Not unthinkable. Utterly necessary, in fact, given California’s regulations — what the parenting types call natural consequences, always so annoying to the recipient.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] State Farm General, California’s largest home insurer, has been granted approval to raise its home insurance rates across the state — triggering fierce backlash from consumer advocates.
A judge and Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara approved the hike, which will see average home insurance premiums rise by 17 percent.
Condo owners and renters will also see average increases of 15 percent, while rental property owners will be hit hardest with a staggering 38 percent jump.
'It is unthinkable that State Farm would do this after so many families in the area were affected by wildfires,' said Los Angeles native Andrea Smith, referencing the blazes that ravaged parts of the city in January.
The rate hike follows a year-long standoff between the insurer and the state, which regulates premium increases.
Last year, State Farm threatened to withdraw from California entirely unless it was allowed to raise prices. Originally, the company proposed even steeper hikes.
The newly approved increases — the second in just two years — will begin hitting policyholders as early as next month.
State Farm says the move is necessary to avoid financial collapse, pointing to billions in payouts tied to recent wildfires.
#2
I'm worried that these rate increases will be applied across the board instead of focused on the high risk, fire prone areas where development never should have happened. I'll take it in the seat of my pants even though my house is in a safe place because Newsom and other state officials have done nothing in the way of responsible forest management or fire prevention. Thanks, Newsom.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/15/2025 12:31 Comments ||
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[JustTheNews] "I do think that the Biden pardons need some scrutiny," Ed Martin said.
Interesting times. They were all so smug that they’d got away with it.
Ed Martin, who is leaving his Trump appointment as interim U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., to become the Justice Department's U.S. pardon attorney, said that he will review former President Biden's outgoing pardons.
"I do think that the Biden pardons need some scrutiny," Martin told ABC News on Tuesday. "And they need scrutiny because we want pardons to matter and to be accepted and to be something that's used correctly. So I do think we're going to take a hard look at how they went and what they did.
"If they're null and void, I'm not sure how that operates, but I can tell you we've had already, I've had in my current position, or my position as US Attorney, we had been taking a look at some of the conduct surrounding the pardons and the Biden White House."
In addition to the pardon attorney post, Martin will be the director of the department's Weaponization Working Group.
President Trump pulled Martin's nomination for U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., because Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he would not support it, over Martin's involvement in the defense of people who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to NBC News.
Tillis is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was overseeing Martin's nomination. His no vote would have effectively prevented Martin's from getting a final confirmation vote.
The DOJ attorney said that he doesn't believe that Biden's use of "auto-pen" for pardons is a problem, despite Trump suggesting that it makes them invalid.
On Biden's last day in office, he pardoned his brother Jim, his sister-in-law Sara, his sister Valerie and her husband, John Owens, his brother Francis, Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley, and members of the House Jan. 6 committee.
[DailyWire] The African Development Foundation’s employees have been sounding the alarm for years about self-dealing, cruelty, and anti-white discrimination. Money sent to Africa was then wired to the personal bank accounts of babus bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. An official promoted his for-profit, multi-level marketing scheme to poor Africans. Law enforcement identified possible criminal kickbacks. And those who now lament DOGE’s shuttering of the agency did nothing to fix it when they had a chance.
"It was so hard to see ADF being used as a beacon of hope and resistance against DOGE because I knew they were actually covering up horrible things...the doors were being kept locked for a reason," one former employee said. "The hero of the story is actually the villain."
By law, the agency is only allowed to give grants to Africa-based groups. But to keep more of that money for its own employees and officials’ friends, while concealing how much money actually went to overhead, it would require Africans to send money back to the United States at its direction, employees said.
Until shortly before DOGE gained access to the building with the assistance of U.S. Marshals, the agency was led by CEO Travis Adkins, who arrived in 2021 after a stint at USAID as a Joe The Big Guy Biden ...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family... political appointee. An assistant to Adkins said that after she asked why her paycheck was lower than agreed upon, Adkins informed her that the remainder would be coming from an overseas account.
He "sent me an email connecting me with this guy in Africa who asked for my banking information. Within a few days, this guy wired me $17,000," she told The Daily Wire on condition of anonymity. The Daily Wire reviewed bank paperwork showing the transfer from an account in Kenya.
Another longtime employee, she said, was eventually "put on the payroll of an African partner and was informed she was being paid through an entity in Mauritania. No payroll, state, or federal taxes were withheld from her paychecks."
"The contracts don’t make sense, and they know [DOGE] will find lots of wrongdoing and illegal activity," she said. "I’m not a fan of DOGE, but some of the things they’re doing need to be done. They have been operating like this for years, and no one did anything about it."
#4
Government salaries being funded like a Nigerian Prince email scam.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/15/2025 5:32 Comments ||
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#5
Question:Since we are literally talking $$ Millions were skimmed over the years. Is the DC Swamp now a Democrat/ RINO Indictment Free Zone?
Where are the Criminal Indictments?
Where is the IRS? Since these illegal Taxpayer funded skims are UNREPORTED INCOME and no payroll, state, or federal taxes were withheld.
[Breitbart] California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) released a new budget proposal Wednesday that suggests closing off free health care to illegal aliens in the Medi-Cal program, the state’s version of Medicaid, due to high costs.
A problem for now-Gavin. Should he actually win the presidency, he will revert to type as quickly as can be.
Newsom acknowledged that the state faces huge budget deficits for the second year in a row, despite massive federally-funded surpluses before that — amounting to a $12 billion gap that the state government must fill.
As part of his plan to fill the hole, Newsom’s revised 2025-26 budget is proposing $5 billion in savings by barring new “undocumented” immigrants from joining Medi-Cal — though he said that existing enrollees would not lose their benefits.
CalMatters.org reported:
A year after granting Medi-Cal access to low-income immigrants without legal status, Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to freeze enrollment of new recipients and charge premiums in a move expected to save the state more than $5 billion.
Under Newsom’s proposal announced today, Medi-Cal — the state’s health insurance program for low-income people and those with disabilities — beginning in 2026 would no longer accept new enrollees 19 and older who lack permanent legal status.
The 1.6 million immigrants already signed up would not lose their Medi-Cal coverage, and children could still enroll. All undocumented Californians would still be covered for emergency medical and pregnancy care — so-called “limited scope” coverage that is paid for with federal dollars. But those who don’t enroll before January 2026 would be uncovered for other medical expenses, such as prescription drugs and doctor’s visits.
The San Francisco Chronicle elaborated:
Roughly a third of California’s nearly 40 million residents are covered by the program, which is available to people who make less than 138% of the federal poverty level — about $21,600 for an individual or $44,400 for a family of four. Earlier this year, the state had to appropriate billions in additional funding and take out a loan to cover growing Medi-Cal costs, including from increasing enrollment by senior citizens and rising pharmaceutical prices.
“The cost of the program is more than anticipated. It is unsustainable,” Erika Li, a top Newsom administration budget official, told lawmakers in April. “We are looking at ways to curb those costs.”
Politico noted Newsom’s reversal, adding that he tried to blame President Donald Trump:
The proposed reversal marks a significant retreat on an issue the governor has touted as being a linchpin in his goal of providing universal health care coverage in California. His success pushing through the initiative, which began in January 2024, helped solidify Newsom’s role as a progressive force in the Democratic politics. The back tracking will be a political gift to conservatives, who for months have been criticizing the program as excessively expensive and out-of-touch with what Californians want in tough economic times.
…
Newsom tried to spin his decision to cut back on coverage for undocumented immigrants as one that will bolster Medi-Cal. “These changes are designed to preserve that commitment, protect coverage for millions of Californians, and preserve the strength of our values and health care system,” according to a fact sheet Newsom’s office circulated ahead of his budget presentation.
And the governor returned to a now familiar refrain, blaming President Donald Trump for unleashing the economic turmoil that forced his hand on the Medi-Cal cuts. Tariffs imposed by Trump, according to Newsom’s office, have decimated state revenues to the tune of $16 billion. Combined with existing budget problems, Newsom’s office said “the state must take difficult but necessary steps,” to bring down costs.
Newsom’s earlier policy of “free” health care for illegal aliens caused Medi-Cal to slide towards insolvency. The program was forced to borrow more than $6 billion earlier this year simply to stay financially afloat.
[JewishChronicle] Ben Cohen, the Jewish co-founder of ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s who is known for supporting progressive causes, has told controversial conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson that he “loves Jesus” and that Israel is committing “genocide”.
Cohen, 73, whose parents were both Jewish, attracted media attention four years ago when he co-authored an op ed in the New York Times backing the ice cream maker's decision to stop selling its products in the West Bank.
Speaking to Carlson – who has been accused of platforming Holocaust revisionism – Cohen also questioned Israel’s influence over US foreign policy.
“In terms of a spiritual belief, I mean, I don’t practise a religion,” Cohen said. “I was born a Jew. I love Jesus Christ. I think the words that he said are wonderful, are amazing. And, you know, I’m kind of distressed that a lot of organised Christian religions are not really, I don’t know, abiding by the words of Jesus Christ
Posted by: Fred ||
05/15/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[236 views]
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#1
Ben follows no religion but is concerned that Christians imperfectly follow Christ. If Tucker gives him more air time, I’m skipping that episode. Long form leftism is torturous.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
05/15/2025 5:28 Comments ||
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#4
Ben & Jerry’s has not been a Main Stream Voter, or Israel supporter since the early 2000's.
EG. "Ben & Jerry's decision was welcomed by Palestinian activists behind the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for a complete boycott of Israel ...".
We have not purchased anything B&J since early 2000's. Like we do with any commercial firm that continues selling Politics over Customer Service and Product Quality. See, Food giant Unilever, B&J owners, supported political causes as an examples.
#7
… A pint of Ben & Jerry's Milk & Cookies ice cream has 1130 calories, 97 grams of sugar, 117 grams of carbs, and 67 grams of total fat.
So he's not selling this stuff in the West Bank anymore? Sounds like they'll be a lot healthier without it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/15/2025 12:25 Comments ||
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#8
You'd think the security force would be a little more alert considering the Kennedy family's experiences
Posted by: Regular joe ||
05/15/2025 14:20 Comments ||
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#9
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream is overpriced slop. There are other premium ice creams in any large market area that taste just as good and much, much more affordable.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family...
