“The US government currently has ~4.6M active credit cards/accounts, which processed ~90M unique transactions for ~$40B of spend in FY24. DOGE is working w/ the agencies to simplify the program and reduce admin costs – we will report back in 1 week,”

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

SUBJECT: Radical Transparency About Wasteful Spending

The United States Government spends too much money on programs, contracts, and grants that do not promote the interests of the American people. For too long, taxpayers have subsidized ideological projects overseas and domestic organizations engaged in actions that undermine the national interest. The American people have seen their tax dollars used to fund the passion projects of unelected bureaucrats rather than to advance the national interest. The American people have a right to see how the Federal Government has wasted their hard-earned wages.

I therefore direct the heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) to take all appropriate actions to make public, to the maximum extent permitted by law and as the heads of agencies deem appropriate to promote the policies of my Administration, the complete details of every terminated program, cancelled contract, terminated grant, or any other discontinued obligation of Federal funds. Agencies shall ensure that such publication occurs in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the underlying contract, grant, or other award.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/memorandum-for-the-heads-of-executive-departments-and-agencies-7c05/

Conspiracy Theorists Were Right About Everything – Now What?

Just because the evil is exposed does not necessarily mean it will stop or disappear…

For many years alternative economists and “conspiracy theorists” have argued that, according to the evidence, there has been an organized criminal cabal operating a long running agenda to exploit and eventually destroy western culture. We have suggested that much of this agenda was being funded with our own tax dollar while using government institutions and NGOs as vehicles for social engineering.

In the 20 years since I started work in the liberty movement (or patriot movement), I have seen corruption beyond imagining and it all culminated in 2020-2023 when many of us battled against the imposition of total medical tyranny and mass woke indoctrination. Even after that startling Orwellian period we were still called conspiracy theorists, but public awareness is changing rapidly.

I’ve see enough to know that what is happening today is truly unprecedented. We have entered a crossroads; a time when reality is no longer discarded for the sake of collective comfort and “conspiracy” becomes historic fact. It’s an exciting time to be alive, but also potentially hazardous.

My running theory has always been that once the house of cards came crashing down and the truth was revealed to the wider public, a whole lot of skeptics that used to call us “fringe crazies” and “tinfoil hatters” would suddenly claim they “saw it coming all along”. Yes, the conspiracy theorists were right, about EVERYTHING. The truth is coming to light in a big way, but what does this mean for the future?

Can America Handle The Truth?

The recent dismantling of USAID and the open investigations into numerous federal agencies has opened a Pandora’s Box; the covert funding that these institutions are involved in (including millions in pay-offs to various news media outlets and propaganda platforms) is, I believe, just the tip of a massive iceberg that could very well sink the US system faster than the Titanic.

Elon Musk’s DOGE group has only just begun dipping their toes into the dark waters of the Treasury, Medicaid, Social Security and the Defense Department. We all know there are some horrifying monsters lurking in those depths. This doesn’t even take into account the hidden activities of the controllers of the Federal Reserve.

The establishment media argues that USAID represents only 1% of the total federal budget, as if that makes the budget waste acceptable. But if there is that much mismanagement and gerrymandering in a smaller organization like USAID, imaging how much fraud there is in the rest of the federal government? .

Over the years many of us in alternative economics have wondered if our nation would be able to handle the revelation that almost everything about our system is fake. Half the country has suspected as much, but what would happen if we had hard proof – A smoking gun?

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/conspiracy-theorists-were-right-about-everything-now-what

Paging DOGE: Study Finds 28% Spike In Corruption When Feds Shower Local Governments In Cash

Federal grants are a crucial funding source for local governments, growing from $135 billion in 1990 to an astounding $1.2 trillion in 2022. However, a new study reveals that sudden surges of federal money - so-called "windfalls" - increase local corruption by up to 28%. This research underscores the urgent need for stringent oversight mechanisms, particularly at the federal level, to ensure these funds serve their intended purpose rather than lining the pockets of corrupt officials.

The study reveals that local governments experiencing sudden increases in federal grants witness a 28% rise in corruption-related charges. This trend is not surprising given that rapid financial expansion often outpaces the development of adequate oversight structures.

Examples abound of public officials exploiting these funds for personal gain. One such case involved the mayor and accountant of Stonecrest, Georgia - Jason Lary, who pleaded guilty in 2022 to defrauding local churches, businesses and nonprofit organizations out of hundreds of thousands of dollars - out of a $6.2 million federal grant for COVID-19 relief.

In October of 2021, the DOJ seized roughly $480,000 of fraud proceeds from Lary - who was sentenced to nearly five years in prison.

The principal-agent problem exacerbates this issue. While the federal government provides funds with the expectation that local governments will use them appropriately, local officials—acting as agents—sometimes operate contrary to these expectations, exploiting gaps in oversight and enforcement.

The Role of Federal Oversight Agencies

Given the lack of oversight at the local level, federal oversight agencies, like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are vital in curbing these abuses. According to the study, federal oversight of 'windfall' grants rely on 'Single Audits' - the impact of which is "surprisingly limited and mixed. According to a 2021 study (Brumley et al.), when Single Audits do find corruption, there is usually no subsequent reduction in federal grant awards.

State oversight mechanisms offer some deterrence, particularly when state auditors hold Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) credentials. However, their effectiveness is inconsistent across jurisdictions. While states with more fraud auditors experience lower corruption levels, the overall impact is relatively weak compared to federal intervention.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/paging-doge-study-finds-28-spike-corruption-when-feds-shower-local-governments-cash

Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill To Expedite Ballot Counting In Swing State

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday vetoed a bill aimed at speeding up ballot counting in the state, citing concerns that it would make voting more difficult.

House Bill 2703, introduced by Republican state Rep. Laurin Hendrix, would have changed Arizona election laws by eliminating emergency voting centers and setting a new deadline for voters to drop off early ballots.

Hobbs said earlier this month that she would veto the measure amid concerns it could create difficulties for voters, leading to negotiations with lawmakers that ultimately stalled.

In a Feb. 18 statement posted to the social media platform X, Hobbs said she had offered compromises that would have sped up election results in the state while also protecting voting rights.

Those compromises were ultimately rejected, prompting her to veto the measure, the governor said.

Hobbs said she was concerned that the legislation restricts late-early ballot drop-offs and effectively ends Arizona’s Active Early Voting List, therefore “gutting the vote by mail program that countless Arizonans rely on.”

“I offered compromises that include that change, but also policies like same day voter registration, cross-county portability of registration, and more assistance for eligible voters to return their ballots to protect voter access,” Hobbs stated.

“Compromise was rejected.”

Election results in Arizona tend to come in later than in other states, in part because of a state-mandated signature verification process for mail ballots and a surge in emergency voting during the weekend before Election Day.

Under current law, voters can drop off their mail ballots at polling places until 7 p.m. on Election Day. As a result, the state has taken close to two weeks to report its results in recent elections.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/arizona-governor-vetoes-bill-expedite-ballot-counting-swing-state

India's Tata Consultancy "Gaming The US Visa System" And Falsifying Applications, Former Workers Allege

In 2017, as Donald Trump took office with a crackdown on employment visas, former Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) IT manager Anil Kini alleges he was ordered to falsify internal organizational charts to make the company appear more manager-heavy.

Kini claims this was a cover-up to evade scrutiny over TCS’s use of L-1A manager visas, which have fewer restrictions than H-1B visas and lack minimum pay requirements, according to a new feature by Bloomberg.

Kini and two other former TCS employees filed whistleblower lawsuits under the False Claims Act, alleging the company used L-1A visas to bring in non-managerial workers. However, the cases were dismissed before the visa fraud claims were examined, with Kini’s still under appeal. He says he resisted altering the charts and was fired in 2018 after filing his lawsuit.

Federal data reviewed by Bloomberg indicates that TCS has received more L-1A approvals than the number of managers it disclosed to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, suggesting possible misuse of the visa program. TCS, which serves major U.S. tech firms, has secured more L-1A visas than any other employer in recent years.

The company denies any wrongdoing, stating that courts have already dismissed these allegations.

While Trump initially opposed employment visas, arguing they undercut American workers, his stance has shifted, now expressing support for such programs. This has created tensions between his traditional nationalist base and newer tech-industry allies. Meanwhile, legal experts note that gaming the L-1A program is common, with federal authorities uncovering nearly 200 cases of misuse in the past decade.

The Bloomberg feature says that False Claims Act lawsuits let whistleblowers sue companies on behalf of the U.S. government, often alleging corporate fraud against taxpayers. These cases gain traction when the Justice Department joins, but the DOJ declined to back any lawsuits against TCS over L-1A visa misuse, including Anil Kini’s.

TCS stated in legal filings that an internal review found “most of the issues raised” by Kini were unsubstantiated and claimed it had “already taken corrective action” on those that were. However, the company did not disclose what its inquiry revealed. A federal judge dismissed Kini’s case in February, ruling he failed to prove how TCS’ visa practices violated financial obligations to the U.S. government.

Kini, who appealed the decision, says he refused to alter organizational charts and filed two internal complaints before suing in 2017. He was fired the following year, which he calls retaliation. TCS did not comment on his dismissal. “I was proud to be working for TCS,” he said. “But then some things in life, there should be integrity in what you do.”

In another case, Vinod Govindharajan, an Indian national, alleges TCS falsely claimed he was a manager in 2013 to secure an L-1A visa, bypassing stricter H-1B rules. He says the company brought him to New Jersey, where he worked a sales job with no subordinates and was paid half of what American colleagues earned. Frustrated, he filed a 2018 complaint with the EEOC, which later found “credible documentary evidence” that TCS “frequently falsifies documents in support of L-1 visa applications.” The agency also determined Indian visa workers were underpaid and that TCS retaliated against Govindharajan for speaking out.

However, the EEOC lacks authority over immigration or employment visa wage laws, which fall under separate federal agencies. There’s no indication it shared its findings with them. An EEOC spokesperson cited confidentiality rules in declining to comment. “It was a dream of mine to move to the U.S.,” Govindharajan said. “But I was doing a sales role, nothing to do with management.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/indias-tata-consultancy-services-accused-gaming-us-visa-system-former-workers-blow-whistle

RFK Jr. Lays Out His HHS Agenda: ‘Nothing is Going to Be Off Limits’

In his first address to staffers at the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. promised that “nothing is going to be off limits” in his pursuit to reduce the chronic disease epidemic.

“Some of the possible factors we will investigate were formerly taboo or insufficiently scrutinized,” Kennedy told HHS staff, Tuesday morning. “I’m willing to subject them all to the scrutiny of unbiased science.”

Some of these previously taboo concerns, he said, include “the childhood vaccine schedule, electromagnetic radiation, glyphosate, other pesticides, ultra processed foods, artificial food additives, SSRI and other psychiatric drugs, PFAS, PFOAs, microplastics.”

RFK Jr. reminded HHS staff that an “overwhelming majority” of our Founding Fathers were “citizen scientists,” including “Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Benjamin Rush, a physician, Julian Bartlett, a physician, Matthew Thornton, a physician, and Oliver Wolcott, a physician.”

“Science and democracy were born together during the enlightenment, and they share the same ideals for openness, for public access, and for transparency,” he said.

No one trusts science that isn’t transparent about its research hypothesis, its raw data, or its conflicts of interest. No one trusts a government built on lies, on secrets, on cover ups, and propaganda. That’s why my uncle famously observed that the word secrecy is repugnant to a free and open society.

RFK Jr. told the bureaucrats at HHS that a key “reason why our agencies have lost public trust is that they have become too politicized,” and that “there’s no such thing as Democratic children or Republican children.”

“Science gets politicized when power and profit are involved, and power and profit are blind to compassion,” he continued. “Reducing the influence of money, therefore, goes hand in hand with depoliticizing HHS.”

Kennedy lamented that a “fog of narrative warfare” had left Americans with a warped view of his character and beliefs.

“Let’s start a relationship by letting go of any preconceptions that you may have about me,” he stated. “I’m going to keep asking questions but hold my preconceived answers lightly. I’m willing to be wrong,” Kennedy said.

“I’m not going to impose any of my beliefs over yours,” he added. “Instead, we’re going to launch a new era of radical transparency. Only through radical transparency can we provide Americans with genuine informed consent, which is the bedrock and foundation of Democracy.”

RFK Jr. continued: “It’s no secret that many of our institutions of our Democracy, and even of science and medicine, are no longer transparent.”

Because of this, he argued, these institutions “have become inefficient, dysfunctional or corrupt,” and in some cases, become “captive to profit-making industries and stagnated in bureaucratic secrecy.”

Kennedy acknowledged however that the majority of people in our public health agencies have good motives and are “competent, ethical, caring and idealistic.”

“I believe that most of you here are not here for the money,” he told his HHS audience.

https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/18/rfk-jr-lays-out-his-hhs-agenda-nothing-is-going-to-be-off-limits/

Putin: 'I Will Meet Donald With Pleasure'

Trump team 'completely different' in positive openness to work together — Putin

https://twitter.com/i/status/1892230515677188190