Commentary: To Save Freedom, Defund Pro Sports

In the last few years, the “Defund the Police” cry has reverberated through many of our cities. The police are not serving our communities, we’re told, and they’re wasting taxpayer money on ineffective services and driving racism. “It’s time to get rid of them,” many yell.

They’re barking up the wrong tree. If the public wants to defund something that’s wasting money and not serving the community, then they should look toward pro sports and defund them.

Read the full story

Missouri School District Brings Back Spanking as a Punishment

A Missouri school district will use spanking as a form of punishment in the 2022-2023 school year, according to the school handbook.

Cassville School District in Cassville, Missouri, is implementing a policy that uses spanking with a paddle as a form of punishment for students, according to the school handbook. Corporal punishment, or the use of physical force, will only be used to correct a K-12 student’s behavior when deemed necessary by the principal of the school.

Read the full story

Commentary: Tennessee School Boards and Unions Go Up Against Hillsdale-Affiliated Charter Schools

Hillsdale College's Monticello replica at the Blake Center donated by Prestley Blake in Somers, CT in on September 23, 2020.

Three Tennessee school boards denied the application of the American Classical Academy, a K-12 charter school system affiliated with Hillsdale College that provides students with a classic liberal arts education. The American Classical Academy alleges that these decisions are politically motivated and based on its ties to Hillsdale, which is Christian and conservative, as well as comments made by Hillsdale’s president, Larry Arnn.

Read the full story

University of Minnesota Police ‘Maxed Out’ on Patrols as Campus Move-In Nears

University of Minnesota Police Squad Car

University of Minnesota Police Chief Matt Clark told a Wednesday night campus safety forum that his patrols are “maxed out” in response to continued campus-area safety concerns as well as off-campus violent crime incidents.

Clark’s comments were part of a 90-minute panel discussion and Q&A hosted by the University of Minnesota’s newly-formed Strategic Safety Advisory Committee. Several students, parents, and community members were present in the live audience, and the forum was also broadcast live on YouTube.

Read the full story

Virginia Board of Contractors Cuts Some Construction Trades Licensing Requirements

The Virginia Board of Contractors voted to reduce licensing requirements in construction-related trades, a change meant to address a shortage of skilled labor and to comply with Governor Glenn Youngkin’s push for regulatory cuts. The cuts reduce the years of experience requirement for journey-level tradesman in in-demand construction fields from four to two years, create an extra pathway for skilled workers to become licenses, and eliminate a continuing education mandate.

“This is a major win for all Virginians,” Youngkin said in a press release. “Increasing opportunities for people to become licensed in high-demand, high-paying jobs while also helping businesses find the talent they desperately need will strengthen our Commonwealth. Since day one my administration has been working to reinvigorate job growth and make Virginia the best place to live, work and raise a family. I’m confident that these actions will move us closer to that goal.”

Read the full story

CBO Says IRS Will Audit Americans Making Under $400K

Despite claims from Biden administration officials that new funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not increase the auditing burden on individuals and small businesses, a Friday letter from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reveals new auditing activity targeting taxpayers who report less than $400,000 per year will be expected to contribute to about $4 billion in revenue.

Read the full story

Inflation Takes Its Toll on Pennsylvania Agriculture

The effect of inflation on Pennsylvania’s agricultural sector has been to exacerbate already-existing problems, driving up costs and squeezing business owners.

Since March, the monthly consumer price index in Pennsylvania has averaged 8.4%. Large amounts of federal spending, along with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have meant rising prices from raw materials to food and consumer goods.

Read the full story

Michigan AG Nessel Opposes Requested Consumers Energy Rate Increase

Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office voiced her office’s opposition to the Michigan Public Service Commission’s granting Consumers Energy request for a rate increase.

Consumers Energy filed its application to the MPSC seeking a rate increase of about $266 million for its Michigan jurisdiction on April 28, 2022, to start in 2023. If the proposal is approved as filed, the overall rate impact would be an increase of 6.5% for all rate classes and a 6.8% increase in residential rates.

Read the full story

Virginia Congress Members Return to Home Districts Ahead of Midterm Election

With Congress in recess and midterm elections approaching, Virginia’s senators and representatives have been touring the Commonwealth, visiting local businesses and organizations while highlighting legislative goals and wins.

“The Democrat Party is an evil to be defeated,” Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05) told the Amherst County Republicans on Monday while describing his efforts to advance national pro-life legislation, according to video from The Danville Register and Bee.

Read the full story

Arizona Supreme Court Knocks ‘Radical’ Elections Initiative Modeled After Federal HR 1 Off the Ballot

A voting initiative backed by progressive activists won’t be on the ballot this fall in Arizona after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that backers failed to provide a valid mailing address to receive certified mail.

The court remanded it to the trial court to determine how many signatures would be invalidated, and after a last-minute dispute between the two courts over how to count the signatures, the Arizona Supreme Court stated on Friday that Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections lacked the required amount of qualifying signatures.

Read the full story

McConnell-Linked Super PAC Cuts Funding for Blake Masters in Arizona

A Mitch McConnell-linked Senatorial Republican Super PAC has pulled millions of dollars in ad buys in Arizona, where Trump-backed Blake Masters will likely face a tight race in November.

The Senate Leadership Fund, a group aligned with McConnell, is cancelling ad buys worth nearly $8 million in Arizona, where Masters is running, set for early fall. The ads are about half of what the super PAC bought, leaving the rest to start in early October, according to Politico.

Read the full story

Commentary: Congress Can Save the Press from Big Tech’s Iron Grip

US Capitol Infrastructure

Big Tech controls more and more of the news and information we read. Although Big Tech platforms employ few, if any, journalists, most Americans read news on large tech platforms, such as Facebook News and Google News. Profits and ideology motivate Big Tech managers more than promoting a free press, so Big Tech often fails to fairly compensate the small and local news outlets whose stories appear on their platforms.

Read the full story

Commentary: The White House Is Creating a Texas-Border Patrol Standoff

The tragic results of the Biden Administration’s extremist immigration policies have become increasingly clear. By now there is abundant video evidence of large groups of foreign nationals wading across the Rio Grande, seeking shelter under highway overpasses, and walking through gaps in the unfinished border wall. These are the obvious results. 

Less obvious are the other potentially dangerous situations these policies create. This is not just about talking points for politicians to debate, but real-world situations where people can be injured or killed.

Read the full story

Military Whistleblower Report Alleges COVID-19 Vaccine Illegally Administered

 A new whistleblower report signed by nine officers across five branches of the military claims the Department of Defense’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate is unlawful.

The report was sent to Congress urging an investigation into what it called illegal and fraudulent activity by the DOD. The memorandum was published by Liberty Council, a nonprofit legal group that in January maintained there was no legal COVID-19 vaccine available despite the U.S. Food and Drug Administration saying there was. 

Read the full story

Survey: 56 Percent of Companies Dropping COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates to Retain Talent, Grow Workforce

According to Price Waterhouse Coopers 2022 Pulse survey, business leaders are implementing a range of measures to retain talent and grow their workforce, including dropping COVID-19 vaccine mandates as a condition of in-person employment.

According to the survey, 56% of companies said they were dropping COVID-19 vaccine mandates for on-site work. The survey findings, published Aug. 18, came after vaccine mandates continue to be challenged and overturned in courts and after it remains questionable that the COVID-19 vaccines were effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

Read the full story