The Georgia Senate has approved a bill that collectively would cut income taxes for individuals by more than $600 million over the next five years.
House Bill 593, dubbed the Tax Relief Act of 2021, raises the standard deduction on state income tax returns for a single taxpayer by $800 to $5,400 and by $1,100 to $7,100 for a married couple filing a joint return, starting in the 2022 tax year.
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The U.S. military has now turned its wrath inward on Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The new secretary of defense relayed his “revulsion” for Carlson’s questioning the role of women in combat—a position that had been the military’s centuries-long orthodoxy until about seven years ago.
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Democrats blocked a bill sponsored by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), which would require the Department of Homeland Security to test all migrants crossing illegally into the country for COVID-19, Breitbart reports.
Republicans put forward a motion to block the previous question on a piece of legislation Tuesday that would allow for the consideration of Miller-Meeks’ legislation, the Requiring Every Alien to Receive a COVID-19 Test (REACT) Act. This bill would mandate that the Homeland Security Department (DHS) test all migrants crossing the border illegally that the DHS releases into the country, Breitbart reported.
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During a press conference in Palm Harbor, Florida on Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that his administration is banning “Critical Race Theory” from being taught in Florida schools.
The governor made the announcement while describing a new civics education initiative aimed at teaching students “foundational concepts” in America, rather than “unsubstantiated theories.”
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The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims increased to 770,000 last week as the economy continued to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented an increase in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending March 6, when 725,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised up from the 712,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.
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After a damning New York Times report in which a Virginia Tech virologist said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) six-foot social distancing guidelines appeared to be pulled out of “thin air,” one Michigan county is experimenting with three feet of social distancing in schools.
“The Kent County Health Department is in the middle of a study that officials hope will reduce the social distance requirements in all pre-k through 8th grade classrooms,” a WZZM report said. “During the six-week pilot study, any student that has been within three feet of a COVID-positive student for 15 minutes or more — within 48 hours — must quarantine at home for 10 days. Before that, quarantine was triggered at a distance of six feet.”
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A gay Milwaukee judge arrested on child pornography charges formerly served as the president of a Drag Queen Story Hour club.
Police arrested 38-year-old Brett Blomme Tuesday and held him overnight in Dane County Jail, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He was charged Wednesday with seven counts of possession of child pornography showing abuse of young boys, the publication reported, noting that each count carries a minimum of three years in prison and a maximum sentence of 15, plus 10 years of supervised release.
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On the campaign trail, the Biden campaign voiced its support for network neutrality—“net neutrality” for short. The topic has resurfaced in recent weeks and months thanks to a few key events. These include the appointment of a new acting FCC chairwoman, the DOJ dropping a lawsuit against the state of California, and Biden’s choice of Tim Wu, the so-called “father of net neutrality,” for a National Economic Council role.
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Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation Wednesday that would targeting companies who pay executives 50 times more than their median worker.
The legislation, titled the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, aims to combat corporate greed and “end outrageous CEO pay,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a press release Wednesday. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey and Chris Van Hollen, along with Reps. Barbara Lee and Rashida Tlaib, joined Sanders in introducing the bill.
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Like me, Amanda Cooksey was not raised on country music. Cooksey started playing piano at the early age of six and began learning classical music. Later on, she took voice lessons and started singing in church in middle school. However, this “super shy” kid did not want to be in the spotlight.
Even though being in front of people wasn’t easy for her, Cooksey always loved music. As a young girl, she found a piano/vocal instructor, Ron Feldman, who changed her life.
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Dozens of GOP senators alleged in a Wednesday letter that President Joe Biden’s freeze on border wall construction is a violation of federal law.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, joined by 39 GOP senators, wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting a legal opinion on Biden’s executive order to freeze funding for border wall construction. The senators say this order both violated the Impoundment Control Act (ICA), which prohibits the executive branch rejecting congressional funding, and contributed to the current border crisis.
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Backers of the recall effort against California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that they submitted 2,117,730 signatures by Wednesday’s deadline, a number that will likely far exceed the required threshold even if a fraction prove to be invalid.
Newsom himself acknowledged Tuesday that the recall effort would likely qualify, triggering what could be a wildly expensive race later this year to protect the Democratic governor’s seat in one of the bluest states in the country. Newsom, however, has promised to fight it and has blasted the effort to oust him, blaming it on right-wing extremists.
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The Chinese government maintained tight control of a World Health Organization investigation in Wuhan into the origins of the coronavirus, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, which said that Beijing was granted veto power over which scientists were allowed to take part in the mission.
According to the Journal, the constraints placed on the WHO team rendered the scientists unable to conduct a thorough investigation into the virus’ origins.
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Long after former President Donald Trump dropped his legal challenges to the 2020 election, some courts in battleground states are beginning to declare the way widespread absentee ballots were implemented or counted violated state laws.
The latest ruling came this month in Michigan, where the State Court of Claims concluded that Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s instructions on signature verification for absentee ballots violated state law.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is among 21 state attorneys general calling on the U.S. Department of Treasury to secure states’ rights to implement tax policies under the American Rescue Plan Act.
The attorneys general sent a letter this week to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, asking her to confirm that provisions in the act do not attempt to strip states of their sovereign authority. They argue language in the act is too broad and could be interpreted as a blanket policy.
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A former mayoral candidate for the city of Conyers allegedly concocted a scheme to use a company she started to steal more than $323,000 from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia arraigned the woman, Olivia Ware, 61, on federal charges of bank fraud and money laundering.
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Earlier this week, the attorney for Derek Chauvin requested that the ex-Minneapolis Police officer’s trial be moved from Hennepin County due to the risk of a prejudiced jury.
“You have elected officials — the governor, the mayor — making incredibly prejudicial statements about my client, this case,” Eric Nelson told Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill. “You have the city settling a civil lawsuit for a record amount of money. And the pre-trial publicity is just so concerning.”
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A bill that would extend the length of time Georgia businesses are protected from certain COVID-19-related lawsuits cleared the Senate on Wednesday.
The Senate voted, 36-17, in favor of House Bill 112, which extends the applicability of the Georgia COVID-19 Pandemic Business Safety Act by a year, from July 14, 2021, to July 14, 2022.
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Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) this week praised a deal involving a Georgia electric cooperative and a Tennessee-based solar power company, the latter of which has a history of alleged ethics violations. This, according to a press release that members of Duncan’s staff published on his website.
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