Day: October 9, 2018

Phil Bredesen Tweet to Taylor Swift Shows Why 74-Year-Olds Should Not be Allowed on Social Media

Jason M. Reynolds

Taylor Swift’s endorsement of Phil Bredesen has led to a lot of flaming online – and Bredesen is receiving some of the backblast for attempting to be hip while in turn flaming Marsha Blackburn. Swift endorsed the Democratic Senate candidate on Instagram while also blasting U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), Bredesen’s opponent. Swift said of Blackburn, “As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.” (emphasis added) Bredesen tweeted, “.@VoteMarsha, look what you made her do. @taylorswift13 doesn’t like your little games and she wants Tennesseans to know that you’ve been in the swamp long enough. It’s time for some fresh air up in Washington.” .@VoteMarsha, look what you made her do. @taylorswift13 doesn’t like your little games and she wants Tennesseans to know that you’ve been in the swamp long enough. It’s time for some fresh air up in Washington. https://t.co/DC11TVODMh — Phil Bredesen (@PhilBredesen) October 8, 2018 The 74-year-old former Tennessee governor was referencing Swift’s popular song “Look What You Made Me Do,” which has been interpreted as an attack against her enemies, including Kanye…

Read the full story

2018 Tennessee Pork of the Year Award Voting Gets Underway

Chris Butler

The Beacon Center of Tennessee, a Nashville-based right-of-center think tank, this week announced finalists for its 2018 Tennessee Pork of the Year Award. The winner gets top billing in Beacon’s yearly Pork Report. The report catalogs the year’s worst instances of government waste, fraud, and abuse in Tennessee. As was the case in prior years, people may go online and vote on what they consider the most foolish example. This year, Beacon staff members offered four options. The first example, as explained in a YouTube video, concerns former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and her extra-marital affair with her former security guard. “Clearly there is no better example of the Pork of the Year than a mayor who everyone thought would go on to be a U.S. senator, maybe even president,” said Beacon Center President Justin Owen. “She has now fallen in disgrace, not even serving in office anymore because she thought it was a good idea to take taxpayer money and give her chief of security overtime pay and to have an affair with him and to travel the world with him and to travel across the world to places like Greece and France, all on your dime.” As Owen…

Read the full story

Commentary: The Coming Red Tide

Admin

by Brandon J. Weichert   Republicans are slated to lose the midterms next month. History is against them. The “experts” don’t think the GOP has a snowball’s chance in Florida. Generic polling shows the Republicans facing a nearly hopeless situation in the House of Representatives, and there is even some question as to whether they can hold their narrow majority in the Senate. Yet, as Mark Twain once said, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” The Right faced roughly these same odds and dire predictions exactly two years ago. And while President Trump’s name is not on the ballot, most Republican voters understand what the stakes are: the future of the country, more or less. I think the GOP will be able to eek out a victory in the midterms. Think about it: for two years, rather than humbly accept defeat and regroup, the Left has overreached; they’ve gone from “loyal” opposition to deranged insurgents. The late character assassination of the now-confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is another example of the Democratic Party’s hubris. So, too, is the Left’s embrace of full-blown socialism (or, excuse me, “democratic socialism”). Although President Trump’s overall approval ratings may be (if one were to take the polls at face-value) relatively low,…

Read the full story

Former Senior Trump Aide Hope Hicks Named Chief Communications Officer for ‘New’ FOX

Admin

by Evie Fordham   Former White House communications director Hope Hicks has accepted a position as chief communications officer for a spin off of 21st Century Fox, the company announced Monday. The organization that 29-year-old Hicks will work for, FOX, is “the company to be spun-off in connection with 21st Century Fox’s merger with The Walt Disney Company,” according to a Monday press release. Hicks will also be an executive vice president of FOX when the merger goes through. She is the former press secretary of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and her ties to the Trump family go back to her work for the Trump Organization and even Ivanka Trump’s fashion label, reported NBC News. Speculation has abounded about Hicks’s next step after she left the White House in March. The East Coast native will be stationed in Los Angeles, according to the press release. “FOX won’t find anyone smarter or more talented than Hope Hicks,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted Monday. “So happy for my friend. They are beyond lucky to have you and the East Coast misses you already.” FOX won’t find anyone smarter or more talented than Hope Hicks. So happy for my friend. They are beyond lucky to have…

Read the full story

Pro-Trump PAC Releases Ad Blasting Phil Bredesen

Chris Butler

Members of a Pro-Donald Trump Super PAC have released an ad warning that Democrat Phil Bredesen will help raise federal taxes and assist liberal politicians if Tennessee voters make him a U.S. senator. In the ad, The Committee to Defend the President also described Bredesen’s commitments to Democrats, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The PAC previously described how Bredesen donated to U.S. Senator Cory “Spartacus” Booker of New Jersey. As for the ad, it tells the state’s voters that “Tennessee’s future is prosperous and protected” especially with a booming economy and a secure border. “Liberal Phil Bredesen would undo it all, raising taxes and leaving us undefended,” according to the ad. “It’s not surprising. Bredesen has been supporting D.C. liberals for years, giving hundreds of thousands to bankroll their campaigns, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.” The ad concludes by warning voters not to let Bredesen “rewind all of Trump’s accomplishments.” As the PAC already reported, Bredesen gave vast sums of his wealth to the most left-wing Democrats in America, including Obama, Clinton, and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis. According to the PAC’s research, Bredesen donated exactly $460,691.11 to Democratic Party interests from 1987 through 2014. PAC Committee…

Read the full story

Shelby County Delays Road Project Due to Minority Participation Concerns

Chris Butler
road construction

Shelby County officials will postpone an important road paving project because they can’t find an affordable contractor who offers at least 28 percent minority participation. The 28 percent participation rate is a goal for the county. It is not a requirement, said the county’s Chief Diversity Officer Shep Wilbun. “If the goal is not met then there is something called Good Faith Effort tests that show that if you tried to meet the goal but you weren’t able to then you are still eligible for receiving of a contract to be awarded,” Wilbun told The Tennessee Star. “If a good faith effort was not made in compliance with our ordinance and the goal was not met then that bid can be considered not one for us to award.” This road project is supposed to cover areas outside Memphis, in the northern and southern parts of the county, Wilbun said. He had no further details. According to LocalMemphis.com, representatives with two companies placed bids for the road paving project. The company that made the lower bid didn’t agree to hire 28 percent minorities. Officials with the other company agreed to meet the goal, but their bid was reportedly too high. County…

Read the full story

Liberal Writers, Activists Attack ‘White Women’ Over Kavanaugh

Admin

by Peter Hasson   Liberal writers and activists responded to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation over the weekend by attacking “white women.” The New York Times on Saturday evening published an op-ed titled “White Women, Come Get Your People.” The op-ed’s author, Alexis Grenell, attacked Republican women who supported Kavanaugh as “gender traitors” in league with the “patriarchy.” Grenell claimed that “white women benefit from patriarchy by trading on their whiteness to monopolize resources for mutual gain.” White women “are expected to support the patriarchy by marrying within their racial group, reproducing whiteness and even minimizing violence against their own bodies,” the liberal writer asserted. Grenell wasn’t alone in placing responsibility for Kavanaugh’s nomination on “white women.” NBC News ran an opinion piece on Sunday slamming white, Republican women for Kavanaugh’s confirmation, which the op-ed claimed was “the ultimate affirmation of the patriarchy.” Opinion: Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation was enabled by white women via @IAmSophiaNelson https://t.co/bIvwFtR4Vs pic.twitter.com/8ObJQEndNe — NBC BLK (@NBCBLK) October 7, 2018 Women’s March leader Linda Sarsour on Friday called Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins “the mother [and] grandmother of white women in America who gave us a Donald Trump presidency.” “She is a disgrace [and] her legacy will be that she was a…

Read the full story

Democrats Have Used Social Media and Paid Protesters to Create the Illusion of a Majority, Says Dan Bongino

Admin

by Nick Givas   Political commentator and former secret service agent Dan Bongino accused Democrats of manipulating social media and paying protesters to create the illusion they’re in the majority. “Listen, the left has gotten really good at this,” Bongino said on “Fox & Friends” Monday. "The left…gives the impression that they are the majority of the opinion, when they are not"- @dbongino on @foxandfriends pic.twitter.com/ozLwYDRK07 — Ainsley Earhardt (@ainsleyearhardt) October 8, 2018 “Fox & Friends” ran a clip of Vice News editor Shawna Thomas saying some protesters who showed up to oppose Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court were being funded by outside, left-wing political groups. Thomas later clarified, however, that she meant protesters were a mix of organization-backed and volunteer activists. “It’s interesting. I was emailing someone before the show … Conservative groups, I’m a member of a lot of them. And one of them emailed me and said, ‘Hey, listen — if you have the time, stop by some of these protests and show your support for Kavanaugh.’ And I kid you not, a lot of the responses were fascinating,” Bongino continued. “They were like, ‘Hey, I really can’t. I have a job. I have an actual job to…

Read the full story

Commentary: Donald Trump’s ‘Doctrine of Patriotism’ Sets Standard for World Peace

Admin

by Jeffrey A. Rendall   Lost among the avalanche of news coverage concerning the national media fixation with Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s high school social life was President Donald Trump’s remarkable speech to the United Nations, where the American leader rearticulated a “doctrine of patriotism” that guides his approach to foreign policy. In the course of delivering the address Trump touted his administration’s accomplishments to a world audience, some of which engendered an outburst of amusement from the onlookers. As would be expected this particular moment of ruling class hilarity drew the majority of focus from the liberal American establishment media which took great pleasure in pointing out, “See, the world is laughing at us! Trump is a buffoon!” For those paying attention – and don’t especially care what the greater world community thinks about our duly elected president – Trump’s speech marked yet another departure from the views of recent American presidents both Democrat and Republican. Instead of plugging the worldly popular concept of “globalism” Trump championed sovereignty and individualism among nations. Not surprisingly, this “it’s okay for us to be us and you to be you” attitude was not well received in liberal and #NeverTrump circles. Even some in the so-called…

Read the full story

Larry Kudlow Says American Energy Can Upend Russia’s Influence

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser said the U.S. is capable of upending Russia’s “hegemony” in the international energy market. “Some of the things we’re talking about do focus on the energy sector,” Larry Kudlow said during an interview with Hill.TV that aired Monday. “We are the dominant energy power. We will be producing 15 million barrels of oil per day in a couple of years. We’re passing the Saudis. We’re passing Russia.” Kudlow, who currently serves as director of the National Economic Council, bragged that there is so much natural gas coming out of the Permian Basin, for example, American producers don’t even know what to do with it. Numerous regions across the U.S. are experiencing a natural gas boom, thanks in large part to the implementation of hydraulic fracturing. “So what does that mean? Means we have to have infrastructure for pipelines, east, west, west, east. Get this stuff to the northeast, get this stuff to Europe and challenge Russia’s hegemony on nat gas and LNG [liquified natural gas],” he said. “This is doable. We have to really focus on the energy sector. Most of this stuff can be done privately.” Kudlow ended the segment by explaining that the…

Read the full story

Minnesota Teacher Placed on Paid Leave After Calling for Murder of Kavanaugh

Anthony Gockowski

A Minnesota public school teacher is now under investigation after calling for the murder of newly-confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The teacher, identified on social media as Samantha Ness, works for Intermediate School District #917’s Alliance Education Center, which “provides services to all students with unique needs,” including children with autism, cognitive disabilities, emotional behavior disorders, and more. “So whose [sic] gonna take one for the team and kill Kavanaugh?” Ness tweeted over the weekend, but has since deleted her Facebook and Twitter. Screen grabs of her social media accounts, however, show that she started at her teaching position in April, while pictures she posted to Twitter confirmed her identity. https://twitter.com/pahubb43/status/1049143893743296512 Additionally, the Minnesota Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board confirms that Ness is a licensed teacher in the state and a graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato. Before deleting her Twitter account, Ness went on to write that “Kavanaugh will be dealing with death threats for the rest of his life being on the Supreme Court,” so she doubts her “mid-west ass is a real threat,” according to archives of her account. On Monday, her employer announced that it has “received a complaint regarding an employee” who has…

Read the full story

‘There’s Is No Debate,’ Ron DeSantis is Racist Says AM Joy Guest Tiffany Cross

Admin

by Nick Givas   Managing editor of The Beat DC, Tiffany Cross called Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis “racist” on MSNBC’s “AM Joy” Sunday and said there’s “no debate” about his racial beliefs. DeSantis is running against Democrat challenger Andrew Gillum and has starkly contrasted himself against Gillum’s left wing policies. He also accused Gillum of trying change Florida into Venezuela. “When I look at races, particularly in the South … Andrew Gillum’s race. You have DeSantis who has come out and there is no debate. We don’t have to ask the question is he racist,” Cross declared. “He’s already shown his colors.” Cross also claimed the confirmation fight over Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has pumped up Democrats and said the party has to hire more Latinos and black Americans to target their fellow voters with greater efficiency. “The Kavanaugh vote energized the base. I think it is up to the people who are running to come in after that and make sure that they’re reaching out to the proper communities … rural black voters who remain untouched,” she concluded. “Something like 90 percent of Latino voters in the district, it’s escaping me now, had not been reached out to by a major campaign.…

Read the full story

Improper Medicaid Payments in Tennessee Part of Huge Nationwide Problem

Chris Butler

A Knoxville nursing facility improperly billed Medicaid more than $20,000 for non-allowable expenses, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released this week. That’s minuscule, though, compared to the massive amount of money Medicaid loses nationwide on improper payments. “In 2015, improper payments alone—which include things like payment for non-covered services or for services that were billed but not provided—totaled more than $29 billion according to the Government Accountability Office,” as cited on the National Conference of State Legislatures’ website. As for the Knoxville facility — Beverly Park Place Health and Rehab — auditors said it improperly billed Medicaid $22,032.85 for 134 hospital and therapeutic leave days when the facility was operating below 85 percent occupancy. Non-allowable expenses at the facility consisted of certain ambulance transportation expenses, sales tax expenses, radiology fees, and even marketing expenses, the audit said. Beverly Park Place spokeswoman Susette Williamson told The Tennessee Star in an emailed statement she and other staff members have corrected all deficiencies. “The items noted are a very small percentage of the volume for a non-profit health care provider of our size,” Williamson said. “Due to patient confidentiality requirements, our policy does not let us comment further on any issues which might…

Read the full story

President Trump: Taylor Swift ‘Doesn’t Know Anything About’ Marsha Blackburn

Jason M. Reynolds

President Donald Trump supported Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn Monday after pop superstar Taylor Swift “smeared” her, and he criticized the singer, Breitbart News said. “She’s a tremendous woman,” Trump said about Blackburn. “I’m sure Taylor Swift has nothing or doesn’t know anything about her.” Watch the latest video at foxnews.com Swift endorsed Blackburn’s opponent, Democratic former Governor Phil Bredesen, as well as U.S. Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN-05). She also took a swipe at U.S. Representative Blackburn (R-TN-0-7). “As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.” (emphasis added) https://www.instagram.com/p/BopoXpYnCes/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link However, Blackburn is “leading substantially” in the polls, the president said. A CBS News poll shows her leading Bredesen by 50 percent to 42 percent. The president added that he liked Swift’s music less, Breitbart reported. “Let’s say that I like Taylor’s music about 25 percent less now,” he said. The president defeated Hillary Clinton in Tennessee by 26 points in 2016. The National Republican Senate Committee said in a statement, “If you haven’t heard, multimillionaire pop star Taylor Swift came down from her ivory tower to tell…

Read the full story