On Thursday, the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee published results of its first-ever poll revealing how Tennessee voters feel about a variety of issues.
Read the full story
The Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is the only airport in the country that operates under limited federal perimeters. This limitation unnecessarily constrains the general public’s access to flights while simultaneously increasing costs of tickets.
DCA, unlike other airports in the United States, has a federally mandated limit on the number of flights that are allowed in and out of the airport if travelling 1,250 miles or more. This constraint creates an imbalance between supply and demand, leaving travellers to face the repercussions of limited flights, limited flight times, lost productivity due to the need to make flight connections and increased costs.
Read the full story
Social media platform Twitter warned rival Meta that intended to protect its intellectual property rights following the latter’s debut of a Threads, a Twitter competitor that is linked to Meta’s other platforms.
Twitter has raised concerns that Meta may have improperly used its intellectual property and issued the firm a cease-and-desist letter on Thursday.
Read the full story
Conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been ousted from the conservative Freedom Caucus, a member of its board has said.
Maryland GOP Rep. Andy Harris told Politico on Thursday that “[a] vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus for some of the things she’s done.”
Read the full story
For this week’s installment of Clint Brewer’s Winners and Losers, the Nashville-area public policy expert and recovering journalist lauded the First Amendment as the big winner, while once again Nashville Mayor John Cooper makes the Loser list as the Speedway project flounders on Thursday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report’s with Michael Patrick Leahy.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) started a 5-year, $3.65 million contract with a private firm to manage the state’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program. While DBA Students First Technologies (SFT) is a relatively new company, ownership said it feels confident in its ability to partner with the state in serving Tennessee families exploring alternative education opportunities.
Read the full story
A new report from an influential conservative think tank calls on Congress to fix the college accreditation process and end accreditors’ stranglehold on higher education.
With the stated aim of returning “accreditation to its original function as a mechanism for quality assurance and improvement,” the report asks lawmakers to adopt several changes to the Higher Education Act as they work through its first reauthorization since 2008.
Read the full story
U.S. House oversight lawmakers reviewing the FDA’s role in the baby formula shortage say the federal agency is dodging oversight and delaying providing answers.
Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week asking for interviews with FDA officials to get to the bottom of the baby formula crisis that rocked the U.S. last year.
Read the full story
Nashville Electric Services (NES) has shared a list of tips on how to stay safe and conserve energy usage during periods of extreme heat.
Read the full story
Fans of Sound of Freedom, the true-life thriller that exposes the sinister world of child trafficking, have propelled the film to the top spot at the box office on its July 4 opening in America.
The film, distributed by Angel Studios (The Chosen), is based on the true story of former government agent Tim Ballard, played by The Passion of the Christ’s Jim Caviezel, who quit his job to rescue a little girl from sex traffickers in the jungles of Colombia, and ended up saving many more children and adults.
Read the full story
Former Vice President Mike Pence says his “former running mate,” among others in the Republican Party presidential nomination chase, are missing the significance of the U.S. coming to the aid of Ukraine.
Pence said he recently paid a call on the war-torn European nation and its president to see firsthand “the results of the extraordinary, unprovoked invasion by Russia” as well as the “tenacity and toughness” of the Ukrainian military.
Read the full story
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be a long-shot candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, but he appears to be hauling in the kind of campaign cash that could give President Joe Biden and his re-election efforts some heartburn.
The Kennedy Jr. campaign last Friday announced its first million-dollar day just hours before the close of the critical July quarterly reporting period.
Read the full story
A group of pro-abortion activists delivered thousands of signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday in an attempt to put an amendment to enshrine abortion into the state constitution on the ballot in November.
The Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, a coalition of radical pro-abortion activists that includes Planned Parenthood, Pro-Choice Ohio, the Abortion Fund of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, along with the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights submitted 710,131 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office before the deadline to go before voters in November.
Read the full story
Connecticut has joined a handful of states banning utilities from passing on the costs of lobbying the state government to energy consumers.
A new law, tucked into a package of bills signed by Gov. Ned Lamont last week, will prevent large investor-owned utilities from recovering the costs associated with lobbying, as well as legal fees, memberships, dues or contributions to a business or industry trade associations or groups, among other changes.
Read the full story
It’s uncertain how a May bill proposing further deregulation of Reagan National Airport will fare, but there are other efforts currently underway in Virginia that could offer more options for travelers to the capital region.
Manassas Regional Airport is discussing a possible expansion with airport management company Avports that would allow it to start offering commercial flights.
Read the full story
by Benjamin Rothove Illegal immigrants in Minnesota will soon get free college tuition if their families are below a certain household income level. The “North Star Promise” program “will create a tuition and fee-free pathway to higher education for eligible Minnesota residents at eligible institutions as a ‘last-dollar’ program by covering the balance of tuition and fees remaining after other scholarships, grants, stipends and tuition waivers have been applied,” according to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education summary. That includes illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria, according to the education department. The legislation goes into effect for the fall 2024 semester. The “Adjusted Gross Income” must be “below $80,000,” according to the Office of Higher Education. The College Fix emailed state senator Omer Fateh, one of the bill’s sponsors, twice in the past four weeks to ask for comment on the legislation. Fateh did not respond to questions about potential violation of federal law, concerns about pulling resources away from other students and potential incentivization of illegal immigration. “We’ve been seeing declining enrollment on all campuses,” Fateh said during debate over the legislation. “If we don’t do something quick, we’re at risk of shutting down some campuses. … I see this bill as an enrollment driver.”…
Read the full story
A U.S. District Court judge granted an injunction Tuesday stopping the Biden administration from working with social media companies to censor information about elections, COVID-19, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and other “conservative” speech. Similarly, in 2022, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer worked with Biden’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, to “manipulate elections,” Trump attorney Christina Bobb tweeted last December. The Biden administration immediately filed a notice of appeal.
In his 155-page opinion, Judge Terry Doughty observed that the censorship was directed at conservatives. “It is quite telling that each example or category of suppressed speech was conservative in nature,” he said. “This targeted suppression of conservative ideas is a perfect example of viewpoint discrimination of political speech. American citizens have the right to engage in free debate about the significant issues affecting the country.”
Read the full story
A Georgia lawmaker wants to increase the penalties for anyone who sets a law enforcement vehicle on fire.
Rep. Deborah Silcox, R-Sandy Springs, announced a renewed push for House Bill 500 when lawmakers return in January. The announcement comes after vandals set fire to law enforcement motorcycles parked at an Atlanta Police Department facility on Southside Industrial Parkway that is home to the Atlanta Police Training Academy and its special operations precinct.
Read the full story
Driver’s license classes in five states have been singled out as no longer valid in Florida, in accordance with legislation that took effect Saturday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 presidential candidate, said Wednesday the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has published a list of classes by state which are invalid because people living in or entering the country illegally can obtain them in Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont or Hawaii.
Read the full story
One of the Democratic members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission is calling a possible Senate vote on the state’s election administrator a “sideshow.”
Commissioner Ann Jacobs was on UPFRONT over the weekend, where she said there’s no reason for the Senate to vote on Meagan Wolfe’s job with the Commission.
Read the full story
Far too many Americans cannot afford the most basic necessity of life: a decent place to live.
Rental and purchase costs for quality apartments and houses simply price out many working-class citizens.
Read the full story
Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro says he plans on dropping his push for private school vouchers from the state budget amid opposition from teachers unions and members of his own party.
The budget passed the state House and Senate on Wednesday after discussions had been deadlocked on the $100 million voucher program, local outlet Spotlight PA reported.
Read the full story
Democrats in Michigan have “pleaded” with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to run for president in 2024, citing concerns about President Joe Biden, according to Politico’s Jonathan Martin.
State lawmakers are encouraging Whitmer, Michigan’s two-term Democratic governor, to seek the party’s nomination in 2024 despite her previously ruling out a White House bid, sources familiar told Martin. Several Democratic colleagues from other states have pushed the Michigan lawmakers to plead with the governor to reconsider, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus, citing concerns over the president’s low approval ratings.
Read the full story
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) submitted signatures Wednesday for its Ohio ballot initiative that would not only bring late-term abortions to the state but also end parental consent laws and other protections for women and children.
Protect Women Ohio (PWO) is a parental rights and pro-life coalition that is seeking to block radical leftist organizations’ attempt to rewrite Ohio’s Constitution via the ballot initiative that would eliminate parental notification and consent requirements for minors obtaining abortions and gender transition hormone drugs and surgeries.
Read the full story
Special counsel Jack Smith expanded his Trump probe to Arizona by sending two subpoenas to the Arizona Secretary of State requesting information about 2020 election lawsuits filed by Republicans.
Smith, who so far has brought 37 charges against the former president, issued two subpoenas requesting documents from one election lawsuit brought by Trump’s campaign, and a second by former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward.
Read the full story
Arizona Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope (R-Florance) said that Governor Katie Hobbs’ recent executive orders to provide insurance-covered sex change procedures and ban so-called “conversion therapy” are “out of touch” with the desires of the majority of Arizonans.
Last week, Governor Hobbs signed two executive orders one to require state employee health care plans to cover sex change surgeries and another to ban state agencies from funding, promoting, or supporting so-called “conversion therapy” for minors.
Read the full story
Don’t let his Hollywood good looks fool you. When it comes to being a genuine country boy, Austin Moody is the real deal. Born several miles south of the birthplace of country music (Bristol, Tennessee) in Kingsport, Moody was raised on a farm and surrounded by music. They raised cattle and sheep, and he was a proud member of the 4H Club.
Read the full story
Republican Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt called on a top cybersecurity official to resign Wednesday following a preliminary injunction preventing government coordination with social media platforms to censor protected speech.
Schmitt urged the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Jennifer Easterly to step down in an interview with journalist Michael Shellenberger on Wednesday. A federal judge had issued an injunction Tuesday preventing the Biden administration from coordinating with social media companies to censor content after finding that officials likely violated the First Amendment.
Read the full story
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness proposal which would have forgiven $10,000-$20,000 of student loans per borrower. But the fight for student loan forgiveness isn’t going anywhere.
In a previous article for FEE, I highlighted how student loan forgiveness has already been happening and started under president Trump due to the freeze on interest accumulation. Although this may not be as visible as a $10,000 lower balance, frozen interest means the real cost of taking a loan out became smaller than the initial terms suggested.
Read the full story
Mark Levin, author and host of “Life, Liberty & Levin” on Fox News, claimed in a Wednesday tweet that Target told him it will not carry his new book because customers may be offended by the title.
Target reportedly informed Levin’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, that the retail giant will not carry his new book, “The Democrat Party Hates America,” which is set to be released on Sept. 19, because the title may offend customers, Levin said on Twitter. Target has been the center of several recent controversies that include selling LGBTQ merchandise for children during Pride Month and funding an anti-militarization group.
Read the full story
When President Biden fumed that the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling is “not normal,” he spoke more truth than he may have intended. It is certainly not normal nowadays to acknowledge, even implicitly, that discrimination against whites is possible, or even wrong. The Supreme Court blasted the vaporous pretexts that elites have used to justify this invidious scheme, which has carried on indefinitely, feasting on countless dreams without satisfying a bottomless hunger of unquantifiable grievance. The sentimental and, arguably, self-serving wailing of the dissenters, particularly Justice Jackson, draws from that same source.
Read the full story