Valerie Richardson

Colorado House Democrats pass sweeping abortion bill after GOP foes force all-nighter

Colorado House Democrats passed Saturday a sweeping pro-choice measure after about 24 hours as minority Republicans sought to stall the legislation in what was billed as one of the longest floor debates in state history.

March 12, 2022

Democrats slammed over bill to hike taxes on major oil companies

Congressional Democrats like Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island want to bring down sky-high gas prices by raising taxes on major oil-and-gas companies, a proposal that dumbfounded critics said would trigger even higher prices at the pump.

March 12, 2022

Biden’s oil-and-gas crackdown backfires as energy crunch tightens

President Biden adamantly denies discouraging domestic oil-and-gas production, but his well-documented crackdown on fossil fuels in the name of climate change suggests otherwise.

March 10, 2022

NYT reporter rips ‘overreaction’ to Jan. 6 riots in Project Veritas sting

Perhaps no major publication has hyped the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot more than The New York Times, but one of its top reporters says the event has been blown out of proportion.

March 9, 2022

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox vows to veto a ban on male-born athletes in female sports

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox pledged to veto a transgender-sports bill after Republicans passed a last-minute overhaul, replacing a state eligibility panel with an outright ban on male-born competitors in female athletics.

March 7, 2022

TIME magazine honors transgender celebrity as one of its Women of the Year

TIME magazine selected 12 honorees for its inaugural 2022 Women of the Year issue, but only 11 of them were born female.

March 5, 2022

Electric-car baron Elon Musk calls for increasing U.S. oil and gas to combat Russia

Tesla may be the world's leading seller of plug-in electric vehicles, but CEO Elon Musk wants the U.S. oil-and-gas industry to ramp up production.

March 5, 2022

Lia Thomas insists ‘I’m a woman,’ eyes 2024 Olympics in Sports Illustrated profile

Lia Thomas is slated to graduate soon from the University of Pennsylvania, but that doesn't mean the transgender swimmer's athletic career is over.

March 3, 2022

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bill into law barring male-born athletes from female sports

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday signed a bill to prevent male-born athletes from competing in female scholastic sports, making her state the 11th to pass such legislation over the objections of the LGBTQ movement.

March 3, 2022

Sen. John Kennedy urges Justice Dept. to crack down on anti-Catholic crime, vandalism

Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana Republican, prodded the Justice Department on Wednesday to act against rising crime targeting Catholic churches and worshipers, saying he has received no response since raising the issue in 2020.

March 2, 2022

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas qualifies as top seed at NCAA women’s championships

Transgender athlete Lia Thomas is slated to compete in three races at the NCAA Division I women's swimming championships, placing the male-born swimmer in a position to make history and challenge records held by a trio of female Olympic greats.

March 2, 2022

U.S. reliance on Russian oil hits record high; Biden pressed to ease clampdown on U.S. energy

President Biden moved Tuesday to check Russian President Vladimir Putin's energy leverage, releasing strategic oil reserves as U.S. petroleum imports from Russia hit a record high and frustration mounted over the administration's domestic fossil fuel crackdown.

March 1, 2022

Sen. Joni Ernst slams Biden’s ‘deranged climate policy,’ calls for restarting Keystone XL

Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican, blasted the Biden administration Tuesday for its "deranged climate policy," calling on the White House to bring back the Keystone XL pipeline to counter rising U.S. dependence on Russian oil.

March 1, 2022

Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s account locked for tweet criticizing transgender athletes in women’s sports

Rep. Vicky Hartzler, Missouri Republican, was locked out of her Senate campaign account for a tweet declaring that "men pretending to be women" don't belong in female sports.

February 28, 2022

EXCLUSIVE: Ads blast Senate Democrats for killing Russia-pipeline sanctions bill

Senate Democrats continue to be haunted by their vote against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz's bill to block the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

February 28, 2022

UN climate panel’s ‘dire warning’ hits realpolitik as Putin exploits an energy-starved world

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called Monday for "urgent action" in its latest report, prodding countries to hasten emissions reductions even as events in Ukraine threaten to submerge the global-warming agenda.

February 28, 2022

Poll: 62% of voters say Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump were president

Most U.S. voters say Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Donald Trump were still president, according to a newly released survey.

February 27, 2022

Democrats urge Biden to counter pain at pump with more foreign oil production

Congressional Democrats want to counter rising fuel costs spurred by the Russian invasion of Ukraine with more oil production, but they're looking overseas, not at home.

February 26, 2022

White House moves to fight climate ‘denialism’ amid calls to end fossil-fuel crackdown

The White House held a brainstorming session Friday on how to combat climate "denialism and delay" even as the Russian invasion of Ukraine fueled pressure on President Biden to end his crackdown on domestic oil-and-gas production. "It's clear that a variety of special interests have had a vested interest in sowing doubt on climate change and feeding denialism and delay," said White House senior adviser Neera Tanden in a statement. "We need to confront that reality."

February 26, 2022

Convention of states movement gains steam with challenge to Washington’s power

Say this for the Biden and Trump administrations: Both rekindled an interest in federalism, judging by the success of the high-flying convention of states movement.

February 23, 2022