As the leader of a nonprofit group whose mission is to promote economic freedom, sound public policy, and responsible financial management at the state level, I’m honored to help our nation’s financial officers practice good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Their work often includes managing pension funds that are vital to millions of Americans’ retirement security. Over the past few years, a growing threat called ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) has been negatively impacting state pension systems, ultimately putting retirees at risk. Sadly, our nation’s state financial officers and the retirees they have a fiduciary responsibility to protect are increasingly under siege by ESG ideologues who are motivated by politics rather than economics.
Read the full storyTag: Texas
Iowa Joins Coalition of States Including Minnesota, Wisconsin, to Sue China-Owned Subsidiary Syngenta and Indiana-Based Corteva
The State of Iowa is suing pesticide manufacturers Syngenta and Corteva.
Ten states and the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint Thursday in the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of North Carolina.
Read the full storyThree More Counties Want Texas to Declare Invasion at Southern Border; Total at 32
Three more counties are the latest to express support for Texas declaring an invasion at the southern border, bringing the total to 32.
The judge and county commissioners of Ector County, in the Permian Basin, signed a Declaration of Local State of Disaster on Sept. 27 stating the “health, safety, and welfare of Ector County residents are under an imminent threat of disaster from the unprecedented levels of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and drug smuggling coming across the U.S. border from Mexico.”
Read the full storyReport: NYC Wants to Relocate Migrants Bused in from Texas to Florida
New York City officials are thinking about flying illegal immigrants out of the Big Apple to Florida after officials in Texas bussed 11,000 border crossers to the sanctuary city, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.
Manuel Castro, NYC’s Commissioner of Immigration Affairs, said that most of the migrants are from Venezuela, and they want to go to the Sunshine State because it has a large community of Venezuelans.
Read the full storyFour More Texas Counties Declare Invasion at Southern Border, Bringing Total to 22
The judges and commissioners of four more Texas counties have declared an invasion at the southern border, bringing to 22 the number of counties that have done so.
Jasper, Madison, Throckmorton and Wichita counties are the latest to declare an invasion.
Read the full storyA University of North Texas School Taught Four-Year-Olds Pronouns, Gender Identities in Class: Report
Texas mom Jennifer Cains told Campus Reform that she unenrolled her daughter from the University of North Texas (UNT) College of Education’s Center for Young Children (CYC) after learning that teachers were allegedly pushing gender theory and pronouns in a classroom full of four-year-olds.
The CYC is an “early childhood program within the College of Education” at UNT. The center describes itself as a “research-based, high-quality preschool program” used to give UNT’s college trainees experience and provide “care and education” for its young students.
Read the full storyTexas ‘Kid-Friendly’ Drag Queen Grooming Event Protected by Armed ANTIFA Guards
A restaurant in Roanoke, Texas, held a controversial “kid-friendly” drag queen grooming event Sunday during which children of all ages were invited to participate in the show that featured vulgarity and partial nudity, while ANTIFA members, armed with AR-15s, protected the event.
Read the full storyGov. Abbott Accelerates Busing of Foreign Nationals from Southern Border to New York City
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is accelerating the state’s busing to New York City of foreign nationals who’ve entered the U.S. through the southern border.
The majority coming in are believed to not have valid asylum claims, are bypassing federal immigration law, and instead of being deported are being released into the U.S. under new Biden administration policies, attorneys general who’ve sued the administration argue.
Read the full storyTexas Bans BlackRock for Anti-Oil Agenda
The state of Texas announced new restrictions on at least 10 finance firms that have declared an opposition to oil and other fossil fuels, since such a stance could “undermine” the Texas economy that depends heavily on such fuel sources.
The Daily Caller reports that the restrictions, announced by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar, will prevent the companies in question from entering into most contracts with entities at the state or local level. The new policy is the result of a law passed in 2021 that requires the state government to limit its ties with anti-oil companies. As a result, the government requested information from over 100 companies to determine their stances on fossil fuels.
Read the full storyCommentary: The White House Is Creating a Texas-Border Patrol Standoff
The tragic results of the Biden Administration’s extremist immigration policies have become increasingly clear. By now there is abundant video evidence of large groups of foreign nationals wading across the Rio Grande, seeking shelter under highway overpasses, and walking through gaps in the unfinished border wall. These are the obvious results.
Less obvious are the other potentially dangerous situations these policies create. This is not just about talking points for politicians to debate, but real-world situations where people can be injured or killed.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Bri Bagwell
From the time she began writing poems in her childhood, on to teaching herself how to play a dusty old piano and guitar, Bri Bagwell has followed a singular path toward music.
She began playing in the bars with her older twin brothers, who were 21 when she was just 14.
Read the full storyFederal Judge Blocks Biden’s Attempt to Override State Abortion Law
James Hendrix, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, temporarily blocked President Joe Biden’s attempt to force states to provide abortions in certain emergency situations in a Tuesday ruling, according to court documents.
Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals that receive Medicare funding to provide emergency medical aid in an attempt to override state abortion bans. Hendrix halted the guidance and temporarily blocked the HHS from enforcing its interpretation of EMTALA.
Read the full storyFederal Judge Questions Idaho Abortion Ban in Lawsuit Brought by Biden Administration: Updated
UPDATE: Late Wednesday, Judge Lynn Winmill granted the Biden Department of Justice’s request for an injunction on Idaho’s abortion ban as it pertains to medical emergencies.
Read the full story30 Months into the COVID-19 Pandemic, at Least a Dozen States Are Under ‘Emergency’ Orders
In October 2020, the Michigan Supreme Court stripped Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of the unilateral powers she was using when she declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whitmer had been using a 1945 law – which was prompted by a three-day race riot in Detroit three years earlier – that had no sunset provision in it and didn’t require approval by the state legislature.
In May 2021, Whitmer told a news agency that if she still had that 1945 state-of-emergency law, she would use those powers, but not for anything related to a pandemic.
Read the full storyVideo Shows Children in Texas Taking Oath to be ‘Martyrs’ for Iran’s Supreme Leader
Avideo of kids at an Islamic center in Houston, Texas pledging their allegiance to the supreme leader of Iran is setting off alarm bells among experts, who are warning this has all the signs of the Iranian regime’s global indoctrination efforts to spread its revolutionary ideology and recruit operatives abroad.
The viral video was initially posted to YouTube and Facebook last week by the Islamic Education Center of Houston (IEC), which organized the event calling on parents to bring children aged 4-14, according to its social media pages. The original video posts were later removed, but clips remain online.
Read the full storyTrump: ‘America Is on the Edge of an Abyss’
Donald Trump on Saturday delivered stinging rebukes of the Biden administration at the Dallas Conservative Political Action Conference, one of a continuing series of indications that the still-popular former president has set his sights on a return to the White House for 2024.
Trump during his speech declared that the U.S. “is being destroyed more from the inside than the out,” and that the country “is on the edge of an abyss, and our movement is the only force on earth that can save it.”
Read the full storyThree More States Are Poised to Ban Abortion Amid Court Battles
Idaho, Tennessee and Texas are moving to enact “trigger bans” restricting abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade June 24, ending the precedent which had banned states from restricting abortion throughout the first six months of pregnancy.
The bans in these three states will take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court officially transmitted its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Association July 26, according to The Hill. Another 10 states had trigger bans go into effect after elected officials enacted them, and trigger abortion bans went into effect immediately after the court overturned Roe in three other states.
Read the full storyArizona Latina and Former Phoenix Suns Executive Moves Up Court in Run for Congress
If 2022 will be remembered for anything in politics, it will most likely go down in history books as the year of the Republican Latina.
Earlier this year Mayra Flores made national headlines when she won a special election in Texas’s 34th district to fill the unexpired term of U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, making her the first Mexican born Latina to serve in U.S. Congress. The win also made her only the second Republican in history to represent the Rio Grande Valley.
Two other Latina Texan Republicans, Cassy Garcia in Laredo and Monica De La Cruz in McAllen are also running in congressional races in communities near the Mexican border. The combined power of Flores, Garcia and De La Cruz have prompted conservatives to call them the “triple threat.”
Read the full storyTennessee Joins Arizona and 10 Other AGs in Lawsuit Aimed to Cleanse Federal Regulations Hampering Washing Machines, Dishwashers
Twelve attorneys general filed an opening brief Friday in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for changes made this year to energy and water efficiency standards for dishwashers and washing machines.
“These arbitrary washing machine regulations are unlawful, ineffective, and absolutely ridiculous,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, co-leader of a suit in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals against the DOE and Secretary Jennifer Granholm, said in a statement. “They should be hung out to dry as soon as possible.”
Read the full storyArizona Attorney General Brnovich Urges Gov. Ducey to Declare an Invasion on the ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ Border
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich issued a legal opinion in February declaring that Arizona has the constitutional authority to declare an invasion on its border with Mexico, but since Gov. Doug Ducey has not done so, Brnovich is now urging him to. In a letter sent to Ducey on July 6, Brnovich, who is now running for U.S. Senate, laid out the reasons why.
“This horrible situation is a ticking time bomb,” Brnovich said. “It’s just a question of when, and not if, the unspeakable will occur.” He went on, “[W]e have every indication that the border crisis will continue to escalate. If there is more that we as a state can and should do, it can be pursued with your declaration of an ‘invasion’ at our southern border.”
Read the full storyTexas Offers $30 Million More to Local Law Enforcement for Border Security Efforts
An additional $30 million in Operation Lone Star (OLS) grant money is available to Texas cities and counties to enhance border security operations, the governor’s Public Safety Office (PSO) announced.
The announcement came two days after six county judges and sheriffs asked the governor to declare an invasion at the southern border, and to do more to help them thwart illegal activity in their counties after experiencing a surge of drug and human smuggling and other criminal activity resulting from the Biden administration’s border policies.
Read the full storyCBP Chief Tries to Reassure the Rank-and-File as Agency Levels Charges Against ‘Whipgate’ Agents
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Chris Magnus promised discontented rank-and-file officials that the agency would always support them despite pursuing charges against agents involved in the now-debunked “whipgate” incident, an internal email obtained exclusively by The Daily Caller News Foundation showed.
When CBP personnel “do the right thing,” the agency “will always stand behind you,” Magnus wrote in the email before announcing the results of the investigation into the September incident that took place in Del Rio, Texas. During the incident, Border Patrol agents used reins to steer their horses and maneuver around migrants entering the United Sates at the Rio Grande, which prompted some Democratic lawmakers and immigration advocates to falsely claim the agents whipped migrants.
Read the full storyNo Judge Has Ever Declared Invasion Before in U.S. History: Cuccinelli
U.S. judges declaring an invasion at the southern border hasn’t occurred before until this week, Ken Cuccinelli, former U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services director and deputy secretary of Department of Homeland Security, said.
On Tuesday, four county judges in Texas declared an invasion citing Article 4, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. They called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to “immediately prevent and/or remove all persons invading the sovereignty of Texas and that of the United States.”
Read the full storyState Senator Leach Spearheading Effort to Ban Arizona Children from Drag Shows
The Arizona State Senate GOP spoke with The Arizona Sun Times via email about planned legislation that aims to prevent children from attending drag shows.
“[State] Senator Vince Leach [R-SaddleBrooke] is spearheading the effort, and he sent his ideas on the subject matter to our legislative council who is in the process right now of researching to help craft a potential bill. They will look at what’s in our constitution, what other states are doing and not doing, et cetera,” the Arizona State Senate GOP spokeswoman said.
Read the full storyEconomist: ‘When It Comes to Connecticut, Businesses Are Being Incentivized to Look Elsewhere’
LEGO Group’s decision to spend $1 billion to build a new factory near Richmond, Virginia, has led economy and industry experts to raise questions about the status of the Denmark company’s Connecticut headquarters.
The global toymaker announced at a press conference with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) its plans to build a new factory in Chesterfield, a move that would expand its production in the United States and create about 1,760 new jobs.
Read the full storyTexas GOP Adopts New Platform: Biden ‘Was Not Legitimately Elected’
The Texas Republican Party has adopted a new platform, rejecting the certification of the 2020 presidential election results and declaring “that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States.”
The 40-page platform was adopted by the state GOP in Houston over the weekend for its biennial convention, The Hill reported.
Read the full storyReport: World’s First Trillionaires Could Be from Texas
The world’s first trillionaires could be from Texas, according to a new analysis of the 30 richest people in the world.
A new report published by the software company Tipalti Approve estimates that newly relocated Texas resident, Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk, could become the world’s first trillionaire by 2024. Houston native and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell could become a trillionaire by 2033.
Read the full storyDeSantis: Texas Should Be Sending Illegal Immigrants Back to Mexico
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says Texas shouldn’t be allowing illegal immigrants to enter the state, echoing sentiments conservative Texans have been arguing for over a year.
“What Texas needs to do is just send them [illegal immigrants] back across the border,” Gov. DeSantis said at a recent press conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. “Who cares what the Feds are saying. They aren’t doing their job.
Read the full storyCaterpillar Announces Relocation of Global Headquarters from Illinois to Texas
Construction and mining equipment giant Caterpillar Inc. announced Tuesday it will move its global headquarters from its current location in Deerfield, Illinois, to the company’s existing office in Irving, Texas.
“We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world,” said Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby in a press release.
Read the full storyVideos Show Small Children Dancing with Drag Queens, Giving Them Money at Gay Pride Event
Shocking footage has emerged online of a drag queen show for children that took place at a gay bar in Dallas, Texas, on Saturday.
The newly-opened “Mr. Misster” hosted a “Drag the Kids to Pride” event where scantily clad drag queens gyrated in front of young children, and invited them to join them on stage.
Read the full storySupreme Court Temporarily Blocks Texas Social Media Content Moderation Law
The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 on Tuesday to temporarily block the Texas law that prohibits social media companies from moderating content based on users’ views.
Read the full storyRepublicans Launch Counteroffensive Against Latest Woke Corporate Push: ESG Investing
From Congress to the statehouse, Republicans are fighting a growing movement to force investments into funds that make decisions based on environmental, social, governance, or political criteria.
The Environmental Social Governance (ESG) movement has prompted the Securities and Exchange Commission to propose a rule requiring companies to report emissions and other climate risk data, while public pension funds like the Thrift Savings Plan are discussing using ESG metrics to govern investment decisions.
Read the full storyCommentary: No Duty to Protect
The May 24 massacre in Uvalde, Texas outrages the conscience, though not for the facile and stupid reasons spewed by every prominent Democratic Party politician, half-witted newspaper columnist, and vapid television talking-head.
Liberals and other simpering dunderheads make fetishes of objects, focusing on the tool rather than the tool’s misuser. “Nobody needs an AR-15,” goes the refrain, when need has nothing and right has everything to do with it. “But the tool is so easy to misuse and abuse!” comes the ovine rebuttal, when we know as a matter of fact the tool is used in a small fraction of violent crimes.
Read the full storyQuestions Swirl Around Law Enforcement’s Response to Uvalde Shooting; AP: SRO Driving Nearby, Not at Campus
The director of the southern section of the Texas Department of Public Safety cut short his Thursday press conference as reporters shouted questions at him about why local law enforcement was ineffective for the hour after Tuesday’s spree shooting at Uvalde’s Robb Elementary School as gunshot victims languished inside. The crisis ended when Border Patrol Tactical officers arrived, engaged shooter Salvador Ramos, and killed him.
Read the full storyNashville-Based Jason Whitlock of ‘The Blaze’ Blasts Barack Obama and BLM in Wake of Texas Tragedy
In an op-ed titled, “Barack Obama, BLM, and the summer of George Floyd contributed to ‘Uvalde massacre,'” Jason Whitlock of The Blaze said, “As Barack Obama pretends to grieve for the children in Texas, he should make time to recognize that America’s emotional and immature reaction to George Floyd contributed to the slaughter of 19 little kids.”
Whitlock is the host of the program, Fearless with Jason Whitlock, based out of the Nashville area.
Read the full storyTennessee Lawmakers React to School Shooting in Uvalde, Texas
Tennessee lawmakers are speaking out on social media after a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas unfolded on Tuesday that has since left 22, including the gunman, dead.
Read the full storyTexas Court Reinstates Transgender ‘Child Abuse’ Policy
Texas government officials can continue to investigate parents who transition their children to the opposite sex for possible child abuse, the state’s supreme court ruled Friday.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) determined that child sex change surgeries constituted child abuse in August 2021 upon prompting by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and the DFPS began investigations of families for potential child abuse over treatments their transgender children were receiving in February. An appeals court had previously blocked these inquiries throughout the state, but the Texas Supreme Court ruled the lower court had “abused its discretion.”
Read the full storyNational Political Editor Neil McCabe Reports Live from Union Square as Migrant Busing Continues
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed The Tennessee Star’s National Political Editor Neil McCabe to the newsmaker line live from Union Square in Washington, D.C. to report on the busing of migrants from the Southern border and the Senate race in Pennsylvania.
Read the full storyTexas Mask Mandate Repeal Case Attorney Welcomes Florida Judge’s Ruling
Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed Robert Henneke, the executive director and general counsel of The Texas Public Policy Foundation, about Florida federal Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s Oct. 18, 2022 ruling that overturned the Centers for Disease Control’s mask mandate for air travelers and public transportation passengers.
Read the full storyCatholic Charities Met Abbott’s Bused Migrants with Tickets to Ride Elsewhere
Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, reports from Washington’s Union Station, where Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott sent migrants who crossed the border into his state.
Read the full storyDemocrats’ Worst Nightmare Is Coming True in Texas
A significant number of Hispanic women are poised to represent the Republican Party in Texas as congressional candidates in the upcoming midterms, creating a potential nightmare scenario for Democrats as they attempt to reverse GOP gains.
Four Hispanic women have already won their respective GOP primaries, while two others made it to a runoff that will be held in May. Three of them, Mayra Flores, Monica de la Cruz and Cassy Garcia, have the potential to become the first Hispanic women and the first Republicans to represent South Texas in Congress.
Read the full storyCommentary: Republican Election Integrity Efforts Work
After the serious election integrity issues of 2020, Republican leaders and the Republican National Committee have not been idle, but responded on behalf of voters to ensure that free, fair, and transparent elections remain a hallmark of American democracy. Joe Biden and Democrats predictably have done everything under the sun to smear these efforts, even calling those everyday Americans who oppose the efforts racist. But now, over a year later, the results are in, and Democrats have been totally wrong.
Georgia and Texas are perfect examples. Almost a year ago, after the passage of SB 202 – a highly popular Republican-led election integrity law which expanded early voting, poll watching, and voter ID requirements – Democrats pulled out all thestops and started lying. They said the law was “racist,” would “suppress” voter turnout, and even backed a boycott meant to hurt small businesses, many of them black-owned.
Essentially, they shamefully tried to stir up chaos along racial lines. But on Election Day, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution depicted a different scene entirely, writing that voters saw “short lines,” “few problems,” and no “obstacles at the polls.” It is time for all race-baiting Democrat politicians to stop their lies and admit their claims aren’t based in reality.
Read the full storyBarrasso Tells America First Energy Forum Biden ‘All Hat, No Cattle’
Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, attended the March 31, 2022, Washington-based America First Policy Institute forum ‘Unleashing U.S. Energy Dominance,’ where Sen. John A. Barrasso III (R.-Wyo.), the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, gave the keynote address.
Read the full storyMusic Spotlight: Wade Bowen
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Wade Bowen grew up in Waco, Texas with three sisters who always had music on and took him to concerts. Growing up, Bowen played sports and knew he always wanted to do music but didn’t know how to go about doing it.
Read the full storyRepublicans Aim for Upset Victory in TX-28
In an election year that many are expecting to mirror the 2010 midterm GOP U.S. House landslide, Republicans in Texas are hoping to turn Texas’ 28th Congressional District in their favor.
Redistricting has made TX-28 a little more blue, but that hasn’t stopped the NRCC from targeting the Democrat incumbent for defeat.
Read the full storyDemocrat Incumbent Switches Districts, Leaving Texas 15th Congressional District an Open Target
Incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-15) has elected to run for reelection in TX-34, leaving Texas’ Fifteenth Congressional district an open seat.
Redistricting changed the district lines and made an already competitive TX-15 an even more appetizing target for Republicans, who already have a nominee while the Democrats are scheduled to have a run-off in late May.
Read the full storyTexas Supreme Court Strikes Major Blow to Abortion Providers’ Lawsuit Against Heartbeat Abortion Ban
The Supreme Court of Texas recommended Friday a lawsuit challenging the state’s “heartbeat” abortion ban should be dismissed since it is enforced by “private civil action,” and not state officials.
Justice Jeffrey S. Boyd concluded in the decision regarding the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson, that state officials, such as medical licensing boards, cannot enforce the law that bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected
Read the full storyTexas Judge Blocks State Investigations of Transgender Kids’ Treatments as Child Abuse
Texas District Judge Amy Clark Meachum blocked the state’s Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) on Friday from investigating parents of transgender children for child abuse with regard to providing hormone therapy.
The decision is the most recent in a weeklong civil lawsuit filed by the parents of a transgender child and a psychologist from the Houston area who are challenging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s order from last month calling for “prompt and thorough investigation” into reported instances of “gender-transitioning procedures” among minors.
Read the full storyTexas Election Commissioner Resigns After 10,000 Uncounted Ballots Found in Last Week’s Primary
The elections commissioner in Texas’ largest county has resigned after revelations that 10,000 ballots were not counted in the Houston area in last week’s primary election.
Read the full storyFederal Judge Orders Biden Administration to Halt Release of Illegal Alien Minors
On Friday, a federal judge in Texas ordered the Biden Administration to stop its mass releasing of illegal alien minors into the country after they come across the southern border.
Breitbart reports that the ruling came from Judge Mark Pittman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019. Pittman’s order forbids the Biden Administration from releasing any more illegals by declaring them exempt from Title 42, an immigration policy first enacted by President Trump which allowed immigration authorities to immediately deport illegals after apprehending them. The policy was one of several strict immigration measures implemented shortly after the coronavirus outbreak, citing health concerns with regards to the high number of unhealthy people crossing the border and potentially spreading the disease even further.
Read the full story