U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) introduced legislation on Thursday to require a 3/5 supermajority vote to approve any tax increases.
“It’s Tax Week and the Biden Administration is hard at work raising your taxes and driving your jobs overseas,” the statement released by Green’s office said.
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The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims dropped to 444,000 last week as the economy continues to slowly recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented a decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending May 8, when 478,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised up from the 473,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.
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Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called on the Biden administration for answers on why they used untrained federal government bureaucrats to care for the surge in unaccompanied alien children.
The letter questions the decision by the Biden administration to send staff from agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Trade Commission, to the border facilities.
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House Intelligence Committee Republicans reported Wednesday evening they believe the U.S. government has engaged in “dangerous scientific research with China” that lends increasing credibility to the theory that COVID-19 may have accidentally leaked from a lab in Wuhan as early as October 2019.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed direct marketing expert and California refugee Craig Huey in studio to analyze the vote to recall Gavin Newsom.
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Some police departments are having a hard time recruiting potential officers as others gear up for what could be another summer of civil unrest.
Demonstrations criticizing officer’s use of force and demanding general police reform last year hurt departments’ recruitment efforts leading to widespread strain, Axios reported Wednesday. Other departments in urban areas are preparing for what could be a summer of violent crime as COVID-19 restrictions ease, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Affordable housing in Metro Nashville received an additional $9.4 million boost for 335 new houses and 90 home preservations. Metro Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced these latest funds in a Wednesday press release.
“We know Nashville’s affordable housing needs are urgent, and we know solving this problem requires an all-hands-on-deck approach,” stated Cooper.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized 6,494 pounds of fentanyl in the first four months of 2021. This is much higher than the 4,776 pounds seized in all of 2020. While it is impressive that CBP has removed this much of the deadly drug from the market, the majority of the fentanyl brought into the U.S. is not seized, and increasing amounts of fentanyl are reaching Americans. The drug, a synthetic opioid, was invented in 1960 for medical applications and is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. In recent years, Mexico-based criminal organizations have been manufacturing the highly addictive drug, often mixed with other substances, and distributing it throughout the United States.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said he’s joining 20 other attorneys general and urging the Biden Administration to reconsider proposals that would impose the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the 1619 Project in America’s classrooms. This, according to a press release that Carr published this week.
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Virginia is on track for a revenue surplus of $500 million, according to presentations Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne gave to legislators in the General Assembly this week. Layne was cautiously optimistic when describing Virginia’s financial situation, saying that many jobs have come back, and the housing market is booming.
“This all adds up to a very good performance for the first ten months of the year,” he said in a Tuesday presentation to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee. “We’re going to have a surplus that’s at least half a billion dollars and I think there’s an upward bias.”
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has joined a coalition of attorneys general asking the Biden administration to abandon proposals that would introduce critical race theory to U.S. classrooms.
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Amid speculation that several power brokers could enter Michigan’s 2022 gubernatorial race, a conservative commentator declared her candidacy Thursday.
“I am excited to announce that I am running for Governor to get Michigan back on track,” Tudor Dixon said on Twitter. “We will restore our state and help Michiganders build their American Dream once again! Let’s do this Michigan!”
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More than $800 million in federal funds have been accepted by the Florida Legislature to provide Floridians rental assistance through the website, OURFlorida.com. The site began accepting applications last week.
The ‘OUR,’ standing for Opportunities for Utilities and Rental Assistance, is available to all Floridians. Both tenants and landlords may apply for the federal assistance to cover losses taken in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With federal funding available statewide, Floridians in counties with populations under 200,000 people, who were unable to receive previous rental assistance provided by the federal government, will now be eligible to apply for and receive assistance.
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Governor Mike DeWine’s office is experiencing a shake up in his staff. DeWine’s chief of staff, Laurel Dawson is stepping down to assume a different role within his administration.
The sudden move has prompted Michael Hall, DeWine’s current policy director, to be promoted to the head position.
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A St. Paul elementary school announced to parents that students will be expected to continue wearing their masks while outside at recess, despite seeing zero COVID-19 cases in the school and receiving new guidance from the district.
St. Anthony Park Elementary School notified families of this rule in a letter from the principal, saying it “may seem overly cautious,” but several reasons contributed to the decision, including concern from parents and staff.
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Two-thirds of the states have advanced legislation to protect free speech from Internet censorship, but Georgia also has an opportunity to shape public discourse with potential legislation of its own. With that said, politicians should demonstrate vigilance and only craft legislation that doesn’t trample other people’s rights and liberties.
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Congressman Bob Good (R-Virginia-05) is one of several Republican representatives who refused to wear a mask in the House this week, leading to warnings and fines.
“I’ve received a warning and a $500 fine for my effort to stand up against Speaker Pelosi’s anti-science rule, which is clearly just for political theater. Speaker Pelosi’s mask mandate on the House floor is not about science, it’s about control and virtue signaling for the TV cameras. This week, I stood my ground, and refused to dignify this ridiculous rule by continuing to comply,” Good said in a statement Thursday.
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Financial disclosure forms indicate that Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has a financial in Harvest Health & Recreation Inc., a company acquired by Trulieve Cannabis Corp. for $2.1 billion last week. Trulieve is one of the most notable cannabis companies in the United States and is the largest licensed cannabis company in Florida.
According to 2019 documents, Fried’s assets in Harvest Health totaled over $190,000, and her personal overall net worth increased by 416% during the time frame of June 2018 to June 2019. During that period, she was also gifted a $700,000 home with her fiancé Jake Bergmann, who has financial stake in another marijuana company, Surterra Wellness.
Fried has repeatedly promoted the cannabis industry as the Agriculture Commissioner while she and her family maintained financial interests in cannabis companies.
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Florida’s House Democrats have elected new leaders, each to serve a two year term beginning after the 2022 and 2024 elections.
“Rep. Ramon Alexander, D-Tallahassee, and Rep. Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, will be the next two leaders of Florida House Democrats. The House Democratic caucus on Wednesday elected Alexander to serve as its leader for a two-year period starting after the 2022 elections,” according to The Tallahassee Democrat. “The caucus chose Driskell to serve as leader for the two-year period starting after the 2024 elections.”
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Since reports of migrant children landing in Chattanooga emerged over the week, Tennessee’s legislators are urging the Biden Administration to cease importing migrants. In a press release, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced that Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) joined her in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary (USDHS) Alejandro Mayorkas.
It is apparent from the letter that Tennessee’s leaders at both the federal and state levels have been left in the dark on the Biden Administration’s orders concerning migrants. The legislators asked Becerra and Mayorkas to answer whether the federal government is using Tennessee as a central location for resettling unaccompanied alien children.
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The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced that it will invest an additional $4.2 billion for K-12 schools. The federal funds will be allocated to Tennessee schools over the next 4 years, according to the TDOE press release. The funding is a combination of different types of federal emergency relief funding.
TDOE clarified that the funding will be allotted to specific programs and initiatives. $120.7 million will go toward the Tennessee Literacy Success Act and Reading 360, $170.5 million for the Tennessee Learning Loss and Student Acceleration Act, $35 million for the 2022-23 math textbook adoption process, $32 million for online resources, $32.6 million for Innovating High Schools and Advanced Courses, $17.8 million for mental health supports, $56.5 million for K-12 open-source readiness coursework and statewide professional development, and $21 million to support the educator pipeline.
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When President Biden signed an executive order on Inauguration Day calling for “an ambitious whole-of-government equity agenda,” he signaled that his administration would embrace the education agenda of the race-obsessed world of radical “social justice” politics. We now see further evidence of the president’s intentions in the Department of Education’s proposal to funnel grants to schools that teach critical race theory. This pernicious theory analyzes every aspect of American society and history through the belief that racism has been, and remains, central to American life, all while peddling revolutionary Marxist philosophy.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer in studio to discuss the removal of Liz Cheney as House conference chair and the future of the Republican Party.
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Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that Texas had passed an abortion ban protecting “every unborn child with a heartbeat.”
“The heartbeat bill is now LAW in the Lone Star State,” Abbott tweeted Wednesday. “This bill ensures the life of every unborn child with a heartbeat will be saved from the ravages of abortion.”
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More than four years before Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone used his law enforcement credibility to resist subpoenas in the Arizona Senate audit of the county’s general election, he was running for the office he now holds.
Crucial to the Democrat’s victory over incumbent Republican Joe Arpaio: $2 million from progressive megadonor George Soros.
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A new study from an elite university reveals that American hospitals may have been severely overcounting the true number of coronavirus cases in children, USA Today reports.
The study, from Stanford University’s School of Medicine, focused on COVID data from the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford over a nine-month period, from May 10th, 2020, to February 10th, 2021. During this time span, 117 patients admitted to the hospital under the age of 18 were either confirmed to have tested positive for COVID, or were suffering from multisystem inflammatory syndrome, or MIS-C.
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Abortion advocates and Democrats reacted with anger and fear to news that the Supreme Court would review a case directly challenging aspects of Roe v. Wade, warning that “reproductive rights are in danger.”
The court announced Monday that it will hear Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization beginning in October, and a decision on the case will likely come by June 2022, CNBC reported. This will be the first major abortion case in which all three of former President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justice appointees participate, including Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who gained a seat on the court after a contentious confirmation process in October.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed former Mobile County Deputy Sherriff and State Rep. Shane Stringer to the newsmakers line to discuss his recent termination based on his constitutional carry bill.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist in studio to weigh in on a recent article by Republican Ben Sasse and Biden’s intellectual property position and Biden’s challenged tax policies.
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Multiple airplanes carrying unaccompanied migrant children from the southern border landed late at night on multiple days at Chattanooga’s Wilson Air Center, according to a report from WRCB.
Upon arriving in Chattanooga, dozens of migrant children boarded multiple buses to be transported to various locations.
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Border officials seized nearly 2,400 more pounds of fentanyl from January to April 2021 than during the same period in 2020, according to Customs and Border Protection.
Officials seized nearly 3,290 pounds of fentanyl in the first four months of 2021 compared to around 920 pounds in the same timeframe of 2020, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Border officials seized a total of 7,300 pounds of fentanyl from January to December 2020.
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On Monday, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) and one of their teachers for a lesson making 4th-graders pretend to be slaves. U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger wrote in the ruling that the parents who filed the suit failed to state a claim in which relief may be granted.
The plaintiffs in the case Doe v. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, et. al were the parents of a 4th grade Black student called John Doe for anonymity. The lesson plan was titled after the assigned reading “Let’s Make a Slave,” a graphic, violent speech purportedly given by an 18th-century white slave owner named Willie Lynch as advice on making slaves submissive.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed NeW Co-President at the University of Florida Ophelie Jacobson to the newsmakers line to discuss her recent op-ed on cancel culture and her experiences on campus as a conservative.
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Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) sent a letter to President Biden on Wednesday urging the President to support the Abraham Accords, the historic Middle East peace deal brokered by President Trump.
Hagerty’s letter comes in response to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki making concerning remarks over the Biden administration’s approach to the Middle East.
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President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan doesn’t allow for either Shelby County or Memphis to use their $343 million in federal funds to repair the broken Memphis bridge. The Hernando de Soto bridge, or I-40 bridge, has been closed to traffic since May 12 due to a large crack in one of its structural beams. As The Tennessee Star reported, Governor Bill Lee visited the bridge on Tuesday to review repair plans. After his visit, Lee criticized Biden’s plan for being marketed as an infrastructure plan but not assisting in actual infrastructure.
“While Congress ponders the definition of infrastructure, we call upon the federal government to prioritize the safety of actual roads and bridges. Although the American Rescue Plan designated $182M to Shelby Co. & $161M to Memphis, funds are prohibited from being spent on road or bridge infrastructure,” said Lee. “The American Jobs Plan, touted as an infrastructure plan, would spend $2T w/ a mere 5.6 percent dedicated to roads & bridges.”
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After its endorsements of Democrats in swing congressional seats last fall, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is back at it again with a coordinated campaign to influence the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of one of its biggest sugar daddy corporations, Johnson & Johnson.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Washington Correspondent for the Tennessee Star Neil McCabe to the newsmakers line to weigh in on his latest piece addressing the death tax of Joe Biden.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist and public relations expert Clint Brewer in studio to discuss CDC’s confusing guidelines and the continuation of mask-wearing after vaccination.
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Georgia GOP gubernatorial candidate and former State Rep. Vernon Jones called for “an immediate for an immediate forensic audit of the Georgia 2020 election” at a press conference on Wednesday. Here is a transcript of that press conference: Jones: The integrity of our election is nonnegotiable. It is non-negotiable. Zero room. And that is where I’m here today to call for an immediate forensic audit of the Georgia 2020 election. In recent weeks, I found myself troubled by the recent findings coming out of Arizona as they conduct forensic audits of their own led by their state legislatures. From this audit, previously unknown findings have since come to life, including reports of missing ballots, broken seals on the boxes and containers that contain them, and wholly deleted databases of information related to this election. That is not right. Let me make one thing clear. There’s no place in Georgia elections for those types of shenanigans. And the findings of such an audit will paint a clear road map where we must go from here in terms of further reform to safeguard our election process. Since day one, my campaign had made a commitment of integrity to this election while Brian…
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Fulton County election officials provided two different versions of 34 completed critical chain of custody documents for absentee ballot drop boxes from the November 2020 election.
The documents were provided in response to open records requests made by The Georgia Star News, which remain incomplete even six months after the election, The Star reported.
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After negotiations between Governor DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Florida House and Florida Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that ratifies the Seminole Gaming Compact.
Under the compact, the Seminole Tribe of Florida will act as the state’s centralized location for sports betting. The deal requires the tribe to work with a minimum of three pari-mutuels within three months after sports betting goes live on Oct. 15.
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Liberal activist group “Activate Virginia” held a march and rally on Wednesday in opposition to Israel.
“America’s cries on behalf of human rights sound increasingly tinny, given our enabling and defense of what’s happening in places like Gaza,” Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams wrote Tuesday in a piece promoting the event that was published by the paper. “Our ability to navigate a path to social justice here is doubtful if we don’t walk the walk abroad.”
He added,” As long as Palestinians can’t breathe, neither can we.”
By mid-day, hundreds of Richmonders heeded the call and gathered to show their “solidarity with Palestine.”
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has a new Press Secretary, a freelance reporter who exposed one of the state’s largest COVID-19 scam artist.
Christina Pushaw is slated to handle the media on DeSantis’ behalf, according to a Monday report in The Capitolist.
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A bill in the Ohio Senate aimed at reducing the barrier to obtaining a cosmetology or barber license has received support from The Buckeye Institute.
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On May 3, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 2006 into law banning vaccine passports in Florida, with the lone exception being health care providers and facilities within the healthcare industry.
DeSantis has been critical of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines (CDC) and vaccine passports being endorsed by states and governors across the country. He has said, long before he signed the legislation, vaccine passports being required for citizens to participate in society will not happen in Florida.
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The Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) is facing criticism and a lawsuit over delays while processing unemployment claims flagged as potentially ineligible. On Tuesday, in court-ordered mediation, the parties in the lawsuit came to an agreement. The same day, Governor Ralph Northam announced Executive Directive 16, requiring the VEC to add 300 new adjudication officers and make technology upgrades.
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After another weekend of violence, Mayor Jacob Frey pushed for a safety plan to stop widespread violence, which has been rampant for more than a year.
“This must mark a turning point,” Frey said. “The ultimate goal is to make all Minneapolis neighborhoods safer.”
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Virginia’s Court of Appeals is expanding by six seats and filling a seventh seat left vacant. 46 people have applied for the positions, triggering delays to meet a July 1 deadline. Still, the General Assembly is expected to fill the seats this summer at a yet-to-be-scheduled special session.
In the first 2021 General Assembly special session, legislators passed SB 1261, adding the six seats to the court.
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The former chief strategist for Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said his former boss was the wrong fit for the job and that Duncan’s personal and professional shortcomings likely doomed his reelection prospects. That man, Chip Lake, told The Georgia Star News Wednesday he worked on Duncan’s political campaign for a year and a half. During the lieutenant governor’s first year in office Lake served as Duncan’s chief of staff. Lake said he regrets working for Duncan.
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President Joe Biden visited a Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center plant Tuesday, and was greeted on a Detroit tarmac by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13).
According to NPR, America’s first Palestinian congresswoman used her short time with the forty-sixth president to discuss the escalating tensions between Israel and Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
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