Crom’s Crommentary: News Channel 5’s Phil Williams Is Far-Left Partisan Media Member

Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, Live from Music Row, Friday 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 the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.

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Job Creators Network Partners with Newt Gingrich for ‘American Small Business Prosperity Plan’

A small business advocacy group has partnered with former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich to announce a plan on Wednesday to boost small businesses, fix the economy and provide opportunities for all Americans. The group announced the plan at Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill Club with a variety of speakers, including Gingrich who appeared live from a virtual location.

The Job Creators Network says the purpose of their American Small Business Prosperity Plan is to give members of Congress and their midterm challengers specific policies that would move America toward a positive, pro-growth economic agenda.

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Tennessee Shifts Learning Loss Programs to Stimulus Funding, Moves Road Projects to State Funds

Tennessee plans to spend $102 million of its $3.7 billion American Rescue Plan allocation on a learning loss intervention program for Tennessee students.

The program — including summer learning camps, after-school learning mini-camps, and learning loss bridge camps — was approved in 2021 by Tennessee’s Legislature at a cost of $36 million per year, including a mix of state and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds.

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Federal Judge Strikes Down Vaccine Mandates from Biden

Sandy Brick felt her freedom was on the line. The Head Start teacher taught through the pandemic and opposed a federal “jab-or-job” mandate from the president.

Judge Terry A. Doughty, on the bench of a U.S. District Court in Louisiana, on Wednesday agreed. He ruled the federal government cannot require Head Start program teachers, staff and volunteers to be vaccinated against COVID-19, nor can it require adults or students to wear masks. His order “permanently enjoins the vaccine and mask mandate in 24 states,” a release from the Liberty Justice Center says, and impacts 280,000 teachers, staff and volunteers.

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Louisiana Department of Health Rescinds COVID Vaccine Mandate for Schoolchildren

Louisiana parents opposed to COVID mRNA shots for their children won a victory as the state’s department of health rescinded its mandate that schoolchildren be injected.

The Louisiana Department of Health repealed its mandate Tuesday, leading Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) to file a motion to dismiss his lawsuit, Crews v. Edwards, against Governor John Bel Edwards (D).

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Democrats Block Release of Hunter Biden Financial Documents in Probe

Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee voted to block a resolution proposed by Republicans to coax out documents related to the investigation of Hunter Biden’s financial affairs.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the ranking member of the committee, spearheaded the resolution, saying he has tried multiple times to get the relevant Suspicious Activity Reports on the Biden family’s financial dealings from the U.S. Treasury Department but has been unable to obtain the documents.

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Vanderbilt Medical Center Denies Allegations Gender Clinic Used as Big Money-Maker and Staff Warned of ‘Consequences’ for Conscience Objections

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) denied allegations Wednesday that it introduced its “gender-affirming” clinic as a scheme to “make money for the hospital” and that employees with “religious beliefs” were warned they would suffer “consequences” for not participating in the transgender medical interventions.

Author and journalist Matt Walsh broke the story about Vanderbilt’s gender clinic that provides minors with body-mutilating surgeries and hormones that produce permanent, irreversible changes to children presented by parents as gender dysphoric.

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Republican Leaders Call Wisconsin Gov. Evers’ Latest Special Session ‘Political Stunt’

Wisconsin lawmakers are once again planning to ignore a call from Gov. Tony Evers’ for a special session, and they are once again calling it a political stunt.

The governor on Wednesday said lawmakers need to come back to the Capitol in Madison in two weeks and start work on a constitutional amendment that would allow voters in Wisconsin to vote on binding referendum questions that would create new state law.

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Democratic Judge Questions Differing Ballot-Curing Rules Across Pennsylvania

As political-party attorneys and the state of Pennsylvania argued over “curing” election ballots on Thursday, the Democratic judge hearing the case suggested that differing county rules could undermine confidence in election integrity.

Judge Ellen Ceisler, one of two Democrats on the seven-member Commonwealth Court, conducted the hearing in which Republican Party lawyers pressed their case against Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman (D). Per litigation filed three weeks ago, the plaintiffs contended that the court should not permit the secretary to let counties notify absentee or mail-in voters that their ballots contain mistakes that can supposedly be corrected or “cured.” 

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Lee Calls for Investigation into Vanderbilt Transgender Clinic

Tennessee’s governor is calling for an investigation after a scandal emerged involving a transgender clinic at Vanderbilt University. 

“The ‘pediatric transgender clinic’ at Vanderbilt University Medical Center raises serious moral, ethical and legal concerns,” Lee said in a statement. “We should not allow permanent, life-altering decisions that hurt children or policies that suppress religious liberties, all for the purpose of financial gain. We have to protect Tennessee children, and this warrants a thorough investigation.”

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Bipartisan Committee Investigating Issues with Georgia’s Literacy Programs

A bipartisan Georgia House committee will study state programs providing literacy instruction to Georgians and determine whether low literacy impacts the state’s competitiveness.

The House Study Committee on Literacy Instruction, established by House Resolution 650, will explore potential changes to the state’s educational standards. It will also determine “the definition of evidence-based literacy instruction.”

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Rep. Spanberger Cursed at Rep. Good After He Defended Youngkin Transgender Policy and Criticized ‘Grooming’

The monthly Virginia congressional delegation lunch with Governor Glenn Youngkin became contentious on Monday when conversation turned to the Virginia Department of Education’s new model policies to replace current transgender policies, eventually leading to Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05) defending the policies. Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) cursed at Good, according to reports.

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Ohio Senator Portman Urges Additional Ukraine Funding to Prosecute War Crimes

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) this week urged allocation of additional funding to support Ukraine as it prepares to prosecute alleged war crimes committed by Russian military personnel. 

The senator said his view of the need for more aid was informed through discussions he and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) had with Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin on Wednesday concerning how America can help its ally to pursue war-crime cases against enemy soldiers. Portman and Durbin co-chair the Senate Ukraine Caucus. 

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Kari Lake Blasts Opponent Katie Hobbs for Dodging Interview Regarding Refusal to Debate

Kari Lake, Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, blasted her opponent Katie Hobbs for walking away from an interview questioning why she refused to debate Lake.

“The world is not an easy place, and if she can’t stand up and debate me, then she can’t stand up against the cartels, she can’t stand up against the forces that are working against the people of Arizona. She needs to show that she has courage and get on that stage,” Lake shared in a press release.

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Lake Completes Two Stops on ‘Ask Me Anything’ Tour

Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee, who just this week announced that she would host an “Ask Me Anything” tour as her opponent continues to duck a debate, has completed the first stop on that tour. 

“My ‘Ask Me Anything Tour’ has been an incredible experience so far,” said Kari Lake on Twitter. “I’ve been meeting patriots from all over Arizona, who are so excited to hear my plans for this state.”

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Blake Masters Receives Endorsement from Leading Small Business Advocacy Organization

Trump-endorsed Arizona Senate nominee Blake Masters received another big-ticket endorsement Thursday, this time from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the national leading small business advocacy group.

“Blake Masters has experience working in the business community and will be a strong supporter of Arizona’s small businesses in the U.S. Senate,” said Chad Heinrich, NFIB Arizona State Director. “His top priority in Congress will be to get the economy back on track and to create a pro-small business environment. He has also expressed an interest in improving workforce training, which will help small businesses immensely as they continue to manage a worker shortage. We are proud to endorse Blake Masters today and look forward to working with him.”

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Some Virginia School Districts Concerned About New Transgender Model Policies Draft

Some school districts are already signaling resistance to new draft model policies from the Virginia Department of Education that will repeal current model policies controlling school district transgender policy.

“We want to assure you that Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) will continue its commitment to both implement and develop gender affirming policies for all ACPS students. As a School Board and division, we are concerned with these ‘model policies’ that do not align with our mission, vision and core values to support all students and staff, in particular our core value of ensuring that we provide a welcoming environment for everyone in our school community,” Alexandria City Public Schools said in a letter to students, staff and families.

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George Soros Network Bankrolled Activist Group Suing DeSantis over Martha’s Vineyard Flights

A nonprofit network that left-wing billionaire George Soros backs has bankrolled an activist group that is suing Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials over the state’s move to fly illegal migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

The advocacy law firm Lawyers for Civil Rights filed the lawsuit Tuesday with Alianza Americas, an immigration nonprofit, on behalf of “Vineyard migrants and all similarly situated people who are fraudulently induced to travel across state lines by DeSantis and the State of Florida.” Three nonprofits in Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) network have notably given almost $1.4 million to Alianza Americas between 2016 and 2020, according to OSF records.

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Commentary: Ohio Senate Race Turning on Biden Energy Policies

Until Wednesday, there was a routine at the White House.

The national average for a gallon of gasoline would drop, and the president’s staff would publicly celebrate the dip as more evidence that the decision to tap the strategic petroleum reserve was helping the everyday American. And while gas was not, and is still not, cheap, the downward streak was undeniable. It lasted 99 consecutive days.

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