“The Trump administration wants $716 billion for defense in 2019. Have we totally lost our minds? We already spend more on defense than the next eight countries combined — and President Trump believes we need more.”
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-military-spending-budget-20180215-story.html
“The debt has increased 123 percent over the past decade as the nation sought to break free of the financial crisis and the tepid growth that followed. Total debt is now nearly 105 percent of gross domestic product, just shy of its highest level since World War II. The most recent Congressional Budget Office projections have the trajectory leading to a debt-to-GDP ratio of 150 percent by 2047, well past the point where financial crises typically occur. In addition, the budget deficit is likely to swell, with the CBO projecting an increase from 2.9 percent of GDP in 2017 to 9.8 percent in 2047.”
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/13/us-security-chief-calls-national-debt-a-dire-threat.html
“The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 permanently erases those spending limits, while authorizing far more spending than would ever have been considered while the Tea Party movement held sufficient political influence to stop it. As a result, the U.S. government’s budget deficits for 2018 and 2019 appear set to grow the levels that the Congressional Budget Office had projected for its more realistic alternative fiscal scenario following President Obama’s spending proposals back in 2010.”
Read more: http://www.mygovcost.org/2018/02/12/the-end-of-the-tea-party/
“Lyn Ulbricht is Ross Ulbricht’s mother. Ross was the creator of the Silk Road website, which had a very important role in the history of bitcoin. Currently, Ross is serving a double life sentence without parole for all non-violent charges. Lyn has worked to bring awareness to the case and raise funds for Ross’s defense through www.FreeRoss.org. She has had many media interviews and public appearances and has helped bring awareness to the public of the case and Ross’s appeals. Her efforts have shined light into the darkness of the justice system, proving it to be a darker place than anywhere found on the dark web.”
“Take a program that lets a public employee earn both a pension and a salary at the same time. Add an extremely generous disability leave and workers’ compensation program that allows public employees to be paid while not working for months or even years on end. What do you get? Massive corruption, obviously.”
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/05/its-not-enough-to-get-paid-for-not-worki
“Heath Hall left his position with the Federal Railroad Administration after reports surfaced that he also was working as a public-relations consultant for the Madison County, Miss., sheriff’s office.”
“The House Intelligence Committee’s dueling partisan memos about FBI surveillance of a Trump campaign adviser will result in federal agents keeping secrets to themselves because they no longer trust Congress, experts warn.”
“FISA is a monster. It began as a means of surveilling foreign agents in the U.S., and today it is used for surveilling any American at any time.”
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/feb/7/a-lawful-means-for-foreign-surveillance-on-us-soil/
“Many people don’t understand that school officials aren’t necessarily doing what’s best for a kid, and that they are likely to bring in law enforcement if they suspect a crime has been committed. And sharing sexually charged images of minors—even consensually, even if the people doing the sharing are themselves minors—is a felony.”
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/07/teen-sexting-school-cop-arrested-porn
“The government has big plans and the most outrageous part about this entire scheme is you don’t have a choice – your data is entered.”