federal government Archives - Page 3 of 3

House GOP Members Want Answers on January 6 Probe

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Representatives Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) asked for information about the Justice Department’s abusive investigation into January 6.

“Those that damaged property and assaulted police officers on January 6th should rightfully face justice,” the pair wrote in a letter sent May 14. “However, the public outcry and hyper-politicization of the events on January 6th may incentivize prosecutors to use overly aggressive tactics, overcharge, and abuse the power of the federal government in order to satisfy favored political groups.”

Roy and Massie asked Garland to schedule a briefing with Congress before the end of the month to address several concerns, including how plea deals are arranged, the FBI’s use of force in raiding the homes of nonviolent protesteors, and the Justice Department’s request to hold defendants behind bars pending trial. “[C]ongressional oversight of these prosecutions is essential as a check and balance on that power.”

Dozens of House GOP Reps Urge Pelosi to Drop Masking Rules Following Revised CDC Guidance

May 17, 2021May 16, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Nearly three dozen House GOP representatives this week urged Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to formally drop the House’s strict mask mandate, citing recently updated masking guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the Friday letter, issued from the office of Ohio Rep. Bob Gibbs, 34 Republicans “urge[d] [Pelosi] to immediately return to normal voting procedures and end mandatory mask requirements in the House of Representatives.”

“CDC guidance states fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting except where required by governmental or workplace mandate,” the letter declares. “It is time to update our own workplace regulations. Every member of Congress has had the opportunity to be vaccinated, and you have indicated about 75 percent have taken advantage of this opportunity.”

Federal Government Awards Virginia Money for Damage from February Winter Storms

May 16, 2021May 15, 2021 The Center Square

Sidewalk covered in snow and parked vehicles

The federal government will award the Commonwealth of Virginia and local governments money related to the costs of damages from winter storms in mid-February, President Joe Biden announced.

Biden declared a major disaster for severe weather storms that happened between Feb. 11 and Feb. 13. Federal assistance will be available for the state, tribal and local recovery efforts related to the storms.

Funding is also available to some private nonprofits for the cost of emergency work and repair or replacement of facilities.

Commentary: Biden Must Reverse Course on Iran Before It’s Too Late

May 12, 2021May 11, 2021 RealClearWire

President Joe Biden walks along the Colonnade with the Combatant Commander nominees U.S. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost and U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson on Monday, March 8, 2021, along the Colonnade of the White House.

Media outlets around the world recently reported on leaked audio comments in which Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif admitted that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps controls all of Iran’s foreign policy decisions. Although President Joe Biden was careful to mention neither Zarif nor Iran in his speech before Congress last month, Zarif’s embarrassingly candid revelations have direct implications for Biden’s entire Iran policy: namely, it underscores that reducing economic sanctions in order to moderate the Iranian regime cannot work.

For decades, U.S. policy toward Iran has produced disappointing results, largely because American administrations have underestimated the entrenched ideology of Iran’s theocratic dictatorship and mistakenly assumed the regime can be tamed by conciliatory diplomacy. Western efforts to placate Tehran have failed consistently since the revolutionaries took power in 1979, yet recent reports indicate President Biden is in the process of repeating this failure.

Just as the Obama administration did with its disastrous 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Biden administration is now seeking to lift economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for temporary commitments from Tehran to curb its nuclear program. A senior State Department official recently revealed that the Biden administration is reviewing all U.S. terrorism and human rights sanctions on Iran since 2017 to assess whether those sanctions were “legitimately imposed,” and that some sanctions will need to be lifted to ensure Tehran is “benefiting” from the nuclear deal. Like Obama, Biden hopes that relaxing economic pressure can convince the regime to put aside its nuclear ambitions, focus on Iran’s economy and people, stop bankrolling terrorist proxies, and become a normal member of the international community.

Commentary: The Government Hiding January 6 Video Footage and Why

May 12, 2021May 11, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Joe Biden calls it the worst attack since the Civil War. Attorney General Merrick Garland compares it to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The FBI is breaking down the doors of Iraq War veterans and small business owners who have no criminal records, and some are hauled off to rot in solitary confinement in a fetid D.C. jail, for their involvement in the alleged travesty.

The event, of course, is the roughly four-hour-long disturbance at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. As mostly nonviolent Americans dared to protest Congress’ certification of a clearly fraudulent presidential election in a place that once was considered “The People’s House,” lawmakers scurried for cover as reporters and photographers captured part of the ruckus on video and still shots to wield as political ammunition against Donald Trump and his supporters.

But have we seen a full and fair depiction of exactly what happened that day? The answer, as evidenced by an ongoing coverup by the U.S. Capitol Police and the Justice Department, clearly is no.

D.C. Jail Treatment of Capitol Riot Defendants Draws Bipartisan Outrage

May 11, 2021May 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Ashort drive from the U.S. Capitol, 1,500 inmates are stuck in their jail cells 22 hours a day. Until last month it was 23, and they were also barred from going outside.

A smaller group of inmates may have it even worse: those awaiting trial for alleged crimes in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. They’ve been placed in “restrictive housing,” a maximum-security designation.

The plight of nearby inmates has received surprisingly little attention on Capitol Hill for the better part of a year, since the District of Columbia Department of Corrections issued its “medical stay-in-place” policies for COVID-19 mitigation.

Commentary: The U.S. Economy and Its Lack of Sustainability

May 11, 2021May 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

American flag with $100 bills and stethescope

Is the economy booming or is it riding a wave of paper money with no real underlying sustainability? That is the question which policy makers in Washington, DC should be considering.

The truth is no one actually knows, but that is exactly why this discussion must be had.

Since the China virus was inflicted upon the world, it is indisputable that the federal government has authorized $5 Trillion between the Trump spending of $3.1 Trillion to meet the crisis and Biden’s recently passed additional $1.9 trillion so he could sign checks to people too. This is on top of the $1 Trillion in planned deficits during the 2020 fiscal year.

Commentary: Championing America’s First Freedom

May 9, 2021May 8, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The right to worship freely is often called America’s first freedom. Our founding fathers understood religious freedom not as the state’s creation but as an unalienable right from God.

This universal right is enshrined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.”

Today, however, religious freedom is threatened or restricted entirely for millions of people around the world. Over 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries with high or severe restrictions on religious freedom. In far too many places across the globe, governments and others prevent individuals from living in accordance with their beliefs.

Commentary: ‘Bipartisan Border Solutions’ Bill Lacks Solutions

May 9, 2021May 8, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

No disrespect to its border-state sponsors, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Arizona) and House members Henry Cuellar and Tony Gonzales (both Texans, Democrat and Republican respectively), but there are better names for the “Bipartisan Border Solutions Act.”

The “Bipartisan Band-Aid for Biden’s Border Mess” works. It’s a little long, but more descriptive than the current title.

Given the severe overcrowding at Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shelters, building four new regional processing centers along America’s southern border, as the legislation calls for, may be necessary at this point.

John Kerry Vehemently Denies Sharing Secret Intel About Israel with Iran

April 28, 2021April 27, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday vehemently denied providing Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif with secret information about Israeli strikes on Iranian interests in Syria, an allegation which Republicans seized on to call for Kerry’s ouster from the Biden administration.

“I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened – either when I was Secretary of State or since,” Kerry tweeted in response to reports of his interactions with Zarif.

Iran International, a London-based outlet, and The New York Times reported that Zarif said in a secret audio recording that Kerry had informed him that Israeli forces had struck more than 200 Iranian targets in Syria.

Senator Josh Hawley Introduces Antitrust Legislation Aimed at Big Tech

April 14, 2021April 14, 2021 Admin

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced a new bill on Monday that would break up several large companies in the United States, with a particular focus on the Big Tech companies, as reported by the Daily Caller.

The bill is called the “Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act,” and aims to combat “anti-competitive big business” such as “Big Banks, Big Telecom, and Big Pharma.” In his press release announcing the new legislation, Hawley said that “a small group of woke mega-corporations control the products Americans can buy, the information Americans can receive, and the speech Americans can engage in.”

“These monopoly powers control our speech, our economy, our country,” Hawley continued, “and their control has only grown because Washington has aided and abetted their quest for endless power.”

Commentary: Biden Border Policy Goes South

April 11, 2021April 10, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

When the inevitable assessments of President Biden’s first 100 days in office begin to appear, his precipitous actions pursuant to illegal immigration at the southern border will be judged by most honest observers to have been his worst blunder. That is certainly the perspective of the majority of Americans, according to three recent public opinion surveys. An NPR/Marist poll, for example, found that 53 percent of respondents disapproved of Biden’s handling of immigration. An ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 57 percent were dissatisfied with his management of the situation, particularly as it affects unaccompanied minors. An AP/NORC poll found that 56 percent were unhappy with Biden’s performance on immigration.

Arizona State Legislature Opposes Federalized Elections, Passes Strong Election Integrity Bills

April 10, 2021April 9, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

In the wake of Georgia’s passing of a sweeping anti-voter fraud bill into law, Arizona is among the states that has followed suit and passed similar measures to strengthen election integrity, as reported by Breitbart.

On Tuesday, the Arizona State Senate passed HB 2569, which bans the use of private funds for election administration and management. The bill passed in a party-line vote after having previously passed through the State House of Representatives in a similar party-line vote. The bill now heads to the desk of Governor Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) for his signature.

On Wednesday, the State Senate passed a resolution, HCR 2023, which reaffirmed Arizona’s opposition to the provisions in the federal bill H.R. 1, introduced by Democrats in the United States Congress in an effort to dramatically increase federal control over the nation’s election process. The resolution had already been approved by the State House, with its passage in the State Senate officially codifying it as a formal resolution by the Arizona state legislature.

Commentary: Too Much of a Unity

April 6, 2021April 5, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

“The city comes in to being for the sake of life, but it continues for the sake of the good life. ” — Aristotle, Politics

“[The Declaration of Independence] was the word, “fitly spoken” which has proved an “apple of gold” to us. The Union, and the Constitution, are the picture of silver, subsequently framed around it. The picture was made, not to conceal, or destroy the apple; but to adorn, and preserve it. The picture was made for the apple — not the apple for the picture.”—Abraham Lincoln, “Fragment on the Constitution and Union”

The crisis of our time requires clear thinking about political means and ends, and the ways they are connected. The two epigraphs above address this central question of practical wisdom—the first from the general perspective of theory, the second as relates to the particular nation of the United States. Both quotations may be familiar to educated conservatives, and particularly to those students of political philosophy broadly associated with the Claremont school of thought. Yet there is a danger that such familiarity may breed, if not contempt, then the forgetfulness that settles on “sonorous phrases” which lapse into clichés. I would like to reconsider these arguments made by Aristotle and Lincoln—along with some related observations by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson—not as hackneyed commonplaces but as genuine insights that remain relevant and even urgent. Circumstances in the coming years may require new or unusual means to secure the ends of liberty and justice. Our thinking must be appropriately radical.

Commentary: Save America From Action Civics

March 23, 2021March 22, 2021 RealClearWire

Booker was about twelve when he first set foot in a classroom and discovered that he needed a last name. He invented one on the spot, and for the rest of his life, he was Booker Washington. It was then and still is a civics lesson for America. As a slave born on the Burroughs Plantation in 1856, he was simply Booker. But as a freed individual determined to make something of himself, he chose to identify with his country’s founder.

Booker T. Washington—he added the T later—spent the rest of his life getting educated and educating others, black and white. He is out of fashion these days because he preached black advancement through relentless hard work and veered away from challenging the racist public policies of his time. But he still has something to teach us, namely that Americans have to own their history.

House Preps to Pass Two Immigration Bills, Dreamer Pathway to Citizenship, Agricultural Worker Visa Reform as Border Crisis Intensifies

March 16, 2021March 15, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The House will vote on two immigration bills this week as the numbers of migrant families and children detained at the southern border surges.

The first bill, dubbed the Dream and Promise Act (DPA) would provide a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, immigrants who have lived in the U.S. illegally since being brought as young children.

The second, the Farm Modernization Workforce Act (FMWA), would create a certified agricultural worker status and streamline the H-2A visa application process. President Joe Biden has also announced a sweeping immigration reform plan in addition to the two bills, though Republicans have labeled it a non-starter.

CBO Says Budget Deficit Will Hit $2.3 Trillion in 2021

February 15, 2021February 14, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

The U.S. budget deficit will be larger than expected because of the $900 billion stimulus bill passed in December, a whopping $448 billion larger than was projected in September, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday.

According to Breitbart, the CBO forecasts that the federal government will borrow $2.26 trillion this year making it the second-largest deficit since World War II. Last year’s $3.1 trillion was the biggest in absolute numbers and also the largest as a share of gross domestic product.

President Biden Reinstates Race-Based ‘Diversity Training’ in the Federal Government

January 25, 2021January 24, 2021 Virginia Star Staff

Just hours after being sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden signed a slew of executive orders, reversing many Trump-era policies, including a ban on Critical Race Theory training for employees of federal agencies and federal contractors, which include colleges and universities.

Commentary: Critical Race Theory Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg in Woke Government Training

September 18, 2020September 18, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

The Trump Administration put critical race theory on notice this month. The White House issued a directive outlawing the inclusion of exercises based on this theory in government training. “These types of ‘trainings’ not only run counter to the fundamental beliefs for which our Nation has stood since its inception, but they also engender division and resentment within the Federal workforce,” the directive declared.

Treasury Department: States, Local Governments Spend Only 25 Percent of CARES Act Subsidies

August 2, 2020August 14, 2020 Admin

As deliberations continue in Congress over how to allocate another $1 trillion worth of stimulus money, governors and mayors say they need more than the $139 billion already allocated to their states in March to cover revenue shortfalls.

A total of $150 billion was allocated to help state, local and tribal governments with specific COVID-19 response programs.

Drain The Swamp: EPA Shed 1,200 Jobs In Trump’s First Year And A Half

September 10, 2018September 9, 2018 Admin

by Evie Fordham The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shed approximately 1,200 jobs as roughly 1,600 employees departed and less than 400 new employees were hired during President Donald Trump’s first year and a half in office. Departing employees included “at least 260 scientists, 185 ‘environmental protection specialists’ and 106…

Commentary: Trump, Reagan, and Big Government

July 29, 2018July 29, 2018 Admin

by Jeffery Rendall As I strolled through the excellent and memory-provoking exhibits at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (in Simi Valley, CA) the other day I was struck by how similar President Donald Trump’s approach to today’s politics is to the way Ronald Reagan handled the subject a half…

Federal Civil Service Abuses Bigger Than Just the Department of Veterans Affairs

May 29, 2018May 28, 2018 Admin

By Natalia Castro When news broke of employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) putting the lives of veterans at risk with waiting lists to die, the country was outraged. When it became clear that these employees were not being terminated for their failures and mismanagement, Florida Senator Marco…