Tag Archive for: taxes

President Trump: China Trade, Tariff Deal ‘DONE’

President Trump confirmed early Wednesday that the US reached a “deal” with China following intense, marathon trade negotiations in London.

“Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me,” Trump announced on Truth Social Wednesday in full capitalization. “Full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China.”

“Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities (which has always been good with me!). We are getting a total of 55% tariffs, China is getting 10%. The relationship is excellent! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

How are we vetting these students?

Trump says China trade, tariff deal ‘done,’ awaits his and Xi Jinping’s approval

“FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA,” President Trump said.

By Natalia Mittelstadt, Just The News, June 11, 2025:

President Trump on Wednesday announced that the deal with China “is done,” and is awaiting his and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s approval.

“OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

“FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA. LIKEWISE, WE WILL PROVIDE TO CHINA WHAT WAS AGREED TO, INCLUDING CHINESE STUDENTS USING OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOOD WITH ME!). WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”

The U.S. and China reached a framework for a looming trade deal on Tuesday, which came on the second day of negotiations in London.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

RELATED ARTICLES:

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

Military Spending by Country in 2025

Military spending by country for 2025.  What is wrong with this picture?


Top Countries by Military Spending (Defense Budget 2025 Rankings)

Military budgets are one of the key indicators of a nation’s defense priorities and strategic objectives. Countries around the world allocate significant resources to their armed forces, often reflecting geopolitical challenges, technological advancements, and internal security concerns. Military spending not only impacts national security but also influences global power dynamics, trade, and international relations.

As of 2024, global military expenditures have reached unprecedented levels, driven by heightened geopolitical tensions, modernization of defense systems, and increased investments in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. This article delves into the military budgets of the top spenders and analyzes how much of their GDP is allocated toward defense, providing a comprehensive overview of the global defense landscape.

Top 10 Countries with the Highest Military Expenditure

  1. United States: $811.6 billion
  2. China: $298 billion
  3. India: $81 billion
  4. Saudi Arabia: $73 billion
  5. Russia: $72 billion
  6. United Kingdom: $70 billion
  7. Germany: $57.8 billion
  8. France: $57 billion
  9. Japan: $53.9 billion
  10. South Korea: $49.6 billion

[ … ]

The United States leads by a wide margin, accounting for over a third of global military spending. This reflects its global military commitments, including NATO operations and Pacific alliances. China, the second-largest spender, continues to modernize its armed forces, emphasizing naval and technological advancements. India, with ongoing border disputes and regional rivalries, ranks third, while Saudi Arabia and Russia focus on advanced weaponry and regional dominance. European nations like the United Kingdom, Germany, and France emphasize NATO contributions and modernization programs. Japan and South Korea prioritize regional security due to tensions with North Korea and China.

Continue reading

©2025 . All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: Global Military Spending by Country in 2025

VIDEO: AEI Housing Market Indicators, May 2025

AEI Housing Market Indicators May 2025 Briefing

You don’t want to miss this update! This month, we highlighted the following hot housing topics:

  • Recent movements in rates, demand, and supply: Mortgage rates remained elevated at 6.75%, while purchase rate lock volume dropped to a multi-year low—down 24% from the same week in 2019 and 5% year-over-year.
  • Home price appreciation (HPA) and months’ supply trends through March 2025: HPA slowed to 3.0%—its second lowest April rate in the series—while months’ supply declined to 3.2 months, just below pre-pandemic levels as inventory grows faster than seasonal trends
  • FHA appears not to be properly tracking its partial claims, costing taxpayers: FHA is not and collecting partial claims in about a quarter of cases, and taxpayers will be providing free money to certain FHA borrowers. Assuming an average partial claim amount of $23,000-$27,000 and 1.3 million unique claims since 2020, the taxpayer could lose $6.75 billion—not including partial claims completed before 2020.
  • An update on Bureau of Land Management sales to build starter homes: Making just 250 sq. miles of developable BLM land available for sale in 12 Western states would enable the private sector to add 1.75 million homes, a much of which would be family-sized starter homes for the working class. The 2025 Budget Reconciliation process provides an opportunity to address the Western region’s housing and development needs by expediting the disposal of target Federal lands for competitive sale at market prices.
  • Preview: The AEI Housing Success Playbook: The AEI Housing Center’s Housing Success Playbook provides five straightforward, proven policies to build an additional 1.6 million homes annually, and without subsidies. These include allowing smaller lots in new subdivisions, legalizing conversions of single-family homes, permitting backyard cottages and ADUs, enabling residential overlays in commercial zones, and developing starter homes on BLM land.
  • The surprising role of large developers in solving the housing crunch: The nation’s largest home builders have engineered a dramatic shift toward serving first-time homebuyers, with 51.2% of their new construction sales going to FTBs in 2024, up from 38.6% in 2014. This transformation has been driven by building smaller homes and offering financial tools like rate buydowns, while median lot sizes declined by 1,050 sq. ft., enabling greater affordability and access to starter homes.

The AEI Housing Market Indicators (HMI) provide accurate and timely metrics for the housing market. These include mortgage risk/leverage (with a particular focus on agency first-time buyer volume and risk), house prices and appreciation trends, housing sales (new and existing sales whether institutionally financed, cash, or other-financed), and inventory levels. Since the housing market is influenced by many different factors, all need to be considered together to better understand market trends.

WATCH: AEI Housing Market Indicators May 2025 Briefing

Monthly Update of the AEI Housing Market Indicators: Download this month’s slides

©2025 . All rights reserved.

PODCAST: Govt. Regs. Costing Every American $16K a year! Was Pope Francis a Marxist?

GUESTS AND TOPICS

WAYNE CREWS

Wayne Crews is the Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. His work explores the impact of government regulation of free enterprise. Wayne has been published and cited in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Communications Lawyer, the International Herald Tribune, and others. He has appeared on numerous television and radio programs, including Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, ABC, CNBC, and PBS NewsHour. Prior to joining CEI, he worked at the Cato Institute, the U.S. Senate, and the Food and Drug Administration.

TOPIC: Govt. Regs. Costing Every American $16K a year!

DR. RICH SWIER

Dr. Rich Swier is a conservative with a conscience. Rich, a Catholic, is a 23 year Army veteran who retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for his years of service. Additionally, he was awarded two Bronze Stars with “V” for Valor and Heroism in ground combat, the Presidential Unit Citation, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry while serving with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. Dr Rich now publishes the the “DrRichSwier.com Report“. A daily review of news, issues and commentary. Dr Rich has a new book out, “DISSENT: The Highest Form of Patriotism.

TOPIC: Was Pope Francis a Marxist?

©2025 . All rights reserved.

Republican Alina Bonsell ‘The Bombshell’ is Shaking Up NYC Politics

NEW YORK CITY, NY/PRNewswire/ — With the general election around the corner, Alina Bonsell — dubbed “The Bombshell” by supporters for her unapologetic energy — has officially secured her place on the November ballot for New York City Council District 5.

A moderate Republican with an independent streak, Bonsell is shaking up the political status quo and drawing support from voters tired of party puppets and performative politics.

“I’m not running to represent a party,” said Bonsell. “I’m running to represent people. I’ve lived the dysfunction — from family court injustice to overregulation crushing small businesses. I’m stepping in because too many New Yorkers feel unheard and unprotected.”

A healthcare veteran, real estate entrepreneur, and longtime Upper East Side resident, Bonsell brings a rare combination of tenacity, business sense, and lived experience. As a mother of two who has battled NYC’s broken family court system, she’s making transparency and fairness central to her mission.

Her story is rooted in resilience. At age six, her family fled OdessaUkraine as Jewish refugees escaping anti-Semitism. They came to New York to build a better life — and she’s been fighting for that promise ever since.

Bonsell states, “This city’s been run like a broken machine — no heart, no accountability —Ask the residents of Roosevelt Island. Over 8,000 parents emailed the current Democratic Councilmember, begging for help to bring their high school back. She ignored every one of them. No response. No action. They say she checked out and she doesn’t care. That’s just one of many issues that’s been brushed aside — from public safety to affordability to quality of life. That’s not leadership. That’s neglect. And that’s the opposite of who I am.”

A proud graduate of New York City’s public schools, Bonsell supports expanding access to tutoring, leadership programs, and cultural enrichment — because every child deserves opportunity, regardless of zip code.

While education remains a cornerstone of her campaign, Bonsell’s platform lays out a broader vision to restore safety, accountability, and functionality — both across the district and throughout New York City.

  • Public safety: Institutionalize severely mentally ill individuals who pose a danger to others. Remove violent offenders from subways, parks, and public spaces. Legalize non-lethal safety tools like pepper spray so New Yorkers can defend themselves.
  • Transit: Prioritize boarding for Roosevelt Island residents and install a public staircase or elevator on the 59th Street Bridge.
  • Housing: Provide tax relief for residential and commercial landlords to ease rent hikes and stabilize communities. Legalize short-term rentals when allowed by building bylaws. Reform squatter laws to permit immediate eviction of illegal occupants.
  • Pedestrian safety: Enforce licensing, insurance, and traffic rules for commercial cyclists and e-bike delivery drivers operating with no oversight.
  • Small business survival: Pass a Small Business Protection Bill to shield neighborhood shops from unfair pressures and keep local commerce alive.
  • Family court reform: As a mother personally impacted by a broken system, she’s pushing for accountability, transparency, and due process — to ensure no parent is erased by false narratives or judicial apathy.
  • Animal welfare: Bonsell is a vocal advocate for stronger protections for animals, including improved shelter conditions, tougher penalties for abuse, and expanded funding for rescue organizations — because compassion shouldn’t be selective.

In her own words, Bonsell explains her mission clearly: “I’m running on the Republican line, but I don’t answer to national politics or big party donors. This is an independent, grassroots campaign. New York City is often dubbed the playground for the rich — and year after year, it ranks as the richest city in the world by the number of billionaires who live here. But it suffers in so many other ways. I’m running because I want this city to be rich in what actually matters: rich in safety, rich in cleanliness, rich in opportunity, justice, education, and real community.”

District 5 includes East 58th Street to East 96th Street, primarily east of Third Avenue, as well as Museum Mile and Roosevelt Island. The general election will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

More about Alina Bonsell | www.alinabonsell.com | Instagram: @AlinaB.nyc | info@alinabonsell.com

©2025 . All rights reserved.

White House Sends Congress $9.4 Billion Rescissions Package

The White House sent a $9.4 billion rescissions package partly aimed at codifying work done by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to Congress late Tuesday.

The House Oversight Committee confirmed that Congress had received the package in a post to X.

“The White House just sent Congress a $9.4B rescissions package—including $1.1B in CUTS to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. These outlets ATTACK the America First agenda on the taxpayers’ dime. We’re ready to STOP this propaganda machine,” the post read.

The news comes after Russell Vought, Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), announced May 28 that the White House would be sending a rescissions package to Congress this week.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said May 28 in an X post that he is “eager and ready to act” on the measure. “When the White House sends its rescission package to the House, we will act quickly by passing legislation to codify the cuts,” he wrote.

The upcoming rescissions package is set to include $1.1 billion in funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the organization that helps fund National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It also proposes an $8.3 billion reduction in funding for foreign aid, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NBC News reported.

The package can be approved in both the House and Senate with a simple majority, enabling Republican lawmakers to move it forward without Democratic backing.

Lawmakers will have 45 days to act on the proposal to rescind previously appropriated funding.

Although Elon Musk has departed DOGE and turned his attention to his various business ventures, the agency is expected to remain active through July 4, 2026.

Editor’s note: A quote has been altered to better reflect the original statement.

AUTHOR

Ashley Brasfield

Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Trump Pushes Recission Bill—Looking to Cut $9.4 Billion From Federal Budget

Did Republicans Just Give DOGE A Big Beautiful Backstab?

MSNBC Guest Admits Elon Musk ‘Made A Difference’ With DOGE

Citi Stops Debanking Gun Retailers

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

THE PARTY OF EXTREMISM

THE PARTY OF EXTREMISM

Along the way I realized what they were really doing was telling on themselves.

Starting somewhere around 2017 I noticed a trend.

As we all know, after Trump won, there was mass hysteria. The increasingly woke left had lost. It defied their imaginations, and so their imaginations got to work. It couldn’t have been that they weren’t popular, it had to be something else.

Oh I know, they thought, everyone who isn’t me is an extremist.

Over the course of about ten years, the media’s usage of “right wing extremism” and “far right” and “radical right” exploded. Just to give you an indication, The Guardian has used the term “far right” in 6,389 articles versus “far left” appearing in just 376.

The trend was so pronounced that Manhattan Institute bubbas did a study they published in The American Conservative.

Here’s a series of graphs from the article.

But what is it exactly they’re calling extreme?

You, Dear Reader. And me. JD Vance. People who think borders are real. People who think gender is real. Is God real to you? You’re an extremist.

Let’s go further, should people be punished for committing crimes? Yes? You’re an extremist!

Is it okay for a man to get in a boxing ring and beat the pulp out of womenFirst of all, they say, he’s not a man. Oh he is actually? Oops. If the answer is still ‘no,’ guess what: Extremist.

If you won’t refer to an El Salvadorian national who more than likely trafficked human beings for MS-13 as a “Maryland Man” and instead call him an illegal or a “member of MS13” — which are both accurate and literal — then guess what? Yup, extremist again.

You get the point. As the most powerful left wing institutions competed with themselves to get ever further to the left, alienating normal people and losing elections in the process, everyone who was not in their real estate became an extremist to them.

The reality is the reverse though. They’re simply telling on themselves.

Recent months have brought things into sharp focus. Radical student bodies stormed university buildings in support of Hamas, a literal terrorist group. Wine moms and white collar elites burned and defaced Teslas. An illegal alien set a group of elderly people on fire while shrieking “free Palestine.”

This is the contemporary left.

And it isn’t just acts of violence, terrorism, looting, and rioting that they’ve attempted to normalize.

Virtually the entirety of the political left’s intellectual platform is extremist. Castrating mentally unwell children. Legalizing crime. Defending terrorist groups. Policing speech instead of streets. Attacking Western values. Dismantling the family structure. Teaching small children about marginal sexual experiences. Assigning value to people based primarily on their race or, even more perverse, sexual preferences.

They baked a hierarchy of racial and immutable traits into everything they do, from college admissions to government benefits to ads for hardware stores. There are awards in this hyper-liberal bizarro world that you cannot win without publicly reporting the racial makeup of your staff.

Almost nothing that normal people find good in this world is immune.

High School sports, in some ways the last bastion of local community in America, has become an intellectual battleground for a question whose answer is obvious to anyone: Should men physically beat women?

It’s not even a question … unless you work at The New York Times. In that case, it’s worthy of debate.

As the old adage goes in politics, “whatever they accuse you of doing, they’re actually doing.”

AUTHOR

Geoffrey Ingersoll

Editor at Large.

RELATED ARTICLE: Terror Flag To Be Raised at WHO for the First Time


 

WHAT I’M READING

Normal American Muslims have been fed up with the extremism too.

Muslim Activists Helped Give Trump The White House — So Far, They Don’t Regret It

Say it in Trump’s voice: “Chiiinna”

EXCLUSIVE: Harvard Commencement Speaker Worked For Org Tied To China’s Military

Truly outstanding work.

Legacy Media Drops The Ball Again, This Time On Colorado Terror Attack

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

The National RINO Hunt Team

  • Too many Republicans don’t stand for anything except reelection
  • The Republican Party needs to become a party of principle again
  • The Virginia Republican Creed is a good start
  • RINOs are Republicans who, among other things, endorse Democrats, agree with their policies, and shut out the grassroots

RINO Removal Project Taking Shape

National Scene

The RINO Removal Project (RRP) launched a few months ago and is gaining traction, as the group zeroes in on primarying a few notorious RINOs in Congress. RRP, which follows America First principles and emerged completely from the grassroots, is going after 10 members of Congress, mostly familiar names.

RINOs love Democrat social spending

  • Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is staking out his spot as a populist defender of Medicaid in opposition to the steep cuts contained in the House-passed megabill to fund President Trump’s domestic agenda.  Hawley will not support a bill that cuts Medicaid benefits.  
  • House Republican leadership’s decision to step back from two pathways to major Medicaid cost savings has fueled contempt among hard line conservatives.  Conservatives chafe at taking Medicaid savings options off table.  Reconciliation battle over potential Medicaid cuts roils Republicans
  • Some House Republicans trying to keep Medicaid expansion for childless able-bodied adults, just tinkering around the edges with work requirement and noncitizen provisions.

Turncoat Tillis – RINO Senator Thom Tillis, who voted to confirm Biden’s radical pick for Attorney General Merrick Garland, told reporters that he opposes the nomination of Ed Martin for DC US Attorney

Now that Sen. John Cornyn has been cornered, and is facing a legitimate primary contender who will galvanize the MAGA movement in Texas against him, Loomer Unleashed can exclusively confirm that Cornyn has turned to the ugliest factions of the Republican Establishment for assistance in defeating Ken Paxton.

Ron DeSantis Slams Congressional Republicans for ‘Betrayal of the Voters Who Elected Them’.  “To see Republicans in Congress cast aside any meaningful spending reductions (and, in fact, fully fund things like USAID) is demoralizing and represents a betrayal of the voters who elected them,” he posted.

It’s hard to believe that we are in the year 2025 and there are still some Republicans – including Vice President JD Vance, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, and even one of Donald Trump’s Nominees to sit on the National Labor Relations Board – who favor forced unionization in the workplace.  So much for the GOP being the freedom party.

Three House Republicans Reportedly Holding Up Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood:  Reps. Mike Lawler, Jen Kiggans and Brian Fitzpatrick were among moderates who told House GOP leadership they oppose cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood via reconciliation

  • Pro-life forces in Congress have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to defund Planned Parenthood, but the road ahead is far from easy.  Yet the effort to excise “big abortion’s” slush fund stands in danger of faltering over intra-party squabbles. This is an appropriate time for President Trump to step in and unite the GOP

GOP Grifters:  A party for Trump’s first 100 days was billed as ‘official’ — it was anything but that.  Attendees of the event and local Republican organizers have come out against the event, its hosts, and the entire premise. They called it a “scam” and a “grift.”

  • To its credit, the local Arlington, Virginia GOP unit did its best to warn people about this

FL

Florida RINOs working with communists and voting with Democrats to defeat Governor DeSantis on tough immigration laws, open carry, etc.

WI

Republicans proposing expansion of early voting, a Democrat idea

May 2025

GOP Senators Fight for Democrat Energy Subsidies

National Scene

GOP senators fight for Democrat energy subsidies – Four senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune asking “to preserve energy tax credits included in the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act in the impending budget reconciliation bill.” The letter was signed by Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John Curtis of Utah, Jerry Moran of Kansas, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

Senator Josh Hawley ‘evolves’, won’t vote to cut Medicaid which is a major driver of the budget deficit; supports Democrat amendment to kill effort to find Medicaid savings

  • What is wrong with these people?  they get to Washington and lose their principles.  Makes you wonder if they had any to begin with.

CO

In one of the strangest political strategies ever, the new Colorado GOP leadership team (Brita Horn, Darel Lee Phelan and Russ Andrews) have publicly announced they and the Republican Party will not talk about or take a position on any legislation proposed in the Colorado State legislature.

  • This means the state party will no longer weigh in on Democrat priorities on abortion, gun control, parents’ rights, or anything else, no matter how extreme.
  • One activist asked: “We are supposed to all work for Republican candidates chosen by unaffiliates and it doesn’t matter what they believe in according to the new leadership. What’s the point of being a Republican anymore?”

Instead of staying and fighting the good fight, these five elected Republicans (Mary Bradfield, Rose Pugliese as always, Anthony Hartsook, Rick Taggart, and Matt Soper) sided with the Democrats in agreeing to take $30M from Colorado schools, to fund Democrat projects, like removing children from their parents if their parents don’t agree to allowing their children to “trans out” and be groomed by the adults around them.

FL

Governor ZigZag –

MT

GOP-controlled legislature passes bill purporting to ban foreign funding of ballot initiatives, but the bill is so bad conservatives ask the Governor to veto it

ND

Republican Governor vetoes school choice bill

SC

Conservatives accuse state GOP of rigging the vote to reelect state party chair Drew McKissick to a fifth term

TN

TN may wear the label of a deep red state, but after the 2025 legislative session, grassroots conservatives are waking up to a harsh reality.  Despite holding more than 80% of the seats in the General Assembly, TN’s Republican supermajority repeatedly betrayed core conservative principles

  • “These guys and gals as it were, have no care at all that they pass legislation and kill legislation in a completely self-serving manner that ignores the will of the people. And it seems to have gotten worse as President Trump has returned to the White House, as though the country and Tennessee’s support of the president, is somehow extended to THEM. They act with impunity and hubris. They need to be stopped.” – TN RINO hunter 

TX

54 Republicans join 41 Democrats to pass bill to give $5B to rich investment firms instead of lowering property taxes

The GOP-controlled TX House of Representatives has passed a bill aimed at criminalizing political memes.  The bill, HB 366, would imprison offenders for a minimum of one year if the meme does not have a government-approved disclaimer.

April 2025

Anti-RINO Forces Coalescing

The National RINO Hunt Team is gratified there are now more news sources trained on RINOs.  NRHT has been at it since 2022.  Anti-RINO forces are finally coalescing and the tide is definitely turning in our favor.

Spotlight on NE

This guy has left the reservation and is out of control –
Rep. Don Bacon (RINO-NE) is now echoing Democrat talking points by publicly calling for President Trump to fire Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — all based on a debunked New York Times smear

  • Go.  Just go.
    Don Bacon considers retiring after feeling heat from conservative activists

CO

RINO Watch Colorado paints bleak picture of state GOP

  • Colorado is already a one-party state with Democrats controlling the Governorship, the House, the Senate and every state-wide office along with every state judge. How could it get worse? Well, the Republican Party could just disappear, devoured by a three headed Hydra monster of Kirkmeyer, Ganahl and Chairman Horn which is happening now.
    – Their grassroots training is intended to move things leftward and groom future RINOs.  
    – Weld County was overtaken by RINOs due to massive funding from New York Democrats lead by the leftwing daughter in law of Rupert Murdoch, Kathryn Murdoch.
  • Republican lawmakers in Colorado sponsoring legislation to elevate party precinct leaders with no political affiliation in the selection process when legislative vacancies occur – huh?

GA

RINOs covering up thousands of fake duplicate ballots from 2020 election; activists awaiting explanation.

LA

State Treasurer calls for support in election bid to oust ‘RINO Turncoat’ Sen. Cassidy.  After recalling his work history with President Trump, Fleming characterized his electoral opponent Senator Bill Cassidy (R), as a “RINO Turncoat” and disloyal to his political party of choice, citing Cassidy’s vote to impeach President Trump in 2021.

MT

State GOP demands already-censured Senator Wendy McKamey stop obstructing bill to ban foreign funding of ballot initiatives

ND

North Dakota Republican Governor Kelly Armstrong vetoed a bill that would have required school districts to keep books determined to be “sexually explicit” out of the reach of students

PA

Oh look, our “Republican” State Rep. Tom Mehaffie (PA-106) is celebrating “Carbon Neutrality” AGAIN.  He’s also voted with the Democrats for every PA version of the Green New Scam & sponsors gas stove bans.

SD

South Dakota’s new Republican Party chairman is a former Democrat, but he’s been a Republican for nine years. Now he’s concerned about “Republicans In Name Only,” or RINOs, and wants to weed them out.

TN

IVF bill, introduced by Republicans and supported by Democrats and Planned Parenthood, weakens state’s abortion ban and opens the door to abortifacients and selective abortion

TX

Republicans facilitating Muslim takeover of Texas

Tarrant County GOP Resolution censures Rep. Giovanni Capriglione for failing to vote for the Republican Caucus nominee for Speaker of the House, elevating Democrats to subcommittee and vice-chairs, etc.


Congressional Republicans Want to Tax the Rich

National Scene

Republicans in Congress are considering increasing taxes on the rich as a part of President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” of ambitious legislative priorities, a striking development that breaks with decades of party orthodoxy and is spurring alarm bells from traditional conservatives.

  • Tax the rich?  We have the Democrats for that.  What do we need you for?

AL
This man is giving Republicans a bad name –
Rep. Corey Harbison R-AL rarely attended sessions in 2024 and 2025 but remained on the roll, raising questions about accountability and transparency in legislative attendance.

CO

GOP LAWSUIT AGAINST BRITA HORN NOT OVER
The party is suing Brita Horn and the others who falsely claimed that they were the real officers of the state GOP due to a meeting which an El Paso District Court found to be fraudulent.  The $100,000-plus she may owe to the GOP is a Party asset she cannot simply cancel because she is Party Chair.

FL

Republican lawmakers’ plan to sabotage DeSantis has been in the works since November

More pro-developer bills cooking in Republican-controlled Florida legislature – e.g., HB1118, which removes the power of citizens to stand against local development. There are several additional bills in the process of passage by the Florida legislature, other than 1118, which take away citizens’ rights to govern their own communities. All seem to be geared towards development.

Florida Republicans going wobbly on the Second Amendment after FSU shooting

MI

Second Time’s the Charm? Rogers Takes Another Shot at Michigan Senate Race.  Rogers is supported by a number of supposed conservatives but, as we previously reported: Former MI Congressman Mike Rogers is a deep-state RINO and currently the RINO favorite to run in the U.S. Senate race in 2024 in MI.  The problem is he doesn’t even live in MI, having moved to FL for “business opportunities.”

MT

You can run, but you can’t hide:  GOP Reps. Courtenay Sprunger & Randynn Gregg seen exiting the chamber before the property tax relief bill that died by one vote.

Yes, we got fooled again – Senator gets elected as Trump supporter, goes ‘bipartisan’.  Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) was elected to the Senate last year as a full-throated supporter of President Donald Trump, promising to “back him up 100% of the time.”  But during his nascent Senate tenure, Sheehy has become known more for bipartisan legislating than anything else.

OH

As President Donald Trump ramps up attacks on the judiciary, the Republican-led House voted to limit district court judges’ ability to issue the nationwide injunctions that have hampered some of his executive actions.  The vote was 219-213, with just one Republican, Mike Turner of Ohio, joining all Democrats in opposing it. The bill now heads to the Senate.

TN

A controversial bill to eliminate local GOP caucuses passed the Republican-controlled Tennessee House, despite warnings from Rep. Gino Bulso about its unconstitutionality.

Fiscal shenanigans in GOP-led House – the invoice for HB855 gets added after passage.  Now taxpayers are stuck with an $8M bill. Republicans Jack Johnson and Lee Reeves led the charge—while their own wives stand to benefit. Deception, exposed.

State GOP upholds grassroots win in Williamson County GOP leadership contest – Despite cries of a “rigged” vote, the Tennessee GOP State Executive Committee unanimously upheld the Williamson County GOP reorganization, citing no evidence of fraud or malice.

TX

Sen. John Cornyn claims fictitious Trump endorsement

Ken Paxton: “He [Sen. John Cornyn] doesn’t represent the values of Texas. He has taken positions that are extremely unpopular, at least in the Republican base, and I think many Texans, as it relates to guns, as it relates to the border, as it even relates to President Trump,” said Paxton, 62.


Run, Ken, Run!

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he will run against RINO Senator John Cornyn in 2026.  “It’s definitely time for a change in Texas,” Paxton said. 

National Scene

Senators voted 54 to 45 to confirm Elbridge Colby to serve as the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy with former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the lone Republican to vote “no” on the nomination

RINO Rep. Don Bacon (RINO-NE) announced that he would be moving to undercut President Trump’s bold move to reshape the global economic order with reciprocal tariffs on countries that have taken advantage of America for years

The U.S. House has passed Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) No Rogue Rulings Act, which will place restrictions on federal District Court judges from issuing nationwide injunctions.  One Republican, Rep. Mike Turner from Ohio, voted to empower activist judges.

A supposedly conservative group (Plymouth Union Public Advocacy) pushing a Democrat priority,  launching six-figure ads urging GOP senators to extend Biden’s jumbo Obamacare subsidies

CO

RINO queen Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer cuts deal with Dems to kill grassroots effort to vote to opt out of state’s disastrous open primary system.  The donor controlled UniParty/Establishment faction of the CO Republican Party launched a three-pronged attack on the effort, which aims to return to closed primaries where you must be a Republican to vote in the GOP primary.

FL

Florida’s Republican Legislature Rebels Against Governor DeSantis.  The biggest surprise in the legislature’s immigration bill, however, is the designation of the Commissioner of Agriculture as Chief Enforcement Officer.  Commissioner Simpson has a track record of being weak on immigration enforcement (representing agricultural interests) and AWOL on election integrity.

GOP-controlled Senate committee advances bill that panders to big developers by preventing local referendums to regulate housing density

MN
Prominent Republicans unite to fight Action 4 Liberty, a nominally grassroots group that is gaining ground in MNGOP politics

  • the way we hear the story, though, not every grassroots conservative in the state likes what A4L is doing

OK

Republican state Attorney General donated to Biden, but now praises Trump’s “decisive leadership” to boost AG’s run for Governor

TN

GOP-led House committee advances bill to strip parties of right to hold caucuses in preemptive strike to neutralize rising grassroots conservatives

Republican-led Senate committee lets grassroots-supported bill to close party primaries die


Congressional Republicans Torpedo Trump Agenda

National Scene

The Traitor Caucus: Eight Republicans Join ALL 213 Democrats To Bring House Voting to a Halt.  Nine House Republicans joined all 213 Democrats Tuesday to keep alive a bill that would allow lawmakers who are new parents to cast proxy votes for three months after their child’s birth.

Senate Votes to Sabotage President Trump’s Canadian Tariff Policy With Four Republicans Casting the Decisive Yes Votes:  Susan Collins, Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul.

  • The point is not whether you like Trump’s tariffs.  Most Republicans did, but four broke ranks and voted against the party.


RINO Dan Crenshaw praises Liz Cheney as a “principled leader” with a “backbone” and “fierce intellect”

  • this would be the same Liz Cheney who went out and campaigned for Democrat Kamala Harris?  Dan, you are truly lost.

Senate GOP budget keeps Biden’s Obamacare, Medicaid, and Medicare spending increases

Republicans who are on record supporting some of the taxpayer-funded subsidies in the “Inflation Reduction Act” could gum up the works for President Donald Trump’s efforts to cut wasteful spending, according to energy policy analysts.

Rep. Luna quits House Freedom Caucus, accusing it of operating outside its guidelines and brokering backroom deals that undermine its core values

CO

WELD COUNTY RINOS BULLY THEIR WAY TO VICTORY
The Weld County officers and bonus delegates were unanimously opposed to Dave Williams and any of his Grassroot supporters.  The Weld County delegates even had a team uniform with red shirts adorned with phrases on back attacking Williams. They proudly declared themselves to be RINOs and some even had rhino hats on. They bullied and screamed at any Grassroots delegate who wandered over to their side of the auditorium. Seated with them were Republican Congresspersons Lauren Boebert and Gabe Evans.

Rep. Lauren Boebert joined Antifa efforts to prevent Steve Bannon from speaking at the CO GOP Centennial Dinner

New CO GOP Chair Brita Horn campaigned on “unifying” the Party.  Less than a week into the new administration, they have a FAILING Unity score.

FL

Rep Linda Chaney is claiming that this bill (HB 1381 supports Pres Trump’s Executive Order, but the bill lacks citizenship check for vote by mail and messes up audits and recounts

DeSantis rips FL House Republicans for ejecting a US Senator from an office formerly used by Marco Rubio because they are against immigration deportations by President Trump

GA

Georgia Republicans push last minute bill to limit public access to lawmaker and police records

MN

Conservatives across Minnesota have long awaited the truth surrounding the mystery Wyoming-based company, 1972-10, which received tens of thousands of dollars from contracts with the Republican Party during the reign of RINO David Hann

The MNGOP State Executive Committee again voted to disenfranchise the Grassroots Patriots of Otter Tail County. This is the Establishment’s next step after to ban the group from their own convention.

RINO Tom Emmer’s puppet elected CD6 chair after opponent blocked from speaking and running for the position, but CD7 conservatives unite to win two key party positions

MT

Montana GOP Purges 9 Turncoat Republican Senators for Backing Democrats, Says They Are No Longer Recognized as Republicans

TN

Tennessee bill SB799/HB855 is seen as retaliation after grassroots conservatives won a local GOP convention. Critics say it’s a power grab by establishment politicians to change election rules after losing, limiting local party control.

SB777, a bill to close open primaries and curb crossover voting, was procedurally killed in the Senate State and Local Government Committee. Senator Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun) moved to present the bill—but not a single member of the committee seconded his motion. The bill was neither discussed nor voted on. It simply died in silence.

What should have been a civil policy hearing on Tennessee’s controversial SB799 turned into a public spectacle when Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Hamilton County) launched into a heated, sarcastic, and at times aggressive exchange with Steve Hickey, the newly elected Williamson County GOP Chair and U.S. military veteran, during a Senate committee hearing.

TX

Texas AG Ken Paxton Would Crush RINO Senator John Cornyn in GOP primary

  • Paxton has teased running, but has not declared.

Lawlessness in Texas: RINO Texas House Speaker Caught Fabricating Quorum — Caught Red-Handed Counting 40 Absent Lawmakers as ‘Present’ Breaking State Law

The Texas Legislature RINO List

WA

Jarrod Sessler was grassroots-favored 2024 candidate against Dan Newhouse in CD4. Jarrod was endorsed by Trump and was the Republican primary winner to go up against Newhouse in the General, but lost to the Establishment RINO Newhouse.


American Renaissance Network

American Renaissance Network (ARN) is looking for volunteer activists to fill spots on its Guardians of History and National RINO Hunt teams and for ARN’s next short-term project – taking on the New York Times.  These are not honorary positions.  Work is expected.  All spots are competitive.

Guardians of History – This influential team fights back against the Woke Mob that has taken over such national historic sites as Monticello, Montpelier, Colonial Williamsburg, etc.  Recent initiatives include confronting the Mellon Foundation for funding Woke historical initiatives, and firing back against critics of America’s 250th birthday celebration. Archives here.  The ideal candidate would be a history buff who is upset by the Left’s relentless attacks on America’s founding.  The team meets for 30 minutes at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday mornings by videoconference (dial-in option available).  Manageable work and attendance requirements must be met to stay on the team.

National RINO Hunt Team – This nationally networked team endeavors to return the Republican Party to a party of principle again.  We fight the RINOs who vote with Democrats, resist election integrity efforts, promote illegal immigration, or otherwise undermine GOP ideals.  The team produces the RINO Round-Up newsletter which is seen each week by 10,000 to 14,000 people nationwide.  The team also consults with grassroots GOP candidates on campaign strategy and messaging.  The ideal team member would be a veteran of Republican Party politics and is currently involved in campaigns, precinct organizing, building conservative caucuses within local or state GOP units, etc.  The team meets for 45 minutes at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday evenings by videoconference (dial-in option available).  Manageable work and attendance requirements must be met to stay on the team.

New York Times Project – A previous ARN Conservative Army short-term project confronted the New York Times on a hit piece it had published about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  The NYT responded to our criticism.  This encourages us to go at them again for its many transgressions and left-wing bias, starting with covering up the Holocaust and the Holodomor.  The team will assemble a litany of NYT’s transgressions and explore ways to weaken the paper’s undeserved influence among the public, in line with ARN’s mission to organize the grassroots to take down the American Left.  Ideal team members will have media or public affairs knowledge that will help us assemble the case against the NYT, or business savvy we can use to uncover weaknesses in the NYT’s business offerings, or social media skills to help us roll out our campaign when we’re ready.    The team will meet for 30 minutes at 8 p.m. ET on Monday or Thursday evenings over the next two or three months by videoconference (dial-in option available).  Manageable work and attendance requirements must be met to stay on the team.

Try out for the team!  If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and get to work, please indicate your interest and your qualifications by reply mail to: cwdirect@verizon.net.

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

THE DIFFERENCE: DeMS13 = Hate, MAGA = Hope!

America was at a crossroads on November 5th, 2024. They had to choose between a party that hid the fact that a President, for four years, was actually an autopen. America was run by a cabal of bureaucrats, not a duly elected leader.

A rival party’s presidential candidate, for the first time in American history, became a convicted felon.

Money was wasted, wars were started, friends like Israel were ignorded, massacres occurred globally, while the bureaucrats laughed and profited at the expense of the American people.

Policies were enacted that defied scientific truth including the greatest lie of all that a man could be a woman and vis-a-versa. This led to a society and culture in which our schools became indoctrination centers, our media outlets spewed out propaganda. Schools began to teach our children what to think, not how to think. In just four short years the beaucrats and teachers’ unions dumbed down America’s children. Universities became hot beds for socialist and Islamic terrorism.

Americans were imprisoned and many died, including 13 U.S. soldiers during the Afghanistan pull out. Businesses were closed due to a fake COVID crisis. The people suffered from a vaccine that harmed or even killed them.

Families and entire communities were destroyed during multiple hurricanes and the government did nothing to help.

Millions of criminal illegal aliens were allowed to cross our borders with the help of the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. and so-called sanctuary cities and states.

Millions of Americans lost their jobs and were replaced with cheap illegal alien workers.

Gas prices rose due to the anti-fossil fuels Green New Deal, that harmed everyone. The government actually believed in the myth that with enough electric vehicles, windmills, solar panels, regulations and mandates they could actually control the weather.

Then something miraculous happened.

A movement began to take shape. It was based upon a simple notion to take America back from the bureaucrats and return power to the people. This movement slogan was Make American Great Again. It’s leader was a man who served as President of these United States of America. It was a man who lost an election in 2019 because the party of bureaucrats stole it. But that leader would not give up and he would return once again to lead the MAGA movement.

That leader became the 47th President despite numerous assassination attempts, media propaganda and a lawfare campaign not seen before. He won against all odds.

Why? Because the people knew that he was their last best hope to save our Constitutional Republic.

Did the party of bureaucrats get loud and clear messages from the people? No.

Once the 47th President was sworn into office the party of bureaucrats turned into the DeMS13 party. They declared war on the new president in the streets, in the courts and in the halls of Congress.

This new DeMS13 party protected the criminal illegal aliens rather than we the American citizens. They voted against every bill proposed by the new president, not for political reasons, but out of spite and hate for the American people.

The DeMS13 party voted against cutting waste, fraud and abuses against Americans. They voted against tax cuts. They voted unanimously to keep the status quo of big government, more regulation, more spending, more wars and more hate.

You see the DeMS13 party got rich off of their policies. They became millionaires, as did their families, while the people suffered. The became what they imported in the millions: human traffickers, gangsters of the worst and most evil in American history.

They dug themselves in a hole so deep that it reached hell, and yet they just can’t stop digging.

But the American people have stood fast like the Patriots at Lexington and Concord. They fought back against the King of England. Let today’s Patriots fight against the DeMS13 party.

As we approach the 2026 midterm elections we have now only two parties, traitors and patriots. On the 250th anniversary of our Republic these MAGA patriots and solidify its control of the three branches of government by electing their fellow patriots. Patriots who stand for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Patriots who stand with the God of Abraham and his son Jesus of Nazareth. Patriots who are faithful parents and grandparents, and yes, great grandparents.

America wil continue to be the city on the hill, shining brightly and envied by all as a place where anyone can come to to embrace its values and traditions.

The DeMS13 party is the party of hate. The MAGA Patriots are the party of hope!

Let’s all Keep America Great!

©2025 . All rights reserved.

RELATED VIDEO: Why a Leftist Kills for Islamic Jihad, reflecting on Progressives and the ties of hate.

Republicans Brace for the Next Wave of Big Beautiful Debates

When Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) hauled the “one, big, beautiful bill” over its first mountain — House passage — he had one request. To the GOP senators, he said, “I encourage them to modify the package that we’re sending over there as little as possible.” Thinking back over the warring factions in his chamber, he added, “Because we have to maintain that balance, and it’s a very delicate thing.” But in the days since last Thursday, it’s not clear if any Republicans, including the one in the White House, are listening.

Watching the House from a safe distance through its long nights, tense meetings, mark-ups, and ferocious jockeying for different priorities, senators sent a steady drip of commentary to the press about what they would change and language they thought could go farther. Now that the bill sits squarely in their laps, some have signaled at choppy waters ahead. While almost everyone is complimentary of the job the speaker has done, they also recognize that this is their chance to put a different mark on Donald Trump’s signature legislation.

“I want to get a deal done,” Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) insisted. “I support the president’s agenda. I support the border, I support the military, I support extending the Trump tax cuts … But [we’ve] got to live in reality here: [We’ve] got a fiscal crisis.”

Others, like Kentucky’s Rand Paul (R), have been more critical. For weeks, he’s tried to rally the troops to cut more spending. “… [T]he math doesn’t add up,” the chamber’s outspoken fiscal hawk warned. “They’re going to explode the debt by — the House says $4 trillion, the Senate’s actually been talking about exploding the debt $5 trillion.” Surely, he persisted, “there’s got to be someone left in Washington who thinks debt is wrong and deficits are wrong and wants to go in the other direction,” he said.

Johnson took the disapproval in stride. “I agree wholeheartedly with what my dear friend, Rand Paul, said. I love his conviction, and I share it,” he told Fox News’s Shannon Bream. “The national debt is … the greatest threat to our national security, and deficits are a serious problem,” the speaker said. “What I think Rand is missing on this one is the fact that we are quite serious about this,” the Louisianan emphasized. “This is the biggest spending cut in more than 30 years.”

The fault-finding isn’t a surprise. The speaker endured plenty of it from his own House circles, including perpetual nitpicker Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) who called the House package “a debt bomb ticking” before voting against it. Even the Senate’s Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) argued that the “number one goal of this reconciliation ought to be to reduce that 10-year and those annual deficits, not increase them.”

Sitting down with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins for “This Week on Capitol Hill,” the speaker was asked about the party’s concerns. Republicans say it “doesn’t go far enough,” Perkins prodded before asking for Johnson’s response.

A beat passed, and the speaker replied, “It took us many decades to get the country into the financial mess we’re in. We cannot flip a switch and fix it overnight, but,” he paused, “we have a responsibility to get us to begin to steer out of the debt crisis. This bill is truly historic in its scope and what it does for the first time in history.” Johnson continued, “This legislation is written so that we save $1.9 trillion with a ‘T’ in taxpayer funds. There’s never been anything like that. It’s twice as much as the last time Congress even attempted such a thing, which is more than 30 years ago. So truly historic in turning the aircraft carrier and beginning us on a new trajectory,” the speaker said, referring to his oft-invoked metaphor.

To those like Paul who complain that the debt ceiling hike only enables more spending, Johnson is emphatic. “We’re going to extend the debt limit — not because we’re going to spend more money, but because you have to do that to show the bond markets and the rest of the world that America is good on its debts. That must be done. Everybody knows that.” He invoked the White House. “President Trump is insistent about it. He says we’re not raising a ceiling to spend it. We’re extending the deadline so that we can get our fiscal house in order. This is a really important thing.”

And while the president has been enthusiastic about the House’s package, he created plenty of heartburn Sunday evening when he seemed to imply that the upper chamber should have its way with the legislation. “I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want,” Trump told reporters over the weekend. “It will go back to the House, and we’ll see if we can get them. In some cases, the changes may be something I’d agree with, to be honest.” Hinting at conversations he’s probably had with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), the president acknowledged there would be changes. “Some will be minor, some will be fairly significant.”

Reminded that the goal is to get the bill to his desk by July 4, Trump nodded. “I think it’s going to get there,” adding that Johnson and Thune “have done a fantastic job.”

While the two sides gather their energy for the reconciliation fight’s next round, the speaker has spent his time hammering away at the disinformation Democrats keep spewing about the bill’s supposed fallout. Repeating what he’s said a hundred times in a hundred different ways, Johnson reiterated, “We are not cutting Medicaid in this package. There’s a lot of [dishonesty] out there about this.” Pointing to one of the most outrageous examples of fraud, waste, and abuse, he quantified a problem that many suspected but didn’t have hard numbers on.

“[We’ve] got more than 1.4 million illegal aliens on Medicaid,” the speaker warned. “Medicaid is not intended for non-U.S. citizens. It’s intended for the most vulnerable populations of Americans, which is pregnant women and young single mothers, the disabled, the elderly. They are protected in what we’re doing, because we’re preserving the resources for those who need it most.” Then he put the spotlight on the other problem, the legal, work-capable citizens who were added to the rolls under Joe Biden. “You’re talking about 4.8 million able-bodied workers, young men, for example, who are on Medicaid and not working. They are choosing not to work when they can. That is called fraud. They are cheating the system. When you root out those kinds of abuses,” he stressed, “you save the resources that are so desperately needed by the people who deserve it and need it most. That’s what we’re doing.”

And it’s not just the Medicaid soundbites they’ll have to confront but the headlines about the proposal’s “score,” as in how much the government’s financial experts at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) believe it will add to the deficit. But, as the Louisiana leader cautioned, there’s almost always more to that than meets the eye. “The last time they scored a big bill like this was the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the first Trump administration,” he explained to Perkins. “They were $1 trillion off in their calculations.”

To put the process into perspective, he noted that “the CBO is run by Democrats,” adding that “84% of the employees there who are crunching the numbers are donors to big Democrats like [Massachusetts Senator] Elizabeth Warren and [Senator] Bernie Sanders. So we dismiss that,” the speaker said. “What they do not count for is the pro-growth policies in this bill that [are] going to grow the U.S. economy. And that is how, in combination with savings, we’re going to get ourselves out of this mess.”

Still, Johnson underscored, as he has so many times, “We value everybody’s opinion. … You know, my background is in constitutional law. I’m a student of what the Founders originally intended for how the process was supposed to work. The United States Congress is the greatest deliberative body in the history of the world. It works so well, but only if it’s done as designed.” He thought back on his predecessors and other leaders who drafted major legislation “in a back room, by quite literally a handful of people. I didn’t want to do that, because I think we’ve got to get back to what was intended.” Everyone should have a voice, he insisted. Does that take longer? Absolutely. Is it more painful? His chamber just proved it was. “But it’s always worth it in the end … and it makes a better product.”

What will happen to the 1,100 pages he poured over for months? The speaker doesn’t know. But there’s one tool he’d suggest for everyone facing these big obstacles: “prayer.” “It’s not been in vogue in Washington for quite some time,” Johnson reflected, “and I’m just bringing it back. It seems like some huge innovation, but that’s exactly how our nation began. And I think we do well to remember it.”

AUTHOR

Suzanne Bowdey

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2025 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Rick Scott Tells Charlie Kirk He Won’t Support Trump’s ‘Beautiful Bill’ In Present Form

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott told Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on Tuesday that he would not vote for President Donald Trump’s House-passed “one big, beautiful bill” in its present form.

Trump gave Senate Republicans permission to make major changes to the bill on Sunday as some GOP senators are warning that the package is dead-on-arrival without significant reforms. On “The Charlie Kirk Show,” Scott said he would “absolutely” vote against it without additional spending cuts.

WATCH:

“If they brought it to the floor like right now, there’s not a chance it’ll get the 51 votes it needs … Look we all know we have to balance the budget,” Scott said. “Look, we know that it’s getting harder to sell our treasuries, we know interest rates are going up. We want to get interest rates down, we can get inflation under control. That means balance the budget.”

Kirk said Scott’s opposition to the current bill was “a big statement.” The host asked the senator what it would take to get the bill to pass and about the reconciliation process.

“Charlie, we’ll change it. We’ll have our own bill and … it will go back to a conference or just go back to the House and they’ll pass our bill. But I believe we’re going to dramatically reduce mandatory spending to get this budget balance in a short period of time, which is what we have to do,” Scott told Kirk. “It’s what we promise. I just went through my election just like President Trump did. We all promise we’re going to balance the budget. We are going to set the process to quickly balance in this budget.”

GOP Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky are among the fiscal hawks influencing the deliberation about spending deficits. Johnson has also noted Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Scott as senators who are seeking further spending cuts in the bill.

Johnson is advocating for the government to return to pre-pandemic spending levels — a nearly $6 trillion reduction — and calls the current bill “completely unacceptable.”

While House Republicans felt pressured to accept the bill due to the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, numerous Senators do not.

“In the House, President Trump can threaten a primary, and those guys want to keep their seats. I understand the pressure. Can’t pressure me that way,” Johnson told reporters on Thursday. “I’m not going to vote for it with minor tweaks. I think everybody’s kind of happy talking and ‘get together and pull together and gotta do this’ and that crap. That’s the way they’re going to try to make it go.”

Paul has said that he opposes the bill based on language that will increase the debt limit by $4 trillion over the next two years — something Trump has demanded.

“I’ve told them if they’ll take the debt ceiling off of it, I’ll consider voting for it,” Paul told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve never, ever voted to raise the debt ceiling this much. It’ll be a historic increase. I think it’s not good for conservatives to be on record supporting a $4 (trillion) or $5 trillion increase in the debt ceiling.”

“If they were to take the debt ceiling off of it and have the tax reductions and spending reductions, I’d probably vote for that,” Paul added. “The spending reductions are imperfect, and I think wimpy, but I’d still vote for the package if I didn’t have to vote to raise the debt ceiling.”

AUTHOR

Jason Cohen

DCNF Reporter/Clipper

RELATED ARTICLES:

Senators Worry About Spending, Debt Increase In Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill’s Policies Prove Popular In Key House Districts, Poll Shows

GOP Rep Expresses Optimism That Senate Will Seek ‘Big, Beautiful’ Spending Cuts In Trump Bill

AOC Doubles Down On Political Loser As Dems Seek To Ditch ‘Abolish ICE’ Bandwagon

Illegal Immigrant Arrested For Alleged Jet Ski Hit-And-Run That Killed Teenager

Legacy Media’s Latest Complaint Couldn’t Be More Out Of Touch

Christians Hold Worship Event at Park in Seattle; Antifa Attacks, Far-Left Mayor Condemns Christians

How antisemitism became mandatory for liberals

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


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

TAKE ACTION: Urge The 53 Republican U.S. Senators Not To Botch The One Big, Beautiful Bill!

TAKE ACTION: Send then your email, now!


Click here to send your email to urge 53 Republican US Senators to use great wisdom in the changes they make to the House version of the One Big, Beautiful Bill.

Click here to share at X.


The Republican US House of Representatives approved its version of the budget resolution called the One Big, Beautiful Bill.  The bill passed by a vote of 215-214 on May 22, 2025.

Millions of Americans, including many who are not registered Republicans, are watching to see if the United States Senate can fulfill GOP campaign promises made during the 2024 elections.  They are looking forward to with great anticipation the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act renewal, border and immigration reform, energy deregulation, increased military spending, some new tax exemptions, etc.

Now that the US House has approved its version of the One Big, Beautiful Bill, voter expectations to see these promises kept are very high.

Disappointing voters, especially non-GOP voters, will have grave consequences for Republicans in the 2026 elections and beyond if the senate plays too hard and makes big changes to the One Big, Beautiful Bill.

GOP Senators know the slim margin in the House. They know the changes that would make it dead on arrival for a final vote on the bill.

Florida Family Association has prepared an email for you to send to urge 53 Republican US Senators to use great wisdom in the changes they make so as not to botch this historic opportunity to approve the One Big, Beautiful Bill that has everything voters expect and Americans and America need to be safe and prosperous.

To send your email
, please click the following link, enter your name and email address then click the “Send Your Message” button. You may also edit the subject or message text if you wish.


Click here to send your email to urge 53 US Republican Senators to use great wisdom in the changes they make to the House version of the One Big, Beautiful Bill.


©2025 . All rights reserved.

Senate Should Make House’s Big, Beautiful Bill Bigger, More Beautiful

On Thursday at 6:54 a.m., the U.S. House passed the Trump and Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. (Yup, that is this 1,118-page measure’s official title.) By a snare-drum-tight, 215-214 vote, all but three Republicans and zero Democrats chose to give Americans $4.1 trillion in tax relief, along with their bacon, eggs, tea, and toast.

President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (both Louisiana Republicans) were the chefs who moved this elaborate meal from kitchen to table. It has plenty to nourish this economy:

  • The One Big, Beautiful Bill makes permanent the rates in the Trump/GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Every House Democrat voted to let these lower rates lapse on January 1 and slap average taxpayers with a 22% tax hike.
  • As promised: No taxes on tips or overtime, plus tax leniency for seniors.
  • Deregulation and incentives should boost fuel production, restore energy dominance, slash gasoline prices, and curb electric bills.
  • “The House did a good job stopping massive new subsidies for solar and wind projects,” wrote reliable-energy advocate Alex Epstein. He urges lawmakers to “terminate the Green New Scam once and for all.”
  • The One Big, Beautiful Bill expands health savings accounts, enhances patient power, and bolsters medical freedom.

There is lots to like here, and the Senate should make this bill bigger and more beautiful.

First, senators should include something the House neglected: A 15% tax for companies that manufacture in America. This lower rate would be 28.6% lighter than today’s 21% corporate levy. This dramatically would encourage firms to produce domestically, rather than overseas. This would make it much cheaper to build U.S. factories and hire Americans than to create jobs abroad.

Conversely, enterprises that manufacture in China will find it far easier to thumb their noses at the Chinese Communist Party, come home, and keep 85% of their earnings.

The Cato Institute reports a 15% U.S. corporate rate would ease domestic manufacturers from paying Earth’s 24th lowest business levy to enjoying its sixth-lightest such tax. This is the fast lane to reindustrialization, rather than the traffic jam of higher tariffs. The latter merely hikes taxes on U.S. importers, who typically raise U.S. consumers’ price tags.

Second, some Senate Republicans demand deeper spending cuts, as they should. This makes other GOP senators sweat. Compromise: Freeze federal discretionary expenditures for one year. Pressing the pause button on such outlays for 12 months—while lowering or raising specific disbursements as necessary beneath that ceiling—would save taxpayers $49 billion next year alone.

Finally, some Senate Republicans are nervous about keeping the House’s work requirements on able-bodied Medicaid recipients. When Democrats scream that such rules are “worse than Hitler,” Republicans should remind them that former President Bill Clinton signed a work requirement within 1996’s bipartisan welfare reform law.

Republicans should quote these words to Democrats: “Since 1987, when I first proposed an overhaul of the welfare system, I have argued that welfare recipients should be required to work … I was pilloried by many of my friends back then for even suggesting the idea of requiring work. Today, I think everyone here believes that work should be the premise of our welfare system.”

That statement was uttered in 1996 by none other than Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.

Johnson frets that the Senate’s fingerprints could doom his chamber’s bill. He implores senators to “fine tune this product as little as possible.” The speaker told Punchbowl that guiding Thursday’s legislation through the House was like “crossing over the Grand Canyon on a piece of dental floss.” Too many Senate amendments could snap that floss on final passage.

Trump sounds far more open to letting the Senate have its way with Johnson’s package.

“I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want,” Trump told journalists on Sunday. “It will go back to the House, and we’ll see if we can get them. In some cases, the changes may be something I’d agree with, to be honest.”

“We’ve had a very good response from the Senate,” Trump added, “and I don’t know how Democrats can’t vote for it.”

And yet Democrats won’t vote for it.

The president is kidding himself if he expects even one Democrat to support his A-No. 1 legislative priority, which makes permanent the Trump-45 tax cuts. The only thing that Democrats hate more than tax cuts is Trump himself. Their disdain for him is hot enough to melt the vaults of Fort Knox.

House Democrats turned 428 thumbs down on the One Big, Beautiful Bill, and if they had more thumbs handy, they likewise would have deployed them all. Senate Democrats will do the same, and there is no point whatsoever in Republicans wasting any time trying to rally their Democrat colleagues behind this bill. GOP senators would have better luck teaching lobsters to sing.

If the Senate’s version of this bill drifts too far from the House blueprint, the latter need not accept it as is.

A House-Senate conference committee (remember those?) would help both chambers settle their differences and adopt middle-ground language. If necessary, Trump is a master at patting enough backs and twisting enough arms to transform the One Big, Beautiful Bill into something giant and gorgeous before it reaches the Resolute Desk for his signature.

Until then, no more congressional vacations, and lots more late nights and weekend sessions until this whole thing is wrapped up. The economy needs a strong infusion of certainty already, and the American people have waited long enough for tax relief.

The sooner Donald Trump’s big, beautiful John Hancock is on this legislation, the better.

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

AUTHOR

Deroy Murdock is a Manhattan-based Fox News contributor and a contributing editor with The American Spectator.

RELATED ARTICLES:

DOGE Says More Than 25,000 Federal Contracts And Grants Canceled So Far

GOP Leadership on Hill Gets Back to Work on Budget Resolution

Trump-Backed Budget Resolution Clears Senate Hurdle on Party-Line Vote

Johnson Holds Life-or-Death Budget Negotiations

Supreme Court Gives Trump a Quiet, Yet Potentially Large Victory Against Administrative State

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


The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. Donate now

AWED MEDIA BALANCED NEWS: We cover Energy to Education to Elections — and more!

Welcome! We cover Energy to Education to Elections — and more!

Here is the link for this issue, so please share it on social media.

Checkout the 2025, 2024, & 2023  archives, plus asterisked items below.

Note: today’s Newsletter is a day later due to Memorial Day being on Monday…


— This Newsletter’s Articles, by Topic —

This Issue’s Best of the Best:

*** New White House EO: Restoring Gold Standard Science

*** The Decivilizing of America

*** Everyone’s Using AI to Cheat at School. That’s a Good Thing.

*** President Trump Signs Executive Order on Nuclear Power

*** Bryce: Nuclear Conversion

*** The Achilles Heel of Wind and Solar

*** Chinese Kill Switches found in US Solar Facilities

*** Epstein: Why the proposed “phaseout” of IRA subsidies is unacceptable

*** Victory for energy freedom: the House (finally) limits IRA subsidies

*** New report: The true affordability of net zero

*** Toyota is developing a car that runs on water

*** Everything Announced at Google IO 2025 Summarized in 10 Minutes

*** 3800± peer reviewed reports and studies re adverse effects post COVID vaccination

*** Study: Twelve-Month All-Cause Mortality after Initial COVID-19 Vaccination with Pfizer-BioNTech or mRNA-1273 among Adults Living in Florida

*** BREAKING: Hospital Murder Labeled as COVID-19 Death is Going to Jury Trial

*** New York Times on Climate Change: Two Candidates for Quote of the Day

*** Trump Administration Targets Excessive State Climate Laws

*** Study: Are Climate Model Forecasts Useful for Policy Making?

*** Big US cities are sinking. This map shows where the problem is the worst.

*** Contract Requirements: Full Disclosure

Secondary Education Related:

*** Report: The Key to Fixing the US Education System

*** Federal judge blocks Trump admin moves to dismantle Dept of Education

How to Stop Students from Cheating with AI

Higher Education Related:

*** Everyone’s Using AI to Cheat at School. That’s a Good Thing.

*** Professionalization Is Killing College Sports

Exposing the true nature of ‘campus investigations’

Artificial Intelligence:

*** Everything Announced at Google IO 2025 Summarized in 10 Minutes

General AI May Revolutionize Neurology—Or It Might Be Bad

China’s AI-Powered Humanoid Robots Aim to Transform Manufacturing

Greed Energy Economics:

*** Epstein: Why the proposed “phaseout” of IRA subsidies is unacceptable

*** Victory for energy freedom: the House (finally) limits IRA subsidies

*** New report: The true affordability of net zero

The truth about power bill increases

Unreliables (General):

*** The Achilles Heel of Wind and Solar

Economic prosperity demands continuous and uninterruptible electricity

Wasting Away in Wind-and-Solarville

Wind Energy — Offshore:

*** Allies Sue Federal Agencies Over Unlawful Authorization of Empire Wind Project

Letitia James has ‘no leg to stand on’ in lawsuit against Trump offshore wind order, experts say

Rest in Peace, Nils Stolpe, Fisheries Guru

After nearly four decades, Jerry Schill bows out of N.C. Fisheries Association

Trump administration lifts stop-work order on $5 billion NY offshore wind project

America’s Fishermen Used as a Poker Chip Again

‘EDF reviewing clean energy projects after setbacks’

Solar Energy:

*** Chinese Kill Switches found in US Solar Facilities

A US candidate for the world’s worst Solar project: Ivanpah

Nuclear Energy:

*** President Trump Signs Executive Order on Nuclear Power

*** Bryce: Nuclear Conversion

*** Belgium abandons nuclear exit plans

Denmark goes back to nukes

Letter to DOE Secretary Chris Wright about President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill

Fossil Fuel Energy:

DOE finds US LNG exports in nation’s best interest, reversing prior DOE conclusion

Electric Vehicles (EVs):

*** Toyota is developing a car that runs on water

Misc Energy:

*** NERC: 2025 Summer Reliability Assessment

China Inc. Has the West in a Strategic Metals Stranglehold

Manmade Global Warming — Some Deceptions:

*** Trump Administration Targets Excessive State Climate Laws

*** Study: Are Climate Model Forecasts Useful for Policy Making?

EPA Should Consider the Harm of Regulating Greenhouse Gases

Almost All ‘Extreme’ UK Temperature Highs Recorded at Junk Sites with Massive Possible Errors

Observation vs. Supposition

Manmade Global Warming — The Science:

*** New York Times on Climate Change: Two Candidates for Quote of the Day

Math Teacher, Sole Climate Scientist Unlock Mystery of Recent Global Warming Spike

Manmade Global Warming — Misc:

*** Big US cities are sinking. This map shows where the problem is the worst.

*** Contract Requirements: Full Disclosure

New Book: Climate Truths is now available for pre-order!

The amount of money wasted on net-zero green policies worldwide is staggering!

US Election:

*** USCIS Deploys Common Sense Tools to Verify Voters

74% VOTING SYSTEM ERROR- Saved By Hand Count!

Texas AG Announces arrest of Judge, five other Officials on vote harvesting charges

US Federal Agencies:

Unbridled: How Massive Pentagon Spending Happens by Design

Trump:

*** Trump’s First 100 Days: A Gold Standard for the History Books

*** 20 Reasons Why Congress Must Unite Behind the One, Big, Beautiful Bill

Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Has ‘Excellent News for Families’: FRC Analyst

Dr. Malone: WWF: President Trump vs. Harvard

Misc US Politics:

*** Epstein: How Republicans got roped into a deal that keeps the IRA—and why there’s still time to fix it

Uncle Sam’s $8 Trillion Dilemma

Request for Public Comments Regarding Technology Platform Censorship

Societally US:

*** The Decivilizing of America

*** Parents, Pay Attention! This Viral App Is Convincing Teens They’re Trans

*** Our Feckless Nature Fakery

Reviews: The Dark Side of Hunger Mountain

1.2 Billion social media users’ data stolen in historic breach

Science:

*** New White House EO: Restoring Gold Standard Science

Health:

States Push to Allow Ivermectin to be Sold Over the Counter

Study: We Emit a Visible Light That Vanishes When We Die

COVID-19 — Misc:

*** 3800± peer reviewed reports and studies re adverse effects post COVID vaccination

*** Study: Twelve-Month All-Cause Mortality after Initial COVID-19 Vaccination with Pfizer-BioNTech or mRNA-1273 among Adults Living in Florida

*** BREAKING: Hospital Murder Labeled as COVID-19 Death is Going to Jury Trial

*** New Documentary – Follow The Silenced

Report: US officials delayed warning public about heart inflammation risk from COVID shot

Peer-Reviewed Study: Quantitative Analysis of Nucleic Acid Content in Spikevax (Moderna) and BNT162b2 (Pfizer) COVID-19 Vaccine Lots

Israel/Ukraine:

Pray for the safety of the Israeli people

Latest Developments in Israel

Pray for the safety of the Ukrainian people

A well-rated source to make a Ukraine donation

Latest Developments in Ukraine


Please use social media, etc. to pass on this Newsletter to other open-minded citizens…If you’d like to be added to (or unsubscribe from) the distribution of our popular, free, worldwide Media Balance Newsletter, simply send me an email saying that.


Note 1: We recommend reading the Newsletter on your computer, not your phone, as some documents (e.g., PDFs) are much easier to read on a large computer screen… We’ve tried to use common fonts, etc. to minimize display issues.

Note 2: For past Newsletter issues see the archives from 2022, 2023, 2024, & 2025. To accommodate numerous requests received about prior articles over all fourteen plus years of the Newsletter, we’ve put this together — where you can search ALL prior issues, by year. For a background about how the Newsletter is put together, etc., please read this.

Note 3: See this extensive list of reasonable books on climate change. As a parallel effort, we have also put together a list of some good books related to industrial wind energy. Both topics are also extensively covered on my website: WiseEnergy.org.

Note 4: I am not an attorney or a physician, so no material appearing in any of the Newsletters (or any of my websites) should be construed as giving legal or medical advice. My recommendation has always been: consult a competent, licensed attorney when you are involved with legal issues, and consult a competent physician regarding medical matters.

Copyright © 2025; Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (see WiseEnergy.org).

‘Make The Changes They Want’: Trump Gives Senate Go-Ahead To Take Red Pen To ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

President Donald Trump gave Senate Republicans permission to make major changes to the House-passed “one big, beautiful bill” Sunday evening, throwing a wrench in Speaker Mike Johnson’s efforts to persuade his upper chamber colleagues to refrain from significantly rewriting the legislation.

Trump’s approval of Senate Republicans making “the changes they want” in the sweeping tax and spending bill comes as some GOP senators are warning that the package is dead-on-arrival without major reforms. Johnson has been urging the Senate to alter the legislation as little as possible given the “delicate” consensus House GOP leadership crafted on the president’s landmark bill, which passed the House by a narrow one-vote margin Thursday.

“I want the Senate and the senators to make the changes they want,” Trump told reporters Sunday evening. “It will go back to the House and we’ll see if we can get them. In some cases, the changes may be something I’d agree with, to be honest.”

“We’ve had a very good response from the Senate and I don’t know how Democrats can’t vote for it,” Trump continued. “I think they [Senate Republicans] are going to have changes. Some will be minor, some will be fairly significant.”

Congressional Republicans are moving quickly to meet the White House’s July 4 deadline to pass Trump’s domestic policy agenda in the budget reconciliation bill. Assuming the Senate modifies the House-passed legislation, House Republicans will have to vote on the bill for a second time before sending the package to the president’s desk.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Johnson in a May 9 letter that GOP lawmakers have little time to waste to pass the president’s tax and spending bill because Congress must raise the statutory debt limit by mid-July to avert the government defaulting on its $37 trillion debt. House and Senate Republicans are incorporating a debt ceiling hike in the bill, but disagree over the amount Congress should borrow thus far.

Senate Republicans are suggesting they will take a red pen to major portions of the House-drafted bill, including provisions that significantly raise the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, aggressively phase out tax breaks for green energy projects and fail to make certain tax cuts permanent.

Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a leading deficit hawk, is also warning that he has the votes to stop the momentum on quickly passing a Senate-amended package if the upper chamber does not consent to steeper spending cuts.

However, Speaker Johnson is warning that significantly changing the legislation’s text could jeopardize the amended-bill’s passage in the House.

“I think we reached a good equilibrium point over more than a year of discussion and negotiation and planning for our big reconciliation bill,” Johnson told Fox News’ Shannon Bream on Sunday morning. “We balanced the interest of a very diverse Republican caucus.”

“We’re one team here — House and Senate Republicans —working together because we must. We have small margins in both chambers,” Johnson added. “I encourage them to modify the package that we’re sending over there as little as possible, because we have to maintain that balance, and it’s a very delicate thing.”

Several groups in the House Republican conference, including the House Freedom Caucus, claimed they only supplied the votes to pass the budget reconciliation bill after House GOP leadership signed off on last-minute changes to the package incorporating key conservative policy wins. The conservative flank is signaling that they “will not look kindly” on the Senate stripping those provisions out of the bill.

Trump has remained publicly upbeat about his landmark bill’s advancement through Congress, even as lawmakers engage in heated debates over the granular details of the legislative package.

“I think it’s going to get there,” Trump told reporters Sunday.” [Senate Majority Leader] John Thune and Mike Johnson have done a fantastic job.”

AUTHOR

Adam Pack

Congressional Reporter.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Latest Poll Numbers Have Dems Reeling: They’re Losing Their Own Voters to Trump

GOP Rep Expresses Optimism That Senate Will Seek ‘Big, Beautiful’ Spending Cuts In Trump Bill

Biden Aide Admits Staff Did ‘Undemocratic Things’ Because Trump Was ‘Existential Threat To Democracy’

American Charged With Attempted Firebombing Of Tel Aviv U.S. Embassy

Obama Chief Of Staff Blasts Dem Party As ‘Weak And Woke’ Amid Rumors He May Seek White House

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


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.