Day: May 19, 2018

Cha-Ching! Metro Nashville Council Members Want to Hike Property Tax Rate by 16 Percent

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashville property owners may be carrying lighter wallets soon as some members of the council want to raise property tax rates by 50 cents. Councilman Bob Mendes has proposed the tax hike as a way to pay for government employee cost-of-living raises and for schools and make up a budget shortfall, NewsChannel 5 reports. He wants the bill to come forward next week and pass before the Memorial Day weekend. Councilwoman Sharon Hurt and Councilman Bill Pridemore have backed Mendes’ plan, The Tennessean reports. The plan would raise the combined property tax rate in the Urban Services District from $3.155 to $3.655 per $100 of assessed value, a 15.9-percent hike, and the General Services rate by 49 cents from $2.755 to  $3.245. A home appraised at $250,000 in the Urban Services District would pay about $319 more per year in property taxes. Mendes’ justification is that last year Metro lowered the rate to a low of $3.15 following a reassessment, NewsChannel 5 said, and added Nashvillians would want to honor the city’s obligations. The council has made budget mistakes that have lead to the problem and will study across-the-board budget cuts next year. The budget must be approved before July 1. Mayor…

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Diane Black: ‘Uncouple Tennessee’ From Illegal Immigration

Chris Alto

In a straightforward statement today, GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) said “we need to uncouple illegal immigration and Tennessee”: The recent arrest of illegal aliens working at the Bean Station slaughterhouse is a red flag that Tennessee has been allowed to become a magnet for illegal aliens despite an E-verify law which I voted for when I was in the state Senate. The attempt by a city government last year to skirt our current sanctuary city law, which I also voted for, is another flag that we need to uncouple illegal immigration and Tennessee. Our current sanctuary city law needs strengthening and the Green-Reedy bill is sound public policy that should be signed into law. Black has zeroed in on the fact that Tennessee is offering what illegal aliens are looking for – the ability to live, work and go to school in communities where officials who have promised to uphold the law, simply look the other way. With pressure from well funded organizations that advocate for illegal immigration and Republican legislators softening to demands for state benefits like in-state college tuition for illegal alien students, a proposal publicly backed by Governor Haslam, Tennessee looks like a very “welcoming…

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Local Law Enforcement Can Skirt State Limits on Surveillance By Joining Federal Task Forces

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by Michael Maharrey   By joining joint law enforcement task forces run by the federal government, local cops can often ignore stringent state and local laws governing surveillance and engage in warrantless spying. It’s well-known that a federal program known as “Equitable Sharing” allows local prosecutors and police to bypass more restrictive state asset forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the federal government through a process known as adoption. A Department of Justice directive issued last summer by Attorney General Jeff Sessions reiterates full support for the equitable sharing program, directs federal law enforcement agencies to aggressively utilize it, and sets the stage to expand it in the future. Through the adoption process, local police claim cases are federal in nature to justify transferring them to federal jurisdiction. Under these arrangements, state officials simply hand cases over to a federal agency, participate in the case, and then receive up to 80 percent of the proceeds. Participation in federal joint law enforcement task forces gives state and local police a similar means to circumvent restrictive state surveillance laws and conduct warrantless spying with immunity. How Local Cops Can Ignore Local Laws When state or local law enforcement officers join a federal joint task force,…

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Nashville Voters Energized on Friday About Special Mayoral Election As More Than 6,600 Early Vote

Tennessee Star Staff

A total of 6,654 residents of Nashville/Davidson County turned out to early vote on Friday, eclipsing Thursday’s single day record of 5,194 during the 14 day early voting period that began May 4 and ends at 4:30 pm today for the May 24 special mayoral election, bringing the total number of early votes cast to 26,758, with one final day of early voting remaining today. The heavy turnout on Friday was remarkable, given the anemic pace of early voting for the first 11 days of early voting before Thursday’s strong turnout, and the fact that the 11 early voting locations on Friday closed at 5:30 pm instead of 7:00 pm, as was the case on Thursday, You can see the early voting totals, by day and early voting location, as provided to The Tennessee Star by the Davidson County Election Commission, here: [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/518EV-Daily-Report-May-24-2018-Mayor-Dist-1-2.pdf” title=”518EV Daily Report-May 24, 2018 Mayor & Dist 1 (2)”]   Today is the last day of early voting. If more than 3,000 votes are cast before the 11 voting locations close at 4:30 pm, the early voting totals for the May 24 special mayoral election will be at least 29,600–slightly more than half of the…

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10 Killed in Santa Fe High School Shooting in Texas

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A 17-year-old student allegedly opened fire Friday at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, killing 10 people and wounding another 10, authorities said. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said police found explosive devices, including a Molotov cocktail, at the suspected shooter’s home and a vehicle, as well as around the Santa Fe High School where the shooting took place. Law enforcement officials said the suspect, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, a junior at the school, was being held without bond on a capital murder charge. Abbott said the suspect originally intended to commit suicide following the shooting but told law enforcement officials after he was arrested that he didn’t have the courage to go through with killing himself. The governor said two guns were used in the attack — a shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver. He said the suspect’s father legally owned both guns.It was not clear whether the father knew his son had taken the weapons. Abbott said there were “one or two” other people of interest being interviewed about the shooting. Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said, “Injured students and staff have been transported to local hospitals.” He also said an officer from the Santa Fe Independent School District was among…

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Trump’s ‘Critical Minerals’ List Outlines US ‘Dependency’ On Foreign Imports, Mining Group Says

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by Michael Bastasch   President Donald Trump’s administration’s release of a list of 35 critical minerals highlights just how reliant the U.S. is on foreign imports, according to mining advocates. “What we see is the degree of U.S. dependency — the US is 100 percent import-dependent for 14 of the 35 minerals and more than 50 percent dependent for another 16,” said Daniel McGroarty, a principal at the American Resources Policy Network, which advocates for domestic mining. “That’s more than 50 percent dependent for 30 of the 35 minerals on the list — materials that are critical for the national economy, for high-tech, for alternative energy applications, for national security,” McGroarty added in a statement issued Friday. Republicans and mining advocates have warned for years the U.S. was too dependent on foreign countries — especially China and Russia. The U.S. also imports large amounts of critical minerals from Canada, a staunch ally. Trump’s administration has called for boosting domestic critical mineral production for months. The department’s finalized list of critical minerals also contains Secretary Ryan Zinke’s call to “expedite access” for miners. [ RELATED: Coal State Lawmakers Fighting For Retired Miners ] “The Critical Minerals List is a great starting point,” McGroarty said. “The question now…

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Trump’s Attorney Says Special Counsel Has Narrowed Questions

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President Donald Trump’s attorney said Friday the special counsel in the Russia probe has narrowed the scope of potential questions for the president, even as Trump advanced an unverified theory that the Justice Department planted a spy in his 2016 campaign and is now “out to frame him.” Rudy Giuliani said Friday on CNN that special counsel Robert Mueller has narrowed his question subject areas from five to two, as negotiations continue over whether the president will sit down for an interview. Giuliani said they don’t expect to be asked about the president’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who faces a separate criminal investigation in New York. But Giuliani did not provide many additional details, saying that some of it is “subject to negotiation.” His comments came after Trump sent out an early morning tweet that seemed intended to undercut the ongoing Russia investigation, which he has repeatedly called a “witch hunt.” Promoting a theory that is circulating in conservative circles, Trump quoted Fox Business anchor David Asman and tweeted: “Apparently the DOJ put a Spy in the Trump Campaign. This has never been done before and by any means necessary, they are out to frame Donald Trump for crimes he…

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Commentary: Tennessee Among the Nation’s Six Hottest US Senate Races

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US Senate Bredesen and Blackburn

by CHQ Staff   As the first part of GOP primary election season wraps conservatives have reason to be optimistic about the chances of adding to our numbers in Mitch McConnell’s broken U.S. Senate. At a major meeting of conservative leaders yesterday, some of the movement’s best political minds handicapped the Senate races with us, and this is where we see the hottest conservative campaigns as of today. West Virginia: Conservative West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey emerged victorious in the hard-fought GOP primary and immediately jumped to a lead over incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin in the polls. Polls this far out from Election Day normally mean little, but when the incumbent is behind the challenger it is a good indication that West Virginia’s voters, who gave President Trump a 48 point advantage in the 2016 election have caught on to the fact that Manchin is a hypocrite, not a conservative. Tennessee: Conservative Representative Marsha Blackburn has the nomination to succeed retiring establishment Republican Senator Bob Corker. Blackburn, an excellent speaker and TV presence, is one of the House’s strongest voices on the pro-life agenda. Even better, when Corker started making noise about maybe un-retiring, Rep. Blackburn said “bring it on”…

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Princeton Physicist Points Out The Obvious: The ‘Climate Denier’ Label Is Meant To Cast ‘Me As A Nazi Apologist’

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by Michael Bastach   Some scientists and activists no longer want their critics to be called “skeptics,” but Princeton University Physicist William Happer said “climate denier” is meant to denigrate those critical of claims of catastrophic man-made global warming. The term “denier” is “designed to cast me and others like me as a Nazi apologist,” Happer told The Washington Post. Happer believes global warming, on net, will be beneficial to mankind from enhanced plant growth from carbon dioxide emissions. “Any honest scientist should be a skeptic, most of all, a skeptic of his (or her) own scientific work, and the work of others,” Happer told WaPo via email. President Donald Trump considered Happer as a candidate to head the Office of Science and Technology Policy or even sit on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. “If you insist on categorizing me as anything other than an honest scientist (and somewhat immodestly, a very good one) … you might call me a scientist who is persuaded that doubling or tripling CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere will be a major benefit to life on Earth,” Happer wrote, according to WaPo’s Friday report. However, Texas Tech University Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe implored WaPo not to apply the…

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US Ends Practice That Gave Some Immigrants Reprieves from Deportation

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Reuters   U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday barred immigration judges from a once-common practice of shelving deportation cases involving some immigrants with deep ties to the United States. The practice known as administrative closure allowed judges to clear low-priority cases off their dockets, effectively letting some immigrants remain indefinitely in the United States despite their lack of legal status. Under President Barack Obama there had been an effort to administratively close certain cases as a way of allowing judges to focus on higher-priority matters and reduce the immigration court backlog. More than 200,000 cases were closed during the last six years of his presidency. The closures were routinely used for people without criminal backgrounds who had lived for many years in the United States, often with U.S. citizen children or spouses. In many cases, the immigrants became eligible for work permits. The administration of President Donald Trump has taken a sharply different tack on immigration, declaring that all those in the country illegally, whether or not they pose a threat to public safety, are subject to deportation. Since immigration courts fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice, the attorney general can issue opinions in immigration cases…

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Trump to Nominate Wilkie to Head Department of Veterans Affairs

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Robert Wilke

Reuters   President Donald Trump said on Friday he will nominate Robert Wilkie to be secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, replacing David Shulkin, who was pushed out amid alleged ethics problems. Wilkie, 55, has been acting secretary of the department since Trump fired Shulkin in March over concerns about unauthorized travel expenses. The Republican president’s first choice to replace Shulkin, Trump’s physician Ronny Jackson, withdrew from consideration last month after allegations that he had been lax with prescription drugs and drank alcohol on the job. Jackson denied the allegations but faced questions in the Senate confirmation process over whether he had enough experience for the job. Wilkie successfully went through the Senate confirmation process last year after Trump nominated him to be undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The veterans agency has long been criticized for the quality of care it provides and the red tape that veterans encounter.               VOA News

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TIRRC Using Reckless Disinformation Campaign on Sanctuary Bill to Create Hysteria in Immigrant Communities

Chris Alto
Renata Soto of TIRRC exaggerates HB2315 provisions

The TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is using a reckless and manipulative disinformation campaign filled with untruths about the anti-sanctuary city bill creating cruel and needless hysteria among legal immigrants and illegal alien communities  in Tennessee. The Soros-funded TIRRC is employing a predictable tactic of the open-borders left – distort the facts until they are unrecognizable, the bury the truth under scripted political propaganda. Exactly what TIRRC and their fellow travelers have been doing with the Green-Reedy anti-sanctuary city bill. Almost immediately after the Tennessee General Assembly passed HB2315 by a 64-23 vote in the House and 25-5 in the Senate, TIRRC labeled it a “mass deportation bill.” To date, TIRRC has never admitted that the sanctuary policies and practices addressed in the Green-Reedy bill pose unnecessary risks to public safety and are dangerous because they return criminal illegal aliens to Tennessee communities. Another important fact about sanctuary policies – they apply to individuals who are already in local custody because they  committed a crime. Only then does ICE get involved. The April raid at the Southeastern Provision slaughterhouse in Bean Station is not related to the sanctuary city bill. That of course, has not stopped TIRRC from trying…

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