More Than 100 Lawmakers Slam Biden for Withholding Weapons from Israel

President Joe Biden with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Dozens of legislators wrote to President Joe Biden on Monday to criticize the Biden administration’s decision to withhold certain weapons from Israel.

More than 100 lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, signed the letter slamming the administration’s decision to hold back certain weapons from Israel, which President Joe Biden addressed during an interview last week with CNN. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have engaged in highly-visible protests imploring Biden to back away from Israel for months before the administration ultimately opted to impose restrictions on military aid to Israeli forces.

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‘Shield Laws’ Enable over 40,000 Abortions in States with Bans via Telehealth

Washington Examiner Over 40,000 women in states with abortion restrictions have accessed abortion medication from providers in other states via telehealth appointments, according to a study published on Tuesday. According to the Society of Family Planning, a pro-abortion-rights organization, 19% of all abortions in the United States in December 2023 were conducted via telehealth appointments, during which a physician would prescribe abortion pills to be sent to the patient via mail. Even in states that have banned or strictly regulated abortion, including telehealth abortion consultation, patients have been able to seek abortions via telehealth from providers in states that have so-called shield laws, which are designed to protect healthcare providers from prosecution in states where the procedure is banned. READ THE FULL STORY                   

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White-Owned Businesses Boxed Out from $2.3 Billion in Contracts to Renovate JFK International Airport

The Blaze Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul praised the ‘record involvement by local minority- and women-owned businesses’ in the project Leaders in New York City and throughout New York state have celebrated an initiative by the New York Port Authority to reserve a sizeable portion of the nearly $20 billion renovation project at JFK International Airport for businesses owned by women and non-white men. The plan to renovate JFK airport was announced all the way back in 2017 and will cost an estimated $19 billion, which will be paid for by both public and private funds. Of that $19 billion, renovation contracts worth a total of $2.3 billion have been reserved for MWBEs — minority- and women-owned business enterprises — as part of Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul’s goal of increasing state partnerships with MWBEs. Thus far, 680 MWBEs have been awarded contracts for the JFK renovation project. READ THE FULL STORY             

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Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Confirms Transgender Arrested for Alleged Cyberstalking Will Remain in Custody Leading up to June 3 Hearing

US Atty Mark H. Wildasin, McKenzie McClure

An executive assistant attorney with the Middle District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed to The Tennessee Star that McKenzie McClure, the biological female and former Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) student arrested by federal authorities on cyberstalking charges, will remain in custody leading up to a June 3 detention hearing.

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Analysis: Trump Says Biden Is ‘So Bad’ That Every State Could Be Competitive

Donald Trump

“As you can see today, we’re expanding the electoral map because we are going to officially play in the state of New Jersey—we’re going to win the state of New Jersey… We’re also looking… at the state of Minnesota, which hasn’t been won [by the GOP] since 1952 and we’re leading in the polls, and the state of Virginia and actually many other states, I don’t know, it could be all of them.”

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Commentary: Biden’s Punitive, Anti-Growth Tax Proposals

President Joe Biden

President Biden’s 2025 budget proposal provides a salient reminder that he is no moderate, despite his attempts to position himself as one.

Biden’s tax proposals would effectively increase the top federal marginal tax rate on long-term capital gains to 44.6%, a record high since the tax was enacted in the 1920s. As a result, taxes paid on long-term capital gains would reach levels above 50% in some states after accounting for state capital gains taxes. Biden also proposed increasing the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28% and presented a 25% tax on unrealized capital gains for individuals whose net worth exceeds $100 million.

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New Tennessee Law to Revoke Driving Privileges for Minors Behind Threats of ‘Mass Violence’ Against Schools

Teen Driver

A law set to take effect before the 2024-2025 school year will require juvenile courts to revoke driver’s licenses from juvenile offenders who are convicted of threatening schools or school property.

SB 1664 by State Senator Dawn White (R-Murfreesboro) will mandate juvenile offenders who are found guilty of threatening mass violence on school property or during school activities must have their driving privileges suspended for one year.

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Taxpayer-Funded Research Investigated How ‘Populist’ Politicians Spread ‘Misinformation’ During COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID Protest

The federal government funded a multilateral research project investigating how “populist” politicians allegedly sowed disinformation and eroded public trust during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) paid out a grant to support research investigating “how populist politicians distorted COVID-19 pandemic health communication to encourage polarized attitudes and distrust among citizens,” which made the public “more vulnerable to misinformation generally,” according to federal spending records. The project, titled “Pandemic Communication in Times of Populism,” received just over $160,000 from the NSF and is focused on how leaders in the United States, Brazil, Serbia and Poland approached the pandemic, stressing the importance of elevating public health experts over “populist” politicians, according to a presentation produced by the researchers.

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The 2024 Sunset of the Trump Tax Cuts Becoming Election Year Issue as Inflation, Cost of Living Climbs

Donald Trump

The sweeping Trump-era tax cuts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are set to expire next year, setting up the tax debate as a potentially key political issue this election year.

While illegal immigration and inflation top Americans’ list of concerns, both parties are increasingly talking about the Trump-era tax cuts, which President Joe Biden has said he will allow to expire next year.

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Student Loan Rates to Reach 16-Year High

College Graduation

As borrowing costs for student loans are already at unseen levels, rates are expected to rise even higher in the coming months to a high not seen in 16 years.

According to ABC News, the current interest rate on a federal undergraduate student loan, which is 5.5%, is expected to rise to 6.5% in July. This would mark the highest level since 2008. The borrowing rate for student loans is determined as a result of adding a fixed amount of 2.05% to the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond, which is set every May at an annual auction. On Wednesday, the 2024 auction saw 10-year Treasury bonds sold at a yield of 4.48%.

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Toll-Free Brent Spence Bridge Project Connecting Cincinnati to Northern Kentucky Allowed to Move Forward

Brent Spence Bridge project

Ohio and Kentucky announced Friday they received federal approval to move the $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project forward without tolls.

The environmental approval means the massive project connecting Cincinnati to Northern Kentucky moves ahead the project that transforms an 8-mile stretch of I-71/75 and includes a new companion bridge immediately to the west of the existing bridge.

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Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Declares it ‘Impossible’ to ‘Bring These Prices Down’

Sen. Bob Casey

Video surfaced on Friday of U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) declaring in a political event that it will be “impossible” to lower prices that have increased since President Joe Biden entered the White House.

“I’m not proposing that we’re going to be able to bring these prices down. That’s impossible,” Casey acknowledged in a video posted by Donald Trump Jr. to the social media platform X.

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Commentary: Appeasement Then and Now

Neville Chamberlin, Joe Biden

Monday, a week ago, Holocaust Day was marked by solemn remembrances in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world. It was marked in the U.S., as has been customary, by a presidential address, where Biden said nothing that would garner more than perfunctory notice.

Turns out that that was by design. For Biden had already approved a decision that gives cheer to the shade of Hitler and all his modern wanna-be-s — embargoing any arms to Israel that would allow them to keep Hamas from surviving intact and reasserting its plan for death to Israel.

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Commentary: A Deep Dive into the Shame and Disgust that Shape Law and Society

Times Square, New York City

by Roger Kimball   Some time ago, I participated in a conference about “policing in an age of terror.” One big topic was the place of informed hunches in the armory of the police.  Was it okay, or was it culpably racist, for the police to act on educated hunches when going about their jobs? Should they “profile” certain groups of people and, in some circumstances and in some neighborhoods, “stop and frisk” people they thought looked suspicious? Well, the heart, as Pascal famously assured us, has its reasons that reason does not know. About this, as about most things, Pascal was right. But what does it tell us about “rational hunches” or “policing in the age of terror?” Before I endeavor to answer those impossible questions, I should acquaint you with my qualifications for intervening on this large topic. My short-form disclosure is: I have none. I am not a lawyer, judge, or police officer. I am not even an academic. In terms of qualifications, I am like the man on the Manhattan omnibus or subway — a chap I shall revert to later. That is, I bring no specialized or professional knowledge to the table, merely the advantages…

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Increasing Number of Illegal Immigrants Expected to Vote for Democrats in the 2024 Election

Illegal migrants in small boat

Illegal immigrants may legally vote in U.S. elections, thanks to a loophole in federal law that provides an escape from any penalties and have their votes counted if they believe they are legally eligible to participate in an election.

Analysis by The Washington Times found that illegal immigrants are three times more likely to be Democrats than Republicans, and due to increasing numbers coming illegally across the border under the Biden administration, are expected to increase their votes for Democrats this fall.

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Challenging Federal Overreach: Ohio Case Seeks to Redefine Commerce Clause Powers

Robert Alt

Robert Alt, president and CEO of the Buckeye Institute and lead attorney in the case, Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury, told  The Ohio Star that this Ohio case could “rebalance federalism” and rein in the Commerce Clause. He also noted that Ream could supersede the 1942 Wickard v. Filburn case, which significantly broadened federal regulatory powers under the Commerce Clause.

The Buckeye Institute initiated the case in January on behalf of John Ream from Licking County, Ohio.

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Maricopa County Republican Leadership Unanimously Censures Arizona Supreme Court for ‘Injustice’ and ‘Bias’ in Handling Election-Related Lawsuits

The Maricopa County Republican Committee’s Executive Guidance Committee unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday censuring the Arizona Supreme Court (ASC) for its handling of election lawsuits. The censure came after the state’s highest court issued two relatively favorable rulings for Republicans: reversing sanctions against the Arizona Republican Party for an election-related case and upholding Arizona’s old 1864 law restricting abortion.

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Combined Social Security Trust Fund Projected to Deplete Reserves by 2035

Social Security

Two reports released Monday show that the U.S. combined Social Security trust fund is projected to deplete its reserves by 2035.

The Trustees for Social Security and Medicare released annual reports on Monday. The Trustees projected the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund will exhaust its reserves in 2036. The Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund was projected to be insolvent by 2033.

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Elevated Gas Prices Poised to Rise More This Summer

Pumping Gas

Gas prices have been elevated in recent months heading into summer, when prices are expected to rise even more.

According to AAA, the average national price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.65 per gallon, up from $3.59 a month ago. The prices have fluctuated in recent days and are lower than the all-time high of $5.02 in the summer of 2022. However, prices overall have risen significantly this year and are on pace to rise more in the summer months.

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Virginia Graduates Walk Out as Glenn Youngkin Delivers Commencement Speech

Gov. Glenn Youngkin delivering commencement speech at VCU

Scores of students at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) staged a walkout during their Saturday morning graduation ceremony as Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin took the podium to deliver a commencement address, The Washington Post reported.

The walkout, which consisted of approximately 100 out of 1,200 students, was a display of support for Palestinians and a demonstration against Youngkin’s stance against racial equity initiatives in schools, according to the Post. Youngkin and Virginia’s colleges and universities, including VCU, are battling over whether tax-payer funding should go toward diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

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Commentary: New Is Not Always Better

Jesus Christ

Imagine a scientist who decided to reject every scientific experiment or study that had come before him and would trust only scientific principles that he demonstrated with his own experiments.

Naturally, he would completely handicap himself. In his arrogance, he’d accomplish very little with his science, since he’d be hard at work re-demonstrating every scientific discovery ever made, many of which build on each other. He could never hope to repeat what generations of scientists (many of them much smarter than he) had accomplished over hundreds of years. But if he wasn’t willing to accept their testimony, writings, and conclusions, he’d have no other choice.

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Review: Georgia Hospitals Rank 23rd Nationally

Georgia’s hospitals ranked 23rd nationally, according to a new review.

According to the spring 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, which graded 80 Georgia hospitals, 21 received an “A,” 22 achieved a “B,” 31 attained a “C,” and 6 earned a “D.” The grades are based on preventable medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections that together kill more than 500 people a day in the United States.

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