Day: June 17, 2019

Nashville’s Public Art Program Reportedly Not Getting Enough Taxpayer Money, Despite Significant Past Spending

Chris Butler

  Nashville’s public art program reportedly isn’t getting enough taxpayer money, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars it’s already spent on public art projects, with some of that money going to artists out-of-state. Nashville Public Radio reported that Metro Nashville officials are underfunding their art program. “To make up for it, Metro Arts will soon receive a back payment that can be put toward new sculptures and other large-scale installations,” according to Nashville Public Radio. The discovery came out of a routine review of finances, the station reported. “The way public art funding works in Nashville is that whenever Metro does capital spending projects — such as a new building, park, library, or significant renovation — it sets aside 1 percent of the budget for use on public art,” according to Nashville Public Radio. “But the audit found that some capital projects weren’t counted toward the art calculation in fiscal year 2017. So, the public art fund is owed $363,000 by the city.” According to the now extinct Tennessee Watchdog: • Nashville officials paid $300,000 for an exhibit commemorating the Civil Rights movement. The artist lived some 2,000 miles away in Oakland, Calif. The Nashville Metro Arts Commission hired Walter Hood to create “Witness…

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Commentary: Biden’s Climate Plan Requires a Savvy Response

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by Edward Ring   Front running 2020 presidential contender Joe Biden has just released his climate “plan,”claiming that with a $1.7 trillion federal investment, U.S. carbon emissions will reach zero within 30 years. You can say this for Biden – the canny old campaigner isn’t highlighting his climate plan as a cure-all for social injustice. Unlike the “Green New Deal,” Biden leaves out of his blueprint a federal job guarantee, universal healthcare, and housing. And while he includes the obligatory obeisance to inclusion, diversity, equity, indigenous peoples, vulnerable communities, people of color, and every other paint-by-number platitude, those aren’t his main focus. Nope, Joe is marketing the lunch box issues. Union jobs. Infrastructure. Energy leadership. Exports. Industries of the future. Moreover, Biden’s plan, unlike the Green New Deal, does not read like a college term paper. But if you’re a climate skeptic, or if you’re skeptical that bigger government is the answer, this plan should have you worried. Because it comes very close to offering a consensus plan that even some of Trump’s swing voters might support: which is to fund technology initiatives and infrastructure projects that should be funded anyway, regardless of whether or not rising levels of atmospheric CO2 are…

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Auditors Fault Unicoi for Mismanaging $30,000 of Taxpayer Money

Chris Butler

  Officials in the town of Unicoi spent more than $25,000 of taxpayer money on non-essential items, according to an audit by Tennessee Comptrollers. Comptrollers, for instance, called out the former town recorder and one current employee for receiving discounted rates for their spouses’ medical and dental insurance totaling $13,318 and $8,344, respectively. The town’s personnel policy did not authorize that, Comptrollers wrote. “The personnel policy provides for the town to pay the cost of the employee’s medical and dental insurance; however, if an employee elects to provide coverage for family members, that cost will be at the employee’s expense. After reviewing this deficiency, the Town of Unicoi entered into a $5,000 settlement with the former town recorder for repayment of his discounted insurance premiums on January 31, 2019,” according to the audit. “Therefore, from July 1, 2016, through December 31, 2018, these two employees received unauthorized discounted rates for their spouses’ medical and dental insurance, which resulted in the Town of Unicoi deciding to correct the deficiency, seek partial recovery of the overpayment/underpayment, and absorb the remaining loss of at least $16,662 ($13,318 plus $8,344 less $5,000).” Town officials also allowed a contract attorney to participate in the Tennessee Consolidated…

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Trump Predicts Demise of Two Prominent U.S. Newspapers

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Donald Trump

  President Trump contended Sunday two of the country’s top newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post, would go out of business when he leaves office. Trump attacked both newspapers, both of which often publish articles that he labels as “fake news” – stories about his chaotic White House and administration policies that he does not like. “A poll should be done on which is the more dishonest and deceitful newspaper, the Failing New York Times or the Amazon (lobbyist) Washington Post!” Trump said on Twitter, referring to the Post’s ownership by Jeff Bezos, the founder of the giant online retailer Amazon. A poll should be done on which is the more dishonest and deceitful newspaper, the Failing New York Times or the Amazon (lobbyist) Washington Post! They are both a disgrace to our Country, the Enemy of the People, but I just can’t seem to figure out which is worse? The good….. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 16, 2019 “The good news is that at the end of 6 years, after America has been made GREAT again and I leave the beautiful White House (do you think the people would demand that I stay longer? KEEP…

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U.S. Guarantees Hormuz Shipping Passage

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  The United States says it will “guarantee freedom of navigation” for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz through diplomatic talks or military intervention, contending again that it was “unmistakable” that Iran launched last week’s attacks on two tankers sailing through the narrow passage. “These were attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran on commercial shipping on the freedom of navigation with the clear intent to deny transit through the Strait,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News Sunday. The top U.S. diplomat said the United States does not want war with Tehran, but it will ensure passage through the chokepoint that links the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, a hook-shaped body of water through which as much as a third of the world’s oil supply is shipped. “The United States is going to make sure that we take all the actions necessary, diplomatic and otherwise, that achieve that outcome,” he told Fox. Pompeo told another Sunday news talk show, CBS News’ Face the Nation, that military intervention would be employed if necessary. Iran has rejected the U.S. accusation it is responsible for the attacks on the Norwegian and Japanese ships, one transporting oil and the other chemicals.…

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Department of Education Going After Elite Colleges for Allegedly Taking and Hiding Foreign Cash

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by Luke Rosiak   The Department of Education is going after U.S universities over supposed ties to foreign governments, after some allegedly took huge quantities of foreign cash and hid it from regulators. At the top of the list are Georgetown University and Texas A&M, which have taken hundreds of millions of dollars from the government of Qatar, a middle eastern nation with suspected links to international terrorism. Both schools received letters from the Department of Education Thursday saying they should have disclosed that funding but their filings “may not fully capture” the activity, the Associated Press reported. The letter warned that they could be referred to the attorney general to “compel compliance.” Georgetown was also asked about possible ties to Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab, as well as Saudi Arabian money. Both schools were ordered to disclose funding from Huawei and ZTE, Chinese firms suspected of spying. Top Foreign Funders of U.S. Universities, 2011-2016 (Source: Department of Education) Country Amount Qatar $1,024,065,043 England $761,586,394 Saudi Arabia $613,608,797 China $426,526,085 Canada $402,535,603 Hong Kong $394,446,859 China In February, a Senate investigative subcommittee released a bipartisan, 100-page report that found that not only had China been pouring money into the U.S. for a…

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India Hikes Tariffs on U.S. Goods Amid Deepening Trade Friction

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  India has hiked tariffs on 28 goods imported from the United States as a trade spat between the two countries intensifies. The retaliatory move came days after Washington removed New Delhi from a list of countries that have preferential access to its market. “India has put its cards on the table,” says trade expert Biswajit Dhar at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. “The U.S. has upped the ante and it is also threatening to take further action. This required India to respond.” The trade spat has escalated ahead of a visit later this month to New Delhi by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who has pushed India to allow American companies more access to its markets and to lower barriers. Experts fear the growing tensions could cast a shadow over a deepening India-U.S. strategic partnership that aims at countering China’s growing influence. The American goods that attract higher tariffs beginning Sunday include almonds, apples, walnuts, chickpeas and lentils, as well as some stainless steel products. New Delhi is the largest importer of U.S. almonds and the second largest buyer of apples. The total impact of the Indian tariffs is estimated to be about $240 million. Increased deferred…

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Decision to Vacate DOJ’s Wire Act Reinterpretation a Big Win for Online Poker

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by Johnny Kampis   A U.S. District Court ruling that said the Wire Act only applies to sports betting not only staves off a Department of Justice effort to end interstate online poker efforts,  it will also help facilitate the growth of poker gaming across the country. Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro in New Hampshire ruled on a challenge by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission that the 1961 Interstate Wire Act applies only to sports betting. Barbadoro said the opinion by the DOJ in November 2018 that the Wire Act applied to other forms of gambling is set aside. States were supposed to comply by June 14, but the district court ruling removes that obligation for now. That decision “represents just about the greatest win imaginable” for poker operators, wrote Mark Edelman in Forbes. Edelman, a law professor of Zicklin School of Business in New York City focusing on issues of gaming and antitrust, said the decision “clearly supports the legality of interstate poker compacts, paving the way for online poker’s further growth on a national or semi-national basis.” So far, Delaware, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have legalized online poker, with the last two now attempting to…

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Commentary: The American Founding’s High-Minded Purposes

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by Edward J. Erler   James Madison is justly celebrated for his frequently stated opinion that “all power in just and free Government is derived from compact.” But Madison’s view is not endorsed by all purported champions of the founders. A recent article, “Our Unwritten Constitution: Orestes Brownson and the Foundation of American Liberty,” published as part of the RealClearPolicy series on the American Project and co-authored by Richard M. Reinsch II and the late Peter Augustine Lawler, argues that Madison is utterly mistaken in his claim. In fact, the authors claim that reliance on “Lockean contract theory” produced a constitution that was “devised solely in the interest of the rights of individuals” and was “based on the unrealistic abstraction of unrelated autonomous individuals.” Lawler and Reinsch claim that autonomous individuals – that is, human beings abstracted from real life – cannot provide the appropriate material for political life. They are not “parents, creatures, [or] even citizens. Lockean thought, thus, isn’t political enough to be the foundation of government, and it isn’t relational enough to articulate properly the limits of governments or the roles of family and organized religion.” Reinsch and Lawler rely heavily on Orestes Brownson’s criticism of Locke’s influence on the…

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New Video Shows Students Stunned to Learn Biden – Not Trump – Made Racially Charged Remarks

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by Cabot Phillips   With the 2020 presidential election just 16 months away, former Vice President Joe Biden holds a commanding lead over his Democrat counterparts. Leading in every national poll, Biden has billed himself as relatable, likable, and perhaps above all else, without scandal. And, despite Sen. Bernie Sanders’ popularity with young voters, Biden has even managed to build a lead among younger voters, according to numerous polls. But would those young voters feel the same way if they’d heard some of the former vice president’s controversial comments – many of which garnered little attention at the time they were spoken? To find out, Campus Reform’s Cabot Phillips headed to Marymount University in Virginia to ask Biden supporters to choose who they think a series of quotes belong to, Joe Biden or President Donald Trump. Student after student confidently claimed the quotes they were hearing were the words of Donald Trump. All, however, were spoken by Biden. “You cannot go into a 7-11 or a Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking,” was the first quote. “They’re going to put y’all back in chains,” was the second quote, which was spoken to a largely African-American audience. “I mean, you…

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Ridgetop Police Still Exist Because of Judge’s Order, But No One Knows for How Long

Chris Butler

  The Ridgetop Police Department isn’t finished serving and protecting just yet. According to The Associated Press, Robertson County Judge Bill Goodman has signed a temporary restraining order that will allow the Ridgetop Police Department to resume operations. “Ridgetop Mayor Tony Reasoner announced the dissolution in a special-called meeting last week, saying the city of 1.4 square miles (3 square kilometers) and about 2,000 residents just couldn’t afford a police department anymore,” according to The AP. “The plaintiffs in the civil suit against the city include Ridgetop Police Department Chief Bryan Morris and two police officers. A preliminary hearing on the restraining order was set for July 1. City officials have scheduled a meeting on Monday.” As The Tennessee Star reported last week, people in Ridgetop say the mayor’s allegedly hurt ego and personal vendetta against Morris led to this situation. In March, The Star reported Morris said Reasoner and Vice Mayor McCaw Johnson were out to cripple his department. Morris said the two men demanded his officers issue a certain number of tickets every month to generate revenue for the town. Morris then made this information public. “It’s retaliation,” Morris told The Star last week, before Judge Goodman’s ruling. “They took all…

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