Rocky Mountain Voice

Menu

National

Feds send millions of taxpayer dollars to the Taliban
No Comments
Approved, National, The Center Square

Feds send millions of taxpayer dollars to the Taliban

By Casey Harper | The Center Square After two decades at war with the Taliban, the U.S. government is now sending millions of taxpayer dollars to the terrorist group. The Taliban resumed power in Afghanistan immediately after the chaotic and deadly withdrawal of U.S. troops earlier in the Biden administration. A recently released federal watchdog report shows that the U.S. government has sent at least $11 million to the Taliban since the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops. But experts and even the federal watchdog estimate the number is much higher. "The U.S. government has continued to be the largest international donor supporting the Afghan people since the former Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban returned to power in August 2021," the federal watchdog, SIGAR, wrote in ...
Read More
Trump says death sentences for dealers will solve U.S. drug problem
No Comments
Approved, National, The Center Square

Trump says death sentences for dealers will solve U.S. drug problem

By Brett Rowland | The Center Square Former President Donald Trump said soft sentences for drug dealers have helped fuel fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S.  Trump, 77, is running against President Joe Biden in the presidential election this November.  "So many are dying where they think they're getting something and going to have a little fun on a Friday night and all of sudden their dead," Trump said on Fox News.  "You'll never really solve the drug problem unless you do what other countries do – and that's the death penalty for drug dealers," Trump said during the interview. "A drug dealer on average will kill, during that person's life, 500 people. Unless you have a death penalty. Right now, they don't even get charged with anything." READ THE FULL STORY ...
Read More
Shafer: Here’s what the shakeup at the Washington Post really means
No Comments
Approved, Commentary, National

Shafer: Here’s what the shakeup at the Washington Post really means

By JACK SHAFER | The Washington Times Like the owner’s manual that sends you searching YouTube for additional and useable instructions, Washington Post Publisher and CEO Sir William Lewis’ 900-word memo to his staff, emailed Sunday night, perplexes more than it enlightens. The headline news, of course, is simple enough: Lewis showed the door to Executive Editor Sally Buzbee, installed just three years ago by previous publisher Fred Ryan, who left last year after a bit of turbulence of his own. In her place, Lewis recruited two long-time former colleagues to actually produce the paper, Matt Murray and by year’s end, Robert Winnett. Beyond that, the Lewis memo fails to illuminate the paper’s new path. Like all reorg charts, the ...
Read More
Prices at McDonald’s are up, but fast-food giant wants consumers to know by how much
No Comments
Approved, National, The Street

Prices at McDonald’s are up, but fast-food giant wants consumers to know by how much

By Daniel Kline | The Street Perception is not reality and McDonald's  (MCD)  has faced some of the same narrative problems (perhaps without the political overtones) that the gasoline industry has. Addressing the issue, McDonald's President Joe Erlinger wrote an open letter to the chain's customers. McDonald's has faced a situation similar to that of gasoline prices, after a picture of an $18 Big Mac meal went viral. That image was real — but it's also an outlier.  "Recently, we have seen viral social posts and poorly sourced reports that McDonald’s has raised prices significantly beyond inflationary rates. This is inaccurate," Erlinger wrote.  "And for a brand that proudly serves nearly 90% of the U.S. population every year, we feel a responsibility to...
Read More
Lawyer, doctor, body man, bookkeeper: Joe Biden’s personal aides get involved in his relatives’ business dealings
No Comments
Approved, National, Politico

Lawyer, doctor, body man, bookkeeper: Joe Biden’s personal aides get involved in his relatives’ business dealings

By BEN SCHRECKINGER | Politico For years, Joe Biden shared a bookkeeper with his son, Hunter. He also shared a personal lawyer with his brother, Jim. And when Jim Biden wanted to know more about one of Hunter Biden’s associates, he hired the former head of Joe Biden’s Secret Service detail to investigate. Since 2019, Joe Biden has repeatedly distanced himself from his family’s business dealings, saying that he has never so much as discussed them with his relatives or with anyone else. But House impeachment inquiry interviews, public records and emails reviewed by POLITICO show that members of his inner circle were regularly enmeshed in those dealings: Many of the president’s closest staffers and advisers have doubled as his relatives’ business associates, both during and after their ...
Read More
Treasury secretary blames labor unions for blocking return-to-work at IRS
No Comments
Approved, National, The Washington Times

Treasury secretary blames labor unions for blocking return-to-work at IRS

By Stephen Dinan | The Washington Times  The IRS is struggling to get its employees back to work in person at least 50% of the time, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the agency’s labor union is the chief hurdle. In striking testimony to Congress, Ms. Yellen suggested that the department could have to renegotiate the contracts to get those employees back to their desks more often. “Some of the employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. They’re members of a union and to enforce those rules requires an agreement with the union,” she told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. READ THE FULL STORY AT THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Read More
Air Force’s top leaders urge unity, patience in face of changes
No Comments
Air Force Times, Approved, National

Air Force’s top leaders urge unity, patience in face of changes

By Rachel S. Cohen | The Air Force Times Four months after Air Force leaders rolled out a slew of initiatives aimed at readying troops to compete with China, they’re grappling with the most difficult part of change: turning ideas into reality. As the service hashes out the details of its future force, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvinand Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flosi are urging airmen to stick together and trust the process. “I have been through many chief of staff transitions and watched how the Air Force is trying to find its way forward,” Allvin said in a joint interview with Flosi in early May. “Sometimes you don’t need a new thing; sometimes you just need to follow through on the old things.” READ THE FULL STORY AT THE AIR FORCE TIMES...
Read More
Steve Bannon, one time Trump advisor, will be in prison on Independence Day as he appeals contempt case
No Comments
Approved, National, THE HILL

Steve Bannon, one time Trump advisor, will be in prison on Independence Day as he appeals contempt case

By ZACH SCHONFELD | The Hill A federal judge ordered Steve Bannon, the one-time adviser to former President Trump, to begin his four-month prison sentence in July as he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.  U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols agreed with prosecutors at a Wednesday hearing, ordering Bannon must self-surrender by July 1 since his bid to overturn his conviction was rejected by a three-judge appeals panel last month.  “The government’s motion is granted,” said Nichols, a Trump appointee. Bannon had opposed the move, insisting he will appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, and arguing he should remain free in the meantime. Bannon was found guilty in 2022 of failing to appear for a deposition ordered by the now-disba...
Read More
Under new CEO, major changes could be realized at Costco
No Comments
Approved, National, The Street

Under new CEO, major changes could be realized at Costco

By Daniel Kline | The Street Costco has been almost stubborn in how slow it has been to adopt new technology. The company embraced the internet years after rivals like Walmart and Target, and it remains well behind them when it comes to its digital presence. That was due to a longstanding belief by company leadership that members did not want money to be spent on technology that could instead go into keeping prices low. It's not that the warehouse club ignored the internet and advances like guaranteed two-day, then one-day, and now same-day delivery, it just didn't see the need to invest in the required infrastructure. Costco (COST) has been clever in adding features like same-day delivery by partnering with Instacart, and it has slowly improved its website, both in what it sells ...
Read More
DOD failed to share rules on partisan politics with service members before election season
No Comments
Air Force Times, Approved, National

DOD failed to share rules on partisan politics with service members before election season

By Nikki Wentling | The Air Force Times The Pentagon failed to properly train and guide troops about off-limits political activities ahead of the 2024 presidential election season, a federal watchdog said. The lack of communication about Pentagon policies means service members may be prone to violating rules they don’t know exist and portraying the Defense Department as politically partisan, the DOD’s Office of Inspector General argued in a report published May 28. The IG asked the Pentagon to share a memorandum immediately with all service members to outline what they can’t do during a presidential election. A Pentagon policy adopted in 2008 encourages service members to vote, serve as election officials and sign political petitions as private citizens, rather than as represen...
Read More