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How Cartels Took Over California's Desert and Turned It to Lawless Land | Dawn Rowe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX21ldNfefA
For starters, let's define the "fentanyl crises" for what it really is: Chemical warfare, effectively perpetrated on the American people by the Chinese communist government and their Mexican-cartel allies. This administration's open border, which is clearly an intentional policy, marks Biden and Harris as co-conspirators in what's arguably the CCP's chemical-weapons assault on U.S. citizens. RICHARD MORSE
Social Security is Broke, but American Taxpayers Just Gave Ukrainian Pensioners a Double-Digit Raise
As American taxpayers paying into Social Security today stare down the barrel toward substantial cuts to their own benefits, estimated to take place in 2034, they can at least take solace in knowing that all categories of Ukrainian pensioners will get a 20% raise in March 2023. “As early as this March,” says Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, “the government will index pensions by 20%” for about 10 million Ukrainians.
Indexing the payments “is not mandatory according to the Law of Ukraine on the State Budget for 2023,” but benevolent President Zelensky has instructed them to reprice the benefits upwards anyway.
And why wouldn’t he? His government is swimming in American cash.
Americans have spent more than $100 billion on aid to Ukraine. And, as the notoriously corrupt Ukrainian government is undoubtedly well aware, money is fungible.
This is an example of a common shell game that politicians love to play with the rubes when it comes to government spending. The Ukrainian government could have certainly diverted government spending from its pension outlays toward its own national defense in a time of war while calling for foreign aid to support its pension program, and the fiscal effect might have largely been the same. It’s just more politically defensible for Ukraine to continue paying uninterrupted pensions while demanding that massive amounts of foreign aid are needed to finance its national defense. And now, because Ukraine’s government no longer has to spend its own money on its own national defense, it has plenty of money to give generous raises to Ukrainian pensioners.
But we all know that few Americans would have signed on to billions in foreign aid if the impetus was to preserve Ukraine’s pension infrastructure. What’s truly amazing, though, is that Joe Biden and the media are just coming right out and saying exactly that — the government is using your money to pay Ukraine’s obligations to ten million of its pensioners. American aid to Ukraine, Biden says, is “going to allow pensions and social support to be paid to the Ukrainian people.”
One might think that senile Joe is just saying the quiet part out loud by directly telling us that our dollars are being sent overseas to pay for a corrupt government pension system and to support its vast welfare system. That’s possible, but not likely. What is incredibly disheartening is that it’s far more likely that he and his handlers meant for him to say exactly what he said, because they simply don’t have any fear of the electorate’s response anymore. They know we won’t like it, but in the eyes of the ruling class in Washington, we Americans are just too sedated, ignorant, and powerless to do anything about it.
How would the average American feel about paying billions of dollars to support Ukrainian pensioners, after all?
He/she probably doesn’t feel very good about that. If the government actually had any money to spend on pensions, it should probably deploy those resources in shoring up America’s national pension infrastructure first, most Americans would argue.
But, of course, the government doesn’t even have the money to pay for Social Security, much less Ukrainian pensions. America’s pension infrastructure is utterly broken, and most Americans instinctively know this to be true, despite the countless prominent idiots with microphones who try to convince us otherwise.
As of its 2022 report, the Congressional Budget Office:
…projects that if Social Security outlays were limited to what is payable from annual revenues after the trust funds’ exhaustion in 2033, Social Security benefits would be about 23 percent smaller than the scheduled benefits in 2034.
Even this is a rosier picture than may be deserved. Social Security pays benefits from only two sources — payroll tax income and Social Security’s trust fund “assets.” It’s been well over a decade since payroll tax income has covered the bills. Only after all payroll taxes are accounted toward benefits does the Social Security Administration tap into the “assets” of the trust funds.
These “assets” aren’t in a piggybank somewhere. The trust funds are owed principal and interest for non-marketable bonds that they purchased from the Treasury during those years when payroll tax income exceeded the benefit outflows. In other words, the assets and debts only exist on paper, and without any marketable value, while the government that owes the debt spent that money a long time ago. While the principal and interest are listed as an asset to the Social Security trust funds and as debts to the Treasury, the Treasury can’t even come close to paying its bills, and is running at incredible annual deficits. In fiscal year 2022, the government spent nearly $6.3 trillion, collected $4.9 trillion in revenue, and experienced a $1.3 trillion deficit.
So, it will happen like this for the next decade or so, barring any intercession. Social Security will not be able to meet its obligations by collecting payroll tax income, so it will call on the Treasury to repay the principal and interest on its debt so that full benefits can be paid to beneficiaries. But the Treasury will continue running at a huge deficit, so it has no money to pay the Social Security Administration what it owes. However, the Treasury is obligated by law to pay it, so it must take on new debt in order to repay its old debt to Social Security.
This cycle will continue until roughly 2034, until the IOUs from the Treasury run out, and the Treasury is no longer obligated to pay for the shortfall between what is owed to beneficiaries and payroll tax receipts. God only knows what the national debt will be at that time, but what we do know is that you, your children, and grandchildren will be on the hook for whatever is owed by the Treasury. And at that time, again, barring any intercession, all Americans on Social Security are expected to get a 20%+ pay cut.
Most people who contribute very little while standing to collect a lot from Social Security, along with those already collecting the benefits of the program, don’t care much to listen about these problems with Social Security. And most people who contribute substantial amounts of money into the system know that it’s a government boondoggle and a terrible “investment” that they are coerced to make. There are a lot more of the former than the latter, which unfortunately makes it a death sentence for politicians to even begin addressing any potential changes that might fix it.
But if there’s one thing that all Americans in both of those categories should be able to agree upon, it’s that, for the love of God, American taxpayers should not be paying billions of dollars that we don’t have to provide millions of Ukrainian pensioners a 20% raise.
Biden Makes Surprise Visit to Ukraine, Promises $500 Million in Aid
By Max Hunder
KYIV (Reuters)—U.S. President Joe Biden promised new military aid for Ukraine worth $500 million during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, almost a year to the day since Russia's invasion.
In a trip showing solidarity with Kyiv, Biden also said additional sanctions would be announced this week against the Russian elite and companies trying to evade sanctions to "back the Russian war machine".
The military aid package will include artillery ammunition, anti-armor systems and air surveillance radars "to help protect the Ukrainian people from aerial bombardments," he said.
"Freedom is priceless. It is worth fighting for as long as it takes. And that's how long we're going to be with you, Mr. President. As long as it takes," Biden told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after talks.
Biden appeared to make no mention of fighter jets, which Ukraine has been seeking from Western allies to help it push back the Russian forces.
Air raid sirens blared as Biden, 80, walked with Zelenskiy through central Kyiv but there were no reports of Russian missile or air strikes.
"The cost that Ukraine has had to pay is extraordinarily high. Sacrifices have been far too great," Biden told reporters.
Describing the trip as "historic", Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said both Biden and Zelenskiy were pleased with their talks and that the visit sent a message of resolve to Russia, which he called "the swamp".
"This visit is the victory of the Ukrainian people and President Zelenskiy... It is a clear signal to the swamp - no one is afraid of you!" he said.
Visiting Kyiv for the first time since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, Biden said Washington would stand with Ukraine as long as it takes.
He said his trip was intended to "reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."
BIGGEST SUPPLIER OF MILITARY ASSISTANCE
Washington has been by far the largest supplier of military assistance to help Ukraine repel better-equipped Russian invaders. Kyiv expects a major new Russian offensive soon, and some military analysts say the offensive is already under way.
"This visit of the U.S. president to Ukraine, the first for 15 years, is the most important visit in the entire history of Ukraine-U.S. relations," Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy's chief of staff posted photographs of Biden in sun glasses walking side-by-side with Zelenskiy, who was wearing his trademark military-style clothing. Biden wore a blue and yellow striped tie.
In a speech, Biden commended Ukraine's courage during the war, adding: "I knew I would be back.".
The air raid sirens wailed while Zelenskiy and Biden were at the St Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral on a square in central Kyiv where burnt-out Russian tanks have been placed.
Biden's trip fell on the day that Ukraine marks the deaths of more than 100 people - now known as the Heavenly Hundred - at anti-government protests that eventually toppled a Moscow-backed president in 2014.
After visiting the cathedral, Biden and Zelenskiy laid wreaths at the Wall of Memory for Ukrainian soldiers killed fighting Russia.
Several main roads in central Kyiv were closed off to traffic on Monday morning. Drivers stood waiting in traffic as gathering crowds of pedestrians peered over barricades to get a glimpse of who had come to the capital.
Rep. Elise Stefanik Demands Biden Secure Northern Border amid 846% Increase in Illegal Crossings
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) demanded President Joe Biden secure a sector of the border that has experienced an 846 percent increase in illegal crossings since October.
According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Swanton border sector in New York state, which is in Stefanik’s district, has been overrun by an approximate 846 percent increase in encounters and apprehensions from October 1 to January 31, compared to the same period in fiscal year (FY) 2022. “FY23’s total apprehensions and encounters have already surpassed FY22 and FY21 combined,” the CBP stated February 13.
As co-chair of the northern border caucus, Stefanik said the CBP report is an acknowledgment of the invasion, which she said is “leaving security openings” on the border with Canada. “Joe Biden has brought his Southern Border crisis to New York State, and now the Biden Administration finally admits the Northern Border across my district is not secure,” Stefanik said in a statement.
“From the beginning, I have stood up for our border patrol and warned against how Joe Biden’s Southern Border crisis has forced border patrol agents in my district into no-notice deployments, weakening morale and leaving security openings at the Northern Border,” she said. “But it has taken months for him to admit his crisis at the Northern Border.”
Stefanik noted Biden is refusing to address the invasion while encouraging illegal migrants to arrive in New York state, a haven for illegal aliens under Democrat rule:
Instead of addressing this crisis, Joe Biden has passed the buck and shipped his crisis to New York State with the assist from Kathy Hochul and Eric Adams, who both support policies to incentivize illegal immigrants to continue to pour into New York. Our taxpayers, border patrol agents, and Upstate communities are unfairly bearing the brunt of this crisis. We must secure our border and support our border patrol agents.
In January, Stefanik raised concerns about dozens of immigrants recently discovered in the small upstate New York community of Jamestown reportedly flown from Texas across the United States to New York state in chartered jets.
“The charter flights originate in Texas, where the ongoing border crisis has overwhelmed local immigration officials, and have been underway since at least August,” the New York Post reported:
Westchester County cops stood by as the passengers — whose flights arrived at 10:49 p.m. Wednesday and 9:52 p.m. Friday — got off and piled into buses.
Some of them were later seen meeting up with relatives or sponsors in New Jersey, or being dropped off at a residential facility on Long Island.
A Post analysis of online flight-tracking data suggests that around 2,000 of the underage migrants have arrived at the airport outside White Plains on 21 flights since Aug. 8.
As a federal official, Stefanik has called out New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ use of taxpayer funds to transport illegal migrants from New York City to Canada via New York’s 21st District.
“New Yorkers deserve answers for why their taxpayer dollars are being spent to help illegal immigrants violate their parole and escape the law,” she said.
“Through these taxpayer-funded bus rides, we must know how many of these illegal immigrants are escaping into upstate New York communities and where they are resettling.”
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
Gov. Abbott's Border Operation Nabs 348,000 Illegal Immigrants, 361 Million Fentanyl Doses
(CNSNews.com) -- A state-level initiative to counter the swarm of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas has, to date, resulted in more than 348,000 apprehensions and the seizure of more than 361 million doses of the deadly drug fentanyl.
The initiative, Operation Lone Star, was created by Texas's Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in March 2021.
As Abbott explained then, “The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration. Texas supports legal immigration but will not be an accomplice to the open border policies that cause, rather than prevent, a humanitarian crisis in our state and endanger the lives of Texans. We will surge the resources and law enforcement personnel needed to confront this crisis.”
Operation Lone Star utilizes personnel and resources from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Texas National Guard. Although they cannot enforce federal immigraiton laws, they can pursue illegal immigrants and drug traffickers in "high threat areas."
Those areas, mostly along the border, were declared disaster regions by the governor in May 2021. Under that declaration, Abbott can deploy the National Guard and the DPS, as well as personnel from the Texas Military Department (TMD).
"Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency effort has led to over 348,000 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 24,000 criminal arrests, with more than 22,000 felony charges reported," stated a Feb. 10 press release from the governor's office.
"In the fight against fentanyl, DPS has seized over 361 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this border mission," said the release.
In addition, "Texas has also bused more than 9,100 migrants to our nation's capital since April, over 5,200 migrants to New York City since August 5, more than 1,500 migrants to Chicago since August 31, and more than 890 migrants to Philadelphia since November 15."
The statement further said, "Operation Lone Star continues to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden administration's refusal to secure the border. Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden's open border policies."
The governor's office also announced that it has hired a Texas Border Czar to "fill the dangerous gaps created by President Biden's open border policies." The Border Czar, Mike Banks, is a former Border Patrol Agent who has worked in border security for 23 years.
Banks will report to Gov. Abbott and will work daily "with TMD, DPS, and other state agencies, local officials, and Texas landowners to carry out Operation Lone Star's mission of deterring and repelling migrants from illegally crossing into Texas from Mexico," said the governor's office.
"[The Biden administration] has left Texas as a frontier outpost, leaving us to our own devices to have to secure our own border,” said Gov. Abbott. “That’s why I hired someone who served in Border Patrol for more than 20 years in leadership positions, including the Border Patrol headquarters in Washington, D.C., to be the first Border Czar in the history of Texas to help lead our efforts on the border.”
According to the government watchdog Judicial Watch, "a record-breaking 2.4 million migrants" were apprehended in 2022, "up from an already shocking high of 1.7 million in 2021. Among the apprehended were hundreds of gang members—mostly from the famously violent Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13)—and dozens of people on the national terrorist watchlist."
FAIR, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, estimates that there are 14.3 million illegal aliens in the U.S., and that the annual cost of dealing with illegals is at least $132 billion.