They wanted him dead. For years, a clandestine U.S. intelligence team had tracked a man they knew was high in the leadership of al Qaeda – an operative some believed had a hand in plotting the gruesome 2009 suicide attack in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA officers.
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Democrats trained their heaviest fire in attacking the measure’s corporate tax cuts, as a massive giveaway to the rich. But even as prominent Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) trashed the idea, their extremely blue home states have been cutting corporate tax rates.
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U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley has warned other United Nations envoys that she will be ‘taking names’ when the U.N. General Assembly holds a rare emergency session on Thursday to consider a resolution rejecting U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “The President will be watching this vote carefully and has requested I report back on those countries who voted against us,” the letter, seen by VOA, says. “We will take note of each and every vote on this issue.”
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On Thursday, Tennessee House Majority Leader State Rep. Glen Casada (R-Thompsons Station) and Republican Caucus Chairman State Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) called for an investigation into the removal of two Confederate statues Wednesday evening from property that was owned by the City of Memphis until just a few hours earlier. “Last night, the Memphis City Council unanimously approved the sale of the Health Sciences Park and Fourth Bluff Park under the cover of night to a private entity. For years, these two parks have housed the statues of Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis,” the statement began. Casada and Williams noted that “within an hour following the vote … cranes were spotted shortly thereafter to remove both statues,” adding: Multiple questions have been raised involving the legality of these actions, including: Did Memphis officials violate sunshine laws by coordinating this sale outside of the public eye? Did anyone gain financially from the rapid and clear undervalued sale of these two properties? Were existing state statutes violated related to the removal or relocation of these memorials? With these and many additional questions still unanswered, we will immediately begin work in conjunction with the Speaker, the Attorney General, the Comptroller’s office, and other…
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Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) has a huge 58 percent to 11 percent lead over former Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN-08) in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), according to a new Tennessee Star Poll. Dr. Rolando Toyos is a distant third with three percent support. The poll results have a small silver lining for Fincher. Among those who have an opinion about him, he has a 2 to 1 favorability rating. But a massive 65 percent of likely Republican primary voters do not know who he is. This gives Fincher an opportunity to positively define himself to those who do not know who he is, with sufficient financial resources. But Fincher has a lot of catching up to do. Blackburn has an even higher favoribility rating: 61 percent of Tennessee Republicans have a favorable opinion of her while only 13 percent have an unfavorable opinion. The poll of 1,028 Tennessee Republican likely primary voters was conducted between December 12 and December 18 for The Tennessee Star by Triton Research using IVR technology (automated phone response), and has a 3.1 percent margin of error. The respondents were balanced between the three regions of Tennessee…
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Republican gubernatorial candidate and former State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) released a statement on Thursday criticizing the Memphis City Council for a series of actions that resulted in the removal of statues in Memphis parks under the cover of darkness Wednesday night honoring Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis. “Our history is not perfect, nor are the historical figures who helped shape our state and nation, but it is wrong to destroy these public monuments suddenly and in the dark of night in order to cater to the politically motivated demands of those who want to cleanse our history,” Beavers said, adding: There are some individuals and groups who want to promote a divisive agenda using claims of racism and bigotry against anyone who respects history and wants to preserve it. Sadly that rhetoric, and weak-kneed politicians unwilling to stand up to them and their threats of violence if they don’t get their way, is creating a climate where hysteria seems to matter more than history. Removing these historical monuments won’t help a single child in Memphis do better in school. Perhaps the Memphis City Council should worry more about the abysmal test scores being produced in…
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Confederate monuments on what was until recently city property were taken down in Memphis after the sun set on Wednesday with little advance public discussion of the propriety of the actions taken secretively to circumvent state law. Whether the actions of the Memphis City Council and Mayor Jim Strickland that caused these stealth take downs of Confederate monuments Wednesday legally circumvent state law, or are in fact a brazen violation of state law, is a matter that members of the Tennessee General Assembly are sure to investigate when they convene in Nashville next month. It is unclear whether Mayor Strickland or Memphis officials sought a legal opinion from Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery on their legal right to undertake these actions. According to a recent Tennessee Star Poll, 64 percent of Tennessee Republican likely primary voters are more likely to vote for a candidate who opposes the removal of these monuments, while 26 percent are less likely to vote for a candidate who opposes the removal of these monuments. The Commercial Appeal was on the scene as crews arrived to carry out the removal of Confederate monuments, on order of the new owners, who bought the properties for a paltry $1000 each:…
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Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) has opened up a ten point lead over Randy Boyd, her closest rival for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Tennessee, according to a new poll released by The Tennessee Star. Black received the support of 21 percent of likely Tennessee Republican primary voters to lead the field of five contenders, followed by Boyd in second place with 11 percent. Rounding out the bottom tier of candidates are Speaker of the Tennessee House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) with 6 percent, Bill Lee with 4 percent, and former State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) with 3 percent. The good news for Black’s four rivals for the GOP nomination is that 52 percent of likely voters in the August 2018 Tennessee Republican gubernatorial primary are still undecided. The poll also provided information on Tennessee Republican voter attitudes on six key policy questions that are expected to drive the debate in the Republican gubernatorial primary over the next eight and a half months. Likely Tennessee Republican primary voters in 2018: Overwhelmingly oppose providing taxpayer subsidized in-state college tuition to illegal immigrant students by a whopping 88 percent to 6 percent margin, more than 14-to-1 against. Overwhelmingly oppose Republican candidates who accept…
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Senator Bob Corker’s (R-TN) favorability rating has sunk to a record-low 22 percent among Tennessee Republicans, according to a new poll released by The Tennessee Star on Wednesday. A full 60 percent of Tennessee Republicans have an unfavorable view of the retiring junior senator. Corker’s record-low unfavorability rating among Tennessee Republicans stands in stark contrast to President Trump’s favorability rating, which remains sky high at 84 percent among Tennessee Republicans, according to the same poll. The poll of 1,028 Tennessee Republican likely primary voters was conducted for The Tennessee Star by Triton Research between December 12 and December 18 using IVR technology (automated phone response), and has a 3.1 percent margin of error. “These numbers are not really surprising, based on his consistent attacks on President Trump and obstructionist approach to issues that Tennessee voters overwhelmingly support,” Andy Ogles former State Director of Americans for Prosperity, tells The Tennessee Star, adding: Senator Corker figured out that we had figured him out and when he saw similar poll numbers earlier this year so he chose not to try to face Tennessee voters with his pro-Obama, pro-Establishment track record. Once he had a serious opponent for his seat he realized he was going…
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In a shockingly close election, Republican State Rep. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) narrowly defeated Democratic candidate Mary Alice Carfi in the 17th State Senate District’s special election by a mere 308 votes on Tuesday, 5,990 to 5,682, in unofficial results obtained by The Tennessee Star. Barring a recall challenge from Carfi, Pody will take over the State Senate seat left by former State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), who resigned in August to devote full time to her campaign for governor, and be seated in the Tennessee State Senate when the Tennessee General Assembly reconvenes in January. The surprisingly narrow margin of victory for Pody, 51 percent to 49 percent, was dramatically lower than the last time the State Senate seat was contested in 2010, when Beavers easily won by a 24 percent margin. When Beavers ran for re-election in 2014, the Democrats did not field a candidate. The slim margin of victory for Pody was even more surprising, given that the Democratic candidate spent very little money on her campaign, focusing instead on get-out-the-vote efforts, sources tell The Star. A county-by-county analysis of the vote total, as seen here on the tally board at Pody election headquarters on Tuesday night,…
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The Senate passed President Trump’s Tax Cut and Job Acts late Tuesday evening in a straight party line vote, 51 to 48. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is back home in Arizona in the midst of treatments for cancer, was the only member of the Senate who did not vote. “Republicans advanced to the one-yard line to pass historic tax reform as the Senate passed the final Tax Cut and Jobs Act on Tuesday, sending the bill to the House for final passage. President Donald Trump hopes to sign the bill before Christmas,” Breitbart News reported at 12:47 a.m. eastern time on Wednesday, adding: The Senate passed the final the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 51-48, along partisan lines. Fifty-one Republicans voted in favor the bill, while zero Democrats voted for the tax reform legislation. Vice President Mike Pence presided over the vote as the president of the Senate. The House passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act earlier on Tuesday. However, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that three provisions violated the Senate’s Byrd rule for reconciliation bills, so the House will have to vote on the tax reform legislation again on Wednesday. President Trump has invited Republican leaders from the…
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President Trump’s favorability rating remains sky high among Tennessee Republicans, according to a new poll released by The Tennessee Star on Wednesday. A stunning 84 percent of Tennessee Republicans who are likely primary voters have a favorable view of President Trump, as opposed to just ten percent who have an unfavorable view according to the poll, which was conducted for The Tennessee Star by Triton Research. The poll of 1,028 Tennessee Republican likely primary voters was conducted between December 12 and December 18 using IVR technology (automated phone response), and has a 3.1 percent margin of error. The latest poll results measuring support for President Trump among Tennessee Republicans are virtually unchanged from the results of the June 2017 Tennessee Star Poll, which showed that President Trump had an 86 percent job approval rating with voters in his own party. “Donald Trump is popular with Tennessee Republicans because he promised a conservative agenda and is delivering on it. There is a message here to the Republican Party. Conservatism is not a punch line for a speech. It is what we expect from our leaders,” Judson Phillips, a Tennessee attorney and founder of Tea Party Nation, tells The Tennessee Star. “Sky-high…
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House lawmakers passed the most extensive rewrite of the tax code in 30 years Tuesday, moving one step closer to scoring the first major legislative victory of the 115th Congress. The House passed The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act 227-203 Tuesday. 12 Republicans and all Democrats voted against the bill. Two members did not vote. Senators…
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Songwriter Lee Thomas Miller dropped out of the 7th Congressional District race on Monday, one month and four days after announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination. “I looked forward to this race and the opportunity to change things that I think are broken. But as a husband and father it quickly became obvious that this campaign would require me to compromise far more of myself than I would ever be willing,” Miller said in a statement released by his campaign on Monday. “So, I will end my campaign for U.S. House of Representatives while taking with me the desire to protect faith, family and freedome that I have always had. I will also go back to using my voice and experience to defend the American songwriter,” Miller added. Miller’s abrupt departure from the race leaves State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) as the only GOP candidate in the running to replace Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), who is running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). “Lee Thomas Miller is a great American who captures in song the emotions of life’s challenges,” Green told The Tennessee Star on Monday morning shortly after Miller’s announcement. “I…
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For the second year in a row, President Donald Trump and his conservative evangelical supporters topped the list of the 10 most important religion news stories of the year as compiled by the country’s largest organization of religion journalists. These so-called Trumpvangelicals are enjoying unprecedented access to the Oval Office both through Vice President Mike Pence, a conservative Christian, and an informal presidential advisory panel consisting almost entirely of conservative evangelical Christian leaders.
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Wealthy New York City elites are preparing to flee the state because the Republican tax bill is going to make them face the full brunt of Mayor Bill de Blasio and Democratic state leadership’s tax rates. “Everybody I speak to brings this up. Every NYC resident I speak to asks about the feasibility involved in doing it,” Wall Street tax expert Robert Willens told Yahoo Finance. “I’ve been doing this more than 40 years, and never heard more discussion about relocating than recently.”
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Last week during an address at the White House President Trump likened his tax plan to “the tax cut that John F. Kennedy proposed 55 years ago.” This elicited some howls of protest from Mr. Trump’s liberal critics who say it’s historically inaccurate to compare the Trump plan to JFK’s.
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Granting legal status to young illegal immigrants under the DREAM Act would add $25.9 billion to the deficit over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported on Friday. The extra burden on taxpayers mainly is due to increased health insurance costs and spending associated with programs that benefit the working poor.
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MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhl blamed Republicans Friday for allowing a federal children’s health program to expire, repeating a claim that has reverberated across the Internet and national media in recent days. The Washington Post Fact Checker earlier this week for making a similar claim.
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The UN Security Council will vote Monday on a draft resolution that would reject US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, diplomats said. Egypt requested the vote on Sunday, a day after it presented the measure that is likely to be vetoed by the United States. Breaking with the international…
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The United States is expanding the requirements for dozens of countries taking part in the Visa Waiver Program, demanding that the countries check traveler information against U.S. counterterrorism information. Trump administration officials said Friday that the countries will have to use U.S. information to screen travelers crossing their borders from third countries. Many countries in the program already do that, one administration official said.
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The Shelbyville Times-Gazette reported on Friday that former State Rep. Billy Spivey (R-Lewisburg) has been “disqualified” from running in the State Senate District 14 special election to replace former State Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) “due to an unpaid fine levied by the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance.” The Times-Gazette broke the story late Friday morning: The election finance bureau, which is separate from the state election office, informed the election office that Spivey was ineligible, according to Adam Ghassemi, a spokesman for the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, who referred more specific questions to the election finance registry. Drew Rawlins of the election finance office said that Spivey never paid a $425 fine which was assessed by the finance office because Spivey was late filing his campain finance statements for the fourth quarter of 2016. State law says that this type of unpaid fine makes a candidate ineligible, and because Spivey did not take care of it before the candidate filing deadline, he is ineligible to be on the ballot, said Rawlins. Final deadline The deadline for candidates to file for the special election was noon Thursday. Spivey had filed a candidate petition, but the state announced later…
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by Steve Gill A friend of mine recently asked me about a report that claimed that Tennessee had ranked at the very bottom among states in voter participation in the 2014 off-year general election. I was admittedly skeptical, so I reviewed the report, which is attached HERE. More detailed Tennessee specific data from Pew Research is HERE. In 2014 Tennessee saw just 29 percent of citizens eligible to vote turn out and actually vote. That ranked Tennessee 50th out of all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. (We nudged out Texas to avoid the bottom spot.) Interestingly, 2014 was a low turnout election nationally, as none of the largest most populous states had competitive elections that year. Nationally, only 36.6 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot, the lowest percentage in a midterm since World War II. Only 83.2 million voters turned out, down from 90.9 million in 2010. Not surprisingly, competition is the most important key to voter participation. Thus, while the data about Tennessee’s low voter participation in 2014 may be “accurate,”it doesn’t reflect anything nefarious or diabolical regarding voter suppression or even structural barriers to voter participation that need action. A closer examination of the…
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On December 15, 1791, the legislature of the state of Virginia ratified all ten amendments to the Constitution, making the Bill of Rights the law of the land, and completing our country’s founding document. It had been over a quarter of a century since the Declaration of Independence had been signed on July 4, 1776 by members of the Continental Congress. Now, after a bloody war and many fits and starts, the complete covenant that bound the now fourteen states into a new republic had been sealed. It had also been more than four years since Benjamin Franklin, stepping out of the final day of the Constitutional Convention, told Mrs. Powel the delegates had given the citizens of the fledgling United States, “a Republic, if you can keep it.” All four years had been necessary to fulfill the promise made to the Anti-Federalists in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, and North Carolina during the ratification conventions in those states that in return for ratifying the Constitution, the first order of business in the new republic would be the passage of the Bill of Rights. Thanks largely to James Madison, and the integrity of all those leaders who sided with…
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The FBI official removed from Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation repeatedly mocked Donald Trump, referring to him as a “douche,” and expressed concern over what would happen to the U.S. if he was elected, according to copies of text messages the agent sent. The Justice Department turned over 375 messages between counterintelligence investigator Peter Strzrok and…
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President Trump said Wednesday he knew Republican Roy Moore would lose the Alabama Senate race, after Democrat Doug Jones’ stunning victory dealt the president one of the biggest defeats of his first year in office. It was the president’s second loss in the Alabama Senate race this year, after he backed losing Republican Luther Strange in…
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Reality TV star turned political operative Omarosa Manigault is to leave the White House, officials said, the latest departure as Donald Trump’s administration turns one year old. The fiery former star of Trump’s show “The Apprentice” will leave early next year, press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday.
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Retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) was at it again on Wednesday, as Mediaite reported: Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who thought Moore was unfit for the Senate even before the sexual assault allegations surfaced, told reporters that he was “proud” of Alabama: “I know we’re supposed to cheer for our side of the aisle, if you will,” Corker said, “but I’m really, really happy with what happened for all of us in our nation, for people serving in the Senate, to not have to deal with what we were likely going to have to deal with should the outcome have been the other way.” You can watch the video of Corker’s comments here. Corker’s latest comments are not likely to improve his standing with Tennessee Republicans. A recent poll published by the Chattanooga Times Free Press showed that the retiring senator is not very popular with Tennesseans overall, and that Democrats like Corker more than Republicans do: Approval ratings for the president are starkly divided by party lines with 81 percent of Republicans approving and 86 percent of Democrats disapproving. Support for Haslam is more mixed, with approval from 43 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of Republicans. Corker, R-Tenn., who…
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Republican negotiators on Wednesday said they’ve managed to strike a deal on a $1.4 trillion tax-cut package and that they’ll be prepared to send it to President Trump’s desk next week. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch told reporters that House and Senate lawmakers working to reconcile the two chambers’ versions have reached an agreement.
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The role of state tests should always be to supplement other feedback loops that teachers, parents, and districts use to get a more complete picture of a student’s development, including classroom performance, report cards, portfolios, performances, and other ways students show their development. State tests are not meant to be the sole driver of instructional decisions. The information from an assessment should provide educators, parents, and students with a better perspective on how the students are succeeding academically compared to their peers across Tennessee.
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A coffee shop owner gave college Republicans five minutes to get out of the shop because of their MAGA hats, according to a Friday video. The unnamed owner of Rodrigue’s Coffee at Fordham University in New York kicked the college Republicans out because the MAGA hats allegedly violated the shop’s “safe space policy,” reported Campus Reform.
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The memorandum of understanding signed by former Tennessee athletic director John Currie and would-be head coach Greg Schiano on Nov. 26 lacked the signatures of Chief Financial Officer David Miller and Chancellor Beverly Davenport, therefore, making it a non-binding document, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. The University of Tennessee released the MOU to the newspaper…
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The Obamacare “death panels,” the same ones that liberals vehemently denied were a part of the plan, are on life support themselves, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) being the only thing keeping them alive. Conservatives in Congress not only have a chance to end President Donald Trump’s first year with a big win politically, but can also gain policy traction by repealing one of the worst aspects of Obamacare. The Independent Payment Advisory Board, or IPAB, was included in the Obamacare legislation, and consists of a group of 15 unelected bureaucrats who control health care spending and ration health care for those on Medicare (i.e. senior citizens.) You might recognize IPAB as it is more commonly referred to as “the death panels.” President Trump has already signed on to repeal IPAB, as it was part of President Trump’s budget request. The House of Representatives passed their version of IPAB repeal on November 2nd. The bill, introduced by Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN-01), a medical doctor, passed with a bipartisan margin of 307 to 111. All of Tennessee’s Republican members of Congress were co-sponsors of the bill. On the passage of IPAB repeal, Congressman Roe stated “I am thrilled the…
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An explosion targeting the Port Authority bus station in downtown Manhattan Monday was allegedly carried out by an Islamic State-inspired Bangladeshi immigrant, former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton told MSNBC. Update: Bill Bratton is on @MSNBC’s #MorningJoe confirming that this was a terrorist attack in the name of ISIS near the Port Authority. https://t.co/v7r55XlYiy — Holly O’Reilly…
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President Donald Trump once again attacked the credibility of mainstream media outlets Monday morning, rejecting a recent New York Times report that he watches CNN’s Don Lemon for motivation. In addition to criticizing the NYTimes report, which purported to give a moment-by-moment accounting of Trump’s typical work day, the president also attacked CNN and MSNBC, labeling…
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Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm whose Democrat-financed Russia dossier fueled an FBI investigation into Donald Trump, pitched other stories about the Republican presidential candidate to Washington reporters, including an attempt to tie him to a convicted pedophile who was once buddies with former President Bill Clinton. Journalist sources told The Washington Times that Fusion founder…
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Former Facebook vice president of user growth, Chamath Palihapitiya, said he feels “tremendous guilt” for helping create the social media age that captivates so much of our lives, and called out Silicon Valley investors for frivolously spending money on “shitty, useless,” companies. “I feel tremendous guilt,” Palihapitiya told a crowd gathered at Standford Business School, CNBC…
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NBC News’ “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd appeared on Sunday to take sides: In particular, he asked Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) if he thought Democrats had “done enough” to “stop” the GOP’s tax reform bill that is moving toward final passage. “I know you’re not a fan of this bill at all. OK. I know where you believe the priorities are all wrong,” Todd said to Sanders. “[Has] the Democratic Party collectively done enough, you think, in the institutions of the House and the Senate to stop this bill?”
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by Judson Phillips Earlier this week, Mark West of the Chattanooga Tea Party shocked a lot of people in Tennessee when he came out and endorsed Diane Black to be the next governor of Tennessee. Mark’s endorsement of the four-term Congressman flies in the face of the perception that the Tea Party is solidly behind former State Senator Mae Beavers. (Writer’s note: Neither I nor my group, Tea Party Nation, have yet to endorse a candidate in the governor’s race). Many Tea Party activists and groups are solidly behind Mae Beavers, but as Mark West just proved, that support is not unanimous. Tennessee activists on social media erupted after word of Mark’s endorsement spread. Many people who are active in the conservative and Tea Party movement in Tennessee were openly critical of him. Others, more disturbingly, opined that the Tea Party did not support Diane Black and Mark essentially had no right to disagree with the majority. That latter sentiment is extremely disturbing. The Tea Party movement is a movement that is centered on the concepts of freedom and liberty. One of the most fundamental aspects of liberty is the right to make up your own mind. If the…
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Dean Young, chief political strategist for embattled U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R), tried to frame Tuesday’s election in Alabama as a referendum on President Donald Trump and his agenda during an interview Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.” Moore, who fielded accusations during the last few weeks before the election of sexually pursuing teenaged girls…
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The National Sheriffs’ Association came out in favor of the Department of Justice Thursday in Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ push to withhold funds from Chicago and other sanctuary cities. The sheriffs’ association—which represents more than 3,000 sheriffs nationwide—will file an amicus brief in support of the DOJ in ongoing litigation between Sessions and the city of…
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President Donald Trump has radically changed the U.S. refugee program, as a lower admissions cap and tighter vetting procedures have led to a sharp decline in both the number of people admitted and the share of Muslims in the refugee population. The Trump administration restarted refugee admissions in late October after the end of a 120-day…
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The University of Tennessee at Martin Student Government Association passed a controversial concealed carry resolution Thursday night in a 17 to 10 vote of the Student Senate. Titled “A Resolution to Allow Students to Lawfully Carry Concealed Weapons at the University of Tennessee at Martin,” the resolution was at the center of campus controversy last month that involved a threatening letter to its supporters written anonymously by a UT Martin faculty member. On November 3, The Tennessee Star reported that “Officials at the University of Tennessee at Martin confirmed . . . on Friday that a faculty member has been placed on leave for writing a threatening letter to the student sponsors of a controversial Student Government Association resolution that would allow students to have constitutional concealed carry privileges on campus, pending the passage of enabling state legislation.” Later that same day, “The chancellor of the University of Tennessee at Martin issued a statement late Friday identifying Dr. Charles Bradshaw, associate professor of English, as the author of an anonymous letter that contained threats of violence against the student sponsors of a Student Government Association resolution to allow students concealed carry privileges on campus,” The Star reported. Four days later,…
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A University of California, Merced professor declined to debate conservative author Ben Shapiro, but offered to fight him, according to audio released Wednesday. Fernando Cortes Chirino, a sociology professor at the university, addressed Shapiro’s upcoming visit to Merced and suggested he would enjoy “ripping this fool’s shoulder out of his socket” in a charity fight, reported…
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The Democratic National Committee and liberals in Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco are hoping that “Pajama Gramp” Phil Bredesen will do better in the 2018 U.S. Senate race here in Tennessee than “Pajama Boy” Jon Ossoff did in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District special election back in June. You may recall that the 30-year-old Ossoff raised well over $30 million from the liberal coastal bastions in an unsuccessful attempt to take the seat long held by Republicans away from GOP nominee Karen Handel. Though Handel was outspent by about 6 to 1, the Democratic strategy in Georgia failed miserably, as she defeated “Pajama Boy” Ossoff by a comfortable five point margin. Democrats are attempting to deploy that same out-of-state funding strategy in the Alabama special U.S. Senate election next Tuesday in which far left liberal Democrat Doug Jones seeks to defeat conservative Republican Roy Moore. They’ve thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Moore — almost all the money supporting Jones’ campaign comes from out of state and some very shady money is coming in to a shell independent expenditure group that appears to be financed to the tune of $3.4 million on in-kind contributions from Washington,…
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Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on Thursday, is a big supporter of “Mayor Moonbeam” Megan Barry’s $5.4 billion and growing mass transit boondoggle. Bredesen showed his support for the massive deal by sitting next to Barry when she announced the scheme back in October (at the time supposed to cost just $5.2 billion, according to the mayor). Barry recognized Bredesen at the announcement as having “the insight to know that an investment in infrastructure changes the city’s trajectory and changes it for decades.” “You started with the structure of the arena, then you followed it with a stadium. Go Titans. Yes. What followed from that was a city full of people, a city full of energy and a whole lot of Predators fans,” Barry said of Bredesen. It was under then-Mayor Bredesen’s term that Nissan Stadium (previously LP Field) was constructed at a cost that exceeded $291 million, $207 million or 71 percent of which came from taxpayers. The public funding came from allocations of city sales tax and other tax revenues as well as state bonds. Taxpayers are still paying those debts today,…
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Seventy-four year old former Gov. Phil Bredesen announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee currently held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) in a remarkably low energy two and a half minute video released on YouTube Thursday morning. Wearing a green, white, and yellow plaid shirt covered by a black and brown vest, Bredesen sat in a rocking chair on the porch of an expansive residence and delivered a somewhat sleepy message telling Tennesseans why he should be their next senator. It was a remarkably outdated approach, reminiscent of the failed “low energy” delivery that doomed the 2016 Presidential campaign of former Florida governor Jeb Bush. You can watch the full announcement here: “I’m Phil Bredesen. I’m running for the U.S. Senate, and I want to tell you why,” Bredesen began. “We all know Washington is broken. But while politicians are up there playing partisan games and working on their re-election, out here in America, back here in Tennessee, we have some real problems.” Though he touched on the “partisan games” being played in Washington, Bredesen failed to note that he was a big financial backer of one of the most partisan…
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Former Gov. Phil Bredesen’s TNInvestco program, which he promoted in 2009 as a sure fire job and revenue generator for the State of Tennessee, has been a complete financial and economic debacle, the Tennessee Comptroller reported in 2016: A performance audit from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office has revealed the State of Tennessee has only recovered $5.3 million of its initial $200 million investment in the TNInvestco program. The TNInvestco program, which started in 2009 and 2010, is described as a public-private venture capital program intended to help start-up companies create jobs and for the state to eventually receive a return on its investment. As of December 31, 2015, the State of Tennessee has only received 2.6% of the initial investment The failure of TNInvestco is one topic Bredesen is not likely to highlight when he announces his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat in the near future, possibly as soon as today. The program can best be described as a crony capitalist disaster. The scheme devised by Bredesen was formally known as “The Tennessee Small Business Investment Company Credit Act, commonly known as TNInvestco, [which he] signed into law in July 2009,” The Tennessee Ledger noted: Under the law, ten local investment…
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Attack on Pearl Harbor “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars,” promised Franklin D. Roosevelt as he campaigned for a third term, Oct. 30, 1940. FDR addressed Congress on appropriations for national defense, July 10, 1940:…
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Minutes after reports surfaced on Wednesday that former Gov. Phil Bredesen will soon announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07), the front runner for the GOP nomination, blasted the 74-year-old Bredesen as a supporter of “President Obama’s liberal policies” who is “out-of-touch with Tennessee values.” “Tennessee families want change and that is not what 74-year-old Democrat politician Phil Bredesen will bring to the United States Senate. Bredesen’s views are out-of-touch with Tennessee values, he supported President Obama’s liberal policies, is against second amendment rights and even authored a plan to give illegal immigrants driving certificates. Marsha is the only true conservative in this race who will ensure liberal Bredesen doesn’t block President Trump’s agenda in Washington.” Blackburn’s spokesperson said in a statement release by the campaign. Conservative commentator Steve Gill added his perspective. “Tennesseans in 92 of our 95 counties overwhelmingly rejected Hillary Clinton as President; but Phil Bredesen and his wife Andrea Conte voted for her. Federal Election Commission records show they also donated more than $69,000 to Hillary’s election through her campaign, SuperPAC and the Democratic National Committee operation on her behalf, not to mention thousands more to the most…
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