Mexico’s security chief announced on Tuesday that family members of the infamous cartel leader “El Chapo” have entered the U.S. as part of negotiations with the Trump administration over one of his sons’ trafficking charges. 

The David Hogg ouster from the DNC as vice chair has moved forward. David Hogg might soon be ousted as Vice Chair of the DNC because he’s white and they violated gender rules by not considering a Native American woman first. Actually, they’re not being honest. We all know he might be pushed out because […] The post Hogg’s on His Way Out of the DNC Because He’s White appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

A high school English teacher in Maine appears to still have her job after she called for the assassination of President Donald Trump and his supporters and close advisors. Waterville Senior High School teacher JoAnna St. Germain posted to her Facebook late last month that the Secret Service and U.S. military need to step in to murder Trump and his supporters, The Daily Wire chronicled here. The teacher’s threatening comments sparked an investigation by law enforcement, according to local reports. St. Germain’s posts have since been wiped from her Facebook page, but her name still appears on the Waterville Senior High School staff directory, listing her as an English teacher. Screenshot: WSHS website The Daily Wire reached out to Principal Dr. Brian Laramee for clarification on St. Germain’s current employment status, but has not received a response. Additionally, a parent of a student at Waterville reportedly recorded a conversation with staff at the school who allegedly said St. Germain had not been fired and is welcome to teach, though she has not been back to the school since calling for the murders. The Maine Wire reported on the recorded conversation but has been unable to independently verify it, nor has The Daily Wire. Before wiping her social media, St. Germain published a lengthy Facebook post addressing her comments. She said she made them mostly because she wasn’t sleeping and was not in the right headspace. St. Germain also blamed past trauma. “I had a mental breakdown due to severe insomnia and the stress of trying to cope with trauma inflicted on me by a domestic abuser and rapist, but I have sought the help I needed and my brain is mine again,” the teacher said. “I’ve been under the care of an incredible psychiatric team. They saw what was happening, and worked with me to help me get fully back to myself. Mostly what I needed was sleep,” she continued. “I hope you have no idea the psychosis lack of sleep brings.” “I regret my words of violence towards the current administration,” St. Germain added. “That is not in my heart when my brain is well. I have never received so much as a speeding ticket, and I loathe guns and violence. I meet every individual with respect and an open mind when I am well. I have the most genuine remorse for making people feel unsafe.” She also doubled down on her opposition to the Trump administration, writing, “I meant every word I said about the rise of fascism and the horror of trafficking humans to foreign prisons.” “My heart breaks every day for the vulnerable populations being targeted and irreparably harmed,” St. Germain wrote. “I love you. If you hate me? I still love you.” Update on Waterville, Maine teacher who threatened to kill her students and the president. She was a victim. She just needed some rest and she promises she won’t kill any students who support Trump. pic.twitter.com/Ovc0j19lGx — Better Maine (@MaineLogic) May 10, 2025 As reported by The Daily Wire, St. Germain’s past posts said that the U.S. Secret Service “has the perfect opportunity” to assassinate Trump. “You are the ones with power. Coordinate,” she instructed. “Take out every single person who supports Trump’s illegal, immoral, unconstitutional acts. Look at the sycophants and give them what they’re asking for.” “Secret Service, you are Americans. My beloved military, you are Americans. We, the people, are counting on you,” St. Germain added. “If I had the skill set required, I would take them out myself.” Facebook: JoAnna St. Germain Related: ‘F*** Fascism’: Maine Teacher Calls For Murder Of Trump Supporters, Top Officials In Unhinged Rants

Republicans in the GOP-led House are struggling to reach an agreement for the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap being considered for President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” In the 389-page tax package released on Monday, there was a provision to increase the SALT deduction cap to $30,000 for individuals earning $400,000 or less, up from the current $10,000 limit from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that is set to expire at the end of this year. The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the tax measure in a 26-19 vote along party lines on Wednesday morning, but Republicans from high-tax blue states such as New York, New Jersey, and California are fighting for a higher ceiling. After Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) posted on X a photo of Trump at McDonald’s and saying, “Thanks for playing, @WaysMeansCmte,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) replied, “You forgot to add SALT with those fries, Chairman.” You forgot to add SALT with those fries, Chairman. ? ? https://t.co/QhGAUZjxla — Mike Lawler (@lawler4ny) May 14, 2025 GOP lawmakers who want a SALT deduction cap increase have star power in Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who is considering a run for New York governor after Trump pulled her nomination to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. She joined other New York Republicans for a May 8 statement that warned a flat $30,000 SALT deduction cap would not get their support. “[It] risks derailing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill,” they said. “New Yorkers already send far more to Washington than we get back — unlike many so-called ‘low-tax’ states that depend heavily on federal largesse. A higher SALT cap isn’t a luxury. It’s a matter of fairness. We reject this offer.” Some House conservatives, who are focused on cutting how much the federal government spends and reining in a national debt that is approaching $37 trillion, have voiced reservations about the SALT deduction cap. “The top Congressional districts taking advantage of SALT (State & Local Tax) deductions (i.e., they have high state & local taxes on high incomes. Mostly Dem, heavily CA, Swamp (MD, VA), & NY,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said in a post on X last month. “In fairness, property taxes in TX are horrible, but we shouldn’t subsidize that either!” Democrats are pushing in the opposite direction. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) indicated that he would rather not have a SALT deduction cap at all, as it was before the 2017 tax law, saying on X that Republicans “must now fully restore it or be completely exposed for their phony advocacy.” The New York Post reported that Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) offered an amendment to increase the SALT deduction cap to $80,000 and pay for it by raising the tax rate on top earners from 37% to 39.6%, but that proposal was rejected by the Ways and Means Committee. Trump himself seems to be on board with a change. During the 2024 campaign, Trump posted on Truth Social that he would “get SALT back.” CNBC noted that after Trump began his second term, he told Fox News that he would “love to see something happen on SALT.” Lawmakers will now have to negotiate a resolution before the tax package is added to other parts of the “one big, beautiful bill” and a final vote by the full House. Republicans have a 220-213 majority, meaning there can only be a few defectors for the bill to pass if all Democrats vote against it. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) reportedly predicted that Republicans would need until the weekend to reach a deal on SALT. He’s been gunning to have the House finish up with the overall spending bill by Memorial Day. “We have a delicate balance to maintain to get 218 votes on one of the largest and most comprehensive and complex pieces of legislation that’s ever been drafted by Congress,” Johnson said, per a post on X from a congressional journalist. “So yeah, my concern is always the vote total, but I’m very confident that we’ll be able to deliver that.”

An analysis from Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation revealed discomfiting news for Democrats who engage in class warfare: the House tax package would give average-income people almost double the percentage decline in their tax bills than those making more than $1 million a year. The report found a general steady decline in the tax percentage as wages decreased. People making more than $1 million per year would see a drop of 8.6%; a decline of between roughly 11%-13% from those making between $1 million and $60,000, then a surge to 14.5% for those making between $50,000-$60,000; 16.1% for those making between $40,000-$50,000, 17.6% for those making between $30,000-$40,000, and 21.1% for those making between $15,000-$30,000 per year. “The measure of income used to place tax returns into income categories is adjusted gross income (“AGI”) plus (1) tax-exempt interest, (2) employer contributions for health plans and life insurance, (3) employer share of FICA tax, (4) workers’ compensation, (5) nontaxable Social Security benefits, (6) insurance value of Medicare benefits, (7) alternative minimum tax preference items, (8) individual share of business taxes, and (9)excluded income of U S citizens living abroad,” the analysis noted. “The analysis does not take account of a likely expansion of a deduction for state and local taxes, which would overwhelmingly benefit upper-income households, or look at the possible effect of spending cuts Republicans are also planning that would primarily hit lower-income people,” POLITICO reported. On Monday, House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) ripped the House GOP, saying,  “They’re very uncertain of where they’re headed. And they know the political consequences, because I talked to a couple of them already.” “House Republicans are hoping to get the tax portion of the bill out of committee on Tuesday. Neal plans to make that task as hard as he can,” Semafor reported on Monday. On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) resorted to the time-honored Democratic tradition of accusing the GOP of favoring the rich, saying, “My colleagues, let’s be honest about why we are here today. We are here because—according to President Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans in Congress—the wealthiest individuals and the largest corporations in our country are not wealthy enough.” Despite Democrats’ efforts to stop it, the House Ways and Means Committee, in a straight party-line vote, voted to advance the tax package out of committee on Wednesday morning, which means the package must next go to the House Budget Committee. The package makes the income tax rates from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permanent while including President Donald Trump’s promises of no tax on tips or overtime, a jump in the child tax credit, and an increase in the endowment tax on some universities. The House Budget Committee will gather the disparate parts of Trump’s tax bill, then send it to the entire House for a vote. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will have to work assiduously to unify the various factions in the House, given the razor-thin majority the GOP has in the House.

A 2020 research paper titled “Car Seats as Contraception” has once again become the springboard for debates over why so-called “family vehicles” such as minivans and SUVs are unable to accommodate multiple car seats easily. Social media users argue that it’s just another way that large families are discouraged or even discriminated against. They question why car seat manufacturers are not intentionally designing their products to be more streamlined so three can fit across a bench seat in the back of a high occupancy vehicle, and why car manufacturers are not similarly concerned with making their vehicles big-family friendly. The paper, which appeared in The University of Chicago Journal of Law & Economics, argues that people are less likely to have more children due to the limitations posed by fitting many car seats into a standardly equipped vehicle. “Women with two children younger than their state’s [car seat] age mandate have a lower annual birth probability of .73 percentage points,” the paper says. It notes that this trend began in 1977 when car seat laws were passed. This concept has become a hot topic of conversation on X as parents with big families relate with this particular struggle. “I’ve been saying this. [T]here is NO reason you shouldn’t be able to easily fit 3 car seats of any brand in any car that has 3 back seats. so many people I know have had to buy a bigger car for a third kid and I don’t think people realize this is actually a serious consideration for everyone thinking of growing their family beyond 2 kids,” one reaction said. “I’m a car seat fan — my kids max out weight limits rear facing & in 5 pt harnesses,” one person shared. “HOWEVER. Carseat design & car design appear to be 2 fields so separate they’ve never even contemplated the existence of the other.” “If your minivan seats 7 you should be able to fit 5 car seats,” the social media user added. “I find this 100% believable,” another person wrote. “We have two toddlers. Our third child is on the way. Federal regulations mean that we are *required* to buy a bigger car than our CR-V if we want our family to legally ride together in the same car. I have 0 idea how that’s supposed to work if you’re a working class parent.” “We just had to buy a bigger vehicle to accommodate #5 which who’ll be here October,” another commenter echoed. “We had a Grand Caravan, and I wasn’t able to fit 4 in properly because of the rear bench seatbelts and anchors. We just did the best we could which meant not using the seats as per the manual.” The topic went viral once before when a resurfaced clip of Vice President J.D. Vance weighed in on the topic during a 2023 congressional hearing. A clip of his statements was circulated in September 2024 ahead of the election. “American families aren’t having enough children. I think there’s evidence that some of the things that we’re doing to parents is driving down the number of children that American families are having,” Vance said in the video. “In particular, there’s evidence that the car seat rules that we’ve imposed, which of course I want kids to drive in car seats, have driven down the number of babies born in this country by over 100,000. So as we think about how to make kids safe here, I think we should do it in a way that’s accommodating to American families.” Social media accounts dedicated to making multiple car seats work in standard American cars have become popular, with one of the most well-known, “The Car Mom,” promising “Car reviews and car buying tips for families.”