Do you feel like the winds of change are blowing today too?
POSTED BY: 6ixStringJack
UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 16:05
VIEWED: 185382
PAGE 342 of 479
Billions in Taxpayer Dollars Have Become Virtually Untraceable
The Trump administration’s aggressive approach to overhauling the executive branch has obscured how federal dollars are actually being spent — even for the members of Congress.
NOTUS attempted to trace the money appropriated for more than 100 government programs to understand where taxpayer dollars are going, only to hit dead ends repeatedly. Data is outdated or conflicting, agencies have been vague in their explanations, and in many cases, there’s no publicly available evidence that appropriated money is being spent at all.
The connection between Congress’ decisions and current spending should be obvious — but in many cases today, it’s obscured.
Lawmakers and their staff told NOTUS they’ve faced the same barriers.
“I don’t think that there has been anything close to the transparency that we would hope,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski said. “We’re kind of finding out about it at the very last minute.”
When asked if she felt confident that she can get the information she needs, she responded:
“No! No. I get it by reading something in the newspaper.”
Murkowski isn’t the only Republican voicing her frustrations.
The Trump administration is “really pushing the limits of what the executive can do without the consent of the legislative branch,” Appropriations Chair Susan Collins told The Wall Street Journal in July.
She escalated her language at the end of August, when the White House made clear that OMB Director Russell Vought intended to pursue a controversial method of withholding funds called a “pocket rescission.”
“Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law,” Collins said in a statement. “Instead of this attempt to undermine the law, the appropriate way is to identify ways to reduce excessive spending through the bipartisan, annual appropriations process.”
More at https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/billions-taxpayer-dollars-virt
ually-untraceable-appropriations-trump-omb-russ-vought
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
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For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
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Quote:Possible Embezzlement on a National Scale of $100 Billion or More
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
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For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/billions-taxpayer-dollars-virt
ually-untraceable-appropriations-trump-omb-russ-vought
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:Possible Embezzlement on a National Scale of $100 Billion or More
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
--------------------------------------------------
For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/billions-taxpayer-dollars-virt
ually-untraceable-appropriations-trump-omb-russ-vought
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
--------------------------------------------------
For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:With your claimed ability to type at 55 words per minute, plus your keen mind and brave heart, I don't see why you failed to become an exemplary success story for all Americans.
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:Possible Embezzlement on a National Scale of $100 Billion or More
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
--------------------------------------------------
For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/billions-taxpayer-dollars-virt
ually-untraceable-appropriations-trump-omb-russ-vought
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
--------------------------------------------------
For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:With your claimed ability to type at 55 words per minute, plus your keen mind and brave heart, I don't see why you failed to become an exemplary success story for all Americans.
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:Possible Embezzlement on a National Scale of $100 Billion or More
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
--------------------------------------------------
For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
https://www.notus.org/trump-white-house/billions-taxpayer-dollars-virt
ually-untraceable-appropriations-trump-omb-russ-vought
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
--------------------------------------------------
For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
A lack of ambition coupled with a lack of avarice.
It's really quite simple.
By the time we're both dead, you will have paid 10 times the amount of money I've made in my life in taxes, and twice that in interest.
And it's 65wpm, btw...
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For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:Two appointees are ambitious and avaricious:
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
A lack of ambition coupled with a lack of avarice.
It's really quite simple.
The DHS chief has been widely criticized for slowing down FEMA’s response after natural disasters. Texts and emails obtained by ProPublica point to an effective way to get help faster: have one of Noem’s big donors make the ask.
By Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski | Sept. 26, 2025
https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-fema-florida-naples-sin
an-gursoy
“I can’t get phone calls back,” Ted Budd, the Republican senator from North Carolina, told a newspaper this month, describing his attempts to reach Noem’s office. “I can’t get them to initiate the money. It’s just a quagmire.” The delays were caused in part by a new policy announced by DHS that requires Noem’s personal sign-off on expenses over $100,000, several news outlets reported.
Noem has been criticized for creating a bottleneck at FEMA. When the floods hit Texas this summer — ultimately killing over 100 people — it took days to deploy critical search-and-rescue teams because Noem hadn’t signed off on them, according to CNN. Budd, the Republican senator, said this month: “Pretty much everything Helene-related is over $100,000. So they’re stacking up on her desk waiting for her signature.”
Think of all the taxpayer money being saved by doing nothing. The exception is for those who bribe Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and thus receive preferential treatment. There will be jail sentences, but not until after Attorney General Pam Bondi is also incarcerated for her role in this bribery scheme. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's salary is $250,600 annually. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's annual salary is $235,100. With bribes, they can vastly increase their incomes.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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No agenda, no attenda
Joel Eissenberg | September 28, 2025 8:57 am
https://angrybearblog.com/2025/09/no-agenda-no-attenda
That was my motto about meetings when I was a professor and associate dean. A leader respects the time of their colleagues. Not so for Pete Hegseth.
“Nothing good is likely coming out of this. The highly unusual summit was announced on short notice and no reason was given to military commanders and other leaders stationed in conflict zones, across Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region who are being required to leave their posts for the meeting.”
All this does is fuel rumors.
“This is either a meeting that could have been an email,” said Matt Gertz of Media Matters for America, “or something ominous.”
Regardless, it’s disrespectful.
Hegseth is jerking around the military brass.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:Two appointees are ambitious and avaricious
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
A lack of ambition coupled with a lack of avarice.
It's really quite simple.
By the time we're both dead, you will have paid 10 times the amount of money I've made in my life in taxes, and twice that in interest.
And it's 65wpm, btw...
Shut the fuck up.
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For all that I've blessed, and all that I've wronged. In dreams until my death, I will wander on.
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Quote:Why health insurance is about to become unaffordable
Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Shut the fuck up.
Paul Krugman
Sep 29, 2025
. . . millions of Americans will soon be screaming about unaffordable health care.
In a way, I’m surprised that Republicans didn’t decide to keep the enhanced, Biden subsidies in place for another year, just to delay the pain until after the midterms. But they didn’t, probably because they have such a strong aversion to helping Americans in need that they couldn’t even bring themselves to play cynical politics on the issue.
This aversion to doing anything decent is why the government will probably shut down Wednesday. For Republicans need Democratic votes to keep the government open, and Democrats have made retaining enhanced subsidies their price for cooperating.
What will happen then? I have no idea. But I think the Democrats made the right choice when they made health insurance premiums — rather than, say, tariffs — their key demand.
Why? Because doing so puts the onus for rising premiums squarely where it belongs — on Republicans. If Democrats weren’t putting this issue front and center, the usual suspects might be able to convince many voters that someone else — immigrants, Antifa, George Soros, whatever — was responsible for their soaring health costs. That will be much harder now.
Again, I have no idea how this will play out. But it looks to me as if Democrats have chosen good ground on which to make their stand.
More at https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/understanding-the-coming-premium
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME