Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech, like his entire presidency, was an astonishingly cynical performance. There were plenty of hollow boasts about things Biden hasn’t actually achieved, but he went further than the usual partisan spin. He conveyed, to a primetime audience, a Potemkin village version of his administration’s goals. While he did plug gun control and an anti-police bill, there were few mentions of identity or race. He mostly talked about economics. In fact, he presented himself as a champion of national revitalization.
Read the full storyDay: February 13, 2023
FBI Keeps Getting Burned by Reliance on Liberal Sources
A dossier alleging Russian collusion funded by a Democrat presidential candidate. A suggestion that school parents were domestic terrorists from a left-leaning school board group. A list suggesting old-fashioned Catholics were extremists from a liberal watchdog on hate speech.
Three triggers for investigation. Three blunders that left America’s premier law enforcement agency reeling with a black eye.
Read the full storyNearly 216,000 Apprehended, Gotaways Reported of Illegal Entries at Southern Border in January
At least 156,274 people illegally entered the U.S. in January, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data published on Friday, down 40% from 251,978 in December 2022, it says. The data excludes gotaway numbers referring to those who are known and reported to illegally enter between ports of entry, evade capture by law enforcement, and don’t return to Mexico or Canada.
Read the full storyUnited States Senator Marsha Blackburn on China Balloon: ‘The Chinese Communist Party Sees Joe Biden as Weak’
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed United States Senator Marsha Blackburn to the newsmaker line to comment on the Chinese spy balloon that traversed the United States, the Biden family compromise, and economic effects of China.
Read the full storyTC Weber: No Good Candidates Yet in Nashville Mayoral Race
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee Star education reporter TC Weber in studio to discuss the lack of good candidates for Nashville’s upcoming mayoral election.
Read the full storyState Senator Mark Pody on Differences Between House and Senate, Refusing Federal Government Dollars
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody to the newsmaker line to discuss the differences between the House and Senate and refusing money from the federal government for the state’s education.
Read the full storyTC Weber Provides Latest Details on Third Grade Retention Law
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report host Leahy welcomed Tennessee Star education reporter TC Weber in studio to further explain the details of Tennessee’s third-grade retention law.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: How the Democrat Party Machine Lives off of Defined Benefits
Monday 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.
Read the full storySoft-on-Crime Progressives Push for Laws to Prevent Traffic Stops for ‘Less Severe’ Violations
Leaders in multiple states and cities are embracing efforts to bar police from pulling drivers over for certain less-severe traffic violations, a move that some experts believe endangers public safety.
Lawmakers in Washington state are pushing a plan that would forbid police traffic stops conducted to address some lower-level traffic lawbreaking, and Oregon has already established a similar policy, while San Francisco is considering a city-wide plan of this kind after Los Angeles and Minneapolis instituted their own. Such restrictions could effectively impede enforcement against more serious offenses and put innocent civilians at risk, according to experts who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Read the full storyChanges Coming to Tennessee’s Standards Review and Textbook Adoption Timeline
A bill that would extend the textbook review and adoption period from 73 months to 97 months moved out of the Senate Education Committee and its counterpart will be heard on Tuesday morning in the House Education Instruction Subcommittee. The proposed measure, SB0421, would also impact the review period of state standards for English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. It is a change that comes from State Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol), at the urging of the Tennessee State Board of Education (SBE).
Read the full storyWest Knoxville Bank Robber Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years in Prison
A 50-year-old man who currently resides in Crossville has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for robbing three banks in West Knoxville over a timespan of three days.
Read the full storyRed State Plans to Strip Accreditation from Schools That Allow ‘Pornography’ in Classroom
Oklahoma is planning to strip accreditation from schools that allow “pornographic” materials in its libraries, according to the state superintendent.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced a new rule on Friday that would lower the accreditation status of any school districts if “pornographic materials or sexualized content” is available to minors through its libraries. Under the rule, school districts must list, either on an online catalog or to the Oklahoma Department of Education, all books and materials available in their libraries.
Read the full storyJanuary Migrant Encounters Hit New Low While Biden Admin Paroles Migrants into U.S.
Federal authorities encountered a new low of more than 150,000 migrants at the southern border in January while the Biden administration paroles thousands of others into the U.S., according to data U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released Friday.
CBP encountered 156,274 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in January, according to the agency. The new low coincides with a new series of policies the Biden administration began implementing for migrants to enter the country using parole authority.
Read the full storyTennessee Launches New Cost Share Program for Agricultural and Forestry Businesses
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) and Governor Bill Lee recently announced a new cost share program for agricultural and forestry businesses.
Read the full storyTennessee Attorney General Files Brief Challenging the FDA’s New Policy on Abortion Drug
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti recently joined 21 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the Northern District of Texas in the case of Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Read the full storySenator Grassley: A ‘Triad’ of Media, FBI, and Democrats Tried to Thwart Investigation into the Biden Family’s Corrupt Business Dealings
In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee’s first hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) detailed how a “triad” of partisan media, FBI, and Democrats used disinformation from a Russian agent to smear their investigation into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
In addition to Grassley, the committee on Thursday heard from Senator Ron Johnson (R- Wis.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former FBI agent Thomas Baker, Professor Jonathan Turley, and former FBI agent Nicole Parker.
Read the full storyCommentary: Spending Limits in Iowa Can Provide Property Tax Relief
Property taxes are a concern for taxpayers across the nation. Iowans, just as with many other states, are confronted with skyrocketing property taxes. The reason for high property taxes is local government spending. Spending drives taxes. This is the main reason why past property tax reforms in Iowa have failed to provide relief.
Montana state Rep. Caleb Hinkle understands that spending is driving higher property tax bills. To remedy this solution, he has introduced a local government spending limitation that will help slow the growth of local government spending and provide much-needed property tax relief.
Read the full storyOhio’s New Voting Reforms to Take Effect Early
Following an order from Secretary of State Frank LaRose to county boards of elections, voting reforms in Ohio that were signed into law last month will take effect sooner than anticipated.
The Ohio General Assembly adopted House Bill (HB) 458 in December and Governor Mike DeWine signed the bill into law in January of this year.
Read the full storyGeorgia Officials Award $150.3 Million Worth of Transportation Projects
The Georgia Department of Transportation awarded 31 projects valued at more than $150.3 million in December.
The largest single investment was a roughly $16 million award to E.R. Snell Contractor. As part of the project, the company will mill and resurface nearly 10.9 miles of U.S. Route 20/Georgia Highway 402 from west of Columbia Drive to the Rockdale-DeKalb county line.
Read the full storyFlorida Will No Longer Ask Students About Menstrual History on Medical Form Required to Play Sports
Florida schools will no longer ask student-athletes to share their menstrual histories to play high school sports, after an effort to make the optional questions mandatory.
The state’s High School Athletic Association’s board of directors voted 14-2 Thursday in an emergency session to adopt a proposal to remove the questions from a pre-participation physical evaluation form, according to NBC News.
Read the full storyWisconsin Congressman Sponsoring TikTok Ban Pleased to See Senate Effort Is Now Bipartisan
U.S. Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) this weekend expressed heightened optimism about the prospect of banning all American use of the video-sharing application TikTok after the Senate version of his bill to do so gained bipartisan support.
Last week, Senator Angus King, an independent who is a member of his chamber’s Democratic Caucus, joined Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) in cosponsoring the legislation, known as the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act). The measure has enjoyed bipartisan backing in the House of Representatives since its introduction in December, being cosponsored by Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8).
Read the full storyAnother Minnesota College Censors Art to Prevent ‘Non-Consensual Viewing’ by Muslim Students
Two liberal arts schools six minutes from each other in St. Paul, Minn., have explicitly subordinated Islam-related academic and artistic freedom to the feelings of Muslim students in recent months, alarming faculty both nationwide and closer to home.
Macalester College temporarily shut down and then added curtains to an art exhibit depicting partially exposed figures in hijabs and niqabs “to prevent unintentional or non-consensual viewing” after Muslim students complained, the administration said in an email Feb. 6 excerpted by Minnesota immigrant news nonprofit Sahan Journal.
Read the full storyPennsylvania Representative Proposes Election-Audit Reforms
Pennsylvania state Representative Dawn Keefer (R-Dillsburg) is asking the state General Assembly to support legislation she is drafting to require periodical audits of the commonwealth’s election registry.
The representative observed that an investigation by Democratic Auditor General Eugene DePasquale that concluded in December 2019 discovered numerous problems with the accuracy of Pennsylvania’s voter records. DePasquale’s report determined, for example, that 24,408 registrations with the same driver’s license number appeared on other registrations. It also found that 2,991 active voter records contained information matching that displayed on Department of Health death notices.
Read the full storyCommentary: Biden’s Fumble on Corporate Taxes Would Leave Retirees in the Cold
During his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden showed that when it comes to taxes, he is playing a game of yards, because companies, in his view, simply make too much money.
In his “Finish the Job” speech, Biden ran right up the middle of the field of investments set aside by workers who for decades thought they had made wise decisions on their own retirement plans.
Read the full storyTie House GOP Energy Production Agenda to Debt Limit, Budget Negotiations, Urges Montana Lawmaker
Montana Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale told Just the News that an effort is underway to connect legislation the GOP-led House passed dealing with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to a legislative package that raises the debt limit.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is locked in negotiations with the White House over a deal that increases the debt limit. He’s pushing for spending reductions in exchange for the GOP-led House voting to raise the debt ceiling.
Read the full storyCommentary: Gun Control Laws Backfiring in California
After the three public shootings over the last two weekends in California, Democrats are again clamoring for even more gun control laws. To California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the solution is to ban more places where people can carry permitted concealed handguns. Unfortunately, the proposal has nothing to do with stopping these attacks, and more gun-free zones only encourage these attacks. Other heavily Democratic states such as New York, New Jersey, and Maryland are making similar pushes.
Concealed handgun permit holders didn’t commit those or other mass public shootings. Permit holders are also extremely law-abiding, being convicted of firearms-related violations at 1/12th the rate of police officers.
Read the full storyCochise County Attorney Who Threatened and Opposed County Supervisors on Hand Counting Ballots and Certifying Election Arrested for ‘Super Extreme’ DUI
Cochise County Attorney Brian McIntyre was arrested early in the morning on January 28 for a “super extreme” DUI. McIntyre, who became nationally known for feuding with the Cochise County Supervisors over their efforts to conduct a hand count of ballots during the 2022 midterm election and reject their vote certifying the results, blew a .21 BAC, more than twice the legal limit.
Fernando “Jack” Dona, Master Sergeant, US Army (Retired), a retired U.S. Army Intelligence Electronic Warfare Aviation Field Systems Engineer and former Staff Sergeant Major of the Training Development and Support Directorate at the U.S. Army Intelligence Center at Fort Huachuca, called for McIntyre to resign. “Sir, if you had any honor and integrity you would have already immediately resigned your position as County Attorney, and thrown yourself at the mercy of the court. The above video of your arrest for EXTREME DUI is an absolute disgrace and embarrassment to Cochise County, Arizona.
Read the full storyCommentary: Somalia’s Problem Isn’t Climate Change, It’s the Climate Agenda
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, recently appeared on NPR’s “News Hour” to discuss the looming catastrophe in Somalia and call for more aid to the troubled east African nation. In her interview, she repeatedly cited climate change as the reason for Somalia’s current predicament.
Framing problems, whether they occur in Syria, Somalia, or California, as primarily the result of “climate change” is inaccurate and unhelpful. The drought in the Horn of Africa is indeed severe, so bad, in fact, that NPR reports it as “the worst drought in 40 years.”
Read the full storyNot One Student Met Grade-Level Expectations for Math in 23 Baltimore Schools: Report
In 23 Baltimore City Schools, zero students tested proficient in math in 2022, according to a report by Project Baltimore.
Through an analysis of 150 Baltimore City Schools, 23 of them, including 10 high schools, eight elementary schools, three high schools and two middle schools, no students met math grade-level expectations, according to a report by Project Baltimore. Approximately 2,000 students took the state administered math exams that tested proficiency levels.
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