Dave Bondy
Politics • Culture • News
News they don't want you to see
Monday February 2, 2026
February 02, 2026

Welcome to my Substack newsletter. You will get this free newsletter during the week showing you some of the stories the media ignores.

 
 

What’s the real poverty line? Don’t put your money on recent viral claims

A recent viral essay claims that a typical household needs $140,000 per year to live. The current official poverty line of $32,000 for a family of four, writes Wall Street portfolio manager Michael W. Green, amounts to “measuring starvation.”

The claim is startling, but economists say it doesn’t add up.

Dr. Jeremy Horpedahl says Green is wrong for three main reasons: He ignores changes and improvements in how poverty is calculated, drastically underestimates how much income Americans have, and dramatically overestimates how much people need to spend on basic items.

Scott Winship with the American Enterprise Institute notes that there are multiple measures of “poverty” done by the federal government. And no matter which one you pick, “far fewer Americans are poor today than in the past.” Click here to read more.


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No Marriage. No Babies. No Future. Will America Reverse Its Downward Trend?

A new report by the Congressional Budget Office shows that, absent immigration, America’s population will begin to shrink by 2030. As we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, this projection underscores a hard truth: the collapse of marriage and family life represents the gravest threat to our great nation’s future.

That is why The Heritage Foundation has released the first in a series of special reports on “Saving America by Saving the Family.” The central argument is straightforward. Our country cannot afford to continue ignoring our declining marriage and birth rates, as lawmakers on both the left and the right have done for decades.

The discussion ranges from eliminating all marriage penalties embedded in welfare programs to new tax credits for married families, to offering public honors to couples for every decade they remain married. Click here to read more.


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‘Melania’ Director Brett Ratner Gives First Lady ‘All the Credit’ for Documentary’s Opening Weekend Success

Melania documentary director Brett Ratner told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview – hours after the film hit theaters worldwide – that First Lady Melania Trump deserves “all the credit” for the picture’s historic opening weekend success.

Melania is set to haul in more than $8 million in its opening weekend, which would be the best at the box office for a documentary in the last decade. A humble Ratner told Breitbart News via a phone interview Saturday that he gives “all the credit” to the first lady, the film’s subject, for its extremely successful box office performance.

“I have to give all the credit to Melania because this was something that she came up with, even, obviously, before she met me. The fact that she had hired a feature director like myself to do a documentary was very surprising, and for me as well. But she said to me from day one, I want this to be very cinematic. Click here to read more.

 

Biggest revelations from final Epstein documents include lavish gifts to top Obama lawyer

Never-before-seen emails were included in the newly-released Jeffrey Epstein case files on Friday.

The emails from the U.S. Justice Department files show the convicted sex criminal gave former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler luxury gifts, including a Hermes-branded Apple Watch, a $9,400 Hermes handbag, and a spa treatment package at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Correspondence between Washington Commanders and Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris and Epstein were included in the latest files released.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Harris had correspondence with Epstein after his guilty plea in 2008 for solicitation of prostitution with a minor, but prior to his arrest on child sex trafficking charges in 2019. Click here to read more.

 

New SNAP work requirements kick in for more states Feb. 1: What to know

New work requirements are expanding across more states Sunday for SNAP, the nation’s largest federal assistance program.

Starting today, adults between the ages of 18 and 64 without dependent children must work, participate in employment and training programs, or volunteer at least 80 hours per month to be eligible to receive SNAP benefits. Those who do not meet the requirement can receive benefits for only three months within a three-year period.

The new requirements expand work rules to additional groups that were previously exempt, including adults ages 55 to 64 and parents with children ages 14 or older. The law also eliminates prior exemptions for veterans, homeless people and individuals ages 18 to 24 who were in foster care when they turned 18, according to federal guidance. Click here to read more.

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Minneapolis Might Bring Back Bathhouses As Spaces for Sex and Queer Community

The Minneapolis City Council is considering a proposal to bring back bathhouses where people can have sex. And it’s provoking a wider conversation around stigma, criminalization, and community.

The proposal involves four related measures, introduced on March 26. They include plans to amend regulations for places “where sexual activity between consenting adults may be facilitated” and to update “provisions pertaining to indecent conduct and disorderly houses, adding exceptions for licensed establishments where sexual activity between consenting adults may be facilitated.”

“The council is expected to take up the ordinance discussion again on Thursday,” part KSTP TV, a local ABC affiliate. Click here to read more.


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Government-Funded Censor Told State Dept. Its Testing Wouldn’t Focus On U.S. Audiences — It Then Targeted The Blaze

Staff with the Global Engagement Center (“GEC”) told a State Department official that its testbed platform “will NOT focus on US audiences,” but then proceeded to fund a trial targeting The Blaze — a Texas-based media outlet. The Federalist uncovered this detail during discovery in its lawsuit against the State Department and the GEC, which the plaintiffs settled last week after the Defendants agreed to detailed prophylactic measures to prevent similar violations of Americans’ First Amendment rights.

The Federalist, along with The Daily Wire, sued the State Department and GEC in December of 2023, after learning that the defendants had funded the testing, development, and promotion of censorship technologies that demonetized, denigrated, and limited the reach of the media plaintiffs’ speech. The complaint alleged both a First Amendment claim and a claim that the defendants exceeded their statutory authority, which was limited to managing foreign affairs.

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Mamdani’s plan for free buses in NYC hits pothole, told by Albany ‘just not financially feasible’

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is not pushing for free buses in the city this year.

Mamdani’s three campaign promises were freeze the rent, universal daycare, and fast, free buses. As city and state budgets are tight, and disagreement among Democrats blocks Mamdani’s plan, he does not appear to be pushing for free buses to be implemented this year, Politico reported.

Mamdani told the news outlet on Tuesday that he is “absolutely committed to making buses fast and free.”

He has touted a universal daycare pilot as a win.

Meanwhile, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul support an expansion of a discount program for low-income subway and bus riders called Fair Fares.

While Mamdani has supported expanding the program, in 2024, he singled out Fair Fares as a “means-tested program [that] will never reach everyone they’re meant to.” Click here to read more.

 

USC Bans Men from Parts of Gyms to Make Women, Non-Binary Students Feel Comfortable

A California college has banned men from using certain areas in its gyms to make non-binary students and women more comfortable.

The University of Southern California has adopted a policy suggested by a radical LGBTQ+ activist group to institute the ban, according to the New York Post.

The activist group Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment (SAGE) demanded the new rule for the school’s Lyon Center. SAGE describes itself as a “programming assembly and intersectional feminist organization under the student government, committed to uplifting all voices oppressed by the patriarchy.”

Student Mengze Wu praised the move to ban men from certain workout areas on Mondays and Wednesdays as a way to stop the facility from being too “male-dominated.” Click here to read more.

 

Suspect attacks, repeatedly stabs Calif. sheriff’s office K-9 after slow pursuit

SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. — A high-risk pursuit along Interstate 80 from Dixon to Fairfield early Tuesday escalated into a violent confrontation that left a Solano County Sheriff’s K-9 seriously wounded and a suspect in custody, authorities said.

According to the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, the incident began when deputies spotted a vehicle moving at an unusually slow speed on the freeway in Dixon, which they said was creating a dangerous situation for surrounding drivers during the morning commute. When a K-9 sheriff’s deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop, the driver failed to yield, triggering a pursuit that stretched along the busy corridor.

The chase continued until officers, working alongside the California Highway Patrol, brought it to a controlled end. A spike strip was deployed, disabling the vehicle near Interstate 80 and Travis Boulevard in Fairfield. Even after the vehicle came to a stop, though, officials said the situation remained tense and unpredictable. Click here to read more.

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Wednesday April 8, 2026
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Michigan school, streets might change names after New York Times report on Cesar E. Chavez

The names of some Michigan streets and a school might change after a recent New York Times story alleged that Cesar E. Chavez abused young girls.

Five streets and a school in Michigan are named after the American labor union and political activist who co-founded United Farm Workers in 1962. Chavez died in 1993, but a March 18 news article named two women and alluded to several others who have come forward to allege he sexually abused them.

The city of Lansing is having conversations about renaming its street in Old Town, Scott Bean, director of communications and senior advisor to Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email that outlined Lansing’s street-naming policy. Click here to read more.


 

14-year-old girl with ‘lengthy’ criminal history strikes police vehicle in stolen vehicle

BALTIMORE — A stolen car slammed into a Baltimore police patrol vehicle during a chase in West Baltimore around 1 a.m. on April Fool’s Day, then crashed again at a dead end as officers tried to stop it.

Audio from the scene captured an officer describing the initial impact: “That vehicle did sideswipe the front of my vehicle when I saw it.”

Police said the stolen car didn’t get far before ending at a dead end and hitting the patrol vehicle again. One suspect got away, with an officer reporting, “The passenger ran on foot going northbound on Ashburton.” Click here to read more.

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Michigan Attorney General calls for action as Consumers Energy seeks another rate increase

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is continuing to question Michigan’s energy companies, as Consumers Energy, one of the largest utilities in the state, seeks yet another increase to its electrical rates.

The Department of Attorney General released a statement on Monday, reaffirming Nessel’s commitment to intervening in all major rate cases before state energy regulators, slamming Consumers Energy for filing a new rate case within seven days of the Michigan Public Service Commission approving its last increase.

“The rate hike just approved by the MPSC hasn’t even taken effect yet, and Consumers Energy is already gearing up to reach back into the pockets of Michigan families,” Nessel said. “Ratepayers don’t have a choice in who they buy their energy from, yet our utility companies still choose to make these relentless and unsustainable rate hike demands year after year. Announcing plans to file what we expect to be a new multi-hundred-million-dollar request just seven days after securing a nearly $280 million hike proves how truly broken this system has become.” Click here to read more.

 

Services Demand Surges to Three-Year High Despite Rising Energy Costs

New orders for services rose to their highest level in more than three years in March, the Institute for Supply Management reported Monday, as strong demand across the economy proved resilient to the spike in energy prices driven by the U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran.

The ISM index for the services sector registered 54 percent, down from 56.1 percent in February but still comfortably in expansion territory for the 21st consecutive month. The slight pullback in the headline number masked what was arguably the most important signal in the report: the barometer of new order surged to its highest reading since February 2023. Click here to read more.

 

Mom accused of faking 3-year-old’s illnesses, leading to unnecessary medical treatments

GLEN ROSE, Texas - A Texas mother accused of child medical abuse is facing multiple charges.

In an 18-page arrest affidavit, Tarrant County investigators said 31-year-old Kaitlyn Laura subjected her 3-year-old son to severe and ongoing medical abuse.

Detectives said for months, Laura claimed her son had serious conditions, such as stomach issues, trouble walking and even cerebral palsy.

For years, he was fed through a tube and kept in a wheelchair, but doctors never diagnosed any of it.

Investigators said, at one point, the child was on 17 different medications, eating less than 1,000 calories a day and consuming dog food. Click here to read more.

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