Day: April 21, 2017

House Republican Conservatives Put Up a Valiant Fight Against Gov. Haslam’s Gas Tax Increase, Setting Stage for 2018 Election

Laura Baigert

  When the Tennessee House of Representatives passed Governor Haslam’s gas tax increase bill by a 60 to 37 margin on Wednesday, a bare majority of Republicans–37 for and 35 against—voted yes in favor of the unpopular tax increase. The 35 conservative Republicans who stood for the foundational principle of limited government were not sufficient to withstand the huge financial and political pressures mounted by the special interests who wanted the bill to pass. Those forces arrayed against the conservative opposition were significant, beginning with Governor Haslam’s taxpayer funded statewide tour that promoted a 962 road project list in all 95 counties, the support of lobbying groups numbering in the thirties, tax reductions for a select group of businesses, and a reported $250 million taxpayer funded deal for the Democrats. These conservatives lost the battle in 2017, but the war for the Tennessee General Assembly election in 2018 has just begun. The arguments made by these 35 stalwarts on the floor of the House on Wednesday will resonate throughout the state over the next year and a half. The process through the House subcommittees and committees was not without controversy including the make up of the Transportation Committee, procedural issues, breaking…

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Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and Wife Arrested in Michigan on Female Genital Mutilation Charges

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Tennessee Star

  The FBI has identified a Female Genital Mutilation ring, where young daughters of resettled Somalis living in Minnesota take what’s called a ‘Girls Trip’ to Michigan to undergo the horrific procedure. TownHall.com’s Katie Pavlich reports: Doctor Fakhruddin Attar and wife Farida were arrested Friday near Detroit for conspiring to commit and aiding in female genital mutilation [FGM] of girls as young as six-years-old. The Attars allegedly allowed the procedure to be carried in their Livonia medical clinic. Mrs. Attar even held the hands of the girls screaming in pain. One alleged co-conspirator of Attar and his wife was Michigan emergency room physician Jumana Nagarwala. According to the criminal complaint from the Department of Justice, the couple conspired with Detroit emergency room doctor Jumana Nagarwala. Nagarwale was arrested last week for performing the procedure on a number of girls. It appears as though Attar’s role was to supply the facilities so that the little girls could be mutilated by Nagarwala. The complaint states (embedded below): This investigation has identified other children who may have been cut by Nagarwala at Attar’s clinic, MBC, between 2005 and 2017, including children in Michigan. On April 10, 2017, child forensic interviews employed by the FBI and HSI interviewed several minor…

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Letter to the Editor: Time For the Republican Party in Tennessee to Return to Our Limited Government and Individual Liberty Roots

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Tennessee Star

  Dear Tennessee Star, Some of my best memories are from the time I spent with my great-grandparents as a child. Both grew up on farms in East Tennessee, and my papaw served in WWII. I was blessed to have them in my life, and it is my great hope to honor them by carrying on their legacy of self responsibility, hard work, and charity. They taught me much about life. Whether I was helping them string beans or talking to my mamaw as she cooked Sunday’s dinner, there was always something to learn. Really, the way they lived was the biggest lesson of all. They showed me the importance of working hard, pinching pennies, and helping those in need. I was raised by a single mother who did her best, but if it weren’t for them my family would have lacked some of life’s basic necessities. I’ll never forget one time a vacuum salesman showed up, and they would not let him leave until they made him a sandwich and a glass of sweet tea. That is the kind of people they were. They worked for everything they had and never went into debt for anything. Their motto was,…

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Jeff Hartline Commentary: In Tennessee, Growing Government is the New Faux ‘Conservative’

Tennessee Star Staff

By Jeff Hartline We hear from time to time the graying generation express “Fifty is the new Thirty” or we hear fashionistas tell us that “Red is the new Black”. In trying to piece together the policy “MOAB” that went off yesterday in the Tennessee General Assembly, we have concluded “Growing Government is the new faux ‘Conservative’ “. How so, you say? Well, for years conservatives have been hearing that all we need to get Tennessee back on track is to elect more Republicans. So, Tennessee voters did just that. In fact, the voters overachieved by electing a Republican Governor, seventy-four State Representatives (out of a possible 99) and twenty-eight State Senators (out of a possible 33). We heard “It matters who governs” and “We want to right-size government”. So, how’s that working out for conservative policy? Well, if you consider conservatism to be standing up for smaller and more limited government, more Constitutionally-focused government, less taxes, limited state spending, more efficiency, more transparency, less cronyism and focused attention on traditional family values, you have been sorely disappointed. Politically-savvy individuals realize that when you have divided government, you must be willing to compromise on issues in order to get anything…

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Tennessee Department of Health Says Female Genital Mutilation Is Not Our Problem

Chris Alto

The Tennessee Department of Health’s (TDH) Mission Statement is to: [p]rotect, promote and improve the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee….Protecting people’s health by preventing problems that contribute to illness, disease and injury is the overall emphasis of the department. As a matter of public health, however, it appears that the TDH does not consider that eradicating female genital mutilation (FGM) is part of their mission. A search of the TDH website and the wide variety of resources including reporting and training shows not a single reference or resource to FGM, even as an “adverse childhood experience.” Despite the estimated high risk to women and girls in Tennessee from FGM the TN Department of Health has elected not to address the threat as part of its mission. After learning about the twenty-one cases of FGM in Tennessee in 2011, The Tennessee Star asked the TDH whether any of those cases had been reported to any of the local or regional health departments and whether TDH was aware of any other incidents of FGM occurring after 2011. Without any additional comment, TDH responded by quoting back the 2012 FGM reporting law and underscoring the law’s mandate that law enforcement has an affirmative duty to receive and report when…

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The ‘Aha Moment’ at the Tennessee General Assembly This Year

JC Bowman

The idea of a citizen-legislator has gone by the wayside and been replaced by the career politician. Unless there is more transparency and inclusion, there may well be a demand for change in leadership. For certain in 2019 there will be great change, and quite possibly the “drain the swamp” echo from 2016 will filter down to state politics in 2018. It may be time for the state to consider term limits.

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Williamson County Schools Eliminates Class Rank

Wendy Wilson

The Williamson County School Board voted this week to eliminate class rank, citing its declining importance in applying for college. The new policy takes full effect for the class of 2020. Class rank will be restricted to the top 10 percent for 2018 and 2019. While schools will not rank students numerically, there will still be honors recognition using the Latin system with the following GPAs:  Summa Cum Laude 4.25 and above, Magna Cum Laude 4.00-4.24 and Cum Laude 3.75-3.99. Valedictorian and salutatorian will be chosen using criteria for academic performance and community service. High schools nationwide have been moving away from using class rank for more than a decade, but the trend was initially met with frustration by college officials. Back in 2006, The New York Times reported that “many college deans deplore the trend, saying it forces them to either recreate class rank, make less informed decisions or overemphasize results on standardized tests.” William Shain, then the dean of undergraduate admissions at Vanderbilt University, told The Times, “There’s a movement these days to not let anybody know that a kid has done better than other kids.” The push for eliminating class rank is motivated in part by a desire for…

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