December 13, 2021 - The Virginia Star

VP Harris to Announce $540 Million Private Investment to Slow Immigration from Central America

December 13, 2021December 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Kamala Harris talking to Administration about immigration policy

Vice President Kamala Harris is set on Monday to announce $540 million in private corporate investments in Central America’s Northern Triangle – a facet of the Biden administration’s plan to slow migration from the region by making it more livable.

The new funding is in addition to the $750 million in private sector dollars the vice president announced in May.

President Biden in the early months of his presidency tasked Harris with helping stem the flow of illegal migration across the U.S. southern border by addressing what the administration refers to as root causes including poverty, corruption, crime and natural disasters, prominent in the Northern Triangle, from which many of the migrants are now coming.

Landmark Democratic Initiative Virginia Clean Economy Act Under Fire From Republicans

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Eric Burk

The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) is one of the signature pieces of legislation Democrats passed during their control of Virginia’s General Assembly and the governor’s mansion. It set deadlines for utilities to be 100-percent carbon, set energy efficiency standards for utilities, declared that solar and wind are “in the public interest,” created a Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund, and brought Virginia into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI,) a program where utilities have to bid for carbon dioxide emissions allowances.

The day after the act passed out of the House in February 2020, House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) called Democrats’ actions including the VCEA historic, but warned that those bills would have far-reaching impacts, including higher energy prices for citizens and businesses.

Commentary: Civilizational Self-Destruction, Not Omicron, Is Killing Us

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Person on bus with mask and headphones on

Last week in this space, I included a few words about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s remarkable new book, The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health. I also included a link to Kennedy’s appearance on “Tucker Carlson Today.”

It was a remarkable exchange and I commend both the book and the interview to your attention. I disagree with Kennedy about various things, including the efficacy of vaccines in general, but his assessment of the highest-paid employee of the federal government, Anthony Fauci, is worth the price of admission.

As I remarked a couple of weeks ago, I thought I had done writing about COVID. Surely, I thought, the hysteria is on the wane. Most people are rational. They know that the flimsy porous masks you see everywhere are useless tokens of conformity. They understand that the disease is serious for only a tiny part of the population. They also know staying home and practicing “social distancing” has its own liabilities, not least of which is a diminution in the potency of one’s immune response.

Federal Watchdog: Border Protection Anti-Terror Unit Investigated American Journalists

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A Customs and Border Protection division used government databases intended to track terrorists to investigate as many as 20 U.S.-based journalists, according to a federal watchdog.

Yahoo News published a report on the investigation in which the news outlet also found the Counter Network Division also made quires on congressional staffers and perhaps members of Congress.

Commentary: Escape to a Good State, but Don’t Ruin It

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

My elementary and high school teachers never did a good job of explaining American federalism. They left me and, I suspect, many of my fellow students confused. Perhaps they were a little confused themselves: If the federal government’s laws are supreme and can overrule state’s laws, why not just have all laws uniformly adopted at the federal level?

The federal government was not, of course, intended to be what it has become: the daily manager of every citizen’s life. The founders envisioned a federal government that remained in the background, available when it was necessary to get all the states fighting together to win a war, present to help explain a unified foreign policy, and above all to guarantee that goods and people could flow freely from one state to another with no impediment. (That last point is the reason for the interstate commerce clause.) Any national government more aggressive than that would never have been adopted by the liberty-minded states that had just won the Revolutionary War, and even that proved a hard sell: Two years and the addition of a Bill of Rights were required before a sufficient number of states were willing to ratify.

CBO: Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ Plan Could Add $3 Trillion to the Debt When Accounting Tricks Removed

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 The Center Square

President Joe Biden has repeatedly touted that his “Build Back Better” spending bill would not add to the national debt, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis released Friday countered that claim.

Republicans requested the CBO examination before voting on the bill, asking what the cost would be if spending provisions in the bill are continued for 10 years, instead of expiring sooner.

New Study Suggests Natural Immunity Is More Protective over Time Than COVID-19 Vaccine

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

According to a new study out of Israel, the immunity individuals experience after recovering from COVID-19 is better than the protection experienced by individuals following an immunization against the virus.

Scientists who looked at the country’s health database over a number of months found that COVID infections and severe illness were higher among individuals who were vaccinated than those who recovered from the illness – those with natural immunity.

Report: More Than Half of Federal School COVID Relief Funds Used for Non-Pandemic Purposes

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

This week’s Golden Horseshoe Award goes to the U.S. Department of Education for approving pandemic relief spending plans by school districts that include millions for upgrading athletic facilities, installing security cameras, purchasing floor shiners and other non-pandemic related projects.

Approximately $190 billion in pandemic funding under both the Trump and Biden administrations was allocated to schools to safely reopen and protect teachers and students.

Amazon Removes Matt Walsh’s Children’s Book ‘Johnny The Walrus’ from LGBT Book List

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Amazon removed Daily Wire host Matt Walsh’s children’s book, “Johnny the Walrus,” from its LGBTQ+ bestseller list on Friday.

Walsh’s book reached the top spot on Amazon’s LGBTQ+ bestseller list last weekend, according to the Daily Wire. However, as of Friday, the book can no longer be seen on the list at all, apparently having been removed.

“Amazon has removed my bestselling LGBT children’s book from their LGBT book list. This is an unconscionable attack on gay rights and a horrific example of homophobia and gay erasure,” Walsh posted on Twitter on Friday morning.

Federal Appeals Court Considers Dissolving Preliminary Injunction on Biden Vaccine Mandate

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 The Center Square

A federal appeals court in Ohio will consider a Biden administration court filing aimed at dissolving a nationwide injunction that derailed the administration’s COVID-19 private employer vaccination mandate.

Friday’s filing was a response to a Louisiana businessman’s motion to shoot down the government’s attempt to vacate a Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in November, when the New Orleans court halted the vaccination mandate over “grave statutory and constitutional issues.”

Democrat-Linked PR Firm Lobbies Against Bill Blacklisting Chinese Drone Manufacturer

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A public relations firm run by former Democratic operatives and tied to foreign influence campaigns is working on behalf of a Chinese drone manufacturer blacklisted for alleged human rights abuses to lobby a provision contained in Congress’ bipartisan legislative package targeting China.

DJI, a drone maker based out of Shenzhen, China, has paid CLS Strategies $190,000 in 2021 to lobby on drone legislation including the American Security Drone Act, according to lobbying disclosure forms. The act was reintroduced by Republican Sen. Rick Scott in January and prevents the federal government from procuring drones manufactured or assembled in China, with certain exceptions.

Poll: Approval for Biden’s Handling of Economy, Coronavirus Sinks Further

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Approval of President Joe Biden’s handling of the economy and coronavirus sank even further in recent days, according to a new CNBC All-America Economic survey.

Roughly 46% of respondents approved of Biden’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic while 48% disapproved, marking the first time his pandemic approval rating is underwater, according to CNBC. Biden’s economic approval also plummeted, with 37% approving and 56% disapproving.

“The Covid (approval) number is actually I think the more important one,” said Micah Roberts, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, the Republican pollster for the survey. “As goes COVID, so goes the Biden presidency, and that’s really proving to be quite true.”

Columbia Student Workers Strike for $140 Million in School Funds

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Amid ongoing calls for increased student-employee compensation, student protests at Columbia University Wednesday resulted in “physical harassment against faculty” and staff, according to an email obtained by Campus Reform.

Provost Mary C. Boyce sent the following message Thursday:

“Yesterday’s Morningside campus protest by the Student Workers of Columbia-UAW included instances of physical harassment against faculty, students, and staff. These individuals were attempting to go to work, pursue their studies, or enter or exit their dormitories, and several incurred injuries when they sought to enter campus. No matter our differences at the bargaining table, violence has no place in this process, and we denounce these actions in the strongest possible terms.”

Emails Reveal University President ‘Struggled with Supporting Free Speech’ for Christian Activist’s Appearances on Campus

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

A Christian activist’s appearances at Salem State University prompted the institution to change its free speech policies while being legally compelled to uphold the individual’s First Amendment rights.

Campus Reform has previously covered the activist, Chike Uzuegbunam during his legal fights to exercise free speech as he publicly promotes his religious views, which have come under scrutiny for their purported anti-LGBTQ messages.

In October 2020, Uzuegbunam won his Supreme Court case against his institution after Georgia Gwinnett that his speech, which included controversial flyers, “should not be constitutionally protected,” Campus Reform reported in March.

Report: Online Inflation Soars Heading into Busy Holiday Season

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Online prices soared to record highs in November, according to Adobe Analytics.

Prices online surged 3.5% on a year-over-year basis as of November, the biggest increase since 2014, when Adobe started tracking the cost of goods on the internet and the 18th consecutive year of online inflation, according to the Adobe Digital Price Index (DPI). Prices on a month-to-month basis dropped 2% due to holiday discounts, according to Adobe.

“Census Bureau data shows that the e-commerce share of non-fuel retail spending has tripled over the last decade as more expenditures like groceries and home improvement move online,” Marshall Reinsdorf, former senior economist at International Monetary Fund, said in the report.

Commentary: Jussie Smollett — Another Liar and Perjurer Made by the Media for TV Crime Entertainment

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

I guess I first knew Jussie Smollett was fated for disaster when he did the unthinkable: an American trying to perpetrate a fraud on Nigerians.

Add to that: He had the full-throated backing of Kamala Harris, our vice tweeter, and of our Tweeter-in-Chief. In Harris’s words: “@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery. This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.” Uncle Joe (or whoever tweets for him) posted this: “What happened today to @JussieSmollett must never be tolerated in this country. We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts. We are with you, Jussie.”

The Insatiable American Fascination with Crime, Crooks, Detectives, and Courtroom “Trials of the Century”

New York State Attorney General Letitia James Backs Out of Gubernatorial Race

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 The Center Square

New York State Attorney General Letitia James surprisingly announced Thursday she was suspending her campaign for the next year’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Instead, she said she will run for re-election.

“There are a number of important investigations and cases that are underway, and I intend to finish the job,” she said in a tweet posted at noon on her personal site.

‘Take Migrants at Their Word’: Republicans Criticize Process Allowing Illegal Immigrants to Get Through Airport Security Without ID

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Republican lawmakers are raising concerns over illegal migrants without identification traveling on commercial flights throughout the country, according to an email exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The email revealed that the national vetting center used by TSA processed over 42,000 non-citizens and non-U.S. nationals requesting document validation between the first of the year and mid-October.

Republican Texas Rep. Lance Gooden has been probing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as part of his office’s investigation into whistleblower documents alleging an operation to move migrants across the country without standard documentation.

Analysis: Americans Overwhelmingly Oppose Plan to Hire IRS Agents to Audit Citizens

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 The Center Square

Included in the Democrats’ Build Back Better Act currently before the U.S. Senate is a proposal to allocate $80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service to hire nearly 87,000 additional agents – a plan opposed by a majority of voters recently polled.

The BBBA proposal also comes after numerous reports show years of examples of agency problems costing taxpayer money.

According to a new HarrisX poll, 58% of likely voters said they think increased enforcement would impact middle class taxpayers the most; 23% said it would only impact the wealthy.

Virginia Beach School Board Member Manning Challenges Four Books in School Library

December 13, 2021December 12, 2021 Eric Burk

Virginia Beach School Board Member Victoria Manning has challenged four books in the district’s libraries over sexually explicit content.

“I’ve been accused of wanting to ban books, burn books, etc.,” she told The Virginia Star in an email. “However, I am NOT asking for a ban on these books. I’m simply asking for sexually explicit and pornographic materials to not be made available to minors through our schools. If adults want to purchase these books or borrow them from the library then that is their business and their right. At the very least, parents should be made aware in advance of sexually explicit material and be required to OPT-IN for their children to be able to be provided these materials.”

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