Month: December 2020

Commentary: Debt Is the Most Predictable Crisis in U.S. History

Georgia Star News Staff

Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson issued a stern warning in last week’s Wall Street Journal: “A world-class financial system can’t exist in a country that fails to maintain the quality of its credit.”

America’s debt problem was already wildly out of control for the past 20 years, but we now face truly unprecedented additional levels of debt issued by Congress in response to the pandemic. From 2000 to 2019, the federal debt rose from $5.6 trillion to $22.7 trillion, and it is expected to top $27 trillion by year’s end, a whopping 19 percent increase this year. Another trillion in virus relief spending now seems to be at the low end of spending estimates going into 2021.

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Eleven Cases of Defensive Gun Use That Show How Biden’s Key Picks Miss the Mark

Georgia Star News Staff

Joe Biden has begun naming his picks for top political positions in a Biden administration, and it is already evident that many of them are not fans of Americans’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

For example, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra—Biden’s choice to head the Department of Health and Human Services—has spent the past three years defending that state’s absurdly restrictive gun control laws in federal court.

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Tourists Littering National Parks With Discarded Facemasks

Georgia Star News Staff

Some are calling single-use face masks the new plastic bottle. Disposable masks are now becoming litter throughout the National Parks across the United States and visitors are littering the land and ancient caves.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,129 billion face masks have been used each month globally, according to some estimates.

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ICE Arrested Significantly Fewer Illegal Immigrants Due to COVID-19

Georgia Star News Staff

Officials arrested 30% fewer individuals in 2020 than they did last year, in part because of COVID-19, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Wednesday.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations officials made 103,603 arrests this year and deported 185,884 individuals, according to ICE. Around 90% of the aliens who were arrested had criminal convictions or charges, and 92% of those deported had prior or pending criminal charges.

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Commentary: Open Borders Oligarch Charles Koch Re-Emerges to Oppose Trump and ‘America First’

Admin

The billionaire financier Charles Koch abandoned the Republican Party in the age of President Donald Trump, but he has returned on a white horse following the disputed election to preach the globalist cosmopolitan doctrines that previously had turned the GOP into a national laughingstock.

Koch penned an op-ed for CNN last week in which he urged Republicans to support amnesty for illegal aliens. He framed it as if allowing illegal immigrants to break the law is the “one thing we should all agree on” across the political spectrum.

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Commentary: The Federalist Papers and ‘The Violence of Faction’

Georgia Star News Staff
Founding Fathers

It has been said that the oldest word in American politics is “new.” Even the United States Constitution, by far the oldest written constitution in the world, was once new, and had to be defended against charges that it was an unnecessary and unrepublican innovation. The Federalist was keenly aware of the novelty of the Constitution’s enterprise—the attempt to establish “good government from reflection and choice”—but boldly turned it to account. 

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New York City Has Lost 70K Residents, $34B in Personal Income

Georgia Star News Staff

A net 70,000 New York City residents left the metropolitan region since COVID-19, resulting in roughly $34 billion in lost income, according to estimates released Tuesday from Unacast, a location analytics company.

Around 3.57 million people fled New York City between Jan. 1 and Dec. 7 this year — and they were replaced by some 3.5 million people earning lower average incomes, the findings from Unacast said.

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Baltimore Police Department Say They Need 500 Additional Officers to Stem City-Wide Crime Spike

Georgia Star News Staff

After another violent weekend with a number of homicides and shootings in the city, the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) called out Police Commissioner Michael Harrison Tuesday morning, saying more officers have left the department than have been hired during his tenure, leaving the police department 500 officers short.

WJZ reported there were seven non-fatal shootings and five murders over the weekend in Mayor Brandon Scott’s (D) Baltimore, and another fatal shooting in broad daylight Monday, bringing the homicide total to 325 so far this year.

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Commentary: The ‘Expert Consensus’ Favored Alcohol Prohibition, Too

Georgia Star News Staff

Most people today regard America’s experiment with alcohol prohibition as a national embarrassment, rightly repealed in 1933. So it will be with the closures and lockdowns of 2020, someday. 

In 1920, however, to be for the repeal of the prohibition that was passed took courage. You were arguing against prevailing opinion backed by celebratory scientists and exalted social thinkers. What you were saying flew in the face of “expert consensus.”

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Two Georgia Representatives to Challenge Electoral College Votes

Corinne Murdock

Two of Georgia’s representatives plan to challenge the Electoral College votes during the January 6th session of Congress. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) and Representative-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) will join a congressional coalition in objecting the electoral college votes.

Hice met with the President Donald Trump to strategize their objection to the Electors earlier this week. Others in the meeting included Trump’s legal team, Vice President Mike Pence, members of the House Freedom Caucus, Greene, and several other congressional members.

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At 1PM Saturday, FBI Special Agent in Charge Says No Person or Persons of Interest Identified as Responsible for Christmas Morning Bombing

Admin

  During an early afternoon press conference in Nashville Saturday, authorities asserted that investigators had not identified a person or persons of interest in the Christmas morning bombing. Shortly before the press briefing, CBSNews.com reported that person of interest had been identified: “A law enforcement source told CBS News a…

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Six Officers Hailed as Heroes for Running Into Nashville Blast Site Prior to Explosion

Admin

Six Nashville police officers were hailed as heroes on Christmas Day after they rushed to evacuate a downtown area of the city prior to an explosion, a law enforcement official said.

“These officers didn’t care about themselves,” Metro Police Chief John Drake said, according to Fox 17. “They didn’t think about that. They cared about the citizens of Nashville. They went in and we’d be talking not about the debris that we have here but potential people.”

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Christmas Day Bombing in Nashville Prompts Curfew as Surrounding Buildings Still in Possible Danger

Chris Butler

Metro Nashville authorities have imposed a curfew on parts of downtown Nashville after a massive Christmas Day explosion damaged at least 41 businesses on Second Avenue and collapsed one building. Nashville Mayor John Cooper, Nashville Fire Chief William Swann, and Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake updated the public at a Friday evening press conference.

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CDC Says More Than a Million Americans Have Been Vaccinated for COVID-19

Georgia Star News Staff

More than a million Americans have received the first round of vaccinations for the coronavirus as of Wednesday at 9 a.m., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced.

Over nine million coronavirus doses have been distributed and 1,008,025 doses have been administered, according to the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker.

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Four California Small Business Owners Share Their Struggles to Survive Under Lockdowns

Georgia Star News Staff

California small businesses are crumbling under the weight of a new stay-at-home order and a lack of meaningful financial assistance. 

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a new region-based lockdown order for California on Dec. 3, forcing more California businesses to close their doors or severely limit operations. 

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Hungary Amends Constitution to Recognize Parents as Male and Female

Georgia Star News Staff

In an effort to protect traditional Christian values amid the world’s rapidly evolving mores, lawmakers in Hungary amended the definition of family in its constitution last week to stipulate that a mother is a woman, and a father is a man, effectively banning adoption by same sex couples.  The ninth amendment to Hungary’s constitution now also “protects a child’s right to identify with their gender at birth,” and right to “an upbringing based on Hungary’s constitutional identity and Christian culture.”

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Border Patrol Agents Seize Over $37 Million Worth of Meth, 800 Pounds of Weed, and 14 Pounds of Fentanyl

Georgia Star News Staff

Officials announced the seizure of liquid methamphetamine hidden in a gas tank, more than 800 pounds of marijuana, nearly 15 pounds of fentanyl and over $37 million worth of methamphetamine at the southern border over the weekend, Customs and Border Protection announced Monday.

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Walmart Fueled Opioid Epidemic by Filling Illegitimate Prescriptions Regularly, DOJ Lawsuit Alleges

Georgia Star News Staff

The Department of Justice sued Walmart Tuesday alleging that the big-box retailer fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic by knowingly filling illegitimate prescriptions and with price-cutting techniques.

Walmart transformed its 5,000 in-store pharmacies into a leading network of opioid suppliers, the Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit alleged, according to a press release. In addition, Walmart allegedly didn’t heed warnings from its pharmacists that there was an insufficient screening process for questionable prescriptions.

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ICE Arrested More Than 150 Aliens in 10 Days

Georgia Star News Staff

Over 150 aliens, including 117 who said they would voluntarily leave the U.S. were arrested during a 10-day enforcement period, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Monday.

The national enforcement operation, “Operation Broken Promise” found that 71% of the aliens arrested from Dec. 7 through Dec. 17 had criminal convictions or pending charges, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

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Madison Cawthorn Says He’s Contesting the Election, Will Fund Primary Opponents Against GOP Reps Who Don’t Speak Out

Georgia Star News Staff

Incoming Republican North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn said at a Turning Point USA conference Monday that he will contest the election and fund primary opponents against GOP members not publicly urging “for fair, free and just elections.”

Cawthorn said the Constitution says “that state legislators are the only body that can change election law within their own states,” video of the conference shows. He said numerous governors and state secretaries in swing states have violated the law.

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ATF Withdraws Proposed Gun Regulation Manufacturers Say Would Cost Industry $2 Billion After Pressure from Lawmakers

Georgia Star News Staff

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under pressure from dozens of congressmen, withdrew guidance on a proposed regulation that gun industry leaders warned would cost them billions.

The ATF’s decision to pull its regulation regarding pistol braces follows a cooperative effort from 90 House of Representatives members who demanded the regulatory agency cease its “alarming” determination that “could turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals overnight.”

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University of Kansas Study Admits Microaggression Training Doesn’t Work

Georgia Star News Staff

A University of Kansas study found that microaggression training does not significantly affect behavior, but instead introduces a “catch-all label for anything that causes offense.”

University of Kansas professors Zak Foste and Jennifer Ng interviewed resident assistants at two universities to determine the efficacy of microaggression training, according to the school.

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Ivy League Uses Obama-Era Immigration Tweak to Broaden Work Visa Eligibility

Georgia Star News Staff

The University of Pennsylvania reclassified its economics department as a STEM field making it the last Ivy League school to do so in the interest of helping international students receive longer work visas after graduation.

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security expanded the list of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses that would let graduates gain an optional practical training (OPT) extension. 

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Commentary: Why Do So Few Clergy Serve in Congress?

Georgia Star News Staff

While campaigning for Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, U.S. Rep. Doug Collins – a former pastor – attacked her opponent, Democrat Reverend Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, for his views on abortion rights.

“There is no such thing as a pro-choice pastor,” Collins said of Warnock. “What you have is a lie from the bed of hell.”

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Georgia Democrats Ossoff, Warnock Each Raised Over $100 Million in Two Months, Shattering Fundraising Records

Georgia Star News Staff

Georgia Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock have each raised over $100 million in the past two months, shattering Senate fundraising records and out-raising their respective challengers, Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

Their $210 million total was split almost evenly, with Ossoff reporting $106.8 million and Warnock reporting $103.4 million, two totals funded largely by small-dollar donors across the country, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Though outraised, Perdue and Loeffler raised over $130 million in total, reporting $68 and $64.1 million, respectively.

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Ossoff Campaign Emphasized His Business Savvy: New Reports Indicate His Media Company Is Struggling

Corinne Murdock

Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff won’t disclose the financial struggles of his media company, despite using it throughout his campaign as proof of his business prowess. During an interview with The Washington Post, Ossoff dodged questions regarding his financial management of Insight TWI: The World Investigates (TWI).

According to The Post, Ossoff assumed the media company after investing a quarter of a million from his inheritance. Ossoff’s late grandfather, Hyman Ossoff, created the Ossoff Leather Company with his brother, and later formed the Suncook Tanning Corporation in New Hampshire. The total inheritance that Ossoff received is unknown.

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GOP Blocks Standalone $2,000 Stimulus Payments Bill, House to Vote on Proposal Monday

Georgia Star News Staff

House Republicans blocked legislation Thursday that would have sent $2,000 in direct payments to Americans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

House Democratic and Republican leaders met early Thursday morning in a pro forma session and held a unanimous consent vote on the standalone direct payments proposal, according to CNBC. Republican leadership voted the measure down, sinking the effort, which required all lawmakers present to unanimously vote in favor for it to pass.

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Analysis Ranks Top U.S. Cities for Christmas

The Center Square

Two cities in North Carolina and two in California are in the top five among the best cities in the country for celebrating Christmas, according to a new study from WalletHub.

Durham, N.C., edged out San Jose, Calif., by less than one point to take the top spot with a cumulative score of 68.16, compared to 67.99. Honolulu, Hawaii, took third with 67.92 points, followed by Oakland, Calif., (67.09) and Raleigh, N.C. (67).

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Detroit Sues Black Lives Matter Members, Claims They Endangered ‘Lives of Police and the Public’

Georgia Star News Staff

Officials in Detroit sued a prominent activist group and several Black Lives Matter demonstrators for damages following allegations of riots, violence and a “civil conspiracy” to defame local authorities.

The suit was filed against multiple individuals and an organization called Detroit Will Breathe, which indicates on its webpage that it plans to use “militant resistance” to enact “meaningful change” for people of color. City leaders allege that the group was part of a conspiracy to damage property, attack law enforcement and incite riot activity, the lawsuit read.

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44 Percent of People Say They’re Not Doing Christmas in Person Due to Coronavirus

Georgia Star News Staff

A study found 44% of Americans said they’re not gathering for Christmas with their loved ones, a Civic Science infographic said.

More respondents in December reported canceling in-person Christmas than in October, the study’s infographic said. In October, 36% responded that they still planned in-person gatherings, but that number dropped to 30% just before the holiday.

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UK, EU Leaders Reach Historic Brexit Deal After Months of Negotiations

Georgia Star News Staff

The U.K. and the European Union agreed to a historic Brexit trade deal Thursday after months of tense negotiations and with just days left before the deadline, leaders from both sides announced.

The thousand-page trade agreement means that the U.K. can finally depart from the EU and sets up the framework for British-EU relations post-Brexit, according to The New York Times. The deal concluded more than four years of bitter Brexit negotiations after British citizens voted in favor of leaving the EU in June 2016.

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Federal Court Blocks California Church’s Bid for in-Person Worship On Christmas

Georgia Star News Staff

A federal appeals court has denied a California church’s bid to hold in-person services for Christmas.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit declined to lift California’s coronavirus restrictions for the Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, California in the Wednesday ruling. Under the restrictions issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom, churches in the state are not allowed to hold in-person services amid the pandemic.

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Georgia Secretary of State Calls for Legislative Reform of Absentee Voting in Georgia

The Center Square

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called on lawmakers Wednesday to propose legislation to revamp the state’s absentee ballot voting process.

During an election investigation hearing Wednesday, Raffensperger asked the House Governmental Affairs Committee to eliminate signature matching and no-excuse absentee voting.

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Favorite Christmas Songs by State

Jacob Taylor

Christmas Day has finally arrived and although many people’s plans may look quite different this year, there is one thing about the holiday season that can never be changed: catchy, calming and irresistible Christmas songs.

Whether a person listens to Christmas music all 365 days of the year or only starts once winter has set in, almost everybody has a favorite jingle that inevitably gets played more often around the holidays.

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Authorities Arrest Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff Supporters on Theft and Obstruction Charges

Chris Butler

Columbia County authorities have arrested two alleged thieves who stole packages from people’s homes — as the pair simultaneously distributed fliers supporting the candidacies of Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Warnock and Ossoff, both Democrats, want to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.

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Nearly Two-Thirds of Georgia Counties Fail to Produce Chain of Custody Documents for 460,000 Absentee Ballots After the November 3 General Election

Tiffany Morgan

  With eleven days until Georgia’s U.S. runoff election, a large majority of the state’s counties have failed to produce chain of custody documents for some 460,000 absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes that were counted in the state’s November 3 general election as requested by The Georgia Star News.…

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Georgia Election Official Gabriel Sterling Reveals Woman Used His Voting Address After a Month of Defending Election Integrity

Corinne Murdock

Voting Systems Manager Gabriel Sterling revealed on Tuesday that a woman used his address to vote in the general election and request an absentee ballot for the runoff election. Sterling learned of the fraudulent voting after he received a flier from a voting organization reminding the woman, Meron Fissha, to return her absentee ballot.

“The Lord moves in mysterious ways,” remarked Sterling on the matter.

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Commentary: Under Biden, the Term ‘Illegal Alien’ May Become Illegal

Georgia Star News Staff

If you agreed with President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” approach to governance, then brace yourself, as all of it could soon be subject to dismantling if Joe Biden is successful in his bid for the presidency. The changes will be of both the macro and micro variety. Some that appear minor are actually very significant. One such example is the war on language, specifically the term “illegal alien.”

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Commentary: Charlie Brown’s Christmas Message to America

Georgia Star News Staff

Parents and children across America breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that “A Charlie Brown Christmas” would air on public television after all. This classic favorite seemed ready to disappear like everything else in 2020 when Apple TV obtained the rights and planned to air the program on its streaming service, instead of broadcast TV as has been done since 1965.

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New Jobless Claims Decrease to 803,000, Economists Expected 888,000

Georgia Star News Staff

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 803,000 last week as the economy continued to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) figure released Thursday represented a decrease of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Dec. 12, in which there were 885,000 new jobless claims reported. Roughly 20.4 million Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits, according to the BLS report Thursday.

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Trump Vetoes Defense Spending Bill, Says It’s ‘Gift’ to China and Russia, Lacks Section 230 Reforms

Georgia Star News Staff

President Trump on Wednesday followed through on his threat to veto the National Defense Authorization Act, calling it a “gift” to China and Russia that also lacks the reforms he sought to rescind legal liability shields for technology companies provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

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Pfizer, U.S. Reach Deal for 100 Million Additional Coronavirus Vaccine Doses

Georgia Star News Staff

The Trump Administration has purchased an additional 100 million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, the drugmaker announced Wednesday.

The new agreement means that Pfizer will supply 200 million doses to the United States, according to the company’s statement, which will be distributed through July 2021. Also included in the deal is the option to purchase an additional 400 million doses.

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Trump Authorizes Russiagate Special Counsel to Use Classified Information for Grand Jury Proceedings

Georgia Star News Staff

President Donald Trump on Tuesday authorized the Department of Justice to use classified information in grand jury proceedings connected to a special counsel’s investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.

In a memo released through the White House, Trump authorized the attorney general “to use classified information as he deems necessary in connection with his review, including in a grand jury or other proceeding.”

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Fauci: Americans Should Not to See Their Kids for Christmas

Georgia Star News Staff

Dr Anthony Fauci has revealed that he and his wife won’t be spending time with their three adult children for Christmas this year and urged other Americans to do the same as coronavirus cases continue to surge in the U.S.

The nation’s alleged top infectious disease expert told The Washington Post it would mark the first Christmas not spent with his three daughters since they were born.

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