State Sen. Mark Pody Moves to Revive Tennessee’s ‘Heartbeat Bill’

The Senate sponsor of the ‘Heartbeat Bill,’ Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) requested that the bill be recalled from the Judiciary Committee and be moved to the Senate floor. The Heartbeat Bill failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, when the Committee Chairman Mike Bell (R-Riceville) made the motion for summer study. As reported by The Tennessee Star, Sen. Pody expressed his disappointment that the bill, which would ban abortions in Tennessee once a fetal heartbeat is detected – usually about six weeks after conception – was opposed by Tennessee Right To Life. In stark contrast to Tennessee Right To Life, Ohio’s Right To Life organization supported the state’s Heartbeat Bill, as The Star reported. Ohio Right To Life viewed the Heartbeat Bill as the next step in an incremental approach, a spokesperson told The Star, the timing for which seemed right with the new make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s not as though Ohio’s bill did not have its opposition from Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice and the Ohio legislature’s Democrats who, as reported, criticized the bill. As the sponsor of SB 1236, Sen. Pody made the recall request on Monday, directing it to the Chief Senate Clerk Russell…

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Commentary: Are There Any Limits to Illegal Immigration? At All?

by Victor Davis Hanson   The U.S.-Mexican border is essentially wide open. Why? Because there is a general expectation in Mexico and Latin America that American immigration law is unenforced. Or it is so bizarre that simple illegal entry almost always ensures temporary legal residence, pending an asylum hearing. A scheduled asylum hearing, in turn, is seen by border crossers as a mere formality to be ignored. The popular perception on the border, then, is to stick one foot illegally onto U.S. soil, and, presto, win permanent residence for you and any family members who wish to follow. In an age of 500 sanctuary city and county jurisdictions, few illegal aliens believe they will ever be deported permanently, even if they have been apprehended committing serious crimes. There is also a general perception among would-be illegal entrants that prominent Democrats and progressives welcome their massive influxes as useful and will do their best to ensure illegal immigration continues unabated. There is also the assumption that the greater the chaos at the border, the less likely Congress will take bipartisan action to end it. After all, 2020 is an election year and progressives are in no mood to hand Trump the…

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Tennessee Legislature’s Conference Committee Compromises on Community Oversight Board Subpoena Power

A Conference Committee of the Tennessee legislature met on Monday to resolve a major difference between the House and Senate when it comes to community oversight boards – subpoena powers. The Conference Committee, appointed by the Speakers of each respective body included, Senators Mike Bell (R-Riceville), Dawn White (R-Murfreesboro) and Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) and Representatives Michael Curcio (R-Dickson), William Lamberth (R-Portland) and Johnny Shaw (D-Bolivar). The bills were filed as SB 1407 and HB 0658, sponsored by Sen. Bell and Rep. Curcio, respectively. Both were members of the Conference Committee. As reported by The Tennessee Star, the proposed legislation establishes certain requirements and restrictions for community oversight boards. The bill defines a community oversight board as a board or committee established by a local government to investigate or oversee investigations into possible law enforcement officer misconduct or the operations of an agency employing a law enforcement officer. On March 14, the House adopted amendment #1 and passed HB 0658 as amended by a vote of 66 to 26 with 1 Present Not Voting. House amendment #1 added that a community oversight board in existence as of the effective date of the bill will have one year to comply with the…

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Presidential Hopeful Liz Warren Unveils Her Plan for Federal Lands: Ban Drilling, Make National Parks Free

by Michael Bastach   Massachusetts Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren unveiled her plan for the 640 millions of acres controlled by the federal government. Warren’s “plan for public lands,” released Monday, includes banning coal, natural gas and oil production, and making all national parks free to visit. Warren’s goal is to tackle climate change while spurring economic development on federal lands. “It is wrong to prioritize corporate profits over the health and safety of our local communities,” Warren wrote in a Medium post announcing her plan. Warren says she wants to “make public lands part of the climate solution – not the problem.” “That’s why on my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that says no more drilling — a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases, including for drilling offshore and on public lands,” she wrote. That’s a complete one-eighty from the Trump administration’s agenda of promoting natural resource development. Warren also set a goal of getting 10 percent of U.S. electricity generation from renewable energy on public lands and waters. “My administration will make it a priority to expedite leases and incentivize development in existing designated areas, and share royalties from renewable generation with states and…

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Trump Calls Out ‘Revolving Door’ After Obama Official Hired by Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei

by Evie Fordham   President Donald Trump called out an Obama-era White House cybersecurity official on Twitter Sunday night for taking a position lobbying for Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. “Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei hires former Obama Cyber Security Official as a lobbyist. This is not good, or acceptable!” Trump wrote, tagging Fox News and Fox News host Steve Hilton. Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei hires former Obama Cyber Security Official as a lobbyist. This is not good, or acceptable! @FoxNews @SteveHiltonx — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2019 Samir Jain is the former senior director for cybersecurity policy at the White House National Security Council and registered with Congress to lobby for Huawei on March 27. He now works for law and lobbying firm Jones Day. Jain worked for the White House toward the end of the Obama era from 2016 to 2017 and for the Justice Department as an associate deputy attorney general from 2014 to 2015, according to his Jones Day bio page. While at the DOJ, Jain’s “responsibilities included …. supervising evaluation of telecommunications license applications for significant national security risks, and representing the DOJ in White House cybersecurity meetings and international negotiations, such as China’s agreement not to…

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Tennessee Pastors Call for Removal of Omar from House Foreign Affairs Committee

Pastor Dale Walker, President of the Tennessee Pastors Network (TPN), is calling on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to remove Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Congress refused to act to condemn the anti-Semitic rhetoric of Congresswoman Omar, and now she is insulting every American by dismissing the horrific Islamist terror attack on September 11, 2001 as simply ‘some people who did something.’ It is time for ‘some people’ in Congress to ‘do something’ about the insulting and anti-American comments of Congresswoman Omar,” Walker said. The TPN launched a media campaign this week to urge Pelosi to dismiss Omar from the Committee. “As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee Omar has access to our critical national security secrets. She cannot be trusted to show loyalty to the U.S. or to put a priority on our nation’s interests. She is a threat to the security of our county and our families and should immediately be removed from that Committee and forced to resign from Congress,” Walker noted. A sixty second radio spot has already begun airing on several radio stations Walker said. “We want to generate calls to Speaker Pelosi in the hopes that she will finally…

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Metro Councilman John Cooper Changes His Mind, Will Run For Mayor of Nashville

John Cooper

Metro Councilman John Cooper announced Monday that he will indeed run for mayor of Nashville, multiple media outlets report. Cooper will run against incumbent Mayor David Briley, retired Vanderbilt University professor Dr. Carol Swain and State Rep. John Ray Clemmons, NewsChannel 5 said. In February, Cooper said he would not run for mayor and may not run again for the Metro Nashville Council, The Tennessee Star reported. He said it is good to have a rotation of leaders in government. Cooper was denying his interest in running for mayor just last week, according to a story by the Nashville Scene, which has checked on his interest level since the qualifying deadline is May 16. While on the council, Cooper played a foil to former Mayor Megan Barry and to Briley, the Scene said. He questioned economic incentives and voted against the major league soccer stadium deal. Although Briley has been fundraising since last year, Cooper could provide his campaign some of his own money, as he did in 2015, the Scene said. Swain said she raised $118,000 in less than a month, The Star reported Saturday. The Swain campaign spent less than 7 percent of the money raised compared to incumbent…

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Handwriting Helps Kids with Learning Disabilities Read Better

by Faiza Elmasry   As recently as a half-century ago, young American students would spend many lessons writing curved loops and diagonal lines, as they learned how to write in cursive. Over the years, though, computer keyboards and voice to text programs have replaced pens and pencils, and made handwriting – especially cursive – less relevant. But it hasn’t disappeared. St. Luke Catholic School in McLean, Virginia, still teaches cursive. Several times a week, students work on their handwriting skills, clutching their pencils and pens as they practice forming neat loops and curls. Teacher Grace O’Connor says eventually, all of them will have a style all their own. “The great thing about cursive is everyone has his own little spin to it, like, you know how to form your letters, but as you get older you, kind of, develop your own flow to your cursive writing, and it’s yours,” she says. “You can take ownership of it, which is really great.” Cursive engages multiple senses Cursive handwriting is emerging as a learning tool for students with dyslexia, a disorder that makes it difficult to read or interpret letters, words and other symbols. Thirteen-year-old Joseph was diagnosed with dyslexia four years ago,…

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Williamson County School Board Members Don’t Plan to Discuss Controversial ‘White Privilege’ Training Tuesday Night

Williamson County School Board members will assemble for their April meeting Tuesday night, but, according to that meeting’s agenda sheet, no one plans to discuss a subject that has generated controversy in the community. As The Tennessee Star reported, Superintendent Mike Looney implemented a Cultural Competency curriculum that includes “white privilege” training for teachers. School board members thus far won’t say if they plan to address these matters. But members of a group that want more information said they plan to send a representative to Tuesday’s meeting. Members of this group, WCS TN Parents Wants Facts, say it’s time for Looney and other school system representatives to show greater transparency. As reported, the group already has a Facebook page. “We hope to have transparency on the entire curriculum that is being rolled out. Our overall goal is to have political persuasions and parties not influencing our teachers or the curriculum,” said Stefanie Rose Miles, one of the page’s creators, Monday. “It is quite interesting that we have around 200 or so followers, but on the other side we get several thousand views per post. Our private messages, well, we can’t answer them all in a timely manner, but we are…

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Lawmakers Eye a Huge Backdoor Spending Increase

US Capitol

by David Ditch   Members of Congress are promoting the concept of changing three programs from the discretionary category (requiring annual appropriations) into mandatory (auto-pilot) spending. Such changes would become a huge backdoor spending increase. Spending limits have come under relentless attack from both parties. In 2013, 2015, and 2018, Congress passed massive spending increases with little to no effort to find pay-fors. With just two years remaining for the Budget Control Act’s modest restraints, there is tacit agreement that Congress will likely make yet another deal to add to the nation’s $22 trillion debt. If that was not bad enough, there is a long, bipartisan tradition of finding shortcuts around already-inflated spending limits. Appropriators have repeatedly used fake savings to squeeze more spending inside the caps. Disaster and war funding exceptions have been abused to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Congress has accepted flagrant violations of budget rules with minimal resistance. Another tactic for avoiding budget discipline is to re-categorize existing programs. While discretionary spending is subject to limits and annual deliberation, so-called mandatory spending is typically left to grow unchecked. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more >> Mandatory spending—which…

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Tennessee Republicans Fight To Protect Faith-Based Adoption Agencies From Discrimination

Republicans continue to shepherd legislation through the Tennessee General Assembly to protect faith-based child placement agencies against discrimination for exercising their religious liberties provided by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. State Rep. Tim Rudd (R-TN-34) and Sen. Mark Pody (R-TN-17) are the sponsors. The bills are HB 836 and SB 1304. The tracking information is here. The legislation passed recently in the State House by a 67-22 vote. It has been placed on the final calendar of the Senate Judiciary Committee and is expected to be heard either this week or the week of April 23. “The legislation simply states that a private child placement agency that provides a written statement of their religious beliefs and policies that are within that allowed by federal law shall not be sued or (discriminated) against by the state or local government when applying for a license, grants or contracts,” Rudd said in a press release. Co-sponsor State Rep. John Ragan (R-TN-33) said, “This legislation does not change how public or private child placement agencies currently operate or place children. It simply gives protections for agencies exercising their First Amendment liberties.” Rudd said, “This legislation does not prevent or enable adoptions against any group. It…

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Trump Campaign to Report it Raised Another $30 Million, $35 at a Time

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is set to report that it raised more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2019, edging out his top two Democratic rivals combined, according to figures it provided to The Associated Press. The haul brings the campaign’s cash on hand to $40.8 million, an unprecedented war chest for an incumbent president this early in a campaign. The Trump campaign said nearly 99% of its donations were of $200 or less, with an average donation of $34.26. Trump’s fundraising ability was matched by the Republican National Committee, which brought in $45.8 million in the first quarter — its best non-election year total. Combined, the pro-Trump effort is reporting $82 million in the bank, with $40.8 million belonging to the campaign alone. Trump formally launched his reelection effort just hours after taking office in 2017, earlier than any incumbent has in prior years. By contrast, former President Barack Obama launched his 2012 effort in April 2011 and had under $2 million on hand at this point in the campaign. Obama went on to raise more than $720 million for his reelection. Trump’s reelection effort has set a $1 billion target for 2020. Trump campaign manager…

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Former ICE Director Tom Homan Makes The Case For Trump’s Sanctuary City Plan

by Nick Givas   Former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan said President Donald Trump’s sanctuary city plan is a plausible option and would reveal Democratic hypocrisy. “Illegal aliens are already going to sanctuary cities. That’s one of the reasons they’re coming,” Homan said Monday on “Fox & Friends.” “They want to get to some place where they can be protected from ICE and get free social benefits. They can get drivers licenses. They can get [in-state] tuition. They can get college assistance … What the president did I thought was ingenious. He called their bluff.” Homan said Democrats are only for open borders and lax immigration polices, so long as migrants and refugees aren’t living in their neighborhoods. “What [Trump] did was he pulled the curtain back on the Democratic leadership, showing the hypocrisy that they said they wanted these people in the United States. They want open borders as long as it’s not in my district. As long as it’s not in my neighborhood we’re fine with it,” he said. “So I think he pulled the curtain back and I think it was an ingenious move on his part.” Homan also claimed the Democratic platform is more about resisting the…

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Colorado Sheriff James Van Beek Says He Won’t Enforce ‘Red Flag’ Gun Control Law

by Nick Givas   Eagle County Sheriff James Van Beek said he will refuse to enforce Colorado’s new “red flag” gun control law, during a Monday interview on “Fox & Friends.” The statue says firearms may be taken away from citizens who are deemed dangerous, but who may not have broken any laws. “I just became very, very concerned because of the whole way they went about it. It was supposed to be for mental health. It was supposed to be for taking care of people … and at least in my opinion, they went about the process totally backwards,” Van Beek said. “They went after the people’s rights. They went after [it] in a manner that I didn’t think gave them due process because they said, ‘well we need to do these things. We need to take these things away from them. We need to take these tools away from them.’ But they never provided any kind of assistance. So there was no outlet. So to me there wasn’t any kind of due process.” Van Beek said family members or friends who are concerned about someone’s mental health can now go to court and have their guns taken away. “Either a household member or a…

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DOJ: The Long-Awaited Mueller Report Will Be Released Thursday Morning

by Chuck Ross   Attorney General William Barr plans to release a redacted version of the special counsel’s Russia report on Thursday morning, a Justice Department official told reporters. The report is expected to contain redactions for classified information as well as information provided to a grand jury that special counsel Robert Mueller used in his 22-month investigation. The Justice Department is planning to release the 400-page report to both Congress and the public. White House lawyers have reportedly been briefed on the Mueller report, but are not expected to invoke executive privilege to block other information from being released. Barr sent Congress a letter on March 24 summarizing Mueller’s main conclusions. In the letter, Barr said that Mueller did not establish that the Trump campaign conspired with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. Mueller was less decisive on the question of obstruction of justice. Barr said that while Mueller’s team did not recommend charges for obstruction, they also did not exonerate Trump on that question. Barr said that after consulting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Justice Department lawyers, he decided not to pursue an obstruction case. One of his arguments was that since nobody was being charged…

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Opponents of Gay Marriage Try Again in Court to Argue Tennessee’s Marriage Laws Are Invalid

A motion was filed Monday in the Chancery Court in Williamson County asking the court to set aside its earlier judgment dismissing the claims of five Williamson County residents who say Tennessee should not issue marriage licenses until a new statute is passed. The Motion for Relief from Judgment asks the court to set aside its earlier judgment on June 14, 2016, dismissing the claims of five Williamson County residents related to the administration of Tennessee’s marriage licensing statutes by the Williamson County clerk following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. Former State Sen. David Fowler said in a press release that he filed the motion as attorney for the Constitutional Government Defense Fund, the legal arm of the Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT). At least three of the plaintiffs are ministers at Middle Tennessee churches who say that Obergefell means Tennessee should not issue marriage licenses until a new statute is passed, according to Courthouse News Service. George Grant, Larry Tomczak and Lyndon Allen filed a lawsuit on Jan. 21, 2016 against Elaine Anderson, clerk of Williamson County. The other plaintiffs are Lyndon Allen and Tim McCorkle. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision overturned…

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Report: Ohioans Enrolled in Obamacare Had 20 Percent of Medical Claims Denied Despite Coverage

A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that, from 2015-2017, 20% of all claims made by individuals covered under the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, have been denied. This has led to thousands of patients going “out of pocket” to cover expensive procedures or putting themselves at risk by not getting the procedures performed at all. The report analyzed “transparency data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to examine claims denials and appeals among issuers offering individual market coverage on healthcare.gov from 2015-2017.” In 2017, 19% of all health claims filed were rejected. When a claim is rejected, an individual has a right to appeal the decision. However, less than one half of a percent of individuals choose to do so. Of the few that do file an appeal, only 14% are overturned. Depending on the insurer, claim denial rates ranged from 1% to 45%. Due to transparency limitations by insurers, there is little data to suggest why the claims were denied: Issuers use standardized reason codes for claims adjustments and denials; without this information, one cannot distinguish claims denied for reasons of medical necessity, for example, from those denied due to an incorrect…

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Trump Visits Minnesota for Tax Day Event While Protesters and Supporters Clash Outside

BURNSVILLE, Minnesota – President Donald Trump visited Nuss Truck & Equipment Monday for a roundtable discussion with local business leaders while protesters lined the streets outside. The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) organized a protest outside of the Nuss company’s Burnsville location in support of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), who was singled out on Twitter by the president last week for her comments on the 9/11 terror attacks. “No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here,” protesters chanted, while on the opposite side of the street a large crowd of Trump supporters led chants of “USA!” and “build the wall!” With a heavy security presence, both sides remained relatively peaceful while engaging in competing chants during the hours leading up to Trump’s arrival.   On the inside, the president touted his Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for the tax-day event, calling it the “biggest tax cut in history.”   “This has been a very special state. It’s been a rare victory for Republicans, and we almost won it. One more speech,” Trump continued, saying Minnesota has been treated “extremely unfairly” on immigration. “Today unemployment in Minnesota, because of your federal government policies, is down to the…

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Public School Principal May Have Violated Tennessee Law By Pressuring Teachers to Lobby Against School Vouchers

A Tennessee public school principal recently sent an email to teachers and staff at their school and urged them to lobby against the school vouchers’ bill currently up for consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly. According to the language of the Tennessee Hatch Act, such activity violates state law. The principal warned teachers that vouchers would devastate public schools and lead to more homeschooled children in Tennessee having Education Savings Accounts. This principal also instructed teachers and staff to email complaints to specific legislators, in addition to Republican Gov. Bill Lee. The Tennessee Star has chosen not to identify the principal in question. This person also asked teachers to ask friends and family members to involve themselves in the matter. The principal asked teachers and staff members to do these things immediately and to also thank a specific legislator who opposes the bill. The Star has chosen not to identify that legislator. In closing the email, the principal assumed nearly everyone agreed that vouchers are bad. But this is an area where the principal could end up in trouble. Specifically, Tennessee’s Hatch Act says the following about this conduct: • “It is unlawful for any public officer or employee to…

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