Month: October 2018

Claiming He was ‘Framed,’ Papadopoulos Says He Might Scrap Plea Deal with Mueller

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by Chuck Ross   Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos said Friday that he is considering withdrawing from a plea agreement he has had for over a year with the special counsel’s office. In an interview with Fox & Friends, the 31-year-old Papadopoulos asserted he was “framed” by Western intelligence agencies, including those within the U.S. government. “I believe there was tremendous misconduct on the government’s behalf regarding my case,” Papadopoulos said in the interview. And given certain information I learned yesterday that I can’t publicly disclose right now, I’m actually even considering withdrawing my agreement I have come to with the government.” Papadopoulos was referring to his testimony Thursday to a joint congressional task force investigating the FBI and Department of Justice’s handling of the Trump-Russia collusion probe. It is unclear what was said in the deposition, but the two Republican lawmakers who attended the session said they came away with the belief that the FBI investigation was built on a faulty premise. “What we’re finding without talking about specifics of what’s going on is that the whole reason that this investigation was opened up was certainly not one built on a solid foundation,” North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Meadows told…

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Police Civilian Oversight Board Redundant, Expensive, Denies Due Process of Officers: FOP President

Jason M. Reynolds

A civilian oversight board for the Nashville Metro Police Department “sounds like a warm and fuzzy,” but one expert says that is not the case. James Smallwood is president of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police. “People immediately think, ‘Well, that’s a great idea,’” Smallwood told The Tennessee Star this week. A circuit court judge in September ruled against the Fraternal Order of Police in a lawsuit the group filed trying to throw out a referendum to establish a community board overseeing Metro Police, News Channel 5 said. Once you get into the minutiae, it becomes apparent the Amendment 1 initiative that is on the Nov. 6 ballot will have a “massive cost” of $10 million over five years, Smallwood said. That is more expensive than any comparable civilian oversight board in the nation. That is not a viable option when the city is in dire financial straits. The board also would be redundant, he said. There are at least eight layers of oversight of Metro Police already, including civilian and government agencies. The new board would not give police equal representation – there are no regulations on who can sit on the board, other than they cannot be officers or married…

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Commentary: Parents, Smart Government Requires Teaching Children Civics

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by Brad Johnson   In the fall of 2012, I excitedly began my senior year government class. I was about to sit through a course on our system of government while also watching it play out right before my eyes on its biggest stage during the 2012 election. Much to my chagrin, nobody else seemed even remotely as thrilled. Throughout the next five months, blank stares and snores engulfed the classroom with unmistakable indifference. In those moments, it hit me just how far we had fallen. Recently, I was struck by a similar feeling. I came across yet another condemnation of our system of representative government on Twitter. Waleed Shahid, a former advisor to New York Congressional Candidate and Democratic Socialist heartthrob Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said the Senate is not democratic enough because less populous states receive the same representation as high-population states. But this is the very point of the Senate. Without equal representation in one house of Congress, large states would be able to run roughshod over smaller states. Yet this fact is continually ignored by civically-illiterate citizens eager to support their points of frustration against Trump’s agenda. And Shahid wasn’t alone in his sentiment about the Electoral College. Hordes of…

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Bredesen 100 Percent Wrong on Illegal Immigrant Army, Blackburn Says

Jason M. Reynolds

Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen on Wednesday dismissed the illegal alien army approaching America’s southern border. When asked about the army Bredesen laughed, saying, “A few thousand very poor people coming to our border is not a threat to our, is not a threat to our security.” Bredesen’s opponent, U.S. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) released a campaign video Friday calling him out. The video is available here. According to Blackburn, Bredesen also: Gave driving certificates to illegal aliens as governor in 2004 and made Tennessee a magnet for illegal aliens. Said the border wall is more “political theater” than practical policy. Doesn’t support President Trump’s travel ban. (The Tennessee Star reported in June that he ducked the issue.) Blackburn’s campaign said, “Phil Bredesen is dangerously wrong on immigration and out of touch with Tennesseans. Marsha Blackburn is 100% supportive of securing our border. As our Senator, she will work with President Trump to build the wall and stop the caravan.” The Washington Examiner confirmed the migrant army is composed of criminals from various nations: The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday defended claims by President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence that violent criminals are a component of the Honduran caravan…

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Latinos for Tennessee Endorses Dr. Mark Green for Congress

Jason M. Reynolds

Latinos for Tennessee PAC announced its endorsement of State Sen. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-22) for Congress. Founded to advance faith, family, freedom and fiscal responsibility in the Latino community, the group has many members and supporters throughout the Seventh District. U.S. Representative Republican Marsha Blackburn currently holds the Seventh Congressional District seat Green wants. She is running for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Phil Bredesen. Democrat Justin Kanew is running against Green for the Seventh District seat. In announcing their endorsement, Latinos for Tennessee PAC Executive Director Raul Lopez said, “Senator Green is a selfless patriot who loves our country and has put on the uniform to fight for our precious freedoms. As a veteran himself, Senator Green understands the unique challenges our military and our veterans are facing. Our veterans and their families have had a true champion fighting for them to ensure that they receive the benefits they deserve.” Speaking about the endorsement, Green said, “Having worked closely with Latinos for Tennessee as a state senator, I’m honored to receive their endorsement. I look forward to continuing the fight alongside Latinos for Tennessee for faith, family, freedom, and fiscal responsibility.” Green’s campaign continues to pick up support in…

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US Missile Defense System Intercepts Medium-Range Missile in Test

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The U.S. military said it successfully tested a key missile defense system on Friday, in a milestone that experts say shows a growing U.S. capability to knock down an incoming, medium-range missile from countries like North Korea and Iran. The Aegis system used in the latest test was fitted with a Standard Missile 3 Block IIA (SM-3 IIA) interceptor being developed in a joint venture between Raytheon Co and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. It was the second successful intercept in a row for the SM-3 IIA and will give the U.S. Missile Defense Agency more confidence that it has resolved design flaws that previously caused intercept failures, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The officials said the successful test moved the system closer to production. MDA Director Lieutenant General Sam Greaves described the test as “a superb accomplishment and key milestone.” Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a non-profit organization that seeks to promote testing and development of missile defense systems, said the test would also keep plans on track to eventually deploy the system in Poland. The Poland site is part of a planned U.S. missile defense network aimed at deterring an attack…

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Commentary: The Eternal Return of a Malevolent Charade

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by Roger Kimball   The eternal return – Friedrich Nietzsche thought the idea was horrifying. Life as an endless merry-go-round in which the same things keep recurring, forever. That prospect, Nietzsche thought, was the hardest, weightiest, most depressing idea mankind could ever confront. It was part of Nietzsche’s blustering nihilism that he should first conjure the most unpleasant idea he could think of and then announce that true heroism lay in embracing it. The rest of us may be less enthusiastic about the prospect of ceaseless repetition. After all, we’ve all had a foretaste of what it entails in the remarkable career of socialism. Like the fabled hydra, socialism is an evil that suffers decapitation after decapitation only to spring back to life, its blood—or, rather, the blood of its victims—somehow sprouting ever new heads of credulousness. The Soviet Union was “really existing communism,” under whose aegis millions were impoverished, tortured, and murdered (but, according to the New York Times, the sex was great). Western intellectuals, gullible creatures that they are, adulated that steaming tyranny. Eventually morons like Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II brought to an end that horrible “experiment in living.” Chairman Mao probably has the…

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Trump’s Use of Pardon Power Aims at Rectifying Injustice

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by John-Michael Seibler   Since taking office, President Donald Trump has granted pardons and sentence commutations for a number of individuals who he thinks received an unjust federal prison sentence or were unjustly prosecuted and convicted of a federal crime. In some cases—particularly in granting the early-20th century black boxing champion Jack Johnson a posthumous pardon, and taking meetings on criminal justice issues—Trump is drawing flak, when he should be getting kudos for working to address instances of manifest injustice. On Oct. 9, Trump reiterated his commitment to using the presidential pardon power, saying that he was actively looking at more federal inmates in similar situations. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said that there are “a lot of people … that will unfortunately be locked up for many, many years, and there’s no reason for it.” Trump’s comments came before a widely publicized meeting on Oct. 11 with rapper Kanye West and pro football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, during which the three discussed, among other things, prison reform and presidential pardons. Yet, one commentator called the meeting a “minstrel show,” and others used it as an opportunity to mock both West and Trump. In doing so, Trump’s…

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Americans for Limited Government Asks: ‘Is Sexual Violence in Minnesota Okay When It’s a Democrat?’

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by Natalia Castro   Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are running to maintain their seats this November. While both are leading in the polls, their race has not been without controversy. In Americans for Limited Government’s latest issue advocacy ad, they highlight the hypocrisy surrounding Klobuchar and Smith’s alignment with controversial political figures Al Franken and Keith Ellison. By refusing to call out violence against women in their own party, even within their own state, Klobuchar and Smith have proved they are more invested in party politics than doing what is right. Klobuchar became a national name during the nomination process for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh was subject to unsubstantiated sexual misconduct claims that dragged out his nomination process for weeks. Klobuchar became one of his fiercest critics and an adversary during the hearing process. Smith also called upon constituents to “rise up” and “use their voice” against Kavanaugh on the steps of the Supreme Court. Smith and Klobuchar advocated against Kavanaugh, despite an FBI investigation which was unable to verify his alleged victim’s story and bodies of evidence supporting Kavanaugh’s denial of events. Meanwhile, in these Senators’ own state of Minnesota, two high profile political…

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Nashville Man Says HOA Won’t Let Him Put His Bill Lee Sign in His Yard

Chris Butler

NASHVILLE — At least one resident of Nashville’s Abbeywood Village neighborhood in Burton Hills is unhappy because he says he can’t post his Bill Lee for Governor sign in his front yard. That man, Daniel Allen, told The Tennessee Star his homeowners’ association forbids it. This, despite a state law that, going by Allen’s interpretation, supersedes his HOA policies. Members of the Tennessee General Assembly enacted that law, the Tennessee Freedom of Speech Act, last year. Allen, a Republican, said he neither lobbied for the law nor did he help write it. He just wants freedom of speech — for him and even his neighbor, a Democrat who is rooting for Phil Bredesen for the U.S. Senate. “I am not going to vote for Phil Bredesen. He’s not my guy,” Allen said. “But I believe my neighbor has a right to have that (Bredesen) sign out there, and I and no one else in this complex have a right to tell him he can’t.” The Star on Friday repeatedly tried to contact all four members of the Abbeywood Village HOA, as well as President Grant Carpenter, Managing Agent Teddy Christenberry, and Outside Counsel Gerald C. Wigger. No one other than two…

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Todd Starnes Reports: NYC Art Installation Depicts Trump Supporters as Trash

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by Todd Starnes   A New York City art installation depicts President Trump’s supporters as white trash who cling to Bibles, eat at Chick-fil-A and wear “Make America Great Again” ball caps. “Keep NYC Trash Free” is the brain child of artist Winston Tseng. His previous works of art include a homophobic poster depicting Sean Hannity and President Trump. In his newest installation, Tseng portrays one Trump supporter as an overweight white man wearing a “Make America Great Again” ball cap while drinking from a Chick-fil-A cup. The man also sports a Confederate flag tattoo on his arm. The other image features a woman clinging to a Bible while wearing a “Make America Great Again” ball cap. [ Are you voting? Here are few apps for smart voters ] Tseng defended the stereotypical images of white Trump supporters in an interview with Brooklyn Street Art. “I wouldn’t say its meant to represent all caucasians but certainly they are meant to portray a certain demographic,” he said. “In this case a segment of white people that I personally believe the posters accurately reflect. The statistics are there that a lot of Trump supporters who wear the MAGA hats come from red states, from…

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As President Trump’s Successes with Trade Grow, Globalist Republicans’ Grip on ‘Free Trade’ Orthodoxy Slips

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by Michael Noyes   Eight hours before the first polls closed on November 8, 2016, the late Charles Krauthammer appeared on Fox News and made a prediction. Should Trump win, he said, it would “irreversibly” change the Republican Party. “Particularly the most obvious issues will be immigration and trade,” Krauthammer explained. Nearly two years into the Trump presidency, a look at debates from key Senate races may offer a hint at the party’s future on trade. The old guard is sticking with its free-trade roots. “I am for freedom, free people and free markets, and I am not a fan of tariffs and never have been,” Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn said in her debate with Democrat Phil Bredesen. “But China has had a trade war on us for decades, and if we’re in a trade war, for goodness sakes let’s make sure we win this. Now, I hope that we get these tariffs over and done with because they are not good for Tennessee.” Moments later Blackburn was asked to name one Trump policy she disagreed with. “One is the tariffs . . . ” On this the two candidates agreed. “The tariffs we have right now are hurting Tennessee…

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Lindsey Graham to Campaign for Marsha Blackburn Sunday in Nashville

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will campaign in Nashville Sunday for U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) in her Senate bid. Graham will appear at CabaRay Showroom from 2:30-4 p.m., according to Facebook and Twitter posts. Doors open at 2. A different venue had initially been announced. We have a venue change for Sunday. Time and guests remain the same, but our GOTV rally will now be at the CabaRay Showroom, 5724 River Road, Nashville, TN pic.twitter.com/N8nQnkkPk0 — TNGOP (@TNGOP) October 24, 2018 “If you live in Tennessee — or have friends and family living there — please encourage them to support for Marsha Blackburn for U.S. Senate. I will be attending a Rally in Nashville on Sunday for Marsha and our Tennessee Republican team,” he said on Facebook. CabaRay is a venue that is owned by legendary comedic entertainer Ray Stevens. The stop is part of Graham’s 2018  midterm campaign tour.The Republican National Committee has said Graham is also stopping in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio and South Carolina. Graham isn’t up for re-election until 2020. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said earlier this month, “President Trump has enlisted Senator Graham, a key…

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Tennessee Pastors Receive White House Briefing and Meet with Vice President Mike Pence

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A group of over 100 Tennessee Pastors, including the President of the Tennessee Pastors Network Dale Walker, attended a White House briefing earlier this week. “It is a wonderful blessing that we have President Trump and an Administration that truly cares about the Christian faith community and recognizes the critical role that churches and pastors serve in their communities,” Walker said of the meeting. “Churches and Pastors have a tremendous opportunity that we must seize while the door is open to Christian faith in this troubled nation.” The Pastors from Tennessee received briefings from directors of the Center for Faith-Based Initiatives and from several other Federal officials regarding national and international issues. Walker said the meeting broke out into “Real Church” after Surgoinsville, TN Pastor Brian Burchfield, led the group of Pastors and Administration officials in signing “Amazing Grace” before offering praise and worship. Burchfield noted that “I have served the LORD in singing and ministry all my life and I was honored and blessed to serve and worship the LORD in this spirit-filled event at the White House.” Burchfield went through a lot just to get to the briefing. He is a cancer survivor and wanted to save the…

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Ohio Gov. Kasich: ‘The Lord’ Doesn’t Want Americans to Oppose Migrant Caravan

Anthony Accardi

Ohio Gov. John Kasich told CNN Thursday that “the Lord” doesn’t want Americans to build walls and oppose the migrant caravan heading to the United States from Central America. “We’ve got to start putting ourselves in the shoes of other people,” Kasich told CNN’s Newsroom. Kasich, the grandson of Catholic immigrants from Eastern Europe who became an Anglican Christian as an adult, said he believes most Americans would welcome the caravan. We’ve got to start thinking about the consequences that others suffer. And if we have been spared those by the grace of God, let us be appreciative, let us count our blessings, and let us reach out to those who have less. Let’s stop putting up walls around ourselves and not understanding the plight, the trouble, and the problems of others. It is not right. And the Lord doesn’t want it, and our people at their hearts want to reach out to others. Look at what they do in these storms. They go and they rescue people they don’t know. They put them in their homes. They feed them. That’s America. Not all this garbage and this division and yelling and screaming and hatred on all sides.” But not all…

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Media Reports Conflict on Trump Visit to Chattanooga Before Midterms

Jason M. Reynolds

There are conflicting reports on whether President Donald Trump plans to visit Chattanooga just before Election Day. Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence is visiting North Georgia on Nov. 1. News Channel 9 reported Thursday that the president would visit Chattanooga on Nov. 5, citing a statement by U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03). Later in the evening, the TV station said Fleischmann backed off his statement. In its update, News Channel 9 said, “A new statement from Congressman Fleischmann’s office is walking back his previous confirmation of Trump’s visit. In it, Communications Director Kasey Lovett says that they would welcome such a visit, ‘but I am not aware of any plans in the near future.’” WRCB reported a possible visit but said details had not been confirmed. The Chattanoogan also reported the president’s visit. It has also been announced Pence will visit Dalton, Georgia, just outside Chattanooga. He will visit the Dalton Convention Center at 11:30 a.m. Eastern on Nov. 1, the Times Free Press said. Pence plans to rally support for  Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp. Polls shows Kemp in a close race with Democrat Stacey Abrams. This will be Pence’s second trip to Dalton in three years. During the run up…

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James Smallwood Commentary: Vote No on Amendment 1

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by James Smallwood   This year Nashvillians will head to the polls to consider Amendment #1. At face value, without any research, a civilian oversight board sounds like a good concept. However, a closer scrutiny of the details, i.e. the massive budget, lack of equal representation, absence of regulations on those who would be appointed to the board (directly by politicians) reveals genuine concerns that this board would be rife with corruption, overspending, and an anti-police agenda. For starters, Nashville’s budget is a mess. Despite a strong economy and record low unemployment, Nashville has defaulted on promised pay raises to Metro employees and cut millions of dollars out of the budget from nearly every department. Police, fire, libraries and schools are all experiencing serious budget cuts. This, coupled with an increasingly crushing debt service, makes it obvious that the last thing we need is a redundant government board which, as proposed, would cost Nashville taxpayers $10 million over the next five years; we simply cannot afford it. For example, police still do not have body cameras. These devices would provide the desired transparency on police interactions with the public. Nashville needs millions of dollars to pay for this program. However,…

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Nearly 100 Conservative Big Shots Voice Support for Trump’s CAFE Reforms

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by Chris White   More than 90 prominent conservatives signed a letter Wednesday urging President Donald Trump to push forward on major reforms to a California program created decades ago to regulate fuel consumption. Former Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and tax reformer Grover Norquist were among a slew of conservatives to encourage dramatic changes to the state’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Trump believes California’s regulations hurt businesses and citizens. CAFE standards were established in 1975 during a time of grave national concern over fuel scarcity and America’s reliance on imported energy, the letter notes.  A review of the purpose and effectiveness of existing CAFE standards is long overdue. The letter also notes that the 2012 standards are proving too ambitious, costly, and simply not viable for automakers from a practical or safety standpoint, before highlighting reports from the National Auto Dealers Association showing mandates increase the cost of vehicles by an average of $3,000. Trump etched out a proposal in July seeking to remove California’s ability to set its own standards. The move will effectively cap federal fuel economy requirements at 2020 levels, which under current law requires at least a 35-mpg average. Former President Barack Obama placed the…

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EPA Delays Repeal of Obama-Era Truck Regulations Causing Mass Layoffs

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by Michael Bastasch   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not be providing any near-term relief to manufacturers burdened by Obama-era regulations on glider kits, two sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler told EPA staffers Wednesday he would not be granting glider kit manufacturers a compliance extension, one source with knowledge of the meeting told The DCNF. A second source said EPA would instead be issuing a rule to keep the glider industry from going under in the long-term, but that’s not expected to come out until late next year. An EPA spokesman confirmed the agency is working on a glider rule. “EPA is continuing to develop a rule for the glider industry that better balances economic growth alongside continued environmental progress,” EPA spokesman James Hewitt told The DCNF. Gliders are new truck chassis fitted over refurbished engines, which typically cost less and are more fuel efficient than new trucks. Obama-era rules capped glider kit production at individual companies, meaning some have had to lay off hundreds of workers to decrease their output. It’s another hurdle in the Trump administration’s plan to keep companies that refurbish used truck engines from…

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OFF THE RECORD: Bill Lee Cabinet Speculation Begins

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Although Election Day is still two weeks off, the fact that Republican candidate for Governor Bill Lee appears poised to win handily over Democrat nominee Mayor Karl Dean has speculation already underway about who might fill his Cabinet. One name generating a lot of buzz is State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma). Bowling was one of Lee’s earliest supporters in the State Senate, publicly endorsing Lee while most of her colleagues in the Legislature were siding with the perceived front runners Diane Black and Randy Boyd. While the Lee team is avoiding any discussion of what role Bowling or any other potential Commissioners might fill, Education, Transportation and DCS would all fit her areas of expertise. Lee might prefer to keep her closer to the Governor’s office as a Legislative liaison with a portfolio that would include dealing with county and municipal leaders as well. (Bowling is a former Alderman in Tullahoma.) She is definitely high on the “secret” draft board at this point. Another name drawing attention is former legislator Jamie Woodson, who served in both the State House and State Senate before becoming Executive Chairman and CEO of SCORE in 2011.  As a former Chair of the Senate Education…

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National School Lunch Program in Tennessee Has A Few Bugs to Work Out…Literally

Chris Butler

Parents with children in the Monroe County School System are reportedly revolting against the government-funded National School Lunch Program after their kids found what were either maggots or mites in their cafeteria food. Last month, according to Reason.com, seventh-graders at Madisonville Public School found what they initially thought were maggots in the granola sold at their cafeteria. Another report said the students found mites instead. Chattanooga’s News Channel 9 reported school officials investigated and found no more bugs. Those same school officials apologized in a Facebook post and assured parents this would never happen again. In that same Facebook post, they said the school cafeteria received a score of 97 on its most recent health inspection. But a few days later, according to published reports, the insects made an encore performance. This time, Knoxville TV affiliate WBIR said a student found a bug in his school-provided breakfast. The student reportedly captured it on video. Parents were so upset they took the matter up at the next school board meeting, according to Reason. One parent told News Channel 9 she would pack her daughter’s lunch from now on instead of having her eat cafeteria food. Monroe County Director of Schools Tim…

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Dan Bongino Claims Explosive Devices Sent to CNN and Democratic Politicians Were Amateur on Purpose

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by Nick Givas   Fox News commentator Dan Bongino said the explosive devices sent to CNN’s New York bureau and various Democratic politicians were “intentionally amateurish” on Fox & Friends Thursday. “Let me just get this out, because there’s no easy way to explain this. When you’re this amateur and these devices are amateurish at best, they show all the hallmarks of someone who had absolutely no idea what they were doing,” Bongino said. “One of the things you see in incidents like this in the past is that when you’re so amateur the bomber typically blows himself up, or there will be some kind of a signal they let out,” he continued. Anyone who has experience in this has seen that before. But you don’t see this. No one called the cops, no one obviously busted this guy or woman in advance. So, you have these two contrasting bits of information. Bongino said it was odd to see the bombs find their way to their targets, but fail to detonate. He deduced that the bomber knew what he or she was doing and never planned for the devices to go off. “It’s so rookie and amateurish. But then on the other hand, they…

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Trump Approved the First-Ever US Oil Facility in Arctic Waters

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by Tim Pearce   The Department of the Interior approved what could be the first-ever oil and gas production facility in U.S.-controlled Arctic waters Wednesday. Hilcorp Alaska submitted a proposal to build a 9-acre gravel island off the coast of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea. The artificial island, called the Liberty Project, will serve as a well-pad that will support a drilling rig, pipelines and storage facilities similar to other artificial islands in the area. “We’re announcing approval of the Hilcorp Liberty Project, which if completed, will be the first production facility ever located in federal waters off Alaska,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement. “American energy dominance is good for the economy, the environment, and our national security.” “Responsibly developing our resources, in Alaska especially, will allow us to use our energy diplomatically to aid our allies and check our adversaries,” Zinke added. “That makes America stronger and more influential around the globe.” Environmentalists have been critical of Trump’s energy policies in Alaska and have singled out the Liberty Project as “a big risk.” “Giving us Liberty could give us the death of imperiled whales and polar bears. Conditions in the Arctic are brutal, and a major oil spill…

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Chelsea Clinton Won’t Rule Out Running for Political Office

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Chelsea Clinton

by Grace Carr   Chelsea Clinton said she wouldn’t rule out running for political office in a Wednesday interview, saying that she’d consider running if a spot opened up where she thinks she’d be a good fit. “I think if someone were to step down or retire and I thought I could do a good job and it matched my talents, I’d have to think if it’s the right choice for me,” Clinton said, according to the Westchester Journal News. Clinton is the vice chair of the Clinton Foundation. Founded by her father and former president Bill Clinton, the foundation “work[s] on issues directly or with strategic partners from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service,” according to its website. The foundation is also “committed to cultivating a diverse, new generation of leaders.” The Justice Department began investigating the Clinton Foundation in January after allegations that the Clintons had traded political favors for donations. The DOJ also looked into whether Hillary Clinton had advocated for certain policies advantageous to the foundation while she served as secretary of state. [ RELATED: FBI Takes Aim At The Clinton Foundation ] The Clinton Foundation failed…

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Commentary: Dear Globalists, People Are Not Commodities

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by Spencer P. Morrison   Afraid his son would steal his throne, Dionysius I, Tyrant of Syracuse, locked the boy away in a tower. Never leaving his prison, the boy learned about the world from his teachers and books. War, rhetoric, politics—he mastered them all. The boy was Leonidas without soldiers, Pericles without words, Themistocles without followers. Everything changed when Dionysius I died. The boy—now a man—ascended the throne. Yet for all his knowledge he lost battles, forgot speeches, and impoverished his people. Dionysius II even invited Plato to help him rule as a philosopher-king. But all Plato’s wisdom proved worthless. He was lucky to escape Syracuse with his life. Although Dionysius II knew everything, he also knew nothing. Theory is not reality. Logic is not experience. Knowledge is not skill. Dionysius never realized that his knowledge was ignorance, and his ignorance, knowledge. He died in disgrace. This lesson remains true today, particularly in the field of economics. For example, although international free trade looks like a good theory, it seldom works in reality. Why? Because underlying the theory are a number of false assumptions. Free trade’s logical foundation is quicksand and no matter how sturdy and elaborate the edifice…

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President Trump’s New Rule Aims to Expand Health Coverage and Lower Costs

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by Robert Moffit   The Trump administration just announced a major regulatory change, effective Jan. 1, 2020, that could significantly expand access to affordable health coverage and increase the choice of health plans, particularly among workers and their families in small businesses. The proposed rule, jointly developed by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Treasury Department, would allow employer-sponsored health reimbursement accounts to fund the purchase of individual health insurance on a tax-free basis. Today, workers and their families can use tax-free health reimbursement accounts to offset medical expenses, such as out-of-pocket medical costs. Under the new rule, workers and their families could use employer contributions to the accounts to buy health insurance on their own. This opportunity is particularly valuable for workers employed by small business owners who cannot afford to offer standard group health insurance, but who could afford to help offset the premium costs of their employees’ individual coverage. Treasury Department officials estimate that the new rule could encourage as many as 800,000 employers to sponsor health reimbursement accounts, or HRAs, to fund individual coverage for more than 10 million workers. This relief is crucial, particularly for workers and their families in small businesses. With…

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Judge Accuses State Department of Making ‘False Statements’ on Clinton Emails

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Hillary Clinton

by Kevin Mooney   State Department officials opposed to disclosing more of Hillary Clinton’s emails as secretary of state made “false statements” and filed “false affidavits” in a related lawsuit, a federal judge said during a court hearing in Washington earlier this month. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth ordered the hearing after a legal watchdog asked the court to obtain testimony under oath from current and former State Department officials, including Clinton and former aide Cheryl Mills. If Lamberth agrees with Judicial Watch, Clinton and others would have to testify under oath and answer questions about how the department processed the organization’s Freedom of Information Act requests, and how it conducted its search for emails Clinton sent and received over a private email server. Mills was Clinton’s chief of staff and counselor when she was secretary of state from Jan. 21, 2009, to Jan. 31, 2013, and worked on her presidential campaigns. The State Department had asked Lamberth to issue a summary judgment that would have closed the case and ended any more inquiries into Clinton emails that have not been disclosed. The judge refused and explained during the Oct. 12 hearing why he had granted limited discovery of…

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Bredesen Smirks: ‘A Few Thousand Very Poor People Coming to Our Border Is Not a Threat to Our National Security’

Jason M. Reynolds

When asked Wednesday about the illegal alien army marching toward America, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen laughed, saying, “A few thousand very poor people coming to our border is not a threat to our, is not a threat to our security.” The video of Bredesen’s remarks available to watch here. Bredesen’s opponent, U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) is not amused. She said in a statement, “These comments demonstrate how out of touch Phil Bredesen is with the Tennesseans he seeks to represent. There is a right way to come to this country, and there is a wrong way to come to this country. This mob, which the Department of Homeland Security has confirmed includes gang members, individuals with criminal histories, and people from the Middle East, is seeking to enter our country the wrong way. Phil Bredesen would like to roll out the welcome mat for them, hand them a state-issued, taxpayer funded driving certificates, and get them to work for his campaign. This is a clear difference between the two of us. I will continue to fight against illegal immigration, by ensuring existing immigration laws are followed, building the wall, stopping sanctuary cities, penalizing elected officials who refuse to follow federal…

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Pro-Trump PAC Releases Another Ad Going After Phil Bredesen

Chris Butler

A pro-Donald Trump Super PAC released another ad this week warning that Democrat Phil Bredesen will help reverse President Donald Trump’s agenda. The PAC, known as the Committee to Defend the President, released an ad a few weeks ago warning Bredesen will help raise federal taxes. The ad also said Bredesen will assist liberal politicians if Tennessee voters make him a U.S. senator. In an emailed statement, PAC Chairman Ted Harvey told The Tennessee Star it’s vital that Tennesseans know about Bredesen, whom he called “Phony Phil.” “While he campaigns as a moderate Democrat, Bredesen will be nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Democratic establishment—anti-Trump Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi,” Harvey said. “As Bredesen’s long history of donations to liberal Democrats shows, not to mention his radical positions on issues like abortion and gun rights, he will toe the party line when it comes to impeaching President Trump. Don’t get it twisted: Impeachment is Phony Phil’s—and the Democrats’—ideal scenario.” The ad warns Tennessee voters to think about the future and to realize that Bredesen, if a U.S. senator, will rubber stamp Chuck Schumer’s agenda. As the PAC already reported, Bredesen gave vast sums of his wealth to…

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Changes to Testing Coming to Tennessee

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Bill Haslam

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Education Commissioner Candice McQueen today announced changes in the delivery of the TNReady assessment for the current school year and additional changes that will take effect beginning in the 2019-20 school year. The changes are a direct response to a report generated by the recent statewide listening tour that included roundtable conversations and online feedback from educators including teachers, testing coordinators and school administrators on how to make improvements to the assessment process. “These are real solutions, some of which are already underway or will be implemented later this year, that will be felt by educators, students and parents across the state,” Haslam said. “Throughout the listening tour, the message from teachers was clear that we do not need to start over but rather do all we can to improve the delivery of TNReady. We think these changes will do just that and create a better testing experience for both students and teachers.” The Department of Education has already made significant changes, including a successful verification of the testing platform involving roughly 50,000 students, ensuring quicker turnaround of results starting with the fall end-of-course assessments, and providing better educator training opportunities. This is a “positive…

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Commentary: Illegal Immigration Hurts Black Americans Most

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Tennessee Star

by Spencer P. Morrison   In the 19th century, savvy American saloon-owners offered free lunches to attract noontime patrons. Inevitably, the diners would get thirsty and buy expensive drinks—thus was born the expression, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Despite its humble origins, the phrase captures a deep and omnipresent truth: everything has a price, an opportunity cost, a trade-off. This is as true of lunches as it is of America’s immigration policy. Although The Economist‘s propaganda-artists claim otherwise, mass immigration does not enrich all Americans. There are obvious winners and losers. The winners are wealthy Americans and the immigrants themselves; the losers are everyone else, especially the working class, Millennials, and black Americans. Black Americans are an interesting demographic. On the one hand, black Americans vote for Democrats by obsequious margins—often in excess of 90 percent. And yet black Americans are hurt most by the Democrats’ immigration policy. In short: mass immigration, legal and illegal, disproportionately hurts black Americans because they are the ones most likely to compete directly with immigrants for work. At the Hot Gates A great mob of men marches towards our southern border—thousands strong and growing daily. All eyes are on them. But…

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FedUp PAC Launches New Videos: Stop the Violent Democrat Mobs

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FedUp PAC has launched a series of digital ads – including videos – that reminds voters to cast their ballots this November and to reject the violent, mob-like behavior by leftists, namely, Democrats. “Mob rule – by mobs of violent Leftists and mobs of violent aliens planning to storm our southern border – has become a central tenet of the newly radicalized Democrats’ plan to regain power,” the announcement said, published at ConservativeHQ.com. The videos, which feature images of violent leftist mobs in action, are available for sharing on Facebook and Twitter: Facebook – Democratic Mob  Facebook – Stop The Mob Vote Republican  Twitter – Democratic Mob pic.twitter.com/0FBmu3Nyhy — FedUP PAC (@FedUpPAC) October 23, 2018 Twitter – Stop The Mob Vote Republican pic.twitter.com/GtxxmPExUq — FedUP PAC (@FedUpPAC) October 23, 2018 The announcement directs readers who are not on Facebook or Twitter to view share the videos from the FedUp PAC website: Vote Republican: http://videos.fedup.org/video/296520802 Democratic Mob: http://videos.fedup.org/video/296515333 The statement continues: For Democrats conning voters with promises of free stuff from the government and scaring them with visions of grandma in her wheelchair being pushed off a cliff is no longer enough. Americans got a close-up view of Democrats in action during the Obama years and what they saw…

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Silicon Valley’s New ‘Woke’ Code of Conduct Offers an Unexpected Twist

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by Nick Bieter   If you want to be successful as a computer programmer, one of the best ways to show off your skills to prospective employers is to contribute code to open source projects. These projects, such as Firefox or the Linux Operating System, are frequently controlled by the project founders or a consortium of top developers. While anyone can submit code for inclusion, it’s up to the project overseers if it is included in the code base or not. There’s been a quiet revolution going on in this world of Open-Source Software. Led by Coraline Ada Emcke (pictured right), a group of activist developers has been seeking to implement the Contributor Covenant for the last several years. This Code of Conduct is very explicit in its focus on inclusion and the prevention of any sort of negative or hostile environment for code contributors on Open Source projects. This is all in service of ensuring that no one feels discriminated against or otherwise rejected by the maintainers of these projects. But it goes much deeper than that. Emcke, in conjunction with many of these same activists, promotes a compact known as the Post-Meritocracy Pledge. This pledge states that allowing program…

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President Trump’s Decision to Leave the INF Treaty with Russia Impacts the North Korea Denuclearization Process

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by Robert Romano   “We’ll have to develop those weapons… We’re going to terminate the agreement and we’re going to pull out.” That was President Donald Trump on Oct. 21 pledging to remove the U.S. from the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which banned all nuclear weapons with ranges from 310 and 3,420 miles. “Russia has not adhered to the agreement. This should have been done years ago,” Trump added. Both the U.S. and Russia have said each side is in violation of the treaty with the development of ground-based missile systems banned by the treaty. At the time of its signing by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the INF Treaty was the first ever nuclear arms reduction treaty in the nuclear age. It laid the groundwork for the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Both of those in turn built off of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties of the 1970s and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (1970). Taken together, these treaties are the legal, agreed-upon basis for modern arms control. When new powers, say, Iran or North Korea, attempt to develop nuclear weapons, the argument against them doing so is that it violates the arms control regime currently in…

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Analysis: Quantifying the Progressive Extremism That Has Overrun the Democrat Party

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by Ken Masugi   A shrewd observer of American politics, Thomas Edsall sums up the evidence that the Democratic Party has rapidly become a far more left-wing party than it ever has been. In the last 18 years, the percentage of white Democrats identifying themselves as liberal doubled, from 28 to 55 percent, while percentages of moderates and conservatives fell. This dramatic change may explain not just the 2018 elections but the future of American politics: 2018 may be the year Democrats push America over the cliff. Using recent survey data, Edsall highlights several changes, notably: “Progressive activists are ‘more than twice as likely [than a typical American] to say that they never pray (50 percent to 19 percent), ‘almost three times more likely to be “ashamed to be an American”’ (69-24), eleven percentage points more likely to be white (80-69), and ‘twice as likely to have completed college (59-29).’” Ashamed to be an American by almost three to one. That just about says it all. The Progressive Democratic Party breaks with its honorable past as the world’s oldest political party and is recently reborn as the radical edge of History, the dictatorship of the enlightened. Within the blinders and…

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Josh Hawley Finally Breaks Out of the Margin of Error in Missouri Senate Race

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by Molly Prince   Republican Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley took a commanding lead over Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill as a new poll showed the race is finally outside of the margin of error. Hawley is ahead of the Democratic incumbent by 7 points, according to an internal poll from the GOP campaign. Accordingly, 49 percent of likely voters prefer Hawley while 42 percent prefer McCaskill, the additional 9 points are spread evenly between undecided voters and third-party candidates. Pollsters for Hawley are attributing the boost to the contentious Supreme Court battle and McCaskill’s decision to vote against the nominee. “This lead has held firm since the vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court,” the polling memorandum read. A separate Missouri Scout poll conducted over the same period shows a statistical dead heat in the race between the two candidates. Hawley is barely edging out McCaskill, leading her by only 1 point, according to the polling data. “This race has lived up to its billing as one of the closest in the country. Neither Josh Hawley nor Claire McCaskill has had a lead of more than four points in a single poll for the entire year, placing this…

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‘Sons in The Shadow:’ A Book Review of a Great American Story of Family Business

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by Carter Dewitt   Roy H. Park Jr.’s compelling book into his life, his relationship with his entrepreneur father and the process by which the family business was built, is an insightful study into individual and family values. His book, “Sons in the Shadow: Surviving the Family Business as an Sob — Son of the Boss,” describes hard work, compassion, dedication, frustration, conflict and loyalty, interspersed with that spark of creative genius that separates the most successful of entrepreneurs from the flock. Roy Jr.’s father, Roy H. Park, was a North Carolina icon and a Forbes 400 entrepreneur. He was the driving force behind the Duncan Hines brand and the founder of Park Communications, a newspaper, media, and outdoor billboards company. Roy Jr. is truly the best of his father and mother — what every parent hopes their children will be. The book comes highly recommended by author P.J. O’Rourke, former Pennsylvania congressman Charlie Dent, and the dean of the School of Media and Journalism at UNC, Susan King. In the author’s own words, he “wrote the book because I believe in an America where anyone from any background willing to work hard can make it, even during the toughest of times. I…

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Tennessee Star Report-Knoxville Edition: Obama, You’re So Vain, You Probably Think This Growth is About You

Julie Carr

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report: Knoxville Edition– broadcast on WETR 92.3 FM – Star News Digital Media National Political Editor Steve Gill questioned why migrants and immigrants would want to come to a country that is not so great because of Trump (according to the Democrats).  He suggested that perhaps Venezuela would be a more geographically desirable location for those seeking a better life. Gill observed the rally turnout for Trump in Nowhere Nevada versus Obama’s populated rally spot of Reno, of which he drew seven thousand less people than Trumps rally in Elko. Gill continued: And as we ponder big thoughts, big things. Like if America is the racist, horrible place, that the left, Democrats running for office around the country, want us to believe, if were just so disgusting and deplorable, why do we have seven to ten thousand people walking across thousands of miles to come here?  Again it’s been a question we’ve posed before.  Why do folks try to swim through shark infested waters from Cuba to Miami if we are just such an awful place?  I mean they could get right to Venezuela that has the socialism the left tells us they think is the right…

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JC Bowman Commentary: Collaborative Conferencing Limits Educators

JC Bowman
Tennessee Star

Professional Educators of Tennessee fervently supports the right of educators to discuss working conditions and salary with their employers. There are flaws in the current Professional Educators Collaborative Conferencing Act (Public Chapter 378). Are there other options?  We believe so and toward that end, Professional Educators of Tennessee has begun to establish Education Leaders Councils in some districts to accomplish more for teachers.  It will help us cultivate true consensus building and address more critical issues. 

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Pope Forces the Resignation of Bishop of Memphis Martin Holley Following Investigation

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by Joshua Gill   Pope Francis forced the resignation of the Bishop of Memphis Wednesday after an investigation into his alleged church law violations and mishandling of diocesan finances. The Vatican announced Wednesday that Francis had “relieved (Holley) from the pastoral governance” and temporarily replaced Monsignor Martin Holley with Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz. The Vatican did not list the reason for Holley’s firing, but the language used in its announcement usually indicates that the pontiff forcibly removed a bishop who refused to resign. Tuesday reports from WMC5 and Church Militant also broke the news of Holley’s then impending firing before the Vatican announced it and claimed that a source within the church confirmed that Francis planned to fire Holley for reasons of “pastoral governance” and that Holley had in fact refused to resign. The Vatican sent two archbishops to the diocese to investigate Holley’s tenure as bishop. Holley served as an auxiliary bishop in Washington, D.C. for 12 years and was appointed as bishop of Memphis, Tennessee in 2016. Upon assuming his role as Bishop of Memphis, he reportedly transferred 40 priests loyal to himself from D.C. to Memphis, sparking the initial complaints from parishioners. The Vatican has not publicized the results…

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Leftist Academic Tells MTSU Students the Right Wants to Hurt America

Chris Butler

MURFREESBORO, Tennessee — This week Middle Tennessee State University hosted a left-wing academic who told a room of about 200 students about a network of conservative and libertarian forces supposedly out to undermine democracy. That woman, Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, made a lot of bold statements about the right during her 60-minute speech on Monday. A 30-minute question and answer session with students came afterward. MacLean complained extensively about the billionaire Koch brothers and how they supposedly work to enable a system of rigged rules that benefit only the wealthy. Tea Partiers, she said, are puppets who help carry out an agenda they unknowingly disagree with. MacLean also told MTSU students that think tanks, the religious right, and white segregationists had past or present ties to this supposedly sinister right-wing complex. “They are determined to use the religious right and the racially motivated right to get what they want. Behind all the chaos and dysfunction there is a calculated strategy that is far along,” MacLean told students. She heavily criticized the work and legacy of MTSU graduate and Nobel laureate in economics James M. Buchanan. “For the variety of capitalism…

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Clinton, Tennessee Mayor’s Building Permit Paperwork Went Missing

Chris Butler

Clinton city officials acknowledged in recent written communications with one another that paperwork current Mayor Scott Burton filed for building permits went missing for reasons they didn’t know at the time. The Tennessee Star obtained these letters (embedded below) through an open records’ request it filed this week. As reported, scuttlebutt around town says Burton skipped out on paying various building permit fees, which is against the law. Two weeks ago, rumors of this made their way onto a mayoral debate on radio station WYSH between Burton and his opponent Stephen McNally. At the heart of the matter are four missing building permits Burton didn’t originally apply for on heating and air units — because he thought they weren’t legally necessary, according to the debate. But WYSH radio personality Jim Harris told The Star he found out later permits are indeed required. Harris also learned Burton, or one of his representatives, after the debate, obtained and paid for years-old permits on the four projects, indicating they were originally improperly obtained, according to WYSH. Becker has since paid a late penalty on that, said Chief of Police Vaughn Becker. The penalty is double the original permit fee, he added. Becker told The…

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Phil Bredesen Reportedly Downplayed Dangers of Kingston Coal Ash Spill

Chris Butler

Former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen’s actions and comments following the 2008 Kingston coal ash spill arguably may have misled the public into thinking the situation wasn’t all that dangerous. Newsweek later described it as “the largest industrial spill in U.S. history.” Mother Nature Network, meanwhile, ranked the Kingston spill as one of the 10 worst manmade environmental disasters, alongside the Three Mile Island meltdown, the 1930s Dust Bowl, and the Exxon Valdez incident. Bredesen is now the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat that Republican Bob Corker will soon vacate. According to The Knoxville News Sentinel, more than 30 of the people who handled the cleanup — without protection — are now dead and more than 200 of them are sick or dying. The spill happened December 22, 2008. Bredesen reportedly didn’t show in Kingston for another nine days. And when he did show he reportedly downplayed the hazards. “This stuff, it’s not high-level waste. I don’t think people should be scared of the stuff,” Bredesen said of the sludge all around the site, according to the January 1, 2009 edition of The Tennessean. “There’s a greater danger from air quality, from flying ash being ingested.” Bredesen said this…

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Bredesen Turns to Democrats in California, Elsewhere to Call, Write to Voters After Volunteers Flee His Campaign

Jason M. Reynolds

It’s no secret that Phil Bredesen is the top choice of Democrats around the nation to turn the U.S. Senate into a blue zone. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) personally recruited Bredesen to run. Schumer’s PAC has spent millions more on Tennessee than any other race. Billionaire Mike Bloomberg, who has pledged $20 million to Democrats this cycle, hosted a fundraiser for Bredesen in New York. Now Bredesen is getting some added help from progressive allies in California, Massachusetts and other blue bastions, Chattanooga’s News Channel 9 says. Democrats in those states are mailing postcards to people in Tennessee urging them to vote for Bredesen. “Join Organize Win Legislate Sacramento in getting out the vote for Phil Bredesen and be part of the Blue Wave,” a Facebook event page for a California virtual phone bank says. Phil Valentine tweeted, “A listener sent me this. It’s a Phil Bredesen mailer that looks like a 6-year-old wrote it. But note the BOSTON postmark!!! Oh, no. There’s no big liberal outside money in THIS campaign. (Where’s my sarcasm emoji when I need it?) #MarshaBlackburn Retweet!!!” A listener sent me this. It's a Phil Bredesen mailer that looks like a 6-year-old wrote it.…

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Alligators Reportedly Make Their Way to Tennessee

Chris Butler

Alligators have made their way to Tennessee, and, per the law, there really isn’t much you can do about it. According to News Channel 5 of Nashville, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officials confirm alligators are naturally expanding their range into Tennessee from southern border states. “A recent sighting on video of a seven-foot alligator in West Tennessee at the Wolf River WMA in Fayette County was just one of several confirmed sightings in Southwest Tennessee,” the station reported. According to The Tennessean, a four-foot alligator was captured Tuesday in East Tennessee’s Monroe County. In March, a seven-foot alligator was spotted in West Tennessee’s Fayette County, the paper went on to say. “Alligators are protected species and catching or shooting them is against the law,” the paper went on to say. According to News Channel 5, nervous Tennesseans may have to accept the situation, as is. “Authorities with the TWRA said they have not stocked any alligators in the state, and they added the alligators are simply expanding. They said we must learn to coexist with them like many others in the southern states,” the station reported. Alligators, News Channel 5 went on to say, will prey on fish, turtles, snakes, frogs, and waterfowl. They are also…

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Bakers Fined $135K Over Wedding Cake Appeal to Supreme Court

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Aaron and Melissa Klein

by Kelsey Harkness   The former owners of an Oregon bakery, ordered to pay $135,000 in damages for declining to make a cake for a same-sex wedding, are appealing their case to the Supreme Court. Lawyers for Aaron and Melissa Klein filed a petition Monday asking the Supreme Court to reverse an earlier decision handed down by the state that forced them to shut down their family bakery. “Freedom of speech has always included the freedom not to speak the government’s message,” said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of First Liberty, a nonprofit legal organization representing the Kleins. “This case can clarify whether speech is truly free if it is government mandated.” An administrative judge for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries ruled in July 2015 that the Kleins had discriminated against a lesbian couple, Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer, on the basis of their sexual orientation. The judge ordered the Kleins to pay the $135,000 for physical, emotional, and mental damages. The Kleins appealed that ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals in April 2016, and that court upheld the state agency’s decision. Under Oregon law, it is illegal for businesses to refuse service based on a customer’s sexual…

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Analysis: 100,000 Texans Can’t Be Wrong, Red Wave Rising

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by Rick Manning   More than 100,000 Texans RSVP’d for tickets for the Donald Trump-Ted Cruz rally in Houston, with thousands waiting in line for a day to get inside the venue. While the arena held about 18,000, a similar number tailgated outside, viewing the rally on big screens much like big sporting event viewing parties held outside of stadiums to accommodate fans without tickets. Senator Cruz’ opponent, Representative Robert O’Rourke, was praying for a typical low mid-term turnout to help him upset conservative icon Cruz.  His hopes rested on the hope that the dual factors of Cruz’ outside the establishment fights on Obamacare and other issues along with the bitter Trump-Cruz presidential primary fight would create enough divisions that GOP turnout would be low, allowing him to sneak into the Senate seat. The President and Senator Cruz on stage together puts an end to this dream, as it signals the uniting of the limited government Republican Party that Cruz champions and the populist agenda espoused by Trump. What’s more, for the first time since Ronald Reagan, a GOP President is able to campaign for and help Republican members of Congress in off-year elections.  While George W. Bush and his…

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Interpol’s Chinese President Meng Hongwei Has Disappeared

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by Ted Bromund   Nearly a month ago, Meng Hongwei, the Chinese president of Interpol, disappeared during a visit home from France. Meng – or someone acting for him – has since submitted his resignation to Interpol, and Beijing has announced that he’s under investigation for corruption. His wife, who is still in France, now calls Chinese authorities “cruel” and says she’s not sure whether he’s still alive. He has not been seen or heard from since Sept. 25. Meng wasn’t a diplomat. He was a vice minister in China’s Ministry of Internal Security. In other words, he was a high-ranking official in the Chinese Communist Party and a political policeman. He almost certainly sent a lot of people to prison for their beliefs, and he evidently didn’t have any problems with the cruelty of the system he helped to run. Perhaps he and his wife should have considered the possibility that the cruel communist system might devour him before he started working for it. It was unseemly for Interpol to have a Chinese political policeman as its president to begin with. It’s also true that the danger of having the Chinese political police at the helm of Interpol was not quite…

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Commentary: Meet Them With Tanks?

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by George Rasley   Conservative social media is awash with advice for President Trump on how to deal with the army of invading Central American aliens who are rapidly approaching our Southern Border. There is a strong current of opinion that says the whole “migrant caravan” is a set-up by Soros and his minions and that Democrats are cynically hoping for some sort of election-changing incident in which some poor Central American is martyred at the hands of the American military that the Left despises anyway. Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States. Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in. I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy. Must change laws! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2018 In the view of the “it’s a set-up” crowd the illegal aliens should be somehow treated “humanely” but not allowed to enter the United States. Who will corral them and where they will be interned is left to imaginary friends in the federal workforce who will be mobilized to the Southern Border. It may indeed be a set-up and…

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New Jersey Solar Industry at Risk of Collapse as Subsidies Begin to Roll Back

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by Jason Hopkins   New Jersey’s solar industry is expected to plummet unless imminent action by regulators is taken, allowing subsidies to continue propping up solar installation sales. The New Jersey solar market has grown steadily in recent years. With over 99,000 solar installations in place and around 7,000 employees currently working in the field, the state is ranked seventh in the U.S. for its solar development. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy hopes to see the industry grow even further and signed legislation in May that calls for the state’s renewable portfolio standard to reach 50 percent by 2030. However, advocates warn the state’s solar industry is on track for total collapse. “[W]e’re afraid that the market will crash again,” Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said in a statement on Oct. 17. “If we don’t move forward, we’ll lose more jobs and more opportunities for clean energy. We must work to become a leader once more in solar power.” The concern comes as the subsidies that have helped propel solar installation sales in the state are due to wind down. New Jersey’s Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SREC) program currently incentivizes solar investment by giving panel owners credits for the electricity…

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