Senator Bob Corker Just Won’t Shut Up, Says Good Relationship with President is ‘Irrelevant,’ Vows to Continue ‘Railing’ Against Trump

Retiring Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) seems to be taking a P.T. Barnum approach to his legacy, as the famous promoter is attributed to responding to a negative story by saying, “I don’t care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.” Since the surprise election of President Donald Trump in November 2016, the junior Senator has arguably had more air time than his previous decade in office, combined – and nearly all of it is dedicated to criticizing Trump, his policies, and his agenda. It would be easy to imagine Mr. Corker’s social calendar is as packed as it has ever been. He is the new face for the NeverTrump Republican Establishment and their Democrat allies. Mr. Corker’s latest appearance on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ is a classic, by-the-numbers hit, as reported by Politico: Retiring Sen. Bob Corker said Thursday that it’s “ridiculous” to believe he has become increasingly outspoken against President Donald Trump because he was passed over as secretary of state. Corker, who interviewed for the position, said Rex Tillerson “was an inspired choice” to lead the State Department. And then, switching to the 3rd-person, added: “I don’t think Rex Tillerson has a closer friend on Capitol…

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BREAKING: State Rep. Charles Sargent, Powerful Chairman of House Finance Committee, Will Not Seek Re-Election

Tennessee Star

State Rep. Charles Sargent (R-Franklin), the powerful chairman of the House Finance Committee, announced on Thursday that he will not seek re-election. “It has been my honor and pleasure to serve the citizens of the 61st District for the last 21 years. I would not trade that experience but circumstances change,” Sargent told the Williamson Herald, which noted:   Due to recent circumstances, Sargent’s health has become his top priority. “I have dealt with skin cancer on and off for many years,” he said. “I have recently been diagnosed with a related condition that requires my attention. My health is the most important matter right now. I want to focus on my health, my wife Nancy, and our children and grandchildren.” However, Sargent stated that this is not the end of his community involvement. “I think I still have a lot to offer to Williamson County and the State of Tennessee, just not in the House of Representatives,” he said. “I am confident that different opportunities and challenges will present themselves.” Sargent’s announcement put the spotlight on conservative activist Rebecca Burke, a member of the Republican State Executive Committee, who is the only announced candidate for the Republican nomination in…

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Second Congressional District GOP Fundraising Reports Signal Epic Battle Ahead Between Burchett and Matlock

The first fundraising reports from the GOP primary battle between Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett and State Representative Jimmy Matlock, who are seeking the seat in Congress being vacated by longtime Congressman Jimmy Duncan, are in. They confirm what most political insiders have expected. The first person in over a half century to serve in Congress from the Knoxville area who is not named Duncan will be an epic battle. As noted in The Tennessee Star earlier this week, Burchett surprised some observers with a strong report of $140,801.61 raised and $113,676.31 cash on hand. Burchett is a strong grassroots and populist campaigner, and he comes from the vote-rich Knox County portion of the district where he has had great success in previous elections to the State Legislature and to the County Mayor office, despite a track record of anemic fundraising. The primary questions about Burchett as a congressional candidate focused on whether or not he would raise the funds needed to win a contested congressional race. His first haul will quiet skeptics, particularly since many of his larger donors to date still have “room” within the campaign donation limits to give more. There are also plenty of other donors…

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Pilot Flying J Fraud Trial Delayed Without Explanation

US District Judge Curtis Collier ordered the fraud trial of several Pilot Flying J ex-employees be delayed one week from October 31 to November 6, the Knowville News Sentinel reported Tuesday: A federal judge is delaying for a week the upcoming trial of the four former Pilot Flying J employees charged in a scam to defraud unsophisticated trucking firms. U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier on Tuesday ordered the trial of former Pilot Flying J president Mark Hazelwood and three others delayed from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, according to an entry in the federal court system’s database. The trial will be held in Chattanooga, where Collier is based. Unusually, the cause for the delay was not made available in the public record. The entry revealing the trial delay is labeled as a “notice of hearing,” but no such hearing notice appeared on the publicly available docket. The entry does not indicate that a hearing was held, only that the trial date was being changed. There is no request for a delay filed in the public database nor is there an order explaining the delay. However, the Knoxville News Sentinel noted that the judge mentioned his wife was having health issues that could…

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Sen. Bob Corker Praises Sen. Jeff Flake as a ‘True Conservative’

U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) has released a statement praising U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), who announced Tuesday that he will not seek re-election. Corker announced last month that he will not run again. As outspoken critics of President Trump, both Corker and Flake would have faced tough primary battles next year. “Jeff Flake continues to stay true to his principles and fight for what he believes is right,” Corker said. “He is a true conservative, an outstanding senator and a cherished friend. I look forward to serving with him for the remainder of our terms in the Senate and know he will continue to represent the people of Arizona incredibly well.” However, the problem for Flake is that many on the right no longer see him as a true conservative. Conservative blogger and radio host Erick Erickson summed it up in a piece Wednesday: Jeff Flake had a 100 percent lifetime Club for Growth record in the United States House of Representatives. He was a conservative’s conservative and stood up to the House GOP leadership. He used that reputation to catapult himself into the Senate with the backing of most every major conservative group. He towed a tough line on…

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Commentary: Congress Suffers From Senility Of Purpose And Principle

by ConservativeHQ.com Staff   According to research by Kevin King of Quorum, the 115th Congress is among the oldest in history; 18 of the 33 Senators running for reelection in 2018 will be 65 or older. If they win, another six years in office would put Senators Feinstein, Hatch, Nelson, and Sanders well into their 80’s. Looking ahead at the 2020 elections, 21 of the 33 Senators running for reelection will be 65 or older says King. So why do they stick around? Only in the power obsessed Republican establishment would Senator John McCain, who has just been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer be encouraged to stay in the office, even though his chances of living out his term are between 3 and 14 percent. McCain chairs the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee and has been prone to sudden outbursts and fits of temper for years, even to the point that his perennial wingman Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina has had to apologize for his behavior. His mercurial fits of temper, his flip-flops on issues, his bellicose pronouncements and his strange embrace of Democrats and their positions have often left his fellow Republicans wondering about his mental state. Senator…

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Emails Confirm: Obama DOJ Funneled Big Bank Settlement Money To Liberal Groups

Emails written by Obama administration Department of Justice officials confirm reports the agency engaged in a systemic effort to funnel money to liberal advocacy organizations from settlements reached with big banks. The documents, obtained by the House Judiciary Committee as part of an ongoing investigation, reveal the Obama Justice Department effectively skirted Congress’s budgetary authority by…

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Mayor Asks Lamar Alexander to Hold Senate Hearings to Revoke Obama-Era Regulation That Permits CMS Abuse of Medicare Billing Cases

The mayor of McKenzie, Tennessee asked Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to hold Senate hearings on the abuse of Medicare billing revocations by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] in a letter sent on Wednesday. Writing “on behalf of the citizens of Northwest Tennessee,” Mayor Jill Holland asked Alexander, “as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee [to] schedule, at the earliest opportunity, a hearing of the appropriate subcommittee to consider the revocation or modification of a particularly egregious Obama-Era regulation promulgated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in December, 2014, “Medicare Program; Requirements for the Medicare Incentive Reward Program and Provider Enrollment; Final Rule.” “This regulation, and its abusive implementation by CMS, is now jeopardizing the health care of hundreds of eventually thousands of citizens in and around McKenzie, Tennessee, our city of 5,000 residents in Carroll, Henry, and Weakley counties,” Holland wrote. Holland then cites the case of Dr. Bryan Merrick, a beloved local family doctor who has practiced medicine in McKenzie for more than thirty years with an unblemished reputation. Merrick is the West Tennessee doctor who “lost his Medicare reimbursement privileges over $670 in billing errors, and the consequences…

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