Month: February 2019

Comptroller Pulls Back Curtain Behind UT Knoxville’s Sex Week Programs

Jason M. Reynolds

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville is facing the music over the controversial event known as Sex Week, with the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office sending a report to legislators pointing out that very few students attend the university-supported program. A copy of the report by the Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability is available here. The report was given to the Senate Education Committee Wednesday. Legislative leadership requested a review of the week-long event which has been held at UTK each spring since 2013. The event is organized by Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee (SEAT), a registered student organization (RSO). A 2017 story by The Tennessee Star revealed the titles of some of the Sex Week classes, such as “Having an Affair With Yourself.” The names go downhill from there. According to the Comptroller, SEAT’s membership is less than one-tenth of 1 percent of UTK’s enrollment, and has refused administrators’ requests to “tone it down.” The Comptroller’s Office says: • SEAT is one of about 600 RSOs at UTK, all of which are eligible to request student activity fee funding. In four of the past five years, SEAT received the highest allocation of student activity fee funds, including about…

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Tennessee Firearms Association Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief

Steve Gill

The Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) has filed an Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the matter of Jeremy Kettler v. U.S. urging the Court to hear the case on appeal from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief was filed on Feb. 19, 2019, along with the Downsize DC Foundation and the Heller Foundation. Mr. Kettler, a military veteran, has war-induced hearing damage. He bought a suppressor (inaccurately called a silencer in some news reports) to protect his hearing during target practice with his lawfully owned weapons. He purchased the suppressor under the Kansas Second Amendment Protect Act (Kansas Act). The Kansas law protects guns and gun accessories from federal regulation if they were manufactured entirely within the state of Kansas and then sold in Kansas. The suppressor purchased by Mr. Kettler met both provisions of the law. (Tennessee and eight other states have enacted similar laws.) Subsequently, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) arrested Kettler and ultimately charged him with and a federal jury convicted him of a felony for possessing an unregistered firearm. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, ruling in part that ONLY…

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Rutherford County Officials Formally Oppose School Vouchers

Chris Butler

Rutherford County officials have joined their counterparts at five other Tennessee school systems to formally oppose school vouchers. Board members with the Rutherford County School System just unanimously passed a resolution to that effect, school system spokesman James Evans told The Tennessee Star Tuesday. Murfreesboro City School System board members, meanwhile, may vote on a formal resolution opposing school vouchers and Educational Savings Accounts at their next scheduled board meeting on Tuesday. Pending the outcome of that vote, school system officials will forward the resolution to the House and Senate Education Committees, said school system spokeswoman Lisa Trail. The Rutherford County School System covers most of the county, but the city of Murfreesboro also has a smaller school zone that covers grades K-6 for some parts of the city, Evans said. Murfreesboro City Schools board member Butch Campbell declined to comment on the matter Tuesday. Rutherford County School System board member Coy Young, though, said taxpayers should not fund a private entity. He also said board members have met with state legislators representing that district to discuss the matter. Those state legislators, Young went on to say, never offered comment as far as whether they are for or against school…

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Commentary: Leftwing Media Goes After Lara Logan for Telling the Truth About Leftwing Media Bias

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by George Rasley   It’s not often when a respected member of the establishment media agrees with the statements, the American news media’s leftwing and partisan Democrat biases as a “huge f*cking problem” and “disaster for this country.” But Lara Logan, the respected foreign correspondent for CBS’s 60 Minutes, did just that in an interview published last Friday with the Mike Drop podcast, hosted by retired Navy SEAL Mike Ritland. As Breitbart’s Robert Kraychik reported, Ritland characterized U.S. news media as “absurdly left-leaning” and supportive of Democrats, further describing the status quo of American news media’s leftwing and partisan Democrat biases as a “huge f*cking problem” and “disaster for this country.” Kraychik reports Logan concurred, “I agree with that. That’s true.” She described U.S. and international news media as “mostly liberal,” adding, “most” journalists are left. “The media everywhere is mostly liberal, not just the U.S.,” assessed Logan. Logan elaborated: Visually, anyone who’s ever been to Israel and been to the Wailing Wall has seen that the women have this tiny little spot in front of the wall to pray, and the rest of the wall is for the men. To me, that’s a great representation of the American media, is…

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The Tennessee Star Report: Neil McCabe on the Death of Legendary Pollster Patrick Cadell

Julie Carr

On Tuesday’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 to One America News Networks Neil McCabe about the recent and unexpected death of good friend and legendary pollster Pat Cadell. Cadell passed away from a stroke at the age of sixty eight in Charleston, South Carolina. He was known as the man who helped Jimmy Carter to win the Presidency and is survived by his daughter, Heidi Caddell Eichelberger, brother, Daniel, sister, Patricia Roberts, and three grandchildren. Gill: You know The Tennessee Star lost a friend that has been a close relation with Michael Patrick Leahy and the show. Came on the show a couple of times. Pat Cadell one of the ultimate pollsters. A guy who got Trump before most people got Trump. And Neil McCabe from One America News is on with us today to talk a little about Pat Cadell today. Neil McCabe with us in this segment today to talk a little about our friend Pat Cadell. Hey Neil good morning. McCabe: Hey good morning guys. Good to be with you…

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Tennessee, Nashville Officials Say All Is Well For Amazon to Open Operations Center With Up to $102 Million in Incentives

Jason M. Reynolds

Tennessee and Nashville officials say they do not expect Amazon’s brush-off of New York to affect the retail behemoth’s decision to open an operations center in Music City. Amazon last Thursday said it would not build its second headquarters in New York City, called HQ2, because of pushback there, The Tennessee Star reported last week. The retailer faced a battle from some politicians and others over nearly $3 billion in tax incentives, Breitbart said. Amazon was poised to bring 25,000 jobs to New York with a $2.5 billion investment in offices. Amazon said last week in a statement it would not reopen the HQ2 search. The company said it does plan to proceed with another headquarters site in Virginia. The company’s Music City plans have drawn criticism from some, including the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police, who said the city’s $15 million in incentives were “corporate welfare.” With the State of Tennessee offerings, the package is up to $102 million for 5,000 jobs for a $230 million operations center. Jennifer McEachern, communications director for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development, spoke to The Star via email about Amazon. The Star asked her if the state would re-examine the tax…

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Report: Mueller Has Expanded Investigation of Kushner

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by Chuck Ross   Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly looking into White House adviser Jared Kushner’s business dealings with foreign investors during the presidential transition period. Mueller’s investigators have asked witnesses in interviews as recently as this month about Kushner’s negotiations for financing for a New York City office building owned by his family’s company, Kushner Companies, CNN reports. The new line of inquiry signals that Mueller’s interest in Kushner has expanded beyond any contacts he had with Russians during the 2016 campaign, according to CNN. Of particular interest is Kushner’s meetings just after the election with the chairman of Anbang Insurance, a Chinese company that purchased a stake in the Kushner Companies property at 666 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Mueller’s team has yet to reach out to Kushner Companies’ executives for interviews, according to CNN. A meeting that Kushner had during the transition period with Sergey Gorkov, chairman of the Russia-owned bank Vnesheconombank, is also coming under scrutiny. Kushner has said that the Dec. 2016 meeting was held to discuss official government business. The bank has said publicly that Gorkov attended the meeting as part of a “roadshow of business meetings” that he was conducting in the U.S.…

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Poll: US Rural and Urban Political Divisions Also Split Suburbs

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America’s suburbs are today’s great political battleground, long seen as an independent pivot between the country’s liberal cities and conservative small towns and rural expanse. But it’s not that simple. It turns out that these places in-between may be the most politically polarized of all — and when figuring out the partisan leanings of people living in the suburbs, where they came from makes a difference. Fewer suburbanites describe themselves as politically independent than do residents of the nation’s urban and rural areas, according to a survey released Tuesday by the University of Chicago Harris School for Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll also found that the partisan leanings of suburban residents are closely linked to whether they have previously lived in a city. “In the last decade, particularly in the past five years, I’ve felt a shift in having some liberal neighbors,” said Nancy Wieman, 63, a registered Republican and staunch conservative who has lived in suburban Jefferson County outside of Denver her entire life. “The ones who are markedly liberal have moved from Denver or other cities.” Suburbanites who previously lived in a city are about as likely as city-dwellers to…

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America’s First Two Muslim Congresswomen Will Both be Fundraising for Hamas-Linked Organization

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by Molly Prince   The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Monday that Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib will be speaking at CAIR-Michigan’s annual banquet only days after the Hamas-linked organization revealed that fellow Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota will be speaking at CAIR-LA’s annual banquet. CAIR is a notable pro-Palestinian organization with ties to Islamic terror groups. The U.S. Department of Justice listed CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in funding millions of dollars to the terrorist organization Hamas. Additionally, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) named CAIR a terrorist organization along with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in 2014. Tlaib will be the guest speaker at CAIR-Michigan’s 19th annual “Faith-Led, Justice Driven” banquet on March 17, according to the organization’s invitation. Single tickets start at $50 per person and a table can cost upwards of $500. Tickets for Omar’s March 23 event start at a similar price point. Omar and Tlaib became America’s first Muslim congresswomen when sworn into office in January. Their time in office has been embroiled in allegations of anti-Semitism. Tlaib invited a pro-Hezbollah, anti-Israel activist to her swearing-in ceremony and the following private dinner in January. Days later, an op-ed column she wrote in 2006…

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Analysis: Support for ‘Soaking the Rich’ Is Rooted in Media Misinformation

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By James D. Agresti   Public opinion polls show high levels of support for raising taxes on the wealthy, and some people are touting these results to advance progressive tax policies. Such polls, however, are tainted by the common myth that the rich pay a lower average effective federal tax rate than the middle class. This belief has been widely spread by the media, but data from the U.S. Treasury, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Tax Policy Center prove the exact opposite is true. Politico recently published an article by Ben White titled “Soak the Rich? Americans Say Go for It.” According to White, “the prospect of 70 percent tax rates for multimillionaires and special levies on the super-rich draw howls about creeping socialism and warnings of economic disaster,” but “when it comes to soaking the rich, the American public is increasingly on board.” White bases his claim on a new Politico/Morning Consult poll “that found 76% of registered voters believe the wealthiest Americans should pay more in taxes.” He also cites a recent Fox News survey showing that “70% of Americans favor raising taxes on those earning over $10 million,” and “54% of Republicans” agree with this. Politico…

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Glen Casada Tells Small Business NFIB to Get Involved in Tennessee Politics

Chris Butler

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The best way Tennessee’s small business owners can help state legislators and, ultimately, themselves, is to get more engaged in state politics, said state House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin. Casada made those remarks Tuesday at the Cordell Hull State Office Building while addressing members of the NFIB: Small Business Association. “For too many years conservatives and pro-business people have said ‘Government is a mess, I give up. I will run my business. I will take care of my family. That is what I’m going to do,’” Casada said. “The problem is if you become disengaged with government it tends to creep into areas where it doesn’t belong. We need everyone in this room to be engaged and that means coming to the capitol like this and that means getting to know your legislator and holding them accountable.” The NFIB represents about 6,000 independent business owners around the state, said Jim Brown, Tennessee director of the National Federation of Independent Business. Tennessee, Casada told the group, has made drastic improvements in its economy the past eight years, and people nationwide will likely soon consider it one of the nation’s best. The NFIB, according to literature organizers handed out…

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Union Power, Email Privacy in the Balance at New Supreme Court Sitting

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by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court will convene Tuesday for its February sitting, in which the justices will consider major cases involving the First Amendment, union power, and email privacy. The cases raise the prospect of serious political and diplomatic repercussions, placing the justices at the center of a bitter partisan brawl and a sensitive question of foreign affairs. The signature case of this month’s arguments is Janus v. AFSCME, which the justices will hear on Feb. 26. Though officially a First Amendment question, Janus is the apex of a decades-long dispute about the power of public sector unions and their Democratic patrons. As such, it has decidedly partisan implications. Some observers fear a ruling against the union would deal the deathblow to the political and financial influence of organized labor, prompting charges that the lawsuit is a poorly concealed, Republican attack on a powerful liberal constituency. The case was brought by an Illinois state employee named Mark Janus, who pays compulsory fees to the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), despite the fact that he is not a member of the union. He argues these fees subsidize political speech and association with which he disagrees,…

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Commentary: It’s Time for Texas to Declare an Emergency, Too

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by Rick Manning   Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) got it 100 percent correct when in response to President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border he suggested that the state of Texas “should also consider a similar declaration” of national emergency due to the illegal immigration invasion in a statement released on Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. In fact, a declaration by the Texas legislature of an emergency based upon what Gohmert terms “a blatant invasion happening at our border” would trigger Constitutional remedies for the situation through a little-known portion of the U.S. Constitution. Article 4, Section 4 reads, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.” Now that the President has declared a state of emergency at the border, it would be the ideal time for the state of Texas to join in that declaration. In doing so, they would compel the President to provide critical assistance to the state under the Constitution and end obstructionist objections to taking necessary…

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US Wants Pledge for Stable Chinese Yuan as Talks Resume

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Xi Jinping

by Reuters   The United States is seeking to secure a pledge from China it will not devalue its yuan as part of an agreement intended to end the countries’ trade war, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Officials from the two countries, which resumed talks on Tuesday in Washington, are discussing how to address currency policy in a “Memorandum of Understanding” that would form the basis of a U.S.-China trade deal, the news agency reported, citing unnamed people involved in and briefed on the discussions. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had told Reuters last October that currency issues must be part of U.S.-China trade negotiations and that Chinese officials told him that further depreciation of the yuan was not in their interests. The Bloomberg report said the U.S. request for a pledge to keep the yuan’s value stable was aimed at neutralizing any effort by Beijing to devalue its currency to counter American tariffs. Spokesmen for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, which is leading the talks, and the U.S. Treasury, which leads currency policy, could not immediately be reached for comment. Two days of negotiations between deputy-level officials began on Tuesday, led by Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish on the…

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George Soros Makes Massive Financial Investments on Fossil Fuels

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by Richard Pollock   George Soros made big investment bets on fossil fuel companies in the fourth quarter of 2017 even though he claims these firms contribute to climate change, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation. In the last quarter of 2017, Soros Fund Management reported investments in eleven new fossil corporations totaling nearly $160 million, according to his company’s December 31, 2017, filing before the Securities and Exchange Commission reviewed by TheDCNF. His investments in fossil fuels undermine his public pledge to use his money to eliminate the oil, gas and coal industries, claiming they threaten the planet by accelerating climate change. The billionaire’s most recent political efforts to warn about climate change was his underwriting of the organizations behind the April 29, 2017, “People’s Climate March” that marked the 100th day of President Donald Trump’s administration. Soros donated $36 million to 18 of the march’s 55 steering committee organizations between 2000 to 2014, according to the Media Research Center. He also agreed to give former Vice President Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection $10 million over a three-year period. Further, Soros founded and operates his own climate change advocacy group called the Climate Policy Initiative. He…

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Governor Walz’s $49 Billion Budget Proposal Will Make Minnesota a ‘Cold California’

Anthony Gockowski

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) unveiled his highly anticipated budget proposal for the 2020-2021 biennium at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. When all is said and done, the two-year budget registers at $49.5 billion with no cuts to any existing spending. “I’ve often said that a budget is far more than a fiscal document; it’s a moral document. This budget reflects the morals and values of the people of Minnesota. This is the budget that Minnesotans voted for in historic numbers in November,” Walz said during his lengthy address.   Walz said his proposal prioritizes three core areas: education, health care, and “community prosperity.” For the first, Walz proposed a three percent followed by a two percent increase in education spending, which is roughly $523 million more. “While some schools have turf fields and a stadium, another school is trying to pass a referendum to fix a leaky roof,” he said. “As a former teacher, I’ve seen firsthand the power of investment in a child.” He went on to lay out a number of health care proposals, including a “OneCare Minnesota” public buy-in option, and the continuation of the two percent provider tax, which Republicans would like to let expire at…

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Is One Labor Union Killing the Ohio Lordstown Plant?

Andrew Shirley

An ongoing feud between one labor union and an automaker may cost thousands of jobs in Lordstown, Ohio. The Lordstown Assembly Complex in Lordstown, Ohio has been the lifeblood of that town since 1966. Currently, the factory is owned and operated by General Motors, while the workforce is represented by the United Automobile Workers, an international worker’s labor union. In late November, GM announced that the factory, along with four others in the US, would close in 2019. In the months following the announcement, there has been a furious battle to save the plant in any capacity. Very early on in the effort, then-outgoing Governor John Kasich, made it clear that the future of the plant would be with an “alternative” to GM. This statement seemed to make it clear that that was no chance GM would keep the plant open while indicating that the only future for the facility would be with another company. Kasich then began reaching out to Tesla Motors CEO; Elon Musk who expressed interest in Tesla acquiring the plant. For months, this was as far as the public knew negotiations had gone. Then, in January, GM CEO Mary Barra revealed that there were no ongoing negotiations with Tesla for a…

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Bill Typo, If Unchanged, Would Make Felons Out of Half A Million Ohioan Gun Owners

Andrew Shirley

Ohio Gun Owners, a citizens’ Second Amendment advocacy organization, discovered Thursday that House Bill 228 (HB 228) would make many widely-used firearms illegal throughout Ohio. The bill’s current language defines illegal “dangerous ordnance” as: (7) Any firearm with an overall length of at least twenty- six inches that is approved for sale by the federal bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives under the “Gun Control Act of 1968,” 82 Stat. 1213, 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(3), but that is found by the bureau not to be regulated under the “National Firearms Act,” 68A Stat. 725 (1934), 26 U.S.C. 5845(a). This section of the bill, however, should have been included in a section that defines what weapons do not count as “dangerous ordnance.” This makes it highly probable that those who drafted the legislation simply placed this passage in the wrong section. If unchanged, the bill would mistakenly ban hundreds of common weapons, including AR-15’s and shotguns with pistol grips because of what appears to be a clerical error. It would also make felons out of hundreds of thousands of legal gun owners in Ohio. The bill’s primary sponsors are Terry Johnson (R-90) Sarah LaTourette (R-76). Neither legislator has issued a statement on the bill. As…

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Congressman’s Passing Leaves Big Shoes to Fill in North Carolina’s 3rd District

A.P. Dillon

The passing of Walter Jones (R-NC-03) has left some big shoes to fill for whoever runs for the seat. On Jan. 2nd, Jones had stated that he would not be running again in 2020 and later that month it was announced he had entered into Hospice care. Jones has apparently been battling with an undisclosed illness. ​“Congressman Jones was a man of the people,” said the statement released by his office. Jones, who spent fourteen years representing North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional district, was well-liked by his constituency and won his races by large margins when challenged. The 3rd Congressional is considered a solid ‘red’ or safe Republican district, but in the current political climate that could change. His successor will have a lot to live up to and likely a very crowded battle to fight. So far, the rumor mill in Raleigh has potentially a dozen or so Republicans jockeying to run for the seat. North Carolina Republican Party’s Vice Chairwoman Michele Nix was one of the first names to pop up and, in fact, she is running. Nix filed her statement of candidacy for the North Carolina 3rd Congressional seat with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) last Friday under…

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After Missing Deadline, North Carolina Turns Over Smaller List of Voter Records

A.P. Dillon

After missing a January deadline to turn in voter records requested in two subpoenas by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), North Carolina officials have turned over a smaller list of voter records. Upon missing the deadline, state lawmakers sent a letter to Attorney General Josh Stein urging his office’s compliance with the subpoenas. According to a letter sent by the Kim Strach, the Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), voting records for just 789 individuals will be turned over. “Now, the Attorney General’s office has directed the State Board to acquire the records associated with 289 individuals who were previously registered in counties within the Eastern District,” Strach’s letter reads. “These records will be transmitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in response to the Subpoenas. It is our understanding that this limited production is all that is required at this time.” The letter goes on to detail that the NCSBE will be pulling records from multiple counties in order to comply with the subpoenas. According to Strach’s letter, “two-thirds of the prior registrants were already inactive in 2017.” In addition to the 289 individuals, the letter also says that approximately 500 individuals statewide who resided…

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Tennessee Pro-Life Grassroots Activists Turn Out In Support Of Heartbeat Bill

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A group of middle Tennessee pro-life grassroots activists rallying behind the bill that would ban abortions in the state after a fetal Heartbeat is detected spent a day on Capitol Hill talking with legislators. As reported by The Tennessee Star, a bill sponsored by Representative Micah Van Huss (R-Jonesborough) as HB 0077 is scheduled to be heard in the House Public Health Subcommittee on Wednesday. A less-than-conservative publication, The Atlantic, suggests that Democrats may have overplayed their hand on abortion, giving the pro-life movement an opportunity. Specifically, The Atlantic discusses two recent events. First, in New York the signing of a bill providing the legal right to abort fetuses that could survive outside the womb was cheered and celebrated by lighting up the city’s Freedom Tower. Then, in Virginia, the state’s Governor, Ralph Northam, defended a state lawmaker’s bill by explaining that after a baby was delivered it would be kept comfortable, resuscitated, “if that’s what the other and family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.” In stark contrast, pro-life advocates in Tennessee wanted to show their support of Van Huss’s Heartbeat Bill, so that legislators would hear a voice…

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Tennessee School Districts Fighting School Vouchers Turn in Lackluster Academic Results, State Figures Reveal

Chris Butler

The five school systems in Tennessee that have come out to formally oppose school vouchers haven’t exactly done that great of a job preparing students for college. This, according to statewide statistics members of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission reported last week. As The Tennessee Star reported, representatives from some of these school systems said they have higher academic standards than charter schools. About 67 percent of Madison County students who went off to college needed remedial math classes. Almost 45 percent of them need remedial reading, according to the figures. Exactly 62.7 percent of students coming out of Metro Nashville Public Schools, meanwhile, had to take a remedial math course. About 47 percent of those students needed a remedial reading class, according to statistics. Also in Nashville, 90 percent of students at Maplewood Comprehensive High School who went off to college needed remedial math. About 76 percent needed remedial reading courses. Almost 92 percent of students at White’s Creek Comprehensive High School needed remedial math, and 78 percent of them needed remedial reading. For Stratford Comprehensive High School, 88 percent needed remedial math courses. More than 73 percent of the students needed remedial reading. Christiane Buggs, who represents District…

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President Trump Handicaps His 2020 Democratic Opponents

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Kamala Harris had the best campaign roll-out. Amy Klobuchar’s snowy debut showed grit. Elizabeth Warren’s opening campaign video was a bit odd. Take it from an unlikely armchair pundit sizing up the 2020 Democratic field: President Donald Trump. In tweets, public remarks and private conversations, Trump is making clear he is closely following the campaign to challenge him on the ballot. Facing no serious primary opponent of his own — at least so far — Trump is establishing himself as an in-their-face observer of the Democratic Party’s nominating process — and no will be surprised to find that he’s not being coy about weighing in. Presidents traditionally ignore their potential opponents as long as possible to maintain their status as an incumbent floating above the contenders who are auditioning for a job they already inhabit. Not Trump. He’s eager to shape the debate, sow discord and help position himself for the general election. It’s just one more norm to shatter, and a risky bet that his acerbic politics will work to his advantage once again. This is the president whose 240-character blasts and penchant for insults made mincemeat of his 2016 Republican rivals. And Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, said…

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Commentary: Democrats Move from Crony Capitalism to Class Warfare

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by CHQ staff   Nothing illustrates how far Left the Democratic Party has moved than the reaction of the Democrats’ most popular and media savvy politicians to the news that Amazon was abandoning plans to build part of its East Coast headquarters in the New York city of Long Island City. The move will cause New York to lose the 25,000 jobs that were expected to be created as well as some $27 billion in tax revenue the online behemoth was expected to pay into the Empire State’s coffers over the next decade. Yet, as our friend Peter A. List at LaborUnionReport.com reported to his readers, three of the Democrats’ most popular politicians –Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [NY-14], Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-MA], and Sen. Bernie Sanders [I-VT] seemed happy with Amazon’s decision to not create the jobs in New York. “Amazon – one of the wealthiest companies on the planet – just walked away from billions in taxpayer bribes, all because some elected officials in New York aren’t sucking up to them enough,” Sen. Warren tweeted. ” How long will we allow giant corporations to hold our democracy hostage?” ” Anything is possible: today was the day a group of dedicated,…

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Rod Rosenstein Will Leave the Justice Department in Mid-March

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Rod Rosenstein

by Chuck Ross   Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein plans to leave the Justice Department in mid-March, agency officials told news outlets Monday. A Justice Department official said that Rosenstein’s departure is not related to a controversy surrounding his alleged offer to wear a wire during conversations with President Donald Trump, according to CNN. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe claimed in an interview that aired Sunday that Rosenstein broached the idea of wearing a wire to the White House in May 2017, days after James Comey was fired as FBI director. McCabe also claimed that Rosenstein suggested using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Rosenstein has disputed McCabe’s claims, saying that he was being sarcastic about wearing a wire. Rosenstein was reportedly planning to leave the Justice Department soon after William Barr’s confirmation as attorney general. Barr was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 14. Rosenstein planned to remain in office to ensure a smooth transition from Matthew Whitaker, the former acting attorney general, to Barr. According to CNN, the Justice Department could announce a replacement for Rosenstein as soon as this week. Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller special counsel on May 17, 2017, around a week after Comey’s firing. He oversaw the…

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Cutting Overreach, Regulations and Saving Taxpayers Billions: Andrew Wheeler’s EPA Picks Up Where Scott Pruitt Left Off

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by Mike Howell   The Senate will soon get a chance to put its stamp of approval on the great work of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump. Andrew Wheeler, the current acting administrator, will soon be up for a vote to be confirmed as the EPA’s 15th administrator. He’s been serving as deputy administrator since April 2018 and acting administrator since Scott Pruitt resigned last July. Wheeler’s likely advance comes at a time when the Senate chamber – and the entire country – is debating the left’s radical Green New Deal proposal. The “Green Raw Deal,” as some have taken to calling it, aims to usher in enormously costly socialist policies in the name of environmental protection. Some of the proposals include the elimination of air travel, guaranteed income for those unwilling to work, and replacing every single building in America. It’s a fantasy wish list that screams government overreach. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] The proposals have been embraced by leading politicians on the far left, but mostly mocked in the mainstream as more details and analysis have emerged.…

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Analysis: Social Security Taxes and the ‘Gig Economy’

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by Edward Ring   It is fashionable to refer to the job market of the future as “the gig economy.” In this enlightened, technology enabled wonderland, everyone will be free to balance work and leisure as they see fit. When they want to earn more money, they get online, find a “gig,” and when the job’s performed the money flows into their checking account. Not quite the utopia of Galt’s Gulch, but tantalizingly closer. The problem with the “gig economy” is the troublesome intervention of reality. Tell an Uber driver who has two hungry children, a wife home with the flu (unable to “gig”), who makes $20 per hour and has no health insurance that he’s living in utopia. You may have to duck. In 2017, the opinion section of the New York Times ran a guest editorial that included a graphic entitled “Our Broken Economy, In One Simple Chart.” That chart was drawn from data gathered by a team of economists that included Thomas Piketty, author of the 2014 bestseller, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Each dot on the chart below represents an income percentile. They form two lines, the grey line showing income growth by income percentile between 1946 and 1980, and the red…

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Tennessee Man Allegedly Pulled Gun On Sam’s Club Customer For Wearing MAGA Hat

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by Andrew Kerr   A Tennessee man faces a charge of first-degree wanton endangerment after allegedly pulling a gun on a Sam’s Club customer in Kentucky for wearing a Make America Great Again hat. James Phillips, 57 (pictured above), told police he made an obscene gesture with his finger towards Terry Pierce and his wife inside the store because they were wearing MAGA hats, according to a police citation obtained by WKNY. After Pierce returned the gesture, Phillips, who was wearing a veterans hat, “pulled a .40 caliber out and stuck it in my face, backed up and said, ‘It’s a good day for you to die,’” Pierce told 13 News. “I said, ‘Then pull the trigger. Put the gun down and fight me or pull the trigger. Whichever one you want,’” Pierce added. “And he backed up and he said it again, he said, ‘It’s a good day for you to die.’” Phillips then left the store and waited in the parking lot for his mother, who was still inside shopping, according to Pierce. “I went out the front of the store to confront him again and that’s when I got him in his car,” Pierce told 13 News. “He tried telling…

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President Trump Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

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Reuters   Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not saying whether or not he nominated Donald Trump for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, but the question may be moot: the U.S. president has been put forward by others for the prestigious award. During a White House news conference on Friday, Trump said the Japanese premier had given him “the most beautiful copy” of a five-page nomination letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Since then Abe has declined to say whether he had done so. Regardless, Trump has already been nominated by two Norwegian lawmakers. “We have nominated him of course for the positive developments on the Korean Peninsula,” Per-Willy Amundsen, who was Justice Minister in Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s Cabinet in 2016-2018, told Reuters. “It has been a very difficult situation and the tensions have since lowered and a lot of it is due to Trump’s unconventional diplomatic style,” he added. Amundsen, who is a member of the rightwing Progress Party, wrote a letter to the award committee together with his parliamentary colleague Christian Tybring-Gjedde, he said. The letter was submitted in June, immediately after a summit Trump held in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un aimed at…

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St. Paul City Council Ordinance Would Ban Restaurants From Using Non-Biodegradable Containers

Anthony Gockowski

A new proposal being considered by the St. Paul City Council would outlaw non-biodegradable takeout containers in city restaurants by 2021. According to The Pioneer Press, the proposal was conceived by council member Mitra Nelson, who lamented the fact that “restaurants are putting a lot of packaging out there that isn’t compostable, isn’t recyclable, and it’s filling up our landfills.” The idea was first brought to the St. Paul City Council in 2017, but was tabled for future consideration. This time around, Nelson and her colleague Jane Prince plan to coordinate two years of outreach to small businesses to help implement the ban. Some ideas being considered include group purchasing of biodegradable containers, and grants provided through Ramsey County and Washington County to help businesses pay for the containers. But Liz Rammer, president and CEO of Hospitality Minnesota and the Minnesota Restaurant Association, opposes the idea. “We have concerns that the city of St. Paul has not addressed the significant cost increases that will impact small businesses through such a ban,” she said. As The Pioneer Press’ Fred Melo notes, the ban would be the latest in a number of ordinances affecting small businesses in the city, including: a $15…

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Minnesota Activist Groups Protest Trump’s ‘Fake National Emergency’ Across the State

Anthony Gockowski

Resistance groups across the state organized protests Monday against President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration. The statewide protests were part of a national grassroots effort to oppose the president’s “fake national emergency.” According to USA Today, rallies took place all across the country, many of which were organized in conjunction with MoveOn.org. “We’re mobilizing rapid-response events on President’s Day against Trump’s fake crisis and racist deportation force and to stand with immigrant, Muslim, and black and brown communities to stop Trump’s dangerous and illegal power grab,” MoveOn.org explains. A map of events provided by MoveOn.org shows that at least five protests happened across Minnesota, including ones in the Twin Cities, Mankato, Rochester, Winona, and Alexandria. The Minnesota Sun found that these protests were organized by a somewhat covert protest group called “Indivisible Minnesota,” which consists of affiliate groups like “Indivisible MN-03” and “Indivisible St. Peter and Greater Mankato.” “If progressives are going to stop Trump, we must stand indivisibly opposed to him and the members of Congress who would do his bidding,” a Facebook description of Indivisible Minnesota states. One of Monday’s protests took place outside of Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) Minneapolis office, according to a statement from Indivisible MN-03.…

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Ohio Attorney General: Negligence Leaves One Patient to Rot at Whetstone Gardens and Care Center

Andrew Shirley

A Grand Jury in Franklin County has indicted seven nurses – formerly employed by Whetstone Gardens and Care Center in Columbus – on a litany of charges surrounding the mistreatment of multiple nursing home patients in 2017. Six employed nurses and one contracted nurse practitioner have been indicted on 34 separate changes. The charges include involuntary manslaughter, gross patient neglect, patient neglect, tampering with evidence, and forgery. The most extreme offense was a result of a patient developing “serious wounds on his body progressing to gangrenous and necrotic tissue.” This was a direct result of not maintaining the most basic levels of resident care.  The staff took no measure to address this and the resident died of septic shock shortly after developing these conditions. A second patient also suffered direct physical harm. To hide the negligence, the nursing staff “repeatedly” documented treatments that were never actually provided to the patients. In a public statement Attorney General Yost stated; This case goes to the heart of protecting the unprotected,…These victims were completely dependent on others for day-to-day care, which their families trusted Whetstone Gardens to provide. Instead of providing that care, evidence shows these nurses forced the victims to endure awful mistreatment and then lied about it. This…

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For North Carolina, The Border Wall Is a $2.5 Billion a Year State Emergency

A.P. Dillon

President Trump has declared the nation’s southern border a national emergency after Democrats on Capitol Hill refused to negotiate on building the border wall. The cost of not building the wall for the country is high – both in actual dollars and in criminal activity. It’s also staggeringly high for the states, in particular, California and battleground states like North Carolina. For these states, the annual cost is in the billions. The financial burden on the taxpayer is enormous and spans every area of possible spending from healthcare to education. In 2017, it was reported by the Federation for Immigration Reform that approximately 12.5 million illegal aliens and 4.2 million children of illegal aliens were costing taxpayers just under $135 billion a year. The report puts the cost of states of Texas, New Mexico, California, and Arizona to patrol their portions of the border at $490,780,000 annually. According to the Federation For Immigration Reform’s report, illegal aliens were only contributing around $18.9 million to the tax base, which when subtracted from the $135 million cost, leaves taxpayers on the hook for around $116 million. That translates to approximately $8,075 per illegal alien and citizen child prior to taxes paid, or…

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Ohio Detective Explains How Border Crisis Has Led To A Spike In Meth Overdose Deaths

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by Nick Givas   Ashtabula County Detective Taylor Cleveland appeared on “Fox & Friends” Monday to explain how the current border crisis has magnified Ohio’s methamphetamine problem. “It’s an economics problem. For years, Summit county in Akron and Ashtabula county east of Cleveland have led the state in meth labs. Traditionally that’s generally how people were producing meth in those two counties,” he said. “And the drug cartels in Mexico seized upon that demand problem up there in those two counties and realized that they could produce meth for cheaper, ship it in using already established distribution networks and logistics networks and make a higher profit selling it cheaper in those counties.” Cleveland said the drugs are hidden in legitimate parcels and smuggled across the border through legal ports of entry. “It’s placed in legitimate loads that are coming across. Meth is generally from Mexico diluted in some type of hydrocarbon solvent. Usually diesel fuel. You can place it in the tank of a truck that’s bringing tomatoes over across the border, drop off the legitimate load of tomatoes, and then make a pit stop to have that meth and diesel fuel pumped out and then shipped to a point north near the source city.” Cleveland…

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Tennessee Now Protects Transgender People, Per State Attorney General Herbert Slatery

Chris Butler

Tennessee now has a hate crime statute protecting transgender people, according to an opinion Republican state Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued earlier this month. Slatery wrote this opinion responding to a question from State Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville. Tennessee’s statute protecting transgender people is the first such one in the South, according to The Tennessean. Slatery’s spokeswoman, Samantha Fisher, said Monday she had no comment. “We have nothing more to add to the opinion issued to Rep. Stewart February 8th which can be found on our website,” Fisher told The Tennessee Star. According to the state attorney general’s website, the end of that opinion says the following: For purposes of the hate-crime enhancement, a crime committed against a person because that person manifests a gender that is different than his or her biological gender at birth—i.e. a crime committed against a person because he or she is transgender—is thus necessarily committed because of, at least in part, the person’s gender. Members of the Family Action Council of Tennessee condemned Slatery’s opinion. According to Factn’s website, the organization fights for religious liberty. “In arriving at this conclusion, the attorney general ignored the fundamental canon of statutory construction that courts are ‘to…

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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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