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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is proposing to dip into the state’s “rainy day” fund to help fill the hole that is the state’s $38 billion deficit — a stunning shortfall, given a surplus of nearly $100 billion that the Golden State had enjoyed just a year before. As Breitbart News has noted, California received shocking news at the end of 2022 when a $98 billion surplus, partly fueled by President Joe Biden’s “rescue” plan, collapsed into a $25 billion deficit. Later projections predicted an even larger deficit.

Index providers, Western managers face growing pressure over Chinese investments.. The report by the Coalition for a Prosperous America said a Vanguard fund has put money into companies sanctioned by the U.S. government over alleged human rights abuses.. HONG KONG -- Top index fund manager Vanguard has invested in scores of Chinese companies that have links to the nation's military or have been sanctioned by the U.S. government over alleged human rights abuses, according to research by a bipartisan U.S. group. The $98.7 billion Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund has invested in the subsidiaries of 60 companies that are...

A staggering 371 Americans have been charged with stealing roughly $836 million in COVID relief funds — including gang members who used the money to hire hitmen, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. The charges were the result of a three-month-long joint investigation conducted by law enforcement agencies across the nation from May through July, according to the DOJ. The department has focused on “bringing to justice those who stole from American businesses and families at a time of national emergency,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. Sixty-three of those facing charges include gang members and defendants with connections to violent...

6-pack: Box contains cans of "Leopard Beer". https://olaf.fi/collections/frontpage/products/olaf-leopard-beer-sixpack-coming-soon

The White House is asking Congress for another $5 billion to bus, fly, and house the southern flood of economic migrants into Americans’ workplaces and housing. Any additional funding will accelerate the federal “cheap labor distribution [network] that too many politicians in Washington are willing to participate in,” said John Feere, a former homeland security official. He now works for the Center for Immigration Studies.

It is an “interesting idea” for Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) to fund the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) with his personal funds, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — who is himself a millionaire — told Punchbowl News Thursday. McConnell, whose net worth was estimated in 2018 to be $34,137,534, has been taking aim at Scott, who chairs the NRSC, for the way in which Scott is planning to defeat Senate Democrats in November. Scott has publicly described the minority leader’s criticisms as a “strategic disagreement.” But when McConnell’s allies have taken to writing articles condemning Scott’s leadership, the NRSC chairman called...

The “Kill Keystone XL” crowd isn’t little David up against a Big Oil Goliath. As usual, conventional wisdom isn’t wisdom when the mainstream media ask all the wrong questions with commensurate answers. Behemoth Big Green outstrips Big Oil in expendable revenue by orders of magnitude — if you know how to follow the money. The mainstream media don’t know how. Like most liberals, their staffs are afflicted with what 20th century futurist Herman Kahn called “Educated Incapacity” — the learned inability to understand or even perceive a problem, much less a solution. They’ve been taught to be blind, unable to...

London -- British-Indian prime ministerial candidate Rishi Sunak on Wednesday pledged a crackdown on Islamist extremism, the UK's most “significant terror threat”, with a widened government definition of extremism and strengthening existing terrorism legislation. The 42-year-old former Chancellor, who is seen closing the gap with opponent Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the race to 10 Downing Street, also vowed to weed out organisations that promote extremism in the UK and refocus the “failing”. Prevent programme, a government tool intended to tackle Islamist extremism. “There is no more important duty for a Prime Minister than keeping our country and our people...

Hansjörg Wyss, a Swiss citizen, has contributed millions to nonprofits that have benefited Democratic causes. Insiders say he will ramp it up leading to the November midterm elections.. A Swiss octogenarian billionaire has donated tens of millions of dollars to Democratic politicians and progressive causes in “dark money” contributions — and Hansjörg Wyss is likely funneling millions more to influence midterm elections in November, One Virginia-based think tank estimates that, since 2016, nonprofits linked to Wyss have funneled more than $253 million to Democratic candidates and related causes, such as voter registration initiatives that benefit the party and ... through...

Consumers’ Research, the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization, sent a Dec. 2 letter (pdf) to ten U.S. governors warning them about the reliance of their states’ pension funds on BlackRock’s strong ties to China. BlackRock, under its CEO Larry Fink, is the first foreign-owned company to receive a license to operate in China’s $3.5 trillion mutual fund industry, Forbes reported. Consumers’ Research executive director William Hild sent the warning to the governors of Washington, Florida, New York, Nevada, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Montana, Nebraska, and West Virginia—the ten states with the most investments in BlackRock. Washington has invested the most...

The Social Security trust fund for retirement and survivors benefits is estimated to have its reserves depleted in 2033, one year earlier than previously projected, according to the trustees’ report released Tuesday. At the time of depletion, income flowing to the trust fund would be enough to pay 76 percent of scheduled benefits, the report said. Senior administration officials said on a call with reporters that the earlier projected depletion date was due to the coronavirus-related economic downturn, particularly a near-term decline in revenue.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas authorized the payment on Sunday of $42,000 to the family of a terrorist who killed two Israelis through a policy that incentivizes and rewards terrorism against Israel. Laila Ghannam, governor of Ramallah’s Al-Bireh district, personally handed the money to the family of Muhannad Al-Halabi, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group . Al-Halabi fatally stabbed two Israeli civilians in 2015 before being shot by police. The $42,000 payment was given to Al-Halabi’s parents "on behalf of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which tracks regional media...

WASHINGTON—An investment management firm has created a new fund that invests in companies supporting conservative beliefs and values. Founded by Ridgeline Research LLC, a Washington-based investment adviser, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) is actively managed and seeks to avoid ownership of companies that back progressive and liberal political causes. The fund, called American Conservative Values ETF, debuted on Oct. 29 with a focus on large-capitalization U.S. stocks. The fund, which refuses to invest in liberal media, also boycotts companies that are hostile to conservative values and disproportionately contribute to liberal causes, campaigns, candidates, political action committees, charities, and think tanks. Bill...

Boston University’s student radio station has canceled a planned benefit concert for the Mass Bail Fund after the fund has come under heavy criticism for bailing out a convicted rapist who’s now charged with striking again. The student-run BU station WTBU said in a statement Friday afternoon, “Due to recent news about the Massachusetts Bail Fund helping to release defendants with serious charges, we have decided to cancel today’s concert. We apologize for our ignorance about the Mass Bail Fund and for triggering any trauma while recently supporting the fund.”

With lawsuits piling up against Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, his lawyers asked a judge Wednesday to hasten approval of a victim-compensation fund, according to new court papers. The program was proposed last month, in order to facilitate settling claims with victims who say they were sexually abused by the dead pedophile, and the estate’s lawyers asked for an “expedited approval” at the time. The hope was to have the program up and accepting claims within 90 days, the lawyers said at the time. Wednesday, the lawyers gave the judge another nudge, asking that their Nov. 14 motion be ruled on right...

Within the last week I read an article about a fund (on the order of over $1 trillion) that the President can access to build the border wall, without the approval of Congress. I'm pretty sure it was here (as opposed to Drudge, which is my other "go to" page), but now I can't find it. I'm kicking myself for not having bookmarked or printed the article. It is NOT the 2/1 National Sentinel article that talks about Title 10, Section 284 of the US code, which grants authority to the Pentagon for support of counter-drug operations. Does this ring...

The big dollar muggings in Washington these days are not done with pistols. The sophisticated weapons of choice are “sole source contracting,” lobbyists, and insiders. And the victims are not tourists, but taxpayers. Large multinationals game the system using the revolving door between government and the private sector, with the help of aggressive lobbying. There are so many examples, but one is the fourth largest privately- owned company in the United States, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, which originated as one of the biggest accounting companies in America. Today they are masters of the D.C. contracting game with sole source contracting....

Over the past six years, Lane Fury has collected more than $185,000 in family money. Eventually, Fury stands to inherit roughly $6 million, but the 27-year-old doesn’t see this good fortune as a positive thing. “I don’t actually want it,” says Fury. “There is this sense of shame or embarrassment, like maybe some of the problems in the world are my fault, so I shouldn’t really be open about [my wealth].” While many people struggle to pay the bills and make ends meet, those lucky enough to have family money say they have problems of their own. Fury says having...

The UN special envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov on Tuesday urged U.S. President Donald Trump to resume funding he had cut to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency which assists “Palestinian refugees”. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East and quoted by Haaretz, Mladenov said that "UNRWA’s financial crisis remains a very serious concern. At present, UNRWA needs some $217 million to sustain its work in 2018. I urge the swift mobilization of support to enable the continuity of assistance and a maintenance of stability on the ground in the region."...

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it will be ending an Obama/Holder-era slush fund that funded radical left-wing groups. As TGP previously reported, the Obama administration funneled billions of dollars to activist organizations through a Department of Justice slush fund scheme, according to congressional investigators and the GOP was looking to eliminate it. Another win for Americans as Obama’s ‘legacy’ is erased and replaced with law and order.