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It’s becoming increasingly obvious that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is on the precipice of officially launching a presidential campaign. From his recent trips to crucial states like New Hampshire and Iowa , to the usual international trip undertaken by potential presidents, a quest for the highest office in the land is on the horizon for DeSantis. There are those who contend his candidacy embodies a new fresh face within the Republican Party . DeSantis critiques modern culture with the now popular (and notorious) term “ woke ” and laments about the tyranny of “cancel culture .” He is locked into the day-to-day national news story outside of traditional electoral politics. For example, he joined online conservatives rallying against Bud Light for collaborating with a trans social media influencer for a fun marketing campaign. DeSantis’ team then posted a vicious video mocking trans athletes, and the governor shared in an interview he’d never drink Bud Light … [Read more...] about The Ron DeSantis Presidential Campaign Kicked Off Already…in 1964

News alert: Corporations don’t care about you or your values. This truth was demonstrated to conservatives when, much to their chagrin , Bud Light—that most straight-laced of watery-beer brands—invited transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to promote its swill on Instagram. (The reaction was harsh. To paraphrase country music legend Merle Haggard, the bottle let them down .) And the amorality of corporations was demonstrated— yet again —when Bud Light realized it had made a huge mistake and apologized . That left Mulvaney and the LGBTQ+ community under the proverbial bus. Since then, the pandering has reached parody proportions. The latest reports suggest some of Bud Light’s packaging will be redesigned to include a camouflage print —you know, because fashion patterns associated with military combat are manly. Subtlety is clearly not their thing. “Corporate responsibility” isn’t really their thing, either. And it’s time we accepted this fact. Corporations like … [Read more...] about Don’t Act So Shocked About Bud Light’s Virtue Signaling

As negotiations over the debt limit continue in Washington and the date on which the U.S. government could be forced to stop paying some bills draws closer, everyone involved has warned that such a default would have catastrophic consequences. But it might not take a default to damage the U.S. economy. Even if a deal is struck before the last minute, the long uncertainty could drive up borrowing costs and further destabilize already shaky financial markets. It could lead to a pullback in investment and hiring by businesses when the U.S. economy is already facing elevated risks of a recession, and hamstring the financing of public works projects. More broadly, the standoff could diminish long-term confidence in the stability of the U.S. financial system, with lasting repercussions. Currently, investors are showing few signs of alarm. Although markets fell on Friday after Republican leaders in Congress declared a “pause” on negotiations, the declines were modest, … [Read more...] about Even Flirting With U.S. Default Takes Economic Toll

After hours of debate and multiple attempts to kill the legislation from Democrats, Texas is one step closer to banning diversity, equity and inclusion offices in public colleges and universities Friday. In a 83 to 60 vote, the Texas House gave preliminary approval to one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick ’s legislative priorities that would prohibit such offices, programs and any required diversity training. In an attempt to stop a deluge of amendments from Democrats opposing Senate Bill 17 , lawmakers approved an amendment offered by the bill’s sponsor, Seguin Republican John Kuempel , that requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to conduct an annual study into the impact of banning DEI offices, allows universities to make “reasonable efforts” to re-assign employees in DEI offices to new positions with similar pay, and shifts the day the bill goes into effect back by three months to Jan. 1. The coordinating board is the state agency that oversees higher … [Read more...] about A ban on Texas public universities’ diversity offices inches closer to becoming law

NEW YORK (AP) — The hot jobs market has been defying a weakening economy and confounding the Federal Reserve for months, but now shows signs of cooling. The latest set of employment data from the government shows that job openings fell in March to their lowest level since April 2021. Layoffs rose to 1.8 million, their highest level since December 2020. Employers are also slowing the pace of hiring. While hiring remained strong in April, the government lowered its hiring figures for February and March. More broadly, job gains for February through April marked the weakest three-month average since January 2021. The persistently strong labor market has bewildered the Fed and economists for more than a year as higher interest rates meant to slow economic growth did little to loosen a historically tight job market with record low unemployment. That resistance is now slowly fading, according to analysts. “The labor market is usually the last to break in an economic downturn, and … [Read more...] about Hot employment market shows signs of cooling

LONDON (AP) — Wireless carrier Vodafone said Tuesday that it's laying off 11,000 workers as part of a major revamp aimed at cutting costs and boosting flagging financial performance. Vodafone, one of the world’s biggest mobile phone companies by subscribers, made the announcement as it reported that its annual earnings dropped 1.3% and forecast little or no earnings growth over the financial year. "The circumstances of our industry and the position of Vodafone within it require us to change,” CEO Margherita Della Valle said. “We need to take out complexity and simplify how we operate.” Vodafone said the reductions would be carried out over the next three years, with cuts already announced in Italy, Germany and at its U.K. headquarters. Della Valle, who took over the top job in January, aims to cut costs by 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) by 2026. The job losses come amid sweeping cuts in the wider technology industry amid flagging economic growth and surging inflation. … [Read more...] about Vodafone axing 11,000 jobs as UK wireless carrier aims to cut costs, boost growth