Ticketmaster Cancels Friday Sales of Taylor Swift Tickets

After a debacle earlier this week that led to Tennessee’s Attorney General announcing an investigation into event ticketing titan Ticketmaster, the company said it will not be selling tickets for Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour on Friday. 

“Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled,” Tickemaster said Thursday afternoon on Twitter. 

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Incoming Michigan Democratic Leadership Mostly Mum on Line 5

Lansing’s crop of newly elected and reelected officials is mostly mum on the fate of Line 5, or more specifically, the five-mile dual pipeline spanning the lakebed of the Straits of Mackinac.

The 2022 midterm election delivered majorities for Michigan Democrats in the state House and Senate, and the governor’s office – a trifecta for the first time in 40 years. State public policies and litigations could be significantly impacted by both chambers and the reelection of two key Democrats, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel.

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Representative Ben Toma Files Complaint Against Unconstitutional Fair Housing Code Amendment

Arizona House Speaker-Elect Ben Toma (R-Peoria) filed a complaint against the City of Tucson (COT) for amending its Fair Housing Code in a way he said is unconstitutional.

“The adopted ordinance violates state law and our Constitution. To put it plainly, no matter the reason, Arizona’s ninety-one cities and towns are bound by the laws of this state. We hold this expectation for our citizens, and we will do the same for our local governments,” said Toma.

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Andy Biggs Commentary: I Cannot Vote for Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker

During this midterm campaign, I attended hundreds of events in my district, around Arizona, and around the country. The issue I was asked about most often was whether I or the Republicans in the House, or the Republicans in the Senate, would keep the same leaders.

Not only did my constituents want the “red wave” that didn’t materialize, they also wanted new leadership.

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Minneapolis Bans Pro-Life Activists from Sections of Public Sidewalks

The Minneapolis City Council adopted an ordinance Thursday that will prohibit pro-life sidewalk counselors from being on sections of public sidewalks.

“We believe this proposal is unconstitutional and want to express our opposition as we prepare to challenge it should it go into effect,” said an email from Thomas Wilkin, Pro-Life Action Ministries’ sidewalk counseling manager.

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Youngkin Announces Make Virginia Home Plan to Address Housing Shortages

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced a plan to address Virginia housing shortages, including encouraging local cooperation on zoning, simplifying regulations, and placing housing at the center of economic development plans. He told attendees at the Governor’s Housing Conference that the plan is the result of concerns expressed by individual Virginians and roundtable sessions with developers, local leaders, and advocates.

He said, “What we’ve heard from Virginians over and over again is this sense of frustration. They’re tired of searching far and wide for that ‘For Sale’ sign, only to see that it’s out of their reach. They’re deterred by the cost. Virginians are also seriously worried that ongoing inflation and rising interest rates will make the American dream of owning a home not something they can’t have today, but something they may never have.”

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Ohio Republican Leaders Propose Legislation Increasing Threshold for Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives

Ohio Republicans introduced a new resolution on Thursday that would require citizen-led constitutional amendments to gain a 60 percent supermajority at the ballot for passage.

Secretary of State Frank LaRose and State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville) initiated the “Ohio Constitution Protection Amendment,” which they say is designed to help protect the Ohio Constitution from continued misuse by special interest and out-of-state activists.

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Pennsylvania AG Shapiro, Now Gov-Elect, Charges Ex-Political Consultant with Forging Petition Signatures

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who was elected governor last week, has announced charges of forgery for Democratic nomination petitions against a Philadelphia political consultant who reportedly worked on his 2016 campaign.

On Wednesday, Shapiro announced the arrest of Rasheen Crews for allegedly forging signatures on nomination petitions for Democrat clients in 2019 Philadelphia primary races. The nomination petitions were to get Crews’ clients on the ballot in primary races.

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Judge Blocks Florida’s Anti-Woke Law at Colleges and Universities

A federal judge on Thursday blocked Florida’s “Stop W.O.K.E. Act,” signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, from being enforced at colleges and universities.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker ruled Thursday that the legislation, which prohibits faculty from teaching race in a way that might induce “guilt, anguish or other psychological distress,” cannot be enforced at higher education institutions calling it “positively dystopian.” The ruling comes after two lawsuits by a Florida A&M professor and University of South Florida student and professor who argued the act was unconstitutional.

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Republican Matt Huffman Unanimously Re-Elected as Ohio Senate President

Ohio Senator Matt Huffman, (R-Lima) will once again serve as President of the Ohio Senate for the 135th General Assembly after a unanimous vote Tuesday, as reported by a release from the Senate.

Huffman was first elected to the Ohio Senate in 2016. He was re-elected to a second term in 2020 when he previously served as Senate President during the 134th General Assembly and prior to that as Majority Floor Leader. This follows his serving four terms in the Ohio House of Representatives building up to his election as Speaker Pro Tempore.

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Commentary: The Next American Economy

In few areas is economic policy’s inseparability from politics more manifest than in global trade. In the period immediately following ratification of the U.S. Constitution, for example, trade debates within the Washington Administration became quickly entangled with arguments about what should be America’s stance vis-à-vis the spreading global conflict between France and Britain in the French Revolution’s wake. Similarly, when Congress and the executive branch today develop or modify trade policy, whether in a liberalizing or protectionist direction, it inevitably has political ramifications for both America’s allies and its opponents in the world.

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Treasury Dept Flagged 93 Financial Transfers Between Biden Associates and a Chinese Investment Fund, Report Shows

Businesses and associates linked to the Biden family allegedly exchanged over $2 million in wire transfers with a Shanghai investment fund controlled by the Bank of China over a five year period, according to a Treasury Department document obtained by Republican members of the House Oversight Committee.

Biden-linked operatives allegedly exchanged $2,461,962.60 in total with the Shanghai firm through 93 wire transactions between 2014 and 2019, according to a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) obtained by House Oversight Republicans, which also identified Hunter Biden as a “politically exposed person.” The revelation comes amid a House Oversight Committee investigation into the Biden family’s financial dealings.

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New Democrat Group Led by David Brock to Mount Multi-Million Dollar Campaign to Undermine GOP Investigations

In the wake of the Republican midterm election trickle, a coalition of left-wing Democrats led by Media Matters founder David Brock is planning a multimillion-dollar counteroffensive against congressional Republicans.

With funding from some of the biggest donors in Democrat politics, Brock’s new nonprofit group, “Facts First USA,” plans undermine congressional Republicans as soon as they take control the House of Representatives.

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Josh Hawley Lays Out Roadmap for New Working-Class GOP

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said the old Republican Party is dead and must be replaced with a GOP that’s focused on working-class voters and the issues they care most about: work, family and culture.

The expected midterm red wave didn’t pan out for Republicans because the party can’t seem to win over working-class independents, Hawley argued in The Washington Post Friday, dismissing claims that turnout or candidate quality were behind the GOP’s faltering performance. The GOP can only make serious gains by reversing its recent policies on trade, crime, immigration and culture, he wrote.

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New Republican Majority Plans to Target ‘Woke’ Businesses

exterior of BlackRock

One of the top agenda items for the GOP’s new majority in the House of Representatives is the targeting of “woke” corporations on Wall Street, threatening investigations and other government action if such companies do not reverse anti-American policies and practices.

Politico reports that some of the measures the GOP will be scrutinizing include “ESG (environmental, social, and governance)” policies, divesting from fossil fuels, and race-based affirmative action hiring policies for the sake of “diversity.”

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GOP Learning to Love Mail-In Ballots, Curing, Legal Harvesting as It Seeks to Level Playing Field

In a 180-degree turn, Republicans are adopting the Democratic strategy for winning elections in states where mail-in voting, ballot curing and ballot harvesting are legal.

Republicans have repeatedly sounded the alarm over universal mail-in voting, ballot curing, and ballot harvesting because of the heightened possibility for fraud, but as Democrats have used these methods to help their candidates win elections, the GOP is belatedly accepting that they must play the same game.

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