Day: January 16, 2024

J6 Defendant Stewart Parks Plans Last Minute Appeal as Eight-Month Prison Sentence Nears

Tennessee Star Staff
Stewart Parks

Majority Whip Johnny Garrett joined the newsmaker line on Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to share his insights on the new legislative session as it begins its second week at home as snow continues to blanket the region.

Garrett expressed optimism about Governor Bill Lee’s proposed education freedom scholarships, though he said he does anticipate some opposition to the proposal.

The conversation then turned to the potential constitutional issue regarding the franchise excise tax law that could leave taxpayers on the hook for as much as $1.2 billion. Garrett noted Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is evaluating the claims to see if tax relief for the companies in question would address constitutional concerns.

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TN House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett: There Is Discussion About the Constitutionality of Our Franchise Excise Tax Law

Tennessee Star Staff
Johnny Garrett

Majority Whip Johnny Garrett joined the newsmaker line on Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to share his insights on the new legislative session as it begins its second week at home as snow continues to blanket the region.

Garrett expressed optimism about Governor Bill Lee’s proposed education freedom scholarships, though he said he does anticipate some opposition to the proposal.

The conversation then turned to the potential constitutional issue regarding the franchise excise tax law that could leave taxpayers on the hook for as much as $1.2 billion. Garrett noted Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is evaluating the claims to see if tax relief for the companies in question would address constitutional concerns.

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Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Ethics Complaint Being Reviewed

Just the News
Kentaji Brown Jackson

An ethics complaint filed against the Supreme Court’s newest justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson, is being reviewed by a committee with the Judicial Conference, which is the policy making body for federal courts. 

The Center for Renewing America, a conservative non-profit, filed the complaint last month against Jackson, alleging that she “willfully failed to disclose required information regarding her husband’s medical malpractice consulting income for over a decade.”

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Commentary: Four Things People Can Do to Change the Culture in 2024

Admin
People Praying

Maybe I am on a new year high, but as I consider the West’s cultural renewal, I sense an optimism in the air I haven’t felt for years.

In 2023, we saw a growing public awareness about the dangers and futility of transgender surgery. Alongside that, many woke up to the hypocrisy of the climate alarmists. And building on the success of Roe v. Wade’s demise, many states have now passed heartbeat bills, providing robust protections for many of the nation’s unborn. Surprisingly, pollsters even picked up on a decline in support for same-sex relationships.

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Analysis Ties Surge in Inflation to Increased Spending, Value of Debt

Admin

The U.S. government and those of other countries could be using higher inflation to lessen the value of growing public debt resulting from increased spending during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis by a Harvard economist working with The Heritage Foundation. 

The study covers government spending from 2020 through 2022, the high point of the pandemic, and looked at the U.S. and 20 other economies in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD. 

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Contracts Show Fani Willis Offered Top RICO Expert Lower Hourly Rate Than Her Alleged Lover in Trump Case

Admin

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis paid her alleged romantic partner, Nathan Wade, to work at a higher hourly rate on the case against former President Donald Trump than she contracted one of the state’s leading racketeering experts, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

John Floyd, who wrote a book on federal and state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statutes and is considered Georgia’s top expert, entered into a contract with the Fulton County District Attorney’s office on March 10, 2021 at an hourly rate of $150 per hour, according to a contract obtained by the DCNF. Nathan Wade, who Willis appointed special prosecutor, was retained at a rate of $250 per hour, according to the contract contained in court documents — though Willis claimed Sunday all her special counsels were paid the same rate.

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Watchdog Files Accreditation Complaint Against Harvard over Plagiarism Scandal

Admin

A higher education watchdog group has filed a complaint with the organization that accredits Harvard University over campus leaders’ probe into plagiarism accusations against former President Claudine Gay.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) filed a 12-page complaint with the New England Commission of Higher Education that calls on the group to launch a probe into “Harvard’s apparent violation of its own established procedures in the investigation of the alleged plagiarism committed by Dr. Gay,” ACTA stated in a Jan. 12 news release.

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Arizona State Sen. Jake Hoffman Pitches Bill to Ban Arizona from Contracting With Companies That Push DEI

Tom Pappert

Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) filed a bill last Monday to prohibit Arizona from establishing large contracts with private sector entities that require Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness (DEI) training for their employees.

Hoffman’s SB 1005 would prohibit any “public entity” in Arizona “from requiring or spending public monies on a diversity, equity and inclusion program and allows an employee who is required to participate in the program to bring an action against the public entity,” and government bodies “from entering into a contract with a company that participates in a DEI program,” according to a fact sheet for the bill.

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Tennessee Lawmakers Propose Legislation Banning Banks, Credit Card Companies from Tracking Purchases of Guns and Ammo

Tom Pappert

State Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) and State Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would prohibit banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions from tracking purchases of firearms.

Warner filed HB 1784 and Hensley filed SB 1702 to make it “an unfair or deceptive trade practice” for any “financial institution to require a firearms retailer to use firearms-specific transaction codes” after the industry began creating a new credit card merchant category code for purchases of firearms and ammunition, which they claimed would help identify dangerous gun owners or suspicious transactions. 

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Commentary: Lawfare Against Trump Is Running Out of Gas

Admin

We should dispense with the tired narrative that four conscientious state and federal prosecutors — independently and without contact with the Biden White House or the radical Democrats in Congress — all came to the same disinterested conclusions that Donald Trump should be indicted for various crimes and put on trial during the campaign season of 2024.

The prosecutors began accelerating their indictments only once Trump started to lead incumbent Joe Biden by sizable margins in head-to-head polls. Moreover, had Trump not run for the presidency, or had he been of the same party as most of the four prosecutors, he would have never been indicted by any of them.

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Conservative PAC Releases Ad Targeting Rep. Bob Good for Private Remarks About Trump

Tom Pappert

A conservative political action committee in Virginia released a new ad targeting Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05) on Monday, highlighting a video published in December that appeared to show Good repeatedly criticize former President Donald Trump after stating he would not make similar remarks in public.

The narrator for Virginians for Conservative Leadership PAC’s 30-second commercial declared, “For cameras, Bob Good says Trump’s okay,” but called him “two faced” and a “fake” in private, before cutting to the December video.

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Georgia Universities Rebrand, Rename Diversity Efforts in Wake of New Anti-DEI Regulations

Admin

As Georgia universities respond to new anti-Diversity, Equity and Inclusion regulations in the state, at least one outspoken scholar argues the efforts are not actually eliminating DEI.

The University System of Georgia in 2023 banned the use of DEI statements for hiring, and colleges and universities in the state were also told to discontinue the use of DEI terminology in teaching training standards.

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Commentary: Established Brands Often Struggle with Marketing

Admin
Pepsi Challenge

Unlike startups that are expected to take risks, get messy, and challenge the status quo, larger established firms inherit what could be considered golden handcuffs, given that success can make change a challenge. Indeed, care must be taken not to rock the boat for stockholders or tarnish the brand equity that has been established among a loyal customer base.

Much like the construction of a home, once a company is built, updates and improvements are only given consideration if changes will strengthen the existing model and its equity. The location, foundation, and general structure, however, are rarely tampered with by proud homeowners. And although additions can occur, it will cost not only materials but also permit approvals, and design changes may generate remorse for earlier sunk costs.

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Lloyd Austin Released from Hospital in Latest Development in Prostategate

Admin

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was discharged from the hospital on Monday more than two weeks after his undisclosed hospitalization following complications from surgery to treat prostate cancer in December, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Austin was transported in an ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 after experiencing nausea and severe pain in his legs and abdominal area, roughly one week after undergoing a non-invasive surgery to treat prostate cancer, sparking concerns Austin’s whereabouts could weaken the administration’s ability to respond to global threats. Austin was discharged Monday after consultation with his providers and will continue conducting his duties remotely from his home until he returns to the Pentagon, the Department of Defense (DOD) said in an emailed statement on Monday.

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Navy on Pace to Whiff Recruitment Goal Despite Encouraging December

Admin
Navy

U.S. Navy recruited more sailors through the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, which ended in December, than in the same period for five years prior, Navy Vice Adm. Richard Cheeseman, the chief of naval personnel, said Wednesday, according to USNI News.

The Navy brought in 11,282 future sailors through December of 2023, Cheeseman said, compared to just 4,882 active duty sailors in 2022 and 7,233 the year before, according to public data from the Department of Defense (DOD). Cheeseman predicted the Navy once again would miss its recruiting goal by the end of this fiscal year but noted that the service performed better than expected in 2023, hoping 2024 would bring a similar surprise, according to USNI News.

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