Day: December 20, 2017

Diane Black Praises Passage of ‘Monumental Tax Reform for the American People’

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Gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Diane Black’s (R-TN-06) ‘day job’ as the House Budget Committee Chair has put her in the center of President Trump’s successful bid to pass meaningful tax reform for the first time in more than 30 years. Black appeared on Fox News’ Outnumbered Tuesday to cheer the effort, releasing this statement: Diane Black joined Harris Faulkner on Fox News yesterday to talk about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which lowers taxes for job creators and American families across all income levels. “We’re going to pass a monumental tax reform for the American people…The American people are going to be the ones to be the judge at the end of the day. The proof is in the pudding, and the pudding will be this upcoming year when we see the economy growing and more money in people’s pockets.” Fox News Insider also covered Representative Black appearance on the popular afternoon news show: Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) is confident that the Senate will pass the Republican tax bill, and President Trump will be able to sign it into law and give the American people a “big Christmas present.” “We’re going to pass a monumental tax reform for the American people,”…

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New Poll: Bob Corker’s Favorability Rating Crashes to Record-Low 22 Percent Among Tennessee Republicans

Tennessee Star Staff

Senator Bob Corker’s (R-TN) favorability rating has sunk to a record-low 22 percent among Tennessee Republicans, according to a new poll released by The Tennessee Star on Wednesday. A full 60 percent of Tennessee Republicans have an unfavorable view of the retiring junior senator. Corker’s record-low unfavorability rating among Tennessee Republicans stands in stark contrast to President Trump’s favorability rating, which remains sky high at 84 percent among Tennessee Republicans, according to the same poll. The poll of 1,028 Tennessee Republican likely primary voters was conducted for The Tennessee Star by Triton Research between December 12 and December 18 using IVR technology (automated phone response), and has a 3.1 percent margin of error. “These numbers are not really surprising, based on his consistent attacks on President Trump and obstructionist approach to issues that Tennessee voters overwhelmingly support,” Andy Ogles former State Director of Americans for Prosperity, tells The Tennessee Star, adding: Senator Corker figured out that we had figured him out and when he saw similar poll numbers earlier this year so he chose not to try to face Tennessee voters with his pro-Obama, pro-Establishment track record. Once he had a serious opponent for his seat he realized he was going…

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SHOCKER: GOP’s Mark Pody Barely Avoids Upset in Narrow Victory Over Democrat in State Senate Special Election

Tennessee Star Staff

In a shockingly close election, Republican State Rep. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) narrowly defeated Democratic candidate Mary Alice Carfi in the 17th State Senate District’s special election by a mere 308 votes on Tuesday, 5,990 to 5,682, in unofficial results obtained by The Tennessee Star. Barring a recall challenge from Carfi, Pody will take over the State Senate seat left by former State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), who resigned in August to devote full time to her campaign for governor, and be seated in the Tennessee State Senate when the Tennessee General Assembly reconvenes in January. The surprisingly narrow margin of victory for Pody, 51 percent to 49 percent, was dramatically lower than the last time the State Senate seat was contested in 2010, when Beavers easily won by a 24 percent margin. When Beavers ran for re-election in 2014, the Democrats did not field a candidate. The slim margin of victory for Pody was even more surprising, given that the Democratic candidate spent very little money on her campaign, focusing instead on get-out-the-vote efforts, sources tell The Star. A county-by-county analysis of the vote total, as seen here on the tally board at Pody election headquarters on Tuesday night,…

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Smith County, Tennessee Launches Lawsuit Against Prescription Opioid Manufacturers

Tim Dukeman

Smith County filed a lawsuit Tuesday against prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors. The lawsuit is an effort to recover taxpayer money spent to fight the opioid epidemic and defray costs to the Smith County community. Mark P. Chalos, of the national plaintiffs’ law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, made the announcement on behalf of the county. The lawsuit alleges that the prescription opioid manufacturers violated the law by heralding opioids as safe and medically necessary, despite them being extremely addictive. Further, Smith County charges the manufacturers with concealing the true risks of these jobs, to the detriment of Smith County’s government and its residents. As Business Wire reported: The complaint states that these defendants also conspired to manufacture and distribute millions of doses of highly addictive opioids, knowing that they were being trafficked and used for illicit purposes, and recklessly disregarded their devastating effect on the taxpayers and government of Smith County. As a result of the conspiracy, Smith County taxpayers have spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight the opioid crisis and deal with its effects on their community. “What we have seen throughout our region is millions of pills being sold in communities where there aren’t millions of people.…

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Senate Passes President Trump’s Tax Cut Bill, Which Goes Back to the House for a ‘Do-Over’

Tennessee Star Staff

The Senate passed President Trump’s Tax Cut and Job Acts late Tuesday evening in a straight party line vote, 51 to 48. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is back home in Arizona in the midst of treatments for cancer, was the only member of the Senate who did not vote. “Republicans advanced to the one-yard line to pass historic tax reform as the Senate passed the final Tax Cut and Jobs Act on Tuesday, sending the bill to the House for final passage. President Donald Trump hopes to sign the bill before Christmas,” Breitbart News reported at 12:47 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday, adding: The Senate passed the final the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 51-48, along partisan lines. Fifty-one Republicans voted in favor the bill, while zero Democrats voted for the tax reform legislation. Vice President Mike Pence presided over the vote as the president of the Senate. The House passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act earlier on Tuesday. However, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that three provisions violated the Senate’s Byrd rule for reconciliation bills, so the House will have to vote on the tax reform legislation again on Wednesday. President Trump has invited Republican leaders from the…

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Commentary: CFPB Whistleblower Exposes Agency’s Extortion Practices

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By Printus LeBlanc   The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been in the news a lot lately, mostly because the former head of the agency Richard Cordray stepped down. However, before stepping down, Cordray believed he had the right to pick his own successor and chose Leandra English. The President disagreed and has appointed Mick Mulvaney to rein in the out of control agency. There is currently a legal battle brewing over who is in charge with a federal judge ruling Mulvaney is acting director. The CFPB was authorized in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It was created as a result of the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The unconstitutional agency has jurisdiction over banks, credit unions, securities firms, payday lenders, and other financial companies in the U.S. The agency is considered “off-budget” and therefore does not answer to Congress. The agency gets its funding directly from the Federal Reserve System. The only requirement of the CFPB is to appear and report twice annually before the House Financial Services and Senate Banking committees. Why is this agency so important to liberal progressives? English went judge shopping across the country to stop Mulvaney from being appointed to head the…

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‘Save Our Fairground’ Lawsuit to Stop Soccer Stadium Construction Dismissed

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Chancery Court Judge Ellen Lyle agreed with the City of Nashville’s Motion to dismiss a lawsuit over the city’s plans for a Major League Soccer stadium at The Fairgrounds Nashville. The decision cleared the way for the professional soccer league to decide if, indeed, Nashville is to be included in its planned two-team expansion. The ruling comes as Save Our Fairground – represented by local attorney James Roberts – filed a lawsuit in late November arguing Metro Nashville’s plans to develop a professional soccer stadium and surrounding amenities would put in jeopardy the land’s original use, as defined in the city charter as modified by referendum in 2011. Metro Nashville lawyers answered with a motion to dismiss, saying the claims made by Roberts were either premature or did not have standing because even if the claims were true, they did not meet the standards requiring legal review. In a 10-page decision (see below), Judge Lyle agreed with the city, writing: After studying Tennessee law and the Amended Complaint of the Plaintiffs, and considering oral argument of the attorneys for each side, the court concludes Metro is correct. This lawsuit must be dismissed. “This decision affirms what we’ve known all along:…

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Opponents Fighting Obamacare Deal to Force Tax-Paid Abortions

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Anti-abortion activists are mobilizing against an emerging congressional compromise on that they contend could allow hundreds of thousands of taxpayer-funded abortions. At issue is a program under the Affordable Care Act meant to help customers with incomes below 250 percent of the poverty line pay deductibles and other out-of-pocket health care expenses. It has been in legal limbo since a federal judge ruled last year that Congress never authorized the so-called cost-sharing reduction payments. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) have been working on legislation to codify those payments.

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New Tennessee Star Poll: President Trump’s Favorability Rating Remains Sky High Among Tennessee Republicans

Tennessee Star Staff
President Trump rally

President Trump’s favorability rating remains sky high among Tennessee Republicans, according to a new poll released by The Tennessee Star on Wednesday. A stunning 84 percent of Tennessee Republicans who are likely primary voters have a favorable view of President Trump, as opposed to just ten percent who have an unfavorable view according to the poll, which was conducted for The Tennessee Star by Triton Research. The poll of 1,028 Tennessee Republican likely primary voters was conducted between December 12 and December 18 using IVR technology (automated phone response), and has a 3.1 percent margin of error. The latest poll results measuring support for President Trump among Tennessee Republicans are virtually unchanged from the results of the June 2017 Tennessee Star Poll, which showed that President Trump had an 86 percent job approval rating with voters in his own party. “Donald Trump is popular with Tennessee Republicans because he promised a conservative agenda and is delivering on it. There is a message here to the Republican Party. Conservatism is not a punch line for a speech. It is what we expect from our leaders,” Judson Phillips, a Tennessee attorney and founder of Tea Party Nation, tells The Tennessee Star. “Sky-high…

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