Day: January 4, 2019

Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill Critiques Governor-Elect Bill Lee’s Personnel Picks on Fox 17 News Program

Jason M. Reynolds

Steve Gill, Political Editor of The Tennessee Star, appeared as a panelist Sunday on Fox 17 News’ In Focus and pointed out a problem with Gov.-elect Bill Lee’s cabinet picks. Watch the full segment here. The show was hosted by Scott Couch and Harriet Wallace. Other guests were Holly McCall, chairwoman of the Williamson County Democratic Party, and Saletta Holloway, former Metro Nashville councilwoman. Wallace asked Gill about Courtney Rogers, a former State Representative (R-TN-45) whom Lee selected as head of the Department of Veterans Services. Gill said, “Courtney is going to be celebrated as a great pick.” Gill pointed out her military service of 20-plus years in the U.S. Air Force and her experience as a legislator. However, “I think the down side is, it’s not a particularly powerful position in terms of the Cabinet,” Gill said. “It’s basically a pass-through for federal dollars through the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.” He did say that she is the “first solid grass-roots conservative” appointment by Lee. “For a guy who ran as a definitive conservative it’s taken him a long time to find a conservative to serve in his Cabinet,” Gill said. The Star has previously reported on the lack of…

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Rep. Steve Cohen Introduces Bills to Eliminate Electoral College, Limit Presidential Powers to Issue Pardons

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), who wishes U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) would jump off a bridge, wasted no time trying to monkey with the U.S. Constitution as the Democrats took control of the House Thursday – he introduced a bill to eliminate the Electoral College. Cohen is a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee. He actually introduced two Constitutional amendments, one to abolish the Electoral College and one to prohibit presidents from pardoning themselves, members of their families, members of their administrations and their campaign staff, according to a press release from his office. Cohen said, “In two presidential elections since 2000, including the most recent one in which Hillary Clinton won 2.8 million more votes than her opponent, the winner of the popular vote did not win the election because of the distorting effect of the outdated Electoral College. Americans expect and deserve the winner of the popular vote to win office. More than a century ago, we amended our Constitution to provide for the direct election of U.S. Senators. It is past time to directly elect our President and Vice President.” Cohen has previously tried to impeach President Donald Trump. Also on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Brad…

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The Tennessee Star Report EXCLUSIVE Interview With Incoming Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada

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 – Gill and Leahy talked with State Rep. Glen Casada (R-Franklin), the incoming Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives about the challenges the Tennessee General Assembly will face in its new session, which began formerly later in the day. Gill and Leahy discussed a number of topics with Casads, including Shelby County’s defiance of state statutes regarding illegal immigration and sanctuary cities,  the new incoming freshman legislators and the challenges they face, school choice, and criminal justice reform. At the end of the segment, Gill and Casada touched upon what Bill Lee’s lack of conservative cabinet picks mean for the Tennessee legislation. Gill: The incoming house speaker who will soon move to that position, current state representative and soon to be house speaker Glen Casada is on the line with us this morning. Casada: Good morning Steve, how are you? Gill: Now when do you actually take over as house speaker? Casada: I am sworn in at approximately noon, Tuesday, January the 8th. Gill: So you’ve got about one more…

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Commentary: Battle Over Border Is About More Than A Wall

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by Rick Manning   The battle over securing the southern border is bigger than any wall. It is about whether our nation will actually defend its borders against an unconventional invasion — one designed to play on our heartstrings through the inclusion of women and children — but also fundamentally transform our nation from a constitutional republic to a permanent socialist majority. This isn’t just about a wall or fence line, it is about the basic right of the United States to have borders. It has already been established that those who enter our nation illegally our costing the country approximately $338 billion annually according to a just released study by the Center for Immigration Studies. These costs will only increase as Medicare, Social Security, welfare, health care, housing, food stamp and education budgets get further strained by the thousands who flow across the border illegally each month. That is the backdrop for the current fight in Washington, D.C. over whether funding should be provided to build a wall and provide for other key security measures along the border. And the funding fight is relatively isolated with the Department of Defense already fully funded, along with the Veteran’s Administration, Labor…

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Early Voting Begins Friday for GOP Primary Bid to Replace Former State Sen. Mark Norris, Who is Now a Federal Judge

Jason M. Reynolds

Early voting begins today for the primary in the State Senate District 32 race to replace Mark Norris. Formerly the Senate Majority Leader, Norris (R-TN-32) was appointed by the U.S. Senate in October as a federal judge in the Western District of Tennessee, The Tennessee Star reported in October. His appointment had languished since July 2017. Four Republicans filed paperwork to replace Norris, The Star reported last month. The general election is scheduled for March 12. Tipton and part of Shelby County make up that district. Michael Nelson of the Daily Memphian said in a column that he likes the chances of one candidate in particular: Because Norris held the seat so long, a number of credible candidates for the Republican nomination have lined up now that it’s vacant. The favorite is former Shelby County Commissioner Heidi Shafer, but in what’s sure to be a low-turnout contest, any or all of her three rivals could make a run for the money: former state representative Steve McManus, Tipton County construction executive Paul Rose, and defeated Shelby County Trustee candidate (also a former commissioner) George Chism. Why do I rate Shafer the favorite? Precisely because it will be a low-turnout affair in which…

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Chinese Craft First To Land On Moon’s Far Side

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A Chinese spacecraft Thursday made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon in the latest achievement for the country’s growing space program. The relatively unexplored far side of the moon faces away from Earth and is also known as the dark side. A photo taken by the lunar explorer Chang’e 4 at 11:40 a.m. and published online by the official Xinhua News Agency shows a small crater and a barren surface that appears to be illuminated by a light from the probe. Chang’e 4 touched down on the surface at 10:26 a.m., the China National Space Administration said. The landing was announced by state broadcaster China Central Television at the top of its noon news broadcast. Growing ambitions in space The landing highlights China’s growing ambitions as a space power. In 2013, Chang’e 3, the predecessor craft to the current mission, made the first moon landing since the then-Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976. The United States is the only other country that has carried out moon landings. The work of Chang’e 4, which is carrying a rover, includes carrying out astronomical observations and probing the structure and mineral composition of the terrain. “The far side of…

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Commentary: Trump Presidency Is The ‘Bain’ Of Romney’s Existence

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by Julie Kelly   Just as the Republican Party is purging itself of hackneyed lawmakers, bitter neoconservative commentators, and insatiable interventionists, along comes Mitt Romney to remind us of what we definitely are not missing. In a late New Year’s Day sermon published in the Washington Post, the incoming senator expressed his disappointment in the president and, by extension, in all of us. It was filled with the sort of juvenile platitudes that at one time mollified Republican voters, but now either amuse or enrage them. “A president should unite us and inspire us to follow ‘our better angels.’ A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse,” the twice-losing presidential candidate warned. “To reassume our leadership in world politics, we must repair failings in our politics at home. It includes political parties promoting policies that strengthen us rather than promote tribalism by exploiting fear and resentment.” Romney then proceeded—oddly—to lament Trump’s unpopularity in the world (sorry to disappoint you, Sweden!) and called for a unified Europe. We must defend the press and labor unions, Romney insisted, despite their failings. And he essentially called Trump a racist, sexist, immigrant-hater. Real original. The reaction…

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Top Debates To Watch For In New Congress

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by Rachel del Guidice   Democrats took control of the House of Representatives Thursday, starting a new era of divided government. Here are four things to watch as the 116th Congress begins amid a government shutdown. 1. Tension Between Progressives and Other Democrats Democrats are set to vote Thursday on a rules package. While it’s supported by incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it’s already causing waves of opposition among other House Democrats. The rules package would allow people to keep their religious headwear on in the House chamber as well as prohibit discrimination in regards to gender identity and sexual orientation. It also contains a “pay-as-you-go” provision. Pay-go “requires that any new legislation that increases deficits (whether through an increase in mandatory spending or decrease in revenues) must be fully offset by other increases in revenues or decreases in mandatory spending so that the new legislation does not add to the budget deficit,” according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Both Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have said they would vote against the rules package because of the pay-go element. “I will be voting NO on the Rules package with #PayGo,” Khanna tweeted Wednesday. “It is…

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Satellites Show 2018 Was the Sixth-Warmest Year on Record and Climate Models Are Still Off

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by Michael Bastasch   Satellite-derived global temperature data shows 2018 was the sixth warmest year on record in decades, according to the two prominent datasets. Satellite data compiled by the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH) scientists showed the global average temperature was 0.23 degrees Celsius above average compared to the past four decades. “The 2018 globally averaged temperature anomaly, adjusted for the number of days in each month, is +0.23 deg. [Celsius], making 2018 the 6th warmest year in the now-40 year satellite record of global lower tropospheric temperature variations,” UAH scientist Roy Spencer wrote in a blog post Wednesday. “The linear temperature trend of the global average lower tropospheric temperature anomalies from January 1979 through December 2018 remains” 0.13 degrees Celsius per decade, Spencer wrote. Satellite data compiled by the Santa Rosa, California-based Remote Sensing Systems (RSS) also showed 2018 was the sixth-warmest year on record going back to 1979. Satellites measure temperatures in the lower few miles of the atmosphere while weather stations and buoys are often used to measure temperatures at the Earth’s surface. Both satellite and surface temperature data shows warming trends at the low end of what climate models predicted. RSS data, for example, shows temperatures…

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EXCLUSIVE Lara Trump Commentary: President Trump Kept His Promises in 2018

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by Lara Trump   With 2018 now in the history books, it’s worth reflecting on the incredible progress America has made in the past year as a result of the many promises President Donald Trump has fulfilled. The economy, for instance, is booming again for the first time in almost a generation, just as Donald Trump promised on the campaign trail in 2016. The 4.2 percent growth rate in the second quarter of 2018 caught even experienced economists off guard, dwarfing predictions that assumed sluggish growth had become the “new normal” for America. The economy just kept humming after that, allowing economic growth to exceed 3 percent for the first full year since George W. Bush was in office. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is down to its lowest level since 1969, and thanks to the favorable labor market, wages are rising at the fastest pace in nearly a decade. The miraculous economic turnaround that was born during President Trump’s first year in office reached maturity in 2018, fueled by pro-growth policies like the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, new trade deals that give American workers a level playing field, and the elimination of costly and ineffective regulations. While the booming…

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Democrats Pushing to Match Your Tax Dollars to Small Campaign Contributions at an Astonishing Rate

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by Evie Fordham   House Democrats are expected to unveil legislation Friday that uses taxpayer money to match small-dollar campaign donations at the astonishing rate of 6-to-1, a policy that would likely benefit Democrats much more than Republicans. “When you do something that looks like a political stunt, it makes you look worse, not better, in the eyes of the public,” Zach Wamp, a Republican former congressman and co-chair of nonpartisan organization Issue One, told The Wall Street Journal. Republicans are especially wary of the small-dollar donation matching policy, which would turn a $20 donation into more than $100 for a candidate. Democrats consistently rake in more small-dollar donations than Republicans, according to a WSJ review of Federal Election Commission reports. For example, freshman Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, unseated incumbent Dean Heller after outraising him by amassing small-dollar donations, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Roughly 32 percent of her funds came from small individual contributions, while only 9 percent of Heller’s came from small-time donors, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). And Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who unsuccessfully challenged Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, was the fourth most-popular congressional candidate for small dollar donations, according…

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Allegations of Sexual Harassment And Sexism In Bernie Sanders’ 2016 Campaign Haunt 2020 Chances

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by Molly Prince   As Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders gears up for a potential 2020 presidential run, allegations regarding the mistreatment of women on his 2016 campaign may hinder his chances at the White House. Former staffers on the Sanders campaign have been detailing instances of sexism and sexual harassment while working on his presidential bid in 2016, according to a New York Times report published Wednesday. After a letter circulated in December referring to a “dangerous dynamic” between the men and women on Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, claims of rampant “sexual violence and harassment” have been on the forefront of discussions among former Sanders supporters. The letter, which was signed by more than two dozen women, requested to sit down with the Vermont senator and his closest advisers to discuss the issue at hand. The Sanders campaign has also been hit with accusations of sexism stemming from the pay disparity between genders. Salary records reportedly show that male staffers earned thousands of dollars more than female staffers for the same jobs. “Was it too male? Yes. Was it too white? Yes. Would this be a priority to remedy on any future campaign? Definitely, and we share deeply in the…

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GatewayPundit’s Jim Hoft Teams Up with Missouri’s St. Louis Tea Party to Announce a Rally for Trump’s Border Wall

Anthony Gockowski

The St. Louis Tea Party is organizing a rally for Saturday in support of President Donald Trump as he continues to fight for the border wall. According to a press release, the rally was organized by the St. Louis Tea Party and the Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft. “Our president needs our support. Our president needs to know we stand with him,” Hoft said in a statement, encouraging St. Louis residents to attend the Saturday rally in Clayton, Missouri. “Let’s show our support for President Trump as he holds the line, and demand funding for the wall,” the St. Louis Tea Party said on Facebook. The news comes amid a contentious government shutdown over funding for Trump’s border wall, which now Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are unwilling to budge on after multiple conversations with the president. On Thursday, Trump made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room (his first) and was accompanied by members of ICE and Border Patrol. Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told the White House press corps that if they “interview Border Patrol agents, they will tell you that walls work.” “Anywhere that you…

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Opioid Abuse Estimated to Leave Over 20,000 Children in Foster Care by 2020

Andrew Shirley

While the rampant opioid epidemic that has overtaken much of the country is finally getting the attention it deserves, some of the most vulnerable to its effects have been tragically overlooked. A startling report from the Public Children’s Services Association of Ohio estimates that, should current trends continue, over 20,000 children will be in foster care by 2020. From July 2017 to July 2018 alone, the total number of children entering foster care jumped from over 13,700 children to over 15,000. The main reason for this acceleration appears to be severe drug abuse throughout the state. In 2015, half of the children taken into foster care had come from families with some form of drug abuse. 28 percent were actively taking opioids when their children were removed. 67 percent of these children were under the age of 12 and over a quarter of them are three or younger. While the number of children in need continues to rise, support services are more strained than ever. The report also reveals that Ohio’s State Share for children services spending is currently dead last in the nation. Further, “even if the State’s Share…doubled, Ohio would still be 50th in the nation.” The majority of child…

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New Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips Goes Back on Campaign Promise and Votes for Pelosi As Speaker

Anthony Gockowski

Both Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN-03) and Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN-02) voted for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) as the next speaker of the house Thursday in one of their first official acts as members of Congress. Craig and Phillips both indicated on the campaign trail that they would like to see new leadership in the Democratic Party, but started to show signs of supporting Pelosi shortly after their respective election wins. Phillips was much more vocal on the issue, and in one interview stated “no” in response to questions from KSTP’s Tom Hauser on whether or not he would back Pelosi. He, like many freshmen members of Congress, said he would like to see “a new generation of leadership,” while Craig said she’d like for more members from the Midwest to move into leadership roles. But both of them skipped out on opportunities to oppose Pelosi, and Craig even spoke in favor of electing Pelosi during a November Democratic Caucus vote. After that vote, Phillips declined to answer questions from reporters on where he stood, as The Minnesota Sun reported. Both of them also neglected to sign their names to a letter issued by 16 Democrats in November calling for “new…

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Republican Files Legal Action in Chaotic North Carolina Congressional Race

A.P. Dillon

The North Carolina State Board of Elections still has not certified its Ninth Congressional District race and one of the candidates is now taking legal action. Republican Mark Harris announced his intentions Wednesday evening to take legal action in the NC-09 race. On Thursday his campaign filed a Writ of Mandamus, which is an order from a court that instructs another government official to correct an abuse of discretion or ensure they properly fulfill their official duties. In a press release, the Harris camp said the filing of the Writ was in response to the cancellation of a January 11 hearing on the NC-09 investigation and lack of transparency by the State Board of Elections. “The State Board of Elections has not disclosed any information to suggest that the votes in question in the Board staff’s investigation are sufficient in number to change the outcome of the 9th Congressional District election,” the Harris Campaign said in the statement. “We applaud Congressman-Elect Mark Harris’ campaign for taking this important action to make sure the more-than 750,000 people in the Ninth Congressional District are represented in Congress,” said a statement from the North Carolina GOP. Harris won the NC-09 race by 905 votes…

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110 Employees of Detroit’s Failing Public School System Make Six-Figure Salaries

Anthony Gockowski

More than 100 employees in the Detroit Public Schools Community District make salaries that exceed $100,000 per year, even though the district consistently ranks among the lowest performing schools. According to data obtained by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, 110 employees of the Detroit school district make six figure salaries, including at least one teacher and two police officers. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti (pictured, center) topped the list with an annual salary of $294,999 in the 2017-28 fiscal year. Coming in second was Luis Solano, the school district’s chief operating officer, who makes an annual salary of $183,750, while Deputy Superintendent Iranetta Wright brings in $182,692 annually. Chalkbeat reported in 2017 that all sixteen employees in Vitti’s inner circle are making well over $100,000 annually. As Michigan Capitol Confidential reports, the one teacher on the list, who teaches seventh and eighth grade, made a salary of $100,057 in the 2017-18 fiscal year. The outlet points out that there are numerous ways for teachers to pick up extra compensation, such as merit pay or agreeing to lead various school functions, which are included in the salary figures. They also found that this teacher, with a base pay of $84,505 annually, brought…

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Minnesota Secretary of State Unveils Plan to Restore Voting Rights to 60,000 Felons

Anthony Gockowski

Secretary of State Steve Simon (D-MN) unveiled his “Investing in Democracy” 2019 agenda during a Thursday press conference where he announced plans to restore voting rights to felons after they are released from prison. Currently, Minnesota is one of 22 states that revokes voting rights for felons during incarceration and for any periods of parole or probation thereafter. Simon’s office estimates that this means there are roughly 60,000 Minnesotans who have been released from prison, but are still ineligible to vote because they are on probation or parole. There are only two states, Maine and Vermont, in which felons never lose the right to vote, while at least 14 states restore voting rights immediately upon release, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Investing in democracy also means investing in people,” Simon said Thursday. “These are people who have served their time already and are working to establish or reestablish themselves in their communities. Minnesotans, I think, believe in second chances, and believe in forgiveness, and restoring the right to vote at the end of a prison term will give real opportunities to those who have left prison behind to become full members of their communities.” Simon also argued…

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