Day: March 18, 2022

Governor Bill Lee Signs Joint Resolution Recognizing Mission America Foundation for Work Combating Human and Child Trafficking

Aaron Gulbransen

Governor Bill Lee has placed his signature on House Joint Resolution 0856, a resolution recognizing the Mission America Foundation for the work they do to combat child and human trafficking.

The Mission America Foundation “is dedicated to eradicating Child and Human Trafficking. We utilize prior military personnel to investigate trafficking leads and providing intelligence to law enforcement agencies. We provide ‘Situationally Aware Fundamentally Empowered’ (S.A.F.E), self defense training to young boys and girls. Our focus is increasing trafficking awareness, through speaking engagements to bring awareness to the domestic trafficking problems that plague this great nation.”

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Commentary: 10 Realities of Ukraine

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skyline of Kyiv, Ukraine

One. Reassuring an enemy what one will not do ensures that the enemy will do just that and more. Unpredictability and occasional enigmatic silence bolster deterrence. But Joe Biden’s predictable reassurance to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will show restraint means Putin likely will not. 

Two. No-fly zones don’t work in a big-power, symmetrical standoff. In a cost-benefit analysis, they are not worth the risk of shooting down the planes of a nuclear power. They usually do little to stop planes outside of such zones shooting missiles into them. Sending long-range, high-altitude anti-aircraft batteries to Ukraine to deny Russian air superiority is a far better way of regaining air parity.

Three. Europe, NATO members, and Germany in particular have de facto admitted that their past decades of shutting down nuclear plants, coal mines, and oil and gas fields have left Europe at the mercy of Russia. They are promising to rearm and meet their promised military contributions. By their actions, they are admitting that their critics, the United States in particular, were right, and they were dangerously wrong in empowering Putin.

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Corey DeAngelis: More School Choice Creates Greater Incentive for Teachers’ Unions to Push Student-Focused Policies

Susan Berry, PhD
Corey DeAngelis of the American Federation for Children

In an interview with The Star News Network, nationally known school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis said teachers’ unions would be incentivized to push for more student-focused policies in public schools if school funding followed the child and more states adopted school choice programs.

DeAngelis, the national director of research at the American Federation for Children, is also an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a senior fellow at the Reason Foundation.

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Pennsylvania Supreme Court Leaves New Democrat-Favored State House Map in Place

Bradley Vasoli
Kerry Benninghoff

Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives were dealt an expected blow this week as the state Supreme Court unanimously declined to overturn a new state-House-district map.

Every ten years, Pennsylvania’s Legislative Reapportionment Commission (LRC) must redraw the state’s 203 state legislative districts and 50 state senatorial districts to cohere with new population data reported by the U.S. Census. The five-member LRC is composed of the respective Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate as well as a chair appointment by the state Supreme Court. In the latest round of redistricting, Democrats effectively controlled the LRC, as the majority of justices on the court selected fellow Democrat Mark A. Nordenberg. 

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Ohio Bill Would Ban Abortion If Roe v. Wade Overturned

Peter D'Abrosca

A “trigger bill” was introduced this week in the Ohio General Assembly that would ban abortion in nearly all cases provided that certain conditions are met. 

The text of HB 598 is clear: No person shall purposely cause or induce an abortion by either of the following: (1) Prescribing, administering, or personally furnishing a drug or substance; (2) Using an instrument or other means.

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National Republican Congressional Committee Spotlights Arizona Congressional Race, Names Ciscomani to ‘Young Guns’ Program

Cooper Moran
Juan Ciscomani

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is placing a heavy focus on Arizona’s 6th Congressional District and candidate Juan Ciscomani.

The organization named him to its “Young Guns” program, which recognizes promising candidates in “the most competitive congressional seats in the 2022 election cycle.”

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Michigan Redistricting Places Incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Dan Kildee in Competitive New 8th District

Aaron Gulbransen

Michigan’s redistricting process has placed incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Dan Kildee in a competitive new 8th Congressional District.

Prior to redistricting changing the numbers and lines, Kildee was running in the old 5th district, a district he has represented since 2013. Kildee is the Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democrat Caucus.

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Virginia Association of School Superintendents President Acknowledges Letter Criticizing Youngkin Represents Only ‘the Majority of Our Board’

Eric Burk
Superintendent of Wyoming Jillian Balow

A letter published last Friday on behalf of Virginia’s school superintendents to Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow represents a majority of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents (VASS) board, not the feelings of all 133 superintendents, VASS President Dr. Zebedee Talley, Jr. told John Reid on WRVA on Wednesday. The letter criticized the Youngkin administration’s removal of equity material, and Democrats and initial media reports suggested that the letter represented unanimous support from the superintendents. That led to a week of outcry from Virginia Republicans and conservative media.

“I think people have taken this and just gone way off course,” Talley told Reid.

“It simply expresses some concerns, and it is not all 133 superintendents who feel this way. If you get ten people in the room, you know, two people don’t agree on everything,” Talley said.

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Georgia Senate Passes Bill Protecting Parent Protestors

Peter D'Abrosca

The Georgia State Senate Wednesday passed a bill that would protect parents’ right to protest their local school boards. 

SB 588 “provide[s] that all meetings of local boards of education shall be open to the public except as otherwise provided by law…” and “provide[s] that members of the public shall not be removed from such public meetings except for actual disruption and in accordance with rules adopted and published by the local board of education.”

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Montgomery County, Pennsylvania GOP Asks Commissioners to Consider Election Reforms

Bradley Vasoli

NORRISTOWN, PA—Montgomery County, Pennsylvania’s Republican Party yesterday asked the county’s Democrat-controlled Board of Elections to consider several election-security measures, mainly regarding absentee voting.

At a County Commissioners’ meeting, Montgomery County Republican Committee (MCRC) Chair Liz Preate Havey said the reforms her organization proposes will curb alleged breaches of law and foulups in administration that have already taken place in the county during recent elections.

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Commentary: Slimy Liz Cheney All but Begging Wyoming Dems to Help Her Battle Trump

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Liz Cheney

No one ever said that the business of politics made good sense, but if you’re a politician, and the vast majority of your constituents — including a high percentage of those in your own party — no longer want you to represent them, shouldn’t you take their distaste as a hint and get the heck out of office?

Such is the case for notorious Donald Trump bashing RINO congresswoman Liz Cheney. As everyone knows by now, Cheney is the lone House representative from the huge but sparsely populated state of Wyoming, which means hers is the sole voice of every single Cowboy State resident and citizen in the lower chamber. Liz has never had an issue with winning elections in blood red Wyoming, which would seem to be an argument in her favor. But times and circumstances have changed markedly in the rocky mountain high plains and there’re hardly any folks there who hanker to send Cheney back to DC for another two years.

Yet onward Liz trudges. Because Cheney has fallen so far out of favor with conservatives and Republicans in her jurisdiction, she’s now relying on Democrats to try and (literally) save her seat. The optics alone are odd, but reality is even weirder. In a piece titled “Liz Cheney turns to Democrats to save her hide,” Tara Palmeri wrote at Politico:

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Democrat Gubernatorial Hopeful Nikki Fried Attacks DeSantis over Plane Purchases She Once Supported

Steve Stewart

Gubernatorial candidate and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat, teamed up with Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson to promote questionable claims related to Governor Ron DeSantis and the state’s purchase of airplanes for executive travel.

On March 12, Wilson noted in a tweet that he had called out DeSantis for adding private jets to the state budget.

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Governor Youngkin Says New Report Shows That Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Is Carbon Tax Passed on to Consumers

Eric Burk
Glenn Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin is trying to withdraw Virginia from participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI,) and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) published a Youngkin-ordered report on the program, which requires utilities to bid on carbon dioxide allowances.

“Costs are soaring for Virginia families and as governor, I pledged to address over taxation and Virginia’s high cost of living. That’s why I signed Executive Order Nine to direct DEQ to examine the impact of RGGI and start the process of ending Virginia’s participation. This report reveals that RGGI is in reality a carbon tax passed on to families, individuals and businesses throughout the Commonwealth – it’s a bad deal for Virginians,” Youngkin said in a press release Tuesday.

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Dozens of State GOP Lawmakers Endorse Former Connecticut House Minority Leader Klarides for Senate

Bradley Vasoli
Themis Klarides

Former Connecticut House Republican Leader Themis Klarides received the endorsement of 47 current state lawmakers this week for her U.S. Senate bid.

This compounds an already strong showing of support Klarides has boasted among party leaders and committee members across the state. Should she secure her party’s nomination in the August 9 primary, she will face 10-year incumbent Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D) in November. 

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BLM Activist and Husband Face Federal Fraud Charges After Using Nonprofit Donations on Lavish Lifestyle

Admin

A Boston-based BLM activist and her husband are accused of bilking taxpayers and liberal donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars to use on vacations, restaurants, and trips to the nail salon.

The pair reportedly went on the spending spree using unemployment benefits, and donation funds of the non-profit organization “Violence in Boston.”

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Bill Would Expand Medical Marijuana Program in Ohio

The Center Square

Ohioans suffering from migraines, arthritis or other medical conditions could be eligible for medical marijuana if a bill in the Ohio House to expand conditions eligible for treatment becomes law.

The legislation also would create the Division of Marijuana Control within the Department of Commerce to oversee the state’s medical marijuana program, rather than the State Pharmacy Board that currently controls it.

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Left-Wing Democrats Ask Biden to Cancel Oil Drilling on Federal Lands, Declare ‘Climate Emergency’

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The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), a group of 97 left wing lawmakers, urged President Joe Biden to declare a “climate emergency” and issue a series of bans on federal oil and gas leasing.

The requests were part of the CPC’s proposed agenda for executive action released Thursday that it would like to see the White House pursue moving forward. Democratic Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal is the caucus’ chair and Sen. Bernie Sanders is its sole member from the Senate.

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