Another report brings another round of good news for Wisconsin taxpayers.
The Wisconsin Policy Forum released a new study on Thursday that says the state’s tax burden is at its lowest level ever.
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Governor Glenn Youngkin is at 52 percent approval, 32 percent disapproval in a Virginia Commonwealth University Poll that comes as he makes a pitch for tax cuts and business incentives ahead of a General Assembly session beginning January 11.
“Poll respondents feel that inflation needs to be dealt with and democracy ensured for our future,” former governor L. Douglas Wilder said in an announcement of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs poll.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Republicans censured 22 lawmakers on Friday for voting with Democrats to choose the new Speaker of the Ohio House, saying they had disregarded their obligations to the party and the public.
Earlier this week, a number of Republican lawmakers joined forces with Democrats to choose State Representative Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) as speaker. The choice comes despite the Republican Caucus‘ previous selection in November of State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Moncolva) as the new speaker.
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Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor will lead an investigation into printer issues that plagued Maricopa County on Election Day, according to a joint statement from the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (BOS) Chairman Bill Gates and Vice Chairman Clink Hickman.
“Justice McGregor will hire a team of independent experts to find out why the printers that read ballots well in the August Primary had trouble reading some ballots while using the same settings in the November General. Our voters deserve nothing less,” said the officials. “Maricopa County appreciates Justice McGregor’s willingness to serve in this role. We look forward to her findings.”
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An audit released Friday from the Office of Auditor General Doug Ringler marked 11 “material conditions” – the most severe rating – for how the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency operated during the pandemic, which resulted in losing billions of taxpayer dollars.
The audit found the UIA couldn’t support the appropriateness of $10.2 billion in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance payments, mostly because it added invalid eligibility criteria in the PUA application and didn’t require some PUA claimants to certify they met federal eligibility criteria.
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As tempers flare in the Republican battle for Speaker of the House, the anti-establishment conservatives blocking Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid are being likened to pirates — and worse.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), a McCarthy loyalist, called the Republican defectors terrorists. They’ve reportedly been described as the “Taliban 19.”
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Mere days after Governor Mike DeWine cited concerns with Ohio’s new sports betting setup, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) issued three more warnings for infractions on Thursday.
According to the OCCC, BetMGM, LLC (BetMGM); American Wagering, Inc. (Caesars), and Crown OH Gaming, LLC (DraftKings) violated state law and administrative rules regarding advertising.
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Heading into the second year of his term, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin says he wants to “compete to win” with other states when it comes to attracting business and people to the Commonwealth.
That was the main takeaway from a speech given by the governor Thursday, when he touted proposed budget amendments to cut $1 billion in taxes and outlined his strategy to “win” in the Commonwealth.
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The Arizona State Senate Republican Caucus (Caucus) released its 2023 Majority Plan on Thursday, outlining priorities and approaches to strengthening the state and tackling important issues. Kim Quintero, director of communications for the Caucus, told The Arizona Sun Times that the elected officials would do their best to honor the Republican values they ran on while working under newly sworn-in Gov. Katie Hobbs (D).
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As of January 3, 2023, the Republicans were supposed to control the United States House of Representatives by a slim majority. On that date, many expected that the task of electing a new Speaker and moving forward with the business of “the people” in the House would start under Republican party control. But as of January 6, 2023, those elected to serve in the House have not selected a Speaker and so the House has not been organized nor undertaken regular operations. National news reports indicate that the presumptive Republican Speaker so far has fallen short in getting the required number of votes in part because approximately 20 Republicans who were elected in November have refused to vote for McCarty and no other individual has demonstrated enough votes to get the position.
One of the issues that is being discussed is whether any of those who have refused to support McCarthy in the 11 votes taken as of January 5th have broken a promise, perhaps a campaign promise, to do so. It is an active discussion over what was promised and whether there are any valid justifications for withholding support if a promise was made. Indeed, at least in Nashville, the talk radio shows are expending a great amount of time reviewing this issue because there is a Congressman-elect from Tennessee who is part of the story.
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The Biden administration has drawn fire for admitting that killing the Keystone Pipeline cost the U.S. economy thousands of jobs and billions of dollars.
A report from the Department of Energy showed the pipeline would have supported tens of thousands of jobs, though the number is hard to nail down.
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President Donald J. Trump started 2023 with a post on Truth Social which drew the ire of many in the pro-life community. Trump wrote, “It wasn’t my fault that the Republicans didn’t live up to expectations . . . It was the “abortion issue,” poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of Voters.” Trump went on to say, “Also, the people that pushed so hard, for decades, against abortion, got their wish from the U.S. Supreme Court, & just plain disappeared, not to be seen again.”
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Amid the growing fears of many Americans that their country is slowly disintegrating, a debate about whether or not the United States is being invaded is bubbling to the surface. At stake is something far more than semantics: the future of the country as we know it may hang in the balance.
Ducey v. Moore, currently being litigated in an Arizona federal district court, is a case that is testing states’ rights to defend themselves from invasion by Mexican drug- and human-smuggling cartels. In response to the well-documented influx of foreign nationals entering the country illegally, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey placed shipping containers along the state’s southern border to stem the flow. The federal government now claims that the shipping containers violate various federal regulations that it says apply to the Roosevelt Reservation area near the border, and seeks removal of the containers.
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Former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will join Columbia University in February as a Professor of Practice at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and a Presidential Fellow at Columbia Worlds Project (CWP).
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A Republican senator introduced a bill Wednesday aimed at blocking health care providers from administering or recommending medical transitions to patients under age 26.
The legislation, pre-filed ahead of Oklahoma’s 59 legislature, would ban gender transition procedures including puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries, while also imposing felony conviction and revocation of medical license, should the law be broken, according to the legislation. The legislation would also ban public funding from being used to fund any services related to gender transitions for people under 26.
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House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy captured the House speakership in dramatic fashion early Saturday, winning enough votes on a historic 15th ballot that saw 20 renegade Republicans changing their votes under enormous pressure after winning significant concessions about how Congress will operate going forward.
The final vote was 216-212-6.
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Friday afternoon Brian Wilson, the host of The Drive discussed the Metro Davidson County City Council’s decision to ‘kill off’ the 2024 RNC Convention in Nashville and the upcoming bill set forth by both the Tennessee House and the Senate to eliminate nearly half of the council’s seats.
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Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) released a statement offering insight on his decision to switch his vote in the Speaker of the House race during the chamber’s 12th round of voting on Friday.
Ogles voted for California Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) in the speakership race during the chamber’s 12th round of voting on Friday, The Tennessee Star previously reported.
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The House of Representatives convened on Friday for the fourth day of voting for speaker and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy has picked up 15 votes from GOP holdouts but he’s still short of the simple majority needed to win.
The House passed a motion to adjourn until 10pm. McCarthy told reporters he’s confident he will have the votes to win Friday evening.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Finance Professor Murray Sabrin to the newsmaker line to give his take on the 2023 economic forecast.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee Firearms Association CEO, Attorney John Harris in studio to explain the Brewing decision and offer suggestions as to how the Tennessee General Assembly can protect the Second Amendment.
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has reappointed Alan Levine to the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Along with Levine, Michael Carter of Davidson County and Chris Tutor of Shelby County have been submitted for approval as members. The two new members will represent Middle Tennessee and West Tennessee respectively, replacing Dr. Derwin Signet and Dave Hanson as board members. Appointments come from the governor, but must be confirmed by the General Assembly.
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Newly-elected Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) voted for California Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) in the House of Representatives House Speaker race during the chamber’s 12th round of voting on Friday.
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Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is breathing on his own after having a breathing tube removed by doctors, his team said on Friday.
The Bills said in a statement posted to their website that “per the physicians at [University of Cincinnati Medical Center], Damar’s breathing tube was removed overnight. He continues to progress remarkably in his recovery.”
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Longtime Arizona Legislator Russell Pearce of Mesa, who served as Senate President in 2011, passed away Thursday at age 75. The sponsor of Arizona’s nationally known SB 1070 curbing illegal immigration, which Governor Jan Brewer famously signed into law in 2010, died peacefully at a hospital surrounded by family and friends after becoming sick earlier in the week.
Pearce was loved on both sides of the aisle, famous for his friendship with Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) going back to when she was in the state legislature and considered the most liberal member — the Arizona Federation of Taxpayers awarded her the Vladimir I. Lenin Award. According to one source, Sinema moved her desk at the legislature to sit next to Pearce.
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A new study from the University of North Carolina shows children and teens who frequently check social media may become more sensitive in the long term to “social feedback” in the form of “likes” and “dislikes” at a time when the brain is experiencing significant developmental changes.
In the study, published at the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, researchers Maria Maza, et al, investigated whether the frequency with which middle-school age children check their Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat social media accounts is associated with long-term changes in brain development as they mature further into adolescence.
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Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) said Thursday that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was “an extraordinary religious leader” who “led us to be more faithful followers of Jesus Christ and His Church on earth.”
Smith, who co-chairs the House’s Pro-Life Caucus, and serves as the ranking member of both the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights & International Organizations, and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said Benedict was “a powerful defender of the weakest and most vulnerable, including unborn children and their mothers, and ever faithful in both living and promoting the good news of the Gospel.”
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Members of Congress raked in profits from defense contractor stocks after voting to send billions in military aid to Ukraine, according to financial disclosures and voting records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Congress approved more than $20 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine between Jan. 24, a month before Russia invaded, and Nov. 20, including $12.7 billion in direct drawdowns from existing U.S. weapons stocks, according to data compiled by the Council on Foreign Relations. To make up for that aid, top defense companies have boosted production, and lawmakers trading on company stocks saw a financial windfall as a result, according to publicly available stock trading data.
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President Joe Biden said Thursday that he will visit the southern border Sunday.
The announcement came in a speech on illegal immigration, where Biden promised more border security and pushed for increased legal immigration.
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South Carolina’s Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the state law restricting abortions at around six weeks, finding that it violated the state constitution.
Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill into law in February 2021 barring abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can happen at around six weeks into a pregnancy. The state can limit a woman’s privacy rights with regard to abortion decisions, but only after she’s been given “reasonable” time to pursue an abortion legally, the court found.
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The Capitol Police chief who handled the Jan. 6 riot says political bureaucracy under Speaker Nancy Pelosi put optics over safety and hampered his department from crafting an appropriate security plan to protect the home of Congress that fateful day.
Steven Sund, who resigned as the head of the $600 million a year Capitol Police Department after the tragedy, told the “Just the News, No Noise” television show on Wednesday that significant lapses occurred inside his department, inside the political leadership of Congress and across federal law enforcement and security agencies in the days before the Capitol riot.
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Arizona Supreme Court (ASC) Justice John R. Lopez released an opinion Wednesday evening denying Republican Kari Lake’s request to transfer her election challenge case directly to the ASC. Despite the denial, Lake remains undeterred in her legal battle.
“My court case will be going before the Appeals Court prior to the Arizona Supreme Court because it’s already been scheduled for review. This decision was done without prejudice & I am confident the case will end up in their hands eventually. We’re moving forward,” Lake tweeted.
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Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) announced that she, along with a group of colleagues, will travel to the Del Rio Sector of the U.S.-Mexico border on January 9-10.
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Republican Arizona Attorney General candidate Republican Abe Hamadeh is not giving up contesting the election which went to Democrat Kris Mayes by just 280 votes. His first lawsuit contesting the election results was dismissed as premature, his second was thrown out by Mohave County Superior Court Judge Lee Jantzen for not showing there were enough problematic votes to change the election, but on Tuesday Hamadeh and the RNC, along with two individuals, filed a motion for a new trial, based on additional evidence of voter disenfranchisement. Hundreds of uncounted ballots were recently found in Pinal County.
Hamadeh said on the Charlie Kirk Show, “We didn’t have these facts. But you know who had these facts? It was Secretary of State @katiehobbs. She had all these facts and she withheld them from the court, she withheld them from me. We weren’t able to present any of this evidence.”
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Georgia GOP (GAGOP) District 9 Chairwoman Rebecca Yardley announced her campaign to chair the Georgia Republican Party; current Chairman David Shafer hasn’t yet decided if he will run, but Yardley will likely face him or one of his allies in the June convention.
“Our Party deserves a chairman who is fully focused on taking the steps required to win Georgia elections. I’ve witnessed firsthand the incredible work done on the county and district levels. Now it’s time to have our top leadership at the state match the same energy, concentration, and drive shown by our local members daily,” Yardley said in a Thursday press release.
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Governor Mike DeWine vetoed a bill on Thursday, that would prohibit local governments in Ohio from enacting any laws regarding tobacco or vaping products that are more strict than state law.
DeWine scheduled a press conference with health authorities to discuss the legislation rather than just vetoing it, calling youth smoking an “epidemic” made worse by commercially available flavored tobacco products.
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Did someone or something seize control of the United States?
What happened to the U.S. border? Where did it go? Who erased it? Why and how did 5 million people enter our country illegally? Did Congress secretly repeal our immigration laws? Did Joe Biden issue an executive order allowing foreign nationals to walk across the border and reside in the United States as they pleased?
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Delegate Wren Williams (R-Patrick) was found not guilty of assaulting Delegate Marie March (R-Floyd) on Wednesday. An outside judge brought in to hear the case said March’s legal team failed to prove Williams intentionally assaulted her, according to The Roanoke Times.
Williams and March are conservative Republicans in neighboring districts who have been paired into the same deep-red district for the upcoming election cycle, setting off one of the most heated primary battles currently in Virginia.
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Parents are speaking out about the potential teachers’ strike and what is being done on both sides to resolve it as tensions between Akron Public Schools (APS) and its teachers intensify.
After many allegations of campus violence, APS teachers declared last week that they would strike mere days after kids are expected to return from winter break. According to a news release, safety was one of their primary concerns.
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Minnesota Democrats introduced a bill Thursday to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults over the age of 21.
With control of both chambers of the Legislature, and a governor who is ready to sign it into law if passed, they are confident this is the year it will happen.
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A bill is re-emerging in Pennsylvania’s new State Senate session to end the requirement that pardon and commutation recommendations from the State Board of Pardons be unanimous.
The five-member board comprises the lieutenant governor and the state attorney general as well as experts on corrections, victims’ rights, and mental health. Once the panel issues a recommendation for an inmate to receive a pardon or a commuted sentence, the governor reviews those determinations and decides whether to sign off on them. Historically, governors have tended to follow the board’s advice.
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Madison East High School will host a “family friendly” drag show later this month, a taxpayer-funded woke event that is “Exhibit A” for expanded school choice, according to a parental rights activist.
East High parents recently received an email announcing the event, sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Alliance. The show is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 19, according to the school’s calendar. The festivities will take place in the high school’s Margaret Williams Theater.
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Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow on Thursday said she won’t seek reelection to the office she’s held since Jan. 3, 2001. Her current term ends Jan. 3, 2025.
Stabenow, 72, said she’s stepping down to “pass the torch” to a younger generation of Democrats.
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Connecticut cities and towns are seeking tax relief and more money for education from the state as a new legislative session gets underway.
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities has released a list of legislative priorities that its 168 municipal members believe “merit priority action” by Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly before the regular session ends in June.
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After refusing to change its transgender policy for five years, a Florida school district will now require students to use bathrooms on the basis of biological sex rather than gender identity, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Pasco County school district Superintendent Kurt Browning announced Tuesday that the district changed its policy to mandate restroom and locker room use on the basis of biological sex, with private bathroom access for transgender students, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The policy change comes after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to uphold a Florida school district’s policy of separating restrooms by “biological sex” instead of gender identity.
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During a Tuesday Fountain Hills Town Council Meeting, Councilman Allen Skillicorn led a successful effort to restore an invocation of prayer to the beginning of future meetings.
“For over 200 years, this [prayer] has been part of our legislative process. This isn’t about a church. This is about people coming in from the community and praying for the board and praying for the town or state or the country,” Skillicorn said following the approval by the board.
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The Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund political action committee (PAC) on Thursday came out in favor of Justice Daniel Kelly’s election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Kelly previously served on the court from 2016 to 2020 but failed to get reelected that spring. This year, he will face state Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dorow (3rd District), Dane County Circuit Court Judge Everett Mitchell (Branch 4), and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz (Branch 24) in the February 21 primary. The top two vote-getters will compete for the high-court seat in an April 4 general election.
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Members of the East Cleveland City Council dissolved into an argument over the position of council president and who legally qualifies for the Ward 3 position.
Last month, Councilmembers Korean Stevenson and Pat Blochowiak filed a lawsuit against Council President Nathaniel Martin and Clerk of Council Tracy Udrija-Peters due to allegedly illegal actions without the council’s support.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Election Commission had a full hearing scheduled for today and tomorrow to investigate multiple election law violation complaints filed by three separate parties against former gubernatorial candidate Joe Blystone. Instead of a hearing, the session turned into a settlement conference that resulted in an agreement.
That agreement orders Blystone to surrender his campaign cash of approximately $105,000 and shut down his campaign fund. The funds are to be distributed by paying $75,000 to an escrow account for a case Blystone started in Delaware County against his former campaign co-manager; turning over the remaining balance to the Ohio Election Commission in the form of a fine. Additionally, Blystone stipulates that the allegations made in the complaints are fact and commits to not seek office for five years.
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