Month: May 2023

FDIC to Slap Banks with New Fees to Cover Bailout Losses: Report

Admin

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) plans to release a proposal to replenish funds spent bailing out depositors of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank in March by charging fees to banks with over $10 billion in assets, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to Bloomberg.

The smallest lenders with under $10 billion in assets would be exempt from these fees, according to the sources who spoke to Bloomberg. There were over 4,000 banks beneath that threshold at the end of 2022; however, there were 145 banks between $10 billion and $250 billion in assets, according to FDIC data.

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District 86 Special Election Will Feature Interim State Rep Justin Pearson in Contested Democratic Primary, Independent Challenger

Mac Roberts

After Thursday’s qualifying deadline, several candidates have made the cut to run in the District 86 special election, including two Democrats and one independent. One Republican picked up a petition on the day of the qualifying deadline but failed to file the 25 signatures needed to be on the ballot. The Memphis-based district has long been a Democratic mainstay.

Late State Representative Barbara Cooper (D-Memphis) held the seat for nearly 26 years before passing away just two weeks before last year’s general election. She was posthumously reelected by a margin of 46 percentage points.

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Trump, Tucker Carlson Mull Alternative Republican Primary Debate: Report

Just the News

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is reportedly in discussions with former President Donald Trump to moderate an alternative Republican candidate forum, as the the pair move on from the cable news network.

Trump has threatened to boycott the first Republican debate, which Fox News will host, amid increasingly frayed relations between him and the network. Carlson, meanwhile, is reportedly looking to build a media presence for himself in the aftermath of his firing and has approached Trump about the independent forum, the Washington Post reported, citing “people familiar with his thinking.”

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Biden Administration’s Controversial Rule Raising Fees for Those with Good Credit Goes into Effect

The Center Square

The latest in a series of new Biden administration rule changes that charge higher fees to certain home buyers with good credit and lower fees for buyers with worse credit went into effect this week despite pushback from Republicans and many financial experts.

A group of U.S. House and Senate Republicans as well as state officials were unable to stop the rule, which a Biden administration official confirmed went into effect as planned Monday.

A coalition of Senate Republicans recently sent a letter to Sandra Thompson, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the latest in several policy changes from the group. The agency implemented the rule change this week.

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Bipartisan Ohio State Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Prohibit Intimate Exams Without Patient Consent

Hannah Poling

A bipartisan group of Ohio Lawmakers introduced a bill prohibiting intimate examinations on anesthetized and unconscious patients without their consent.

House Bill (HB) 89, sponsored by state Representatives Brett Hillyer (R-Uhrichsville) and Munira Abdullahi (D-Columbus), aims to require specific consent from patients before doctors, nurses, and medical providers-in-training perform intimate pelvic, prostate, or rectal exams as part of their training while patients are unconscious for an unrelated procedure.

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Connecticut Leaders Push Pension Reform Plan

The Center Square

Connecticut cities and towns could save tens of millions of dollars a year in pension costs under a new proposal unveiled this week by state leaders.

The plan, rolled out Wednesday, emerged from a deal between Gov. Ned Lamont and State Comptroller Sean Scanlon to overhaul the Connecticut Municipal Employees Retirement System, a state-run pension system for municipal employees, including police officers, firefighters, and public works employees.

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High Weed Tax in Pennsylvania May Repeat California’s Mistakes

The Center Square

A revenue analysis estimates that Gov. Josh Shapiro’s budget proposal for adult-use cannabis could bring in more than $250 million annually — but legalization advocates aren’t so enthusiastic.

The concern is not about legalizing and regulating marijuana. Instead, it’s a worry that Pennsylvania will repeat the mistakes of high-tax states that have failed to move people from the illegal market into a regulated one.

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Feds Announce Indictments Against 45 Minneapolis Gang Members

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U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew Luger announced on Wednesday the indictment of 45 Minneapolis gang members and associates in what he described as a years-long pattern of violence including murders, numerous shootings, acts of retaliation against rival gang members, drug dealing, and robberies.

A press conference held by Luger and several local and federal authorities described two indictments that were unsealed Wednesday in the District of Minnesota charging 30 members and associates of two Minneapolis-based street gangs — the Highs and the Bloods — with racketeering (RICO) conspiracy.

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Wisconsin Legislative Budget Committee Axes Controversial Plan for Office of Election Transparency and Compliance

M.D. Kittle

The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee this week rejected a plan by the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) to create a $2 million Office of Election Transparency and Compliance. 

While the proposed bureaucracy’s name suggests election integrity, it would be built by WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe, the same bureaucrat who has presided over an agency riddled with election integrity complaints and election law violations. 

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Maricopa County Supervisors Select Julie Willoughby to Replace Ousted Legislator Liz Harris

Rachel Alexander

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors selected Julie Willoughby, an emergency room trauma nurse, to fill the vacant LD 13 House seat formerly occupied by ousted State Representative Liz Harris (R-Chandler). The vote was 4-1, with the lone Democrat Steve Gallardo dissenting. The law required Republican precinct committeemen in the district to choose three candidates to send to the supervisors. The other two candidates they selected were Harris, who received the most support from the PCs, and Steven Steele, a retired natural-gas worker and motorcycle-operator trainer.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Jim O’Connor, who led an effort opposing voting machine tabulators last election, praised the choice. “I believe Julie to be a solid conservative voice for her district,” he told The Arizona Sun Times.

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U.S. Senator JD Vance Claims Biden Is ‘Playing Russian Roulette with the Country’s Finances’

Hannah Poling

U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) claims that President Joe Biden is “playing Russian roulette with the country’s finances” for refusing to negotiate on the current state of the debt plan.

This follows House Republicans passing the Limit, Save, Grow Act last week, which aims to address the debt ceiling and implement common sense spending reforms to limit wasteful spending, save taxpayer dollars, and grow the economy in hopes that Biden would negotiate with them.

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Arizona Department of Education Requests Changes for Lawsuit Against Arizona’s Law Separating Boys’ and Girls’ Sports

Neil Jones

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced Thursday it had filed a motion in court to have the venue of a lawsuit against the enforcement of an Arizona law changed from Tucson to Phoenix.

“Crucially, counsel for the parties are located in Phoenix. Even Plaintiffs are represented by local counsel in Phoenix, as is counsel for Superintendent [Tom] Horne. The result is that all of the Arizona lawyers are located in Phoenix, none are located in Tucson. That makes an overwhelming difference in the expense to the parties in litigating this case,” according to the motion, emailed to reporters.

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TikTok’s Parent Company Allegedly Tracks Conversations About COVID-19 Lab Leak Theory: Report

Admin

Popular social media app TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company ByteDance might be tracking online conversations about the COVID-19 lab leak theory, according to documents obtained by Forbes.

A ByteDance tool controlled by Chinese personnel monitors the use of “sensitive words” across company platforms, according to a Forbes investigation. Forbes accessed hundreds of ByteDance’s word lists and published them; they contain various categories including “science and medicine,” which is largely about China and the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Marine Corps to Deactivate Female-Only Unit amid Pressure from Congress to Speed Up Gender Integration

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The Marine Corps announced plans to deactivate a historic female-only training battalion that for decades served as the only point of entry into the force for female Marines, according to a press release issued Wednesday.

The 4th Recruit Training Battalion at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, has trained female Marines since 1986, and since 1949 the base itself was the only location female Marines would receive instruction, according to Military.com. On June 15, the unit will be officially deactivated, the Corps said in a press release, as the service seeks to speed up gender integration in training companies amid pressure from Congress.

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Commentary: Christian Popular Culture’s Revival Cast Out the Money Changers

RealClearWire

“Jesus Revolution” and “The Chosen” are not just Christian dramas but the avant garde in a revolution in faith entertainment. The former – a feel-good movie about hippies who returned to Christ during the 1970s, starring former “Cheers” and “Frasier” star Kelsey Grammer – has grossed more than $52 million since its debut just a few weeks ago, making it the most successful film released by studio heavyweight Lionsgate since 2019.

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Commentary: Three Traditional Skills Young Men Should Learn

Admin

It seems that no matter where we turn in modern life we can see how modern conveniences have chipped away at the skills so many used to pride themselves on. Of course, in and of themselves, modern conveniences aren’t bad—I’m grateful for many of them—but when so many of us young people today don’t know the skills of our forefathers, I can’t help but think that we are losing that hardy, independent mindset that early Americans often embodied.

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Commentary: The Long Road to Confronting China’s War on Religion Part Two

RealClearWire

Falun Gong emerged in China in 1992, a time of a spiritual renewal in a land still under Communist rule, but one recovering from the horrors of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. Drawing on Buddhist traditions, Falun Gong combined meditation and tai chi-style exercises with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of “zhen,” “shan,” and “ren” (truth, compassion, tolerance.) The word, in both English and Chinese, to describe this contemplative mind and body approach to life is qigong.

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‘Premeditated and Admitted Lie’: Intel Pros Slam Biden Laptop Letter After Bombshell Revelation

Just the News

In a rare and candid email exchange between two former CIA bosses, Michael Morell told John Brennan in October 2020 that he was organizing a letter of 51 intel experts claiming the emergence of the Hunter Biden laptop was a Russian influence operation because he wanted to give Joe Biden’s campaign a “talking point to push back on” Donald Trump during the last presidential debate of the 2020 election, according to documents obtained by Just the News.

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Republican Representative Introduces Bill to Crack Down on Illegal Immigrants Voting in U.S. Elections

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Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy introduced a bill Friday cracking down on illegal immigrants’ and noncitizens’ ability to vote in federal elections.

The Protecting American Voters Act, co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Matt Rosendale of Montana, Pete Sessions of Texas and Michael Burgess of Texas, would equip state officials with the information needed to verify citizenship upon voter registration, according to the bill obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The bill also requires federal agencies to provide information upon the states’ request, free of fees, from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE system that confirms who is a naturalized citizen.

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Border Patrol Migrant Processing Centers Are Already over Capacity Days Before Trump-Era Policy Ends

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Intake of Illegal Border Crossers

Border Patrol facilities that are holding migrants are largely over capacity at the southern border days ahead of the end of a Trump-era expulsion order, Title 42, according to an internal document the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively obtained from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official.

As of early Friday, Border Patrol had more than 20,000 migrants in custody, most of which are down south, according to the document. The document showed that seven southern border sectors are over 100% capacity.

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Biden Taps Former Failed Nominee Neera Tanden for Domestic Policy Adviser, Replacing Susan Rice

Admin

President Joe Biden on Friday picked the White House staff secretary to succeed Susan Rice as his domestic policy chief.

Biden, who served with Rice under the Obama administration, announced Rice’s resignation from domestic policy adviser on April 24 where she served for two years. Neera Tanden, the president’s staff secretary and failed nominee to head the Office of Management (OMB), will take Rice’s place, according to a White House press release.

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Massachusetts Middle School Doubles Down on Censoring 12-Year-Old’s ‘Two Genders’ Shirt

Susan Berry, PhD

Massachusetts middle school student Liam Morrison was reportedly told again to remove his shirt Friday, one that said, “There Are Censored Genders,” which he wore to protest his school’s alleged decision to censor his right to free speech.

Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) said it is now preparing to take legal action on behalf of Liam and his parents “to vindicate Liam’s right to speak truth in a culture inundated by lies.”

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Interim State Rep Jones Set to Face Republican Challenger Laura Nelson in District 52 Special Election; Neither Candidate Has a Primary Opponent

Mac Roberts

The candidates for the Tennessee State House of Representatives District 52 special election are set after two candidates – Laura Nelson and incumbent Justin Jones – qualified by the Thursday deadline.

District 52 has a long history of being a Democratic stronghold in the eastern half of Davidson County. Since 2000, the district has elected three Democrats: Rob Briley – brother of former Mayor David Briley, Mike Williams, and most recently, State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville).

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Miyares: Virginians to Receive More than $3.6 Million from Intuit Settlement

The Center Square

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has announced Virginians affected by the alleged “tricks” from TurboTax owner Intuit will receive more than $3.6 million as part of a nationwide settlement.

Miyares says more than 119,000 Virginia consumers were “tricked into paying to file their federal tax return.” The commonwealth’s restitution is part of a nationwide settlement of $141 million to be distributed to millions of lower-income Americans.

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Arizona Supreme Court Declines to Sanction Kari Lake’s Attorneys, Issues Fine

Rachel Alexander

The Arizona Supreme Court declined to award significant sanctions against Kari Lake’s attorneys for contesting the election results of the gubernatorial race. Instead, on Thursday the court ordered $2,000 in sanctions against her attorneys for asserting it was an “undisputed fact” that 35,563 ballots were inserted into the ballot counting process at Runbeck Election Systems. The court declined to award attorneys fees to her opponents.

The Arizona Supreme Court said in its opinion that Lake “repeatedly” asserted in pleadings that 35,563 ballots were “added” or “injected” at Runbeck. “Not only is that allegation strongly disputed by the other parties, this Court concluded and expressly stated that the assertion was unsupported by the record, and nothing in Lake’s Motion for Leave to file a motion for reconsideration provides reason to revisit that issue.”

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Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Foils Democrats’ ‘Diverse’ Primary Plans

M.D. Kittle

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has set the Peach State’s 2024 party primary elections for March 12, foiling the Democratic National Committee’s plans to move Georgia’s vote toward the front of the presidential nominating line.

Raffensperger says the DNC acted “unilaterally” in its bid to make their nominating process more “diverse” by bumping predominantly white states like Iowa and New Hampshire back and pushing more “racially inclusive” states like Georgia and Michigan to the front of the primary line. 

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Ohio Republican State Central Committee Unanimously Vote to Oppose Amendment to Enshrine Abortion in State Constitution

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Republican State Central Committee unanimously voted to oppose a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion in the state Constitution during their Friday meeting.

The Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, along with the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, proposed “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety.”

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Religious Organizations Celebrate Settlement in Discrimination Case Between Arizona School District and University

Neil Jones

Two months after facing heat for cutting ties with Arizona Christian University (ACU) in an apparent case of religious discrimination, the Washington Elementary School District (WESD) has gone back on its actions. In response, the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which sued the district, said it was the right move.

“At a time when a critical shortage of qualified, caring teachers exists, the Washington Elementary School District board did the right thing by prioritizing the needs of elementary school children and agreeing to partner once again with ACU’s student-teachers,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman.

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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Threatens to Veto Republicans’ Shared Revenue Plan

M.D. Kittle

Republican leadership is blasting Governor Tony Evers for threatening to kill a bill that would boost state shared revenue and bail out financially troubled Milwaukee. 

The liberal governor, however, isn’t the only critic of the legislation that pours hundreds of millions of dollars of new taxpayer revenue into Badger State towns, villages, cities and counties. 

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Commentary: Advice for the New Tennessee Commissioner of Education

Admin

I have some advice for Tennessee’s new Commissioner of Education, Lizzette Gonzales-Reynolds. Please know that you will never be everyone’s cup of tea. And that statement of fact is true for all of us. 

However, everyone is worthy of respect. In an Age of Irreverence, it is worth remembering that simple truth. We are all created in the image of God. It doesn’t mean you have to accept others’ beliefs, or even agree with them. However, it is a good starting point for human interaction.

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Planned Parenthood Plots Attack to Roll Back DeSantis’ Abortion Ban

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Planned Parenthood is planning on launching a ballot measure initiative to roll back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ newly-signed six-week abortion ban, according to Politico.

DeSantis signed a bill April 16 to protect the lives of the unborn after six weeks gestation with exceptions in cases of rape, incest and human trafficking, or when the mother’s life is in danger. Planned Parenthood, a pro-abortion advocacy group, is attempting to curb the governor’s efforts by attempting to create a ballot initiative allowing for abortions until fetal viability, according to Politico.

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Commentary: Recession Looms as Banks Collapse and the Economy Slows

Admin

The unemployment rate still remains at historic lows of 3.4 percent in April, according to the latest data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, amid other worrying signs for the U.S. economy including a continued collapse of job openings, a string of bank failure and an overall slowing Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In the survey, as the population increased by 171,000, those not in the labor force increased by 214,000 as labor participation dipped slightly by 43,000. Those who said they had a job increased by 139,000 after a 577,000 increase in March. As a result, the unemployment rate has actually ticked downward for two consecutive months from 3.6 percent in February, to 3.5 percent in March and now 3.4 percent in April.

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Gov. Kemp Signs Bill to Allow Georgia Hospitals to Form Police Departments

The Center Square

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a measure to allow Peach State hospitals to form campus police departments.

Lawmakers overwhelmingly voted in favor of House Bill 383, the Safer Hospitals Act, a measure that enhances criminal penalties for anyone who assaults a healthcare worker on a hospital campus, similar to the protections afforded to paramedics, transit drivers and law enforcement personnel.

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Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee Announces Ohio Supreme Court Endorsements

Hannah Poling

On Friday, the Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee voted to endorse Ohio Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters, Franklin Court of Common Pleas Judge Dan Hawkins, and Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan for the 2024 Ohio Supreme Court elections.

According to Ohio GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou, all three candidates have judicial experience, and their success as prosecutors show that they are committed to fighting crime hard and making Ohio safer for all Ohioans.

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Commentary: Men of the West, on the Cusp

Admin

So here we be, again. On the cusp, I would say. Four thousand years of Western Civilization at risk. On the verge. The eve of destruction, as the song says. The best that mankind has to offer is in the balance. I say “the best” because the West has set more men free than any other iteration of civilization, and freedom is the only standard by which we have to judge ourselves for what we are, or what we are capable of becoming. Being able to comply with the dictates of others is only the standard of a slave. 

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Colorado Teachers’ Union Passes Resolution Declaring That Capitalism ‘Inherently Exploits Children’

Admin

A major teachers’ union in the state of Colorado recently passed a resolution declaring that the capitalist system of economics “inherently exploits children, public schools, land, labor, and resources.”

According to Fox News, the final draft of the resolution passed by the Colorado Education Association (CEA) reads: “CEA believes that capitalism requires exploitation of children, public schools, land, labor, and/or resources. Capitalism is in opposition to fully addressing systemic racism (the school to prison pipeline), climate change, patriarchy, (gender and LGBTQ disparities), education inequality, and income inequality.”

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Music Spotlight: Amanda Kate Ferris

Bethany Bowman

When I heard the howling pedal steel-soaked guitar on the song aptly named “Pedal Steel,” a touching song about the Grand Ole Opry, I knew I needed to interview the artist as soon as possible. I was not surprised that Amanda Kate Ferris was from a musical family.

What did surprise me is that Ferris’s mother, Kathy Wright, was one of Dean Martin’s Golddiggers. I was excited to find out more.

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