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An estimated 80% of people hate their jobs. They fantasize about quitting in a blaze of glory, hurling their lanyards across the office like a frisbee, and riding off into the sunset to raise goats, bake sourdough, or at least remember what eight hours of sleep feels like.

Sean Carlton was one of them.

‘Nobody wakes up one morning ready to raise animals and turn them into food.’ Change begins with one thing you can actually change. Lower one bill. Learn one skill.

The difference is that he didn’t stay. Two years ago, he and his wife, Alexys, walked away from their corporate careers and bought an acre of land in West Virginia. The experience also prompted Carlton to write “Exit Farming: Starving the Systems That Farm You” — a book that reads like both a confession and a call to arms.

The Carltons didn’t step into a new job, but into a new way of being. They rolled the dice with no promise of a soft landing, and in doing so they exposed something uncomfortable: Many of us aren’t trapped by circumstance so much as by the stories we tell ourselves about what we are allowed to want.

Sean Carlton

Questioning ‘normal’

Carlton is no professional commentator or pundit. “Exit Farming” is a cri de coeur from the American cubicle.

So when asked what exactly he means by “systems that farm you,” he doesn’t reach for theory. He answers with the simplicity of a man who finally recognized the shape of his own confinement.

“Systems farm people by taking more from you than they give back while convincing you this arrangement is normal,” he says.

Work dictates your hours. Debt dictates your decisions. Health care dictates your fears. Even your phone becomes, in his words, “the delivery system for apps that track you, profile you, and sell what they learn.”

It might sound melodramatic. It isn’t. It’s simply Monday morning in America, with millions waking up already weary of the hours ahead.

Slow and steady

But Carlton insists the way out is rarely a dramatic jailbreak. It’s the slow, steady act of starving the system’s influence. You “bring one thing at a time back under your control.” Lower an expense. Learn a skill. Build a sliver of income that doesn’t depend on a single institution. These small shifts break the spell. Every small act of independence starves a machine that has grown used to feeding on your time, your attention, your identity, even your sanity.

Of course, independence comes with a price, and Carlton tallies it honestly and without self-pity. One of the most striking sections in the book addresses the loss of family once he stepped off the expected path. Not through screaming matches or slammed doors, but through slow erosion: “Phone calls got shorter. Conversations turned tense.”

Disapproval had less to do with the specifics of his life than the simple fact that he no longer fit the template.

When asked how Americans can balance honoring their families with refusing to, as he puts it, “participate in systems that drain your energy and compromise your values,” his answer is as clean as it is compelling: “If a relationship survives you making choices that improve your health, your time, or your stability, then it survives. If it falls apart the moment you stop living the way they prefer, then it was already conditional.”

It’s a hard truth, but Carlton refuses to dress it up. Long before any institution closes a door on us, we’ve already built the cell ourselves. The ancients understood this well: People cling to the comfort of captivity, obeying expectations set by those who would rather see them worn down than transformed.

RELATED: An artist and farmer cultivates creativity

Stacy Tabb

Work with consequences

There’s also a spiritual undercurrent to his critique of modern work culture. Carlton never lapses into sermonizing, but his diagnosis reads like a measured moral warning. Modern work “follows you home,” he notes. It takes evenings, weekends, and whatever fragments of peace remain. It erodes sleep, attention, and the mental steadiness that previous generations recognized as the bedrock of a healthy life.

Americans worship productivity with almost religious devotion, even though the devotion always seems to cost them more than they can spare. Two-thirds of the workforce is burned out, but the cult of busyness marches on. Another day, another dollar … but also another headache, another email chain, and another reminder that coffee can only do so much.

When asked whether “exit farming” is a return to older ideas of work and stewardship, he rejects romantic myth-making. “Exit farming isn’t about finding something spiritual,” he says. “It’s about doing work where the consequences are real.” If you don’t feed the animals, “they suffer and then they die.” If you don’t tend the crops exactly as needed, the season is lost before it begins. Nothing waits for permission. Nothing reschedules itself for your convenience. This realism is its own kind of grounding. And you don’t need a farm to reclaim it, but only work that doesn’t demand the erosion of dignity as its hidden price of admission.

Grow one thing

The final question in the book’s conversation is the one most Americans are actively wrestling with: What about those who feel trapped? Trapped between institutions they no longer trust and a life of greater self-reliance that feels too big, too frightening, too foreign?

Carlton’s reply is the opposite of theatrical bravado. “Nobody wakes up one morning ready to raise animals and turn them into food.” Change begins with one thing you can actually change. Lower one bill. Learn one skill. Grow one thing you eat often. Build one dependable relationship. Reduce one vulnerability. These are small, almost humble acts. But they mark the beginning of a life that no longer runs on someone else’s terms.

Over time, he says, these small adjustments stop being adjustments. They become a different kind of life, one that is sturdy enough to withstand the failures of the systems around it.

That’s the heart of “Exit Farming.” It isn’t about rejecting society or romanticizing hardship, but about reclaiming stability in a country where stability has become a cruel joke. It’s not about storming out in some “Office Space” fantasia with a baseball bat.

It’s about one couple choosing a different path and showing that others could do it too. Not through dramatic destruction, but through the refusal to be drained of the very things that make a life worth living — time, purpose, and peace.

​Align interview, Exit farming, Lifestyle, Sean carlton, Work, Homesteading 

An elementary school teacher has been placed on administrative leave after police said they found thousands of files containing child sex abuse material in his possession.

Pleasantview Elementary teacher Martin Waskowski was arrested on Wednesday in Vermont after Border Patrol agents identified him as a suspect at the Highland port of entry.

One device contained more than 12,000 files appearing to be child sex abuse material, according to a preliminary review.

Waskowski was re-entering the U.S. from Canada when he was nabbed in a records check by law enforcement, according to a federal complaint.

A search of his cell phone allegedly revealed images and videos of adult men committing sexual acts with prepubescent boys.

Michigan State Police then searched his home, where they confiscated computers, hard drives, and an iPad.

One device contained more than 12,000 files appearing to be child sex abuse material, according to a preliminary review.

Waskowski had been a teacher at the elementary school in Eastpointe for three years and had been a long-term substitute as well.

He allegedly confessed to police that he had collected the child sex abuse material for approximately 20 years, and said that he knew the behavior was wrong, had tried to stop, but had not sought treatment to stop.

He was charged with possession and transportation of child exploitation materials. He was released under supervision and location monitoring.

District officials said they put him on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

RELATED: 29-year-old man charged with 196 felonies related to possession of child sex abuse material

“Prior to this formal notification, the District had no knowledge of, nor had it received any allegations related to, this individual,” reads the statement from the district.

Waskowski is scheduled for a preliminary court hearing on Dec. 23.

Eastpointe is a suburb of Detroit, with about 34,000 residents.

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​Child sex abuse material, Elementary school teacher, Teachers with child porn, Crime, Martin waskowski 

Democrats deny what mountains of evidence have long shown: Terrorist groups traffic in illegal drugs.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) recently insisted, “There is no such thing as a narco-terrorist,” as he defended his opposition to the Trump administration’s war on narco-terrorism in the Caribbean. He accused the administration of trying “to make this look like it’s ISIS or Al-Qaeda,” ignoring that ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and similar groups have long run profitable drug operations with local and transnational cartels. These alliances increased revenue, financed attacks, fueled violence, and deepened existing conflicts.

Maduro’s narco-terrorist regime threatens regional stability and US national security. Trump’s war on narco-terrorism meets that threat head-on.

Narco-terrorism did not originate with the Trump administration. It was the subject of my 1990 book, which documented how governments around the world used the drug trade to fund and advance terrorist activity. For more than three decades, Washington looked away. That era has ended.

On November 16, the U.S. Treasury designated Venezuela’s Cártel de los Soles — run by Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro and key figures in his illegitimate regime — along with Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations. Treasury should have added Colombia’s National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional, or ELN), a Marxist paramilitary and major drug-trafficking force that controls both sides of the border and works closely with Maduro.

When I began researching narco-terrorism in 1986, I assumed political groups across the spectrum could use terror and drug trafficking to advance their aims. The evidence showed otherwise. Marxist-Leninist and Islamist regimes, movements, and militias initiated, expanded, and ultimately dominated this trade.

Venezuela’s slide into narco-terrorism dates to 2005, when Hugo Chávez expelled the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. After Chávez died in 2013, Maduro took control of both the government and the drug enterprise, tightening his partnership with Iran and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, under the so-called Axis of Resistance. The goal is to counter U.S. influence in Latin America and the Middle East while enriching the regime.

Maduro’s alliance with Iran and Hezbollah runs deep. He offers sanctuary and support for their narcotics networks, money laundering, weapons pipelines, and terrorist smuggling throughout the region.

RELATED: Turns out that Hegseth’s ‘kill them all’ line was another media invention

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Hugo “El Pollo” Carvajal — a former three-star Venezuelan general under Chávez and Maduro and a former member of Cártel de los Soles — described the strategy bluntly in a letter to President Trump. “The purpose of this organization is to weaponize drugs against the United States,” he wrote. “The drugs that reached your cities through new routes were not accidents of corruption nor just the work of independent traffickers; they were deliberate policies coordinated by the Venezuelan regime against the United States.”

This collaboration, built over decades, helped millions of Americans fall into addiction and contributed to hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Maduro’s narco-terrorist regime threatens regional stability and U.S. national security. Trump’s war on narco-terrorism meets that threat head-on and is perfectly just.

​Venezuela, Drug trafficking, Cartels, Opinion & analysis, Narcoterrorists, War, U.s. navy, Nicolas maduro, Donald trump, Hugo chavez, Drug enforcement administration, Iran, Hezbollah, Marxists 

In another massive win for MAHA, a federal vaccine advisory committee voted on Friday to end the recommendation that all U.S. babies get the hepatitis B vaccine within hours of birth.

“I try to thank God every day for RFK Jr. being in the position that he’s in as secretary of HHS. And today was one of many reasons why I am so grateful for his leadership,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

The birth dose will now only be recommended for infants whose mother has tested positive for hepatitis B.

However, the left is predictably freaking out.

“Contrary to the leftist hysteria that you undoubtedly are hearing on social media, they didn’t say you’re not allowed to give it to your baby. They didn’t say you should never give it to your baby. They simply suggested, instead of giving this to a minutes-old baby, you could just wait until the baby is 2 months old for the first dose,” Gonzales explains.

“That’s literally all that they are suggesting. … I feel like they should have gone further. So, it’s just funny to hear all of the leftist hysteria, like, ‘We want to vaccinate the babies when they’re seconds old. We don’t want to wait until they’re 2 months. Are you kidding? That’s a lifetime. We want to get them as soon as possible,’” she continues.

“It’s a weird cult. It’s cultish behavior,” she adds.

And Gonzales points out that it “seems very silly” when you realize that as a society, we’ve been OK with injecting “every minutes-old baby with a hepatitis B vaccine regardless of their exposure, risk, or anything like that.”

“Since 1991, they have had a universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for the first dose within 24 hours of birth,” she says, explaining that hepatitis B “spreads through contact with blood, semen, or other body fluids from an infected person.”

“Your risk [of] infection rises if you have sex without a condom with multiple sex partners or with someone who’s infected with hepatitis B; share needles during the use of drugs injected into a vein; are born male and have sex with men,” she explains.

“I don’t know about you guys — my babies are not going to, like, crazy drug orgies,” she adds.

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​Video, Free, Sharing, Video phone, Upload, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Hep b, Hepatitis b, Hep b vaccination, Maha, Make america great again, Make america healthy again, Rfk jr, Vaccine, Anti vaccine 

Growing up during the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, I remember when socialism was a universal punch line. It stood for failure, repression, and economic ruin.

Not any more. Today, socialism is the ideological spearpoint of the left. Many young Americans now insist that socialism is the cure for the affordability crisis squeezing them. They believe it with a fervor that would have stunned earlier generations.

The evidence is overwhelming, and the verdict is final: Socialism fails everywhere it is tried. Now imagine that system fused with an all-seeing AI.

New polling from Rasmussen Reports and the Heartland Institute’s Emerging Issues Center shows that a majority of likely voters ages 18 to 39 want a Democratic Socialist to win the White House in 2028.

Nearly 60% of young Americans say they support more government housing, a nationwide rent freeze, and government-run grocery stores in every town.

These numbers aren’t anomalies. They reflect a deeper reality: Many young Americans know little about socialism’s actual history, consequences, or track record — and they have been conditioned to believe it can fix the challenges in front of them.

One reason for that ignorance is uncomfortable but obvious. It’s not only the schools — it’s the parents. According to the polls, parents were the most influential voices shaping their children’s support for Democratic Socialism. More than half of respondents said their parents held a favorable view of it.

That alone explains a great deal. And unsurprisingly, more than half also said teachers and professors viewed Democratic Socialism favorably. After decades of ideological drift, even parents who grew up after the USSR’s collapse now believe socialism “might work.”

Based on my own experience teaching in public schools, that rings true. Most of my colleagues openly sympathized with the socialist cause and were hostile to free-market capitalism.

This didn’t happen by accident. It reflects a long march beginning in the Progressive Era. My own postgraduate experience at a prestigious teaching college felt less like preparation for the classroom and more like a Cultural Revolution struggle session — conformity required, dissent punished.

As the public education system drifted leftward, it taught generation after generation that socialism is benevolent and capitalism is predatory. The result is predictable. Many young people now see the free market as the enemy, not the mechanism that lifted billions out of poverty. Cronyism and the explosion of government power only blur the picture further.

Layer onto this the collapse of basic literacy and numeracy. When students can’t read well, struggle with math, and can’t write a coherent paragraph, they are more vulnerable to ideological manipulation — and more likely to lean on machines to think for them.

So it shouldn’t shock anyone that almost half of young Americans surveyed want an advanced AI system to create society’s laws, rules, and regulations. Nearly 40% want that AI system to determine human rights and control the world’s most powerful militaries.

RELATED: Almost half of Gen Z wants AI to run the government. You should be terrified.

Yurii Karvatskyi via iStock/Getty Images

How did this happen? Watch how many parents are glued to screens, outsourcing daily life to devices. Is it any wonder their children grow up thinking technology is omnipotent?

Parents should start with something simple: a family movie night featuring the “Terminator” franchise. Let the kids see where blind faith in machines tends to lead.

Better yet, teach them the truth about socialism. Teach them what it does to human beings. Share the books, documentaries, and testimonies exposing socialism’s century of famine, repression, forced labor, and mass murder — horrors still unfolding in Cuba and North Korea.

The evidence is overwhelming, and the verdict is final: socialism fails everywhere it is tried. Now imagine that system fused with an all-seeing AI — a surveillance state that Stalin could only dream of. The thought of an AI-run socialist regime is not dystopian fiction. It is what many young Americans say they want.

They should be careful what they wish for.

​Opinion & analysis, Socialism, Artificial intelligence, Heartland institute, Rasmussen reports, Poll, Gen z, Millennials, Total state, Totalitarianism, Education, Indoctrination, Progressive era 

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has been extended for one more year, according to a statement from the ABC television network.

The show was taken off the air in September after Kimmel implied that the suspect in the assassination of Charlie Kirk had been a member of the pro-Trump MAGA movement. The show was returned to broadcast after about six days.

‘Why do the TV Syndicates put up with it? Also, totally biased coverage. Get the bum off the air!!!’

On Monday, Variety reported that sources confirmed the contract deal would keep Kimmel on as the host of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” until at least 2027.

Many took the decision as a defiant statement against the wishes of President Donald Trump.

“These days, it’s notable whenever a major media company ignores Trump’s pressure and stands with talent. So let’s note that Disney has renewed Jimmy Kimmel’s contract for another year,” CNN media analyst Brian Stelter said.

Kimmel appeared to reference the president in a post confirming the deal on Instagram.

“I am pleased to announce another no-talent year!” he wrote, using an insult Trump had used against him and his show.

Stelter went on to claim that Disney, the parent company of ABC, caved to pressure from some viewers who canceled their Disney Plus accounts to protest Kimmel’s cancellation.

“It was clear that Kimmel was the big winner of that episode,” he added. “He gained more power and leverage from the outrageous episode of government censorship.”

RELATED: Jimmy Kimmel’s wife has cut off family members over Trump: ‘We’re not aligned anymore’

Kimmel has been hosting the show since January of 2003.

He has used the entertainment platform to bash Trump, his policies, and his supporters. The president has responded by issuing fiery insults on social media.

“Why does ABC Fake News keep Jimmy Kimmel, a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air?” the president wrote in November. “Why do the TV Syndicates put up with it? Also, totally biased coverage. Get the bum off the air!!!”

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​Trump vs jimmy kimmel, Jimmy kimmel live, Trump vs the media, Kimmel’s charlie kirk comments, Politics 

Almost five years after the pipe bombs were found on January 6, the alleged pipe bomber has been caught.

“We’re learning a lot more, a lot more,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments. “And the more we learn, the more it stinks.”

The suspect is 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr., who lived in Woodbridge, Virginia, with his mother — and is described as a loner who had anarchist leanings and worked for his father’s bail-bond company.

“This isn’t just any bail-bonds company, OK? This is a company that has worked to free illegal immigrants from ICE facilities. So, this is a bail-bonds company with an agenda. And it happens to be a radical, liberal, leftist agenda because we also find out the family company also sued President Trump and DHS over illegal immigration and asked Biden — the Biden DOJ — to address racism,” Gonzales explains.

“They hired Black Lives Matter and George Floyd’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, to address racism. … So, this family that this man worked for, family company, had a whole hell of a lot of social justice activism as it turns out,” she continues, joking, “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

And according to FBI Director Kash Patel, none of the evidence now coming to light is new. Rather, it was hidden.

“The prior administration sat on the evidence for four years. There wasn’t any production of new evidence from five years ago. Here’s what we did. We went out to the country, brought in our experts, and Deputy Director Bongino led the charge and said, ‘We are going to look at every single piece of evidence again,’” Patel said in a segment on Fox News.

“We looked at 3 million lines of evidence. We went back and looked at the cellphone tower data dumps. We went back and looked at the providers and what information they provided pursuant to search warrants at the time and asked questions such as, ‘Why weren’t all the phone numbers scrubbed, and why weren’t they connected, and why wasn’t there any geolocational data done?’ Now, that is either sheer incompetence or complete intentional negligence, and neither of which is acceptable for this FBI,” Patel added.

In a separate interview on Fox News, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino lamented that he did not know “what the hell this prior leadership team was doing outside of targeting political opponents, weaponizing the FBI, destroying its reputation, embarrassing agents that are doing really good work out there.”

“It’s almost like they were intentionally trying to decimate faith in institutions. It’s horrifying,” he added.

“I do think that there were a lot of people in the Biden regime that were completely incompetent. But you cannot tell me that a whole group of investigators had all of the same evidence and somehow couldn’t get from point A to point Z,” Gonzales comments. “I just, I have a hard time believing that.”

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​Free, Camera phone, Upload, Video, Video phone, Sharing, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Pipe bomber, January 6 pipe bomber, Left wing activism, Bail bond, Fib cover up, Kash patel, Black lives matter, Dan bongino 

A Tennessee man who responded with anger to new restrictions on food stamp benefits went viral on social media as the Trump administration clamps down on fraud.

The new restrictions will apply to able-bodied people between the ages of 18 and 65 years who aren’t disabled and refuse to work at least 20 hours per week. They also do not apply to those who have children under the age of 14 years in their home.

‘I’m devastated, actually. … It helped me a lot. It got me $292 a month.’

While the new rules won’t likely appear terribly onerous to the taxpayers who have to work to fund them, some of the beneficiaries are outraged.

“That’s some bullsh**t,” Nelson Scott said to WZTV-TV. “Man, I’m devastated, actually.”

Scott is 38 years old, doesn’t have kids or a job, doesn’t go to school, and is not disabled. But he’s upset that his SNAP food benefits are imperiled.

“It helped me a lot. It got me $292 a month,” Scott said.

The new restrictions are being put into place by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the direction of President Donald Trump.

Scott argued that it was hard for him to find a job because he’s a felon.

“I would get one if y’all give me one. Y’all be felony-friendly and hire us,” he pleaded.

The video report garnered almost 200K views on social media, and many of the commenters were angry at Scott for trying to stay on food stamps while being able-bodied.

“AWWWWW! Poor baby has to go to work like the rest of us!!” one commenter said.

“That man is a great example of able-bodied. He needs to get a JOB,” another said.

“Get your lazy ass out of bed and get a job like the rest of us. I’m sick and tired of supporting these people. I started working when I was 12 years old. I’d work the fields with my Mexican best friend and his family every weekend for about $20 a day back in the mid 70s,” another user replied on the X platform.

RELATED: Woman goes viral after admitting to being on SNAP benefits for 3 decades

There are other exclusions from the SNAP regulations going into place. People who are in a drug or alcohol treatment program can continue to get the benefits, as well as those who are pregnant or receive unemployment benefits.

The work requirement can also be fulfilled by participating in a work training program or doing volunteer work.

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​Snap cuts, Snap benefits, Trump restrictions on snap, Nelson scott wztv-tv, Politics 

Police responded to a car crash at a grocery store late last week only to encounter a Florida man armed to the teeth, who warned he had a “dirty bomb,” according to authorities. The alarming dirty bomb remark triggered a lockdown of the area, police said.

Late Friday night, officers with the Haines City Police Department responded to reports of a vehicle crash at a Publix grocery store in Davenport.

‘Officers located a yellow plastic container secured with chains and locks with a radioactive warning label and immediately repositioned to a safe distance, shut down roadways, and requested assistance from the Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives.’

Police said officers made contact with 43-year-old Benjamin Donald Johnson — a driver allegedly involved in the car accident.

Police said in a statement, “Officers were ultimately required to physically remove Johnson from the truck, at which point multiple firearms were observed in plain view.”

Police said while the suspect was being detained in the back of a patrol vehicle, an officer heard Johnson saying that there was a “dirty bomb” in his Chevrolet Silverado truck.

Police stated, “Officers located a yellow plastic container secured with chains and locks with a radioactive warning label and immediately repositioned to a safe distance, shut down roadways, and requested assistance from the Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives.”

Police imposed a lockdown of the area near the vehicle in question for several hours “out of an abundance of caution” and to “ensure the safety” of anyone nearby.

RELATED: Florida man with meth pipe steals tourist train, picks up passengers for wild ride — and announces it’s his ‘birthday’: Cops

Before the bomb squad arrived, a Florida State Fire Investigator at the crime scene confirmed the container was “emitting positive radioactivity,” according to police.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and an FBI bomb technician launched an investigation into the possible dirty bomb.

According to police, investigators said a device was inside the yellow container. The investigators allegedly determined it was a moisture density gauge, which is “commonly used for soil testing, and contained less radioactivity than a medical X-ray.”

The statement said the container was transported to the Haines City Police Department, where it will be “further inspected” by members of the Florida Bureau of Radioactive Material.

Officers conducted a search of Johnson’s truck, and police said they found a “multitude of firearms and ammunition, firearm magazine speed loaders, thermal scopes, knives, a battering ram, night vision goggles, cannabis, and gummies, which tested positive for THC.”

Johnson told investigators he was in the area for work and had been living out of his pickup truck with his dog, police said.

The dog was transferred to a local animal control service.

Jail records from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office show that Johnson was arrested and charged with hoax weapon of mass destruction, false report concerning a bomb or explosive, resisting an officer without violence, unlawful possession of cannabis resin, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and use of a firearm under the influence of alcohol.

Police noted that Johnson’s prior criminal history revealed he had been arrested for possession of marijuana in Tennessee.

Police said the case remains under investigation.

The Haines City Police Department and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

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​Florida man, Florida, Florida crime, Dirty bomb, Nuclear bomb, Florida news, Davenport florida, Breaking crime news, Crime, Arrest 

Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina gave her Republican colleagues a reality check, expressing deep frustrations with the state of GOP leadership in Congress.

Mace penned an op-ed in the New York Times on Monday criticizing the GOP leadership on Capitol Hill, calling out Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) by name.

‘Here’s a hard truth Republicans don’t want to hear.’

Mace conceded that Johnson is a better choice than former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whom she voted to oust back in 2023, but argued that the most effective congressional leader is actually on the opposite side of the political spectrum.

“Speaker Mike Johnson is better than his predecessor,” Mace said. “But the frustrations of being a rank-and-file House member are compounded as certain individuals or groups remain marginalized within the party, getting little say.”

RELATED: ‘You’re a piece of s**t’: Nancy Mace and Cory Mills clash in heated exchange after failed censure

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Mace said Republicans don’t take women in office seriously, implying that the conference chair position was a slot informally reserved for the “token” female in GOP leadership.

“Women will never be taken seriously until leadership decides to take us seriously, and I’m no longer holding my breath,” Mace said. “Since 2013, the Republican conference chair position has gone to a woman. It’s the token slot, the designated leadership role for the top woman in the conference, while the real power lies in other offices.”

One woman Mace admitted was a force to be reckoned with is former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), whose leadership style Mace deemed more effective than that of the GOP.

RELATED: ‘Low IQ traitor’: Trump torches MTG after she claims he ‘directly fueled’ death threats against her

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“Here’s a hard truth Republicans don’t want to hear: Nancy Pelosi was a more effective House speaker than any Republican this century,” Mace said. “I agree with her on essentially nothing. But she understood something we don’t: No majority is permanent.”

“When Democrats hold the majority, they ram through the most progressive policies they can. They deliver for the coalition that elected them while they are in power.

“Republicans do the opposite. … We pass the most moderate policies we can pressure conservatives to accept, betraying the coalition that delivered us here,” Mace continued.

“Ms. Pelosi was ruthless, but she got things done.”

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The Trump administration’s Departments of Transportation and Health and Human Services are teaming up to launch a new effort to “make travel family friendly again” by providing more family-friendly resources and healthier food options at America’s airports.

On Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held a press conference at Reagan National Airport to announce a new family-friendly travel campaign that will allocate $1 billion in grant funding to airports to improve the travel experience.

‘I can tell you that this is where healthy diets go to die.’

Duffy provided a few examples of how the funds could be used, such as play areas for children, nursing pods for breastfeeding mothers, workout spaces, and separate security lanes for families. He noted that the funds could be used for a range of investments and that the department was open to other improvement suggestions.

“It’s pretty wide open on what airports want to ask for a grant,” Duffy stated.

He stated that he has also reached out to the airlines to encourage them to consider how they could improve the travel experience.

As part of the new campaign, Duffy and Kennedy are advocating for healthy food options at the nation’s airports.

RELATED: Exclusive interview: DOT Secretary Duffy explains how he’s making flying great again in time for Thanksgiving

Sean Duffy. Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images

“I … typically over the past 30 years, probably average 250 days a year in airports. And I can tell you that this is where healthy diets go to die,” Kennedy said. “It’s deep-fried food; it’s sugar bombs; it’s ultra-processed foods. And all of them are gonna leave you sicker than before you ate them.”

During Monday’s press conference, Duffy and Kennedy highlighted Farmer’s Fridge, a company that operates vending machines offering salads, sandwiches, bowls, and oats. Luke Saunders, the CEO of Farmer’s Fridge, who also attended the press conference, explained that he founded the company 12 years ago and that it now operates vending machines in over 30 U.S. airports.

“If you want to reach out to your airport authority and encourage them to participate in this money, please do that,” Duffy said.

RELATED: ‘Exemplary’ TSA agents receive big bonus just in time for Christmas after powering through Dem shutdown without a paycheck

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images

Duffy noted that last week the department hired an integrator who will help convert the nation’s air travel technology from analog to digital.

In November, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated that the Transportation Security Administration would roll out new security screening lanes at select airports for families with small children, as well as for veterans and active-duty military.

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​News, Department of transportation, Dot, Transportation department, Sean duffy, Robert f. kennedy jr., Robert f kennedy jr, Rfk jr, Rfk, Health and human services, Hhs, Airports, Airport, Travel, Reagan national airport, Luke saunders, Farmer’s fridge, Politics 

President Donald Trump berated a journalist who pressed him on the lethal attacks on suspected narco-terrorist boats near Venezuela.

Critics of the president say the military strikes are unlawful and unethical, but the administration has defended the actions as necessary and legal defensive acts to protect the American people.

‘Let me just tell you, you are an obnoxious — actually a terrible reporter.’

ABC News reporter Rachel Scott asked Trump if he was going to order Department of War Sec. Pete Hegseth to release video of the order to strike the boats, when the president grew angry with her insistence on the question.

“Are you committed to releasing the full video?” she asked.

“Didn’t I just tell you that?” the president fired back.

“You’re the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place. Let me just tell you, you are an obnoxious — actually a terrible reporter. And it’s always the same thing with you!” he added. “I told you, whatever Pete Hegseth wants to do is OK with me.”

Video of the president’s comments were posted to social media.

Scott posted her version of the interaction on social media.

“I asked President Trump if he would release the full video from the second strike on Sept 2nd,” she wrote. “Just days ago the president said he would have ‘no problem’ doing that. But now, he denies saying that. And is not committing to releasing it.”

The president’s opponents allege that a second strike on the survivors on a drug-trafficking boat could be prosecuted as a war crime, but the administration has defended the decision.

RELATED: US strike against military targets in Venezuela could begin at any moment: Report

The president may have been referring to an argument he had with the same reporter in July 2024, ahead of the election, at the National Association of Black Journalists.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner. The first question. You don’t even say, ‘Hello, how are you?’ … I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit,” he said at the event.

He later continued to lash out at the reporter during the event.

“Look, if I came onto a stage like this and I got treated so rudely as this woman treated me,” Trump said. “Very rude. That was a nasty — that wasn’t even a question. She didn’t ask me a question. She gave a statement.”

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BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler spent her fall season speaking at college campuses and private events across the country — and she recalls one question on the tip of every young man’s tongue.

“I started to notice this fall that there’s a pattern in the questions that I was getting asked off the record. They were questions that were very different from the questions that I was asked on the record,” Wheeler explains.

“Their question to me was asking if I knew why the Trump administration’s mass deportations were off to what appears to feel like a slow start,” she says.

And it’s not because they’re “racist,” as many on the left would accuse them of being.

“The reason why they care is because of the implications that — it’s not just illegal immigration, but mass migration has had on their lives. A lot of these young men … are more conservative than the men of my generation, the Millennial generation,” she says, noting that a common label placed on these young men is “red-pilled.”

“They’re embracing traditional values a little bit more. They want to get married. They want to have children. They are more religious. They want to buy a home. They want the stability of, you know, what maybe our parents would have sought after,” she continues.

“And yet, these young men on these college campuses are facing a problem as they get their college degree thinking that they’re going to be prepared for the workforce. They’re going to be able to get a good job, have a paycheck, be able to support a wife, and provide for a family,” she adds.

These men are instead finding that they’re not able to get jobs, buy homes, or support families.

“Even if they have a decent-paying job, they’re not able to afford a down payment on a home because 25 years ago they could have bought, you know, a split-level starter home in a suburban neighborhood somewhere in the Midwest for $150,000 or $175,000, and they could afford a down payment on that,” Wheeler explains.

“But today, that same house is like $375,000, and $375,000, even if they could maybe afford the monthly payment of a mortgage for a house of that price, they cannot afford the down payment. And so they feel very helpless,” she says, pointing out that this is where immigration comes in.

“They look at these millions upon millions, tens of millions of illegals who are taking up these homes, and they realize that the demand for these homes from these illegals is part of what drives the price so high, so high that it’s unaffordable to these young men,” she continues.

And these concerns remind Wheeler of someone else.

“This is what Charlie Kirk used to do. He used to speak to these young men on college campuses and not just — he wasn’t just lecturing them. Charlie wasn’t just there to shake his finger and wag his finger and tell them why they’re wrong,” she explains.

“Charlie listened. He listened to their grievances. He listened to what these young men were experiencing. And he didn’t just listen to set himself up for, like, you know, an own-the-lib type of response,” she continues. “He listened so that he could help solve the problem.”

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The Trump administration indicated in its newly released National Security Strategy that “the days of propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over” — that American allies will have to “take more responsibility for security in their neighborhoods,” especially as America orients its focus to the Western Hemisphere and hardens its presence in the Western Pacific.

The strategy document specifically called for “Europe to stand on its own feet and operate as a group of aligned sovereign nations, including taking primary responsibility for its own defense.”

It appears, however, that members of Congress want America to shoulder the burden of European defense indefinitely.

In order to withdraw US forces past the 76,000 mark, the Trump administration would have to demonstrate to Congress that such a move would not adversely impact American or NATO security interests.

The version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act finalized by both House and Senate negotiators and released on Sunday — a budget that exceeds President Donald Trump’s $892.6 billion budget request for the Pentagon by $8 billion — would block the Pentagon both from reducing the number of troops “stationed in or deployed to the area of responsibility of the United States European Command below 76,000 for longer than a 45-day period” and from using any funds appropriated under the act to move any Pentagon equipment originally valued at $500,000 out of Europe.

In order to withdraw U.S. forces past the 76,000 mark, the Trump administration would have to demonstrate to Congress that such a move would not adversely impact American or NATO security interests. The number of U.S. troops stationed in Europe fluctuates between around 80,000 and 100,000.

Citing five sources familiar with the discussion, including a U.S. official, Reuters reported that Pentagon officials told European diplomats during a recent meeting that Washington expects Europe to take over most of NATO’s conventional defense capabilities such as troops and missile defense by 2027. Failure to do so might prompt America to end its participation in certain NATO defense coordination mechanisms, said the sources.

RELATED: ‘Enemy of Europe’: Liberal globalists attack Trump over recognizing ‘civilizational erasure’ in Europe

American troops and attack helicopters in Germany. Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a statement, “We’ve been very clear in the need for Europeans to lead in the conventional defense of Europe. We are committed to working through NATO coordination mechanisms to strengthen the alliance and ensure its long-term viability as European allies increasingly take on responsibility for conventional deterrence and defense in Europe.”

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau added on X that “Europe must take primary responsibility for its own security.”

“Successive US Administrations have been saying this in one form or another pretty much my whole life — look up the 1969 ‘Nixon doctrine’ — but our Administration means what it says,” added Landau.

The current version of the NDAA would also prohibit the administration from letting the head of U.S. European Command — Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich — relinquish his role as NATO supreme allied commander in Europe.

Thanks to Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the NDAA as written would also codify the Baltic Security Initiative, hamstringing any efforts on the part of the administration to suspend the program, which uses American funds to bankroll Baltic states’ defense capabilities. Billions of U.S. dollars have been poured into the BSI in recent years even as Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia began investing more into their own defense.

In addition to ensuring that America remains bogged down in Europe, the 2026 NDAA as written has other provisions that might hamper the administration’s ability to realize its national security strategy in full.

The legislation states that it is “the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should continue efforts that strengthen United States defense alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region so as to further the comparative advantage of the United States in strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China.”

To this end, the legislation would prohibit obligating or expending any funds to reduce the total number of troops that are permanently stationed in or deployed to Korea below 28,500 or “to complete the transition of wartime operational control of the United States-Republic of Korea Combined Forces Command from United States-led command to Republic of Korea-led command” unless War Secretary Pete Hegseth provides an assessment and certification to Congress showing that doing so is in America’s national interest and is being undertaken only after consulting with several foreign nations, including Korea and Japan.

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​Congress, Ndaa, National defense authorization act, Europe, Nato, Defense, Troops, Troop withdrawal, National security strategy, Dirk durbin, Senate, House, Politics 

In an interview Sunday on CBS News, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota argued that the Trump administration was using Nazi rhetoric against Somali immigrants.

The Somali community in Minnesota has come under intense scrutiny after dozens of convictions related to fraud, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The controversy has led some to argue that immigration standards should be strengthened to avoid further criminal activity from migrants.

‘We know the way that people were described who were coming from Ireland, Irish immigrants. … We know the way in which people were described back then, when they were Italian immigrants.’

On Sunday, Omar fired back against comments from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller claiming Somali migrants are unable to assimilate into the U.S. culture.

“You are not just importing individuals. You are importing societies,” Miller said in response to an article on the Somali community. “No magic transformation occurs when failed states cross borders. At scale, migrants and their descendants recreate the conditions, and terrors, of their broken homelands.”

Omar called the claims “white supremacist” rhetoric and compared Somalis to earlier communities of migrants in the country’s history.

“It reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany. And as we know, there have been many immigrants who have tried to come to the United States who have turned back one of them being Jewish immigrants,” Omar said.

“We know the way that people were described who were coming from Ireland, Irish immigrants,” Omar added. “We know the way in which people were described back then, when they were Italian immigrants. And to me, we’re, yes, of course, ethnically Somali. We are in this country as Americans, we are citizens, we are a productive part of this nation, and we will continue to be.”

Video of Omar’s comments were posted to social media by the White House rapid response team.

RELATED: Minnesota news outlet gets wrecked online for story on Somali migrants’ economic impact

Omar was also pressed by the CBS host on how the fraud grew to such a large scale.

“I think what happened is that when you have these kind of new programs that are designed to help people, you’re oftentimes relying on third parties to be able to facilitate,” she responded. “And I just think that a lot of the COVID programs that were set up — they were set up so quickly that a lot of the guardrails did not get created.”

About 78 people have been indicted in various scams in Minnesota, and dozens have been convicted.

The Somali community in Minnesota includes about 107,000 members, or about 2% of the total population, according to some estimates. The percentage of Muslims in the state is about the same.

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​Rep ilhan omar, Minnesota somali fraud, Stephen miller, Nazi allegations, Politics 

The president’s former personal attorney Alina Habba has resigned from the U.S. attorney’s office for New Jersey after an appeals court ruled that the administration had improperly installed her in the position.

U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi decried the ruling and accused “politicized judges” of making Habba’s position “untenable” and lauded her record of achievements.

‘Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl.’

Habba released a defiant statement where she blamed judges who have become “weapons for the politicized left” for her resignation.

“For months, these judges stopped conducting trials and entering sentences, leaving violent criminals on the streets. They joined New Jersey senators, who care more about fighting President Trump than the well being of residents which they serve,” Habba wrote. “What these obstructionists misunderstood is that my loyalty is not to politics, a title, or a ZIP code. It is to this great country.”

The panel of three judges on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that Habba was disqualified from the position. She had been sworn in as the acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey at the end of March.

“As a result of the Third Circuit’s ruling, and to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love, I have decided to step down in my role as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey,” Habba continued.

“But do not mistake compliance for surrender,” she added. “This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me. My fight will now stretch across the country. As we wait for further review of the courts ruling, I will continue to serve the Department of Justice as the Senior Advisor to the Attorney General for U.S. Attorneys.”

Bondi said that the Department of Justice would continue to seek further review of the ruling and install Habba back in the office if it is able to overturn the decision.

“Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl,” Habba concluded.

RELATED: Person tried to ‘confront’ Alina Habba and destroyed property at her office, Bondi says

Photo by James Devaney/GC Images

Habba was also the target of a bizarre incident in November where a man tried to “confront her” and then destroyed property at her office, according to a statement from Bondi.

“Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period,” Bondi said in a statement at the time. “This is unfortunately becoming a trend as radicals continue to attack law enforcement agents around the country.”

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​Alina habba, Us attorney’s office, Lawfare against trump, Judges vs trump, Politics 

A black male recently admitted in court that he stabbed a white male over the summer, but a Portland jury acquitted the black male after learning the victim uttered a racial slur — and spoke the word following the stabbing.

Gary Edwards was charged with second-degree assault for knifing Gregory Howard Jr. on Northwest 5th Avenue in Portland’s Old Town neighborhood on the morning of July 7, OregonLive reported last week.

‘Beyond inconceivable.’

A conviction could have handed Edwards a sentence of five years and 10 months in state prison, OregonLive said.

However, even though Edwards admitted on the witness stand to the stabbing, he said it was self-defense due to Howard’s aggression, the outlet said.

Edwards testified that Howard yelled the racist slur as soon as he saw him, the outlet reported, adding that Howard denied the claim.

More from OregonLive:

Transit cameras showed Edwards, a fixed-blade knife clasped at his side, approaching Howard from behind as he sat on a bench. The video has no sound, but Howard springs up and pushes Edwards as soon as he sees him. The duo scuffle against a wall for a brief moment, ending with Edwards stabbing Howard in the shoulder.

Defense attorney Daniel Small said the most relevant evidence was recorded later when security officers heard the wounded man shouting the racist slur and captured it on their body cameras as he described the incident.

RELATED: Blaze News original: ‘Austin Metcalf got exactly what he deserved — point blank, period’: Karmelo Anthony defenders go viral

Small added that Edwards, 43, was just approaching Howard, also 43, and offering a simple trade: his knife for cigarettes, the outlet said.

“What other than racism could explain why Mr. Howard perceived hatred, animosity, and aggression from a complete stranger?” Small asked the jury on Oct. 30, the outlet reported.

Prosecutor Katherine Williams countered that what Howard said after the knifing was irrelevant and that Edwards was always “in control” during the altercation, OregonLive said.

“The defendant is not scared for his life. He didn’t retreat; he sauntered up — and he sauntered away after he stabbed someone,” Williams told the jury, according to the outlet. “The defendant created the situation.”

Despite the prosecutor’s argument, the jury soon acquitted Edwards, OregonLive said.

More from the outlet:

Edwards, who declined to comment through his attorney, spent about three months in custody before the trial, after prosecutors successfully argued he shouldn’t be released.

Their memo noted that Edwards was convicted of attempted second-degree assault in 2021 and was sentenced to three years in prison for another stabbing at the Skidmore Fountain MAX platform in May 2020. He was accused of fourth-degree assault for fighting with a clerk at Old Town’s Helen’s Market, but the case was dismissed in June because no public defender was available to take his case.

Howard, meanwhile, has been arrested several times in recent years and was convicted of felony rape of a child in Washington’s Kitsap County in 1997, records show. He couldn’t be reached for comment.

The New York Post’s Facebook entry about the acquittal generated well over 1,000 comments — and they’re the exact kinds of reactions you would expect. The following are a few of them:

“Always remember if you’re shot or stabbed, you must give some type of positive affirmation to your attacker so you don’t sound hateful,” one commenter wrote. “Otherwise your attacker will be acquitted.””It was probably a mostly peaceful stabbing,” another user quipped.”That’s wild. So let me get this right … He got attacked then said the N word, and the attacker got away with it cause he said it after he was already attacked?” another commenter asked. “That makes no sense.””Beyond inconceivable,” another user stated.”What a funny world we live in,” another commenter observed.”Staying out of Portland …” another user shared.

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​Racism, N-word, Jury, Portland, Stabbing, White male, Black male, Black male acquitted, Woke culture, Crime, Politics 

President Donald Trump will unveil a significant investment in America’s agricultural industry, the White House confirmed on Monday.

Trump will be joined by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and members of Congress at a roundtable event on Monday to announce $12 billion in economic assistance to United States farmers.

‘Our farmers … will have the support they need to bridge the gap between Biden’s failures and the president’s successful policies taking effect.’

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new Farmer Bridge Assistance program will receive up to $11 billion of the funds to provide one-time bridge payments to farmers of row crops, which include corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and cotton. These farmers have been impacted by market disruptions, including years of foreign trade actions and high inflation, a White House official noted.

The remaining $1 billion will be allocated toward crops not included in the FBA program, such as fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops. However, the details of those allocations are still being evaluated based on market conditions.

At the earliest, farmers are reportedly set to begin receiving the funds in February.

A White House official stated that the program aims to provide farmers with certainty as they plan their crops for next year.

RELATED: Trump scores win for American farmers as China commits to ‘massive’ soybean purchases

President Donald Trump, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images

“Farmers suffered for years under Joe Biden, who increased the United States’ trade deficit to over $1.2 trillion, raised input costs, pushed woke DEI agricultural policies, and more,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement provided to Blaze News.

“In contrast, President Trump is helping our agriculture industry by negotiating new trade deals to open new export markets for our farmers and boosting the farm safety net for the first time in a decade,” Kelly continued. “Today’s announcement reflects the president’s commitment to helping our farmers, who will have the support they need to bridge the gap between Biden’s failures and the president’s successful policies taking effect.”

RELATED: Trump ‘shuts off’ deadly fentanyl pipeline by securing ‘historic’ deal with China: Patel

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

China, the world’s largest soybean buyer, briefly boycotted American soybean farmers amid the ongoing trade war. In October, China agreed to resume purchases. Trump previously stated that China had plans to buy “tremendous amounts of soybeans and other farm products immediately.”

Last week, Rollins applauded Trump for reducing red tape for farmers.

“President Trump is cutting burdensome regulations and strengthening the farm safety net to ensure the future viability of American agriculture,” Rollins said. “Across the Trump administration, we are removing burdensome regulations that were strangling small businesses. For every new regulation, President Trump has eliminated a remarkable 48 — lifting a weighted blanket from the American economy.”

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Most Americans assume that once you buy your car, pay the sales tax, register it, and keep up with routine fees, you have met your financial obligations as a vehicle owner.

Unfortunately, that is far from reality in many parts of the country.

Yearly taxes based on fluctuating and often overestimated valuations create financial unpredictability that families cannot plan for.

The most glaring example right now is Virginia, where residents are dealing with a yearly tax system that feels less like responsible public policy and more like a state-sponsored shakedown.

Number crunch

A Virginia man recently opened his annual vehicle property tax bill to find a stunning total: some $4,500. He wasn’t being penalized for late fees, accidents, or violations. There were no repairs included. This wasn’t registration or insurance. It was simply a tax for owning vehicles he had already paid off.

The state assigns an assessed value to each vehicle, applies a rate of $2.35 per $100 of that value, and charges the owner every single month the vehicle remains titled in his name. This is just for owning the car. Nothing more.

What most people don’t realize is that the government is the one deciding what your vehicle is “worth” — not you, not the market, and definitely not an actual buyer.

Market markup

In states that impose yearly vehicle property taxes, the valuation is created by your local tax assessor or commissioner of the revenue. They rely on industry databases like NADA Guides, J.D. Power, and Black Book to determine a “fair market value,” even if that value has nothing to do with your vehicle’s real condition or current market demand.

That means your car’s official valuation can increase even as it ages, simply because the guidebooks reflect a national trend or a temporary spike in used car prices. The state then taxes you on that number, regardless of whether you could actually sell your car for it.

Owners can appeal these valuations, but anyone who has tried knows the process is frustrating and rarely successful. To dispute the number, you have to prove high mileage, major mechanical problems, or accident history — all while the county defends its valuation because those inflated numbers generate revenue. You can own a dented, high-mileage car and still get taxed as if it were pristine. That disconnect is part of what makes the system feel so unfair.

Doubly taxing

This entire setup creates a perpetual double-taxation model. When you buy a vehicle, you pay sales tax up front. Depending on the state, that can be significant. But in states like Virginia, you pay again every single year for as long as you own it. Registration fees, insurance requirements, state inspections, emissions testing, fuel taxes, and local add-on fees layer on top of that. For families with multiple drivers, or rural residents who depend on vehicles to get anywhere, these recurring charges become a major burden.

And now, the federal government wants to add another layer.

The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee has introduced a proposal to impose new annual federal taxes on all registered vehicles: $200 per year for electric vehicles, $100 for hybrids, and $20 for every other passenger vehicle. These fees would apply indefinitely, regardless of driving habits, condition, income level, or vehicle necessity. The proposal is expected to raise around $7 billion per year, but even that only fills about one-third of the current shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund.

What’s worse is that the same bill delivers an average tax cut of $278,000 over ten years to the top 0.1% of earners. Everyday Americans pay more to keep driving, while the wealthiest see the biggest benefits. This imbalance is fueling much of the outrage behind the current debate.

RELATED: Avoid these 9 car-rental rip-offs

Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images

Human cost

Historically, gas taxes funded the nation’s highway system because they acted as a logical user fee. The more you drive, the more fuel you buy, and the more you contribute to maintaining the infrastructure you actually use.

The problem is that gas taxes haven’t been adjusted for inflation since 1993. As vehicles have become more fuel-efficient, the revenue stream has fallen behind. Instead of modernizing the system or transitioning toward a fair mileage-based model tied to real road usage, policymakers have increasingly leaned on ownership-based taxes — the least fair approach of all.

The human cost of these policies rarely gets attention. For many Americans, a vehicle isn’t a luxury; it’s the only way to get to work, take kids to school, make doctor appointments, or care for elderly relatives. Yearly taxes based on fluctuating and often overestimated valuations create financial unpredictability that families cannot plan for. They also disproportionately hurt the same people who rely on older vehicles because they can’t afford new ones.

Return to fairness

There are far better solutions available. Policymakers could update fuel taxes to reflect inflation, adopt a realistic and privacy-protected mileage-based approach, streamline wasteful transportation spending, and prioritize projects that genuinely improve infrastructure safety and efficiency. All of these would create a transparent model where people contribute based on actual use, not on arbitrary valuations created in government offices.

Virginia’s situation has become a flash point because it reflects a national trend: Americans feel squeezed, and they are increasingly questioning why the government continues to charge them — year after year — for something they already own. Vehicle property taxation may look like easy revenue on paper, but it is deeply disconnected from economic reality and from what drivers need to stay mobile and financially stable.

Ending annual vehicle taxation isn’t a radical idea. It’s a return to fairness and common sense. When you’ve already paid sales tax, kept up with registrations, and followed every rule required to drive legally, the government should not be allowed to treat your car like a permanent ATM. The pushback we are seeing now is long overdue, and lawmakers would be wise to pay attention.

​Lifestyle, Car tax, Virginia, Align cars 

When Colorado high school senior Sophia Shumaker was offered the chance to paint a design of her choice on her senior parking spot at the school, Shumaker didn’t hesitate to include her religion.

“I originally wanted to choose the parable from Luke 15 of the shepherd and the 99 sheep, but then I kind of altered it to a backwards fish,” Shumaker tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.”

“The backwards fish is kind of what people in the Bible used to draw in the dirt when they couldn’t really talk about religion and they wanted to know if the other people were Christians,” Shumaker explains.

“It was against the rules to do Christian imagery,” she adds.

“When she was told she couldn’t do the original design … she decided to do the backwards fish sort of in somewhat of a protest of not being able to do the original design,” First Liberty attorney Keisha Russell chimes in.

“They said just because of the religious imagery and the Bible verse, it probably wouldn’t get approved and stuff like that. And so, I didn’t want to go through all the hassle, and so I just changed the design completely to kind of symbolize my Christianity, but I don’t think they really knew what it was,” Shumaker says.

When Shumaker told her mother that she had to change her design because it promoted her religion, her mother decided to reach out to First Liberty — which had taken on a very similar case in the past.

“They said they would take our case, and then the news got involved, and then they sent the letter to my school, and within a couple days the case was over. And it got approved, and I got to repaint it,” Shumaker tells Stuckey.

“The other different thing about this case was that throughout the district, other seniors were allowed to put religious things on their parking spaces. So, now you have this sort of inconsistent policy being applied differently, which makes the case very difficult for the school district,” Russell chimes in.

“It’s harder for them to say, ‘Oh, we’re controlling this. This is just government speech,’ when clearly they’re not. And so, when we wrote the letter, we included all of that, and we just said, ‘Look, we’d like to resolve this amicably with a letter, but we are willing to sue you if you continue to violate her rights. And so, we’re asking you to change your policy and let Sophia paint what she wanted to paint,’” she continues.

After the news got involved, the school “relented,” and “not only did they let Sophia repaint her spot, but they changed their entire policy” and removed the religious restrictions, Russell explains.

“So, really, really great outcome in this case,” she adds.

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