Wow. You'd have thought that, between gifting the American people a second presidency for Donald Trump and exposing Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi as marionettists, President Joe Biden was done with his Christmas shopping. Turns out he's not quite done giving gifts -- at least to conservatives and the GOP....

A little girl received a heartfelt Elf on the Shelf surprise, honoring her late little brother who passed away. The special gesture helped her feel connected to him, bringing comfort and a sense of love during the holiday season.

In an interview with CNN‘s “State of the Union,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said President Trump deserves credit for appealing to working class voters. The Republican senator said “MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today.” Romney said he thinks Vice President-elect J.D. Vance will be the Republican nominee in 2028. “The Republican Party has become the party of the working class, middle class voter,” Romney said. “You’ve gotta give Donald Trump credit for having done that,” he continued. Romney said the Democrat Party is the one in trouble. “I don’t know how they recover,” he said. “They’ve lost their base. Union guys and gals have left the Democratic Party and are voting Republican,” Romney said. WATCH: “MAGA is the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the Republican Party today.”@SenatorRomney tells @jaketapper Trump deserves credit for appealing to working class voters and predicts that JD Vance will likely be the GOP presidential nominee in 2028. pic.twitter.com/c1RUd1X6jG — State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) December 15, 2024 Per CNN: Asked about his sustained criticism of Trump, which dates to the president-elect’s first White House run in 2016, Romney described himself as “kinda outspoken” and said he felt that Trump “was wrong for the country, wrong for our party, that he wouldn’t win,” but he noted, “I was wrong about that.” “I think most people disagree with me. I’m willing to live with that. I just put emphasis on different things than I think the public at large does right now,” he said. But Romney argued the incoming president deserves a “chance” to do what he has promised upon his return to the White House. “I agree with him on a lot of policy fronts. I disagree with him on some things,” Romney said of Trump. “But it’s like, OK, give him a chance to do what he said he’s gonna do and see how it works out.” Asked about the fact that Trump has made some unorthodox Cabinet picks, Romney called it “an unusual collection of individuals, not the people that I would have chosen,” but said Trump is “entitled” to make his picks because he won the election. Even Senator Mitt Romney knows President Trump has a mandate: "Donald Trump won. He won overwhelmingly. He said what he was going to do — and that's what he's doing … You can't complain about someone who does what he said he was going to do." pic.twitter.com/xtNv2FkXJU — Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 15, 2024 From Independent: The Democratic Party’s shift away from populist messaging was apparent after Kamala Harris took over the ticket in July, and has been blamed for her failure to win back reliable Democratic voters in numbers needed to defeat Donald Trump. Numerous campaign officials have also noted, however, that Harris largely dug herself out of a pit where the party found itself after months of near-constant reminders from voters that they were concerned about Joe Biden’s ability to serve as president and disgusted with the Democratic Party for ignoring it. Still, the party suffered major losses among key demographics including younger voters, Americans without college degrees, and Latino voters — to name just a few. The across-the-board defeat resulted in a landslide for Donald Trump in the Electoral College, while Democrats lost the Senate and the House makeup was largely unchanged. Romney is one of many of the former president’s opponents who have essentially come around to acknowledge his ideological victory over the senator’s own wing of the party throughout 2024.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a ‘no taxes on tips’ initiative for his state. “We have seen record job growth. We have seen record corporate investment. And as a result, we have seen record receipts. Surplus after surplus after surplus, more people are moving here for the first time in 10 years,” Youngkin said on Fox News. “That is all translated into financial flexibility for us to provide even more tax relief. And so today I announced our initiative to provide no taxes on tips to all of those hard-working folks in the hospitality and restaurant and food industry personal services,” he continued. “This is over 250,000 Virginians who work so hard. This is a great way for them to keep more money in their pocket as opposed to giving it to government,” he added. “We’re already running surpluses, and therefore no taxes on tips is going to become the mantra in Virginia,” he said. WATCH: No Taxes on Tips will become the mantra in Virginia! pic.twitter.com/6ZIjBqLukL — Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) December 16, 2024 From The Southwest Times: Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced a budget proposal to exempt service tips from Virginia’s state income tax. This proposal will return an estimated $70 million annually to the pockets of hardworking Virginians to further deliver on Governor Youngkin’s commitment to lower the cost of living for working families across the Commonwealth. This builds on the more than $5 billion in tax relief already delivered for Virginians under his administration. “We have delivered over $5 billion in tax relief to date, and we remain committed to lowering the cost of living for hardworking Virginians. It’s their money, not the government’s,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “By removing tips from taxable income, it will directly increase the take-home pay of hundreds of thousands of Virginians and give them more buying power, which in turn will improve financial stability, stimulate local economies, and honor the value of their hard work.” The Virginia Department of Taxation and the Virginia Employment Commission estimate that more than 250,000 Virginians within the food service industry, personal service industry (such as hair stylists), and hospitality industry (such as bellhops and concierges) could benefit from the proposed tax relief. Workers who receive tips from their employment in other industries would also benefit. I'll sign every receipt just like this until I sign No Tax on Tips into law. pic.twitter.com/ekhbhDAx0p — Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) December 16, 2024 This morning @GovernorVA @GlennYoungkin announced that he will champion No Tax on Tips in Virginia! This proposal will return an estimated $70 million annually to the pockets of hardworking Virginians! pic.twitter.com/WLQr4gpuOZ — Christian Martinez (@C_RMartinez) December 16, 2024 Per WWBT: Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Monday called for “no taxes on tips” in Virginia. “Virginians are overtaxed,” he said at the announcement at McLean’s Restaurant on West Broad Street. He says cutting taxes on tips will provide relief to more than 250,000 Virginians who work in the food service industry, personal service industry (such as hair stylists), and hospitality industry (such as bellhops). “No tax on tips will be a foundational piece of our overall budget submission this week,” Youngkin said. “I think this should be bipartisan as we take care of these folks. I look forward to working with members of our General Assembly.” The full budget plan will be revealed on Wednesday.

Lady Gaga reveals she was once an extra in an AC/DC video as she joins AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson for Carpool Karaoke special

A little girl received a heartfelt Elf on the Shelf surprise, honoring her late little brother who passed away. The special gesture helped her feel connected to him, bringing comfort and a sense of love during the holiday season.

A little girl received a heartfelt Elf on the Shelf surprise, honoring her late little brother who passed away. The special gesture helped her feel connected to him, bringing comfort and a sense of love during the holiday season.

A little girl received a heartfelt Elf on the Shelf surprise, honoring her late little brother who passed away. The special gesture helped her feel connected to him, bringing comfort and a sense of love during the holiday season.

An Air Force base in Ohio has had to divert military traffic because of an incursion of drones into their airspace tonight. The clip is a tape of air traffic from Wright-Patterson AFB yesterday evening: Wright-Patterson AFB ATC diverting ‘over base’ air traffic due to ‘unknown heavy UAS’ drone incursions. pic.twitter.com/Ek9hgoICGl — The Last Mohican […] The post Small Drones Divert Military Traffic in Ohio appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.