Day: January 27, 2018

Legislators Raise the Stakes for Illegal Aliens in Tennessee

Chris Alto

During Tennessee’s 2017 legislative session, Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-Collierville) and freshman Representative Ron Gant (R-Rossville), sponsored a bill that allows judges to “enhance,” or increase the usual sentence for a criminal conviction when the person is also an illegal alien. The bill was passed 28 -3 in the Senate with Democrats Thelma Harper (D-Nashville) and Reginald Tate (D-Memphis) voting in support of the measure. On the House side, the bill passed 66 – 17 with Republican Mark White (R-Memphis) registering as “present and not voting.” Since 2015, White has sponsored multiple bills aimed at granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens. With the passage of the Norris/Gant bill, Tennessee law now states that: If appropriate for the offense and if not already an essential element of the offense, the court shall consider, but is not bound by, the following advisory factors in determining whether to enhance a defendant’s sentence: (28)  At the time the instant offense was committed, the defendant was illegally or unlawfully in the United States. Sentencing enhancements are discretionary so there is no guarantee that judges in Tennessee will apply the new law.  

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Democratic Governors to Sue Trump Administration over Tax Plan Eliminating State and Local Tax Deduction

Tennessee Star Staff
Cuomo

Democratic governors in three blue states announced Friday that they’re planning to sue President Trump over the tax plan passed late last year for the elimination of the state and local tax deduction. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said the bill was a “fundamental violation of states’ rights” in a conference call, according to USA Today. Govs. Dannel Malloy of Connecticut and Phil Murphy of New Jersey, both of who plan to join Mr. Cuomo as a “coalition,” were also on the call.

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Commentary: Senator Grassley Unloads on the FBI and DOJ, Demands to #ReleaseTheMemo

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by CHQ Staff   Senator Charles Grassley, Chairman of the Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary, claims that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice are actively obstructing his investigation of Obama-era abuses of power. Grassley has demanded that the House Intelligence Committee release its report, which he says the Senate cannot review pre-release, and also the underlying FBI and DOJ documents, with necessary redactions to protect national security. The Federalist’s Sean Davis reports Grassley is outraged that the FBI is using false classification assertions to prevent his office from releasing certain pertinent information to the public, including one piece of information which the FBI says the Senate cannot release that the Deputy Attorney General himself repeatedly shared with Senator Grassley “in unsecure space and on an unsecure phone line.” Davis tweeted: Grassley just leveled both barrels at the dossier operation: “Steele, who was working for Fusion GPS, who was working for the DNC and the Clinton campaign, was working with the Russians. So, who was actually colluding with Russians? It’s becoming more clear.” In the meantime, the Democrats are not letting House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes dominate the narrative on the bombshell revelations contained in a soon-to-be…

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Senate Democrats Holding Up Trump Nominees for Top Jobs

Tennessee Star Staff

Despite a change in how the Senate votes on presidential nominees, a large number of President Donald Trump’s key nominees are stuck in legislative limbo, blocked by tactics that mostly Democratic senators are employing. The White House says there are currently 262 pending nominations held in the Senate. At the Department of Labor, Secretary Alex Acosta has a solicitor and several other Senate-confirmed aides, according to Bloomberg News. But Trump’s and Acosta’s pick for deputy secretary at the Labor Department, Pat Pizzella, could be held up until spring, Bloomberg reports. His nomination is opposed by liberal activist groups that say he has lobbied for lower wages in the past.

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Oprah Winfrey Rules Out 2020 Presidential Run

Tennessee Star Staff

The excitement of a run for the White House by media mogul Oprah Winfrey has come to an anticlimactic end. Winfrey tells InStyle magazine that running for president is not in her DNA. “It’s not something that interests me,” she said in an interview published Thursday. “I met with someone the other day who said that they would help me with a campaign. That’s not for me.”

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US Subsidiary of South Korea’s LG Will Increase Washing Machine Prices Due to US Tariffs

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The US subsidiary of South Korea’s LG Electronics warned retailers on Wednesday that it will raise prices of its washing machines following import duties imposed by the Trump administration this week. It was the first concrete reaction to the trade measures announced this week that have angered US trading partners. “As a result of the trade…

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Watch Maria Bartiromo Take A Sledge Hammer To Union Organizer’s Hatred Of Trump

Tennessee Star Staff

Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo got into a shouting match with a global union organizer after President Donald Trump’s speech in Davos, Switzerland, Friday. Peter Jennings, general secretary of UNI Global Union, argued that Trump has not been doing enough for workers because he is hampering regulations that union advocates pushed through during the previous administration.

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Businessman Bill Lee Launches His First TV Ad for Governor

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Williamson County businessman Bill Lee announced Friday he will launch his first television ad in his bid to win the Republican nomination for governor later. The sixty-second spot, titled “Why,” will begin appearing statewide starting today, Saturday, January 27th. Its emotional message is largely biographical, focusing on Lee’s personal journey leading to his decision to run for office. “We believe it is important that voters know Bill’s personal story and what shaped him,” said Chris Devaney, Bill Lee’s campaign manager. “This ad gives a real look at who Bill is.” The commercial opens with an early morning shot of a dewy pasture, blanketed in a thick fog. In the background is a hint of piano music. “I waved good-bye to Carol-Ann and my four-year-old and they rode off on horseback,” Bill Lee says, in voiceover. “I found my daughter, later, crying and alone. Then I found Carol-Ann,” he says. “Her horse had thrown her. She lived for three days.” The video fades from the pasture through black to show Lee, in an open-collar plaid shirt. “We cried, we mourned, we struggled. We prayed.” “We healed, we started laughing again,” he says, with the camera looking over his shoulder at his personal photo album of…

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