National political advocacy group Priorities USA recently launched local chapter Priorities Michigan. The recent addition is part of the organization’s initiative to reach states expected to have a high impact in the upcoming presidential election. The group aims to highlight the stories of Michigan voters who have felt negative…
Read MoreMonth: July 2019
Pastor Bryan Berghoef Seeks to Run as Democrat to Oust Republican Bill Huizenga in Michigan’s Second Congressional District
The Rev. Bryan Berghoef, a pastor with Holland United Church in Michigan, announced he will run as a Democrat to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI-02). “Hey friends! I’m running for Congress. Why? Because I care deeply about the flourishing of my friends and neighbors here in West…
Read MoreCommentary: Republicans, Don’t Screw Up the Mueller Hearing
by Julie Kelly Republicans will have a chance to redeem themselves this week after the farce they helped create: The special counsel investigation into alleged “collusion” between Russia and the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election. Robert Mueller is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee…
Read MoreMichigan Announces ‘Social Equity Program’ That Will Provide State Aid to Marijuana Start-Ups
The State of Michigan is rolling out a Social Equity Program to encourage participation in the marijuana industry in particular cities, but it’s receiving mixed reviews. The Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) has identified 19 “disproportionately impacted communities” for special assistance. According to its July 18 press release, the cities…
Read MoreMedia Requests for EPA Records Soar Under Trump
by Kevin Mooney Major news outlets, seemingly more prone to investigative reporting in the Trump era, are much more aggressive in seeking records from the Environmental Protection Agency than they were in the final years of the Obama administration, The Daily Signal has learned. ABC News, CBS News, the…
Read MoreRep Rashida Tlaib Calls for $20 an Hour Minimum Wage
by Evie Fordham Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib called for a federal minimum wage of up to $20 an hour at a “One Fair Wage” event in Detroit on Sunday. “Big fights like this one, $15. When we started it, it should have been $15. Now I think it…
Read MoreTrump Administration Looks to Remove Ineligible People from Food Stamp Rolls
by Whitney Tipton The United States Department of Agriculture proposed Monday eliminating a loophole in food stamp eligibility requirements that would cut 3.1 million people from the program and save $2.5 billion. Those who receive temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) will not longer be automatically eligible to get…
Read MoreFacebook Plows Record Amount of Cash Into DC Lobbyists as Its Algorithm Changes Crush Media Outlets
by Chris White Facebook spent several million dollars on lobbying efforts over the past few months as the Silicon Valley company’s algorithm changes continue to wallop small media outlets. The big tech company dropped more than $4 million during the second financial quarter, a record for Facebook up to…
Read MoreUS Senate Confirms Mark Esper as Secretary of Defense
by Reuters WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Army Secretary Mark Esper to be secretary of defense, ending the longest period by far that the Pentagon has been without a permanent top official. As voting continued, the Senate overwhelmingly backed Esper, a former lobbyist for weapons maker…
Read MoreFLASHBACK: Mark Dayton Tells Minnesotans to ‘Find Another State’ If They Aren’t Happy
Former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, once told a crowd of frustrated residents to “find another state” if they weren’t happy with Minnesota. The comments were made during an October 2015 forum in St. Cloud hosted by the local chapter of the NAACP. Dayton was responding to concerns…
Read MoreMultiple Requests Filed for Formal Investigation into Ilhan Omar’s Alleged Criminal Conduct
State Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) announced Tuesday that he’s submitting a formal request for a full investigation of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) wrongdoings to the U.S. House Committee on Ethics. Drazkowski made the announcement during a press conference Tuesday at the Minnesota State Capitol, where he said Omar “may…
Read MoreCommentary: Bernie Sanders, Oppressor of the Working Class
by CHQ Staff Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has pledged to American workers that he would institute a $15-per-hour minimum wage if he wins the White House in 2020. But, reports Dom Calicchio of Fox News, unionized workers on Sanders’ own campaign say they wish he would start now…
Read MoreTrump Says He’s Considering Options After Guatemala Halts ‘Safe Third Country’ Designation
by Reuters WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump said he is now considering a “ban,” tariffs and remittance fees after Guatemala decided to not move forward with a safe third country agreement that would have required the Central American country to take in more asylum seekers. “Guatemala … has…
Read MoreTrump Calls Tlaib a ‘Lunatic’ After Watching 2016 Video Showing Her Being Removed from His Rally
President Donald Trump criticized Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) Tuesday during a speech where he called her a “lunatic” after watching a video of her being thrown out of a 2016 Trump rally. The video showed Tlaib being removed by security guards at Detroit’s Cobo Center. While leaving, she…
Read MoreDemocrats Join Forces to Urge the Supreme Court to Block the Southern Border Barrier Based on ‘the Environment’
by Kevin Daley Environmental groups and House Democrats urged the Supreme Court not to disturb a lower court order blocking the reallocation of military funds for border wall projects. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to put that ruling on hold while litigation continues July 12. Granting that request — called…
Read MoreCommentary: Trump’s Big Win Over Public-Sector Unions
by John W. York Public-sector unions and their progressive allies just lost a major battle in their ceaseless legal campaign against this president. Last summer, one district court judge struck down nearly every provision in a package of executive orders meant to curtail the overweening power of federal employee…
Read MoreNineteen People Have Died from Drinking Tainted Alcohol in Costa Rica, Officials Say
by Hanna Panreck Costa Rica issued a national alert warning citizens about tainted alcohol after officials confirmed 19 people died from methanol poisoning. Fourteen men and five women between the ages of 32 and 72 died from methanol poisoning since June 2, according to the Ministry of Health on July 19. Seven…
Read MoreCommentary: The Banality of Google’s Wokeness
by Emina Melonic Although many people don’t see it or refuse to acknowledge it, we are living in a mangled version of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984. There are technological and morally dubious (at best!) forces that control the flow of information we see and can release into the…
Read MoreSenator Schumer Calls for Federal Probe Into Russia-Based FaceApp
by Kaylee Greenlee Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced recently on Twitter the “need” for a federal investigation into the popular Russia-based image-editing technology for smartphones called “FaceApp.” “BIG: Share if you used #FaceApp: The FBI and FTC must look into the national security and privacy risks now because millions…
Read MoreLeaked Docs Reportedly Show Huawei Secretly Built Up North Korea’s Wireless Phone Network
by Chris White A Chinese tech company at the center of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China secretly helped North Korea maintain its commercial wireless network, The Washington Post reported Monday. Huawei partnered with a massive Chinese state-owned company called Panda International on projects in the communist nation…
Read MoreWashington Braces for Mueller’s Appearance Wednesday
A leading House Democrat says special counsel Robert Mueller will give “very substantial evidence” that will make the case for impeaching U.S. President Donald Trump. “This is a president who has violated the law six ways from Sunday,” House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler told Fox television on the…
Read MoreLeft Primaries Rep. Richard Neal, the Democrat Who Refuses to Turn Over President Trump’s Taxes
by Whitney Tipton Alex Morse, the mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts, announced plans to challenge House Ways & Means Chairman Richard Neal in 2020 Monday. Morse, 30, is being encouraged to run by progressive Democrats who are frustrated by Neal’s delay in obtaining Trump’s state tax returns under the law passed…
Read MoreSOLVED: Vice President Mike Pence’s Cancelled Air Force Two Trip to New Hampshire Was Reportedly Due to a Guest Under Investigation for Drug Trafficking
by Chris White The White House abruptly cancelled a trip Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to take because he likely would’ve come face-to-face with an alleged interstate drug dealer, Politico reported Monday, citing law enforcement officials. One of the people Pence was likely to have shaken hands with…
Read MoreJudge Allows ACLU of Michigan to Represent LGBTQ Student Group in Gender Identity Lawsuit
A federal judge in the Western District of Michigan on Friday granted the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan’s motion to intervene and represent a student-run LGBTQ support group in a gender identity policy lawsuit, the organization said Monday. The ACLU filed the motion in March 2018 for the…
Read MoreTrump on ‘The Squad:’ They Are Not Capable of Loving Our Country
by Chris White President Donald Trump said Sunday he doesn’t believe congresswomen in the “Squad” are capable of being patriotic Americans, adding that they are “destroying” the Democratic Party. “I don’t believe the four Congresswomen are capable of loving our Country. They should apologize to America (and Israel) for…
Read MoreCommentary: Can President Trump’s New Asylum Rules Stem the Illegal Tide?
by Rachel Bovard Illegal immigration numbers remain at levels triple that of previous years, and Congress continues to bicker, foot stomp, other otherwise ignore the problem. In the face of this, the Trump Administration released its latest attempt to bring the border crisis under control. Under new rules issued last week, migrants…
Read MoreForgotten Founder Pelatiah Webster: America’s First Economist
by Lawrence Reed Everybody knows who America’s first president was, but can you identify the country’s first economist? If any man or woman deserves that description, it is surely the one who wrote this and so much more: I propose . . . to take off every restraint and…
Read MoreFormer DHS Chief Janet Napalitano Turned University of California President Trashes Immigration Agency She Once Oversaw
by Celine Ryan University of California System President Janet Napolitano denounced large-scale immigration enforcement on Sunday, claiming that such efforts “are designed to strike fear in our immigrant communities” and adding that “the University of California will not be a willing participant in them.” “We will continue to stand by…
Read MoreReport: US May Set Refugee Cap at Zero for Coming Year
by Victoria Macchi The Trump administration is considering more dramatic cuts to the U.S. refugee program, with one official suggesting the White House not allow any refugees into the country in the coming fiscal year. In a Politico report released Thursday, government officials from several federal agencies attended a meeting…
Read MoreBritain Drafts Plans to Sanction Iran Over Tanker Heist
by Jamie Dettmer British officials are drawing up plans to target Iran with sanctions for its seizing of a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait off Hormuz, and it may urge European Union countries to reimpose sanctions that were lifted in 2016 as part of Tehran’s agreement to curb its…
Read MoreCommentary: Hollywood’s ‘Fierce Resistance’ Kowtows to China’s Censors in ‘Top Gun 2’
by Thaddeus G. McCotter Hollywood, the cultural epicenter of the “resistance” to the faux totalitarianism attributed to President Trump, has a vastly different approach to the real totalitarianism of Communist China: capitulation and self-censorship. As noted by Mark MacKinnon, the senior international correspondent for The Globe and Mail, the sequel to…
Read MoreHouse Republicans Want Nellie Ohr’s Oppo Research of Trump’s Family: Report
by Chuck Ross House Republicans are reportedly seeking documents from former Fusion GPS contractor Nellie Ohr related to her research into President Donald Trump’s family, including his wife and children. During a congressional interview Oct. 19, 2018, Ohr said while she worked for Fusion GPS, the firm behind the infamous Steele…
Read MoreMichigan Bill Would Expunge 235,000 Misdemeanor Marijuana Charges
by Scott McClallen When State Sen. Jeff Irwin introduced a bill that would automatically expunge about 235,000 misdemeanor records for marijuana use and possession without going through the costly court system, he said he wanted to save taxpayers’ money. “My proposal offers those who are misdemeanants who have possession or…
Read MoreUK Knife Crime Hits Record High, Despite London Mayor’s ‘Knife Control’
by Jake Dima The U.K., most notably London, has experienced a sharp increase in knife-related crime, despite “knife control” efforts to curb the violence, newly released figures detail. Knife crime in both England and Wales is up 8% from April 2018 to May 2019. U.K. police reports from 43…
Read MoreThe Supreme Court Might Overturn One of Justice Stevens’s Landmark Decisions
by Kevin Daley Late Justice John Paul Stevens left a far-reaching legal legacy in his 34 years on the Supreme Court, writing landmark decisions on presidential powers, property rights and the death penalty. Yet the endurance of his legacy might be an open question. The Supreme Court signaled weeks…
Read MoreCommentary: Maine and Nevada Show Why the Electoral College Helps Small States, Not Red States
by Hans Von Spakovsky Last month, both Maine and Nevada did what was in the best interests of their states: They rejected bills that would have enrolled their states in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an unwise effort to override the Electoral College. In Maine, it was killed by…
Read MoreNo 2020 Democrats Will Attend Muslim Caucus Conference
by Sarah Price None of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have agreed to attend the first Muslim-American national gathering on July 23rd and 24th, according to the Huffington Post. Both the Muslim Conference and the Huffington Post reached out to every 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful in regard to the…
Read MoreCarson Says Trump ‘Not a Racist’
by Joshua Nelson While many Democrats are accusing President Donald Trump of “racism” because of a controversial tweet, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is countering the narrative by touting the president’s policies. “I have an advantage of knowing the president very well, and he’s not a racist,…
Read MoreCommentary: Support for $15 Minimum Wage Plummets When Americans Are Told Its Economic Impact
by Jon Miltimore Minimum wage laws, I’ve noted, are popular with the public. This no doubt explains why House Democrats passed a bill Thursday that would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Yet the minimum wage’s apparent popularity might be political pyrite (fool’s gold). A newly…
Read MoreBrooklyn Man Charged After Joining ISIS, Training Other Members
by Audrey Conklin The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday charged a Brooklyn man who joined ISIS with providing and attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization. Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, a naturalized American citizen born in Kazakhstan, was recently transferred into FBI custody after being detained…
Read MoreCommentary: One of the Left Goals Is to Abolish Citizenship
by Matthew Goose Few issues so clearly separate those who care about America from those who do not like immigration. In recent days, Democrats have advised illegal immigrants to defy the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, suggested decriminalizing illegal entry, and even embraced free healthcare for illegal immigrants. Democrats…
Read MoreReport: Michigan Police Kept $15 Million Taken Mostly from Small Seizures in 2018
by Scott McClallen Michigan police used civil asset forfeiture to seize $15 million worth of property and cash from more than 6,000 people in 2018, according to a report from Michigan State Police. State Police detailed $13.4 million in cash seized and spent supplementing their budgets, according to the…
Read MoreMichigan Beauty Pageant Winner Stripped of Title Over Past ‘Insensitive’ Tweets
A model who supports President Donald Trump had her beauty queen crown removed after “inappropriate” past social media posts were discovered. Kathy Zhu, a Chinese immigrant, believes her Miss Michigan World America title was stripped because of her conservative beliefs. The former beauty pageant winner has a large social…
Read MoreCommentary: Fifty Years Ago, the Eagle Landed
by Lee Edwards Let us pause to celebrate the 50th-anniversary today of a mission once thought impossible: the landing of a man on the moon. Let us proclaim, without embarrassment, that America, and only America, had the requisite leadership, scientific community, and resources to make it possible for Apollo…
Read MoreThe Battleground State Report Discusses Trump’s ‘Strategy’ to Position the ‘Squad’ as the Face of the Democratic Party
On Friday’s Battleground State Report with Steve Gill, Michael Patrick Leahy, and Doug Kellett – a one hour radio show from Star News Digital Media in the early stages of a national weekend syndication roll out – the team discussed the consequences of Trump’s tweets against the “squad” of four Democratic congresswomen and questioned…
Read MoreTrump Is Nominating Justice Scalia’s Son for Labor Secretary
by Kevin Daley President Donald Trump will nominate the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s son Eugene Scalia as labor secretary. The New York Times was first to report that Trump is considering Scalia for the position. The pair reportedly met at the White House on Thursday afternoon. The president confirmed…
Read MoreMovies to Watch This Weekend
The Lion King: The long-awaited “live-action” re-imagining of The Lion King is here. Simba (JD McCrary) and King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) are returning to the big screen after a 25-year hiatus. In this Disney version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Simba questions what his royal destiny will be on the…
Read MoreConservative, Liberal Groups Dissatisfied with Ohio Budget
by Tyler Arnold Neither right-leaning groups nor left-leaning groups are satisfied with Ohio’s changes to the tax law included in the two-year operating budget that was passed by the state legislature on Wednesday and signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday. The Buckeye Institute, a free-market think…
Read MoreCommentary: To End Border Crisis, Trump Administration Restricts Central American Asylum Claims
by Robert Romano Under current immigration and asylum regulations, it was impossible to enforce the law on the southern border. The hundreds of thousands of Central Americans flooding the border the past several months gamed the system, betting that a compassionate America would let them in. Afterward, the families…
Read MoreUS Shot Down Iranian Drone, Trump Says
President Donald Trump said a U.S. warship shot down an Iranian drone Thursday that was threatening the ship and its crew in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump told reporters at a White House event that the drone came within 900 meters of the USS Boxer and ignored “multiple calls…
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