Day: April 26, 2019

Bob Corker Reportedly Wants a Republican to Challenge Donald Trump in 2020

Chris Butler

  Former Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker reportedly said America will benefit if another Republican runs for president against Donald Trump next year. This, according to Breitbart.com this week. Corker reportedly said this at the Time 100 Summit in New York. “You could look at it and say that it would be a good thing for our country should that occur. If you had a real primary, where you had someone that was really being listened to, and of substance, things that we were talking about — and I could go through a list of them — they would actually be debated in a real way,” Corker reportedly said; adding that a less-challenging Republican opponent would get little media attention. Corker reportedly also said Trump divides the nation, him for the recent federal government shutdown. “Typically, to unite people, you have to wish to do so, and I think that currently, the president has not found that to his benefit or to his liking,” Breitbart quoted Corker as saying. As The Tennessee Star reported earlier this year, Corker, an avowed NeverTrump-er, “has long gone cuckoo over Trump and used his previous platform as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to criticize…

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Bill Strengthening Protections Against Female Genital Mutilation Awaits Gov. Lee’s Signature

Jason M. Reynolds

  A bill that strengthens Tennessee’s protections against female genital mutilation (FGM) is headed to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature after the Legislature approved the measure. The national EndFGMToday campaign issued a press release congratulating Tennessee lawmakers. The advocacy organization said the bill will provide additional protections for women and girls from FGM and punish the perpetrators. The bill will strengthen an already-existing law already on the books. “The mutilation of little girls’ genitals defies all standards of humanity and cries out as a hideous violation of human rights, according to the United Nations and World Health Organization,” said attorney and child welfare advocate Elizabeth Yore, who heads EndFGMToday. “The CDC estimates that 513,000 girls are at risk of female genital mutilation in the United States. Legislators in Tennessee realize this fact and are working to strengthen their laws even further to protect women and girls in their state. EndFGMToday urges Gov. Bill Lee to sign this critically important legislation as soon as possible.” State Rep. Terri Weaver (R-TN-40) was the sponsor of the House legislation, HB 1364. State Sen. Joey Hensley (R-TN-28) sponsored SB 1166 in the Senate. The tracking information is here. The bill passed unanimously in…

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Commentary: It Would Be Wrong to Impeach Donald Trump for ‘Obstructing Justice’

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by Stephen B. Presser   It is one of the puzzles of history that Republicans once sought to impeach Bill Clinton. Predictably, they failed to convict him in the Senate with the requisite two-thirds vote, and then Republicans lost the midterm elections that followed, all while President Clinton’s popularity increased dramatically. Even if the Republican effort to remove the president had succeeded, however, he simply would have been replaced by Al Gore, his vice president, and Gore probably would have been positioned to do better in his election bid than he did in his eventual match with George W. Bush in 2000. In hindsight, the impeachment of Bill Clinton looks like nothing so much as a grave political miscalculation; something Republicans never should have undertaken in the first place. Why, then, did they do it, and what does their behavior teach us that might be relevant to the current rumblings about impeaching President Trump? The Republicans moved against President Clinton because they believed that he had committed perjury and sought to obstruct justice in matters ultimately connected to the private lawsuit brought against him by Paula Jones, who had accused him, of sexual harassment, years earlier, when she had been…

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Feds Plan to Add State Rep. Dickerson to Pain Management Company Fraud Lawsuit, Reports Say

Jason M. Reynolds

  A federal judge has granted prosecutors’ requests to intervene in whistleblower complaints against Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS), and Tennessee Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-TN-20) is being added as a defendant, multiple media outlets report. Judge Aleta Trauger of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee granted the federal and state prosecutors’ requests, according to MSN. They have 90 days to file their own complaints. Several lawsuits filed by former employees of CPS were unsealed Tuesday, accusing the leaders, including Dickerson, of a fraud scheme, NewsChannel 5 said. They allegedly made millions of dollars in payments from Medicare and violated the False Claims Act. Suzanne Alt of Missouri is a former CMS employee who alleges in the main complaint that the company made false claims for lab tests that were not needed. The court document said she “was personally told to increase the frequency of the drug screens” that were most costly instead of a cheaper alternative. The lawsuits have been consolidated into one case, and although the main complaint does not specifically mention the lawmaker, Dickerson is named in one of the suits alongisde co-founder Dr. Peter Kroll and former CEO John Davis. On April 8,…

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Jared Kushner Wants a Tougher US Immigration System

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by Jason Hopkins   Jared Kushner developed a comprehensive immigration proposal that consists of fortifying border security and shifting U.S. immigration to a more merit-based system. Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, formulated a tactic to immigration reform, and he hopes to present a legislative form of the plan to Trump within the coming days. The package essentially takes a two-pronged approach to immigration reform. The first part of the plan tackles legal immigration into the U.S., with Kushner looking to limit the number of low-skilled migrants who enter the country based on family ties. In their place, high-skilled foreign nationals would be encouraged to join the U.S. workforce under an immigration program that is more similar to the merit-based systems seen in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, CNN reported. The second part of the proposal pertains to border security. Trump’s son-in-law hopes to build more barrier walls on the U.S. southern border in areas that see high levels of illegal immigration. He also wants to modernize ports of entry so everything coming into the country is scanned, preventing anything illegal from getting past immigration enforcement. Changes to asylum laws and seasonal guest worker programs are also included…

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Tennessee House Approves Authorization and Regulation of On-Line Sports Betting 58-37-2

Laura Baigert
Sports Book Betting

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A bill to authorize and regulate on-line sports betting in Tennessee  was approved by the Tennessee General Assembly on  Wednesday with a vote of 58 Ayes, 37 Noes and 2 Present and Not Voting. HB0001, filed on November 7, 2018, was sponsored by Knoxville Democrat Rick Staples in response to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Murphy v. NCAA allowing states the ability to authorize and regulate sports betting. “The Tennessee Sports Gaming Act,” mandates that wagers on sporting events go through a licensee, which will have to pay a non-refundable application fee in the amount of $50,000 and an annual licensing fee of $750,000 as part of the application process. The bill describes a “sporting event” as any professional, collegiate or Olympic sporting or athletic event sanctioned by a national or international organization or association. It excludes horse racing, but includes “E-sports,” or any multi-player video game played competitively for spectators in person or remote connection. A “bettor” is defined as anyone 21 years or older and physically present in Tennessee when placing a wager. A tax of 22.5 percent of the adjusted gross income of the licensee will be collected as a privilege tax,…

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Ohio Attorney General Pushes to Reform Drug Pricing By Focusing on Middlemen

Andrew Shirley

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost blasted the middlemen responsible for negotiating drug prices on behalf of the state Monday, calling for immediate legislative action. The move comes a month after the state formally launched a lawsuit against the pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) responsible for the negotiations. Currently, Ohio cannot directly negotiate with major prescription drug manufacturers. The only means by which the prices of prescription drugs can be addressed in the Buckeye State is through PBMs or drug negotiators. Since they are compensated by the state, it’s expected of them to put the priority of Ohioans above all else. In June of last year, then Attorney General Mike DeWine, now governor, formally launched an investigation into the organizations, alleging that they were putting their own interests before the state. DeWine noted: Since the end of 2017, my office has been reviewing and investigating issues regarding PBMs and their contracts with Ohio agencies, such as the Ohio Department of Medicaid, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, and our numerous pension systems. It is clear that the conduct by PBMs in these areas remains a major concern, and we anticipate that our investigation will result in…

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New Gallup Poll: Government and Immigration Top Voter Concerns

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by CHQ Staff   The government and immigration continue to stand apart from other issues when Americans are asked to name the most important problem facing the U.S. These two issues, mentioned in an April 1-9 poll by 23 percent and 21 percent of U.S. adults, respectively, are the only ones cited by more than one in 10 Americans, as they have been for all but one of the past 13 months. Immigration scores three times higher than health care (21 percent to 7 percent) and seven times higher than Environment/Pollution/Climate change, 21 percent to 3 percent. According to Gallup’s Lydia Saad, the lone exception since April 2018 in double-digit mentions outside of government and immigration occurred last November, when 11 percent of Americans named healthcare at the same time that 18 percent mentioned government and 21 percent immigration. Today, healthcare ranks a more distant third at 7 percent, followed by race relations or racism at 6 percent. Three issues — the economy, poverty and unifying the country — tie for fifth, all mentioned by 5 percent. Another nine issues are mentioned by at least 2 percent of Americans, including the environment/pollution/climate change at 3 percent, unemployment at 2 percent,…

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US Measles Cases Hit Highest Level Since Eradication in 2000

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  The United States has confirmed 695 measles cases so far this year, the highest level since the country declared it had eliminated the virus in 2000, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The resurgence, which public health officials blamed in part on the spread of misinformation about the safety of vaccines, has been concentrated mainly in Washington state and New York with outbreaks that began late last year. “The longer these outbreaks continue, the greater the chance measles will again get a sustained foothold in the United States,” the CDC warned in a statement. It said outbreaks can spread out of control in communities with lower-than-normal vaccination rates. Although the disease was eliminated from the country in 2000, meaning the virus was no longer continually present year round, outbreaks still happen via travelers coming from countries where measles is still common, the CDC says. As of Wednesday, the number of measles cases so far this year exceeds the 667 cases reported in all of 2014, which had been the highest annual number recorded since the elimination in 2000. The virus has been recorded in 22 states so far in 2019, the CDC said. The…

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DeWine Supports Bailout of Ohio’s Nuclear Power Plants

Anthony Gockowski

  Gov. Mike DeWine expressed support for saving Ohio’s two nuclear power plants that are expected to close if they don’t receive legislative relief. As The Ohio Star previously reported, lawmakers introduced a bill in early April that would effectively save Ohio’s only two nuclear plants. FirstEnergy Solutions, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, announced in February that it would be closing its two Ohio-based plants, as well as a third in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, which employs a substantial number of Ohioans. A bankruptcy judge, however, rejected the company’s plan to shut down its plants, and so lawmakers are stepping in. Under House Bill 6, the state would subsidize the plant with taxpayer dollars through a new “Ohio Clean Air Program.” As reported: These funds would be passed to the energy company under the newly created ‘Ohio Clean Air Program.’ Funding would come from a $2.50 surcharge for every residential electric consumer in the state, and an additional $20 for all commercial customers, and a further $250 from industrial customers. In total, $300 million would be raised with $180 million going directly to FirstEnergy Solutions. According to The Columbus Dispatch, DeWine supports the plan, though he didn’t directly comment on House Bill 6.…

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Pastor Darrell Scott Commentary: The Sri Lankan Victims of ISIS Terror Attacks Were Christians

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by Darrell Scott   Hundreds of Christians were slaughtered by Islamic terrorists in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday – or, as several leading Democrats put it, some people did something to “tourists and Easter worshipers.” In a different time, this characterization by Democrats would read as an obvious political hyperbole designed to spin the truth. In today’s America, however, it hardly does enough to encapsulate the left’s hatred of Christianity. As the death toll from the devastating terrorist attack continued to climb and Sri Lankan authorities worked to identify the perpetrators, Democrats were apparently struggling with a very different question – what to call the victims of this terrible massacre. “Christians” apparently wouldn’t do, presumably for the same reasons that the words “radical Islamic terrorism” have been excised from the liberal vocabulary. In short, they needed a euphemism that would enable them to express concern for the victims without drawing attention to the fact that hundreds of Christians had just been slaughtered by radical Islamic terrorists. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Julian Castro came to the rescue with a simple answer: “Easter worshipers.” “The attacks on tourists and Easter worshipers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity,” Obama wrote.…

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DNC Chair Tom Perez Claims America Is ‘At War’ With Russia and Says Trump Is ‘Compromised’

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by Nick Givas   Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez said America is “at war” with Russia and claimed President Donald Trump is “compromised.” “Our fiercest foreign adversary attempted to interfere with our election to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton,” he said Thursday on CNN’s “New Day.” “We are at war right now,” Perez added. “It is a cyber war. Unfortunately, because our commander in chief is compromised, the federal government is asleep at the switch. And that is why the DNC and others in the Democratic Party ecosystem are working tirelessly to make sure that we are protecting our data. We’re working with every campaign to provide cybersecurity training because we can’t expect help from this administration.” Host Alisyn Camerota asked Perez if Democrats would use stolen information to even the score with Trump, and he said their findings would be the result of subpoenas. When Camerota followed up about possible Democratic leaks, Perez did not give a direct answer. “Maybe it’s going to be leaked. What if that’s leaked to you? Are you saying that the Democrats shouldn’t use that?” she asked. “Well, again, we are entitled to that — if you look at the law…

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Nine Radical Policies 2020 Democrats Are Putting on the Table

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by Peter Hasson   Democratic presidential candidates are increasingly embracing radical policies as they jockey for position in their party’s crowded primary. Here are nine radical policies that Democratic candidates say are on the table in 2020: Packing The Supreme Court South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Kamala Harris of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke have all expressed their openness to expanding the Supreme Court, in order to counter a slim conservative majority. Left-wing activist groups have pressured Democrats to support court-packing, after they were unsuccessful in stopping Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Lowering Voting Age To 16 Reps. Eric Swalwell of California and Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii voted for legislation in March that would have lowered the federal voting age to 16. Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker both expressed openness to lowering the voting age when asked about it by The Daily Caller News Foundation in March. Harris said she is “open to that conversation for sure,” while Booker said he hadn’t “thought about it” but was “willing to hear the case.” O’Rourke has also said he’s open to lowering the voting age.…

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Study: Nearly 100,000 Unauthorized Immigrants Graduate From US High Schools Per Year

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by Neetu Chandak   U.S. high schools are graduating nearly 100,000 unauthorized immigrants per year, according to a study released Wednesday. The Migration Policy Institute’s (MPI) research found 98,000 were graduating per year in 2016, an increase from 65,000 a year in 2003. California, Texas and Florida graduated 50 percent of unauthorized immigrants. The report cites several reasons for the increase in graduates like increase in illegal immigration and policies that support unauthorized immigrants to receive higher education. Unauthorized immigrants who graduated from high school used to be eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows children of illegal immigrants to work and study in the U.S. without getting deported. Current recipients can renew the status, but the program no longer accepts new applications. “While high school graduation represents an important milestone in the lives of many young people, these graduates will be at risk of deportation and will face severely limited opportunities to pursue further work and education,” the study said. The report studied 15 to 19-year-old unauthorized immigrants who lived in the U.S. for at least five years and who reached graduation age each year. This number came out to be 125,000. Graduation rates…

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Ocasio-Cortez Took a Shot at Republicans But Ended Up Hitting Democrats Instead

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by Peter Hasson   Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday attacked a Democratic colleague in the House after apparently mistaking him for a Republican. Ocasio-Cortez took a shot at Democratic Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth on Twitter for posing next to a cardboard cutout of herself. She appeared to think Yarmuth — the chairman of the House Budget Committee — is a Republican. #ThrowbackThursday last month the socialists threatened the lone #Kentucky #Democrat in Congress if he didn't bend to their radical, extremist will: https://t.co/MdS3un7IIY looks like @AOC and #socialism are calling the shots for @KyDems now! pic.twitter.com/VIe6JWZZQy — Republican Party of Kentucky (@KYGOP) April 25, 2019 The freshman congresswoman’s swipe at Yarmuth came after the Republican Party of Kentucky tweeted a picture of Yarmuth standing next to the Ocasio-Cortez cutout. Ocasio-Cortez accused Republicans of posing “older male members next to cardboard cutouts of young female legislators,” seemingly not realizing that Yarmuth is a Democrat. Ocasio-Cortez apparently doesn't recognize Rep. John Yarmuth, the congressman in that picture. He's a Democrat. pic.twitter.com/MoXzxtX2eS — Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) April 25, 2019 Ocasio-Cortez deleted the tweet after she was mocked online for the error. It wasn’t the first time she spread misinformation…

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Tea Party and GOP Members Believe Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted Cut a Secret Deal in 2018 Election

Chris Butler

  There’s no hard evidence to back it up, but sources believe Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, both Republicans, allegedly made a secret pact during the 2018 election season to assist one another’s political fortunes. Initially, Husted ran for governor, but he later dropped out of that race to seek the lieutenant governor’s job, as DeWine’s running mate, sources told The Ohio Star. Ohio voters elected DeWine governor in 2018. “This stuff about a deal the two men made is not news,” said John McAvoy, a Tea Party official in northwest Ohio who said, at one time, he supported Husted. “People around Ohio know this. It’s common knowledge here.” This matters because some people in Ohio believe members of the state’s GOP leadership can and will exclude conservative candidates not among the state’s political elite. McAvoy, however, said he could not prove his accusations. In another part of Ohio, Ray Warrick, who chaired the Warren County Republican Party for two years, also said he and other conservatives throughout the state believe or speculate DeWine and Husted made a secret deal. “These two men actually spent the first two months of the campaign beating each other up,”…

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Boys Can Now Compete on Girls’ Dance Teams in Minnesota

Anthony Gockowski

  Boys can now compete on what were previously girls-only dance teams following a Tuesday settlement by the Minnesota State High School League. Dmitri Moua and Zachary Greenwald, two high school students in Minnesota, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) after they were prevented from competing on their schools’ dance teams. The two boys were represented pro bono by the Pacific Legal Foundation, who announced the settlement in a Tuesday press release. According to the non-profit, the MSHSL agreed to permanently rescind the rule that prevented boys from competing on high school dance teams, and pay for the two boys’ legal fees. “Dmitri and Zach look forward to joining their high school dance teams in the very near future, and participate in a sport they love with their friends. They are excited for this same opportunity to be available to all Minnesota high school students now and in the years to come,” the Pacific Legal Foundation said. The settlement comes after a March 6 ruling in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Moua and Greenwald. The court found that only allowing girls to participate in competitive dance teams violated…

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Gov Jared Polis Broke the Law to Bring Colorado Out of Compliance With EPA Air Rules, Lawsuit Claims

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by Michael Bastasch   Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’s attempt to put a large swath of his state out of compliance with federal air quality regulations allegedly violated the law and state constitution, according to a Tuesday lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by the pro-industry group Defend Colorado, is asking the Denver County district court to rule the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission violated the law by refusing to consider the group’s petitions to include ozone pollution resulting from international sources and “exceptional events” in its May filing with federal regulators. Failure to do so, the group argues, will take the Denver basin’s non-compliance with EPA regulations from “moderate” to “severe,” triggering more actions to reduce ozone. Those regulations could hurt Colorado’s boom oil and natural gas industry, petitioners worry. “Such a downgrade would deprive Colorado of the flexibility to improve its air quality based on the unique conditions in Colorado and the priorities of Coloradans,” reads Defend Colorado’s complaint. Defend Colorado also asked the court to rule Polis’s actions to violate the state constitution. The group filed suit Tuesday evening. The suit accuses Polis of “improperly influencing the Commission’s decision to deny Defend Colorado’s Petition” and “unilaterally and improperly withdrawing Colorado’s…

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Kasich Excited With Biden Announcement: ‘He’s Going to Hug’

Anthony Gockowski

  Former Gov. John Kasich was on CNN Wednesday to discuss former Vice President Joe Biden’s anticipated presidential bid, which was made official Thursday. “Well, listen. There will be no intimidation factor if he were to go head-to-head against Donald Trump. I think he’s rearing for this fight,” Kasich said, noting that “age means less today than it did.” “I mean, you can be older as long as you’re vigorous and you can generate some new ideas. Do I think Joe can do it? Absolutely,” he continued. “He was a vital part of the Obama administration, and he led in a number of areas when he became frustrated with the president. So, look, I know the guy really well, and he’s a lot of fun, but I got to tell you, he does talk a lot.” Kasich said that he expects Biden’s campaign will be “full of life,” and said the former vice president is “going to hug.” “He does that. He talks a lot. But, you know, he’s going to connect, and he’s going to hug, and he’s going to shake hands. You know, he’s just going to be full of life,” Kasich said. I've known @JoeBiden for many…

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