President Trump Moves to Protect Home Care Workers from Union Shakedown

senior citizen health care

By Richard McCarty   The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has proposed rolling back an Obama-Era regulation that allowed union dues to be deducted from Medicaid checks. If the proposed regulation takes effect, only deductions specifically allowed by law, such as court-ordered wage garnishments or child support payments, will be permissible. Of course, any caregivers who wish to join or stay in a union could still do so. They would just need to make arrangements to pay their dues, which could easily be done by authorizing the union to draft money from their bank account. For years, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has skimmed money off of Medicaid checks sent to in-home personal care workers. Many of these people care for relatives or friends and did not want to join a union. In Minnesota, 27,000 caregivers were unionized after an election in which fewer than 6,000 voted and SEIU received less than 3,600 votes. Unsurprisingly, some had no idea when the unionization election was being held and were surprised when they noticed that money had been deducted from their Medicaid checks without their authorization. Of course, SEIU does little for…

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Early Voting Turnout Heavy in Maury County

vote

Voters hit the polls heavily in the first two days of early voting in Maury County. The polls opened Friday at the Maury County Election Commission for early voting in the 2018 Tennessee general and primary election, The Daily Herald reported. On Friday and Saturday, at least 1,100 votes were cast even as Maury County candidates lined both shoulders of the road leading to the polling location. Maury County has 43,000 registered voters. Normally, about 30 percent of voters cast ballots early. During early voting in the 2016 presidential election, which included local races, more than 3,200 residents participated in early voting. The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, which oversees elections, lists the advantages of early voting on its website: “being able to choose a day during the early voting period that best fits the voter’s schedule and the voter being able to change his or her address of registration and vote in the same voting location.” Each county’s election commission office may be found online here. Early voting will be from July 13-28. In Maury County, early voting will be held at the county’s election commission office at 1207A Tradewinds Drive in Columbia. The Secretary of State’s office also…

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San Francisco’s New Mayor Says Her City Is Drowning In Human Waste: ‘There’s More Feces … Than I’ve Ever Seen’

by Andrew Kerr   San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the streets of her city are flooded with the excrement of the homeless in an interview Friday. Breed, a Democrat who was inaugurated as the San Francisco’s mayor Wednesday, urged homeless advocacy groups that receive money from the city to teach homeless people to “clean up after themselves.” “There is more feces on the sidewalks than I’ve ever seen growing up here,” Breed told KNTV. “That is a huge problem and we are not just talking about from dogs — we’re talking about from humans.” The streets of San Francisco are littered with a “dangerous mix of drug needles, garbage, and feces”, KNTV’s investigative team reported in February after surveying the city’s streets. “We see poop, we see pee, we see needles, and we see trash,” preschool teacher Adelita Orellana told KNTV. “Sometimes they ask what is it, and that’s a conversation that’s a little difficult to have with a 2-year old, but we just let them know that those things are full of germs, that they are dangerous, and they should never be touched.” There are about 7,500 homeless people living in San Francisco according to the city, which will spend nearly $280 million this year on…

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Diane Black Wins Davidson County GOP Straw Poll For Governor

Diane Black, Bill Lee, Randy Boyd

Gubernatorial candidate Diane Black won a straw poll at the Davidson County Republican Party picnic Saturday, a blog reported. U.S. Rep. Black (R-TN) received 116 votes in the governor’s primary straw poll, according to a blog called “A Disgruntled Republican in Nashville.” Rod Williams is the author. Second place went to Bill Lee, 106 votes. Other results were: Beth Harwell, 28 votes, Kay White, 11 votes and Randy Boyd, 2 votes. Williams says it appears many of the candidates brought their voters to the picnic at the Centennial Park event shelter. “Still, I was surprised that Randy Boyd only got two votes,” Williams said. About 300 people attended. Black spoke at the gathering, while other candidates’ representatives also spoke. The picnic straw poll is merely the latest forecasting in the Tennessee gubernatorial race. Boyd led Black by 32 percent to 27 percent among likely Republican gubernatorial primary voters in a Tennessee Star poll released June 29. The battle for the Republican nomination for governor is a three-way race, the poll showed, with Lee surging into a strong third position, with 20 percent. Harwell is no longer a factor in the Republican gubernatorial primary, coming in a distant fourth position with only 7…

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US Ambassador To Russia: Trump Is ‘Most Experienced Negotiator Ever Elected To The Presidency’

Jon Huntsman

by Evie Fordham   U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman called President Donald Trump “the most experienced negotiator ever elected to the presidency” ahead of Trump’s summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on “Fox & Friends” on Sunday morning. “I can tell you that in the president, we have the most experienced negotiator ever elected to the presidency,” Huntsman said. “You have a lot of presidents who have never had a negotiation before, unbelievable as that sounds, before they were elected president. So the president has pretty good instincts on these kinds of things.” Huntsman discussed U.S. strategy going into the talks in Helsinki, Finland, on the show. The summit will be the first time that Trump and Putin have had a one-on-one meeting. “We need to reduce the tension in the relationship,” the ambassador said. “We need to take the danger to the American people out of a bilateral relationship, a relationship that contains 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons … You have to build trust in a relationship that has none.” Watch the latest video at foxnews.com He listed some of the challenges Trump will face at the summit. “[The U.S. and Russia are] not talking with…

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Commentary: #NeverTrumpers Make It Plain They Enjoy Being Lonely Outside the Party

George Will, Max Boot, Donald Trump

by Jeffery Rendall   Are #NeverTrumpers loners or are they really just lonely? The question came to mind recently as the nebulous allegedly “conservative” anti-Trump group appears to be losing adherents and friends at an alarming rate. It’s not that President Donald Trump has suddenly become so popular that it’s no longer fashionable to oppose him; maybe it’s because the #NeverTrump group has just run out of things to criticize the president for. Whatever the reason more conservatives have taken to kicking the GOP intra-party opposition where it hurts with many a commentator treating #NeverTrump with the same contempt as they would Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer. Nerdy bespectacled intellectual George Will perhaps triggered the bash-#NeverTrump revelry a couple weeks ago when he encouraged conservatives to vote Democrat this November instead of for Trump-enabling Republicans. The #NeverTrump suicide-fest continued last week with several more establishment Republicans declaring independence and urging the ultra-disgruntled to do the unthinkable: go Democrat. Then one-time highly respected right-leaning (neoconservative) writer Max Boot took his turn at pleading for the minority party. Boot wrote last week at The Washington Post, “No one anticipated Trump’s takeover. It’s possible, these [#NeverTrump] Republicans argue, that we might be equally surprised by his downfall. Imagine…

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California Dems Snub Feinstein, Endorse Liberal Challenger For Senate

Dianne Feinstein, Kevin de Leon

by Will Racke   California Democrats have declined to endorse Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s bid for re-election in 2018, rebuking a powerful senator the party’s activist base sees as too conservative for the famously liberal state. Instead, the state party’s executive committee voted late Saturday to endorse her challenger, state Sen. Kevin de Leon, in the general election. Currently the 51-year-old leader of the state senate, De Leon is held in high esteem by the party’s far left as the principal author of SB54, California’s controversial sanctuary state law. De Leon won 65 percent of the 333 board members, easily clearing the 60 percent threshold needed for an endorsement. Another 28 backed a “no endorsement” option, while just 7 percent voted for Feinstein. Prior to Saturday’s vote, Feinstein’s team had urged party delegates to support the “no endorsement” policy in a nod to party unity. Feinstein recruited Democratic heavyweights to plead her case, including Gov. Jerry Brown, Sen. Kamala Harris and two former state party chairmen. The push was not enough to sway the executive committee, which has been moving away from Feinstein’s brand of center-left politics for years. Although the board represents a small fraction of a state party with…

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Autopsy Finds Ohio Police Chief Died of a Fentanyl Overdose

by Steve Birr   The recent death of an Ohio police chief was the result of a fentanyl overdose, an autopsy report released Friday by a local coroner determined. Authorities in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, found Kirkersville Police Chief James Hughes Jr. dead in the bathroom of his home on May 25, along with a plastic sandwich bag containing cocaine residue and two syringes that later tested positive for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid roughly 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. Hughes was police chief for little more than two months before his death, reported WCMH. The autopsy report, issued by the Franklin County Coroner’s Office, said Hughes died from “acute intoxication by fentanyl,” which they found to be the result of an accidental overdose. Hughes’s death is the second tragedy to befall the Kirkersville Police Department in the past year. The community lost Chief Steven Eric DiSario in May 2017 after he was fatally shot while responding to a hostage situation. The coroner’s report underscores the dire nature of the opioid crisis spreading across the state. Ohio currently has the second largest drug overdose death rate in the country, trailing only West Virginia. Nearly 40 in 100,000 people die from drug-related overdoses in Ohio. The state lost 4,329 residents to drug overdoses in 2016, a 24 percent increase…

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Commentary: Paul Manafort Is a Political Prisoner

Paul Manafort

By Printus LeBlanc   Paul Manafort is in a fight for his life, literally. He is currently facing up to 305 years in prison if he is convicted of all the crimes he is alleged to have committed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Manafort is currently in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day now as terrorists at GITMO are live better than he does. For what? Did this man murder, rape, or commit an act of violence? No. Surely, he is a mastermind behind a criminal organization spanning the globe? No. Paul Manafort is in jail for one reason and one reason only, he worked for President Trump during his election campaign. The trial of Paul Manafort makes participation in the political process illegal. The Mueller investigation has been tainted from the beginning. Robert Mueller staffed the investigation with over a dozen partisan lawyers and investigators. Many of the investigators also have disturbing conflicts of interests while others have horrendous records at the DOJ. It is easy to call the investigation phony because Mueller’s team hasn’t investigated anything to do with Russia collusion. The team has not taken control of the DNC server to prove Russia hacked the server. The Russian lawyer…

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Statewide Early Voting Numbers Are Starting with a Bang

early voting

In the first two days of early voting there are signs that turnout may be higher than normal in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. Early voting started on Friday and continued on Saturday, though the locations and schedule for the Saturday voting was limited in several counties. Additionally, some counties have only reported their Friday totals at this point. Nevertheless, 30,262 votes have already been cast in the Republican Primary and 12,205 in the Democratic Primary. Early voting continues until July 28 with Election Day on August 2. There were 668,039 total GOP Senate Primary votes cast in August 2014.  That election featured a contested primary between Senator Lamar Alexander (331,705 votes) and Joe Carr (271,324). Alexander prevailed by a closer than expected 49-40% margin. A third Republican, Dr. George Flinn received a little over 34,000 total votes. That race may give guidance in predicting final turnout as we move through the early voting period. Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill expects the turnout to increase dramatically over the next few weeks. “Not only do we have a hotly contested Republican Primary for Governor, in which we will see perhaps $10 million in spending in the next few weeks…

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Blackburn Campaign: Phil Bredesen Will Go Down for the Count This November in ‘Death by 10,000 Cuts’

Ward Baker, Phil Bredesen

Republican Marsha Blackburn campaign strategist Ward Baker predicted Democrat Phil Bredesen will lose to Rep. Marsha Blackburn in November by “death by 10,000 cuts,” also comparing Bredesen to a punch drunk boxer “who won’t survive the punches coming before the November election,” according to reports. “I believe when the TV ads are out, and we lay out our case, I think some of them will come back. And the ones that don’t, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that they have trouble living in the future,” Baker reportedly said by  way of a joke aimed at Republicans who might cross party lines to support the Democrat. Baker supposedly called Bredesen “Phantom Phil,” citing his “disappearing act on the campaign trail” we’ve previously characterized as “duck and cover Phil.” Baker also hinted  at a potential controversy to come that would dog Bredesen and set him apart from Blackburn as a candidate. He offered no further details. “We’re going to make sure that he is in a corner, and we are going to constantly punch him in his face over and over and over again. This race will not be won by death by a thousand cuts. It’s going…

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Just Facts Think Tank President: The True Effects of Regulations on the Economy

by James D. Agresti   In a New York Times article about President Trump scaling back regulations, reporters Binyamin Appelbaum and Jim Tankersley report “there is little historical evidence tying regulation levels to” economic growth. They support this sweeping claim only with a quote from Jared Bernstein, a former chief economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, who says: “The notion that deregulation unleashes growth is virtually impossible to find in the data.” In reality, there is a wealth of data indicating that regulations harm economic growth, and economists have identified numerous mechanisms by which this can occur. This includes but is not limited to: preventing workers from using the most efficient means of production. In the words of an economics book published by Johns Hopkins University Press, “The sectors that provide services related to human capital investments [like education and healthcare] may produce inefficiently because regulations preclude efficient production,” which “may result in much greater costs of achieving specific investments than would be possible with fewer regulations.” diverting people from productive work. For example, federal tax laws and regulationsrequire taxpayers to spend 6.1 billion hours per year filling out forms and performing other tax compliance tasks. This is more than the combined work time of…

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Occupational Licensing Reform: A Bipartisan Blueprint for Helping Low-Income Workers

bureaucratic stamps

by Alex Muresianu   A new report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison comparing employment between Minnesota and Wisconsin after Minnesota raised its minimum wage found that Minnesotan workers saw a decline in employment, especially for young, inexperienced, and low-skilled workers, as employment in Wisconsin rose. Despite this evidence reaffirming that the minimum wage can hurt many low-income workers, a $15 an hour minimum wage remains a popular position among progressives, including the rising democratic socialist star and primary upset winner Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes. In light of this push, conservatives need to do more than just rebut progressive arguments for minimum wage hikes or job guarantees. We need to push for a compelling alternative that can raise low-income workers’ wages: occupational licensing reform. Occupational licensing is a form of government regulation that requires workers to obtain a license before they can provide a service. The process for getting a license can be time-consuming and expensive, requiring fees in excess of $1,000, hundreds of hours of training, or even a college degree. Occupational licensing has exploded over the past half-century. In the 1950s, only five percent of jobs required licenses—now almost 30 percent of jobs do. Doctors and lawyers are not the only positions that require licenses: over 8,000 job titles require licenses in at least…

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The Department of the Interior Will Pay 1,900 Local Governments $553 Million in ‘Lost Tax Revenue’ in 2018

federal lands

by Daniel Di Martino   Over 1,900 local governments received $553 million from the Department of Interior this year to compensate them for lost tax revenue for federal lands that cannot be developed in their territory. These payments are the consequence of more than 640 million acres of land, which amounts to 28 percent of the U.S. territory owned by the federal government. The Federal Government Is Hoarding Huge Potential Prosperity The costs of federal ownership are not only payments to local governments but also environmental damage due to mismanagement and deferred maintenance, as well as the lost economic activity that cannot occur in 28 percent of the country. Of all federal land, 27.4 million acres are National Parks, while approximately 600 million acres are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service. These government agencies allow grazing and other economic activities on federal lands in exchange for fees. However, since fees are not enough for the expenses of these agencies, the federal government spends several billion dollars per year to cover the difference. Additionally, the federal government owns more than three trillion barrels of oil and 450 trillion cubic meters of natural…

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One-Fifth Of North Carolina Students Aren’t Going To Traditional Public Schools

classroom

by Rob Shimshock   Almost 20 percent of K-12 students in North Carolina are not attending traditional public schools. Enrollment in the state’s traditional public schools has fallen during the past few years as more and more students attend private, charter or home schools, The News & Observer reported Friday. North Carolina’s proportion of students enrolled in traditional public schools now sits at 80.8 percent. “Families are more attuned to and used to having choices at their fingertips, and that is entering education as well,” Parents For Educational Freedom Interim President Brian Jodice said. “We’re no longer in this mindset that because I live at this address or this ZIP code I have to attend this particular school that works for many students but doesn’t have to be the only choice.” The National Center for Education Statistics anticipated that out of the 3.6 million students expected to graduate from high school in 2018, 3.3 million graduates would receive their degrees from public high schools. This proportion is over 10 percent higher than the aforementioned North Carolina rate. Not everyone is pleased with the trend. “North Carolina has already embraced the privatization, the [American Legislative Exchange Council] agenda of dismantling public schools in favor of…

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Commentary: Democrats Don’t Fear Brett Kavanaugh – They Fear the Constitution

Bernie Sanders

by David Harsanyi   Sure, some of the anger aimed at President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is partisan bluster meant to placate the activist base. Still, most Democrats were going to get hysterical about any pick, because any conservative pick was going to take the Constitution far too literally for their liking. For those who rely on the administrative state and coercion as a policy tool—forcing people to join political organizations, forcing them to support abortion, forcing them to subsidize socially progressive sacraments, forcing them to create products that undermine their faith, and so on—that’s a big problem. Some, such as former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, indulged in the histrionic rhetoric we’ve come to expect in the Trump era, claiming that Kavanaugh would “threaten the lives of millions of Americans for decades to come.” But almost none of the objections coming from leading Democrats have been even ostensibly about Kavanaugh’s qualifications as a jurist or, for that matter, his interpretation of the Constitution. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] “Specifically,” prospective presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.,…

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Evidence from Many Nations Confirms That Border Walls Stem the Tide of Illegal Immigration

Great Wall of China

by Daniel Marulanda and James D. Agresti   The border between the United States and Mexico stretches for 1,960 miles, parting two major regions of the world with vastly different governments, standards of living, and levels of crime. Consequently, many millions of people have risked their lives to illegally cross the border into the United States. During 2013 to 2015 alone, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded an average of 700,000 illegal entries per year along the U.S.-Mexico border. Additionally, roughly one million people per year legally immigrate to the U.S., 100 million per year legally visit the U.S., and more than 300,000 per year illegally overstay their visits, often never leaving. People who illegally enter the U.S. avoid criminal background checks, and as a result, they have much higher serious crime rates than legal immigrants and the general U.S. population. Highlighting the impact of this, a U.S. Government Accountability Office study of 249,000 non-citizens in U.S. prisons and jails during 2003 to 2009 found that they had been arrested for 2.9 million offenses committed within the U.S.—including 69,929 sex offenses and 25,064 homicides. Like most government data, this study did not isolate legal non-citizens from illegal ones, but given that legal immigrants have to undergo background checks, the vast bulk of these criminals were probably in the U.S. illegally. Mexico is…

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Three Ways Milton Friedman Improved the Field of Economics

Milton Friedman

by Luis Pablo De La Horra   Milton Friedman is probably the most important free-market thinker of the twentieth century. His ideas in defense of capitalism and economic freedom had an enormous influence on the shift towards free-market policies that took place from the 1970s onwards. Countries like the UK, China, Chile, or Estonia followed the economic recipes contained in best sellers like Free to Choose or Capitalism and Freedom, unleashing the power of free markets to create wealth and prosperity. Yet the contributions of Friedman as an economist are often overlooked by non-economists. Here are three that will help you understand a bit better his work. 1. On Methodology In 1953, Friedman wrote a very influential essay titled The Methodology of Positive Economics, where he puts forward what he thinks is the right methodological approach to economics. According to Friedman, the assumptions on which a theory rests don’t have to be realistic: as long as they are “sufficiently good approximations for the purpose in hand” (which is to make accurate predictions), the theory is valid and useful to analyze the world. Let’s draw upon an example to better understand what he meant. We are all familiar with the theory of perfect competition, which is based on…

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Democrat Steve Cohen Tries to Walk Back Purple Heart Slur of Veterans

Steve Cohen

U.S. Rep Steve Cohen (D-TN) wants to take it back after drawing fire for flippantly telling anti-Trump FBI lovebird Peter Strzok he wanted to give him a Purple Heart during a Congressional hearing. The Memphis Democrat made the remark during the disgraced FBI agent’s heated testimony in front of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees regarding his bias against President Donald Trump. For an analysis of the hearing, click here. Even reporter Aaron Blake of the Washington Post was dumbfounded: https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1017476103794028550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Now, Cohen wants to take it back. Newsmax quoted his interview with CNN’s Ana Cabrera: “I regret using the term ‘Purple Heart. I used it metaphorically, not literally. I never thought, literally, it should be given to Agent Strzok,” he said. The Purple Heart is given to U.S. service members who are wounded or are killed during combat. The apology may be too little, too late. Some veterans in Tennessee say they’re planning a protest march in protest of Cohen’s remark, Fox News reports. Sean Higgins, an Air Force veteran from Memphis, is leading the upcoming march, The Tennessean reported. Higgins said many constituents are “p****d as hell” after Cohen said Strzok deserved the military award. “How do you compare…

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Conservative Chattanooga Editorial Page Endorses Bill Lee in Republican Gubernatorial Primary

The conservative Free Press editorial page of The Chattanooga Times Free Press endorsed Bill Lee in the Republican gubernatorial race on Friday, the first day of early voting. Clint Cooper, the Free Press page editor, said Tennessee Republicans have an “embarrassment of riches” in their primary, with four of six candidates being both competitive and conservative with “diverse backgrounds and unique strengths.” Cooper cites Lee’s background as a business owner and farmer and having an outsider’s perspective on politics. “We also appreciate that he has chosen not to be involved in what seems like daily negative campaign exchanges between perceived front-runners Randy Boyd, a Knoxville businessman whose ideas we also very much admire, and U.S. Rep. Diane Black,” Cooper said. He continued, “Although recent independent polls on the campaign have been few, the man who terms himself the ‘conservative outsider’ appears to have momentum in the race. We hope that will allow voters who originally considered Boyd or Black to take a look at the seventh-generation Tennessean.” Lee announced the endorsement in a press release on Friday. The Chattanooga Times Free Press publishes the liberal Times and conservative Free Press editorial pages, a tribute to the city’s journalism heritage when…

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Media-Fueled Demonstrators Flood Streets to March Against Trump in London

London Trump protest

A giant balloon (pictured) depicting President Trump as a screaming orange baby flew over London Friday as tens of thousands marched through the streets to protest the American leader’s visit to the U.K. The diaper-clad infant, with a quiff of hair and a mobile phone for tweeting, was the centerpiece of demonstrations protesting Trump’s policies on issues ranging from immigration and race relations to women and climate change. “Depicting Trump as a baby is a great way of targeting his fragile ego, and mocking him is our main motivation,” said Matthew Bonner, one of the organizers. “He doesn’t seem to be affected by the moral outrage that comes from his behavior and his policies. You can’t reason with him but you can ridicule him.” Anger over Trump’s visit has already had consequences. Just a week after Trump’s inauguration, Prime Minister Theresa May invited the president for a state visit, the type of event that normally includes glittering horse-drawn carriages and a state dinner hosted by the monarch. That morphed into this two-day “working visit” with much less pomp and circumstance amid concern about security and crowds in central London. Protest organizers say they plan to stage demonstrations in some 50…

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Congressional Candidate Judd Matheny Earns Another Big Endorsement – This Time, From the NRA

Judd Matheny

State Representative Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma) earned another top-tier endorsement, this time from the National Rifle Association, in his campaign to win the Republican nomination in the Sixth Congressional District. Matheny faces former Judge Robert Corlew and businessman John Rose in the August 2 primary for the GOP nomination. The winner of that primary will be the favorite to win the general election contest to replace Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06), who is running for governor. “Thank you to the NRA for all they do to preserve our Second Amendment and for recognizing my unwavering support for the same. I have never and will never compromise on our Constitutional rights. I am a known and proven quantity – by far the best man for the job!” Matheny said in a statement released by his campaign on Friday. The campaign notes the welcome endorsement comes “in the wake of his educational 10th Annual Machine Gun Shoot held for the public, law enforcement, military, and the General Assembly.” Matheny, the statement added, “is known for his steadfast conservative voting record in the state house, and says that every decision he makes is viewed through the lens of his core principles of protecting life, the…

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Seven Takeaways From FBI Agent Strzok’s Testimony Before Two House Committees

Peter Strzok

by Fred Lucas   A joint hearing of two House committees Thursday repeatedly turned testy as FBI agent Peter Strzok sought to explain away text messages sharply critical of Donald Trump and how they did not affect the fairness of the FBI investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Strzok, reassigned but still an FBI employee, admitted “it’s fair to say I’m not a fan” of Trump. But he insisted that the Russia investigation is legitimate, contrary to Trump’s characterization of it. “In the summer of 2016, we had an urgent need to protect the integrity of an American presidential election from a hostile foreign power determined to weaken and divide the United States of America,” Strzok told lawmakers. “This investigation is not politically motivated. It is not a witch hunt. It is not a hoax.” The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Judiciary Committee held the joint hearing. The following are the big takeaways. [The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] 1. Denying Bias, Admitting Regret Throughout the hearing, Strzok continuously denied being biased. “Having worked in national…

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China’s US Trade Surplus Hits Record in June

Donald Trump, Xi Jinping

Reuters   China’s trade surplus with the United States swelled to a record in June as its overall exports grew at a solid pace, a result that could further inflame a bitter trade dispute with Washington. But signs exporters were rushing shipments before tariffs went into effect in the first week of July suggest the spike in the surplus was a one-off, with analysts expecting a less favorable trade balance for China in coming months as duties on exports start to bite. The data came after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump raised the stakes in its trade row with China on Tuesday, saying it would slap 10 percent tariffs on an extra $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, including numerous consumer items. US-China trade surplus China’s trade surplus with the United States, which is at the center of the tariff tussle, widened to a record monthly high of $28.97 billion, up from $24.58 billion in May, according to Reuters calculations based on official data going back to 2008. For January-June China’s trade surplus with the United States rose to $133.76 billion, compared with about $117.51 billion in the same period last year. China’s exports to the United States…

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Steve Gill Remembers When Democrat Delegates Booed God at The 2012 DNC Convention

Steve Gill

On Friday’s Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, conservative commentator and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill was in disbelief as he reflected upon the Democratic Party’s convention in 2012 where delegates voted emotionally against a Godly provision in their platform. “We were talking a moment ago about the Democrats booing God at their convention,” marveled Gill. “Now the reason this came up is that there had been a provision about God in their platform that they removed it, and then because there was so much backlash and pressure they decided to try and add the reference to God back into their platform.” He continued: And it came up for a vote and the Democrats voted against it but the chair after hearing the loud explosion of boos against God, said, ‘Oh in the opinion of the chair it passes,’ and they added God back to their platform against the votes in attendance at the Democratic convention. This is Sheppard Smith of Fox News reporting on it at the time. SPEAKER FROM THE DNC CONVENTION FLOOR: Is there any further discussion, hearing none, the matter requires a two thirds vote in the affirmative, all those delegates…

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Trump Administration Proposes Privatizing the Postal System

postal worker

by Brittany Hunter   Last week, the Trump administration unveiled a proposal to privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS). The plan comes as part of a broader initiative to trim and reorganize the federal government. And given its track record of waste and inefficiency, the USPS is a great place to start cutting the fat. “USPS’s current model is unsustainable. Major changes are needed in how the Postal Service is financed and the level of service Americans should expect from their universal service operator,” the White House’s new proposal reads. The plan goes on to say that the administration plans to “fix” the post office before beginning the process of privatization. “USPS privatization through an initial public offering (IPO) or sale to another entity would require the implementation of significant reforms prior to sale to show a possible path to profitability.” In terms of “fixing” the post office before taking it out of the hands of the government, the Trump administration has proposed reassessing the USPS’s ties with labor unions. This would give the new owners of the post office more freedom to set wages and provide benefits that are economically realistic. The document reads: “Freeing USPS to more fully negotiate…

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Tennessee’s 2nd District: Tim Burchett Releases New Ad Promoting His Support for President Trump

Donald Trump, Tim Burchett

Knox County Mayor and Republican candidate for Congress in Tennessee’s 2d Congressional District has a new television commercial airing that promotes his support for President Trump.  This is Burchett’s second ad and it is airing on both broadcast and cable throughout the district. TIM BURCHETT “TRUMP” ad: Hey, I’m Tim Burchett, and I’m running for Congress to help President Trump shake up Washington. Everyone says they’re for Trump, but I’m the only candidate who supported Donald Trump in the 2016 primary. As mayor, I took on the tax-hikers and the big-spenders. And I fought to ban hiring illegal immigrants over Americans. I’m proud to be pro-life, pro-gun, pro-America. I’m Tim Burchett and I approve this message because I’m a true conservative and I will never pretend to be otherwise. Early voting in the primary election began Friday with Election Day on August 2. The winner of the primary in the heavily Republican district will be highly favored to replace retiring Congressman Jimmy Duncan who has held the seat for three decades. Burchett announced a big fundraising total in the second quarter of 2018 earlier this week.              

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JC Bowman Commentary: A Modern Approach to Educator Representation

teacher

Most educators are not buying into a more militant, progressive labor movement beholden to the far left. Educators nationally often spend hundreds, or sometimes even thousands of dollars per year on union dues.  There are much more cost-effective alternatives, like Professional Educators of Tennessee.   That is what makes groups like Professional Educators of Tennessee different.  We offer a modern approach to educator representation, legal protection and unmatched educational advocacy, as well as promoting professionalism, collaboration and excellence without a partisan agenda.  There are non-union alternatives for educators in other states as well.  Nobody wants to return the 1950’s.    

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‘Duck and Cover’ Bredesen Silent on Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen’s Praise for FBI’s Strzok and Insult to Wounded Veterans

Phil Bredesen

As the Tennessee Star reported, Tennessee Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) shocked many people yesterday with his “purple heart” comment regarding now infamous FBI Agent Peter Strzok. https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1017476103794028550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1017476103794028550&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftennesseestar.com%2F2018%2F07%2F13%2Fdemocrat-rep-steve-cohen-mr-strzok-if-i-could-give-you-a-purple-heart-i-would%2F But it should shock no one that Cohen is also a big supporter of Democrat Phil Bredesen. I was there.Bredesen never supported any taxes while Governor.We passed lottery and sales and other taxes in 2002 before Bredesen was elected.He managed and spent what was there. https://t.co/0mDsDtVJkc — Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) May 30, 2018 Cohen has even run to the New York Times to support Bredesen, while taking a shot at Rep. Marsha Blackburn on Bredesen’s behalf. Ms. Blackburn is sending a different message. “Real conservative leadership,” promises a palm card for her campaign. “No compromise, no apologies.” Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Memphis, questioned whether Tennessee voters would embrace a candidate in that mold over someone with a middle-of-the-road, business-friendly image. “We’ve never had a politician on that level of anybody that’s been kind of mocked for their antediluvian ways,” he said. A previous Tennessee Star item pointed out how “duck and cover” Bredesen earned that moniker from the Tennessee GOP. Now he seems to be at it, again, evidently having…

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Anti-Trump Group Drops Mail Piece Against Bob Corlew in Tennessee 6th District

Nick Ryan

The American Future Fund, a 501(c)4 group that funded multiple attack ads against Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election has filed information with the Federal Election Commission indicating that they have just spent $17,500 for a targeted direct mail piece against Republican conservative businessman and former Judge Bob Corlew.  Corlew is locked in a tight primary battle with businessman John Rose in the 6th Congressional District to fill the seat being vacated by Congresswoman Diane Black. Black is running for Governor. https://twitter.com/pml_tray/status/1017095926064615424 In 2016 alone, the organization spent $6.7 million in attacks against Trump, describing him as a “fraud,” “a phony,” and a “B.S. artist.”  The group recently ran negative ads against South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a staunch and early Trump supporter. Trump appeared at a campaign rally for McMaster the night before his runoff election in South Carolina last month.  McMaster won the runoff and is expected to easily carry the state in November. The American Future Fund was founded by Nick Ryan in 2007 and is based in Iowa.  The group has spent funds opposing other pro-Trump candidates during this election cycle. FEC regulations require the disclosure of independent expenditures related to a Federal campaign, such as Congress,…

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Democrat SuperPAC Releases Poll (Lacking Backup) Showing Phil Bredesen with a 44-41 Lead Over Marsha Blackburn

Phil Bredesen, Marsha Blackburn

Duty and Country PAC, a Washington DC based political action committee that is aligned with the Democratic Party, has released a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling that shows Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen with a narrow 3 point lead over his Republican opponent Marsha Blackburn. The poll was conducted among 583 likely voters June 10-11 and has a margin of error of 4 points, placing Bredesen’s lead within that margin of error. The poll indicates that Bredesen leads Blackburn 44 percent to 41 percent with 15 percent undecided. In the release, Duty and Country PAC did not include a topline summary providing data in the demographic and political affiliations of poll respondents, which is customary among most professional polling firms. Nor did they include a detailed description of the poll’s methodology, which is also customary, or more detailed crosstabs, which is a common practice among professional polling firms. The poll stands in marked contrast to the Axios-Survey Monkey Poll released earlier this week that shows Blackburn leading Bredesen by 14 points, 55 percent to 41 percent. Duty and Country PAC has raised about $2 million this year according to their latest Federal Election Commission filings.  Their latest report…

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Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen to Anti-Trump FBI Lovebird: ‘Mr. Strzok, If I Could Give You a Purple Heart, I Would’

Steve Cohen, Peter Strzok

Even reporter Aaron Blake of the Washington Post seemed stunned at what came out of the mouth of Tennessee’s own Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09). https://twitter.com/aaronblake/status/1017476103794028550?s=12 CBS has a slightly more detailed report. Evidently cohen believes the hearings are little more than a distraction and went out of  his way to praise Strzok. Rep. Cohen says this hearing is just a distraction. “If I could give you a purple heart, I would,” Rep. Steve Cohen said, calling the hearing an “attack” on Strzok. Cohen criticized the hearing as a distraction from Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and a way to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. “It’s astonishing to me that you would be put on trial as you have today,” Cohen said, praising Strzok’s work in security. What an insult to wounded service members: Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen tells disgraced FBI agent Strzok: "If I could give you a Purple Heart, I would. You deserve one." pic.twitter.com/G47C5GhSLk — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 12, 2018 The above may come as no surprise to those familiar with Rep. Cohen, no friend of President Donald Trump. Just yesterday he called for an end to all public spending at any business owned…

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Beth Harwell Airs Attack Ad Targeting Black, Boyd and Lee as Children

Beth Harwell

As the heat intensifies in the Tennessee Republican Primary campaign for Governor House Speaker Beth Harwell has aired her first negative ad. In the Harwell ad each of her three opponents are depicted as bickering children while she’s the “adult” in the room. Harwell touts the fact that as Speaker she has balanced the budget, lowered taxes, outlawed sanctuary cities and reduced the size of government. Beth Harwell “ADULT IN THE ROOM ad: ANNCR: “You have a choice for Governor. Behind all the fighting and posturing Diane Black, Randy Boyd and Bill Lee only offer political promises.” HARWELL: “I am the only candidate who offers proven results instead of political promises. Under my leadership as your Tennessee Speaker we’ve already balanced the budget and lowered your taxes. Already outlawed sanctuary cities and reduced the size of our state government.” ANNCR: “Beth Harwell, the adult in the room.” As Harwell’s critics have noted, EVERY Speaker has balanced the budget because it is required by law. And while some taxes were lowered as part of the IMPROVE Act, the tax cuts primarily went to big businesses while the fuel tax increase of over $300 million a year hits working families in Tennessee. Tennessee…

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California Voters Prepare To Square Off Against Gov. Jerry Brown Over Gas Tax Repeal

Jerry Brown

by Chris White   Gov. Jerry Brown is leaving office after the midterms, but the California Democrat plans on engaging in one last brutal campaign to defend an extremely unpopular gas tax he approved in 2017. Brown is pledging to raise $25 million in a campaign to fight the repeal effort. He is also soliciting help from business and labor leaders, who view the gas tax as an instrument to build up California’s roads. Supporters of the repeal are eager to knock it around with the 80-year-old governor. “This has nothing to do with taxes,” Brown said of Prop 6, which seeks to repeal a gas tax the governor passed in April 2017. “This is engineered by the Republican congressional delegation to prop up their vulnerable Republicans,” he said in a June 6 interview with The New York Times. The Road Repair and Accountability Act imposes a 12-cents-a-gallon increase on Californians and raises the tax on diesel fuel by 20 cents a gallon. It also implements an additional charge to annual vehicle license fees ranging from $25 to $175 depending on the car’s value. The measure gained has become a hot-button issue in the Golden State. California currently ranks seventh highest in the country when it…

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FBI Official Peter Strzok Testifies About Anti-Trump Text Messages

Peter Strzok

by Masood Farivar   A top FBI official at the center of controversy over alleged political bias at the bureau said on Thursday that his private views about President Donald Trump did not influence his actions as the lead investigator on the Hillary Clinton email investigation team. Testifying publicly for the first time during a tense Congressional hearing, Peter Strzok, a deputy assistant FBI director, said a series of anti-Trump and pro-Clinton emails he exchanged with former FBI lawyer Lisa Page during the 2016 presidential election had no impact on his actions as an investigator for the FBI. “Let me be clear, unequivocally and under oath: not once in my 26 years of defending my nation did my personal opinions impact any official action I took,” Strzok told a joint hearing by the house judiciary and government oversight committees. Strzok later worked on Special Council Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and allegations of collusion with Russiauntil last year, when he was removed after the text messages came to light. Strzok said he was removed not because of his anti-Trump “bias” but because of Mueller was concerned about the “appearance of bias” the text messages cast over the Russia…

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Commentary: Democrats’ Anti-Catholic Bigotry On Kavanaugh Will Cost Them In November

Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump

by George Rasley   That the Democratic Party has become the party of the anti-religious Far Left was confirmed way back in 2012 when delegates to the Democratic National Convention jeered the mention of God and struck all reference to him in their platform. However, until recently, as smart politicians most national figures in the Democratic Party carefully avoided the anti-Christian, anti-Semitic bigotry displayed by their Left wing grassroots activists. That all changed in 2017 during the confirmation of now-Judge Amy Coney Barrett when California’s Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein went after Barrett’s Catholic faith during her confirmation hearing. Feinstein charged that Barrett has “a long history of believing [her] religious beliefs should prevail,” and added “when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you.” Liberals have since tried to explain away Feinstein’s odd phrasing, which had the quality of a nativist, anti-Papist tract from a century ago observed James S. Robbins in a recent op-ed for USAToday. These days, says Robbins, liberals have taken to portraying people in public life who exhibit almost any kind of faith orientation as dangerous extremists. In a discussion of the high court, CNN contributor Dean Obeidallah maintained…

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Commentary: The Ticking Fiscal Time Bomb Set in 1937 Could Tip America Into Despotism by 2030

US Flag

by Robert Osburn   Celebrated this past July 4, America’s founding story of freedom is truly remarkable: unity, courage, integrity, and national integration (incorporating people from around the world). In most other places, the freedom story is bloody, exclusive, and, ultimately, tyrannical. Take Nicaragua, for one example: In 1979, the Sandinistas overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza.  Nearly four decades later, hundreds are dying because the very people who led the Sandinista revolution (Daniel Ortega and friends, now in power) are behaving exactly like Somoza.  It’s déjà vu all over again for our Central American neighbors. In an age when democracy is clearly retreating, will America eventually succumb to autocracy while waving sayonara to democracy?    It’s a question that National Review’s JonahGoldberg once very handily dismissed. He now admits that American totalitarianism is a real possibility. Utilizing a scenario-building skill that I learned during my doctoral studies, let me offer what I consider a very plausible scenario that takes America down the rathole of tyranny: Sometime between 2028 and 2034, America’s president will use executive or emergency powers to solve the nation’s Social Security trust fund crisis. As Americans celebrate that presidential act of courage, we will begin the long road to tyranny because we cannot rule ourselves.  Does this remind anyone of the books of Judges and I Samuel when, because everyone did what was right…

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Game On: Early Voting for August 2 Primary Begins Today

Voting in the 2018 Republican and Democrat primary elections begins today after candidates for statewide and local office have spent record amounts. So far, the four major candidates for the Republican gubernatorial nomination–Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06), Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd, Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell, and Williamson County businessman Bill Lee–have spent more than $37 million in a campaign that began one year and four months ago when Boyd became the first to announce his candidacy. In the two weeks and six days between now and election day on August 2, the four Republican gubernatorial candidates are expected to spend another $10 to $15 million. The early voting period begins today, July 13, and continues for 15 days until Saturday, July 28. “Before a single ballot is cast in early voting, which begins Friday, the contest to succeed a term-limited Gov. Bill Haslam is already the most expensive gubernatorial contest in state history,” as the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported: Contributions received in the gubernatorial by the four major Republican and two Democratic candidates is a shade over $51 million, according to second quarter campaign disclosures filed Tuesday with the state’s Registry of Election Finance.Of that amount, some $35 million comes…

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Nashville Plans Overhaul of Two Public Housing Developments For Mixed-Income Communities

housing

Nashville’s housing agency plans to rehab two properties even as the city takes over public housing from the federal government. The Nashville Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency will release its 600-page five-year plan to the federal government soon, Nashville Public Radio reports. The plan overview is available here. Council will consider it next Tuesday. The developments slated for an overhaul are J.C. Napier and Tony Sudekum. Much of the focus is on transforming an area adjacent to Fort Negley from low-income into apartments rented to low, moderate and higher income residents. It’s estimated to cost nearly $600 million dollars, Nashville Public Radio says. MDHA is using a federal policy that transfers ownership of housing property from the federal government to local agencies, allowing them to take out loans. In June the city broke ground on a 40-townhome affordable housing community in the Bordeaux Redevelopment District, WKRN recently reported. Target renters may be police officers or teachers who make up to 120 percent of the area’s median income.            

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Tennessee’s 2nd District: Tim Burchett Reports Huge Fundraising Haul for Second Quarter

Tim Burchett

Knox County Mayor and Republican congressional candidate in the 2nd Congressional District had an impressive second quarter fundraising report according to a release from his campaign on Thursday. Burchett reports raising $225,000 during the most recent reporting period that ended on June 30th. To date Burchett has reported raising over $590,000. “I am honored and humbled by the outpouring of support our campaign has experienced across the Second District,” Burchett said in announcing his fundraising totals. “From fundraisers, to local events, to volunteers who spend their weekends knocking on doors in the sweltering heat, I am lucky to have the hardest-working, most enthusiastic supporters this state has ever seen.” Burchett hired highly regarded Republican fundraiser Kim Kaegi as he headed into the quarter and the results speak for themselves, one political insider noted in reviewing the numbers. “The biggest question mark about Tim was whether he could raise the money to wage a competitive race against two significant self-funders in Jason Emert and Jimmy Matlock. Clearly he and his team have answered that question in the affirmative and added an exclamation point this quarter.” Early voting in the primary election begins today with Election Day on August 2. The winner…

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Tennessee’s 8th District: Colleen Owens Endorses George Flinn in GOP Primary

Colleen Owens, George Flinn, David Kustoff

Colleen Owens, a Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in West Tennessee’s 8th District announced on Thursday that she is endorsing one of her opponents, Dr. George Flinn, for Congress.  She is immediately suspending all of her campaign activities. Owens made the announcement during an appearance on Jackson’s WNWS 101.5 FM. Owens said that she came to the conclusion that Dr. Flinn is the clear choice for Tennessee’s Congressional District 8. “I’m excited to be voting for George and asking my supporters to vote for George Flinn, because he’s going to be the right person for West Tennessee. I do not want to be the spoiler that helped Congressman Kustoff go back to Washington,” Owens told WNWS host Dan Reaves.   “After getting to know George better – I really like him. He’s conservative and a self-made businessman. He’s going to Washington and doesn’t owe anyone. He’s doing it for the right reasons.” Owens stated that she has attended events with both David Kustoff and George Flinn. After being around both of them, she feels that George Flinn is the clear choice for West Tennessee. “I came away feeling like George is a good man, and we agree on pretty much everything.…

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Researchers: ‘Everything We’ve Heard about Global Urbanization Turns out to Be Wrong’

Earth's city lights at night

Reuters   Widely accepted numbers on how much of the world’s population lives in cities are incorrect, with major implications for development aid and the provision of public services for billions of people, researchers say. The United Nations predicts the world’s urban population is expected to grow to 70 percent by 2050 from 55 percent at present after becoming majority urban for the first time around 2008. Not so, say researchers based at the European Commission. Using a definition made possible by advances in geospatial technology that uses high-resolution satellite images to determine the number of people living in a given area, they estimate 84 percent of the world’s population, or almost 6.4 billion people, live in urban areas. “Everything we’ve heard about global urbanization turns out to be wrong,” said lead researcher Lewis Dijkstra. Asia and Africa, which are routinely cited as majority-rural continents that are rapidly urbanizing, turn out to be well ahead of figures in the U.N.’s latest estimates. Once thought to be about 50 percent and 40 percent urban respectively, the new research argues Asia and Africa are closer to 90 percent and 80 percent, or roughly double previous estimates. Those percentages translate to billions of…

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Tennessee Star Constitution Bee Winner Cooper Moran Witnesses History on First Day of SCOTUS Nominee on Capitol Hill

Cooper Moran

Tennessee Star Constitution Bee winner Cooper Moran was a witness to history on Tuesday. The rising senior at Lincoln County High School was at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. just as Vice President Mike Pence escorted Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh through the hallways as he began his visits with the United States senators who will be voting up or down on whether to confirm him this fall. Moran won an all expenses paid round trip visit to Washington, D.C. for himself and his mother when he finished in first place in the April 2018 Tennessee Star Constitution Bee, sponsored by the Polk Foundation. “I cannot begin to express the excitement I have had just in the first day in D.C.,” Moran told The Tennessee Star in an email Tuesday night. “When going on a tour of the Capitol building, I got to see Vice President Pence walk through with the new SCOTUS appointee Brett Kavanaugh!” he added. Moran also met with Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) in her Capitol Hill office on Tuesday, and is scheduled to meet with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) later in his visit to Washington, D.C. this week. As the winner of the April 2018…

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TDOT Considers Total Closure of Interstate 440 For Reconstruction

Highway 440, Nashville

TDOT is planning to overhaul Interstate 440 in Nashville, with options ranging from closing segments at a time all the way to completely closing the roadway for 10 months. The Tennessee Department of Transportation laid the options out at a public information meeting on Tuesday. WKRN reports the department is considering three closures, each focusing on two areas of the road: east, from Interstate 24 to Interstate 65, and west, from I-65 to Interstate 40. One option is temporary lane closures in both directions lasting 36 months. The second option, WKRN says, would be to completely close I-440 east then west for 10 months to get the project done in a faster time. Or, a third approach would combine the first two options and take up to 22 months. TDOT says it is using the Design-Build method to deliver the I-440 Reconstruction Project. Four Design-Build teams are preparing proposals that will include final design of the project, plans for how it will be constructed and a bid amount. TDOT has provided the teams with the three construction options. The Design-Build teams will submit their final proposals later this month, the department says. TDOT hopes to award the I-440 Reconstruction Project contract…

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Bob Corker Attacks Trump with Likely Pointless Gesture in DC While POTUS is Traveling Overseas

Bob Corker

If you ever wondered how low Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) might go in trying to disrupt President Trump’s agenda on negotiating better trade deals, yesterday may have provided the answer. Fox News‘ Chad Pergram took  to Twitter to cover the outgoing Senator Corker’s effort to create additional problems for President Trump on the tariff issue with legislation and even pointed out the complete lack of decorum on Corker’s part by pushing it while the president is traveling abroad. Corker on if it was inappropriate to have the tariff vote with the President overseas: Votes kind of happen when they happen. — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 11, 2018 It is often said that foreign policy stops at the water’s edge. It's taboo for lawmakers to criticize the President when he is overseas. But the Senate fired a salvo at Trump, voting 88-11, to assert Congressional authority on imposing tariffs on national security grounds — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 11, 2018 To be clear, this was very much Corker’s effort despite previously being blocked from doing anything with real “teeth” by the Senate. It was his motion after all. Text of Corker motion today on tariffs: Mr. Corker moves that the mgrs…

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Victor Ashe Commentary: Jimmy Matlock Has Some Explaining To Do on His Voting Record

Victor Ashe

by Victor Ashe   The recent revelation that 2nd District Congressional candidate Jimmy Matlock skipped the three-day special session called by Gov. Bill Haslam in 2016 to rescue federal highway dollars, as well as the vote to oust a sexual predator from the state House, has triggered further questions about his attendance record over the past 12 years.   It has been hit and miss for Matlock when it comes to being on the House floor for votes. Only this year, on the last day of the 2018 session, Matlock left three hours early before the House adjourned, missing several votes, including one on the sale of liquor in Tellico Village. He represents Tellico Village but did not want to take a position on the legislation He has yet to explain to voters why he did not attend the special legislative session. On April 10, 2014, when the state budget passed 68 to 27, Matlock was one of four House members not to vote. The budget is the single most important vote a lawmaker casts. Meanwhile, Matlock has challenged Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett to a one-on-one debate, as if the other three candidates are irrelevant. Clever – but why would…

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Woman Claiming to be Union Member from Nashville Leaves Foul-Mouthed Voice Mail at Think Tank That Filed Amicus Brief Cited by SCOTUS in Janus Decision

Foul-mouthed voicemail

A woman claiming to be a union member from Nashville left a foul-mouthed voice mail last week at the offices of the Mackinac Center, the Michigan-based think tank that filed an amicus brief in the Janus v. AFSCME lawsuit in which the Supreme Court ruled employees could not be required to make donations to a union if they chose not to. In an email and phone exchange with The Tennessee Star, Mackinac Center’s Vice President for Strategic Outreach & Communications Lindsay Killen shared details about the foul-mouthed message. Killen wrote: We received this voicemail from Ann Barnett, a union member from Nashville who called Mackinac Center’s My Pay My Say campaign call center. My Pay My Say is a national education and awareness campaign to inform public employees that their First Amendment rights to free speech and association have been restored by the Supreme Court in the Janus v. AFSCME case – no longer must they pay fees to a government union just to keep their jobs. Ann Barnett’s voicemail was a vulgar and outraged response to the fact that we would dare to inform public employees about their right to choose whether to continue pay for union activities that…

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Trump’s Broadside Against Germany at NATO Finds Some Republican Support

NATO allies

Reuters   They might not have agreed with the U.S. president calling Germany a “captive” of Russia, but some Republican lawmakers on Wednesday said they believe Donald Trump is right to shame one of America’s most important allies into spending more on defense. The Republican president, in Brussels for the NATO summit, took a swipe at Germany for supporting a new pipeline for Russian gas, saying at a pre-summit meeting: “We’re supposed to be guarding against Russia and Germany goes out and pays billions and billions of dollars a year to Russia.” Trump kept up his assault on NATO members, particularly Germany, for failing to spend a target two percent of national income on defense, a goal they must meet by 2024. He told fellow leaders he would prefer a 4 percent target, closer to the 3.6 percent of GDP the United States spends on defense. While Democratic congressional leaders condemned Trump’s attacks on Germany as “brazen insults and denigration of one of America’s most steadfast allies,” Republicans took a more benign view, and some backed him outright. “I think the president is right to raise the issue of whether they’re meeting their responsibilities to NATO and whether they are…

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