Day: February 18, 2019

Electric Cars Fizzle in Cold Weather, Even as Tennessee Tries to Prop Up Industry

Chris Butler

Even as Tennessee government officials have a history of trying to prop up the electric car industry, members of the American Automobile Association say cold weather dramatically saps how well electric cars work. This, according to a new article on Foxbusiness.com “The data released Thursday found 20-degree weather can temporarily reduce electric car batteries range by more than 40 percent when interior car heaters are used,” according to the network’s website. Foxbusiness.com quoted AAA Director of Automotive Engineering Greg Bannon saying drivers should understand “there are limitations when operating electric vehicles in more extreme climates.” “The motor club association tested five electric vehicles, including the 2018 model year BMWi3s, Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf and 2017 model year Tesla Model S75D and Volkswagen e-Golf.” “The tests also found that in addition to temperature drops during a cold snap, high temperatures can also cut into the battery range. At 95 degrees, electric car ranges fell by 17 percent when the cabin’s air conditioning was used and by 4 percent when it was not used.” As The Tennessee Star reported this month, Tennessee officials reportedly made concessions to Volkswagen to get the company to construct a new electric vehicle plant in Chattanooga, State residents may not…

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Commentary: The Left’s Collusion Delusion

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by Thaddeus G. McCotter   As we bemusedly observe U.S. Representative Adam “Pathfinder” Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, continue to twist in his idiot wind—he now claims Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s general-warrant counterintelligence investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians in the 2016 campaign may not prove adequate—we should recall  that in the earlier, heady days of the Russiagate weaponized lie, there was this suitably dismissive bit of snark charitably comparing Schiff’s quest for proof of this conspiracy theory with cryptozoologists hunting for the chimeric chupacabra. In a perspicacious passage, reference was made to Werner Herzog’s “Incident at Loch Ness” where, desperately hoping the creature proves real, a character denounces the skeptics: “Show me one piece of evidence that proves this thing does not exist. They’re saying, ‘show us the evidence.’ I’m saying, ‘Show us the non-evidence.’” Stumbling ahead to 2019, enter stage Left, Mr. Ken Dilanian, NBC’s national security reporter, for proof life imitates snark. Promoting his February 12 article, he repeatedly tweeted out the story’s headline: “Exclusive: Senate has found no direct proof of conspiracy between Trump campaign, Russia . . . .” Note the cute use of “direct proof,” which preserves collusion conspiracy theorists’ hope…

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Book Review: ‘Unmasking the Administrative State’ is the The Indispensable Guide to the Matrix

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by Glenn Ellmers   You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about? ~ Morpheus, “The Matrix” Pop culture references go stale pretty quickly, so it’s usually best to avoid them. But when a movie made 20 years ago reveals a genuinely interesting and important truth, it’s worth bending the rule. In 2016, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States by millions of people who knew – or sensed – that something in American political life was deeply wrong or broken; and that Donald Trump sensed this as well and wanted to do something about it. Most of these voters couldn’t fully articulate what was wrong (neither in many cases could Trump!), but they had begun to doubt the essential truth of what they were being told. The official narrative about our government, our public life, and our culture – the story told by Washington, Hollywood, Wall Street, and Harvard – was not quite a lie, perhaps, but many had become…

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White House Defends Trump’s National Emergency Declaration

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The White House on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart illegal immigration. “He could choose to ignore this crisis, but he chose not to,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller, a border security hardliner, told Fox News Sunday. Watch the latest video at foxnews.com Miller assailed former Republican President George W. Bush for an “astonishing betrayal” of the U.S. nearly two decades ago when four times as many illegal migrants were entering the United States as now. But Miller said the “bottom line” is that “you cannot conceive of a strong nation without a secure border.” He said Trump’s action is “defending our own borders” and that illegal immigration “is a threat in our country.” Miller explained Trump’s actions were justified under a 1976 law giving presidents authority to declare national emergencies, although none of the 59 declared since then has involved instances when a president has attempted to override congressional refusal to approve funding for a specific proposal. The President declared the national emergency on Friday, which had refused his request for $5.7 billion in wall funding, even as it approved $1.375 billion for barriers along about…

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Sedans Take Back Seat to SUVs, Trucks at 2019 Chicago Auto Show

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by Kane Farabaugh   It’s billed as North America’s largest and longest-running auto show, now in its 111th year. The 2019 Chicago Auto Show offers a lineup of nearly 1,000 vehicles occupying nearly 1 million-square-feet of space at the McCormick Place Convention Center. A special preview for members of the media at the annual show is a chance for manufacturers to show off their latest and greatest products about to enter the market. What is notable about this year’s event is what some manufacturers aren’t showing off — new sedans. Customers want trucks, SUVs “Over 10 years, there has been a consistent movement of customers in the United States and around the world, but even more so in the United States, moving away from sedans and more traditional passenger sedans into more utility vehicles,” said Joe Hinrichs, president of Ford Motor Co.’s Global Operations. “Nearly 7 out of 10 vehicles sold today are trucks or SUVs in the U.S. market. They like the ride high, the seating height, the utility of the vehicle. And now, we can give them the fuel efficiency that they used to get out of sedans. So, that’s where customers are going.” All reasons Ford is going…

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Commentary: The Case for 5G and the Sprint/T-Mobile Merger

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by Robert Romano   At the Feb. 13 hearing of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, the proposed merger of T-Mobile U.S., Inc. and Sprint Corporation was considered by members of Congress, with T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint Executive Chairman Marcelo Claure testifying. By the far the biggest selling point that was offered is how a combined Sprint and T-Mobile will be able to deploy a nationwide 5G network. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) stated in his opening remarks that “5G deployment is important and valuable to consumers and the economy and whether the merger expedites 5G roll-out merits consideration.” By that measure, then, Sprint-T-Mobile is exactly what the U.S. market needs. To get to 5G, the U.S. needs to allocate a whole lot of spectrum. That is why the proposed merger is so important. It will enable T-Mobile and Sprint to share their respective 600 MHz and 2.5 GHz spectrum across the low and medium bands. As T-Mobile’s Legere noted in his testimony, “T-Mobile possesses low-band (600 MHz) spectrum, which is particularly useful for providing coverage across broad geographic areas, but has limited capacity, and high-band (mmWave) spectrum, which is useful primarily for…

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Supreme Court Expedites Citizenship Question in Census Case

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by Fred Lucas   The Supreme Court will settle the question on whether the question of citizenship can be included in the 2020 census, bypassing an appeals court hearing. The high court announced Friday it will hear arguments in April, with a likely decision by June. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced last year the Census Bureau would add the question. Last month, U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York ruled the Census Bureau could not ask about citizenship. The judge ruled the question would lead to undercounting illegal residents and Hispanics. The next week, the Trump administration moved to bypass the appeals courts, and take the issue straight to the Supreme Court, given the urgency to prepare the census. The case would normally be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more >> Citizenship would seemingly be more important than knowing the race or gender of someone filling out a census form, said Michael Gonzalez, a senior fellow for national security at The Heritage Foundation, since the government’s job is to protect the…

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Proposed Reforms of Civil Asset Forfeiture in Tennessee to Be Heard This Week in House Subcommittee

Laura Baigert

A bill that will make several changes to Tennessee’s civil asset forfeiture procedures will be heard in the Civil Justice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. House Bill HB 0340, sponsored by Representative Martin Daniel (R-Knoxville), is yet another attempt by the legislator to make the State’s laws more protective of the due process of law and the rights of innocent property owners when it comes to civil asset forfeiture. Daniels sponsored HB 0421 in 2017 where it passed out of the House Civil Justice Committee, but not getting out of the House Criminal Justice Committee, continued into 2018 before its progress was halted by being “taken off notice.” Civil asset forfeiture is a law enforcement tool that permits private property to be seized and retained if it is suspect that it may have been involved in criminal activity without the requirement of a conviction or even criminal charges. In a statement to The Tennessee Star, Representative Daniels said his bill as it stands now will do three things: Require the local district attorney general to examine the facts underlying each seizure and, if the facts do not reveal that the property was taken per probable cause to…

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Gone in a New York Minute: How the Amazon Deal Fell Apart

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In early November, word began to leak that Amazon was serious about choosing New York to build a giant new campus. The city was eager to lure the company and its thousands of high-paying tech jobs, offering billions in tax incentives and lighting the Empire State Building in Amazon orange. Even Governor Andrew Cuomo got in on the action: “I’ll change my name to Amazon Cuomo if that’s what it takes,” he joked at the time. Then Amazon made it official: It chose the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens to build a $2.5 billion campus that could house 25,000 workers, in addition to new offices planned for northern Virginia. Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Democrats who have been political adversaries for years, trumpeted the decision as a major coup after edging out more than 230 other proposals. But what they didn’t expect was the protests, the hostile public hearings and the disparaging tweets that would come in the next three months, eventually leading to Amazon’s dramatic Valentine’s Day breakup with New York. Immediately after Amazon’s Nov. 12 announcement, criticism started to pour in. The deal included $1.5 billion in special tax breaks and grants for the…

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Cory Booker Called Smollett ‘Attack’ A ‘Lynching,’ Now He’s Refusing Comment Amid New Evidence In The Case

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by Chuck Ross   A Democratic lawmaker who called the alleged hate crime attack against Jussie Smollett a “modern-day lynching” now says that he is withholding judgement in the case amid reports that authorities believe the “Empire” actor orchestrated a hoax. “Well, the information is still coming out, and I’m going to withhold until all the information comes out,” New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a 2020 presidential candidate, told reporters Sunday when asked about his past remarks on the Smollett case. Booker’s remarks are a far cry from a tweet he posted in the hours after Smollett’s alleged attack was reported. NEW: Booker said he is waiting for more info on the new reports of Jussie Smollet’s attack potentially being a planned hoax. He called it a “modern-day lynching” when first reported. pic.twitter.com/rHNNJtNvCs — Bo Erickson CBS (@BoKnowsNews) February 17, 2019 “The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I’m glad he’s safe,” Booker wrote on Jan. 29. Smollett, who is black and gay, claimed that he was attacked on Jan. 29 by two white men who hurled racist and homophobic insults at him while he was walking in Chicago. The actor also claimed that his assailants placed a rope around his…

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Trump Says Senate Shouldn’t ‘Go Home’ Until His Executive Nominees Are Confirmed

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by Evie Fordham   President Donald Trump called out Democrats for “slow walking” his executive nominees such as ambassadors in a tweet Sunday. “Democrats in the Senate are still slow walking hundreds of highly qualified people wanting to come into government,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Never been such an abuse in our country’s history. [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch [McConnell] should not let Senate go home until all are approved. We need our Ambassadors and all others NOW!” Democrats in the Senate are still slow walking hundreds of highly qualified people wanting to come into government. Never been such an abuse in our country’s history. Mitch should not let Senate go home until all are approved. We need our Ambassadors and all others NOW! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2019 More than 20 of Trump’s ambassador picks are still awaiting confirmation, according to the American Foreign Service Association’s list last updated on Jan. 25. Trump’s complaint comes days after Senate Republicans took steps to speed up their ability to approve the president’s nominees. The Senate Rules Committee, which is led by Republicans, approved limiting debate time for most nominees Wednesday, reported Politico. The measure is not final, however, as McConnell has not brought…

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Sherrod Brown Breaks from Beto Signialing a Divide on Border Wall

Andrew Shirley

It appears there’s a new buzzword in the ongoing debate over the border wall. Sunday, when asked how he felt about former congressman, and potential 202o presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke’s proposal to destroy all existing barriers on the Mexico-US border, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown refused to concur with his potential 2020 opponent, citing the need for border security, just not a “long wall.” The term “long wall” seems to be the latest pivot for Democrats who have vehemently opposed President Donald Trump’s planned border wall, yet concede that border security needs to exist. This could be the beginning of the latest divide from within Democratic ranks. While no “long wall” currently extends over the entire length of the 2,000-mile border between Mexico and the U.S., there are almost 600 miles of fences, walls, and other barriers that are currently standing. Some of these barriers go back to the Clinton Administration. The majority of these walls were built specifically in areas with high concentrations of drug trafficking, human trafficking, and illegal entry and assist the understaffed border security agents. Former congressman O’Rourke has asserted that walls kill more people than they save, noting; We know that walls do not save lives. Walls end lives,…In the last ten years,…

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Minnesota’s Met Council Approves $4 Million in Funding for Shared Electric Cars

Anthony Gockowski

The Twin Cities Metropolitan Council announced Friday that it has approved roughly $200 million in funding for transportation projects across the region, including $4 million for a new shared electric-car program. According to a press release, the Met Council allocates roughly $200 million to local transportation projects through its “Regional Solicitation” process every two years. During this funding cycle, the Met Council selected 57 projects across 37 different cities throughout the metro area. One of the most talked about projects is a $4 million partnership with HOURCAR, a car-sharing service that will install electric vehicles and charging stations near transit stops in the Twin Cities. “The City of St. Paul submitted the proposal featuring a fleet of all-electric vehicles and its network of charging stations. This unique project partners with HOURCAR, is supported by Xcel Energy and aims to reinvigorate car-sharing in the Twin Cities,” a press release explains. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said that “expanding access to electric vehicle transportation will help create a more connected St. Paul,” and will “significantly boost our work to build a sustainable future for our children.” “This project does not just benefit HOURCAR members. By reducing vehicle emissions and congestion, this project…

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Florida’s Universal Education Choice Moment

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by Lindsey M. Burke   Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday that the state legislature intends to establish Equal Opportunity Scholarships designed to end the current waiting list on the tax credit scholarship program – a move the Republican chief executive supports. The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship – which provides scholarships to eligible children to attend a private school of choice, and which is financed through corporate donations – currently has a waitlist of an estimated 13,000 families. As the Tampa Bay Times reported, DeSantis would like those waiting students to have an immediate school choice option. “If the taxpayer is paying for education, it’s public education,” regardless of where the student attends, DeSantis said. [The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] He also said: We have parents who are lining up for a tax credit scholarship. They would not do that if the program was not succeeding. … The question for us now is, should we be satisfied there is a growing waitlist, or should we build off the successes? He is indeed correct to want to build off the success of the Florida Tax Credit…

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Was Ilhan Omar Scheduled to Speak Alongside Anti-Semite from Islamic Relief USA?

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN-05) communications director is denying reports that his boss was scheduled to speak alongside Islamist Relief USA’s Yousef Abdallah, a flagrant anti-Semite. The Jerusalem Post first reported that Omar would be keynoting Islamist Relief USA’s upcoming fundraiser for Yemen taking place in Tampa, Florida. Abdallah was allegedly listed as a speaker for the event, and images screen captured by The Post show that he was. Abdallah has shared several anti-Semitic posts on his social media account, as documented by the Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch Blog. In one case, Abdallah shared a “very beautiful” story about the killing of “more than 20 Jews.” He’s referred to Jews as “stinking,” and liked another comment that called for “revenge on the damned rapists Zionists.” The story was quickly picked up by several national outlets, including Washington Examiner and The Daily Wire, and came amid reports about Omar’s own anti-Semitic comments. A spokesperson for Omar, Jeremy Slevin, took to Twitter to deny the reports that Omar would be speaking alongside Abdallah. “He was never scheduled to speak with the Congresswoman. The flyer is inaccurate,” Slevin wrote on Twitter. “Yousef Abdallah will not be speaking or attending the event with Rep.…

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The Tennessee Education Association Teachers Union Spent More Than $500,000 on 2018 State Elections

Laura Baigert

The Tennessee Education Association, the teachers union in the state, spent more than $500,000 between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2018 on political activities, according to its filings with the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, most of which went to candidates for state offices. The Tennessee Education Association (TEA) is the state affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in the country with a reported three million members. TEA membership is a fractional one percent of NEA’s total membership with about 30,000 members according to the organization’s most recent Form 990 filing with the IRS available through Foundation Center. A review of all the filings of the Tennessee Education Association Fund for Children & Publication Political Action Committee (PAC) with the TBECF revealed that the organization spent $529,000 during this two year period, the majority of which was spent on direct financial contributions to state political party organizations,  state legislative candidates and gubernatorial candidates. The breakdown by category is: $274,000 was donated to or on behalf of state legislative candidates and state gubernatorial candidates $138,000 was donated to state political parties or political action committees associated with state political parties $73,000 was spent…

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