Day: April 21, 2020

Tennessee Revenues for March Exceeded Budget by $62.1 Million

Laura Baigert

Commissioner of Finance and Administration Butch Eley announced Monday that the Tennessee’s tax revenues exceeded budgeted estimates for the month of March by $62.1 million, despite the anticipated impact of the coronavirus.

Eley was named to the new post by Governor Bill Lee on April 15, while also serving as the Chief Operating Officer for the state. Prior to joining Governor Lee’s administration, he was a founder and CEO of Infrastructure Corporation of America, an infrastructure asset maintenance management company and a partner at the Ingram Group.

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Commentary: The Political Elite Plays Its Last Card

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Every day, the battle lines are drawn more clearly for what promises to be a memorable election. The Democrats infamously lumbered the president with an investigation into his relations with Russia that they knew to be unfounded. Then they attempted a completely spurious impeachment proceeding (with no believable evidence that he had committed the alleged offenses which, in any case, were not impeachable).

And now, in response to a fortuitous virus pandemic, they purport to require President Trump to commit political suicide by shutting down the economy for so long that the soon-to-be 30 million unemployed will turn him out on election day.

It is another phantasmagorical expedition of a desperate political elite playing its last card, but it is an engrossing spectacle.

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Another Day, Another Rally Telling Governor Bill Lee to Reopen Tennessee

Laura Baigert

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee – For the second time in as many days, Tennesseans rallied at the State Capitol in Nashville on Monday to tell Governor Bill Lee to reopen the state. About 100 people gathered on the sidewalks in front of and across the street from the Capitol Building, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in downtown Nashville, while others drove by honking horns. Murfreesboro-based DJ Steve Hasty provided music with his elaborate sound system and, acting as emcee for the event, stated repeatedly that it was a rally to reopen Tennessee and not a protest. After a prayer that asked for reopening, Hasty initiated the chant, “Hey Governor Lee, reopen Tennessee.” Governor Lee was encouraged to lead the country in the effort to reopen and show that it can be done in a safe way. Curtis Carney, owner of Nashville’s Off The Wagon tractor tours, who also spoke at the #FreeTN event, told rally-goers he made the decision Saturday to reopen his business. He said the longer the shutdown keeps going, the more people go hungry. Carney said Tennessee needs to reopen and it needs to be done now. A home health nurse named Misty said hospitals are…

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Marsha Blackburn Introduces Stop COVID Act to Hold China Accountable for the Coronavirus

Chris Butler

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Martha McSally (R-AZ) will introduce the Stop China-Originated Viral Infectious Diseases (COVID) Act to ensure the Chinese Communist Party faces consequences for its role in spreading the coronavirus.

This, according to a press release the two women put out Monday.

The two women said the Stop COVID Act will empower Americans to sue China in U.S. court and seek compensation for the harm the virus has caused to the economy and human life, the press release went on to say.

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Failed Presidential Candidate Julian Castro Says Federal Relief Packages Should Include Illegal Aliens

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Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro said that those living unlawfully in the United States should be included in coronavirus relief packages doled out by the government.

Castro gave an interview to the Daily Kos divulging his thoughts on the recent coronavirus pandemic and how the United States should handle the crisis. Much like his time on the presidential campaign trail, Castro staked out progressive positions on the intersection of illegal immigration and role of American government.

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State Representatives Martin Daniel and Bruce Griffey Urged Governor Bill Lee to Reopen Tennessee

Laura Baigert

At least two State Representatives, Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville) and Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) wrote formal letters to Governor Bill Lee, urging him to reopen Tennessee immediately.

Representative Daniel, who will have served three terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, announced last month that he will not seek reelection in 2020.  Representative Griffey is currently serving his first term.

The Representatives wrote their letters based on the input of their constituents and in response to last week’s extension of Governor Lee’s stay-at-home order through April 30.

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All New Hampshire Residents Will Be Able to Vote Absentee in Upcoming Elections

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Election officials recently determined all New Hampshire residents are eligible to cast absentee ballots for municipal, primary, and general elections to keep themselves and poll workers safe from COVID-19.

“New Hampshire is working to make sure a voter will not have to choose between their personal safety and exercising their right to vote,” David Scanlan, deputy secretary of state, told The Center Square.

Under the law, voters can cast absentee ballots due to a disability.

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FBI Informant Stefan Halpert Bragged About Connections to Russian Spies to Papadopoulos Spies in Secret Recordings

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by Chuck Ross   It wasn’t long into his conversation with George Papadopoulos at a prestigious social club in London weeks before the 2016 election that FBI confidential informant Stefan Halper mentioned his links to several retired Russian spies. “I have a lot of friends in Russia,” Halper told Papadopoulos during their conversation, which occurred over drinks, and which the FBI recorded. “My point is that,” Halper said, “the Russians can be very helpful to us at this time and we’ve got some great information coming out.” Halper, a former Cambridge professor, rattled off the names of the Russians, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Leonid Shebarshin, and Yuri Traughtoff, according to a transcript of the secretly recorded conversation released on Thursday. Halper was not bluffing about his friendship with at least one of the ex-Russian spies. He has collaborated with Trubnikov, the former head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, the SVR. Halper hosted Trubnikov at two intelligence seminars at Cambridge in 2012 and 2015, and interviewed the former Kremlin insider for a 2015 study on China-Russia relations he did for the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment (ONA). Halper’s goal in bringing up his Kremlin links was to get Papadopoulos to reveal whether he or the Trump campaign were working…

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Facebook Takes Down Anti-Quarantine Protest Posts That ‘Defy’ Social Distancing Guidelines

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Facebook is not allowing anti-quarantine protesters to use the site to organize demonstrations in states that have enacted strict social distancing measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The social media giant has already removed promotions for anti-quarantine events in California, New Jersey, and Nebraska in cooperation with those state governments.

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Bill Lee Won’t Say if COVID-19 Restaurant Closings Are Unconstitutional

Chris Butler

  Governor Bill Lee said Monday that the state shutdown of restaurants to protect against the COVID-19 pandemic was necessary, even if members of the Memphis Restaurant Association reportedly described it as unconstitutional. A member of the media pressed Lee at a press conference Monday as to whether the shutdown could pass constitutional muster. Lee did not seem to answer, at least not directly. “What is most important is that these shutdowns occurred in order to save people’s lives. Tennesseans have done what Tennesseans needed to do. That was to put in place measures and to follow those measures to do just what was necessary to stop the spread of a deadly virus. They have done that,” Lee said at Monday’s press conference. “We certainly cannot entirely stop it, but we can slow it to a point that we can manage that spread and have the capacity in our health care system to take care of it and allow Tennesseans to operate and run their businesses at the same time. That is the goal, and I am grateful that Tennesseans have done what they have done to get us to the place where we are. We are encouraged to move…

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Trump Administration Extends Travel Ban on Mexican Border for Another Month

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that the ban on all non-essential travel along the Mexican and Canadian borders will be extended for an additional 30 days.

The governments of Mexico, Canada and the United States mutually agreed to keep their borders closed off to non-essential traffic for another month as they continue to fight the spread of coronavirus, acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf said Monday. The announcement came just two days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the U.S.-Canada border ban would be extended.

“In close collaboration, the US, Mexico, and Canada have each agreed to extend restrictions on non-essential travel across their shared borders for 30 additional days,” Wolf said in a prepared statement.

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Mark Green Wants Tennessee’s Small Colleges to Qualify for Coronavirus Loans

Chris Butler

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Green (R-TN-07) told the feds that coronavirus relief programs should follow past federal precedents and not exclude Tennessee’s small colleges, which are currently disqualified because of student workers.

Those federal programs, Green said, include the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Green said in a press release that he sent his request to the Treasury Department and Small Business Administration as it pertains to EIDLs and PPP.

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Commentary: Progressive Woke Orthodoxy Obscures the Truth About the Virus

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Americans are acquainted with predictable but ultimately failed progressive efforts to suppress free expression by preemptive invective and politically correct finger-pointing.

To believe that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers revealed too many contradictions, too many lacunae, too many episodes of timely amnesia, and too many unsubstantiated accusations in their testimonies was chauvinistically to attack/smear/silence all women’s voices – at least until the same sort of memory-repressed accusations focused on handsy Joe Biden.

To express skepticism that current global temperatures are uniformly rising almost entirely due to human carbon emissions, that this state of affairs poses catastrophic dangers that may end civilization as we know it, and that this emergency can only be addressed by the radical restructuring of global economies is to be rendered a denialist, a crank, a fool.

But these parameters of censorship have a logic and predictability, given their race/class/gender/environmental orthodoxy.

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After Mocking ‘Liberate Minnesota’ Protest, State Media, Politicians Silent on Minneapolis Gun Violence Demonstration

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota’s political establishment and mainstream media mocked and condemned the Trump-backed protesters who gathered outside the Governor’s Residence Friday, but were silent just two days later when hundreds gathered for a demonstration in Minneapolis.

According to the St. Paul Police Department, an estimated 800 people were in attendance at Friday’s “Liberate Minnesota” protest, which called for an end to Gov. Tim Walz’s stay-at-home order issued in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Feds Sending $108 Million to Ohio Airports as Part of CARES Act

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The federal government is sending more than $108.8 million to 97 airports in Ohio as part of a program to help them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The money is part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Airport Grant Program. In total, the feds are doling out $10 billion to airports nationwide.

“This $10 billion in emergency resources will help fund the continued operations of our nation’s airports during this crisis and save workers’ jobs,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao said in a news release.

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Ohio Schools To Remain Closed Through End of School Year, Governor Announces

Jordyn Pair

Ohio schools will stay closed through the rest of the school year, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Monday.

DeWine originally closed the schools starting at the end of March 16. He then extended the order, which was originally slated to end on April 3, to May 1. On Monday, he announced that schools would stay closed through the end of the school year.

“We’ve flattened the curve, but the virus remains. Also, to go back to school now with a relatively small amount of time left — many educators have expressed to me that this wouldn’t be a good idea even if the health situation was resolved,” DeWine said on Twitter. “We have to think about the risk to teachers, students, and our communities.”

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‘Secret’ COVID-19 Model Touted by Acton and DeWine That Predicted 10,000 Daily Cases on Peak Sunday Was Off by 700 Percent

Anthony Gockowski

Ohio’s official coronavirus model was projecting 10,000 new cases for Sunday’s peak, but only 1,317 new cases were reported.

As recently as March 29, the Ohio Department of Health’s forecast was predicting that the coronavirus pandemic would reach its peak in the state on April 19 when 10,000 new cases would be reported, The Ohio Star said.

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Whitmer Creates Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities

Jordyn Pair

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities on Monday in an effort to study how the coronavirus pandemic has “disproportionately impacted communities of color” throughout Michigan.

Although African Americans represent just 13.6 percent of Michigan’s population, they make up 40 percent of deaths from the coronavirus. Nearly 80 percent of residents of the City of Detroit, the area most impacted by the coronavirus, are African American, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Bill Lee Announces Tennessee Safer at Home Order for COVID-19 Will Expire April 30

Chris Butler

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday that the state’s order for Tennesseans to remain at home due to COVID-19 will expire April 30.

Lee also said the vast majority of businesses in 89 counties are allowed to re-open May 1.

“Our Economic Recovery Group is working with industry leaders around the clock so that some businesses can open as soon as Monday, April 27,” Lee said Monday.

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