Day: July 29, 2018

GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Randy Boyd’s Foundation Hands Out $1 Million For 37 Tennessee Community Pooch Parks in Days Preceding Election

Jason M. Reynolds
Randy Boyd

Isn’t free money to support man’s best friend a good thing? What if the money is coming from a gubernatorial candidate just before the election? Republican candidate Randy Boyd’s foundation is handing out cash. The Randy Boyd Foundation presented the city of Jackson with the grand prize check of $100,000 for the Tennessee Dog Park Dash, WBBJ reported Friday. The grant requires the park to be built by 2020. “I anticipate it being done much earlier,” said Mandy White with the Jackson Chamber. A total of 37 communities across the state will receive $1 million to build or enhance off-leash dog parks, the Crossville Chronicle reported. Jackson received the largest prize — the other locales were paid $25,000 each. The winning communities for the 2018 Tennessee Dog Park Dash grant are: • West Tennessee: Bolivar, Brownsville, Camden, Decatur County, Dyersburg, Henderson, Humboldt, Lakeland, McKenzie, Memphis, Milan and Pickwick. • Middle Tennessee: Gallatin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg, Manchester, McMinnville, Mount Pleasant, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill and White House. • East Tennessee: Athens, Bristol, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Crossville, Erwin, Greeneville, Jonesborough, Kingsport, Kingston, Morristown, Rogersville, Spring City, Union County, and Jefferson County. ●Grand Prize winner: Jackson. Randy and Jenny Boyd, of course, “will visit and meet with…

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Seven Steps Next Director Can Take to Make the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Less Awful

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Kathy Kraninger

by Norbert Michel   The Trump administration has nominated Kathy Kraninger to be the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Roll Call reports that her confirmation hearing was “as politically contentious as it’s gotten in the last year and a half” on the otherwise “senatorial Senate Banking Committee.” Ignore the political drama. The real story is the fact that the Bureau has been making some very positive changes under acting director Mick Mulvaney, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus. To be clear, the Bureau should not exist. It was created based on the false premise that there was insufficient consumer protection law prior to the 2008 crisis, and that evil lenders preying on unsuspecting borrowers caused the mortgage meltdown. Mortgages are not, despite Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claims, anything like faulty toasters, and more than 20 federal consumer financial protection statutes existed prior to 2008. Furthermore, the crisis itself was caused by too much government, not too little. Congress should never have created a new federal agency, much less one with the bizarre (possibly unconstitutional) structure that it gave the CFPB. At best, Congress should have consolidated authority for the 20-plus federal consumer financial protection statutes that existed prior to 2008 at the Federal…

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‘Eliminating Foreign Intervention In Elections Act’ Aims to Confront Illegal Voting

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Tennessee Star

By Printus LeBlanc   Since President Trump was elected in 2016, the mainstream media, the left, and the Washington D.C. establishment have gone mad over election interference. Facebook memes are serious business in the nation’s capital now. Yet despite millions of taxpayer dollars, thousands of man hours, and lives turned upside down by multiple investigations, not one piece of evidence has been presented that shows Russia voted in, changed someone’s vote, or influenced someone to vote for President Trump. But there are cases around the country of real foreign influence in U.S. elections, and U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) has introduced legislation to put a stop to it. Leftist cities around the nation are going to extremes keep their majorities. One of the more nefarious extremes is giving legal and illegal immigrants the ability to vote in local elections, and possibly federal elections. San Francisco is the latest city to allow such lunacy. This is the very definition of foreign intervention. Duncan has introduced H.R. 6482, the Eliminating Foreign Intervention in Elections Act. The bill states, “None of the funds made available in any Act may be used to make payments to any unit of local government that permits individuals who are not citizens…

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Williamson County Early Voting Numbers Hit 20,000 as Early Voting Ends – Almost Double 2014 Turnout

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early voting

The early voting period for the August 2 Primary and Local General Elections ended Saturday with voter turnout continuing on a record pace across the state. The Tennessee Star will have more detailed analysis of the statewide and key county turnout figures next week once the Secretary of State posts the complete totals. However, a review of the final totals from the Williamson County Elections Administrator shows dramatic increases in voter participation from 2014 in both the Republican and Democratic Party primaries. In Williamson County, 20,884 total votes were cast during Early Voting, representing turnout of approximately 13.9% of total registered voters. In 2014, there were 11,757 total primary votes, a turnout of 8.6%. Of those votes, 14,861 were in the Republican primary. 5,953 were cast in the Democratic Primary. The Democratic primary total is a 400% increase over the primary votes cast in 2014. Nevertheless, GOP votes still exceeded Democrat votes by over a 2 to 1 margin. Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill says the significant increase in early votes among both Democrats and Republicans indicates that the Fall election will be more hotly contested than races in recent years. “Assuming we see the early voting numbers double…

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Commentary: Trump, Reagan, and Big Government

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Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump

by Jeffery Rendall   As I strolled through the excellent and memory-provoking exhibits at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (in Simi Valley, CA) the other day I was struck by how similar President Donald Trump’s approach to today’s politics is to the way Ronald Reagan handled the subject a half century ago. For starters, Reagan and Trump’s optimistic pro-American emphasis is nearly identical. They both appealed to the patriotic propensities of country-loving individuals to rise up and be the best they possibly can be, so that everyone might achieve their goals and dreams as long as they’re willing to work hard, sacrifice and put stock in the best nation on the planet. At their core both Reagan and Trump mastered a populist message and used it to ignite a movement (unfortunately in their cases, very personality-centered). Both acknowledged America as the lead source of good in the world and championed American exceptionalism as their signature value. Both were extremely media savvy and understood mass communications and messaging to perfection. It almost appears as though Trump’s emulated Reagan’s political career and added his own personal touches to match the legendary effectiveness of the great communicator. Reagan didn’t have Twitter, of course, and…

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Republican Rep. Gaetz Threatens Twitter with FEC Complaint Over Twitter Suppression, Claims Twitter May Be Giving Opponent Illegal Advantage

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Matt Gaetz

by Peter Hasson and Joe Simonson    – Twitter’s recent algorithm change suppressed, or “shadow-banned,” prominent conservatives, including Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a new report found.  – Gaetz is considering filing a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against Twitter, he told The Daily Caller News Foundation.  – Gaetz said his Twitter account’s growth slowed immediately after Twitter’s recent algorithm change. Twitter acknowledged the “inaccurate” search results but said it was unrelated to politics. Rep. Matt Gaetz is considering filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) over Twitter’s alleged suppression of his account, the Florida Republican told The Daily Caller News Foundation on Wednesday. Gaetz was one of several prominent conservatives, including members of Congress and the chair of the Republican National Committee, whose accounts Twitter suppressed by making it harder to find in the site’s search function, a Vice News investigation published Wednesday found. “Democrats are not being ‘shadow banned’ in the same way,” the report concluded, noting: “Not a single member of the 78-person Progressive Caucus faces the same situation in Twitter’s search.” Twitter announced in May that the company would rely on “behavior-based signals” to boost the visibility of some accounts and to suppress the visibility of others, as…

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Here’s What Happened When A Trump Supporter Became A ‘Commie Camp’ Counselor

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Camp Kinderland

by Rob Shimshock   A 20-year-old supporter of President Donald Trump resigned from her position as a counselor at a summer camp known as “Commie Camp,” she told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an exclusive interview. Gabriella Mamet said she resigned as a counselor at Camp Kinderland in Tolland, Massachusetts, after nearly a month of Trump-bashing, Black Lives Matter chants and hostility from campers. Progressive film director Katie Halper coined Kinderland “Commie Camp” in a 2013 documentary. “They didn’t really mention how political of a camp it was in the phone interview or anything,” Mamet told TheDCNF. “I went on their website and I thought it was pretty much a normal camp and when i got there during orientation it was kind of surprising at how political it was.” The 20-year-old worked at the camp from the June 28 orientation until she quit July 22. Camp Kinderland assigned her to 14- and 15-year-old campers. Her campers allegedly wanted to know the Trump supporter’s views on political issues, but Mamet was not comfortable sharing them. Camp Kinderland is a “multicultural summer camp and community that honors our progressive secular Jewish roots through our commitment to economic, racial, and social justice,” according to its mission…

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Letter to the Editor: Message, Media, Money, and Matheny

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Judd Matheny

Dear Tennessee Star, It wasn’t until I heard an interview with the social research scientist Robert Epstein about the impact of Internet messages on political thought that I first grasped the complete gravity of this problem. Epstein’s conclusion was that moderate and conservative Republicans are the voter group most easily influenced by what they see in the media. Wow! Each time I witness political offices being bought like auction items instead of side by side comparisons, I remember the Marshall McLuhan axiom “the medium is the message.” Consequently, if you can afford to buy enough of the medium, you can own the result of the message. So what is the true message of a candidate for the US House of Representatives who once elected will earn a salary for 2 years at $175K, currently “loaning” their campaigns millions of dollars which they’ll earn back in after-win donations? And what common sense campaign finance law would permit a candidate to obtain a $500,000 loan at 3% simple interest from a local bank to finance such an operation? Such is the case in the TN 6th District House race. State Representative Judd Matheny is clearly the candidate most closely aligned with the…

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Christianity: The First Major Religion That Stripped the State of Its Theocratic Powers

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Jesus Christ

by Cuatro Jones   When discussing the history of the West and exploring the ideas and philosophies that led up to the creation of the Magna Carta and the U.S constitution, eventually the religion of Christianity must be brought forward in the discussion. Why? Well, despite the many sins of Christians (and there are many), Christianity is the first major religion that, at its founding, stripped the state of its theocratic powers over the spiritual lives of the people. In the Biblical narrative, we see Jesus of Nazareth establish this foundational philosophy when answering a challenge from the Pharisees of Judea regarding to whom they should pay their monetary offerings: God (Yahweh) or Caesar? This question was designed to serve as a trap for Jesus, as the Jews were monotheistic and theocratic, and Roman law essentially made the Emperor a god. It is at this pivotal, though often overlooked moment, that Jesus sets the standard for the modern West regarding the role of government and religion in public life, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and render unto God what is God’s.” This is critical because for the first time, we see a clear and categorical line of division between the palace and the temple, set by a central religious figure. This fundamentally…

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Letter to the Editor: When Bold Men Are Called to Lead – Tennessee’s Gubernatorial Race

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Bill Lee

Dear Tennessee Star, Mr. Mark West expressed his opposition to Bill Lee for Governor in The Tennessee Star several days back. West began with the Old Testament story of a brief conversation between Deborah and Barak. This is a story I’ve not known scholars to hold up as a turning point in Jewish history. Also, the relevancy of this anecdotal story to Bill Lee leaves me wondering even though it seems clear to Mr. West. I am in FULL SUPPORT of BILL LEE. And from the Old Testament I offer the story of Nehemiah from the book of Nehemiah. So Nehemiah is released from his long term obligation to the king and follows his call from the Lord to travel a long distance back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and the Temple. So with “only” the grace of God Nehemiah sets out. Along the way he tells his story to whoever will listen and picks up scattered support. As he moves closer and closer to the near impossible task of rebuilding, families and clans close around him in support as they are inspired by God and by Nehemiah’s commitment to the rebuilding task. And they are also moved…

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Three People Are Dying Each Day From Opioids In Tennessee

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Bill Haslam

by Steve Birr   A new report reveals the deteriorating national opioid epidemic is hitting Tennessee particularly hard, killing three people across the state each day. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam created the Tennessee Commission on Pain and Addiction Medicine Education Jan. 24 to investigate the addiction crisis and develop new standards for the state’s medical educational institutions, in order to avoid the mistakes that led to the current epidemic, reports WMC. The report, published Thursday, identifies 12 areas perspective doctors in Tennessee must now master that are aimed at tackling the opioid crisis, including alternative treatments that limit use of the drugs and the most effective ways to treat addiction. “If the primary care provider doesn’t understand addiction and pain, then the primary care provider becomes part of the stigma against it,” Dr. David Stern of Memphis’s UT Health Science Center, who was part of the commission, told WMC. Tennessee continues to suffer from rampant opioid abuse, which killed 1,186 people in 2016. The death rate from opioids in Tennessee is a staggering 18.1 per 100,000 people. Officials say in the report that every day there are roughly three opioid-related deaths in the state. “In Tennessee we have a major problem around opioid addiction,” Haslam previously said,…

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Globalist Sen. Lamar Alexander Bemoans President’s ‘Shot to the Foot’ From Tariffs

Jason M. Reynolds
Lamar Alexander

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) bemoaned President Trump’s “shot to the foot’” over tariffs on Fox News’ Journal Editorial Report. Tennessee’s senior senator, praising globalism, introduced the Automotive Jobs Act of 2018 Wednesday to delay the tariffs. He said, “Zero tariffs is exactly the right policy.” He also called for an end to the steel and aluminum tariffs which he said are hurting Tennessee’s auto industry and raising prices of the autos they make. He claimed the state exports cars around the world but could not answer a question as to how many are shipped out of the country. “Tariffs are shooting ourselves in the foot, really shooting ourselves in both feet,” Alexander said. He called for the reauthorization of NAFTA by September and said it has been good for Tennessee. Steel and aluminum tariffs remain in place and car tariffs will remain on hold if negotiations continue, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said. Fox News quoted him as calling auto tariffs a “national security threat.” Watch the latest video at foxnews.com Calling on globalists The automotive act, co-sponsored by Sen. Doug Jones, (D-AL), would delay the tariffs of 20 to 25 percent on imported vehicles, CNBC said. The bill would require…

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