House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., released evidence Monday of regular monthly payments from one of Hunter Biden’s business entities to his father, President Joe Biden.
Comer released bank records obtained via subpoena that allegedly show direct monthly payments from one of Hunter Biden’s business entities, Owasco PC, which is also under investigation by the Department of Justice tax-related charges.
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About 4,000 auto dealers from all 50 states have signed a letter to President Joe Biden saying electric vehicles are “stacking up on our lots” as the demand for electric cars has “stalled.”
“BEVs [battery electric vehicles] are stacking up on our lots,” the auto dealers stated in the letter. “Last year, there was a lot of hope and hype about EVs. Early adopters formed an initial line and were ready to buy these vehicles as soon as we had them to sell. But that enthusiasm has stalled. Today, the supply of unsold BEVs is surging, as they are not selling nearly as fast as they are arriving at our dealerships – even with deep price cuts, manufacturer incentives, and generous government incentives.”
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New home sales in the U.S. dropped last month as mortgage rates have soared.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, new home sales fell 5.6% in October, more than expected.
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How should researchers measure the populations of migratory birds? Researchers developed an idea around a campfire that was put to the test for the first time in Bosque Del Apache earlier this month, according to the University of New Mexico.
Each winter, wildlife managers must count migratory waterfowl as they fly down into refuges. However, this is a difficult task that involves scaring birds into the air by flying past them in airplanes.
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Suicides reached a record high last year.
Nearly 50,000 people in the U.S. died by suicide in 2022, according to a provisional report from the National Center for Health Statistics. The final count could be higher.
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Despite the passage of state and federal laws that were supposed to reduce fatal drug overdoses, the annual U.S. drug overdose death rate has quintupled over recent decades:
Over the most current year of available data, more than 110,000 people in the U.S. died of drug overdoses, a rate of 33 per 100,000 population.
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In the first half of 2023, roughly 32,000 babies were born in states that implemented abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last June, a 2.3% increase, according to a new analysis.
In the first six months of 2023, “births rose by an average of 2.3 percent in states enforcing total abortion bans,” leading to an estimated 32,000 births that might have otherwise been aborted, according to a new analysis published by the IZA Institute of Labor Economics initiated by the Deutsche Post Foundation.
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Connecticut businesses will pay less for workers’ compensation insurance next year, with the state again reducing premiums paid by private employers, which regulators say reflects an ongoing decline in claims.
The Connecticut Insurance Department has approved an annual workers’ compensation rate filing for 2024 with a decrease of 9.8% in voluntary market loss costs and a decrease of 10.5% in assigned risk plan rates.
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The U.S. Department of Treasury on Tuesday levied a $3.4 billion fine against Binance Holdings, Ltd. in a settlement with the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange for failure to prevent and report suspicious transactions with terrorist organizations.
Binance was accused by the Treasury of failing to implement programs to prevent and report suspicious transactions involving terrorist groups such as Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades, Al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
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In fiscal 2022, 28 states didn’t have enough revenue to pay all of their bills, according to the 14th annual Financial State of the States report, published by the Chicago-based nonprofit Truth in Accounting.
The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of all 50 states based on the latest available data from states’ fiscal year 2022 annual comprehensive financial reports.
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The impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is gaining momentum as more evidence comes out to back allegations that the president himself financially benefited from the overseas business dealings of his son, Hunter.
While Republicans will find it very difficult to get the needed supermajority to impeach Biden, the mounting evidence and media coverage would be another obstacle for Biden to overcome as he campaigns for reelection.
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A University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy professor is waving a red flag on the impact that artificial intelligence could have on next year’s elections.
Ethan Bueno de Mesquita has written a white paper which he said provides an overview of the potential impact of generative AI on the electoral process. The paper offers specific recommendations for voters, journalists, civil society, tech leaders and other stakeholders to help manage the risks and capitalize on the promise of AI for electoral democracy in the hope of fostering a more productive public discussion of these issues.
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Newly released survey data shows that small businesses are pessimistic about their retail sales going into the holiday season.
The Main Street Merchant Report released Tuesday by Alignable, a network of thousands of small businesses, are not optimistic about their sales for small businesses this weekend.
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A new economic analysis of the U.S. economy projects a recession around the corner.
An international nonprofit, The Conference Board, has released its Leading Economic Indicators report, which projects into the next year for the U.S. economy. That analysis, among other things, projects high inflation, high interest rates and declining consumer spending.
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The city of New York homeless population increased by 73% in fiscal year 2023, according to a report put out by the city comptroller that sheds more light on the asylum seeker crisis.
The number of homeless within the city jumped from 46,675 in FY 2022 to 80,724 in FY 2023, according to the report. The city’s fiscal years begin July 1.
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Thanksgiving dinner shoppers will get a bit of a break in the pocketbook this year.
Illinois shoppers participating in the annual American Farm Bureau Federation’s (AFBF) Thanksgiving Cost Survey reported the average cost of a traditional Thanksgiving meal is down slightly compared to last year.
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After the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ order last week, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it scheduled Lease Sale 261 in the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico for December 20.
In September, a federal judge ruled the Biden administration must go through with offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico by September 27 as originally planned and under original conditions. The Fifth Circuit concurred but amended the ruling, pushing back the lease sale date to November 8.
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Forty-five U.S. House Republicans voted with Democrats against an amendment to remove an agency head at the center of ongoing allegations of child abuse and neglect.
After debate on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Arizona, filed an amendment on Wednesday using the Holman Rule to remove Robin Dunn Marcos, director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Under the Biden administration, Marcos oversees ORR’s scandal-plagued Unaccompanied Children Program, which has funneled an unprecedented number of unaccompanied minors (UAC) into the U.S., arriving at the southern and northern borders. ORR is responsible for vetting sponsors and placing UACs in homes and facilities nationwide.
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The number of migrants caught by the Coast Guard trying to illegally enter the U.S has doubled in recent years. That’s according to a witness who testified Tuesday at a U.S. House hearing on the rise of small vessels sneaking drugs and illegal immigrants into the country.
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Comparison shopping for the best prices – whether it’s car insurance, appliances or toilet paper – helps consumers stay on budget.
Healthcare services, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Foundation, shouldn’t be any different.
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The greatest number of unaccompanied children (UACs) arriving at the U.S. border are being “resettled” in Texas.
UACs have been sent to all 50 states and two U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, according to data from the U.S. Health & Human Services Department (HHS) and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), tasked with their oversight and care.
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The United Auto Workers union members narrowly voted to ratify its contract with General Motors.
GM’s ratification tracker shows workers approving the contract on a 54.7% vote with nearly 36,000 votes in support, an unofficial number. The vote will end one-third of the auto strike that’s lasted about six weeks.
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Connecticut’s revenues are down about $460 million, according to a new report, which says the state’s financial outlook remains positive despite a drop in tax collections.
The consensus revenue forecast, released by the Office of Policy and Management and Office of Fiscal Analysis on Monday, shows the state is likely to close out the fiscal year more than $630 million above initial budget projections. That’s still a surplus but well below the $1.1 billion projections when the budget was approved in June.
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The influx of migrants across the country’s southern border could cost taxpayers $451 billion, a report released Monday by the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee says.
The fourth report released by the committee says that the tab includes housing, education, property damage done by migrants, law enforcement and health care costs.
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As pro-Palestinian protestors descended on Austin and other cities over the weekend, following a “day-of-rage” protests last month, a new poll reveals that a majority of Muslim-Americans surveyed – 57.5% – think the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas “was justified in attacking Israel as part of their struggle for a Palestinian state.”
Hamas, the acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement), was designated by the U.S. State Department as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. “It is the largest and most capable militant group in the Palestinian territories and one of the territories’ two major political parties,” according to the National Counterterrorism Center.
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The Pentagon wants to build a bigger nuclear gravity bomb to provide the military with “more flexibility” in the nation’s nuclear stockpile.
The U.S. Department of Defense has announced plans to pursue a modern variant of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb, designated the B61-13. The move will require Congressional authorization and appropriation.
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A large majority of voters say that public schools should focus on the basics – math, reading, writing, science and social studies – to improve the quality of public education in the country.
That’s according to the latest The Center Square’s Voters’ Voice poll conducted in late October in conjunction with Noble Predictive Insights. The poll of 2,605 likely voters includes 1,035 Republicans, 1,074 Democrats, and 496 true Independents, and is among the most comprehensive in the country.
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Mountain states rank among the “most free” in North America, according to a new report from the Fraser Institute.
The Canadian think tank employs 10 variables for its Economic Freedom of North America 2023 reports and scores states based on categories such as government spending, taxes, labor market freedom, legal system and property rights, sound money, and freedom to trade internationally.
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America’s population gains won’t continue forever.
The U.S. population is projected to reach a high of nearly 370 million in 2080 before falling back to 366 million in 2100, according to the latest projections from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday.
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A new poll shows a large disparity between how voters think of their local public school system and the nation’s school system as a whole, signaling frustration with larger education issues as opposed to more area-specific ones.
Respondents’ approval of their local schools held constant in the most recent The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll, which was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights.
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A record high number of kindergartners started last school year with an exemption from one of the vaccines U.S. health authorities require.
The overall percentage of children with an exemption increased from 2.6% during the 2021-22 school year to 3% during the 2022-23 school year, the highest exemption rate ever reported in the U.S., according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Thursday.
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Thousands of miles from the southern border, Americans find themselves victims of violent crimes committed by repeat offenders illegally entering the U.S.
While numerous examples exist, in five examples identified by The Center Square, all of the alleged perpetrators illegally entered the U.S. “on an unknown date at an unknown location,” according to U.S. Customs & Immigration Enforcement.
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A federal judge on Thursday extended her initial temporary restraining order by another two weeks, blocking the Biden administration from destroying Texas’ concertina wire barrier along the Rio Grande River.
U.S. District Judge Alia Moses in Del Rio, Texas, extended her original Oct. 30th Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) beyond the initial Nov. 13 deadline. The extension is for another 14 days “to allow the court more time to fully consider the parties’ arguments and evidence.”
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A recent federal report shows food insecurity is on the rise in the U.S. while some organizations are pushing to increase the amount for food stamp benefits for families.
The Farm Bill that currently funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has ended, leaving negotiations to continue. SNAP was formerly known as the food stamp program.
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As municipalities across the United States consider acquiring and converting parking lots into homeless encampments with social services, some oppose the programs, citing high costs and poor safety, while others promote them as better than sidewalk encampments and a stopgap measure as more overall housing is built.
In California, whose homelessness programs serviced 315,487 different individuals in 2022, faces a 4.5 million home shortage and is adopting alternative housing options that states and local governments across the country are now considering and implementing on their own. One such program is the conversion of parking lots to homeless housing options, whether so-called “safe sleeping sites” where homeless can park their cars or set up tents and receive services, or more involved accommodations such as city-provided RVs.
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President Joe Biden has signed an executive order requiring that Artificial Intelligence technology advance “equity and civil rights.”
Biden signed the order this week, putting more regulatory guidance in place for A.I., a rapidly developing technology that some experts warn could be used for harm for everyday Americans.
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The Americans for Prosperity Foundation filed a court action Tuesday against the Biden administration, claiming they have failed to respond properly to a request for information on oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Trump administration approved the oil and drilling leases in January 2021, shortly before the former president left office. The Biden administration canceled them last month, citing concerns about climate change.
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The rate of infants dying in the U.S. increased for the first time in two decades, raising concerns about infant and maternal health across the country.
The infant mortality rate for the United States rose 3% from 2021 to 2022, the first year-to-year increase in the rate since 2001 to 2002, according to figures the National Center for Health Statistics released Wednesday. The provisional report does not explain why infant deaths increased and said more research was needed.
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Former President Donald Trump said he would end the funding for homeless immigrants in hotels if elected president.
“Under crooked Joe Biden, the U.S. government has spent nearly $1 billion to house illegal aliens and foreign migrants in expensive, luxury hotels courtesy of you, the American taxpayer, and they want to spend billions and billions more,” Trump said in a video message posted on his social media platform. “In many states, we are running out of hotel space because the rooms are all booked up with illegal aliens living in a very large way on the American taxpayers’ dime.”
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U.S. private employers grew their payrolls by 113,000 workers in October versus September’s 89,000 new hires, a month-over increase of 21%, according to the October ADP National Employment Report, a collaboration with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
“No single industry dominated hiring this month, and big post-pandemic pay increases seem to be behind us,” said Nela Richardson, ADP’s chief economist, said in a statement. “In all, October’s numbers paint a well-rounded jobs picture. And while the labor market has slowed, it’s still enough to support strong consumer spending.”
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A coalition of 19 attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of a local Maryland board of education’s policy that does not allow parents to opt their children out of LGBTQ+ inclusive texts. The lawsuit was filed by three families against the Montgomery County Board of Education, with two of the three families suing on behalf of policies for their second grade children, while the third did not list the grade level of its elementary school children. The parents, who are Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Ukrainian Orthodox, filed their lawsuit on religious freedom grounds.
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A proposed long-term care staffing rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would not improve care but would force nursing homes to close, 14 Republican governors said in a letter to CMS.
The rule changes would require long-term care facilities to conduct a facility assessment that includes a staffing plan within 60 days of the rule’s implementation. The second phase of the rule mandates a registered nurse must be onsite 24 hours a day.
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Nine governors are asking the National Collegiate Athletics Association to rewrite its policy on transgender participation in sports, saying it is unfair to female athletes.
The NCAA updated a 2010 policy last year that requires transgender females to show they have undergone a year of testosterone suppression treatment. Testosterone levels are also checked before competitions.
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by Bethany Blankley More than 10 million people have been reported illegally entering the United States since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the greatest number in history and of any administration. They total more than the individual populations of 41 states. The number of people illegally…
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The United Auto Workers union and General Motors have reached a tentative agreement to end the auto strike, a report says, marking the possible end of a 45-day historic strike against the Big Three Automakers.
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The complete costs of “fueling” an electric vehicle for 10 years are $17.33 per equivalent gallon of gasoline, a new analysis from the Texas Public Policy Foundation says.
The study authors say the $1.21 cost-per-gallon equivalent of charging a car cited by EV advocates excludes the real costs born by taxpayers for subsidies, utility ratepayers for energy investments, and non-electric vehicle owners for mandate-and-environmental-credit-driven higher vehicle costs, which they say total $48,698 per EV. Those costs must be included when comparing fueling costs of EVs and traditional gas-powered vehicles, TPPF maintains.
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Newly released polling data shows most American think the government is too big and has too much power.
Gallup released the new survey data, which shows that 54% of surveyed Americans say government is “trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses.” That number has stayed relatively the same since 2021.
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There were over 3.2 million people who entered the U.S. illegally nationwide in fiscal 2023, the most in recorded U.S. history, according to the latest data published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Combined with gotaway data only reported by Border Patrol agents at the southwest border, illegal border crossers totaled at least 3,970,318 in fiscal 2023.
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Critics of a Connecticut law banning religious exemptions from school vaccination requirements have lost several rounds in federal court but are planning to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case.
A lawsuit, filed by We the Patriots USA Inc. on behalf of parents whose children attend a school at Milford Christian Church, argued that Connecticut violated their First Amendment rights by repealing the state’s long-held religious exemptions to childhood vaccines.
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The United Auto Workers expanded its far-reaching strike on Tuesday to include a General Motors SUV plant in Texas.
About 5,000 workers at the Arlington Assembly Plant, where the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe and other SUVs are made.
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