In a now-familiar refrain from a liberal politician, Nashville Mayor David Briley is politicizing a mass shooting and calling for shredding the Second Amendment.
Read the full story
Where, oh where, did New York City’s population go?
Read the full story
Progressives took a hit when Britain’s equivalent of a charter school turned in test results four times better than their nation’s average, The Federalist reported.
Read the full story
The choice in the Nashville mayoral race is between incumbent Mayor David Briley, who is soft on immigration — and Metro Councilman John Cooper, who is soft on immigration. Michael Patrick Leahy on Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report weighed in on the mayoral debate: “So, the very, very, very, bad Mayor – David Briley – debated with the very, very bad Metro Council at large candidate for Mayor, John Cooper. And purportedly they were discussing issues. Except they really weren’t. They talked platitudes.” The report is broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am. Briley tweeted, “This week, @WSMV reported on Metro probation officers sharing Nashville residents’ personal information with ICE agents. Today, I’m ordering the Metro Auditor to conduct a full investigation of the department involved and these deeply troubling reports.” This week, @WSMV reported on Metro probation officers sharing Nashville residents’ personal information with ICE agents. Today, I'm ordering the Metro Auditor to conduct a full investigation of the department involved and these deeply troubling reports. pic.twitter.com/JKqGWCcCR6 — Judge David Briley (@DavidBriley) August 29, 2019 One comment summed up the Nashville mayor’s responsibility — to protect the public: “If they are on…
Read the full story
Pro-life U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI-07), an ally of President Donald Trump, will resign from Congress in his fifth term for family reasons.
Read the full story
“Claws of the Red Dragon” is an explosive film executive produced by Stephen K. Bannon which exposes ties between the controversial Huawei Technologies company and the Chinese Communist Party, based on the 2018 arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou.
Read the full story
Former Metro Nashville mayoral candidate Dr. Carol W. Swain is calling on her supporters to turn out to the polls once again — to support at-large Metro Council candidate Steve Glover. Early voting runs to September 6. Election Day is September 12. In an email newsletter to her supporters, Swain says that Glover is the “only experienced conservative running for a seat on city council” and that he needs votes — and she asks people to vote for only one at-large candidate to give Glover his best chance. Swain also asks her supporters to vote for District 26 council candidate Courtney Johnston, who is engaged in a run-off against Jeremy Elrod. Current Metro Council district member and at-large candidate Steve Glover has been a critic of incumbent Mayor David Briley, including lately, the mayor’s budget, The Tennessee Star reported. Glover believes that the budget submitted by Mayor David Briley and recently passed by the Metro Council violates state law and Metro rules requiring a balanced budget. Glover asked State Senator Farrell Haile (R-Gallatin) to request an opinion from Tennessee State Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery concerning the legality of that budget. During her concession speech in the Aug. 2…
Read the full story
President Donald Trump has revived America’s economy, and warned against electing a Democrat in 2020, Vice President Mike Pence said Monday during an appearance in Detroit.
Read the full story
A lawyer activist organization in Washington, D.C., is trying to block Tennessee’s efforts to secure its elections from fraud and incompetence by filing an injunction in federal court, but one political observer isn’t buying it, saying the law combats illegal registration efforts.
Read the full story
Cyberwarfare is America’s battlefield of the 21st century, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said during a luncheon Friday in Erwin, the Johnson City Press said.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Education Association has lost 44 percent of its members in the last decade.
Read the full story
A group of Rhode Island students who have done out-of-class homework are trying to get the court system to rule they have a right to receive a well-rounded education that includes civics.
Read the full story
Curtis Ray Watson, the fugitive accused of murdering a West Tennessee prison official during his escape, was captured Sunday in Henning, multiple media reports say.
Read the full story
Metro Nashville Mayor David Briley tried to judo-flip the bad coverage of his Spanish-language video on how to avoid ICE by tweeting a “thank you” to Fox News, but a lot of people on Twitter and Facebook weren’t buying it and roasted him. The mayor tweeted, “If you have an encounter with ICE, it’s crucial to know your rights and have a plan. Thank you, @FoxNews viewers, for the hundreds of messages you’ve sent in today about our immigration and refugee rights work in Nashville. We’re planning to keep it up.” If you have an encounter with ICE, it's crucial to know your rights and have a plan. Thank you, @FoxNews viewers, for the hundreds of messages you've sent in today about our immigration and refugee rights work in Nashville. We're planning to keep it up. https://t.co/bg2anUBKoY — Judge David Briley (@DavidBriley) August 8, 2019 Fox News based its story on The Tennessee Star’s coverage of Briley’s Spanish-language tweet telling illegal aliens how to avoid being detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The Star’s story is here. Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill saw concern with what Briley did. “It’s crazy that you have a mayor…
Read the full story
More than 200 mayors from across the country sent a letter to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), urging them to immediately call the Senate back to Washington, D.C. to take action on gun control legislation.
Read the full story
Paul J Bascobert, the new President/CEO of Gannett Co Inc., will earn a bit more than his rank-and-file employees — $4.5 million to be exact.
Read the full story
Metro Nashville Mayor David Briley, who is in a run-off election to renew his term, is helping illegal aliens to avoid federal authorities.
Briley tweeted a how-to video in Spanish on avoiding capture by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency: “If you or a family member have an encounter with ICE, it’s important to know your rights and have a plan. Watch this video to learn more:”
Read the full story
U.S Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) had surgery over the weekend to repair his lung that was damaged in a 2017 attack by his neighbor and will spend the rest of August recovering.
Read the full story
Gannett, the newspaper chain known for buying local newspapers and cutting back on operations, including news, is now on the receiving end of an acquisition — by the owners of GateHouse Media.
Read the full story
Illinois State Rep. Chris Miller (R-IL-110) said that Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s signing of two immigration laws is a “travesty” and likened it to rebellion against the U.S.
Read the full story
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY-14) chief of staff and communications director are both leaving her D.C. office, but they’re not going far as one will reportedly help her re-election campaign and the other will help push her progressive agenda.
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) released a statement after her vote against the massive Bipartisan Budget Agreement that the Senate approved. “Governance requires tough choices, and if everything is a priority then nothing is a priority. Our priority should be ensuring our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to defend U.S. interests, our allies, and freedom. Holding those resources hostage to bloated, inefficient and wasteful federal spending is shameful and inappropriate. “In 2010, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said, ‘the most significant threat to our national security is our debt.’ It is time Congress takes this threat seriously. “We have a responsibility to our children and grandchildren to clean up this fiscal mess. I cannot in good conscience support legislation that funds the government at the expense of adding to our national debt,” Blackburn concluded. The Senate approved a massive two-year budget that raises spending $320 billion over current levels and lifts the debt ceiling for two years, Politico said, putting an end to a possible government shutdown. The budget was worked out in a compromise with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The vote was 67-28, with a majority of…
Read the full story
Tennessee’s state employee retirement system has had its “high” hopes dashed – at least from investing in medical cannabis.
Read the full story
UPDATES – Nashville Mayoral election results as they become available…
Read the full story
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke placed national anthem kneelers front and center during the primary debate in Detroit Tuesday.
Read the full story
When President Donald Trump called Baltimore a “rat and rodent infested mess,” he wasn’t far off the mark, according to a list of the “rattiest cities” in America.
Read the full story
We Build the Wall sponsored a symposium Saturday to discuss border security issues and a “can-do attitude” that led to its construction of one segment of border wall.
The event was titled “Symposium at the Wall: Cartels, Trafficking, and Asylum.” The location was Sunland Park, New Mexico, near El Paso, Texas, where the organization built its first section of wall.
Read the full story
U.S. Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN-08) of Memphis said he will not run for Lamar Alexander’s Senate seat in 2020’s primary race.
Read the full story
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) accused the Supreme Court of allowing President Donald Trump to “steal military funds” to build the wall and called the court a “monarchy.”
Read the full story
The field to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) is getting more crowded as Knoxville Dr. Josh Gapp has thrown his hat in the ring.
Read the full story
The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected the State of Tennessee’s appeal in which the General Assembly sought to ban the federal government from forcing Tennessee to accept and fund a refugee resettlement program. A copy of the court’s ruling is available here. A federal judge in March 2018 dismissed Tennessee’s lawsuit against the federal government’s resettlement of refugees in the state on 10th amendment grounds. The Tennessee General Assembly in May 2018 authorized the Thomas More Law Center to file an appeal on its behalf, The Tennessee Star reported. The law center did not charge for the service. When Diane Black was running for the governor’s office last year, she announced her support for the appeal. The General Assembly first retained Thomas More in 2017 to file a federal lawsuit against the U.S. State Department, which oversees the refugee resettlement program, the law center said in a press release. In its decision Wednesday, the Sixth Circuit “side-stepped the substantive issues in a ruling Wednesday that held the General Assembly did not have ‘standing’ to challenge the federal program and dismissed the state’s case. Thus, the court never decided whether the federal refugee resettlement program violated the…
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Wednesday joined Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to introduce a resolution commending the men and women of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency for their honorable service.
Read the full story
A student from St. Mary’s Episcopal School in Memphis is one of 82 top-achieving U.S. high school and international scholars in a prestigious STEM research program.
Read the full story
A group of Hermitage neighbors interfered with an attempt by ICE on Monday morning to apprehend an undocumented immigrant man and a 12-year-old boy following a traffic stop, Fox 17 reported. Neighbors locked arms around a van the immigrants hid in while ICE agents tried to serve a civil warrant (detainer). Agents left after a standoff that lasted more than two hours when the immigrants went into a house, with their access secured by the neighbors. Metro Nashville Police Department officers were on scene but did not participate with ICE, the station said. On his official Twitter account, incumbent Mayor David Briley tweeted, “Every Nashville resident and family deserves to feel safe, regardless of immigration status. My statement on yesterday’s events.” His tweet was accompanied with the following statement: It is my job as Mayor to keep all Nashvillians safe. On Monday, ICE agents attempted to detain a Nashville resident. However, the agents did not end up detaining the resident, and no arrests were made. Our police officers do not actively participate in immigration enforcement efforts and only serve as peacekeepers. The officers were at the incident to keep neighbors safe and secure a perimeter. I am keenly aware…
Read the full story
State Sen. Steven Dickerson (R-TN-20) is among those being sued by the federal government and Tennessee over alleged Medicare and TennCare fraud totaling at least $25 million. The United States and Tennessee on Monday filed a consolidated complaint in intervention alleging violations of the False Claims Act and the Tennessee Medicaid False Claims Act by Anesthesia Services Associates, PLLC, doing business as Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS), according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee and Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III. The governments allege that the scheme defrauded Medicare and TennCare of at least $25 million. The complaint also names as defendants Dr. Peter B. Kroll, of Goodlettsville; Dr. Steven R. Dickerson, of Nashville; and Dr. Gilberto A. Carrero, of Nashville, three of the principal owners of CPS, as well as John Davis, of Franklin, the former CEO, who was convicted by a jury in April of violating the Anti-Kickback Statute; and Russell S. Smith, a chiropractor from Cleveland. The complaint also states claims for violation of the Federal Priority Statute and common law claims, including unjust enrichment and fraud. A federal judge in April granted prosecutors’ requests to intervene in whistleblower complaints…
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced bipartisan legislation Monday that would enhance the preparation of students in the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) for careers in computer science and cybersecurity, she said in a press release. The JROTC Cyber Training Act is co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Gary Peters (D-MI). Identical bipartisan legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX). Blackburn tweeted, “By providing funding for high school training in computer science and cybersecurity, we can ensure that the next generation in uniform is prepared for the future of combat. Glad to join @SenJackyRosen to invest in this crucial aspect of rebuilding our nation’s military.” By providing funding for high school training in computer science and cybersecurity, we can ensure that the next generation in uniform is prepared for the future of combat. Glad to join @SenJackyRosen to invest in this crucial aspect of rebuilding our nation's military. https://t.co/KYlveHOGQE — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 22, 2019 By 2026, the Department of Labor projects there will be 3.5 million computing-related jobs, yet the current education pipeline will only fill 19 percent of those openings, Blackburn said.…
Read the full story
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty has left the Land of the Rising Sun to return to the Volunteer State in a likely run for Lamar Alexander’s Senate seat. Hagerty tweeted, “Farewell Japan, and thank you for the incredible hospitality you have shown me and my family. These past two years have been the greatest of our lives.” Farewell Japan, and thank you for the incredible hospitality you have shown me and my family. These past two years have been the greatest of our lives. 🇺🇸🤝🇯🇵 またお会いしましょう ! 👋🏼✨ https://t.co/j53xf4zODO — ラーム・エマニュエル駐日米国大使 (@USAmbJapan) July 22, 2019 Alexander (R-TN) announced in December that he would not run again for the Senate, The Tennessee Star reported. President Donald Trump earlier this month endorsed Hagerty’s potential Senate bid, which likely would be announced after he leaves federal government service, The Star said. Just a week ago, speculation was still running rampant on whether Hagerty actually would run for the Senate, the Nashville Post said, calling him the “hypothetical frontrunner.” Ward Baker, who ran Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s 2018 campaign, is expected to run Hagerty’s campaign, Politico said. Baker is the former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. On a recent Tennessee…
Read the full story
Derek Rowe, a Nashville high school aviation maintenance teacher, is one of 50 educators and teacher-teams who were named semifinalists of the 2019 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence, according to a press release. Rowe, a teacher at McGavock High School in Nashville, and his skilled trades program are in the running for a share of $1 million in total cash awards, Harbor Freight Tools for Schools said in a statement. More information about the program is available here. Rowe, who teaches aviation maintenance, was chosen by an independent panel of judges from among a field of 749 skilled trades teachers who applied for the prize. The semifinalists—some competing as individuals and some as teacher teams—hail from 26 states and specialize in trades including manufacturing, welding, construction, automotive and agriculture mechanics. Rowe moved to the United States six years ago from Great Britain to work as a training director with a helicopter company, according to a Metro Nashville Schools blog. That did not work, and he began teaching at the teach high school level. Rowe has been an aviation instructor for more than 30 years, serving 17 of those years in the British Army as a…
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Thursday spoke on the Senate floor asking for support for the bipartisan BROWSER Act and discussed the dangers of FaceApp ahead of the first Senate Judiciary Tech Task Force meeting she led that afternoon. “A quick scroll through an average Instagram feed this morning revealed post after post of artificially-aged faces—all thanks to FaceApp, who now owns those images, and can do whatever they like with them,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Don’t mistake that recklessness for trust. Ask anyone who downloaded that app last night how they feel about it this afternoon.” Video of her speech is available here. Later in the day, Blackburn tweeted, “Thank you @LindseyGrahamSC for asking me to serve as Chair of the @senjudiciary Tech Task Force.” Thank you @LindseyGrahamSC for asking me to serve as Chair of the @senjudiciary Tech Task Force. pic.twitter.com/PxtvZyvMsk — Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) July 18, 2019 The free FaceApp allows users to make themselves look older in photos. Business Insider reported on privacy concerns that have surfaced for the Russian-created app that has more than 12.7 million new users. The terms of service allow the company to license photos for commercial…
Read the full story
If you were able to catch a glimpse of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg in Nashville on Wednesday, you were part of a select few. The progressive mayor of South Bend, Indiana stumped in Music City Wednesday — but only far-left progressives with cash to spend were there, as the event was pay-to-attend as The Tennessee Star reported in a “softball” preview story Monday that basically provided the candidate’s policy positions. The far-left Tennessean ran a glowing story Thursday. The story is here, in which the homosexual mayor who has said America was founded on white supremacy cast himself as a moral Christian alternative to President Donald Trump: “Voters who are guided by religious principles need to know they have a choice,” he said. People of faith “don’t have to stand with a president whose personal life flies in the face of what faith teaches us about how to conduct ourselves,” Buttigieg said. The venue also was announced at the last minute, The Star said. The Tennessean revealed that location was the Cannery Ballroom. Buttigieg did not exactly get grilled by any other media either. NewsChannel 5 had a six-paragraph story here. The only quote from Buttigieg was: “It’s important to speak to…
Read the full story
Michigan State Rep. Jim Lower (R-Greenville) announced Wednesday that he is filing a Federal Elections Commission report that shows he raised $200,506 from 3,161 contributors in just 40 days for his U.S. House race. Two highlights are that Ron Weiser, a former Michigan Republican Party Chair, former Republican National Committee Finance Chair and former United States Ambassador to Slovakia, and his wife Eileen, a former member of the State of Michigan Board of Education, both contributed $2,800 each, Lower said in a statement. That is the maximum contribution for the Primary Election. Lower tweeted: “Thanks to 3,161 individual contributors, our campaign raised just over $200,000 in the first 40 days! Hardworking grassroots voters support our Pro-@realDonaldTrump, Pro-Life, Pro-Jobs, Pro-2A, Pro-Family Values campaign!” Thanks to 3,161 individual contributors, our campaign raised just over $200,000 in the first 40 days! Hardworking grassroots voters support our Pro-@realDonaldTrump, Pro-Life, Pro-Jobs, Pro-2A, Pro-Family Values campaign! @GOPChairwoman @MIGOPChair @IngrahamAngle @FoxNews — Jim Lower (@RepJimLower) July 9, 2019 In terms of organizations, the United States Chamber of Commerce contributed $5,000 even before its formal endorsement process that will occur later in the campaign. The average contribution was $63.43. “Our campaign had an aggressive goal of raising $200,000…
Read the full story
Pete Buttigieg is the latest 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to plan a Nashville visit. Buttigieg will make a campaign stop in Music City on Wednesday, his campaign website says. The location so far has been hush-hush but will be announced this week. The doors, at whatever the location is, will open at 6 p.m. During a campaign visit in Nashville last week, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said that Nashville and Texas and other “places that formed the Confederacy” are bigoted and America was formed on white supremacy, The Tennessee Star reported. Former Vice President Joe Biden, a latecomer to the 2020 Democratic presidential race, visited Nashville on May 20 for his “American Promise” tour, The Star said. Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) visited Nashville’s Fisk University in April and inserted herself into the failed $9 billion Nashville transit referendum of 2018 when she said voters rejected the referendum because they wanted to use federal funds. If one wants to hear Buttigieg’s pitch directly, he or she will have to cough up some cash for the privilege. Tickets are available in various denominations from $25 to $1,000, and are available from the event page referenced above. In addition…
Read the full story
President Donald Trump’s replacement for NAFTA continues to draw opposition from Democrats, something that Star News Political Editor Steve Gill discussed Friday on Fox News. Video of the interview is available here. Trump headed to Milwaukee to push for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trump made his appeal for the USMCA to a friendly crowd in at Derco Aerospace, a Lockheed Martin-owned company, in Milwaukee, CBS News reported. The company provides logistics and technical support for fixed-wing aircraft. Gill spoke to Fox News about the president’s Wisconsin visit and the opposition he is facing from Democrats, which includes a claim by the president of the Wisconsin Fair Trade Coalition that Trump’s plan fails to prevent the outsourcing of jobs. However, Gill said, “This was one of President Trump’s key promises on the campaign trail that they would fix NAFTA, and that’s what this NAFTA 2.0, this new and improved NAFTA will do.” The new plan will benefit the agricultural and automotive industries, Gill said. Mexico has approved it and Canada is ready to approve it. “The only thing holding it up right now is the House Democrats, and frankly,…
Read the full story
Democrat infighting nearly prevented passage of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act in the House of Representatives Friday, U.S. Rep. Dr. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said in a press release. The annual defense policy bill, which for 58 years has passed with bipartisan support, instead passed in the House on a party-line vote. It survived only because of concessions to far-left socialists, insisting on the elimination of programs critical to defending the United States from Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries, the congressman said. The House on Friday approved the bill after adopting a progressive amendment including a prohibition on deploying lower-yield nuclear weapons and a ban on sending new prisoners to the Guantanamo Bay detention center, Roll Call said. The final vote on the fiscal 2020 bill was 220-197. No Republicans supported the typically bipartisan measure that traditionally has earned more than 300 of the 435 available House votes. A video of DesJarlais addressing the House on the matter is available here. “The legislation simply doesn’t provide our military men and women with the resources needed to adequately protect the homeland and could negatively impact facilities in and around the Fourth District of Tennessee, including Arnold Air Force Base,…
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Thursday again raised the topic of Snapchat and her efforts to urge the company to protect minors from sexual predators. Blackburn addressed the Senate about a letter she wrote Monday to Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel urging him to protect children from sexual predators and from being exposed to explicit content while using the platform. The Tennessee Star reported on the letter on Tuesday. Blackburn said in the letter, “Snapchat’s app rating—rated age appropriate for children ages 13 and up—fails to provide parents with adequate warnings about the platform’s dangers. The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted some of the ancillary risks associated with allowing such young children on the platform. ’13 has become the internet’s age of adulthood,’ when it should instead be 18.” Blackburn gave Spiegel a deadline of July 29 to respond to a list of questions. Video of Blackburn’s speech is available here. Blackburn’s remarks as prepared were as follows: Thank you, Madam President. In 2017, ICE agents arrested Francisco Javier Soledad on charges of producing child pornography using the popular social media app Snapchat. He assumed a variety of false identities, first a teenage boy, later an adult woman, and…
Read the full story
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is pushing to launch his school voucher program a year early, in the 2020-2021 school year, education blog Chalkbeat said. The General Assembly had set a deadline of the 2021-2022 school year, the blog said. Lee told the Tennessee Department of Education to work with the Tennessee Board of Education to make the early launch happen for the Education Savings Account (ESA), or vouchers. Chalkbeat also said the early launch would move up the pace of expected lawsuits by organizations like the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, which is preparing to challenge the law’s constitutionality. The law excludes students whose families enter the country illegally. Other critics say they worry about the potential for fraud. At least five school systems that have formally opposed vouchers have not done a good job of preparing their students for college, The Tennessee Star reported in May. The five school systems in Tennessee that have come out to formally oppose school vouchers haven’t exactly done that great of a job preparing students for college. This, according to statewide statistics members of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission reported last week. As The Tennessee Star reported, representatives from some of…
Read the full story
U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) announced he introduced legislation Thursday that would replace the Presidential Election Campaign Fund checkbox on the IRS 1040 with a Border Wall Trust Fund checkbox to allow taxpayers to designate their tax money toward building a southern border wall. “Taxpayer dollars should never be used to advance political campaigns,” Green said in a press release. “But, keeping Americans safe must be our #1 priority. My bill will give every American the opportunity to directly help President Trump build the wall.” Green tweeted, “Americans spoke loud and clear in 2016 that we want a wall to secure our southern border. Congress has clearly been unable to get the job done. My new bill will give every American the opportunity to directly help @realDonaldTrump #BuildTheWall.” Americans spoke loud and clear in 2016 that we want a wall to secure our southern border. Congress has clearly been unable to get the job done. My new bill will give every American the opportunity to directly help @realDonaldTrump #BuildTheWall. https://t.co/UYCbynv1AT — Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) July 11, 2019 The current IRS 1040 form allows taxpayers to check a box to direct $3 (or $6 for married filing jointly)…
Read the full story
During a campaign visit in Nashville Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said that Nashville and Texas and other “places that formed the Confederacy” are bigoted and America was formed on white supremacy. In the same breath as mentioning Nashville, he mentioned his home state of Texas and linked them to racism. “Those places that formed the Confederacy, that this country was founded on white supremacy. And every single institution and structure that we have in our country still reflects the legacy of slavery and segregation and Jim Crow and suppression, even in our ability to vote and participate in our elections.” He went on to mention purging of voter rolls. O’Rourke made the comments during a roundtable discussion in Nashville hosted by advocacy organization Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). A full video of the roundtable discussion is available here. The remarks come in the final two minutes of the video. O’Rourke made several stops in Nashville on Sunday and Monday, as The Tennessee Star reported. TIRRC’s political action committee affiliate, TIRRC Votes, tweeted, “During our roundtable with @BetoORourke we talked about ending worksite enforcement and expanding federal protections for undocumented workers. Raids are designed to instill…
Read the full story
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday wrote a letter urging the CEO of Snap, Evan Spiegel, to take action to protect children from sexual predators and being exposed to explicit adult content while using Snapchat. “In 2019, our children are living an unprecedented amount of their young lives online,” Blackburn said in a press release. “Snap must be transparent with users about the steps they take to ensure their application is used responsibly and not taken advantage of by those who wish to do innocent children harm.” Blackburn gave Spiegel a deadline of July 29 to respond to a list of questions. A Snapchat spokesperson told Roll Call that it has a zero tolerance policy to these concerns. “We’ve designed Snapchat with no browsable public profiles, and by default you can’t receive a message or share location with someone you haven’t added as a friend on the app. We work hard to detect, prevent and stop any abuse on our platform, and continue to work proactively with governments, law enforcement and best in class safety organizations to ensure that Snapchat continues to be a positive and safe environment,” said the spokesperson on Monday. U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO)…
Read the full story
State Rep. Mike Carter (R-TN-29) of Ooltewah reportedly wrote to all House chairmen and vice chairmen in his bid to become the next Speaker, multiple media outlets report. Carter promises fair treatment to all members without retribution, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. A meeting of the Tennessee House Republican Caucus has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 24, to select a Republican nominee for Speaker of the House to replace Rep. Glen Casada (R-TN-63) of Franklin in the position, The Tennessee Star reported. The next day, Gov. Bill Lee called for a special session of the Legislature to be held on Friday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. to vote for the replacement. In his letter, Carter told the chairmen and vice chairs they would keep their positions, the Times Free Press said. Carter did not return a phone call from The Star regarding the letter. According to a story by the Tennessee Journal: On the Hill, Carter told the chairmen: My request to serve you as Speaker is not about me, it’ s about you. I promise to use the Speaker’s office to promote each of you as the “Elected Official” in your district. This will begin with…
Read the full story