Day: December 2, 2023

Major Automaker Says Union Deal Will Add Nearly a Thousand Dollars to Car Costs

Virginia Star Staff

Ford Motor Co. announced on Thursday that labor costs following a recent major union deal will cost the company around $900 per vehicle by 2028.

Ford, along with other major U.S. automakers General Motors and Stellantis, faced a six-week-long strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) starting in September, with all three companies recently voting to approve new contracts through 2028. The company expects the new labor agreement to cost an extra $8.8 billion over the course of the contract due to wage increases of around 25%, accelerated wage progression and cost-of-living adjustments as stipulated in the contract, according to a press release from the company.

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Judge Hands Major Defeat to Transgender Lawmaker Suing Montana over ‘Unconstitutional’ Censure

Virginia Star Staff

A Montana judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday by Democratic state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who is transgender, against the state’s House of Representatives after Zephyr was censured in April, according to court documents.

Zephyr was disciplined by House officials on April 26 for breaking legislative protocol after Zephyr held up a microphone to support protesters, several of whom were arrested at the demonstration several days prior. Zephyr filed a lawsuit against Republican state House Speaker Matt Regier and the House’s Sergeant of Arms Bradley Murfitt for allegedly violating Zephyr’s right to freedom of speech, but District Judge Mike Menahan argued that the legislature does have the right to discipline members who violate the rules, according to court documents.

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Texas AG Ken Paxton Sues Pfizer for Misrepresenting Efficacy of the COVID-19 Jabs and Conspiring to Censor Public Discourse

Virginia Star Staff
AG Ken Paxton

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that he is suing Pfizer for “unlawfully misrepresenting” Covid-19 vaccine efficacy and conspiring to censor public discourse.

“Pfizer engaged in false, deceptive, and misleading acts and practices by making unsupported claims regarding the company’s COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act,” Paxton said in a press release.

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Investors Pull Out Record Funds from China as Economy Falters

Virginia Star Staff
China Money

International investors have pulled billions out of China as the country’s economy continues to stumble and relations with the U.S. fail to ease, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Since August, international investors trading in China’s top exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen have pulled out more than $24 billion through a trading link in Hong Kong, according to the WSJ, the largest net outflow of foreign funds since the link was created in 2014. The MSCI China Index, which serves as a tool for investors to gauge expected returns in the country, has fallen 10% this year as China’s economy reports lackluster growth amid a real estate crisis and relations with the U.S. fail to significantly improve.

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Pro-Life Nonprofits Sue Washington AG for ‘Unconstitutional’ Investigation over Abortion Reversal Pill

Virginia Star Staff
AG Bob Ferguson

Two pro-life nonprofits filed a lawsuit against Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson of Washington state Wednesday for conducting what they allege is an “unconstitutional” investigation over the group’s support of the abortion reversal pill, according to court documents.

Progesterone, also known as the abortion reversal pill, is a drug that is used to reverse the effects of a chemical abortion and is considered highly controversial, according to the American Pregnancy Association. The Obria Group and Obria Medical Groups PNW, Christian pregnancy organizations, filed the lawsuit with Alliance Defending Freedom after Ferguson began an investigation into the groups’ alleged deceptive marketing of progesterone, according to court documents.

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Federal Judge Blocks Montana’s TikTok Ban

Just the News
Montana TikTok Ruling

A federal judge in Montana has blocked an upcoming state-wide ban on using the social media app TikTok, calling it unconstitutional. 

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said Thursday the ban on the app, whose ownership has ties to Communist-led China,  “oversteps state power and infringes on the Constitutional right of users and businesses.”

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Biden Admin Investigates Wisconsin School After Man Identifying as Trans Allegedly Exposed Genitalia to Four Freshmen Girls

Virginia Star Staff
Girls Sports

The Department of Education (ED) opened an investigation into a Wisconsin school Wednesday after an adult man identifying as transgender allegedly exposed himself to underaged girls, according to an ED letter.

After a swimming class in March at Sun Prairie Area High School (SPASD), four freshmen girls were exposed to the genitalia of an 18-year-old male student claiming to be transgender who allegedly undressed in front of them, and despite SPASD being informed of the incident, nothing was done. Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) demanded that the ED Office of Civil Rights (OCR) investigate SPASD after allegedly failing to address the incident.

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Report: Virginia Criminal Case Workload Nearly Doubled, Multiple Factors Blamed

The Center Square
Lawyers Working

A recent report revealed that Virginia’s criminal defense court-appointed and public defense attorneys are underfunded and that most cases are now taking twice as long to defend — leading to an even greater disparity between pay and hours worked.

The report, assembled by the commission that reviews the operation of the commonwealth’s policies and state agencies, attributed increased workload per case to changes in technology, mental health and a slew of policies ushered in by the previous governor’s administration.

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Commentary: The Biden Family Grift and Hunter’s Fake Offer to Testify

RealClearWire

Hunter Biden’s offer to testify before the House Oversight Committee is a clever evasion, nothing more. The president’s son says he will testify only if the hearing is publicly televised. Nice try. Subpoenaed witnesses don’t get to set the terms. The committee does.

Why make an offer that is bound to be rejected? For two reasons. The PR goal is for Hunter to appear willing to testify, when he actually wants desperately to avoid it. The legal goal is to prevent, or at least delay, the committee from enforcing its subpoena. Hunter and his hardball attorney, Abbe Lowell, probably figure the Biden administration’s Department of Justice won’t go to court and demand compliance. That’s not a bad bet. If the DOJ does refuse, the House will go to court itself, but that will take time and may not succeed.

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Commentary: Forget the Media Doomsaying — the GOP Will Be Ok

Virginia Star Staff
Congress Building

If you follow politics and didn’t know that voters in Charleston, South Carolina, elected the city’s first Republican mayor in almost a century and a half, you can be forgiven. A lot of people missed it because, while it was covered, the legacy media failed, unsurprisingly, to recognize it for the landmark it is.

The scant attention paid to the outcome of that race compared to, say, the GOP’s failure to take over the Virginia Legislature is a discordant note that throws off an otherwise harmonious national narrative that has the Republican Party hopelessly divided and unable to win elections now that Bidenomics is working.

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House Passes Bill to Permanently Freeze $6 Billion in Iranian Funds from Hostage Deal

Just the News
Iran Money

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to permanently freeze $6 billion in Iranian funds that the Biden administration had agreed to release as part of a hostage exchange with Tehran earlier this year.

The measure passed in a 307-119 vote, with almost all Republicans supporting it, The Hill reported. Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie was the sole GOP dissident and sided with 118 Democrats.

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