Month: July 2019

Cory Booker’s New Immigration Plan Would Sidestep Congress

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by Evie Fordham   Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s immigration plan announced Tuesday would sidestep Congress and drastically change U.S. immigration policy through executive orders. “But we can’t wait for Congress to act, which is why, as president, Cory will start on Day One to end the abuses of the Trump Administration and use his executive authority to reform our immigration system,” a statement on Booker’s presidential campaign website reads. NEW: I’m introducing a plan to fix our broken immigration system—without Congress. https://t.co/PFCuvn4yOg pic.twitter.com/d8hyHlZjYG — Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) July 2, 2019 Booker’s plan isn’t wildly different from those of other 2020 candidates, but it is one of the most detailed, according to The Associated Press. Tenets of Booker’s plan include steps to: “Virtually eliminate our nation’s reliance on immigration incarceration, including ending the use of for-profit detention facilities.” “Stop treating immigrants as criminals [because] criminal prosecution of improper entry has been used by the Trump Administration as a basis for the separation of thousands of families.” End the Trump administration’s travel ban of several Muslim-majority countries. Booker’s plan would also squash a Trump administration proposal to make it easier to deport immigrants who are deemed “public charges” because they…

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New Tennessee Law Requires Civics Test for High School Students

Chris Butler

  A new Tennessee law requires the state’s high school students not only take but pass a high school civics test. As Chalkbeat.org reported, Tennessee high school students previously only had to take the test to graduate. Now, they must also pass the exam. No one at the Tennessee Department of Education returned The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment by voicemail and email Tuesday. Specifically, The Star asked to see an example of the test, information about who will take the test, and what are the consequences for performing poorly. According to Chalkbeat.org, however, the questions are varied and detailed. “From the Declaration of Independence to the U.S. Supreme Court, the 50 questions are drawn from the citizenship test administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,” the website reported. “Students must get at least 70 percent right to receive their diploma, and they can take the online test multiple times. The goal is to build a more informed citizenry.” The Johnson City Press quoted various state officials and educators about the test. According to the paper: • Tennessee State Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, said the exam is “one way of teaching Tennessee kids the importance of our God-given liberties and…

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Steve Rogers Commentary: ‘A Salute to America’ Is the Embodiment of President Trump’s Love of Our Military, Over the Establishment’s Protests

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by Steve Rogers   It’s funny how the same people who are furious with President Trump for inviting our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines to be honored on the National Mall this Independence Day seem to be just as upset that he didn’t send our troops into harm’s way in some far-flung corner of the world. There’s nothing remotely “un-American” about a military parade like the one our Commander-in-Chief is planning as part of a July 4th “Salute to America,” along with a host of other tributes to our military. We’ve had them for centuries, especially around the Independence Day holiday. Remember, there never could have been a Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, if there hadn’t been a Continental Army, founded almost exactly a year earlier. In fact, that army’s commander-in-chief, George Washington, would lead about 500 of the same men who fought with him during the Revolution in a parade through New York City as he occupied the same public office that Donald Trump now occupies. If there were liberals and detractors condemning that parade as “un-American,” that fact went unrecorded by history. The best part about military parades — even more uplifting than the triumphal pageantry,…

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Trump Signs Law Making It Harder for IRS to Seize Money From Americans

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by Fred Lucas   The Internal Revenue Service seized $446,000 from the bank accounts of brothers Jeffrey, Richard, and Mitch Hirsch in 2012, claiming a “structuring” violation against the owners of Bi-County Distributors Inc. for making multiple bank deposits of less than $10,000. The government never charged them with a crime, nor gave them a hearing to enable them to contest the seizure, but after intense national media attention to the case, the government returned the funds. The case was among many that highlighted an abuse by IRS agents known as legal source structuring that allowed the tax collection agency to use a law, the Bank Secrecy Act, intended to combat money laundering, to seize assets. President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill Monday to force greater accountability on the IRS in the property seizures, as well as protect taxpayers from identity theft, boost whistleblower protections, and modernize the tax agency. “We just finished signing, the important signing, of the Taxpayer First bill, the IRS Taxpayer First, which is a tremendous thing for our citizens having to deal with the IRS,” Trump told reporters after the signing. “It streamlines and so many other changes are made. That was just done…

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Beacon Center Tells 30 Largest Tennessee Cities It Will Call Them Out on July 4, 2020 on How Free Their Citizens Are

Jason M. Reynolds

  Conservative think tank Beacon Center of Tennessee has placed the 30 largest Volunteer State cities on notice: On Independence Day 2020, it will call them out on how free their citizens are – or are not. The Beacon Center of Tennessee announced Tuesday it will release a City Freedom Index on Independence Day 2020. As many of our state and local elected officials know, thousands of people across the United States move to Tennessee each year. While their reasons may vary, many choose to live here due to state-level policies such as: Right to Work, a lack of a state income tax, low taxes per capita, and low levels of debt. These policies are well known and their benefits well documented. While certainly the state you live in has a large impact on your life, so does the city you live in. However, we have found there are few resources on the best places to live within Tennessee due to local level polices. In an emailed press release, Mark Cunningham, vice president of communications and outreach, said the center will rank the 30 cities according to an overall freedom score. Because this is a brand new report, Beacon is giving cities a…

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#WalkAway Family Targeted by Activists, Doubles Down on Trump Support

Beth Lear

  Tyrone and Marcella Jackson are an African-American couple and small business owners of The Good Frank in Columbus. They were not politically active, but believed the Democratic talking points. Now they are conservative Trump supporters. The Jacksons are part of the #Walkaway movement. #Walkaway is a movement siphoning away support from the Democratic Party. It began in New York in May 2018. Brandon Straka, a hair stylist and self-professed liberal, founded the organization. Disenchanted by the far-Left’s takeover of the Party, Straka spoke out against the extreme policy positions of the Democrats and urged others to do the same. “(The Left) will blacklist and destroy anyone who dares to fight back,” Straka said in a video explaining his decision to cut ties with Democrats. “They’ll come for me, and then they’ll come for you.” They came for Tyrone and Marcella Jackson. And the Jacksons wanted to share their story with The Ohio Star, which, like The Tennessee Star, is owned by Star News Digital Media. The attacks against the Jacksons began shortly after a Trump rally in August 2018 at Orange High School in Delaware County. Marcella and her oldest daughter, who was wearing a MAGA hat, were clearly visible…

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Thales Academy, High Quality and Affordable Private School, Is Coming to Nashville

Anthony Gockowski

  Thales Academy, a non-profit company that owns and operates eight private schools in North Carolina, is coming to Nashville. Founder and CEO Bob Luddy, the entrepreneur who also owns CaptiveAire, the nation’s leading provider of commercial kitchen ventilation equipment, and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Tim Hall will be among the Thales Academy team members who will be addressing the public at an informational meeting that will be held in Nashville on Friday, July 19 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at West End Community Church, located at 235 White Bridge Pike in Nashville. The event is free and open to the public. You can confirm your attendance here. Nashville joins Richmond, Virginia as locations Thales Academy has identified for expansion in the 2020-2021 academic year. In each community, Thales Academy is working with local groups who want to give students and parents in their area the opportunity to be part of a high quality, low cost private education based on traditional Judeo-Christian values. The Thales model emphasizes Direct Instruction rather than Common Core to learn the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic for K-5 students, and a classical curriculum for 6-12 students. Direct Instruction is a teaching method that…

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Neil McCabe from OAN Joins the The Tennessee Star Report to Discuss AOC’s Lies About Detention Facility Toilet Conditions

Julie Carr

  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 Networks Neil McCabe about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s false claims regarding women being forced to drink out of toilets at border detention centers. Towards the end of the segment, the men discussed how she will be able to get away with her lies as a phenomena for the Democrats and left wing lunatics. Gill: One story that we’re going to talk about a lot today Neil McCabe from One America News Network is joining us. We have a story up at Tennessee Star. Fifty nine percent of Americans oppose government provided health insurance for illegal migrants. Now, this is a CNN poll so you know it’s actually worse than that. Here’s two things that I would point out in the poll. That actually reflects, and Neil weigh in on this as well. They’ve understated the opposition to providing healthcare to illegals. And there’s two ways you know that in the way they’ve framed the question. Do you think health insurance coverage provided by the government. Leahy: Government.…

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Poll: 59% of Americans Oppose Government-Provided Health Insurance for Illegal Migrants

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by Chuck Ross   Nearly 60% of Americans oppose making government-provided health insurance available to illegal immigrants, according to a CNN poll released Monday. “Do you think health insurance coverage provided by the government should or should not be available to undocumented immigrants living in the United States?” reads a question in the poll, which was conducted by the polling firm SRSS on behalf of CNN between June 28 and June 30. Of the 1,613 respondents, 59% said they oppose making government health insurance programs available to illegal immigrants. Thirty-eight percent supported it, while 3% expressed no opinion. The question matches one asked in Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate. All 10 Democrats raised their hands when asked whether they support making government-directed health insurance available to illegal immigrants. “A lot of you have been talking about government health care plans you proposed in one form or another. This is a show of hands question and hold them up so people can see. Raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants,” debate moderator Savannah Guthrie said. Candidates like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would include illegal immigrants in a Medicare for All plan, which would replace private health insurance with a single-payer…

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Commentary: Tedious, Entitled, Ignoble and Mad – the Anti-Trump Circus Turns Four Years Old

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by Victor Davis Hanson   We are now in the fourth year of an anti-Trump mania, and about reaching the point of caricature. The Left should have learned something after the failed celebrity appeal to undermine the Electoral College, the initial articles of impeachment, the empty invocations of the Logan Act, the Emoluments Clause, and the 25th Amendment, the 22-month, $35 million Mueller investigation deflation, the periodical silly “bombshell” announcements of perennially wrong and comical Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the pathetic palace coup attempt of Andrew McCabe, the assassination chic from the likes of Madonna, Snoop Dogg, or Kathy Griffin, or the deification of the slimy prophet Michael Avenatti. Not at all. An entire new cast of carnival characters has arrived on the scene to take up where the now imploded Left off. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) has replaced Schiff in the unhinged congressional investigative limelight. In his latest hearing, Nadler obtusely insisted on addressing former Trump White House aide Hope Hicks as “Ms. Lewandowski.” Even Democrats were puzzled – given that Nadler’s supposed “slip of the tongue” was repeated three times until Hicks finally corrected him. Even in the age of gender transitioning and speech reduced to Twitter-like grunts, sane…

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Ilhan Omar Pushes Back on Use of Terrorist Watchlist with Support of CAIR

Anthony Gockowski

  Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) recently issued a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting information about the “dissemination of data” from the country’s Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), commonly referred to as the terrorist watchlist. Omar was joined by ten of her congressional colleagues in crafting the letter, including Reps. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-13), and Mark Pocan (D-WI-02). “In our oversight role as members of Congress, we are entitled to information as to which countries receive this sensitive and classified information about American citizens, many of whom have never been charged, arrested or convicted of a crime,” the letter states, according to a press release from Omar’s office. “We are also extremely concerned that the federal government is sharing watchlist information with countries with dubious human rights records, including Saudi Arabia and China,” the letter continues. “Giving the same people who violently murdered Jamal Khashoggi access to the watchlist puts lives in danger. We have also received credible reports that Uyghur activists have been added to the watchlist at the behest of the Chinese government. It is unacceptable for U.S. resources to contribute to the brutal repression of political dissidents abroad.” The letter concludes…

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Thomas Homan Tears Into NY Times Op-Ed Advocating for Sharing Personal Border Patrol Information

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by Matt M. Miller   Former interim ICE Director Thomas Homan lambasted a New York Times op-ed Monday that advocated for Border Patrol agents’ names to be shared publicly. The Saturday op-ed, “The Treatment of Migrants Likely ‘Meets the Definition of a Mass Atrocity,” instructed the public to search for and release the personal information of border patrol agents who are allegedly mistreating children. “It’s disgusting. It happened to me when I was the director. They doxed me, my home address, and I had 80 protesters at my house on a Sunday morning,” Homan (pictured foreground) explained on “Fox and Friends” Monday. “Whoever wrote this op-ed obviously has never spoken to a border patrol agent, and she’s pushing a false narrative,” he continued. Watch the latest video at foxnews.com He explained how it mischaracterized Border Patrol agents and their role on the border, saying agents routinely put themselves in harm’s way for the sake of migrants in need. “These Border Patrol agents are taking sickness home to their own families because they are taking care of sick children. They’re changing diapers, they’re making formula. These Border Patrol agents did not sign up for this,” he asserted. Assistant professor of human rights Kate Cronin-Furman (pictured…

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Analysis: Busing, Segregation, and Education

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by James Agresti   During the second Democratic presidential debate, Kamala Harris stated that Joe Biden was “wrong to oppose busing” and equated this to support for racial segregation. In reality, supporters of integration broadly opposed busing because of its downsides. After busing was implemented in the early 1970s, national polls found that 84% of whites and 92% of blacks thought that students of all races should attend school together, but only 15% of whites and 40% of blacks supported busing. This is because the policy involved: quotas to achieve specific numbers of black, white, and Latino students in certain schools. removing children from their neighborhood schools and busing them to other schools, often via long commutes that made it hard for them to participate in extracurricular activities. court-ordered mergers of urban and suburban school districts. in at least one case, forcing all children in a district to change schools at least once during grades K to 5. Hence, Congressional Quarterly reported in 1975: “Many of the people who once supported busing as educationally and socially beneficial to both races are questioning or even forsaking it as a remedy.” Busing also forced children to attend schools that were often run by politicians who their parents did not…

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Lone Democrat Andrew Yang Expresses Support for Conservative Journalist Attacked at Antifa Rally

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by Chris White   Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang expressed support Monday for conservative journalist Andy Ngo, who was brutally attacked while covering an Antifa rally in Oregon on Saturday. “I hope @MrAndyNgo is okay. Journalists should be safe to report on a protest without being targeted,” wrote Yang, who is the only Democratic presidential candidate to weigh in on the assault so far. I hope @MrAndyNgo is okay. Journalists should be safe to report on a protest without being targeted. — Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) July 1, 2019 Video from the attack on Ngo in Portland shows a swarm of masked individuals punching the journalist and pelting him with milkshakes. Ngo’s attackers are heard on video shouting “Fuck you, Andy!” and “Go home, Andy Ngo!” Ngo, who lives in Portland, frequently covers Antifa activities in the city. He has also reported extensively on fake hate crime allegations. Ngo, who is an editor at Quilette, said after the assault his camera equipment was stolen. He went to the emergency room, where his attorney said he was treated for a brain bleed. Portland police arrested three people following Saturday’s rally, but a spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation the arrests were not related to the Ngo…

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Trump Allowing Select US Firms to Supply Huawei Has Some in Congress Fuming

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by Rob Garver   National security hawks who normally side with U.S. President Donald Trump on foreign policy issues are up in arms over his announcement on Saturday that he would indefinitely delay the imposition of tariffs on $300 billion of Chinese goods and relax restrictions on U.S. firms doing business with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. In a news conference Saturday that followed a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, Trump said: “U.S. companies can sell their equipment to Huawei. We’re talking about equipment where there’s no great national security problem with it. ‘Entity List’ This represents a sharp reversal by Trump, whose administration on May 16 added the company to the “Entity List” kept by the federal Commerce Department. Inclusion on that list is viewed as a sort of death penalty for foreign firms, because it prevents U.S. companies from doing business with them without express permission from the Commerce Department. In an announcement at the time, the department’s Bureau of Industry and Security said, “The U.S. Government has determined that there is reasonable cause to believe that Huawei has been involved in activities contrary to the national security…

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Things Get Real for Joe Biden as CNN’s Post-Debate Poll Show His Lead Cratered to Single-Digits

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Joe Biden

by Andrew Follett   Democratic presidential nominee front-runner Joe Biden’s lead over the crowded field dropped to five points in a CNN poll conducted after Wednesday and Thursday’s debates. Biden received the support of 22% of registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents in the CNN poll, conducted June 28 through June 30, down 10 points from the poll’s previous iteration in late May. Meanwhile, California Sen. Kamala Harris saw her support more than double from 8% to 17%, bringing her to second place in the field following her dominant debate performance in which she excoriated Biden’s record on civil rights and forced busing. Some 41% of Democratic voters who watched the debates thought Harris did the best job while on stage, while only 10% thought Biden performed the best, the CNN poll found. New York magazine Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi tweeted after Thursday’s debate that a source close to Biden’s campaign was “freaking out” about the former vice president’s performance on stage. “According to Biden’s staff, he isn’t listening to his debate prep and he’s ‘set in his ways,’” Nuzzi tweeted. Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield denied Nuzzi’s report in a one-word tweet Thursday. Nope. — Kate Bedingfield (@KBeds) June 28, 2019   The CNN poll’s findings…

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The Tennessee Star Report: Metro Council District Member Steven Glover Requests Opinion from Tennessee’s AG on Alleged Illegal Budget

Julie Carr

  During a specific interview discussion Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – Gill spoke to Metro Council district member and At-Large candidate Steven Glover about his plans to request a budget opinion from Tennessee’s state Attorney General. Nearing the end of the segment the men discussed the alleged illegal budget proposed by Mayor Briley and the Metro Council and questioned the legal ramifications of whether or not the Metro legal department could get involved. Gill: Now the Tennessee legislature, not the only one’s that love to raise taxes. Metro Council, Nashville. They wanted to raise taxes a few weeks ago but instead opted to balance the city budget by including money to be generated by a parking meter scheme that Mayor Briley has proposed and that is overwhelmingly opposed by voters in Nashville. They haven’t passed the tax scheme to bring in thirty million dollars or so in revenue but they’re counting that revenue that hasn’t been approved and the deal that hasn’t been cut to “balance their budget.” They’re also counting money to be derived from selling property…

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Commentary: From Currency Manipulation to Intellectual Theft and More, Always Remember China Cheats

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by Rick Manning   China cheats. All of those who get worked up over negligible increases in U.S. tariffs on Chinese made goods, please remember this basic fact – China cheats. China manipulates their currency by artificially pegging it well below the dollar, and devaluing it further to offset tariff impacts, because they desperately want, no need, to maintain their U.S. market share to keep their economy running. China also steals U.S. company’s intellectual property and then sells that innovation around the world for pennies on the dollar. China then dumps products onto the U.S. market with the intent of driving U.S. manufacturers who are the innovators out of business so they can be sole source providers of critical component parts.  They not only do this directly from China but also utilize other countries as pass-throughs for Chinese originating goods, as well as steel and aluminum products, and this is a big problem for the world. America’s energy industry is thriving and the President’s stated goal of energy dominance is within sight, but Chinese dumping onto U.S. markets of couplings which hold together sections of drilling pipe threatens everything.  This three year old strategically targeted play by the Chinese to…

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Judge Issues Temporary Restraining Order Against New Tennessee Law Requiring Licenses for Online Auctioneers

Chris Butler

  A U.S. District Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing Tennessee officials from enforcing a new state law that forces online auctioneers to get a state license. U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson (pictured above) of the Middle District of Tennessee issued his ruling late last week. The temporary restraining order expires July 11 at noon. An injunction hearing on the matter is scheduled for July 10 at 9 a.m., according to a copy of Richardson’s injunction. “Considering the lack of evidence on the current record that extended-time online auctions are harming Tennessee consumers, the Court finds that the balance of relative harms among the parties weighs in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendants at this time,” Richardson wrote. “Finally, the Court finds that the public interest will not be harmed by injunctive relief pending a preliminary injunction hearing, that will be set in short order.” Will McLemore, one of the plaintiffs in the case, told The Tennessee Star Monday he runs an online auction company out of Nashville. “This law would have caused me to have to alter my business model and affect auction managers that work with me and my firm,” McLemore said. “One of…

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Steve Glover Seeking Tennessee Attorney General Opinion Regarding Apparently Illegal Davidson County Budget

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  Despite the fact that both Tennessee State law and the Metro Davidson County Charter require a balanced budget, current Metro Council district member and At-Large candidate Steve Glover believes that the budget submitted by Mayor David Briley and recently passed by the Metro Council violates those provisions. As a result, Glover has asked State Senator Farrell Haile (R-Gallatin) to request an opinion from Tennessee State Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery concerning the legality of that budget. The 2019 – 2020 Davidson County budget was presented by Mayor Briley to the Metro Nashville City Council and was adopted on 19 June, 2019. Glover points out that the budget relies upon revenue sources that have not yet been approved by the Metro Council. “It is pretty obvious that you can’t ‘balance’ a budget with a revenue stream that doesn’t currently exist,” Councilman Glover said. “It’s like telling your bank they shouldn’t bounce your checks this week because you plan to deposit money into the account next week. That’s nonsense.” Councilman Glover notes, “Mayor Briley’s budget included the sale of public assets including, but not limited too, the management of city-owned parking meters. It is my opinion these funds are in question…

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Commentary: What Is Radical and What is Not – On Confidence and Common Sense

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by Mark Bauerlein   I just heard a fellow on CNN say that Donald Trump has radicalized the Republicans. Let’s be clear on what is and isn’t radical. A well-patrolled border is not a radical policy. An open border is a radical policy. To believe in two genders is not radical. To insert gender identity into Title IX is. To praise Western Civilization as a legacy of political freedom and artistic genius is not a radical opinion.To regard it as promotion of white supremacy is a radical opinion. To love America as an exceptional creation is not radical. To see America as founded on slavery and imperialism is radical. For a president to express support for the outcome of a vote in a foreign country is not radical. For a president to threaten a unique ally with economic hardship if a popular vote goes in a certain way, as Barack Obama did before Brexit – that’s radical. To cancel student debt is radical. To make college free is radical. To demand reparations 150 years after the end of slavery and 60 years after the end of Jim Crow is radical. To demand more public attention to the tiny population that fits the label “transgender”…

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China Discontinues American and European History AP Tests for Chinese Students Seeking U.S. College Credits

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by Ethan Cai   The Chinese government will completely suspend certain Advanced Placement (AP) history tests by 2020 in an attempt to hide “unfriendly” material. Chinese students seeking college credit for U.S. colleges will no longer be able to take the U.S. history, European history, world history, and human geography AP examinations, reported Reuters. These exams are provided by College Board, an American educational nonprofit that manages the SAT, as well as the AP curriculum. AP courses and exams in the fields of STEM and various other subjects are still permitted. “This is a bit sudden, we don’t know the reason,” SAT Test Web, a Nanjing-based center said on Chinese social media site WeChat. “If you apply for any of these four subjects, it means you need to go to other exams outside the mainland.” A total of five Chinese test centers from the cities of Nanjing, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai confirmed that China’s education ministry mandated that the history tests be ceased by 2020. The suspended history content adds to Beijing’s attempt to censor information that is not approved by the Communist Party in China. Negative viewpoints, for example, regarding the Tiananmen Square incident and the Sino-Japanese War are censored…

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Journalist Andy Ngo Attacked at Portland Antifa Rally Admitted to Local Hospital, Reportedly Diagnosed with Brain Bleed

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by Shelby Talcott   Journalist Andy Ngo, who covers Antifa activity, was attacked at a Portland rally Saturday and has reportedly been admitted to the hospital. Masked individuals attacked Ngo at a rally in Oregon, throwing what appeared to be milkshakes at him and punching him, according to footage of the attack. Ngo is an editor for Quillette who describes himself as “hated by [A]ntifa” on his Twitter profile. He recorded the aftermath of the day’s events on social media. The video showed Ngo with scars on his face in addition to what appeared to be swelling. https://t.co/B8Gh4KQxFS — Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) June 29, 2019 Ngo is being “admitted to the hospital overnight as a result of a brain bleed,” Harmeet Dhillon, a legal representative, tweeted hours after the protest. Thank you @michellemalkin for supporting our client @MrAndyNgo after organized felony assault on him while the impotent @PortlandPolice stood by & let it happen. Andy is a gay journalist with tremendous integrity and courage, in the ER right now. This is un-American — must stop. https://t.co/W9QAPmq0Av — Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) June 29, 2019 Suspects in the case have not publicly been identified, and the Portland Police Department did not immediately respond…

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College Majors Americans Regret the Most

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by Dora Mekouar   Two-thirds of Americans have a major regret relating to their college experience, according to a survey of 250,000 Americans who hold at least a bachelor’s degree. The biggest regrets for college graduates are the huge debts they’ve racked up. Student loan debt rose from $600 billion a decade ago to more than $1.4 trillion by the end of 2018. The second most regretted part of the respondents’ college experience is what they majored in. More than one in 10 people say their chosen area of study is their biggest educational regret. The most regretted majors are in the humanities field. More than one in five people with humanities majors — which includes English and history — say they wish they hadn’t chosen that area of study. Other fields that college grads regret choosing include physical and life sciences, social sciences, education, communications, and art. College graduates who focused on technical or high-earnings fields have the fewest regrets, including those who majored in engineering, computer science, and business. Overall, the study finds that older generations, people with higher education levels, and those who majored in fields with higher earning jobs have the fewest regrets about their college experience.…

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Trump Deregulation Will Boost Household Income by $3,100, Report Finds

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by Fred Lucas   The Trump administration deregulation efforts will raise incomes by about $3,100 per household over the next five to 10 years, and sharply reduce prices for consumers, according to a report released Friday by the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “The deregulatory efforts of the Trump administration have also removed mandates from employers, especially smaller businesses, and have removed burdens that would have eliminated many small bank lenders from the marketplace,” Casey Mulligan, the chief economist for the Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters Friday. “These deregulatory actions are raising real incomes by increasing competition, productivity, and wages.” The Council of Economic Advisers report is titled “The Economic Effects of Federal Deregulation Since January 2017: An Interim Report.” The report takes a sampling of 20 major deregulatory efforts, which it projects alone will save consumers and businesses about $220 billion annually, and increase after-inflation incomes by 1.3%. “Many of the most notable deregulatory efforts in American history, such as the deregulation of airlines and trucking that began during the Carter administration, did not have such large aggregate effects,” the Council of Economic Advisers report says. The aggressive deregulation also cuts consumer prices for prescription drugs, health…

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Woman Reportedly Alleges Lebanon City Council Violated Tennessee Open Meetings Act

Chris Butler

  A Lebanon woman says Lebanon’s City Council violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act several times. This same woman, Lorrie Hicks, reportedly said the Lebanon City Council has barred her from entering a city council meeting. According to the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government’s website, Hicks wants city officials to get training on the law and reconsider their actions on a recent rezoning decision. “Lorrie Hicks, through her attorney Paul McAdoo, has sent a letter to the Mayor Bernie Ash of the Lebanon City Council, explaining the alleged violations. She told TCOG she has not yet heard back from the city, although the mayor was quoted in the local newspaper as saying he had turned over her letter to the city attorney,” according to the TCOG’s website. Reportedly, this is the result of emails Ward 3 Councilor Camille Burdine sent pertaining to rezoning requests in a residential neighborhood. “Hicks says the emails constituted deliberation with other council members about an issue to be voted upon, which would be prohibited under the open meetings law. Emails between members of governing body cannot be used to deliberate outside open meeting,” according to the TCOG. “The open meetings statute prohibits using electronic communication to ‘decide or deliberate…

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Trump Appeals Federal Judge’s Border Wall Funding Ruling

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Reuters   President Donald Trump on Saturday appealed a U.S. judge’s ruling that blocked his administration from using $2.5 billion in funds intended for anti-drug activities to construct a wall along the southern border with Mexico. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers said in a court filing that they were formally appealing Friday’s ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “We’re immediately appealing it, and we think we’ll win the appeal,” Trump said during a press conference Saturday at a summit of leaders of the Group of 20 major economies in Japan. “There was no reason that that should’ve happened,” Trump said. Trump says construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is needed to keep out illegal immigrants and drugs, but he has so far been unable to get congressional approval for such a project. In February, the Trump administration declared a national emergency to reprogram $6.7 billion in funds that Congress had allocated for other purposes to build the wall, which groups and states including California had challenged. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam in Oakland, Calif., said in a pair of court decisions that the Trump administration’s proposal to transfer Defense Department funds intended for anti-drug activities was unlawful. One of Gilliam’s rulings was in a lawsuit filed by California on behalf of 20 states, while…

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Blackburn on Senate Passage of NDAA:  This Bill Secures Big Wins for Tennessee Military Community

Chris Butler

  This week Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee voted to fund the United States Military in Fiscal Year 2020, via the National Defense Authorization Act. The NDAA funds crucial projects that will directly impact military communities in Tennessee. Blackburn is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Tennessee is honored to be home to multiple military bases,” Blackburn said in a press release. “The sacrifice our members of the military make in service to our country can never be repaid. It is essential that we provide our men and women in uniform with the support they need to protect the United States and to provide for their families. This bill, which I worked on alongside my colleagues in the Senate Armed Services Committee, seeks to meet that goal.” The FY 2020 NDAA meets President Trump’s requested budget of $750 billion to fully fund the military. It also provides men and women in uniform with a 3.1 percent pay increase – the first since 2010, according to Blackburn’s press release. Blackburn secured funding for projects that will have a direct effect on military communities in Tennessee and on the mission of the Armed Forces to protect and defend…

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White House: Trade Agreement with China Not Close

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by Ken Bredemeier   White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Sunday resumption of trade talks between the U.S. and China “is a very big deal,” but acknowledged there is no immediate prospect for an agreement between the world’s two largest economies. “The talks will go on for quite some time,” Kudlow told the Fox News Sunday interview show. He said the countries had reached agreement on 90 percent of a new deal by early May, before talks broke down in what has turned out to be a seven-week stalemate. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Saturday on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit in Japan to restart negotiations. Watch the latest video at foxnews.com But Kudlow assessed that “the last 10 percent could be the toughest,” with such unresolved issues as cyberattacks, Chinese demands that U.S. companies turn over proprietary technology they use, Chinese government support for its companies and the sale of U.S. technology components to the giant Chinese multinational technology giant Huawei. Trump agreed in his meeting with Xi to ease sales of some U.S.-made components to Huawei, a policy change that some of Trump’s Republican colleagues in the U.S. disagree with because…

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Commentary: Christianity and the Big Bang

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by Grayson Quay   I once saw a bumper sticker that said, “The Big Bang Theory: God spoke, and ‘Bang!’ it happened.” The implication was clear: in addition to being the least funny sitcom ever made, the Big Bang Theory is an attack on religion, an attempt by scientists to step outside their proper sphere and disprove once and for all the existence of a Creator God. Many Christians share this view. Young-earth creationist Ken Ham’s website Answers in Genesis defines the Big Bang Theory as “a naturalistic story about the origin and development of the universe” that “contradicts the biblical teaching of creation.” I myself am no astrophysicist, but for anyone unfamiliar with the Big Bang theory, here’s my best attempt at a layman’s explanation. We can observe that the universe is both expanding and cooling at a constant rate. So, if we turn back the clock far enough (around 14 billion years to be exact), we eventually arrive at a time when all of the matter and energy in the universe was concentrated in one infinitely small point, or singularity. Then, the singularity exploded. Particles shot out in every direction and, as they cooled, came together to form molecules, planets,…

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Stephanopoulos Challenges Julian Castro Over Immigration Proposals, Asks ‘Isn’t That Effectively Open Borders?’

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by Chuck Ross   George Stephanopoulos on Sunday challenged Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro over whether his proposals to provide health care to illegal immigrants and to decriminalize illegal border crossings amount to open border policies. In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Stephanopoulos asked Castro, who served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration, whether he gave an opening to Republicans who have accused Democrats of supporting open border policies. “Not at all,” said Castro, who later in the interview derided claims that Democrats support open border policies as “just a right-wing talking point.” “It always has been.” Castro gained traction during a Democratic presidential debate on Wednesday when he said that his proposed health care plan would allow illegal immigrants to purchase health insurance. Castro also said that he wants to decriminalize crossing the border. In a Democratic debate on Thursday, all 10 candidates raised their hands to say they would support government-funded health care for illegal immigrants. Castro mounted a case to include illegal immigrants in his health insurance plan, saying that “undocumented immigrants already pay a lot of taxes.” “Secondly, we already pay for the health care of undocumented immigrants,” he added. “It’s called the…

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New Trump Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham Bruised After Brawl with North Korean Guards to Ensure Press Access to Kim Jong Un Meeting

Jason M. Reynolds

  President Donald Trump’s historic meeting with dictator Kim Jong Un, while reportedly cordial, did have some tension: North Korean guards tried to bar U.S. reporters’ way, but new press secretary Stephanie Grisham saved the day. The Guardian reported that Grisham ended up bruised in a scuffle with the guards. The jostling seen outside when Kim and Trump met worsened when North Korean guards tried to physically prevent reporters with the US press pool from entering a room inside the Freedom House on the southern side of the DMZ where the two leaders were about to start their meeting. Reports said the Secret Service had to intervene. Political commentator Edward Hardy tweeted a video of the confrontation: “This is the moment White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham got into a scuffle with North Korean security guards who were blocking US journalists”. This is the moment White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham got into a scuffle with North Korean security guards who were blocking US journalists pic.twitter.com/WSBkdDw17g — Edward Hardy (@EdwardTHardy) June 30, 2019 Sky News tweeted, “President Trump’s press secretary Stephanie Grisham ended up with bruises after being shoved by Kim Jong Un’s security guards. Donald Trump has become the first…

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Todd Starnes Commentary: Antifa Beats Elderly Man with Bats in Portland As Police Stand Down

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by Todd Starnes   An elderly man was brutally beaten by Antifa terrorists wielding baseball bats in downtown Portland. Another man who came to his defense was cracked in the skull and suffered serious injuries. https://twitter.com/Lucet_Veritas/status/1145348576710709249 This happened during the same protest that left journalist Andy Ngo with serious head injuries after he was set upon by the leftist savages. Serious questions need to be asked about the Portland Police Department. Why were there no officers on the scene? Were the police ordered to stand down? And if so, by whom? John was sprayed with mace and blinded. He was led away as blood dripped down his face, then dragged to a sidewalk. Another observer notes that one of Adam's attackers appears to wield something like a sock and padlock. See https://t.co/UuzciPLbkL /d pic.twitter.com/J1bPELs5Fy — Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 1, 2019 The Justice Department should launch an immediate investigation. Right now, law-abiding Oregonians should be warned that there is anarchy in the streets of Portland. It is not safe for you or your families to visit that city. Tourists should consider changing their vacation destinations. If the Antifa terrorists attack you and your family — the Portland Police Department may…

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Public Policy Group Calls for Ban on Sale of All U.S. Equipment to Huawei, Which is Accused of Having Ties to People’s Liberation Army, Chinese Communist Party

Jason M. Reynolds

  In the wake of President Donald Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping in Osaka, Japan Saturday, the Committee on the Present Danger: China (CPDC) called for a halt to the sale of all U.S. equipment to the Huawei communications company. Trump announced that “U.S. companies can sell their equipment to Huawei. I’m talking about equipment where there is no great national emergency problem with it,” CPDC said in a press release. The Committee on the Present Danger: China said it believes that all provision of products and services and licensing of technology to Huawei undermine the security of the United States, its allies, and partners. CPDC said it agrees with the findings of Trump’s executive order of May 15, 2019 titled “Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain.” This order addressed the threat posed by “foreign adversaries.” Huawei, a state-owned enterprise with known ties to the People’s Liberation Army, is such an adversary, the committee said. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in May accused the head of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies of lying about his company’s relationship with the government in Beijing, Battleground State News said. Huawei, the world’s largest maker of telecommunications network equipment, is…

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‘Hands-Free’ Driving, Gas Tax Increase and Other Tennessee Laws That Go Into Effect Today

Laura Baigert

  The state legislature passed 513 Public Acts in the first half of the 111th General Assembly, many of which go into effect on July 1, 2019, and impact the general public like the “hands-free” driving law. The new “hands-free” law, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star, defines what it means to be “hands-free” and extends the requirement to be “hands-free” from just schools zones to all Tennessee roads and highways. In addition, a law that passed in 2017 will also be hitting Tennesseans again on July 1. Namely, the Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy – IMPROVE Act, also referred to as the 2017 Tax Cut Act, will increase the tax on gasoline by another $0.01 and the diesel tax by another $0.03 effective July 1. These are the final increases to the two fuel taxes, which went up $0.06 on gas and $0.10 which went up three times starting on July 1, 2017. The tax on Compressed Natural Gas and Liquified Gas will also go up by $0.03 each on July 1, completing the $0.08 total increase over the same three years. Meanwhile, the Hall Income Tax phase out, which was one of…

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