White House Slowly Imploding over Biden’s Lackluster Messaging: Report

Staffers in President Joe Biden’s White House are struggling to control public messaging and gain ground in the media amid internal dysfunction, according to a CNN report.

Tensions have arisen between older staffers and younger aides over media strategies, and staff believe they are unable to improve Biden’s public image or change their strategy, according to CNN. Staffers described conflict and frustration within the White House over their inability to put forward an effective communications strategy, CNN reported, citing multiple anonymous staff members.

Read the full story

Tennessee Gas Prices Hit All Time High, Expected to Keep Climbing

Gas prices reached another all-time high in Tennessee Friday, and according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), they are only expected to continue rising. “While drivers might have seen a small break in pump price increases this holiday weekend, we could be looking at the calm before the storm for gas prices,” Megan Cooper, a spokeswoman for AAA, reportedly said. The average price for a gallon of gas in Tennessee was $4.39 on Friday, the highest ever recorded in the state. That price jump represents a 12-cent increase over the past week alone, and a 48-cent jump over the past month. A year ago, the average cost of a gallon of gas was $2.88. Nashville has been hit the hardest, where on Friday, the average cost of a gallon of gas was $4.44, five cents higher than the state’s average. Clarksville clocked in at $4.43 per gallon on average, just behind the state’s capital city. “A dip in gasoline demand provided drivers with a bit of stability at the pump, as the national average for a gallon rose less than three cents over the past week to reach $4.62. But this respite could be brief,” AAA said in a news…

Read the full story

Rep. Tim Burchett Says U.S. Cannot Afford to Send Billions to Ukraine While Dealing with Record Inflation and Gas Prices

Tennessee U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-2) said that the U.S. cannot afford to send billions of dollars to Ukraine given the record-high inflation and rising gas prices that its citizens are currently experiencing.

In a tweet, Burchett said, “The United States cannot afford to blindly send billions of dollars to Ukraine while we deal with record-high inflation and gas prices here at home. Europe needs to provide the primary financial aid since the war is right on its doorstep.”

Read the full story

Poll: Most Americans Blame Biden for Rampant Inflation

Most Americans believe President Joe Biden’s policies are the leading contributor to inflation in the U.S., a recent poll found.

The poll, conducted by the Trafalgar Group and the Convention of States Action from May 25 – 29, asked respondents to choose whether they believed Biden’s policies and spending or the war between Russia and Ukraine contributed more to inflation. The survey found that 59.9% of respondents blamed Biden’s policies and spending for inflation, compared to 31.6% who blamed the war between Russia and Ukraine and 8.5% who were unsure.

Read the full story

Minnesota Farmers Are Far Behind Schedule This Planting Season

Minnesota farmers have been unable to plant nearly any wheat and have only planted a small amount of corn so far this year.

Last year, nearly all of Minnesota’s wheat (99%) was in the ground by mid-May, but per the most recent figures from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), only 5% has been planted so far this year. Corn producers are having a similarly rough year thus far. Only 35% of Minnesota’s corn has been put in the ground so far. Normally by this time, almost double as much would have been planted according to the USDA.

Read the full story

Russia Announces Western Military Buildup to Match NATO Presence Near Its Borders

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced the buildup of forces in the nation’s Western Military District as a response to the mounting NATO forces near its borders.

“Twelve military units and subunits will be formed in the Western Military District by the end of the year,” said Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who highlighted the Swedish and Finnish bids to join NATO as factors in the buildup, according to Russian state media outlet Tass.

Read the full story

Commentary: Stop Canceling Ordinary Russians

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now in its third month, the demonization of all things Russian continues in the West. Russian athletes are prohibited from participating in sporting events, Russian artists prevented from performing, and an Italian university even “postponed” a course on Dostoevsky. As Tal Fortgang observes, “cancel culture is directed not at Russia the violent invader, but at people who have been made into avatars for Russianism.”

Read the full story

Commentary: Biden Needs to Take the Blame for Inflation

Last week, President Biden gave a speech listing everyone and everything allegedly responsible for record high inflation. His list included corporate greed and price gouging, Vladimir Putin, and “ultra-MAGA” Republicans. The president said that his policies, and the nearly $7 trillion in spending he authorized, have nothing to do with inflation.

None of this holds up under scrutiny. While President Biden claims that corporations are ripping off Americans, the costs of their supplies have been increasing at a record rate. In reality, many companies that Biden claims are stiffing consumers have actually lost money because they don’t want to alienate their customers by raising prices too quickly.

Read the full story

Several TN-5 Candidates Come Out Against $40 Billion Ukraine Aid Package

Several candidates in the Tennessee 5th Congressional District GOP primary have announced their public opposition to the recently approved aid package to Ukraine.

In addition to former Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, candidates General Kurt Winstead, Jeff Beierlein, and Tres Wittum have come out against the $40 billion Ukraine aid package.

Read the full story

Senator Bill Hagerty on the Biden Administration’s ‘Theology and Religion of Climate,’ Collapsing the Southern Border to ‘Transform’ America

Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) to the newsmaker line to discuss his decision not to vote for the 40 billion dollar aid package to Ukraine and the concerted effort by the Biden administration to transform the United States of America.

Read the full story

More Illegal Aliens Crossed the Border in April Than Any Month in Modern History

In the month of April, at least 234,088 illegal aliens crossed the border into the United States, smashing all previous records for the highest monthly total of illegal border crossings in modern history.

As reported by the Washington Examiner, the over 234,000 figure comes from successful interceptions by border authorities, and thus does not account for so-called “gotaways” who evaded the Border Patrol. The numbers were reported by a court document obtained by the Examiner on Monday.

Read the full story

TN-5 Candidate Andy Ogles on $40 Billion Ukrainian Aid Package: ‘It’s America First, Not Ukraine First’

Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles praised Tennessee U.S. Senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn for their votes against H.R. 7691, known as the $40 billion Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022.

In a statement, Ogles said, “It’s time we follow the words of President Trump and put America First.  At a time when mothers cannot find baby formula, we are facing runaway inflation and a disgraceful collapse of our southern border this inept Biden administration seems hellbent in destroying our economy and the middle class with it.”

Read the full story

21 U.S. Federal Agencies Are Analyzing the ‘Environmental Damage’ of Ukraine War

The federal government has assembled a 21-agency working group to study and assess the environmental impacts of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The “Interagency Working Group on Environmental Damage in Ukraine” — which was assembled by the Department of State and includes officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Department of Defense — has met weekly for about a month, Axios first reported Friday.

Read the full story

Commentary: Joe Biden vs. We the People

The Biden Administration last June unveiled its “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.” Despite its anodyne-sounding name, the “national strategy” was anything but anodyne. The pamphlet represented the logical culmination of the Left’s cynical use of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot as a means of ginning up large-scale, nationwide anti-Republican/anti-Trump voter sentiment.

The result, evinced again by Attorney General Merrick Garland’s disgraceful October 2021 memo directing the FBI to intrude on local school board meetings and crack down on anti-critical race theory parental revolts, has been a roiling cold war waged by the ruling class against us “deplorables” and our political “wrong-think.”

Read the full story

Commentary: Biden Promises More U.S. Wheat Production to Combat Loss of Ukrainian, Russian Wheat Exports, Despite U.S. Wheat Production Being Down 15 Percent Since 2019

President Joe Biden is promising to boost U.S. production of wheat to offset the loss of Ukrainian and Russian exports from the Black Sea thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that has shut down the ports there, stating at a farm in Illinois on May 11 that he would extend crop insurance for farmers who double crop in a bid to get more wheat to market this year.

Read the full story

Rand Paul Blocks Swift Passage of $40 Billion Ukraine Aid Package

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday threw a wrench in the Senate’s plans to swiftly pass the $40 billion Ukraine package this week, delaying the vote until at least next week, and possibly beyond.

According to the Hill, Paul wanted to include language in the bill to expand the Afghanistan inspector general’s role to include oversight of the Ukraine funds. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) offered him a deal that would have set up votes Thursday afternoon on the funding bill and on an amendment from Paul.

Read the full story

Vance Reacts to Ryan’s Vote to Send $40 Billion to Ukraine

Ohio’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee Thursday raised against a bill that will send $40 billion to Ukraine, citing problems that the United States has domestically. 

“I don’t think we should be spending any more money, unless it’s on America’s problems here at home,” J.D. Vance said Thursday. “I would make any additional aid for the Ukrainians conditional on sending money to the American southern border, on actually trying to fix this terrible shortage of baby formula and hospital supplies.”

Read the full story

Arizona Republicans, Others Sound Off on $40 Billion Ukraine Deal

The few dissenters from the U.S. House of Representatives who opposed a bill sending $40 billion to Ukraine while inflations crushes Americans are expressing their displeasure over the bill’s passage. 

“Biden wants to send FORTY BILLION that has been taken from taxpayers to Ukraine while our borders remain wide open with historic crossings. This Regime prioritizes every other country before it even thinks about our own – this is the definition of America Last. I VOTE NO!” said Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04), who was one of 57 Republicans to vote against the spending package. 

Read the full story

Hagerty Presses Energy Secretary on Biden’s Overseas Deal

A U.S. Senator Wednesday pressed a high-level member of President Joe Biden’s administration over his and his son Hunter’s ties with overseas energy companies. 

“Do you think it was appropriate for Vice President Biden to conduct foreign policy in the Ukraine while an influential Ukrainian energy company called Burisma was paying his son a million dollars a year to serve on its board, or while a Russian billionaire was providing millions of dollars to Hunter Biden at the same time that Hunter Biden was apparently paying his father’s business—or living expenses?” asked Sen. Bill Hargerty (R-TN).

Read the full story

Commentary: Too Many Republicans Want Endless War in Ukraine

Former President Donald Trump issued a plea for peace last week. “It doesn’t make sense that Russia and Ukraine aren’t sitting down and working out some kind of an agreement,” Trump said in a statement on the war in Ukraine.

“If they don’t do it soon, there will be nothing left but death, destruction, and carnage,” he added. “This is a war that never should have happened, but it did. The solution can never be as good as it would have been before the shooting started, but there is a solution, and it should be figured out now—not later—when everyone will be DEAD!”

Read the full story

Commentary: America’s Future Depends on the Bioeconomy

If the coronavirus pandemic exposed the fragility of our supply chains, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has laid bare the precarious state of global food security. While inflation and sanctions on Russia have pushed up the price of food and fuel, the latest U.N. climate report provides a further urgent warning to change the status quo for the sake of our planet. It claims that global CO2 emissions must peak by 2025 to avoid catastrophic effects.

But there is an alternative to the uncomfortable choice between economic sacrifice, moral compromise, and ecological ruin. It’s called the bioeconomy, and it has the potential to address the existential challenges posed by climate change, global pandemics, and growing economic inequity. Imagine bio-based antiviral face masks, or carbon-neutral cement produced in facilities located in America’s former industrial hubs.

Read the full story

Commentary: Our Spanish Civil War

From 1936 to 1939, the civil war in Spain became a European laboratory of new tactics, strategies, logistics, wartime morality, and weapons. Right-wing nationalists under General Francisco Franco finally defeated loyal supporters of an evolutionary socialist republic—but only after much of the Western world had variously weighed in.

The cost to the Spanish people of such brutal and vicious strife was horrific. Over 500,000 Spaniards would die in a little over two-and-a-half years. The country was left in shambles.

Read the full story

Biden Appoints Kenyon College Graduate as Ambassador to Ukraine

President Joe Biden is expected to nominate a Kenyon College graduate to be the United States’ Ambassador to Ukraine, which is currently embattled in war with Russia. 

“Kenyon is proud that such an accomplished alumna has been selected for this critical diplomatic position,” Kenyon College Professor of Political Science David Rowe told The Ohio Star Monday. “Bridget Brink is being sent to one of the United States’ most important postings. How the Ukraine war is resolved will affect the fate of security and democracy in Europe and more broadly for a generation or more. We wish her all the best in what will likely be the challenge of a lifetime.”  

Read the full story

Commentary: What Trump’s ‘America First’ Agenda Got Right in Central Europe, Ukraine, and the Politics of Security

Russia’s invasion not only poses an existential threat to Ukrainian sovereignty, but it also represents a direct challenge to American power and credibility globally. If Vladimir Putin prevails, the promise of the United States to act as a security guarantor through NATO in Europe or on its own anywhere will be in shambles.

Moscow is clearly pursuing two goals simultaneously: territorial gains in Ukraine as part of the revanchist ambition to restore the Soviet-era sphere of influence and, more importantly, degrading American strategic prominence, with the goal of driving the United States out of Europe.

Read the full story

Senator Hagerty to Tennessee Star: ‘I Am Very Rightly Concerned About the Biden Administration’s Competence to Execute Anything’

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty criticized the Biden administration’s competence, handling of Afghanistan, the energy crisis and how it affects the situation in Ukraine, and discussed a recent trip he took to Japan during an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star that occurred after a Wednesday afternoon joint press event held on border security with Governor Bill Lee outside his Nashville district office.

Read the full story

Commentary: ‘Genocide’ Is Not a Throwaway Term of Abuse

Soaring inflation is leaving Americans battered and bruised—and not just inflation in prices. Inflation in rhetoric is also doing a number on the people of our republic.

We’ve seen it unfold with depressing regularity. Donald Trump was a “fascist dictator,” we were told. The Capitol riot was a “coup” and an “insurrection.” Climate change poses an “existential threat” to all life on earth. And, just this past week, after failing to get the legislative redistricting map he wanted from the state Supreme Court, Wisconsin’s Democratic Governor Tony Evers declared: “At a time when our democracy is under near-constant attack, the judiciary has abandoned our democracy in our most dire hour.”

Read the full story

Tennessee Representatives ‘Proud’ and ‘Honored’ by Russian Sanctions Against Them

Eight of Tennessee’s nine members of the House of Representatives were sanctioned by Russia on Wednesday in response to the U.S. sanctioning members of the Russian Duma earlier this year.

In total, 398 members of Congress were listed in the release from Russia; however, some lawmakers were not included because the country took action against them previously.

Read the full story

Ohio Agencies Collecting Personal Protective Gear to Send to Ukraine

Ohio will begin collecting personal protective gear from local and state law enforcement agencies around the state to send to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country, according to Governor Mike DeWine.

Previously, DeWine surveyed law enforcement agencies to determine a rough estimate of materials that could be sent to the country. According to his numbers, the state may be able to collect roughly “75 ballistic and riot helmets and 840 pieces of body armor, including vests and plates.”

Read the full story

Commentary: Ukraine Has Few Options Against Putin

Even a truncated Russian Federation has four times the pre-war population of Ukraine. It enjoys well over 10 times the Ukrainian gross domestic product. Russia covers almost 30 times Ukraine’s area.

And how does Ukraine expel Russian troops from its borders when its Western allies must put particular restrictions on their life-giving military and financial aid?

The interests of Europe and the United States are not quite the same as those of a beleaguered Ukraine. NATO also wants Vladimir Putin humiliated, but only if the war can be confined within the borders of Ukraine.

Read the full story

Feds: Retail Food Prices to Increase by an Additional Five Percent

The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects U.S. food prices to increase by at least another 5% on average this year as the majority of Americans surveyed in a new poll cite cost of living increases as a top concern and lack of confidence in President Joe Biden’s ability to do anything about it.

Rising prices are due to inflation, the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates, and consequences of Russia invading Ukraine, the USDA states in its most recent monthly Food Price Outlook, which forecasts retail food inflation.

Read the full story

Due to Price Spikes, Analysts Urge Michigan Consumers to Hold onto Current Vehicles

Michigan consumers considering the purchase of a new or used car or truck may be wise to put off replacing their current vehicle, according to University of Michigan-Flint Economics Professor Christopher Douglas.

An iSeeCars analysis of 1.8 million car sales in February 2022 concluded prices for used cars are up 35% nationally. In Detroit, used car prices were up 31%, or $7,442.77 over last year.

Read the full story

Solomon: How My Now-Validated Ukraine-Biden Family Reporting Began

Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed veteran Washington reporter and editor John Solomon about the stories he broke about corruption in Ukraine, many of them involving the Biden family, for The Hill newspaper.

Although, there was a newsroom protest against Solomon, who as a news columnist had more latitude than staff reporters, an editorial review of his articles showed that all of them were factual.

Read the full story

Blumenthal Falsely Claims Oil Companies to Blame for High Gas Prices

A U.S. Senator from Connecticut is falsely scapegoating oil companies for skyrocketing gas prices nationwide. 

“Oil companies are exploiting Russia’s war in Ukraine to drive up gas prices to obscene levels. It’s time to end this corporate profiteering,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Thursday. “We need a Big Oil Windfall Profits tax to take excess profits & deliver them to Americans getting stuck with the bill.”

Read the full story