Day: September 28, 2018

Bredesen’s Socialized Healthcare Plan Endangers Insurance, Medicare, Ad Says

Jason M. Reynolds

Senate Leadership Fund on Tuesday launched a new advertising campaign discussing U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen’s support of single-payer health care, saying it “threatens our healthcare.” The $1.2 million buy will run statewide on a combination of broadcast and cable television, radio and digital.  It is available to watch here. Bredesen, a former Tennessee governor, is running for the Senate seat being vacated by U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN). His opponent is U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07). “Multimillionaire Phil Bredesen is dropping a fortune on ads portraying himself as a moderate, but his plan for a government takeover of health care would give Bernie Sanders palpitations,” said Senate Leadership Fund Spokesman Chris Pack. “Bredesen just isn’t the moderate he wants Tennessee voters to believe he is.” The ad brings attention to Bredesen’s book, “Fresh Medicine,” calling for socialized healthcare. The ad points out “Even the liberal Los Angeles Times called it ‘radical stuff,’” referring to a March 3, 2011 book review by David Lazarus for the newspaper. Also, the ad says Bredesen’s plan would eliminate employer-sponsored health insurance, “making you dependent on the government.” The plan would eliminate Medicare “as we know it, jeopardizing seniors’ care.” The ad ends with this…

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Commentary: Republicans Must Hang Together Now or They’ll Hang Separately in November

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Brett Kavanaugh, Mike Pence

“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” – Benjamin Franklin, 1776. As perhaps America’s quirkiest and most practical Founding Father Ben Franklin is remembered for many sayings, but this quote could be his most famous. Franklin spoke the words just prior to signing the Declaration of Independence, knowing full well the dangers of waging war against the Mother Country – the only options for he and his fellow patriots were win or die. On paper the colonies’ ragtag army and flotilla of privateers was little match for the time-tested land and sea forces of the world’s premier empire, Great Britain, but the men who signed the Declaration hedged their bets and sacrificed everything nonetheless. Today the political situation isn’t nearly as dire and grave as it was all those years ago. Elected officials serving in the nation’s capital won’t be tried for sedition or sent to the gallows unless they do something truly egregious (and even then, who’d convict them in today’s divided political environment?). The circus surrounding Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation is certainly heinous but doesn’t quite rise to the level of high treason (but should it?). Still, there’s something to be garnered…

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Crony Capitalism-Funded Nashville SoundWaves Waterpark to Open in December

Chris Butler

The SoundWaves water park at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center is scheduled to open in December, according to a press release. Are you excited? Before you grab your swimming trunks and bathing suits, don’t forget, Nashville residents, your taxes helped pay for this thing. Also, don’t forget you can’t take so much as one dip inside this water park unless you pony up $250 for a one night stay at the Gaylord. Essentially, you can’t take advantage of something your taxes helped pay for. As the Tennessee Watchdog reported in 2017, Nashville Metro officials gave away $14 million in incentives so Ryman Entertainment officials could build the water park. This, even though the city already has a popular, privately run waterpark — Nashville Shores. Nashville Shores will now have a taxpayer-subsidized competitor. Council member Jim Shulman called it corporate welfare. “I can’t think of any reason why government should be using taxpayer money to help one business compete against another similar business,” Shulman said to the publication. The writers at the World Socialist Web site scolded the agreement as did the staff members at the right-of-center think tank the Beacon Center of Tennessee. Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry…

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POLL: Smears Of Kavanaugh Motivating Voters Against ‘Radical and Unscrupulous’ Democrats

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by CHQ Staff   Conservatives see the confirmation vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh as the issue that will allow Republicans to not only hold but even expand their Senate majority this fall, according to a poll by FedUp PAC. A large majority of 91.4% say that campaigning in support of Kavanaugh allows the GOP to highlight how “radical and unscrupulous” the Democrats have become.  Another 5.3% fear that Kavanaugh has been seriously tarnished by the uncorroborated accusations, and that Republicans should campaign on local issues without mentioning Kavanaugh.  Only 3.3% are undecided. The first round of Kavanaugh hearings demonstrated that the radical Democrats would not vote for any nominee who demonstrated faithfulness to the Constitution and the laws as written.  Instead they demanded that the Supreme Court become a left-wing legislature, imposing as the “law of the land” rulings for which many elected Democrats dare not vote. The unscrupulous nature of the Democrats was shown by their waiting until just before the committee vote on Kavanaugh, then springing the unlikely and uncorroborated story of Christine Blasey Ford, using it for delay and more delay.  When it appeared that the committee was finally moving toward a vote, they pulled yet another wild…

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Police May Take Sensitivity Training, Per Steve Cohen

Chris Butler

If U.S. Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN-09) has his way then police officers nationwide will undergo a series of sensitivity training seminars, according to proposed legislation he’s filed. Race sensitivity training. Ethnic bias sensitivity training. Disability sensitivity training. Police officers would also have to take sensitivity training on how to interact with new immigrants. They would also have to learn how no to behave properly with different groups on a conscious level. Police would also have to learn how to act on a sub-conscious level — whatever that means. And if and when police use deadly force then state officials would have to adopt new laws mandating an independent prosecutor oversee matters. But what is the process for selecting an independent prosecutor? How can anyone know the prosecutor truly is independent? Better yet, what, specifically, does Cohen mean when he asks for sensitivity training for police officers? Unfortunately, no one in Cohen’s office returned The Tennessee Star’s requests for comment Monday. Going by its formal name, the Police Training and Independent Review Act is Cohen’s response to police shootings in Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Maryland, among other places. “Asking local prosecutors to investigate the same law enforcement officers with whom…

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US House Intelligence Committee to Vote on Release of Trump Russia Transcripts

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Reuters   A U.S. House of Representatives committee will vote on Friday on whether to release dozens of transcripts of interviews from its investigation of Russia and the 2016 U.S. election, including conversations with senior associates of President Donald Trump. The House Intelligence Committee is expected to agree to send transcripts of the 53 interviews to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for review before they are made public, congressional aides said on Thursday. That would pave the way for the public to see thousands of pages of conversations with people including the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner, as well as Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former advisor to President Trump, Steve Bannon. Interviews with officials from former President Barack Obama’s administration, including former National Security Adviser Susan Rice and United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power are also among the transcripts. The transcripts are likely to provide the first public look at how some key witnesses described events such as a June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower in New York at which a group of Russians offered to provide damaging information about Trump’s Democratic rival at the election, Hillary Clinton.…

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Blasey Ford Says She Can’t Remember If She Gave Therapist Notes To A Reporter, But WaPo Claims They Had Them

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by Hanna Bogorowski   During Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, Blasey Ford said she could not remember if she directly gave reporters her therapist notes from 2012. The Washington Post‘s article by Emma Brown revealed Sept. 16 the identity of the woman behind the anonymous letter sent to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California alleging Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school. In the report, Blasey Ford says she never told anyone of the incident until 2012 during a couples therapy session, and WaPo appeared to claim it had obtained a portion of the therapist’s notes. She alleges Kavanaugh pinned her down on a bed and attempted to remove her clothing forcibly. “Ford said she told no one of the incident in any detail until 2012, when she was in couples therapy with her husband,” the report reads. “The therapist’s notes, portions of which were provided by Ford and reviewed by The Washington Post, do not mention Kavanaugh’s name but say she reported that she was attacked by students ‘from an elitist boys’ school’ who went on to become ‘highly respected and high-ranking members of society in Washington.’” “The notes say four boys…

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Sharia Law Advocate Linda Sarsour Arrested Again – This Time While Blocking Streets Outside Supreme Court

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by Henry Rodgers   Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour was arrested while protesting against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Thursday afternoon. Sarsour, who has been arrested numerous times, including at Kavanaugh’s Sept. 4 confirmation hearing, was spotted inside the Hart Senate Office Building around 10 a.m. with dozens of protesters, before leading a march with the group outside of the U.S. Capitol to the Supreme Court. A group of protesters and Sarsour were seen sitting in the middle of the street in front of the Supreme Court hours later. After being asked to move multiple times, police arrested Sarsour and dozens of others of protesters. #CancelKavanaugh: @womensmarch leaders Linda Sarsour & Bob Bland started a chant of “arrest Trump” while being led away. pic.twitter.com/xnHa1GCnHb — Alejandro Alvarez 🫡 (@aletweetsnews) September 27, 2018 Kavanaugh was testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Daily Caller News Foundation asked Sarsour what her plans were before the arrest. She refused to comment.  – – – Henry Rodgers is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Henry on Twitter. Photo “Linda Sarsour” by Festival of Faiths CC2.0                     Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without…

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NRA Endorses Mark Green for Congress

Chris Butler

The National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund has endorsed Republican Mark Green for Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District seat this week. Republican Marsha Blackburn currently occupies that seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is right now running for the U.S. Senate. In their endorsement, NRA officials describe Green as “a longtime champion for gun owners” who fought for the Second Amendment in the Tennessee State Senate. “I’m proud to receive the NRA’s endorsement,” Green said in a press release. “In the State Senate, I have led the fight to expand gun rights to law-abiding citizens and championed the constitutional carry bill in the state. I defended each of the freedoms in the Constitution when I went to Iraq and Afghanistan, and if elected to Congress, you can count on me to continue fighting for the Second Amendment.” Green is a lifetime member of the NRA and has collaborated with the organization on numerous legislative efforts. In his latest re-election campaign to the State Senate, Green received an A+ on the NRA-ILA’s scorecard and also received their endorsement, according to the press release. Green’s opponent in the race, Democrat Justin Kanew, has reportedly pledged not to accept any NRA contributions,…

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REPORT: EPA Paid $14.5 Million For Foreign Nationals, Not Americans, To Work In Government Labs

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by Michael Bastach   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) paid $14.5 million to foreign nationals to work at agency laboratories over the past 11 years that could have been awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, according to federal investigators. EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found the agency’s cooperative agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) funded 107 fellowships to “foreign nationals or persons who were not citizens or permanent residents of the United States.” “Allowing foreign nationals to participate in the fellowships is inconsistent with the EPA practice of awarding fellowships to U.S. citizens, which is required for the EPA’s directly awarded fellowships,” OIG reported Wednesday. EPA’s cooperative agreement with NAS began in 2007 and lasted until 2017, so it spanned multiple administrations. In that time, EPA has come under criticism for wasting taxpayers dollars. Federal auditors found in 2014 that eight EPA employees racked up 20,926 hours on paid leave “and cost the government an estimated $1,096,868.” Each “was on extended administrative leave for four or more months,” auditors found. The Government Accountability Office noted in a 2014 report the “salary cost for EPA employees on administrative leave for fiscal years (FYs) 2011 through 2013 was $17,550,100.” Most notably, former…

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Deputy UN Chief: Fight Against Tuberculosis Drastically Underfunded

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chest x-ray

Tuberculosis (TB) is a vicious epidemic that is drastically underfunded. That was the takeaway message from the first high-level meeting focused on the infectious disease at the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Amina Mohammad, U.N. deputy secretary-general, said the disease is fueled by poverty, inequality, migration and conflict, and that an additional $13 billion per year is needed to get the disease under control. Last year, tuberculosis killed more people than any other communicable disease — more than 1.3 million men, women and children. The World Health Organization estimates that the 10 million people who become newly infected each year live mostly in poor countries with limited access to health care. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the WHO, told the assembly that partnership is vital to end the disease. He said the WHO is committed to working with every country, partner and community to get the job done. The WHO plans to lead U.N. efforts to support governments and other partners in order to drive a faster response to TB. Most people can be cured with a six-month treatment program. But as world leaders told the assembly, medication is expensive, and the stigma associated with TB interferes with…

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Republican Senators Doxxed By Someone In House Shortly After Questioning Kavanaugh

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by Peter Hasson   An unknown person located in the House of Representatives on Thursday posted the personal information of Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, as well as Mike Lee and Orrin Hatch of Utah. All three senators sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and their personal information was posted shortly after each questioned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during Thursday’s hearing. “They appear to be targeting Republican members of the committee after they question Judge Kavanaugh,” a Hatch spokesman told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The staffer noted the change revealed Hatch’s home address and that Thursday was the senator’s wife’s birthday. The changes were immediately highlighted by a watchdog account that monitors Wikipedia changes made using IP addresses located in the House. A Lee staffer confirmed the senator’s home address in Utah and personal cell phone number were posted to the public page. A spokeswoman for Graham did not immediately return TheDCNF’s request for comment. The information posted on Wikipedia and Twitter matched with a listed personal address for Graham. Wikipedia appears to have removed the changes. Graham delivered a fiery criticism of Senate Democrats shortly before his personal information was posted, a technique known as “doxxing.” “What you want to…

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Senator Bob Corker Announces He Will Vote to Confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court

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Late Thurday, after a long and often emotional day of testimony at the Senate Confirmation Hearing of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) announced he will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. “I plan to vote to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” Corker wrote simply. In his statement – released as an attachment to his tweet – the swing Senator elaborated: I believe those who come forward with allegation of sexual assault deserve to be heard. That is why I was one of the first members of the Senate to call on the judiciary committee to delay the original vote on the nomination so that both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh could provide additional information. I know if took courage for Dr. Ford to appear before the committee today. I also very strongly believe Judge Kavanaugh, like all Americans, deserves the presumption of innocence and that it was equally as important for him to have the opportunity to address the charges and defend himself. While both individuals provided compelling, nothing that has been presented corroborates the allegation. There is no question that Judge Kavanaugh is qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, and is a different political…

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