Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed the Independent Women’s Forum policy analyst, Patrice Onwuka to the newsmakers line to discuss the lack of common sense and bad policy changes coming forth in the new Biden administration.
Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line by Patrice Onwuka who is a policy analyst with the Independent Women’s Forum. Patrice we were talking about the importance of The Independent Women’s Forum focused on common sense. Now, there’s been a lack of common sense at the federal national policy level about the past week since the inauguration of Joe Biden. (Laughter) Where do we begin? When you get up in the morning Patrice and there’s this long list of just utterly nonsensical executive orders and proposed legislation. Where do you begin?
Onwuka: Oh my goodness. I don’t know. It has been difficult just to stay on top of what’s coming today. Now, we do know today is supposed to be an executive order directing the federal government to buy America. that does that sound familiar to you at all Michael?
Leahy: Donald J Trump.
Onwuka: Well, you know for years we have had a president who directed and who wanted us to bring American companies back. To bring manufacturing back to the United States. To encourage people to buy America. I mean, I would watch the TV segments of small companies, being highlighted at the White House for producing cookie cutters. I have some in my cabinet right now.
So it’s interesting that you see the Biden administration copy and paste this video. But a lot of the executive orders have been to undo everything that’s been done over the past four years. Everything from energy policy to economic policy and social policy. We see for example the lifting of the transgender ban. The lifting of travel from Muslim countries. Which by the way was beyond just Muslim countries. It was not a Muslim ban.
Leahy: Hotbeds of terrorism was what the ban was for.
Onwuka: Exactly. There were countries that were non-Muslim countries that were on that list. but now there’s a new bad travel restriction in place new bands from other countries for coronavirus reason. It’s going to be a couple of rough couple of weeks. Then we’re going to watch the dust settle and see what happens next. And I think the three areas that I’m watching to see is the economic data.
How is the market responding? How how is the labor market responding and what are companies doing? Number two I’m looking at the social impact. What organizations popping up and running with some of these policies. And our schools start implementing new policies as well. And then three, I’m looking at social media to see how people are responding. Are they saying this makes no sense and they’re challenging it or are they just silent on it?
Leahy: Yeah, this makes no sense. I think that’s the mantra of anybody looking at anything virtually anything the Biden administration is doing. You talked about schools. I see you have three children.
Onwuka: Yes I do.
Leahy: What do you do? Are they school age yet?
Onwuka: One is school-aged. He’s doing virtual learning and I’m praying so please join me in prayer that we will see the school bus roll up and the kids get on and go into a physical building at some point this school year the other two are under three years old. So they’ve got some time.
Leahy: Well it sounds like you have a busy life with three children and working as a policy analyst for the Independent Women’s Forum. Tell us about your colleagues at the Independent Women’s Forum. What’s that like to have a group of women who share the same views and I imagine you all kick ideas back and forth. What’s that like?
Onwuka: Well number one we are all virtual. So we have people living in Tampa and Colorado a lot of us live in the DC area. So everything we do is online which makes this the lockdowns and everybody going virtual it’s something we’ve always been doing. But I will tell you it is so cathartic and it’s so encouraging to work with women who cheer each other on. We’re not competing. We’re actually encouraging one another.
Sharing story ideas and sharing policy opportunities with one another. And when crazy stuff comes out in the news we will and we will pray with each other or laugh. But I think it’s great because it demonstrates that women can work together and be productive and still be moms and still be wise. No year goes by Michael without at least two people being pregnant on our staff and that is currently the case.
So it demonstrates that you know what you don’t have to abandon your professional life if you if you’re a woman. nor do you have to abandon your family and make your family less of a priority either. And I think that kind of flexibility is what a lot of women are looking for in the workforce.
Leahy: Well, if you have a virtual work situation there and if you ever get tired of living in the People’s Republic of Maryland, (Onwuka chuckles) we here in Tennessee have open arms for people that want to come in that like no state income tax and liberty and the ability to live in a state where people are very nice to talk to.
Onwuka: Wow. That sounds beautiful. I would love to come there. Nashville is actually on my list of places to visit and you know the rest of the state as well. But I don’t want to send too many Maryland residents down there because I don’t want to turn your beautiful red state purple like we’re seeing in Texas and some of the southwestern states of California refugees.
Leahy: It’s interesting you bring that up because later today Roger Simon in our seven o’clock who is the famed screenwriter. He was nominated for Academy Award. And he is a conservative political commentator that writes for the epoch times lived in Los Angeles until about three years ago. He is among many who’s moved here to Tennessee.
We’re glad to have conservatives come to Tennessee. But as you point out not everyone from Maryland or Chicago that comes here is a conservative. But that’s a political fight for the future that we have here. We feel confident about it. Patrice Onwuka, you are welcome anytime you want to come to Nashville. We’ll show you around. I think you’ll find it a very pleasant place to be.
Onwuka: I hope the barbecue is good. I love good barbecue.
Leahy: We have good barbecue, and we will treat you to some of the great barbecue places of Nashville when you come down. Patrice Onwuka with the Independent Women’s Forum thanks so much for joining us today. Please come back.
Onwuka: And thank you. Please visit us at iwf.org.
Listen to the full first hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris” by Joe Biden.
