THE RHEA COUNTY REPUBLICAN

ADVANCING THE CONSERVATIVE CAUSE

Vol. 5 – No. 3 May 2021

Table of Contents

Editorial ——————————————————————— 1

A Rising Star in the Republican Party —————————- 4

Book of the Month —————————————————— 6

Question of the Month————————————————– 7

Comments From Representatives———————————- 8

Comments From Correspondents ——————————– 10

Legislative Report —————————————————— 12

Rhea County Republican Party News—————————- 17

Lagniappe – The Cashless Society – What it Means to Freedom
——————————————————————– 19

Contact Your Representatives ————————————- 22

EDITORIAL

Kris Bancroft, Editor and Publisher

The Rhea County Republican

So far, the Biden regime is on course to do more damage to America, the American economy, and the American worker than even the most imaginative person thought possible.

On day one, Mr. Biden destroyed 11,500 jobs by ending the Keystone Pipeline. This was cheered on by the environmentalist whackos, but little did they know precisely the same quantity of oil would be sent from point “A” to point “B,” except that it would travel in his old Democrat pal Warren Buffett’s leaky old tanker cars. Mr. Biden told those construction workers, heavy equipment operators, and pipefitters they could simply go out and get themselves some of those “green jobs.”

Next on Mr. Biden’s list was to destroy another 3,200 jobs held by people who were on schedule to complete a crucial segment of the border wall. What’s left of the material – the part that hasn’t been cut up by local scavengers and sold for scrap – is still laying on the ground.

Mr. Biden sent a message to the Northern Triangle that was heard around the world that President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” border policy – a policy that had served to cut down on the rush toward our southern border – was now lifted. The drug cartels and human traffickers rejoiced because they knew they could use the caravans of migrants to run interference for them. Thus far, the cartel’s strategy has worked exceedingly well; Customs and Border Patrol now reports that migrants from no less than twenty-nine countries have been intercepted at our southern border.

According to the Biden regime, their most conservative estimates (the only “conservative” thing they do!), tell us the number of illegal aliens who will have entered into the United States is somewhere in the neighborhood of two million. Generally speaking, when one factors in the costs of healthcare, housing, food and clothing, transportation, and education, the burden on the taxpayer per illegal alien living in the United States is about $60,000/head. You do the arithmetic!

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/ag-paxton-illegal-immigration-costs-texas-taxpayers-over-850-million-each-year and

https://www.fairus.org/sites/default/files/2017-08/USCostStudy_2010.pdf and

https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/439930-your-taxpayer-dollars-are-footing-the-spiraling-costs-of-illegal-immigration

Oh, and by the way, Mr. Biden’s “Ministry of Truth” has issued an edict declaring that we may no longer use the term “Illegal Alien.” (For more background see the Editorial from March 2021.)

Mr. Biden began his spending spree with his $1.9 Trillion “COVID stimulus package.” Although there were people in some states – “Blue States” – who had been locked down for the better part of a year and were truly hurting, there were as many people in other states for whom the money served as a stimulus to stay home and on the dole instead of returning to work. (Seems we also heard that a lot of money had been previously allocated to bring relief to people in need that hadn’t yet been distributed!)

While Mr. Biden thought no one was watching, he tried his best to do a sleight of hand trick and reinstitute a cute little thing called the “SALT deduction.” For those of you who are lucky enough to live in a fiscally responsible State – a State that has no income tax – let me tell you what it means and how it works.

“SALT” is an acronym for “State and Local Taxes.” Some states figured out a neat little way to make all the other states pay them billions of dollars every year through the IRS. What they did was raise their State and municipal taxes to astronomically high levels and when the citizens of their State filed their Federal taxes, they could deduct their State and municipal taxes from their Federal taxes. That way, Uncle Sam got nothing but, instead, every citizen in every other State sent a portion of their taxes to the State that had the astronomically high SALT to help fix their roads, feed their poor, and cover all the other programs paid for by Federal tax dollars. This also helped to slow the exodus from Blue States. Bernie Madoff would have been proud of whomever dreamt that one up!

The next rabbit Mr. Biden pulled out of his hat was the first infrastructure “package;” a $1.9 Trillion spending spree in which only 9% was directed toward repairing bridges, roads, and those things we normally consider “infrastructure.” There was, however, a LOT of money for items like The Kennedy Center, a bullet train from San Francisco to Silicon Valley, bailouts for Blue States and Blue Cities, as well as the usual support for artistic endeavors.

This was followed closely by another infrastructure package – this one a $3 Trillion boondoggle – to help us become a carbon neutral country. The irony here is overwhelming. Three things come to mind:

The vast majority of all solar panels used to generate electricity in American homes, and the vast majority of all batteries used in electric cars built or driven in the United States come from China – one of the most polluted countries on earth.
The technology used to build those solar panels and batteries was stolen from the United States by the Chinese.
Whatever happened to all those “Shovel-Ready Jobs” we heard about when Mr. 0bama was first elected and his Democrat pals handed him a huge infrastructure package?

The question that came from someone in the press corps was: “How are you going to pay for all this?”

Mr. Biden’s response was right out of the Democrat play book: Raise taxes on “the rich.”

This time even the Liberal Media wouldn’t even let him off the hook; they held his feet to the fire . . . well, OK, they held his feet to the birthday candle and finally, ol’ Joe “fessed up.”

“I’m gonna double your capital gains taxes.”

What does that mean?

If you play the Wall Street Casino (invest in the stock market) and make money, your taxes are doubled on all the money you make.

“But I don’t play the market,” you say.

Do you have a 401k, or a Thrift Savings Plan? If you answered in the affirmative, you certainly do play the market!

And you already know how Mr. Biden’s declaration for “taxing the rich” is going to work. “The rich” are going to pass those tax increases along to the people who buy their products AND they’re going to lay off workers AND they’re going to replace workers with artificial intelligence devices. (For more background, see Editorial in the April edition.)

I think (some of) the Democrats are going to wake up to realize they made a horrendous error by entrusting Mr. Biden with their vote. Very few of them will ever admit it but I think they are ready to be converted to conservatism. I certainly do not think the majority of those who voted for Mr. Biden in 2020 will show up at the polls in 2022.

Conversely, I think every conservative understands the precarious situation our country is in today and what will happen if we fail to elect conservatives. I hope you will start the conversation with your neighbors and your coworkers and your local Republican Party Members. Get to know the candidates and if there are no candidates to your liking, look among your friends and neighbors to find the best possible candidates. If you can’t find a candidate you like, find an office – any office – you’re qualified and run to fill it. This is the best of all possible ways we can reverse the damage done to us by the Democrats; there are other alternatives but none of them are as good as reversing what we don’t like by going to the polls.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly against the city. But the traitor moves among those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears no traitor; he speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation; he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city; he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared. — Marcus Tullius Cicero

A RISING STAR IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

Dr. Carol Swain is becoming more well-known every day. If you’re not yet familiar with her, I hope you will become so soon. I’ve heard her on several radio programs and have seen her remarks in print. Following is something I recently captured and thought you’d find it inspiring – enough so to maybe share it with someone who could use some inspiration of their own.

“Let me tell you how my story ends: I become a tenured, award-winning professor of political science at an Ivy League university, and then at one of the leading universities in the South.

“Now let me tell you how my story begins:

“I grow up in rural Virginia, literally dirt poor. I drop out of school in the eighth grade and have three children by the time I’m 20.

“I consider myself to be a reasonably modest person, but even I have to admit that’s quite a journey.

“How did I do it?

“I worked hard. Not crazy, 24/7 hard—just hard. I made good decisions. Not brilliant, three-dimensional-chess decisions—just good ones. I met people along the way who helped me and sincerely wanted to see me succeed—not because they had something to gain, but because they were decent people. Almost all of these individuals, by the way, were white.

“But mostly, I think I was blessed in one crucial way: I was born in America, a true land of opportunity for anyone of any color or background. In this country, where you start your life does not determine where you end up.

“That works in both directions, by the way. You can start out with every advantage and waste them all. Or you can start out with nothing and become a success. It all depends on you. Your attitude is far more important than your race, gender, or social class in determining what you will accomplish in life.

“When I hear young blacks—or anyone, for that matter—talk about systemic racism, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I want to laugh because it’s such nonsense. I want to cry because I know it’s pushing untold numbers of young blacks into a dead end of self-pity and despair. Instead of seizing the amazing opportunities America offers them, they seize an excuse to explain why they’re not succeeding.

“I was born into a world where systemic racism was real—no-fooling, outright-bigotry, back-of-the-bus real. But here’s what you need to know: Yes, racism shaped the black experience—but even then, it did not define it. Change was in the air. Call it systemic reform.

“The modern Civil Rights Movement was in its infancy, and the leaders who fought for equal rights for blacks were men and women of all races. They believed in America and were determined to see it live up to its highest ideals—ideals manifest in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

“Did I know, growing up, that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves? I don’t think I ever thought about it. If I did, I’d like to think that I would have had enough common sense to know that we can’t judge men who lived 250 years ago by the moral standards of our own day.

“But I know that Jefferson wrote the words in the Declaration of Independence that made slavery ultimately impossible: that all men are created equal. And I know that Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Adams and the rest of the Founders risked everything to make my world, my America, possible. How could I not be grateful for that and for the sacrifices so many others have made to preserve it?

“The truth is I cannot remember a time when I did not love America and feel pride in the belief that I live in the greatest country in the world. I knew if I diligently pursued my ambitions, I could leave the poverty of my early years, with all its abuse and depression, behind me.

“I was fortunate in another way. I was spared the life-sapping, negative messages about America that are crippling a generation of young people. These ideas are poison:

White privilege
Whiteness as a form of property
Unconscious racism
Reparations
Microaggressions
Police have it out for blacks
That the United States was created to protect and promote slavery.

“These are the ideas young people are told they must accept. And then they’re told to reject the ideas that can save them—the antidote: the success principles that enabled me and millions of other Americans to escape lives of poverty.

“These principles aren’t complicated: work hard, learn from your mistakes, take personal responsibility for your actions. When I made the decisions to get my high school equivalency, attend a community college, and then earn four additional college and university degrees, I believed that my education would open doors. And it did.

It was only when exposed to academic theories of oppression in graduate school that I was informed that because I was black, poor, and female, I could never do what I had already accomplished.

“Thank God, it was too late for these toxic messages to stop me. Don’t let them stop you.”

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Critical thinking skills should be nurtured from birth. Developing critical thinking skills will help people avoid disastrous mistakes throughout their lives.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

A Fiscal Cliff by John Merrifield, PhD and Barry Poulson, PhD, provide a new perspective on the U.S. debt crisis. In this book, they explain how our unsustainable, and still rapidly growing, U.S. federal government debt is a classic case of ‘‘in denial.”

In a joint statement, the authors state: “Despite numerous congressional committees, bipartisan commissions, and votes, we are no closer to a solution to the debt crisis than we were more than a decade ago.”

In this timely volume, scholars and policymakers assess the United States’ fiscal constraints and provide new perspectives that are desperately needed in order to solve the nation’s debt crisis.

About the authors:

Dr. Merrifield is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He coedits the Non‐Partisan Education Review and writes on topics as wide‐ranging as education economics, urban and regional economics, environmental and natural resource economics, and public finance. He is also the author of School System Reform: How and why is a Price-Less Tale.

Dr. Barry Poulson is professor emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder and a visiting professor at several universities, including University of North Carolina; Cambridge University; and Universidad Carlos Tercera, Madrid, Spain. His main area of expertise is economic development and economic history.

For more information, visit the following link: A Fiscal Cliff | Cato Institute

This book is available in both a print version and on Kindle. A Fiscal Cliff: New Perspectives on the U.S. Federal Debt Crisis: Merrifield, John, Poulson, Barry: 9781948647878: Amazon.com: Books

RANDOM THOUGHTS

According to Charlie Kirk, the Biden regime intends to spend $86 million over a six-month time span on hotel rooms to house illegal aliens. These are YOUR tax dollars! Rhetorical question: How many people have voiced their opinions on this matter to their elected representatives?

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

[Please respond in a manner that most closely reflects your opinion and email your answers to: pyrope84045@mypacks.net . A score on each question will be published in the next edition of The Rhea County Republican. THANKS! – Editor]

Is Critical Race Theory being taught at the schools in your city or county? If so, how have you responded?

https://www.heritage.org/civil-rights/report/critical-race-theory-the-new-intolerance-and-its-grip-america

The question posed for the month of April was more complex than usual and for that reason I decided to offer a $25.00 gift card to a randomly selected respondent. The winner of the gift card was John Merrifield, San Antonio, TX. Thanks to all who participated!

As of 23 April, a total of 38 responses came from 8 states. The States represented and the answers to the questions are provided below.

In which State do you vote? Tennessee 22, Texas 1, California 2, Louisiana 2, Oklahoma 1, Nevada, 3, New York 2, Georgia 5.
Do you think the 2020 election results accurately reflected the will of those citizens who were authorized to vote in your State? Yes 25. No 13.
Have you heard of an organized effort in your State to recertify (some may use the term “purge”), the voter registration rolls? Yes 5. No 33.
Have you heard of other efforts in your State to ensure vote counts will be more accurately reflected in future elections? Yes 6. No 32.
Are you personally involved in the effort to accomplish either of the aforementioned tasks in your State? Yes 0. No 38.
What are your thoughts on whether such efforts in your State will succeed in accomplishing their stated goals? Opinions were divided equally but the opinions provided by respondents from Georgia and Nevada were negative.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

The Biden regime proposes another $80 Billion to subsidize Amtrak, a rail line that has NEVER earned a profit! Want to see one of many examples as to why this is a colossal boondoggle? Use the map at this link to find your route from Nashville, Tennessee, to Atlanta, Georgia 2018_PgSizeFront_301 (amtrak.com)

COMMENTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES

Elected Representatives from all States and all levels of government are encouraged to share their thoughts, opinions, ideas, and announcements by emailing them to pyrope84045@mypacks.net . Your constituents want to hear from you! – Editor

Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-TN, District 75) shared the following:

In response to all of the media inquiries I’m now receiving since the close of session this morning, Cameron Sexton has not had any communications with me about the removal or the reasons behind it. I can only surmise that it is punishment for me bringing a Rule 53 Motion so all members of the House could vote on whether they want to expand the use of E-Verify in TN in order to protect Tennesseans from being stripped of jobs in favor of illegals and to keep the wages of working TN citizens from being suppressed by the illegal labor, particularly with the border crisis. It could also be because I have voiced opposition to the Governor’s “soft on crime” legislation and moved last night in the Criminal Justice Committee to send it to Summer Study. It could also be punishment for me disclosing to the public what is happening in committee hearings on bills. They don’t want transparency in government, but rather want to hide behind voice votes with no accountable record so voters don’t truly know what happens. The clear message being sent is that if you don’t “go along to get along”, then you will undoubtedly be punished. Cameron Sexton clearly does not want legislators at the Capitol who think independently and are unwilling to be puppets to a larger puppet master. God forbid a legislator actually try to be a real voice for his constituents and actually try to do what he campaigned to do! If Tennesseans knew what really happens at the Capitol, they would be horrified.

I submit that what is happening is childish antics that I thought only kids engaged in on an elementary school playground. Ironically, when I came to work on Tuesday morning after my Rule 53 Motion Monday night, my access card no longer worked.

I don’t think this is the “leadership” TN citizens deserve. Sexton mistakenly assumes that he is attacking me, but in reality he is attacking the Republican Party, all Tennesseans and the very form of our government. I don’t think the people of Tennessee want to live under a dictatorship. It is a destruction of what is supposed to be a representative form of government and a complete violation of 1st Amendment speech rights – not just mine, but of the thousands of people who elected me to be their voice.

It is no secret that I have been a long-time Trump supporter and remain a Trump supporter. What is happening to me is no different than what happened to Trump when he went up against the Establishment wing of the Republican Party.

Bruce Griffey (R-TN –

I have been getting a lot of inquiries from Tennesseans across the state about what happened with the bills that I ran yesterday. Keeping with my 100% commitment to transparency in government, below is an update on what happened:

HB 440 — Legislation to impose fees on money transfers by illegals from TN to foreign countries and recoup hundreds of millions of dollars that illegals cost TN taxpayers every year. Chairman Kevin Vaughan of the House Commerce Committee moved to send the bill to “Summer Study” and the bill was killed.
HB1276 — “TN Election Integrity Act”. This bill, which is supported by the Secretary of State and TN Election Commission, appears to have support in Committee. I deferred hearing on it until next week in order to amend the bill to make it even stronger.
HJR 3- This is my legislation to legalize Bingo in TN for non-profits such as veterans service organizations, volunteer fire departments, humane societies, etc. It passed out of the House Departments & Agencies Subcommittee yesterday with unanimous support! Please thank Representatives Beck, Bricken, Carr, Carringer, Chism, Halford and Holsclaw for voting in support of this legislation, which will directly benefit local communities.
HB800 — This bill would prohibit the use of LBGT materials in TN classrooms. I believe that parents should be the primary teachers on topics like LGBT issues and lifestyles — not the state. This is a discussion more appropriate in the home environment, not in the classroom. Prayer and Bible readings have been removed from our schools, so why should sexual preferences and lifestyles be a topic in classrooms? We have problems right now with our children meeting appropriate standards in reading and math. We need to be focused on these issues in the classroom. This bill passed out of the Education Instruction Subcommittee yesterday. Please thank Republican Representatives Scott Cepicky, Kirk Haston, Tim Hicks, Debra Moody, John Ragan, Todd Warner and Terri Lynn Weaver for supporting and voting in favor of this bill.

Bryan Slatton, (R-TX-District 2) shared the following good news:

Today (April 2, 2021), I presented HB 2701, the Defend the Guard Act, before the Defense and Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

HB 2701 would protect our fighting men and women of the Texas National Guard by ensuring that they are only deployed into active duty combat in a foreign state, when Congress fulfills its constitutional duty to prepare war.

Defense & Veterans’ Affairs – Mar 29th, 2021 (granicus.com)

Rep. Scott DesJarlais, M.D. (R-TN, 4^th District) remarked on the passage of H.R. 51, in the House of Representatives:

The District of Columbia was created to set up our country’s central system of government, not to be a colony.

The notion that the swamp can become a state by passing a simple bill is naive. Leftists know that creating the Douglas Commonwealth requires a constitutional amendment that then has to be voted on by all 50 states.

H.R. 51 is simply pandering to the far-left base. Hard working Americans did not send their representatives to Washington to waste time crafting meaningless legislation that’s nothing more than a stunt. I voted no today on D.C. statehood.

COMMENTS FROM CORRESPONDENTS

You are invited to become a Correspondent and share thoughts, opinions, ideas, and announcements with subscribers to this newsletter. Please state your city, state, or country in your submissions and email them to: pyrope84045@mypacks.net . Your fellow Conservatives want to hear from you! – Editor

Harriett Lublin – Atlanta, GA shared an interesting article published in the Manhattan Contrarian, on the collapse of the Venezuelan economy and the paralleling trends in the U.S. economy.

U.S. Gets Ready To Go Full Venezuela On Economic Policy — Manhattan Contrarian

Jim Clarkson – Columbia, SC and President of Resource Supply Management http://rsmenergy.com shared one of his satirical entries.

In medieval times when there were earthquakes, plagues and strange weather it was believed these were instruments of God’s wrath for the sins of humans. The medievals believed they must rid themselves and others from sin to calm God’s anger. “How silly.” You say. “How could people believe their thoughts and behavior could cause such events?” Not so fast! There is a large segment of the population that believes our life style is bringing on catastrophe due to driving SUVs, not separating our garbage and using plastic drinking straws.

Natisha Brooks a Correspondent from Nashville, TN wishes to announce her candidacy for the US House of Representatives, 5^th Congressional District (Davidson, Cheatham, Dickson Counties), to unseat incumbent Jim Cooper (D). Following is Ms. Brooks’ message to Tennesseans:

“Greetings Rhea County Republicans and Conservatives in Tennessee and the world, this is Natisha “Our Miss” Brooks – Tennessee 5th Congressional Candidate giving some perspective on pressing issues facing our Republican Party and its future.

“First, I would like to say that I’ve never seen Republicans/Patriots and Conservatives work so hard to get President Trump re-elected to the White House.

“What an amazing time it was to exercise our rights to go across the State and Country and get voter turnout in the largest numbers amongst all ethnic groups.

“For that reason, we should be very proud of ourselves.

“So in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – A REPUBLICAN – (Where Do We Go From Here?) – We as Conservatives and Patriots must ask ourselves this question.

“As a Candidate of the 5th Congressional District(Let’s unseat Jim Cooper), everyone has full permission to adopt the “Natisha For Congress 2022” Platform to get your community/area for the 2022 Election Year.

Platform:

“We MUST” talk Mental Health. This is a topic all people have in common across party lines. We need to fund and offer as many Grants possible for those individuals who have or will have non-profit organizations to those who are struggling with Mental Health especially during a Pandemic. Where are our Mental Health “Patriots” supporters after the long 2020 election season? We probably all need to talk with a “Life Coach” or Bible Scholar Preacher to get us back to normalcy in our minds.
“We MUST” talk about the Foster Care System – As a part of our “Pro – Life” initiative, we need to take a very careful look at how unorganized it is to get children into a loving home after being in the system for years. Why should a family have to wait up to five years to adopt a child whom they have had after years of fostering them? The Foster Care System is broken and needs an immediate overhaul from the Federal Government to those States that have broken systems.
“We MUST” Talk College Tuition – “The Degree Must Be Worth The Ink On The Paper.” People should not have to take second and third mortgages against their homes to send their children to college. We need to consider having a college cap on Tuition especially with the Public Institutions. It’s inconceivable to for college graduates to be working at Starbucks after receiving their degrees.
“We MUST” Talk and have a detailed discussion of Protecting “The Blue” – our Law Enforcement. Many of us know someone in the family that makes terrible decisions and mistakes, but that doesn’t define the whole family. It’s the same for our Law Enforcement. Just because one officer does the “unthinkable” doesn’t mean all police officers are of the same demeanor. Never defund the police, but Re-fund and Reform the system. Police Officers and Law Enforcement are worth more to protect those who can’t protect themselves.
“We MUST” protect our Small Businesses!!! The country should have NEVER been completely shut down for business. However, “common sense” measures should have been in place for “Small Business” Owners. Many businesses never recovered from the Government’s decision and there were many different stories on how to handle the Pandemic. We place government officials in office to make sound decisions to protect our way of life – NOT change our way of life.

“These are just a few points that “We Must” discuss together as a party and issues that we possibly have in common with the “other side”.

“Instead of the “Left” trying to get the “Right” to come to their side – let’s start trying to get the ‘Left’ to come to our side or find a common slate that we can get the younger generation to be conservatives.

“Let’s take back Congress and the Senate to continue our Legacy of Prosperity and Freedom for our Country.

“Until We Talk Again,”

Natisha “Our Miss” Brooks

Tennessee 5th Congressional 2022 Candidate

Natishaforcongress2022.org

Brooksforcongress2 – Facebook

Merrily Salyer, PhD, Sterling, VA shared this article on how American scientists who are funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars are selling out to the Chinese.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_morningbrief/hundreds-of-taxpayer-funded-us-scientists-likely-compromised-by-china-nih_3789855.html?utm_source=sharemorningbriefnoe&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mb-2021-04-25&mktids=a3c631a4873a8bea89656ca33fcf7bf4

LEGISLATIVE REPORT

The Legislative Report provides information on some of the more remarkable bills that have been introduced in Congress. Its purpose is to provide the reader with information about pending legislation that may prompt the reader to contact their representatives to express their views.

In the emailed version of the Legislative Report, you will see markers + and + on certain bills. The red icon is placed to encourage the reader to contact their representatives and ask them to vote against the legislation. On bills marked with the green icon, the reader is encouraged to contact their elected representatives and encourage them to support the legislation. The reader is always encouraged to keep informed about all legislation so they may be aware of bills that effect our lives. Decide today that you will make your voice heard. If you remain silent, your representatives will never know your thoughts! – Editor

In the Tennessee Legislature

HJR8 Is a Resolution introduced by Chris Todd (R-73^rd District, Humboldt), passed in both chambers of the State House joining with other States to pass an Article V Amendment to the United States Constitution to limit the number of terms that may be served by a Member of the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate.

While it may be true that some Members of Congress have long overstayed their usefulness, it is worthy to note that there are currently no limitations to the number of terms a State Representative or Senator may serve in the State of Tennessee!

In Washington DC

HR 2547 Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act (Maxine Waters, D-CA, 35 pages). This legislation combines the Small Business Lending Fairness Act, the Fair Debt Collection Fairness Practices for Servicemembers Act, the Private Loan Disability Discharge Act, the Consumer Protection for Medical Debt Collections Act, the Ending Debt Collection Harassment Act, and the Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act.

Like all stories, this one has two sides: I suppose this one goes back to the days when the real estate market was flush and those people who have their photos on their business cards were generating “Liar Loans” in order to make commissions by selling houses to people who could not possibly afford to buy a home. Next came the student loan program where eighteen-year-old kids were given hundreds of thousands of dollars in unsecured and unmonitored loans so they could buy themselves a brand new sports car, enroll at a ritzy university, rent a plush apartment, and pursue a major in left-handed basket weaving.
It’s only natural that the stupid lenders (especially those in the Federal government!) want their money back, and so they hired goon squads of various ilk and stripe to do whatever shakedowns they could do.

The fiscally responsible amongst us don’t think the irresponsible should get off the hook without paying their debts but neither do we think the lenders should be so stupid when it comes to laying out the cash . . . especially when it’s our cash!

+ HR 2516 To Amend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to Require Federal Banking Regulators to Include a Diversity and Inclusion Component in the Uniform Financial Institutions System, and for other purposes. (Al Green, D-TX, Text not yet available).

I don’t think we will need to read the text of this bill to fully understand what Mr. Green has in mind.

+++ S 736 A bill to regulate assault weapons, to ENSURE the right to keep and bear arms is NOT unlimited, and for other purposes [emphasis added] (Diane Feinstein, D-CA, text not yet available). The Democrats are using their majority in both Houses to pass legislation that would never otherwise could have passed, AND they’re being brazen about their intent to cancel our rights under the 2^nd Amendment.

+ HR 7 Paycheck Fairness Act (Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, 21 pages). This bill was passed by the committees reviewing it, and has been placed on the calendar for introduction to the House of Representatives, as a whole.

If passed, it will amend The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to “provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other purposes.”

In reading this bill, one may construct numerous hypothetical scenarios in which an individual who meets the criterion of descriptors outlined in its text would have standing to bring suit against an employer (or potential employer) and, the way the text is worded, it seems the employer would be considered guilty of discrimination until or unless they could prove their innocence. Even if the employer proved themselves to be innocent, they would potentially still be out large sums of money for legal services in their defense while the plaintiff’s attorneys would be provided by the Federal government.

Text of H.R. 7: Paycheck Fairness Act (Preprint (Rule) version) – GovTrack.us

RANDOM THOUGHTS

The so-called “woke” crowd are facing a dilemma of their own making. They claim that one particular race and one particular sex are absolutely, positively responsible for most of the evil throughout history, while simultaneously claiming that “race” and “sex” are social constructs that cannot be defined in any coherent or scientific way. The “woke” have created a contradiction within their own philosophy and, as we have learned, a contradiction cannot exist. If one thinks they have discovered a contradiction, they must examine their premises because one of them is wrong!

+ S 937 COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act (Mazie Hirono, D-HI, 6 pages). The stated purpose of this bill is to “facilitate the expedited review of COVID-19 hate crimes.” This bill is a knee-jerk reaction to an attack by a sex-addicted white man who, along with murdering six Asian prostitutes also murdered two white prostitutes. While there is possibly no one in Washington DC more eager to grab a headline than “Crazie Mazie” Hirono, her bill actually serves as an unveiled illustration of the irrational collective mind of the liberal Democrats in that it: a) urges a meritless rush to judgement in the justice system via an unwillingness to assume innocence until guilt is proven; b) assumes that any crime committed against any individual who is a member of an identifiable minority of the population is prima facie evidence that a “hate crime” has been committed, and; c) it is yet another opportunity for an entire segment of the population to play the “race card.”

+ HR 610 San Francisco Bay Restoration Act (Jackie Speier, D-CA, 8 pages). Over the centuries, the gross mismanagement of State and local government may have caused San Francisco Bay to become polluted. Ms. Speier’s bill proposes spending $50 Million per year for each of the next five years – that’s $250, Million in all – to “study” the degree to which the bay waters might be polluted, to determine the locations, types, and sources of such pollution, to determine what impact (if any) such pollution may have on flora and fauna in the bay area, and to compile a report at the end of the five year study that will inform Congress of its findings. Not one centile in Ms. Speier’s bill does anything to actually mitigate the causes of the pollution or ameliorate the conditions that may be identified as “pollution.”

+ S 963 A bill to authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices within the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity and require the Federal Government to take steps to prevent domestic terrorism, and for other purposes (Dick Durbin, D-IL). This bill enables a significant expansion of Federal government and its abilities to circumvent the privacy accorded to American citizens by the Fourth Amendment. It fails to adequately identify what a “domestic terrorist” is, leaving such decisions to the arbitrary and capricious whims of those individuals within DHS. It is a perfect set-up to enable the persecution of political enemies.

+ HR 1868 To prevent across-the-board spending cuts, and for other purposes (John Yarmuth, D-KY, 10 pages). In the event of a financial crisis, it may be necessary to cut the budgets of all government agencies but Mr. Yarmuth’s bill would allow the Democrats to play favorites and protect those agencies they wish to promote. All Democrats plus twenty-nine Republicans voted to pass this bill. The Senate made changes to the bill and sent it back to the House for reconsideration.

++++ HR 1333 NO BAN Act (Judy Chu, D-CA, 8 pages). This bill would transfer (to a committee appointed by the House of Representatives), and limit the authority of the Executive Branch’s authority to suspend or restrict the entry of a class of aliens into the United States.

To the citizen unaccustomed to analyzing legislation – or to the individual who is pressed for time – it is often very revealing to simply look at the names of the sponsors of a bill in order to gain some understanding and insight as to whether or not they should ask their representative to support it. This bill is a textbook example of why this analytical technique serves so well. Following are the first forty-two cosponsors listed on this bill: Mr. Nadler, Ms. Lofgren, Ms. Omar, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Carson, Mr. Beyer, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Meeks, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Foster, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Evans, Mr. Castro of Texas, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Velázquez, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Cooper, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Quigley, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Rush, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Meng, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Malinowski, Mr. McEachin, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Barragán, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Pressley.

This bill passed in the House by a vote of 218/208 and has been forwarded to the Senate for consideration.

HR 1083 Southeast Asia Strategy Act (Ann Wagner, R-MO, 3 pages). This bill requires the Department of Defense to develop (update?) a strategy for engagement with Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This will likely mean dusting off and updating previous plans but, as it is today, the Biden regime is clearly back on its heels when it comes to being prepared to direct engagement with the CCP.

HR 965 YALI Act of 2021 (Karen Bass, D-CA, 5 pages). This bill may be cited as “The Young African Leaders Initiative Act of 2021.” In keeping with her nature, Ms. Bass remains ever so generous with the taxpayer’s money by recharging a program that began during the 0bama regime aimed at sub-Saharan males aged 18-35 who met qualifications as “entrepreneurs.” There are two problems with this bill: 1. The bill does not specify just how many of our dollars will be shipped out of our country to pay for this program, and; 2. There are a lot of young entrepreneurs in this country who could benefit from some training.

HR 490 DHS MORALE Act (Bennie Thompson, D-MI, 14 pages). This act may be cited as the “Department of Homeland Security Morale Recognition Learning and Engagement Act of 2021. Basically, it’s like this: Someone in DHS has written a bill for amend the Homeland Security has written a wish list and cobbled it together into the form of a bill, attached a check to it, and Bennie Thompson has sponsored it.

This Act of 2002 to improve morale within the Department of Homeland Security workforce by conferring new responsibilities to the Chief Human Capital Officer, establishing an employee engagement steering committee, requiring action plans, and authorizing an annual employee award program (that’s bonuses folks!), and for other purposes.

HR 408 Department of Homeland Security Mentor-Protégé Program Act of 2021 (Donald McEachin, D-VA, 8 pages). This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002, to establish a mentor-protégé program that will ensure chosen groups have an advantage over other competitors when subcontracts are let out by primary government contractors. The groups chosen by Mr. McEachin’s bill include: veterans, service-disabled veterans, HUB zone small businesses, women, socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and, minority institutions of higher learning.

HR 1573 Access to Counsel Act of 2021 (Primila Jayapal, D-WA, 5 pages). The stated purpose of this bill is to clarify the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In other words, Ms. Jayapal’s bill guarantees anyone apprehended at our border shall be furnished at the expense of the U.S. taxpayer a multi-lingual attorney to advise the apprehended “asylee,” Illegal alien, coyote, drug trafficker, or whatever with the appropriate words to say to the apprehending law enforcement officers and, it naturally follows that any and all statements made to law enforcement officers by the apprehended individuals prior to counsel given to the apprehended individual by counsel would be considered inadmissible as evidence in a court of law.

This bill passed in the Housed by a vote of 217/207 and has been forwarded to the Senate for consideration.

+++++HR 51 Washington, D.C. Admissions Act (Eleanor Horton, D-DC, 81 pages). This bill would provide for admission of the District of Columbia into the Union, making it the fifty-first state. Nancy Pelosi is gave this bill her full-throated support which meant it received every Democrat vote in the House.

Chuck Schumer will also herd his Democrats to support this bill and, unless Mitt Romney crosses over to vote with the Democrats, Kamala Harris will break the tie.

That HR 51 is unconstitutional is of little concern to the Democrats. To the Democrats, it now seems the most important matters ahead are choosing the State flag and its motto. Some slithering creature would be appropriate for the flag. Perhaps its motto should be The State of Corruption.

Ultimately, it will not matter unless a majority of the 50 States ratify the addition of the District of Columbia as the fifty-first state. (See comment from Representative Scott DesJarlais in Comments from Representatives Section.)

IT’LL NEVER FLY (BUT IT DARNED WELL SHOULD!)

HR 472 – The District of Columbia – Maryland Reunion Act (Dusty Johnson, R-SD, 1 page). This bill would reduce D.C. to just a few Federal landmarks and make the residential portions of D.C a part of Maryland (much as the way the rest of the original quadrangle was returned to the Commonwealth of Virginia.) This bill that makes more sense than anything I’ve seen this year in the way of countering the madness of the Democrats attempts to ride roughshod over anything that resembles sanity and constitutional governance. In this instance, it was a bill countering H.R. 51.

Unfortunately, Rep. Johnson’s bill attracted no sponsors and failed to make it out of committee but, hey, it was a very nice thought!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate and tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. – Samuel Adams

RHEA COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY NEWS

Rhea County Republican Party Executive Committee

Bitsy Gryder – Chairman Kris Bancroft – Vice Chairman

Judy Bancroft – Secretary Marvin Keener Sr. – Treasurer

Ted Engel – Vice Treasurer

The Rhea County Republican Party Monthly Meeting

The next meeting of the Rhea County Republican Party will be held on 13 May 2021, at 7:00 PM, at the Sheriff’s Training Center, 711 Eagle Lane, Evensville, TN.

BRING A FRIEND!

The Rhea County Republican Party did not meet during the month of February 2021, therefore, there are no minutes to post.

Minutes from the Previous Meeting

Chair Elizabeth Gryder called the April 8^th meeting of the Executive Committee to order.

Planning Major Events: Kris Bancroft announced that he has sent letters to Joe Gryder, Marvin Keener and Laura Travis, requesting input and tips on planning major events, such as the Reagan Day Dinner. He plans to compile this information to make it available to whoever does the planning for future events.

Growing the Republican Party: Kris Bancroft read a letter and questionnaire that he is sending to all Chairs of Tennessee County Republican Parties and to a few counties of other states. The questionnaire solicits ideas for growing the Republican Party.

Spring City Chamber of Commerce: Elizabeth Gryder stated that she is awaiting information regarding the application process for the Rhea County Republican Party to become a member of the Spring City Chamber of Commerce.

Bylaws: The current Rhea County Republican Party By-laws were reviewed for updating. Recommendations will be presented at the next general meeting.

PAC Treasurer: Elizabeth Gryder stated that a PAC Treasurer is needed. A motion was made by Judy Bancroft and seconded by Marvin Keener, Sr., to ask Marvin Keener, Jr., to consider serving in that position. This recommendation will be presented at the next general meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 8:35 pm.

Judy Bancroft

Secretary

LAGNIAPPE

THE CASHLESS SOCIETY – WHAT IT MEANS TO FREEDOM

Kris Bancroft, Editor and Publisher

The Rhea County Republican

I’ve been watching this saga play out for more than four decades, and I’m fairly sure you’ve been watching it, too – I’m talking about the movement toward a “Cashless Society.”

Early on, most people thought all there would be to it would be using a credit card to pay for a purchase, signing a slip of paper, getting a carbon copy receipt, and then writing a check when the bill came in the mail at the end of the month. As it turned out, that was a rather clunky version of the idea of “Going Cashless.”

As we perceive it today – this system of electronically tabulated credits and debits – the technology didn’t exist back when the idea was first conceived. The scientists and engineers hadn’t yet figured out how to track all commerce in the United States – every item bought and sold; every credit; every debit; every exchange of value for value.

Ironically perhaps, at about the same time we started hearing about this Cashless Society, we began to hear reports on TV about cameras being posted in public places. (Of course, those surveillance cameras had been around a lot longer – all the way back to the 1950s – but they were only in a few places and they were very discrete.) No one made the connection between the cameras and the Cashless Society.

At first, we were told about the cameras located in places where it served national security interests, and then they showed up at traffic intersections. They became (and still are) a revenue-grabbing scheme, designed to rat us out if we run a red light. People began getting traffic tickets in the mail. Although people raised a ruckus, red light cameras are still used in twenty-three states and in D.C., with Indianapolis, IN and Austin, TX being the greatest concentration of use. In other cities, insurance companies buy the red light camera data and use it to “adjust” insurance premiums.

Folks in the United Kingdom, Europe, and parts of Asia temporarily solved the invasion of their privacy, i.e, the red light cameras and surveillance cameras. Several years ago, a good friend in Billericay, England, said “some mates he had heard about” were hanging worn out motorbike tyres on those cameras, filling them with petrol, and setting them ablaze. (I guess that was the modern day version of the Guy Fawkes plot.) In response, the local constabulary soon had cameras watching the cameras, watching the cameras and nabbed those “yobs!”

A few “techno wizards” – those incredibly bright men and women we know who seem to always be on the leading edge of every new technological development on earth and in the galaxy – saw the potential benefits of combining security camera film footage with a thing called facial recognition software. “What a great benefit this would be to solving crimes!” they told us.

They were right; sophistication and refinement of technology has brought facial recognition software, in combination with strategic security camera placement, to the point where every city street, every major highway, every public conveyance, and every public building is monitored around the clock on every day of the year. Does this make us safer? Yes, generally. Might the data collected by this constant monitoring of our activities be used for nefarious purposes? The techno wizards tried to tell us about that, too, but we didn’t listen.

That’s a topic for another discussion.

Today, we find ourselves at the point where we rarely, if ever, put pen to paper. The magnetic strips on our credit cards have been replaced by chips and both are swiped. Behind that touch screen is a camera that records our image in case we ever claim it wasn’t us who “bought that stuff.” Here’s what tomorrow will bring:

Some time back, a group of software engineers (one of the many species of techno wizards) came up with the idea that facial recognition software could be used to conduct trade rather than having to swipe credit cards or insert the end with the chip on it into the slot that reads the chip. Their advanced facial recognition software could detect a number of features unique to our faces and associate those unique characteristics with our bank account or credit card account number. This method was much preferred by the public over the retina scan devices because the retina scanning devices (e.g. those used to admit persons into highly secured areas) required too much self-discipline, i.e. standing in one spot, placing one’s chin on a rest, looking straight ahead for three whole seconds. With the facial recognition software, all we’d have to do is look at a camera, let the computer “recognize us” (let the computer compare our face to our image that was on file at the State Driver’s License Bureau or State Department of Transportation), and our identities are verified.

Bankers still expressed their doubts that such technology could ever be relied upon for conducting business on a universal scale. After all, the facial recognition software wasn’t guaranteed to be 100% accurate 100% of the time (yet).

The techno wizards came up with a solution, they connected a computerized camera loaded with facial recognition software to a scanner that can read the fingerprints of the individual whose face is being scanned.

Aside from the extremely rare instances where an individual wishing to conduct trade needs special dispensation because they do not have fingerprints that can be scanned, the bankers have reached Nirvana! (Quite a few people who would greatly prefer we never knew of their existence have had some of that Nirvana, too.)

How reliable are those fingerprint scanners?

On 21 April 2021, Amazon announced it will begin installing scanners in their Whole Foods grocery stores; its customers may, if they choose, pay for their purchase by simply moving their hand across the scanners. If Amazon thinks they’re OK, you’d better believe they’re OK! So, as it turns out, the facial recognition software may end up playing second fiddle to the hand scanners.

The folks in accounting who worked for the bankers (along with the IT specialists in telecommunications and satellite communications services who processed the incoming data) had not reached Nirvana. Their very real concern was this:

If every bodega, restaurant, hair salon, church, hardware store, pawn shop, movie theatre, shoe boutique, casino, gas station, and every other operation where value for value changes hands must suddenly and solely rely on exchanges done electronically, it would overwhelm and collapse the communications systems that would handle the trade.

But then came the 5G network! (And I’ll bet you thought it was all about education and streaming your favorite videos on your computer, didn’t you?)

It will be a few years yet before we reach full assimilation into cashless-ness but it’s safe enough to say it’s here, and it’s here to stay.

A Cashless Society has considerable appeal for many people. It means we will never have to carry an ID with us for any purpose, no credit cards; no checkbooks; no driver’s licenses. We’ll never again have to stand in those TSA lines at the airport (although we will still have to walk through the scanners) or at the ATMs.

You see, along with knowing how many credits we have in our accounts, the database will know everything else about us. If we’re dining out, we needn’t be surprised when the waiter tells us he’s got our favorite wine; it’s in the database. And, when we’re done with our meal (the entrée the waiter recommended because he was able to learn what we like and don’t like by querying our database), he brings us a hand-held device, we tap the screen to indicate the gratuity we’re leaving, we look into the lens, put our hand atop the device to let it scan our fingerprints, the credits are transferred to all the appropriate places, and everyone is happy.

All our other business transactions are no more complicated.

While it is true that in a cashless society we will no longer have to carry an ID, cash, or credit cards with us each time we leave home, and; that our accounts will be credited at the very instant our employer (or benefactor) sends the information to our account and stored in our file, first dibs will go (naturally) to our monthly/weekly installment debtors, of course, and then, each debit will be deducted at the moment we acquire a new product or service.

Problems solved? No, not really.

Our brilliant friends, those incredibly bright techno wizards, were also trying to wake us up and get us to read the story of the dilemma of Winston Smith, but those of us who haven’t heard of Winston, Julia, Syme, Mrs. Parsons, and the rest may never fully understand what it all means. For now, we can know that a Cashless Society means every business transaction in which we engage will be monitored; our rights under the 4^th Amendment will be . . . “vaporized.”

In the days to come, there will be no such thing as applying for loans; we will be told what kind of car we can afford, what kind of apartment we can rent, where we can go on vacation, and what kind of school we can enroll our kids in. Our budgets will be planned for us, right down to our last . . . credit.

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES TODAY!

Regardless of where you live you can find your elected representatives at any level of government by visiting the following link. Remember: While they might be fairly bright, none of them can read your mind so it is your duty as a citizen to express your thoughts (and to urge all your friends and family and like-minded folks to do the same!)

https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Here’s a handy guide for Tennesseans in the 4^th Congressional District:

Joseph Robinette Biden (a.k.a. the “Big Guy”)

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington D.C. 20500

Phone: (202) 456-1414

Fax: (202) 456-2461

e-mail

http://www.whitehouse.gov

president@whitehouse.gov

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty