This article originally appeared on WND.com

Guest by post by Bob Unruh

Governor’s new plan is to attack government’s wasteful spending.

President-elect Donald Trump’s influence over world, national and state affairs has been on display ever since his landslide victory, in both the Electoral College and popular vote numbers, in November.

He openly challenged Canada’s leadership, and the prime minister’s resignation followed shortly after. He promised action on illegal immigration and Mexican officials began diverting those caravans of would-be illegal aliens heading to the U.S.

Suddenly, too, there are comments that perhaps the Russia-Ukraine war might reach a settlement.

Now Trump’s agenda is hitting at the state level.

He already has set up his appointees in a “Department of Governor Efficiency,” or DOGE, assigned to crack down on the hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars in wasteful spending by the government. X’s chief, Elon Musk, is one of his leaders in that campaign.

Now the Washington Examiner is reporting that Kelly Ayotte, a Republican governor in New Hampshire, is following suit, with a state Commission of Government Efficiency.

“Signed my first Executive Order to create the Commission on Government Efficiency – or as I like to call it, ‘COGE’! We’re going to roll up our sleeves and find ways to streamline government, cut spending, and create value for our taxpayers,” she told her state’s residents in a social media post.

Signed my first Executive Order to create the Commission on Government Efficiency – or as I like to call it, “COGE”!

We’re going to roll up our sleeves and find ways to streamline government, cut spending, and create value for our taxpayers. pic.twitter.com/IaUP10iVGA

— Governor Kelly Ayotte (@KellyAyotte) January 9, 2025

“New Hampshire is moving in the right direction, and no one deserves more credit for that after four terms at the helm than Gov. Chris Sununu. Thank you, Governor,” she added.

Democrats and other leftists in the state already are in an uproar, accusing Ayotte of “laying the groundwork for massive budget cuts to services that people rely on,” according to state Democrat chief Ray Buckley.

The governor is scheduled to propose her budget to the legislature soon, and lawmakers are faced with state agency requests for nearly $17 billion.

Republicans held a differing perspective.

“I think it’s a brilliant approach,” Republican Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais told Fox News. “Appointing a commission like this to go after any kind of bloat, I think, is a perfect approach and certainly going to be really beneficial for state government and also certainly helps us downstream at the local level as well.”

Copyright 2025 WND News Center

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At this point, you kind of wonder whether the citizens of Los Angeles want Mayor Karen Bass back in Ghana.

As you may recall, the prominent California Democrat — former head of the Congressional Black Caucus during her time in the House of Representatives and a potential veep pick for Joe Biden in 2020 before her fondness for Fidel Castro and the “Church” of Scientology derailed her — was over in the African nation for the inauguration of a new president when the devastating California wildfires that have killed at least 11 as of Saturday morning broke out.

This was her reaction when she returned to the United States on Wednesday:

‘Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent whilst their homes were burning? Do you regret cutting the fire department’s budget?
@skydavidblevins questions the mayor of LA, Karen Bass, as she faces backlash regarding the California wildfires.https://t.co/Nkz8onjC7V pic.twitter.com/WwRwp6Imqz

— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 8, 2025

Wonderful. As it turns out, however, she actually seems more useful to her city when she’s either silent or over in another country.

According to the New York Post, Bass refused help from the New York Fire Department — even though the city was willing to pay for airfare to bring firefighters out to Los Angeles. This comes as California Gov. Gavin Newsom is soliciting help from Mexico (por supuesto) to fight the blazes.

FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker reportedly made the offer during the week, sources said Friday, with JetBlue volunteering to allow the firefighters free flights to California.

Mayor Bass’ office denied the report, however.

“This is false, we have never rejected resources — LA welcomes any and all help to fight fires,” said Zach Seidl, Los Angeles’ deputy mayor of communications.

Meanwhile, also on Friday, Newsom thanked Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum for sending their firefighters to fight the Eaton fire.

NEW: Firefighters from Mexico are en route to the #EatonFire — joining more than 10,000 personnel already on the ground.

California is deeply grateful for President @ClaudiaShein‘s support as we work to suppress the Los Angeles wildfires.

Our partnership and shared commitment…

— Governor Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 10, 2025

“California is deeply grateful for President @ClaudiaShein’s support as we work to suppress the Los Angeles wildfires,” he wrote.

“Our partnership and shared commitment to helping communities in need is greatly valued.”

In other words, while Karen Bass is turning down firefighter help, Gavin Newsom is actively importing it from Mexico. When the optics favor Capt. Hair Gel, you really do need to take a step back and evaluate your leadership ability.

It’s worth noting, as the Post did, that there might be reasons why Bass thought the FDNY members wouldn’t be a great fit, although they don’t really compute. One of them is that this is a wildfire, something that’s different from most of the training that New York City’s bravest receive.

That being said, firefighters in California are stretched so thin that virtually anyone can help, and they could spell other Los Angeles Fire Department members in fighting fires around urban areas, leaving those closer to home to battle fires that frequently happen on their own terrain.

Moreover, as she faces veritable mutiny at home — her own fire chief went on TV to savage Bass for budget shortfalls on Friday — it’s a profoundly bad look for the mayor of the second biggest city in the United States to turn down an offer of assistance from the biggest city, which is what one guesses is the reason behind the denials.

Never fear, though: California Democrats have made sure the Mexican fire brigades are coming! At this point, you have to wonder whether Karen Bass is actively trying to make a farce of her own leadership for some unknown purpose. From the outside, it certainly looks that way.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

The post LA Mayor Refuses Help from NY Firefighters but Mexico Fire Crews More Than Welcome: Report appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Greg Gutfeld has returned to the airwaves after an extended break due to his wife having a baby.

On his FOX News show on Friday night, Greg opened by tearing into the media and the comedy world for covering for Joe Biden’s obvious decline over the last four years.

He notes that in many ways, the media is still trying to cover for Joe Biden on his way out the door.

Partial transcript via NewsBusters:

GREG GUTFELD: Look out Tricky Dick. There’s a new worst president in town. According to a new Gallup poll, Biden is the lowest rated of any president in the last 65 years, other than Nixon. But to be fair to Nixon, compared to Biden’s scandals, Watergate looks like a broken taillight. Now, when you rate Biden the worst since Nixon, you’re saying he’s the worst ever, because pollsters only ask about presidents that people have lived under going back to Kennedy. Unless you’re some historian, you’re only capable of rating presidents in your memory. Hell, Biden himself doesn’t even remember his own presidency…

So the worst since Nixon is really the worst ever. And keep in mind, the public hates Biden, even with most of the press covering up his dementia for this whole term. And sure, they panicked and piled on him after that deadly debate. But they can’t make us forget how many times they lied for him. Hell, they’re still doing it even when he does stuff like this…

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: It’s astounding what’s happening…with only one piece of good news. My son lives out here and his wife. They’re–They got a notification yesterday that their home was probably burned to the ground. Today, it appears that it may be still standing. They’re not sure. But the good news is I’m a great grandfather as of today…

GUTFELD: Way to read the room, you callous corpse. Sorry your city is burning, but I brought cigars. Anyone got a match? I’m going to be a great granddaddy. ****, what a clown. I guess we can be grateful he didn’t ask Jimmy Carter to stand up at the eulogy.

Watch the whole thing below:

Greg’s cast of sidekicks did a great job filling in for him over the past few months, but it is great to have him back in the host’s chair.

The post Greg Gutfeld Slams Media and Comedians for Covering for Biden: ‘They Can’t Make Us Forget How Many Times They Lied’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Liberal talk host Bill Maher appeared on CNN this weekend and told Jake Tapper that he doesn’t think history will be kind to Joe Biden.

Maher’s criticism stems mainly from Joe Biden’s decision to run for a second term before ultimately bowing out. Maher compares Biden to late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was hailed as a hero by the left until she died during Trump’s first term, giving him the opportunity to name her replacement.

While Maher is likely right about Joe Biden and history, his criticism is solely about what Biden has done to the Democrat party. Biden will not be treated kindly by history for a whole slew of things that he did as president, not just for what he did to Democrats.

Transcript via Real Clear Politics:

TAPPER: So I’m writing an election book, and one of the things I just stumbled on was a monologue you gave in October 2023 in which you warned the Democratic Party of Ruth Bader Biden. You were saying the American people think he’s too old. You’re too you’re worried about this.

You had a great line about it doesn’t matter if he’s a national treasure and has done great things. If you got on an airplane and you heard that Buzz Aldrin was the pilot, you’d get off. I’m sorry for botching.

You’re a very funny joke. But they didn’t listen to you. But you were proven correct.

MAHER: Yeah. And I felt I had standing to make that case because I had for so many years been the only person I know on television who was consistently railing against ageism. I have been saying for years ageism is the last allowable prejudice that we can have in this country.

You can always do the age jokes. You can always rail on people for being too old. And it was, as I said, a case by case basis.

Some people at 70 are act like they’re 100 years old and some people are like 40 year olds. But this was a case, OK, where Biden was too old. Having made that case that it’s a case by case basis, I was now saying, yes, some of those cases are that the person just is too old for the job.

And he was going to be much like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, someone who was seen in history as one who stayed out, stayed at the fair too long and cost his party dearly. And he did. And, you know, I don’t think history is going to treat Joe Biden kindly for doing that.

This video is cued to start at the 2:12 mark, just press play:

Maher is taking a slightly more agnostic approach to Trump in his second term, but still remains highly critical of him. At the very least, Maher has become very critical of the radical left in recent years as well.

The post Bill Maher on CNN: ‘I Don’t Think History is Going to Treat Joe Biden Kindly’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

California Congresswoman Maxine Waters appeared on NewsNation this week to talk about the devastating fires in her state.

Waters, who never missed an opportunity to be politically toxic during Trump’s first term, has been conspicuously quiet since the 2024 election. During her appearance with Chris Cuomo, she claimed that she did not want to talk about Democrat vs. Republican. Cuomo correctly points out to her that politics is involved here because California’s governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass are both Democrats.

Waters then pivots to the victims of the fires and suggests that some of California’s richest people, the one percent, are not paying their ‘fair share’ in taxes. California has the highest taxes in the country.

From Breitbart News:

“The first thing we’ve got to understand is, services cost money and we should be willing to get the richest people in this country, the richest 1% that is protected, make sure they pay their fair taxes so that we can have the money to provide the services. With that money and with those resources, the people who have been selected or elected to do the job should do the job.

I don’t care who it is. It could be Democrat, it could be Republican, it could be whatever. But the fact of the matter is, we all should have heavy hearts right now, but we should have faith and we should be on point by making sure that we do everything to help the people that need us. Dammit, you can do the politics later. You can come and talk about Gavin Newsom later. You can talk about the Democrats later.”

See the video below:

CA Rep Maxine Waters takes umbrage with criticism of Democrats’ handling of LA Wildfires:
Maxine Waters: “nstead of talking about Democrats and Republicans. Get the information up on the screens.”
Chris Cuomo: “However, it can also be seen that you don’t want to talk about the… pic.twitter.com/4wpu0jyGuz

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) January 11, 2025

Actress and filmmaker Justine Bateman responded to this with anger:

This is unbelievable. Maxine Waters just blamed “rich people” for the failings of @GavinNewsom and @KarenBass. She says the problem is that the rich in Pacific Palisades didn’t pay the taxes necessary to “provide the services.”
The truth is that the wealthy of Los Angeles pay so… https://t.co/NFUeT0icyV

— Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) January 12, 2025

You can see the entire segment below:

It’s amazing that Waters would use a time like this to push the far left talking point that the rich don’t pay their fair share in taxes. Frankly, every taxpayer in California should be outraged right now.

The post Maxine Waters Suggests People in California Can’t Get Services Because the Rich ‘One Percent’ Don’t Pay Their ‘Fair Share’ in Taxes (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.