March 11, 2021 - The Virginia Star

Biden Signs $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill into Law

March 11, 2021March 11, 2021 The Center Square

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that includes extended unemployment benefits, direct funding to states and municipalities, and $1,400 checks for most Americans.

“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving the people of this nation – working people, middle-class folks, people who built the country – a fighting chance, that’s what the essence of it is,” Biden said in the Oval Office before signing the bill.

Appalachian Power Seeks 11 Percent Rate Increase for Virginia Customers

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 The Center Square

Appalachian Power, the second largest electric utility in Virginia, is seeking an 11% increase in rates paid by consumers residing in the commonwealth to pay for electric transmission costs.

If approved, Appalachian Power would increase the Transmission Rate Adjustment Clause from $225.1 million to $337.7 million, which is a $112.6 million increase. It would increase the monthly bill for a customer by $11.52 for every 1,000 kilowatt hours. It would go into effect in July 2021.

Commentary: If Trump Runs Again in 2024, the GOP Would Need to Retake Three States to Get 274 Electoral Votes

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

“I may even decide to beat them for a third time. Okay? For a third time.”

That was former President Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 28, hinting at another potential run for President in 2024. If he pulled it off, Trump would be the first incumbent president to lose to then be reelected again since Grover Cleveland did it in 1892.

Commentary: About the Miseducation of America’s Elites

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Bari Weiss writes a compelling, must-read piece in City Journal about the indoctrination mills masquerading as educational institutions. Take a few minutes, read it, and come back.

One thing that isn’t being considered is that children not in these elite institutions in leftist places, who know they have no meritocratic chance of getting into elite colleges because they are not ideologically pure or from an ideologically “safe” geographical location or they’re white, are self-selecting out and going to state universities and smaller colleges. What once used to be an insult — getting turned down by an elite institution — is becoming a choice.

U.S. House Passes Controversial $1.9 Trillion Relief Bill, Sending Measure to Biden

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 The Center Square

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday ratified changes the Senate made to a massive $1.9 trillion relief package that critics say contains hundreds of billions of dollars in wasteful spending unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the 220-211 vote, almost exclusively along party lines, the measure now goes to President Joe Biden, who said he will sign it. One Democrat – U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who also voted against the initial bill – voted against the measure Wednesday. No Republicans voted for it.

Investigation Confirms That George Soros Funded DAs Who Would Release Illegal Aliens

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

At least three high-profile district attorneys in the United States who have been funded by far-left billionaire George Soros have since gone on to implement pro-amnesty policies that have released numerous criminal illegal aliens, as reported by Breitbart.

The district attorneys include Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner, Chicago’s Kimberly Foxx, and Diana Becton in Contra Costa County, California, as confirmed by the investigation from the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). These officials, like others around the country, have gone out of their way to see illegal aliens released from local custody before they can be arrested and deported by ICE.

LA Teachers Union Agrees to Reopen Second Largest School District

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

United Teachers Los Angeles and Los Angeles city officials have come to a tentative agreement, creating a path for the nation’s second-largest school district to reopen.

Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District would return to in-person classes in mid-April under the tentative agreement struck Tuesday evening, according to city and union officials, The New York Times reported. The Los Angeles school board and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) members still need to ratify the agreement.

U.S. Commander Warns of China’s ‘Increasingly Assertive Military Posture’

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A top U.S. military commander warned lawmakers on Tuesday that China has adopted an “increasingly assertive military posture” as it seeks to supplant the United States as the world’s dominant military force.

“Its rapidly advancing capabilities and increasingly competitive posture underscore its drive to become a regionally dominant, globally influential power,” Adm. Philip Davidson, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, testified before members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Biden Admin Won’t Consider Limiting Immigration for Migrants Who Will Depend on Government Benefits

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration told the Supreme Court Tuesday it will not seek to expand the Trump-era decision to limit immigration for migrants who will depend on government benefits, NBC News reported.

The Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration was working to expand the definition of “public charge” to include denying admission to migrants who might rely primarily on government benefits as a source of income, NBC News reported. Any migrant needing government assistance for over one year in any three-year period would have been included in the expanded definition.

Vice President Harris Handles Another Solo Call with a World Leader, Without Joe Biden

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

In yet another unprecedented display of the incumbent vice president taking on duties normally reserved for the president, Kamala Harris took a solo call from the Prime Minister of Norway on Tuesday, as reported by Fox News.

Harris took the call from Prime Minister Erna Solberg, with Harris “affirming her commitment to deepening the strong alliance between Norway and the United States,” while also “thanking the Prime Minister for Norway’s close security partnership with the United States, and generous contributions to development and health security efforts around the world.”

Analysis: Maximum Facts About the Minimum Wage

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

At 2:00 AM on Saturday, February 27, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a “COVID relief and economic support“ bill at a cost to taxpayers of $1.9 trillion. The next Saturday, Senate Democrats passed a very similar bill, and President Biden stated he will sign it. This will be the sixth “COVID relief” law and swell the tab for such legislation to a total of $5.3 trillion. The combined cost of these laws to every household in the United States will be an average of $41,036.

Senate Confirms Merrick Garland as Biden’s Attorney General

March 11, 2021March 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Judge Merrick Garland as President Biden’s attorney general.

Garland was confirmed in a 70-30 vote in the evenly-divided Senate, making him the leader of the Justice Department and the country’s top law enforcement officer.

One-Fourth of Bills Passed in 2021 Virginia General Assembly Sessions Passed Along Party Lines

March 11, 2021March 11, 2021 Eric Burk

In 2020 and 2021, the Democrat-led General Assembly passed nearly 20 percent more bills through strict party-line votes than in the three previous years when Republicans controlled both chambers. According to a data visualization from the Virginia Public Access Project, in 2020, 24 percent of bills passed were passed along party lines with Democrats voting for and Republicans voting against. In 2021, that number grew to 25 percent. In the Republican controlled sessions of 2017, 2018, and 2019, the percentage of bills passed along party lines was respectively 7.7 percent, 4.7 percent, and 5.7 percent.