Day: May 2, 2018

Nashville/Davidson County Voters Deliver Crushing Defeat to Transit Plan, 64% to 36%

Tennessee Star Staff

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Voters in Nashville/Davidson County delivered a crushing defeat to the $9.2 billion transit plan proposed by disgraced former Mayor Megan Barry and supported by Acting Mayor David Briley, 64 percent to 36 percent on Tuesday. A record turnout of 122,477 voters cast their ballots, with 100 percent of all precincts reporting. Sixty-four percent of voters, 78,710, voted against the plan, and only 36 percent, 43,767, voted for it. A little more than 59,000 voters were cast during early voting, while about 63,000 were cast on Tuesday, election day. The sentiment against the transit plan was virtually the same during each voting period. Sixty-five percent of early voters opposed the plan, while only 35 percent supported it. Among those who voted on election day, 63 percent opposed the plan, while 37 percent supported it. The election day results were remarkably close to the results of a Tennessee Star Poll released on Monday April 16, which had 62 percent of voters opposing the plan with only 27 percent supporting it. The Tennessee Star was the only media outlet in Tennessee that conducted a poll on the Nashville Transit Plan. Transit for Nashville, the group that favored the plan, conceded the race…

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Weak and Wounded, Acting Mayor David Briley Big Loser in Nashville Transit Plan Blowout

Tennessee Star Staff

Acting Mayor of Nashville David Briley’s aura of inevitability came to a sudden and devastating end Tuesday night when voters soundly rejected the $9 billion transit plan he championed to the bitter end by a 64 percent to 36 percent margin. The man who less than two months ago had been praised by the Nashville Business Council as the only possible person who could provide “continuity” to the city after the resignation of disgraced former Mayor Barry on March 6, found himself reduced to blaming the deplorable voters of Nashville for their lack of wisdom in rejecting the boondoggle his predecessor introduced and he embraced whole heartedly. “We all can agree that we have to do something about traffic and transportation, but voters didn’t get behind this plan,” Briley said after it became clear that his cherished plan of “continuity” was going down in flames, adding:    My responsibility as Mayor is to get back to the drawing board and find the common ground to develop consensus on a new way forward. Our transportation problems are not going away; in fact, we know they’re only going to get more challenging as we continue to grow. I’ll get back to work…

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Five Takeaways From Israel’s Massive Intelligence Operation on Iran

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by James Carafano   The Israeli government on Monday unloaded a massive intelligence data dump that demonstrated Iran’s efforts to hide its nuclear weapons program. The revelations come weeks before an anticipated decision by the U.S. to “fix or nix” the Iran nuclear deal. Reactions to the Israeli intelligence revelations ranged from “ding-dong the deal is dead” to “nothing to see here, move along people.” Neither of these extreme assessments accurately characterize the likely impact this intelligence data will have on the final U.S. decision. Here are five takeaways from the intelligence dump that the Trump administration will no doubt take to heart. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] 1. Trust but verify. The information is true. It is highly unlikely that Monday’s briefing from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the first the administration has heard about the Israeli intelligence operation. U.S. officials have already confirmedthe veracity of the documents. That doesn’t happen so immediately without prior contact. Sure, the White House knows the Israeli government dumped the information at a strategic time so as to add pressure to the White House to dump the deal. That…

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Shelby County Commissioner Billingsley Suggests County Already Operating As a Sanctuary City

Chris Alto

Waiting until only eight of the Shelby County Commissioners were still present to conduct business on Monday, Shelby County Commissioner Mark Billingsley introduced a resolution urging Governor Haslam to veto the anti-sanctuary city bill that was passed with overwhelming majorities in both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly. In discussing his reasons for bringing the resolution, Billingsley said that Shelby County’s law enforcement was “not prepared for this” referring to the legislation determining the state’s policy about cooperation with federal immigration authorities and compliance with federal law. Billingsley’s comment is strongly suggestive that Shelby County law enforcement is currently releasing criminal illegal aliens into the community instead of transferring custody to ICE, a practice that if confirmed, would constitute a violation of the new anti-sanctuary law and potentially make the county ineligible for economic and community development grants from the state. Mauricio Calvo, director of Latino Memphis, spoke in favor of Billingsley’s resolution even though the reasons he cited are unsupported by federal court precedent and the experience in other states that have passed even stricter anti-sanctuary city and anti-illegal immigration measures. Seven commissioners passed the resolution while Commission Chairman Heidi Shafer did not vote citing a lack of information available to…

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Two EPA Officials Stepping Down Amid Ethics Investigation

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Tennessee Star

by Jason Hopkins   In what is seen as another major blow to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, two officials have resigned from the agency. Albert “Kell” Kelly and Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta — two Pruitt allies engulfed in their own separate scandals — tendered their resignations on Monday. Kelly served as head of the Superfund, a program that is tasked with cleaning up contaminated sites. Perrotta was in charge of leading Pruitt’s 24/7 security detail. Kelly, a former banking executive, is leaving following public revelation that he was barred from working in the finance industry for violating regulations. A report in December 2017 by The Intercept revealed Kelly and Pruitt to be close friends in their home state of Oklahoma, with Pruitt appointing him to the EPA not long after he was banned for life from the finance industry by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. “Kell Kelly’s service at EPA will be sorely missed. In just over a year he has made a tremendous impact on EPA’s Superfund program, serving as chair of the Superfund Task Force and presiding over the development of the steps necessary to implement the recommendations in the report,” Pruitt said in a Tuesday statement. Perrotta, on the other hand, is…

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Texas AG Paxton Files Seven-State Lawsuit Against Feds To End DACA

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 by Will Racke   Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday in a bid to force the termination of a program that gives younger illegal immigrants a reprieve from deportation, saying the Obama-era amnesty is outside the scope of executive authority. Six other states joined Paxton’s lawsuit challenging the constitutional muster of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Trump had intended to wind down DACA by March 5, but several federal court decisions have forced immigration authorities to continue issuing work permits under the program. “Our lawsuit is about the rule of law, not the wisdom of any particular immigration policy,” Paxton said in a statement. “Texas has argued for years that the federal executive branch lacks the power to unilaterally grant unlawfully present aliens lawful presence and work authorization. Left intact, DACA sets a dangerous precedent by giving the executive branch sweeping authority to ignore the laws enacted by Congress and change our nation’s immigration laws to suit a president’s own policy preferences.” Although the lawsuit names Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Thomas Homan as defendants, it is actually intended to assist the Trump administration’s…

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What Trump Calls ‘Right Message’ to North Korea After Evidence Iran Cheats on Nukes

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by Fred Lucas   President Donald Trump, without saying he would pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, said Monday that he is open to signing a better agreement with the Islamist regime. Commenting after Israel accused Iran of cheating on the deal, Trump also rejected the premise that by pulling out the U.S. would jeopardize a separate nuclear deal with North Korea. “No. I think it sends the right message,” Trump said of his possible move during a joint press conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in the Rose Garden of the White House. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] The month of May could prove to be monumental for the Trump administration and global politics. The United States has until May 12 to decide whether it will remain in the 2015 multilateral deal, led by the Obama administration, to temporarily delay Iran’s development of nuclear weapons. The president said he will meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in late May or early June. “I’m not telling you what I’m doing, but a lot of people think they know,” Trump said…

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Commentary: Conservatives Unanimous For Change in Support of Jordan for Speaker

Tennessee Star Staff
Jim Jordan, Paul Ryan

CHQ Staff   Conservatives are hoping Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) will decide to challenge Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for speaker, according to a poll by FedUp PAC. Showing near-unanimity, almost 99% agree that Jordan would be more likely to successfully move President Trump’s conservative-populist agenda through the House. Less than one-half of one percent believe McCarthy would do a better job. Jordan is a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus and has been a leader in the fight to cut spending, protect the Second Amendment, repeal ObamaCare, and deport illegal aliens. McCarthy is closely tied to the Washington GOP establishment and would be expected to follow Ryan’s policy of distancing himself from Trump and the conservative agenda. His previous attempt to become speaker collapsed for lack of conservative support. The contrast between Jordan and McCarthy was easily seen when Congress passed its most recent spending bill. McCarthy was a strong supporter of the $1.3 trillion bill which eliminated the budget caps adopted in 2011, funded many Democratic priorities, and was supported by a majority of House Democrats. Jordan opposed the bill, and Trump threatened to veto it until he decided that the need for more military spending justified his very…

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TBI Raids Claiborne Sheriff’s Office

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Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents arrived just as the Claiborne County Justice Center opened for business Tuesday for what the Knoxville News characterized as a raid on the Sheriff’s Office. For several hours, agents were seen filing in and out of the facility, carrying boxes of files and computer disks. Meanwhile, other agents were seen searching the unmarked vehicles parked in the adjacent lot. Knox News reports: A TBI mobile command center sat parked outside. Agents at the scene and TBI spokeswoman Leslie Earhart would answer no questions and referred all inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for East Tennessee. A spokeswoman for the office wouldn’t give any details on the investigation. At least one assistant U.S. attorney, Frank Dale, arrived on the scene shortly before noon. Others at the Justice Center included TBI Agent Darren DeArmond, who helped lead the probe into disgraced ex-Knox County Criminal Court judge Richard Baumgartner and has worked various other high-profile cases of government corruption in East Tennessee. Sheriff David Ray had no comment, telling Knox News, “There’s been a lot of rumors going around but we’re not ready to say anything.” Ray has had a number of scrapes with the law while serving in…

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Nashville Transit Plan Opponent and Mayoral Candidate Carol Swain Big Winner After Voters Reject ‘Barry-Briley Boondoggle’

Tennessee Star Staff
Carol Swain - anti-Transit Victory

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Nashville Transit Plan opponent and mayoral candidate Carol Swain emerged the big winner Monday night as voters rejected the $9 billion plan she called “the Barry-Briley boondoggle.” Swain addressed an enthusiastic crowd of more than 100 supporters who attended the Victory Celebration for opponents of the plan hosted by her campaign and held at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville Tuesday night. Opponents of the transit plan swept to victory in the final vote count by a stunning 64 percent to 36 percent margin in record voter turnout in Nashville/Davidson County. The results were remarkably close to The Tennessee Star Poll released on April 16, which showed opposition to the plan at 62 percent, with support only at 27 percent. “Tonight is a great victory for all of Nashville,” the former Vanderbilt professor told the crowd after the pro-transit group conceded at 8:20 pm. “A $9 billion transit boondoogle that benefited developers, construction companies, and engineering firms, and left the little guy out to dry has been defeated,” she continued. “As mayor, I will work to implement immediate and long term solutions to regional traffic congestion,” Swain added. “There is a short sprint to May 24, and I’m…

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