Author: The Center Square

Veteran: DOD Withholds Documents on Whether DEI Hiring Improves National Security

The Center Square
James Fitzpatrick

The U.S. Department of Defense is under scrutiny for refusing to release records about exactly how spending on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion helps with national security.

The Center to Advance Security in America in May filed with the DOD a Freedom of Information Act Request, the legal pathway to obtain government documents. The FOIA sought to find out what DOD officials estimate is the real impact on national security of DEI spending, for which Congress approved $86.5 million in fiscal year 2023.

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Canada Officials Express Alarm About Terrorism Threats and Its Impact on U.S-Canada Border.

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Illegal immigrants arrested at U.S.-Canada Border

In addition to members of Congress expressing alarm about national security threats at the U.S.-Canada border, members of the Conservative Party of Canada are blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government for being responsible for creating them.

A Canadian House of Commons hearing was held Wednesday to investigate how the Trudeau government granted citizenship to a member of ISIS who allegedly plotted a terrorist attack against Canadians.

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Biden Admin Pushed Group to Cut Trans Surgery Age Requirements, Faces Probe

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Transgender

A U.S. House Committee has launched a probe of the Biden-Harris administration after reports that the White House pressured the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, a leading professional nonprofit association, to remove the age limits for transgender surgeries and drugs for minors.

Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., chair of the Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services, sent a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra opening the probe, which requests all documentation and communication around the alleged “political interference” and whether HHS has pressured other medical groups to alter its guidance.

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Credit Card Debt Hits Record $1.14 Trillion

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Credit Card

More Americans are struggling financially as savings are significantly down and debt and delinquencies are up compared to four years ago.

Savings and disposable income are significantly down when comparing federal data under the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations.

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Report Challenges Harris’ Assertion That Higher Food Prices Equal Corporate Greed

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Grocery Shopping

Rising grocery store prices over the last few years aren’t the fault of farmers or “greedy” corporations, a conservative North Carolina research organization concludes in a new documentary series and report.

Instead, higher energy prices and more regulations are the culprit, according to the John Locke Foundation documentary series Sowing Resilience.

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Florida Attorney General Will Track Down Transnational Criminals and Put Them in Prison

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Ashley Moody

From a Romanian theft ring to a notorious Big Boi drug trafficking ring, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution is continuing to prosecute transnational criminal organizations.

She’s also issued a warning to criminals: “Florida law enforcement will track you down, and my Statewide Prosecutors will ensure you end up in prison.”

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Walz Promises Harris Will Help Middle Class in DNC Speech

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Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz leaned heavily into his Midwestern roots in his speech that wrapped up the third night of the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, painting the Harris-Walz ticket as pro-middle class, pro-freedom, and pro-neighborliness.

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DeSantis Criticizes Democrats and Media for Biden-George Washington Comparison

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Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized Democrats and the media for comparing President Joe Biden to America’s first president, George Washington.

DeSantis did so as Florida passed a milestone this month – more than one million Republicans are registered to vote in the Sunshine State than Democrats are.

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Food Stamp Costs Are on the Way Down but Still Far Higher than Pre-Pandemic Days

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Grocery Shopping

The cost of food assistance in the U.S. has dropped from its peak during the pandemic, but is still 23% higher than it was during pre-pandemic times, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, what used to be called food stamps, peaked in costs December 2022 at $11.07 billion that month. That monthly cost dropped to $7.51 billion as of April 2024. There were about 41.6 million people collecting SNAP benefits as of April 2024.

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Illegal Border Crossings Surpass 12.5 Million Since Biden-Harris Took Office

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Illegal Immigrants

U.S. Customs and Border Protection released monthly border apprehension data on Friday, saying, “statistics show lowest southwest border encounters in nearly four years.” CBP also claimed illegal border crossings were down by 34% from June to July and the drop is due to a presidential proclamation issued in June.

Troy Miller, a senior official performing the duties of the CBP Commissioner, said  recent Biden-Harris policies led “to the lowest number of encounters along the southwest border in more than three years.”

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New Poll Shows Trump, Harris Tied in Wisconsin

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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are tied in a new poll of Wisconsin voters.

In a head-to-head matchup between the Republican and Democratic nominees for president, the American Greatness/TIPP poll of likely and registered voters shows both Trump and Harris at 47% support.

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Polls Say Majority of Americans Want Troops Sent to Border and Oppose Illegal Immigration

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Illegal Immigrants

Polls are consistently showing two key indictments on the Biden-Harris administration border policy: Americans not only overwhelmingly oppose illegal immigration but also want troops sent to the southern border and the border secure.

Two new recent polls support this trend, although polls have consistently shown that Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Vice President Kamala Harris’ job as “border czar.”

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Critics Blast Harris’ New ‘Price Control’ Plan

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Kamala Harris

Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is taking fire for her new “price-gouging” ban that critics say is little more than communism-style “price controls” where government heavily regulates industries.

Harris’ effort to address elevated consumer prices hits at a key pain point for Americans, but the details of how Harris plans to go about fixing that problem will be the subject of close scrutiny when she lays out the plan at a North Carolina rally Friday. Harris is expected to unveil a broader economic plan at the same rally, but so far there are few details on specifically how she will address inflation. Prices have risen more than 20% overall since she and President Joe Biden took office.

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Consumer Prices Rise in Latest Federal Inflation Data

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Consumer prices rose again last month after dipping in June, according to newly released federal inflation data.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday released its Consumer Price Index, a key marker of inflation, which showed that consumer prices rose 0.2% in July, part of a 2.9% increase over the past 12 months.

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Inflation Ticks Up in New Federal Data

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Corn Farm

Newly released federal inflation data shows that the Producer Price Index, a leading marker of inflation, rose last month.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the data, which showed a 0.1 percent increase in July, part of a 2.2 percent increase in the previous 12 months.

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Federal Government Borrowed $5 Billion a Day in Fiscal Year 2024

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Congress Spending

So far in the fiscal year 2024, the federal government has had to borrow about $5 billion every day.

The Congressional Budget Office said Thursday the federal budget deficit was $1.5 trillion for the first 10 months of fiscal year 2024, which covers October through July.

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Proposal Suggests Fully Funding Veterans Affairs to Avoid Missing October Distributions

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Veterans

With a looming deadline to fund benefits to about 7 million veterans in October, and Congress out until Sept. 9, Maine Sen. Susan Collins and six colleagues have filed legislation to get full funding.

A Republican and independent are among the six. Veterans Affairs is facing a deficit of about $15 billion the remainder of this year and next – a deficit larger than the annual budget of the Environmental Protection Agency, says one senator.

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Majority Says First Amendment ‘Goes Too Far,’ According to Poll

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Peaceful Protest

Free speech suppression on college campuses and social media censorship often spur debates over how far the First Amendment should go to protect Americans’ rights to express their opinions – and who should be entrusted with those decisions. 

About 53% of Americans believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it protects, according to a new poll by the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE.

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Newsom Strengthens Chinese Relations as Scrutiny Grows over Walz’ China Ties

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Gavin Newsom and Xi Jinping

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared “California Panda Day” to highlight Sino-Californian cooperation as scrutiny grows over Minnesota governor and now Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz’s close relationship with China.

“Building on our strong foundation of partnership and deep cultural and economic ties, I traveled to China last year to advance priority issues including climate action and economic development,” said Newsom in his proclamation making August 8 “California Panda Day.”

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DeSantis Grants $8 Million for Infrastructure at Miami Soccer Complex

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Miami Freedom Park

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says that he is against using state money to fund the construction of sports stadiums.

DeSantis, however, announced Thursday that he and the state will grant $8 million from the Governors’ Job Growth Grant Fund toward road infrastructure around the new construction of Miami Freedom Park by the Inter Miami soccer club’s ownership.

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Commentary: Kamala’s Abuse of Staff Exemplifies Leftist Culture

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Kamala Harris

Long before fate made Kamala Harris the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party for U.S. President, the Washington Post published an article critical of how she treats staff. The article, published in December of 2021, reported high staff turnover and claimed it “opens up questions about her management style.”

What were they thinking? Very recent top search results on the Washington Post’s coverage of Harris only pull up glowing tributes. In the past two weeks, here are just a few: “Kamala Harris is making politics fun again — for Democrats,” “Democrats make a change and find their hope,” “Kamala Harris and the coconut tree of hope,” “Kamala Harris’s life, career and firsts from AG to the vice presidency,” “Kamala Harris’s powerful laughter in the face of weirdness,” “Kamala Harris walks into the storm — and keeps her footing,” “How Kamala Harris’s early career prepared her for this moment.”

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Report: Florida Receives Nation’s Second-Highest Grade for Religious Liberty

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People Praying

by Andrew Powell   The Sunshine State ranks second in the nation for the protection of religious liberty, according to a new report from the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy. The report, “Religious Liberty in the States,” is a project that measures legal safeguards for religious liberty across the…

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Harris, New VP Face Criticism for Handling of Crime

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Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in front of a BLM riot (composite image)

Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has reportedly chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate. Both candidates have faced criticism for their handling of police issues.

After replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, Harris immediately took fire for resurfaced videos where she praised the “defund the police” movement.

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Oddsmakers Move Walz Behind Shapiro as Kamala Harris’ Pick

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Kamala Harris, Josh Shapiro, and Tim Walz in front of The White House (composite image)

As the final hours tick down to an expected announcement, the pick for vice president on the Democrats’ ticket remains shrouded in secrecy and angled toward the governor of Pennsylvania.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ reveal is expected before Tuesday’s launch of a battleground states tour in Philadelphia. While the campaign has cautioned the starting point where she is expected to be alongside her running mate is not an indicator of the choice, a leading candidate since July 21 has been Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Monday morning Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appeared to be a finalist.

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Apple Files to Dismiss DOJ Antitrust Case Against Its Smartphone Business

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Person holding an iPhone

Apple has filed a motion to dismiss a case from the United States Department of Justice claiming that it monopolizes the smartphone market using anticompetitive practices making it harder to switch to another phone. Antitrust experts say this case, if won by the DOJ, could set dangerous precedent by granting the government power to more easily define companies as monopolies and practices as monopolistic, and determine what companies must do or cannot do to avoid the label. 

The United States Department of Justice and 16 Attorneys General — including California and the District of Columbia — filed a lawsuit in March alleging Apple illegally monopolizes the smartphone market, such as green boxes with “social stigma” for non-Apple text messages and Apple smartwatch incompatibility with other operating systems. 

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Biden Admin Title IX Rule Blocked in Four More States, Bringing Total to 26

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A federal appeals court has ruled that the Biden administration can’t implement its Title IX rules in an additional four states, bringing the total number of statewide injunctions to 26.

With a recent block awarded in Oklahoma on Wednesday and then an emergency appeal granted by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, over half of the United States will be exempt from the Thursday deadline.

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Shoplifting Rose Twenty-Four Percent This Year, No End in Sight

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Macy's department store entrance

Shoplifting has soared in the U.S. in 2024, forcing many stores to leave cities and continuing a trend in recent years.

Shoplifting has risen 24 percent in the first half of 2024 alone, according to newly released data from the Council on Criminal Justice.

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Florida Follow-Up Audit Finds Discrepancies with Economic Incentive Programs

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The Florida Auditor General recently published a follow-up audit of the Sunshine State’s economic incentives programs and found some uncorrected issues remain.

The Florida Department of Commerce assists the governor in working with the Legislature, state agencies, business leaders, and economic development professionals. For fiscal 2023-24, state lawmakers appropriated approximately $1.8 billion.

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Biden Administration Gives Up on Texas Border Suit, Ordered to Finish Wall

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Border Wall

Texas has won another lawsuit against the Biden administration, this time one that requires it to finish building the border wall.

The ruling was issued May 29, with a 60-day window for appeal. Because the Biden administration didn’t appeal by July 29, the court’s order remains in full effect.

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Hurricane Beryl to Cost Americans Nationwide Nearly $32 Billion

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Destruction of Hurricane Beryl

The devastation Hurricane Beryl left in its wake is estimated to cost taxpayers nationwide between $28 billion and $32 billion, according to an AccuWeather analysis. The losses to Texas, which was hardest hit, are estimated to be several billion.

Hurricane Beryl made landfall near Matagorda, Texas, on July 8 as a Category 1 storm. It then made its way northeast, fueling tornadoes in eastern Texas and western Louisiana, up into Arkansas and Missouri. The storm turned into a tropical rainstorm moving into the Midwest and New England, causing flooding, localized tornadoes and strong winds.

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New Poll: Trump Leads Harris by Four Points Nationally

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Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in front of The White House (composite image)

President Donald Trump outperforms Vice President Kamala Harris in a head-to-head matchup, according to a new poll.

The Harvard/Harris poll released Tuesday was taken after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and asked respondents: “If the 2024 election for President were held today and it was between Donald Trump, the Republican and Kamala Harris, the Democrat, who would you vote for?”

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Trump Blasts Facebook, Google for ‘Wrongly Censored’ Photo of Assassination Attempt

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Donald Trump in front of Google headquarters (composite image)

Former President Donald Trump blasted Facebook and Google Tuesday after Facebook admitted it had censored photos of Trump’s assassination attempt, images widely seen as a major moment and rallying point for the Trump campaign.

Users on X, formerly known as Twitter, began posting online this week that Google searches for Trump’s assassination, including the photo, were not being autocompleted like other searches. They also posted screenshots saying that searches for Trump turned up news for Trump’s opponent, Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

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Florida Governor Praises Hope Florida Program Participants

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Ron DeSantis HOPE Scholarship

Gov. Ron DeSantis and first lady Casey DeSantis held a news conference Monday to recognize 13 top-performing Hope Florida CarePortal Churches.

Hope Florida’s mission is to create pathways to prosperity for communities and individuals, to help them become more economically self-sufficient and to instill hope. Casey DeSantis spearheaded the project, which is implemented through the Florida Department of Children and Families.

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Poll: Voters, Parents Opposed to AI in Schools over Cheating Concerns

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Person on Computer

The majority of likely voters say artificial intelligence shouldn’t be in schools because it makes it too easy to cheat, new poll results show.

The Center Square Voter’s Voice Poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights found that over two-thirds of likely voters say they think AI should stay out of schools.

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National Study Finds Giving Americans $1,000 per Month Results in Less Productivity

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People Getting Money

Giving Americans $1,000 per month in taxpayer-funded guaranteed income makes them worse off, says a new three-year, 3000-participant study. The National Bureau of Economic Research’s massive study found recipients and their partners work and earn less, with the negative effect on wages and earnings getting worse over time.

While proponents of universal basic income theorized such programs would improve non-economic metrics for recipients, the study surprisingly showed leisure time only increased as recipients spent less time on sleeping, child care, community engagement, caring for others, and self improvement. Transfers also reduced recipients’ non-transfer incomes significantly, with the study finding “for every one dollar received, total household income excluding the transfers fell by at least 21 cents, and total individual income fell by at least 12 cents.”

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Report: Eighth-Grade Students Need Whole School Year to Reach Pre-Pandemic Performance

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Teacher and Students

An education organization that administers a nationwide assessment has found that students are still not performing as well as they were immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic and that students’ achievement gap worsened in the 2023-24 school year as compared to before COVID.

NWEA, which issues the Measures of Academic Progress, said in a report this week that some middle school students are still an entire school year behind where they were before the pandemic in almost every grade as schools are slated to run out of federal relief this fall.

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Environmentalists Grateful for Appellate Win over Chemical Industry Giant

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Chemours

Health advisories issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency about the risks of chemicals produced at a North Carolina plant on the Cape Fear River are lawful and not reviewable by a court.

In a ruling by three judges Tuesday at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, Justice Arianna Freeman wrote, “The health advisory provides guidance, but it imposes no obligations, prohibitions, or restrictions. The health advisory also does not give rise to any ‘direct and appreciable legal consequences.’”

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Battleground States Absent Hurdles to Place Harris on Ballot

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Kamala Harris

Election laws in all seven battleground states will allow Democrats to place onto ballots the name of Vice President Kamala Harris, or another candidate if one materializes.

As President Joe Biden’s supporters rally around Harris to take his spot as the party nominee, Republicans are planning legal challenges. Biden announced his decision via social media Sunday afternoon, with one month until the Aug. 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

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Poll: Inflation, Immigration, Economy Are Top Concerns of Voters

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Shopping

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, conducted prior to the weekend assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, found that likely voters said inflation/price increases (45%), illegal immigration (36%) and the economy/jobs (28%) were the issues that matter most to them heading into the November election.

The poll was conducted in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights from July 8-11 and surveyed nearly 2,300 likely voters, including 1,006 Republicans, 1,117 Democrats, and 172 true (non-leaning) independents. It has a margin of error of 2.1%. The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll is one of only six national tracking polls in the United States.

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U.S. Voters Suspect AI Could Impact Their Lives as It Develops According to Poll

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ChatGPT

New poll data of registered and potential voters reveals a general consensus that artificial intelligence could pose a threat to people as it further develops.

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology broadly used to complete tasks, learn information, and enable computers to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Recently, AI technology has become more sophisticated and more widely used at an increasing rate. 

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Democrats Chart Unknown Legal Territory as the Party Scrambles to Replace Joe Biden

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President Joe Biden on Sunday succumbed to pressure from leaders of his own party and suspended his reelection campaign. Several organizations have explained the process to replace him as the Democratic nominee.

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