Tag: 2018 Midterms

Commentary: Paul Ryan’s Legacy is the Destruction Of American Sovereignty

Admin

According to our friend Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4), Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and his leadership team, including Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP Whip Steve Scalise, refused to lobby for the Trump-supported Goodlatte immigration bill, which would have built a border wall, enacted E-Verify procedures, and offered DREAMERS a path to citizenship. It failed to pass the House after nearly 20 Ryan loyalists voted against it. Now, many of the 20 Republicans who voted “NO” on Goodlatte are gone, defeated or retired in the 2018 midterm election, and Rep. Goodlatte has been clear on why his bill did not pass, when Republicans had the majority in the House. Our friend Neil Munro reports Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the retiring Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, says the GOP leadership let the House immigration reform die in June by allowing a critical bloc of GOP legislators to split their votes between two rival reform bills. “The strategy of having two options really let people have an off-ramp — they could vote for the more conservative bill and against the other, or vote for the second bill and not the first,” Goodlatte said, adding according to Munro’s reporting: That…

Read the full story

Mueller Expected to Renew Pursuit of Trump Associates After Midterms

Admin

by Chuck Ross   Whether intentional or not, Robert Mueller has honored an unofficial Justice Department policy that limits major actions in political investigations 60 days before an election. But as Mueller and his team of prosecutors have worked behind the scenes on investigations of Trump associates, numerous clues about the probe have emerged through witnesses and attorneys who have shared insight from the investigation with reporters. The smoke signals have generated speculation that, if Mueller plans to issue indictments in his investigation, they will be handed down within days or weeks. There have also been reports that Mueller will submit a report on the investigation to the Justice Department by the end of the year. If Mueller makes a major move in the near future, it will likely revolve around these areas of interest. Roger Stone Mueller is focused on what longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone knew about Wikileaks’ plans to release Democrats’ emails before the election, according to numerous witnesses involved in the special counsel’s probe. Mueller has interviewed or subpoenaed at least 11 Stone associates. Some have appeared before a grand jury that Mueller is using for the investigation. Stone suggested at various points in the campaign that he was…

Read the full story

Fed Likely to Keep Rates on Hold and Sketch A Bright Outlook

Admin

With the economy strong, wages rising and unemployment at a near-five-decade low, the Federal Reserve remains on track to keep raising interest rates – just not this week. After the Fed’s latest policy meeting, it’s expected to signal a healthy outlook for the economy but to hold off on any further credit tightening, most likely until December. A rate hike in December would mark the fourth this year. Further rate increases are expected in 2019, though just how many is a subject of speculation. On the eve of Congress’ midterm elections, the U.S. economy remains vigorous even in its 10th year of expansion – the second-longest such stretch on record. In deciding how fast or slowly to keep raising rates, the Fed will be monitoring the pace of growth, the job market’s strength and gauges of inflation for clues to how the economy may evolve in the coming months. The brisk pace of economic growth – a 3.5 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, after a 4.2 percent rate in the previous quarter – has raised the risk that inflation could begin accelerating. In its most recent forecast, the Fed projected that it would raise rates three additional times…

Read the full story

Commentary: If Republicans Care About Winning in 2018 They’ll Play Follow the Leader

Tennessee Star Staff
Donald Trump

by Jeffrey A. Rendall   Here’s a little quiz for you: what do West Virginia, Montana, Missouri, Florida, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio have in common? It’s an easy one for close watchers of the upcoming 2018 midterm elections, since all of these are states President Donald Trump won in 2016 and now feature Democrat incumbent senators running for (their lives and) Trump on immigration. Much has been made about the GOP’s golden opportunity to gain seats this year in states where large numbers of “deplorables” make up the voting population. Time will tell whether Republicans take advantage of the very favorable map. It should also be noted Democrats see Arizona and Nevada as possible pick-up chances for their side, considering the Grand Canyon State contains a sizeable Hispanic population (assumed by the media to be anti-Trump) and incumbent Sen. Jeff Flake is “retiring,” leaving his seat open. Right next door in the Silver State (which Hillary Clinton stole thanks to the presence of huge casino worker unions) where incumbent Republican Sen. Dean Heller is widely seen as a wishy-washy RINO who doesn’t inspire many people. We’ll see. Additionally there’s currently a tight race in Tennessee with…

Read the full story