Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) says “Bidenomics” is to blame for the surging gas prices in his district, the fifth congressional district.
According to Biggs, “Bidenomics” includes a “war on domestic energy,” meaning the oil and gas industry.
The average gas price in Arizona, per AAA, sits at about $4 per gallon, a steady rise from prices over the last month but a slight decline from the average last year, when prices hit about $4.30 a gallon.
Arizona’s averages have consistently sat higher than the national averages over the past year.
“Biden’s war on domestic energy hits Americans in the pocketbook. Gas is over $4.00/gallon in my district!” said Biggs. “Arizonans are suffering thanks to Bidenomics.”
Biden's war on domestic energy hits Americans in the pocketbook.
The highest-ever recorded average for gas prices in Arizona was nearly $5.40 in the summer of 2022.
AAA has attributed the recent steady rise in gas prices to the increase in oil prices. Crude oil hit over $10 per barrel earlier this year, attributed to Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and increased conflicts in the Middle East.
The Biden administration has reportedly urged Ukraine to cease its attacks on Russian oil refineries, out of concern for rising gas prices. However, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed those requests from U.S. officials, telling The Washington Post that the U.S. lacks authority to dictate his military strategy.
“We used our drones. Nobody can say to us you can’t,” said Zelensky.
Mapping of gas prices nationwide reflects a trend for prices to be highest around the West Coast, lowest around the midsection of the country, and slightly higher again around the East Coast.
Another factor for the upward surge in gas prices relates to the Biden administration’s increased pressures on oil and gas production — such as the plan announced last fall to scale back leasing for offshore oil and gas drilling — in an attempt to increase American reliance and support for “clean energy” alternatives.
Biden campaigned on the promise to abolish the oil industry, and “end fossil fuel.” His first executive order laid some of the framework to fulfill that promise, such as imposing a moratorium on certain oil and natural gas leasing activities, and directing agencies to revise fuel and emissions standards for vehicles.
On Thursday, the Biden administration announced $20 billion in grants to private companies for clean energy initiatives.
On Wednesday, the Department of Energy canceled two purchases to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Agency officials indicated a desire to avoid buying back oil above its target price of $79 per barrel, since the cost per barrel is around $87.
The Biden administration has depleted the SPR by about 45 percent.
Last month, the Biden administration announced stricter emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles such as freight trucks and buses. Available technologies to meet their new emissions standards include the advanced internal combustion engine vehicles, hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
In January, the White House paused permitting on liquified natural gas (LNG) exports.
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What was supposed to be a three-way challenge for incumbent Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers has turned into a one-on-one contest with recently resigned Councilman Jamie Aldama. The third candidate was failed former state lawmaker Paul Boyer, who had a long and contentious relationship with the Glendale mayor and the city of Glendale. However, Boyer ultimately came up short of the signatures required to file for office and did not meet the April 1st deadline.
That makes the July 30th primary a winner take all event that promises to offer the citizens of Glendale two very different visions for the city. As mayor, Weiers has overseen the resurgence of this West Valley city, and a dramatic improvement in its economy, its bond rating, and its job base. The city regularly reports on companies and developments that have chosen Glendale or existing companies that are expanding.
While Weiers has been mayor, the city has hosted a number of national events, including two Super Bowls, and after this week, its second NCAA Final Four men’s basketball championship.
Aldama’s pitch is more nuanced, because after nearly a decade on the City Council he wants to take credit for the good things in the city, while simultaneously trying to convince voters that the city council is divided and failing in its job. This is a difficult tightrope for him to walk, say consultants, and supporters of the mayor point out that many of the projects and policies that have made Glendale successful are items that Aldama voted against, and those votes that contributed to the success of the city that Aldama voted for and could campaign on, were also championed by the mayor himself.
Aldama supporters believe the city would be better off if it embraced more of the left-leaning policies of cities like Phoenix, which has a Democratic mayor, like Aldama is trying to be. And Aldama himself has been very aggressive in campaigning as a Democrat and soliciting Democrat votes and support, even though city races are nonpartisan and those sorts of partisan appeals are generally frowned upon.
Campaign finance reports will be filed soon and will give more insight into the race and the prospects for the two candidates, but as with mayoral elections every four years, Glendale voters are once again in for a ride.
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Flagstaff schools are gearing to update their sex ed curriculum with material introducing gender ideology.
Gender ideology topics, such as gender identity and transgenderism, would be introduced to Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) students as young as the fifth grade, per the district’s ongoing review of its Social/Sexual Health Curriculum for grades 2, 5, 7, 9, and 11.
The district last updated their sex ed curriculum in 2006. As the existing curriculum is nearly 20 years old, the curriculum doesn’t include any discussions of gender ideology; rather, the curriculum clearly distinguishes sex education content between the two genders.
A sexual health educator brought in by the district to advise on the curriculum updates — Sydney Tolchinsky with Coconino County Health and Human Services — told the district in a meeting earlier this year that fifth graders could be transgender and not speaking openly about it. That’s why, Tolchinsky advised district officials, schools should leave it up to the students to pick which classroom they attend to receive their sex education.
Under the existing curriculum, sex education classes for grades 5 and 7 occur in gender-segregated classrooms. Coeducational classes don’t occur until grades 9 and 11.
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Listen to this @FlagstaffUSD1 sex education meeting regarding sex-ed for 5th graders.
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Tolchinsky further advised the district to get rid of gender-based distinctions in lessons in order to be inclusive of transgender students, such as saying “people who have periods” rather than teaching students that only biological females have periods.
“What we’ve started doing is just not having different lessons, we just have the same lesson in both rooms to be really inclusive of all genders, and trying to change our language, instead of saying ‘girls have periods and boys don’t,’ saying ‘people with a uterus are going to have periods most likely and people without a uterus won’t,’” said Tolchinsky. “Sometimes that might mean a boy might have a period and girls might not have a period for a lot of reasons.”
Failing to have a menstrual period as a biological female is a condition known as “amenorrhoea.” Unless a female is pregnant, breastfeeding, experiencing menopause, or underwent surgery to remove the uterus or ovaries, amenorrhea is a sign of a condition warranting medical attention.
Common causes of amenorrhea include major hormone disruptions caused by emotional stress, extreme weight loss, excessive exercise, or reproductive disorders. Untreated, amenorrhea can present many health risks: reduced fertility, increased risk of cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, increased risk of early onset osteoporosis, and premature menopause and aging.
For males, phallic bleeding may indicate a variety of medical conditions: physical trauma, balanitis, prostatitis, urinary tract infection, ruptured blood vessels, infection, a reaction to medications, or even cancer.
Under Tolchinsky’s suggested teachings, students may believe that conditions like amenorrhea or phallic bleeding are normal and not a cause for concern.
FUSD Assistant Superintendent Lance Huffman agreed with Tolchinsky that gender-neutral language eliminating gender differences would be beneficial.
“We might want to shift to ‘people’ language rather than just boys and girls so some people get periods or people with a uterus may and people with a penis will not,” said Huffman.
Arizona doesn’t require schools to teach sex ed at any level. However, the state does require parents to “opt in” with written permission for all grade levels. Should parents opt out, each individual school provides alternative instruction.
In 2021, the legislature approved a bill requiring, in part, parental consent for discussions of gender ideology in sex ed. Then-Governor Doug Ducey vetoed the legislation, critiquing the bill language as “overly broad and vague,” which the governor said would cause misinterpretations by schools and inhibit child abuse prevention education in early grades.
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Rep. Raúl Grijalva, (D-Ariz), announced his cancer diagnosis on Tuesday.
The District 7 congressman, 76, issued a press release on his illness the day after April Fool’s Day. Grijalva didn’t disclose the specifics of his diagnosis, such as whether it was fatal. The congressman clarified that he would maintain his seat through treatment, which he has already begun.
“This diagnosis has been difficult to process, but I am confident in the vigorous course of treatment that my medical team has developed, and I’ve begun my journey to fight this cancer,” said Grijalva.
Grijalva discovered his cancer after seeking medical treatment for a persistent cough, initially diagnosed as pneumonia.
Grijalva was first elected to Congress in 2003, and has held his seat since then. The congressman serves as the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, and also sits on the Education and Labor Committee.
Grijalva is also the chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and maintains membership with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
During his 20 years in Congress, Grijalva has introduced 344 bills, 10 of which became law:
HR 4881, the Old Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act, directing the Department of the Interior to take tribally owned lands in Pima County into trust for the benefit of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, and made into part of the Pascua Yaqui Reservation. The act allows gaming on the land taken into this trust.
HR 2030, the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan Authorization Act, requiring the Department of the Interior to carry out the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan submitted to Congress on March 19, 2019, by Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
HR 507, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Trust Land Act, holds in trust for the tribe all right, title, and interest of the U.S. in and to approximately 20 acres of federal land from two parcels, one of which was owned by the Tucson Unified School District. The lands held in trust under this act prohibit gaming, as well as the forfeiture or abandonment of any water rights from these lands.
HR 3319, allowing the Pascua Yaqui Tribe to determine the requirements for membership in that tribe. The tribe expanded its membership with the perks of federal services and benefits to any with Pascua Yaqui blood enrolled by the tribe.
HR 3739, amending the Arizona Water Settlements Act to modify the requirements for the statement of findings. The amendment makes the Arizona Water Rights Settlement effective as of the date the Secretary of the Interior publishes in the Federal Register a statement of findings that specified conditions apply. These conditions included the judgment and decree attached to the Tohono O’odham settlement agreement approved in state court.
HR 5857, naming a USPS facility in Tucson as the “Morris K. ‘Mo’ Udall Post Office Building.”
HR 1075, designating a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Port of Entry in Douglas, Arizona as the “Raul Hector Castro Port of Entry.”
HR 794, the Colorado River Indian Reservation Boundary Correction Act, declared the reservation boundaries to be defined by the Robbins Survey of 1875 and the Harrington Resurvey of 1912. These surveys included 16,000 acres known as the La Paz lands. The act reversed a 1915 executive order excluding those lands from the survey. The land within this trust was exempted from gaming.
HR 327, allowing binding arbitration clauses to be included in all contracts affecting land within the Gila River Indian Community Reservation.
HR 326, amending the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area Act of 2000 to adjust the boundary of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area and for other purposes.
Over the past few years, the long-serving congressman has made headlines for his consistent dismissal of the border crisis as an issue. Grijalva most recently skipped out on a hearing to address the border in his district. The hearing was arranged by the subcommittee of the committee in which he serves as a ranking member.
Grijalva disregarded the border hearing as an ulterior means of scapegoating immigrants.
The congressman also praised President Joe Biden’s administration following the president’s State of the Union, especially in regard to the border.
“Trump and Republicans remain fixated on the southern border and chose to block bipartisan immigration reform for the sake of campaign politics,” said Grijalva. “It’s clear the American people have benefitted from the leadership of President Biden and his commitment to defending the freedoms and values essential to American democracy.”
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Inflation hasn’t discouraged Americans from spending to celebrate the upcoming Easter holiday. Analysts project a spending total surpassing $22 billion, with consumers explaining to them that Easter is an important tradition.
Despite record inflation and consumer goods increasing in price by more than double over the past several years, it appears that Americans still feel the holiday of hope and new life is worth the expense.
The projections come from the annual survey by the National Retail Federation (NFR) and Prosper Insights & Analytics (PIA). In a press release, NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay explained that Easter maintained its positive meaning for Americans.
“Each year, Americans look forward to the celebration of Easter and the renewal of time and traditions with loved ones,” said Shay.
NRF surveys date back to 2003. This year’s survey spanned about 8,400 adult consumers from March 1 to 6 with a margin of error plus one or minus 1.1 percent. A majority of Americans (81 percent) said they would celebrate Easter.
64 percent of consumers told survey analysts that they remain inspired to shop for Easter-related items because it’s tradition for them. The next-highest popular reason concerned spending time with family or friends (32 percent), while a close third (29 percent) shopped to capitalize on sales and promotions.
These projections account for food, clothing, and gifts in general. Respondents said they would spend an average of $177 per person. Unsurprisingly, the top-reported expenditures were equally candy and food, followed by general gifts, then clothing, then decorations.
Last year’s Easter shoppers set the record high at $24 billion, with about $190 spent per person.
Back in 2007, shoppers spent $14.5 billion. The 2008 recession did cause a decline in Easter shopping for several years; it wouldn’t be until 2011 that Americans would surpass 2007 Easter spending.
The annual survey also gauged how consumers planned to spend their Easter weekend. 57 percent mentioned cooking a holiday meal, 53 percent mentioned visiting friends and family, and 43 percent mentioned going to church. Only half of households with children planned to conduct an Easter egg hunt at home.
Discount stores were top of the list for Easter shopping destinations (53 percent), followed by department stores (40 percent), online retail (33 percent), local/small businesses (22 percent), and specialty stores (20 percent).
There were those surveyed who shared that they would not be celebrating Easter. 55 percent of that demographic said they would still take advantage of Easter sales, but would spend much less per person, around $20. The capture of their market has to do with how stores advertise and curate a shopping experience, explained PIA Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist in the NRF press release.
“The overall shopping experience itself also plays a role in purchasing behavior,” said Rist. “This year almost one-quarter of consumers said they were inspired to shop for Easter items from store displays and decorations as well as exclusive or seasonal products.”
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