Day: October 20, 2019

Tennessee State Revenue Report Shows Surplus of $138.8 Million in September

Laura Baigert

  The report of Tennessee state revenues for September at $1.6 billion resulted in a budget surplus of $138.8 million. Revenue for the month of September 2019, as indicated in the report, is $138.7 million more than September 2018, reflecting a 9.75 percent year-over-year growth rate. On an accrual basis, September is the second month in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Combined with August, the two months of revenues have resulted in a total $167.6 million budget surplus year-to-date. Revenues are 6.6 percent ahead of the plan for the 2019-2020 fiscal year and 9.00 percent ahead of this time in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter said of the most recent month’s revenue results, “September sales tax receipts continue to reflect strong consumer activity within the state and corporate tax revenues greatly outperformed expectations.” The sales and use tax, the state’s largest revenue generator accounting for more than 60 percent of the 2019-2020 budgeted revenues, exceeded the estimates for September by $31 million or nearly 4 percent. Year-to-date, sales tax revenues have exceeded the budgeted estimates by $40 million, or 2.5 percent for the two month period. Franchise and excise taxes combined, the state’s second-largest revenue source…

Read the full story

Commentary: Christopher Wray Has Some Explaining to Do

Admin

Article 35 of the constitution of the People’s Republic of China guarantees “freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, and of demonstration.” Article 36 guarantees religious freedom including the right to believe in any religion. Article 37 prohibits illegal arrests and unlawful searches of Chinese citizens. Article 40 guarantees a Chinese citizen’s right to privacy of correspondence. Article 126 guarantees judicial independence without interference by any administrative organ, public organization, or individual.

Read the full story

Manny Sethi TV Ad Triggers Liberals

Chris Butler

  Dr. Manny Sethi’s television ad criticizing illegal immigration triggered prominent Democrats nationwide into a torrent of anger this past week, and many of them took to Twitter to show their disgust. Sethi and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty are running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate to replace Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who is retiring. The Republican primary will be held in August 2020, and the winner will be a heavy favorite to win the general election in November 2020. A congresswoman from Washington state along with a New York Times op-ed writer were among some of the progressives speaking out against Sethi’s commercial. In the ad, Sethi, whose parents emigrated to the United States many years ago, challenged anyone to call him a racist for speaking out against illegal immigration. Jenalyn Sotto, an official with the National Women’s Law Center, criticized the commercial perhaps more harshly than anyone else. “Manny Sethi’s ‘illegal immigrant invasion’ rhetoric as a Brown man is absolution porn for white racists and dog whistling for naturalized citizens and green card holders who are conditioned to believe that if they don’t call out unauthorized immigration, they’ll lose their status,” Sotto tweeted…

Read the full story

Elizabeth Warren Campaign to Have a Presence in Tennessee

Chris Butler

  Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has reportedly set up a presence in Tennessee in her quest to get elected president next year. This, according to The Nashville Post, which reported that Elizabeth Henderson will serve as Warren’s Tennessee state director. “According to several local Democratic hands, that makes Warren, newly atop some national and early-state polls, the first presidential candidate with staff working in Tennessee, more than four months before the state’s Democrats vote in the Super Tuesday primary,” The Nashville Post reported. “Henderson previously worked on Karl Dean’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign, David Briley’s 2015 vice mayoral campaign and for The Wilderness Society and Organizing for Action. She has also worked with Run for Something, a group that supports progressive candidates running in down-ballot races.” As The Tennessee Star reported earlier this month, Warren’s presidency could spell ruin for the stock market, at least according to what analysts predict. “The stock market has already started to show negative impact from Warren’s campaign, analysts told Bloomberg, and her presidency could impact the stock market even further. The bank earnings season will begin October 15, the publication reports,” according to The Star. The Royal Bank of Canada’s Lori Calvasina worries that a Warren presidency combined with…

Read the full story