Tennessee Officials Announce a Slew of New TennCare Arrests

Tennessee officials have announced the arrests of five people charged with TennCare fraud. According to press releases state officials put out this week: • Authorities charged a Sullivan County woman with TennCare fraud in connection with the sale of prescription drugs obtained through the state’s health care insurance program, according to a press release. The Office of Inspector General with the assistance of the Kingsport Police Department, arrested Pamela A. Mendenhall, 50, of Kingsport. Authorities accused her of using TennCare to obtain the painkiller Oxycodone, then selling a portion of the drugs on three separate occasions. Authorities charged her with three counts of TennCare fraud, sale and delivery of Oxycodone within 1,000 feet of a park, sale and delivery of Oxycodone within 1,000 feet of a school and maintaining a dwelling where controlled substances are used or sold. Mendenhall allegedly obtained the prescriptions through Medicare Part B, which TennCare partly pays for. • Authorities charged a Shelby County woman with TennCare fraud involving doctor shopping, which involves visiting multiple doctors in a short period of time to obtain controlled substances, a press release said. The OIG, with the assistance of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, announced the arrest of Cassundra Woodman, 28, of…

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Commentary: Trump Knows When to Fold ‘Em

by Michael Walsh   In the course of a high-stakes negotiation, the player who walks away from the table is the one with the least to lose. Ronald Reagan did it to Mikhail Gorbachev at Reykjavik in 1986, and Donald Trump did it to Kim Jong-un this week in Vietnam. Good for the president. A lot of people have brought up Reykjavik; I discussed the similarities on the Hugh Hewitt radio show with guest host Kurt Schlichter on Thursday. Reagan met Gorbachev in Iceland in the fall of 1986 and the two men were approaching an agreement that might have included the abolition of all nuclear weapons. But the Soviet premier wanted the Americans to drop the Strategic Defense Initiative, colloquially known as “Star Wars.” That was a bridge too far for Reagan, who abandoned the talks and went home. Naturally, the hostile press was appalled—the abolition of all nukes! And this cowboy won’t give up a pet program that probably won’t work anyway! Warmonger! Reagan was widely viewed at the time as an “amiable dunce” who didn’t understand the first thing about the complexities of international diplomacy; why, the doddering old fool actually thought “We win, they lose” was…

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Country Music Singer John Rich Gives His Take on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Country Music singer John Rich made some interesting observations this week about New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Green New Deal. “I think a lot of the sensible Democrats are scared to death of what she’s talking about because they all know that’s crazy talk,” Rich said on the talk show, Over-Caffeinated. The Beacon Center of Tennessee, a Nashville-based free market think tank, produces the online show. “To think that you could do away with all combustion engines in the next 10 years or 30 years. Let’s talk about our military. What are you going to do about the military?  I think it shows a real naïveté on her part that she probably didn’t think this through before she put that down on paper. It’s one thing to sit in a bar, maybe, and discuss some crazy notion like that,” Rich said. “I have seen a lot of the Democrats, (Diane) Feinstein is a prime example, she has been in the Senate almost 40 years, and she said ‘That’s impossible. You can’t do that.’ And they don’t like the answer ‘You can’t do that.’” Rich is also a songwriter and one half of the music duo Big and…

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Presidential Hopeful Jay Inslee Goes National With a Climate Agenda He Failed to Implement in His Own State

by Michael Bastasch   Democratic Washington Governor Jay Inslee has entered the 2020 presidential race as the candidate who has what it takes to unite Americans around one goal: fighting climate change. But while Inslee pushes for a Green New Deal-like economic plan, the Democratic governor has failed to implement major climate policies in his own state. “His climate policy has failed with the legislature, failed with the courts and failed with the voters,” said Todd Myers, environmental policy director at the free-market Washington Policy Center. “There’s not a single metric where Washington state is going the right direction on climate change,” Myers told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview. Inslee launched his presidential campaign Friday with a video making clear that fighting climate change would be the central focus of his campaign, though he’s also come out for abolishing the Senate filibuster and statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico. “So [climate change] can’t be on a laundry list,” Inslee told Vox in an interview published Friday. “It can’t be something that candidates check the box on. It has to be a full-blooded effort to mobilize the United States in all capacities.” To that end, Inslee’s campaign website…

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President Donald Trump Wows Conservatives at 2019 CPAC

President Donald Trump delivered a raucous, rally-style speech during his appearance at the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Saturday where he let capacity crowd know how he felt about everything from the Robert Mueller Investigation and Hillary Clinton’s emails to the booming US economy and North Korea. During one of the president’s longest speech to date, Trump was not shy about telling the crowd how he honestly felt about the  Mueller Investigation. “Unfortunately you put the wrong people in a couple of positions, and they leave people for a long time that should not be there and all of a sudden they’re trying to take you out with bullsh*t,” Trump said to the crowd. The president criticized Jeff Sessions’ lack of a role in the investigation. “Now Robert Mueller never received a vote, and neither did the person that appointed him,” Trump said in a southern accent. “As you know the attorney general says, ‘I’m going to recuse myself.’ And I said, ‘Why the hell didn’t he tell me that before I put him in?’” The Mueller Investigation was not the only thing that Trump critiqued. The president called asking Russia to get Hillary Clinton’s emails a “joke.” “If…

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Proof That ‘the Rich’ Aren’t Going to Fund the Tidal Wave of New Spending

by John Phelan   So, $47 billion on free college tuition; $1 trillion for new infrastructure; $1.4 trillion to write off student loan debt; at least $7 trillion on a Green New Deal; $32 trillion on “Medicare for All.” By one estimate, these new spending proposals total an estimated $42.5 trillion over the next decade. And this is on top of federal budget deficits, which are projected to rise from $779 billion to $1.37 trillion annually over the same period. Who is going to pay for all this? “The Rich” Won’t Pay for It All “The rich” is one currently popular answer. New York’s high-profile Rep. Ocasio-Cortez recently suggested that her proposed “Green New Deal” could be financed by a new 70 percent marginal tax rate on “the tippie tops” earners. Sen. Warren has proposed a tax of two percent on wealth above $50 million and three percent on net wealth above $1 billion. This is on top of what “the rich” already pay. Individual income taxes remain the federal government’s single biggest source of revenue. In fiscal year 2018, they were expected to bring in roughly $1.7 trillion, about half of all of all federal revenues. The bottom-earning 50 percent of…

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Commentary: Has Our Romanian Nightmare Followed Us Here?

by Andra Constantin   Following the State of the Union address, I found the state of the nation surreal. I kept skimming past articles about the Democratic Party’s proposed economic stimulus packages, collectively known as the Green New Deal. They propose to fund unsustainable sectors like solar panels – which are already heavily government-backed – by targeting more self-sufficient industries, like meat production. In order to earmark raiding the cookie jar of productive businesses to fund those that aren’t paying for themselves, Democrats have to demonize the target in order to implement punitive measures such as meat taxes. I know the Green New Deal is based on non-truths and artfully doled misinformation, like the deforestation myth, but most people believe we are losing forest land in this country to the meat industry. That’s one of the lies told to them by our leaders in order to take advantage of the public support and vote. They need a mob to rob. A Bad New Deal How did we get to this choke point of punishing meat consumption, as one NJ radical animal rights activist senator proposes, in the form of a tax? I think I recognize a pendulum swinging back at me.…

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US Imposes Sanctions on Venezuelan Officials for Blocking Aid

The United States increased its pressure on Venezuela Friday, imposing sanctions on six high-ranking security officials as well as revoking the visas of dozens of other high officials. The Trump administration said the sanctions were a response to Venezuelan military officials, who last weekend blocked an opposition-backed effort to bring food into the country. At one border point, aid trucks caught fire and several people died. “We are sanctioning members of (President Nicolas) Maduro’s security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. Those being sanctioned include National Guard Commander Richard Lopez along with police and military officials based near the Colombian or Brazilian borders. The sanctions block any assets the officials have in the United States and bar Americans from doing business with them. The U.S. State Department also revoked the travel visas of 49 Venezuelans that it said were “individuals responsible for undermining Venezuela’s democracy.” The measures are part of an effort to pressure Maduro to step down. The United States sees his re-election last year as illegitimate and has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido…

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Stokes Nielson’s Tweet On New Podcast Questioning Possible Senate Hopeful Bill Haslam’s Gas Tax Goes Viral

Stokes Nielson’s tweet about his podcast, “The Spirit of Humanity,” which raises questions about former Governor and possible U.S. Senate hopeful Bill Haslam relative to gas tax increases, goes viral with over a half million impressions within hours of its pre-release. As reported by The Tennessee Star, Stokes launched a new issue advocacy initiative called Stokes For Tennessee Freedom to provide a two-way dialogue on issues that could impact Tennessee citizens. Stokes’ first podcast of the new initiative, “The Spirit of Humanity,” was launched through Stokes & Friends on the Westwood One Podcast Network and featured international sensation Korean-born BTS, the “biggest new force in pop” according to Spotify, Dua Lipa, South Korean boy-band Day6, Chinese-Canadian actor, single and songwriter Kris Wu, and country superstar Tim McGraw. In a press release about the podcast, Stokes said that, per his normal practice, he tweeted out the podcast episode to his followers in a pre-release on Tuesday, February 26. Within hours, the tweet had gone viral with nearly 600,000 impressions, which “propelled the episode immediately into the Top 100 of Apple Music Podcasts,” reported Stokes. According to the award-winning songwriter and producer, Stokes, when he inadvertently encountered a fiery street protest in…

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Hawaii Decides Again Not to Legalize Marijuana

On the political spectrum, Hawaii is among the bluest of states. Democrats control all the levers of power at the state and federal levels, and voters back Democratic presidential candidates over Republicans by some of the widest margins in the U.S. The state has committed to the Paris climate agreement that President Donald Trump rejected and was the first state to require people to be 21 to buy cigarettes. The tourist haven even banned certain types of sunscreen because they can harm coral reefs. But when it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana for adult use, the islands are out of step with liberal stalwarts such as California and Vermont that have already done so, and other left-leaning states such as New York and New Jersey that are racing toward joining them. On Friday, a legalization bill that made it farther in the legislative process than previous efforts died when lawmakers failed to consider it in time for a deadline. Senate Majority Leader J. Kalani English has introduced marijuana legalization bills for the past 15 years — but Hawaii has a track record of moving slowly on social issues. For example, other states moved far more quickly to sanction gay marriage…

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New Data Suggest Continued Expansion in the Manufacturing Sector in February

by Robert Hughes   The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index from the Institute for Supply Management registered a 54.2 percent reading in February, down from 56.6 in January (see top chart). Despite the pullback, the index remains well above neutral, suggesting continued expansion for the manufacturing sector. According to the Institute for Supply Management, “A PMI above 42.9 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy. Therefore, the February PMI indicates growth for the 118th consecutive month in the overall economy and 30th straight month of growth in the manufacturing sector.” Among the key components of the Purchasing Managers’ Index, the New Orders Index came in at 55.5 percent, down from 58.2 in January (see bottom chart). February was the 34th consecutive month with readings above 50. Analysis by the Institute for Supply Management suggests that readings above 52.5 for a period of time are consistent with rising real new orders for manufacturers. The production index was at 54.8 percent in February, down from 60.5 in January. February marks the 30th month in a row above 50. The results suggest production grew in February but the pace was slower than January. Weather may have been…

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Anglican Conference Too Liberal for Traditional Bishops, Not ‘Inclusive’ Enough for Liberal Bishops

by Joshua Gill   Liberal and traditionalist bishops alike are decrying an upcoming Anglican conference, with traditionalists threatening to boycott over LGBT acceptance and progressive bishops angered by gay spouses’ disinvitation. Traditionalist bishops belonging to the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) previously decided to boycott the Anglican Communion’s Lambeth Conference in July 2020 to protest the North American and Scottish Episcopal churches’ acceptance of gay marriage. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby’s recent decision to disinvite the spouses of gay bishops, however, also angered the progressive bishops who will be attending the conference. “Invitations have been sent to every active bishop. That is how it should be — we are recognising that all those consecrated into the office of bishop should be able to attend,” reads an announcement of the decision by Anglican Secretary General Josiah Idowu-Fearon. “But the invitation process has also needed to take account of the Anglican Communion’s position on marriage which is that it is the lifelong union of a man and a woman.” Idowu-Fearon clarified that Anglican leadership made the decision to bar the spouses of gay bishops in accordance with Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, which defines marriage as a union between one…

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Potential Nashville Mayoral Candidate Carol Swain Suggests Ways to Boost Police Morale

If Carol Swain decides to run a second time for Nashville mayor then she said she may have a way to boost morale among the city’s police officers. Swain said low morale exists, and, for this, she blames low pay and current Police Chief Steve Anderson. “When it comes to the police problems, one of the things is that police don’t get a say in the selection of the police chief,” Swain told The Tennessee Star this week. “I think it is important that when the next police chief is selected that some representatives of the police department sit on that committee (to choose the chief) and the police officers themselves get an opportunity to decide who will sit on that committee. (They decide) who their representatives will be.” Swain also said she has ideas on how to lower the city’s crime rate. “The people (here) are concerned about rising crime, the fact that first responders are so underfunded and there is corruption as well as the lack of any real creative ideas to address affordable housing and the traffic situation,” Swain said. “What I would like to do is apply old fashioned common sense solutions to some of these…

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Conservatives on Why ‘America First’ Doesn’t Mean ‘America Alone’

by Courtney Joyner   Does the slogan “America first” also mean “America alone?” That was the question asked Friday during the Conservative Political Action Conference, following President Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Among panelists discussing Trump’s “America first” foreign policy were Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who heads the Center for Security Policy. “It’s a great opportunity on this panel to talk about a question that I have been asked a lot and that is: ‘America first’—does that mean America is alone?” Ernst asked the CPAC audience. “Absolutely not,” she answered. “It just simply means that America is leading from a position of strength.” The panel touched on the importance of having strong American leadership globally to promote policy that helps American workers. “When I think of ‘America first,’ I think we could say ‘Americans first,’ because ‘Americans first’ really represents a backlash against globalists—against the liberal elite—who have put forward foreign policies that leave the American workers, the American citizens, behind,” Fleitz said. The panel talked about the importance of establishing safety as one policy that benefits both Americans…

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Wikileaks Source Manning Fights Subpoena

Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. military officer jailed for a massive leak of U.S. secrets to WikiLeaks, has been ordered to appear before a grand jury, her attorney said Friday. Moira Meltzer-Cohen said she had not been told what the grand jury was investigating, but U.S. media have speculated that it might involve the criminal case against WikiLeaks being developed by federal prosecutors in Virginia. Meltzer-Cohen said Manning had filed a motion to challenge the subpoena, which was immediately put under seal in the case. “I object strenuously to this subpoena, and to the grand jury process in general,” Manning, 31, said in a statement. Grand juries, used only in the U.S. and Liberia, are groups of citizens operating separately from courts who investigate whether to bring criminal charges. They can compel witnesses and suspects to testify. “We’ve seen this power abused countless times to target political speech,” added Manning.”I have nothing to contribute to this case and I resent being forced to endanger myself by participating in this predatory practice.” Manning, a former army intelligence analyst, was jailed for 35 years in 2013 for giving WikiLeaks more than 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.…

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‘Genderqueer Non-Binary Panromantic Asexual’ High School Student Testifies in Favor of New Minnesota Sex-Ed Requirements

The Minnesota House Education Policy Committee held its first hearing Friday for a bill that would require public-school teachers to discuss “healthy relationships, including relationships involving diverse sexual orientations and gender identities in the classroom.” Rep. Todd Lippert (D-Northfield), a freshman House member and lead sponsor of the bill, said Friday that his legislation would create “instruction that is medically accurate and developmentally appropriate in regards to human anatomy, reproduction, and sexual development.” “But it is also time for us to teach a culture of consent and bodily autonomy—giving our youth the tools they need to be treating themselves and others with respect, giving our youth the tools they need to build healthier relationships and in time, healthier families,” said Lippert, who is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. “It is also time that we recognize in school curriculum that our youth and their families are diverse when it comes to sexual identity.” As The Minnesota Sun previously reported, his bill would require the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education to develop “one or more model comprehensive sexual education programs for elementary and secondary school students.” This “model program” must include instruction on “consent, bodily autonomy, and healthy…

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North Carolina Governor Signs Law to Keep Court of Appeals Seats at 15

North Carolina’s Democratic Governor signed a bill into law which will keep the state’s number of Court of Appeals judges at 15. “A strong and unbowed, independent judiciary that works as part of our system of checks and balances is critical to our democracy and freedom,” said Cooper in a brief statement. Roy Cooper signed off on Senate Bill 75, which repeals a 2017 law (S. L. 2017-7) which would have reduced the Court of Appeals judgeships beginning whenever a vacancy was created until 12 judges remained. “On or after January 1, 2017, whenever the seat of an incumbent judge becomes vacant prior to the expiration of the judge’s term due to the death, resignation, retirement, impeachment, or removal pursuant to G.S. 7A-374.2(8) of the incumbent judge, that seat is abolished until the total number of Court of Appeals seats is decreased to 12.” Senate Bill 75 passed quickly and almost unanimously through both sides of the General Assembly, save for a single ‘nay’ vote in the House. The bill was filed on the 18th and Governor Cooper signed it on the 27th. The first vacancy that would have reduced the appeals court was set to happen in late March.…

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Sherrod Brown Makes Final Stop in Dignity of Work Tour

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown arrived in South Carolina Friday in the final planned stop on his three-month “Dignity of Work” tour. The official aim of the tour, which began in January, was to share “some of his ideas to make hard work pay off for everyone.” Unofficially, the tour has been an attempt to “test the waters” to see if he would be a viable candidate for a potential 2020 run. The tour took the Senator to Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, which are all considered critical battleground states in presidential elections. While it appears he will conclude the tour without announcing his candidacy, the tour did, as far his public statements are concerned, seem to fully convince him that his campaign would have one unassailable advantage over his opponents. In an interview with Buzzfeed, Brown stated: It has surprised us that this many people, including Republicans, that this many people have begun to talk about the dignity of work. I don’t think they flesh it out well enough yet or extensively enough. I think they mean it. I don’t mean there’s any insincerity in it. But I think we can’t do it enough … I carry it better than anybody else…

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Tim Walz Buried Gun Control Measures in His Budget Proposal

Gov. Tim Walz’s (D-MN) budget proposal calls for a one-time payment of $350,000 and $200,000 each year thereafter to implement gun control measures that are currently being considered by the Minnesota Legislature. As The Minnesota Sun reported Friday, both a “red flag” bill and a universal background checks bill cleared the House Public Safety Committee this week. By including these proposals in his budget, however, Walz can sidestep the legislative process and secure gun control in the state through the passage of his budget. Buried in his proposal for the Department of Public Safety is a request for funds “totaling $350,000 in the FY20 and $200,000 each year ongoing for measures to prevent gun violence.” “The funding included in the budget provides resources to implement two proposals currently introduced in the legislature. First, the governor recommends a proposal to create a new requirement for background checks when private parties transfer any firearm. With the exception of immediate family members, private parties must obtain a transferee permit and all transfers will be subject to a background check,” Walz’s proposal states. It notes that an initial amount of $188,000 and an annual amount of $38,000 would be used “to modify and maintain…

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Megan Barry, Who Had Adulterous Affair With Subordinate on Taxpayers’ Dime, Lands Job Teaching Women About Political Tribulations at Fisk University

Proving that politicians are adept at coming out ahead no matter what, disgraced former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry has landed a job — teaching women about the trials and tribulations of politics at Fisk University. Barry began teaching a “Women in Politics” class three weeks ago, Fox 17 News reporter Harriet Wallace said. On March 6, 2018, Barry resigned as the first female mayor of Nashville. She entered a conditional plea, or diversion, on felony theft of property over $10,000 with three years’ unsupervised probation and $11,000 in restitution, The Tennessee Star reported at the time. She was not convicted, so if she follows her requirements, she can have her record expunged after three years. The now ex-mayor, who was married, admitted to having an affair with her married bodyguard, Sgt. Rob. Forrest of the Metro Nashville Police Department, including times he was clocked in and was on overtime. Forrest earned $75,462 in overtime during the 2016-17 fiscal year. WSMV reported Fisk’s statement about Barry’s job: Megan Barry is currently teaching a spring semester class at Fisk University. As a University, we believe that Mrs. Barry can provide valuable insight into the role of women in public life. Several students have already expressed their appreciation…

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