DeSantis and Haley Well Received by Evangelical Christians at Iowa Faith and Leadership Summit

In closing the nationally watched Family Leadership Summit late Friday afternoon, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ratcheted up the political rhetoric and sounded more fired up than he’s been at some of his previous campaign trips to Iowa.

“With me, on Day 1, you get a new FBI director,” the top tier candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination told the crowd of 1,700-plus attendees at the 12th evangelical Christian conference.

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Pence Battles Boos, Tucker Carlson’s Tough Questions at Iowa Family Leadership Summit

Former Vice President Mike Pence has long been a standard bearer for the evangelical Christian movement in American politics.

On Friday, before a gathering of hundreds of Christian faithful at the 12th Annual Family Leadership Summit in downtown Des Moines, it felt, to some degree, that the GOP candidate for president had lost a good portion of that faithful base.

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18 States, DC Accept Ballots after Election Day, with North Dakota’s Deadline Facing Lawsuit

Poll workers counting ballots

North Dakota is facing a lawsuit over its acceptance of mail-in ballots 13 days after Election Day and is among 18 states and Washington, D.C., that accept and tabulate ballots post-election.

The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday against North Dakota State Election Director Erika White, alleges that the state’s law to accept ballots up to 13 days after Election Day violates federal law.

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Despite Supreme Court Smackdown, Biden Admin Plans to Wipe $39 Billion in Student Debt

The Department of Education (DOE) announced Friday that it will automatically forgive $39 billion of student loan debt for more than 804,000 borrowers, following a recent ruling by the Supreme Court that blocked the administration’s plan to grant forgiveness to nearly 40 million Americans.

The DOE will start notifying borrowers Friday that their federal student loans “will be automatically discharged in the coming weeks,” according to a DOE press release. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in June that the Biden administration cannot use executive power to cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt for non-Pell Grant recipients and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

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DeSantis Campaign Memo Reveals New Strategy to Catch Donald Trump

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign has a new strategy to bolster the governor’s movement in the 2024 GOP primaries and catch up to former President Donald Trump, according to a July 6 campaign memo obtained by NBC News.

Trump continues to lead DeSantis in both state and national polls, and the campaign memo labeled “Confidential Friends and Family Update” details the governor’s plans to shore up support in key early primary states, insisting a large swath of the electorate is still up for grabs. As DeSantis remains particularly focused on New Hampshire, the campaign intends to delay efforts in Super Tuesday states to the fall.

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Tucker Carlson Grills GOP Candidate Senator Tim Scott on War in Ukraine, Biden’s Cluster Bombs

U.S Senator Tim Scott said there shouldn’t be American military “boots on the ground” in Ukraine. But the South Carolina Republican campaigning for president  remains supportive in the U.S. providing the weapons and resources Ukraine needs to push back Russia’s invasion. 

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson hit Scott with tough questions on Ukraine, the border and more at Friday’s Family Leadership Summit, which included a cattle call of GOP presidential candidates. 

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Updates from Inside the ‘Raucous Chamber’: ‘What’s the Pathway to Peace’ in Ukraine?

Tennessee U.S. Rep Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on the newsmaker line Friday for a broad-ranging interview covering everything from FBI Director Chris Wray’s “tap dancing” to the prospects of our Tennessee Army reservists being sent to the Ukraine.

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Former Arizona School Social Worker Claims She Was Advised to Keep Students’ Gender Transitions from Parents

Arizona school district administrators advised social workers to conceal students’ gender transitions from their parents, a former school social worker told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Cyndi O’Brien, a former social worker at Scottsdale Unified School District, recounted a September 2022-2023 meeting where she says district social workers were told that they were not required to call parents if a child comes out as transgender during a counseling session. Instead, O’Brien says social workers were told to only disclose this information if a parent or guardian explicitly asks about it. O’Brien first wrote her story anonymously for Scottsdale Unites For Education Integrity, a parental rights group, before sharing her identity with the DCNF.

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Supreme Court Unveils the First Cases It Will Hear Next Term

The Supreme Court released its oral arguments schedule for October on Friday, which features the first six cases it will hear for its 2023-2024 term.

The Court will hear a major constitutional challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) funding mechanism, an Americans with Disabilities Act “tester” lawsuit against a hotel and a racial gerrymandering case from South Carolina. Oral arguments are set to begin on October 2.

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New Whistleblower Document Reveals Multi-Agency Criminal Conspiracy to Spy, Entrap Law-Abiding Americans

Idaho Tribune Bombshell new documents have recently come to light revealing how the U.S. Government illegally spied on and entrapped citizens during the 2014 “Bundy Ranch Standoff,” and beyond. The document, which was authored by Larry Wooten, a former Special Agent with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), reveals the terrifying extent to which the Federal Government is willing to go to ensnare patriotic Americans who stand up to government overreach. Wooten first made waves in 2017, after sending an 18 page whistleblower document (available in full here) to Washington State Representative Matt Shea chronicling “a widespread pattern of bad judgment, lack of discipline, incredible bias, unprofessionalism and misconduct, as well as likely policy, ethical, and legal violations among senior and supervisory staff at the BLM’s Office of Law Enforcement and Security.”  READ THE FULL STORY    

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Twitter Influencers First on Elon Musk’s Monetization Scheme

TechCrunch Twitter is now paying creators for a share of the ad revenue earned from ads served in the replies to their posts. Users who subscribe to Twitter Blue and have earned more than 5 million tweet impressions each month for the last 3 months are eligible to join. According to owner Elon Musk, the first round of creator payouts will total $5 million, and will be cumulative from the month of February onward. These payouts will be delivered via Stripe. From what some large creators are sharing on Twitter, these payouts are substantial. Writer Brian Krassenstein, who has about 750,000 followers, claims that Twitter paid him $24,305. Twitter just paid me almost $25,000. pic.twitter.com/oIJ2Ycymzb — Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) July 13, 2023 SK, a creator with about 230,000 followers, claims to have earned $2,236 from Twitter; political commentator Benny Johnson, with 1.7 million followers, says he earned $9,546. READ THE FULL STORY              

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Some Tennessee Families Qualify for Back-To-School Cash from Department of Human Services

Some Tennessee families will qualify for back-t0-school cash benefits from the state government, according to a Thursday release from the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS). 

“The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) will provide extra support to more than 13,000 families who receive monthly cash assistance through the state’s Families First program,” according to the release. “The payment will provide extra support to Families First participants as they begin to prepare for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year. Households with an active case in the Families First Program as of July 1, 2023, will receive a one-time payment on their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. This one-time payment will be available around July 15, 2023.”

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Children’s Hospital Agreed to Pay Employee to Give ‘Drag Performance’ to School Kids

A Chicago children’s hospital agreed to pay one of its employees to give a drag performance at a public school event for students, according to documents obtained through a public records request by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago paid Chicago Public Schools (CPS) $500 to cover the cost of a drag performance by one of their health educators at a school resource fair, according to documents obtained by the DCNF. The funds covered a drag performance by Jose Dominguez Magdaleno at the school district’s May “Galaxy Summit.” The summit featured art, workshops and performances in an effort to create “affirming spaces to celebrate and learn about the diversity of [the] CPS community.”

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Angel Studios Celebrates ‘Over 450 New Theaters Added’ for ‘Sound of Freedom’

The platform and studio that distributes the popular crowdfunded thriller Sound of Freedom has announced that “over 450 new theaters have been added for the film’s upcoming weekend” showings despite “rumors” spread on social media that claim AMC theaters are making it difficult for fans to see the film in their local theaters.

“We understand there are rumors—predominantly in social media—that AMC theaters have made it difficult for fans to see Sound of Freedom in local AMC theaters, and we want to make it clear these rumors are not accurate,” Brandon Purdie, head of Angel Theatrical Distribution, said in a press statement Thursday. “AMC has been an outstanding partner for Angel Studios, and in fact, as a result of the movie’s performance and consumer demand, AMC has agreed to add additional screens for Sound of Freedom this weekend.”

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Ohio Governor DeWine Appoints Attorney James Payne to the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the appointment of Republican attorney James Payne to the Vinton County Court of Common Pleas, General and Domestic Relations Division serving the Ross, Gallia, Jackson, Hocking, and Athens communities.

Judge-designee Payne, of McArthur, has been the Vinton County prosecutor for the past two-and-a-half years. Before that, he started his own law practice that year in South Point, a village consisting of about 3,500 individuals in Lawrence County, where he had lived most of his life after beginning his career as a judicial attorney in Lawrence County in 1994.

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Georgia Republican Party Names Its Next Executive Director

Chairman Josh McKoon appointed Travis Bowden on Wednesday as the new executive director of the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP).

“With the news that our Executive Director Ryan Caudelle would be leaving the Georgia Republican Party for a new and exciting opportunity in the conservative movement, I was faced with quickly identifying and hiring an Executive Director who could keep the positive momentum we have achieved in the last 31 days going and to accelerate initiatives our leadership intends to roll out in 2023,” McKoon said in a statement. “I am excited to announce I found that Executive Director and am appointing longtime grassroots activist, state committee member, and political consultant Travis Bowden to fill this important role.”

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Wisconsin Lawmakers Introduce Save Women’s Sports Act,’ Dems Cry Discrimination

Two Badger State Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that would keep biological males who identify as female from competing in K-12 and collegiate sports in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Legislative Transgender Parent and Non-Binary Advocacy Caucus is crying foul, asserting the legislation is discriminatory and detrimental to the youth trans community.

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Commentary: One Illegal Vote Can Change the Outcome of an Election

People Voting

Most people in the media don’t want you to believe that election crimes are committed. They say it is easier to find Bigfoot. But election crimes are not a myth, and The Heritage Foundation has been systematically documenting them for years. When those who deny the crimes occur are forced to confront the data, the response sometimes shifts to “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

After all, does it really matter if a single vote is improperly or criminally cast?

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Minnesota Secretary of State: Election Officials Within Their Rights to Work with Big Tech to Fight ‘Outright Disinformation’

Fresh off a legislative session where Steve Simon was able to check off nearly every item on his election reform “wish list,” the recently re-elected Minnesota secretary of state took some time to speak to both national and local media about how he views the landscape of the upcoming 2024 election, and as he calls it the “democracy business.”

According to Simon, those who intend to suppress the vote with election-related “disinformation” or intimidation may be tripped up by new election-reform laws recently passed by the Democrat trifecta in the Minnesota Legislature. But he told the Washington Post in an interview this week that he doesn’t believe those new voter protections in Minnesota will necessarily deter disinformation efforts come 2024.

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Republican-Led States Rally to Florida’s Defense in Chinese Land Ownership Lawsuit

Twelve Republican-led states have joined an amicus brief in support of Florida, which is being sued in federal court over a law that bans Chinese citizens from owning land in the state.

Florida’s Senate Bill 264, which was signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 8 and went into effect on July 1, bans all Chinese citizens who are domiciled in China from buying, inheriting or receiving land in the state, while nationals of other “countries of concern” face land ownership restrictions. After the American Civil Liberties Union sued Florida on behalf of Chinese plaintiffs, Republican-led states have rallied to Florida’s defense.

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Unemployment Insurance Scam Cost Michigan Taxpayers $550,000

A Detroit resident pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $550,000 of taxpayer money with the help of a former Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency contract employee, announced U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

William Haynes, 26, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith. Haynes admitted to engaging in a criminal conspiracy with Autumn Mims, a former contract UIA examiner for Michigan. Mims’s duties included reviewing, processing, and verifying the legitimacy of unemployment insurance claims.

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Kia Announces Upgrade, Jobs at Georgia Plant

Kia plans to spend more than $200 million to accommodate the assembly of its new electric SUV at its west Georgia facility.

State officials said the project will create roughly 200 new jobs at Kia’s West Point plant, Kia Corporation’s first manufacturing site in North America. When assembly of the EV9 starts in the second quarter of 2024, it will be the fifth model to be assembled at Kia Georgia.

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Arizona State Representative Speaks Out in Support of New Pro-Life Baby Brand

Arizona State Representative and Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee David Cook (R-Globe) is speaking out in support of a new Pro-Life Baby Brand and the release of their new anti-woke advertisement.

The new California-based company Everylife launched its brand on Thursday, with a powerful unapologetically pro-life advertisement saying that every baby is a miracle from God who deserves love, protection, and support.

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Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego Raises $3.1 Million in Race for Sinema’s Senate Seat

Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) claims to have raised $3.1 million from mostly small-dollar donors funding his campaign for U.S. Senate, where he hopes to overcome Republican opposition and ultimately unseat Senator Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-I).

Gallego’s campaign sent campaign finance data to 12 News on Thursday, revealing a $3.1 million fundraising haul in the second quarter of 2023. Though less than the $3.7 million Gallego raised in the first quarter, immediately after announcing his campaign, the latest reporting means his campaign has raised nearly $7 million this year.

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Clint Black Celebrates His 50th Episode with Circle Network

“Talking In Circles With Clint Black” marked a milestone this week by celebrating the taping of their 50th show. “Talking In Circles” airs every Saturday night at 10 p.m. (EST), 9 p.m. (CST) on Circle TV immediately following the Grand Ole Opry. Now in its fourth season, the concept of “Talking In Circles” is similar to “Inside The Actors Studio” expanded to include musicians and comedians.

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EPA Poised to Turbocharge Biden’s Climate Agenda After Ripping Up Trump-Era Rule

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 7 rescinded a Trump-era EPA rule which required the agency to conduct benefit-cost analysis of any significant new air pollution rules.

While it was in effect, the rescinded benefit-cost analysis rule required the EPA to identify the specific problem a new air pollution regulation addresses, explain why market alternatives cannot solve that problem and distinguish between direct and indirect health benefits that an air pollution emission is expected to generate. The Biden EPA will be able to more freely pursue its regulatory agenda against fossil fuels using the Clean Air Act after issuing a final rescission of the benefit-cost rule.

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Top Biden Intel Nominee Calls Warrantless Surveillance Tool Used to Spy on Americans ‘Irreplaceable’

President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead top intelligence agencies described a tool used to surveil Americans without a warrant as vital at his confirmation hearing Wednesday.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh characterized Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a tool that has been abused to spy on Americans, as “extensively used” and “irreplaceable” in his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee. Biden nominated Haugh to head both Cyber Command and the National Security Agency (NSA) in May, according to Politico.

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Commentary: 10 Reasons Why Affirmative Action Died

The end of affirmative action was inevitable. The only surprise was that such intentions gone terribly wrong lasted so long.

First, supporters of racial preferences always pushed back the goal posts for the program’s success. Was institutionalized reverse bias to last 20 years, 60 years, or ad infinitum? Parity became defined as an absolute equality of result. If “equity” was not obtained, then only institutionalized “racism” explained disparities. And only reverse racism was deemed the cure.

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Chris Rufo Reveals How Transgender Movement Has Been Allowed to Invade American Life and Culture

Author and journalist Chris Rufo presents The Transgender Empire, a new video about the evolution of the transgender movement and its political mission to change American culture forever.

In the video, sponsored by the Manhattan Institute, Rufo details how the transgender movement has taken hold of American life via LGBTQ activist teachers, who have transformed classrooms into propaganda mills, social media influencers, and a predatory transgender medicine industry.

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Voters Officially Launch Recall Campaign Against California Soros-Backed D.A.

A new political committee was created Tuesday aimed at recalling a California County district attorney with ties to left-wing megadonor George Soros.

The political committee, filed under the name “Save Alameda For Everyone (Safe): Recall DA Price,” is part of an effort to remove Alameda County district attorney Pamela Price from office, according to public filings. Price is one of many District Attorneys that have received funding from liberal billionaire donor George Soros in an effort to elect reformist candidates, according to the Capital Research Center.

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