Paradise News

Tag: General News

  • ‘We Must Build Healthcare That Works For All Nigerians’ – Tinubu Assures

    Bola-Ahmed-Tinubu

    President Bola Tinubu has reiterated his commitment towards ensuring the improvement in the healthcare system in Nigeria.

    He made the call during his opening remark at the 2023 Cabinet Retreat for Ministers, Presidential Aides, Permanent Secretaries, and Top Government Functionaries.

    The event was held at the banquet hall at the Presidential Villa.

    The president who also spoke about taking out 50 million people out of poverty urged his appointees to be good citizens by ensuring the healthcare system and education work in Nigeria.

    “Let us look forward. Let us be determined that corruption will go, progress will be achieved, better wages for our workers, and living wages.

    “We will transform the economy to work for millions of our citizens. We must take 50 million people out of poverty. We must build healthcare that works for all. Look around.

    “Don’t be wicked. Look at the standard of education, look at the classrooms, and look at the roads. We can only spend the money, we will find it, we can not spend the people.

    “No crime in borrowing. Thank you, World Bank, for being a lending friend. But let your achievement be homegrown. The determination that Nigeria can do it is here.

    “If it had not started six months ago, we are here to switch off the light, make you included, and make all Nigerians included. Our path for tomorrow is charted for our children and grandchildren. Don’t be selfish about it.

    Last Tuesday, the federal government launched the immunisation programme for 7.7 million girls against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which is the largest number of girls in Africa to receive the vaccine in a single round.

    ‘We Must Build Healthcare That Works For All Nigerians’ – Tinubu Assures is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

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  • ‘He was terrifying, not gonna lie’

    SAN FRANCISCO — A pair of coaching legends, that’s about where the similarities stop between Steve Kerr and Bob Knight, who died Wednesday at the age of 83.

    Kerr, 58, didn’t cross paths much with Knight but shared one moment between them in 1986, when Kerr was on summer break from the University of Arizona and Knight was doing television commentary in the offseason from his coaching duties at Indiana. Kerr was playing for Team USA in the World Championships when Knight visited the team during practice after a loss.

    “He pulled me aside and basically went on a tirade. I had never met him before,” Kerr said. “He said, ‘I want you to take those bleepin’ bleep teammates of yours and bleep bleep and tell them to bleep bleep. I said Yes, sir, Coach Knight.’ And then I went to the players and said, ‘Hey, Coach Knight just encouraged us to play well tonight.’ He was terrifying. Terrifying. Not gonna lie.”

    Knight employed his infamous temper to great success, accumulating 902 wins, three national championships and five Final Four appearances over a 43-year career as a collegiate head coach. Kerr has found equal success in the NBA with a vastly different style.

    “Nobody will ever forget him with that personality and that demeanor and the way he went about his business,” Kerr said. “Very complex guy. But an amazing coach in many ways.”

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  • ‘I Was Beaten Mercilessly’- Ajaero Speaks After Release From Police Custody

    Joe Ajaero

    The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has spoken after his release from the Imo State Police custody on Wednesday.

    In a video seen by THE WHISTLER, Ajaero had a bloodshot face in the right eye while heading to the Federal Medical Center in Owerri the state capital after alleging that he was seriously beaten by the police personnel in the state.

    The police had said that Ajaero was taken into custody for protection, not an arrest, but the NLC President refuted the police claim and said he was brutalized.

    He said, “God must have taken time to create me or else I wouldn’t have endured the torture from the police.”

    Speaking on his ordeal, Ajaero said an interim order from the court was read to him, and he was questioned on why he defied the order.

    He said, “If you say extend the interim order, the interim order elapse with time. If they had issued a fresh interim order that expires within one or two weeks it is a different thing and if it expires you issue an expertise order.

    “I said see what you are reading, you don’t read things like this where some of us are. So they kept the letter. And they said do I know that I can be persecuted for this (protest)? I said well it is the same court that granted this order that can institute a contempt charge. So you can’t start prosecuting me.

    “They beat me, ordinarily the kind of beating I received today, God must have taken extra time to create me.”

    Also commenting on the matter, the NLC Head of Information, Benson Upah, said Ajaero was undergoing medical examination at the Federal Medical Centre.

    He said, “Congress President, Joe Ajaero has been referred for ophthalmic investigation, a head/brain scan, a full body scan, and cervical spine therapy among other investigations.

    “He is presently on a neck collar with wheels all over his skin, with his right eyes shut, he was thoroughly brutalized.”

    THE WHISTLER had earlier reported that Ajaero was in the state for the NLC’s protest and strike over the unfair treatment of workers in the state by Hope Uzodimma, the Imo State Governor.

    ‘I Was Beaten Mercilessly’- Ajaero Speaks After Release From Police Custody is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

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  • Klay’s clutch shot seals win for Warriors over Kings

    SAN FRANCISCO — This one had all the makings of a “trap game,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said before tipoff Wednesday.

    His team was bleary eyed. Their opponents, the Sacramento Kings, were missing their star guard, De’Aaron Fox. It would be easy to overlook this one-off home game sandwiched between trips to New Orleans and Oklahoma City and five more games away from Chase Center. (“It makes zero sense,” Kerr said of the schedule.)

    Despite all those factors, together with an off-night for Steph Curry, the Warriors prevailed, 102-101, to earn their first win in front of their home fans, a sellout crowd of 18,064.

    “Everything was stacked against us,” Draymond Green said afterward. “It was kind of a perfect storm for us. We knew it wouldn’t be an easy game. But it was good to see us never go away. When everything was going wrong, everybody stood in place and made the necessary plays we needed to make in order to pull the game off.”

    With the clock ticking down in the fourth quarter — 7, 6, 5, 4 … — it was Green who had the ball in his hands and needed to make a play. Curry was smothered. But Klay Thompson broke free, jetting to his left, creating just enough space from Davion Mitchell to receive Green’s pass — 3, 2 … — take two dribbles and pull up from the foul line. With two-tenths of a second left, Thompson’s shot swished through the net.

    Game over.

    It was Thompson’s first game-winning shot since 2018, before surgeries on his Achilles and ACL that cost him two seasons.

    “Anytime you hit a game-winner, you’re going to be on cloud nine,” Thompson said. “I feel amazing.”

    Thompson finished with 14 points, one of six Warriors to finish in double figures. It took a team-wide effort to hold off a Kings team they were facing for the 13th time since the start of last season (not counting two preseason matchups), who finally managed to slow down Curry with a swarming defensive effort.

    Curry turned the ball over seven times, a team-high, and it took until the the 6-minute mark of the second quarter for him to make his second shot from the field. But he finished with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Down 1 with less than a minute to play, Curry crossed over behind his back and converted an acrobatic go-ahead layup, setting up Thompson’s game-winner after Domantas Sabonis answered with a bank-shot jumper.

    Kerr initially motioned for a timeout before the final possession but didn’t make the call in time.

    “It worked out,” Kerr said. “If we missed, it would have been a mistake. But he made it, so it was the right decision.”

    After their last meeting, a 122-114 Warriors win last Friday in Sacramento, Curry described the relationship between the two Northern California teams, separated by about 90 minutes on I-80, as a “familiarity,” and it showed. They traded leads 12 times.

    That’s three wins in a row for the San Francisco side of this “familiarity,” dating back to their seven-game series in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs last season, but Green declined to gloat afterward. They do meet twice more this season, after all.

    “I wouldn’t necessarily say we’ve got their number,” Green said. “That’s a team that’s trying to learn how to get over the hump. We know how to get over the hump. In theory, we should have their number. Their job is to get over (the hump). Sometimes it takes a year, sometimes it takes two, sometimes it never happens. But that’s well-coached team, they got great players on that side and they’re really putting it together and changing the outlook of that organization.”

    In absence of a dominating effort from Curry — a season-low in scoring and a season-high in turnovers — Golden State kept it close, never trailing by more than 11, with contributions from its supporting cast. Six players finished in double figures, including newcomer Dario Saric, who knocked down a couple clutch 3-point shots while turning in his best game as a Warrior, finishing with 15 points.

    Andrew Wiggins held down the fort in the first half, scoring 12 of his season-high 14 points before halftime.

    Jonathan Kuminga, who was a game-time decision with a right knee contusion, contributed 12, including a 6-point swing in the second quarter where he knocked down a 3-pointer on one end of the floor, intercepted a pass, ran the length of the floor and converted an and-one opportunity on the fast break.

    Thompson’s last-second jumper gave him 14 points, while Green contributed 13 to go with a team-high nine assists.

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  • Money Laundering: Court Adjourns Mompha’s Trial Due To Absence Of Prosecution Witness

    Mompha

    Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court Sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, adjourned till December 19, 2023 the case of Ismaila Mustapha (AKA) Mompha due to the absence of a prosecution witness.

    Mompha, who is still at large, is standing trial in a case allegedly involving N6bn fraud alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment Limited.

    He was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on January 12, 2022 on eight-count charges.

    The charges border on conspiracy to launder funds obtained through unlawful activity; retention of proceeds of criminal conduct; laundering of funds obtained through unlawful activity; failure to disclose assets and property; possession of documents containing false pretence and use of property derived from unlawful act.

    One of the counts reads: “Ismaila Mustapha, Ahmadu Mohammed (at large) and Ismalob Global Investment Limited, sometime in 2016 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired amongst yourselves to conduct financial transactions to the tune of N5,998,884,653.18 ( Five Billion Nine Hundred and Ninety-eight Million Eight Hundred and Eighty-four Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty-three Naira Eighteen Kobo), with the intent of promoting the carrying on of specified unlawful activities to wit: obtaining by false pretence.”

    Meanwhile, at the last court proceedings on September 18, 2023, EFCC, through its third prosecution witness, PW3, Ayorinde Solademi, a staff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Office of Legal Attache, US Consulate, Lagos, had tendered a report by the USA-based FBI.

    He also tenderd an investigative report on Mompha’s iPhone, which the agency claimed was used for fraudulent practices.

    The defence counsel, Kolawole Salami had raised an objection to the admissibility of the two documents, arguing that they were public documents that were needed to be certified by the United States Consulate.

    He said: “The documents are not a certified true copy, and should not be admitted in court.”

    However, Justice Dada overruled the objection and upheld the submission of the prosecution that the documents were in their original state, stressing that, “the documents do not require certification”.

    The witness further stated that under Cross examination, the FBI’s forensic operations revealed that Mompha’s iPhone was used to send account details to a United Arab Emirates telephone number; used to search for Swift Codes of a bank, and also had a compromised Microsoft 365 account.

    He also said that Mompha’s iPhone, during analysis, was found to have also been used to change payment delivery from cheque to wire transfer, after a third attempt.

    “The iPhone was used to make three attempts to transfer funds. The first two failed, but the third was successful,” he said.

    The Judge had, thereafter, adjourned till November 1, 2023 (today) for continuation of trial.

    However, during the proceedings today, counsel for the EFCC, Bilikisu Buhari, informed the court that the prosecution’s next witness was not in the country.

    Consequently, Justice Dada adjourned the case till Tuesday, December 19, 2023 for continuation of trial.

    Money Laundering: Court Adjourns Mompha’s Trial Due To Absence Of Prosecution Witness is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

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  • Fact Check: DeSantis’ critique of Trump election spending omits that not all $400 million went for mail ballots

    In a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, lawmakers united early in the COVID-19 pandemic to help states prepare for a national election.

    The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act — aka the CARES Act — included direct payments to most Americans, unemployment aid, business loans and $400 million for elections — including money for the expected increase in people voting by mail.

    As he seeks the Republican presidential nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis now criticizes former President Donald Trump for approving the election section of the law.

    “All these mail ballots — I think that is totally wrong to just send everyone a ballot,” DeSantis said during an Oct. 24 New Hampshire town hall sponsored by his political action committee, Never Back Down. “But the Republicans and Trump funded $400 million in March of 2020 for mail ballots. They funded it out of Washington — I would never have agreed to fund that.”

    DeSantis’ office confirmed he was referring to the CARES Act.

    That was not a bill to exclusively fund the increase in voting by mail. It allowed election officials to spend money in ways to make in-person voting safer, such as larger voting sites to allow for social distancing and protective and cleaning supplies for workers at precincts. 

    Although DeSantis objects to it now, Florida, under his leadership, sought its share of the money. 

    DeSantis and Trump, who are former allies, have intensified attacks on each other as they compete for the nomination. DeSantis has repeatedly attacked Trump over the CARES Act. Trump has falsely accused DeSantis of mandating COVID-19 vaccines.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, listens as President Donald Trump speaks July 31, 2020, during a roundtable discussion on the coronavirus outbreak in Belleair, Fla. (AP)

    Election officials could use CARES Act for mail or in person voting expenses

    The CARES Act passed the Senate 96-0 on March 25, 2020, and two days later the House passed it in a voice vote. 

    “I want to thank Republicans and Democrats for coming together, setting aside their differences, and putting America first,” Trump said when he signed the legislation.

    The law included $400 million in election security grants. States had to put in a 20% match. Nationwide, about 84% of the money was spent, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission found.  

    Election officials could use the money on supplies and staff for mail or in-person voting, including temporary staff to process the increased demand for mail ballots, mail ballot drop boxes, cleaning supplies, protective masks for staff and poll workers, mailings to voters and leasing of new polling spaces. More than 70% of states told the Election Assistance Commission they planned to use funds to help cover higher costs of voting by mail.

    Florida sought $20 million in CARES Act election funding

    DeSantis was not always a critic of the CARES Act.

    In April 2020, DeSantis thanked Trump for Florida’s $4.1 billion share. By that point, Florida hadn’t sought the election dollars.

    Florida’s association of election supervisors, a bipartisan group, wrote a letter to DeSantis in May 2020 urging him to accept the election money. 

    Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee, a DeSantis appointee, wrote a May 15, 2020, letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission formally requesting the election money. “We are requesting the full amount of the award, $20,253,853, at this time,” Lee wrote, saying that Florida would use the money to prepare for and respond to COVID-19 during the election year. 

    That means that DeSantis’ administration sought a portion of the same pot of money that he now criticizes Trump for signing into law.

    Florida told the Election Assistance Commission that the money went toward staff, voting by mail, maintenance of voter registration lists, polling sites equipment, cleaning and protective equipment at polling sites, leasing additional space, and public outreach to voters. 

    In Miami-Dade County, the jurisdiction with the highest numbers of voters, the elections office spent the $2.2 million on voting-by-mail costs, including additional ballots and drop boxes, personal protective equipment including masks and hand sanitizer, and training for staff and poll workers. 

    Broward County, which received about $1.8 million, paid poll workers hazard pay, bought them gloves and masks and paid for cleaning staff to repeatedly wipe down voting stations. Money also went toward disposable pens for voters.

    “If you can imagine across hundreds of precincts, we had a lot of money spent to make sure in-person voting was safe,” said Broward Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott, who was elected in November 2020. 

    Voters prepare to turn in their mail-in ballots, Oct. 6, 2020, at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department in Doral, Fla. (AP)

    New Hampshire spent money on increased mail voting

    Some states that largely voted in person before the pandemic, such as New Hampshire, faced the challenge of paying for an increase in voting by mail.

    Before the pandemic, New Hampshire allowed only some voters to cast absentee ballots, for example, if they had a disability or illness. But in 2020, state officials said any voter could cast an absentee ballot. 

    Rebecca Dickie, town clerk in Farmington, New Hampshire, told PolitiFact that in a typical election, about 100 voters cast an absentee ballot. That rose to about 900 in November 2020.

    The secretary of state’s office told us that New Hampshire used the majority of its $3.2 million in grant money to reimburse cities and towns based on a fixed rate for each absentee ballot exceeding those cast in 2016. Smaller amounts went toward other expenses, such as PPE and hardware and software for recounts.

    In this Nov. 3, 2020, file photo, two women, wearing protective masks because of the COVID-19 virus outbreak, vote at a polling station at New Hampshire’s Windham High School. (AP)

    Our ruling

    DeSantis said “the Republicans and Trump funded $400 million in March of 2020 for mail ballots.” 

    DeSantis is partially correct here — the CARES Act Congress included $400 million for elections and some of it went toward expanding voting by mail. But election officials also used the money to provide safe in-person voting, including paying for protective gear, precinct cleaning supplies and spaces that allowed for social distancing. 

    The law was supported by Republicans and Democrats alike, as evident by the unanimous vote in the Senate.

     The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details. We rate this statement Half True.



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  • Klay Thompson returns to Warriors’ lineup after injury absence

    SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson returned to the Golden State Warriors’ starting lineup Wednesday for their game against the Sacramento Kings.

    Thompson, 33, missed the Warriors’ previous game with right knee soreness.

    With Thompson back in action, the Warriors rolled out their traditional starting five. Stephen Curry paired with Thompson in the backcourt, while Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney rounded out the starting lineup. Chris Paul remained in his bench role for the third straight game.

    Jonathan Kuminga, who also sat out the Warriors’ last game with a left knee contusion, was listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game. Before tipoff, coach Steve Kerr said that Kuminga was “going to warm up and see how he’s feeling” to determine” whether or not the third-year lottery pick would be available off the bench.

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  • Repairs: FG To Shut Lagos Third Mainland Bridge For Five Weeks

    Third-Mainland-Bridge

    To carry out comprehensive repairs on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, the Federal Government has said that a section of the bridge would be shut for five weeks.

    This was disclosed on Wednesday by the federal controller of works in Lagos State, Olukorede Kesha.

    According to Kesha, the repairs would start from Monday next week with the ramps connecting Oworonshoki to Adekunle and Lagos-Island (Adeniji Adele) to Adekunle simultaneously.

    “The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Works wish to inform the motoring public that it has perfected plans to carry out comprehensive repairs of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

    “In view of the above, the motoring public is hereby notified that the repair works will begin with the ramps connecting Oworonshoki to Adekunle and Lagos-Island (Adeniji Adele) to Adekunle simultaneously.

    “Consequently, the two ramps mentioned above will be closed to traffic by 7.00 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, for five weeks,” she said.

    The controller advised motorists to use alternative routes.

    “Motorists are, therefore, advised to cooperate with the traffic management officials by obeying and observing all diversions as directed. They are encouraged to use the alternative routes as attached,” she added.

    Keisha, while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily last month, had disclosed that major repair work would begin on the bridge in January 2024.

    According to her, the contract has already been awarded by the Federal Government, adding that what the government currently wants to do is palliative work.

    Repairs: FG To Shut Lagos Third Mainland Bridge For Five Weeks is first published on The Whistler Newspaper

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  • Fact Check: Claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin suffered a heart attack is unfounded

    Unverified reports about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health have been circulating online, driven by social media and foreign news outlets.

    An Oct. 24 TikTok video claimed that Putin, 71, had suffered a heart attack. The video showed footage from a broadcast by Australian news channel 10 News First that cited “an organization called General SVR,” which claimed to have “classified intelligence on the Kremlin.”

    TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)

    (Screengrab from TikTok)

    This claim originated on Telegram, a platform known for facilitating the spread of misinformation related to Russia.

    An Oct. 23 post from the account “General SVR” claimed that the night before, security guards found Putin convulsing on his bedroom floor and that doctors were called to resuscitate him. It also claimed that a body double has been appearing in Putin’s place at recent events and meetings. (We used Google Translate to translate the post from Russian to English.)

    The General SVR post has been viewed more than 730,000 times and forwarded to other channels 24,000 times, according to the Telegram analysis tool TGStat.

    In the week since the General SVR post was shared, the Telegram account gained 85,000 subscribers and now has a following of more than 453,000, per TGStat. The account was created in 2020, and its author and sources are not identified.

    The post also has been shared widely on other social media platforms and cited in multiple news outlets worldwide that are known for publishing misleading or unverified reports, including Sky News Australia, The Mirror U.K., the EurAsian Times and the Tribune India.

    The Kremlin denied claims that Putin was ill.

    “Everything is fine with him, this is absolutely another fake,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Oct. 24, per Reuters. “This belongs to the category of absurd information hoaxes that a whole series of media discuss with enviable tenacity.”

    Photos released by Russian media show Putin at meetings and public events in the days following his alleged health emergency. Putin was also seen Oct. 25 on Russian state television directing a nuclear strike drill via a video call, The Associated Press reported.

    The General SVR Telegram account has shared dubious claims about Putin’s health in the past, including one post last December that was picked up by the U.K.’s Daily Mail about the Russian president falling down stairs.

    PolitiFact rates claims based on the information known at the time the statement is made.

    Based on available information, we rate the claim that Putin recently suffered a heart attack False.



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  • IRS Funding Cut Doesn’t Offset Israel Aid in GOP Bill

    House Speaker Mike Johnson cited concern about “fiscal stability” in saying that a Republican bill to provide aid for Israel would have “pay-fors in it.” But the legislation would increase the deficit, not pay for itself.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson is sworn in at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 25, after being elected as the 56th speaker in the House of Representatives. Photo by Tom Brenner/AFP via Getty Images.

    The bill calls for $14.3 billion in spending to respond to the attacks in Israel and proposes “budgetary offsets” by rescinding the same amount of funding to the Internal Revenue Service. That’s not an “offset,” multiple budget experts say. Reducing the IRS’ ability to collect taxes that are owed would lower revenues and therefore increase deficits.

    Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement about the bill that “paying for new spending by defunding tax enforcement is worse than not paying for it at all. Instead of costing $14 billion, the House bill will add upward of $30 billion to the debt. Instead of avoiding new borrowing, this plan doubles down on it.”

    Johnson made his comments in an interview with Fox News. He said he hoped to hold a vote on the standalone aid package for Israel on Thursday. “We’re not just going to print money and send it overseas, because the other concern we have that is overriding this is our own strength as a nation, which is tied to our fiscal stability,” the new House speaker said in a clip host Kayleigh McEnany posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Oct. 30. “And that’s a big problem that we have as well. We have to keep it in mind as we try to help everyone else.”

    When asked how the aid spending would be paid for, Johnson said he wanted to “take some of the money that has been set aside for … building and bulking up the IRS right now.” Indeed, that’s what the bill calls for, under a section titled “budgetary offsets.”

    “It’s ridiculous to call this an offset, considering the IRS funding is projected to reduce deficits,” Steve Ellis, president of the budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, said in a statement. “This is not a cost-saving measure; it’s a recipe for fiscal recklessness.”

    The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that rescinding the IRS funding would decrease revenues by $26.8 billion over the next 10 years, causing a net increase in deficits of $12.5 billion. That doesn’t include the budgetary impact of the Israel aid, which would increase discretionary spending by about $14.3 billion.

    The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates that reducing the IRS funding would increase deficits by $23.1 billion, a figure that also doesn’t factor in the funding to Israel.

    “The country has a massive tax gap,” Ellis said, referring to the difference between what the IRS is legally owed and what it collects, “with the Treasury receiving $688 billion less than it should have for 2020-2021.” He called the House bill “a cynical ploy that risks crippling the IRS.”

    MacGuineas said the House’s desire to offset the emergency spending for Israel was “welcome news,” but canceling the IRS funding doesn’t do that. “Funding the IRS to reduce the tax gap has a long history of bipartisan support and has been proposed by every President from Reagan through Biden. It is one of the few ways to raise revenue without raising taxes,” she said. “Getting into the habit of offsetting the costs of new spending and tax cuts is critical given our fiscal situation. But you can’t pay for borrowing with more borrowing.”

    Johnson misleadingly portrayed the issue as a choice between spending the $14-plus billion for Israel or spending it for the IRS. “I think if you put this to the American people and they weigh the two needs, I think they’re going to say standing with Israel and protecting the innocent over there is in our national interest and is a more immediate need than IRS agents.”

    Republicans have objected to the IRS funding, which was part of the Inflation Reduction Act. That law, passed in August 2022 with only the support of Democrats and independents, included about $79.6 billion in additional IRS funding. Several Republicans have falsely claimed the money would back the hiring of an additional “87,000 IRS agents” who would go after the “middle class.”

    As we’ve written, the 87,000 figure is the number of employees the IRS could hire with the funding, but most hires would replace retiring or departing workers, the Treasury Department told us, and most new jobs would be in customer service. Some tax enforcers would be hired, but the focus would be auditing high-income earners, administration officials have said. 

    Republicans have already clawed back some of the IRS funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act. As part of the debt limit deal reached between Democrats and Republicans in June, $1.4 billion of IRS funding for enforcement and operations support that was made available from the IRA was cut. And the White House said it had agreed to cut another $20 billion in IRS funding over the next two fiscal years.

    The House GOP bill, if it passes that chamber, would not likely survive the Democratic-controlled Senate. Some Republican senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have supported passing a bill that would include both funding to Israel and Ukraine. The White House is seeking nearly $106 billion in funding, which, in addition to $14.3 billion for Israel, includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine; $9.15 billion in humanitarian aid for Israel, Gaza and Ukraine; $7.4 billion to countries in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China; and $13.6 billion for border security.

    Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertising. We rely on grants and individual donations from people like you. Please consider a donation. Credit card donations may be made through our “Donate” page. If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104. 



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