“The View” co-host Sunny Hostin recently compared the January 6th demonstrations to the Holocaust, slavery, and World War II.

“I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates says of Vice President Joe Biden. Even in his semi-dementia state, Joe Biden can’t help but show his true colors as he brags to reporters about knowing more foreign […] The post Nasty Joe Snaps at Reporters While Boasting appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Why is The View still on the air? That’s a good question. The answer lies in what they sell. They sell lies and anti-right propaganda. The panel says moronic things which appeal to others who have already been dumbed down. That’s what Disney and Comcast want. It’s what the advertisers are comfortable with, and deranged […] The post The View and the Dumbing Down of America appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

Around three million retired public workers will receive increased Social Security benefits after President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act on Sunday. The bill paves the way for retired police officers, firefighters, teachers, nurses, and others who collect pension income to receive increases in their Social Security payments, CNBC reported. The Social Security Fairness Act repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which — for more than 40 years — reduced Social Security benefits for public sector workers and their spouses who receive a pension or disability benefits from a job where Social Security payroll taxes were not withheld. “By signing this bill, we’re extending Social Security benefits for millions of teachers, nurses, and other public employees and their spouses and survivors,” Biden said. “That means an estimated average of $360 per month increase.” The president added that around 2.5 million Americans will receive a lump-sum payment to make up for a shortfall in benefits they should have received last year. The Social Security Administration (SSA) said in a statement on Monday that it is “evaluating how to implement” the bill signed by Biden and “will provide more information as soon as available.” The bill will add $196 billion to the federal deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Fox Business reported. Critics of the bill, which was passed by Congress with bipartisan support, argue that it will only cause more issues for Social Security in the future. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said that the Social Security Fairness Act unfairly benefits some workers while creating more of a burden that others will have to pick up. “Let’s be crystal clear: this bill would increase unfairness in how Social Security benefits are calculated,” Grassley said on the Senate floor last month. JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25 The WEP reduced Social Security benefits for workers with a public pension if they also held a job in the private sector. The WEP was crafted to prevent public sector workers from “double-dipping” from a government pension and Social Security, according to Fox Business. The GPO, meanwhile, reduced Social Security benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who have their own government pensions. Those who called for the repeal of the WEP and GPO argue that public sector employees who had their Social Security benefits reduced were not receiving “the full Social Security benefits they’ve earned.” Biden acknowledged that the Social Security system needs more work and argued that the “wealthiest Americans [must] begin to pay their fair share so it’s able to be maintained and so much more.” More changes to Social Security could be coming shortly as Congress’ timeline to implement major Social Security reform continues to shrink. According to the SSA, the program’s trust fund reserves will be depleted by 2035, meaning if Congress doesn’t act, retirees will only receive 83% of their full benefits after 2035.

Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination to be the next director of national intelligence received a boost from a group of people well-acquainted with the threat of terrorism. A former al Qaeda hostage, his parents, and the parents of an ISIS victim signed a joint letter backing Gabbard’s nomination as key to protecting Americans from terrorism, especially with the ascent of a new terror group in Syria. Letter signatory Theo Padnos was kidnapped and held by the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, from 2012 to 2014. His parents, Nancy Curtis and Michael Padnos, also signed the letter, as well as Carl and Marsha Mueller, whose daughter, Kayla, is believed to have been executed by ISIS in 2015 after being held captive in Syria for over two years. Gabbard’s experience in national security and her service in the military has given her the necessary experience to understand the threat of terrorism, the letter says, according to a copy obtained by The Daily Wire. “[Gabbard] has been compassionate towards terrorism’s victims. She has been a fierce advocate for bringing its practitioners to justice,” the letter says. “American hostage families know that Tulsi Gabbard has always been on our side. We know this because all of us have been in the position of needing information and connections in a country in which the American foreign policy apparatus has been unable to provide even the most basic forms of help,” it continues. JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25 After the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorial regime last month, large swaths of Syria have fallen under the control of the Turkish-backed, U.S.-recognized terror group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the leader of which has past ties to al Qaeda and the Islamic State. “Now that the individuals who helped to build up ISIS and al Qaeda in Syria have taken charge of the country, we expect terrorists there to have a much freer hand in the future,” the letter says. It goes on to warn that terror groups in Syria will wield their influence over the internet to groom and radicalize “lone wolves in the West.” “Given the threat that has lately surfaced in New Orleans, we feel that the sooner the senate confirms Tulsi Gabbard the better, as the nation needs leadership that will keep Americans safe,” the letter says. The endorsement comes at a key time for Gabbard, one of President-elect Donald Trump’s more controversial nominees, as she prepares for a Senate confirmation hearing this month. Gabbard has been scrutinized for her past efforts to foster a closer U.S. relationship with Assad, whom she met with in 2017. Muellers and Theo Letter of Support by Timothy Pearce on Scribd

CNN Anchor John Berman and data guru Harry Enten laid out the polling that proved, despite the repeated insistence of many Democrats and media talking heads, the American people just weren’t all that concerned with blaming President-elect Donald Trump for the Capitol riot. The two hashed out the details during Monday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” where Enten laid out the polling data from immediately after January 6th, 2021 — and then compared it to the polling data from 2023 and 2024, going into the 2024 presidential election. WATCH: CNN Data Shows Voters No Longer Buy January 6 ‘Insurrection’ Hype… CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten revealed Monday that American voters’ focus on the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot significantly waned during the 2024 presidential election cycle. The shift in public… pic.twitter.com/dqsIOeVWsl — RVM News (@redvoicenews) January 6, 2025 Enten began with the percentage of voters who believed that Trump was primarily responsible for the riot that took place on Capitol Hill that day — and that he should be either removed from office or barred from re-election because of it. “If you go back, you know, four years ago, right? Trump’s role on January 6, 2021, should make him ineligible to be president, the clear majority of voters said yes, 56%,” Enten said, noting that they had also said he should be removed from office at that time. “But of course, Donald Trump won the presidency, and part of the reason why was because views on Trump completely shifted, including Trump’s role on January 6,” he continued, noting that after three years had passed, the number of people who believed Trump should be ineligible for the presidency because of January 6th had fallen to 47%. “So we saw this drop of about 9 points, and that of course makes all the difference in the world. And that, of course, is all the difference in the world, going from a majority to short of a majority,” Enten added. “And of course, Donald Trump won the vast, vast, vast, vast, vast majority of the other 53% who did not believe that his role on January 6th would make him ineligible for the post.” Berman questioned the reason behind that shift, and Enten noted that over that same time period, the number of voters who primarily blamed Trump for the riot had also dropped from 48% to 37% by the time the election picked up. “Look at that again, a clear shift down to 37%. This is an 11-point drop, very much mirroring that drop that we saw that the folks at that, of course, would make him ineligible for the presidency. So that is part of the reason why,” Enten explained. “Folks, fewer folks thought he was responsible, greatly responsible for what happened on January 6th.” But the kicker, Enten said, was that fact that people just weren’t as focused on the riot as a major event: “It’s not just that. It’s that people, simply put, didn’t care as much about the attack on the Capitol.” When asked whether January 6th was their “biggest memory of Trump’s first term in office,” only five percent said that it was in 2024. Among Republicans, that number was just two percent, according to Enten. “So the bottom line is fewer Americans fault Donald Trump or thought he was greatly responsible for the January 6th attack. And more than that, as it went into the rearview mirror, far fewer folks thought that it was their number one memory,” Enten concluded. “And this is an extraordinary number given that President Biden, when he was still in the election, was really putting this as his main issue,” Berman observed. “That never really was registering.”

It’s great to be back after a long Christmas break. Much has happened in the world since my last post. Today, however, I’d like to begin with a story that’s unfolding in New York.  There’s one thing we know: Government officials, whether they’re elected politicians in this country or despots in the third world, do not like being reminded of their failures. This is why the greatest crime in any dictatorship is noticing. You aren’t supposed to notice things that are embarrassing to the ruling regime. It’s also why comedy and satire are banned in places like North Korea, just like they’re banned on late-night talk shows in this country. Petty, corrupt and ineffective people can’t stand it when their incompetence is exposed. They’re willing to take extreme measures to prevent that from happening. Right now, in the city of New York, we’re getting a very clear sense of what those “extreme measures” look like, in practice. If you’ve seen the news lately, you know that the subway system is one of the most obvious and unavoidable signs of New York’s decline. It’s a monument to the many failures of the city government. As of late last year, ridership on New York’s subway system is down more than 25% from pre-pandemic levels. That means that, every day, there are at least a million fewer people riding the subway in New York, as compared to five years ago. It’s not exactly a great mystery as to why people are avoiding it. There’s a constant stream of violent attacks on the trains and the platforms — from people being pushed in front of the trains to a woman getting burned alive. Yes, if you didn’t hear about that, a woman was burned alive, on a train, in New York, in front of a crowd of people. This is what’s happening now in the third world country known as New York City. And that’s just within the last few weeks. These attacks are effectively endorsed and enabled by New York’s government, which has made the political decision not to incarcerate most criminals. That explains why a man named Jamar Banks was able to use the subway the other day. The New York Post reports that, “A subway maniac with 87 prior arrests was just busted for two transit stabbings — carrying the large knife he allegedly used in the violence … Banks’ rap sheet includes arrests for alleged attempted murder, weapons possession, assault, criminal trespassing, turnstile jumping and petty larceny.” If politicians in New York didn’t want to destroy the city, they’d immediately throw every criminal like Jamar Banks in prison. They’d start enforcing the law. It’s actually not hard to prevent people from getting randomly stabbed, torched, or thrown in front of trains. This is a very easy issue to address. The city could effectively end all of this madness overnight, in one fell swoop, if they wanted to. All you have to do is take all the people who are already known violent criminals and put them in prison. Then you have to ban homeless people from setting up camp in the tunnels or on the trains, and arrest anyone who causes a disturbance. This could all be done in one day. WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show But none of that is happening. Instead, rather than admit they’ve failed their constituents, politicians in New York have just decided to compel citizens to use the subway. They’ve opted to make it financially untenable for most New Yorkers to avoid public transit. That’s their solution to the fact that no one in the city wants to ride the subway anymore. They’re going to force them to do it. I’m talking about so-called “congestion pricing.” After several years of debate, this “congestion pricing” has just taken effect in Manhattan. In essence, this is a tax on anyone who wants to drive a vehicle into the heart of New York during work hours — as if it wasn’t already expensive enough to live in that diseased, rat-infested, crime-riddled, reeking, filthy, godforsaken hellhole of a city. This new tax is a very clear effort to force New Yorkers to use the subway system, which has become an international embarrassment. People don’t want to use it because they don’t want to be assaulted by schizophrenic vagrants. So the solution isn’t to get rid of the schizophrenic vagrants. Instead it’s to simply force everyone to use it, basically offering law abiding citizens up as sacrifices to the dregs of the community. Specifically, this new tax covers the vast majority of vehicles entering Manhattan between 60th Street and the Battery, which includes Times Square, Hell’s Kitchen, the theater district, and other high-traffic areas. From 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m on weekends — which is obviously a huge block of time — the so-called “peak period toll rate” is in effect. For all “passenger and small commercial vehicles,” that toll rate is $9.00 during the peak period. To be clear about the political dynamics here, the majority of New Yorkers oppose congestion pricing, as far as I can tell. A Sienna College survey from last summer found that nearly two-thirds of people living in the city didn’t want a $15.00 “congestion toll.” In response to the outcry, the governor of New York briefly suspended the plan. Then she said she’d lower the toll a few dollars, claiming it would save New Yorkers some money. To reiterate, she claimed she was saving New Yorkers money by taking less of their money than she was originally going to take. This was a prime example of political “girl math,” as I outlined at the time. And now it’s taken effect. Naturally, some Left-wing New Yorkers rallied in response to their government gouging them even more. But instead of rallying against it, they actually rallied to thank their overlords for the privilege of being bilked by them. Some of these scenes are so absurd that they don’t even seem like they can be real. Here for example is a crowd cheering as the signage for the congestion pricing is unveiled: "3, 2, 1… Happy congestion pricing!" – New Yorkers *applaud* as the MTA unveils new regulatory tolls on them pic.twitter.com/o55GtYlw92 — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) January 5, 2025   Yes, you just heard someone shouting, “Happy congestion pricing.” They are celebrating the implementation of an unprecedented tax, as if it’s a national holiday. This would seem to be boot-licking taken to an unparalleled extreme, and it is. But we should also understand that really they’re celebrating the fact that, because of this tax, wealthy New Yorkers will have to contend with fewer working class people on the roads in Manhattan. The same people who celebrated the assassination of the health care CEO as some kind of twisted “victory for the little guy” are very, very happy about using a tax to keep poor people away from them. JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN 2025: GET 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25 That’s a pretty big clue that none of these people actually care about “the little guy.” If you ask them, of course, they’ll pretend otherwise. In particular, they’ll say that congestion pricing is necessary because it will help pay for improvements to the subway system. For example, when the governor briefly halted the plan for congestion pricing last summer, this was the response:   If you want to explain to someone how cities like New York are collapsing, just show them that clip. According to the residents of New York, it’s a “great betrayal” that the government isn’t taxing them enough. That is how these people think. To be fair, the first guy was arguably a little less pathetic. He was talking about all of the alleged benefits that will result from congestion pricing. He’s saying they’ll be able to improve the subway system to make it more “accessible,” which is a talking point a lot of these protesters used. Watch:   One of the many false assumptions these people are making is that more money will improve the subway system. But that’s not true. And we know that because the New York subway system is a comically obvious example of waste and mismanagement in government. For example, the Second Avenue subway that was recently constructed in Manhattan somehow cost more money than any other similar subway system on the planet — by a lot. As Bloomberg reports: “At $2.5 billion per mile, construction costs for the 1.8-mile Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway were 8 to 12 times more expensive than similar subway projects in Italy, Istanbul, Sweden, Paris, Berlin and Spain.” So that’s one potential way to raise revenue, right off the bat. They could stop lighting money on fire. Secondly, if you’re worried about congestion in Manhattan, you could try a lot of things besides charging people to drive their cars. You could, for example, try opening more lanes, instead of closing them for cyclists and construction. Anyone who’s ever driven through Manhattan could tell you that. Here’s one example: Couldn’t have said it better myself. The city caused this “congestion”. And now anti-car activists are celebrating by taunting drivers at toll gantries.#FuckCongestionPricing pic.twitter.com/nMIYOiWQLY — The Fight against Anti-Car (@NoBikeLanes) January 5, 2025   This is something no one ever mentions as a possible solution. Get rid of the stupid bike lanes. You’ll find this same thing in cities all over the country. You have to sit in traffic because the city has blocked off entire lanes so that people can ride their bicycles in the street. As I’ve said many times, they might as well block off lanes so that you can use your ab roller or bench press in the middle of the street. If you want to exercise — that’s great, I support it. But you shouldn’t be doing it in the road when everyone is trying to commute to work. One of the arguments you’ll hear from these activists is that, somehow, this new tax will reduce carbon emissions and change the weather and save the planet. This is science, you see. Step 1: you pay a toll. Step 3: hurricanes stop happening. The problem is that Step 2 is a bit foggy. And anyway, even if you assume that reducing carbon emissions by a tiny amount will change the weather for the better, it’s a moot point, because this won’t actually reduce carbon emissions. Instead, traffic is going to move elsewhere. People living in New Jersey understand that pretty well, which is why they’re suing to stop this tax. MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+ But regardless, even if you don’t buy any of the counter-arguments — even if you think that New York’s government urgently needs more money to improve the subway — it’s still not clear why “congestion pricing” is the best way to raise that revenue. Why not raise taxes on those evil corporations that the Left claims to hate so much? Why are they raising taxes on regular citizens instead? It only makes sense when you realize, again, that the objective is to force more people into public transit, and get them off the roads. Admittedly, this whole fiasco may seem irrelevant to anyone who has the good sense to not live in New York. But this sort of madness can be found, in varying degrees, wherever Democrats have power. The idea that Trump’s re-election would be some kind of wake up call for Democrats is a fantasy. They can’t be woken up because they aren’t asleep or in some sort of trance. They’re doing exactly what they want, and their policies are having precisely the effect they intend. Here for example is an image from the New York subway system: ? NYC subway riders are all terrified of being shoved in front of a train. pic.twitter.com/HCXmcRJ69S — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 5, 2025   You’ll notice that everyone is standing against the wall, because they don’t want to get pushed on the tracks by some psycho. It’s straight-up dystopian and you have to wonder how long people will put up with it. If there’s any waking up that can happen and must happen, it’s among the average citizens in places like New York. If they ever come to their senses and realize that the people they put in power are actively and intentionally making their lives worse in just about every measurable way, then maybe things will start to change for the better. Unfortunately, for everyone living in New York, based on the celebrations we’re seeing in support of “congestion pricing” — which is really a tax on using your own property and going about your daily life — it doesn’t look like that will happen any time soon.

'I will perform my constitutional duty'

'This is clearly a political power move by the Biden White House'