House panel advances $1.15 trillion defense
bill after marathon debate
Posted By: Mercedes44, 6/5/2026 7:17:50 AM
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) late Thursday passed the annual Defense policy bill, sending the mammoth, nearly $1.15 trillion measure to the full House after debating a chunk of some 900 offered amendments for 14 hours. The measure, known as the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed the panel by a 44 to 12 vote, with the final gavel falling at midnight. All Republicans and nearly half of the panel’s Democrats voted in favor of the bill, an unusually small number of Democrats given that only one or two on the historically bipartisan committee typically oppose the bill as it heads to the House floor.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "Mercedes44"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Most Recent Articles posted by
Mercedes44"
Restraining Israel Is Not the Answer
4 replies
Donald Trump is not known for hewing to convention, but this week he seemed to rerun a standard Beltway drama. During a phone call on Monday, the president called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "crazy" and pressured him to rein in the Israeli offensive in Lebanon. Two days later, the State Department announced it had brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The seeming crackup in the Bibi-Trump bromance thrilled Israel’s critics and perturbed the Jewish state’s supporters. Some hope the close working relationship between Trump and Netanyahu is drawing to a close, others fear the entire bond between Washington and Jerusalem to be severed.
As the peace negotiations in the Middle East are ongoing, the world’s attention is already turning to the next mission by Donald J. Trump’s administration: the island-nation of Cuba.
Yesterday (4), the US imposed heavy sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife, and three other individuals.
It’s the latest escalation against Havana’s Communist leadership, freezing individuals’ property and bank accounts in the US. According to a statement signed by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, those ‘designated today (Thursday) direct or fund the regime and its efforts to mobilize its radical revolutionary movements in the United States and around the world
The story on Graham Platner that the New York Times dropped on Thursday painted the picture of a deeply sociopathic, controlling, and abusive man who shouldn't be elected dog catcher, much less to the United States Senate. As RedState reported, the Times recounted the stories of three women who had been in relationships with the Bernie Sanders-backed Senate candidate from Maine prior to his marriage in late 2023. The most compelling was told by Lyndsey Fifield, a Virginia woman who the Times wrote "has worked for right-leaning groups and Republican campaigns."
How Did Pakistan Become 96 Percent Muslim?
10 replies
Today, 96% of Pakistan's population follows Islam, with most of that percentage adhering to the Sunni tradition. According to Pakistan's constitution, the right to free speech can be restricted to ensure “the glory of Islam."However, Pakistan was once majority-Hindu. It was part of the Indian civilization with significant religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity.
This is no longer the case. Native Hindu and other non-Muslim cultures were systematically and largely erased by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Moreover, attempts at reviving the Hindu and other pre-Islamic names of geographical locations are met with backlash from Muslims in the country.
In the midst of ongoing diplomatic efforts and an ostensible truce, Iran launched missile and drone strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain — countries not even remotely involved in its conflict with Israel and the US — and then revealed that it signed a $25 billion nuclear deal with Russia.
Striking them deliberately during a ceasefire appears just part of Iran's blackmail plan to have its neighbors press US President Trump to permanently end military action against Iran, so that Iran will not attack their oilfields.
Democrat Senator has been funding left-wing
group behind anti-ICE protests, mass unrest strategy 20 replies
group behind anti-ICE protests, mass unrest strategy 20 replies
The political committee of Democratic Senator Chris Murphy — himself well versed in the "Resistance" talking points against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — is dedicated to resisting President Donald Trump and has funded a prominent left-wing nonprofit that has been at the center of highly organized, “mass mobilization” anti-ICE protests around the country.
Murphy’s newly rebranded Political Action Committee, American Mobilization, donated $100,000 last year to Indivisible, a progressive movement and organization formed in the wake of Trump’s first election in 2016 and dedicated to resisting the Trump agenda, Federal Election Commission records for the PAC show.
Americans should expect, at a minimum, to have elections that are free and fair, and results that are delivered promptly. But California is taking its laid-back reputation too far, failing to deliver its election results in a timely manner and creating the perception that they are neither free nor fair.
Slothful election results have plagued California for years since it made wholesale changes to its election system in 2016. It has mass mail-in ballots that can be counted post-election and allows for an extremely slow pace of counting.
Proponents of the system say this makes their elections more “secure” and accessible.
You won’t be surprised to learn that Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat,
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) late Thursday passed the annual Defense policy bill, sending the mammoth, nearly $1.15 trillion measure to the full House after debating a chunk of some 900 offered amendments for 14 hours.
The measure, known as the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed the panel by a 44 to 12 vote, with the final gavel falling at midnight. All Republicans and nearly half of the panel’s Democrats voted in favor of the bill, an unusually small number of Democrats given that only one or two on the historically bipartisan committee typically oppose the bill as it heads to the House floor.
Putin has previously used the International Economic Forum, in Russia’s cultural capital, to showcase his country’s economy and encourage foreign investment.
But if he had hoped to minimize the impact of the four-year-old conflict at this year’s event, Wednesday’s attack likely ended those hopes.
An oil terminal was set ablaze, flights at the city’s airport were delayed or diverted, and authorities cut cellphone internet service in a bid to prevent further drone strikes. Putin’s speech also comes at a time when Russia’s $3-trillion economy appears to be stagnating.
As the initial boost from massive military spending fizzles,
Economists polled by Dow Jones believe that the U.S. economy will have added 80,000 positions in May and that the unemployment rate will be unchanged, at a low 4.3%. Average hourly earnings, which fell below the rate of inflation in April, are expected to rise 0.3%. Wages are expected to rise 3.4% from a year ago.
In April, inflation sharply accelerated for a second month to 3.8%, its highest level in three years, because of the surging prices of oil and gas and their wider economic ripples. (The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release May’s inflation numbers Wednesday.)
President Donald Trump has been having a field day with the agonizingly slow vote count in California’s primary.
“The Dumocrats are at it again!” he posted Thursday on Truth Social. “They are trying to STEAL THE GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA PRIMARY, AND THE MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, PRIMARY, AWAY FROM TWO GREAT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES.”
Which, of course, set off a frenzy of “Trump lies” responses from Democrats and the press.
But even if Trump is wrong about fraud, he’s right to complain about this laughably inept process.
As of this writing, two full days after polls closed, just 60% of the votes for governor,
During a congressional hearing this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was subjected to a barrage of rude interruptions and gotcha questions from Rep. John Larson (D-CT), who seemed more interested in scoring cheap political points than actually helping American families struggling with high gas prices.
The Democrat lawmaker repeatedly cut off the Secretary, demanding a yes-or-no answer on eliminating the federal gas tax while refusing to let Bessent complete a single sentence.
Here’s the full transcript of the embarrassing exchange:
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
Social Security Time Bomb: Retirees Could
Lose Hundreds From Monthly Checks By 2032,
Report Says 24 replies
Lose Hundreds From Monthly Checks By 2032,
Report Says 24 replies
Millions of Americans who rely on Social Security could see their monthly benefit checks reduced by an average of around $500 if lawmakers don’t address a looming crisis, according to an analysis.
Social Security’s retirement trust fund is projected to become insolvent in 2032, an August 2025 letter from the Social Secutiy Administration’s (SSA) Office of the Chief Actuary read. At that point, the rules of the Social Security Act would make the agency unable to pay full scheduled benefits and require an across-the-board 24% reduction, according to a Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget analysis released Wednesday. The average beneficiary nationwide would lose approximately $500 per month, with retirees
Probably the strangest paragraph in the New York Times ‘sneak preview’ write-up of the Obama Library that some people are calling the Obamalisk because of its general ugliness and ominous blot on the Chicago skyline. More creative folks have compared it to a “Klingon prison”, a “Stalinist vertical gulag” and the Dorian Grey picture of the state of Obama’s soul. And things aren’t that much more cheerful on the inside.
So many people who have visited the Obama museum in its “soft launch” have cried that the staff has left out boxes of tissues. “Lots of tears,” said Valerie Jarrett, the chief executive officer of the Obama Foundation. “Lots of tears.”
Democrat Senator has been funding left-wing
group behind anti-ICE protests, mass unrest strategy 20 replies
group behind anti-ICE protests, mass unrest strategy 20 replies
The political committee of Democratic Senator Chris Murphy — himself well versed in the "Resistance" talking points against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — is dedicated to resisting President Donald Trump and has funded a prominent left-wing nonprofit that has been at the center of highly organized, “mass mobilization” anti-ICE protests around the country.
Murphy’s newly rebranded Political Action Committee, American Mobilization, donated $100,000 last year to Indivisible, a progressive movement and organization formed in the wake of Trump’s first election in 2016 and dedicated to resisting the Trump agenda, Federal Election Commission records for the PAC show.
I remember the scene on the Senate floor. The occasion was the vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare. It came down to John McCain, who hated Donald Trump with a burning passion eclipsing common Trump Derangement Syndrome. As one of his final acts on this Earth, McCain, aping every corrupt, movie Roman Emperor, raised his thumb and ominously, slowly, grinning like an evil lunatic, turned it thumbs down. Obamacare—arguably Obama’s most expensive destructive legacy-- was saved, and not because it has ever worked. McCain saved it out of spite.
That was only one of Obama’s destructive legacies. Jon Gabriel’s classic Twitter post sums up another:
The federal government's Medicaid program is paying Native American shamans in California $826 a day to perform ancient rituals such as drum circles and spiritual dances to treat drug and alcohol addicts. The alternative treatments are part of Democratic governor Gavin Newsom's embrace of "indigenous knowledge," a pseudoscience that claims Native Americans have mystical healing powers that transcend the realm of traditional medicine.
The Biden Department of Health & Human Services gave its approval in October 2024 for California to reimburse Native American "Traditional Healers" with federal Medicaid dollars to treat addicts by drawing on their innate knowledge of ancestral healing rites.
Here we go again.
If you have been following the race for mayor of Los Angeles, you have probably noticed that Spencer Pratt’s lead is slowly being eroded and Nithya Raman, the far left Democratic Socialist (communist) candidate keeps gaining.
The explanation for this is very simple. It’s fraud. Raman is benefiting from the state’s system of mail-in ballots, which SOMEHOW always benefits the left. Isn’t it fascinating how ballots that are tabulated after the election always benefit just one side?
NBC News recently admitted this on the air, without a hint of irony.
Downing Street has hit out at "people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division", after JD Vance's comments on the murder of Henry Nowak.
The US vice-president blamed the death of the 18-year-old British student, who was fatally stabbed last year in Southampton by Vickrum Digwa, on the "mass invasion of migrants" and said the "only response" was "righteous anger".
After the post on X, the Downing Street spokesman said the Nowak family had "said they do not want his death to be used to create further division".
For years, Denver was one of America's great success stories. Drawn by its snow-capped mountain backdrop, thriving economy and coveted outdoor lifestyle, thousands of Americans flocked to Colorado's capital during and after the pandemic. Home prices surged, cranes filled the skyline and developers raced to keep up with demand. Today, the picture looks dramatically different. Downtown office towers sit eerily empty. Storefronts remain vacant.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has confirmed longheld Republican suspicions: Protests are bought and paid for by big donor Democrats.
Murphy admits he has been pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars of his donor money to fund left-wing street protest organizations.
Now, he’s telling radicals that the 2028 presidential election might not even take place.
The Connecticut Democrat made the alarming claim at a May 26 book tour event during a Q&A with former NBC journalist Katie Couric to help sell his new book, “Crisis of the Common Good.”
When Couric asked Murphy about his national ambitions, he answered by suggesting the country might not make it to the next election.
Graham Platner supporter Ro Khanna says
he should apologize to women who alleged
disturbing behavior 12 replies
he should apologize to women who alleged
disturbing behavior 12 replies
BAR HARBOR, Maine — Rep. Ro Khanna of California on Friday said that Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner should apologize to the women who recently came forward describing disturbing behavior they experienced with him.
NBC News IconIn a brief interview with NBC News, Khanna — here to rally on behalf of Platner and other Democratic candidates before Tuesday’s primary — said that he rejected the behavior Platner allegedly displayed against three women who described their past relationships with Platner to The New York Times.
How Did Pakistan Become 96 Percent Muslim?
10 replies
Today, 96% of Pakistan's population follows Islam, with most of that percentage adhering to the Sunni tradition. According to Pakistan's constitution, the right to free speech can be restricted to ensure “the glory of Islam."However, Pakistan was once majority-Hindu. It was part of the Indian civilization with significant religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity.
This is no longer the case. Native Hindu and other non-Muslim cultures were systematically and largely erased by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Moreover, attempts at reviving the Hindu and other pre-Islamic names of geographical locations are met with backlash from Muslims in the country.
It amazes me how easily we are gaslit about voter fraud. Or should I say, how easily Democrats are gaslit about voter fraud, since by now most Republicans are cynical enough to expect it.
I was struck on Tuesday night by how many Republicans confidently predicted that Spencer Pratt's seemingly insurmountable lead over Nithya Raman in the Los Angeles mayor's primary would evaporate as the votes were dumped in batches over the ensuing weeks, and their cynicism, it seems, will be rewarded.
California doesn't have election days. It has election weeks that begin well before election day and extend well after election night. It will turn out, remarkably, that