March 2, 2022 - The Pennsylvania Daily Star

Lawmakers Consider Requested 40 Percent Funding Hike for Pennsylvania State Police

March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 Bradley Vasoli

At a Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday, representatives discussed the governor’s requested 40-percent state-police funding increase with department officials.

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) received $629,342,000 this fiscal year. In a budget proposal unveiled last month, Governor Tom Wolf (D) asked the Republican-run General Assembly to fund the agency at $925,599,000 (in combined state and federal dollars). The governor, however, anticipates that PSP funding can be kept flat over the four fiscal years after next year.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Keeps Mail-In Voting in Place

March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that controversial mail-in voting laws will remain in place for now.

Republicans argue that those laws, which have been in place for two years and were struck down by Commonwealth Court Senior Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt on February 16, violate the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Oversight Organization Battling National Institute of Health in Court over Chinese Involvement in COVID-19

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 Peter D'Abrosca

A government watchdog Tuesday took the next step in its battle to expose Chinese connections to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

“Empower Oversight filed an amended complaint today against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation for documents related to a request by Chinese researchers to remove genetic sequences related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus from a database controlled by NIH,” that group said in a press release.

Biden at SOTU: Putin ‘Badly Miscalculated’ His Invasion of Ukraine, Meeting a ‘Wall of Strength’

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

President Joe Biden opened his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night saying that COVID-19 kept America’s political leaders apart last year but now we’re “together again.”

Commentary: Seven Major Failures of the Biden Presidency

March 2, 2022March 2, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

With President Joe Biden set to deliver his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, it’s a good time to ask: How has Biden done as president and what is the actual state of our union?

According to the American people, things aren’t going great.

A CNN poll in early February asked Americans what they thought of Biden’s presidency and what he’s done right since entering office Jan. 20, 2021.

Wyoming State Senate Passes Amendment to Defund University’s Gender and Women’s Studies Program

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

The Wyoming State Senate passed an amendment to the budget Friday that would eliminate funding for the University of Wyoming’s Gender and Women’s Studies program, with those who voted in favor of defunding arguing the program is lacking in academic rigor and offers students only “biased” education.

The amendment passed, in a 16-14 vote.

Connecticut Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal’s Radical Abortion Bill Rejected by U.S. Senate

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal’s (D) radical abortion legislation that would have overridden state pro-life laws was defeated in the U.S. Senate Monday evening.

The Senate voted, 46-48, to reject a bill Democrats called the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have embedded abortion on demand, at any time during pregnancy, into federal law, making invalid most individual state pro-life laws.

Biden Approval Rating Continues to Plummet Amid Growing Economic Crisis

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Joe Biden’s approval rating has fallen even further in another mainstream poll, returning once more to the 30s in approval.

The Hill reports that Biden scored a mere 37 percent approval in the latest ABC News and Washington Post poll, with 55 percent disapproving of his performance. The remaining seven percent had no opinion one way or the other. The same poll back in November recorded a 41 percent approval rating.

25 States Line Up Against Biden Attack on Natural Gas Industry

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Half of all U.S. states penned a letter to the Biden administration, arguing against its decision to reverse a Trump-era rule allowing energy firms to transport natural gas via rail.

The 25-state coalition said that proposed prohibition of natural gas rail transport would have “devastating effects” on the economy and national security, according to the letter led by Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry. The Monday letter was addressed to Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Acting Administrator Tristan Brown.

Texas Primary Results: Abbott to Face Off with O’Rourke; Paxton Projected to Proceed to Runoff

March 2, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is projected to win his party’s primary nomination on Tuesday, and is expected to face Democrat Beto O’Rourke this fall.

Biden, Allies Again Tap Emergency Crude Oil Stockpiles Amid Ukraine Crisis

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

President Joe Biden will join other Western nations in releasing a total of 60 million barrels of crude oil amid the Ukraine crisis, the coalition announced Tuesday.

Overall, 31 member nations of the International Energy Agency (IEA), including the U.S., agreed to coordinate the release, according to the Paris-based group. The decision was made in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent effects on global energy security.

Georgia Elections Chief Vows to ‘Follow the Money’ in Harvesting Probe, Prosecute if Warranted

March 2, 2022 Pennsylvania Daily Star Staff

Georgia’s election chief is vowing a full-scale investigation into allegations Democrats may have illegally harvested ballots in the 2020 election, saying his team is preparing subpoenas to “follow the money” and bring prosecutions if warranted.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger sought to dispel whispers in conservative circles that he is slow-walking the probe he announced in January, explaining to Just the News that the only delays are related to administrative changes on the State Elections Board. That panel possesses the power to issue subpoenas Raffensperger says his investigators need to solve the case.

Commentary: Revitalizing K-12 Education with 10,000 New Charter Schools

March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 RealClearWire

The American K-12 education system has been failing too many students for too long. And the problem has only gotten worse amid pandemic-era school closures and remote learning.

Increasingly, parents are venting their frustration at local government bureaucracies and teachers’ unions that they believe have too often failed to put the interests of kids first — and some are voting with their feet.

Throughout Covid-19, traditional public school enrollment has dropped by 3.3% (1.45 million students) while charter school enrollment has increased by 7.1% year over year (237,000 students). Families are increasingly taking advantage of other non-traditional schooling options as well: according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the rate of homeschooling nationwide increased by 5.6 percentage points between April and October 2020.