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Colonial Pipeline Wednesday afternoon announced it restarted its operations at 5 PM ET. “Following this restart, it will take several days for the product delivery supply chain to return to normal. Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period. Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal,” Colonial Pipeline said in a statement.

Folks, this “Ukraine Whistleblower” event was a pre-planned event. As we begin to understand the general outline of how the Schiff Dossier was assembled, we are now starting to get into the specifics. First discovered by researcher Stephen McIntyre, there is now evidence surfacing showing the ICIG recently created an entirely new ‘whistleblower complaint form’ that specifically allowed for the filing of complaints “heard from others“.

The end-of-the-year Omnibus Appropriations bill includes approximately $8.3 billion and 6,714 earmarks. It's important to note that the database only refers to disclosed earmarks, not the billions in undisclosed earmarks.

I recently visited Saipan (largest island in the "Northern Mariannas Confederation). Saipan was a Japanese "protectorate" from 1918 until 1944. Saipan is a Japanese resort area. Their Main St. looks like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. There are literally thousands of Japanese (and some Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese and South Koreans) swarming the streets. The aiport for Saipan was named "Aslito Field" when the Japanese held the island. When we captured the Island, the airport was renamed "Isley Field" for a Naval Aviator killed during the battle for Saipan. The airport has been renamed "Aslito Airport". The US government has spent...

Achievements of the NTEU! • Launched a successful campaign to cancel the IRS private tax collection program. • Consistently fights for fair and competitive annual pay raises for federal civilian employees. • Won and implemented the enhanced Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) retirement benefits for Customs and Border Protection Officers. • Saw the files work returned to IRS employees at seven service centers after years of opposition • Chartered new Transportation Security Administration chapters and continued nationwide organizing efforts • Won a five-year battle to defeat administration efforts to create an anti-union, anti-employee labor relations system at the Department of Homeland...

This week, President Obama called for the hiring of 10,000 new teachers to beef up math and science achievement. Meanwhile,...public school employment has grown 10 times faster than enrollment for 40 years (see chart), while achievement at the end of high school has stagnated in math and declined in science (see other chart).

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – It is a story that elicits an emotional response - a dog thrown from a car on the interstate. A team of specialized veterinarians is rallying around that dog, who has now been Hope. An outpouring of support for Hope, the black and white border collie type dog who was thrown from a car on Interstate 65 near the silos in Louisville on Sept. 28. After being thrown from the car, Hope was immediately hit by another car and ended up in the center median. "It appears that she got orthopedic injuries, a spinal injury that...

Agriculture subsidies have never made economic sense, but since the 1930s farmers have resisted reductions to subsidies, and they have generally held sway in Congress. While farmers represent a smaller share of the population today than in the 1930s, the farm lobby is as strong as ever. One reason is that farm-state legislators have co-opted the support of urban legislators, who seek increased subsidies in agriculture bills for programs such as food stamps. Legislators in favor of environmental subsidies have also been co-opted as supporters of farm bills. As a result, many legislators have an interest in increasing the USDA’s...

The Democrat voter’s pledge: 1. I vote Democrat because the government knows what’s best for me. 2. I vote Democrat because if we don’t like something, we will get it banned and outlawed. 3. I vote Democrat because I believe in global warming and we must spend massive money to stop it, in spite of the fact that all of the “facts” were lies. 4. I vote Democrat because it’s immoral for private banks to make a profit, but it’s OK for the government to do so. 5. I vote Democrat because the government knows how to spend my money...

Suppose you were advising policymakers in an emerging market country on how to set up a housing finance system. First, you tell them that people don't have to save much, if any, cash for a down payment, and they don't need to prove they can afford the monthly payments, either. If house prices rise, lend them more! If the borrower cannot subsequently pay, let him walk away with no recourse to his income or assets, and qualify him again for another loan in a few years. Concerned with payment shock when interest rates rise? Then prevent his interest rate from...

The number of local government workers at the municipal level in North Carolina grew at nearly twice the rate of private sector workers, and also outpaced the state’s population growth, over a recent ten-year period. Furthermore, the average salary for municipal workers in North Carolina is 4.5 percent higher than the average salary for private sector workers.1 Data from the North Carolina Employment Security Commission reveals that municipal government employees increased by 20.1 percent from 1997 to 2007,2 compared to North Carolina’s private workforce growth of 11.5 percent.

RALEIGH – Those who seek election to political office deserve our thanks for their willingness to serve. Those who win election to political office deserve a chance to demonstrate their work ethic and wisdom. But no one who wins election and then makes demonstrably foolish decisions deserves our respect. I’m rapidly losing whatever respect I had for politicians who continue to vote to fund low-priority projects in the midst of a fiscal crisis. The problem exists at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Consider two recent decisions that involve senseless decisions at every level: • Out of $10...

* Thanks to the postal unions, the U.S. Postal Service’s utilization of part-time workers is below UPS, FedEx, and its international counterparts. * Senate Republicans want agitated voters to view their support for a discretionary spending cap as evidence that the party is serious about out-of-control spending and deficits. But capping discretionary spending at the already exorbitant levels that Republicans helped reach isn’t exactly a big reform. * Republicans and Democrats are both guilty of abusing the “emergency” designation to ram through more spending. * HUD secretary Shaun Donovan calls public housing a “precious asset.” We’re not joking. * Does...

30 million Americans are starving for affordable places to live. Everyday, teachers, librarians, firefighters and others in our communities face a choice no one should have to make: housing or food. The high cost of shelter has turned necessities like food, healthcare, childcare, and transportation into luxuries.

The U.S. Census Bureau is using a travel policy for its media specialists that can cost taxpayers hundreds and even thousands of dollars for a single media interview. Each time a media outlet like The News-Star requests to interview a census enumerator, a worker who goes door to door in local communities following up with residents who did not mail back their census questionnaires, Census Bureau policy dictates that a media specialist must be physically present at the site of the interview. The bureau says the policy ensures enumerators do not unknowingly release information about their work that is supposed...

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) provides a full listing of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally-recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi- public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.

1996: Congress changes course in farm policy with the passage of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act—the “Freedom to Farm” law. The law is designed to allow farmers greater planting flexibility and better align producer decisions with market supply and demand. But Congress reneges on reform, and passes large supplemental farm subsidy bills four years in a row beginning in 1998. When the 1996 law was passed, subsidies were expected to cost $47 billion over 1996 to 2002, but they ended up costing $121 billion. (cato)

In February, the U.S. Treasury and Labor departments jointly announced they were seeking public comment on proposed design changes to employer-sponsored 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts that would centralize the private pension system under structures created and administered by the government. Supporters say these changes are needed to ensure Americans save more for their retirement and have lifetime income options that prevent them from outliving their retirement savings, protecting them from market risk. At stake for the millions of Americans with private retirement plans: Would they be able to continue making their own investment decisions? Or would Congress mandate...

In February, the U.S. Treasury and Labor departments jointly announced they were seeking public comment on proposed design changes to employer-sponsored 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts that would centralize the private pension system under structures created and administered by the government… At stake for the millions of Americans with private retirement plans: Would they be able to continue making their own investment decisions? Or would Congress mandate both investment options and distribution methods? Government Retirement Accounts also would prevent workers from owning their retirement savings fully, as they could bequeath only half of their remaining account balances to their...

...Action is anticipated on a measure in the Senate that would mandate collective bargaining rights for public safety employees. Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who previously introduced a separate bill, proposed an amendment to an appropriations bill to accomplish his collective bargaining objective. As I've written before, this would override North Carolina law, which prohibits collective bargaining by all public employees. North Carolina business and government groups, including the League of Municipalities and Chamber of Commerce, strongly oppose the measure and believe Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan will provide a key vote. During her 2008 campaign, she told us...