Day: August 29, 2018

Tennessee Strong PAC Tags Phil Bredesen As Hillary Clinton-Supporting Opponent of President Trump

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Strong

The Tennessee Strong PAC has launched a new campaign tagging Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen as a Hillary Clinton-supporting opponent of President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again agenda. The former Governor of Tennessee and Mayor of Nashville, who faces Republican nominee Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) in the November general election to succeed Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), has built his campaign around attempts to persuade Tennesseans that he is a fair minded moderate who will examine President Trump’s proposals on their merits, without regard to partisan politics. The Tennessee Strong PAC is having none of it, and is providing the hard hitting facts to back up its charges in a 30 second digital ad that demonstrates Bredesen is anything but a fair minded moderate. You can watch the ad here: The transcipt of the ad reads: Phil Bredesen claims that he won’t tow the Democrat Party line in the Senate. But Phil was hand picked to run by liberal Chuck Schumer. It’s not surprising. Phil has always supported liberal elites, donating almost half a million to their campaigns. Bredesen even donated over $30,000 to Hillary Clinton. Like Hillary, Phil joined Nancy Pelosi in criticizing President Trump’s tax…

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Tourist Heavy Nashville Development Might Get Money Meant for Blighted Areas

Chris Butler
Nashville

A tax incentive normally designated for heavily blighted areas might go to a new development not in a poor and underserved part of Nashville but instead in and around one of the city’s most popular destinations. The developers behind the new office, retail, and residential development at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway want Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency officials to help. Specifically, they want MDHA officials to give them $25 million in Tax Increment Financing, reports The Tennessean. According to the people at Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C.-based policy resource center, TIF subsidizes companies by refunding or diverting a portion of their taxes to help finance development in a certain area. TIF usually pays for, among other things, infrastructure improvements, acquiring land, or demolishing buildings, the website said. “The area may have to meet criteria for blight such as property abandonment, building code violations, or aging housing stock,” according to the website. The Tennessean called Fifth and Broadway “the city’s most prime commercial real estate.” In an emailed statement, MDHA spokeswoman Jamie Berry told The Tennessee Star that the area still meets TIF criteria. “The district was blighted at the time it was created, and Metro Council…

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The SAT Is Feeding Students Solar Industry Propaganda

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SAT test

by James D. Agresti   The famed SAT, or Scholastic Assessment Test, is a college readiness exam taken by more than 1.6 million students per year. In May of 2018, the College Board, which owns and operates the SAT, required test takers to read an article that claims: the cost of solar energy installations “fell by more than 50 percent between 2010 and 2013.” “solar power is now competitive with other energy sources in many markets.” solar energy is a “ray of sunshine for the U.S. economy.” This article appeared in the reading portion of the exam, which supposedly uses “authentic texts selected from high-quality” sources. Yet, all of the assertions above are rooted in solar industry propaganda that is at odds with the facts. Moreover, this disinformation misleads students in ways that can cause serious harm. Cost Declines In contrast to the SAT’s claim that the cost of solar installations fell by more than 50% from 2010 to 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports that “system prices of residential and commercial PV [photovoltaic solar] systems declined 6%–12% per year, on average, from 1998–2014….” This amounts to a decrease during 2010 to 2013 of 17%…

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With the End of the Fiscal Year September 30, Congress Is Running Out of Time to Fund ‘The Wall’

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Donald Trump, The Wall

By Robert Romano   The 2018 fiscal year will end on Sept. 30 but Congress is no closer to achieving key Trump administration priorities including fully funding the southern border wall, something President Donald Trump has been demanding since 2017 and campaigned on extensively in 2016. So far, both the House and the Senate have passed appropriations bills for Defense, Energy & Water, Interior, Agriculture, Financial Services, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, Legislative Branch and Military/Veterans. But so far, no wall. Of those, Energy & Water, Legislative Branch and Military/Veterans have been consolidated into a single bill, H.R. 5895, which is now in conference between the House and Senate. And Interior, Agriculture, Financial Services and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development have been consolidated into H.R. 6147. Everything else, including Commerce/Justice/Science, Homeland Security (which includes the wall), Labor/HHS/Education and State/Foreign Operations that have not already passed both chambers are likely to be wrapped up in a continuing resolution at the end of this month. On one hand, that can be a good thing — or at least a not bad thing —insofar as it gives Congress a little bit more of an opportunity to get those things right. For example, the Labor-HHS…

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Audit Reveals Theft in Williamson County Government

Chris Butler
Williamson County Parks and Rec

The former assistant adult sports coordinator for the Williamson County Parks and Recreation stole more than $7,600 from that department over a two-and-a-half-year span, according to an audit released Tuesday. In their report, members of the Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office called out Daniel Lawson as the culprit. That money belonged to the county’s adult softball league program, the audit said. The Tennessee Star attempted to reach Lawson through his personal Facebook page Tuesday, but he did not return our message before day’s end. The investigation began after WCPR officials found a discrepancy and reported missing money. For reasons unspecified, their investigation took them straight to Lawson. “Lawson failed to turn over money he collected from patrons as payment for softball league registration and out-of-county fees,” according to a press release. “In several instances, Lawson met patrons at an offsite location and collected cash or checks naming him as the payee. Lawson should have remitted these funds for deposit into the WCPR bank account. Instead, he kept the money for his personal benefit.” Lawson, the release went on to say, also altered WCPR computer records to hide what he did. All of this took place between January 2015 and August of last…

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Commentary: Is There a New Mexico Muslim Terrorist Compound Cover-Up?

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Sarah Backus

by CHQ Staff   Two weeks ago, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj was arrested along with several other adults at a squalid compound in New Mexico. Wahhaj is the son of a Brooklyn imam, also named Siraj Wahhaj, who was named by prosecutors as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the New York Post reported. During the raid eleven abused children were taken into care by authorities and the remains of one dead child (since identified as Wahhaj’s son) were found at the compound. Lucas Morton, Jany Leveille, 35, Hujrah Wahhaj, 38, and Subhannah Wahhaj, 35, were arrested along with Wahhaj on the property on Friday and all face child abuse charges according to Fox News. After the arrest attorneys for the five Muslim adults claimed that they were being persecuted by Islamophobic and racist police. New Mexico Judge Sarah Backus, an elected Democrat, set a nominal $20,000 bail for the five defendants and ordered the two men and three women to wear ankle monitors, have weekly contact with their attorneys and not consume alcohol or own firearms while on bail. She said although she was concerned by “troubling facts,” prosecutors failed to articulate any specific threats to the…

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Police Records Show Keith Ellison Abused Another Woman In 2005

Anthony Gockowski
Al Franken, Keith Ellison

Records from a 2005 911 call reveal that Rep. Keith Ellison allegedly abused yet another woman, though the story has been swept under the rug by Minnesota’s media. In early August, Ellison, who vacated his safe seat in Congress to run for Minnesota’s attorney general, faced new accusations from his ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan that the former congressman forcibly dragged her off a bed while shouting obscenities. Monahan claims there is video of the incident, but has yet to release any evidence. A similar story dating back to 2005 started to resurface on social media after Monahan came forward, though this time there was hard evidence. Police records reveal that an “Ellison/Keith/BM/41” was reported in 2005 for assaulting a woman. Ellison was born in 1963, which would mean he was 41 in 2005. The woman who allegedly made the call, Amy Alexander, later related her experiences with Ellison in a 2006 article for The Wright County Republican, whose publisher told The Conservative Tribune that none of the local newspapers wanted to interview her. “In May, Keith wanted to try and quiet me so he came to my home uninvited. We had words. His anger kicked in. He berated me. He grabbed…

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MSM’s Exaggeration of School Shootings Not in Line With Reality

Julie Carr
Steve Gill

On Monday’s Gill Report – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 1510 WLAC weekdays at 7:30 am – Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill explained how the media’s overblown commentary and emotional stirring of paranoia regarding school shootings is unrealistic in comparison to the death of children in common day bike, helmet, and car wrecks.  Gill goes on to comment that “ten times more kids are killed each year walking to school than are killed in these school shootings.” He continued: A new US Department of Education study is not getting a lot of media attention. But it did get a little bit of attention from NPR. Not exactly a bastion of conservative news media. Now they examined the US Department of Education’s study and discovered that over sixty six percent of reported school shootings for the 2015 and 2016 school year, never occurred. Yet the education department claims there were nearly two hundered and forty schools which reported at least one incident involving a school reported, or school related shooting. But when NPR contacted the schools in the districts, they were able to substantiate that one hundred and sixty-one, of the  two hundred and forty incidents quote, ‘never happened’. NEVER…

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Phil Bredesen Solar Company Might Not Survive in Pure Free Market

Chris Butler
Phil Bredesen

Solar power companies, including Phil Bredesen’s Silicon Ranch, wouldn’t make much of a mark without do-gooder government officials giving them taxpayer money, government incentives, and other generous benefits, an expert said. That’s because less than 2 percent of America’s electricity comes from solar power, said Nick Loris of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. “Without these government benefits, you would see a lot less because anytime you subsidize something you’re going to get more of it,” Loris told The Tennessee Star. “If you got rid of all energy subsidies, not just the ones for solar, but all the ones for fossil fuels, for wind, for nuclear, then I think, in a true free market, solar’s role in the electricity generation portfolio would be pretty minimal.” But, Loris went on to say, if market forces dictate that solar power is cost competitive and if people are willing to pay more for it, then they ought to have that right. “Those decisions are from an investment perspective and by a consumer choice perspective,” Loris said. “They shouldn’t be driven by the federal government and gambling with other people’s money.” But if those subsidies and other benefits for solar power are…

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Marsha Blackburn: “I Will Always Support Policies That Keep Americans Safe”

Jason M. Reynolds
Marsha Blackburn

Congress should build President Donald Trump’s wall on the Mexican border and punish officials who create sanctuary cities, U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn said. Blackburn (R-TN-07) made her case on immigration in an editorial Monday in The Hill. She is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Bob Corker, who is retiring. Her Democratic opponent is former Gov. Phil Bredesen. Here is an excerpt of her editorial: “Every state is a border state and every town is a border town. That is what many believe to be happening due to the illegal entry taking place on our nation’s southern border. What we as Tennesseans have watched happen over the past decade is a problem that has spiraled out of control for local law enforcement and elected officials. It is due to the federal government not doing its job to enforce existing federal immigration law. The Obama administration pushed open-border policies, backed away from securing the border and pushed sanctuary city policies that have made us less safe. … “Tennesseans ask me every day what we should do to get the issues that come from illegal immigration into our country under control. The first steps we should take are to…

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In Minnesota Senate Debate GOP Challenger Blasts Klobuchar for Opposing SCOTUS Nominee Brett Kavanaugh

Anthony Gockowski

Sen. Amy Klobuchar squared off against her Republican challenger State Rep. Jim Newberger at the Minnesota State Fair Friday, sparring over issues of immigration and President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the United States Supreme Court. Immediately out of the gate, Klobuchar boasted a record of being the lead sponsor on 18 different bills signed into law by President Trump. “You need someone that can find common ground but is also willing to be a check and balance on this administration,” she said, representing a state that is growing increasingly purple as 78 out of its 87 counties went to Trump during the 2016 Election. Newberger, who worked as a paramedic for 30 years before seeking office, argued that it is time for a fresh face in Washington, suggesting that Klobuchar is a prime example of why Congress needs “term limits.” “Eighteen years folks is a long time to be in the swamp,” he said, claiming earlier in the debate that he will be a voice for the “moderate-middle to the conservative right.” “You have not had a voice for almost a decade. Folks, it’s time that you had a voice. It’s time you had a senator…

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Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate Karl Dean Calls for Higher Gas Taxes

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Karl Deal

Democratic Party candidates in California are starting to distance themselves from a 12 cent a gallon gas tax increase imposed on drivers in their state and which is subject to a repeal effort this Fall.  At least 4 Democrat candidates are turning against their own party on the issue of increased gas taxes. But in Tennessee, Democrat gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean is not only embracing last year’s IMPROVE Act fuel tax increase that raised gas and diesel taxes over $300 million a year, he wants to allow local governments to raise the fuel taxes even higher. Dean, a former two-term mayor of Nashville, says the state needs to expand on the IMPROVE Act, the 2017 law that increased gas taxes 6 cents a gallon and diesel taxes 10 cents per gallon. The tax increase was passed while Tennessee enjoyed about a $2 billion dollar SURPLUS. The phased in gas tax increase went up another one cent per gallon on July first.  The final cent in the six cent increase goes into effect July 1, 2018. “Unlike my opponent,” Dean said in endorsing local option fuel tax increases, “I believe passing the IMPROVE Act was the right move for Tennessee. But…

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