Category: blaze media

Deadly flash floods swept the Lone Star State’s Hill Country region on July 4, killing at least 135 people, including 27 people at Camp Mystic.

Among those who perished at the Christian camp outside Hunt, Texas, was Chloe Childress, an 18-year-old counselor remembered by her family for her “contagious joy, countless friends, unending faith, and unimaginable energy.”

While Wendie and Matthew Childress were dealing with the sudden loss of their daughter, a Florida woman was allegedly impersonating the bereaved parents online in an attempt to make a quick buck.

‘This is bottom feeding.’

Maitlin White, a 28-year-old with ties to Crestview, Florida, has been charged with two felony counts of online impersonation. White allegedly pretended to be Matthew Childress and created SpotFund and GoFundMe pages where she solicited public donations to support the fallen teen’s family.

“Using a young woman’s tragic death to scam people is despicable,” wrote Harris County Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen.

RELATED: The insane little story that failed to warn America about the depth of Somali fraud

Maitlin White. Courtesy of the Office of Harris County Constable Pct 1 Alan Rosen.

Dane Schiller, a spokesman with the constable’s office, told MySA that Childress’ family reported the accounts, which first appeared on the crowdfunding platforms on July 8.

“Right out the gate, they [the family] called it to our attention and said, ‘We have nothing to do with this,'” said Schiller.

Rosen announced on July 11 that his office had launched an investigation into a case where a scammer was pretending to be Matthew Childress. While the fraudulent pages were promptly shut down, Rosen indicated the GoFundMe donation page had already brought in approximately $1,500.

After shutting down the pages, authorities reportedly tracked banking and online records back to White, who Schiller indicated admitted to the fraud scheme on a phone call with officials.

“This is bottom feeding, seeking to exploit people’s emotions and abuse the memory of a young woman who died in such a horrific tragedy all to make a quick and illegal buck,” stated Rosen. “Such cruelty to the family, as well as our entire community will not be tolerated.”

GoFundMe said in a statement obtained by KRIV-TV that it has “zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and bad actors who seek to take advantage of the generosity of others,” adding that they “acted quickly to remove the fundraiser back in July, refund donors, and ban the account from future fundraising on GoFundMe.”

The crowdfunding platform indicated that the alleged fraudster was unable to access the funds.

White, who is reportedly not yet in custody, is hardly the only person who allegedly exploited the tragic flood.

For instance, a number of liberals tried to put a political spin on the deaths of American children, in one case insinuating that the parents of the dead were racists.

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While fraud rings in Minnesota’s Somali community have been under federal investigation for years, it was investigative journalist and BlazeTV host Christopher Rufo’s reporting that brought the billion-dollar scandals to national attention. Back in November 2025, Rufo published a report titled “The Largest Funder of Al-Shabaab Is the Minnesota Taxpayer,” in which he and co-author Ryan Thorpe alleged that billions of taxpayer funds were being stolen through schemes in Minneapolis’ Somali community and that millions of those funds were being funneled to the Al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia.

Rufo’s reporting sparked massive federal action, including revoking Temporary Protected Status for Somalis, surging Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, freezing child-care funds, and ramping up prosecutions. Most notably, it led Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to visit Minnesota in January 2026 and launch major FinCEN probes into hawala businesses, IRS audits, and enhanced transfer reporting.

In this exclusive BlazeTV interview with Rufo, Bessent shares what his team’s investigations have revealed about Minnesota’s Somali fraud operations and what steps the Treasury is taking to ensure it stops.

Bessent says his team’s investigations confirmed that the fraud schemes were “bigger than anyone thought” and that money — either excess government-issued funds or stolen funds — are indeed being sent illegally out of the country.

One positive result of the investigations into Minnesota’s fraud rings, however, is that they will provide a “model” for future investigations in the other 49 states.

“Just because of the population sizes — California, Illinois, New York — that what’s going on [in Minnesota] is a microcosm of what’s going on there. And it’s like someone on the panel said today: Benefits have been turned into businesses. It is a cottage industry of teaching people how to form multiple LLCs, how to game the system, how to move money around,” says Bessent, pledging to “follow the money” and explore “recoveries” for cheated Americans.

Rufo calls these predominantly Somali-orchestrated fraud rings Minnesota’s “open secret.” Fraudsters were successful largely because they knew that the cultural standard of “Minnesota nice” and politicians’ “fear of being called racist” would result in the turning of blind eyes everywhere.

“What do you think the right attitude should be as you look at these frauds moving forward?” he asks.

“Clearly the governor’s office does not want to do investigations. So we just want the facts. We want to see where they lead, and we want to put the bad guys in jail,” says Bessent.

Further Minnesota’s soft-on-crime policies that “incentivize” criminality need to be addressed. “You could steal hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars, and under the Minnesota laws, you might not even get jail time. You might get a series of paroles,” Bessent adds.

“We have the ability to bring in IRS enforcement, and they don’t monkey around. So the incentive is going to be to stop this.”

Rufo then posed the question that conservatives nationwide are eagerly awaiting an answer to: Will we finally see any big names face justice?

“From [Gov. Tim Walz] on down appears to be at a minimum to have turned a blind eye. There are rumors circulating around this building right now that in fact some have been complicit in these schemes. Is that something your office is looking into?” he asks.

“That’s part of following the money. There are evidently some disturbing tapes of AG Ellison in meetings with people who donated to him calling for political favors to stop the investigations. So we’ll see,” says Bessent.

“And Chris, I can guarantee you when the bear trap snaps, we’re going to get these folks.”

To hear the rest of Rufo’s exclusive interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, watch the video above.

Want more from Rufo & Lomez?

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The Trump administration has intensified its efforts to enhance vetting of foreign nationals entering the U.S., resulting in a record number of visa revocations.

The Department of State announced that in 2025, it revoked over 100,000 foreign visas, including 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialized worker visas. That figure is more than double the number of visas that were revoked in 2024 — 40,000 — under former President Joe Biden’s leadership.

‘The Trump administration will continue to put America first and protect our nation from foreign nationals who pose a risk to public safety or national security.’

Foreign nationals whose visas were canceled included those who had encounters with U.S. law enforcement for criminal activity, the State Department reported.

“We will continue to deport these thugs to keep America safe,” the department stated.

The majority of those revoked by the State Department were for business and tourist travelers who overstayed their visas, Fox News Digital reported.

Some students and specialized workers who had their visas revoked also reportedly lost their legal status.

RELATED: Trump admin to vet all visa holders — revoke and deport threats to America

Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Half of the specialized workers whose visas were revoked had previously been arrested for drunk driving; 30% for assault, battery, or confinement charges; and 20% for theft, child abuse, substance abuse and distribution, and fraud and embezzlement charges.

A department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that nearly 500 students lost their visas for charges related to drug possession and distribution.

The State Department announced in August plans to review all of the more than 55 million current visa holders to uncover potential ineligibility, such as overstays, criminal activity, public safety threats, and ties to terrorism.

RELATED: Trump strips 4,000 student visas over first 100 days — 90% flagged for ‘serious’ crimes

Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

“The Trump administration will continue to put America first and protect our nation from foreign nationals who pose a risk to public safety or national security,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Piggott told Fox News Digital.

During a press conference last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the administration’s increased efforts to revoke and deport foreign nationals.

“Who you allow to visit your country should reflect the national interest. We said that from the very beginning,” Rubio told reporters.

“There are some times we’ll deny people visas because of activities they’ve undertaken overseas,” he continued. “Other times it’s people that have visas but are in the United States doing things that run counter to our national interests. And the law gives us the right — and, in fact, I would argue, the obligation — to remove people like that from our country.”

— (@)

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A Minnesota Republican state representative confirmed to Blaze News that articles of impeachment are being drawn up for Gov. Tim Walz and will be released soon, possibly Tuesday.

The failed Democratic vice presidential candidate has been assailed for months over accusations that he obstructed law enforcement efforts to stop a massive Somali fraud scandal that could have cost the government billions.

‘Tim Walz should resign, and if he doesn’t resign, he’s probably going to leave the office in cuffs.’

“We are going public with them. I believe this week, possibly even tomorrow,” said state Rep. Ben Davis, who is also a pastor.

Davis said that Republicans have been telling Walz directly to intervene against the fraud and that he refused.

“Fraud is happening. Fraud is going on. You need to put tighter levers on this. And he’s done just the opposite,” he said.

Walz previously announced that he would not be seeking a third term in office and cited the fraud accusations while continuing to deny involvement.

“As I reflected on this moment with my family and my team over the holidays, I came to the conclusion that I can’t give a political campaign my all,” he said in a statement Jan. 5.

“Every minute I spend defending my own political interests would be a minute I can’t spend defending the people of Minnesota against the criminals who prey on our generosity and the cynics who prey on our differences,” the governor added. “So I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work.”

Davis said impeachment would need a majority in the state House to go forward and then approval of two-thirds of the state Senate to convict Walz.

Republicans have been hammering away at the Democrat to resign or be impeached.

“Governor Walz needs to step down. Saying he will stay on to investigate is like O.J. Simpson saying he will investigate the murder of his ex-wife,” said Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee.

RELATED: Tim Walz tries to dunk on Trump and gets pantsed on social media

“I’m not going to be Minnesota Nice. I’m going to be Minnesota real,” said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) in a recent podcast. “Tim Walz should resign, and if he doesn’t resign, he’s probably going to leave the office in cuffs.”

“We’re not going to be taken for chumps,” said Republican Congressman Brad Finstad of Minnesota. “Think of what our parents and our grandparents sacrificed to give us the life that we have. And what are we giving our kids and grandkids? We’re giving them fraud. We’re giving them $38 trillion in debt. We’re giving them more government, not less government.”

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Over the weekend, violent anti-government protests exploded across Iran, even reaching into Tehran and other large cities. While unrest was sparked weeks ago due to the economic crisis, protests have since swelled into calls to overthrow the regime. Chants like “Death to Khamenei” reverberated through the streets; clashes with security forces left many injured or dead; fire consumed regime buildings; Iranian flags were destroyed and replaced with the pre-1979 Lion and Sun flag; women marched through the streets without their hijabs while smoking cigarettes.

“It felt to me like [Iran] might fall,” says Glenn Beck.

“I completely agree with you,” says Glenn’s head writer and researcher, Jason Buttrill. “I was like, we might see the regime go down tonight.”

The large-scale anti-government movements that took place in 2009 and 2022/2023 are “nothing, compared” to the ones currently ripping through the nation, he says, recalling a video of an elderly woman with blood gushing from her mouth defiantly marching through the streets with her fist held high.

“I cannot believe Time magazine or whoever else wasn’t there to take that photo, because it’s the photo of the year,” he says of the fiery matriarch.

Glenn prays that this widespread movement that has already reached over 170 cities might reignite the golden years of Iran when the country looked more like Paris in its prime. Before Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was driven into exile and his monarchy replaced by an Islamic Republic, Iran “was very enlightened,” says Glenn. “It was very smart, very well educated, very free. … It was a very Western country.”

This “hell” that the Iranian people have been living in since 1979 could come to an end if the current protests continue to gain momentum. The former crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, has emerged as a prominent symbolic figure in the uprising, urging Iranians to join the movement, seize city centers, hoist the pre-1979 Lion and Sun flag, and push for strikes.

Protesters in many cities have even been chanting slogans like “Long live the Shah.”

“He was their battle cry,” says Jason.

Glenn is encouraged but certainly not ready to celebrate yet. While some signs indicate that the protest movement is going well, others spell doom — the biggest one being the deliberately implemented nationwide internet blackout orchestrated by the Iranian government to hide the scale of violence and human rights violations, disrupt protest organization and momentum, and prevent the rest of the world from witnessing the events.

“That’s really frightening,” says Glenn.

For now, it’s uncertain whether we are about to see “a free Iran” or genocide-level violence that pressures the U.S. to intervene.

“Spend a lot of time praying for peace and praying for the people of Iran,” Glenn says. “The Persian people are amazing, and if they could get that culture back and they could be free, the source of good that Iran would be in the world would be remarkable.”

To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.

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A former apartment manager in Washington state has reportedly confessed to forging multiple ballots and casting them in the 2024 general election.

The case relates to 52-year-old Esperanza Contreras. Contreras used to live in Pasco, Washington, where she worked as an apartment manager, before moving to Hermiston, Oregon, and registering to vote there.

‘Voter fraud undermines the integrity of the electoral process and erodes public confidence in the fairness of elections.’

However, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in Washington, a ballot for the 2024 general election was also sent to Contreras’ old address in Pasco. That ballot “was also filled out, sent to the Auditor’s Office, and counted in the election,” the sheriff’s office said.

What’s more, three other ballots sent to former tenants of the same apartment building where Contreras was manager were also discovered to have what the sheriff’s office called “suspicious characteristics.” While three of those ballots were eventually counted in the election, one was rejected on account of a “mismatched signature.”

“Contreras was interviewed by detectives at which time she admitted to voting all four ballots and forging the signatures,” the sheriff’s office statement continued.

Contreras was arrested and charged with 12 felonies related to voter fraud and identity theft.

RELATED: Noncitizen Kansas mayor accused of voter fraud has cast dozens of ballots since 2000, documents show

adamkaz/Getty Images

“Voter fraud undermines the integrity of the electoral process and erodes public confidence in the fairness of elections. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office takes violations of election law seriously and remains committed to thoroughly investigating and pursuing election-related violations,” the statement added.

According to the Tri-City Herald, Contreras told police she believed she was helping the former tenants.

No 2024 race in Franklin County was decided by four votes, the outlet noted.

Donald Trump won Franklin County, defeating Kamala Harris by more than 7,000 votes. The state of Washington in general, however, voted overwhelmingly for Harris over Trump, 57.6% to 39.3%.

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​2024 election, Esperanza contreras, Oregon, Pasco, Voter fraud, Washington state, Politics 

Former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska is setting her sights on higher office after a failed 2024 re-election bid.

Peltola lost to Republican Rep. Nicholas Begich in 2024 despite having the advantage as the incumbent. In the aftermath of this political blunder, Peltola has now launched a senatorial campaign to challenge Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska.

‘A defeated career politician turned lobbyist.’

Peltola has branded herself a moderate Democrat working against the D.C. establishment to fight for “fish, family, and freedom.” Peltola has also caught onto the political trend of the times, focusing her campaign message on affordability, housing, and grocery prices.

“D.C. people will be pissed that I’m focusing on their self-dealing and sharing what I’ve seen firsthand,” Peltola said in her launch video.

RELATED: Republicans take back Alaska’s House seat, solidifying the GOP’s slim majority

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

One thing her campaign video omitted was her far-left voting record during her brief stint in the House.

Peltola voted in lock-step with the Democrats against protecting women from transgender athletes in sports, even voting against an amendment to prevent taxpayers from funding sex-altering surgeries. Along with nearly every Democrat in the House, Peltola voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would mandate medical care for babies who survive abortion.

Although her campaign claims to make cost of living a priority, Peltola reportedly “liked the concepts” of the Green New Deal, which would hike up energy prices and cost taxpayers trillions.

RELATED: America First energy policy is paying off at the pump

Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for ELLE

“Mary Peltola represents everything that is broken in Washington: a defeated career politician turned lobbyist who repeatedly voted against American energy independence, secure borders, and the Alaskan way of life,” Senate Leadership Fund Executive Director Alex Latcham said in a statement. “Democrats are desperately trying to revive a far-left politician, but Alaskans know why they fired Mary Peltola in the first place.”

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​Mary peltola, Alaska, Dan sullivan, House democrats, Energy costs, Cost of living, Affordability, Housing, Senate democrats, Senate republicans, Slf, Senate leadership fund, Progressive left, Far-left, Establishment, Senate, House of representatives, Congress, 2026 primaries, 2026 elections, Abortion survivors, Transgender ideology, Women in sports, Taxpayer funded sex changes, Politics 

In the latest escalation between the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve, the Department of Justice has issued grand jury subpoenas against the Fed, according to Chairman Jerome Powell.

On Sunday, the official Federal Reserve X account posted a video of Powell explaining the subpoenas and claiming that the DOJ was “threatening a criminal indictment related to my testimony before the Senate Banking Committee last June.”

‘The cost overruns are what they are.’

“That testimony concerned in part a multiyear project to renovate historic Federal Reserve office buildings,” Powell added.

In the video, Powell shows no sign of capitulating to President Trump’s calls to lower interest rates, dismissing these calls as merely the “preferences of the president”: “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

RELATED: ‘My new Fed Chairman’: Trump hints at major changes coming to Federal Reserve amid great economic report

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“I have served at the Federal Reserve under four administrations, Republicans and Democrats alike. In every case, I have carried out my duties without political fear or favor, focused solely on our mandate of price stability and maximum employment,” Powell said. “Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do, with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people.”

Powell said that the subpoenas were served last Friday.

During his testimony in June, Powell was asked about the cost of the renovations around the 36-minute mark of the hearing. He began by saying, “We do take seriously our responsibility as stewards of the public’s money,” but concluded, “The cost overruns are what they are.”

He also denied several of what he said were media inaccuracies, including reports of “special elevators,” new marble, “roof terrace gardens,” and “beehives.”

In a rare confrontation with Powell, President Trump, wearing a hard hat, visited the construction site in late July to challenge him on the “overruns.” Powell said he was “unaware” of the new numbers Trump presented to him.

Days before the July confrontation between Powell and Trump, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) sent a criminal referral for Powell to the Department of Justice.

On Sunday evening, Luna responded to the news of the grand jury subpoenas, repeating her allegations against Powell: “It’s good to see my criminal referral working in real time. You CANNOT lie to Congress. That is called PERJURY.”

No criminal charges have been brought against Powell at the time of writing.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, the Massachusetts-based Obama judge who blocked the Trump administration from cutting federal funds to Planned Parenthood last month, issued a temporary restraining order on Saturday preventing the Department of Homeland Security from revoking the legal status of tens of thousands of foreigners.

The Trump administration announced last month that it was terminating all categorical family reunification parole programs and corresponding work authorization for aliens from Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, and Honduras as well as for their immediate family members, effective Dec. 15.

Per the announcement, the “temporary parole period of aliens who have been paroled into the United States under the FRP programs, and whose initial period of parole has not already expired by January 14, 2026 will terminate on that date.”

‘We aren’t in the clear.’

There are two circumstances under which foreign nationals’ parole status would not immediately be revoked: if they have pending applications to register permanent residence or adjust status, or if DHS Secretary Kristi Noem determines otherwise on a case-by-case basis.

The DHS indicated that those set to be stripped of status — well over 10,000 noncitizens — who stay in the U.S. beyond their parole termination date with no lawful basis to remain would likely be removed.

According to the notice in the Federal Register, the FRP programs failed to achieve the goals set by past administrations and are at odds with President Donald Trump’s current priorities and foreign policy objectives.

RELATED: ‘You don’t want this smoke’: Philly DA and sheriff threaten ICE officers — DHS just laughs

Photo by Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images

Not only did the programs fail to sufficiently discourage or reduce unlawful migration, the programs “increased administrative strain across multiple [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] directorates and [Customs and Border Protection] ports of entry,” said the notice.

“The desire to reunite families does not overcome the government’s responsibility to prevent fraud and abuse and to uphold national security and public safety,” the DHS said in a release.

“The FRP programs had security gaps caused by insufficient vetting that malicious and fraudulent actors could exploit to enter the United States, which posed an unacceptable level of risk to the United States,” continued the release. “DHS is prioritizing the safety, security, and financial and economic well-being of Americans.”

The Trump administration touted the move as a “necessary return to common-sense policies” and a matter of “prioritizing the safety, security, and financial and economic well-being of Americans.”

On Dec. 29, plaintiffs in the class-action case Svitlana Doe v. Noem — represented by the liberal migrant advocacy groups Justice Action Center and Human Rights First — requested a restraining order and a preliminary injunction, claiming the DHS “fell well short of satisfying their most basic obligations under the [Administrative Procedures Act], due process, the parole statute, and its own regulations.”

The plaintiffs’ primary contention in the emergency motion appears to have been that the DHS allegedly failed to properly notify the so-called “future green card holders” of the programs’ termination.

The government argued in response that the court lacked jurisdiction over claims challenging parole termination; that the termination of parole wasn’t arbitrary and capricious as alleged; that Noem was within her statutory authority to make the change; and that the notice given complied with the law.

Indira Talwani, the daughter of immigrants from India and Germany, gave the migrant activists exactly what they wanted — a 14-day stay of the administration’s termination of FRP grants of parole — and certified a new subclass of migrants, namely those FRP beneficiaries whose parole was terminated.

While the government previously indicated that individual notice would be provided to each parolee through their USCIS online accounts, Talwani expressed doubt about whether the parolees were ultimately provided with written notice of the termination and claimed that the publication of the announcement in the Federal Register “does not satisfy this requirement.”

“The court finds that Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on their argument that the Defendants failed to provide proper notice of DHS’s decision to revoke grants of parole under the FRP program in contravention of DHS’s own regulation, the Administrative Procedure Act … and the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution,” wrote the Obama judge.

Karen Tumlin, director of Justice Action Center, celebrated Talwani’s ruling, stating, “We join families across the country in breathing a huge sigh of relief. While we aren’t in the clear, this immediate pause on de-legalizing individuals who came here with Family Reunification Parole means that people will not be forced to separate from their loved ones next week.”

Tumlin added that it’s “cruel and completely unnecessary for the Trump administration to try to yank the rug out from under them.”

The White House and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Despite drawing out the process, Talwani has acknowledged that the Trump administration can end the program.

The Supreme Court lifted her previous injunction in Svitlana Doe v. Noem on May 30, clearing the DHS to proceed with terminating humanitarian parole.

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A former Washington state college professor and rabidly anti-Trump podcaster is now in custody after he allegedly groomed and attempted to meet up with someone he believed to be an 11-year-old girl.

On December 17, members of various law enforcement agencies arrested 44-year-old Houston Wade in Bremerton, Washington, located on Puget Sound.

When cops searched a hotel room where the suspect made a brief stop, they found condoms, bondage supplies, and ‘adult novelty toys.’

According to a Facebook post from the Bremerton Police Department, the suspect from Bainbridge Island “arrived in Bremerton intending to pick up an 11-year-old child.” The post further states that the suspect had been “using a social media application” to chat with the presumed child.

“The chat turned graphic in nature and over the course of numerous chats, the man agreed to meet the child in Bremerton so they could act upon the graphic actions discussed in the chats,” the statement continued.

When cops searched a hotel room where the suspect made a brief stop, they found condoms, bondage supplies, and “adult novelty toys,” the statement added. “Adult novelty toys” are better known as sex toys.

Though the Bremerton police statement claimed that the suspect is 41 years old, the Lynnwood Times identified the suspect as Wade, who is 44, according to jail records.

Citing court documents, the Lynnwood Times gave further disturbing details about the case.

Wade allegedly began corresponding with a “decoy” claiming to be an 11-year-old girl back in August. Over the course of the next few months, Wade and the decoy had frequent contact, during which time he allegedly began slowly grooming the decoy and suggesting they go on a “date of sorts,” the Times reported.

The following is a list of messages the suspect sent the decoy.

“Be as lewd as you want. You don’t have to choose to send me anything if you don’t want to.””Well, I’ll be the little devil on your shoulder: give in to it,” with a devil emoji.”We’ll go as far as you want. Making out and heavy petting for sure. There’s no need to do anything more than what you feel comfortable with. If you want to experience your first orgasm or more, you’ll let me know. If you don’t, then you’ll tell me.””I personally get all my pleasure from seeing you lose all control because of how good you feel and most women go their entire lives not knowing it’s possible to feel that good.”

Despite the apparent previous conviction, Wade has been formally charged with only first-degree attempted child molestation (V<12+D – 36 months older), a Class A felony, and communication with minor for immoral purposes, a gross misdemeanor, the Times said.

Wade is scheduled to appear in court on January 27.

RELATED: Former volleyball coach used artificial intelligence to groom teenage girl for sex, police say

Wade is known locally for his podcast, “Houston, We Have a Problem,” where he has frequently attacked Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and others. Some of his video titles include: “Elon is a Nazi stop twisting yourself into a pretzel defending him,” “Can Trump Commit Crime and Get Away With It? Find Out Now!” and “Epstein emails released. Trump lied again.”

His X feed also suggests a strong preoccupation with pedophiles, calling everyone from Trump to the late Michael Jackson to actor James Woods a “pedo.”

Wade was a professor of physics and astronomy at Edmonds Community College. However, the school clarified to the Times that his “part-time” employment there began in 2019 and ended in 2022.

“We are deeply concerned and disturbed by these allegations,” Karen Magarelli, public information officer of Edmonds College, told the Times in a statement. “… The safety and well-being of our campus community remain our highest priority. Edmonds College is committed to maintaining an environment that upholds the values of integrity, respect, and security for all students, faculty, and staff.”

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Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia district attorney who was impeached in 2022 for “dereliction of duty and refusal to enforce the law upon assuming office,” was among the leftists who condemned the fatal Jan. 7 shooting of anti-ICE activist Renee Nicole Macklin Good.

Multiple videos of the incident, including cellphone footage from the agent’s perspective, show the 37-year-old Colorado native drive into a federal law enforcement officer after disobeying repeated orders to exit her vehicle. As Good accelerated into the ICE agent — who had been dragged hundreds of yards by a fleeing suspect during a previous ICE operation — the agent opened fire in self-defense.

During a press conference on Jan. 8, where officials held a moment of silence for Good, then engaged in a cultish chant of her name, Krasner claimed the ICE agent’s actions were not only “unlawful” but amounted to a “criminal homicide” executed by a member of an agency that has supposedly taken a “Nazified approach to mass deportation.”

‘Do you hear me, ICE agents? Do you hear me, National Guard?’

Krasner — flanked by fellow anti-ICE radicals Aniqa Raihan of the group No ICE Philly and Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, the latter of whom claimed that ICE was “fake” law enforcement — not only complained about the ICE officer’s decision to fire multiple shots but his location at the time of the vehicular attack.

According to Krasner, who referred to the incident in passing as a “murder,” the officer’s positioning in front of Good’s speeding SUV was a “violation of police directives in almost every jurisdiction.”

“Self-defense? So that is one layer of criminality,” said Krasner.

RELATED: Shocking cellphone video of Minneapolis lethal shooting from ICE agent’s perspective released — and JD Vance

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

After characterizing the agent’s act of self-defense as a crime, Krasner — who has spent years championing dangerous criminals — stated, “If any law enforcement agent, any ICE agent, is going to come to Philly to commit crimes, then you can get the eff out of here because if you do that here, I will charge you with those crimes. You will be arrested. You will stand trial. You will be convicted, whether it’s in state or federal court.”

“Donald Trump cannot pardon you for a state court conviction,” continued Krasner. “Do you hear me, ICE agents? Do you hear me, National Guard? Do you hear me, military?”

Sheriff Bilal attempted to outdo Krasner’s expression of contempt for federal law enforcement officers, stating, “If any [ICE agents] want to come in this city and commit a crime, you will not be able to hide, nobody will whisk you off.”

“You don’t want this smoke, ’cause we will bring it to you,” threatened the sheriff whose crime-ridden city had 826 shootings in 2025.

Over the weekend, Krasner posted a picture of himself on social media with the acronym “FAFO,” which stands for “f**k around, find out.” The post was captioned, “To ICE and the National Guard: If you commit crimes in Philadelphia, we will charge you and hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

The post was quickly ratioed on X.

“Unlike criminals in Philadelphia who get their charges dropped by the DA,” replied the National Police Association.

Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, noted, “The fullest extent of the state law would be nothing since they’re Federal officials. Don’t lose your bar license dude.”

The Department of Homeland Security responded with multiple dismissive posts, noting, “Oh no! Anyway.”

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​Rochelle bilal, Dei, Larry krasner, Krasner, Lawrence krasner, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Soros, Immigration, Ice, Renee good, Renee nicole good, Macklin, Shooting, Self-defense, Federal, Illegal aliens, Politics 

Protesters for Renee Nicole Good — the woman who was lethally shot by an ICE officer on Wednesday in Minneapolis after striking him with her vehicle — are ramping up significantly across the country.

But recent video clips have emerged suggesting that not all of these protests are as grassroots as they seem. On this episode of “Pat Gray Unleashed,” Pat plays a video that shatters the narrative that thousands of Americans across the country are rallying in support of Democrats’ anti-ICE crusade.

The video features an organizer directing a group of confused-looking protesters. A hot mic captures him giving them instructions, positioning them with professionally printed signs (most referencing Renee Good or anti-ICE themes), and coaching them on certain responses and formations.

Pat compares the blatantly staged protest to “a Spielberg production.”

“They’re being coached on where to go, what to do, what to say, and there’s actually somebody producing this madness,” he scoffs.

“Unleashed” producer Kris Cruz points out that some of the protesters even have their signs upside down and have to be directed to turn them right side up.

At one point in the clip, a TV news reporter joins in and helps direct the crowd. Pat wonders if she plans to “mention in her report, ‘By the way, this was all orchestrated by George Soros.’”

After being moved around several times, one of the “protesters” in the video chimes in with, “This reminds me of theater.”

“That’s because it is theater,” Pat says.

“It’s a huge production that they’re paying a lot of money for. … So, anytime you see these massive demonstrations and protests, you know what’s going on behind the scenes.”

To see the footage, watch the video above.

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Pat gray unleashed, Pat gray, Blazetv, Blaze media, Renee good, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Anti ice, Ice 

Police in Sugar Land, Texas, said four males physically attacked a clerk at a CVS store in the 1400 block of Crabb River Road in the Greatwood area and made off with a bag of cash just before 2 a.m. Sunday. Sugar Land is just under 30 minutes southwest of Houston.

The clerk suffered minor injuries but required no hospital transport, police said, adding that four suspects in the aggravated robbery were soon located and taken into custody.

‘I hope they get the justice they deserve! Clearly they cannot be trusted to live in society!’

However, a police department jailer checked on one of the four prisoners later on Sunday — around 4:50 p.m. — and the jailer was assaulted when he opened the cell, police said.

With that, the suspect was able to release the other prisoners, and they all escaped, police said.

But the four suspects — 19-year-old Edmound Guillory, 18-year-old Devontae Simon, and 17-year-olds Desean Dillard and Clayton Johnson — were located around 6:20 p.m. and taken back into custody. KTRK-TV reported that they were found at the First Colony Church of Christ.

Police said their jailer was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition.

Police told KTRK that all four suspects will be transported to Fort Bend County Jail. Police said in addition to the initial charges of aggravated robbery, the suspects now face charges ranging from escape to attempted murder.

Commenters underneath the police department’s Facebook post about the jail escape weren’t thrilled with the suspects, to say the least:

“Please put these idiots away,” one commenter wrote, adding that “we don’t need them on the street; that’s what’s wrong with things these days; [teenage] punks have no respect.””Fathers please help your sons when they are young,” another user urged.”Oooh, that FAFO is about to come back on them,” another commenter remarked.”Thugs!” another user exclaimed before adding “prayers for the officer who was injured and for those who caught these incorrigibles.””I hope they get the justice they deserve!” another commenter stated. “Clearly they cannot be trusted to live in society!”

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​Escape, Jail, Physical attack, Sugar land, Texas, Aggravated robbery, Cvs, Attempted murder, Jailer attacked, Police, Arrests, Crime 

I walk with my kids every single day.

Or at least I try to walk with them every single day. Sure, there are some days we miss; soccer practice or a doctor’s appointment might get in the way every once in a while. Then there’s weather (light rain is doable; torrential downpour less so) and illness.

Though our winter walks aren’t as pleasant as our other walks, it doesn’t mean they aren’t as important. Our winter walks are good for the soul and good for the spirit.

But as long as none of those things occur, our two oldest kids and I get our daily two miles in.

Tramps like us

We are blessed to live on the edge of a small town in Northern Michigan, so getting out and into the natural world isn’t too difficult. We walk out the front door, about 10 minutes down the street, and have our choice of trails and cornfields to traverse.

In the spring, it’s soggy. The cool damp air filled with the smell of nearly blooming flowers, the patter of light rain on the leaves above, the sound of mud squishing beneath our boots. There’s a certain way spring smells. It’s fresh foliage. It’s new life. Refreshing.

In the summer, the walks are so nice. We walk in the late afternoon, when the sun is hot and the shadows are growing, before the mosquitos are out and after my work is done for the day. By the time we get back home, dinner is just about ready to be put on the grill.

Our walks in the fall are glorious. There’s something about those first days of chilly weather. They are so refreshing after the sweaty heat of the summer. They come slowly and gradually over a few weeks in late September. Slowly the shorts are put away, the corduroys are brought out, jackets are zipped up, and out we go for our walk in that beautiful world of orange, red, and yellow.

Cold comfort

The winter walks are tough. The cold is unrelenting, the snow is deep, and the wind is almost always strong. In our region of the deep North, we don’t get much sun in the winter. Almost every day, the sky is a mix of gray, cobalt, and steel. It’s not uncommon for us to go a week or more without a single glint of sun.

So on these days — and these are our current days — we bundle up nice and tight with sweaters, snow pants, heavy jackets, balaclavas, and mittens and head out on our daily walk.

I would be lying if I said the walks these days are easy like the walks on the warm days. We talk a little less on these winter walks. It’s hard to properly articulate one’s thoughts through a scarf or a balaclava. It’s hard to hear kids’ voices over the whipping of the wind. It’s also just not that pleasant to converse when you are standing in the middle of a frozen field and the temperature is hovering around 11 degrees with a windchill of -6.

Frozen moments

Though our winter walks aren’t as pleasant as our other walks, it doesn’t mean they aren’t as important. Our winter walks are good for the soul and good for the spirit. The cold makes us strong, and as is the case for most things that make us strong, there is a part of us that hates the process.

But it’s good for us. The cold and the walk. It’s good to make yourself do hard things, and it’s good to start doing them at a young age. And it’s good to do them in each other’s company.

That’s actually the most important thing of all. That’s why I do the walks in the first place, so I can be away from my computer and my phone. So I can spend time with the kids, just walking.

Sometimes I think about how my kids will remember their childhoods. How will they look back on these days? How will they think about mom and dad when they are on their own? What stuff will they remember, and what stuff will they forget? What things will stick with them and characterize us, their parents?

RELATED: Eden’s Wild Whisper

Peter Gietl

Winter’s tale

I can’t predict it and neither could my parents. I had a great childhood, but I don’t remember that much of it. Sure I remember a lot. But do I remember 18 years’ worth? No. Some stuff just sticks with us, and some just doesn’t.

Nevertheless I would love it if my kids remember our afternoon walks together. It makes me happy to imagine them in their 30s, reminiscing about their childhoods to their own kids:

“Dad always used to walk with us every day. It was so cold sometimes. He was crazy for that. But it was good for us. I remember walking with my sister — your aunt — a few steps behind your grandpa, trying to keep up. We would throw snow at each other, goof off and fall behind, and then dad would turn around and tell us to hurry up because we have to get back for dinner.”

Someday my kids will break away to take their own paths. At times, that day seems a long way off; other times, I’m afraid it will be here in the blink of an eye. Until then, we’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other, together.

​Men’s style, Family, Lifestyle, Michigan, Walking, Fatherhood, The root of the matter 

Filmmaker and mother Jessica Solce was frustrated by the difficulty of finding healthy, all-natural products for herself and her family. To make it easier, she created the Solarium, which curates trusted, third-party-tested foods, clothing, beauty products, and more — all free of seed oils, endocrine disruptors, carcinogens, and other harmful additives.

In this occasional column, she shares recommendations and research she has picked up during her ongoing education in health and wellness.

On Wednesday, the CDC moved six childhood vaccines out of the “recommended for all” schedule.

For those of us advocating for the right to oversee our own children’s health, it was a day we thought would never come. It is a moment of triumph, but also a reminder of the fear and pressure we have had to overcome.

When my child was just three days old, I was yelled at and expelled from a pediatrician’s office for simply asking about delayed vaccination.

I joined the fight in 2009, not long after becoming pregnant with my first child. My parents brought me up to question and test everything; as I prepared to become a parent myself, this tendency quickly found a new target: childhood vaccinations.

While many mothers-to-be were already signing their future babies up for preschools, summer camps, and Mandarin lessons, I was staying up at night immersed in research that challenged conventional wisdom about children’s health. In 2009, that kind of information was far harder to track down than it is today.

Mother lode

But track it down I did. That’s how I found the work of the Weston A. Price Foundation, as well as the writings of Dr. Lawrence Palevsky. I began reading with the intention of writing a kind of thesis paper — something rigorous enough to convince myself and honest enough to defend to my family.

At the time I encountered his work, Dr. Palevsky was not what most people would call “anti-vaccine.” He recommended delaying vaccination until age two, avoiding live-virus vaccines except for smallpox, spacing doses by six months, and administering only one vaccine at a time.

This seemed reasonable to me.

Brain drain

Why? [Checks 2009 notes.] Based on Dr. Palevsky’s work, I believed that vaccines could activate microglia — the brain’s specialized immune cells — and that closely spaced vaccinations might overstimulate this system during early brain development.

The most rapid period of brain development begins in the third trimester and continues through the first two years of life. Vaccinating children under two, according to this line of thinking, could increase the risk of neurological issues, asthma, allergies, autoimmune conditions, and chronic inflammation. By age two, the brain is roughly 80% developed, and the view then was that certain vaccines could be introduced very slowly after that point.

So I weighed risk and reward. With a healthy baby in my care, why would I take what I believed to be a neurological risk?

That was enough to harden my resolve. I armed myself for what became a 10-year battle in New York City.

Dr. Doomer

When my child was just three days old, I was yelled at and expelled from a pediatrician’s office for simply asking about delayed vaccination. I had printed multiple copies of my small “thesis paper,” like a diligent student, and in a moment of panic and adrenaline shoved them into office drawers as I held my newborn and was escorted out.

But the doctor’s tirade — invoking her intelligence, her own vaccinated children, and her authority as a physician, all while calling me an idiot — only strengthened my resolve. To me, it suggested someone constrained by her own choices, guilt, and lack of curiosity.

Even my father, a physician himself, was initially stunned when I began laying out my reasoning. But through heated debate, shared papers, and real discussion — the healthy kind — he eventually reflected on his own training and acknowledged that he had been taught to comply, not to question.

RELATED: Trump administration overhauls childhood vax schedule. Here’s the downsized version.

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Hold the formaldehyde

For anyone ready to do some research of their own, I recommend starting with the CDC’s Vaccine Excipient Summary, which lists the inactive ingredients contained in licensed vaccines. Perhaps you’ll ask yourself, as I did, whether you want substances like formaldehyde, aluminum phosphate, polysorbate 80, β-propiolactone, neomycin, and polymyxin B injected into your child’s developing body.

Once I began asking that question, it was impossible not to look at how vaccine policy had evolved. A major inflection point, in my view, came in 1986 with the passage of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which shielded vaccine manufacturers from direct liability and moved injury claims into a federal compensation system. After that, vaccine development accelerated.

Today I’m in a celebratory mood, despite how long it has taken to get here. I don’t regret the fight for a second; I only wish I had had more courage and stamina at times. Still, I rejoice in every freedom of choice returned to parents in the United States.

Let’s go, MAHA. Now do the EPA.

​Maha, Make america healthy again, Lifestyle, Home, Fertility, The solarium, Childhood vaccinations, Cdc, Weston price, Lawrence pavlesky 

Last year, comedian Davey Jackson and his team went under cover on a secret mission in Dearborn, Michigan — the largest Muslim-majority city in the nation — to investigate claims of religious extremism, political intimidation, and related issues.

Jackson’s resulting documentary, “I Went UNDERCOVER in Dearborn, MI,” which dropped earlier this week, recaps wild stories of mosque infiltrations with hidden cameras, breaking into a suspected jihadi safe house, and investigating an FBI raid tied to an ISIS-style terror plot.

On this episode of “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered,” Sara interviews Jackson about his time probing what has become widely known as Dearbornistan.

One of the first things Jackson noticed when he got to Dearborn was that “people are just really scared to talk about Islam.”

“We were supposed to interview a guy at a church, and one of the church administrative people found out that we were going to be doing this interview, and she was like, ‘Oh, no. You have to leave. You can’t be here.’ And so we got kicked out of a church,” he says.

“Apparently they’re very violent when you call out certain aspects of their religion,” says Sara, pointing out that Nick Shirley, the 23-year-old investigative journalist who exposed the alleged multimillion-dollar fraud schemes in Minneapolis day-care centers by predominantly Muslim Somali immigrants, now relies on security after he was bombarded with “death threats.”

“They’re used to being able to use political and religious intimidation in the countries that they come from,” says Jackson.

And he saw more than just flickers of that in Dearborn. At a city council meeting, he brought up Dearborn resident and Christian pastor Ted Barham, who expressed opposition to the city’s street signs honoring Arab American News publisher Osama Siblani, who has supported groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, and was told by the mayor that he was “not welcome” in the city.

When Jackson questioned city council members about the “fear of retaliation and targeting” people like Barham experience in Dearborn, they threatened to forcibly remove him from the meeting.

The documentary also captures Jackson and his collaborator Gary Faust breaking into what they believe is a safe house for potential jihadist activity. After being tipped off by a local about a suspicious building located next to a mosque, Jackson and Faust secretly entered and explored the property.

“That is almost 100% a meth lab,” says Jackson, as Sara plays footage from inside the building.

“Here’s our best working theory, and this is after talking to a couple different locals and kind of vetting this theory. … I believe that this is a meth lab that is run by a biker gang and that they have a distribution network set up through local Arabs,” he explains, adding that such a “joint operation” is apparently “not terribly uncommon.”

To hear more of Sara and Jackson’s conversation, watch the video above.

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​Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Blazetv, Blaze media, Davey jackson, Dearborn michigan, Dearborn, Islam, Muslim, Jihadism 

There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why, on paper, a local Utah police officer allegedly turned into a frog.

The claim comes from the Heber City Police Department in Heber City, Utah, where officers are reportedly looking to save time on their paperwork, as writing police reports typically takes personnel between one and two hours per day.

‘I’m not the most tech-savvy person, so it’s very user-friendly.’

In order to save on man-hours, Heber City PD began testing new software that can take bodycam footage and generate a police report based on the audio and video.

The new artificial intelligence program did not take long to malfunction though, as just a few weeks into its trial in December, a police report stated that one of the local officers had shape-shifted into a frog during an investigation. It turns out the software picked up on audio that was playing on a TV screen present during the incident.

“The bodycam software and the AI report-writing software picked up on the movie that was playing in the background, which happened to be ‘The Princess and the Frog,'” Sergeant Rick Keel told FOX 13 News, referring to the 2009 animated Disney film.

Keel then stressed, “That’s when we learned the importance of correcting these AI-generated reports.”

RELATED: Police shoot New Jersey man who allegedly charged them with machete — then find gruesome scene inside his home

Photo by Michael Kovac/FilmMagic

The department reportedly began testing two AI programs in early December, named Draft One and Code Four.

Draft One comes from company Axon, founded by American Rick Smith. On its website, Axon promises to “revolutionize real-time operations,” but is responsible for generating the Disney-themed police report. The program reportedly works for both English and Spanish languages — and apparently for princesses too.

Blaze News reached out to Axon for comment.

Sgt. Keel told reporters that he has saved about six to eight hours per week since employing AI to do his paperwork.

“I’m not the most tech-savvy person, so it’s very user-friendly,” he said.

Code Four, however, was created by two MIT dropouts who are just 19 years old: George Cheng and Dylan Nguyen. That program also claims it can transform “bodycam to reports in seconds.”

Code Four reportedly costs $30 per officer, per month.

RELATED: Diversity quota allowed UK man with child rape accusations to become a cop — he then committed more horrific rapes

Photo by Scott Brinegar/Disney Parks via Getty Images

According to Dexerto, AI policing programs have already caused issues elsewhere in the United States. For example, the outlet reported last October that armed police officers swarmed a 16-year-old student outside of a high school in Baltimore after an AI gun-detection system falsely claimed the boy had a firearm.

It turned out after police arrived on scene that the teen was actually holding a bag of Doritos.

Blaze News reported on the increased use of AI monitoring software in schools in early 2024, when an Arkansas district announced it would use over 1,500 cameras at its schools.

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​Return, Bodycam fotoage, Police, Ai, Utah, Ai program, Artificial intelligence, Disney, Tech 

At Turning Point USA’s annual AmFest, BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey and Senior Director of TPUSA Faith Lucas Miles dove into one the most pressing spiritual issues facing our nation right now: weak pastors.

Miles calls them “trembling pastors.” They aren’t necessarily “traitorous” in that they’re deliberately spreading ideas antithetical to Scripture, but they also aren’t “true pastors” willing to boldly speak truth no matter the cost.

These men, fearful of dividing their congregations or financial loss, steer clear of politically charged subjects.

But the problem with that approach is that so many political issues today are theological at their core. Abortion, marriage, gender, race, and justice have deep spiritual implications, but because these issues appear on the ballot, many pastors turn a blind eye to them and fail to lead their congregations.

But Allie and Miles argue that truth only prevails when pastors courageously lead in all areas.

“I remember one of the things that Charlie [Kirk] said to me is that courage is easy. All you have to do is say yes. You don’t have to have a degree on the wall; you don’t have to have a bunch of money; you don’t have to have good looks. You just have to be willing to say, like, ‘Here I am, Lord. Send me,”’ says Miles.

“I think we need more pastors to do that. … What we’re trying to do at TPUSA Faith is be that voice coming alongside of them and saying, ‘Rise up, you mighty valiant warrior. It’s time to get in the fight here.”’

One type of weak pastor Allie says she sees a lot of are those unwilling to touch anything related to race. They’ve “got it on abortion; they’ve got it on marriage and gender,” she says, but “the racial social justice stuff” is where they “totally fumble the ball.”

This was especially apparent during 2020, when the death of George Floyd set off a social justice movement that razed entire cities to the ground. During that time, there were so many pastors who “sounded so much like BLM or the world when it came to race and justice,” she tells Miles.

Miles says that while he has grace for the pastors who posted black BLM squares before it came out that it was “Marxist, anti-family, anti-God organization,” his sympathy ends with those who never repented.

“I’ve not seen one of these guys go back and repent of that and actually acknowledge this,” he says.

While it’s easy to write this off as pride, part of the problem is lack of education.

Many of these pastors simply “don’t know the history of liberation theology. They don’t know that it’s a hybrid between Marxism and Christianity. They don’t know about James Cone. They don’t know about this idea of crucifying the white Jesus,” says Miles.

To learn more about how TPUSA Faith is walking alongside pastors, educating and encouraging them to boldly proclaim truth and, as Charlie Kirk is famous for saying, “make heaven crowded,” watch the full interview above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Relatable, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Allie beth stuckey, Tpusa faith, Tpusa, Amfest, Amfest 2025, Lucas miles, Charlie kirk, Weak pastors, Theology, Politics theology, Blazetv, Blaze media 

The failure of both Democrat and Republican plans to extend or partially replace enhanced Obamacare subsidies offers a clear lesson: Escaping an entitlement trap almost never happens.

Yes, the House of Representatives on Thursday voted to extend the COVID-era Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired at the end of 2025. Seventeen Republicans even joined a unanimous Democratic Caucus in voting for the extension. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said Republicans have “no appetite” for an extension — at least not without reforms.

Republicans remain an impediment to the necessary reforms and are working hand in hand with Democrats to bring on economic collapse. Time is not on our side.

The reality is, once government creates a welfare entitlement, logic and sustainability exit the conversation. Politicians do not debate whether to grow the program. They argue only over how much to increase spending and how to disguise the costs. That pattern now governs the fight over enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

Why the premise never gets challenged

When the Senate rejected a nearly identical bill in December, the Wall Street Journal reported that Congress faces “no clear path for aiding millions of Americans facing soaring Affordable Care Act insurance costs next year.”

The Journal’s framing accepts the entitlement premise without question. It treats “aiding millions” as morally self-evident while ignoring the coercion necessary to fund that aid. Government assistance does not materialize from thin air. It transfers responsibility, money, and risk from one group of Americans to another.

Once imposed, that transfer only grows.

Both rejected plans would have sent more taxpayer money to insurers than the ACA already guarantees. With no deal in sight, the Journal observed last month that hope for extending the subsidies is fading. That assessment may be accurate politically, but an extension does not deserve hope. It deserves scrutiny.

How entitlement politics works

Democrats want Republicans to extend an expansion they never voted for of a program they never supported. Republicans respond by proposing modest adjustments to reduce political damage without challenging the underlying structure.

Rep. Max L. Miller (R-Ohio), who voted for the bill, summarized the dilemma perfectly. “I just want to make this abundantly clear: This is a Democratic piece of legislation. It is absolutely horrific. Now, it is the best alternative to what we have at the moment.”

That is how entitlement traps operate.

For decades, big-government advocates have followed a reliable strategy. They create a benefit for a defined group, allow costs to spiral, then dare the opposition to take something away from a newly entrenched constituency. When the moment arrives, those who claim to favor limited government retreat or propose cosmetic reforms that leave the core system untouched.

That dynamic explains why the country remains locked into the socialist ratchet, the uniparty routine, and a political class that acts as tax collector for an ever-expanding welfare state.

RELATED: Democrat senator makes stunning admission about Obamacare failures

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trapped voters, trapped taxpayers

Entitlements squeeze the nation from both sides. They trap recipients by discouraging work and mobility, and they trap taxpayers by locking future governments into permanent obligations.

The Affordable Care Act stands as one of the most powerful modern examples of this system. The law forced millions into government-regulated insurance markets while guaranteeing insurers a growing pool of subsidized customers. The result was predictable: higher costs, deeper dependency, and a massive political constituency invested in permanent expansion.

Not a single Republican voted for the ACA. They understood what the law would do. Democrats passed it anyway, and it worked exactly as designed.

Who Obamacare was really built to serve

As Connor O’Keeffe has argued at Mises Wire, federal health care policy has long served industry interests. Government interventions channel money toward providers, pharmaceutical companies, and insurers under the guise of helping patients.

Obamacare accelerated that process by mandating coverage and expanding what insurers must provide, driving demand and cost growth in tandem. Once people rely on government assistance to afford insurance, any reduction becomes politically unthinkable.

Republicans now scramble to avoid electoral consequences. House Speaker Mike Johnson says the GOP will advance health care proposals without extending subsidies, yet many lawmakers privately admit that only an extension prevents immediate pain ahead of the 2026 midterms.

That admission exposes the trap. Spending limits become cruel. Taxpayer costs disappear from the conversation. Only the next premium increase matters.

Why conservatives keep losing

History explains where this leads. Entitlement debates almost always end with higher spending. Political power depends on payments to voters. Reducing benefits means losing elections.

Progressives act decisively when in power. Conservatives obsess over procedure and restraint, even as the administrative state grows unchecked.

Last week alone offered two examples. The House overturned President Trump’s March 2025 executive order blocking collective bargaining for over a million federal employees, with 20 Republicans joining Democrats. Even Franklin Roosevelt opposed public-sector unions. Modern conservatives could not summon the resolve to block them.

On the same day, Indiana Republicans declined to redraw their congressional map despite the risk of losing the House and triggering impeachment proceedings against Trump. They clung to unwritten norms while their opponents prepared to exploit the outcome.

RELATED: If conservatives will not defend capitalism, who will?

Leontura via iStock/Getty Images

This pattern defines conservative failure. Republicans manage decline. They preserve a decaying system rather than reverse it.

Donald Trump broke from that habit. A former Democrat, he understands power. Win elections, then act. Trump restored a political energy absent on the right for decades.

His approach to entitlements focuses on restraining growth outside Social Security while expanding private-sector freedom to increase economic output. The goal is not austerity. It is to shrink government’s share of the economy by growing everything else faster.

Reform or collapse

That strategy may succeed or fail. It remains the only alternative to collapse. Without reform, federal spending and debt will overwhelm the system within a decade, possibly sooner. Borrowing costs will explode. Inflation will surge. Control will vanish.

The United States approached that danger under unified Democrat control and Joe Biden’s autopen in 2021 and 2022. Voters halted the slide by electing Republican majorities and returning Trump to the White House.

Trump failed to drain the swamp in his first term, largely because congressional Republicans refused to legislate when they had the chance. In his second term, he has advanced reforms through executive action. Congress has responded with delay and timidity.

The country will escape the entitlement trap one way or another. Reform can arrive through disciplined growth and economic expansion, or through collapse driven by massive overspending.

With their conservative approach to governance, Republicans remain an impediment to the necessary reforms and are working hand in hand with Democrats to bring on that collapse. Time is not on our side.

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When NewsNation reporter Leland Vittert was diagnosed with autism as a child, his father did not treat it as a disability but rather a tool to be sharpened — and Vittert believes this was a huge factor when it came to finding success as an adult.

And while Vittert credits his upbringing for his ability to overcome adversity, it was his college experience that led him to realize he needed to change, not the world.

“I think college was the first time I started realizing that I needed to change, right? Because my dad spent, you know, all those nights that I was so upset saying, ‘Look, when you get older, the same qualities that are making you ostracized and bullied and having all these issues are the qualities that’s going to make you successful later in life,’” Vittert tells Stuckey.

“He was correct in many ways. He did not tell me in eighth grade that an eighth grade middle school classroom is great training for a Washington newsroom, which would later turn out to be very true. Still is,” he continues.

His dad often told him a story about being blackballed from all the fraternities while he was in college.

“He never got a bid at any one of the fraternities that was on campus. And it was a way of sort of explaining to me, right, that he understood the isolation. He understood what I was going through. And the same thing happened to me,” Vittert tells Stuckey.

Vittert was told that he wasn’t getting a bid and called his dad that night.

“It’s snowing at Northwestern, bitterly cold. Tears are freezing on my face. And I called my dad. I said, ‘I’m just like you.’ And then I said to dad, I said, ‘I need to understand that it may not just be everybody else. I’m going to have to change.’ And that really became the college experience,” he explains.

“To me, going to college wasn’t really about learning economics, which I majored in, or journalism, which journalism school is pretty useless. But it was about learning as a person and trying to put all of those lessons that my dad taught me into effect,” he continues.

Vittert found that with hard work, he was able to channel who he was into what he wanted to be — and he found that journalism was one of those industries “that just yield to hard work.”

“If you just work hard and outwork everybody, that is of enormous value in journalism,” he says.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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