As Democrats try to rebrand themselves after a devastating election and months of Russia obsession, a poll commissioned by a party-aligned political action committee shows how far it has to go to recover with the white working class. That demographic was key to President Donald Trump’s upset victory in November and proved to be the difference…
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Imran Awan, a congressional aide arrested by the FBI after wiring $300,000 to Pakistan and misrepresenting the purpose, had previously wired money to the country and was frantically liquidating multiple real estate properties on the day he was arrested, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned. Imran’s real estate properties provide a source of…
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State Rep. Bill Sanderson, chairman of the House State Government Subcommittee passionately opposed a 2013 bill intended to quantify how much state revenue was forcibly being diverted by the federal government to pay for its refugee resettlement program. First elected to the General Assembly in 2011, Sanderson voted for the gas tax this year. Last week, gubernatorial candidate Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) announced that she is supporting Sanderson’s bid to continue representing voters in his district at an event held in Kenton, Tennessee. After Governor Bredesen, a Democrat, had withdrawn Tennessee from the federal program in 2008, the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement chose Catholic Charities of Tennessee (CCTN) to continue the resettlement program for the state. The federal government also continued to rely on state revenue to support refugees resettled by the federal contractors in Tennessee. Testimony provided during debate on the 2013 bill cited a seventy-five percent increase in refugee arriving to Tennessee since CCTN took over the program even though the number of refugees arriving to the U.S. were declining. The bill still received enough votes to go to the full committee even with Sanderson abstaining from voting. In the full committee Sanderson spoke extensively against the bill after…
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Tennessee K-12 public schools ranked among the worst in the nation in a study published Monday by WalletHub.com. Tennessee schools ranked 42 overall out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. WalletHub analysts evaluated schools using 21 metrics across two key areas, quality and safety. Tennessee ranked 35 in quality and 49 in safety. For quality, analysts reviewed math and reading test scores, SAT and ACT scores, pupil-teacher ratios, high school graduation rates among low-income students, dropout rates, and other factors. The safety category included a look at disciplinary and bullying rates, as well as the number of high school students reporting they had access to illegal drugs on campus or were threatened or injured with a weapon on campus. Other factors considered in the safety category included the number of high school students reporting they had been involved in a physical fight on campus, or did not attend school because they felt unsafe on campus or going to and from school. The states with the best schools, starting at the top, were Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Vermont. Those at the very bottom, starting with the lowest, were Louisiana, New Mexico, West Virginia, District of…
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by ConservativeHQ.com Staff The appointment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as White House Chief of Staff has opened a new, and dangerous, search for a Secretary of Homeland Security. Prior to the nomination and confirmation of General John Kelly as DHS Secretary no one campaigned harder for the job than did the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Representative Mike McCaul of Texas. Our view then, and now, is that McCaul would be a disaster as Secretary of Homeland Security. Not only is McCaul soft on illegal aliens and amnesty, but he has demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the threat that Muslim terrorism and Islamism present to the American homeland and more importantly to constitutional liberty. As the President and his team consider names for this vital position it should never be forgotten that Rep. McCaul was a vital member of the team that implemented Obama’s failed “Countering Violent Extremism” counter terrorism doctrine. At the time McCaul and Obama were promoting the canard that there is a universal element of “violent extremism” that must be countered we asked the question: Who are these “violent extremists” who need to be countered? Are…
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Every candidate tries to find an open lane in a crowded primary, but The Tennessee Star tipline yielded this recent photo of an appearance by Wilson County Commissioner Dan Walker at a gathering of the Wilson County Conservatives that seems to suggest he’s decided the “Never Trump” lane is wide open in his race against State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) and Jeremy Hayes in the 2018 Republican primary for the 57th District in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Appearing at an event this Saturday hosted by State Rep. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) just one day after Senator John McCain (R-AZ) tanked the “skinny” Obamacare repeal his fellow Republicans fully expected him to support, Walker showed up wearing a 2008 McCain-Palin shirt. Subtle? Nope. Accidental? Absolutely Not. One attendee said: “It was intended to give the ‘finger’ to Trump and his supporters.” Message received! The Star would be delighted to publish Mr. Walker’s explanation for his sartorial selection on Saturday.
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Controversial former evangelical pastor Rob Bell recently wrapped up his “Bible Belt Tour,” which included two stops in Tennessee. Bell, whose teachings are considered heretical by conservative Christians, made appearances earlier this month in Knoxville and Memphis. “If evangelicals had a black list, Rob Bell would be on it,” wrote Megan Briggs in a review of Bell’s latest book, What Is the Bible?, for ChurchLeaders.com. Bell, 46, was once a rising star in evangelical circles as the pastor of a megachurch he founded in his native Michigan. But he eventually left the church as he began gravitating toward a far less orthodox belief system. Today Bell lives in Los Angeles and continues to promote himself as a spiritual leader, but his views are now more in line with those of Oprah Winfrey, with whom he toured the country in 2014. In his 2011 book Love Wins, Bell raised eyebrows by questioning the existence of hell and promoting a more inclusive form of Christianity. In What Is the Bible?, he concludes the Bible was inspired more by humans than by God and is not infallible. “According to Bell, Jesus came to earth to put a human face to the words of Scripture,…
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Sam Shepard, paragon playwright of the American West, was born to roam. With a father who was an Army officer and sometime farmer and a mother who was a teacher, Shepard — born in 1943, the oldest of three — spent his childhood bouncing around the heartland. This would later inform his writing, which often explored…
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A small group of protesters stood outside a detention facility in West Tennessee on Saturday to voice their anger about immigration officials carrying out deportation orders. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been stepping up enforcement in Shelby County as part of an effort to carry out final orders of removal. Officials are targeting those with criminal histories and suspected gang ties. A Facebook page promoting the protest featured a photo of a button reading “Chinga la migra,” which means “F*** the border patrol.” A Memphis group called Comunidades Unidas en Una Voz (Communities United in One Voice) was involved in organizing the protest. Yuleiny Escobar, who was with the group Saturday at the detention center in Mason in Tipton County, told WMC Action News 5 that people in the immigrant community are “terrified.” “We’re here to show our loved ones inside that we are also resisting outside,” she said. On her Facebook page Monday morning, Escobar said illegal immigrants detained at the facility are being mistreated. “They are starving them and breaking them inside those walls,” Escobar wrote, though without providing any details to support her assertion. Protester Joe Murphy said Saturday, “I don’t believe in treating people the way they are being treated.…
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WASHINGTON, July 31, 2017 – In liberal economist Paul Krugman’s New York Times column (July 31, 2017), he asked “Who ate the Republicans brains?’ After reading the column, most readers will likely ask, “Who ate Paul Krugman’s brain?” Krugman has a very intelligent brain. Referring to the Senate’s inability to pass an Obamacare repeal bill, Krugman…
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Dear Tennessee Star, Watching congress over the last several months I was greatly encouraged by Republicans expressing various ideas about dealing with a number of issues, including healthcare. I listened and read about multiple “factions” offering opinions and ideas. I contrasted it with the Democratic “monolith” – unyielding and solid, with no tolerance for any Democrat offering any idea or working with the Republicans in any way, shape, or form. I was unimpressed by the docile acquiescence of Democratic Congressional and Senate members who tolerated, and in some cases celebrated, this “non-involvement” in the legislative process. I was buoyed by the raucous Republican debate, democracy in action, in spite of the consistently negative spin generated by the media. I failed to consider that several Republican members would betray us and be so foolish and blind about what was happening, and are now responsible for the failure to yield to the will of the people who elected them – believing the promises they made. They may as well have been Democrats. However, it has become clear we have several Republican Senators who either don’t understand the range of devastation suffered by Americans with the heavy-handed Obamacare debacle, or don’t realize the…
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Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan (R-TN-02) announced on Monday that he will not run for re-election to the United States House of Representatives in 2018. The news surprised many East Tennesseans who have been represented by a member of the Duncan family for more than 50 years. Duncan’s father, John J. Duncan Sr., served the area in Congress from 1965 to 1988, when he died of cancer. He was succeeded by his son “Jimmy” who won a special election that same year and has held the seat ever since. Duncan has been a consistently conservative voice throughout his tenure in Washington, routinely receiving high scorecard ratings from the Heritage Foundation. He is also known for his independence. “It has been a very special privilege to represent the people of the Second District in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, I will not be running for re-election in 2018,” Duncan said in a statement released to WBIR and other media outlets on Monday. “Also, because of the recent attacks against me from the far left, my support among the conservative Republican base has never been more enthusiastic. I am grateful for their kind expressions of support, however, now is the…
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VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing August 1, Tuesday Acts 20:28-30 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 2 Corinthians 11:13-14 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
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