According to a report in The Daily Caller citing an old news item, Democrat Phil Bredesen “once supported using taxpayer money to abort babies with Down syndrome.”
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Carol M. Swain, Ph.D. has launched a new podcast, “Common Sense Conversations with Dr. Carol Swain.” Each episode features discussions with thought leaders from around the country about the issues facing our country and how we can use common sense to solve them.
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Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser has come out strong for Rep. Marsha Blackburn in her U.S. Senate race against liberal Democrat Phil Bredesen, writing, “as Marsha runs to represent Tennessee in the United States Senate, we are reminded of the critical importance of electing pro-life leaders who will never back down from doing the right thing. We have seen exactly what she will do in tough situations, and we know she’s the right woman for the job. Her opponent, Phil Bredesen, will not protect the right to life. While running for Congress, he said he supported federal funding for abortion if the baby had Down’s syndrome. In fact, as governor, he refused to sign legislation that would prohibit taxpayer funding of abortion. Fortunately, the Tennessee state legislature passed that bill into law without his signature, but in the Senate, there will be no such check.” There’s more available here in her whole-hearted endorsement of Blackburn. Tennesseans have a clear choice in November. They can elect a liberal, who supported Hillary Clinton and her extreme pro-abortion policies, or they can elect Marsha, who has a rock solid record of fighting for life. There is just one candidate who Tennesseans…
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The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) has updated information for Tennessee businesses to help owners and managers keep up with what Tennessee state law requires when it comes to the E-Verify system. As of Jan. 1, 2017 – due to an update to the Tennessee Lawful Employment Act (TLEA) passed in 2011 – all Tennessee employers with 50 or more employees must use the E-Verify system to verify that their workers are eligible for U.S. employment. Previously, employers had a choice of compliance options; now employers of this size must use E-Verify. If a staff member was hired on or after Jan. 1, 2017, E-Verify must be used for them. This applies to employees working in or outside the state of Tennessee, and if the employer fails to use E-Verify, they could receive a $500 civil penalty per day of noncompliance (or more for repeat offenses). Employers with between six and 49 employees are required to either use E-Verify for workers hired on or after Jan. 1, 2017, or request and retain I-9 documentation from each employee. I-9 documentation includes: Tennessee driver’s license or photo id license issued by the Tennessee Department of Safety Valid driver’s license or photo id…
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If people thought the recent NFL rule change meant to stop player protests during the National Anthem, they were wrong, according to a new report which focuses on Tennessee Titans star defensive end Jurrell Casey.
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Left-leaning Vanity Fair has a feature item up on the Tennessee U.S. Senate race featuring Marsha Blackbrun vs. Phil Bredesen. The item appears to confirm everything people have been saying about Bredesen, from his playing “duck and cover” on issues, to his simply not being willing to take a real stand on anything. Bredesen is making personal and political blandness the theme of his Senate campaign. He has come out against the president’s tariffs, but he has otherwise cannily refused to make the race a referendum on Trump. “Look, I’m not running against Donald Trump. I’m running for a Senate seat to represent the people of Tennessee,” he says in a campaign TV ad. In the wake of Robert Mueller’s indictment of 12 Russians for hacking into Clinton’s e-mails, Bredesen was asked if the president should cancel his meeting with Vladimir Putin. “I don’t think that the actions of those indictments rise to the level that somebody ought to interfere with the president’s right to meet with whom they choose and when they choose, and so on,” he said. When Democratic Party leaders quickly denounced Trump’s choice for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, Bredesen went defiantly anodyne: “I’ll be watching the…
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Fact-checkers at The Washington Post have awarded Democrat Phil Bredesen three Pinocchios for making the false claim that Tennessee’s meth problem was cut in half under his watch as governor
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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) raised more money from contributions during the 2nd quarter of 2018 than her Democrat opponent in the U.S. Senate race in Tennessee, former Gov. Bredesen. But Bredesen ended up with more deposits in his campaign account due to an additional $2 million loan he made to his own campaign.
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Nashville’s Metro Council meetings will see a major change beginning Tuesday July 16 thanks to a significant rule shift impacting public comments at the meeting. According to reports, “An open comment portion will be added near the beginning of the meeting to allow people to talk about issues even if they’re not on the council’s agenda.” Previously, it wasn’t as easy to address the council. The main restriction was that comments were only taken for items that were on the agenda and that were required, by law, to include a public hearing, such as land re-zonings and the annual budget discussion. The open comment period will now begin the council meetings held on the third Tuesdays of each month. There will be a two minute time limit for individuals who sign up to speak. The change is linked in large part to protests in council chambers after the fatal shooting of Jocques Clemmons by Nashville police Officer Joshua Lippert back in February of 2017. If what happened Tuesday night at the Metro Council has ever happened before, it was beyond the recent memory of anyone in the chamber. Calling for justice for Jocques Clemmons, the black man shot and killed…
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Outgoing Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) went off the rails over President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland today, saying, “I just felt like the President’s comments made us look as a nation more like a pushover. I was disappointed in that. When he had the opportunity to defend our intelligence agencies, who work for him, I was very disappointed and saddened with the equivalency he gave between them and what Putin was saying.” And his criticism, which the Left loves, didn’t stop there: “Sometimes the President cares more about how a leader treats him personally than forcefully getting out there and pushing against things that we know have harmed our nation,” Corker said. “I thought that’s what we all experienced today.” He continued to say that Putin gained a “tremendous amount” from Trump’s clear approval, and that it would help Russia rebound from being “ostracized.” He added that Putin is probably “having caviar right now.” Video of Corker’s remarks are making the rounds on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/xRsz5bGdfR — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) July 16, 2018 A frequent critic of President Trump, Sen. Corker is currently one of the most unpopular Republicans in the the history of Tennessee Politics. In…
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Republican Marsha Blackburn campaign strategist Ward Baker predicted Democrat Phil Bredesen will lose to Rep. Marsha Blackburn in November by “death by 10,000 cuts,” also comparing Bredesen to a punch drunk boxer “who won’t survive the punches coming before the November election,” according to reports. “I believe when the TV ads are out, and we lay out our case, I think some of them will come back. And the ones that don’t, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that they have trouble living in the future,” Baker reportedly said by way of a joke aimed at Republicans who might cross party lines to support the Democrat. Baker supposedly called Bredesen “Phantom Phil,” citing his “disappearing act on the campaign trail” we’ve previously characterized as “duck and cover Phil.” Baker also hinted at a potential controversy to come that would dog Bredesen and set him apart from Blackburn as a candidate. He offered no further details. “We’re going to make sure that he is in a corner, and we are going to constantly punch him in his face over and over and over again. This race will not be won by death by a thousand cuts. It’s going…
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As the Tennessee Star reported, Tennessee Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) shocked many people yesterday with his “purple heart” comment regarding now infamous FBI Agent Peter Strzok. https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1017476103794028550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1017476103794028550&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftennesseestar.com%2F2018%2F07%2F13%2Fdemocrat-rep-steve-cohen-mr-strzok-if-i-could-give-you-a-purple-heart-i-would%2F But it should shock no one that Cohen is also a big supporter of Democrat Phil Bredesen. I was there.Bredesen never supported any taxes while Governor.We passed lottery and sales and other taxes in 2002 before Bredesen was elected.He managed and spent what was there. https://t.co/0mDsDtVJkc — Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) May 30, 2018 Cohen has even run to the New York Times to support Bredesen, while taking a shot at Rep. Marsha Blackburn on Bredesen’s behalf. Ms. Blackburn is sending a different message. “Real conservative leadership,” promises a palm card for her campaign. “No compromise, no apologies.” Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Memphis, questioned whether Tennessee voters would embrace a candidate in that mold over someone with a middle-of-the-road, business-friendly image. “We’ve never had a politician on that level of anybody that’s been kind of mocked for their antediluvian ways,” he said. A previous Tennessee Star item pointed out how “duck and cover” Bredesen earned that moniker from the Tennessee GOP. Now he seems to be at it, again, evidently having…
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Even reporter Aaron Blake of the Washington Post seemed stunned at what came out of the mouth of Tennessee’s own Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09). https://twitter.com/aaronblake/status/1017476103794028550?s=12 CBS has a slightly more detailed report. Evidently cohen believes the hearings are little more than a distraction and went out of his way to praise Strzok. Rep. Cohen says this hearing is just a distraction. “If I could give you a purple heart, I would,” Rep. Steve Cohen said, calling the hearing an “attack” on Strzok. Cohen criticized the hearing as a distraction from Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and a way to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. “It’s astonishing to me that you would be put on trial as you have today,” Cohen said, praising Strzok’s work in security. What an insult to wounded service members: Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen tells disgraced FBI agent Strzok: "If I could give you a Purple Heart, I would. You deserve one." pic.twitter.com/G47C5GhSLk — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 12, 2018 The above may come as no surprise to those familiar with Rep. Cohen, no friend of President Donald Trump. Just yesterday he called for an end to all public spending at any business owned…
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If you ever wondered how low Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) might go in trying to disrupt President Trump’s agenda on negotiating better trade deals, yesterday may have provided the answer. Fox News‘ Chad Pergram took to Twitter to cover the outgoing Senator Corker’s effort to create additional problems for President Trump on the tariff issue with legislation and even pointed out the complete lack of decorum on Corker’s part by pushing it while the president is traveling abroad. Corker on if it was inappropriate to have the tariff vote with the President overseas: Votes kind of happen when they happen. — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 11, 2018 It is often said that foreign policy stops at the water’s edge. It's taboo for lawmakers to criticize the President when he is overseas. But the Senate fired a salvo at Trump, voting 88-11, to assert Congressional authority on imposing tariffs on national security grounds — Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) July 11, 2018 To be clear, this was very much Corker’s effort despite previously being blocked from doing anything with real “teeth” by the Senate. It was his motion after all. Text of Corker motion today on tariffs: Mr. Corker moves that the mgrs…
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Democrat U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen has finally broken his silence on where he stands as regards the loud and growing calls from his Democrat colleagues to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); however, his response was thin at best and did little to stop the attacks on him over the issue from Tennessee Republicans, as the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports: U.S. Senate Democratic hopeful Phil Bredesen says he wants no part of efforts by some national progressives to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency that’s become a flash point for liberals as they rally against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. “No,” the former Tennessee governor said in a one-word statement to the Times Free Press on the question of whether he favored abolishing the agency. Some U.S. Senate Democrats, including potential 2020 presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand, want Congress to to abolish ICE. Warren said it should be replaced “with something that reflects our morality.” That Democrats in Red and even Purple states are either ducking the issue as Bredesen had been, or are now giving short answers to what is actually a more complex question comes as no surprise. Just…
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As Tennessee Star readers surely know by now, it was liberal Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer who personally recruited Phil Bredesen to run against Rep. Marsha Blackburn in the coming U.S. Senate election. And it’s that same Schumer who is now leading the charge in an attempt to derail President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Via Politico: Schumer lays out path to block Kavanaugh Senate Democrats can successfully orchestrate the rejection of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday morning, if they can convince the American people that his confirmation will lead to the undoing of abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act by the Supreme Court. “Let me say this. I believe if we can prove to the American people, which I believe is truly the case, that this nominee will lead to a court that repeals women’s reproductive freedom, repeals ACA with its protections for pre-existing conditions, we will get a majority of the Senate to vote for it,” Schumer told “CBS This Morning” when asked how he might block Kavanaugh’s confirmation. “Obviously, even if we had every Democrat, we need two Republicans. But if we can make that case, we will get…
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The Tennessee Republican Party is calling Democratic Senate candidate Phil Bredesen to task for his lack of candor in dealing with President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Along with asking if Democrat Chuck Schumer’s “Tennessee recruit” Phil Bredesen will oppose President Trump’s latest Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the way Schumer is, they’re also going after him for playing a game of duck and cover on the issue. “Chuck Schumer recruiting Phil Bredesen to run for the Senate has, without a doubt, always been a part of his plan for a full frontal partisan attack against any nominee from President Trump. His ‘everything he’s got’ would 100% include Phil Bredesen if elected. While Phil Bredesen can pretend he would give serious consideration to any Supreme Court nominee from President Trump, you have ask, with Chuck Schumer and liberal Democratic PACs committing millions of dollars to the Senate race in Tennessee, would Phil Bredesen even have a choice?,” says their latest release. In effect, they also accuse Bredesen of being dishonest with voters on the issue. Instead of being honest with voters about President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Phil Bredesen is playing a game of political…
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Liberal Democrat Chuck Schumer’s handpicked U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen has said he wants to get the Tennessee Valley Authority “to help expand broadband internet access to rural areas if elected.” Bredesen made the remarks Tuesday in Clarksville, TN. There’s video of him speaking here. He said he is committed to having Congress amend the federal TVA Act to allow the government-owned electricity provider to bring broadband access to underserved rural areas in Tennessee. Bredesen says the “foundation” has been set by the TVA’s board approval in 2017 of $300 million to expand its network fiber capacity to improve the reliability of its transmission system— and by a law signed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam last year giving electric cooperatives the authority to provide broadband service. His conservative Republican opponent, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, hit back immediately. The leading GOP candidate to replace Corker is U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn. In a statement Tuesday, Blackburn said “broadband as a utility is a big government solution that will raise taxes.” The focus should be on implementing the broadband access act signed by Haslam, Blackburn said. “TVA should stay focused on its core mission, which has served Tennesseans well for decades,” she said. This also…
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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), the GOP candidate to replace retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) in the November general election, led Tennessee Republicans on Monday evening in praising President Donald Trump and his nominee for justice to the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh. “Judge Brett Kavanaugh will make a fine Supreme Court Justice, and I thank President Trump for nominating a strong constitutionalist with a proven track record of upholding the rule of law,” Blackburn said in a statement included in this tweet sent out at 9:27 pm eastern, just 20 minutes after Trump announced his pick: Tennesseans will be well served by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, and I encourage the Senate to consider his nomination expeditiously and to continue to confirm strict constitutionalist judges to our federal courts. pic.twitter.com/CD3NclJiop — Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) July 10, 2018 In contrast, former Gov. Phil Bredesen, the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, offered no comments on the president’s pick of Kavanaugh. Instead, Bredesen’s campaign released this statement during the day on Monday “in advance of President Trump’s nomination of a new justice to the U.S. Supreme Court,” which largely restated the words Bredesen used in a campaign commercial last month: “An important…
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One thing seems certain when it comes to retiring junior Senator Bob Corker, he intends to make himself as much of a pest for President Donald Trump as he can during his remaining time in the U.S. Senate. Now, he’s lecturing him on Crimea: Corker warns Trump against recognizing Crimea annexation “Recognizing Crimea as part of Russia would undermine the rules-based international order that was created with U.S. leadership and has caused democracy to thrive around the world and made America a safer home for our citizens,” Corker said in a tweet on Monday, without directly mentioning Trump. Corker added that in the “upcoming Helsinki summit, the U.S. must stand firmly with our NATO allies and affirm our transatlantic partnership. Doing otherwise strengthens Putin and undermines democratic values.” Additionally, Corker’s criticism comes as he’s abroad. He’s currently traveling in Northern Europe. As we look forward to the upcoming Helsinki summit, the U.S. must stand firmly with our NATO allies and affirm our transatlantic partnership. Doing otherwise strengthens Putin and undermines democratic values. — Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) July 2, 2018 Trump is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland. Meanwhile, Putin has said there’s no expectation the issue…
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Per Vox, Big Business and the GOP establishment are teaming up to undermine President Trump’s America First agenda. Unsurprisingly, the effort is being led by The US Chamber of Commerce and is supported by many Senate Republicans. The largest business lobbying group in America is declaring war on President Donald Trump’s trade agenda. The US Chamber of Commerce, an advocacy group that represents more than t3 million American businesses, launched a new campaign on Monday designed to persuade policymakers and the public that the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive trade policies represent a huge threat to the American economy. The Chamber released an interactive graphic that maps out how Trump’s trade conflicts with China, Europe, Canada, and Mexico could affect each state in the country in the coming months. It details how many of each state’s exports to foreign countries are vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs against Trump’s tariffs — and warns that they could cause millions of job losses. “Tariffs are beginning to take a toll on American businesses, workers, farmers, and consumers as overseas markets close to American-made products and prices increase here at home,” US Chamber President Thomas Donohue said in a statement. “The administration is threatening to undermine the…
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The Tennessee GOP took notice of Democrat Phil Bredesen’s disappearing act yesterday on the 4th of July, now they’re looking to set off some fireworks around it. “Phil Bredesen didn’t appear at any 4th of July celebrations over the past week, leaving Tennesseans to wonder where he spent Independence Day. Was he at his $2.4 million mansion in Jackson Hole, Wyoming? His $1.2 million waterfront home in New York? Or just taking the week off? We are all left wondering where’s Phil?,” read their statement. It seems Bredesen opted to confine his celebration to Twitter. I hope everyone has the opportunity to spend some time with friends and family today and reflect on the many freedoms we enjoy in this country. Happy 4th of July, Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/0ZMjNJzIR9 — Phil Bredesen (@PhilBredesen) July 4, 2018 That contrasted sharply with Rep Marsha Blackburn, who opted to spend the bulk of Fourth of July celebration time out and about among Tennessee voters all across Tennessee. On the other hand, Marsha Blackburn participated in six Independence Day celebrations from Lancaster to Gatlinburg. She’s out talking with voters and working hard to earn every single vote. Once again- the contrast between these two candidates could…
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Former Nashville, Tennessee judge, Casey Moreland, will lose his pension after pleading guilty to charges that included “retaliating against a witness, obstruction of justice, theft from a federally funded program, destruction of records and witness tampering.” The decision came down after a vote by the city’s pension oversight board. Moreland was supposedly due $58,203.48 annually after decades on the bench. Sentencing is set for August 31 in U.S. District Court. According to a report, “Tara Stewart of Metro Human Resources said that Moreland will lose his pension due to the board vote Tuesday.” It’s unclear if he plans to appeal. The Tennessee Star reported on his resignation in April and his arrest in March. Davidson County General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland has resigned from the bench following his arrest on corruption charges. Moreland announced his resignation, effective April 4, in a letter to Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and the Board of Judicial Conduct, according WKRN News 2. Here is our full report of his arrest. Davidson County General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland was arrested by FBI agents at his home Tuesday morning and faces federal charges for obstructing criminal investigations, WSMV-TV Channel 4 reports. The charges include tampering with a witness, victim…
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Chuck Schumer’s hand-picked Tennessee Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Phil Bredesen went after President Donald Trump’s tariffs in a new television ad, “saying they hurt the state’s auto industry, farmers and exports like Jack Daniel’s whiskey,” according to this report. This may be the first time Bredesen has taken on Trump openly and in his own voice. Marsha Blackburn and the Republicans wasted no time in hitting back, pointing out that, no matter what Bredesen says in one ad, it’s inevitable that he becomes Schumer’s man in the Senate in the end. Schumer recruited him to run and helped him secure the backing of huge liberal donors, who will expect to see Bredesen deliver for the money they are spending attempting to elect him. There’s more here: Blackburn has said she’s “not a fan” of tariffs, high taxes or trade wars, but that she wants to find a way to “deal with this imbalance that we have when it comes to trade and our exports and imports.” The new Bredesen ad drew a quick response from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which pointed to Bredesen’s opposition of Trump’s tax cuts last year. “Phil Bredesen’s vehement opposition to the tax cuts contradicts…
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Our fellow Tennessean, David French, points out at National Review that progressives and far left Democrats are deploying “Religious Ignorance and Bigotry” to attack potential Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, a graduate of Tennessee’s Rhodes College, for her Catholic faith. “If you ever need much evidence that the growing “God gap” in American politics fosters an immense amount of ignorance and occasionally outright bigotry, look no farther than the concern — the alarm, even — that Amy Coney Barrett is on President Trump’s short list to replace Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court,” French wrote on Monday: The alarm isn’t about her credentials. She’s checked every box of excellence — law review, appellate-court clerkship, Supreme Court clerkship (with Justice Scalia), elite law-firm experience, law professor at an elite law school, and now experience as a federal judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She’s a young, brilliant woman at the apex of her profession. So, beyond her obvious originalist judicial philosophy (shared to varying degrees by every person on Trump’s list of potential nominees), what’s the problem with Judge Barrett. Why do some progressives single her out for particular scorn? It turns out that she’s a faithful Christian…
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to Twitter on Monday to attack federal judge Amy Coney Barrett, a potential Trump pick for the Supreme Court. Barrett has ties to Tennessee. She was born in Louisiana, and lives in Indiana, but spent four college years in Tennessee, graduating from Rhodes College with a magna cum laude degree in English Literature, before going on to law school and a stellar legal career in practice, academia, and on the bench. Perhaps more importantly, with Democrat Phil Bredesen being Chuck Schumer’s man in Tennessee, with close ties not only to the man but the big liberal donor money behind him, the length Schumer seems intent on going to attack a leading contender to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court should raise serious questions for Tennesseans as they contemplate where Bredesen’s loyalties will lie if he comes to represent Tennessee in the Senate next year. Barrett attacked the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the Affordable Care Act, which has helped millions of people secure health insurance coverage. https://t.co/JXJAbCmvN4 — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 2, 2018 Schumer didn’t stop there. Barrett also fought efforts to ensure that all women have access to contraceptives.…
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U.S. Senate Candidate Phil Bredesen is on record calling the policy that required children to be separated from their families “child abuse” and also voiced his support for the ongoing national protests on behalf of illegal immigrants. Frankly, there seems to be little if any room between Bredesen and the most liberal of current Senate Democrats when it comes to illegal immigration. Video at link. Phil Bredesen on immigration separation policy U.S. Senate Candidate Phil Bredesen on the policy that required children to be separated from their families June 20, 2018 before President Trump repealed it. Now, Bredesen’s would be fellow Democrat Senators, should he win in November, are increasingly calling for the elimination of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) altogether. There’s more on that topic here. Clearly it’s a growing trend among Democrats, especially in the same Senate Democrat Bredesen longs to become a part of. As usual, he’s dodging the touch questions, as in, would he, or would he not support doing away with ICE. And a mostly Democrat friendly media is all too happy to let him get away with it. Given the manner in which Democrats tend to walk in lockstep once they get to Washington,…
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Tennessee’s U.S. House delegation voted unanimously against House Speaker Paul’s Ryan’s immigration bill Wednesday, including both Democrat members, with Rep. Diane Black not voting. The bill went down in defeat by a wide margin, 121-301, despite President Trump’s subdued support. A sprawling, compromise GOP immigration bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants while directing $25 billion for the construction of President Trump’s border wall failed in the House on Wednesday, despite encouragement from the president for Republicans to support it. The bill was overwhelmingly rejected 301-121, in part because some Republicans are reluctant to vote for any bill they worry could be portrayed as “amnesty.” More than 100 Republicans voted against the legislation. The legislation was given little chance of passing going in. Trump’s tweet Wednesday captured his earlier private views that he supports the bill as well as his previous tweets that Republicans were wasting their time on legislation that can’t pass the Senate, putting a different spin on the latter. “HOUSE REPUBLICANS SHOULD PASS THE STRONG BUT FAIR IMMIGRATION BILL, KNOWN AS GOODLATTE II, IN THEIR AFTERNOON VOTE TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THE DEMS WON’T LET IT PASS IN THE SENATE,” he tweeted in…
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Both Tennessee candidates for U.S. Senate weighed in and the length of tone of their responses would appear to make it clear Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) sees this as a clear winning issue for her campaign. Bredesen’s statement was predictable political blather, at best. Bredesen said a candidate’s character and qualifications are more important than party lines. “I just think we have such a partisan mess in Washington right now,” Bredesen said Wednesday in Nashville. “This is a real chance to start unwinding that in something that is very visible and important to the country.” Blackburn also released a statement on Twitter, calling the confirmation of Supreme Court justices “one of the Senate’s most important responsibilities.” “As Tennessee’s next senator, I will be committed to confirming more judges, like Neil Gorsuch, who will honor and uphold our Constitution,” Blackburn said. “I will vote to confirm good constitutional justices who will not be activists and legislate from the bench.” In a statement Wednesday, Blackburn said that Tennesseans want a justice “who will respect both the Constitution and the rule of law.” “They do not want an activist Supreme Court Justice who will seek to legislate from the bench,” she said. “As…
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In the wake of some genuinely unhinged behavior and some truly shocking election results, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is out with a new add attacking “unhinged” Democrats like Tennessee’s own Phil Bredesen. The Republican National Committee (RNC) released a brutal campaign ad on Tuesday attacking the political Left ahead of the 2018 midterms, highlighting their extreme rhetoric and actions. The full ad can be seen below. The ad comes after Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) called for the harassment of members of the Trump administration on Saturday. Various members of the Trump administration have already been targeted in recent days including White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The ad highlights multiple well-publicized instances of those on the political Left advocating for extreme action in response to the Trump administration, including Madonna saying she has thought about blowing up the White House, Snoop Dogg shooting the president in a music video, Bill Maher saying he hopes the economy crashes so it hurts Trump, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying she doesn’t know why there aren’t uprisings “all over the country,” and Waters’ extreme speech where she called for the harassment of…
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Tuesday on News Channel 5’s “MorningLine”, Conservative and Tennessee Star Political Editor, Steve Gill sat down with host Nick Beres to discuss immigration and the ongoing debate around it in America today. The full ten minutes is worth a listen as Gill debunks many media myths circling around within the immigration debate. “Part of the problem here …,” said Gill,” of the 12,000 children that have been put into federal custody over the last several months, 10,000 of them came alone. These are not 4 year-olds trekking from Honduras across the Mexican desert. These are 16, 17, and in many cases older than 18 young men who are claiming to be minors.” Gill goes on to debunk other media myths, as well, along with media’s mostly ignoring serious issues of sex trafficking and child abuse linked directly to the same illegal border crossings media is, in essence, defending, while often covering up the more ugly side of same.
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A new item out at Politico highlights just how determined outgoing Tennessee Senator Bob Corker is to cause problems for President Trump in trade negotiations while he still continues to have the power to do it. And Republican Senator from Pennsylvania Pat Toomey is helping him do it. Corker restarts tariff battle with Trump The frequent Trump critic is seizing on the Senate’s farm bill to try to curb the president’s tariffs. GOP Sen. Bob Corker is making a new push to allow Congress to block President Donald Trump’s tariffs on U.S. allies, though GOP leaders may stop it in its tracks once again. The Tennessee senator is offering an amendment written with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to the Senate’s farm bill this week that would allow Congress to approve or disapprove of tariffs levied against countries on national security justifications. Naturally, President Trump opposes the effort, as does Senate Finance Chairman Orin Hatch, calling it “too broad.” Trump opposes the amendment, and it could imperil the farm bill if the amendment is adopted. Party leaders are not sure whether it has 60 votes to succeed; Corker and Toomey argue the only way to find out is to hold a…
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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), was quick to weigh in on today’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of President Trump’s travel ban on residents of foreign countries that fail to meet security screening standards challenged in court by Hawaii. #SCOTUS decision is a victory against the Left’s open borders agenda and liberal activist judges. We must be able to vet individuals coming into our country so we can keep Tennesseans and America safe! https://t.co/QlzGmc8LEr — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) June 26, 2018 As usual, via his social media feed, Democrat Phil Bredesen is doing his best to duck the issue, one critical to many Trump-supporting Tennesseans by saying nothing at all. Were he to do that, he would risk the ire of Progressive Democrats now openly supporting his campaign against Blackburn. One far left activist, former Barack Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau, called out to his fellow travelers in Tennessee to “stop Trump from packing SCOTUS with more Trumpists is to win the Senate,” with candidates like the Democratic candidate, former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen, in a tweet this morning: https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1011619505187852288 More on today’s ruling here: In…
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In a Glenn Reynolds (aka Instapundit) op-ed published at The Tennessean, the law professor and argues that said civil war is already underway: Is America headed toward a civil war? Sanders, Nielsen incidents show it has already begun Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kirstjen Nielsen experiences at restaurants suggest a ‘soft’ civil war is well underway. It will get worse unless we learn to stop hating each other. The other day, author Tom Ricks asked whether we’re heading toward a civil war. “I don’t believe we’re to Kansas of the 1850s yet. But we seem to be lurching … in that direction,” he wrote. Ricks was commenting on “What Democratic rage would look like,” a Bloomberg opinion column that quotes political scientist Thomas Schaller as saying, “I think we’re at the beginning of a soft civil war. … I don’t know if the country gets out of it whole.” That sounds pretty serious. The column by Francis Wilkinson presents a catalog of things Democrats are mad about — from the existence of the electoral college to Trump’s “propaganda apparatus” — and predicts that if Democrats lose the midterm elections, there will be hell to pay. (And Republicans, you know, could make a…
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While Democrat Phil Bredesen was quick to accuse President Donald Trump of “child abuse” for simply enforcing current immigration law, he doesn’t seem to have a problem with his prominent Democrat friends like Rep Maxine Waters calling for Republicans and conservatives to be harassed in public simply because of who they are. Staffers and allies of President Donald Trump face a new normal in today’s heated political environment: the potential for harassment and protests anywhere they show their faces — both in their public and private lives. Democratic California Rep. Maxine Waters shocked political observers over the weekend by encouraging liberal mobs to harass Trump officials at restaurants, gas stations and even at home. “Already you have members of your cabinet that are being booed out of restaurants,” We have protesters taking up at their house who are saying, ‘No peace, no sleep. No peace, no sleep,’” Waters told a liberal crowd on Saturday, pledging to “win this battle.” “If you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd,” the congresswoman added. “And you push back on them. Tell them they’re not welcome any more,…
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In a new The Times Free Press item entitled, Bredesen goes all out in Senate race with Blackburn, what perhaps stands out most of all is Phil Bredesen’s close ties to the increasingly unpopular outgoing Republican Senator Bob Corker and the distance between Bredesen and President Trump. They make it very clear that Bredesen wouldn’t even be running if he had to face off with Corker. That in itself makes him something of a mini-Corker, only worse. It’s a race the 74-year-old never envisioned making until last year when his longtime friend, Republican U.S. Sen. Bob Corker of Chattanooga, announced he wouldn’t seek re-election. Bredesen, known as a moderate, and Corker go back to the mid-1990s, when Bredesen was Nashville’s mayor and Corker the then-state finance commissioner for Republican Gov. Don Sundquist. In various roles over decades, they worked together on projects, including the successful recruitment of the NFL’s then-Houston Oilers to Nashville and, while governor, working with Corker and local officials in 2008 to bring Volkswagen to Chattanooga. “I had no intention of doing anything else when I left the governor’s office,” said Bredesen, who later succeeded Sundquist as governor and served from 2003-2011. “When Corker said he wasn’t going to run…
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While the controversy of separating families crossing the U.S. border illegally has been mostly settled, it’s worth noting that Democrat Senate Candidate Phil Bredesen took his criticism of President Trump on the issue as far as any far Left-Wing agitator did, in effect, labeling it child abuse. That despite it becoming increasingly apparent that media coverage of the issue was slanted, at best, as the Knoxville News Sentinel reported: Before he spoke about rising health care costs, before he listened to the stories of gaps in the system and before he visited the wing dedicated to babies born dependent on opiates, Phil Bredesen spoke Wednesday about the “elephant in the room.” Bredesen said it was wrong for the U.S. government to institute a policy that separated children from families at the U.S.-Mexican border and he said the policy was “effectively child abuse.” He said he hoped President Donald Trump would fix the crisis Tuesday, which he did later in the day. It’s also worth noting that it’s now obvious that some of the media’s coverage of the issue varied from somewhere between dishonest and incompetent, as Fox News reported in this story, “Crying migrant girl on TIME magazine cover was…
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Today the National Rifle Association announced its endorsement of Diane Black for Governor. The NRA is the oldest and largest gun rights organizations in the nation. The full letter is available here. “For over two decades Diane Black has been a steadfast supporter of our constitutional right to self-defense. She has never wavered in the fight to expand and protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said Chris W. Cox Chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund. “Diane Black has a perfect record on Second Amendment issues and we enthusiastically endorse her candidacy.” Responded Black, “The NRA represents six million of the strongest defenders of the second amendment in our nation, and I am honored to have their support in my race for governor.” “As governor, I will always fight to protect the second amendment and defend the hundreds of thousands of gun owners in Tennessee,” she continued. Cox noted that Black is the only Tennessee gubernatorial candidate with an “A” rating and a “perfect record” on Second Amendment issues. Black is a firearm owner and a lifetime member of the NRA. In Congress, she cosponsored the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act, voted for the NRA-supported SHARE Act…
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According to a report by The Hill, outgoing Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) is pressing the Trump administration for details on the implementation of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Corker seems intent on making President Trump’s negotiating strategy as difficult as possible, undermining him at every turn. Also per The Hill, Corker sent a letter on Wednesday to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “asking for details on how the Commerce Department is deciding which countries will be exempted from the steep financial penalties”, which Corker insists are having a “damaging” impact on U.S. businesses. As The Hill also reported: On the hot seat, Ross defended the tariffs as necessary to protect American businesses. “Actions taken by the president are necessary to revive America’s essential steel and aluminum industries,” Ross told lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee. “Allowing imports to continue unchecked threatens to impair our national security.” The heated hearing comes as lawmakers in both parties have raised alarm over Trump’s moves in recent weeks to implement a series of tariffs on China as well as U.S. allies, including Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Those tariffs have rattled markets and sparked anger…
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Congressman Scott DesJarlais, M.D., an advocate of patient-centered health care, who has voted to repeal Obamacare and replace it with free-market reforms that would lower insurance costs and increase consumers’ choice of plans, released the following statement in support of the Trump Administration’s announcement yesterday of a new rule allowing small businesses to create Association Health Plans: “Republicans have made major headway repealing the worst Obamacare rules, providing more affordable alternatives to Tennessee families and small businesses. The latest change allows Association Health Plans across state lines, one employers and employees have been advocating for years, ever since Obamacare began raising taxes, fees, and insurance costs. Patients lost their doctors. Hospitals closed. The statement continued, “The law raised premiums to pay for expensive mandates and subsidies, while limiting individuals’ choice of coverage and providers. It exempted big businesses, while punishing Mom and Pop. We’re giving small businesses and entrepreneurs freedom to create better options for an estimated four million people. And we’ll keep working to improve results for Tennesseans.” Under the finalized Department of Labor rule, self-employed entrepreneurs, small businesses, trade associations, and other organizations may now join together across state lines to increase their bargaining power and negotiate lower…
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Tennessee Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, both Republicans, issued statements Monday criticizing the Trump administration for separating children from their parents when detained at the U.S./Mexico border, as the Times Free Press reported: “While the issues surrounding our immigration system are complex, we can all agree that innocent children should be protected and not used for deterrence,” said Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He said the administration “should use all tools available to stop needless family separation without delay, and Congress should act swiftly to address the serious challenges facing our nation’s immigration system.” Alexander’s statement read, “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.” SuperTalk 99.7 WTN veteran broadcaster Brian Wilson, host of Nashville’s Morning News,took up the subject in his broadcast on Tuesday, explaining that “The president is enforcing the rule of law. President Obama did not.” The law requiring the separation of…
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Democratic Congressional candidate for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District, Amy McGrath said the closest she could come to describing how she felt after President Donald Trump’s election win was how she felt immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. McGrath was speaking at a “Meet the Candidates Series” event on Nov. 20, 2017 prior to winning her recent primary. Several right-leaning news sites have highlighted her comments, although they have yet to break through in the mainstream media. The newly released audio is available below. McGrath, who just recently won her primary in Kentucky’s 6th district, said in November that after Trump’s win she felt the same “sinking feeling” that she had after learning of the 9/11 attacks. “And then, of course, the results of the election, we have a new commander-in-chief,” McGrath said during an event by Indivisible Bourbon County. “And that morning I woke up like somebody had sucker punched me. I mean, I felt like, ‘what has just happened to my country?’” “The only feeling I can describe that’s any close to it was the feeling I had after 9/11. ‘What just happened, where are we going from here,’ and it was that just sinking feeling of…
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Tennessee is increasingly adopting “a two-generation approach” to fighting poverty, which combines the focus on parents and children when it comes to food stamps and other cash assistance programs. The approach may indeed pay off and is being implemented across more and more states, yet, it still appears to be an experiment without much hard data to back it up as ending in significant success. Meanwhile, many have argued for years that such programs only extend and even expand poverty. From 2013: Since 2007, the number of Americans on SNAP has exploded, going from approximately 22 million people at the start of the recession in 2008 to more than 45 million in 2013. The program provides these families a much-needed safety net as they struggle to get back on their feet, according to Jennifer Brooks, policy director with the progressive Corporation for Enterprise Development based in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, calls to reform the system from the Right, as with this one from the Heritage Foundation, often go ignored. For now, this seems to be the direction Tennessee officials are choosing and only the future will determine if it’s a success. Tennessee’s agency that administers food stamps and cash assistance programs…
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State Rep. Gerald McCormick, (R-Chattanooga) announced “he won’t seek re-election to the House District 26 seat he’s held for nearly 14 years and he will officially withdraw from the contest Monday. He also will resign from the House on Oct. 1 as he takes a full-time job working for a local firm expanding its presence in Nashville.” The surprise announcement removes McCormick from consideration in the race to succeed Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville), who is running for the Republican nomination for governor and is not seeking re-election to her seat in the Tennessee House. His departure leaves State Rep. Glenn Casada (R-Franklin) as the clear front runner to succeed Harwell, but also clears the way for a more conservative challenger to enter the Speaker’s race. McCormick made the announcement in remarks to the Times Free Press. “A professional position with Asa Engineering and Consulting, a Chattanooga-based company, requires me to relocate to Nashville to grow the firm’s new office,” the former House majority leader and current Finance Subcommittee chairman stated to the Times Free Press. “My plan was to run for re-election and I believe the voters of the 26th District would return me to Nashville to…
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Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee, wants voters to believe that he is a pragmatic problem-solver with a track record of getting things done. But a closer look at that track record reveals that Bredesen “gets things done” through the use of accounting sleight of hand that shifts taxes paid by one group to benefits received by another. A case in point is the accounting sleight of hand Bredesen used to lure the NFL’s Houston Oilers to Nashville in the 1990s. A white paper entitled ““Horse Trading” and Consensus Building: Nashville, Tennessee and the Relocation of the Houston Oilers” lays out the case that then Nashville Mayor Bredesen basically misled voters and used an exorbitant tax increase to put a notch on his belt for luring the NFL’s Oilers to Nashville back in 1996. That may be all well and good for some, but a deep dive raises serious questions as to whether or not it was a prudent investment of taxpayer dollars received by what some might call misleading tactics. In a special referendum on May 7, 1996, voters in Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County voted to approve partial funding of the proposed stadium. The vote, which…
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Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) released a statement this week geared to focusing attention on his work in support of both law enforcement and addiction treatment. “During a week in which the House of Representatives focused solely on solutions to the country’s opioid crisis, Congressman Scott DesJarlais, M.D., voted to improve veterans’ addiction treatment, prevent childhood trauma and illness as a result of parental drug abuse, and to stop shipments of narcotic chemicals across U.S. borders, among other votes to help his home state of Tennessee conquer its drug epidemic,” it reads in part. Said DesJarlais, “Drug overdoses as well as suicides have increased, and the rising figures are tied to declining economic fortunes in depressed rural areas. In addition to strengthening addiction treatment and law enforcement, growing job opportunities is very important. Reversing the decline of American manufacturing and encouraging small businesses will provide hope to people who in despair have turned to drugs.” “Tennessee’s opioid-related mortality rate is higher than average. The rate in Grundy County in the Fourth Congressional District is particularly high”, he continued. DesJarlais represents parts of Appalachia, a region experiencing the worst of the crisis, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission. “Nearly every demographic is…
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SuperTalk 99.7 WTN veteran broadcaster Brian Wilson, host of Nashville’s Morning News, interviewed Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander today, who made it very clear he sides with outgoing Senator Bob Corker over President Trump on the tariff issue. The two men also discussed the recent Inspector General’s report, which was highly critical for the FBI and former Director James Comey. Alexander praised Trump and stressed the need for the GOP to retain their majorities in Congress, As for the tariff issue, host Wilson asked him about his “fellow Senator Bob Corker who has been drawing a lot of fire lately in the state of Tennessee for his criticism of this president.” Responded Alexander, “What’s bother Senator Corker is he thinks we should have a vote on whether tariffs are a good idea. But I don’t think they’re a good idea either. I think we ought to have a vote on it. That’s the basis of his criticism. Tariffs on Aluminum and Steel are more likely to hurt Tennessee than any other state because we’ve got nearly a thousand auto parts suppliers and they nearly all use aluminum and Steel when they make their parts. If you add 25% to the cost of…
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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) is starting to take the gloves off in her attacks on liberal Democrat opponent Phil Bredesen, comparing him to Obama as far as policy, and suggesting he’d “vote with crying Chuck Schumer” in opposition to President Trump if he gets to Washington as a US Senator from Tennessee. Blackburn used the recent Tennessee Republican Party’s annual fundraiser held in Nashville last Friday to go after former Gov. Phil Bredesen as the two compete to replace outgoing Senator Bob Corker. Blackburn elaborated on a theme first introduced by President Trump at a rally held in Nashville on May 29 to support Blackburn’s Senate campaign, at which the president memorably called Bredesen “an absolute total tool . . . of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.” “She does Tennessee proud, but she does our party proud,” Keynote speaker Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), said of Blackburn at last Friday’s fundraising event. “We need more great spokespeople for the conservative values of this country. We need Marsha Blackburn on TV, talking as a United States Senator about how conservative principles are so much better than liberal principles,” Scalise added. You can see him make these remarks at the 52 second mark of…
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With Pennsylvania shaping up as a key battleground state in 2018 and 2020, as well, financial disarray and the significant potential for fraud and abuse in one of it’s major cities could give Republicans something to target in the Fall. Philadelphia’s government has the worst accounting practices among the nation’s 10 largest cities, with $924 million in bookkeeping errors alone last year, according to an audit released Tuesday by City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart. That’s on top of the now-infamous missing $33 million, the discrepancy between what the city’s records say it has and what is in the bank — the result of a failure to reconcile the city’s cash account over several years, Rhynhart said at a news conference. In total, the controller’s auditors found two “material weaknesses” and eight “significant deficiencies” in the fiscal 2017 books. The accounting terms refer to serious issues with the city’s internal financial controls. “This is a major problem and needs to be treated that way by the mayor and the finance director on down,” Rhynhart told the Inquirer and Daily News. “If the City of Philadelphia is talking about tax increases, let’s get our house in order.” By comparison, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago,…
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One might like to say outgoing Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) was in rare, or unusual form in the Senate today; unfortunately, his anti-Trump’s tirades are increasingly the norm for the diminutive senator, as opposed to the exception, as CNN reports. Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker accused his party of cowering before President Donald Trump in an impassioned speech on the Senate floor Tuesday. In an animated exchange, Corker — who was trying to get a vote on an amendment as part of an ongoing debate over the Senate’s defense bill — argued that Republicans were blocking his trade proposal because they were afraid of Trump and what he might do to the party if they upset him in an election year. “We might poke the bear!” said Corker, who is retiring at the end of his term. “My gosh, if the President gets upset with us we might not be in the majority,” he said referring to sentiments he often hears from colleagues. Corker has worked for the last week to try to get a vote on his amendment that would roll back Trump’s trade authority and give Congress the power to check the President’s ability to impose tariffs on…
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