Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Gulbransen welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmaker line to promote his get-out-the-vote event in Powell Tennessee tonight with Senator Marsha Blackburn and the need for a red wave across the state come November.
Read the full storyDay: July 29, 2022
Mark Walters of American Armed Radio Warns the Democratic Party Is Coming for Your Guns
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, official guest host Aaron Gulbransen welcomed Mark Walters creator of Armed American Radio and Armed American News discuss how the Democrat-controlled mainstream media is gaslighting the American people and their intent to take away your guns.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: Don’t Say Recession
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, official guest host Aaron Gulbransen welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
Read the full storyCongressman Scott DesJarlais Talks About His Op-Ed and How Democrats’ Immigration Policies Are Failing
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Gulbransen welcomed U.S. Congressman Scott DeJarlais (R-TN-04) to the newsmaker line to discuss his recent op-ed on the hypocrisy of the left as sanctuary cities prove to be backfiring.
Read the full storyTed Cruz Endorses Andy Ogles, Another Jeff Roe/Axiom Strategies Client
Another Jeff Roe/Axiom Strategies client, TN-5 candidate Andy Ogles, announced the endorsement of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday.
In a statement endorsing Ogles that was provided to The Tennessee Star, Cruz said, “I am proud to endorse Andy Ogles for Congress in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District. He is a steadfast conservative who will join me in the fight to cut taxes, secure our Southern border, and protect the 2nd Amendment. Andy has spent his life working for the people of Tennessee, and I have no doubt he will continue to display that passion for service when elected to Congress.”
Read the full storyTennessee Representative David Kustoff Introduces Resolution Calling on Congress to Address Rising Crime in the U.S.
Tennessee Republican Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) recently introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives that calls on Congress to create a strategy to address the rising violent crime in the United States. A similar resolution was also introduced in the U.S. Senate by Republican Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
Read the full storySchool Choice Gaining Favor over Teachers’ Unions and Socialist Bureaucrats
“School choice is good for everybody but unions, socialist bureaucrats and the tired education establishment,” libertarian John Stossel wrote Wednesday at the New York Post.
The author and journalist observed the “silver lining” of the COVID pandemic is that parents discovered alternatives to public schools and, as the statistics are telling us, they continue to act on that discovery by removing their children from them – in droves.
Read the full storyBipartisan Senate Bill Passes to Rename Georgia VA Office in Honor of Late Senator Johnny Isakson
The U.S. Senate passed Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff’s bipartisan bill to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Atlanta Regional Office in honor of the late Georgia U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson on Thursday.
“The bill designates the Department of Veterans Affairs Atlanta Regional Office in Georgia as the Senator Johnny Isakson Department of Veterans Affairs Atlanta Regional Office, or the Isakson VA Atlanta Regional Office,” the Senate Periodicals account said in a Tuesday tweet.
Read the full storyRecent Report Reveals How Public School Spending in Arizona Surged During Pandemic
The Arizona-based Goldwater Institute recently shared that a report from Matt Beienburg, Goldwater’s Director of Education Policy, reveals how spending surged in Arizona’s Public School system, but not for the actual needs of students.
“The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an era of unprecedented spending on public K-12 schools, yet available evidence suggests that the bonanza of federal spending was almost entirely avoidable and that much of it will likely serve a very different purpose than the one originally sold to policymakers and the public,” according to Goldwater Institute.
Read the full storyMark Brnovich Files Lawsuit Against Biden Administration over ATF Rulemaking That May Impede Second Amendment Rights
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich recently filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Acting Director of the ATF over a rulemaking that seeks to regulate firearm parts and transaction records.
“The ATF is attempting to overshoot the authority granted to it by Congress,” Brnovich said in a press release. “The rulemakings are unconstitutional, impractical, and would likely put a large number of parts manufacturers out of business.”
Read the full storyGovernor Glenn Youngkin Donates Salary to Virginia Veterans Services Foundation
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin elected to donate his second-quarter salary to the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation, a group that helps fund various veteran-focused services in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The donation, which totaled $43,750, follows previous donations of his gubernatorial salary and Youngkin’s commitment to assist individuals who have served our country.
Read the full storyWhistleblowers: FBI Officials Are ‘Pressuring’ Agents to ‘Artificially Pad’ Domestic Violence Extremist Data
FBI whistleblowers have disclosed to Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee that FBI officials have been “pressuring” agents to “artificially pad” domestic violence extremist (DVE) data, and have even dispensed “awards and promotions” to those who met the Bureau’s DVE investigation quotas.
Read the full storyCommentary: Bipartisan CHIPS Act Tackles U.S. Dependence on China
China’s rise to rival the United States as a global superpower has been unprecedented. The last war between empires was centered around an arms race, and ended with the U.S. standing strong and solitary atop the world as the Soviet Union fell. But a new race has begun in those 30 years since. China sprinted ahead of the U.S., this time in the field of technology, and aims to stay there. But Congress and the Biden administration have other ideas.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Mikayla Lane
Mikayla Lane is originally from rural Kentucky. But when she was 10, she and her family moved to Oklahoma where the young artist began to make her mark in country music.
Lane admits she is not from a musical family but started singing and performing in Kentucky as a child.
Read the full storyThe Pelosis ‘Appear to Have Taken Advantage of Inside Information,’ Says Former Fed Chair
Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul “appear to have taken advantage of inside information” in connection with stock trades, a former Federal Reserve Bank president said Thursday.
“Clearly people have taken advantage of inside information forever,” said Richard Fischer, who chaired the Federal Reserve of Dallas between 2005 and 2015, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I’m sorry to see that Paul Pelosi and Nancy Pelosi and others appear to have taken advantage of inside information. Something needs to be done.”
Read the full storyCommentary: No City is Prepared for Sanctuary Status
As our southern border crisis rages on promulgated by a non-response to the issue by the White House and progressive policies encouraging illegal migrants to travel in caravans, our American cities are being left to deal with the aftermath.
Leftist leaders across the country decry that this humanitarian crisis is a result of Republican policies, but when push comes to shove, Democrat mayors are completely disinterested in their city funding resources for border crossers. Just this week D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has asked for the National Guard to be activated and has made claims that these migrants are being “tricked” into coming to her city. This is the same mayor who tweeted in 2017 that “DC is a sanctuary city!” and has poured $2.4 million of her city’s budget into a program aimed at protecting immigrant rights for those who are not yet citizens.
Read the full storyOhio Groups, Lawmakers Praise CHIPS Act Passed to Boost Intel Investment
The lack of federal subsidies Intel said was holding up its planned $20 billion chip plant in suburban Columbus cleared the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.
The CHIPS Act, which passed 64-33, would provide $52 billion to U.S. semiconductor manufacturers to help build plants to make microchips. After announcing in January plans to build and create 3,000 jobs at a microchip facility in Ohio, Intel pulled back over the summer, canceling its July 22 groundbreaking while the federal money remained in limbo.
Read the full storyKurt Winstead Serves on Arts Commission That Distributes Taxpayer Funds to Black Lives Matter-Connected Organizations
Attorney and Tennessee 5th Congressional candidate Kurt Winstead sits as a commissioner on the Tennessee Arts Commission, distributing millions of dollars in grants to various groups, including Marxist political groups and one that a Black Lives Matter activist chairs.
The Tennessee Arts Commission, according to a spreadsheet provided to The Tennessee Star, has distributed $35,866,258.95 in grants during the fiscal year 2022.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Ukrainian Verdun
Five months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the war is now reduced to one of attrition. The current dirty, grinding slog is fought mostly with artillery and rockets. Everything from Ukraine’s shopping centers to apartment buildings—and the civilians in them—are Russian targets.
Read the full storyFact Check: Abortion Advocates’ Claim State Pro-Life Laws Endanger Lives of Pregnant Women Is False
The abortion industry and its allies in politics, the media, and establishment medicine have made the false claim that women’s health is endangered by state pro-life laws because abortions cannot be performed in these states when the life of the mother is at risk.
Legal and medical experts, however, are explaining how that claim is false and constitutes “misinformation,” since pro-life laws in all states clearly articulate the lives of pregnant women are protected under them.
Read the full storyMassive Volkswagen Plant in Chattanooga Begins Producing Electric Vehicles
A German automobile manufacturer with a plant in Chattanooga Wednesday announced that that location has become the first company’s first site in the United States to solely produce electric vehicles.
“We’re just starting to write a new chapter for Volkswagen in America, and it is very much an American story,” said Thomas Schäfer, global Chairman of the Volkswagen. “When we promised to bring Volkswagen EVs to the millions, it always included American workers building those EVs right there in Chattanooga. We couldn’t be prouder to see that vision realized today with our ID.4 electric flagship rolling off the lines. This is another milestone in Volkswagen’s ambitious electrification strategy for the U.S. market and globally.”
Read the full storyJ.D. Vance: United States Has Entered in the ‘Ryan Recession’
Ohio U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance blamed Rep. Tim Ryan and President Joe Biden’s policies for the current economic trend lines.
New reports show that the economy contracted 0.9 percent during the second quarter of the year, which follows an additional contraction in the first quarter.
Read the full storyFlorida Education Rule on Gender Identity Ignores Federal Guidance, Requires Parental Notification
The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) announced on July 25 that they intend to proceed with a proposed rule requiring school districts to adopt a policy that provides parental notification related to the logistic of overnight field trips.
The regulation is being implemented to align FDOE’s policies with Florida’s Parental Bill of Rights law passed in 2021.
Under the law, FDOE is required to review and update “school counseling frameworks and standards; educator practices and professional conduct principles and any other student services personnel guidelines” to align with the new law by June 30, 2023.
Two LGBTQ rights groups, Equality Florida and Family Equality, filed suit in federal court in March, arguing the Parental Bill of Rights law is unconstitutional. Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor to throw out the case last month.
The new FDOE rule requires notification to parents, including details such as “the nature of the field trip, the dates and times, specific locations and types of establishments to be visited, modes of transportation and method of student supervision provided, such as anticipated number of chaperones.”
Read the full storyPennsylvania State-Related Universities Going Ahead with Tuition Hikes
Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities are moving ahead with tuition increases in spite of Republican lawmakers’ exhortations that they freeze their prices.
Earlier this week, state Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) sent a letter to the administrators of Temple University, Lincoln University, the University of Pittsburgh and the Pennsylvania State University to urge them not to further economically burden students or their families as inflation rages. Soon thereafter, GOP leaders of the state House of Representatives sent their own message to the four schools which operate independently but rely heavily on state funding.
Read the full storyWittman Introduces Bill to Ban Sale of Strategic Petroleum Reserve Oil to China, Iran, and North Korea
Amid the Biden administration’s plans to sell historic amounts of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Representative Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) has introduced the “No Oil for CCP Act.” The bill specifically bans exporting SPR oil to China, North Korea, Iran, or recipients under the influence of the Chinese Communist Party.
“Following reports that the Department of Energy sold nearly 1 million barrels of Strategic Petroleum Oil to a Chinese owned petrochemical company, I sounded the alarm on the implications this would have on our economy and national security. By prohibiting the sale of petroleum products to China, Chinese controlled companies, Iran, or North Korea, the No Oil for CCP Act would provide much needed oversight and increased security. Any transfer of the United States’ SPR’s oil to China – or other foreign adversaries – must stop. I look forward to advocating for this legislation and holding this Administration accountable,” Wittman said in a Wednesday press release.
Read the full storyMinneapolis Mayor Frey ‘Loves’ Proposal to Fund Abortions with City Budget
Two Minneapolis City Council members have joined forces with pro-choice organizations in an effort to push the city to pay for abortions.
Council Member Robin Wonsley said last week that she and Council Member Aisha Chughtai are launching “Fund Reproductive Care Minneapolis” with nonprofits Our Justice and Pro-Choice Minnesota to secure municipal funding for abortions.
Read the full storyWisconsin Waste, Fraud, Mismanagement Audit Finds Sloppy Department of Natural Resources Contract
Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources is getting dinged in the latest audit of the state’s Fraud, Waste, and Mismanagement Hotline.
The Legislative Audit Bureau released the report this week.
Read the full storyBeth Harwell Blasts ‘Washington D.C. Groups Trying to Buy Tennessee’s 5th District’, Says ‘D.C. Swamp Will Control Andy Ogles’
Tennessee 5th Congressional candidate Beth Harwell called out “Washington D.C. groups trying to buy Tennessee’s 5th District” and said “the D.C. Swamp will control Andy Ogles.”
“Tennessee’s 5th District has become the newest playground for Washington D.C. insider groups looking to handpick the next representative. They can’t vote in this district, I bet most have never even been to Tennessee, but they’ve spent millions misleading voters and propping up Andy Ogles,” the former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives said in a press statement.
Read the full storyAfter Court Win, Ohio Republican PAC Backs State-Committee Slate in Tuesday’s Elections
Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Committeeman Dave Johnson dropped his lawsuit against the Ohio Republican PAC (Political Action Committee) on Thursday, giving the latter group a major win as they advocate for conservative Republican State Central Committee candidates across the Buckeye State.
Johnson, who represents the ORP’s 33rd district, is running for reelection to that seat against Rick Barron who has the Ohio Republican PAC’s endorsement. Johnson sued the PAC and its affiliates in Mahoning, Carroll and Columbiana counties for conducting what he called a “sham” operation designed to mislead voters into believing that Barron had the ORP’s support. The ORP itself has not issued endorsements for State Central Committee this year.
Read the full storyFeds Approve Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency Plan to Suspend Another 400,000 Overpayment Collections
The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency was granted U.S. Department of Labor approval to halt 391,769 state tax return intercepts and new wage garnishments for ineligible unemployment claims during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the full storyArizona Free Enterprise Club Files Lawsuit Against ‘Radical’ Elections Ballot Initiative
The Arizona Free Enterprise Club (AFEC) filed a lawsuit last week against a sweeping elections initiative modeled after the federal HR 1 that is seeking to get on the ballot this fall. The complaint alleges the PAC behind it committed seven statutory violations, including collecting over half the signatures illegally, and provides evidence that many of the initiative’s paid circulators provided false information or failed to register with the Secretary of State.
“After analyzing over 45,000 petition sheets and 420,000 signatures, it’s clear that well over half of the signatures on this election initiative were collected in violation of state law,” said AFEC President Scot Mussi. “That should be more than enough to invalidate this initiative.”
Read the full storySecond Poll Shows Kemp with Slight Lead over Abrams
A second poll released in as many days shows Georgia’s incumbent Republican governor with a slight lead over his Democrat challenger in this year’s gubernatorial race.
A SurveyUSA/11 Alive News poll shows that Gov. Brian Kemp (R) leads Democrat Stacey Abrams by a hair, with 45 percent of the vote. Abrams, according to the poll, has 44 percent of the vote.
Read the full storyGA-7 Candidate Mark Gonsalves Discusses Growing Hispanic Influence on GOP
Republican GA-07 nominee Mark Gonsalves spoke with The Georgia Star News at length on Thursday about the ever-increasing influence the Spanish-speaking populace has on the Republican Party.
“What the Hispanic communities have come to realize is that what they work so hard for here is really being squandered in Washington D.C., that their hard work is not being treated with a level of respect,” Gonsalves said.
Read the full storyHerschel Walker Goes After Warnock Before Law Enforcement Press Conference with Newt Gingrich
Georgia Senate Nominee for the Republican Party, Herschel Walker, released several statements on Thursday where he criticized his opponent, incumbent Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock (D), on law enforcement support, crime rates, and his history of support for Joe Biden in the days that lead up to Friday’s press conference with U.S. Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.
“Raphael Warnock has consistently worked to support criminals instead of keeping our communities safe,” spokeswoman Mallory Blount said. “Crime is rising across the country and Georgia is no exception Atlanta has one of the highest crime rates in the country and Georgians are sick and tired of it. Warnock has done more for Joe Biden than law-abiding Georgians and it is time Georgia had a Senator who takes public safety seriously.”
Read the full storyGDP Shows Second Consecutive Quarter of Negative Growth
U.S. gross domestic product decreased by 0.9% in the second quarter of 2022, according to new data from Bureau of Economic Analysis, signaling the start of an economic recession in the U.S.
“The decrease in real GDP reflected decreases in private inventory investment, residential fixed investment, federal government spending, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by increases in exports and personal consumption expenditures…” the BEA said Thursday.
Read the full storyMadison Cawthorn Illegally Spent Campaign Funds He Can’t Pay Back: Report
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), who recently lost his primary bid for a second term in the House, reportedly spent campaign cash illegally and is now unable to repay his supporters.
Read the full storyTennessee Supreme Court Makes Names of All Attorney General Candidates Public for First Time in History
For the first time in Tennessee history, the Tennessee Supreme Court has made the names of ALL candidates available to the public.
The Court lists the applications of William Edwin “Bill” Young of Brentwood, Jerome Cochran of Gallatin, Donald Q. Cochran, Jr. of Nashville, and David Michael Dunavant of Covington as of 4pm on Thursday, July 28.
Read the full story