1) IRS Funding Higher Biden Priority Than Staffing Military And Border Patrol
This CNN headline from a few days ago caught our attention and is deeply troubling:
The Army is projecting it likely will fall short of its recruiting goal by as many as 40,000 Troops over two years
So what is Biden going to do about that? Hire 75,000 new IRS agents. Here's a headline yesterday from Bloomberg:
Biden Poised to Get Win on $80 Billion IRS Funding in Reconciliation Package
So while Biden is spending $80 billion to double the number of IRS agents and auditors, the Army is falling far short of its recruitment goals for our national security.
Meanwhile, the Border Patrol is running short of agents in Arizona and Texas. The border is so porous these days that even mayors of sanctuary cities are starting to complain about illegal immigration.
Yet the cost of the entire Border Security at Homeland Security is estimated at about $55 billion a year which is LESS than the entire INCREASE in IRS funding to harass American citizens.
We are all sitting on pins and nails waiting for a decision from Arizona's Sinema on the fate of the Biden half trillion dollar tax and spend bill. Will see save the country? No one seems to know, but we do know that she would be a hero in Arizona if she squashes this sham deal.
The first poll we've seen on the bill in Arizona shows it's a political loser:
54% of respondents believe that a major spending and tax bill would cause inflation to increase.
“Inflation and the cost of living” was the #1 issue when respondents were asked "which issue is personally most important to you in deciding your vote for Governor and US Senate."
63% believe said that Congress should not increase taxes during a recession.
59% of respondents believe the United States is already in a recession with another 20% worried about recession.
3) Drug Price Controls Will Destroy Millions Of Lives
University of Chicago professor Tomas Philipson is preparing a study for us at the CTUP and has a piece in Newsweek on the impact of the Manchin bill on drug innovation. A few of the chilling findings:
Over the next 17 years, the bill would reduce drug industry research and development by about $663 billion, resulting in 135 fewer new medicines. This will amount to a loss of 330 million life-years, about 30 times the loss from COVID-19 so far. The associated loss in value is more than $66 trillion, with longevity conservatively valued at half the amount used by agencies such as FDA and EPA. No economic gains have more value than living longer to see those gains.
Losses could include cures for Alzheimer's, cancer, and so much more. Indeed, nearly 50% of today's FDA pipeline is for new cancer medicines—and the bill would cut the amount spent on cancer research by more than nine times as much as Biden's "Cancer Moonshot" initiative raises it.
4) Electric Vehicle Subsidies A Blue State Hand Out
The Schumer-Manchin Monster tax and spending bill include perhaps the most outrageous corporate welfare program in memory. The bill would give EV buyers up to $7,500 in federal tax credits if their vehicle was built with union labor in North America. Buyers of used electric vehicles would be eligible for a credit of up to $4,000. The credits would be unlimited and last 10 years. Soon the feds will simply buy the cars for people.
Who gets all the money? Mostly Californians who account for 40% of the EV sales. Add In blue states Washington and New York and these three states account for half the subsidy recipients. Meanwhile, poor states like West Virginia and Mississippi get almost none of the benefits.
5) New Jersey Doesn't Know What To Do With All The "Free Money" From Uncle Sam
This is another one of those stories you can't make up. Last year Congress and the Biden administration gave New Jersey $6 billion of COVID money, but now the state can’t figure out how to spend it all, according to NJ Spotlight News, a Jersey-based newsletter, Democratic lawmakers in Trenton are “divvying up COVID-19 aid quickly and in private.” The state plans on spending the money on sewer systems, water projects, pre-kindergarten programs, and new computer software for the Department of Motor Vehicles.
What does any of this have to do with fighting COVID?
Why in the world did the federal government which is $30 Trillion in debt pass out money it can’t afford to states that didn’t need it? And why didn’t Jersey do the stand-up thing and just send the extra money back to Washington?
