Unprecedented: Trump Shuts Down Almost All Federal Funding, But DC Judge Freezes Trump’s Freeze

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2025 //
27

Trump is determined to remove all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from the federal government.

Through the Office of Management and Budget, the Trump administration has cut off almost all federal funding. This is called “impoundment,” meaning that the…

Unprecedented: Trump Shuts Down All Federal Funding

D.C. Judge freezes Trump’s halt to federal programs until February 3:

The New York Times reported:

President Trump’s order to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans led to confusion, outrage and threats of legal action on Tuesday as it interrupted the Medicaid system that provides health care to millions of low-income Americans and other programs that depend on the flow of federal money.

As the White House moved to rapidly put in place Mr. Trump’s plan to purge the government of what he calls a “woke” ideology, federal health researchers, nonprofits and programs for early childhood education also reported that their usual access to federal funds had gone down, raising alarms about whether the order meant people would lose access to jobs, health care services, reduced-price meals and more.

Trump has said that DEI programs are “immoral and illegal” The Smithsonian Institution closed its diversity office. Any institution that depends on federal funding must immediately halt any outreach to Black, Hispanic, and Asian job candidates, as well as women.

The white patriarchy is in charge again!

Categories Extremism, Funding, Gender, Race, Trump

Unprecedented: Trump Shuts Down All Federal Funding

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2025 //
37

Through the Office of Management and Budget, the Trump administration has cut off all federal funding. This is called “impoundment,” meaning that the President refuses to spend money for programs authorized by Congress. It is illegal. It is unprecedented. This is the action of a dictator, not a President in a democratic society.

I received the following notice:

Potential Implications of Trump’s Sweeping, Illegal Funding Freeze


January 28, 2025


Late Monday, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget issued a
memorandum ordering federal agencies to immediately halt vast swaths of federal funding set to go out to states, families, and communities in every part of the country.


The sweeping, unprecedented directive builds on unlawful executive orders President Trump has signed to deny the American people investments Congress has made. It is not only illegal, but will have severe consequences for real people in every part of the country—in red states and blue states and everywhere in between.


As Senator Patty Murray wrote to OMB last night alongside House Appropriations Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro:


“The scope of what you are ordering is breathtaking, unprecedented, and will have
devastating consequences across the country. …. The law is the law—and we demand you in your role as Acting OMB Director reverse course to ensure requirements enacted into law are faithfully met and the nation’s spending laws are implemented as intended.”


The sweeping directive is effective at 5 PM ET on Tuesday, January 28.


If implemented broadly, as written, this action by the Trump administration could block
hundreds of billions of dollars in approved funding—sowing chaos nationwide, hurting
American families and businesses, killing jobs, and undermining our national security and
emergency preparedness.


Among much else, the directives in the memo could block funding for:


 PUBLIC SAFETY: Grants for law enforcement and homeland security activities will
cease to go out the door, undermining public safety in every state and territory.


 DISASTER RELIEF: Public assistance and hazard mitigation grants from the Disaster
Relief Fund (DRF) to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments and non-profits to
help communities quickly respond to, recover from, and prepare for major disasters will
be halted—right as so many communities are struggling after severe natural disasters,
most recently in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and California.


 INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS: All federally-funded transportation projects across
the country—roads, bridges, public transit, and more—will be halted, including projects
already under construction.


 COMBATTING FENTANYL CRISIS: Funding for communities to address the
substance use disorder crisis and combat the fentanyl crisis will be cut off.


 988 SUICIDE AND CRISIS LIFELINE: Funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, as well as grants for mental health services, will be cut off.


 BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: There will be immediate pauses on all funding for
critical health research, including research on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes,
as well as clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center and all across the country—disrupting
lifesaving and often time-sensitive research.


 EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: Critical preparedness and response capability
funding used to prepare for disasters, public health emergencies, and chemical,
biological, radiological, or nuclear events will be frozen.


 FIREFIGHTING: Grants to support firefighters across the country will be halted—this includes grants that help states and localities purchase essential firefighting equipment.


 HEAD START: Funding for Head Start programs that provide comprehensive early
childhood education for more than 800,000 kids and their families will be cut off.
Teachers and staff would not get paid and programs may not be able to stay open.

 CHILD CARE: Child care programs across the country will not be able to access the
funding they rely on to keep their doors open.


 K-12 SCHOOLS: Federal funding for our K-12 schools will be halted. School districts
may not be able to access key formula grant funding including Title I, IDEA, Impact Aid,
and Career and Technical Education, which would pose tremendous financial burdens on
schools in the middle of the school year.


 HIGHER EDUCATION AND JOB TRAINING: Millions of students relying on Pell
grants, federal student loans, and federal work study will have their plans to pursue
postsecondary education and further their careers thrown into chaos as federal financial
aid disbursements are paused.


 HEALTH SERVICES: Federal funding for community health centers that provide
health care for over 30 million Americans will be immediately frozen, creating chaos for
patients trying get their prescriptions, a regular checkup, and more.


 SMALL BUSINESSES: The Small Business Administration will have to halt loans to
small businesses—including those in disaster ravaged communities in North Carolina,
Texas, and Florida.


 VETERANS CARE: Federal grants to help veterans in rural areas access health care and
grants to help veterans get other critical services, including suicide prevention resources, transition assistance, and housing for homeless veterans, will be cut off.


 NUTRITION ASSISTANCE: Millions of American citizens who rely on nutrition
assistance programs like SNAP, WIC, and school lunch programs will be left hungry as
funding is cut off and non-profits who provide additional assistance lose federal funding.


 TRIBES: Funding to Tribes for basic government services like health care, public safety, programs, Tribal schools, and food assistance will be halted.


 PREVENTING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: All Violence Against Women Act
(VAWA) grants, as well as funding for victims assistance and state and local police, will
be cut off.


 U.S. COMPETITIVENESS: Existing grants to support research for AI and quantum
computing will be halted and any new grant funding would be paused—undermining
U.S. innovation and competitiveness with China and putting American jobs at risk.


 ENERGY JOBS: Grants for critical energy projects nationwide will be cut off—halting
billions of dollars in investment nationwide and jeopardizing good-paying American
jobs. The Department of Energy Loan Program Office will halt loans in 28 states,
impacting hundreds of thousands construction and operations jobs.


 FOOD INSPECTIONS: Some states will have to take on the full financial burden of
ensuring the nation’s meat supply is safe if federal cooperative agreements for meat
inspection are halted.


 SUPPORT FOR SERVICEMEMBERS: Support for a host of DOD financial assistance and grant programs supporting servicemembers and their families will be halted, including the Fisher House, Impact Aid, community noise mitigation, ROTC language training, STEM programs, and the USO.


 WEAKENS MILITARY READINESS: Grants and other assistance appropriated to
strengthen military effectiveness and defense capacity will be halted, including Defense
Production Act support for the defense industrial base, basic research grants necessary to advance key technologies, and small business support to strengthen supply chains.


 AMERICANS OVERSEAS: Programs that track and combat the spread of infectious
diseases, create business opportunities for American companies in emerging markets,
combat terrorism, and counter the influence of the PRC, Russia, and Iran—and efforts to
ensure the safety and security of Americans implementing these programs—are all
suspended and could be terminated.

#

Categories Extremism, Funding, Trump

ProPublica: Trump Chooses Lawyer as #2 at EPA Who Opposes EPA Regulations

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2025 //
1

Trump’s picks for his Cabinet are appalling. His choices for #2 are a five-alarm fire. For the #2 position at the Environmental Protection Agency, he selected a lawyer who represents corporations who oppose EPA regulations.

ProPublica reports:

The man tapped by President Donald Trump to be second-in-command of the federal agency that protects the public from environmental dangers is a lawyer who has represented companies accused of harming people and the environment through pollution.

David Fotouhi, a partner in the global law firm Gibson Dunn, played a key part in rolling back climate regulations and water protections while serving as a lawyer in the Environmental Protection Agency during Trump’s first administration.

Most recently, Fotouhi challenged the EPA’s recent ban of asbestos, which causes a deadly cancer called mesothelioma. In a brief filed in October on behalf of a group of car companies called the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, he argued that, for the specific uses that were banned, the “EPA failed to demonstrate that chrysotile asbestos presents an unreasonable risk of injury.”

The EPA banned the carcinogen in March, long after its dangers first became widely known. More than 50 other countries have outlawed use of the mineral. The agency had worked toward the ban for decades, and workers died while lobbyists pushed to delay action, as a 2022 ProPublica investigation showed.

Less than a day after Trump’s inauguration this week, the White House webpage that celebrated the historic ban was gone.

Categories Accountability, Environment, Ethics, Extremism, Trump

Texas: Governor Abbott Has No Mandate for Vouchers

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2025 //
5

Dr. Glenn Rogers, a staunch conservative from a rural district in Texas, opposed vouchers because the people who elected him didn’t want vouchers. Governor Greg Abbott promised his deep-pocketed donors that he would get vouchers. So Republican legislators like Glenn Rogers had to go.

Dr. Rogers is now a contributing columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He is a rancher and a veterinarian in Palo Pinto County. He served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2021-2025.

He explains here that Governor Abbott has no mandate for vouchers.

The 2024 Texas Republican primary was brutal and unprecedented in the volume of unwarranted character assassination, misdirection and, of course, money spent from both “dark” and “illuminated” sources.

Despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s persistent opposition to rural Republican House members and a fourth special legislative session, a bipartisan majority defeated school vouchers (called education savings accounts) by stripping off an amendment in Rep. Brad Buckley’s ominous omnibus education bill that tied critical school funding to vouchers.

The governor then proceeded to launch his scorched-earth attack on rural Republicans. Of the 21 that voted for their districts instead of Abbott’s pet project, five did not seek re-election, four were unopposed, nine lost their seats and three were victorious. Only one third remain in the House.

Reducing Republican opposition to vouchers was a resounding success for the governor and he has been crowing ever since that the 2024 slaughter proves Texans across the state desire vouchers (“school choice” in governor speak). But does it?

During the primary campaign, polling data clearly demonstrated vouchers were not a priority for Texas voters, including those in my district. The border, followed by property taxes and inflation were top of mind, with vouchers barely making the top 10.

With four special sessions, Christmas and a week with a major freezing-weather event, block-walking time before the early March primary was limited to about six good weeks. I hit the pavement hard and, true to the polling data and my consultant’s advice, the border and property taxes were on everyone’s mind. In fact, after knocking on thousands of doors throughout the district, I had only a handful of questions about vouchers and usually from current or retired educators who were anti-voucher.

Abbott frequently referred to Republican ballot Proposition 9 as proof of massive voucher support. “Texas parents and guardians should have the right to select schools, whether public or private, for their children, and the funding should follow the student,” the ballot measure read.

With only around 20% primary voter turnout and questions designed by the State Republican Executive Committee to confirm their often-radical views, the results are hardly a reputable referendum for anything. The wording and structure of the voucher proposition were flawed. Professional surveyors suggest that to receive the most genuine responses, questions should be asked one at a time. The proposition fails to follow this fundamental rule by asking two questions at once and only allowing for a single “Yes” or “No” response.

Of course, everyone wants choice and thankfully we already have a choice of public, charter, private and home school opportunities

The proposition also failed to ask whether voters supported taking tax dollars away from public education to fund a voucher program. That question certainly would have told a different story.

The goal was vouchers, but the tactic was misinformation about completely different issues that captured voters’ attention. The governor repeatedly stated that my fellow rural Republicans and I were weak on the border or that we couldn’t be trusted on border issues. He referred to my F rating from Tim Dunn-financed scorecards.

Ironically, the governor was fully supported by me on every one of his legislative priorities, especially the border, but with one major exception: school vouchers.

I served on the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee the last two sessions and voted 97.5% with caucus recommendations. I voted 96% of the time with the Republican majority. Yet Abbott stated in his rallies in my district that I consistently voted with Democrats. These are disingenuous tactics straight out of the Texas Scorecard playbook.

The governor may have an out-of-state mandate for vouchers, funded by Pennsylvanian TikTok billionaire and voucher profiteer Jeff Yass, who poured over $10 million into Abbott’s crusade to purge Republican House members.

But here in Texas, the mandate simply does not exist.

If Texans truly supported diverting public-school funds to private interests, there would have been no need for fearmongering and smear campaigns to achieve it. The fact that the governor resorted to such underhanded methods is not a show of strength or conviction. It is a tacit admission that Texans are not buying what he is trying to sell.

Categories Accountability, Billionaires, Democracy, Disruption, Elections, Extremism, Privatization, Rural Schools, Texas, Vouchers

Greg Palast: Trump Lost Due to GOP Voter Suppression

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2025 //
18

In 2001, after the hotly contested election that George W. Bush won by 537 votes in Florida, the nonpartisan Miller Center at the University of Virginia created The National Commission on Federal Election Reform to make recommendations about how to remedy defects in the election system. The co-chairs of the commission were former President Gerald R. Ford and former President Jimmy Carter. I had the good fortune to be a member of that distinguished commission. The commission was comprised of equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. There was no partisan acrimony. We all agreed on two principles: first, that every qualified citizen should be encouraged to vote; and two, every vote should be counted.

How times have changed! Republicans are so fanatically devoted to the Great Con Artist Donald Trump that they minimize the brazen attempt to overturn the government and the Constitution to keep him in power. They dismiss the pardoning of those who brutalized police officers, smashed windows and doors at the U.S. Capitol and threatened to kill Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi on behalf of their idol.

I immediately sensed that something smelled fishy about the election results in 2024. I saw his lethargic rallies and her passionate, enthusiastic rallies. I didn’t think he could possibly win. Her voters were motivated, his were not. When the results were in, I thought that the election was rigged. I thought that Musk or Putin had fixed the computers.

I was wrong. Not about the accuracy of the outcome but about the means of rigging the vote. Trump partisans couldn’t take the risk of a free and fair election. So they spent four years organizing voter suppression on a grand scale.

Greg Palast is expert at monitoring vote integrity. He did the statistical work, and his conclusion was that Trump lost. He lost due to a sustained Republican effort to suppress the votes of likely Democratic voters.

He wrote:

Trump lost. That is, if all legal voters were allowed to vote, if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presidency with 286 electoral votes.

And, if not for the mass purge of voters of color, if not for the mass disqualification of provisional and mail-in ballots, if not for the new mass “vigilante” challenges in swing states, Harris would have gained at least another 3,565,000 votes, topping Trump’s official popular vote tally by 1.2 million.

Stay with me and I’ll give you the means, methods and, most important, the key calculations.

The result: Trump is an illegitimate president.

Just like “miracle schools” rig test scores by excluding low-scoring students, MAGA desperados rigged the election by excluding likely Harris voters.

Now Trump is busily engaged in destroying the federal government and replacing independent career civil servants with Trump loyalists. Department after department will be led by Trump cronies who pledge allegiance to him, not to the country or the Constitution.

Long-standing policies against discrimination are being trashed.

A completely unqualified MAGA-man was confirmed by the Republican Senate majority and placed in charge of the Department of Defense. Soon, Senate Republicans will decide whether to place a woman with zero experience and dubious foreign connections in charge of all government intelligence agencies. And they will decide whether to place a crackpot in charge of public health.

I am a patriot. I love the United States of America .

I cry for my country.

Categories Democracy, Democrats, Elections, Republicans

This Is Happening in Our Country Today

By dianeravitch
January 28, 2025 //
19

Categories Accountability, Cruelty, Disruption, Trump

John Thompson: Is There Hope For Change in Oklahoma?

By dianeravitch
January 27, 2025 //
3

John Thompson, historian and retired teacher in Oklahoma, keeps close watch on state politics. He looks for rays of hope in a gerrymandered state.

He writes:

In Oklahoma, where rightwing MAGAs, led by Governor Kevin Stitt, State Superintendent Ryan Walters, and our most extreme state legislators, continue to double down on irrational and, above all, cruel agendas, it remains unclear whether Democrats and adult Republicans will be successful in pushing back. But there are still reasons for hope.

Although Walters remains the best known voice for absurdity, I still believe that Gov. Stitt’s agenda would be the most destructive – if he could get it done. For instance, the Oklahoma Supreme Court was as thoroughly corrupt as any in the nation – before we created an apolitical Judicial Nominating Commission. Stitt’s attempt to dissolve the commission failed. But dark money PACs tied to Stitt fueled a campaign to remove the three justices who were appointed by Democrats.

In the last month, Stitt said that “Oklahomans see that you need one neck to choke, and it’s usually the governor,” [so] “let the governor (…) put these people in place and then hold them accountable.” Clearly, he was implying that he, the outgoing governor, should appoint “most state-wide officials,” including the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. That would be the path back to our state’s corrupt oligarchy of my youth.

And, as the legislative session is about to open, the Oklahoma Voice recalls Gov. Stitt’s signing of “Oklahoma’s legislative darling.” The law has been “dubbed the ‘Women’s Bill of Rights.’” It “claims to champion fairness and safety for women” by setting “legal definitions for ‘male’ and ‘female,’ tying them firmly to biological sex assigned at birth.”  The Voice further explains, “Oklahoma’s law isn’t just tone-deaf to this reality — it pours gasoline on the fire.” Then it reminds Stitt that the law will clearly undermine efforts to attract businesses to Oklahoma.

The 2025 legislative session also creates opportunities for extremists to show how brutal they can be, but it also provides opportunities to push back against the worst of the worst. In 2023, Republican Rep. Jim Olsen successfully opposed a bill that would “ban schools from physically punishing disabled children.” Olsen said, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son.” So the Bible “tells us that if you will not use the rod on a disobedient child, you do not love that child.”

Now, after an interim study, on the “effectiveness of properly administered corporal punishment,” there is reason to hope that Olsen will allow that simple, humane provision to become law.

But, Republican Sen. Lisa Standridge seems to have drawn from the political tactic of shipping immigrants to northern cities in order to deny the basic human rights of homeless persons in small town Oklahoma, as well as our two biggest cities.  Sen. Standridge, “would prevent municipalities in all cities with a population under 300,000 from using city resources to operate homeless shelters or perform homeless outreach.” It would both outlaw smaller communities’ efforts to serve the unhoused, but provide  an incentive for them to move to Oklahoma City and Tulsa, which are both facing homelessness crises. Oklahomans have condemned the proposed law as “cruel,” “heartless,” “horrible.” “disgusting,” “shameless,” and a continued attack on democracy.

And that brings us back to Ryan Walters, who has a long history of calling teachers unions “terrorist organizations.” He has received national headlines by calling classrooms “terrorist training camps.” He then linked teachers unions to the New Year’s terrorist attack in New Orleans. The Oklahoma Voice’s Janelle Stecklein pushed back, asking, “Does our state superintendent have a screw loose?”

Stecklein noted Walters’ use of taxpayer resources to bolster his national reputation. She then contrasted his behavior with the “Oklahoma Standard,” which was illuminated by our response to Timothy McVeigh’s 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. She also noted Walters’ campaign to stir up fear and hatred, comes at a time when there were 39 school shootings in 2024, in which 18 people were killed.

And most recently, Walters has filed a $474 million lawsuit claiming “The United States Departments of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Education, along with United States Border Patrol and Safety must be held accountable for their failure to properly secure the nation’s border.”

Perhaps the most noteworthy, recent evidence that Oklahomans are starting to reject rightwing MAGA-ism can be found in a recent poll in The Oklahoman, which graded Ryan Walters’ performances. After all, as The Oklahoman notes, “Legislative leaders acknowledge that they have few levers at their command to force Walters to change course,” leaving that to the voters.

More than 4,000 readers took part in the online poll conducted Jan. 6-10, which asked the question: What grade would you give School Supt. Ryan Walters for his job performance this year?

An overwhelming 95% of those who responded gave him an “F.”

Comments by the poll-takers were especially illustrative. Here are just a few examples:

“My out-of-state friends LOVE to poke fun at Oklahoma whenever they read news stories about Walter’s’ idiotic antics. Don’t think for a minute that this doesn’t hurt our state’s ability to attract and retain economic development prospects. If my out-of-state friends are aware of what is happening to our public school system, so are professional site locators.” 

“Walters is what happens when people vote a straight party ticket … people’s children and grandchildren are paying the price of Ryan Walters and his lofty political ambition. He will literally do anything to get his name in the paper, online, and live media. 

“Religious zealots should not be in charge of the public schools.” 

“Walters is an unqualified incompetent under whose ‘leadership’ our children’s education has nosedived for the bottom. He’s also misused public funds for his own promotion and travel, for which he should be prosecuted. Not even addressing his unconstitutional mandates, he simply can’t or won’t do his job and needs to be removed from office.” 

“Worst Oklahoma state superintendent of education ever. His rhetoric is damaging to public education.” 

“I have never heard one kind word about public teachers come from this Ryan Walters’ mouth. He has never once given us any kind of encouragement. On the contrary, he insults us and makes false accusations. He accuses us of teaching hate. He has no idea that we not only teach our state standards, but we also teach a host of other things like kindness, citizenship, love of country, and just being good human beings.”

“Wasting our money on Bibles! I am religious, and spiritual, and Bibles can be found online. Also, he is a homophobe who is not interested in the rights of all, just the rights of some.”

And my favorite:

“Your grading scale didn’t go far enough. I would give Walters a ‘Z minus’ with the minus being an infinity’s worth. He is doing nothing but destroying Oklahoma schools.” 

Due to gerrymandering, Republican extremists – and their funders – have obtained unchallengeable political power. But we may be approaching a point where voters will back away from straight party voting, and perhaps empowering Democrats and reasonable Republicans. After all, their new Senate Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, says in regard to Ryan Walters that Republican leaders will “continue to continue to try to inspire him to do the things that need to be done to educate our kids.” But falling short of the courage we need, Paxton adds, “at the end of the day, it’s his decision on what he does.”

Categories Corruption, Dark Money, Extremism, Oklahoma, Politics

Bill Gates Says It is “Insane” to Allow Elon Musk to Destabilize Politics in Other Countries

By dianeravitch
January 27, 2025 //
30

I have frequently criticized Bill Gates for his half-baked efforts to “reform” American public schools, all of which have done terrible damage to the schools.

Now Elon Musk is sticking his nose into elections in other countries, and Bill Gates is calling him out.

This article appeared in Business Insider:

Bill Gates doesn’t like how Elon Musk has involved himself in the politics of foreign countries such as the UK and Germany.

“It’s really insane that he can destabilize the political situations in countries,” Gates said in an interview with the UK newspaper The Times published Saturday.

Musk has become increasingly vocal about his views on UK and German politics in recent weeks.

Earlier this month, Musk called for the removal of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The TeslaCEO accused Starmer of not doing enough to prevent the rape of girls when he was Britain’s chief prosecutor from 2008 to 2013.

And on Saturday, Musk spoke virtually at a campaign rally for the Alternative for Germany, Germany’s far-right party. Germany is set to hold national elections in February.

In December, Musk said in an op-ed for Welt am Sonntag, a prominent German newspaper, that the AfD was “the last spark of hope for this country.” He also praised the party for its “controlled immigration policy.”

“I think in the US foreigners aren’t allowed to give money. Other countries maybe should adopt safeguards to make sure superrich foreigners aren’t distorting their elections,” Gates told The Times.

Musk’s political influence has increased significantly following President Donald Trump‘s victory in November. Musk spent at least $277 million backing Trump and other GOP candidates in last year’s elections.

That bet has since paid off for Musk, who called himself Trump’s “first buddy.” The billionaire has joined Trump on calls with world leaderssuch as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Gates previously criticized Musk for his obsession with going to Mars. Gates said he would rather spend money on vaccines than on rockets. Go, Bill!

If only WE had laws limiting the contributions of billionaires to political campaigns!

Categories Billionaires, Disruption, Elections, Ethics, Evil, Extremism, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Musk, Elon

Politifact: Did Governor Newsom Cut the Firefighting Budget?

By dianeravitch
January 27, 2025 //
9

Governor Gavin Newsom has been fighting a two-front war: the devastating fires in Los Angeles and the massive amount of disinformation about the state’s efforts.

One widespread rumor is that Governor Newsom cut the state’s firefighting budget by $100 million in the year before the LA fires.

Politifact reviewed the facts. As usual, it’s complicated. Newsom did cut the fire budget by $100 million at the same time that the overall fire budget increased. If you want to see how this happened, read the report in full.

Here is the conclusion.

Cal Fire’s budget and spending have grown

Cal Fire’s total base wildfire protection budget has nearly tripled over the past 10 years (from $1.1 billion in 2014‑15 to $3 billion in 2023‑24), according to a March analysis by the Legislative Analyst’s Office before the 2024-25 budget was approved.

Cal Fire’s overall budget also has increased, with its combined budget for fire protection, emergency fire suppression, resource management and fire prevention more than doubling over the past 10 years from $1.7 billion in 2014‑15 to $3.7 billion in 2023‑24. (Newsom’s office sent us similar information showing budget increases.)

The number of staff members working in fire prevention have similarly grown during that same decade rising from 5,756 to 10,275.

Another way to look at Cal Fire is through expenditures rather than the budgeted amount because it’s not unusual for the state to dip into other pots of money to spend more than budgeted for addressing fires. 

The legislative analyst’s office estimated total Cal Fire expenditures have risen during Newsom’s tenure:

* The 2024-25 amount does not yet reflect additional costs being incurred for the current Los Angeles-area wildfires.

Source: California Legislative Analyst’s office estimate, not adjusted for inflation, provided to PolitiFact

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, California, Disruption, Extremism, Lies, Los Angeles

Colombia Refuses to Allow U.S. Flights with Immigrants to Land; Trump Responds with a 25% Tariff

By dianeravitch
January 26, 2025 //
46

Politico reported that the president of Colombia refused to allow U.S. military aircraft to land; the two airplanes were carrying immigrants who had been detained. Trump immediately slapped a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Colombia to the U.S. He threatened that the tariff might rise to 50%.

More than a quarter of Colombia’s exports are sent to the U.S. The two countries have a free-trade agreement.

I am not an economist but I wonder: If Trump damages the Colombian economy, won’t that encourage more Colombians to enter the U.S. illegally in search of work?

Categories Economy, Immigration, Trump
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