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…
Read MoreDay: June 27, 2019
Commentary: Give Tucker Carlson the Nobel Peace Prize
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…
Read MoreSen. Blackburn Votes to Address Humanitarian Crisis at Border While Supporting Border Patrol Agents
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…
Read MoreWayfair Workers Protest at Company’s Headquarters Over Selling Furniture to Immigrant Detention Centers
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…
Read MoreMueller to Testify in Open Congressional Hearing
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…
Read MoreHamilton County Commission’s Defeat of 34-Cent Property Tax Increase Leaves Teachers with ‘Defeated Faces,’ Disappoints School Board Member’s Dog
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…
Read MoreNew Study Says Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws in Tennessee and Other States Do Not Reduce Crime
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…
Read MoreBoth Parties Seek to Delay Abortion Lawsuit in Ohio
by Tyler Arnold In a joint filing, both sides of the Ohio abortion lawsuit have requested that the U.S. district court delay information gathering until after a similar case in Kentucky is settled. Both Kentucky and Ohio passed legislation to prohibit abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected,…
Read MoreTennessee House Republicans to Select a New Speaker on July 24
A meeting of the Tennessee House Republican Caucus has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 24, to select a Republican nominee for Speaker of the House. The meeting was called by House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland). In a statement issued by Leader Lamberth Wednesday, he said his call for…
Read MoreCommentary: Big Tech’s Bid for One-Party Rule Could Result in Over Regulation
by Robert Romano The Wall Street Journal is reporting that momentum is building for the U.S. government to subject Google and other Big Tech firms to antitrust scrutiny for fears that they have become too big and too powerful. In today’s digital ecosystem, politicians, political parties, organizations and media…
Read MoreSupreme Court Strikes Down Tennessee Liquor Law
The Supreme Court ruled against a Tennessee law that requires people to live in the state for two years before acquiring a retail license to sell alcohol. The court’s 7-2 decision ruled that Tennessee’s law had violated the Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which gives Congress the power “to regulate Commerce with…
Read MoreNational Rifle Association Shutters NRATV as Ackerman Split Becomes Official
by Whitney Tipton The National Rifle Association (NRA) announced Tuesday that it is closing NRATV as part of the split from its longtime marketing partner Ackerman McQueen. The move comes after months of public feuding and litigation between the NRA and Ackerman, which operates the gun-group’s live television broadcast…
Read MoreUS House Passes Emergency Funding Bill for Migrant Care Crisis
It took last-minute changes and a full-court press by top Democratic leaders, but the House passed with relative ease Tuesday a $4.5 billion emergency border aid package to care for thousands of migrant families and unaccompanied children detained after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The bill passed along party lines…
Read More9/11 Gaffe, Technical Difficulties, Spanish Responses: Highlights from ‘BORING’ First Debate
Ten Democratic presidential candidates took to the debate stage in Miami, Florida Wednesday night for the first of a two-night event. President Donald Trump weighed in on the debate with just one word: “BORING!” BORING! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2019 He later criticized NBC News after…
Read MoreIllinois Becomes Eleventh State to Legalize Recreational Marijuana
Illinois became the 11th state to legalize recreational marijuana Tuesday, and the first to do so through its legislature rather than a ballot initiative. Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker signed the bill into law after the legislature passed it late last month. “As the first state in the nation to…
Read MoreRep. Green Votes ‘No’ on Democrat Government Appropriations Bill Spending $400M More than President Trump Requested
U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) voted “no” on H.R. 3351, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2020. He released the following statement explaining his vote: “Congressional Democrats must not be able to help themselves. They love spending taxpayer money,” said Rep. Mark Green. “The president requested…
Read MoreNew York Times Isn’t Forthright About Population Growth of St. Cloud, Local Paper Responds by Calling Own Readers ‘Cowards’
The New York Times recently sent one of its east-coast reporters to St. Cloud, Minnesota to report on the frustration some residents have with the influx of refugees settling there. The article begins by noting that a “few thousand” refugees “moved into this small city.” But a few paragraphs…
Read MoreNew Tennessee Star/Triton Poll Continues To Show Re-Election Problems for Mayor David Briley
In April, a Tennessee Star/Triton poll of likely Davidson County voters indicated that Mayor David Briley was facing headwinds in his bid for reelection. The weather hasn’t improved for Briley as Election Day looms just over a month away. If the August 1 election was held today Briley would…
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