MyPillow, Inc. CEO Mike Lindell has apparently triggered U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09).
Read the full storyU.S. Rep. Steve Cohen Trash Talks MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell
Day: April 2, 2020
Governor Lee Issues Executive Order Requiring Residents to Stay Home
Gov. Bill Lee announced Thursday that he will sign an executive order requiring Tennesseans to stay home unless they are engaging in essential activities.
Lee issued an executive order Monday that urged, but didn’t require, residents to stay at home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Under his new order, staying at home isn’t “an option – it’s a requirement for the swift defeat of COVID-19,” said Lee.
The governor said data from the Tennessee Department of Transportation indicated that travel started trending upwards again on March 30 after traffic patterns showed a steep drop-off in vehicle movement between March 13 and 29.
Read the full storyCommentary: Small Businesses Urge Federal and State Governments to Reopen America ASAP
Due in large part to government edicts, religious, social, and political gatherings, have been cancelled or drastically altered to meet government requirements. Schools and colleges have closed so there will be no proms or graduations to attend this spring. Restaurant dining rooms are closed, as are community centers, fitness centers, salons, barbershops, theaters, retail stores, and malls. Theme parks, beaches, and even some public parks are closed. Air travel and the use of public transportation has declined precipitously. Traffic on the roads is eerily light, and parking lots are nearly empty.
Of the businesses that have remained open, many have reduced their operating hours. While one can reasonably expect that stay-at-home orders will reduce Chinese coronavirus cases, it remains to be seen what the human and economic toll of these orders will be; but we do know that they are devastating to small businesses and their employees.
Read the full storyCommentary: Experts and Statesmen in the Time of Coronavirus
The Chinese virus is a clarifying agent. Among other things, one can see the choice between republican and progressive government—the rule of the people on the one hand and the rule of experts on the other. President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden perfectly embody this choice in response to the crisis.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the way the two men approach the expert advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and member of Trump’s COVID-19 Task Force.
Trump is adamant that he will listen to and consider what Fauci has to say, but in the end he, as the elected president, will determine the right course of action. For Trump, politics is the overarching art: immunology and epidemiology are subordinate sciences. Biden promises the opposite, saying “If I’m elected president, I will always lead the way with science. I will listen to the experts and heed their advice. I will do the opposite of what we’re seeing Donald Trump do every day.”
Read the full storyThirty States Have Issued Stay-at-Home Orders So Far
As of March 31, 30 of the 50 states have issued stay-at-home orders to residents. Although the names of the orders – shelter-in-place, stay-at-home, stay home, stay safe – vary from state to state, they include at least two common elements: the closure of nonessential businesses and requesting all residents to stay home except for essential trips.
California was the first state to issue a stay-at-home order. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) did so on March 19. In total, 19 Democratic governors and 11 Republican governors have issued stay-at-home orders. Across all 50 states, there are 24 Democratic and 26 Republican governors.
Read the full storyCrom Carmichael: ‘The Government Itself Should Not Be Immune to the Same Types of Issues That the Private Sector Has’
Broadcasting live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast 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 phone by all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.
Read the full storyCommentary: Plastic Bags and the Recycling and Reuse Scam
Back in 2014, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 207, which banned grocery stores from offering customers “single-use” carryout bags. Permanent implementation was delayed by a November 2016 voter referendum, Proposition 67, which unsuccessfully attempted to repeal the measure. Today it is well-established law.
The only way SB 207 was sold to the grocery industry was through an incentive that permitted them to keep the 10 cents per “reusable” bag that they would be required to charge customers.
California’s pioneering ban is touted by environmentalists as an example for the nation, and progressive cities and states have enacted similar laws. But in reality, it is a misguided policy that does more harm than good.
Read the full storyFormer Journalist Clint Brewer: ‘How People Consume Information Has Changed Just All the Way Around’
All-star panelist and public strategist Clint Brewer joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Wednesday morning on the newsmakers line.
Read the full storySome Confusion Surrounds Coronavirus-Related Small Business Loans in Tennessee
Tennessee small businesses are eligible for up to $10 million each in forgivable loans as part of the $2 trillion federal COVID-19 relief package, but some business owners are struggling to understand how to comply with the rules.
Like in many states, restrictions enacted by Gov. Bill Lee have caused many businesses to scale back services or temporarily shut down. Restaurants cannot provide dine-in services and nonessential businesses have been forced to close.
Read the full storyBiden: Democrats’ National Convention May Have to Be Postponed
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic candidate in November’s national presidential election, says the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the country is likely to force significant alterations or postponement of the party’s national nominating convention scheduled for July.
The Democratic and Republican national conventions are a quadrennial showpiece of American democracy, but Biden told MSNBC late Tuesday that it is “hard to envision” the Democratic convention set for mid-July in the Midwestern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, occurring as scheduled.
Read the full storyScientist Who Predicted Pandemic Blasts WHO: ‘They Set Us Back a Great Deal’
A world-renowned epidemiologist credited with predicting the coronavirus pandemic blasted the World Health Organization in an interview for creating a false sense of security that the virus could be easily contained.
“Many of us were incredibly disappointed for lack of a better word in the WHO and its response,” Dr. Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said in a podcast interview published Tuesday.
“When you look at what WHO did I think they set us back a great deal because they made countries believe if just a few countries that were going to get this would just do the containment work, we could stop it.”
Read the full storyCensus Bureau’s Assistant Regional Manager Michelle Archer Explains Why It’s Important to Complete the Census
On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast 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 line by the Census Bureau’s Regional Director Michelle Archer.
Read the full storyInside the Dark Money Dem Group Using an Umbrella Network to Flay Trump Over His Virus Response
by Chris White Two left-leaning large super pac groups that kickstarted a digital ad campaign targeting President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response have ties to a wealthy, shadowy dark money network. American Bridge 21st Century and Pacronym are reportedly cutting ads thrashing Trump’s handling of the virus and becoming two of the first super pacs to go after the president on the health crisis. Both groups also have ties to two large nonprofit groups — New Venture Fund and Sixteen Thirty Fund — connected to a massive left-leaning consulting group. NVF gave one of Pacronym’s nonprofit — ACRONYM — $250,000 while providing American Bridge $40,000 in 2018, according to NVF’s 2018 IRS documents. IRS records also indicate American Bridge pulled in $200,000 in 2018 from nonprofit Sixteen Thirty Fund, which reportedly spent $141 million on various left-leaning causes during the midterm election year. Sixteen Thirty Fund and nonprofit NVF are tied into the same sprawling network, according to an analysis by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Arabella Advisors, a philanthropic consulting company based in Washington, D.C., manages four nonprofits, including the NVF, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Hopewell Fund and the Windward Fund. Sixteen Thirty Fund has not responded to the DCNF’s request for comment, while NVF…
Read the full storyFeds Approve More Flexibility for Tennessee’s Medicaid Program
The federal government has granted more flexibility to TennCare – Tennessee’s state Medicaid program – to help the state handle the COVID-19 outbreak.
Read the full storyMark Green Schedules Second Coronavirus Town Hall
U.S. Rep. Mark Green, (R-TN-07) has scheduled a second coronavirus tele-town hall for later this week.
Read the full storyTrump Administration Extends Delay of Court Hearings for Asylum Seekers
The Trump administration, citing continuing complications brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, is extending a delay of Migrant Protection Protocol hearings for asylum seekers in Mexico.
Foreign nationals under Migrant Protection Protocols, a program that holds asylum seekers in Mexico for the duration of their court proceedings, will have to wait longer before they can make their case before an immigration judge. All hearings scheduled through May 1 will be postponed, according to a statement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) on Wednesday.
Read the full storyAnalysis: The Lethality of COVID-19
Given the spread of misinformation about Covid-19, Just Facts is providing a trove of rigorously documented facts about this disease and its impacts. These include some vital facts that have been absent or misreported in much of the media’s coverage of this issue. This research also includes a groundbreaking study to determine the lethality of Covid-19 based on the most comprehensive available measure: the total years of life that it will rob from people.
Read the full storyFox News Poll Shows Biden/Klobuchar Ticket Beating Trump
A new Fox News poll predicts that voters would support a Joe Biden/Amy Klobuchar ticket over reelecting President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
The poll was conducted between March 21 and 24 and shows Biden beating President Trump by nine percentage points in November. Since Biden promised to pick a female running mate, the poll examined his odds with Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) as vice president.
Read the full storyMichigan National Guard Prepares COVID-19 Response at TCF Center
The Michigan National Guard is helping Detroit prepare additional space to care for COVID-19 patients.
About 20 members of the Michigan National Guard will help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) form a Federal Medical Station (FMS) at TCF Center in Detroit from Tuesday through today.
Those members will manage inventory to prepare for the care of those with COVID-19.
Read the full storyMichigan Offering Grants To Small Businesses Looking to Retool for Coronavirus Pandemic
Grants are now available for small businesses looking to retool their companies to help manufacture goods in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced on Wednesday.
Read the full storyOhio To Begin Tracking Ventilators in State
Ohio announced on Wednesday that it would begin tracking the number of ventilators and similar devices existed in the state.
Read the full storyTreatment for Cancer Patients Delayed But Abortions Allowed to Continue in Minnesota
House Republican leaders sent a letter Friday to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz asking him to clarify the status of surgical abortions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full storyModel Predicts 159 Tennesseans Will Die in Single Day at Peak of Coronavirus Pandemic
A new model produced by the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) predicts that 159 people will die in a single day at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in Tennessee.
Read the full story