Day: July 4, 2018

Former State Representative Joe Carr Endorses Bill Lee for Governor

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Bill Lee, Joe Car

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bill Lee chalked up another endorsement Tuesday; this time, from conservative former State Representative Joe Carr. “I sat down with Bill, looked him in the eye and asked him the tough questions about the Rights of the Unborn, the Second Amendment, a smaller more efficient state government, and, of course, the growing problem of illegal immigration in Tennessee,” the Republican firebrand said in a statement. Carr added, “Bill didn’t back down when I asked him these questions. Bill Lee showed me he is man of conviction who is willing to ‘Stand Firm’ even if it means he has to stand alone. But, Bill Lee doesn’t have to stand alone because like tens of thousands of Tennesseans across the state, I will stand with Bill Lee. I believe Bill Lee is what Tennessee needs to move Tennessee forward and he has my unwavering endorsement and support.” Carr continued: Bill is a proven businessman with a heart for working men and women. Just like President Trump, his decision to run isn’t about a desire to climb the political ladder, it’s about a desire to serve the people. Bill isn’t a typical candidate for office, and to me, that’s a…

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SHOCK: DOJ Agrees Not To Prosecute Imran Awan For House Cybersecurity and Theft, But Questions Remain

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Imran Awan - House IT scandal

by Luke Rosiak   An assistant US attorney said Tuesday he would not prosecute Imran Awan, a former systems administrator for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other Democrats, for any crimes on Capitol Hill in a plea agreement that had him plead guilty to one count of bank fraud. Only one person sat at the prosecutors’ table: J.P. Coomey, who unsuccessfully prosecuted New Jersey Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez for corruption and was only added to the case Monday. There was no sign of Michael Marando, who had previously led the prosecution. Coomey did not object to the removal of Awan’s GPS monitor, said he would not oppose a sentence of probation, and agreed to drop charges against his wife, fellow former systems administrative Hina Alvi. The Department of Justice said it found “found no evidence that [Imran] illegally removed House data from the House network or from House Members’ offices, stole the House Democratic Caucus Server, stole or destroyed House information technology equipment, or improperly accessed or transferred government information.” That statement appears to take issue — without explaining how — with the findings of the House’s Nancy Pelosi-appointed inspector general, its top law enforcement official, the sergeant-at-arms, and the…

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REPORT: Trump Administration Will End Obama Era Race-Based University Admission Practices

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college students

The Trump administration is preparing to abolish policies that direct colleges and universities to increase diversity by considering race in college admissions, according to U.S. officials. Media reports say Trump administration officials intend to argue against guidelines issued by president Barack Obama’s administration that offered legal recommendations for schools seeking to consider race as an admissions factor. The development was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Trump administration officials plan to argue that the guidelines exceed Supreme Court precedent and mislead schools that legal types of affirmative action are easier to attain than the law allows. Anurima Bargava, who led civil rights enforcement in schools during the Obama administration, disagreed with the reported arguments, saying only guidelines were offered to schools that were exploring the continued use of affirmative action legally. “This is a purely political attack that benefits nobody,” she told the Journal. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to the Journal’s request for comment. The Trump administration move comes as the Justice Department investigates whether Harvard University unlawfully discriminates against Asian-American students by holding them to higher admissions standards. The investigation was revived last year after Obama civil rights officials dismissed a similar complaint. In a…

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Senate Intelligence Committee Releases Report On Russian Meddling In 2016 Election

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Senate Intelligence Committee (2017)

by Chuck Ross   The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is endorsing a January 2017 report from three intelligence community agencies that found the Russian government, with the approval of Vladimir Putin, attempted to influence the 2016 election. The Senate panel released a summary report on Tuesday, two weeks before President Trump is poised to meet with Putin in Finland. “The Committee finds that the overall judgments issued in the [Intelligence Community Assessment] were well-supported and the tradecraft was strong,” reads the Senate Intel’s unclassified summary report. “The course of the Committee’s investigation has shown that the Russian cyber operations were more extensive than the hack of the Democratic National Committee and continued well through the 2016 election.” On Jan. 6, 2017, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a report known as the Intelligence Community Assessment [ICA] that reviewed Russia’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. In the ICA, the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency (NSA), all determined with a high degree of confidence that the Russian government was behind email hacks aimed at Democrats during the campaign. Putin also approved of the influence campaign, the ICA said. [ RELATED: Senate Intel Still Wants To Interview…

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JC Bowman Commentary: Lives, Fortunes, and Honor

JC Bowman
US flags w airman

JC Bowman writes: Freedom should never be taken for granted.  Today we are debating the very concept of what it means to be a citizen of the United States of America.  While many citizens are very passionate about our country, others seem disillusioned and some openly hostile.  It is why the Declaration of Independence is such an important document. It expresses what it means to be an American. 

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Tennessee Right to Life Endorses Dr. Mark Green for Congress

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Mark Green

Tennessee Right to Life announced Tuesday it has endorsed Dr. Mark Green to represent the people of Tennessee’s 7th district in the US House of Representatives. “Mark Green understands the crucial importance of protecting human life and has devoted his public and professional life to the care of the weak and vulnerable. Tennessee Right to Life looks forward to continuing to work alongside Mark Green to affirm the dignity of every life,” the pro-life group’s  President Brian Harris said in a statement. The campaign said that with over 13,000 community health clinics that provide women’s services, Green believes “it’s past time to stop subsidizing Planned Parenthood—the nation’s largest abortion provider—with taxpayers’ money;” adding that – as one of only seven countries that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks – Green will lead the fight to pass the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. “As a physician, I know firsthand that life begins at conception, and it’s our moral responsibility as humans to protect the most vulnerable among us. If elected to Congress, I will continue to be a voice for the voiceless as I have been in the State Senate. I’m honored to receive Tennessee Right to Life’s endorsement,” Dr. Green said.…

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Schumer Targets SCOTUS Contender Amy Coney Barrett on Abortion and Obamacare: Does Bredesen Agree?

John Bryant
Amy Coney Barrett, Chuck Schumer, Phil Bredesen

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to Twitter on Monday to attack federal judge Amy Coney Barrett, a potential Trump pick for the Supreme Court. Barrett has ties to Tennessee. She was born in Louisiana, and lives in Indiana, but spent four college years in Tennessee, graduating from Rhodes College with a magna cum laude degree in English Literature, before going on to law school and a stellar legal career in practice, academia, and on the bench. Perhaps more importantly, with Democrat Phil Bredesen being Chuck Schumer’s man in Tennessee, with close ties not only to the man but the big liberal donor money behind him, the length Schumer seems intent on going to attack a leading contender to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the  Supreme Court should raise serious questions for Tennesseans as they contemplate where Bredesen’s loyalties will lie if he comes to represent Tennessee in the Senate next year. Barrett attacked the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, which has helped millions of people secure health insurance coverage. https://t.co/JXJAbCmvN4 — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 2, 2018 Schumer didn’t stop there. Barrett also fought efforts to ensure that all women have access to contraceptives.…

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OFF THE RECORD: Update on Who Else Wasn’t Paying Attention to What Steve Dickerson, ‘The Different Kind of Republican,’ Was Doing in the State Senate

Chris Alto
Steve Dickerson

So GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee wasn’t the only GOP gubernatorial candidate throwing his money at “the different kind of Republican,” State Senator Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), to help him get elected again in 2016. Lee only gave Dickerson $1,000 in 2016, which, as it turns out, was significantly less than either of his two main rivals for the GOP nomination for governor, Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06), and Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd gave the liberal Republican state senator from Nashville. Back before anyone really knew just what kind of “different” Republican Steve Dickerson would be – that is in 2012 before he was elected to his first term in the Tennessee State Senate, Diane and David Black gave him a total of $5,990 – an odd amount to be sure.  But it looks like the bloom was off the rose a bit, so to speak, since after his first term mis-steps, they gave him a piddling $3,000 in 2016–three times the amount Bill Lee gave him that year. But picking up after the slacker donors Lee and Black in 2016, and probably gearing up for his own campaign, Randy Boyd, along with his wife Jenny Boyd, together gave Dickerson a total of $6,000,…

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Tennessee Republicans Call For Democrats To Denounce Memphis Leader’s Remarks Calling Candidates Racist

Jason M. Reynolds
Corey Strong, Scott Golden, Karl Dean, Phil Bredesen

The Tennessee Republican Party is calling for Democrats to denounce comments of Shelby County’s party leader, who on Facebook labeled Republican candidates “demonstrably racist, homophobic and unethical.” Newsweek reported on the now-deleted comments made Saturday by Corey Strong, chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party. Strong was elected last year to lead the state’s largest county party, which includes Memphis, after the Tennessee Democratic Party “de-certified” the group in 2016 following years of internal strife. “No matter what the Election Commission has done, the Democratic ticket needs 15k+ non-August Democrats to show up and moderate/suburban Dems to not cross over and vote for the demonstrably racist, homophobic, unethical, and unqualified Republican nominees,” Strong said on Facebook. Strong’s comments come in the wake of comments made by Maxine Waters where people should oust Trump Administration officials from public spaces. Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden released the following statement: Democrats have reached into their failed 2016 playbook and again taken to name calling and outright lying in an attempt to score political points, all the while nothing but continued silence from Tennessee Democratic leaders Phil Bredesen, Karl Dean, Craig Fitzhugh, and Mary Mancini. When it comes to divisive and harmful rhetoric, Tennesseans deserve better…

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Bold, Brave and Free: I Love America

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fireworks

By Printus LeBlanc   Wednesday, July 4th will mark the 242nd anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The bold death-defying act created the greatest country the world has ever known. Yes, the nation has made mistakes, just as every other nation on the planet has, but no nation has advanced the cause of liberty and human rights more than the U.S. I for one am eternally grateful I live in the U.S. and would have it no other way. No nation on earth has the upward mobility the United States has. People often speak negatively about the 1 percent but never realize 80 percent of millionaires are the first generation of their family to attain that level of wealth. They do not inherit their wealth, as the media and left would have you believe from family members. One-third of the newly rich are entrepreneurs, far more than the in the banking or finance industry, 14 percent. The typical myths of the 1 percent not working for their money and the banking industry dominating the list are busted. The data shows if someone has an idea and works hard enough they can achieve the American dream. In the rest of the…

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Fresh Grounds for Coffee: Study Shows It May Boost Longevity

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coffee house

Go ahead and have that cup of coffee, maybe even several more. New research shows it may boost chances for a longer life, even for those who down at least eight cups daily. In a study of nearly half-a-million British adults, coffee drinkers had a slightly lower risk of death over 10 years than abstainers. The apparent longevity boost was seen with instant, ground and decaffeinated, results that echo U.S. research. It’s the first large study to suggest a benefit even in people with genetic glitches affecting how their bodies use caffeine. Overall, coffee drinkers were about 10 percent to 15 percent less likely to die than abstainers during a decade of follow-up. Differences by amount of coffee consumed and genetic variations were minimal. The results don’t prove your coffee pot is a fountain of youth nor are they a reason for abstainers to start drinking coffee, said Alice Lichtenstein, a Tufts University nutrition expert who was not involved in the research. But she said the results reinforce previous research and add additional reassurance for coffee drinkers. “It’s hard to believe that something we enjoy so much could be good for us. Or at least not be bad,” Lichtenstein said.…

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Beacon Center Releases Alternative Transit Plan For Nashville With No Tax Increases

Jason M. Reynolds
traffic jam

Conservative think tank Beacon Center of Tennessee has created a transit plan for Nashville that it says would serve all drivers in the near future while not raising taxes or requiring a referendum. The plan is available here. “Proponents of the Let’s Move Nashville light-rail plan argued that an alternative plan would likely take years to develop, with some even suggesting as high as another 10 years, making approving the plan imperative,” Beacon Center said. “Luckily, voters disagreed, knowing better alternatives existed.” The plan had its genesis from a forum called Off Track: What’s Wrong with Nashville’s Transit Plan & What We Should Do Instead where experts reviewed the proposed plan and offered alternative solutions, policy coordinator Ron Shultis wrote for Beacon Center. For Metro Nashville, Beacon proposes: Build an adaptive traffic control system (ATCS) that enables traffic signals to immediately respond to traffic demand in real time. Nashville’s last countywide optimization project in 2016 reduced travel times by 14%. The Federal Highway Administration recommends recalibrating lights every 3-5 years unless there are major changes earlier. Beacon Center says ATCS has helped Los Angeles cut travel time by 12% and increase speeds by 16%. Eliminate government bans on private transportation companies’ ability…

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