Confederate Railroad Asks Fans to Attend Illinois State Fair, Despite Getting Kicked Out

  Members of the country music group Confederate Railroad are asking fans to still attend the Illinois State Fair, even though event organizers booted them because of the band’s name. This, according to a press release band members put out Tuesday. “It has been brought to my attention that several people have asked both Restless Heart and Shenandoah to cancel their shows in protest of our cancellation. I have spoken to both acts and encouraged them to perform as scheduled,” said Danny Shirley, speaking for the band. “Live concerts are how we pay our bills and feed our families. I would never want to see another act lose a payday because of this. Please go out to hear these two great bands.” As various news outlets have already reported, members of Confederate Railroad were scheduled to perform at the Illinois State Fair in Du Quoin on August 27 along with members of Restless Heart and Shenandoah. Members of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, however, removed the group from the show because the band has the name “Confederate.” “This was very disappointing as we have played this fair before and enjoyed it very much. The outpouring of support from Confederate Railroad fans,…

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Commentary: Conservatives and Labor Unite Against H.R. 1044 Green Card Expansion Bill

 by CHQ Staff   As early as today, the House is set to vote on HR 1044, the so-called Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act or FHSI. The FHSI, a long-sought legislative goal of the cheap labor wing of the US Chamber of Commerce and the globalist tech industry, is nothing but a green-card giveaway to 300,000 low-wage Indian contract-workers employed by U.S. companies. Passage of HR 1044 will mean cheaper workers for investors but lower wages for American STEM grads, especially those in computer science and engineering. A loose coalition of economic nationalist conservatives and pro-labor progressives is working to defeat HR 1044, but the bill’s author, Rep. Zoe Lofgren is a senior House Democrat and close ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Joe Guzzardi, of Progressives for Immigration Reform, says “Lofgren is the notoriously awful, vigorously anti-U.S. tech worker, H-1B advocate who, in her 25-year congressional career, has voted more than 30 times to increase high- and low-skilled visas.” Mr. Guzzardi says the House version of HR 1044 has 291 cosponsors, mostly Democrats, and has been referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. Both bills increase the per-country cap on family-based immigrant visas from 7 percent of the total…

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Commentary: The White Supremacist Bogeyman

by Julie Kelly   They are everywhere. I am talking, of course, about white supremacists. The news media, Democrats, and NeverTrump Republicans would have us believe the country is under siege by a sinister cabal of Americans who want to return to the days of Jim Crow, or better yet, the era of slavery. Since the election of Donald Trump, white supremacists, we are warned, occupy the White House and control the Republican Party. The signs are everywhere. A MAGA hat is the new white hood. A common hand signal for “OK” actually is a way to send a message of solidarity to other white supremacists. So is drinking a glass of milk. Or owning a dog. Or selling an athletic shoe embossed with an American flag designed by Betsy Ross. Public schools can now access a “toolkit” with lots of advice about how to combat the “rise” in white nationalism. (It is important to note that the terms “alt-right,” “white nationalist,” and “Nazi” are interchangeable with white supremacist.) Last March, Facebook announced “a ban on praise, support and representation of white nationalism and white separatism” and will offer its own kind of virtual intervention by “connecting people who search…

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Trump: Will Look ‘Very Carefully’ at Labor Secretary’s Role in Prosecuting Child Sex-Trafficking Case

by Ken Bredemeier   WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will be looking “very carefully” at how his labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, agreed to a light sentence in a child sex trafficking case against billionaire hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein more than a decade ago when he was a federal prosecutor in Florida. As demands from lawmakers for Acosta’s resignation grow in Washington, Trump defended him, saying he has been “an excellent secretary of labor” for the last 2 1/2 years. The U.S. leader said that “many people” were involved in the Epstein case, but that in hindsight “what happened 12, 15 years ago…I would think maybe they wish they’d done it a different way.” “We’ll be looking at it very carefully,” the U.S. leader said. Trump spoke a day after federal prosecutors in New York brought new sex trafficking charges against the 66-year-old Epstein that could, if he is convicted, send him to prison for 45 years. Acosta, when he was the U.S. attorney in Miami, agreed in 2008 to an Epstein guilty plea agreement under which he served 13 months in a local stockade, but was freed half of most days to go to work at…

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House Democrats Want Answers on Change of Date for Ohio’s 2020 Presidential Primary

by Todd DeFeo   Democratic lawmakers from Cuyahoga County are seeking information about a “possibly reckless change” that moved the 2020 presidential primary to St. Patrick’s Day. Nine lawmakers from the Cleveland area sent a letter to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose regarding the change of date from March 10 to March 17. The move is in the biennial state budget, which is pending before state legislators. State lawmakers did not agree on a state budget by the June 30 deadline but instead passed a 17-day extension, and Democrats hope to change the date of the primary before the final budget passes. “The only silver lining of this situation is that the legislature has an additional short time to reconsider and remove a last-minute provision in the budget bill: the movement of the 2020 presidential primary election to March 17, St. Patrick’s Day,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urgently need information from your office about the impacts of this rushed and possibly reckless change,” they added. “St. Patrick’s Day is a huge day of celebration in Cleveland and in our districts and we are very concerned about the effect this will have on people’s ability to vote that day.” Among…

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Nashville Mayoral Candidates Want More Accountability for Schools

  The top four candidates running for mayor of Nashville said Tuesday that, if elected, they will play a greater role holding the Metro School Board accountable. Some even said they want a greater role selecting the next school superintendent. Candidates debated at Belmont University. Former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain said she plans to hold school board members accountable for how they spend taxpayer money. “The school board already gets $1 billion a year and every election we hear more money for teachers’ pay but somehow that money doesn’t quite reach the teachers, the bus drivers, the cafeteria workers,” Swain said. “I believe we have to make sure there is accountability and transparency and, yes, teachers deserve better pay, and we have to make sure there is no waste and that the money we give to the school board is being spent as it should.” John Ray Clemons, meanwhile, said he will sit down with teachers and ask them what they need to do their jobs. When asked how much involvement the next mayor should have selecting the next superintendent, Cooper said the mayor “should be deeply involved.” “It’s half of our money that goes to schools and the school…

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Biden On His Son’s Problems: ‘He’s The Most Honorable, Decent Person I Know’

by Chris White   Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday night that his son is an honorable man who will overcome his mental health problems. “He’s the most honorable, decent person I know,” Biden told CNN’s Chris Cuomo about Hunter Biden and his reported mental problems. “Everybody has to deal with these issues in a way that is consistent with who they are and what they are. This guy is the most generous, honorable man that I know.” “Beau was my soul. Hunter is my heart,” he said, referring to his other son, Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer in 2015. Joe Biden is among several Democrats running for president in 2020. Biden then began discussing his desire to put more money into researching mental health disorders. “We have to put more money into mental health whether it’s for our education system, whether it’s for our veterans, whoever it’s for, we have to — we have to start to look at it, talk about it and put more money into it.” Media reports suggested Hunter’s checkered private life would become a headache for Biden as the former senator considered a presidential bid. Biden’s other son, Beau, died of…

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War on Warriors: The Tennessee Star Report Talks to OANN’s Neil McCabe About the Anti-Military Cadre Within the Pentagon

  On Tuesday’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 talked to One America News Network’s Neil McCabe about the war on warriors within the Pentagon. Towards the end of the segment, Gill also questioned why the US military has not yet addressed the rules of engagement as they pertain to ‘non-traditional’ enemies who use cell phones and key fobs as weapons. Leahy: And Steve our guest now is a regular on Tuesday mornings is Neil McCabe. Neil welcome. McCabe: Michael, Steve, how you doing guys? Good to be with you. Gill: Good morning. Leahy: You talked about what you wanted to discuss this morning and you told me something that’s kind of shocked me and I’m wondering if you can tell us a little bit about this. An Army Green Beret Major has been charged with murder related to charges he killed an alleged Taliban bomb maker 10 years ago in Afghanistan. This is a trial apparently going on in Fort Brag, North Carolina. Why is this trial going on? McCabe: Well I guess you can deal with it individually. You can…

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Michigan Woman Sues Wayne County Over ‘Home Equity Theft’

by Dan McCaleb   A Wayne County woman filed a lawsuit Monday challenging a Michigan policy that allows counties to seize an individual’s property to settle back taxes, sell it, and keep all of the money from the sale. The Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit organization that defends Americans against the government, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Erica Perez against Wayne County and County Treasurer Eric Sabree, the foundation said in a news release. Perez and her family are residents of a New York City suburb outside of New Jersey. In 2012, Perez and her father, Romualdo Perez, bought a four-unit home and a single-family home in Detroit for $60,000, intending to move closer to family, according to the lawsuit. They spent tens of thousands of dollars restoring the four-unit house over three years and rented out the units before beginning to work on the single-family home, the lawsuit says. In 2017, however, “Wayne County seized their property, citing an outstanding tax debt,” the news release said. “The Perez family had unknowingly underpaid their 2014 property taxes by $144. To settle that minor debt, Wayne County took the homes and sold them for $108,000, keeping every penny from the…

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Julian Castro Takes His Border Decriminalization Proposal a Step Further

by Jason Hopkins   Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro is doubling down on his position of border decriminalization by calling for the repeal of the law that makes it a felony to illegally enter the U.S. more than once. Castro, like other Democratic presidential contenders, has long wanted unauthorized entry into the country to be decriminalized. Under current law, it’s a misdemeanor the first time any alien illegally crosses the border into the U.S., a crime punishable up to six months in prison. He and other presidential hopefuls in his party are calling for such an action to be a civil offense instead of a criminal offense. Castro — a former Housing and Urban Development secretary during the Obama administration — has now taken this position a step further, telling HuffPost that he would like criminal reentries to be decriminalized as well. “I’d like to see those being treated as a civil matter,” Castro said to the liberal news outlet in a report published Tuesday. “I don’t believe in criminalizing desperation.” While it is a misdemeanor for an alien to illegally cross the border for the firs time, it is a felony if caught crossing two or more times. Any…

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While Visiting Nashville, Beto O’Rourke Says America and Confederate States Were Founded on White Supremacy

  During a campaign visit in Nashville Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said that Nashville and Texas and other “places that formed the Confederacy” are bigoted and America was formed on white supremacy. In the same breath as mentioning Nashville, he mentioned his home state of Texas and linked them to racism. “Those places that formed the Confederacy, that this country was founded on white supremacy. And every single institution and structure that we have in our country still reflects the legacy of slavery and segregation and Jim Crow and suppression, even in our ability to vote and participate in our elections.” He went on to mention purging of voter rolls. O’Rourke made the comments during a roundtable discussion in Nashville hosted by advocacy organization Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). A full video of the roundtable discussion is available here. The remarks come in the final two minutes of the video. O’Rourke made several stops in Nashville on Sunday and Monday, as The Tennessee Star reported. TIRRC’s political action committee affiliate, TIRRC Votes, tweeted, “During our roundtable with @BetoORourke we talked about ending worksite enforcement and expanding federal protections for undocumented workers. Raids are designed to instill…

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Trump Weighs in on Minnesota Pledge Controversy: ‘I Will Be Fighting With You’

  President Donald Trump has weighed in on the ongoing controversy in St. Louis Park, where the City Council voted unanimously to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before meetings. “Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you!” Trump wrote on Twitter Tuesday. Outrage is growing in the Great State of Minnesota where our Patriots are now having to fight for the right to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I will be fighting with you! @foxandfriends — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2019 The issue was brought to the president’s attention after Fox & Friends ran a number of segments highlighting the topic. On Tuesday, the morning news show played clips of Monday night’s City Council meeting, which attracted nearly 100 protesters in support of the pledge. “Well, the folks came out because they said it only takes 15 seconds and it means a lot to us. This is America,” host Pete Hegseth, a Minnesota native, said on Tuesday’s show. Imagine getting this worked up over the Pledge of Allegiance pic.twitter.com/wvPrMSQN60 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)…

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Four Chattanooga Foundations Reportedly Funding Left-Wing UnifiEd

  Four Chattanooga-based foundations help fund the city’s left-leaning UnifiEd, according to a letter The Chattanoogan published Monday. The author of the letter, April Eidson, listed the Benwood Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, the Lyndhurst Foundation, and the Footprint Foundation as UnifiEd donors. Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd linked to Eidson’s letter on his Facebook page Monday. Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga spokesman Joda Thongnopnua told The Tennessee Star Monday that Eidson’s letter lacked some important context. “I want to be clear. We supported the (UnifiEd) 501C3. They have a 501C4 as well. That is a more political organization, but all our money went explicitly toward the 501C3,” Thongnopnua said. “We did that to fund some pretty specific non-controversial things like successfully advocating for the adoption of some changes that improved the transparency and accountability of things like school board meetings and putting the budget online. They also did these community input sessions that engaged about 2,600 local residents and that kind of community voice where we invested in UnifiEd and other groups that work to make sure every kid has access to a great public education regardless of what zip code they are in.” No one at…

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