A $112.4 billion budget was agreed to on Friday by New York City mayor Eric Adams and the head of the city council. The agreement included $800 million more in spending than Adams’ most recent proposal in April.

The two sides were able to avoid many controversial cuts to libraries, cultural institutions and early childhood education that were included in the April proposal. 

“We have done our job,” Adams said at a Friday press conference, “and will continue to do our job the right way and deliver for the people of this city, working-class people who have often been ignored.”

The budget cuts, which were the subject of a long and arduous debate among city officials, were not able to be avoided altogether. The agreement only adds $20 million to early childhood education, for example, which is still slated to receive $150 million less in funding than last year.

“We did over $7.9 billion in savings. We restored $349 million,” Adams said, referring to the spending reductions that helped the city balance the budget. “We showed fiscal responsibility.”

The new budget agreement will be the largest in New York City history, up over $5 billion from the previous agreement dictating spending for this year. New York’s City Council is expected to vote on the agreement on Sunday, one day before the July 1 deadline.

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As a result of the agreement, New York City libraries are expected to return to being open seven days a week, after closing on Sundays due to proposed cuts.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Adams for comment.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed into law the state’s largest budget package, at $56.6 billion, boosting the tax rates for the richest corporations.

The budget will increase the tax rate from 9% to 11.5% on corporations making more than $10 million a year in revenue. Called the corporate transit fee, this money will go toward the NJ Transit system, which is staring down the barrel of their own budget difficulties. The system operates the trains and busses in the state.

“With this budget, we are going to make life more affordable for more families. We are going to create new economic opportunities for our workers and local businesses. And we are going to invest in the potential of every one of our neighbors,” Murphy said in a statement.

“The fee will make our public transit system more reliable, more dependable, and more accessible for working New Jerseyans,” Murphy said.

Originally, the legislature was considering a state sales tax hike — from 6.625% to 7% — but later disregarded that move in favor of the transit fee. NJ Transit recently upped fares 15%, which lawmakers criticized since budget negotiations discussing this corporate transit fee were still ongoing.

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Also included in this budget is billions for K-12 education, about $2.5 billion in property tax relief, and a 67% pay raise for lawmakers, which will go into effect in 2026. Current pay is $49,000, and this bill would raise that to $89,000.

This budget is not the first time Murphy has raised taxes since taking office in 2018. In a previous budget, he raised taxes on those making over $1 million. This is also not the first time during Murphy’s tenure that the budget has broken records — every budget in recent years has been the highest ever. This one is about 4% higher than the current budget.

An asteroid will whiz harmlessly past Earth this weekend. With the right equipment and timing, you just might spot it.

Called 2024 MK, the space rock will make its closest approach to Earth Saturday morning, passing by at about three-quarters the distance from Earth to the moon. It was first spotted two weeks ago by a South African observatory and is about 393 feet to 853 feet (120 meters to 260 meters) wide.

Smaller objects shoot past Earth all the time, according to asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia with NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. Asteroids the size of this latest one fly by about every 25 years or so.

“We’re going to see a few of those during our lifetimes, but it’s not something that happens every other day,” he said.

A 7,579-foot (2,310-meter) asteroid flew safely past Earth Thursday, but it was farther away and was only visible to professional telescopes.

“The asteroid will be plowing through that field of stars,” said Nick Moskovitz, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory.

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Viewers in the Southern Hemisphere will have the best chance of seeing it since the asteroid will appear higher overhead. Those in the U.S. may want to wait until Saturday night, when the asteroid may appear less bright but will be easier to spot without interference from the sun’s blinding light.

If you miss out, mark your calendar for April 13, 2029, when an asteroid called Apophis will fly by Earth and will be visible to the naked eye from parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.

Billionaire Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel revealed he will be voting for former president Donald Trump in November, despite the pair’s up-and-down relationship.

Thiel signaled his reluctant support at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Thursday. The Paypal CEO was an avid Trump advocate in 2016, but their relationship soured after he reportedly declined to endorse Trump, despite being asked by the 45th president to do so.

“If you hold a gun to my head, I’ll vote for Trump,” Thiel said in an on-stage interview. “I’m not going to give any money to his super PAC.”

The business mogul has been a major financier for Trump and Republican candidates in the past. He donated $1.25 million to Trump’s 2016 campaign, and contributed over $35 million to 16 federal-level GOP candidates in 2022. Twelve of those 16 candidates won their election.

In 2023, Thiel said he would not fund any presidential races this November but did not express support for any candidate in an interview with the Atlantic in which he criticized Trump.

“There are a lot of things I got wrong,” he told the outlet. “It was crazier than I thought. It was more dangerous than I thought. They couldn’t get the most basic pieces of the government to work. So that was — I think that part was maybe worse than even my low expectations.”

Thiel has reportedly been unhappy with the direction of the Republican Party since late 2022, and is particularly critical of the GOP for focusing too much on abortion and transgender issues instead of spurring innovation through deregulation and international competition.

He spoke on his hope for the party to focus more on economic issues at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

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“I am proud to be gay, but most of all, I am proud to be an American,” he said onstage. “I don’t pretend to agree with every plank in our party’s platform, but fake culture wars only distract us from our economic decline, and nobody in this race is being honest about it except Donald Trump.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to Thiel for comment.

After federal judges in Kansas and Missouri sided in favor of Republican attorneys general by blocking parts of President Joe Biden’s student loan repayment program, the Department of Education announced it is freezing monthly student loan payments and interests of 3 million borrowers.

The Saving on a Valuable Education plan, better known as SAVE, determines a borrowers’ monthly payment based on their earnings and family size. There are more than 8 million people signed up for the plan and 4.5 million of them qualify for $0 monthly payments because of their low earnings.  

On July 1, the Department of Education was going to implement payment reductions, with many borrowers seeing their payments being cut in half. That measure was blocked by Kansas U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Crabtree.

​​”As the court correctly held, whether to forgive billions of dollars of student debt is a major question that only Congress can answer,” he said in a statement. “Blue collar Kansas workers who didn’t go to college shouldn’t have to pay off the student loans of New Yorkers with gender studies degrees.”

Meanwhile, in Missouri, U.S. District Judge John A. Ross blocked the SAVE plan from granting additional student loan forgiveness. In some cases, borrowers’ loans are and have been forgiven after ten years as opposed to the typical 20 to 25 year plan.

However, a spokesman for the Department of Education told Politico that it will not give up on its promise “to fight for this long-overdue relief” for borrowers.

It is not clear by what legal authority the Biden administration possesses the right to postpone student loan payments.

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The SAVE program application was taken down from the Education Department’s website while the department works to make updates to it in order to comply with the court orders. However, borrowers who’d like to still enroll in the plan can submit a paper application in the meantime. Once enrolled, borrowers will have their monthly payments and interest suspended.

“We are pleased to see the Department of Education take quick and decisive action,” Natalia Abrams, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Student Debt Crisis Center, told the Washington Post. “Given the lack of clarity, swirling questions, and legal uncertainty of the Save plan, [we’re] calling for a widespread payment pause on all federal student loans.”

Iran has issued a stark warning to Israel about what would happen if they launch a full-scale attack on Lebanon, in response to strikes from Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

“Albeit Iran deems as psychological warfare the Zionist regime’s propaganda about intending to attack Lebanon, should it embark on full-scale military aggression, an obliterating war will ensue. All options, incl. the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table,” the Iranian mission to the U.N. said in a post on X.

Iran has a massive arsenal of weapons, including missiles that can reach up to 2,000 miles away. Hezbollah also has it’s own arsenal, including 150,000 rockets and missiles.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that ignited the most recent conflict in Gaza, Hezbollah has launched over 1,000 attacks on Israel to show solidarity with Hamas. The group was formed in 1982 as a revolt against the occupation of southern Lebanon by Israel. Iran is a major funder of Hezbollah

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The conflict on the Lebanese border is heating up now, however, with U.S. officials weighing in to say they will not stop and Israel attack.

Diplomats are working to de-escalate the situation, as President Joe Biden met with Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant this week. Gallant said they are not seeking a war with Lebanon but will react to continued provocations. Afterward, the State Department reiterated its travel advisory to the country.

(The Center Square) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed a number of bills from the 2024 legislative session, including one that would’ve mandated changes to vacation rentals.

Senate Bill 280 would’ve required vacation rental advertising platforms to collect and remit specific taxes while adding regulations for lodging and food establishments. DeSantis said in his veto message this would create more red tape for locals and prevent local governments from enacting existing ordinances or passing any new local measures.

SB 62 would’ve provided that individuals classified as residents for tuition purposes may not lose their resident status solely because they have been incarcerated in a correctional facility in Florida. DeSantis said the state should “not reward criminal activity by providing inmates with the same benefits as law-abiding citizens.”

SB 494 would’ve waived both the graduate record examination and the grade management admission test for service members applying for admission into graduate programs at state institutions that require the examinations. DeSantis said standardized tests are a necessary component of the admissions process, adding he does not see how dropping the examinations would benefit the institutions or the students.

House Bill 821 would’ve revised the maximum stormwater management user fees for residential, agricultural and commercial parcels of land in the Melbourne-Tillman Water Control District in Brevard County. DeSantis vetoed the bill due to the likelihood that taxpayers would pay higher fees.

HB 473 would’ve provided broad liability protections for state and local governments and private companies that only comply with minimum cybersecurity standards in the event of a cyberattack or data breach. DeSantis said the bill would result in less data security because it incentivizes entities to do the minimum to protect consumer data.

SB 1078 would’ve exempted insurance agents, agencies and service representatives from submitting cellular telephone numbers to the Department of Financial Services as part of the licensure process. DeSantis said Florida’s insurance market is becoming increasingly competitive and he does not see how the bill would serve the public interest.

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HB 165 would’ve granted the Florida Department of Health authority to close beaches, waterways and swimming pools. DeSantis said the DOH should not have the power to supersede local jurisdictions.

HB 133 would’ve provided a period of time when convictions for crimes may not be grounds for denial of licensure as a barber or cosmetologist. DeSantis said it prohibits the licensing board from accessing an applicant’s criminal history and added there may be a good reason for the board to have such information before approval.

This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign in tatters following his dismal debate performance this week.

Biden tried to mount a comeback Friday at a political rally, but all social media focused on was his lost look as his overly-energetic wife yelled for support.

It sent Democrats into a panic, with several joining the New York Times in calling for Biden to step aside because they feared a political bloodbath if he remained atop the 2024 ticket.

Grader and Democratic pollster John Zogby joined in and said in grading the week an “F” that there was no way to spin Biden’s performance as just a bad day. “I saw what I saw. You saw what you saw,” he wrote.

Fellow grader Jed Babbin also dished an “F” for the week, and added in several policy failures to add to the discussion of the administration’s horrible week. He even suggested that beyond pushing Biden out of the 2024 race, unpopular Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton be the replacement. “Oh, please!” he said.

John Zogby

Grade: F

It has already been said so there is really no need for further explanation. But President Joe Biden’s performance at the debate was sad and disturbing.

He had an opportunity to negate all of the age-related issues that have dogged him for months, and not only did not rise to the occasion, he simply made things worse for himself and the party.

Some supporters are suggesting that this bad debate was a one-off. But I saw what I saw. You saw what you saw. And there is no way to spin it as just a bad day.

He lost the debate, while former President Donald Trump did not win the debate. It was a horrible spectacle.

For the good of his party, his country, and his legacy, Biden must find the courage to step down as the Democratic nominee and open up the delegate voting to a few candidates who are better able to run on his pretty impressive record.

Jed Babbin

Grade: F

Last week was one of the most feckless and possibly the most politically damaging of all for President Biden, which is saying a lot. Before we get to his debate performance, there are a couple of other things that deserve attention.

First, Biden was told — again — by a federal court that he can’t “forgive” student loans because it’s beyond the president’s power. That won’t stop him. He’s bragging about how he defies the Supreme Court so how is a lowly federal judge going to stop him? Hey, it’s only the law and the Constitution he’s violating.

And then there’s Tyler Cherry, the latest addition to the White House press office. Cherry hates cops, hates Israel and pretty much hates everything else America stands for. He’s just another radical leftie that fits very well into Biden’s White House. Cherry is busy deleting social media posts while he takes on his new job.

Enough of the normal idiocy. Biden’s debate performance on Thursday night was bad enough to force the Democrats to find a new candidate to oppose former President Donald Trump in November.

Trump, in the debate, was at ease, flinging criticisms at Biden on illegal immigration, crime, and inflation. Biden, on the other hand, just couldn’t keep up.

Biden from the outset was speaking incoherently in a rough, raspy old man voice. He looked and sounded very old and slow.

Biden seemed to lose his train of thought at least a dozen times. He spoke haltingly, struggling to remember his debate prep. And he repeated his comprehensively debunked lies about Trump’s remarks about veterans and about what Biden claims Trump said but didn’t say — “good people on both sides” — of the Charlottesville, Va. incident.

In short, Biden struck out. Trump didn’t score a knockout but uncharacteristically kept his cool, which was good enough for a clear win.

The Democrats knew, before the debate, that they needed to replace Biden because he’s not mentally competent to be president. But who can they replace him with? California Gov. Gavin Newsom? Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer? New York Gov. Kathy Hochul? Nah. Hillary Clinton, of course. She’s only 76 and, having been out of presidential politics for more than four years, she’s tanned, rested and ready. Not to mention eager. Conservatives’ reaction to another Hillary candidacy would be something like, “OHPLEASEOHPLEASEOHHHHPUHLEEEASE!!!” You gotta love it.

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John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Their firm polls for independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.

Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.

(The Center Square) — Hawaii recently entered into a settlement in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that requires the state to implement climate change initiatives by court order, setting forth a potential template for lawsuits in other states.

Thirteen young people, at least one as young as nine, filed the lawsuit against the Hawaii Department of Transportation in June 2022. They said the state DOT needed to do more to protect the state and their future from climate change.

The state spent $3 million settling the lawsuit, money the attorney general’s office said was “well-spent” to avoid a trial that would have started June 24.

The settlement provides a road map of tasks the DOT must do per the court order. These include creating a greenhouse gas reduction plan for the Hawaii Department of Transportation that could cost the state more. Only one price tag is included in the plan — $40 million for public electric charging stations and charging infrastructure for all state and county vehicles by 2030.

The agreement includes a dispute-resolution component that could keep differences out of court. But, the First Circuit of Hawaii will oversee the settlement until 2045 if Hawaii has not met its zero-emission goals.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation must receive “sufficient appropriations” from the Hawaii Legislature, but the settlement does not include a specific amount for the other requirements.

Gov. Josh Green admitted it would not be inexpensive or easy. He said the court order would help him when he had to go to the Legislature and say, “Look, we have to do this.”

“We have these policies in mind but we don’t have the resources that come from the Legislature,” Green said. “We don’t often have the absolute insistence of the courts to do certain things so having a settlement like this creates some guarantees.”

For two years, the governor has pushed for a $25 tourist fee that has not passed the Legislature.

“We have 10 million individuals that come to Hawaii every year,” Green said. “Can you imagine only for a moment if we successfully were humbly asking people to pay $25 when they came to the state? That would be $250 million every single year to pay for the bikeways, extra to bring very advanced analytics to what our carbon impact is from any of the technologies we use, money to get bond to navigate major protections against erosion of the coastline.”

Thomas Yamachika, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, told The Center Square, “There’s going to be some pain,” when finding money to implement the settlement’s initiatives. The Legislature passed tax breaks this year to increase the standard income tax deduction in odd years and lower tax rates for all brackets in even years. It’s possible those tax cuts could be “walked back,” Yamachika said.

Truth in Accounting, which does an annual financial analysis of the 50 states, told The Center Square that Hawaii is already $11 billion in debt.

“The state doesn’t have money sitting around that can be used for settlements like this,” said Sheila A. Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting. “To pay for this settlement, taxes will have to be raised or services and benefits will have to be cut. The other option is to even underfund the pension and retiree health care benefits even more.”

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Hawaii is the first to settle a climate change lawsuit, but it may not be the last. The case may set a precedent in other states where young people have filed lawsuits over climate concerns, according to an op-ed written by Cara Horowitz, executive director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the institute’s communications director, Evan George.

“Many defendants facing climate lawsuits — notably including Hawaii officials in the earlier stages of this case — often protest that climate change policy should be made by legislatures, not judges,” Horowitz and George said in the op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times. “This landmark settlement demonstrates that the courts can hold decision-makers accountable if they fail to live up to their promises.”

(The Center Square) — More than 87,000 people moved out of Illinois taking with them nearly $10 billion in income, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service data. For the last six years, the total lost adjusted gross income is more than $47.5 billion. 

For nearly a decade, annual population estimates from the U.S. Census show Illinois losing population. For well over a year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has denied the state’s population decline, saying the Census is getting it wrong. In May, he doubled down. 

“You should take what I’m saying as truth that actually when we count people, it turns out we’re gaining,” Pritzker said. 

The U.S. Census did recently revise Illinois’ population upward from previous estimates, but the state still continues to lose population. 

It’s not just Census data showing Illinois’ loss. Moving companies routinely show Illinois among the states with the most people moving out year after year. IRS data also shows the continued population decline, and with that the federal agency provides receipts. 

IRS data released this week shows between calendar years 2021 and 2022, the number of people flowing into Illinois was nearly 177,000 and the number flowing out was over 264,000, a net loss of 87,286. 

State Sen. Andrew Chesney, R-Freeport, said by Democrats continuing to deny population decline, they continue bad policies. 

“We’re not bringing in the best and the brightest in many cases to the state of Illinois, we’re actually pushing them out of the state with horrible policies and we’re back filling it with folks that want services,” Chesney told The Center Square.  

He said the state’s sanctuary status policies welcome non-citizen migrants that cost taxpayers money and taxpayers are fed up and there doesn’t seem to be any policy changes to reverse course.  

“It’s certainly not happening right now and the people are no longer voting, they’re leaving,” Chesney said. 

While 14,486 people moved to Illinois from California in 2022, bringing with them $1.5 billion in income, the latest IRS data shows 31,600 of those who left Illinois went to Florida, taking with them $4.1 billion dollars. 

Total lost income out of Illinois because of outmigration was $9.8 billion in 2022. Last year’s IRS migration report found 105,000 fewer individuals, taking with them $10.6 billion. The year before that, nearly 101,000 people left Illinois, taking with them $8.5 billion. 

For the calendar year 2018 to 2019, IRS data shows 82,107 fewer individuals in Illinois, taking with them nearly $6 billion. From 2017 to 2018, data shows 87,673 fewer exemptions and $5.6 billion in lost adjusted gross income. In calendar year 2016 to 2017, IRS data shows 133,769 fewer exemptions, taking with them $6.8 billion. 

Chesney said what needs to happen is a focus on public safety, lower taxes and reformed regulations. 

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“And it can be fixed, and it can be fixed in seconds if somebody would just put their foot down and demand better,” he said. 

The latest tally of IRS data indicates the total number of lost adjusted gross income from people moving out of the state is $47.5 billion in the past six years.