Day: September 27, 2018

‘Fibber Phil’ Bredesen Called Out by NRA: ‘Stop Lying’ About Endorsement

Jason M. Reynolds

Phil Bredesen has a “D,” not an “A” rating from the NRA-ILA, and the organization wants him to “stop lying.” The Democratic former governor of Tennessee had received an “A” rating from the NRA – in 2002, The Tennessee Star reported last week. Bredesen is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) who is retiring. NRA-ILA Political Victory Fund executive director Chris W. Cox  is using Twitter to call Bredesen out for his use of the old “A” rating, Breitbart reports. @PhilBredesen It’s not 2002, you’re not governor and you’re not A-rated by the NRA. Its 2018, you have earned a D rating for turning your back on self-defense and supporting the Hillary/Schumer/Bloomberg gun control agenda. @VoteMarsha is a 2A champion. You’re not. #stoplying pic.twitter.com/Wi0ORRmQTv — Chris Cox (@ChrisCoxCap6) September 20, 2018 On September 19, Bredesen posted a video to Twitter in which he is seen holding a shotgun and can be heard talking about the “A” rating, Breitbart says. Bredesen’s video is available here. Real independence and not party politics — that’s what’s right for Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/BmyyvJGL2e — Phil Bredesen (@PhilBredesen) September 19, 2018 Bredesen was elected governor in 2002, and Cox responded…

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Opening Statements by Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Accuser Christine Blasey Ford Before The Senate Judiciary Committee Today

Tennessee Star Staff

Judge Brett Kavanaugh and accuser Christine Blasey Ford will present two different versions of the truth regarding Ford’s uncorroborated allegations Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in 1982 before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. President Trump nominated Judge Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court in July, and the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on forwarding his nomination for confirmation to the full Senate on Friday. “In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent almost every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland swimming and practicing diving,” Ford wrote in written testimony provided to PBS and other news outlets Wednesday night she intends to deliver when the Senate Judiciary Committee hears her testimony today, adding: In the summer of 1982, like most summers, I spent almost every day at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland swimming and practicing diving. One evening that summer, after a day of swimming at the club, I attended a small gathering at a house in the Chevy Chase/Bethesda area. There were four boys I remember being there: Brett Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, P.J. Smyth, and one other boy whose name I cannot recall. I remember my friend Leland Ingham…

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My Pillow Inventor Mike Lindell in Nashville for Christian Revival Event

Chris Butler

NASHVILLE — Once upon a time, My Pillow, Inc. CEO Mike Lindell was a cocaine addict whose habit spiraled so far out of control he had an intervention — staged by, of all people, his own drug dealers. Lindell, in Nashville Wednesday to help launch a Christian revival event called Awaken the Dawn, said the intervention was the first of many planted seeds to help set him straight. The final seed, he said, led him to Jesus. The drug dealers who put on Lindell’s intervention cut him off from his supply of drugs after he had another binge, this time in downtown Minneapolis, he told The Tennessee Star. “I was told I was up for 14 days. They finally told me ‘We’re cutting you off. I waited until they went to sleep, and I went down to the streets at 2:30 a.m. I couldn’t get drugs anywhere. I couldn’t get crack anywhere,” Lindell said. “I came back up there, and the one guy that was left said ‘You know what. You made a promise to us that this pillow (you made) was a platform for God, and you would come back someday and help us all. We’re not going to…

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No Raise Is Too Little For Nashville Mayor Briley’s Staff While Remainder of City Employees Left Out of Pay Increases

Jason M. Reynolds

In a year where Metro Nashville’s rank and file workers learned they would not get promised cost of living increases, Nashville Mayor David Briley gave merit raises to 20 members of his own staff, WSMV reported. Two of the mayor’s staff received 6 percent increases. One Briley staffer, Chief Strategy Officer Brian Kelsey, got a $7,178 raise, increasing his salary to $126,824. Briley also gave merit-based raises to department heads. Briley’s decision to reverse the cost of living adjustments – COLAs – for Metro employees created a lot of controversy. Nashville Fire Chief Will Swann refused his 2.5 percent pay increase, choosing to pass the Open Range money to 19 administrators under him. Briley said that although city workers would not get cost of living adjustments this year, 71 percent of the city’s work force could expect their paychecks to increase during the coming year. Workers can get what are called step increases. Metro Nashville’s being strapped for cash did not stop Briley from compiling a wish list of expensive projects like a $125 million floodwall for downtown, The Tennessee Star reported. Police officers and firefighters wanted the raises they were promised to help with the cost of living, WSMV…

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Tennessee Star Report EXCLUSIVE: Steve Gill Talks to Larry Woods on Bredesen, Blackburn, Democrats, and Debate Fashion

Julie Carr

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talkradio 98.3 and WLAC 1510 weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill talked with Larry Woods about last nights Tennessee Senate debate and how Phil Bredesen and Marsha Blackburn made some hits and misses in both candidates performance. Steve Gill: And welcome back in. The debate, first debate took place last night sponsored by The Tennessean, sponsored by Channel 5, League of Women Voters, the National Public Television, you know all those conservative outlets that made sure the panel was properly composed. Larry Woods with us to us help breakdown the debate, Democrat Party activist, lawyer, and longtime friend, and media colleague of mine. We’re going to be on Channel 5 plus their political show at 9 o’clock Friday together we’ll break this down at that time. We get a little head start here. When you looked at the politics last night to me Larry one of the key moments was when Phil Bredesen declared that he would not vote for Chuck Schumer for majority leader, um, do you believe him? Larry Woods: Oh yes, Bredesen’s the kind…

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Commentary: The Trump Doctrine

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Trump at UN

by George Rasley   While the establishment media and self-appointed pundits focused on the U.N. audience reaction to President Trump’s truthful boast that “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country…” they missed the most important part of the President’s remarks – the announcement of what might be called the Trump doctrine. What the President said that was so important was this: We are also standing up for our citizens and for peace loving people everywhere. We believe that when nations respect the rights of their neighbors and defend the interests of their people, they can better work together to secure the blessings of safety, prosperity, and peace. Each of us here today is the emissary of a distinct culture, a rich history, and a people bound together by ties of memory, tradition, and the values that make our homelands like nowhere else on Earth. That is why America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governance, and I honor the right of every nation in this room to pursue its own customs, beliefs and traditions. The United States will not tell you how to live, work,…

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EXCLUSIVE: Female High School Friend of Kavanaugh Says Latest Allegation ‘False,’ ‘Absurd’

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by Rachel del Guidice   A woman and friend who knew Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as a high school student says allegations of sexual misconduct from a third accuser are “false.” “This claim is absolutely false and absurd,” Meghan McCaleb, a friend of Kavanaugh’s since high school, told The Daily Signal of allegations from Julie Swetnick, which were made public Wednesday. Swetnick, who says she is a graduate of Gaithersburg High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, claims she saw Kavanaugh “drink excessively at many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior towards girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, ‘grinding’ against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls’ clothing to expose private body parts.” Gaithersburg High is a public school in Montgomery County, Maryland, about 10 miles north of Georgetown Prep,  the private school Kavanaugh attended. “We never hung out with anyone from Gaithersburg High School, there was never any drug use at our parties, and the fact that she is coming out and saying that is such an insult to Brett and to all of us,” McCaleb said. “It makes our community look bad and our reputation, and Brett was just not like that…

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Less is Better? West Palm Beach Teacher Fired for Expecting More Out of Student’s Performance

Julie Carr

On Tuesday’s Gill Report – Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill was baffled by a recent firing of a West Palm Beach, Florida elementary teacher who refused to give a fifty percent score to students who chose to ‘do nothing’ in class. The school’s “lowest grade possible-50% policy”  encourages students to do less than the bare minimum. “A teacher in West Palm Beach was fired because she refused to follow the school’s direction that the worst grade a student could get, even if they did not turn in anything in terms of their homework or their assignment was a zero. She said you get a zero if you don’t turn anything in. The school said, ‘No, you have to give them at a least a fifty percent because that’s the rules of our school,” Gill reported.  He went on to talk about the education epidemic that is rising across the country through faulty, over-funded school systems and how it will fail graduating students when they enter the work force. “Doing nothing gets you fifty percent according to West Palm Beach; she refused to do it and she was fired,” Gill said; adding, “I can’t wait to see these kids out in the…

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The Fed Lifts Rates for Third Time in 2018 and One More Raise Is Expected

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The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised a key interest rate for the third time this year in response to a strong U.S. economy and signaled that it expected to maintain a pace of gradual rate hikes. The Fed lifted its short-term rate — a benchmark for many consumer and business loans — by a quarter-point to a range of 2 percent to 2.25 percent. It was the eighth hike since late 2015. The central bank stuck with its previous forecast for a fourth rate increase before year’s end and for three more hikes in 2019. The Fed dropped phrasing it had used for years that characterized its rate policy as “accommodative” by favoring low rates. In dropping that language, the central bank may be signaling its resolve to keep raising rates. Many analysts think the economy could weaken next year, in part from the effects of the trade conflicts President Donald Trump has pursued with China, Canada, Europe and other trading partners. The tariffs and countertariffs that have been imposed on imports and exports are having the effect of raising prices for some goods and supplies and potentially slowing growth. Compounding the effects of the tariffs,other factors could slow growth…

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Ohio Diocese To Publicly Name Up To 20 Reported Predatory Priests

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by Joshua Gill   The bishop of the Steubenville diocese declared that his diocese will release a list of predatory priests, becoming the second Ohio diocese to do so. Dino Orsatti, spokesman for the diocese, made the announcement Tuesday that Bishop Jeffrey Monforton called for the list of alleged sexually predatory priests to be released as a show of greater transparency in the wake of revelations like Pennsylvania’s grand jury report on sexual abuse in six of the state’s dioceses. The list will name between 12 and 20 priests who, according to church documentation dating back as far as 1944, were alleged to have committed sexual abuses against parishioners. “He would welcome any investigation like the one in Pennsylvania,” Orsatti said of Monforton, according to The Associated Press. The Steubenville announcement followed a similar one from the diocese of Youngstown, which announced earlier in September that the church there would also release a list of accused predatory priests, echoing Pennsylvania bishops who chose to release lists of such priests from their respective dioceses during legal battles over the release of the grand jury report. Monsignor John Zuraw  said the diocese of Youngstown hopes that the release of their list will not only foster transparency,…

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Public Sector Unions Make Up Half of All Union Membership

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Washington DC

by Richard McCarty   Public sector unions have long exploited taxpayers by pushing for higher taxes, higher spending, and generous benefits and extravagant pensions for government workers while opposing measures to hold bureaucrats accountable. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus decision, which gave government workers a choice of whether to belong to a public employee union, has started to erode some of these unions’ excessive power. Yet much work remains to be done to make government bureaucracies more efficient and responsive to elected officials and to the public. Although the public sector is much smaller than the private sector, public sector union members make up nearly half of all union members. In fact, of the nation’s 14.8 million union members, there are 7.2 million public sector union members and 7.6 million private sector union members. The near parity between public sector union membership and private sector union membership is only possible because the union membership rate is more than five times higher in the public sector than in the private sector: 34.4 percent of the public sector is unionized while only 6.5 percent of the private sector is unionized. The five largest public employee unions, which claim to represent several million current and former government workers, are the National Education Association…

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‘Fibber Phil’ Bredesen Misleads on Nissan and Volkswagen Production in Tennessee

Chris Alto

‘Fibber Phil’ Bredesen, the U.S. Senate Democrat candidate takes credit bringing Nissan and Volkswagen to Tennessee in his ad Matters and then uses these references to talk about his record creating jobs in the state when he was governor: As governor I worked with Democrats and Republicans to bring Volkswagen and the Nissan headquarters to Tennessee The same claims are posted on Bredesen’s campaign website. Watch the ad: The problem with Bredesen’s version of the facts, which deliberately mislead voters, is it omist material facts which if known, diminish greatly Bredesen’s claimed accomplishments. The Nissan Corporation’s relationship with Tennessee actually began during the early part of Lamar Alexander’s first term as governor. Lamar took the governor’s office in 1979, and two years later, Nissan was breaking ground to build its first plant outside of Japan, in Smyrna, earning Lamar recognition from The Tennessee Automotive Manufacturing Association (TAMA) in their ‘Hall of Fame’: During his time as governor of Tennessee (1979-87), Lamar Alexander recruited Nissan and General Motors to establish major auto manufacturing and assembly plants in the state and set the foundation for future auto industry growth through state-led economic development initiatives. Today automotive manufacturing is one of Tennessee’s leading…

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US Proposes Selling Taiwan Arms – This Time without Angering China

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Washington’s notification of a second weapons sale to Taiwan in as many years is helping arm the client without, so far, enraging its military rival, China, or exacerbating already strained Sino-U.S. ties. The Pentagon notified Congress Monday of a $330 million arms package, including parts for American-made aircraft such as F-16s and F-5s. The package omits new fighter jets, such as F-35s, or technology for submarines despite Taiwan’s requests over the years. But the deal has drawn just a routine protest from China rather than the outrage expected from bigger sales. China claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan and insists the two sides eventually unify, by force if needed. Taiwanese prefer their autonomy of some 70 years. To resist China, Taiwan has fostered a military ranked by online database GlobalFirePower.com as the world’s 24th strongest. Sino-U.S. ties are already strained by a growing trade dispute. “Some might see spare parts as a kind of rejection, because what Taiwan really wants from the U.S. is many other larger items,” said Sean King, vice president of the Park Strategies political consultancy in New York. “But as I see it, this sale’s just another step in President Trump’s evolving support for Taiwan over the…

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‘Fibber Phil’ Bredesen Claims ‘I Am Not Going to Be Voting for Chuck Schumer,’ But Even Politico Admits ‘The Pledge Is Functionally Useless’

Jason M. Reynolds
Phil Bredesen, Chuck Schumer

Phil Bredesen did his best to flee from Democrat Chuck Schumer during Tuesday’s U.S. Senate debate, the Republican National Committee (RNC) said. Bredesen is running against U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) for the Senate seat being vacated by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) who is retiring. “We need to get new leadership. I can tell you right now that if I’m elected, and when I’m elected and go to Washington, I am not going to be voting for Chuck Schumer,” Bredesen said at the beginning of the debate. He managed to make news by saying he wouldn’t vote for Schumer to be the leader of the Democrat caucus, even though Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, recruited him. But there’s a problem with that. Politico said, “The pledge is functionally useless — unlike in the House, where the speaker is chosen by a majority of the chamber in a floor vote, Senate party leaders are chosen by a majority in a private caucus vote. While there might be enough Democratic House candidates to deny (U.S. Represesntative Nancy) Pelosi the 218 votes she needs to become speaker again, there is virtually no chance of Schumer being dethroned by the Democratic Caucus after the…

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