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‘Stop the clock’: GOP, Dems come together to end Daylight Saving over health, economic risks

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In 1957, rockabilly singer Bob Ehret repeated, «We’ve got to stop the clock, baby; to spend more time with you» – and in a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle strongly considered the benefits of doing so, in a way.

Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Daylight Saving was grounded in good-faith efforts to reduce energy consumption, but that instead it has led to increased auto accidents in the dark, workplace issues, and objections from the agriculture sector that relies on early-morning sunlight.

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«We find ourselves adjusting our clocks… springing forward and falling back in the fall. For many Americans, this biannual ritual is a minor inconvenience… But when we take a closer look at the implications of changing the clocks, its impact on our economy, our health and our everyday lives, we can see that this practice is more than an annoyance,» Cruz said.

«The idea was simple. Fewer hours of darkness meant less electricity consumption for lighting and heating.»

TRUMP’S DAYLIGHT SAVINGS PLAN

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Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in Washington on March 8, 2022. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

However, unlike the early 1900s, when the U.S. economy was heavily reliant on energy consumption tied to daylight hours, today’s effects from sunrise and sunset timings are «de minimis,» he said.

Cruz, along with Massachusetts neurology physician Dr. Karin Johnson, spoke about the health concerns associated with changing the time twice a year and with the permanence of Daylight Saving Time, versus Standard Time.

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«Research has shown that the abrupt shift in time, especially the spring transition when we lose an hour of sleep,» Cruz said, as Johnson spoke about the effects on people’s circadian rhythm, vascular system and sleep deprivation.

The panel also hosted an official from the National Golf Course Owners Association, as he and other lawmakers spoke of the increased revenue from evening tee times and other tourist activities only possible during daylight hours.

Cruz, clock graphic

In a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Chairman Ted Cruz and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle strongly considered the costs of Daylight Saving Time. (Ap/Getty)

On the Democratic side, Sen. Lisa Blunt-Rochester of Delaware agreed that it was time to consider a «permanent time for our country.»

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She noted a bill from then-Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to abolish DST stalled in the House.

«This body [then] took a harder look at how time changes work state-by-state,» she said.

«What works in my home state of Delaware may not work in Washington state, but I know I speak for many Americans when I say it’s time. It’s time to figure this out.»

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‘I CAN’T SLEEP BECAUSE OF RACING THOUGHTS AT NIGHT — HOW CAN I STOP THEM?’: ASK A DOCTOR

Witnesses to the hearing noted that it is indeed southern states like Florida and Texas where the negative effects of a permanent Daylight Saving Time would be most felt.

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., spoke about his work shifting Daylight Saving Time twice to help assuage some of the issues that were brought up each time, including better guaranteeing trick-or-treating happens at worst at dusk.

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Markey quipped that his decades-long work on this issue earned him the nickname «the Sun King.»

«We need to stop the clock,» Blunt-Rochester said. «We know that changing the clock disrupts sleep, which can lead to negative health outcomes. Several studies have noted issues with mood disturbances increase hospital admissions, and even heart attacks and strokes.»

Lock The Clock movement founder Scott Yates testified about the flawed history of DST, noting a time during the 1970s energy crisis that the Nixon administration briefly made DST permanent.

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Nixon signed the law in December 1973 while embroiled in Watergate – but it took effect the first week the following year – Jan. 6, 1974.

«So you can imagine, the worst Monday of the year already is the one after the holiday break where you have to go back to school and everything – to have an extra hour of sleep robbed away right before that. You can understand why it was so unpopular and why it was repealed,» Yates said, noting that months later, Nixon resigned.

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The burglary by the «Plumbers» at the Watergate Hotel also notably occurred during nighttime hours.

«So maybe – if we had more daylight, the Watergate break-in doesn’t happen,» Cruz quipped in response.

«And history would be different.»

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Líderes europeos plantan a Gustavo Petro y no viajan a Colombia por miedo a Donald Trump

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La política exterior europea siempre miró por el rabillo del ojo a Washington, pero este último año la situación empieza a ser humillante. Varios líderes europeos, entre ellos el alemán Friedrich Merz y la presidenta de la Comisión Europea, la también alemana Úrsula Von der Leyen, decidieron este martes cancelar su participación en la cumbre entre la Celac y la Unión Europea que empieza la próxima semana en Santa Marta, Colombia.

Una portavoz del Ejecutivo comunitario llegó a reconocer que Von der Leyen no iba porque habían suspendido su asistencia otros líderes, tanto europeos como latinoamericanos, pero la razón real es más humillante: el miedo a enfadar a Donald Trump, dispuesto a que la cumbre fracase. La cumbre es la continuación de la organizada hace dos años en Bruselas, organizada bajo presidencia española del Consejo de la UE y que tuvo una asistencia masiva.

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Los europeos, salvo el español Sánchez, cómodo a la contra de Trump, tienen miedo al presidente estadounidense. La posición agresiva de Washington con Colombia, llegando a sancionar al presidente Gustavo Petro, les obligaría a tomar partido de acudir a la cumbre, algo que les da pavor por miedo a enfurecer al inquilino del Despacho Oval.

La posición oficial europea es que está dispuesta a trabajar con los países de la región y con Estados Unidos en la lucha contra el narcotráfico, pero que esta debe hacerse de acuerdo al derecho internacional y el principio de la integridad territorial de los Estados. De ahí no pasa la crítica a los ataques de las tropas estadounidenses a barcos supuestamente cargados de narcóticos.

La no asistencia de Von der Leyen a la cumbre va a demás contra la cacareada política europea de reforzar relaciones con otros bloques para zafarse de la presión comercial de Estados Unidos y China. Esa “autonomía estratégica europea” se basa, también, en tejer más alianzas con más países para reducir dependencias de las dos grandes superpotencias. América Latina en general es un socio prioritario en esa estrategia. Y con Colombia la UE tiene un acuerdo comercial desde hace una década.

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El caso de Von der Leyen llama la atención por dos razones. En primer lugar, porque no debe representar la postura de uno u otro país, sino al bloque en su conjunto. Por eso a las cumbres con otros bloques regionales algunas veces acuden los 27 jefes de Estado o de Gobierno europeos, otras veces sólo un puñado y en ocasiones ninguno, pero ella siempre va porque es la cara visible del bloque. Esta vez no será así.

La Unión Europea estará representada por el presidente del Consejo Europeo, Antonio Costa. El también ex primer ministro portugués, socialdemócrata, tiene otra cosmovisión del mundo y entiende mejor América Latina que una Von der Leyen, alemana, que no ha mirado más a la región en seis años que ante la posibilidad de firmar acuerdos comerciales.

Von der Leyen es presidenta de la Comisión Europea desde finales de 2019. En sus primeros cuatro años nunca viajó a América Latina. El primer viaje lo hizo en junio de 2023 para reunirse con el presidente Lula da Silva con Mercosur como tema más importante sobre la mesa. En tres días le dio tiempo a pasar por Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile y México DF.

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El 18 y 19 de noviembre de 2024 volvió a Brasil para una cumbre del G20 y el 5 y 6 de diciembre de ese año viajó a Montevideo, donde encontró a los presidentes de Mercosur. Si todo va bien y a Donald Trump no le molesta, debería volver a Brasil la tercera semana de diciembre para firmar ese acuerdo.

Las humillaciones de Von der Leyen ante Trump no es la primera. El pasado julio acudió a su campo de golf en Escocia para aceptar que Estados Unidos impusiera un arancel general del 15% a lo que importaba desde Europa sin que el bloque europeo tomara una medida recíproca.

La razón oficial que esgrimieron los funcionarios europeos era que así evitaba una guerra comercial mucho más gravosa. Ceder ante la amenaza como política comercial y diplomática porque la alternativa puede ser mucho peor, vienen a decir los funcionarios europeos desde la vuelta de Trump a la Casa Blanca.

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La suspensión de este viaje se entiende desde el punto de vista político, pero provocó malestar en la diplomacia europea. Pero algunos diplomáticos cuentan en privado que tanta culpa tienen Von der Leyen y muchos gobernantes europeos como la mayoría de los presidentes de América Latina, a los que tampoco se espera en Santa Marta.

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Virginia slammed for ‘truly demonic’ election that excused political violence to spite Trump, critics say

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Many political observers nationwide equated an upset win by Virginia Attorney General-elect Jay Jones and the Democratic ticket as a «demonic» example of the left putting politics ahead of decency.

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A majority of Virginia voters ignored scandals that roiled Jones’ campaign, including his envision of murdering a top Republican lawmaker and their children, to put him in office and unseat more than a dozen GOP state delegates.

«They overlooked it because they hate Trump more than they care about what … the Virginia attorney general[-elect] said,» Outkick founder Clay Travis told Fox News on Wednesday.

«Miyares did an incredible job. This is an example of outrage at Trump motivating the turnout,» Travis said on «America’s Newsroom.»

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LIBERAL MEDIA DOWNPLAYS SCANDAL OF DEM VIRGINIA AG HOPEFUL JAY JONES’ TEXTS FANTASIZING MURDER OF GOP LAWMAKER

President Trump juxtaposed next to Jay Jones, Democratic nominee for Virginia Attorney General. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP, Pool)

Travis said Trump was clearly a driving force and that there were some Spanberger voters who split tickets in favor of outgoing Attorney General Jason Miyares, but that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ losing margin was too much in an era of rare ticket-splitting.

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He said one key observation is that Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger received 600,000 fewer total votes than Trump himself did in the president’s losing battle in Virginia one year prior.

When Trump is off the ballot, Republicans also don’t appear to turn out to vote, he said – as figures from heavily conservative southwestern Virginia bore that out Tuesday night.

JAY JONES INVOKES TRUMP NEARLY 50 TIMES DURING VIRGINIA AG DEBATE, TIES MIYARES TO ‘MAGA’

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WTAR radio host Kerry Dougherty, who co-hosts an AM dial show in Hampton, wrote on X that Virginia needs to «buckle up.»

«Democrats last night installed a deranged sociopath in the attorney general’s office. A man who may find his law license suspended over chicanery with community service hours. Yep, they preferred him to a moderate, smart and successful Republican. We’re in deep trouble.»

Elsewhere, Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, argued that the political left shows little concern for victims of political violence, calling Jones’ victory the latest proof.

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«A deranged lib murders Charlie Kirk, and Democrats respond by electing a sociopath who – in his own words – wants his political opponents and their children dead. Truly demonic,» Gill, wrote on X.

«Truly evil,» added Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS HAVE A VIOLENCE PROBLEM

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Jay Jones texted controversial things about Del. Todd Gilbert

A text message from Jay Jones to Del. Carrie Coyner. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)

Uthmeier tried to help Miyares in the closing days of the race, appearing with him, Earle-Sears and now-outgoing Dels. Geary Higgins, R-Lovettsville, and Ian Lovejoy, R-Warrenton, at a closing-days rally in New Baltimore.

Virginia Republican voters were also vocal the morning after – as one wrote that it’s clear his neighbors would be alright if he was dead.

«At least I now know that all of my neighbors with Jay Jones signs up are okay with political violence,» the voter wrote on X.

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SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AFTER DISGRACED DEM NOMINEE LEANS ON TRUMP ATTACKS IN VIRGINIA AG DEBATE

«I can no longer in good conscience be associated with them. They obviously want me dead too.»

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson played out the scenario such Jones voters may have thought through before voting:

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«Democrats in Virginia saw these texts from Jay Jones and decided ‘yup, he has my vote’,» Johnson said.

JAY JONES’ ‘TWO BULLETS’ SCANDAL OVER VIOLENT TEXTS EXPECTED TO DOMINATE VIRGINIA AG DEBATE

«Truly evil. You can’t live in a country with people that want you dead.»

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Jack Posobiec, a conservative commentator and editor at Human Events, responded to Jones’ post-scandal win with his own recollection of political violence:

«I saw a leftist murder Charlie Kirk and I saw them celebrate it,» Posobiec said.

«While conservatives have spent the last few weeks arguing with each other, Democrats just elected an Attorney General who openly fantasizes about murdering us and watching our children die in our arms,» added commentator Matt Walsh.

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«These people are the enemy. What more do you need to see? Seriously. What more do you need to see?»

«Ruthless» podcast producer Leigh Wolf wrote on X that the election results in Virginia are the «first empirical evidence» in the public sphere that proves Democrats writ-large support political violence as a tool to achieve power.

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«They saw with their own eyes this absolute psycho go into graphic detail about the need to murder children as a means of achieving political outcomes, and they voted yes,» Wolf said.

«You can’t hand wave away violence as the actions of a few fringe radicals when you affirmatively vote in favor of those tactics.»

In their responses to Jones’ victory, voices on the left steered clear of the question of condoning violence, including one of the attorney general-elect’s top backers, Senate President L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth.

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Lucas posted a clip drawn from Fox News video of Jones greeting voters in Norfolk, which an official at the Republican Attorney General’s Assocation trimmed down to show the Democrat appearing to try to kick a dog in a potentially playful manner.

Lucas re-envisioned that clip as a GIF of Jones making the kicking motion toward the dog – but instead hitting Attorney General Jason Miyares, whose avatar went flying upward toward the sky.

Elsewhere, Democratic state Sen. Mamie Locke of Hampton commented that Democrats wins instead showed that her party won because «Republicans cannot govern, do their jobs and would rather shut the government down than feed people or provide them health care.»

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«And, Trump, you were on the ballot. Maybe not literally, but your failed policies were,» Locke said. «Voters told you how they felt about those failures. Your efforts to distract, distort, discourage, discredit, and destroy this country has Virginians and citizens all over America fighting back. This is just the beginning.»

Anti-Trump commentator Tim Miller also commented on X about those observers expressing fears as some conservatives have.

After conservative commentator Megyn Kelly said that «God save Republicans and their children in VA,» Miller called it «the first known case of Spanberger Derangement Syndrome.»

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Fox News Digital also reached out to Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi for her view on whether Jones’ election and that of Democrats writ large should be connected with a passivity toward political violence.

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Kristi Noem se reunió con el presidente Daniel Noboa para evaluar las capacidades de la antigua base militar de EEUU en Ecuador

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La secretaria de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos, Kristi Noem, recorre la base aérea Eloy Alfaro acompañada por el presidente de Ecuador, Daniel Noboa (REUTERS)

La secretaria de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos, Kristi Noem, se reunió este miércoles en la ciudad costera de Manta con el presidente de Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, para evaluar las capacidades de la antigua base militar local, utilizada por fuerzas estadounidenses entre 1999 y 2009, informó la ministra de Relaciones Exteriores ecuatoriana, Gabriela Sommerfeld.

“Hemos visitado la base de Manta junto al presidente y realizado un recorrido para conocer sus capacidades operativas, las condiciones de sus instalaciones, la ficha técnica de las pistas y el tipo de aeronaves que pueden operar allí”, detalló la funcionaria en un video difundido por la Cancillería.

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Por su parte, la portavoz Carolina Jaramillo calificó la visita como parte del proceso de fortalecimiento de la cooperación bilateral en seguridad, migración y desarrollo.

La funcionaria estadounidense Noem llegó este miércoles a la Base Aérea Eloy Alfaro de Manta, ciudad considerada estratégica y que podría albergar “bases potenciales” para operaciones conjuntas con agencias estadounidenses, según detalló Jaramillo, en conferencia de prensa en Quito.

Kristi Noem recorrió la base
Kristi Noem recorrió la base aérea ecuatoriana Eloy Alfaro y fue fotografiada junto a Daniel Noboa (Alex Brandon/REUTERS)

La visita se enmarca en el próximo referéndum nacional, programado para el 16 de noviembre, en el que los ecuatorianos decidirán, entre otras cuestiones, si permiten nuevamente la instalación de bases militares extranjeras en el país. Estados Unidos expresó su interés en este tema.

En la visita también participaron los ministros ecuatorianos del Interior, John Reimberg, y el de Defensa, Gian Carlo Loffredo. Este último destacó que la cooperación giró en torno a recursos y equipos tecnológicos: “Aunque las fuerzas de seguridad ejecutan las operaciones, son los recursos tecnológicos los que permiten identificar amenazas en zonas extensas como el territorio marítimo ecuatoriano”.

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Loffredo afirmó además que la lucha contra el narcotráfico trasciende fronteras y requiere estrategias integradas. Reimberg insistió en la prioridad del gobierno de Noboa de combatir el crimen organizado y consideró clave “escoger aliados en esta lucha” con las organizaciones criminales.

El jueves, Noem tiene programada una visita a una base militar en Salinas, en la costa suroeste de Ecuador. Durante una década, Manta funcionó como centro de operaciones de aeronaves estadounidenses para vuelos antidrogas, hasta que la constitución de 2008 prohibió las bases extranjeras en territorio ecuatoriano.

Salinas, por su parte, sirvió como base militar estadounidense durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Actualmente, ambas instalaciones están bajo control de las fuerzas armadas ecuatorianas.

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La jefa de Seguridad estadounidense
La jefa de Seguridad estadounidense recorrerá las bases militares en Ecuador antes del referéndum a votarse el 16 de noviembre (Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS)

El presidente Daniel Noboa anunció la semana pasada que Ecuador y Estados Unidos descartaron la instalación de una base militar estadounidense en Galápagos en el marco de la estrategia antidrogas de Washington.

Si el referéndum es aprobado por la ciudadanía, las agencias de seguridad y defensa de Estados Unidos podrán operar en conjunto con las fuerzas policiales y militares ecuatorianas en las bases habilitadas para combatir el crimen organizado, confirmó la vocera ecuatoriana Jaramillo.

La ola de violencia en Ecuador, agravada en 2025, se atribuye al avance de bandas criminales vinculadas al narcotráfico, la extorsión y la minería ilegal. El presidente Noboa, quien declaró un “conflicto armado interno” en enero de 2024, calificó a estas estructuras como “terroristas”. Solo en el primer semestre de 2025, el país registró 4.619 homicidios, un 47% más que en igual periodo de 2024.

(Con información de EFE y AFP)

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