Month: March 2021

The governors of Texas and Mississippi both announced this week they would be lifting their states’ mask mandates and rolling back many of their Covid-19 health mandates. This is part of a growing movement across the country from lawmakers, governors, and citizens to curtail emergency orders that have robbed Americans of individual liberties and freedoms for nearly a year.

In New York state, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced the legislature is passing legislation repealing emergency powers granted to Gov. Cuomo last year at the start of the pandemic. Lawmakers say the legislation will allow current directives pertaining to preserving public health to continue.

Omar: ‘We’re Sending Money to Less People than Trump’

March 8, 2021 Georgia Star News Staff

Rep. Ilhan Omar said she is disappointed that Democrats are “ultimately sending money to less people than the Trump administration.”

The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package passed Saturday by the U.S. Senate includes $1,400 stimulus checks for individuals making up to $75,000 and married couples with a joint income of up to $150,000. Unlike the two previous relief bills — which included $600 and $1,200 stimulus payments — higher-income earners won’t receive partial checks.

“I see it as a really disappointing development. We obviously are now ultimately sending money to less people than the Trump administration and the Senate majority Republicans,” Omar told CNN Friday night.

Academics Systemically Hostile Toward Conservatives, Study Finds

March 8, 2021 Georgia Star News Staff

A study revealed that a sizable portion of professors discriminates against conservatives.

The Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology published a report entitled “Academic Freedom in Crisis: Punishment, Political Discrimination, and Self-Censorship,” which found that a “significant portion of academics” discriminate against conservatives in hiring, promotion, grants, and publications.

The study evaluated data in the United States, Britain, and Canada to determine the extent of anti-conservative bias in academia.

Early Voting in Louisiana Began Saturday with Two Seats in Congress at Stake

March 8, 2021 The Center Square

Early voting in Louisiana begins Saturday for an election in which two open seats in Congress, another in the Louisiana Legislature and a spot on the state school board are at stake.

Democrat Cedric Richmond was reelected to represent Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District, the state’s only majority-minority district which includes New Orleans and extends into Baton Rouge. Richmond stepped down from Congress, however, shortly after last fall’s election to join President Joe Biden’s administration.

Most New Yorkers Do Not Want Cuomo to Resign Despite Underwater Approval Rating, Poll Shows

Most New Yorkers oppose Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigning despite facing dual scandals that have tanked his popularity across the state, according to a Thursday Quinnipiac poll.

Less-than-half of voters, 40%, more than half which were Democrats, said that Cuomo should resign, the poll showed. Although most voters said the New York Democrat shouldn’t resign, only 36% said that he should seek a fourth term, compared to 59% who said that he should not run for reelection.

Dr. Seuss Book Sales Skyrocket as Big Tech Companies Continue to Censor Author’s Works

Following the announcement that six books by the world-renowned children’s author Dr. Seuss would be banned due to alleged “racist imagery,” sales of the author’s books have soared on various online retailers, even as other Big Tech companies attempt to further suppress such sales, as reported by Fox News.

Texas Democrats Express Alarm About Potential Border Crisis

March 8, 2021March 7, 2021 The Center Square

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, whose district extends from the Rio Grande along the Mexican border to the San Antonio suburbs, is sounding the alarm about a potential border crisis in Texas.

More than 10,000 illegal immigrants have been apprehended at a single border sector in Texas in one week, he says, and the numbers keep growing.

“We are weeks, maybe even days, away from a crisis on the southern border. Inaction is simply not an option,” Cueller said in a news release. “Our country is currently unprepared to handle a surge in migrants in the middle of the pandemic.”

Pro-Union Bill Would Shutter Businesses, Cause Widespread Layoffs, Key Business Groups Tell Congress

A coalition of hundreds of top business groups slammed the pro-union Protecting the Right to Organize Act as House Democrats prepare to bring it to the floor.

The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW), which represents hundreds of thousands of employers nationwide, denounced the legislation in a letter written to Congress Thursday. The CDW said the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act threatens both the economy and workers’ rights.

Commentary: Both Parties Want to Remodel the Voting Booth

In the shadow of a national election that featured record-high voter turnout and record-low confidence in the process and outcome on the part of much of one side, both major political parties are pushing election “reform” measures. Their approaches couldn’t be more different.

One party is seeking a disciplined process with security procedures in place to ensure that only qualified voters vote and that all legitimate votes are counted quickly, honestly, accurately, and the results made public promptly. The other party is seeking a process that is as loosey-goosey as possible, leaving wide avenues for vote diddling and labeling any attempt by the other side to thwart election fraud as racist voter suppression. No points awarded for guessing which party is pursuing which approach.

Ducey Removes Arizona’s COVID-19 Restrictions on Businesses

March 8, 2021 The Center Square

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has rescinded the business restrictions he put in place last year to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Ducey’s latest executive order, which he signed Friday, removes the capacity limits on businesses he had put in place July 9, effective immediately.

“We’ve learned a lot over the past year,” Ducey said. “Our businesses have done an excellent job at responding to this pandemic in a safe and responsible way. We will always admire the sacrifice they and their employees have made and their vigilance to protect against the virus.”

Ducey said Arizona, unlike many other states, never shut down.

2021 Index Finds Rise in Global Economic Freedom, but U.S. Score Falls

America’s economic freedom ranking has fallen to an all-time low, according to The Heritage Foundation’s 2021 Index of Economic Freedom.

The United States fell three places since last year and now ranks 20th in the world among countries evaluated, with an economic freedom score of 74.8 out of 100.

The 27th annual Index of Economic Freedom was released Thursday during a Heritage virtual event featuring Charles Payne, host of Fox Business’ “Making Money With Charles Payne.”

Texas Moves to Outlaw Big Tech Censorship of Opposing Viewpoints

The Lone Star State, like Florida, is moving to outlaw viewpoint discrimination on social media platforms.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joined State Sen. Bryan Hughes at a press conference Friday afternoon to discuss a new bill that will prohibit social media companies from censoring opposing viewpoints.

“The First Amendment is under assault by these social media companies and that is not going to be tolerated in Texas,” Abbott declared.

Georgia Legislation to Suspend Compensation of Indicted Public Officials Passes out of Committee

March 8, 2021March 7, 2021 Chris Butler

Members of the Georgia State Senate Government Oversight Committee this week passed two pieces of legislation that they said will restrict public officials from certain privileges if and when any court officials indict them on felony charges. State Sen. Larry Walker (R-Perry) sponsored both bills, according to the Georgia General Assembly’s website.

Georgia House Passes State Budget with Five Percent Spending Increase

March 7, 2021March 6, 2021 The Center Square

The Georgia House approved a $27.2 billion state budget for fiscal year 2022 on Friday, representing a 5.2% increase in spending over the current fiscal year’s original budget.

The proposal restores funding for education and other reductions lawmakers made to protect state coffers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The House plan also increases spending on health care and behavioral health and adds funding for new state positions and raises.

The House approved the measure, 136-31.

Commentary: The Narrative, the Coup, and the Bourgeoisie

The purges began shortly after the revolution. For all its haste and ill-preparedness, the success of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, led by the perpetually temperamental Vladimir Lenin and fueled by a fierce devotion to Marxism, quickly gave rise to the vast and unimaginably harsh Soviet labor camp system that would come to be known as the “gulag.” As the leader of the newly established Russian Soviet Republic, Lenin wasted no time in ordering the establishment of decrees calling for the severe punishment of anyone deemed a “class enemy” to the new Soviet Republic.

From the perspective of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, class enemies were those who had opposed the Marxist Bolshevik Revolution and often consisted of individuals the Bolsheviks contemptuously regarded as privileged in their social class. These so-called class enemies, a term which eventually became synonymous with the “bourgeoisie,” ostensibly posed a threat to the proletariat-ruled, Marxist utopia Lenin was promising to the masses.

Fauci: Daily New Cases Should Be Below 10,000 Before U.S. Lifts Pandemic Restrictions

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday that the U.S. should not relax restrictions that have been put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus until new infections are under 10,000 per day, a number that is about 85% lower than current case levels.

Fauci said that the case levels may have to be “considerably less” than 10,000 per day for him to support rolling back mask and social distancing mandates in place in many U.S. cities and states.

Psaki Says Biden Will Have Press Conference by the End of the Month

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that President Joe Biden will have a press conference by the end of March.

“As all of you know, the president takes questions several times a week,” Psaki said during the White House press briefing. “He took questions actually twice yesterday, which is an opportunity for the people covering the White House to ask him about whatever news is happening on any given day.”

New York County Lawmaker Compares Cuomo to Central Park Five, Says Alleged Victims Have Political Motive

A Democratic county lawmaker in Buffalo said Thursday the three women who have accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct are motivated by politics, according to video footage obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The lawmaker, Jeanne Vinal, said during a legislature meeting she was going to vote against two county resolutions calling for independent investigations of allegations against Cuomo, saying to do so would be akin to jumping “on a bandwagon of the way they did in the Central Park Five.”

Trump Blasts Biden for ‘Spiraling Tsunami’ at the Border in Blistering Statement

In a blistering statement Friday, former President Donald Trump blasted Joe Biden for the “spiraling tsunami” at the border, placing the blame for the dramatic surge in illegal immigration squarely on Biden’s “disastrous leadership.”

“Our border is now totally out of control thanks to the disastrous leadership of Joe Biden,” Trump said in his statement. “Our great Border Patrol and ICE agents have been disrespected, demeaned, and mocked by the Biden Administration. A mass incursion into the country by people who should not be here is happening on an hourly basis, getting worse by the minute.”

The former president warned that the new administration’s lax policies at the border—allowing criminals and Covid-positive migrants into the country— will have dangerous consequences for the nation.

Commentary: It’s Time to Reopen America Now

On Tuesday, governors Greg Abbott (R-Texas) and Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) announced they would be lifting their statewide mask-wearing mandates, business capacity limitations, and various other COVID-19-related restrictions. “COVID still exists,” Abbott said, “but it is clear from the recoveries, from the vaccinations, from the reduced hospitalizations, and from the safe practices that Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed.”

Texans and Mississippians might be forgiven for wondering why their governors did not earlier follow the courageous path of Governor Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), who has garnered national headlines for her stubborn refusal to enact various mask-wearing mandates and other lockdown orders. But still: Better late than never.

Feds Quietly Dismiss Dozens of Cases Against Antifa Extremists Who Terrorized Downtown Portland Last Summer

Federal prosecutors have “quietly dismissed” 34 of 90 cases stemming from the violent riots in downtown Portland last summer, and many more federal charges are expected to be dismissed soon, KGW8 reported this week. Cases being dismissed include felony charges such as assaults on federal officers, court records show.

According to KGW, more than half of the dropped charges were “dismissed with prejudice,” which means the case can’t be brought back to court. And at least 11 of the dismissed cases were reportedly dropped on or after the inauguration of Mr. Biden.

Mississippi Judge Orders New Election After Finding 79 Percent of Absentee Ballots Invalid

A Mississippi judge has ordered a new election in an alderman race after finding 79% of absentee ballots were invalid and evidence of fraud and criminal activity.

Judge Jeff Weill on Monday said that 66 of 84 absentee ballots cast in the June runoff for a city of Aberdeen alderman seat were invalid and should never have been counted. He also said he found evidence of fraud and criminal activity in how absentee ballots were handled, how votes were counted and the actions by some at the polling place, according to WCBI-TV, a CBS affiliate.

Georgia Senate Passes Business and Religious Institution Protection Act

March 7, 2021March 6, 2021 Chris Butler

Members of the Georgia State Senate Friday passed SB 200, which would, if enacted into law, protect businesses and churches against government shutdowns during a COVID-19-like pandemic or other health emergency. Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) emailed a press release Friday and said this bill “provides businesses and churches with common-sense protections against government shutdowns.”

U.S. Added 379,000 Jobs in February, Unemployment Rate Fell to 6.2 Percent

The U.S. economy reported an increase of 379,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate fell to 6.2%, according to Department of Labor data released Friday.

Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 379,000 in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, and the number of unemployed persons fell slightly to 10 million. Economists projected 210,000 Americans to be added to payrolls and the unemployment rate to increase to hold at 6.3% prior to Friday’s report, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Commentary: The Theory That the Trump Era Is over Is Wrong

The effect of President Trump’s address to the Conservative Political Action Committee on Sunday has become clearer this week. The key sentence was, “A Republican president will be returning to the White House.” Since the only other living Republican president, George W. Bush, is term-limited, Trump was speaking of himself.

The speech was not only the best and most interesting political speech delivered in the United States since President Reagan’s successful reelection campaign in 1984, it also broke new ground in three important respects.

Dreaded QAnon March 4 Uprising Fails to Materialize in the Capitol

A right-wing plot to storm the Capitol and remove lawmakers did not materialize on Thursday, after the FBI, DHS, and Capitol Police issued bulletins warning that they had intelligence identifying “credible threats” to that effect.
In dozens of reports, the corporate media hyped the “potential threat” of a QAnon uprising in our nation’s Capitol.

In response, the House of Representatives suspended its Thursday session and Capitol Police and National Guard troops went on “high alert.”

California Gubernatorial Recall Petition Reaches 1.9 Million Signatures

The statewide effort to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) has reached yet another milestone as of Wednesday, with the formal petition reaching 1.9 million signatures, according to Fox News.

One of the petition’s organizers, Orrin Heatlie, released a statement on behalf of the recall campaign saying that the group has “reached another milestone, and now we are entering the final stretch of this part of the official campaign to remove California Governor Gavin Newsom from power and office.”

Commentary: Why Is the Gut So ‘Emotional’?

March 6, 2021March 5, 2021 RealClearWire

You don’t get a ‘sinking’ feeling in your feet, nor butterflies in your fingers, nor elation in your shoulders. You feel these sensations in your stomach. But why?

As RCS originally reported nine years ago, the gut is home to at least 100 million neurons, and perhaps as many as 500 million, by far the most outside of the brain. Concentrated in the lining of the gastrointestinal system, embedded in the esophagus and even the anus, these neurons constitute what scientists have dubbed the “enteric nervous system.” Through the vagus nerve, this ‘second brain’ has a direct line to the primary one in your skull, and as you’ve undoubtedly noticed, it likes to talk.

Pentagon Reportedly Reviewing Request for National Guard to Remain at U.S. Capitol for 60 Additional Days

The Pentagon is reviewing a Capitol Police request for the National Guard to remain stationed at the US Capitol for an additional two months, citing concerns about security and potential violence, defense officials told the Associated Press.

The National Guard was stationed at the Capitol following the violent breach Jan. 6 where five people died, the AP reported. Law enforcement has remained on high alert at the Capitol since Thursday after intelligence operatives uncovered a “potential plot” by far-right militia groups to storm the building.

FBI Confirms No Firearms Were Found During January 6 Capitol Protests

A leading counterterrorism official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed on Wednesday that, despite frequent and baseless claims that the protests at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th was supposedly an “armed insurrection,” no firearms were recovered in the aftermath of the protests, as reported by the Epoch Times.

Jill Sanborn, the FBI’s counterrorism chief, confirmed this significant detail during sworn testimony before the Senate. When asked by Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) how many firearms were confiscated from the protesters who were arrested, Sanborn said “to my knowledge, none.” Sanborn then went on to claim, without evidence, that “we knew they would be armed, we had intelligence that they would be coming to D.C., but we did not have intelligence that they would be breaching the Capitol.”

Interior Nominee Discloses Belated Tax Filing, Provides Fourth Account of Her 2018 Income

Congresswoman Deb Haaland, President Biden’s pick for Interior Secretary, belatedly filed a tax return last December for calendar year 2018 without getting an extension and has now given senators reviewing her nomination a fourth different account of how much money she earned that year, Just the News has learned.

Haaland, in line to become the first Native Americans to become a Cabinet secretary, recently disclosed details about her belated tax filing in supplemental answers to her required nominee’s questionnaire submitted to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Chief of World-Renowned Medical Journal Has Repeatedly Bashed U.S., Praised China for Coronavirus Response

One of China Global Television Network’s most recent ads on Facebook is of an interview that the state-controlled propaganda network conducted about the coronavirus pandemic with the editor of The Lancet, one of the world’s top medical journals.

The editor, Richard Horton, largely praised the Chinese government’s response to the pandemic while blasting the U.S. in the May 2020 interview, which garnered around 900,000 impressions at a cost of around $500, according to Facebook data.

“I think we have a great deal to thank China for, about the way that it handled the outbreak,” Horton said in the interview.

Psaki Defends Biden’s Neanderthal Comment

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday defended President Joe Biden’s comment that governors who stopped their state’s mask mandates were thinking like Neanderthals.

Biden was talking about “the behavior of a Neanderthal, just to be very clear,” Psaki said during the White House press briefing.

Psaki said Biden’s comments were “a reflection of his frustration and exasperation, which I think many American people have that for almost a year now.”

Georgia Bill Would Give State Election Board Greater Powers to Replace Election Superintendents

March 6, 2021March 5, 2021 Chris Butler

A new bill in the Georgia General Assembly would provide the State Election Board with greater powers to suspend, appoint, and replace superintendents who oversee elections at the city or county level. The Georgia General Assembly’s website identifies State Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) as the sole sponsor.

Georgia House Members Pass Tax-Cutting Legislation

March 5, 2021March 4, 2021 Chris Butler

Members of the Georgia House of Representatives this week passed four pieces of legislation that they said will cut taxes for Georgia families and businesses and create jobs and expand economic opportunity across the state. These measures include the Tax Relief Act of 2021, the Georgia Economic Recovery Act of 2021, the Georgia Economic Renewal Act of 2021, and the reauthorization of the House Rural Development Council.

Commentary: Trumpism—Without Trump?

Six weeks ago, Americans were assured that Donald Trump had left the presidency on January 20, 2021 disgraced and forever ruined politically.

Trump was the first president to be impeached twice, and first to be tried as a private citizen when out of office. He was the first to be impeached without the chief justice of the United States presiding over his trial.

Child Migration Quickly Overwhelming Biden Administration’s Resources, Internal Documents Show

The number of child migrants crossing the United States’ southern border is quickly exceeding the federal government’s ability to hold them, internal documents from the Department of Health and Human Services show.

In the final week of February, Border Patrol referred an average of 321 children a day to HHS custody, according to Axios, which first reported the documents’ findings. Child migrant crossings averaged 203 per day in late January, and just 47 a day during the first week of 2021.

House Passes Partisan Election Bill with Zero Republican Votes

The House of Representatives late Wednesday passed HR 1, an expansive government ethics and voting rights bill that would implement a series of anti-corruption reforms and require states to adopt various voting reforms, such as no-excuse absentee voting and automatic voter registration.

The bill, titled the “For the People Act of 2021,” passed with the support of all but one Democratic member and over total Republican opposition. Included in it are provisions outlawing partisan gerrymandering, requiring same-day voter registration nationwide and mandating that states provide ballot drop boxes ahead of future elections.

Commentary: Promoting Myths About Police Won’t Make Us Safer

March 5, 2021March 4, 2021 RealClearWire

The House of Representatives passed the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021” this week, the bill’s proponents rightly decry pernicious stereotyping and generalizing based on race.

Yet many of those who rightly condemn such dangerous biases, and the lies they are built upon, make misleading claims of their own to advance another reckless bigotry — anti-police bias.

New Jobless Claims Increase Slightly to 745,000

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims increased slightly to 745,000 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 Feb. 20, in which there were 736,000 new jobless claims reported. That number was revised up from the 730,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

Alabama Senate Passes Bill Criminalizing Trans Surgeries, Puberty Blockers for Minors

The Alabama state Senate voted Tuesday to criminalize performing gender transition surgeries or hormone therapy on minors who identify as transgender.

Under the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, doctors would be prohibited from treating Alabama minors with hormone therapy, surgery, or puberty blockers “intended to alter the minor child’s gender or delay puberty.”

Durham File: A Documentary Roadmap to Special Counsel Probe of Rogue FBI Pursuit of Trump