Day: February 13, 2019

Jackson-Madison County School Board Members Oppose School Vouchers: ‘Is It Fair for Teachers . . . to Lose Their Jobs?’

Chris Butler

Yet another school district in Tennessee has formally opposed school vouchers. Members of the Jackson-Madison County Board of Education, the governing authority for the public schools in the West Tennessee city of Jackson and the parts of Madison County beyond the city limits, voted unanimously on January 28 to oppose vouchers. The vote came after statements of opposition to vouchers were made by school boards and county commissions in other parts of the state, all part of what appears to be an orchestrated and coordinated effort by the Tennessee School Board Association. School Board member Janice Hampton told The Tennessee Star Tuesday that the vote among board members for a resolution opposing school vouchers was unanimous, something Jacksonsun.com also stated in its reporting on the January 28 meeting. Superintendent Eric Jones was perhaps the most outspoken against vouchers, according to Jacksonsun.com The website went on to say board members adopted a “recommended resolution from the Tennessee School Boards Association.” A Matter of Standards Two of the school board members — including Hampton — told The Star Tuesday that charter schools don’t measure up to the same academic standards as public schools. Public schools, she said, are better suited to meet all students’…

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Commentary: The Democrats’ Real Motivation for Opposing the Wall

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by George Ralsley   Our friends at WND.com recently alerted us to the fact that privacy watchdogs are raising the alarm over the Democrats’ alternative to President Trump’s border-wall plan. They see the high technology “wall” that includes surveillance as another dangerous step toward the creation of a surveillance state, such as communist China. “Congressional Democrats, looking for alternatives to President Trump’s demand for a border wall, recently offered a border ‘security’ proposal that suggests expanding surveillance at the border. That could lead to new funding for technologies that invade the privacy of immigrants, travelers, and American citizens living near the border,” warned the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). “Congress should not counter President Trump’s calls for a physical wall with a tech wall. Unchecked use of surveillance tech undermines everyone’s right to privacy, especially the most vulnerable members of society. We stand with more than two dozen civil liberties groups who have told Congressional Democrats that we oppose such measures,” EFF said. The privacy groups say new tech could include automated license-plate readers, which collect sensitive location data, or more biometrics. “The federal government already conducts face surveillance of all travelers (U.S. citizens and foreign nationals alike) on certain international…

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Blackburn, Alexander File Resolution to Honor the Late Capt. Rosemary Mariner, the Navy’s First Female Pilot

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have introduced a resolution to honor the late Capt. Rosemary Mariner, the Navy’s first female fighter pilot. S. Res. 61 was introduced in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 7. The resolution’s tracking information is available online here. Mariner was buried on Feb. 2 in Maynardville, Tennessee, Blackburn tweeted. She was honored with the first all-female-pilot flyover in Navy history. The Navy’s first female fighter pilot was laid to rest yesterday, and her life was celebrated with the first all-female flyover in her honor. Thank you, Captain Rosemary Mariner, for your service to our country.🇺🇸 https://t.co/VgwtZ7Xhnq via @knoxnews — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) February 3, 2019 Mariner’s parents were a Navy nurse and an Air Force pilot who died in a plane crash, NBC News said. According to her obituary, Mariner, 65, died Jan. 24 after a five-year fight with ovarian cancer. Her husband of 40 years, Navy Cmdr. Tommy Mariner (ret.) was by her side. The Harlingen, Texas native graduated from Purdue University at age 19 with a degree in aeronautics. Mariner was one of the first eight women selected to fly military aircraft in 1973, her obituary says. She became…

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Senator Joni Ernst Commentary: We Must End the Killing of Late-Term Babies

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by Joni Ernst   At five months, an unborn baby can detect light, hear sounds, swallow, and even experience taste. These unborn babies have nails on their fingers and toes, and hair has just begun to grow on their heads. These babies feel pain. They scrunch their eyes, clench their hands, or pull back their limbs—just like any other child experiencing pain. They are even treated as patients during fetal surgery procedures, and giving them pain medication is standard practice. By any definition, unborn babies at five months’ development are in all ways babies. While modern medicine recognizes these unborn lives can experience pain, there is no federal law protecting these vulnerable humans from abortion. As a result, every year in our country, thousands of lives are painfully ended through this practice. This is unacceptable. Last week, during his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump called to pass legislation—the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act—which would recognize these unborn babies as the children they are. The bill would prohibit the abortion of unborn babies at 20 weeks post-fertilization and provide them the same protection from pain and suffering that all children deserve. Multiple states, including my home state of…

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Sherrod Brown Was Asked the Difference Between Him and Klobuchar – His Response Might Eliminate Him from a Presidential Run

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by Molly Prince   Washington, D.C. — Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was unable to explain on Tuesday what would differentiate his possible presidential candidacy from fellow Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who recently launched a bid for the presidency. “Well, I don’t know,” Brown replied when asked during a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor what would be the difference between his campaign and Klobuchar’s if they were to both seek the Democratic nomination in 2020. Brown, who like Klobuchar, hails from the midwest, was confronted with the similarities between the demographic that they both appeal to such as blue collared workers, white collared workers and anti-Trump Republicans. [ RELATED: Sherrod Brown Embarks On ‘Dignity Of Work’ Tour In Key Primary States ] “I will calculate all that but I um, I like Amy. I think Amy brings something, everybody brings something to the table. That’s not in any way to diminish her,” Brown said. “Um, she brings something to the table, a little different from, a little different and differently, from the others.” Brown noted that while Klobuchar has had electoral success, she is not from a swing state like Ohio because Minnesota has “gone to the Democrat…

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Retired Astronaut Mark Kelly Announces Run for McCain Senate Seat in Arizona

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Retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who rocketed to the national spotlight when his Congresswoman wife Gabrielle Gifford was shot in a failed assassination attempt, announced Tuesday he’s running to finish John McCain’s last term in the U.S. Senate. Kelly is a top Democratic recruit to take on Republican Martha McSally in one of the most closely contested Senate races of the 2020 election. McSally is a former Republican congresswoman who was appointed to McCain’s seat last year after she narrowly lost to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. McSally leaned heavily on her record as the first woman to fly a combat mission as a fighter pilot, but she was hurt by her embrace of President Donald Trump. If Kelly is nominated, the race would pit a Navy veteran and astronaut against a trailblazing Air Force pilot in the contest to replace McCain, a legendary Navy flyer who was famously shot down and held captive. Democrats are eagerly watching the Arizona contest, having already defeated McSally in a Senate race just a few months ago. Kelly and Giffords have for years pushed Congress to enact gun control measures with little success. They shifted their focus to state legislatures in recent years, helping to strengthen…

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Republicans and Democrats Are Divided Over Wall Funding as Government Shutdown Is Just Days Away

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by Henry Rodgers   Democrats and Republicans in Congress are split on an “agreement in principle” regarding President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall funding after meeting Monday night as the government is days away from a potential shutdown. The agreement reportedly includes $1.375 billion for physical barriers, which would be bollard, or basically a concrete-filled barrier that protects office buildings and shopping malls across the U.S. It would also limit the number of beds in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers for violent criminal aliens, which Democrats have been using as a bargaining chip. “This is not a CR, this is funding for the seven bills … We hope [the president will] sign it. He talked to me about it, gave us some latitude. I think we’re — overall — we’ve got a pretty good deal considering who we’re dealing with,” Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby told The Daily Caller News Foundation in the Capitol Tuesday. Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham had a different message, telling TheDCNF it is likely the president will have to declare a national emergency, as he believes lawmakers will not be able to reach an agreement. “My whole construct was — open up the government…

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New York Mayor Bill De Blasio Heads for Early-Voting State New Hampshire Ahead of Potential 2020 Run

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by Evie Fordham   Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is heading to the early-voting state of New Hampshire ahead of a potential 2020 presidential run, sources close to the mayor told Politico Monday. De Blasio’s plans include a classic voter meet-and-greet at a diner in Nashua, New Hampshire, Friday morning after a meeting with Mayor Jim Donchess, reported Politico. Then he will hop over to the state’s capital city of Concord to meet with organizers from the group Rights & Democracy, New Hampshire. The group’s website says its purpose is “sending the message to our elected officials that we want policies that lead to happy, healthy, and just communities for all Granite Staters.” “[De Blasio] wants to make sure ideas like pre-K for all, paid personal time and mental health are on the table as Democrats debate the party’s vision for the future,” City Hall communications director Mike Casca told Politico. De Blasio has been quietly tapping into City Hall staffers with national political experience like Casca, who worked on Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, reported Politico. De Blasio has also tapped experienced City Hall employees Jon Paul Lupo and Jaclyn Rothenberg for his…

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Pompeo Warns Central European Allies Over Russia, China Ties

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned during a trip to NATO allies Slovakia and Hungary that Russia and China are trying to fill a political vacuum in central Europe caused by what he described as the United States’ absence in the region over recent years. Arriving Tuesday in Bratislava, Pompeo said the United States had been a friend through three decades of post-Soviet independence. The warm sentiments echoed those given to Hungary during a visit Monday to Budapest, where he urged his Hungarian counterpart to offer more support to Kyiv following Russia’s forced annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine. “I spoke with the foreign minister about the urgent importance of supporting Ukraine in its quest for sovereignty and territorial integrity. We must not let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin drive wedges between friends and NATO. Hungarians know all too well from their history that an authoritarian Russia will never be a friend to the freedom and sovereignty of smaller nations,” said the top U.S. diplomat. Budapest is often accused by allies of being too close to Russia. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has regularly visited Putin in Moscow, while Russia is set to build two nuclear reactors in…

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Feminist Writer Sues Twitter Over Ban for Transgender Tweets

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by Peter Hasson   Canadian feminist writer Meghan Murphy is suing Twitter after she was banned for her tweets about transgender people. Attorneys for Murphy on Monday filed suit in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco, accusing Twitter of deceptive trade practices and breach of contract. Twitter banned Murphy in November over a series of transgender-related tweets that included statements like “men aren’t women” and “How are transwomen not men?” “Twitter’s repeated representations that it would uphold the free speech rights of its users and not censor user speech were material to the decision of millions of users, like Murphy, to join,” Murphy’s lawyers wrote in court documents reviewed by The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Twitter would never have attracted the hundreds of millions of users it boasts today had Twitter let it be known that it would arbitrarily ban users who did not agree with the political and social views of its management or impose sweeping new policies banning the expression of widely-held viewpoints and perspectives on public issues,” the suit states. “While it is appalling that Twitter would ban a journalist for asking legitimate questions about an incoherent ideology, such as gender identity,…

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Klobuchar Says You Have to Go Where it’s ‘Uncomfortable,’ Like ‘Fox News’

Anthony Gockowski

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) joined Bret Baier’s Special Report Tuesday night where she said candidates have to go where it’s “uncomfortable,” including Fox News. In response to whether or not she has the temperament to run for president, Klobuchar said that she believes she showed she does “during the Kavanaugh hearings.” “One of the reasons that I came on this show is that I believe that candidates for office, whether Democrat or Republican, have to go not just where it’s comfortable but where it’s unconformable. And, you know, I love you, but Fox may not be always comfortable for Democrats,” she said. Klobuchar discussed a number of other issues, including the Democratic Party’s growing appreciation for socialism. She responded by saying she believes “in capitalism.” “I believe in progress, and that’s being progressive. But what I really also believe in is that we really need to stop governing from chaos and move to opportunity,” she added. On the topic of immigration, Klobuchar said she would like to “see in the long term a path to citizenship.” “So that way if you don’t have people who have a criminal record, they wouldn’t be deported. And what’s bothering me right now, and…

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Governor Cooper Bypasses More Experienced Justices for Democrat Black Female Justice to Fill Chief Justice Spot

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina’s Democratic Governor Roy Cooper has bucked the tradition of elevating the next most experienced associate justice to be the interim Chief Justice of the state’s Supreme Court in favor of a black female associate justice from his own party. Cooper announced on Tuesday that he has chosen to put Associate Justice Cheri Beasley into Chief Justice spot that is being vacated by the current Chief Justice Mark Martin. In doing so, Cooper, in fact, bypassed not one, but two current Associate Justices with far more experience on the high court. Today, Gov. Cooper named Associate Justice Cheri Beasley as Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. https://t.co/whIZkVFh7a pic.twitter.com/b4DHroboik — Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) February 12, 2019 Beasley will be the first black female Chief Justice on North Carolina’s Supreme Court and will begin her duties on March 1. North Carolina’s only other black chief justice was Henry Frye (1991-2001), but three women have served as Chief Justice in the state: Rhoda Billings, Sarah Parker, and Susie Sharp.  Lorna Lockwood in Arizona was the first woman in the country to serve as chief justice of a state supreme court in two one-year long terms during 1965 and 1970.…

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Trump Calls on Ilhan Omar to Resign After Anti-Semitic Comments

Anthony Gockowski

President Donald Trump called on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) to resign Tuesday during a cabinet meeting after she was once again condemned for making anti-Semitic comments. “One another thing I might want to say is that anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress, and Congresswoman Omar is—terrible what she said. And I think she should either resign from Congress, or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. What she said is so deep-seated in her heart that her lame apology—that’s what it was, it was lame, and she didn’t mean a word of it,” Trump said Tuesday. As The Minnesota Sun reported, Omar was widely condemned for using a common anti-Semitic trope by suggesting that Jewish money is influencing bipartisan support of Israel. “The notion that wealthy Jews are controlling the government is a longstanding anti-Semitic trope and one of the pillars of modern anti-Semitism, a retread of ideas spread by bigots from David Duke to Louis Farrakhan,” ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in response. Omar later issued an apology for her comments, but was again rebuked for seemingly doubling-down on her previous claims. “We have to always be willing to step…

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Keith Ellison Defends Virginia Governor Ralph Northam After Blackface Photo

Anthony Gockowski

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison recently stated that he believes it would be best for Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA) to stay in office. “If Virginia Governor Northam keeps his pledge to fight for racial reconciliation, I believe VA (and US) will be better served than if he just resigned. But let’s shape what ‘racial reconciliation’ looks like today,” Ellison wrote on Twitter Saturday. If Virginia governor Northam keeps his pledge to fight for racial reconciliation, I believe VA (and US) will be better served than if he just resigned. But let’s shape what ‘racial reconciliation’ looks like today. https://t.co/DM1CAMfXak — Keith Ellison (@keithellison) February 9, 2019 Ellison made the comments in response to an interview Northam gave in which he said he wants to focus the remainder of his term on racial equity. “It’s obvious from what happened this week that we still have a lot of work to do. There are still some deep wounds in Virginia, and especially in the area of equity,” Northam said. “There are ongoing inequities to access things like education, health care, mortgages, capital, entrepreneurship. And so this has been a real, I think, an awakening for Virginia. It has really raised the level…

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North Carolina State House Democrats File Progressive Agenda ‘Wish List’ Bill

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina State House Representatives Pricey Harrison (D-D61) and Susan Fisher (D-D114) filed a bill on Monday that contains a progressive agenda wish list of tax reform rollbacks and social justice inspired mandates. House Bill 46, is titled the “Economic Security Act of 2019,” and includes items such as barring public employers from looking into the criminal history of an applicant and increasing the minimum wage. Here is what the bill seeks to do: Increase the minimum wage to $15 over 5 years statewide; no distinction is made for public or private and the raises would happen on Labor Day each year. “Mandate” equal pay for equal work regardless of experience or education. Require mandatory paid sick leave and family medical leave Increase the ‘tipped’ minimum wage. End “wage theft.” “Ban The Box” or which is removing the checkbox indicating a criminal record on employment applications. Bar public employers from looking into the criminal history of an applicant until a ‘conditional’ offer is made. Remove the ban on unions for public employees in the state Reinstate the earned tax credit. Reinstate the old child care tax credit and old employment expense tax credits. The majority of the bill appears to…

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Walz Joins ‘Extreme Environmentalists’ in Petitioning Line 3 Project

Anthony Gockowski

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) announced Tuesday morning that he would refile an appeal against the controversial Enbridge Line 3 replacement project. Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) unanimously approved of granting Enbridge a certificate of need to move forward with the project last summer. But former Gov. Mark Dayton (D-MN) made a last-minute appeal of the project through his Department of Commerce before leaving office. Dayton’s appeal was dismissed by the Minnesota Court of Appeals on February 5 because the court found that his petition was made “prematurely.” That decision granted Walz 20 days to decide between refiling the appeal or allowing the project to move forward. On Tuesday, Walz announced that he would follow his predecessor in petitioning the project. “Today, [Department of Commerce] will petition the PUC to reconsider its decision on the Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline Replacement Project, continuing a process begun by the Dayton administration,” Walz said in a statement. “Projects that impact our environment and economy must follow the process, the law, and the science.” Walz went on to say that projects “like these don’t just need a building permit to go forward, they also need a social permit.” “Over the past month, my administration has…

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Sen. Marsha Blackburn Says She Will Not Support Deal That Cuts Number of ICE Beds Or Opens The Border

Jason M. Reynolds

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) outlined conditions for her support of a border security deal to avert the second government shutdown in less than two months. The comments came on Fox Business News’s “Mornings With Maria.” The tentative deal in Congress provides $1.38 billion for border security funding, Fox Business News said Tuesday. The video is available online here. President Donald Trump held a “Finish the Wall” rally Monday in El Paso to kick off his 2020 presidential campaign and to continue the push for the $5.7 billion border wall, The Tennessee Star reported Tuesday. Blackburn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the pending deal would add 55 miles of wall to the border. She said she did not know if Trump would sign the deal. Americans want to end “the influx of drugs and sex traffickers, human traffickers, gangs, that really make our communities unsafe,” Blackburn said. Although some reports indicate the number of beds in ICE detention facilities for “violent criminal illegal aliens” is reduced in the tentative deal, the numbers don’t bare that out. The “deal” limits the number of average daily beds to a number below what Trump requested, but it is still an…

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