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Monday, April 10, 2023

Summer Riley Gains Assaulted by Violent Trans Protestor During Speech

Washington Examiner: Riley Gaines, former University of Kentucky swimmer, vowed that she would not be deterred after a violent protest at her San Francisco State University speech this week. Gaines rose to fame for objecting to Lia Thomas, a University of Pennsylvania swimmer and a biological male who identifies as a transgender female, competing against her in high-level swim competitions. She was invited to speak at the San Francisco chapter of Turning Point USA on Thursday night about her fight against biological male athletes competing in women’s sports. The 12-time All-American swimmer’s remarks were drowned out by a group of pro-transgender protesters who had become increasingly louder outside the room. The protesters eventually made their way into the room where Gaines was speaking. Gaines plans to press charges against the protesters who assaulted her (Washington Examiner). Riley Gains: The prisoners are running the asylum at SFSU…I was ambushed and physically hit twice by a man. This is proof that women need sex-protected spaces. Still only further assures me I’m doing something right. When they want you silent, speak louder (Twitter). Post Millennial: Tucker Carlson speaks with Riley Gaines after she narrowly escaped from a violent mob of trans activists: “This does not deter me, this assures me that I am doing the right thing” (Twitter).

Democrats Lash Out at Texas Judge After Suspension of Abortion Pill Ruling

Politico: A Texas federal judge ruled Friday evening to suspend the FDA’s approval of mifepristone — one of two drugs used together to cause an abortion — virtually banning the sale of the pills across the country. The decision, however, will not take effect for a week, giving higher courts time to consider the appeal the Biden administration filed Friday night and delaying for now the impact on hundreds of thousands of patients who use the medication both for abortions and treating miscarriages (Politico). NBC: Congressional Democrats quickly condemned the Friday decision by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed under former President Donald Trump. The top Democrat in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY., said the “Extreme MAGA Republican assault on abortion care is spreading across America like a malignant tumor.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the ruling “another massive step towards Republicans’ goal of a nationwide abortion ban,” adding that it “could throw our country into chaos” (NBC). Townhall: “I believe that the Biden administration should ignore this ruling,” AOC said on CNN, adding that “deeply partisan” judges have “engaged in unprecedented and dramatic erosion of the legitimacy of the courts,” calling the ruling “unfounded” (Townhall).

Biden Administration Suggests Changing Title IX to Remove Funding from Schools That Protect Female Sports

Townhall: The Biden administration on Thursday proposed a new Title IX rule that would prohibit schools from enacting blanket bans on transgender athletes though certain limitations could be issued in the name of fairness or safety. The rule would impact educational institutions that receive federal funding. “Every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona in a statement (Townhall). Greg Price: The Biden Education Department just dropped new Title IX rules that bar schools that receive federal funding from enforcing policies that ban biological males from playing girl’s sports (Twitter). Sen. James Lankford: The Biden Easter present to America is a new rule released this afternoon on Title IX saying that elementary age children must be allowed to play on the sports team of their gender identity or the school will lose their federal funds, regardless of state law (Twitter).

IRS to Hire 30,000 New Agents in Part of $80 Billion Investment

New York Post: The Internal Revenue Service plans to hire nearly 30,000 new employees and deploy new technology over the next two years as it ramps up an $80 billion investment plan to improve tax enforcement and customer service, it said on Thursday. The tax agency, in its long-awaited Strategic Operating Plan, said it will obligate about $8.64 billion of the new funding during the 2023 and 2024 fiscal years, and that 8,782 of the new hires during those years will be enforcement staff (New York Post). Townhall: A Treasury official said its goal is to help close the “tax gap” between taxes owed and those already paid by focusing new audits on the wealthiest Americans. Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb) of the Ways and Means Committee accuses the Biden Administration of targeting small business owners and hard-working Americans. New IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel attempted to downplay Republicans’ worries saying said that the percentage of Criminal Investigation staff would not change from its current proportion of about 3 percent of the IRS workforce (Townhall).

House Oversight Subpoenas Multiple Banks for Financial Records of Biden’s Associates

Daily Wire: The House Oversight Committee has reportedly issued subpoenas to several banks to get the financial records of some of the Biden family’s associates. The subpoenas come as part of Republicans’ investigations into the business dealings of President Joe Biden’s family and associates. Federal prosecutors are investigating Hunter Biden over his foreign business dealings in countries such as China and Ukraine, tax affairs, and more. The committee, led by Chairman James Comer (R-KY), subpoenaed Bank of America, Cathay Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and HSBC USA N.A. (Daily Wire). Fox News: The Oversight Committee Democratic staff sent a memo to members on Thursday which accuses Republicans of conducting their investigation behind a “veil of secrecy.” The Democratic memo alleges that Republicans haven’t been publicizing their subpoenas or notifying Democrats, which has purportedly resulted in some targets of subpoenas being unaware that the committee is seeking their records (Fox News).

Biden Administration Largely Blames Trump for Afghanistan Withdrawal Disaster

Fox News: A Democratic U.S. senator on Sunday blamed former President Donald Trump for leaving the Biden administration with “very bad options” that led to the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News. Cardin’s comments follow the White House’s public release of a 12-page summary of the results of the U.S. policies around the ending of the nation’s longest war, taking little responsibility for its own actions and asserting that Biden was “severely constrained” by Trump’s decisions (Fox News). Washington Examiner: Former President Donald Trump set in motion the withdrawal from the war-torn nation, but Biden carried it through. Republican detractors countered that Biden may have been able to reverse course or should have executed better planning (Washington Examiner). RNC Research: CBS News on Biden’s shameful attempt to rewrite history on his Afghanistan withdrawal: “Biden’s decision to pull the U.S. out of Afghanistan led to the collapse of its government, its military, the death of 13 Americans, & it left tens of thousands of Afghans hoping to escape” (Twitter). Dr. Jonathan Schroden: Let’s begin by being frank about what this document is/isn’t. It ISN’T an objective attempt to identify or summarize lessons learned. It IS a political document designed to deflect blame in advance of a gathering storm of House GOP hearings (Twitter).

China Continues Military Drills Around Taiwan in Retaliation to President Tsai Ing-wen’s Visit to US

NBC: China’s military conducted a second day of military drills around Taiwan on Sunday, with the island’s defence ministry reporting multiple air force sorties and that it was monitoring China’s missile forces. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, began three days of military exercises around the island on Saturday, the day after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a brief visit to the United States (NBC). AZ Geopolitics: Sending US troops to Taiwan is “on the table,” says Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs of the US Michael McCaul (Twitter).

President Biden to Get Influencers to Praise Him Across All Platforms to Garner Young Voters

Axios: President Biden’s not-yet-official bid for re-election will lean on hundreds of social media “influencers” who will tout Biden’s record — and soon may have their own briefing room at the White House. The move aims to boost Biden’s standing among young voters who are crucial to Democrats’ success in elections — and to potentially counter former President Trump’s massive social media following, if he’s the GOP nominee in 2024. Four Biden digital staffers are focused on influencers and independent content creators. The staffers officially work for the White House, not Biden’s campaign — but reaching young and suburban voters is clearly a priority (Axios). Washington Examiner: These influencers across platforms such as Tiktok Instagram, and Twitter will praise Biden’s accomplishments and agenda to their followers (Washington Examiner).

Biden Looking to Introduce Strict Regulations on Automakers

New York Times: The Biden administration is planning some of the most stringent auto pollution limits in the world, designed to ensure that all-electric cars make up as much as 67 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the country by 2032, according to two people familiar with the matter. That would represent a quantum leap for the United States — where just 5.8 percent of vehicles sold last year were all-electric — and would exceed President Biden’s earlier ambitions to have all-electric cars account for half of those sold in the country by 2030. It would be the federal government’s most aggressive climate regulation and would propel the United States to the front of the global effort to slash the greenhouse gases generated by cars (New York Times).

10.

Venture Investing Scales Back in Q1 by 53 Percent from Last Year

Crunchbase: Venture and growth investors in private companies continued to scale back their investment pace in the first quarter of 2023. Global funding in the first quarter reached $76 billion — marking a 53% decline year over year from $162 billion in the first quarter of 2022. That’s even including a reported $10 billion investment into OpenAI — largely from Microsoft — and a $6.5 billion round for payments giant Stripe. Without those two large deals, Q1 venture funding would have been down even more dramatically, close to $60 billion. Every funding stage last quarter was down 44%-54% year over year, a clear signal that the slowdown is not confined to late-stage funding (Crunchbase). Yahoo Finance: Venture capital funding worldwide declined 53% in the first quarter of this year (Twitter).