Day: July 4, 2019

Sen. Blackburn, Rep. Green Among the Speakers at Williamson GOP’s Annual Summer Dinner on Aug. 3

Jason M. Reynolds

  Williamson GOP and affiliated groups are holding their annual Summer Dinner on Saturday, Aug. 3 featuring “down-home BBQ with all the fixings,” live music and prominent political guests. Those guests will include U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07), and State Reps. Glen Casada (R-TN-63) and Brandon Ogles (R-TN-61), according to a promotional flyer by the organizers. The event website says there could be more speakers. The event will be held at Little Creek Farms, 6731 Cool Springs Road, Thompson Station. The time is 4:30-8 p.m., according to the event page, which is available here. The flyer promoting the event says, “Join us in the big red barn for delicious food, great fellowship, & important updates from our elected officials.” Music will be provided by the Austin Brothers Band with State Sen. Jack Johnson (R-TN-23). Tickets are $25 per Williamson GOP member, $35 per non-member, $50 per member family or $60 per non-member family. Family prices include children 12 and younger. Tickets are available online here. If you want to join Williamson GOP, the sign-up is available here. More information about Williamson GOP is available here. Other organizers also include the Republican Women of Williamson…

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Commentary: Remembering the Real Revolution of July Fourth

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by Patrick Garry   The words are engrained in our national consciousness: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” These inspirational and linguistically beautiful words of the Declaration of Independence justified the American colonies’ break from England. But they did more than that. They explained to the world and to history that natural rights formed the basis of civil law and government. This was the truly revolutionary aspect of that document signed on July 4, 1776. After the Declaration, the world was never the same. The legacy of natural rights meant that law and government would no longer legitimately flow from the whims of a monarch. Tyrants would no longer carry any moral authority. Human dignity would transcend the interests of the empire. The Declaration and its natural law foundations vaulted the human world into a new orbit of political philosophy, where deprivations of individual dignity could not be convincingly justified by the self-interests of a ruling elite. The Declaration led to a political and legal system that in turn gave birth to a flourishing of…

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Here Are the Conservative Groups Google Is Paying to Brush Back Sen. Hawley

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by Chris White   Google is plowing money into the coffers of several conservative groups who are criticizing Sen. Josh Hawley as the Missouri Republican continues crusading against the Silicon Valley giant. The big tech company provides “substantial contributions” to groups like R-Street, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), TechFreedom, the Cato Institute and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), to name a few. All four groups characterize Hawley’s legislation targeting tech companies as ploys designed to blow up the internet. “Not only would this legislation drastically hurt free speech and competition in the online ecosystem, it would mean more conservative content, not less, will be removed from these websites,” R- Street analyst Jeff Westling wrote in June 19 post, responding to Hawley’s move to amend legal protections tech companies enjoy. EFF analyst Elliot Harmon made similar remarks. Throttling big tech would effectively “let the government decide who speaks,” he wrote on June 20. Funding for the groups comes after big tech companies dramatically escalated their lobbying efforts. Amazon, Google and Facebook gave Washington, D.C., lobbyists a record amount of money in 2018, almost exactly a year before Democratic lawmakers announced an antitrust investigation into the Silicon Valley giants. They dumped a…

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Judge Temporarily Blocks Ohio Heartbeat Bill

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by Margaret Mary Olohan   A judge temporarily blocked an Ohio bill that bans abortions after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected. Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday temporarily preventing the heartbeat bill from going into effect, according to Cleveland.com. The heartbeat bill, S.B. 23, was originally signed by Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on April 11 and banned abortions after detection of a baby’s heartbeat. Physicians could face fines of up to $20,000 in fines if they violate the law. Barrett said in the ruling that the heartbeat bill placed an undue burden on women and their right to abortion. “This Court concludes that S.B. 23 places an ‘undue burden’ on a woman’s right to choose a pre-viability abortion, and, under Casey, Plaintiffs are certain to succeed on the merits of their claim,” Barrett wrote, according to Cleveland.com, referencing the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The ruling temporarily halts the bill pending further court rulings. “All Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and those persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of this Order, are preliminarily enjoined from enforcing or complying with S.B.…

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Commentary: The Brilliance of Trump’s Fourth of July Bash

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by CHQ Staff   We conservatives often bemoan the commercialization and secularization of our traditional holidays. Christmas – or should we say the Winter Holiday – now begins around November 15, and Veterans Day and Memorial Day are occasions for mattress sales, not solemn commemorations of the sacrifices made to preserve our way of life. However, researchers at Harvard University have found that the July 4th holiday commemorating the announcement of the Declaration of Independence may still be serving its intended purpose – promoting patriotism. And the good news is it seems to make people vote Republican. According to the study by Andreas Madestam and David Yanagizawa-Drott, “There is no evidence of an increased likelihood of identifying as a Democrat, indicating that Fourth of July shifts preferences to the right rather than increasing political polarization.” The three key findings about those attending Independence Day celebrations: • When done before the age of 18, it increases the likelihood of a youth identifying as a Republican by at least 2 percent. • Celebrating Independence Day raises the likelihood that parade watchers will vote for a Republican candidate by 4 percent. • Celebrating the 4th of July boosts the likelihood a reveler will…

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Dan Crenshaw Says Ocasio-Cortez Is ‘Getting Bolder With Her Lies’ About the Immigration Crisis

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by Jason Hopkins   Texas GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw called New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a liar after she claimed migrants in detention centers are being forced to drink toilet water. “She’s getting bolder with her lies on this. This is what’s actually happening and this is what the American people need to understand: People like AOC are operating off of a false premise, and it’s deliberately designed to misinform the American people for her own political ends,” Crenshaw said Tuesday to Fox News’s Martha MacCallum. Crenshaw’s comments follow accusations made by Ocasio-Cortez about migrant detention centers she visited. The New York Democrat said agents harassed and disrespected her during a tour of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities and that the conditions of the facilities were squalid. “Remember, first there was no crisis at all. OK? Then it was a manufactured crisis. Then it was a crisis completely created by [President Donald] Trump. Then there were concentration camps. Then people are Nazis. Now she’s saying that Border Patrol agents harassed her and forced migrants to drink out of toilets,” Crenshaw said. “This is insanity. This is not true. There is no one else corroborating these kind of reports,”…

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Commentary: Reigniting the Flame of Liberty this Independence Day

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by Rick Manning   July 1, 2, 3 and 4 are perhaps the four most consequential dates in American history. The second President of the United States and one of the authors and signers of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams believed that July 2 would be known as our nation’s birthdate, as it is when the Continental Congress actually voted for independence. It was that courageous vote which was the act of rebellion setting the Revolutionary War and indeed the events of the past 243 years careening forward. However, the actual document that is known as the Declaration of Independence was not finalized and signed until July 4, and the heading of it, In Congress, July 4, 1776, is what became the official demarcation of the formation of our new nation. Primary author Thomas Jefferson’s masterpiece is an incredible statement of individual rights, and it forms the very DNA of America. It is not only a statement of separation but a founding principle of individual liberty written to provide the true beacon of hope for the people of a new nation. The Declaration begins by explaining its purpose: “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for…

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DHS Inspector General: Overcrowded Migrant Centers ‘A Ticking Time Bomb’

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  A new report by the Homeland Security Inspector General describes appalling conditions and wretched overcrowding at migrant detention centers in Texas with a top manager at one of the facilities saying he fears for the security of his staff, calling the situation a “ticking time bomb.” The report released Tuesday includes numerous pictures of people behind cages lying on bare cement floors with nothing to do, men in a room with standing room only, men and women wearing surgical masks appearing to be reaching out to the photographers for attention. One photo shows 88 men packed inside a room designed to hold 40 with one pressing a cardboard sign reading “help” against the window. The report says some migrants deliberately clog the toilets with socks and blankets just to get the chance to get out of the cages while the toilets are fixed. The inspector general’s report says the opportunity for personal hygiene is scarce and that many migrants became ill and constipated from the diet of bologna sandwiches that they are given. The inspector general called on the DHS to “take immediate steps to alleviate dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention of children and adults in the Rio Grande…

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The Trump Administration Is Sending Fines to Illegal Immigrants Who Refuse to Leave the US

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by Jason Hopkins   The Trump administration is slapping fines on illegal immigrants who are ignoring court orders to leave the U.S. — one of them totals nearly half a million dollars. “It is the intention of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to order you pay a fine in the amount of $497,777,” read a June 25 ICE letter to Edith Espinal Moreno, a woman who has remained in Ohio despite an immigration judge ruling two years ago that she must leave. NPR first reported on the letter. An ICE spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation the agency is sending these notices to illegal immigrants. “The Immigration and Nationality Act grants U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement the authority to impose civil fines on aliens who have been ordered removed or granted voluntary departure and fail to depart the United States,” read an ICE statement to the DCNF Tuesday. The agency also pointed to a January 2017 executive order that called on the government to fine illegal aliens. Aliens who refuse a Justice Department Executive Office for Immigration Review order to leave the U.S. could receive a Notice of Intention to Fine, or NIF. They then are given a 30-day…

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Audit: Nashville Mismanages Affordable Housing Fund

Chris Butler

  Metro Nashville officials are doing a less than stellar job monitoring the city’s affordable housing fund, according to a new internal audit. Members of a seven-member commission overseeing the money, among other things, don’t follow proper policies and procedures, don’t have clear enough goals and objectives, and aren’t cautious about potential conflicts of interest, internal auditors wrote. City officials created this Metropolitan Housing Trust Fund Commission in 2013 to help provide affordable housing. Commission members established what’s known as the Barnes Fund to finance new affordable housing units or to rehabilitate existing ones. As of 2019, commission members have awarded $27 million to 17 non-profit groups, according to the audit. Auditors reported the following problems: • The Commission cannot demonstrate it operates the Barnes Fund in compliance with the Housing Trust Fund Policies and Procedures. • Measures to monitor overall Barnes Fund program success are not defined. • Grant application process documentation was not consistently available. • Formal controls to identify potential conflicts of interest did not exist. • Monitoring for compliance with tenant income and landlord rental rate thresholds is not conducted. • Program progress and performance reports, as detailed within the Housing Trust Fund Policies and Procedures,…

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SCOTUS to Hear Montana Case on School Choice, Religious Liberty

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by Derek Draplin   The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a wide-reaching Montana case dealing with school choice and the First Amendment. The Supreme Court announced Friday that it will take up the case Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which is being litigated by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm. The case stems from a scholarship program passed in 2015 by the Montana legislature that would give tax credits to those who donated to private scholarship organizations, which would then give scholarships to students in need who wanted to attend private schools. The program allowed for scholarships to be used at private religious schools. The Montana Department of Revenue, however, determined that the program violated the state constitution’s “Blaine Amendment” because it allowed for scholarships to be used at religious schools. The Montana Supreme Court backed the Department of Revenue’s argument and later invalidated the scholarship program, leading to the lawsuit. The Institute for Justice is representing several parents including Kendra Espinoza, a single mother who enrolled her kids in a private Christian school after public school wasn’t a good fit. Lower courts have been split on similar questions over school choice in the past,…

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Blackburn Joins Other Senators in Urging Trump Administration to Reach Consensus with Congress on Two-Year Budget That Fully Funds the Military

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined her colleagues in encouraging officials with President Donald Trump’s Administration to reach consensus with congressional leaders on a two-year budget deal to fully fund the military. Blackburn, along with Senators that include David Perdue (R-GA) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK), sent the letter to Acting Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought, Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, according to a press release from Blackburn. The full letter is available online here. In the letter, the senators caution that another continuing resolution (CR) would devastate the United States military, delay the implementation of the President’s National Defense Strategy (NDS) and increase costs. Blackburn recently voted to fund the United States Military in Fiscal Year 2020, via the National Defense Authorization Act, The Tennessee Star reported Monday. The NDAA funds crucial projects that will directly impact military communities in Tennessee. According to the letter, “The Administration’s efforts last year to pass the Department of Defense (DOD) appropriations bill on time allowed our military for the first time in a decade to be properly funded without the use of a continuing resolution…

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White House Says Judge Is Forcing ‘Open Borders’ on the Whole Country

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by Kevin Daley   The White House accused a federal judge of imposing an “open borders” agenda on the country Wednesday, after she issued an injunction against a new immigrant detention policy. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman said in a Tuesday decision the Trump administration cannot categorically deny bond hearings to asylum-seekers. That would allow migrants to leave detention pending a decision on their asylum request. “The district court’s injunction is at war with the rule of law,” press secretary Stephanie Grisham said. “The decision only incentivizes smugglers and traffickers, which will lead to the further overwhelming of our immigration system by illegal aliens. No single district judge has legitimate authority to impose his or her open borders views on the country.” “We must restore our democracy and ensure Americans have the voice to which they are entitled under our Constitution,” she added. So-called nationwide injunctions prohibit the entire government from enforcing certain laws or policies. Such injunctions have proliferated since President Donald Trump took office — as of May, district judges have issued 37 injunctions against the Trump administration. Courts issued just 27 nationwide injunctions in the entire 20th century, according to a Justice Department tabulation. Critics of such…

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Happy Independence Day, Tennessee

Zachery Schmidt

  Happy Independence Day! As America celebrates her 243th birthday, families and friends are coming together to enjoy hot dogs, hamburgers, patriotic fireworks, parades, and generally speaking, all things patriotic. In America’s early days, however, such was not the case. A long-standing argument brewed among the Founders as to which day should be “Independence Day:” July 2, when the Declaration of Independence was proposed; or July 4, when the history-making document was signed. The idea to mark the importance of Independence Day at all got a big boost after the victory of the War of 1812 when the Federalist Party and Democratic-Republicans political parties started having their own separate celebration. These events grew in popularity as major celebrations for people, and were celebrated by hosting all-day events featuring bonfires, concerts, parades and public canon firings – taking place on either July 2nd or the 4th. It was a little more than a decade later – exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence – when Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826 – that the argument was settled once and for all. It took Congress another 44 years to make Independence Day a federal holiday…

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The Tennessee Star Report: Gill and Leahy Ponder, Why Is the Nashville Mayoral Race So Quiet?

Julie Carr

  On Wednesday’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 – Gill and Leahy pondered why the Mayoral race in Nashville was so quiet and questioned why Swain and Cooper weren’t utilizing an attack while Briley was throwing them softballs. Towards the end of the segment, the men discussed how Davidson County is a deep blue county and will unfortunately always be that way. Gill: A lot of folks are taking this whole week off. Leahy: Yeah. Gill: We’re going to take off Thursday and Friday. (Gill laughs) Leahy: You know who’s really taking the week off, is all the challengers to David Briley. He’s throwing them softballs and they’re not hitting back. Gill: Yeah, he’s giving a pay raise to teachers with money that’s not in the till and not giving pay raises to police officers, first responders, and firefighters because he doesn’t think he’ll get their votes anyway. And he figures he can buy the teachers votes. And Briley, giving away pay raises with money we don’t have. Leahy: And the fraternal order of police, of course, endorsed…

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Phil Bredesen’s Controversial Silicon Ranch Names Reagan Farr New CEO

Chris Butler

  Silicon Ranch, the solar company former Tennessee Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen founded nearly a decade ago, reportedly has a new CEO, Bredesen’s former revenue commissioner Reagan Farr. As reported, Silicon Ranch has a history of ethics problems. “Matt Kisber, who has served as CEO since the company’s founding in 2011 and was Bredesen’s economic development commissioner, has been promoted to chairman of the board, a position previously held by Bredesen. Bredesen will remain a director of the company, with the title of founding chairman,” according to The Nashville Business Journal. “Silicon Ranch owns and develops solar energy plants. Its portfolio includes more than 120 facilities in 14 states.” As The Tennessee Star reported last year, in 2010, before he left the governor’s seat, Bredesen had to report about his role at Silicon Ranch to the Tennessee Ethics Commission. Bredesen had a personal interest in a company that benefits from policies he enacted as governor. Bredesen, however, only made the disclosure because The Tennessean revealed Bredesen’s involvement in the company five days prior. The now extinct Tennessee Watchdog website followed up on the story nine years ago. “One can argue that Bredesen’s personal interest in Silicon Ranch may violate the state’s Guiding Principles…

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