Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he’s working on national legislation to ban cell phones in schools, citing concerns about depression, low academic performance, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, radiation exposure… and also probably dumb memes.
Photo credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
MARKETS
Gold
$4,836.09
+3.37%
Silver
$94.06
-0.55%
Bitcoin
$88,914.62
-3.92%
Dow
48,488.59
-1.76%
S&P
6,796.86
-2.06%
Nasdaq
22,954.32
-2.39%
*Stock data as of market close, cryptocurrency data as of 5:00 a.m.
Lead: Shutdown Averted, Accountability Gone: What Congress Buried in the $1.7 Trillion Bill
Photo credit: AI-generated image (ChatGPT/OpenAI)
Congress has unveiled yet another last-minute spending bill to avert a government shutdown that would begin in February. The package weighs in at roughly $1.7 trillion, fully funding the federal government through the end of September. It’s a massive omnibus that locks in spending for the rest of the year and kicks every hard budget fight down the road until fall.
The bill was put forward by both parties, which means it’s unlikely to spark a long, drawn-out fight. When leadership on both sides signs on, you can safely assume that everyone’s spending wish list made it in.
And indeed, this thing is a spending behemoth. It doesn’t just fund the basics of keeping the government open. It layers in new programs, expanded defense initiatives, foreign security commitments, and long-term authorizations that would never survive as standalone bills. By bundling everything together, Congress insulates controversial line items from scrutiny and pushes them through under the pressure of an artificial crisis.
Here’s the real kick in the pants: Remember the health-care eligibility fight Republicans made such a big deal about in the last spending showdown? The one they swore was about stopping permanent expansions of pandemic-era programs?
It’s gone.
Those “temporary” pandemic expansions in health and welfare programs are now effectively baked in as permanent costs for taxpayers. That hard-fought battle last fall? Turns out it was just theater. For fun, right?
And here is another kick in the pants: Buried several hundred pages deep is something Congress apparently considers non-negotiable: money for Israel.
Flip to page 101 of 1,059 and you’ll find provisions allocating hundreds of millions of dollars for Israeli missile-defense programs, including Iron Dome and other joint U.S.–Israel systems. Once again, Congress has structured things so that funding the U.S. government also requires funding another country’s defense infrastructure.
They sold us down the river with this one and both sides keep doing it.
The U.S. Is Done With Ukraine. Now Europe Has to Pay
This is the same group of globalists that warned Ukraine to stop attacking it's own people and handle its corruption in 2015. I guess they're over that bit of conscience now.
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said that Ukraine still needs subsidies to keep the electricity on. Ukrainian President Zelensky was not there to hear this. He is reportedly not coming because President Trump won't meet with him. So what is the point?
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Europe has to worry about funding the war in Ukraine, a clear signal that the U.S. is stepping back from that bill. This comes at an awkward moment, as Europe is already consumed with its own internal fractures and security anxieties, including the escalating Greenland dispute. This means that Europe may have to pay for its own wars for a while because the U.S. is busy with Greenland, Venezuela, and Israel.
Which brings us to the moral of the story.
Don’t make friends with the United States and then build your national survival strategy around American follow-through. The U.S. helped bring war to Ukraine, convinced Europe to bankroll it like useful idiots, and is now walking away while everyone else stares down an empty bank account.
That’s the deal and Europe bought it. Don't say we didn't warn you suckers!
Real Cereal, Real Ingredients — Meet Lovebird
Flip your box over: most cereals are lab projects. Lovebird Cereal keeps it simple—just 7 real ingredients (right on the front). Example: Honey O’s = buckwheat, cassava, coconut, honey, coconut sugar, vanilla, sea salt. That’s it.
Organic, grain-free, gluten-free with prebiotic fiber for gut health
No refined sugar, no “natural flavor” chemistry, no high-potency sweeteners
Third-party tested glyphosate-free
Family-owned and donating 20% of profits to fight childhood cancer
Did you miss our last live show? No problem — catch the replay here, including our recent segment with Anna McGovern breaking down the growing EU push to intervene on X and the politics behind the AI panic.
What's Trending
Photo credit: @jdvance
Usha Vance is trending because the office of the Vice President announced that the Second Lady is pregnant with her fourth child. She turned 40 two weeks ago. This will be the first time a sitting second lady has had a baby while in office.
Rachel McAdams is trending after receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday. Contrary to popular belief, these stars are not awarded based on artistic merit. Recipients must apply (often through a studio or publicist), agree to appear in person, and pay a fee of roughly $75,000 to cover installation, maintenance, and the ceremony itself. The Walk of Fame functions less like an honor bestowed by peers and more like a paid, promotional milestone.
Netflix is trending because the streaming company released earnings on Tuesday and they were strong. The company reports that its full-year ad revenue grew by more than 2.5-times to over $1.5 billion and that they now have over 325 million world subscribers.
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