March 16, 2023 - The Arizona Sun Times

‘That’s a Lie’: GOP Senator Presses Janet Yellen on Plan to Pay for Social Security

March 16, 2023 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana accused the Biden administration of lying about its commitment to working with Congress to protect seniors’ social security benefits at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee Thursday.

Cassidy asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who was testifying about President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for the fiscal year 2024, if the president was aware that “when [Social Security] goes broke in nine years” there would be a 24% cut in benefits for current recipients.

BlackRock CEO Scales Back Emphasis on Climate Investing: Not the Environmental Police

March 16, 2023 Arizona Sun Times Staff

CEO Larry Fink of investing titan BlackRock put reduced emphasis on climate and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals in an annual letter to the company’s investors and stakeholders Wednesday, amid Republican criticism of his firm’s investing strategy.

BlackRock has faced significant criticism from Republicans, who allege that the company has focused too much on “woke” investing to the detriment of its clients, and more recently Democrats who argue the company hasn’t gone far enough with its ESG efforts. Fink’s reduced emphasis on his firm’s role in the energy transition stands in stark contrast to his 2020 letter to investors, in which he argued the company had a “significant responsibility … to play a constructive role” in the transition to low-carbon sources of energy, Axios reported.

Investigators Release Details on Bank Record Trail Leading from China to Biden Family

March 16, 2023 Just the News

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky) on Thursday released a summary of the first bank records showing how a $3 million payment from a Chinese company came into the United States, was broken up and eventually infused $1.3 million into the accounts of President Joe Biden’s family members. “Pursuant to a subpoena, the Committee recently obtained financial records related to Mr. John Robinson Walker, a Biden family associate, and his company Robinson Walker, LLC,” Comer’s committee reported in a new memo summarizing its investigative findings.

‘Getting Very Close to Joe Biden’: Congress Probes Dozen Bank Accounts that Enriched First Family

March 16, 2023 Just the News

Congressional investigators have identified a labyrinth of at least a dozen bank accounts that were used to funnel money from foreign sources to Joe Biden’s family and uncovered the first evidence that some funds went to benefit the future president, the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee has disclosed.

Tucson Man Heads Behind Bars After Attempting to Smuggle Fentanyl into Arizona

March 16, 2023March 15, 2023 Neil Jones

The Arizona District of the Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Tucson resident Jose Antonio Cota, 33, has been sentenced to jail time for attempting to smuggle fentanyl into the state.

“Cota pleaded guilty to one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl in April 2022,” according to the release from the DOJ. “In August 2020, Cota was a passenger in a commercial shuttle van when it stopped for a routine immigration inspection at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Amado, Arizona.”

Texas Case Could End Access to ‘Dangerous’ Abortion-Inducing Drug Nationwide

March 16, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A federal judge heard oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that could end availability of abortion-inducing drug mifepristone throughout the nation.

The case was brought against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November by Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a coalition of pro-life OB/GYNS, pediatricians, and other Christian healthcare providers, who are seeking a preliminary injunction to require the FDA to either withdraw or suspend its approval of the drug while the lawsuit continues.

Business-Aligned Democratic Allies Prevail in Phoenix City Council Election

March 16, 2023March 15, 2023 The Center Square

Democrat Kevin Robinson will replace Republican Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio in District 6, and Democrat Kesha Hodge Washington unseated incumbent Councilman Carlos Garcia following a runoff election on Tuesday.

Republican Sam Stone, who was up against former police officer Robinson, quickly conceded after seeing the results at his election night party in north Phoenix. Stone worked for DiCiccio and gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

‘Apparently, I Am the Wrong Kind of Black’: California Equity Director Fired for Viewpoint Diversity

March 16, 2023 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Dr. Tabia Lee, faculty director for the Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at De Anza College, alleges that she is being terminated for not adhering to anti-racist “orthodoxy.”

Lee, a Black woman who grew up in central California, was fired last week from her position as a tenure track Faculty Director for the Office of Equity, Social Justice, and Multicultural Education at the community college in Cupertino, California, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Feds’ ‘Foreign Corruption’ Double Standard: They Protected Bidens as They Bore Down on Trump

March 16, 2023 RealClearWire

At the same time that Department of Justice officials were using spying and corruption statutes to aggressively pursue Donald Trump’s allies based on what turned out to be rumor and innuendo, they declined to use those same laws to investigate evidence of wrongdoing involving Biden family members and one of their corrupt Chinese business partners, DOJ documents and federal court records reveal.

State Legislators Say Ranked Choice Voting Will Only Cause Problems If Implemented in Arizona

March 16, 2023March 15, 2023 Neil Jones

The Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) released a statement Tuesday, allowing several members to speak out against Ranked Choice Voting (RVC) in Arizona and promote two bills that would prohibit it in the state.

“RCV may not always result in the candidate with the most first-choice votes winning the election,” said AFC Member Senator Anthony Kern (R-Glendale). “I am aware that there are groups in Arizona advocating for RCV, but this will only lead to chaos, and we must ensure that our constituents have easy and fair access to the ballot box.”

Commentary: Michelle Obama Is Not Coming to Save the Democrats

March 16, 2023 Arizona Sun Times Staff

I love a good conspiracy theory. Aliens, ancient builders, Bigfoot—I will absolutely click on that headline and read the latest conspiracy, no matter how fanciful or ludicrous. Everyone has a harmless personal foible, right? And in the times we live in now, shadowy government conspiracies and UFOs are no longer just for “The X Files.”

Stacey Abrams Joins Dark Money-Backed Group Looking to Crack Down on Gas Stoves

March 16, 2023 Arizona Sun Times Staff

by Bronson Winslow Two-time failed Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is joining an environmental advocacy group that is looking to crack down on gas stoves, according to the group’s website. Abrams will be joining Rewiring America, a group that aims to electrify homes and appliances and suggests gas stoves can lead…

Pentagon’s ‘Strategic Management Plan’ Devotes Roughly One Out of Every Six Pages to Diversity, Climate Change

March 16, 2023 Arizona Sun Times Staff

Nearly one of every six pages of a document detailing the Pentagon’s management strategy are devoted to combating climate change and fulfilling Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

The Strategic Management Plan for 2022 to 2026, released Tuesday, covers 124 pages and underscores the actions the Department of Defense (DOD) is taking to fulfill the Biden administration’s broader national defense strategy. It lays out high-level, long term goals and steps the department will take to accomplish those objectives and overcome anticipated challenges, as well as performance metrics for so-called Agency Priority Goals (APGs) that include climate and diversity targets.

Commentary: DeSantis Charms GOP by Condemning ‘Leaks’ and ‘Palace Intrigue’

March 16, 2023 RealClearWire

On its face, there wasn’t anything unusual about the email that landed last week in the press office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“Background interview request from the Washington Post,” read the subject line that summarized the industry-standard process whereby information is shared with reporters under pre-negotiated terms, usually anonymity. When sanctioned by a politician or their team, it is called “going on background” to shape and broaden a story with additional facts and contexts but without direct attribution. When not sanctioned, well, then that is just called leaking.

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