Politics

The government in Germany has banned all meat products from official functions, claiming that eating meat is harmful to the environment.  Barbara Hendricks says that eating meat contributes to global warming, and she has ordered vegetarian-only food to be served at government events for the foreseeable future. Telegraph.co.uk reports: A rival minister has accused her of “nanny-statism” and trying to force vegetarianism on people “by the back door”.

Via Daniel Lang of SHTFplan.com,

Before Donald trump took office, he promised to rebuild the US military by diverting a lot more funding into the armed forces. And when he made that promise, he wasn’t just talking about our conventional forces. He also proposed expanding America’s nuclear capability; a position he recently reiterated in an interview with Reuters. He stated that “It would be wonderful, a dream would be that no country would have nukes, but if countries are going to have nukes, we’re going to be at the top of the pack.”

Nearly 20 states have raised gas taxes or recalculated gas-tax formulas in recent years to generate additional revenues.  Which, of course, is an extremely politically expedient way to raise taxes on the unsuspecting masses since when gas prices soar later those price increases can simply be blamed on those evil oil corporations.

Via Ryan McMaken of The Mises Institute,

In the days following the 2016 election, there were already worrying signs that the Trump administration didn't merely view the War on Drugs as a useful source of rhetoric to please some Conservatives. With the appointment of Jeff Sessions — who appears to be a true believer in the War on Drugs — the threat to federalism, states's rights, and local control was all too real. 

Just hours after Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chair of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said he would vote against Trump's draft ObamaCare replacement bill (that leaked last week), The Hill reports that another influential Republican Committee member, Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) has said he will not back the bill.

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), head of the 172-member committee, said Monday his opposition stems from the draft bill's use of refundable tax credits.