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| "...it's amazing to be here at Ramstein Air Base to visit with these extraordinary men and women who are on the front line of protecting America's capabilities around the world...we've done a great job in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in bringing companies to Virginia, but also developing relationships around the world. Last year, I was in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea. Now I'm going to be in Germany, in Denmark and Finland. It's an incredibly important opportunity for us to deepen these relationships..." Watch the clip here. |
ON THE ECONOMY... |
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| "...[America's] economy is not performing as it should be. The reality is, we have low growth and high inflation, it should be flip flopped, we should have low inflation and high growth. It's part of our economic mission to build that. I do think President Trump built that when he was president, I think we're suffering under Joe Biden's leadership economically, Virginia has done incredibly well over the last couple of years as we've rebounded aggressively with more people working than ever. I'm going to continue to work to bring jobs to Virginia, but also to make sure we have great relationships around the world..." Watch the clip here. |
ON COLLEGE CAMPUS PROTESTS... |
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| "...We're not going to have encampments and tents put up and yes, we will protect the ability to peacefully express yourself but we're not going to have the kinds of hate speech and intimidation that we're seeing across the country, in Virginia." Watch the clip here. |
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| 4.) Democrats are sorting out their ticket for statewide offices in 2025. Abigail Spanberger has all but cleared the field for Governor, as Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has opted to run against Sen. Aaron Rouse for Lieutenant Governor instead (here and here). Republicans appear to be headed for a battle for the Governor race as both Attorney General Jason Miyares and Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears look to be exploring the race.
5.) With Governor Youngkin heading off to Europe on his third trade mission, it would seem he must have some confidence that a deal is within reach on the yet-to-be-completed budget (here). By all accounts, the budget negotiations will depend greatly on the revenue collected by the Commonwealth. In a fairly comprehensive review of the budget issues in the Richmond Times Dispatch, the main issues "on the table" are the added revenue Democrats believe is needed to meet their longer-term spending priorities mostly in education and health (here). One interesting item in this article is that Del. Vivian Watts (D-Fairfax) believes that an expansion of the sales tax could be revenue neutral if they increase the standard deduction for taxpayers -- something the Thomas Jefferson Institute has long supported (here). The problem is that Del. Watts wants to apply the digital sales tax to business-to-business transactions, something that Governor Youngkin should be firmly against! 6.) Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) approved a new budget, despite the uncertainty in Virginia funding which has been caught up in the budget impasse (here). WMATA will be increasing fares by 12.5 percent and will end the flat $2 rate for weekend and late-night rides. 7.) Slot machine… err skills game advocates continue to press the case that their survival depends on placing these addictive machines in convenience stores all across the Commonwealth (here). The skills game bill is back on the Governor's desk and lobbying on both sides continues at a frantic pace.
8.) In the Richmond Times Dispatch, Michael J. Petrilli with the Thomas B. Fordham Institute argued that Virginia's archaic "accreditation" system for public elementary and secondary schools paints too rosy of a picture of performance by using low proficiency standards and poor measures of progress (here). Governor Youngkin has made transparency and performance a priority and this summer the State Board of Education will vote on a new, more rigorous, assessment system for accreditation. This is much needed and way overdue. Sadly, we will be shocked at how bad things are once we grade our schools accurately…and stop patting ourselves on the backs while our schools are in crisis. 9.) The Hanover Board of Supervisors removed any reference to "banning" and "censoring" when it recognized a Hanover County Public School student who had received a Girl Scout Gold award for her creation of book nooks around town containing books that had been removed from the public schools for including inappropriate or sexually explicit content (here). Two thoughts -- one, I hope voters read these books and see that most have no place in our public schools and two, kudos to this young lady for her creative project (even if I disagree with her underlying views). 10.) The discovery of 250-year-old cherries, preserved in intact bottles, in the basement of Mount Vernon has me fascinated (here)! While there is gooey residue, some sodden cherries, pits, etc. -- there are actual whole cherries that smell like cherry blossoms. Cherry Cake Pops seem in order. 11.) Get your car insurance -- while Virginia was one of just two states to not require car insurance if drivers paid $500 every year to register as an uninsured driver, a new law will require all drivers to have car insurance by July 1st (here). 12.) The Washington Post ran a great report on how the energy demands of data centers (processing 70 percent of global digital traffic) are driving the push to keep needed coal power plants open, supposedly undermining clean energy goals (here). Hundreds of miles of new transmission lines will be required to carry this power from West Virginia to Northern Virginia. Regional grid reliability will depend on these plants. 13.) Speaking of reliable power, Governor Youngkin's amendments to several bills to allow utilities to seek ratepayer funding for development costs of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) were approved by the General Assembly (here). Both bills require utilities to get SCC approval to charge for development costs and cap how much can be sought (here). 14.) Governor Youngkin donated his second-quarter salary to The New School and E3 (Elevate Early Education) in Norfolk, Virginia (here). Kudos to the Governor and First Lady for their continued support of innovative programs, serving children of the Commonwealth! |
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We can't possibly go four for four, can we? President Joe Biden has made a mess of things in the Middle East thanks to his muddled policies that try to have it both ways. Beacon contributor Mike Watson explains.
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"Stung by the charge of indifference to Palestinian suffering, President Joe Biden attempted to refute the accusations during his State of the Union address. 'It's heartbreaking,' he said about the cost of the war to Gazan civilians, so 'tonight, I am directing the U.S. military to lead an emergency mission to establish a temporary pier.' This 'would enable a massive increase' in the humanitarian assistance reaching the beleaguered people of Gaza.
"This week, Hamas and its allies sent their reply to Biden: Drop dead. As preliminary construction started, terrorists bombarded the site, damaging several pieces of American equipment. This misadventure illustrates the core problem of Biden's foreign policy. As much as some Democrats want to abandon Israel and cater to the Palestinians, the rest of the party realizes they cannot do it. Biden is trying to keep his party united by restraining Israel and loudly proclaiming his support for the people of Gaza. But his publicity stunts, like the pier project, are accomplishing very little. The region is still on the brink of war, and the Democrats' Middle East consensus is faltering."
"Democrats care about the Palestinians as much or more than any of their neighbors in the region do, but the Biden team's other ambitions outweigh those concerns. When Biden came into office, he and his team hoped to placate Iran enough to allow for a graceful exit from the Middle East. Much to their surprise, the Iranians contemptuously tossed aside several invitations to reenter the Obama nuclear deal. The administration nevertheless relaxed American sanctions. The mullahs pocketed the concessions, nearly quintupled their oil exports, brought in tens of billions of dollars in revenue, and more than tripled their funding of Hamas, from $100 million to $350 million the year before their murderous rampage. Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser who had played a key role in the nuclear deal, confidently asserted in Foreign Affairs on October 2 that the Middle East 'is quieter than it has been for decades.'" |
| Biden Regime Opening Overseas Immigration Offices To Bring In Muslim Migrants From Jihad Regions As Pro-Terror Riots Roil America |
President Joe Biden's pro-migration border chief is opening new processing centers for Muslim migrants, amid pro-HAMAS riots in U.S. cities and just after ...
The America-Last Foreign Aid PackageThis week the Senate passed the $95 billion foreign aid package, and it is now unfortunately on its way to President Biden's desk. The United States is $35 trillion in debt and inflation has risen by 19.4% since Biden took office. It is disappointing, if not surprising, that some Republicans would join with every Democrat in the House and Senate to borrow nearly $100 billion from future generations to secure other country's borders, finance Hamas terrorists, and leave our own borders wide open. |
New Intrusive Reporting Requirements on Small BusinessesA few years ago, the Democrat-controlled Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), overriding the veto of President Trump. This legislation requires new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for the smallest of businesses, those with under 20 employees and less than $5 million in sales. This covers most small businesses in the U.S. and the supposed purpose is to identify shell companies used for illegal transactions and create a registry of these businesses. |
Standing Up for Your Second Amendment RightsThis week, I co-sponsored the Protecting the Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act introduced by fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX). This legislation would prevent President Biden and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from using public health emergencies to implement unconstitutional gun restrictions. |
If you've been following us for a while, you won't be surprised by yesterday's news about Harvey Weinstein. | |
The New York Court of Appeals overturned the Hollywood producer's conviction for rape and sexual assault. But they only confirmed what we thought when we covered the Harvey Weinstein trial in 2020. | |
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This was mob justice, this was politicized justice, this was the New York district attorney putting politics before the law. Sound familiar? We told you then that though you may not like Harvey Weinstein, they'll use the same tactics to go after you and the ones you love. The same New York Court that prosecuted Weinstein without evidence is now doing the same thing to Donald Trump. That's why we had to call out this miscarriage of justice when we saw it. |
On this bonus episode of The Harvey Weinstein Trial: Unfiltered you'll hear in more detail why we were right all along. |
We followed every minute of the 2020 trial in New York, and we know that Weinstein is not guilty of rape. We have been saying this ever since we listened to every piece of evidence and found it lacking. |
We chronicled all of this in the podcast. It's relevant again, and if you're surprised at all by the New York appeals court's decision, you need to listen to this series. |
Injustice to anyone, even someone as creepy and piggish as Harvey Weinstein, cannot stand. If it can happen to Hollywood elites, it can happen to anyone. These are the same people who tried to destroy Brett Kavanaugh and who are currently prosecuting and persecuting Donald Trump. They only want to believe all women when those women attack conservatives, but they demand evidence from Israeli women claiming assault on October 7. |
The decision of the appeals court is a good day for justice in America. |
Please listen. |
It is not so much that our elite universities have allowed a spirit of vile Jew hatred to take root on their campuses. Instead, they have cultivated that very spirit, fueling its fires and fine-tuning its ideologies.
The universities are complicit. They helped create this monster, and now it is out of control!
Nothing less than a comprehensive, top to bottom and bottom to top ideological overhaul will do... |
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Join us for our 3rd Education Summit on May 18 from 9am-4pm at Maggiano's Restaurant in Short Pump, Va! We will hear from "Education Entrepreneurs" who will showcase their innovative solutions to the challenges we face in educating the next generation of children in Virginia. Some of our featured speakers include: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Don and Ashley Soifer CEO and Chief Innovation Officer National Microschooling Center |
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Michael King Director of Community Alliances Massachusetts Family Institute |
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Sam Rogers Co-Founder, Treign Up Academy, An Acton Primus |
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Mercedes Grant Founder, Path of Life Learning |
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Danette Buckley Founder, Dream Tech Academy |
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Nasiyah Isra-Ul Executive Director, Canary Academy Online ......and more! Register today at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/third-annual-virginia-education-summit-tickets-880907667547 Space is limited so don't delay! |
Unfortunately, the radical left isn't the only problem we're facing. Significant elements of the Republican establishment do not want Donald Trump to be president again. They believe that if he is defeated, it's not only the end of him, but also the end of populist conservatism.
This is not a new rift in the party. As I have outlined before, the establishment bitterly fought Ronald Reagan, too, and it has crushed other populist movements in the party.
Populist conservatism fights for the working class. It puts Main Street ahead of Wall Street. It is strong on national defense but puts America's interests first.
It believes in free markets, but not at the expense of American workers. Instead of just paying lip service to the culture war, it is serious about winning it.
In contrast, the GOP establishment wants to go back to being the party of Big Business, Gerald Ford, and the Bush dynasty, where we keep surrendering more and more ground to the socialists and Marxists.
According to several news reports, the White House is contemplating granting an amnesty to an estimated 1.1 million individuals already living in the United States through "parole in place." Reports suggest that this amnesty would be focused on illegal alien spouses of U.S. citizens who currently aren't eligible to get a green card.
The amnesty would be another unlawful expansion of parole authority and would come with a path to a green card and, eventually, citizenship.
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