EXCLUSIVE: 'So Much Distrust': Incoming Trump NSA Disputes Report That Neocons Are Influencing MAGA Staffing

'Trump and the Make America Great Again movement are a mortal threat to these bureaucrats'

The man fell 40 feet

Scott Turner, nominated to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development, on Thursday likened his proposed approach to leading the federal agency to his days as a cornerback playing for the NFL’s then-Washington Redskins. “When I played in the NFL, we relied on game films to identify our mistakes and areas for improvement. I spent hours poring over the tapes to identify the smallest weaknesses in my game and determine what I could do to improve,” Turner told members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee at his confirmation hearing. Improving the department by making it more efficient and maximizing the efficient use of its resources was a refrain Turner returned to throughout the hearing.  The panel’s chairman, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., opened the proceedings by noting that housing “isn’t just about shelter.” “Housing is about opportunity, and it is about stability. Housing creates the foundation for achieving the American dream.” But he noted that the data is clear: “The American dream of homeownership is slipping further and further away.” The South Carolina senator noted that Turner had been the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during President Donald Trump’s first term. In that position, Turner assisted with the Opportunity Zones initiative, which Scott had authored. The program, enacted through Trump’s tax cuts legislation, directed private investment into devastated communities with federal tax incentives.  In his opening statement at the hearing, Turner discussed how he had worked as a dishwasher while in high school, and he noted his background as a child of divorce. He emphasized that the challenges HUD seeks to address were personal for him. “They’re not just things I hear about and read about. These are experiences that members of my family and I have seen and lived. And that perspective is something I can bring to the table,” Turner declared to the committee, clearly moved by his testimony.  A topic of much discussion during the hearing was the housing crisis in the United States. The nominee highlighted how owning a home was key to building intergenerational wealth. When Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., asked Turner why he thought housing costs were so high, he cited a lack of supply of homes. “We need about 7 million new housing units in America,” he said. Turner committed to making the most of HUD’s budget.  In one of the most moving parts of the hearing, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., recalled growing up in a trailer park. He said that being the head of a federal department requires intercepting bad ideas. “One bad idea is just throwing money after something without trying to figure out how to fix the plumbing in HUD,” Tillis said. He asked if he could get Turner’s commitment to do an audit of HUD, which Turner agreed to.  Freshman Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, noted that as many as 12 million illegal immigrants have entered the country since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021 and asked how illegal migration affected the housing crisis. Turner referenced a HUD report that illegal migration had contributed significantly to housing supply-and-demand issues. “It’s a huge burden,” he said.  Turner said localities are best equipped to address the housing problems they face. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., mused about a potential congressional plan to incentivize localities and state governments to build more housing. Turner responded by noting that “incentives do a lot” and that “competition always brings out the best.”   Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., asked about how tariffs on imported lumber might affect housing construction. Turner demurred from criticizing the tariffs placed on softwood by either the Trump or Biden administrations, pointing out that imposing or not imposing tariffs was the responsibility of the president and Congress.  Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., asked about the Biden administration’s emphasis on “equity” at HUD. “Do you think HUD should be holding grant applicants hostage to a [diversity, equity and inclusion] agenda?” he asked. Turner replied that the government shouldn’t hold grant applicants “hostage to anything.” He agreed to looking into those Biden administration HUD regulations.  Another member of the committee, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., told The Daily Signal in a statement that “Scott Turner is a strong pick for secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and I look forward to working with him. His experience working in the housing space is exactly what America needs right now. Our country is facing a serious affordable housing crisis. Inflation, high costs, and low inventory have put homeownership even further out of reach. “Exacerbating that crisis is the fact that 24% of the cost of building a new home is from government regulation. Whether it’s buying a home or succeeding in business, it is critical we ensure families across our nation can achieve their own personal American dream. Scott Turner is ready to be a part of that, and he will do a phenomenal job of instituting President Trump’s agenda,” Britt said. Turner’s hearing was much less contentious than those this week of some other Trump nominees selected to head federal departments. Some senators welcomed the nominee with a discussion of football, given his previous career. The post Ex-NFL Star Tapped as HUD Chief Has Game Plan for Agency appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Starship Test Flight 7

Bill Maher Wonders: Why Does It Take a Catatstrophe to Cut Red Tape?

President Joe Biden disturbingly pushed for increased online censorship in his farewell address delivered from the Oval Office on Thursday. During the speech, Biden asserted that he is “concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial comp,” which he claimed could “pose real dangers for our country.” He compared this to the military-industrial complex and doubled down on his administration’s record of pressuring Big Tech to censor speech. The outgoing president even included an oblique jab at Meta for its new pro-free speech policy of “giving up on” its so-called third-party fact-checking program. Read the full blog on MRC Free Speech America’s site.

Every generation loves to give the next one a hard time. Socrates famously called youth lazy, disrespectful, and decadent, starting a tradition that continues today. Although these criticisms sometimes hold truth, elders rarely acknowledge their own role in fostering the conditions that led to spiritual and cultural decline.Generation Z — or Zoomers — may seem alien to older generations, but they face unique challenges their elders can barely imagine, let alone solve. Issues of identity, spirituality, family, and economics have shifted beneath the feet of this younger cohort. Rather than disparage Zoomers, the right should offer them leadership and solutions.Conservatives should offer the young a future worth embracing instead of ridicule for the world they inherited.I am not a Zoomer. I was born only a few years into the Millennial generation, while Gen Z ranges from ages 13 to 28. Many of the problems Zoomers face originated long before they were born.When young people complain about job prospects and financial stability, the standard response is to work harder and “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” On an individual level, this advice is sound. No matter how dire one’s circumstances, effort and attitude remain personal choices. At a societal level, however, this stance can be disastrous. As a nation, we have a responsibility to foster an environment where young people can succeed, start families, and invest in a brighter future for their own children.When Baby Boomers came of age, America was flush with opportunity. Most jobs did not require a college degree, and a store manager could afford a home and support a family on one salary. Grandparents still tell stories of paying for college by working part-time and picking up extra shifts in the summer. Starter homes existed in decent neighborhoods and often cost less than one year’s tuition at many modern universities. Most important, the majority of children came from intact families that modeled stability, and parents felt an obligation to pass wealth and opportunity down to their children.At 14, I rode my bicycle to work my first job at a Subway in the neighborhood. I believe holding a menial job as a teenager is a critical rite of passage, teaching humility and an ability to connect with average people. However, most employees were high school kids, and every manager or assistant manager was an adult with little ambition. No one there was paying for college, let alone buying a home or supporting a family, just by making sandwiches.Today, many entry-level positions that would have offered much-needed job experience go to undocumented immigrants willing to work for less without the same labor restrictions. Meanwhile, Zoomers hear that college is the gateway to a middle-class life, but many white males quickly learn they do not meet diversity requirements. Those who make it into university pay tuition that can exceed the down payment on a home, only to land an accounting job their parents once secured through an apprenticeship.After graduation, many discover that jobs not yet shipped overseas are granted to foreign labor brought in on H-1B visas. The path to financial security that their parents once took seems increasingly out of reach.For Zoomers, dating and marriage seem bleak. They often come from broken homes, with few positive examples of healthy relationships. Churches — once crucial for moral guidance, meeting potential spouses, and helping couples through marital struggles — have been abandoned. Instead, young people turn to dating apps they find degrading, with low chances of success. Young women, burdened by college debt taken on to secure a job, hesitate to start families because they cannot rely on a husband’s income alone.The American dream once revolved around becoming middle class. Rather than attaining a certain salary, middle-class status represented independence. Wage workers depended on employers for daily survival. Typically renters, they had little security and lived paycheck to paycheck. Aspiring to join the middle class meant freeing yourself and your children from dependence on the system.A middle-class family owned its own home, its own car, and often a small business. The capital they accrued allowed for investing, saving for retirement, and creating new opportunities for their children. Civic organizations, fraternities, guilds, clubs, and churches formed a network of social institutions that kept government small while communities prospered. This leisure time and extra capital among the middle class fostered institutions that freed generations of Americans from depending on corporations or government.Today, the American middle class has been proletarianized. Mortgages have stretched from 15 to 30 years, and that’s for those lucky enough to buy a home in a market where costs keep climbing. Car loans have lengthened as well, with many consumers opting to lease rather than own. Health care, education, housing, and food have all experienced runaway inflation, while wages have failed to keep pace. Even two college-educated parents often need long hours at jobs that compete with foreign labor just to afford a home and raise a child or two. Those children, in turn, are often cared for by strangers and educated by the state. For most workers, “middle class” now means affording both Netflix and Hulu, not a path to prosperity and independence.Zoomers are not inherently entitled or lazy. They were born into a culture that gutted many key social institutions to boost abstract measures like GDP. Earlier generations forgot that economic growth should improve people’s lives, not just inflate earnings reports. Destroying faith, family, and community for profit invites cynicism among young people who see fewer pathways to success.This does not excuse Zoomers from personal responsibility, but conservatives should encourage them rather than mock them. Opportunities remain, yet both illegal and legal immigration must be curtailed so American citizens can access those jobs. The college monopoly on credentials must end, and DEI mandates in schools and workplaces should be punished under the strictest legal standards. Conservatives who claim to uphold “family values” need to help rebuild the local institutions that enable families to thrive and mentor the next generation of leaders. They should offer the young a future worth embracing instead of ridicule for the world they inherited.

CNN anchor Jim Acosta was ridiculed on Thursday for trying to defend the media in a video he posted on Thursday. Acosta rejected the characterization made by President-elect Donald Trump that the media was the "enemy of the people" just days before Trump will take office again. 'Your network spreads those lies. Your industry profits off those lies.' "I want to take a moment to talk about something President Biden said during his farewell address," said Acosta. "He warned the free press is crumbling in this country. I would add that's only if we the people let that happen. Journalists exist to seek the truth, to tell people's stories, to lift up voices that may not be heard otherwise. To shine a light on injustice and to hold the powerful accountable," he continued. "We are not the enemy of the people, we are the defenders of the people," he claimed. Many on social media excoriated Acosta for trying to claim the high-minded principles of journalism after so many examples of media malfeasance, incompetence, and bias. "But the American press is not free. It is captured by its biases and bigotries against conservatives and its refusal to hold itself accountable for covering up the mental decline of the President of the United States," replied talk show host Erick Erickson. "Jimmy, you're a liar. Your network spreads those lies. Your industry profits off those lies. You are the enemy of the people and I cannot wait until you are sued into bankruptcy for all the lies you spread," responded novelist Jacob Airey. "Free press isn’t crumbling. Networks that employ partisan paid actors to spew narratives are dying. Look in the mirror sport," read one popular response."Just start delivering the news rather than your politics, Jim, and you'll be fine. But ... can you do that?" said another critic. "You speaking about the free press while embracing the Left's censorship over the last few years is peak irony," responded another detractor. Acosta has been lambasted many times by critics on social media over the bias in mainstream media. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Pete Hegseth had a lot of incredible moments on Capitol Hill this week — but Liz Wheeler of “The Liz Wheeler Show” believes one of them was more important than the others. “How many other patriots, how many other people of conscience, we haven’t even talked about COVID and the tens of thousands of service members who were kicked out because of an experimental vaccine,” Hegseth said to Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). “In President Trump’s Defense Department, they will be apologized to. They will be reinstituted with pay and rank,” he continued. “Things like focusing on extremism, Senator, have created a climate inside our ranks that feels political when it hasn’t ever been political. Those are the types of things that are going to change.” Hegseth went on to call the “extremists” a “made-up boogeyman to begin with.” “Finally, justice for facing discrimination, being fired, having your rank stripped, being other than honorably discharged. Finally justice for those who were wronged and those who did the wronging,” Wheeler comments, thrilled. “I cannot wait for the day that he is sworn in as secretary of the Department of Defense, because I have not heard, you can correct me if I’m wrong here, if I’ve missed someone, I have not heard any other politician with the power to hold accountable those who terrorized us over COVID promise to hold those people accountable,” she continues. “That may be the most important moment of the entire Pete Hegseth hearing yesterday. Thank goodness he is going to be confirmed. It’s just a matter now of when that will be,” she adds. Want more from Liz Wheeler?To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.