Commentary: Would a ‘Senator Mitt Romney’ Caucus with the Republicans?

Mitt Romney & Orrin Hatch

by CHQ Staff   CNN’s Maeve Reston reports that Mitt Romney has signaled he is moving toward with a run for a US Senate seat from Utah, tweeting Thursday that he will make a formal announcement about his plans on February 15. “Looking forward to making an announcement on February 15th about the Utah Senate race,” he tweeted. While Romney has been quietly talking to potential aides in Utah, the tweet will allow him to hire a staff and make preparations more openly — while also courting the conservative delegates who control the Utah GOP’s nominating convention. However, before those delegates make a decision, we hope they will take a look at the real Mitt Romney. By means unknown, John McCain’s 2008 opposition research file on Mitt Romney – all 200 pages of it – ended-up on the internet. God bless whoever posted it, because it makes truly compelling reading and it shows conclusively that Mitt Romney’s greatest talent as a candidate is his ability to keep every hair in place while not telling the truth. http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-book-on-mitt-romney-here-is-john-mccains-ent For those who prefer not to wade through all 200 pages of the file there is a good “50 greatest hits list” here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-fifty-greatest-hits-from-john-mccains-giant-m…

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Spice Girls Announce Plans to Work Together Again

The Spice Girls got back together on Friday for the first time since 2012 and announced plans to explore “incredible new opportunities” in the future. The British 1990s pop phenomenon — Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Horner — reunited at Horner’s house north of London, along with their former manager Simon Fuller.

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What Happens if Nashville Mayor Megan Barry Resigns?

The scandal that has enveloped Nashville Mayor Megan Barry in the wake of her admission that she had a two year affair with the head of her security detail has many wondering how she can weather the storm. As more details emerge regarding the use of taxpayer funds for her travels with Sgt. Rob Forrest, including 9 trips where the two of them traveled alone, speculation increases that she may ultimately be forced to resign. If that happens, what happens next? A Barry resignation during the next six months would immediately elevate the current Vice Mayor to serving as acting Mayor pending a special election to fill the vacancy in the Mayor’s office. (If Mayor Barry doesn’t resign until a date within 12 months of the next election for Mayor, then there would NOT be a special election and the Vice Mayor would simply fill the role until the scheduled election occurs.) The Nashville Metro Charter specifics in Section 15.03 that: “There shall be held a special metropolitan election to fill a vacancy for the unexpired term in the office of mayor and in the office of district council member whenever such vacancy shall exist more than twelve (12) months…

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College Syllabus Calls Trump ‘White Supremacist’ and ‘Orange Reality Star’

At California State University’s Dominguez Hills campus (CSUDH), students in an introductory political science class called American Institutions have been given a syllabus that is nothing short of troubling. The syllabus — from Dr. Brooke Mascagni, a lecturer in political science at the school — refers to the sitting president of the United States as a “white supremacist, misogynist, narcissistic, volatile, belligerent, uninformed, stubborn, failed businessman and orange reality star,” as reported.

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Davidson County Residents Post Petition Calling on ‘Megan Barry to Resign Immediately from the Office of Mayor’

Less than 36 hours after Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry admitted to a years-long affair with top staffer Rob Forrest, some Davidson County citizens have had enough and are calling on Barry to step down. Backers are careful to note that while the Mayor’s infidelity in her marriage belies a systemic, ethical shortcoming, it is not chief among their concerns. What is, is the fiscal impact her relationship with Forrest had in terms of overtime payments, travel arrangements, and other costs associated with his many cross-country and overseas trips with her – all paid by Metro Nashville taxpayers. At least one observer noted that since these additional payments occurred over an extended period of time, Forrest’s retirement pension could be further enriched due to how the City calculates the benefit. A petition, hosted at ipetition.com has been posted calling for Mayor Megan Barry’s resignation. It reads: A PETITION FROM THE RESIDENTS OF DAVIDSON COUNTY We, the undersigned residents of Davidson County, Tennessee, state that, based on evident facts which have recently come to light, it is wholly appropriate under the rights accorded to free people under a free government that we protest the fact that: 1. A relationship of a sexual nature has existed…

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Former Reagan Attorney Believes Nunes Memo Could Undermine Mueller

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 campaign may be undermined by release of a House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee memo Friday, according to a former U.S. attorney appointed by President Ronald Reagan. “The memo provides additional evidence of the animus of the Obama-Lynch FBI and Justice Department toward Donald Trump,” said Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia under Reagan.

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Republican State Senator Todd Gardenhire Re-Re-Re-Files Bill to Grant In-State Tuition Benefits to Illegal Alien Students

Gardenhire White

State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) filed bill SB2263 Thursday which would grant in-state tuition discount benefits to illegal alien students. Dubbed ‘Tuition Opportunity,’ the measure was unsurprisingly co-sponsored by the Chattanooga-area lawmaker’s friend and ally, State Representative Mark White (R-Memphis), who filed HB2429, a state house version of the same bill. The bills’ summary reads: Education, Higher – As introduced, exempts certain students from paying out-of-state tuition at state institutions of higher education. – Amends TCA Section 4-58-102; Title 49, Chapter 7; Title 49, Chapter 8 and Title 49, Chapter 9. This year will be the fourth time the duo has sought to extend the education benefits. In 2015, the proposal passed the state Senate and failed in the state House by a single vote. Gardenhire and White tried again in 2016, where is failed to pass out of committee, despite and emotion discussion leading up to the vote. Last year, in 2017, they tried yet again, and the proposal did not make out it of committee. Nashville-based refugee, immigrant, and illegal alien advocacy group, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refuge Rights Coalition (TIRRC) celebrated the bill’s introduction with a statement: For months, we’ve been fighting to defend DACA and to fight for Dream Act…

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Commentary: How Trump and the GOP Congress Can Break the Midterm Jinx in 2018

by Robert Romano   Congressional midterms after a President wins the White House can be a brutal affair. The out-party tends to be motivated and has a knack for taking it out on Congress. The incumbent party, usually, is unable to match the opposition’s energy and so losses tend to follow. It’s the midterm jinx. The White House incumbent party tends to lose House seats in midterm elections 89 percent of the time dating back a century, with losses averaging 35 seats. The exceptions were 1934, 1998 and 2002. But it’s not all bad. Sometimes there are losses, but minimal ones. In 1926, 1962, 1986 and 1990 the losses were kept to less than 10 seats. 1954, 1970, 1978 and 2014 the losses were less than 20 seats. On the Senate side, the situation is slightly less depressing, owing to the fact that only one-third of the Senate stands for election every two years. Still, the White House incumbent party tends to lose Senate seats about 71 percent of the time, with losses averaging about 6 seats. Here, there are more exceptions where seats were either gained or none lost: 1906, 1914, 1934, 1962, 1970, 1982, 1998 and 2002. Now,…

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Advocates Cheer Trump Boost of ‘Right to Try’ Experimental Medical Treatments

Advocates of the “Right to Try” movement hope a State of the Union shoutout by President Donald Trump this will build momentum for legislation to let dying patents bypass government red tape to use experimental drugs in the U.S. Naomi Lopez Bauman, director of health care policy at the libertarian Goldwater Institute, said the president’s endorsement during his Tuesday address to the nation will help.

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Megan Barry First Nashville Mayor To Take Police Guard Outside of Mid-South and Travel Alone With Security Chief Lover

Nashville Mayor Megan Barry took her lover/police guard on far more trips, and on longer journeys, than her previous two predecessors, multiple media outlets report. NewsChannel 5 broke the story Wednesday of Barry’s years-long affair with the former head of her security detail, Metro Police Sgt. Rob Forrest, who abruptly announced his retirement after 31 years with the department. Forrest traveled with Barry across the U.S. as well as Greece and Paris. District Attorney Glenn Funk asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to look for any potential criminal wrongdoing by Barry. NewsChannel 5 on Thursday interviewed former Mayor Bill Purcell. He said Forrest joined another officer on the mayoral security detail after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. One officer would drive with him to events “in the city of Nashville, primarily,” while the other would drive separately. Purcell was asked if Forrest traveled with him outside the city. Purcell said one or both would travel with him around the region, but he does not recall them accompanying him out of the state. Former Mayor Karl Dean told The Tennessean Thursday his security detail joined him when he drove to a location like Louisville or Little Rock, but not when he flew…

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Marco Rubio: Senate Needs a ‘Plan B’ on Immigration If Comprehensive Bill Fails

Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the Senate needs to have a “plan B” if comprehensive immigration reform fails. The Florida Republican explained that he believes the visa lottery system and chain migration can be dealt with in a way that attracts bipartisan support, but he said if not, the Senate needs to act on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), those brought to the U.S. illegally as children, and on border security.

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