Month: July 2017

British Death Panel Unmoved As House Grants Charlie Gard U.S. Legal Permanent Residence

Tennessee Star Staff

by ConservativeHQ.com Staff   The worldwide effort to save disabled British baby Charlie Gard from Britain’s Great Ormand Street hospital death panel achieved a small victory yesterday as the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment granting Charlie and his family legal permanent residence in the United States. News of the passage of the amendment came from Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who tweeted: “We just passed amendment that grants permanent resident status to #CharlieGard and family so Charlie can get the medical treatment he needs.” However, British legal sources said Charlie is the subject of a High Court order and it made no difference what passport he held. And last Friday, the judge made it clear it would be illegal for Charlie to travel to America without his permission reports the U.K. Daily Mail. The parents’ British attorney, Grant Armstrong, said the parents were of the view that legally it was up to the hospital to change its mind and allow Charlie to be transferred. But the judge, Mr. Justice Francis, said the effect of the various rulings meant the court’s permission was required. “It would be entirely wrong for him to be transferred without my being involved,” said the judge,…

Read the full story

The Battle for Nashville Begins: Tim Herndon Takes on Liberal Establishment in 33rd Metro Council District Special Election

Tennessee Star Staff

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–About a dozen volunteers gathered on Saturday morning at the Travel America center in Antioch to begin a day of door knocking for Tim Herndon, the conservative candidate in the special election to pick a new Metro Council member from Davidson County/Nashville’s 33rd District that will be held on August 15. The special election will be the first test of public opinion in Davidson County and Nashville since the Metro Council sponsors of a sanctuary city ordinance withdrew their proposal in late June, barely a week before it was scheduled for a third and final reading. The ordinance passed on a second reading June 20 by a 25 to 8 vote, with 4 members abstaining, and 2 members not voting, but without a vote cast by a council member representing the 33rd district, since that seat has been vacant since May, when the incumbent, Sam Coleman, accepted an appointment as a judge. The special election will be held on August 15. Early voting runs from July 26 to August 10. At full strength there are 40 members of the Metro Council-5 are elected at large, and 35 are elected by Council District. A recent Tennessee Star Poll showed that,…

Read the full story

Senator Bob Corker Issues Statement Supporting Repeal of Obamacare

Tennessee Star Staff
Tenessee Star

On Thursday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) issued a statement supporting full repeal of Obamacare: “After being involved in many discussions over the past several months with my colleagues and stakeholders across Tennessee, I believe the best path forward is for Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act after a reasonable transition period,” said Corker. “This takes us back to a level playing field where, by a date certain, all sides have incentive to work together to develop a health care replacement that can generate broad support and will stand the test of time. Regardless of how we move forward, it is my hope that our focus will be not only on coverage but also on lowering the actual cost of health care.” Corker participated in a lengthy meeting held by senators last night and also attended the lunch meeting held yesterday at the White House. Corker had previously opposed efforts to repeal Obamacare without having a complete alternative in place. Critics on the left criticized Corker’s change of heart, while conservatives, many of whom have fiercely criticized Corker in the past, applauded it. “Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Mancini and the U.S. Senate campaign of Democrat James Mackler were having…

Read the full story

Commentary: Presidential Election Integrity Commission Meets – Left Goes Nuts

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

by ConservativeHQ.com Staff Just over two months ago, on May the 11th, President Trump signed an executive order to create a commission to, in his words, help to “promote fair and honest federal elections” — the foundation of our democracy. As Vice President Mike Pence said in his opening remarks to the first meeting of the Commission, “Election integrity matters to every American. President Calvin Coolidge reminded us, in his words, that the ‘whole system of American government rests on the ballot box.’ And President Reagan declared that the “right to vote is the crown jewel of American liberties’.” By establishing this commission, President Trump is taking action to ensure that the ballot box remains inviolate, and that the crown jewel shines brighter than ever before, said the Vice President. In remarks to the Commission, President Trump pledged that its work would be open to inspection and would “fairly and objectively follow the facts wherever they may lead.” He also attacked those officials who had refused to cooperate with the investigation, twice saying that voter data from their states would be “forthcoming” and raising doubts about their motives. “One has to wonder what they’re worried about,” said the President. “There’s…

Read the full story

Internet Goes Wild After Sean Spicer Resigns As Press Secretary,

Tennessee Star Staff

Sean Spicer resigned Friday as press secretary to President Donald Trump. Spicer reportedly stepped down after opposing the appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as the administration’s new communications director. Spicer “vehemently objected” to Scaramucci’s appointment, according to New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush. Trump asked Spicer to stay on as press secretary, but Spicer thought…

Read the full story

Trump Administration to Ban Travel to North Korea

Tennessee Star Staff

The Trump administration Friday announced a travel ban on Americans visiting North Korea, citing the danger of arrests and mistreatment following the death of university student Otto Warmbier after imprisonment in North Korea. The decision comes amid heightened tension over nuclear-armed North Korea’s long-range missile tests, as well as Warmbier’s death in June after being returned…

Read the full story

OMB Director Mick Mulvaney Says Obama Had ‘Secret’ List of Proposed Regulations

Tennessee Star Staff

White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney accused the Obama administration Thursday of keeping a “secret list” of proposed regulations during Mr. Obama’s eight-year regulatory onslaught against businesses, and touted President Trump’s rollback of more than 800 Obama-era rules and proposals. Of the 860 rules or proposed rules that the Trump administration has killed, 179 came from…

Read the full story

Scaramucci, Trump’s New White House Communications Chief, Has Voiced Support for Gun Control

Tennessee Star Staff

Newly appointed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has voiced support on social media for “strong” gun-control laws, which would be a major departure from the positions of President Trump. After the Sandy Hook shootings at a Connecticut elementary school in December 2012, Mr. Scaramucci tweeted, “I have always been for strong gun control laws.” In…

Read the full story

Exclusive: Rep. Scott DesJarlais Calls for Full Repeal of Obamacare: ‘The Moment To Act Is Right Now’

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

In a press release issued Thursday, Congressman Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said “We should keep our promises, not retreat when the moment to act is right now” and fully repeal Obamacare. DesJarlais supports the parliamentary procedure being used by the House Freedom Caucus to force a vote on the House floor to repeal Obamacare. The House Freedom Caucus announced a “discharge petition,” as DesJarlais explained in an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star, “generally a tool of the minority” that allows legislation to bypass the committee system for a vote by the full House. DesJarlais continued, Almost every Republican in the House has voted over 50 times to repeal Obamacare, including the legislation from 2015 that both the House and Senate passed and Obama vetoed it. Trump has said if we send that same legislation to him, he will sign it. Now all of a sudden we have a group of Republicans that don’t mean what they said and don’t want to vote for a clean repeal. Demonstrating his personal commitment and work toward gaining House Republican support for the full repeal, DesJarlais said, “I was asking dozens of members yesterday whether they would vote for a clean repeal, and almost…

Read the full story

Sean Hannity to Interview Spicer, Scaramucci and Priebus on Fox News at 10 p.m. Eastern, 9 p.m. Central, Tonight, Friday

Tennessee Star Staff

It is what broadcasters call the “good get.” Fox News Channel’s prime-time anchorman Sean Hannity will feature separate interviews on Friday night with former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and newly appointed White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. The interviews cap off a day of drama in the…

Read the full story

In Defense of Mirrors

Patrick Rooney

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, Who in this land is fairest of all? ~ Brothers Grimm   Mirrors have gotten a bad rap. I’m going to do my best in this article to restore them to their rightful place of honor. Confession: I’m a low-tech guy. I’ve always inherently trusted low tech, and distrusted high tech. Perhaps this is a reflection of my background – my parents were middle class, blue-collar people who were heavily influenced by the Great Depression. They learned to trust real, tangible things, and so have I. Don’t get me wrong – high tech has brought us so many amazing breakthroughs. I’m well aware, and grateful, for instance, that this column itself would not be possible without the magic of the Internet. But still… In the fitness world, so much these days seems to be about the hottest trends. And right now, wearable technology is IT. Gotta have a FitBit, or an Apple Watch, or a Garmin, or a Huwai. You’ve gotta track your steps, your heart rate, your “perceived” exertion, your calories, and your macros (protein, carbs, and fats). Hey – again, I ain’t hatin’!’ I like and recommend MyFitnessPal and other nutrition trackers to my…

Read the full story

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer Steps Down

Admin
Tennessee Star

Several news outlets are reporting that President Trump has reluctantly accepted Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s resignation. Via the Associated Press: White House press secretary Sean Spicer is resigning his position, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. One of those people said Spicer is quitting because of objections over the appointment of a new White House communications director, New York financier Anthony Scaramucci. The NYTimes adds: Mr. Trump offered Mr. Scaramucci the job at 10 a.m. The president requested that Mr. Spicer stay on, but Mr. Spicer told Mr. Trump that he believed the appointment was a major mistake, according to a person with direct knowledge of the exchange. After the news broke, Spicer tweeted: It's been an honor & a privilege to serve @POTUS @realDonaldTrump & this amazing country. I will continue my service through August — Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) July 21, 2017   Developing…        

Read the full story

House Conservatives Target Elimination of $100 Million in Funding for Globalist Organization

Tennessee Star Staff

Conservatives in the House of Representatives are calling for the elimination of all U.S. funding for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international organization headquartered in a chateau in Paris. The organization produces economic reports and recommends “best practices” but also frequently pushes for bigger government, higher taxes, and for developed nations to throw…

Read the full story

Columbia, Tennessee Fire Chief Ty Cobb: ‘Our Firefighters Are Faithful and Believe in Prayer’

Tennessee Star Staff

Firefighters knelt in prayer after an incredible rescue mission in Tennessee — a poignant moment that was captured by a local journalist. The firefighters prayed for the victim of a house fire and “put it in God’s hands,” as Ty Cobb, the fire chief in Columbia, Tennessee, told LifeZette in an interview. “Our firefighters are very…

Read the full story

Commentary: Back to School, Back to the Future

JC Bowman

Public Education is not failing. Our middle-class and wealthy public school children are thriving. Poor children are struggling, not because their schools are failing, but because they come to school with all the well-documented handicaps that poverty imposes – poor prenatal care, developmental delays, hunger, illness, homelessness, emotional and mental illnesses, and so on. The faith community could play a critical part in addressing critical social issues across our state and country.

Read the full story

Study: CNN’s Trump-Obama Double Standard on Russian Meetings

Tennessee Star Staff

CNN has been obsessed over President Donald Trump’s dinner chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin — but yawned by comparison at former President Barack Obama’s infamous “hot-mic” moment with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. The conservative watchdog Media Research Center on Wednesday compared press coverage of the two events. From 5 p.m. to midnight on Tuesday, CNN…

Read the full story

After Three Years of Budget Surpluses Sumner County Commission Keeps Property Tax Rate at $2.50 For 2018

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

  GALLATIN, Tennessee — After three years of county revenues exceeding ever-increasing annual budgets, the Sumner County Board of Commissioners by a vote of 21-3 adopted a property tax rate of $2.50 per $100 of assessed value, unchanged from last year, at their regularly scheduled July meeting. The $2.50 tax rate, a greater than 20 percent increase over the $2.08 certified tax rate, originally implemented in 2014 by the then newly-elected County Commission in a controversial special-called meeting which immediately followed a special called Budget Committee meeting, met with much public resistance. When the topic was added to a commission meeting agenda three meetings later, finally allowing Sumner County residents to speak on the issue, the county administration building was overflowing with protestors, with dozens making public comments against the tax increase and causing the meeting to go until after 1 a.m. The annual budgets for 2016, 2017 and 2018 have projected county revenues to grow by more than 3 percent per year above and beyond the impact from the 2014 property tax increase.  The total growth in revenues for the three-year period was conservatively estimated at $9 million. The actual growth has far exceeded those estimates, yielding an additional…

Read the full story

Faith: Verse of the Day for Friday, July 21

Dana Hunsinger Gill
Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing July 21, Friday Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Read the full story

Partnership for a New American Economy Misstates Facts While Pushing to Keep DACA Program

Chris Alto

  The New American Economy (NAE, aka, Partnership for a New American Economy), has sent out a “Code Red” alert trying to protect Obama’s amnesty-style DACA program which according to their count, has granted 800,000 illegal immigrants a temporary deferral from deportation. The NAE alert claims that DACA applicants “had to show that they were contributing to our country” even though this is not part of the criteria or considered by USCIS when deciding whether to grant DACA status. Putting that fact aside, NAE’s characterization of DACA applicants is in line with the economic narrative NAE uses to promote legal and illegal immigration: DREAMer program faces death sentence Here’s the harsh new reality: 800,000 DREAMers are now likely to lose their status and face deportation. Immigration advocates are calling this the “Code Red moment.” The warning first came down this week from the Secretary of Homeland Security to members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Obama’s program allowing for DREAMer legal status will no longer be defended in court, a potential death sentence for the program that leaves every one of the 800,000 DREAMers potentially subject to deportation. The result could be the deportation of hundreds of thousands of our best-and-brightest young…

Read the full story

Dimple Ajmera, Charlotte, North Carolina Democrat, Defends Saying Trump Supporters Have ‘No Place’ in City Council

Tennessee Star Staff

A city council member in North Carolina has doubled down on a controversial statement declaring supporters of President Trump have “no place” in Charlotte’s government. Charlotte City Council member Dimple Ajmera, a Democrat running for an at-large seat in the council, said during a recent WCNC discussion that any supporters of the president or his “cronies”…

Read the full story

U.S. Postal Service Broke Law Allowing Employees Leave to Support Clinton Campaign

Tennessee Star Staff

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) concluded that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) violated the Hatch Act by allowing its employees to receive union-funded compensation for leave to promote 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Fox News reported Wednesday. The OSC report revealed USPS exhibited an”institutional bias” in favor of Clinton’s campaign by allowing approximately…

Read the full story

Facebook Exec Says It May Start Making You Pay For The News

Tennessee Star Staff

Facebook is experimenting with a subscription-based service in which users would have to pay for access to news stories, according to an executive’s statement provided Wednesday to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “We are in early talks with several news publishers about how we might better support subscription business models on Facebook,” said Campbell Brown, head…

Read the full story

Commentary: Mark Zuckerberg’s Communist Manifesto

Tennessee Star Staff

by George Rasley, ConservativeHQ.com Editor   During a recent commencement speech at Harvard, Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg came out in favor of a system in which all people receive a standard salary just for being alive, no questions asked. The system, known as universal basic income, is one of the trendiest economic theories of the past few years. Experiments in basic income have popped up in Kenya, the Netherlands, Finland, Canada, and Oakland, California, among other places according to the Business Insider’s Chris Weller. “We should have a society that measures progress not just by economic metrics like GDP, but by how many of us have a role we find meaningful,” Weller reported Zuckerberg told the crowd. “We should explore ideas like universal basic income to make sure everyone has a cushion to try new ideas.” And Zuckerberg is not alone. Tech executives like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Y Combinator President Sam Altman, and Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes — who runs a basic-income fund called the Economic Security Project — have endorsed basic income. Many point to economic forecasts that say robots will displace much of the human workforce in the coming decades. A report from Oxford University in 2013,…

Read the full story

Mae Beavers and Bill Lee Offer Different Visions of Tennessee’s Future and the Governor’s Job at Williamson County BBQ

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

  State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) and Williamson County businessman Bill Lee offered two different visions of the future of Tennessee and the role of the job they are both seeking–governor-at the annual Williamson County Republican Party BBQ held in Thompson’s Station on Saturday. Each candidate spoke to the record crowd of 400 in attendance for about ten minutes, delivering the current version of their respective campaign stump speeches. Beavers, who has served in the Tennessee General Assembly since 1994, first in the House of Representatives and now in the State Senate, focused on enacting an agenda of conservative policies. She favors repealing the recent gas tax increase, promoting Second Amendment rights by pledging to sign a constitutional carry law, opposes in-state tuition for illegal aliens, and stands by her proposal to limit access to public bathrooms by gender. Bill Lee focused more on his personal qualities of leadership as opposed to a specific set of commitments to enact conservative policies. Lee emphasized his personal story, including the tragic death of his first wife, his role building up Lee Company, one of the premiere heating and cooling companies in the state, and his personal Christian faith. The Williamson County…

Read the full story

Faith: Verse of the Day for Thursday, July 20

Dana Hunsinger Gill
Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing July 20, Thursday Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Read the full story

Congress Ignores Trump’s Call to Cut Funding for NPR, PBS, NEA, NEH

Tennessee Star Staff

The GOP-led Congress appears to be completely ignoring President Donald Trump’s budget request to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, three of the most reviled government programs among conservatives. Last week, the Appropriations Committee released its funding bills for 2018, showing…

Read the full story

These House Democrats Heard They May Have Been Hacked But Don’t Seem to Care

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

House Democrats professing moral outrage over the hacking of the Democratic National Committee have apparently remained indifferent to the likely penetration of their congressional computer systems, declining to distance themselves from five Pakistani House server administrators who are the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. House authorities banned the five administrators from the congressional information technology…

Read the full story

House Republicans Lay Out Their Plan to Rein in the EPA

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

House Republicans released their proposal to balance the federal budget in 10 years, which included their plans to rein in the regulatory power of the Environmental Protection Agency. Republicans plan three broad reforms for the EPA: reduce its funding, cut global warming programs, and eliminate the agency’s policy office. “The Environmental Protection Agency has long overreached…

Read the full story

September T-Bones & Politics Event Featuring FoxNews’ Judge Jeanine Pirro Adds Speakers and Gubernatorial Straw Poll

Tennessee Star Staff

Former State Rep. Joe Carr announced on Tuesday that the 9th Annual T-Bones and Politics fundraiser he will be hosting in Rutherford County this September has added three additional speakers who will be joining featured speakerFox News host Jeanine Pirro. Gubernatorial candidates Bill Lee and State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), along with Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) will also be featured speakers at the event, which will “take place at The Shed at 4707 Lascassas Pike, Lascassas, TN 37085 on September 14 starting at 6 p.m,” according to a statement released by Carr. “Because of the heightened interest in the 2018 Governor’s Race we will be conducting a straw poll. If you’re interested in serious politics, there is no more enjoyable event than T-Bones & Politics” Carr said. “The fundraiser benefits JoePAC, a political action committee focused on supporting and electing conservative candidates to the Tennessee General Assembly,” Carr said in a statement. “All of Tennessee’s announced gubernatorial candidates have been invited to speak at this year’s event,” the statement said. To date, only Lee and Beavers have confirmed their attendance. Two other announced gubernatorial candidates–Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd and Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville)–have been invited.…

Read the full story

Joe Scarborough Continues Fox Feud, Calls Sean Hannity’s Show ‘State-Run Television’

Tennessee Star Staff

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough’s ongoing feud with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity continued full steam ahead Monday. The host of “Morning Joe” followed up a weekend op-ed in The Washington Post on ways President Trump is “killing” the Republican Party with a shot at one of the president’s staunchest defenders, likening Mr. Hannity’s coverage to “state-run” television.…

Read the full story

White House Meets with Potential Challengers to Arizona’s Republican ‘Never-Trump’ Senator Jeff Flake

Tennessee Star Staff

The White House has been meeting covertly with current and potential challengers of Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-Ariz.) seat, according to a report Monday. The quiet campaign to recruit challengers for the incumbent may signify President Donald Trump hasn’t forgiven or forgotten how the deeply unpopular senator refused to endorse his candidacy and has become a stumbling…

Read the full story

Commentary: Weak-Kneed Paul Ryan Stalls National Concealed Carry Reciprocity

Tennessee Star Staff

by ConservativeHQ.com Staff   Our friends at the Virginia Citizens Defense League recently put out an alert letting gun owners know exactly where the problem is with the national concealed carry reciprocity bill – with Democratic Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.* The VCDL alert says “It appears to be a bad case of weakness of the knees. The Republicans were put into power to move forward an agenda that was sold to the American public. That includes national reciprocity and the hearing protection act, to name but a few. That was the deal, and the President said, and repeated, that he would sign such bills. We need to demand leadership from Ryan, not capitulation to the enemies of freedom.” The alert goes on to quote an article by Breitbart’s AWR Hawkins saying, “National Reciprocity was introduced by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) on January 3, 2017 and Gun Owners of America reported that it had 199 co-sponsors by June 21, 2017. Yet Second Amendment supporters have seen no action on the bill from Ryan or Congressional leadership.” The New York Times’ Emily Cochrane reported that three bills have been introduced in the Republican-held House during the past two weeks would…

Read the full story

Gubernatorial Candidate Randy Boyd’s GOP ‘Great Opportunity Party’ Likely to Include Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  “As a member of the Republican Party and the GOP, I’ve always been a little concerned and also as a marketer, having a brand being the ‘Grand Old Party’ isn’t something that people necessarily aspire to, but I think the ‘Great Opportunity Party’ can stand for something,” gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd told Knoxville radio host Jim Brogan during an on-air interview in May (beginning at the 42:50 mark in the interview). And when I think about opportunity I think about this opportunity for a better education. Wouldn’t it be great if people from around the country they think of Tennessee, they think yeah, that’s the land of opportunity. That’s where you go to get a great education. You can go to technical community college free even as an adult now as a result of this past legislation. It’s where you can go to get great jobs. They’ve got factories and companies all across the state willing to pay top dollar. It’s the place to go to get great jobs. And also it’s the place where you can go to rural communities and live a great quality of life because they’re not leaving people behind. It’s an opportunity, a state of opportunity…

Read the full story