Day: May 4, 2017

Star Wars Day A Hit In Nashville

Wendy Wilson

  At Performance Studios in Nashville, business was brisk in recent weeks for Darth Vader costumes and light sabers to get ready for the big day. The big day was Thursday – Star Wars Day. When May 4 rolls around on the calendar, fans of the movie series say “May the Fourth be with you,” in a play on the series’ catchphrase, “May the Force be with you.” And they feel they must dress for the occasion for parties and special events. Gary Broadrick, president of Performance Studios, has done marketing for Star Wars Day for the past four years. His biggest draws are high-end rentals for Darth Vader, Stormtrooper and Chewbacca costumes. He also sells Jedi robes and Princess Leia wigs. “Who would have thought a play on words would create a celebrated day?” Broadrick said Thursday at his store on Thompson Lane, standing feet away from two mannequins sporting Star Wars apparel. Star Wars Day was the creation of fans, not of the movie franchise itself. Broadrick thinks it has taken off in recent years because its fan base crosses generations with fans of the original movies in the 1970s and 1980s and fans of the newer ones.…

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Illinois Family Institute’s Laurie Higgins Questions Whether Fox News Will Continue To Be A Conservative Voice

Wendy Wilson

  Is Fox News becoming liberal? That’s a question on the minds of many conservatives these days in the midst of a shake-up at the cable network. The network has undergone leadership changes and seen the ouster of officials and anchor Bill O’Reilly over claims of personal misbehavior. “Those with ears to hear fear it’s coming. They fear the impending death of Fox News as a voice for conservatism,” writes Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute. In a recent article, the cultural affairs writer draws attention to Rupert Murdoch’s sons taking over at Fox and steering it in a direction that seems to reflect their liberal-leaning views. “Sure, they’re mopping out the lecherous serial harassers of women, but they’re cleaning house with dirty water,” Higgins writes. “Swish, out goes boorishness. Back-swish, in comes Newspeak.” The focus of her piece is on gender issues and she notes that James and Lachlan Murdoch have expanded benefits for transgender employees. Higgins also takes issue with on-air personalities who have shown support for gay marriage and with anchors Bret Baier and Tucker Carlson for using female pronouns in reference to males. “For quite some time, Fox political commentators have either studiously avoided addressing matters related to homosexuality or ‘trans’-cultism…

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IT Scandal Figure Imran Awan, Hired by House Democrats, Threatened Kidnappings of Stepmom’s Pakistani Kin

Tennessee Star Staff
Debble Wasserman Schultz

A former congressional information technology (IT) aide allegedly threatened to have his stepmother’s Pakistani relatives kidnapped if she talked to U.S. law enforcement authorities, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation’s (TheDCNF) Investigative Group. “Imran Awan threatened that he is very powerful and if I ever call the police again, [he] will…

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Knoxville World’s Fair Beer Makes Comeback

Wendy Wilson

Just in time for the 35th anniversary of the World’s Fair in Knoxville, World’s Fair Beer is once again on tap. The beer sold for six months in 1982 to celebrate the event that put Knoxville in the spotlight. The team relaunching the product includes Rick Kuhlman, the brains behind the beer 35 years ago. But this time, the beer will have a different taste – something likely to cheer all those who remember the original product. In 1982, the beer was esteemed more for its novelty than its taste. “Pretty can but the taste could be compared with the bottom of a bird cage,” recalled one critic writing on a discussion board at Roadfood.com. On their website, the beer makers say the new and improved product “has a deep orange color like a sunset over the Smoky Mountains. The aroma is bright like the reflection of the Sunsphere in the summertime. The flavor is bustling with tropical and piney hops. This beer greets you with a fruity aroma and finishes with a restrained bitterness, balanced with a crisp flavor.” The beer is currently on tap at 20 bars and cafes in Knoxville and one in Sevierville and more may…

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Report: State Senator Mark Green ‘Could Withdraw This Week’ As President Trump’s Army Secretary Nominee

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

“President Trump’s pick for Army secretary could withdraw from consideration as early as this week, according to a report, following a slew of accusations from liberal groups over comments he’s made regarding LGBT issues and Islam,” the Washington Examiner reported on Thursday morning: Sources close to the nomination process believe Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green may not have enough support from Republicans and Democrats to be confirmed, CNN reported. Green, a conservative Christian, is under increasing fire from the political Left over past statements opposing gay marriage, transgender bathroom rights and teaching Islam in public schools. On Monday, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the No. 2 Democrat in the House, called his past statements “disgusting” and joined 31 fellow Democrats in urging the Senate to reject the nomination for what they called a history of homophobia and transphobia. “Republicans, meanwhile, have been mostly silent on the issue. Sen. John McCain, in a brief interview with USA Today, said he was bothered by Green’s past statements,” the Examiner reported. Should Green (R-Clarksville) withdraw, he would likely consider entering the race for the GOP nomination for Governor in Tennessee in 2018, where he would immediately become the conservative front runner. Two other candidates,…

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State Sen. Todd Gardenhire Pushes Unsuccessfully For Taxpayers To Be Compensated For Surplus Revenue

Wendy Wilson

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) on Wednesday made a pitch to compensate Tennessee taxpayers for surplus revenue. He was a lone voice, however, before the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee voted 10-1 for a bill that allows the money to be used for government spending. Gardenhire was the only one who voted against the proposed legislation. The bill authorizes state spending to exceed growth in revenues by $438 million, or 2.85 percent, for the current fiscal year. The bill is a way around the Copeland Cap, which says that spending should not exceed the growth of the state’s economy, measured by estimated growth in personal income in the state. Added to the state constitution in 1978, the budget restraint provision is named for former Republican State Rep. David Copeland. The General Assembly can disregard the cap with a simple majority vote, which has happened numerous times. During a discussion before Wednesday’s vote, Gardenhire exchanged tense words with Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-Collierville), the bill sponsor in the Senate. Gardenhire said he didn’t want to see the Copeland Cap undermined. Norris snapped that lawmakers should stop collecting so much in taxes if they want to avoid this…

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Democrats Unlikely to Get The $250 Million Education Bill For Their Yes Vote On The IMPROVE Act

Laura Baigert

House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) said Wednesday in both the Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee and full Committee that he didn’t have the votes for the $250 million K-12 Block Grant Act, which was reportedly part of the deal Governor Haslam made to get needed support from the Democrats to pass his IMPROVE Act. On the morning of the House floor vote which eventually approved the IMPROVE Act, there were rumors that the Governor would appropriate $250 million for an education plan and that the Democrats, despite their expected opposition to the gas tax increase, were going to vote for it.  The deal appeared successful when 23 of 25 Democrats voted in favor of the IMPROVE Act. The rumors of the quid pro quo deal were confirmed when the video of Leader Fitzhugh explaining the plan during an April 4 Education Administration & Planning Subcommittee meeting came to light. The plan, called the K-12 Block Grant Act, would take $250 million from various sources, as Fitzhugh explained, and put it in an endowment type fund from which the interest would be drawn and allocated to school systems throughout the state for non-recurring expenses. During the Finance, Ways & Means…

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House Finance Ways and Means Committee Votes to Break The Copeland Cap

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

At the final stop before the full House makes its first of three votes on Governor Haslam’s 2017-18 $37 billion state budget, the Finance, Ways & Means Committee finalized the bills required to move the budget on, including HB 514, which Chairman Charles Sargent (R-Franklin) referred to as the “indexing bill” or Copeland Cap. The Copeland Cap is the 1978 amendment to Article II, Section 24 of the Tennessee constitution that states,  “In no year shall the rate of growth of appropriations from state tax revenues exceed the estimated rate of growth of the state’s economy as determined by law.” The amendment was named for its author, former state Representative David Copeland of Ooltewah. As reported by The Tennessee Star, with the growth of state revenues, lawmakers were expected to have to break the Copeland Cap. That was confirmed Wednesday, when Chairman Sargent presented the bill to the committee, saying, “Revenues have grown and collections in the 16 budget that was not recognized in 16.  That money has been placed over into the 17-18 budget.  So we have to recognized that we went over.  We went over by 2.85 over and above the Copeland Cap.” No further details were provided as…

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Tennessee Legislature Passes Ban On Abortions After 20 Weeks

Wendy Wilson

Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday banning abortions after 20 weeks if a doctor says the fetus is viable. The House voted 69-18 in favor of the legislation, which passed the Senate 27-3 on Monday. It now goes to Gov. Haslam. The legislation includes felony penalties for doctors but doesn’t apply if the mother could die or suffer serious damage to major bodily functions. The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) and in the Senate by Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald). Haslam said he would talk to Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery before making his decision, according to the Associated Press. Slatery has said his office would defend the measure if it were to become law. However, he previously called it “constitutionally suspect.” The House Republican majority voted against including exceptions for rape and incest that Democrats wanted in the legislation.

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Rep. Diane Black at Center of Federal Budget Blame Game

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

  Sixth District Congresswoman Diane Black (R-TN), who was recently elevated to the position of House Budget Chair and who is widely rumored to be preparing for a Gubernatorial bid in 2018, is on the receiving end of criticism for her role in the Continuing Resolution that will keep the Federal Government operating despite the failure of Congress to pass a budget. The Continuing Resolution averts a government shutdown but does not fulfill many of the promises that Republicans made during the 2016 election cycle. The budget deal passed the House 309-118. Though she was one of the 118 House members who voted no, Congresswoman Black has drawn particular criticism for her role in the deal as new Budget Chair, especially since she has voted against previous Continuing Resolutions that continued to fund Planned Parenthood in similar fashion. Sharon Ford, President of the Tennessee Republican Assembly, noted that Black may have been given cover by the House Leadership to avoid complete responsibility for the budget mess, but that she is Budget Chair and the buck ultimately stops with her. “She can point the finger of blame at others and cast a no vote to pretend she is a budget hawk,…

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Rand Paul Endorses Glenn Jacobs for Knox County Mayor

Tennessee Star Staff

Glenn Jacobs, known the world over as World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Kane,” is also a longtime libertarian and conservative activist who recently stepped into the political arena when he announced his bid for mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. On Tuesday, Jacobs received the endorsement of one of the most high profile libertarian-leaning conservatives in Washington, Senator Rand…

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The Heritage Foundation And Jim DeMint: Both Vital To The Conservative Movement

Tennessee Star Staff

Richard A Viguerie, CHQ Chairman President Trump’s shout-out during his 100-day rally to Heritage president Jim DeMint, “I want to really thank Heritage … and also from Heritage Jim DeMint, it’s been amazing,” reminds me of just what an important asset a strong and independent Heritage Foundation has been to the conservative movement. I was there, so to speak, at the beginning of the Heritage Foundation and what many people in Washington Jim DeMint Heritageseem to have forgotten is that Heritage was founded to be a movement conservative force independent of the Republican Party and establishment Republican leaders. My good friend the late Paul Weyrich, then press secretary for conservative U.S. Senator Gordon Allott of Colorado, was one of the moving forces behind the creation of the Heritage Foundation. One of the other founders was Ed Feulner, then administrative assistant to Congressman Phil Crane, for whom I did the direct mail when he was first elected to the House in a Special Election in 1969. Paul had the idea for the Heritage Foundation after becoming frustrated with the overly academic posture of the American Enterprise Institute, then the leading conservative think tank in Washington. Paul, and many others in the…

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Follow The Money: Campaign Receipts May Shed Light on Why Some Republicans Voted For The Gas Tax

Laura Baigert

  “Follow the money” is a catchphrase made popular in the 1976 movie, “All The President’s Men,” based on the actual events of the Watergate Break-in and suggests a money trail or corruption scheme within the political arena. While campaign receipts are no guarantee of how an elected official will vote on a particular issue, when a politician’s vote comes as a surprise to their constituents and political pundits, the behind-the-scenes world of money and power may shed light on the matter. The situation of campaign financing in the state of Tennessee is a complex web of individual and Political Action Committee (PAC) contributions and receipts to and from each other. The Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance defines a PAC as a “multi-candidate politician campaign committee that participates in any state or local election.  ‘Multi-candidate committee’ is defined as a committee that makes expenditures to support or oppose two or more candidates for public office or two or more measures in a referenda election. T.C.A. 2-10-102(9).” The State of Tennessee’s Online Campaign Finance webpage includes a searchable database for contributions and expenditures to candidates and PACs and from candidates, PACs, private individuals or businesses/organizations. The complexity, special interests…

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