A $9 billion promise built on a $6 billion budget

NYC childcare providers still waiting on six-figure payments as Mamdani's free pre-K expansion stumbles before day one

Mayor Zohran Mamdani's flagship universal childcare program faces an embarrassing debut, providers contracted to open classrooms on September 10 say the city has not sent the advance payments they need to hire staff, buy supplies, or even fix the plumbing.

Across Queens, Staten Island, and Brooklyn, directors of small daycare centers told the New York Post they are draining personal savings, maxing out credit lines, delaying staff paychecks, and skipping their own salaries to keep doors open, all while City Hall and the Comptroller's office trade blame over unregistered contracts.

The result: the city's 2-K, 3-K, and pre-K programs, the centerpiece of Mamdani's 2025 campaign, risk opening without teachers, without supplies, and without the trust of the very operators the system depends on.

The payment delays land at a moment when the financial credibility of Mamdani's entire childcare agenda is already under scrutiny. A nonpartisan study by the Center for New York City Affairs found that the program will cost roughly $9 billion annually, about 50 percent more than the $6 billion Mamdani promised on the campaign trail.

Mamdani's "free" pre-K Programs

Golden State Start - 400 free diapers for new babies born in California

Newsom’s newest freebie comes with a big bill

Gov. Gavin Newsom is rolling out another taxpayer-funded program and calling it a win for families. His new plan, “Golden State Start,” promises 400 free diapers to every baby born in California through participating hospitals, starting this summer.

The state will work with the nonprofit Baby2Baby to hand out the diapers when parents leave the hospital. Newsom says every baby deserves a healthy start, which is a nice line, even if California taxpayers keep getting the invoice. The program will begin at about 65 to 75 hospitals, mostly ones that serve low-income families on Medi-Cal, before expanding statewide.

The state says families need help, but the math still matters.

This is the latest in Newsom’s growing list of family-focused spending plans, which already includes free school meals and universal preschool for 4-year-olds. Supporters will say diapers are expensive, and that is true. Many families do struggle with the cost of infant supplies. But California is also running into a hard fiscal wall, and that matters too.

The Associated Press reported that the state set aside $7.4 million in last year’s budget for the diaper rollout and wants another $12.5 million to carry it through June 2027. That may sound small in Sacramento terms, where “small” often means the size of a bridge loan, but every new program adds to the pile.

Read about this freebie for new borns  And illegals have lots of children and diapers are just another expense that will be paid by the taxpayer of California. People continue to have children who can't afford them. But the state picks up part of the tab with Medicaid, so what the hell.

According to Baby2Baby, diapers cost $80 to $100 per month per baby, and the average low-income family pays nearly $1000 a year for diapers.

Don Lemon walks free

Don Lemon walks free with no bond, no travel limits

Federal agents arrested Lemon Thursday night in Los Angeles. Authorities said Lemon stormed an evangelical church in St. Paul, Minn. U.S. District Judge Patricia Donahue imposed no domestic travel restrictions, allowing Lemon to move freely within the United States, according to Daily Caller News Foundation West Coast Reporter Hailey Gomez, who was in the courtroom when the decision was announced.

Federal prosecutors sought to impose domestic and international travel restrictions on Lemon, including barring travel to New York and requiring him to surrender his passport, according to Gomez.

The Department of Justice argued the restrictions were necessary, but Lemon's attorney pushed back, citing a previously scheduled international trip as grounds to oppose the surrender of Lemon's passport.

The judge approved international travel, allowing Lemon to proceed with his annual trip to France, court officials said during the hearing. Lemon's defense attorney Marilyn Bednarsk said Lemon plans to plead not guilty and will fight the case, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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Abbe Lowell, who defended Hunter Biden, is representing Lemon generally and has publicly vowed to fight the charges, describing the case as an attack on the First Amendment.

Marilyn Bednarski, a Los Angeles-based attorney with McLane Bednarski & Litt, LLP, handled the initial court appearance in Los Angeles on Jan. 30, where she argued against strict travel restrictions and confirmed that Lemon plans to plead not guilty.

Jusge Patricia A. Donahue was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California by the district's judges. She was not appointed by the President, but rather sworn into office on May 4, 2020, following a selection process by the Court's Executive Committee and a majority vote of the District Judges.

Illegals get free flights back to their country of origin

Migrants self-deporting amid Trump's second term

President Donald Trump has articulated an idea that has been widely mocked in the mainstream media and by Democrats, namely, that migrants should be encouraged to self-deport.

Trump got the idea to use a Biden-era app that was meant to circumvent immigration laws to instead aid illegal immigrants in the process of self-deportation.

Well, according to the administration, many of those individuals are taking advantage of the free flight home ("free" is something all liberals and criminals love) to avoid being arrested and deported. Time to go.

Biden’s app is now being used for migrants to book free flights back home without the risk of being arrested.

Many of them are reading the writing on the wall and deciding that the alternative is not worth the risk of staying here.

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