Day: May 12, 2019

Critics on the Right and Left Blast Steve Cohen for His KFC Stunt

Chris Butler

  U.S. Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen orchestrated a recent Kentucky Fried Chicken stunt that apparently backfired — big — with conservatives and liberals. As The Tennessee Star reported, Cohen, who represents Memphis, mocked U.S. Attorney General William Barr at a House Judiciary Committee hearing reviewing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report showing no collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice. Mueller did not attend. Cohen indulged in KFC chicken as a prop to prove Barr was…chicken. Among the public criticisms: • According to Newsweek, the TV show Saturday Night Live mocked Cohen “by joking that he sent an intern out in the middle of the night to source some KFC.” Cohen, though, said one of his staffers bought the chicken the night before and by the time of the hearing it was already cold and “wasn’t wonderful.” • According to Deadline.com,  John Oliver of Last Week Tonight called Cohen’s stunt “pathetic” and “tragic.” Oliver went on to say Cohen was “biting into leftover KFC. “Or as its more commonly known, trash.” • Theweek.com quoted FOX News contributors Diamond & Silk saying Cohen’s stunt was racially insensitive. • People in and around Memphis wrote angry letters to The Memphis Commercial Appeal over…

Read the full story

Judson Phillips Commentary: Crisis Management for Dummy Conservatives

Admin

by Judson Phillips   In the age of Trump, something has become obvious. The news media is the enemy of conservatives. Across Tennessee and the nation, we see the liberal media attack conservatives with the single objective of destroying the conservative. Why shouldn’t the left wing media attack conservatives? After all, conservatives are the worst in managing media created crises. Any conservative who is involved in politics is subject to a media witch hunt. Any conservative out there must understand the rules. Rule 1. They are the enemy. Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit likes to say, “if you just think of them as Democrat activists with a byline, you won’t go wrong.” The quotable Jim Treacher famously said in 2014, “Modern journalism is all about deciding which facts the public shouldn’t know because they might reflect badly on Democrats.” The corollary is modern journalism is all about finding facts or at least allegations that they want to tell the public about because they will reflect badly on conservatives. Understand, when the media calls, they want to make a conservative look bad. Rule 2. You have the right to remain silent. The question is, do you have the ability? When the media…

Read the full story

Commentary: Challenging Liberal Racism

Admin

by Edward Ring   About a year ago, Vice published an article by Kesiena Boom called “100 Ways White People Can Make Life Less Frustrating For People of Color.” Offered as a way for the “anxious [White] allies of the world” to “be the change,” the article serves as a pretty good example of leftist attitudes on race. But what if these leftist, liberal attitudes are themselves racist? By now we’re all familiar with the broad outlines of this narrative. Racism is real whether you can see it or not (No. 1). Don’t engage in “cultural appropriation” (No. 11). Don’t claim to know what is or isn’t racist (No. 17). Realize that “some days are mentally exhausting for people of color” (No. 20). Make a fuss if a collection of art, music, literature, or whatever, doesn’t include proportional representation by people of color (No. 27). Understand the “intersections of race and gender” (No. 43). Shut up and “just listen” (No. 68). Perhaps the biggest common thread in Boom’s article is its air of moral superiority. People of color will dictate the terms of any discussion on race, and white people will keep quiet and listen. The problem with accepting this…

Read the full story

House Democrats Issue Subpoena for President Trump’s Tax Returns

Admin

by Molly Prince   House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal subpoenaed the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service on Friday to obtain President Donald Trump’s last six tax returns. “After reviewing the options available to me, and upon the advice of counsel, I issued a subpoena today to the secretary of the Treasury and the commissioner of the I.R.S. for six years of personal and business returns,” Neal told The New York Times. “While I do not take this step lightly, I believe this action gives us the best opportunity to succeed and obtain the requested material.” Neal sent the subpoena to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and I.R.S. commissioner Charles Rettig following Mnuchin’s refusal on Monday to provide House Democrats access to Trump’s personal and business tax returns dating back to the year 2013. Mnuchin contended at the time that the request was politically motivated. He further argued that turning the documents over would violate taxpayer privacy laws and warned that lawmakers would be vulnerable to the same prying. House Democrats have been threatening for years to seize Trump’s tax returns. The president notably caused an outcry after he disregarded decades of precedent by…

Read the full story

Raising Budget Caps Is ‘Last Thing We Need’ with $22 Trillion Debt, Lawmaker Says

Admin

by Rachel del Guidice   Republicans in the conservative House Freedom Caucus are opposing Democrats’ attempts to increase discretionary spending despite a national debt of more than $22 trillion. “Our country is $22 trillion in debt,” the group said in a statement released Friday. “The spending caps are one of the few tools left to slow down the runaway growth of the federal budget. We will oppose another deal to blow through these limits.” The Budget Control Act, passed in 2011, sought to curb government spending and control the growth of federal programs, capping discretionary spending at $1.07 trillion for fiscal year 2018, which began Oct. 1, 2017. According to a recent opinion column by Justin Bogie, a senior policy analyst in fiscal affairs at The Heritage Foundation, Democrats are looking to raise the Budget Control Act’s discretionary spending caps by at least $357 billion for 2020-2021. Of the new funding, $178 billion would go toward national defense, while the other $179 billion would be reserved for domestic programs. Government funding runs out at the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30, and The Hill reported that lawmakers implied there could be another government shutdown if Democrats and…

Read the full story

HUD Says Trump Plan to Evict Illegals Could Leave 55,000 Children Homeless

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   The Department of Housing and Urban Development concluded a new proposal to evict illegal aliens from government-subsidized homes would send over 55,000 children out into the streets. The proposal, which was first reported by The Daily Caller in April, is meant to tighten regulations surrounding federal subsidies for low-income housing. Under current law, illegal immigrants are barred from receiving federal housing subsidies, but families of mixed-immigration status can score these benefits if at least one of the members was born in the U.S. or is the spouse of a citizen. The new White House proposal, pushed by senior adviser Stephen Miller, would require that all family members be of “eligible immigration status.” “We’ve got our own people to house and we need to take care of our citizens,” an administration official told The Caller in April. “Because of past loopholes in HUD guidance, illegal aliens were able to live in free public housing desperately needed by so many of our own citizens. As illegal aliens attempt to swarm our borders, we’re sending the message that you can’t live off of American welfare on the taxpayers’ dime.” An analysis by the Department of Housing and Urban Development…

Read the full story

Report: Suspected Colorado School Shooter’s Dad Was Deported Twice

Admin

by Neetu Chandak   The father of a Colorado school shooting suspect was deported twice and had a history of domestic violence, according to records obtained by Daily Mail. Jose Evis Quintana, father of shooting suspect Maya “Alec” McKinney, is a Mexican national and was deported on April 21, 2017 and on Dec. 9, 2010, Daily Mail reported. McKinney, along with Devon Erickson, are suspected shooters at STEM School Highlands Ranch, which left one dead and eight students with injuries Tuesday. Douglas County Sheriff’s Department also arrested Quintana in 2008 for kidnapping, menacing with a weapon, evading police in a car and driving without a valid license, Daily Mail reported. He was released on bail, however. EXCLUSIVE: Mexican father of alleged Colorado school shooter Alec McKinney was jailed for a weapons offense and deported TWICE https://t.co/Kc4SgkMOoA — Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) May 10, 2019 His criminal history includes a domestic violence offense against hairstylist Morgan Lynn McKinney and “menacing with a weapon” in 2009, according to Daily Mail. He was sentenced to 15 months of prison when all the charges, besides the charge against Morgan McKinney, were dropped. Quintana and McKinney were in a long-term relationship when they had Alec…

Read the full story

Commentary: All Good Mothers Have One Trait in Common

Admin

by Jeff Minick   This is the day we honor the mother who bore us, reared us, laughed with us (and sometimes laughed in private at us), argued with us, taught us everything from table manners to hygiene, protected us, and believed in us. She picked us up when we fell on the playground, and quieted us or welcomed us to her bed when we had nightmares. She changed thousands of diapers, told us a thousand times to put our napkins in our lap and to chew our food with our lips closed, prepared our meals and our lunches for school, washed and dried our laundry, and drove us to dance class or football practice. She taught us nursery rhymes, read us fairy tales, told us that green shirts and blue pants clash when worn together, checked our fourth-grade homework, and answered questions ranging from “How come the sky is blue?” to “Why are boys so weird?” She applauded our accomplishments, fretted over our failures, smiled over our antics as toddlers, and wept in her bedroom when we hurt her as teenagers. Motherhood is about love. And love — especially maternal love — is about sacrifice. That last sentence is…

Read the full story

Former ICE Director: Congress Hates Trump More Than They Want to Fix the Border

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Thomas Homan, the former acting director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), eviscerated Democratic lawmakers who oppose the president’s border efforts. “Look, I’ve been saying for months: Congress doesn’t care,” Homan said Friday on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “Look, I think their resistance to Trump … they want to see the president fail on the number one campaign promise. I said it many times. They’re putting their hatred of this president above their responsibilities to secure this border.” “They can’t be ignorant to what’s happening,” Homan, a longtime veteran of immigration enforcement, continued. “All you got to do is watch the videos, watch the borders. The borders … I’ve done this 34 years. It is unprecedented. I’ve never seen it this bad on the border. They’re sitting there watching the parade go by. Nothing is happening and they’re watching.” The former ICE chief, who said that 9 out of 10 migrant families do not show up to their court hearing, claimed that the situation is “out of control” and the “worse I’ve ever seen it.” Homan’s comments come as the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border continues to escalate. A total of 109,144 illegal migrants were either…

Read the full story

Ebola Outbreak Could Spiral Beyond DRC, WHO Warns

Admin

  Armed attacks, misinformation and a growing funding gap continue to impede the response to the Ebola outbreak in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with the World Health Organization warning that the situation could spiral out of control. Insecurity leaves response teams “unable to perform robust surveillance nor deliver much-needed treatment and immunizations,” the WHO reported Friday in its latest update on the outbreak confirmed last August. The health organization warned that “without commitment from all groups to cease these attacks, it is unlikely that this EVD [Ebola virus disease] outbreak can remain successfully contained in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.” The disease could spill into other parts of the country and across the borders of neighboring Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan, the health organization suggested. This month alone has brought setbacks such as a violent assault on a burial team in the town of Katwa and a gunfight between at least 50 armed militia and security forces in the city of Butembo, WHO reported. Mourners also buried Richard Valery Mouzoko Kiboung, a 41-year-old Cameroonian doctor killed April 19 while working for WHO and meeting with other front-line workers at Butembo University Hospital. The threats continue. On Thursday, a…

Read the full story

The Second Amendment Saved These Gun Owners’ Lives in April

Admin

by Amy Swearer   The right to keep and bear arms is based on the natural, immutable right to defend oneself and one’s liberties from crime and tyranny. Unfortunately, too many well-intentioned people today advocate severely restricting the ability of law-abiding Americans to defend themselves and others with the most effective firearms. Their desire for strict gun control laws is based largely on misperceptions. They believe that Americans rarely use firearms to protect their rights and liberties, and they think commonly proposed gun control laws will meaningfully address gun-related violence. But the reality is quite different. Measures like universal background checks, depriving young adults of their Second Amendment rights, and banning commonly owned semi-automatic firearms or magazines impose huge burdens on law-abiding gun owners, and they fail to address the underlying realities of suicidal and criminal behavior. Moreover, it is undeniable that Americans use guns in self-defense on far more occasions than criminals use them to commit crimes. Yet those defensive gun uses rarely receive the amount of attention given to criminal gun uses. Every month so far this year, we’ve highlighted just a few of the tens of thousands of Americans who exercised their right to keep and bear…

Read the full story

Liz Cheney Fires Back After Ilhan Omar Accuses Her of Lying: ‘An Anti-Semitic Socialist’

Admin

by Molly Prince   GOP Conference chair Liz Cheney had some strong words for Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar on Friday after the freshman congresswoman accused Cheney, without evidence, of lying. “Liz Cheney is accusing a committee investigating Russian election interference of…helping Vladimir Putin,” Omar tweeted. “This is an impressive lie even for the Cheney family.” Omar’s comments were in response to the Wyoming congresswoman’s assertion that Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee were undermining American democracy and thereby helping Russian President Vladimir Putin. The decision by the Judiciary Committee to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress triggered Cheney’s remarks. “If you look at what we know and what we know from the Mueller report and other places, it’s absolutely clear the Russians have attempted. A number of them were indicted for attempting to influence, to undermine our democratic processes,” Cheney said during a press conference on Wednesday. “The Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are doing exactly what Vladimir Putin would do if he could.” Cheney stood by her remarks and fired back at Omar. “No surprise [Omar], an anti-Semitic Socialist who slanders US troops and carries water for Hamas and Maduro, doesn’t recognize the truth when…

Read the full story

Acting Pentagon Chief Wants Secure Border Without Continuous Military Aid

Admin

  On a trip to a border city in Texas, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Saturday he intends to accelerate planning to secure the border and bolster the government’s ability to accomplish that without the Pentagon’s continuous help. He also offered assurances to perhaps two dozen Border Patrol agents and other officials at the McAllen Border Patrol Station that the Pentagon would not withdraw its military support prematurely. “We’re not going to leave until the border is secure,” he said, adding, “This isn’t about identifying a problem. It’s about fixing a problem more quickly.” Shanahan told Congress this past week that there are 4,364 military troops on the border, including active-duty and National Guard. They are erecting barriers, providing logistics and transportation service and other activities in support of Customs and Border Protection. The troops are prohibited from performing law enforcement duties. Troops have been deployed on the border since last October and are committed to being there through September. While flying to Texas, he dismissed any suggestion that active-duty forces will extend their mission for the long haul. “It will not be indefinite,” he told reporters traveling with him. Shanahan also said he has instructed a two-star Army…

Read the full story

US Sending More Military Power to Counter Iranian Threat

Admin

  The United States military is once again increasing its arsenal in the Middle East to counter Iranian threats, announcing Friday the movement of a Patriot missile battery and the USS Arlington landing platform dock ship used in amphibious assaults. The move comes a day after The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group and four B-52 bombers arrived in the Middle East in response to concerns Iran may be planning an attack against American targets. “It’s important that Iran understands that an attack on Americans or its interests will be met with an appropriate response,” Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan said Friday. “We’re in the Middle East to defeat terrorism, fight and build security … but we will protect ourselves.” The Iranian threat was both “on land and sea” and included commercial shows that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a branch of Iran’s armed forces, loaded with “potential military hardware to include missiles,” a senior military official told reporters at the Pentagon. The USS Arlington will be replacing the USS Fort McHenry to provide “additional command and control capability in the region,” which would “speed up the ability to respond” to any threat, the official added. Pentagon…

Read the full story

Klobuchar Steps Up Attacks on Trump During Visit to Puerto Rico

Anthony Gockowski

  Sen. Amy Klobuchar spent the weekend visiting with leaders in Puerto Rico and repeatedly attacked President Donald Trump for his response to Hurricane Maria ahead of her visit to the U.S. territory. “A lot of it has to do with this president, who continually wants to look at Puerto Rico in a different way when in fact there are citizens there, there are people, this is a U.S. territory. And he’s someone who just wants to look at them and let them go, I guess,” Klobuchar said on Rachel Maddow’s show Thursday night. Joined @maddow last night to talk about what it's like to run for president and why I'm headed to Puerto Rico pic.twitter.com/HSSl6zZUq3 — Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 10, 2019 “You have people that need so much help, that lost everything—that lost their homes, that lost their hospitals, that lost their schools,” she continued. “We respond. We don’t just let them out. We did it when New Jersey needed help, we helped them. When North Dakota needed help with Grand Forks and that flood, we helped them. We come together as a nation.” “This president just looks for divides,” Klobuchar concluded. “He wants to blame people in…

Read the full story

Conservatives Tackle ‘Stigmas’ Surrounding Vo-Ed in Ohio

Anthony Gockowski

  Ohio’s Future Foundation, chaired by former Congressman Jim Renacci, hosted a forum last week on the stigmas and misconceptions surrounding vocational education programs. The forum was hosted at Pioneer Career and Technology Center, whose superintendent said that skilled welders who graduate from the school can “easily make six figures just a few years out of high school.” “They’re hundreds of thousands of dollars ahead in just a few years,” said Greg Nickoli, who noted that graduates enter the workforce making $18 to $20 an hour. “One of the big misconceptions is that you’re going to go right in to work and it’s probably going to be a low-paying job. And I can tell you there’s nothing further from the truth,” he continued. “I would venture to say that most college graduates would jump at a chance to make $60,000 a year.” He also stressed that vo-ed graduates aren’t burdened with the debt that comes from a traditional four-year degree. That’s why Renacci and Ohio’s Future Foundation are spreading the word about vocational education opportunities in Ohio. “It’s something we believe needs to be prioritized in our state. We need to make sure that our high schools can continue to…

Read the full story

Bill Maher Questions Tim Ryan’s Plan to Run Against the Economy

Anthony Gockowski

  2020 Democrat Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) was on Real Time with Bill Maher Friday night where the host suggested that “it’s kind of hard to run against the economy in Ohio.” “The reality of it is most people are still struggling to make ends meet. I’ve been living that for the last 45 years outside of Youngstown, Ohio,” Ryan said. “I’ve been studying and trying to figure out how do we get this economy working for working class people.” “But aren’t they all saying that? I’m asking you why you’re different. You’re telling me what everyone of them has said,” Maher replied. “Here’s where I’m different: I know what direction we need to go in,” Ryan said. “I know where the economy’s going.” “Where? What do you know they don’t know?” Maher interjected. “Well, right now, nowhere,” Ryan suggested. “Well, come on. The economy is not horrible. 4.4 percent is the unemployment rate in Ohio. It’s kind of hard to run against the economy in Ohio, isn’t it?” Maher asked. “No, because the average wage has only gone up 20 bucks a week,” Ryan responded. “Wages did finally rise. We have to admit. Trump is president for two years.…

Read the full story

House Speaker Casada’s Former Chief of Staff Accused of Bugging Legislative Committee Rooms, The Tennessean Says

Jason M. Reynolds

  A newspaper claims that House Speaker Glen Casada’s former chief of staff once bragged to a reporter that he had bugged legislative committee meeting rooms and now a Democratic leader is calling for an investigation. Joel Ebert of The Tennessean reported last week that the ex-chief of staff, Cade Cothren, told a reporter earlier this year that he could view and listen to people in the rooms whenever he wanted. The story is available here. Last week, Cothren denied the comments as well as his ability to eavesdrop. Also, The Tennessean said that white noise machines, which hamper the ability to eavesdrop, were located in the ceilings of the hallways inside and outside of Casada’s office. The newspaper says several lawmakers had expressed concern someone might be recording their conversations in private meetings, but the publication did not name names other than Casada. Ebert, the statehouse reporter for The Tennessean, now says State Rep. Mike Stewart (D-TN-52), chairman of the Democratic House Caucus, has called for a federal investigation. On Wednesday, Ebert tweeted, “Here is a copy of the letter that @RepMikeStewart sent to the US Attorney’s office today, asking for a probe into the information I wrote about…

Read the full story