RHEA COUNTY REPUBLICAN

ADVANCING THE CONSERVATIVE CAUSE

Vol. 3 – No. 9                                                                                                        November 2019

RHEA COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Bitsy Gryder – Chairman                           Gary Drinkard – Vice Chairman
Laura Travis – Secretary                            Larry Pendergrass – Treasurer
Linda Pendergrass – Vice Treasurer

MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING

The next meeting of the Rhea County Republican Party will be held on 7 November, at 7:00 PM, at the Rhea County Sheriff’s Training Center, 711 Eagle Drive, Evensville, TN.  (Bring a friend.)

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ONE AND ALL!

Each year, all across the United States, on the 4th Thursday of November, we celebrate a national holiday that has come to be known as “Thanksgiving.”

The first such event took place in 1621, at Plymouth colony, in what is now known as the State of Massachusetts, when the Pilgrims took time off from their labors to celebrate and share with their indigenous neighbors a “Harvest Celebration.”  The exact date(s) of what was then a three-day celebration are unknown.

In all, the 53 Pilgrims who hosted the gathering were all who remained of the original 102 passengers who sailed across the Atlantic on the Mayflower.

Guests at the feast included 90 Wampanoag Indians, led by their Chief, Massasoit.  One of these Indians included a young man named Squanto, the only one of the Wampanoag Indians who spoke fluent English, who served as the interpreter.

Over the years, the Harvest Celebration became combined with a July event held by the Pilgrims which was known as “Thanksgiving.”  The latter term became that which marks the holiday we celebrate today.

This brief account is derived from the works of Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, a writer and publisher of the History of Massachusetts Blog. Rebecca is a freelance writer who got her start in journalism working for small-town newspapers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire after she graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. in journalism.  More information can be found at the following link: https://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-first-thanksgiving/

 

EDITORIAL

I’ve given more than a little thought toward understanding the shenanigans of the Democrats with their “impeachment inquiry” and I presume you have, too.

While their antics remind us of “Kabuki Theatre,” a theatrical style known for its elaborate costumes and over-acting, their ultimate goal is to achieve a political coup that will remove President Donald John Trump from the White House!  Not because he has done anything wrong; the actions of the Democrats are based solely on the fact that their side lost and they refuse to accept the reality of their loss.

Some people might also be curious about the terminology the Democrats are using in their latest ploy – “impeachment inquiry” as opposed to an “impeachment investigation.”  What’s the difference?  Much!

An investigation is a formal process undertaken by Congress and, in accordance with its rules, must be conducted by a bipartisan group (a formal Committee).

Launching a congressional investigation requires that a vote be taken to authorize such, and the purpose and parameters of the investigation must be specified prior to taking the vote.

If a majority of the Members of the House of Representatives vote for an investigation the Speaker then assigns Representatives from his/her Party to staff the Committee, and the House Minority Leader appoints an equal number from his/her Party, minus one, to serve on the Committee.  During the investigation, all evidence and all depositions are reviewed by all the Members of the investigative Committee.

The Committee would present its findings to the Speaker and, if indicated by the Committee, the Speaker would take a vote among the body of the House of Representatives on whether to refer their findings to the Senate, wherein a formal trial would be held.  If a two-thirds majority of the Senate supported the referral made by the Speaker, the parties named in the referral would be impeached.

An inquiry is quite a different matter; inquiries are not necessarily a formal function of Congress; inquiries may be conducted by inquirers appointed by the Speaker, and do not require that the Speaker share any data or depositions (evidence in this case) gathered by those assigned to conduct the inquiry.  An inquiry can be conducted without first having a vote to decide whether such an action has merit.

So, Nancy Pelosi’s inquiry is being conducted by her selected appointees, and their mission is to gather claims of unspecified “wrong doings” (insinuated to be “high crimes and misdemeanors”).  As long as these claims are a part of an inquiry, none of the claims need to be supported by evidence.

There are no limitations for how long an inquiry may be carried out.  Speaker Pelosi’s “impeachment inquiry” has, in one manner or another, been ongoing for nearly three years.  During that time, the Speaker and her operatives have leaked copious amounts of information, much of it untrue – anything that might be harmful to President Trump – to their media operatives, and they have remained silent on, or tried to suppress, any evidence that might exonerate the President or that does not support their narrative.  In doing so, driven mainly by their pathological obsession to disagree for the sake of disagreeing, the Democrats have engaged in what can only be defined as a many-faceted political coup!

The fact is, an impeachment process would require the formal initiation of an impeachment investigation by the Speaker, and the Democrats most definitely do not want their efforts to be defined in such a manner.  To do so would require that the accusers disclose any and all evidence – including the names of accusers and witnesses and their recorded depositions – to those who would defend the accused, in this case President Trump.  At the conclusion of her impeachment investigation Speaker Pelosi would have to take a vote to see whether a majority of House Members wanted to refer the matter for a trial in the Senate.  Instead, the Democrats want to run out the clock until the 2020 election is over.

Given their dismal field of candidates vying for the Democrat nomination to run against President Trump, and the fact they have ZERO ideas for their platform that could possibly get them elected, it becomes easy to understand their desperation.

Furthermore, during an impeachment investigation, the accused – our President – would have rights under the 4th Amendment, namely “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures” unless a warrant has been issued based on probable cause.  I have seen no justifiable “probable cause” for all the data the Democrats have demanded!

Next to consider is the matter of protection under the 6th Amendment:  “The accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy trial, by an impartial jury” and to “be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and have the assistance of counsel for his defense.”

None of this protection is offered under the process of an impeachment inquiry!  All the Democrats have done thus far is to make never-ending allegations, based on the statements of unnamed witnesses (some of whom have hidden under the cloak of whistleblower protection), and based on “evidence” (conjecture and hypotheticals) that does not exist.

As indicated above, an impeachment investigation would pressure the Speaker to either, in a timely fashion, relent in her activities and stop the investigation, or to move forward with an official impeachment process.  So, what is this process?  It’s all laid out in our Constitution:

Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 states that the House of Representatives shall have the sole power of Impeachment and that the impeachment process is carried forward only if a majority of Representatives in the House vote in favor of doing so.

Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 states that impeachments shall be tried in the Senate.

To summarize, the Speaker does not want this process to go forward to the Senate for myriad reasons; the three most significant reasons are:

  • For so long as the process is defined as an impeachment inquiry her Kabuki theatre has life and prominence as it is reported on daily by her operatives in the left-wing media.
  • Any votes to move forward with an impeachment process would be recorded and the chances for reelection of those Democrat (and Republican) Representatives from Districts that President Trump won in 2016 would be severely jeopardized.
  • The Speaker knows that two-thirds of the Senate would not find President Trump guilty of any crimes the Democrats have accused him of and not only would her efforts to impeach the President fail, she, her fellow Democrats, and the left-wing media would be exposed for the frauds they are; the curtain would finally fall on the Democrats’ Kabuki Theatre!

For those who would like to understand the impeachment process more fully please visit the following link:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States

 

ON THE HOME FRONT

Bledsoe County Reagan Day Dinner will be held on November 2nd beginning at 5:15 PM Central Time, at the Bledsoe County High School, located on Highway 127, just west of its intersection with Highway 30.  Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN, 4th District) will be the keynote speaker.  Tickets are $45.00 per person.  Contact Suzanne Sapp bledsoeco.gop@gmail.com or Bitsy Gryder, Chairman RCRP for more information.

 

Rhea County Unemployment is 3rd Highest in Tennessee.  Recent figures released by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development report the average unemployment rate in Tennessee is 3.4%.  The lowest unemployment rates are in Sevier and Williamson Counties at 2.5%.  Rhea County’s unemployment rate was recently reported to be at 5.4%, which is an improvement from the July rate of 6.8%.

 

Rhea County Commissioners have approved an expenditure of $60,000 to sponsor fishing tournaments.  This allocation will primarily benefit hoteliers, restaurants, and retail trade outlets in the county.

 

Rhea County Commissioners passed an 8% property tax increase on their constituents.  Emaly Fisher, Harold Fisher, Bill Hollin, Russell “Rusty” Rogers, and Jim Reed cast votes to raise our property taxes.  Allocations of revenues for the current budget include:  21.7% to service the existing debt (i.e. to pay the interest on our ~$140 Million debt but not to pay it off!); 46% is allocated to the “General Fund” which finances expenditures for fishing tournaments, pays the salaries of county employees, and finance other programs; 19.6% is allocated directly to schools while 11.5% is allocated for transporting students to and from school (31.1% in total goes to support county schools), and; 1.2% of county revenues are allocated for upkeep of our roads.  (Is it any wonder then that Rhea County’s roads are quite possibly the worst in Tennessee?)

 

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Given that Venezuela has been given a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, is it finally time for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations?

https://reason.com/2019/10/18/u-n-elects-venezuela-to-human-rights-council/

[E-mail your thoughts to:  pyrope84045@mypacks.net – Editor]

 

BOOK OF THE MONTH

The nomination for Book of the Month is provided by Arkady Polishchuk, a reader and friend currently residing in St. Petersburg, Russia, whose book “Dancing on Thin Ice” was my selection for Book of the Month, in October.  On reading my friend’s review, I immediately ordered my copy of Vladimir Bukovsky’s book Judgement in Moscow: Soviet Crimes and Western Complicity.

Vladimir Bukovsky is a legendary figure of Russian the human rights movement.  His book Judgment in Moscow: Soviet Crimes and Western Complicity offers crucial archival documentation of the crimes of the Soviet era and demonstrates how the failure to address its past has doomed Russia to repeat it.  This book is essential for understanding why Russia did not make the transition to democracy after 1991 and why the men who now rule the Kremlin operate just like the communist apparatchiks.  Russian interference in American politics stretches back decades.  Judgment in Moscow shows how Soviet leaders used Western leaders as dupes or willing actors.  A well-known American publisher did not like it and asked Vladimir to make some unacceptable changes in the book.  Bukovsky chose not to publish it and refused a large fee offered to him.  Years ago it was translated into many languages, but it took more than a quarter century to translate it into English.

I love and admire Vladimir Bukovsky.  A kind, gentle, reliable friend, and a brilliant writer, from his youth he dreamed of devoting himself to science.  However, the most brutal regime of the 20th century determined his fate.  Exiled from Moscow University for honesty and integrity when he was 20-year-old, risking his life, he became an outstanding fighter for human rights.  I am proud that his short review of my Dancing on Thin Ice is on its cover.   http://howardlovy.com/arkady/

Arkady Polishchuk offered additional these additional comments via a recent email:

In your recent letter about the Appeal for Nuremberg Trials for communism you mention ten million Russians killed under Stalin rule.  Researchers still have difficulty accessing archives related to Soviet repression.  The head of the Russian organization Memorial, Arseny Roginsky, states today:  “A huge number of documents in our country are unreasonably classified. If you ask for some investigative files from the 1920s and early 1930s, you will be denied.  Even for the compilation of the “Books of Remembrance,” access to such matters is almost impossible.”

I will mention some, but not all, crimes of Stalinism:  Terror against the peasants, unleashed during the period of collectivization, the extermination by hunger imposed on huge regions (Ukraine is the largest example) in the 30s, the Gulag – a system of labor camps where prisoners were methodically destroyed by unbearable conditions of slave labor, the Great Terror in 1936-38  (according to the most conservative estimates, only 13 million people were arrested during these years, and at least one million were shot,), and conspiracy with Hitler and mutual responsibility for the outbreak of World War II. The Stalin’s regime conducted the war in a barbaric manner – millions Soviet citizens died. Professor Kurganov believes that from 1917 to 1959 only from the internal war of the Soviet regime against the people, that is, destruction by hunger, collectivization, exile of peasants to prisons, camps, simple executions – only from this we died together with the Civil War 66 million people. (According to Solzhenitsyn – 60 millions. I agree with him.) Experts disagree sharply.  The number of victims of Stalinism, only in peacetime, ranges from 10 to 70 million.  In small Cambodia alone, during the period the communist Khmer Rouge was in power from 1975 to 1979, about two million people died from starvation and execution.  Add to that them 50 million victims of communism in China under Mao Tze Dong.  Crimes were committed against citizens of all countries captured by the Soviet regime.

 

     [Those who are students of history may have read the stories of the Nuremberg Trials, which were held following World War II.  Justice was meted out for the Nazis who were responsible for the deaths of millions of Jews and Polish prisoners held in their death camps. 

     Now, many decades later, there is an appeal to hold trials for Russians who committed atrocities that were, in many cases, more horrendous than those of the Nazis; by best estimates, the deaths of some ten million Russians came at the hands of Stalin and his henchmen.  If you would like to add your name to the list of those calling for Nuremberg-style trials to prosecute the remaining communists who committed war crimes, you may visit the following link. – Editor]

https://nuremberg.vladimirbukovsky.com/?fbclid=IwAR3L-DR2ezhBaa29Vj3bUyHZ53gCncGucuddMSpPpDDzXDl2e5hBOksq8DA

 

RANDOM THOUGHTS

We must learn to honor excellence in every socially accepted human activity, however humble the activity, and to scorn shoddiness, however exalted the activity. An excellent plumber is infinitely more admirable than an incompetent philosopher. The society that scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. -John W. Gardner, author and leader (8 Oct 1912-2002

 

COMMENTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES

[No comments were received this month from our elected representatives. – Editor]

 

COMMENTS FROM READERS

Joe Kirkpatrick, a reader from Nashville, TN and a Development Associate for The Beacon Center sent me a note the other day to inform readers of The Rhea County Republican that they’re currently working on a project called The City Freedom Index.  This index will rank Tennessee cities on issue concerning personal freedom, with Tax Burden comprising 25% of the ranking.  Other rankings for scoring purposes will include “Individual Liberty,” “Private Property,” and “Free Enterprise,” each making up 25% of the total score.  The project will be published on 4 July 2020.  I would encourage all readers in Tennessee to sign up with The Beacon Center and give them your support.  They are doing a great job for Tennesseans!

 

Daniel Williams, a reader from Carroll County, TN, and previous Chairman of the Carroll County Republican Party offered the following words of wisdom:

We must begin to teach our fellow citizens they must not even vote for democrats at the county level.  It has been said, “all politics begins at the local level” and that is true.  It is the base foundation of any party.  Even well-intentioned people that support and run on the Democrat party at the local levels are ultimately supporting the radical ideas of those at the top levels.

 

Betsy Gorisch, a reader from Knoxville, TN shared the following:

The last 3 years have been revealing. Washington is corrupt. China is Communist. Saudi Arabia is incompetent. Europe is an aspiring super state. Russia is one big conspiracy. Google is watching you. A lot of celebrities are perverts. Most news is a lie.  Otherwise we’re fine.

 

Dawn Shaffer, shares news from New York City:

The city’s Commission on Human Rights releases a new 29-page directive that outlaws threaten someone with a call to immigration authorities or refer to them as an “illegal alien”.

The directive reads “‘Alien’ — used in many laws to refer to a ‘noncitizen’ person — is a term that may carry negative connotations and dehumanize immigrants, marking them as ‘other,’…The use of certain language, including ‘illegal alien’ and ‘illegals,’ with the intent to demean, humiliate, or offend a person or persons constitutes discrimination.”

 

Harriet Lublin, a reader from Atlanta, GA offers her comments on an article appearing in The American Thinker:

What a disturbing picture is emerging from the research of Peter Schweizer, who has a new one out about Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden’s son Hunter and his business dealings with China.
In a New York Post op-ed, Schweizer writes:  “In 2013, then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden flew aboard Air Force Two to China. Less than two weeks later, Hunter Biden’s firm inked a $1 billion private equity deal with a subsidiary of the Chinese government’s Bank of China. The deal was later expanded to $1.5 billion. In short, the Chinese government funded a business that it co-owned along with the son of a sitting vice president.
“If it sounds shocking that a vice president would shape US-China policy as his son — who has scant experience in private equity — clinched a coveted billion-dollar deal with an arm of the Chinese government, that’s because it is.”

The details get worse and worse and worse, the further you read — the Chinese, for instance, kept news of the deal away from the English-language portion of its website. The agreements signed came just ahead of then–vice president Joe Biden’s trips to China. The deals themselves were to buy into companies that were stealing U.S. secrets. The secrets they were after involved U.S. nuclear submarines. And Biden Junior didn’t know jack about nuclear things, Chinese things, or venture capital; he was there just for being the vice president’s son.

Not only do these Democrats not care about Joe’s kid’s big money deals, they don’t care about the asymmetry of justice going on against less powerful people. Worst of all, they couldn’t care less about the threats to national security that arise out of this Democrat cupidity. They are after all, the party of the man from Hot Springs, Bill Clinton, who sold out U.S. interests to the Chinese in acts the U.S. is still paying for as China builds up its deep water navy. They are also the party that defended his wife’s illegal private server, brimming with classified communications, stored in some guy’s bathroom. That of course was to prevent anyone from discovering, via Freedom of Information Act inquiries, that their Clinton Foundation was offering a pay-to-play operation to gamy foreign players such as the uranium-hungry Russians, with Hillary Clinton then the Secretary of State.

[The entire article can be found at the following link:  https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/05/why_isnt_the_senate_investigating_joe_bidens_son_hunter_over_china_ukraine_dealings.html?fbclid=IwAR0RCX1EfhfCSY4QxWX6YBSfp16ZrkK07j5J60Vj4l6WUpgPuVsbRGU5yQ8  – Editor]

 

Pam Whitson, a reader from Chicagoland offers her observations on recent events in Illinois:

One of the Chief architects behind the $45 Billion dollar GAS TAX hike was just RAIDED by the FBI for alleged kickbacks. More RAIDS tied to the GAS TAX were done as well.

The People in IL deserve a Government that works for them and NOT their own INTERESTS. Let’s start over and put the TAXPAYERS first!

A primary player in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s infrastructure plan saw his home and offices raided by the FBI and IRS Tuesday morning.

The target, state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-Chicago, is as clouted as they come.

Sandoval rose to prominence with the help of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Hispanic Democratic Organization, a disbanded political patronage operation. He shares political turf on Chicago’s Southwest Side not only with indicted Ald. Ed Burke, but also with House Speaker Mike Madigan. And he’s one of the longest-serving state senators in Illinois with more than 16 years under his belt.

Sandoval has also held the coveted role of Senate Transportation Committee chairman for a decade. It’s from that perch that he pushed for a record-breaking gas tax hike and other tax and fee hikes this spring to fund billions of dollars in new construction projects. Sandoval wanted the capital bill so badly he even took the heat for sponsoring a bill containing an even larger gas tax hike, before ratcheting down to a mere doubling.

Capital bills are a feeding frenzy for special interests. And Sandoval held the keys to the kitchen. “Governor signs Sandoval’s $45 billion infrastructure improvement package,” boasts a June press release from the state senator’s website.

Might the feds want to have a word about some of those projects?

According to the Chicago Tribune, authorities are looking into allegations Sandoval used his public office to steer business in exchange for private kickbacks. That’s all we know about the raids so far, other than the fact that prosecutors would have needed to present some serious evidence to justify cracking the Statehouse dome, not to mention Sandoval’s Cicero office and his home. The state senator has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

The Illinois Policy Institute released a report ahead of the capital bill vote this year warning about the need for project selection reform to guard against waste and abuse of taxpayer resources.

In the face of the same in Springfield, Pritzker, Cullerton and Madigan have been sitting on their hands. Maybe the threat of corruption charges derailing Pritzker’s treasured infrastructure plan will spur them to action.

That will depend on the FBI’s next move.

 

RANDOM THOUGHTS

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. -Desmond Tutu, clergyman (b. 7 Oct 1931)

 

THE KURDISH QUESTION

In a recent AMAC poll, the question as to whether or not President Trump was correct in pulling our troops – approximately 100 in all – out of northern Syria.  As of 12 October 4,348 respondents had opined that they agreed with the President’s action because the United States should not be the “world’s policemen.”  7,765 respondents observed that there have been conflict among the various ethnic groups for centuries and it will continue with or without the presence of U.S. troops.  3,979 respondents disagreed because the Kurds have been our allies and need our help.  1,930 had no opinion.

 

LEGISLATIVE REPORT

H Res 576 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the whistleblower complaint of August 12, 2019, made to the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (Schiff, D-CA).

This simple resolution was agreed to on 25 September 2019. That is the end of the legislative process for a simple resolution.

 

HR 3474 Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019 (Scott, D-VA, 34 pages).

To amend the National Labor Relations Act, the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, and for other purposes.

[The intent of this bill is ultimately to destroy Right to Work laws; given that Bobby Scott has received ~$600,000 in donations from public sector unions and teachers unions, this bill is clearly intended as a service to organized labor. https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/summary?cid=N00002147&cycle=CAREER   – Editor]

 

HR 4372 MSI STEM Achievement Act (Johnson, D-TX, 15 pages).  This bill directs Federal science agencies and the Office of Science and Technology Policy to undertake activities to increase funding earmarked for undergraduate STEM education in the Nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), and for other purposes.  Ms. Johnson’s bill addresses the matter that 40% of black students and 37% of Latino students drop out (fail) to complete STEM education in mainstream universities  https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/the-science-divide-why-do-latino-and-black-students-leave-stem-majors-at-higher-rates/2019/05/03/e386d318-4b32-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html and is an attempt to change the outcome by providing more funding for institutions who might be willing to lower their standards so that outcomes might be improved.

 

HR 95 Homeless Veterans Families Act (Brownley, D-CA, 2 pages).  This bill amends Title 38, United States Code, to ensure that children of homeless veterans are included in the calculation of the amounts of certain per diem grants by adding clause (iii) to Section 2. – Modification of calculation of amounts of per diem grants:  “With respect to a homeless veteran who has care of a minor dependent while receiving services from the grant recipient or eligible entity, the daily cost of care shall be the sum of the daily cost of care determined under subparagraph (A) plus, for each such minor dependent, an amount that equals 50 percent of such daily cost of care.”

 

HR 2315 Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 (Maloney, D-NY, 38 pages).  The purpose of this bill is to ensure that persons who form corporations or limited liability companies in the United States disclose the beneficial owners of those corporations or limited liability companies, in order to prevent wrongdoers from exploiting United States corporations and limited liability companies for criminal gain, to assist law enforcement in detecting, preventing, and punishing terrorism, money laundering, and other misconduct involving United States corporations and limited liability companies, and for other purposes.

 

S 2593 A bill to amend Title 31, United States Code, to provide for automatic continuing resolutions (Portman, R-OH, 8 pages).  Currently, when our representatives in Washington spend more of our money than what they had previously budgeted, they are forced to write and pass a Continuing Resolution.  By adding Section 1311 to Title 31, Chapter 13, US Code, they are relieved of the responsibility to have a debate as to whether additional spending is justified; they just write out the checks and run up the National Debt without debate.  If U.S. taxpayers had thought our government had lost all sense of responsibility and propriety before now, this new bill will show us just how wrong we were!  I would URGE all concerned citizens to review this bill and consider letting your Senators know that you DEMAND fiscal responsibility.

 

Section 1311.  Continuing appropriations

(a)(1)  If an appropriation measure for a fiscal year with respect to a program, project, or activity is not enacted before the beginning of such fiscal year and a bill or joint resolution making continuing appropriations is not in effect with respect to the program, project, or activity, there are appropriated such sums as may be necessary to continue the program, project, or activity if funds were provided for the program, project, or activity in the preceding fiscal year—

(A) in the corresponding appropriation Act for such preceding fiscal year; or

(B) if the corresponding appropriation bill for such preceding fiscal year did not become law—

(i) in a bill or joint resolution making continuing appropriations for such preceding fiscal year; or

(ii) under this section.

(2)(A)  Except as provided in subparagraph (B), appropriations and funds made available, and authority granted, for a program, project, or activity for any fiscal year pursuant to this section shall be at a rate of operations not in excess of the lower of—

(i) 100 percent of the rate of operations provided for in the regular appropriation Act providing for such program, project, or activity for the preceding fiscal year;

(ii) in the absence of such an Act, 100 percent of the rate of operations provided for such program, project, or activity pursuant to a bill or joint resolution making continuing appropriations for such preceding fiscal year;

(iii) in the absence of such a bill or joint resolution, 100 percent of the rate of operations provided for such program, project, or activity under this section for such preceding fiscal year; or

(iv) 100 percent of the annualized rate of operations provided for in the most recently enacted bill or joint resolution making continuing appropriations for part of a fiscal year.

(B) For entitlements and other mandatory payments whose budget authority was provided for the previous fiscal year in appropriations Acts, under a law other than this section providing continuing appropriations for such previous year, or under this section, and for activities under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, appropriations and funds made available during a fiscal year under this section shall be at the rate necessary to maintain program levels under current law, under the authority and conditions provided in the applicable appropriations Act.

(3) Appropriations and funds made available, and authority granted, for any fiscal year pursuant to this section for a program, project, or activity shall be available for the period beginning with the first day of a lapse in appropriations and ending with the date on which the applicable regular appropriation bill for such fiscal year becomes law (whether or not such law provides for such program, project, or activity) or a bill or joint resolution making continuing appropriations for such program, project, or activity becomes law, as the case may be.

(4) Notwithstanding section 251(a)(1) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(a)(1)) and the timetable in section 254(a) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 904(a)), for any fiscal year for which appropriations and funds are made available under this section, the final sequestration report for such fiscal year pursuant to section 254(f)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 904(f)(1)) and any order for such fiscal year pursuant to section 254(f)(5) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 901(f)(5)) shall be issued—

(A) for the Congressional Budget Office, 10 days after the date on which all regular appropriation Acts for such fiscal year or continuing appropriations through the end of such fiscal year have been enacted; and

(B) for the Office of Management and Budget, 15 days after the date on which all regular appropriation Acts for such fiscal year or continuing appropriations through the end of such fiscal year have been enacted.

(b) An appropriation or funds made available, or authority granted, for a program, project, or activity for any fiscal year pursuant to this section shall be subject to the terms and conditions imposed with respect to the appropriation made or funds made available for the preceding fiscal year, or authority granted for such program, project, or activity under current law.

(c) Expenditures made for a program, project, or activity for any fiscal year pursuant to this section shall be charged to the applicable appropriation, fund, or authorization whenever a regular appropriation bill or a joint resolution making continuing appropriations until the end of a fiscal year providing for such program, project, or activity for such period becomes law.

(d) This section shall not apply to a program, project, or activity during a fiscal year if any other provision of law (other than an authorization of appropriations)—

(1) makes an appropriation, makes funds available, or grants authority for such program, project, or activity to continue for such period; or

(2) specifically provides that no appropriation shall be made, no funds shall be made available, or no authority shall be granted for such program, project, or activity to continue for such period.

 

HR 4617 Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy Act (Lofgren, D-CA, 55 pages).  This bill would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to clarify the obligation to report acts of foreign election influence and require implementation of compliance and reporting systems by Federal campaigns to detect and report such acts, and for other purposes.  The bill passed in the House of Representatives along party lines and has been forwarded to the Senate for consideration.

 

HR 3 Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 (Pallone, D-NJ, 101 pages).  Passage of this bill would require the establishment of a fair price negotiation program from excessive price increases and establish an out-of-pocket maximum for Medicate Part D enrollees.

 

HR 2514 COUNTER Act of 2019 (Cleaver, D-MO, 66 pages).  This bill makes certain reforms in the (Federal) Bank Secrecy Act (1970), which some people may recall established a requirement that businesses keep records and file reports on matters that would enable the IRS to conduct criminal, tax, and regulatory investigations.  The bill also addresses and enhances other anti-money laundering laws.

 

S 2644 Countering Turkish Aggression Act of 2019 (Graham, R-SC, 18 pages).  This bill would impose numerous forms of sanctions on Turkey unless they relent in their attacks against the Kurds.

 

H 4695 To Impose Sanctions Against Turkey (Engel, D-NY, 16 pages).  This is a companion bill to S 2644 (above) that imposes sanctions against Turkey in response to their aggression against the Kurds.

 

 

RANDOM THOUGHTS

When small men begin to cast long shadows it means the sun is about to set. – Lin Yutang

 

LAGNIAPPE

THE TANGLED WEB OF BURISMA – AND MORE!

The stories of Hunter Biden’s involvement in the Ukrainian gas production firm, Burisma, beginning in 2014 ended only when Joe Biden announced his candidacy for the Democrat Party’s nominee for president.  We know that Hunter Biden, a 49 year old with a shady past and who was kicked out of the Navy because of his drug use, had no experience in the oil and gas industry at the beginning of his tenure with Burisma but was nonetheless paid in excess of $53,000 per month during his tenure.

Why was Hunter given such a lucrative deal?  According to an article appearing in the UK Daily Mail, Ariel Zilber reported that Hunter Biden was regarded by Burisma as a “helpful, non-executive Director.”

Hunter Biden’s involvement with Burisma is not his only questionable business arrangement.

In December 2013, during the time Joe Biden served as Vice President, Hunter Biden accompanied him on an official trip to China and, by the time they returned home, Hunter Biden had been appointed to a position on the Board of Directors with Bohai Harvest RST Partners (BHR), at which time $1.5 billion changed hands.  Two things are important to note:

  1. BHR is owned by the Chinese government, which means Hunter Biden is on the Chinese government’s payroll – an “agent” of the Chinese government!
  2. At or about the time Hunter Biden began his tenure with BHR, Chris Heinz, the stepson of John Kerry, and Devon Archer, who had served as co-chairman of Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, were hired by BHR.

According to an article published in the 21st Century Business Herald, Devon Archer captured a spot on the BHR payroll because he convinced Jonathan Li, Chief Executive of BHR, that he had “a deep network of contacts in U.S. political circles.”

As reported by Michael Kranish and Anna Fifield, reporters for the Washington Post, in their article published an on 13 October 2019:  “Much about Hunter Biden’s China dealings is unknown because many records of the company are not [made] public and he has declined interview requests to discuss his work for the company.”

The same article published a quote from Joe Biden, in a speech he gave while stumping in Iowa:  “If I am your president, your next president, I am going to build on the squeaky clean White House that we had in the Obama-Biden administration.  No one in my family, associated with me will be involved in any foreign operation whatsoever.  Period.  End of story.”

 

[Read more about the Biden-Heinz-Archer connection with BHR at the following link: https://nypost.com/2018/03/15/inside-the-shady-private-equity-firm-run-by-kerry-and-bidens-kids/ – Editor]

 

During the Democrat debate on 15 October, Biden was asked about his family’s involvement in Burisma and BHR (the firm owned by the Chinese government).  He replied:  “My son did nothing wrong.  I did nothing wrong.”  One pundit opined that, perhaps, Biden truly believes his claim but that generous notion seems to have been negated by a campaign promise Biden made – that, if elected, no family member will be involved in a foreign business.  Unfortunately, no one has yet posed the question to Joe Biden:  If it is wrong now, why wasn’t it wrong then?

So, to summarize, we have the son of a sitting Vice President who received enormous sums of money from two foreign countries – Ukraine and China.  We have the stepson of a former Secretary of State in the Obama-Biden administration, Chris Heinz and his co-chairman from his 2004 presidential campaign, Devon Archer, receiving salaries from a firm owned by the Chinese government.  Any rational person would conclude that, via his son Hunter Biden, Joe Biden is in violation of Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 8, of the Constitution of the United States – generally known as the “Emoluments Clause,” which prohibits any elected official, directly or indirectly, from taking money (or any item of value) from a foreign government in exchange for personal favors.  Furthermore, since Hunter Biden, Chris Heinz, and Devon Archer received money from BHR – a company owned by the Chinese government – they have, at a minimum, served as de facto agents of a foreign government, if not directly and knowingly working for a foreign government to the detriment of the United States!

When President Trump spoke with President Zelenskiy (25 July 2019) the Democrats demanded and obtained the transcript of the conversation.  Their next move was to assemble (and leak) excerpts of the conversation to make it appear as though President Trump had tried to pressure President Zelenskiy into launching an investigation into Hunter Biden’s (and several other Democrats) involvement with Burisma, attempted to make President Trump look as if he were the one who had acted unethically.  To add some semblance of credibility to their claim, the Democrats asserted that President Trump had threatened to withhold assistance to Ukraine.  Their fraudulent claims were exposed when President Trump OK’d the declassification of the transcript.  But why would the Democrats defraud the people of the United States?

Clearly, the Democrats knew the truth would expose many of their party members’ and operatives inappropriate behavior.  Is it any wonder then that so many Democrats tried to claim a “quid pro quo” arrangement over President Trump call to President Zelenskiy, to ask that he investigate the Democrats’ involvement in the 2016 election?

A full transcript of President Trump’s conversation with President Zelenskiy is found at the following link:  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/read-full-transcript-trump-s-conversation-ukraine-s-president-n1058581

 

[The prosecutors President’s Trump and Zelenskiy discussed in their conversation were Viktor Shokin and Yuriy Lutsenko who, from 2013 to 2015, who had been investigating Burisma for various corruption violations but, toward the end of 2015, the investigations into their illegal activities were suddenly and, in the opinion of many legal experts, inexplicably dropped.  Hunter Biden’s tenure on Burisma’s Board of Directors began in 2014. – Editor]

 

But, there’s one more matter to discuss in all this; it might best be described as a “Black Swan” event; the Black Swan is Mitt Romney.  To present the matter succinctly, Mitt Romney betrayed President Trump, and to fully understand the egregiousness of Mitt Romney’s betrayal, one needs to look at the history of his connection with President Trump.

When Mitt Romney launched his candidacy for president, one of the first persons he sought out was Donald Trump, who donated heavily to his campaign.  When Mitt Romney ran for the U.S. Senate, again, he sought out President Trump, who traveled to Utah to attend a rally for Mitt Romney where he heartily endorsed his candidacy.  In short, President Trump has been a sincere friend to Mitt Romney – President Trump was Mitt Romney’s “go to” guy.  So, why did Mitt Romney suddenly and viciously turn on President Trump when he learned of his conversation with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy, asking that Zelenskiy investigate Burisma?

As it turns out, Mitt Romney was trying to hide the fact that Cofer Black, his “good friend” and former CIA operative, who served as Romney’s foreign policy advisor during his presidential campaign had direct connections to Hunter Biden and had also been taking bales of money from Burisma?  According to available public records, Cofer Black became a Burisma Board Member in 2017, and his reputation defines him as being as deep in the “Deep State” as one can get.

As Erielle Davidson, a Staff Writer at The Federalist put it:  “It’s looking increasingly probable that Burisma, the subject of a series of corruption allegations in the past, has been smartly buying Western complacency by slapping a few famous names on its board.”

Does it seem as though Mitt Romney might be concerned about charges under the “Emoluments Clause” there are to be made against him?

And speaking of Article I, Section 9, Paragraph 8, it seems there are many instances of violations by people who don’t like President Trump.  Come to think of it, there seems to be more than a few violations of SEC laws, too!

In an article by Elizabeth Harrington – Washington Free Beacon (Thursday, July 17, 2014), she claimed:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged a company cofounded by Paul Pelosi Jr. with fraud on Wednesday after learning that two convicted criminals were running the business.

Paul Pelosi Jr., the son of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), was the president and chief operating officer of Natural Blue Resources Inc., an investment company he cofounded that focuses on “environmentally-friendly” ventures.

The SEC charged four individuals with fraud, including former New Mexico Gov. Toney Anaya, and suspended trading in the company’s stock. Pelosi owned over 10 million shares in the company in 2009.

The SEC said Wednesday the company was “secretly controlled” by James E. Cohen and Joseph Corazzi, both of whom had previous fraud convictions. Corazzi violated federal securities laws and was barred from acting as an officer or director of a public company. Cohen was previously incarcerated for financial fraud.

Cohen and Corazzi said they were “outside consultants,” but according to the SEC, they actually controlled Natural Blue’s business decisions “without disclosing their past brushes with the law to investors.” The pair made hundreds of thousands of dollars off the company.

Cohen and Corazzi concealed their involvement through a so-called ‘consulting’ agreement, but their influence over the issuer spread much further,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division. “Investors in Natural Blue had a right to know who was running the company behind the scenes.”

The SEC suspended trading in Natural Blue stock. A notice filed in the Federal Register on Wednesday by Jill M. Peterson, assistant secretary of the SEC, revealed that the company has not filed any periodic reports, which are required by law, with the SEC in four years.

“It appears to the Securities and Exchange Commission that there is a lack of current and accurate information concerning the securities of Natural Blue Resources, Inc. because it has not filed any periodic reports since the period ended September 30, 2010,” Peterson said, in the order announcing suspension of trading.

Cohen, Corazzi, Anaya, and Erik Perry, a former executive at Natural Blue, were all charged with federal fraud violations. Anaya, who was Governor of New Mexico from 1983 to 1987, and Perry “misled investors by failing to disclose that Cohen and Corazzi were running the company in spite of their criminal or disciplinary histories,” the SEC said.

Natural Blue and its officers attempted an end-run around the rules designed to prevent recidivists from getting their hands on the controls of public companies,” said Paul Levenson, director of the SEC’s Boston Regional Office.

“While Natural Blue was ostensibly led by Anaya and subsequently Perry, management decisions made by Cohen and Corazzi resulted in no revenues or viable business operations for the company,” the SEC said. “Anaya and Perry each deferred to Cohen and Corazzi in derogation of their responsibilities.”

The SEC said Natural Blue made “various material misrepresentations about the company, its contracts, and its anticipated revenue in a February 2011 press release as well as on a website and verbally to investors.”

There is some dispute over Paul Pelosi’s current connection to the company.

The New Mexico Office of the Secretary of State Business Service Divisioncurrently lists Natural Blue as a company “not in good standing,” with Pelosi listed as its president.

Pelosi cofounded the company in 2009. The SEC said Natural Blue’s mission is to “create, acquire, or otherwise invest in environmentally-friendly companies, including an initiative to locate, purify, and sell water recovered from underground aquifers in New Mexico and other areas with depleting water resources.”

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Pelosi served as president and chief operating officer of Natural Blue Resources, Inc. until January 11, 2010. Joseph Montalto is listed as the current president.

However, the Mountain View Telegraph cited Pelosi as Natural Blue’s president last year, and Anaya was still leading the company as chairman and CEO at this time.

Pelosi and Natural Blue Resources could not be reached for comment.

Anaya will be barred from participating in any penny stock company for at least five years, and fined an amount to be determined later. Perry also settled with the SEC, agreeing to pay $150,000 fine, and permanently banned from serving as an officer or director of a public company and from participating in any offerings of penny stock.

 

[For more on this topic you might enjoy these articles from The American Thinker: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/10/the_seedy_history_of_joe_biden_and_russia.html   and

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/10/reuters_plays_defense_for_hunter_bidens_burisma_caper.html  – Editor]

 

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Derived from a Washington Examiner Report, shared by Daniel Williams, a reader from Huntingdon, TN. – When you only thought the Biden family was getting rich off of his position with the Obama administration in Ukraine and China, well the Biden’s family deal worth $1.5 billion in Iraq has surfaced.  Basically, Joe Biden has a brother named James Biden, who was involved in a company called Hillstone International, in which James Biden has been the executive of since 2010, and the Hillstone International deal in Iraq pocketed the Biden family $1.5 billion.
​     So we have the Biden’s involved in Ukraine and China, and now we have the revelation surfacing out of Iraq where the Biden’s profited off of war. It’s truly time for Joe Biden and others in the Biden family to now go to prison, because the Bidens are now revealed as profiteering from a housing contract in Iraq – a nation where American’s lost their lives.  I guess you can call this the “Biden Benghazi.”

 

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

e-mail

http://www.whitehouse.gov

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

e-mail

https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email

http://www.alexander.senate.gov

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn

B40B Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Phone:  (202) 224-3344

Fax:  (202) 228-0566

To contact visit website:

www.blackburn.senate.gov

U.S Representative Dr. Scott DesJarlais

2301 Rayburn HOB

Washington, DC 20515

Phone:  (202) 225-6831

Fax:  (202) 226-5172

e-mail

http://desjarlais.house.gov

Governor Bill Lee

Tennessee State Capitol

Nashville, Tennessee 37243

Phone:  (615) 741-2001

Fax:  (615) 532-9711

e-mail

http://www.state.tn.us/governor

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House

https://www.speaker.gov/contact

Link above provides all methods of contact.

 

Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader

https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=contact

 

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

 

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