Tag: 2021

Special Counsel Subpoenas Secretary of State Raffensperger in Investigation of Efforts to Block Certifying 2020 Election

Eric Burk

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has been subpoenaed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into efforts to interfere with certifying the 2020 election on January 6, 2021, or to interfere with the lawful transfer of power.

The subpoena, obtained by The Washington Post, orders Raffensperger to produce any communications dating June 2020 through January 20, 2021, with former President Donald Trump, his campaign, and allies including some lawyers. Similar subpoenas were sent to officials in other 2020 battleground states, according to The Post.

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ICE Tried to Spin Its ‘Indefensible’ 2021 Report Showing Massive Drop in Deportations, Arrests

Georgia Star News Staff

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attempted to spin the agency’s low arrest and deportation numbers in fiscal year 2021 by blaming them on the pandemic, a Trump-era rule and lack of cooperation with foreign countries, according to internal documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

ICE’s communications team acknowledged that the agency’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report, which featured a massive decline in deportations and arrests, would likely be the subject of criticism, and prepared a response for acting Director Tae Johnson and acting Chief of Staff Jason Houser to downplay the low levels of interior immigration enforcement, according to internal communications obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The report was also delayed, which ICE attributed to the fact that the report was a compilation of what would otherwise be multiple separate reports.

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Gender Dysphoria Diagnoses for Children Soared 70 Percent in 2021

Georgia Star News Staff

Childhood gender dysphoria diagnoses soared 70% from 2020 to 2021, according to medical records of 330 million Americans analyzed by Komodo Health Inc, Reuters reported Thursday.

The findings reveal a massive uptick in gender dysphoria diagnoses for children aged 6 to 17, with at least 121,882 children receiving that diagnosis in the five years leading up to 2021, according to Reuters. While most children who are diagnosed with the disorder do not medically transition, the rate of children on puberty blockers more than doubled from 2017 to 2021 to just over 5,000.

The data aligns with other findings outlining the rapid rise in transgender identities among adolescents, but it’s less clear why the trend accelerated so rapidly in 2020. Some have attributed the youth transgender trend to social contagion, citing the popularity of trans videos on TikTok and other social media platforms, while others have pointed to school programming on gender identity issues for young children.

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Six Major Cities to Surpass 2021 Totals of Violent Crime Halfway Through 2022

Georgia Star News Staff

In six of America’s largest cities, the rate of violent crime is already well on track to surpass previous record highs reached in 2021, with six months still left to go in the year 2022.

As reported by Fox News, the cities of Atlanta, Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. are all seeing even greater numbers of violent crime than last year. The largest increase is in New York, the largest city in America, with a 25.8 percent spike in crime compared to the same time in 2021. Violent crime is generally described as including the acts of homicide, assault, robbery, and rape; homicides in particular have been on the rise, with a 30 percent increase from 2019 to 2020, followed by an additional 5 percent increase from 2020 to 2021.

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FBI Records 61 Active Shooter Incidents in 2021, Highest Total in 21 Years

Georgia Star News Staff

On Monday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that the United States experienced 61 “active shooter” incidents over the course of 2021, the highest annual total in over 20 years.

According to Reuters, the 61 incidents took place across 30 different states, and marked a 52 percent increase from the total of similar incidents in 2020. The 2021 total was also at least double the amount of shootings in each of the three prior years, and marks the highest annual total on record since the FBI first began keeping track of active shooter situations in 2000.

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Tax Foundation: Taxation Plays Direct, Indirect Role in 2021 Population Shift

The Center Square
U-Haul truck

As more Americans move to lower-taxed Republican-led states, a new report by the Tax Foundation indicates that taxation levels play a direct and indirect role as factors contributing to migration patterns.

Taxes often “play an indirect role by contributing to a broadly favorable economic environment. And sometimes, of course, they play little or no role,” Jared Walczak, a vice president at the Tax Foundation, writes in an analysis of 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data and inbound and outbound migration data published by U-Haul and United Van Lines.

“The Census data and these industry studies cannot tell us exactly why each person moved, but there is no denying a very strong correlation between low-tax, low-cost states and population growth,” he wrote. “With many states responding to robust revenues and heightened state competition by cutting taxes, moreover, these trends may only get larger.”

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Border Patrol Saw 134 Percent Increase in Fentanyl Seizures in Fiscal Year 2021

Admin

The lethal synthetic drug fentanyl has been increasingly trafficked into the U.S., and, in fiscal year 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a 134% increase in seizures of the illicit drug.

Fentanyl is 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine, and a lethal dose is about 2 milligrams, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which has recently warned about the increase in fentanyl-laced pills cartels in Mexico are manufacturing with chemicals provided by China.

The drug is fueling an overdose epidemic in the U.S., and is the leading killer 18-45 year olds nationwide.

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Toyota Smashes GM’s 90-Year Streak as Top U.S. Car Seller

Admin

Japanese automaker Toyota overtook General Motors in 2021 as the top car seller in the U.S., breaking the American manufacturer’s 90-year streak, Reuters reported.

Toyota sold 2.332 million vehicles, while GM sold 2.218 million, automakers said Tuesday, Reuters reported. GM’s dethroning marks the first time the Detroit company did not secure the most sales since it overtook Ford in 1931.

GM‘s sales were down 13% from the year before, in part due to the computer chip shortage that forced manufacturers to focus on their most popular models, Reuters reported. In contrast, Toyota was up 10% and is believed to have weathered the shortage better than others in the industry.

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Border Officials Seized More Fentanyl in the First Four Months of 2021 Than During the Same Period in 2020

Georgia Star News Staff

Border officials seized nearly 2,400 more pounds of fentanyl from January to April 2021 than during the same period in 2020, according to Customs and Border Protection.

Officials seized nearly 3,290 pounds of fentanyl in the first four months of 2021 compared to around 920 pounds in the same timeframe of 2020, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Border officials seized a total of 7,300 pounds of fentanyl from January to December 2020.

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Georgia’s Net Tax Collections Total Nearly $2B in February

The Center Square

Georgia’s decision to delay processing tax year 2020 individual returns helped lead to a net tax collection of nearly $2 billion in February.  

Georgia followed the Internal Revenue Service’s guidance of not accepting and processing 2020 returns until Feb. 12. The deferment led to a delay in tax refunds, which resulted in higher than usual individual income tax collections, Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said in a news release.

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Biden Suggests Masks Will Be Worn Through Next Year

Georgia Star News Staff

President Joe Biden indicated that Americans may need to wear masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus for the remainder of 2021.

Speaking during a visit to the National Institutes of Health complex on Thursday, Biden also spoke about the U.S. vaccine supply and his goals for the rollout, and suggested that mask-wearing will likely be a reality for the next year, Fox News reports.

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McConnell, Schumer Strike Deal on Impeachment Trial Rules

Georgia Star News Staff

Senate leaders said on Monday that a deal has been agreed upon regarding the framework for former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial slated to begin on Tuesday.

“For the information of the Senate, the Republican leader and I, in consultation with both the House managers and former President Trump’s lawyers, have agreed to a bipartisan resolution to govern the structure and timing of the impending trial,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday on the Senate floor. “All parties have agreed to a structure that will ensure a fair and honest Senate impeachment trial of the former president,” the New York Democrat said.

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Almost 100 Million Americans Plan to Make Finances a New Year’s Resolution in 2021

The Center Square
business meeting

About 97 million Americans say they plan to make a New Year’s resolution for 2021 that involves their financial situation, compared to 66 million who said they’ve done so in the past, according to a new survey by WalletHub.

Of those who responded to the survey, more than a third say their top financial resolution will be to save more money. With that in mind, WalletHub came up with suggestions that can help you save more and spend less.

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Commentary: Heroes, Villains, and Victims of the 2020 Horror Show

Georgia Star News Staff

The year began with so much optimism.

Record low unemployment, rising wages, and a strong stock market buoyed the outlook for business owners and consumers alike. The president earned all-time high approval ratings following the Democrats’ impeachment farce. In February 2020, Republicans enjoyed a seven-point lead over Democrats in party affiliation, an advantage the GOP hadn’t seen in at least 15 years. The Democratic presidential primary field was a clown show; party elders publicly worried that none of the candidates could prevail over President Trump in November.

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