by Corinne Murdock | Dec 5, 2023 | Economy, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) says that President Joe Biden’s energy policies are to blame for the burgeoning energy and national security crises.
Crane linked the crises to “idiotic” actions by the Biden administration, citing the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, ban on drilling on federal lands, and the resulting depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
“The Biden Admin has sabotaged American energy & compromised our national security,” said Crane. “Not to mention, these idiotic moves impose crippling costs on Americans.”
Gas prices in Arizona average about $3.40, a decline from last year’s average of $3.90. The national average was lower as of the latest federal data, at about $3.20. Arizona’s average gas price reached a record high last March, surpassing the previous high set in June 2008.
Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office by revoking the permit necessary for the pipeline’s completion through executive order. About a week later, Biden issued another executive order paving the way for a ban on new oil and gas leases on public lands and waters. That ban has not come to fruition, though the administration has added other burdens to the oil industry.
In July, the Biden administration announced new rules that would increase the cost that oil companies must pay to drill on public lands by over 16 percent — ending a century-long rate of about 12 percent — and end the renewal of unused permits.
When the Russo-Ukrainian conflict escalated last year with Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, the Biden administration began tapping into the SPR to mitigate the resulting rise in oil prices.
The strategy resulted in a 40-year record depletion of the reserve, at 180 million barrels. Last week, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported that it bought back nearly nine million barrels.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) monthly data, domestic crude oil production increased at a greater rate under Trump than the past two years under Biden.
Under Trump (thousand barrels):
- 2017 produced 3.4 million; by September produced 2.5 million
- 2018 produced 3.9 million; by September produced 2.9 million
- 2019 produced 4.4 million; by September produced 3.3 million
- 2020 produced 4.1 million; by September produced 3.1 million
From 2017 to 2018, there were over 581,000 more barrels produced. From 2018 to 2019, there were over 496,000 more barrels produced. 2020 marked a decline, with about 351,000 less barrels produced. The first three months of 2020, prior to the pandemic’s likely impact, reflected record productions of crude oil that were higher than the first three months of this year’s production levels.
Under Biden (thousand barrels):
- 2021 produced 4.1 million; by September produced 3 million
- 2022 produced 4.3 million; by September produced 3.2 million
- Amount in 2023 produced so far (as of September): nearly 3.5 million
From 2021 to 2022, there were 234,000 more barrels produced. So far this year, there have been about 281,000 more barrels produced.
The Biden administration has made clear its commitment to swapping oil for total electrification. Their goal aligns with a globalist commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Over the weekend, the Biden administration announced a new rule to reduce methane emissions from oil producers.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Dec 5, 2023 | Economy, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Another economic boon is coming to Arizona.
On Thursday, it was announced that Amkor Technology would be bringing a multi-billion-dollar campus to Peoria in the next few years. The company will be partnering with Apple to package and test silicon.
The new Amkor campus is expected be a $2 billion investment and create 2,000 jobs. The Peoria City Council will have to approve the development agreement in 2024.
The Chief Operating Officer for Apple, Jeff Williams, also noted the announcement in a press release for his company. Williams said, “Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing, and we’ll continue to expand our investment here in the United States. Apple silicon has unlocked new levels of performance for our users, enabling them to do things they could never do before, and we are thrilled that Apple silicon will soon be produced and packaged in Arizona.”
Governor Katie Hobbs weighed in on the news for her state, stating that this project would “be one of the most significant semiconductor investments in the U.S.” and that it would “solidify our state’s leadership in the semiconductor industry – reshoring an essential part of our supply chain to the United States.”
“Expansion of a US semiconductor supply chain is underway, and as the largest US-headquartered advanced packaging company, we are excited to lead the charge in bolstering America’s advanced packaging capabilities,” said Giel Rutten, Amkor’s president and chief executive officer. “Semiconductor companies, foundries, and other supply chain partners understand the need to strategically broaden their geographic footprint. The announcement of our new advanced packaging and test facility in Arizona is a clear signal of our intent to help our customers ensure resilient supply chains and be a part of a strong American semiconductor ecosystem.”
According to Amkor’s press release, the company has “secured approximately 55 acres of land with intent to build a state-of-the-art manufacturing campus with more than 500,000 square feet of clean room space.”
The announcement from Amkor follows a years-in-the-making project for the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) construction of a facility in north Phoenix, just outside of Peoria. TSMC’s investment is $40 billion and is expected to create thousands of additional jobs for the area. The facility is expected to start production of the semiconductor chips, that will be then tested and packaged by Amkor, in 2025, providing the company fills its quota of workers.
Peoria Mayor Jason Beck welcomed the announcement from Amkor and Apple, saying, “It is no secret that our nation is reshoring its advanced manufacturing industries. We are proud of Peoria’s global leadership in this movement, and the significant capital investment and quality jobs that it brings to our community. This tremendous announcement is a credit to the City Council’s commitment to economic development, and staff’s hard work and dedication on this project.”
This facility won’t likely be the last significant business and investment coming to Beck’s city. The Mayor’s TYR Tactical is one of Peoria’s largest employers, and he used that experience to shape his economic development vision for Peoria’s future. He campaigned on the construction of a city owned airport “that will create thousands of jobs and billions in economic impact” for Peoria, as well as the “creation of culture that is not only Pro Business but moves at the speed and efficiency of business.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 4, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) announced on Friday that her congressional committee will be questioning Anthony Fauci for the first time ever next month.
The hearing is scheduled to take place before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic for 14 hours over the course of two days: Jan. 8 and 9, 2024. Each day will consist of seven hours of uninterrupted, transcribed testimony. Additionally, Fauci will be made to appear at another public hearing before the subcommittee at a later date yet to be announced.
“Dr. Fauci will finally be answering the American people,” said Lesko.
In their announcement of Fauci’s hearing, the subcommittee issued an X thread highlighting some of Fauci’s “most egregious pandemic-era failures.” The subcommittee cited Fauci’s attempt to push the “Proximal Origin” theory published through mainstream media to disprove the Wuhan, China lab leak theory; Fauci’s awareness of the dangers of the gain-of-function research that resulted in COVID-19 prior to the pandemic, and his inaction to stop it; Fauci’s recent admission that COVID-19 vaccine mandates were a coercion tactic; and Fauci’s quick reversal on mask efficacy early on in the pandemic.
“[Fauci’s] upcoming testimonies will aid [our] ongoing effort to hold American public health officials accountable for pandemic-era failures,” stated the subcommittee.
The subcommittee, formed in 2020 under the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, consists of Lesko along with Republican Reps. Brad Wenstrup, chairman (OH-02), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01), Michael Cloud (TX-27), John Joyce (PA-13), Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14), Ronny Jackson (TX-13), and Rich McCormick (GA-06); and Democratic Reps. Raul Ruiz (D-CA-25), Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Ami Bera (CA-06), and Jill Tokuda (HI-02).
One of the key focuses of the committee has concerned pinpointing the origins of COVID-19. Committee hearings and evidence point to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and its taxpayer-funded gain-of-function research as the source of the virus, bolstered by proof of government health leaders’ relationship to EcoHealth Alliance, the nonprofit research organization that funded the research.
In July, the select subcommittee held a hearing to discuss the Proximal Origin theory, a zoonotic proposal that the virus jumped from animals to humans in the nearby wet markets. The subcommittee found that Fauci and former National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins were behind drafting, publishing, and promoting the Proximal Origin theory, and that the theory lacked outside proof or verification.
The University of Arizona (UArizona) has continued to defend the Proximal Origin theory. Michael Worobey, head of the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Department, maintains that COVID-19 originated in the Huanan Seafood Market, though his research acknowledged that a significant percentage of the first COVID-19 patients neither worked or shopped there, and that the researchers never tested market animals purportedly linked to the initial outbreak.
The Wuhan lab is less than nine miles from the wet market.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 4, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Two Turning Point USA (TPUSA) journalists have been charged with harassment and assault in an altercation involving an Arizona State University (ASU) professor.
Last month, reporters Kalen D’Almeida and Braden Ellis attempted to ask questions of ASU professor and Drag Queen Story Hour co-founder David Boyles. In response to questioning from D’Almeida and filming from Ellis, surveillance footage shows Boyles lunge and grab at Ellis before D’Almeida pushes Boyles away. Boyles falls from the shove.
D’Almeida questioned Boyles about his involvement in sexual education and drag shows for minors, his writings, and whether he harbors attractions to minors. Boyles refused to answer D’Almeida’s questions.
D’Almeida and Ellis each face a charge of harassment, a class one misdemeanor carrying a prison sentence of up to six months and fines up to $2,500 (A.R.S. §§ 13-2921, 13-707, and 13-802). D’Almeida also faces additional charges of assault (A.R.S. § 13-1203 (A)(1) and (B)) and disorderly conduct (A.R.S. § 13-2904) both class two misdemeanors carrying a prison sentence of up to four months and fines up to $750.
Immediately after the incident last month, ASU President Michael Crow sided with Boyles in a public statement. Crow likened the TPUSA journalists to “bullies.” Crow also claimed that D’Almeida and Ellis “ran away” from the scene before police arrived, but surveillance footage shows the pair, along with Boyles, walk together in the same direction off camera after the altercation.
In a Facebook post, Boyles called D’Almeida and Ellis “right-wing fascists” and “terrorists,” echoing Crow’s claim that the pair “ran off” after the incident. Boyles said that he only moved to block the camera before D’Almeida pushed him.
“And the first thing we can do to stop it is to stop coddling these f*****g terrorists,” said Boyles. “These people should be shunned from society.”
ASU police confirmed they’re investigating D’Almeida and Ellis to determine whether the altercation was motivated by bias or prejudice.
In a statement responding to the charges against D’Almeida and Ellis, TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet declared that neither man committed any wrongdoing.
“Kalen and his cameraman did absolutely nothing wrong,” said Kolvet. “We will vigorously defend them and look forward to taking this matter into a courtroom where the very clear video evidence documenting what actually happened will quickly prevail over ASU’s gaslighting and the media’s propaganda. Our team members will be vindicated.”
TPUSA CEO Charlie Kirk issued a statement of his own, in which he accused ASU of retaliation over their organization’s campaign to pull taxpayer funding from ASU.
“Our two @TPUSA journalists are expected to be charged and arrested for defending themselves against an aggressive weirdo professor at ASU who physically attacked them,” said Kirk. “ASU is retaliating against TPUSA because we’re rallying support to pull taxpayer $ from their institution.”
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Dec 4, 2023 | Economy, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Americans are paying the price for an economy seemingly in decline.
A recent study, released by CBS News, showed that “the typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021, right before inflation soared to 40-year highs.”
These numbers showed that Arizona has experienced the high-end of inflation and added cost-of-living expenses for residents. On average, Arizona households must spend $13,329 more than they did in January 2021. Only two states, Utah and Colorado, are ahead of Arizona.
One of the contributing factors to the higher costs of living in the Grand Canyon State might be the prices at gas pumps, which have consistently been more than many other states in America. Throughout 2023, Republicans at the Arizona Legislature have attempted to get to the bottom of the reasons for the above-average prices for gas. Earlier this fall, the Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Study Committee on Air Quality and Energy convened to hear from Michelle Wilson, the Regulatory Compliance Administrator for the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures.
After the hearing, the Committee issued a press release to publicize that Wilson “admitted the Hobbs Administration was passive when oil companies in March warned of refinery shutdowns,” adding “that according to Wilson, for the first time in five years, the Governor’s office received a request from refineries to ask the EPA for a waiver, allowing for an alternative fuel type to provide an adequate supply for drivers and preventing a hike in gas prices.” Yet after the Governor’s Office “had conversations with the EPA about submitting a request for a waiver, … the EPA convinced Hobbs to not submit one.”
“Rather than making a case on behalf of Arizonans struggling to fill their tanks with prices hitting $5 per gallon, Governor Hobbs chose to not push back against the EPA and was complicit with the Biden Administration’s pro-inflation, radical environmentalist agenda,” said Senator Sine Kerr, the Committee’s co-chair. “As a result of Hobbs’ inaction, Maricopa County drivers were forced to shell out an extra several hundred million dollars just to get to their destinations during this supply disruption.”
The national average for gas prices, as of November 29, is $3.246 for a regular gallon of gas, which is down from last year’s average of $3.521 at the same time. Arizona clocks in at above average at $3.490, down from $4.055 at this time in 2022.
The state’s cost of living is regarded as one of the country’s highest, regardless of the study used to compute the ranking. The MERIC 2022 Cost of Living Index shows Arizona as 37th (out of 50) while RentCafe has the state’s costs at six percent higher than the national average.
Arizona’s housing market is also a contributing factor to the state’s high cost of living. According to Redfin, the median sale price in Arizona is $438,000, compared to $414,633 for the entire U.S. market (as of October 2023).
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Dec 3, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
In an exclusive poll for AZ Free News, nearly 4.5 percent more of Arizona voters revealed that they prefer former President Donald Trump over current President Joe Biden. The poll also showed that Arizona voters have a low favorability of Gov. Katie Hobbs.
When asked who they would vote for should Trump and Biden serve as the 2024 presidential candidates, 39.5 percent picked Trump and 35.2 percent picked Biden. 19 percent said they would pick a third party candidate, and five percent were undecided.
George Khalaf, president of Data Orbital who conducted the poll, told AZ Free News that the polling serves as a troublesome portent for Democratic candidates in 2024.
“Arizona Democrats should be very concerned that we enter 2024 with Governor Hobbs and President Biden both having favorability ratings that are under 40 percent,” said Khalaf. “Former President Trump’s ballot test advantage of nearly 4.5 percent shows a strong early position for Republicans in Arizona. Both of these data points are in line with broader numbers coming out nationally from other swing states.”
When asked about Hobbs, only 38 percent of voters found her favorable. The disapproval rating comes close to other recent polling published this month. Hobbs was one of seven governors with an approval rating below 50 percent. The Morning Consult reported the governor had a 48 percent approval and 40 percent disapproval rating.
The favorability rating marks an improvement from over the summer, when Hobbs dipped to a 40 percent approval rating via Morning Consult: second to last for least-liked governor.
23 percent found Hobbs to be strongly favorable, and 15 percent found her to be somewhat favorable. 27 percent found her to be strongly unfavorable, and 11 percent found her to be somewhat unfavorable. 16 percent were neutral or had no opinion on Hobbs. Two percent were undecided or refused to answer.
In terms of general favorability, apart from serving as the 2024 candidate, 42 percent of voters found Trump favorable, with 29 percent finding him strongly favorable and 13 percent finding him somewhat favorable. About four percent were neutral or had no opinion, and about one percent were undecided or refused to answer.
Comparatively, only 36 percent of respondents found Biden favorable, with 20 percent finding him strongly favorable and 16 percent finding him somewhat favorable. Six percent were neutral or had no opinion of Biden. About two percent were undecided on the issue or refused to answer.
Over 52 percent of respondents were females, while over 47 percent were males.
38 percent of respondents were Republicans, 32 percent were Democrats, 27 percent were independents or unidentified, and two percent were “other.”
When asked to identify themselves outside party lines and along ideological descriptors, 37 percent identified as conservative, 38 percent identified as moderate, 20 percent identified as progressive, and about three percent were undecided.
Voter age groups were nearly split evenly, with the exception of the elderly crowd. Only six percent of polled voters were 18 to 24, 12 percent were 25 to 34, 14 percent were 35 to 44, 15 percent were 45 to 54, 18 percent were 55 to 64, and 34 percent were 65 and older.
71 percent of respondents were white, 19 percent were Hispanic, four percent were African American, three percent were Asian or Pacific Islander, and four percent identified as “other.”
Most respondents had some college but no degree: nearly 42 percent. Over 24 percent had a bachelor’s degree, 15 percent had a graduate degree or higher, 15 percent had a high school degree or equivalent, and over two percent had less than a high school diploma.
Most of the respondents had better turnout for the general elections compared to the primary elections. Only 18 percent voted in all four of the last four primary elections, but nearly 50 percent voted in all four of the last four general elections.
The poll had an approximated four percent margin of error.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
