Day: June 25, 2019

Tennessee Students Still Struggle After Common Core ‘Rebranded’

Beth Lear

  Students attending K-12 public schools in Tennessee are struggling to perform above average on national standardized tests. Partially adopted in 2010 and fully implemented by the 2013-14 school year, Common Core State Standards (CCSS) failed to produce the academic results expected. The Tennessee Department of Education and Governor Bill Haslam “rebranded” CCSS as Tennessee standards after the legislature passed a bill to repeal the Core in April 2015. “Common Core is as big a change in education as Obamacare is in health care, but unlike Obamacare it needed no votes in Congress to become national policy,” Joy Pullman, executive editor of The Federalist, wrote in her 2017 book, The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids. These controversial K-12 public education standards, “garnered practically no notice from the media before the Obama administration, in concert with largely unelected state bureaucrats and a shadow bureaucracy of private organizations, locked it in nationwide. That meant no public debate before the scheme was imposed upon a country supposedly run with the consent of the governed,” Pullman observed. Common Core State Standards were adopted in full or in part by the governments of 46 states beginning in 2009, the first…

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Google Exposed: Search Giant Working To ‘Prevent’ Trump 2020

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by CHQ Staff   In a bombshell new undercover video, insider interview and document leak, James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas has exposed that search giant Google, whose senior executives were intimately involved in the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, has plans to “prevent” another “Trump situation” in 2020. The brave Google insider says Google violates the “letter of the law” and “spirit of the law” of Section 230 granting it immunity as a “platform.” Key Quotes From The Video: James O’Keefe III: Why did you decide to come forward and talk to Project Veritas. Google Insider: They’re not an objective source of information. They are a highly biased political machine that is bent on never letting somebody like Donald Trump come to power again. Jen Gennai, Head of Responsible Innovation at Google Global Affairs: “we all got screwed over in 2016, again it wasn’t just us, it was, the people got screwed over, the news media got screwed over, like, everybody got screwed over so we’re rapidly been like, happened there and how do we prevent it from happening again…” Google Insider: Well, right after Donald Trump won the election, in 2016, the company did a complete 180 in what they thought was important,…

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Nashville School Board Members Wanted to Raise Property Taxes, Despite Past Excessive Spending

Chris Butler

  Metro Nashville School Board members will not ask voters to raise property taxes this year, as some people expected, said board member Fran Bush (pictured above). This, because of a decree county officials put out Monday, Bush told The Tennessee Star. “It’s too late to submit the resolution. This comes straight from the Metro Election Commission,” Bush said. “We got the information from our attorney today.” No one from the Metro Election Commission’s office returned our request for comment Monday. The Tennessean reported last week that school board members might ask voters to raise the property tax rate by 16 cents so they would have more money for schools. Assuming school board member signed off on the referendum, the vote would have taken place Aug. 1, the paper reported. On Monday, however, The Tennessean reported that Tennessee law could stop school board members from asking for the referendum this year. “Under state law, the election commission cannot put to voters a question less than 60 days before an election,” the paper reported. As The Star reported, there were reportedly problems with the Metro Nashville Public Schools’ spending habits this year. According to a recent audit, district leaders failed to use…

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Rep. Green Calls for ‘Permanent Solution to the Border Crisis’

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) on Monday called for a “permanent solution to the border crisis.” Green, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, made his statement in regard to both the Senate and House, which reportedly are working on bills simultaneously to bring humanitarian relief to the ongoing border crisis. According to both a press release and a tweet, Green said, “Whatever Congress passes must include a permanent solution to the border crisis. We must fix our legal loopholes. Via the president’s emergency declaration, we are getting the physical wall built. But we need to build a legal wall by fixing the loopholes.” Whatever Congress passes must include a permanent solution to the border crisis. We must fix our legal loopholes. Via the president's emergency declaration, we are getting the physical wall built. But we need to build a legal wall by fixing the loopholes. https://t.co/bPr4wduKTC — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) June 24, 2019 The report that Green referenced was from The Hill, which said President Donald Trump’s $4.5 billion border spending request is facing obstacles in differences between the Senate and House versions. The bills are similar on the amount of funding but differ on…

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Commentary: Crack-ups at the Crossroads of Intersectionality

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by Victor Davis Hanson   Progressives do not see the United States as an exceptional uniter of factions and tribes into a cohesive whole – each citizen subordinating his tribal, ethnic, and religious affinities to a shared Americanism, emblemized by our national motto e pluribus unum. Instead, they prefer e uno plures: out of one nation arise many innately different and separate peoples. Progressivism’s signature brand is now tribalism: all of us in different ways are victims of a white male Christian heterosexual patriarchy – or a current 20 percent hierarchy that past and present has supposedly oppressed anyone not like themselves. In contrast, our differences define who we are, and are not incidental to the content of our characters. The salad bowl, not the melting pot, is the new national creed. America is to be a conglomeration of competing tribal parties in the fashion of the Balkans, Rwanda, or contemporary Iraq. How does the relative victimhood work politically? Progressive elites (oddly often white, but “woke,” males) serve as umpires who adjudicate familial spats and intersectional fractures. Like good cowboys, they ride herd, directing the squabbling and snorting flock in the right direction without losing too many strays on the way to…

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Biden: Congress Should Immediately Make ‘Dreamers’ Citizens

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  Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, unveiling his immigration policy outline ahead of the first 2020 debates, is calling for Congress to grant citizenship immediately to more than 800,000 U.S. residents who were brought to the country illegally as children. The former vice president and Democratic polling leader unveiled some of his immigration priorities on Monday in a newspaper op-ed that blisters President Donald Trump for an “assault on the dignity” of the Latino community through policies and rhetoric designed to “scare voters” in 2020. “Trump repeatedly invokes racist invective to describe anyone south of the Rio Grande,” Biden writes, noting “horrifying scenes … of kids being kept in cages” and other “actions that subvert our American values and our ability to lead on the global stage.” Biden, who launched his 2020 campaign in April, calls for streamlining the asylum system for migrants and spending more on electronic security at U.S. borders rather than Trump’s proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall. And he blasts Trump’s latest threats of mass deportation and his decision to cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, three Central American nations that are sources of the increasing wave of migrants to the U.S. border. Trump, a Republican,…

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House Democrats Spread ‘Lies’ About Climate Change And Hurricanes, Scientist Says

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by Michael Bastach   House Democrats’ climate change hearing is based on “inaccurate” information that’s “not in accord with current science or consensus,” according to a scientist. A Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee will hold a hearing Tuesday on natural disaster policy “in the wake of climate change.” However, Democrats are under fire for making claims on the hearing’s webpage that don’t line up with the facts. Atmospheric scientist Ryan Maue, a hurricane expert, tweeted that the Democrats’ hearing “spreads lies” about the scientific consensus on climate change and hurricanes. The House subcommittee is chaired by California Rep. Harley Rouda and includes Green New Deal champion New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as a member. Maue pointed out that major scientific assessments cast doubt on claims global warming is increasing hurricane frequency or intensity. “This is not in accord with current science or consensus anywhere = fraud,” Maue said of House Democrats’ climate claims, which relies on information on information posted online by environmental activists. https://twitter.com/RyanMaue/status/1142809306267639809 Maue took issue with Democrats’ claim that “due to climate change, ‘the number of hurricanes that reach Categories 4 and 5 in strength has roughly doubled’ since the 1970s” – a claim that doesn’t line up with scientific…

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US-China Trade Dispute Triggering Production Exodus

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by Joyce Huang   U.S. tech giant Apple has reportedly asked its major suppliers, mainly China-based manufacturers from Taiwan, to consider moving 15 to 30% of their production outside of China to avoid higher tariffs imposed on U.S.-bound exports. The production migration, which analysts say is already ongoing,will hurt the tech giant’s profit margin, but also lead to massive job losses in China. They add that such shifts have also occurred over the past year among other China-based tech suppliers and the trend will continue if the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies keeps escalating. “Over the past year, to my understanding, manufacturers in the information [technology] sector, for example, [China-based Taiwanese] suppliers of personal computers or consumer electronics have moved faster than handset makers and relocated [part of] their assembly lines outside China,” says Sean Kao, senior research manager at IDC Taiwan on worldwide hardware assembly research. Caught in the Crossfire Tech companies such as Apple are caught in the crossfire of U.S.-China trade frictions and face the threat of heavy punitive taxes on their China-made, U.S.-bound products. Earlier this month, U.S. President Trump said he would decide whether to slap Beijing with further tariffs on another…

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Beto O’Rourke Proposes ‘War Tax’ for Non-Military Households

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by Evie Fordham   Democratic 2020 hopeful Beto O’Rourke unveiled a policy plan Monday to improve health care for veterans, including a “war tax” on households without service members or veterans. The “war tax” would feed into what O’Rourke calls the Veterans Health Care Trust Fund for future wars, reported the Texas Tribune. This country must be willing to pay any price and bear any burden to provide the full care, support, and resources to every single veteran who served every single one of us. My new plan will ensure that we finally do. Take a look: https://t.co/Ym9wIkwE5b — Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) June 24, 2019 The yearly war tax ranges from $25 to $1,000 based on households’ yearly income, reported CNN. O’Rourke will discuss the new plan at a veterans’ roundtable in Tampa Monday. “We must be willing to pay any price, and bear any burden, to provide the full care, support, and resources to every single veteran who served every single one of us,” O’Rourke said in a statement according to the Texas Tribune. The former Texas congressman has been accused of trading policy proposals for platitudes on the campaign trail. The candidate tried to combat that reputation by releasing policy proposals and…

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Britain’s Version of the Never-Trumpers May Bring Down the Government Over Brexit

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by Ben Whedon   The British version of the “Never-Trump” movement may force the next prime minister from power in order to prevent a “no-deal Brexit,” if high-ranking Conservative Party members of Parliament follow through on their threats. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said in May he “couldn’t support a government policy stance that said as a matter of choice we are going to pursue a no-deal exit” in an interview with Sky News. “I will act in what I believe is the best interest of this country,” he added on the question of whether he would back a no-confidence vote of his own party over the issue. Hammond and other so-called “Remoaners” support either the cancellation of Brexit outright or at least a withdrawal agreement with the European Union limiting the scope of the United Kingdom’s departure, called a “soft” Brexit. Much like the Never-Trump Republicans, Remoaners are members of the ruling party so opposed to its own agenda (and the results of a democratic election) that they are willing to bring down their own government. They hold this position in opposition to the results of a democratic referendum. The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a 2016 referendum…

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Commentary: Free Trade and the ‘Cheap Goods’ Delusion

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by Spencer Morrison   Between 1348 and 1352 a monstrous plague – the Black Death – ravaged Europe. The disease struck young and old, men and women, saint and sinner alike. Half the population died. Whole cities disappeared. Western Civilization was on the brink of collapse. What caused this plague? Bad smells. Foul odors. The stench of decay. This was considered unequivocal, scientific fact – that is until we invented the microscope and discovered that an entire world of miniature animalcules existed right under our noses. In time we realized that these creatures caused illness: germ theory was born, and with it died the centuries-old miasma theory of disease. Received wisdom – no matter how venerable – should always be treated with a healthy dose of skepticism. This is especially true when it comes to economics, as money brings out hucksters who sell snake-oil bottled as genuine emollients. Bluntly: many economists are crooks and liars. The biggest lie they tell us is that international free trade makes stuff cheaper. It doesn’t. It simply enriches the white-collar gangsters who run our banks – the very people who so often fund “libertarian” think tanks. Go figure. The Bigger the Lie . . . Free-trade theory is…

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Constituents of Minnesota’s U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar Reportedly Being Polled About Potential Challengers for 2020

Jason M. Reynolds

  Someone in the Democratic Party may be considering a test drive of a new candidate to challenge controversial first-term U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) (pictured, center). Residents in Omar’s district reportedly are being polled on support for alternative candidates for the 2020 elections. Minnesota political activist Tane Danger tweeted, “Just got a polling robo-call asking if I would be supporting @IlhanMN or “potential candidate” Andrea Jenkins (@annapoetic) for Congress in 2020 (pictured, right). It was clearly testing out some negative messaging against Rep. Omar. Who is paying for this polling and why? #MN05”. Just got a polling robo-call asking if I would be supporting @IlhanMN or “potential candidate” Andrea Jenkins (@annapoetic) for Congress in 2020. It was clearly testing out some negative messaging against Rep. Omar. Who is paying for this polling and why? #MN05 pic.twitter.com/QXgWKlFX4R — Tane Danger (@TaneDanger) June 21, 2019 Danger is co-founder of The Theater of Public Policy, which describes itself as a merger of nonprofit work and improv comedy to tackle “big ideas.” Jenkins, a Minneapolis poet and artist, has been rumored as a potential challenger since February, The Minnesota Sun reported. Jenkins, who is also Minneapolis City Council Vice President, is best known…

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Google Has Also Shown Left-Wing Bias Against Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

Chris Butler

  U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn had not issued a statement by Monday night concerning a new expose showing left-wing bias at Google. James O’Keefe of Project Veritas released the video Monday. In it, Google employees discuss the tools they use to try to undermine U.S. Republican President Donald Trump and to prevent his reelection next year. The Tennessee Star contacted Blackburn’s office Monday. “I have not yet seen the videos,” said Blackburn spokeswoman Elizabeth Gregory. Gregory said she could not promise a response before Monday’s stated deadline. As reported, a Google software engineer with clout verbally attacked Blackburn last year, calling her “a violent thug” and a “terrorist.” That employee, Blake Lemoine, also defended censoring Blackburn’s campaign ads on social media as she ran for the U.S. Senate last year. The comments reportedly took place in an internal email discussion last summer. The topic of discussion was a FOX News column in which Blackburn, then a congresswoman, urged tech companies to address bias against conservatives. Blackburn has criticized tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Twitter. Lemoine accused Blackburn of lying to the public and of “causing the deaths of people she claimed to protect” – referring to her work…

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