Biden Administration Archives - Page 15 of 23

Poll: Majority of Americans Think COVID-19 Threat is Getting Less Serious

October 25, 2021 The Center Square

The majority of Americans believe the threat of the coronavirus is getting less serious, and a plurality believe President Joe Biden and government health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci don’t want lockdowns to end, according to a new poll conducted by the Convention of States Action in partnership with The Trafalgar Group.

“Despite the fact that Big Media and Big Tech are working tirelessly to suppress the truth, this poll reveals that most Americans aren’t fooled in the least,” Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States Action, said. “They clearly see that the pandemic is on a downward trend, and they also understand that President Biden and Dr. Fauci have no intention of easing restrictions and mandates,””

According to the poll, 63.1% of likely voters believe the threat of the coronavirus is getting less serious, with 25.9% saying it’s much less serious, compared to 26.1% who say it’s getting more serious. Nearly 11% said they weren’t sure.

Cargo Companies Warn That Vaccine Mandates Could Worsen Supply Chain Crisis

October 24, 2021October 23, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Several cargo boxes on a ship in the ocean

A trade association representing all of the major cargo companies in the United States is warning that if Joe Biden actively purses more vaccine mandates, it could further disrupt an already-weakened supply chain, according to Politico.

Stephen Alterman, president of the Cargo Airline Association (CAA) sent a letter to the Biden Administration expressing concern over an upcoming December 8th deadline.

“We have significant concerns with the employer mandates announced on September 9th, 2021,” Alterman said, “and the ability of industry members to implement the required employee vaccinations by December 8th, 2021.”

Biden Ditches Alaska Oil Drilling Project That Would’ve Created Thousands of Jobs

October 22, 2021October 21, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration abandoned an oil and gas drilling project in Alaska approved by former President Donald Trump, which it had previously defended.

The Department of the Interior failed to file an appeal to a federal judge’s August decision blocking the multi-billion dollar Willow Project being developed by the Texas-based oil and gas firm ConocoPhillips. Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court of the District of Alaska ruled that the federal government hadn’t adequately reviewed the emissions profile of the project, which she said would ultimately harm the environment and wildlife.

Report: Biden Admin Is Flying Migrant Minors to New York State

October 20, 2021October 19, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration is reportedly flying migrant minors to New York state from Texas, the New York Post reported on Tuesday.

The flights reportedly started in August, unnamed sources told the Post. Two planes carrying migrants who appeared to be kids, teenagers and a few men in their 20s landed at the Westchester County Airport late Wednesday and Friday evening.

State Department Launching Investigations into Afghanistan Withdrawal

October 20, 2021October 19, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The State Department’s inspector general will investigate the Biden administration’s diplomatic operations in Afghanistan, a spokesperson confirmed with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The series of investigations will tackle a range of issues, from the State Department’s Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, to the processing of Afghans who applied for refugee admission into the U.S, to the resettlement of those refugees and visa recipients, according to an Oct. 15 action memorandum to Secretary of State Antony Blinken first obtained by Politico.

Biden Revises IRS Monitoring Plan, Banks Still Opposed

October 20, 2021October 19, 2021 The Center Square

The Biden administration is making changes to its plan to require banks to report to the IRS on all accounts with at least $600, but banks say those changes are not enough.

Biden has pitched increasing federal tax revenue through more auditing and a stricter IRS as a way to help fund his proposed trillions in federal spending. His initial plan to require reporting of all $600 accounts sparked major controversy.

Biden Admin Now Says It Will Get Around to Flying Americans out of Afghanistan by the End of the Year

October 18, 2021October 17, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

State Department evacuation flights out of Afghanistan will resume by the end of the year, a senior State Department official told The Wall Street Journal.

The operation to retrieve U.S. citizens and Afghan allies left behind will require coordination with the Taliban and other governments, the official told The Wall Street Journal. Kabul’s international airport remains closed to regular passenger travel since the U.S. ended its first evacuation attempt on Aug. 31.

U.S. citizens, U.S. legal permanent residents and immediate family members will receive priority treatment in securing seats on evacuation flights, the official said. The State Department is hoping to eventually have several aircraft leave the country each week.

Retail Sales Beat Expectations Amid Surging Inflation

October 18, 2021October 17, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

U.S. retail sales increased in September, beating expectations amid growing inflation and supply chain disruptions, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday.

Retail sales increased 0.7% in September, beating experts’ estimates of 0.2%, according to the Census Bureau report. The number rose 0.8%, excluding auto sales, beating the 0.5% forecast.

Sales were up 13.9% compared to September 2020, and they increased 15.6% compared to September 2020, excluding auto sales, according to the Census Bureau.

Commentary: Solving the Supply Chain Problem Requires Less Government, Not More

October 18, 2021October 18, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

During the latter part of the 20th Century, Americans became accustomed to hearing stories of shortages of basic items in the Soviet Union. The metaphor of “waiting in line for bread” came to signify anything where a state-managed effort led to the inefficient and ineffective distribution of consumer goods and services. The state-generated supply chain problems were the butt of jokes for comedians everywhere.

Well, “bread lines” have now officially arrived in America and nobody is laughing. The middle class and the poor have especially lost their sense of humor over the supply chain disruptions that have led to shortages and higher prices being found everywhere from the grocery store shelves to the provision of medical supplies. Nothing is funny about shelves, wallets, and medicine cabinets all emptying out simultaneously.

Biden Announces COVID Vaccine Rollout for Children as Young as Five

October 17, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Joe Biden delivered a short speech from the administration’s fake White House set, Thursday, urging all Americans, including children as young as five, to get vaccinated. Biden claimed that the administration’s draconian vaccine mandates are working, and boasted that the seasonal decline in COVID cases is due to his policies.

Biden stressed that there is still more work to do to get the remaining 66 million American holdouts injected with the experimental jabs.

Biden’s Pick for Top Banking Regulator Refuses to Hand over Thesis on Marxism

October 17, 2021October 16, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Saule Omarova, President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), is refusing to hand over to the Senate Banking Committee her university thesis on Marxism written during her time in the Soviet Union.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, ranking member of the committee, had sent a letter to Omarova on Oct. 6 asking the Cornell Law School professor to hand over her Moscow State University thesis, titled “Karl Marx’s Economic Analysis and the Theory of Revolution in The Capital,” by Oct. 13, citing the committee’s need to “fully assess the fitness of individuals to serve in Senate-confirmed executive and independent agency positions.”

‘Higher Bills for American Families’: House Republicans Demand Answers from Biden Administration on Energy Crisis

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee urged the Biden administration to lay out its plans for tackling the looming energy crisis.

The representatives noted that the federal government was responsible for protecting U.S. energy security and ensuring Americans have access to affordable energy, in a letter Thursday addressed to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. They added that energy prices are directly tied to particular sectors of the economy and could further push inflation higher.

Biden Admin Will Reinstate Trump’s Remain in Mexico Policy in November

October 16, 2021October 15, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration is planning to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy in November, CBS News reported on Friday.

A federal judge ordered the Biden administration to reinstate the policy in August after requests by the Texas and Missouri attorneys general, according to CBS News. The Biden administration criticized the “Remain in Mexico” policy that left 70,000 migrants who weren’t from Mexico to wait in Mexican border towns until their U.S. asylum hearings.

Biden Administration Plans to Build Wind Farms to Power 10 Million Homes

October 15, 2021October 14, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Biden administration laid out an ambitious plan Wednesday for government-funded wind farms along the east coast, which it said would sustain millions of Americans’ energy needs.

Multiple federal agencies are planning to collaborate on the project, which will be completed by 2030, Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland said during a renewable energy conference in Boston on Wednesday. Overall, at least 30 gigawatts will be produced by offshore wind farms by decade’s end.

Over $100 Million Worth of Border Wall Equipment Wasted, Sitting Unused in Texas

October 14, 2021October 13, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Ever since the Biden Administration halted all construction of the border wall, over $100 million worth of construction equipment intended to be used in finishing the wall has been sitting unused along the border in Texas, as reported by the New York Post.

After Biden ordered a halt to all construction and illegally cancelled numerous construction contracts with various companies, the material has been slowly rusting along the border, often right next to portions of the wall that were already completed.

Far-Left Activists Plan to Further Harass Kyrsten Sinema at Boston Marathon

October 13, 2021 Admin

Radical far-left activists publicly announced their plans to continue harassing Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) over her opposition to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, this time with plans to follow her around at the Boston Marathon, Fox News reports.

The Green New Deal Network, an alliance of 15 far-left groups, issued a press release declaring their intent to follow and harass Sinema at the annual event on Monday, in an act known in politics as “bird-dogging.” The pressure from radical activists stems from Sinema’s refusal to support the “Build Back Better Bill,” an effort to shove through many far-left agenda items through the legislative process known as reconciliation; reconciliation, which is often reserved exclusively for budgetary matters, cannot be filibustered and thus only requires a narrow majority of 51 votes in order to pass.

Sinema, along with Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), has repeatedly refused to support a bill that costs as much as $3.5 trillion, instead advocating for a reduction in the overall cost.

Gov. Abbott Bans All COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates in Texas

October 13, 2021 Admin

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order late Monday prohibiting all COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the state of Texas.

“The COVID-19 vaccine is safe, effective, and our best defense against the virus, but should always remain voluntary and never forced,” Abbott said in a tweet announcing the executive order.

Commentary: A.G. Garland’s Use of Police Power Against Parents Could Be His Undoing

October 12, 2021October 11, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Destruction of the family has always been at the center of the collectivist project. In chapter two of The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels point out that the destruction of private property will never be complete until the “abolition [Aufhebung] of the family” is accomplished. The dream is perennial among snarling misanthropists. A couple of years ago, an interview in The Nation with a radical feminist explained that if you “want to dismantle capitalism” then you have to “abolish the family.”

It is worth keeping that in mind as the little drama of Merrick Garland versus the parents of America unfolds. I wrote about the attorney general’s absurd but troubling memorandum shortly after it was released on October 4. As all the world knows (but only some precincts of the world admit), Garland threatened to mobilize the entire police power of the state against parents. Why?

Commentary: The Insufferable Piety of the Progressive Elites

October 12, 2021October 11, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Freedom in Australia is now at the mercy of a state and its police apparatus bent on controlling people’s every movement.

But despite the extensive footage of protests gone violent, neither American liberal media nor domestic social justice movements are raising alarms about police brutality in that country.

Merrick Garland Cites Unexplained Threats of Violence to Involve Authorities in Culture War Issues

October 11, 2021October 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Merrick Garland, once hailed as a “moderate” choice for President Joe Biden’s attorney general, has now twice referenced unexplained threats of violence in directing authorities to investigate hot button culture issues.

The attorney general directed the FBI on Oct. 4 to target parents who allegedly threaten violence against public school officials. He also ordered authorities in September to enforce the FACE Act in response to any violence from pro-life activists.

But the Department of Justice has not explained or offered examples of the violence it is referring to in either of these instances. The DOJ did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s many requests for comment on this point.

Man Accused in Sicknick Case: ‘We’ve All Been Destroyed’

October 11, 2021October 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

George Tanios’ fiancée encouraged him to go to Washington on January 6 to hear President Trump’s speech. “You’re gonna regret it if you don’t go,” she said, hoping he could take a break from working 100-hours-a-week to run his popular sandwich shop in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Tanios and I both laughed after he told me that during a two-hour interview this week. (I was in contact with his fiancée, Amanda, as she cared for their three young children while he was incarcerated for five months.)

But there is nothing funny about how Joe Biden’s Justice Department is trying to ruin Tanios’ life to maintain the myth that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died at the hands of Trump supporters on January 6.

Tens of Thousands of Afghan Refugees Set to Be Released in the U.S. Without Set Immigration Status

October 11, 2021October 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees could be released into the U.S. without a decision about their immigration status, CBS News reported on Thursday.

The refugees came to the U.S. on humanitarian parole instead of with visas, and many of them don’t have a way to obtain lawful permanent residence, according to CBS News. Since August, over 55,000 Afghan refugees were evacuated to the U.S., and around 40% of them qualify for special immigrant visas, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

“We evacuated them here. We did that. It’s not very equitable to force people to stay in this limbo state,” Church World Service Policy Director Meredith Owen said, CBS News reported. Church World Service is one of the organizations working with Afghan refugees in the U.S. resettlement programs.

Biden Continues Vaccine Push Even as Data Shows More Americans Have Died with COVID So Far in 2021 Than Died in 2020

October 10, 2021 Admin

The Biden regime continues to use coercive tactics to get “the vast majority” of Americans vaccinated, even though the data suggests that the vaccines have done more harm than good.

More Americans have died with COVID-19 under Joe Biden’s watch than during the first year of the pandemic under President Donald Trump, data from John Hopkins University show.

Commentary: January 6th Defendants and the Court of Public Opinion

October 9, 2021October 8, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Afghan Father Who Helped U.S. Forces Sues Feds for Not Saving His Sons Stranded In Afghanistan

October 9, 2021October 8, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

An Afghan father and ally to American military operations in the country sued the U.S. in an effort to reunite with his two sons who are in hiding in Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Mohammad decided to request asylum in the U.S. after the Taliban sent a death threat to his home in Afghanistan where his wife and two sons were in 2019, according to the AP. He petitioned for visas for his wife and children before she died of a heart attack in 2020, forcing his sons to go into hiding with their grandmother and uncle.

Commentary: Biden’s Attack on Public School Parents Cannot Stand

October 7, 2021 Admin

President Joe Biden’s Attorney General, Merrick Garland’s memo directing the FBI to investigate parents who speak out at school board meetings has shocked the nation.

The Biden administration has gone into full attack mode against the First Amendment right to petition the government as Attorney General Merrick Garland has declared that parents opposing Critical Race Theory before their local school boards should be treated as terrorists under the Patriot Act.

GOP Governors Ignored by Biden Offer Solutions to Border Crisis Anyway

October 7, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

After a group of 26 Republican governors, spearheaded by Gov. Doug Ducey (R), sent a letter to the Biden Administration requesting to meet and discuss the ongoing crisis at the border, the group is pushing forward with solutions.

That letter, sent in late September, was ignored by the White House.

Oil Prices Hit a Seven-Year High as Industry Feud with Biden Administration Continues

October 7, 2021 The Center Square

Oil prices hit a 7-year high this week as American oil and gas companies continue to fight the Biden administration over policies restricting production.

As the economy began to reopen this year and the demand for fuel increased, President Joe Biden, through executive order, halted and restricted oil and gas leases on federal lands, stopped construction of the Keystone Pipeline, and redirected U.S. policy to import more oil from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia (OPEC+) instead of bolstering American oil and gas exploration and production.

Newt Gingrich Commentary: Bold Big Government Socialism vs. Timid Big Government Socialism

October 6, 2021October 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

President Joe Biden and Personal Aide Stephen Goepfert walk through the Colonnade, Friday, August 6, 2021, on the way to the Oval Office of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

The power struggle we are watching in the Democratic Party over President Joe Biden’s spending (and taxing) bill is not between moderates and Big Government Socialists. It’s between timid Big Government Socialists and bolder ones.

There are no moderates left in the Democratic Party. In August, every single Democrat in the House and Senate voted to move forward with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ $3.5 trillion spending bill – which is really $5.5 trillion when scored honestly. And every one of them voted for the $3 trillion tax increase to help pay for it – every one of them.

After trillions of dollars in supposed emergency spending over the last two years, the current argument is not over whether we will spend $3.5 trillion or spend nothing. The fight is between $3.5 trillion and $1.2 trillion. The final bill, which could get the so-called moderates’ votes, will likely be $2 trillion.

‘We Will Use the Full Range of Tools’: Trade Representative Says U.S. Will Enforce Phase One Trade Deal with China

October 5, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, sign the U.S. China Phase One Trade Agreement Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the Biden administration would enforce the Phase One trade agreement negotiated by the Trump administration with China while giving a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Monday.

“For too long, China’s lack of adherence to global trading norms has undercut the prosperity of Americans and others around the world,” Tai said in prepared remarks. “China made commitments that benefit certain American industries, including agriculture, that we must enforce.”

China has fallen short on the purchase totals it agreed to as part of the agreement, increasing its purchases by only 69% as of July 2021, according to the non-partisan Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).

Swift Backlash for Fauci after He Suggests ‘Too Soon’ to Say Americans Can Gather for Christmas

October 4, 2021October 4, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Dr. Anthony Fauci came under fire this weekend for suggesting that he may ultimately advise against group gatherings for Christmas this year.

Fauci said Sunday on CBS’s “Face The Nation” that it remains “too soon to tell” whether Americans for a second year in a rowwill be told not to gather in groups around the holidays.

“We have to concentrate on continuing to get those numbers down and not try to jump ahead by weeks or months and say what we’re going to do at a particular time,” he said.

Backlash against the White House’s chief medical adviser was swift as many right-leaning commentators and pundits said that enough will never be enough for Fauci when it comes to lockdowns and extreme precautions against COVID-19.

Panama Official Says Biden Administration Was Warned About Mass Migration from Haiti, 60k More Coming

October 4, 2021October 3, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Erika Mouynes, Panama’s foreign minister, says the Biden administration was warned in advance about thousands of Haitians heading to the U.S.

About 15,000 migrants recently arrived in Del Rio, Texas. According to the Department of Homeland Security, some were deported but the majority were released into U.S. communities while they await their asylum claim to be adjudicated.

According to Axios, Mouynes said an estimated 60,000 more migrants are making their way to the U.S. Many of the Haitian migrants travel through Panama to get there.

Senate Confirms Alleged Eco-Terrorist Collaborator to Lead Bureau of Land Management

October 3, 2021October 2, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Senate vote 50-45 on a party-line vote Thursday to confirm President Joe Biden’s Bureau of Land Management nominee amid strong opposition from Republicans and former Obama administration officials over the nominee’s involvement in a 1989 eco-terrorism incident.

The nominee, Tracy Stone-Manning, failed to win a single Republican vote amid accusations she lied to the Senate Energy Committee over her involvement in the 1989 Clearwater National Forest tree-spiking case. All 48 Senate Democrats and the two independent senators who caucus with the party voted in favor of Stone-Manning’s nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which oversees 245 million acres of public lands.

Commentary: Joe Biden’s Energy Policies Hurt My Family

October 3, 2021October 2, 2021 RealClearWire

I started pipelining in 2008 during one of the worst economic recessions our country has ever witnessed. I’ve seen disaster after disaster, both natural and policy-related, devastate our oil and gas supply over the past 13 years of my pipelining career. Yet through all of this, I have never been more concerned for our nation and its energy security than I am right now, watching the Biden administration minimize the progress we have made over the past decade.

I began my career as a welder’s helper before realizing that I had all of the necessary skills to be a pipeline welder myself. I’ve become passionate about doing my part to bring reliable, affordable, safe energy to the American people. Being married to someone in the pipeline industry as well, we’ve seen the industry change over the years— sometimes for the better and lately, for the worst.

Republicans Demand Release of Marine Lt. Col. Jailed for Criticizing Afghanistan Withdrawal

October 2, 2021October 1, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Republican lawmakers in both houses of Congress are demanding that the United States Marine Corps release a Lieutenant Colonel who was jailed earlier this week for criticizing military leadership after the failed Afghanistan withdrawal, Breitbart reports.

A Marine spokesperson confirmed that Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller is currently in pre-trial confinement in the Regional Brig of Marine Corps Installations East, in Camp Lejeune, as he awaits an Article 32 hearing. Although he has not yet been formally charged, Scheller faces the possibility of being charged under a handful of articles, including “contempt toward officials” (Article 88), “willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer” (Article 90), “failure to obey lawful general orders” (Article 92), and “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman” (Article 133).

Scheller first made his criticisms in a viral video he posted to Facebook on August 26th, the same day that a suicide attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in the capital city of Kabul claimed the lives of 13 American servicemembers, as well as hundreds of Afghan civilians. Scheller demanded accountability from military leadership for a withdrawal that has been universally viewed, both domestically and internationally, as a disaster.

Border Patrol Agents Could Be Fired If They Don’t Get Vaccinated for COVID-19

October 2, 2021October 1, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Border Patrol agents could be fired if they’re not vaccinated for COVID-19 by the end of November, two active agents and a union official told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Thursday.

Border officials have until Nov. 22 to get vaccinated or face three levels of discipline including “verbal counseling, one – 14 days without pay and removal from service,” a senior Border Patrol agent told the DCNF. The agent spoke on the condition of anonymity since they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter.

“So it’s official now. They are implementing disciplinary action for the unvaccinated,” the agent told the DCNF.

Commentary: Democrats Repeat the Mistakes of 2016

September 29, 2021September 28, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

As we get to the midpoint between the last presidential election and next year’s midterms, all political sides are expending extraordinary effort to ignore the 900-pound gorilla in the formerly smoke-filled room of American politics. This, of course, is Donald Trump.

The Democrats are still outwardly pretending Trump has gone and that his support has evaporated. They also pretend they can hobble him with vexatious litigation and, if necessary, destroy him again by raising the Trump-hate media smear campaign back to ear-splitting levels.

Gov. Abbott Says Texas Will Hire Border Patrol Agents If Biden Administration Fires Any

September 29, 2021September 28, 2021 The Center Square

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would hire any Border Patrol agent fired by the Biden administration after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said agents would no longer be permitted to use horses to guard the border in Del Rio, Texas.

Criticism of mounted agents was widespread after a photograph showing agents using horse reins was misconstrued by members of the media and some politicians suggesting the agent was using the reins as a “whip.”

Botched Drone Strikes Will Continue Without a Ground Presence In Afghanistan, Former Defense Official Says

September 27, 2021September 26, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Mistakes like the ones that led to the deaths of 10 civilians by a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan will continue without a ground presence, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“Now that we don’t have an on-the-ground presence, it’s going to be harder to target people and know they’re the right people,” Mick Mulroy, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for the Middle East and veteran of Afghanistan, told the DCNF.

Mulroy said the diminished U.S. human intelligence network in the country would severely impact the ability of the military to monitor terrorism. “We had an intelligence service. We had bases all over the country. We had the ability to move about, to meet with people. Now, we don’t have any of that,” he said.

Businesses Push Back Against Biden Plan to Track All Bank Transactions over $600 Through the IRS

September 27, 2021September 26, 2021 The Center Square

A major component of President Joe Biden’s plan to raise revenue to pay for his trillions of dollars in new federal spending is now under fire from trade associations across the country.

The Biden administration has made clear its plan to beef up IRS auditing by expanding the agency’s funding and power. Biden’s latest proposal would require banks to turn over to the Internal Revenue Service bank account information for all accounts holding more than $600.

In a sharp pushback against the proposal, more than 40 trade associations, some of which represent entire industries or economic sectors, signed a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., raising the alarm about the plan.

Newt Gingrich Commentary: Biden’s Border Disaster

September 26, 2021September 25, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

As President Joe Biden vacationed at Rehoboth Beach, the disaster at the U.S. southern border continued to metastasize.

Anyone who has seen pictures of thousands of people crossing the Rio Grande en masse knows the administration has achieved complete failure.

Anyone who has seen the overhead drone footage of more than 12,000 people gathered under one bridge in South Texas knows that massive, historic incompetence is being allowed to flourish.

Border Patrol Requested Additional Aid in Del Rio Months Before Thousands of Migrants Arrived

September 25, 2021September 24, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks with Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol Raul Ortiz as he tours the Del Rio Port of Entry in Del Rio, Texas, September 20, 2021.

Border Patrol agents requested additional federal aid in Del Rio, Texas, months before thousands of migrants set up a temporary camp under an international bridge and overwhelmed immigration officials, CNN Politics reported Thursday.

Border officials reported an increase in migrants crossing the Rio Grande River earlier in the summer but didn’t know more than 14,000 migrants would end up setting up camp under the bridge, according to CNN Politics. On June 1, the union representing Del Rio Border Patrol agents asked for additional technology resources to help agents quickly process large groups of migrants in the field before sending them to a station.

“This way, we can at least get part of the process finished before they even get to the station instead of wasting that time,” said Jon Afinsen, president of the National Border Patrol Council in Del Rio, in an email exchange with regional Border Patrol management, CNN Politics reported.

DHS Sec. Says Biden’s Plan Is ‘Working,’ and Has Led to ‘a Drop in the Number of Encounters at the U.S. Border’

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021 Admin

During a Senate hearing Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas claimed the Biden Administration’s border policies are “working,” and have led to a drop of encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mayorkas was responding to Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who was grilling the DHS chief about the ongoing surge of illegal immigrants at the border during a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on “Threats to the Homeland.”

Texas Sues Biden Administration over ‘Transgender’ Pronoun, Restroom Mandates

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021 Admin

The state of Texas filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Biden Administration, over a mandate enacted in June dictating that “transgender” individuals must be referred to by their preferred pronouns and be allowed to use restrooms of their choice, Fox News reports.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in a statement on the lawsuit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), said that “states should be able to choose protection of privacy for their employers over subjective views of gender.” Paxton declared that “this illegal guidance puts many women and children at risk. If the Biden administration thinks they can force states to comply with their political agenda, my office will fight against their radical attempt at social change.”

White House Ignores Governors’ Request for Meeting with Biden on Border Crisis

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021 Peter D'Abrosca

After Gov. Doug Ducey (R), along with 25 other governors, sent a letter to the Biden Administration urgently requesting a meeting with President Joe Biden regarding the border crisis, the White House appears to be ignoring the governors’ plea.

“As chief executives of our states, we request a meeting with you at The White House to bring an end to the national security crisis created by eight months of unenforced borders,” that letter said. “The months-long surge in illegal crossings has instigated an international humanitarian crisis, spurred a spike in international criminal activity, and opened the floodgates to human traffickers and drug smugglers endangering public health and safety in our states. A crisis that began at our southern border now extends beyond to every state and requires immediate action before the situation worsens.”

Commentary: The Bidenization of America

September 22, 2021September 21, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Day by day, as the Biden Administration crashes into utter shambles and a cloud of dust reminiscent of 9/11, the Bidenization of America becomes more stark and horrifying.

I can remember no more pitiful words from a senior American government official in 65 years than Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s complaint that the Taliban government in Kabul was disappointing in its lack of “inclusiveness.” (To be sure, that is not all it lacks, and that could hardly have been a surprise.)

Nor can I think of any diplomatic initiative by a senior American government official more certainly doomed to ludicrous failure than environment ambassador John Kerry’s recent trip to China requesting the collaboration of the People’s Republic in this administration’s hell-bent-for-leather assault on what it is trying to identify as climate change.

Biden Administration Will Raise the Yearly Cap on Refugee Admissions to 125,000 Beginning in October

September 21, 2021September 21, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

President Joe Biden is planning to increase the number of refugees allowed to enter the U.S. to 125,000 during the new fiscal year, which will begin October 1.

The move, which was announced by the State Department Monday, fulfills a Biden campaign promise. Though, the action will likely not impact two groups of people in the news of late – the thousands of Afghans who fled Kabul last month as U.S. forces were hastily withdrawn, and the more than 15,000 Haitians who are camped under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, along the southern border having fled political and economic turmoil in their home country. The two groups are not classed by the department as refugees.

At Least 18 Republican Governors Support Biden’s Afghan Refugee Resettlement Plan

September 21, 2021September 20, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

After the Biden Administration announced its intentions to resettle at least 95,000 Afghan refugees in the United States, over a dozen Republican governors have voiced their support for his plan, as reported by Breitbart.

Last week, the White House declared that at least 36,000 Afghans will be resettled in the United States across 46 different states. The only four states that will not be receiving any refugees are Hawaii, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming, as well as Washington, D.C.

In August, only about 10 Republican governors supported the proposed resettlement, including well-known “moderate” Republicans such as Larry Hogan in Maryland, Charlie Baker in Massachusetts, Brian Kemp in Georgia, Doug Ducey in Arizona, and Phil Scott in Vermont. But since then, eight more Republicans have joined in their support for the plan. In total, the 18 states with Republican governors that now support refugee resettlement are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont.

Arizona Attorney General Condemns Biden Administration’s Warning Label on Constitution, Declaration

September 20, 2021September 19, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich condemned the National Archives Records Association’s (NARA) decision to label documents with a “harmful language” alert.

Brnovich demanded that NARA immediately remove the warning labels from documents including the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, in a Sept. 10 letter to the agency first obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The warning labels only serve to further divide Americans, the attorney general said.

“This is shameful action from the National Archives, and the misguided ‘alerts’ should be taken down immediately,” Brnovich wrote to U.S. Archivist David Ferriero. “There is nothing ‘harmful’ about our founding documents. These inspired writings governed the formation of our new country in the late 18th Century and provided the roadmap for it to grow into the greatest nation in history.”

FDA Says It Does Not Buy Fetal Tissue – Any More

September 20, 2021September 19, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The Food and Drug Administration assured the Daily Caller News Foundation Friday that it has not entered into any contracts “for the purchase of human fetal tissue” since 2018.

The agency’s response follows the release of documentation obtained by Judicial Watch showing that the FDA procured fetal organs, tissue, and heads for research that involved “humanized mice.” Previous documents uncovered by Judicial Watch found that the FDA requested “fresh and never frozen” fetal organs.

“I’ve been doing this for 23 years. These documents we’ve gotten from the FDA and our other lawsuit…they are the worst things I’ve ever seen,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton told the Daily Caller News Foundation Friday. “The most troubling documents I’ve ever seen.”