Day: April 15, 2020

Bill Hagerty Named to Advisory Board to Help Trump Reopen Economy

Anthony Gockowski

U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty of Tennessee announced Tuesday that he has been named to an advisory board that will help the president reopen the nation’s economy.

President Donald Trump is expected to make a formal announcement imminently on his plans to reopen the economy, but Hagerty revealed in a Tuesday statement that the president has asked him to help.

“I have always sought to answer the call to service, and in doing so, I’ve served my state as Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and served my country as the United States Ambassador to Japan. Now, President Trump has asked me to help on the economic advisory board. Team Hagerty will continue to volunteer in Tennessee as we fight the spread of the coronavirus and deal with its effects,” Hagerty said.

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Commentary: The Left Can Never Forgive Nor Forget Phyllis Schlafly

Admin

The release of the Hulu-produced movie “Mrs. America” reminds us once again of CHQ Chairman Richard A. Viguerie’s observation that Phyllis Schlafly may have been the most important conservative who was never elected to public office.

And, as Mr. Viguerie wrote on the occasion of Mrs. Schlafly’s death in 2016, it probably seems like ancient history or some obscure chapter of a long-forgotten college textbook to today’s young conservatives, but Phyllis Schlafly, perhaps even on a footing equal with Ronald Reagan, was the savior of the modern conservative movement.

The year was 1972, the month March, just three short months before the Watergate break-in that eventually brought down Richard Nixon, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) with substantial Republican support.

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Manny Sethi Commentary: The National Media is Wrong, It’s About Prevention Not Discrimination

Admin

The national media and the left never allow a crisis to go to waste in their attempts to divide our nation. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of COVID-19 recently found that over 40 percent of those who have been hospitalized are African-American and Hispanic — even though these groups make up a combined percentage of less than 27 percent of the general population. The media makes the claim that these patients are dying at higher rates and contracting the virus due to discrimination.

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Once Tennessee Economy Reopens, Will State Quarantine Patients, Trace Contacts?

Admin

With Tennessee possibly moving toward an economic reopening in May, one looming question is what, if anything, will the state do with people who continue to test positive for COVID-19, especially ensuring that they are staying quarantined.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday he will extend the state’s stay-at-home order through April 30, but he also said government and private-sector officials are working to reopen the state’s economy in May, The Tennessee Star reported.

Lee said this at a televised press conference, adding “we are not out of the woods yet, and it could be some time [before we are].”

“Until a vaccine or a therapy is widely available to Tennesseans, this virus will be a present reality to us to manage and consider whenever we are making decisions,” Lee said.

Lee said that last month he started working with leaders of industry to understand how this pandemic would impact the state’s businesses.

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Senator Marsha Blackburn: ‘Our Message in Senate Bill 553 is to Hold China Responsible’ for Hiding Coronavirus Pandemic Information

Julie Carr

In a special interview, Tuesday 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. – host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee to the newsmakers line.

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Two Million Americans Missing Mortgage Payments as Coronavirus Shutdown Takes Its Toll

Admin

Roughly 2 million homeowners in the United States have skipped their monthly mortgage payments as the coronavirus pandemic takes a heavy economic toll on the country, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

As more Americans are losing their jobs, being furloughed, or experiencing reduced income, a growing number of home loans are being left unpaid. The latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that many borrowers are choosing to go into forbearance, an agreement with a lender that allows them to momentarily forgo payments.

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Thales Academy Offers Free Online Coursework for K-5 Students

Jordyn Pair

Thales Academy in Tennessee is offering free online learning coursework to families in the Franklin area to help offset the government-mandated shutdown of schools considering the coronavirus, the academy announced on Wednesday.

“Our mission at Thales Academy has always been to provide the highest quality education at the lowest possible cost for as many children as possible,” said Bob Luddy, founder of Thales Academy, in a statement. “We hope by offering remote learning free of charge that Franklin area families can help their children continue to grow academically during this time and experience our strong Thales Academy curriculum firsthand.”

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Tennessee Department of Health Not Providing Number of Current COVID-19 Hospitalizations

Anthony Gockowski

The Tennessee Department of Health said 633 residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19, but that figure is a cumulative – not current – number.

“This number indicates the number of patients that were ever hospitalized during their illness, it does not indicate the number of patients currently hospitalized,” the Department of Health notes in its daily COVID-19 briefing.

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Commentary: It’s Time for the President to Address Our Economic Relaunch

Admin

It is clear that the time is approaching that will be absolutely decisive for this presidency and for the country’s near-term future. The president will have to decide on an economic relaunch plan, and this will make or break him and his opponents.

The vast amount of posturing and accusatory liberties that already surpass what is normal in even the most contentious of election years will be of no account, depending on the outcome of the president’s decision of when and how to conduct the United States back to normal life. The Democrats have advocated a lengthy shutdown, leaving plenty of room to impute to them political as well as public health motives.

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Scott DesJarlais Is ‘Impressed’ with the Way President Trump Has Dealt With the Coronavirus

Zachery Schmidt

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said on The Jeff Poor Show Monday that he supports the way President Donald Trump has been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

“I don’t know what they could have done differently. I think they are handling it well,” DesJarlais said.

“I am impressed with the president and his team in what they’ve done and how they are trying to salvage the economy,” the representative added. “I do think things will open up and brighter times are not far away.”

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Mark Green: Hopeful Signs for COVID-19 Vaccine, but Continue Your Social Distancing

Chris Butler

U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07), who is also a physician, said Tuesday that researchers continue to advance toward a vaccine for COVID-19, but he also encouraged his constituents to keep up with their social distancing.

Green said this Tuesday during a Tele-Town Hall with constituents. He said recent medical literature suggests COVID-19 has a genetic component.

“There are some folks who have a different formation of the receptor on their lung lining that either allows for protection or a lack of protection for the virus inserting itself into the cells. More research is being done,” Green said.

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Ohio Health Director Amy Acton Is Preparing Volunteers to Help with Contact Tracing

Zachery Schmidt

Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton announced during Monday’s press conference that the state is training volunteers to help with “contact tracing,” which is a process that helps identify people who may have contacted an infected person.

The ODH has been working with medical and professional schools to help train these volunteers in an attempt to better allocate state resources for the coronavirus.

“Let’s just say we have the testing. You want to know someone is infectious the second they are. So, the quicker you can identify them is the very first step,” Acton said.

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Whitmer Joins Coalition of 12 Governors To Ask Trump to Open Insurance Enrollment

Jordyn Pair

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has joined a coalition of 12 governors to ask President Trump to allow for a special enrollment period to allow for increased access to affordable health care.

Whitmer is joining the governors from Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The letter asks for a special enrollment period of at least 30 days on the federal health care exchange.

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State Rep Nino Vitale Calls On Gov DeWine, Dr. Amy Acton to Ease Restrictions on Elective Surgery in Ohio

Samantha Witwer

State Rep. Nino Vitale (R-Urbana) issued a call to action in the form of an open letter Friday to ease restrictions and reopen hospitals and medical centers to elective surgeries in Ohio.

“My request is we allow the doctors and nurses in these fields to immediately open back up and treat Ohioans that need medical care, which is getting more and more critical by the day because of these restrictions,” Vitale wrote.

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