Month: May 2019

One America News Network’s Neil McCabe Joins The Tennessee Star Report to Talk About the Consequences of the Mueller Report

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 Network’s Neil McCabe about how the tide is about to turn on the Democrats as the Mueller Report conveniently leaves out incriminating information begging for investigations. Towards the middle of the show, McCabe advised that Attorney General William Barr is appointing a US attorney to look into the origins of the FBI probe. Gill: A guy that keeps his eyes on the stories here in and nationally is Neil McCabe with One America News Network. You can find it I know on DirectTV because I’ve got it on mine. If you don’t have it on yours, demand that they add it to your cable network. Or just call Neil and he’ll tell you whatever story it is. We’ll give you his cell number. Is that ok Neil? We’ll just give people your cell number and they just call you directly and get the news. McCabe: Yeah, whatever. (Gill chuckles) Call just to say whatever’s on their mind or talk about whatever’s gong on. Gill: Then…

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Thousands of Alleged Asylum-Seekers Booted Out of US Under Trump’s ‘Remain In Mexico’ Policy

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by Jason Hopkins   Thousands of Central American migrants have been sent back to Mexico after lodging an asylum claim, a result of President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” directive. Over 5,000 asylum seekers from Central America’s Northern Triangle region — El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala — have been sent back to Mexico as they wait for their claims to go through the U.S. immigration court system, according to a Mexican government official who spoke to CBS. The number, if accurate, would indicate a sharp rise of the 3,700 asylum seekers the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed were booted earlier in May. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation. “It has many implications,” the Mexican official stated to CBS, speaking about “Remain in Mexico,” which is also known referred to as the “Migrant Protection Protocols” program. “However, with the new immigration policy, all the tools we have to apply to safeguard the physical and moral integrity of foreigners must be applied, regardless of condition or nationality.” The program, which began in late 2018, prohibits non-Mexican immigrants from immediately entering the U.S. interior after claiming asylum at the southern border. Instead, the directive requires them to wait in…

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Montana Governor Steve Bullock Announces 2020 Presidential Run

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by Evie Fordham   Montana’s Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock announced Tuesday he is seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 and will kick off his campaign later in the day at his former high school in Helena, Montana. “I’m running for President and with your help, we will take our democracy back,” Bullock said in a video announcing his candidacy. To give everyone a fair shot, we must do more than defeat Donald Trump. We have to defeat the corrupt system that keeps people like him in power, and we need a fighter who's done it before. That's why I'm running for President. Join our team: https://t.co/TZXr9AcDr7 pic.twitter.com/XZ0LPUbtBx — Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) May 14, 2019 Bullock, 53, joins a tightly packed Democratic field. To set himself apart, he touted his work to keep “dark money” out of Montana’s politics in the launch video. “That’s why we need to defeat [President] Donald Trump in 2020 and defeat the corrupt system that lets campaign money drown out the people’s voice, so we can finally make good on the promise of a fair shot for everyone,” Bullock said in the video. Bullock is also emphasizing his bipartisan record — the governor earned a second…

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Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen Is Happy Witnesses No Longer Must Say ‘So Help Me God’ During Oath

Chris Butler

  People who testify before the U.S. House of Representatives no longer must say “so help me God” under oath, and this reportedly delights Tennessee Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen of Memphis. As this week’s New York Times reported, House Democrats altered the oath after they assumed a majority over Republicans in January. Cohen, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, reportedly said the following about people who want “so help me God” to come back: “I think God belongs in religious institutions: in temple, in church, in cathedral, in mosque — but not in Congress,” the paper quoted Cohen as saying. “And God doesn’t want to be used.” In a rebuttal, Chattanooga Times Free Press columnist Clint Cooper told his readers the Founding Fathers used God in many of the country’s founding documents. “Cohen, at that point, either was misreading history or was sorry he was called out for not having witnesses say ‘so help me God,’ like a child spotted by the teacher while shooting spitballs in class,” Cooper wrote. According to Cooper, Cohen refused a Republican congressman’s request to include “so help me God” at a Feb 28 committee hearing.…

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New Shelby County Democratic Party Chairman Harris Fights to Save His Position Amid Multiple Controversies

Jason M. Reynolds

  Michael Harris, who won election as the new Shelby County Democratic Party chairman in April, is already facing discontent in the ranks, with the politician calling a special meeting to save his position. The Daily Memphian on Monday said Harris is the second chairman of the party, which recently re-formed. Many long-standing executive committee members left, and new people, including Harris, entered the party. During a meeting last week, the Shelby County Democratic Party’s executive committee could have chosen to either take no action on Harris or could have scheduled a meeting to specifically consider the issue, the Daily Memphian said. However, Harris agreed to call the meeting himself within 20 days to resolve the matter. The meeting’s date has not been reported. State Rep. Lamar London (D-TN-91) and State Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-TN-29) once thought of running for Harris’ position but backed out, letting him run unopposed, the Daily Memphian said. Now, London is calling for unity ahead of the 2020 elections. Harris’ opponents are not backing down. They say that he filed for bankruptcy eight times, leading to the judge to rule he could not file again for five years, Local Memphis said. The Tennessee Star in…

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Attorney General Barr Appoints John Durham to Look at Origins of Russia Probe

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  Attorney General William Barr has appointed long time U.S. attorney John Durham to examine the origins of the Russia investigation and determine if intelligence collection involving the Trump campaign was “lawful and appropriate,” a person familiar with the issue told The Associated Press on Monday. Durham’s appointment comes about a month after Barr told members of Congress he believed “spying did occur” on the Trump campaign in 2016. He later said he didn’t mean anything pejorative and was gathering a team to look into the origins of the special counsel’s investigation. Barr provided no details about what “spying” may have taken place but appeared to be alluding to a surveillance warrant the FBI obtained on a former Trump associate, Carter Page, and the FBI’s use of an informant while the bureau was investigating former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos. Trump and his supporters have seized on both to accuse the Justice Department and the FBI of unlawfully spying on his campaign. The inquiry, which will focus on whether the government’s methods to collect intelligence relating to the Trump campaign were lawful and appropriate, is separate from an investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general. The agency’s watchdog…

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Funding, Respect Are Crucial for Metro Nashville Police Department, Swain Says for Peace Officers Memorial Day

Jason M. Reynolds

  Mayoral candidate Dr. Carol Swain spoke out on her plans to support the Metro Nashville Police Department in light of today being Peace Officers Memorial Day. “This week is National Police Week,” Swain said. “I would like to thank the brave officers who sacrifice their time and put their lives on the line for us each and every day. And although this is a week of recognizing the courageous men and women who serve our city, their efforts and bravery should be celebrated each and every day of the year.” “Over the past four weeks, I have had the privilege of going on a ride along with North Precinct and have visited the 6:30 am and 2:30 pm Police roll calls across Davidson County. As Nashville’s next mayor, I look forward to ensuring our police department not only has the manpower, the funds and technology needed to effectively serve our community, but that they also feel well respected by our city’s leaders and the community. I speak as a person who holds a degree in criminal justice and understands the needs and challenges of law enforcement. Thank you for all you do!” Swain is a political scientist and a…

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Ilhan Omar Comes to Rashida Tlaib’s Defense in Backlash Over Holocaust Comments

Anthony Gockowski

  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) has repeatedly defended her colleague Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13) against criticisms related to comments she made about the Holocaust on a podcast over the weekend. “There’s always kind of a calming feeling I tell folks when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways have been wiped out, and some people’s passports,” Tlaib said on a Saturday episode of the podcast “Skullduggery.” “And just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews post the Holocaust, post the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time,” she continued. Tlaib immediately faced backlash for the comments, and was accused of engaging in revisionist history. “She ignored the fact that Palestinian leaders at the time allied themselves with Hitler and that total war is how the Arab world reacted to the declaration of Israeli independence,” CNN anchor John King said on his Monday show. Writing for The New York Post, Lahav Harkov, contributing editor…

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New House Bills Seek More Limits on Ohio Traffic Cameras

Maggie Leigh Thurber

  The use of photo-enforcement devices – also known as traffic cameras – has a contentious history in Ohio. Cities first started using them in 1999 when the Toledo City Council passed an ordinance authorizing their use. They made it a civil violation with a fine, but no points on a driver’s license like a police-issued ticket. Other cities followed and citizens often attempted ballot initiatives to eliminate them. Not having much success at the local level, citizens turned to the state legislature which responded with various limits and laws. First, the legislature tried to ban the use of cameras, but that was overruled by the Ohio Supreme Court under the state constitution’s “home rule” authority. Home rule basically means that cities and certain townships have the power to govern themselves and they have the power to adopt and enforce certain regulations that don’t conflict with the state’s general laws. This includes the power to adopt and enforce local police regulations and the Supreme Court rulings have said traffic photo-monitoring devices fall under those police regulations. Then the legislature said that if traffic cameras can’t be banned, a police officer must be present in order for any ticket from the camera…

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Senator Portman and Senator Cardin Reach Across the Aisle for Senior Retirement Reform

Mitch Shirley

  U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced a bill in the Senate Finance Committee containing several reforms to reinforce Americans’ retirement plans on Monday. The Retirement Security & Savings Act (S. 1431) introduced by the two senators addresses four ongoing issues with retirement plans. Portman has made the issue of retirement a mainstay of his office tenure. As The Ohio Star reported last month, he worked with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to give Ohioans a say in the pension plans set up by their employers. “As a matter of basic fairness, they deserve a role in determining how to bring these pensions to solvency, and this bill ensures they have a voice in this process,” said Portman. Now Portman is working with Cardin to bring these same reforms to the national stage. “Half of the baby-boomers have no retirement nest egg at all,” Portman said on Fox Business yesterday. In a press release from Cardin’s office, he had this to say on the retirement bill: “Ensuring that families and workers can retire with dignity and stability is an ongoing, and strongly bipartisan, effort. There have been many recent efforts acknowledging this need, yet more work needs to be done to make…

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Ohio Manufacturer Says Tariffs Have Brought ‘Growth’ and ‘Opportunities’ to Businesses

Anthony Gockowski

  MSNBC went to Ohio over the weekend to examine the impact of tariffs (separate from the Chinese tariffs) on businesses and retailers in the area. Glen Fish, CEO of Revere Plastic Systems, said that “since the tariff activities have kicked in, it has been a benefit for us.” “We’ve seen investments from our customers. We’ve also, in terms of capacity enhancements and additional volume, which has helped stabilize and strengthen our workforce. And we’ve seen opportunities arise with other companies moving to the U.S. as a result of some of this,” he continued. Fish said that the tariffs have provided “stability and predictability in terms of volumes and continued investment and growth” for his company. Fish’s business is based out of Clyde, Ohio and provides plastic parts to Whirlpool, which has a factory in the town. The tariffs have brought roughly 1,800 new jobs to America, but have also resulted in an increase to the cost of washers and dryers. Tom Phillips, an appliance retailer from Tiffin, Ohio, said the tariffs “have hurt us because of the price increase.” “You know, for 38 years or whatever I’ve never had this much of a price increase over two or three…

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Just Half of Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Patients Are Actually Buying the Product

Anthony Gockowski

  Only 49 percent of Ohioans registered with the state’s medical marijuana program are actually purchasing the product, according to the latest numbers released by the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program. As of April 30, there were 31,075 registered patients in the program with recommendations from a doctor, but only 15,339 of them purchased medical marijuana. That’s a nine percent increase, however, from the 40 percent of patients who were purchasing the product as of March. In total, 750 pounds of the product have been sold thus far in Ohio, generating $5.8 million in product sales. There are a number of factors that contribute to the relatively low purchasing numbers, one of which is the cost of medical marijuana in Ohio. According to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, medical marijuana costs an average of $450 per ounce in Ohio. That’s higher than the neighboring state of Pennsylvania, where marijuana can be purchased for as low as $280 per ounce. In Michigan, the cost is even lower. Another factor at play is the low number of dispensaries that have received a certificate of operation from the state. The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program notes that just 16 of 56 dispensaries have received a…

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Ohio’s Largest Christian Public Policy Team Is Expanding

Mitch Shirley

  Ohio’s Family Policy Council, Citizens for Community Values (CCV), added a new member to its public policy team. CCV announced on Monday the hiring of University of Cincinnati Law School graduate Rachel Citak, who will serve as CCV’s legislative liaison out of the Columbus office. The CCV has been extremely active in Ohio since its founding in 1986. Most recently, the group was a proponent of the “heartbeat bill” in a fight that’s been ongoing in Ohio for over a decade. “Gov. Mike DeWine is the strongest pro-life governor in the nation. With a stroke of a pen, he’s saved countless lives in the state of Ohio,” said Aaron Baer, president of CCV.  Citak, an active voice in the Ohio community, is now the CCV’s fourth registered lobbyist, making it the largest Christian public policy team in the state. She will join CCV President Aaron Baer, Barry Sheets, and Averel Meden. Baer has expressed his enthusiasm about the new addition to the team. “Ohioans elected one of the most pro-life, pro-family General Assembly’s in our state’s history,” said Baer. “The heartbeat bill has passed, but our work to protect life, build up families, and defend religious freedom is only…

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No Clear Legal Path for Forced Removal of Tennessee House Speaker Casada, Despite Partisan Drumbeat from Local Mainstream Media

Laura Baigert

  Despite the controversies that have surrounded Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada the last two weeks and the relentless partisan drumbeat of the local mainstream media, the legal path to force his removal as Speaker by his political opponents remains unclear. The controversies erupted a little more than two weeks ago when NewsChannel 5 interviewed Justin Jones, the 23-year-old Vanderbilt University student who had been arrested in October for refusing to leave a private Marsha Blackburn fundraiser and resisting arrest, and was subsequently arrested on February 28 when he allegedly assaulted Speaker Casada and State Rep. Debra Moody at the State Capitol. In that interview, Jones, who is represented by NewsChannel 5 legal analyst Nick Leonardo, claimed that Speaker Casada and his staff had attempted to frame him when they reported an email from him that arrived in their office email on March 1 to the Davidson County District Attorney’s office as a violation of a court order prohibiting him from contacting the Speaker or his staff. In that same report, NewsChannel 5 showed a series of text communications between Casada, his chief of staff Cade Cothren, and an unidentified former staffer that included vulgar texts that objectified…

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New YouTube Video Warns Against ‘Bad Parking Meter Scheme’ in Nashville

Chris Butler

  Nashville residents who oppose a proposed plan to privatize parking have upped their game and have released a new YouTube video to encourage people to protest. Nashville resident David F. Roberts said in an emailed statement that the video is part of a digital ad campaign to get his neighbors active on this issue. In the video, Nashville resident Mike Johnson warns that everyone needs to learn about what Democratic Mayor David Briley and members of the Nashville Metro Council “are trying to rush forward that will cost us a lot of money.”   “In their latest crazy scheme, they want to take away free parking. They want to raise the price to park citywide by 20 percent. They want to double the cost of parking fines, and they want to add up to 5,000 new parking meters to charge more people more money for parking in our own neighborhoods. We were having dinner the other night with some friends, and I saw this parking meter scam come up on the news. When the reporter explained that the city is about to sell a 30-year contract selling our parking assets to an out-of-state company it just got me fuming, and…

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Rep. Green Promotes Income Share Agreements Plan to Solve Student Debt Crisis

Jason M. Reynolds
Mark Green

  U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) wrote an op-ed recently explaining how one of his bills would solve the student debt crisis. Green published the op-ed last Friday in The Daily Signal discussing his Kids to College Act, which is cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-15). The op-ed is available in its entirety here. Colleges could begin offering “income share agreements,” where students agree to pay for college with a percentage of their future earnings. This way, colleges and universities would be incentivized to help students secure good paying jobs after they graduate, because tuition payments would depend on it. Responsibility would fall on the student as well. Income share agreements would encourage prospective students to research starting salaries for their major and learn what they can expect in return for their studies. In a desire to see income share agreements more widely offered, my Democratic colleague Vicente Gonzalez of Texas partnered with me to introduce the Kids to College Act, a bipartisan bill that would encourage more schools to utilize these agreements. In his op-ed, without naming names, Green criticized 2020 Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) plan to wipe out up to $50,000 of student loan…

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Commentary: Did Christopher Steele, Fusion GPS, the Clinton Campaign, and the DNC Make Up the Russia Collusion Hoax?

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by Robert Romano   “This is probably done in conjunction with Fusion GPS that was making this stuff up, they conveniently were able to get this into the FBI, willing takers at the FBI, and this was all to dirty up the Trump campaign. I mean, I have to say, you can’t make this stuff up, but… that’s exactly what they did.” That was Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Devin Nunes’ (R-Calif.) reaction in an interview with John Batchelor on May 9, who asked him about a report from The Hill’s John Solomon that details a meeting former British spy Christopher Steele — author of the false allegation paid for by the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign that President Donald Trump was a Russian agent — had with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kathleen Kavalec on Oct. 11, 2016. The meeting was memorialized in a memo Kavalec typed up afterward, and cast serious doubts on some of the allegations Steele was making, as well as his credibility. According to Kavalac, Steele was “keen to see this information come to light prior to November 8” to have an impact on 2016 election. The documents came from a Freedom of Information Act…

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China Imposes Tariffs on $60 Billion in U.S. Exports in Response to President Trump’s $500 Billion Tariff Hike

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Xi Jinping

  China said Monday it would impose tariffs on $60 billion worth of imports from the United States, retaliating after President Donald Trump boosted taxes on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods sent to the U.S. and moved to impose duties on another $300 billion of Chinese exports. The Chinese finance ministry said its new 5% to 25% tax would be imposed June 1 and affect 5,140 U.S. products exported to China. Beijing said its response was targeting “U.S. unilateralism and trade protectionism.” “China will never succumb to foreign pressure,” the foreign ministry said. “We are determined and capable of safeguarding our legitimate rights and interests. We still hope that the U.S. will meet us half way.” The new Chinese taxes came hours after Trump, on Twitter, urged China not to strike back, claiming that “China has taken so advantage of the U.S. for so many years, that they are way ahead (Our Presidents did not do the job). Therefore, China should not retaliate-will only get worse!” The escalation of the tit-for-tat tariff increases had an immediate effect on the U.S. stock market, with the key Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging more than 2% in mid-day trading in New York.…

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Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez to Rally for the Green New Deal at Howard University

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by Mary Margaret Olohan   Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will join Democratic New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez at a Green New Deal rally Monday night at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The rally is hosted by the Sunrise Movement, an environmental activism group attempting to build “an army of young people to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process,” and will be the final stop on the Sunrise Movement’s “Road To The Green New Deal” tour. The Sunrise Movement has held protests at the offices of Democratic leaders such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in collaboration with Ocasio-Cortez, according to The Washington Examiner. The group announced Sander’s attendance in a tweet Saturday. “BIG NEWS:@SenSanders is joining us Monday with @AOC, @SenMarkey, and more for the final #Road2GND tour stop in DC where we’ll launch the next phase of the #GreenNewDeal campaign.” BIG NEWS: @SenSanders is joining us Monday with @AOC, @SenMarkey, and more for the final #Road2GND tour stop in DC where we'll launch the next phase of the #GreenNewDeal campaign. https://t.co/SeYQxPolBT — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) May 11, 2019 The rally comes as Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls bring climate change to the forefront of the political arena. Sanders…

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SCOTUS: iPhone Users Can Sue Apple for App Monopoly

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by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court ruled Monday that iPhone users can bring an antitrust lawsuit against Apple alleging the tech giant has monopolized the market for software applications. Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the 5-4 decision, joined by the high court’s liberal bloc, which may have far-reaching consequences for Silicon Valley. “The plaintiffs seek to hold retailers to account if the retailers engage in unlawful anticompetitive conduct that harms consumers who purchase from those retailers,” Kavanaugh wrote. “That is why we have antitrust law.” The iPhone app market is a tightly-controlled system. iPhones are programmed so they cannot download apps outside the Apple-administered App Store, and users who modify their devices to download apps from other sources — called jailbreaking — risk adverse consequences like voiding their warranty. What’s more, Apple has broad discretion over products in its store, and may remove apps for any reason whatever. Other requirements include a mandate to price all apps on a .99 scale, like $1.99 and $2.99. When an application is purchased, Apple collects a 30 percent commission and gives the other 70 percent to the developer. For subscriptions, Apple collects a 15 percent share after the first year. Taken together, the plaintiffs say…

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Jackson County Man Allegedly Stole Nearly $50,000 in Taxpayer Money, Audit Says

Chris Butler

  Federal authorities have indicted the former executive director of a Jackson County nonprofit for allegedly stealing more than $46,000 and using that money on himself. This, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released Monday concerning the Community Prevention Coalition of Jackson County. The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provided most of the nonprofit’s funding, Comptrollers wrote. Nonprofit board members tasked its former executive director, Patrick Martin, with reducing the area’s underage drinking and tobacco use. Martin allegedly stole at least $46,335 from the coalition between January 2014 and December 2015, according to the audit. “Approximately seven days after the Comptroller’s investigation began, certain invoices and other financial records were apparently destroyed in a fire while in Martin’s custody,” according to a Comptroller’s press release. “Because these records were unavailable for examination, there is an extraordinarily high risk that additional coalition funds were misappropriated or misused by Martin.” According to the audit, Martin’s alleged schemes included: • Allegedly using coalition funds to reimburse himself for personal purchases, such as hunting supplies, a crossbow, and payment of his personal electric bill. • Allegedly using coalition funds to reimburse himself…

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Transgender Lifter’s Record Ousted from Female Raw Powerlifting Competition

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by Mary Margaret Olohan   The president of 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation removed the record set by a transgender weight lifter for a national women’s championship because the lifter is a biological man. Paul Bossi, the president of the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation, said Wednesday in a statement posted to Twitter that Mary Gregory is a biological man but did not reveal this to the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation League. The group boasts of their authenticity in weight lifting, saying they are “100% raw” and do not allow any wraps, supports or enhancing drugs. “The lifter identifies as female, and so entered the contest (with no consultation with the Meet Director or (100% Raw Officials),” Bossi said in a statement. “Our rules, and the basis of separating genders for competition, are based on physiological classification rather than identification. On the basis of all information presented to the Board of Directors for this particular case, the conclusion made, is that the correct physiological classification is male.” “Since the lifter’s gender classification for the purpose of our rules is not consistent with female, no female records will be broken by these lifts,” the statement continues. Bossi also revealed that the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation is…

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Commentary: A Deep-Dive into the Other Deep State – Public Sector Unions

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by Edward Ring   When government fails, public-sector unions win. When society fragments, public-sector unions consolidate their power. When citizenship itself becomes less meaningful, and the benefits of American citizenship wither, government unions offer an exclusive solidarity. Government unions insulate their members from the challenges facing ordinary private citizens. On every major issue of our time; globalization, immigration, climate change, the integrity of our elections, crime and punishment, regulations, government spending, and fiscal reform, the interests and political bias of public-sector unions is inherently in conflict with the public interest. Today, there may be no greater core threat to the freedom and prosperity of the American people. In the age of talk radio, the Tea Party movement, internet connectivity, and Trump, Americans finally are mobilizing against the uniparty to take back their nation. Yet the threat of public-sector unions typically is a sideshow, when it ought to occupy center stage. They are the greatest menace to American civilization that nobody seems to be talking about. Ask the average American what the difference is between a government union, and a private sector union, and you’re likely to be met with an uncomprehending stare. That’s too bad, because the differences are profound.…

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Nearly 100 Indicted, 50 in Custody After ICE Uncovers Large-Scale Marriage Fraud Scheme

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by Jason Hopkins   Fifty people have been arrested and 98 have been indicted after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) busted an enormous marriage fraud operation allegedly taking place in Vietnam and Houston. A months-long Homeland Security Investigations probe uncovered a criminal operation that enabled numerous foreign nationals to fraudulently obtain legal immigration status in the U.S., according to a Monday ICE press release. Under the alleged terms of conspiracy, immigrant beneficiaries would pay around $50,000 to $70,000 to get married and score permanent resident status. However, according to the indictment, the marriages were complete shams. The spouses typically met only briefly before they obtained their marriages licenses and did not live together after becoming a “married” couple. The criminal operation behind the marriages would go so far as to produce fake wedding albums and falsified tax, utility and employment information — all in an effort to convince U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to approve the forms. “These arrests mark the culmination of a comprehensive yearlong multi-agency investigation into one of the largest alleged marriage fraud conspiracies ever documented in the Houston area,” Special HSI Agent in Charge Mark Dawson, said in a Monday statement. “By working together with our partners…

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Amazon to Employees: We’ll Pay You to Quit and Haul Packages

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  Amazon, which is racing to deliver packages faster, is turning to its employees with a proposition: Quit your job and we’ll help you start a business delivering Amazon packages. The offer, announced Monday, comes as Amazon seeks to speed up its shipping time from two days to one for its Prime members. The company sees the new incentive as a way to get more packages delivered to shoppers’ doorsteps faster. Amazon says it will cover up to $10,000 in startup costs for employees who are accepted into the program and leave their jobs. The company says it will also pay them three months’ worth of their salary. The offer is open to most part-time and full-time Amazon employees, including warehouse workers who pack and ship orders. Whole Foods employees are not eligible to receive the new incentives. Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. declined to say how many employees it expects to take them up on the offer. The new employee incentive is part of a program Amazon started a year ago that lets anyone apply to launch an independent Amazon delivery business. It is part of the company’s plan to control more of its deliveries on its own, rather than rely…

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Steny Hoyer Stands by Rashida Tlaib’s Holocaust Comments After GOP Leadership Calls on Democrats to Condemn Her

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by Molly Prince   House Majority Steny Hoyer defended Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Monday after she received widespread criticism for promulgating historically inaccurate claims about the Holocaust. “If you read Rep. [Tlaib’s] comments, it is clear that President [Donald] Trump and Congressional Republicans are taking them out of context,” Hoyertweeted. “They must stop, and they owe her an apology.” Hoyer’s comments were in response to Tlaib’s appearance on the “Skullduggery” podcast where she revealed that when she envisions the Holocaust she gets a “calming feeling” because her Palestinian ancestors provided a “safe haven” for some Jewish people. “There’s always kind of a calming feeling I tell folks when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people’s passports,” Tlaib said on Saturday “And just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-the Holocaust, post-the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time,” she continued. “I love the fact that it…

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Ohio Lawmakers Look into Strengthening State’s Election, Cybersecurity Efforts

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by Steven Bittenbender   With election security frequently in the news, the Ohio House Transportation and Public Safety Committee took the opportunity recently to discuss a cybersecurity bill. The panel convened a hearing on Senate Bill 52, which deals with bolstering the state’s cybersecurity. A major part of the initiative is to protect the state’s elections from outside interference or tampering. Secretary of State Frank LaRose said it’s an important issue, especially given that Ohio’s likely to be a swing state in next year’s presidential election. “The eyes of the world will be on Ohio in 2020, and we will rise to that occasion,” he said. The Secretary of State told the committee that, if passed, the measure gives Ohio a chance to become a national leader in cybersecurity. It received unanimous support in the Senate. Beyond the election provisions, the bill also creates a permanent Chief Information Security Officer for the state that would be based within the Secretary of State’s office. LaRose said that position’s role would be different from the Chief Information Officer, which also reports to him. The CISO would work with the state’s 88 county boards of elections. In addition, the state also would create…

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Ohio and Minnesota Join Lawsuit Against ‘Corporate Drug Cartel’

Anthony Gockowski

  Attorneys General from 44 different states announced their participation Monday in a lawsuit against 20 of the nation’s leading generic drug manufactures. Both Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have joined the lawsuit, highlighting the bipartisan nature of the issue. “Ohioans who need medicine might think generic drugs would be their cheapest option, but some manufacturers have rigged the system to avoid competition,” Yost said Monday. “That’s not how a free market works, and the conspiracy to avoid competition makes prices higher – and it’s against the law. This lawsuit is the prescription for lower medicine prices in a free market.” The lawsuit, led by the state of Connecticut, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and explicitly names 15 defendants who are senior level executives responsible for sales and marketing. The lawsuit alleges that they “engaged in a broad, coordinated and systematic campaign to conspire with each other to fix prices, allocate markets and rig bids for more than 100 different generic drugs.” The complaint also details an “interconnected web” of top executives who frequently met with each other and communicated via text messages to sow “the seeds…

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Minnesota Budget Talks Break Down as Shutdown Looms

Anthony Gockowski

  Budget negotiations broke down Monday night as a visibly frustrated Gov. Tim Walz emerged from a third round of meetings and blasted Republicans in the Senate. “I don’t have fair partners to work with right now,” Walz said during a 15-minute conversation with reporters. “They cannot stand in front of you with a straight face, no matter how many emojis are behind them.” Walz was referring to Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka’s (R-Nisswa) use of a chart containing emojis to explain the Republicans’ latest budget offer. “Minnesota is in good shape with enough money in our budget, reserves, and surplus. No need for a $12 billion increase in taxes over the next four years,” the Senate GOP wrote on Twitter. Minnesota is in good shape with enough money in our budget, reserves, and surplus! No need for a $12 billion increase in taxes over the next 4 years. 👍🏻 #mnleg pic.twitter.com/km3h8oUI2a — Minnesota Senate Republicans (@mnsrc) May 14, 2019 The Republican-controlled Senate has been unwilling to budge on the 20-cent gas tax increase or the continuation of the medical provider tax. Instead, Republicans would like to pull $75 million for K-12 education, and $25 million for public safety from…

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No Verifiable Evidence So Far Confirms NewsChannel 5 Report ‘FBI Investigates Controversial Voucher Vote’

Laura Baigert

  There is no verifiable evidence so far that will confirm the recent NewsChannel 5 report that claimed the “FBI investigates controversial voucher vote.” The news report last Thursday by Phil Williams at NewsChannel 5 boldly claimed that “FBI agents have begun interviewing Tennessee lawmakers about whether any improper incentives were offered to pass Gov. Bill Lee’s school vouchers bill in the state House, NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned.” (emphasis added) “NewsChannel 5 has learned that agents are interested in discovering whether anything of value – such as campaign contributions – were offered by anyone in return for votes,” the NewsChannel 5 report continued. (emphasis added) However, the NewsChannel 5 story fails to identify any sources upon which it relied to make these bold assertions about a purported FBI investigation into “whether any improper incentives were offered to pass Gov. Bill Lee’s school vouchers bill.” The story simply states “NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned,” and “NewsChannel 5 has learned.” The NewsChannel 5 story implies knowledge that could only come from the FBI itself or from Tennessee lawmakers purportedly “interviewed” by “FBI agents . . . about whether whether any improper incentives were offered to pass Gov. Bill Lee’s school vouchers bill.” But, as is…

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Maligned Memphis Judge James Lammey Threatens Legal Action Against Memphis Commercial Appeal

Chris Butler

  An attorney representing Memphis Judge James Lammey has asked The Memphis Commercial Appeal to retract and apologize for an article suggesting he is an anti-semite. As The Tennessee Star reported, an article Lammey shared  on Facebook— with David Cole as author — appeared on a website called takimag.com and was, at least according to the newspaper, anti-Semitic in nature. Lammey told The Tennessee Star he never agreed with the content and said as much on Facebook. Lammey only said he thought it was interesting. In his letter, Bolivar-based attorney Stephen L. Hale told the newspaper their article was “reckless, defamatory, and constitutes libel, per se.” “The publisher has used this opportunity to launch not only a political attack against a sitting judge but to assail his core values as a civilized human being. Because of the publisher’s purposeful and reckless avoidance of the truth the reputation of Judge Lammey has been irreparably harmed; he has received hundreds of phone calls from all parts of the country accusing him of being a Holocaust denier, anti-Semite and racist,” Hale wrote. “Valuable time has been taken away from his duties the citizens of Shelby County, Tennessee elected him to do as well as the time his…

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Commentary: Democrats’ Collapse Could Happen Quickly

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by Karin McQuillan   There are signs of Democrats’ coming electoral collapse, some anecdotal, some by the numbers. Most Democrats are staying loyal to their party, no matter how far how left their party shifts. But President Trump doesn’t need most Democrats; he only needs a few to get turned off by the Democrats’ radical proposals and identity politics. Immediately after the 2018 midterms, it looked as if the strategy of dirtying President Trump in the eyes of low-information voters was working well for them. The collapse of the Russian collusion hoax has changed the equation. Congress continues to dominate the media with ginned-up hysteria, but many voters are ready to move on to more substantial issues that affect their lives. Real life is a weaker arena for Democrats. They seem to be avoiding it as much as possible, focusing instead on claims that Republicans are white supremacists. The Democrats’ 2020 presidential candidates are competing with their own congressmen for air time and the never-ending Russian collusion hoax. Each one is pursuing their slice of the limited identity politics pie. All of them, including former Vice President Joe Biden, are committed to the social justice agenda. This is a losing strategy because identity politics…

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Rep. Rashida Tlaib Uses Historical Inaccuracy to Explain Why ‘the Tragedy of the Holocaust’ Gives Her ‘a Calming Feeling’

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by Molly Prince   Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib revealed on Saturday that when she envisions the Holocaust she gets a “calming feeling” because her Palestinian ancestors provided a “safe haven” for some Jewish people. “There’s always kind of a calming feeling I tell folks when I think of the Holocaust, and the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fact that it was my ancestors, Palestinians, who lost their land and some lost their lives, their livelihood, their human dignity, their existence in many ways, have been wiped out, and some people’s passports,” Tlaib said on the “Skullduggery” podcast. The episode was titled “From Rashida with Love.” “And just all of it was in the name of trying to create a safe haven for Jews, post-the Holocaust, post-the tragedy and the horrific persecution of Jews across the world at that time,” Tlaib continued. “I love the fact that it was my ancestors that provided that, right, in many ways. But they did it in a way that took their human dignity away and it was forced on them.” However, the Arab nations did not provide a “safe haven” for the Jew people during or after the Holocaust, where six million…

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New NBC Drama Wants Tennessee to Hand Over Corporate Welfare

Chris Butler

  NBC has greenlit a new TV drama set in Memphis, and if certain people have their way Tennessee would give the show’s creators corporate welfare. As reported, Bluff City Law is the title, and producers want state incentives similar to what state officials gave the ABC and CMT drama Nashville. The show is about a father-daughter Memphis legal team who practice civil rights law. Jimmy Smits stars. Bluff City Law recently filmed its pilot in Memphis. The Memphis-based WMC Action News 5 reported the show will only continue to film on location if it gets those incentives. Producers have requested $10 million in incentives, the station reported. “But legislators wrapped up the budget session without earmarking specific funds for Bluff City Law, allocating only $4 million for statewide film and TV projects, despite support from Memphis lawmakers in both chambers,” according to the station. State Sen. Raumesh Akbrari, D-Memphis, reportedly told the station she wants the show filmed in Memphis for authenticity’s sake. A letter-writing and call-in campaign is planned to encourage Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee to find $10 million in the state budget to have the show film on location, WMC Action News 5 reported. According to The Memphis…

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Obama White House Tracked FOIA Request for Hillary Emails that Was Improperly Denied

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by Chuck Ross   The Obama White House kept tabs on a Freedom of Information Act request for information on former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton’s email accounts that the State Department improperly denied, according to newly released emails. The emails, which were provided to Judicial Watch, show for the first time that the Obama White House was aware of the Clinton-related FOIA request, which the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) submitted to the State Department in December 2012. The State Department denied the request in May 2013, claiming that no responsive records existed. That despite officials at the State Department, the White House, and even President Obama himself knowing that Clinton used a personal email account for government business. The State Department’s inspector general determined in a report released on Jan. 7, 2016 that the State Department’s denial of the CREW request was “inaccurate and incomplete.” It is not clear from the emails why the White House was interested in the request. But Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton has a theory. “These documents suggest the Obama White House knew about the Clinton email lies being told to the public at least as early…

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Meet with Putin, Lavrov Amid Tensions

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  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week, as the two countries clash over a number of issues including Venezuela, Iran, and Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Pompeo heads to Moscow Sunday, in his first visit to Russia as chief U.S. diplomat. Top U.S. officials, including Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence, have accused Russia of working against Venezuela’s democratically elected opposition leader Juan Guaido in his attempts to oust embattled President Nicolas Maduro. The United States accuses Russia of seeking a foothold in the Western Hemisphere through Venezuela. “We are concerned about Russia’s actions in Venezuela, and we think the support for Maduro is a losing bet.So our support to the Venezuelan people continues, and that will be a subject for the discussion,” a senior State Department official told reporters last week. Pompeo arrives in Russia on Monday to meet with American diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow before meeting with U.S. business leaders.He will also lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in honor of those who fought against the Nazi regime. The secretary of state will then travel to…

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Commentary: The ‘Linda Problem’ and Why Democratic Socialists Flunk Logic 101

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by Barry Brownstein   Consider the following facts: Venezuela is a country with vast natural resources. Once it was one of the wealthiest countries in South America. Venezuela nationalized many vital industries such as oil. Price controls were instituted, and hyperinflation destroyed savings. Supermarket shelves emptied, and some even killed zoo animals for food. Malnutrition, even starvation, is common. Essential medicines, such as antibiotics, are unavailable. The ruthless despot who runs the country has stolen billions. He gives long speeches filled with socialist slogans and claims American interference, not socialism, has caused the failures of his regime. Which alternative is most likely? Venezuela is a failed socialist regime. Venezuela is a failed socialist regime, and the US caused its failure. No matter how you feel about US foreign policy, this is a question in pure logic. The question I posed is a variation on Nobel laureate in economics Daniel Kahneman’s famous Linda problem. Despite what many think, it is impossible for a conjunction of two events to be more likely than one event alone. The Linda Problem in Venezuela Democratic socialist-leaning Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) is sure that if Venezuela has failed, it is not the fault of socialism. Appearing on the television…

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Commentary: #NeverTrump GOP Senators Messing with Donald Trump Jr.

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by George Rasley   Just when you thought that #NeverTrump Republicans in the Senate might, just might be ready to “move on” as Majority Leader McConnell put it, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (an alleged Republican) has subpoenaed the President’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr to testify on matters related to the Mueller investigation. The Don Jr has already testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in December of 2017, as part of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. And the Mueller report made no recommendations against him. But Burr, not generally thought of the sharpest knife in the Senate’s GOP drawer, apparently decided to give the Democrats, including his odious Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-VA), one more opportunity to grandstand for the cameras and to set a perjury trap for Don Jr. According to ABC News, a source close to Don Jr. said there was an agreement between the president’s son and the committee that he would only have to come in and testify once as long as he was willing to stay for as long as they’d like, which the source said he did, having stayed with the panel for more than nine hours back…

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US-Seized North Korean Ship Arrives in American Samoa

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  A North Korean cargo ship seized by the U.S. because of suspicions it was used to violate international sanctions arrived Saturday at the capital of this American territory. The Wise Honest was slowly towed to the port of Pago Pago Saturday morning and docked at the main docking section of the port that afternoon. The trip from Indonesia took about three weeks, and American Samoa, in the South Pacific, was chosen because of “its central strategic location,” U.S. Coast Guard public affairs officer Amanda Wyrick said. “We also have a good strong relationship and partnership with the American Samoan government,” Wyrick said. “With that being said, we also already have the resources that are able to ensure the security of the vessel but most importantly the Port of Pago Pago.” Detained near Indonesia The ship was detained in April as it traveled toward Indonesia. Justice Department officials announced Thursday that the U.S. had seized the ship. Asked as to how long the ship will be in the territory, Wyrick said the U.S. Department of Justice is “leading the investigation so they will be conducting that. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, the ship will be moved.” But the next…

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Analysis: The Steele Dossier and the ‘Raw Intelligence’ Canard

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by Chuck Ross   Defenders of the FBI’s activities during the 2016 campaign have adopted a familiar refrain over the past 28 months to describe the Steele dossier, that infamous document that served as a road map for the conspiracy theory that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government. “It’s raw intelligence,” according to countless politicos and pundits, including CNN contributor Asha Rangappa, Democratic Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, former CIA executive John Sipher and numerous other commentators. The spy term, which describes information directly from a source that has not been fully analyzed, is intended to downplay the dossier’s significance to the collusion narrative. Christopher Steele, the dossier author, gathered his intelligence from a trusted network of sources, the argument goes, and provided it to seasoned investigators to analyze. But the charitable defense faces new challenges, especially in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report. The problem with the “raw intelligence” canard is that it ignores questions about how Steele obtained his information and what the former spy did with it once he received it. The FBI also treated Steele’s allegations as more than mere raw intelligence. The bureau relied heavily on Steele’s work, even though it was unverified, to obtain spy…

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Vice President Pence Calls for Omar to be Removed from House Foreign Affairs Committee

Anthony Gockowski

  Vice President Mike Pence said during his visit to Minnesota last week that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) has “no place” on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In early April, the GOP pushed for Omar’s removal from the Foreign Affairs Committee in response to her description of the 9/11 terror attacks as “some people did something.” Pence was in Minnesota Thursday to urge Congress to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and spoke with Fox News about Omar’s comments. “Look, Ilhan Omar has made statements, anti-Semitic comments, statements against our most cherished ally, Israel, that ought to be rejected by every American,” Pence said. “And frankly, the fact that very recently she’s been trying to blame the United States of America for the deprivation and the poverty brought on by the dictatorship in Venezuela, it tells me—look, the people of Minnesota will decide whether or not she remains in Congress, but Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has no place on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Democratic leadership ought to remove her,” he continued. Pence recently criticized Omar for her comments on the political situation in Venezuela. Omar said in early May that America has “helped lead the devastation in Venezuela.”…

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Michigan, Ohio Republicans Ask Supremes to Put Gerrymandering Rulings on Hold

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by Kevin Daley   Republican lawmakers in Michigan and Ohio asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block lower court decisions ordering them to produce new district lines for their congressional and state legislative maps. Separate three-judge panels found the Michigan and Ohio maps were rigged to favor of Republicans, in violation of the Constitution. Both applications were presented to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who reviews emergency applications arising from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Michigan and Ohio. Sotomayor may ask both sides to submit further briefs, refer the matters to the full Court for consideration, or both. The applications come as the Supreme Court is considering related challenges from Maryland and North Carolina, which ask whether and how federal courts should police partisan gerrymandering. Decisions in those cases will bear directly on the Michigan and Ohio disputes, since all four matters present similar issues. In the Ohio case, the lower court ordered the state to produce a new map by June 14. There is a good chance the Maryland and North Carolina disputes will not be decided at that time. Ohio Republicans said that could cause ordinary people to conclude that the lower court is trying to impose a new map on…

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Vetoes Bill Barring Straw Bans

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by John Haughey   Gov. Ron DeSantis cited a need for judicial restraint in January when he appointed three new Florida Supreme Court justices he said would strictly adhere to the state constitution and statutes as they are written. DeSantis has now revealed he also has a dim view of legislative activism, issuing the first veto of his tenure in Tallahassee by rejecting a bill prohibiting local governments from banning single-use straws. House Bill 711, passed by House 87-23 on April 25 and by the Senate, 24-15, four days later, would impose a five-year suspension of local bans of plastic straws. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Stuart, originally addressed recycling issues but later amendments attached the moratorium on straw bans, a proposal included in several of the 50-plus state preemption bills filed during the recently concluded session, including HB 1299, sponsored by Rep. Spencer Roach, R-North Fort Myer, the so-called “Governmental Powers Preemption Train,” that died in committee. “A number of Florida municipalities, including Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach and Miami Beach, have enacted ordinances prohibiting single-use plastic straws,” DeSantis wrote in a veto message released Friday night. “These measures have not, as far as I can tell, frustrated any…

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Federal Judge Calls Motion to Have Lake Erie Named as Party in Lawsuit ‘Unusual’ and ‘Meritless’

Anthony Gockowski

  A federal judge in Ohio has dismissed a motion to name Lake Erie, a body of water, as a party in an ongoing lawsuit, calling the request “unusual” and “meritless.” As The Ohio Star previously reported, Toledo voters overwhelming approved of the controversial Lake Erie Bill of Rights in February, a ballot proposition that extended legal rights of the Ohio Constitution to an inanimate object. In response to its passage, Wood County farmer Mark Drewes filed suit, saying the Lake Erie Bill of Rights “violates federal constitutional rights, including equal protection, freedom of speech, and is unenforceable for its vagueness.” In that lawsuit, a nonprofit called Toledoans for Safe Water sought to have Lake Erie named as a party in the case, but U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary ruled against the motion last week. “This unusual request is meritless. The only source of domestic law cited in the motion supporting the ecosystem’s capacity to intervene is the amendment itself,” he wrote in his ruling, referring to the Lake Erie Bill of Rights. “The amendment, however, does not purport to allow intervention by the ecosystem in federal district courts,” he continued. “Some may believe the law should confer legal standing…

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EXCLUSIVE: Cade Cothren Denies Any Listening Devices Planted in Legislative Offices

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  Despite recent claims by a handful of legislators, allegations by some news media outlets, and a recent letter from the Tennessee Democratic House Caucus to the U.S. Attorney in Nashville requesting an investigation into “bugs” being planted in the offices of Tennessee legislators, there is no evidence that there is any truth to the stories. Now, the former Chief of Staff for House Speaker Glen Casada, Cade Cothren, specifically denies that any such thing has happened. “I have absolutely not been involved in planting any listening devices in any legislative offices,” Cothren told The Tennessee Star, “nor do I believe it has even happened. I know for a fact that nobody in the Speakers office did any such thing,” Cothren pointed out that there is not a shred of evidence to support the outlandish claims, and that any legitimate investigation will quickly put this particular lie to rest. “The fact that the media is running with a story without any substance or proof demonstrates how the current media feeding frenzy is completely out of control,” Cothren added. Cothren also specifically denied that he listened in on meetings in Legislative committee rooms after Committee Hearings ended. “Not only did I…

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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…

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Judson Phillips Commentary: Crisis Management for Dummy Conservatives

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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…

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Commentary: Challenging Liberal Racism

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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…

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House Democrats Issue Subpoena for President Trump’s Tax Returns

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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…

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

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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…

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