Month: June 2019

Trump Meets Kim at DMZ, Crosses Into North Korea

Admin

by William Gallo   Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to visit North Korea, stepping across the border during a meeting at the demilitarized zone with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. After shaking hands with Kim at the Panmunjom border village, Trump walked across the military demarcation line separating the two Koreas. Kim and Trump then crossed the border back into South Korea. “Good to see you again,” Kim told Trump. “I never expected to see you in this place.” “Stepping across that line was a great honor,” said Trump, who invited Kim to the United States for another meeting. pic.twitter.com/bpbcInzUqn — Dan Scavino Jr. Archived (@Scavino45) June 30, 2019 Trump on Saturday had said the meeting would only last two minutes. However, Trump’s private talks with Kim lasted about 50 minutes, turning into an impromptu summit. When Trump emerged from the meeting, he announced he and Kim had agreed to form teams to restart working level talks. “They will meet over the next few weeks and they’re going to start a process and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Speed is not the object…we want a really comprehensive, good deal.” It is the third meeting between Kim…

Read the full story

Ridgetop Mayor Accused of Giving Little Public Notice He Would Scrap Police Department

Chris Butler

  The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has criticized how Ridgetop’s mayor and aldermen had little to no transparency when alerting the public that they might vote to do away with the city’s police department. As The Tennessee Star reported this month, Ridgetop City Council members voted to do away with the city’s police force because of what some people say is the mayor’s hurt ego and his vendetta against the now-former police chief. As The Star reported in March, then-Police Chief Bryan Morris said Mayor Tony Reasoner and Vice Mayor McCaw Johnson were out to cripple his department. TCOG Executive Director Deborah Fisher said on the organization’s website that the public notice given for this particular board of aldermen meeting was vague. “Saying only in the public notice for the June 10 meeting that the meeting was “on the budget and police department” seems to leave out the fairly significant nugget that the board would be voting that night on dissolving it. And there is some question why the notice was not on the website,” Fisher wrote. “Put yourself in the seat of the Ridgetop mayor and aldermen. If you were having a meeting in which you might vote on eliminating the…

Read the full story

Commentary: For Liberal CEOs, Abortion Is Good for Business

Admin

by Doreen Denny   As more states pass restrictions on abortion, companies are coming out of the woodwork to oppose them. Recently, some 180 companies “employing more than 108,000 workers” purchased a full-page ad in The New York Times under the banner “Don’t Ban Equality: It’s time for companies to stand up for reproductive health care.” Translation: It’s time for businesses to defend abortion. Many of these companies aren’t typically considered far-left organizations. Exactly what message are they sending to women by spending ad dollars to promote abortion? Are they saying babies are bad for business? A closer look at these companies may help to unmask what’s driving this ad. It turns out that only two of them are listed among the top 180 companies offering the most paid maternity leave to women, according to Fairygodboss, a women’s career advancement network. And those two companies are nowhere near the top of the list. In other words, these companies are stingy. They aren’t supporting women; they’re protecting their bottom line. The fact is that parental leave imposes a cost on these companies. The disruptions of time off (even earned) for doctor’s appointments, managing morning sickness, and staying healthy during pregnancy are…

Read the full story

US, China Leaders Agree to Resume Trade Talks

Admin

by Steve Herman   OSAKA, JAPAN – U.S. President Donald Trump says he will hold off on imposing additional tariffs on China after a meeting with President Xi Jinping that resulted in the stalled trade negotiations getting “right back on track.” Speaking Saturday at a wide-ranging news conference at the conclusion of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Trump said he will also allow American companies to sell to Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant whose software U.S. intelligence has warned could threaten U.S. national security. As far as resolving the overall issue of Huawei, which the U.S. government wants to ban the country’s planned 5G cellular telephone networks, “we agreed to leave that to the end” of trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing. No sanctions relief The Chinese, however, are not getting relief from sanctions already imposed by the Trump administration. “At least, for the time being, we won’t be lifting tariffs on China,” the U.S. president told the news conference. “They would like to make a deal,” Trump said in assessing the Chinese following what he described as “a great meeting” with Xi on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit. In remarks at the start of…

Read the full story

Analysis: Is the US Women’s Soccer Team Really Underpaid?

Admin

by John Phelan   The US women’s soccer team is currently playing in the World Cup in France, defending the title they won in 2015. They’ve had an incredible start, scoring 18 goals in the group stage—a record for the tournament—and beating Spain to reach the quarterfinals. Some see this success as fresh evidence in support of the case for equal pay for male and female players. According to a lawsuit filed on March 8 by the US women’s soccer team, their players are being paid less than the men, in some cases earning just 38 percent of their pay per game. The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) denies the pay differences are related to sex. This week, the two groups agreed to enter into mediation to resolve the dispute. Sexist Soccer Pay Gap? The pay gap feud entered the national discussion in 2018 following an impassioned speech from FIFA world champion Abby Wambach. The New York Times reports: In spring 2018, Abby Wambach, the most decorated soccer player in American history, gave a commencement address at Barnard College that went viral. The player who had scored more goals than any other, male or female, in international competition, described standing…

Read the full story

Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Donates $1 Million to Planned Parenthood

Admin

by Chris White   Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is donating $1 million to the political arm of Planned Parenthood as the company wrestles with claims of a conservative bias. “I think this is a very urgent moment where the rights and the choices and the basic health of the most vulnerable women—the women who have been marginalized, often women of color—are at stake,” Sandberg told HuffPost on Friday. “And so all of us have to do our part to fight these draconian laws.” She said her decision was motivated in part by recent laws restricting abortion in Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri. Celebrities are also protesting Georgia’s “heartbeat bill,” which outlaws abortion after a child’s heartbeat is detected. “Planned Parenthood is going to fight back in the courts, in Congress, in the state houses, in the streets for women’s health and rights,” Sandberg said. “We all have to do everything we can to protect women.” She previously donated $1 million to the organization in 2017 amid reports that Republicans were planning on defunding the group. The Facebook executive was also a major supporter of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016. Her decision comes after conservative…

Read the full story

Biden Says Race ‘Shouldn’t Be About the Past,’ Defends His Civil Rights Record

Admin

by Shelby Talcott   Former Vice President Joe Biden said the 2020 presidential race “shouldn’t be about the past” Friday before defending his civil rights record. “I want to be absolutely clear about my … position on racial justice, including busing. I never, never, never ever opposed voluntary busing,” Biden said at the Rainbow Push Coalition event in Chicago. “I did support federal action to address root causes of segregation in our schools and communities, including taking on the banks and red-lining and trying to change the way in which neighborhoods were segregated,” Biden said. Biden was confronted on all sides during Thursday night’s Democratic primary debate. California Sen. Kamala Harris hit Biden for past positions on school busing and desegregation. Harris said she was one of the girls who had to deal with segregation on school buses. Biden said he “heard and listened to” Harris, but a debate could not “do justice on a lifetime of commitment on civil rights.” Biden also said the race’s discussion should not be focused on the past. “Folks, the discussion in this race shouldn’t be about the past,” Biden said. “We should be talking about how we can do better, how we can…

Read the full story

Federal Judge Blocks Billions of Dollars for Border Wall Funding

Admin

by Kevin Daley   A federal judge in California barred the Trump administration Friday night from reallocating $2.5 billion to construct border barriers. U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam, an Obama appointee, expanded an earlier order and forbade the government from moving forward with specific border wall projects in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. He also turned the previous order into a permanent injunction. “Congress considered all of defendants’ proffered needs for border barrier construction, weighed the public interest in such construction against defendants’ request for taxpayer money, and struck what it considered to be the proper balance — in the public’s interest — by making available only $1.375 billion in funding, which was for certain border barrier construction not at issue here,” Gilliam’s order reads. Elsewhere in his decision, Gilliam said government lawyers were advancing “an argument that the court should not enjoin conduct found to be unlawful because the ends justify the means. No case supports this principle.” After declaring a national emergency at the southern border, the administration announced it would reprogram the administration will reprogram $600 million from the Treasury Department’s forfeiture fund, $2.5 billion from Defense Department counter-narcotics activities, and $3.6 billion from military construction…

Read the full story

Just Three Percent of 2019 Dartmouth Grads Support Trump

Admin

 by Ethan Cai   A Dartmouth newspaper found that only three percent of seniors at the school have a favorable view of President Donald Trump. Student-run publication The Dartmouth posted its Senior Survey in early June, detailing various opinions and trends for the graduating class. This annual survey includes the seniors’ political leanings and preferences. “I remember right after Trump was elected, it seriously felt on campus as if someone had died” Tweet This The survey found that only three percent of Dartmouth’s class of 2019 had a favorable view of President Donald Trump. This is down from 2018, where still only six percent of graduating seniors had a favorable view of Trump. Favorability toward the Republican Party as a whole has decreased, as well. While only 13 percent favored the GOP in 2018, even less favored it this year, polling at around four percent. Dartmouth’s conservative student organizations suffered a similar decrease in favorability during the last year, from their already low campus ratings. Favorability toward The Dartmouth Review, the school’s conservative newspaper, fell from 14 to six percent, and favorability toward the College Republicans fell from 14 to just nine percent. Liberal student groups received the opposite response…

Read the full story

Former Chattanooga Central High School Football Coach Indicted for Theft 

Chris Butler

  Authorities have indicted the former head football coach at Chattanooga’s Central High School on a charge of theft more than $1,000, after they say he pocketed money he wasn’t supposed to have. This, according to a press release Tennessee Comptrollers put out this week. That former coach, Cortney Braswell, is currently a quality control assistant for the University of Louisville football team, according to Comptrollers. “Comptroller investigators determined that Braswell pocketed at least $2,480 in payments he received from two semi-pro football teams that had paid to use the high school’s football field for their home games. The money should have been turned over to the school,” the press release said. “The investigation revealed that Braswell was paid a total of at least $1,480 by a women’s semi-pro team in 2016 and 2017. He was paid $1,000 by a men’s semi-pro team in 2017.” Hamilton County Department of Education policy requires groups seeking to use school facilities to complete a use form and have it approved by the principal and the Office of Risk Management. The form also requires applicants to submit proof of general liability insurance, according to Comptrollers. “Neither team submitted this information to the high school in 2017; instead, they stated there was a verbal agreement with Braswell regarding the use of the football field and rental payments. This created a…

Read the full story

NYT Op-Ed Calls for Public Shaming of Border Protection Agents

Admin

by Chuck Ross   The New York Times published an op-ed Saturday that calls for border protection agents to face “serious social costs” and public shaming over their work at facilities housing migrant children. “The identities of the individual Customs and Border Protection agents who are physically separating children from their families and staffing the detention centers are not undiscoverable,” writes Kate Cronin-Furman, an assistant professor at University College London. “Immigration lawyers have agent names; journalists reporting at the border have names, photos and even videos. These agents’ actions should be publicized, particularly in their home communities.” In the article, Cronin-Furman proposes a public shaming campaign — which she insists is not the same as “doxxing” — in hopes of forcing border protection agents to quit their jobs. She also said her proposal would deter others from taking jobs as border agents. Tens of thousands of migrants from Central America flock to the border each month in hopes of obtaining asylum to enter the U.S. The influx has tested the limits of border facilities housing migrant children and families. In the piece, Cronin-Furman envisions a scenario where a U.S. government employee who has been filmed at a migrant facility faces…

Read the full story

Columbia Officials Want Public Art, Including a Mural in Multiple Languages

Chris Butler

  Columbia officials reportedly want a permanent public art display, and one suggestion includes a mural saying “Welcome” in multiple world languages. This, according to OakRidger.com, which did not specify whether taxpayers would have to pay for this public art. The proposed mural “would showcase the county’s diverse citizenship, as well as tourists who visit from around the globe” and cater to people who people who do not speak English, according to the website. Arts Council Chair Ross Jaynes did not return The Tennessee Star’s request for comment Thursday. According to OakRidger.com, no one yet knows what the display will look like or where city officials will place it. “An arts council Columbia Public Arts Project (CPAP) committee consisting of arts council members was formed earlier this year to figure out how, and if a public art display can be done, and what that process would entail,” according to the website. City officials have tasked committee members with finding ideas to generate public interest in the arts, whether it’s murals, installations or other types of art, OakRidger.com reported. The Maury County Visitors Bureau is one potential location for the permanent art display, according to the website. Arts council member Meredith…

Read the full story

Chick-fil-A Worker Hailed as Hero for Saving Young Boy’s Life

Zachery Schmidt

  A Chick-fil-A employee is being celebrated as a hero for his actions to save a customer’s life. Logan Simmons, a worker at a Chick-fil-A in Flowery Branch, Georgia, jumped out of a drive-thru window to save the life of a six-year-old who was chocking. A young @ChickfilA worker jumped into action when a boy was choking in a car. https://t.co/iFN0IUDyvH TONIGHT AT 11: What the teen told @JustinWilfonWSB about the terrifying moments. pic.twitter.com/KKTlljgW72 — WSB-TV (@wsbtv) June 28, 2019 Simmons promptly acted after he heard the boy’s mother calling for help. The boy had wrapped his seat belt around his neck. “I just jumped out the window and ran straight down to the car,” Simmons told Atlanta’s WSB-TV 2. “It was the quickest option.” Simmons said he could see the boy’s face turning red and losing pigmentation. To save the boy, he took out his pocket knife and cut the seat belt loose to free the young child. The boy’s mom called Simmons an hour later to thank him for his heroic actions. Once Simmons got home from work, he “nonchalantly” told his parents about his day. “He’d been home for a couple of hours and he said nonchalantly,…

Read the full story

Dr. Alan Keyes and Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin Meet to Discuss Their Shared Pro-Life Agenda

Laura Baigert

  FRANKFORT, Kentucky – Dr. Alan Keyes, a man of numerous political distinctions, met with Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin at the governor’s mansion in Frankfort, Kentucky, where their shared pro-life agenda dominated the discussion. Dr. Keyes, who holds a Ph.D. in government from Harvard and wrote his dissertation on constitutional theory, ran for president in 1996, 2000 and 2008 and challenged Barack Obama for the open U.S. Senate seat from Illinois in 2004, according to RenewAmerica. Serving as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations and as Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Dr. Keyes was the highest-ranking black appointee in the Reagan Administration. In fact, following their initial, very warm greeting, Dr. Keyes stayed to speak with Bevin and his brother, and the Governor called Dr. Keyes “Ambassador” as they sat at a table in a cozy den-type room in the lower level of the Kentucky Governor’s mansion. Governor Bevin and his staff wear a quarter-sized red lapel pin with an open pair of scissors, representing the updating or elimination of 27 percent of Kentucky government’s regulations and reducing the boards and commissions that numbered 572 down to 375 over a period of two years. Bevin,…

Read the full story

Phil Bredesen Endorses David Briley for Nashville Mayor

Chris Butler

  Former Tennessee Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen came forward this week to endorse incumbent Nashville Mayor David Briley for reelection. Briley announced the endorsement on his Twitter page Thursday. “It was my honor to have former Mayor and former Governor @PhilBredesen come out and support my campaign last night. Thank you Gov. Bredesen. You laid the foundation for the great city that Nashville is today, and I want to continue that work! #TeamBriley,” Briley wrote. According to Briley’s social media posts, Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry, LGBTQ Activist Eric A. Patton, businessman Charles Robert Bone, and former YWCA President Pat Shea have already endorsed his reelection. Bredesen was the Democratic Party candidate to replace former Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker last year. Bredesen lost to Republican Marsha Blackburn, by a margin of almost 55 percent to 44 percent. As The Tennessee Star reported last year, Bredesen went all-in with the President Trump-hating far left socialist wing of the Democrat Party during his run for the U.S. Senate. Bredesen, for instance, announced entertainers Jason Isbell and Ben Folds — who supported Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign — would host a fundraiser for him in Nashville. Bredesen also refused to disavow the comments of…

Read the full story

Commentary: Why Doesn’t the Supreme Court Want to Know How Many Illegal Aliens America Has?

Admin

by Robert Romano   The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a citizenship question can be included in a Census under the U.S. Constitution, however a narrower 5 to 4 majority threw out the specific rationale used by the Trump administration for the 2020 Census, remanding the case to lower courts for adjudication. Chief Justice John Roberts, joining the higher court’s liberal justices, stated “We do not hold that the agency decision here was substantively invalid. But agencies must pursue their goals reasonably. Reasoned decisionmaking under the Administrative Procedures Act calls for an explanation for agency action. What was provided here was more of a distraction.” This is the so-called reasoned analysis that is supposed to accompany a regulation under Supreme Court precedent. The Department said it relied on the Department of Justice saying the information was needed to enforce the Voting Rights Act. In this case, however, the court ruled that the Department of Commerce “adopted the Voting Rights Act rationale late in the process” and the “evidence established that the Secretary had made up his mind to reinstate a citizenship question ‘well before’ receiving DOJ’s request, and did so for reasons unknown but unrelated to the VRA.” The court…

Read the full story

What (Other) Economists Think About Democrats’ Education Plans

Admin

by Kerry McDonald   A recent NPR article, titled “What Economists Think About Democrats’ New Education Proposals,” caught my eye. FEE, after all, is an economic education organization that looks at how free markets and individual liberty lead to more progress, greater prosperity, and better outcomes for all than any other social or economic system ever created. I was curious what these NPR-interviewed economists might say about the Democratic presidential candidates’ education plans, which involve funneling more money into a government system of mass compulsory schooling. What’s the Plan? According to the article, Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris wants to spend $315 billion of taxpayer money to lift teacher salaries. Joe Biden wants to increase federal spending to low-income schools with teacher pay hikes. Bernie Sanders wants to impose price controls for teacher salaries, imposing a pay floor of $60,000 for incoming teachers. To its credit, the NPR article explains that by both domestic and international standards, American teachers are already well compensated and enjoy above-average employee benefits. But that’s not enough, according to one of the economists interviewed. Eric Hanushek of Stanford says: “I think teachers are way underpaid.” Hanushek and others argue that teachers who are able to…

Read the full story

DHS Expects Border Apprehensions to Decrease By 25%, Credits Trump’s Deal With Mexico

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expects apprehensions of illegal aliens to decline by 25% along the U.S. southern border in June and directly credited President Donald Trump’s immigration deal with Mexico for the change. “It’s become clear that over the past three weeks, since the administration reached a new agreement with Mexico, that we’ve seen a substantial increase in the number of interdictions on the Mexican southern border, and a sincere effort to the transportation networks coming through Mexico,” DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan said to reporters Friday. “In terms of when we’re going to know if these efforts in Mexico are making an impact, I think these three weeks have demonstrated that they are ready. That 25% decrease in June is more than we’ve seen in past years. We are not really tracking a seasonal pattern anymore,” he stated, explaining the decline is not completely attributable to the change in season. The DHS chief’s announcement follows a deal between the Trump administration and Mexico City reached on June 7. In return for the U.S. not slapping a 5% tariff on all its goods, Mexico agreed to dramatically ramp up its own border enforcement. Its government…

Read the full story

Michigan Workers Prepare for Another Factory Close Next Month As Dems Set Sights on Key Voters

Admin

by Audrey Conklin   Another auto plant in Warren, Michigan, that has been operating since 1958 is preparing to close in a little over a month, ending 261 jobs. The 261 hourly workers who will lose their jobs at the 2.1-million-square-foot General Motors factory build car transmissions. GM announced the closure in November but is set to end all production in July and keep a different transmissions factory open in Mexico, NBC News reported Friday. “It’s not the dream job it used to be,” one worker told NBC. “It’s actually quite a nightmare to try and survive and reach your pension. It feels impossible.” GM officials announced in the fall of 2018 that it was going to cut 14,000 jobs to save $6 billion by 2020, nearly 10 years to the day after the U.S. Treasury gave the company a $51 billion bailout. President Donald Trump promised to bring jobs back to middle-class populations in once-thriving, industrial midwestern towns and won more key swing states than former candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, including Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio. “Don’t sell your house,” Trump told his audience at a 2017 rally in Youngstown, Ohio. “We’re going to get those…

Read the full story

DHS Chief Adamantly Denies He Leaked ICE Raid Details to the Media

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan vehemently denied that he was the source of a leak that led to the White House canceling its plan for mass deportation raids. “Absolutely not,” McAleenan said Thursday night when Fox News’s Laura Ingraham asked if he was the leaker. “I would not, and have not, ever leaked details of a sensitive law enforcement operation. My primary responsibility is the safety of the men and women who go out there every day to protect American people. It’s just not true.” McAleenan’s denial comes after President Donald Trump announced — and then abruptly canceled — a plan earlier this month to conduct mass Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal aliens across the country. At first, Trump said the cancellation was to give time for his administration to reach a deal with Democrats on the immigration crisis. However, several sources within the administration began claiming that the president had to cancel the operation because key details of the plan were leaked to the media, revealing the day, number of people being targeted, and the cities involved. Executing the raid when such information was out in the open put ICE agents…

Read the full story

The Supreme Court Will Determine the DACA Program’s Future Next Term

Admin

by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court will decide whether President Donald Trump can rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program during its next term, the justices announced Friday. DACA is an Obama-era amnesty initiative that extends temporary legal status to 700,000 foreign nationals who came to the U.S. as children. The Department of Homeland Security first took steps to terminate DACA in September 2017. Federal trial judges subsequently entered injunctions requiring that Trump maintain the program while litigation continued. The first of those orders came from U.S. District Judge William Alsup in California, who said the government’s action was based on a flawed legal premise and therefore “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, [and] otherwise not in accordance with law.” That premise — that only Congress, not the executive, could authorize a program like DACA — conflicts with precedent and the Department of Justice’s past-stated views, Alsup said. Shortly after those injunctions issued, the Trump administration took the unusual step of bypassing the federal appeals courts and asking the Supreme Court to intervene immediately. The high court rejected that request, prompting a new round of litigation in the appellate courts. The government returned to the Supreme Court…

Read the full story

State Reps. Ryan Williams, Cameron Sexton Join Race to Succeed Glen Casada as House Speaker

Jason M. Reynolds

  The pieces are falling into place for the Tennessee GOP House Caucus to select the new speaker, with a couple of new faces entering the race this week. The caucus will meet July 24 to pick a nominee to replace disgraced outgoing Speaker and Rep. Glen Casada (R-TN-63) of Franklin, The Tennessee Star said. The meeting was called by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-TN-44) of Portland. In a statement issued by Lamberth Wednesday, he said his call for the caucus meeting came, “following conversations with our members of the last several days.” In an exclusive interview with the USA TODAY Network – Tennessee, State Rep. Ryan Williams (R-TN-42) said he wants to unite the party and rebuild the state GOP brand. “I think there are some chasms between some members and others in our caucus, but the goal here is to unite the differences,” he said. “Like Ronald Reagan said, focus on the 80% we agree on.” Williams, a former GOP caucus chairman from Cookeville, is not the only candidate. The Chattanooga Times Free Press said the other declared candidates for speaker are Reps. Mike Carter (R-TN-29) of Ooltewah and Curtis Johnson (R-TN-68) of Clarksville, GOP Caucus Chairman…

Read the full story

2020 Election Meddling by China, Iran, N. Korea Likely, Administration Officials Warn

Admin

by Fred Lucas   Russia isn’t the only threat to election security going into 2020, as Trump administration officials say they are preparing for meddling from Iran, China, and North Korea. The federal government anticipates that Russia will again meddle in the U.S. election in 2020 through “Russian-controlled or influenced English-language media, false-flag operations, or sympathetic spokespersons,” a senior intelligence official said. China’s government finances English-language media outlets in the United States to influence U.S. perceptions on various issues, such as trade, the senior intelligence official told reporters during a briefing on election security. “No surprise to you: Iran is increasing their use of social media to promote strategic goals and perspectives to the American public,” the official continued. “Its influence campaigns have included denigrating U.S. decisions to leave [the Iran nuclear deal], downplaying the effectiveness of sanctions, and promoting pro-Iranian interests.” Administration officials asked reporters that the conference participants’ names not be used. North Korea is also in the mix, said a senior law enforcement official, who spoke of the FBI Foreign Influence Task Force set up in 2017 to combat the international meddling. “We’ve since expanded our scope to look at any nation-state actors involved in foreign influence,…

Read the full story

Marsha Blackburn Warns About Technology Companies’ Abusive Behavior Using Your Personal Information

Chris Butler

  U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee reportedly warned in a speech this week about privacy concerns as technology companies gather consumer data and profit from it. This, according to Broadbandbreakfast.com, which reported Blackburn’s remarks during a speech to the free market group Free State Foundation in Washington, D.C. “The framework for federal privacy regulation is emerging as another flashpoint in some conservatives’ political battles with Silicon Valley powerhouses,” according to the website. “The more data companies extract, the more profitable they are,” the website quoted Blackburn as saying. “Big tech needs to trust the American consumer to make the wise decision, which means big tech needs to be transparent,” said Blackburn. Broadbandbreakfast.com also reported that many people in the audience agreed with the idea of more privacy regulations. “Privacy violations can result in consumer harm in the marketplace, harms which should be ‘identified, analyzed and potentially regulated,’” the website quote Noah Phillips as saying. Phillips is a Commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The website also quoted Phillips as saying new privacy laws must allow for “investment and risk-taking.” Michelle Richardson, director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said Congress needs to rebalance power between companies and consumers.…

Read the full story

Trump Deregulation Will Boost Household Income by $3,100, Report Finds

Admin

by Fred Lucas   The Trump administration deregulation efforts will raise incomes by about $3,100 per household over the next five to 10 years, and sharply reduce prices for consumers, according to a report released Friday by the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “The deregulatory efforts of the Trump administration have also removed mandates from employers, especially smaller businesses, and have removed burdens that would have eliminated many small bank lenders from the marketplace,” Casey Mulligan, the chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters Friday. “These deregulatory actions are raising real incomes by increasing competition, productivity, and wages.” The Council of Economic Advisers report is titled “The Economic Effects of Federal Deregulation Since January 2017: An Interim Report.” The report takes a sampling of 20 major deregulatory efforts, which it projects alone will save consumers and businesses about $220 billion annually, and increase after-inflation incomes by 1.3%. “Many of the most notable deregulatory efforts in American history, such as the deregulation of airlines and trucking that began during the Carter administration, did not have such large aggregate effects,” the Council of Economic Advisers report says. The aggressive deregulation also cuts consumer prices for prescription drugs, health…

Read the full story

Commentary: How Romney and the Anti-Trump GOP Fueled the Border Crisis

Admin

by Julie Kelly   The crisis at the southern U.S. border proves at least one thing to be true: Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is more honest than Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and his fellow anti-Trump Republicans. Ocasio-Cortez, to her credit, has never tried to fool the American people or her constituency by suggesting she wants anything less than open borders. Lawmakers on the Left, including the roster of Democratic presidential candidates, have made it clear we must accept an unlimited influx of refugees from Central America. The treatment of migrant children, they tell us, is a national disgrace and an international scourge. Border patrol agents are criminals but the tens of thousands of Central American citizens illegally entering our country each month are not, they insist. Overflowing intake facilities are compared to Nazi concentration camps, and Donald Trump is Adolf Hitler. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take that sort of unabashed honesty—no matter how insane, dangerous, and historically illiterate it is—over the deceptive and duplicitous machinations of alleged “conservatives” like Romney. To her credit, AOC doesn’t pretend to be someone she’s not—staged and dated photo-op notwithstanding. Give me a truthful authoritarian over a phony conservative any day. At…

Read the full story

Cincinnati Church Celebrates Pride Month with Drag Queen Story Hour During Sunday Worship

Beth Lear

  A Cincinnati church celebrated LGBT Pride month by hosting one of their own, caretaker Dan Davidson, dressed in drag. Davidson, called Sparkle Leigh in costume, greeted church attendees and read to the children during the service. His story of choice? Pride: the Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag. Milk was the first openly homosexual politician elected in California and has often been referred to as a pedophile. The pastor of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, Reverend Stacey Midge, couldn’t offer comment to The Ohio Star without permission of her church board, but she was willing to share that the church has received both positive and negative feedback. Midge was able to speak more freely on the church Facebook page about their choice to host the performer. “We are particularly outspoken about our welcome to people of all sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions because 1) we do not believe variations in sexual orientation or gender identity/expression to be sinful, and 2) people of non-heterosexual orientation or whose gender identity or expression does not fit into a rigid binary are historically and currently marginalized, especially by the Church.” “The idea of reading a child’s book about Harvey Milk is the…

Read the full story

Ellison Passes Over Klobuchar, Endorses Sanders for President

Anthony Gockowski

  Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has endorsed (again) Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont for president, straying from a pack of Minnesota politicians who are supporting hometown candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the race. “Kamala, Julien [sic] and Pete all did very well. Elizabeth showed why she is a true leader; champion of working families everywhere. But Bernie Sanders dominated both nights with the force of ideas, which have been consistent throughout his service. I support him—like I did last time,” Ellison wrote on Twitter early Friday morning after the second night of Democratic debates. Kamala, Julien & Pete all did very well. Elizabeth showed why she is a true leader; champion of working families everywhere. But @BernieSanders dominated both nights with the force of ideas, which have been consistent throughout his service. I support him – like I did last time. — Keith Ellison (@keithellison) June 28, 2019 Ellison was one of the first members of Congress to support Sanders’ 2016 bid for the presidency. Sanders, in turn, supported Ellison in his run for DNC chair in 2017, and his 2018 campaign for his current role as Minnesota’s attorney general. Ellison told The Star Tribune that his endorsement of…

Read the full story

Governor Bill Lee Calls a Special Session for August 23 to Elect a New Speaker of the House

Laura Baigert
Bill Lee

  The day following the House Republican Caucus set a meeting to select a new Speaker, Governor Bill Lee issued a Proclamation calling for a special session of the General Assembly on Friday, August 23 at 10 a.m. On Thursday, Governor Lee issued a statement regarding the signing of the proclamation calling for the extraordinary session, “It is in the best interest of our State to select a new Speaker of the House, and so I am calling a special session of the General Assembly for August 23 to accomplish that purpose. I have also asked the General Assembly to take up approval of the recent amendments to the Supreme Court rules, in addition to settling these leadership matters. Any other procedural business would be at the discretion of the General Assembly.” The Proclamation itself states that the Governor was requested to convene an extraordinary session by numerous members of the House of Representatives, including, but not limited to the Majority Leader, who is William Lamberth (R-Portland), and the Majority Caucus Chair, who is Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville). As reported, Leader Lamberth announced Wednesday that the House Republican Caucus would meet on Wednesday, July 24 to select a new Republican nominee…

Read the full story

Jimmy Carter Says Donald Trump an Illegitimate President, ‘Didn’t Actually Win’ the 2016 Election

Admin

by Chuck Ross   Former president Jimmy Carter asserted Friday that President Trump is an “illegitimate” president, and that a full investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election would show that he did not actually defeat Hillary Clinton. “I think that the interference, though not yet quantified, if fully investigated, it would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and he was put in office because the Russians interfered on his behalf,” Carter said at an event hosted by the Carter Center in Leesburg, Va. Carter also indicated that he believed that Trump was illegitimately elected. After moderator Jon Meacham asked Carter whether he believes Trump is an illegitimate president, the Democrat replied: “Based on what I just said, which I can’t retract, I would say yes.” Former President Jimmy Carter: If fully investigated, it would show that Trump didn't actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election and he was put in office because the Russians interfered …on his behalf.🎥 https://t.co/CYSBIK3qHF pic.twitter.com/o71Z4InVxB — CSPAN (@cspan) June 28, 2019 The remarks are something of a surprise since Trump and Carter have maintained a cordial relationship despite their ideological differences. Carter…

Read the full story

U.S. Reps. Green, Cuellar Introduce Legislation to Stop Chinese Military’s Acquisition of Sensitive American Technology

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) on Thursday introduced the bipartisan China Technology Transfer Control Act of 2019 in the U.S. House. The bill would stop the Chinese military’s acquisition of sensitive American technology and formally admonish China for its predatory trade practices. Green tweeted, “I am proud to work on this bipartisan, bicameral bill with @RepCuellar and @SenHawleyPress to stop the Chinese military’s acquisition of sensitive American technology and formally admonish #China for its predatory trade practices.” I am proud to work on this bipartisan, bicameral bill with @RepCuellar and @SenHawleyPress to stop the Chinese military’s acquisition of sensitive American technology and formally admonish #China for its predatory trade practices. https://t.co/iX7WxpkYIH — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) June 27, 2019 In recent years, China has aggressively advanced its military capabilities through IP theft and exploitation of loopholes, Green said in a press release. The Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community have anxiously warned of China’s dangerous investments in U.S. firms working on facial-recognition, 3-D printing, virtual reality and autonomous vehicles to build up their warfighting capabilities. They have pushed U.S. companies into “pay-to-play” to operate in their country, requiring that they help their surveillance state and military or not participate in their market at…

Read the full story

Commentary: Reddit Bans Largest Trump Subreddit as Trump Announces Social media Summit to Address Censorship

Admin

by Robert Romano   In the latest round of social media censorship, Reddit has quarantined the largest subreddit in favor of President Donald Trump, r/The_Donald, with over 750,000 followers, restricting access. The move comes amid a crackdown of conservative content on social media platforms, with users on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube being censored, suspended, banned and demonetized and Trump calling for a social media summit to address the censorship. Since 2016, the r/The_Donald subreddit has grown significantly and is a highly trafficked go-to locale for Trump supporters online. It describes itself as “a never-ending rally dedicated to the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.” In a message to the group by one of its moderators on June 26 announcing the quarantine and measures being taken to be reinstated, it stated, “we were quarantined without warning for some users that were upset about the Oregon Governor sending cops to round up Republican lawmakers to come back to vote on bills before their state chambers. None of these comments that violated Reddit’s rules and our Rule 1 [against advocating violence] were ever reported to us moderators to take action on. Those comments were reported on by an arm of…

Read the full story

Supreme Court Justice Roberts Joins Open-Border Liberals to Block the Census Citizenship Question, For Now

Admin

by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court ordered further proceedings in the dispute over a citizenship question on the 2020 census form Thursday, saying the Trump administration apparently concealed its true reason for adding the query. Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the Court’s opinion, portions of which were unanimous. “It is rare to review a record as extensive as the one before us when evaluating informal agency action — and it should be,” Roberts wrote. “But having done so for the sufficient reasons we have explained, we cannot ignore the disconnect between the decision made and the explanation given. Our review is deferential, but we are “not required to exhibit a naiveté from which ordinary citizens are free.” The Department of Commerce, which supervises the Census Bureau, must now identify a more developed explanation for the citizenship question, and present it to the courts for approval. A coalition of advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) joined left-leaning state and city governments to sue the administration after Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross ordered the Census Bureau to include the citizenship question. The plaintiffs fear such questions discourage minority participation. Since seats in Congress and federal funds are apportioned on…

Read the full story

Trump Quietly Signs Executive Order to Launch New Council on Affordable Housing to Battle Homeless Crisis

Admin

by Audrey Conklin   President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to establish a new council for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that focuses on affordable housing. The White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing, chaired by HUD Secretary Ben Carson, will work with state and local governments to “identify and remove the obstacles that impede the production of affordable homes — namely, the enormous price tag[s] that follow burdensome government regulations,” HUD explained in a press release. California HUD Regional Public Affairs Officer Eduardo Cabrera told the Daily Caller News Foundation that while it’s important to get things done without funding, “we know now that 25% of expenses with new housing are related to regulations” that can be cut if they are properly identified. Today @realDonaldTrump signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing led by @SecretaryCarson. By removing burdensome regulations, we can reduce housing costs & strengthen communities! pic.twitter.com/t77FTzeGgX — GOP (@GOP) June 25, 2019 “Burdensome regulations make construction more expensive and time-consuming,” Cabrera explained. More than 25% of the money used to build a new home is the result of federal, state and…

Read the full story

Beacon Center of Tennessee Files Suit Over New Online Auctioneer Law

Chris Butler

  The Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee has filed suit against a new law that state legislators passed earlier this year that forces online auctioneers to get a state license. This, according to a press release Beacon officials released Thursday. The same press release said the state exempts big online auction sites, including Ebay. Beacon is a free-market think tank. “This law is not just unfair but is also unconstitutional, as it clearly violates the First Amendment,” Beacon spokesman Mark Cunningham said in the release. “Beacon is suing the Tennessee Auctioneer Commission before the law takes effect on July 1.” In an emailed statement to The Star, Beacon Vice President of Legal Affairs Braden Boucek (pictured above) said the law is “a step in the wrong direction.” “Tennessee is a state that values freedom and equal opportunity.  A barrier to work is out of step with what Tennesseans value, no matter how ‘in step’ it might be for auctioneers who want to try and debilitate the upstart,” Boucek said. “As a state, we need to be committed to giving people access to good paying jobs, especially in rural counties.” As The Star reported in April, online auctioneers will suffer, as…

Read the full story

Tennessee Star Report on New Poll: Briley Crushes Swain in Potential Nashville Mayoral Runoff, But is Easily Defeated by Cooper

Julie Carr

  During a discussion Thursday morning on The 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 explained the recent Tennessee Star/ Triton poll of the upcoming August 1 Mayoral election in Nashville, Tennessee. Here are the raw numbers from the poll: David Briley 27.8 percent Carol Swain 22 percent John Cooper 19.8 percent John Ray Clemmons  10.8 percent Undecided 19.5 percent If no candidate receives above 50 percent of the vote on August 1, a runoff of the top two vote getters will be held. In a potential runoff between Briley and Swain, Briley wins easily, 50 percent to 31 percent. In a potential runoff between Briley and Cooper, Cooper wins 42 percent to 31 percent. Here’s the transcript of the discussion.   Gill: And as Michael’s been mentioning we have a new Tennessee Star Triton poll of likely Davidson county voters. Five hundred and forty-five likely Davidson county voters surveyed in the poll. And the poll shows continued reelection problems for Mayor David Briley. We did a poll a couple of months ago that showed David Briley was under water when it…

Read the full story

Commentary: Last Night’s Fauxahontas Show

Admin

by George Rasley, CHQ Editor   Even though Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Jay Inslee, Bill de Blasio, Tim Ryan, Julián Castro, and John Delaney were all on the stage last night, last night’s Democrat debate served one purpose and one purpose only and that was to tee-up Senator Elizabeth Warren as the Democratic Party’s candidate for President. Sure, there were the expected “Orange Man Bad” hits on President Trump – Klobuchar’s “conducting foreign policy by tweet in his bathrobe at 5 a.m.,” “all foam no beer,” and “three women on this stage,” were probably the most meme-worthy Orange Man Bad hits. There were yapping chihuahua free-for-alls, some verging on the comical, such as former Rep. Delaney trying to squeak-in the comment that his immigrant grandfather was separated from his family when he entered the United States. And yes, the other candidates got some good licks in – they got to show off their Spanish-speaking skills, they got to trash big corporations, and they got to mix it up among themselves with former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro being particularly effective in going after Beto O’Rourke on decriminalizing illegal border crossing. But all that…

Read the full story

Independence Day Across America: Fun and Festivities to Join in Tennessee

Zachery Schmidt

  Check out these and other great events all across the Volunteer State. Knoxville Events: Festiville on the 4th: Knoxville is hosting a July Fourth event called “Festival on the 4th” that will take place at the Worlds Fair Park. Families will get to enjoy miniature golf, music, games and fireworks. This event starts at 4 p.m. and goes till 10 p.m. For more information go to visitiknoxville.com. Farragut Independence Day Parade: Families going to a parade on America’s birthday is an annual tradition. To continue this tradition, Knoxville locals can head over to Farragut High School for the “Town of Farragut Independence Day Parade.” Come celebrate America’s birthday by seeing floats, antiques, old cars and music. The parade starts at 9:30 a.m. and goes to 12:30 p.m. Farragut’s July Fourth parade’s route will start on Stadium Drive and go to Boring Road. Mabry Hazen House: A house built in 1858 is hosting an event to celebrate America’s 243rd birthday. The Mabry-Hazen House is putting on an event where can get tours of this Victorian-era home, food, beer, live music and a great lookout spot for fireworks. This event costs $12 and starts at 5:30 p.m. and ends at 10…

Read the full story

Report: Trump Insiders Want DHS Chief to Step Down

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Several Trump administration officials and other immigration hawks outside the White House are pushing to remove Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan amid accusations of disloyalty, according to sources familiar with the matter. Immigration hardliners within President Donald Trump’s orbit want McAleenan ousted, according to several people within the administration and former officials within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who spoke with Politico. McAleenan, who only began leading DHS in April, is too liberal on immigration and not supportive enough of the president’s agenda, according to critics. Efforts to push McAleenan outcome after accusations that he personally sabotaged a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid targeting thousands of illegal immigrants. The Trump administration planned to apprehend a significant number of illegal aliens across the country in a single day, an operation meant to deter other foreign nationals from considering illegally migrating. However, critical details of the plan were leaked to the media beforehand, revealing the day, the number of illegal aliens being targeted, and the cities involved. Release of the information put ICE agents at risk, ultimately prompting the White House to call the raid off. Current and former officials within the administration said…

Read the full story

Supreme Court Rules Judges Can’t Block Partisan Gerrymandering

Admin

by Tyler Arnold   A narrowly divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that federal judges have no authority to block politically gerrymandered maps. The 5-4 decision fell along ideological lines with the five conservative judges signing onto the decision and the liberal judges dissenting. “We conclude that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in his opinion. “Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions.” Roberts said that the court has been asked to overturn politically gerrymandered lines for the past 45 years, but that it has never done so. If the court made decisions on whether maps were gerrymandered to favor a specific party, he said that judicial reviews would recur with every new round of redistricting. “That intervention would be unlimited in scope and duration,” Roberts said. He said it would be “an unprecedented expansion of judicial power.” Roberts emphasized that the Court is not condoning politically gerrymandered maps, but that the issue can be resolved by state courts enforcing state laws…

Read the full story

Ohio Giving an Estimated $23.4 Million in Tax Credits to 10 Companies

Admin

by Todd DeFeo   Ohio is giving tax credits that could reach an estimated $23.4 million to 10 companies planning to expand their businesses in the state. The companies plan to create a total of 1,559 new jobs and retain 1,788 jobs statewide, according to development officials. The projects are expected to result in more than $105 million in new payroll and bring about more than $139 million in investments statewide. Companies only earn the tax credits, approved by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority (TCA), if they meet specific criteria as part of an agreement with the state. “As always, these are estimated values of the potential tax credits if all elements approved by the Tax Credit Authority are met,” Lisa Colbert, public information officer for the Ohio Development Services Agency, said in an email. “These are not actual tax credits. The Job Creation Tax Credit is a performance-based credit. So, the actual value of the tax credit is based on jobs created and new payroll tax generated, as verified.” In the largest project, Mercy Health, which operates 43 hospitals in seven states, is expanding its Cincinnati campus and expects to create 500 full-time positions. The TCA approved a 12-year…

Read the full story

Omar, AOC Voted Against Bill That Would Improve Standards of Immigrant Detention Centers

Anthony Gockowski

  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) joined three House Democrats in voting against a bill Tuesday evening that would provide $4.5 billion in emergency border funding, some of it for humanitarian relief. According to NPR, the House bill “seeks to establish protocols to meet standards of care for migrants held in temporary emergency shelters, including food, water hygiene and basic medical care.” “And the legislation places caps on how long unaccompanied migrant children can stay in those facilities and places standards of care on government contractors operating detention facilities,” the outlet adds. In an exclusive interview with Fox Business, President Donald Trump said was he “not happy” with the bill “because there’s no money for protection.” “It’s like we’re running hospitals over there,” he added. The Hill reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) urged Democrats to support the bill during a closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday afternoon. “Understand what we’re up against in the White House. The president would love for this bill to go down today,” Pelosi said, according to a Democratic aide who spoke with The Hill. “A vote against this bill is a vote for Donald Trump and his inhumane, outside-the-circle of civilized attitude toward the children,” she…

Read the full story

Nashville Fraternal Order of Police Endorses John Cooper for Mayor

Chris Butler

  The Nashville Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed mayoral candidate John Cooper. Cooper currently serves as an at-large Metro Council member. Nashville Fraternal Order of Police President James Smallwood told The Tennessee Star Thursday that FOP members voted to endorse Cooper. Smallwood would not say how many people voted because FOP does not release that information. “The reality is the members of the FOP are sent a ballot, and this is the result that we got,” Smallwood said. “Cooper got that (vote), and we do what our membership tells us to do.” The Star asked Smallwood about Nashville’s Community Oversight Board, a concept the FOP opposes. “When he was in Council Cooper voted against it,” Smallwood said. “When it came up for referendum I think he was supportive of it because he believes in accountability in all forms of government.” According to this week’s Nashville Post, Cooper “voted last week against a property tax increase that would have boosted police pay, but the police union picked him over Mayor David Briley, state Rep. John Ray Clemmons and former professor Carol Swain, who secured a significant chunk of police union support in the 2018 special election.” Cooper acknowledged the FOP…

Read the full story

Tennessee Counties Have a Spending Addiction, Beacon Center President Warns

Chris Butler

  At least four local governments in Tennessee have proposed massive property tax increases totaling more than $200 million a year, according to a new column from the Beacon Center of Tennessee. Beacon is a Nashville-based free market think tank. Beacon President Justin Owen said in a column on the organization’s website that many local governments pass new budgets this time of year. Owen also referenced how Metro Nashville Council members just defeated a $154 million property tax increase — by a single vote. Hamilton County officials, meanwhile, are pushing for $34 million in new property taxes. “In Murfreesboro, the city has voted on a 34-cent tax increase, while Rutherford County officials are piling on with a 9.5 percent tax hike proposal on top of that,” Owen wrote. “Could it be that all these local governments are starving for revenue? Uniformly, these cities and counties don’t have a revenue problem, they have a spending addiction.” Owen said “Nashville has shelled out corporate welfare like no other city could imagine,” citing, among other things, $14 million for Opryland’s new water park. Hamilton County commissioners, meanwhile, operate what Owen called “their own slush fund, doling out nearly $1 million annually to their…

Read the full story

Commentary: Give Tucker Carlson the Nobel Peace Prize

Admin

by Christopher Roach   After months of escalating tensions, Iran shot down an unmanned American military drone last week. In response, a retaliatory American airstrike had been planned. At the last moment, President Trump called it off, explaining in a series of tweets that it was unnecessary and disproportionate. According to reports, he was influenced by severe criticism leveled against our Iran policy by Fox News personality Tucker Carlson. On his show early last week, Carlson called National Security Advisor John Bolton a “bureaucratic tapeworm” who seems to have learned nothing from America’s failed venture in Iraq. He also has privately advised the president against war with Iran as a mistake of policy and a serious impediment to reelection, according to numerous reports. For this, Tucker Carlson deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, to be shared with every administration figure who quietly argued against escalation. More important, President Trump deserves our respect and thanks for sticking to his guns and not being dragged into another war in the Middle East by the unwise “wise men” of Washington, particularly the out-of-step Bolton. Drone Shootdown Last in a Series of Tense Moments The destruction of the U.S. surveillance drone comes after several months…

Read the full story

Sen. Blackburn Votes to Address Humanitarian Crisis at Border While Supporting Border Patrol Agents

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Wednesday voted to fund the needs of border patrol agents to address the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border. The bill passed the Senate with a substantial bipartisan majority of 84-4, providing $4.59 billion in funds, Blackburn said in a press release. Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was too busy doing a press availability tour at a migrant facility in Miami to make the vote. She was scheduled to appear in the Democratic presidential debate Wednesday night as well. She criticized the detention of 2,300 illegal immigrant children, Fox News said. “This is not what we should be doing,” she argued. Taking aim at the president’s illegal immigration detention policies, Warren said that “these children pose no threat to people here in the United States and yet they are locked up for weeks, for months, because our government is following a policy of inflicting maximum pain.” On Wednesday, The Tennessee Star reported that President Donald Trump’s $4.5 billion border spending request faced obstacles because the House and Senate versions differed. The bills are similar on the amount of funding but differ on other topics like funding for Immigration…

Read the full story

Wayfair Workers Protest at Company’s Headquarters Over Selling Furniture to Immigrant Detention Centers

Zachery Schmidt

  Wayfair employees and their supporters gathered to protest outside the company’s Boston headquarters Wednesday after learning the online retailer sold bedroom furniture to detention centers housing migrant children. According to NBC News, people protesting shouted “this is what democracy looks like” and “Hey-Hey, Ho-Ho, ICE contracts have got to go.” It was awesome to see the turnout today. Thank you to everyone who showed up to the #WayfairWalkout pic.twitter.com/x4oUttSv9i — wayfairwalkout (@wayfairwalkout) June 26, 2019 pic.twitter.com/ojaRQmDtPC — wayfairwalkout (@wayfairwalkout) June 26, 2019 The protests started after employees found out that Wayfair had fulfilled a $200,000 order to BCFS, a non-profit government contractor that manages the camps’ migrants are currently staying in. The facility receiving the order currently houses 3,000 migrant children, according to a letter sent last Friday to the company’s leadership team and signed by more than 500 workers. Receipts (for those who asked): Follow @wayfairwalkout Support #Lights4Liberty Donate to #RAICESTEXAS#CloseTheCamps pic.twitter.com/hKBKHIaRck — Grace, as in AMAZING #BLM #ProtectTransKids (@guiltyx) June 25, 2019 “We believe that by selling these (or any) products to BCFS or similar contractors we are enabling this violation and are complicit in furthering the inhumane actions of our government,” the letter states. The Wayfair…

Read the full story

Mueller to Testify in Open Congressional Hearing

Admin

  Special counsel Robert Mueller has agreed to provide open testimony before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence Committee next month. The chairmen of the two panels, Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Rep. Adam Schiff, announced in a letter late Tuesday that Mueller would appear July 17, and that they and all Americans looked forward to hearing from him. Mueller led a nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and allegations that President Donald Trump obstructed justice by trying to shut down the probe. He issued a report, a redacted version of which was made public in April, that concluded the Trump campaign had not colluded with Russia during the election, but reached no conclusion on the question of obstruction of justice. Trump has been highly critical of the process, repeatedly calling the investigation a “witch hunt.” His reaction shortly after Tuesday’s announcement came in the form of a tweet: “Presidential Harassment!” Mueller’s only public comments to this point have been at a news conference in May during which he read a prepared statement, but took no questions. Nadler and Schiff had issued subpoenas seeking to compel Mueller to testify, explaining that while they noted…

Read the full story

Hamilton County Commission’s Defeat of 34-Cent Property Tax Increase Leaves Teachers with ‘Defeated Faces,’ Disappoints School Board Member’s Dog

Jason M. Reynolds

  A split Hamilton County Commission voted 5-4 Wednesday against a 34-cent increase on property taxes for the school system, and one school board member reacted by saying his dog was disappointed in the outcome. Voting against were Greg Martin, Randy Fairbanks, Chester Bankston, Tim Boyd and Sabrena Smedley (pictured above), according to a story by The Chattanoogan. In favor were Chip Baker, Katherlyn Geter, Warren Mackey and David Sharpe. County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said the rejection means none of the budget will be approved until the schools come back with a new budget leaving out the requested $34 million in new funds, The Chattanoogan said. That will happen after the Hamilton County Department of Education meets again. The county commission has until Aug. 31 to approve the overall budget, according to a story by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. County Mayor Jim Coppinger’s proposed $819 million budget included $443 million for the school district’s general purpose budget, a 5 percent raise for teachers, plus the addition of 14 counselors, 15 social workers, 15 truancy officers, 11 art teachers, 10 special education teachers and 32 special education assistants, the newspaper said. News Channel 9 said teachers were disappointed. Teachers filed…

Read the full story

New Study Says Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws in Tennessee and Other States Do Not Reduce Crime

Chris Butler

  Civil Asset Forfeiture laws do not help reduce crime, nor do they reduce the amount of drug use, according to a new study that called out Tennessee for how it carries out some of its laws. The Arlington, Virginia-based Institute for Justice released the study, titled Fighting Crime or Raising Revenue. Simply put, increased forfeiture funds had no meaningful effect on crime fighting. However, forfeiture was strongly linked to worsening economic conditions,” said study author Brian D. Kelly. “These results suggest law enforcement agencies pursue forfeiture less to fight crime than to raise revenue,” Kelly wrote. Among Kelly’s findings: • More equitable sharing funds do not translate into more crimes solved. • More equitable sharing funds also do not mean less drug use, even though proponents argue forfeiture helps rid the streets of drugs by financially crippling drug dealers and cartels. • When local economies suffer, equitable sharing activity increases, suggesting police make greater use of forfeiture when local budgets are tight. Kelly’s study examined both civil and criminal forfeitures. “If all forfeiture has little effect on crime fighting, civil forfeiture alone – which requires neither convictions nor even charges – is likely to be even further removed. And…

Read the full story