Blackburn Rebukes Biden’s ATF Nominee Chipman’s Anti-Gun Agenda

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) expressed concerns over President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), David Chipman.

“Mr. Chipman is willing to lie to push his anti-gun agenda. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives deserves a better leader. Americans deserve a better leader,” Blackburn said of the concerning statements made by Chipman.

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Commentary: The Systemic Con Behind Wokeism

Group protesting; "no justice no peace" sign

There are lots of reasons why wokeism spread like wildfire once America lost its collective mind during the pandemic, quarantine, self-induced recession, and rioting of 2020. 

Wokeism was never really about racism, sexism, or other -isms. Instead, for some, it illustrated a psychological pathology of projection: fobbing one’s own concrete prejudices onto others in order to alleviate or mask them. 

So should we laugh or cry that Black Lives Matter’s self-described Marxist co-founder turns out to be a corporate grifter? Patrisse Cullors has accumulated several upscale homes and is under investigation by the IRS for allegations of the misuse of funds from one of her foundations.

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‘We Have a Deal’ Biden Announces Bipartisan Infrastructure Agreement

President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden announced Thursday he has reached a bipartisan deal on an infrastructure package.

Biden endorsed a proposal put forward by a group of 10 Senators, including Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Rob Portman and Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

“We have a deal,” Biden said, according to NBC News. “They have my word, I’ll stick with what they’ve proposed. And they’ve given me their word as well. Where I come from, that’s good enough for me.”

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Biden to Name Cindy McCain to United Nations Position

Cindy McCain

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he would nominate Cindy McCain to be the U.S. representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture with the rank of ambassador, according to a White House press release.

McCain, the widow of former Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, has been a critic of Donald Trump and endorsed Biden in the 2020 election, according to the Associated Press.

McCain is the chairman and director of the Hensley Beverage Company, a Phoenix-based alcohol distributor representing Anheuser-Busch, according to the McCain Institute website.

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Jobless Claims Decrease Slightly as Economic Recovery Continues

Unemployment sign

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 411,000 last week as the economy continues to 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 June 12, when 418,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised up from the 412,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

Economists expected Thursday’s jobless claims number to come in around 380,000, The Wall Street Journal reported.

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Whistleblower Document Appears to Show Microsoft Helped Write Big Tech Bills

Screencap of meeting. Mr. Tiffany speaking

Microsoft was given an advance copy of major antitrust legislation, a document given to Republican Rep. Thomas Massie by a whistleblower appeared to show.

The document is the original version of the Platform Competition and Opportunity Act, one of Democrats’ six pending antitrust bills targeting Big Tech, according to Rep. Thomas Massie. Every page of the document, which the Daily Caller News Foundation obtained on Wednesday, is watermarked with the text “CONFIDENTIAL – Microsoft.”

“I just came into possession of a document that everyone needs to know about,” Massie said during the Judiciary Committee markup of the legislation on Wednesday. “It’s marked ‘CONFIDENTIAL – Microsoft.’ A whistleblower provided this. It’s the first draft of one of these bills that would’ve covered Microsoft. This begs the question: did Microsoft have this bill and the other bills that we are voting on today before I had this bill?”

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Border Patrol Chief to Step Down

Rodney Scott

Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott will step down after more than 29 years with Customs and Border Protection, he announced Wednesday.

Scott will remain in his position for around 60 days as the agency transitions, he said in a private Facebook post. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shared a screenshot of Scott’s Facebook message with the Daily Caller News Foundation and said the agency would make a formal announcement.

“I received my 3R letter today. For those not familiar, that is Federal government slang for the letter issued to (senior executive staff) level employees informing them of a directed reassignment,” Scott said in the post. “The recipient has 3 options – relocate, resign or retire. No rationale or reason is required, nor is it disciplinary.”

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Data Shows Increased Homicides in Six Major Cities Across the Country

Police line do not cross tape

The number of homicides in six major cities across the country has increased compared to last year, disproportionately affecting black people, according to crime data.

Black people have represented a massive share of murder victims in six major cities through the first six months of 2021 compared to last year, which itself saw a large crime surge, according to data analyzed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The DCNF analyzed both police department data and homicide reports compiled by local news outlets to determine how black people have been victimized in the wake of the 2020 crime spike.

“We are seeing an uptick in violent crime across the country, specifically gun violence,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told The New York Times earlier this month.

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Biden Administration Extends Nationwide Eviction Ban for Additional Month

Eviction Notice

The Biden administration extended the nationwide eviction ban on Thursday in efforts to help tenants struggling to make rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky extended the evictions moratorium until July 31, one month out from its scheduled June 30 end date, the agency said in a press release. The CDC said Thursday that this was “the final extension of the moratorium,” according to the AP.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki stated that the bans on evictions for renters and mortgage holders were “always intended to be temporary,” the Associated Press reported. She added that President Joe Biden “remains focused on ensuring that Americans who are struggling, through no fault of their own, have an off-ramp once it ends.”

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Housing Prices Hit Record Highs, Up 23 Percent as Buyers Struggle

A modern home with a light blue roof and matching siding

House prices are at their highest point ever as the housing market continues to boom, leaving some buyers struggling to afford a home, according to a real estate group.

The median existing-home price topped $350,000 for the first time in May, a 23.6% increase from a year earlier, according to a Tuesday report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). While existing-home sales fell 0.9% from April to May, prices continued to increase as supply struggled to meet demand.

A combination of home buyers leaving cities, low interest rates, and constrained housing supply has caused prices to skyrocket, according to a report from Redfin. While the market has benefited sellers, some buyers have been priced out, the The Wall Street Journal reported.

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New Tennessee Jobless Claims Hit Pandemic Low as State Ends Federal Supplemental Benefits Next Week

Help wanted sign

Tennessee had its lowest number of new unemployment claims last week since the impact of COVID-19 began in March 2020.

The state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported 4,736 new claims the week ending June 19. It’s the first time that total was less than 5,500 in a week since the week of March 14, 2020.

The previous low during that stretch was 5,789 for the week of Nov. 28, 2020.

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Commentary: Making Sense of the Post-Pandemic Economy

Guy on phone with stocks on computer screen

Are you having a hard time understanding why the housing market is heating up, and why the cost of essentials such as milk, eggs, and gas is climbing? Are you in the market for a used car? Then you know how expensive those are right now. And why can’t businesses find employees, yet millions remain unemployed? Economists agree the recovery isn’t like anything we’ve seen before. That’s because we’ve never had a situation before where the heavy hand of government shut down private enterprises on a nationwide scale. The market distortions are enormous. As states reopen, there is a herky-jerky feel to the economy that has many people unsettled.

Former Federal Reserve vice chairman Alan Blinder wrote in the Wall Street Journal recently, “the recovery is not linear. Rather, it is proceeding in fits and starts. Sales of physical goods, for example, dipped only briefly when Covid hit, recovered quickly, and are now well above their pre-pandemic levels. In stark contrast, businesses that deliver personal services, such as restaurants and hotels, suffered a devastating depression and are still below their pre-pandemic levels.”

By far the most uneven outcome so far since the economy crashed in spring 2000, besides the 7.6 million fewer jobs compared to pre-pandemic levels, has been inflation, which is up 5 percent the past 12 months.

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Trump Pledges to Never Give Ducey His Endorsement

Former President Donald Trump released a statement blasting Arizona Governor Doug Ducey for his lack of support in examining concerns of election security for the November 2020 election. 

Additionally, Trump pledged to never give Ducey his endorsement, should Ducey elect to run for another office. The two-term Governor is prevented from running for re-election due to the state’s term limit rules. 

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Michigan Senate Report Concludes Mailing of Unsolicited Ballot Applications Poses Risk of Fraud

Republican lawmakers in Michigan released a report Wednesday concluding there was no widespread fraud in the state’s November election, debunking many speculations, but they pointedly warned that the mailing of unsolicited absentee ballot applications creates “a clear vulnerability for fraud that may be undetected.”

“The serious, potential outcomes of these vulnerabilities versus the minor effort to request an application make a strong and compelling necessity to not provide such applications without a request from a voter – as was standard practice until this past year,” the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee concluded. “Therefore, the committee recommends the Michigan secretary of state discontinue the practice of mailing out unsolicited applications.”

The committee also recommended that the state strengthen voter ID requirements, not weaken them like Democrats in Congress have proposed, as the practice of absentee or not-in-person voting grows.

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Arizona State Representative Diego Rodriguez Announces Bid for Attorney General

Diego Rodriguez

PHOENIX, Arizona – State Representative Diego Rodriguez (D-Phoenix) has joined the attorney general race. Rodriguez made the announcement as the Arizona House convened once more to discuss the budget. As The Arizona Sun Times reported this week, House Democrats staged a walkout on Tuesday in protest of the budget.

“For too long, corporate lobbyists have been the ones calling the shots in our AZ. It’s time working families have someone fighting for them,” wrote Rodriguez. “I’m running for Attorney General to bring integrity, accountability and compassion to our justice system.”

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Federal Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Virginia Lieutenant Governor Fairfax’s Defamation Lawsuit

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Court upheld the dismissal of Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax’s defamation lawsuit against CBS. The court said that Fairfax had failed to make the case that CBS’ actions were defamatory under heightened requirements of proof for public officials.

“Fairfax’s complaint fails to plausibly allege that CBS made the allegedly defamatory statements with knowledge or reckless disregard of their falsity, as required to state a claim for defamation of a public official,” the June 23 decision states.

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St. Paul Schools Committee Calls for End to School Suspensions After Examining ‘Racial Inequities’

Seven Indigenous students from AIMS middle school participated in the "This is Me: Indigenous in 2020" art exhibition exploring self portraiture in representational, symbolic and abstract work. The exhibition has been located in the Minneapolis U.S. District Court House since November 2020.

St. Paul Public Schools’ Equity Committee recently called for an end to school suspensions among other recommendations as a way to tackle inequities in the district.

The Equity Committee in the St. Paul Public School District was created in 2019 and is led by Superintendent Joe Gothard. The committee meets monthly to identify and examine “racial inequities” and equity disparities, as well as craft recommendations for the school board at large.

During a June 15 St. Paul Public School Board meeting, the Equity Committee brought forward a list of recommendations, including ending the use of suspensions in the district.

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Conservatives Criticize Washington Post for Misleading Headline on DeSantis

Many conservatives noted that The Washington Post issued a misleading headline on Thursday that mischaracterizes the contents of a bill signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

The legislation, HB 233, “requires state colleges and universities to conduct annual assessments of the viewpoint diversity and intellectual freedom at their institutions to ensure that Florida’s postsecondary students will be shown diverse ideas and opinions, including those that they may disagree with or find uncomfortable.” DeSantis signed the legislation on Wednesday in addition to two other bills aimed at boosting civics education requirements throughout the state at all levels.

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Suzi Voyles Says Georgia Secretary of State Officials Pressured Her to Recant

Suzi Voyles

  Fulton County, Georgia poll manager Suzi Voyles said this week that members of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office pressured her to recant her declaring she saw potentially counterfeit ballots last November that favored Joe Biden. Voyles said this when she appeared Wednesday on The John Fredericks Show. Fredericks is the publisher of The Georgia Star News. Voyles said state officials asked her to go over her affidavit concerning potentially counterfeit ballots in January. “There just was something that felt a little off,” Voyles told Fredericks. “They had my testimony. They had my affidavits, and I couldn’t figure out what else could be said. It was very plain. It was very simple. It wasn’t a 5,000 page document. It was pretty well articulated in the document.” Voyles said the nature of the conversation aroused her suspicions. “As it continued on, it got to the specific box number and the batch numbers that were in question in that first affidavit. I’m thinking ‘Wait a minute. You have that printed out right there.’ There was nothing vague in my affidavit. It was very specific. I just felt it a little odd that if they were questioning me about my affidavit then…

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Arizona House Adopts Rule Change to Shut Down Prolonged Debate on Budget; Democrats Livid

PHOENIX, Arizona – In an effort to speed along passage of the budget, Arizona House Republicans pushed through a rule change to limit debate on bills to 30 minutes. After that, amendments on that bill would be moved, explained, and voted on without debate, explanation of vote, or questions. Additionally, all protests were directed to be made in writing and submitted to the chief clerk.

The rule change passed along party lines, 31 to 29.

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Kemp Ends Georgia’s Public Health State of Emergency as of July 1

Georgia’s public health state of emergency will end on July 1 under an executive order signed by Gov. Brian Kemp.

Kemp first declared a public health state of emergency on March 14, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The declaration helps the state easily access supplies and other resources needed to combat the spread of the coronavirus. It lifts certain medical and commercial transportation regulations.

Tuesday’s order extends the declaration by one day and one minute.

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Florida Board of Governors Sets Rules for Athlete Compensation

Florida Gators

The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) established a set of regulations designed to assist in the implementation for collegiate athlete compensation in Florida’s universities. According to the standards, athletes will be able to hire agents but will have to disclose contracts and payments to their university.

These measures were taken by the BOG due to a bill signed into law last year by Governor Ron DeSantis allowing college athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness, and will take effect July 1.

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Local Minnesota Restaurant Adding ‘Equity’ Charge to Customer’s Bills

A Minneapolis restaurant, Broders Pasta Bar, is now adding an ‘equity’ charge to all checks. Broders official statement regarding the new charge says that, “Studies have also shown that there is inequity and built-in bias in the way consumers give tips. In general, Black or Brown servers receive less tips than Caucasian servers. There is gender bias as well.”

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Arizona Attorney General Brnovich Leads Challenge at SCOTUS Related to Hobbs

Mark Brnovich

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed an amicus curiae brief Monday in the U.S. Supreme Court with 22 states signing on, demanding the court overrule a decision by the Sixth Circuit allowing state officials to surrender in lawsuits challenging state laws they don’t want to defend.  The move comes as Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is refusing to appeal adverse decisions striking down Arizona’s elections laws.

The brief relates to Kentucky v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center, where Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear failed to appeal a court decision striking down a Kentucky law banning dismemberment abortions during the second trimester of pregnancy. Kentucky’s Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron is trying to intervene in order to defend the law.

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Virginia Sen. Warner and 20 Other Senators Announce Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan, But Biden Says Democrats Still Need to Pass Separate, Larger Proposal

Mark Warner of Virginia

Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and other members of a bipartisan team of 21 senators announced an infrastructure plan that includes $579 billion in new spending over the next five years. President Joe Biden also announced his support for the deal on Thursday. Warner and Biden highlighted it as a win for bipartisanship. At the same time, Biden emphasized that he wouldn’t sign the bill without Democrats passing an additional larger infrastructure bill through reconciliation.

“This group of senators, and all the American people, can be proud today, because we’ve reaffirmed once again: we are the United States of America,” Biden said. “I know a lot of you in the press, particularly, doubt that unity is possible, that anything bipartisan is possible. It’s hard, but it’s necessary, and it can get done.”

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Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee Reacts to Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Ruling

Reacting to the cancellation of the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act referendum, Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) State Director Tori Venable suggested one way members of the Tennessee General Assembly could react. “This ruling once again silences Nashville voters and taxpayers who continue to be saddled with harmful tax increases. Nashvillians are tired of Mayor Cooper and Metro’s spending addiction that put the city in jeopardy of a state takeover,” Venable said in an emailed press release.

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