Day: December 4, 2022

Trump Calls for ‘Termination’ of Election rules in Constitution after Release of the Twitter Files

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump called for the termination of the Constitution’s rules regarding elections after the release of information about the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020.

“So, with the revelation of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION?” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social.

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House GOP Working on Bill to Ban TikTok Across Federal Government

Admin

The House Republican Conference is currently working on legislation that may ban the use of TikTok by federal government employees, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

“We’re working on something right now,” said a Republican aide familiar with the matter. The proposal is said to be proceeding through the Judiciary Committee, which is set to be led by Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio in the next Congress when the GOP gains a majority.

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Elise Stefanik Alleges USPS Workers Stole Her Campaign Mail, up to $20,000 in Donations

Just the News

New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik on Friday alleged that United States Postal Service workers stole up to $20,000 in campaign contributions and illegally opened her mail to do so.

“On four separate occasions between June 2022 and November 2022, packages sent by Elise for Congress containing campaign contributions were ripped open and the contents stolen while in the custody of USPS or its contractors,” her lawyers wrote to Postmaster General Louis Dejoy in a letter the Daily Wire obtained. “Three of these incidents occurred in a single week.”

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FBI Official Admits Agency Colluded Weekly with Facebook to Flag, Take Down Posts

Admin

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) met weekly with large social media platforms to collaborate on moderating content, according to a deposition this week from FBI Supervisory Special Agent Elvis Chan.

Chan, who was one of the two FBI agents who contacted Facebook ahead of its censoring of the Hunter Biden laptop warning of potential Russian disinformation operations, said that the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (FITF) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) officials met weekly with social media companies to remove specific accounts ahead of the 2020 presidential election, according to his deposition cited by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. The deposition was part of a lawsuit filed against the Biden administration for allegedly censoring Americans’ speech in the name of “misinformation” led by Schmitt and Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry of Louisiana.

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Tennessee Titans’ Stadium $1.9B Upgrade Proposal Released After Public Denials

The Center Square

On Nov. 14, the Tennessee Titans released plan documents for a renovation to Nissan Stadium that Venue Solutions Group estimated would cost $1.9 billion.

The documents show a complete renovation with everything from a three-story sports bar to a rooftop food and bar area to a Song Writing Café, Theater Boxes and a new seating total of 59,271 fans with a capacity of 64,108.

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New England Governors Face Push Back from Maritime Groups

The Center Square

Maritime groups are criticizing New England governors for urging the Biden administration to lift federal restrictions banning foreign vessels in domestic waters in response to a regional energy crunch. 

In a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in July, the chief executives called for a blanket waiver from the Jones Act, which requires cargo shipped between U.S. ports to be transported on American owned and operated ships.

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Candidates Hopeful for Election Challenges After Certification, Since Early Lawsuits Had Less Statutory Backing

Rachel Alexander

The Trump-endorsed slate of candidates in Arizona’s top races who allegedly lost their races have started pursuing legal challenges over what they believe was an election rampant with voter disenfranchisement and suppression. One of the first challenges was turned away on Tuesday as premature, a lawsuit by Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh and the Republican National Committee (RNC), but election law attorneys say this should not be taken as a sign that there are no valid grounds to overturn the election. 

Bob Brickman, an election and regulatory attorney in Phoenix, told The Arizona Sun Times while he “understands the strategy of suing now, since fraud really should be challengeable any time, Arizona law is clear that election challenges cannot be brought until five days after after the state has certified the results, which is scheduled for Dec. 5.” 

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Michigan Charter School Advocates Prepare for Anticipated Democratic Cuts

The Center Square

Election of Democratic majorities in the Michigan House and Senate is a warning shot for the state’s public charter schools.

The incoming bicameral majorities and reelected Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have already signaled antipathy toward public charter schools. Drawing much of the Democrats’ ire are for-profit education management organizations operating 42% of public charter schools in Detroit alone as of 2021.

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Minneapolis Public Schools to Face ‘Impending Fiscal Crisis’ in Five Years

The Center Square

Minneapolis Public Schools is headed for an “impending fiscal crisis” within five years because of continued dropping enrollment, despite the federal government giving it $261 million in COVID relief.

Senior Financial Officer Ibrahima Diop said in a Nov. 29 memo to Interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox that the school “anticipates fully depleting the general fund balance during the 2024-25 school year, and quickly descending into statutory operating debt.”

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Report: Charter School Enrollment Increases in Georgia

The Center Square

More Georgia students are attending charter schools, while enrollment at public schools is declining, according to a new report.

New figures from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools show that Georgia experienced a roughly 4.9% increase in charter enrollments between 2019-20 and 2021-22. Meanwhile, traditional public schools saw a roughly 1.9% decline in enrollments during the same period.

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Youngkin Says Budget Proposal Will Include $350 Million More for Site Readiness, Priority on Dual-Enrollment Programs for High School Students

Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin said Friday his upcoming budget amendment proposal would include $350 million in additional funds for site readiness to add to the $150 million already allocated in the biennial budget. Youngkin told attendees at the Virginia Economic Summit and Forum on International Trade that despite Virginia’s pro-business advantages like the port, the Commonwealth’s workforce, and right-to-work, Virginia needs to do more to attract businesses.

“Virginia often is not selected by businesses, particularly by manufacturing projects, because megasites aren’t ready. Simply put, it’s not that we don’t have enough inventory, we don’t really have any. Since 2016, a lack of project-ready sites has cost Virginia more than 55,000 jobs and $124 billion in capital investment,” he said.

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Commentary: Musk’s ‘Twitter Files’ Confirm Everything We Already Knew

Admin

Late Friday, Matt Taibbi used the Twitter platform to publish numerous tweets devoted to the site’s internal deliberations regarding the Hunter Biden laptop story that most major media suppressed during the 2020 election.

The story, which is what it was, is based on documents obtained from the platform’s new owner and is a marketing coup that will drive traffic to the site. It confirms just how savvy Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, is.

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Warnock Slightly Ahead in Three Polls

Eric Burk

Three new polls released in the final days of early voting show Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) a little ahead of Herschel Walker, although Walker is within the margin of error in two of the three polls.

Emerson College found Warnock ahead, 49 percent to 47 percent, with 4 percent undecided out of 888 very likely voters and those who already voted. That poll has a 3.2 percent margin of error and was conducted November 28 through 30 on behalf of The Hill. SurveyUSA found Warnock at 50 percent to Walker’s 46 percent and 4 percent undecided out of 1,214 likely voters. The poll has a 3.6 percent margin of error and was conducted November 26 through 30 on behalf of WXIA-TV. Both polls were published Thursday.

On Friday, CNN published the results of a SSRS poll finding Warnock at 52 percent and Walker at 48 percent among 1,184 likely voters, with a 3.8 percent margin of error. That poll was conducted from November 25 through 29.

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Florida AG Moody, Others Warn of ‘Frightening’ New Trends of Fentanyl Distribution

The Center Square

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is continuing to warn Floridians about an unprecedented increase in the number of counterfeit pills flooding the market containing deadly amounts of fentanyl.

On Thursday, she pointed to a recent U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration public safety alert reported on by The Center Square that found that six out of 10 fake prescription pills tested by the agency contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, up 50% from their testing results last year.

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Ohio House Joint Resolution Amended to Include Increasing Threshold to Legislative Ballot Initiatives

Hannah Poling

The Committee of Government Oversight amended a resolution Thursday to require all proposed ballot issues to receive 60 percent of the vote in order to amend the state constitution, not just citizen-led amendments.

State Representative Brian Stewart (R-Ashville), requested the committee to adopt an amendment to his resolution, House Joint Resolution (HJR) 6, to include legislative ballot initiatives to also require 60 percent of the vote on election day in order to be enacted.

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November Tax Revenues Down for Pennsylvania, but Still $700 Million Above Estimate

The Center Square

Pennsylvania’s tax revenues are $129 million short of expectations, though overall collections remain above initial estimates in the latest revenue update from the Independent Fiscal Office.

Even though the November collections were 4.5% less than anticipated, the fiscal-year-to-date revenues are about $732 million above estimates, an almost 5% increase.

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Arizona to Invest Nearly $14 Million in Career Training, Development Programs

The Center Square

Arizona plans to invest nearly $14 million to support career training and development programs for Arizona high school students and underserved communities, Governor Doug Ducey announced Thursday.

“Arizona is a land of limitless opportunity,” Governor Ducey said in a press release. “We are a state where anyone can get a good education and find a quality job. This funding will cement our position as a national model for preparing workers for tomorrow’s jobs – it will empower Arizonans by dramatically increasing job training opportunities.”

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Commentary: A Republic if You Can Teach It

RealClearWire

President Biden has a civics lesson that he is fond of and regularly repeats. It is about how the United States is unique in the world because of the founding ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

“Unlike every other nation on Earth, we were founded based on an idea,” he notes before adding that “while we’ve never fully lived up” to those principles, “we have never given up on them.”

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New Bill Would Change Requirements to Become a Licensed Social Worker in Ohio

Hannah Poling

Ohio Republican lawmakers proposed an amendment to House Bill (HB) 509 Wednesday in the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee, allowing individuals with related degrees other than social work to become licensed social workers.

In its original version, HB 509 sponsored by State Representatives Marilyn John (R-Shelby) and Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) allows, among other things, some leeway for some professional licensing during the pandemic in addition to other rationale and streamlines the state’s occupational regulations. Now, a substitute amendment to that bill is including social work.

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Commentary: Getting Young People Back in the Pews

Admin

Only 54 percent of Christians aged 18–35 attend church once a month or more. Meanwhile, Christianity is rapidly declining in the American population, especially in the younger generations.

The secularization of society is evident wherever we turn, and it will only worsen as young people continue to turn away from Christianity. To survive, the church needs to continue through the generations and get young people back in the pews.

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Music Spotlight: Ashley Cooke

Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- After hearing her on Sirius XM the Highway and seeing her fun and vibrant social media posts, I was instantly drawn to Ashley Cooke. I was excited to feature her in my column.

After winning the coveted Country Showcase at Belmont College, the communications major was just starting her new career path when the pandemic hit and forced the recent college graduate to temporarily move back home.

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Wyoming Governor Sues Biden Administration over Oil and Gas Contract Cancellations

The Center Square

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is again taking the Department of Interior to court. The governor has filed a second federal lawsuit against the department relating to a Bureau of Land Management decision to pause oil and gas lease sales. In a statement, the governor called the litigation timely and vital to the interests of people living in his state. 

“Wyoming’s energy resources can help power the nation and bring down costs at the pump,” said the governor. “BLM’s decision to cancel lease sales sure seems to be a violation of both the letter and the spirit of the law, (and) I firmly believe the pause in lease sales was politically driven and not based in law or fact.”

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Rigorous International Study of N95 Masks Upends Federal COVID Narrative

Just the News

The CDC took nearly two years to formally recognize distinctions between masks for mitigating COVID-19 spread, finally saying in January that cloth masks offer “the least” protection and N95 respirators, which meet strict federal standards, “the highest.”

The agency’s slight nod to the largely symbolic value of cloth masks, predominantly worn in school settings, followed months of calls by onetime White House COVID advisers, among others, to promote masks actually designed to stop aerosolized transmission. It also spurred a run on N95s, sending prices skyward.

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DNC Committee Approves Making South Carolina First State in Its Primary Calendar

Just the News

A panel of the Democratic National Committee on Friday backed a proposal that would make South Carolina the first state to hold a primary contest in the party’s primary nominating process.

Under the Rules and Bylaws Committee proposal, Nevada, New Hampshire, Georgia, and Michigan, would follow soon after South Carolina and precede Super Tuesday, according to CNN. The changes still require confirmation at a full DNC meeting, set to take place next year.

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