[FoxBiz] Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a trade agreement with the state of Mexico – commonly known as Edomex to distinguish it from the country as a whole – during a trip to the country on Monday, aiming to deepen economic cooperation.
Pritzker led the delegation of state officials and business leaders on a trade mission to Mexico, where he signed an addendum to the Illinois-Mexico Sister-State Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) alongside the State of Mexico Gov. Delfina Gómez Álvarez.
Pritzker's office confirmed to Fox News Digital that the MOU – a non-binding agreement between two or more parties that expresses an intent to cooperate – was between Illinois and the State of Mexico, one of 31 states that make up Mexico.
"Mexico has been an essential partner to the state of Illinois for decades, and I’m proud to stand alongside Governor Gómez Álvarez and assert the importance of this continuing relationship," Pritzker said in a written statement. "More than ever before, we must reassure our neighbors in Mexico that Illinois will remain a beacon of economic and cultural cooperation and opportunity for our people."
#5
Creating new meaning to the phrase "State of Illinois," J.B. now postures as head of his own independent "country." Unfortunately, this probably plays well in N.E. Illinois.
Posted by: Chicago Lurker ||
04/02/2025 9:52 Comments ||
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#6
Mexico provides illegals/drugs and Illinois provides $$$?
That fat f**king pig. Another one a little too close to Jeffie Epstein, IIRC...or a relative. Maybe our hot-shot AG will dig up his name in that truckload of documents while she's looking for Trump's name.
FOLLOW THE MONEY
[Zero] On Tuesday morning, former Biden administration "disinformation czar" Nina Jankowicz repeatedly refused to disclose who's funding her new gig - the 'American Sunlight Project' - which cropped up after a stint at the USAID-funded UK-based Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) - for which she registered as a foreign agent while serving as their Vice President.
To review - Jankowicz, who previously served as a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, advised the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry as part of the Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellowship, and was then selected to head the Biden DHS's newly formed Disinformation Governance Board - which was quickly dismantled amid criticism over censorship under the guise of fighting disinformation.
Four months later, she launched "The Hypatia Project" for CIR - where she was the Vice President until April 2024, at which point she co-founded the American Sunlight Project.
Fast forward to this morning, Jankowicz was evasive when asked by Republicans during a congressional hearing on disinformation about her funding...
[ZeroHedge] Internal FBI chat logs revealed that the bureau imposed a “gag order” on agents regarding the New York Post bombshell story on the Hunter Biden laptop. Along with showing Hunter’s depravity, the laptop revealed Joe Biden’s involvement in his son’s foreign business dealings.
The chat logs, published Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee on X, show that the gag order extended to an FBI analyst who attempted to alert social media companies that the laptop was authentic—before these companies moved to censor the story’s spread.
On Oct. 14, 2020, the New York Post released its first story on the laptop’s content. That same day, FBI officials instructed agents, “please do not discuss Biden matter.”
Earlier chats show a group of agents—including Laura Dehmlow, Bradley Benavides and James Dennehy—debating the Post’s story.
“You guys are tracking the coverage of the laptop right?” Dehmlow wrote. Both Benavides and Dennehy replied affirmatively.
Later, agents whose names remain sealed sent messages stating, “right answer – nobody on call is is [sic] authorized to comment upon NY Post story” and “nobody [is] authorized to comment.”
One agent asked if another had “admonished” the colleague who nearly revealed the laptop’s authenticity to Big Tech companies. “yes but he wont [sic] shut up,” one response read.
Hours later, agents reiterated that they were forbidden from commenting on the laptop story, with messages like “official response no commen [sic] and “we cannot comment.”
A previous transcribed interview with Dehmlow revealed that during a Zoom meeting with Big Tech, an FBI agent was interrupted before he could confirm the laptop was real and already in the bureau’s possession.
The FBI had verified the laptop in 2019 by cross-referencing its serial number with Hunter’s iCloud storage, FBI special agent Erika Jensen stated during Hunter’s criminal trial in 2024.
Despite this verification, the bureau remained silent while social media companies debated whether the Post’s story was tied to a Russian disinformation campaign.
Notably, the FBI had warned them weeks earlier of an imminent “hack-and-leak” story about the 2020 election, leading many to mistakenly equate that warning with the laptop exposé.
The laptop revealed that while Hunter failed to pay millions in taxes, he also consumed drugs, paid for prostitutes and launched what Republicans call an “influence-peddling scheme” aimed at selling access—or at least the appearance of access—to Joe Biden in exchange for payments.
According to the laptop, 10% of these payments were earmarked for the “Big Guy,” a term confirmed by former Biden ally Devon Archer to refer to Joe Biden.
Biden went on to win the 2020 election, and before leaving office in 2025, he issued sweeping pardons to his siblings and Hunter, covering offenses committed between 2014 and 2025.
[FoxNews] Small Business Committee chairs Sen Joni Ernst, Rep Roger Williams seek to hold fraudsters accountable
The respective chairs of the Small Business Committee in both chambers of Congress are unveiling a plan to address the roughly 2 million "likely fraudulent" pandemic aid applications flagged in a recent government report.
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Rep. Roger Williams of Texas, both Republicans, plan to introduce the SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension Act on Wednesday in hopes of corralling the alleged scofflaws who they say broke the law and prevented untold numbers of legitimate U.S. small businesses from receiving crucial aid.
The bill extends the statute of limitations to 10 years for fraud surrounding the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund relief programs instituted in 2020.
In 2022, Williams, Ernst and other lawmakers sought to do the same to identify potential scofflaw violators of the Paycheck Protection Program.
A report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the Biden-era Small Business Administration (SBA) either signed or guaranteed more than $1 trillion in loans to more than 10 million small businesses.
While it had instituted a four-step process to manage fraud, that plan reportedly faltered when the SBA inspector general was unable to fully probe two-thirds of the risk referrals because the agency didn’t provide either correct or complete information about those cases.
The GAO then made a formal recommendation to the SBA, which, according to the public watchdog’s website, remains "open" – and it appeared no action had at least been recorded.
The GAO also found that the fraud prevention process had not been fully implemented until "more than half" of aid programs’ funding had been approved.
"I will not allow criminals to run out the clock and escape justice simply because the Biden administration was asleep at the wheel," Ernst told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
"Thousands of hardworking small businesses were deprived of desperately needed relief because swindlers, gang members, and felons cashing in on COVID drained the programs. Every single con artist who stole from taxpayers will be held accountable."
In Ernst’s home state, 1,800 restaurants reportedly qualified for SBA aid but never received it, prompting critics to question how much funding was diverted to fraudulent applicants instead of family-run eateries.
In Williams’ Lone Star State, federal aid allowed tens of thousands of restaurants to stay in business, but others told outlets like Houston PBS that such funding ran out before many could get back on their financial feet.
The Texas Restaurant Association told the station that 12,000 restaurants found themselves in danger of closing by 2022.
Hollywood celebrities had also received some of the SVOG funds and spent them on private jets and parties or cash for themselves, Business Insider reported.
"The SBA distributes millions of dollars to small businesses in need every year. However, where small business owners found the capital needed to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, bad actors saw the opportunity to defraud the government," Williams told Fox News Digital.
"It is imperative that every fraudster who stole and exploited taxpayer dollars during our nation’s utmost hour of need be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
He added that as March marked five years after the first COVID lockdowns, an extension of the SBA and law enforcement’s ability to pursue fraudsters must be realized.
Fox News Digital reached out to the SBA for comment.
When asked about the discrepancies found in the GAO report, an SBA spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Administrator Kelly Loeffler has already taken action to enhance fraud prevention efforts.
"The SBA fully supports all efforts to crack down on fraud within its loan programs – in stark contrast to the last administration, which failed to investigate or address more than $200B in estimated pandemic-era fraud," Caitlin O’Dea said.
"[SBA] will continue working to hold pandemic-era fraudsters accountable."
[THECENTERSQUARE] U.S. taxpayers have shelled out tens of thousands of dollars in recent years to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for research on LGBT issues, the kind of funding now under scrutiny by the Trump administration.
The research relies on conducting interviews — in one case for $373 per Zoom call — to explore a researcher's hypothesis of widespread discrimination.
For instance, one taxpayer-funded research grant studied ''queer farmers quality of life in Pennsylvania,'' federal records show, one of several grants of its kind.
The Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Projects — a federally funded research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture — paid $14,997 for the 2018 grant.
While this grant is relatively small, there are others, and critics argue the spending is a distraction from helping farmers and lowering food prices, which soared during the Biden administration alongside this kind of research funding.
The aforementioned 2018 queer farmers grant went to Pennsylvania State University for a project titled: ''Sexuality and Sustainable Agriculture: Examining Queer Farmers' Quality of Life in Pennsylvania.''
The grant proposal says the topic is ''stoopiddumb woefully understudied.''
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
Personally, I find the whole idea of queer farming incredibly problematic. I mean, how do you even verify consensuality of the necessary hetero or turkey baster sex in that environment? And then there's the preference selections and cis shredders and prevailing systemic homophobia...
#3
Some of these researches seem very interested in queer stuff. I’m beginning to wonder if some of them might be queer themselves.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/02/2025 8:09 Comments ||
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#4
^ Wonder?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/02/2025 8:30 Comments ||
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#5
^ We would all love to get paid for our hobbies. Plus doing "academic research" means you never have to produce results, just words and more grant applications.
And let's not forget extra-curricular activities:
"Say, what are you doing later after this interview about your sex life?"
#8
Remember that article the other day about how to write grants and proposals using the appropriate buzz words and catch phrases to them the guarantor know you are 'one of our people'?
They are dryer sheets in the money launder - the payouts to local agents.
#9
One of our people? All one need do is read a half dozen publications in the latest issue of the leading journal in the field/subfield to know exactly what the latest grant-getting buzzwords and concepts are.
Even when doing rocket science that part isn’t rocket science.
And you are right, that a key word search by a simple person like myself would show that. What would be interesting, is if key word/phrase combinations, with certain ones receiving a numbered value, which puts together, if you will, a 'riff' or 'fugue' which a find algorithm spots and ranks to eliminate 'trolls'.
#11
*I'm playing off the olde concept of receiving a letter, laying a template with cut-outs, on top of the message to decipher the hidden message. But like in 3-D.
[DAILYSIGNAL] A coalition of left-leaning organizations is urging the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to defy President Donald Trump's executive order on election integrity.
Trump on Tuesday issued the order that, among other things, requires federal voter registration forms require proof of citizenship and would cut federal funding to states that count mail-in ballots arriving after Election Day.
The Election Assistance Commission—an executive branch agency created under the 2002 Help America Vote Act—manages federal voter registration forms and federal election grants to states and localities.
The seven-page letter to the commission was led by the liberal Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank aligned with New York University that has consistently opposed voter ID, voter list maintenance, and other election security measures.
Joining the Brennan Center were the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters, the Legal Defense Fund, and the NAACP.
''The order itself is unlawful as it relates to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (the 'Commission'), and it would, in any event, also be unlawful for the commission to take several of the actions directed by the order,'' the letter says.
My book, ''The Myth of Voter Suppression,'' describes these organizations and their funders as comparable to political machines of the past that resisted what were considered election integrity reforms at the time, such as adopting a secret ballot. Similarly, those organizations have consistently opposed election reform proposals, such as the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The letter adds: ''Congress created the commission with the express intent that it be an 'independent' agency, not subject to the president's direction.''
[FoxNews] Wisconsin already required photo ID to vote, but now the law will be enshrined into the state constitution
Wisconsin will enshrine the state's voter ID law in the state constitution after voters approved the proposal on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press' vote call at 9:48 p.m. EST.
The Badger State already requires that voters have photo ID in order to participate at the polls, but that law has now been elevated to a constitutional amendment.
The measure was placed on the ballot by the Republican-controlled legislature in an effort to strengthen election security.
It also protects the law from potentially being overturned in court when Democrats are in control, as constitutional amendments have to be approved in two legislative sessions and by a statewide popular vote.
The proposal's passing was celebrated by GOP lawmakers, President Donald Trump and DOGE leader Elon Musk.
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel shares his final message to voters ahead of election on ‘Hannity.’
Nine states, including Wisconsin, require that voters present photo ID, though Wisconsin's requirements are the strictest, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
There are laws in 36 states requiring or requesting that voters show some sort of identification, the NCSL said.
[NYPOST] House Speaker Mike Johnson gave a blunt reality check Tuesday to President Trump's musings about pursuing a third term in the White House, telling news hounds that amending the Constitution to allow such an effort would be a ''high bar'' to clear.
''There's a constitutional path. You have to amend the Constitution to do it, and that's a high bar,'' Johnson said when asked if Trump, 78, had an avenue to become the 48th president in addition to the 45th and 47th. "But if it makes liberal's heads explode, keep talking about it"
''The president and I have talked about this, joked about it. He's joked about it with me on stage before,'' added Johnson, 53. ''You know, we take him at his word.''
Speaker Mike Johnson
In this case, the "rule" would have allowed for debate and floor consideration of bills that would have limited district judges' ability to levy nationwide injunctions and would have mandated proof of citizenship to register to vote, respectively.
[DAILYWIRE] White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stood before news hounds on Monday and listed off multiple tariffs imposed on American products by foreign nations, arguing that the ''unfair trade practices'' need to come to an end.
Leavitt pointed to massive tariffs from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , Japan, India, and Canada, saying, ''It's time for reciprocity.'' President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... is preparing to announce a round of reciprocal tariffs on April 2, a day he has labeled ''Liberation Day in America.''
''If you look at the unfair trade practices that we have: 50% from the European Union on American dairy. You have a 700% tariff from Japan on American rice. You have a 100% tariff from India on American agricultural products. You have nearly a 300% tariff from Canada on American butter and American cheese,'' Leavitt said, holding up a chart on a piece of paper. ''This makes it virtually impossible for American products to be imported into these markets, and it puts a lot of Americans out of business and out of work over the past several decades.''
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2025 00:00 ||
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#1
Probably a stretch to say that the Canadian butter tariff is putting a lot of Americans out of work, but I do agree with her.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/02/2025 5:31 Comments ||
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#3
While the EU applies a 10 percent most-favored-nation tariff on cars (US 2.5%), the US levies a 25 percent tariff on pickups – the largest segment of the US car market, accounting for about a third of all vehicle sales. In fact, the best-selling vehicle in the US is a pickup, the Ford F-150.
"Unfairness" goes both ways.
The average EU tariff on imports from non-EU countries is 5.2%. That's above the average US tariff on imports (3.5%). When the product classes are weighted with their different import values, the difference is somewhat smaller (3.0% versus 2.4%).
Nothing that couldn't be solved with amicable trade negotiations. TTIP would have done away with most of these tariffs (and regulations).
Note that services (US has a big surplus here) have no tariffs.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/02/2025 8:41 Comments ||
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#6
VAT is exactly NOT the issue. VAT is levied on ALL goods, domestic or foreign.
Obviously I have to explain that:
If I order a Mercedes built in Germany worth 100,000 euros, I will pay VAT (19%) on top of it. So the German car will cost me 119,000 euros.
If I order a Cadillac from the U.S. worth 100,000, I will also pay VAT (19%) on it (just that this VAT is called Import tax or Einfuhrumsatzsteuer). Thus the Cadillac will cost me 119,000 euros as well.
VAT has nothing to do with tariffs or unfair treatment.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/02/2025 9:00 Comments ||
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#14
My apologies EC, you are correct about the VAT, somewhat.
What I found while I was breaking preparing for the 7"-11" of rain we will experience this week;
The rate of VAT in Germany is 19%, with a limited number of goods being eligible for a lower 7% rate. Goods imported to Germany from outside the EU are subject to a different tax, called Import Turnover Tax, equal to 19% of the value of the items plus other import costs, such as shipping.
Goods imported to Germany from outside the EU are subject to a different tax, called Import Turnover Tax, equal to 19% of the value of the items plus other import costs, such as shipping. Goods imported from within the EU apply VAT at the point of sale.
So as I read this courtesy of Bing, US imports are subject to the VAT and ITT. Are there more taxes you are not disclosing? An EU tax, a German import tax? What else? Local and state tax?
For vehicles imported to Germany from non-EU countries like the United States, the standard import duty structure includes:
Basic Import Duty: 10% of the vehicle's declared value
Value Added Tax (VAT): 19% calculated on the combined total of the vehicle's value, shipping costs, and the 10% import duty
This means that for a vehicle valued at €30,000 with €1,500 in shipping costs, you would pay:
#16
This was 2020. Denmark had very high taxes on cars. Once they were lowered to a reasonable rate, people bought cars. That’s what our tour guide said. It was a really high rate.
Cars are usually not imported by the consumer, but by your car dealer. Let's say the German car dealer sells Mercedes, Peugeot and Cadillac (for the sake of argument). And let's assume that the respective manufacturers sell their car for a value equal to 30,000 Euros.
So we have
1) Producers/exporters in the US, France and Germany
2) Importers/retailers in Germany
3) German consumers
First scenario: The retailer buys a Mercedes from the German Mercedes factory.
He pays 30,000 Euros plus 19% VAT (i.e. 5,700 Euros). He doesn't care about this 5,700 Euros because he is not the end consumer. He gets the 5,700 Euros back with his next VAT return (usually done monthly).
If he sells the Mercedes for 40,000 Euros, the consumer will have to pay 19% VAT (i.e. 7,600 Euros) on top of it, i.e. 47.600 Euros. If he is a private consumer, he won't get this money back. If I buy a Mercedes exclusively for business use, I can deduct this 7,600 from my VAT income. So I don't pay VAT on that Mercedes. If I use it privately, I can't.
Second scenario: The dealer buys a Peugeot from the French Peugeot factory. The factory and the dealer have an international VAT ID, so this is a so-called intra-community acquisition. In this case, no VAT is paid by the importer (and, of course, no VAT is refunded). The tax authorities of the EU work together, so they will know whether this was a business or a private purchase.
Again, if the dealer sells the car for 40,000 Euros, the consumer will have to pay 19% VAT (i.e. 7,600 Euros). Again, the private consumer won't get this money back.
Third scenario: Reseller buys a Cadillac from the American Cadillac factory. Reseller has to pay 10% tariff and 19% VAT (called import VAT) on the price of the car and shipping costs (same would be true for first and second scenario, VAT also has to be paid on shipping costs). The dealer will be reimbursed by the government for the 19% import VAT, just as he is for the German and French cars. If he sells the Cadillac for 40,000 Euros, the consumer will pay 19% VAT (exactly the same amount as in the first two scenarios) on top of it The importer will pay the 10% tariff, but he can deduct it as a business expense.
As you can see, VAT doesn't matter in any of the three scenarios. The consumer always pays the same amount (VAT is always included in the consumer price, so the price is 47.600 euros in all cases.
There are other taxes for the consumer, but again, it doesn't matter where the car comes from. In Germany, the consumer who wants to drive his car pays a vehicle tax based on engine size and CO2 emissions. Currently, electric car owners don't pay this vehicle tax. The amount may vary from country to country (it's much higher in Denmark because Denmark prefers you to drive small cars or - even better - bicycles), but again, it doesn't matter where the car was made.
So VAT (and vehicle tax) have nothing to do with tariffs. VAT doesn't "rip off" the US, it just rips off us poor consumers, no matter what car we buy.
Final thing: VAT varies from country to country, but this doesn't change the argument. Only the end consumer pays VAT - in his own country.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/02/2025 16:08 Comments ||
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#18
I see the Europeans have carefully thought out the VAT. I think it has failed in the US, mostly because it is 'regressive'. Poor folks deserve a lower rate because they're poor - so the story goes. (I like a flat tax, myself.)
Is there a reduction in VAT for the less privileged?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/02/2025 16:22 Comments ||
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#19
"Is there a reduction in VAT for the less privileged?"
Food in Germany has 7% VAT, not 19%
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/02/2025 16:27 Comments ||
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#20
Well Trump did it. Reciprocal? Hardly.
European Union: Average Most Favored Nation rate of 5.2%; higher on specific goods (26% fish, 22% trucks, 10% vehicles, etc.).
Trump applies 20% (25% on cars). The EU must and will respond. Not good for anyone.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/02/2025 16:44 Comments ||
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[NYPOST] House Republicans forced a bill through committee Tuesday that would limit the reach of so-called ''rogue'' judges who have paused some of President Trump's executive orders from taking effect — including his invocation of an 18th-century law to deport vicious Venezuela
...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south... n gang members without trial.
The GOP-led House Rules Committee voted 9-4 along party lines to send the No Rogue Rulings Act, which would do away with nationwide injunctions unless they apply to specific parties bringing a complaint, to the floor of the lower chamber for a full House vote on Wednesday.
A senior GOP aide said the measure is headed for approval, but it was unlikely the Senate will take it up. Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have already introduced their own bills to curtail lower courts' authority.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/02/2025 00:00 ||
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Great to see that all the GOP politicians are operating as a well oiled machine.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/02/2025 5:28 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
