LOL: Mamdani Pushes For Increased Property Taxes In NYC

By William Teach February 18, 2026 – 10:30 am

This is what you voted for in NYC, Democrats

Mamdani floats increasing New York City property taxes as part of $127B budget plan

Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed raising New York City’s property taxes Tuesday as part of this year’s budget — the democratic socialist’s latest gambit to pressure Albany to hike taxes on the wealthy.

Mamdani unveiled a $127 billion preliminary budget proposal for the next fiscal year, which begins in July. As part of that plan, Mamdani is relying in large part on a 9.5 percent increase in city property taxes — which he can do without state approval — to help close a projected $5.4 billion revenue shortfall over the coming two fiscal years.

But that’s not enough, so in order to balance the budget — as he must by law — he’s also proposing drawing down some $1.2 billion from the city’s “rainy day” fund and retiree health care reserves.

Mamdani’s proposed increase — which drew swift pushback from various elected officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul — would put a hefty burden on working- and middle-class homeowners in the city. The democratic socialist mayor acknowledged the increased taxes would impact more than 3 million residential units in the city, with the New Yorkers owning them having a median income of $122,000.

What Mamdani wants to do instead is to increase taxes on millionaires and major corporations this year — new levies that only Albany can enact.

So, he can either raise property taxes on everyone (is there a way to make the tax only apply to those who voted for Mamdani?), provided he can get it past the city council, or the state of NY can raise it on the people who truly generate income and employ people and then see lots of them leave the city and state. And don’t forget that raising the property tax on building owners will mean rent for apartments and businesses.

Hey, maybe the city could simply defund all the cops, fire departments, and sanitation. That would do it, right? Or, the city could do an audit on where it is wasting money. Like, perhaps, looking at how the city spent over $10 billion on illegal aliens/fake asylum seekers the past few years and put the city in a $5 billion hole. And will probably spend billions this year.

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Your Fault: There’s A Lot Of Climate Hushing Going On

By William Teach February 18, 2026 – 7:00 am

It’s easy to broadcast a lot on ‘climate change’ when there’s little going on, but, when people have real concerns the cult takes a backseat. Plus, I just think the cult has been overplayed in the media, people are mostly tired of the end of the world doom

Climate Worries Rise but Dialogue Fades

climate doom yearly

Wait, I don’t have global heating on here?

There’s a stark disconnect between Americans’ worry about climate change and the amount of attention the issue is receiving publicly, a recent survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) and George Mason University found.

A majority of the American public is worried about global warming, believe it is affecting the cost of living, and want to vote for a candidate who will take action on the issue, yet media coverage and political discourse on the issue has been declining.

Only 17% of Americans surveyed said they hear about climate change in the media at least once a week and only 9% of Americans say they hear about it on social media once a week.

“We’re hearing a lot of climate hushing among the political class, many of whom presume that Americans … don’t want to hear about climate change. That’s not what we see in the data. There are 68 million Americans who are ‘Alarmed’ about climate change, and they want to hear about solutions. They want to hear more from their leaders as well as the media,”said Anthony Leiserowitz, YPCC director and the JoshAni-TomKat Professor of Climate Communication at YSE.  The fall 2025 survey, Climate Change in the American Mind, which has been conducted twice each year since 2008, found that:

They have been programed for Doom, but, things change in the Real World. Heck, do you hear much about Ukraine anymore? How about Gaza? COVID? The War on Terror? Can you believe 9/11 was 25 years ago?

Anyhow, those 68 million Americans never seem to be alarmed enough to give up their own use of fossil fuels and make their lives carbon neutral, eh?

Read: Your Fault: There’s A Lot Of Climate Hushing Going On »

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Oh Noes, Mayor Of Uber-White Burlington, Vermont Signs Order On Immigration Enforcement

By William Teach February 18, 2026 – 6:45 am

I guess she’s worried about the few immigrants who do the lawns and cooking and stuff for the citizens of Burlington

Burlington mayor signs executive order on immigration enforcement

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak is taking a stand on the city’s response to any potential ramping up of federal immigration enforcement.

The mayor signed an executive order on Tuesday morning that she says establishes clear citywide protocols for preparedness, transparency, and constitutional policing if the federal government conducts similar operations as it has in other U.S. cities.

The order updates citywide alert systems, creates rapid communication systems, trains staff, and reaffirms that the Burlington Police will not engage in civil immigration enforcement. (snip)

Burlington was among a handful of Vermont communities that first passed “sanctuary city” resolutions back in 2016 that aimed to limit or deny cooperation with federal authorities in enforcing immigration laws.

The pro-criminal virtue signalling is hilarious. I mean

  • White: 84% – 85%
  • Black/African American: 3.6% – 4%
  • Asian: 3.7% – 4.2%
  • Two or More Races: 3% – 6%
  • Hispanic/Latino: 1.5%

There are no numbers on how many illegals/fake asylum seekers in Burlington, but, the median income and hope prices are pretty high for Vermont. Violent crime is very low, though, property crime is pretty high for the area. It’s also extremely liberal, so, they most likely would welcome the illegals and then ship them elsewhere. It’d be hilarious if Trump said “listen, we’re not going to send immigration enforcement to Burlington, so, any illegal is safe there. Let the city deal with the fallout.

Read: Oh Noes, Mayor Of Uber-White Burlington, Vermont Signs Order On Immigration Enforcement »

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Trump Tells Feds To Get Involved With Massive Sewage Leak On Potomac

By William Teach February 17, 2026 – 3:50 pm

Funny how this is just barely making the news

If it was an oil tanker or something they could Blame Trump for, the Credentialed Media and Democrats would be all over it

Trump Directs Federal Officials to Get Involved in Potomac Sewage Crisis

President Donald Trump weighed in on the ongoing Potomac River sewage crisis, stating on Monday that he was “directing Federal Authorities to immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect” the river.

In a Truth Social post, Trump stated that the ongoing sewage crisis that was “unfolding” was the “result of the Gross Mismanagement of Local Democrat Leaders,” like Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D). Trump went on to state the Moore “is the same Governor who cannot rebuild a Bridge.”

“There is a massive Ecological Disaster unfolding in the Potomac River as a result of the Gross Mismanagement of Local Democrat Leaders, particularly, Governor Wes Moore, of Maryland,” Trump said. “A sewer line breach in Maryland has caused millions of gallons of raw sewage to be dumped into the Potomac River, a result of incompetent Local and State Management of Essential Waste Management Systems.”

Trump continued to point out that it was “clear Local Authorities cannot adequately handle this calamity.”

“Therefore, I am directing Federal Authorities to immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation’s Capital City,” Trump added.

This has been going on since January 19th, and has so far not been fixed. Damned near a month later, and they still expect it to take 4 to 6 weeks to be fixed.

The NY Times, and many other outlets, are Upset that Trump dared to make this pronouncement. Getting beyond that

“Whether it’s 200 million or 300 million gallons, this is an extraordinary ecological and public health disaster,” said Tom Kiernan, the president and chief executive of the conservation group American Rivers, who often rows on the Potomac, and grew up kayaking on the river.

Authorities have not said when people can safely resume activities on the river. Crews with D.C. Water are currently diverting sewage from the broken pipe through a section of the C&O Canal, which runs along the Potomac from Washington to Cumberland, Md.

The Potomac at that point hasn’t been truly safe for a long time. Maybe we should stop wasting all that time and money on the climate scam and deal with real environmental issues, eh?

Read: Trump Tells Feds To Get Involved With Massive Sewage Leak On Potomac »

Posted in Environment, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 17, 2026 – 1:00 pm

…is an area seeing all it’s snow disappear from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Doug Ross @ Journal, with a post on “Larwyn’s Linx: Virginia Begins Criminalizing Opposition to Islam”

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Democrats Still Screeching About Having To Show ID To Vote

By William Teach February 17, 2026 – 10:30 am

It’s not like the vast majority of Americans, around 83%, do not want to show ID

Tom Emmer blasts Democrats’ double standard on SAVE Act: ‘They require photo IDs’ at their own DNC

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., is accusing Democrats of being hypocritical in their opposition to Republicans’ latest election integrity bill.

The No. 3 House Republican ripped the rival party after nearly all of them voted against the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act last week, specifically over its provision mandating federally accepted photo identification at the polls. It’s also sometimes referred to as the “SAVE Act.”

“These guys are doing the same old broken record about voter suppression,” Emmer told Fox News Digital. “Why aren’t they screaming about photo IDs at the airport? Why aren’t they screaming about photo IDs when you check out a book at the library?”

Emmer pointed out that a photo ID was required for attendees to watch former Vice President Kamala Harris accept the Democratic Party’s nomination for the White House in Chicago last year.

“By the way, if they think it’s voter suppression, why do they require photo IDs at the Democrat National Convention to get in?” Emmer said.

Want that really good over the counter cold medicine? ID required

A Pew Research Center poll released in August 2025 showed a whopping 83% of people supported government-issued photo ID requirements for showing up to vote, compared to just 16% of people who disapproved of it.

Yet almost every elected Democrat and Dem Elite are against it.

Remember when you had to “show your papers” to go to restaurants and stuff during COVID? When they wanted COVID “passports”? Remember when the People’s Republik Of California, which is represented by Padilla, rolled out a digital COVID verification, which they desperately did not want called a passport?

Oh, hey, want to visit Padilla at his office in the Hart Office Building in D.C.? You need a REAL ID to enter the building. Same with visiting any Democrat at their office in D.C. Is that like having to show your papers in Nazi Germany?

I sincerely hope that Republicans in the Senate have lots of graphics show all this, all the ways you need to show your ID, and graphics about needing it to enter Democrat conventions and events.

Read: Democrats Still Screeching About Having To Show ID To Vote »

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Strange: EU’s Not Prepared For ‘Climate Change’ Doom

By William Teach February 17, 2026 – 7:15 am

You’d think after spending all that (taxpayer) money and forcing all those life restrictions on their citizens, banning fossil fuels, replacing with solar and wind, they’d be ready

EU ill-prepared for worsening climate change, advisers say

The European Union is not prepared for worsening climate change and should urgently step up its investments to protect people and infrastructure from mounting floods, wildfires and severe heatwaves, its independent advisers said on Tuesday.

Climate change has made Europe the world’s fastest-warming continent, according to the World Meteorological Organization, driving more frequent and intense heatwaves, flooding, coastal destruction and storms.

It’s strange how every place is the world’s fastest-warming. It’s almost like it’s simply a talking point

The economic damage to European infrastructure and buildings from weather and climate extremes is now 45 billion euros ($53.34 billion) per year, five times higher than in the 1980s, EU data show.

Things are more expensive. There are more buildings and such, especially in areas that are prone to flooding and they keep putting roads and buildings in areas that funnel water right down hills.

While the EU has ambitious targets to cut greenhouse gases – the main cause of climate change – its efforts have fallen short on adapting to the extreme weather climate change is already fuelling, according to the EU’s advisers, the European Scientific Advisory Board on Climate Change.

“It is a lack of coherence, a lack of coordination, and also a lack of budget,” said the advisory board’s chair, Ottmar Edenhofer.

A lack of compliant citizens

Without stronger preparations, extreme weather will further harm the EU’s competitiveness, straining public budgets and increasing security risks, the advisers said.

They recommended the EU agree to prepare, across all member states, for risks associated with 2.8 to 3.3°C of warming by 2100.

OK, now it’s just gotten silly. Very silly. But, they make these far out prognostications because none making them will be held accountable for the prognostications.

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Weird: Local Police Depts Signing Up To Work With ICE In Huge Numbers

By William Teach February 17, 2026 – 7:00 am

Maybe they’re realizing that it’s a good idea to get illegal alien rapists, murderers, and child molesters off their streets?

Agreements that allow local police to work with ICE skyrocket

Agreements between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement that allow officers to make federal immigration arrests have increased by 950% in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a new analysis of ICE data.

As of Jan. 26, there were 1,168 agencies with officers trained to help ICE, up from 135 during the Biden administration and 150 at the end of Trump’s first term, according to the analysis by FWD.US, a nonpartisan policy organization.

The Trump administration has called on local law enforcement to support its growing deportation operations nationwide, reviving a controversial “task force” model that allows local police officers to be deputized by ICE to stop people and make arrests based on suspicion that someone is in the country illegally. (big snip)

The “task force” model was discontinued by the Obama administration in 2012 in part over accusations of racial profiling by local officers in Maricopa County, Arizona, and Alamance County, North Carolina. The Trump administration restarted the program in early 2025, with new funding and incentives for states, local police departments and sheriff’s offices.

Funding and stuff sure helps. Not wanting criminals on their streets is something police strive for. Perhaps they ignore those they know who are not criminals, or maybe just got tagged speeding. But, of course we get this whiny crap

Ex-watchdogs warn rush to give power to local police in immigration crackdown risks ‘threat to civil rights’

Homeland Security watchdogs who were forced out of their jobs warn that the Trump administration’s “alarming” rush to deputize hundreds of local police departments to enforce federal immigration law – while gutting independent oversight – risks “a threat to civil rights nationwide.”

When the experienced civil rights watchdogs had their jobs cut last year by the Trump administration, they were in the process of scrutinizing the controversial federal program allowing local police to conduct federal immigration enforcement work, an investigation by the Guardian can reveal.

The vexed program gives local, county and state law enforcement officials unusual powers to detain, arrest and interrogate immigrants and turn them over to federal immigration authorities – a system critics say is open to abuse and risks alienating communities from local police.

I’m sorry, but, why do we give a flying f*** if illegal aliens are alienated from local police? They shouldn’t be here, and the job of the police is not to be their buddies, but, to arrest law breakers. Really, I do not care.

Read: Weird: Local Police Depts Signing Up To Work With ICE In Huge Numbers »

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Europeans Whine About Rubio’s “Civilizational Erasure” Comment As They’re Nations Are Invaded

By William Teach February 16, 2026 – 3:00 pm

Of course, it’s primarily the Elites who have enabled the civilizational erasure by importing tons of Islamists and 3rd Worlders into Europe

Europeans push back at US over claim they face ‘civilizational erasure’

A top European Union official on Sunday rejected the notion that Europe faces “civilizational erasure,” pushing back at criticism of the continent by the Trump administration.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addressed the Munich Security Conference a day after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a somewhat reassuring message to European allies. He struck a less aggressive tone than Vice President JD Vance did in lecturing them at the same gathering last year but maintained a firm tone on Washington’s intent to reshape the trans-Atlantic alliance and push its policy priorities.

Kallas alluded to criticism in the U.S. national security strategy released in December, which asserted that economic stagnation in Europe “is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.” It suggested that Europe is being enfeebled by its immigration policies, declining birth rates, “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition” and a “loss of national identities and self-confidence.”

“Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure,” Kallas told the conference. “In fact, people still want to join our club and not just fellow Europeans,” she added, saying she was told when visiting Canada last year that many people there have an interest in joining the EU.

And if you disagree with her in Europe you’ll be arrested. Birth rates of Europeans has declined. Not sure about Estonia, where Kallas is from, but, for the rest of eastern, middle, and northern Europe they are seeing

 

In fairness, Estonia does have a lot of speech and press freedom, unlike France, Germany, the UK, Spain, some others.

Not only are so many EU countries being conquered, with actual Europeans being denied their heritage and civilization, but, the Elites are pushing it. Not sure why.

Read: Europeans Whine About Rubio’s “Civilizational Erasure” Comment As They’re Nations Are Invaded »

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If All You See…

By William Teach February 16, 2026 – 1:00 pm

…is snow that school kids will never know, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Common Cents Blog, with a post on a tortoise escaping a burning building.

Read: If All You See… »

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