Day: April 19, 2018

Challenger Aaron Shane Says Incumbent State Rep. Susan Lynn’s Support of TNReady Testing Process Shows She Is Out of Touch

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As State education officials continue to struggle with the failure of the online standardized testing system as part of the TNReady assessment of student progress, Aaron Shane is calling out State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) for failing to have taken action to address the problems. Shane is opposing Lynn the GOP Primary in the 57th District, which encompasses the western half of Wilson County. “The state has poured tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into the failed online testing programs,” Shane pointed out. “Graduating Seniors this year have never had the standardized testing work properly in their entire high school career. That is inexcusable. What is more inexcusable is that the Tennessee Department of Education bureaucrats have failed to fix the problem over the past half decade. “I have have had many parents and teachers share their concerns about Susan Lynn’s support for TNReady. One parent, who called her office, was told that TNReady was “not one of her concerns.” When an elected representative’s office tells a parent that the education of their children is “not her concern” it is time for us to elect a representative who will put our children first” Shane said. Shane went on to point…

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President Trump Endorses Rep Marsha Blackburn for US Senate

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Trump endorses Blackburn

President Trump endorsed Representative Marsha Blackburn in her bid to replace retiring junior Senator Bob Corker Thursday via Twitter. Unusually, Mr. Trump used a feature of the microblogging site to make sure that all of Rep Blackburn’s followers would see the message by adding a period directly in front of her Twitter username, ‘@MarshaBlackburn.’ In his tweet, the president wrote Blackburn “is a wonderful woman who has always been there when we have needed her.” He continued, “Great on the Military, Border Security and Crime. Loves and works hard for the people of Tennessee. She has my full endorsement and I will be there to campaign with her!” Blackburn is the sole Republican in the running for the nomination – as is her rival, former Nashville Mayor and Governor Phil Bredesen. .@MarshaBlackburn is a wonderful woman who has always been there when we have needed her. Great on the Military, Border Security and Crime. Loves and works hard for the people of Tennessee. She has my full endorsement and I will be there to campaign with her! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 19, 2018 The Washington Times notes that although President Trump’s endorsement is no surprise, it “could prove a shot…

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Tennessee House Votes to De-Fund Memphis ‘Bicentennial Celebration’ After the Midnight Statue Removal Debacle

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Using ‘the power of the purse,’ the Tennessee House of Representatives passed an amendment by a vote of 56-31 Tuesday to de-fund Memphis’ bicentennial celebration by $250,000 as a consequence to the overnight removal of two Confederate monuments in late 2017. “If you recall, back in December, Memphis did something that removed historical markers in the city,” Tennessee Republican Rep. Steve McDaniel said from the House floor. “It was the city of Memphis that did this, and it was full knowing it was not the will of the legislature.” Memphis Mayor and City Council schemed to sell the land containing the parks and statues of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest on very favorable terms to a nonprofit which then took them down. As The Tennessee Star reported: Confederate monuments on what was until recently city property were taken down in Memphis after the sun set on Wednesday with little advance public discussion of the propriety of the actions taken secretively to circumvent state law. Whether the actions of the Memphis City Council and Mayor Jim Strickland that caused these stealth take downs of Confederate monuments Wednesday legally circumvent state law, or are in fact a brazen violation of state law, is a matter…

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Gas Can Man Headed to Murfreesboro Friday Morning to Protest Gas Tax Increase and Dish Out Free Gas

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One hundred early morning drivers in Murfreesboro will get up to $25 towards a fill up in free gas thanks to Gas Can Man this Friday. The $25 represents about a month’s worth of the fuel taxes the average Tennessee driver is paying thanks to the gas tax increase passed by the legislature last year. Gas Can Man will promote the need to oppose higher federal gas taxes and repeal the gas tax increase that Tennessee imposed last year. Gas Can Man is part of the Energize America Coalition that has done over 50 similar events across the country in the last few years. The first 100 drivers at 7:30 am Friday morning in Murfreesboro will get up to $25 towards a fill up! To find out exactly where the gasoline giveaway will take place, tune into SuperTalk 99.7 WTN at 7:05 am Friday morning or go to Gas Can Man on Facebook to find the location. Tennessee Star readers will also find the location posted promptly at 7:05 am on Friday on the Facebook page for The Tennessee Star. Governor Bill Haslam and the Tennessee legislature permanently raised fuel taxes by over $300 million a year, despite Tennessee having…

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State Senator Mark Green Earns the Endorsement of Lt. Governor Randy McNally in His Bid for Congress

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Speaker of the State Senate and Lt. Governor Randy McNally announced his endorsement of State Senator Mark Green’s campaign for Congress Wednesday. “I congratulate Senator Mark Green on becoming the Republican nominee for Congress in District 7,” McNally said in a statement, adding: Senator Green has worked hard for his constituents, passed excellent legislation and served the Senate Republican Caucus extremely well. I appreciate all his contributions to the success of our state and I look forward his service in Washington. The campaign notes Lt. Governor McNally joins conservatives across Tennessee in endorsing Dr. Green’s campaign for Congress, and that he has been endorsed by 100 grassroots conservative leaders in the state, 20 mayors in the district, and over 60 members of the General Assembly serve on Green’s finance committee. “It’s an honor to receive Lt. Governor McNally’s endorsement. His steady leadership has been critical to Tennessee’s many successes over the last few decades. I look forward to going to Washington to return power back to our state,” Green said. While in the State Senate, Green is working to pass several pieces of legislation including an anti-sanctuary cities measure to close certain loopholes in the current law, as well as legislation that would prohibit…

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Obama Interior Secretaries Spent More Than Ryan Zinke on Chartered Flights

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Ryan Zinke

by Kevin Mooney   Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has spent far fewer taxpayer dollars on chartered flights than his two predecessors in the Obama administration, public records show. The Daily Signal’s examination of travel records found that on average Zinke’s two predecessors spent more annually on such noncommercial flights, despite media reports critical of Zinke’s spending on travel. The cost of such chartered flights for Zinke totaled $72,849 in his first six months as interior secretary, the travel records show. The average annual cost of such flights for his two predecessors in the Obama administration, Ken Salazar and Sally Jewell, from fiscal years 2010 to 2016 was $155,515, according to records provided by the Interior Department to the House Natural Resources Committee. Salazar and Jewell spent just over $1 million on chartered flights over the seven years, the records show. Taxpayers were billed for more than $640,000 for Salazar’s chartered flights in fiscal years 2010, 2011, and 2012. Recent media reports, however, have taken critical looks at Zinke’s travel costs. The Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General released a report Monday on Zinke’s use of chartered and military aircraft between March and September 2017, the span of fiscal year 2017 when he was interior secretary. The report came…

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Republicans Call for Justice Department Investigation Into Comey, Clinton, Others

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by Robert Donachie   A group of House Republicans are calling for the Department of Justice to investigate a laundry list of former agency heads and people involved in the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server. The letter is addressed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah John Huber. It asks that each of these men use their respective powers to investigate “potential violation(s) of federal statues” on the part of Clinton and of former FBI Director James Comey, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, FBI agent Peter Strzok, and FBI counsel Lisa Page. The representatives include members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus—including Rep. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Dave Brat of Virginia, and Paul Gosar of Arizona—and other GOP House members, like Claudia Tenney of New York. “Those in positions of high authority should be treated the same as every other American” and because of that the members want to be sure that any “potential violations of law” be “vetted appropriately,” the group of Republican lawmakers wrote. “In doing so, we are especially mindful of the dissimilar degree of zealousness that has marked the…

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Tax Reform 2.0 Is About Creating Culture of Ongoing Reforms, Ways and Means Chairman Says

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by Rachel del Guidice   House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, says he wants tax reform 2.0 to be about creating a culture of reform so that the country does not regress and wait decades to further streamline the tax code. “I want to change the culture in Washington,” Brady said Wednesday during a speech on the future of tax reform at The Heritage Foundation. “Tax reform 2.0 is really about tax reform and improvement every year, just like the continuous improvement our businesses undertake,” he said, adding: It’s important for Congress every year to be looking at … how do we make America and our businesses more competitive, how do we make them more innovative, how do we become more family-friendly in our tax code, how do we become better as a nation?  The Ways and Means chairman said he wants Congress and the administration to explore reforms and policies where families can save earlier and more efficiently for education, retirement, and health care, and encourage innovation that builds on the reform Congress passed in December. The last time the tax code was updated was in 1986 with President Ronald Reagan’s Tax Reform Act. “We are never going to let…

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Commentary: The ‘It’ City Failed by Rail

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by Andy Martin   Nashville is the IT city. This could change quickly. Nashville faces a referendum for staggeringly high tax increases on May 1. We will vote to increase or leave as is, the local option sales and use tax, hotel occupancy tax, business tax, and local rental car tax. This in a state that The Atlantic already calls the Most Regressive Tax System in America. Add to the tax increases hefty federal grants the city is chumming for, and it comes to $8.95 billion in total future costs. For what? To build and operate light rail, a massive tunnel (much like Boston’s “Big Dig”), bus rapid transit, and related projects. For scale, our entire city budget is only $2.2 billion. 81% of the $5.4 billion (current costs) go to light-rail and the tunnel. The story within a story goes like this: Tax hungry municipal legislators run out of ideas to raise money. Taxpayers have already been promised better schools, safer streets, convention centers, arenas, affordable housing, etc. Eventually legislators run out of excuses (the sugar to make the medicine go down) to raise taxes. But, raise taxes they must, because they’ve resisted the urge to control spending. Moody’s…

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Football Coaching Legend Steve Spurrier Announced as the First Coach in the New Alliance of American Football League

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Set to debut next February, the highly anticipated Alliance of American Football (AAF) – a reboot of the XFL – announced on “CBS This Morning: Saturday” that college football Hall of Famer Steve Spurrier set to coach in the first game, which will be hosted by Orlando. AAF co-founder Charlie Ebersol, former NFL wide receiver Hines Ward, who is serving as an executive of player relations, and Spurrier himself joined “CBS This Morning: Saturday” to discuss the new league, which will kick off just one week after next year’s Super Bowl: What was it that drew you back into football? 🏈 "The new rules I really liked. Two and a half hour games, 30 seconds in between plays and the fans want to see that… In life, we all need a challenge." — @SteveSpurrierUF https://t.co/ifaKuSs0Ix pic.twitter.com/67XYgV0h8h — CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) April 7, 2018 CBSSports.com reported: The games will be available to stream on a free app, on CBS and CBS Sports Network. Teams in eight different cities will play a 10-game season. CBS will air the league’s debut game on Feb. 9, 2019, one week after Super Bowl LIII on CBS. The network will also carry the Alliance of American Football’s championship game on the final…

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Commentary: Three Simple Transit Alternatives That Could Derail $ 9 Billion Plan on May 1 Ballot

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nighttime traffic

by Michael Catanach   Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry unveiled a multi-billion-dollar transit plan in 2017; the proposal included an underground commuter tunnel, a light rail, as well as expanded bus services. The $9 billion infrastructure project would make Nashville one of the highest taxed cities in the country (an additional $50 more a month per a family) if passed on May 1. The estimated time of completion for the project lists 2032, while the first light rail would begin limited services around 2026. By the time Middle Tennesseans could benefit from the mass transit, several other innovations may be more efficient. Ride-Share Services On-demand services have become increasingly popular since debuting in 2009. Both Lyft and Uber provide an alternative for commuters at a low cost. The platform expanded it services to UberPOOL and Lyft Line, which allows multiple people to carpool at a time. Other U.S. cities have adopted a public-private service following a similar model to ride-share with vans after rejecting a similar mass transit tax proposal. Autonomous The National Highway and Safety Administration predicts that self-driving vehicles are expected to be fully automatic by 2025, years ahead of the light rail. LINDAR technologies uses sensors to detect…

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JC Bowman Commentary: Special Education Teachers Are Also Special

JC Bowman

It is becoming tough to keep special education teachers in the field beyond two or three years.  We already have a shortage and it is likely to get worse in the future.  Teaching is demanding enough, but special education teachers must cope with even more challenges.  Professional learning is rarely aligned to special education teachers’ needs. Special education teachers face more parental interaction, longer hours, potential lawsuits, additional paperwork, while their students need more attention.  The slogan “work more, same pay” is not exactly a great selling point in teacher recruitment.  The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, requires that every student have what’s known as an IEP — Individualized Education Program.  The IEP involves hours and hours of filling out forms and writing reports documenting each student’s progress.  Recently the Tennessee State Board of Education, in the name of greater transparency, has proposed a rule that may actually create more problems for Special Education Teachers.  The Proposed Rule: The LEA must notify the parents of a child with a disability at least ten (10) days before an IEP meeting to ensure that a parent will have an opportunity to attend. A meeting conducted pursuant to 34 C.F.R.…

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Leftist Legislators and TIRRC Want Criminal Aliens in Tennessee Shielded From Deportation

Chris Alto
Jason Powell

Leftist legislators and the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) have doggedly tried to stop the anti-sanctuary city bill from moving forward in the legislative process. To date, however, amendments designed to gut or undermine the bill’s objectives have been defeated and misleading arguments offered by opponents have been rejected. Local jurisdictions that declare themselves as “sanctuary cities” do not cooperate with federal immigration officials and instead, put protecting criminal aliens from deportation over and above the interests and welfare of citizens and legally admitted immigrants. The bill sponsored by Sen. Mark Green and Rep. Jay Reedy has continued to add co-sponsors in the Senate along with sixty-six House members that have added their names in support. During the last House State Government Committee, Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville) introduced an amendment authored by Nathan Ridley, the lawyer-lobbyist that represents TIRRC. Powell deferred to Ridley and TIRRC’s policy director Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus to explain the amendment to committee members. After considerable debate about Powell’s amendment mostly between Ridley and Reps. Willam Lamberth (R-Cottontown) and Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport), both of whom have prior law enforcement experience, Lamberth summed it up: [Powell’s] amendment appears to gut this bill and will provide for local governments…

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