Well, that was a close one. 

Democrats recently proposed a bill in Virginia, now withdrawn, that would have allowed parents who didn’t affirm their child’s “gender identity” to be criminally prosecuted. The goal of the law, according to its chief sponsor, was to “educate parents.”

This law was another attempt to establish the principle that it’s the government, not their parents, who are the actual decision-makers when it comes to our children. It’s not surprising parents pushed back … and hard.

In fact, if Republicans outperform expectations this November, education issues will be a big reason why. During the pandemic, parents saw what their children were learning – or not learning. In its aftermath, with ACT test scores at their lowest levels in 30 years, there’s no patience for “woke” race and gender obsessions replacing basic instruction our children will need to succeed in life.

American parents are angry and disgusted—and rightfully so.

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It’s clear that there is something happening in the American electorate. Of course, the primary part of it are the pocketbook issues. But—after 2 ½ years of pandemic—the anger and distrust from our elites is palpable.

From distrust of Fauci and the CDC to distrust of school boards, from politicians endorsing the medical transition of children to the same politicians claiming the unborn child in the womb is just a clump of cells. Trust the science, we’re told, but the emperor has no clothes—and voters are looking for some sort of reckoning.

We are fortunate to live in a system of government where we can do that: We can make a course correction. From inflation and a poor market, to issues of education and human dignity—you have a choice.

Engage with hope that we can make a course correction. Make sure you’re ready to do your part. Please: be sure to vote.

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In a recent NBC interview, Pennsylvania Senate Candidate John Fetterman claimed he’s always supported fracking. Now: I’m from Pennsylvania. I’ve been a Fetterman-watcher since he first ran for local mayor. I can tell you that’s complete nonsense. He’s been hard-green from the beginning. He even called—explicitly—for a moratorium from fracking. 

Fetterman has been basically making one argument: That Oz is from adjoining New Jersey. Okay, but I don't care which state Oz is from. I care which state he is for. And no one can be for Pennsylvania and against our single most successful industry. 

After decades of deindustrialization, Pennsylvania was given a second chance because of the Marcellus Shale deposits, and the only way to effectively mine them is fracking. It doesn't matter if Fetterman is from Pennsylvania if his policies are from fantasyland.

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This is Carol Platt Liebau for Townhall.com.

Last week, the CDC’s advisory committee recommended that the COVID vaccine be added to the immunization schedule for children—everyone aged six months and over.

Although such recommendations don’t constitute mandates, which are set by states, they will absolutely influence some states to require the vaccine for school entry.

The CDC’s credibility is being further eroded by the recommendation. Children are the group at lowest risk from COVID-19. What’s more, 86 percent of them have already caught the virus, which confers natural immunity. And: The vaccine does little to prevent transmission, and it comes with risks of its own.

It's just another example of unaccountable, unelected elites making unpopular decisions on behalf of regular people—and one more reason why the governed view the government with growing mistrust.

The CDC has completely failed us. The decision of whether or not children receive the vaccine belongs with their parents—not the state.

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One Democrat candidate for the Senate used Twitter to praise Iranian terror-state supreme leader Ali Khameini, wished he could meet with Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad—and proposed to work in Havana as an American diplomat. 

Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin is not your father’s Democrat. Neither is Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, who wants to let murderers out of prison because he watched “The Shawshank Redemption.” Nor, for that matter, is Georgia’s Raphael Warnock, who claims God has endorsed abortion. 

All of these Senate candidates are radical Leftists, not the kind of Democrats we used to know in days gone by. They want to push Joe Biden’s progressive agenda even further to the Left. In fact, The Hill reported that Bernie Sanders himself is strategizing on how to make Democrats even more radical after the midterms in their next presidential cycle. 

None of these candidates should come within a country mile of power. Voters have an opportunity to ensure they don’t—by voting in the upcoming elections. Make your vote count for America. 

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The midterm election is now on us. In many states, early voting has begun. After two years of disastrous single-party governance, we strongly believe that the voters must rebuke Democrats at every level this year. Roaring inflation, soaring crime, an open border, the collapse in Afghanistan … all are reasons to vote for candidates with the R behind their name. 

But this year be sure to seek out the school board elections on your ballot and do not vote for any incumbent whatsoever unless you are personally absolutely sure—absolutely sure—that those incumbents opposed the shutdown of the schools, the mandatory masking and the radical agenda being pushed on so many campuses across the nation. 

It’s been a nightmare for parents—for two years—and our students have paid the price.

As voters, you have the power to make the changes needed at school boards. 

Make sure you’re registered and prepared to vote—and vote for new blood on old school boards.

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Forget everything you thought you knew about the midterm elections—and especially what the mainstream media told you about it. That summer comeback for Joe Biden and Democrats? It was a mirage. 

As pollsters get closer to Election Day and accountability, their polling results have gotten closer to reality. Newspapers and television outlets will paint this as sudden momentum for the GOP. The truth is that this is an exceptionally bad political environment for the governing party, and the distraction campaigns designed to cover it up have failed.

As James Carville once said, “It’s the economy, stupid”—but we can add inflation, crime, education, a border crisis—and arguably the most incompetent president in modern American history. 

Now all that’s left is to finish the job. Study your ballot, get your friends and family registered and most importantly—vote. It’s our best weapon against tyranny, and in this election, perhaps our last hope against disaster. 

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On Valentine’s Day of 2018 in Parkland, Florida, Nicholas Cruz murdered fourteen students and three staff members in a deliberate and premeditated act of unthinkable evil. Last week, nine of twelve jurors imposed the death penalty—but because Florida law requires a unanimous verdict, Cruz will spend life in prison.

It’s hard to be a death penalty juror, but before being seated, each juror would have affirmed his or her willingness to hand down the penalty if warranted. If the Parkland shootings didn’t merit the death penalty, what would?

One juror apparently was unsure whether Cruz had a mental disorder. But to claim mental illness, a defendant must lack the capacity to understand his actions were wrong. Cruz knew—but killed on purpose nonetheless, destroying lives and families forever.  
 
This is the very sort of case for which the death penalty was created.

The sentencing was a profound injustice for the seventeen victims and those who loved them. 

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The inflation destroying your ability to make ends meet, making it impossible to fill your tank or your grocery cart, is the simple result of too much money chasing too few goods. When Donald Trump left office there wasn’t an inflation problem at all because bipartisan efforts spent the right amount of borrowed money to restart the economy after the government’s Covid shutdown. 

But Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer wanted to be remembered as new versions of FDR—and they abused the narrowest of majorities in Congress to pass trillions more, even as they took actions to shutter oil and gas production. Prices have soared … and then the president pushed through another 400 billion through a student loan give away to favored constituents. 

This is Joe Biden and the Democrats’ inflation. It’s Joe Biden and the Democrats’ recession. It’s Joe Biden and the Democrats’ record. Vote accordingly and do so early, and as soon as you can.

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We just got the new inflation numbers and they're bad. 

They especially expose the spin about this inflation being a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. You see, in addition to calculating overall inflation, the government also calculates inflation without including food and energy. They call that core inflation. And it's the highest since 1982. 

That means that even when you strip out the two categories of goods most affected by the war, we still have a once-in-a-generation loss in the purchasing power of the dollar. 

It might not be so bad if wages were keeping up, but they aren't.

There really is only one solution to the problem, a power shift in Washington. We need a Congress which will ride the brake pedal on growth in government and the gas pedal on growth in the private economy. 

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