Author: potus

(The Center Square) — State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-San Diego, has requested a state audit into the California Air Resources Board regarding its decision to overhaul its Low Carbon Fuel Standard program, which is expected by some to raise gasoline prices up to 65 cents per gallon when it takes effect  July 1. A separate gas excise tax increase will also take place July 1 amid possible disruptions to California’s Middle Eastern fuel supplies, which could push prices even higher for consumers during the peak summer driving season. Compliance costs for this program could also impact fuel prices in the parts…

(The Center Square) – Washington state motorists could feel more pain at the pump than usual this summer as a combination of supply issues, global tensions and state polices drive up fuel costs.Gasoline prices typically increase in summer due to demand and the switch to a more expensive blend of gasoline formulated to reduce emissions during warmer months.The Evergreen State has seen gasoline prices, among the highest in the nation, increasing over the last several weeks.“You are literally the only state that is above where it was one year ago,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said…

(The Center Square) – Illinois state Rep. Lindsay LaPointe touts the universal mental health bill now headed to the desk of Gov. JB Pritzker as a critical first step in the fight to keep some of the state’s most vulnerable young people protected.“We are in a raging mental health crisis and in particular for our youth,” LaPointe, D-Chicago, told The Center Square. “The whole point of quick screeners is to just make sure that we’re making that the norm and we’re destigmatizing it. At least once a year, we’re having a brief screener to try to identify the ways in…

(The Center Square) – The Social Security program is nine years away from insolvency, the Social Security Board of Trustees said Wednesday.This forecast moved up one year since 2024’s annual report, which projected the program to deplete its funding by 2035. Now that projection date is set at 2034.Medicare’s hospital trust fund will fall short in 2033, when it will only be able to cover 89% of scheduled benefits. This date moved up three years since last year’s report, according to the Medicare Board of Trustees.“As in prior years, we found that the Social Security and Medicare programs both continue to…

(The Center Square) – An organization is calling for the end of federal funding to what it calls “woke” hospitals in the U.S. that use taxpayer dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, gender surgeries on children, and climate activities instead of focusing on their mission to “provide high-quality care at affordable costs.”In Consumers’ Research’s Consumer Warning report, five such hospitals are listed along with their so-called woke initiatives, the hospitals being Cleveland Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Henry Ford Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.Consumers’ Research is an independent educational nonprofit as stated on…

(The Center Square) — The Midcontinent Independent System Operator is facing sharp criticism from Louisiana regulators following a presentation on Wednesday on last month’s emergency load-shedding event in New Orleans, which left parts of the city without power for four hours.Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta told The Center Square that MISO would soon receive subpoenas and be required to provide data and further testimony on their decision. The District 1 commissioner suggested the organization’s failure to interrupt industrial load, as required by protocol, may constitute a violation.”See you in August,” Skrmetta said on Wednesday before making a motion to adjourn.MISO officials,…

(The Center Square) – The last U.S. Senate committees have submitted revisions to the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, shoring up funding for big-ticket items while making further changes to Medicaid, SNAP, student loan options and more.House committees worked for months to assemble the multitrillion-dollar budget reconciliation package implementing President Donald Trump’s tax, border, energy and defense priorities. Senate committees have now put their stamp on the bill, most notably by raising the debt ceiling by $5 trillion rather than $4 trillion and by making key provisions from the expiring 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, versus extending them…

(The Center Square) – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, is leading a coalition urging Congress to not cut federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.The program provides food assistance to more than one in 10 low-income Coloradans.“SNAP is a longstanding lifeline providing basic food assistance for the most vulnerable Americans and supporting our agricultural producers, and the proposals included in H.R. 1 would both erode the fundamental infrastructure of our food safety net and transfer an unanticipated and severe financial burden to states at a time of extreme budgetary constraints,” the coalition said in a statement.The cuts are a…

People look at iPhones at the Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York City on May 23, 2025.Adam Gray | ReutersApple has plans to make a folding iPhone starting next year, reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said on Wednesday.Kuo said Apple’s folding phone could have a display made by Samsung Display, which is planning to produce as many as eight million foldable panels for the device next year. However, other components haven’t been finalized, including the device’s hinge, Kuo wrote. He expects it to have “premium pricing.”Kuo is an analyst for TF International Securities, and focuses on the Asian electronics supply…

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Supreme Court handed down rulings on five cases Wednesday, most notably backing a Tennessee law that bans health care providers from offering transgender care to minors. The court also ruled on nuclear waste storage licensing, prison grievance procedures and two Environmental Protection Agency cases.Youth transgender medical careU.S. v. Skrmetti6-3 rulingThe justices upheld a Tennessee law blocking medical care for transgender youth, with all three members of the liberal bloc voting in dissent. The 2023 bill bars health care providers from prescribing hormone blockers to patients who are minors.“This case carries with it the weight of…