Month: May 2019

North Korea Fires Two Short-Range Missiles

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  North Korea has fired what appears to be two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military said Thursday. It was the second time Pyongyang fired missiles in less than a week. One of the projectiles traveled 420 kilometers and the other traveled 270 kilometers, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The missiles were launched from North Pyongan province in the country’s northwest and flew eastward, the statement added. The province is home to a missile base at Sino-ri that houses the Nodong medium-range ballistic missile, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Beyond Parallel program. At the White House Thursday, President Donald Trump said “nobody’s happy” about the development, adding that he doesn’t believe North Korea is ready to negotiate. The province is home to a missile base at Sino-ri that houses the Nodong medium-range ballistic missile, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Beyond Parallel program. South Korea’s presidential Blue House said it is very worried about the apparent short-range missile launch, adding it does not hlep inter-Korean military tensions. South Korean officials say Seoul has increased security preparations in case of additional launches. Recent tests North Korea on Saturday tested…

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Facebook’s Co-Founder Calls for Government to Break Up Zuckerberg’s Empire

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by Chris White   Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes thrashed CEO Mark Zuckerberg Thursday and called on the federal government to break up enormous sections of the massive social media company. “The most problematic aspect of Facebook’s power is Mark’s unilateral control over speech,” Hughes wrote in a New York Times editorial. The company is “far too big and far too powerful,” he explained, noting that Zuckerberg often used to talk about dominating other social media competitors. “There’s no precedent for his ability to monitor, organize and even censor the conversations of two billion people,” Hughes wrote of his former college roommate, noting later: “Mark’s power is unprecedented and un-American.” Hughes, who helped create Facebook’s now-famous News Feed, left the company in 2007 and sold all of his shares in 2012, a decision that netted him half a billion dollars. Hughes offered several controversial ideas to help break up the empire he helped build, such as requiring the Federal Trade Commission to reverse mergers with Instagram and WhatsApp, which he claims the agency “incorrectly approved.” He also wants Congress to create a new agency to regulate technology in addition to the FTC. “The agency should create guidelines for acceptable speech on…

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Denver Voters Pass Ordinance to Decriminalize Psilocybin Mushroom Possession

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by Whitney Tipton   The city of Denver effectively legalized psilocybin mushrooms in Tuesday’s municipal elections by passing an ordinance to decriminalize possession of the hallucinogenic drug. Ordinance 301 passed by 50.56 percent, according to unofficial results the city posted. The ballot language stops short of legalizing the drug, instead barring prosecutors and police from imposing criminal penalties for personal possession for adults 21 or older. “Our victory today is a clear signal to the rest of the country that Americans are ready for a conversation around psilocybin,” Kevin Matthews, director of the “Decriminalize Denver” campaign that led efforts to pass the ordinance, told National Public Radio. The Denver Elections Division will certify the results on May 16. The full text of the ordinance also included a series of medical references in support of psilocybin mushrooms, citing “decreased risk of opioid abuse and dependence,” reduced odds of crime committed by users and “reduced psychological distress and suicidality.” The ordinance also noted psilocybin is the safest of all recreational drugs based on instances of emergency medical treatment, according to the 2017 Global Drug Survey. Some opponents fear Denver is going too far on the heels of Colorado legalizing pot in 2014,…

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Jim Jordan Says Democrats Are ‘Nervous’ That Barr Will ‘Get to the Bottom of Everything’

Anthony Gockowski

  Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) slammed his Democratic colleagues on the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday for voting to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress. “Bill Barr is following the law, and what’s his reward? Democrats are going to hold him in contempt,” Jordan began his remarks. “I don’t think today’s actually about getting information. I don’t think it’s about getting the unredacted Mueller report. I don’t think last week’s hearing was actually about having staff question the attorney general. I think it’s, as my colleague said earlier—I think it’s all about trying to destroy Bill Barr because Democrats are nervous he’s going to get to the bottom of everything.” As The Minnesota Sun reported, the House Judiciary Committee voted along party lines Wednesday to hold Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to hand over Mueller’s full, unredacted report. Twenty-four Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the motion. Jordan suggested before the vote that Democrats are nervous Barr will discover “how and why this investigation started in the first place.” Jordan noted that during his testimony before the Senate Finance Committee Barr said there was “a failure of leadership at the upper echelons of the…

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Feds Allege Georgia Construction Owner is Illegal Alien Who Employed Illegal Aliens and Paid Them Below-Market Wages

Jason M. Reynolds

  A North Georgia construction company owner has been indicted on charges that his company hired illegal aliens and paid them below-market wages, according to a press release by U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. Juan Antonio Perez, 46, of Rydal, Georgia, was indicted on charges that his construction company, Aztec Framing, which operated in Northwest Georgia and East Tennessee, profited by employing illegal aliens, the press release said. He has also been charged with being an illegal alien in possession of 14 firearms. Federal law prohibits illegal aliens from possessing firearms. Southern Region Communications Director Bryan D. Cox told Chattanooga’s NewsChannel 9 that agents served search warrants in six locations across North Georgia and East Tennessee. Federal records say the owner of the business, along with his homes and other businesses, were under investigation. According to a complaint filed by U.S.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent James Rivas, in one payroll account, Perez withdrew about $5.8 million from June through January, the Chattanooga Times Free Press said. “Perez not only broke the law by allegedly hiring illegal aliens at below-market wages and paying no taxes, he had a large assortment of weapons including shotguns and pistols that he…

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Ohio House Passes Tax Increases on Small Businesses During Small Business Week

Anthony Gockowski

  The Ohio House passed House Bill 166 Thursday, its version of the state’s biennial budget. While the bill includes substantial income tax reductions, some groups aren’t pleased with the impact it will have on small businesses. Under the bill, Ohio’s Business Investment Income Deduction would be lowered to $100,000. As of now, small businesses don’t pay taxes on the first $250,000 of income, but that would be lowered to $100,000 under House Bill 166, which passed Thursday in a 85-9 vote. Eight Republicans and one Democrat voted against the budget proposal. “We had some really good debates and good ideas, and I think this budget will make a difference for Ohioans,” House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) said in a press release. “Some of the ideas we talked about are going to become separate bills in order to build them out a bit more. We’re just getting started.” The Ohio Chamber of Commerce was disappointed the bill passed, saying it “includes a $1.1 billion tax hike on small business owners, reducing their ability to reinvest in their businesses.” The bill “means less money for worker training, increased wages, new technology or equipment, or expanded operations,” the Ohio Chamber said. “Tax…

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Ohio Bill Would End ‘Right of First Refusal’ for Schools of Choice

Maggie Leigh Thurber

  For nearly eight years, charter and community schools in Ohio have had an advantage: first dibs on any public school property that was for sale. It’s a process called a right of first refusal. House Bill 43 will eliminate that advantage. Right now, if a school district wants to sell or lease unused real property, like a school building that hasn’t been used in at least two years, it has to first offer that property to schools of choice in the district. Community or charter schools, STEM schools, and college preparatory boarding schools are schools of choice in Ohio. The school district is required to let all the schools know that the property is available and then give them 60 days to respond. If no school of choice is interested, the district can sell the property at a public auction and anyone can bid on it. The law was created in 2011 in order to give educational entities first priority in the sale of educational buildings, something public school districts had been reluctant to do. But even with the law, schools of choice encountered problems. In a 2016 study of Ohio’s top-performing charter schools, “about half (49 percent) report that local…

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Pence Calls on Congress to Pass USMCA During Visit to Minnesota

Anthony Gockowski

  Vice President Mike Pence called on Congress to pass the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) during his visit to Minnesota Thursday. Pence made two stops during his Minnesota visit, first talking with farmers at R & J Johnson Farms in Glyndon before making his way down to St. Paul to talk with steelworkers at Gerdau Ameristeel. While visiting with farmers on the Minnesota-North Dakota border, Pence was informed of the importance of exports to China for Minnesota’s soybean farmers. “30 percent of our U.S. production hopefully goes to China. That hasn’t been the case, and that’s why we’re hurting,” one farmer told Pence. “One of the things we wanted to show you as far as importance of trade. In Minnesota, 60 percent of all of our soybeans are exported. Every six rows of every 10 are exported. So exports are a huge, huge factor in agriculture for this state,” another added, noting that the “biggest export market is China.” Minnesota’s DFL Party highlighted the exchange on Twitter, saying the Trump administration’s “trade wars are doing serious damage to soybean farmers across Minnesota.” “Farmers are hurting, they said it to Mike Pence’s face. Farmers in the bottom 20 percent lost an…

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Presidential Candidate Joe Biden to Visit Nashville on May 20

Jason M. Reynolds

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the latest 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, is about to visit Nashville. Biden, 76, will make an appearance in Nashville on May 20 for his “American Promise” tour, NewsChannel 5 said, adding more details have yet to be announced. On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked to One America News Networks’ Neil McCabe about Biden’s candidacy for 2020 and how he is not receiving support from his former President, Barack Obama. The issues they identified included Biden’s past problems in managing campaigns and raising money. A transcript and link to an audio file of the interview is available here. Colin Reed also discussed Biden’s challenges for Fox News, despite the candidate having a 10 point lead according to Real Clear Politics. Biden’s prior White House bids went off the rails in dramatic fashion. In 1988, he withdrew amid a withering plagiarism scandal – a mere three and a half months after getting in the race and long before any votes were cast. He didn’t fare much better in 2008,…

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Anonymous Twitter Account Disparaging State House Members Reportedly Operated by State Representative Rick Tillis

Laura Baigert

  An anonymous Twitter account that has been active for nearly three months disparaging Tennessee State House members and staff was outed Wednesday as an account secretly operated by State Representative Rick Tillis (R-Lewisburg). The big reveal came at the hands of fellow State Representative Andy Holt (R-Dresden) via Twitter. The anonymous account was operated under the Twitter handle of @CHBmole. The moniker implied that the author is an insider within the Cordell Hull Building – otherwise known as CHB – home of the Tennessee legislature since late 2017. The @CHBmole account became active in February 2019, and seemed focused primarily on criticism of legislative staffers hired by Speaker Glen Casada. However, one tweet appeared to leak that former State Representative Joe Carr had been appointed as a Deputy Commissioner for the Tennessee of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) prior to the announcement being made public. Along with the comment, “I could not think of a more qualified person,” and a “thinking” emoji was the hashtag “#favoroftheweek.” Another tweet reported that Representative Michael Curcio (R-Dickson) was chosen by Governor Bill Lee to participate in his first State of the State Address. This despite, as the “mole” pointed out, Curcio was apparently…

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More Evidence The Tennessean Is Just a Mouthpiece for the Democratic Party

Julie Carr

  On Wednesday’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 – host Steve Gill reviewed the convoluted story created by The Tennessean claiming that the Twitter feed, #ResignCasada was representative of all Tennesseans when in fact all tweets were from liberal Democrats and former failed former Democratic party candidates in the state. You can read the full transcript of Steve Gill’s comments here: Just another example of how The Tennessean is literally a mouthpiece, literally a propaganda screed for the Tennessee Democratic party. There’s a new story up by a character named Dustin Barnes in The Tennessean that highlights #ResignCasada is trending on Twitter. Now it’s interesting if you kind of go through this story. It’s on the Tennesseean.com calls for House Speaker Glen Casada resign started trending on social media shortly after his chief of staff had solicited and text messages and used illegal drugs in the legislative office building. He resigned Monday after the Tennessean published a story that he asked one intern for oral sex and nude photos. Other 2014 and 2016 texts showed he was hitting on…

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Stewart County Director of Schools Charged with Driving Under the Influence

Chris Butler

Authorities arrested Stewart County Director of Schools Leta Jo Joiner this week and charged her with driving under the influence. Members of the Stewart County School System declined The Tennessee Star’s request for comment Wednesday, but they did say they would eventually release a formal statement on the matter. School system officials had not released that statement as of Wednesday night. “According to arrest records, the 57-year-old Joiner was booked in around 7:33 p.m.,” according to the Nashville-based WSMV.com “She is due in court on Tuesday, May 28 to answer to the charges.” The station went on to say Joiner posted bond a short time later, and authorities released her. The Clarksville-based LeafChronicle.com, meanwhile, said Joiner took the position in Stewart County in 2014. Joiner joins a list of other school system directors in Tennessee who made headlines for alleged wrongdoing. As The Tennessee Watchdog reported in 2016, two former Tennessee superintendents, Jimmy Long of Humphreys County and Martin Ringstaff of Cleveland, faced allegations of gross sexual misconduct in 2015. In Ringstaff’s case, someone anonymously posted sexually explicit online conversations involving Ringstaff— who was married — and a woman who isn’t his wife. Some of those conversations included graphic photos…

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Commentary: Claremont Institute Stands Up to Google Strategy to Silence Conservatives

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by Glenn Elmers   Google tried to censor the Claremont Institute last week. The tech giant backed off under pressure, but the tactical maneuver was hardly a failure. To see why, we only have to think strategically. The Claremont Institute is a conservative think tank devoted to preserving the original meaning and vitality of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Claremont has launched a new campaign against the dangers of multiculturalism, as Institute President Ryan Williams announced in an essay last month in its digital publication, The American Mind. The essay explains how multiculturalism and identity politics are anathemas to the American principles of equal natural rights. Google decreed that essay, and indeed Claremont’s whole American Mind site, to be “a racially oriented publication”—an absurdity belied by Claremont’s long-standing fight against racial classifications, and Google’s indifference to rampant leftist obsessions with racial and ethnic differences. When the Institute responded aggressively, publicly challenging Google, several conservative outlets expressed outrage. Google-backed off, claiming it had made a “mistake.” Given the facts and applying the most basic logic, this is obviously false. The most relevant fact is that Institute staff had to spend two hours on the phone asking Google how its ban…

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New York City Councilman Wants ICE Back in the Courthouse to Make Immigration Arrests

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by Nick Givas   New York City Democratic Councilman Robert Holden said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents should be allowed to make arrests in and around state courthouses, without a signed warrant. Holden was responding to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s support for the Protect Our Courts Act, which would bar ICE agents from apprehending illegal immigrants without authorization from a judge. “We want to actually deport the criminals, I guess, right? I mean that’s what we’re trying to do,” Holden said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends.” “ICE, that’s their job, along with stopping drug trafficking and you know all sorts of other nasty things,” he said. “New York’s already thrown ICE out of the jails. So I mean they should be in the jails, actually looking up the people that are obviously committing these crimes. Do we want to import criminals? Is that what we want to do in the United States?” The New York Office of Court Administration issued new guidelines in April, preventing federal agents from making arrests in and around the courthouse. Holden directly criticized Cuomo for supporting the measure and accused the New York governor of pandering to voters for political reasons. “He used to be…

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Historic Auto Insurance Reform Passes Michigan Senate

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by Tyler Arnold   The Michigan Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would eliminate a mandate requiring all drivers to purchase unlimited, lifetime medical coverage in their insurance plan. Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Aric Nesbitt, R-Lawton, passed on a vote of 24-14, receiving some bipartisan support but also Democratic dissent. Supporters of the legislation say the lifetime medical mandate, which is unique to the state, is the main contributor to Michigan having the highest auto insurance costs in the country. Michigan motorists pay an average of $2,693 annually for auto insurance, which is nearly twice the national average of $1,470. Detroit drivers pay on average $5,464 per year, the highest rates in the country. “We can all agree that Michigan drivers have the right to be upset,” Nesbitt said before the vote. “They want this problem solved.” Nesbitt urged the Senate to vote in favor of the legislation to provide more choices for Michigan motorists, who would be able to choose plans that have the coverage they want for prices they can afford rather than being forced to subscribe to a one-size-fits-all insurance plan. “We will have lower rates, provide choice, crack down on fraud and end lawsuit…

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Report: Colorado Shooting Suspects Motivated By ‘Revenge And Anger,’ One Suspect Transgender

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by Mary Margaret Olohan   The motive of the Colorado shooting suspects “went beyond bullying and involved revenge and anger towards others at the school,” sources close to the investigation told the Denver Channel. The shooting resulted in one death with eight other students wounded. At least one of the suspects had been in therapy and illegally used drugs, the Channel also reported. One of the suspects, Devon Erickson, is an adult while the other unnamed suspect is a minor. Facebook posts reveal that 18-year-old Devon Erickson previously expressed hatred for Christians, according to Heavy. “You know what I hate? All these Christians who hate gays, yet in the bible, it says in Deuteronomy 17:12-13, if someone doesn’t do what their priest tells them to do, they are supposed to die. It has plenty of crazy stuff like that,” Erickson wrote in one Facebook post several years ago. “But all they get out of it is ‘ewwwwww gays.’” The second suspect, identified by police as a “juvenile female” was transitioning from female to male at the time of the attack, the Channel reported. Erickson is a registered Democrat who has praised former President Barack Obama and criticized President Donald Trump…

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Leftist Groups Begin Push to Censure Memphis Judge Jim Lammey Over Facebook Post

Chris Butler

  A coalition of left-leaning activists is reportedly pushing for authorities to formally censure Memphis Criminal Court Judge Jim Lammey after he published a Facebook post they considered inflammatory. As The Tennessee Star reported, people unloaded a torrent of anger after Lammey shared an article from someone the mainstream media later identified as a Holocaust denier. Lammey said, however, he did not know that about the author at the time. In his role as a judge, Lammey also makes illegal immigrants register with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In Tennessee, there is a process to censure a judge. “The Administrative Office of the Courts cannot censure judges. Judges are censored by the Board of Judicial Conduct, which was created by the legislature to investigate, and, when warranted, act on complaints about a judge,” said Barbara Peck, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts. “The Board of Judicial Conduct normally does not confirm or deny whether a complaint has been filed against a judge. However, according to Judge Dee Gay, who serves as chair of the BJC, because Judge Lammey’s conduct is a matter of public record at this point, he can confirm that an investigation is under…

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Commentary: It’s No Coincidence North Korea’s Missile Test Happened Just as Trade Talks with China Broke Down

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by Robert Romano   It is no coincidence that just as U.S. trade talks with China were breaking down last week, North Korea on May 4 conducted its first missile test since Nov. 2017. As a result, separating the trade issue from the national security concerns of North Korea’s ongoing nuclear arms program may difficult if not impossible. North Korea has long been a satellite state and ally of China. During the Korean War, when U.S. forces pushed toward the Sino-Korean border in the summer of 1950, China immediately intervened, pushing the U.S. back to the 38th parallel. Until 1953, the war was a stalemate. It never officially ended. Today, North Korea largely depends on China for sustenance, with 90 percent of its trade conducted solely with China. The sticking point in the trade negotiations is said to be over enforcement. Traditionally, the U.S. retains the right to levy tariffs against trade partners when agreements are not adhered to and any U.S.-China trade deal will be no different. On May 3 China trade negotiators told the South China Morning Post that trade talks were far from finalized. The story also noted that a social media account used by Beijing, Taoran…

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Report: Trump Administration Orders Asylum Officers to Get Tougher with Applicants

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by Jason Hopkins   A directive from the White House is reportedly ordering asylum screeners to be more skeptical and confrontational with applicants, marking the administration’s latest attempt to weed out fraud. Asylum officers are to more aggressively pursue inconsistencies they see from applicants who claim they are facing persecution in their home countries, according to emails and documents obtained by The Washington Post. Officers will also be required to provide comprehensive justifications prior to determining an applicant has a legitimate fear of harm if deported from the U.S. Additionally, officers are to focus on any discrepancies between what a migrant might have told an arresting Border Patrol officer and what the migrant said during an asylum application interview. “Officers conducting credible fear interviews should also be addressing any more detailed inconsistencies between the applicant’s testimony during the credible fear interview and other testimony in sworn statement,” read a staff email from John Lafferty, the chief of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) asylum division, obtained by The Washington Post. The new directive follows numerous other changes the Trump administration made to clamp down on immigration fraud at the U.S.-Mexico border. Border Patrol agents are rolling out a DNA-testing…

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Iran Says Will Withdraw from Obama’s Nuclear Deal, Threatens Resumption of Uranium Enrichment

Jason M. Reynolds

  Iran’s president said Wednesday the country will stop complying with parts of former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal, Fox News said. Hassan Rouhani set a 60-day deadline for new terms before resuming higher uranium enrichment, Fox News said. It has been a year since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from Obama’s 2015 agreement. The breakaway could further escalate tensions between Iran and the United States. ABC News reported that the recent decision to send an aircraft carrier and bombers to the Middle East to deter Iran stemmed in part from intelligence that the nation was possibly transporting missiles on boats in the Persian Gulf. In response to Iran’s announcement, U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07), gave the following statement: “President Trump was absolutely right to back out of the Iran Deal in 2017. Technically, the Obama administration willed the JCPOA into existence. Iran never signed the deal in the first place and it was never a treaty approved by Congress. Now Iran is announcing it is pulling out of that same nuclear deal and sets an ultimatum to renegotiate terms. How do you back out of a deal never acknowledged in the first place? “Clearly, Iran is…

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Tennessee Ranks As One of Worst States in Which to be a Law Enforcement Officer

Jason M. Reynolds

  Tennessee is near the bottom of the list when it comes to best states to be a police officer, according to a new ranking. Tennessee is 45 of 51 (including Washington, D.C.) of top states in which to be a policeman, according to a ranking by WalletHub. In the past decade, over 1,500 police officers, including 158 in 2018, died in the line of duty. Tens of thousands more were assaulted and injured. Tennessee was No. 31 for opportunity and competition, 39 for job hazards and protections, and 47 for quality of life, according to WalletHub. Those dimensions were evaluated using 27metrics on a 100-point scale. A 100 is the most favorable condition. Regarding the ranking, Nashville mayoral candidate Carol Swain said in a statement, “A new independent study out today ranks Tennessee one of the worst states in the country to be a police officer. Nashville residents continue to face serious crime that threatens our personal safety and harms local businesses, yet Mayor Briley’s administration has hung our first responders out to dry, with police and fire departments that are understaffed, overworked, and underpaid. Nashville can do better!” James Smallwood, president of the Nashville Fraternal Order of Police,…

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Lyft Opposes Proposal to Impose Sales Tax on Rides

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by Todd DeFeo   Levying a sales tax on transportation network companies in Ohio could have a potentially dangerous effect on the state’s residents, Lyft told members of the Ohio House Finance Committee. State lawmakers are looking to mandate ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft collect a sales tax on the base fare or fees based on distance or time. Officials say the proposal could bring in more than $50 million over the two-year budget. But, in written testimony filed with members of the House Finance Committee, Lyft said the tax would be more harmful than helpful. “A sales tax – plus the recently increased gas tax set to go into effect this summer – could have (a) severe and disproportionate impact on those who can least afford it, not to mention the impact on Lyft drivers themselves,” the company said in its testimony. “Of additional concern, the sales tax being considered by the Ohio House of Representatives will force passengers to pay one of the highest sales taxes on ride-sharing in the nation.” Last month, Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill increasing Ohio’s gas fuel tax by 10.5 cents per gallon starting July 1. DeWine originally asked for…

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Senate Intel Committee Reportedly Subpoenas Don Jr.

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by Chuck Ross   The Republican-controlled Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. as part of its Russia investigation, Axios reports. The subpoena is the first believed to have been issued in any of the Russia investigations for one of President Donald Trump’s children. According to Axios, the committee wants Trump Jr. to answer questions about his previous Senate testimony. It is not clear what parts of Trump Jr.’s previous testimony the committee wants to review. The real estate executive has faced scrutiny over his involvement in the June 9, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower with a group of Russians who had offered to provide information about Hillary Clinton. He was also involved in negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in the special counsel’s investigation on Nov. 29 to lying to the Senate Intelligence and House Intelligence Committees about the extent of his negotiations on the Trump Tower skyscraper. Trump Jr. did not face any charges in the special counsel’s probe related to his testimony about the Trump Tower negotiations. Special counsel Robert Mueller also investigated the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, but declined to bring charges over…

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Commentary: Major Media Stories Ignore Immigration Status of High-Profile Murderer

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by James D. Agresti   Amidst an intense national debate over illegal immigration and crime, major media outlets are reporting on a grisly, high-profile murder while failing to reveal that the killer is an unauthorized immigrant. On Monday, May 6th, Esdras Marroquin Gomez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, pled guilty to the murder of philanthropist and community volunteer Lois Colley. Gomez killed Colley on her 300-acre horse farm in Westchester County, NY by beating her head with a fire extinguisher. Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino Jr. described the “murder scene” as “horrendous” and said that Colley was slain in the “most brutal fashion.” Colley, who was 83 years old, was married for 65 years to Eugene Colley, a successful entrepreneur. The couple owned a small bakery in the 1960s, which they converted to a McDonalds. Over time, the Colleys built one of the largest McDonalds franchise firms in the country, with about 100 locations. The Westchester Journal News profiled Lois Colley as a devoted family woman, equestrian enthusiast, and supporter of “numerous local causes.” Many journalists are calling her a “socialite,” but her husband says: “She was not a socialite. She was a farmer, a gardener.” Due to the…

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House Judiciary Committee Passes Vote to Hold Attorney General William Barr In Contempt of Congress

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by Henry Rodgers   The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for not giving the committee special counsel Robert Mueller’s full, unredacted report. The committee, led by New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, originally gave Barr a deadline of 9 a.m. Monday to turn in the full report with no redactions, which many Republicans believe would be dangerous due to the possibly sensitive material that could be leaked. Nadler scheduled the congressional contempt vote for Wednesday at 10 a.m. All Democrats present voted to advance the vote to hold Barr in contempt of Congress in the procedural vote Wednesday morning. The committee later voted along party lines, with 24 Democrats voting yes for Barr to be held in contempt of Congress. No Republicans joined. Before the vote, The White House said the president would use executive privilege to prevent Democratic lawmakers from getting the materials they’re requesting. “Even in redacted form, the Special Counsel’s report offers disturbing evidence and analysis that President Trump engaged in obstruction of justice at the highest levels. Congress must see the full report and underlying evidence to determine how to best move forward with oversight, legislation,…

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Commentary: The Three Phases of Socialism

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by John Phelan   Venezuela is in a state of turmoil. After 20 years of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, or PSUV), its economy is collapsing. As Venezuelans have tried to vote the PSUV out of office, its leader, Nicolás Maduro, has responded by creating a rival body to the National Assembly made up exclusively of government supporters and rigging the country’s May 2018 presidential election. Left with no alternative, members of the opposition have taken to the streets where they have been met with merciless brutality by the socialist government’s forces. The Three Stages of Socialism in Venezuela Venezuela is only the latest country to go through the cycle all socialist countries go through. In his excellent new book, Socialism: The Failed Idea That Never Dies, Kristian Niemietz of the Institute of Economic Affairs describes the process: 1. The honeymoon period…during which the experiment has, or at least seems to have, some initial success in some areas…During the honeymoon period, very few dispute the experiment’s socialist character. 2. The excuses-and-whataboutery period. But the honeymoon period never lasts forever. The country’s luck either comes to an end, or its already existing failures become more…

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Ohio Senate Passes Bill Requiring State Agencies to Cut Regulations By 30 Percent

Anthony Gockowski

  The Ohio Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would require every state agency to cut its rules and regulations by 30 percent over three years in order to encourage economic growth. Senate Bill 1, sponsored by State Sens. Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson), requires that state agencies “amend or rescind rules identified in its inventory of regulatory restrictions as necessary to reduce the total number of regulatory restrictions by thirty percent.” “When a reduction of any percentage in regulatory restrictions, whether or not as specified in this section, has been achieved, the state agency may not adopt or maintain regulatory restrictions that would negate the reduction,” the bill adds. During Wednesday’s Senate session, Roegner noted that there are more than 246,000 restrictions on Ohio’s businesses, making Ohio third worst in the county for regulatory restrictions. “Although passed with the best of intentions, the accumulation of new laws and new regulations, over time, will slow economic growth. I’m guilty of it as well. We see a need in our district or in the state and we pass a law and then the rules promulgate and over the years it is like sludge in our economic engine,” she said.…

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Arizona Passes Resolution Proclaiming Pornography a Public Health Crisis

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by Mary Margaret Olohan   Arizona senators passed a resolution Monday calling pornography a public health crisis and pushing Arizonans to take action against porn. The resolution calls on the state of Arizona to recognize the perils of pornography and to educate people on pornography’s addictive qualities leading to dangerous sexual behavior, the hypersexualization of teenagers and children, mental illness, and more. The state House approved the resolution, HCR 2009, in February. The resolution also calls pornography “a crisis leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts” and says that pornography “perpetuates a sexually toxic environment that damages all areas of our society.” The state Senate passed the resolution, which next goes to the secretary of state’s office, with a 16 to 13 vote, according to the Arizona Capitol Times. HCR 2009 serves mainly as a statement on pornography rather than law. Arizona Republican state Sen. Sylvia Allen recognizes the resolution does not outlaw pornography but insists it is important “because it’s the first time we’re making a statement … about the epidemic of pornography.” “Billions of dollars worldwide are being made upon this industry that is poisoning the minds of our citizens,” Allen said, according to…

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Trump Announces New Occupant for Lordstown Plant

Mitch Shirley

  President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that he spoke with General Motors CEO Mary Barra, who said GM will sell the vacant Lordstown factory to Workhorse, an electric truck manufacturer. The president also mentioned that GM is going to invest $700 million into three separate locations in Ohio. Trump expressed his support for Ohio’s “great governor, and Senator Rob Portman” for their work in filling the GM void. Gov. Mike DeWine, although proud of the achievement, warned that it could be a year before the Cincinnati-based firm Workhorse has the plant up and running. ….in 3 separate locations, creating another 450 jobs. I have been working nicely with GM to get this done. Thank you to Mary B, your GREAT Governor, and Senator Rob Portman. With all the car companies coming back, and much more, THE USA IS BOOMING! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2019 “This is probably not yet a day to celebrate … a lot has to happen,” said DeWine. But it would bring “hundreds of jobs” back to the region after the GM closure left more 1,400 people out of work since closing over two months ago. Workhorse is in the process of obtaining a contract to…

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2018 Ohio Attorney General Candidate Signs Letter Saying Trump Should Be Prosecuted

Anthony Gockowski

  Steven Dettelbach, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and 2018 Democratic attorney general candidate, joined nearly 800 U.S. Department of Justice alumni in suggesting that President Donald Trump obstructed justice in a Monday letter. “Each of us believes that the conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting president, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice,” the letter begins. It goes on to state that the “Mueller report describes several acts that satisfy all of the elements for an obstruction charge.” These acts include, according to the letter, conduct “that obstructed or attempted to obstruct the truth-finding process.” The letter claims that the “evidence of corrupt intent and connection to pending proceeding is overwhelming.” It discusses in detail the “attempts to fire Mueller and then create false evidence,” the “attempts to limit the Mueller investigation,” and the evidence of “witness tampering and intimidation.” “As former federal prosecutors, we recognize that prosecuting obstruction of justice cases is critical because unchecked obstructions—which allows intentional interference with criminal investigations to go unpunished—puts our…

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Klobuchar Joins Fox News for Town Hall Event in Wisconsin

Anthony Gockowski

  Sen. Amy Klobuchar joined Fox News Wednesday night for a town hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a state Hillary Clinton famously skipped during the 2016 election. According to Fox News, the network allows candidates to select the location for their town halls and Klobuchar picked Milwaukee, which will also host the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was the first to join Fox News for one of its town halls, and it was later reported that candidates were “flocking” to the network, even after the DNC announced in March that Fox News would not “serve as a media partner for the 2020 Democratic primary debates.” Moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum covered a number of topics, but began by asking Klobuchar if she agrees with the House Democrats’ vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt. “Yes, the Attorney General is the people’s lawyer,” Klobuchar responded, saying “he should be showing up and answering questions.” Klobuchar said that although the economy is doing well, when “you go out there and talk to real people, they feel like they’re not sharing in this prosperity.” “There are jobs out there, we know that,” she said. “But it’s become harder…

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California Businessman Wants to Build Another Sports Stadium in Nashville, This Time for Major League Baseball

Jason M. Reynolds

  California businessman John Loar is leading a charge to build another taxpayer-funded sports stadium in Nashville – this time for Major League Baseball. Loar and other baseball boosters plan to travel to New York City to meet with Major League Baseball, WSMV said. “What intrigued me about Nashville is just the growth, the corporate growth,” said John Loar, who is leading the efforts, earlier this year. “With the existing sports teams and just the music element to it, it has the Las Vegas vibe without the gaming.” The group, called Music City Baseball LLC, wants to build a stadium in a mixed-use project near Nissan Stadium, home of the Tennessee Titans, or the PSC Metals scrapyard. Loar has previously discussed finance options with public officials, according to a story by Ballpark Digest. That publication said his venture is called Music City Equity Group. Montreal, Portland and Las Vegas also are interested in pursuing baseball franchises, Ballpark Digest said. As The Tennessee Star reported last September, the Metro City Council decided to pay $275 million for a new soccer stadium instead of using the Titans’ Nissan Stadium, which itself needs $300 million in upgrades. Who is the man leading the…

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Nashville Resident Warns Neighbors About Plan to Privatize Parking

Chris Butler

  Certain Nashville residents say city officials are rushing through a plan to privatize parking so they can get more money out of people’s wallets and help cover their past mistakes. Nashville resident David F. Roberts sent out a letter to thousands of his neighbors that bluntly said the plan will “screw us over” and “make our lives a lot more complicated and MORE EXPENSIVE!” Roberts live in Nashville Metro Council member Freddie O’Connell’s district. “Without taking feedback from residents, they’re getting ready to sign a 30-year contract privatizing parking meters and parking enforcement in our neighborhood,” Roberts wrote. “According to Channel 5 News, the plan will take away free parking, raise prices, and give an unaccountable, for-profit company police-like powers to issue tickets and fines against Nashvillians. What do we get in return? A 20 percent increase in the price to park. A 100 percent increase in the cost of fines. Up to 5,000 spaces that will now charge for parking. And that’s just in the early years. With a 30-year contract, there’s no limit to how much this out-of-state company can squeeze out of us in higher costs.” This plan to charge people to park in their own…

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Republican Caucus Conference Call Reveals Divide Among Republican Legislators Over Casada’s Future as Speaker

Steve Gill

  An emergency conference call hosted by House Speaker Glen Casada to address concerns among the 73 Republican caucus members over recent news stories involving Casada, his former Chief of Staff Cade Cothren and claims that the legislative culture needs to be changed revealed fault lines in the caucus, according to several Members who were on the call. The call was conducted at 1 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 8. “The call lasted about 45 minutes and Glen spoke about the issues that have arisen since late last week before opening it up for Members to ask questions or share their thoughts,” one Republican legislator confidentially told The Tennessee Star. “About a dozen of the legislators spoke up, some in support of Glen and a handful of others expressing their view that he should step down as Speaker. At this point, barring some new and significant revelation of misbehavior by Glen, I think the Caucus will continue to stand with him.” Casada reportedly assured the Caucus that there is no other damaging information that will emerge. “There is nothing else to come out,” Casada said, according to those on the call. Republican legislators who have expressed the opinion that…

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Commentary: If Deplatforming Hoaxsters Is OK, the News Media Should Be in Big Trouble

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by Julie Kelly   Without much explanation, Facebook last Thursday banned several high-profile users amid accusations they violated the company’s subjective rules about violence and hate speech. The ban applied to InfoWars founder Alex Jones; YouTube star Paul Joseph Watson; Laura Loomer, a 25-year-old journalist and conservative activist, and others accounts loosely aligned with the political Right. (Loomer and Jones already have been kicked off Twitter.) The company offered little in the way of specifics about why these so-called “dangerous individuals” were banished from the world’s most active social media site. “We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” the company said in a statement. The corporation’s vague condemnation prompted widespread speculation from journalists about the real reason why these online menaces got the axe: Jones, Watson, Loomer, et. al. are conspiracy theorists, they warned. From 9/11 to Pizzagate, these alleged villains have peddled their own sinister version of reality and spread false information to their followers. “President Donald Trump on Saturday retweeted messages from conspiracy theorists and far-right figures after Facebook banned several right-wing personalities for promoting violence and hate,” scoffed CNBC online reporter Tom DiChristopher in response to Trump’s…

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After Trump Rule Change, Minnesota Home Care Workers Can Decide for Themselves Whether to Pay Union Dues

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by Bethany Blankey   Minnesota Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) are speaking out about the Trump administration’s decision to prevent unions from taking hundreds of millions of dollars from their paychecks. The Obama-era rule allowed Medicaid payments to be diverted to government unions, which the Trump administration found violates the Social Security Act. “The rule change means family members and friends who stay home to care for loved ones will keep all of the Medicaid payments intended for them, rather than paying hundreds of dollars to the SEIU,” the state’s fiscal conservative think tank, the Center of the American Experiment, said in a statement. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is one of two of the largest public sector unions in the country that lost more than 90 percent of their fee-paying nonmembers less than one year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus vs. AFSCME. “Currently, the state of Minnesota takes money out of Medicaid support checks meant to improve the quality of life of America’s sick, elderly and disabled, and gives it to the SEIU,” the center explains. The process of unions siphoning money from Medicaid became legal in 2013 after former Gov. Mark Dayton and the majority-DFL…

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Instagram Stories Have the Potential to Sway 2020 Voters

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  Three years counts as several lifetimes on social media. Twitter may have been the dominant platform mastered by then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016 but it likely will not be the way most voters learn about the crowded field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. Instead, Instagram – a photo platform focused more on storytelling through images– has become the place for Senator Elizabeth Warren to crack open a beer, for Beto O’Rourke to turn a trip to the dentist into a policy discussion and for Senator Kamala Harris to dance to Beyonce. Experts say candidates can dominate the social media game during the 2020 election by mastering tone, not platform. “Instagram Stories has become a place where people can really weave together a lot of different types of content and engage with people that aren’t necessarily watching the day to day Twitter wars,” Alex Wall, the director of digital strategy for the Obama White House and for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, tells VOA. Wall – who is now a vice president of digital engagement at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank – says candidates are seeking to imitate the way voters use these platforms in their…

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Neil McCabe From OAN Joins the The Tennesse Star Report to Discuss Joe Biden’s 2020 Presidential Run

Julie Carr

  On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill and Leahy talked to One America News Networks Neil McCabe about Joe Biden’s entry into the Presidential race of 2020 and how he is not receiving support from his former President, Barack Obama. Gill: One America News Network is basically the last bastion for conservative news on television. And Neil McCabe with us to share some of the highlighted stories of the day. Good morning. McCabe: Hey, good to be with you guys. And before we start I want to wish you both a very happy mothers day if I don’t get a chance to talk to you Sunday. Gill: I get called a mother by a lot of people. (Leahy laughs) Gill: Oh, so by Neil by the way, you know Joe Biden is in the race and — McCabe: He is a race. (Laughter) Leahy: I will also tell you, I know I was telling Steve about this I have a set of seven dwarf nicknames for him that your pretty used by the way if…

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Border Patrol Chief Says Agency Has Made Over 30,000 Arrests in the Past 10 Days

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by Nick Givas   A U.S. Border Patrol official said his agency has apprehended more than 30,000 illegal immigrants on the southern border in the past 10 days. “This is a challenge unlike any we’ve ever faced before,” Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Brian Hastings said Monday on “Fox & Friends.” “We’re up to 474,000 arrests so far this fiscal year, and just the last 10 days alone, 33,000 arrests for us,” he added. “So, our facilities were not designed to handle this type of flow or more importantly, this demographic — about 63 percent being family units and UACs, or unaccompanied alien children.” Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost called the number of arrests “unsustainable” and “beyond capacity,” in a tweet Saturday. #BorderPatrol agents are arresting more & more family units every day. These numbers are unsustainable & the system is beyond capacity. Despite measures to increase capacity with additional temp facilities, #USBP has had to release overflow into the communities as a last resort. pic.twitter.com/vnUY21pw2M — Chief Jason Owens (@USBPChief) May 4, 2019 U.S. officials announced in March they had released 84,500 migrant family members since Dec. 21, The Arizona Republic reported. The government released 14,500 migrants into the…

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Memphis Announces Plan to End Homelessness — Again

Chris Butler

  Memphis officials have announced yet another plan to use taxpayer money to end homelessness in the city. This, despite countless past promises to already do so. Memphis leaders recently announced they would pair up with the Shelby County government to combat street-level homelessness, using nearly $8 million of public and private money. That money will go to what was once a city-owned vehicle inspection station to cater to the homeless and, according to a press release, “effectively end” homelessness within 30 months. In an emailed statement to The Tennessee Star, Cara Greenstein, serving as a spokeswoman for city officials, said private sources must provide $5 million before the Memphis and Shelby County governments chip in. “The City of Memphis already provides $375,000 ($200,000 from City Council grants and $150,000 through Work Local), and would provide an additional $275,000 in FY 2019 budget, $275,000 in the FY 2020 Budget — $250,000 of which would be through the City Council’s First Annual Community Impact Fund, $50,000 from the DMC, an additional $200,000 in FY 2021 for a total of $550,000. The DMC would also contribute $50,000 in FY 2019 and FY 2020,” Greenstein said. “Shelby County would allocate and appropriate $250,000 in FY 2019 budget, $375,000 in FY 2020 budget and $650,000 in…

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Tom Cotton Hits White House for Plan to Dole Out an Additional 30,000 Temporary Worker Visas

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by Jason Hopkins   Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, a longtime ally of the president, took a swipe at the White House for planning to issue tens of thousands of additional temporary worker visas. “Our immigration system should prioritize the needs of U.S. citizens over cheap foreign labor. Allowing an additional 30,000 seasonal workers into the country forces Americans to compete for jobs against non-citizens who drag down wages,” Cotton said in a Monday statement. The senator’s scathing statement follows news that the Trump administration will allow an additional 30,000 seasonal foreign workers to enter the U.S. through September. The work visas, known as H-2Bs, will primarily benefit fisheries, oyster shucking companies, seasonal hotels and loggers. The seasonal visas are intended to bring in people who perform jobs that don’t typically attract American workers. White House officials cautioned that the foreign nationals — all of whom would be returning workers — will go through a background check and are trusted not to remain in the U.S. past their visa due date. The economy grew at an annualized pace of 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2019, blowing past experts’ expectations, according to data from the Department of Commerce (DOC)…

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Don McGahn Defies Subpoena for Mueller Records

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by Kevin Daley   The Trump administration has directed former White House counsel Don McGahn not to cooperate with a congressional subpoena seeking certain records relating to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. McGahn lawyer William Burck told the House Judiciary Committee in a Tuesday letter that McGahn would defy their subpoena at the White House’s instruction, teeing up another clash between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration over the reach of executive privilege and congressional oversight. “Where co-equal branches of government are making contradictory demands on Mr. McGahn concerning the same set of documents, the appropriate response for Mr. McGahn is to maintain the status quo unless and until the committee and the executive branch can reach an accommodation,” Burck said in a letter to the Judiciary Committee. In a separate letter to Burck, White House counsel Pat Cipollone said the records the subpoena seeks contain sensitive internal information, which is subject to executive privilege. “The White House provided these records to Mr. McGahn in connection with its cooperation with the special counsel’s investigation and with the clear understanding that the records remain subject to the control of the White House for all purposes,” Cipollone wrote. “The White House records…

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Federal Regulations Amount to a $15,000 ‘Hidden Tax’ on Families, Report Finds

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by Michael Bastasch   The federal regulatory apparatus imposed a roughly $14,600 “hidden tax” on American households last year, according to a new report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). “That amounts to 20 percent of the average pretax income of $73,573, and 24 percent of the average expenditure budget of $60,060,” CEI’s Wayne Crews wrote in his annual Ten Thousand Commandments report released Tuesday. In total, federal regulations, once again, cost the U.S. economy $1.9 trillion despite the Trump administration’s effort to roll back onerous regulations. Crews said his report was a conservative estimate of the true cost of regulations. “The regulatory ‘tax’ exceeds every item in the household budget except housing,” Crews wrote. “More is ‘spent’ on embedded regulation than on health care, food, transportation, entertainment, apparel, services, and savings.” One of President Donald Trump’s first actions upon taking office was to rein in federal agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), that had issued billions of dollars worth of regulations during the Obama administration. And Trump’s had some success, according to Crews. Crews reported that Trump will cut regulatory costs about $50 billion by the end of 2019, and his administration issued 3,368 rules in 2018. The…

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Commentary: What’s the Goal of New York’s Muslim Community Patrol?

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by CHQ Staff   Just in case you still believe that the Muslim threat to American civilization and constitutional liberty is a conspiracy theory we have a report from New York to share with you. Sounding quite benign, Brooklyn’s “Muslim patrol” says it hopes to work with police to help make their neighborhood more “Muslim-friendly.” According to reporting by Caleb Maupin the Brooklyn-based “Muslim patrol” was founded by a Yemeni migrant and boasts at least 30 members. He says the Muslim Community Patrol’s (MCP) main aim is to be the “eyes and ears” of Brooklyn’s Muslim community. Formerly known as the Muslim Civilian Observation Patrol & Services (MCOPS, or Muslim COPS), MCP has been patrolling Brooklyn’s streets since September 2016 and leaving behind traces of the Islamist agenda which guides its growing membership. With uniforms and marked cars complete with sirens, the group could easily be mistaken for regular police – but they’re not. The patrolmen are unarmed and have no police powers. Instead, the group claims it radios to police if they encounter something that requires police action. We are quite interested in exactly what kind of “eyes and ears” the Brooklyn Muslim community might need, because the “Muslim…

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In Ohio Budget Discussions, Coalition Seeks Details About School Funding

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by Todd DeFeo   Ohio officials should release proposed new school funding formula details throughout the Buckeye State, a representative of Ohio’s eight urban school districts told the House Finance Committee. The Ohio 8 Coalition, an alliance of superintendents and teacher union presidents representing Ohio’s eight urban school districts – Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo and Youngstown – offered six recommendations to committee members debating the fate of the state’s operating budget during a committee hearing. Members of a school funding work committee have rolled out a proposed “Fair School Funding Plan,” a complex formula that determines state funding levels based on the cost to educate a student and a community’s ability to raise revenue locally. The proposal would send state dollars based on a combination of property values and resident income to determine a district’s capacity to generate revenue locally for schools. “We’re here to make sure that the state finally has a funding formula that is fair for all of Ohio’s children,” Eric Gordon, chief executive officer of the Cleveland Municipal School District and co-chair of the Ohio 8 Coalition, said. “If it were simply a numbers game, we would be here testifying on the governor’s…

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Georgia Gov Brian Kemp Signs ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Bill Banning Abortion After Heartbeat Detected

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by Henry Rodgers   Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a “fetal heartbeat bill” Tuesday that will make abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected illegal in the state, with certain exceptions. “Georgia is a state that values life,” Kemp said before signing the bill into law. “We stand up for those who are unable to speak for themselves.” “But our job is to do what is right, not what is easy,” he continued. “We will not back down. We will always continue to fight for life.” Georgia Gov. @BrianKempGA has signed the LIFE Act, banning abortions after six weeks, or when a fetal heartbeat is detected. pic.twitter.com/v6eYZkdqLW — Nicquel Terry Ellis (@NTerryEllis) May 7, 2019 The bill makes exceptions in cases of “rape, incest, and situations when the mother’s health is at risk,” reported CBS News. This comes as Republican Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant signed a similar bill in late March, which will make it so women will no longer be able to have an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy when the law takes effect July 1. Pro-choice group Center for Reproductive Rights called it “blatantly unconstitutional” and threatened to sue the state. Several other state legislatures,…

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Ilhan Omar Scheduled to Headline Another CAIR Fundraiser

Anthony Gockowski

  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) is scheduled to headline another fundraiser for the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR’s Washington state chapter announced last week that Omar would be speaking at its May 25 fundraiser along with Motiva Johnson-Harrell, a state representative from Pennsylvania and the first Muslim woman in its State Legislature. TICKETS ARE HERE! 🎟️ https://t.co/rr2d40XKSm#IlhanOmar #Muslim2020 #Ramadan2019 pic.twitter.com/r59xRUcirx — CAIR Washington (@CAIRWashington) May 2, 2019 The fundraiser is titled “Unapologetically Us: Building Muslim Power for 2020 and Beyond.” “The coming year will be pivotal for our community and for the nation as a whole. There are many challenges from violent Islamophobia to xenophobic policies, but there’s also hope,” an event description states. “American Muslims have seen political representation like never before, including the election of Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American and one of two American Muslim women elected to Congress.” CAIR goes on to invite its supporters to “join us for an evening of conversation, inspiration, and strategizing on how we can best defend our community everyday while building power for 2020.” In March, Omar headlined CAIR’s Fourth Annual Valley Banquet in Los Angeles and faced widespread backlash for comments she made during her speech. At…

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Conservatives Warn Ohio Lawmakers to Take Steps to Avoid ‘Disastrous Recession’ During Budget Talks

Anthony Gockowski

  The Buckeye Institute, an Ohio-based conservative think tank, warned lawmakers Tuesday that state government spending “has outpaced inflation and population growth for years,” meaning the “day of reckoning will be painful for families and businesses” if they don’t cut down on spending. Greg Lawson, a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute, testified before the Ohio House Finance Committee on House Bill 166, the House version of the state’s biennial budget. Lawson began his testimony by noting that the budget decisions arrive “during an economic expansion of historic duration.” In fact, if current economic growth continues until July, it will be “the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.” “Now is the time to pursue meaningful, sustainable reform and take full advantage of this biennial opportunity to make Ohio more prosperous, while avoiding missteps that could lead to a disastrous recession,” Lawson said, suggesting changes to the proposed budget in the areas of government spending, public education, Medicaid, and taxes. He argued that “spending ever-greater sums of taxpayer dollars every fiscal year establishes higher budget baselines that make economic downturns more painful and policy choices more difficult.” “Setting those higher baselines forces future policymakers to choose between painfully increasing taxes during…

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DFL Chairman Slams Pence for ‘Legacy of Homophobia’ Ahead of Minnesota Visit

Anthony Gockowski

  Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to visit Minnesota Thursday to promote the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and discuss its impact on farmers and steel workers. Pence will stop at R & J Johnson Farms in Glyndon before heading to Gerdau Ameristeel, a steel mill in St. Paul. A White House official told The Star Tribune that he will talk with workers about the benefits of the USMCA. DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin issued a statement Tuesday in response to Pence’s upcoming visit. “I’d like to remind Vice President Pence that the majority of Minnesotans did not vote for him and do not support his tariffs that are devastating to our farmers, his massive giveaway to the rich disguised as a tax bill, or his efforts to take away our health care,” Martin said. “Minnesotans pride ourselves on being open, welcoming, and hospitable,” he continued. “Pence’s recklessness and cruelty are anathema to our values, as is his legacy of homophobia and discrimination. DFLers will continue working around the clock to ensure that Mike Pence is a one-term Vice President.” Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan said she is “pleased to welcome Vice President Mike Pence to the great state of…

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Cleveland Councilman Introduces Resolution to Change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Anthony Gockowski

  Cleveland Councilman Basheer Jones introduced an “emergency resolution” Monday to change Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The resolution calls on the City of Cleveland to recognize “the annexation of indigenous homelands for the building of our nation.” “Citizens have a responsibility to oppose the systematic racism towards indigenous people in the United States, which perpetuates high rates of poverty and income inequality, exacerbating disproportionate health, education, and social crises,” the resolution states. If passed, the second Monday in October would officially be recognized as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the City of Cleveland. Jones promoted the resolution during a Monday evening press conference on the front steps of Cleveland City Hall, where he said that “anyone has the right to celebrate whoever they want to celebrate,” but noted that “as a city we should not support that.” “Everybody is free to support who they want to support, but as an institution we should not back that,” he continued. pic.twitter.com/bK6BbGAdmy — Basheer Jones (@basheerj) May 6, 2019 “I want to make this clear: this is not about diminishing anyone’s culture. It’s about opening up and saying that indigenous people also have a right because this was their country before it…

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