Category: National

September 26, 2023 The Center Square

The States Project, a Democrat-aligned group, spent $60 million across five swing states last year as part of an effort to proliferate liberal policies, The New York Times reported.

The group focuses on getting Democrats elected to state legislatures and aids them once elected in order to get more liberal policies passed, according to its website. The States Project’s is a joint initiative between PAC For America’s Future, which receives funding from George Soros’ Democracy PAC, and Future Now Action, a 501c4 dark money group that does not disclose its donors, according to the organization’s website.

Biden Approves $1 Billion in Grants to Combat ‘Environmental Injustice’ with Shade

To combat what is referred to as “environmental injustice,” the Biden Administration is giving out $1 billion in grants to put up trees in areas of cities that serve mostly minorities that have been robbed of the environmental benefits of shade due to alleged racism.

The funding is part of a $1.5 billion investment from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act focusing on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program.

Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Is the Left Happy That They Got Their Wish?

by Victor Davis Hanson America has been in a veritable cultural revolution since the 1960s. Nearly all our major institutions finally became woke — the administrative state, traditional and social media, universities, K-12, the corporate boardroom, entertainment, professional sports, and the foundations. So the Obama and the Biden administrations…

‘Losing Our Freedom of Speech’: Parent Speaks Out Against Middle School’s Explicit Reading List

Cooper Middle School in McClean, Virginia, gave students an age- inappropriate reading list for their 7th grade English class this year, a concerned parent told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Students in the English class were assigned a wide variety of books on topics that spanned from illegal immigration to Black Lives Matter (BLM), according to a copy of the list. Although the reading list clarifies that students will not have to read every single book, one teacher at the middle school said students would have to choose books to read from the provided options unless a parent offered an alternate, school-approved book, an orientation video welcoming students to the class showed.

EPA Shelled Out Millions to Dem Megadonor-Tied Group Seeking to Hamstring American Industry

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave a $13 million grant to a Michael Bloomberg-tied group looking to undermine a key U.S. industry under the EPA’s regulatory purview.

The EPA grant went to the Deep South Center For Environmental Justice (DSCFEJ), a grassroots eco-activism group that is a coalition partner of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ “Beyond Petrochemicals” campaign, according to the campaign’s website. The “Beyond Petrochemicals” campaign seeks to halt the expansion of petrochemical projects that manufacture fertilizer, plastics and packaging in the U.S., according to its website.

Washington Post Disavows Its Own Poll Showing Trump Up by 10 Over Biden

The Washington Post cast doubt on its own poll with ABC that showed former President Trump up by 10 points over his likely rival President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential contest.

Trump leads Biden 52 percent to 42 percent in a hypothetical general election matchup, according to the Post. The outlet suggested that, given other polling showing a closer race, its own poll is “probably an outlier” and appeared to cast doubt on the sample.

Minnesota Democrat Rep. Dean Phillips Considering a Presidential Bid Amid Concerns over Biden, Primary Field

Minnesota Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips said he hasn’t ruled out running against President Joe Biden in 2024, citing concerns over the president’s electability and the lack of primary challengers, according to an interview released Monday.

Education Secretary Says He Doesn’t ‘Respect’ Parents Thinking ‘They Know What’s Right for Kids’

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona took a jab at certain parents who are standing up for their children’s education by stating that he does not “respect” people who are “misbehaving in public and acting as if they know what’s right for kids.”

State Election Officials Say They Will Defer to the Courts on Removing Trump from 2024 Ballot

September 25, 2023 Admin

Top election officials in multiple states have said they would defer to the courts on the question of removing former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot.

Zero Students Proficient in Math at 40 Percent of Baltimore High Schools

September 25, 2023 The Center Square

Not a single student is proficient in math at 40% of Baltimore public high schools in the spring of 2023, according to state exam results obtained by Fox45.

Nearly 2,000 students took the state math exam across the 13 schools with no proficient students. Of the students who took the exam at those schools, 74.5% of them received the lowest possible score, Fox45 reported.

2023 Could See Highest Number of People on Food Stamps Since 2016

The 2023 fiscal year is on track to average the highest number of individuals on food stamps in the U.S. since 2016.

There were 42,329,101 on food assistance on average each month on through the first nine months of the fiscal year, as of June 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The fiscal year is completed at the end of September.

Fauci and Wife’s Net Worth Surpassed $11 Million Upon Leaving Government

New records reveal that Dr. Anthony Fauci and his wife Christine had a total net worth of over $11 million at the time Fauci left his government post last year.

According to Fox News, the termination papers for the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) show that the Faucis’ net worth was up by $2 million since before the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic, despite dipping slightly between 2021 and 2022.

Federal Government Handed over Billions in COVID Relief Money to Colleges with Massive Endowments

The federal government handed over nearly $76 billion to colleges and universities from COVID-19 federal funding packages, despite the colleges and universities having billions of dollars in their endowment funds, according to data compiled by OpenTheBooks.

The Cares Act, The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSSA) and The American Rescue Plan Act contained over $5 trillion in federal COVID-19 relief funds, of which nearly $76 billion was handed over to colleges and universities, according to data compiled by OpenTheBooks, a government transparency watchdog organization. Sixteen of the universities with the largest endowments received nearly $4 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

Commentary: We Know Exactly What ‘De-Development’ Means

September 25, 2023 Just the News

by Roger Kimball “The climate crisis,” said Al Gore at the U.N. a couple of days ago, “is a fossil fuel crisis.” “What climate crisis?” you might be asking, and you would be right to do so. Yes, it is impossible to turn anywhere in our enlightened, environmentally conscious world without…

Parental Rights Group: 1,000 School Districts Support Hiding Kids’ Gender Issue from Parents

An education group that supports parents’ rights released a comprehensive list this month of over 1,000 school districts that support children keeping their gender identity hidden from their parents.

Parents Defending Education published a list last updated on September 11, which showed that there are 1,044 school districts across the U.S. that “openly state that district personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status hidden from parents.”

Transportation Department Rejects Ernst’s Request to Review Telework Policies

September 25, 2023 The Center Square

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) inspector general declined a request by Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa to look into telework abuses in government agencies, according to a Thursday letter provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Ernst sent a letter to 24 agencies on Aug. 28 requesting that they review their telework policies to determine how taxpayer money was being spent, which Transportation Department Inspector General Eric J. Soskin declined to do, according to the letter. Ernst introduced the Stopping Home Office Work’s Unproductive Problems (SHOW UP) Act on Sept. 13 to address issues with telecommuting as part of a package of legislation to rein in the “administrative state.”

U.S. Is Top Exporter of Liquified Natural Gas in First Half of 2023

The U.S. exported more natural gas in the first six months of 2023 than in any other previous six-month period, the U.S. Energy Information Agency reported.

U.S. companies averaged 12.5 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in the first six months of this year, an 11% increase from their average over the same period last year. This is after in May of this year, the U.S.’s “net natural gas exports as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and by pipeline averaged a monthly record high of 13.6 Bcf/d.”

Congressional Report Details ‘Pervasive Degradation’ of First Amendment Rights on College Campuses

A congressional report released by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on Thursday describes the “long-standing and pervasive degradation of First Amendment rights” on college campuses.

The report, titled “Freedom of Speech and Its Protection on College Campuses,” details the committee’s findings on First Amendment violations such as “cancellations” of events to please “one-sided woke faculty and administrators.” The report provided legislation suggestions to protect freedom of speech and prevent a “plague of illiberalism,” including disclosure requirements of free speech policies and mandated neutrality to prevent colleges from commenting on public policy or social issues.

Commentary: The Year in Teacher Union Double Dealing

September 24, 2023 Just the News

This has been an egregious year for the country’s teachers unions. Okay, you may be thinking, so what else is new? But 2023 has exposed them as hypocrites par excellence.

The National Education Association convention in July provides myriad examples. While one might think a gathering of teachers would be concerned with the lack of literacy in public school students, he would be dead wrong. This year’s NEA convention in Florida was strictly political, and sex- and gender-obsessed ideas were front and center.

Matt Gaetz Spars with Maria Bartiromo over Biden Probes, Looming Government Shutdown

Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz sparred with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday over the impeachment probe of President Joe Biden and the potential government shutdown. Bartiromo said in her opening monologue on “Sunday Morning Futures” that Gaetz was disrupting “the Republican wins” by standing against stopgap funding measures.

Trump Up 9 Points on Biden as Voters Fret About President’s Age, Economy

September 24, 2023 Just the News

President Joe Biden’s age is not the only hurdle he will be facing in the 2024 presidential election, as record numbers of Americans say they are worse off financially under his presidency and former President Donald Trump is polling significantly higher in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, according to a poll released Sunday.

‘Scientifically Bizarre’: Research, CDC Data Undermine COVID Vax Recommendations for Kids, New Moms

September 24, 2023September 23, 2023 Just the News

New research on how COVID-19 vaccines affect children and nursing mothers, and the government’s own estimates of severe side effects in teenagers, is putting scrutiny on the CDC’s recommendation that all ages stay “up to date” with newly authorized formulations.

Fully vaccinated versus unvaccinated children under age 5 were roughly as likely to require medical visits among those testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 in a large California study, challenging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s claim that the shots “protect children against severe disease and hospitalization.”

Bob Menendez to ‘Temporarily’ Step Down as Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee

September 24, 2023 Just the News

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey will temporarily step down as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after he was indicted by federal prosecutors in New York on Friday, according to a statement issued by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office.

Menendez, the three-term senior senator from New Jersey, was indicted by a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on federal corruption charges, being alleged to have accepted bribes in cash, gold bullion and a luxury car in exchange for shaping U.S. foreign policy towards Egypt and interfering in investigations on behalf of his affiliates. Schumer announced that Menendez’s decision to step down from his role as chairman was temporary, according to the announcement.

GOP Rep. Biggs Predicts 10 Million Illegal Aliens Will Have Entered U.S. by End of Biden Admin

Arizona Republican Rep. Andy Biggs on Thursday backed former President Donald Trump’s calls to conduct a mass deportation of illegal immigrants over the age of 14.

Addressing supporters in Iowa at a recent rally, Trump vowed to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to enable the widespread deportation effort.

Commentary: Democratic-Run States Are Losing Population, Power, and Congressional Seats

For years, Americans who believe in limited government and putting the American people first have had to watch as states like California, New York, and Illinois have turned their cities into dystopian hellscapes and sent unhinged politicians to Washington DC to inflict their policies on the rest of the nation.

But something very interesting has been happening over the past decade and this trend is only accelerating – the most left-wing states are slowly losing power as their populations decrease and residents move elsewhere. California, New York, Illinois, and others are losing population as residents move to friendlier and freer states. What this translates into is a mathematical solution to leftism and centralized government control.

Commentary: The Continuing Cultural Revolution

Christopher F. Rufo’s America’s Cultural Revolution is a landmark study of America’s radicalization since the 1960s. It is a carefully constructed work full of insights, which confirmed for me the conclusions that I had reached while studying some of the same topics. Rufo shows convincingly that certain radical thinkers, most of whom were American born, affected deeply and perhaps irreversibly American institutions starting in the 1960s. This study clearly avoids an interpretive perspective that I have repeatedly mocked, exemplified by those who pretend that American culture and politics were generally sound up until quite recently, perhaps until the point when LGBT enthusiasts turned from gay marriage to gender transitioning.

California AG Sues Pregnancy Centers for Offering Abortion Reversal Pill

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against several pro-life pregnancy centers Thursday, alleging that they are “misleading patients” by advertising an abortion reversal pill, according to a press release.

Heartbeat International (HI) and its affiliate, RealOptions pregnancy centers, suggest on their website that the use of progesterone can, in some cases, reverse the effects of a chemical abortion pill if the mother has only taken the first dose. Bonta argued that the treatment has “no credible scientific backing” and poses a potential risk for pregnant women, according to the press release.

Commentary: The Importance of Making Mistakes

September 24, 2023 The Center Square

A couple of years ago, I received a post-semester email from a student’s father. He was upset about his child’s final grade in my class, which had landed somewhere between a high B and a low A.

The grade was clearly not very low, but the student’s father wanted me to reconsider. Apparently, a specific assignment’s less-than-perfect score had kept his son from making the honor roll.

Diesel Prices Continue to Climb

Diesel fuel prices continue to rise, hiking the cost of transporting goods to market as American consumers pay the price.

According to the latest data from AAA, the current national average price for a gallon of diesel is $4.56, up from $4.53 a week ago and $4.35 a month ago. As those prices rise, the costs are passed on to consumers.

Elon Musk’s Brain Chip Company Is Officially Recruiting Humans for Testing

September 23, 2023 Just the News

Billionaire Elon Musk’s brain chip company Neuralink is officially recruiting human beings for a clinical trial, the biotech firm announced on Tuesday.

The trial will be open to individuals with quadriplegia resulting from cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Neuralink announced on its website. It seeks to assess the brain implant’s safety, the performance of its “surgical robot” and gauge the chip’s effectiveness in allowing paralyzed people to influence external devices through their thoughts.

McCarthy Pledges to Remove Ukraine Funding from Pentagon Spending Package

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Friday vowed to remove funding for Ukraine from a Pentagon spending package amid a conservative rebellion.

McCarthy Pledges to Remove Ukraine Funding from Pentagon Spending Package

September 23, 2023 Just the News

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Friday vowed to remove funding for Ukraine from a Pentagon spending package amid a conservative rebellion.

The package, which has twice failed to clear a procedural vote due to internal Republican opposition, includes $300 million in funds for Kyiv to continue its fight against the Russian military.

Congress to Release New Evidence, Testimony in Biden Case to Back Up IRS Whistleblowers

September 23, 2023September 22, 2023 Just the News

The chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee tells Just the News he plans to soon make public new testimony that corroborates IRS whistleblowers’ accounts of interference in the Hunter Biden probe and new evidence to support the nascent impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said Thursday his panel will hold a vote to make the new information available, including testimonies from two IRS agents who back the accounts of whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler about slow-walking and interference in the Hunter Biden tax case.

Teachers Fired for Challenging Gender Ideology Get Legal Support from Doctors, Lawyers, Feminists

September 23, 2023 Just the News

First Amendment experts, radical feminists and doctors are pushing back against a court ruling that held two educators responsible for their own firing because their opposition to a proposed gender identity policy sparked student protests and community complaints to Oregon’s Grants Pass School District.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke botched Supreme Court precedents on the speech rights of public employees and qualified immunity from personal liability, upheld restrictions that disproportionately target women and adopted pseudoscientific language, according to ideologically diverse friend-of-the-court briefs filed with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Virginia Representative Proposes Defunding Colleges with Vax Mandates

The COVID-19 pandemic is over, but vaccine mandates imposed by colleges and universities are not. Now a Virginia congressman has introduced a bill to withhold federal funds from institutions of higher education that require vaccinations against the disease.

President Joe Biden declared the pandemic over in ending the public health emergency May 11. Despite this, nearly 100 colleges and universities currently require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for the 2023-2024 school year.

Commentary: The Justice System Is Now a Weapon in Progressives’ Arsenal Against Political Enemies

September 23, 2023 RealClearWire

Attorney General Merrick Garland gave his best Captain Renault impression on Capitol Hill in denying a double standard in how the Justice Department investigated (or didn’t) Hunter Biden (and his father) versus how they pursue his political rival. Shocked, shocked, indeed.

Those experiencing the less pleasant side of judicial double standards see rather clearly the woke hall pass.

Commentary: American Pandemic ‘Samizdat’

On May 15, 1970, the New York Times published an article by esteemed Russia scholar Albert Parry detailing how Soviet dissident intellectuals were covertly passing forbidden ideas around to each other on handcrafted, typewritten documents called samizdat.

Commentary: Fact-Checking Merrick Garland’s ‘Fair’ DOJ

September 23, 2023September 22, 2023 Julie Kelly

It might go down as the whopper of the year.

During his opening statement to the House Judiciary committee on Wednesday morning, Attorney General Merrick Garland attempted to head off expected criticism from Republicans by insisting his Department of Justice is blind to politics. “[We] apply the same laws to everyone. There is not one set of laws for the powerful and one for the powerless. One for the rich and another for the poor. One for Democrats and another one for Republicans. The law will treat each of us alike.”

West Point Sued over Race-Based Admissions Process

On Tuesday, an anti-affirmative action group filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Military Academy at West Point over its race-based admissions process in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning such practices.

As reported by Axios, the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by Students for Fair Admissions (SFA), the same advocacy group that ultimately ended affirmative action through two cases it had filed before the Supreme Court, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. In both cases, SFA successfully argued that affirmative action unfairly benefits black and Hispanic students, while disproportionately discriminating against White and Asian students.

Commentary: More Evidence That U.S. Intelligence Analysis Is Broken and Politicized

Last week, American Greatness reporter Debra Heine reported a bombshell story that a “highly credible” CIA whistleblower has told the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that the CIA “bribed” six of its analysts with significant financial incentives to change their initial conclusion that the COVID-19 pandemic originated from a biolab leak in Wuhan, China and to instead conclude that the virus emerged naturally.

San Francisco Homeless Camps Hit Highest Number in Three Years