Day: January 7, 2019

Latest Nashville Plan for Affordable Housing ‘A Double-Edged Sword,’ Metro Council Member Steve Glover Says

Chris Butler

One day Nashville gives away a certain sum of economic incentives to major corporations to get them to come to the city. The next day, as part of one proposal Metro Council members will soon consider, the city would then have to hand out an equal sum of money for more affordable housing units. Nashville Metro Council members Fabian Bedne and Colby Sledge are reportedly pushing the idea. But their fellow council member Steve Glover said the city is broke and taking even more money out of the city’s operations budget is “a double-edged sword, no matter how you slice and dice it.” “We are to the point where I don’t think we can afford many more incentives,” Glover told The Tennessee Star. “Frankly all we have done is give away incentives and not had anything in return to be prepared for all those incentives.” Mark Cunningham, spokesman for the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee, a free market think tank, said city officials have identified the right problem — but they have the wrong solution. “The whole idea of these incentives is to make your economy better. A lot of times you can make it more affordable for people to…

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Police May Have to Get Counseling, Per Nashville Community Oversight Board

Chris Butler

Members of Nashville’s new Citizen Oversight Board will have access to police files. They can interview witnesses and police officers. They can send reports with recommendations about allegedly problematic officers to Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson, according to a new report in The Tennessee Tribune. “Those recommendations could be counselling or something stronger like a letter of reprimand, suspension, or even firing,” the website went on to say. “Anderson is required to respond to the COB but under the City Charter he retains authority to discipline members of MNPD. While the COB’s powers to investigate are considerable, it’s power to enforce any resolution to a particular complaint or enact policy changes remain advisory.” Nashville Mayor David Briley has selected former state Democratic Attorney General Bob Cooper and American Baptist College administrator Phyllis Hildreth to serve on the COB, the website said. Members of the Metro Council will select nine more members from a pool of nearly 200 applicants. Board members will then hire an executive director to select six staffers to investigate complaints and review police policies and procedures, The Tennessee Tribune reported. Also needed are two research analysts, a legal advisor, three investigators, and one community engagement liaison, according…

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Commentary: Mitch McConnell’s Complicity with Democrats

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by Rachel Bovard   The partial government shutdown is well into its second week. And given the mix of Democrat enthusiasm and complete Republican apathy, it looks like it may stay that way for a while. Ask any reporter or Capitol Hill staffer who has worked through previous government shutdowns, and we’ll all tell you the same thing about this one: it’s bizarre. Government shutdowns are generally characterized by a pervasive sense of urgency and frazzled, frantic negotiations. Beleaguered members tramp back and forth to the White House and hold daily press conferences, both chambers hold late-night sessions for votes and speeches, and, of course, everyone howls on cable news. But, minus a few exceptions on the cable news networks, hardly any of this has occurred. Instead, the clock chimed on the shutdown and Congress just went home. The Republican House, in a last-minute Hail Mary, passed a government funding bill that included the president’s requested $5 billion in wall funding. But upon receiving it, the Republican Senate collectively yawned and packed up for home on December 21. They didn’t come back until 4 p.m. on January 2. They weren’t alone. Newly minted Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) decamped for Hawaii, for…

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More Than 500 Exemptions Protect Companies Getting Secret Taxpayer-Funded Deals, AFP-Tennessee Says

Chris Butler

FRANKLIN — There are companies in Tennessee have accepted government incentives. The taxpayers who had to pay for it aren’t allowed to know about most, if not all the details because of a series of exemptions, at least 538 at the state level. This, according to members of Americans For Prosperity – Tennessee, who hosted their 2019 Legislative Preview Thursday at their Franklin headquarters. AFP members showcased their priorities for the coming legislative session in Nashville. Transparency, according to literature AFP organizers released Thursday, “is for the government and privacy is for the people.” That’s why AFP members said they will support what is known as the Fairness Accountability and Clarity in Tax Subsidies Act. AFP members said this bill “will lift the veil on tax incentives” and provide much needed accountability and transparency. “We believe that if government passes out your tax dollars then you should be aware of it. They should be held accountable so that if a business says they’ll bring 5,000 jobs and they only bring 500 jobs then they will not actually get that full payout,” said AFP-Tennessee State Director Tori Venable. “We are an income tax-free state. We would like to see the tax…

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Tennessee’s Freshmen U.S. Representatives Host Swearing-In Events For Supporters in D.C.

Laura Baigert

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Tennessee’s three freshman congressman held a variety of events for supporters who made their way to Washington, D.C. for their inaugural swearing in to the 116th Congress on January 3rd. Republicans Tim Burchett (TN-02), Mark Green (TN-07) and John Rose (TN-06) were all sworn into their first term as U.S. Representatives with their families surrounding them and later posed for pictures with the re-elected Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (CA-12). After making their way through U.S. Capitol Police security in a line that extended outside the building, visitors on the day of the swearing in found themselves navigating crowded hallways and slow-moving elevators to arrive at legislators’ offices. With space being limited on the House floor for the actual swearing-in ceremony, additional invited supporters and guests joined staffers in the representatives’ congressional offices, viewing the events on monitors tuned to C-SPAN. U.S. Representatives are housed in one of the three House Office Buildings (HOB) located on Independence Avenue adjacent to the Capitol: Cannon House Office Building, Longworth House Office Building or Rayburn House Office Building. While the offices of both Burchett and Rose are in Longworth, Green is located in Cannon, the oldest of the…

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As Exhaustive Parkland Report is Released, Father of Victim Seeks Accountability

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Andrew Pollack, the father of a teenage girl who was killed in a school shooting in Florida last year, was appointed to the state Education Board by outgoing Gov. Rick Scott. Scott appointed Pollack to the board Friday. Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was one of 17 people killed at a Parkland, Florida, high school, Feb. 14, 2018, still needs to be confirmed to the seat by the state Senate. Pollack, 52, who became a school safety activist after the shooting, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “What I hope to accomplish is accountability at a local level, to hold school boards accountable and superintendents accountable.” The governor, who will be stepping down from his post next week, was elected in November to the U.S. Senate. He had said during the campaign he would serve out his term as governor, which ends Jan. 9. Nikolas Cruz, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, has been charged with killing 17 people. Police say he used a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. The mass shooting caused a larger debate nationwide regarding gun control measures, and also led to a local investigation. Safety commission report Pollack’s appointment to the Education Board came days after a report…

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Rep. Dan Crenshaw Slams Democrat Rep. Hank Johnson For Degrading Trump Supporters, Says Johnson’s Form of Politics Is ‘Cowardly’

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by Molly Prince   Republican Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw excoriated Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia on Sunday for degrading the Americans who voted for and support President Donald Trump. While giving a keynote address to the Atlanta NAACP on Jan. 1, Johnson repeatedly compared Trump to Adolf Hitler and painted Trump supporters as “older, less educated, less prosperous” and “dying early.” He further claimed that many are dying from “alcoholism, drug overdoses, liver disease or simply a broken heart caused by economic despair.” Crenshaw dismissed Johnson’s Hitler comparisons as intellectually dishonest and insulting to the millions of Jews who perished during the Holocaust. “Ok Mr. Johnson, President Trump is a lot of things but he’s not Hitler,” Crenshaw said in a video posted on social media. “He didn’t kill millions of people. He didn’t start a world war. He doesn’t have any concentration camps.” “But if you want to insult President Trump, at least you’re picking on somebody your own size. At least you’re picking on somebody who can fight back,” Crenshaw continued. “But you went on to insult, degrade and demean tens of millions of Americans who voted for him. To call them drug addicted, uneducated and unhappy alcoholics — this…

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President Trump Mulls Declaring ‘National Emergency’ to Build Wall, Predicts Movement in Negotiations with Democrats by Mid-Week

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Echoing remarks from a White House press conference Friday, President Trump reiterated Sunday his option to declare the United States’ porous southern border a national emergency, thereby circumventing Congress in order fund the construction of a physical barrier to halt illegal immigrants from simply walking into the country. “I may decide a national emergency depending on what happens over the next few days,” President Trump told reporters from the White House lawn, several news outlets reported. He added: We have a meeting. Vice President Pence and a group will be going to a certain location – and you know where that is – and they’ll be having another meeting. I don’t expect anything to happen at that meeting, nor does the Vice President, but I think we are going to have some very serious talks come Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We have to have border security. If we don’t have border security we are going to be crime-ridden and it’s going to get worse and worse. And we’re so sad watching the funeral of the slain police officer yesterday. Officer Singh. It was a very sad thing. But this is going on in many places. If you go back to the…

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Commentary: Senator Lindsey Graham Makes A Great Point

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by CHQ Staff   Ever since the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings Senator Lindsey Graham has been on a roll, and his appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday was a great example. Graham warned that the ongoing partial federal government shutdown over border wall funding cannot end as long as the “radical left” insists on reflexively calling Republicans racist for supporting immigration officials. Democrats who want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and deride Border Patrol agents for using tear gas hold too much power in the ongoing shutdown negotiations, Graham said. “We’re having to negotiate with people who want to abolish ICE, not support ICE,” Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday. “We’re having to negotiate with people who see border patrol agents gassing children, rather than defending our borders as professional law enforcement officers.” He continued: “And we’re negotiating with people who will accuse all of us who support a wall as part of border security as racists. As long as the radical left is in charge, we’re not going to get anywhere. … The goal is to fix a broken immigration system, to bring reality to this table.” Sen. Graham is right but fixing our broken…

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Steyer Dumps More Cash Into Impeach Movement As Dems Jump On Board

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by Chris White   Billionaire Tom Steyer is dumping more money into his campaign to oust President Donald Trump as incoming Democratic lawmakers consider jumping on board the movement to impeach the president. Steyer is plowing another $6 million into what some Democratic leaders worry is an ill-fated attempt to impeach the president, The Daily Beast reported Friday. Some liberal progressive lawmakers are warming to the idea, while House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi pushes back. He remains focused on “getting Donald Trump out of the White House,” Need to Impeach strategist Kevin Mack told reporters. “We’d like to have that happen through impeachment but if we have to we’ll beat him at the ballot box in 2020,” he noted, referring to speculation of Steyer’s political ambition. That bulk of the cash will go to national cable and broadcast advertising in early presidential primary states like Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina. Approximately $2.5 million will go to television campaigns while another $3.5 million is expected to be plowed into a digital effort. The news comes after incoming Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan said Thursday evening that “we’re gonna go in there and impeach the motherf****r.” Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters on Thursday: “I don’t like that language, I…

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Iowans Prepare for Surge in Visits from Democratic Party Presidential Hopefuls

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The race to challenge President Donald Trump in November 2020 kicked off in earnest Saturday, when the first major Democratic Party hopeful to announce her candidacy visited with voters across Iowa. A larger-than-usual deluge of candidates — possibly up to two dozen — are expected to hit the state within the coming year, including an unprecedented number of women and minorities. Top contenders include Senators Cory Booker, Kamala Harris — both of whom visited last fall — Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar. Former U.S. Representative and businessman John Delaney announced in mid-2017 and has been actively working to raise his name recognition in the state. “It’s definitely much sooner this time,” Pat Rynard said of candidates who have already declared their intention to run. Rynard is a former Democratic campaign staffer who runs the political news site Iowa Starting Line. During the run-up to the 2016 election, for example, the first Republican and Democrat hopefuls formally announced their bids in March and April of 2015. “I think it’s a reflection of how big the field is, and the fact that there aren’t any front-runners,” Rynard said. He expects recent poll results indicating voter preferences for former Vice President Joe Biden…

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Tennessee Truck Drivers Reportedly Rebel Against Tesla and Its Tax Credit

Chris Butler

Pickup truck drivers across the South, including Tennessee, are reportedly blocking access to Tesla electric car Superchargers. Environmentalists’ feelings are apparently hurt because of it. According to the left-leaning Green Car Reports, “these incidents have occurred in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, and even overseas.” Green Car Reports speculated angry truck drivers are targeting Teslas specifically because “they are expensive luxury cars and qualify for a large federal tax credit.” “Photos shared across Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit over the weekend showed all kinds of trucks blocking Superchargers, from small pickups to big semis,” the website reported. “Some have termed it ICEing—a reference to the internal combustion engines under the hoods of the offending trucks.” Green Car Reports said “whole rows of trucks either pulled across whole rows of Superchargers or backed in to block several at a time. In two more cases, semi-trucks pulled across rows of Superchargers, blocking them, when other parking was available.” The writers at the website guessed it was an organized campaign, but they also confessed they don’t know who is behind it. Many cities, according to Green Car Reports, have passed laws restricting parking at electric-car chargers. The website did not list which cities. CarrBuzz.com,…

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Ilhan Omar Pictured With Anti-Semitic, Sharia Law Apologist Who Partied With Muslim Brotherhood

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) was pictured with anti-Semite and alleged Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer Linda Sarsour on Thursday, Omar’s first official day in Congress. “These past two years have been difficult. So much heartache, exhaustion, pain, losses, drama, bad policy after bad policy yet today was all worth it. Today was joy. Today was pride. Today was full of laughter and tears,” Sarsour wrote on Facebook with a picture of her standing next to a smiling Omar.   Sarsour’s history of anti-Semitism is well-documented, so much so that her fellow organizers of the Women’s March are trying to give her the boot. In a 2011 tweet, she applauded the Muslim Brotherhood for throwing a great party, calling them the “coolest.” The Saudi media claimed in December that Sarsour has “roots in the Muslim Brotherhood,” The Jewish News Syndicate reported. The Daily Wire’s Harry Khachatrian pointed out Saturday that Sarsour once claimed that the vagina of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a victim of female genital mutilation, should “be taken away.” In numerous tweets, Sarsour has attempted to normalize Sharia law, touting the fact that women get “10 weeks of paid maternity leave in Saudi Arabia.” “And [you’re] worrying about women driving. Puts us…

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Drug Companies Seek Gag Order Against Republican Gov.-Elect Mike DeWine for Speaking Out on Opioid Crisis

Andrew Shirley

Friday, lawyers representing some of the nation’s largest drug manufacturers began an attempt to sanction and silence Governor-elect Mike DeWine, stemming from his involvement in a lawsuit he initiated as Ohio Attorney General. The motion, filed by an amalgamation Big Pharma attorneys, accuse DeWine, along with lawyers Mike Moore and Burton LeBlanc of engaging in “a concerted campaign to taint potential jury polls in this district-and across the country-through misleading, inflammatory, and improper public statements.” According to the motion, the attempt came as a direct result of an explosive 60 Minutes episode that aired on December 16th featuring attorney Moore. The program detailed the massive lawsuit DeWitt and others are pursuing against the opioid industry. The 13-minute segment that aired on CBS focused primarily on Moore’s association with the case. The veteran lawyer was directly involved in two of the largest legal settlements in history. On May 1994, while serving as Attorney General of Mississippi, the Magnolia state became the first state to officially file suit against the tobacco industry. Forty-six other states eventually joined the suit. The Tobacco Master Settlement was agreed to in November 1998. Among many concessions, the tobacco industry would be required to pay over $200 billion dollars to the states…

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Minnesota’s #MeToo Casualties Al Franken and Garrison Keillor Plot Comebacks

Anthony Gockowski

Former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) and iconic Minnesota Public Radio host Garrison Keillor were among the biggest names brought down by the #MeToo Movement, but both are plotting comebacks as the dust begins to settle. Franken, a one-time SNL cast member, is trying his hand at podcasts, and has so far produced three episodes of his yet untitled show. Franken recently sat down with comedian Dana Carvey to discuss the passing of President George H.W. Bush, whom Carvey famously impersonated. His other shows have been with former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt, and author David Frum, who recently published a book titled “Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic.” Franken, who resigned in early 2018 after facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, has also been doing some writing. He published an article on Medium called “He’s Doing the Best He Can” in which he claims that it’s “time for Republicans who knew they put a dangerously unqualified buffoon in the White House to either help contain the damage or get the hell out of the way.” Keillor, meanwhile, has been performing sold-out shows at Crooners Lounge and Supper Club in Fridley, Minnesota, and…

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Fox News Power Player of the Week Rep. Mark Green on Trump and Border Wall: ‘I’m Supporting Him in This’

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” as one of two “Power Players of the Week.” Fox News’ Chris Wallace hosted Green and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08), both freshmen. The discussion ranged from bipartisanship to military service to border security. (Slotkin served with the CIA in Iraq, and Green was on the special operations team that captured Saddam Hussein.) A summary of the interview follows. The full video is available here. On compromise and gridlock, Slotkin mentioned the shutdown and said, “Start having a real negotiation about border security, border forces, more technology at the border, fencing if we need it in some areas – it doesn’t just have to be a wall.” Wallace pressed for commentary on the attitude in Washington, to which Green replied, “She’s prior military and I’m prior military and we want solutions. And we’re sick and tired of it not happening.” Slotkin said that military and CIA experience helps one focus on mission, which is missing in Congress. “People have treated it as if they don’t have a mission, that they’re for themselves, they’re show horses, whatever,” Slotkin said. Green said that with the wall, both sides of the aisle…

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