Search Results for: david hawk

AFP’s Andrew Ogles: More Conservative Grassroots Pressure Needed to Stop Gas Tax

Wendy Wilson

Andrew Ogles, the Tennessee director of Americans for Prosperity, was in a glum mood Wednesday afternoon after Gov. Haslam’s gas tax plan seemed to get a boost forward. Earlier in the day, Ogles and his fellow tax opponents were more buoyant as they rallied around the costumed Gas Can Man and hoped for a more positive outcome. The House Transportation Subcommittee voted in favor of Haslam’s transportation plan, albeit with an amendment that includes elements of an alternative proposal favored by opponents of the proposed tax increase. But Ogles believes that amendment will disappear once the plan is considered by the full House Transportation Committee, which Ogles says could happen sometime next week. “My suspicion is they’ll strip that off,” Ogles said. “This was merely a Trojan horse to get it out of committee.” Haslam wants to raise the tax on gas by 7 cents a gallon and for diesel, 12 cents a gallon. The current gas tax of 21.4 cents per gallon hasn’t changed since 1989. The alternative plan, known as the Hawk plan because it was put forward by Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, proposes using existing sales tax revenue to pay for road improvements. The Hawk plan was…

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Haslam’s IMPROVE Act Forced Through House Subcommittee in Rare Political Power Play as Speaker Pro Tem Brought in To Break Tie

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

Through a series of political maneuvers, Gov. Haslam’s IMPROVE Act has advanced from the House Transportation Subcommittee to the full House Transportation Committee, thanks to the rare tie-breaking vote cast by Speaker Pro Tem State Rep. Curtis Johnson (R-Clarksville).  Johnson was brought in at the last minute to the House Transportation Subcommittee Wednesday afternoon to break a 4 to 4 tie. With Johnson’s yes vote, the IMPROVE Act passed on a 5 to 4 vote. Subcommittee members voting yes on the amended IMPROVE Act bill were State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma), who also serves as chairman of the full House Transportation Committee, State Rep. David Alexander (R-Winchester), State Rep. Sam Whitson (R-Franklin), and State Rep. Barbara Cooper (D-Memphis). Subcommittee members voting no on the amended IMPROVE Act bill were State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster), chairman of the Transportation Subcommittee, State Rep. Courtney Rogers (R-Goodlettsville), State Rep. Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station), and State Rep. John Mark Windle (D-Livingston). The next stop for the IMPROVE ACT is the full House Transportation Committee, chaired by Haslam ally and gas tax advocate Doss. The version of the IMPROVE ACT that passed was amended to remove the gas tax increase originally proposed by the governor.…

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25 Percent of Highway Fund ‘User Fees’ Are Allocated to General Fund, Education, and Debt

Laura Baigert

One of the principles asserted by Governor Haslam in support of his IMPROVE Act and its proposed increase of 7 cents per gallon in the gas tax is that “users” of roads should pay for road construction. The gas tax is proper, he argues, because people who purchase gas to fuel their cars are the users of roads, and the gas tax is the best mechanism to charge them for that usage. For at least a decade, however, revenue sources originally designed to fund highway construction have been intermingled, and that “user” fee principle has not strictly been applied to the funding of road construction. The IMPROVE Act does not fully address the co-mingling of funds. The Highway Fund receives road construction “user fee” revenues from gasoline tax, motor fuel tax, gasoline inspection tax, motor vehicle registration tax and the motor vehicle title fees. At least 25 percent of those road construction “user fees” go to the General Fund, Education and Debt Service. Though the majority of these “user fee” revenues have been allocated to the Highway Fund, between 25 percent and 29 percent of those fees -ranging from $177 million to $196 million annually– have been diverted away from the…

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Nashville Talk Radio Led Opposition to Sundquist Income Tax But Is Split on Haslam Gas Tax

Christina Botteri
Tennessee Star - Steve Gill v Ralph Bristol

When former Gov. Don Sundquist proposed imposing a state income tax on residents of Tennessee in 1999, Nashville talk radio hosts Steve Gill and Phil Valentine led the horn-honking opposition that ultimately killed the unpopular proposal three years later in 2002. It is a different media landscape in 2017, as political controversy surrounds Gov. Haslam’s proposal to increase the gas tax to fund road construction. Like Sundquist, Haslam is a Republican. WLAC, 1510 am, is no longer in the local political talk business. 99.7 FM WWTN owns the local conservative talk market, with all local hosts,  beginning at 5 a.m. with Ralph Bristol, 9 a.m. with Michael Del Giorno, noon with Dan Mandis, and 3 to 7 p.m. with Phil Valentine. The day’s talk agenda is set by Nashville’s Morning News host Ralph Bristol, and he testified before the State Senate Transportation Committee in favor of Gov. Haslam’s plan, provided it is truly revenue neutral, which he says it currently is not. Former Nashville talk radio host Steve Gill, in contrast, came out guns a-blazing in opposition to the gas tax increase in a commentary posted today at The Tennessee Star. “17 years ago, talk radio lead the fight to stop…

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Commentary by Steve Gill: It’s Not About the Roads!

Steve Gill
Tennessee Star - Steve Gill

As Governor Bill Haslam continues to tout the need for a massive tax increase in order to fund road and bridge construction and maintenance in Tennessee it is increasingly clear that the well-funded and heavily lobbied campaign for higher taxes actually has nothing to do with roads. It is actually about spending billions in surplus and increased recurring revenue on everything EXCEPT roads! A good magician is a master of misdirection. While you are captivated by what they are doing with their right hand the real trick is happening in the left hand. Governor Haslam is using the same sort of misdirect move to hide the truth about his tax increase scheme. While Tennessee currently has a surplus of a billion dollars AND an extra billion dollars in recurring revenue the Governor is fighting against any an all efforts to spend ANY of that money on roads. He prefers to impose higher taxes on Tennessee drivers with a seven cent increase in the gasoline tax and a twelve cent increase in the diesel tax (plus additional fees and taxes) that will generate about $300 million a year more for state and local road projects. State Representative David Hawk has proposed…

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Commentary: Oppose Wednesday’s Vote to Raise Tennessee’s Gas Tax

Andrew Ogles

There’s no denying that Tennessee’s infrastructure is in need of repair. But Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposed gas tax increases to fund the projects—which the state House of Representatives will vote on this Wednesday – isn’t the right solution. Instead, lawmakers should use money already in the state budget, which is more than enough to meet our transportation needs. The key component of Gov. Haslam’s plan is to increase the state’s tax by 7 cents a gallon on gasoline and 12 cents a gallon on diesel – respective increases of 33 percent and 65 percent over what we currently pay today. Not only that, but it will also be indexed to inflation every other year. That means each time you go to the pump, you’ll pay more to the state and have less money to spend on your personal needs—and it will get worse every two years. On top of the gas tax increase, Gov. Haslam wants to nickel-and-dime us with an increase in vehicle registration fees, too. All combined, the governor’s proposal includes nearly $300 million in higher taxes every year. And that’s not all. The proposal would also give municipalities a bite at the tax apple, allowing them to hold referendums on raising local sales taxes to…

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House Transportation Subcommittee Adjourns Before Any Action Taken on Road Funding Proposals.

Tennessee Star Staff

The House Transportation Subcommittee adjourned suddenly on Wednesday after State Rep. David Hawk (R-Greeneville) presented his alternative road funding plan. A report late Wednesday in The Chattanooga Times Free Press makes it clear that State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma) (pictured in the headline image), a member of the subcommittee, “who is chairman of the full House Transportation Committee and who is carrying the governor’s bill” is the force behind the surprise adjournment. “[W]e were about to get the governor’s bill out today. But evidently there were some people who were uncomfortable, maybe, with the Hawk plan. And they weren’t ready to vote on the Hawk plan,” Doss told The Times Free Press: Doss said he sees the adjournment vote as a response to the Hawk bill. “And I think there’s a lot of people uncomfortable with that bill,” Doss said. “We come back next week and I think more people are comfortable with the governor’s plan.” The “Hawk Plan” increases road funding in Tennessee without increasing taxes and has been embraced by conservative legislators seeking an alternative to the plan presented by Governor Haslam which dramatically increases gasoline and diesel fuel taxes for Tennessee drivers and guarantees automatic future increases through “indexing”. Immediately…

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BREAKING: Gov. Haslam Claims ‘There Have Not Been Any Other Alternatives Proposed’ To His Gas Tax Increase

Tennessee Star Staff

“Gov. Bill Haslam did not acknowledge the multiple alternatives to his proposed gas tax increase that legislators have introduced in the statehouse during an interview with Knoxville media Friday,” WBIR TV reports. “There have not been any other alternatives proposed. No one else has laid out a plan and said ‘This is how we’re going to pay for it,’” WBIR reports Haslam stated when asked about alternative plans to fund road construction, such as The Hawk Plan, which would provide that funding by reallocating 0.25 percent of the current sales tax. “He’s very aware of other plans,” State Rep. David Hawk (R-Greeneville), author of The Hawk Plan, told WBIR: Hawk said he has discussed his plan with Haslam of taking one-quarter of one percent of sales tax revenue to create a recurring dedicated fund to address transportation needs long-term. Rep. Jason Zachary of Knoxville said his constituents are pushing him to find an alternative to a tax increase by pointing out the state is sitting on a $1 billion dollar budget surplus and another $1 billion surplus is projected for this year. He has proposed allocating a quarter of any state surplus money over $5 million each month to TDOT.…

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As Gas Tax Sinks and Casada Bolts, Haslam Schedules Emergency Call to WWTN’s Ralph Bristol for Thursday Morning

Tennessee Star Staff

Stung by Majority Leader Glen Casada’s (R-Franklin) embrace of the Hawk Plan to fund road construction through the reallocation of 0.25 percent of the current 7 percent state sales tax rather than his own gas tax increase proposal, Gov. Haslam scheduled an emergency call in to 99.7 FM WWTN’s Nashville Morning News with Ralph Bristol radio program for Thursday morning. Casada went public in a big way earlier this week. On Tuesday, he outlined his support for the Hawk Plan in an interview that was published, along with an accompanying YouTube video, early Wednesday morning at The Tennessee Star. Then later on Wednesday morning, Casada appeared on 99.7 FM WWTN’s Nashville Morning News with host Ralph Bristol. “The governor has a good idea, but I think Rep. Hawk has a great idea,” Casada told Bristol. It was polite and respectful language, but the political impact of the message signaled a revolt by conservatives against Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase proposal, very similar to the grassroots revolt back in 1999 when Gov. Sundquist’s proposal to impose a state income tax was crushed in a populist uprising. Playing Devil’s Advocate, a role at which he excels, Bristol challenged Casada to take Gov.…

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State Senator Mark Green Tells WWTN’s Dan Mandis ‘I’m Opposed to the Gas Tax Increase’

Tennessee Star Staff

“I’m opposed to the gas tax increase,” State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) told WWTN 99.7 FM talk show host Dan Mandis on Wednesday in an exclusive interview. “Looking towards the future, you’ve formally filed paperwork to run for governor. You went on a 34-stop listening tour across Tennessee. Tell me what you found out,” Mandis asked Green. “There’s just a stack of ideas that people have on how to make Tennessee better. It’s just awesome,” Green said. “One of the things they said they don’t want is a gas tax or a diesel tax increase. Tennesseans were pretty strong about that everywhere I went,” he added. “Now I’ve seen the polls, but I know what my anecdotal evidence is. Everywhere I went people were like ‘How dare you raise taxes in the face of a $1.8 billion surplus! You’ve overtaxed us $1.8 billion and you want more!’ And I’ve got to tend to agree with them,” the former Army doctor said. “It doesn’t make any sense that we would tax more in the face of such a large surplus,” he added. “So, I’m opposed to the gas tax increase,” the future candidate for governor declared: There were certain aspects of…

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Ohio Voters Reject Attempt to Change Redistricting

The Center Square

Ohioans on Tuesday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have replaced the current seven-member redistricting commission with a 15-member, nonpolitical commission to draw the state’s legislative districts.

Multiple news organizations reported that voters rejected Issue 1 54.5%-45.5%, with nearly 70% of the vote reported, following a months-long, expensive battle that saw Republicans pushing to keep the current system and Democrats arguing for change.

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Tennessee Congressional Delegation Urges President Biden to Approve Updated Disaster Declaration Submitted by Governor Bill Lee

Kaitlin Housler
Joe Biden TN

All 11 members of the Tennessee congressional delegation sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Tuesday requesting the “swift approval” of Governor Bill Lee’s request for an updated major disaster declaration in the wake of flash flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene.

Lee initially requested federal assistance for Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi, and Washington counties following the flash flooding that devastated buildings and roads in East Tennessee on September 26 and September 27, which the president approved on Saturday.

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Tennessee Congressional Delegation Honor the ‘Scarboro 85’ on 69th Anniversary of Desegregation at Oak Ridge Public Schools

Kaitlin Housler
Classroom Students

The entire Tennessee congressional delegation sponsored a resolution this week celebrating the Scarboro 85 students from the Scarboro neighborhood in Oak Ridge. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, these students made history by entering all-white classrooms.

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separating children in public schools based on race was unconstitutional.

In a second opinion issued on May 31, 1955, the Supreme Court decreed that schools should be desegregated “with all deliberate speed.”

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Wisconsin Supreme Court Agrees to Expedited Hearing on Green Party Ballot Ban

The Center Square
Jill Stein

Following the Wisconsin Election Commission’s dismissal of a complaint from a Democratic National Committee staffer, who seeks to remove Green Party candidate Jill Stein from the ballot, the plaintiff has doubled down and filed an expedited appeal with the state’s Supreme Court.

Court documents reveal it accepted the case Thursday and is requesting that the plaintiff provide additional information, actions that have caused two Supreme Court justices to dissent.

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ACLU Struggles to Explain Why California’s Conversion Therapy Ban Doesn’t Protect Idaho’s Trans Ban

Just the News

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Because the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California outlawing talk therapy for minors with unwanted same-sex attraction, it must likewise uphold Idaho’s ban on invasive and potentially irreversible medical treatments to make gender-confused minors resemble the opposite sex, the Gem State’s outside lawyer told a three-judge panel Thursday.

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Tennessee National Guard, State and Local Agencies Undergo Disaster Response Exercises in Severe Flooding Simulation

Kaitlin Housler
TN National Guard

Tennessee National Guard troops, local first responders, and personnel of other state entities participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers 2024 training exercises last week in 15 counties across the Volunteer State.

Tennessee Maneuvers is a series of disaster simulation training exercises that test the joint response capabilities of participating personnel. The exercises occurred in Bradley, Coffee, Davidson, Gibson, Hamilton, Hawkins, Knox, Loudon, Madison, Maury, McMinn, Rhea, Rutherford, Sullivan, and Wilson counties.

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Layoffs Continue Nationwide as Economic Concerns Rise

The Center Square
Fired by email

As the economy worsens, multiple industries continue to shed jobs.

U.S.-based companies laid off 82,307 employees in January, a 136 percent increase from the previous month, according to a report by the business and coaching firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The Wall Street Journal reported companies are still cutting white-collar jobs in an attempt “to do more with less.”

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Bullied, Targeted, and Harassed: A Turning Point USA Student Shares Her Story of Oppression at East Tennessee State University

Matthew Giffin
Lakie Derrick

Lakie Derrick, now 21, first traveled less than 30 miles to attend East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in the fall of 2020. She had always known her hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee, to be a relatively conservative city.

In 2016, the two counties that contain Kingsport overwhelmingly voted to elect Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. Washington County, where ETSU is located, did the same that year and supported Trump again in 2020. Only two Tennessee counties held blue through the 2022 gubernatorial election.

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Rep. Burchett Renews Call for Epstein Client List Release After Latest Court Docs Unsealed

Peter D'Abrosca

A United States congressman from Tennessee is still pushing for a full list of dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s clients, after unsealed court documents from earlier this week named several high profile figures as associates of Epstein’s. 

“I don’t care about the list of people Epstein interacted with in just ANY capacity,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) on X, formerly Twitter. “I care about the list of people who participated in his sex crimes and exploitation, especially when it involved minors. Where’s the actual client list?”

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DeSantis Makes Iowa Home Base in His Battle for the White House

M.D. Kittle

With just over 100 days to go before the Iowa caucuses, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is pumping even more resources and staff into the Hawkeye State.

The DeSantis campaign plans to move about a third of its staff from Tallahassee to Des Moines, underscoring the primary position the top tier candidate has placed on the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

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Commentary: ‘High Election Worker Turnover’ Is the Left’s Newest Ploy to Federalize Elections

Admin

There’s a crisis in American democracy, all right, and the Left created it.

Last week, Democrats fired the latest salvo in a long war to radically transform American elections by eroding state and local control, replacing ballot-counters with a centralized, D.C.-run bureaucracy.

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Commentary: The Rise of Unapologetically Partisan News Reporting

Admin

The Huffington Post was envisioned from its inception as a progressive answer to conservative talk radio and various right-leaning voices being amplified by new technology. Most specifically, it was designed as a counterpoint to the Drudge Report, a widely read and highly profitable website with populist sensibilities. The players involved in planning the new venture belonged to a select clique of Hollywood liberals and political activists in Arianna Huffington’s orbit.

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Commentary: Listening for Alien Civilizations Is ‘Eavesdropping,’ ‘Surveillance,’ These Indigenous Scholars Say

Admin

As a young teen I couldn’t get enough of Carl Sagan’s book “Cosmos,” and the movie based on his novel of the same name, Contact, remains one of my favorite scifi offerings.

Sagan, and by extension Contact protagonist Ellie Arroway, became the sort of individual I came trust to handle what will be the greatest discovery in human history: proof that humans are not alone in the universe.

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Iowa Supreme Court’s Split Decision Keeps Block on Six-Week Limit on Abortion in Place

M.D. Kittle

In a rare split decision, the Iowa Supreme Court on Friday balked at reinstating Iowa’s “fetal heartbeat bill,” a move that keeps abortion through 20 weeks of pregnancy unfettered — for now — in the Hawkeye State. 

The advisory ruling, rendered despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal constitutional abortion protections a year ago, was blasted by Republicans and pro-life groups and hailed by Democrats and their abortion industry allies.

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Wisconsin Assembly Approves Financial Literacy Class

The Center Square

Students in Wisconsin are a step closer to having to take a financial literacy class to graduate from high school.

The Assembly on Wednesday approved a plan that would require a class on credit, credit cards, investing, and basic financial skills. State Rep. Calvin Callahan, R-Tomahawk, said the idea is to make sure that high schoolers can make smart financial decisions once on their own.

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Crisis of Confidence in U.S. Marine Corps as Biden Nominates New Commandant

Just the News

President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Marine Corps is raising concern among war hawks and others about whether his appointment will continue what they see as an ongoing effort to strip the military branch of its internal and external might and prowess.

Gen. Eric Smith, now the assistant commandant for the Marines, was nominated last week by the White House to be the next Marine Corps commandant.

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Busy Week Ahead for Presidential Politics in the First Nominating State

M.D. Kittle

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign kick-off event in suburban Des Moines Tuesday was just the beginning of an action-packed week ahead in Iowa presidential politics.

Up next, former President Donald Trump, Fox News and CNN town halls, and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst’s famous Roast and Ride featuring a long list of GOP presidential hopefuls. 

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Iowa Roundup: Tim Scott’s Tennessee Champion, Joe Manchin Courts Iowans Amid Speculation of Third-Party Run

M.D. Kittle

U.S. Senator and presumptive GOP presidential candidate Tim Scott has tapped a former popular Republican governor to head up his national campaign. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gets a little help from Mother Nature on Mother’s Day weekend. And is Joe Manchin opening doors in Iowa for a third-party presidential run? 

Here’s the roundup from the Hawkeye State presidential campaign trail. 

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Iowa Democratic Party Plan Mails It in, Changing Traditional In-Person Caucus to Mail-In Vote

M.D. Kittle

The quaint caucus process where voters meet in school gymnasiums, churches, and restaurants to debate the merits of their candidates would be a thing of the past under a draft plan by the Iowa Democratic Party to reinvent the state’s storied presidential nominating system. 

Instead, the plan calls for a mail-in caucus in which registered Democrats would request presidential preference cards by mail or online and send them in.

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Dates Sets for Special Elections in Tennessee State House Districts of Expelled Interim State Reps

Mac Roberts

State Representatives Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) will have an opportunity to seek election victories in their respective districts after their expulsions from the State House earlier this month. Nashville Metro Council and Shelby County Commission both voted unanimously to appoint Jones and Pearson to serve as their own interim replacements in Districts 52 and 86.

These appointments are only temporary, as special elections must take place to decide who will serve the remainder of Jones’s and Pearson’s terms. 

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Ramaswamy Announces Heavy Hitters Joining His Iowa Political Team

M.D. Kittle

Ahead of a four-day campaign swing this weekend through the Hawkeye State, Ohio businessman and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is announcing the first phase of his Iowa leadership team. 

The lineup includes some political heavy hitters, including the former president of the Iowa State Senate.

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Shapiro Says Pennsylvania Republican Lawmakers ‘Are Praising’ His Budget Proposal While Omitting Criticisms

Bradley Vasoli

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro (D) is already claiming high-ranking Republicans “are praising” his first budget. Those Republicans’ actual remarks tell a different story.

A press release from the governor selectively quotes eight GOP state lawmakers’ reactions to the budget he unveiled last week. While the snippets accurately capture areas of agreement, they leave out decidedly negative sentiments the Republicans voiced about the $45.9 billion plan which would hike state spending by about four percent over the current level. 

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Florida Lawmakers Conclude Special Session, Strip Away Disney’s Special Status

The Center Square

The Florida Legislature concluded its special session on Friday, passing bills regarding Disney’s autonomy, transport of foreign nationals and election fraud.

Florida House Speaker Paul Renner said at a news conference before the House’s final meeting that the special session was successful and that lawmakers addressed “the complete abdication by the federal government in defending our border and stopping the flow of illegal immigrants so that the state can take action to protect our citizens.”

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Catholic Universities Continue to Endorse Pro-Abortion Agenda

Admin

Wednesday marked the start of this year’s National March for Life, the first since the right to an abortion was federally overruled in June of last year in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. 

In light of the impending Dobbs decision, Alcindor stated in May of last year that she was worried about “women who are poor, women of color [being] forced to have pregnancies that they cannot afford to terminate, and pregnancies that will then turn into children” if states ban abortion.

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Over 70 Candidates Competing for Arizona Republican Party Offices

Rachel Alexander

Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chair Kelli Ward is not running for a third term, and six candidates have announced they are running to replace her. At least 63 more candidates are running for other positions in the AZGOP, which will be decided in an election at the annual statutory meeting on January 28, 2023. The candidates for chair are Sheila Muehling, Jeff DeWit, Steve Daniels, Dan Farley, Vera Gebran, and Lori Ann Martinez.

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Commentary: The Way an American Magazine Helped Launch One of Britain’s Favorite Christmas Carols

Admin

In 1906, a new carol appeared in “The English Hymnal,” an influential collection of British church music. With words by British poet Christina Rossetti, set to a tune by composer Gustav Holst, it became one of Britain’s most beloved Christmas songs. Now known as “In the Bleak Midwinter,” it was voted the “greatest carol of all time” in a 2008 BBC survey of choral experts.

“In the Bleak Midwinter” began life as a poem, which Rossetti simply titled “A Christmas Carol.” When the hymnal paired her words with music, the poem took on a new identity in song – a phenomenon documented by literature researcher Emily McConkey. But it also became embedded into popular culture in nonmusical forms. “A Christmas Carol,” or parts of it, has appeared on Christmas cards, ornaments, tea towels, mugs and other household items. It has inspired mystery novels and, more recently, became a recurring motif in the British television series “Peaky Blinders.”

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Commentary: No, Zelenskyy Is Not Churchill

Admin

Fox News’ Bret Baier, who, like Bill O’Reilly before him, has used his perch as a television personality to become a writer of history books (and, like O’Reilly, co-writes these history books with a “collaborator,” formerly known as a ghostwriter), writes on the Fox News website about the “parallels” between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the late U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Baier notes the parallels — both addressed a joint session of Congress during Christmastime even as their nation’s capitals were being bombed; both showed courage in leading their people against an aggressor nation; both were named Time’s Man of the Year; and both took defiant stands against more powerful enemies that were besieging their countries. But these parallels are all superficial. The stakes are far different. Churchill saved Western civilization. Zelenskyy is attempting to save Ukraine’s independence.

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Commentary: It’s Time to Speak the Truth About Ukraine

Admin

Joe Biden, the military-industrial-congressional complex, State Department neocons, the War Party comprised of all Democrats and many corporate Republicans, and Western globalist elites have the United States and NATO in a Ukrainian proxy war against Russia. The warmongers are obsessed with destroying Russia. To achieve it, they are determined to fight to the last Ukrainian.

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Commentary: Issues with 401(k)s

Admin

Fretting over your 401(k) lately? For all the current turbulence in these retirement plans – from their rocky recent market performance to asset managers’ politicization of their investments through the “environment, social and governance” agenda – the main problem lies in their flawed design decades ago, a range of retirement experts say.  

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Pro-Life Policies a Big Winner for Re-Elected State Lawmakers

Susan Berry, PhD

A focus on the legislative campaigns that are more local to American voters served the cause of protecting unborn life, says Students for Life Action (SFLAction), which reports that while radical anti-life Democrats ran on demonizing the Supreme Court’s ruling that returned abortion issues to the states, still “every state legislator who championed SFLAction-inspired pro-life bills was reelected.”

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Commentary: The State of Political Polling in America

RealClearWire

Two years ago, 14 public opinion polls queried Maine voters about their preference in the campaign between incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic challenger Sara Gideon. Every one of those surveys had Gideon ahead, by margins ranging from 1 percentage point (Bangor Daily News) to 12 points (Quinnipiac). When the election returns rolled in, however, none of them were close. Collins prevailed handily, beating Gideon by 8.6%.

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Commentary: Let’s Talk Dropouts and Student Attendance

Admin

We have seen the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) grab headlines in recent days. Pundits are quick to proclaim that the sky is falling, but the truth is the scores have been consistent and relatively flat since 1970, particularly in reading. Not every student in a state takes NAEP, only a random sample of students – every two years. There is no individual data. I agree with historian Diane Ravitch, a big takeaway on NAEP is “that virtual learning is a fourth-rate substitute for a real teacher and interaction with peers.”

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Biden’s Family Got ‘Interest-Free,’ ‘Forgivable’ Loan from China, New Evidence Reveals

Just the News

President Joe Biden has made waves this fall with his plan to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars of student loans, shifting the burden to taxpayers. Five years earlier, his family cashed in on a zero-interest, forgivable loan of its own from an energy company in communist China, according to evidence in the possession of the FBI.

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Aaron Gulbransen Talks Outside Money Influencing Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District Republican Primary

Julie Carr

Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed official guest host Aaron Gulbransen in-studio weighs in on top three TN5 candidates Harwell, Ogles, and Winstead but takes special note of former Blackhawk pilot Jeff Beierlein.

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TN-5 Candidate Winstead Won’t Say Who Received His Vote in 2008 Democrat Primary

Aaron Gulbransen

Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidate Kurt Winstead won’t say whether he voted for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in the 2008 Tennessee Democrat presidential preference primary.

The Tennessee Star reached out to Winstead’s campaign, asking if they could provide a comment as to whether Kurt Winstead voted for Clinton or Obama in 2008.

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Kurt Winstead’s Democrat Donations and Voting Activity in Tennessee State and Local Races Revealed

Aaron Gulbransen

TN-5 candidate and retired Brigadier General Kurt Winstead’s past history of donating to Democratic Party candidates and causes in federal races has been well documented, and now, additional Democrat donations in Tennessee state races have been discovered.

A search of the Tennessee Online Campaign Finance website, which contains campaign finance reports dating back to at least 2000, shows that Winstead personally donated on at least seven occasions to Democratic campaigns.

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Americans for Prosperity Gives 31 Florida Legislators an A-Plus

Steve Stewart

Americans for Prosperity-Florida (AFP-FL)  unveiled its 2022 Florida Legislative Scorecard Wednesday highlighting Florida’s elected officials who, according to AFP-FL, “championed solutions that will create more opportunity for all Floridians while standing up against harmful public policy change.”

AFP-FL stated that the scorecard “lets you know which lawmakers have championed policies that empower all Floridians to realize their potential, help others, and achieve their version of the American dream. It’s a tool for activists, the media, and the general public to learn how each senator and representative has voted and hold them to account for their decisions.”

According to the scorecard, 31 lawmakers scored an A+, 72 received an A, 35 received a B, 17 received a C, 3 received a D, and 2 lawmakers –Rep. Jervonte Edmonds and Sen. Perry Thurston— received an F.

The Florida lawmakers to receive an A+ in 2022 are all Republicans.

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All-Star Panelist Clint Brewer Breaks Down Strengths of TN-5 Frontrunners Harwell, Ogles, and Winstead

Julie Carr

Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer in-studio to break down the front runners and their strategies in Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District race.

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Breaking the Mold: Roger Simon and The Epoch Times Craft New Debate Structure to Premiere July 12th in Nashville

Julie Carr

Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist and The Epoch Times’ Editor-at-Large Roger Simon to discuss the structure of the upcoming debate crafted by The Epoch Times on July 12th in downtown Nashville.

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