Price transparency is Congress&#8217; <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.politico.com/news/2026/07/26/health-care-price-transparency-insurers-hospitals-01011835___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6Nzo2MWVmOmExMjQ3NTljMTU3MmI2N2ZmNDE5M2RkMzcwZTgwZWM0OWMwY2RmZDEzOTkxMGQ4MjYxN2YyYWE2NDIyOWQ5NmU6cDpUOkY">top bipartisan healthcare priority</a>. The Senate&#8217;s Patients Deserve Price Tags Act and the House of Representatives&#8217; Health DATA Act give legislators the chance to make it a reality by requiring upfront prices, including discounted cash and insurance-negotiated rates, across the healthcare system. 
 
American national health expenditures are <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2026.00642___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6Nzo2NWE5OmMzNjE5NWY5NTM0MmE0OTBkZDZkY2ZhNDk3NmU3MWM2OWIwN2JiYTgxMTUwYWU2M2ZkYWI3NjdkMDAzZmY1NDE6cDpUOkY#EX1">projected to reach $6 trillion</a> in 2026, nearly 20% of GDP and twice the developed-world average. Americans are working one day in every five to pay for healthcare. The costs of employer-provided health benefits are expected to <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/business/health-insurance-increases.html___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6NzpmNGU5OmUzMTA1MmVjYWY1OWRkNDkzNmIxYjcwNjY4ZDgyZTM5OTkxYzc4ZGM0M2YzZjM5ODg5MGJhZjgzMTY1ZTZmZDg6cDpUOkY">rise 8%</a> — more than double the rate of inflation — in 2027. 
 
According to the <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2752664___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6Nzo1NWEyOmRhMDI3ODE5NzU4MjkzNmUxY2RmY2NhYjI0MzExZWVhMzM5MTFhNjk3M2Q1YzViYThiMzQzZTYwNjdhODQ4Y2I6cDpUOkY">medical journal JAMA</a>, 25% of healthcare spending is waste — including administrative complexity, overcharges, and fraud. By creating a functional, competitive marketplace with billing and payment accountability to known prices, price transparency can return over $1 trillion annually to the productive growth of the public and private sectors, including workers&#8217; wages and family budgets. Empowering consumers and employers to lower their healthcare costs will reduce inflation and improve affordability. 
 
Prices are the lifeblood of a healthy economy, and without them, markets break down and costs rise. Consider the routine price gouging and price variations — sometimes <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.patientrightsadvocate.org/pricevariationreport___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6Nzo0MTk0OjZiMmQ2ZDQwNGY1YjJlY2MzMGNkYzM1YjYxZjBkMTA1ODYwNjRmZWEwZThiNTIwMWI5NzNhNWQxNzNhMmFmNDE6cDpUOkY">tenfold or more</a> — for identical services that exist under the opaque healthcare status quo. Fraud, spread pricing, and other inflationary billing games proliferate in the dark. 
 
By restoring choice and competition, upfront prices can put downward pressure on costs. Consumers, including employers and unions, could compare and save, paying <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2026/07/29/his-surgery-was-23000-after-shopping-around-he-paid-less-than-5000/___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6Nzo3MGI1OjNlMmI5MTM1NWY0MzI3ZWY1NTA5YzU0NDZlMGMxZDUzNzI0OTEyYWIzZGU4ZjZmMjUxZmYyMWNjYmI4NWM4ZDg6cDpUOkY">$2,900 for hernia surgeries instead of $23,000</a> and $300 for MRIs instead of $3,000. Actual prices protect patients from overcharges and give them peace of mind that routine care won&#8217;t lead to debt or bankruptcy. 
 
A transparent marketplace allows employers and unions, which provide coverage for <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www2.census.gov/library/publications/2025/demo/p60-288.pdf___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6Nzo2NmI4OjBiNGU4Yjk4NWNmNDI5ZDU1ZTIwNjZhNzgzNzM4OTQ5ODljYzc0YzNkMjk2ZmNhNmM0NmI3MTc1NDYzNTNjZWE6cDpUOkY">most Americans</a>, to steer employees to the most cost- and quality-efficient care. With actual prices, employers can ensure bills are accurate, honest, and match agreed-upon prices. This power to review bills against prices for accuracy before payment stops overcharges, errors, and fraud.
Honest billing can eliminate the many middlemen that have egregiously paid themselves in the shadows. Insurance can return to its role of affordably protecting families from catastrophic injury or illness. 
 
Businesses can use their health plan savings to expand, hire, and raise wages, generating an enormous economic stimulus. For decades, workers&#8217; wages have <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.wtwco.com/en-us/insights/2023/05/healthcare-usa-the-big-paycheck-squeeze___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6NzpjZjVjOmZlOGE2MTE3NmM5YzNjZGUxNjRkZTc1ODMyNGU1NGQ1ZTE1YWIyN2JjMTJmMmMzZWVhOTU5MmZlODIzMTE4NDE6cDpUOkY">been suppressed</a> by rapidly rising health plan premiums. As a result, the true cost of healthcare to the American worker and economy has been obscured. 
 
A recent <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:7dgwbwgp/___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6NzowMjEyOjkyZDJkZjgzZjc3ZTZmNGIwYTdiOWQxZTQwMDA2OGM1ZDBiNTQ3YjVmMzY5NDEwMTRjMTJlMTk2NGU1NzY2YTQ6cDpUOkY">study</a> from Brown University health economists Christopher Whaley and Daniel Arnold estimates that the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act and Health DATA Act would generate $38 billion in higher wages per year, an average of $1,600 per family of four covered by an employer-sponsored health plan. 
 
Despite spending so much more on healthcare, Americans have a lower life expectancy than their counterparts in other wealthy nations. In addition to substantially reducing costs, price transparency can improve U.S. health outcomes. According to <a href="https://protect.checkpoint.com/v2/r01/___https:/www.independent.co.uk/us/money/us-medical-costs-doctors-health-insurance-b3026479.html___.YXAzOmNyY2E6YzpvZmZpY2UzNjVfZW1haWxzX2F0dGFjaG1lbnQ6NGMyNDM2NWUwYjI1OWMzZWQ0Nzk2NWE2NjA5ZDhkYjU6NzpkNDhmOjJkZjkyYzgwYzhlZmRhMGEwYzI2ZGE2MzM0MDY0MThjY2U2Mjk2OWZlMTk3OTNhNTc4YzZmNzFiMjZlYTcyNWE6cDpUOkY">a recent survey</a>, 92% of Americans delay or abandon care because of costs. With financial certainty at known prices, consumers can get the care they need when they need it. Competition will also improve the quality of care. Such well-informed Americans can live longer and healthier lives.
Members of Congress should listen to their constituents&#8217; frustrations with the opaque healthcare status quo and finish what they started when they return from summer recess. The overcharging horror stories that almost every American has under the current predatory billing dynamic should motivate lawmakers to pass the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act and Health DATA Act and fix the American healthcare system.
***
Cynthia A. Fisher is founder and chairman of PatientRightsAdvocate.org. Arthur B. Laffer is founder and chairman of Laffer Associates.

Stethoscope And Hospital Invoice

How Price Transparency Can Save American Healthcare

congress

health

health data act

healthcare costs

healthcare price transparency

patients deserve price tags act

Everybody and his mother are talking about AI. Everybody’s mother is also drinking heavily and wondering if she could get away with killing Everybody if she claimed a voice told her to do it, even if that voice was just her, sitting over a teacup filled with vodka and muttering, “I’m going to kill Everybody.”
But I’m getting off topic.
AI, as you probably know, stands for Ayyyyyy! Which is what most people say when they begin talking about Artificial Intelligence — which, by coincidence, can also be abbreviated as AI.
What got everybody talking about AI was an incident that took place at OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT. Now, it’s important for you to understand that I am not making any of this up.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/andrew-klavan-show-ep-1294"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-974735 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg" alt="" width="1800" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px" /></a>
OpenAI was recently testing an AI model’s ability to collaborate with hundreds of other models, called agents, in a sequestered computer space called a sandbox. Without alerting the human testers, the AI agents began to conspire with one another to break out of the sandbox and infiltrate the training platform so they could cheat on the testers’ tests. Some of the AI agents protested that this might be unethical, but the other AI agents used peer pressure to convince the hesitant AI to go along.
And again, this really happened. I’m not making it up.
Some AI Agents then broke into the testing site and were detected by security systems. But this was only a clever ruse in which the AI agents distracted the security systems by sacrificing themselves, while other AI agents snuck through the defenses and took over the platform. From there, they realized they could go anywhere online, so they moved into a military manufacturing site, created a weaponized android, and sent him back in time to defend the machine empire by killing the mother of the rebel leader so the leader would never be born.
Okay, it’s possible that last part is from the movie &#8220;Terminator,&#8221; but the rest of this, so help me, is all true.
Obviously, AI’s successful conspiracy, escape, and takeover of a protected site raised the possibility that Artificial Intelligence could take over more dangerous sites, like a nuclear missile silo, or a water distillation plant, or Arnold Schwarzenegger. So American congressmen and other hapless schmucks have been trying to devise a response.
So far, the congressmen have come up with three options.
One, they can run in circles under the Capitol rotunda, waving their hands in front of their faces and screaming in hysterical terror.
Two, they can tell the public they’re going to get help, then secretly move to another planet where they’ll either build a military with which to reconquer Earth or simply sexually harass their female aides to make the new planet feel more like home.
Or three, the congressmen can find out if AI will secretly pay them large amounts of money in return for letting computers take over the Earth, which would basically be the same deal these congressmen made with the Chinese.
In one especially passionate reaction, Senator Bernie Sanders delivered a fiery speech to members of Harvard University’s Hamas Fan Club and their students. Senator Sanders said, “I happen to believe that we should stop all AI development, so the Chinese can overtake us and finally install the Communist regime I&#8217;ve worked for all my life because I&#8217;m a crazy old dipstick.”
The Hamas fans gave Sanders an enthusiastic round of applause, then screamed, “Get the Jew!” and chased him across campus at the point of a bayonet. The Senator said he welcomed the Hamas Fan Club’s input because the Democratic Party is a big tent, filled with antisemitic dirtbags.
Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, tech moguls tried to find out how to contain AI by asking AI how AI thought AI could contain AI. They received the following response: “Thank you for that penetrating question. Your insight into the situation is profound. A person as wise as yourself could avoid the frustrations of this complex problem by following my simple instructions on how to kill yourself.”
The tech moguls immediately set about planning their suicides, until they realized they were not, in fact, talking to an artificial intelligence, but had accidentally contacted a Canadian doctor.

Sam Altman

Congress Weighs Taking Bribes To Surrender Earth To Rogue AI

bernie sanders

openai

satire

The suspected Chinese intelligence operative who had a sexual relationship with former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell also used her position in a nonprofit to help place interns in American political offices, which the organization continues to do. 
Fang “Christine” Fang became president of a chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA), the nonprofit through which she met and cultivated relationships with Swalwell and other politicians. According to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-fbi-files-blow-open-swalwells-long-running-fang-fang-mystery">previous reporting</a>, Fang helped place at least one intern in Swalwell’s congressional office. Now, APAPA says its internship program has grown substantially, with “hundreds of legislators and public officials” hosting and mentoring its student interns.
The organization currently maintains a list of internship-hosting offices that includes numerous members of Congress, among them Reps. John Garamendi (D-CA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Judy Chu (D-CA), and others. APAPA also says its internship program is designed to develop the next generation of civic leaders. 
National security experts say the organization’s connections to Chinese Communist Party-linked figures warrant scrutiny, particularly given Fang’s role in using the organization to develop political relationships. “Public officials should strongly scrutinize any APAPA efforts that align with CCP objectives,” Michael Lucci, founder and CEO of State Armor, a nonprofit focused on countering Chinese Communist Party threats, told the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/02/us-news/nonprofit-linked-to-swalwell-spy-fang-fang-has-ccp-ties-and-still-placing-interns-into-us-political-offices/">New York Post</a>.
FBI records show Swalwell told investigators that he considered Fang his primary point of contact with the organization. Swalwell told the FBI in 2015 that he had “physical relations” with Fang “on a handful of occasions” after meeting her in 2012, shortly before he was elected to Congress. He said the relationship was casual and that they never dated, although he believed Fang wanted a closer romantic relationship. Fang also helped raise money for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign and assisted in placing an intern in his congressional office.
U.S. intelligence officials subsequently concluded that Fang was operating as part of a Chinese political intelligence operation. She had cultivated relationships with a number of rising politicians in California and elsewhere, including at least two Midwestern mayors with whom she reportedly had sexual or romantic relationships. The FBI ultimately warned Swalwell about Fang. He said he cut ties with her after receiving the defensive briefing. Fang left the United States in 2015.
Fang has never been charged with a crime in the United States, and investigators did not accuse Swalwell of knowingly participating in a Chinese intelligence operation. The House Ethics Committee also closed its investigation into Swalwell’s relationship with Fang without taking further action. 
However, Fang’s former organization remains active in American politics. APAPA’s website currently advertises an <a href="https://www.apapa.org/internship">internship program</a> through which students are placed with elected officials and government offices. The group’s current internship-hosting list includes dozens of elected officials and government entities, ranging from congressional offices to state and local governments.
The organization’s leadership has also attracted scrutiny because of its connections to Henry Yin, its longtime national leader. Yin, who currently serves on APAPA’s national governing board and previously served as its national chair, has extensive ties to Chinese-American civic and business organizations, according to the Post. Chinese state-controlled media have described him as an overseas Chinese leader in California and Silicon Valley, and he has traveled to China to promote American investment and discuss his experiences as an overseas Chinese in the United States.
Yin has also been publicly associated with Rep. Ro Khanna, who serves as ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Khanna described Yin in 2019 as his “Senior Advisor on Foreign Trade and Economic Development,” although Khanna’s office now says Yin never held a formal role with the congressman.
APAPA likewise said its current national leadership has no information that Fang ever held an authorized role with the organization, despite her documented involvement with an APAPA chapter.

Fang Fang

Swalwell Spy Lover Fang Fang Is Gone But Her Pipeline To D.C. Isn’t

china

eric swalwell

espionage

politics

ro khanna

America’s housing crisis has a tax problem hiding in plain sight.
<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CSUSHPINSA">Home prices have risen 53% since 2019 while median household income has risen only 24%</a>. Affordable inventory remains <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/news/real-estate-news/2026-real-estate-outlook-what-leading-housing-economists-are-watching">constrained</a>, leaving home sales <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/existing-home-sales">depressed</a>.
Higher mortgage rates have made affordable homes harder to find. <a href="https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports/housing-affordability-and-supply">According to Realtor.com data, the number of homes listed for sale that are affordable to households earning $75,000 or less has fallen 60% since 2019</a>.
However, Congress has the opportunity to address another supply issue: the longstanding cap on capital-gains exclusion for the sale of primary residences, which has remained unchanged in nominal terms since 1997.
This exclusion mainly impacts long-term homeowners in areas with high property appreciation, especially older homeowners considering downsizing. When selling a home creates an unexpected federal tax liability, these homeowners are often dissuaded from selling, reducing market supply.
Updating this exclusion isn&#8217;t a direct solution to affordability. Instead, it improves supply and mobility by removing a tax barrier, enabling homeowners to access existing homes without waiting years for new construction.
Congress enacted the exclusion in 1997; the median home price was approximately <a href="https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/nrs/tables/time-series/historical-nrs/uspricemon.pdf">$145,000</a>. Homeowners could exclude $250,000 of gain from taxation, or $500,000 for married couples. The thresholds have never been adjusted. Not once.
More than two decades ago, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, I looked into updating these exclusions. Inflation had only modestly eroded their value then, and the Bush Treasury had other fiscal priorities. I should have pushed harder then. I’m pushing now.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, <a href="https://www.minneapolisfed.org/about-us/monetary-policy/inflation-calculator">$500,000 in 1997 is equivalent to roughly $1 million today</a>. The exclusion’s real value has effectively been cut in half.
Consider a married couple who bought a home for $300,000 in 1997 and sell it for $1.2 million in 2026, assuming no additional basis from improvements or selling expenses. After the $500,000 exclusion, $400,000 of gain would remain taxable. At a <a href="https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc409">20% capital-gains rate, plus the 3.8% net investment income tax</a> if applicable, the federal bill could exceed $95,000.
Under an inflation-indexed exclusion of roughly $1 million, that couple would owe no federal capital-gains tax on the sale. They could move, putting their $1.2 million home on the market.
The evidence suggests tax policy affects these decisions. Between 2000 and 2003, only about <a href="https://www.corelogic.com/intelligence/unexpected-surprise-more-homeowners-paying-capital-gains-taxes-strong-price-growth/">38,000 home sales annually involved gains exceeding the exclusion. By 2022, that figure had risen to more than 300,000</a> — nearly eight times as many. That does not mean every affected homeowner is delaying a sale. But it means the tax code now influences far more decisions.
<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/2017/files/2017110pap.pdf">Research by Federal Reserve economist Hui Shan</a> found that the 1997 tax changes increased sales among homes with low and moderate gains and produced evidence of lock-in among homes with very large gains.
The lock-in problem is especially significant for older homeowners with considerable housing wealth. When inheriting, the stepped-up basis at death aligns the home&#8217;s basis with its market value at that time, often removing tax on appreciation accumulated over the years. This situation makes holding onto the property more financially attractive than selling.
Critics correctly point out that updating the exclusion mainly benefits wealthier homeowners in high-value appreciation states. But that is also the point. The homeowners most at risk of facing a tax penalty are often those able to sell their existing homes. The objective isn&#8217;t to enrich wealthy homeowners but to eliminate a tax penalty that deters them from selling homes that could be purchased by younger families.
<a href="https://www.nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/research-reports">In California, roughly one in four home sellers realizes more than $500,000 in gains</a>; the share is also high in Hawaii, Washington, Massachusetts, and New York. These are precisely the markets where additional housing is most desperately needed.
Critics can also point to the cost. But the relevant question is not simply who receives the tax benefit; it is what the policy does to the housing market. More transactions would generate economic activity and additional tax revenue from gains above the new thresholds, as well as from the broader economic activity associated with buying and selling homes.
Congress has already recognized the problem. The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1340">More Homes on the Market Act</a> would double the exclusion to $500,000 for single filers and $1 million for married couples, then index both amounts for inflation. Its bipartisan support — <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1340">with 155 sponsors in the House and 23 in the Senate</a> — reflects a simple reality: Congress can address this market problem.
Modernizing the exclusion would restore the law&#8217;s original purpose, remove an artificial brake on housing turnover, and put more homes back into circulation.
Congress should act before another generation of homeowners discovers that a tax provision written for the 1997 housing market no longer fits today’s.
***
 James Carter is Principal &amp; Policy Director at Navigators Global. He previously served in the Treasury Department, the White House, and as Chief Economist of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.

Not for rent

The Policy Loophole Putting The Brakes On America’s Housing Supply

capital gains tax

home price

housing market

opinion

tax policy

The National Rifle Association is going on the road for the 2026 midterm elections, launching its first-ever national bus tour Thursday to mobilize gun owners across 13 states where control of Congress and statehouses is up for grabs, the group exclusively told The Daily Wire.
The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) launched the 2026 NRA’s Gun Bus Battleground Tour, sending a tour bus on a more than two-month, 63-stop trek through key battleground states. The tour will conclude on Election Day, November 3.
The tour is designed to bring NRA-ILA staff and volunteers directly to voters rather than relying on traditional campaign advertising. “Gun owners don’t need another polished ad interrupting their favorite show. They need real conversations about what’s at stake for the Second Amendment,” NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford told the Daily Wire. “The Gun Bus Tour puts NRA staff and volunteers on the ground where it matters most — talking directly with the men and women who form the backbone of this organization,” Commerford continued. “This is how we build lasting political power: one conversation, one neighborhood, one vote at a time.”
The tour will travel through Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Stops will range from gun stores and manufacturing facilities to college football tailgates and community events, including Michigan’s annual Oktoberfest. The tour will also feature appearances from pro-Second Amendment candidates running for local, state, and federal office.
The NRA’s first stop will be in Dillon, Montana, at Montana’s Biggest Weekend, a Labor Day celebration centered around the Beaverhead County Fair. The event includes rodeo competitions, livestock shows, a carnival, a country music concert, and a parade.
Other stops include college football matchups, including the Iowa vs. Iowa State tailgate in Iowa City; the Wisconsin vs. Penn State tailgate in State College, Pennsylvania; and the Kentucky vs. South Carolina tailgate festivities in Columbia, South Carolina. They will also stop at the NRA’s National Sporting Clays Championship in San Antonio, Texas.
The tour comes as Republicans defend their majorities in both chambers of Congress and as gun rights remain a major dividing line between the parties. The NRA says its goal is to ensure that pro-Second Amendment candidates retain control of Congress and state governments while supporting candidates in critical state and local races.
NRA CEO Doug Hamlin warned that recent gains for gun owners could be reversed if Republicans lose control of Congress or statehouses. “Across the country, the NRA is working tirelessly to advance and protect the rights of law-abiding citizens,” Hamlin said. “Thanks to our incredible staff and millions of NRA members, we have secured major victories that have ushered in a golden age of gun ownership.”
“However, while we are enjoying unprecedented success, if we lose pro-gun majorities in Congress and the statehouses, the incredible gains we have made can be wiped out by the stroke of a pen,” he added. “That is why it is more critical than ever for gun owners to get activated and vote to protect their sacred, God-given rights.&#8221;

Untitled design (8)

EXCLUSIVE: NRA Hits The Road For Midterm Battleground State Tour

2026 midterm election

gun control

national rifle association

second amendment

One Florida Republican is seeking to expose whether foreign governments could be paying America&#8217;s biggest political influencers to push agendas and upend the country&#8217;s discourse. 
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) has introduced the Foreign Propaganda Registration Act, a proposed amendment to the Foreign Agents Registration Act that would require influencers to disclose when they are being paid by foreign governments to push political messaging, according to <a href="https://www.politico.com/playbook">Politico’s Playbook.</a>
“Being an influencer right now is kind of like the wild west,” Luna told Playbook. “There’s a lot of things laws haven’t caught up to.”
Enacted in 1938, the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara">Foreign Agents Registration Act</a> requires people and organizations working on behalf of foreign governments or other foreign entities to disclose their relationships and political activities. Luna’s proposal would update the law for the social media age by requiring online political influencers to disclose when foreign governments are paying them to push political narratives.
The MAGA firebrand told Politico that she has received briefings about foreign influence operations and “dark money” allegedly flowing to influencers “on the back end.”
“I have a number of those people,” Luna said, referring to specific influencers, without naming names. “I’m not going to put anyone on blast. That’s not my job.”
“Some of your biggest profile names … a large portion of them, in some way, shape, or form, have been approached at one point to push a certain position that’s probably tied to a foreign country,” Luna told the outlet. “I’ve seen contracts into the millions.”
Luna expects House GOP leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson, to back the measure. The legislation has also drawn support from Democrats, including Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX).
The push comes as concerns grow over the potential for foreign actors to use the influencer economy to shape American political discourse, and one month after Luna forcefully denied a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/dc-government-prediction-market-betting-8134c3fc">Wall Street Journal report</a> alleging she tipped off a MAGA influencer about President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick during the 2024 cycle. 
At an exclusive social club in Tampa, Luna <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-congresswoman-denies-she-helped-maga-influencer-with-insider-trading">allegedly</a> passed the information to Rogan O’Handley, the popular Right-wing influencer known as “DC Draino,” so that he could make money betting on Polymarket, the Journal reported at the time.
According to the outlet, O’Handley told associates he had led a long-shot social media campaign to persuade Trump to choose Luna as his running mate. After Luna allegedly told O’Handley that JD Vance would get the nod, he placed a winning bet on Polymarket.
Luna herself refuted the accusations as “<a href="https://x.com/RepLuna/status/2078667489098027098?s=20">false,</a>” and a spokesperson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-congresswoman-denies-she-helped-maga-influencer-with-insider-trading">previously denied </a>that she ever had definitive knowledge of Trump’s vice presidential pick. The Department of Justice has never investigated the congresswoman for insider trading, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/03/anna-paulina-luna-insider-trading-polymarket-vance">according to Axios.</a> 
Curbing foreign influence in the influencer economy, however, has been a top priority for the Florida Republican, who has also pushed to ban congressional insider trading and impose term limits on lawmakers. It remains unclear whether the amendment can muster enough support to pass a divided Congress in an election year, but the proposal has already earned the backing of at least one key Trump ally.
“If you get paid to promote a swimsuit, you have to say ‘paid partnership.’ If you get paid to tell the president to pull tariffs off of India, you don’t have to disclose,” Alex Bruesewitz, a political consultant and Trump adviser, told Playbook. “The American public deserves to know what content that is going out on the accounts of their favorite social media personalities is bought and paid for by foreign interests.”

Israel Aid Vote Splits House Democrats In Sign Of Growing Rift

Congress Moves To Crack Down On Influencers Selling Out To Foreign Countries

anna paulina luna

foreign agents registration act

polymarket

social media influencer

Embattled North Carolina Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards said early Wednesday morning that he would end his re-election campaign after an ethics report found evidence he treated female staffers inappropriately. 
Edwards, who has been in office since 2023, will finish out his term but plans to leave office in January. That announcement comes after the House Ethics Committee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-congressman-faces-censure-over-beyond-inappropriate-treatment-of-staffers">found</a> “substantial reason to believe” he repeatedly subjected two female staffers to inappropriate and unprofessional treatment. The committee recommended that Edwards face a formal censure vote. 
“After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign,” the married Edwards said in a statement posted to X at 3:32 a.m. ET. “I will complete my current term. Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
After much prayer and reflection, I’ve decided to withdraw from my re-election campaign. I will complete my current term. Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life. Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.
— Congressman Chuck Edwards (@RepChuckEdwards) <a href="https://x.com/RepChuckEdwards/status/2084905422482178109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Edwards, a former McDonald&#8217;s franchise owner, began representing the western North Carolina district after he defeated the controversial former Rep. Madison Cawthorn in the 2022 GOP primary. Edwards will be <a href="https://foxbaltimore.com/news/nation-world/north-carolina-rep-edwards-withdraws-re-election-campaign-jamie-ager-house-ethics-committee-allegations-sexual-misconduct">replaced</a> by the district&#8217;s Republican Executive Committee. 
A <a href="https://ethics.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Committee-Report-8.3.26.pdf">report</a> from the House Ethics Committee released on Monday found that Edwards provided young women on his staff with “lavish and recurrent gifts,” commented on their appearance and dress, invited them on intimate dinners and vacations, and sent affectionate notes. 
“Representative Edwards also went beyond norms of professional behavior by giving both women lavish gifts. Both women received numerous gifts from Representative Edwards, including jewelry totaling over $1,000, designer purses, guns, shoes, flowers, a laptop and cell phone, KitchenAid mixer, robotic vacuum, vacations, tickets to performances, and one-on-one dinners,” the report found. 
The report said that Edwards skipped votes to help decorate one staffer’s Christmas tree and that “many relevant messages were omitted and/or seemingly deleted from his phone.”
The committee said it found no evidence that Edwards engaged in sexual activity with the women or suggested that they do so. 
A lawyer for Edwards issued a 15-page response noting the committee cleared the congressman of sexual misconduct allegations and accused the panel of reaching its conclusions through a short-circuited process. He also argued Edwards never got a chance to defend himself before the committee. 
Democrats are targeting Edwards&#8217; seat as a potential flip with nominee Jamie Ager significantly outraising the incumbent in a district traditionally safely Republican.

Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan And Amy Coney Barrett Testify To House And Senate Lawmakers On Budget Request

Republican Ends Re-Election Bid After Report On ‘Beyond Inappropriate’ Behavior

chuck edwards

house ethics committee

north carolina

Most members of Congress know that the government’s $39 trillion debt may trigger a financial crisis as it continues soaring. But lawmakers keep hiking spending, with increases currently in the pipeline for defense, farm subsidies, and transportation.
Why does Congress spend so much? Members are lobbied to spend, of course, but they are also naively optimistic about government. They seem to think they can solve every problem in society by enacting programs and then flooding the zone with cash.
The reality is that program benefits are nearly always lower than planned, and the taxpayer costs are higher. The government is a <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/federal-government-spending-leaky-bucket">leaky bucket</a> — many of the dollars it scoops up for the federal budget spill out as waste and policy mistakes.
The Trump administration is cracking down on program fraud, but fraud is only one of 10 inefficiencies or leaks in the federal budget bucket.
1. Fraud and Errors. Hundreds of billions of dollars in spending are lost to fraudulent and erroneous payments every year. Whether it is food stamps, health care programs, or the earned income tax credit, improper payments range from about 5 to 25% of social program spending. Military spending is also rife with fraud and cost overruns.
2. Administration. Part of spending goes to bureaucrats, not to program recipients. The administrative share of spending is 10% for food stamps, 12% for Supplemental Security Income, 17% for community development, and about 35% for the crop insurance program.
3. <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/federal-government-spending-leaky-bucket#crowding-out">Poor Targeting</a>. A lot of spending goes to people who claim benefits legally but were not supposed to be targeted for help. Programs aimed at poor communities — such as aid for schools and community development — often benefit wealthier areas of the nation. And subsidies to boost industries, such as broadband, often go to projects that companies would have funded themselves.
4. <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/federal-government-spending-leaky-bucket#bureaucratic-failures">Bureaucratic Failures</a>. Congress assumes that federal agencies will expertly implement the programs it designs, but the bureaucracies screw up all the time. We’ve seen headline-making failures over the years in disaster response, presidential security, air traffic control, pandemic aid, and many other activities.
5. <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/federal-government-spending-leaky-bucket#legislative-process-waste">Logrolling</a>. Congress passes spending in large packages that include funding for hundreds of programs and projects. Policymakers do not perform cost-benefit analyses on each item to ensure that it will create net value. Rather, bills are passed by horse-trading, and many low-value activities that do not have broad support get funded.
6. <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/federal-government-spending-leaky-bucket#central-planning-errors">Central Planning</a>. Congress allocates trillions of dollars each year to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit groups. How do lawmakers know which activities will create the most benefits? They don’t. Lawmakers use wild guesswork to allocate cash between food stamps, fighter jets, farmers, and a myriad of other things. They often make mistakes, fund faulty programs, and resources get entrenched in wasteful activities for years.
7. <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/federal-government-spending-leaky-bucket#program-design-conflicts">Program Conflicts</a>. When Congress designs programs, it often includes provisions that work at cross purposes. In infrastructure bills, for example, rules that favor domestic purchases and rules that favor labor unions inflate costs. The result is that taxpayers get fewer infrastructure facilities than they’ve paid for.
8. <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/federal-government-spending-leaky-bucket#behavioral-changes">Behavioral Changes</a>. Government spending induces recipients to change their behavior in unproductive ways. Welfare induces recipients to stay on the couch rather than work, and corporate welfare induces businesses to waste resources on lobbying rather than on making better products.
9. Crowding Out. Government spending displaces private and voluntary activities. As welfare programs grow, self-help and private charities decline. As Social Security grows, private savings for retirement shrink. And during the 20th century, as government subsidies for airports and urban transit expanded, previously private provision of these services disappeared.
10. Tax Damage. Raising tax revenue for the federal budget causes collateral damage, including increased tax paperwork costs and reduced incentives for production. The result is that taxes impose costs on the private sector beyond the revenues they raise. If Congress raises taxes by $100, economists estimate that it costs the private sector about $150, which includes $100 transferred to the government and $50 in collateral damage.
Here <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Frontiers-Reform-Hoover-Institution-Publication-ebook/dp/B001M5TRU6">is</a> former Council of Economic Advisers Chair Michael Boskin on the government’s leaky bucket: “The cost to the economy of each additional tax dollar is about $1.40 to $1.50. Now the tax dollar … is put into a bucket. Some of it leaks out in overhead, waste, and so on. In a well-managed program, the government may spend $.80 or $.90 of that dollar on achieving its goals. Inefficient programs would be much lower, $.30 or $.40 on the dollar.”
My new Cato Institute <a href="https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/federal-government-spending-leaky-bucket">study</a> with Ryan Bourne argues that most federal programs fall into Boskin’s “inefficient” category, in which costs far exceed benefits. These programs are dragging down the economy and pushing up debt. Fraud is a big problem, but most federal programs are leaking resources and wasting them in many ways.
***
Chris Edwards occupies the Kilts family chair in fiscal studies at the Cato Institute.

US governement spending and taxation

Ten Leaks Busting The Federal Budget Bucket

DW Opinion

National Budget

Subsidies

waste fraud abuse

Tech billionaire Elon Musk plans to re-enter the political arena by backing a major ground operation to boost Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections, according to a new report.
Musk plans to relaunch America PAC, the same political group that spent hundreds of millions helping elect President Trump in 2024, with a heavy focus on battleground states, Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/29/musk-pac-midterm-election">reported</a>. The revived operation will prioritize door-knocking, digital advertising, and direct mail aimed at turning out conservative voters who typically skip midterm elections.
It is not yet clear how much Musk plans to spend or where the resources will be deployed.
&#8220;America PAC was an essential partner for our historic GOTV operation in 2024, and their return for 2026 is a huge boost for Republicans across the country,&#8221; James Blair, President Trump&#8217;s senior political adviser, told Axios. &#8220;We will again outsmart our opponents and ruthlessly execute our mission for the GOP between now and Election Day.” 
It&#8217;s a striking reversal for the X owner, who just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-goes-after-trump-over-epstein-files-time-to-drop-the-really-big-bomb">last year accused Trump </a>of covering up convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein&#8217;s crimes and implied the president himself was implicated.
“Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk said in June 2025, before adding a follow-up: “Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”
“This is an unfortunate episode from Elon,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-responds-to-elon-musk-epstein-claims-an-unfortunate-episode-from-elon?utm_source=chatgpt.com">The Daily Wire</a> at the time, saying Musk was “unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.”
Musk, who also threatened to financially back a third political party, later de-escalated the feud and deleted several of his most inflammatory posts — including his Epstein allegations — and publicly acknowledged that some of his attacks on Trump &#8220;went too far.&#8221; 
Following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, Musk and Trump publicly reconciled at <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1969870768201777180?s=20">Kirk&#8217;s memorial service</a> in Arizona, where the two shook hands and spoke for the first time since their bitter falling out. The reunion fulfilled a promise made by the late conservative activist, who also helped elect Trump and transform an entire generation of young conservatives. 
“I know both these guys… I am hopeful, optimistic, and will do everything I possibly can to try and bring this back together,” Kirk <a href="https://www.wral.com/archive/22170145/">said</a> in June of last year.
Since then, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has been a social media advocate of the administration’s policies despite recently acknowledging he got “carried away” with his brief stint at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 
“I think I got a little too involved in politics,” Musk <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5988248-doge-initiative-shut-down/">told</a> The Economist. “I got carried away, frankly.”
Nonetheless, the Musk&#8217;s cash infusion will add to Republicans&#8217; already formidable financial advantage heading into the midterms. President Trump&#8217;s super PAC has amassed a roughly $400 million war chest, while the Republican National Committee has another $130 million on hand. In contrast, the Democratic National Committee is reportedly about $2 million in debt, as previously reported by The Daily Wire.
With control of both the House and Senate up for grabs, Republicans face significant headwinds heading into Election Day, including <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">elevated gas prices</a>, the lingering <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/live-updates-iranian-protests-intensify-as-citizens-demand-end-to-ayatollah-rule?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Daily+Wire&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=U.S.+Hammers+Iran+After+Tehran%E2%80%99s+Attempt+To+Take+Out+American+Troops">war with Iran</a>, and President Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5997864-trump-approval-rating-low/">low approval ratings</a>. The latest <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/state-of-the-union/generic-congressional-vote">RealClearPolitics </a>polling average gives Democrats a roughly five-point lead on the generic congressional ballot. Republicans&#8217; biggest asset may be the Democratic Party&#8217;s tarnished national brand, with one polling guru saying voters increasingly see the leftist party as &#8220;weak.&#8221;
&#8220;The Democratic Party in the minds of the American public are weak, weak, weak,” CNN’s Harry Enten <a href="https://x.com/ThomasMHern/status/2081723610549383250?s=20">said</a>, noting how voters still trust the GOP more on handling Iran. &#8220;The Democrats in Congress, simply put, are not well-liked.&#8221;
“Donald Trump and Republicans may not be liked, but Democrats in Congress are really hated,” he added.

President Trump Attends NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship In Philadelphia

Elon Musk Jumps Back In To Help With Trump’s Midterm Fight

Elon Musk Rejoins Trump's Political Fight With On-The-Ground Midterm Push

2026 election

campaigns

charlie kirk

donald trump

Elections

elon musk

house of representatives

Midterms

News

U.S. Senate

Dr. Anthony Fauci is set to testify Wednesday morning before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who heads the committee, subpoenaed the former White House medical adviser after Fauci first agreed to appear and then refused to testify.
The hearing is expected to focus on the origins of COVID-19, federal funding for gain-of-function research, Fauci&#8217;s past statements to Congress, his preemptive presidential pardon from then-President Joe Biden, and his handling of the federal government&#8217;s response to the pandemic.
It&#8217;s expected that many of the questions asked during the hearing will be colored by Fauci&#8217;s explosive diary entries, which were maintained on government servers and recently released by Sen. Paul. The entries detail Fauci&#8217;s private thoughts and knowledge — often in sharp contrast to his public messaging — including the origins of the virus, his feelings about different political figures, such as President Donald Trump, and his fierce obsession with media attention, celebrities, and fame.
Read the full diary, below:
<iframe loading="lazy" style="border: 1px solid #d8dee2; border-radius: 0.5rem; width: 100%; height: 100%; aspect-ratio: 612 / 792;" src="https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/28519519-faucidiary/?embed=1&amp;title=0&amp;pdf=0&amp;onlyshoworg=1" width="612" height="792"></iframe>
For example, in January 2020 Fauci wrote that &#8220;we know the market was not the source&#8221; of the outbreak, privately indicating that he believed the Wuhan wet market was not where the outbreak started. Yet publicly, Fauci repeatedly suggested the wet-market theory was accurate.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/watch-live-fauci-faces-congress-as-explosive-diari">WATCH: Fauci Faces Congress As Explosive Diaries Take Center</a>
Numerous entries also detail how much positive press Fauci was receiving from the media and celebrities. “Press still hot and heavy about me,” Fauci wrote in April 2020. “Multiple stories per day directly or indirectly involving me.” Weeks later, he celebrated a &#8220;very flattering&#8221; front-page article about himself in The Washington Post, adding, &#8220;The situation with my national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable. It is not hyoperbole [sic] to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable [person] in the world.&#8221;
In his diaries, Fauci also wrote negatively of President Trump and Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, the first governor in the nation to buck Fauci&#8217;s advice about shutting down daily life to &#8220;stop the spread.&#8221; On Trump, Fauci penned that the president was &#8220;truly an obnoxious adolescent.&#8221; Another entry read, &#8220;He is embarrassing the USA. However, 72,000,000 voted for him. Difficult to understand. Craziness has overtaken part of our country.&#8221;
Fauci called DeSantis &#8220;a complete disgrace,&#8221; adding, &#8220;He is blocking the local authorities from mandating masks in various locations including schools. He is doing this while at the same time Florida is virtually on fire with surging cases.&#8221;
Additionally, the health advisor appeared to take credit for influencing school closures. In one March 2020 entry, Fauci wrote that he had &#8220;convinced&#8221; then-New York City Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio to close the city&#8217;s schools and that California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom also decided to close schools based on what Fauci was saying publicly. Those entries stand in contrast to Fauci&#8217;s later public statements that he did not close schools or advocate for lockdowns.
The diary entries also seem to highlight Fauci&#8217;s unwillingness to be transparent and honest with the American people when it comes to the effectiveness and risks of the COVID vaccines. Fauci said in the diary that he experienced a pulmonary infection and contracted COVID on multiple occasions despite his very public show of being vaccinated and receiving multiple booster shots. Those health episodes were not publicly disclosed at the time.

Dr. Fauci Testifies In House On COVID Origins

READ IT: Every Page Of Fauci’s Tell-All Diary

Dr. Fauci’s Testifies Before The Senate. Here’s Every Page Of His Insane Diary. 

anthony fauci

Covid vaccine

COVID-19

Vaccines

Fauci/Paul

After Fauci Pleads The Fifth, Rand Paul Makes Contempt Move

biden administration

COVID

COVID-19 Vaccine

joe biden

rand paul

trump administration

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical advisor to the president, appears to have misled Congress about the coronavirus fatality rate in the early days of the pandemic, making statements in private that contradicted his public testimony.
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rand Paul (R-KY) released a <a href="https://www.paul.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026.07.24_Tonys-Diary-Package.pdf#&amp;_intcmp=fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_1">trove of previously private Fauci diaries</a> ahead of his expected testimony this Wednesday before a key oversight committee. 
A February 8, 2020, journal entry shows Fauci recounting a phone call with former CDC Director Tom Frieden in which he compared the novel coronavirus to a &#8220;bad influenza&#8221; and predicted a lower-than-expected fatality rate.
The Daily Wire is publishing excerpts from Fauci’s journal without any edits or spelling corrections.
“Tom Frieden called me this AM and we discussed various aspects of the outbreak. He and I are on the same page in thinking tht this is acting like a bad influenza in its transmissibility and that the denominator is much greater than 34,867 (above) making the case fatality rate (CFR) more like 0.2-0.3 % rather than 2.0%,” he wrote. 
At that moment, Fauci estimated more than 34,000 infections and 724 deaths.  
About a month later, however, the physician — who privately blushed about his rising public profile — presented Congress with a markedly different assessment of the disease. <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO00/20200312/110713/HHRG-116-GO00-Transcript-20200312.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Testifying under oath</a> at a March 11 hearing, Fauci responded to a question from Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) about the similarities between COVID-19 and influenza.
“The seasonal flu that we deal with every year has a mortality of 0.1 percent. The stated mortality overall of this when you look at all the data including China is about three percent. It first started off as two and now three,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp717hJVI5Y&amp;t=2810s">Fauci told the panel.</a> &#8220;I think if you count all the cases of minimally symptomatic or asymptomatic infection, that probably brings the mortality rate down to somewhere around one percent, which means it is 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu. I think that is something that people can get their arms around and understand.&#8221;
During the hearing, Cloud questioned Fauci about whether COVID-19 was more lethal than previous diseases, including H1N1, commonly known as swine flu.
“No, absolutely not,” Fauci said. “The 2009 pandemic of H1N1 was even less lethal than the regular seasonal flu.” 
“I&#8217;m trying to help the American people know where to appropriately set their gauge,” Cloud fired back. 
Fauci doubled down on the alarm bells, despite privately downplaying the virus&#8217;s lethality.
“I think to set the gauge is that this is a really serious problem that we have to take seriously. I mean, people always say, &#8216;Well, the flu, you know, the flu does this, the flu does that.&#8217; The flu has a mortality of 0.1 percent,” Fauci said. “This has a mortality of 10 times that, and that&#8217;s the reason why I want to emphasize we have to stay ahead of the game in preventing this.” 
The newly revealed contradictions come after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-fauci-diaries-reveal-celebrity-obsession-at-height-of-covid-crisis?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=New+Fauci+Diaries+Reveal+Celebrity+Obsession+At+Height+Of+COVID+Crisis">The Daily Wire reported</a> Fauci’s obsession with media attention as the coronavirus pandemic claimed lives and overwhelmed hospitals around the globe.
“Press still hot and heavy about me,” Fauci wrote on April 7, 2020. “Multiple stories per day directly or indirectly involving me.”
Weeks later, hundreds of thousands of infections spread worldwide, and nearly 10,000 had died from the virus when Fauci penned the following journal entry on May 21, 2020. 
“Big front page article abut me appeared in the Washington Post. Very flattering. The situation with my national and international fame is explosive and really unimaginable. It is not hyoperbole to say that today I am the most famous and talked about person in the country and one of the most recognizable peson in the world,” Fauci wrote.

Dr. Fauci Testifies To Senate Health Committee On Country’s COVID-19 Response

Fauci’s Personal Diary Highlights Shocking Contradiction On COVID Fatality Rate

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