Day: November 16, 2022

Adjusted for Tax Relief, Virginia Revenue Up 8.3 Percent Year-to-Date

Eric Burk

Virginia’s tax revenues four months into Fiscal Year 2023 are down 3.1 percent compared to Fiscal Year 2022, although when adjusted for timing and $250 tax rebates sent to Virginians, revenues are up 8.3 percent compared to the previous year, according to a presentation Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings prepared to share with legislators.

Adjusted for $88 million paid out in October as part of the rebates, Virginia’s October revenues hit a 10.3 percent year-over-year increase, ahead of forecasts.

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Pro-Life Leader Offers Encouragement for Movement After Abortion-Related State Referendum Defeats

Zachery Schmidt

Americans in five separate states last week voted in favor of the pro-choice movement when it came to abortion-related state referendums.

According to Priests for Life National Director Frank Pavone, it was not “too surprising” that the pro-life movement did not do well with the statewide ballot referendums.

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Commentary: Feds Had Informants in Proud Boys and Oath Keepers for January 6

Virginia Star Staff

If Republicans eke out a win in the House of Representatives—which now seems likely—GOP leaders have promised to investigate numerous government scandals, including the irredeemably corrupt Federal Bureau of Investigation. One path of inquiry is how the bureau manufactures data to promote the phony narrative that “domestic violent extremists,” i.e., supporters of Donald Trump, pose a security threat to the country.

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Rick Scott Announces Challenge to Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP Leader

Virginia Star Staff

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida will challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his role in the upcoming leadership election, per a letter he wrote on Tuesday.

Scott’s office circulated a letter among GOP senators and senators-elect announcing his intention to run in the election, which will be held on Wednesday in the Old Senate Chamber, per Fox News. Though the contents of the letter have not yet been released, McKinley Davis, Scott’s spokesperson, later confirmed the plan to Axios.

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Texas Governor Declares Invasion at Border, Invokes Constitutional Powers in Historic Action

Just the News

Frustrated by an unending crisis fueled by drug and human trafficking at the southern border, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday declared his state was under an invasion and invoked special powers granted under the U.S. and Texas constitutions.

Abbott’s decision came after three dozen counties in his state passed resolutions calling for the dramatic action. The Republican governor said the declaration allows him to send National Guard troops to the border, treat drug cartels as terrorist organization and to build his own border wall separate of the federal government.

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U.S. District Judge Rules Title 42 Rule Used to Expel Migrants Is Unlawful

Just the News

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan on Tuesday ruled that the Trump-era Title 42 immigration rule was “arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”

Sullivan’s 49-page opinion said the rule, which has been used to deport migrants at least 2 million times under the auspices of COVID-19-related health concerns.

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Navy Veteran Founds Classical Catholic School to Counter Woke Education

Susan Berry, PhD

A Navy veteran who rejects the secularist and woke education agendas prevalent in public schools and some parochial schools launched a classical Catholic school in Maryland.

“We’re a military family,” Lt. Commander Ali Ghaffari, founder of Divine Mercy Academy in Pasadena, Maryland, explained to Fox & Friends Weekend Sunday. “We’ve traveled around the country seeing lots of schools, and we settled at the Naval Academy, that was my last tour.

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New Fiscal Year Starts with Record Number of Migrant Encounters at Southern Border

Virginia Star Staff

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered more than 230,000 migrants at the southern border in October, beginning fiscal year 2023 with a record surge, according to agency statistics released late Monday night.

Federal border authorities encountered 230,678 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in October, a 1.3% increase from the previous month, according to CBP. There was also a record number of migrants crossing the border in fiscal year 2022, with roughly 2.3 million migrants encounter

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FBI Had Up to Eight Informants in Proud Boys on January 6, Court Docs Show

Virginia Star Staff

The FBI had up to eight informants within the Proud Boys in the months surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, recent court filings suggest, according to The New York Times.

Defense attorneys for former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four members of the group, who are scheduled to stand trial in December for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to Jan. 6, filed court documents in the past several days revealing the informants’ presence in the Proud Boys’ ranks, the outlet reported. The defense contended that the prosecution had, until recently, improperly withheld some information the government received from the informants that was favorable to the accused.

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Commentary: Issues with 401(k)s

Virginia Star Staff

Fretting over your 401(k) lately? For all the current turbulence in these retirement plans – from their rocky recent market performance to asset managers’ politicization of their investments through the “environment, social and governance” agenda – the main problem lies in their flawed design decades ago, a range of retirement experts say.  

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American Electric Vehicle Manufacturers Are Making Their Cars Weaker So More People Will Buy Them

Virginia Star Staff

In a bid to make electric vehicle (EV) prices more affordable, carmakers are switching to iron-based batteries that are weaker and more reliant on Chinese supply chains, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Transitioning to lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cells ultimately reduces the effective range of electric vehicles compared to more advanced cobalt and nickel-based cells, according to the WSJ. LFP cells, which are roughly 30% cheaper than their more effective counterparts, are more reliant on Chinese supplies, limiting carmakers’ ability to access tax breaks and other subsidies offered under the Inflation Reduction Act.

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Americans Can Expect Record-Setting Gas Prices over Thanksgiving

Virginia Star Staff

The average national gasoline price during Thanksgiving will be at its highest level since 2012, according to estimates from the fuel-saving app GasBuddy.

Thanksgiving gas prices on average will hit $3.68 per gallon, almost 30 cents higher than they were during 2021 and more than 20 cents higher than the previous record of $3.44 a gallon set in 2012, according to a GasBuddy news release. Gas prices have reached record highs in 2022 due to increased post-pandemic demand, fuel-refining constraints and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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WhistlePig and Brothers Osborne Release Limited Edition Whiskey

Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – WhistlePig Whiskey and Grammy Award-winning country music duo and reigning CMA Duo of the Year Brothers Osborne are celebrating 100 for all, all for 100 this holiday season with the launch of their new whiskey collaboration. The WhistlePig PiggyBack Legends Series: Brothers Osborne Barrel is a single barrel, limited-edition 100% Rye Whiskey, created for and selected by John and TJ Osborne, to celebrate those who give 100% in the name of greatness.

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