The Center Square – Red Wave Press https://redwave.press We need more than a red wave. We need a red tsunami. Mon, 28 Oct 2024 09:58:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://redwave.press/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/cropped-Favicon-32x32.png The Center Square – Red Wave Press https://redwave.press 32 32 CBP Data: More Than Half a Million Illegal Border Crossers Reported in California in Fiscal 2024 https://redwave.press/cbp-data-more-than-half-a-million-illegal-border-crossers-reported-in-california-in-fiscal-2024/ https://redwave.press/cbp-data-more-than-half-a-million-illegal-border-crossers-reported-in-california-in-fiscal-2024/#respond Mon, 28 Oct 2024 09:58:36 +0000 https://redwave.press/cbp-data-more-than-half-a-million-illegal-border-crossers-reported-in-california-in-fiscal-2024/ (The Center Square)—More than 525,000 illegal border crossers were reported in California in fiscal 2024, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

This excludes those who illegally entered and evaded capture, known as gotaways. CBP doesn’t publicly report gotaway data. The Center Square first reported gotaway data in 2021 after obtaining it from a Border Patrol agent. In fiscal 2023, there were over 101,000 gotaways reported in California’s two sectors and nearly 413,000 apprehensions, The Center Square exclusively reported.

Fiscal 2024 gotaway data is forthcoming, but if trends continue as they have in the past, California’s total reported illegal border crossers, including apprehensions and gotaways, are expected to surpass 625,000 in fiscal 2024. That’s up from nearly 514,000 combined in fiscal 2023.

The data also excludes inadmissibles released into California through roughly a dozen parole programs created under the Biden-Harris administration that federal judges, roughly half of state attorneys general, and Congressional Republicans argue are illegal.

California shares the smallest international border with Mexico of the four southwest border states – 137 miles. It’s nearly evenly split in linear land mileage between the CBP sectors of El Centro and San Diego.

The San Diego Sector is the largest of the two sectors, covering nearly 57,000 square miles, including 931 miles of coastal border stretching to Oregon. It shares 60 linear miles with Mexico by land and 114 coastal miles along the Pacific Ocean. The area with the greatest foot traffic includes roughly 7,000 square miles that encompasses beaches, mesas, an inland mountain range, canyons and high desert.

The greatest number of apprehensions have historically been reported in the San Diego Sector. In fiscal 2024, San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended at least 324,260 illegal border crossers, representing a 40% increase from their fiscal year 2023 apprehensions of 230,941.

San Diego Office of Field Operations reported 183,890 encounters with illegal foreign nationals in fiscal 2024, according to the data.

Now retired San Diego Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke has testified before Congress about the hardships San Diego Sector agents faced resulting from what he described as Biden-Harris administration “open border policies.” He’s described the impact of having to close Border Patrol checkpoints when illegal entries peaked in July 2022 to roughly 16,000 knowing that miles of the border were left wide open and unpatrolled.

He’s also testified how agents were ordered not to report an alarming increase in “special interest aliens” and continue to grapple with unaccompanied minors believed to be drugged, smuggled and trafficked. California agents have also expressed alarm about the volume of fentanyl pouring through the sector as federal, state and local law enforcement officers have seized enough fentanyl in one year to kill billions of people.

In the El Centro Sector, Border Patrol agents apprehended 17,484 illegal border crossers in fiscal 2024. The sector lies in the Imperial Valley of Southern California and spans 71 linear miles along the U.S.-Mexico border. Much of it is remote and dangerous, including desert and mountainous terrain where summer heat regularly exceeds 120 degrees.

El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino has expressed alarm about unaccompanied children who agents rescue “from being exploited by smugglers. These criminals are not related to the children they smuggle. These traffickers go to extreme lengths to smuggle these children – giving them sleep aids to keep them quiet.”

El Centro Chief Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino also told members of Congress that a surge of more than 50,000 illegal border crossers in fiscal 2023 took agents away from their primary purpose to protect the homeland. “Any time there is a surge of individuals processing care, feeding and care of those individuals takes Border Patrol agents away from their primary job of preventing bad people and bad things from coming across the border,” Bovino said.

As Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star, put pressure on cartel traffickers, illegal border crossers were moved west, with the San Diego Sector becoming the epicenter of the border crisis, The Center Square first reported in February and again in April as the crisis worsened.

California has also reported an increase in Chinese illegal border crossers as federal agents continue to target California-based Chinese-linked money laundering operations linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, The Center Square reported. California sheriffs have expressed their opposition to Vice President Kamala Harris’ border policies, saying, “we do not support her,” The Center Square reported. One sheriff told members of Congress that the policies of the Biden-Harris administration and Gov. Gavin Newsom turned California into “an open territory for the cartel to do whatever it wants.”

Combined, apprehensions in California’s two sectors totaled at least 525,634, excluding gotaways. Data for both sectors is consistent with nationwide data: the overwhelming majority of illegal border crossers are single adults coming from all over the world.

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10 Days Out: Election Day Draws Near in Tight Race https://redwave.press/10-days-out-election-day-draws-near-in-tight-race/ https://redwave.press/10-days-out-election-day-draws-near-in-tight-race/#respond Sat, 26 Oct 2024 18:50:43 +0000 https://redwave.press/10-days-out-election-day-draws-near-in-tight-race/ (The Center Square)—Former President Donald Trump and Vice president Kamala Harris are locked in a too-close-to-call race for the White House with just 10 days until Election Day.

The final New York Times/Siena College poll was released Friday, showing Trump and Harris in a dead tie nationally at 48%. The tie could signal good news for Trump, who was actually trailing Harris by 2 points in the same poll earlier this month.

On top of that, Democrats can and have won the national vote without winning the Electoral College.

“Trump Leads Among Men, White Voters, Midwest and South,” Siena College said in its release. “Harris Leads Among Women, Non-white Voters, Northeast and West.”

In the seven closest swing states, the races all remain basically within the margin of error, although Trump does hold a very narrow lead in all seven states, according to Real Clear Politics’ aggregation of recent polling.

Formerly competitive swing states like Florida and Ohio have gone for Trump by wide margins while Minnesota, New Mexico, and Colorado are in Harris’ camp in the latest polling.

FiveThirtyEight, another poll aggregator and analyzer, found Trump either tied or slightly ahead in the seven closest states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Joe Rogan, who hosts the most popular podcast in America, released a taped interview with Trump. The 3-hour-long interview provided an unusually long conversation with Trump in a time when candidates are often protected by aides from invasive questioning.

Rogan has expressed mixed political opinions in the past. Rogan’s podcast is most popular among men, a demographic Harris is struggling to court.

Harris participated in a CNN Town Hall this week, where she attacked Trump on a range of issues including not joining her on CNN for a second debate.

Trump reportedly wanted a debate on Fox News.

Harris herself though faced pushback from CNN’s Anderson Cooper during the Town Hall and critics afterward for refusing to directly answer questions.

Longtime Democratic strategist and key staffer in the Obama administration David Axelrod critiqued Harris for her “word salad” answers.

“When she doesn’t want to answer a question, her habit is to kind of go to word salad city and she did that on a couple of answers,” Axelrod said on the CNN panel following the town hall. “One of them was on Israel. Anderson asked a direct question: would you be stronger on Israel than Trump, and there was a seven-minute answer, but none of it related to the question he was asking.”

Harris previously took fire for her lack of media interviews. Now, she is taking fire for her answers. Several media reports have indicated Democrats are worried that Harris has slipped from her momentum weeks ago.

“There is no joy left in the Democrat Party in the final week of the campaign,” Republican strategist Nate Brand told The Center Square. “Desperation has set in for Kamala and the left. At this point in the race, the winning team is normally the one having the most fun. From McDonald’s to Madison Square Garden, clearly Trump is having a good time. Bodes well for Republicans on Election Day.”

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Bad Record: Democratic VP Nominee Walz’s Minnesota Ranked Last for Fiscal Policy Out of 50 States https://redwave.press/bad-record-democratic-vp-nominee-walzs-minnesota-ranked-last-for-fiscal-policy-out-of-50-states/ https://redwave.press/bad-record-democratic-vp-nominee-walzs-minnesota-ranked-last-for-fiscal-policy-out-of-50-states/#respond Mon, 21 Oct 2024 19:07:33 +0000 https://redwave.press/bad-record-democratic-vp-nominee-walzs-minnesota-ranked-last-for-fiscal-policy-out-of-50-states/ (The Center Square)—A newly released analysis of fiscal policy ranked all 50 states with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ state coming in first and Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in last.

The libertarian Cato Institute released the report, which graded states by spending, revenue and taxes. The top ten states in the rankings starting at the top are Iowa, Nebraska, West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Montana, Hawaii, Georgia, Idaho, and Vermont.

The bottom ten states, according to the analysis, are New Mexico, Missouri, Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Delaware, Washington, Maine, New York and lastly, Minnesota.

The bottom six states received a grade of “F.”

Walz’ poor rating comes just weeks before the presidential election where he and his running mate Vice President Kamala Harris are in a nearly tied race with former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.

The report explains the reasoning for Walz’ low score, pointing to a series of tax hikes under his leadership as well as spending increasing by 36% since 2022, from from about $52 billion to nearly $71 billion.

From the report:

In 2019, Walz’s budget would have added ‘$2 billion more in new spending and taxes would increase by $1.3 billion to pay for it, with the rest of the money coming from an existing surplus.’ But he compromised with the legislature, and the final tax increase was about $330 million annually. Walz also pushed for higher gas taxes and higher vehicle fees to raise about $1 billion annually for transportation, but those increases were rejected.

Walz pushed for more tax hikes in 2021. He proposed adding a new individual income tax rate of 10.85 percent above the current top rate of 9.85 percent, a surtax on capital gains and dividends, and a hike to the corporate tax rate from 9.8 percent to 11.25 percent. The proposals—which would have raised about $1.6 billion annually—were rejected by the legislature…

Walz hit the middle class with HF 2887, which raised taxes and fees on vehicles and transportation. The increases included indexing the gas tax for inflation, increasing vehicle registration taxes, raising fees on deliveries, and raising sales taxes in the Twin Cities area.

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Sen. Ted Cruz: “If History Teaches Anything, It Is That When Somebody Tells You They Want to Kill You, Believe Them” https://redwave.press/u-s-sen-ted-cruz-if-history-teaches-anything-it-is-that-when-somebody-tells-you-they-want-to-kill-you-believe-them/ https://redwave.press/u-s-sen-ted-cruz-if-history-teaches-anything-it-is-that-when-somebody-tells-you-they-want-to-kill-you-believe-them/#respond Mon, 14 Oct 2024 00:57:41 +0000 https://redwave.press/u-s-sen-ted-cruz-if-history-teaches-anything-it-is-that-when-somebody-tells-you-they-want-to-kill-you-believe-them/ (The Center Square)–Israeli leaders and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are pushing back against responses by the Biden administration to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

At an event in Dallas held on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel held by the nonprofit America for Israel, Cruz said after the attack, the State Department’s Office of Palestinian Affairs tweeted, “Israel must not respond. There must be no military response.” He replied, saying, “This is disgraceful. Whoever wrote it should be fired and it should be deleted.” Within minutes, the post was deleted, he said.

The next day, October 8, 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that he’d spoken to the Turkish foreign minister “and we have agreed that Israel must not retaliate and there must be no military response whatsoever,” Cruz said.

Turkey’s president also compared Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and called for “an alliance of humanity” to stop his “murder network.”

Cruz said Blinken’s position was “utterly disgraceful” and his social media post “should be deleted again. They deleted it within minutes,” he said.

Israel must eliminate the Islamic terrorist organizations, Hamas and Hezbollah, largely funded by Iran, Cruz says, because it’s “unquestionably in the national security interest of Israel and unquestionably in the national security interest of America.”

One year into the conflict with Hamas, Iran launched 200 missiles at Israel. Afterwards, President Joe Biden told reporters that “all seven of us [G7 country leaders] agree that they [Israel] have a right to respond but they should respond proportionally.” France’s president called for a ceasefire and an Israeli weapons embargo.

At the Dallas event, a member of the Israeli Knesset questioned Biden’s remarks and Cruz said those calling for a cease fire with terrorists were “siding with genocidal maniacs.”

Israeli MK Ohad Tal, Knesset Chair US/Israel Relations Caucus, asked what a proportionate response would be to Iran “terrorizing Israel for 30 years, building a network of proxies all around the Middle East in order to attack Israel.”

He cited “Hezbollah launching 150,000 ballistic missiles, Shiite militias in Syria with 40,000 soldiers, same number of militias in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen and so many other forces.” He said Iran “sent Hamas on October 7 to slaughter, to burn families alive. Hezbollah shot at Israel about 1,200 rockets only in the past year. … Are we supposed to go to Iran to rape, to slaughter, to kill, to burn” Iranians, he asked. “Is this what we’re supposed to do? … We are supposed to wait for Iran to arm their missiles with nuclear warheads?”

Everyone in the west and America “should wake up and realize that we are serving the same purpose” against Iran, he said. “We are fighting your war.”

In a social media post, Netanyahu explained that “Israel is defending itself on 7 fronts against the enemies of civilization. We’re fighting in Gaza against Hamas, those savages who murdered, raped, beheaded, and burned our people on October 7. We’re fighting in Lebanon against Hezbollah, the most heavily armed terror organization, which was planning an even greater massacre than October 7 on our northern borders, and that has rocketed Israeli towns and cities for nearly a year.

“We’re fighting against the Houthis in Yemen and the Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria that together have launched hundreds of drones and missile attacks against Israel. We’re fighting against terrorists in Judea and Samaria who are trying to murder civilians in the heart of our cities. And we’re fighting against Iran, which last week fired over 200 ballistic missiles directly at Israel, and which stands behind the seven-front war against Israel.”

Netanyahu said, “all civilized countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side.” While some western leaders call for an arms embargo against Israel, he asked if Iran was imposing one on Hezbollah, the Houthis or Hamas.

With or without the west’s support, Netanyahu said, “Israel is defending civilizations against those who seek to impose a dark age of fanaticism on all of us. … Israel will fight until the battle is won, for our sake and for the sake of the peace and security of the entire world.”

On Wednesday, Biden spoke with Netanyahu and “affirmed his ironclad commitment to Israel’s security” and “condemned unequivocally” Iran’s ballistic missile attack, according to a read out of the call issued by the White House.

Biden also “emphasized the need for a diplomatic arrangement” between Israel and Lebanon, urged Israel “to renew diplomacy” with Hamas “to release the hostages” still being held for over one year, and facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza, the statement says.

When it comes to the leaders of countries and terrorist groups that refer to Israel as “the little Satan” and to America as “the great Satan,” Cruz said, “The enemies of Israel are enemies of America. American policy should very simply be we stand unequivocally with Israel for as long as it takes.”

“If history teaches anything, it is that when somebody tells you they want to kill you, believe them,” he said.

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Newsom-Appointed Board Considers Raising Gas Prices Another 47 Cents per Gallon https://redwave.press/newsom-appointed-board-considers-raising-gas-prices-another-47-cents-per-gallon/ https://redwave.press/newsom-appointed-board-considers-raising-gas-prices-another-47-cents-per-gallon/#respond Sun, 13 Oct 2024 00:51:51 +0000 https://redwave.press/newsom-appointed-board-considers-raising-gas-prices-another-47-cents-per-gallon/ (The Center Square)—As the state legislature works to pass the governor’s new regulations on refineries, the mostly governor-appointed California Air Resources Board is considering a proposal that its analysis says could raise gas prices an additional 47 cents per gallon. This proposal would also impact Arizona and Nevada, which rely on California for gasoline production.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom appears to be taking actions to regulate gasoline on two fronts — through the legislature, and CARB, which consists of 14 voting members — 12 of whom are appointed by the governor without State Senate confirmation.

“In September of last year, CARB estimated that the change could lift gasoline prices 47 cents a gallon, or $6.4 billion a year,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “Other analysts put the price even higher — 65 cents a gallon, or $8.8 [billion] a year.”

It’s unclear how much the new refinery regulations — which would give the state power to tell refineries when they’re allowed to shut down for maintenance and repairs, and determine how much inventory of gasoline to maintain on hand in case refineries have to be shut down — would cost. However, a broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, neighboring governors, and even labor unions is opposing the measure, which does seem ready to pass.

The small group of labor organizations that came out against the bill — employed in energy trades — shared a number of safety and even electoral concerns.

“This issue is readily being used against our candidate in those states and beyond,” wrote the coalition regarding the potential direct implications for the swing states of Arizona and Nevada that rely on California for gasoline, and the use of California’s climate positions as a tool to attack Democrats nationally more broadly. “If we cannot be heard and believed on issues that could jeopardize the lives of our members, something is very wrong in CA. Every member who votes for this bill should be prepared to answer if something goes wrong”

Assemblymember Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, said that he believes most legislators actually no longer support the bill but feel strong-armed by the governor.

“The legislature honestly needs to stand up for itself and tell [Newsom] no. I’m guessing the vast majority of legislators want this bill to die,” said Patterson on X. “We shouldn’t do it just because of the Governor’s strange obsession with this weird policy to give bureaucrats power over gasoline production.”

CARB will be voting on the new amendments to the state’s low carbon fuel standard on November 8, just days after the presidential election, on whether or not to adopt new, stricter standards that will make it harder to generate LCFS credits, and require more LCFS credits to be purchased.

As can be seen in CARB data, the LCFS has been so successful that as of April 2024, the most recent data point, the reduction in carbon intensity of the state’s fuel system is already past the goal for 2026. While the widespread availability of LCFS credits has reduced emissions, the rapid scaling of the desired LCFS credit-producing technologies has also reduced the value of individual credits.

Should the new, more strict LCFS requirements be adopted, fewer credits would qualify, and the cost of credits would go up, but much of the billions of dollars invested in existing infrastructure to generate LCFS credits could turn worthless overnight.

California’s gas taxes are already the highest in the nation, with federal, state, and local taxes and fees adding approximately $1.62 per gallon, which is significantly more than the difference between California and national gas prices. If the LCFS is approved, California gasoline could cost approximately $2.09 to $2.27 per gallon more than the national average, a move that could drive more consumers to electric cars, or out of the state entirely.

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Survey Reveals Small Businesses Are More Uncertain Than Ever https://redwave.press/survey-reveals-small-businesses-are-more-uncertain-than-ever/ https://redwave.press/survey-reveals-small-businesses-are-more-uncertain-than-ever/#respond Thu, 10 Oct 2024 13:48:28 +0000 https://redwave.press/survey-reveals-small-businesses-are-more-uncertain-than-ever/ (The Center Square)–American small business uncertainty hit an all-time high and optimism remains low just weeks before Election Day, according to the latest survey.

The National Federation of Independent businesses on Monday released the survey, which showed small business uncertainty rose last month to the highest level ever recorded by NFIB.

“Small business owners are feeling more uncertain than ever,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said in a statement.

Small businesses have been crushed by inflation in recent years, with prices rising more than 20% since President Joe Biden took office. Pandemic-era shutdowns and supply chain issues also put many businesses in debt or drained their savings.

Many larger businesses had more reserves or access to capital to help them survive COVID while smaller businesses went under.

“Twenty-three percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business (higher input and labor costs), down one point from August but remaining the top issue,” NFIB said.

Inflation has slowed from its feverish pace earlier in Biden’s term, but prices remain elevated.

“A net negative 17% of all owners (seasonally adjusted) reported higher nominal sales in the past three months, down one point from August and the lowest reading of this year,” NFIB said. “The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose nine points to a net negative 9% (seasonally adjusted).”

Small business owners have also reported difficulty with the labor market.

“Uncertainty makes owners hesitant to invest in capital spending and inventory, especially as inflation and financing costs continue to put pressure on their bottom lines,” Dunkelberg continued. “Although some hope lies ahead in the holiday sales season, many Main Street owners are left questioning whether future business conditions will improve.”

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Election Year Medicare Move Costs Taxpayers $21B Over Next 3 Years https://redwave.press/election-year-medicare-move-costs-taxpayers-21b-over-next-3-years/ https://redwave.press/election-year-medicare-move-costs-taxpayers-21b-over-next-3-years/#respond Mon, 07 Oct 2024 11:21:31 +0000 https://redwave.press/election-year-medicare-move-costs-taxpayers-21b-over-next-3-years/ (Shirleen Guerra, The Center Square)—The Congressional Budget Office has released an analysis of the Biden administration’s newly announced Medicare prescription drug premiums, estimating the new program could cost taxpayers more than $21 billion over three years if implemented.

The analysis comes after House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter to Director Phillip Swagel of the CBO questioning the budgetary impact of this new demonstration program.

A release from Swagel’s department said the increase in federal spending would range from $10 billion to $20 billion in 2025 compared to earlier projections.

“As predicted, the Biden-Harris Inflation Reduction Act not only quelled investment for new cures, but caused Medicare prescription drug plan premiums to skyrocket, and Democrats are scrambling to cover it up before the election,” Arrington said in a press release. “In July, the Biden-Harris CMS scrambled to create a new federal program that will send billions of tax dollars to large health insurance companies to cover up a massive flaw in their so-called Inflation Reduction Act.”

The new average plan bid for a standard Part D coverage increases by 179% for 2025 partly due to an underestimation of federal attributions to the Part D changes, according to the analysis.

Arrington continued, “Today, CBO confirmed that the administration’s election year Hail Mary will cost taxpayers an astounding $7 billion next year alone, and $21 billion over the planned three-year demo, adding to the more than $2 trillion in Biden-Harris executive spending.”

These plans typically expect monthly reinsurance, which means Medicare payments cover part of the costs of prescription drugs when the catastrophic threshold is reached.

Almost 60% of Part D enrollees are through Medicare Advantage plans and receive coverage through MA-PD plans. The rest are covered through what’s known as stand-alone prescription drug plans.

CBO expects the following changes for prescription drug plans in 2025:

  • A $15 reduction for monthly PDPs. This would cost a total of $2.9 billion in federal funding.
  • Increases in PDPs will be capped at $35 in 2024 and 2025, totaling $1.8 billion in federal funding.
  • Risk corridor subsidies will increase for PDPs that have more than 2.5% of bids in 2025, resulting in $250 million of federal funding.

The budget office said the changes to temporary subsidies, combined with risk corridors, will increase federal spending by $5 billion in 2025, with $2 billion in net spending interest until 2034.

Policies included in the $891 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 have changed the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit that was originally estimated to be $30 million over 10 years beginning in 2025.

This resulted in the sponsors of the Medicare prescription drug plan increasing plan bids and base beneficiary premiums for 2025 while reducing the number of plans that would be available to seniors in 2025.

“When Democrats unilaterally enacted major changes to Medicare two years ago, they set seniors up for new expenses and fewer options,” Grassley said in a release. “This nonpartisan CBO analysis confirms CMS’s cost-shifting plan is a dishonest election year gimmick to cover up those consequences.”

CMS is an acronym for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The program would send federal money to large health insurance companies while falsely lowering the cost for seniors Part D premiums and potentially costing $7 billion in 2025, according to the analysis.

Grassley continued, “Rather than coming to the table and legitimately addressing its partisan mistakes, the Biden-Harris administration threw taxpayer dollars at the problems it created, putting Americans on the hook for tens of billions more dollars.”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a release, “Today’s final guidance for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program builds off the success of the first 10 negotiated drug prices and continues the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to provide millions of people with Medicare affordable access to innovative therapies.”

This is a contradiction from the reported number taxpayers will pay that was stated in the analysis.

Brooks-LaSure continued, “While saving Medicare and taxpayers billions of dollars, the negotiated prices will also provide people with Medicare a better deal on some of Medicare’s costliest prescription drugs, promoting necessary competition in the market, and ensuring Medicare is strong today and into the future.”

The temporary subsidies, announced in July, affect both those enrolled and the federal payments to Plan D premiums in 2025, 2026 and 2027, though certain policies have yet to be announced for 2026-27, meaning no budgetary estimation for both years.

The budget office said it expects $100 million in 2025 from each organization that controls and collects payments from the government on behalf of Part D plans.

Continuing that most of that would have been paid for by enrollees in the Part D program through premiums, “For that reason, the effect of CMS’s subsidies on plans’ revenues is much smaller than the federal cost. By providing larger federal subsidies to prescription drug plans, the federal payments to Part D plans effectively cover costs that would have been borne by Part D enrollees.”

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Lawmakers Investigate Soros ‘Shortcut’ to Buying Radio Stations Before Election https://redwave.press/lawmakers-investigate-soros-shortcut-to-buying-radio-stations-before-election/ https://redwave.press/lawmakers-investigate-soros-shortcut-to-buying-radio-stations-before-election/#respond Sun, 29 Sep 2024 18:56:15 +0000 https://redwave.press/lawmakers-investigate-soros-shortcut-to-buying-radio-stations-before-election/ (The Center Square)–The U.S. House Oversight Committee is investigating why the Federal Communications Commission fast-tracked a deal that allowed a billionaire Democratic donor to buy a wide swath of American radio stations just weeks before the presidential election.

The major radio company Audacy Inc. fell into financial straits, but through a complex business deal Democratic mega donor and billionaire George Soros has gained control of the stations. Deals of this size require FCC approval, but in this case the FCC expedited the approval process.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr raised concerns about the deal at a Congressional hearing, telling lawmakers that “… the FCC is not following its normal process for reviewing a transaction.”

“We have established over a number of years one way in which you can get approval from the FCC when you have an excess of 25 percent foreign ownership, which this transaction does,” Carr said. ““It seems to me that the FCC is poised to create, for the first time, an entirely new shortcut.”

House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. and Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., sent a letter to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel Friday raising concerns about the deal.

“Despite the unprecedented nature of this action, the FCC majority has apparently decided to approve licenses on an accelerated timeframe for a company in which George Soros has a major ownership stake, and with stations in 40 media markets reaching ‘more than 165 million Americans,’” the letter said. “By all appearances, the FCC majority isn’t just expediting, but is bypassing an established process to do a favor for George Soros and facilitate his influence over hundreds of radio stations before the November election.”

Critics of the deal say it gives too much power to a heavily political, and liberal, billionaire just before the election.

“I have no idea why Soros would do this unless it was to manipulate the thinking of Americans and the information they listen to,” author and former member of the George W. Bush administration Mike Gonzalez told The Center Square.

“Conservative talk radio is huge, and there is no left wing talk radio because it’s just not interesting,” said Gonzalez, who is now at the Heritage Foundation. “Conservative talk radio is one of the few communications that conservatives have not a monopoly on but have a strong handle on, and he has bought stations that have Mark Levin and Sean Hannity and Dana Loesch and Glenn Beck.”

Critics also point out that Soros’ business partners in the deal include significant funding from sources overseas.

“The Audacy, Inc. deal, which will lead to Audacy, Inc. being partially ‘directly or indirectly controlled’ by foreign individuals or entities holding ‘more than one-fourth of the capital stock’ will require FCC approval to determine whether ‘the public interest will be served by the refusal or revocation of such license,’” the letter said. “In carrying out this statutory mandate under the Communications Act, FCC has years-long established processes and procedures for adjudicating broadcast licenses in such situations, most recently updated in 2016.”

Other wealthy media owners have faced scrutiny for potential abuse of their ownership power, such as billionaire Jeff Bezos when he purchased the Washington Post. However, Soros’ influence over so many radio stations may have even more influence over the country than one of the major papers, which Americans usually see as having a certain political leaning.

Soros is one of the most strategic and prolific funders of liberal organizations in the U.S.

“I don’t know why else he would plunk a pile of money this size unless it was to try to have influence over the thinking of Americans,” Gonzalez continued, adding that “this guy is committed to left-wing causes.”

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Cruz: ‘We Are Living on Borrowed Time’ Regarding Terrorist Attack https://redwave.press/cruz-we-are-living-on-borrowed-time-regarding-terrorist-attack/ https://redwave.press/cruz-we-are-living-on-borrowed-time-regarding-terrorist-attack/#respond Sat, 28 Sep 2024 17:11:51 +0000 https://redwave.press/cruz-we-are-living-on-borrowed-time-regarding-terrorist-attack/ (The Center Square)–In the last year, terrorist threats have increased to a level not seen since the Sept. 11, 2021, terrorist attack, only worsening after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, federal officials say.

“We are living on borrowed time,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told The Center Square in an exclusive interview. “I believe that today we’re at a greater risk for a major terrorist attack than we have been at any point since Sept. 11, 2001. The policies of [President] Joe Biden and [Vice President] Kamala Harris and [U.S. Rep.] Colin Allred have made every Texan and every American much less safe.”

Cruz faces Allred in a tight race for his U.S. Senate seat in November.

“When you combine their disastrous foreign policy, flowing over $100 billion to the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, which in turn flows directly into the pockets of Hamas and Hezbollah, when you combine that incredibly weak foreign policy with Kamala Harris and Colin Allred’s open borders, the result is an invitation for terrorists to murder Americans.”

Of the numerous Biden-Harris border policies Cruz has identified as dangerous and illegal, one involves flying millions of illegal foreign nationals nationwide and even housing them in airports at taxpayer expense. He’s demanded answers on the “incredible lapses in vetting and screening illegal aliens at airports” following reports “that multiple airports have housed illegal aliens and that the Biden-Harris administration has flown in 435,000 unvetted aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, directly into the United States.”

That number has increased to 530,000 according to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, in addition to 813,000 arriving through a CBP One app and an untold number through Biden-Harris parole programs. Cruz, House and Senate Republicans, attorneys general and federal judges argue they are illegal.

“Tragically, it is only a matter of time before another major terrorist attack is likely to occur because of Kamala Harris and Colin Allred’s open border policies,” Cruz said, referring to the Dallas Democrat who is challenging him in his Senate race. Allred has voted against border security measures that other Texas Democrats supported.

When asked to comment about terrorism threats Allred’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

In a recent campaign ad, Allred says, “I’m working with both parties to finally secure the border, to add more border patrol agents, crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking,” also pointing to a failed Senate border bill to solve the border crisis.

Among others, Cruz requested information about the Massachusetts Port Authority and Boston Logan International Airport, the airport used by a number of 9/11 terrorists.

Retired U.S. Federal Aviation Administration special agent Brian Sullivan was instrumental in surfacing Logan Airport’s screening checkpoint vulnerabilities and among the first to warn about a potential terrorist attack.

“The warning lights are blinking now even more so than they were 23 years ago,” he told The Center Square.

Sullivan conducted a sting at the Logan Airport in May 2001 and warned the FAA, former U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-MA, and the Massachusetts Port Authority of checkpoint vulnerabilities, the same checkpoints used by the 9/11 terrorists.

“No one listened then and nobody is listening now. That’s what scares me,” he said, referring to the Biden-Harris administration.

Sullivan, a Vietnam veteran, served in the military police retiring as a Lt. Col. in the U.S. Army and worked as an FAA special agent for ten years. He shares the same concerns as military and intelligence leaders that Americans are in danger because of a “soft invasion” of primarily single military age men illegally entering the U.S. and migrant warfare, first reported by The Center Square.

Earlier this year, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned about an ISIS smuggling ring coming through the border and of increased security risks posed by China and Iran. Congressional Republicans also have demanded answers about terrorist threats.

In June, a former CIA deputy director warned that a terrorist attack could occur before the election.

Since then, hundreds of members of ISIS are confirmed to have illegally entered the U.S., officials say vetting isn’t occurring, Chinese illegal border crossers have breached U.S. military bases, the greatest number of known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the U.S.-Canada border, Canadian officials have expressed alarm, and Cruz and others called for greater security due Hamas members entering from Canada, as Jewish Americans, he and others are targeted by pro-Hamas protestors.

In the last few months, three assassination attempts were foiled against former President Donald Trump, including by an Iran-linked Pakistani, Trump has been briefed on an Iranian assassination plot, and President Joe Biden extended a 2001 executive order declaring a national emergency due to terrorism threats.

This was preventable, Cruz argues. Biden, Harris and Allred policies “have made every Texan and every American much less safe.

“Right now, today, Iran has declared a jihad demanding that terrorists murder Americans. Hamas has declared a jihad demanding that terrorists murder Americans. Hezbollah has declared a jihad demanding that terrorists murder Americans. ‘Palestinian Islamic Jihad,’ true to their name, has declared a jihad demanding that terrorists murder Americans.”

“The only solution,” he says, “is to throw Joe Biden and Kamala Harris out of office, to reelect Donald Trump, to reelect me, and elect a strong Republican Senate and a strong Republican House” who “will secure the border and we will do so in a matter of weeks.

“The open invitation of Kamala Harris and Colin Allred, that’s what’s caused this crisis. We know how to fix it. We’ve done it before,” he said, referring to implementing Trump-era policies that “achieved the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years.”

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Harris and Walz Will Clone America Into California https://redwave.press/harris-and-walz-will-clone-america-into-california/ https://redwave.press/harris-and-walz-will-clone-america-into-california/#respond Mon, 23 Sep 2024 11:17:17 +0000 https://redwave.press/harris-and-walz-will-clone-america-into-california/

“I believe in that old adage that as goes California, so goes the rest of the country.” – Kamala Harris

(The Center Square)—When Harris named Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential nominee, the Democrats were thrilled since he looks like someone who’d be at home on a tractor, sporting a straw hat while tending to his crops. The left believes his facade will persuade moderate and middle-class voters to move left and support Democrats in November. But, the left is counting chickens before they hatch.

It wasn’t just happenstance that Harris chose progressive Walz as her right hand comrade to run with her in November. Waltz is not a low profile progressive whose name happened to pop up. During his first term as governor, Walz was constrained by a Republican majority in the Senate. But in his second term, the Minnesota state government turned far left, as solid blue as California.

Walz is very open about his views and as governor he has put them on auction. He has positioned himself as another Bernie Sanders, the socialist senator from Vermont. He revealed his philosophy on last week’s “White Dudes for Harris” fundraiser call when he said, “Don’t ever shy away from our progressive values. One person’s socialism is another person’s neighborliness.”

It usually takes months to vet a potential candidate for a high office. But since Biden was forced to step down by the DNC just before their convention, they didn’t have time to fully investigate Waltz’s background. As questions about his past and his policies have been revealed by opponents and the media, Democrats have been working overtime to re-image and hawk Walz to moderate voters.

It has been said that people judge you by the company you keep. When Harris announced that she had chosen Waltz as her running mate, those who were most excited about her choice include the progressive “Squad” members Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman of New York. Socialist Bernie Sanders also immediately expressed his approval.

“To me socialism means that we must work to reform a system that is corrupt.” – Bernie Sanders

Everyone already knows that Harris hails from the progressive bastion of progressive California. As a U.S. senator she gained the reputation as the most liberal member of the Senate in her first term. Harris’ record speaks for itself. She cast the most tie-breaking votes in Senate history to green-light the Democrats’ most radical, inflationary priorities. Her votes led to trillions of dollars of runaway spending by Democrats and the confirmation of many radical activist progressive federal judges.

Since Walz was a last minute pick by Harris, the American people did not know much about his policies or his past. And the liberal media did not have time to run cover for him like they’ve done for Harris since she’s been in office. Legislation Waltz has signed into law rivals that in California.

“I believe in diversity and I think the legislation I have signed into law proves this.” – Tim Walz

The seeming schism in Walz’s progressive ideological history has become a subject of red-hot national political debate since it was revealed that he was Harris’s running mate.

Since Walz was elected, Minnesota allows abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy. Walz overturned a former “born alive” provision that offered protections for babies who survived an abortion.

Walz believes government is the answer. He thinks government should over-rule parents if it does not like decisions they make. He signed a trans-refuge bill to “protect children from their parents” who come to his state for gender-affirming care, like puberty blockers or sex-change surgery.

Walz signed a bill to provide K-12 students, regardless of need, free breakfast and lunch. It has cost millions of dollars and he raised taxes to finance it. Giving free stuff to everyone buys votes and increases dependence on government but it’s paid for by taxpayers, not the leftist politicians.

In typical progressive fashion, Walz signed legislation that requires menstrual products, such as tampons and sanitary napkins, to be provided in both boys’ and girls’ public school bathrooms.

“Gov Walz wants to insure all those who menstruate have access to period supplies.” – Lacey Gero

Walz has bucked the national trend of many other governors and continues to raise taxes to finance his many progressive programs. Jared Walczak of the Tax Foundation said, “Gov. Walz’s tax record is notable because of how much it contrasts with broader national trends. Walz is rare among his peers, to dramatically increase taxes while other governors have championed tax cuts.”

In 2023, he passed a bill making illegal aliens living in the U.S. eligible for driver’s licenses. He proposed giving illegal aliens free health insurance from the state’s low-income insurance plan. Walz supports laws that forbid local law enforcement from informing federal authorities about the status of illegal aliens that they arrest.

Walz, like Harris, changes his policy support for survival. While he was in Congress, he represented a very conservative Minnesota district. He crossed the aisle many times and supported bills that his conservative constituents told him to pass. In fact, at one time GovTrack rated Walz the 12th most politically right member of the House Democratic Caucus. Of course that was then – and this is now.

Democrats claim Walz will “bring normality back to the chaotic political environment,” just as Harris and Biden once promised. But most people see Walz as anything but a return to normalcy. And the Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley contended that the Harris and Walz team will “make up the most radical, far-left, progressive presidential ticket in the history of our country.”

There are many reasons why people are leaving states like Minnesota and California, which rank in the bottom 10 for net migration. Blue state progressive governors are raising taxes to patronize the illegal aliens and identity groups, at the expense of services used by taxpayers. They are funding drug addicts and the homeless programs, which encourages more to come. Their insane climate laws and other Orwellian politics make living in a blue state impossible and the people want out.

If Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win the election and take control of the House and the Senate, in four years America will be a clone of California. With progressives running America, California will have unprecedented influence on the laws passed by Congress. As the first California Democrat to win the White House, Harris will charter policies that replicate California’s ideology for all America.

Harris’ positions are so extreme they make Orwell’s Big Brother look liberal. Harris is the biggest remake of a candidate in political history. And we’ll see the real Kamala Harris on Nov. 6.

“In our age, there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia.” – George Orwell

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