Inflation Hits Highest Level in 39 Years

Large crowd of people shopping during the holidays

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.9% in November, bringing the key inflation indicator’s year-over-year increase to 6.8%, the highest figure in four decades.

The CPI’s increase is the largest increase in four decades, up from October’s 6.2% according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released Friday morning. Experts surveyed by CNBC projected inflation would increase 0.7% in November, translating to a 6.7% gain on a year-over-year basis.

“These are frighteningly high inflation numbers, the likes of which we haven’t seen for decades,” Allen Sinai, chief global economist and strategist at Decision Economics, Inc., told The Wall Street Journal.

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Commentary: Revisiting Prudent American Realism

Donald Trump sitting at desk

I have long deplored the poverty of international relations (IR) theory, which pits “realists” of all varieties against “liberals” or advocates of “liberal internationalism” and its corollary, “cooperative security.” In essence, the debate between these two schools is a dispute between Thucydides and Machiavelli on the one hand and Kant on the other.

Realists argue that states are driven by naked interest. In a system of “international anarchy,” states face a security dilemma that leads to arms racing, offensive and defensive alliances, and ultimately war. For realists, the international system is conflictual. In contrast, liberal internationalists argue that the international system is potentially cooperative. Diplomacy trumps force. For realists, liberals are too abstract and place too much emphasis on the “good side” of human nature. For liberals, realists are too pessimistic and cynical. In addition, say liberals, realism is too parsimonious: it fails adequately to explain the world.

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Trump Endorsed Arizona Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake Talks Poll Lead and Fake News

Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Republican Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate Kari Lake to the newsmakers line to talk about her recent endorsement by Donald Trump, her goals, and the fake news.

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Commentary: The Rise of Climate Terrorism

As I wrote in We Need Leaders Who Prioritize People Over Molecules, climate alarmists “seem to have portrayed the problem [of climate change] in such an extremist way that they have convinced a growing army of climate warriors that terrorism is justified.”

Consider that Tracy Stone-Manning, Biden’s appointment to Director of the Bureau of Land Management, was confirmed by Congress despite proof that she was involved in eco-terrorism and lying under oath.

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Democratic Dark Money Giant Poured Millions into Bail Funds in 2020, Some That Helped Alleged Violent Criminals Back onto the Streets

Kamala Harris

A prominent Democratic dark money group funneled nearly $6 million into bail funds in 2020, some of which have a history of helping allegedly violent criminals back onto the street, tax records show.

Among the bail funds that received funding from the Tides Center in 2020 include the Minnesota Freedom Fund, which helped post bail for a man accused of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl in July 2020, and the Massachusetts Bail Fund, which helped post bail for a woman accused of stuffing her newborn baby in a garbage can outside a Boston pizza shop in February 2021.

The Tides Center reported in its 2020 Form 990 that it provided a sum total of $5.97 million to 23 bail funds in 2020, a dramatic increase from the year prior when it reported donating just $216,000 to eight bail funds.

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CDC: About 75 Percent of Omicron Cases Are Fully Vaccinated People

The Omicron variant has been detected in at least 19 states in the U.S., and is striking mainly fully vaccinated people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Forty-three people in 19 states have tested positive for omicron, according to remarks made to the Associated Press by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 75 percent of those cases are in people who are fully vaccinated, and one person has been hospitalized. One-third of those individuals had traveled internationally; one-third had received a booster. The cases so far have been “mild,” she said.”

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Senate Clears Way for Democrats to Lift the Debt Ceiling After Agreement Between Schumer, McConnell

Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell

A bill that would enable Democrats to raise the debt ceiling without overcoming a Senate filibuster passed the chamber Thursday afternoon with bipartisan support.

The debt ceiling provisions were attached to a bill that prevents automatic cuts to Medicare. Ironically, the legislation, which passed the House on near party lines Tuesday, required 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, and passed after 14 Republicans joined Democrats in advancing it.

The provision was the product of a deal struck Tuesday between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Under it, Congress would pass a law allowing the debt ceiling to be raised with a simple majority this one time, and the bill’s passage puts the limit on a glade path to be lifted by Democrats alone ahead of Dec. 15, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned a default could occur.

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‘Mini-Soros’ Behind Bail Calculator That Set Alleged Waukesha Killer Free

A far-left philanthropist who has been called “mini-Soros” is allegedly behind bail reform laws across America, including the one in Waukesha County, Wisconsin that freed career criminal Darell Brooks on $1000 bail before he allegedly plowed his SUV into participants of the Waukesha Christmas Parade. 

Brooks was charged with six murders and a litany of other crimes after the attack, which also injured dozens more.

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Commentary: It Is So Important Not to Offend Those Breaking Our Laws

The adage that “actions speak louder than words” may be true, but the right words applied to the right situation can inspire actions that otherwise would not be taken.

We are seeing this in dramatic fashion in our current border crisis, which now appears to be the realized dream of Barack Obama when he spoke about “fundamentally transforming the United States of America” 13 years ago. We as a nation are undeniably transforming, and most Americans would argue for the worse. The wheels of that transformation have been lubricated by the enabling language of the anti-borders Left.

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Santa Shortage Spurs Pennsylvania Lawmaker to Consider Tax Credit

A shortage of Santas this holiday season prompted a Pennsylvania state representative to propose a tax credit for those who suit up, as well as the businesses that employ Old Saint Nick.

Rep. Jonathan Fritz, R-Susquehanna, posted a memoranda on the House website this week seeking co-sponsors for legislation he said is aimed at the revelation recently highlighted in media reports.

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Antifa Members Arrested in Alleged Conspiracy for First Time

In a nationwide first, members of Antifa have been arrested and charged with conspiracy crimes. 

“San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan today announced multiple felony charges against six of the eight people arrested in connection with violent criminal acts committed earlier this year during a demonstration in Pacific Beach on January 9, 2021,” a press release from Stephan’s office says. “Charges against the defendants include conspiracy to commit a riot, illegal use of tear gas, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and vandalism. If convicted, the defendants face a sentencing range of probation up to 10 years and eight months in prison.”

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Supreme Court Won’t Stop Texas Abortion Law from Being Enforced, Allows Clinics to Sue over Ban

United States Supreme Court building

The Supreme Court ruled Friday that abortion providers in Texas will continue to be allowed to challenge the state’s restrictive abortion law but decided to not stop the law from being enforced.

The opinion, authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, emphasizes that the question of whether the Texas law is constitutional is not the one before the court. The ruling allows lawsuits by the clinics to go forward in lower courts, while leaving the law in place for now.

Eight of the nine justices said the abortion providers may continue bringing legal challenges, and Chief Justice John Roberts, writing on behalf of himself and the court’s three Democrat-appointed justices, encouraged the district judge should act quickly.

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At Least 54 Dead After Migrant Truck Crashes in Mexico

At least 54 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured when a truck full of migrants crashed in southern Mexico on Thursday, The New York Times reported.

The accident occurred when a truck carrying more than 100 people overturned, the head of the state Civil Protection Service, Luis Manuel García Moreno, told Milenio TV, the NYT reported. It is one of the deadliest accidents involving migrants in decades.

The truck contained passengers who were mostly migrants traveling from Central America, and it was moving at an “excessive” speed when it rounded a sharp curve and flipped, a witness told García, the NYT reported. The truck then crashed into a pedestrian bridge and construction close by.

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New York City Allows Illegal Aliens to Vote in Local Elections

Acting Executive Officer of the RGV U.S. Border Patrol Sector Oscar Escamilla, left, fields questions from tour participants as Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas, right, leads a delegation of Congressional representatives on a tour of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Donna Processing Facility in Donna, Texas, May 7, 2021. Secretary Mayorkas updated the delegation on unaccompanied children arriving at our Southern Border as they viewed conditions at the facility. CBP Photo by Michael Battise

On Thursday, New York City took the unprecedented step of allowing all illegal aliens within the city to cast votes in local elections, becoming the largest locality in the United States to do so, CNN reports.

The Democrat-majority City Council passed a measure approving the new change to local election laws, formally titled “Our City, Our Vote,” by a margin of 33 to 14.

The new legislation declares that any illegals who have lived in the city for at least 30 days, such as green card holders, DACA recipients, and illegals with workers’ permits, are allowed to vote in elections for mayor, city council, public advocate, and borough president.

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China Threatens to Fire Upon Any American Troops Defending Taiwan

The Chinese military has issued a direct threat against any possible American military forces that attempt to defend the country of Taiwan, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

The threat was made on Thursday in the Chinese state-controlled newspaper Global Times, in which it was written that “it is credible that the [People’s Liberation Army] will heavily attack U.S. troops who come to Taiwan’s rescue.”

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Pennsylvania House Committee Releases Public-Drawn Congressional Redistricting Map

The Pennsylvania House State Government Committee has unveiled a preliminary map for new congressional districts, selected from one of 19 submitted by the public.

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, chair of the State Government Committee, said a map submitted by Lehigh County resident Amanda Holt was selected because it was crafted without political influence, met constitutional standards and limited splits of townships and municipalities, among other factors.

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New David Perdue Lawsuit Cites Election Fraud in Fulton County, Asks to Inspect Absentee Ballots and Envelopes

Former Republican senator and declared gubernatorial candidate David Perdue and another Georgia resident this week cited fraud in last year’s elections in Fulton County and filed a suit seeking greater election transparency. In their lawsuit, Perdue and Elizabeth Grace Lennon requested access to Fulton County’s absentee ballots and absentee envelopes from last year. They filed the suit in the Superior Court of Fulton County. Lennon said county officials denied her the right to vote.

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