NY Gov. Hochul pleads with New Yorkers to return from Florida, admits taxes chased them off

New York Governor Kathy Hochul did her best impression of a broke ex who suddenly wants the old flame back this week, basically pleading with the wealthy “captives” she’s already scared off to please, pretty please, come home and bankroll her endless parade of socialist wish-list items.

In a fireside chat with Nick Reisman at the Politico New York Agenda summit, Hochul finally uttered the words conservatives have been screaming into the void for years: high taxes make rich people leave. It’s human nature, guys.

Shocking development, I know.

After treating the state’s high-net-worth crowd like a bottomless slot machine for far too long, the governor had her come-to-Jesus moment: “I need people who are high-net-worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state … cut me the checks, if you want to be supportive, but maybe the first step should be to go down to Palm Beach and see who we can bring back home because our tax base has been eroded.”

Translation: The well has run dry, the golden geese have flown south to a place with zero state income tax and a governor who doesn’t treat them like escaped prisoners.

“Remote work changed everything,” Hochul whined, sounding exactly like a warden who just noticed the jailbreak in progress. “There were people who could only work in an office in Manhattan . . .  and they were captives to our state. They were going to stay. We saw that that’s not the case.” 

She even copped to Wall Street eyeballing Texas, not because the Lone Star governor is more charming, but “they’re going there because of the tax rate.”

Despite this rare flash of self-awareness, Hochul’s big-brain fix isn’t slashing the bloated spending or dialing back the “generous” programs that created the exodus. Nope. She’s reduced to begging “patriotic millionaires” to “cut me the checks” and floating the idea of a recruitment safari in Florida. “Maybe the first step should be to go down to Palm Beach and see who we can bring back home because our tax base has been eroded,” she said, showing us again how much she knows about human nature.

Yeah, good luck selling that timeshare pitch. Why swap a beachfront cabana and year-round sunshine for a guilt-trip voicemail from Albany demanding tribute?

The governor also burned plenty of oxygen griping about the Trump administration, pinning everything from gas prices to her own flailing green-energy fantasies on the former president. She admitted her eco-mandates are “scaring the crap out of everybody” with utility bills going through the roof, yet she’s still peddling an “all-of-the-above approach” while begging for “breathing room.”

In the end, Hochul remains firmly in denial, clinging to her vision of a socialist paradise paid for by other people’s money. She’s just now discovering, way too late, what Margaret Thatcher tried to tell everyone: eventually, you run out of other people’s money.

Classic liberal arc: spend like there’s no tomorrow, chase away the payers, then act surprised when the math doesn’t math. 

Hey, Kathy, human nature is a bummer.

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Poor New Yorkers form breadline-like formation outside "free" grocery store pop-up

Folks, if there's one thing that can make a New Yorker forget about the rent, the rats, and the guy on the subway playing saxophone covers of death metal, it's the promise of free stuff, or at least stuff others have to pay for, And boy, did Polymarket deliver on that front with their little "first free grocery store" stunt in the West Village. Hundreds lined up like it was Black Friday at a Tiffany's liquidation sale, only instead of diamonds, they were fighting over pasta sauce and Tide Pods. [H/T Fox News Digital]

"New Yorkers are in pain," said Nick from Queens, who paid the recently hiked subway fare to get to Greenwich Village, waiting patiently (or as patiently as a Queens guy can) for his shot at some bath soap and laundry glory.

This whole circus popped up on Feb. 12 as a five-day giveaway courtesy of the crypto prediction market folks at Polymarket, who are apparently feeling the regulatory heat in various states, including the Empire State itself. Critics are calling it a not-so-subtle jab at Democratic NYC Mayor and Comrade Zohran Mamdani's grand plan for communist-style city-run grocery stores to combat the soul-crushing cost of living here. Because nothing says "we're serious about affordability" like a billionaire-backed pop-up that runs out of tickets faster than a politician runs out of excuses.

The scene was pure New York chaos: lines wrapping around the block, people showing up before the sun bothered to rise, and that special anxiety over who snags a yellow ticket before the shelves go barren. It's like musical chairs, but the chairs are cans of soup and the music is the sound of security guards yelling.

As the crowd swelled, so did the drama. Fatima told right-of-center Fox News Digital that she rolled up at 9:00 and got the bad news: "They said that they ran out of tickets."

Sherrod from Jamaica, Queens, got the same brush-off: "They told me that they ran out of tickets. I couldn't get no more food.… I couldn't get access to the store."

Security eventually started herding folks away like stray cats: "Let's go people, let's go. Go home. Do not linger, do not look, do not watch. Please go home." So he paid another recently hiked subway fare and went home, we can suppose.

Charming. Nothing says "welcome to our generous giveaway" like being told to flick off. 

For those who scored tickets, it was a supervised shopping spree: pair up with a staffer, fill a blue tote bag, try not to look too greedy. Some loved it. Nick, who somehow landed fourth in line, praised the security: "Security's been phenomenal. This morning, there was a drunk guy over here harassing a lady... the head security guy... got him out of here. Protecting us."

The drunk guy is nowhere to be found and his family might be looking for him.

Others were less impressed. Michael, chilling outside with his chair like he was tailgating the apocalypse, griped about security's "presentation" when dealing with folks from "florid backgrounds," lacking that customer service polish, apparently. He was down to three cups of soup at home and figured the good stuff would be gone by quitting time.

Sumayah from Brooklyn hit it earlier in the week, snagging two dozen eggs and butter before the shelves turned into a ghost town. Out of work for months and on disability, she said this kind of help could save her $600 a month on food and basics. Still, the chaperoned shopping felt weird: "Someone shops with me and I'm kind of uncomfortable with that... they kind of rushed me through things and I couldn’t get all the stuff that I wanted."

It's like, "Do you really need that? Someone in greater need might need that quart of milk--put it back."

But overall? "Very much needed in New York" because it's free for those getting their ticket.

The turnout proved how desperate things are. Word spreads faster than a funny rash one can get sitting bare-butt on the D train. Sumayah even met someone fresh off a plane from India: "‘Oh my God, I'm in line. I'm coming to get free food.' I'm thinking like, how should I get back on the plane with that?"

Of course, the food in India is extremely cheap and delicious--I returned from India last week and you can have a huge meal for about 5 US bucks. Just don't forget to drink bottled water.

Everyone, ticket or no ticket, hammered the same point: food prices here are insane. Jaquan, homeless and riding the A train in, used to drop $300–500 on groceries living with Mom. Monique blew $200 recently and "didn’t even get much." Sherrod's family of four rings up $400–500 a month. Nick switched to fast food and it's wrecking his health, plus he's a month behind on his phone bill because groceries win every time.

The lucky 300+ who made it inside? Ecstatic. Nick emerged thrilled: "I got the spaghetti. I got orange juice. I like orange juice. I also got some ground beef. They had grass-fed ground beef, they had lean ground beef and the regular ground beef, so I'm really glad I got that. I'm really glad I got the grass-fed."

Polymarket [perverse] says they funded the whole thing, tossed $1 million to the Food Bank for New York City, and even handed out $50 gift cards to the folks stuck at the back of the line. How accommodating.

Shoppers saw it as a teachable moment for Mamdani and his city-owned store dreams: better security, no running out of food, crack down on line-cutters, put them in actual food deserts instead of fancy Manhattan blocks.

Because nothing screams "progressive utopia" like a crypto stunt showing exactly why government grocery stores might end in the same ticket frenzy, security shouts, and dashed hopes.

New Yorkers are in pain, alright. And free Tide Pods aren't fixing it because they still aren't edible, kids. 

So where is the money going to come from to pay for "free" groceries? From us, the taxpayers. And in order to pay for it the taxes are going to need to rise, and with Comrade Mamdani as Mayor, they will--at least the property taxes, because that's all he is allowed to raise. He will try to get NY Gov. Hochul on his communist bandwagon, and with elections coming up for her, it's doubtful she'll go along with his demands. 

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But if he raises property taxes the 9.5% he's saying, this will raise a lot of Big Apple hackles and he might even be challenged by the governor for possible removal from office. I've heard rumors but will not take them seriously unless I see some legal movement to end this communist regime.

Free food is not a bad thing, but it's a no-such thing. Nothing is free and someone has to pay for it. This will drive the richest New Yorkers to think twice about where they want to live.

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Jaw-dropping how much Congress spent illegally on programs

Chow Yuck Chuck

Our beloved Congress has spent no less than $516,000,000,000 on programs without authorization in 2024. That means they spent your tax money illegally and you can't blame this on Trump. A gut-wrenching report by the Congressional Budget Office clearly emphasizes why the Left is attacking President Trump's right to audit payments by the Treasury Department, a government department over which he has significant authority.

For example, the President appoints the Secretary of the Treasury, while there is a balance by legislative and administrative checks. The President can direct the Department's policy through executive orders and set priorities, or influence fiscal policy, especially issues like taxation, debt management and current policy, and through the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) can propose the federal budget to Congress. However, Congress holds the "power of the purse," and has to approve all expenditures.

In a report titled "Expired and Expiring Authorizations of Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2024," the CBO observes: "Historically, House and Senate rules restrict lawmakers from considering an appropriation if it lacks a current authorization." Nevertheless, "CBO estimates that $516 billion was appropriated for 2024 for activities with expired authorizations, which the agency identified for each House and Senate authorizing committee and appropriations subcommittee." That $516 billion in illegal payments cover "1,264 authorizations of appropriations that expired before the beginning of fiscal year 2024 and 251 authorizations of appropriations that were set to expire by the end of fiscal year 2024." The legal authority for some of these payments expired 40 years ago!



The data shows that Congress has created a shadow funding stream for their pet projects where senior members can shovel money in pork-filled spending packages under the pretense of preventing a government shutdown.

The money is paid despite there being no legal authority for the disbursement. This is akin to embezzlement but on a more gargantuan scale. If you and I did this, we'd to to prison for years. When congresspeople do it, they get reelected for years.

Making this all the more intriguing is that it would seem that President Trump could stop those illegal payments without worrying about violating the Impoundment Control Act, simply because they're illegal according to Congress' own rules.  

This is why they're having accidents in their skivvies, because when DOGE delves deeper into this, there's gonna be a lot more illegal stuff they're gonna find.

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Irony Warning: A rich tax deadbeat designed AOC's "Tax the Rich" dress

The privileged left sees themselves delegating but not following their rules for us peons. An example of that premise lies with the behavior of Rep. Alexandria Overtly-Commie (Socialist-NY) when she failed to pay her taxes on a failed business she ran several years ago.

Aurora James, the woman who designed Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (NY) “Tax The Rich” dress that AOC wore to the recent Met Gala, reportedly owes a significant amount in back taxes.

The New York Post reported that the 37-year-old was a “notorious tax deadbeat with unpaid debts dogging her in multiple states,” most of which center around a company she created in 2011, Cultural Brokerage Agency, which serves as the parent company to her fashion company.

The Post reported:


The company racked up three open tax warrants in New York state for failing to withhold income taxes from employees’ paychecks totaling $14,798, the state Department of Taxation and Finance told The Post. The debts — which were incurred before the pandemic — stem from 2018 and 2019. The company has been hit with 15 warrants in total since 2015. The company got into a deeper hole with the feds. Between April 2018 and April 2019, the Internal Revenue Service placed six federal liens on Cultural Brokerage Agency totaling $103,220. The liens specifically cite the company’s failure to remit employee payroll taxes.

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The Post reports that James’ company has received $41,666 in pandemic relief aid; her company owes a $62,722 in matters related to workers’ compensation; and her company has allegedly relied heavily on “legions of unpaid interns working full-time jobs.” The report added that James bought a $1.6 million property in California last year and that it is already listed as “delinquent” by L.A. County, which told the newspaper that she owes more than $2,500 in property taxes.

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Andy Cuomo tells out-of-state volunteers: 'Thanks, now pay us'

When New York needed help, Americans came together, traveled to the Big Apple, rolled up their PPEs [just kidding] and got to work. Out-of-state volunteers were there for New York.

No good deed goes unpunished, [H/T: WPIX, New York].

When the COVID-19 outbreak first hit New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Comrade Bill de Blasio put out an all-points bulletin for as many volunteers as possible to boost their health-care resources.

Thousands of people made the journey, in many cases with the aid of their employers, who continued to pay their salaries while coming to the city's rescue. The death toll was worse in number than 911 but those who volunteered back in 2001 didn't have to pay taxes to the city and state they helped.

Now that the crisis has passed, Cuomo wants to give these heroic volunteers a souvenir of their time in the Empire State — a tax bill, as reported by WPIX:

Health care workers that came to New York to help fight the coronavirus pandemic at its epicenter will have to pay state taxes, according to the governor. 

He addressed the issues Tuesday at a news conference. 

“We’re not in a position to provide any subsidies right now because we have a $13 billion deficit,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “So there’s a lot of good things I’d like to do, and if we get federal funding, we can do, but it would be irresponsible for me to sit here looking at a $13 billion deficit and say I’m gonna spend more money, when I can’t even pay the essential services.”

So, in spite of the fact that Cuomo asked people to come to New York from out of state to help them fight the coronavirus, he will have them pay New York state taxes, even on the income they made from their home state that paid them while helping New York.

You cannot make this stuff up.

This garbage was news to the volunteers, including those at Samaritan’s Purse. They had set up a temporary hospital in New York City's Central Park and for their Christian aide were blasted by secular leftists who called them haters because the Bible views homosexual behavior as a sin.

They were in New York to help, regardless of the sexual orientations of those they assisted. And no one told Ken Isaacs, the vice president of Samaritan's Purse, that the workers would create a tax liability on Day 15 that rates as one of the highest in the nation.

Isaacs told PIX 11 he was shocked to learn that workers who volunteered to come to the state would have to pay the state’s income tax.

“Our financial comptroller called me, and he said, ‘Do you know that all of you are going to be liable for New York state income tax?’ I said, ‘What?’ [The comptroller] said, ‘Yeah, there’s a law. If you work in New York State for more than 14 days, you have to pay state income tax,'” Isaacs said.

At a time when so many regulations have been waived in order to expedite ways and means of fighting the pandemic, Gov. Cuomo stands out like an ass trying to pass through the eye of a needle.

Isaacs also noted that the situation could be a nightmare for organizations and their employees as they deal with the “bureaucracy and the paperwork” that comes with filing in multiple states.

Another eye-opener for Samaritan's Purse was when NYC council speaker the execrable Corey Johnson demanded their ejection, calling the Christian community-service group “bigoted, hate-spewing” for their acceptance of traditional Christian sexuality of "hate the sin, love the sinner."

Their continued presence here is an affront to our values of inclusion, and is painful for all New Yorkers who care deeply about the LGBTQ community. 2/
— NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson (@NYCSpeakerCoJo) May 1, 2020

What a douche nozzle, not to mention how Cuomo is putting the screws to the people who helped his state at a time when it needed it most.

One can only imagine what response New York will get in the future when they need help. While Cuomo was surprised to learn that more people died who stayed at home than were out in the fresh air, he should not be surprised when he rings the alarm bell and all he hears is the sound of one hand clapping.



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Bernie Sanders 'major plans' to be funded by more taxes, lawsuits and unicrorns

Bernie Sanders released an unbelievable fact-sheet that can only convince people who have never been self-reliant on their existence or ran a business that his plan is anything more than a pipe dream, the pipe being loaded with crack cocaine and unicorn dung. The plan is "designed" to pay for his sweeping new "everyone gets a car, a house, free medical care, tuition forgiveness, and free school." And all that is needed to pay for it is mostly to come from new taxes and massive lawsuits.

The octogenarian communist tried to assuage complaints from Republicans and some rival Democrats [as well as others who own calculators and know how to use them], that his plans are crazy, economically bizarre, and naive at best.

Sanders revealed his crazy plan after he did a head-turning CBS News interview in which the frustrated commie said he couldn't "rattle off to you every nickel and every dime" about his proposed expenditures.

He released his silly plan on his website just minutes after promising to do so during a CNN town hall.

But, the fact-sheet highlighted for the first time that many of Sanders' expected cost-saving measures relied heavily on guess work with nothing to back it up. For instance, he claimed, with no details or evidence, that his Green New Deal would somehow create "twenty million new jobs," which would then ensure $2.3 trillion in "new income tax revenue."

Kids love happy stories.

Then again, with nothing to substantiate his wild claim, the old commie promised that by "averting climate catastrophe we will save $2.9 trillion over 10 years, $21 trillion over 30 years, and $70.4 trillion over 80 years."

Additionally, Sanders promised that by "averting climate catastrophe we will save: $2.9 trillion over 10 years, $21 trillion over 30 years and $70.4 trillion over 80 years." No information was provided to validate that hallucination.

At that rate, by 2200, we could save a quadrillion bucks and buy the moon. . . . then a quintillion bucks . . . a sextillion [that sounds like a Hollywood number] and so on. Give it time and Bernie will be able to put affordable housing on galaxies far, far away.

There'll be more money than trees to make the paper to print the money.

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Some "journalists" want Warren to have free pass

Some so-called journalists are advising their colleagues against questioning veracity-challenged Elizabeth "Throwing Bull" Warren about Medicare for All and how she plans to have us pay for it.

Warren, who claims to be only 70, is one of the top contenders for the Democratic nomination but may eventually vie for a spot on "Dancing With the Stars" if the presidential gig doesn't pan out.

For Warren and her fellow leftists, government cannot be big enough. She is staunchly behind a total government takeover of the healthcare industry, which of course would be like putting early Ebenezer Scrooge in charge of Welfare benefits.

The 1/1024th Native American refuses to acknowledge that her plan would mean a huge increase in taxes among the middle class, and this continues to prompt actual reporters to ask her to clarify the plan, which she is loath to do. All she keeps saying is that "overall costs" would go down.

At least Sen. "Brooklyn" Bernie Sanders (I-VT) admitted that the same plan, which he was first to propose and which Warren stole from him, would indeed raise taxes up the wazoo, while also claiming that overall costs would go down. Bernie proposed a 4 percent tax increase on families making more than $29,000 a year, which is peanuts and would burden the poor even more drastically than is currently the case.

In the Democratic debates when the moderator asked gay South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg after Warren asked him to explain his use of the word "evasive," Buttigieg said, "Well, we heard it tonight. A yes or no question that didn't get a yes or no answer."

Buttigieg added: “This is why people here in the Midwest are so frustrated with Washington in general and Capitol Hill in particular. Your signature, senator, is to have a plan for everything, except this. No plan has been laid out to explain how a multi-trillion-dollar hole in this Medicare for All plan that Sen. Warren is putting forward is supposed to get filled in.”

The left loves to do this--think Nancy Pelosi and Obamacare when she said that we have to pass the bill so we can know what's in it.

Washington Post columnist Margaret Sullivan, the former public editor of the New York Times, said after the debate that asking Warren about how she’d finance Medicare for All was “doing President Trump’s work for him.”

Because the truth actually does do President Trump's work for him.

But let's pretend that the press is actually on the side of Trump, not the Democrats. We can refer to the claim as "gas lighting."

New York University professor Jay Rosen, who teaches journalism [but is not related to James Rosen, a journalist who was labeled a "conspirator" by the Obama administration], chimed in on Twitter on Wednesday, saying: “The ‘make Elizabeth Warren say she would raise taxes on the middle class’ question should be a credibility killer. For the journalists who keep asking it.”

Actually, it seems the opposite is true--most people believe the media is in the pocket of the left and pursuing an answer to a question that would directly affect all taxpayers are not only fair, but crucial in understanding where candidates stand on important issues.

Huffington Post leftist-editor-in-chief Lydia Polgreen, another former New York Times hack, also criticized the notion of unbiased journalism.

“’Will you raise middle class taxes’ is a lazy, gotcha question based on untested premises,” she lied. “A fairer question would be to ask candidates to explain how they’d convince voters of the tax tradeoff’s benefits.”

Medicare for All is projected to cost $32.6 trillion over 10 years. That translates to more dollars than all the paper on Earth to print that amount.


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AOC: wants you taxed but doesn't pay her own taxes

"This country was founded on abortion rights"

Rep. Alexandria Ostentatiously-Communist (D-NY) proposal of the Green New Deal [GND] would not merely kill all the farting cows, but it would have American families virtually working to pay taxes and even that would not be enough to keep the country from going bankrupt.

Yes, she wants us to pay our taxes to have her socialism, but now there's a tax warrant against the History 1.01 dropout and economics "genius." The warrant remains open over six months after her office claimed the unpaid state taxes would be promptly paid back.

Don't hold your breath, New York.

The tax warrant from the State of New York was issued in July 2017 against Brook Avenue Press, a Bronx-based children’s books publisher the Democratic rising star founded in 2012, for $1,618.36 in unpaid corporate taxes. You would think she'd take care of that debt but no, she's special and privileged.

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A tax warrant is issued by the state against businesses if they "fail to timely resolve" their tax debt and not respond to notices regarding their debt, according to the New York Department of Taxation and Finance.

It was the New York Post that initially spotted AOC's delinquent tax situation in March and her spokesman said at the time that this was news to them and that the tax balance would be paid right away.

Former Ostentatiously-Communist's spokesman Corbin Trent told The Post her lawyers were looking into the matter in a story back in March 23. They admitted the taxes remained unpaid.

You'd think she would have gotten the tax bill done by now since her salary is $174,000 for some crazy reason.

The Bronx County Clerk confirmed in a phone call with the Daily Caller News Foundation Monday that the Brook Avenue Press tax warrant remains open and that a satisfaction of judgement has yet to be filed in the matter.

New York state dissolved the commie congresswoman's company in 2016 using a procedure reserved for corporations that fail to pay taxes for at least two years or fail to file tax returns.

AOC reported that she was the founder of Brook Avenue Press in her financial disclosure report filed with the House of Representatives this past May.

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Outside positions Ocasio-Cortez reported are pictured above.

As a socialist and member of Congress, AOC has called for taxing people up to 70% on income earners at the "tippy tops" to fund the GND, a bill that was not signed by even one member of Congress, including the person who co-sponsored it. Not one.

But when it was AOC who was to pay Uncle Sam, 70% was a bit too steep--heck, even paying anything by her was a bit too steep. In fact, she supported a bill that would provide tax deductions for business start-up costs back in 2012.

If the Democratic Party had no hypocrites, there would be no Democratic Party

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Illinois electric car owners may be charged $1000 a year under new law

Electric automobile owners in Illinois could take a large hit to their bank accounts after Democratic lawmakers in the state proposed an extreme hike in registration fees for electronic vehicles in the state.

The new proposal would increase the annual registration fee to $1,000, slightly higher than the current $17.50. 

Unfair you say?

State officials believe the legislation will raise $2.4 billion for future projects, the major one being roadway improvement, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The bill was introduced last week by Chicago state Sen. Martin Sandoval, obviously a Democrat, who says the registration fee hike is necessary to help fund needed infrastructure improvements.

“Capital bills in Springfield are like the second coming of the cicadas — every 10 years — and that’s not the way to go in regards to funding our infrastructure,” Sandoval told NPR Illinois. “This is a transformational model. And hopefully, when we get done with passing this sustainable capital bill, we won’t have to have another press conference like this 10 years from now.”

The bill would also make things more expensive for residents who drive gas-driven cars. The state's gas tax would go up 19 cents to 44 cents a gallon, fees for driver’s licenses would double and the registration fee for non-electric vehicles would go up nearly 50% from $98 to $148.

Unfair, you say?

“It’s outrageous,” Tesla owner Nicoletta Skarlatos, 56, told the Chicago Tribune. “I thought Illinois was progressive and would want to encourage EV (electric vehicle) ownership.”

Now you understand the definition of 'progressive.' It's how leftists feel good about themselves.

The rationale for the extreme hikes are that electric vehicles don't provide the state any gas tax revenue. One reason beyond the pollution question is that some folks just don't want to pay gasoline prices. But thanks to the progressives in Illinois, they get to pay a higher tax for that very reason.

Electric vehicle companies Tesla and Rivian say they're against the legislation.

“Imposing fees on EVs that are over 400 percent more than their gasoline-powered counterparts is not only unfair, it discourages promising new technology that will reduce our dependence on petroleum, reduce emissions, and promote the Illinois economy,” Rivian spokesman Michael McHale told the Chicago Tribune.

Sandoval says people who drive hybrids and plug-in electric hybrids won't have to pay the higher registration fee.

Unfair, you say?

This isn't the first time Illinois used a new program to raise additional revenue from local residents.

From 2010-2015, 1.2 million motorists in Chicago received 1.5 million tickets as part of the city's red-light and speed camera programs. Residents filed a class action lawsuit, alleging the programs violated the rights of over a million people after the city took more than $285 million, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The city agreed to settle, with the average resident getting about $36.62. 

Those who had paid their tickets before the lawsuit were screwed.

Officials hope the new gas and electric hikes raise eight times the amount of the red-light and speed camera programs. If not, they will find other ways to tax local residents. 

Maybe they could start taxing water and air.

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Responsible students angry with Warren's call to cancel student debt

Democrat 2020 presidential candidate Elizabeth "Dances with Taxes" Warren has a ton of policy plans. Her latest one is to cancel existing student loan debt for millions of Americans. Yes, free tuition and forgiveness of debt for student loans. Maybe even free vegan lunch.

Her idiocy is raising questions as to whether it's fair to use taxpayers' money to pay off someone else's financial legal obligation they agreed to undertake, and the fact that those former college students who worked and planned and paid off their debt will feel screwed . . . unless we give them reparations like some on the left want to do with blacks who

Warren unveiled her plan on Monday, going further than most of other Democratic candidates when it comes to education policies, pledging to cancel almost all student loan debt for 42 million Americans and creating an enormous inflation.

Under Warren’s plan, each person’s student debt would get a relief of $50,000 if household income is up to $100,000. Higher incomes would also be entitled to massive debt reductions, with only those earning over $250,000 would get no student debt cancellation. Free lunches would only be provided to families with household incomes less than $375,000.

Many went on to social media raise their questions about the plan that in their view penalizes those who didn’t go to overpriced schools and honored their commitments by diligently paying their debts.

It would certainly help those going to Harvard, for example, and other high-priced schools.

“Do I get a refund for having chosen a cheaper public university so I wouldn't be riddled with a ton of debt?” wrote Josh Jordan. “Seriously this is stupid - everyone knows what they're borrowing when they go through the process and I want no part in paying off everyone else's student loans.”

“NO! I signed on the dotted line, I will pay it off. I still owe over 40K and I refuse to let you rob me of fulfilling my obligation,” wrote another user.

According to the details provided by Warren, her student debt cancelation plan has a one-off price tag of $640 billion to the government. But if you believe that, you might also believe that snakes have hips.

Warren claims that the cost of her ridiculous policy, in addition to her proposed universal free college, would be “be “more than covered by my Ultra-Millionaire Tax -- a 2% annual tax on the 75,000 families with $50 million or more in wealth" [aka taxation without representation.]


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Kamala Harris defends Occasionally-Coherent Cortez's socialism views: LOL

The loonies of ABC's "The View" had Sen. Kamala Harris (Despicable--CA) a prospective 2020 presidential candidate on the program and was asked by Meghan McCain about her co-lunatic socialist Rep. Alexandria Occasionally Conscious-Cortez suggestion about the latter's suggestion that America raise taxes 60-70% on the wealthy. Harris, never one to think morally over politically responded that "challenging the status quo" as Cortez did, was "fantastic."

So challenging the status quo, where, for example, we don't " neutralize" people over 40, just to pick a number, is "fantastic"?

Ms. McCain asked:

I wanted to ask you: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the new darling of the party; she officially has more Twitter followers that Nancy Pelosi; she was on “60 Minutes” this weekend proudly calling herself a radical, and she’s promoting policies like saying that every single carbon emission in the country, every car, should be eliminated in the next eleven years; everything from a 70 to 80% tax rate. Do you agree that she could possibly, in this ideology of the socialist left, could splinter your party?

Harris, who is now accommodating the hard-left positions of the socialists of her party in order to win votes answered:

No, you know, I think that she is challenging the status quo; I think that’s fantastic. (applause and cheering) That, you know, I used to teach before, especially before in the last few years. And the thing that I always loved about teaching was when you teach it requires you to defend the premise and it requires you to reexamine the premise and question, is it still relevant? Is it, is it, does it have impact? Does it have meaning? And I think that she is introducing bold ideas that should be discussed. And I think it’s good for the party and frankly I think it’s good for the country. Let’s look at the bold ideas, and I’m eager that we have those discussions and when we are able to defend the status quo then do it, and if there’s not merit to that then let’s explore new ideas.

Except when anyone actually tries to discuss her bold ideas, she claims that she's being attacked, or avoids actual answers to the questions, or just walks away. 

Even former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, no conservative himself, explained on CNBC’s “ Squawk on the Street” on Monday, spoke about raising the tax rates to 70%. He said:

“If you’re willing to take a significant drop in economic activity, I would suggest that … Maybe I better make myself clear. I think it would be a terrible mistake.”

Harris has taken immoral or unconstitutional leftist positions before; she supported an illegal immigrant’s bid for a law license as well as submitted a brief in the Supreme Court supporting public universities considering race in admissions. 

Harris has also supported Medicare-for-all and released a plan by which public colleges and universities would be free for students whose families make less than $140,000 a year, putting a serious tax burden on others.

The left has also criticized Harris for not being leftish enough and must be concerned about not angering Occasionally Coherent Cortez's supporters.

As McClatchy wrote in August 2017:

 “ …some left-wing leaders and think-piece writers spent the summer dissecting the California senator’s record — often harshly. Even a social-media meme took aim, questioning Harris’ tenure as attorney general and derisively referring to her as a ‘centrist corncob.’”

And that doesn't even mention the sexual misconduct that is alleged to have occurred in her office as California attorney general that she denies knowing about at the time.

If she was unaware of what was going on in her office as attorney general, will she know what's going on in her administration as president? I don't think so.


It's a new year and the world still hasn't come to an end with President Trump in the White House, in spite of what the media and the left [but I repeat myself] would have you believe.

I hope that you will follow Brain Flushings throughout the year and feel free to comment on any issues of concern. Please subscribe and check out the sponsors on these pages too.



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U.S. media mum on the big reason for Paris riots

This is about the fourth week of the riots in France. The lamestream media would have you believe it's about the price of gas and the cost of living going up, but that's simply only part of the truth.

The big reason, the final straw that broke the camel's back and was the catalyst to people rioting in the streets, was French President Macron's outrageous "anti-Climate Change" policies. That is, putting another tax on top of those that already exist, for the use of carbon fuels.

Obama wanted to do the same.

CNN and CBS apparently have no idea what sparked these protests and riots, but Global News of Canada was somewhat more honest, writing:

Macron’s government has imposed several climate change-related fuel taxes in recent months — including another slated to take effect in January. Macron says the taxes are meant to encourage drivers to exchange diesel-fueled vehicles for more environmentally-friendly models, but many middle-class French citizens say the taxes are squeezing them to the breaking point.

There were over 400 arrests over the weekend, and more than 200 people were injured, including police.

French citizens, wearing the now ubiquitous yellow safety vests (which residence of France are required, by law, to keep in their vehicles for emergencies) marched down the Champs-Élysées, a high-end shopping and restaurant district in central Paris.

Although Macron's new efforts to combat "climate change" and reduce his country's dependence on "fossil fuels" by punishing those who use it with having to fork over more money is not the only reason for the protests, but it definitely got the French off their derrieres and out onto the streets. Many brought along books of matches.

The French had already been hit with a tax increase in January. Over 60 percent of the cost of fuel in France comes from government taxes.

But if you ask CNN or CBS, the riots are simply shrouded in mystery.

CBS simply refused to discuss the taxes altogether.

So @CBSEveningNews went through a whole segment on the Paris riots without mentioning that they are riots against taxes to curb global warming.

— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D., M.S. (@Neoavatara) December 2, 2018

CNN spent hundreds of words diddy-bopping around the tax issue before arguing that France's protesters were mistaken: the price of fuel in France went up because the price of oil has gone up globally.

"Rising fuel prices are largely attributed to a leap in the wholesale price of oil worldwide," CNN claimed smugly.

Strangely enough, the protests span both the "metropolitan elite" and the "rural poor." Smaller protests have also broken out across the French countryside, and those demonstrators are very clear on why they've taken to the streets: Macron's "anti-Climate Change" policies have created an unfair burden on French people across the financial spectrum.

Reuters and other, more global news organizations, like Global News, fared better in their coverage, accepting that Macron's efforts to curb fuel consumption may have gone a step too far.

The American media would love to see iron-fist control by the government to "save the world" with taxpayers' money.

Macron is getting desperate to quell the situation in the streets of France, especially in Paris. He announced that he'd consider taking drastic measures, but didn't spell out what that would entail.

If he has all 75,000 protesters arrested, where would he put them all?


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Bill Gates says he needs to pay higher taxes but nobody is stopping him

Microsoft founder and multi-billionaire Bill Gates is angry over the fact that he is not taxed more than the average American. "I need to pay higher taxes," he told Fareed Zakaria of the Commie News Network (CNN). Zakaria, you may remember, was an advisor to President Obama while pretending to be an unbiased CNN journalist.

Gates is the second richest person in the world. He also slammed the GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act because he believes everyone should pay more taxes to the government.

"People who are wealthier tended to get dramatically more benefits than the middle class or those who are poor, and so it runs counter to the general trend you'd like to see, where the safety net is getting stronger and those at the top are paying higher taxes," he pontificated.

Nobody is stopping Bill Gates from giving money to the United States government--all he needs to do is visit the Bureau of the Fiscal Service and give whatever he believes is reasonable "for general government purposes and for the specific purpose of paying down or reducing the public debt."

He just won't do that because he wants others to do it too. In other words, it's only the right thing to do as long as he isn't alone in doing it. Of course, that's illogical and a guy who invented Windows, should know logic better than all of us.


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Al Sharptongue promises "Season of Disobedience" due to Sessions nod

The Revolting (Rev.) Al Sharptongue promised a "season of civil disobedience" because he isn't happy with President-elect Trump nor his nomination of Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for attorney general.

Sharptongue, an MSNBC host with an even lower IQ than Rachel Madcow, said activists planned a march on Jan. 14 during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend to protest the Sessions nomination. The race baiter hopes to make a lot of money out of the event, but did not go into detail as to how he expects to line his pockets.

The chronically angry Sharptongue recalled a time when he spent 90 days in jail for protesting on U.S. Navy property against military exercises (exercise is something he has never done in his entire life) on the island of Vieques in 2001 during the George W. Bush presidency. He said that civil disobedience usually works because it changes policy.

"We're not just doing this to be doing it. We do it because doing it can lead to change just by doing it, and believe me, there will be a season of doing civil disobedience particularly around Sessions' nomination. That's why we're doing it, you know what I'm saying? Heh heh heh."

Sharptongue previewed the plan for the mass march, explaining that activists will visit the offices of various senators and make some house calls to "make them understand" they will be held accountable for voting in favor of Sessions, whose confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday."

The senators will also be held accountable if they don't confirm Sessions, but Sharptongue forgot to mention that.

The puerile-minded Sharptongue claimed that Sessions has a poor record on issues such as civil rights, immigrant rights and LGBT rights (an issue that goes right to his cholesterol-rich heart). 

But Big Al neglected to speak about his own record on such issues as: the Tawana Brawley scandal, his calling for the murder of cops (see video above), his anti-Semitic rants (see video below) and his ongoing plethora of lies. 

The Revolting Al Sharptongue is a disgusting, opportunist human being and the fact that he has his own program on MSNBC should be all you need to know about that leftist network.

How this guy has been able to avoid prison, after not paying his taxes for one thing, is a mystery.

He is probably worried about the law, in fact, now that his buddy is leaving the White House.





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Boeing CEO will save US a few bucks

The CEO of Boeing told President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday that he can save the taxpayers a few bucks to build a new Air Force One since the original quote was unacceptable. 

Early this month, Mr. Trump blasted Boeing for alleged cost overruns with the new fleet of Air Force One jets. He called on the government to cancel the contract and called the $4 billion price tag out of control.

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, FL. He spoke to the media after the meeting and said, "We're going to get it done for less than that, and we're committed to working together to make sure that happens."

It seems like Trump isn't taking the "old school" political position that government stuff costs a lot. He's challenging it, and that's a good thing. While it doesn't make a dent in taxpayer expenditure for the year, it's a posture that sits well with conservatives who've long felt that the government has fleeced us long enough. 

Trump also met with Lockheed Martin Corp's Marillyn Hewson after he had gone public about the exorbitant cost of its F-35.

While this may seem like small potatoes, it's a start at looking deeply into the costs we've been paying for things that may not cost as much as they're charging.

Simple. Smart.


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Lester Holt: a closet liberal or a full-blown liberal?

Lester Holt may be a registered Republican, but it looks more like a coverup than his true political philosophy. He complied with the wishes of the Clinton campaign and while Trump blew it all by himself on several occasions, Hillary skated.

Holt called out Trump and interrupted him repeatedly, while Clinton got no questions about Benghazi or her emails. Trump, on the other hand, didn't bring it up when the issue of national security came up--that was his golden opportunity and he blew it.

The Clinton campaign gamed the system, according to the MRC (Media Research Center). Holt was in total compliance with their wishes. He pushed the birther issue, Trump's tax returns, and asked him about Clinton being "the first woman nominated by a party" and not having "the look."

The issue of the "deplorables" never once came up and Donald never went there--another big mistake.

It almost felt as if there was a conspiracy going on of a secret agreement between Trump and Clinton whereby he promised to give her the debate. Of course that's nonsense but Alex Jones will probably jump on that idea if it occurs to his paranoid brain. Can't you just see his lede: "Trump purposely throws the debate for Clinton--does she know something about him that she isn't telling?"

Dan Gainor of the MRC discussed six ways in which Clinton got to skate the debate and Holt was in the tank for the former Worst Lady.

First there's the issue of jobs. Holt shot two questions at Trump on how he planned to add jobs in spite of the fact that the first answer talked about renegotiating trade deals.

Next, Holt depicted the liberal tax plans where Clinton wanted to tax the rich and Trump supposedly was "calling for tax cuts for the wealthy." Trump had to correct him, which clearly showed Holt's bias.

On tax returns, Trump got slammed by Holt with questions on "business conflicts" but Hillary was never asked about her emails, her Goldman Sachs and other corporate speeches, or anything about Clinton Foundation business conflicts.

She was also never asked about money the Foundation received from misogynistic countries.

Fourth, Holt asked Trump about the "birther" question which went longer than Clinton's email answer and then asked Trump three separate follow-ups.

And fifth, he attacked Trump for supporting the Iraq War, never discussing how Clinton had voted to do the same. Also, it's important to realize that Trump wasn't privy to information about the Iraq situation whereas Clinton was and still voted for it. Holt never made that distinction either.

Finally, Holt asked Clinton about whether the police in the US are biased against African-Americans. She answered "I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police." Holt ignored the gaffe rather than challenge her wide brushstroke about everyone being bigoted.

I believe that Holt must have taken his cue as moderator from Candy Crowley. He was like a third debater and failed miserably, but so did Donald Trump.

Trump missed golden opportunities to destroy Clinton's position in the debate. When she accused him of being chummy with Putin, he might have replied, "I think he knows more about you, Hillary, just from reading through your emails."

It should never be the role of journalists to be the ones to make the news, anymore than an umpire or referee should determine the outcome of a game. Both sides need to be prepared, know the facts and challenge lies. It is never up to journalists to determine what is truth and what is lie.

Sometimes I wish the candidates could bring along YouTube video to prove their points. Both sides would be proven liars and the public would then have more information to make better informed decisions.

I think Clinton won this debate and I wish it wasn't so. But I'm not going to pretend that she didn't, in my opinion. Trump needs to monitor his narcissism (all presidential candidates need to be narcissistic in order to run for that office) and anticipate her strategy better than he did this time. He also needs to be able to use her attacks to his advantage--there's so much dirt on Clinton that just got swept under the carpet this time.

Finally, Trump's excuse to lay off Clinton because her family was in the room, and that he thinks Chelsea is a nice person, is not a good reason to throw the debate. 

Just lift the carpet and you'll easily show us the dirt. Chelsea knows it's there--she probably helped put it there.

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What is Freedom?

There are enough definitions of the term 'freedom' to satisfy everyone, but the definition that seems to make the most sense to me is . . . well . . . my own. After all, I like the idea of having the freedom to define what I believe freedom really means.

Freedom is the right to be left alone by others, particularly the government.  It is the right to do what you want to do with your life, your business, and just about anything you can imagine, as long as it doesn't harm others in any real way. For example, if my religion believes that same-sex marriage is a sin, then I should have the freedom not to be forced in sanctioning the wedding by my actions. Just as same-sex marriage should not be forbidden by law.

And governments should protect us from people and organizations that want to take that freedom of our beliefs from us. That is the one thing I see as government responsibility: protection of its citizens.

Overall, we ought to be able to lead our lives without some schmuck telling us how to go about the task of leading it. Someone telling us we must photograph their wedding, or bake a cake with a Nazi swastika because they happen to be a Nazi, or anything that goes against our personal beliefs is the opposite of freedom and must not be permitted.

Would you force a Halal catering company to cater a Bar Mitzvah or bake a gay wedding cake? Just try it--I can hear the scream of "Allahu Akbar!" now.

Regulations should be seen as policies that protect society, not a list of "musts" created by some low self-esteem dork who creates rules and regulations just to feel powerful and controlling. What regulations mainly do is stifle job growth because nobody wants to open a lemonade stand if they must fill out 23 pages of paperwork in triplicate. 

The same may be said about taxes. The government wants your money so they can squander it on some pork barrel project that ends up wasting millions.

Or politicians want your tax money so they can fly for free on vacation or vote themselves a raise.

Of course, some regulations are needed, but most of them are as useful as a fly-swatter to a frog. We need to be rid of stupid regulations immediately.

So if unions insist that it should be mandatory to join, then that union is trying to take away your freedom not to join. It's no different from Obamacare.

We need less government, and more freedom. 

In this digital age, we could easily get a popular consensus on many issues that affect us on a state level, so the federal government can be made much smaller, used primarily for national security and infrastructure.

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Some Seriously Taxing Issues & Michael Moore's Tutu

 It seems that government is involved in everything nowadays--from your child's education, to the food that you aren't allowed to eat, even if you want to. We pay taxes and expect services from the government, but how much is too much and where should we draw the line?

One thing that must be provided to Americans by the federal government is the infrastructure--roads, bridges, tunnels, and highways, and these must be maintained by the government with our tax money. I believe the government has the right to collect tolls for bridges and roads, but the people should have a say in the amount that we pay. It's ludicrous to think that paying $14.00 for the Verrazano Bridge toll is reasonable. We were promised that once a structure such as this bridge was paid for, the toll would be removed. With the threat of Islamic terrorism, I concede that we need to continue to pay for security for these structures, but to think the government can rake us over the coals for money that goes beyond these needs is unfair and probably illegal. And the worst thing of all is that the infrastructure of our country is crumbling and throwing more money into it hasn't helped.


Secondly, the government is responsible for our defense as a nation. I know President Obama doesn't take that too seriously, and even W. said that Islam is a religion of peace, but most Americans know otherwise. Our military should not be cut and we need to continue to keep military defense as a priority, rather than cutting back in this area. If I had my way, I'd cut back on $16.00 muffins and $8.00 coffee for our government officials who, like Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, spend our tax dollars for their personal pleasures. I have written about this in a previous blog here.

Grand Jete

Thirdly, well, that's difficult to say. There isn't much more the government should be involved with because they have the Midas touch when it comes to running things, except instead of turning things into gold, they turn it into human waste. They do education like Michael Moore does an arabesque or grand jete. Also, we all know that the government does not create jobs, although they do provide them, as can be seen in the US Postal Service. In fact, there are so many jobs in the postal service that we are paying people not to work because there isn't enough work for them to do. Millions of taxpayer dollars is wasted at USPS every year and that's our money. Of course, we can blame it on government but the real culprit here is the union, which negotiated to protect jobs that don't need to exist. We need to remember too that government jobs do not generate more jobs, and unions do not generate more jobs--they're designed to maximize their workers salaries and benefits, often at a huge expense to management.

Michael Moore?

School teachers are also protected by unions and it practically takes an act of God to fire a teacher, even if he or she commits a crime involving their students. Since liberals like to see everything as equal, like the US is morally equivalent to Saudi Arabia, for example, teachers also have an equal situation with USPS because there is a significant number of them getting paid to sit in a "Quiet Room" and not teach. I wonder if the walls in the Quiet Room are padded to protect them from themselves.


So it should be clear that the purpose of the government in a free society is to take care of its citizens. It is not the role of government to take away their money to share with those who have less, for whatever reasons. Fact: Republicans are more generous than Democrats when giving to charities. Democrats only pretend to be the morally superior. 

My final brain flushing for today is: if we trained people who receive unemployment benefits, rather than to simply give them two years of sitting on their duffs, we would do more for them in the long term. Giving them more time to find a job has only extended the amount of time they tend to be out of work. We have spent our grand children's money on frivolous entitlements for too long and we need to become responsible again for their sake and the sake of our country. Just saying.


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