Day: July 15, 2017

OMB Director Mick Mulvaney introduced “MAGAnomics” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Thursday. “If we enact the president’s broad agenda—if MAGAnomics is allowed to work—we will have set the stage for the greatest revival of the American economy since the early 1980s. It will remind people—including those who have forgotten, or those who don’t want you to remember—what a great America means. That is driving everything we do,” Mulvaney wrote: If the Trump administration has one overarching goal, it’s to Make America Great Again. But what does this mean? It means we are promoting MAGAnomics—and that means sustained 3% economic growth. For most of our nation’s modern history, a healthy American economy meant one that grew at roughly 3.5%. That was the average growth rate between the late 1940s and 2007. Since then, it has hardly topped 2%. The difference between those two growth rates is staggering. If the American economy had grown at only 2% between the end of World War II and 2000, average household income would have been roughly $26,000 instead of $50,000. Over the next 10 years, 3% growth instead of 2% will yield a nominal gross domestic product that is $16 trillion larger, federal…

  A record number of Williamson County Republicans are set to meet at Little Creek Farms in Thompsons Station for the 2017 Annual Summer Event, Middle Tennessee’s largest political event of the season. The county’s new Chair, Debbie Deaver, told The Tennessee Star the group’s marquee event taking place Saturday, is sold out. “A record 400+ guests have purchased tickets,” the group announced in a statement. “In addition to remarks from special speakers, guests will participate in the first major gubernatorial straw poll of the 2018 cycle.” All announced and likely Republican candidates will be on the ballot. This year’s BBQ will feature U.S. Congressman Marsha Blackburn, Sen. Mark Green, Sen. Jack Johnson’s band, The Austin Brothers, and gubernatorial candidates Bill Lee and Sen. Mae Beavers. Co-hosts include the Davidson County Republican Party, the Tennessee College Republican Committee, the Republican Women of Williamson County, the Williamson County Republican Career Women, and the Williamson County Young Republicans. Platinum sponsors of the BBQ are U.S. Congressman Marsha Blackburn, Sen. Mark Green, Sen. Jack Johnson, and Bill Lee for Tennessee. Organizers say the straw poll results will be announced around 6:00pm CT.  

A man believed to be the nation’s oldest World War II veteran arrived in Memphis on Thursday from his native Texas to great fanfare. Richard Overton, age 111, was greeted at Memphis International Airport with a water cannon salute from the Memphis Fire Department and well-wishers who wanted to shake his hand. He was then escorted by the Patriot Guard Riders to the Peabody Hotel, reports WREG News Channel 3. Overton was scheduled to serve as honorary duckmaster at the hotel Friday before being the guest of honor at a special ceremony at Overton Park. His visit is sponsored by Forever Young Senior Veterans and The Peabody, according to The Commercial Appeal. Overton, who has attracted the attention of local documentary filmmaker Genene Walker, had been expressing a desire to visit Tennessee. Overton’s grandfather was born a slave at John Overton’s Nashville-area plantation, Travellers Rest. Overton was one of the founders of Memphis. Richard Overton’s family took his name after leaving the plantation. Overton is planning to attend a family reunion in Nashville this weekend. Overton enlisted in the Army in 1940 at age 34. He served in a segregated unit in the Pacific theater for five years, earning an expert rifle marksmanship…