Author: Chris Alto

OFF THE RECORD: Who Paid Expenses For Promoters of Nashville Police Oversight Board to Attend Organizing Conference in Florida?

Chris Alto

At the end of September, “Community Oversight Now – Nashville,” the Coalition which succeeded in bringing the question of a civilian community oversight board to a referendum as part of the November 6 ballot, posted their travel plans for October. Some or all of the Coalition’s leftist member groups were traveling to Florida to attend the annual conference of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). This is an organization that claims to have “professionalized” the business of lay people pretending they know more or at least enough, to decide whether cops are doing their jobs according to the law. Or at least judge a police officer’s actions according to what Black Lives Matter says is the way policing should be carried out. What’s not known about the Florida radicals’ junket, is who footed the bill, how many and from which Coalition member group attended the NACOLE conference? NACOLE is one of the organizations that was included in Obama’s White House task force that came up with 63 recommendations for how local police departments can make themselves better liked by the communities they serve, including the criminals who have guns. It also includes the assassins who, without direct provocation,…

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Is Soros Money Floating Behind the Push For a Civilian ‘Police Oversight Board’ in Nashville?

Chris Alto

Internal documents from George Soros’ Open Society Foundation (OSF) and an admission from an OSF representative about their grants addressing “police brutality,” should leave no one surprised that Soros money is floating behind the push in Nashville to establish a civilian oversight board. “Community Oversight Nashville,” (the Coalition), is the coalition which succeeded in bringing the question of a civilian community oversight board to a referendum. On November 6, 2018, Davidson County voters will decide whether to permanently embed the police oversight board into the governing charter. According to the “Vote No” campaign, this board would require a $10 million dollar tax hike over the next five years to pay for the $1.5 million dollar annual expenditure required by “Amendment #1” on the ballot. If the police oversight board initiative referred to as “Amendment #1” is passed, civilians appointed by Metro Council members would have broad authority to investigate and punish Metro Nashville police officers. Opponents of the initiative point out that at least eight layers of bureaucracy which include both civilians and government officials, are already in place to hold MNPD officers accountable. Organizations that have joined the Coalition and others that support passage of “Amendment #1” have either been…

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Nashville’s November Ballot Legislation Can Undermine Tennessee’s New Anti-Sanctuary City Law

Chris Alto

On November 6th, Davidson County voters will decide whether to accept “Amendment #1” and establish a $1.5 million civilian board to oversee the city’s police department. The proposed legislation would establish a Community Oversight Board (COB) with very broad disciplinary authority over the Metro Nashville Police Department. If the charter amendment is approved by voters, an unelected board of community activists will also be authorized to recommend policy changes for the police department and other “agencies involved in public safety and the administration of justice.” Broad and vague language vesting the COB with input into law enforcement policy may well result in  undermining Tennessee’s enhanced anti-sanctuary city law passed by the state General Assembly session during the last session. Notably, per Amendment #1, a Davidson County resident’s illegal immigration status does not disqualify an illegal alien from serving on the board. Asked to review Amendment #1 posted on the Davidson County Election Commission website, Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for Immigration Reform (FAIR) confirmed to The Tennessee Star that: there is nothing in the language that would preclude illegal aliens from serving on the review board. We find it highly objectionable that people whose very presence in the community…

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Tennessee’s Muslim Advisory Council and Vanderbilt MSA Align With Avowed Anti-Semite Linda Sarsour

Chris Alto

This year, the aggressively vocal anti-Semite and anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour was invited by the Vanderbilt Muslim Students Association and the Middle Eastern Students Association to talk about “Intersectionality and Allyship.” Two years prior, Tennessee’s AMAC invited Sarsour to speak in Knoxville alongside AMAC board member Drost Kokoye and Islamic Society of North American (ISNA) fundraiser Faheed Tasleem. Sarsour, an Obama “Champion of Change” and CAIR “American Muslim of the Year,” is well known for her overt hatred of Israel and all things Jewish. Born in New York to Palestinian immigrants from the West Bank, she self-identifies as a Palestinian-American and uses every opportunity including the Ferguson “intifada” to piggyback alleged oppression of Palestinians by the Israeli government. Nothing is creepier than Zionism.Challenge racism, #NormalizeJustice. Check out this video by @remroum http://t.co/q282BYT8 — Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) October 31, 2012 Sarsour is a vocal promoter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and a prolific tweeter of anti-Israel messages telling Muslim audiences that they shouldn’t “humanize” Jews whom she characterizes as oppressors of Arabs. According to Sarsour, she is “deeply involved in the BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement” which was birthed from the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson that…

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‘Fibber Phil’ Bredesen Misleads on Nissan and Volkswagen Production in Tennessee

Chris Alto

‘Fibber Phil’ Bredesen, the U.S. Senate Democrat candidate takes credit bringing Nissan and Volkswagen to Tennessee in his ad Matters and then uses these references to talk about his record creating jobs in the state when he was governor: As governor I worked with Democrats and Republicans to bring Volkswagen and the Nissan headquarters to Tennessee The same claims are posted on Bredesen’s campaign website. Watch the ad: The problem with Bredesen’s version of the facts, which deliberately mislead voters, is it omist material facts which if known, diminish greatly Bredesen’s claimed accomplishments. The Nissan Corporation’s relationship with Tennessee actually began during the early part of Lamar Alexander’s first term as governor. Lamar took the governor’s office in 1979, and two years later, Nissan was breaking ground to build its first plant outside of Japan, in Smyrna, earning Lamar recognition from The Tennessee Automotive Manufacturing Association (TAMA) in their ‘Hall of Fame’: During his time as governor of Tennessee (1979-87), Lamar Alexander recruited Nissan and General Motors to establish major auto manufacturing and assembly plants in the state and set the foundation for future auto industry growth through state-led economic development initiatives. Today automotive manufacturing is one of Tennessee’s leading…

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Bredesen’s History With Refugee Resettlement in Tennessee Consistent With Democrats in Congress Who Want Big Numbers Resettled in FY 2019

Chris Alto

Right after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the FY2019 ceiling for refugee admissions would be no more than 30,000, Democrats in Congress flew into action and federal refugee resettlement contractors began objecting. On Thursday, 51 U.S. House Democrats, including Tennessee’s Steve Cohen, co-sponsored House Resolution 1073 calling for no fewer than 110,000 refugee admissions for fiscal year 2019 which begins on October 1st. This was the last refugee admission ceiling proposed by Obama before leaving office. The resolution also takes a swipe at President Trump’s integrity on the refugee issue by stating that Trump “and his administration must operate the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) in good faith.” Democrat Senate candidate Phil Bredesen’s history of welcoming thousands of refugees to Tennessee during his two terms as governor, is strong evidence that he agrees there should be a higher number of refugees brought to the U.S. in the coming year. Between 2003 and 2011, Bredesen’s last year as governor, over 9,000 refugees of multiple ethnicities were brought to Tennessee by federal contractors. The numbers do not, however, account for secondary migrants who are first resettled in other states or other parts of Tennessee but then relocate to follow friends,…

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Democrats Phil Bredesen and Karl ‘Marx’ Dean Have Close Ties to Soros-Funded Group Whose Leadership Is Working to Block Kavanaugh Confirmation

Chris Alto
Phil Bredesen, Karl Dean

Audio captured from a July conference call shows the Soros-funded American Constitution Society for Law & Policy (ACS) Board member Ricki Seidman telling Democrat leaders in reference to Judge Brett Kavanaugh, that a “strategy that will emerge and I think it’s possible that that strategy might ultimately defeat the nominee.”     The ACS, which receives millions in direct funding from the George Soros Open Societies Foundation (more than $2 million in 2016 alone), is active in Nashville, Knoxville and at law schools in the state. The Nashville chapter of  the ACS , which Seidman helps lead at the national level, is loaded with members, including its leadership, who hold close ties to Democrats U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen and Tennessee gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean. For example, Dean’s wife, Anne Davis sits on the Nashville chapter’s advisory board having just left her position as the managing attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. Anne Passino, her comrade in arms at the Law Center, serves as the ACS Event co-chair. Shanna Singh Hughey, a Board member of the Nashville ACS chapter served as a senior advisor to Karl Dean when he was mayor of Nashville and also served as the director of Dean’s…

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Nashville Pro-Illegal Immigration Activist Lawyers Lose Deportation Case

Chris Alto

On April 7, 2017, Nashville pro-illegal immigration activist lawyers Elliot Ozment, J. Gerard Stranch, IV, Tricia Herzfeld and Anthony Orlandi, sued Metro Nashville, Davidson County and its Sheriff Daron Hall, on behalf of Saudi national Abdullah Abriq, a student visa overstayer, and the “hundred and likely thousands of immigrants” subject to detainer requests issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The open borders lawyers attempted to use Abriq’s lawsuit opposing his deportation to also challenge the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested and subsequently held in the Metro jail on a request from ICE to detain the criminal for transfer to ICE custody pending removal proceedings. This time around however, it is score one for the rule of law and zero for the four lawyers trying to protect illegal aliens. Abriq was identified in the lawsuit as a “foreign national who immigrated to the United States under an F-1 student visa.” The F-1 visa is a type of non-immigrant visa that allows a person to be educated in the U.S. if they meet certain conditions. Absent an extension, the student must leave the country once the term or conditions of the visa expire. Visa overstayers are considered unlawfully present…

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OFF THE RECORD: Memphis Barnes&Noble Stacks Books For ‘The Resistance’

Chris Alto
Off the Record

The Barnes and Noble bookstore in Collierville just outside of Memphis proper, has a display of politically-themed books that screams “we support the resistance”!!!! FEAR, Bob Woodward’s questionable version of the Trump White House has been placed on the top shelf riser as a first view item. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the book is “nothing more than fabricated stories” with stories from “former disgruntled employees.” Front and center, abutting right below FEAR are two new releases about Obama. Don’t you just love the ever-so-clever title Hugs From Obama, A Photographic Look back at the Warmth and Wisdom of President Barack Obama”??? Conjures up all those warm and fuzzy feelings from the eight long seemingly never-ending years of taking the U.S. down the tube. Plunk down the extra $20 bucks in your pocket because of Trump’s tax cuts and you can do whatever you want to “enhance” the photos. Completing the trifecta of books on the ‘Resistance Recommended Reading List’ is the bestseller by Omarosa whose book sales tanked simultaneously with the release of Unhinged. Even leftist media propaganda and Omarosa’s release of tell-nothing tapes couldn’t stop the public humiliation of her failures. But wait. Just to prove that Barnes & Noble book stockers aren’t playing favorites…

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Illegal Immigration in TN Increased During Karl Dean and Phil Bredesen Administrations

Chris Alto

Estimates from both ends of the political spectrum on the issue of illegal immigration show steady and dramatic increases in the number of illegal aliens in Tennessee during the Nashville mayoral terms of Phil Bredesen and Karl Dean and during Bredesen’s two terms as the state’s governor. Bredesen served as Nashville’s mayor from 1991 – 1999 and Tennessee governor from 2003 until the middle of January, 2011. Dean served as Nashville’s mayor from 2007 – 2015. According to the Soros-funded leftist Migration Policy Institute (MPI), between 1990 and 2000, the increase in foreign-born arrivals to Tennessee more than doubled from 59,114 to 159,004. By the year 2000, almost 40% of foreign-born arrivals to the state, 63,484 were listed as “[b]orn in Latin America (South America, Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean).” Within this same ten-year span, the number of “non-citizens” as reported by MPI rose from 32,523 to 105,819 representing 66.6% of arrivals. For purposes of its reporting MPI’s definition of “U.S. born” excludes illegal aliens as does its definition of “foreign-born” which: refers to people residing in the United States at the time of the population survey who were not U.S. citizens at birth. The foreign-born population includes naturalized U.S. citizens,…

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Africa-Based Cybercrime Conspiracy Busted For Stealing $15 Million From Memphis Businesses

Chris Alto
hacker

Eight cyber-criminals have been arrested in an Africa-based “cybercrime and business email compromise (BEC) conspiracy” for stealing $15 million dollars related to real estate transactions from businesses and individuals in Memphis. Of the five cyber-criminals arrested in the U.S. three were citizens from Mexico, Ghana and Nigeria, and two were Americans. U.S. officials are seeking extradition for three others who have been arrested in Ghana. It is not known at this time whether the three foreign nationals were living in the U.S. legally. Benard Okorhi, a Nigerian national who arrived in Canada in February 2018, claiming refugee status, is also in extradition proceedings for his alleged role in the cyber-conspiracy. Four others believed to be part of the fraud ring, including Okorhi’s brother, remain at large. Working with international law enforcement, the Department of Justice launched “Operation Keyboard Warrior” in an effort to thwart “business email compromise (BEC) schemes.” By hacking computer servers and using phony email messages, the cyber-criminals diverted funds from businesses and individuals to Africa: Using sophisticated anonymization techniques, including the use of spoofed email addresses and Virtual Private Networks, the co-conspirators identified large financial transactions, initiated fraudulent email correspondence with relevant business parties, and then redirected closing funds through a network…

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Eat Allah’s Food and Follow Islamic Sharia Law at Nashville’s New ‘Halal Guys’ Restaurant

Chris Alto
Halal Guys

Following Islamic sharia law is now as easy as ordering a beef gyro at the new Halal Guys restaurant located in suburban Nashville. Started as a New York City hot dog pushcart Halal Guys has grown into a franchise business with locations nationally and internationally. The chain was founded by Mohammed Abouelenein, Abdelbaset Elsayed and Ahmed Elsaka who all immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt. The eatery claims it’s “American Halal” menu using meat that is slaughtered following strict Islamic law, is somehow unique. The Halal Guys also claim that the meat they serve comes from humanely treated livestock and suggest that eating meat slaughtered according to Islamic law amounts to an “ethical” choice. Islamic sharia law prescribes specific steps that must be followed for meat to be considered “halal,” or lawful for Muslims to consume. The rules are detailed in the English language version of Islamic sharia law, The Reliance of the Traveller, A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law. This compilation has been authenticated by The Fiqh Council of North America which issues religious rulings to guide Muslims in North America, and  Al-Ahzar University in Cairo, the preeminent teaching center of sharia law. Halal certifiers whose foods are used by the Halal…

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Immigrant Voting Base Was Top Priority For Karl Dean When He Was Mayor of Nashville

Chris Alto
Karl Dean

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean placed a high priority on meeting the needs of “new Americans” during his two terms as mayor of Nashville. Speaking forcefully against an English-first proposal to launching programs like “MyCity Academy” and “Pathway for New Americans,” Dean looked for ways to politically capture the support of the immigrant constituency and solidify Nashville’s blue vote. In 2009, Nashville Councilman Eric Crafton proposed an amendment to Nashville’s charter which would have declared English to be the official language of Nashville and Davidson County and which would have limited the use of languages other than English in conducting the city’s business: English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions which bind or commit the government shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, Boards, and Commissions of the Metropolitan Government shall be conducted in English. The Metro Council may make specific exceptions to protect public health and safety. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or…

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SEIU Local Members Promote Minnesota Muslim ‘Super Eid 2018’ Sacrifice Festival

Chris Alto

Muslims in Minnesota are celebrating their version of when Abraham was called by his god to sacrifice his only son Issac. Muslims call their holiday Eid Al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice. This year, however, they are calling it ‘Super Eid 2018’ in reference to holding the gathering at the Vikings Stadium where the Super Bowl was held this year and for bringing more area mosques together to hold one celebration. One promotional video for the event featuring Imams from the different mosques is described by one Imam as the “coming together and showing the unity and the power of our community.” A corporation referred to only as “Super Eid Inc.,” was set up to sponsor the event and although the site indicates that businesses and individual sponsors have contributed to the event, they also remain unidentified. And rather than a simple retelling of the sacrifice commanded by Allah, Muslims re-enact an actual sacrifice as required in the Quran, using live animals, usually a cow, sheep or goat. The Quran also requires celebrants to either participate in or to witness the slaughtering. A group of local residents raised concerns about possible animal slaughter inside the taxpayer supported stadium. It was later publicized…

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Bredesen’s Bipartisan Policy Council Pushes Discredited Leftist Narrative That ‘Refugees Most Vetted Travelers to U.S.’

Chris Alto
Phil Bredesen

  After serving his last term as governor of Tennessee, Bredesen dabbled in “partisan politicking” and working to help other Democrats get elected: As a loyal Democrat, Bredesen this year declared his support for President Obama’s re-election, endorsed the party’s 4th Congressional District nominee, Eric Stewart, and did “robo-calls” supporting a handful of legislative candidates such as former Rep. Eddie Yokley, D-Greeneville, who lost this week to Republican David Hawk. Bredesen also chose to serve on the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Governors Council. The mission statement of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), a think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C., suggests that bipartisan analysis and consensus-based decision-making results in obviating any political bias from the BPC’s policy proposals. On the issue of the United State’s refugee resettlement program, however, BPC analysts have repeatedly pushed the left’s narrative that “[r]efugees seeking admission to the United States undergo the most stringent security screening process for anyone entering the country.” Three refugees living in the U.S. arrested last week for falsifying information in their immigration applications make claims about stringent refugee vetting less credible even though federal agencies have been aware of vetting obstacles for years. As far back as 2008, the State Department discovered through random DNA testing…

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Gov. Phil Bredesen Cut Elderly, Sick and Disabled From TennCare While Enrolling Refugees

Chris Alto
Phil Bredesen

Phil Bredesen, the health insurance executive turned governor, had an antidote to contain the spiraling costs of the state’s Medicaid program – disenroll elderly, sick and disabled Tennesseans from TennCare. According to Gordon Bonnyman, co-founder of the Tennessee Justice Center, two years into Bredesen’s first term as governor, “[a]pproximately 200,000 of [TennCare’s] costliest patients lost their coverage over a four-month period in late 2005.”  Bonnyman characterized this group as the “sickest subgroup of the TennCare population.” The TNReport calculated that by the time Bredesen left office in 2011, approximately 350,000 Tennesseans were cut from TennCare which included an estimated 100,000 people with disabilities. At the same time that Tennesseans were losing their TennCare coverage, refugees being resettled in the state were being assisted by refugee resettlement contractors to enroll into TennCare. A spokesman for State Senator Bill Ketron’s office confirmed to The Tennessee Star that Holly Johnson, director of Catholic Charities’ Tennessee (CCTN) Office for Refugees (TOR) provided data requested by the Senator which included the number of arriving refugees being enrolled into TennCare. Senator Ketron’s office shared that data with The Star. Bredesen’s action several years earlier of withdrawing Tennessee from administering the federal refugee program created the opportunity for…

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Gov. Phil Bredesen Increased Refugee Resettlement in Tennessee by Thousands, Bringing Big Money to ‘Non-Profits’ Catholic Charities and World Relief

Chris Alto
Phil Bredesen

When he was governor of Tennessee from 2003 to 2011, Phil Bredesen set the state up to receive a dramatically higher number of refugees – an increase well into the thousands – bringing with it significant financial benefit to federal refugee contractors like Catholic Charities of Tennessee and World Relief. Early into Bredesen’s second term as governor, he withdrew Tennessee from the federal refugee resettlement program writing to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) that “refugee-specific service providers” could better meet the needs of arriving refugees. By taking this step, Bredesen created the opportunity for the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to hand over running of the state’s program to Catholic Charities of Tennessee (CCTN) but without any accountability to the state legislature or the state budget. The first full year during which CCTN administered the program in Tennessee, refugees arriving to the state increased from 847 to 1,492, despite a decline in refugee arrivals on a national level. By 2010, with the new designation from the U.S. ORR and more federal funding, CCTN expanded its refugee operations and established its Tennessee Office for Refugees (TOR). This department was set-up to coordinate all refugee resettlement agencies operating in the state. CCTN’s…

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As Mayor of Nashville, Karl Dean Made LGBT a Specially Protected Class Under Metro Law

Chris Alto
Karl Dean

In 2009, when Karl Dean was Nashville’s mayor he signed into law an ordinance making “sexual orientations” and “gender identity” protected classes in Nashville’s non-discrimination employment policy. Two years later, Dean tried to require vendors wanting to do business with the Metro government to include the same LBGT protections in their employment policies. Megan Barry was the Metro Council member that sponsored the 2009 ordinance which did not define the terms “sexual orientations” or “gender identity” which are generally understood to refer to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. The ordinance passed by the Metro Council and signed into law by Dean continues to apply to all Metro employees including public school teachers. Two years later, the Metro Council passed and Karl Dean signed the Contract Accountability Non-Discrimination Ordinance (CANDO) requiring any vendor seeking to do business with the Nashville government to also include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their employment non-discrimination policies. The Tennessee General Assembly responded by passing the Equal Access to Intrastate Commerce Act which stopped Dean’s CANDO law. The legislature’s action stopped the over-regulating of businesses resulting from Dean’s CANDO law, but it has not slowed the LGBT agenda from advancing in Tennessee. For example, despite efforts in…

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State Rep. Tim Wirgau Voted to Give In-State Tuition to Illegal Alien Students But Is Not Fessing Up to It With Voters

Chris Alto
Tim Wirgau

Posted on Rep. Tim Wirgau’s campaign website under the heading “Straight Talk with Tim” is this statement about his 2015 “yes” vote to award illegal alien students residing in Tennessee the in-state tuition benefit: I am opposed to illegal immigration. My consistent voting record as your State Representative proves it. I have voted against sanctuary cities in Tennessee and illegal immigration. My opponent claims I voted to give to illegals with HB675. The record shows I voted against HB675. “Wirgau requested to be recorded as voting No. It was only when the Senate version was presented on the House floor with Amendment 488 which states, “A student may be classified as a Tennessee resident and be charged in-state tuition if the student: (1) Is lawfully present in the United States;…” I felt it necessary not to deny lawfully present children the opportunity for skilled training if they can afford to pay their way. No HOPE scholarship. NO Tennessee Promise. And That’s a Fact. Wirgau’s post shows that he voted against the original language of the bill presumably because he understood that the bill was intended to give illegal alien students in Tennessee the in-state tuition benefit. But, he states, he decided…

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OFF THE RECORD: Harwell ‘High’ on Herself …

Chris Alto
Beth Harwell

Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) is “high” on herself as the only gubernatorial candidate who wants to legalize medical marijuana which she usually refers to as “cannabis” as a way to make non-smokers believe she isn’t really talking about weed – known by some as mary jane, pot, ganja reefer, grass, dona juanita. She and her supporters may not be rolling out the paper for recreational use just yet, but NORML, the national group which supports “responsible marijuana use” for personal and medical reasons has a mission of changing laws across the country so you can take your pick of how you want to practice being a “responsible marijuana” user: NORML supports the right of adults to use marijuana responsibly, whether for medical or personal purposes. All penalties, both civil and criminal, should be eliminated for responsible use. Further, to eliminate the crime, corruption and violence associated with any “black market,” a legally regulated market should be established where consumers could buy marijuana in a safe and secure environment. Well, pot smokers in Oregon are so responsible that they’ve pretty much decimated the medical cannabis market after the state legalized recreational use. A very interesting tidbit has…

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Bill Lee Agrees With Gov. Haslam That Transgender Bathroom Issue Does Not Need Leadership From the State

Chris Alto
Bill Lee

Governor Haslam and Bill Lee propose the same approach to the use of school bathrooms and locker rooms by students whose choice of gender and anatomy may not match. Both Haslam and Lee have said that this issue does not require leadership from the state but instead, should be problem-solved at the local level. Shortly after a May 2016, “dear colleague” letter was issued by the Obama Department of Education advising school districts to protect access by students to bathrooms and locker rooms “consistent with their gender identity” or risk violating federal law and jeopardizing federal funds, Haslam issued the following statement: The White House itself has said what they issued last week is not an enforcement action and does not make any additional requirements under the law. Congress has the authority to write the law, not the executive branch, and we disagree with the heavy-handed approach the Obama administration is taking. Decisions on sensitive issues such as these should continue to be made at the local level based on the unique needs of students, families, schools and districts while working closely with the local school board counsel, understanding that this is an emerging area of law that will ultimately…

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OFF THE RECORD: In Case You Missed This From the GOP Primaries . . .

Chris Alto
Barry Doss, Randy Boyd, Clay Doggett, Beth Harwell

What do you get when horse-race gambling meets legal weed? Beth Harwell for governor! There was an “interesting” welcome line-up for Harwell’s June meet and greet in Jefferson City putting Harwell and company only about 20 miles northeast of GOP challenger mega-millionaire Randy Boyd’s home of Knoxville. Four state legislators from the counties surrounding Jefferson City showed up to show their support for Harwell’s campaign – House members Dale Carr and Andrew Farmer from Sevier County, Jeremy Faison from Cocke County and Sen. Frank Nicely who represents Jefferson and Grainger Counties. Carr and Farmer are supporters of in-state tuition for illegal alien students and voted to pass that bill in 2015 – except it failed by a single vote in the House. When that bill came up, Beth walked out of the House chamber so she wouldn’t have to vote on it and could wait to take a position once she knew whether her colleagues had managed to give a state benefit to illegal aliens. Faison owes his rise in committee leadership to Beth although his “skunks for sale” bill and let’s-make-marijuana-legal bill-because-God-gave-us-this-plant-for-a-reason, really should be enough to distinguish him from his peers all on his own. And then there’s Frank Nicely…

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SEIU Endorses La Raza Affiliate Conexion Americas’ Education Policy Director For Nashville School Board

Chris Alto
Gini Pupo-Walker

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 205 has endorsed Gini Pupo-Walker for the Metro Nashville School Board: ‘Gini has extensive experience in the school system and outside of it and will bring great leadership and professionalism to the board,’ said SEIU member Lilldeus Russell, a paraprofessional in MNPS. ‘She has consistently been an advocate for equity in our schools and we need more voices like that on the board.’ Pupo-Walker serves as the Education Policy Director for Nashville-based Conexion Americas, an affiliate of UnidosUS (formerly known as the National Council of La Raza). Conexion’s founder and co-director, Renata Soto, has had a long-standing leadership role with UnidosUS serving first as vice-chair of the board in 2012, until she was elected as chairman in 2015 when the organization was still named La Raza. She remains listed as Chairman for the 2017-2018 slate. In 2016, Conexion Americas launched the Tennessee Educational Equity Coalition (TEEC) which Pupo-Walker leads, tying GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd even closer to Soto and her Nashville organization. Boyd’s own education non-profit Complete Tennessee is listed as a State Partner on the TEEC website and Conexion’s Renata Soto serves on the Complete Tennessee Board. Mauricio Calvo, executive director of Latino Memphis serves on Boyd’s Complete Tennessee…

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State Governments Move to ‘Off-Load’ Public Responsibilities to Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

Chris Alto

State governments partnering with faith-based and community organizations to maximize the use of resources is not a new concept. In some states, public-private partnerships have been expanded across most government departments, a model GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee proposes to follow for Tennessee. With President Trump’s intention to trim federal spending, a new question has been raised with regard to the role of faith-based and community organizations helping to augment the work of state government agencies and one that may be especially relevant for Tennessee. According to a 2017 article in Governing Magazine, data related to major spending areas put 38% of Tennessee’s general revenue reliant on federal aid in the domains of public welfare spending (59.7% federal dollars), education (14.6% federal dollars), and 53% reliant on federal dollars for roads. WalletHub ranked Tennessee overall as the 13th state most reliant on federal aid but whose state government funding was 8th overall most dependent on federal dollars. If Tennessee were to receive fewer federal dollars, would the state be forced to cut certain services? Would faith-based and community organizations be financially prepared to step into the service gap? There has been long-standing opposition to faith-based groups relying on government funding. Responding to President Bush’s push…

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Cost for English Language Learner Services in Tennessee Public Schools Increases Over 100 Percent Since FY 2016

Chris Alto
ESL student

The cost to teach English to non-English speaking students in Tennessee public schools has increased over 100 percent since FY 2016. In FY 2016, the total cost for English Language Learner (ELL) services was $94,110,440. Seventy percent was funded through the state’s Basic Education Program (BEP) in the amount of $65,877,308, matched by a “required” local share of approximately 30 percent, totaling $28,233,132. In FY 2018, funding for ELL services for the upcoming school year will cost state and local taxpayers $198,150,357. The state will fund $138,705,250, a 110 percent increase from FY 2016. The required local match will increase 111 percent from FY 2016 at a cost of $59,705,107. “There are 2,872 EL teaching positions and 287 translator positions that will be funded for this [FY 2018] school year, which are funded at a ratio of 1 teacher per 20 EL students and 1 translator per 200 EL students,” according to information forwarded to The Tennessee Star by the state’s Department of Education Deputy Director of Communications. In FY 2016 the BEP funded 1,570 teaching positions and 153 translator positions, highlighting the sharp increase just two years later. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, Title VI of the…

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OFF THE RECORD: GOP 6th Congressional District John Rose – Will Little Brother Track Big Sister’s Farm Bureau Agenda?

Chris Alto
John Rose, Rhodena Rose

Multi-millionaire John Rose is running in the GOP primary for Diane Black’s seat to represent the 6th Congressional District. He will face off with proven ultra-conservative state Rep. Judd Matheny, self-described conservative retired judge Bob Corlew, and the whoever-heard-of-them candidates Christopher Monday and “U-turn” LaVern Vivio. Roses’s big sister is Rhedona Rose, head of the Tennessee Farm Bureau (TFB). TFB’s parent is the American Farm Bureau Federation, a non-profit organization with affiliate farm bureaus in all 50 states, including Tennessee. The TFB is reputed to be the largest farm bureau in the country. Little brother John Rose, former Commissioner of Agriculture during governor Don Sundquist’s administration, is running on a “I’m a non-career politician” type platform. Oh yeah, right, you were never elected to any political position, you were just a political appointee, chaired the Tennessee State Fair Association and held a seat on the boards of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission. And then there’s big sister’s head honcho position with the Tennessee Farm Bureau. No politicking there – sure. Big sister Rhedona Rose is the first woman head of the statewide TFB. She used to be the executive…

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GOP Candidate Brent Moody Supports Controversial Medical Marijuana Proposal

Chris Alto
Brent Moody

Republican candidate for Tennessee House of Representatives District 56 Brent Moody, a Nashville dermatologist looking to replace Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) as the district’s representative, tweeted a trifecta of support for medical marijuana and the two state legislators who have tried to legalize it in Tennessee: I am in favor of medical marijuana and support ⁦@DickersonforS20⁩ and ⁦@JeremyFaison4TN⁩ in their efforts to bring this therapy to TN. I was told by a prominent oncologist ‘We need this for our cancer patients.’ That is a compelling argument. Dickerson has failed several times to pass some version of a medical marijuana bill, but has vowed to continue trying. After withdrawing this year’s bill because it became “so watered down,” State Senator Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville) announced a new approach and a new House sponsor for the 2019 session. This time he is joined by conservative House member Rep. Bryan Terry (R-Murfreesboro), who like Dickerson, is a practicing physician. Terry served as Chairman of the House Health Subcommittee during the most recent legislative session and was a co-sponsor of Dickerson’s most recently failed Medical Cannabis Only Act. Dickerson and Terry’s new bill is named the Tennessee Responsible Use of Medicinal Plants Act…

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Ireland’s Government Confirms: Randy Boyd’s Irish Tax Records Cited in Tennessean Article Not Available to Media or Public

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

The government of Ireland has confirmed to The Tennessee Star that the Irish tax records cited in a recent Tennessean article about the Irish subsidiary of GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd’s company are private, and not available to the public or the media through legal means. Ms. Leann O’Kelly, Press & Media Manager for Ireland’s Revenue Commissioners, the body in the Irish government that addresses tax matters has confirmed that tax records of “any individual, company or entity,” are not available to the public or the media and that “Revenue is legally precluded from providing public comment on the tax affairs of individuals or entities.” The Tennessean newspaper reported earlier in the month that the Irish subsidiary (PetSafe Ireland) of Radio Systems Corporation, the company founded and majority controlled by Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, is a tax haven that enables Boyd’s Knoxville-based company to significantly diminish its U.S. tax obligations. However, The Tennessean failed to publish, produce, or explain the legal provenance of the alleged unverified tax documents upon which its story relies, despite a direct request from The Star. The claim made by The Tennessean, therefore, in the headline of the article,  “How Randy Boyd’s company avoided millions in taxes,” is unproven and…

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Nashville Organizations and Metro Government Lawyers Defend Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto

Nashville Community Defense/Defensa Comunitaria Nashville uses the tagline “here to stay.” The group is led by Cathy Carrillo who organizes and leads protests against deporting criminal illegal aliens while Metro’s lawyers in the Public Defender’s office provide legal services for “non-citizen defendants.” According to Elizabeth Lopez, a graduate of Vanderbilt University and a spokesman for Nashville-based Workers Dignity which is funded by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Workers Dignity helped spin-off Carillo’s group. Last year Lopez and Carrillo spoke as representatives of Workers Dignity at the TN Alliance for Progress conference on a panel titled “Resisting Deportation: Immigration Policy and Organizing.” Workers Dignity organized in 2010, to advocate for the workplace rights of legal immigrants and illegal aliens. Protesting “wage theft” from low wage immigrant hotel cleaners, the group has expanded the campaign to include construction workers and are bootstrapping their menu of demands to the explosive growth currently being experienced in Nashville. Listed among the TN Immigrant & Refugee Right’s (TIRRC) coalition members, Workers Dignity hired a full-time organizer to head up a Neighborhood Defense Committee, the project launched by the TIRRC to shield criminal and non-criminal illegal aliens and obstruct enforcement of immigration law by U.S. authorities. A 2017 meeting notice for Carrillo’s Nashville Community Defense group explained…

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‘La Raza’ Randy Boyd’s Beneficiary, Conexion Americas, Supports ‘NoMuslimBanEver’ and ‘NoBanNoWall’

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

The same day the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed President Trump’s executive authority to restrict entry into the U.S. from designated countries, “La Raza Randy” Boyd’s collaborator Renata Soto, founder and director of Conexion Americas spoke to a group organized by Tennessee’s American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC), rallying against the court’s decision and in support of the “NoMuslimBanEver”-“NoBanNoWall” campaign: …while we are at a really low point and a sad, sad day for this country’s history I know that we are more powerful than one directive from the courts. And if each of us help one person register to vote for all of us who have migrated from other countries and took the step to become a U.S. citizen, if we find one or two people who are already registered  or are actually eligible to become U.S. citizens and we encourage them to take that step and we encourage them to make sure that they claim their place in this country not only because it feels good, but also because we need to expand and amplify our voice and we do that through political power and through votes… I know with the young and beautiful people and diverse voices gathered here…

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OFF THE RECORD: Update on Who Else Wasn’t Paying Attention to What Steve Dickerson, ‘The Different Kind of Republican,’ Was Doing in the State Senate

Chris Alto
Steve Dickerson

So GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee wasn’t the only GOP gubernatorial candidate throwing his money at “the different kind of Republican,” State Senator Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), to help him get elected again in 2016. Lee only gave Dickerson $1,000 in 2016, which, as it turns out, was significantly less than either of his two main rivals for the GOP nomination for governor, Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06), and Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd gave the liberal Republican state senator from Nashville. Back before anyone really knew just what kind of “different” Republican Steve Dickerson would be – that is in 2012 before he was elected to his first term in the Tennessee State Senate, Diane and David Black gave him a total of $5,990 – an odd amount to be sure.  But it looks like the bloom was off the rose a bit, so to speak, since after his first term mis-steps, they gave him a piddling $3,000 in 2016–three times the amount Bill Lee gave him that year. But picking up after the slacker donors Lee and Black in 2016, and probably gearing up for his own campaign, Randy Boyd, along with his wife Jenny Boyd, together gave Dickerson a total of $6,000,…

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OFF THE RECORD: Bill Lee Donated to Lowest Conservative-Rated Republican in State Legislature

Chris Alto
Bill Lee

  Can you guess who it is? Admittedly it’s tough because pretty much any Republican in Tennessee running for the state legislature claims they’re a conservative and there are plenty who forgot what they told voters once they’re elected. Even Bill Haslam claimed he was a conservative when he was campaigning. And then there are all those non-stop radio and print ads which Randy Boyd the self-described political moderate, is now buying to try and fool voters that he didn’t really mean it when he said it given that it was a terribly inconvenient truth for trying to become governor in Tennessee. But at least he’s making good on his promise to “spend whatever it takes” to buy win votes, and now with all that Irish green tax savings…. If you still can’t guess which State Senator got $1,000 in 2016 from Bill Lee, here are the clues: in 2015, a year before Bill Lee decided to send his check, this Tennessee State Senator voted in the Senate Education Committee to give in-state tuition to illegal alien students and then voted again on the Senate floor to help pass that bill two months after this State Senator was the ONLY Republican…

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Three GOP Gubernatorial Candidates Say Uphold the Constitution, But Tennessee Attorney General Disagrees and Randy Boyd Is Silent

Chris Alto
Bill Lee, Diane Black, Herbert Slatery

This past May, seven states, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, sued the federal government to stop Obama’s unconstitutional DACA administrative amnesty program once and for all. To date, Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert Slatery has not joined the lawsuit. In fact, it appears that Slatery has done an about face choosing instead to support amnesty and a path to citizenship for DREAMER illegal aliens. The Tennessee Star asked each GOP gubernatorial candidate whether as governor would they support having Tennessee join the other states suing to challenge “whether the 2012 executive action unilaterally creating DACA was itself lawful” as stated in the lawsuit? Speaker Harwell responded that she would support the lawsuit. Bill Lee’s campaign spokesman responded: As Mr. Lee stated in the June 20 debate regarding his support of deploying national guard troops to border ‘we cannot be a nation without borders. We are a part of this nation and we should commit our resources to defending the border.’ The same goes for legal resources. Mr. Lee would join this lawsuit to defend our constitution and enforce the rule of law. Diane Black’s campaign spokesman stated affirmatively that Diane “absolutely would join the lawsuit” and that as Diane has…

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Bill Lee’s Proposed Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives Will Ask Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim Groups ‘To Help Solve State’s Problems’

Chris Alto
Bill Lee

In March, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee, who has made his Christian faith a central theme of his campaign, announced that he will create an Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives if he is elected governor. None of his rivals for the Republican nomination have set forward a similar proposal. President George W. Bush first introduced the notion of integrating “faith-based” initiatives with governmental operations after he was elected in 2000. As those initiatives have evolved over subsequent presidential administrations, and been deployed to various degrees in several state and local governments, a sticky wicket of Constitutional issues and unintended consequences has emerged. The first is that once such a program is established, all religious groups–Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, and others–must be given the same opportunity to participate. The second, and perhaps most troubling, arises when government funding is provided to these faith-based groups to conduct governmental actions and that activity creates the potential for the faith group to proselytize while conducting the government-sanctioned activity. Lee’s campaign website offers this description of his proposed Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: The Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will be housed within the Office of the Governor. It will serve as…

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Phil Bredesen Afraid to Admit He’d Side With Schumer to Delay Vote on SCOTUS Nominee Until After Midterm Elections?

Chris Alto
Phil Bredesen, Chuck Schumer

On the heels of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announcing his retirement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), called for delaying the Senate vote on the President’s nominee until after the November mid-term elections. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), who is running to succeed Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), issued a statement shortly after Kennedy made his plans known and indicated her intent to support President Trump’s nominee. The Tennessee Star asked Democrat Phil Bredesen who is also running to succeed Corker, a simple question – “Do you agree with Chuck Schumer that no vote should be held on the SCOTUS nominee until after midterms?” Whether out of loyalty to Schumer who personally recruited Bredesen to run for the Senate, or because he is afraid to alienate potential votes, Bredesen had no response. Bredesen has gone out of his way to avoid giving direct answers to some of the more defining issues in the November elections including whether he would vote for a Constitutional originalist like Neil Gorsuch and whether he agrees with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision upholding President Trump’s travel ban.          

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State Senate Candidate Wade Munday Looking For Lawyers to Help Illegal Aliens Come and Stay in Tennessee

Chris Alto
Wade Munday

With the continuing crush at the border of illegal aliens traveling with children to whom they may or may not be related and children being sent with smugglers to cross the border alone, liberals and open border groups have found a new reason to oppose President Trump’s “zero tolerance” for illegal immigration. In Nashville, Wade Munday, Executive Director of the open borders organization TN Justice For Our Neighbors (TN-JFON) is looking for lawyers to volunteer and help illegal aliens come and stay in Tennessee. In addition to his $61,000+ job at TN-JFON, Munday is the Democrat candidate running against incumbent conservative Republican Kerry Roberts for the state Senate District 25 seat. TN-JFON provides free and low-cost legal services to legal immigrants like refugees as well as to asylum seekers and “unaccompanied alien children” (UAC) who have entered the country illegally. TN-JFON finds legal help by providing continuing legal education which is required for Tennessee lawyers, partnering with area law school legal clinics and using area media to carry their appeal. Not surprisingly, TN-JFON supports Obama’s unconstitutional DACA administrative amnesty program and “safe arrivals” for “unaccompanied minors,” their term in lieu of the statutorily correct unaccompanied alien children. Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC), by law are defined as…

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Philadelphia Becoming Model City in Accommodating Islamists & Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto
Philadelphia

Earlier this month thousands viewed Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s “happy dance” over solidifying the city’s status as a sanctuary protecting criminal illegal aliens. Two years ago, Kenney took the lead to help the Philly Eid Coalition achieve its goal of adding two Muslim holidays to the school district calendar relying on “cultural inclusion” to justify his support even though his rationale collided with the First Amendment’s establishment of religion clause:  Our city was built on the idea that … the city welcomes all to worship and practice the faiths of our culture or our choosing[.] … We have to take into account how society sometimes ostracizes and eliminates people from the mainstream[.] At the same time Kenney announced the creation of the Mayor’s Task Force on Cultural Inclusion: The task force will study and produce recommendations regarding the expansion of religious observance days, the education of city management and employees to the religious sensitivities of their coworkers, how the courts and judicial system can better acknowledge religious days, and ways best disseminate information on religious holidays to the public including local businesses and employers. Joining the Mayor and Philly School Superintendent when the Muslim holidays school calendar change was made were representatives…

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Illegal Aliens Get In-State Tuition in Five States That Also Allow Them to Practice Law

Chris Alto
Sergio Garcia

California, New York, Florida, New Jersey and Connecticut all provide the in-state tuition benefit for illegal aliens in their states and all permit illegal aliens who graduate from law school, to apply for and obtain a license to practice law. Last week Connecticut became the fifth state to change its rules and license eligible illegal aliens to practice law. Prior to the rule change, Connecticut required lawyers to either be a U.S. citizen or “an alien lawfully residing in the United States.” The rule now includes anyone “authorized to work lawfully in the United States.” The rule change was proposed by Denia Perez, a grantee of Obama’s unconstitutional DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) administrative amnesty program. Illegal aliens trying to get a license to practice could potentially have an easy path in Tennessee, especially as explained below, if proponents of the in-state tuition bill are successful during the next legislative session. State Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) and State Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) who last session sponsored the bill for its fourth run, are likely to try again in 2019. Unlike Connecticut and California before they changed their rules, Tennessee’s rules about who is eligible to be granted a law…

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Gubernatorial Candidate Bill Lee Wants Term Limits For State Legislators

Chris Alto
Bill Lee

Gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee a relative newcomer and self-described “outsider” to Tennessee state politics, is trying to use this status to distinguish himself from the other candidates: There are four people running for the Republican primary in this race. The others are politicians. They all either worked for the government or been long involved in politics. Threading this theme through his campaign, Lee wants to reform state government by imposing terms limits on state legislators although it’s not clear whether he wants to impose consecutive or lifetime term limits. Opponents of term limits consider the governor term-limited in Article III, Section 4 of the Tennessee Constitution which limits the Governor to serving two consecutive four year terms. Article II, Section 3 of the state’s Constitution limits House members to two year terms and Senators to four year terms. While state legislators are not limited to either consecutive or lifetime terms, they are forced, at regular intervals to re-run for their office if they want to continue to serve. Opponents of term limits consider the voting booth to be the most definitive statement on the matter. Six states have repealed their term limit restrictions – Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon, Utah, Washington and…

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State of Tennessee Left to Protect Itself From Illegal Immigration As Corker & Alexander Say Laws Should Not Be Enforced

Chris Alto
Bill Haslam, Bob Corker, Lamar Alexander

Tennessee’s two U.S. Senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker each released a statement opposing the administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy including separating children traveling with adult illegal border crossers. The law requiring the separation of children from the adults illegally crossing the border and who are being detained, was signed by President George W. Bush in 2008. Yesterday, President Trump signed an Executive Order allowing illegal alien adults and any children they bring across the border, to stay together in detention pending a determination of their illegal border crossing. While Corker limited his remarks to how adults traveling with children should be dealt with when apprehended at the border, Alexander’s statement goes much further, suggesting that legislation to fix the current crisis should include some type of amnesty for illegal aliens already present in the U.S.: Illegal immigration is against the law but new enforcement policies have resulted in hundreds of children being separated from their parents. The administration should end that new policy immediately while Congress works with the president on a bipartisan immigration solution that secures the border, provides a status for those already here and prevents a humanitarian crisis at the border. Both Alexander and Corker voted to…

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Ireland ‘Approved Grant Assistance’ to Randy Boyd’s Radio Systems Corporation

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

When Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd’s Knoxville based company, Radio Systems Corporation, announced in 2012 that it would be locating its European headquarters in Dundalk, Ireland, press reports at the time indicated that the government of Ireland would be providing financial incentives to the company as part of the deal. In a September 25, 2012 press release, Boyd’s company acknowledged and expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the government of Ireland: Expanding global pet product expert and manufacturer Radio Systems Corporation, has today announced the opening of a new European head office in Dundalk, Ireland following comprehensive market research and evaluation. The opening opening of the new head office will result in the creation of 56 new jobs over the next three years. The investment is supported by the Irish Government with the aid of IDA Ireland. From January 1, 2013 Radio Systems PetSafe Europe Ltd will be fully operational and will base its European multilingual customer services centre, finance, order management, supply chain and human resources departments in Dundalk. Of the 56 jobs being created over the next three years 25 will be hired by the end of December. “As our business continues to grow internationally, Radio Systems Corporation plans to…

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Off the Record: Switch-Hitter Boyd Donors Now Raising Money For Liberal Democrat Phil Bredesen

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd, Phil Bredesen

“Switch-hitters” are the baseball players who bat both right-handed and left-handed. Political switch-hitters who want liberal representation in the U.S. Senate and a moderate in the governor’s office are rooting for the Boyd-Bredesen team – and they are willing to put their big bucks behind these guys and bring along their moneyed friends. (Anyone willing to bet whether we see Jim Haslam and others with the last name Haslam show up on a Bredesen campaign finance disclosure report?) Boyd’s big dollar donors Sharon Pryse, Raja and Michelle Jubran, and Jim Clayton are co-hosting a fundraiser for Phil Bredesen just like the super-wealthy “Republican” donor Conway-Welch in Nashville whose fundraiser for Bredesen was preceded by the one in Nashville headlined by former Vice-President Joe Biden. Boyd’s Knoxville Cabal needs him to go to his warehouse and get them those special flea collars. And there is plenty of money in them thar hills – Sharon Pryse, Raja Jubran and his wife coughed up $8,000 dineros each to hand over to La Raza Randy. Jim Clayton was only able to come up with a measly $5,000. Pryse, Raja Jubran, and Clayton are members of Boyd’s business coalition but it’s even cozier than that.  Boyd served…

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Advocates in Pennsylvania Want More Taxpayer Money to Educate Illegal Immigrant & Refugee Students

Chris Alto
Education Law Center sues Phila

Philadelphia-based Education Law Center told the city’s School Reform Commission that immigrant students and English Language Learner students (EL), need expanded programming, “improved cultural competency” for teachers, more support for the parents of these students and greater access to vocational training programs.  According to the Law Center, test results show that this group of students are failing to progress in their education: Test results indicate that immigrant students and ELs are among the most educationally at-risk of all student groups. For instance, 44 percent of EL students scored below basic in 2015-16 in standardized math and reading tests, while only 19 percent of non-EL students were in that category. The Law Center advocates statewide “fighting for fair school funding” and “equal access” to education services and programs. In 2016, the ELC with help from the ACLU of Pennsylvania and lawyers from a high-priced private law firm, sued the Lancaster School District on behalf of six high school- age refugee students, objecting to their placement at the privately run Phoenix School. Officials with the school district cited Phoenix School’s “special acceleration program”as the reason the refugee students were placed there instead of the district’s regular high school: A special ‘acceleration program’ at…

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Off the Record: Randy Boyd’s Globalist Jobs Philosophy: Export Manufacturing – Import Refugees and Cheap Labor

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

One of Randy Boyd’s latest radio ads has him recounting all the lessons he learned about hard work when he started working at a very young age in his father’s factory for $1.00 per hour and then how he later paid his way through college working tirelessly at an injection molding machine. The details of him operating the heavy factory machinery while studying his college textbooks and completing homework was recounted in the same article in which Boyd declared himself to be a political MODERATE. Child labor laws? OSHA? No matter, it made Randy Boyd the worker he is today and if it was good enough for him, it should be good enough for anyone working in a factory setting. You know, like the assembly-line workers in those Chinese factories where some of Boyd’s products are being manufactured. Wonder if he ever peeks under the covers there? One would hope so especially after the not-so-good exposure by the New York-based China Labor Watch just a few years ago about the “deplorable working conditions” in ten Chinese factories where Apple high tech products were being made. But Boyd the mega-millionaire knows that the bottom line comes first. Unlike his father’s Tennessee factory whose products were…

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GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Randy Boyd’s Company Chose China Instead of Tennessee as Location for Manufacturing

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

One aspect of his business career that GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd has not highlighted in his campaign commercials is this: Products that have helped make Boyd’s company Radio Systems Corporation highly profitable are manufactured in China. Boyd still runs the company as CEO. The company, “the world’s leading dog and cat products supplier” including such brands as PetSafe and Invisible Fence, began manufacturing its products in China in 1993, two years after he launched his business, claiming that it was “a move that improved our product quality, prices, and reliability.” Three years later his company reported $24 million in sales. According to the offering memorandum associated with the company’s planned 2001 initial public offering, an offering that was subsequently withdrawn, “the  Company currently outsources virtually all of its manufacturing and assembly activities.” For the year ended December 31, 1997, approximately 80% of the Company’s products, including its standard Radio Fence pet containment products, were manufactured or assembled in China by two manufacturers. Other of the Company’s products are manufactured in Israel and France, and certain of the components of the Company’s Radio Fence products are manufactured in Taiwan. The microchips used in the Company’s products are manufactured by a supplier in…

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Women and Girls in Eight Battleground States at Increased Risk For Female Genital Mutilation

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

The 2013 Population Reference Bureau (PRB) estimate that over 500,000 women and girls in the U.S. are at risk for female genital mutilation (FGM) has been confirmed by an updated analysis issued by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Eight “battleground states” where voters will determine control of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives in November, are ranked by the PRB within the top 20 states where women and girls face the highest risk of   FGM – Minnesota (3rd), Ohio (9th), Pennsylvania (11th), Michigan (15th), N.Carolina (16th), Colorado (17th), Arizona (19th), Nevada (20th). Three cities within the battleground states are ranked in the top 10 Metropolitan areas where women and girls face the greatest risk of FGM. Minneapolis, Minnesota is the metropolitan area with the largest Somali community in the country. Columbus, Ohio, the metropolitan area with the second largest Somali community in the country ranks number 7, followed by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which is ranked 8th and where an estimated 16,000 women and girls are at risk for FGM. Updating its U.S. FGM risk estimate from 1990 to 2012, the Center for Disease Control 2016 Public Health Report showed that “the total number of women and girls in the United States at…

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OFF THE RECORD: President Trump Singlehandedly Delivers the Most Eyebrow-Raising G7 Trade Summit Ever

Chris Alto
OFF THE RECORD

After years of mundanity surrounding the G7 world trade summit – the once-a-year snore-fest where the six, or seven, (or eight) leaders of the West come together as frenemies to see who can pick each others’ pockets most stealthily – we were treated to perhaps the most entertaining piece of political theater the world has ever seen. The excitement began when President Trump arrived. Last year, you’ll remember he made headlines over his ‘step aside‘ moment caught on camera. And you might also remember that – apart from the typical preening over ‘climate change’ initiatives like the Paris Accord (and the United States’ refusal to sign on) – the meeting came and went without much notice. Heck – even the protesters didn’t even bother to show up. The reason why is simple enough: this was President Trump’s first visit, and I suspect he wanted to do two things: (1) Observe; and (2) Give our trading partners a chance to do the right thing on their own. After all, that’s what friends do, right? Well, it’s a year later, and President Trump has been very vocal – some might even say notorious! – about his positions on trade. – America First –…

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Phil Bredesen and Tyson Foods Helped Shelbyville Become an Employment Magnet For Somali Refugees

Chris Alto
Phil Bredesen

From the inception of the federal Refugee Admissions Program in 1980 until 2003, the first year of Phil Bredesen’s first term as governor of Tennessee, only a handful of Somali refugees were resettled in Tennessee by the federal government. That all changed in 2003. Between 2003 and 2011, Bredesen’s last year as governor, 1,866 Somali refugees were resettled in Tennessee by federal resettlement contractors. During that same time period over 9,000 refugees of multiple ethnicities were brought to Tennessee by federal contractors. The numbers do not, however, account for secondary migrants who are first resettled in other states or other parts of Tennessee but then relocate to follow friends, relatives or jobs and join the growing ethnic enclaves in a different location. “[T]he simple action of offering hundreds of job openings at the local chicken processing plant” according to former Shelbyville Times-Gazette reporter Brian Mosely, explains in part, what drew Somali refugees to his hometown. Increasing the supply of Somalis and other refugee workers was facilitated by then governor Phil Bredesen’s treatment of Tennessee’s refugee resettlement program. In 2007, Mosely wrote a five-part, award-winning series about the arrival of Somalis to Shelbyville.  One of the stories connecting Somalis to the town’s Tyson Foods plant…

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