Day: June 28, 2019

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

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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…

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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…

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

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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…

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

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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…

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

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Commentary: Last Night’s Fauxahontas Show

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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…

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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…

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Report: Trump Insiders Want DHS Chief to Step Down

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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…

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Supreme Court Rules Judges Can’t Block Partisan Gerrymandering

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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…

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

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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…

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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…

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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…

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