Month: May 2020

Health Care Group: It Would Cost $440 Million to Provide 3 Million Tests for All Nursing Home Residents and Workers

Admin

Testing every nursing home resident and care facility worker in the U.S. for COVID-19 would cost $440 million in federal and state funding, a health care group found. 

Doing so would require almost 3 million tests, according to the American Health Care Association’s National Center for Assisted Living, an industry group representing nursing homes and assisted living centers that calculated how much it would cost for states to receive adequate funding so all resident and care facility workers could be tested.

Read the full story

Sue Ellen Browder Wrote Fake News for Cosmopolitan and Now Regrets Misleading Women on Feminism

Admin

LANDER, Wyo.—Sue Ellen Browder wrote fake news before “fake news” was ever a thing. Except she prefers not to call it that—not because she’s embarrassed to admit she wrote fake news (although she’s certainly not proud), but because she thinks the term “fake news” is too vague to understand.

Browder, a Cosmopolitan magazine writer for 20 years, describes what she wrote as “propaganda.”

Read the full story

Lara Trump Blasts Mainstream Media, Tells Tennessee Why Donald Trump Must Not Only Win Reelection but Must Win by a Landslide

Chris Butler

Lara Trump told Tennesseans Tuesday that voters must reelect her father-in-law President Donald Trump by a significant margin come November —  so that his political opponents have no room to deny the results of the upcoming election.

Lara, who is married to one of the president’s sons, Eric, said this during a tele-town hall with Bill Hagerty. Hagerty is running to replace the retiring U.S. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

Read the full story

Despite Allegations, Minnesota DFL Picks Joe Biden to Keynote State Convention 

Anthony Gockowski

The Minnesota DFL Party announced Tuesday that former Vice President Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker for its upcoming state convention.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the two-day convention will be held virtually on Saturday and Sunday. During the convention, the DFL will announce its U.S. Senate endorsement, as well as Minnesota’s DNC representatives, presidential electors, and delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Read the full story

EXCLUSIVE: Female U.K. Scholar False-Flagged as Flynn’s Russian Spy Recruiter

Neil W. McCabe

  The Cambridge University academic portrayed in the mainstream media as retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn’s Russian mistress and spy recruiter told the Star Newspapers about her ordeal—caught in the web of fake news and the Russian Collusion Hoax. “In April 2016, the Obama administration renewed General Flynn’s security clearance—it was a top secret/sci, sensitive compartmentalized information, it is the highest clearance there is—so all is fine but, then suddenly in August 2016, the FBI start secretly investigating him for being a Russian spy—that is why they needed me to be his recruiter,’ said Svetlana Lokhova, a former By-Fellow of Cambridge’s Churchill College. Margot Cleveland wrote for The Federalist: “This honey pot storyline originated with Lokhova’s mentor at Cambridge, the official MI5 historian, Professor Christopher Andrew, when on February 19, 2017, Andrew penned an article for the London Sunday Times, “Impulsive General Misha Shoots Himself in the Foot.” The Times article is no longer available, but Cleveland continued: “That article portrayed the unnamed Lokhova’s brief meeting with Flynn during a dinner event two years prior at Cambridge as the beginning of a compromising relationship between Flynn and a Russian spy.” Luke Harding, one of the earliest and most prolific…

Read the full story

Commentary: Michigan Deserves Compensation from China

Admin

Washington is right to demand financial compensation from China, whose leaders must be held accountable for lying to the world about the devastating COVID-19 pandemic that originated in their country. Michigan should throw its weight behind the effort, as well.

Around 4,500 Michiganders have already paid the ultimate price for China’s deadly coronavirus coverup, and thousands more are fighting for their lives against this ruthless disease every day. While the federal government’s bold emergency initiatives have helped save countless American lives, our country should have never had to fight this invisible enemy in the first place.

Read the full story

Federal Appeals Court Temporarily Stops Petitioners from Gathering Electronic Signatures Amid COVID-19

Zachery Schmidt

Ohioans seeking to collect electronic signatures for petitions during the coronavirus must temporarily stop doing so, a federal appeals court ruled.

The U.S. 6th District Court of Appeals said in its Tuesday judgment that even though the coronavirus has made it “difficult” for petitioners to gather signatures, it does not mean it can’t be done.

Read the full story

Coalition of Michigan Gyms Sues Whitmer, Cites Infringement on Constitutional Rights

Jordyn Pair

An organization representing more than 120 Michigan gyms has filed a lawsuit against the state to protest continued closures from the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit, filed Friday by the League of Independent Fitness Facilities and Trainers, names Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Robert Gordon, the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. It alleges that the executive orders shutting down gyms are “broad and overreaching” and “not narrowly tailored to their purpose, as required under constitutional law,” according to a statement from LIFFT.

Read the full story

Ilhan Omar Says She Believes Tara Reade, Will Vote for Biden Anyway

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) said in a recent interview that she believes the sexual assault allegations against former Vice President Joe Biden, but will vote for him anyway.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has been accused by a former Senate staffer, Tara Reade, of sexually assaulting her in 1993. According to Reade’s account, Biden kissed her and penetrated her with his fingers without her consent – an accusation Biden has denied.

Read the full story

Nashville Fatal Overdose Numbers Spike Sharply During COVID-19 Restrictions

Chris Butler

Nashville seems to have had an increase in the number of overdoses since March, according to statistics the city’s Metro Public Health Department provided Tuesday.

Mid-March was right around the same time that local, state, and federal officials in the United States first restricted people’s movements and other freedoms because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of overdose deaths for March, April, and May of this year are substantially higher than March, April, and May of last year, according to the Metro Public Health data.

Read the full story

Tennessee Authorities Investigating String of Five Officer-Involved Shootings, Including Off-Duty Officer

Anthony Gockowski

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has opened investigations into five different officer-involved shootings in the last nine days, including the shooting of an off-duty Metro Nashville officer.

According to a statement from the Metro Nashville Police Department, Officer Darrell Osment was “inexplicably” shot in the back “without warning or provocation” while walking his dog Thursday night. Osment said he was in plain clothes when he encountered a man he did not know on the street.

Read the full story

Commentary: The Media-Education-Entertainment-Tech Complex’s Latest Victim

Admin

The History Channel premiered a three-part miniseries about Ulysses S. Grant Monday. Produced by the arch-leftist and globalist Leonardo Di Caprio, with commentary by left-wing reparations activist Ta-Nehisi Coates, the show is based on Ron Chernow’s 2017 biography. This is the same Chernow who excoriated President Trump at the 2019 White House Correspondents’ Dinner and says Alexander Hamilton would have supported Trump’s impeachment.

But I am not interested in revisiting the endless spurious assertions we’re sure to hear from the people who produced what is sure to be another tired, this-is-who-we-are jeremiad pushing progressive liberalism. 

Read the full story

President Trump Says He Has a Chance ‘to Break the Deep State,’ Teases New Revelations from Declassification

Admin

by Chuck Ross   President Donald Trump on Sunday hailed recent disclosures of information regarding government surveillance of the Trump campaign, saying that it has afforded him a chance to “break” the so-called “deep state.” In an interview with journalist Sharyl Attkisson, Trump suggested that additional information is going to come out about the surveillance efforts. “Other things are going to come out, too. And a lot of other things are going to come out, but you don’t even need other things,” he said. “I would like to see it move much faster,” Trump added. Trump went on to accuse the “deep state” of trying to derail his presidency through the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. “If it keeps going the way it’s going, I have a chance to break the deep state,” Trump said. “It’s a vicious group of people. It’s very bad for our country. And that’s never happened before.” Trump called former FBI Director James Comey a “dirty cop,” and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe a “bad guy.” Trump praised Richard Grenell, the acting director of national intelligence, for declassifying and releasing a slew of documents related to investigations of the Trump…

Read the full story

Once a Staunch Opponent of De-Classification, Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff Now Calls for Releasing ‘Any Flynn Transcripts’

Admin

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Friday called for transparency in the release of a transcript of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s phone calls in late December 2016 with a Russian ambassador.

“We need to ensure a transparent and complete public record free of political manipulation,” Schiff wrote in a letter to Richard Grenell, the acting director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Read the full story

Commentary: The Citizen Army Amassing in California to Recall Gavin Newsom and Challenge Democrat Supremacy

Admin

Even in deep-blue California, it is possible to achieve the impossible. The technology to facilitate mass uprisings is mature and ubiquitous and will function with or without the complicity of the social media and search monopolies. The political realignment we are witnessing in California is not partisan, it is not conservative or liberal, Right or Left, or Republican or Democrat. It is comprised of old and young, rich and poor, black and white, and everyone else. This is a mass uprising.

California’s pandemic shutdown isn’t just pushing the economy to the brink, it’s taken away whatever remained of the trust that Californians had in their elected officials.

Read the full story

Whitmer Says She Censors Herself So Trump Won’t Cancel Aid to Michigan

Admin

by Mary Margaret Olohan   Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she censors her criticisms of President Donald Trump to ensure that Michigan continues to receive aid from the federal government. Asked in an Axios interview if she censors her comments about POTUS “for the sake of continuing to receive federal assistance,” Whitmer said, “Yes.” Whitmer also said she has worried about criticism from Trump over Twitter. “The worst night sleep that I’ve gotten in the last 10 weeks is when he has attacked me on Twitter,” Whitmer told Axios. The Michigan governor has sparked protests in her state over strict stay-at-home orders prohibiting Michigan residents from visiting their family and friends, holding public and private gatherings of any kind, and restricting which businesses may operate. “The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal,” Trump tweeted May 1. The full Axios interview with Whitmer will air Monday on HBO. Despite protests against her strict lockdowns, the Whitmer has not backed down. Whitmer has said that her executive orders are “not optional” during a press conference.…

Read the full story

Minnesota’s Twin Cities Mayors Don’t Want to Let Churches Reopen, Archbishop Hits Back

Anthony Gockowski

The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul, both Democrats, said in a recent statement that they want churches in their cities to continue to “hold services remotely.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter issued a join statement Saturday after Gov. Tim Walz announced he would allow churches to resume in-person worship.

Read the full story

Upper Peninsula Legislators Protest Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Early Termination of Dickinson County Mining Lease

Admin

Two Upper Peninsula legislators are protesting the Michigan Department of Natural Resources scuttling of a plan to repurpose a dormant mine in the Upper Peninsula’s Dickinson County.

Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Twp., and Rep. Brett LaFave, R-Iron Mountain, issued statements in response to the DNR’s determination to terminate a lease with Saucon Minerals for a project located at the Groveland Mine.

Read the full story

Poll Shows Nearly Two-Thirds of Liberal Davidson County is Against Mayor Cooper’s Proposed 32 Percent Property Tax Hike

Jason M. Reynolds

  A new Triton poll finds decidedly liberal Davidson County is solidly against Mayor John Cooper’s proposed 32 percent property tax hike. The poll is available here. It was conducted last Thursday and Friday by Triton Polling & Research and was paid for by Nashville Smart, a local 501(c)(4). Lonnie Spivak, an election expert, is with Nashville Smart. He spoke with The Tennessee Star about the poll Monday. Spivak also will be on Tuesday morning’s The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am. On Monday, Spivak said Nashville Smart, as a 501(c)(4), has no position on whether the tax increase should pass, and that it commissioned the poll for informational purposes. “We wanted to judge what the public opinion of the tax increase is going into the budget season,” Spivak said. “Metro Council doesn’t have the resources to poll.” The Triton poll sampled 769 registered voters, with 53.5 percent identifying as Democrat, 28.8 percent Republican, 15.3 percent Independent and 2.4 percent Not Sure/Undecided. Mayor Cooper had a 47.1 percent favorable rating, 25.6 percent unfavorable, and 25.7 had heard of him but had no opinion. Regarding Cooper’s…

Read the full story

Judge Michael Warren Commentary: Remembering What Memorial Day Actually Means During COVID-19 Times

Admin

With much of the nation shutdown due to COVID-19, one might not even remember that May 25, 2020 is a Monday – or, more importantly, Memorial Day. The customary Memorial Day festivities of barbecues, beer, wearing white, traveling, and shopping will be truncated, if not arrested. But perhaps this is a sublime unintended consequence of social distancing and sheltering at home orders. If it settles our minds and let us focus on first things first – actually giving Memorial Day its due.

Read the full story

Democrat Senators Support Resolution Calling ‘Chinese Virus’ Racist

Admin

A former Democratic presidential candidate has introduced a resolution condemning the phrase “Chinese Virus” as racist.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) ran unsuccessfully for president and has since endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Harris introduced Wednesday in the U.S. Senate a resolution, which states, “whereas the use of anti-Asian terminology and rhetoric related to COVID–19, such as the ‘’Chinese Virus,’ ‘Wuhan Virus,’ and ‘’Kung-flu,’ have perpetuated anti-Asian stigma.”

Read the full story

College Republicans Ask Trump To Roll Back Employment Programs For Foreign Nationals Amid Economic Downturn

Admin

In the face of an unprecedented economic downturn caused by the coronavirus, leaders of College Republican groups across the U.S. have asked President Donald Trump to roll back two temporary worker programs for foreign nationals.

In a letter delivered to the White House Friday, College Republican leaders from several universities urged Trump to suspend the country’s H-1B program and abolish the Optional Practical Training program (OPT) — two programs that temporarily employ foreign workers.

Read the full story

Students Sue Harvard Citing ‘Subpar Online Learning Options’ During Coronavirus Pandemic

Admin

On Wednesday, students sued Harvard University for not refunding tuition and fees after the coronavirus pandemic forced classes online.

This makes Harvard at least the fourth Ivy League school to be targeted for failing to reimburse educational costs, following Brown, Columbia, and Cornell. The school is facing a $5 million federal class-action lawsuit.  Students chose to pursue legal action as a result of not having “received the benefit of in-person instruction or equivalent access to university facilities and services.” 

Read the full story

President Trump Reportedly Considering Forming Panel to Review Anti-Conservative Bias in Big Tech

Admin

President Donald Trump is considering forming a commission to review anti-conservative bias on social media platforms, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the idea.

A potential White House-created commission would examine allegations of online bias and censorship, according to the report. The administration will also encourage the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Election Commission to conduct similar reviews, the sources told the WSJ.

Read the full story

Commentary: An Open Letter to the D.C. ‘Right’

Admin

I’m addressing this to several of you whom I know in Washington, D.C. Not all of you, but some of you.

I’ve known you for decades. You’re think-tankers, government officials, political journalists, and pundits. Some of you have been all these things.

For a long while, I thought you were the good guys. You talked about individual liberty. Some of you identified as conservatives, others as libertarians, still others as classical liberals. None of you are outright leftists.

Read the full story

National Security Adviser ‘Wouldn’t Be Surprised’ if China Steals US Coronavirus Vaccine

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday suggested that the Chinese Community Party would very likely try to steal American developments on a coronavirus vaccine. During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” O’Brien predicted that the United States would be the first country to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. But he added that the Chinese government has been working diligently to steal the U.S. government’s coronavirus vaccine research — and he “wouldn’t be surprised” if their espionage efforts succeeded. “I think we’re going to develop a vaccine first,” the president’s adviser said on Sunday. “Now, there’s a chance, and it has been reported that the Chinese have been engaged in espionage to try and find the research and the technologies that we’re working on — both for a vaccine and a therapy.” “Look, they’ve got a many, many year history of stealing American intellectual property and knocking off American technology, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they did that with the vaccines,” O’Brien said. NEWS: The Trump Administration is looking at cutting off travel from Brazil amid #coronavirus pandemic, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien tells @margbrennan. See more of O'Brien's interview…

Read the full story

Industry Officials: Deregulation Helps Freight Industry Thrive Without Federal Bailout

Admin

After $3 trillion in federal stimulus money went to individuals, corporations, hospitals and numerous industries, the Class 1 freight industry has maintained its transportation operations and provided critical resources nationwide without asking for, or receiving, federal taxpayer money.

Other industries and lawmakers can look to how the freight industry has weathered the economic downturn and coronavirus restrictions without receiving any federal bailout money, analysts note.

“The freight rail industry is one of the most cost-effective and efficient transportation networks in the world,” the American Railroads Association (ARA) argues. “Fueled by billions of dollars in annual private investment – $25 billion on average – railroads maintain and modernize the nation’s nearly 140,000-mile private rail network to deliver for America.”

Read the full story

Ohio Dems ‘Outraged’ by Gov. DeWine’s Plan to Address COVID-19 Racial Disparities: ‘Too Little, Too Late’

Anthony Gockowski

Ohio Democrats said they were “outraged” by Gov. Mike DeWine’s proposal for addressing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Ohio’s black population.

African Americans make up 14 percent of Ohio’s population, but represent 26 percent of positive COVID-19 cases, 31 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations, and 17 percent of COVID-19 deaths.

Read the full story

Senator Warns of ‘Major Crisis’ in Minnesota Nursing Homes, Says No Indication Trend Is Reversing

Anthony Gockowski

A state senator warned of a “major crisis” in Minnesota’s long-term care facilities in a letter sent last week to Gov. Tim Walz.

State Sen. Karin Housley (R-St. Mary’s Point), chair of the Senate Family Care and Aging Committee, applauded the governor for releasing a “five-point plan” earlier this month on addressing the crisis, but said she has seen “few indicators the trend is reversing.”

Read the full story

Tennessee Businesses Need Legislators Back in Nashville to Assist Them with COVID-19 Aftermath, Local GOP Leaders Say

Chris Butler

Nearly 30 GOP officials from throughout Tennessee this week urged Gov. Bill Lee to end all COVID-19-related restrictions, and they also urged that the state’s General Assembly members return from their current recess.

They submitted an open letter this week requesting just that.

In their letter, they told Lee that while he is Tennessee’s chief executive “he is not the representative of the people.”

Read the full story

Commentary: Conservatives and Liberals Are Responding to COVID-19 in Such Different Ways

Admin

In a 2008 TED Talk, psychologist Jonathan Haidt said the worst idea in psychology is the notion that humans are born as a “blank slate.”

Like the cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, Haidt was rejecting the notion that the human mind is a blank slate at birth, an idea that can be traced to thinkers from Aristotle, to John Locke, to B.F. Skinner and beyond.

Read the full story

Judge Sanctions Trump Admin After Citizenship Question Lawsuit

Admin

An Obama-appointed federal judge sanctioned the Trump administration on Thursday, ruling that the White House did not provide sufficient documentation amid its failed attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

Jesse Furman, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to pay attorney fees as punishment.

Read the full story

Conservatives Ask Amazon to End SPLC’s Role as ‘Hate Group Sheriff’

Admin

A conservative free-market group hopes to convince Amazon, the world’s largest retailer, not to rely on the Southern Poverty Law Center as a gatekeeper for its philanthropic giving.

The scandal-plagued SPLC, a left-wing advocacy organization, routinely labels mainstream center-right organizations as “hate groups” on a list that includes actual hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazis. 

Read the full story

Pew Report: Expect Increase in Debt Collection Lawsuits, Debt Collectors Seizing Stimulus Checks

Admin

A new report published by Pew Charitable Trusts suggests that with the increase of debt collection lawsuits, “debt collectors may seize $1,200 coronavirus checks intended for household expenses.”

Before the coronavirus restrictions began, American household debt had already increased by $1.5 trillion between 2008 and 2019. As debt increased, so also did an aggressive approach made by creditors and third-party firms to use state civil courts to pursue collections through debt claims, Pew says.

Read the full story

Philadelphia Election Official Pleads Guilty to Stuffing Ballots in Return for Bribes

Admin

A former Philadelphia judge of elections pleaded guilty in federal court to stuffing ballots in return for bribes during primary elections between 2014 and 2016.

Domenick Demuro, 73, admitted during a sealed proceeding in March to using his position as an elections judge, which granted him the responsibility of overseeing the entire election process in his jurisdiction, to add fraudulent votes for politicians supported by an unidentified political consultant who had paid him bribes ranging from $300 to $5,000 per election.

Read the full story

Rubio Calls for SBA to Investigate $80 Million in Coronavirus Funding to Planned Parenthood

Admin

Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called Friday for the Small Business Administration to investigate how 37 Planned Parenthood affiliates received $80 million in coronavirus stimulus loans.

In a letter to SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza, Rubio told Carranza that “the application for and receipt of loans through the program suggests unlawful conduct,” noting that “the application for a loan through the program would have required a Planned Parenthood affiliate to list the national organization as an affiliate organization.”

Read the full story

Commentary: The Delusional Premises of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Admin

Welcome to yet another example of the nexus between climate change alarmism and a socialist redistribution agenda fueled by racial resentment. That may be old news to those of us paying attention, but thanks to birdbrained stooges like U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) the blatant race-baiting rhetoric is being turned up a notch.

And why not? If you’re a socialist, or a globalist, there is only upside to tagging nations of European heritage with guilt for the problems facing their “communities of color,” or the problems in the rest of the non-European world. It would be far too painful to consider the alternative explanation, which is that socialism, in all of its antecedents and derivatives, is the primary cause of the societal afflictions that plague “people of color” both in America and abroad.

Read the full story

Ohio Minority Health Strike Force Unveils Recommendations to Address Impact of Coronavirus on State’s Black Community, Mentions Nothing About Vitamin D Deficiency

Zachery Schmidt

Gov. Mike DeWine announced this week the recommendations that the Minority Health Strike Force established to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Ohio’s black community.

According to DeWine’s press release, black people make up “14 percent of Ohio’s population, but represent 26 percent of positive COVID-19 cases, 31 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations, and 17 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Ohio.”

Read the full story