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9 Eye-Opening Examples of ‘Waste Spending’ From Rand Paul's $1.6 Trillion ‘Festivus’ Report Jan 15, 2026

Show notes

For the past 11 years, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has released his annual “Festivus Report” to air grievances. While the name is a reference to a Seinfeld episode, the report itself is legitimate, detailing what he believes were some of the most egregious examples of the federal government wasting our tax dollars in the previous year.

Since the start of the report, the dollar amount of the government “waste” he cites has grown significantly.

In 2015, it was a little over a billion dollars. By 2019, it was $50 billion dollars. The latest report for 2025 showed that the figure hit a cool $1.639 trillion dollars. It’s worth mentioning that a huge portion of that total comes from interest payments on the national debt, which Senator Paul now includes in his overall tally. U.S. taxpayers paid $1.22 trillion dollars in interest just to service the national debt last year. That is significantly more than the Pentagon’s entire budget—and given the fact that that money is literally going to nothing other than interest, there’s a good case to be made to include that figure in the overall wasted spending report.

Setting the interest payments aside, let’s go through nine of the most interesting examples of government waste from the report.

Supreme Court Throws Out Limit on Federal Prisoner Appeals Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

The U.S. Supreme Court just issued a decision that expands your right to appeal a federal prison sentence. Now, I’m sure most people reading this won’t ever become a federal prisoner—but, if you ever do, or if someone you know does, they will now have more rights given the fact that the court threw out a significant limit on federal prisoner appeals. Let’s go through the details together.

CDC Warns of Significant Measles Uptick Across US; Most Cases Recorded in 33 Years Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

Measles, once thought to have been eradicated in the United States, is making a resurgence. The latest numbers from the CDC show that the number of cases reported in 2025 was the most in the past 33 years. Let’s examine where these outbreaks are happening, as well as why.

How to Get the Free $1,000 ‘Trump Account’ Grant for Your Child in 2026 Jan 07, 2026

Show notes

Included among the provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4th of last year, is something called a Trump Account. This is an investment account that all American kids are eligible for—and very notably—any American child born after Jan. 1, 2025, is eligible to receive a $1000 thousand dollar deposit into their account.

This is money that is not taxable; it’s not a loan, meaning you don’t have to pay it back, and also, because of the type of account that it is (an investment account that the child can’t touch until he’s 18) by the time your child is ready to take the money out, that $1,000 dollars might have grown substantially.

If the market continued to have the same historical returns that it typically does—8 percent or 10 percent a year—it means that by the time your child is 18, they will have an account with as much as $6,000 in it. And by the time they’re 28, that account could have upwards of $28,000 dollars in it. Meaning, that this is a fairly good opportunity, and something that you should definitely not miss.

FBI Shutting Down Current Headquarters, Moving to New Location Jan 01, 2026

Show notes

Today let’s discuss the FBI’s latest move: ditching the building they’ve used as their headquarters for the past 50 years for a new location.

Global Shakeup: 29 US Ambassadors Get Recalled; Europeans Hit With Travel Ban for Violating US Free Speech Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been busy lately—recalling 29 U.S. ambassadors and senior diplomats from around the world, and issuing travel bans on some unlikely individuals. Let’s go through the details together.

Episode Resources:

🔵 Apply to Be Foreign Officer

🔵 Ambassadors Recalled:

https://bit.ly/4sfdUjf

https://bit.ly/4pUz7NL

🔵 EU Travel Ban:

https://bit.ly/4qopCpK

https://bit.ly/49hiBAc

https://bit.ly/4q1fIef

PFAS “Forever Chemicals” Found in 45% of US Water: How to Test Your Home Dec 25, 2025

Show notes

Episode Resources:

🔵 PFAS Map:

https://ept.ms/3K6I57P

🔵 Full Study:

https://ept.ms/3K60aTz

🔵 Water Testing Resources:

https://ept.ms/3K54Mt2

https://ept.ms/3OouxXW

https://ept.ms/44UOjj9

https://ept.ms/3OlMKVS

Another Chinese Researcher Arrested for Sneaking Hazardous Biological Material Into US Dec 23, 2025

Show notes

Within the last three months, we already discussed: a Chinese woman, from Wuhan of all places, who was smuggling in roundworms through the mail—while studying at a lab in Michigan; a couple, boyfriend and girlfriend (both Chinese nationals, also working at that Michigan lab) who were smuggling in a dangerous fungus—a type of deadly fungus that can target crops; and now, the FBI just arrested another Chinese national—this one studying for his doctorate at Indiana University—and he was allegedly smuggling plasmid DNA derived from E. coli bacteria from China hidden inside women’s underwear. Let’s go through the details of this new case together.

Here’s How to Claim Your Share of the $700 Million Google Settlement Dec 18, 2025

Show notes

On Dec. 10, it was announced that Google would pay nearly $700 million in settlements to people who paid to download apps from the Google Play Store.

The announcement came in the form of a statement from multiple state attorneys general, who were collectively suing Google for anti-competitive practices.

Google decided to settle this lawsuit—along with several other concessions—and, in so doing, will pay $700 million, the bulk of which will go to the actual users.

Let’s go through the details of the case: what Google was accused of doing, how the settlement money will be disbursed, and how you can know if you qualify.

The Most Sophisticated Apple Scam Attack of 2025 Dec 16, 2025

Show notes

Today, let’s go through one of the best, most convincing Apple scams that’s out there right now. This one really has it all: a genuine request to authenticate your identity coming from Apple, real alerts being sent to your phone, computer, and tablet, as well as perfectly timed phone calls coming from “Apple Support.” This scam is good enough to be able to trick even extremely skeptical people—so let’s go through it together so that you don’t get scammed.

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