Dave Bondy
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Monday December 2, 2024
December 02, 2024
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LANSING, Mich - House Speaker-elect Rep. Matt Hall, R-Richland, pitched a $2.8 billion plan Friday to fix the roads and bridges.

The lawmaker wants to act on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2018 campaign promise by shifting existing tax dollars and expiring corporate handouts to roads.

“Everyone says they want to fix the roads when the cameras are on, but nobody has taken any real steps to do it these past two years,” Hall said in a news release. “The people are sick and tired of inaction and empty words.”

Since 2023, Michigan lawmakers have approved $4.6 billion in corporate welfare to select companies, Michigan Capitol Confidential has reported.

Michigan’s 2025 budget is a record $83 billion but the roads here, especially county and local roads, are still falling apart.

Hall’s plan would allocate $1.2 billion of corporate income tax revenue to infrastructure, add $600 million in additional funding in 2026, and direct state gas revenue entirely to road funding.

The $600 million increase would come from three current earmarks: $500 million for the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund that pays for corporate incentives, $50 million for the Revitalization and Placemaking Fund, and $50 million for the Housing and Community Development Fund.

The SOAR and RAP earmarks are set to expire after the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Hall also wants to replace the 6% sales tax on motor fuel with a revenue-neutral increase in the motor fuel tax, which would exclusively fund infrastructure. This would yield about $945 million in additional resources, Hall said. Click here to read more.

 

The Supreme Court on December 4 will hear oral arguments in a case dealing with Tennessee’s law banning irreversible gender transition procedures for children — and it promises to be one of the most significant cases the court has looked at this term.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R.) signed the much-discussed Senate Bill 1 into law on March 22, 2023, which went into effect on July 1, 2023. The bill bans doctors or health care providers from performing so-called “gender-affirming” surgeries or hormonal procedures on minors, including surgery, puberty blockers, and hormones.

The bill followed a September 2022 investigation into Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) by the The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, who exposed VUMC’s gender transition procedures for children and shocking attitudes towards gender transitions in general. Walsh and The Daily Wire found that the hospital regarded transgender procedures as a “big money maker” and pressured employees to ignore their “religious beliefs” on transgender issues or face “consequences.”

The Biden administration joined the ACLU and several teenage plaintiffs suing to stop the law, and a Tennessee district court initially blocked it in April 2023. But in September 2023, a sixth circuit court upheld Tennessee’s protections for children. The Supreme Court took up the case in June 2024, combining the Justice Department and ACLU cases into United States v. Skrmetti, marking the first time that the High Court took up a case of this kind. Click here to read more.

 

LANSING, Mich - Through September, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spent a quarter of her time in office on trips to other places, both national and international, prompting criticism she’s prioritizing her political ambitions over her constituents.

An analysis of bonus payments to Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II for serving as governor when Whitmer’s away suggests he could have been paid for 78 days, or 29% of the first nine months of 2024, though Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy claims it was 58 days, or 21%, The Detroit News reports.

“During election cycles, it’s a very common practice for governors of both parties to support their candidates on the road,” Leddy told the news site. “As co-chair of the [Vice President Kamala] Harris campaign, Gov. Whitmer was proud to play a prominent role on behalf of the president and vice president.” Click here to report more.

 

DEL RIO, TX - In the second and third quarters of fiscal 2024, U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents removed nearly 68,000 illegal border crossers, ICE says. ICE claims the number “reflects a 69% increase over removals during the third quarter in fiscal year 2023, and is more than 140% of ICE removals for all fiscal year 2023.”

According to the latest data published by ICE, 179,937 illegal foreign nationals, who under current federal law are inadmissible and required to be removed, weren’t detained but were living freely in the U.S. through ICE’s “Alternatives to Detention” (ATD) program, as of June 2024.

Newly published data in ICE’s Enforcement Removal Operations dashboard covers fiscal year 2021 through the third quarter of fiscal year 2024. It includes arrests, detention, removals and enrollments in ICE’s ATD, created by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Congressional Republicans argue ATD is illegal and circumvents federal law, which requires inadmissible illegal foreign nationals to be detained and processed for removal. Click here to read more.

 

SCOTT COUNTY, Minn. — The preliminary investigation into what happened to 20 ballots unaccounted for in the closest state House race in Minnesota concluded that they were likely thrown away and won't be recovered, the Scott County attorney said Wednesday.

The update adds a new layer to a contest that Republicans have pledged to challenge in court. A recount of ballots last week showed DFL incumbent Rep. Brad Tabke maintained his lead over GOP challenger Aaron Paul, widening his victory by just one vote for a total of 15.

"We are asking for a new election" said Rep. Lisa Demuth

But looming over that recount was the question of a 21-ballot discrepancy that Scott County officials found in two precincts: Officials said they had records of 21 more people voting than ballots received.

"The preliminary investigation into the 21-ballot discrepancy hasn't been determinative thus far, and it appears likely to be the result of human error that occurred during the collection of early absentee ballots at the City of Shakopee," said Ron Hocevar, the Scott County attorney in a news release. "This unfortunate situation resulted in a level of confusion that should not have occurred." Click here to read more.

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Thursday November 12, 2026

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Massie announces he has enough signatures for discharge petition for Epstein Files part 2

WASHINGTON (TNND) — Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie announced Wednesday that he got enough signatures for his discharge petition for the Epstein Files Transparency Act II.

“This mornibg we reached the required 218 signatures on my discharge petition for Epstein Files Transparency Act II!” he wrote on X.

He said he was working with Democratic Reps. Ro Khanna (California), Teresa Leger Fernandez (New Mexico) and Pramila Jayapal (Washington) to get the discharge petition to the floor for a vote. Click here to read more.


 

Mayor wants to raise Chicago’s rental tax to 20%

While Mayor Brandon Johnson wants to raise what’s often called the “cloud tax,” the charge in fact applies to a broad range of rented products.

Johnson proposes increasing Chicago’s Personal Property Lease Tax to 20%, up from 15%, a move that a majority of aldermen said in a letter dated Nov. 10 they won’t support.

The tax applies to all personal property rented within Chicago city limits and rented outside the city but used within. That includes tangible assets like construction equipment and intangible goods like digital software services.

The city’s municipal code defines taxable personal property broadly as “any and all property other than real property,” with real property generally being real estate, including land and permanent structures. Click here to read more.

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New Dem Congressman Suggests America Is Just As Bad As Iran

An incoming Democrat congressman repeatedly refused to say whether he considered the Islamic Republic of Iran an enemy of the United States during a CNN interview.

New Jersey Democratic Rep.-elect Adam Hamawy, a U.S. Army veteran, observant Muslim, and outspoken critic of Israel, won his race last Tuesday in the state’s deep-blue 12th Congressional District.

Appearing on CNN’s The Situation Room, Hamawy was repeatedly pressed by co-host Pamela Brown about his views on the Iranian regime after calling for the United States to end all military funding to Israel.

“Do you see Iran as the adversary?” Brown asked.

“We pushed them into a fight,” Hamawy insisted. “I think we both have to step back and ask: Is this helping either one of us?” Click here to read more.

 

United Airlines attempted hijacker is twice-deported illegal immigrant from Honduras, says DHS

Immigration officials said the man who tried to hijack a United Airlines flight Monday and claimed to have a bomb is a Honduran national who has been deported twice.

The Department of Homeland Security said Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, 34, crossed into Texas in 2011 and into New Mexico in 2014, but was quickly caught and removed both times.

That changed when Mr. Gomez-Alberto hopped the border into California in 2019. A judge allowed him to be released into the country as his immigration case played out in court, Homeland Security said. Click here to read more.

 

Surprise House passage of veterans bill sparks ‘trickery’ accusation

The House floor is frozen as Republicans and Democrats trade accusations about a controversial veterans bill that unexpectedly passed by voice vote Wednesday afternoon.

Republicans say Democrats simply neglected to ask for a roll-call vote, allowing the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act to immediately move to the Senate.

But a top Democrat accused GOP leaders of “trickery” in passing the bill, which had previously been pulled from the floor back in July due to bipartisan opposition.

A controversial provision in the bill would expand benefits for some individuals by paying for it with cuts to some future disability claims — something Democrats have largely opposed. Click here to read more.

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November 11, 2026
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Wednesday November 11, 2026

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Before and after: A look at Whitmer’s legacy

By most metrics, Michiganders have fared poorly under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policies. From the economy to education, the state has experienced significant declines in economic growth and education while seeing energy prices, gas taxes, and car insurance costs increase at higher rates than in neighboring states.

Whitmer took office in January 2019. The state increased its poverty rate from 13% in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, to 13.4% in 2024, with 1.3 million living below the poverty line.

The state has acknowledged this weak performance. “Michigan’s poverty rate was 13.4 percent in 2024, not statistically different from the 13.5 percent reported in 2023,” the Michigan Center for Data and Analytics reported in 2025. “During this time, the national poverty rate experienced a statistically significant decline, from 12.5 percent in 2023 to 12.1 percent in 2024. In 2024, the poverty rate in the United States, unlike Michigan, appears to have dropped below levels in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Click here to read more.


 

We can’t wait for a blackout to fix Michigan’s power problem

What happened the last time you flipped a light switch? The lights came on, right?

One of the electricity grid managers responsible for keeping the lights on has an urgent message: Current and future demand for electricity will eclipse our ability to generate power. This could lead to “catastrophic failure.” Michigan policymakers should take note.

PJM is the country’s oldest and largest regional transmission organization. It coordinates the movement of electricity for 67 million people across 13 states and the District of Columbia. Most of Michigan is served by a different regional grid operator, but PJM’s warning illustrates the problem facing electric grids across the country.

Getting electricity to your home involves many actors, including generators, regulators and utilities. It also involves a complex system of power plants, transmission lines and storage. Click here to read more.

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ACLU files lawsuit to prevent voter-approved girls’ sports initiative from becoming law

ACLU-WA and Pacifica Law Group filed a lawsuit to prevent IL-638 from going into effect. Voters approved the initiative last week by 11 points.

If the law is not struck down or put on hold by a judge, it will go into effect Dec. 3. The measure will mean all girls who want to play on a team designated for girls only must prove their sex assigned at birth, as part of a routine sports physical, via reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup, or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.

“Every girl in Washington state deserves a safe place to play sports,” Diane Bedwell, co-chair of No Hate in WA State, said election night. Click here to read more.

 

Islamist Pilots Pose ‘Insider Threat,’ Warn Security Experts

When the Federal Aviation Administration reinforced cockpit doors after the 9/11 hijackings, it turned flight decks into fortresses to lock out terrorists. But what if a terrorist is already inside?

That question has new urgency following the harrowing Sept. 30 attack aboard a FlyDubai flight in which a Muslim extremist (Islamist) pilot was forcefully stopped by a heroic pilot and brave passengers from crashing a plane bound for Israel.

Former aviation security officials say the FAA needs to reassess threats inside cockpits and the measures intended to counter them. They say this review is especially urgent because the agency has made insider threats to the cockpit more likely by recently forcing airlines to add a secondary barrier to the cockpit in the form of a metal gate on new planes. Click here to read more.

 

Communist Getaways On Whose Dime? What Democratic Socialists Must Hand Over

Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena to the Democratic Socialists of America on Tuesday, demanding records as his office investigates whether the group accepted money or other support from foreign adversaries, including Cuba and China.

Uthmeier said the inquiry focuses on foreign contributions tied to DSA delegations and travel fundraising, as well as whether the organization complied with Florida’s fundraising laws. The subpoena was issued under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

“Floridians who give to organizations operating in our state have a right to know where that money comes from, and how it is used,” Uthmeier said in a video. Click here to read more.

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November 10, 2026
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Tuesday November 10, 2026

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Some ways new Michigan leadership can encourage more housing

Demand for housing in Michigan has outstripped supply and led to higher prices. The solution to this is simple: Build more. But it is difficult because of government and market obstacles.

And despite massive government subsidies for more apartments, housing construction has barely budged for years. And we don’t build nearly as much as we did even in the 1990s.

The government isn’t particularly good at knowing how much or what types of housing needs to be built. But the market is good at it. It is unfortunate that so many rules and regulations have arisen that make it effectively illegal even to build much of the housing people in Michigan are currently living in. Click here to read more.


 

Judge denies motion to dismiss charges against Lindsay Clancy

The judge in the Lindsay Clancy case on Monday denied three motions that were argued last week.

Clancy is the Duxbury, Massachusetts, woman accused of killing her three children. Her trial ended in a hung jury in September.

Judge William Sullivan denied Clancy’s motion to dismiss the case against her on double-jeopardy grounds.

The judge found there was a “manifest necessity” for the mistrial because the jury remained deadlocked after extensive deliberations. He said questioning the holdout juror about his doubts or the substance of deliberations risked intruding into jury deliberations and coercing a verdict. Click here to read more.

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Pritzker could unlock over $2 billion for Illinois students by opting into federal tax credit program

Illinois taxpayers could direct more than $2 billion in donated money to students in the state if Gov. J.B. Pritzker opts Illinois into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program.

The program, also known as the Education Freedom Tax Credit, provides a 1:1 tax credit for qualified donations to scholarship-granting organizations. Students in both public and private schools can use the money for education expenses such as tutoring, services for students with disabilities, tuition or school fees and books or supplies.

The U.S. Treasury Department recently confirmed that married taxpayers filing jointly can get the tax credit for up to $3,400 annually in donations while individual filers can get the credit for up to $1,700 annually.

An analysis from the Democrats for Education Reform says it’s plausible that 30% of eligible Illinois taxpayers could donate the full allowed amount. That could raise $2,087,575,860 for students. Click here to read more.

 

New Details Suggest Joe Biden’s Mental Collapse Was Even Worse Than Previously Known

Former President Joe Biden reportedly forgot that longtime Senate colleague Bob Dole had died and, on another occasion, appeared to believe his late son Beau was still alive, according to an updated edition of Original Sin, the book by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson detailing Biden’s decline.

Biden reportedly forgot Dole’s death despite delivering “a nationally televised, roughly eighteen-minute eulogy for him at the Washington National Cathedral in December 2021.”

“On another occasion, Biden seemed to think his son Beau, who died in 2015, was still alive and fighting cancer,” the authors write.

The updated edition includes new reporting that was not included in the book’s original May 2025 release. Click here to read more.

 

Erika Kirk’s Message For Dave Chappelle After His Chilling Remark About Charlie’s Assassination

Erika Kirk has posted a response to Dave Chappelle’s viral comments about her husband’s assassination.

“To see leftist podcasters, comedians, and commentators laugh about political assassination as though it’s entertainment and the destruction of a human life is a punchline, is beyond disgusting,” the grieving widow shared on X.

“My husband, Charlie Kirk, was killed in an act of political violence, something our two children and I will live with every day for the rest of our lives. A culture that laughs at assassination is one of profound moral decay. It threatens the very foundation of our country and the principles that hold our democracy together.”

“You do not have to agree with someone’s politics to recognize the value of their life. This should not be so hard,” Kirk continued. Click here to read more.

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