Day: July 21, 2019

Progressives Reportedly Want to Unseat Tennessee Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper

Chris Butler

  Progressives have reportedly targeted several House Democrats for the 2020 primary, including U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper, a Democrat representing Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District. This, according to the nonprofit Maplight.org, which did not specify who, exactly, progressives have in mind to challenge Cooper. The progressive challengers, the website went on to say, won’t have an easy time unseating these incumbents. “Fifteen moderate House Democrats targeted for a 2020 primary by a progressive organization have at least two major advantages over challengers, according to a MapLight analysis,” the website reported. “They’re likely to benefit from a new Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee policy that blacklists consultants and vendors who work for a primary challenger. The policy was implemented by Rep. Cheri Bustos, the DCCC chair and a target of Roots Action, the progressive organization.” In addition to Cooper, other targets include Jim Costa of California, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Eliot Engel of New York, Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, Derek Kilmer of Washington, Dan Lipinski of Illinois, Gregory Meeks of New York, Brad Schneider of Illinois, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, David Scott of Georgia, and Juan Vargas of California. According to Maplight.org, Roots Action…

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Commentary: One of the Left’s Goals Is to Abolish Citizenship

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by Matthew Goose   Few issues so clearly separate those who care about America from those who do not like immigration. In recent days, Democrats have advised illegal immigrants to defy the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, suggested decriminalizing illegal entry, and even embraced free healthcare for illegal immigrants. Democrats applauded the Trump Administration’s decision to abandon the citizenship question on the 2020 census—calling it vindication for “democracy” —but denounced the ICE raids on illegal aliens with deportation orders. While claiming fealty to the United States, the Democrats have all but proudly declared they are for open borders and against the rights and interests of American citizens. They have reached a consensus that American citizenship is a meaningless abstraction and an unearned privilege that effectively must be abolished—if not by law, then by ignoring the existence and unique rights of American citizens qua citizens. Peel back the sentimental platitudes (does anyone really think families shouldn’t stay together?) and the Democrats’ take on immigration reveals a profound betrayal. They are more concerned with the welfare of illegal immigrants than with that of the citizens of the country they were elected to serve. By seeking to abolish American citizenship, Democrats are withdrawing…

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UK Knife Crime Hits Record High, Despite London Mayor’s ‘Knife Control’

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by Jake Dima   The U.K., most notably London, has experienced a sharp increase in knife-related crime, despite “knife control” efforts to curb the violence, newly released figures detail. Knife crime in both England and Wales is up 8% from April 2018 to May 2019. U.K. police reports from 43 departments recorded 47,136 incidents involving sharp objects, an Office of National Statistics crime report says. London Mayor Sadiq Khan implemented blade bans in London in April 2018, but they don’t appear to be working as intended. Blades found on one’s person have increased 21% since 2018, the report details. No excuses: there is never a reason to carry a knife. Anyone who does will be caught, and they will feel the full force of the law. https://t.co/XILUvIFLOW — Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) April 8, 2018 The 8% rise is calculated to equate to an increase of over 3,300 knife-related incidents compared with this time last year. It’s supposed that even more stabbings or cuttings occurred and went unrecorded, as the U.K.’s Greater Manchester Police was excluded from the data for undercounting, according to the report. The number of knife-related incidents has been on the rise for years, increasing by more…

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The Supreme Court Might Overturn One of Justice Stevens’s Landmark Decisions

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by Kevin Daley   Late Justice John Paul Stevens left a far-reaching legal legacy in his 34 years on the Supreme Court, writing landmark decisions on presidential powers, property rights and the death penalty. Yet the endurance of his legacy might be an open question. The Supreme Court signaled weeks before Stevens died Tuesday it might overturn one of his most significant opinions, a 1984 decision called Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council. The Chevron case initially seemed like an arcane agency issue of little consequence. In the sweep of time, however, it became one of the most important precedents governing the power of federal agencies. Chevron provides that the courts should defer to an agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous law it administers, provided that interpretation is reasonable. For example, under Chevron, the courts should defer to the Environmental Protection Agency’s reading of an unclear provision in the Clear Air Act. Supporters of Chevron say it ensures complex regulatory questions will be resolved by subject matter experts, instead of layman judges who are ill-equipped to parse complicated areas like pharmaceutical certification. They frame the approach as one of judicial humility and a recognition of the modest role courts should play…

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Knoxville Taxpayers Reportedly Must Pay $150,000 for Public Art Project

Chris Butler

  Knoxville taxpayers will reportedly pay more than $150,000 for a public art project that a Seattle-based artist is overseeing in the downtown section of the city. This, according to KnoxNews.com, which reported the artist, Addison Karl, and four local and five out-of-state artists are helping him paint a mural. The website said the artists are painting the east side of the Market Square Garage between Wall and Union avenues. “The city-sanctioned work’s the latest of the public murals throughout downtown Knoxville,” according to KnoxNews.com “It’s funded with $151,000 approved in March by the Knoxville City Council. That money is all inclusive, paying for everything from accommodation expenses to materials and assistants.” The website went on to say public art is controversial — but Karl reportedly defended the practice because he said past civilizations left behind their own art. “They have left us their culture. … Even when we were hunters and gatherers, we left pictograms … The human spirit has always done graffiti — ‘we’ve been here; we were here,’” Karl reportedly said. The mural, named “Cassiopeia,” reportedly highlights the faces of six diverse East Tennessee residents. Karl will reportedly finish the project in August. This is not the first…

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Commentary: Maine and Nevada Show Why the Electoral College Helps Small States, Not Red States

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by Hans Von Spakovsky   Last month, both Maine and Nevada did what was in the best interests of their states: They rejected bills that would have enrolled their states in the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an unwise effort to override the Electoral College. In Maine, it was killed by legislators in the state House after it passed Maine’s Senate. In Nevada, Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak vetoed the bill that had been passed by members of his own party in the Legislature. The National Popular Vote compact, which is an agreement between states, requires a participating state to award all of its electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the most votes across the nation, not to the candidate who actually won the vote in that state. In other words, states are agreeing to ignore what the majority of voters in their state decides when it comes to who they believe should be president. This interstate compact has been sold to state governments as a means to abolish what supporters wrongly claim is the “outmoded, undemocratic Electoral College.” What is “undemocratic” is an agreement that means that even if every single voter in a state voted against a presidential…

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No 2020 Democrats Will Attend Muslim Caucus Conference

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by Sarah Price   None of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have agreed to attend the first Muslim-American national gathering on July 23rd and 24th, according to the Huffington Post. Both the Muslim Conference and the Huffington Post reached out to every 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful in regard to the event. Most either did not respond or noted a scheduling conflict. Former Vice President Joe Biden and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio ignored the invitation. Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro declined. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said they would send pre-recorded videos. However, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren confirmed that she would participate via live stream, according to the Huffington Post. None of them will be there in person. The Conference of the Muslim Collective for Equitable Democracy, hosted by the Muslim Caucus, will take place in Washington, D.C. The organization’s website describes its mission as being “On a bold path to cultivate and lift up our grassroots, multi-state affiliate base of changemakers organizing to advance racial and religious equity.” Many of the event’s organizers are frustrated with the lack of interest and participation…

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Carson Says Trump ‘Not a Racist’

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by Joshua Nelson   While many Democrats are accusing President Donald Trump of “racism” because of a controversial tweet, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is countering the narrative by touting the president’s policies. “I have an advantage of knowing the president very well, and he’s not a racist, “ Carson said in a Wednesday interview on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.” “His comments are not racist, but he loves the country very much,” Carson added. “He has a feeling that those who represent the country should love it as well.” The comments Carson referred to were tweets from the president directed at a group of minority freshman Democratic lawmakers known as “the squad” who have been outspoken in their criticisms of the president and America. In his string of tweets, Trump said the group, made up of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar or Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Ayanna Pressley of Illinois, should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.” All the women are American citizens. Following Trump’s remarks, House Resolution 489 was introduced in the House Judiciary Committee, a measure that “condemns” the president as “racist”…

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Commentary: Support for $15 Minimum Wage Plummets When Americans Are Told Its Economic Impact

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by Jon Miltimore   Minimum wage laws, I’ve noted, are popular with the public. This no doubt explains why House Democrats passed a bill Thursday that would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Yet the minimum wage’s apparent popularity might be political pyrite (fool’s gold). A newly published Business Insider survey found that support for the minimum wage wilts when Americans—both Republicans and Democrats—are told of its full economic impact. Of the 1,100 poll respondents, 63 percent supported raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Just 22 percent opposed the policy. However, when told of the Congressional Budget Office’s recent finding that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would cost an estimated 1.3 million jobs, respondents soured on the policy. After being told that “a proposed policy” to raise the minimum wage could lead to 1.3 million job losses, people were considerably less enthusiastic. Thirty-seven percent of respondents would support a policy with those implications, considerably down from the 63% who backed a $15 minimum wage. The CBO, which projected that job losses could be as high as 3.7 million, explained in their report who would be most affected by the minimum wage…

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Brooklyn Man Charged After Joining ISIS, Training Other Members

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by Audrey Conklin   The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday charged a Brooklyn man who joined ISIS with providing and attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization. Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, a naturalized American citizen born in Kazakhstan, was recently transferred into FBI custody after being detained in Syria by the Syrian Democratic Forces, according to a Friday statement from the Justice Department. “The defendant … turned his back on the country that took him in and joined ISIS, serving its violent ends in Syria and attempting to recruit others to its cause,” U.S. Attorney Donoghue said in a statement, according to the DOJ. 1) “The defendant, a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Brooklyn, turned his back on the country that took him in and joined ISIS, serving its violent ends in Syria and attempting to recruit others to its cause,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue… — US Attorney EDNY (@EDNYnews) July 19, 2019 “Our counterterrorism prosecutors and law enforcement partners will continue working relentlessly to hold accountable those like the defendant who have supported ISIS’s violent agenda,” he continued. Donoghue also said the FBI hopes “countries around the world, including our European allies and partners, will…

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Ilhan Omar Begins to Refer to Somalia as ‘My Country’ Before Catching Slip-Up

Anthony Gockowski

  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) began to refer to Somalia as “my country” before catching herself and calling it the “country I came from” during a recent speech. The slip-up came during her remarks to a crowd of supporters gathered to greet her Thursday night at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. “We have always been about creating a more perfect union, an inclusive one. One that is not just tolerant, but accepting. And so since the first day this president introduced the Muslim ban knowing my coun—the country I came from was on that and that my country now was on the track of implementing fascist laws, I knew that I had to speak up,” Omar said. The comments drew criticism from some conservative journalists, who questioned if Omar identifies “as an American or a Somalian.” LISTEN CLOSELY to @IlhanMN freudian slip here when she got back to MSP last night. So does she identify as an American or a Somalian? What say you? Plz share your Point of View pic.twitter.com/qhDVsnSQiT — Chris Berg (@chrisbergpov) July 19, 2019 Omar made similar remarks during a 2015 speech to the Revolution Somali Youth League before she was elected to the Minnesota House.…

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With One Month Remaining in the Fiscal Year, Tennessee’s Budget Surplus Is Now Up To $649 Million

Laura Baigert

  Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter announced Wednesday that Tennessee’s June revenues were $92.5 million more than the state budgeted for the month, resulting in a total budget surplus of $649.2 million with just one month remaining in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. The state’s revenue collections of $1.6 billion for the month of June, which is the eleventh month of the year on an accrual basis, were $115.3 million more than collected in June of 2018. McWhorter acknowledged that total revenues in June “were notably higher than expected,” which confirms the strength of the Tennessee economy, he said. Revenues have exceeded the budgeted estimates all 11 months of the current fiscal year, with surpluses ranging from a low of $3.2 million in October 2018 to the high of $258.9 million in April 2019. April’s excess revenues alone account for nearly 40 percent of the year-to-date budget surplus. June’s surplus puts revenues to the state 4.8 percent ahead of the budget and 5.6 percent ahead of this time last fiscal year. The Franchise and Excise Tax plus the Sales and Use Tax make up about 80 percent of the State’s total revenues as well as the budget surplus…

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