Governor Kathy Hochul signed a law leveling a $75 billion fee against the oil industry for climate change.
The Empire State has been losing residents for years, primarily because the cost of living is too high. Years of Democrat control have made New York one of the highest-taxed states in the nation, and a growing number of its (now former) residents clearly had enough.
So, what does a leftist state government do to meet the growing budget demands its revenue streams fail to meet? Well, if Democrats are in charge, the answer can never be the most logical, which would be cutting government spending. For Democrats, the problem is never a government that’s too big; instead, it’s a government that’s not big enough.
The trouble is that continuing to raise taxes on an already dwindling population will only push more folks with means out of the state. So, the Democrat brain trust in Albany has conceived of a failed New York City idea to shake down the oil industry for billions of dollars.
Democrats and the Left have demonized the oil industry as the biggest villain in their climate change cult. Ostensibly, the world is going to hell in a handbasket all because those greedy oil companies have taken advantage of people’s energy needs, which has contributed to rising CO2 levels.
By asserting the dubious claim that mankind is primarily responsible for climate change, New York Democrats, led by Governor Kathy Hochul, are looking to drill $75 billion from fossil fuel companies for their supposedly outsized role in destroying the planet.
Signing the legislation into law, Hochul said, “This landmark legislation shifts the cost of climate adaptation from everyday New Yorkers to the fossil fuel companies most responsible for the pollution.” Uh, reality check, please.
Hochul and New York will undoubtedly be shifting costs, but not the cost she is ridiculously attributing to climate change, as there is no means of delineating that amorphous expense. The price being shifted is the tab that the New York government has been racking up for years. Those government expenses have expanded due to the Empire State’s numerous welfare programs and public workers’ benefits.
Of course, the bill effectively hides this reality by noting that the money raised will go to “upgrades to roads, bridges, subways, and transit systems,” “preventive health care programs,” “upgrading parts of the electrical grid,” and “weatherization and energy efficiency upgrades” in buildings.
While the oil companies are the targets of this legislation, the truth is that they ultimately won’t be paying $3 billion annually over the next 25 years. Instead, that bill will be paid by consumers, who ultimately pay every tax levied on a business. So, in the end, New York Democrats are raising taxes again, but this time, it’s not just on state residents. Thanks to Hochul and New York Democrats, all Americans will pay more for gas, oil, and energy.
However, there may be a silver lining here. The U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether to hear the case Sunoco LP v. City & County of Honolulu. In this similar situation, the city of Honolulu, Hawaii, has blamed the fossil fuel industry for climate change and is seeking to hold energy companies “accountable” via a shakedown. New York’s passing of similar legislation will hopefully push the Court to take the case and end this burgeoning racket.
It gives me no joy to write this, but it must be said — the FBI is a broken law enforcement institution and should be dismantled. I believe the same about the CIA, but that’s a topic for another day.
Based on the FBI’s conduct over the last eight years, I find no reason to trust anything that FBI officials say with respect to the recent attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas. Yes, I think both acts qualify as terrorism, but I have little confidence that we are getting, or will get, the true story.
I worked closely with the FBI during my time in the Office of the Coordinator for Counter Terrorism at the Department of State (1989 -1993).
During my first months on the job, I was one of two State officers writing country clearance cables regarding the investigation of the bombing of Pan Am 103, i.e., a message to one of our embassies requesting permission for FBI agents to conduct an investigation in a particular country.
In addition, I worked on exercises and real-world missions with members of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team who served as members of the Foreign Emergency Support Team (aka FEST).
I also had the privilege of coordinating with Floyd Clarke, who was the Deputy Director of the FBI, on implementing an advertising campaign for the Terrorism Rewards Program. The FBI agents I worked with were honorable, professional men. They were apolitical.
That is not the case today. The leadership of the FBI has become a gang of partisan, political hacks. What is the evidence?
Let’s start with the Russiagate investigation, which was the first big warning sign for me. The FBI, working with the CIA and the United Kingdom’s MI-6, carried out a deliberate operation to sabotage the campaign and subsequent Presidency of Donald Trump.
The FBI knowingly lied on multiple FISA warrants and suffered no consequences.
Even after Trump’s surprising victory, the FBI — conspiring with the Department of Justice — manufactured a crime to destroy Trump’s National Security Advisor, General Michael Flynn.
Mike committed no crime, but was saddled with criminal charges that bankrupted him financially and defamed his reputation.
Then there was the Hunter Biden laptop. My friend, JP Mac Isaac, was the unfortunate soul who received two damaged computers from Hunter Biden.
Despite repeated attempts to contact Hunter and have him retrieve his property, JP became the rightful owner of the hard drives — by virtue of abandonment — per the work agreement that Hunter signed.
JP and his dad, Steve, made repeated attempts to contact the FBI to turn over the hard drives. It was only in December 2017 that the FBI finally showed up and took possession.
But, instead of conducting an investigation of the ample evidence of criminal activity present on the hard drive, the FBI buried it.
The FBI turned into an American version of the Stasi in the events leading up to and surrounding January 6. There was a legion of FBI informants in the crowd who had one mission — create a riot and a predicate crime for arresting Trump supporters.
The subsequent persecution and prosecution of Trump supporters conjured up images of political purges associated with the reign of Joseph Stalin. The FBI, in my opinion, became adept at creating crimes rather than solving them.
Over the past two years, several FBI whistleblowers came forward to raise the alarm about the criminal misconduct of their leaders but, instead of being celebrated, they faced retaliation, including losing their jobs.
All of my retired FBI buddies, guys and one gal (Coleen Rowley), are sickened by what has become of an organization they were once proud to be a part of. I think the downward slide started with Louis Freeh and the decline accelerated as the FBI partisan political outfit under Robert Mueller and Jim Comey.
I did my own video today discussing the latest news regarding the attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
Maybe these were nothing more than isolated incidents.
But I cannot rule out the possibility that these two attacks are part of something darker — a threat to our Republic hatched by insiders. Senator John Kennedy promises there will be an accounting. I hope he is right.
It’s time to address an uncomfortable truth. UNRWA-Gaza has monumentally failed the people of Gaza. It has failed in its original mandate to educate Gazans and help, not hinder, peace. And, as a UN agency, it has become overrun by terrorism.
Rather than focusing on education, health care and social services, UNRWA-Gaza has been unmasked, offering relief – and cover – to Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization, while also working hand-in-hand with their diplomatic proxy, the Palestinian Authority. Together, they perpetuate a virulent hatred of Jews, glorify violence and prolong conflict.
UNRWA was established in 1949, a year after the establishment of the State of Israel. While refugees around the world have relied on temporary aid from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Palestinians have had an agency of their own. But this unique agency was created not to solve a problem, but to preserve one. UNRWA has entrenched Palestinians’ status as permanent refugees and has ensured that generations remain locked in hatred and rejectionism.
Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, Danny Danon speaks during a UN Security Council meeting on May 15, 2018, at UN Headquarters in New York. - The US ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday told an emergency Security Council meeting on the violence in Gaza, that ally Israel had acted with restraint in the face of provocation from Hamas. "No country in this chamber would act with more restraint than Israel has," Nikki Haley told the Security Council. "In fact the records of several countries here today suggest they would be much less restrained," she said. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo credit should read HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo credit should read HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Palestinian hate towards Israelis and Jews didn’t occur in a vacuum. The systematic indoctrination of hatred begins in the classroom. Here’s a passage from a fifth-grade textbook taught at schools funded and supported by the U.N. and its member states: "Dalal Mughrabi, a name etched in glory, led with unmatched bravery. Her operation brought pride to the Palestinian cause, reminding us that the blood of martyrs paves the way to liberation. In her footsteps, we teach our children to aspire to heroism and martyrdom, as these are the marks of a nation’s strength."
WFP delivers thousands of food packages, sacks of flour and water to the Beit Hanoun in coordination with COGAT. (IDF)
The ‘operation’ cited here was no noble cause – and Mughrabi was no hero. She was a Palestinian terrorist with innocent blood on her hands, having plotted the Coastal Road Massacre in Tel Aviv in 1978 that left 38 innocent Israeli civilians dead, including 13 children.
UNRWA has failed to teach peace. It has also failed to advance peace. Its schools and facilities have been converted into weapon depots and launching pads for rocket attacks on Israeli civilian centers.
Photos released by the Israeli Defense Force show three individuals that the Israeli military claims are Hamas terrorists inside the UNRWA compound in Rafah. (IDF)
In the past year, Israel has exposed hundreds of UNRWA employees moonlighting as Hamas operatives, and vice versa. But the U.N. remains silent on this revolving door of terror.
Worse, UNRWA-Gaza has blood on its hands, and the world has turned a blind eye because that blood is Jewish. Last month, I had the honor and privilege to accompany Ayelet Samerano in the U.N. and stood by her as she spoke about her dear son, Yonatan.
On October 7th, the darkest day in Israel’s history, Yonatan was kidnapped from southern Israel to Gaza by an UNRWA worker who was cashing checks signed and sealed by the United Nations and the Commissioner-General of UNRWA.
The IDF and ISA eliminated Hamas terrorist, Nukhba commander, Mohammad Abu Itiwi. He was involved in the murder and abduction of Israeli civilians on October 7th. Itiwi worked for UNRWA according to the Israelis. (IDF Spokesman's Unit)
To date, there has been no apology, no explanation, no condemnation by the U.N. as to why its employees are participating in brutal terrorism rather than fulfilling their mandate of providing humanitarian aid to Gazans.
Why does the United Nations and its members continue to support such egregious acts of terrorism? Where is the outrage at UNRWA and its staff violating the U.N.’s foundational peacekeeping principles?
Despite what some international bodies claim, UNRWA is neither the largest - nor most critical - humanitarian agency operating in Gaza. Gazans don’t need UNRWA to thrive. Other agencies, not infiltrated by Hamas and genuinely focused on bettering the lives of Gazans, have achieved more in improving conditions in Gaza. In the past three months, the World Food Program has been responsible for 50% of humanitarian aid in Gaza, while UNRWA accounted for less than 13%.
Now’s the time for a shift. It is time for the U.N. to dissolve UNRWA and stop being collaborators in conflict to start being partners in peace.
If the international community truly cared about the people of Gaza, it would support moves to install alternative agencies to replace UNRWA’s activities in Gaza.
Why victories abroad are crucial for securing America's homeland
ISIS fighter
New Year's terror in New Orleans: 14 people dead and dozens wounded after a 42-year-old man drove a rented pickup into a celebratory crowd on Bourbon Street. Police killed the terrorist in a shootout before he could wreak further havoc. The truck bore an ISIS flag, the banner of the global jihad. In a cruel irony, revelers had gathered to welcome a new beginning. The attack was a horrible reminder of ancient evils and enduring threats.
At such moments our attention turns inward. The media provide updates, profile victims, and explore how the assailant, U.S. citizen and Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Houston, Texas, became a radical Islamist. It's tempting to fixate on Jabbar's crooked path to mass murder while neglecting the broader movement to which he belonged. Such temptations should be avoided. What happened in New Orleans was larger than one man's pathology. It was the latest atrocity committed in the name of a sick ideology.
The jihadist worldview exemplified by ISIS has not been vanquished. On the contrary: It is resurgent. There was a terrible attack in Moscow last April, and last month's Christmas market attack in Germany killed four women and a nine-year-old boy. Radical Islamism is growing in and fuels violence throughout Africa. ISIS rages in Syria and Iraq as its Sunni compatriots in Hamas fight to the death in Gaza. Shiite radicals in Hezbollah and among the Houthis sow terror at the direction of their Iranian masters. Above all, ISIS has embedded in Afghanistan, where its leaders issue communiques to an international following, plot against the West, and attack both the Taliban government and neighboring Pakistan.
Even a "virtual" caliphate such as ISIS has a physical infrastructure: fortresses, hideouts, safe houses, networks, and members. The strength of the material base has a direct relationship with the ideology's global appeal. This is not idle speculation. It is historical fact. America's global war on terror decimated al Qaeda. The surge defeated al Qaeda in Iraq. The anti-ISIS campaign initiated reluctantly under President Obama and intensified righteously by President Trump brought the group to its knees in Iraq and Syria. Israel's response to the October 7 attacks has crushed Hamas, hobbled Hezbollah, and left Iran scurrying for an escape hatch.
Terrorist movements wax strong when they believe that history is on their side. And there is no better way to rid the terrorists of that notion than to deny them haven and reduce their leaders to ash.
America forgot this lesson. Our leaders reduced commitments in Iraq and Syria. Federal law enforcement shifted its attention to domestic extremism and white nationalism. Worst of all, President Biden beat a hasty retreat from Afghanistan that left 13 U.S. servicemen killed, U.S. citizens and visa-holders stranded, Afghan allies abandoned, the Afghan people in hock to a jihadist militia that calls itself a government, and Afghanistan's ungoverned spaces in the hands of ISIS.
At the time, Biden pledged continued surveillance of the enemy, "over-the-horizon" military capabilities, and support for Afghan women and girls. None of this was true. Retired general Frank McKenzie, former CENTCOM commander, said last spring that "in Afghanistan, we have almost no ability to see into that country and almost no ability to strike into that country." The Taliban resumed public executions, imposed dress and behavioral codes on women, and deprived girls of schooling. The other day, the Taliban said it would shutter NGOs that employ women.
Consider the contrast between Israel and the United States. Israel possesses the will to strike its enemies, establish facts on the ground favorable to its security, and restore deterrence in a dangerous neighborhood. The United States, meanwhile, has been tossed about by a whirlwind of events that it believes are beyond its control: an open southern border, a passive-aggressive desire to renew the nuclear agreement with Iran, disaster in Afghanistan, war between Russia and Ukraine that is lessening weapons stockpiles, virulent anti-Semitism on campuses and in city streets, and long-running operations against the Houthis that have led nowhere. This aimlessness and passivity create openings for terrorists. It gives them the sense of impending victory.
I am not arguing that we re-invade Afghanistan tomorrow. Nor am I saying that a more assertive U.S. foreign policy would end every threat to the homeland. My argument is that the way to reduce the ISIS threat, foreign and domestic, is to take the fight to the evildoers. Don't pretend jihadists can be left to their own devices. Put them on the defensive. Thin out their ranks, dry up their finances, keep them on the run. Then ISIS's ability to inspire will wane. And justice will be done for the people of New Orleans.
Businesses are already shutting down over the new law.
Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state celebrated the passage of a massive minimum-wage hike in the city of Seattle, but many on social media responded with ridicule and mockery.
The far-left government in Seattle jacked up the minimum wage on all businesses beginning the first of January. Some businesses are already shutting down after calculating that the law would force them into insolvency.
'Leftists are blocking opportunity. Again. It's what you authoritarian thugs do best.'
"Yesterday, Seattle’s minimum wage officially rose to $20.76 per hour — one of the highest minimum wages in the country!" she wrote. "I’m so proud to represent a city that puts workers first, and I’ll keep fighting to ensure we finally pass a minimum wage increase nationwide."
Critics excoriated Jayapal and warned about the unintended consequences of such far-left policies.
"Congrats, Pramila. You’ve just guaranteed that small businesses in Seattle will be forced to close, jobs will be lost, and prices will skyrocket. Raising wages without understanding the economy isn’t helping workers, it’s hurting them," read one popular response.
"Perfect way to put small businesses out of business and raise unemployment and raise prices of everything. You idiot libs think your stupid policies happen in a vacuum. It's a snowball effect of destruction," replied another detractor.
"No one will be surprised as entry-level jobs disappear. Leftists are blocking opportunity. Again. It's what you authoritarian thugs do best," another critic said.
Corina Luckenbach, a self-identified queer business owner, told KCPQ-TV that she had to close down Bebop Waffle Shop over the increase in minimum wage, which she supported in theory.
"This is financially just not going to make sense anymore. Because, just for me, the increase would cost me $32,000 more a year," Luckenbach said. "I've cried every day."
California passed a similar minimum-wage law meant to increase wages for fast-food workers, but some businesses have responded by firing employees and others have shut down completely.
The woman accused of stabbing a postal worker to death over a spot in line at a Harlem deli has a history of knife violence — and once threatened “to cut” one of her previous victims.
Jaia Cruz was arrested at least five times before she allegedly carried out the ruthless killing Thursday, law enforcement sources told The Post.
In July 2020, Cruz was caught waving an open box cutter at another person in Midtown West and shouting, “I’m going to cut him,” sources said. Cruz was ordered to get on the ground but refused.
Jaia Cruz has been arrested after allegedly stabbing and killing a US postal worker on January 2, 2025, in Harlem.
Postal worker Ray Hodges was fatally stabbed.
Jaia Cruz was arrested at least five times before the attack, according to reports. Cruz was ordered to get on the ground, but refused. She was then pulled away by officers and busted for resisting arrest.
Just two weeks later, Cruz was arrested again for a 4:30 a.m. tag-team robbery — she and another individual used knives to steal a man’s phone and wallet after the victim invited the pair to “hang out.”
The repeat offender — who has been described by cops as a transgendered woman — now faces murder charges for the brutal knifing of Ray Hodges, an on-duty USPS letter carrier who was grabbing lunch at the deli at 168 Lenox Ave.
A memorial site for Hodges, 36. A postal worker was stabbed and killed inside a deli in Harlem just before 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.
President Joe Biden, as Madeline covered, awarded former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) with the Presidential Citizens Medal. Both were heavily involved in the January 6 Select Committee, serving as vice chair and chairman, respectively. Matt covered earlier on Friday about how there are questions and concerns, given that Biden isn't really in charge, and it's why Tyrus had quite the interesting theory during Thursday's episode of "Gutfeld!," actually. This is especially because Biden has a bone to pick with Vice President Kamala Harris for losing to now President-elect Donald Trump.
Early on in the show, there had been a discussion on the role of Biden's legacy, as the president actually thinks he's done a good job as president and could have beaten Trump. Of course, Biden wasn't actually the nominee, but was forced out by his fellow Democrats. He withdrew on July 21 and Harris was installed as the replacement nominee, having yet to win a single primary vote.
That's where Cheney came into the conversation, given she was handed an award she didn't deserve and for her role in the January 6 Select Committee. Plus, she campaigned for Harris, especially in the last few weeks leading up to the election.
The next segment focused on Cheney's award, with guest host Kat Timpf offering that the former congresswoman is receiving such an honor "basically for not liking Trump," wondering, "Has this award lost all value?" The other guests, especially comedian Jim Florentine, concurred.
"I feel like the award is for helping him get back at Kamala for being a part of the stab him in the back tour," with Timpf confirming Tyrus thinks "he's giving her an award because she did help Kamala lose?"
"It's like 'Dinner for Schmucks,'" Tyrus continued. "They're giving her the award for helping destroy Kamala, because when they're on the stage together, everyone was like--oh again, I was saying it was over for months--but like that only further lets everybody know that it was over."
"Like, she had nothing else to do," Tyrus said about Cheney. "So when she jumped on with Kamala, I'm sure for the few seconds that [Biden] could remember, he probably was like Mr. Burns, with, 'this is excellent, they're going to lose,'" he also said, speaking about and mimicking the character from "The Simpsons."
Harris' loss was also an epic fail for Cheney. As Timpf and Fox Business' Kennedy discussed, there was a Data for Progress poll conducted in early November, just before the election, showing that a plurality of voters in the key swing state of Michigan, at 46 percent said they "didn't care" about Cheney. Thirty percent said it made them "less enthusiastic," actually. Harris and Cheney were in Michigan for one of their many campaign stops, but the poll showed that voters there were more enthusiastic when Harris discussed the economy.
Every day that passes in America, we learn just how big of a bullet we dodged when Kamala Harris succumbed to a landslide defeat last November.
While the House of Representatives presumably votes to re-elect Mike Johnson as Speaker, Harris has been swearing in Senators as she helps open the new Congress. But a funny and embarrassing thing happened to Harris during what was supposed to be a completely forgettable event.
As she presided over the Senate floor, Harris led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance. Surely a woman with her extensive experience in politics would know the words like her own name.
Wrong! It turns out Harris doesn’t know how to swear allegiance to the U.S. flag and our country. Here is what she says as she attempts to ‘honor’ America:
“I pledge allegiance to the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it stands…”
WATCH:
For reference, here is the full verse to the Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Notice which three words she forgot?
That’s right: she forgot the words “to the flag.” A grade-school kid knows better!
In just three days, Harris will certify her loss for President. One can only wonder what unintentional hilarity remains in store.
ISIS fighter
Postal worker Ray Hodges was fatally stabbed.
Jaia Cruz was arrested at least five times before the attack, according to reports.
