Category: Policy

April 8, 2024 The Center Square

Presumptive GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump on Monday announced his stance on abortion ahead of the November election, sticking, as expected, with the Supreme Court decision that the matter should be decided by the states.

Feds Report $2.7 Trillion in Improper Payments in Two Decades

The federal government reported hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in improper payments last fiscal year and trillions over the last two decades.

According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, the federal government reported $236 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2023. The true number, though, is actually much higher, but federal reporting is often lacking.

Tuberculosis, Measles Break Out in Chicago Migrant Shelters

April 8, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

In the city of Chicago, officials announced that there has been an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) in several shelters currently housing illegal aliens.

As Fox News reports, the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) released a statement confirming that TB had broken out in “a few different shelters” throughout the city. Although the statement did not disclose the total number of cases, officials nevertheless tried to downplay the threat by describing it as a “small number” of cases.

Prominent Epidemiologist Says Data Proves COVID Lockdowns Failed, and Hurt Population

Dr. Harvey Risch, Professor of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, says lockdowns failed to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and had “serious repercussions for substantial fractions of the population.”

“The measures that need to be monitored for a pandemic of this sort are the number of deaths, serious hospitalizations, and serious outcomes of the infection, not the infection itself,” Risch said on a “Just the News, No Noise” special on Friday.

Earliest COVID-19 Vaccine Recipients Wrote in Tens of Thousands of Injuries Left Off CDC Surveys

April 8, 2024 The Center Square

The earliest recipients of newly authorized COVID-19 vaccines, including healthcare workers, wrote in tens of thousands of adverse events related to the heart, ears, reproductive system and other conditions not listed as checkboxes in a federal active monitoring smartphone app.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the past two months turned over 780,000 “free text” entries from V-safe, the agency’s vaccine-safety monitoring system, under a January order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Freedom Coalition of Doctors for Choice.

Bill Would Ensure Patriotic Groups Can Appear in Ohio Schools

Ohio state Representative Roy Klopfenstein with a Boy Scout

Two Ohio lawmakers want to make sure state schools follow federal law and allow groups like the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts to be present during the school year.

Proposed legislation in the House of Representatives requires schools to allow U.S. Title 36, which permits patriotic organizations to provide information to students. Those organizations could be the Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, 4-H, Future Farmers of America, Civil Air Patrol, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and many other groups.

Commentary: Job Program for Americans-No Jobs for Illegal Aliens, Period

April 8, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

I am weary of hearing the trope that we need more illegal aliens because “Americans won’t work those jobs.” My bet is that most Americans share this sentiment as well.

Amidst a myriad of concerns about illegal immigration, one prominent worry among Americans is the potential adverse effects on the U.S. workforce. There is apprehension that undocumented migrants could potentially displace native-born workers, leading to job loss and further exacerbating the nation’s tax burden. The media and the left love to dismiss such considerations as fearful, xenophobic, and bigoted, arguing instead that alien workers fill a vital gap in the American workforce. But these concerns, nevertheless, are valid.

SEC Voluntarily Puts on Hold Climate Change Rule

April 8, 2024 The Center Square

Requiring publicly traded companies to make climate-related disclosures has voluntarily been put on hold by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC’s move came before a decision was reached by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. John Rady, counsel for the SEC in the case, notified the court in a letter.

Inspectors: Thousands of American Bridges in Poor Condition

April 8, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

Following the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after a collision involving a cargo ship, safety inspectors are now raising the alarm about the structural dangers of a significant percentage of American bridges.

As Fox News reports, federal data from the year 2023 suggests that at least 7% of bridges in the United States – roughly 42,400 total – are in poor condition. The primary cause is deterioration over time, which requires regular repairs that can regularly cost millions of dollars, as well as cause closures that negatively impact many residents’ commutes.

Study Grades Natural Gas as Best Source for Reliability, Affordability and Environmental Impact

April 6, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

A new study finds that natural gas is the most effective energy source meeting growing energy demands affordably and reliably, while balancing environmental and human impact.

The “Grading the Grid” study by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a pro-free market nonprofit, and Northwood University rates natural gas, coal, petroleum, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, solar and geothermal generation sources on their reliability, environmental and human impact, cost, innovation and market feasibility.

Nebraska Votes Against Electoral College Reforms in Blow to Trump

The Nebraska Legislature on Wednesday voted against a proposal that would have changed the state’s allocation of presidential electors in the Electoral College, which is a setback for former President Donald Trump’s political interests.

Unlike all U.S. states except for Maine, Nebraska allocates three of its presidential electors based on the majority vote in each of its three congressional districts, while the remaining two electors — accounting for its two U.S. senators — are allocated based on the statewide tally. Republican state Sen. Julie Slama of Lincoln on Wednesday introduced a bill amendment that would change this system to a “winner-take-all” allocation — whereby all electoral votes would go to the candidate who wins statewide, purportedly benefitting the Republican nominee — though the measure failed to advance by a vote of 9 yeas to 36 nays.

Cybersecurity, Voter Eligibility Focus of New Ohio Legislation

April 6, 2024April 5, 2024 The Center Square

A plan to more stringently scrutinize voter registration data and citizenship verification during Ohio’s elections sits before the Ohio House of Representatives.

The proposed legislation, which has yet to be assigned to a committee, also focuses on security of individual voting machines and would require the state’s board of voting system examiners to contain a person with cybersecurity expertise and credentials.

Redistricting Won’t Hurt GOP Chances at Keeping the House, Experts Say

Changes in congressional district boundary lines across several states do not appear to have damaged Republicans’ chances of maintaining a majority in the House of Representatives after 2024’s elections, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana and New York have experienced redistricting processes ahead of the 2024 election. While experts had previously forecast adverse changes from redistricting in these states that could have cost GOP incumbents their seats, the processes have resulted, on balance, in races where likely losses of some GOP seats could be offset by the gains in other states, experts told the DCNF.

Weiss Acknowledges ‘Ongoing Investigation’ in Biden Tax Case, Spurring Congressional Probe

April 5, 2024 Just the News

In the legal back-and-forth between Hunter Biden’s defense team and prosecutor Special Counsel David Weiss, the government appeared to acknowledge in court filings the existence of an ongoing investigation as part of the Hunter Biden tax investigation.

The government said in a request to seal certain documents that “The justification for the redaction and the sealed exhibits is that the redacted information contained in the filing and the sealed exhibits relates to a potential ongoing investigation(s) and the investigating agency(cies) specifically requested that the government request that the court seal the exhibits, as well as any accompanying reference in the pleading, in order to protect the integrity of the potential ongoing investigation(s).”

‘The Swamp is Getting Deeper’: EPA Awards Billions from Biden’s Landmark Climate Bill to Organizations Loaded with Democrat Insiders

April 5, 2024April 4, 2024 Just the News

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded nearly $14 billion Thursday to three organizations with deep ties to the Biden administration and the Democratic Party.

The EPA announced the winners of $20 billion of funding from the massive Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), a program created by President Joe Biden’s signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act. Among the selected awardees are Climate United, the Coalition for Green Capital and Power Forward Communities, three groups that are taking home almost $14 billion combined to establish financing operations for a wide variety of green technology and energy projects under the GGRF’s National Clean Investment Fund.

Ohio Congressman Introduces Bill to Repeal 16th Amendment, Arguing Government Shouldn’t Tax Income

Congressman Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, introduced legislation to repeal the 16th Amendment, stating that the government should not tax people’s income.

“Originally the country didn’t have an income tax,” Davidson said on the Wednesday edition of the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show. “They passed the 16th amendment to make it legal to tax people’s income. It was originally just going to be for the really, really rich people. And of course, now it’s hitting everybody.”

California’s Fast-Food Minimum Wage Hike Could Spell Trouble for Public Schools

Two policies backed by Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom could place serious strain on California’s already fiscally unhealthy public schools.

California’s new minimum wage law, which took effect Monday, guarantees a wage of at least $20 an hour for workers at fast food chains with 60 or more locations across the country, The Associated Press reported. The new law, however, does not apply to food service workers in the state’s public schools, forcing them to compete in a more expensive labor market just as schools are preparing for an increase in demand for food workers due to the state’s new universal free lunch program.

Left-Wing Group Pushed a Policy That Could Shape 2024 Election Outcome—Using Your Tax Dollars

April 4, 2024April 3, 2024 The Center Square

Documents reveal an organization backed by Obama White House alumni such as Valerie Jarrett and bankrolled by liberal dark money donors advocated using tax dollars to pay college students to get out the vote in the 2024 election, doing so before the Biden administration announced the same policy.

The Daily Signal obtained the documents through a public records request in which it sought documents from the Wisconsin Elections Commission related to President Joe Biden’s controversial executive order to promote voting.

Chinese Nationals Illegally Entering U.S. in Record Numbers Since 2021

The number of Chinese nationals illegally entering the U.S. – primarily single, military age men – has skyrocketed under the Biden administration.

Of the more than 140,000 Chinese who’ve illegally entered the country since fiscal 2021, one recently was apprehended at a Marine Corps base at the southwest border.

House Republicans Raise Alarm over China’s Potential Use of U.S. Funds in Military Research

April 4, 2024 Just the News

House Republicans are urging the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s nonpartisan watchdog, to investigate what safeguards the National Institutes of Health has in place to ensure China does not use research funds to bolster its military or unethically use humans in research studies.

“Recent reports have raised concerns about the NIH’s ability to screen for national security issues,” the Republicans, led by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Wa., wrote in a letter Tuesday to Government Accountability Office Comptroller Gene Dodaro.

Yost Agrees Six-Week Abortion Ban Unconstitutional, Other Provisions Not

April 4, 2024April 3, 2024 The Center Square

A Hamilton County judge now must decide on parts of Ohio’s heartbeat law after Attorney General Dave Yost agreed the law banning nearly all abortions is unconstitutional.

In court filings, Yost said Ohio’s 2019 law that banned most abortions in the state was unconstitutional after voters guaranteed the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution in November.

Gas Prices Creeping Higher Again as Election Cycle Heats Up

April 4, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

The national average cost of a gallon of gas at the pump jumped by 20 cents over the past month, according to AAA.

Currently, Americans are paying about $3.55 per gallon on average, up from about $3.35 a month ago, according to AAA’s data. Goldman Sachs, one of the largest financial institutions in the U.S., has recently cautioned that prices could surge above $4 per gallon by May, according to Yahoo Finance.

Trump Campaign, RNC Announce $65.6 Million Fundraising Haul

April 4, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign and affiliated groups announced on Wednesday they brought in over $65.6 million during the month of March.

The haul includes funds raised by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and their affiliated entities, according to a press release. Trump’s fundraising apparatus, which has been lagging behind President Joe Biden’s, also announced topping $93.1 million in cash on hand going into April.

Wisconsin Voters Approve Constitutional Amendment Banning ‘Zuckerbucks’

April 3, 2024April 2, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

Wisconsin voters on Tuesday approved two constitutional amendments to tighten election integrity in the Badger State.

Congress Approves $380 Million for ‘Border Security’ Measures in Middle Eastern Countries

One provision of the $1.2 trillion spending package passed by Congress and signed into law by Joe Biden last month will see at least $380 million spent on securing the borders of several Middle Eastern countries, while the American border remains wide open.

According to Fox News, the appropriation of $380 million will be available until September 2025, and will fund “enhanced border security” measures in the countries of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, and Tunisia. Jordan will be receiving the most out of the five, at $150 million.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Announces Major Expansion of School Choice Options for Children Of Veterans, First Responders

April 3, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas announced Monday that the state Department of Education was expanding its education savings program to include veteran and first responder families.

The Arkansas Education Freedom Account program, which was launched in 2023, helps fund families who wish to send their children to private schools or homeschool them and previously included “Homeless students, current or former foster care students, students with disabilities” and “first-time kindergarteners.” For the 2024-2025 school year, “veterans, military reserve members, first responders, law enforcement officers and students from D-rated schools will now be eligible, according to a press release.

White House Blames ‘Misinformation’ for Transgender Day of Visibility Outrage

April 3, 2024April 2, 2024 The Center Square

“It is actually unsurprising that politicians are seeking to divide and weaken our country with cruel, hateful, and dishonest rhetoric,” the White House press secretary said.

The White House is blaming “misinformation” for the outrage that ensued after it observed Transgender Day of Visibility, which fell on the same day as Easter this year.

Ohio Legislation Would Allow Some Criminal Records to Be Sealed

Two Ohio Republican lawmakers want to make it easier for criminals to have records sealed to help the state’s workforce participation.

Sponsors say the plan – Getting Rehabilitated Ohioans Working or Grow Act – could also reduce revictimization and create an environment of safer and healthier communities and families.

High Energy Costs Drive Revolt Against States’ Climate Policies but Commitments Hard to Dislodge

Arizona Corporation Commissioners in front of power station

The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) recently took the unusual step of voting to pull back on the state’s renewable energy targets, over concerns they are too costly and produce few benefits.

Most states are moving in the other direction, following California’s lead, but there are signs of some hesitation as the real costs of these policies are realized.

California Considers Expanding Assisted Suicide Access Without Terminal Diagnosis

April 3, 2024 Ohio Star Staff

The new law would allow people with early to mid-stage dementia to end their life.

The California legislature is considering a law that would greatly expand the state’s assisted suicide policies to allow people to end their lives without being diagnosed with a terminal disease, including dementia patients.

Commentary: Biden’s Big Bet on Military Abortions Falls Flat

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, President Joe Biden has made it a top priority to use any and all administrative actions to promote and pay for abortions with taxpayer money.

No single related action garnered more attention than Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s announcement that the Defense Department would use taxpayer funds to pay for abortion travel. Now, a new Pentagon report finds that the Biden administration’s abortion travel policy for service members and dependents was used only 12 times from June through December.

‘Almost Orwellian’: Feds Black Out Nearly All Emails about Trucker Surveillance Proposal

April 2, 2024April 1, 2024 Just the News

A Department of Transportation component slammed the brakes following semi-furious opposition to its proposal for “on demand” law enforcement surveillance of commercial vehicles a year and a half ago.

It took another six months to turn over the records after a FOIA lawsuit to compel their release, a day before they were due in court Thursday, with no indication yet from FMCSA when it would release a final rule.

Florida Sheriff Touts Giving Squatters a ‘One-Way Ride’ to Jail

A Florida sheriff on Monday boasted during a Fox News appearance about giving squatters a “one-way ride” to the local jail as concerns about squatting have grown nationwide.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida signed legislation to criminalize squatting on Wednesday after a high-profile incident in New York in which a woman who discovered squatters in her late mother’s luxury apartment was allegedly killed by them. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told “Fox and Friends” co-host Lawrence Jones that his deputies were already addressing the issue.

Biden Admin Threw Billions at EV Charging Stations, But Only a Handful Have Been Built

The Biden administration’s well-funded push to build out a national network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers has so far resulted in only a handful of installations, according to The Washington Post.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill of 2021 allotted $7.5 billion to subsidize thousands of EV chargers to help the administration’s goal of having EVs constitute 50 percent of all new cars sold in 2030, but only seven stations in total have been built in four states to date, according to the Post. The slow rollout of the EV charger funding is unfolding as the Biden administration has recently issued stringent emissions standards for light-, medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that will result in significant increases of EV sales for all three classes of vehicle.

‘Entirely Unachievable:’ Biden EPA Locks In Stringent Emissions Rule for Heavy-Duty Vehicles to Fight Climate Change

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized aggressive emissions standards Friday for heavy-duty vehicles that will effectively require huge increases in the numbers of electric or zero-emission buses and trucks sold over the next decade.

The agency is projecting that the heavy-duty vehicle emissions standards for model years 2027 to 2032 could result in zero-emission or electric vehicles (EVs) making up 25 percent of new long-haul trucks sold and 40 percent of all new medium-sized truck sales by 2032, according to The New York Times. The EPA’s final emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles complements the agency’s recent release of the final tailpipe emissions standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles that has been characterized as an “EV mandate.”

Commentary: With ‘Friends’ Like Obrador, Enemies Like Putin, Xi, Kim Jong are Old News

April 2, 2024 The Center Square

In a recent 60 Minutes interview, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador—who prefers to be known as AMLO for short—issued to the Biden administration blackmail demands that sounded more like existential threats.

AMLO warned the U.S. that the current influx of some 10 million illegal aliens through the southern border will most certainly continue—unless America agrees to his ultimatums.

Ohio’s Tornado-Ravaged Counties Await Federal Disaster Declaration

Ohio Gov Mike DeWine surveys tornado damage

State and federal officials are awaiting President Joe Biden’s disaster declaration to help recovery from tornadoes and severe storms that impacted 11 counties in mid-March.

Gov. Mike DeWine, along with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, wrote asking for a FEMA presidential disaster declaration to open federal aid for those impacted not already reimbursed by other government programs or private insurance.

Commentary: Supreme Court Takes on California’s Uber-Disclosure Laws Aiming to Crack Down on ‘Dark Money’ Ads