Day: November 20, 2018

Tennessee Star Report Exclusive: Chuck Schumer Refuses to Apologize to Lamar Alexander for His ‘Display of Discourtesy’ on the Senate Floor

Julie Carr

On Monday’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 – Gill and Leahy chatted with Tennessee State Senator Lamar Alexander about the Democrat stalling of confirmation efforts and his exchange with Chuck Schumer and the lack of an apology during Schumer’s display of discourtesy on the Senate floor. Gill: Senator Lamar Alexander going all “Lindsey Graham” on Chuck Schumer who not only has disrespected the process of slowing the judicial confirmation process for no good reason.  But with a particular nominee for the TVA board, John Ryder, lawyer from Memphis.  Excellent lawyer with as Lamar Alexander pointed out, seven to ten million people in the region waiting for a new board member so they can get a new CEO, a new Chairman of the TVA.  The Democrats holding up John Ryder’s confirmation after he’s already been through the committee process, holding him up for like a hundred and seventy seven days and basically, Chuck Schumer walking out in the midst of the debate, the conversation between Senator Lamar Alexander and himself over this issue.  Did everything but  you know, kind…

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Jeff Ballabon Commentary: CNN’s Lawsuit Is An Admission of Its Anti-Trump Activism

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by Jeff Ballabon   CNN likes to masquerade as an objective news outlet, but its lawsuit against President Trump and the Secret Service makes its partisanship more nakedly obvious than ever. From the very beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency, CNN has used its platform to demean, denigrate, and deride the president at every opportunity. Their Chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, who grandstands on and off the air as Trump’s chief antagonist, is merely the most notorious manifestation of CNN’s rampant bias. Recently, his behavior so violated every norm of White House press corps etiquette that the White House withdrew his access to the White House grounds. CNN sued President Trump and a judge temporarily reinstated Acosta’s access pending outcome of the case. CNN’s legal case rests on the contention that the First Amendment’s freedom of the press guarantees Jim Acosta permanent access to the White House grounds. The judge declined to rule on those grounds, ruling instead that Acosta may have been denied his Fifth Amendment due process rights because he did not have an opportunity to formally appeal the revocation of his pass. CNN likes to pretend it serves a vital public interest through “objective” reporting, and their…

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Woman Who Interrupted Marsha Blackburn Moment of Silence Says She Was Justified

Chris Butler

The woman who interrupted a moment of silence last month at a Marsha Blackburn rally in Nashville has come forward to justify what she did and say why she believes Blackburn is a white supremacist. The Tennessean recently gave the woman, Katie Cowley of Ooltewah, a forum to bash Blackburn and Republicans in general. “I interrupted because as a registered nurse, mom of five, wife of one of those first responders who must see, process and live with the incidents of violence that she and extremists like her are inciting,” Cowley said. Cowley said in her column that no one hired her to disrupt the gathering and she wasn’t part of any organized group. “And what I saw from the outset of the event was more disturbing than I had anticipated,” Cowley wrote. “I saw young African-American students — who were hard not to notice, since they were virtually the only non-white people in the room — approached by a large man with an earpiece and asked to leave.” These young African-American students, Cowley went on to say, never disrupted the event. The Tennessee Star later identified these two African-Americans as Janeisha Harris and Vanderbilt Divinity School student Justin Jones. Cowley…

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Steve Gill Commentary: It’s Time for Tennessee Republicans to Reject Toxic Tennessee Education Association Money… and Those Who Accept It

Steve Gill

During the 2018 mid-term elections the National Education Association (NEA), parent organization of the Tennessee Education Association (TEA), made recommendations for U.S. House races. There were 435 Congressional seats up for election, but only 10 of the 289 recommended candidates by the NEA were Republicans. All ten Republicans who received NEA support were incumbents. It doesn’t appear that the national teachers’ union has EVER supported a Republican challenger against a Democratic incumbent in Congress. Although their membership numbers are declining, the NEA remains “the largest labor union in the United States” according to their own materials. They spent $18,128,105, which placed them 13th in political contributions through the most recent campaign financial reporting periods. That money helped propel the Democrats, and possibly Nancy Pelosi, to power in the House. [pdf-embedder url=”https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/GILL__TEA-2018-Contributions.pdf” title=”GILL__TEA 2018 Contributions”]   Under the NEA’s “unification policy,” all union members throughout the country are forced to pay dues to them. In other words, if you are a member of a local association, you must be a member of the state organization, and subsequently a member of the national organization—which means all local teachers’ unions members are also NATIONAL union members. This approach has enabled NEA to create…

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Tennessee House Republicans to Choose Speaker Tuesday

Jason M. Reynolds

Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representatives will select their next leader on Tuesday, Nov. 27. One political observer has thrown out the name he believes will be picked. The upcoming Republican decision means replacing the spot that has been held by retiring Speaker State Rep. Beth Harwell (R-TN-56), who retired to run for governor, WKRN reports. She came in fourth against Gov.-elect Bill Lee in the primary. Republicans hold nearly three-quarters of the House seats, so their nominee for speaker will easily win the position when both parties vote in January as lawmakers convene their next session. “At this point, it’s probably Glen Casada’s to lose,” said longtime political analyst Steve Gill, Political Editor of The Tennessee Star. Casada (R-TN-63) is from Thompson Station. His Williamson County counterpart, State Sen. Jack Johnson (R-TN-23), is considered a front-runner for Senate Majority Leader. The Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus will choose its leaders on Monday, Dec. 3. That story is here. House Majority Leader Casada, the main sponsor of last session’s opioid bill, State Rep. David Hawk(R-TN-05) and current Speaker Pro-Tem State Rep. Curtis Johnson (R-TN-68) are on the ballot to replace Harwell. “Curtis Johnson is a more moderate candidate for speaker,”…

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DC’s Extends Ban on Plastic Straws to Churches and Day Care Centers

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drinking straws

by Tristan Justice   The District of Columbia is set to implement a new ban on single-use plastic straws and coffee stirrers. Poised to take effect Jan. 1, the prohibition is not limited only to restaurants and bars, but also churches, day care centers, and other entities in the city. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is recommending the use instead of alternative items made from hay, bamboo, glass, paper, or stainless steel. “@MayorBowser’s list of recyclable and compostable now requires the use of compostable and/or reusable straws and stirrers when selling food or beverages in the District. Enforcement begins January 1, 2019!” the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment tweeted Thursday. .@MayorBowser's list of recyclables and compostables now requires the use of compostable and/or reusable straws and stirrers when selling food or beverages in the District. Enforcement begins January 1, 2019! See all foodservice ware requirements➡️ https://t.co/Nr0UUoNENr pic.twitter.com/Z4kJBqJipF — Department of Energy & Environment (@DOEE_DC) November 15, 2018 The District’s government will begin inspecting restaurants, pubs, food trucks, and other businesses and organizations for compliance on Jan. 1 and will begin issuing fines for noncompliance with the law on July 1, according to the department’s website. The D.C. Department of Energy…

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Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus to Choose Speaker/Lieutenant Governor, Senate Majority Leader, on Dec. 3

Jason M. Reynolds

The Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus will meet on Monday, Dec. 3 to elect leaders for the 111th General Assembly. The meeting will take place at 1:30 p.m. CST on the 8th Floor of the Cordell Hull Building in Nashville, the caucus said in a press release. The following offices will be elected: Speaker of the Senate/Lieutenant Governor (to be elected by the full Senate body when the General Assembly convenes), Senate Majority Leader, Senate Republican Caucus Chairman, Caucus Treasurer, Caucus Secretary and Caucus Chaplain. A list of the caucus’ current officers is available here. State Sen. Jack Johnson (R-TN-23), who is starting his fourth term, is considered a front-runner for Senate Majority Leader, several outlets, according to some outlets, including the Williamson Herald. The Williamson County Republican is Chair of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, a member of the Senate State and Local Government Committee and a member of the Capitol Commission. The Senate Majority Leader position was left open when Mark Norris (R-TN-32) was named as a federal judge in the Western District of Tennessee in October. Norris was tapped by the Trump Administration in July 2017 to fill the federal judgeship that was vacated a few months prior in March,…

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Commentary: Trump is Right, the Only Way to Win is to Fight

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by George Rasley   In CHQ Chairman Richard Viguerie’s book TAKEOVER, Mr. Viguerie observed that the only battles conservatives are guaranteed to lose is the ones we don’t fight. And if for concrete proof of that dictum one only needs to look back at the first two years of the Donald Trump presidency: In the U.S. House of Representatives the Republican leadership under Speaker Paul Ryan went completely squishy on conservative policy after conservative policy, until President Trump stepped in to push them to fight, likewise in the Senate, until the fight to confirm Justice Kavanaugh put a backbone into Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and enough Republicans to get Kavanaugh through his hellish confirmation. Justice Kavanaugh would never have been confirmed, nor would the tax cuts have passed the Senate, nor would Obamacare’s individual mandate have been repealed had Trump not been willing to fight. However, to the Washington establishment, conservatives who fight for their principles and for the limited government policies that have revived the American economy are “divisive.” Chris Wallace, interviewing President Trump for Fox News framed the issue this way: I was in Saint Joseph, Missouri, this last week and I was talking to a lot of…

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Migrant Caravan Triggers Protests in Tijuana

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Hundreds of Tijuana residents congregated around a monument in an affluent section of the city south of California on Sunday to protest the thousands of Central American migrants who have arrived via caravan in hopes of a new life in the U.S. Tensions have built as nearly 3,000 migrants from the caravan poured into Tijuana in recent days after more than a month on the road, and with many more months ahead of them while they seek asylum. The federal government estimates the number of migrants could soon swell to 10,000. U.S. border inspectors are processing only about 100 asylum claims a day at Tijuana’s main crossing to San Diego. Asylum seekers register their names in a tattered notebook managed by migrants themselves that had more than 3,000 names even before the caravan arrived. On Sunday, displeased Tijuana residents waved Mexican flags, sang the Mexican national anthem and chanted “Out! Out!” in front of a statue of the Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc, 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the U.S. border. They accused the migrants of being ungrateful and a danger to Tijuana. They also complained about how the caravan forced its way into Mexico, calling it an “invasion.” And they voiced…

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Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office Made Fewer Audit Findings in FY 2017

Chris Butler

Members of the Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office say they had far fewer city and county audit findings in Fiscal Year 2017 than they did the previous fiscal year. This has gone on for the past few years, said John Dunn, spokesman for the Tennessee Comptrollers’ Office. “For example, in FY 2016, we had 383 audit findings spread across the 90 Tennessee counties that are directly audited by the Comptroller’s Office (an average of 4.26 per county),” Dunn said. “In FY 2017 we had 338 findings in those same 90 counties (an average of 3.76 per county). The trend in declining audit findings has been consistent for several years in a row.” Dunn told The Tennessee Star he and other Comptroller officials credit auditors and investigators for finding problems. But Dunn also said he credits programs such as MTAS’ Certified Municipal Finance Officer program and CTAS’ Certified County Finance Officer program, which help to develop competent finance officials in Tennessee’s cities and counties. “Additionally, the legislature passed Public Chapter 112 in 2015 which required all local governments to establish and maintain internal controls to safeguard public funds and property,” Dunn said. Tennessee Comptrollers still, however, do find examples of waste, fraud, and…

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Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: The Progressive Synopticon

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by Victor Davis Hanson   In the post-election aftermath, Republicans are wondering about how they can capture that missing 2-5 percent of the electorate that lost them the House of Representatives. Could they pry away 40 percent of the institutionalized Democratic Latino vote on delivery of a full-employment economy of rising wages? Can they win over 20 percent of the African-American electorate on the basis of more jobs and less competition from illegal immigrants? Can Trump tone down his ad hominem invective and tweeting to reassure an additional 10 percent of independent and middle-class suburban women that his national security agenda, free-market prosperity, traditionalism, law-and-order, and national sovereignty policies ensure greater tranquility, safety, and opportunity—even if they are not packaged in the manner of his more mellifluous and vacuous “presidential” predecessor? No Escaping the Culture Wars Republicans, in deer-in-the-headlights-style, appear shocked that they are increasingly prone to winning the vote on Election Day only to lose it in the ensuing weeks when absentee ballots and what-not filter in with astounding Democratic majorities. Someone is spending a lot of money to get the absentee voting ballot out, correctly marked, and returned. And whatever that ‘lot” is, it is killing Republican candidates.…

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Three Senate Judiciary Democrats Sue Over Whitaker Appointment

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by Molly Prince   Three Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee filed a lawsuit Monday to block acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker from the position, asking a judge to deem it unconstitutional. Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island sued both Whitaker and President Donald Trump, alleging that Trump’s appointment of Whitaker as acting attorney general is unconstitutional since the Senate has been deprived of its constitutional obligation to vote for or against principal federal officers. Trump appointed Whitaker to temporarily take over the role of attorney general after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to resign from the position. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues that Trump violated the Appointment Clause by disregarding the Senate’s power of Advice and Consent, which was “adopted by our nation’s Founders as an important check on the power of the President.” “Recognizing that giving the President the ‘sole disposition of offices’ would result in a Cabinet governed much more by his private inclinations and interests’ than by the public good,” the suit reads. “It could result in the appointment of Officers who had ‘no other merit than that of ……

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CNN Calls for Emergency Hearing in Response to White House Threats on Acosta

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by Hanna Bogorowski   After receiving a letter from the White House saying CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass could be revoked again by the end of November, CNN has asked the U.S. District Court for an emergency hearing. CNN won a temporary restraining order Friday after suing President Donald Trump and several members of his administration after they suspended Acosta’s access to the White House after an incident in which the reporter refused to hand over the microphone to an intern during a press conference. A judge temporarily restored Acosta’s access Friday and told CNN and the administration to reach a settlement, but CNN’s Brian Stelter revealed Sunday night that “White House officials sent Acosta a letter stating that his pass is set to be suspended again once the restraining order expires.” The letter, signed by White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Bill Shine, announced the “preliminary decision” to suspend Acosta’s press pass again once the court’s restraining order expired, CNN reported. CNN asked a U.S. district court Monday for an emergency hearing. The White House’s letter reportedly says it will make a decision on the fate of Acosta’s press pass by 3 p.m. ET on Monday, the report states. .@CNN's Jim @Acosta returns…

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Women’s March Founder Teresa Shook Calls on the Group’s Leadership to Resign Over Refusals to Condemn Bigoted Statements by Allies

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Women’s March founder Teresa Shook took to Facebook Monday to call on the liberal leaders of the progressive movement to step down as many former supports #WalkAway over the group’s leaders’ refusal to condemn anti-Semitic and homophobic statements by well-known allies. “As Founder of the Women’s March, my original vision and intent was to show the capacity of human beings to stand in solidarity and love against the hateful rhetoric that had become a part of the political landscape in the U.S. and around the world,” Shook wrote, adding: Bob Bland, Tamika Mallory, Linda Sarsour and Carmen Perez of Women’s March, Inc. have steered the Movement away from its true course,” she continued. “I have waited, hoping they would right the ship. But they have not. In opposition to our Unity Principles, they have allowed anti-Semitism, anti-LBGTQIA sentiment and hateful, racist rhetoric to become a part of the platform by their refusal to separate themselves from groups that espouse these racist, hateful beliefs. I call for the current Co-Chairs to step down and to let others lead who can restore faith in the Movement and its original intent. I call for the current Co-Chairs to step down and to let others lead…

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Ryan Zinke Blames Radical Environmentalists For Deadly California Wildfires

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by Michael Bastasch   Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke blamed “radical environmentalists” for the deadly wildfires raging across California. “When we’re prevented from managing our forests by these radical environmentalists — they’ve had lawsuit after lawsuit, they have somehow promulgated to let nature take its course — this is the consequence of letting nature take its course,” Zinke said in an interview on the Breitbart News Sunday radio show. Wildfires scorched roughly 250,000 acres of California, destroying more than 12,000 structures and taking 80 lives. Authorities say there are still 1,200 people unaccounted for in the wake of the fires. “We need to go back to prescribed burns late in the season so you don’t have these catastrophic burns, remove the dead and dying timber, sustainable harvests, get the small mom and pop mills back where they’re grazing the forest and return to healthy forests,” Zinke said. “You look at Finland. I had an opportunity to live in Germany. Germany has the Black Forest — their forests are healthy, they don’t have the catastrophic burns because they manage the forests.” “And I will lay this on the foot of those environmental radicals that have prevented us from managing the forests for years. And you know…

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Bedford County Rodeo Reportedly Receives Cease-and-Desist Order

Chris Butler

A Bedford County-based Mexican rodeo suspected of illegal activity has received a county cease-and-desist order, according to The Shelbyville Times-Gazette. As The Tennessee Star reported last week, a few county commissioners suspect the Rancho La Herradura in Bell Buckle allows drug deals, prostitution, gambling, and human trafficking, among other things. The county’s Office of Planning and Zoning issued the cease-and-desist order. County officials said the venue does not qualify for an agricultural exemption from zoning rules, according to The Times-Gazette. “The facility was a topic of discussion at last week’s meeting of Bedford County Board of Commissioners, with commissioner Greg Vick saying that it has created traffic problems and safety problems as well, and that there are problems with excessive alcohol use at the site,” the paper reported. Rancho La Herradura Inc. officials said they engage in agricultural activity, specifically agri-tourism, and state laws protect them from zoning restrictions, the paper reported. “But Planning and Zoning Director Chris White, in his cease-and-desist letter, says that Rancho La Herradura did not board, train or care for any animals on its property, and never built any sort of barn or agricultural facility,” the paper said. White said “there has been NO activity…

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