In Chicago, Mike Pence delivers a withering rebuke of Biden’s economic policies, makes no direct references to Donald Trump
CHICAGO — Sounding like a potential presidential candidate, former Vice President Mike Pence contended Monday that the nation’s economic woes were almost entirely the result of Democratic President Joe Biden’s policies, and told an audience at the University Club of Chicago that without a turnaround, Americans will “change leadership very soon.”
Speaking for nearly 40 minutes before a few hundred people in an ornate hall, Pence touted the economic successes of the “Trump-Pence administration,” but made no direct reference to the man he served under, former President Donald Trump.
Nor did he say anything about Trump’s efforts to pressure him to block the outcome of the 2020 election in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol, where rioters chanted “Hang Mike Pence.”
Pence has become a focal point of a House select committee’s investigation into the insurrection as the panel examines whether Trump knew his push for his vice president to stop the Electoral College vote count of states giving Biden the presidency was not legal. Pence refused to bow to Trump’s demands.
—Chicago Tribune
California lawmakers to investigate steep gas prices, accuse oil companies of 'ripping off' motorists
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With steep gasoline prices still stinging Californians at the pump, Democratic Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon on Monday announced a legislative inquiry to determine if oil companies are "ripping off" drivers.
Combined with the highest inflation rate in four decades, California's highest-in-the nation gas prices remain a volatile political issue in the midst of an election year, and Republican lawmakers continue to attack the Legislature's Democratic leadership for failing to take quick action to provide relief.
Rendon said the Assembly select committee will consider what measures the state can enact to reduce gas prices and "stand up to the profiteers who are abusing a historic situation to suck profits from California's wallets."
Committee hearings are expected to begin in coming weeks and could run through November.
—Los Angeles Times
Kansas GOP’s ‘parents bill of rights’ failed. So KC-area school board enacts its own
After Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a statewide “parents bill of rights” this spring, a school board in the Kansas City area passed its own — outlining a set of rights parents may employ over their child’s education, including reviewing and objecting to books and curriculum.
The Lansing school board in Leavenworth County last week voted 4-3 to approve a parents bill of rights, modeled after Republican-supported legislation that Kelly vetoed this spring, calling the measure a “teacher demoralization act.” The Kansas House failed to override the veto, but Republicans made the issue — along with a proposed ban on transgender athletes in girls sports, which also was vetoed — a hallmark of campaigns this summer.
“Our parents must always have a seat at the table. I’m not saying that they don’t necessarily now, but they must always have that,” said Lansing board member Amy Cawvey, who proposed the measure.
“Hopefully we will get increased parental engagement with this. We work for you. And parents are critical. They’re very critical to the child’s academic success. And this will ensure parents have influence and the transparency that they deserve.”
—The Kansas City Star
Destroyed Russian tanks to be paraded in Europe by Ukraine
Ukraine is planning to tour an exhibition of destroyed Russian military vehicles across Europe, as it strives to maintain public attention on the conflict.
“We’ll help to ensure that Russian tanks are in Europe, but as scrap,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Polish broadcaster Polsat in an interview. Ukraine plans to start the exhibition in Warsaw before moving on to Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Lisbon.
Ukraine claims Russia lost some 1,477 tanks and 3,588 armored vehicles since the invasion began in February. Some of the missiles, burnt Russian tanks and other military vehicles are currently being displayed in downtown Kyiv.
Ukraine is urging the U.S. and its European allies to supply more weapons for its military, which is under heavy barrage of Russian artillery fire in the country’s east. Still, in many European nations, the war is fading from public awareness with citizens increasingly focused on a growing cost-of-living crisis.
—Bloomberg News
