Biden's War on Gas and Oil

From halting pipeline construction to curtailing America’s domestic energy production on public lands; from begging Saudi Arabia and Venezuela for oil while shoveling billions of taxpayer dollars to expensive, intermittent “green” energy — the Biden administration’s disastrous energy policy decisions have underscored their commitment to the war on America’s oil and gas industry.

But the oil and gas industry, and the millions of American men and women who work in it, is about far more than just fueling automobiles and keeping the lights on. Many products that we take for granted and use daily are made from petrochemical raw materials such as ethylene and propylene which are derived from oil and natural gas. 

From medical devices and other health products to clothing and food packaging to cell phones, car parts, electronics, and everything in between, the standard of life we have become accustomed to simply would not exist without plastic products made from oil and gas derivatives.

The American people are no strangers to the effects of the Biden administration’s radical agenda. Inflation is hitting the people I represent in Eastern Ohio hard. They are struggling to fill up their tanks, buy personal care products, clothe their children, and even afford food.  READ MORE...

Fetterman Raises Money After Debate

Democratic Pennsylvania Senate nominee John Fetterman raised more than $1 million following Tuesday night’s debate with Republican Mehmet Oz, according to Fetterman’s campaign.

The campaign said it raised the amount during the three hours between the debate’s conclusion at 9 p.m. and midnight.

The two candidates sparred over a number of top issues, like the economy and abortion, in the state’s first and only Senate debate.

The closely watched event, which was held two weeks before the election, also drew attention to Fetterman’s ongoing recovery from a stroke earlier this year, a matter that the Oz campaign has mocked at times. Fetterman’s challenges communicating were on full display during the debate, with the Democrat calling it the “elephant in the room.”  READ MORE...

Student Absent in Virginia

A Virginia high school canceled all activities this weekend after almost half of its students called in absent this week due to a flu-like illness.

“Due to the high number of student and staff illnesses reported this week, all Stafford High School activities and athletics scheduled through Sunday, October 23, are canceled,” wrote Stafford High’s official Facebook account on Friday.

The school said that it would follow up on illness levels over the weekend and reassess conditions on Monday.

The Hill has reached out to the Stafford County Public Schools office for comment.

NBC 4 Washington reported on Friday that about 1,000 students were absent from Stafford High School, which is located just outside Fredericksburg, Va.  READ MORE...

MidTerm Rankings

A little more than two weeks stand between now and Election Day, and it’s likely going to come down to the wire as Republicans and Democrats duke it out for Senate supremacy.

The two sides are fresh off of third-quarter fundraising releases and squarely in the middle of debate season, with Republicans starting to feel that the economic tide has turned in their favor at exactly the right moment.

On the Democratic side, abortion remains the hallmark issue that candidates are messaging on far and wide in order to help keep control of the upper chamber.

Here’s a look at the seven Senate seats most likely to flip next month:

Click Here...  to see those results...

Mainstream Media is a Threat to Democracy

More than half of all registered voters see the mainstream media as a threat to American democracy, according to a new poll.

A New York Times-Siena College poll published Tuesday found 59 percent of voters view the media as a “major threat to democracy,” while 25 percent said the press is a “minor threat” and only 15 percent said it poses no threat.

The divide fell sharply along partisan lines, with 87 percent of voters who supported former President Trump in 2020 indicating they view the media is a major threat, while 33 percent of Biden voters during that election cycle said the same thing.  READ MORE...

Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Program

A group of Wisconsin taxpayers on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to block the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program while an appeal plays out in a lower court.

The emergency request, filed to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who handles emergency matters arising from Wisconsin, comes shortly after the administration began accepting applications for the program.

The challengers, the Brown County Taxpayers Association, urged the court to rule that the president’s nationwide debt cancellation plan illegally encroaches on Congress’ exclusive spending power.

“The assault on our separation of powers — and upon the principle that the spending power is vested solely in Congress — is extraordinary, and perhaps unprecedented,” they wrote in court papers. “We are witnessing a gargantuan increase in the national debt accomplished by a complete disregard for limitations on the constitutional spending authority.”

President Biden announced in August that his administration planned to forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for those making under $125,000 annually and $20,000 for recipients of Pell grants, which assists students from lower-income families.  READ MORE...

Black Democratic Women

FILE – A woman presents her identification to vote through a plexiglass barrier, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, on election day at the Matin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans on Nov. 3, 2020. 

Louisiana’s secretary of state and attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, June 17, 2022, to put a hold on a federal judge’s order for the state to create a second majority Black congressional district by Monday.

Advocates are calling on Democrats to step up their messaging on voting rights and abortion to Black women specifically, arguing it is clackritical that the party turn out the key constituency to hold on to majorities in the Senate and House.

State laws curbing abortion rights and the ability to easily vote disproportionately affect Black women, making both salient issues to energize a powerful voting bloc for Democrats.

But part of the problem, advocates say, is that Democrats are taking Black women’s votes for granted.  READ MORE...

88% of Americans Say US On The Wrong Track

Nearly 9 in 10 Americans say the country is headed on the wrong track, according to a survey from Monmouth University Poll released on Tuesday.

The survey found that just 10 percent said the country is headed in the right direction — an all-time low since the pollster began asking the question in 2013 — while 88 percent said it is on the wrong track.

The proportion of respondents who said the country is on the wrong track jumped by 9 percentage points from when the question was asked in May, which was also a record at the time.

Only 6 percent of Republicans said the country is headed in the right direction, compared to 18 percent of Democrats. Ninety-two percent of Republicans said the country has gotten off on the wrong track, as do 91 percent of independents and 8 in 10 Democrats.

Older Americans were more likely to believe the country is headed in the right direction.

Sixteen percent of those aged 55 and older said the U.S. is  headed in the right direction, compared to 8 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 5 percent of those aged 18 to 34.

Monmouth conducted interviews both before and after the Supreme Court voted late last month to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, ending the constitutional right to abortion.    READ MORE...

Native Americans Reacquire Land

The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced on Friday the return of more than 400 acres of land to an indigenous tribe in Virginia.

About 465 acres at Fones Cliffs on the eastern side of the Rappahannock River was returned to the Rappahannock Tribe, which regards the sacred site as its ancestral homeland, according to a press release from the DOI.

The Rappahannock Tribe will own and maintain the land, but the site, within the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge, will be available to the public. The tribe plans to create trails and a replica 16th-century village at the site to educate visitors.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) also holds a permanent conservation easement on the land, which was donated to them by environmental organization Chesapeake Conservancy.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary, said she was “honored to join the Rappahannock Tribe in co-stewardship of this portion of their ancestral homeland.”

“This historic reacquisition underscores how Tribes, private landowners, and other stakeholders all play a central role in this Administration’s work to ensure our conservation efforts are locally led and support communities’ health and well-being,” Haaland said in a statement.

The Biden administration has been working to support indigenous people and tribes through an array of methods, including building out physical infrastructure and financially supporting tribal nations, according to a White House fact sheet released in November.   READ MORE...

Italian Flight Attendants

Italian flight attendants stripped down to their underwear to protest job losses and pay cuts.

Around 50 former female Alitalia flight attendants stripped down to their underwear at the Campidoglio in Rome, CNN reported.

The flight attendants decided to remove their clothing after showing up in their Alitalia uniforms, chanting "We are Alitalia” while undressing.

The news comes after Alitalia ceased its operations, and ITA Airways took its place as the national carrier in Italy. However, not everyone from Alitalia was able get a job with the new airline.

Only 2,600 of the 10,500 Alitalia employees have received a job from ITA Airways.

One new ITA Airways attendant told CNN that those who did get a job with the new airline have seen their seniority drop, received a pay cut and are not told far enough in advance when they will work.

ITA President Alfredo Altavilla said all the employees agreed on the terms of their contracts and the threats of a strike are "a thing of national shame."

ITA Airways will retain half of Alitalia’s planes but will also add new airbuses to the national carrier, according to Reuters.

It will still be a few months until ITA Airways is fully phased in while Alitalia ends its operations. Passengers have not been affected by the change in airlines.