Day: January 27, 2025

Bill to Help Veterans Receive Medical Treatment Outside VA Health Care Introduced by Sen. Marsha Blackburn

Tom Pappert
VA Healthcare

The Veterans Health Care Freedom Act was introduced last Friday by a group of senators led by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), whose office said the plan would improve veterans’ access to health care by allowing them to receive treatment from private hospitals and physicians without going through their local Veterans Affairs hospital.

Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) joined Blackburn in submitting the legislation, which would direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to create a pilot program in at least four Veterans Integrated Service Networks that allow eligible veterans to be seen by any VA hospital or medical center, and would allow them to bypass standard VA referrals under specific conditions.

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin Vows to Veto Virginia Democrat’s Bill Removing Religious Exemption for Homeschool Families

Tom Pappert
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin vowed to veto legislation, currently under consideration in the Virginia State Senate, which would remove the religious exemption that allows Virginia parents to homeschool their children on theological grounds.

Senate Bill (SB) 1031 was submitted earlier this month by State Senator Stella Pekarsky (D-Centreville), and according to its summary the legislation would require families who homeschool on religious grounds to annually provide notice to school superintendents, provide evidence they can provide a sufficient education, and describe the curriculum that children will receive while home schooled.

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Commentary: Trump Must Continue to Axe American Taxpayer-Funded Globalist Organizations

Daily Caller News Foundation
President Donald Trump, United Nation

Politicians and the high-brow intelligentsia have long led Americans to play patsy to the world-government movement. President Trump has made a good start at ending this nonsense, but there is much more to do.

To be clear, Trump is not an isolationist. He understands that as the world’s pre-eminent superpower militarily and economically, the United States has a role to play. But that role has rules and limits which preclude support for hostile or deadwood international organizations.

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Tennessee House Speaker Says Shelby County School Board’s Firing of Director Another Reason to Pass Education Freedom Act

Tom Pappert
Marie Feagins

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said on Monday that the controversial removal of the former Director of Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) serves as another reason the General Assembly should pass the Education Freedom Act, which would create 20,000 scholarships to help families pay for private education, and is under consideration this week during a special legislative session called by Governor Bill Lee.

Sexton confirmed during an appearance on KWAM’s “Wake up Memphis” that lawmakers are likely to pass legislation empower the State of Tennessee to take control over the school system following the vote to fire superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins by the MSCS Board of Education, after board members claimed Feagins misrepresented overtime fees and failed to disclose receipt of a donation, among other offenses.

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Abbott Deploys Texas Military to Rio Grande Valley to Assist Trump Administration

The Center Square
Texas National Guard

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott surged additional Texas military resources to the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) to assist President Donald Trump with his border security efforts.

Abbott did so as removal operations are already underway in Trump’s first week in office after he issued a series of executive orders to secure the border, including sending 1,500 troops to Texas and California, The Center Square reported.

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Pete Hegseth’s Dad Reflects on Son’s ‘Rollercoaster’ Rise to the Top of the Military

Alpha News
Brian Hegseth

“You can’t be ready for that,” Brian Hegseth said when reflecting on the moment he learned his son, Pete, was President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Defense.

“He went to a Starbucks down the street and he called me and he was like, ‘Dad, I’m going to be picked for DOD,’” Brian said. “We’re just Minnesotans, raising kids and grandkids, and they go off and do special things. It’s pretty cool.”

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Connecticut Governor Says Illegal Immigrants Are Welcome in State

Zachery Schmidt
Ned Lamont

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said last week that illegal immigrants are welcomed in the state.

“My advice is, send your kids to school. My advice is, keep going to church,” the Democrat said, according to CT Insider. “We don’t collect the immigration status of people who are going to church or kids who are at school. Our cops are busy trying to keep the streets safe, they’re not asking the immigration status of somebody who’s caught jaywalking or speeding.”

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Commentary: Tennessee Parents, Not Bureaucrats, Should Choose What’s Best for Their Kids’ Education

Star News Contributor
Classroom students

The pandemic proved one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: parents are responsible for directing their kids’ education. This isn’t an argument, it’s a fact. When schools close and services are suspended, it is parents who are left to figure out what to do. With this very recent context, it’s hard to believe that there are those who oppose giving parents more options. I’m here to share good news: school choice works.

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Federal Agency Pauses Requirement for Small Businesses to File ‘Beneficial Ownership Reports’ amid Lawsuit, New Administration

Tom Pappert
Small Business

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) on Friday paused its requirement for 33 million small business owners to file “beneficial ownership reports” with the federal government, under penalty of heavy fines and imprisonment, as a lawsuit seeking to prevent the enforcement reaches the U.S. Supreme Court.

While the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court’s ruling which prevented FINCEN from requiring small business owners file the reports, the agency announced Friday that enforcement of the data collection will remain paused due to a lower court’s ruling in another case seeking to block the enforcement.

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Trump DOJ Files New Charges Against Illegal Immigrant Arrested in Nashville Prostitution Bust

Tom Pappert
Elmer Humberto Aparicio-Castillo

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a new charge against one of the five illegal immigrants who were arrested in Nashville as part of a human trafficking operation, accusing 28-year-old Elmer Humberto Aparicio Castillo on Friday of “unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.”

A DOJ press release confirmed that Aparicio Castillo, “is unlawfully present in the United States with a criminal history related to immigration offenses.”

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New Conservative Fountain Hills Leadership Kills ‘Woke DEI’ Road Diets

Rachel Alexander
Fountain Hill Town Councilmember Allen Skillicorn

With conservatives now dominating the leadership in Fountain Hills, a plan for road diets has been defeated. The Fountain Hills Town Council (FHTC) voted 5 to 2 against the “Woke DEI Vision Zero Road Diet Plan” on Tuesday. The program was approved in April of last year under the leadership of former far left Mayor Ginny Dickey and Democrats on the FHTC. Road diets eliminate lanes on roads in the city and replace them with bicycle lanes.

Fountain Hills Councilman Allen Skillicorn said in a statement released to The Arizona Sun Times, “This plan includes a commitment to gender equity, why? This plan mentions greenhouse gases seven times, mentions climate change nine times, mentions environmental justice thirteen times, and mentions equity twenty times. Our town and our nation have rejected wokeness and DEI. Today is a new era of common sense. This is not for our town.” 

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