U.S. Congressman Charlie Crist (R-13) announced he is running for governor in 2022. He is the first major Democratic opponent for Governor Ron DeSantis.
“Florida has a governor that’s only focused on his future, not yours,” said Crist in a campaign launch video.
Florida Democrats have reacted positively to Crist’s announcement, including St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman who has been a vocal opponent to DeSantis and praised Crist.
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and members of the state’s Department of Human Services last year granted millions of dollars for social services, and on Monday TDHS officials said they won’t give any to refugees or illegal immigrants. The Nashville-based Catholic Charities of Tennessee last year received $7.3 million in state grant funds to expand social services to 10 Middle Tennessee counties. Part of the organization’s model is based on liberal services performed in Nashville.
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Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Rep. David Trone (D-MD) have introduced a bill that would block certain federal grants from going to federal contractors who conduct criminal background checks, or even “inquire” about the criminal history of an applicant. This outrageous proposal reveals the woke left’s dangerous agenda. These radicals who want to defund the police and strip them of legal protections now want to give criminals access to government sensitive information, even our national mint.
Under this measure, every defense contractor who conducts background checks could have their contracts stripped. As a side note, if there are any federal contractors who aren’t currently conducting background checks on applicants, then they should have their government contracts taken away for incompetence.
What could go wrong? A few things come to mind. We could have defense secrets stolen, money syphoned from the U.S. mint, and Drug Enforcement Agency contractors moonlighting for drug cartels.
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The Tennessee House passed the “Second Amendment Sanctuary Act,” asserting the state can ignore unconstitutional federal gun rules and regulations. The act would also punish any official who violates this legislation by removing them from their position.
The act reasserts that Tennessee doesn’t have to enforce any federal law, treaty, order, rule, or regulation that the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) or the Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional. The Second Amendment Sanctuary Act passed 74 to 13, with just one Democrat voting for it – State Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis). Last week, it passed in the Senate along party lines, 24 to 4 with two abstaining their votes.
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Government documents from Florida show that social media giant Twitter failed to properly file to do business in the state, incurring a fine for transacting business there without the official permission of state officials.
The documents, available on the website of the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations, show that in March the department received from Twitter an “application by foreign corporation for authorization to transact business in Florida.”
The application reveals that Twitter “first transacted business in Florida” in June 2015, apparently well before it registered to do business there. A letter sent back to Twitter by the department indicates that the social media company failed to properly register with the state, potentially for many years.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Metro Council Member-at-Large Steve Glover in studio to discuss the Davidson County budget proceedings and referenced a debilitating Wall Street Journal article that puts Nashville in a fiscally negative light.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Metro Council Member-at-Large Steve Glover to the studio to weigh in on the overspending by Metro Government, the failures of Mayor Coopers State of Metro address issues, and recent Wall Street Journal piece.
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The Biden Administration sent some stock prices tumbling and left small businesses worried after taking sides on a hotly contested labor issue that critics say could threaten the jobs of millions of independent workers and thousands of small businesses.
In his address to the nation Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass legislation that would ban the use of freelance workers in most instances.
A report from the freelance site UpWork found that about 59 million gig workers make up $1.2 trillion of the U.S. economy.
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Aso-called “anti-woke” candidate won a bitter race for a school board seat in Southlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.
Saturday, Hannah Smith, a Southlake lawyer and former clerk for Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, won a race for a seat on the Carroll Independent School District board, nine months after the district introduced a controversial critical race theory curriculum in classrooms, according to NBC News.
“The voters have come together in record-breaking numbers to restore unity,” Smith said Saturday after being declared the winner. “By a landslide vote, they don’t want racially divisive critical race theory taught to their children or forced on their teachers. Voters agreed with my positive vision of our community and its future.”
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Independent Women Forum contributor and author of Government Nearly Ruins Everything Laura Carno to the newsmakers line to talk about Biden’s address to Congress and his continued lies about gun rights.
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The Golden Horseshoe is a weekly designation from Just the News intended to highlight egregious examples of wasteful taxpayer spending by the government. The award is named for the horseshoe-shaped toilet seats for military airplanes that cost the Pentagon a whopping $640 each back in the 1980s.
This week, our award is going to the United States Small Business Administration and Treasury Department for awarding at least $200 million, but as much as $420 million, to Chinese Communist Party-linked businesses by way of the Paycheck Protection Program, intended to assist U.S. small businesses that were devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, widely believed to have originated in China.
A report from the Horizon Advisory strategic consulting group illustrates how negligible congressional oversight allowed at least 125 Chinese firms to “take advantage of the international disaster” by benefitting “directly from U.S. investment and relief measures.”
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Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif claimed he did not know that Israel was behind 200 military airstrikes in Iran until secretary of state John Kerry tipped him off, a new translation of a leaked audiotape reveals.
The New York Times buried the revelation of Kerry’s treasonous behavior deep in a story about the leaked audiotape last week.
Kerry is now the Biden administration’s United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.
Amid calls for him to resign or be fired, the corporate media and State Department officials stepped up to the plate to defend Kerry, saying Zarif had already heard about Israel’s actions from the media before Kerry blabbed about it. At the same time, Kerry claimed (unconvincingly) that none of it was true.
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The American Medical Association urged governors Monday to take a stand against laws banning transgender surgeries and procedures for minors.
American Medical Association (AMA) CEO James Madara sent an open letter to the National Governors Association Monday calling laws banning transgender surgeries for minors “a dangerous governmental intrusion into the practice of medicine,” noting that transgender and nonbinary gender identities “are normal variations of human identity and expression,” according to NBC News.
“As with all medical interventions, physicians are guided by their ethical duty to act in the best interest of their patients and must tailor recommendations about specific interventions and the timing of those interventions to each patient’s unique circumstances,” Madara wrote, the publication reported.
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Last week the FBI raided the home of an Alaska couple who had attended former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 peaceful rally near the White House.
According to the Alaska Watchman:
Paul and Marilyn Hueper, owners of Homer Inn & Spa, woke with a start at 9 a.m. April 28 when a dozen armed FBI agents kicked down their front door in an investigation associated with Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s stolen laptop, which was taken during the Jan. 6 siege of the nation’s Capitol.
Homer resident Marilyn Heuper (left), posted this photo on Facebook to show the physical differences between her and the woman who FBI agents were looking for when they raided her home on April 28.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed President of the Independent Women’s Forum Carrie Lukas to the newsmakers line to explain her article in Newsweek which defines the problems for parents in Joe Biden’s American Families Plan.
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A bill enabling the Tennessee legislature to end public health-related states of emergency was deferred to summer study in the Senate. However, the bill lives on in the House – the representatives are scheduled to vote on the bill Tuesday afternoon.
State Senator Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) and State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) sponsored the bill. Haile was the one who requested to move the bill to summer study. He cited that there were some issues that needed to be worked over, which he didn’t explain in detail.
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The next phase of the World Health Organization (WHO) investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic must be more scientific and data-driven, a group of scientists wrote in an open letter to the WHO on Friday.
China should not be permitted to veto the team members chosen for the next WHO-led investigation and the team should be granted full access to related data such as medical records and biological samples, signers of the letter wrote.
The letter is authored by various international scientists and academics and co-organized by Jamie Metzl, a WHO advisor and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank.
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Republican Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso asked the Department of Energy’s watchdog to investigate Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm’s continued involvement with an electric car company.
Sen. John Barrasso, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, wrote a letter of concern to Department of Energy Inspector General Teri Donaldson Tuesday, warning of the potential conflict of interest. Barrasso said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm continues to own millions of dollars worth of stock in Proterra, a company that has a direct stake in her department’s work.
“Proterra, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of electric buses, batteries, and charging stations — and has been described as such by officials within the Biden Administration,” Barrasso wrote.
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The price of lumber has skyrocketed to a record high and four times its usual price at this time of year, causing a spike in homebuilding costs, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Lumber futures, or the market price for wood, reached a record $1,500.50 per thousand board feet on Friday, according to The Wall Street Journal. A board foot, the unit used to measure lumber, equals one square foot of wood with one inch of thickness.
“Absent a significant increase in mortgage rates or a Covid resurgence, it is hard to imagine what could cause lumber demand to drop and prices to moderate in the foreseeable future,” Eric Cremers, the CEO of major lumber producer PotlatchDeltic, told the WSJ.
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Two years ago, student leaders at the Harvard Crimson campus newspaper called on faculty to hire more conservatives in the wake of a survey that found only 1.6 percent of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences identify as conservative or very conservative.
It’s 2021, and nothing much has changed.
The Crimson’s latest survey of faculty found just seven professors identify as “somewhat” or “very conservative,” roughly 3 percent of survey respondents.
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During an online meeting, a member of the Minnesota Student Association Executive Board directed others to waste police resources in retaliation for perceived injustices.
“Make their lives hell. Annoy the shit out of them,” Lauren Meyers said during a Zoom meeting. “Like, use up their resources, make their officers show up to something.”
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U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist (R-13) is set to make a “major announcement” from St. Petersburg. It has been rumored he is announcing his candidacy for governor, evidenced by Crist teasing a run back in February.
In an interview with Jim DeFede on Facing South Florida, Crist said he is focused on his work in Congress, but he’s open to launching a campaign.
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President Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden visited eastern Virginia Monday for the “Getting America Back On Track” tour. The President stopped at Yorktown Elementary School in Newport News, and gave a pitch at Tidewater Community College for his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan (AFP). He said expanding education for every American is critical to keep the U.S. competitive internationally, and called for tax increases on corporations and the wealthy to fund the plan.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen. Whitmer (D) announced here “Vacc to Normal” initiative last week, which is conspicuously missing a return to normal.
She said the plan will help Michigan “gradually get back to normal as we hit our vaccination targets,” and attached an images of the incentives for Michiganders to get vaccinated.
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Recently, multiple reports have chronicled how Florida has been a hotbed for GOP fundraising efforts ahead of the 2022 election cycle.
“Florida, with its deep bench of wealthy GOP donors, has become central to House Republicans’ early playbook for reclaiming the majority,” POLITICO reported at the end of April. “… Florida is a fundraising goldmine. It is, afterall [sic], where wealthy donors – and TV personalities – flock to homes in Palm Beach, Naples, Boca Grande and other high-income areas.”
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State Sen. Sandra Williams (D-21-Cuyahoga) announced early Monday that she is running for mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.
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A vice-chair of the Fulton County Republican Party on Monday told Chair Trey Kelly that it’s in the party’s best interest that he step aside. Fulton County GOP Vice Chair Zach Hines relayed the message through a YouTube video. Former Fulton County GOP Vice Chair Jamie Parrish uploaded the video to his personal YouTube channel.
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An Ohio think tank’s fight over the state’s municipal income tax laws, which continue to be an issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, has moved to the state court of appeals.
The Buckeye Institute, a research and education think tank based in Columbus, has filed four lawsuits challenging the state law that requires taxes to be paid to the city where work is actually done. During the pandemic, however, more and more people were working from home but still paying taxes to cities where their office was located, rather than where they actually worked.
The Buckeye Institute appealed Thursday to the Ohio Tenth District Court of Appeals its case of three of its employees who worked from home after the state’s stay-at-home order but continued paying taxes to city of Columbus. A Franklin County judge dismissed the case Tuesday.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the hosts of Newsmax’s new show Diamon and Silk Crystal Clear, Diamond and Silk to the newsmakers line to talk about Congress, the Resident President, Facebook censorship, and their new social media site Chatdit.com.
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After a major wave of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations during the winter, Virginia’s COVID-19 daily case and hospitalization statistics have gone down to levels not seen since October 2020.
On Sunday, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) reported 761 new cases, and on Monday, the VDH reported 611 new cases, down from the worst days January 16, 17, and 18 which reached respectively, 6,757 new cases, 9,914 new cases, and 7,245 new cases.
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As time expired in the Florida legislative session, a consumer protection bill died. The bill, HB 969, would have given consumers more control over data collected by large companies would have required businesses in Florida to tell consumers what data has been collected and how it’ll be used.
The bill drew much opposition from the business community, and were glad to see the bill expire this session. Companies like Apple, Target, Quicken Loans, and Walt Disney Parks hired a total of 343 lobbyists to work on killing the bill.
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Ohio officials dedicated a memorial tree grove in honor of victims of the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, planting 15 new trees in an Ohio state park.
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United States Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has endorsed Glenn Youngkin for the Republican nomination for Governor of Virginia. Youngkin is currently traveling the state trying to secure delegate votes for the 2021 Republican Party of Virginia Unassembled Convention. This endorsement comes towards the end of the nomination contest, with the convention happening in less than a week.
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Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order Wednesday scrapping all COVID-19 restrictions throughout the state and an accompanying bill that limits localities’ ability to enforce emergency precautions.
“I think that’s the evidence-based thing to do,” DeSantis said during a press conference Tuesday announcing the executive order. “I think folks are saying they need to be policing people at this point, if you’re saying that, then you’re really saying you don’t believe in the vaccines.”
DeSantis signed SB 2006, which says that any emergency orders can last no longer than six weeks. It gives him the authority to overrule cities that adopt restrictions deemed too harsh or unnecessary, and gives city and county commissions the power to overrule mayors.
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Critical race theory (CRT) should be banned from Tennessee’s schools, according to an amended bill pending a final hearing in the Senate. Although the words “critical race theory” don’t appear in the amendment, it does address CRT tenets at length.
The bill now prohibits schools from using curriculum or any supplemental materials that promote conclusions of hierarchies or prejudices based on race or sex, or depict the United States as “fundamentally or irredeemably racist or sexist” and therefore worthy of overthrow. If any school violates these provisions, the Education Commissioner may withhold any amount of state funding from that school. These provisions appear at the tail end of the 14-page bill.
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