President-elect Donald Trump announced Sunday that his administration will be “fully operational” by 2:00 p.m. on Jan. 20.
Trump made the pledge to a capacity crowd at the Phoenix Convention Center as the closing speaker at Turning Point USA’s four-day annual America Fest event.
TPUSA President Charlie Kirk posted on social media that it was the largest turnout — 20,000 attendees — in the several years his organization has been hosting what has become the CPAC of the West.
Trump plans to waste no time after he is sworn in on Jan. 20, which usually happens around noon at the Capitol.
“We’re going to be fully operational, I would say by about two o’clock on the 20th,” the president-elect said. He’s obviously allowing himself a little time for the ceremony and the events that usually follow inside the Capitol afterward to end.
Then he will take the short drive from the Capitol to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Trump indicated in his over hour-long speech what some of his day 1 priorities will be, which include issuing executive orders to secure the border; removing diversity, equity, and inclusion policies; and restoring the traditional definition of gender.
“We will end the occupation, and January 20 will truly be Liberation Day in America … in honor of all of the victims of migrant crime,” he said.
The Republican also promised, “We’ll end the left’s campaign of racial discrimination and restore equality to our land and all over our land.”
“I will end all of the Marxist diversity, equity, and inclusion policies across the entire federal government immediately,” he continued. “In America, we believe in the merit system.”
Trump further pledged, “On day one we are going to stop the transgender lunacy. And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our [schools], and we will keep men out of women’s sports.”
“Under the Trump administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female,” he said.
Trump summarized, “Just as we did four years ago, my administration will live by the motto, ‘Promises made, promises kept.’”
After concluding his remarks, Trump performed his crowd favorite “Y.M.C.A.” dance.
Turning Point USA — which was originally founded to promote conservative ideals among America’s youth — now reaches all ages, as evidenced by the thousands, young to old, who attended America Fest.
President Trump brought Musk/Vivek on board as part of his team and the left is so bent out of shape because President Trump has these two people who pull out the weeds and expose the truth. And, these same Democrats instead of working together are continuing to cause trouble rather than working these bills.
With the reports of Democrats and the wasted money in the attached report it tells you they don’t know how to spend money for sure and then they try to make fun of the Republicans/President Trump/Musk/Vivek. What JOKERS they are.
Rand Paul’s 2024 ‘Festivus Report’: Border security for Paraguay, cocaine rats, and drag queen ice-skating
Today is Dec. 23, affectionately known as “Festivus,” a secular celebration that started in the 1960s, but made popular by the sitcom Seinfeld in the 1990s. It was created as a societal counter to the commercialism associated with the Christmas season.
However, it’s also become synonymous with wasteful government spending, particularly the millions of dollars in taxpayer money exposed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in his annual – and appropriately named—Festivus Report. The senator discovered over a trillion dollars in government waste in this year’s report, including funding for projects focused on ice-skating dragqueens, the construction of pickleball complexes, cocaine rats, and Ukrainian influencers, among others.
And while the fiscal responsibility Paul highlights is arguably quite tragic, for those clamoring for a return to financial stability and ending reckless government spending, Paul’s efforts and public revelations in his report are a joyous occasion. To quote (and tweak) a classic and beloved Christmas song:
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
With holiday greetings,
and fiscal responsibility pleadings,
from Sen. Rand Paul,
It’s the hap-happiest day of all.”
“Last Festivus, we bemoaned the national debt nearing $34 trillion. In just a year, Washington’s career politicians and bureaucrats have managed to push it beyond $36 trillion—unsurprisingly, with hardly a second thought,” Paul wrote in his introduction for ‘The Festivus Report 2024.’ “Who’s to blame for our crushing national debt? Everybody. This year, members of both political parties in Congress voted for massive spending bills, filled with subsidies for underperforming industries, continued military aid to Ukraine, and controversial climate initiatives. As Congress spends to reward its favored pet projects, the American taxpayers are forced to pay through high prices and crippling interest rates.”Related video: Rand Paul: We can repeal detrimental regulations (Fox Business
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Rand Paul: We can repeal detrimental regulations
Paul details the country’s looming fiscal doom if government spending is not significantly reduced. The senator highlights shocking facts regarding spending, including predictions from the Congressional Budget Office that the country will add “over $6.4 billion of debt every single day for the next ten years, borrowing over $268 million every hour, $4.5 million every minute, and over $74,401 every second.” It will culminate with the country adding “$2.1 trillion in debt annually for the next decade.”
Paul’s discovery of over a trillion dollars in government wasteful spending features many projects that accomplished little to nothing of significant importance. Here are some of the most egregious examples of reckless government spending in “The Festivus Report 2024.”Ice-skating drag queens for climate change
Paul revealed that the government provided funds for a drag queen ice-skating performance about the dangers of climate change. The National Endowment for the Arts gave the Bearded Ladies Cabaret in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, $10,000 for its “Beard on Ice” performance to promote climate change alarmism. The artistic director for the self-described “queer cabaret arts organization” provided the following statement regarding the performance:
“It’s so impossible, the issue of climate change and climate anxiety right now — almost as impossible as drag queens learning how to ice skate. So if we can get these drag queens to ice skate, maybe, just maybe, we can solve the climate crisis.”
The production was forced to cancel its opening-night performance due to poor ice conditions at the ice rink in which it was being held, according to reports. Using pandemic relief funds to buy an island
The report identified the misdeeds of a Florida businessman who reportedly used COVID-19 relief funds to purchase Sweetheart Island off the coast of Florida. An investigation into the purchase found that the swindler used funds obtained from pandemic assistance to “help finance the island purchase,” according to reports.
The person who tried to buy the island fraudulently received $7.8 million in emergency pandemic aid by submitting over 30 deceitful applications. He was eventually busted, convicted for his crimes, and sentenced to over five and a half years in federal prison, and agreed to return the $7.8 million in aid he received.
Millions of dollars spent on a pickleball court in Las Vegas
The “Festivus Report of 2024” discovered that the Department of the Interior spent $12 million to build a 30-court pickleball complex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The city hoped to eventually use these courts to host high-profile tournaments and put Vegas on the “global pickleball map.”Billions of dollars spent on nearly-empty office buildings
Paul’s “Festivus Report” identified the significant waste of billions of dollars. A report from the Government Accountability Office revealed the government needlessly spends $10 billion on underutilized office buildings nationwide. The report highlighted that the government spends $5 billion on leases for these buildings and another $2 billion on yearly maintenance costs.
The GAO report discovered that “these buildings are just oversized, expensive storage units for empty desks.” The waste of cash includes millions spent on furniture and office equipment in buildings where “offices largely remain empty,” according to the “Festivus Report.” A previous version of a waste report by Paul revealed that “the government spent $1.7 billion on 77,000 empty, unused properties.”Millions of dollars on border security – for Paraguay
The “Festivus Report” found that the State Department spent $2.1 million on border security—for Paraguay. At a time when illegal immigrants hit a historical record high, the U.S. government was providing millions of dollars to another country’s border security while ignoring failures and problems along the U.S. border. U.S. taxpayer dollars went to the South American country to help ensure people were not entering it illegally, while a record number of people were entering the U.S. illegally. Over $7 million on different projects studying magic
Abracadabra!
Sen. Paul found that the U.S. government spent taxpayer funds studying multiple government projects involving magic. Part of this “magical” spending included over $6 million from the Department of Defense on a “Magic City Discovery Center,” according to the “Festivus Report.” Other projects included $250,000 in funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services to modernize its “Magic Lantern Shows and Nickelodeons” exhibition. Other acts of astonishment given significant funding grants included $94,006 to the National Science Foundation to study The Magic School Bus and $388,863 to assess and analyze the podcast “Magic in the United States.”Millions of dollars in advancing fertilizer use in Pakistan and Vietnam
It’s no secret that the country’s farmers are experiencing significant economic hardships in recent years. Yet, despite these challenges, our country, which is trillions of dollars in debt, opted to provide $20 million to foreign countries such as Pakistan, Vietnam, Brazil, and Colombia for different programs with a broad scope of objectives, including boosting the income of farmers in Vietnam—not the U.S.
Paul cites many other programs in which the government wastes an exorbitant amount of money for what appears to be no legitimately beneficial reason. These include studying lonely, cocaine-addicted rats, spending nearly $5 million on foreign social media influencers, and spending $2 million to study children looking at food ads on Facebook, among many other shocking examples. These egregious acts of fiscal irresponsibility must stop. They are detrimental to the country and directly threaten the nation’s economic sustainability.
To see the numerous other examples of reckless government spending and waste, you can access Sen. Rand Paul’s “The Festivus Report” here.
Time to finish the border fence that Biden failed to finish and proceed to return immigrants to their home country. In the meantime, the Justice Department needs to do their job in connection with the person who did this inhuman act.
In a horrifying incident that has shocked New Yorkers and reignited debates on immigration policies, a Guatemalan national who was deported by the Trump administration in 2018 reentered the United States illegally and committed a heinous act of violence. The perpetrator, identified as Sebastian Zapeta, is accused of setting a woman on fire aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn.
The attack occurred around 7:30 a.m. in a quiet subway car. Witnesses reported that the victim appeared to be asleep when Zapeta, unprovoked, approached her and ignited her clothing using a lighter. Initial investigations suggest that Zapeta sat across from the woman, tossed a lit match at her, and watched as flames engulfed her body.
Adding to the gruesome nature of the crime, new footage shows Zapeta remaining at the station after the attack. He was seen sitting on a bench and even exacerbating the situation by fanning the flames as the woman burned. Nearby, liquor bottles were scattered around the victim, though their role in the incident remains unclear.
Adding insult to injury, a transit police officer was caught on video walking past the blazing scene, appearing to speak on a radio but failing to render immediate assistance or intervene with the suspect. The lack of immediate action has drawn sharp criticism from the public and local officials.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed that Zapeta is an illegal immigrant who was deported by the Trump administration in June 2018. He originally entered the U.S. illegally in Arizona on June 1, 2018, and was promptly deported on June 7, 2018.
However, under the Biden administration, Zapeta reentered the country as a “gotaway” — a term used to describe individuals who cross the border undetected and evade immigration enforcement. DHS sources indicate that Zapeta’s reentry occurred at an unknown time and location. He had been living freely in the U.S., evading authorities until his arrest for this violent crime.
The incident has reignited debates over border security and immigration policies, with critics arguing that lax enforcement under the Biden administration has allowed dangerous individuals to reenter the country. The fact that Zapeta, a previously deported individual, could cross the border undetected and commit such a heinous act has drawn sharp criticism from Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators.
Bill Melugin, a Fox News correspondent who covers border security, highlighted the case on social media, saying:
“Per DHS sources, the suspect accused of burning a woman to death on a NYC subway is a Guatemalan illegal alien who was previously deported by the Trump administration and re-entered the U.S. illegally as a gotaway.”
This revelation has intensified scrutiny of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, with many calling for stricter measures to prevent similar incidents.
*****
Time for President Trumps plan to return all immigrants to their home country.
Joe Biden’s presidency has always had a whiff of improvisation, a tendency to sidestep reality for the sake of convenience. But rarely was this more evident than in July 2021, when he assured the nation that “no serious economist” was worried about inflation spiraling out of control. It was a statement as false as it was revealing, encapsulating the administration’s mix of arrogance, economic mismanagement, and wishful thinking.
In hindsight, this moment offers more than a clue to Biden’s broader failures—it serves as Exhibit A in the case that his presidency was, at its core, marked by incompetence and denial.
Biden’s dismissal of inflation concerns wasn’t just a verbal misstep. It was a bizarre signal that Biden wasn’t in touch with the policy discussion going on across the country.
Larry Summers, a Democrat and former Treasury Secretary, had been sounding the alarm since February of 2021, warning that Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan risked overheating the economy. Olivier Blanchard, an equally esteemed economist, echoed those concerns. Even Federal Reserve officials, publicly clinging to the term “transitory,” were privately grappling with the possibility of persistent inflation.
At the time, we saw Biden’s claim that such warnings didn’t exist as a deliberate untruth. Now it seems more likely that Biden was just kept away from Democrat critics of his policies.
As time went on, it was clear that the Biden administration’s blind spot on inflation wasn’t just about inflation. It was about the Biden administration’s broader inability—or unwillingness—to confront hard truths. Time and again, the administration doubled down on policies that worsened the very crises it sought to manage:
Spending Overdrive: The American Rescue Plan wasn’t just unnecessary—it was reckless. The economy was already rebounding from the pandemic, with trillions in unspent stimulus still sloshing around. Injecting another nearly $2 trillion into the system was a surefire way to overheat demand.
Energy Myopia: Biden’s early hostility to fossil fuels, from canceling pipelines to restricting domestic drilling, exacerbated energy price shocks when global supply chains faltered. Inflation wasn’t imported—it was built in Washington.
Shifting Blame: When inflation finally reared its ugly head, the administration resorted to distractions, pinning the problem on corporate greed, shipping bottlenecks, and eventually the war in Ukraine. This scattershot blame game might have fooled partisans, but it didn’t fool voters.
The result? Inflation reached a 40-year high by mid-2022, crushing real wages and eroding household wealth. Whatever progress the administration might claim in reducing unemployment or passing legislation was drowned out by the palpable economic pain of everyday Americans.
What’s striking about Biden’s false inflation assurances is how they fit into a broader pattern of denial. This wasn’t the only issue where the administration seemed more interested in managing optics than tackling substance:
Afghanistan: The chaotic withdrawal was defended as unavoidable, even as military experts had long warned that a hasty exit would create a vacuum of chaos.
The Border: Record-breaking illegal crossings were dismissed as seasonal or overstated until the problem became too glaring to ignore.
Crime: Rising violence in cities across the country was initially waved away, only for Democratic mayors to later plead for more policing.
In every case, warnings were ignored until reality became impossible to deny—and by then, the damage was done.
Incompetence All Along
A recent Wall Street Journal article highlightedBiden’s mental decline, suggesting that his diminished capacity was an open secret among his inner circle. This would go a long way toward explaining the administration’s repeated missteps. But even absent that explanation, Biden’s presidency has been defined by a lack of curiosity and accountability—qualities essential for effective leadership.
The inflation debacle is a case study in how this administration operated: deny problems exist, deflect blame when they arise, and delay action until the damage becomes irreversible. Inflation wasn’t just an economic crisis. It was a political one that shattered trust in Biden’s competence and set the stage for his presidency’s eventual unraveling.
DDarkDog3 hours agoSadly every lie and dishonest proclamation was covered up by the MSM. The media gaslighted Americans as much or more than Joe Biden himself. The reward for this treachery demands nothing less than their complete and total economic destruction. 7 0Reply
Know the Truth DarkDogan hour agoThe Biden Administration over stated the jobs report by almost a million jobs created! Biden is nothing more than a but a big liar… 2 0Reply
EExtraordinaryANGEL Know the Truth33 minutes agoAlmost all new jobs went to illegals as well. His whole administration was a sham intended to take down America, complete what obama started. We may not know the full effect for decades. Trump has his hands full for sure to right the ship! 0 0Reply
RRYates DarkDog12 minutes agoHow many times does it have to be said? Joe Biden is and always has been an unprincipled buffoon. Yet the swamp continues to call him a decent old man with a poor memory. 0 0Reply
BBill Birch2 hours agoI told my lib sister well before the election he will raise gas price and wreck the economy. Didn’t care anything but orange she said. Safeway reg gas in my Oregon town was 1.89 Jan 20, 2021 day Biden took office. Made note as I shopped that day thinking it won’t be that again. It peaked 5.50 to a trough of 3.11 back to nearly 4 now back down to 3.05 lowest yet. Still not 1.89. That and print money. 5 out of the 6 bad economies since 1973 was high oil beginning with Nixon giving tanks to Israel. Opec reduced output aka Oil Weapon doubling gas price crashing the US economy then again under Carter now interest rates through the roof and its playing out all over again. Joe Biden became senator 1973. He knows this. Had high gas under Obama too. Biden pulled the pin on the oil weapon chucking it into the gears of the US economy knowing it would wreck it. Print money, high oil and he did it with all that experience. 6 0Reply
Reld NatureBoy2 hours ago…and they all had this smug confidence that they are totally in the right. As it turns out…now they are silent for the most part as it is starting to dawn on them what a complete moronic catostrophe Biden really was. 4 0Reply
katdogguy Bill Birch43 minutes agoMany OPEC countries realized in the 80’s and later on they were shooting themselves in the foot with the policy of Pan-Arabism tied to OPEC oil policies that they really derived no benefit from and only saddled them with political policies that held them back economically in dealing with the rest of the world as an indepenent countries. Now OPEC is used as an economic leveling device between richer and poorer oil countries but not so much as a political device anymore. That aside Democrats always act like economic results are not tied to political policies and that the aims of political policy are more important than the economic health of the nation as a whole. The past is present and future with them always repeating the same mistakes. 0 0Reply
Libtardologist3 hours agoFJB and Democrats didn’t make any mistakes in creating massive price inflation and wrecking the economy. They did it intentionally. The Democrat vote harvesting plan is impoverish tens of millions of people, get them on Big Government welfare, terrify them into submission and dependency on Big Government, and expect them to perpetually for vote Democrats.This is also the standard plan for all Leftist\Marxist\Pluralist\Communist Big Governments. The UKSSR’s and EUSSR’s central governments are infested with subservient Globalist puppets. They are transitioning the places into a 99% poor, 1% wealthy PinkoDonkey Economic Model, just like in the USSR, Cuba, NK, Columbian, Venezuela, Viet Nam.FJB 5 0Reply
BBubbles03an hour agoPeople who don’t have to worry about what bills to pay every month could never appreciate what the effects of 9% annual inflation, compounded to 20% over three years, has on a regular American family. Even those with two earners. 2 0Reply
katdogguy42 minutes agoIn hindsight, this moment offers more than a clue to Biden’s broader failures—it serves as Exhibit A in the case that “his life” was, at its core, marked by incompetence and denial. There, FIFY. 0 0Reply
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kommonsentsjane 