IT’S OFFICIAL: Carol Swain Launches Campaign for Mayor of Nashville

Carol Swain runs for Nashville Mayor'

Former Vanderbilt University professor Carol Swain announced late Monday afternoon she is a candidate for Mayor of Nashville in the upcoming special election to name a new mayor to serve the balance of former Mayor Megan Barry’s term, which ends in August 2019. In a statement, Swain said she “secured the necessary petition to become a candidate this morning, obtained more than the 25 signatures required to become an official candidate, and filed the petition this afternoon, which will qualify her to appear on the special election ballot.” That date is currently set for August 2, but the Tennessee Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a legal challenge next Monday that could set the election date earlier, either on May 1 or May 26. “The reason I’m running is that Nashville needs a choice between two different visions for the city. I believe the city is headed in the wrong direction, like many large cities headed by Democratic mayors,” Swain said in the statement, adding: “Nashville is currently following the ‘tax-and-spend’ prescription that has resulted in so many of our cities becoming wastelands of poverty, crime, failing schools, and high taxes,” Swain noted in announcing her plans to run…

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Carol Swain ‘Will Pick Up the Paperwork’ to Run for Mayor of Nashville Today

Former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain tells The Tennessee Star she is considering a run for Mayor of Nashville in the upcoming special election and will secure the necessary paperwork to start the process today. “On Monday, I will be downtown at Ladies Day on the Hill from 9::30-12: 30 pm. I will pick up the paperwork at 1:00 pm,” Swain says. Swain has until the filing deadline of Thursday at noon to obtain 25 signatures on the filing petition and submit it to Metro Nashville Davidson County government officials qualify for the ballot. The outspoken conservative tells The Star that she will make a final decision on her candidacy between now and Thursday morning as she gathers signatures. “Carol Swain has the consistent conservative credentials and the intellect to be a legitimate candidate for mayor, particularly since she does not fit the mold of a typical Republican candidate,” conservative political commentator and media consultant Steve Gill tells The Star. “She also has the credibility to oppose the transit tax increase since she opposed the gas tax increase that contains a provision which allowed Nashville to hold a vote on this transit issue,” Gill adds. On Saturday, Swain wrote in an…

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Richard Grant Commentary: We Can Do Better Than the Nashville Transit Plan

by Richard J Grant   The proposed Nashville mass transit plan is not exactly what we would call a “lean startup.” With an optimistically estimated cost of $9 billion to be spent over the next 15 years, the new transit plan makes the Metro Nashville 2018 budget of only $2.2 billion look lean by comparison. If the transit money were spent evenly over 15 years, that would be $600 million per year of additional spending, a 27% increase over the existing budget. The trouble with the transit plan is that the benefits are leaner than the costs. But it is worse than that. Those who pay for it, the majority, are not the same people who would really benefit, a tiny minority. And of that minority, the biggest beneficiaries would not even be passengers but rather those who would be paid to build, maintain, and rebuild the infrastructure and trains. The $9 billion is just the beginning: every few decades the whole system will have to be refurbished or replaced. We (and our children) will get to pay for it all over again, probably before we have paid off the debt for the first round of expenditures. The cost estimate…

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Carol Swain Commentary: Support Laura Ingraham and Boycott the Cowardly Boycotters

by Carol Swain   When it comes to Leftist politics, “The ends justify the means.” You knew it was going to eventually happen in the wake of the Feb. 14 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., which left 17 people dead. Especially when there are emotional, outspoken (and now exploited) teens involved, pretty much on cue, speaking out against the NRA, the Second Amendment, and conservative causes and politicians. By now, you know who and what I’m talking about. The who is David Hogg, 17, a senior at Stoneman Douglas and, apparently, the leader of a handful of activist students there that might be this generation’s Mod Squad. Mod Squad III? With any luck they will soon get their own TV show on CNN or MSNBC. This 2018 Mod Squad, comprised of Hogg et al, serves as leaders of the pack in the newfangled March for Our Lives movement. In the early going at least, March for Our Lives showed itself to be an admirable effort to campaign against school shootings/violence. Quickly, though, it has been remade into just another gadget to be tossed into the Liberal toolbox. The Florida school tragedy is catnip to the…

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Despite Ranking 7th and 8th in World’s Largest Economies, India and Brazil Are Included in the U.S.’s Free-Trade ‘General System of Preferences’ Program

By Robert Romano   The past month has seen President Donald Trump significantly toughening up the U.S. stance on trade, enacting a 25 percent tariff on steel and 10 percent on aluminum and then $60 billion worth of tariffs against China for intellectual property theft and steel dumping. The month was capped off by an announcement that South Korea had agreed to concessions reducing exports of steel to the U.S. and an increase in U.S.-made automobile imports. Just this past week, Congress tucked a renewal of the $21 billion a year General System of Preferences. The program “provide[s] opportunities for many of the world’s poorest countries to use trade to grow their economies…” according to the U.S. Trade Representative website. It does so by giving participating, poor countries a certain amount of duty-free imports to the U.S. Here’s the problem. In 2017, the top recipient was the seventh largest economy in the world, India, at $5.6 billion. The third top recipient was eighth largest economy, Brazil, at $2.5 billion. If these are two of the larger economies in the world, why do they still qualify for the General System of Preferences as being exclusive for the “world’s poorest countries”? The answer is they really shouldn’t.…

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Overregulation Imperils the Entrepreneurial Food Truck Revolution

by Joseph Sunde   As protestors continue to boldly decry “corporate greed” with little definition or discernment, progressive policymakers are just as quick to push a range of wage controls and market manipulations to mitigate the supposed vices of free and open exchange. The painful irony, of course, is that the victims of such policies are not the fat-cat cronyists at the top, but the scrappy challengers at the bottom. We’ve seen it with the recent embrace of the $15 minimum wage, which continues to cripple and dismantle small businesses wherever it’s found, from Seattle to Minneapolis to California to New York. But while the wars over wages tend to be the loudest and most prominent, we mustn’t forget the pains and misfortunes due to plain-old regulatory excess, subtle and unexciting though it may be. In the restaurant industry, for example, food trucks have posed a healthy challenge to the status quo, rattling entrenched corporate interests, diminishing barriers to entry, and expanding opportunities for aspiring restaurateurs of all backgrounds. But alas, such opportunities are beginning to disappear in many cities across the country, leaving many struggling beneath the weight of a growing pile of rules and regulations. In Food Truck Nation, a new study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation,…

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The Reason Why California’s Lawsuit Industry Wants You to Think Coffee Causes Cancer

by Walter Olson   A judge in Los Angeles ruled Wednesday that Starbuck’s, Peet’s, and many other retailers face potentially massive liability under California law for not warning consumers that naturally occurring substances in roasted coffee beans can cause cancer, at least in lab animals. Absurd? Outrageous? Yes. But the scorn and outrage should be directed not at the judge but at the law whose terms he was required to enforce – Proposition 65, adopted by state voters through the initiative process in 1986 – as well as the lawyer-swayed California political system that still, more than 30 years later, is unwilling to address the measure’s gross flaws. Almost everyone agrees that the over-proliferation of warnings makes it less likely that consumers will pay attention to real concerns.  Acrylamide is a naturally occurring substance formed when many foods are browned or otherwise subjected to high heat, including in many cases grilled burgers, fried chicken, bread, almonds, and potato chips. Like many other constituents of everyday life, it appears to cause cancer in some animals at high dosages. And that brings it under the terms of Prop 65, which has already led to a proliferation of warnings on and around thousands of common…

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Donald Trump Blasts California Governor Jerry Brown for Pardoning Criminal Illegal Aliens

Trump and Jerry Brown

President Trump blasted California Gov. Jerry Brown Saturday for pardoning five illegal immigrants who are facing possible deportation. “Governor Jerry ‘Moonbeam’ Brown pardoned 5 criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include (1) Kidnapping and Robbery (2) Badly beating wife and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize (3) Dealing drugs. Is this really what the great people of California want? @FoxNews,” Mr. Trump tweeted.

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GWU Offering ‘Christian Privilege’ Training For Students And Faculty

George Washington University is offering a free training session to students and faculty who want to learn about their “Christian privilege.” The session will teach students and faculty that Christians “receive unmerited perks from institutions and systems all across our country” and “experience life in an easier way than non-Christians,” according to the university website.

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Citing Tax Cuts, McDonald’s Serves Up Tuition Benefits for Employees

by Rachel del Guidice   Fast-food icon McDonald’s will supersize its 3-year-old education benefits program for hundreds of thousands of employees. McDonald’s Corp. will allocate $150 million over five years to its global Archways to Opportunity education program, tripling its reach, the restaurant giant announced Thursday. “This investment will provide almost 400,000 U.S. restaurant employees with accessibility to the program as the company will also lower eligibility requirements from nine months to 90 days of employment and drop weekly shift minimums from 20 hours to 15 hours.” McDonald’s is one of 472 companies, and counting, that have announced benefits such as pay raises, bonuses, utility rate cuts, or 401(k) hikes since Congress passed the tax cuts supported by President Donald Trump, according to Americans for Tax Reform. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution.  Find out more >> Among other changes, the Republican tax overhaul, which went into effect Jan. 1, reduced the federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. The Archways to Opportunity program gives eligible McDonald’s employees in the U.S. a path to obtain a high school diploma, acquire assistance for college tuition, learn English as a second language, and access education…

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Game On: Erica Gilmore’s Entry Into Special Election for Mayor of Nashville Means Front Runner David Briley Not a Shoo-In

Erica Gilmore runs for Nashville Mayor

Nashville Metro Council Member At-Large Erica Gilmore’s announcement on Wednesday that she is a candidate for Mayor of Nashville in the special mayoral election was greeted with a polite but terse acknowledgement from the campaign of the only other credible candidate currently in the race, Acting Mayor David Briley. “We welcome Councilwoman Gilmore to the race,” was all Hannah Paramore, Briley’s campaign treasurer, had to say about Gilmore in a statement issued after her announcement. Paramore went on to tout Briley’s qualifications for the job he temporarily holds, but wants to make more permanent: In just a few short weeks, David Briley has brought focus to the job of managing the city, tackling challenges and making progress on opportunities that will benefit all of Nashville. He has delivered a steady, guiding hand when it was needed to regain public confidence. David Briley is the right person to lead our city, and I am confident that the widespread support that is rapidly forming behind David will result in his winning the special election.” Briley is considered the front runner in the race, thanks in part to the backing of much of the Nashville business community, and his greater ability to raise money. Few political observers…

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Laura Ingraham, Fox News Host, Announces Vacation Amid Advertiser Boycott

Laura Ingraham will spend a week away from her nightly Fox News program after after nearly a dozen advertisers withdrew their support over her recent comments about school shooting survivor and anti-gun violence activist David Hogg. “I’ll be off next week for Easter break with my kids, but fear not, we’ve got a great lineup of guest hosts to fill in for me,” the conservative commentator said during Friday’s episode of “The Ingraham Angle.”

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More Diplomat Ousters in Spy Poisoning Row

Russia on Saturday demanded that Britain further reduce its diplomatic staff in Moscow, the latest move in an escalating tit-for-tat dispute following the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil. Russia had already kicked out 23 British envoys and closed a British consulate in response to the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats by Britain, which accuses Moscow of poisoning former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.

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Media Darling David Hogg Ducks Debate With Gun Rights Backer Kyle Kashuv

by Ginny Montalbano   Kyle Kashuv, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, emerged as the most prominent pro-Second Amendment voice among students there after the shooting at the school that left 17 dead. Kashuv, 16, who has been embraced by many conservatives, hopes to debate David Hogg, 17, a Stoneman Douglas senior. Hogg is one of the most visible liberal voices among the Parkland students in the media spotlight. The son of an FBI agent, he has been lionized by the left as he advocates more gun control. By contrast, Kashuv does not get nearly as much media exposure as Hogg or other liberal-leaning Parkland students. His appearances typically are limited to Fox News Channel among the larger media outlets. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution.  Find out more >> Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, argues that Kashuv is a worthy opponent for Hogg and other young liberals. In an email to The Daily Signal, Kirk said: Kyle is absolutely brilliant and deserves a chance to debate David Hogg in an open forum. David has insulted us gun owners enough,…

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Craig Shirley Commentary: Comforting Lies, Unwritten Rules, and the Ruination of Laura Ingraham

by Craig Shirley   Laura Ingraham might just be the most principled and assertive woman I have ever met. When she believes in her heart that the cause is just, she doesn’t back down come hell or highwater. In a field dominated by two-faced charlatans who rattle sabers at each other on television by day and drink cocktails together by night, Laura is the real deal. That passionate and opinionated voice on the radio isn’t some façade or “personality:” That’s Laura Ingraham. With all that verve and brashness, it’s easy to dismiss the individual, but her humbleness as a Catholic, her kindness as a mother of three adopted children, and her resilience as a breast cancer survivor affirms the words of St. Francis De Sales; “Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.” If we lived in a world where the culture didn’t punish women for being conservative, Laura’s career would have earned critical acclaim long ago. While at Dartmouth College, she became the first woman to serve as Editor-in-Chief of The Dartmouth Review. She then earned her law degree from UVA, wrote speeches for the Reagan Administration, clerked for the Supreme Court, and has become one…

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Kim Says N. Korea to Take Part in 2020, 2022 Olympics: IOC chief

Kim Jong Un is committed to sending North Korean teams to the next two Olympics, the IOC chief Thomas Bach said Saturday after a rare meeting with the leader of the nuclear-armed regime in Pyongyang. Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, also said the IOC will make a proposal for a “potential joint march” and other shared activities between the North and South Korean teams at the Tokyo games.

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Five Facts About the Prosecutor Probing FBI, Justice Department Actions

by Fred Lucas   While Attorney General Jeff Sessions has decided to hold off on naming a second special counsel, he reached well outside Washington for a federal prosecutor to investigate possible wrongdoing by the FBI and Justice Department. “The [Justice] Department is not above criticism and it can never be that the department conceals errors when they occur,” AG Jeff Sessions says. Sessions announced Thursday in a letter to members of Congress that, rather than name another special counsel, he has tapped Utah U.S. Attorney John Huber to work with the Justice Department’s inspector general to review multiple issues of Justice Department and FBI conduct. The conduct under scrutiny occurred during the Obama administration as FBI and Justice officials investigated matters connected with 2016 presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution.  Find out more >> “We understand that the [Justice] Department is not above criticism and it can never be that the department conceals errors when they occur,” Sessions said in the letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.; and House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey…

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Commentary: Another Reason to Remember the Easter and Passover Weekend

by Hans von Spakovsky   As we celebrate Easter Sunday and the Jewish Passover, we should keep in our prayers and remembrances the many Americans who fought and sacrificed during that same time 73 years ago in the Battle of Okinawa. The event was Operation Iceberg. It was the bloodiest battle and the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, the Navy’s Fifth Fleet under Admiral Raymond Spruance attacked the Japanese-held island. They were joined by a British, Canadian, New Zealand, and Australian naval task force and more than 180,000 Army soldiers and Marines. This was the final push toward invading mainland Japan and putting an end to the war. Military planners considered the capture of Okinawa and its airfields to be a crucial and necessary precondition for the invasion of the Japanese mainland. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution.  Find out more >> Were the U.S. to invade Japan, estimates of potential American casualties were upward of 1.7 to 4 million, with between 400,000 and 800,000 deaths. The Battle of Okinawa only served to raise those estimates, as…

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A Teacher’s Very Biased Middle School Assignment

In seventh grade, middle school students in the Peach Tree State are required to learn about Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, as mandated by Georgia’s Department of Education. “Seventh grade is the second year of a two-year World Area Studies course. Seventh grade students study Africa and Asia. The goal of this two-year course is to acquaint middle school students with the world in which they live,” reads a section highlighting the state of Georgia’s academic standards.

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Trump Could Tap Pentagon Funds to Kick-Start Border Wall Construction

President Trump and the Border Wall

Stymied by Congress, President Donald Trump has turned to the gargantuan Pentagon budget as a possible source of funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, according to an exclusive report by Just Security. Kate Brannen, deputy managing editor of the publication and a nonresident fellow at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, said Friday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that most of the money for defense is off-limits. But there is some “wiggle room,” she said.

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