Arizona has been working to stop noncitizens from voting in our elections for over 20 years. After years of litigation, we are near the final step in proving our model works. That’s why last month we filed a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 9th Circuit’s radical decision blocking our proof of citizenship laws from going into effect, and it should be an easy decision for them.
The Supreme Court told us in 2013 that we could require proof of citizenship on our own state voter registration form. They said it again in 2024, just weeks before the election. And yet, the 9th Circuit, in defiance of the Supreme Court, determined that essentially every aspect of the laws is unconstitutional, and that they were passed with “discriminatory intent.”
While we continue to wait on Congress to pass the SAVE Act, Arizona’s model is one every state can and must adopt immediately. When the Supreme Court takes the case, every obstacle will be removed for them…
Friday’s strong jobs report smashed expectations and demonstrated that the economy and labor market are far stronger than the mainstream media suggests. The economy added 178,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent. Real wages rose again, increasing average American living standards.
After a rough February distorted by brutal weather across large parts of the country, the labor market has roared back. The naysayers who insisted that blip represented a crumbling economy were wrong, and the March data makes that plain.
Friday’s jobs report follows a strong ADP employment report on Wednesday that showed small businesses created 112,000 private-sector jobs in March. While the employment picture was more nuanced at bigger companies, small businesses remain the engine of the economy.
Thanks to President Donald Trump’s strong border policies, which have stopped the massive influx of the labor force, the nation is, by any measure, at full employment. The Kansas City Fed estimates that the number of jobs needed each month to keep the unemployment rate steady has fallen from around 150,000 to roughly 50,000.
Elevated oil prices are always a threat to small businesses, the labor market, and the broader economy. But the jobs report shows employers recognize today’s high gas prices as short-term pain that doesn’t alter the administration’s domestic pro-energy agenda, which represents a long-term structural shift. Expanded drilling, streamlined permitting, and a commitment to American energy independence mean that today’s prices are a temporary headache, not a permanent condition.
Meanwhile, the federal government workforce continues to fall. Since Trump took office, federal government jobs are down by 12% and at the lowest level since 1966, a huge victory over big government. Every position shed from the federal payroll is a resource freed up for the productive private economy — the part of the economy that actually creates goods, services, and lasting prosperity.
America’s resilient economy and labor market are a direct result of last year’s Republican tax cuts. The restoration of 100 percent immediate expensing — allowing businesses to write off capital investments in full the year they’re made — gives employers a powerful incentive to expand. The permanent 20 percent deduction for small business income and new interest deductions do the same. Together, these provisions are fueling exactly the kind of investment cycle that produces hiring and wage growth.
Guy Berkebile, chairman of Guy Chemical, a manufacturer south of Pittsburgh, explained the situation at an event hosted by Job Creators Network, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Tax Reform, and the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, featuring U.S. Rep. Scott Perry this week: “Tax cuts leave us business owners with more money to invest in our employees and in expansion. Immediate expensing helps justify the costs of new projects by reducing the payback time.”
Small businesses like Guy Chemical can help Americans connect the dots between tax cuts and more jobs, higher wages, and a stronger economy.
The mainstream media will continue searching for ways to cloud any positive news. Our job is to look at the data clearly and call it what it is: a strong economy, a resilient labor market, and pro-growth policies that are working.
Alfredo Ortiz is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation, CEO of Job Creators Network, author of “The Real Race Revolutionaries,” and co-host of the Main Street Matters podcast.
House Bill 2140 would authorize the Arizona State Treasurer to invest up to ten percent of state trust and treasury monies in physical gold and silver bullion, stored in a U.S.-based commercial depository meeting industry standards for secure storage, insurance, independent audits, and physical segregation.
The bill passed the House 31-24 on March 10 and has since cleared the Senate Finance Committee (4-2-1), the Senate Rules Committee, and received Do Pass recommendations from both the Senate majority and minority caucuses.
It does not create a new government agency. It does not require the Treasurer to buy a single ounce. It permits the state to do what the world’s central banks have been doing aggressively for over a decade: hold physical gold as a component of sound reserves management.
The case for that permission starts with the stock market. The S&P 500 is supposed to represent the broad American economy. Seven companies (Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Tesla) now make up roughly a third of the entire index and accounted for a majority of its total annual return in each of the past three years.
All seven are leveraged to the same artificial intelligence thesis, and by two widely tracked valuation measures the market sits at levels seen only once before: immediately preceding the dot-com crash. When the financial health of a state’s reserves depends on a single narrative playing out as planned, prudence demands diversification.
The traditional alternatives, such as private equity and hedge funds, offer little comfort; during Warren Buffett’s famous ten-year wager, a simple index fund returned 7.1% annually while top hedge funds managed 2.2%, with managers retaining roughly 64 cents of every dollar of profit.
Gold tells a different story. Over 25 years, gold has returned more than 1,000% (a compound annual rate exceeding 10%), outpacing the S&P 500 Total Return Index, and was positive in eight of the nine years since 1971 when equities posted losses. Central banks have acted accordingly: global gold purchases have exceeded 1,000 tonnes annually since 2022, roughly double the prior decade’s average.
A 2025 World Gold Council survey found that 95% of central bank reserve managers expect holdings to increase further, and gold now constitutes a larger share of central bank reserves worldwide than U.S. Treasury securities for the first time since 1996.
The AI concentration that dominates equity markets also carries labor market consequences that are already visible in the data. Challenger, Gray & Christmas tracked nearly 55,000 U.S. layoffs directly attributed to AI in 2025, part of over 91,000 AI-cited cuts since tracking began in 2023. January 2026 saw 108,000 total planned layoffs (the highest for that month since 2009) against just 5,300 new hiring announcements (the lowest January on record). The firms spending the most on AI are simultaneously cutting the workforce that buys their products.
Arizona’s demographics sharpen the fiscal stakes. Nearly one in five residents is 65 or older, a share projected to reach 22% by 2035 in the nation’s second most popular retirement destination. An aging population draws more heavily on state services and reserve funds. A modest bullion allocation to an asset that has outperformed equities during every major downturn since 1971 is precisely the kind of prudent stewardship that trajectory demands.
Other states are already moving. Texas established its Bullion Depository in 2015; the facility holds over $400 million at zero cost to taxpayers. Wyoming has a $10 million gold reserve. Tennessee is pursuing one exceeding $60 million. Arizona already exempts bullion from state sales and capital gains taxes. HB 2140 is the logical next step.
In time, a full state-administered bullion depository offering secure storage to Arizona residents and local governments may warrant legislative consideration. For now, HB 2140 gives the Treasurer authority to hold a portion of the state’s reserves in the one asset class that has preserved purchasing power across every major financial disruption of the modern era. The Senate should pass it, and the Governor must sign it to secure taxpayer money.
Arman Sidhu is a lifelong Arizona resident and educator. He is a doctoral student in education at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. His opinions are entirely his own.
Leading under divided government is hard, but it does not excuse a governor from actually governing. Republican legislative leadership has held a clear and defensible line when it comes to the state’s budget: spend only the revenues the state actually has, provide full tax relief by implementing full conformity and don’t force Arizonans to file their taxes twice and pay more in the process. When Hobbs couldn’t move them off that position last week, she didn’t really explain why their position was unreasonable or come back with a new proposal. Instead, she walked away from the table.
Recently, a rumor was circulating around the Capitol that the Governor and legislative leadership were discussing a deal to deliver conformity tax cuts and build the contours of the budget around a speculative state land trust ballot referral. Referring a Prop 123 extension would dump hundreds of millions of new dollars into district K-12 schools without any strings attached. By the end of last week, that balloon had popped, along with any credibility that Katie Hobbs knows how to lead.
As governor, it is Katie Hobbs’ job to bring people together and solve difficult problems. Yet before the calendar has even turned to April (very early for budget season at the capitol), Governor Hobbs has already admitted that she is out of ideas.
The Prop 123 Gimmick Was Never Going to Work
Now that the budget breakdown has gone public, details of the Hobbs proposal have been released, and it was far worse than anyone had even thought. Under the Hobbs plan, Arizona’s entire budget would somehow hinge on the passage of a new Proposition 123 referral at the ballot in November…
Anyone who values fair elections should be alarmed by mounting evidence that ActBlue—the Democrats’ billion‑dollar fundraising behemoth—has become a conduit for questionable and possibly unlawful campaign contributions. For years, ActBlue has dominated online political fundraising, funneling vast sums into nearly every major progressive campaign. Yet recent investigations suggest that its system may enable donor fraud on a scale large enough to distort the political process.
According to a congressional report, ActBlue executives reportedly urged staff to “look for reasons to accept contributions,” rather than question them. This mindset prioritizes cash flow over compliance. When a platform handles billions, even modest levels of unverified donations can translate into massive sums—and massive exposure to abuse.
Indeed, the House Judiciary Committee’s report warns that ActBlue’s internal posture appears to have tilted away from basic compliance. Staff were allegedly instructed that they should be “looking for reasons to accept contributions, not reasons to reject them,” even when transactions raised red flags. Such guidance, if accurate, reflects an internal culture that treats compliance warnings as obstacles rather than safeguards. In the campaign finance context, that is not a technical lapse; it is an invitation to abuse.
State-level investigations have begun to uncover just how widespread the problem may be. Attorneys general in Texas, Virginia, and 17 other states are probing suspicious donations routed through the platform. Many appear to have been made in the names of elderly Americans who had no idea their personal details were used. Other transactions trace to foreign IP addresses or prepaid debit cards—classic indicators of money‑laundering networks. One technique, known as “smurfing,” breaks prohibited or oversized donations into countless small ones designed to escape detection.
Federal law is unambiguous: the Federal Election Campaign Act prohibits contributions made “in the name of another.” The question now is whether ActBlue’s systems adequately prevent such violations. The FEC is well positioned to answer that question. By releasing relevant records and confirming whether reviews or safeguards are underway, the Commission can help restore public confidence and fulfill its mission of transparency and fair enforcement.
ActBlue’s own choices have made that task increasingly important. In 2024, executives reportedly loosened internal fraud‑detection measures after complaints that too many donations were being flagged. The organization for years processed payments without requiring a credit card verification code—a practice no reputable processor would tolerate. Senior staff turnover followed soon afterward, underscoring internal instability.
The pattern described by investigators raises another unavoidable question: what safeguards were deliberately weakened, and why? Modern payment processors routinely employ layered verification tools—address checks, card security codes, velocity limits, and anomaly detection—to prevent identity misuse and foreign funding. When a platform handling billions abandons or dilutes such controls, the burden of explanation falls on those who made the decision. The public is entitled to know who approved the changes and what risks were ignored.
If even a fraction of ActBlue’s donations originates from improper or foreign sources, the consequences could touch nearly every major Democratic campaign it fuels. The platform is the financial engine of the modern Left. Americans deserve assurance that political fundraising—on either side—operates under the same lawful standards.
Last month, Judicial Watch’s legal team filed a federal lawsuit after the Federal Election Commission declined to release records about suspicious transactions processed through the platform. The goal is simple: transparency. The FEC now has an opportunity—indeed, a responsibility—to clarify what it knows and to reassure Americans that campaign finance laws are being applied evenly, no matter how politically powerful the organization involved.
Transparency is not a partisan demand; it is the minimum condition for lawful elections everywhere.
ActBlue’s deep reach into national, state, and local races alike makes this a turning point not just for the organization’s credibility but for public confidence in how campaigns are financed. Its influence reaches far beyond any single candidate or election. The FEC can help illuminate the truth. And if credible investigations find ActBlue’s operations to be sound, oversight will vindicate them. If not, accountability must be swift and complete, because no network, regardless of size or ideology, should be allowed to warp the electoral process.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has publicly shifted toward what he calls energy pragmatism, admitting that society now demands a balanced approach to meeting power needs rather than adherence to rigid climate agendas. This could be a pivotal moment for global energy policy, as one of the planet’s most powerful financial players steps back from decades of ill-advised “green” mandates.
BlackRock is the world’s top financial manager, overseeing more than $10 trillion in assets that sway markets, companies and even governments. It delivers risk analysis tools that guide how firms allocate capital, set strategies and tackle issues from energy supply to corporate governance. BlackRock’s hand is in everything from pension funds to sovereign wealth, where its votes and investments steer decisions affecting wide swaths of society.
Fink points to China, which leads in new nuclear plants and vast solar installations while importing record volumes of natural gas and oil to meet surging demand. “Society has moved into a better position of having more pragmatism,” Finkstates, “and what you’re hearing from me is I’m echoing what we’re hearing from our clients.” Better to have clients than ideologues steering the ship.
Fink’s tone matches his earlier report of $4 billion lost in ESG-linked assets in 2023, a hit from states like Florida and others pulling funds over concerns about politicized investing. BlackRockdropped the “weaponized” ESG label by mid-2023 and exited the Net Zero Asset Managers group in January 2025 amid antitrust probes and backlash from state governments.
Clients forced Fink’s hand after years of BlackRock deploying their money to advance ESG and related priorities, often with the encouragement of left-leaning managers of public pension funds like New York’s. Fiduciary duty – maximizing investor returns – had taken a backseat as the firm lobbied corporations on “woke” interests ranging from board diversity to cuts in industrial emissions. Now, with lawsuits mounting and states divesting billions, Fink invokes thatsame duty to justify pragmatism.
Fink’s reversal exposes the scam. BlackRock wielded trillions to warp board politics and policies, betraying investors for a clique’s dreams. Now, scrutiny and an outflow of funds force truth. Fink’s admission also validates what skeptics argued: Climate narratives overstated risks to advance costly fantasies. Data show no increase in extreme weather, for which emissions of CO2 have been absurdly blamed. Hurricanes, floods and droughts have followed historical norms.
Climate alarmists’ infatuation with wind and solar energy has run into the reality of physics. So-called “renewables” falter where reliability counts. Their intermittency strands grids during times of peak demands, hiking costs for families and factories. In contrast, fossil fuels and nuclear power human prosperity. They provide the dense, affordable and reliable energy required by modern civilization.
The campaign to abruptly replace them with low-density, weather-dependent alternatives was a mathematical impossibility from the start. A foundation of coal, natural gas and nuclear energy is needed to maintain a modern standard of living. This is why Asian industrial economies continually added fossil fuel capacity behind a veneer of “green” pretense.
Look at global patterns. Growth in wind and solar capacity covers only a small part of rising electricity needs. China builds nuclear faster than anyone and guzzles oil and gas imports to fuel factories and homes. Despite net-zero pledges, India accelerated domestic coal production while exploring small modular reactors to power its 1.4 billion people and hit 8% growth targets.
Even European countries that once championed rapid shifts to “renewables” began to reconsider after the 2022 energy crisis exposed vulnerabilities. In Germany, factories shut down and household budgets strained when Russian gas supplies tightened and wind and solar stalled during calm or cloudy periods.
After years of climate-driven experimentation – forced by deluded or dishonest politicians and business titans – the failures became too many and too consequential to be ignored. Little wonder that Larry Fink has turned his ear away from the rhetoric of alarm and toward client demands for strategic guidance.
Vijay Jayaraj is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation and Science and Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Fairfax, Va. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor’s in engineering from Anna University, India. He served as a research associate with the Changing Oceans Research Unit at University of British Columbia, Canada.
