The Daily Signal - FEMA Whistleblowers Call Out Agency Mismanagement, Jobs Report Shows Positive Growth in September, Supreme Court Sides With the EPA| Oct. 4

Starting point is 00:00:01 FEMA is accused of mismanaging government funds. I'm Joseph Vonspikovsky filling in for Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Friday, October 4th. FEMA whistleblowers have allegedly come forward to accuse the agency of misappropriating funds and general mismanagement. This was according to a letter sent by Representative Matt Gates, a Florida Republican, to Department Homeland Security Chief, Alexandro Mayorkas. FEMA, which is managed by the Department of Homeland Security, has come under fire for its response to Hurricane Helene, which ravaged North Carolina and left hundreds dead. Mayorkas said in an interview on Wednesday that FEMA does not have the funds to address the rest of the hurricane season.

Starting point is 00:00:58 Gates wrote in his letter, which was also posted on X, Numerous whistleblowers came forward to my office this week to sound the alarm on FEMA's severe mismanagement issues, which have left first response. on the ground to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts without deployment orders. Gates continued to say that FEMA's mismanagement impeded the response to the hurricane. He said, as reported and further confirmed by my office, hundreds, if not thousands of service members were deployed by the Department of Defense to North Carolina and have set idle waiting for FEMA. We have confirmed FEMA employees deployed on the clock awaiting orders inside hotels.

Starting point is 00:01:37 FEMA pre-disaster aid was withheld exacerbating the emergency. It is also public that NGOs have purchased airline tickets for migrants through the use of FEMA funds. According to the New York Post, FEMA has spent $1.4 billion since 2022 addressing the border and illegal immigration crisis. The Post reported that DHS allocated $640.9 million this year in FEMA administered funds to aid state and local governments coping with the influx. This referring to illegal immigrants and asylum seekers. Mayorkas said that the money couldn't be used for hurricane relief efforts because it was specifically authorized by Congress to address the illegal immigration crisis. The Labor Department reported on Friday that employers added 254,000 jobs in September.

Starting point is 00:02:31 According to Fox News, this number is well above the 140,000 job gain that was predicted by LSEG economists. The report also indicated that unemployment went down slightly to 4.1%. The Biden administration celebrated the jobs report as a major victory, the administration said in a statement, with today's report, we've created 16 million jobs, unemployment remains low, and wages are growing faster than prices. However, there were some who dismissed the positive reporting. Richard Stern, an economic policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, wrote on X. Top line on the jobs report, part-time employment for those who want full-time jobs is still 12% above pre-pandemic levels. Job growth was mostly led by the government or sectors heavily

Starting point is 00:03:20 subsidized by the government, so propped up by more inflationary dollar printing. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, wrote on X that the numbers being reported shouldn't be taken at face value. He wrote, another fake jobs report out from the Biden-Harris government today. Sixteen of the last 17 reports have been significantly revised downwards after media helps them with their fake headlines. But all the fake numbers in the world aren't going to fool people dealing with the Biden-Harris economic disaster every day.

Starting point is 00:03:54 The Supreme Court on Friday left in-place Biden administration regulations on mercury and methane. The court did not release its reasoning given that it came from an emergency requirement. West. In the spring, according to the New York Times, the Biden administration sought to increase emission standards for hazardous air pollutants from coal-fired power plants. It would increase these regulations through the EPA. Republican attorneys general and a collection of groups filed a suit to block the administration's rule. They argued that the new regulations would cause both swift and irreparable damage and that they would not come with any meaningful public health benefit.

Starting point is 00:04:33 The suit also called the EPA regulation an authoritarian national command from the EPA, and that it goes beyond the limits of the Clean Air Act, which is the congressional legislation that led to the creation of the agency. A massive dockworker strike was suspended Friday, and a tentative agreement was reached on wages, according to the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance. The groups representing the dockworkers said in a joint statement, Effective immediately, all current job actions will cease, and all work covered by the master contract will resume.

Starting point is 00:05:11 The tentative agreement would increase workers' wages by 62% over the life of the six-year contract, according to ABC News. ABC News also reported that this was a much higher number than the shipping industry group's offer of a 50% wage increase. The union had been pushing for a 77% pay hike over six years. If the agreement holds, this would bring the hourly wage, for a top dock worker to $63 per hour at the end of the new contract, up from $39 per hour under the expired contract according to ABC. The dock workers had gone on strike in 14 major ports along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, which has the potential to cause serious repercussions for the U.S. supply chain. While this represents an end to the wage disagreements, there are still

Starting point is 00:05:59 other issues at stake in the strike. There's still no resolution to the union's demands about curtailing automated industry. President Joe Biden said of the agreement, I want to applaud the ILA and the United States Maritime Alliance for coming together to reopen the East Coast and Gulf ports. Today's tentative agreement on a record wage and an extension of the collective bargaining process represents critical progress towards a strong contract. Negotiations will resume on January 15th of next year.

Starting point is 00:06:31 Well, that's all for today. I'm going to hand things over to Virginia. Virginia Allen, who has quite the movie review and one of Heritage's best movie buffs. I'll hand it over to her and then I'll close out the episode. Well, thanks so much. Commodont is an Italian war film that takes place and is set during the time of World War II. It's historic. There's lots of drama.

Starting point is 00:06:59 It was released last year. And Heritage Foundation, Movie Buff, Senior Counsel to the Press. and fellow Jim Carapano recently saw this movie. He's here with us to discuss. So, Jim, share with us if you would the premise of this movie. Yeah. So it's a, it's a 2023 film. It's an Italian film, so it has subtitles, but it's widely available in streaming, which is great for me, because, you know, I'm always flying somewhere. And actually, I saw it on a plane. But what I love about this film, and it's not for kids, I should say, by the way, it's young adults are fine. I don't think it's appropriate for small children.

Starting point is 00:07:34 But it's a film about the integrity of an individual. So Commandante is the captain, the commander of the submarine. It's actually based on a true story. The submarine sinks a Belgian freighter, and it's just at the outbreak of World War II. So this dilemma, are they neutral? Are they combatants? But then what they do is they do something that submarines never did. And if you think about it, this is almost insane.

Starting point is 00:08:01 They went and rescued the crew of the Belgian freighter. and then they sailed to find them a neutral port to drop them off where they would be safe. All the time, of course, they're being pursued by the British. But what I really love about this film, you know, we have this debate about woke and everything else. But it's not just about masculinity. It's a film about integrity, about a leader, about somebody who cares for his crew, who is loyal. to the mission he's been assigned, but also has this tremendous humanity about him. So it's a super, it starts a little slow, but it's really worth it because if you stick with it,

Starting point is 00:08:46 you understand kind of all the things early on in the film that really add to not just the drama of the film, but really the lesson of humanity that this film has to offer. And then it really delivers at the end in terms of being exciting. So really, really strongly recommended. It's the kind of film I would have wanted my kids to watch it. I want you to grow up to be this person to have that kind of courage and integrity. And I'm not just saying that because I'm Italian. Not biased at all.

Starting point is 00:09:17 Well, Comedante, as you've just described, it is historic in so many ways. Are they pretty accurate to the true story? Well, it's very accurate in describing what life is like on a submarine and kind of the technical issues that they face. The story itself is actually based on a true. true story and you know they they always condense characters and things sure but to make a movie but it is it is a true it is a true story this really really happened they they really really did this and I there's so many things I could talk about the film but I don't want to because because I don't want to give it away yeah how did the cast do um it's first of all this is actually one of

Starting point is 00:09:58 the real strong points of it's not just a you know an interesting it's beautifully acted I mean just exquisitely acted. If you, if you ever remember, there's a film called Dust Boat long time ago, it was a German film about a German submarine experience, which got kind of really popular rave reviews because how accurately it depicted life on a submarine. So it's very true to that tradition. But what I like about this film more is the morality of the character. So if you like those kind of move, you definitely go back, find Dust Boot, watch it,

Starting point is 00:10:31 great film score beautifully shot. But this film, to me, is just a perfect gem of a war movie. Wow. Powerful. Jim Carrippano of the Heritage Foundation discussing Comedante. Jim, thanks for joining us for this Friday's movie review. You bet. And that'll do it for today's episode.

Starting point is 00:10:51 Thank you for listening to the Daily Signals Top News. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed, where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Be sure to tune in to our morning edition where Virginia Allen and Christian Ikemmer speak with Yale Eckstein, president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, on the current situation on the ground in Israel, one year after the terror attacks of October 7th. Also, make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast,

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The Daily Signal - FEMA Whistleblowers Call Out Agency Mismanagement, Jobs Report Shows Positive Growth in September, Supreme Court Sides With the EPA| Oct. 4

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