Day: February 28, 2022

Legislators Announce Formation of ‘Train Travel Caucus’ in Support of Expanding Taxpayer-Subsidized Amtrak into Tennessee

Laura Baigert

During the House floor session Thursday, legislators announced the formation of the Train Travel Caucus in the Tennessee General Assembly, in support of expanding the taxpayer-subsidized National Railroad Passenger Corporation, known as Amtrak, into Tennessee.

The announcement came from a Democrat lawmaker, Representative Jason Powell (D-Nashville), who is the House sponsor of HB2278. The bill directs the Tennessee Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) to study within its existing resources the cost, feasibility and infrastructure of expanding railroad passenger service in the state through the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak.

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Commentary: Freedom Is the Essence of American Exceptionalism

Admin
Well Head where fluids are injected into the ground

President Joe Biden has continuously stated that “climate change” is the highest priority of his administration, fueled by Build Back Better spending. We are witnessing the disastrous impacts that establishing the wrong priorities can have.

On the day Biden became President, America was energy independent, our borders were secure, and the world was relatively peaceful.

Biden has done everything possible to shut down, curtail, and undermine American energy production. First, he shut down the permitted Keystone Pipeline. Then he eliminated fracking on federal lands, and slowed permits for new oil fields.

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Eleven Candidates Now Collecting Qualifying Petitions for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Republican Primary Ballot

Aaron Gulbransen
Tennessee Capitol building

Eleven individuals are now collecting qualifying petitions for the Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional district Republican primary ballot. Including three Democrats and three Independents, a total of seventeen people are collecting petitions in order to qualify to run for office under Party and state rules.

The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office posts the names of individuals who are collecting qualifying petitions for various Tennessee elections every Friday. The latest individuals to begin collecting petitions to earn their spot on the Republican primary ballot for TN-5 ballot are former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell, businessman Baxter Lee, and Stewart Parks. All are listed as being from Nashville.

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Minnesota House Approves Bill to Provide Extra Payments to Frontline Workers

Cooper Moran

Lawmakers in the Minnesota House passed legislation that will utilize funds from a budget surplus to award “bonus checks” to frontline workers throughout the state.

According to a release from legislators, 667,000 individuals in the state will qualify for up to $1,500 in bonus checks, including “responders, nurses, child care providers, janitors and so many others who have sacrificed their health during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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Virginia ABC Removes Russian-Sourced Vodka After Youngkin Calls for State, Local Governments to Break Ties with Russia

Eric Burk

The Virginia ABC is removing seven Russian-sourced vodka brands from its shelves, although Stolichnaya and Smirnoff, which aren’t produced in Russia, will remain on shelves. That’s a response to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s Saturday directive to the Department of General Services to review Virginia’s procurement of goods and services involving Russian companies.

“The invasion of Ukraine by Soviet dictator Vladimir Putin cannot stand, and the people of the Commonwealth are ready to rally in opposition to this senseless attack on a sovereign nation and Western ideals,” Youngkin said in a press release. “Today, we are acting to show our solidarity with the Ukrainian people as they defend their country. And while these are important steps, it is incumbent upon President Biden to take a stronger, more decisive leadership position to end this war.”

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Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson and Dr. Robert Malone: ‘COVID Cartel’ Lied to Scapegoat Unvaccinated Americans in Effort to Divide Nation

Susan Berry, PhD

Wisconsin. Senator Ron Johnson (R) and Dr. Robert Malone wrote in an op-ed at The Federalist Thursday the “COVID cartel” – federal health agencies, Big Pharma, establishment media, and Big Tech – lied in order to scapegoat unvaccinated Americans in a campaign to divide the nation.

Johnson, who has spearheaded efforts to break the silencing of physicians and scientists on the issue of early treatment for COVID-19, and Malone, a pioneer in the development of mRNA technology, wrote Americans have been deceived for the sake of covering up government fraud and incompetence, while likely thousands have died unnecessary deaths.

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Pennsylvania House Democrat Urges Biden to Restart Keystone XL Pipeline

Bradley Vasoli

An Altoona-area Democrat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives filed a memorandum on Friday asking colleagues to cosponsor a resolution backing reopening of the Keystone XL pipeline.

In his message to the House, Representative Frank Burns (D-Portage) noted that the U.S. imports more than 800,000 barrels of oil daily from Russia and that oil prices reached more than $100 per barrel last week. The representative anticipated that Russian fossil fuels will only get more expensive—perhaps even unavailable—as the Russia-Ukraine military conflict continues.

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New District Lines Give Republicans Partisan Edge in Pennsylvania’s Seventh Congressional District

Aaron Gulbransen

The newly enacted district lines give Republicans a partisan edge in Pennsylvania’s new 7th Congressional District.

The new 7th district has a partisan rating of R+4, according to Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight. Prior to the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s selection of the new district lines, PA-7 had an even partisan rating.

The Cook Political Report rates the race for the seat as a tossup.

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Postal Service Legislative ‘Fix’ Will Dump Workers on Medicare

Admin

A bill to “fix” the troubled United States Post Office (USPS) is on the verge of passage in the Senate but does it solve more problems than it creates? The Postal Service Reform Act of 2021, H.R. 3076 was scheduled for a vote earlier this month but was blocked by Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) on a procedural technicality.  “We can’t afford to add stress on our already enormous national debt with poor financial planning, which I think this bill absolutely does,” Scott said of the bill.

Now it’s back and on track for a vote in the Senate.

The biggest financial liability facing the USPS is the legal requirement to fund 75 years of retirement health benefits in advance for its workers. Congress has found a way around that by dumping the future postal workers on to Medicare.

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Two Key Senate Races Moved in GOP’s Direction by Noted Election Handicapper Cook Political Report

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Richard Burr and Michael Bennet

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report on Friday shifted its forecasts for two 2022 Senate races in the direction of Republicans.

The report moved the North Carolina Senate race to replace retiring GOP Sen. Richard Burr moved from “toss-up” to “likely Republican.” And moved the Colorado Senate race, in which Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet is seeking a third term, from “solid Democrat” into the “likely Democrat” catagory.

The North Carolina GOP primary is now a competitive race between former President Trump-endorsed Rep. Ted Budd, former Gov. Pat McCrory and former Rep. Mark Walker, with (with Budd and McCrory currently deadlocked).

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Hacking Group ‘Anonymous’ Signals All-out Campaign Against Russia

Admin
group of people wearing masks

The infamous hacking group Anonymous appeared to declare an all-out digital war against Russia late this week, indicating the opening of a hacking front against Russian president Vladimir Putin amid his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Anonymous is a loosely federated collective of hackers who regularly carry out digital sabotage of targets they claim deserve to be hacked. On Friday, a Twitter account purporting to represent some members of Anonymous issued a broad call for hackers to target the Russian government.

“Hackers all around the world: target Russia in the name of #Anonymous,” the account posted. “Let them know we do not forgive, we do not forget. Anonymous owns fascists, always.”

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White House to Hold First-Ever ‘Climate Denial’ Roundtable

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"It's not easy being green" sign

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will hold a roundtable Thursday to discuss how officials can combat climate denialism and delay, The Washington Post reported.

The OSTP will host nearly 20 climate scientists, social scientists, economists and engineers from across the country for the first-of-its-kind event, the Post reported.

“Clearly, we see tangible evidence of climate change all around us with sea-level rise, increases in extreme heat, increases in drought, wildfires, ocean acidification (and) floods,” OSTP Deputy Director for Climate and Environment Jane Lubchenco told the Post, confirming the roundtable.

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Youngkin Stays on Virginia Public Schools, Rescinds Curricula Found in Violation of Civil Rights

Admin

Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday followed through on his first official initiative after taking office in January to review, then rescind what his considers “inherently divisive concepts including Critical Race Theory” in commonwealth public school curricula.

Youngkin announced the move in a 19-page report in which he states: “Executive Order One charged the [commonwealth’s] superintendent of Public Instruction to begin the work of identifying and addressing inherently divisive concepts including ‘Critical Race Theory. … This interim report rescinds certain policies, programs and resources that promote discriminatory and divisive concepts as directed by Executive Order One.”

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Abortion Pills Now More Common Than Surgical Abortions

Admin

Medication-induced abortions accounted for 54% of all abortions in the U.S. in 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Abortion pills have grown in popularity since they were first introduced in 2000, the Guttmacher Institute reported. And rules requiring women to receive their first two abortion pills at a clinic or doctor’s office were lifted during the pandemic, allowing women to speak with doctors via “telemedicine” and get the pills by mail, The New York Times reported.

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Democrats, Environmentalists Stay Silent on U.S. Energy Independence Amid Ukraine Crisis

Admin

Democrats and environmental groups were silent when asked about the importance of U.S. energy independence in light of the energy market volatility caused by the Ukraine crisis.

Several Democratic leaders in the House and Senate who hold leadership roles on committees or subcommittees tasked with overseeing energy policy ignored requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday about the importance of promoting U.S. energy independence. In addition, five major environmental groups chose not to address the issue or stayed silent when asked about the issue.

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Trump Wins CPAC Poll While Support for DeSantis Grows

Admin

Former President Donald Trump won the CPAC 2022 straw poll for the 2024 presidential primary with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) coming in second.

The poll, conducted from Thursday to Sunday with 2,564 attendees, shows that 59% of people said they would vote for Trump in the 2024 primary. DeSantis has less than half the support of Trump, 28% as the second-highest-ranking primary candidate.

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DeSantis Signs Bill Blocking Families, Patients from Filing Lawsuits Against Healthcare Providers over COVID

The Center Square
Ron DeSantis

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill this week that at least 35 organizations asked him to veto. Now health-care providers have liability protection from being sued by patients and family members over COVID-19-related injuries, deaths and refusal to try available treatment.

The new law provides liability protection to health-care providers that follow “government-issued health standards” that “include the CDC’s COVID-19 guidelines, which many say aren’t working,” the groups wrote in a letter to DeSantis. “Some medical professionals have stated that these CDC protocols have led to unnecessary medicines, ventilation and deaths.”

Shawn McBride, director of The American Freedom Information Institute, Inc. who led the 35-group coalition asking DeSantis to veto the bill, told The Center Square that while DeSantis “signed a bill that may allow CDC protocols to continue in some hospitals, we’ve laid the foundation to help more folks get to medical freedom.”

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Doctors Sue California for Threatening to Punish Them for not Facilitating Assisted Suicide

Admin

California doctors who object to assisted suicide are fighting an amended state law that implicates them in their patients’ intentional deaths.

They are suing California officials, including Attorney General Rob Bonta, Department of Public Health Director Tomas Aragon, and Medical Board members to block SB 380, which made it easier for patients to commit suicide under the End of Life Options Act that took effect in 2016.

The original law issued a broad exemption for healthcare providers, granting them a liability shield for “refusing to inform” patients about their right to physician-assisted suicide and “not referring” patients to physicians who will assist in their suicides.

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Rochester Schools Collect Dossier, Call Employers on Critical Parents

The Center Square

Rochester Community School (RCS) officials were sued for compiling a dossier on parents who commented negatively on the school’s virtual learning policy. One official even called a parent’s employer, which possibly resulted in the parent’s termination.

Parent Elena Dinverno sued the district in 2021, claiming school officials called her place of work in the fall of 2020, and told her employer Dinverno was part of a group threatening the school district. She was fired in December 2020.

The Detroit News first reported the story.

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Commentary: Mike Rowe Scholarship Highlights the Lost Virtues of Hard Work and Sweat

Admin

Tracy Wilson is sitting in the cutest little ranch house in this Calvert County town. It is her dream house—literally her dream house, she explains, as she has had the image of this very home in her mind, down to the color scheme of the exterior.

It is 4 o’clock in the afternoon, and the single mother of two just got home from another dream—her job. She spends her days working as an instrumentation technician in the flight test program at Boeing.

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Baltimore to Spend $90 Million in Federal Funds on Hotels for Homeless and Other Homeless Programs

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Baltimore plans to spend $90.4 million of federal funds to buy hotels to replace existing homeless shelters and support other homelessness programs, The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.

The city has not yet announced which hotels it will buy, but it plans to replace 275 existing beds in several shelters with private rooms in city-owned hotels, the Sun reported.

“Non-congregate shelter is a best practice we’re seeing throughout the nation,” Director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services Irene Agustin told the Sun. “We know this is an intervention that’s going to work within the city of Baltimore.”

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New Bill Would Stop Tennessee Medical Licensing Board from Punishing Doctors over COVID-19 Treatment

Chris Butler

A new bill would, if enacted into law, prohibit a Tennessee licensing board or disciplinary subcommittee from acting against a physician’s license based solely on the physician’s recommendations to a patient regarding treatment for COVID-19. The bill would also prohibit a pharmacy from blocking or attempting to block a patient’s access to COVID-19 treatments in certain circumstances.

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