Thursday Edition

$1 NEWS // THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14

A cofounder of Moms for Liberty, a parental rights group that promotes traditional values and advocates against the teaching of gender identity and critical race theory in schools, has refused to step down from her school board position amid a sex scandal and rape allegations against her husband. (Politico)

Police investigation: Bridget Ziegler told authorities the woman accusing her husband, Florida GOP chair Christian Ziegler, of rape had consensual sex with both of them a year earlier.

Founded in 2021, Moms for Liberty has grown to about 103,000 members across 278 chapters in 45 states, while engaging in local school board politics and elections nationwide. The group has said 40% of its endorsed candidates won in November’s elections.

A growing number of parents are seeking greater influence in their children's education: Over the past year, 54% of parents had considered or are considering choosing new schools, according to one survey. Home schooling is now far and away America's fastest-growing education form.

There’s growing speculation that GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump might choose surging Nikki Haley as his running mate. (The Hill)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene on X/Twitter on Tuesday: “MAGA would revolt if Nikki Haley were to even be given an internship in Trump’s next administration. She represents the neocon establishment America last wing of the Republican Party that we are absolutely done with.”

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy two weeks ago: “If I was a political person, and I was going to advise somebody, you’re going to pick the vice president that’s about addition, not subtraction. … Now if I was picking for purely political decisions, what it looks like today is the anti-Trump vote is going to Nikki Haley.”

The White House hosted a meeting with nearly 100 lawmakers from across the country yesterday to brainstorm solutions for fighting gun violence at the state level. (AP)

Vice President Kamala Harris announced two new executive actions, which provide states with model legislation for safe storage of firearms and reporting lost or stolen guns, as part of the administration's comprehensive approach to tackle gun violence.

Gun violence in 2023: According to the Gun Violence Archive, nearly 41,000 gun violence deaths have occurred this year (23,000 were suicides). As of the meeting, the U.S. had at least 42 mass killings in the year, resulting in at least 217 deaths (excluding the shooters).

Public opinion: A majority of Americans, 56%, continue to favor stricter gun laws, per Gallup. This preference has been consistent since 2015, with bumps after high-profile mass shootings.

Diplomats from nearly 200 countries at the United Nations’ COP28 climate summit reached a pact agreeing to move away from fossil fuels, the first time this has happened in the conference’s 30-year history. (Axios)

The non-binding deal allows natural gas use in the shift to cleaner energy, aims to double energy efficiency improvements, sets up a fund for climate change-related damage, and includes a focus on carbon capture technology.

What’s different about this agreement? “While past U.N. climate deals have urged countries to reduce emissions, they have shied away from explicitly mentioning the words ‘fossil fuels,’ even though the burning of oil, gas and coal is the primary cause of global warming,” New York Times climate reporters Max Bearak and Brad Plumer explained.

Toys are getting cheaper and cheaper while childcare costs skyrocket. (Business Insider)

Toys vs. childcare: Thanks to deflation in the price of toys, a toy costing $20 in 1993 would cost only $4.68 today. But childcare expenses have increased by more than 200% since 1993. Daycare tuition that was $500 per month in 1993 would be about $1,600 in 2023.

American Enterprise Institute economist Mark Perry has noted how the stuff we need is getting more expensive while other stuff gets cheaper: The price of manufactured goods has fallen for years thanks to improvements in technology and productivity. But the costs of essential services like education and healthcare have risen because they’re not affected by competition from cheap overseas labor.

The top 1% of Americans continue to own more wealth than the entire middle class combined, according to Federal Reserve statistics. (USA Today)

Top 1% U.S. earners now control 26.5% of all household wealth ($38.7 trillion), while the middle 60% of income households hold about 26%, and the bottom 20% own approximately 3% of the nation's wealth.

• Thirty years ago, the middle class held twice as much wealth as the top 1%.

• The wealth lead between these groups has fluctuated since the top 1% overtook the middle class for the first time in 2020.

Two days after new president Javier Milei was sworn in, Argentina’s government has announced it will devalue its currency by more than 50%. (CNN)

Why? The move is part of a broader economic reform plan, which includes cutting spending by the equivalent of 2.9% of GDP, aimed at reigning in triple-digit inflation. Milei campaigned on replacing the peso with the U.S. dollar to stabilize the economy. The conversion rate will change from 365 pesos to 800 pesos per U.S. dollar.

Economy Minister Luis Caputo: “For a few months we’ll be worse off, particularly with inflation.”

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