May 3, 2023 - The Virginia Star

Fed Raises Interest Rates by a Quarter Point to Fight Inflation

May 3, 2023 Just the News

The Federal Reserve Bank on Wednesday raised interest rates a quarter of a point again in an effort to cool inflation. “The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 5 to 5-1/4 percent,” the Fed said in an announcement about the rate hike. The rate was 4-3/4 to 5 percent.

FBI Has Document Alleging Pay-to-Play Scheme Involving Joe Biden, Lawmakers Allege

May 3, 2023 Just the News

House and Senate GOP investigators said Wednesday they have learned the FBI possesses a document alleging a pay-to-play bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and have subpoenaed it in an explosive new twist in their long running corruption probe of the first family. Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member and long-time whistleblower advocate Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said they learned of the document, known asa FD-1023, from a whistleblower.

U.S. History and Civics National Test Scores Plunge to Lowest Levels on Record

May 3, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

U.S. Education Department data released on Wednesday finds national eighth-grade test scores in U.S. History and civics dropped to their lowest level on record last year. Compared to 2018, average test scores on the 2022 Nation’s Report Card (National Assessment of Educational Progress – NAEP) declined in both subjects. Additionally, scores dropped for lower- and middle-performing students in civics, and across five selected percentiles, except the 90th percentile, in U.S. History.

Biden Admin to Deploy Troops to Southern Border amid Expected Migrant Surge

May 3, 2023May 2, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

The Pentagon is sending a contingent of troops to the southern border to reinforce Customs and Border Protection (CBP) missions ahead of an expected surge in migrant entrances later this month, a U.S. official confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Department of Homeland Security requested the Pentagon’s assistance as Title 42, a Trump-era authority implemented in the wake of COVID-19 is scheduled to sunset on May 11, opening the way for thousands of migrants who would formerly be subject to expulsion to seek entry into the U.S. A temporary addition of 1,500 military personnel will mostly perform administrative tasks and will not conduct any law enforcement work, leaving that to CBP, the U.S. officials told the DCNF.

Biden Admin Still Has Not Properly Vetted 88,000 Afghan Refugees, Two Years After Withdrawal

May 3, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Despite nearly two years having passed since the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden Administration still has not fully vetted the over 88,000 Afghan refugees who were brought into the country to escape the Taliban’s rule.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, four Republican members of Congress sent a letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In the letter, the four congressmen explain how DHS “encountered obstacles to screen, vet, and inspect all evacuees” during the botched withdrawal that ultimately left 13 American servicemen dead, as well as scores of Afghan civilians. The letter was signed by House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), and was co-signed by Congressmen Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), Clay Higgins (R-La.), and Austin Pfluger (R-Texas).

The Biden Admin Just Made America’s Biggest Bank Even Bigger

May 3, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Federal regulators sold recently failed regional lender First Republic Bank to JPMorgan Chase on Monday, enabling America’s largest bank to expand even more and spurring concerns about consolidation in the industry, economists told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

JPMorgan Chase agreed to take on all of First Republic’s $92 billion in deposits and is additionally purchasing the vast majority of the failed bank’s assets, including roughly $173 billion in loans and $30 billion in securities, according to a JPMorgan Chase press release. The giant had $3.7 trillion in assets and $2.4 trillion in deposits as of March 31.

Heritage Author Asserts Goal of Leftist Lawmakers’ Demand for Ethnic Studies Curricula in Government Schools Is Erasure of American Culture

May 3, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation says leftist lawmakers in Democrat-led states such as Minnesota and California are feeding into a culture of victimization and identity politics with their plans for mandatory K-12 ethnic studies curricula, the goal of which, he says, is actually to erase American culture.

In an op-ed at the Washington Examiner Tuesday, Mike Gonzalez wrote that what is most disturbing about the leftist call for mandatory K-12 ethnic studies curricula in government schools is that most of the lawmakers proposing these bills are actually “not in the least bit interested” in learning about the minutiae of the hundreds of ethnic cultures represented in the United States. Rather, “they care only about American culture — or, at least, how to erase it.”

Youngkin Passes on 2024 Presidential Bid, Focuses on Virginia Elections

May 3, 2023May 2, 2023 The Center Square

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has ended months of speculation he will make a run for the White House in 2024.

Youngkin was asked by Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker at the Milken Institute’s “Governing America” discussion if he was planning on “dusting off” his fleece jacket to hit the campaign trail this year. Youngkin didn’t mince any words with a simple, “no.”

Commentary: RFK Jr. Could Help Elect Trump in 2024

May 3, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

They are “in love with death.”

So said Bobby Kennedy before his tragic assassination in June 1968: “What my father said about businessmen applies to liberals. They’re sons of bitches … in love with death.”

Senators Tell Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Turn over All Correspondence with Hunter Biden

May 3, 2023 M.D. Kittle

Secretary of State Antony Blinken wasn’t straight with congress about his communications with President Joe Biden’s ne’er-do-well son Hunter, according to emails and a transcript of a 2022 interview first reported by The Star News Network.

Now, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI), whose committees have long investigated allegations of Biden family corruption, are demanding the Secretary of State “produce and preserve” all records related to his correspondence with Hunter Biden.

U.S. to End COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements on May 11th

May 3, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

On Monday, the Biden White House announced that it will finally put an end to national COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federal employees and federal contractors.

As reported by Fox News, May 11th is also the date that the Chinese coronavirus public health emergency will expire, and the Biden Administration has no plans to renew it. The mandate for federal employees and contractors, as well as international air travelers, is the last national vaccine mandate that remained in place after legal challenges brought down similar mandates for private businesses.

Commentary: Biden’s Election ‘Big Lie’ Is of Little Interest to Mainstream Media

May 3, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Democrats whine on and on about “The Big Lie.” In their minds, this phrase summarizes President Donald Trump’s argument that vote fraud, ballot irregularities, and ninth-inning rules changes sank his 2020 reelection bid.

However, Democrats are mum about the Big Lie that slimed Joe Biden into the White House.

GOP Takes on Biden Executive Election Takeover

May 3, 2023 Virginia Star Staff

Republicans in Congress are moving to rein in President Joe Biden’s executive order putting federal agencies in the business of getting out the vote. Their proposed legislation would defund any federally backed voter mobilization drives and prohibit the government from entering election-related agreements with private, nonprofit organizations to mobilize voters.

Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., who co-chairs the House Election Integrity Caucus, plans to introduce a bill Tuesday called the Promoting Free and Fair Elections Act.

Counseling Ban Promotes Gender Identity as Religion, Censors Science, Diverse Critics Tell SCOTUS

May 3, 2023 Just the News

First Amendment speech protections may be circumscribed for therapists and medical professionals in the American West, critics warn, unless the Supreme Court scrutinizes a Washington law prohibiting any “regime that seeks to change” a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

Christian doctors, pro-life pregnancy centers, pediatricians, gender-critical feminists and a dozen states led by Idaho filed friend-of-the-court briefs last week urging the justices to review the so-called conversion law, warning it prevents providers from sharing research on the harms of hormonal and surgical procedures for gender-confused minors.