Day: May 23, 2019

EXCLUSIVE: Steve Gill of The Tennessee Star Report Talks to FAIR Rep Dave Ray About Illegals ‘Gaming the System’ at the Border

Julie Carr

  In an interview on The Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast Wednesday on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Steve Gill spoke to the Federation for American Immigration Reform‘s representative Dave Ray about the President Trumps new immigration reform plan. Towards the end of the segment, the men discussed how people are gaming the system at the border and revealed the child smuggling that is occurring because immigrants are using them as a way to come into the country. Gill: President Trump has rolled out his new immigration reform plan. And among those who are urging parts of it and questioning other parts of it are our friends at FAIRUS.org. FAIRUS.org. Dave Raz is their communications director. He’s on the line with us to talk a little immigration this morning. Dave good to have you with us! Ray: Hey great to be with you, Steve. How are you doing this morning? Gill: You aren’t wearing your own brick wall suit this morning are you? (Ray laughs) Ray: Of course not. Gill: It’s more the steel bollard look. Ray: It’s not a brick wall. It’s…

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Rep. Carter of Ooltewah Seeks to Become House Speaker

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  State Rep. Mike Carter (R-TN-29) has written a letter to his Tennessee House colleagues asking that he be considered for Speaker of the House, multiple media outlets reported. According to The Tennessee Journal: On the Hill, the Ooltewah Republican’s letter included the following: Today I am writing to request your support to serve as your Speaker. I am not asking you to serve me. I am asking for the high honor to serve you and the state of Tennessee. I state this now, no Chairmanship, no Vice-Chairmanship, nor any other title or position currently held shall be removed. To allow that would give our opponents an opportunity to claim that any removal of a title is reflective of some conduct unbecoming of that representative. Considering what we have been through and realizing that conservative leadership is essential to the progress of Tennessee, we must balance every appearance against the effect on the reelection of our members. I will form a PAC for the benefit of the members and work diligently to restore confidence with our contributors. I will assist the Caucus Chairman whenever he feels the office of Speakership is helpful for raising money. The entire letter is available…

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Commentary: Democrats Calling Trump Racist Is Not a ‘Derangement Syndrome,’ It’s a ‘Strategy’

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by Karin McQuillan   The good news for President Trump is that most Americans agree with Republicans about race: that we are all created equal and deserve equal treatment and opportunity. The problem is that far too many Americans believe the lie that Republicans, instead of adhering to these basic truths, are racist. President Trump has the courage to express our views on race. We can win on this issue. Democrats don’t want all citizens to be treated equally. Democrats want people treated differently and according to their skin color. They want group justice. They call it social justice because it sounds better. In their idea of a just America, whites, Asians, and Jews must give up opportunities as a group, and blacks and other people of color must be privileged with extra opportunities and reparations. By their definition, Democrats claim half the country is racist. Understand this: the Democratic Party’s idea of racism is defined by group identity, not by an individual’s behavior or beliefs. You’re not biased? Doesn’t matter. Utterly reject discrimination? Doesn’t matter. White? You’re racist. Democrats believe being colorblind is itself racist. Republicans, who believe laws should be colorblind, are by definition racist. What Democrats think…

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Report: Avenatti to be Indicted on Charges Related to Stormy Daniels

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by Chuck Ross   Prosecutors will indict disgraced celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti on federal charges related to his former client, Stormy Daniels, ABC News reported. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is expected to issue the indictment, sources told the network. The same prosecutors are handling another extortion case involving Avenatti, who was once a prominent guest on CNN and MSNBC. Avenatti was indicted in New York on March 25 on charges that he tried to extort Nike, the sports apparel company. The disgraced lawyer was also indicted in California on charges that he evaded taxes and bilked clients out of settlement money. Avenatti allegedly hid a $4 million settlement that was supposed to be paid out to a mentally ill, paraplegic man he represented in a lawsuit in Los Angeles. Avenatti said Tuesday he expected to be indicted again, but he did not say that the case involved Daniels. “I expect an indictment to issue from SDNY in the next 48 hrs charging me in connection with my arrest in March,” he tweeted. “I intend on fighting these bogus/legally baseless allegations, and will plead not guilty to ALL CHARGES. I look forward to the trial where I can begin…

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House Intel, DOJ Strike Deal Over Counterintelligence Documents

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by Chuck Ross   The House Intelligence Committee struck a deal late Tuesday with the Justice Department to avoid a subpoena fight over classified documents related to the Mueller probe. California Rep. Adam Schiff, the chairman of the panel, said that the Justice Department has agreed to turn over twelve categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials starting this week. DOJ has accepted our offer, and will begin turning over to the Committee twelve categories of counterintelligence and foreign intelligence materials beginning this week. Our subpoena will remain in effect, and be enforced should DOJ fail to comply with the full document request. — Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) May 22, 2019 Stephen Boyd, the Justice Department’s congressional liaison, said in a letter that the agency would begin producing the documents contingent on Schiff tabling efforts to vote on any enforcement actions. “To be clear should the Committee take the precipitous and unnecessary action of recommending a contempt finding or other enforcement action against the attorney general, then the Department will not likely be able to continue to work with the Committee to accommodate its interest in these materials,” Boyd wrote. On May 8, Schiff subpoenaed the Justice Department for redacted materials…

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Pennsylvania’s 12th District Stays Red After Tom Marino’s Surprise Resignation

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by Evie Fordham   Republican state Rep. Fred Keller won Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District special election Tuesday night, ensuring the district would stay red after Republican Rep. Tom Marino stepped down in January. Keller took 70.3% of the vote with 64% of precincts reporting as of press time, while his Democratic opponent Marc Friedenberg took 29.9%, according to The New York Times. President Donald Trump held a rally for Keller in Montoursville, Pennsylvania, Monday to energize voters the night before the general election. “Fred Keller of the Great State of Pennsylvania has been an outstanding State Representative. Now he is running as the Republican Nominee for Congress, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement. He will do a fantastic job — I look forward to seeing everyone tonight!” Trump wrote on Twitter hours before the rally. Fred Keller of the Great State of Pennsylvania has been an outstanding State Representative. Now he is running as the Republican Nominee for Congress, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement. He will do a fantastic job – I look forward to seeing everyone tonight! #MAGA — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2019 Keller has represented voters from central Pennsylvania in the state…

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Commentary: Skyrocketing Debt Too Important to Be Paired With Spending Deal

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by Justin Bogie   Two major issues that Congress will be forced to confront in the coming weeks and months are the debt limit and the future of the Budget Control Act discretionary spending caps. A report from The Hill indicates that negotiations are underway between Congress and the Trump administration to combine a two-year budget caps deal with an increase or suspension of the debt limit. Taxpayers have seen this failed approach before. For lawmakers, pairing an unpopular action, like raising the debt limit, with massive spending increases sweetens the deal. The total national debt is more than $22 trillion. An unpaid for budget deal could add at least another $2 trillion. Congress should debate the debt limit and new spending thoroughly and separately. Importantly, lawmakers must not make the fiscal situation any worse. As of May 17, the debt subject to the limit was $21.9 trillion and just $25 million short of eclipsing the limit. In total, the Treasury estimates that the national debt has increased by more half a billion dollars since Oct. 1. For the time being there is no immediate risk that the federal government will have to stop making payments or providing services. The…

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Major Texas Border Station Closed for Flu Outbreak After Teen Death

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  A major Texas border station has been temporarily closed due to a fever outbreak, officials said, one day after a Guatemalan teenager diagnosed with flu at the facility died in immigration custody. Medical staff imposed the quarantine at the McAllen processing center after a “large number” of detainees were found to have high fevers and symptoms of a flu-related illness. “To avoid the spread of illness, the Rio Grande Valley Sector has temporarily suspended intake operations at the CPC,” Customs and Border Protection said in a statement late Tuesday, referring to the Central Processing Center. “Medical staff are currently working to provide all subjects with proper medical treatment.” People detained in Rio Grande Valley will be held in other stations until the situation is resolved, it said. A 16-year-old boy died Monday in immigration custody in Texas, becoming the fifth child from Guatemala to die since December after being apprehended by U.S. border patrol agents. The boy, identified as Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, had been detained on May 13 after crossing the border, and was processed at the McAllen center, according to U.S. media reports. He was seen by a nurse who determined he had the flu and moved…

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New York Lawmakers Pass Bill That Would Allow Congress Access to Trump’s Tax Returns in the State

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by Neetu Chandak   The New York state Assembly passed a bill Wednesday to allow Congress to obtain information on state tax returns for elected officials, which would include President Donald Trump’s returns. The bill passed 84-53 and would allow the New York Department of Taxation and Finance commissioner to release any state tax returns about those in federal, state and local elected or other upper-level public offices to leaders of congressional tax-writing committees, NBC News reported Wednesday. It would apply to personal and business income taxes filed in the state, according to The Associated Press. The House Ways and Means chairman, Massachusetts Rep. Richard Neal, wants to obtain six years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns. An earlier version of the New York bill that passed through the state Senate in early May would allow Congress to take a look at “any” New Yorker’s state tax returns, NBC reported. This provision, however, has been changed after some believed such a ruling would go too far. New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo will need to sign the legislation to make it official, but it is unclear whether he will do so. A spokesman for Cuomo said the governor supports…

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Attorney General William Barr Thinks Nationwide Injunctions Are a Problem

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by Kevin Daley   Attorney General William Barr condemned the rise of nationwide injunctions Tuesday, saying such sweeping orders undermine the rule of law. Nationwide injunctions prohibit the federal government from enforcing a particular law or policy across the entire country. Progressive cause lawyering groups have used such injunctions to stymie a wide array of Trump policy priorities. “Since President Trump took office, federal district courts have issued 37 nationwide injunctions against the executive branch — that’s more than one a month,” Barr said. “According to the [Justice] Department’s best estimates, courts issued only 27 nationwide injunctions­ in all of the 20th century,” he added, before bristling at the notion that the disparity is a function of the president’s “lawlessness.” Barr cited the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as the starkest example of a nationwide injunction’s harmful effects. After the government took steps to end terminate DACA in 2017, three federal trial judges entered injunctions requiring that Trump maintain the program. Appeals of those injunctions have since reached the Supreme Court, though the justices have declined to broach the issue for months. As a result, Barr says the nationwide injunctions have paralyzed…

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United Auto Workers Step Up Efforts at Volkswagen Chattanooga

Chris Butler

  The United Auto Workers are renewing their efforts to set up shop at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant, and this time they’re seeking outside help. When asked about this, a spokesman for the Virginia-based National Right to Work Foundation said “the scandal-ridden union bosses at the UAW really have no shame at all.” According to its website, the NRTWC is a nonprofit tasked with eliminating coercive union power and compulsory unionism abuses. “After the Volkswagen workers’ 2014 vote to reject the union, UAW officials sought to overturn their vote on the grounds that workers heard too much information that was critical of unionization from elected leaders from Tennessee,” said NRTWC spokesman Patrick T. Semmens, in an emailed statement to The Tennessee Star. “Now the very same UAW officials have three UAW-funded out-of-state Senators attempting to interfere with the NLRB’s own established procedures for dealing with election petitions.” According to The Memphis Commercial Appeal, those three U.S. senators, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan; and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, have questioned Volkswagen about the matter. “You have to wonder whether the UAW hierarchy knows more details are coming out soon about their massive embezzlement and corruption scandal, and this whole…

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Minnesota Teachers Union Calls for Voting in a ‘New Senate’ After Education Budget

Anthony Gockowski

  Education Minnesota, the state’s largest teachers union, urged Minnesotans to “vote in a new Senate” after an education budget agreed to by party leaders was released. “This is a lukewarm outcome to a legislative session that had a lot of potential for Minnesota students,” Education Minnesota President Denise Specht said in a press release. “We have a status quo in our public schools that is driving out educators, failing to serve the needs of thousands of students and was rejected by voters who elected a former educator as governor in a landslide last year.” Gov. Tim Walz, House Speaker Melissa Hortman (D-Brooklyn Park), and Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka (R-Nisswa) agreed on an education budget over the weekend that will increase the general education funding formula by two percent for the next two years. Looks like education might be settled or largely so, by leadership/gov. #mnleg pic.twitter.com/PkC34wJszf — Brian Bakst (@Stowydad) May 21, 2019 Education Minnesota’s response to the deal isn’t exactly a positive sign for Walz, who considers teacher unions to be among his strongest political allies. But Specht placed the blame for the “disappointing” budget squarely on the shoulders of the Republican-controlled Senate. “Educators recognize that Gov.…

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Ohio House Democrats Unveil Package of Gun-Control Laws

Anthony Gockowski

  Ohio House Democrats announced their plans Wednesday to introduce a package of gun-control laws in response to the so-called constitutional carry bill making its way through the committee process. As The Ohio Star previously reported, Republicans introduced a bill in March to bring constitutional carry to the Buckeye state, which would allow gun owners to carry concealed weapons without obtaining a permit. “Gun owners are law abiding citizens who follow the rules, and we need to let them be able to protect themselves,” Rep. Tom Brinkman (R-Mt. Lookout), a cosponsor of the bill, said at the time. Democrats called the bill a “solution in search of a problem,” and revealed their plans to introduce a number of equally controversial gun-control laws. “The answer to gun violence is not simply more guns. The answer is responsible gun ownership with laws that protect the gun owner and non-gun owner alike,” Rep. Adam Miller (D-Columbus) said in a press release. “If HB 178 passes it will be easier to own a concealed weapon than it is to register to vote. Our children and our law enforcement community deserve better.” The package of bills includes the Child Safety Protection Act, which would require…

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Ohio Senate Eyes Changes to House’s $68.9 Billion Budget Bill

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by Todd Defeo   State senators debating the biennial budget could soon consider proposals to increase funding for direct service professionals, food banks and public schools throughout the state. Earlier this month, the Ohio House voted 85-9 to approve House Bill 166, a nearly $68.9 billion, two-year state spending plan. Senate Democrats, in particular, seized the opportunity this week to outline many of their desired changes to the spending bill. The spending plan removes the income tax for Ohioans who earn less than $22,250 per year and reduces income tax rates by 6.6 percent for the remainder of Ohio’s residents. It also includes a pay increase for direct service providers, eliminates a corporate jet timeshare tax exemption and increases the minimum age to buy tobacco in the state from 18 to 21 years old. “We, obviously, have some bipartisan agreement on a lot of concerns,” state Sen. Cecil Thomas, D-Cincinnati, said during a Senate Finance Committee meeting. Among the amendments state senators could consider is one that centers on how to enforce the proposed increase of the age to buy cigarettes. A change could focus on punishing retailers that sell to underage buyers rather than the purchasers, state Sen. Bob…

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Ohio’s Presidential Hopeful Tim Ryan Wants to Overturn the Hyde Amendment

Zachery Schmidt

  Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) believes the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal funding from going to abortions, should be overturned. This amendment has exceptions for when the mother’s health is in jeopardy or in cases of rape and incest. “Of course we’ve got to fund Planned Parenthood, we’ve got to get rid of the Hyde Amendment, we’ve got to make sure we invest into women’s health care. ” Ryan told MSNBC’s “Live With Stephanie Ruhle” on Wednesday. Ryan told Rule how important elections are in getting anti-abortion laws struck down. “But the reality is we’ve got to win elections … we now have the federal courts peppered with conservative pro-life justices. The Supreme Court is a conservative pro-life court. We’ve got to start moving in the right direction here politically and getting elected so that we appoint the judges and we win elections in these states.” These pro-abortion comments came a day after the presidential candidate spoke at a pro-abortion rally on the steps of the Supreme Court. Ryan asked protesters outside the Supreme Court when legislators were going to “give a sh– about the baby once it’s born.” Also at the rally, the Ohio representative shared how he flipped…

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State Rep. Matthew Hill Seeks House Speaker Position

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  State Rep. Matthew Hill (R-TN-07) said he will seek the Republican nomination for Speaker of the Tennessee House. The Jonesborough Republican, who is the Deputy House Speaker, made the announcement Wednesday at a legislative breakfast hosted by the Johnson City Chamber of Commerce, WJHL said. State Rep. Mike Carter (R-TN-29) also has announced a desire to run for the position, multiple media outlets reported. One day after the Tennessee House Republican Caucus met and voted “no confidence” in his continued leadership by a margin of 45-24, Speaker Glen Casada (R-Franklin) released a statement announcing he intends to resign as Speaker at a date to be determined in cooperation with the Caucus leadership, The Tennessee Star reported Tuesday. Casada did not indicate whether he would continue to serve as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing parts of Williamson County. The entire Republican House leadership, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, and Gov. Bill Lee have all called on Casada to resign, The Star said. WJHL reported that Hill told them he voted “no confidence” in Casada and also spoke to him. “I spoke with the speaker privately about that and he knows of…

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