Category: Policy

Democrat Lawfare Failed to Derail Trump Campaign So Far, While Triggering Financial Avalanche

Just the News
Donald Trump

Four indictments and one set of convictions later, a Democrat-led lawfare strategy has failed so far to derail Donald Trump’s bid to return to the White House, but it has triggered an avalanche of financial support as the former president hold leads in most battleground states that will decide the 2024 election.

No where was Trump’s resilience more obvious than his travels across the West Coast this weekend, where he collected $12 million at a Silicon Valley fund-raiser at the home of a Big Tech executive who used to support Hillary Clinton, scored millions more at events in blue southern California and then jetted off to Las Vegas for a boisterous rally in Nevada where a post-conviction poll showed him leading that once-Biden-friendly state by five points.

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Next Tennessee Budget Accounts for Drop in Tax and Use Collections

The Center Square
Governor Bill Lee

Tennessee has $144 million for education freedom scholarships that won’t be spent and will deposit an additional $100 million in the budget set to go into place for July 1.

Sycamore Institute, a non-partisan public policy research institute, recently published an analysis of what changed from Gov. Bill Lee’s initial proposed budget to the $52.8 billion budget that passed the Tennessee Legislature.

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Conservatives Secure Wins in Europe After Massive EU Elections

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European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen

Conservatives are set to secure wins throughout Europe in the union-wide elections that ended on Sunday, according to initial projections cited by multiple reports.

All 27 members of the European Union (EU) held parliamentary elections from Thursday to Sunday. Right-wing parties and politicians are poised to take a considerable number of seats in elections, taking back some power from the majority centrist parties and highlighting a political shift toward conservative policies across Europe, according to The New York Times.

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Commentary: Facebook Post Sparks Debate Over Possible Mistrial in Trump Case

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Donald Trump

I think that it was the great Miranda Devine, she of the “laptop from hell” fame, who first called the world’s attention to the latest wrinkle in the long-running “Get Trump” extravaganza in New York.  Anyway, I first heard about it from her post on X Friday. “If this is legit,” she wrote, commenting on a letter purportedly from Acting Justice Juan Merchan to Donald Trump’s Counsel and the Manhattan DA’s office,  “it should wipe out Trump’s conviction.”

Eh, what?

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Memo Sounds Alarm Over Massive ‘Unconstitutional’ Database of Americans’ Info Pushed by Biden Admin

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Rep. Barry Loudermilk

Advancing American Freedom, a conservative group founded by former Vice President Mike Pence, is sounding the alarm about a Biden administration effort to collect Americans’ private financial information, according to a memo obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2012 authorized a program to make it easier for financial regulators to track transactions in U.S. markets by creating a “consolidated audit trail,” or CAT. This would require brokerages and exchanges to collect and report certain financial information to regulators and other financial organizations. Under the Biden administration, the SEC approved a new funding model for CAT in September 2023.

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Republican Lawmakers Urge Biden Admin to Blacklist Major Chinese Battery Companies with U.S. Interests

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A group of Republican lawmakers is urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to effectively ban imports from two Chinese battery companies with business interests in the U.S.

Five Republicans — including Chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) John Moolenaar, House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio — wrote letters to DHS Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans Robert Silvers requesting that the agency bar battery manufacturers CATL and Gotion High-Tech from shipping goods to the U.S. because of connections to forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region.

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Border Experts: Biden Plan will Bring Another 2 Million into Country a Year

The Center Square
Illegal Immigrants

Former Border security leaders serving under multiple presidents and whose careers span decades in law enforcement say President Joe Biden’s “border security” announcement Tuesday won’t secure the border but instead will facilitate more illegal immigration, bringing in another two million people into the country illegally a year.

“The border will never be ‘shut down’ under this executive action but rather serve to legalize an unjustified level of open borders that will further perpetuate the chaos and lawlessness we’ve experienced during the entirety of the Biden Administration,” former U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square. “The proposed action will, at a minimum, allow more than one million illegal aliens to be released into the county annually, along with another one million inadmissible aliens being allowed to fly into interior airports within the U.S.,” referring to the CBP One app that allows migrants to apply for entry remotely.

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Investigation Reveals Two Arizona Cities Spent Millions on Homelessness with Little Result

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Homeless Encampment

Arizona’s two largest cities allocated tens of millions of dollars to fight homelessness in the past several years, but little has changed, according to a Goldwater Institute investigative report released Thursday.

“We’ve seen Phoenix and Tucson spend, combined, almost half a billion dollars on this issue with very minimal improvements in the area of homelessness,” Austin VanDerHeyden, municipal affairs liaison for the Goldwater Institute, told The Daily Signal.

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Georgia Approves $16.9 Million in Loans and Grants for Transportation Projects

The Center Square
Georgia Freeway Construction

Georgia officials approved $16.9 million in loans and grants for five transportation infrastructure projects across the state

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and the State Road and the Tollway Authority Board of Directors approved the funding from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank. The latest round of funding includes the fourth-largest loan amount in the program’s history.

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MSTAR Program Given Additional $10 Million for EV Semiconductor Research

The Center Square
EV Charging

by Carly Moran Gov. Gretchen Whitmer gave another $10 million toward the Michigan Semiconductor Talent and Technology for Automotive Research, a private-public partnership that wants to make the Great Lakes State a leader in electric car innovation. The MSTAR initiative was launched a year ago and has developed a portfolio of projects. Partners include semiconductor company KLA, Belgium-based imec, the University of Michigan, Washtenaw Community College and General Motors. “At imec, we bridge industry and academia to develop new technologies that improve people’s lives,” Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of imec, said. “We are thrilled to begin joint research with the University of Michigan, on their Ann Arbor campus, and grateful for the state’s support for the MSTAR initiative and Gov. Whitmer’s leadership. By combining the strengths of our research organizations, we can accelerate technological innovations for the automotive industry, making vehicles safer and more sustainable.” Through the $10 million initiative, MSTAR hopes to expand to train the current and future workforce in chip manufacturing, collaborate with K-12 schools and implement current innovations toward electric car technology. “Michigan put the world on wheels, and we need to do the work to ensure we stay at the forefront of innovation and…

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Governor Glenn Youngkin Says Virginia will Ignore California Emissions Rules

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Glenn Youngkin

On Wednesday, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) announced that, as of the end of 2024, the commonwealth will no longer attempt to enforce the vehicle emissions rules demanded by the state of California.

As reported by ABC News, Youngkin’s announcement comes after Attorney General Jason Miyares (R-Va.) released his opinion on Tuesday declaring that Virginia is not legally required to follow the orders of the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The new CARB regulations are set to take effect on January 1st, 2025.

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Maryland County Walks Back Sanctuary Policy After Illegal Immigrant Child Sex Offender Released into Community

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Raul Calderon-Interiano

Leaders in a deep blue jurisdiction are agreeing to better coordinate with federal immigration authorities after their county detention center released an illegal immigrant child sex offender from its custody, according to local reports.

In a joint statement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Baltimore County officials on Wednesday announced modifications to their policies on holding illegal immigrants charged with a crime when they are subject to immigration detainer requests, the Baltimore Sun reported. The statement follows uproar over the local release of Raul Calderon-Interiano, a Guatemalan national convicted of child sex abuse and living illegally in the U.S.

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Senate Democrats Sought to Connect Climate Change to High Insurance Rates, but Experts Pushed Back

Just the News
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

A Democratic Party-led Senate Budget Committee hearing Wednesday pressed on with the narrative that climate change is one of the leading causes of unaffordable homeowners insurance rates and canceled coverage.

Committee Chair Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., took the narrative a step further to suggest that the climate-driven financial problems in the insurance industry are driving economic problems for the entire nation.

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Pennsylvania Zoning Restrictions Debated in Committee Hearing

The Center Square
Home Construction

When questions on land use arise in the General Assembly, Pennsylvania politicians play a game of role reversal. Republicans, generally quicker to defend the free market, stand up for local government control, while Democrats tell of the virtues of the market at work and the dangers of government heavy-handedness.

So it was in the House Local Government Committee hearing on Wednesday as Democratic Rep. Josh Siegel, D-Allentown, proposed the removal of zoning restrictions and Republican Reps. Jack Rader, R-Effort, and R. Lee James, R-Seneca, defended the power of zoning officials.

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Increasing Copper Production for Green Energy Is Impossible, Study Says

Just the News
David Hammond mineral economist

Proponents of the transition to so-called green energy argue that the technology to eliminate the use of fossil fuels already exists and it’s just a matter of scaling it up to meet demand. That sounds simple enough.

Putting aside the impact to energy costs and other challenges of this proposed transition, analyses of what is technically and financially possible in developing the resources needed for this plan show that the energy transition in the timescales that proponents demand is not just difficult. It’s impossible.

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ACLU to Sue Biden Administration over New Border Rules

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Customs Border Protection agent and migrant showing papers

The far-left American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced its intention to sue the White House after Joe Biden announced a new executive order that would ostensibly reduce access to the asylum system for illegal aliens.

According to Axios, the ACLU had made preparations for such a lawsuit even before Biden officially announced the executive order, which he signed on Tuesday. There had been leaks to the press in the days ahead of the order confirming many details of the plan.

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Commentary: Parental Freedom is Flourishing

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Parents homeschooling their child

It’s no secret that the government’s monopoly on education is in trouble. Across the country, public schools are emptying while parental choice is flourishing. Florida, perhaps the national leader in this movement, has four different private school choice programs: one education savings account (ESA), one voucher program, and two tax-credit scholarships.

One of the results of Florida’s success is that many of the state’s public schools are shutting down. Florida’s Broward County, the sixth largest school district in the country, housing some 320 K-12 schools, could see 42 of them shut down, including 32 elementary schools, eight middle schools, and two high schools.

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Arizona Politicians and Stakeholders React to Biden’s Border Order

The Center Square
Joe Biden

President Joe Biden’s proclamation limiting the number of asylum seekers each day at the southern border sparked a range of reactions from politicians and groups in Arizona.

Biden said the United States will not allow people to claim asylum if the average daily number of those seeking asylum passes 2,500 average in a week, according to the White House. According to the Department of Homeland Security, some exceptions include those with “exceptionally compelling circumstances” such as a “victim of a severe form of trafficking,” those facing extreme medical or safety threats and “unaccompanied children.” DHS also says that those who use the CBP One app will also be considered exempt from the limit.

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Georgia Attorney General Asks FCC to Let Jails and Prisons Use Cell Phone Jammers

The Center Square
Chris Carr

Georgia’s attorney general wants a federal agency to lift its ban on cell phone jammers that bars state officials from using the devices to block contraband cell phones in jails and prisons.

The Federal Communications Commission currently bars cell phone “jammers” within prisons and jails, a prohibition Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office said extends to state and local governments. Carr made his request to reconsider the prohibition in a Tuesday letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

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Alvin Bragg Wants Trump to Stay Under Gag Order Even After Conviction

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Alvin Bragg and Donald Trump in a courtroom (composite image)

Democratic Manhattan District Alvin Bragg’s office defended on Wednesday keeping former President Donald Trump under his gag order, requesting that it stay in place at least through Trump’s sentencing hearing in late July and any post-trial motions.

Trump attorney’s asked Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday to lift the order, writing in a letter that the “concerns articulated by the government and the Court do not justify restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump” now that the trial has concluded. Prosecutors disagreed, responding that the order was intended to protect more than just the trial proceedings.

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Internal Guidance Reveals How Biden’s Immigration Order is Ripe for Exploitation by Illegal Immigrants

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U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents with a line of asylum seekers

There are a litany of ways illegal immigrants can get around President Joe Biden’s new executive order and avoid removal, according to internal guidance obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Biden announced an executive order on Tuesday to limit illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border by temporarily suspending the entry of foreign nationals if the number of average border encounters exceeds 2,500 a day over a one-week time period. However, an internal memo by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows there are many ways asylum seekers can exploit the order.

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Tennessee State Rep. Jason Zachary Details Importance of Bill that Tightened Duty to Report Law

Kaitlin Housler
Jason Zachary

Tennessee State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) suggested his bill that strengthened the state’s duty to report law may have prevented the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023 in Nashville if implemented before the shooting took place.

Over the weekend, The Tennessee Star reported it was provided the name of the psychologist who was reportedly part of the care team for Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

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Rep. Mark Green Leads Bid to Reverse Biden Admin’s ‘Politically Motivated’ Gun Restrictions

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Mark Green and Bill Hagerty

Republican Tennessee Rep. Mark Green on Wednesday took action to reverse a Biden administration rule placing new restrictions on firearm exports.

The rule, released by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on April 30, makes a number of changes to licensing requirements that could make it more difficult for firearm manufacturers and sellers to conduct business. Green, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the rule, along with 69 other Republicans.

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Nevada Officials Asked to Clear Voter Rolls of ‘Voters’ with Registered Addresses at Businesses

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Attorney J. Christian Adams

A watchdog group has asked election officials in Clark County, Nevada to clear the voter rolls of registered voters whose addresses are listed as commercial locations, including casinos, strip clubs, smoke shops, and airports.

As reported by Breitbart, lawyers with the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) sent a letter on Monday to Clark County Registrar Lorena Portillo demanding that all registrants with obviously false addresses be removed ahead of the 2024 election.

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Biden Signs Order to Limit Asylum Requests at the U.S. Border

ADN America
Asylum seekers

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, signingAn executive order this Tuesday  that will allow him to drastically limit asylum requests on the border with Mexico if the number of migrant arrests exceeds a specific threshold, the EFE news agency reported .

This order will allow US authorities to deport those who do not meet strict asylum standards when the number of 2,500 people detained at the border for an average of seven days is exceeded, senior US officials told the press.

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Florida Officials Seeking Public Input on Proposed Energy Rebate Programs

The Center Square
Brooks Rumenik

Florida officials are seeking feedback from the public about the Florida Energy Rebate programs currently under development.

The program still awaits approval from the U.S. Department of Energy. Florida has been allocated $346 million to assist residents in reducing energy costs by improving their home’s energy efficiency through qualified upgrades, retrofits and high-efficiency appliances.

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Vast Majority of Small Business Owners Worried Biden’s Economy Will Force Them to Close

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A large portion of small business owners are concerned about their future amid wider financial stress under President Joe Biden, according to a new poll from the Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF) obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Around 67 percent of small business owners were worried that current economic conditions could force them to close their doors, ten percentage points higher than just two years ago, according to the JCNF’s monthly small business poll. Respondents’ perceptions of economic conditions for their own businesses fell slightly in the month, from 70.2 to 68.1 points, with 100 points being the best possible business conditions, while perceptions of national conditions increased from 50.4 to 53.2 points.

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‘Give Us The Documents’: Tempers Flare as Matt Gaetz Grills Garland on Biden DOJ ‘Collusion’ with Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis

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Attorney General Merrick Garland

Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz hammered Attorney General Merrick Garland Tuesday for calling claims that the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) directed former President Donald Trump’s conviction a “conspiracy theory,” but refusing to say whether he would turn over the department’s communications with prosecutors.

During his opening statement at the House Judiciary Committee hearing, Garland slammed “baseless” attacks on the DOJ’s work, specifically calling out “false claims” about the DOJ’s involvement in Trump’s Manhattan case, which ended last week with a jury convicting Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Gaetz pressed Garland on whether the DOJ would turn over communications with Bragg’s office, as well as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, noting Garland was making the case for collusion appear stronger by not answering the question.

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Commentary: Joe Biden’s America Is a Gay Version of the Soviet Union

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President Joe Biden at a pride event

“Show me the man and I will show you the crime,” so said Lavenitry Beria, the longtime head of Stalin’s secret police.

The Trump conviction shows that the same crooked principle of justice animates American courts today. Should we be surprised? The alliance between the United States and the USSR during the 1940s—the American taxpayer funded the Soviet takeover of half of Europe and Asia to the tune of 300 billion inflation-adjusted dollars—was the central event of the 20th century.

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Vermont Blocked Christian Families From Fostering Over Gender Ideology, Lawsuit Alleges

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Michael and Rebecca Gantt

A new lawsuit alleges that Vermont blocked two families from fostering children, despite the state’s foster care system crisis, because the families held traditional, religious views on gender and sexuality.

Brian and Kaitlyn Wuoti and Michael and Rebecca Gantt accused the Vermont Department for Children and Families of mandating an “ideological position at the expense of children” in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. Both Brian Wuoti and Michael Gantt are pastors, and both families hold traditional, Christian religious views.

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House GOP Vows Consequences for Government Weaponization with Budget Cuts, Criminal Referrals

Just the News
Rep Jim Jordan

After 17 months of relentless investigation, House Republicans are moving to impose consequences on federal bureaucrats they believe weaponized government for political purposes. The first round will come in the form of budget cuts and criminal referrals, key lawmakers tell Just the News.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan unleashed the first major strike of this new phase, submitting on Monday a sweeping roadmap to defund agencies and prosecutors who pursued conservatives, including former President Donald Trump.

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Eyes on Panama as Incoming President Promises Illegal Immigration Crackdown in Move Helping U.S.

Just the News
Panama's president-elect, José Raúl Mulino

Panama’s president-elect, José Raúl Mulino, pledged to crack down on illegal immigration by closing the infamous “Darien Gap” migrant passageway to South America, in a move that is expected to benefit the U.S.

Mulino, who is set to be inaugurated as president and prime minister of Panama on July 1, previously served in high-ranking governmental positions, including as the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Government and Justice.

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Biden DOJ Claims Arizona Powerless to Stop 1 Million Acre Grand Canyon Monument

Tom Pappert

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed in a legal filing the Arizona State Legislature is powerless to prevent the designation of nearly 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon as a national monument.

Federal prosecutor Michael Sawyer claimed to U.S. District Court Judge Stephen McNamee that a lawsuit launched by Arizona lawmakers, led by Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert), does not have standing because only the U.S. Congress could override President Joe Biden’s decision to create the monument, according to a report by Capitol Media Services.

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