

Coronavirus arrived and boy, the government took advantage. They and they alone decided which businesses were ‘essential’ and which were not. Which businesses had to close their doors and which could stay open. Which group of workers lost their jobs and which kept theirs.

Trust me – this wasn’t based on science but on political clout. Small companies were forcibly closed with shockingly little to no rebellion by the owners and large companies stood prepared and ready to take their sales, customers and money!

The Fed has continuously since Covid started and before taken actions to support the stock market and biggest companies allowing them unlimited access to capital with next to zero interest rates. This way the Fed kept pumping money into our economy while destroying small businesses.

Trust me here America, if the government had attempted to close down those huge corporations and companies, the yelling and noise that would have come from them would have had the government reversing themselves real fast. The tyrannical lockdowns would have been over in days or maybe weeks. The huge profits earned by these ‘protected’ big businesses is in the trillions of dollars. The profits became absolutely insane.

Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Costco, Sams etc. reaped the benefits they were offered and helped destroy lives.

The Government mustn’t ever be allowed again to pick and choose their cronies over ordinary Americans. Everyone should be treated equally under the law. Our very freedom and survival as a group is at risk by the governments full frontal assault on small businesses and their staff and families.

In the mean time the elderly retirees and savers have been kicked in the proverbial groin area as we have been unable to earn any interest on savings without taking too much risk. Pensions like Social Security and state pensions have not kept up with inflation and as we hurtle into hyper inflation we will fall further behind again affecting the Middle class and lower class folk.

How did we ever allow such a disconnect between government and the citizenry? I will tell you how. We were asleep at the wheel. We trusted them too much despite the obvious signs of their corruption and their lies. Despite the fact that we saw politicians getting richer and richer while serving. People like AOC who a few years ago didn’t have a penny to her name, but a few years as a congresswoman has a new Tesla, huge apartment in a luxury area and wears $2000 outfits! All while claiming she is a girl of the people!! How about Sniffer Joe with his multiple million dollar homes? The list of corrupt, treasonous and evil anti America globalist and socialist politicians living the high life on our dime goes on for ever. Both parties. This is not just a Democrat thing.

We have become lazy, uncaring, unpatriotic, demanding, expecting everything for nothing. We should be in the streets with pitchforks demanding a total reversal of all the wrongs government had done in our name. They are not to be trusted. They have proved that endlessly. They enter politics occasionally meaning to actually serve but then get corrupted by the swamp members whose sole intention is to destroy our beloved country while gaining power and enriching themselves.

America. We are not all in this together. There is a them and us. Everyday they get richer while our dreams are shattered. Billions are spent in promoting and getting the right people elected to ensure these huge company and their stockholders keep getting richer.

©Fred Brownbill. All rights reserved.

Here Are the 10 Best [And Worst] Cities Ranked By Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery

When the COVID-19 outbreak began and governments started imposing economic lockdowns, most parts of the country experienced huge upticks in unemployment. But how have different cities fared in the year since? A new report from WalletHub offers some insight.

The financial analytics firm looked at cities’ most recent unemployment rates, from May 2021, and compared them to their pre- and mid-pandemic unemployment rates from May 2019, May 2020, and January 2020. Using the national unemployment rate of 5.9 percent as a standard, this gives us a useful comparison showing how different cities have recovered from the pandemic and ensuing economic damage.

Here are the top 10 cities with the best post-pandemic unemployment rates as of May 2021:

  1. Manchester, New Hampshire: 1.6 percent
  2. Nashua, New Hampshire: 1.7 percent
  3. Burlington, Vermont: 1.3 percent
  4. South Burlington, Vermont: 1.2 percent
  5. Lincoln, Nebraska: 2.2 percent
  6. Huntsville, Alabama: 2.4 percent
  7. Omaha, Nebraska: 2.8 percent
  8. Salt Lake City, Utah: 2.7 percent
  9. Sioux Falls, South Dakota: 2.7 percent
  10. Billings, Montana: 3 percent

And, in stark contrast, here are the 10 cities with the worst post-pandemic unemployment rates as of May 2021:

  1. Hialeah, Florida: 8 percent
  2. New Orleans, Louisiana: 11 percent
  3. Long Beach, California: 10.6 percent
  4. Glendale, California: 10.4 percent
  5. Newark, New Jersey: 11.6 percent
  6. New York City, New York: 9.8 percent
  7. Los Angeles, California: 10.1 percent
  8. San Bernardino, California: 9.6 percent
  9. Chicago, Illinois: 9.3 percent
  10. North Las Vegas, Nevada: 9.9 percent

What explains the wide discrepancy between the cities who have essentially entirely recovered and those that remain deep in the red? Well, there are undoubtedly many factors influencing these cities’ unemployment rates, but two glaring ones stand out.

First, not all parts of the country locked down their economies with equal vigor or duration. From New Hampshire to Vermont to South Dakota, many of the states with cities represented in the top 10 strong recovery spots had relatively lighter government restrictions and rolled them back sooner. On the other hand, cities from intense lockdown states like California, New York, and New Jersey are heavily represented on the list—and that’s surely no coincidence.

Economies are complex systems, and cannot simply be switched on and off like a light switch. Those cities whose governments strangled economic activity over an extended period of time and hoped it would all come back when they decided to “open up” are clearly still experiencing the economic pain.

Secondly, the availability of ultra-generous unemployment benefits that pay many unemployed people more to stay home on welfare surely has had some influence on these rankings. States like New Hampshire with cities ranking highly have announced that they would end these benefits early, whereas states like California, Illinois, and New York have left them in place. The clear work disincentive presented by an unemployment system where households can earn the equivalent of $25/hour in many states has surely led to prolonged and heightened unemployment in the states which continue to embrace it.

Of course, there are many complex causes of city-level variations in unemployment rates and the economic recovery. But time and time again across these statistics and, frankly, the entire global economy, we see that areas with freer markets and less interference prosper more than those stifled by government control.

Data of the Day:

The jobs report for June was released today, and it shows an economy on the rebound. The economy added 850,000 new jobs in June, while the unemployment rate actually ticked up from 5.8 percent to 5.9 percent. This latter change likely indicates more people seeking work—only active job hunters count as “unemployed”—rather than more layoffs/job losses.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

U.S. Spends $80 Mil to Train Minorities to Collect Health Data with Race, Socioeconomic Inequities

The U.S. government is spending $80 million to train thousands of minorities in public health technology and improve health data collection involving race and ethnicity. It is part of the Biden administration’s efforts to “root out pervasive health and socioeconomic inequities” in the nation’s healthcare system, according to an announcement issued this month by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “Ensuring that diverse representation is better reflected all throughout our health care system is priority for the Biden-Harris administration,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, a former California attorney general who served a dozen terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. “With this funding, we will be able to train and create new opportunities for thousands of minorities long underrepresented in our public health informatics and technology fields.”

The multi-million-dollar investment will create a much-needed “pipeline of diverse professionals,” the HHS secretary added, assuring that it will help the country better prepare for “future public health emergencies.” The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated pervasive health and socioeconomic inequities, according to HHS, by, among other things, exposing gaps in the government’s public health reporting and data analysis around race and ethnicity-specific data. The administration aims to improve future public health responses in minority communities with data collection involving infection, hospitalization and mortality rates that also considers social vulnerabilities, race and ethnicity, age, gender, and other variables. “Representation is important,” Becerra said, referring to the need for diversity to tackle pressing healthcare challenges.

The new initiative is called Public Health Informatics & Technology (PHIT) Workforce Development Program and its goal is to train at least 4,000 individuals in informatics and technology and ensure the degree “programs are sustainable to create a continuous pipeline of diverse public health informatics and technology professionals.” A new curriculum will be developed focusing on topics such as data reporting that is inclusive of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, the government funding announcement states. It will be created by working with local and state public health departments, community-based organizations, and others with “on the ground” experience dealing with pressing and critical challenged in public health informatics and technology. It is fair to assume leftist groups will be deeply involved in developing the program. To reduce “longstanding health disparities and inequities,” the administration has singled out institutions of higher learning that serve minorities—including historically black colleges and universities as well as tribal colleges Hispanic serving institutions—to receive funding priority.

It seems to be part of a broad effort that also includes local governments to prioritize the health of minorities over others. Earlier this year Judicial Watch reported that Virginia shifted its COVID-19 vaccination distribution to prioritize black and Latino residents even as desperate 85-year-olds struggled to get the shot. A few months later Maryland opened a “special clinic” exclusively for Latinos in its two largest counties to receive the vaccine. Public officials in Montgomery County, Maryland’s most populous, said the controversial initiative would help overcome inequities in the vaccine rollout as well as general health disparities that plague poor minority communities. Keep in mind that the shots were created as part of a Trump administration initiative called Operation Warp Speed to accelerate the development, production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and deliver 300 million doses to all Americans. The U.S. reportedly invested $18 billion on the project which involves several key government agencies—such as the Department of Defense (DOD), HHS and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—and private companies.

During Obama’s presidency HHS’s medical research agency, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), invested hundreds of millions of dollars to racially diversify medical fields. The money started flowing after an NIH sanctioned study determined blacks who apply for federal research grants are less likely than whites and Hispanics to receive the awards. The study took years and was conducted to “learn more about the challenges facing the scientific community,” according to the NIH’s director, and to improve the diversity of its biomedical research workforce. He called the findings “disturbing and disheartening.”

EDITORS NOTE: This Judicial Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Federal Government Imposes Up to $14,000 in ‘Hidden Taxes’ on Households Every Year, New Report Reveals

Most Americans pay close attention to how much of their money is taken in taxes each year. But there’s another, less obvious way the federal government imposes financial costs on citizens—and according to a new report, it amounts to trillions annually.

The fiscally-conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) just released its annual “Ten Thousand Commandments” report, which documents the “size, scope, and cost of federal regulations, and how they affect American consumers, businesses, and the U.S. economy at large.” Report author Clyde Wayne Crews explains how we face a “hidden tax” from the economic burden of our massive regulatory state. After all, tens of thousands of new regulations are imposed every year.

The report estimates the economic costs of federal regulation at an astounding $1.9 trillion annually.

To put that abstract sum in context, it’s nearly as much as the federal government collects in income and corporate taxes in a year. And a country that produced $1.9 trillion in output would be the 8th largest economy in the world (excluding the US). $1.9 trillion is more in economic output than Brazil or Italy produce in an entire calendar year.

Much of this $1.9 trillion in “hidden taxes” is ultimately borne by everyday Americans. To understand why, simply remember that regulations increase the costs associated with production. An unnecessary environmental regulation, for example, may force companies to take more cost-intensive steps during the production process. Ultimately, this leads to higher prices at the check-out line.

The CEI report explains that if we assume the costs all ultimately fall on consumers, then it equates to up to $14,368 in annual costs per US household.

This is a huge hit to the wallet. $14,368 in annual regulatory costs amounts to roughly 23 percent of the average household’s spending budget. It’s more than the typical household spends on food, transportation, healthcare, or anything except housing.

Oh, and don’t forget the $88 billion in taxpayer money spent by federal agencies each year just to administer, implement, and police these regulations.

The takeaway here is broader than just the financial impact of federal regulation, as significant as that may be. It’s yet another reminder that, as economist Frédéric Bastiat famously identified, the costs of government go beyond the obvious, what is “seen,” and extend to the “unseen.”

Of course, when it comes to the ever-expanding federal government, the most obvious cost is what the politicians in Washington, DC take from us in taxes every year. But this new report further proves that the unseen, hidden costs of the federal government’s growing involvement in economic life are even more drastic than what comes directly out of our paychecks.

EDITORS NOTE: This FEE column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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