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									POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December) - Main Forum				            </title>
            <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/</link>
            <description>Rapture In The Air Now Discussion Board</description>
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                        <title>RE: POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December)</title>
                        <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/paged/2/#post-62480</link>
                        <pubDate>Wed, 07 Oct 2026 01:08:41 +0000</pubDate>
                        <description><![CDATA[Karoline Leavitt to Join Fox News as Commentator in November:
President Donald Trump&#039;s former press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has landed a new job. Starting November 1, she will work for...]]></description>
                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1 class=" text-neutral-900 font-semibold text-3xl leading-tight md:text-4xl md:leading-tight lg:text-5xl xl:text-6xl max-w-4xl tracking-tight text-balance" title="Karoline Leavitt to Join Fox News as Commentator in November"><span style="font-size: 14pt">Karoline Leavitt to Join Fox News as Commentator in November:</span></h1>
<p><span>President Donald Trump's former press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has landed a new job. Starting November 1, she will work for Fox News, The New York Times reports.</span></p>
<p><span>Leavitt, who left her previous position at the White House in August after becoming a mother for the second time earlier this year, is expected to appear as a commentator on several of the channel's television programs, the newspaper writes.</span></p>
<p>https://swedenherald.com/article/karoline-leavitt-to-join-fox-news-as-commentator-in-november  </p>]]></content:encoded>
						                            <category domain="https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/">Main Forum</category>                        <dc:creator>Patricia N.</dc:creator>
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                        <title>RE: POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December)</title>
                        <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/paged/2/#post-62474</link>
                        <pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2026 21:24:25 +0000</pubDate>
                        <description><![CDATA[Sen. John Kennedy: I’m Thinking About Running for President:
Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said he is thinking about running for president in 2028.
He added, “...]]></description>
                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><span style="font-size: 14pt">Sen. John Kennedy: I’m Thinking About Running for President:</span></h1>
<p><span>Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said he is thinking about running for president in 2028.</span></p>
<p><span>He added, “My plans right now are to run for reelection. But as I’ve said before, if I don’t think I can be effective in the Senate anymore, I would consider it.</span></p>
<p>...<span>I think it’ll be good for both parties to have to have a full field.”</span></p>
<p>https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/10/04/sen-john-kennedy-im-thinking-about-running-for-president/  </p>]]></content:encoded>
						                            <category domain="https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/">Main Forum</category>                        <dc:creator>Patricia N.</dc:creator>
                        <guid isPermaLink="true">https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/paged/2/#post-62474</guid>
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                        <title>RE: POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December)</title>
                        <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/paged/2/#post-62467</link>
                        <pubDate>Sun, 04 Oct 2026 21:12:06 +0000</pubDate>
                        <description><![CDATA[President Trump Calls for Mandatory Prison Sentences for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Fraudsters – Says Crooked Politicians Who Cover It Up Must Face Real Consequences:
President...]]></description>
                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1 class="entry-title"><span style="font-size: 14pt">President Trump Calls for Mandatory Prison Sentences for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Fraudsters – Says Crooked Politicians Who Cover It Up Must Face Real Consequences:</span></h1>
<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><a class="autotag-link" href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/tag/president-donald-trump/" rel="tag" data-wpat-tag="President Donald Trump">President Donald Trump</a> is calling on Congress to finally put real teeth behind the government’s war on fraud, mandatory prison sentences for criminals caught stealing from Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.</p>
<p>In a video released Saturday, Trump demanded legislation establishing mandatory minimum sentences for fraudsters who loot the federal programs millions of Americans depend on.</p>
<p><span>“Under our proposal, probation is no longer an option for the fraudsters. If you steal from the American people, you will go to prison and for a long period of time. And the more you steal, the longer you’ll stay in that prison,” he said. “If you’re a convicted fraudster who gets caught stealing from the American people a second time, your sentence will be doubled.”</span></p>
<p><span>“Under our proposal, if a state or local politician knows about fraud and has the ability to stop it, but does nothing about it, they can be personally liable for the full loss of the American taxpayers’ money that they should have stopped and they should have saved.”</span></p>
<p>https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/president-trump-calls-mandatory-prison-sentences-medicare-medicaid/  </p>]]></content:encoded>
						                            <category domain="https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/">Main Forum</category>                        <dc:creator>Patricia N.</dc:creator>
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                        <title>RE: POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December)</title>
                        <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/#post-62461</link>
                        <pubDate>Sat, 03 Oct 2026 00:48:24 +0000</pubDate>
                        <description><![CDATA[Trump Calls Out GOP Sen. Tom Cotton by Name for Blocking “No More Changing of Clocks Act” — House Already Passed Permanent Daylight Saving Time 308-117:
President Trump dropped the hammer o...]]></description>
                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1 class="entry-title"><span style="font-size: 14pt">Trump Calls Out GOP Sen. Tom Cotton by Name for Blocking “No More Changing of Clocks Act” — House Already Passed Permanent Daylight Saving Time 308-117:</span></h1>
<p dir="auto"><a class="autotag-link" href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/tag/president-trump/" rel="tag" data-wpat-tag="President Trump">President Trump</a> dropped the hammer overnight on Senate Republicans and named Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas as the man holding up a bipartisan bill to end the twice-a-year clock change for good.</p>
<p dir="auto">In a Truth Social post early Friday, Trump told Senate Republicans they “have to get moving” on what he calls the “No More Changing of Clocks Act,” officially the Sunshine Protection Act.</p>
<p id="p-rc_df7663b5400ba616-44" data-path-to-node="11">Despite overwhelming public support for eliminating clock shifts, Sen. Cotton has reportedly stepped in as the main bottleneck in the Upper Chamber.</p>
<p data-path-to-node="11"><span>Trump listed what he said the studies show if the country locks in the current daylight saving schedule and never changes the clocks again: lower robbery and murder rates, fewer car accidents (especially those involving pedestrians), lower risk of cardiac issues, stroke, and seasonal depression, safer walks home from school for children, more family time, a boost for sports, fitness, tourism, retail, and restaurants, and lower energy bills.</span></p>
<p data-path-to-node="11">"People don’t want to go around changing their Clocks anymore and, besides, far and away, most people like having an hour of extra sunlight in the evening, rather than in the morning.</p>
<p dir="auto">The House has passed this Bill, 308-117, on July 14, 2026, with Great Bipartisan support. Both <a class="autotag-link" href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/tag/democrats/" rel="tag" data-wpat-tag="democrats">Democrats</a> and Republicans want it to happen. It’s now up to the U.S. Senate where it would be another Great Bipartisan Victory."</p>
<p dir="auto"><span>Cotton... has warned that permanent daylight saving time would push winter sunrises later and put children on the road to school in the dark.</span></p>
<p dir="auto">https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/10/trump-calls-gop-sen-tom-cotton-name-blocking/ </p>]]></content:encoded>
						                            <category domain="https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/">Main Forum</category>                        <dc:creator>Patricia N.</dc:creator>
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                        <title>RE: POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December)</title>
                        <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/#post-62457</link>
                        <pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2026 21:09:55 +0000</pubDate>
                        <description><![CDATA[Cruz: Same Democrats Campaigning on Gas Prices ‘Said They Wanted $10-a-Gallon Gas’
Wednesday, during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) noted the contradict...]]></description>
                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><span style="font-size: 14pt">Cruz: Same Democrats Campaigning on Gas Prices ‘Said They Wanted $10-a-Gallon Gas’</span></h1>
<p>Wednesday, during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) noted the contradiction that Democrats, who once supported higher gas prices, are now running on higher gas prices against Republicans.</p>
<p>“I want to add one thing — and then if you’re upset about the high price of gasoline, ask yourself if the radical Democratic socialists get in power with their Green New Deal, guaranteed government job, daycare, salary, retirement, health care<span>, and a wooden box that the government will bury you in a government grave, you get that,” host Sean Hannity said. </span></p>
<p><span>Cruz replied,..."When it comes to gas prices, listen, people are understandably unhappy about gas prices, but it’s worth putting it into context. When Joe Biden was president, gas prices were five bucks a gallon. When Trump came into office, they dropped nationally to $3 a gallon. And today, they’re about $4 a gallon in the national average.”</span></p>
<p><span>"... Remember, these are the same Democrats who said they wanted $10-a-gallon gas. You look at James Talarico, the extreme left-winger running in Texas — he has said that he wants oil and gas to go the way of the cassette tape, that he wants to dismantle capitalism."</span></p>
<p>https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/10/01/cruz-same-democrats-campaigning-on-gas-prices-said-they-wanted-10-a-gallon-gas/  </p>]]></content:encoded>
						                            <category domain="https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/">Main Forum</category>                        <dc:creator>Patricia N.</dc:creator>
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                        <title>RE: POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December)</title>
                        <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/#post-62450</link>
                        <pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2026 20:45:15 +0000</pubDate>
                        <description><![CDATA[City of Seattle Raising Minimum Wage Requirement Again:
The city of Seattle is expected to increase its minimum wage to an eye-popping $22.14 per hour in 2027. The city began requiring the ...]]></description>
                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><span style="font-size: 14pt">City of Seattle Raising Minimum Wage Requirement Again:</span></h1>
<p class="subheading">The city of Seattle is expected to increase its minimum wage to an eye-popping $22.14 per hour in 2027. The city began requiring the same minimum wage in 2025 for employers and small businesses, with annual adjustments for inflation. Fox News <a class="x5l" href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/liberal-stronghold-adopt-eye-popping-minimum-wage-amid-business-exodus" target="_blank" rel="noopener external">reported</a> that several Seattle restaurant owners who have since closed their businesses cited the increased labor costs as a primary reason for leaving.</p>
<p>During the first half of 2025, shortly after the wage hike requirement went into effect, 450 Seattle restaurants — around 16 percent of the city’s total — closed, Fox News said.</p>
<p>Breitbart News <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/01/04/seattle-restaurant-owner-cries-after-minimum-wage-hike-forces-her-close/">previously</a> reported on the city’s minimum wage hike in 2025, which went from $19.97 to $20.76 in 2025 and led to one restaurant owner to say she “cried every day” as her dream of owning a cafe ended.</p>
<p>“This was my dream. To own my own cafe, to run it how I want to, and to really, like, be in service to people,” Corina Luckenbach told FOX13 in January 2025. At that time, the the new minimum wage requirements would have cost her an additional $32,000 each year.</p>
<p><span>The state of California saw significant fast food job losses due to its $20 minimum wage in a 2025 study. Over 10,700 jobs were lost and prices jumped by more than 14 percent, Breitbart News </span><a href="https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/02/28/study-californias-20-minimum-wage-hike-sparked-major-job-loss/">reported</a><span> at the time.</span></p>
<p>https://www.breitbart.com/pre-viral/2026/09/30/city-of-seattle-raising-minimum-wage-requirement-again/  </p>]]></content:encoded>
						                            <category domain="https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/">Main Forum</category>                        <dc:creator>Patricia N.</dc:creator>
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                        <title>RE: POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December)</title>
                        <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/#post-62447</link>
                        <pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2026 20:12:00 +0000</pubDate>
                        <description><![CDATA[Trump Deputies Slash Muslim Immigration by over 90 Percent:
The White House says it has reduced legalized migration from Muslim-majority nations by more than 90 percent.
The cutbacks are a...]]></description>
                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><span style="font-size: 14pt">Trump Deputies Slash Muslim Immigration by over 90 Percent:</span></h1>
<p class="subheading">The White House says it has reduced legalized migration from Muslim-majority nations by more than 90 percent.</p>
<p class="a9d-pre">The cutbacks are a huge setback to the progressive policy of importing diverse migrants to help fragment the civic rules that ordinary Americans have created to manage their neighborhoods, schools, and society.</p>
<p><span>The policy shift also reduces the growth of antisemitic communities in U.S. society, said Noah Pollak, a Trump deputy in the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Education. “</span><span class="css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3">This is the single most consequential policy to combat antisemitism in the US in the last decade and it’s not even close,” </span><span>he wrote on X.</span></p>
<p><span>The size of the resident Muslim population in the U.S. is </span><a class="x5l" href="https://www.justiceforall.org/resources/reports/american-muslims-2025-a-brief-profile/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noopener external">roughly 4 million</a><span>, most of whom are concentrated in a few political jurisdictions, such as New York.</span></p>
<p>https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/09/30/trump-deputies-slash-muslim-immigration-by-over-90-percent/  </p>]]></content:encoded>
						                            <category domain="https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/">Main Forum</category>                        <dc:creator>Patricia N.</dc:creator>
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                        <title>POLITICAL NEWS 2026 (July–December)</title>
                        <link>https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/political-news-2026-july-december/#post-61969</link>
                        <pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:23:19 +0000</pubDate>
                        <description><![CDATA[L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Blames Trump for Reported Increase in Homeless Numbers:
Rampant homelessness is on the rise again in Los Angeles, and according to Mayor Karen Bass, it’s all President...]]></description>
                        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h1><strong><span style="font-size: 14pt">L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Blames Trump for Reported Increase in Homeless Numbers:</span></strong></h1>
<p class="subheading">Rampant homelessness is on the rise again in Los Angeles, and according to Mayor Karen Bass, it’s all President Donald Trump’s fault.</p>
<p class="a9d-pre">Homeless numbers in the city increased 3.4 percent according to the most recent yearly count,<span> </span><a class="x5l" href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-07-23/homelessness-is-up-in-los-angeles-in-a-setback-to-mayor-karen-bass" target="_blank" rel="noopener external">several</a><span> </span>news outlets<span> </span><a class="x5l" href="https://archive.ph/6ialF" target="_blank" rel="noopener external">reported </a>Friday, with 45,194 people without a stable residence in the city and roughly 72,000 countywide.</p>
<p>This despite some $3 billion spent each year on homeless programs in the city and county to address the problem, the<span> </span><em>California Post</em><span> </span><a class="x5l" href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/23/us-news/la-homeless-count-spikes-despite-billions-poured-into-housing-crisis/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener external">reported.</a></p>
<p>The 3.4 percent increase includes people living in shelters. When the number of people sleeping outside in tents, encampments or in vehicles, the increase climbs to 7.9 percent from last year.</p>
<p>“The Trump Administration has driven up the cost of gas, groceries and rent, pushing more families to the edge, and slashed critical safety net funding,” Bass said in a<span> </span><a class="x5l" href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/l-a-mayor-karen-bass-blames-federal-policies-for-rise-in-homelessness/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external">statement</a><span> </span>Thursday, according to KTLA.</p>
<p>She claimed the administration cut federal housing assistance by 50% last year, stripping the city of $70 million.</p>
<p>Spencer Pratt, her unsuccessful primary opponent, built his campaign on cleaning up the encampments and addressing a problem he alleged had nothing to do with a housing shortage or the price of rents.</p>
<p>“Los Angeles doesn’t have a homelessness problem,” Pratt<span> </span><a class="x5l" href="https://mayorpratt.com/policies/homelessness/" target="_blank" rel="noopener external">said</a><span> </span>repeatedly during the campaign. “We have a DRUG problem. The DEA will tell you that over 90% of the homeless population in LA are hardcore illicit drug users.”</p>
<p><span>Several news outlets have </span><a class="x5l" href="https://archive.ph/6ialF" target="_blank" rel="noopener external">reported</a><span> that the increase could impact Bass’ reelection bid...</span></p>
<p>https://www.breitbart.com/local/2026/07/24/33338722l-a-mayor-karen-bass-blames-trump-for-new-increase-in-homeless-numbers/  </p>]]></content:encoded>
						                            <category domain="https://raptureintheairnow.com/community/main-forum/">Main Forum</category>                        <dc:creator>Patricia N.</dc:creator>
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