First Battlefront Drawn in Georgia in Epic Fight over Future of American Elections

Over just a few hours Thursday, Georgia’s Legislature and Gov. Brian Kemp drew the first battle line in the high-stakes struggle to decide how American voters will cast ballots in the future after the pandemic-ridden election of 2020.

The Republican-controlled state put itself firmly in the camp of voter ID requirements, limited drop boxes and expanded weekend voting. And depending on the eye of the beholder, it was either a win for election integrity or a return to the era of Jim Crow voter suppression.

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Ohio Tax Law Will be in Line with Federal Rules

A wide spectrum of Ohioans could catch a break when it comes to state taxes after the Ohio House passed a bill Wednesday that brings state tax rules in line with federal rules.

The bill, which already passed the Senate and now awaits Gov. Mike DeWine’s signature, increases the child and dependent care credit, provides tax breaks for student loan payments and eliminates taxes on the first $10,200 in unemployment compensation.

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Commentary: The Nature of Chinese Communist Party’s Contempt for Us

Last week in Anchorage, Alaska, Chinese diplomats dressed down Biden Administration Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Both seem stunned by the Chinese broadsides. 

Apparently, as elite Americans readily confess to inherent white supremacy and racism—highlighting the complaints of BLM and Antifa—the Chinese are happy to agree that such admittedly toxic Americans should not dare to criticize China’s racist policies. 

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Commentary: What Does the Republican Party Stand for?

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For two fleeting years after Trump was elected president, the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of the U.S. Congress. This level of one-party control for the GOP was almost without precedent. Apart from 2003-2007—the end of George W. Bush’s first term in office and the beginning of his second—you have to go back all the way to 1953, the first half of Dwight Eisenhower’s first term, to find a GOP president and a GOP-controlled Congress.

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Over 23,000 Illegal Aliens Released into U.S. by DHS in Two Months

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Under Joe Biden, the Department of Homeland Security has overseen the release of over 23,400 illegal aliens into the United States since February, according to Breitbart.

These illegals were released after they had already been detained at the border for attempting to cross. Of that 23,400, around 15,600 were released in the month of March alone. This is in addition to the thousands of more illegals who have similarly been released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the same period, with the exact numbers currently being unavailable.

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Nearly Every Lawmaker Overseeing Privacy, Antitrust Issues Received Big Tech Money in 2020: Report

Nearly all members of Congress who oversee privacy and antitrust issues have received donations or lobbying money from Big Tech, according to a Public Citizen report.

Ninety-four percent of lawmakers on Capitol Hill with jurisdiction over key Big Tech issues have received money from the industry, according to the Public Citizen report released Wednesday. Altogether, Big Tech political action committees (PAC) and lobbyists contributed roughly $3.2 million to lawmakers who are specifically tasked with regulating the industry.

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Facebook Has Been Used to Organize Migrant Caravans

Thousands of migrants have reportedly used social media apps Facebook and WhatsApp to organize caravans and groups headed to illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

The migrants, who largely originate from Central America, started joining Facebook and WhatsApp groups in the months after President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in the November presidential election, according to Reuters. Members of the groups reportedly warned others that they should time their border treks to ensure they arrived after Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

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Jobless Claims Plummet to 684,000 in Latest Sign of Economic Recovery

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims dropped to 684,000 last week as the economy continued to slowly recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented a large decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending March 13, when 781,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised up from the 770,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

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Government Accountability Office Investigates Biden’s Decision to Halt Border Wall Construction

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has opened an investigation into President Joe Biden’s decision to freeze congressional funds allocated for construction of the southern border wall, Politico reported.

Senate Republicans requested the GAO investigate the Biden administration for potentially violating the Impoundment Control Act (ICA), which prohibits the president from altering funding appropriated by Congress without approval, Politico reported. Republicans are referring to the $1.4 billion allocated for border wall construction in the $900 billion COVID bill passed by Congress in December.

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Biden Sets New Vaccine Target, Faces Questions on Border Crisis, Senate Filibuster

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President Joe Biden on Thursday set a new target of 200 million Americans being vaccinated by the end of April while also facing questions about the southern U.S. border crisis, the potential to end filibusters in the U.S. Senate and other issues.

At the first news conference of his presidency, held later into his first term than recent presidents, Biden said the U.S. was on target to vaccinate more than 200 million Americans by his 100th day in office.

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Democrats Introduce Bill to Repeal ‘Racist’ Hyde Amendment

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Democratic senators plan to introduce legislation that would repeal the Hyde Amendment, arguing that the decades-old legislation is both “anti-choice” and “blatantly racist.”

The Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act will be introduced in Congress Thursday, the HuffPost reported, by Democratic Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Democratic California Sen. Barbara Lee. The legislation demands the reversal of the 1976 Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds for abortions.

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What Senate Bill 22 Does and Does Not Do

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Wednesday the Ohio General Assembly (GA) did something that doesn’t often happen – the Republican supermajority delivered veto override votes in both chambers to undo what a Governor from their own party did just one day earlier.

Senate Bill 22 (SB22) is a law that establishes legislative oversight of emergency, standing and special orders issued by state leaders and agencies – giving the General Assembly the power to rescind orders with a concurrent resolution (a simple majority vote of both the House and the Senate) instead of passing a law that requires the Governor’s approval.

Below is a simple list of what the new law does and doesn’t do.

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Four Republican Lawmakers Stand with Democrats in Attempt to Uphold Governor’s Shutdown Power

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Four lawmakers – State Senators Matt Dolan (R-Cuyahoga) and Stephanie Kunze (R-Dublin), and State Representatives Nino Vitale (R-Urbana) and Andrea White (R-Kettering) – were the sole Republicans that did not cast a vote to override Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of a measure that limits his authority to issue orders during an emergency.

Senate Bill 22 (SB22) is aimed at rebalancing power by giving the Ohio Legislature oversight of government rules and orders. Chairman of the House State and Local Government Committee Scott Wiggam (R-Wooster) was the point man in the lower chamber on the legislation, which passed overwhelmingly earlier this month.

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