Day: September 18, 2018

917 Society Celebrates Constitution Day in Tennessee at Residence of Dr. Ming Wang

Chris Butler

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The Republic still stands exactly 231 years to the day after the Founding Fathers signed the U.S. Constitution. But, as Michael Patrick Leahy, editor in chief of The Tennessee Star said Monday at an event emceed by State Senator Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield), “Constitutional literacy is pretty low right now.” That’s one of the reasons the 917 Society exists – to help improve constitutional literacy among Tennessee eighth graders. More than 200 supporters of the 917 Society gathered at the home of prominent Nashville physician Ming Wang on Monday, Sept. 17, to observe Constitution Day. And because of the 917 Society, every eighth-grader in Tennessee gets a copy of the U.S. Constitution. Joni Bryan launched the 917 Society just a few years ago. Eighth-grade is the year students are supposed to have civics in the U.S. curriculum. Due to the lack of funding and resources, teachers find it difficult to add one more thing to their classroom agenda. That’s where the 917 Society comes in. Their goal is to provide every eighth grader in Tennessee with a copy of the Constitution, in which founder Joni Bryan calls “a rite of passage.” Tennessee is the first state to offer…

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DOJ Official Bruce Ohr’s Congressional Testimony Contradicts Fusion GPS Founder Glenn Simpson’s

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Glenn Simpson, Bruce Ohr

by Chuck Ross   Department of Justice (DOJ) official Bruce Ohr told Congress in August that he met before the 2016 election with Glenn Simpson, a direct contradiction to what the Fusion GPS founder said in a congressional deposition in 2017. Sources familiar with Ohr’s Aug. 28 testimony tell The Daily Caller News Foundation that Ohr said he met with Simpson in August 2016. But Simpson, whose firm commissioned the infamous Steele dossier, told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence during a Nov. 14 deposition that he did not have contact with anyone from the DOJ or FBI until after the election. Ohr’s comments came during an exchange with Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, sources tell TheDCNF. “I think you said earlier today sometime this morning that you met with Glenn Simpson twice in person,” Jordan said, according to a transcript of the interview read out to TheDCNF. “But you met in person in 2016, is that right?” Jordan pressed. “That is my recollection,” Ohr said. “Once in August and once in December?” Jordan asked. “Yes,” said Ohr. Simpson told House investigators in November that he had contact with Ohr only after the 2016 election. “Did the FBI ever…

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Keith Ellison Accuser, Karen Monahan, Says Democratic Party Doesn’t Believe Her

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by Hanna Bogorowski   Karen Monahan, the woman accusing Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of domestic abuse, responded to a Twitter user on Monday who asked if Democrats believe Monahan’s allegations, saying they don’t, and that she’s been threatened and isolated from her own party. The user was following up on a tweet about Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. Peter Daou, a Democratic strategist and former advisor to Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, tweeted on Monday that Ford will be “attacked, smeared, and demonized” and that people must “BELIEVE WOMEN.” Make no mistake: #ChristineBlaseyFord will be attacked, smeared, and demonized. She will sustain more venom and vilification than #Kavanaugh. That's how this works. BELIEVE WOMEN. https://t.co/5NJ7nBOs4k — Peter Daou (@peterdaou) September 17, 2018 A Twitter user named Rose responded to Daou’s tweet, saying, “Democrats say believe women, do they believe you….” in reference to Monahan, who claims Ellison violently dragged her off a bed and yelled “Bitch, get the f*** out of my house” in a heated argument the couple allegedly had in 2016. “No, they [Democrats] don’t,” Monahan responded back. “I’ve been smeared, threatened, isolated from my own party.” No, they don't. I've been smeared, threatened, isolated from my own…

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Mississippi Police Ban Nike Products After Nike Endorses Colin Kaepernick

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by Grace Carr   Mississippi state police won’t be able to purchase any Nike apparel or products after an announcement from the commissioner of public safety. “As commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, I will not support vendors who do not support law enforcement and our military,” Commissioner Marshall Fisher said in a statement, USA Today reported Sunday. The announcement comes after former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick tweeted out a picture of Nike’s new campaign ad on Sept. 3. Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem in August 2016, sparking a trend in national sports where players kneel during the anthem rather than standing and placing their hand on their heart. Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/SRWkMIDdaO — Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 3, 2018 The ad ran during NFL’s opening game on Sept. 6. and celebrated Nike’s 30th anniversary. It aired shortly before the 17th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/x5TnU7Z51i — Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 5, 2018 Fisher has the right to prohibit business “with a company that pays an individual who has slandered our fine men and women in…

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Phil Bredesen Picked Winners and Losers on Taxpayer-Funded Electric Cars

Chris Butler
Phil Bredesen

Eight years ago, then-Tennessee Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen said that during the coming decade we’d see a surge of electric vehicles on the state’s roads and highways. So certain of it, he handed out $2.5 million in government money to encourage people to buy EVs. But we’re not talking about all EVs. Nope, we’re only talking about the Nissan Leaf, manufactured in Smyrna. People who bought the Chevy Volt or any other brand of EV did not qualify. At the time, a Franklin-based businessman who sold electric cars complained he got shortchanged as well. That businessman, Josh Womack, said Bredesen, in this instance, picked winners and losers. Now that the decade is nearly out, evidence indicates Bredesen, now the state’s U.S. Senate Democratic candidate, was no visionary. In 2018 the Daily Caller reported EVs aren’t popular and only people with six-figure incomes generally have them. No one at Bredesen’s campaign returned The Tennessee Star’s request for comment Monday. As the Tennessee Watchdog reported in the fall of 2010, just as he was leaving the governor’s office, Bredesen announced a rebate to the first 1,000 Tennessee residents who bought the Leaf. Specifically, that was a $2,500 rebate to the first 1,000…

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Controversial Music Modernization Act on Verge of Crucial Senate Verbal Vote

Jason M. Reynolds

The U.S. Senate is on the verge of holding a verbal vote on the Music Modernization Act, leaving many in the industry to say it is a step in the right direction while a few say the legislation is out of tune with established business practices. Nashville Public Radio reports that advocates of the Music Modernization Act say the legislation will clear the U.S. Senate soon. Supporters include U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN). The measure has been stalled in the upper chamber after having passed in the House of Representatives earlier this year. Companies like Sirius XM and private equity firm Blackstone, which owns performance rights organization SESAC, have concerns with the act, Nashville Public Radio says. Streaming services like Sirius XM say they already fairly pay artists. The company sent a letter to the Senate saying the act would force it to pay again for music produced prior to 1972 that it already has licensed, Billboard reported Sunday. The bill was planned for a verbal vote in the Senate early this week, Billboard said in a story Monday. One no vote could force the measure into a formal vote, and time is running out for such action before the…

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Commentary: Last-Minute Kavanaugh Attack by Feinstein Dirty Trick on Eve of Confirmation

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by Robert Romano   Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) decision to sit for a little more than a month on an allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, contradicted by a witness, from more than 30 years ago when he was in high school was a dirty trick not designed to get to the truth — but to prevent any vetting of the allegation during the lengthy process when Kavanaugh could have responded directly. Now, with the Kavanaugh Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation vote set for Sept. 20, Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford has come forward, setting up a “me too” moment akin to Anita Hill testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 in an attempt to torpedo Clarence Thomas’ nomination. Mark Judge, a writer in Washington, D.C., who was accused of being in the room with Kavanaugh and appears as the attack’s sole witness besides Ford and is accused of turning up the music to hide the attack, told the Weekly Standard, “It’s just absolutely nuts. I never saw Brett act that way.” It is telling that Feinstein never shared the letter she received in July with her Senate Judiciary Committee colleagues, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), nor…

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McConnell Breaks Silence On Kavanaugh Accusations – Slams Democrats

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by Henry Rogers   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed Democrats for bringing forward a 36-year-old accusation of misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on the Senate floor Monday. “But now, now, at the 11th hour, with committee votes on schedule, after Democrats have spent weeks and weeks searching for any possible reason that the nomination should be delayed, now, now they choose to reveal this allegation,” McConnell said. “Now, an accusation of 36-year-old misconduct, dating back to high school, has been brought forward at the last minute, in an irregular manner.” McConnell’s comments come as he has continued to defend Kavanaugh, but has not publicly commented on the sexual misconduct allegations that came to light Thursday. .@Senatemajldr: "But now, now, at the 11th hour, with committee votes on schedule, after Democrats have spent weeks and weeks searching for any possible reason that the nomination should be delayed, now, now they choose to reveal this allegation."#Kavanaugh #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/p9V3OVOSjO — CSPAN (@cspan) September 17, 2018 “It is an accusation which the ranking member of the committee of jurisdiction has known about for at least six weeks. Known about for six weeks. Yet chose to keep secret until the 11th hour,” McConnell said, referencing Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of…

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Trump Gets Behind Senate Bill That Would End Gag Orders Against Pharmacists Sharing Money-Saving Information

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by Evie Fordham   President Donald Trump got behind a bill ending pharmacist gag clauses the Senate is set to vote on Monday afternoon. “Americans deserve to know the lowest drug price at their pharmacy, but ‘gag clauses’ prevent your pharmacist from telling you!” Trump tweeted Monday afternoon about the Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act. “I support legislation that will remove gag clauses and urge the Senate to act.” Americans deserve to know the lowest drug price at their pharmacy, but “gag clauses” prevent your pharmacist from telling you! I support legislation that will remove gag clauses and urge the Senate to act. #AmericanPatientsFirst — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2018 He accompanied the message with the hashtag “#AmericanPatientsFirst.” Currently, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers use the gag clauses to “forbid pharmacists from proactively telling consumers if their prescription would cost less if they paid for it out-of-pocket rather than using their insurance plan,” according to a press release from Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, one of the bill’s authors. The bill would lead to “a slight decrease in federal revenues,” according to the Congressional Budget Office, but that could be offset by another provision in the bill, reported Politico. Collins’s bill also targets…

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Report: Machines to Handle Over Half Workplace Tasks by 2025

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More than half of all workplace tasks will be carried out by machines by 2025, organizers of the Davos economic forum said in a report released Monday that highlights the speed with which the labor market will change in coming years. The World Economic Forum estimates that machines will be responsible for 52 percent of the division of labor as share of hours within seven years, up from just 29 percent today. By 2022, the report says, roughly 75 million jobs worldwide will be lost, but that could be more than offset by the creation of 133 million new jobs. A major challenge, however, will be training and re-training employees for that new world of work. “By 2025, the majority of workplace tasks in existence today will be performed by machines or algorithms. At the same time a greater number of new jobs will be created,” said Saadia Zahidi, a WEF board member. “Our research suggests that neither businesses nor governments have fully grasped the size of this key challenge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” The “Future of Jobs 2018” report, the second of its kind, is based on a survey of executives representing 15 million employees in 20 economies.…

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‘Big Green, Inc.’: Inside The $4 Billion Wealthy Liberal Foundations Handed To Environmentalists

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by Michael Bastach   Major foundations handed nearly $4 billion to global warming activists, anti-fossil fuel campaigners and other environmentalists over the past eight years, according to a database debuted Monday. The website Big Green, Inc. tracked $3.7 billion in commitments from major grant-making foundations to environmental causes from 2008 to 2016. It’s a project of the free market Institute for Energy Research and is based on nonprofit tax filings. IER president Tom Pyle said the vast web of funding detailed by Big Green, Inc. shatters the notion environmentalists are locked in a David versus Goliath-like struggle against energy companies. “The truth is the environmental left is a deep-pocketed and powerful force in American politics that is working to stop all natural gas, oil, and coal production in the United States,” Pyle said in a statement. IER’s project found, for example, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation gave out $2 billion in grants to environmental causes, including climate activism, between 2008 and 2016 — the largest grant-maker in the database. The Energy Foundation handed out $444 million in grants and the Sea Change Foundation doled out $373 million. The Energy Foundation got funding from liberal billionaire Tom Steyer’s charitable trust from 2009…

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Commentary: A High-Tech Lynching Redux

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by CHQ Staff   We’ve seen this despicable Democrat tactic play out before. A Republican president nominates a person universally said to be the nicest guy in the world, with a resume chock full of good works, and stellar intellectual and legal credentials to sit on the Supreme Court. The  nominee is days away from his confirmation vote. Suddenly, a liberal female university professor, with a tenuous decades-old connection to the nominee, steps forward out of nowhere to tell a “he said – she said story” and accuse the nominee of sexual misconduct. Democrats, who have known of the allegations for months, but did not share them with the Committee Chairman or the FBI during the investigatory phase of the nomination demand that, “due to the seriousness of the allegation” the vote on the nomination should be postponed, or perhaps the nomination should be withdrawn. In 1991 it was Judge Clarence Thomas who was subjected to this high-tech lynching, today it is Judge Brett Kavanaugh. An email from Taylor Foy, Communications Director for the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, summed-up the Democrat’s disgusting attempt at character assassination this way: It’s disturbing that these uncorroborated allegations from more than 35…

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Tennessee Voters Back Trump Tariff and Tax Policies

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Although the federal tax cuts promoted by President Donald Trump and passed by the Republican Congress, without a single Democrat vote in support of the plan, are not yet fully in place Tennessee voters support the plan according to a new Tennessee Star poll conducted in early September. The tax cut plan produced immediate bonuses for many workers, but most voters won’t see the actual benefits until they file their 2018 tax returns in 2019.  Nevertheless, the issue is becoming a talking point in the 2018 election cycle in Tennessee and other states. The Tennessee Star poll asked likely November general election voters whether the new tax laws had produced any impact. Forty-one percent said the new tax laws had been “for the better” for them; 16.1% said “for the worse”, 34% “not much impact so far”, and 8.9% were not sure or didn’t know. Most economic experts have credited the tax law changes, along with Trump Administration regulatory reform, with spurring the financial gains generated in the past year that have produced record lows of unemployment among blacks and hispanics, record levels of employment and wage gains, and an apparent boom in manufacturing reinvestment. Numerous “gloom and doom” predictions…

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