Democrat US Senate candidate Phil Bredesen is using a new ad in an attempt to muddy the water around his dismal performance on jobs as Tennessee Governor and Republicans are determined to not let him get away with the deception. Phil Bredesen is out with another ad for his campaign for Senate ,touting the jobs he helped bring to the state during his tenure as governor — and Republicans are already criticizing it. The spot begins airing statewide on Thursday, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee was quick to attack, saying the unemployment rate increased from 5.1 percent to 9.5 percent under Bredesen’s tenure. “Phil Bredesen’s got a lot of nerve claiming he knows how to create jobs when the opposite happened under his watch,” said NRSC Spokesman Michael McAdams. “Whether it’s saving their tax cuts or spurring job creation, Tennessee voters know they can’t trust Phil Bredesen to protect their economic interests.” In reality, the number of Tennesseans on unemployment nearly doubled under Bredesen’s stewardship and that’s only part of the story. He’s “now said emphatically that he would have voted against the tax cuts that have been creating jobs across the country even before the cuts were implemented,” per…
Read the full storyDay: May 25, 2018
Randy Boyd Announces 95 County Bus Tour to Launch on May 30 in Sevier County and Span Nine Weeks
Republican businessman Randy Boyd has announced that he is embarking on a nine week, 95 county bus tour across Tennessee as his campaign for Governor moves towards the August 2 primary election date. The tour will kick off from the Sevier County Courthouse in East Tennessee on May 30 at 9:30 am Eastern Time. From there, Boyd is set to travel to Blount County for a Meet and Greet Lunch starting at 11:30 am followed by an appearance in Loudon County at 2:00 pm at The Venue at Lenoir City. Then in Monroe County at the Tellico Plains Community Center, he will finish the day’s events with a Meet and Greet D inner. “Just as we have during the campaign, we want to send a clear signal, that as Governor, we will be working for all 95 counties to make sure no one is left behind,” Boyd said. “This 95 County Bus Tour is just one more way to show Tennessee voters that we will never stop working on your behalf to make Tennessee the State of Opportunity for everyone.” Last Fall Boyd, who has run a few marathons, made his longest run as he ran across the state to promote his campaign…
Read the full storyChallenger Shane Disputes State Rep. Susan Lynn’s Defense of Her Vote for the Gas Tax Raising IMPROVE ACT
Conservative businessman Aaron Shane, a Republican candidate for State Representative in the 57th District has called for current State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) to explain her support of the gas/diesel/registration tax increase (Improve Act) that raised fuel taxes and car registration fees by $350 million per year. “Prior to her casting her vote raise taxes on Tennessee families, Lynn promised she would not support the tax increase, and even boasted that the funding for the expansion of Highway 109 was already approved and didn’t need the IMPROVE Act for funding,” Shane pointed out. “Yet, just a few weeks ago at an event in Mt. Juliet she said that her vote for the tax increase provided the funding for Highway 109 — despite the fact that state Department of Transportation records show it was on the project list in January, 2017 and it was reported in our local papers.” With surplus and recurring funds of over $2 BILLION dollars in our state’s coffers, Lynn raised taxes by $350 million on our families after promising not to do it, Shane said. “Now she is trying to fool people into believing that her tax increase was really a tax cut! The next…
Read the full storyAmerican Center for Law and Justice’s Jordan Sekulow Endorses Diane Black for Governor
Gubernatorial candidate Representative Diane Black (R-TN-06) announced Thursday she has picked up another endorsement – this time, from prominent radio host and Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) Jordan Sekulow. “I’m thrilled to endorse Diane Black for Governor,” Sekulow said. “Diane has always been a champion for the rights of the unborn and for religious freedom, and I know that she will put her conservative principles and tenacious attitude to good use as the next Governor of our state.” Jordan and his family are residents of Williamson County, where the organization has a large production facility. “I’m proud to have Jordan on my team,” Black responded. “He and his family have been tireless advocates for conservative values, including the rights of the unborn and protecting our religious liberties. These are values that I will always fight for as Tennessee’s next Governor.” Founded in 1990 with the mandate to protect religious and constitutional freedoms by Pat Robertson and Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) engages legal, legislative, and cultural issues by implementing an effective strategy of advocacy, education, and litigation that includes representing clients before the Supreme Court of the United States and international…
Read the full storyJC Bowman Commentary: Values Still Matter
When we fail to elect men and women of character, we get politicians committed to upholding the status quo and their own political preservation.
Read the full storyRandy Boyd Defends Joining the College Promise Advisory Board
During a campaign stop in Memphis on April 25th, Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd defended voluntarily joining the College Promise Advisory Board, which was tied at the time of his joining to then-President Obama. When he’s asked the question about his participation with this board, he insists that “President Obama didn’t appoint me to anything” and “we’re [the Board] not promoting tuition for illegals.” Two things are not true about that. First of all, President Obama didn’t appoint me to anything I created the Tennessee Promise and then there’s a group of other people who said you know other states would like to do this too. Would you be willing to join us? It’s a non-profit organization. Not anything President Obama has anything to do with. They asked if I would join the board and let other states know about our program. And frankly, I’m proud of Tennessee and I want us to be first but I don’t mind sharing with Indiana. I’ve met with people in Indiana, in Oregon, with people in multiple states that are also interested in doing what we’ve done and want to do the same thing in their states. But it’s a non-profit and President Obama…
Read the full storyTrump Signs Bill to Curb Dodd-Frank, Easing Restraints on Smaller US Banks
U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law Thursday a measure that eases rules imposed on banks in the aftermath of the financial crisis and the Great Recession that gripped the nation throughout President Obama’s first term, beginning in 2008. The law relaxes regulations and oversight on banks with assets below $250 billion, leaving a handful of the largest U.S. banks that must still comply with the stringent rules and oversight. Trump said at the signing ceremony the rules and oversight, enacted by the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, were “crushing small banks.” Trump lauded the signing as a victory in his administration’s efforts to eliminate regulations to promote economic growth. “The legislation I’m signing today rolls back the crippling Dodd-Frank regulations that are crushing community banks and credit unions nationwide. They were in such trouble. One-size-fits-all — those rules just don’t work,” the President said during his remarks just prior to signing the bill into law at a ceremony Thursday morning. He continued: And community banks and credit unions should be regulated the same way. And you have to really look at this. They should be regulated the same way with proviso for safety, as in the past, when they were…
Read the full storySteve Gill On The Man-Child Who Would Not Leave
In the audio below, conservative political commentator and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill of The Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville offered his take on the case of unemployed millennial Michael Rotondo, who was sued by his parents for refusing to move out of their home after several efforts by the family to rid themselves of this over-grown leech. Courtesy of the New York Post: The unemployed millennial who was sued by his parents for refusing to move out has just one more week to enjoy freeloading. Rotondo has been crashing rent-free at his parents’ for the past eight years — despite several eviction attempts by mom Christina and dad Mark. The no-nonsense couple finally had it and sued the 30-year-old in order to force him to move out. At a hearing Tuesday, Onondaga County Supreme Court Judge Donald Greenwood sided with the parents, telling Michael it was time to go. Michael, who has a young son, told The Post he wanted three months to move out — or he’d appeal the judge’s ruling. Rotondo has since taken his embarrassing non-road show to TV in a series of bizarre segments in which he’s lamely attempted to…
Read the full storyFederal Prosecutors Deal a Blow to Mexican Mafia
The Los Angeles County jails are run by the sheriff, but the Mexican Mafia wields the power in the underworld behind bars. The organization made up of leaders from various Latino gangs operated like an illegal government, collecting “taxes” on smuggled drugs, ordering hits on people who didn’t follow their rules and even calling the shots on street crimes, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. Their clout was diminished as 83 members and associates were charged in a pair of sweeping federal racketeering conspiracies that alleged drug dealing, extortion, violent assaults and murders. “We just delivered a blow to a cold-blooded prison gang and their associates,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna said during a news conference. New leaders inevitable In an effort to disrupt the gang’s stronghold, the suspects will be held in federal facilities, and those in custody in state prisons will be moved, authorities said. Sheriff Jim McDonnell acknowledged that others will follow in their wake, as leadership in the gang that operates in most prisons and jails in the state is always changing. “There will be new leaders, that’s kinda how the whole system works. It’s hierarchical,” McDonnell said. “When one goes to jail or passes away then someone else…
Read the full story8th Annual ‘Music City Gives Back’ Free Concert at Ascend Park June 4th
Hear Big and Rich, Rodney Atkins, Ashley McBride, Travis Denning and Drew Baldridge in a free concert at Ascend Park to mark the opening of the CMAFest on June 4th in an All-Star Concert benefitting W.O. Smith Music School.
Read the full storyCommentary: Time For Chairman Nunes To Subpoena Trump Campaign Spy Stefan Halper
by George Rasley Last Friday, the Washington Post and New York Times published articles that shed much more light on the Obama administration’s surveillance of the Trump campaign. There was indeed an FBI informant – Stefan Halper – spying on Trump campaign officials. The New York Times and Washington Post, by the way, were apparently aware of Halper’s identity, but chose not to publish it, probably because it did not advance the narrative that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. According to New York Magazine’s Benjamin Hart, the Times said it made its decision because it “typically does not name informants to preserve their safety.” The Post reports that it received “warnings from U.S. intelligence officials that exposing him could endanger him or his contacts,” and that “the stakes are so high that the FBI has been working over the past two weeks to mitigate the potential damage if the source’s identity is revealed, according to several people familiar with the matter.” Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who has struggled mightily to make himself relevant in the congressional investigations, ludicrously called outing him “potentially illegal.” Similarly, the Justice Department allegedly strongly pushed back on revealing the informant’s identity, but anyone with a passing familiarity with establishment Republican national security figures from the Cold…
Read the full storyDavid Briley Wins Nashville Special Mayoral Election With 55% of the Vote
NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Acting Mayor David Briley won the Nashville/Davidson County special mayoral election on Thursday, winning 55 percent of the vote in a field of 13 candidates, easily clearing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff election. Former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain finished in second place with 23 percent of the vote. At-Large Metro Council Member Erica Gilmore finished in third place with 5.6 percent, State Rep. Harold Love (D-Nashville) finished in fourth place with 5.4 percent, former talk radio host Ralph Bristol finished in fifth place with 5.2 percent, and jeff obafemi carr finished in sixth place with 4.7 percent. The other seven candidates on the ballot received 2 percent of all votes cast. The final election turnout of slightly more than 80,000 was higher than had been expected, a sign perhaps that the uptick in the last three days of early voting continued into election day. Much of that uptick appears to have been driven by get-out-the-vote activities of the Briley campaign. Though Briley’s support of the $9 billion transit plan, which voters rejected overwhelmingly on May 1 by a 64 percent to 36 percent margin, among other political issues, left him vulnerable to potential rivals, his…
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