Month: June 2019

Trump: ‘Not Nearly Enough’ Progress in US-Mexico Migrant Talks

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  WASHINGTON — The United States and Mexico hold more talks Thursday about migrant policy as a U.S. deadline looms for Mexico to take more action to control the number of people reaching the border or face tariffs on Mexican goods sent to the U.S. market. If no agreement is reached, U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to apply the 5% tariff beginning Monday, with monthly escalations up to as much as 25% by October. “Progress is being made, but not nearly enough!” he tweeted late Wednesday. “The higher the Tariffs go, the higher the number of companies that will move back to the USA!” He added Thursday in comments to reporters, “We’ve told Mexico the tariffs go on, and I mean it too.” Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who has led a delegation of negotiators in Washington this week, said after talks ended Wednesday that he remains optimistic the two sides will work out a deal. “What we want to avoid is the impact of the tariffs for the two economies, for the consumers, for the people of both countries,” he told reporters. He said both countries have been able to lay out their positions and that the dialogue…

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Report: Mexico Is Offering Major Concessions to Avoid Trump Tariffs

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by Jason Hopkins   The Mexican government is reportedly offering a slate of immigration-related concessions to appease the Trump administration as it seeks to prevent the imposition of tariffs on exports to the U.S. Mexican negotiators are offering to deploy thousands of National Guard troops to its border with Guatemala and enact sweeping changes to its asylum laws, moves that are expected to prevent a significant number of Central Americans from illegally entering the U.S., The Washington Post reported Thursday. President Donald Trump set a June 10 deadline for the Mexican government to demonstrate it would do more to stem illegal immigration from its country, or else face a 5% tariff on all its goods. The threat sparked immediate negotiations between U.S. and Mexican delegations in Washington, D.C. — which are expected to continue for the rest of the week. Mexico, according to two officials who spoke with The Post, agreed to send up to 6,000 National Guard troops to its southern border with Guatemala, a major chokepoint for Central American migrants in their northbound journey to the U.S. That move is expected to immediately yield results in squashing the number of illegal immigrants. Additionally, Mexican negotiators are prepared to…

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Senators Blackburn, Blumenthal Sound Alarm Over Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei’s Role in National Defense Technology

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are expressing concerns about the inclusion of Huawei in the development of next-generation sharing technology in a band of spectrum critical to national defense. The senators wrote a letter on the topic Wednesday to Patrick Shanahan, Acting Secretary of the Department of Defense, and Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. The letter was also signed by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Edward Markey (D-MA) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK). “For years, alarm bells have been ringing over concerns about Huawei, especially in regards to national security and economic competitiveness,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Yet, as far back as 2016, and as recently as 2018, representatives from Huawei have been meeting with government officials regarding their work to develop next-generation spectrum sharing technologies between the United States Navy and the commercial sector. Spectrum sharing is a solution to spectrum management, but serious questions need to be answered regarding Huawei’s involvement.” Blackburn also tweeted her concerns, saying, “Alarm bells are ringing about Huawei – especially in regards to national security & economic competitiveness. That’s why @SenBlumenthal & I wrote a letter to @ActingSecDef…

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Republican Star John James Announces Senate Run on D-Day

Anthony Gockowski

  Veteran John James, one of Michigan’s rising Republicans stars, announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate Thursday morning, the 75th anniversary of D-Day. “I would like to announce that I am running for U.S. Senate after careful deliberation and thoughtful prayer,” James said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “I believe that the time, again, is to serve,” James continued. “I understand what we need to do because I have experience as a business leader, as a job creator—how to protect our economy from socialism, how to bring people together and unite people to make sure that we can defeat the evils that face us today.” James, who lost to incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) in 2018 by seven points, will challenge first-term Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) in 2020. “I’m focused on continuing to deliver results for Michigan,” Peters said in a statement provided to Fox News. “I’ll keep working with anyone to improve life for Michiganders, whether it’s to expand training programs so everyone has the skills needed to find good-paying jobs, protect our Great Lakes or lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs.” President Donald Trump endorsed James during his 2018 bid and called…

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No Protesters at Ohio’s Drag 101 Event Despite Library’s Claim it Received ‘Threats’

Beth Lear

  Dozens of supporters stood outside Secret Identity Comics in Delaware, Ohio Wednesday to welcome the controversial “Drag 101″ class, which was canceled by the Delaware County Library. Originally scheduled for Wednesday, June 5 at the Delaware County Library’s Orange Branch, the class was moved to Secret Identity Comics and funded by an anonymous donor. It took place on the same day and time as originally planned. Kyle Gale, who performs on-stage as “Selena T. West,” appeared in full costume as he was greeted by dozens of supporters. There were no signs of protesters, despite the fact that the library canceled the event on the grounds that it had received “threats.” There was a significant law enforcement presence nearby, and several Delaware City Police cars were seen at Frank B. Willis Intermediate School, less than a block from the event. Additional officers rode by the crowd multiple times on bicycles. Delaware City Police Sergeant Adam Willauer told The Ohio Star there was no trouble or protesters present. “No one has filed any reports about threats,” he said. “We were there because whenever a large crowd is expected, we want to be present for safety.” Speaking on camera with WCMH reporters, Gayle responded to…

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Ilhan Omar Filed Joint Tax Returns with Man She Wasn’t Married to, Media Ignores Bombshell

Zachery Schmidt

  An investigation by Minnesota’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board into Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) found she violated campaign finance laws dating back to when she served a single term in the State House of Representatives from 2016-2018. But conservative Twitter quickly uncovered a more shocking detail in the report: she filed joint tax returns with a man she wasn’t married to. The report states that Omar filed joint tax returns in 2014 and 2015 with Ahmed Hirsi, even though she was married to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi from 2009-2017. “One payment of $750 was made to De Leon & Nestor, LLC for obtaining immigration records and one payment of $1,500 was made to Frederick $ Rosen, Ltd. for services related to Mr. Hirsi’s and Rep. Omar’s filed joint tax returns of 2014 and 2015,” Thursday’s report states. The Star Tribune, Minnesota’s most popular media outlet, picked up the story, but made no mention of the fact that Omar filed joint tax returns with Hirsi. “Media has hid the truth about Ilhan Omar for three years. It’s about to ruin them all,” said PJ Media‘s David Steinberg, who explained the bombshell in a Twitter thread Thursday. BREAKING — Important Ilhan…

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Mark Green of Tennessee Visits Normandy for D-Day, Remembers the Cost of Freedom

Chris Butler

  U.S. Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District was in Normandy this week to observe the 75th anniversary of D-Day. While there, Green also mingled with some of the surviving men who participated in that historic event. He also took time to reflect upon why we must never forget that day. Green shared some of his observations by phone from France on Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report. Green told radio hosts Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy that the D-Day soldiers he’s met this week “are harder than Superman’s kneecap.” “They are just tough guys. I got to talk with a bunch of them this morning. I went in and heard their stories. Fascinating. Chills up and down my spine since early this morning,” Green said. “The guys who came home with a flag over their coffin, they are the heroes, and they are the ones that we must never every forget.” Another takeaway from Green’s trip — the cost of freedom. “I think the thing most important is to remember the price that freedom cost us and to always remember we have to be ever vigilant to any encroachments in freedom,” Green said on Thursday’s program.…

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TDEC Has a History of Mismanaging Taxpayer Money and Other Government Resources

Chris Butler

  Officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation made headlines this week for hosting a swanky event where they hobnobbed with the special interests they’re supposed to regulate. But this is not the first time TDEC officials’ have allegedly used poor judgment when it comes to how they manage government resources and taxpayer money. The Tennessean recently reported about an after-hours meet up between TDEC regulators and representatives from the state’s chemical waste, and construction industries. The annual event is known as the Environmental Show of the South. The event is three days and consists of workshops and networking events. Members of these private industries pay for the venue, the food and prizes for TDEC employees, according to The Tennessean. Tennessee legislators and Republican Gov. Bill Lee are reportedly unhappy about the arrangement. Organizers held this year’s Environmental Show of the South in Chattanooga last month. But this is not the first time TDEC has made headlines for alleged mismanagement or abuse of taxpayer-funded resources. As The Tennessee Star reported the past several months: • TDEC booted deputy Brock Hill from his job after he allegedly sent a female state employee a series of reportedly disgusting texts. TDEC…

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Commentary: Trump Shows Value of Tariffs as Foreign Policy Tool

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by Christopher Roach   The great American foreign policy debate began with the two parties’ divide over Vietnam. Until the Vietnam War, Republicans and Democrats more or less held to a consensus on the value of containment. After the war, Republicans favored unilateralism, a strong military, and clear-sighted pursuit of national interests that included the use of force against foreign threats. George W. Bush exemplified this thinking, and his early, bold action in Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001, found success in spite of knee-jerk criticism from the Left. On the other side, the Democrats favored multilateralism, negotiations and diplomacy, and a preference for domestic wealth redistribution over military investment. A persistent Democratic criticism of the Iraq campaign was not that it tried to introduce democracy into a broken part of the world, but rather that Bush failed to obtain the blessing of France. Democrats, particularly John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign and Barack Obama in 2008, treated diplomacy like magic, where consensus was an end in itself. Mere talking would align other nations more closely to our preferred path. The main foreign policy debate of the 2004 and 2008 elections was the Iraq war. In 2004, Bush remained firm…

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GOP Divided on Trump’s Mexico Tariff Threat

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by Jason Hopkins   Republicans in the House and Senate appear divided in their reaction to President Donald Trump’s threats to slap Mexico with incremental tariffs. “There is not much support in my conference for tariffs, that’s for sure,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday after a closed-door lunch between administration staffers and GOP senators, where White House deputy counsel Pat Philbin and Assistant Attorney General Steve Engel took heavy criticism from Republican lawmakers. “We are hoping that doesn’t happen.” Other Republican senators publicly voiced their concerns about taxing Mexican imports — a move the president is threatening to execute unless their government does more to stem the illegal immigration crisis. “When it comes to applying a tariff to Mexico, I for one would not support that. I do not favor tariffs being applied to friends like Mexico,” GOP Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said, according to Politico. “If there’s a vote I think it’s a very difficult vote for those of us who oppose tariffs. I would not be inclined to vote [for] a tariff against a friend.” Discussing the closed-door talks in a harsher tone, Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford reportedly said the White House “is trying to…

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Tennessee Comptroller Faults Seven Counties for Not Filing Emergency Operations Plan

Chris Butler

  Seven out of eight counties tested did not submit a Basic Emergency Operations Plan to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency for 2018, as state law requires, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers just released. County officials who don’t submit a BEOP endanger their own communities’ safety and well-being, auditors said. “Without the ability to obtain all counties’ BEOPs, TEMA management and staff cannot review and approve the plans to ensure the counties are prepared in the event of a disaster,” auditors wrote. “It is important for counties to revise and adapt their plan to address new hazards, and failure to update these plans and to coordinate with TEMA could affect the state’s ability to effectively respond to and recover from disasters.” The audit did not name the seven counties. According to the audit, officials in these seven counties did not even request an extension to submit their plans late. TEMA spokeswoman Maggie Hannan did not name the seven counties either in an emailed statement to The Tennessee Star. “All 95 counties in Tennessee have Basic Emergency Operations Plans,” Hannon wrote. “Over the last two years, our planning team has developed tools and practices to streamline and simplify the planning…

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Seventy-Five Years Later: D-Day Remembered by Those Who Were There

Zachery Schmidt
D day

  Seventy-five years ago today, the United States joined with Great Britain, the free French forces, and Canada to mount a bold invasion of the beachhead in Normandy, France as a last-ditch effort to gain a foothold in Europe against the conquering forces of Hitler’s Germany. To commemorate this significant event, President Donald Trump read the prayer President Franklin Delano Roosevelt read over the radio while the troops stormed the Normandy beaches during his Great Britain visit Wednesday. Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. They will need Thy blessings, for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. But we shall return again and again. And we know that by thy grace and the righteous of our cause our sons will triumph. Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Thy will be done Almighty God Amen The…

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Report: Economic Output in U.S. States Dwarfs Most Countries

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by Bethany Blankley   The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is more than $21 trillion, dwarfing the economies of most other countries in the world. China’s GDP hovers over $14 trillion; Japan’s over $5 trillion. The U.S. is neither the largest country by land mass nor population (4.4 percent of the world’s population) yet its GDP represents 24.2 percent of the global GDP. Most Americans can’t appreciate or comprehend how large these GDPs are, explains Mark J. Perry, professor of finance and business economics at the University of Michigan-Flint and scholar at The American Enterprise Institute. That’s why he creates a map every year comparing economies of states to countries to “help people understand how enormously large the U.S. economy is,” he told The Center Square. Four states, California, Texas, New York and Florida, produced more than $1 trillion in output. If they were each countries, they would have ranked in the world’s 16 largest economies in 2018. California’s GDP was greater than the United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (U.K.); Texas’ was larger than Canada’s; New York’s was larger than Russia’s, and Florida’s is comparable to Indonesia’s. Combined, they produced nearly $7.5 trillion in economic output…

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Survey: Americans Think Fake News Is Big Problem, Blame Politicians

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  Half of U.S. adults consider fake news a major problem, and they mostly blame politicians and activists for it, according to a new survey. A majority also believe journalists have the responsibility for fixing it. Differences in political affiliation are a major factor in how people think about fake news, as Republicans are more likely than Democrats to also blame journalists for the problem. The question of how to deal with made-up or misleading stories has embroiled politicians, civil-rights organizations and tech companies in the aftermath of misinformation campaigns by Russians and others aimed at undermining democratic institutions in the U.S. and Europe. A survey from the Pew Research Center, released Wednesday, finds that 68% of U.S. adults believe fake news affects confidence in government institutions. Misinformation was cited more often as a major problem than sexism, racism, illegal immigration or terrorism. Pew typically left the definition of “made-up news and information” open-ended, though some questions specified that it was information “intended to mislead the public.” As for who’s to blame for false information, 57% pointed the finger at political leaders and their staffs, while 53% said activist groups bore responsibility. Journalists and foreign actors such as Russia each…

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Commentary: Why I’m Never Going Back to California

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by George Rasley   Recently, Dr. Drew Pinsky spoke with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade about the horrific conditions on the streets of Los Angeles, America’s second-largest city, before making the frightening prediction, “There will be a major infectious disease epidemic this summer in Los Angeles.” Pinsky described to Kilmeade what he believes to be the almost medieval conditions in the City of Angels and compared local politicians to Nero, the infamous Roman Emperor who allegedly fiddled while his nation burned. “We have tens and tens of thousands of people living in tents. Horrible conditions. Sanitation. Rats have taken over the city. We’re the only city in the country, Los Angeles, without a rodent control program. We have multiple rodent-borne, flea-borne illnesses, plague, typhus. We’re gonna have a louse-borne illness. If measles breaks into that population, we have tuberculosis exploding. Literally, our politicians are like Nero. It’s worse than Nero,” Pinsky said. Homelessness and trash are a growing problem for residents in Los Angeles and as the garbage piles up, so do the rats, fueling concerns about flea-borne typhus, according to a report this week. Pinsky said the city’s homeless situation and sanitation crisis are out of hand and politicians…

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Top US, Mexican Officials Meet on Tariffs, Migrant Surge

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  Top U.S. and Mexican officials are meeting Wednesday in Washington about President Donald Trump’s threatened 5% tariff on imported products from Mexico if it does not curb the surge of Central American migrants heading north toward the United States. With Trump in Europe for 75th-anniversary commemorations of D-Day, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are meeting at the White House with Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and other officials. In Ireland, Trump said, “I think Mexico has to step up and if they don’t, tariffs will go on and if they go high, companies are going to move back into the United States.” Trump said Mexico “wants to make a deal,” but that if it cannot stop the migration, “we just won’t be able to do business. It’s a very simple thing. And I think they will stop it… They’ve sent their top people to try and do it. We’ll see what happens today. We should know something.” National security concerns In advance of the talks, a White House official said on condition of anonymity, “Trade and all other aspects of our relationship are critically important, but national security comes first and the White House…

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About 1,000 Migrants Cross Into Mexico, Start Walking to US

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  Hundreds more Central American migrants have crossed into Mexico from Guatemala, and a group of about 1,000 has started walking en mass to the north. State and local police accompanied the migrants Wednesday as they walked along a highway leading from the border to the first major city in Mexico, Tapachula. In recent months Mexico has used raids and roadside checkpoints to discourage highway marches such as the massive migrant caravans that occurred in 2018 and early 2019. But no such dissuasive force was seen Wednesday. The migrants say they aim to reach the U.S. border, where many plan to request asylum. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to slap tariffs on Mexican imports unless Mexico does more to stop the passage of migrants through its territory.             VOA News

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Alabama Might Castrate Sex Offenders If This Bill Becomes Law

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by Mary Margaret Olohan   Certain convicted sex offenders in Alabama might be chemically castrated if Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs legislation on her desk. Republican Alabama state Rep. Steve Hurst introduced H.B. 379 to target sex offenders and protect children. If someone is convicted of a sex offense against a child younger than 13 and is eligible for parole, that person would be chemically castrated by the Department of Public Health, according to WSFA News. The chemical castration would reduce testosterone or other hormone production. “This bill would provide that a person convicted of a sex offense involving a person under the age of 13 years who is eligible for parole, as a condition of parole, shall be required to undergo chemical castration treatment in addition to any other penalty or condition prescribed by law,” according to the bill. Hurst said he wishes physical castrations were possible. “I’d prefer it be surgical, because the way I look at it, if they’re going to mark these children for life, they need to be marked for life. My preference would be, if someone does a small infant child like that, they need to die. God’s going to deal with them…

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US House Votes to Protect ‘Dreamer’ Immigrants

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  The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation to end the threat of deportation that has long hung over undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers” who entered the United States when they were children. By a vote of 237-187, the Democratic-controlled House approved the legislation despite opposition from the White House, which said the move would “reward illegal immigration.” Only seven Republicans voted for the bill. There have been no signs that the Republican-controlled Senate would consider the House bill, likely leaving this Democratic initiative to be fought over during the 2020 presidential and congressional election campaigns. Earlier in his administration, Republican President Donald Trump said he wanted to help Dreamers, many of whom were very young when they arrived in the United States with their parents. But following a series of failed negotiations, Trump mainly has focused on clamping down on immigration and building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to keep out undocumented immigrants from Central America and other countries. The Democratic bill would shield an estimated 2 million Dreamers from deportation if they meet certain criteria, and put them on a path to U.S. citizenship. Some of these immigrants have had temporary protections under a program…

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Tim Ryan Releases Statement in Support of Impeachment Proceedings

Anthony Gockowski

  Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) said the House “must begin impeachment proceedings” in a statement released Tuesday morning. Republicans criticized Ryan, a 2020 hopeful, for using the impeachment issue to “breakthrough in a crowded primary field” and “satiate his radical base.” But Ryan claims he came to the decision “after much thought and consideration and after both reading the Mueller report and hearing directly from the Special Counsel.” “In America, no one is above the law. In America, we have an elected president, not a king. In America, the people govern,” Ryan began his statement. “We must fully expose the lawlessness which has already occurred and prevent additional lawlessness from occurring. While it is unlikely that we will see a conviction in the Senate with its present Republican leadership more concerned with power and party than their constitutional duties and the rule of law, we can no longer sit by while a lawless president remains unchecked,” he continued. Statement on Impeachment pic.twitter.com/8pzx1zQnhC — Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) June 4, 2019 Ryan went on to suggest that avoiding impeachment would enable “this kind of lawless behavior to continue and to metastasize.” “Our republic cannot survive if we acquiesce to the view held…

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Minneapolis Official Calls for End to Car Ownership

Anthony Gockowski

  Sam Rockwell, president of the Minneapolis Planning Commission, suggested in a recent op-ed for The Star Tribune that in order “to save the planet, we have to get over cars.” “The way we live our lives is how we got into this climate catastrophe in the first place. Of course we have to change. And that means driving less, not just switching which model sedan we buy. It means transforming how our personal needs relate to stewardship of our Earth and our communities,” Rockwell said in the article. He was responding to a May 20 article published in The Star Tribune that “paints a picture of an electric-vehicle-filled world,” which he doesn’t think would be enough. Rockwell pointed to Minneapolis’ “2040 Plan,” which explains that “even with the adoption of electric cars, a 38% reduction in passenger miles traveled by automobile is needed.” “If we are obliged to reduce car travel—and perhaps even ownership—does that mean we’re stuck with Jordan’s ‘dreary post-apocalyptic future’? Only if you believe Paris, Vancouver, and New York fit that description. These communities and many others are built around comprehensive transit systems,” Rockwell continued. “Success of these systems, and the dense land uses that support…

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Ohio Doctor Charged With 25 Counts of Murder for Ordering ‘Potentially Fatal Doses’ of Fentanyl

Anthony Gockowski

  William Husel, a former Ohio doctor who was fired and placed under investigation for ordering “excessive and potentially fatal doses” of fentanyl, was charged Wednesday with 25 counts of murder. According to WCMH, it’s one of the biggest murder cases ever brought against a medical provider in America. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien announced the indictment, which was filed by the Franklin County Grand Jury in connection with treatment administered by Husel at Mount Carmel and St. Ann’s Hospitals in Columbus. O’Brien said in a statement that each count in the indictment alleges that Husel “purposely caused the death” of all 25 patients. The indictment accuses Husel of ordering fentanyl doses ranging from 500 to 2000 micrograms and administering them to patients, which “shortened their life and hastened or caused their death.” As The Ohio Star previously reported, Husel was in some cases prescribing 50 times the recommended dose. According to a timeline of the investigation provided by the Mount Carmel Health System, the hospital began its investigation in October 2018 after receiving a report related to Husel’s care and terminated his employment by December 2018 after discovering that he ordered “excessive and potentially fatal doses for at least…

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Sen. Blackburn Introduces Resolution to Protect Freedom of Speech at Universities

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday about her newly introduced resolution to encourage free speech and inclusive debate on college campuses. Video of her remarks on the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019 is available here. College campus protests in the 1960s framed Americans’ ideas for what modern protests look like, Blackburn told the Senate. “Once-sleepy college campuses became the scenes of widespread unrest,” she said. Blackburn referenced the Supreme Court ruling in Healy v. James that found that Central Connecticut State University had deprived students of their First Amendment rights when the university prevented the formation of a local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. Free speech of conservative views is being stifled at universities today, she said. Blackburn, in a press release, said, “On the eve of National Higher Education day, I am introducing the Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019. It’s a first step in restoring sanity to free speech for American college students. It recognizes that universities should protect the free and open exchange of ideas and that freedom of speech is worth protecting in a world increasingly hostile to democracy.” The Campus Free Speech Resolution of 2019 is…

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Senators Blackburn, Toomey, Tillis to Hold Press Conference Today to Push for Act to End Sanctuary Cities

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) will hold a press conference today on their legislation to protect communities from violent criminals who are in the United States illegally. The Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act (S.1644) would put an end to dangerous sanctuary city policies – like the ones in Philadelphia and San Francisco – that forbid local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, even when they wish to do so, Blackburn said in a press release. The senators will hold the press conference at 11:30 a.m. today in the Senate Radio & Television Gallery, S-325, in the Capitol. Toomey introduced the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act in the Senate on May 23 and has 22 cosponsors. Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Congressmen Tom McClintock (R-CA-04) and Darin LaHood (R-IL-18). Toomey tweeted, “Sanctuary city policies pose a threat to public safety. I spoke with @CharlesFLehman from @FreeBeacon yesterday about my legislation to get local politicians to comply with federal immigration law.” Sanctuary city policies pose a threat to public safety. I spoke with @CharlesFLehman from @FreeBeacon yesterday about my legislation to get local politicians to comply with federal immigration…

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Commentary: Joe Biden Runs for President of the World

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by Robert Romano   Political parties pushing sovereignty first policies did remarkably well in European Parliament elections in the UK, France and Italy in May as nations feel increasingly overregulated and held back by the European Union. It is the latest instance of the struggle between nation-states and the global institutions that seek to control them and their destinies. And it could serve as a bellwether for the U.S. election across the pond in 2020, where President Donald Trump lines up his America first reelection bid and Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden runs for President of the World. In a fundraising call in April, Biden claimed, “I get calls from people all over the world — world leaders are calling me — and they’re almost begging me to do this, to save the country, save the world.” “Save the world”? From what, America? His opponent is the sitting President of the United States, not some third world actor. And yet, Biden’s ill-advised remarks in many ways represent the same local establishments that oppose country-first policies in many European countries — and now voters are striking back at the ballot box. In the UK, the Brexit Party, founded weeks before the European…

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Hamilton County Mayor Seeks 34 Cent Property Tax Hike to Hire 350 School System Personnel That One Board Member Says Are Unneeded

Jason M. Reynolds

  Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger on Tuesday presented a budget that includes a 34-cent property tax increase for the school system, The Chattanoogan reported. The proposed budget does not include any increase for the county general budget, the publication said. Coppinger had previously talked about including 15 cents for that portion of the budget, for a 49-cent increase. The proposed tax increase of 34 cents would cost the owner of a $100,000 house $85 per year, The Chattanoogan said. The proposed 17 percent property tax increase is meant to hire 350 positions for the school district, The Tennessee Star reported. Proposed new positions include counselors, graduation coaches, a data warehouse programmer, 15 truancy officers and more. School Board member Rhonda Thurman, a critic of the proposed bump in spending for the school system, recently told The Star that even if the 350 personnel do not help to raise test scores, they likely still will keep their jobs. “We never get rid of a program. All we do is keep adding on to them,” said Thurman, who said these positions are unneeded. Coppinger’s proposed budget is $819 million, a $65 million increase from the current year, with almost $60 million…

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Commentary: Three Things to Know About a Disaster Spending Bill Conservatives Couldn’t Stop

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by Rachel del Guidice   A $19.1 billion disaster aid bill that faced significant opposition from conservative Republicans passed the House on Monday evening by a lopsided vote of 354-58. Only Republicans voted against the measure, which includes funding in the aftermath of hurricanes, wildfires, and other storms as well as money to help Puerto Rico rebuild from hurricane damage in 2017. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the spending bill. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the House’s No. 2 Democrat, tweeted Monday night that he hoped Trump would “sign it swiftly into law.” The House has now passed the bipartisan disaster relief supplemental after it was delayed by House Republicans. I hope @POTUS will sign it swiftly into law so emergency funds can be released to help American communities rebuild from recent disasters. https://t.co/iINGwfJASh — Steny Hoyer (@RepStenyHoyer) June 3, 2019 Here are three things to know about the bill, which amounts to more than four times what Trump previously requested to construct a wall or other barriers at the southern border. 1. Conservatives Stalled It Three conservative Republicans—Chip Roy of Texas, then Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and finally John Rose of Tennessee— blocked the spending…

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Former ICE Chief on Trump’s Tariff Threat: ‘I Agree With The President 100 Percent’

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by Jason Hopkins   The former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) voiced unwavering support for President Donald Trump’s plan to tariff all Mexican goods if they don’t better enforce illegal immigration. “I agree with the president 100 percent and I agree with the tariffs,” Tom Homan, who served as acting ICE director from January 2017 to June 2018, said Tuesday while appearing on Fox News. The former immigration chief was reacting to President Donald Trump’s press conference alongside British Prime Minister Theresa May, where he spoke more about tariff threat against Mexico. “I understand that the tariffs may have a short-term effect on the economy, but it’s money, money, money, money. My concern is, what price is it going to put on our national security?” Homan said. “If you’re a terrorist in the world that wants to come to this country to do us harm, you’re not going to buy a plane ticket, you’re not going to try to get a visa — because of all the checks being done now after 9/11. You’ll enter the country the same way as 12 or 20 million other people entered.” The former ICE chief noted how around 40% of…

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Trump Commits to ‘Phenomenal’ Deal with Britain

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  President Donald Trump deployed a mix of diplomacy and barbs in his joint news conference with British Prime Minister Teresa May in London Tuesday. Trump said the U.S. is committed to a “phenomenal trade deal” with Britain as the country prepares to leave the European Union, he saw “no limitations” on future intelligence sharing despite disagreements over the threat posed by China tech giant Huawei, and he praised outgoing British leader May saying she has “done a very good job.” Thousands of demonstrators have thronged central London to protest the American leaders’ visit. But when asked Tuesday about his reaction to the demonstrations, the U.S. president said he saw only a single small protest and media reports of much larger crowds are “fake news.” Prime Minister May praised the relationship between the two countries but acknowledged some differences over climate change and Iran. Britain still supports the Paris Climate accord, which Trump has rejected, and supports the Iran nuclear agreement that the U.S. has withdrawn from. May spoke days before she is scheduled to resign after failing to secure a deal to complete Britain’s exit from the EU. That process will be inherited by her successor, with no clear…

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Trump: ‘More Likely’ Tariffs Will Be Imposed on Mexican Products

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  U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that it is “more likely” than not that next week he will impose a new 5% tariff on imported products from Mexico. Trump offered his assessment at a London news conference alongside British Prime Minister Theresa May, even as U.S. and Mexican officials continued talks in Washington about the tariffs and the surge of Central American migrants traveling through Mexico to reach the United States that Trump wants to block. “Mexico should step up and stop this invasion into our country,” Trump said, contending that “millions and millions” of undocumented migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are entering the U.S. to escape poverty and violence in their homelands. “I think Mexico will step up and do what they need to,” Trump said. “I want to see security at our border and great trade.” He said, “We are going to see if we can do something, but I think it’s more likely the tariffs go on [next Monday], and we will probably be talking during the time that the tariffs are on.” Trump has threatened to increase the tariffs monthly in 5% increments if the migration is not curbed. In the U.S., some…

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Republican Scott DesJarlais Votes Against American Dream and Promise Act

Chris Butler

  U.S. Republican Rep. Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District voted against the American Dream and Promise Act Tuesday. If passed into law, it would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Most members in the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill. DesJarlais said the following, in an emailed statement: “Already this week, the House passed a disaster aid bill without a single dime to alleviate the disaster at the border. Today, Nancy Pelosi and her caucus passed a bill providing amnesty and a path to citizenship, as well as Medicaid, food stamps, and other welfare benefits, to millions of illegal aliens, but no resources to prevent more than a hundred thousand from crossing the southern border every month. It would encourage legal aliens to break the law, to receive the same preferential treatment, and reward repeat criminals, including gang members,” DesJarlais wrote in a press release. “Bad laws like this are fueling the border crisis, reaching far into the U.S. Fortunately, despite misleading media coverage, Americans are beginning to understand the problem and effective solutions. We need to build a wall and end legal loopholes drawing enormous migrant caravans. Open borders are destructive.” According to…

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GOP Reportedly Considers Defying Trump on Mexico Tariffs

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by Jason Hopkins   Republicans uncomfortable with the idea of a tariff war are reportedly mulling whether to vote against the president’s proposed tariff hikes against Mexico. A number of congressional Republicans could join their Democratic counterparts in a vote to block President Donald Trump if he moves forward with threats to slap tariffs on all Mexican goods, according to a report from the Washington Post. Such a move would serve as a sharper GOP rebuke to the president than the failed attempt earlier this year to revoke his emergency border declaration. Similar to the resolution condemning the emergency declaration, a vote to block Trump’s tariffs would likely begin in the Democratic-controlled House and then move to the Senate, where enough Republicans could defect. “I know he’s, sometimes in his frustration, expressed his intention to do certain things but after calm reflection and consultation with the members of the Congress has decided maybe to pursue a different course, so that’s what I hope would happen here,” Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn said to reporters on Monday. Other Republican senators have also publicly expressed their disapproval of the plan. “He’s a tariff guy,” Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst stated Monday after…

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Ohio Considering Push to Designate Mexican Drug Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations

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by Todd DeFeo   Ohio lawmakers are weighing a push to designate Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that could send additional resources to help the state fight the influx of drugs. House Concurrent Resolution 10 calls on the federal government to levy the foreign terrorist organization designation for drug cartels. The move is gaining traction across the country. Gov. Mike DeWine has made fighting the opioid epidemic and drug abuse a centerpiece of his administration. A recent analysis from WalletHub found Ohio tied for first – along with Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the District of Columbia – for the most overdose deaths per capita. “Cartels have left a trail of blood and intimidation with their ruthless acts of violence,” Derek Maltz, who worked for 28 years as a special agent in the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), told members of the House Criminal Justice Committee. “The cartels engage in beheadings, car bombings, dissolving humans in acid, mass murder, torture, bombings and political assassinations. They want control.” Maltz said transnational drug cartels operate like Fortune 500 companies, but their tactics are similar to terrorist organizations. Designating an organization a terrorist organization allows the federal government to seize its…

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The White House Just Escalated Its Subpoena Standoff with House Democrats

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by Kevin Daley   The White House has directed former administration aides, Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson, not to cooperate with subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee as part of its far-reaching probe of President Donald Trump. The panel issued subpoenas to Hicks and Donaldson on May 21 for documents and testimony. Those orders asked Hicks to appear for testimony on June 19, while Donaldson is to appear on June 24. Both women were directed to submit records to the committee by Tuesday. “As part of President Trump’s continued obstruction of Congress, the White House has instructed both Hope Hicks and Annie Donaldson not to turn over records in response to subpoenas issued by our committee last month,” Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler said in a Tuesday statement. “I note that Ms. Hicks has agreed to turn over some documents to the Committee relating to her time working for the Trump campaign, and I thank her for that show of good faith.” “The president has no lawful basis for preventing these witnesses from complying with our request. We will continue to seek reasonable accommodation on these and all our discovery requests and intend to press these issues when we obtain…

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Schiff: AG Barr Is ‘Second Most Dangerous Man in the Country’

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by Chuck Ross   House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff on Tuesday called Attorney General William Barr “the second most dangerous man in the country,” seemingly after President Donald Trump. “We find ourselves, I think, for the first time with an attorney general who really is the president’s defense lawyer and spokesperson, and who’s quite good at it,” Schiff said at an event held by the Council of Foreign Relations. “He is not the sophist that Giuliani is, he’s much more dangerous. And I think he’s the second most dangerous man in the country for that reason,” the Democrat added, referring to Rudy Giuliani, a personal lawyer for Trump. .@RepAdamSchiff on Attorney General William Barr: "I think he's the second most dangerous man in the country." Full video here: https://t.co/rAJ5U6jE9N pic.twitter.com/usWYgN0uGl — CSPAN (@cspan) June 4, 2019 Schiff and other Democrats have accused Barr of stonewalling requests for information from the special counsel’s investigation. He also accused Barr of lying to Congress when he testified in April that he did not know why Robert Mueller, the special counsel, was reportedly frustrated with the rollout of a summary of the special counsel’s report. “When you have an attorney general … that…

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Rep. Green Accepting Applications for Nominations to U.S. Military Service Academies

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green announced Tuesday that he has begun accepting applications for nominations to U.S. military service academies. Later in the fall of 2019, members of Green’s staff will host information sessions across the state for high school students and recent graduates who are interested in applying to enter an academy, Green’s office said in a press release. Four of the five service academies — the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy — require a congressional, vice presidential or service-connected nomination as part of the application process. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy does not require a nomination. Representatives from Green’s office, the Tennessee congressional delegation and the military service academies will be available at the upcoming information fall sessions to field questions from prospective applicants and parents. Green tweeted, “I have the privilege of nominating some of the best and brightest young people from across Tennessee to our nation’s military service academies. These nominees are the future leaders of our military.” I have the privilege of nominating some of the best and brightest young people from across Tennessee to our nation's military service academies. These nominees are the future leaders of our military. https://t.co/mbbqsDVQH1 — Rep. Mark…

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All About the Wall: The Tennessee Star Report Welcomes Back Neil McCabe from OANN to Speak About New Mexico’s Completion and the Star County Bid

Julie Carr

  On Friday’s 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 – Michael Patrick Leahy spoke with special guest and his former Breitbart colleague, Iraq war veteran and current Army Reserve Sergeant Neil McCabe of One America News Network. Back from the border, Washington-based reporter for One America News Network,  McCabe spoke to the team about the We Build the Wall team in Sunland Park New Mexico, Brian Kolfage’s plan to install his purple heart into the wall which was just completed, and how to get Mexico to stop letting people through to the United States by upping the Trump trade game and stop pretending the Mexican government has anything to do with running Mexico. Leahy: Speaking of Mexico, we are joined on the line here now by our good friend Neil McCabe with OANN. And Neil was on the ground in Sunland Park, New Mexico where the We Build the Wall team was building that wall. Neil welcome! McCabe: Hey guys. Good to be with you. Leahy: So, bring us up to speed on the latest of that wall. I…

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Minneapolis Temporarily Cancels City Staff Segregated Race Talks

Zachery Schmidt

  Minneapolis city officials have temporarily canceled segregated race-relations talks with city employees, and all fliers promoting the event around Minneapolis City Hall have been pulled down, according to the Star Tribune. “Sacred Conversations with City Staff” was scheduled to take place in May, June and July. The first discussion was supposed to take place on May 30 but was postponed. These conversations centered around the 400-year anniversary of African slaves coming to Jamestown, Virginia. “It came to my attention … that sessions had been promoted publicly in a way the city does not condone, as we cannot nor will we divide people based on race, ethnicity or any other protected class,” City Coordinator Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (pictured above) wrote in a statement to the Star Tribune. As the Minnesota Sun reported, these talks planned to segregate city staff into “black-bodied” and “white-bodied” staff to have a discussion about “how they relate to the enslavement, resistance and continual push for liberation for African American people.” The talks were meant to allow city employees to reflect on “what they are learning related to their role in the City.” Each month of these talks had a specific topic planned for these race discussions.…

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Buckeye Institute Argues for a New Bill That Could Help Ohioans with Their Debt

Zachery Schmidt

  Buckeye Institute research fellow Greg Lawson appeared in front of the Ohio House Financial Institutions Committee Tuesday to support a proposed bill that could help Ohioans be able to resolve their unresolved debt easier. “Ohio’s arbitrary fee caps and poorly tailored law makes it harder for some debt settlement firms to operate here; which, in turn, makes it harder for many of your constituents to reduce and settle their outstanding debts,” Lawson said Tuesday to the Committee about House Bill 131. Lawson thinks the bill’s policies will help clarify the legal rules for debt settlement companies, which will help Ohioans to manage their debt. The research fellow noted people in Ohio have an average of $5,583 in credit card debt more than 10 percent of the median household income. He described the difficulties this debt can have on people in an Akron Beacon Journal op-ed: “Ohioans already suffer under the burdens of regulation and occupational licensing restrictions. Those burdens limit job opportunities, impede career advancement, and can even add to the debts that debt settlement firms help to resolve. Reducing, restructuring and retiring old debts are hard enough for most people. Renaming debt settlement services as the “unauthorized practice…

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Democrats Call Ohio Speakers’ Opposition to ‘Drag 101’ Classes for Children ‘Unfortunate’

Beth Lear

  Eight Democrats in the Ohio House of Representatives signed a joint statement Saturday calling their Speaker’s opposition to LGBTQ-centric events designed for children to be held in area public libraries “unfortunate.” “As we enter the month of PRIDE, Ohio celebrates its diversity in culture and speech – that is why the recent comments from our House Speaker are unfortunate,” the joint statement begins. It continues: It now appears another Library system is shutting down its PRIDE programming because of the furor this statement created. Let’s be clear—the promise of America is not that we all agree on everything—but that we all agree to let everyone have their voice. That is certainly true for the nearly 500,000 LGBTQ Ohioans. At a time when the national political discourse has reached new lows—let us in Ohio embrace our diversity so that all can flourish. The Democrats’ statement was in in response to an open letter, addressed to the Ohio Library Council and signed by Rep. Larry Householder (R-Glenford) as Speaker of the Ohio House. He wrote, in part, “When I was first informed our public libraries were being used to teach teen age boys how to become drag queens, I thought it was a…

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Dr. Manny Sethi Announces Bid to Replace Retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander

Jason M. Reynolds

  Dr. Manish “Manny” Sethi on Monday announced he would seek to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN). According to a story by The Chattanoogan, Sethi said he was running as an outsider. “Tennesseans want a conservative outsider who will take on the Establishment, support President Trump, fight illegal immigration and work to repeal ObamaCare,” said Dr. Sethi. “That’s why I’m running for Senate.” Many political experts were surprised by the timing because they were waiting to hear what former Gov. Bill Haslam would decide, according to a story by The Tennessee Journal: On the Hill. But Sethi and his team apparently ran out of patience and decided to pull the trigger, using “outsider” themes echoing those made by similarly little-known Bill Lee when the latter was making surprise march toward the governor’s office last year. Sethi called upon Lee consultant Jordan Gehrke, as well as Chris Devaney, a former state Republican Party chairman who served as Lee’s campaign manager, to handle campaign operations, TNJ: On the Hill said. In December, The Tennessee Star reported on Sethi’s interest in running for the Senate seat. Sethi is an orthopedic trauma surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Sethi and wife Maya…

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BREAKING: Speaker Glen Casada Announces Resignation Effective August 2, 2019 at 8 AM

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  Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada indicated a few weeks ago that he would be resigning from his position as Speaker and would determine a timetable for the effective date of his resignation when he returned from a long-planned overseas vacation on June 3. Casada initiated discussions about a specific resignation date with Republican leaders on June 3. Casada then met with Legislative leaders again on June 4th before issuing a resignation letter effective August 2 at 8 am. In his letter he requests that Governor Bill Lee call a Special Session on that date to conduct “legislative business,” and that while the Legislature is assembled the House “may take up the procedural matter of electing a new Speaker to lead the chamber.” Based on the timeline that Casada has recommended in his letter, Speaker Pro Tem Bill Dunn (R – Knoxville) would only serve as Speaker for a few hours unless he is elected as Speaker during the Special Session after Casada’s resignation becomes effective. However, the Governor and Legislature could choose to avoid a Special Session and simply allow Dunn to succeed Casada pending an election of a new Speaker at a later date. Or, the Governor could…

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Commentary: The Entitled Uninvited

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by Pedro Gonzalez   On a Sunday afternoon in May, Etta Nugent found Marco Cobos, a Mexican national, at her doorstep in Houston after his truck had broken down nearby. Cobos knocked and Nugent, described by friends as “gentle soul” and a “good Christian woman,” answered. When Cobos asked her to help him fix his truck, the septuagenarian politely declined, citing her age. Feeling entitled to a different answer, Cobos forced his way into Nugent’s home and stabbed her in the chest. He proceeded to show himself to kitchen to look for “more knives,” he told prosecutors, while his victim lay grievously wounded. As Nugent attempted to flee, Cobos killed her in her home of 50 years, across the street from St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church where she had worshiped for most of her life. With cash stolen from the house, Cobos drove Nugent’s car to an auto parts store to buy a new battery for his truck. He stopped for food before returning to Nugent’s home, where he ate and lounged for hours, helping himself to Nugent’s credit cards, even paying his phone bill with one of them. Nugent’s horrific fate has become all too common in an America…

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Experts: Tariffs in the Offing for India as President Trump Wages War on ‘Unfair Trade’

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by Michael Bastach   The Trump administration’s decision to rescind trade preferences with India could be a sign that more tariffs are on the horizon, experts say. U.S. trade officials announced Friday the end of special trade treatment on $6 billion worth of goods from India because the country has “not assured the United States that India will provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets.” Those Indian goods were exempted from tariffs under what’s called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Special trade treatment will end Wednesday, suggesting to trade experts President Donald Trump is expanding war against the U.S. trade deficit. “This could potentially presage a new trade investigation and, possibly, tariffs,” analysts ClearView Energy Partners wrote in a report released Monday morning. ClearView analysts said the Trump administration may be weighing a Section 301 investigation, which could lead to retaliatory tariffs if trade officials find India’s trade policies hurt U.S. commerce. Trump has criticized India’s “unfair” trade practices, which he says hurts U.S. companies and workers. “As we discussed in March, the termination of India’s duty exemptions – and especially the imposition of new tariffs – could potentially draw retaliation against U.S. coal exports, a nontrivial risk for U.S. producers,”…

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Supreme Court Turns Down Trump Administration Bid to Accelerate DACA Appeal

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United States Supreme Court

by Kevin Daley   The Supreme Court rejected a request Monday to expedite its consideration of the Trump administration’s bid to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA is an Obama-era amnesty initiative that extends temporary legal status to 700,000 non-citizens who arrived in the U.S. as children. There were no noted dissents from Monday’s decision. As is typical of orders of this nature, the Court did not give reasons for rejecting the government’s request. 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. Beginning in November 2018, the administration challenged three of those injunctions in the Supreme Court. The justices were poised to decide whether to hear those cases in January, but no action came. The Court’s continued inaction on those petitions is perhaps the greatest mystery of the current Supreme Court term. The administration filed a fourth DACA petition at the high court in May, after the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld one of the injunctions against DACA repeal. This time, the Department of Justice asked the Court to put the petition on the fast track…

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Bluff City Law to Film on Location in Memphis, Likely to Get Corporate Welfare

Chris Butler

  The NBC drama Bluff City Law will reportedly film on location in Memphis, and it’s also presumed Tennessee officials will hand out corporate welfare in exchange. This, according to Monday’s Memphis Commercial Appeal. The show stars Jimmy Smits. But Tennessee taxpayers may lose out, said Ron Shultis, policy coordinator for the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee, in an analysis on the group’s website. Beacon is a free-market think tank. “The reason Tennessee should continue to give little—or, even better, outright eliminate these programs—is because film incentives have been shown to be a terrible value. State film incentives became popular in the mid and late 2000s. By 2009, 44 states offered some kind of film incentive. What those in the industry won’t tell you is that since then, thirteen states have completely eliminated their programs and several more have reduced theirs because these programs have been shown to be a bad value for taxpayers,” Shultis wrote. “In fact, a recent study by Tennessee’s Dept. of Economic and Community Development (ECD) found that the $69.1 million given over the life of Tennessee’s program has resulted in $14.7 million in state tax collections, or a 21-cent return on the dollar. This estimate…

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Some Tennessee Emergency Management Agency Coordinators Skip Vital Training, Audit Reveals

Chris Butler

  Tennessee Emergency Management Agency officials did not make sure all coordinators completed all required training courses, according to a performance audit state Comptrollers released late last week. Specifically, TEMA officials did not make sure between 26 to 60 Emergency Services Coordinators completed training courses, as required by the agency’s Training Policies and Procedures, auditors wrote. State officials task TEMA with coordinating, preparing, responding to and offering recovery from man-made, natural, and technological hazards. According to the report, various state employees and volunteers did not complete courses pertaining to Incident Command Training, Intra-State Mutual Aid, Emergency Management Software Training, and Emergency Worker Training, among various other required courses. According to the report, TEMA management told auditors they remind ESCs about monthly training requirements and provide them with annual reports detailing their completion or incompletion of required training courses. Some of the ESCs tell TEMA “they do not attend all of the required trainings due to other requirements such as their own jobs or busy working emergencies.” Also, they “might not attend training because they are volunteers and are not reimbursed for being an ESC.” “Furthermore, based on our discussions, TEMA seems to place emphasis on its required training courses; however, TEMA…

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Commentary: The Great Chicago Parking Fiasco – Another Cautionary Tale for Nashville

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by Marshall Towe   Mayor Briley has pulled the plug on his ill-advised parking privatization program, at least for now.   Most likely his temporary pause is due to the combination of a complete lack of public support and the upcoming mayoral election.  The public must demand any project that leads to the privatization of the most public of spaces, city streets, be permanently abandoned and not accept a political head fake until the election is over. One need only look 500 miles north to see the disastrous results of a city selling off the public’s assets in an attempt to correct financial incompetence and budget mismanagement.  In 2008, Chicago’s Mayor Daley pushed through the lease of Chicago’s parking meters to the private company, Chicago Parking Meters LCC, led by group of investors including Morgan Stanley and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.  In exchange for $1.15B, Chicago gave total management control of its 36,000 meters for 75 years, along with all associated revenue.  The Inspector General of Illinois determined in 2010 that the public lost well over $1 Billion on the deal and as more time goes by the more that estimated loss to the public increases. The next Mayor of…

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China, Tariffs, Trade, Cost and Prices: An Explainer

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by Rick Manning   Stock markets go up and down based upon the latest trade rumors. Predictions of price hikes make headlines, yet the inflation rate remains at the levels, 2.0 percent at last count, desired by the Federal Reserve. What is going on?  And is this even really a trade war with China at all, or is it part of something much bigger?  These are questions that should be asked but are often lost to click-bait headlines.  So, here are a few thumbnail answers that will hopefully help you understand what is going on. Question: Are President Trump’s use of tariffs against China part of a trade war? Those who try to put tariffs on goods made in China into this context are deliberately narrowing the real challenge in the economic relations between the U.S. and China. The tariffs are designed to restructure America’s trade relations with China, but when you examine the key demands from the recent attempts to create a new economic partnership with China, they are mostly focused upon protecting patents, ending forced technology transfers to the Chinese government and stopping Chinese currency manipulation which always puts U.S. goods at a competitive disadvantage with Chinese goods. Traditional trade deals…

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Immigration Talks Already Underway as Mexico Rushes to Stave Off Tariff Threat

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by Jason Hopkins   Top Mexican government officials are in the United States as they attempt to dissuade the Trump administration from following though on tariff threats. A high-level delegation of Mexican officials, including Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard and Economy Minister Graciela Marquez, held a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Speaking from the Mexican embassy, the two leaders publicly called on the U.S. to reach a deal with their government instead of resorting to a tariff war. The press conference and meeting come before the two countries are set to kick off official negotiations Wednesday. Mexican and U.S. delegations will try to reach a deal on the immigration crisis before a White House-imposed deadline quickly approaches. The rush to reach a compromise comes after President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a 5% tax on all goods coming from Mexico beginning June 10, unless their government can prove that it is doing more to stop the record-flow of illegal migration running through its borders. Tariffs on Mexican goods, he added, would increase by 5% every month, with the rate reaching as high as 25% by October if Mexico fails to satisfy U.S. demands. Trump on Sunday continued to hammer the country for its perceived inaction…

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