Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Wednesday joined Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) and introduced new legislation to help manufacturing across the United States.
The bill, the Strengthening Support for American Manufacturing Act, would propose enhancements to improve the U.S. Department of Commerce’s manufacturing programs in order to better serve manufacturers.
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Tennessee ranked third in the nation for growth in moves to the state in the year 2021 according to a press release by the moving company U-Haul. The ranking is based on the company’s yearly U-Haul Growth Index which analyzed the net gain of one-way entry to states for the year.
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Recently, Democrats have been despondent over Joe Biden’s sinking polls. His policies on the economy, energy, foreign policy, the border, and COVID-19 all have lost majority support.
As a result, the Left now variously alleges that either in 2022, when they expect to lose the Congress, or in 2024, when they fear losing the presidency, Republicans will “destroy democracy” or stage a coup.
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Tuesday’s Metro Council meeting featured dozens of agenda items in addition to the end of Nashville’s vehicle emissions program and the allocation of $3.15 million to the Metro Nashville Police Department for tasers.
In all, the Metro Nashville City Council addressed 84 items on the agenda published prior to the meeting. The municipal body dealt with issues ranging from children’s safety, building codes, and zoning to allocation of taxpayer funds, allocation of COVID-19 relief funds, the election of notaries, and more.
Six additional items totaling $16,500,000 in taxpayer funding was approved.
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A member of Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) said this week that his organization assists frustrated right-of-center Tennesseans who want to influence state legislators and how they vote. AFP-TN spokesman Grant Henry spoke with The Tennessee Star this week.
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Former President Trump on Thursday responded to President Biden holding him responsible for incidents exactly one year earlier during the Jan. 6 riot.
“Biden is working hard to try and deflect the incompetent job he is doing, and has done, on the horrible Afghanistan withdrawal (surrender), the Borders, COVID, Inflation, loss of Energy Independence, and much more,” Trump said in an email from his Save America PAC. “Everything he touches turns to failure.”
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Governor Bill Lee, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), and Parkway Products, LLC, announced this week the company would be investing $5.7 million to expand existing operations in Greenville, Tennessee. The company estimated an additional 160 jobs will be created over the next five years at the injection molding site.
“Thank you to Parkway Products for creating 160 new high-quality manufacturing jobs in Greeneville,” Governor Bill Lee said about the expansion. “Tennessee’s advanced manufacturing job creation far exceeds national growth with employment concentration more than 30% higher than the national average. We look forward to seeing how the residents of Greene County will benefit from this new investment.”
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Iowa should make a few public policy changes to improve telehealth services, which have become more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, policy analysts said in a report Reason Foundation released Wednesday.
Cicero Institute and Pioneer Institute Senior Fellow Josh Archambault and Reason Foundation Policy Analyst Vittorio Nastasi co-authored the state-by-state report, “Rating the States on Telehealth Best Practices: A Toolkit for a Pro-Patient and Provider Landscape.”
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During news conferences on Wednesday, Missouri’s Republican legislators stated their priority is approving new Congressional district maps while Democrats acknowledged they’ve gained some influence over the process and pledged to uphold voting rights.
At the state capitol in Jefferson City, none of the Republicans wore masks while meeting with reporters while all of the Democrats wore masks. Leaders of both parties were asked about the affects of the resurgence of COVID-19 infections on the upcoming session.
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On Wednesday, an internal probe claimed that members of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) deliberately faked police radio transmissions that indicated a right-wing protest was about to occur in June of 2020.
According to The Hill, the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) concluded after its review that a “misinformation effort” was “approved, ordered, and led” by a high-ranking officer in the SPD. The radio chatter in question appeared to describe a gathering of the Proud Boys, a patriotic and conservative organization, that was heading towards the Capitol Hill region of the city, where a riot was taking place on June 8th.
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U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., is once again right in the middle of a heated Congressional debate as Democratic leadership threatens to overthrow the long-established filibuster rule to push through voting legislation that would give the federal government broad powers over state elections.
“If Republicans continue to block our efforts, the Senate will debate and consider changes to Senate rules on or before January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, to protect the foundation of our democracy: Free and fair elections,” Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer said.
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Thursday declined to comment recently revealed revelations that Pfizer is not currently shipping its fully Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccine called Comirnaty in the United States.
Instead, Pfizer continues to ship – and healthcare providers continue to distribute – the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, which has only received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) approval from the FDA.
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Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist and The Epoch Times Senior Editor-At-Large Roger Simon in-studio to discuss the migration of blue state citizens to red states and the consequences of a no income state tax.
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Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist and Senior Editor-At-Large for The Epoch Times Roger Simon in-studio to weigh in on the lack of qualified Democratic presidential candidates and poked fun at a Trump run as Speaker of the House with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as president.
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A group of Navy SEALs obtained a victory in their legal battle against COVID-19 vaccine mandates that could have broad implications for all branches of the military, but they still face a rocky path ahead.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Judge Reed O’Connor issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the service members, who argue their requests for religious exemption from the vaccine mandate was unfairly denied.
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Tennessee House Representative Jeremy Faison (R-11) tweeted an apology following a dispute with a school basketball referee. Faison’s apology was posted after videos of the fight, recorded at Providence Academy, circulated news outlets.
“I acted the fool tonight. I’m hoping to be able to make it right.” Faison captioned the screenshot of the apology he posted on his Facebook page.
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Retail giants Walmart and Kroger have each raised the price of BinaxNOW rapid COVID-19 tests after a deal made with President Joe Biden expired in mid-December, FOX Business reported.
The September deal had the companies sell the antigen self-test kits made by Abbott Laboratories for $14 for 100 days, FOX Business reported. The cost of the tests will now be $19.98.
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In recent months, European gas prices have risen as much as 700 percent, leaving millions of citizens vulnerable to a dangerously unstable grid and burdened with high electricity costs heading into this winter. Disruptions from this energy crisis have been felt by households and many industries that rely on affordable power to provide goods and services.
Until the recent escalation of Russia’s confrontation with NATO over Ukraine, the Biden administration’s solution to Europe’s energy crisis had been to implore Russia to send more gas to Europe. EU member states are already dependent on Moscow for roughly 40 percent of their gas supply. Initially, the White House made a deal with Germany, letting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline move forward. As part of an effort to repair relations with Germany, this decision allows Russia to tighten Putin’s grip over European energy security at the expense of our strategic partner Ukraine. Fortunately, German regulators refused to approve the pipeline, effectively delaying the certification of the project before July 2022. As part of the growing confrontation with Europe and the U.S. over Ukraine, Russia has further cut gas exports to Europe.
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The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record high in November as consumer demand for goods and the easing of supply chain bottlenecks caused imports to surge, according to the Commerce Department.
The goods deficit increased in November to $99 billion as consumers shopped for holiday gifts earlier than in previous years, the Commerce Department announced Thursday. Imports outweighed exports, bringing the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in November to $80.2 billion.
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Federal officials gave convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev a COVID-19 relief payment of $1,400 last year, and Georgia’s two U.S. senators helped defeat an amendment to a bill that would have prevented that from happening. Massachusetts prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday that Tsarnaev received this taxpayer money in June 2021.
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Yesterday, Democrats in Pennsylvania and beyond recalled the Jan. 6, 2021 D.C-Capitol riot as an occasion to denounce voter-ID proposals and urge progressive reforms.
“Here’s the truth,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro told an online audience at a panel hosted by leftist organizations including Better PA and the New Pennsylvania Project. “You can draw a straight line between the lies [and former President Donald Trump’s post-2020-election] litigation to the events of January the sixth. And now, you can continue that straight line to voter-suppression laws that are being passed by Republicans in state houses across the country.”
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Former Republican Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy said that he would not run for governor Thursday despite former President Donald Trump urging him to do so.
Trump first sought for Duffy to run in October, declining to endorse Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefish, the current GOP frontrunner, in her bid to oust Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. But Duffy, who resigned from Congress to care for his child and now lives in New Jersey, told conservative radio show host Jay Weber on Thursday that now was not the time for him to reenter politics.
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A U.S. Senator from Virginia, known for his far-left anti-police sentiment, finally began supporting police officers Thursday.
“Officer Howie Liebengood and Officer Jeffrey Smith, Virginians who died because of the insurrection, deserve the official officer’s line-of-duty death designation,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said on Twitter, attaching a column from The Washington Post.
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Three Arizona members of Congress are joining in on a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees. Reps. Paul Gosar (R-04-Ariz.), Andy Biggs (R-05-Ariz.), and Debbie Lesko (R-08-Ariz.) along with 180 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate filed an amicus curiae brief in NFIB v. OSHA challenging the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to implement the mandate.
The members of Congress argued that the mandate violates federalism, encroaching on the states’ authority. “[T]he sudden ‘discovery’ of authority under the OSH Act confirms that it was never intended to displace state authority in this area.” They assert, “Congress did not give that power to an agency bureaucrat.”
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Wisconsin politicians responded to the anniversary of January 6 and President Joe Biden’s remarks on Thursday. Both Democrats and Republicans had differing opinions about what the nation’s perspective should be, with some calling it an “armed insurrection” and others saying that they believe the nation has more important things to focus on.
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The author of “Hillbilly Elegy, who is one of the four major Republican candidates running to replace Ohio Republican Sen. Robert J. Portman, spoke out Wednesday on Twitter about the first anniversary of the storming of the Capitol. “Hi, guys. Tomorrow is the anniversary of January the 6th, the most traumatic moment in the history of American democracy,” said James D. “JD” Vance, who served a combat tour in Iraq as a Marine public affairs NCO. “So traumatic in fact that the Left has felt the need to talk about it eight times a day for the past year,” he said “It’s often framed as an assault on our democracy, but the assault on our democracy that too few people are willing to talk about is the fact that dozens of nonviolent protestors on January the 6th are being held in disgusting conditions in Washington, D.C., jails,” he said. Vance said he was concerned about the treatment of the protesters now held in custody. “No Democrats and too few Republicans are willing to speak up for them. They’re being denied their Constitutional rights, and the fact that so few in our media or in our political establishment are willing…
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The Roanoke County School Board voted Tuesday to make masks optional once Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin takes office. On Thursday, they reversed that decision, citing potential legal complications.
“Upon Governor-elect Youngkin’s administration’s canceling of the current VDH public health order, Roanoke County Public Schools will immediately become mask optional and return to pre-COVID medical policies, leaving medical decisions such as testing, quarantining, contact tracing between the doctor and their student patient or the student’s parents and guardians,” Board Member Cheryl Facciani said in her motion.
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A mother who has struggled for two years to obtain face mask accommodations for her special needs daughter at the Riverview Community School District, has collected photos of teachers, students and even the superintendent not wearing a face mask while on school property.
Lisa Aponoves collected the photos from various media sites after questioning the district’s approach to her 10th grade daughter. She has provided the district with communications from several physicians who explain why the student can’t tolerate wearing a face mask.
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Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin tapped former Trump Department of Labor (DOL) Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management George “Bryan” Slater to serve as Virginia secretary of labor.
“Workforce development will play a crucial part of jumpstarting our economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Bryan’s experience and leadership will be critical to the development of talent, training of workers, and protection of Virginia’s right-to-work laws that will attract investment to Virginia,” Youngkin said in the Thursday announcement.
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When law enforcement touted foiling a months-long kidnapping plot of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in October 2020 that spanned several states and included encrypted chats and explosives, many believed it was an open-and-shut case.
But more than a year later, critics say the arrest and convictions of the lead FBI agent and an FBI confidential informant blurred the line between extremist and confidential informant. Moreso, three planned witnesses have been accused of crimes and won’t be testifying in the March 8 trial in Grand Rapids as defense attorneys question the FBI’s credibility.
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Several Minnesota Democrat legislators made statements on the one year anniversary of January 6, 2021, where several protesters entered the U.S. Capitol building during the certification of the 2020 presidential election. All the remarks held a common theme, calling out the event as “insurrection” and an “attack on democracy.”
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In an effort to limit ballot initiatives brought on by the citizens, two Republican lawmakers in Florida, Senator Jason Brodeur and Representative Mike Beltran, filed identical bills (SJR 1412 and HJR 1127) that would restrict certain subjects in which citizens could issue the ballot initiative process for.
The two bills will be considered during the upcoming legislative session that begins January 11th, and are the latest attempts by Republicans to make the citizen initiative process harder in the state of Florida.
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Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has remained silent as school districts in her state have opted to return to virtual learning for students.
Approximately nine different school systems in Michigan have moved educational instruction to computer screens, affecting roughly 100,000 students thus far.
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A Wisconsin university has announced that they will be requiring the COVID booster shot for their students and “strongly recommending” it for faculty and staff. Marquette University, located in Milwaukee, has announced that all eligible students will need to have received a booster shot of the COVID vaccine by February 1.
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Miami Herald reporter Mary Ellen Klas finds herself at the center of multiple Florida-based controversies which includes Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-FL-10), utility company Florida Power and Light (FPL), and Florida Sen. Randolph Bracy (D-FL-11).
FPL took the first shot at Klas when they launched a page on their own site called “Truth Matters.” In it, they accuse Klas of bias against their company and called her reporting on FPL’s effort to oppose new legislation regarding rooftop solar rules as “misleading.”
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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) says schools must stay open despite the latest surge in COVID-19 cases in order to keep youth residents from committing violent crimes.
“We’ve gotta keep the schools open. This is very clear to me,” Frey reportedly said. “Yes, we need to make sure we’re abiding by the necessary safety precautions. Yes, we need to make sure anyone from parents to teachers to students are protected in full from the dangers associated with a global pandemic, and we need to make sure the students are in the schools and that they’re able to learn.”
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Nashville is pursuing bids to host the Republican and Democrat presidential nominating conventions, at Governor Bill Lee’s request.
Mayor Cooper spokesperson Ben Eagles told Axios that economic interests will be at the forefront of the mayor’s mind.
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