RHEA COUNTY REPUBLICAN OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Keith Flatness, Chairman
Bitsy Gryder, Vice Chairman
Donna Taylor, Secretary
Sheila Larson, Treasurer
Larry Pendergrass, Vice Treasurer
Linda Pendergrass, Past Chairman
Marv Keener, Chaplain
Gary Drinkard, Parliamentarian
Jim Murphy, PAC Chair
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
The Chairman did not provide comments by press time. – Editor.
MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING
The July meeting was cancelled due to many regular attendees being on vacation, hence no minutes were taken. The next meeting will be held at the Rhea County Sheriff’s Department Training Center, located at 711 Eagle Drive, in Evensville, TN. We hope to see you there! — Editor.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer did not provide a copy of the Treasurer’s Report by press time. – Editor.
COMMENTS FROM OUR READERS
Readers are always encouraged to offer comments and notifications of interest to our Members and Friends–Editor.
Liz Holiway holiwaycharles@gmail.com who serves as our county representative to the state Republican Party, and Beth Campbell bethcampbell21@gmail.com who serves as RNC Chairwoman, of the State Executive Committee, which is the Board of the Tennessee Republican Party invites RCRP Members to attend the Statesmen Dinner, which is the major fundraiser for the Tennessee Republican Party. See the following ad.
TNGOP Announces Vice President Mike Pence will be the Keynote Speaker at the Statesmen’s Dinner Chair and Keynote Speaker
Nashville, Tenn. – July 15, 2017 – Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden released the following statement on the 2017 Statesmen’s Dinner:
“I am very excited to announce that the Tennessee Republican Party’s Keynote Speaker for the 2017 Statesmen’s Dinner will be Vice President Mike Pence. This is an exciting time for the Tennessee Republican Party as we continue to grow and gear up for 2018’s critical elections. Vice President Mike Pence will be the Keynote Speaker and Governor Bill Haslam will serve as our Dinner Chair, we expect this will be one of the largest and most successful Statesmen’s Dinners to date. It will certainly be an event no Republican in Tennessee will want to miss.”
Background:
The 2017 Statesmen’s Dinner will be held on August 3rd at the Music City Center in Nashville with receptions beginning at 5:30pm and the dinner starting at 6:30pm.
Past Statesmen’s speakers include: former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (2016), former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (2015), New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (2014), U.S. Senator Tim Scott (2013), Former Vice President Dick Cheney (2002), and former Vice President Dan Quayle (1989).
Media Contact: Candice Dawkins | 615-269-4260 (Office) | candice@tngop.org
The event will be held at the Music City Center, 201 Fifth Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee, on 3 August. http://www.nashvillemusiccitycenter.com/ Tickets are on sale for $250 per person but are free to Capitol Club Members. For more information contact Elizabeth or Beth at the e-mail addresses listed above.
Marv Keener, Chaplain for the RCRP offered the following via Mike Huckabee.
The Democrats are starting to remind me of the dog that constantly chased cars until he caught one, then he didn’t know what to do with it. They’ve turned themselves into cartoons of the most rabid 1950s-style anti-Russia Cold Warriors, demanding a special counsel to chase down even the slightest hint of collusion with Russia – as long as they thought it would undermine and hamstring President Trump, block his agenda, delegitimize his election victory, or – the Holy Grail – uncover an impeachable offense! Well, after a year of investigations, and after they finally got their special counsel who’s been staffing up with expensive lawyers at taxpayer expense, we’re finally starting to uncover some actual evidence of collusion with Russia. Only it points at Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and their people, not Trump or his aides.
But there’s still the hope of pinning “obstruction of justice” on Trump, for his non-attempts to end the investigation of nothing. After all, we now are seeing real evidence of an attempt at obstructing an investigation of felony offenses at the highest levels. Only that comes from the Obama era, too!
Gary Drinkard, Parliamentarian for the RCRP, draws our attention to an article that originally appeared in the Daily Caller.
Justice Gorsuch has broken a forty year old precedent by refusing to join the SCOTUS “Cert Pool.” What’s that?
The Cert Pool, established in 1973, is a mechanism where clerks serving at the Supreme Court review the many petitions – as many as 8,000 each term – to determine which, if any, have sufficient standing to be decided on by the Justices. In other words, the clerks are running the Supreme Court! It also, in theory, allows third parties to unfairly influence a case through their influence with the clerks.
This is NOT how the Supreme Court is supposed to work!
There no doubt all the petitions that are brought to the US Supreme Court place an enormous workload on all who work there but allowing clerks who may wish to pursue their own agendas to decide which petitions may or may not have sufficient standing to be heard is a decision that should be reserved to the Justices.
[Perhaps there should be a mechanism that would give Plaintiffs a brief audience with one or more Justices, so they may provide details or evidence that might otherwise be overlooked if the task were left simply to the clerks. Do any of our readers have any thoughts on this matter? – Editor]
Rocky Silverman, a reader from Seattle, Washington, shared the following:
President Donald Trump was [recently] vindicated . . . after CNN Supervising Producer John Bonifield was caught on a hidden camera admitting that his network has been peddling bogus reports about President Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia.
Pressed by Project Veritas undercover investigator about whether the thousands of items devoted to the Trump-Russia connection were false, Bonifield replied “Could be Bull****. I mean it’s mostly bull**** right now. Like, we don’t have any giant proof…And so I think the President is probably right to say, like, look you are witch-hunting me. You have no smoking gun. You have no real proof.”
Bonifield then went on to make fun of “cutesy” journalistic ethics. “This is a business,” he said. Video footage of this exchange emerged right around the time that three senior CNN employees were forced to resign for publishing a story claiming that Congress was investigating a “Russian investment fund with ties to Trump officials.” Specifically mentioned in CNN story was Anthony Scaramucci, a Trump transition team member, who claimed what CNN had written about him was false. Fearing a libel suit, CNN’s management deleted the story from its website, disabled the link, and apologized.
This article was written by Ruthie Blum, an editor at the Gatestone Institute; it first appeared in Israel Hayom. You can read the full article at the following link: https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/06/30/its-all-fake-news/
Troy McFarland, a reader from Cleveland, TN shared the following:
Have you seen the Beacon Center’s Tennessee Pork Report? You should! I believe anyone who read it would be shocked by how our tax money is being wasted by the folks in Nashville. According to their report, the state and local government officials have blown $480 million just this past year on some of the most idiotic things anyone could imagine. Some of the most outlandish examples were $56 million to fund the cancelled TV program “Nashville,” $1.5 million for artists to put up their work around Nashville, and $900,000 squandered in Hamilton County so the Commissioners could fund their pet political projects. The most [ridiculous] item was to fund the UT Office of Diversity and Inclusion to encourage students to call one another “ze” and “zir” instead of “he” and “she.” Does it get any crazier than that?
[A link to the Tennessee Pork Report https://www.beacontn.org/2016-pork-report/ is provided for the readers’ review – Editor.]
Zebulon Passmore, a reader from Kansas City, MO shared the following. The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities. Also, Zeb provided an e-mail address where people may write to the FCC to protest what they see (e.g. “fake news”) in the broadcast media: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests
MESSAGES FROM OUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
Senator Bob Corker recently posted that President Trump has selected Donald Cochran to serve Tennesseans as U.S. Attorney for the Middle District, noting that Cochran is a former prosecutor and law professor at Belmont University, and a U.S. Army veteran who has shown a commitment to serving our country and enforcing the law. [The confirmation process is expected to be non-controversial.]
Congressman Scott DesJarlais, who serves on House Services Committee, and on both the Subcommittees on Readiness, as well as the Seapower and Projection Forces announced his colleagues on the Subcommittees have begun the mark up phase for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2018. In a recent interview, Congressman DesJarlais was quoted as saying “our military is stretched thin and [is] underfunded,” observing that budget uncertainties in the midst of increasing foreign engagements endangers the lives of those serving in the military as well as posing risks to our national security.
In the interview, Congressman DesJarlais went on to note that “Only three of 58 Army brigades are ready to fight. The [Air Force] is older and smaller than it’s ever been. The Navy is well short of the number of ships needed to protect American economic and security interests worldwide. We’re asking fewer troops to do more with less, while adversaries such as such as Russia and China are rapidly developing their capabilities.”
The Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces [has recommended a] multi-year, bulk procurement of warships [and materiel] to cut costs. Last month, HASC Chairman Mac Thornberry introduced legislation allowing the department to purchase non-military items on the open market rather than through complex federal bureaucracies. This measure will reduce paperwork and [the need] for specialized acquisitions officers. Congressman DesJarlais explained the proposed changes in this way: “Like every federal agency, the Department of Defense has overlapping layers of bureaucracy and outdated systems that create waste and inefficiency. The department is so large, some common-sense changes could save billions of taxpayer dollars. The savings will accrue to our fighting men and women.”
LEGISLATIVE REPORT
21 June –
PN172 – Both Senators Alexander and Corker voted to confirm Sigal Mandelker (New York) to serve as Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes.
Scott DesJarlais voted to pass HR 1873 – Electricity Reliability and Forest Protection Act. The Act passed by a vote of 300/118. This measure amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to enhance the reliability of the electricity grid and reduce the threat of wildfires to and from electric transmission and distribution facilities on Federal lands by facilitating vegetation management on such lands.
Scott DesJarlais voted to pass HR 2842 – Accelerating Individuals into the Workforce Act, a measure that provides for the conduct of demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of subsidized employment for TANF recipients. TANF is an acronym for “Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.” This measure reduces the amount of time families may receive welfare payments if the head of household is able to work. The measure passed by a vote of 377/34.
27 June –
Senator Lamar Alexander, along with Edward Markey (D-MA), introduced a bill to make it a federal crime to use a cell phone while on a commercial airliner. Texting, however, will remain legal. This legislation comes on the heels of Senator Alexander’s offering a resolution before the Senate to designate 20 June 2017 as “American Eagle Day.” [Wow! – Editor]
28 June –
Scott DesJarlais voted to pass HR 1215 – Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017. This Act is one of numerous components that are a part of repealing 0bamacare. The Act notes that government funded healthcare spending increased from 7.2% of GDP in 1970 to more than 17.8% of GDP by 2015 and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project that it will rise to 19.9% of GDP by 2025. [These increases are clearly unsustainable and offer further proof that any single payer healthcare system is doomed to fail. – Editor.]
The Act includes an interesting Amendment – HA 152, which allows a physician to apologize for an unintended outcome of a medical procedure without the apology being used as an acknowledgement/admission of malpractice.
29 June –
Scott DesJarlais voted to pass HR 3003 – No Sanctuary for Criminals Act. H.R. 3003 strengthens current law to combat dangerous sanctuary policies that shield unlawful and criminal immigrants from federal immigration enforcement. Specifically, the bill clarifies U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer authority – the tool used by federal immigration enforcement officers to pick up criminal aliens from local jails – by established statutory probable cause standards to issue detainers for the first time. In addition, the bill withholds certain federal grants from jurisdictions that violate federal law by prohibiting their officers from cooperating with ICE. Jurisdictions that comply with detainers are protected from being sued and victims of certain crimes are allowed to sue jurisdictions that refuse to comply and subsequently release criminal aliens onto the streets. Finally, the underlying bill includes “Sarah and Grant’s Law,” which ensures unlawful immigrants who are convicted of drunk driving, or are arrested for other dangerous crimes, are detained during their removal procedure. The Resolution passed by a vote of 228/195.
Scott DesJarlais voted to pass HR 3004 – Kate’s Law. H.R. 3004 protects public safety by enhancing penalties for deported felons who return to the United States. Specifically, the bill provides for the following: 1. a sentence of not more than 10 years for an alien convicted of 3 or more misdemeanors or a felony; 2. imprisonment of not more than 15 years for an alien convicted of a felony and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of at least 30 months; 3. imprisonment of not more than 20 years for an alien convicted of a felony and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of at least 60 months; 4. imprisonment of not more than 25 years for an alien convicted of murder, rape, kidnapping, terrorism, or 3 or more felonies of any kind, and; 5. Imprisonment of not more than ten years for an alien who has been denied admission, deported, or removed more than three times who then reenters the U.S. The Resolution passed by a vote of 257/167.
14 July—
Scott DesJarlais’ efforts as a Member of the House Armed Services Committee led to the passage of HR 2810 – National Defense Authorization Act of 2018. The Act passed by a vote of 344/81, and it provides more funding for defense than what President Trump had originally asked for. (Thanks to Brendan Thomas, Communications Director for Scott DesJarlais, for providing this information!)
Scott DesJarlais voted in support of House Amendment 183 (presented by Vicky Hartzler, R-MO), to prohibit funds for medical treatment (other than mental health treatment), as related to gender transition, to a person otherwise entitled to medical care (under Title 10 US Code, Chapter 55), but the following Republicans voted to allocate in excess of $1.3 Billion to provide gender reassignment surgery to those serving in the military: Justin Amash (Michigan), Jack Bergman (Michigan), Mike Coffman (Colorado), Barbara Comstock (Virginia), Paul Cook (California), Ryan Costello (Pennsylvania), Carlos Curbelo (Florida), Jeff Denham (California), Charlie Dent (Pennsylvania), John Faso (New York), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania), Darrell Issa (California), John Katko (New York), Steve Knight (California), Leonard Lance (New Jersey), Frank LoBiondo (New Jersey), Tom MacArthur (New Jersey), Brian Mast (Florida), Tom Reed (New York), Dave Reichert (Washington), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Florida), Bill Shuster (Pennsylvania), Elise Stefanik (New York), Claudia Tenney (New York). The Amendment failed by a vote of 209/214.
Senators Alexander and Corker voted to confirm William F. Hagerty, of Tennessee, to serve as Ambassador to Japan (PN-117).
18 July –
Senators Alexander and Corker voted to confirm Patrick M. Shanahan to serve as Deputy Secretary of Defense. The confirmation passed by a vote of 92/7.
House Resolution 451, which will set standards for ground-level ozone emission standards is working its way through the House.
19 July –
Some progress is being made with respect to completion of the Keystone Pipeline and other conduits that would allow for the shipment of natural gas and oil both from and to Canada, as well as the domestic shipments of natural gas and oil. Scott DesJarlais has voted in support of HR 2910 – Promoting Interagency Coordination for Review of Natural Gas Pipelines Act (the measure passed by a vote of 249/179), and HR 2883 – Promoting Cross-Border Energy Infrastructure Act (the measure passed by a vote of 254/175). These, along with other measures will serve toward securing our country’s energy independence.
20 July—
Both Senators Alexander and Corker voted to confirm John K. Bush (KY), to serve as United States Judge for the 6th Circuit. The nomination was confirmed by a vote of 51/47.
Scott DesJarlais voted to pass HR 2825 – DHS Authorization Act of 2017, which authorizes the activities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and provides necessary oversight and guidance to the Department to ensure that it is effectively carrying out the mission of securing the homeland. A full section-by-section of the legislation can be found here and executive summary can be found here. The resolution passed by a vote of 386/41.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
The man dies who keeps silent in the face of tyranny. -Wole Soyinka, playwright, poet, Nobel laureate (b. 13 Jul 1934)
RANDOM THOUGHTS
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion – Frank Herbert.
EDITORIAL
So, we keep our nose to the grindstone to earn every penny we can and we don’t waste a dime. Maybe we could drive a fancier car or live in a fancier home but we don’t. Maybe we could occasionally afford to go to a snazzy restaurant for a juicy steak and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, but (if we’re lucky) we settle for a steak cooked on a grill or in our oven. Why? Because that’s what fits in our budget, and we know that living within a budget is what responsible people do.
Government, it seems, has a problem with that budget thingy. That’s because they don’t earn their money, they just take a portion of what we earn and spend it – most often very unwisely – on things those who foot the bill think is totally nuts!
Maybe that’s why, for the past nine years, the government has just given up on working within a budget, opting instead for a string of “Continuing Resolutions.”
And what has our government done with too much of the money confiscated from our earnings? Well, we’ve all heard about the study where shrimp were put on treadmills, the “investments” in alternative energy where cronyism is blatantly on display and, perhaps the most mind numbing of all, that few million in tax dollars the government spent to find out whether those in Brazil who are infected with HIV are more likely to have unprotected sex after using drugs or alcohol.
The sad fact is hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars continue to be wasted on grants and “research” that are absolutely not within the parameters outlined by the Constitution – items like our national defense, infrastructure. One might say, given our country is in debt to the tune of $20 Trillion, our government has been – for decades – spending like a bunch of drunken sailors! But that would be an insult to drunken sailors.
Even when our money is spent on things like infrastructure and defense, we hear the horror stories about billions of dollars that went “missing” from the Pentagon, highways to nowhere, and every project undertaken running as much as 300% over budget.
Why? The answer is simple: Too few voters take the time to contact their elected representatives to demand our government starts showing some fiscal restraint. Aside from our Treasury printing fiat currency as fast as the presses will run, we are indebted to many countries that don’t like us very much. And, in spite of the Keynesian economists who would try to convince us that when we’ve exhausted our ability to create sufficient wealth to pay our debts we will simply have unicorns delivering all the money we’ll ever need, we know different. We know that to continue running up our debt is economic suicide. How fast are we accumulating debt? Look at this link! http://www.usdebtclock.org/ The endless borrowing and spending must stop and our government must pay off our debt if our country is to remain solvent. There are too many examples of government waste to list in any publication thinner than the New York City metropolitan phone book but let’s just look at those countries from whom our government has borrowed money, and then take a look at those countries to whom our government is sending money. If we do this, maybe we can locate some of the many places where our money should NOT go:
Following is a list of countries to whom we owe money, a list of countries we’re giving our money to, and a list of countries who receive aid from the US that are doing business with rogue regimes; the lists are shocking.
We are indebted to the following countries:
- Mainland China — $1.244 Trillion
- Japan — $1.137 Trillion
- Cayman Islands — $265 Billion
- Ireland — $264.3 Billion
- Brazil — $246.6 Billion
- Switzerland — $230 Billion
- United Kingdom — $227.6 Billion
- Luxembourg — $221.3 Billion
- Hong Kong — $200.3 Billion
- Taiwan — $182.3 Billion
- Belgium — $182.3 Billion
- India — $118.9 Billion
- Saudi Arabia — $116.8 Billion
- Singapore — $112.7 Billion
- Germany $90.1 Billion
- Russia — $86 Billion
- South Korea — $84.1 Billion
Total $4,380,600,000
RANDOM THOUGHTS
When you owe someone money, you give them a commensurate amount of control over your life!
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-treasury-countries-that-hold-the-most-us-debt-2016-5
Countries that receive aid from US Taxpayers (Numbers in millions)
- Afghanistan — $4,533.51
- Israel — $2961.04
- Egypt — $1566.24
- Jordan — $1,211.83
- Gaza (West Bank) — $1,007.73
- Ethiopia — $686.53
- South Sudan — $618.74
- Malawi — $571.18
- Uganda — $541.93
- South Africa — $526.19
- Nigeria — $518.84
- Russia — $465.16
- Iraq — $444.18
- Tanzania — $430.66
- Mexico — $419.94
- Congo — $379.24
- Haiti — $378.77
- Lebanon — $376.41
- Somalia — $367.18
- Zambia — $310.80
- Northern Sudan — $290.05
http://wickipedia.org/wiki/United_States_foreign_aid
Some of the countries on this list defy anything resembling logic—especially those who are our enemies and those who support Islamic terrorism!
Bonus! Following is a list of countries that subsidize North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. Should we ever do business with them?
Countries that receive North Korean exports:
- China — $2.34 Billion
- India — $97.8 Million
- Pakistan — $43.1 Million
- Burkina Faso — $32.8 Million
- “Other” Asia — $26.7 Million
- Iran – unknown
Countries that export to North Korea
- China — $2.95 Billion
- India — $108 Million
- Russia — $78.2 Million
- Thailand — $73.8 Million
- Philippines — $53.2 Million
- Iran – unknown
http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/prk/
Speaking of boondoggles, it only gets worse! Katherine Austin-Fitts (BA-University of Pennsylvania, MBA from the Wharton School) who has served as Assistant Secretary to HUD, in the George H. Bush administration; Managing Director and Board Member at the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co., and; former President of Hamilton Securities Group, Inc. calculates more than $40 trillion has “gone missing” from various government agencies since the Ford administration, and more than $8 Trillion turned up “missing” from the bank bailouts in 2008. She has closely monitored government waste and misappropriations; some examples of her work may be found at the following link: https://vidrebel.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/9-3-trillion-missing-from-pentagon-not-an-issue-to-corporate-media/
If you’re looking for a topic for a letter to your elected reps, you’ll likely find one in the preceding paragraphs. The question is whether you’ll take the time to do so – Editor.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
The highest result of education is tolerance. -Helen Keller, author and lecturer (27 Jun 1880-1968)
RANDOM THOUGHTS
By virtue of exchange, one man’s prosperity is beneficial to all others. – Claude Federic Bastiat
CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
| President Donald Trump
The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington D.C. 20500 Phone: (202) 456-1414 Fax: (202) 456-2461 president@whitehouse.gov |
U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander
455 Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 40 – Suite 2 Washington D.C. 20510 Phone: (202) 244-4944 Fax: (202) 228-3398 http://www.alexander.senate.gov http://alexander.senate.gov/contact.cfm
|
| U.S. Senator Bob Corker
Dirksen Senate Office Building SD-185 Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-3344 Fax: (202) 228-0566 http://corker.senate.gov/contact.cfm
|
U.S Representative Dr. Scott DesJarlais
2301 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-6831 Fax: (202) 226-5172
|
| Governor Bill Haslam
Tennessee State Capitol Nashville, Tennessee 37243 Phone: (615) 741-2001 Fax: (615) 532-9711 http://www.state.tn.us/governor
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State Senator Ken Yager
301 Sixth Avenue North Suite G-19 War Memorial Building Nashville, Tennessee 37243 Phone: (615) 741-1449 Fax: (615) 253-0237 sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov
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| State Representative Ron Travis
301 Sixth Avenue North Suite G-3 War Memorial Building Nashville, Tennessee 37243 Phone: (615) 741-1450 Rep.ron.travis@capitol.tn.gov
|
RANDOM THOUGHTS
In the fields of hatred sow the seeds of love. In the fields of chaos sow the seeds of reason.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
The highest result of education is tolerance. -Helen Keller, author and lecturer (27 Jun 1880-1968)
RANDOM THOUGHTS
By virtue of exchange, one man’s prosperity is beneficial to all others. – Claude Federic Bastiat
CLOSING THOUGHT
It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgement. – Marcus Tullius Cicero
