Search Results for: gas tax

State Rep. Jason Zachary Challenges Newsom to Debate After California Governor Targets Tennessee with Super PAC

Tom Pappert
California Gov. Gavin Newsom

State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) challenged California Governor Gavin Newsom to a debate after the Democrat targeted Tennessee for its pro-life legislation to protect unborn children using funds from a Super PAC that some speculate could lay the foundations of a campaign to oust President Joe Biden.

In a Sunday post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the California governor falsely claimed Tennessee’s pro-life legislation offers no exceptions, including for rape or incest, and asserted that “Republicans in Tennessee are trying to punish young women” who travel to abort their children. 

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Commentary: Republicans Roll over on ‘Climate Change’

Admin
Climate Change

Why are Republicans supine in the fight against the Marxist takeover of our entire way of life? They are petrified, for some reason, about engaging the debate on the “science” of “climate change.”

This abandonment of the playing field has allowed climate spending to overtake the landscape like Kudzu vines on steroids.

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Julie Kelly Commentary: Navalny’s Death Demonstrates Selective Outrage over Political Prisoners

Julie Kelly

Joe Biden wasted no time before shuffling to a White House podium last Friday to denounce the sudden death of Alexey Navalny, the celebrated anti-Kremlin activist.

According to Russian officials, Navalny, 47, lost consciousness after taking a walk at the Arctic penal colony where he had been serving a 19-year prison sentence for allegedly inciting “extremist” activities and other offenses. An outspoken foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Navalny won fans around the world including Hollywood celebrities and government leaders of all political persuasions.

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Commentary: More Cows Needed to Reverse Climate Change, Experts Say

Admin
Cows

In a little-noticed presentation on Dec. 9, 2023, at COP28 in Dubai, a panel of soil experts presented the case for cows as climate allies, not gas-spewing destroyers. The event, titled “Conscious Livestock Rearing and Soil Health,” discussed “animal rearing’s impact on soil health, and its place as a part of the climate solution.” Contrary to the anti-cow cacophony of the climate crisis crowd, these experts explained the vital role ruminants like cows play in nourishing and rebuilding precious soils. It turns out, grazing cows sequester massive amounts of carbon.

On the panel of experts was Seth J. Itzkan, co-founder of SOIL4Climate, Inc., a nonprofit that “promotes soil restoration as a climate solution,” and a man akin to a Lorax for the cows.

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Commentary: Progressive Policies are Designed for Civilizational Suicide

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Biden UN

We all understand, in the timeless words of the poet Robert Burns, that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Most Americans are accustomed to assessing the various failed initiatives of our country’s leaders as well-intended actions that turned out badly. The Vietnam, Afghan, and Iraq wars, the 2008 financial meltdown, and the COVID pandemic overreaction, all in hindsight, can be viewed as simply the unfolding of human stupidity in the contingency of time.

In accordance, it is understandable that many are inclined to believe that our country’s current serious problems are, once again, merely the failed result of well-intentioned policies. But what if, we ask, seemingly fumbled programs were intended to be the initial throes of civilizational suicide? What if apparent missteps were actually directed at the purposeful destruction of a prosperous, free, safe, and secure society?

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Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Do Leftists Now Believe Leftism Doesn’t Work?

Admin

It is hard to destroy a naturally beautiful city like San Francisco, with ideal weather and stunning infrastructure inherited from far better earlier generations.

Yet San Francisco continues its much-publicized and self-inflicted doom loop. The productive classes still flee the increasingly crime-ridden city and its self-induced pathologies. The city is eroding not because of the doomsayers and not because of what people say about San Francisco, but because of what San Franciscans have done to San Francisco.

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Commentary: Special Counsel Hur Says Biden ‘Elderly Man with Poor Memory’

RealClearWire
Biden Meeting

The same week Joe Biden publicly confused two European leaders with their deceased predecessors and passed on the traditional softball Super Bowl Sunday interview, a new report from Special Counsel Robert Hur described the president as “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”

The confluence of events raised further questions about the mental acuity of the 81-year-old executive, doubts that Biden did little to dispel in a defiant session with the press at the White House Thursday evening. Biden took particular umbrage with what he described as “extraneous commentary” contained in the report.

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Georgia Senate Passes Bill to Allow State Commission to Investigate Prosecutors, Including Fani Willis

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis

The Georgia State Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that will strike the need for the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission (PAQC) to have its rules reviewed and approved by the Georgia Supreme Court, which would allow it to immediately begin investigating prosecutors, including embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Introduced by Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula) in early January, SB 332 would amend the 2022 law establishing the PAQC to strike the requirement for the commission to have its standards and rules reviewed and adopted by the Georgia Supreme Court. It now goes to the Georgia House, and if passed, would become law as soon as it is signed by Governor Brian Kemp.

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Poll Shows Seven States Oppose Electric Vehicle Mandates

The Center Square
Tesla on Road

Polling from the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, the leading trade association of fuel, shows seven states oppose gas car bans.

Polling from the presidential and senate battleground states of Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, shows most registered and likely general election voters oppose government efforts to ban new gas cars and impose electric vehicle mandates.

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Commentary: School Choice Keeps Spreading

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Classroom

In just three years, the number of states with universal or near-universal private school choice programs has grown from zero to 10, and the number of students eligible for these programs has increased by 60%. According to the latest ABCs of School Choice – EdChoice’s comprehensive report about all matters pertaining to educational freedom—32 states (plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico) are using school choice as of 2023. Additionally, policymakers in 40 states debated 111 educational choice bills last year alone. Overall, approximately 20 million students—or 36% of all kids—are now eligible for some kind of private-choice program.

But what’s good for children and their families is problematic for the teachers’ unions and their fellow travelers. As such, on January 22—not coincidentally the beginning of National School Choice Week—the Partnership for the Future of Learning released a toolkit, maintaining that “voucher programs are “deeply rooted in segregation, racism, and discrimination.” The PFL, which is comprised of predominantly left-wing outfits—the National Education Association, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Learning Policy Institute, etc.—adds that private schools “do not have necessary accountability measures.”

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House Republicans Announce President’s Brother James Biden to Testify Before Oversight Panel in February

Just the News

House Republicans on Wednesday announced the date on which James Biden, one of President Biden’s brothers, will will give a transcribed interview to the chamber’s Oversight Committee, as part of their investigation into the Biden family’s overseas business dealings and impeachment inquiry. 

The committee posted to X that James Biden will testify Feb. 21.

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Georgia State House Candidate C.J. Pearson Blasts ‘Rogue Operation’ to Smear Him by ‘Atlanta Political Establishment’

Tom Pappert

C.J. Pearson, who is running in the February 13 special election to fill the seat in the Georgia State House vacated when former Representative Barry Fleming accepted an appointment to a judgeship by Governor Brian Kemp, told The Georgia Star News the political attacks about him are due to his strident conservatism.

Political operatives and organizations connected to Kemp are reportedly “taking aim” at Pearson with political advertisements claiming his previous work for Prager University and prior support for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2016, when Pearson was himself just 13-years-old, are proof he does not share Georgia’s values.

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Georgia State Senate Approves Committee to Investigate Fani Willis

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Fani Willis

The Georgia State Senate approved Friday the creation of a committee to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

The senate voted 30-19 to investigate Willis in response to allegations that she awarded her alleged lover, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, a “lucrative” contract that she benefited from when he took her on vacations using money he earned from his position. Sen. Greg Dolezal introduced the legislation Monday to create a Senate Special Committee on Investigations, which would have the power to issue subpoenas and compel production of records.

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Commentary: The Left’s Ridiculous Disinformation on Tainted Zuck Bucks

Admin
Zuck Bucks

Anyone who’s followed the Mark Zuckerberg “Zuck bucks” story since 2020 has witnessed some spectacular acrobatics from the left.

First, it was denial that a partisan billionaire was trying to privatize the election in swing states. Then, when Democrats unseated President Trump, NPR and others praised Zuck bucks for “saving” the election. When the 2022 midterms came, the cry was for more private funding to “rehabilitate” democracy. Now the media’s latest stop: gaslighting the public into believing any criticism of leftist “dark money” is just conservative propaganda, rather than one of the worst election innovations of our time.

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Biden’s Green Energy Push Collides with Key Democrat Constituency: Native American Tribes

Just the News
Native Americans

While President Joe Biden has made respect for tribal sovereignty a pillar of his administration, some Native Americans are saying that respect ends where Biden’s energy policy begins. The dynamic has created some tension between a Democrat president and one of his party’s key constituencies.

“It seems like they elevate the voices and are willing to consult with indigenous groups when the voice is supportive of their policy,” Nagruk Harcharek, president of the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, told Just The News.

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Divide Among Elites and Rest of Country Widening Ahead of 2024 Election: Rasmussen

Just the News

The divide between the country’s “elite” and the rest of America is growing and it will have a substantial impact on the 2024 elections, according to a survey conducted by Scott Rasmussen and RMG Research, Inc. 

The survey also found the most highly educated voters with advanced degrees are liberal-leaning and their policy positions are at odds with the rest of the electorate, which Rasmussen and conservative economist Steve Moore said during a briefing about the results on Friday.

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Alleged Foreign Agent Law Violations Loom over Hunter Biden as House Prepares to Depose Him

Just the News

The U.S. law firm that did work for Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings was encouraged by the Justice Department to register as a foreign agent for the same type of work that Hunter Biden did for the company while he was a board member. Burisma was not registered as a foreign agent at the time.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (Cravath) as part of its representation of Burisma and its founder, litigation partner John Buretta met with State Department officials and sent a letter directly to the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filings submitted earlier this month.

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Senators Raise Questions about EV Mandates and Subsidies Going to China

Just the News

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has been scrutinizing the intersection of electric vehicle mandates and supply chains to meet them, and how EV subsidies could empower China, which controls a lot of those supply chains.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., chair of the committee, said he doesn’t have any problem with electric vehicles.

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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

Tom Pappert

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

Tom Pappert

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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Hunter Biden’s Art Dealer Gives Latest Evidence Shredding White House Narrative on Biden Family Finances

Just the News

The Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, until it wasn’t. Joe Biden never met any of the family’s business partners or got proceeds from the ventures, until he did. And now there was an ethics agreement to govern Hunter Biden art sales during the Biden presidency until the art dealer in the middle of those sales revealed there wasn’t, at least to his knowledge.  

Renowned international art dealer Georges Bergès, whose galleries range from Berlin to New York, and represents Hunter Biden as an artist is the latest figure to blast a hole into the Biden White House narrative about the millions the first family has collected. 

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Commentary: American Society Has Been Turned Upside-Down and Our Rendezvous with the Unthinkable Draws Near

Admin

In the last six months, we have borne witness to many iconic moments evidencing the collapse of American culture.

The signs are everywhere and cover the gamut of politics, the economy, education, social life, popular culture, foreign policy, and the military. These symptoms of decay share common themes.

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Commentary: An Economic Bill of Rights for the 21st Century

Admin
Manual Labor

Beginning April 1, the minimum wage for employees working in California’s fast food chains and health care industries will rise to $20 per hour and, in some cases, up to $23 per hour. Many employers managing independent restaurants, retail, and other industries will have to match the higher hourly rate to retain employees. And for hourly employees whose wages are indexed to the minimum wage, mostly in California’s unionized public sector, wages will rise proportionately.

There is no national consensus on the impact of minimum-wage laws. It is part of a much larger debate over what constitutes an optimal economic environment to enable, quoting from Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “economic security and independence.”

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Top-Ranked Political Advisor Ward Baker Delivers Four-Part Master Class on 2024 Election Cycle

Tennessee Star Staff
Ward Baker

Political consultant Ward Baker joined Wednesday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy in-studio to discuss his insights to the state of the 2024 election cycle across the 50 states.

With the Iowa caucuses less than two weeks away and Super Tuesday a scant nine weeks after that on March 5, Baker takes listeners inside the campaigns as he shares the polling, players and places that matter most in 2024.

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Virginia Economy Grew in 2023, but Failed to Match Growth of Neighboring States, Saw More Residents Leave

Tom Pappert
Woman Working

Old Dominion University released its annual State of the Commonwealth Report on December 18, 2023. While the authors found Virginia’s economy improved in 2023, they also found that people continued to leave the commonwealth, the economy grew slower than in neighboring states, and the economic activity was not evenly dispersed.

Economic “good news” offered by the report includes a “record number of Virginians” who were “at work or looking for work,” with workforce “participation increased above pre-pandemic levels.” Virginia’s hotel industry also saw growth, with revenues surpassing those of 2019.

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Year in Review: Pennsylvania Energy Policy

The Center Square
Fracking Drilling

Pennsylvania has had a significant year for energy development, with hundreds of millions of federal dollars coming into the commonwealth.

Though the status of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first mandatory market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States, remains mired in a legal fight, hydrogen hubs and natural gas have kept legislators and the public busy.

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China’s Funding of U.S. Climate Initiatives Mirrors the Russian Funding of Anti-Fracking Groups

Just the News
Windmills

A nonprofit with operations in Beijing reportedly funded a number of nonprofits in the United States fighting climate change and pushing for sustainable or “green” energy.

Tax filings obtained by Fox News showed funding from the Energy Foundation China, which is headquartered in San Francisco and has a majority of its operations in China. The group, which refers to itself in tax filings as “Energy Foundation China” contributed $3.8 million to initiatives to phase out coal use and expand the use of electric vehicles, according to Fox News.

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Georgia Unemployment Rate Holds at 3.4 Percent for Third Month as Expert Predicts ‘Soft Landing’ for State Economy

Tom Pappert
Office Work

The Georgia Department of Labor revealed on Thursday that the state’s unemployment numbers remained constant at 3.4 percent for the third consecutive month in November, even as small business owners across the country report a pessimistic outlook for the economy.

A total of 14,300 jobs were added to Georgia over November, bringing the total number of jobs generated in 2023 to 103,700. Nearly 5 million jobs exist in Georgia, which the agency reported continues to be the state’s highest recorded.

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Kari Lake, Steve Bannon, Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Matt Gaetz, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Headline Second Day of TPUSA’s Third Annual AmericaFest

Rachel Alexander

The second day of Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest featured several more prominent conservative speakers Sunday evening. Kari Lake, Steve Bannon, Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-AL-14) riled the crowd up denouncing the Republican establishment and the far left. 

Greene began her talk by observing that “Joe Biden has been in office longer than I’ve been alive.” She said she is “constantly surrounded by people that serve the rest of the world and America last and it makes me so d*** angry every single day that I wrote a book about it.” She said, “They seem to forget that there’s 50 states of the United States of America; they think Ukraine is the 51st state.” 

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Impeachment Inquiry Zeroes in on Origin of Hunter Biden’s China Deals While Joe Biden Was VP

Just the News

Congress has assembled a growing body of evidence that Hunter Biden’s dealings with a Chinese energy company that landed the family millions of dollars in 2017 actually began in 2015 and may have involved a meeting with his father before he left office as vice president, according to documents reviewed by Just the News.

The new evidence includes statements made to the FBI by a longtime Biden family friend who was involved in the deal with CEFC China Energy executives like its Chairman Ye Jianming, contemporaneous emails from Hunter Biden and testimony recently released from two IRS whistleblowers.

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Commentary: Civilization Versus the New Nihilists

Admin

Nihilism is the religion of the Left. Anarchy is now at the core of the new Democratic Party.

If the Left wished radically to alter the demography of the U.S., it could have expanded legal immigration through legislation or the courts.

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Commentary: American Globalists’ Motivation

Admin

It is too easy, and dangerously misleading, to examine the most controversial globalist policies combined with America’s most obvious weaknesses and conclude that American power, and the future of globalism is in jeopardy. In both there is nuance and hidden strength. Understanding this ambiguity offers both hope for the future and a clearer sense of what choices face Americans today.

It is important to recognize that while other Western Nations from New Zealand to Sweden are participants in globalist policies, and that globalist theories may have originated from Europe, the influencers and institutions turning them into policy and pushing them onto the rest of the world are almost all American.

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Think Tank Founder Drew Johnson Running for U.S. House in Nevada, Promises to Leverage Tennessee Experience to Pass ‘Pro Freedom’ Bills

Tom Pappert

Drew Johnson, who founded and served as the first president of the Beacon Center of Tennessee, formerly the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, told The Tennessee Star he intends to take his years of policy experience to Congress if he wins election to the U.S. House to represent Nevada’s 3rd Congressional district.

Johnson explained to The Star that he started Beacon Center when in his early twenties, and lived and operated from his personal vehicle for the think tank’s first few months of operation. He told The Star he saved American taxpayers around $60 billion and brought about 100 charter schools to Tennessee over his time in public policy.

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Commentary: The Big Guy Must Be Getting Nervous as First Son Hunter Could Turn to Save Himself

Admin

So we finally have a serious indictment of Hunter Biden. Well, half-serious. After having been stiffed by lawyers for Biden fils, special counsel David Weiss removed one glove, checked the statute of limitations clock and the north-by-northwest breezes of public sentiment, and decided that he had better slip in a valid indictment or two, ones with some semblance of teeth or at least dentures, before time ran out on all of them.

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Commentary: Reforming Private Sector Unions

Admin

Unlike public sector unions, which are inherently corrupt and need to be outlawed, private sector unions have a vital role to play in American society. But these unions have become coopted by the same special interests they were originally formed to oppose. The political agenda of America’s unions is almost exclusively leftist, and being part of America’s institutional “Left” is not what it used to be.

The biggest misconception in American politics today is that the political Left is fighting corporate power. Leftists may still attack corporate profits and demand corporations pay their “fair share,” but on every major issue affecting the economic freedom and prosperity of working families in America, these presumed antagonists are actually in perfect alignment.

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Concerns Grow over Perceived Viability of Hydrogen Hubs in Pennsylvania

The Center Square

Doubt swirled among a panel of Pennsylvania lawmakers this week about the practicality using hydrogen hubs to lower greenhouse emissions, and federal subsidies earmarked to build them.

The Senate Democratic Policy Committee met Monday to promote a fossil-fuel-free future, harnessing hydrogen for industries where electrification can’t cut it.

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4,000 Auto Dealers Say Electric Vehicles Are ‘Stacking Up’ on Lots

The Center Square

About 4,000 auto dealers from all 50 states have signed a letter to President Joe Biden saying electric vehicles are “stacking up on our lots” as the demand for electric cars has “stalled.”

“BEVs [battery electric vehicles] are stacking up on our lots,” the auto dealers stated in the letter. “Last year, there was a lot of hope and hype about EVs. Early adopters formed an initial line and were ready to buy these vehicles as soon as we had them to sell. But that enthusiasm has stalled. Today, the supply of unsold BEVs is surging, as they are not selling nearly as fast as they are arriving at our dealerships – even with deep price cuts, manufacturer incentives, and generous government incentives.”

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TPUSA Journalists Charged with Assault in Maricopa County After Arizona State University Professor Seemed to Lunge Toward Them on Video

Tom Pappert
ASU-TPUSA Incident

Two Turning Point USA (TPUSA) journalists were indicted on Thursday in Maricopa County after an October encounter on the Arizona State University (ASU) campus with a professor who appeared to lunge at the journalists on video.

The Maricopa County indictment, filed at the University Lakes Justice Court, claims TPUSA reporter Kalen D’Almeida and cameraman Braden Ellis harassed, assaulted, and engaged in disorderly conduct during their October 11 confrontation with ASU faculty member David Boyles.

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Biden Clocks in Biggest Regulatory Burden in Recent Memory, Report Says

Admin

The Biden administration has outpaced other recent presidents in issuing significant regulations that place a financial burden on taxpayers, according to a report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

Under President Joe Biden, the federal government completed 89 economically significant rules in 2022, defined as those with at least a $100 million economic impact, which is higher than any point in the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations when deregulation is accounted for, according to CEI’s “Ten Thousand Commandments Report.” Regulations as a whole resulted in $1.939 trillion in added costs for the average American in 2022, exceeding every form of tax except income tax, which it rivals at $2.263 trillion.

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Blue State Residents Are Paying Much More for Energy than Red States, New Report Shows

Admin

Residents of blue states with aggressive climate policies are paying significantly more for electricity and fuel than red states, according to a new report by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York and New Jersey are seven of the top eight continental states in terms of highest average retail electricity prices in 2023, according to ALEC’s report. Each of these states have some sort of green energy mandate, which the ALEC report refers to as a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), or participates in a greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program, or both.

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Biden Admin Preparing to Finalize Barrage of Methane Regulations

Admin

The Biden administration is gearing up to finalize a host of emissions rules and regulations in the coming months, E&E News reported Wednesday.

The rules and regulations are all focused on methane, a greenhouse gas that is more potent, but dissipates more quickly, than carbon dioxide, and align with the administration’s commitment to attacking climate change with a “whole-of-government” response. The Biden administration is aiming to finalize the slew of methane regulations in the coming months ahead of the 2024 election, which would make the rules more difficult for a potential Republican administration to scrap should President Joe Biden lose, according to E&E News.

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Commentary: Five More Stupid Things the Left Demands You Believe

Admin

It wasn’t the last column in this space — that one took a detour because somebody had to address the manifest awfulness of Nikki Haley — but the one before that introduced you, dear reader, to what might become an ongoing series.

Because the Left in America is now built on the failed proposition that magical thinking, the imagination of a human race that acts nothing like the current one does, can reflect reality if only enough time, money, and effort (and blood, because it always comes down to blood) are poured into the mix.

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Stellantis Seeks 6,400 Buyouts in Electric Vehicle Transition

The Center Square

Big Three automaker Stellantis seeks 6,400 buyouts – nearly half its 12,700 total non-bargaining unit – as it accelerates into an electric future.

Citing “challenging market conditions”, Stellantis’ Media Relations Director Jodi Tinson said the offer is open to non-bargaining unit U.S. employees with at least five years of corporate service.

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Election Problems Persist This time in Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas

Just the News

Voters in counties nationwide ran into a handful of different issues at polling locations during Election Day on Tuesday, from voting machines flipping votes in a Pennsylvania county to electronic poll books malfunctioning in Louisville, Kentucky.

Several states had statewide, local, and/or municipal elections on Tuesday, including Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The first two states had gubernatorial elections, while the last two had local and statewide ballot questions or judicial races.

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Electric Vehicle Registration Fee Recharging for Next Florida Session

The Center Square

As more electric vehicles hit the highways, states are worried about fuel tax collections headed in the opposite direction.

States, including Florida, are considering or have been already enacted, annual registration fees to ensure owners of electrics pay a fair share of the cost of maintaining the roads, highways and bridges, said Doug Shinkle, who oversees the transportation program for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

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Commentary: Trump’s Popularity Is Not Inexplicable

Admin

In a routine that has become familiar of late, CNN’s Jim Acosta reports the ongoing ascendancy of Donald Trump in the polls with a mixture of dismay and disbelief. With these emotions front and center on his November 5 cable show, Acosta grimly reported the latest polling on the 2024 presidential candidates, noting that Trump is now ahead of Biden in five out of six crucial swing states. In Nevada, where Trump lost by 2 percentage points in 2020, Trump is now up by 11 points over Biden.

As Acosta proceeded to interview experts in an attempt to make sense out of this, the prevailing message was Biden is too old, and that has voters worried. David Frum, a reliable uniparty stalwart, reassured Acosta that “Trump is only three years younger than Biden,” and that Trump is so weak and elderly that he “can’t even open a jar of pickles.” The men then proceeded to applaud Biden as physically hale and hearty, dismissing concerns about his age as unwarranted.

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Biden IRS Launches Audit Into Conservative Org That Helped Tank Nominees for Key Administration Posts

Admin

The IRS is investigating the tax-exempt status of the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) following its reporting on President Joe Biden’s nominees, several of whom withdrew their nominations, according to a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The IRS is requesting AAF submit internal financial data as well as communications, including meeting notes, publications and newsletters, according to the letter from the IRS to AAF obtained by the DCNF. The conservative nonprofit organization, which the IRS approved for tax-exempt status in August 2021, alleges the investigation is in retaliation for the AAF reporting on several recent Biden nominees who later withdrew their nominations.

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Proposed SEC Climate Disclosure Rule Will Add Costs That Consumers Will Bear, Critics Warn

Just the News

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) has been slammed with comments from supporters and critics of its proposed climate disclosure rule.

The release of the final rule has been continually delayed, but its publication is anticipated in the next few months. Congressional Democrats are urging for it to be done sooner rather than later.

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The Cost of Covering American Roads with EVs Is Raising Some Big Speed Bumps

Just the News

With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, the federal government boosted tax credits, hoping to help American consumers wary of the higher sticker prices for electric vehicles (EVs) to warm up to them. In a further push, in May of this year, the EPA proposed emissions standards on new vehicles that are designed to make 60% of all new vehicle sales to be electric powered by 2030.

The automotive industry responded eagerly to the push for EVs, pledging to transform large portions of their business over to electric lines. A Reuters analysis in October 2022 estimated that 37 global automakers were planning $1.2 trillion in investments in EVs, batteries and materials for the transition through 2030.

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