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☆ Trump won't be able to terminate the US Constitution but a Republican-led effort to rewrite it continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Advocates on both sides of a long-running effort to rewrite the Constitution will face off again in 2023. Meckler's organization is one of the largest players in the Article V push. Article V requires there to be 34 states for a convention to be formed. Convention of States is not alone in its pursuit of the Article V movement. Outside of Convention of States, efforts to call a convention to pass a Balanced Budget Amendment also continue.

☆ Five states will have politically-split Senate delegations in the new Congress, reflecting the nation's continued partisan polarization
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The new Congress, which begins this week, will have five politically-split Senate delegations. But in the new Congress, which begins this week, only five states will have split Senate delegations: Maine, Montana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. AP Photo/Matthew BrownMontanaDemocratic Sen. Jon Tester and Republican Sen. Steve DainesTester was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and secured reelection in both 2012 and 2018. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesWest VirginiaDemocratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Sen. Shelley Moore CapitoManchin is perhaps the nation's most recognizable moderate Democrat, having single-handedly scuttled Biden's Build Back Better agenda in December 2021. WisconsinRepublican Sen. Ron Johnson and Democratic Sen. Tammy BaldwinThe Badger State is often home to some of the closest races in the entire country.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

☆ Democrats will be defending a slim Senate majority in 2024. Here's an early look at the states that will likely be in play for both political parties.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The 2024 Senate elections — which will run concurrent with the presidential race — are approaching. In 2024, 34 senators will be up for reelection: 20 Democrats, 11 Republicans, and three Independents. But Sinema's election itself is another matter; she has not yet announced whether she will run for reelection in 2024. He has not yet decided if he will run in 2024, but Republicans have been eyeing his seat for years. But he has done it before, winning in 2018 despite Republicans going all-out to defeat him.

☆ A 44-year-old who moved from California to Indiana saves $3,210 a month and thinks more people should consider living in the Midwest: 'LA is the glitz and glamour, but when you take that aside, are yo
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Vanessa Hughes recently moved to West Lafayette, Indiana, a city of 45,000 and a major university. In West Lafayette, she's paying half the amount for a significantly bigger space with a yard for their two dogs. In 2023, the search for affordable housing could pull more homebuyers towards Midwestern spots like West Lafayette. Michael Hickey/Getty ImagesBy the end of November, they had made the move to West Lafayette. West Lafayette is just one place that offers people incentives to move there.

WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC.N), one of the nation's largest drug distributors, of helping ignite the nation's deadly opioid epidemic by failing to report hundreds of thousands of suspicious orders of prescription painkillers. The government said AmerisourceBergen had since 2014 systematically refused or negligently failed to flag suspicious orders by pharmacy customers when it had reason to know that opioids were being diverted to illegal channels. "For years, AmerisourceBergen prioritized profits over its legal obligations and over Americans' well-being," Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta told reporters. In a statement, AmerisourceBergen called the lawsuit an improper attempt to "shift blame" and the burdens of law enforcement from the Justice Department and DEA to the companies they regulate. The Justice Department said AmerisourceBergen for years understaffed and unfunded programs designed to ensure compliance with the Controlled Substances Act.

☆ My flight got canceled right before Christmas — so I rented a car with 3 strangers and drove 20 hours home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Fortesa Latifi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

When Maynard's flight from Florida to Ohio got canceled, he rented a car with strangers to get home. I've always liked having adventures, but I never thought I'd find myself driving 20 hours across the country with three total strangers to make it to Christmas. After the flight cancellation was announced, I made my way to the airline help desk to try to get a refund or another flight. Greg mentioned that he was going to go secure a rental car just in case there weren't any flight options, which I thought was really smart. Bridget (back right), and Abby (front right) in a rental car.

☆ Home Depot's 93-year-old cofounder who said 'nobody works' anymore because of 'socialism' has donated $64 million to elect Trump and the Republican party over the years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bernie Marcus, the billionaire cofounder of Home Depot, said Thursday "nobody works" anymore. Marcus donated millions to Trump in 2016 and 2020, and more to other Republicans over the years. In an interview with the Financial Times published Thursday, 93-year-old Bernie Marcus said "nobody works, nobody gives a damn," blaming the change on "socialism." In 2020, he made two separate donations of $5 million each to the Preserve America PAC, a single-candidate PAC that supports Trump. Marcus has also donated extensively to House and Senate races, contributing to a long list of Republican lawmakers that includes Sens.

☆ Republicans went after BlackRock and sustainable investing in 2022. Meet 12 officials crusading against 'woke capitalism.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

A group of vocal conservative officials are criticizing aspects of ESG investing. Players in the ESG ecosystem, like S&P Global and BlackRock, the world's largest money manager and an influential proponent of ESG investing, are often the subject of their critiques. Instead, officials often paint large financial firms' ESG strategies as functions of left-leaning agendas. Here are key GOP players who are taking aim at ESG investing. Abbott, who is seeking reelection in November, was early to denouncing ESG investing.

☆ Supreme Court keeps in place Trump-era immigration policy allowing asylum-seekers to be quickly turned away
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Lawrencehurley_Pic.Jpg | Lawrence Hurley | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

The court voted 5-4 to grant an emergency request by 19 Republican state attorneys general who sought to intervene in defense of the policy. The brief court order said that while the administration cannot set aside the Title 42 policy, the decision "does not prevent the federal government from taking any action with respect to that policy." Gavin Newsom, has warned that the system for handling migrants seeking asylum would “break” if Title 42 is ended. Chief Justice John Roberts on Dec. 19 placed a temporary hold on Sullivan’s ruling while the Supreme Court weighed its next steps. Title 42, named after a section of U.S. law, gives the federal government power to take emergency action to keep diseases out of the country.

Focusing on environmental, social or governance-related issues, ESG in industry parlance, could hit returns to investors, critics said. Other states followed, with Texas accusing BlackRock and banks including Bank of America (BAC.N) of 'boycotting' fossil fuel companies in the transition to a greener economy. WHY IT MATTERSThe criticism comes at a critical time for global climate efforts. A landmark U.N. report earlier this year said time was running out to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. With a number of investigations into finance-linked ESG activities still in train across various states, the prospect of a let-up in pressure in 2023 is slim.

☆ Firefighter Mike Webb went from owning a single duplex to acquiring 35 units, all while working 40 hours a week. He breaks down his financing strategies and his favorite approach for adding properties
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Firefighter Mike Webb wanted his family to have a lifeline if he were ever laid off. Mike Webb didn't get into real estate so that he would never have to work again. Rather, the Maryland firefighter wanted his family to have a lifeline if he were ever laid off from his job — which was at one point a credible possibility. "Once I got started in real estate, I was just like, 'Ah, man, I didn't know all this stuff was possible. So to me, I'm able to do something that gives me purpose and quenches something that real estate doesn't."

☆ DeSantis is often described as 'Trump without the baggage,' but there are plenty of differences between the two Republicans. How they play up their contrasts will decide who wins in 2024, GOP insiders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

DeSantis could end up running for president in 2024, and he's widely viewed as similar to Trump. He's "Trump without the baggage," "Trump with a brain," Trump "without the drama," and "Trump's Mini Me." The pile on is a problem for both men should DeSantis join Trump in the ring for the 2024 nomination contest. "We know what we get with President Trump," he said. In Florida, DeSantis pushed the legislature to limit ballot collection by non-family members.

☆ The Subsidy Tango of Bill Gates and Joe Manchin
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bill Gates sold West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin on this year’s Democratic climate spending blowout as a way to put unemployed coal workers to work building advanced nuclear reactors. Now we learn, belatedly, that these projects depend on Russia for fuel and will cost taxpayers more than advertised. The Energy Department last year awarded up to $2 billion for an advanced nuclear reactor “demonstration” project in Wyoming being developed by TerraPower, a company Mr. Gates founded. These advanced reactors have been promoted because they take up significantly less space than conventional reactors and could theoretically use reprocessed nuclear fuel.

☆ Form Energy to build long-duration battery plant in West Virginia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Form Energy Inc, a startup hoping to make long-duration storage batteries from materials including iron to store power from renewable energy, will partner with West Virginia to build a manufacturing plant in the state, the company and politicians said on Thursday. West Virginia Governor Jim Justice and Form Energy, backed by supporters including Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures, said the plant will be built with a total investment of up to $760 million. Form Energy aims to build batteries using iron, air and water. Form says the batteries can store power for days, much longer than ones based on lithium-ion, and using less expensive materials. "The path forward is innovation, not elimination, and with this announcement West Virginia and Form Energy are doing just that," Manchin said in a statement.

☆ Here are the 14 Republican senators who may have doomed their bills in the new GOP House by voting for a major spending bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kevin McCarthy even vowed to block House consideration of bills sponsored by GOP senators who voted for it. But a slew of GOP senators voted for it anyway, including 4 who are retiring and 14 who will remain. "Kevin's in a tough spot," Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a former House Republican and an opponent of the omnibus himself, told CNN's Manu Raju. "Statements like that... is the very reason that some Senate Republicans feel they probably should spare them from the burden of having to govern." Additionally, four Republican senators who voted for the bill are retiring, making the threat meaningless to them.

Canada is in the midst of building a large terminal to export LNG, but its completion is two years away. Canadian gas production is on track to reach a record 18 bcfd in 2022 and 19 bcfd in 2023, according to energy consultancy Rystad Energy. Pipelines are also constrained in Canada due to swift production growth, particularly TC Energy Corp's (TRP.TO) NGTL pipeline system that ships gas around and out of western Canada. In August, gas prices in Alberta briefly turned negative because of bottlenecks stemming from NGTL maintenance. U.S. LNG exports are expected to reach 10.6 bcfd in 2022 and 12.3 bcfd in 2023, according to federal estimates.

TikTok said in a statement it was "disappointed that Congress has moved to ban TikTok on government devices - a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests - rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review." The bill gives the White House Office of Management and Budget 60 days "to develop standards and guidelines for executive agencies requiring the removal" of TikTok from federal devices. Many federal agencies, including the White House and the Defense, Homeland Security and State departments, already banned TikTok from government-owned devices. "The ban is minimal, extraordinarily minimal on the overall TikTok user base," said Matthew Quint, a brand expert at Columbia Business School. "The question is more, 'will this action get the ball rolling to create a bipartisan movement to fully ban the service because of a potential threat to national security?'"

☆ How a GOP-controlled House will attack ESG and corporate climate change strategy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"I don't think that's a proper characterization of my view," McHenry said in an interview with CNBC Senior Congressional Correspondent Ylan Mui. What I think corporations should do is focus on their key knitting," he said. Vanguard Group also had been scheduled to testify, but after the fund giant abandoned an investment industry climate alliance, that changed. McHenry, rated as one of the most moderate House Republicans by non-profit GovTrack US, doesn't seem interested in the state approach. "It plays politics with corporations, in the name of having corporations not play politics."

☆ Congress is poised to ensure that no vice president could unilaterally decide an election 2 years after Trump pressured Pence to reverse his loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

After months of debate, lawmakers are poised to pass major changes to the Electoral Count Act. They wanted the vice president to either delay the January 6 joint session of Congress and/or unilaterally find that the certified results of states in disputes were not legitimate. I think Vice President Pence … did exactly the right thing and previous vice presidents have done the same. Trump himself has suggested that by clarifying the Electoral Count Act, senators are implicitly suggesting that Pence could have had this power. In order for pro-Trump lawmakers to throw the election to the vice president, they still needed to file objections to the results.

☆ Man who threatened to kill CDC head pleads guilty to charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

— A Mississippi man who threatened to kill Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky has pleaded guilty to making threats in interstate commerce, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Robert Wiser Bates, 39, of Ridgeland, threatened to kill Walensky in voicemails left in July 2021 at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, court records said. He also said he would kill Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical advisor to the president. In August, a West Virginia man was sentenced to three years in federal prison after he sent emails threatening Fauci and another federal health official for talking about the coronavirus and efforts to prevent its spread. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Known in the legal world as the “death penalty” of child welfare, it can happen in a matter of months. One in 100 U.S. children — disproportionately Black and Native American — experience termination through the child welfare system before they turn 18, the study found. Still, longer timelines can also reflect a stronger focus on family reunification and a willingness to devote greater resources to meet that goal, child welfare experts say. And some child welfare advocates have criticized the law’s focus on narrow initiatives like parenting classes, which they say fail to address poverty and the other root causes of neglect that prompt most child welfare cases. Snodgrass said she never imagined when her child welfare case started that she could lose her rights to her children.

☆ U.S. lawmakers include ban on TikTok on government devices in spending proposal
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers early Tuesday included a proposal to bar federal government employees from using Chinese app TikTok on government-owned devices in a key spending bill. It was the latest action by U.S. lawmakers to crack down on Chinese companies amid national security fears. The proposal last week won the backing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. The legislation would not impact the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on private or company-owned devices. Many federal agencies, including the White House and the Defense, Homeland Security and State departments, already ban TikTok from government-owned devices.

☆ U.S. lawmakers to include ban on TikTok on government devices - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers will include a proposal to bar federal government employees from using Chinese app TikTok on government-owned devices in a key spending bill, sources told Reuters on Monday. It was the latest action by U.S. lawmakers to crack down on Chinese companies amid national security fears. The proposal last week won the backing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. The legislation would not impact the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on private or company-owned devices. Many federal agencies, including the White House and the Defense, Homeland Security and State departments, already ban TikTok from government-owned devices.

Some 19 of the 50 U.S. states have now at least partially blocked access on government computers to TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. Jamf Holding Corp (JAMF.O), which sells software to organizations to enable filtering and security measures on iPhones and other Apple (AAPL.O) devices, said its government customers have increasingly blocked access to TikTok since the middle of this year. TikTok on Monday reiterated a statement, saying the company was "disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok that will do nothing to advance the national security of the United States." West Virginia State Auditor JB McCuskey said he did the same for his agency. U.S. officials and TikTok have been in talks for months about a national security pact that would address the concerns about China's access to data on TikTok's more than 100 million U.S. users.

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