Metro's HOPE program which pays past due rent and utilities will include illegal aliens. No SS # required.

Eviction moratorium offers more time to pay, while these programs cover what you owe 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — ...The Housing Opportunity Partnership and Employment (HOPE) was made possible after Mayor John Cooper applied for and received $20.8 million for MAC to cover past due rent and utilities. 

Lisa McCrady of MAC says this new funding expands their previous rent assistance to make it far more inclusive than ever before. ....

...One notable requirement that no longer exists is the need for a social security number. McCrady says this ensures we can help even the undocumented tenants who often find themselves without options. She says many have been too worried about their status to claim benefits, making this a potential game-changer.

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9 Crazy Examples of Unrelated Waste and Partisan Spending in Biden’s $2 Trillion ‘Infrastructure’ Proposal

Just roughly one-third of the money goes to the kinds of spending people would usually associate with infrastructure. 

by Brad Polumbo, Foundation of Economic Education,  Wednesday, March 31, 2021 -  The Biden administration on Wednesday released a comprehensive $2+ trillion spending proposal ostensibly focused on infrastructure. But there’s much more to this plan than meets the eye. A glance at the proposal reveals many items that appear only tenuously related to infrastructure. In fact, several don’t appear to be related to infrastructure at all. Here are 9 of the most suspect items in Biden’s “infrastructure” proposal, taken directly from a fact-sheet on the plan the White House released. 

1. $10 Billion to Create a ‘Civilian Climate Corp’ 

The Biden administration proposes spending $10 billion to create a “Civilian Climate Corp.” The White House claims that “This $10 billion investment will put a new, diverse generation of Americans to work conserving our public lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, and advancing environmental justice through a new Civilian Climate Corps.” 

2. $20 Billion to ‘Advance Racial Equity and Environmental Justice’ 

The proposal sets aside a whopping $20 billion—more than the latest COVID package spent on vaccines—for “a new program that will reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments and ensure new projects increase opportunity, advance racial equity and environmental justice, and promote affordable access.” 

3. $175 Billion in Subsidies for Electric Vehicles 

Electric vehicles: A technological novelty so good it won’t catch on without hundreds of billions in subsidies. At least, that’s apparently what the Biden administration thinks, as its infrastructure proposal earmarks a “$174 billion investment to win the electric vehicle market.” The spending will take the form of manufacturing subsidies and consumer tax credits, which historically have benefitted wealthy families most. For comparison, the proposal carves out more for green energy goodies than it does on the total $115 billion to “modernize the bridges, highways, roads, and main streets that are in most critical need of repair.” 

4. $213 Billion to Build/Retrofit 2 Million Houses & Buildings 

When most people hear “infrastructure,” they think of roads, bridges, tunnels, and so on. But the Biden administration’s definition of the term is Olympian-gymnastics-level flexible. Apparently, the president considers it “infrastructure spending” to allocate $213 billion to build or retrofit 2 million “sustainable” houses and buildings. They also slip in $40 billion for public housing, stating this will “disproportionately benefit women, people of color, and people with disabilities.” 

5. $100 Billion for New Public Schools and Making School Lunches ‘Greener’ 

You might remember that the last “COVID” legislation had $128.5 billion in taxpayer dole-outs for public schools; much of the money will be spent years after the pandemic and there was no requirement that schools actually open. Yet this was, evidently, just the beginning. The Biden “infrastructure” plan includes another “$100 billion to upgrade and build new public schools.” “Funds also will be provided to improve our school kitchens, so they can be used to better prepare nutritious meals for our students and go green by reducing or eliminating the use of paper plates and other disposable materials,” the proposal reads. (Emphasis mine). 

6. $12 Billion for Community Colleges 

One generally thinks of infrastructure and higher education as separate, distinct sectors. Yet the Biden “infrastructure” plan slips in $12 billion for states to spend on community colleges. 

7. Billions to Eliminate ‘Racial and Gender Inequities’ in STEM 

The proposal includes several billion dollars allocated to reduce supposed “racial and gender inequities” in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) research and development. What this has to do with interstate infrastructure is not adequately explained. 

8. $100 Billion to Expand Broadband Internet (And Government Control of It) 

Loosely lumped under the broad term “digital infrastructure,” the plan allocates $100 billion to “bring affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American.” Interestingly, the proposal openly states that it wishes to promote government and NGO control of broadband and push out private sector providers: It “prioritizes support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, non-profits, and co-operatives—providers with less pressure to turn profits.” 

9. $25 Billion for Government Childcare Programs 

The plan includes $25 billion “to help upgrade child care facilities and increase the supply of child care in areas that need it most.” According to the White House, “funding would be provided through a Child Care Growth and Innovation Fund for states to build a supply of infant and toddler care in high-need areas.” 

Just Scratching the Surface The above list totals hundreds of billions in waste and unrelated partisan spending slipped into the Biden administration’s expensive “infrastructure” plan. But it should be stressed that this list is far from exhaustive; it’s what one reporter was able to find in a few hours of research. 

By the time this proposal is translated into hundreds of pages of legislation (if not thousands) and subjected to Congress’s (and lobbyists’) influence, there will no doubt be even more waste and partisan policies slipped into it. Yes, there is serious debate about the state of American infrastructure and the proper role of the federal government in addressing its deficiencies. However, of this plan’s more than $2 trillion in proposed spending, just $621 billion goes to “transportation infrastructure and resilience.” That’s right, just roughly one-third of the money goes to the kinds of spending people would usually associate with infrastructure, like repairing roads and bridges and modernizing public transit. 

Can Biden get away with this? Well, remember that only 10 percent of the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion in "COVID relief" spending was actually directly related to COVID-19, with much of it going to waste, politician pet projects, and partisan priorities. The president appears to have taken a similar approach to infrastructure spending. Unfortunately, it’s not much of a surprise. 

As the American journalist and satirist PJ O’Rourke once said, “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”

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How Mayor Cooper plans to spend the $10 million of Covid relief money.

Metro press release, 3/16/2021- Mayor John Cooper today shared a plan to invest $10 million in Nashville's neighborhoods and businesses. The mayor's proposal for a one-time Local Support Grant includes money to bolster community strategies for reducing gun and other violence.  It directs $1 million to small and microbusiness recovery and $5 million - half the total grant – to the city's Barnes Fund for affordable housing. 

"We have restored financial stability to Nashville and are confident about more federal relief funding coming to Nashville," Mayor Cooper said. "Now is a smart moment to use these one-time dollars, to address pressing needs and invest local businesses as they approach the rebound." 

The mayor's plan goes before Metro Council for approval in coming weeks. 

Partnerships and Innovation in Community Safety - $3 Million 

Two million dollars would support neighborhood-driven safety strategies as Mayor Cooper fulfills recommendations from his Policing Policy Commission (PPC). 

A round of grants would bolster community groups using evidence-based, community-informed approaches. 

"Partnering with – and investing in – the groups working to make our neighborhoods safer was one of the Policing Policy Commission's most important recommendations," said Sharon Roberson, a PPC member and president and CEO of YWCA Nashville and Middle Tennessee. 

"I want to thank Mayor Cooper for making a major down payment on that recommendation." 

A mayor-established council would provide partners with technical assistance and highlight efforts the mayor could expand in future budget proposals. 

"There are moments that define the heart and commitment of a city. This is one of them," said Bishop Joseph W. Walker III, Senior Pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Nashville.  "Sustaining and expanding partnerships assures that Nashville becomes a safer and more just city." 

"By partnering with Nashville nonprofits and investing in their ability to help improve public safety and meet our neighborhood needs in a fair and equitable way, we are putting the recommendations of the Policing Policy Commission into action," said Jennifer Gamble, a Metro Councilmember and chair of the Council's public safety committee. "As Chair of the Public Safety Committee, I look forward to working with Mayor Cooper and his team as we work to make Nashville a safer community for everyone," Gamble added. 

Meanwhile, a community safety coordinator, working in the Mayor's Office, would support partners across Nashville. 

"Gideon's Army is working every day to make our neighborhoods safer. Now is the time for the public to invest to make this work sustainable," said Rasheedat Fetuga, founder and CEO of Gideon's Army.

"While more funds are needed to repair the harm caused by generations of systemic racism and neglect, I am glad Mayor Cooper is taking this first step." Finally, another $1 million would help support residents in crisis as the pandemic has intensified behavioral health challenges across the U.S. 

Forty percent of Tennesseans – many of them ages 18 to 29 – have recently reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Suspected overdoses have increased by 31 percent between 2019 and 2020, the Nashville Fire Department reports. 

A Behavioral Health Crisis Response Initiative (BHCRI), housed at Metro Public Health, will assess the city's behavioral health capacity, improve Nashville's response to opioid overdoses, and provide residents with better access to behavioral health services during crises. 

"Mayor Cooper values the role that behavioral health fulfills in overall health and wellness. He understands that it is essential to the recovery process from this pandemic. By prioritizing behavioral health, the BHCRI will distinguish Nashville from other cities," said Dr. Bob Vero, Regional CEO of Centerstone Tennessee and Georgia and co-chair of the Mayor's Behavioral Health and Wellness Advisory Council. 

The funding will augment the services of the mobile crisis unit and provide support for co-responder models that establish a primary role for behavioral health specialists to respond to crises. The result: better care for residents during crisis and a reduction in pressure on police and other emergency personnel, often the first to respond to these calls. 

Readying for the Rebound: Small Businesses, Microbusinesses and Local Tourism - $1.5 Million

One hundred and six local businesses – many of them in Nashville's music, hospitality, and entertainment sectors – are on a waiting list at Pathway Lending for recovery assistance grants.

Pathway, a U.S. Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution, has so far distributed $4.2 million in local pandemic-time help on the city's behalf. So far, two grant rounds have supported 582 local businesses; 40 percent of them were minority-owned, and 62 percent were micro-businesses – meaning they have between $35,000 and $250,000 in revenue. A third round - expanded to include businesses with revenue minimums and maximums of $15,000 and $1.25 million (instead of $35,000 and $1 million) – would reach sole proprietors and smaller outfits that did not qualify before.

"Nashville's businesses are preparing for a rebound," said Clint Gwin, Pathway president and CEO. "They need support to stay afloat and prepare for the busy summer ahead. An additional wave of grants would help our city's small and microbusinesses turn the corner and put this pandemic behind them."

That third wave would also bring the city's total COVID-time small business assistance investment to $6.7 million. Plus, the allocation would bring Metro's total pandemic-time investment in local businesses and organizations – including live music venues, the Nashville Famers Market and local arts organizations – to $9.5 million since September 2020. 

"The survival of our small business community is critical to Nashville's economy and to our rebound," Mayor Cooper said. "Nashville's small businesses are the lifeblood of our local economy. I'm committed to supporting them, now and on the other side of this crisis." 

Finally, $500,000 would support a fund for Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. to recruit diverse and inclusive COVID-safe events that highlight Nashville's cultural history and diverse population.

Economic Recovery: Historic Second Avenue - $500,000 

On December 25, a blast devastated historic Second Avenue in downtown Nashville. Days later, Mayor Cooper brought together a panel of experts to lead a rebuilding that honors the area's history, better connect downtown to the rest of Nashville and is informed by all residents who want a voice in the process. 

The mayor's chosen project manager, Ron Gobbell, and Metro Planning are working on that rebuild with partners like the Nashville Downtown Partnership, Metro Historical Commission, Metro Housing and Development Agency, the Civic Design Center and Urban Land Institute. 

So far, they've hosted three community engagement sessions to reach an estimated 175 people, with more to come. Metro Planning would put $250,000 toward that effort – for example, making capital planning recommendations, as well as conceptual designs and other visualizations to help residents imagine a future historic Second Avenue. Metro Public Works would use another $250,000 to help restore the publicly-owned infrastructure – like roadways, lighting and other streetscaping – that is essential to a full recovery. Learn more about Nashville's work to rebuild historic Second Avenue. 

A Promise Kept: The Barnes Fund - $5 Million 

Half of the grant would go to the Barnes Fund for Affordable Housing.

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Mayor John Cooper Brings Violence Prevention Expert to Metro. Newly-Created Position And $3 Million Aims to Enhance Community Safety

Newly-Created Position And $3 Million in Funding Will Enhance Community Safety says Mayor Cooper

Ron Johnson

Metro Nashville press release, 3/25/2021 -  Mayor John Cooper has tapped a community safety expert to coordinate a $3 million community safety pilot initiative that will span the city and bring experts from neighborhoods, local business, philanthropy and government together. 

The mayor today announced that longtime youth mentor and coalition builder Ron Johnson will serve as Metro’s Community Safety Coordinator – a first for Nashville. Johnson will support nonprofits, faith leaders and neighborhood groups as they participate in the mayor’s new Community Safety Partnership and Innovation Fund. The mayor proposed the fund last week, calling for at least $1.5 million in grants to bolster local partners as they bring community-driven violence reduction programs to neighborhoods.

A mayor-created advisory committee would oversee the grant round, further engaging experts from across the city who are committed to safety and wellness in Nashville’s neighborhoods. 

“To achieve community safety, we must harness the power of a community working as one,” Mayor Cooper said. “This is an opportunity to invest in partners who are doing innovative work, to support them, and take their successful models even further in Nashville.” 

Johnson has decades of experience in violence prevention strategies that cities across the U.S. have used to reduce gun and other violent crime as they work with and alongside local law enforcement.

“I am honored by Mayor Cooper’s trust,” Johnson said. “This is my life’s work. We need to do everything we can to prevent gun violence and keep our kids out of the criminal justice system.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Cooper has marked another $1 million to augment Nashville’s behavioral health crisis response through the Metro Public Health Department. His proposal - $3 million in all – goes before Metro Council for approval in coming weeks. 

About Ron Johnson 

Johnson specializes in group, hospital-based and behavioral therapy interventions that can strengthen a city’s community-oriented approach to public safety. 

“As we have implemented evolving strategies to reduce violence through precision policing, graduated police officers from the academy while continuing to hire new ones, and worked to build and strengthen community partnerships throughout Nashville, one thing remains abundantly clear: public safety is a shared responsibility,” said Metro Police Chief John Drake. 

“We look forward to working with Ron Johnson to engage nonprofits, schools, churches, and other community groups at even higher levels to enhance Nashville’s safety,” Chief Drake added. 

Johnson began his work as a youth mentor at the Martha O’Bryan Center and then at Metro Nashville Parks. He later worked to introduce an Aggressors, Victims and Bystanders curriculum to Metro Schools and to create the StreetSolid nonprofit for young people and people leaving prison. 

“Ron Johnson is the perfect candidate to lead Nashville’s community safety efforts,” said Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway. “The young people – and we are mainly talking about young people – need alternatives. They need people who care, who can connect, and who have their best interests at heart. That is Ron Johnson, as everyone working in this space knows.” 

From 2009 to 2018, Johnson ran the Reaching Excellence as Leaders program at Nashville’s Oasis Center, which serves nearly 4,000 young people and families a year. 

“There is no better person in Nashville for this position,” said Tom Ward, former Oasis president and CEO. 

“Ron is a coalition builder — someone who can walk into a room and make that connection. His life experiences have shaped his understanding and informed his perspective. He brings credibility and wisdom to this essential work.” 

Johnson is a Tennessee State University graduate. 

Learn more about how Mayor Cooper’s $3 million community safety initiative fits into a larger plan for a one-time, $10 million state grant, including money for small and microbusiness relief and affordable housing.

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Here Is How Much People Pay in Taxes in Tennessee

by Grant Suneson, 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square - Each year, Americans dread April 15 -- Tax
Day. However, the IRS announced in March that American taxpayers would have an extra month to file their federal income taxes, pushing Tax Day to May 17 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  However, state filings will still proceed as planned in most places. 

In 2019, the average state and local tax burden was 10.3% of income, but this figure varied widely from state to state -- ranging from less than 6% to over 14%, meaning differences of thousands of dollars in a given year. 

To determine the states where Americans are paying the most taxes, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data on state tax burdens from tax policy nonprofit the Tax Foundation.

States were ranked based on state and local taxes paid by each state's residents as a percentage of that state's net national product in 2019. State income figures are based on net national product, which measures the value of goods and services produced by U.S. residents, minus the value of the fixed capital used in production. 

To calculate tax burdens the Tax Foundation included different kinds of taxes, -- on purchases like property, public utilities, alcohol, fuel, and general sales, as well as taxes on incomes, inheritance, and many other financial transactions. Property taxes can sometimes make up a large share of total tax burdens, depending on the state in which the property is located. While some states have property taxes of under $1,000 per capita, residents of other states pay over $3,000 per person in property taxes. These are the states with the highest property taxes. 

The state and local tax burden in Tennessee in 2019, represented 7.0% of incomes in the state. This tax burden was tied for the second lowest among states and well below the overall national tax burden of 10.3%. 

On a per capita basis, Tennessee residents paid $3,368 in state and local taxes, the lowest among states and lower than the national per capita taxes paid of $5,755. 

The tax burden in Tennessee has decreased in recent years. In 2010, the state and local tax burden represented 7.9% of incomes in the state, tied for second lowest of all states.

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Tennessee bill would eliminate privilege tax for more professions

Tennessee Sens. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon
(right), and Mike Bell, R-Riceville Mark Humphrey / AP 

By Vivian Jones, (The Center Square),  March 31, 2021 – The Tennessee Legislature is considering the removal of a $400 annual “privilege tax” on certain professions in Tennessee. 

The state levies an annual $400 professional privilege tax on individuals licensed or registered to practice in any of seven professions: attorneys, securities agents, broker-dealers, investment advisers, lobbyists, doctors and osteopathic physicians. 

Senate Bill 884 would eliminate the tax for attorneys, physicians, investment advisers and lobbyists.  Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, who sponsors the bill, said the legislation is likely to change as the Legislature continues budget negotiations in the coming weeks. 

“This bill is designed to be a vehicle for the elimination of the professional privilege tax,” Stevens said Tuesday during a Senate Finance, Ways and Means Revenue Subcommittee. 

The bill received a positive recommendation from the subcommittee with bipartisan support during the committee’s last meeting of the legislative session. Tennessee’s professional privilege tax previously was levied on 22 professions, including accountants, architects, dentists, pharmacists and veterinarians. The General Assembly approved legislation in 2019 to eliminate the tax for 15 of the 22 professions.

Nearly 200,000 professionals pay Tennessee’s professional privilege tax. Total elimination of the tax would cost the state about $67 million in revenue, Stevens said. During Tuesday's committee meeting, Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, said 77% of the people who pay the tax live outside the state, accounting for about $57 million in tax revenue. 

“This is a recurring revenue stream,” Gardenhire said. “Tell me what recurring expenses you’re going to cut to offset $57 million from out of state people paying this.” Stevens agreed that with any decrease to state revenue there should be a corresponding programing cut, but cuts would be negotiated as budget discussions continue. 

“It would likely not be constitutional to treat those out-of-state folks differently than the in-state folks,” Stevens said. 

A companion bill in the House has been placed behind the budget.

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10 new radical ideas that are destroying America

Victor Hanson

By Victor Davis Hanson, reposted from American Greatness,  March 31, 2021 - There are 10 new ideas that are changing America, maybe permanently. 

1) Money is a construct. It can be created from thin air. Annual deficits and aggregate national debt no longer matter much. Prior presidents ran up huge annual deficits. But at least there were some concessions that the money was real and had to be paid back. Not now. As we near $30 trillion in national debt and 110 percent of annual GDP, our elites either believe permanent zero interest rates make the cascading obligation irrelevant, or the larger the debt, the more likely we will be forced to address needed income redistribution. 

2) Laws are not necessarily binding anymore. Joe Biden took an oath to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” But he has willfully rendered federal immigration laws null and void. Some rioters are prosecuted for violating federal laws, others not so much. Arrests, prosecutions, and trials are all fluid. Ideology governs when a law is still considered a law. Crime rates do not necessarily matter. If someone is carjacked, assaulted, or shot, it can be understood to be as much his fault as the perpetrator’s. Either the victim was too lax, uncaring, and insensitive, or he provoked his attacker. How useful the crime is to the larger agendas of the Left determines whether a victim is really a victim, and the victimizer really a victimizer. 

3) Racialism is now acceptable. We are defined first by our particular ethnic or religious tribe, only secondarily—if at all—by an American commonality. Unapologetic and explicit exclusion of whites from dorms, graduations, safe spaces, welfare, and federal aid programs is now noncontroversial. It is unspoken payback for perceived past sins, or a type of “good” racism. Falsely being called a racist makes one more guilty than falsely calling someone else a racist. 

4) The immigrant is mostly preferable to the citizen. The newcomer, unlike the host, is not stained by the sins of America’s founding and history. Most citizens currently must follow quarantine rules, social distancing, stay out of school, and obey all the laws. Yet those entering the United States en masse and illegally need not follow such apparently superfluous COVID-19 rules. Their children should be immediately schooled without worry of quarantine. Immigrants need not worry about their illegal entry or residence in America. Our elites believe illegal entrants more resemble the “founders” than do legal citizens, about half of whom they consider irredeemable. 

5) Most Americans should be treated as we would treat little children. They cannot be asked to provide an ID to vote. “Noble lies” by our elites about COVID-19 rules are necessary to protect “Neanderthals” from themselves. Americans deserve relief from the stress of grades, standardized testing, and normative rules of school behavior. They still are clueless about why it is good for them to pay far more for their gasoline, heating, and air conditioning. 

6) Hypocrisy is passé. Virtue-signaling is alive. Climate change activists fly on private jets. Social justice warriors live in gated communities. Multibillionaire elitists pose as victims of sexism, racism, and homophobia. The elite need these exemptions to help the helpless. It is what you say to lesser others about how to live, not how you yourself live, that matters. 

7) Ignoring or perpetuating homelessness is preferable to ending it. It is more humane for both the homeless and the public that thousands live, eat, defecate, and use drugs on public streets and sidewalks than it is to green-light affordable housing, mandate hospitalization for the mentally ill, and create sufficient public shelter areas. 

8) McCarthyism is good. Destroying lives and careers for incorrect thoughts saves more lives and careers. Cancel culture and the Twitter Reign of Terror provide needed deterrence. Now that Americans know they are one wrong word, act, or look away from losing their jobs or livelihoods, they are more careful and will behave in a more enlightened fashion. The social media guillotine is the humane, scientific tool of the woke. 

9) Ignorance is preferable to knowledge. Neither statue-toppling, name-changing, nor the “1619 Project” require any evidence or historical knowledge. Heroes of the past were simple constructs. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees reflect credentials, not knowledge. The brand, not what created it, is all that matters. 

10) Wokeness is the new religion, growing faster and larger than Christianity itself. Its priesthood outnumbers the clergy, and exercises far more power. Silicon Valley is the new Vatican, and Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter the new Gospels. 

Americans privately fear these rules, while publicly appearing to accept them. They still could be transitory and invite a reaction. Or they are already near-permanent and institutionalized. The answer determines whether a constitutional republic continues as once envisioned, or warps into something never imagined by those who created it.

Victor Davis Hanson is a distinguished fellow of the Center for American Greatness and the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is an American military historian, columnist, a former classics professor, and scholar of ancient warfare. He has been a visiting professor at Hillsdale College since 2004. Hanson was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2007 by President George W. Bush. Hanson is also a farmer (growing raisin grapes on a family farm in Selma, California) and a critic of social trends related to farming and agrarianism. He is the author most recently of The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won and The Case for Trump.

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Many Trump loyalist are like other cult members. They have a my-mind-is-made-up-don't-confuse-me-with-facts mindset.

by Rod Williams, April 1, 2021 -Well, well, well. What do you know? 

When Sidney Powell said the election was stolen by means of a conspiracy that involved voting machines switching votes from Trump to Biden, she didn't really mean it. Now that she has to defend her claim in court against a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit her lawyers argue, “no reasonable person would conclude that [Powell’s] statements were truly statements of fact.” 

I am a reasonable person. I didn't believe it. So she is saying if you did believe it you are not a reasonable person. She is now saying her allegations about Dominion were political in nature, and therefore, citing an earlier case, “prone to exaggeration and hyperbole.” So, all of you people who were telling me the truth would come out and you were certain the election was stolen by machines that flipped votes and this involved a conspiracy that included communists in Venezuela, Cuba, and “likely” China and the use of Hugo Chavez-directed software to rig the election against Donald Trump, what do you say now?

I posted similar comments as this to Facebook a few days ago and I now know what the Trumpinistas are saying. Now, there were only a dozen or so responses, so the responses I got are certainly not representative of all Trump supporters.  Not all Trump supporters are cultist.  But from those responses and other comments made on other post and from other examples from other sources this is, I think, typical of the opinion of die-hard Trump loyalist. Below are the favorite responses of the Trump cultist to any Trump criticism or evidence that contradicts what they believe. 

"Fake news," is the most common response to any thing that contradicts the Trump narrative.  To the person using the term, I don't think "fake news" means that the the accuracy of what is reported is necessarily in doubt. I don't think they are saying the information is false or misleading.  I think 'fake news," means this information supports the agenda or point of view of liberals or Republicans who are not true Trump loyalist, so it is possibly inaccurate but even if accurate, it is an insignificant tidbit of information that does not carry sufficient weight to change ones opinion.   It may be true, but it is "spin." I think they are saying this does not fit my preconceived opinion of what is true so I am simply dismissing it.  

They have what is sometimes called, "confirmation bias." They are so certain of the rightness of their cause that they only bring in information that fits what they know to be true and dismiss anything else.  They have a my-mind-is-made-up-don't-confuse-me-with-facts mindset.  Any information, no matter how verifiable, how tested, how scientific, or logically valid, will be disregarded. That is what they mean by "fake news."

The other common response is, "I would suggest better news sources," or calling the source of the information a "liberal rag."  The source I quoted was The Morning Dispatch, which is a column in The Dispatch written my Jonah Goldburg. The Dispatch is hardly a "liberal rag."  And, Jonah Goldbrug is hardly a liberal. Who is Jonah Goldburg?

Jonah Jacob Goldberg (born March 21, 1969) is an American conservative syndicated

columnist, author, political analyst, and commentator. The founding editor of National Review Online, from 1998 until 2019 he was an editor at National Review. Goldberg writes a weekly column about politics and culture for the Los Angeles Times. In October 2019, Goldberg became founding editor of the online opinion and news publication The Dispatch. Goldberg is the author of Liberal Fascism, which became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller shortly after its release in January 2008; The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas, released in 2012; and Suicide of the West, which was published in April 2018 and also became a New York Times bestseller, reaching No. 5 on the list the following month. (link)

To the Trump true believer, it does not matter how strong is one's conservatives credentials, if you are a critic of Trump, you are a "liberal."  It that doesn't stick then "RINO," or "neo-con," or "never Trumper," will do.  Those labels simply dismiss anything the so labelled person says or writes.

Another response to anyone who is not a Trump worshiper is to claim the information critical of Trump or one of his disciples is cherry picked or taken out of context.  They claim that Powell's defense  that no reasonable person would have taken her claim seriously is cherry picked or a misrepresentation.  If you doubt that her lawyers really did argue no reasonable person would have taken her seriously, read for yourself her motion to dismiss. Here it is at this link. 

I am giving up on trying to reason with a Trumpnista.  They are not rational.  It is like they are part of a cult. This, of course, is not true of all people who voted for Trump.  I voted for Trump.  I doubt it is true for most Trump supporters, but it is for many.  To try to reason with a Trump true believer is like trying to argue with a religious zealot. Their belief is not based on reason but on something akin to faith. That just know Trump was sent to be America's savior and critics of Trump are like infidels. 

A comparable belief system is like the true believer members of the John Birch Society who believe that since about the Enlightenment a cabal of "insiders," have been directing everything that happens in the world. The Illiminati and their subsidiaries such as the Bilderburgs, the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations are really in charge. We are all puppets and these few insiders are pulling the strings. Many people at one time joined the JBS because they were conservative and anti-Communist and never bought into the whole big conspiracy thing.  Many never even understood it.  Those who did "see the light," however became absolutely convinced the big conspiracy was true.  It was pointless to try to reason with them. 

Trumpinistas are also comparable to  members of the Nation of Islam who believe that Allah created Black people but White people were created by a mad scientist and that white people overthrew Black people but that Allah will soon return aboard a spaceship, the "Mother Ship," to wipe out the white race and inaugurate a black utopia. Weird I know, but a lot of people really believe it. And, believers of this weird story are treated as if they were respectable and rational.  Farrakhan even gets invited to share the stage with prominent Democrats and you can still find well dressed Black men selling the organization's newspaper. 

The Trumpinistas may be like members of the Church of Scientology.  The believe is too weird for a rational person to accept and is very bizarre but once a person has become a true believer they are not easily dissuaded of the notion that they are the only ones who have it all figured out.  

The Trump cultist have some overlap with Q-Anon.  It appears all Q-Anon members are Trump cultist but I don't think all Trump cultist are Q-Anon.  Many Trump cultist, I fear, have lost touch with reality. Some of them are a danger to society and to the person who is a critic of Trump.  Maybe I should take the threat more seriously but I have been told when it comes time to take care of traitors, I am on the list.  I figure they have bigger fish to fry and if they do start taking revenge on people who were disloyal to the leader, that it will take a while to get to me. Also, I think a lot of that is just macho bluster.

 It is no use trying to reason with a Trumpinista or show them evidence. Any criticism of Trump will be dismissed without even considering the evidence presented.  Hopefully, over time, some of the Trump cultist will lose their faith in Trump and return to something resembling normalcy.  If not, we can still work with each other to advance policy position we share and to help elect conservatives.  However, it is just pointless to talk Trump with them.  When they get off into la-la land, I will smile, nod my head an try to change the subject. Unfortunately we will always have people ready to join a cult. If we can't talk them out of it, then it is just best to ignore that part of who they are. 

I am not going to waste my time even replying to Trump cultist anymore.  It is pointless to try and reason to a person so convinced of the righteousness of his cause that he has lost touch with reality. I  know this post will generate some "fake news," some "liberal," some "RINO," some "never Trumper" invectives or maybe more.  Don't bother.  

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Join Latinos for Tennessee April 8th to discuss ending sex trafficking

 

Register here

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Facebook Suspends Dr. Carol Swain - Bannon War Room Interview

by Rod Williams - While the left has embraced suppression of dissenting opinions, they seem to have an especially  vindictiveness toward Black conservatives.  To leave the liberal plantation is unforgiveable.  All Blacks are supposed to fall in line and support the liberal agenda.  While unfortunately most Blacks do vote Democrat, there is the appearance of cracks in the chains that hold them to the Democratic Party.  Many Blacks are pro-life, and at the local and state level in referendums they often oppose tax increases and big spending,  While "Defund the Police," is a rallying cry of White woke liberals, surveys and anecdotal evidence, show most Blacks want a greater police presence in their community, not less.  

The intolerance for Blacks who wander off the reservations seems especially acute for courageous, attractive, articulate, successful, intelligent black conservative woman. Black women seem even more of a threat to the liberal establishment than Black men for some reason. If the leftists can't control them, they go all out to silence them.    

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Bellevue Breakfast Club meets Saturday, April 3. Speaker will be Attorney Jim Roberts with 4 Good Government.

Greeting Breakfast Club Members,

We will be meeting Saturday, April 3rd, at 8:30 am. We will be meeting at River art Studio located at 8329 Sawyer Brown Rd., (Next to Plantation Pub). 

Our speaker will be Attorney Jim Roberts with 4 Good Government. Jim will be giving us an update on his efforts to roll-back the 34% property tax imposed by May Jim Cooper. 

I look forward to seeing everyone. 

Best regards, 

Lonnnie

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Capitol riot's 'zip-tie guy,' mother to be released after prosecutors back down

Capitol riot's 'zip-tie guy,' mother to be released after prosecutors back down

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NFIB Statement of Business Fairness Act (SB 474)

NASHVILLE (March 29, 2021) -- NFIB State Director Jim Brown released the following statement tonight in response to the final passage of SB 474, the Business Fairness Act. The House passed it this evening by a vote of 90-0. The Senate approved it earlier by a vote of 28-0. 

This is a big victory for Tennessee's small businesses because it means they can remain open during a pandemic or other health emergency as long as they follow government guidelines to keep customers and employees safe. 

SB 474 ensures that state and local government won't be put in the position of picking winners and losers by deciding some businesses are 'essential' while others aren't. SB 474 puts small businesses on a level playing field with the national chains. SB 474 says if you follow the rules, you can stay open. Hopefully, we'll never have another situation like the one we've had with the coronavirus, but if we do, we need to make sure small businesses can survive.

The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation's leading small business advocacy organization. To learn more about NFIB in Tennessee, visit www.NFIB.com/TN and follow @NFIB_TN on Twitter.

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The Tennessee House voted 64 - 29 to send the constitutional carry bill to the governor's desk.

 House passes constitutional carry bill (newschannel5.com)

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Uncle Sam reports dismal financial results, to deafening silence

by Bill Bergman, Truth in Accounting, March 29, 2021- Late last week, the federal government of the United States issued its annual financial report. The report arrived, as it usually does, to deafening silence. Meanwhile, the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and related legislation under consideration have only amplified the disturbing trends evident in the results for fiscal year 2020. 

From 2015 to 2019, the reported budget deficit of the federal government more than doubled, reaching nearly $1 trillion. A better measure – net operating cost, an accrual rather than cash-based deficit reading – nearly tripled over the same time frame. 

But 2020 brought a blowout. The reported budget deficit tripled from $984 billion in 2019 to $3.1 trillion in 2020, while net operating cost mushroomed as well. 

Over on the balance sheet, the federal government’s reported net position – assets less reported liabilities – fell by about $3.8 trillion to a (negative) $26.8 trillion, after deteriorating by “only” $1.5 trillion in 2019. 

The federal government has been warning for years that its fiscal path is unsustainable in this report and it repeated those warnings again. The fiscal gap – an estimated amount of spending reductions and/or tax increases required to keep the debt/GDP ratio from rising unsustainably in the future – mushroomed as well, as the government did the opposite of what was required to keep things sustainable. 

We will be releasing our updated Financial State of the Union report soon, which is based on the annual financial report. It isn’t likely to be a pretty picture. As in previous years, however, the federal government offered the following comforting sentences while introducing a balance sheet in which (understated) reported liabilities swamp reported assets by more than $25 trillion. 

There are, however, other significant resources available to the government beyond the assets presented in these Balance Sheets. Those resources include stewardship PP&E in addition to the government’s sovereign powers to tax, and to set monetary policy. 

Our federal government certainly has the power to tax, under our Constitution. But here we are, in a document theoretically securing the accountability of the government to the people, and the government is telling We the People – the sovereign, under our Constitution -- that We don’t have to worry about it because it possesses the sovereign power to tax us and to inflate the value of our money away.

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The official U.S. Treasury Department's 2020 Financial Report of the U.S. governments says we are on an "unsustainable fiscal path.

by Rod Williams, 3/29/2021 -  I feel like I am watching a train wreck in slow motion and few seem concerned that a disaster is imminent.  We are going down hill like a snowball headed for hell, and no one, or almost no one, cares.  The liberal establishment doesn't care. The legacy mainstream media doesn't care. It is not a major topic of conversation on conservative radio talk shows.  And, is not a priority of Trump Republicans, which apparently are most Republicans.

The  U.S. Treasury Department just released its 2020 Financial Report of the U.S government.  This is the report released under the authority of Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen. She signs the cover letter.  This report paints a gloomy picture. This is what it says, " … The continuous rise of the debt-to-GDP ratio projections based on the assumptions in this Financial Report indicates that current policy is not sustainable. These projections assume that current policy will continue indefinitely, and are, therefore, neither forecasts nor predictions. While the projections are inherently uncertain, it is nevertheless nearly certain that current fiscal policies cannot be sustained indefinitely.”

And, to make it worse, the Government Accounting Office, the non-partisan body that works for Congress says of the report: "... serious financial management weaknesses prevented us from giving the government a “clean opinion” that its financial statements are fairly presented. These weaknesses continue to hinder the federal government from having reliable, useful, and timely financial information to operate effectively and efficiently."

I have not read all 265 pages of the report but the gloom is within the first few pages. It is a shame that this does not grab the public's attention. We can not fix this mess by, as people often assume, just cutting defense spending or cutting foreign aid, or cutting welfare. We certainly can't spend our way out of it and neither can we tax our way out of it. And, I don't think we can tax-cut our way out of it.  Unfortunately, we are not trying to stop this runaway train, we are pouring on the steam.

I fear our days as a great nation are behind us.  The way I see it we will either have cataclysmic occurrence that leads to massive inflation and then economic collapse or we will manage a decline with a more gradual loss of our standard of living.  With American in decline and less able to  provide leadership and deterrence, authoritarian regimes will come to dominate and the free world will become more isolated. Whether a cataclysmic event or a more gradual decline,  either way we are screwed.  I am not so sure we can even put it back together again.  We may be past the point of no return. For the first time in our history, you cannot expect your children to have a brighter future than you did.

2020 Financial Report of the U.S. Government

For more of my views on the coming economic collapse see:

SO, WHY DOES THE NATIONAL DEBT MATTER? 

How will the $1.9 Trillion stimulus plan be paid for?

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Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, is guest at the AF-Nashville and the Beacon Center April networking event!

 

Join AF-Nashville and the Beacon Center for our April networking event! We will be joined by Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, a taxpayer advocacy group Norquist founded in 1985 at President Reagan’s request. ATR works to limit the size and cost of government and opposes higher taxes at the federal, state, and local levels and supports tax reform that moves towards taxing consumed income one time at one rate.

To get a ticket, follow this link. 

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In Tennessee, if you were born a boy you can not play sports as if you were really a girl.

by Rod Williams - It doesn't matter if one is physically all male and simply identifies as a female, or if by a process of breast implants and surgeries and hormones one looks female except still has a penis, or if one has gone for the full transition and the penis has been turned into a vagina; if you were born male, as shown on your original birth certificate, you can not complete in Tennessee public schools sports as if you were female. Also, the reverse is true and women cannot compete as men. 

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law SB 0228 that makes this the law.  The reason for this bill is to protect women's sports.  When men compete as women, they usually have an advantage over real women.  The LBTQ community and liberal organizations are having a conniption. They call this discrimination against transgender teens.

What will happen now is unknown. Probably, somewhere a student who was born male will attempt to compete as a female. The school will follow the law and not allow the student to compete. Some organization, such as The Trevor Project or maybe the ACLU, will file suit and allege this is  sexual discrimination. No matter which side wins, the losing side is likely to appeal the decision. If the Supreme Court agrees to hear the appeal then it will be argued and the Supreme Court will hand down a ruling.  If the Court does not agree to hear the appeal then which ever way the District Court rules will determine the status of the law, unless two different Districts reach different conclusions in which case the Supreme Court is likely to hear the case.

Also, President Joe Biden has sought to bar gender discrimination in many areas, including school sports, through a January executive order. The EO does not directly address the issue of transgender's students playing sports competing in the gender category with which they identify, but opens the door to allege that to deny them to do so is to violate sections of the Civil Rights Act. Basically, the January EO could change the meaning of "sex" in federal law and whereas it did mean "male" or "female,"  now when "sex" is used in Federals laws it could be interpreted to include transgendered people despite that not being the meaning a the time the law was passed. This could lead to federal education funding being withheld.   Simply having a law such as the new Tennessee law on the books is not likely to trigger policies that lead to punitive action against the state.  The law would actually have to be applied.  So, when the law is tested and enforced, and the Federal government does, if it does, attempt to penalized a state, then the state is likely to challenge the legitimacy of the EO. There are limits as to how far executive action can go in compelling state policy changes. So the legitimacy of the EO is likely to be challenged in court. 

So, this is not settled and Tennessee may not be the place in which it is settled. Similar laws have been passed or are pending in twenty-one other states.  If the challenge to a similar law is resolved in another state which is also in the 6th District Court of Appeals then the status of Tennessee's law would also be determined by that ruling. However, if different district appeals courts rule differently, this is likely to be decided in the supreme court.

For more on this see this link, and this link. 

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