Month: April 2022

April 15, 2022April 14, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

At the White House, a conundrum is taking place. Could the scenario look and sound like this?

15th Annual Easter Sunrise Celebration on Government Property at Chicago’s Daley Plaza

Sunday will mark the 15th annual celebration of Easter on Chicago’s Daley Plaza – government property – including a sunrise service on Easter Sunday itself, to honor the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This sacred observance of Easter begins at Daley Plaza on Holy Thursday, 7:30 p.m. CDT, when a giant 19-foot-high cross is erected at 50 West Washington Street.

Republican National Committee Unanimously Decides to Withdraw from Commission on Presidential Debates

The Republican National Committee said Thursday the group has unanimous voted to withdraw from the Commission on Presidential Debates, the group that runs the series of General Election debates between the Democrat and Republican nominee every four years.

GOP Reps. Fitzgerald, Banks Introduce Bill to Repeal National Educational Association’s Charter

April 15, 2022April 14, 2022 RealClearWire

GOP Reps. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Banks introduced a measure Thursday to repeal the century-old federal charter granted to the National Educational Association, arguing the group has shifted too far to the left.

Commentary: Pay Attention to These Supreme Court Races in Six States

Before the 2024 election, six swing states will have supreme court elections that could flip which party controls the state’s supreme court.

Rulings by state supreme courts on redistricting maps have led Cook Political to revise their projections on who redistricting favors, from favoring Republicans, to being a wash. This didn’t happen by Democrats’ good fortune. Former Attorney General Eric Holder and other Democrats have targeted state supreme court races over the last decade and are continuing to do so. In response, the Republican State Leadership Committee declared in a memorandum: “Democrats’ past spending on state court races paying off in redistricting fight.” Republicans believe they have a plan to fight back in future court races, but this round of redistricting will likely be done before any of those races are decided.

JPMorgan Stashing Away Hundreds of Millions in Fear of ‘Powerful Forces’ Shaking US Economy

April 15, 2022April 14, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

JPMorgan Chase stashed away hundreds of millions of dollars in cash amid growing fears that the U.S. economy will enter a recession, The Wall Street Journal reported.

JPMorgan Chase put aside $900 million in cash in preparation for an economic downturn, The Wall Street Journal reported. JPMorgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon has increasingly warned that the Federal Reserve has been behind the curve fighting inflation and their efforts will bring the U.S. economy into a recession around the fourth quarter of 2022.

Michigan Gubernatorial Candidate Demands Answers on Whitmer’s Involvement in FBI-Led Kidnapping Plot

A Michigan gubernatorial candidate is demanding to know what Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) played in her alleged kidnapping plot that he says was conceived by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

“Michiganders deserve an answer,” candidate Garrett Soldano said in a press release. “As we all saw last week, the FBI conceived a plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer and preyed on Michiganders to push it along. These events had a direct impact on the 2020 election results in Michigan, one of the most important swing states in the country. Did Gretchen Whitmer play a role in these targeted efforts to influence the 2020 election? Was Gretchen Whitmer working with the FBI to fake her own kidnapping?”

Catholic Charities Met Abbott’s Bused Migrants with Tickets to Ride Elsewhere

April 14, 2022 JCarr

Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, reports from Washington’s Union Station, where Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott sent migrants who crossed the border into his state.

Subway Shooting Suspect to Face Terrorism Charges

April 14, 2022April 13, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

New York subway shooting suspect Frank James faces a terrorism charge after 10 people were shot Tuesday in an attack.

The 62-year-old James has been charged with committing a terrorist attack on a transportation system, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

James is in custody after he called Crime Stoppers on himself Wednesday morning before going on a stroll through East Villiage, The New York Post reported.

“A call came into Crime Stoppers,” a law enforcement source told the Post about the bizarre moment James called himself in. “The guy says, ‘You know I think you’re looking for me. I’m seeing my picture all over the news and I’ll be around this McDonalds.'”

Thales Academy Opens First Rural County School in Pittsboro, North Carolina

Thales Academy opened the doors of its brand new building in Pittsboro, North Carolina, Monday, as about 100 students from the academy’s Cary campus moved to the new facility in rural Chatham County.

“Chatham is the first time that Thales has been in a rural county,” Bob Luddy, the founder and chairman of Thales Academy, told The Star News Network. “So, my thought was having a facility of that quality in a rural county that’s a private initiative is going to change the way people think about K-12 education.”

Commentary: Biden’s Wealth Tax Is a Bad Idea That Cannot Be Ignored

Imagine a world where you were not taxed on how much you earned in a given year, but instead on how much your wealth appreciated.

To some this sounds like something straight out of John Lennon’s communist manifesto, also known as the song “Imagine.” Like the song, the music surrounding the words are enticing, but also like Lennon’s hit, the words themselves spell the death knell of freedom.

Commentary: Used Cars Are Currently Selling at Higher Prices than New Cars

The last time I purchased a used car it didn’t turn out well. A number of years ago, I bought a used 2005 Mazda Tribute for what I thought was a screaming deal: $5,900. The mileage was low, and the vehicle was in pretty meticulous shape—or so I thought.

Annual Wholesale Inflation Rises 11.2 Percent, Mirroring Record Consumer Price Index Numbers

Wholesale prices in March increased by 11.2%, compared to 12 months earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday.

The report also show the prices increased 1.1% from February to March.

The newly released numbers follow the agency saying Tuesday the price of consumer goods in March increased by 8.5%, compared to the same time last year, making the Consumer Price Index’s so-called “annualized rate” the highest since December 1981.

Yelp Exec: Abortion Access Is ‘Fundamental’ to Women’s Success in the Workplace

A Yelp executive said women need access to abortions to be successful at work as the company announced it would fund travel expenses for employees traveling out of state for abortions.

“The ability to control your reproductive health, and whether or when you want to extend your family, is absolutely fundamental to being able to be successful in the workplace,” Miriam Warren, Yelp’s chief diversity officer, told The New York Times.

Justice Department Plans to Re-Try Two Remaining Whitmer Kidnapping Defendants

April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 The Center Square

Despite a humiliating defeat in what the Justice Department considered one of its biggest domestic terror investigations in recent history, federal prosecutors announced they will re-try two men who were not acquitted last week on charges of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020.

Chief District Court Judge Robert Jonker declared a mistrial on April 8 after a jury in western Michigan could not agree on the guilt of Adam Fox, the so-called ringleader, and Barry Croft, Jr. related to the alleged plot; two other men, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, were found not guilty on all charges and went home last Friday night after spending 18 months in jail.

Analysis: Famed Bangladesh Mask Study Excluded Crucial Data

With one exception, every gold standard study of masks in community settings has failed to find that they slow the spread of contagious respiratory diseases. The outlier is a widely cited study run in Bangladesh during the Covid-19 pandemic, and some of its authors claim it proves that mask mandates “or strategies like handing out masks at churches and other public events—could save thousands of lives each day globally and hundreds each day in the United States.”

States Take a Stand on Value of Human Life: Oklahoma Protects Unborn Babies from Abortion, Colorado Dismisses Their Humanity

April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

In just the span of about a week, legislation concerning ending the lives of unborn babies in two states starkly reveals that while many state lawmakers are standing up to protect human life, some appear to be underscoring the extremity with which they are prepared to go to dismiss it.

The states continue to take their respective stands in advance of the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, now awaiting a decision at the U.S. Supreme Court. The case is considered to present the most significant challenge to the Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Commentary: Teachers Unions’ Other Foes Are Liberal Parents

April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 RealClearWire

Khulia Pringle would seem an unlikely critic of the local Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. The St. Paul native embarked on a teaching career in the hope of improving a school system that she saw as failing her daughter. By the time she finished her training in 2014, she had grown so disillusioned with the public school system that she took a job with an education reform group, helping to recruit and place hundreds of tutors in schools across the state.

While she shares the union’s emphasis on pushing for higher pay and smaller classrooms, the self-described liberal education activist says the federation’s three-week strike last month provided final confirmation of her worst fear: The union and public education system place a higher priority on serving their own needs than they do on serving students and parents, 60% of whom are minorities.

Music Spotlight: Tyler Braden

April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 Bethany Bowman

With Tyler Braden’s newest hits, “Try Losing One,” and “Seventeen”, he has proven that his star is on the rise. You will be hearing a lot more from this singer/songwriter in the future.

Consumer Prices Rise 8.5 Percent, the Highest in 40 Years

April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 The Center Square

Newly released federal inflation data show that prices continue to rise at the fastest rate in four decades, continuing the trend of soaring inflation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its Consumer Price Index, a key indicator of inflation, which showed prices rose an additional 1.2% in March, part of an 8.5 percent spike in the past 12 months.

New Study Shows Red States Handled COVID-19 Better Than Blue States

A new study by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity found that states led by Republicans did a better job than Democrat-led states at managing the coronavirus and keeping their states from slumping into an economic and social recession.

As reported by The Daily Caller, the three states that ranked the worst in mortality, economy, and schooling during the COVID pandemic were New Jersey, New York, and California, all of which had implemented some of the strictest lockdown measures in the nation. By contrast, the states that ranked the highest were Utah, Vermont, and Nebraska.

Commentary: Make the Judiciary Great Again by Holding Senators Accountable

Following four days of hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee in late March, the full Senate voted 53-47 last week to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as an associate justice of the Supreme Court—fulfilling Joe Biden’s campaign pledge to name a black woman to the high court. Three Republican senators joined their Democratic colleagues in voting to confirm Jackson—Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, Maine’s Susan Collins, and Utah’s Mitt Romney.

Imagine a slightly different scenario: a Republican president nominates someone to serve on the Supreme Court and asks a 50-50 Senate to confirm that person. You can be absolutely sure that Democrats would force the vice president to break the tie to get that nominee on the bench. Remember when, in 2016, President Trump nominated Betsy Devos to be secretary of education and Vice President Mike Pence had to break a tie, even without an evenly split Senate?

Truckers Block Mexico-Texas Bridge over GOP Gov. Abbott’s Order for Added Safety Inspections

Truckers working between Texas and Mexico have been blocking two busy bridges at the southern U.S. border, amid rising tensions over an order by the office of Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott for tighter safety inspections that also have purportedly slowed traffic.

GOP Calls Out Biden’s Attempt to Impose a ‘Green New Deal’ Through Wall Street Regulation

April 13, 2022April 12, 2022 The Center Square

A group of 40 House Republicans sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Monday, urging the agency to rescind a regulatory proposal forcing companies to disclose “climate-related risks.”

The Republicans, led by House Oversight Subcommittee on Environment Ranking Member Ralph Norman, slammed the financial regulator, saying it exceeded its congressionally-mandated authority in issuing the climate rule, in the letter obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The lawmakers added that the rule was especially inappropriate given the ongoing energy crisis.

Honda, GM Partner to Make ‘Affordable’ Electric Vehicles

General Motors (GM) and Honda plan to produce millions of “affordable” electric vehicles (EV) with prices of some popular models starting at around $30,000.

GM Director of Finance and Sales Communications David Caldwell told The Center Square that the collaboration will result in “a series of compact crossover EVs – the most popular vehicle segment globally.”

‘Trans Demiboy’ Elementary Teacher: ‘Heterosexuality Is Pushed on My Kids on a Daily Basis at a Very Young Age’

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

A video posted to the Libs of Tik Tok Twitter account features a self-described “trans demiboy non-binary” elementary school teacher who argues parents’ claims that pre-K through third grade children are not ready for indoctrination in gender ideology are signs of “internalized homophobia and transphobia.”

“Hi, I’m a queer teacher and I, 1,000 percent, do not support this bill,” states Amanda Tooley, who apparently now uses the name “Skye” and goes by “Mx. T” in her classroom at Saturn Street Elementary Arts and Media Magnet School in Los Angeles.

Commentary: Three States Are Rethinking the Relationship Between Housing and Education Quality

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 RealClearWire

Most of the nation’s 48.2 million public K-12 students are assigned to their schools based on geographic school districts or attendance zones, with few options for transferring to another public school district. This method of school assignment intertwines schooling with property wealth, limiting families’ education options according to where they can afford to live.

A 2019 Senate Joint Economic Committee report found that homes near highly rated schools were four times the cost of homes near poorly rated schools. This presents a real barrier for many families – and 56% of respondents in a 2019 Cato survey indicated that expensive housing costs prevented them from moving to better neighborhoods. The challenge has only deepened as housing prices skyrocketed during the pandemic, putting better housing and education options out of reach for many.

Nancy Mace Calls for Hunter Biden Laptop Investigation 18 Months After Scandal

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

Eighteen months after the contents of Hunter Biden’s now-infamous laptop were confirmed to be authentic and released to public, a South Carolina congresswoman is finally calling for an investigation.

“I’ve got news for Hunter Biden: when Republicans take the majority next year, he will be called to testify before the Oversight Committee that I sit on,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC-01) said on Tiwtter. “Republicans will get to the bottom of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, which the mainstream media refused to cover in 2020.”

President Biden’s Sinking Support in Key Voting Bloc a Threat to Dems

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 The Center Square

Democrats are scrambling to recapture the youth vote as President Joe Biden’s approval rating plummets among the group, Politico reported Sunday.

Biden’s approval rating among people aged 18-30 dropped significantly over the course of 2021, with a CBS News poll released in January recording a 70% drop compared to February 2021. Gallup released a poll the following month that showed only 31% approved of Biden, compared to former President Barack Obama, whose rating from Gallup with the demographic never fell below 42% throughout his entire presidency.

Alabama Sues Biden Administration for Not Deporting Illegal Immigrants

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is suing the Biden administration over claims it is ignoring immigration law that requires the federal government to arrest, detain and deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally.

The lawsuit alleges that the Biden administration’s immigration policy exceeds the authority of the Department of Homeland Security, is arbitrary and capricious, illegally bypassed notice and public commenting, and is unconstitutional.

GOP Lawmaker Claims School Officials in His State Found a Loophole in the Ban on CRT

A Republican lawmaker in Oklahoma is sounding the alarm on what he says is just the “wicked woke stepsister of” Critical Race Theory.

Oklahoma state Senator Shane Jett has proposed legislation to prohibit the teaching of so-called Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in K-12 public schools. The Oklahoma State Department of Education (DOE) is using the seemingly nice sounding name “Social and Emotional Learning” to implement the curriculum as a loophole in a state law that restricts teaching concepts like CRT, according to Jett.

Jett believes his bill, if passed, would shut that loophole and keep SEL out of public schools.

North Carolina Congressman Introduces Bill to Restart Building Border Wall

A North Carolina congressman has introduced a bill to require the federal government to restart rebuilding the border wall, which was halted by President Joe Biden.

U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, R-NC, introduced the Build the Wall Now Act, which removes all legal impediments to building the border wall. Among other things, it unlocks an additional $2.1 billion that was appropriated in fiscal years 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 that weren’t spent.

Democrat Running for Grassley’s Iowa GOP Senate Seat Removed from Primary for Lacking Signatures

An Iowa judge ruled has ruled that Democratic candidate and former Rep. Abby Finkenauer cannot run in her party’s June 7 primary to unseat seven-term incumbent GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Polk County district Judge Scott Beattie said late on Sunday that Finkenauer lacked the valid signatures she needed on her nominating petition. The judge said Finkenauer failed to submit a petition with enough signatures after two Republicans challenged her signature collection.

Commentary: The Difference Between Judge Jackson and Justice Thomas Is the Difference Between Nihilism and Natural Law

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 The Center Square

Observers of the Supreme Court should ask themselves what’s the more preposterous mainstream media mindmeld: whether Justice Clarence Thomas should recuse himself or resign over his wife’s political activism, or the legal brilliance of the Supreme Court Justice-to-be, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Truth be told, what we have here is the myrmidon media’s mockery of the most brilliant Supreme Court justice ever, one they have derisively dismissed as a lawn jockey of the Right, a lackey of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, someone who will be tutored on race by future Justice Jackson, and now a pawn or puppet of his wife. The actual contrast between the two judges could hardly be greater. Of course, neither justice should be held completely responsible for the allies he attracts.

Reports: As Inflation Rose in 2021, So Did Americans’ Credit Card Debt

As inflation rose last year to a 40-year high, Americans’ credit card debt also soared, according to analyses published by the personal-finance website WalletHub.

In its Credit Card Debt study, Wallethub found that consumers racked up $87.3 billion in new debt in 2021. During the fourth quarter of 2021, debt increased by $74.1 billion, the largest increase ever reported, Wallethub notes. It was also a 63% larger increase than the post-Great Recession average for a fourth quarter.

By the end of 2021, the average household credit card balance was $8,590. “That’s $2,642 below WalletHub’s projected breaking point,” the report states.

Commentary: The ‘Great Opportunity Project’ Spreads Best State Economic Policies Nationwide

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022 RealClearWire

Next Monday is Tax Day, the last day for Americans to file their 2021 tax returns. This year’s Tax Day coincides with President Biden’s recent proposal to raise taxes on small businesses, corporations, and individuals by $2.5 trillion. His plan would partly reverse the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed at the end of 2017 that led to historic shared economic prosperity in 2018 and 2019.

While Biden is seeking to contract the size of the private economy through tax increases, numerous states are making positive reforms, including cutting taxes, to expand economic opportunity and well-being for their residents. Rather than fixating on Washington, policymakers can harness these best practices in the states and, eventually, adopt them at the federal level when the political climate allows. Call it the Great Opportunity Project.

Whitmer Signs Bill Giving Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency $140M to Overhaul Agency

April 12, 2022April 11, 2022 Admin

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill appropriating nearly $140 million to revamp Michigan’s embattled Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA.)

“This fiscally-responsible, bipartisan bill will lower costs for small businesses and fight waste, fraud, and abuse in our unemployment system,” Whitmer said in a statement. “This is the latest step we are taking to fight fraud, hold people accountable, and strengthen the Unemployment Insurance Agency after decades of disinvestment. By making a deposit into the Unemployment Compensation Fund, we can help small businesses balance their books by lowering the costs of unemployment.”

Moderna Recalls More than 750,000 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses After ‘Foreign Body’ Found in Lot

The pharmaceutical company Moderna on Friday recalled 764,900 doses of its Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine after a “foreign body” was found in a vial.

The contaminated lot was manufactured at a contract manufacturing site, ROVI, in Spain, and was distributed in mid-January 2022 in Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Spain, according to a company press release.

Commentary: The Right Should Not Protect Woke Capital

For nearly 70 years, families have traveled to Disney for vacation, not indoctrination.

Sadly, America’s preeminent entertainment company has joined a growing list of corporations bent on pushing woke ideologies.

For decades, Congress has unthinkingly supported these companies. Conservatives need to reassess whether Disney’s bottom line is worth protecting.

Amazon Prepares to Go on the Offensive Against Newly Unionized Employees

Amazon plans to go on the offensive against the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) following its successful bid to unionize Amazon workers on April 1 in New York City, according to legal documents filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Amazon intends to appeal the Amazon Labor Union’s victory in a 55% majority vote at a Staten Island, New York City warehouse to unionize the facility’s workers. The company argues that labor groups influenced the outcome of the vote.

Wind Energy Company Fined $8 Million for Killing 150 Eagles

On Tuesday, a wind energy company was found guilty in federal court of killing over 150 eagles with their wind turbines over the course of the last ten years.

The Daily Caller reports that ESI Energy, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Wyoming to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. ESI had failed to apply for a special permit granted to some wind energy companies that provides them immunity from inevitable bird strike deaths caused by the massive propellers of the wind turbines.

Grammy Winner Rory Feek Celebrates Self-Reliance with First-of-Its-Kind ‘Homestead Festival’ in Tennessee