Industrial Base Analysis Picks Up Steam; Recommendations to White House by April

General Dynamics’ Lima tank plant, the only factory in the US capable of building main battle tanks. WASHINGTON: President Trump’s sweeping review of the national security industrial base — from shipbuilding to microchips, strategic minerals to vaccines — is almost halfway done. A score of working groups across the government, not just the Pentagon, will submit…

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State House Candidate Menda Holmes Reveals A Personal Story That Helped Shape Her Character

Menda Holmes is candidate for the State House 46th District, a seat currently held by Mark Pody who is running for the 17th District Senate seat most recently held by gubernatorial candidate Mae Beavers. During her speech made to the monthly Wilson County GOP meeting in November, Menda told a personal story that “shaped my character, shaped who I am and shaped my fighting spirit.” In 1978, an accomplished horseback rider at the age of 19, Menda was on the back of a motorcycle when a car crashed into the bike and crushed her leg. A night of surgery and a month later, the recovery was not going well. With “no other good choices,” the medical professionals recommended that Menda’s left leg be amputated below the knee, and she agreed. It was at that point, Menda reflected, “I could have given up, but right then and there I said, I’m not quitting, I’m a fighter.” After being fitted with a prosthesis, Menda beat the typical two month timeframe and shed her crutches in just two weeks. The next year, she went on to compete with her horse, placing better than they ever had in the past. Later came modeling, snow…

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Commentary: Will Obamacare ‘Death Panels’ Make It to the New Year?

The Obamacare “death panels,” the same ones that liberals vehemently denied were a part of the plan, are on life support themselves, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) being the only thing keeping them alive. Conservatives in Congress not only have a chance to end President Donald Trump’s first year with a big win politically, but can also gain policy traction by repealing one of the worst aspects of Obamacare. The Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, was included in the Obamacare legislation, and consists of a group of 15 unelected bureaucrats who control health care spending and ration health care for those on Medicare (i.e. senior citizens.) You might recognize IPAB as it is more commonly referred to as “the death panels.” President Trump has already signed on to repeal IPAB, as it was part of President Trump’s budget request. The House of Representatives passed their version of IPAB repeal on November 2nd. The bill, introduced by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN-01), a medical doctor, passed with a bipartisan margin of 307 to 111. All of Tennessee’s Republican members of Congress were co-sponsors of the bill. On the passage of IPAB repeal, Congressman Roe stated “I am thrilled the…

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Former NYPD Commissioner: NYC Attack ‘ISIS Inspired’

An explosion targeting the Port Authority bus station in downtown Manhattan Monday was allegedly carried out by an Islamic State-inspired Bangladeshi immigrant, former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told MSNBC. Update: Bill Bratton is on @MSNBC’s #MorningJoe confirming that this was a terrorist attack in the name of ISIS near the Port Authority. https://t.co/v7r55XlYiy — Holly O’Reilly…

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‘The Dumbest Man On Television:’ Trump Slams CNN’s Don Lemon

President Donald Trump once again attacked the credibility of mainstream media outlets Monday morning, rejecting a recent New York Times report that he watches CNN’s Don Lemon for motivation. In addition to criticizing the NYTimes report, which purported to give a moment-by-moment accounting of Trump’s typical work day, the president also attacked CNN and MSNBC, labeling…

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Glenn Simpson’s Fusion GPS Used Jeffrey Epstein in Donald Trump Smear Campaign

Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm whose Democrat-financed Russia dossier fueled an FBI investigation into Donald Trump, pitched other stories about the Republican presidential candidate to Washington reporters, including an attempt to tie him to a convicted pedophile who was once buddies with former President Bill Clinton. Journalist sources told The Washington Times that Fusion founder…

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Former Tech Exec: Silicon Valley Pumps Money Into ‘Useless, Idiotic Companies’

Former Facebook vice president of user growth, Chamath Palihapitiya, said he feels “tremendous guilt” for helping create the social media age that captivates so much of our lives, and called out Silicon Valley investors for frivolously spending money on “shitty, useless,” companies. “I feel tremendous guilt,” Palihapitiya told a crowd gathered at Standford Business School, CNBC…

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NBC’s Chuck Todd to Bernie Sanders: Have Dems ‘Done Enough’ to ‘Stop’ Tax Reform?

NBC News’ “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd appeared on Sunday to take sides: In particular, he asked Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) if he thought Democrats had “done enough” to “stop” the GOP’s tax reform bill that is moving toward final passage. “I know you’re not a fan of this bill at all. OK. I know where you believe the priorities are all wrong,” Todd said to Sanders. “[Has] the Democratic Party collectively done enough, you think, in the institutions of the House and the Senate to stop this bill?”

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Lt. Governor Randy McNally Blasts Testing Firm ACT, Calls on Comptroller to Investigate

Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) went public on Monday with a letter he sent to Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson on December 7, calling on him to open an investigation in college aptitude testing firm ACT, Inc. “Last week, I sent a letter to Tennessee Comptroller Justin P Wilson requesting an investigation of ACT Student,” McNally wrote on Facebook Monday morning, adding: An organization that is willing to sacrifice young people’s future over a bureaucratic error is not an organization Tennessee can trust. It is important that Tennessee parents and students have as much information as possible on the operations of ACT, Inc. At issue is the ongoing debacle surrounding a batch of test scores due to hundreds of students who are relying on the firm’s results to complete their college entry requirements. As The Tennessee Star reported last month, Bearden High School administered the test Oct. 17 with test booklets it received intended for Oct. 3. ACT has not responded to questions about how the incorrect materials were sent to the school, but says it can’t validate the scores because of the “mis-administration” and the theoretical possibility that students could have received test answers from others. Students have been directed to retake the test Dec. 9. “It’s…

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Tuesday, December 12

Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing December 12, Tuesday 1 Peter 3:16-17 Keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Revelation 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

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