With major tax breaks just around the corner, Senate Majority Leader John Thune reveals the real reason Democrats are skipping out on major tax breaks.

Several blue states across the country are opting out of the major tax breaks promised in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including provisions like deductions for seniors and no tax on tips. These tax breaks are set to go into effect on January 1, 2026.

‘They are doing it because of Trump derangement syndrome or a blind allegiance to high-tax policies.’

These policies are popular across the political spectrum, yet Democrats are depriving their constituents of the opportunity to reap the benefits. Some of these states include Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Maine, as well as Washington, D.C.

The Treasury Department called this a deliberate act of “partisan stonewalling,” suggesting Democrats are denying their constituents crucial financial relief.

RELATED: Blue-state ‘Grinches’ are stealing your tax relief, says Treasury Secretary Bessent

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

“This partisan stonewalling is a direct assault on the very families and workers liberal politicians claim to champion,” the department stated. “By denying their residents access to these important tax cuts, these governors and legislators are forcing hardworking Americans to shoulder higher state tax burdens, robbing them of the relief they deserve and exacerbating the financial squeeze on low- and middle-income households.”

Thune echoed the department’s concerns, saying Democrats are getting in the way of overdue tax relief for millions of hardworking Americans.

“Affordability starts with more money in your pocket,” Thune told Blaze News. “Republicans passed the Working Families Tax Cuts so that every working family, regardless of where they live, can have more money and new opportunities to get ahead.”

“It is outrageous that Democrat politicians would try to stop seniors, tipped workers, and people who work overtime from receiving this historic tax relief,” Thune added.

RELATED: ‘Very low-IQ person’: Jasmine Crockett launches Senate campaign with funny video that may give the GOP the last laugh

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Thune speculated that the Democrats’ refusal to embrace even Trump’s most popular policies is rooted in an inexplicable “blind allegiance” to high taxes, or just plain old Trump derangement syndrome.

“Whether they are doing it because of Trump derangement syndrome or a blind allegiance to high-tax policies, Democrat leaders like Governor Mills, Hochul, and Pritzker are making explicitly clear that Democrats prioritize high taxes and regulatory burdens over the financial well-being of the people they represent,” Thune added, referring to Governors Janet Mills of Maine, Kathy Hochul of New York, and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois.

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​John thune, Scott bessent, Treasury department, Senate republicans, One big beautiful bill, Donald trump, No tax on tips, Trump derangement syndrome, Colorado, New york, Illinois, Maine, Washington dc, Blue states, Kathy hochul, Jb pritzker, Politics 

“Truth. Justice. Whatever.”

Hollywood’s disdain for America is official with the poster tagline for this summer’s “Supergirl.”

‘I don’t care for Owen Wilson, and I don’t care for Matthew Lillard.’

How the industry embraced the problematic “girl” part of the name is a debate for another day. Just know that Hollywood hasn’t been cozy with the classic Superman slogan, “Truth, justice, and the American way,” for some time. The 2006 Brandon Routh reboot infamously ditched that last part, as did this year’s James Gunn version.

Now to show us that this Supergirl can’t even, the phrase is purposely imploded. And to be fair, the results come off better here, if only because the newest Supergirl is a rebel without a cause (or home planet).

Those offended by ditching “the American way” may be more outraged by the accompanying trailer. It looks as gloopy as this past summer’s “Superman” reboot, but with half the gravitas and action.

Prediction: Superhero fatigue goes nuclear in 2026 …

Jay Zzzzzz

Slackers never grow up. They just stay in their parents’ basements indefinitely.

That isn’t true for Jay and Silent Bob. The slacker heroes from Kevin Smith’s imagination refuse to call it a career. They’ve appeared in two features as the key attractions and several Smith movies like the “Clerks” franchise and “Mallrats.”

Now Smith is warning us there’s a third Jay and Silent Bob film in the works. “Jay and Silent Bob: Store Wars” will start production next year. But will anybody show up?

“Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” made under $5 million in 2019. Smith’s last film, “The 4:30 Movie,” didn’t earn enough for BoxOfficeMojo to include its figures.

Smith may have come of age during the ‘90s via “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy,” but his devoted flock has done nothing but shrink since then. Bigly.

Smith, 55, and co-star Jason Mewes, 51, may seem too old to keep cracking pot jokes, but Smith deserves credit for finding enough cash in his sofa to keep his franchise afloat …

Pulp Friction

Quentin Tarantino can’t get criticism out of his system.

The former video store clerk was set to make “The Movie Critic” his 10th and final film, but he got cold feet and went back to the proverbial drawing board. Since then, he’s been criticizing … everything, including specific movie stars.

That’s an unofficial no-no in celebrity circles, but Tarantino is out of you-know-whats apparently.

The director recently slammed actor Paul Dano (“The Batman,” “Love and Mercy”), dubbing the actor “weak sauce” and worse, as part of that now-infamous “Bret Easton Ellis Podcast” interview.

Hollywood stars rallied around Dano, saying he was far better than what the mercurial director dubbed him. Tarantino also shredded two more stars as part of that conversation.

“I don’t care for Owen Wilson, and I don’t care for Matthew Lillard.”

Wilson has yet to publicly respond, but Lillard did just that at a recent Comic-Con-style event, the GalaxyCon in Columbus, Ohio.

“Eh, whatever. Who gives a s**t,” Lillard said before revealing that he actually does give a bleep.

“It hurts your feelings. It f**king sucks,” he said. “And you wouldn’t say that to Tom Cruise. You wouldn’t say that to somebody who’s a top-line actor in Hollywood.”

So far, Lillard’s former co-star Scooby Doo has no comment …

RELATED: These are the definitive recordings of 35 favorite Christmas carols: Don’t argue, just listen

Photo credits, clockwise from top left: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images; Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images; Robin Platzer/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images; Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images; George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images; David Redfern/Redferns

‘Jingle’ jerk

The war on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is over, and the good guys won. The song continues to play every Christmas season despite a woke attempt to cancel it. The less problematic “remake” by John Legend and Kelly Clarkson was quickly forgotten.

Now former MSNBC host Joy Reid is declaring war on … “Jingle Bells.” And you’ll never guess why. Just kidding.

The song’s writer, James Lord Pierpont, allegedly penned the ditty for racially charged reasons, according to Reid. To her credit, if anyone knows about racially charged topics, it’s a former TV personality who sees racism around every corner.

To her, Elvis Presley’s nickname, “The King,” is racist.

She used a Massachusetts plaque as her “proof” of the song’s racial components, along with Pierpont’s days fighting for the Confederacy. The song’s lyrics appear as benign then as they do now.

Maybe she could record her own version of the song, a la Legend and Clarkson, and watch it follow eight-track tapes, pagers, and MSNBC into the dustbin of history.

​Hollywood, Entertainment, Christmas, Culture, Joy reid, Christmas carols, Baby it’s cold outside, Quentin tarantino, Toto recall 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who polling indicates is the 2028 Democratic front-runner for presidential nomination, emphasized his support for gender ideology in a recent interview with the New York Times’ Ezra Klein.

Newsom’s radical remarks caught the attention not only of Republicans but of Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj, who suggested the governor’s views would alienate even mentally ill “trans” adults.

‘The Vance > The Gav Nots.’

In the interview published on Wednesday, Newsom told Klein that while he — like the supermajority of Americans — does not support male transvestites in women’s sports, he nevertheless wants “to see trans kids.”

“I have a trans godson,” Newsom said. “There’s no governor that’s signed more pro-trans legislation than I have, and no one has been a stronger advocate for the LGBTQ community.”

The “godson” whom the Democratic governor referenced in this and other defenses of his trans alliance is billionaire oil heir Natalia Williams, the 33-year-old great-granddaughter of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty who had her breasts removed and now calls herself Nats Getty.

Newsom’s goddaughter is “married” to male transvestite Giselle Getty, formerly Gregory Lazzarato.

An X account managed by the Republican National Committee said in a response to the governor’s comments subsequently shared by the GOP, “Gavin Newsom gushes about how he wants to see the gender mutilation of children.”

RELATED: ‘Not medicine — it’s malpractice’: Trump HHS buries child sex-change regime with damning report

Photo by Bob Riha Jr./Getty Images

Minaj was evidently among the multitude of people sickened by Newsom’s statement, writing, “Imagine being the guy running on wanting to see trans kids. Haha. Not even a trans ADULT would run on that. Normal adults wake up & think they want to see HEALTHY, SAFE, HAPPY kids.”

“GavOUT,” Minaj continued. “Send in the next guy, I’m bored.”

Minaj followed up her tweet with a message suggesting that Newsom thinks he’s Tom Cruise, but the difference is that “his next mission IS impossible.”

Normalcy advocate Robby Starbuck noted that if Minaj is going to troll Newsom “from now until 2028 then he has a big problem because Gavin’s counting on the black vote and Nicki has a big enough megaphone to let them know how evil Gavin’s policies are. Dude lets 13 yr old girls get their breasts cut off in his state.”

Newsom has ratified numerous bills pushing the radical trans agenda in his state, including:

SB-107, making California a so-called sanctuary for child sex-rejecting mutilations;AB-1084, making it easier for transvestites to obtain inaccurate identification documents;AB-223, requiring any petition for a change of sex identifier by a minor to be kept confidential by the court; andAB-1955, banning school districts from requiring school officials to inform parents if a child begins to identify as “transgender.”

A Pew Research Center survey revealed earlier this year that 56% of Americans support a ban on sex-rejecting medical procedures for minors.

Whereas Minaj is highly critical of Newsom, she’s clearly sweet on the 2028 Republican front-runner, Vice President JD Vance.

“Vance is an assassin,” she wrote. “Don’t debate him. On anything. Quick as a computer. Maybe quicker. He’s the best blend I’ve ever seen of us&them.”

In a separate message, Minaj noted, “The Vance > The Gav Nots.”

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A Democratic congressman is facing scathing criticism for his description of the horrific attack on two National Guard members that left one dead.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D) of Mississippi was trying to interrogate Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem when he appeared to severely minimize the terrible attack. Thompson is the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

‘Bennie Thompson should apologize and retract this disgusting remark.’

“Madame Secretary, you and the gentleman from [National Counterterrorism Center] reference the unfortunate accident that occurred with the National Guardsmen being killed,” said Thompson.

“You think that was an unfortunate accident? That was a terrorist attack!” interjected Noem.

“I mean, look, I’ll get it straight,” he replied in an annoyed tone.

“He shot our National Guardsmen in the head!” she added.

Thompson appealed to the committee chair to censure Noem for interrupting his questioning.

“It was an unfortunate situation, but you blamed it solely on Joe Biden. I want you to know who approved the asylum application for this same person?” he continued.

Noem responded that the suspect in the shooting had been allowed into the country during the evacuation of Afghanistan during the Biden administration, but Thompson continued to harangue her about the approval of his asylum under the Trump administration.

Video of the exchange was widely circulated on social media, and the bizarre comments led to furious condemnation.

“Note to Democrats: The killing of National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom was not an ‘unfortunate accident.’ It was a premeditated terrorist attack,” replied Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on social media. “Bennie Thompson should apologize and retract this disgusting remark. Well done, @Sec_Noem for refusing to let Democrats downplay terrorism.”

National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard excoriated Thompson on Fox News and said the moment exemplified a common problem among political leaders.

RELATED: National Guard shooting suspect is Afghan national who entered US under Biden program

“It is absolutely infuriating,” said Gabbard. “This is someone who is a very, very senior leader in Congress, who for a long time has led the Homeland Security Committee in Congress. The fact that he cannot and refuses to directly identify this attack for what it was, a terrorist attack on our own soil against our National Guard.”

“This exchange really points to the egregious and longstanding problem that we’ve seen,” she added, “which is leaders, some on both sides of the aisle, who refused to identify this Islamist terrorist threat for exactly what it is, which is one of the reasons why we find ourselves in the position that we are in today.”

Thompson later said that he had misspoken when confronted by a CNN anchor about the comments.

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President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is continuing to roll back Temporary Protected Status, which was widely granted to numerous countries under the previous administration’s leadership.

On Friday morning, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a press release announcing that the DHS will terminate TPS for Ethiopia.

‘Conditions in Ethiopia no longer pose a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals.’

The current TPS designation was set to expire on Friday. Ethiopian nationals without another lawful basis to remain in the U.S. have 60 days to leave the country.

Those individuals are encouraged to use the Customs and Border Protection’s CBP Home mobile app to report their departure. They will receive a plane ticket and a $1,000 exit bonus.

The DHS may begin making arrests and deportations after February 13 for those who fail to leave voluntarily. They will not be eligible to return to the U.S.

“Temporary Protected Status designations are time-limited and were never meant to be a ticket to permanent residency,” a USCIS spokesperson stated. “Conditions in Ethiopia no longer pose a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals. Since the situation no longer meets the statutory requirements for a TPS designation, [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem is terminating this designation to restore integrity in our immigration system.”

RELATED: Trump DHS makes ‘temporary’ finally mean temporary again, revoking Biden’s free pass for 4,000 foreign nationals

Kristi Noem, Donald Trump. Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

TPS was first extended to Ethiopia in December 2022 under former President Joe Biden, whose administration claimed the designation was necessary due to “ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions.”

“Ethiopia faces armed conflict in multiple regions of the country resulting in large-scale displacement. In addition, Ethiopia has been experiencing severe climatic shocks exacerbating humanitarian concerns over access to food, water, and health care,” Biden’s DHS stated.

RELATED: 25 years after a Central American hurricane, Noem’s DHS to end associated immigration Temporary Protected Status

Joe Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas. Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Former DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas extended the TPS designation in April 2024.

“While some residual challenges in regions affected by the conflicts remain, there are signs of improvements in the country,” Trump’s DHS wrote in a Federal Register notice that will be published next week.

“The Secretary has determined that, while some sporadic and episodic violence occurs in Ethiopia, the situation no longer meets the criteria for an ongoing armed conflict that poses a serious threat to the personal safety of returning Ethiopian nationals,” the DHS continued.

Trump’s DHS previously terminated TPS for Burma, Haiti, South Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela. Countries that continue to hold TPS designations into 2026 include El Salvador, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen.

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President Donald Trump’s Department of Transportation announced new action against another Democratic-led state that it claims has been illegally issuing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses.

On Friday morning, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed that an audit from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration found that over half of New York state’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally. The audit sampled 200 records and discovered that 107, or 53%, were issued in violation of federal law.

‘What we uncovered in New York is not an administrative oversight.’

There are reportedly 32,000 active non-domiciled CDLs that were issued by New York.

According to the DOT, the New York Department of Motor Vehicles defaulted to issuing eight-year licenses to foreign drivers who applied for non-REAL ID licenses, regardless of when their legal status expired.

“This systemic failure allows the state to blindly grant long-term commercial driving privileges to foreigners that expire long after the expiration of their lawful presence in the country,” the DOT stated.

Additionally, the department claimed that New York failed to provide any evidence that it had verified the lawful presence of foreign individuals before issuing them commercial driver’s licenses. In some instances, New York allegedly relied on expired lawful presence documents to issue licenses.

RELATED: Trump DOT threatens to pull millions from Tim Walz’s state, boots 3,000 shady CDL trainers to clean up trucker licensing mess

Sean Duffy. Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images

As a result of the concerning findings, the DOT has demanded that New York immediately pause the issuance of new or renewed non-domiciled CDLs and commercial learner’s permits.

The state has also been asked to conduct an internal audit to identify licenses that were issued in violation of federal regulations. The DOT warned that the state risks losing $73 million in federal highway funding if it fails to revoke all illegally issued licenses held by foreign drivers immediately.

“When more than half of the licenses reviewed were issued illegally, it isn’t just a mistake — it is a dereliction of duty by state leadership. Gov. [Kathy] Hochul must immediately revoke these illegally issued licenses. If they refuse to follow the law, we will withhold federal highway funding,” Duffy stated. “This administration will never stop fighting to keep you and your family safe on our roads.”

RELATED: Trump DOT hammers Gov. Shapiro, threatens to pull millions after state hands CDL to ‘suspected terrorist’ illegal alien trucker

Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images

During a Friday morning press conference announcing the findings, Duffy explained that states that illegally issue CDLs endanger American drivers nationwide, since the licenses allow interstate operations.

Duffy described New York as the worst offender for issuing licenses in violation of federal law. The DOT has given New York 30 days to come into compliance.

California and New York account for half of the non-domiciled CDLs issued in the nation, Duffy stated.

“What we uncovered in New York is not an administrative oversight,” FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs stated during the press conference. “It’s a systematically, grossly unacceptable deviation from a federal safety regulation that has been on the books for a long period of time.”

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​News, Department of transportation, Dot, Transportation department, Sean duffy, American trucking industry, Trucking industry, New york, California, Kathy hochul, Commercial driver’s licenses, Cdl, Cdls, Commercial driver’s license, Non-domiciled cdl, Non-domiciled cdls, Non-domiciled, Politics