Business
The political gimmick ends: Last day for the GST holiday on booze and books
![](https://www.todayville.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tvrd-ctf-beer-tax-image-2025-02-15.jpg)
By Carson Binda
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is reminding Canadians to stock up on books, beer and baby clothes before the federal government’s GST/HST holiday ends on Feb. 15.
“Even though this temporary tax holiday was a political gimmick, folks should still stock up now to save on the GST,” said Carson Binda, CTF B.C. Director. “Ottawa needs to do more than temporary sales tax holidays, which means politicians must find real savings so taxes can go down permanently.
“But in the meantime, people should take advantage of the tax break before it goes back up.”
The federal government temporarily suspended its sales taxes on a range of goods between Dec. 14, 2024, and Feb. 15, 2025. The temporary tax cut applied to food, alcohol beverages, restaurant meals, children’s clothing, car seats, diapers, toys, Christmas trees and books.
“The government shouldn’t be taxing your baby’s diapers or picture-books,” Binda said. “And restaurants across Canada need long-term tax relief instead of a GST holiday gimmick.”
Nearly two thirds of Canadian restaurants, or 62 per cent, are operating at a loss or barely breaking even, according to data from Restaurants Canada.
The reimposed GST will add five per cent to the cost of restaurant meals in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Territories and Quebec. The HST will add 13 per cent in Ontario and 15 per cent in the Atlantic provinces.
The end of the GST holiday would drive up the cost of a case of beer by an average of $4.40 across Canada. Provinces with a harmonized sales tax will see the biggest increases, with a case of beer increasing in cost by $8.04 in Nova Scotia once the sales tax holiday ends.
“Taxpayers and job creators need tax relief from Ottawa,” Binda said. “The government needs to go line-by-line through the federal budget to find real savings for taxpayers.”
Business
Elon reveals millions of people in Social Security database between the ages of 100-159
![](https://www.todayville.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/tvrd-mxm-elon-musk-oval-office-image-2025-02-19.jpg)
Quick Hit:
Elon Musk revealed on X that millions of individuals in the Social Security database are recorded as over 100 years old, with no death record attached. The billionaire suggested the findings could indicate massive fraud within the system.
According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE!
Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/ltb06VX98Z
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2025
Key Details:
- Musk shared a chart showing over 20 million people in the database listed as 100+ years old, including 3.9 million between 130-139, 3.5 million between 140-149, and 1.3 million between 150-159.
- The 2020 U.S. Census recorded just over 80,000 people aged 100 or older, casting doubt on the accuracy of the Social Security data.
- Musk suggested that the Social Security system is riddled with inconsistencies and could be facilitating large-scale fraud.
Diving Deeper:
On Sunday, Elon Musk took to X with a shocking revelation about the Social Security database, suggesting it contains massive inaccuracies—possibly enabling widespread fraud. Musk pointed out that millions of individuals are recorded as being 100 years or older, yet their death status remains unmarked.
“According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the death field set to FALSE! Maybe Twilight is real and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security,” Musk quipped, sharing a chart showing over 20 million centenarians in the system.
The data he highlighted included staggering figures: more than 3.9 million individuals listed as 130-139 years old, 3.5 million aged 140-149, and over 1.3 million aged 150-159. These numbers are vastly out of sync with U.S. Census data, which recorded just over 80,000 people aged 100 or older in 2020.
Musk didn’t stop there. He went on to criticize the complexity and lack of oversight in Social Security operations, calling the system’s logic “INSANE.” According to Musk, “No one person actually knows how it works. The payment files that move between Social Security and Treasury have significant inconsistencies that are not reconciled. It’s wild.”
Perhaps the most damning accusation Musk made was in a follow-up post where he warned that the Social Security system might be one of the largest fraud schemes in history. “There are FAR more ‘eligible’ Social Security numbers than there are citizens in the USA. This might be the biggest fraud in history,” he posted.
Business
DOGE discovers $4.7T in untraceable U.S. Treasury payments
![](https://www.todayville.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/tvrd-cs-us-capital-image-2024-09-15.jpg)
MxM News
Quick Hit:
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), established under President Donald Trump, has discovered that nearly $4.7 trillion in U.S. Treasury payments were processed with an optional, often blank identification code—making them nearly impossible to track. The revelation has prompted immediate changes to federal financial reporting, mandating full transparency on these transactions moving forward.
Key Details:
- DOGE found that the Treasury Access Symbol (TAS), a key financial identifier, was frequently left blank in transactions totaling $4.7 trillion.
- The Trump administration’s watchdog agency worked with the U.S. Treasury to close this loophole, making the TAS field mandatory for all federal payments.
- DOGE continues to uncover and eliminate government waste, already reporting an estimated $55 billion in taxpayer savings through spending cuts and contract renegotiations.
Diving Deeper:
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spearheaded by Elon Musk under President Donald Trump’s administration, has made a bombshell discovery regarding federal spending. According to the agency, $4.7 trillion in payments were funneled through the U.S. Treasury without clear tracking due to an often-missing Treasury Access Symbol (TAS). This identifier, which links government expenditures to specific budget items, was optional in the federal system—resulting in payments that were nearly impossible to trace.
DOGE announced the finding on X, explaining that the TAS field has now been made mandatory for all federal payments. “As of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going,” the agency stated. This change is expected to bring a new level of transparency to federal finances, ensuring that taxpayer dollars are properly accounted for.
The revelation coincides with DOGE’s broader mission to root out wasteful government spending. Since its creation via executive order, the agency has reported $55 billion in estimated savings, achieved through fraud detection, renegotiations of contracts, and regulatory cuts. The agency is also working to make its cost-cutting measures fully transparent, committing to updating its financial data twice per week with the goal of transitioning to real-time reporting.
Musk’s leadership at DOGE has sparked both praise and controversy. While conservatives applaud the agency’s aggressive stance on reducing bloated government programs, critics—particularly among Democrats—have raised concerns over its authority to access federal data and cancel government contracts. Attorneys general from 14 states have filed a lawsuit aiming to block DOGE from federal systems, arguing that its executive authority over financial oversight is an overreach.
Despite legal challenges, DOGE recently won a key court battle, with a federal judge in Washington declining to temporarily block its access to sensitive data from several agencies, including the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services. This ruling is seen as a green light for the Trump administration’s cost-cutting mission to continue.
With the U.S. national debt at record highs, DOGE’s latest discovery raises serious questions about past government financial management. The $4.7 trillion in untraceable payments underscores why the agency was created in the first place—and why Washington’s establishment has resisted its oversight.
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