Month: July 2018

Phil Bredesen Likely to Support His Would-Be Liberal Senate Colleagues in Abolishing ICE?

John Bryant
Phil Bredesen

U.S. Senate Candidate Phil Bredesen is on record calling the policy that required children to be separated from their families “child abuse” and also voiced his support for the ongoing national  protests on behalf of illegal immigrants. Frankly, there seems to be little if any room between Bredesen and the most liberal of current Senate Democrats when it comes to illegal immigration. Video at link. Phil Bredesen on immigration separation policy U.S. Senate Candidate Phil Bredesen on the policy that required children to be separated from their families June 20, 2018 before President Trump repealed it. Now, Bredesen’s would be fellow Democrat Senators, should he win in November, are increasingly calling for the elimination of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) altogether. There’s more on that topic here. Clearly it’s a growing trend among Democrats, especially in the same Senate Democrat Bredesen longs to become a part of. As usual, he’s dodging the touch questions, as in, would he, or would he not support doing away with ICE. And a mostly Democrat friendly media is all too happy to let him get away with it. Given the manner in which Democrats tend to walk in lockstep once they get to Washington,…

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Conservatives Team Up with Immigrants to Tackle Costly New Jersey ‘Hair Braiding’ Regulation

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hair braiding

by Elias Atienza   The New Jersey state chapter of Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is helping West African immigrants lobby the New Jersey legislature to change cosmetology requirements. West African immigrants, usually women, operate hair-braiding businesses that are essentially illegal, since state regulations require these workers to get a license, WNYC reported Monday. That license is acquired from cosmetology school, which is often expensive, and degrees can cost up to $20,000. These hair braiders have been lobbying Trenton for two years to pass a bill that would exempt the cosmetology school credentials from the licensing requirement. They received guidance from AFP in order to do so. “Those guys came and said, ‘We are going to work you through this,’” said Anita Yeboah, a braider who works at J&C African Braids in Trenton, to WNYC. “All we can say to them is, God bless them for their time, for all they are doing.” Since hair braiders often work under the table, customers sometimes skip out on their bills and threaten to tell the state the braiders lack a license if they try to complain or call the police. This then causes some braiders in Newark to hire gang members for protection, who go out and collect…

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Fact Checking the Fact Checkers: Obama Administration Records Show Illegal Immigrants Are FAR More Likely to Commit Serious Crimes Than the U.S. Public

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Border Patrol arrest illegal aliens

by James D. Agresti   President Trump recently held a conference with family members of U.S. citizens killed by illegal immigrants. The parents of nine people slain by such immigrants spoke about their family’s experiences, and Trump presented an array of government data on criminal immigrants and stated: I always hear that, “Oh, no, the population is safer than the people that live in the country.” You’ve heard that, fellas. Right? You’ve heard that. I hear it so much. And I say, “Is that possible?” The answer is it’s not true. In response, the Associated Press published a “fact check” claiming that illegal immigrants are more law-abiding than the general public. Various media outlets, such as the New York Times, Yahoo!, and a number of NBC affiliates published this article. The Washington Post ran a similar story, and other media outlets and so-called fact checkers have made similar claims in the past. The truth, however, is that comprehensive, straightforward facts from primary sources – namely the Obama administration Census Bureau and Department of Justice – prove that illegal immigrants are far more likely to commit serious crimes than the U.S. population. Studies that claim otherwise typically suffer from fallacies condemned by academic publications about how to accurately analyze…

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OFF THE RECORD: Bill Lee Donated to Lowest Conservative-Rated Republican in State Legislature

Chris Alto
Bill Lee

  Can you guess who it is? Admittedly it’s tough because pretty much any Republican in Tennessee running for the state legislature claims they’re a conservative and there are plenty who forgot what they told voters once they’re elected. Even Bill Haslam claimed he was a conservative when he was campaigning. And then there are all those non-stop radio and print ads which Randy Boyd the self-described political moderate, is now buying to try and fool voters that he didn’t really mean it when he said it given that it was a terribly inconvenient truth for trying to become governor in Tennessee. But at least he’s making good on his promise to “spend whatever it takes” to buy win votes, and now with all that Irish green tax savings…. If you still can’t guess which State Senator got $1,000 in 2016 from Bill Lee, here are the clues: in 2015, a year before Bill Lee decided to send his check, this Tennessee State Senator voted in the Senate Education Committee to give in-state tuition to illegal alien students and then voted again on the Senate floor to help pass that bill two months after this State Senator was the ONLY Republican…

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Move Over, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – Conservative Morgan Murtaugh Will Be The Youngest Woman Elected To Congress If She Wins

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Morgan Murtaugh

by Jessica Kramer   Morgan Murtaugh is a 25-year-old running for Congress in San Diego, and if she wins the race, she would be the youngest female ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is “poised to become the youngest woman in Congress,”according to news outlets like CNBC, Teen Vogue and Pacific Standard. Murtaugh, however, is younger and headed to the November general election as well after coming in second to the Democratic nominee in California’s jungle primary, where candidates from all parties run against each other. “There are no reliable counts of candidate ages by year … so amid this record-breaking year of women candidates, it’s hard to know exactly how big the wave of young women candidates is,” said Deborah Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, NPR reported Monday. “But like Ocasio-Cortez, there are multiple congressional candidates under 30, meaning multiple women could break that record for the youngest woman Congress member.” All of these women are first-time candidates. In addition to Murtaugh and Cortez, there are other women who are all 29 years old, vying for the record of being the youngest in Congress. In California, Sara Jacobs won her primary and is headed to the general, as did Mallory Hagan in…

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Protests, Polls, and Hysteria: Steve Gill Talks About the Failing Narrative of the Democrats on ICE and How Swing Voters Really Feel About It

Julie Carr
Steve Gill

On Monday’s Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, conservative pundit and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill reflected on the Democrat’s failing political strategy in regards to ICE and what polls really prove about majority of the parties base. “We talked a little bit today some of the other polls – including The Tennessee Star Poll. Well, the new national poll is also revealing when it comes to what’s happening out in the rest of the world,” Gill said. He continued: Over the weekend we saw a lot of these protest rallies across Tennessee and across the country as the left wing ‘hystericals’ were absolutely pitching a hissy-fit over the Donald Trump plan to deport and detain illegal immigrants. Now, they’re trying to play this game of saying we should abolish ICE – the immigration and customs enforcement agency – and have completely open borders, so everybody can come into our country and presumably get on welfare, and suck away our jobs, and well, destroy our country. The bottom line as we talked earlier today is that Mexico is about to see a flood of Mexicans coming across our border with their new President who is…

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Commentary: Who Better Understands the Concerns and Frustrations of Conservatives, George Will or Donald Trump?

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George Will, Donald Trump

by Jeffery Rendall   It should come as no surprise to observers of American politics that nearly two years after Donald Trump was formally nominated as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate – and a year and a half after he assumed the office – his “conservative” #NeverTrump adversaries are still after him. These spoiled, pampered and snobby pseudo-Republicans won’t let bygones be bygones and acknowledge the plethora of positive things Trump brought the GOP and the conservative cause since taking center stage in the White House on January 20, 2017. Simply put, Trump (thus far) has been the most refreshing political surprise of a half-century. Perhaps starting with his choice of full-spectrum principled conservative Mike Pence as his running mate (and future vice president), Trump’s made one good decision after another, usually tilting the political balance towards the right side of the scale. Still there are those refusing to give Trump his due; these malcontents snipe at his flanks, mostly by decrying his past personal history, his current behavior and his fondness for punching back at critics via Twitter or his always entertaining but never conventional press appearances. Despite this, few in the nebulous #NeverTrump contingent have come flat out…

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Richmond’s Jefferson Davis Statue Might Be Next On The Chopping Block

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Jefferson Davis statue, Richmond, Virginia

by Rob Shimshock   A commission recommended Monday that Richmond, Va., remove its statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The Davis statue is one of five Confederate monuments lining Monument Avenue in the city, reported The Guardian. The commission, appointed by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, said that the Davis monument “is the most unabashedly Lost Cause in its design and sentiment.” The Lost Cause emphasizes the values and traditions of the South over slavery when conceptualizing the Civil War. The commission notes that the statue terms Davis the “Defender of the Rights of States.” “In the course of [our] work, it became abundantly clear the majority of the public acknowledges Monument Avenue cannot and should not remain exactly as it is,” the commission, comprised partly of historians and local officials, said. “Change is needed and desired.” Richmond erected its Gen. Robert E. Lee Monument Avenue statue in 1890. May and June 1907 saw the installation of statues dedicated to cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart and Davis, respectively. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s statue debuted in October 1919 and naval commander Matthew Fontaine Maury’s monument was the last Confederate memorial to populate the street on November 1929. “Richmond has a long, complex and conflicted history and the…

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The Special Interests Behind the Unsustainable ‘Renewable Fuel Standard’

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corn

By Printus LeBlanc   The ethanol lobby and corn farmers are teaming up to keep the government mandated gravy train flowing into their bank accounts. After a deal was reached between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), several Senators, and oil refiners regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the deal suddenly collapsed when it got to the White House. The deal made sense for everyone involved, so the question must be asked, what happened and why? The RFS is a government rule, established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The rule mandates renewable fuels, mostly corn ethanol, be blended with gasoline. Of course, this became an instant cash cow for corn farmers and ethanol refiners. The government had just mandated anyone that drives a vehicle must use their product. But just like Obamacare didn’t do what it was supposed to do, the RFS didn’t do what it was supposed to do. The first problem is ethanol efficiency. According to the Department of Energy, E10 and E15 get 3 to 5 percent fewer miles per gallon than regular gasoline. E85, the flex fuel, gets a horrible 15 to 27 percent fewer miles per gallon. If the purpose of the RFS was to increase…

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Report, Based on Unverified Documents, Claims Irish Subsidiary of Randy Boyd’s Company Is a Tax Haven

Tennessee Star Staff
Randy Boyd

The Tennessean reported on Monday that the Irish subsidiary of Radio Systems Corporation, the company founded and majority controlled by Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, is a tax haven that enables Boyd’s Knoxville-based company to significantly diminish its U.S. tax obligations. The report is based on documents The Tennessean says are Irish tax records of Radio Systems Corporation. The Tennessean has failed to publish, produce, or explain the legal provenance of those alleged documents. “From 2014 to 2016, the company sheltered millions of dollars in European profits from any taxes because of this corporate structure, according to two experts who analyzed Radio System’s Irish tax records obtained by the USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee,” The Tennessean reported on Monday. One of those experts was University of California-Irvine School of Law professor Omri Marian. “Analyzing the company’s tax records, University of California-Irvine School of Law professor Omri Marian estimated the company paid an effective tax rate of a little more than 1 percent,” The Tennessean reported. The Tennessee Star contacted Professor Marian, and asked him four questions about his comments. You can read The Star’s questions and Professor Marian’s responses below: 1.Can you confirm that the Irish tax records for Radio Systems Corp you…

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President Trump Meets with Supreme Court Candidates

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Donald Trump

President Donald Trump says he met Monday with four candidates for the Supreme Court and plans to meet with two to three more as he seeks to nominate a replacement to succeed retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Trump told reporters in Washington Monday that the candidates he met with are “incredible people in so many different ways, academically and in every other way.” White House Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump met with each candidate for roughly 45 minutes on Monday. She did not reveal the names of the candidates but said Trump is looking for someone who will uphold the U.S. Constitution and who has the “right intellect” and “right temperament.” When asked if Trump is looking for a candidate that will overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling on abortion, Sanders reiterated Trump’s stance that he is not asking the candidates their views on abortion rights. “The president is pro-life, but in terms of the process of selecting a Supreme Court nominee, as the president said last week, he is not going to discuss specific cases with the nominees,” Sanders said. Trump said Friday that he thinks the topic of Roe v. Wade is “inappropriate…

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Bill Lee Reports Campaign War Chest at $3.5 Million

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Bill Lee

Franklin-area business man and gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee reported Monday that as of the close of this fiscal reporting period, his campaign has over $3.5 million cash-on-hand. The campaign noted that amount includes receipts of over $400,000 in the second quarter of the year. “Momentum is building for Bill Lee at the perfect time. He has the resources and the support to win, and he is outworking every candidate in the field,” Lee’s Campaign Finance Chairman Stuart McWhorter said in a statement. “I’m honored to work with Bill as he gets ready to win the August Primary, and I’ll be proud to call him ‘Governor’ after he wins in November.” Senior Advisor and Campaign Manager Chris Devaney added, “Our strong second quarter fundraising numbers, along with our solid cash on hand, show that Bill Lee has the resources to continue his surge in the polls and ultimately to win the primary race for governor on August 2nd. “Our fundraising momentum continues as Bill is rising in the polls and continues to outperform other candidates in debates and forums. Donors and voters alike recognize that Bill Lee is the only conservative outsider in the race,” Devaney concluded. With primary election day less…

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Bill Lee Donated $164,000 to Federal and State Candidates, 99.3 Percent Went to Republicans

Tennessee Star Staff
Bill Lee

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee donated $164,540 to candidates for federal and state offices during the 19 year period beginning in 1999 and ending in 2017, according to records provided to The Tennessee Star by the Lee campaign. Of that amount, 99.27 percent, or $163,340, went to Republican candidates, while 0.73 percent, or $1,200, went to Democratic candidates. Notably, as The Star reported on Saturday, $1,000 of that $1,200 to state Democratic candidates went to Gov. Phil Bredesen’s re-election campaign in 2004. The majority of those donations–$130,640–went to federal candidates, while another $33,900 went to state candidates. (Note: $12,600 of the state candidate contributions were made by Bill Lee’s wife, Maria Lee, and $3,000 of the federal candidate contributions were made in 1999 by Bill Lee and his late first wife.) All of Lee’s donations to federal candidates went to Republicans. Three percent of Lee’s $33,900 to state candidates–or $1,200–went to Democrats. The Lee campaign did not provide a list of Lee’s donations to local candidates and committees to The Star. As The Star reported previously, Lee donated $500 to disgraced former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, a Democrat, and the Lee Company, which he owns and now serves as chairman…

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Three GOP Gubernatorial Candidates Say Uphold the Constitution, But Tennessee Attorney General Disagrees and Randy Boyd Is Silent

Chris Alto
Bill Lee, Diane Black, Herbert Slatery

This past May, seven states, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, sued the federal government to stop Obama’s unconstitutional DACA administrative amnesty program once and for all. To date, Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert Slatery has not joined the lawsuit. In fact, it appears that Slatery has done an about face choosing instead to support amnesty and a path to citizenship for DREAMER illegal aliens. The Tennessee Star asked each GOP gubernatorial candidate whether as governor would they support having Tennessee join the other states suing to challenge “whether the 2012 executive action unilaterally creating DACA was itself lawful” as stated in the lawsuit? Speaker Harwell responded that she would support the lawsuit. Bill Lee’s campaign spokesman responded: As Mr. Lee stated in the June 20 debate regarding his support of deploying national guard troops to border ‘we cannot be a nation without borders. We are a part of this nation and we should commit our resources to defending the border.’ The same goes for legal resources. Mr. Lee would join this lawsuit to defend our constitution and enforce the rule of law. Diane Black’s campaign spokesman stated affirmatively that Diane “absolutely would join the lawsuit” and that as Diane has…

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Tennessee Star Poll: Trump and Blackburn Enjoy High Approval Ratings Among Republican Voters, Corker Has 62 Percent Unfavorable

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Bob Corker, Marsha Blackburn, Donald Trump

There is a reason Republican primary candidates across the state, whether they are running for Senate, Governor, Congress or state legislative positions, are clinging to President Donald Trump’s coattails. A new Tennessee Star statewide poll of 1040 likely Republican Primary voters conducted by Triton Polling from June 25-28, 2018 indicates that President Trump retains a sky high approval rating of 86.5 percent; only 7.9 percent have an unfavorable view of Trump, with 5.6 percent undecided. A Tennessee Star poll a year ago showed almost identical figures for Trump.  Likewise, Trump had an 84 percent favorability rating six months ago. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, who had a campaign rally with President Trump in Nashville just a month ago, is also very popular among likely Tennessee Republican Primary voters.  58.2 percent express approval for Blackburn, 17.8 percent disapprove and 24 percent don’t know or are not sure. A significant portion of the undecided Republican primary voters are in East Tennessee where the remains largely unknown among that large base of GOP voters. Blackburn is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Bob Corker and will face off against former Democrat Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen in November. Tennessee’s two Senators did…

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6 Shootings in Nashville in 24 Hours Highlight Double-Digit Increases in Violent Crimes

Jason M. Reynolds
Nashville Police

Officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department responded to at least six unrelated shootings in less than 24 hours, NewsChannel 5 reported Saturday. Meanwhile, police report a spike in violent crimes in the state’s capital. The first shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Friday on Joseph Avenue at Riverchase Apartments. Officials said the 50-year-old female victim told them she was standing in her doorway when a man in a dark car started firing a gun, hitting her in her hand. The other shootings were: Around 12:15 a.m. Saturday, an apartment in the 2100 block of Waterford Circle, when reports stated a man in his 20s said he accidentally shot himself one time in the thigh with a pistol. At 1 a.m. Saturday, in the1300 block of Bellshire Terrace. After 1:30 a.m. Saturday, a group of young male suspects approached another group and began shooting. Police said the victims had been hanging out near 21st Avenue South. Saturday, around 5 p.m., officials said a juvenile showed up at the hospital with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his leg from an accidental discharge. Around 7 p.m. Saturday, an 18-year-old was shot, and the suspect also allegedly took his backpack. Murders rise 33.73 percent The…

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Trump and Environmentalists Are On The Same Wave Length On This One Huge Issue

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Donald Trump

by Chris White   President Donald Trump and activists at the Sierra Club apparently have at least one issue in common: neither one of them like the decades-old free trade agreement the U.S signed with Canada and Mexico. Trump’s agenda prioritizing American manufacturing jobs over those in Canada and elsewhere is placing his administration at odds with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Sierra Club has its own reservations, claiming the 26-year-old deal allowed for the off-shoring of jobs and increase in air pollution. The president has continually railed against NAFTA, a trade deal former President Bill Clinton signed in 1993 to free up trade across North America. Trump’s bold and flashy rhetoric has mirrored his broad skepticism over trade agreements in general. He often cites the trade deficit as evidence Europe and others are taking advantage of the U.S. Sierra Club apparently feels the same way, at least in some ways. “They need to know that we do not support Scott Pruitt and we do not support NAFTA,” the group wrote in a press statement railing against EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and NAFTA. Their opposition takes a slightly different form than Trump’s complaint. “NAFTA has been a disaster for our communities. Trade agreements…

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NBC’s Chuck Todd Admits Trump Is ‘Winning’ While Democrats Are ‘Reeling’

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Chuck Todd

by Nick Givas   Host of NBC’s “Meet The Press” Chuck Todd said President Donald Trump is “winning” the policy war against Democrats Sunday, as the left continues to falter. “The announced retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy this week helped make one political reality clear — despite his overall unpopularity, President Trump is winning, and the Democrats right now are reeling,” Todd said. “The Supreme Court, Mr. Trump is about to shape the court for a generation by choosing a possible tie-breaking conservative justice, and he’s already filled the lower courts with like-minded conservatives.” Todd also said Trump is enjoying solid support throughout the GOP and highlighted his success in turning the term “fake news” against the mainstream press. “How about the Republican party? The president’s approval rating among Republicans is around 90 percent. Elected Republicans fear criticizing him,” Todd continued. “How about fake news? Mr. Trump has turned that phrase, which initially referred to the phony Russian generated stories designed to support his campaign in 2016, into an applause line now to discredit responsible reporting showcasing his misdeeds.” “If reporters faithfully fact check the president’s serial misstatements they risk being considered biased. If they don’t, misstatements gain traction. Either…

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Commentary: Liberals’ Misleading Spin on Senate Republicans’ 2016 Supreme Court Confirmation Approach

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Diane Feinstein, Chuck Schumer

by Thomas Jipping   Recent remarks by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., show the script that the left will be using to oppose President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee to fill the vacancy from the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. The most prominent point so far is that the Senate should wait until after the 2018 election to consider Trump’s nominee. Echoing Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Feinstein, speaking in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s June 28 business meeting, said following the traditional confirmation pattern would be hypocritical. Ranking member Feinstein, echoed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., claimed – as every Democrat and their left-wing allies will certainly do – Republicans set a “new standard” in 2016 that the Senate should never consider any Supreme Court nominee in any election year. If Republicans had taken that position in 2016, it certainly would have been new and Democrats might well benefit from it today. But that standard has never existed: not before, not during, and not after 2016. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] The Constitution gives the power to nominate and, subject to the Senate’s…

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FACT CHECK: Democratic Congressional Candidate Ocasio-Cortez Claims Illegal Immigration Was Not Criminalized Before 1999

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Ocasio

by Emily Larsen   Democratic congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in an interview Wednesday that the U.S. did not add criminal penalties to immigration law until about 1999. Verdict: False The U.S. criminalized unlawful entry in 1929. Laws passed in the 1990s intensified criminal penalties relating to immigration. Fact Check: Ocasio-Cortez defeated incumbent Rep. Joseph Crowley, one of the top Democrats in the House, in a New York primary Tuesday. She is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has called to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Ocasio-Cortez elaborated on her reasons to abolish ICE on NPR’s “Morning Edition” Wednesday. “What we’re really talking about is re-imagining immigration to be humane,” she said. “It wasn’t until about 1999 that we chose to criminalize immigration at all, and then once ICE was established we really kind of militarized that enforcement to a degree that was previously unseen in the United States.” Congress made unauthorized entry into the U.S. a criminal offense in 1929. Aliens who entered the country outside a port of entry or without examination by immigration officials could be charged with a misdemeanor. Previously deported aliens who tried to re-enter the country without authorization could be charged with a felony. Unauthorized entry and unauthorized re-entry remain misdemeanor…

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Tennessee Loses Money Spending $17,500 Per Job to Lure 1,000 AllianceBernstein Employees to Nashville from New York City

Jason M. Reynolds
Tennessee Capital building

A $17.5 million tax incentive from the state of Tennessee to lure 1,000 jobs to Nashville–$17,500 per job—came at the expense of taxpayers to lure well-paid corporate executives when they already were drawn to the state’s other features like a favorable tax structure, experts say. The Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development announced in May that AllianceBernstein Holding LP would its corporate headquarters and about 1,050 jobs to Nashville from Manhattan. ‘On the backs of taxpayers’ When the announcement was made, Mark Cunningham of The Beacon Center of Tennessee called for the state to not offer incentives: “While the Beacon Center welcomes AllianceBernstein to Nashville with open arms, it should not be on the backs of Nashville and Tennessee taxpayers. The company is leaving high-tax New York City and coming to Nashville because of our extremely favorable tax structure that includes no state income tax and the phase-out of the Hall Income Tax on stocks and bonds. Their decision to already relocate here before any incentives are awarded proves that we can attract businesses with our economic climate, tax structure, and fiscal responsibility, and that we do not need to give them the tax dollars of hard-working Tennesseans on…

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‘Social Justice Math’ Misses the Point of Learning Math

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Rethinking Mathematics

by Abigail Herbst   It’s a common occurrence: a math teacher stands at the front of the classroom, struggling to keep the student’s attention. One student is on the phone. Another stares straight ahead into the distance. And the kid in the back row is asleep. Again. However, as the teacher moves to the next topic, one student blurts: “Why do we have to learn this? When are we ever going to use this?” And there it is. The perennial question: why do we learn math? When I was in high school, teachers responded to this question by pointing out that we need math when we go grocery shopping, when we’re building, and in certain careers. In short, we learn math because it is useful. Professor Eric Gutstein and his colleagues are trying a new approach—they’re trying to make math more “relevant” by infusing cultural issues into math. Mr. Gutstein and colleagues compiled articles from educators nationwide to put together a book titled, Rethinking Mathematics: Social Justice by the Numbers. It gives teachers tips for mixing social justice issues into math classes. Looking at the chapter titles gives you an idea how they plan to do this. Mr. Gutstein wrote a chapter…

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The Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds Are Nearly Depleted

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US Capital building

By Robert Romano   2026. That is when the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund will be depleted, according to the Board of Trustees for the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds. That is down from 2029. After that, the share of benefits paid for by revenues will drop until 2039, when payroll taxes will only be enough to pay 78 percent of benefits. Then, benefits would rise to 85 percent by 2092. The most obvious culprit is the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which overwhelmingly passed Congress and which former President Barack Obama signed into law. That was the bill that ended the sustainable growth rate that had been the centerpiece reform of the GOP Congress and President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s to balance the budget. The sustainable growth rate was a 1997 reform intended to put the failing program on a sustainable footing before its trust fund was exhausted. Before passage of the 2015 repeal, which sent costs spiraling out of control, the draining of the Medicare trust fund was said to have been in 2030. Then it dropped to 2029 and then to 2026. To be fair, even if the bill had not passed, the trust…

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Tennessee Star Poll: As Gas Prices Rise So Does Opposition to Tennessee Fuel Tax Increase

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Aaron Shane anti-Susan Lynn gas tax

Gasoline prices across Tennessee continue to nudge towards $3 a gallon. As those prices rise Tennessee voter opposition to the fuel tax increase included in the IMPROVE Act is increasing as well. Despite the state having two billion dollars in surplus and recurring revenues, Governor Bill Haslam and Republican legislative leadership jammed through a $330 million a year fuel tax increase last year, which is phased in over three years.  The latest phased increase went into effect on July 1. A new Tennessee Star statewide poll of 1,040 likely Republican Primary voters conducted by Triton Polling from June 25-28, 2018 indicates that voters are not supportive of the fuel tax increase. The poll asked: “Last year, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill, signed into law by Gov. Haslam, to increase the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon and the diesel tax by 10 cents per gallon, to fund road construction. Do you support this gas tax increase?” 35.4 percent of likely GOP primary voters support the tax increase while 51.3 percent oppose the increase. 13.3 percent were not sure of had no opinion. A year ago, the Tennessee Star Poll conducted at that time indicated that 48.1 percent of…

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State Senator Mark Green Endorses Diane Black for Governor

Tennessee Star Staff
Mark Green, Diane Black

CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee–State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) endorsed Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) for governor at his Red, White, and Blues Barbecue event held at the Old Glory Distilling Company in Clarksville on Saturday night. Green told the enthusiastic crowd of 300 supporters in attendance that, while he is friends with all four of the candidates for governor in the Republican primary election for governor that will be held in just over four weeks on August 2, he believes that Black is the best person for the job. “Diane Black is a conservative fighter. She has a very conservative record,” Green began. “She helped President Trump write the tax cuts, just six months ago. She helped get that done,” he added. “We’ve got a great field of candidates for governor, and I consider every single one of them a friend,” the former Army doctor noted. “But the issues that are pressing our state and our nation, we need a conservative fighter, and clearly the best candidate for that job is Diane Black,” Green continued. “Cami and I have decided that we will be supporting and casting our vote for Diane Black for Governor,” Green concluded. Black took the stage briefly after receiving…

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OFF THE RECORD: Source Says Gov. Haslam Is Using His Position as Chairman of Republican Governors Association to ‘Rig’ Primary Election for Randy Boyd

Tennessee Star Staff
Paul Bennecke, Diane Black. Bill Haslam

A high ranking source who serves on the Republican Governors Association’s (RGA) select national finance committee told The Tennessee Star that current and former RGA staff appear to be actively trying to damage the gubernatorial campaigns of Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) and possibly Bill Lee, while promoting close Haslam ally Randy Boyd in the Republican primary. Specifically, the source said, Haslam and the RGA Executive Director Paul Bennecke (who Haslam personally hired to the RGA during his previous stint as chairman) were coordinating with at least one White House staff member in an attempt to disparage and downplay Black’s close working relationship with President Trump and with Vice President Mike Pence. Haslam was a vociferous “Never-Trumper” who just three  weeks before Trump won the 2016 election demanded Trump resign as the nominee and in so doing became the only Republican governor who said he would not be voting for Trump. The governor was particularly incensed when during his recent rally for Marsha Blackburn in Nashville, Trump took time to give Black special attention. During that rally, Trump did not mention any candidates other than Blackburn and Black, singling her out and saying “I want to recognize Diane Black, who is…

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State House District 56 Candidate Joseph Williams Gains Grassroots Support in GOP Primary

Laura Baigert
Joseph Williams

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Republican candidate for Tennessee House of Representatives District 56, Joseph Williams, delivered comments and responses to numerous questions filled with conservative and constitutional “red meat” that was well received by a group of Nashville Heritage Action Sentinels and guests at their monthly meeting last Thursday. The Nashville Sentinel group, though fairly recently formed and continuing to expand, has had several meetings with Senator Bob Corker’s office and been active in a variety of recent issues affecting Nashville including “Resign Now! Megan Barry,” defeating the $9 billion transit plan and volunteering for the Carol Swain for Mayor campaign. Williams is running for the seat vacated by Beth Harwell who has held the seat for the last 30 years and has served as Speaker of the House since 2011. Harwell gave up the seat as she is instead pursuing the office of the state’s chief executive. Williams will face off against fellow Republican Brent Moody, a dermatologist, in the August 2, 2018, primary. In his opening comments to the group, Williams introduced his wife Palmer, who also attended the gathering, and talked about the most significant influence in his life being the older brother of a special needs younger…

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24 MS-13 Gang Members Facing Federal Indictment For Several Crimes And Conspiracies

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MS-13

by Neetu Chandak   Twenty-four alleged MS-13 gang members are facing federal indictment for several crimes, according to a press release by the Department of Justice on Friday. The gang members and their apprentices were allegedly involved with five murders, drug trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and also allegedly planned to murder eight people between 2015 to 2017, according to a report by the Justice Department. Currently, 21 of the 24 members are known while the other six names, both members and associates, have not been revealed. The DOJ is heavily cracking down on MS-13, known as one of the “most notorious street gangs in the Western Hemisphere,” according to Insight Crime. The gang is primarily composed of El Savadorian immigrants that dominate Frederick, Anne Arundel, Prince George, and Montgomery counties in Maryland. The gang recruits kids to, “their murderous ranks, destroying families, and leaving behind countless victims,” said acting assistant Attorney General Cronan. The indictment was given on June 27 and opened on June 28. The members were scheduled to appear in the U.S. District Court of Baltimore starting on June 28. – – – Neetu Chandak is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Neetu on Twitter.                  …

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Conservative Talker Steve Gill Discusses Who’s Up, Who’s Down, and the State of the ‘Blue Wave’ Come November

Julie Carr
Steve Gill

On Friday’s Gill Report, broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville, conservative pundit and Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill reflected on the players and issues influencing Tennessee’s candidates running for high office, and the important role the Volunteer State has to play on the national stage heading into November. “Bob Corker is not popular in Tennessee,” he said with a chuckle, as he described the political ‘field of play’ less than thirty days from primary election day. He continued: Donald Trump is very popular. President Trump announced today that he is going to be narrowing his list of 5 potential supreme court justices to about 5 choices. He may interview a couple of the next few days, but he plans to name his pick by July 9th, so we won’t have to wait long for the real war over that Supreme Court confirmation process to move ahead. Again, you have Marsha Blackburn making it clear that she will back a conservative, constitutionalist Supreme Court pick that Donal Trump nominates. And you’ve got Phil Bredensen, trying to kind of marginalize on the edges pretending that he might actually support a conservative that Donald Trump would pick, but nobody seriously…

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Commentary: How Do You Spell Game Change in 2018? S U P R E M E C O U R T

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Supreme Court Justices

by Jeffery Rendall   Another Kennedy leaving Washington has Republicans giddy, though this particular one has no relation to the famous (infamous?) clan from Massachusetts Bay. It’s old news by now but Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he’s stepping down from the Supreme Court on Wednesday, sending the nation’s capital into a tizzy and wiping virtually everything else – including the phony illegal immigrant family separation “crisis” – off the news wires. There’s nothing quite like an impending Court vacancy to wrest the political chatterers’ attention from their all-complain-all-the-time stupors and get them focused on something really imperative. Yes, Kennedy’s deciding to hang up the long black robe after three full decades is a big deal, not only for the future direction of the Supreme Court but also for Americans’ liberties in general. Needless to say, this year’s crucial midterm campaigns just received a shot of new energy and enthusiasm, especially for Republicans in red states challenging increasingly vulnerable Democrat senate incumbents. It’s often said fortunes can turn on a dime and it may actually come true for Republicans — and conversely, Democrats — this year. While conservatives received Kennedy’s news with happiness and anticipation, the anti-Trump resistance was angry, defiant…

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NSA Deletion of Call Records Raising Questions

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The National Security Agency is deleting more than 685 million call records the government obtained since 2015 from telecommunication companies in connection with investigations, raising questions about the viability of the program. The NSA’s bulk collection of call records was initially curtailed by Congress after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents revealing extensive government surveillance. The law, enacted in June 2015, said that going forward, the data would be retained by telecommunications companies, not the NSA, but that the intelligence agency could query the massive database. Now the NSA is deleting all the information it collected from the queries. The agency released a statement late Thursday saying it started deleting the records in May after NSA analysts noted “technical irregularities in some data received from telecommunication service providers.” It also said the irregularities resulted in the NSA obtaining some call details it was not authorized to receive. That points to a failure of the program, according to David Kris, a former top national security official at the Justice Department. “They said they have to purge three years’ worth of data going back to 2015, and that the data they did collect during that time — which they are now…

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Eric Bolling Is Back: An Exclusive First Look at His New Show ‘AMericA’

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Eric Bolling

by Ginny Montalbano   CRTV’s Eric Bolling gave The Daily Signal an exclusive first look at the set of his new show “AMericA.” Formerly with the Fox News Channel, Bolling is back, and now he’s pursuing the type of show he’s wanted to do for years: a casual, engaging show, taped at the Washington Court Hotel’s lobby bar. He will interview government officials from the Trump administration, as well as other policymakers and influential political figures, then take the conversation to people watching in the hotel to get their opinions on the policy discussions occurring in America.   AMericA🇺🇸 a political talk show taped live from an actual working Capitol Hill Hotel Lobby Bar w/ host Eric Bolling that gives viewers outside the Beltway a better understanding of what’s REALLY going on inside the DC Swamp and its impact close to homehttps://t.co/GUpW1E3tCu — 🇺🇸 ERIC BOLLING 🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) June 26, 2018 [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more  ]   Bolling’s work on the opioid crisis, prompted by the death of his son, Eric Chase Bolling, took him to Washington, D.C., on multiple occasions…

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Three Common Ways Governments Misuse Statistics and What You Can Do About It

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US Capitol at night

by Andrew Berryhill   Government agencies and researchers produce endless reams of statistics. While statistics can be valuable, they can be easily misrepresented. A 2017 study on the use of statistics in news characterized the problem as such: “The constant supply of data produced by think tanks, government agencies, independent researchers, academics and others is a significant and a potentially healthy democratic resource. But the time constraints that characterize modern news production put considerable pressure on journalists, who have to interpret the sometimes highly complex methods and meanings behind statistics, reporting data even-handedly and with clarity.” Without critical and educated evaluation of statistics, the public could be misled by information that’s misused, incomplete, or manipulated. Unfortunately, it seems that manipulation of statistics to further an agenda is becoming more common throughout society. Bad information propagated by government agencies especially is affecting policy decisions and harming the public when news outlets report it with insufficient examination. Here are three common ways governments and modern society in general misuse statistics. 1. “Predicting” the Long-Term Effects of Complicated Legislation: Obamacare When the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) tried to predict the effects of the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as “Obamacare”), it was utterly wrong on numerous points. The CBO released…

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Can Political Freedom Exist Without Virtue? America’s Founders Didn’t Think So

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Founding Fathers

by Becky Akers   America’s Founding Fathers were a contentious lot, disagreeing about everything from the need for a Bill of Rights to the merits of skinny-dipping “near the Bridge … whilst …Ladies of the first fashion in the neighbourhood, are passing over it…” But they spoke unanimously on one topic: the requirement for a moral citizenry if the country were to remain politically free. Once a people abandons virtue, the Founders insisted, it plummets into tyranny. Charles Carroll, who among other feats signed the Declaration of Independence, warned, “Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime & pure, … are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments.” Another signer, Richard Henry Lee, concurred: “It is certainly true that a popular government cannot flourish without virtue in the people.” And that Founder of Founders, George Washington, advised, “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. … The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government.” Does it? Why? What so inextricably binds…

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Attorney General Sessions Announces Charges For 601 People In Largest Health Care Fraud Bust In History

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by Steve Birr   Federal officials are charging 601 people, including more than 100 medical workers, for fueling opioid addiction in the largest bust of health care fraud in U.S. history. The Department of Justice revealed the charges Thursday, which were brought as part of an annual effort to dismantle schemes across the country involved in scamming health care programs. The takedown included the arrest of 76 doctors, 23 pharmacists, 19 nurses and several hundred others involved in prescribing and distributing massive quantities of opioid medications, resulting in more than $2 billion in fraudulent costs to federal health care programs and insurers, reports NBC News. In one example, the owner of a Texas-based pharmacy chain and two co-conspirators filled scripts for more than 1 million oxycodone and hydrocodone pills, which were subsequently transferred to couriers for sale on the street. “Much of this fraud is related to our ongoing opioid crisis—which is the deadliest drug epidemic in American history,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “Some of our most trusted medical professionals look at their patients—vulnerable people suffering from addiction—and they see dollar signs.” The Department of Justice under Sessions is making progress in the fight against both smugglers and medical providers taking…

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Gas Tax Increases Another 1 Cent Per Gallon Today Thanks to Gov. Haslam, Democrats, and ‘Moderate’ Republicans

Tennessee Star Staff
Gas up

The state gas tax increased another 1 cent per gallon today, thanks to the IMPROVE Act passed by Democrats and “moderate” Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Bill Haslam in May 2017. The controversial law raised state gas taxes by 6 cents per gallon and diesel taxes by 10 cents per gallon. The gas tax increases were phased in over three years. The first 4 cents per gallon increase went into effect on July 1, 2017. An additional 1 cent per gallon gas tax increase goes into effect today, and the final 1 cent per gallon gas tax increase goes into effect July 1, 2018. The law was deemed necessary to fund road construction by Haslam and his allies despite the fact the state of Tennessee had a $2 billion surplus at the time it was passed and signed into law. One under reported element of the law at the time was a provision that allowed the twelve largest counties in the state to hold local referendums to increase local taxes to fund transportation projects. It was this provision upon which former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry relied when she introduced her $9 billion transit…

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