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By Andrew Cuff| Erie Times-News

Drive 30 minutes east from Pittsburgh, and youll enter Westmoreland County one of Pennsylvanias most conservative areas. Over the course of two decades, Westmoreland has become ground zero for the Rust Belts GOP shift. For perspective, in 1998 the countys 136,700 registered Democratic voters dwarfed the 70,600 registered Republicans, propelling their candidates to wins in nearly every local, state, and national election. But in 2020, Donald Trump took 64% of the vote.

In Mays state primary, the Republican trend continued when Westmorelandvoted by similar marginsin support of a constitutional amendment curtailing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolfs emergency powers a clear rebuke of his excessive pandemic restrictions. Then, in a special election, county voters favoredLeslie Rossi, aGOP state House candidatewho had painted her home like an American flag and erected a 14-foot Trump cutout.

Since the Obama era, Westmorelands former Democrats have switched parties over issues related to economic populism and social conservatism. But last years social unrest and urban violence, including in Pittsburgh, led even more county Democrats to change their affiliation. In a paraphrase of Ronald Reagans classic remark, Westmoreland Sheriff James Albertput itthis way when joining the GOP: As a lifelong public servant and member of law enforcement, I have not left the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party has left me.

Though Trumps presidency fueled intraparty tensions, including in Pennsylvania, Westmorelanders feel their own political compass has remained fixed amid the GOPs evolving platforms. As one resident in Greensburg, the county seat, told me, Time has pretty much stood still around here for the last 30 years. And thats how we like it.

But while Westmorelands silent majority stands still, its progressive activists have increasingly mobilized. Last year, for example, along that half-hour drive from Pittsburgh, incendiary anti-Trump billboards displayedmisrepresentedquotesfrom the former president. Today, billboards feature left-leaning messages such as Ban Assault Weapons and Teach your children about systemic racism. Meanwhile, art displays that promote the central tenets of critical race theory find their way to local museums and outdoor areas.

Who is behind this progressive resistance in Pennsylvanias heartland? According to theNew York Times, Westmorelands radical campaigners operate like a secret society, complete with hand signals, invite-only gatherings, and leftist Facebook groups. Overall, theyre united in purpose and strategic in approach but this hardly suggests a grassroots effort.

As is so often the case, Westmorelands left is less a coalition of local dissenters than a team of professional activists funded by out-of-town millions and occasionally, even public tax dollars. Anti-gun billboards, for example, are paid for by aPACinvolving prominent liberals, such as former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill. Meanwhile, critical race theorydisplaysandmessagingare funded by groups such as PA Start and the Westmoreland Diversity Coalition.

The progressive campaign, though, isnt limited to leftist messaging on major thoroughfares. In fact, Westmorelands liberal wing has clear-eyed electoral ambitions. In 2019, for example, the county commissioner elections turned into a bitter struggle between Democratic incumbents and their Republican challengers.

The local fight concerned the lobbying power of public-sector unions, whom Democrats had empowered to influence county spending. The unions left-leaning positions on social issues, such as acounty diversity plan, became part of Democratic candidates platforms, too. This, in turn, unified Republican opposition. Since then, the most prominent Westmoreland Squad member has signaled her support for replacing Westmorelands Flag Day observance with Juneteenth but only after discussing it withthe unions.

Westmorelands progressives are also keen on dominating local school boards. The county chapter ofPA United, a subsidiary of the George Soros-fundedDemocracy Alliance, has put forward several candidates seeking to make local school districts curriculum and practices more progressive.Westmorelanders, though, likely wish to avoid theparent-led battlesoverideological school boards and identity-driven curriculumcurrently afflicting Loudoun County, Va., and suburban Philadelphia. This November, such issues are at stake in Westmorelands elections.

On guns, law and order, family values, and education, the county isnt a great fit for progressive activists or the elite millionaires who fund them. But post-Trump, such a conservative area remains a target for culture war assaults waged by resistance activists with deep pockets. For some reason, western Pennsylvanias towns, with their thriving small business economies, neighborhood safety, solidarity, and educational opportunity, have become a bugbear for the left.

But most Westmorelanders still consider these community features to be proud of and defend.

Andrew Cuff writes on conservative issues and policy reform from Latrobe in Westmoreland County. This piece first appeared on RealClearPolitics.com.

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Op-Ed: Delusions of progressive 'resistance' in PA's heartland - GoErie.com

The idea of billionaires launching themselves into space on their own rockets has provoked apoplexy from some progressives, who view the spectacle as an ostentatious display of economic inequality that must be fixed with a wealth tax.

Witness the response to Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson's successful journey to the edge of space yesterday on his company's Unity spaceship.

The flightwhich carried Branson and five other crew members more than 50 miles above the Earth's surfacerepresents an important milestone for the nascent private space tourism industry. But several commentators were only concerned with what the British billionaire's money could have funded instead.

On Twitter, Mother Jones' Clara Jeffery declared it an "advertisement for a wealth tax":

Journalist Teddy Schleifer said on CNN that the press should cool its jets when covering billionaires' space travels, saying that "it's impossible to talk about the billionaire's success without talking about the system that creates this in the first place."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (DVt.) struck a familiar dyspeptic note:

Rep. Ro Khanna (DCalif.) asked, a few days before Branson's launch, whether that money could be spent on health care and education rather than "space travel fantasies."

Khanna doesn't see such a stark trade-off with the government's own resources, given his co-sponsorship of the "Endless Frontiers Act," the initial version of which would have given $100 billion to the National Science Foundation to research such sci-fi ideas as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. Surely that money could be spent on health care too? And Khanna is a member of Congress' "NASA Caucus," so he isn't objecting to spending money on space exploration per se.

In any case,billionaire-backed space companieswhich includes not just Branson's Virgin Galactic but also Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceXcan help to eliminate wasteful space spending. That's certainly the case with SpaceX. Back in May 2020, the company's Crew Dragon vehicle ferried NASA astronauts to the International Space Station from American soil for the first time since 2011, when the accident-prone Space Shuttle was retired.

To develop and launch Crew Dragon, SpaceX received a $2.6 billion contract from NASA through the agency's Commercial Crew Program. In comparison, the Constellation program run directly by NASAwhich had a similar goal of developing a launch system for putting astronauts in low-earth orbitwas estimated to cost closer to $34.5 billion.

SpaceX was "effectively doing what the Constellation Program was doing with about the same amount of money, total, that they were burning in a single month," NASA engineer Mike Horkachuck told ArsTechnica's Eric Berger.

In time, the competition between these various private ventures will put yet more downward pressure on prices while spurring the development of new, better space technologyhelping the government's space efforts as well as the private sector's.

Even if you aren't convinced of the value of space travel, given that we've yet to reach a utopia free of poverty, disease, and war here on Earth, there's something to be said for a private space industry soaking up the legions of engineers and other aerospace professionals who might otherwise be spending their careers designing faster-flying missiles for traditional military contractors.

The private space industry has problems from a libertarian perspective too. SpaceX and Blue Origin are primarily in the business of competing for government contracts. New Mexico taxpayers shelled out$220 million to fund Virgin Galactic's desert launch facility.

Yet even a rigid ideologue like Ayn Rand was able to see some good in government-funded space travel. "Nothing on earth or beyond it is closed to the power of man's reason," she wrote of the Moon landing. "This is the fundamental lesson to be learned from the triumph of Apollo 11."

Her criticism of space flight's detractors also rings only truer today. Their attitude, she wrote, "penalizes the good for being good, and success for being success."

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Billionaires Spending Their Own Money To Go to Space Has Progressives Howling For a Wealth Tax - Reason

Progressive Insurance is embarking on a hiring spree.

The insurer said it intends to hire up to 6,400 new employees across the country during the remainder of 2021.

The Mayfield Village, Ohio-headquartered company with $42 billion in revenues said it will be adding more employees in claims, customer care, technology, analysis and legal throughout the country.

The company currently has nearly 42,000 employees nationwide.

The largest areas of opportunity for career development lie in call center positions with 3,000 remote openings across the country. Additionally, 2,900 jobs in field and centralized claims will be available. These careers include some hybrid work-from-home and fully remote positions.

Here is a breakdown of job openings:

There are also approximately 60 jobs in data and analytics, as well as openings in corporate business areas such as human relations, marketing, and product management.

In May, one of Progressives biggest competitors, Geico, said it is looking to hire another 500 people for its Macon, Georgia office.

Source: Progressive Careers

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Progressive Insurance Plans to Hire 6,400 New Employees By Years End - Insurance Journal

Back in 2015,President Barack Obamacompared Minnesota favorably with Wisconsin, holding up our state's high, progressive taxes as the model for others to follow.

When I joined the Center of the American Experiment think tank in 2017, we were skeptical of this. The previous year, we had produced a report showing that Minnesota was losing residents to, and failing to attract them from, other states. Our annual report on Minnesota's economy in 2017 called its performance "lackluster," noting below average GDP growth.

These weren't popular arguments at that time.

Our concerns are now much more widely shared. In March, Steve Grove, commissioner of Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development, tweeted in celebration of our state being ranked the second-best to live in byU.S. News: He was roasted by progressives highlighting Minnesota's racial disparities and forced to issue a groveling clarification.

In May, the Star Tribune Editorial Board embraced a report from the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce that highlighted, among other things, our state's below average GDP growth and "lack of in-migration from other states." Sound familiar?

And a recent poll for our magazine, Thinking Minnesota, found that while 45% of Minnesotans think our state is on the right track, 48% of us now believe it is on the wrong track: this is up from 38% in March 2019 and 26% in March 2018.

A new consensus is emerging as progressives join conservatives in perceiving that all is not well in the state of Minnesota.

Consider those racial disparities. Prof. Samuel L. Myers Jr., of the University of Minnesota, recently listed disparities in graduation rates,homeownership rates, loan denial rates, mortality rates, suspension rates, wage and salary incomes, unemployment rates, child abuse and neglect report rates,traffic stops,even drowning rates. Prof. Myers noted, "The coexistence in Minnesota of wealth and plenty for the majority group with wide racial gaps faced by minority groups has come to be known as theMinnesota Paradox."

Even worse, for Black Minnesotans some of these outcomes, like homeownership rates, are not just low relative to those for white Minnesotans but relative to those for Black residents of other states. My colleague Catrin Wigfall noted recently that Black and Hispanic students in Mississippi outperformed Minnesota's Black and Hispanic students in both math and reading and that test scores for Mississippi's Black students have been rising in recent years, compared with declining scores for our state's Black students.

And these disparities coexist with Minnesota's high, progressive taxes. Minnesota has had some of the highest tax rates and one of the most progressive income tax systems in the U.S. for decades. Our state's tax system ranked among the top five in 2018.

The data show that whatever problems you think afflict our state at present from racial disparities to surging violent crime they have either arisen while Minnesota has had high, progressive taxes or they have proved resilient to remedy by high, progressive taxes. It is time to try something different. But what?

Look again at those education disparities. Last year, Brightbeam, a nonprofit education advocacy organization, released a report which found that some cities are doing a much better job at closing the gaps in education outcomes than others. But, as Nekima Levy Armstrongwrote on these pages, "The Brightbeam report shows that progressive cities like Minneapolis do worse and, surprisingly, conservative cities do better when it comes to educating students of color. According to the report, conservative cities have gaps in math and reading that are on average 15 and 13 percentage points smaller than those in progressive cities."

This is not because conservative cities have higher and more progressive taxes than progressive ones. Something besides taxing and spending is closing those gaps. Rather than repeating or amplifying what has failed over decades in Minnesota, we should look to the places which are succeeding and learn from them.

This message was a hard sell four years ago. But with the emergence of a new, more skeptical consensus across Minnesota's political spectrum, its time might have come.

John Phelan is an economist at the Center of the American Experiment (www.AmericanExperiment.org).

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Minnesota, we have a problem - Minneapolis Star Tribune

An obscure progressive nonprofit called the North Fund has scaled up operations during the last two years, allowing the group to quietly work in high-profile legislative fights in Washington and state capitals.

Why it matters: The North Fund's structure and its refusal to reveal financial contributors make it the latest progressive nonprofit to operate in ways that obscure key financial information from the public, even as it pushes for legislation to limit the role of so-called dark money in politics.

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What's new: Founded in late 2018, the North Fund's budget shot up from $9.3 million in 2019 to nearly $50 million last year, according to previously unreported records filed with state regulators in Montana.

It doled out nearly $18 million to other progressive groups, according to those records primarily other nonprofit advocacy groups, but with some going to outright political organizations.

The North Fund also financed ballot measure campaigns across the country last year, including efforts to legalize marijuana in Montana, expand paid leave in Colorado and reform congressional redistricting in Missouri.

In addition, the North Fund acts as the legal umbrella for a handful of other organizations, including voting rights group Just Democracy, anti-Big Tech advocacy outfit Accountable Tech and 51 for 51, which pushes for D.C. statehood.

The big picture: The North Fund is shadowy even by the standards of D.C. advocacy groups. It has no website. Its address is a shared workspace. And in March, it won a fight against Montana officials trying to force the group to disclose its donors.

The North Fund's subsidiary organizations are more prominent and are spending significant sums on some top progressive agenda items.

Just Democracy, for instance, recently kicked off a seven-figure ad campaign attacking Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) over her opposition to nuking the filibuster. It's also pushed heavily for federal legislation that would dramatically increase disclosure requirements for politically active nonprofits.

The North Fund operates as a "fiscal sponsor" for Just Democracy and other groups under its umbrella, a legal designation effectively allowing those groups to operate as any stand-alone nonprofit would but without submitting their own financial information to the IRS.

That's an increasingly common structure on the left, with large groups such as the Sixteen Thirty Fund seeding scores of progressive advocacy outfits and steering millions to them in ways that obscure key financial details.

What they're saying: In an emailed statement, North Fund president Jim Gerstein declined to identify any of the group's financial supporters.

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"North Fund strictly follows all disclosure requirements at local, state and federal levels, and donors decide for themselves whether to disclose their contributions," he wrote.

Between the lines: Many progressive groups benefitting from that sort of opacity are simultaneously advocating for more political money disclosure. Their excuse is they don't want to handicap their own side in a fight against a well-funded conservative opposition.

"The rules are rigged against Black and Brown people," Just Democracy told Axios in a statement. "Until we win our fight to change them, were committed to using every tool in our toolbox to stop voter suppression and build a more just democracy."

That echoed comments by the Sixteen Thirty Fund's president this year.

Amy Kurtz said her group would "continue to level the playing field for progressives until (reform) happens."

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A progressive dark money group is being built to fight dark money - Yahoo News