Southern Baptist Ethics And Religious Liberty Commission Speaks Out Against Military Transgender Policy

  Southern Baptist leaders object to the U.S. Army’s new mandatory transgender sensitivity training, reports Baptist Press. The training follows last year’s repeal of a ban on transgender men and women serving openly in the armed forces. Former President Obama’s defense secretary set a deadline of July 1 for fully implementing the new policy across all branches of service. Current Secretary of Defense James Mattis recently announced a six-month delay in enlisting transgender people, but those currently enlisted are allowed to transition. Soldiers are being told they must accept soldiers of the opposite sex who feel they have a different gender in barracks, bathrooms and showers. Andrew Walker, director of policy studies for the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), told Baptist Press that Army leaders’ acquiescence “to the demands of transgender activists is misguided.” “Most problematically, the Army is complicit in advancing a worldview that tells fundamental distortions about what it means to be a man or a woman,” Walker said. “The Army’s actions overlook the protests of dissenting soldiers uncomfortable with the idea of sharing private spaces with members of the opposite sex, which also pose risks to religious liberty. “It is unfortunate and lamentable that a venerable…

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OMB Director Introduces ‘MAGAnomics’

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…

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Williamson County Republicans Set to Gather at Sold Out Annual Summer Event

  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.  

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GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Bill Lee Raises Over $1.3 Million in First Reporting Period

The campaign of Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee issued a statement on Friday that it has raised $1.375 million during the fiscal quarter ending June 30, the first since Lee announced in April. The campaign says it has $2.5 million cash on hand: Republican gubernatorial candidate and conservative Williamson County businessman and cattle farmer Bill Lee announced that his campaign for governor has raised over $1.375 million in a little over two months of active campaigning, with over $2.5 million cash on hand to end the report period. In addition to what was raised, Bill and his wife Maria committed to match in the amount of $1.375 million due to the overwhelming level of enthusiasm and support he has received across the state. “Maria and I are truly humbled and honored to see the outpouring of support from across Tennessee with folks wanting to help this campaign,” said Lee. Lee continued, “Since we announced on April 24th, we have traveled the state meeting everyone we can and sharing my vision for Tennessee. The response has been so overwhelmingly positive, we felt compelled to match the donations in an effort to thank everyone for their support and show our continued commitment…

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More Than $1.2 Million in Taxpayer Waste in Tennessee This June

    by Chris Butler, Tennessee WatchDog Yet another California artist gets taxpayer money for TN public art. A Los Angeles artist will design one of Memphis’ most expensive public art projects at taxpayer expense, according to Memphis TV station WREG. The “I Am a Man” art project will cost $700,000, the station reported, adding it’s one of the city’s most expensive public art projects. As Tennessee Watchdog reported last year, city officials paid another California artist $300,000 to create a 103-foot-tall sculpture near the Memphis International Airport. As Tennessee Watchdog also reported, Nashville officials paid $300,000 last year for an exhibit commemorating the Civil Rights movement, but the artist lived some 2,000 miles away in Oakland, California. Three years ago, Nashville taxpayers paid $750,000 so an abstract artist from California could construct large multi-colored sticks and place them partially upright near the Music City Center downtown. Meanwhile, “Tool Fire,” built in 2013, consists of several shovels, rakes and pickaxes glued together and placed on display along the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. For that project, the city paid an Alabama artist $30,000. Nashville taxpayers also paid two Seattle artists $350,000 to create a sculpture at Nashville’s West Riverfront Park symbolizing the…

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Oldest American World War II Veteran Visits Tennessee

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…

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions Says He’ll Appeal Travel Ban Case Back to Supreme Court

Tennessee Star

The administration on Friday said it will appeal directly to the Supreme Court after a lower federal judge, for the second time, ruled against President Trump’s updated travel ban policy. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson in Hawaii ruled late Thursday that cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, as well as grandparents and grandchildren, all count as…

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