by Tyler Arnold The Ohio state legislature will be required to create new maps in time for the 2020 elections after a three-judge federal panel ruled that some district lines were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans. Although House Republicans have yet to issue a formal response, they can appeal…
Read MoreDay: May 4, 2019
Conference Committees Meet to Hash Out Tax, Spending Increases in Minnesota Budgets
by Bethany Blankley With 17 days to go before the end of session, legislative conference committees began meeting Friday to hash out differing proposals for three of the most contentious omnibus bills yet to be voted on by the full Legislature. The Omnibus tax bill, Omnibus Health and Human Services…
Read MoreConference Committees Meet to Hash Out Tax, Spending Increases in Minnesota Budgets
by Bethany Blankley With 17 days to go before the end of session, legislative conference committees began meeting Friday to hash out differing proposals for three of the most contentious omnibus bills yet to be voted on by the full Legislature. The Omnibus tax bill, Omnibus Health and Human Services…
Read MoreCommentary: Jeb! Goes ‘Full Bush’ on Sanctuary Cities
by George Rasley Jeb Bush is to Republican politics what the little mechanical moles are to the arcade game Whack-A-Mole; an annoyance that bursts forth according to some malevolent algorithm and the faster you beat it down the quicker it pops back up. With the Florida legislature about to…
Read MoreWilliam Barr Made a Major Disclosure in His Senate Hearing That Hardly Anyone Noticed
by Chuck Ross In a little-noticed exchange during his Senate hearing Wednesday, Attorney General William Barr made a surprising disclosure that could allow the public and press to obtain sensitive details about the origins of the Trump-Russia probe. During a back-and-forth with Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, Barr identified…
Read MoreCommentary: Why FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Should Look at How Deplatforming and Social Media Bias Toward the Left Could Lead to One-Party Rule
by Robert Romano Thanks to social media and big tech companies, finding content on the Internet that you want has never been easier. Want to find your friends and family online? Log onto Facebook. Want to see what opinion leaders or celebrities are up to? Check out Twitter. Want…
Read MoreOhio District Lines Unconstitutional, Must Create New Maps for 2020 Elections
by Tyler Arnold The Ohio state legislature will be required to create new maps in time for the 2020 elections after a three-judge federal panel ruled that some district lines were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans. Although House Republicans have yet to issue a formal response, they can appeal…
Read MoreFacebook Bans Several Personalities for Hate Speech
The hugely popular social media site Facebook has banned Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and several others for hate speech. Facebook said Thursday that the individuals violated its policy against instigating violence. “Individuals and organizations who spread hate or attack or call for the…
Read MoreBaltimore Mayor Resigns Amid Corruption Charges
The Baltimore mayor resigned Thursday amid corruption allegations tied to her self-published series of children’s books. An attorney for Catherine Pugh read a written statement from the mayor to reporters Thursday, in which she said, “I am sorry for the harm that I have caused to the image of…
Read MoreScientists Develop Drug That Prevents Spread of HIV, Study Reveals
by Grace Carr Scientists reported that an antiretroviral drug prevented the spread of HIV in 1,000 sexually active homosexual couples, according to an eight-year study conducted in Europe. The authors published their findings in the Lancet medical journal Thursday, Reuters reported. Researchers followed 1,000 couples, each composed of one…
Read MoreFLASHBACK: Bernie Asks Group Of Young Children, ‘Anyone Ever Seen Cocaine?’
by Henry Rodgers Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a 2020 presidential candidate, once asked a group of children if they had ever seen cocaine and if they smoked cigarettes when he was the mayor of Burlington, while talking to kids as a part of his old television show. In an…
Read MoreDonald Trump Has Put More Than 100 Judges on the Federal Bench
by Kevin Daley The Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s 100th judicial nominee Thursday, passing a symbolic threshold meant to signal the GOP’s determined push to staff the federal judiciary with conservative jurists. As of this writing, the president has appointed 102 judges to the federal bench. That total includes…
Read MoreUS Adds Robust 263K Jobs; Unemployment at 49-Year Low
U.S. employers added a robust 263,000 jobs in April, suggesting that businesses have shrugged off earlier concerns that the economy might slow this year and anticipate strong customer demand. The unemployment rate fell to a five-decade low of 3.6% from 3.8%, though that drop partly reflected an increase in…
Read MoreCommentary: The New Social Contract We Must Reject
By Bruce P. Frohnen and Ted V. McAllister America’s public life is disordered; our discourse toxic. Competing lists of scandals and abuses (calls for impeachment, “nuclear options,” attacks on free speech, and so on) are long and shop-worn—and often miss the real issue that something profound, systemic, and dangerous…
Read MorePolling Continues to Show Strong Opposition to 20-Cent Gas Tax Increase
Veteran political reporter Tom Hauser was chastised in December by at least one state representative when he correctly pointed out that all but one recent poll showed opposition to a gas tax increase. Hauser said at the time that “nearly ever poll,” with the exception of one Star Tribune…
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