Day: November 29, 2018

Congressman-Elect Mark Green Elected Republican Freshman Class President

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Rep.-elect Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) was unanimously elected president of the Republican Freshman Class Tuesday night, he announced in a statement. Thirty members-elect for the 116th Congress selected Green to lead the class. “I’m honored to be elected by this distinguished group of colleagues as president of the Freshman Class,” said Congressman-elect Green. “I ran for Congress to take our successful leadership in Tennessee to Congress, and am excited to be able to lead the freshman class.” I’m honored to be elected by this distinguished group of colleagues as president of the Freshman Class. I ran for Congress to take our successful leadership in Tennessee to Congress, and am excited to be able to lead the freshman class.https://t.co/RB660lVbcm — Mark E. Green MD (@DrMarkGreen4TN) November 28, 2018 U.S. Rep.-elect Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) said, “Mark is a veteran and served our state as a leader in the legislature. As new members of Congress, we need someone advocating for us who understands the process. That’s why I was honored to nominate Mark to be our freshman class president.” Entering a Democrat controlled House, Green previously said he will “look for areas of commonality” with Democrats to conduct business, Brentwood Home Page…

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Commentary: Trump’s Energy Policies Are Paying Off for Workers and Consumers

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by Richard McCarty   With the liberal media busy looking for excuses to attack President Trump and his administration, you might have missed some good news on the energy front. American energy jobs are being created, gas prices are dropping, energy imports are dropping and energy exports are rising. Since Trump took office, there have been thousands of coal mining jobs created; and tens of thousands of oil and gas industry jobs have been created. Many of these jobs pay well. Thanks to Trump, coal’s future is looking brighter. In the early months of the Trump Administration, the Interior Department ended the moratorium on new coal leases on public lands that the Obama Administration had put in place. In FY 2017, coal production on federal lands increased by more than 12 percent. While environmentalists work to shut down reliable coal plants reducing domestic needs for coal, coal exports increased by 61 percent last year as coal shipments to Europe rose and shipments to Asia more than doubled. The domestic natural gas industry is growing rapidly. Last year, for the first time since the Eisenhower era, the U.S. has become a net exporter of natural gas. The U.S. is expected to…

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Tennessee Cooperative Employee Misappropriated Nearly $1 Million, Audit Says

Chris Butler

A former accountant with the Decatur-based Volunteer Energy Cooperative stole nearly $1 million from the entity, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released Wednesday. This month a Meigs County Grand Jury indicted that former accountant, Jason Kittle, on one count of theft over $250,000. This, after Comptrollers and officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation looked into Kittle’s activities, according to the audit. “This is one of the largest cases of theft that we have investigated,” said Comptroller Justin P. Wilson, in a press release. Investigators determined that Kittle stole at least $994,981 between June 2011 and December 2017. Kittle used three schemes to steal VEC money for his personal use, auditors wrote. • Kittle stole $735,318 by making 242 transfers from a VEC account to his personal bank account. • Kittle stole $229,293 by making 204 payments to his personal credit card account. • Kittle stole $30,368 by making 48 payments to a credit card account in the name of a family member. “Kittle was able to his conceal his misappropriation by recording the fraudulent transactions in VEC’s accounting system as online payment fees, returns, or similar transactions,” auditors wrote. “Kittle also managed and reconciled the statements of the…

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Trump’s Tariffs Aren’t Enough – He Needs to Unload On China, Says Economist

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by Nick Givas   Maryland University economics professor Peter Morici said President Donald Trump needs continue putting pressure on the Chinese government to limit their influence and control over American policy. “I don’t think China is under enough stress,” Morici said on “Fox & Friends” Wednesday. He specifically cited Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin for being too soft on China and said Trump was right to criticize his performance. “Now we put on a 25 percent tariff. And then do some of the things that secretary Mnuchin has been nixing,” Morici continued. “You know, the president was quite correct to criticize him. He’s been leaning against this all along. When he spoke to me, he expressed great skepticism that the trade deficit mattered at all! At all! At All. That was very disappointing that conversation.” He also called for a ban on Huawei and ZTE cell phone exports in the interest of national security and recommended tougher sanctions on investment. “My feeling is that we need to not only put on the 25 percent tariff but we need to do some of the other things. For example ban Huawei and ZTE’s exports for 5G into the United States. It’s a national security threat,” he declared. “And start to…

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Obama Touts Climate Legacy, Then Takes Credit for US Oil Boom

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by Michael Bastasch   Former President Barack Obama said he was “extraordinarily proud of the Paris accords” before, rather ironically, taking credit for booming U.S. oil and gas production. “I was extraordinarily proud of the Paris accords because — you know, I know we’re in oil country and we need American energy, and by the way, American energy production,” Obama said at an event hosted by Rice University’s Baker Institute on Tuesday night. “You wouldn’t always know it but it went up every year I was president,” Obama said of U.S. oil and gas production. “That whole, suddenly America’s like the biggest oil producer and the biggest gas — that was me, people.” Obama: "Suddenly America is the largest oil producer, that was me people … say thank you." pic.twitter.com/VfQfX1SR0x — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 28, 2018 U.S. oil production nearly doubled between 2009, when Obama took office, to 2016. Natural gas production shot up around 50 percent in that time. However, the boom in production almost exclusively took place on state and private lands where the Obama administration had little to no control. Republicans criticized Obama for lagging oil and gas production on federally-managed lands, which largely stagnated while…

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Trump ‘Willing’ to Shut Down Government Over Border Wall Funding

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President Donald Trump says he would “totally be willing” to partially shut down the government next week if he does not get more funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart Central American migrants from entering the country. The U.S. leader, who almost daily unleashes verbal attacks on migrants trying to cross into the United States, told Politico he is insisting that $5 billion for wall construction be included in measures Congress needs to approve to keep several federal agencies open after their current spending authority expires December 7. Opposition Democrats have said they will approve $1.6 billion for the wall, leaving the two sides far apart. Some Republicans are also opposed to Trump’s wall, which he vowed in his 2016 presidential campaign would be paid for by Mexico, although he now wants U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill. “I am firm,” Trump said of his $5 billion demand. “I don’t do anything … just for political gain,” Trump said. “But I will tell you, politically speaking, that issue is a total winner. People look at the border, they look at the rush to the police, they look at the rock throwers and really hurting three people, three…

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EPA’s Andrew Wheeler Suggests the Obama Administration Put its Thumb on the Scale of the Latest US Climate Report

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by Michael Bastasch   Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler suggested the Obama administration told the authors of the latest National Climate Assessment (NCA) to emphasize “worst-case” global warming predictions. “And I don’t know this for a fact — I wouldn’t be surprised if the Obama administration told the report’s authors to take a look at the worst-case scenario for this report,” Wheeler told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday. Wheeler isn’t the first to criticize the NCA’s focus on “worst-case” global warming predictions, but his comments sparked backlash from former President Barack Obama’s chief science adviser. .@eilperin asks @EPAAWheeler why he didn't read the full national climate assessment before it was released. #postlive pic.twitter.com/LCE9OSYJyC — Washington Post Live (@postlive) November 28, 2018 John Holdren, Obama’s former science czar, told Politico that’s “absolutely false.” Holdren said the report considered a wide range of scenarios, and that he had no role in selecting the fourth NCA’s authors. The NCA is produced by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), which includes officials from 13 federal agencies. “My only instruction was that the USGCRP should continue the distinguished tradition of the first three by drawing on the most current…

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Trump Responds to Mueller About Two Key Collusion Allegations

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by Chuck Ross   President Donald Trump reportedly told special counsel Robert Mueller in writing earlier in November that he did not know about his son’s infamous June 2016 meeting with Russians before it occurred and that he was not informed by his longtime confidant, Roger Stone, that WikiLeaks planned to release information damaging to the Clinton campaign, according to CNN. Trump submitted the answers Nov. 20, after months of tense negotiations with Mueller’s team over the scope of the questions. Trump’s lawyers fought to exclude questions about possible obstruction of justice over the firing of James Comey as FBI director. They also opposed a sit-down interview with prosecutors, vying instead for responses provided in writing. The two sources familiar with the matter did not give CNN any direct quotes. The Trump Tower meeting and WikiLeaks email dumps have been a central focus of Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. Donald Trump Jr. met with a group of Russians on June 9, 2016, after an associate contacted him offering information on Hillary Clinton. “If it is what you say I love it,” Trump Jr. responded to the associate, a music publicist who worked for Emin Agalarov, the son of Russian…

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US Charges Two Iranian Cyber Criminals in Ransomware Scheme

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by Masood Farivar   In the first case of its kind, the U.S. Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against two alleged Iranian cybercriminals who used malware to infect the computer networks of U.S. municipalities, hospitals and other organizations in a scheme to extort millions of dollars from the victims. Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27, are accused of creating and deploying a sophisticated malware known as SamSam Ransomware to forcibly encrypt data on the computer networks of more than 200 organizations and other victims in the United States and Canada. Savandi and Mansouri would then demand a ransom payment in the form of the virtual currency known as bitcoin in exchange for decryption keys for the encrypted data. In all, the two allegedly received more than $6 million in extortion payments. Officials did not name the victims that made the payments. Other victims that refused to pay ransom suffered more than $30 million in lost data. The victims included state agencies, city governments and hospitals, including the City of Atlanta, the City of Newark, the Port of San Diego, the Colorado Department of Transportation, the University of Calgary in Calgary, Canada, and six U.S. public health…

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Michigan College Plans to Defend Against Active Shooters by Arming Students With Hockey Pucks

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by Neetu Chandak   Students and faculty at a Michigan college are getting ready to use hockey pucks as weapons in case of a campus shooter situation. Oakland University American Association of University Professors (AAUP) President Thomas Discenna led an effort for the union to buy 2,500 94-cent hockey pucks, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday. Pucks were distributed earlier in November with 1,700 pucks going to students and 800 to union members. Oakland’s Student Congress also ordered 1,000 hockey pucks for students, according to the Free Press. “It’s just the idea of having something, a reminder that you’re not powerless and you’re not helpless in the classroom,” Discenna said. The southeastern Michigan college has a no-weapons policy on campus, reported the Free Press. “No person shall possess a pistol or any other firearm, dangerous weapon, weapon, explosive or incendiary device on the campus provided, however, that the occupants of single family residences in the Meadow Brook subdivision and non-student University residences may possess firearms as permitted by law,” Oakland’s Ordinances state. The idea of using hockey pucks stemmed from a self-defense training session for faculty in March during which Police Chief Mark Gordon advised participants to distract shooters by throwing anything, like a hockey puck.…

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US Leads the World in Cutting CO2 Emissions, But That’s Not Good Enough for the UN

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by Tim Pearce   The United Nations is urging countries to pursue more aggressive emissions-cutting policies to keep post-Industrial Revolution global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. The U.N. released a report Tuesday that says the world must revamp efforts several times what they are currently to avoid climate change’s worst effects. The United States leads developed countries in cutting emissions. President Donald Trump ignited a furor in the environmental community when he announced he would pull the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate accord. The agreement outlined strategies and goals for combatting climate change, but the deal, without an enforcement mechanism, has done little to reduce the world’s carbon output. Most countries continue to increase their carbon emissions. China, the largest contributor to increasing emissions, has said it will continue to increase emissions for several more years before peaking and focusing on reducing emissions. India will continue to develop and increase its fossil fuel use. European countries increased emissions by 1.5 percent on average in 2017, according to an annual report by British Petroleum. Germany and France, both attempting to ratchet up environmental policies, increased emissions by 0.1 and 2 percent, respectively. “The science is clear; for all the…

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Nashville Metro Council Resolution Reportedly Tries to Tie Amazon Deal to Pay Increases for City Employees

Chris Butler

Certain members of the Nashville Metro Council intend to tie the city’s proposed incentives for Amazon.com to wage increases for city employees, according to The Nashville Business Journal. As The Tennessee Star reported, Nashville will get Amazon’s new Operations Center of Excellence in exchange for $102 million in taxpayer-funded performance-based incentives. Additionally, Nashville will provide a cash grant up to $15 million, as reported. The new operation is supposed to have 5,000 new jobs with average salaries of $150,000 per year, according to Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam. According to The Nashville Business Journal, Metro Council members are scheduled to hear the resolution during next week’s meeting. The resolution, according the paper, asks that Metro Council “hereby goes on record as requesting that the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County provide cost of living adjustments to employees of the Metropolitan Government if economic incentives are to be awarded to Amazon.” “If the Metropolitan Government is unable to provide cost of living adjustments to Metro employees, however, no economic incentives should be given to Amazon.” Resolutions, the paper went on to say are nonbinding. That means Metro has no obligation to meet the demands if the council approves it next week. “However,…

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