Day: November 1, 2018

Commentary: Forget the Blue Wave, Nov. 6 Could be the Closest Race for the House Ever

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United States Capitol

by Robert Romano   Don’t look now, but the 2018 race for the House of Representatives could be one of the closest in U.S. electoral history. Currently, the House is broken down 235 to 193 with 7 empty seats. As of this writing, the Real Clear Politics average of polls in the House predicts Democrats will pick up about 25 seats on Nov. 6. If that happens, Democrats would have 218 seats, and Republicans 217 seats. That would be the closest majority in U.S. history and since 1916, when Republicans won 216 seats to Democrats’ 214. Any less than 25 seats picked up by Democrats, and Republicans will retain the majority. Midterms are traditionally not favorable to the President’s party, particularly in the House. 9 times out of 10, seats are lost, and when they do, losses have averaged about 35 over the past century. On the Senate side, things look a bit more solid for Republicans, with the Real Clear Politics average of polls predicting Republicans pick up two seats, bringing their majority potentially up to 53 seats if not greater. Usually, incumbent parties give up on average 6 seats, 71 percent of the time. Any pick up of…

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Report: Andrew Gillum Used Official Government Account to Fund Campaigning

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by Molly Prince   Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum used his official expense account from the Tallahassee mayor’s office to pay for a trip to meet with donors for his gubernatorial campaign, according to a report released by Politico. Gillum visited with high-profile Democratic politicians, strategists and donors during a trip in February 2016, a year before he filed to run for governor. In 2017, the Tallahassee Democrat reported on the event and its source of funding, yet, explained the outing as a trip to discuss official business with an affordable-housing developer. A spokesman for Gillum noted that while he was on the trip he found time to “meet with local political leaders.” However, newly uncovered documents provided by the attorney for Gillum’s former lobbyist and close friend Adam Corey, show that the purpose of the taxpayer-funded trip was specifically for Gillum to meet with potential donors to his forthcoming gubernatorial campaign. The Tallahassee mayor’s office account can only be used to fund official business related to the office. The documents were subpoenaed by the Florida Commission on Ethics amid an investigation and a highly publicized FBI corruption probe into the Tallahassee City Hall. While Gillum is not currently under federal investigation, he…

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Commentary: How School Choice is Lifting Up Puerto Rico’s Children After Hurricane Maria

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by Jude Schwalbach   Thirteen months ago on Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria slammed the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, devastating homes and infrastructure and leading to loss of life across the island. The storm greatly exacerbated the problems of a school system already in crisis: Puerto Rican fourth- and eighth-graders, for example, are roughly five grade levels behind their U.S. mainland peers in mathematics. Out of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria came an opportunity to reform the ailing education system on the island. Notably, the education reforms introduced by the territorial government and supported by Puerto Rico Secretary of Education Julia Keleher, along with Gov. Ricardo Rossello, include a pilot school-voucher option and the introduction of charter schools. The introduction of education choice in Puerto Rico didn’t come without pushback from special-interest groups, however. The Puerto Rican Superior Court initially sided with the teachers union, which had argued that school choice was unconstitutional. However, the Superior Court’s narrow reading of the Puerto Rican Constitution was overturned by the Puerto Rican Supreme Court in Asociacion de Maestros v. Departamento de Educacion, allowing the new charter school and voucher options to proceed. The ability for the island to introduce parental school…

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Senator Elizabeth Warren Says Migrants in U.S.-Bound Caravan Need to Enter Legally and ‘Follow Those Laws’

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by Henry Rogers   Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign said she believes the thousands of migrants in the caravan headed toward the U.S. need to enter the country legally. Warren, who is up for re-election, has previously called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and replacing it, and is now saying the migrant caravan filled with thousands of people from Central America traveling through Mexico toward the U.S. should be handled according to the law, in a statement from her campaign to The Daily Caller News Foundation, despite her lax views on immigration. “In regards to the caravan, we have laws for people who come to the border seeking asylum, and Senator Warren believes that we should follow those laws. However, she also knows that we should never have been in this situation. The real problem is Donald Trump’s chaotic foreign policy and lack of a long-term strategy in the region,” Warren’s campaign said in the statement. Despite Warren saying the migrants need to follow the law and enter the country legally, she blamed Trump for the caravan, saying the reason the immigrants are fleeing Central America is due to Trump and his funding to the region. “Trump has hollowed out…

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Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams Thinks She Has Secret Weapon in Tied Governor’s Race: Oprah

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by Evie Fordham   Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is pulling out all the stops, including two town halls with Oprah Winfrey, after a Tuesday poll showed she is in a “statistical dead heat” with Republican Brian Kemp. The Tuesday FOX 5 poll shows Abrams at 48.1 percent and Kemp at 47.2 percent with a 3.9 percent margin of error. The poll was conducted Sunday and Monday and interviewed 623 Georgia voters. Winfrey will campaign for Abrams at two town hall events in the Georgia towns of Marietta and Decatur Thursday, Abrams announced on Twitter Wednesday. Winfrey joins other celebs supporting Abrams, including rapper Common and actor Will Ferrell. Voters can watch Winfrey and Abrams hold “a conversation on the critical value of women in leadership and what is at stake for our communities in the election,” Abrams’s campaign said in a press release. Winfrey will also knock on doors in Georgia in an effort to get out the vote for Abrams, reported The Hill. If you think you are too busy to volunteer for campaigns, Will Ferrell canvassed for Stacey Abrams this weekend. Some people have second jobs or bad health and can’t, but the rest of us have…

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New Study Calls Into Question Claims Made by Carbon Tax Supporters

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by Jason Hopkins   A study released Wednesday casts doubt on many of the assurances made by carbon tax supporters, revealing such a fee on emissions would not bring substantial benefits to the environment or the economy. Calls for implementing a carbon tax — a fee imposed on large emitters of carbon — have been growing in the U.S. Lawmakers from both parties have introduced their own versions of carbon pricing legislation in Congress, while some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world have signed on to initiatives promoting the implementation of a carbon tax in the U.S. Carbon tax proposals are also gaining steam at the state level as well. The battle over whether to pass a carbon fee in Washington state is on track to become the most expensive campaign initiative in the state’s history, with both sides already dropping around $45 million to sway voters. Supporters of carbon pricing argue it’s a market-oriented approach to reducing greenhouse emissions — and more efficient than simply piling the generation industry with more environmental regulations. Americans for Carbon Dividends, a self-proclaimed conservative organization that is lobbying for a carbon tax in Congress, argues such a plan would…

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Letter to the Editor: Giving Thanks and Living Gratefully in Today’s Republic

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Dear Tennessee Star, November is best known for three special dates: Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day, and every other year, election day. This is one of those years in which we have all three and the interesting, little-understood, facet of this month is that all three of these days are connected. Thanksgiving is the day originally designated to give thanks to God for His gracious provision for our nation. While today it is more likely an occasion for excessive eating and watching sports, it is still a good time to reflect on our tremendous blessings. Though the United States is not a perfect nation, we still have more opportunities and abundance than any other nation on earth. This is certainly something for which to give thanks, and in regard to showing appreciation, in the last 20 years, thanking our veterans for their service has become a custom for some. The veterans of the Revolution won our right to enjoy the blessings of this land at great sacrifice. Then those of the Civil War ensured that all people would be able to enjoy these blessings, again at great cost. In every other war, our armed forces met the challenge of defending our nation…

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Trump, First Family Honor 11 Killed in Synagogue Massacre

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by Fred Lucas   President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, in a visit Tuesday, placed a white flower and small stone on each of 11 stars set up in the memory of those murdered at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. The Trumps also lighted candles in honor of each man and woman killed Saturday inside the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood. They met with Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who leads the congregation. But amid the tragedy, the visit didn’t bridge all political divides. Protesters held signs such as “We didn’t invite you here” and “Trump Loves Nazis,” according to reports from the White House press pool. Others held up a middle finger or gave a thumbs-down. Other protesters shouted, “Words have meaning” and “No more hate.” The president and first lady were at the Tree of Life synagogue for about 20 minutes, along with White House advisers Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law. Both are Jewish. Today, I traveled with the President, First Lady, Secretary Mnuchin and my husband Jared to Pittsburgh to pay our respects at The Tree of Life synagogue and visit with first responders.We saw firsthand a community…

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James Agresti Commentary: Voters of All Parties, Ages, and Genders Are Broadly Misinformed

James Agresti

by James D. Agresti   At a recent “get-out-the-vote” rally in Las Vegas, former first lady Michelle Obama declared that people don’t have to be informed in order to vote. All they need, she said, is to “be a citizen,” “have opinions,” and want “a say in what happens.” She emphasized, “I’ve been voting since I was 18 years old—and trust me—I didn’t know nothing about nothing at 18 years old.” In contrast, James Madison—the father of the Constitution and primary author of the Bill of Rights—stressed that voters “must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” Failure to do this, he said, will produce government that is “a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both.” The results of a new scientific survey indicate that voters of all ages, political parties, and genders are following Obama’s lead instead of Madison’s. Moreover, the survey shows that many voters are not only uninformed about major issues—they are positively misinformed. Those are the findings of an annual, national poll commissioned by Just Facts, a non-profit research and educational institute. The poll was conducted by an academic research firm that used sound methodologies to assess U.S. residents who regularly vote. While most surveys…

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This Clinic Has Performed More Than 500 Abortions – Over 300 of Which Were Second and Third Trimester Cases – Since October 2017

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by Grace Carr   Abortion doctor LeRoy Carhart has aborted over 500 second and third trimester babies since opening an abortion clinic in October 2017. Carhart opened an abortion clinic in Bethesda, Maryland in mid-October 2017, and has performed over 500 abortions to date, according to communications director Chelsea Souder, HuffPo reported Wednesday. Approximately 75 percent of those abortions have been second and third trimester abortions, HuffPo reported. Many of the women who’ve come to the clinic for abortions are from Mexico, Canada, Europe, South America and Central America, according to Souder. HuffPo calls Carhart “one of the country’s most public and polarizing abortion providers … offering pregnancy termination through roughly 28 weeks’ gestation and sometimes beyond.” The clinic offers “advanced gestation abortion,” per its website description. The clinic lists its abortion services, which include medication abortions, first trimester surgical abortions, second trimester multi-day abortions, induction abortions, maternal/fetal indication abortions, and self-induced abortions. Carhart previously performed late-term abortions at a clinic in Nebraska but left the state after it passed a law banning abortions after 20 weeks in 2010. Maryland’s abortion laws are more relaxed than most states, allowing Carhart to perform abortions up until viability, a flexible definition permitting him to perform abortions through the third…

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Protester Justin Jones Disrupted Blackburn Rally After Hearing What He Called An ‘Evil Prayer’ for President Trump and Justice Kavanaugh

Tennessee Star Staff

Left wing protester Justin Jones, who was arrested and booked in Nashville late Wednesday night on charges of criminal trespassing and resisting arrest for his disruption of a Marsha Blackburn rally in Nashville’s CabaRay Theater on Sunday, offered this insight into his conduct at that rally during an in-studio interview Tuesday morning on KSMS 92Q’s Kenny Smoov’s Morning Show: “I’ve never heard an evil prayer. And literally, before we were kicked out and thrown out, they had a prayer. And I’m in Divinity School. I’m studying to be a pastor. And we prayed for evilness. We prayed for a president who’s preying, P R E Y I N G, on our communities,” Jones told Smoov and the 92Q listening audience. “We prayed for Kavanaugh, who we know was accused of multiple instances of sexual assault, and instead of praying for the victims and survivors of those attacks, we prayed for this man, who is controversial,” he continued. “And we prayed for border walls. I said, the God I serve builds bridges and not walls,” Jones added. You can watch the full video of Jones’ interview here: (Jones’ “evil prayer” comments begin at about 04:14 and continue to 04:48.)   The…

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Tennessee Star Report Exclusive: Boston Talk Radio King Howie Carr on the Murder of Mob Boss Whitey Bulger in Prison

Julie Carr

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the gentlemen chatted with Howie Carr known as the Talk Radio king of Boston.  They discussed White Bulger’s death, his disturbing legacy, and the potential for Elizabeth Warren’s to have Presidential run in 2020. Leahy:  We are joined now by my good friend Howie Carr, the Boston talk radio king, the prolific author who’s written extensively about crime and Boston.  And also back in the 1980’s I think it was, Whitey Bulger, who’s now no longer with us, put a hit out on you, Howie, tell us about that. Carr:  Yeah he didn’t like the fact that I was writing about his brother, particularly his brother was the president of the Massachusetts state senate, a Democrat.  You know there is a anti-Trump angle here. All these Democrats slaying in federal custody, Trump has no alibi.  (Laughter).  I had never thought of that till just now, but there it is.  You know even though, Whitey was not a big fan of Barack Obama, that’s one reason they got him actually after…

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Marsha Blackburn Casts Her Ballot in Franklin, Says Some Democrats Support Her

Chris Butler

FRANKLIN, Tennessee — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) voted early Wednesday, with a sense of optimism and high hopes for next Tuesday’s election. Blackburn said she’s conversed with Democrats around the state who are on her side. She’s running against Democrat Phil Bredesen for the seat that current Republican Sen. Bob Corker will soon vacate. “I can’t begin to tell you how many individuals I have talked to who are Democrats, and many refer to themselves as Trump Democrats. They voted for the president because they support his agenda,” Blackburn said at a press conference after she voted at the Williamson County Admin Building. “They want to make certain that we continue to lower taxes and reduce regulation. Get the EPA off the farm and off the factory floor. They want to make certain we deal with the Affordable Care Act and get the cost of health insurance down. They talk regularly about my fight to keep taxes low. “We’ve got good bipartisan support. The nice thing is it grows every single day.”   As The Daily Caller reported this week, Google Ads announced that digital ads supporting Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s campaign, which included footage of protesters…

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Nashville FOP Demands PAC Stop Using Officer Likenesses to Advocate for Civilian Oversight Board

Jason M. Reynolds

The Fraternal Order of Police sent a cease-and-desist letter to Accountability Matters PAC, saying the group used police officers’ images without permission to support Amendment 1 (setting up a civilian oversight board). The commercial uses photographs of several Metro Nashville Police Department officers without their permission, James Smallwood, president of Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 5 of the FOP, said in a press release. The commercial also depicts the MNPD officers as proponents of Amendment 1. The officers shown without their consent in the video are opposed to Amendment 1 and were mad to learn their picture was being used without their consent. [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/FOP-letter-cease-and-desist_.pdf”] “Today, on behalf of the officers, we sent the … cease and desist letter to Comcast demanding that they immediately stop airing the Accountability Matters commercial that uses the likeness of our officers without their consent. We expect Comcast will pull the commercial immediately and force Accountability Matters to remove the unauthorized photographs from its commercial,” Smallwood said in the press release. “It is troubling that Accountability Matters placed the officers of the MNPD in a position where they are potentially violating not only federal law but MNPD policy that prohibits appearing in uniform for political…

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2 Polls Show Blackburn With Either 6 Point, 7 Point Lead Over Bredesen

Jason M. Reynolds

Less than a week until the midterm elections, a poll by Cygnal, a national polling and research firm, shows U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) with a 6-point advantage over Democrat Phil Bredesen in Tennessee’s US Senate race. The live telephone survey conducted October 26-27, with 497 likely general election voters, shows Blackburn leading Bredesen 51 percent to 45 percent, with only 2 percent of voters undecided. Of the 46 percent of respondents who have already voted, 50 percent indicated they supported Blackburn, while 44 percent say they voted for Bredesen. Meanwhile, Vox Populi Polling released its latest survey of 780 active voters from the race, showing Blackburn with a seven point lead, 48 percent to 41 percent with 11 percent undecided. Blackburn’s lead is a 6-point improvement since Vox Populi Polling’s last Tennessee poll, conducted in mid-September, that had the race tied at 42 percent. Macy Cambio, Vox Populi Polling Managing Director, said, ”In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn has rallied Republican voters to help solidify her base. With Phil Bredesen’s image now underwater and Blackburn opening up a seven-point lead, the chance of this seat flipping Democratic looks much slimmer than it did just one…

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Commentary: Forget the Blue Wave, Nov. 6 Could be the Closest Race for the House Ever

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United States Capitol

by Robert Romano   Don’t look now, but the 2018 race for the House of Representatives could be one of the closest in U.S. electoral history. Currently, the House is broken down 235 to 193 with 7 empty seats. As of this writing, the Real Clear Politics average of polls in the House predicts Democrats will pick up about 25 seats on Nov. 6. If that happens, Democrats would have 218 seats, and Republicans 217 seats. That would be the closest majority in U.S. history and since 1916, when Republicans won 216 seats to Democrats’ 214. Any less than 25 seats picked up by Democrats, and Republicans will retain the majority. Midterms are traditionally not favorable to the President’s party, particularly in the House. 9 times out of 10, seats are lost, and when they do, losses have averaged about 35 over the past century. On the Senate side, things look a bit more solid for Republicans, with the Real Clear Politics average of polls predicting Republicans pick up two seats, bringing their majority potentially up to 53 seats if not greater. Usually, incumbent parties give up on average 6 seats, 71 percent of the time. Any pick up of…

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Report: Andrew Gillum Used Official Government Account to Fund Campaigning

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by Molly Prince   Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum used his official expense account from the Tallahassee mayor’s office to pay for a trip to meet with donors for his gubernatorial campaign, according to a report released by Politico. Gillum visited with high-profile Democratic politicians, strategists and donors during a trip in February 2016, a year before he filed to run for governor. In 2017, the Tallahassee Democrat reported on the event and its source of funding, yet, explained the outing as a trip to discuss official business with an affordable-housing developer. A spokesman for Gillum noted that while he was on the trip he found time to “meet with local political leaders.” However, newly uncovered documents provided by the attorney for Gillum’s former lobbyist and close friend Adam Corey, show that the purpose of the taxpayer-funded trip was specifically for Gillum to meet with potential donors to his forthcoming gubernatorial campaign. The Tallahassee mayor’s office account can only be used to fund official business related to the office. The documents were subpoenaed by the Florida Commission on Ethics amid an investigation and a highly publicized FBI corruption probe into the Tallahassee City Hall. While Gillum is not currently under federal investigation, he…

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Commentary: How School Choice is Lifting Up Puerto Rico’s Children After Hurricane Maria

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by Jude Schwalbach   Thirteen months ago on Sept. 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria slammed the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, devastating homes and infrastructure and leading to loss of life across the island. The storm greatly exacerbated the problems of a school system already in crisis: Puerto Rican fourth- and eighth-graders, for example, are roughly five grade levels behind their U.S. mainland peers in mathematics. Out of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria came an opportunity to reform the ailing education system on the island. Notably, the education reforms introduced by the territorial government and supported by Puerto Rico Secretary of Education Julia Keleher, along with Gov. Ricardo Rossello, include a pilot school-voucher option and the introduction of charter schools. The introduction of education choice in Puerto Rico didn’t come without pushback from special-interest groups, however. The Puerto Rican Superior Court initially sided with the teachers union, which had argued that school choice was unconstitutional. However, the Superior Court’s narrow reading of the Puerto Rican Constitution was overturned by the Puerto Rican Supreme Court in Asociacion de Maestros v. Departamento de Educacion, allowing the new charter school and voucher options to proceed. The ability for the island to introduce parental school…

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Senator Elizabeth Warren Says Migrants in U.S.-Bound Caravan Need to Enter Legally and ‘Follow Those Laws’

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by Henry Rogers   Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign said she believes the thousands of migrants in the caravan headed toward the U.S. need to enter the country legally. Warren, who is up for re-election, has previously called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and replacing it, and is now saying the migrant caravan filled with thousands of people from Central America traveling through Mexico toward the U.S. should be handled according to the law, in a statement from her campaign to The Daily Caller News Foundation, despite her lax views on immigration. “In regards to the caravan, we have laws for people who come to the border seeking asylum, and Senator Warren believes that we should follow those laws. However, she also knows that we should never have been in this situation. The real problem is Donald Trump’s chaotic foreign policy and lack of a long-term strategy in the region,” Warren’s campaign said in the statement. Despite Warren saying the migrants need to follow the law and enter the country legally, she blamed Trump for the caravan, saying the reason the immigrants are fleeing Central America is due to Trump and his funding to the region. “Trump has hollowed out…

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Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams Thinks She Has Secret Weapon in Tied Governor’s Race: Oprah

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by Evie Fordham   Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is pulling out all the stops, including two town halls with Oprah Winfrey, after a Tuesday poll showed she is in a “statistical dead heat” with Republican Brian Kemp. The Tuesday FOX 5 poll shows Abrams at 48.1 percent and Kemp at 47.2 percent with a 3.9 percent margin of error. The poll was conducted Sunday and Monday and interviewed 623 Georgia voters. Winfrey will campaign for Abrams at two town hall events in the Georgia towns of Marietta and Decatur Thursday, Abrams announced on Twitter Wednesday. Winfrey joins other celebs supporting Abrams, including rapper Common and actor Will Ferrell. Voters can watch Winfrey and Abrams hold “a conversation on the critical value of women in leadership and what is at stake for our communities in the election,” Abrams’s campaign said in a press release. Winfrey will also knock on doors in Georgia in an effort to get out the vote for Abrams, reported The Hill. If you think you are too busy to volunteer for campaigns, Will Ferrell canvassed for Stacey Abrams this weekend. Some people have second jobs or bad health and can’t, but the rest of us have…

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Bredesen Brigade Gets Out the Mop Bucket to Clean Up Damaging Interview on Migrant Army Marching Through Mexico

Jason M. Reynolds

The clean-up effort for Phil Bredesen’s disastrous interview with WCYB is hitting high gear. When asked last week 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 Tennessee Star reported last week. The video of Bredesen’s remarks is available to watch here. After the Bredesen team dashed off an emergency op-ed to The Tennessean – which tried to walk back everything Bredesen said in the video – his team realized it wasn’t enough, and rolled out a new ad talking about how the man who called the wall “political theater” and said the migrant caravan was “not a threat” was tough on the border, the Tennessee Republican Party said in a press release. Garren Shipley, RNC spokesman, said, “Phil Bredesen made a huge mistake – he actually told Tennesseans what he really thought about immigration. Team Bredesen can mop all they want, but that’s one mess they won’t be able to clean up.” In the new ad, Bredesen talks about how he supported President Bush, while conveniently forgetting when he said…

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New Study Calls Into Question Claims Made by Carbon Tax Supporters

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by Jason Hopkins   A study released Wednesday casts doubt on many of the assurances made by carbon tax supporters, revealing such a fee on emissions would not bring substantial benefits to the environment or the economy. Calls for implementing a carbon tax — a fee imposed on large emitters of carbon — have been growing in the U.S. Lawmakers from both parties have introduced their own versions of carbon pricing legislation in Congress, while some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world have signed on to initiatives promoting the implementation of a carbon tax in the U.S. Carbon tax proposals are also gaining steam at the state level as well. The battle over whether to pass a carbon fee in Washington state is on track to become the most expensive campaign initiative in the state’s history, with both sides already dropping around $45 million to sway voters. Supporters of carbon pricing argue it’s a market-oriented approach to reducing greenhouse emissions — and more efficient than simply piling the generation industry with more environmental regulations. Americans for Carbon Dividends, a self-proclaimed conservative organization that is lobbying for a carbon tax in Congress, argues such a plan would…

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Letter to the Editor: Giving Thanks and Living Gratefully in Today’s Republic

Admin

Dear Tennessee Star, November is best known for three special dates: Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day, and every other year, election day. This is one of those years in which we have all three and the interesting, little-understood, facet of this month is that all three of these days are connected. Thanksgiving is the day originally designated to give thanks to God for His gracious provision for our nation. While today it is more likely an occasion for excessive eating and watching sports, it is still a good time to reflect on our tremendous blessings. Though the United States is not a perfect nation, we still have more opportunities and abundance than any other nation on earth. This is certainly something for which to give thanks, and in regard to showing appreciation, in the last 20 years, thanking our veterans for their service has become a custom for some. The veterans of the Revolution won our right to enjoy the blessings of this land at great sacrifice. Then those of the Civil War ensured that all people would be able to enjoy these blessings, again at great cost. In every other war, our armed forces met the challenge of defending our nation…

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Brett Young to Receive ASCAP’s Songwriter-Artist of the Year Award

Bethany Bowman

Fueling momentum from his Platinum debut album and four consecutive No. 1 singles, Brett Young has now been named the 2018 ASCAP Country Songwriter-Artist of the Year. Young will be celebrated at the 56th Annual ASCAP Country Music Awards on Monday, November 12 in Nashville. The Songwriter-Artist of the Year Award is earned by the songwriter who has written and recorded at least two songs that, collectively, have amassed the greatest airplay during a predetermined time period. The Big Machine Music writer’s chart-topping singles, “In Case You Didn’t Know” (3X platinum) and “Like I Loved You” (platinum), will be among the most-performed songs honored at the awards event. Young commented on the impressive accolade: “I have been with ASCAP from the very beginning, and they have always made me feel like a part of the family, especially ASCAP’s Michael Martin and Robert Filhart. I also want to give a huge thank you to everyone in the songwriting community and in country music who welcomed me right away. I moved to Nashville to be a songwriter and it was a happy accident that I also became an artist. I’ve gotten better because I am lucky enough to get into rooms with incredible…

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Trump, First Family Honor 11 Killed in Synagogue Massacre

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by Fred Lucas   President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, in a visit Tuesday, placed a white flower and small stone on each of 11 stars set up in the memory of those murdered at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. The Trumps also lighted candles in honor of each man and woman killed Saturday inside the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood. They met with Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who leads the congregation. But amid the tragedy, the visit didn’t bridge all political divides. Protesters held signs such as “We didn’t invite you here” and “Trump Loves Nazis,” according to reports from the White House press pool. Others held up a middle finger or gave a thumbs-down. Other protesters shouted, “Words have meaning” and “No more hate.” The president and first lady were at the Tree of Life synagogue for about 20 minutes, along with White House advisers Ivanka Trump, the president’s eldest daughter, and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law. Both are Jewish. Today, I traveled with the President, First Lady, Secretary Mnuchin and my husband Jared to Pittsburgh to pay our respects at The Tree of Life synagogue and visit with first responders.We saw firsthand a community…

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This Clinic Has Performed More Than 500 Abortions – Over 300 of Which Were Second and Third Trimester Cases – Since October 2017

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by Grace Carr   Abortion doctor LeRoy Carhart has aborted over 500 second and third trimester babies since opening an abortion clinic in October 2017. Carhart opened an abortion clinic in Bethesda, Maryland in mid-October 2017, and has performed over 500 abortions to date, according to communications director Chelsea Souder, HuffPo reported Wednesday. Approximately 75 percent of those abortions have been second and third trimester abortions, HuffPo reported. Many of the women who’ve come to the clinic for abortions are from Mexico, Canada, Europe, South America and Central America, according to Souder. HuffPo calls Carhart “one of the country’s most public and polarizing abortion providers … offering pregnancy termination through roughly 28 weeks’ gestation and sometimes beyond.” The clinic offers “advanced gestation abortion,” per its website description. The clinic lists its abortion services, which include medication abortions, first trimester surgical abortions, second trimester multi-day abortions, induction abortions, maternal/fetal indication abortions, and self-induced abortions. Carhart previously performed late-term abortions at a clinic in Nebraska but left the state after it passed a law banning abortions after 20 weeks in 2010. Maryland’s abortion laws are more relaxed than most states, allowing Carhart to perform abortions up until viability, a flexible definition permitting him to perform abortions through the third…

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