Biggest Bank in U.S. Records Most Profitable Year Ever Despite Sector Crisis

Top U.S. bank JP Morgan Chase on Friday reported $49.6 billion in profits for 2023, a record for the bank, despite a sector crisis that shut down multiple smaller institutions.

Profits for the year were up for the bank despite net income bringing in only $9.3 billion in the fourth quarter, falling 15%, while the company brought in $39.9 billion in net revenue, up 12% for the quarter, according to JP Morgan’s fourth quarter earnings report. JP Morgan’s record profits come after a year of crisis for the sector, starting with a bank run in March at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), which then spread to First Republic Bank and Signature Bank, prompting the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to step in and seize the banks, ultimately selling First Republic’s assets to JP Morgan.

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Trump ‘Can’t Imagine They Go Forward’ with Georgia Election Case After Fani Willis, Nathan Wade Relationship Allegations

During a Sunday rally in Iowa, former President Donald Trump said he “can’t imagine” the Georgia election case against him moving forward amid the allegations that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is romantically linked with Nathan Wade, who she appointed as special prosecutor and paid more than $650,000 in taxpayer money.

In addition to the accusation Willis is engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Wade, she is also accused of hiring him without following proper procedure and financially benefiting from his compensation through luxurious vacations financed by the special prosecutor. The claims about their alleged relationship surfaced in a legal filing last week by Michael Roman, who is a co-defendant in Willis’ case against the former president.

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Lawmakers, Veterans Say ‘Woke Diversity Initiatives’ Cost Taxpayers, Hurt Military

A growing concern about progressive ideology on race and gender at all levels of the U.S. military has sparked outrage and became the center of a Congressional hearing. Critics have launched a barrage of attacks on the progressive ideology they say is infiltrating the ranks, calling it a waste of taxpayer dollars and arguing it hurts morale, breeds division among troops, and hurts recruitment.

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Energy Group: Biden Policies Sow Seeds for ‘New Energy Crisis’

Off Shore Oil Drilling

Federal policies must focus on strengthening American energy independence, the American Petroleum Institute emphasized  Wednesday at its annual State of the American Energy conference.

API CEO Mike Sommers and Senior Vice President of Policy, Economics and Regulatory Affairs Dustin Meyer blasted the Biden administration over what they called its “short-sighted” energy policies.

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Federal Reserve Employees Went Through DEI Training as Inflation Rose

New documents reveal that, as the nation suffered from the strain of historically high inflation, employees at the Federal Reserve spent more time going through diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training than addressing the financial crisis.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the newly-obtained documents reveal that there were four DEI training sessions held in the spring and summer of 2021. These lessons featured such teachings as “correct pronoun usage is a civil right” and acknowledging “White privilege,” as well as demanding the use of “inclusive language” such as “Latinx,” a word that is meant to erase the historically gendered language used in Hispanic languages.

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Vanderbilt University Has One Administrator for Every Two Students: Analysis

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University employs more than one full-time administrator for every two students, a College Fix analysis found.

During the 2021-22 academic year, the most recent for which data are available, the private Nashville university employed 3,516 full-time administrators and support staff, according to information the school filed with the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

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Fani Willis Delivers ‘Letter to God’ from Pulpit of Baptist Church on Sunday, Defends Hiring of Nathan Wade and Suggests Critics Motivated by Racism

Embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis delivered what she called a “letter to God” on Sunday at Big Bethel Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta. The speech, which Willis delievered from the Pulpit, represented Willis’ first remarks since she was accused of engaging in an inappropriate romantic relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, who she appointed as a special prosecutor for her case against former President Donald Trump.

Willis did not mention Wade’s name in her speech, but referred to him in remarks that seemed to suggest those questioning Wade’s pay, or the alleged romantic relationship, are committing acts of racism. She and the special prosecutor were accused of being romantically entangled in a legal filing by Michael Roman, who is a defendant in her case against former President Donald Trump.

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Metro Nashville Government Posts Job Listing for ‘DEI Education Trainer’

The Metro Nashville and Davidson County government placed a job listing for a “DEI Education Trainer” on Friday, who will work a “flexible/hybrid” schedule for about $56,000 per year.

Posted on Friday, the job listing indicates the full-time position is for the government’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion division, and the applicant will be “responsible for expanding the current training efforts” of the city’s DEI office “and promoting alignment of Metro’s equity goals.”

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Attorney Says She Has Witnesses Ready to Testify They Saw Alleged Lovebirds Fulton County DA Fani Willis and Subordinate Nathan Wade

Multiple witnesses are reportedly willing to testify to the existence of an inappropriate romantic relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Nathan Wade, the private defense attorney she hired for her case against former President Donald Trump, the lawyer behind the allegations said Sunday.

The allegation that Wade and Willis are romantically involved originated in a legal filing written by attorney Ashliegh Merchant for Michael Roman which sought to have the case dismissed. The filing alleged Willis hired Wade, who began divorce proceedings immediately after, and benefited financially as Wade earned more than $650,000 working on the case.

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Professor Who Belittled Christopher Rufo’s Harvard Degree ‘Apologizes’

The Harvard professor who made fun of conservative journalist Christopher Rufo’s Harvard Extension School degree as “not the same” as those earned by “normal” Harvard students has offered an apology of sorts.

Jennifer Hochschild (pictured above), a professor of government and African/African American Studies whose work was plagiarized by former Harvard President Claudine Gay, had accused Rufo of “try[ing] to attach himself to Ivy status and prestige” by noting he has a master’s degree from Harvard.

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Nearly Half of Iowa Trump Supporters Are ‘Extremely’ Enthusiastic – Plurality of DeSantis and Haley Backers Only ‘Mildly’ So

Former President Donald Trump still maintains a strong lead in Iowa ahead of the GOP presidential caucus on Monday with strong enthusiasm from supporters, unlike former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, whose backers lack the same enthusiasm, according to a new poll released by The Des Moines Register/NBC News/MediaCom.

Out of all voters who expect to caucus for Trump, around 42 percent said that they were “extremely enthusiastic,” while 39 percent said that they were “very enthusiastic,” compared to Haley, who came in at 9 percent and 30 percent in those same metrics, respectively, according to a poll conducted by Selzer & Co. Overall, those surveyed heavily favored the former president, with 48 percent of voters saying they would support Trump, followed by Haley at 20 percent and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 16 percent.

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As Media and Environmental Groups Dismiss Offshore Wind Concerns, Whale Advocates Continue Fight

Dead Whale

In 2022, 100 marine scientists launched a campaign to stop oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico, over concerns that the activity could impact a rare species of whale. EarthJustice, an environmentalist nonprofit that litigates environmental issues, joined in the fight.

While oil spills can directly kill whales, the main threat to marine life from oil and gas development is vessel strikes and underwater noise.

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Commentary: Gun Owners End 2023 Proving Gun Control Advocates Wrong

Hunting

As 2023 drew to a close, millions of peaceable Americans geared up for a new year that will bring with it many new limitations on their constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

In California, for example, Jan. 1 was the date to ring in the state’s plethora of new restrictions on carrying concealed firearms in public, courtesy of SB 2, a law passed in the wake of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen to punish concealed carry permit holders for having their rights vindicated by the Supreme Court.

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Sen. Rand Paul Proposes Fed Audit as Regional Bank Bailout Hits $141 Billion

Legislation offered by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the “Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2024,” would conduct an audit of the U.S. Federal Reserve by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for the first time since the Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010 required an audit of the central bank’s purchases of mortgage-backed securities.

This time around, the GAO would look at the Fed’s entire balance sheet, including the recently enacted Bank Term Funding Program — now $141 billion according to the central bank’s latest H.4.1. release — that has been lending banks money in exchange for U.S. Treasuries after the spike in interest rates caused there to be a reported $620 billion of unreported losses including regional banks that experienced failures in the interest rate crunch.

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