More than 100 residents and staff of a nursing home in Sumner County, Tennessee have tested positive for the coronavirus, Gov. Bill Lee’s office said Sunday.
Read the full storyTennessee Nursing Home Sees Massive COVID-19 Outbreak
Day: March 31, 2020
Commentary: Joe Biden’s China Syndrome Will Sink His Shaky Presidential Hopes
Mark Twain once famously said, “Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”*
Twain said and wrote a lot of quirky/funny things in his lifetime but this particular observation is one of his most relevant and quotable because its analogical truth fits just about any situation. And the wisdom certainly works these days when thinking about the hegemonic and totalitarian nation that is communist China. American politicians have been griping and moaning about Asia’s self-possessed and secretive Middle Kingdom for a generation, but none — except for President Donald Trump — ever seriously proposed backing up the rhetoric with actual policy gravitas.
Trump’s concentration and emphasis on trade has been a refreshing departure from previous presidents of both parties who waxed poetically about “fair trade” and “helping American producers” but then went about making sure global powers like China had much leeway to dictate their own terms for sending goods across the seas while maintaining barriers to United States-made products at home. In China’s case, the country has manipulated its currency for years so as to protect Chinese industries — a gigantic corporate welfare subsidy that makes consumer goods — and everything else — appear inexpensive to the world’s buying public.
Read the full storyThe Department of Justice Is Probing Senator Richard Burr’s Stock Trades: Report
The Justice Department is probing a series of stock trades that Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) made in the weeks after receiving briefings about the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reported.
The Justice Department is coordinating with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the matter, and the FBI has contacted Barr, a North Carolina Republican, according to CNN, which cited two people familiar with the matter.
Read the full storyTennessee Could Be Eligible for $2.65 Billion from Federal Coronavirus Relief Package
Tennessee could be eligible for up to $2.65 billion in federal aid to spend on state efforts designed to combat COVID-19 as part of the U.S. Senate-passed $2 trillion relief package, the Tax Foundation estimated.
“The government has temporarily shut down the economy because of this disease, and the government must help those who are hurt by it,” Tennessee U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander said in a news release.
Read the full storyCommentary: Viral Prerequisites and Nationalist Lessons in a Time of Plague
President Donald Trump has courted endless controversies for promoting nonconventional policies and entertaining contrarian views. From the outset, he oddly seemed to have believed that having navigated the jungles of the Manhattan real estate market – crooked politicians, mercurial unions, neighborhood social activists, the green lobby, leery banks, cutthroat rivals – better prepared him for the job than did a 30-year tenure in the U.S. Senate.
Certainly, candidate and then President Trump’s strident distrust of China was annoying to the American establishment. The Left saw China in rosy terms as the “Other” that just did things like airports, high-speed rail, and solar panels better than did America’s establishment of geriatric white male has-beens. Many on the Right saw China as a cash cow that was going to take over anyway, so why not milk it before the deluge?
Read the full storyFDA Issues Emergency Authorization Of Anti-Malaria Drugs As Doctors Herald Results For Coronavirus Patients
The United States Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for donated anti-malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine sulfate and chloroquine phosphate as doctors say the drugs are showing positive results for coronavirus patients.
The FDA issued the authorization to allow doctors to distribute and prescribe the anti-malaria drugs to hospitalized teen and adult patients who have coronavirus, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release. Doctors may distribute and prescribe the drugs “as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or feasible.”
The emergency authorization was issued to the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is working with the National Institute of Health to plan clinical trials of the drugs.
Read the full storyBackground-Check Increase Suggests Spike in Tennessee Firearms Sales
The Tennessee background-check system for firearms has been backlogged because of a spike in requests from firearm dealers, suggesting an uptick in sales amid COVID-19 concerns.
Between March 12 and March 16, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation processed 14,657 background checks. In a comparable period from last month – Feb. 13 through Feb. 17 – TBI processed 7,901 checks.
Although the system only tracks background checks processed and not the total number of firearms sold, the increase suggests more firearms are being purchased.
Read the full storyTrump Administration Includes Unaccompanied Minors in Border Closure Order
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed that underage minors who unlawfully enter the United States without any parents or guardians are subject to immediate deportation, the latest action in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Trump administration, under orders from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), earlier in March declared that the northern and southern borders would be sealed off to all non-essential traffic as a way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. While nearly all illegal aliens would be immediately repatriated under the order, CBP originally made an exception for unaccompanied minors.
Read the full storyPro-Trump Super PAC Files FEC Complaint Alleging Bloomberg’s $18 Million DNC Donation Was Illegal
A political action committee supporting President Donald Trump filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission saying former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s donation to the Democratic Party was illegal.
Bloomberg’s $18 million donation to the Democratic National Committee is an attempt to circumvent contribution limits and violate campaign finance laws, Great America PAC said in the March 26 complaint. The FEC is reviewing the complaint and will determine later if it will investigate.
Read the full storyLeahy and Carmichael Discuss Coronavirus Induced Economic Trends and Speculate the Recovery Timeline and Numbers
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast live from Music Row on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined on the newsmakers line by the all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.
During the second hour, Leahy and Carmichael discussed the recent announcement made by Dr. Fauci where he referenced models and how they expect to see a sharp decline on the V graph by end of the second quarter and then a gradual increase by third quarters end.
Read the full storyU.S. Rep. Phil Roe Lays Out Likely Timelines for a COVID-19 Recovery, Vaccine
U.S. Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN-01) said Monday that people are working, “at an unprecedented speed,” to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, although the public might not have it for a while.
But for right now, and before the market can offer that vaccine, Roe, a physician, said different regions of the United States won’t likely recover from the virus all at once.
Read the full storySteve Cohen Uses COVID-19 Emergency to Call Nancy Pelosi One of the Greatest Politicians in American History
Democratic U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is “the greatest female politician in American history,” according to U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09).
Cohen used his Twitter account Sunday to put Pelosi on a moral pedestal. He did this while also bashing U.S. Republican President Donald Trump — in the midst of a potentially cataclysmic national emergency.
The congressman then revered Pelosi as “one of, if not the greatest Speakers in our history.”
Read the full storyDeWine Thanks President Trump for Approving Plan for Battelle to Sterilize Hundreds of Thousands of Protective Masks
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted on Sunday thanked President Trump and Dr. Stephen Hahn of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approving a plan to sterilize N95 masks to fight the coronavirus.
Earlier Sunday, DeWine called an emergency press conference to express his “deep disappointment” with the FDA for limiting the use of the new technology, The Ohio Star reported.
Read the full storyCARES Act Extends Michigan’s Unemployment Benefits to Self-Employed, Independent Contractors, and More
The state and the U.S. Department of Labor agreed to expand unemployment benefits to Michigan workers who previously didn’t qualify.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the agreement Monday. The benefits extension will be funded by the $2 trillion federal CARES Act President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday.
The extension includes self-employed, 1099-independent contractors, gig, and low-wage workers who can no longer work because of temporary business closures to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Read the full storyLiberals Ask DeWine to ‘Reduce Incarcerated Populations Immediately,’ Prisoner Sues for Release
Several liberal organizations sent a letter to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine Friday urging him to “immediately reduce state and local incarcerated populations” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full storyMichigan Has Third-Highest Rate of Infection in Country at 35.3 Percent
Michigan is keeping pace with some of the most-infected states in the country, with more than 35 percent of tests coming back with confirmed positive cases of the coronavirus, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.
As of Monday evening, Michigan has 6,498 confirmed positive cases out of 18,391 total tested — an infection rate of 35.3 percent. By comparison, New Jersey has an infection rate of 39.7 percent with 16,636 confirmed cases and New York has an infection rate of 35.7 percent with 66,497 confirmed cases. New York and New Jersey are the top two most-infected states in the country, followed by Michigan. California is currently the fourth most-infected state with 6,447 confirmed cases and an infection rate of 21.5 percent.
Read the full storyMinnesota Group Wants Unemployment Insurance for Illegal Immigrants
A progressive group in Minnesota wants state and national lawmakers to pass a “stronger unemployment insurance package” that includes benefits for illegal immigrants.
TakeAction Minnesota, a progressive community organizing group, released a list of policy proposals that it would like to see included in any stimulus package passed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full storyTwo Michigan Counties, Detroit Have More Than 70 Percent of All Michigan Cases
Two Michigan counties and the City of Detroit carry more than 70 percent of all cases in Michigan, with more than 4,500 cases between them.
Oakland and Wayne counties, combined with the City of Detroit, have 4,560 confirmed cases out of the 6,498 in Michigan, according to data from Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Detroit, which the DHHS said is tracked separately from its home of Wayne County, has 1,801 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Monday night. This makes up 27.7 percent of all Michigan confirmed cases and makes it the area in Michigan which has the most confirmed cases of the coronavirus. It also has 54 of the 184 deaths from the virus in the state, or 28.3 percent — the highest in Michigan.
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