Day: January 30, 2018

Winning! Donald Trump Delivers Powerful State of the Union Address That Celebrates ‘A New American Moment’

Tennessee Star Staff

President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in a smooth and powerful delivery that focused on “a New American Moment.” “This is our New American Moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream,” the president said. Trump called for bipartisan support of his plan to secure the borders and reform immigration, which he called a compromise “down the middle” that consists of four pillars: 1. A 12 year path to citizenship for the 1.8 million illegal immigrants who came to the country as children. 2. Funding for a secure border wall. 3. And end to the immigration visa lottery. 4. An end to chain migration. “Americans are dreamers, too,” Trump said, to great applause. Throughout his one hour and 20 minute speech–one of the longest State of the Union addresses in history–Trump introduced and honored members of the audience who personified the American dream. A police officer and his wife who adopted the child of a woman addicted to opioids, a soldier who saved the life of his comrades, the parents of two young girls murdered by illegal immigrants, and the parents of the…

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No Evidence Public Meetings Were Held Before November Announcement Tyson Foods Chicken Processing Plant Coming to Gibson County

Chris Alto

Gibson County Mayor Tom Witherspoon has defended “as very open and transparent” the process that culminated in a November 20, 2017 announcement that Tyson Foods would be building a new chicken processing plant in Humboldt, a small city with about 8,300 residents in Gibson County. With regard to public meetings being held about the Tyson plant, Witherspoon, a Democrat who has endorsed Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, was asked in a Facebook exchange whether the “open meetings with the media were before or after the decision was made and was the public informed of the meetings ahead of time?” Witherspoon responded: Media was involved before, during and after. All public meetings were properly advertised, conducted and closed. He also stated that: I can assure you that many, many community leaders along with the media and public were involved in  multiple meetings. I don’t know anyone in Gibson County that wasn’t aware of Tysons coming weeks before the official announcement. (Editors’s Note: The Tennessee Star has screenshots of these Facebook exchanges.) On January 23, 2018, The Tennessee Star emailed the Gibson County Director of Economic Development asking for the specific dates of the public meetings, how they were advertised and where they were…

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Paul Gosar Calls On Capitol Police and Attorney General Jeff Sessions To Arrest Illegals At State of the Union Address Tonight

Tennessee Star Staff

GOP Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona asked U.S. Capitol Police and Attorney General Jeff Sessions if they would consider arresting illegal immigrants who are attending President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address Tuesday evening. “Today, Congressman Paul Gosar contacted the U.S. Capitol Police, as well as Attorney General Jeff Sessions, asking they consider checking…

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Mae Beavers Suspends Campaign for Governor

Tennessee Star Staff

Former State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) announced via Facebook at 4 p.m. today that she is suspending her campaign for the Republican nomination for governor. You can read her Facebook post here: Beavers’ rival for the Republican nomination, Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) issued a statement praising her minutes later. “While Mae and I don’t always agree on tactics, we have always agreed on philosophy, and I’ve always known her to be a dedicated conservative who fights for what she believes in,” Black said in a statement. “From our time in the state legislature fighting to protect the unborn and to stop a state income tax, we know the conservative movement is stronger when we are fighting for the same cause together. I wish Mae the best and hope that she will continue to be active in the fight in Tennessee,” Black concluded. Another GOP rival in the governor’s race, Williamson County businessman Bill Lee, praised Beavers in a tweet. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know @MaeBeavers and Jerry on the campaign trail over the past year. I look forward to seeing her steadfast conservative leadership be put to work in other ways in Tennessee in the months and years ahead,”…

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Obama Appointed Federal Judge Rules Illegals have Constitutional Right to ‘Say Goodbye’ to Family

Tennessee Star Staff

Illegal immigrants snared by deportation officers have “the freedom to say goodbye” to their families, a federal judge in New York ruled Monday, ordering the government to release a prominent activist to his family. Judge Katherine B. Forrest, an Obama appointee to the bench, said the government was following the law when it picked up Ravidath Lawrence Ragbir, the illegal immigrant. But she said there were “larger, more fundamental” rights at stake that were trampled on. 

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Gov. Haslam Delivers Final State of the State Address

Tennessee Star Staff
Bill Haslam

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Gov. Bill Haslam delivered his final “State of the State” address before a joint session of the Tennessee General Assembly on Monday evening. In a forty minute speech, Haslam recounted the highlights of his two terms as government, and called on state legislators to act on his recently announced plan to fight opioid addiction in the state. He received a standing ovation when he noted that his administration has cut $578 million in taxes. However, when he noted last year’s IMPROVE Act, which raised gasoline taxes by 6 cents per gallon and diesel taxes by 10 cents per gallon to fund highway construction, he received only lukewarm applause. His biggest standing ovation from the gathered state legislators came when he noted that the people of Tennessee want to work, and they want their government to work as well. Several legislators told The Tennessee Star that there were no surprises in the governor’s speech, and that it was more general in nature than his previous State of the State speeches. Predictably, Tennessee Democrats panned Haslam’s speech. “Sadly, the Governor’s paltry 25 million opioid plan represents a business-as-usual approach to the opioid crisis – our communities are facing a dire emergency…

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Americans More Satisfied with Military, Security, Economy Under Trump

Tennessee Star Staff

Americans reported substantially higher levels of satisfaction with the country’s military, security from terrorism and the state of the economy under President Donald Trump than they felt under former President Barack Obama a year ago, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. Roughly 78 percent of Americans felt satisfied with the military’s strength and preparedness, up…

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Does State Of The Union Address Indicate Bad News For Nashville Transit Funding?

Jason M. Reynolds

President Donald Trump is expected to announce in tonight’s State of the Union address $200 billion in federal funding for infrastructure and other projects. But one PAC that opposes Nashville’s transit plan says that is not necessarily good news for Mayor Megan Barry. Politico reports the president had promised a $1 trillion, 10-year blueprint to rebuild American roads, railroads, bridges and airports. State, local and private investors would have to cough up more money than normally would be the case under the president’s proposal. “Instead of the grand, New Deal-style public works program that Trump’s eye-popping price tag implies, Democratic lawmakers and mayors fear the plan would set up a vicious, zero-sum scramble for a relatively meager amount of federal cash — while forcing cities and states to scrounge up more of their own money, bringing a surge of privately financed toll roads, and shredding regulations in the name of building projects faster,” Politico says. The administration says $200 billion is not a large amount for such a plan but adds it would draw state, local and private funds. In addition to land transportation infrastructure, identified possible projects include rural broadband service, veterans hospitals and commercial spaceflight. The White House is…

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Attorney Gino Bulso Announces Bid to Replace Retiring State Representative Charles Sargent

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Real estate attorney Gino Bulso announced on Monday he is running for the Republican nomination to represent Tennessee State House District 61 in a bid to replace the retiring State Rep. Charles Sargent (R-Franklin). “I am running because I believe strong families are essential to the prosperity of our state and country,” Bulso said in a statement. “I have always had a passion for public service. I have always believed we find our greatest happiness and our greatest fulfillment in our families, but too often, our government passes laws and policies that weaken, rather than strengthen, the family. I want to be a voice for those who believe that the strength of our country ultimately depends principally upon the strength of our families,” Bulso added. The graduate of Cornell College (Iowa) and Emory University Law School said he is “a strong proponent for the sanctity of life and has worked consistently for the protection of unborn life,” and that he is “a proud supporter of the 2nd amendment and backs President Trump’s efforts to secure our border.” Bulso noted that dealing with Williamson County’s explosive growth is one of the key legislative areas he intends to address. “Most of us live in…

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George Rasley Commentary: Trump Immigration Plan – Making America Into California

Tennessee Star Staff

by George Rasley, ConservativeHQ.com Editor   President Trump’s recently released immigration framework is a disaster for America and for the prospects of conservative government for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that it sets millions of unassimilated foreigners on a path to citizenship and voting. Think California on steroids. About 6 in 10 illegal aliens in the United States live in one of 20 metro areas, with three regions in Southern California combining to make up the largest cluster of people living in the country illegally, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Pew, which has tracked the undocumented population for several years, pegs the total number of aliens in the United States illegally at about 11.1 million nationwide. In Southern California, about 1.4 million illegal aliens live between the southern Ventura County border and the U.S.-Mexico border — the biggest concentration of undocumented people in the country, according to reporting by Grace Wyler of the Orange County Register. Given those numbers, it should surprise no one that the formerly “Golden State” is now officially the poverty capital of America. California — not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia — has the highest poverty…

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Senate Candidate Marsha Blackburn Launches Radio Ads to Ask Listeners to ‘Stand for the Anthem’

Admin

Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) launched a radio ad campaign Thursday asking NFL and SuperBowl LII fans to “Stand for the Anthem.” The sixty-second spot, which reflects previous criticisms she has made of the so-called NFL-Kneelers, is set to air through Game Day, February 4th, the Columbia Daily Herald reports. The advertisement begins with an announcer in voiceover  – accompanied by a soaring musical score reminiscent of Aaron Copland’s ‘Rodeo’ – who says, “Veterans. They fought for our freedom and they deserve our respect. Every. Single. Day.” Next, the listener hears Blackburn saying, “I’m Marsha Blackburn. I stand for our veterans, the president and ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’” The announcer returns, saying, “Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee conservative.” In her own voice, Blackburn offers her argument and her request: “I think it is important that each of us take that three minutes and use that as a time to sing those words. You have freedom of speech, you have a right of peaceful protest. But during that three minutes – that belongs to people who have fought to defend the freedoms that we have.” The announcer returns, saying, “Marsha Blackburn, standing with our veterans.” Blackburn adds, “I’m Marsha Blackburn. I stand for our veterans, the president and ‘The Star Spangled Banner.’…

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Poll: Black Leads Dean by 11 in Gubernatorial General Election Matchup; Harwell, Boyd and Lee Also Lead Dean

Tennessee Star Staff

Tennessee Star Poll results released on Tuesday show that Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) leads Democratic front runner Karl Dean by 11 points in a head-to-head matchup in Tennessee’s general election for governor, 46 percent to 35 percent. Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) leads Dean by 10 points, 42 percent to 32 percent, and Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd leads Dean by 9 points, 43 percent to 34 percent. The two other potential Republican gubernatorial challengers fare less well. Williamson County businessman Bill Lee leads Dean by 4 points 38 percent to 34 percent, and former State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) is essentially tied with Dean, leading by two-tenths of one percent, 35.9 percent to 35.7 percent The automated (IVR) telephone survey of 1,003 likely Tennessee voters in the November 2018 general election was conducted for The Tennessee Star by Triton Research between January 21 and January 24 and has a 3.1 percent margin of error. “Because the poll included fewer African American respondents than the likely distribution in November 2018, I think it is safe to add about five percentage points to the results for Dean in each head to head matchup,” conservative political analyst and media consultant Steve Gill…

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