By Ted Galen Carpenter, Antiwar.com, February 17, 2025.
Excerpts:
A current instance of U.S. meddling within the inner affairs of one other democratic nation seems to have taken place within the Republic of Georgia. Based on Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, USAID spent $41.7 million to assist its most popular candidates within the nation’s current parliamentary elections. Adjusted for the dimensions of Georgia’s inhabitants, such an expenditure in the USA would quantity to $3.78 billion.
And:
That final result apparently was insupportable to Romania’s political institution and its supporters within the EU and the USA. They considered Georgescu as particularly unacceptable, since he brazenly criticized NATOand opposed persevering with to help Ukraine. The nation’s election fee nullified the voting outcomes and rescheduled the primary spherical balloting for Might 4, 2025. Commissioners charged that, look ahead to it… Russia had illegally tampered with the election. Moscow’s horrid offense was its alleged assist of a TikTok marketing campaign that appeared to profit Georgescu. Tangible proof relating to Russian involvement was noticeably absent. Regardless of the shortage of proof, U.S. and EU officers denounced Russia and praised the Romanian authorities for trashing the election.
Eugene Doyle, a reporter for New Zealand’s Solidarity.com, famous the menacing significance of this episode. “To avoid wasting democracy, the US and the European elites seem to have discovered it essential to destroy democracy. For the primary time ever an election was overturned in an EU/NATO nation. Ever.” Doyle additionally cites proof that Russia was not even the doubtless perpetrator. The TikTok effort apparently originated with a botched PNL scheme to siphon off votes to Georgescu from different mainstream opponents.
by Fiona Harrigan, Cause, March 2025.
Excerpts:
In late 2021, Charlotte Bellis, an single journalist from New Zealand, discovered herself pregnant whereas working in Qatar, a rustic the place that standing carries the danger of jail time or deportation. A health care provider suggested her to get married or get overseas. However New Zealand, which at that time nonetheless was taking drastic measures to restrict the unfold of COVID-19, allowed its residents to come back house provided that they secured lottery-allocated spots in a government-run quarantine program. Bellis utilized however was unsuccessful. Determined, she turned to the Taliban.
The Islamic fundamentalist group stated sure. Bellis made her approach to Afghanistan, the place she had labored and the place her boyfriend was primarily based. “When the Taliban affords you—a pregnant, single girl—protected haven, you already know your scenario is tousled,” she wrote in The New Zealand Herald in January 2022.
And:
Journey restrictions, which the entire 194 World Well being Group (WHO) member states deployed in opposition to COVID-19, could appear to be a wise pandemic response. It’s straightforward to neglect that the WHO had lengthy considered such measures as ineffective and counterproductive. Past doing little to cease contagion, journey restrictions can cease vital personnel and gear from crossing borders. Additionally they can foster secrecy. After South African scientists found the brand new, fast-spreading omicron COVID-19 variant in November 2021, many nations responded by imposing journey bans on South Africa and its neighbors. A authorities may conclude that transparency is just not well worth the financial harm of canceled flights and holidays.
by Alex Nowrasteh and Jerome Famularo, Cato at Liberty, February 18, 2025.
Excerpts:
Congress is at present debating whether or not to spend about $175 billion on deportations to keep away from future funds just like the $650 million that Congress spent on shelter and different companies for migrants final 12 months. Poorly spending $650 million final 12 months doesn’t justify spending 269 occasions as a lot to keep away from equally comparatively small prices when Congress may simply determine to not spend the cash on migrant shelter and companies within the first place.
The higher coverage would as an alternative finish noncitizen entry to welfare and entitlement advantages, which may save over $109 billion within the first 12 months.
And:
We discover that each one immigrants consumed 21 % much less welfare and entitlement advantages than native-born People on a per capita foundation in 2022, primarily based on information from the Survey of Revenue and Program Participation (SIPP). Immigrants had been 14.3 % of the US inhabitants and consumed simply 11.9 % of all means-tested welfare and entitlement advantages that 12 months.
The most important fantasy within the debate over immigrant welfare use is that noncitizens — which incorporates unlawful immigrants and people lawfully current on numerous momentary visas and inexperienced playing cards — disproportionately devour welfare. That isn’t the case. Noncitizen immigrants consumed 54 % much less welfare than native-born People. Noncitizens had been 7.3 % of the inhabitants and consumed simply 3.5 % of all welfare and entitlement advantages. In whole, noncitizens consumed $109.4 billion in advantages in 2022.
Nevertheless, naturalized immigrants consumed 17 % extra welfare than native-born People as a result of they’re an older inhabitants—they consumed 7 occasions as a lot Social Safety and 4.3 occasions as a lot Medicare as noncitizens on a per capita foundation. Naturalized immigrants had been 7 % of the inhabitants and consumed 8.4 % of welfare advantages.
by Eric Boehm, Cause, February 19, 2025.
Excerpts:
Elon Musk claims that his Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) has uncovered “the most important fraud in historical past” throughout the Social Safety Administration: Funds to thousands and thousands of People who’ve doubtless been lifeless for a very long time.
That declare appears to be primarily based on a defective understanding of Social Safety information on Musk’s half. Extra to the purpose: Social Safety’s fiscal issues aren’t the results of fraudulent funds to people who find themselves already lifeless. It isn’t advantages for the lifeless, however quite funds to the residing which can be driving this system towards insolvency.
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The essential query, nonetheless, is whether or not Social Safety’s lack of “demise data” about these folks means they’re nonetheless receiving advantages.
The overwhelming majority are usually not. Based on the inspector common’s report, 98 % of them (18.4 million) “are usually not at present receiving” Social Safety funds. That’s as a result of these 18.4 million folks “haven’t had earnings reported to SSA prior to now 50 years,” the inspector common notes. “The truth that these people had been age 100 or older, had no earnings prior to now 50 years, and obtained no SSA funds signifies they’re deceased.”
One other approach to know that these funds aren’t being made is to easily take a look at the annual value of Social Safety. Jared Walczak, vice chairman of state initiatives on the Tax Basis, crunched a few of these figures in a put up on X. In brief, if Social Safety was paying advantages to all these clearly deceased folks, this system can be spending about $1 trillion extra yearly than it already is.
by W. Joseph Campbell, Media Fable Alert, July 1, 2017.
Excerpts:
The notion that Murrow’s profession hung within the steadiness in taking over the bullying senator from Wisconsin was promoted in Good Evening, and Good Luck, an overwrought cinematic account of the Murrow-McCarthy confrontation. However in actuality, the dangers to Murrow had been scant by time he took on McCarthy in 1954.
And:
That’s as a result of, as I write, Murrow “was very late in confronting McCarthy” and “did so solely after different journalists had challenged the senator and his techniques for months, even years.”
These journalists included the syndicated columnist Drew Pearson, who referred to as out McCarthy’s exaggerations virtually as quickly because the senator started hurling accusations of communists infiltration of the State Division. That was in February 1950 — years earlier than Murrow’s program on McCarthy.
