Month: August 2022

January 6 Committee Hired Consultant Who May Have Conflict of Interest

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The Jan. 6 Committee hired an investigative consultant who could have a major “conflict of interest,” watchdogs told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Brian Young is a senior financial investigator at the consultancy Polar Solutions Inc and a contractor for the Jan. 6 Committee, according to his LinkedIn profile and an internal congressional document obtained by the DCNF. But he is also married to House Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms (SAA) Kim E. Campbell, the second most senior official in the SAA, which like the U.S. Capitol Police is being probed by the committee for security failures in connection to the Capitol riot.

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Citizens United Sues Biden Admin for Records on Election Executive Order

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Citizens United filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the State Department and the Interior Department for records relating to President Joe Biden’s “Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting.”

The conservative nonprofit submitted a FOIA request to the agencies on June 16 but did not receive a response within 20 working days as required, Citizens United stated.

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Court Orders Three Pennsylvania Counties to Count Undated Ballots

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court on Friday ordered three counties that declined to count undated absentee ballots to count them.

Republican Commonwealth Court President Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer issued the ruling affecting Berks, Fayette and Lancaster counties. Last month, Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman (D) sued the three jurisdictions to compel them to include votes delivered in undated envelopes in their May 17 primary results. 

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Milwaukee Called One of the ‘Most Dangerous Cities’ as Arrests Plummet by 60 Percent

The Center Square

Eric Toney, the GOP candidate running for Wisconsin’s Attorney General, said Milwaukee was one of America’s most dangerous cities.

The Fond du Lac district attorney cited homicides within the city are on track to break the record of 193 set in 2021.

Yet, despite the reputation for violence, the city of Milwaukee police department has been arresting fewer and fewer people over the past nine years.

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In Tight Ohio Senate Race, Republicans Prepare Major Ad Buy

Bradley Vasoli
JD Vance

Republican JD Vance and U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) are locked in a tight race to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate, but the GOP is moving to push Vance ahead with a major advertising purchase.

The Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) announced Thursday it will buy $28 million worth of broadcast ads to air across the Buckeye State beginning on Labor Day. National Republican organizations have spent only about $5 million in Ohio so far in Vances contest with Ryan.

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Commentary: Defensive Gun Uses in Month of July Show Protective Benefits of Second Amendment

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I testified before Congress’ Joint Economic Committee last month in a hearing focused on “the economic toll of gun violence.”

Of course, there’s no doubt that gun violence imposes a tremendous cost on society, both financially and in far less readily calculable ways. How does one measure, for example, the mental and emotional toll of being shot?

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Virginia Republicans Refute Rumor That Reconvened Session Will Include Anti-Abortion Legislation

Eric Burk

The General Assembly will reconvene September 7, which has triggered alarm from pro-choice groups who are worried that Republicans may try to introduce pro-life legislation. But a spokesperson for Governor Glenn Youngkin said that the session will be focused on appointing judges and that Youngkin’s pro-life legislation won’t be introduced until the 2023 session.

“Governor Glenn Youngkin is calling the legislature back to Richmond on September 7, and we have a feeling he will try to sneak an abortion ban through the House of Delegates,” REPRO Rising Virginia tweeted Thursday.

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Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King Lambastes Price Hike by Allstate Insurance

Addison Basurto

Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King (R) publicly chastised the AllState insurance company for drastic insurance price hikes in a statement on Thursday.

“AllState raised rates by 14 percent earlier this year. Now, it’s trying to fleece working Georgians again with a 25% rate hike next month. AllState is exploiting a loophole in Georgia law to do this –  and it’s the only major provider doing so. The first step is calling them out,” Commissioner King said. 

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Connecticut Gaming Revenue Rebounding from COVID-19

The Center Square

Connecticut’s gaming revenue continues to grow and evolve since the heaviest pandemic-induced shutdowns impacted the income source two years ago.

A five-year analysis of the state’s gaming-derived revenues, gleaned from data via the state Department of Consumer Protection, shows how COVID-19 intermittently impacted the bottom line during the heaviest lockdowns before regaining momentum.

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Phoenix to Receive $25 Million Grant to Construct Pedestrian Bridge

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Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego revealed that the city will receive a $25 million grant to construct the long-proposed Rio Salado Bike/Pedestrian Bridge.

She joined Pete Buttigieg, U.S. secretary of transportation, and other community officials at the Rio Salado Audubon Center, according to a news release from the city. The funding comes from a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant.

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Youngkin Highlights 100,000 Virginia Jobs-Added Milestone

Eric Burk

Nearly 100,000 more Virginians are employed than at the end of January, a key milestone highlighted by Governor Glenn Youngkin in a Friday press release.

“With 100,000 jobs added since January, we are well ahead of pace to reach our goal of 400,000 jobs during my term. However, the slowdown in monthly job creation and the lower level of job participation have my full attention. We will continue the critical work to return more Virginians to the workforce and will double-down on policies that make Virginia attractive for job growth and business investment,” Youngkin said. “We remain laser-focused on our mission to make Virginia the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

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‘Taking Down a Landscape Business Owner’: Rep. Thomas Massie Sounds the Alarm on Viral IRS Training Video

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Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky posted a video showing potential IRS agents training Friday and urged Americans to notice a billionaire wasn’t the target.

“Notice the scenario in this IRS recruiting program is ‘taking down a landscape business owner who failed to properly report how he paid for his vehicles,’ not ‘taking down a billionaire who uses the corporate jet for private trips,’” Massie posted.

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Court Temporarily Pauses Order Requiring Graham to Testify About 2020 Election in Georgia

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Afederal appeals court temporarily paused an order Sunday that required Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to testify in front of an Atlanta-area grand jury about attempts to illegally influence Georgia’s 2020 election results.

The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals instructed the district court judge to consider whether the Fulton County grand jury subpoena of Graham should be modified to follow the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, CNN reported.

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Another Pregnancy Care Center in Massachusetts Is Vandalized, Abortion Activists ‘Jane’s Revenge’ Takes Credit

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In the latest attack on a pro-life organization, pro-abortion extremists spray-painted threatening messages and anarchist symbols outside a pro-life pregnancy center in Massachusetts late Wednesday or early Thursday, according to police.  Since last May, when a draft ruling was leaked indicating that the U.S. Supreme Court was going to overturn Roe v. Wade,  there have been about 94 attacks on pro-life facilities and churches.

Bethlehem House Inc. Pregnancy Care Center in Easthampton, 99 miles west of Boston, was targeted by pro-abort vandals, who splattered red paint across the white exterior of the facility. One message sprayed painted in black on the ground outside the center read: “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you!”

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Younger Americans Identify as Independent More than Republicans, Democrats Combined

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Younger Americans are still less willing to commit to one political party, newly released polling data shows.

Gallup released survey data Thursday showing that Millennials and Gen Z Americans are sticking with the “Independent” label. In fact, more of the surveyed Millennial and Gen Z Americans identify as Independent than as Republican and Democrat combined.

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Historic American Muscle Car Will Be Fully Electric by 2024

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Dodge’s popular muscle cars, the two-door Challenger and four-door Charger, will be discontinued in 2023 and replaced in 2024 by a fully electric model, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Dodge announced two new electric vehicles at the Dodge Speed Week event in Pontiac, Michigan, this week, according to a press release by Dodge parent company Stellantis. The first was the Dodge Hornet, a Compact Utility Vehicle that offered both a plug-in hybrid and traditional gas engine model, and the second was the battery-powered muscle car, the Charger Daytona SRT Concept, named in honor of the Charger Daytona, the first car to break 200 mph on a NASCAR track.

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Metro Council Poised to Approve Measure Banning LPR Use for Enforcement of Abortion Laws

Aaron Gulbransen
A portable tripod-mounted Miovision Automatic License Plate Recognition data acquisition camera is set up at an intersection in suburban Illinois.

Nashville Metro Council passed a measure on second reading that prohibits the use of license plate scanner (LPR) technology to aid in the enforcement of “laws outlawing abortion or outlawing interstate travel to obtain an abortion as an allowed use of LPRs” and is poised to approve the ordinance at the September 6 meeting.

BL2022-1385, a bill that was on second reading and is now proceeding to the third is an “ordinance amending Section 13.08.080 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws pertaining to the use of license plate scanner technology to exclude assisting with enforcing laws outlawing abortion or outlawing interstate travel to obtain an abortion as an allowed use of LPRs.”

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Commentary: Foreign Aid Has Failed People of Afghanistan

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Despite $775 million in humanitarian aid from the U.S. government since President Joe Biden’s disastrous pullout of U.S.  military forces from Afghanistan a year ago, half the population—some 20 million people—remains hungry.

That’s no change from a year ago when we were also told that half the country required emergency food and other lifesaving assistance to avoid a major famine.

Meanwhile, the Taliban that swooped in following our humiliating withdrawal have firmed up their brutal rule and erased all progress the country had made, from educating girls and women to protecting religious minorities.

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Catholic Group Unveils Ad Slamming Biden for ‘Failure’ to Protect Churches, Pregnancy Centers from Attacks

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CatholicVote, a Catholic advocacy organization, released a seven-figure ad campaign Wednesday targeting President Joe Biden for failing to protect Catholic churches and pregnancy resource centers from escalating attacks since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

There have been 64 incidents against pro-life organizations and 69 against Catholic churches since the court’s decision to overturn Roe was leaked May 2, according to CatholicVote. The ad shows a clip of Biden, who is Catholic, encouraging pro-abortion protesters alongside a video of John F. Kennedy, America’s only other Catholic president, condemning attacks on churches.

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Church Sues Police Department, City for Taking Its Weed and Shrooms

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A religious organization in Oakland, California, that celebrates controlled psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana use is suing the city, the police department and one of its officers for allegedly violating its First- and 14th-Amendment rights in connection with a 2020 raid that seized substances from its building, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Oakland police raided Zide Door Church of Entheogenic Plants that year, taking cash and roughly $200,000 in mushrooms and cannabis following claims it was running an unpermitted cannabis dispensary, the outlet reported. The church is accusing authorities and one particular officer of discriminating against its religious beliefs.

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Truck Manufacturing Company Investing $50 Million in Tennessee Expansion

Peter D'Abrosca

A major truck manufacturing company will spend millions to expand its operations in Murfreesboro, according to the state government. 

“Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter announced today that Minnesota-based McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation [NYSE: OSK] company, will be investing more than $50 million to expand its manufacturing presence in Tennessee,” according to a release from the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development. 

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Commentary: Green Fascists Are Destroying the World

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Earlier this summer, the CO2 Coalition was banished from LinkedIn. The CO2 Coalition, with only three full-time employees and an annual budget of under $1 million, had committed the unpardonable sin of sharing contrarian perspectives on climate science. Its work, produced by a network of volunteers that includes dozens of distinguished scientists, offers indispensable balance on a topic that requires honest debate now more than ever.

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With $3.2 Billion in Excess Cash, Youngkin Setting Aside $397 Million for Tax Relief Proposal in 2023

Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia — Governor Glenn Youngkin is directing $397 million in excess funds to be set aside for unspecified tax relief in 2023, as Virginia has $3.2 billion in excess cash — $2 billion in unplanned revenues plus Fiscal Year 2022 spending that was $1.2 billion less than planned.

“Today I formally report to the General Assembly that Virginia ended the fiscal year with a record general fund balance,” Youngkin said at a Friday morning joint meeting of the House of Delegates Finance and Appropriations Committees and the Senate Finance Committee.

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Before Minneapolis, Los Angeles Schools Tried Race-Based Policies

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Following national coverage of the Minneapolis school district’s race-based employment policies, Liz Collin Reports hosted a retired Los Angeles teacher who saw the same thing happen in his district over 15 years ago.

Phil Pearson worked as a special-ed teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the largest district in California and second largest in the country, when a similar rule to move teachers based on race was put into place.

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Dispute Arises Within Maricopa County GOP Over Member-at-Large Revealing Who Voted Against Censuring Recorder Stephen Richer

Rachel Alexander

After the Maricopa County Republican Committee (MCRC) censured Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, over election integrity failures including denying there was election fraud in 2020, the author of the censure has found himself in hot water. Member-at-large Brian Ference responded to an inquiry in a Telegram channel for Maricopa County precinct committeemen (PCs) asking who voted against the censure. He provided a list of names in the channel — but also included their email addresses and phone numbers, prompting a stern email from the MCRC’s attorney.

Ference issued an apology for including the contact information, but told The Arizona Sun Times he didn’t regret sharing the names, because it exposed “Entrenched establishment Republicans who have proved again and again they offer little to no opposition to Democrats, but instead fight like hellcats against America First MAGA Republicans.”

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Caroline Knight Sworn in as 13th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge

Aaron Gulbransen

Caroline Knight was sworn in as the 13th Judicial District Circuit Court Part II Judge on Wednesday after winning the August 4 election as an unopposed candidate.

“I am ecstatic to officially be District 13’s Circuit Court Judge. I am deeply honored to serve my community in the Upper Cumberland and make certain that the rule of law is always upheld. I am sincerely thankful for each person who has believed in me and supported me along the way here. The days ahead of me will not be easy, but I eagerly look forward to working hard to ensure each and every citizen who appears before me in court is treated fairly, impartially and with respect,” said Knight.

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DeSantis Stumps for Vance in Youngstown, Ohio Suburbs

Bradley Vasoli

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) came to the Youngstown area this weekend in support of Ohio Republican JD Vance’s U.S. Senate campaign against U.S. Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), whose district includes Youngstown.

“It is important that the people of Ohio send JD Vance to the U.S. Senate this year,” the Florida chief executive, whose mother is from Youngstown, told an audience at the Metroplex Expo Center in Girard. “Yes, Republicans need to take back the majority, and I think we will. But just as important as having the majority, we need people who are willing to go up there and do something with the majority; stop talking and actually get something done. And I think JD is somebody who’s going to be a leader and not just be a follower and we need that in that swamp more than ever.” 

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Georgia’s US Senators Vote for Bill Stripping One of State’s Largest Employers of EV Tax Credits

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Georgia’s two senators voted for the Democrats’ recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act, even though it strips South Korean automaker Kia — one of the state’s largest employers — of eligibility for the law’s electric vehicle tax credits.

Kia, which employs thousands in Georgia, is planning to build another automobile factory in the state and hire 8,500 people, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Due to domestic assembly requirements in the new law, however, the automaker’s EV and plug-in fleet will lose their current eligibility for $7,500 tax credits on the purchase of new electric vehicles.

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US Senator Ron Johnson Presses Feds for Source of Vaccine at Military Bases after Whistleblower Allegations

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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) is pressing the Pentagon, Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for answers after multiple whistleblowers raised concerns about the provenance of a Comirnaty-labeled COVID-19 vaccine shipped to military bases.

On Monday, nine military officers from across all the branches sent a whistleblower report to Congress regarding a COVID vaccine appearing at Coast Guard medical clinics. Key GOP senator presses feds for source of vaccine at military bases after whistleblower allegations

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Audit: Unauthorized Benefit in Bucks County Pension Adds Cost to Local Taxpayers

The Center Square

In an audit for the Central Bucks Regional Police Pension Plan, the auditor general criticized officials for inconsistent and authorized pension benefits. Pension plans are governed by Act 205 and Act 600 in state law, which sets regulations and guidelines on allowable pension benefits.

However, the latest collective bargaining agreement between police officers and the regional police commission “granted a length of service increment in excess of the plan’s governing document,” the report noted.

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Gun Groups Caution against Richmond Gun Buyback Event

The Center Square

Richmond held a gun buyback program Saturday in an attempt to curb gun violence, but some critics have cautioned that such programs would not likely have that effect.

Individuals who seek to get rid of their firearms on a no-questions-asked policy were to do so at Liberation Church in Richmond. The city council approved the gun buyback event and bought the firearms using gift cards.

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Commentary: Virginia is Ground Zero for the ‘Latino Realignment’

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The left denies it, but it’s truly happening – a massive realignment is underway in the American electorate as Latinos are leaning in with the GOP. This November, Republicans are running Hispanic nominees in key battleground districts, headlined by rising stars like Myra Flores, Cassy Garcia, and Monica De La Cruz in Texas, Michelle Garcia Holmes and Alexis Martinez Johnson in New Mexico, Lori Chavez-DeRemer in Oregon – and of course, Yesli Vega in Virginia. Over the past two years, the Old Dominion has been ground zero for this shift, providing a glimpse into what the future of the Republican Party might look like on a national scale.

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DeSantis: Electing Mastriano an ‘Opportunity to Make Pennsylvania Free’

Bradley Vasoli

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) came to Pittsburgh this weekend to argue that his success governing Florida needs to be replicated in Pennsylvania and that state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-PA-Gettysburg) is the man to do it. 

The Adams County lawmaker is running against Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, someone who Mastriano and DeSantis believe will intensify the liberal governance the Keystone State has underwent during Tom Wolf’s eight-year administration. 

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Biden’s New Spending Bill Supersizes the EPA’s Budget

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The Democrats’ massive climate spending package, which President Joe Biden signed into law on Tuesday, will give over $40 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), just as the bill allocates almost $80 billion to expand the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, includes $369 billion in total climate spending, and will give the EPA more than $40 billion in the current fiscal year to combat climate change, enforce environmental standards and secure “environmental justice,” according to a Congressional Research Service report. The EPA’s enacted budget for 2022’s fiscal year was about $9.5 billion, according to the agency figures, meaning the bill will more than quadruple the EPA’s current annual spending.

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