White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre been accused for a second time of violating the Hatch Act, a federal law that restricts political activity by government officials while on duty or in official communications.
A federal watchdog group, Protect the Public’s Trust, filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel after Jean-Pierre’s repeated alleged infractions. Although the OSC initially determined that the accusations had merit, the press secretary will face no disciplinary action over her continued use of the term “MAGA” to describe Republicans, while she is on the clock as an official of the White House.
The controversy surrounding Jean-Pierre’s alleged violations began prior to the 2022 mid-term elections when she made statements during a press briefing that the Protect the Public Trust argued were in violation of the Hatch Act.
The Office of Special Counsel agreed with PPT’s allegation in June of 2023, concluding that the press secretary’s statements did breach the law against campaigning on official time. Instead of imposing disciplinary action, the agency chose to issue a warning.
Along with the warning, the federal agency issued guidance that explicitly prohibits the use of phrases like “MAGA” and other political slogans by federal officials during their official duties or communications.
Despite this, both Karine Jean-Pierre and Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates persisted in using the prohibited phrase in the days following the warning, something noted by Protect the Public Trust.
Bates has used the term “MAGAnomics” repeatedly, as late as last Monday, when he used “MAGAnomics” in the subject line and twice in a memo.
Protect the Public Trust filed a second complaint with the OSC, accusing both officials of blatant disregard for the Hatch Act and the OSC’s guidance. However, the OSC opted not to pursue disciplinary action for a second time.
In a letter dated late October, the OSC claimed that while Jean-Pierre and Bates’s actions were “contrary to our June 7 warning letter and advisory opinion,” they believed that White House officials were now “abiding by the warning letter and advisory opinion,” leading to the decision to close the matter without consequences.
The controversy surrounding Jean-Pierre’s alleged violations is one of several instances where the OSC has faced criticism for appearing to neglect its statutory duty to enforce the Hatch Act.
A coalition of 21 Democratic attorneys general, led by Washington state’s Bob Ferguson and New York’s Letitia James, have filed a brief seeking to block an Idaho law that prohibits transgender students from using public school restrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
Idaho has a Republican trifecta, with the Republican Party controlling the office of governor and both chambers of the state Legislature
This summer, a lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of Boise High School’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance, and Rebecca Roe, a seventh-grade transgender high school senior who is using the moniker to protect her identity. The lawsuit sought to keep Idaho school officials from enforcing Senate Bill 1100, which also allows students to sue schools for $5,000 or more for each instance where they encounter a transgender student in a facility barred by law, according to a Thursday news release from Ferguson’s office.
Last month, federal Judge David Nye denied a request for a preliminary injunction against Idaho school officials to keep them from enforcing the law.
In response, the plaintiffs asked Nye to put his order on hold while they appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. At the same time, they asked the 9th Circuit to stay the order, which it did on Oct. 26.
“Allowing students to use bathrooms and changing rooms that correspond with their gender identity helps them feel accepted and does not pose a threat to anyone,” Ferguson said in the news release. “In Washington, where the rights of transgender students are protected, public schools report no instances of transgender students harassing others in bathrooms or locker rooms. In contrast, the evidence is overwhelming that prohibiting students from using facilities that correspond to their gender identity causes them very real physical, emotional and mental harm.”
Neighboring Washington is going in the opposite direction of Idaho in terms of transgender issues.
The state’s anti-discrimination law, known as the Washington Law Against Discrimination, explicitly prohibits discrimination because of “gender expression or identity,” including actual or perceived identity.
The Washington State Human Rights Commission, the state agency responsible for enforcing the WLAD, issued regulations in 2015 clarifying that the WLAD protects the right of transgender individuals to use restrooms and other gender-segregated facilities consistent with their gender identity.
In 2021, Washington’s Democratic-controlled Legislature passed a bill – later signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee – that requires insurers to cover gender-affirming surgeries that are prescribed by a person’s doctor and deemed medically necessary.
During this year’s session, lawmakers passed a bill that expands an existing law that allows organizations providing services to unsheltered youth to delay notifying a parent or guardian if there is a compelling reason – such as abuse or neglect – not to inform a parent or guardian. Inslee signed the bill into law.
The law adds gender-affirming treatment – therapy to, in rare cases, surgery – to the reasons youth can seek protected healthcare services.
According to a June 2022 study by the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, there are more than 33,000 people ages 13 and older in Washington who identify as transgender. The Evergreen State has a total population of more than 7.7 million people.
Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, D.C. joined the brief.
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have entered into an agreement under which Alaska Airlines will acquire Hawaiian Airlines for $18 per share in cash, for a transaction value of approximately $1.9 billion, which includes nearly $1 billion of Hawaiian Airlines net debt.
The combined company will unlock more destinations for consumers and expand choice of critical air service options and access throughout the Pacific region, Continental United States and globally, the company said. Each airline will retain its distinct brand, although will be operated off of the same platform, the company said.
The transaction is expected to enable a stronger platform for growth and competition in the U.S., as well as long-term job opportunities for employees, continued investment in local communities and environmental stewardship, the company said.
It expands the fifth largest U.S. airline to a fleet of 365 narrow and wide body airplanes enabling flyers to reach 138 destinations through a combined networks and more than 1,200 destinations through the oneworld Alliance.
“As airlines rooted in the 49th and 50th U.S. states, which are uniquely reliant upon air travel, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines share a deep commitment to caring for their employees, guests and communities. This combination will build on the 90+ year legacies and cultures of these two service- oriented airlines, preserve both beloved brands on a single operating platform, and protect and grow union-represented jobs and economic development opportunities in Hawai‘i, with a combined network that will provide more options and added international connectivity for travelers through airline partners including, the oneworld Alliance.” the companies’ statement said.
“This combination is an exciting next step in our collective journey to provide a better travel experience for our guests and expand options for West Coast and Hawai‘i travelers,” said Ben Minicucci, Alaska Airlines CEO. “We have a longstanding and deep respect for Hawaiian Airlines, for their role as a top employer in Hawai‘i, and for how their brand and people carry the warm culture of aloha around the globe. Our two airlines are powered by incredible employees, with 90+ year legacies and values grounded in caring for the special places and people that we serve. I am grateful to the more than 23,000 Alaska Airlines employees who are proud to have served Hawai‘i for over 16 years, and we are fully committed to investing in the communities of Hawai‘i and maintaining robust Neighbor Island service that Hawaiian Airlines travelers have come to expect.”
In 2016, Alaska Airlines bought Virgin America for $2.6 billion, in a deal that made Alaska into the fifth-largest airline in America.
We have heard that the Anchorage School District is suffering from a huge budget hole of $95 million brought on mostly by using one-time federal funds to pay for recurring costs, such as salaries and benefits.
But really, how deep is this budget hole?
Let’s look at the facts.
Many of these facts are found in the ASD’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report which contains myriad financial data. This is an audited report that has been approved by the school board. The most recent AFCR covers the period July 2022-June 2023.
The most startling information in the report is that the district really doesn’t have a budget hole.
As a matter of fact, it has $118,892,417 as an unreserved balance in its general fund. The general fund funds day-to-day operations of the district. This is the district’s piggy bank that holds unallocated money that can be used for almost anything.
Current year expenditures in the general fund total $551,825,263. These numbers can be seen on page 268, Table AD of the ACFR:
So, the ASD has an unreserved balance of 21.55%, ($118,892,417/$551,825,263), far exceeding the 8% balance set by the school board’s policy. An 8% balance would be $44,146,021. The excess surplus (above the 8%) is $74,746,396.
The board could even set the minimum unreserved balance at 5% which would be $27,591,263, leaving enough to backfill the so-called $95 million budget hole.
Because the State doesn’t want school districts to hoard money in their reserve funds, it sets a cap of 10% unreserved funds balance under the Public School Foundation Formula policy. But the State has waived this 10% fund balance cap through fiscal year 2025 due to Covid.
Why does the ASD have such a large unspent balance of money in its piggy bank?
The district says that the very large unreserved funds balance is due to higher than normal vacancy rates and attrition rates. The fewer students, the less the need for teachers and thus the lower the costs.
But wait, there is even more money in the ASD seat cushions.
The district could save about $50 million by not rebuilding the Inlet View School.
Or if it remodeled the school at a cost of $24 million, it would still save nearly $26 million.
But wait, there’s even more money in the ASD seat cushions.
At its Dec. 5 meeting, the board will vote on a new teachers’ contract. This will provide a 3% raise to AEA teacher union members. This would add considerably to the overall cost of salaries and benefits, which accounts for 85% of the district’s operating budget.
Additionally, the district has “negotiated” to provide an increase of $150 monthly to the teachers’ union members for healthcare. This would bring the cost to the taxpayer to $22,800 per year per union member for healthcare insurance.
With approximately 3,000 members, the Anchorage teachers’ union would add another $5.4 million to the district’s cost.
So, maybe the budget hole isn’t as deep as the district and school board say. Maybe, just maybe, the district has enough money hidden in its seat cushions to backfill the hole. But instead, the school wants you to think the hole is huge—and it can only be filled by the state legislature giving them more of your money, including your PFD.
You can testify in person or provide written testimony at the ASD school board meeting this Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 6 pm.
The United Nations Climate Conference begins Nov. 30 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). More than 70,000 delegates are expected to attendfrom almost 200 nations. The COP28 event will emit large amounts of carbon dioxide but is unlikely to have any measurable effect on global temperatures.
COP28 is the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, an annual event that has been going on since 1995. The Conference of the Parties is the decision-making body of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), which is an international agreement that was established in 1994 by the UN, with the intention of “preventing dangerous human interference with the climate system.”
Pope Francis, King Charles III, Bill Gates, John Kerry, and many other dignitaries will lead the 70,000 attendees. Heads of state, industry and business leaders, leaders of environmental groups, and media representatives will also attend. The Nature Conservancy plans to sendrepresentatives from 20 nations.
The attendees will arrive in the UAE primarily by private jet or commercial aircraft, powered by jet fuel. For each kilogram of jet fuel burned, 3.16 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) will be emitted. They will then travel from the airport to Dubai’s Expo City by limousine or taxi, fueled by gasoline or diesel fuel. Some may take electric vehicles, but these EVs will be charged by UAE electricity, 82% of which is produced by natural gas.
And yet, COP28 delegates will inevitably push for the end of the use of hydrocarbon fuels, which are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fatih Birol, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, who is likely to attend, statedin 2021, “If governments are serious about the climate crisis, there can be no new investments in oil, gas, and coal, from now—from this year.” Many delegates support Mr. Birol’s statement.
But most of the conference attendees will have cell phones, which are made from plastic from oil or natural gas. They will be wearing suits, ties, shoes, and other clothing, much of which will be composed of synthetic fibers from hydrocarbons. They will dine on food produced by farms that use synthetic nitrogen fertilizer created from ammonia, produced using natural gas or coal fuels. Hydrocarbons drive our modern society.
Developing nations, too, need oil, gas, and coal to raise the standard of living of their people. Renewables provided only a tiny part of the energy consumed in developing countries in 2022, such as in Africa (2.4%), India (5.9%), the Middle East (0.7%), and Southeast Asia (6.3%). More than 1,000 coal-fired power plants are now being planned or under construction across the world.
Ironically, developing countries appear to be all in for world decarbonization, with heavy participation at annual UN climate conferences. Why shouldn’t they be? Poorer nations seek billions in wealth transfers from richer nations in the name of climate change. For example, prior to the COP26 conference in Scotland in 2021, India demanded $1 trillion per year from wealthy countries to help it reach “net zero” by 2070. About 25 percent of all financial aid to the developing world now goes to fund climate-related projects, up from only four percent in 2005.
COP climate conferences are steeped in hypocrisy. John Kerry, the US climate envoy, is well-known for his CO2-emitting private jet flights, but he considers his work too important to travel by alternatives that emit less CO2. Bill Gates, the billionaire, built and owns a 66,000 square foot mansion in Medina, Washington. His home uses more than 20 times the electricity of a typical US home. Climate change advocates demand emissions reductions from society that they are unwilling to observe themselves.
Not that it matters much, anyway. There is little evidence that the annual COP climate conferences held over the last 27 years have had any effect on the climate. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere continues to rise steadily. In 2020, global industrial emissions of CO2 declined by over eight percent during the COVID-19 crisis, but this decline was undetectable in the rise in atmospheric CO2.
Nor has there been any significant change in energy consumption. World energy consumption has tripled since 1965. From 2004 to 2021, the world spent about $5 trillion to promote renewable energy and installed more than 300,000 wind turbines. But in 2021, coal, oil, and natural gas still provided81 percent of global energy consumption, the same percentage as in 1999. The COP climate conferences can best be characterized as futile.
One thing rising faster than world energy use is COP attendance. About 5,000 attended each of the first five COPs, but this rose to over 27,000 for COP15 in Copenhagen and over 30,000 for COP21 in Paris. This year’s conference may have over 70,000 attendees, but “the sky’s the limit” for future attendance at this carbon dioxide-emitting event.
The United Nations describes climate change as “the defining issue of our time.” If we all live long enough, we may have to endure the 50thConference of the Parties. And it will be just as futile and pointless then as it is now.
Steve Goreham is a speaker on energy, the environment, and public policy and the author of the new bestselling book“Green Breakdown: The Coming Renewable Energy Failure.” Originally published inWashington Examiner.
At the 28th international United Nations climate change summit in Dubai on Saturday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a new final rule requiring oil and gas operators to drastically reduce methane escapes.
The Biden Administration also announced it joined an anti-coal coalition and vowed to stop using coal altogether, a blow to the 174,000 remaining coal-related jobs in America.
The methane rule may not appear to impact Alaska as much as Texas, but Alaska oil operators are not immune. They’ll have to devote more resources to chasing down any possible methane leak in places like the North Slope or Cook Inlet, where Hilcorp has offshore platforms that provide more than 80% of the gas used in the Railbelt. And they’ll need to spend money proving to the Environmental Protection Agency that they’re not leaking any methane, and fighting the government in court.
Natural gas used for power, heat, and cooking is made up primarily of methane and it’s difficult to completely plug every possible leak in the route it takes from the gas field to the power plant or cooking appliance.
In fact, most of Alaska’s population, centered in the Railbelt, depends on natural gas. At Chugach Electric, 82% of the utility’s electricity to its 92,000 members comes from natural gas-fueled power generation, with 15% from hydropower and 3% from wind turbines.
The new rule gives the EPA power to siphon money from producers and shippers at an even higher rate than it already does; in 2022, the EPA fined Hilcorp $180,000 for a methane leak, and that was before the final rule announced Saturday.
Most methane produced on the North Slope is actually from biological metabolism of soil organic matter stored in permafrost, which is released more quickly as the permafrost melts. In fact, about 40% of methane leaks are coming naturally from wetlands, according to NASA.
There are many other natural sources methane emissions, including termites, which contribute 11% of natural methane emissions, and animals like cattle, buffalo, wild boar, and domesticated pigs. Even chickens contribute, due to fermentation of their waste. The oceans alone contribute to about 8% of natural methane emissions.
At the climate change conference, Biden’s EPA Administrator congratulated his agency for finalizing the rules on methane: “This is historic news for our climate, for our future, and for our children. The standards today, while ambitious, are common sense.”
Vice President Kamala Harris said the time has come to take action.
“The urgency of this moment is clear,” she said. “The clock is no longer just ticking. It is banging. And we must make up for lost time.”
While the Biden Administration has made America’s methane a target, the United Arab Emirates, which is hosting the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai, has failed to report its methane emissions to the UN for almost a decade, The Guardian newspaper reported in August.
BIDEN HITS COAL INDUSTRY
Also in Dubai, Biden’s special envoy on climate John Kerry announced that the United States is joining the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which means the Biden Administration will not approve any new coal plants and will phase out existing ones, although no date as given for when the ones in operation must be mothballed. Fifty-six other countries in the no-coal coalition have vowed to stop using coal.
“We will be working to accelerate unabated coal phase-out across the world, building stronger economies and more resilient communities,” Kerry said in a statement on Saturday. “The first step is to stop making the problem worse: stop building new unabated coal power plants.”
To meet the goal of 100 percent carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, the U.S. needs to phase out coal, Kerry said.
Alaska is a coal-rich state, where coal mines have operated since 1855. People can still pick up coal from beaches in Alaska, because it’s naturally made, a result dead plant matter being subjected to heat and pressure over millions of years, ultimately transformed to an energy-dense, combustible rock.
But although Alaska has an abundance of coal, just one operating surface coal mine exists today — Usibelli, which supplies about 1.2 million tons of coal per year and employs about 100 people, with two-thirds of them having worked at the mine for more than 10 years.
Alaska’s coal resources make one-sixth of the entire world coal reserves and about half of the United States coal-resource base. Yet, Alaska ranks 20th in U.S. coal production, in part due to the federal government owning over 61% of the state’s land. The top five coal producing states in thousand short tons are:
Wyoming—244,730—41.2%
West Virginia—83,448—14.0%
Pennsylvania—39,701—6.7%
Illinois—37,488—6.3%
Kentucky—28,527—4.8%
Other than the University of Alaska Fairbanks coal-fired power plant that opened in 2018, after a build cost of $245 million, no new coal power plants have been built in the United States since 2015.
The Biden Administration in February also proposed an “energy efficiency standard” for gas cooking products. It’s an attempt to ban gas appliances altogether, starting with gas stoves, but later including gas-fired furnaces and outdoor grills. At least half of gas stove models sold in the United States today would not comply with this regulation, according to the Department of Energy’s own data.
Morning Consult, a nationally polling firm that seasonally polls the states to find out how popular their elected leaders are, says that Alaskans are supportive of Sen. Dan Sullivan. He enjoyed a 58% approval rating, with only a 28% disapproval rating.
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming is the most popular senator in the Senate, with a 73% approval from constituents.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Alaska senator since 2002 was given a 54% approval in the poll. Some 36% disapprove of her performance.
The least popular senator in America is Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, with 28% approval.
In a recent poll by the company, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy rated as the fifth most popular governor in the country.
Tennessee’s enforcement of its aggravated prostitution law against people living with HIV violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday, warning that continued enforcement could result in a federal lawsuit.
The Justice Department said the state, including the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office violated the ADA, the landmark 1990 federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. Tennessee’s Attorney General could not immediately be reached for comment after hours on Friday.
The Justice Department’s investigation found that the state and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office “subject people living with HIV to harsher criminal penalties solely because of their HIV status, violating Title II of the ADA.” Tennessee is the only state in the U.S. that requires lifetime registration as a violent sex offender if convicted of aggravated prostitution, regardless of whether the person knew they could transmit the disease.
“Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution law is outdated, has no basis in science, discourages testing and further marginalizes people living with HIV,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “People living with HIV should not be treated as violent sex offenders for the rest of their lives solely because of their HIV status.”
The Justice Department findings were detailed in an 11-page letter to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.
“The State and the [Shelby County District Attorney’s Office] discriminate against individuals with disabilities by enforcing Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute, which elevates to a felony conduct that would otherwise be a misdemeanor, solely because the individual charged knows they have HIV, regardless of any actual risk of harm,” according to the letter. “Aggravated prostitution is also categorized as a ‘violent sexual offense’ mandating registration on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry, in most cases for life.”
The state’s aggravated prostitution statute is a felony. A person convicted of aggravated prostitution faces three to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. A person convicted of a misdemeanor prostitution charge faces a sentence of no more than six months and up to a $500 fine. The aggravated prostitution statute applies statewide, but the Justice Department said it has been enforced most frequently in Shelby County, the largest county in the state.
The Justice Department’s investigation found that the state and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office “subject people living with HIV to harsher criminal penalties solely because of their HIV status, violating Title II of the ADA.”
Tennessee is the only state in the U.S. that requires lifetime registration as a violent sex offender if convicted of aggravated prostitution, regardless of whether the person knew they could transmit the disease.
“Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution law is outdated, has no basis in science, discourages testing and further marginalizes people living with HIV,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “People living with HIV should not be treated as violent sex offenders for the rest of their lives solely because of their HIV status.”
The Justice Department findings were detailed in an 11-page letter to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.
“The State and the [Shelby County District Attorney’s Office] discriminate against individuals with disabilities by enforcing Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute, which elevates to a felony conduct that would otherwise be a misdemeanor, solely because the individual charged knows they have HIV, regardless of any actual risk of harm,” according to the letter. “Aggravated prostitution is also categorized as a ‘violent sexual offense’ mandating registration on the Tennessee Sex Offender Registry, in most cases for life.”
The state’s aggravated prostitution statute is a felony. A person convicted of aggravated prostitution faces three to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. A person convicted of a misdemeanor prostitution charge faces a sentence of no more than six months and up to a $500 fine. The aggravated prostitution statute applies statewide, but the Justice Department said it has been enforced most frequently in Shelby County, the largest county in the state.
The Friday announcement coincided with World AIDS Day, an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic. Untreated HIV can lead to AIDS.
Friday’s premiere of the video “Lady Ballers” brought laughter and accolades to The Daily Wire, a conservative news site that produced the comedy that makes light of the serious topic of men who compete as women in athletics.
“In a world where women’s sports is being trans-formed, The Daily Wire calls foul with the most triggering comedy of the year. A once-great coach is on a hilarious journey back to victory by reuniting his former high school championship basketball team, but this time, he’s challenging them to play like girls,” the producers wrote.
The film is being criticized as “transphobic” by some in the LGBTQ+ spectrum, but hundreds of five-star reviews have been posted at the movie-rating website Rotten Tomatoes.
View the trailer here:
The movie plot surrounds a failing high school basketball coach, played by Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing, who will do anything to win, even going so far at to teach his team of men radical gender ideology concepts and pushing them to identify as women in order to win across various women’s competitions.
Boreing said on X/Twitter that The Daily Wire made the film because “Hollywood won’t make a movie about how laughably absurd it is that we now allow grown men to call themselves women and then dominate women’s sports.”
