This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Colleges and universities across America have an estimated $837 billion stashed away for a rainy day if they want, in their endowments.
And Republicans in Congress are eyeing that trove as a possible source for tax revenue for the nation.
Reports say that Harvard alone has about $49 billion stashed away, and the University of Texas some $45 billion.
But members of the GOP have talked about raising the tax on those assets significantly, to help bring in revenue to balance the tax cuts they intend to create in a "sweeping fiscal overhaul," according to a report in the Washington Examiner.
"I love it. We should do it," U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, said in an interview with the publication about taxing endowments.
The report explained the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, during President Donald Trump's first term, set an excise tax of 1.4% on the investment income of universities if their endowments exceed $500,000 per student.
That has raised, over the years, not even a billion dollars.
But Nehls is proposing a plan that would make that rate 21%, "which would bring it in line with the rate paid by for-profit corporations," the report said.
That is estimated to be able to raise $70 billion over a decade, the report said the Tax Foundation suggested.
The GOP could adopt that through reconciliation, a process in Congress that allow proposals to bypass the Senate filibuster, where Democrats could halt such an idea, and be adopted with a simple majority vote.
Universities already had been facing significant financial turmoil because of the cuts they have faced under the Department of Government Efficiency's efforts to reduce fraud, waste and corruption in government spending.
Multiple grant programs have been affected.
The report explained the GOP generally likes the idea, because universities are viewed "as overrun by left-wing radicalism."
Another possible change facing universities is a plan to end the tax exemption from municipal bonds, where the interest, under current law, is excluded from taxable income.
A spokeswoman for the National Association of College and University Business Officers said the options are part of the "tools that colleges and universities use to keep costs low."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In another example of how extremists are demanding that all of society submit to a minority's transgender ideologies, a nurse in the United Kingdom has been punished for calling a convicted pedophile who preyed on boys "Mister."
It was claimed to be offensive, of course, because the offender was "transgender."
A report from LifeSiteNews explains that nurse Jennifer Melle, of the National Health Service, was disciplined and now is responding with legal action against the Epsom and St. Helier University hospitals.
"She was investigated and disciplined last year for referring to a male patient – a large, six-foot, homosexual and gender-confused pedophile – as such," the report said.
Christian Concern reported that the patient, whose name was not released, is held "in a high-security male prison after multiple convictions for luring boys into sex acts while pretending to be a teenage girl on social media."
Melle explained, "Ever since I have expressed my Christian beliefs under extreme pressure, I have been a marked woman."
The male pedophile was being treated for a urinary problem, and while discussing the case with a doctor and not knowing he claimed to be female, Melle used the words "Mister" and "he."
The fact the patient is a man was significant because of the options for medical treatment.
She confirmed, "This was a real-life medical scenario that required accurate terminology to avoid any doubt between medical professionals."
The patient, overhearing, erupted in rage, demanding he be addressed by pronouns used for women.
Melle said that violated her faith, but she offered to call him by his name.
According to the report, the patient responded by physically lunging at her and using racial epithets.
Officials overlooked the patient's rage, and instead disciplined Melle, the report said.
And she's still be assessed for her ability to work as a nurse, the report said.
"I have been put at risk, but I am being treated like a criminal," she said. "Sadly, if you put your head above the parapet and speak truthfully on these issues in the NHS, the risk is that you will be knocked down, punished severely and demoted."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Members of the U.S. military always have faced some unique stresses, especially those that are related to battle, as well as being separated from their families for extended periods of time. On top of that, in recent years, the Biden administration created entirely new stresses on service members by imposing Marxist "diversity, equity and inclusion" practices on all branches, inviting and paying for hundreds of transgender surgeries for gender-confused military recruits, imposing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate throughout the U.S. military, causing many to be ejected from their service, and more.
Even while such "woke" madness is being rapidly eliminated from the military by the new Trump administration, the traditional mental health hurdles some service members and veterans face – from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to depression and suicidality – unfortunately remain. Such mental-emotional challenges often stem from combat exposure and then transitioning to civilian life after years of serving in the military. Many of the issues thus encountered are often compounded by the use of alcohol or drugs.
As service members and others try to deal with such difficult emotional issues, one retired U.S. Navy officer, who has successfully trained many service members with life-saving principles of staying sane and balanced even under severe stress, has written a short self-help book to reach even more people, both in and out of the military. In an interview with WorldNetDaily, former Senior Chief Petty Officer Dennis Stager recalled how a "commanding officer asked me to write a book about a subject I taught to his very large command, which triggered amazing results." The 83-page self-help book is titled "Surviving Your Feelings: Deal with your emotions and proceed into the light of freedom."
Starting with the basic premise that "dealing with our emotions is better than running from them," Stager offers "historically proven truths and values" that have an unsurpassed track record of helping people manage their thoughts and behaviors.
Now 87, Stager retired from the U.S. Navy in 1990 after 29 years of service.
Confiding in WND, Stager said he once considered himself not to be much of a "people person," yet said his experiences as a Naval petty officer taught him to "read people well." In fact, he said, it was this ability that also made him "a good instructor," which prompted a former executive officer in the Navy to invite Stager to help "clean up his command." After meeting that task with clear success through his instructional sessions with Navy personnel, Stager was challenged to write the book, since – as he was told by his executive officer – "what I have is what people need to have," he said, recalling his conversation to WND.
Published in March 2024, Stager said, the book offers readers "a path to living life with freedom." Although people are often told to deal with their emotions by compartmentalizing or dismissing them, he noted that simply doesn't work, at least not for long. "We must," Stager said, "learn to live with them successfully."
"The bottom line," he told WND, "is that when people learn to handle their own emotional bucket, they can become successful in living life." This is something Stager has emphasized in more than 20 years of hosting his seminar. It can apply to relationships, business and many other parts of an individual's daily life, he added.
"Our thoughts must be utilized to manage our emotions and our behaviors," Stager argued. "By doing this, a person can often avoid failing and release themselves from the burdens of life."
For the former Naval officer and instructor, it's simply better – much better – to talk about feelings than keep them bottled up inside. "Name it, claim it, own it and deal with it" is the mantra unpacked in his book. To effectively deal with emotions, Stager said, a person must be encouraged to commit to these steps.
In the book, he added, "One near universal tool to apply is to 'talk, not walk.' Walking away from problems only allows the pressure to build, so that the eventual explosion of emotions is greater than first imagined." It is his desire for readers to throw out the "garbage" and irrational thoughts generated by one's negative feelings and emotions.
Finally, said Stager, the book provides the tools to help a person move forward "into the light of freedom." And personally speaking, he affirmed, "God is in charge, and Christ is the key to peace of mind. He owns it, runs it, and designed it."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In an interview Tuesday, President Trump vowed to look into the fact the U.S. Justice Department is still officially opposing the $30 million wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Aaron Babbitt, the husband of Ashli Babbitt, the woman shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer Jan. 6, 2021.
Speaking to Greg Kelly of Newsmax, Trump said he also plans to look into Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, the man who gunned down Babbitt outside the House Speaker's Lobby, and the government's treatment and remuneration of the officer.
"I am a big fan of Ashli Babbitt, and Ashli Babbitt was a really good person," Trump told Kelly. "She was innocently standing there … and a man did something to her that was unthinkable when he shot her, and I think it's a disgrace. I am going to look into that."
Kelly mentioned the DOJ's opposition to the 2024 lawsuit, to which Trump responded, "You're just telling me that for the first time. I haven't heard that."
Watch a portion of Kelly's interview with President Trump.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
One of the White House X accounts, Rapid Response 47, which posts positive news and stories about President Trump and his policies, has highlighted a CNN segment reporting on how many Americans say the nation is "on the right track."
Watch the network's senior data reporter, Harry Enten:
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In response to a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated: "Some people inside the country keep bringing up the issue of negotiations, asking, 'Why don't you negotiate with the U.S.?' I want to be clear: If the goal of negotiations is to lift sanctions, that will not happen. Instead, it will only tighten the noose and increase the pressure."
That was March 12. Two days later, former President Hassan Rouhani, who served two terms between 2013 to 2021, responded to Khamenei's remarks, warning: "The situation is extremely critical, and the more we move forward, the harder and worse it becomes."
Rouhani further emphasized that negotiations should not be seen as a personal stance of Khamenei, stating: "We argue over whether to negotiate or not. But what kind of debate is this? Then we attach it to the idea that the supreme leader opposes negotiations. The truth is, that the supreme leader is not fundamentally against negotiations. Under current conditions, he may reject them today, but in a few months, given new circumstances, he might support them."
Seeing negotiation as a way out, Hassan Rouhani is deeply concerned about the rising tide of public anger. Four decades of clerical rule have left a nation simmering with frustration – anger that, like a ticking time bomb, threatens to detonate beneath the regime.
Khamenei is more aware than anyone of the existential threats facing his rule. He knows economic collapse and widespread hunger – now affecting more than two-thirds of Iran's population – have pushed the country to the brink of a massive uprising. He also understands that this time, the regime is up against more than just spontaneous protests. Thousands of resistance units across Iran are waiting for the right spark to ignite a nationwide rebellion, one that would drive the regime toward its downfall.
For the past decade, these units – established by the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, or MEK, the regime's sworn enemy – have spread into every neighborhood, town, and city. Despite the regime's extensive surveillance networks and security forces, the opposition has managed to carry out 60 anti-repression operations across Iran in March alone, relying on their deep social base.
Khamenei is also fully aware that this time, the international community – particularly Europe and the U.S. – stands united in its efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions and regional influence.
In their latest statement, G7 members declared: "Iran is the primary source of instability in the region and must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Iran must change course, de-escalate tensions, and choose diplomacy."
The recent U.S. attack on the Houthis at Trump's direction was another strong warning to Khamenei intended to bring him to the negotiating table.
Khamenei knows negotiations will inevitably force him into a step-by-step retreat. First, he will have to abandon Iran's nuclear program. From there, his authority will begin to erode, like a crumbling, decaying structure. This collapse will only deepen the rifts within the regime, pitting rival factions against each other in an all-out power struggle. Under such conditions, and due to the presence of major organized resistance within Iran, Ali Khamenei prefers to avoid negotiations, even at the cost of potential attacks on his nuclear facilities. The fall of Khamenei's rule is no longer a possibility – many see it as a foregone conclusion.
In a nation that has endured 45 years of repression and bloodshed at the hands of violent, dictatorial religious fanatics, tensions have reached a breaking point. Iran today is a powder keg, and Ali Khamenei's authority – already weakened by internal dissent following Syria's collapse – hangs by a thread. Once it unravels, the "wolves" within the regime will turn on one another. And when that moment of weakness arrives, the final uprising will not just be possible. It will be inevitable.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
When President Donald Trump took office, his plans for his executive branch Department of Government Efficiency already were well-known. X owner Elon Musk promptly was given directions, as a special employee in the executive branch, to find waste, fraud, and corruption in the federal government's spending, and to cut it out.
So far the department has worked in dozens of federal offices, from the Internal Revenue Service to Voice of America, proposed slashing tens of thousands of dollars, and tens of billions of dollars in spending.
The backlash is as was expected: Leftists who created those spending channels, who like them, or possibly even benefit from them, have gone with lawsuits against Trump's work to make America fiscally responsible again to their favorite left-leaning judges, who promptly have delivered to their causes injunctions against Trump.
They've ordered him to rehire thousands of workers who were dismissed because their jobs were not part of the legally required operations of their agencies, they've ordered billions of dollars to be spent and be lost forever, they've ordered illegal alien criminals to be brought back to the United States.
Now there's a response to that problem: A new Department of Legal Accountability, DOLA, that would require legal accountability in America's justice system that for years was weaponized by Democrats against Republicans, conservatives, Christians, and even those who just viewed the government from a perspective other than huge programs and spending.
The announcement comes from lawyer Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch.
He's noted for earlier founding Judicial Watch. He also was on the legal team that broke up the AT&T monopoly. He is a former U.S. Senate candidate.
His status rose so high that a television show even created a character in his likeness (Larry Klaypool).
He told WND the DOLA program for right now is under the umbrella of Freedom Watch.
But that may not necessarily remain that way.
"It is time that We the People rise up and take action to reform and enforce an honest legal system that is not weaponized and which represents all Americans, not only the left. DOLA is designed to work closely with the Trump Department of Justice and all entities that believe in the rule of law and the Constitution," he said. "Stay tuned for more particulars, but the time has come for Americans to assert the legitimate rights of the citizenry and to clean up a compromised legal profession comprised of partisan and dishonest prosecutors and federal judges in particular."
During the Joe Biden regime, the DOJ was weaponized to bring multiple lawfare cases against Trump, even coordinating with state prosecutors to bring additional state claims against him.
Those ultimately died when he was elected president again.
Klayman explained he and other conservatives who believe in the vision of the Founding Fathers are working on DOLA.
His announcement explained, "In addition to prominent public interest attorneys such as Klayman, a trial lawyer of many decades, and the only lawyer ever to have a court rule that a sitting president committed a crime, which occurred during the Clinton administration, constitutional scholars and friends of Freedom Watch, such as former presidential candidate and U.N. Ambassador Alan Keyes who served under the Reagan administration, are being recruited by Freedom Watch for this crucial endeavor."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Authorities in Colorado have begun a criminal investigation into Columbine High School, known around the world for its mass shooting there in 1999, after officials there falsely claimed an underage student was homeless so that she could move in with her female teacher.
And why the school's actions all were concealed from the student's concerned parents.
A report from a local CBS affiliate says the Jefferson County sheriff's office is doing the criminal investigation.
"This is not a story, this is a nightmare," the mother told the station's Shaun Boyd.
The family's names have been withheld in reporting.
It was three years ago that the mom found paperwork in her daughter's room revealing that teachers, counselors and even the principal had developed a plan to help her daughter run away from home.
"This was deliberate, it was calculated, it was intentional," the mom explained.
The school reportedly helped the student, a 17-year-old girl, lie on a federal form declaring she was homeless, then hid it from her parents.
An investigator hired by the school confirmed the student "was involved in an inappropriate relationship with social studies teacher Leann Kearney. They say Kearney was 'grooming' the girl," according to CBS.
School emails obtained through an open records case "show counselors purposefully kept the parents in the dark while they helped their daughter declare herself homeless so she could move in with a teacher," the report said.
It continued, "While counselors helped the girl fill out the form, they say Columbine Principal Scott Christy also knew about the girl's plans and didn't tell her parents."
When the mom originally uncovered the scandalous behavior, and confronted the principal with evidence, she was told, "Kearney takes interest in helping kids navigate their sexuality."
The teacher shortly later quit, and eventually lost her teaching license. But the results included the daughter, when she turned 18, leaving her home and being found months later, with Kearney.
The CBS report said there could have been a motivation behind the school's agenda, as, "Jefferson County receives hundreds of thousands of dollars for students who are homeless."
The district denied that.
The criminal investigation is reviewing, among other things, why the school employees "filled out a federal form claiming the girl was homeless when they knew she wasn't, even discussing in emails how to conceal it from her parents by not using their contact information."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Various pastors and other faith leaders met in the Oval Office Wednesday to pray for President Trump, gathering around him as he sat at the Resolute Desk.
Margo Martin, a special assistant to the president and communications adviser, posted a photo on X after the meeting:
William Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, was among the attendees, according to a report in the Washington Examiner.
"It was a huge honor to represent @BaptistLeaders and meet @realDonaldTrump today along with other Christian leaders and pray for him in the Oval Office," Wolfe wrote on X. "It's been an incredible day—been keeping this under wraps until it happened, but can't wait to share more!!"
Also in attendance was David Barton, founder of WallBuilders, who said it was an honor to pray for Trump at the White House.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
'These works of fiction either belong in the bargain bin of the fantasy section in a discount bookstore or should be repurposed as tissue paper'
A member of Congress has called out one publication for its use of a "nasty" – and furthermore inaccurate – headline to push salacious ideas about President Donald Trump.
It was the Daily Beast that trumpeted, "Don't Tell Melania; Trump once offered rising MAGA star his bed."
Then the publication went to social media with the promotion of its story that stated, "The new revelations reveal how Trump reportedly offered a female congresswoman his bed, as long as she kept it a secret from his wife."
The problem is that while the suggestive and salacious were all over the statements, the facts that made it relatively unremarkable were not.
Fox News reported the woman in question was U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and she was, in fact, offered to use the bed on Air Force One by Trump.
But it happened when Trump gave the invitation in front of Luna and her husband at a time when she was pregnant, suffering from undiagnosed pre-eclampsia.
It developed this way, according to the report, "Alex Isenstadt, Axios reporter and author of 'Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump's Return to Power,' made headlines with quotes allegedly said by Trump in a sneak preview published by Axios on Sunday. Among the quotes was one he allegedly said to Luna in 2023 offering her the bed on his jet when she was pregnant and feeling ill, though it included a joke about his wife Melania being jealous."
Trump reportedly said, to Luna, "If you need a bed to lay down in, there's one here on the plane. If you feel sick and you need to lay there, you can lay on it. Just don't tell Melania. She doesn't like other women on my bed."
Isenstadt noted that Trump was joking.
However, the Daily Beast left the joking description out of its report until later on, in the fourth paragraph.
Luna noted she seldom responds to "nasty headlines" so as not to give "trash" credibility.
But this one needed an answer.
She was experiencing complications, she said.
"As soon as @realDonaldTrump boarded the plane, being the gentleman and good person that he is, said if I did not feel well, I could use the back room. He did this in a respectful way and in front of my husband, of which we thanked him. He also assured me that they had a medical team on board in case anything happened and they were aware of how pregnant I was. This was the most compassionate thing that could've been done at the time. I find it disgusting that the author fails to recognize that. A few weeks later, I was induced because I did have pre-eclampsia . The author of this book never reached out to me for comment. Which means that this book is likely going to be a s— hit piece. If people in POTUS orbit are talking to this author, they need to be cut off immediately. This is gross."
The Daily Beast also was hit by Community Notes on X, with the explanation, "The woman in question was Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, who has responded publicly to the allegation. She claims nothing inappropriate occurred, she was not asked for comment, and this situation is being presented out of context."
Fox reported, "White House communications director Steven Cheung denounced Trump books including Isenstadt's as a 'desperate attempt to make money off of President Trump's name because journalism is a dying industry with reporters peddling lies and selling their souls in order to make a quick buck.'"
He said, "These works of fiction either belong in the bargain bin of the fantasy section in a discount bookstore or should be repurposed as tissue paper."