34 thoughts on “News/Politics 2-15-25”

  4. “The Associated Press has taken $52 Million of taxpayer dollars! Americans should be raising holy hell! Confirmed by @DOGE, Reuters and AP were given $$ to promote the Deep State’s “Mockingbird-style” propaganda news!”

    https://x.com/LionHearted76/status/1890545931054924184?t=BxSZ0iwVb5c78VqZxKajUQ&s=19

    —–

    https://x.com/Rasmussen_Poll/status/1890750168556826953?t=hiALa4GAkjuOC0oLkvK5Pw&s=19

    “Good Associated Press Morning !

    Your Federal tax dollars used as revenue to underwrite @AP hit pieces on OUR polling accuracy. 🤡

    Your tax dollars IN -> x.com/LionHearted76/…

    Their hit pieces OUT -> apnews.com/article/59ef87…

    Our 2024 Results -> rasmussenreports.com/public_content…”

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  5. Follow-up to my comment yesterday. Someone mentioned to me elsewhere that those subscriptions are very expensive, which is why businesses (and the government) pay for them as a business expense. Out of curiosity, I looked up Politico Pro, the service that was specifically mentioned in various articles as costing $8,000,000.

    According to this Washington Times piece, “Base subscriptions cost between $12,000 and $15,000.”

    $8,000,000 divided by $15,000 comes out to 533 subscriptions.

    https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/feb/6/politico-millions-government-payments-subscription/

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  6. “Well, you know what happened at Treasury, and you know what happened over at the CFPB. People of this country are being violated because all of our privacy has been taken up by Elon Musk and Trump. And we don’t know what they have on us.” Ms. Maxine Waters… soon to be found out how she became so wealthy on the backs of taxpayers 😳

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  8. “90% of all plastic pollution in all the seas and oceans comes from ten rivers in Asia and Africa. Do something about that, rather than moaning about plastic straws in the US. They make no difference at all.”

    https://x.com/Babygravy9/status/1890778786301456682?t=oflk0V3oogec-2-DrkMFMA&s=19

    —

    But the fearmongers aren’t interested in facts…..

    https://x.com/MailOnline/status/1890770853685596607?t=mpPj3iFjMmmSRFUV2wq4Lg&s=19

    “The hermit crab forced to live in a toothpaste lid: Heartbreaking images show the devastating impact of Earth’s pollution – as Donald Trump signs order to bring back plastic straws”

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  15. Debra – My impression was that those subscriptions are specifically for people in the business world, where a company spending that kind of money would be more acceptable, I guess.

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  16. Supposedly, those magazines have information which helps them do their jobs in a more informed way, which is why they are/were considered necessary.

    Just passing on the info. Don’t shoot the messenger.

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  17. If your job is to research articles from certain magazines, then the company (or government) should be paying for the magazines or newspapers. Some people do have those jobs, whether in journalism, government or who knows what. As far as cost, that blows my mind, though. Strange, IMO.

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  18. No one pays that kind of money for a subscription. I want to know specifically what they were getting for the money. Articles written from a certain viewpoint is my suspicion: paid propaganda. If it’s just information they needed, well we already pay our alphabet agencies millions or billions to collect information—let them share. But they won’t do that because they are probably up to their eyeballs in illegal surveillance and other corrupt activities themselves and don’t want it known.

    Again: waste, fraud, abuse.

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  19. I want my reps and senators to represent my State. They need to know us. Politico pro has never inquired into my views. I don’t want my tax dollars going to them, whoever they are.

    mumsee

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  20. This is how they grift taxpayers. The politicians, non profits and family members, coupled with a corrupt Judiciary doing the same.

    Welcome to DC.

    https://x.com/Cernovich/status/1890870911533977989?t=h-Rg1pZj216BWvt9qmL9sQ&s=19

    “The impossibly rich lifestyle of DC liberals, funded by YOU the taxpayer, without your consent or approval. This is how they live, and the receipts prove it.

    USAID, the NEA, and other taxpayer-funded programs issue billions of dollars in grants. John and Jane, or Pete and Pete, each work at non-profits who receive these grants. The non-profit pays them $300,000 or more. In some cases, such as the Kennedy Center, the CEO is paying $1.5 million.

    A married couple takes in $750,000 together, and often much more. Off of your back.Year after year, and the perks don’t stop with salaries. Believe it or not, that’s small potatoes.

    If they want a free ski vacation in Aspen? Well there’s a conference being held annually. The non-profit will of course fly them there and provide accommodations. Every meal is of course non-profit related. Eat well.Itching for a trip to Switzerland or Paris? Same deal. The non-profit would be delighted to host a conference on some subject.

    How they cut their family and friends in on the scam. Their nepo babies start a “conference organizing business,” and pay them from the non-profit to put on events. Maybe they take on an ownership interest in these businesses via an offshore account. How will anyone be able to track down this money? It’s stash in the Cayman Islands or in Switzerland via one of the many “businesses” that provide “services” for the non-profit USAID industrial complex.Speaker fees for their friends?Yes, of course. That’s how to really get the big bucks going, as speaking fees and vendors aren’t accounted for item-by-item on the Form 990. Hold a “gala” and pay everyone $100,000 to give a talk. Pay millions to the “vendors” run by nepo babies and others in on the corruption.Even judge / their families are in on these scams. It’s why DC judges are issuing lawless rulings. Their spouses, friends, and families are all taking a piece of the action.The end result of that DC exists entirely off of your back.This corruption must end, and that’s why they hate Elon.They won’t go down without a fight. These are all people living lIke billionaires for doing nothing.Think this story is exaggerated. Look at these salaries from “non-profits,” which are funded by taxpayers via grants and other “aid.”Now you understand the anger.

    They are thieves!”

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  21. Kizzie is correct; corporate (including gov’t) subscriptions to media, software etc are far more expensive than an individual subscription. In part because its multii-user and allows for copyright privileges.

    I see the red meat tossing by Musk and his tech bros hasn’t stopped since i last dropped in here. What they are highlighting isn’t corruption, inefficiency or waste; its simply programs they don’t like. To find the former, you need to complete a proper audit. Audits are completed by trained accountants who look for padded accounts, under documented spending, no bid contracts, etc. The Pentagon fails its audit every year — and given its portion of gov’t spending, acting on the auditor’s report would probably be more financially responsible than paying tech bros millions to find millions of spending they don’t like

    hrw

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  22. The RFK statement regarding purchasing 70% of pharmaceutical drugs must be referring to the spending not quantity. Americans pay far too much for their prescriptions. And given the reversals of some of Biden’s drug policies, I’ve been told the prices of drugs like insulin is going. Yes, America buys more but it also pays far more.

    RFK is also correct that there’s a far greater mental health crisis and chronic health problems in the US. But to tie it to a spiritual crisis is weird — first, America is the most religious and spiritual country in the developed world; its last line in line for a spiritual crisis. There’s also the mistake of separating mental and physical health. The two are interconnected.

    But all of this raises the question — why are Americans so unhealthy in comparison to Europeans (Canadians and the rest of the Anglosphere are in the middle). I would content its work, financial stress, and fear.

    hrw

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  23. The quoted article at 4:41 (by AJ?) is pretty accurate except that isn’t just the public sector — that’s all sectors; public, private, and non-profit. Often all three work together and its difficult to tell one from the other.

    Its essentially how upper management capitalism operates. Over billing for services and creating opportunities for your kids and your colleagues kids. The FIRE (finance, insurance, real estate) sector is probably the worst — they make nothing and only exist to regulate and charge service fees yet they make more money than any other sector.

    A good article on the incompetence of Trump foreign policy. I’ve criticised American “imperialism” for decades but the move to this level of incompetence almost has me preferring the past.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/15/donald-trumps-betrayal-of-ukraine-has-emboldened-vladimir-putin-and-pulled-the-rug-from-under-nato-allies

    hrw

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  25. In my opinion, the missing spiritual component reflects the fact that culturally we’ve become very materialistic. Publicly, our religions play second fiddle to our national religion of Capitalism which relies on, and creates, a very materialistic people. We are publicly referred to as ‘consumers’ in almost every aspect of our lives, and we passively take it in. It was not always like this. I still remember the first time I heard a newscaster refer to the audience as ‘consumers’ of her program. I was startled and thought it was degrading. It is. Consumerism is intrinsically degrading and dehumanizing.

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  28. If Americans are the most religious/spiritual on earth yet we are unhealthy due to stress, work and fear …. Well it does not equate.

    Sure we face trials and tribulations in this life but….those of us who have “died to self” in relationship with Christ find our Hope in Him. Religious and or spiritual do not define relationship.

    I still have issues with this site as well Janice….glitches remain🫤

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  29. Agreed Debra — when people are addressed as nothing but consumers its dehumanizing. And materialism and capitalism is part of the issue in terms of people’s health. I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind people here that the healthiest nations are generally the Nordic countries — capitalism with socialist constraints.

    Didn’t realize Kennedy had addiction issues in the past. But it makes sense given his mental health and family history. “Spiritiualism” often helps but it can range from Gere-style western Buddhism to Catholicism to theism and everything in-between. CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) works just as well for others.

    Beyond genetic origins, mental health usually has environmental triggers — work, stress, money, illness, family, etc. I just retired — the best cure to reduce one’s alcohol intake — retirement with a good pension. My mental health has never been better — better sleep, daily exercise, moderate alcohol intake, less online time, more reading, etc. Financially secure without work. The Nordics do this from cradle to the grave….. it works.

    hrw

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  30. HRW, glad retirement is agreeing with you. Husband has always admired the Nordic countries and thought as you do regarding their way of meshing capitalism with some measure of socialism. But he’s beginning to change his mind.

    Those countries are having more and more social and criminal problems as their immigrant population has increased. And some of the restrictions on free speech are positively draconian. Vance alluded to some of the particulars in his Munich speech last week.

    It’s possible that a more cohesive population is required to make it really work. The US doesn’t have that either anymore ,so we will have to rely on other things like our constitution and the grace of God.

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  31. When I was young and naive, I used to think ethnic cohesion didn’t matter when it came to the Nordic model and social spending. Unfortunately, time has proven me wrong in that regard. People don’t mind a social welfare state as long as it is constructed for people they can relate to. As a Canadian leftist, this gives me pause to think about our own policies. Immigration then has given the Nordic model some problems but it’s still better than anything we have going.

    Vance’s speech contained some misconceptions and distortions. In sum, it appears he listened to US news sources that had their own agenda. This isn’t unusual. Europeans do the same when looking at the US. About the only thing he had right was the Romanian election.

    hrw

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  33. Colorado…. We need to do better!

    Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) admitted during a recent appearance on MSNBC that he had traveled to Europe with the intent to undercut the Trump administration’s agenda as presented by Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

    Crow shared a brief video clip of himself speaking with MSNBC host Alex Witt about President Donald Trump’s policies, saying in his caption, “I’m in Munich because I refuse to let Vance and Hegseth be the voice of America to the world.”

    Leaving out the fact that Vance and Hegseth, both part of Trump’s administration, were supposed to “be the voice of America to the world,” he continued, “There is a group of us here who are engaged in real diplomacy and communicating that our economy and security are tied to the well-being of Europe.”

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