Trump-Backed Candidates Rack Up More Wins

Former President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidates swept their primaries Tuesday, bolstering Trump’s track record as he continues to play an active role in the Republican Party.

Trump-backed candidates added to his successful track record of winning endorsements in both New York and Florida’s primaries on Tuesday. Trump wrote on Truth Social that 98.4% of his endorsements have won their race overall for the last four years, while BallotPedia tracked a winning score of 92% out of the 237 candidates he backed in this year’s primaries.

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DHS Codifies DACA as a Federal Regulation

Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken a major step to solidify its support of the widely unpopular amnesty program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), codifying the policy as a federal regulation that enables new protections for the program.

According to the Daily Wire, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas released a statement announcing the department’s decision to create a new rule that placed DACA into the federal register.

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17 Texas Counties Have Declared an Invasion at Southern Border

The judges and county commissioners of seven more Texas counties signed resolutions declaring an invasion at the southern border this week, citing unprecedented levels of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and drug smuggling occurring at the U.S. border with Mexico under the Biden administration.

The seven counties – Chambers, Ellis, Hardin, Johnson, Liberty, Orange, and Wilson – also expressed support for Gov. Greg Abbott to protect the sovereignty of Texas and secure the border.

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Revised GDP Numbers Show the Economy Shrinking

The Department Of Commerce revised the estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Thursday morning, finding similarly to July’s estimate that real GDP contracted in the second quarter of 2022.

The revised estimate for the second quarter finds that real GDP decreased annually at a rate of 0.6%, slightly less than the July 28 estimate of a 0.9% decrease, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Tennessee Comptroller Says Former White County Chief Deputy Clerk Stole More than $12,000

The Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury said Thursday that a “former White County Chief Deputy Clerk stole more than $12,000.”

“An investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has resulted in the indictment of Laura Gardner, the former Chief Deputy Clerk in the White County Clerk’s office. The office’s daily operations include registering vehicles, issuing vehicle tags and titles, renewing vehicle tags, and collecting vehicle sales tax,” said the agency in the statement.

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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn Meets with Taiwan President and Foreign Minister

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen at the Presidential Office in Taipei Friday.

Senator Blackburn also met with Foreign Minister Joseph Wu at the Taipei Guest House and then Wellington Koo, Secretary General of Taiwan’s National Security Council.

Later, Blackburn delivered remarks at Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (IDIA) and meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan.

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Report: The Gay-Straight Alliance Network Now Operates in More than 4,000 U.S. Schools

The Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Network, which promotes radical gender theory in elementary, middle, and high schools, now operates over 4,000 “gender and sexuality alliances” under the guise of student “clubs,” reports Christopher Rufo at City Journal.

A senior fellow and director of the Initiative on Critical Race Theory (CRT) at the Manhattan Institute, Rufo explained the GSA Network is a “professionally staffed nonprofit with a multimillion-dollar annual budget. GSA Network serves as an umbrella organization for more than 4,000 “gender and sexuality alliances” across 40 states.”

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California to Ban Any New Gas-Powered Cars by 2035

In perhaps the most radical push yet for so-called “green energy” alternatives, the state of California has announced plans to ban the sale of any new gas-fueled cars by the year 2035.

On Thursday, as reported by the New York Post, the California Air Resources Board is set to approve a resolution called the Advanced Clean Cars II act, which will initiate a phase-out of gas-powered vehicles across the state of California over the next 12 years.

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Commentary: Student Loan ‘Forgiveness’ Is Another Slight to Blue-Collar Workers

The Biden administration has announced that the federal government will enact a $10,000 per borrower student loan bailout for those with annual incomes as high as $125,000 (or $250,000 for households). This legally dubious action represents an upward redistribution of wealth from hard-working taxpayers toward the higher-income minority of Americans who have a college degree, all the while doing nothing to solve the ongoing challenge of rising college costs.

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Tennessee Supreme Court Appoints New Reporter to Advisory Commission on Rules of Practice and Procedure

The Tennessee Supreme Court announced Monday that it appointed a new reporter to the Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, Lynn Zehrt, who is currently a professor at Belmont University College of Law.

The previous Reporter to the Advisory Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure Jeffrey Usman, was recently appointed by Governor Bill Lee to the Court of Appeals.

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Georgia Policy Groups Say Biden Plan to Forgive Student Loan Debt ‘Simply Transfers the Burden to Taxpayers’

President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive some federal student loan debt received a lukewarm reaction from some Georgia groups who say the policy is unfair and won’t help ease inflation.

“We’re disappointed to see yet another policy out of Washington that creates more problems than it solves,” Eric Cochling, the chief program officer and general counsel for the Georgia Center for Opportunity, said. “In addition to contributing to already runaway inflation, this plan from the White House doesn’t actually forgive debt, it simply transfers the burden to taxpayers.”

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Ohio Senate Candidates Slam Biden’s Handout to Student Debtors

Both U.S. Senate candidates from Ohio criticized President Joe Biden for forgiving $300 billion in student-loan debt, with Republican J.D. Vance issuing a particularly scathing rebuke for what he called “an elite giveaway on the backs of American workers.”

“Today, in the midst of a historic inflation crisis, Joe Biden supplied a $300 billion giveaway to college graduates – paid for by single moms in the form of higher food prices, by trade workers in the form of higher taxes, and by the next generation of students in the form of higher tuition,” the attorney, venture capitalist and author said in a statement. 

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Another ‘Defund Police’ Group Endorses Katie Hobbs

Another group that advocates for defunding the police has endorsed Arizona’s Democrat gubernatorial candidate, in what is becoming a pattern. 

“As Arizonans grapple with an all out ban on abortion that [Kari Lake] has promised to defend, I’m proud to have [NARAL Arizona’s] endorsement. Arizonans deserve a governor who will fight to let them make their own decisions about their lives, families, & futures,” said Secretary of State and Democrat candidate for governor Katie Hobbs. 

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State Prohibits Florida Retirement System from Investing in Funds That Prioritize ESG

Gov. Ron DeSantis and the trustees of the State Board of Administration, CFO Jimmy Patronis and Attorney General Ashley Moody passed a resolution Tuesday updating the state’s investment and proxy voting policies for its retirement system and pension plan. The resolution prohibits state fund managers from investing state money in funds that comply with the ideological agenda of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). The resolution also calls for an internal review of the state’s governance policies over the voting practices of the Florida Retirement System Defined Benefit Pension Plan.

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Norment Wants Youngkin to ‘Intensify Focus’ on Virginia Issues

Governor Glenn Youngkin is scheduled for another round of stops supporting GOP candidates across the U.S., fueling speculation that he is evaluating a possible presidential campaign, and earning skepticism from Virginia politicians, including Senate Minority Leader Thomas Norment (R-James City.)

“I am hopeful that maybe he will intensify his focus on the Commonwealth’s issues,” Norment told reporters on August 19, and referenced the ambitions of Virginia’s recent governors.

“Doug Wilder wanted to be president. George Allen wanted to be president. Bob McDonald wanted to be president. Tim Kaine wanted to be next to the throne,” he said.

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Minnesota Licensure Changes Ask Teachers to Make Students ‘Agents of Social Change’

The Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB), whose members are appointed by the governor, is revising its “standards of effective practice” for teacher licensure that will apply to all new teachers when adopted.

According to the Center of the American Experiment, the changes will impact teacher licensure programs and “require aspiring educators to ‘demonstrate’ ideologically driven content in their coursework to obtain their teaching license.” This goes for educators who end up teaching at private schools, too.

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Bill Kristol-Led PAC Vows to Spend $2 Million Against Kari Lake

An anti-Trump blogger who presided over the demise of The Weekly Standard and now works at a neoconservative outfit called The Bulwark is leading a supposed “Republican” effort against Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. 

The Republican Accountability Project (RAP), which is funded by rich leftists and run by Trump hater Bill Kristol, will reportedly spend two million dollars through its Political Action Committee (PAC) to defeat Lake in the upcoming November election. 

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Michiganders React to Biden Canceling Some Student Loan Debt

The reactions of Michiganders to President Joe Biden’s effort to forgive some student loan debt range from predicting an economic boom to even higher inflation.

Michiganders earning less than $125,000 will have $10,000 in student loan debt cancelled. Married couples earning less than $250,000 will have $20,000 of student-loan debt cancelled. Pell Grant recipients will have $20,000 in student debt forgiven. The pause on payments for all borrowers has been extended through the end of the year.

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Pennsylvania Business Leaders Alert Lawmakers to Prosperity Hindrances

Pennsylvania’s House Republican Policy Committee on Thursday heard testimony from several small-business executives Thursday suggesting that unemployment compensation (UC) taxes among other issues pose major impediments to economic growth in the Keystone State. 

As The Pennsylvania Daily Star reported this week, Pennsylvania has lagged behind other states in terms of making up economic ground lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2022, about 6.17 million Pennsylvanians held jobs, a 2.8-percent rise over the same month one year prior. National employment meanwhile increased 3.7 percent during that time. 

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Conservatives Sweep School Board Races Across Florida

School boards in five Florida counties flipped to be conservative majorities on Tuesday with help from Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ endorsements.

Miami-Dade County, Sarasota County, Duval County, Martin County and Clay County held their school board elections on Aug. 23. The conservative school board candidates in the five counties won their races, resulting in a flip in the majority of the school boards.

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‘Bad’ Signatures Rejected 14 Times More Often During August Primary Election in Maricopa County than During 2020 General Election

In its final canvass report for the 2022 primary election, Maricopa County says it rejected 14 times more signatures than it did in the 2020 general election. This comes on the heels of Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s finding that the county’s standards for signature verification were “insufficient to guard against abuse.”

“Canvass Queen” Liz Harris, so named after conducting an 11-month long independent grassroots audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County, told The Arizona Sun Times, “The entire voting system needs an entire overhaul. Period.”

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State Rep. Parker Blasts Ousted Arizona Speaker Bowers for Calling GOP ‘Fascist’

Republicans furious with Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-Mesa), mainly over denying election fraud and blocking election integrity bills, voted him out of office earlier this month, choosing a Trump-endorsed candidate instead. Bowers lost by almost 30 points to former legislator David Farnsworth, who he was running against for Senate (Bowers was term limited in the House). Bowers spoke out about his massive loss during an interview with The Guardian. 

He compared being voted out of office to “fascism.” He said, “The thought that if you don’t do what we like, then we will just get rid of you and march on and do it ourselves — that to me is fascism.” Bowers was referring to voters being upset about a multifaceted election integrity bill he killed using a technical maneuver. Among other things, HB 2596 would have given the legislature the power to reject election results, allowing an elector to call for a new election. 

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Arizona Fills In over 3,000 Feet of the Yuma Border Wall Section

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R) announced Wednesday that over 3,000 feet of previously open sections in Yuma’s border wall had been filled, celebrating that Arizona is doing what the federal government will not.

“Five wide open gaps in the border wall near Yuma neighborhoods and businesses are now closed off. In just 11 days, Arizona did the job the federal government has failed to do — and we showed them just how quickly and efficiently the border can be made more secure – if you want to,” said Ducey.

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Arizona State Senator to Visit Duncan and Offer Help to Town After Massive Flooding

Arizona Sen. David Gowen (R-Sierra Vista) will visit the small town of Duncan in Greenlee County, which recently suffered from heavy flooding, to offer residents help and find solutions to prevent this kind of damage from occurring again in the future.

“I am thankful that no lives were lost during what must have been a terrifying experience and appreciate the assistance of local law enforcement, first responders and the neighbors that banded together to help each other out during this time of crisis,” Gowen said in a press release. “I look forward to visiting Duncan to serve as needed in the coming days.”

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Miyares Stops in Gilpin Court to Discuss School Safety, Hear Local Concerns

RICHMOND, Virginia — Attorney General Jason Miyares stopped at the Calhoun community center in Gilpin Court, a low-income neighborhood with a local reputation for violence. Miyares met privately with local leaders and parents and handed out backpacks with school supplies to residents as part of a series of stops he is making around Virginia.

“I came here to the Calhoun Center to hear what was happening, and what people are saying is happening,” Miyares told reporters after the Thursday meeting. “A lot of it was about school safety, but also about larger issues in the community.”

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Poll: Americans Skeptical of DOJ’s Motives in Trump Raid

The Federal Bureau of Investigation raid on former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence has led to a drop in trust for the law enforcement agency, a new poll shows.

Convention of States Action, along with the Trafalgar group, released the poll Thursday, which showed a large segment of Americans say the raid has lessened their confidence in federal law enforcement and that they question the motives for the raid.

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