Yearly Archives: 2021

(The Center Square) – The White House announced Wednesday new plans for the “potential authorization” of COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 5-11, saying they have enough vaccinations ready and waiting for the federal approval.

The White House prep suggests they expect favorable federal approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) despite hesitation from health officials earlier this year.

“We expect the FDA and CDC’s decision on Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 through 11 in the next couple of weeks,” White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said during a White House teleconference Wednesday. “First, on supply: We have secured vaccine supply to vaccinate every child ages 5 through 11. And as soon as the vaccine is authorized by the FDA, we will begin shipping millions of doses nationwide.”

Pfizer submitted the trial data and asked for FDA authorization in early October. The FDA Advisory Committee is expected to meet next week followed by a CDC Advisory Committee recommendation, expected in early November. These timelines are subject to change, and no official approval has been announced.

“The start of a vaccination program for children ages 5-11 will depend on the independent FDA and CDC process and timeline, but our planning efforts mean that we will be ready to begin getting shots in arms in the days following a final CDC recommendation,” the White House said. “These steps will be critical in ensuring that we are staying ahead of the virus by keeping kids and families safe, especially those at highest risk.”

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said her agency would still recommend masks for vaccinated students in schools.

Child vaccination has raised questions from critics who argue the vaccination needs more testing and is not worth the risk because COVID-19 infections for children are almost never fatal. Mask and vaccine mandates in schools around the country have become a divisive issue with little end in sight.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said the administration will help coordinate a nationwide campaign to address these concerns and help get health care providers, schools, and parents onboard with the vaccination efforts.

“We’re preparing a national public education campaign that will meet parents where they are with the information about the vaccines,” Murthy said. “We will work with schools to send letters home to parents who will convene doctors and health clinics and support them in delivering vaccinations as soon as they have conversations with families.”

(The Center Square) – Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, 84, has died after complications from COVID-19.

Powell’s family issued a statement Monday announcing his passing and thanking others for their support.

"We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Center for their caring treatment,” Powell’s family said in the statement, adding that he had been fully vaccinated. “We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American."

Powell served as Secretary of State in former President George W. Bush’s administration, helping it through the response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the following wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of Colin Powell. He was a great public servant, starting with his time as a soldier during Vietnam,” Bush said. “He was such a favorite of Presidents that he earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom – twice. He was highly respected at home and abroad. Laura and I send Alma and their children our sincere condolences as they remember the life of a great man.”

Before his time as the first Black secretary of state, Powell served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, just one of many distinguished positions he held in his career. According to NBC News, Powell also had myeloma, a type of blood cancer.

“God Bless Colin Powell and his family today,” said former Navy Seal Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. “May this exemplary public servant Rest In Peace.”

(The Center Square) – Not every parent in Fall Creek schools wants their kids to be forced to wear a mask in school. But very few parents are happy that an outside political candidate is trying to use their school to make a point.

Brian Westrate has two kids in Fall Creek Schools, which is just a few miles outside of Eau Claire. He is one of many parents who are upset that progressive candidate and Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Banstad is using a local mom to press a federal lawsuit that would require all kids in the only school building in the district to mask-up.

“There have certainly been a few people who’ve said ‘I wish they were wearing a mask,’” Westrate told The Center Square. “But to date, those people have also disagreed with the lawsuit.”

Fall Creek mom Gina Kildahl, who is Westrate’s neighbor, filed a federal lawsuit in Madison earlier this week to force the school district to require masks for all students. Fall Creek currently allows students to choose whether to wear a mask.

Kildahl says her son caught the coronavirus in school. While he wears a mask, her lawsuit says other students don’t. Kildahl’s lawsuit is the latest to be paid for by Banstad’s political action committee.

“There are three legitimate ways to deal with it,” Westrate explained. “Open enroll your student somewhere else, move, or run for the school board. But suing to try and use the force of government to conform to your belief is not a legitimate option.”

Westrate said that the lawsuit is being driven by and paid for by someone who is not from Fall Creek, which he said is really frustrating parents in the district.

“Had a movement within our community organically developed. Call them ‘Fall Creek Citizens for Masking.’ And they come up with a nice logo, and start having meetings at the town hall, and six months later they raise enough money to file the lawsuit. Okay. That’s at least a legitimate community discussion,” Westrate explained. “But to have a wealthy guy from across the state, who doesn’t know anything about our community, to sue us, that’s different.”

Bangstad has said that he wants to find a judge who will order all schools in Wisconsin to order all students to mask-up.

Westrate says that crosses a line.

“He is a bully and this is blackmail. This is legalized blackmail,” Westrat said. “When someone who has more money files a lawsuit knowing that the person they are suing can’t afford to fight it, and as long as you choose a demand that is cheap enough, you’re basically using the courts to blackmail someone into doing what you want. And that’s what’s going on here.”

(The Center Square) –The agreement to suspend fewer Black students in Milwaukee Public Schools has led to more students feeling less safe in their schools.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty released a report on Wednesday that looks at the impact of the 2018 agreement between MPS and the Department of Education.

WILL found:

Suspension rates declined in Milwaukee after the MPS agreement. Reduced suspension for African American students resulted in lower reports of safety.Suspension rates for other student groups change in a more “normal” manner.Black students suffer the most because of the changes.

WILL Research Director Will Flanders and Policy Intern Amelia Wedward authored the report.

They two say when school suspensions fell in Milwaukee Public Schools after the district agreed to change its policies to align with former Pres. Obama-era thinking on race and school discipline, the number of students who said they felt less safe in school increased.

“When suspension rates for African American students fell, the share of students reporting that they feel unsafe in their school’s hallways went up,” the report notes. “[Because] African American students are heavily concentrated in schools with other African Americans, other African American students bear the brunt of lax discipline practices.”

Approximately 80% of MPS's student body is Black.

The research says the connection between suspensions and safety for Hispanic or other races of students is different.

“It is important to note that this is not a story about African American students disrupting learning for students of other races. In many cases, other African American students are the ones most harmed by disruptive classroom environments,” the researchers note.

Instead, WILL says the data suggests schools need to focus on school safety in addition to their other goals with changing school discipline.

“Rather than helping to create a safer environment for students, students appear to feel less safe in schools where suspension rates for African American students are declining,” the report states.

“If differences in suspension rates along racial lines are not the result of overt racism, as the data here suggests they are not, the natural result of reduced suspensions is fostering an environment where other students will have more difficulty learning; and, perhaps even be afraid to come to school. After a year of learning loss, we cannot afford to lose another year to misguided discipline policies under the false narrative of disparate impacts.”

(The Center Square) – Gas prices nationwide have skyrocketed even as the Biden administration considers new energy regulations, raising questions about the energy markets and the federal government’s role in protecting consumer costs.

In Manhattan, gas prices have hit nearly $5 per gallon, while more than 40 states are experiencing gas prices over $3 per gallon. GasBuddy reports the national average for gasoline is at $3.25 per gallon, well above the prices the same time last year.

Prices have risen nearly eight cents in the last month alone.

“Now in a single day, American drivers are paying over $400 million more for gas than they were last year,” the company said.

The Biden administration has been mulling additional oil and gas methane emissions regulations that would hit producers, and the states that rely on their tax revenue, particularly hard.

Industry insiders have laid the blame for rising energy costs at the feet of President Joe Biden, citing increased regulations.

“High gas prices are the direct result of supply and demand,” said Daniel Turner, executive director of the energy workers advocacy group, Power the Future. “The Biden administration made the supply the direct target of their assaults from the very first moments after his inauguration when he targeted the Keystone Pipeline. Since then, multiple regulations on fracking and land use, a weaponized EPA and Department of Interior, have all punished the production of fossil fuels. As a result, oil, gas, and coal, have all doubled in price.”

Among his first acts after being sworn in, Biden revoked federal permits for the Keystone Pipeline. The 1,700-mile pipeline was to span six U.S. states and carry about 800,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta, Canada, to the Texas Gulf Coast, creating more than 10,000 U.S. jobs.

Others say COVID-19 hangups have contributed to the rise in energy costs as well.

Gas prices affect other consumer costs as well, making other goods more expensive, including food, the price of which has risen significantly this year. Transporting goods to market relies heavily on oil and gas, and when those costs rise, most goods become more expensive.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in September that the energy index rose 25% in the previous 12 months while the food index increased 3.7%.

“The high costs of fossil fuels are passed on to consumers,” Turner said. “That’s why gas is so expensive at the pump, but also durable goods, food, electricity, clothing. Expensive energy produces more expensive goods, and punishing the energy industry results in a de facto tax on America’s middle and working class who pays more just to live.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended the president’s role in the prices earlier this month, saying the White House was monitoring the situation, talking with OPEC and had taken steps to address it. She went on to say that climate change issues are more important.

“Certainly, we all want to keep gasoline prices low, but the threat of the crisis – the climate crisis – certainly can’t wait any longer,” she said.

Republicans have leveraged the heightened energy costs against Democrats. In many states, energy production jobs rank as a top campaign issue.

“Remember when Biden cancelled the Keystone pipeline on his first day?” said Ronna McDaniel, Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee. “Now Americans are paying the highest gas prices since 2014.”

(The Center Square) – The top Republican on the Wisconsin Assembly’s election committee says the special investigator looking into last fall’s vote doesn’t speak for her.

Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, on Monday released a statement saying she opposes any deals with the mayors of the so-called Wisconsin Five, and is not a part of former Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman’s investigation.

“The current subpoenas have not been approved by the Assembly’s Campaigns and Elections Committee,” Brandtjen wrote. “I do not approve of the current list of subpoenas to the five Wisconsin Mayors, as this provides immunity to them in any trial or criminal proceedings.”

Brandtjen has been running her own investigation through her committee since January. She too is focusing on the Mark Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Life. And she too wants answers from the mayors of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Racine, and Kenosha.

“Mayor [Eric] Genrich of Green Bay allowed a non-profit group to operate central count, provided this non-profit group keys to central count, and issued a city ID to a partisan operative from New York,” Brandtjen explained. “He has committed dereliction of duty and should be held accountable. Providing him immunity after all the time it has taken to uncover his actions will not serve justice.”

Gableman said in a YouTube video over the weekend that if Wisconsin’s election laws weren’t broken last year, then local election managers certainly stretched them to nearly the breaking point.

"There is also evidence that ambiguities in the law were expansively interpreted, so much so, to potentially undermine ballot security measures," Gableman said.

Gableman has the backing of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who’d signed-off on his subpoenas. Vos has not signed-off on subpoenas that she’d like to issue.

Brandtjen also wants to expand her investigation into a full forensic audit of November’s vote.

“Justice Gableman has recently defamed the Arizona Audit as ineffectual. If he had read the report, he would have realized they discovered 17,000 duplicate ballots, 23,000 mail-in ballots from people who no longer live at the listed address, and 9,000 more mail-in ballots received than sent,” Brandtjen added. “We are not questioning how many ballots were counted; we are questioning the number of ballots that may be fraudulent.”

(The Center Square) – Ten years after Act 10 became law and changed what Wisconsin school teachers can include in their school contracts, Democratic lawmakers in the state continue to try and roll it back.

Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, and a handful of Democrats this week introduce what they are calling the Collective Bargaining for Public Education Act.

“Wisconsin’s public education sector has a unique and critical role to play in our state. To ensure the effectiveness of these institutions, we rely on highly qualified individuals and their talents to move our state forward,” Larson said in a statement. “The legislation we have introduced establishes the right of employees of school districts, CESAs, technical college districts, and the UW System to collectively bargain over wages, hours, and conditions of employment.”

Republicans, under Gov. Scott Walker, approved Act 10 as a way to curb the skyrocketing cost of teacher salaries and benefits. Act 10 limits teacher contract negotiations to salaries only. It also requires teachers to pay more toward their healthcare and retirement.

Estimates say Act 10 saved taxpayers in Wisconsin $14 billion over the past decade.

“Government has used the tools of Act 10 to control costs, saving taxpayers billions and billions of dollars,” CJ Szafir with the Institute for Reforming Government told The Center Square. “To reverse that - and require collective bargaining - would require a massive tax increase on hardworking Wisconsin families or gutting public programs. There's no other option and Democrats need to be honest about those trade-offs.”

Szafir says Act 10 is now popular with people in Wisconsin because it saves them money and gives them choices. He says Democrats at the Capitol can’t accept it.

“Wisconsin's public schools are struggling to educate children in reading and basic civics. We have one of the worst racial achievement gaps in America,” Szafir added. “Instead of focusing on these core problems, the bill is trying to relitigate lost battles of 10 years ago in the hopes of exciting Madison progressives. This plan is a clear giveaway to union bosses and special interests at the expense of the taxpayer.”

(The Center Square) – The latest proposal at the Wisconsin Capitol to find more affordable housing in the state focuses on red tape, builders, and young people.

A handful of Republicans on Thursday introduced their housing reform plan. Among the proposals is a focus on cutting red tape, giving developers and builders tax credits to build new homes, and pushing local communities to allow more homes to be built.

“We need to look into regulations,” Rep. Rob Summerfield, R-Bloomer, said at a statehouse news conference. “Local communities also need to look to see what they can do to help.”

The number two Republican in the Assembly, Rep. Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said the lack of affordable homes is driving up the price of homes, particularly first homes.

“Wisconsin’s media age for first time home buyers is now 33,” Steineke explained. “Wisconsin is running a migration deficit with individuals ages 20-24. Wisconsin also has the lowest homeownership rate for households aged 25-34 and 35-44 than all neighboring states, except Illinois.”

Steineke is a realtor himself.

He said the lack of homes is hurting the state’s effort to keep young workers and young families in Wisconsin.

“When you have younger kids that are coming out of college and getting their first jobs, and they’re unable to afford their first home because of rising prices and the lack of available housing it’s a serious problem.

Mary Duff with the Wisconsin’s Realtors Association said it’s a problem not just in high growth areas like the WOW counties or the Fox Valley.

“This is a shortage that’s coming from multiple angles,” Duff said Thursday. “We’re lacking new construction, we’re lacking the ability to develop lots. “

Democrats at the Wisconsin Capitol, including Gov. Evers have proposed their own affordable housing plans. Those proposals, however, focus on helping people pay their rent, or helping people find apartments in high demand areas.

There’s no word when the Republicans plan to vote on their new housing plans.

(The Center Square) – None of the mayors who’ve received subpoenas as part of the investigation into Wisconsin’s 2020 elections have said they will ignore them.

The mayors of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Racine, and Kenosha – the so-called Wisconsin Five – on Wednesday criticized the subpoenas from former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Mike Galbeman. But all said they would testify and produce at least some of the documents he’s asking for.

"We’re very very proud of the work we did here in the city of Milwaukee,” Mayor Tom Barrett said. “I am happy to discuss what we did here because I think it was good for democracy, the steps that we took and I thought it was responsible and very transparent."

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the investigation is “corrosive to our democracy,” but she pledged to testify for Galbeman in two weeks.

“Our poll workers and clerk do an incredible job and they should be thanked, not harassed,” Rhodes-Conway said.

Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian said his city already won one legal challenge to the 2020 vote.

"To do it again is a colossal waste of time and money for the city of Kenosha,” he said.

Gableman is asking for any and all communication between the mayors in the five cities and the Mark Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Life.

The group spent millions in each of the five cities to help “get out the vote,” but a number of reports suggest that CTCL went much further than that.

Gableman has said he’s not looking to overturn the 2020 election. He’s said he simply wants to find out what happened, and whether anything went wrong.

(The Center Square) – A federal student loan forgiveness program aimed at helping out public servants is getting an overhaul after media reports exposed major problems with the program.

The U.S. Department of Education announced Wednesday that the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program will undergo an overhaul to make sure more public servants, including members of the military, receive taxpayers funds to help them repay their debts.

The announcement comes just a few days after media reports, including a CBS “60 Minutes” investigation, showed that military members were frustrated with the program for its complex requirements and complicated approval process that prevented many from receiving the benefits. The program drew national attention when it was reported that 98% of applicants were denied.

"This is an entire system who let down our men and women in uniform," said Seth Frotman, head of the Student Borrower Protection Program.

Congress enacted the program in 2007 as a way to reward those who were public servants for over ten years, but has been marked by bureaucratic difficulties and failure to deliver on its promises.

“This policy will result in 22,000 borrowers who have consolidated loans – including previously ineligible loans – being immediately eligible for $1.74 billion in forgiveness without the need for further action on their part,” the Department of Education said in its announcement. “Another 27,000 borrowers could potentially qualify for an additional $2.82 billion in forgiveness if they certify additional periods of employment. All told, the Department estimates that over 550,000 borrowers who have previously consolidated will see an increase in qualifying payments with the average borrower receiving another two years of progress toward forgiveness.”

The agency said it will streamline the process and lessen requirements for applicants, meaning some previously rejected applicants can now be accepted.

“Many more will also see progress as borrowers consolidate into the Direct Loan program and apply for PSLF, and as the Department rolls out other changes in the weeks and months ahead,” the agency said.

The program revamp comes after the Biden administration announced student debt forgiveness for the disabled earlier this year.

The Department of Education announced in August that 323,000 borrowers who are totally and permanently disabled will see $5.8 billion in student debt “discharge.”

"From day one, I've stressed that the Department of Education is a service agency,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said at the time of the announcement. “We serve students, educators, and families across the country to ensure that educational opportunity is available to all. We've heard loud and clear from borrowers with disabilities and advocates about the need for this change and we are excited to follow through on it. This change reduces red tape with the aim of making processes as simple as possible for borrowers who need support."

This action is one of several regulatory maneuvers Biden’s Department of Education has conducted to relieve student debt even as the president has so far held off on a more sweeping student debt forgiveness advocated for by some Democrats.

“With this TPD action, the Biden-Harris Administration has now approved approximately $8.7 billion in student loan discharges for roughly 455,000 borrowers,” the agency said. “In late March, the Department restored $1.3 billion in loan discharges for 41,000 borrowers who had seen their loans reinstated after not responding to requests for earnings information. Since March 2021, the Department has also approved more than $1.5 billion in discharges through the borrower defense to repayment process for nearly 92,000 borrowers whose institutions took advantage of them. In addition, the Department has extended the pause on student loan repayment, interest, and collections, to January 31, 2022, which helps 41 million borrowers save billions of dollars a month.”

Biden has received heavy pressure from progressives in his own party, including his own Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to take executive action to forgive up to $50,000 in student loan debt per person, a plan that would cost American taxpayers $1 trillion, according to Brookings.

"That sacred promise that if you work hard, if you play by the rules, one day, you're going to make it here in America," Schumer said. "For too many, that dream sadly seems like a fantasy. Students don't need their debts paused – they need it erased."

(The Center Square) – A new FBI focus on parents accused of harassing school officials around the country over curriculum and COVID-19 policies is being criticized by Republican lawmakers as government overreach and an attempt to curb speech rights.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Tuesday night that he has directed the FBI to look into parents who have protested at local school board meetings around the country, calling it a "disturbing trend."

Debates over critical race theory, COVID-19 mandates, transgender policies, and other issues have embroiled many local districts in controversy. The tension has led to many raucous school board meetings nationwide.

Garland said in his memorandum that the debates have led to threats of violence against school officials.

But Republicans, in sharp reaction to the news, called the attorney general's response a “dangerous abuse of power.”

“Now Joe Biden is deploying the FBI against parents who have concerns about Critical Race Theory being taught to their children,” U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said. “This is a remarkable and dangerous abuse of power. I just asked the Biden DOJ to name one instance in American history when the FBI has been directed to go after parents attending school board meetings to express their views. There isn’t one. Biden’s latest offensive against parents is shocking, unprecedented and wrong.”

The Department of Justice said it will “launch a series of additional efforts in the coming days designed to address the rise in criminal conduct directed toward school personnel.”

"Those efforts are expected to include the creation of a task force, consisting of representatives from the department’s Criminal Division, National Security Division, Civil Rights Division, the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, the FBI, the Community Relations Service and the Office of Justice Programs, to determine how federal enforcement tools can be used to prosecute these crimes, and ways to assist state, Tribal, territorial and local law enforcement where threats of violence may not constitute federal crimes,” the DOJ said in a statement. “The Justice Department will also create specialized training and guidance for local school boards and school administrators.”

Other lawmakers have claimed the Biden administration is attempting to silence parents, many of whom are conservative.

“It is outrageous that DOJ leadership thinks it is acceptable to use the FBI to intimidate parents who are concerned about what their children are being taught and are exercising their 1st Amendment rights,” U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., said.

Garland said the FBI investigation is aimed at keeping schools safe.

“Threats against public servants are not only illegal, they run counter to our nation’s core values,” Garland said. “Those who dedicate their time and energy to ensuring that our children receive a proper education in a safe environment deserve to be able to do their work without fear for their safety.”

Republican lawmakers at the state and federal level vowed to fight against the Biden administration's efforts.

“Attorney General Garland is weaponizing the DOJ by using the FBI to pursue concerned parents and silence them through intimidation,” said Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is considered a top contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. “Florida will defend the free speech rights of its citizens and will not allow federal agents to squelch dissent.”