Day: December 2, 2022

Twitter Docs Released by Musk and Journalist Suggest Democrats Could Manipulate Speech on Platform

Just the News

Twitter owner Elon Musk, through alternative journalist Matt Taibbi, released a series of internal documents on Friday suggesting that the Biden campaign and Democratic National Committee were able to manipulate speech on the platform through tools that Twitter made available.

That manipulation included the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story first reported by the New York Post. The emails appear to cite requests from “the Biden team” and “DNC” and include confirmations that Twitter “handled” their requests to delete posts.

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Election Lawsuits Pile up in Arizona as Counties, Candidates Challenge 2022 Midterms

Just the News

As the 2022 midterm election is nearing certification in Arizona, lawsuits and court rulings are piling up amid continuing revelations of myriad failures in the administration of the election in Maricopa County.

After Maricopa experienced a host of problems on Election Day at many of its vote centers, one county subsequently chose not to certify its election by the Monday deadline, while another county certified “under duress,” according to two supervisors on the county board.

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Kari Lake Campaign Says Sanction Against Her Is a Message to ‘Shut Up’ and ‘Not Come to Court’

Neil Jones

Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, Kari Lake, and Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem have been sanctioned by an Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge, John Tuchi, in a lawsuit they filed to prevent the use of electronic voting machines in the Arizona election. The Lake Campaign said this is a message to those who lose an election not to take their case to court.

“This case is not about money or gain. It was essentially a public interest lawsuit seeking electoral integrity. It is very very rare to sanction a party in public interest suits,” said the Lake Campaign in a statement shared with the Arizona Sun Times. “All in all this reads like an angry Obama appointee who wants to send a message. The message is if you lose shut up and don’t come to court. The message is not that you lost a case or acted in bad faith.”

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State House Speaker-Elect Ben Toma Fills Committee Chairs for Upcoming Arizona Legislative Session

Neil Jones

State Rep. Ben Toma (R-Peoria), elected to serve as the next Speaker of the House, has unveiled his list of committees and chair appointments.

“House Speaker-elect Ben Toma today announced committees and chair appointments for the upcoming 56th Legislature, 1st Regular Session, which opens on January 9, 2023,” according to a press release from the Arizona House Republicans.

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Sens. Ron Johnson, Rand Paul Lead Demand for Senate Vote on Ending Military COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

Susan Berry, PhD

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) are leading their Republican colleagues in an effort to demand Senate Republican leaders insist on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would end the military COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

In a letter Wednesday to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senators John Thune (R-SD), John Barrasso (RWY), and Roy Blunt (R-MO), Johnson and Paul joined 11 of their Senate GOP colleagues in voicing their opposition to forging ahead with the NDAA for the Fiscal Year 2023 without a Senate vote on an amendment that would ban discharges from the armed services due to failure to take the COVID shot.

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Legal Foundations Prepare to Defend a Tucson Mother’s Right to Due Process from Bureaucrats

Neil Jones

The Goldwater Institute (GI) and Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) filed their opening brief Wednesday in the case involving Tucson Mother Sarra L., who allegedly had her right to due process violated by the Arizona Department of Child Services (DCS).

“It’s shocking that Arizona bureaucrats are empowered to put a mother’s name on the state’s ‘do not hire’ list [Arizona Central Registry]—labeling her a child abuser, for as long as 25 years—without going through an actual court process, and under rules that courts in several other states have already declared unconstitutional,” said GI Vice President for Legal Affairs Timothy Sandefur in a statement shared with the Arizona Sun Times.

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Election Integrity Network Releases Extensive List of Discrepancies Reported in Maricopa County Midterm Election, Slams Officials for ‘Misinformation’

Rachel Alexander

The Election Integrity Network (EIN) has compiled a list of reports from election workers, poll watchers, and volunteer attorneys about questionable things they observed during Maricopa County’s midterm election, which experienced rampant tabulation machine and printer problems. EIN Chairman and election integrity attorney Cleta Mitchell denounced Maricopa County officials for “misinformation” regarding how bad the problems really were.

Cleta said, “Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Gates, Director of Elections Scott Jarrett, and County Recorder Steven Richer presided over a wholly mismanaged and disgraceful election on November 8 that has robbed countless voters of their political voices. Since the polls opened on Election Day, they have misled and misinformed the public about what really happened. But thanks to engaged citizens, we know the truth.”

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Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: If You Really Wanted to Destroy the United States, Then . . .

Arizona Sun Times Staff

First, you would surrender our prior energy independence. 

Reduce new gas and oil leases on federal lands to the lowest levels of any president in history. Cut back production at precisely the time the world is emerging from a two-year lockdown with pent-up consumer demand. 

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Coyotes $2.1 Billion Stadium District Voter Referendum Includes Public Tax Abatements, Infrastructure Costs

The Center Square

 Tempe’s City Council unanimously voted to bring a new $2.1 billion Arizona Coyotes arena and entertainment district to a May 16 voter referendum.

While $1.9 billion of the project is said to be privately funded by the Coyotes’ ownership group, the city has agreed to pay as much as $229 million for infrastructure at the site along with agreeing to a 30-year abatement of property taxes on the arena, music venue and Coyotes practice facility along with an eight-year abatement for the district’s hotels, residential units, retail and office spaces.

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Supreme Court Keeps Biden Student Loan Forgiveness Plan on Hold, Will Hear Case in February

Arizona Sun Times Staff

The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that it will hear a lawsuit challenging President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program in February, while the plan currently remains blocked.

The court released a miscellaneous order late Thursday afternoon from Justice Brett Kavanaugh granting the six states involved in the lawsuit the opportunity to present oral arguments. Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan remains blocked by an injunction, pending a further ruling from the court, who will hear arguments in February 2023.

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U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Colorado Case Pitting Speech Rights Against Minority Groups’ Rights

The Center Square

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments starting next week in what could be a landmark case centered on a Colorado small business owner’s free speech rights.

Lorie Smith, owner of graphic design company 303 Creative in Littleton, Colo., is challenging the state’s public-accommodation law, which she argues is compelling her speech. Smith wishes to create wedding websites only for straight couples, citing her religious beliefs.

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Appeals Court Shuts Down Special Master Review of Mar-a-Lago Documents

Just the News

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that a Trump-appointed judge erred in appointing a special master to independently review the documents the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate in August.

An 11th Circuit Court of Appeals panel unanimously determined that U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon was incorrect both to appoint a special master to independently assess Trump’s executive privilege claims and to bar the Department of Justice from conducting its own review, Politico reported.

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JPMorgan Strategists Predict Stock Plunge, Recession as Early as First Half of 2023

Arizona Sun Times Staff

Strategists at JPMorgan Chase predicted a recession as soon as the first half of 2023, coupled with a major stock market slide, in a research note Thursday, according to Bloomberg.

The strategists expected the S&P 500 stock index to decline roughly 12% in the first half of next year, before rebounding to end 2023 up 3% as inflation cools and the Federal Reserve slows or reverses its aggressive campaign of interest rate hikes, Bloomberg reported. Despite the expectation that the stock market will rebound by the end of next year, the analysts anticipated that U.S. corporate earnings would fall roughly 9% as demand slumps and economic conditions limit companies’ ability to set higher prices.

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Commentary: Europe Shows a Clear Link Between Immigration and Crime

RealClearWire

Violent crime is becoming common in Sweden, shocking residents of the famously placid Scandinavian nation, where horrific acts of violence have become “all too familiar,” according to Common Sense Media, part of a Swedish nonprofit organization.   

Since 2018, Swedish authorities have recorded an estimated 500 bombings, while what they describe as gang shootings have become increasingly common. The country reported a record 124 homicides in 2020 and many residents were shocked in April when violent riots injured more than 100 police officers.  

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Half of Americans Believe Wokeism Is Undermining the Military

Arizona Sun Times Staff

Half of Americans believe “so-called ‘woke’ policies” cause the military to be less effective, according to a poll published Thursday by the conservative Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.

The National Defense Survey, which was conducted in November, found that overall, perceived politicization among the military’s top brass continues to drive historically low levels of trust in the institution among Americans. Half of respondents, mostly Republicans, identified “woke” policies, such as a focus on race and gender diversity in the U.S. service branches and training academies, as one of the greatest threats to the military’s overall effectiveness and the greatest contributor to decreased trust.

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U.S. Senate Joins House in Enacting Rail Contracts to Avert Strike

The Center Square

The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed legislation to avert a nationwide railroad workers’ strike, but an Illinois congressman says the government should not be negotiating private sector labor deals.  

The legislation, which was approved by the U.S. House on Wednesday, enacts new contracts providing railroad workers with 24% pay increases over five years, immediate payouts averaging $11,000, and an extra day off.  

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Commentary: A GOP Majority Will Pushback on Corporate America

RealClearWire

The results of the 2022 midterms will be dissected endlessly. But among the political ramifications is a very important question for American business executives: With Big Business increasingly involved in political debates (and usually taking sides against Republicans), how will the relationship between the two change under a new GOP House majority?

One answer is that companies should be ready for a wake-up call. This Republican majority will be more populist and less deferential to massive corporations than any that has come to power in the past. Never has the disconnect between executives, employees, and customers been so apparent.

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