Commentary: Joe Biden’s War on Fossil Fuels

Try as they might to mitigate the severe energy crisis plaguing the U.S., the Biden administration’s attempt to shore up supply is a few wellheads short of an oil rig.

With gasoline prices averaging over $4.60 per gallon and several electric grid operators warning of rolling blackouts, increasing the supply of America’s most critical energy sources is vital. Fossil fuels account for 80% of America’s energy usage, yet the administration is intent on curbing oil and gas supply, cutting gasoline refining capacity, and making it more challenging to meet rising electric demands.

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Three Virginia Congressmen Among 18 Votes Against Supporting Addition of Sweden, Finland to NATO

Virginia had the most representatives voting ‘Nay’ on Monday against a resolution supporting adding Sweden and Finland to NATO. The resolution passed with 394 votes in favor, just 18 votes against, all Republican, and 19 members not voting. Three of Virginia’s four Republican congressmen voted against the measure: Congressmen Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09), Bob Good (R-VA-05), and Ben Cline (R-VA-06), while Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) voted in favor.

In a press release, Griffith said that the Senate has the constitutional power to ratify adding the two countries to NATO, but not the House. He said that the resolution also calls for other NATO countries to support adding the two countries.

“I think that goes well beyond the House’s jurisdiction,” Griffith said.

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Ohio GOP State Committeeman and Treasurer Johnson Denounced by Cousin in Re-Election Bid

Video footage of a rally in North Lima, Ohio, on Sunday shows Frederick “Sam” Johnson standing with Ohio Republican State Central Committee candidate Rick Barron and denouncing Barron’s opponent, Sam’s own cousin David Johnson.

David Johnson is the incumbent State Central Committeeman in the 33rd district (Columbiana and Mahoning counties) and also serves as Ohio Republican Party (ORP) treasurer. He and Barron will compete for the August 2 special primary committee seat. 

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Georgia Officials Use Federal Grant to Create School Safety Website, Training for School Districts

Georgia authorities are using a federal grant to fund a new website to disseminate school safety resources and updated training to Georgia schools.

The Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency are using a Bureau of Justice Assistance STOP School Violence Grant to fund the new Georgia Center for School Safety website.

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New Report: Pennsylvania Suffers from ‘Myriad of Election Issues’

Pennsylvania House State Government Committee Chairman Seth Grove (R-York) released a report Tuesday detailing “a myriad of election issues” in the Keystone State. 

Speaking to reporters at the Capitol Building, Grove reviewed his findings, including inconsistent vote-counting rules, ballot harvesting, fraud and administrative errors. The new report is the third he has issued concerning election problems since November 2020. 

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Campus Group in Pennsylvania Calls Surprise $1,800 Security Fee ‘Unfair and Irresponsible’

After an April 27 event held by the pro-free speech group Uncensored America at Pennsylvania State University, the campus group was hit with more than $1,800 in security fees from the school.

The event was a debate on the topic ‘Ukraine is Evil’, featuring Elijah Schaffer, a reporter for Blaze Media, and Steven “Destiny” Bonnell, a political YouTuber.

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Arizona Restaurant Association Says Business Owners Face Struggles During Record Inflation

Steve Chucri, president and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association (ARA), told The Arizona Sun Times on Tuesday that local businesses in the state are struggling under inflation.

“For us [the ARA], it’s really two-fold. It’s not only inflation and what that means to supply chain issues, but it’s also gas prices. There’s a direct correlation between restaurant frequency and the increase in gas prices,” Chucri said.

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Tennessee U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn Endorses Connecticut Republican Leora Levy for U.S. Senate

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has endorsed Connecticut Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Leora Levy.

“I am excited to endorse Leora Levy to be Connecticut’s next United States Senator,” Blackburn posted to social media. “She is a barrier breaking woman and the clear conservative choice to help us FIRE Democrats this November.”

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Commentary: Government Is the Biggest Obstacle to Educational Freedom

In Massachusetts where I live, average private school tuition hovers around $23,000. For secular private schools, the cost is typically much higher, with Boston-area private school tuition often exceeding $40,000. This price tag is way too high for most families to afford, but emerging microschools are typically a fraction of the cost of other private education options. 

For example, the Wilder School is a new Acton Academy-affiliated microschool that costs about $12,000 a year, while Life Rediscovered, a new homeschool resource center offering up to five days a week of full-day, drop-off learning, costs about $10,000. Even established local microschools, such as Bay State Learning Center that was founded in 2014 and that I wrote about in Unschooled, have similar tuition costs and frequently offer financial aid or sliding scale tuition.

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Kari Lake Responds to Gov. Doug Ducey’s Criticism, Notes RINOs ‘Travel in Packs’ Citing Rival’s Pence, Christie Endorsements

Early ballots for Arizona’s primary election were mailed last week, prompting a flurry of last minute endorsements for candidates. Gov. Doug Ducey, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson in the gubernatorial race, and Ducey took it a step further, criticizing Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake during a CNN appearance, prompting a sharp response from Lake. 

Lake, who is leading by a substantial amount in recent polls, has portrayed Robson and those endorsing her as RINOs. She told The Arizona Sun Times, “Doug Ducey, Chris Christie and Mike Pence are all herding around Karrin Taylor Robson. It turns out RINOs travel in packs.”

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Commentary: Georgians Deserve a Lieutenant Governor with a Vision

Most of the time during campaigns, candidates lay out their visions for why they should be elected. But for Democrats in Georgia, that seems to be a difficult endeavor.

At a debate earlier this year, my opponent Charlie Bailey was asked point blank if there were any policy positions that he disagreed with Stacey Abrams on—to which he responded: “None that I can think of.” Let that sink in: A candidate running for statewide office in Georgia doesn’t have a single original policy position, agenda item, or vision of his own—so instead, he blindly swears allegiance to Stacey Abrams.

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Left-Wing Activists Urge Big Tech to Censor Anti-Pedophile ‘Smear’

by Laurel Duggan   Media Matters, a left-wing activist organization, is urging Twitter to censor the word “groomer,” which it characterizes as anti-LGBT. The term “groomer,” which describes an adult who befriends a child without proper boundaries in order to prime them for for sexual abuse, has been used by conservatives to criticize child drag events and lessons on sexuality and gender identity targeting young children. Media Matters argued that the word is being used to smear LGBT people as sexual predators and urged Twitter to crack down on the term. “This is one of the latest violent acts resulting from a right-wing smear campaign on social media that has driven nationwide harassment and violence against members of the LGBTQ community and their allies,” Media Matters researcher Mia Gingerich, who works in the organization’s LGBTQ Program, wrote in an article. “In the face of this targeted hate campaign, Twitter has failed to act to protect its users.” “The platform continues to allow content promoting the offensive and flagrantly false accusation that LGBTQ people are attempting to sexually exploit children — a conspiracy theory with deeply rooted anti-gay and anti-trans origins — to spread unchecked,” the article said. Reddit will now enforce their hate speech policy…

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Commentary: Justice Department Designates Obstruction as an Act of Terror

To hear federal prosecutors tell it, Guy Wesley Reffitt almost single-handedly organized and led a bloodthirsty mob to overtake Congress on January 6, 2021.

One of the first protesters arrested in the Justice Department’s “shock and awe” dragnet of Donald Trump supporters, Reffitt was immediately indicted on numerous offenses. He spent more than a year in the D.C. gulag set aside for Americans who protested Joe Biden’s election under pretrial detention orders sought by the Justice Department—and he was the first January 6 defendant to stand trial in a city that voted nearly 93 percent for Biden in 2020.

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Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Now Says Department Should Not Exist

Betsy DeVos, who led the U.S. Department of Education under former President Donald Trump, now says the department should no longer exist, an assertion many Trump voters urged him to work to make a reality during his 2016 campaign.

“I personally think the Department of Education should not exist,” DeVos said Saturday during a Moms for Liberty education summit in Tampa, Florida.

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Mark Green Commemorates Anniversary of AMIA, Takes Issue with Iran Nuclear Deal Negotiations

U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-7) commemorated the anniversary of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) bombing in Argentina and took issue with the Biden administration’s negotiations on the Iran Nuclear Deal on Monday.

“We will never forget the 28th anniversary of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) bombing in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This heinous attack—carried out by Hezbollah with the support of Iran—took 85 victims and wounded hundreds more,” said Green in a tweet.

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Senator Blackburn Releases New Video Highlighting How Inflation Has Impacted Tennesseans

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released a new video on Tuesday highlighting how inflation impacts Tennesseans.

“On the campaign trail, Joe Biden promised to cancel fossil fuels, and he’s following through on that promise. To make matters worse, he schemed with his fellow Democrats to force a $1.9 trillion spending package through Congress to fund scores of liberal pet projects. As a result, energy costs are through the roof, inflation is at a 41-year high, and gas is up 59.9%. Tennesseans have had enough. The key to lowering inflation is to stop this reckless spending,” said Senator Blackburn in a statement provided to The Tennessee Star.

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Tennessee Right to Life Announces 2022 Endorsees

The Tennessee Right to Life announced this week its list of endorsees for this year’s statewide elections. 

“Tennessee Right to Life exists to promote public respect for the dignity of every human life especially those threatened by abortion, infanticide, partial-birth abortion, assisted suicide, or euthanasia,” according to the organization’s website. “TRL advocates the protection of human life without regard to age, handicap, condition or social position.”

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Chattanooga Fire Department Conducting Maritime Training Exercise with Coast Guard

The Chattanooga Fire Department (CFD) Monday announced that it will be conducting maritime readiness training this week. 

“If you see flashing lights and first responders at the Riverpark and on the Tennessee River on Tuesday (7/19/22), don’t be alarmed,” CFD said Monday. “It’s part of a big joint training event coordinated by the US Coast Guard & involving many different agencies, including the [Chattanooga Fire Department].”

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DOJ, Envigo Settlement Ends Beagle-Breeding-for-Testing at Cumberland Facility; ‘Huge Win for Humanity,’ Says Sen. Boysko

Envigo and DOJ officials announced a settlement in the government’s lawsuit against the Cumberland beagle-breeder-for-medical-testing; 4,000 beagles will be relinquished to the Humane Society of the United States and Envigo will be permanently prohibited from engaging in activity at the facility requiring an Animal Welfare Act license.

“This settlement brings to an end the needless suffering caused by Envigo’s blatant violations of animal welfare laws at this facility,”  Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) said in a Monday press release. “We will continue to vigorously enforce animal welfare laws to ensure that animals are provided the humane care that they are legally owed and deserve.”

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State Executive Committee Candidate Lulu Elam Calls for Elimination of Vouching Option in Tennessee Republican Party Bylaws

Lulu Elam, a candidate for Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) State Executive Committee in Davidson County, expressed her concern on Tuesday over her opponent’s reluctance to support the elimination of “vouching” as an option for candidates in Tennessee seeking to qualify as a bona fide Republican.

Current TRP bylaws require prospective candidates to vote in three of four successive statewide primary elections prior to becoming a Republican candidate.

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Sources Say Recruitment Effort Underway to Persuade Former Bill Lee Chief Counsel Lang Wiseman to Apply for Attorney General Vacancy

Several sources familiar with the on goings at the Tennessee Capitol told The Tennessee Star that a recruitment effort has started in an attempt to persuade former Deputy to the Governor and Chief Counsel Lang Wiseman to seek the position of attorney general. This development comes in the wake of news regarding Governor Bill Lee’s Chief Operating Officer Brandon Gibson, who is making it known that her interest in applying for the attorney general job has waned.

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