Republicans react to revelations of Tump's attempted coup.

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Trump Voters Need a New Direction

 He might have been the only Republican who could beat Hillary in 2016. But he’s a sure loser in 2024.

By Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, June 16, 2022 - This is what I tell Trump voters when they ask. It’s my general view on future paths.

I start with the obvious. I never meet Americans who love America more than Trump people do. ...

...Six or seven years ago they had a piercing, bottom-line insight that smart people told them was crazy. 

Now we jump to this moment, to the Jan. 6 committee and the testimony—under oath—of Mr. Trump’s loyalists, who worked for him in the White House and led his 2020 re-election effort. What they said in essence—and again, under oath—is that the idea the election was stolen was all made up, pure fiction, a deliberate lie aimed at overturning the election.

This was an act against the Constitution, against the formal and informal arrangements and traditions better people had labored to maintain for more than two centuries.

The president’s people had told him he hadn’t won. On election night, according to one witness, everyone said so but an “inebriated” Rudy Giuliani. But a drunk Rudy wasn’t enough, so Mr. Trump looked around for kooks, crooks and freaks. He didn’t have to look far because America has lots of them, and Trumpworld more than most.

Their efforts were knocked down in the courts by Trump-appointed judges and rebuffed in the states by Republican officials. Mr. Trump tried to get his vice president to go along, but he refused. (read more)

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Terror on the Prairie staring Gina Carano.

 

Gina Carano makes her return in this gritty new western and original feature film by The Daily Wire.

Disney canceled Gina Carano for wrongthink. But Disney's loss was Daily Wire's gain. Daily Wire swiftly picked up Gina to produce and star in our next project. 

And it's officially here. WATCH NOW

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2022 ROAD TO MAJORITY CONFERENCE TO BE HELD JUNE 16-18 IN NASHVILLE, TN, to feature former president Donald Trump as keynote speaker.

by Rod Williams, June 14, 2022 - Former President Donald Trump will, unfortunately, be the keynote speaker at this weekend's Road to Majority Policy Conference in Nashville. The event will take place at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Other conservative leaders speaking at the conference include Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, and former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Fox News' Jeanine Pirro, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Tennessee Sens. Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn will also be present. 

As the editor of A Disgruntled Republican, I often post items that I think may be of interest to the conservative, Republican, libertarian, or the greater community. Posting an announcement of an event does not necessarily indicate an endorsement.  I will not be attending as I am boycotting all events featuring former President Donald Trump, who attempted to block the peaceful transfer of power and has undermined our Democracy by constantly spreading the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen. In my view, Donald Trump is a disgrace and does not deserve to be honored.  Also, I can not get very enthused about seeing our own senators Hagerty and Blackburn who recently disgracefully voted against funding to allow Ukraine the means to defend itself against a Russian invasion. 

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Important message from Moms for Liberty. Please attend tonight's School Board meeting.

Received by email, Tuesday, June 4th

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Against Gun Idolatry by David French

Armed demonstrators protest outside of the Michigan state
capital building on January 17, 2021 in Lansing,
Michigan. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.)

by David French, The Dispatch, Jun 5 - I remember the first essay I ever wrote for The Atlantic. Four years ago, they reached out to me and asked me to write about American gun culture from a conservative perspective. I took the responsibility seriously. I knew most readers disagreed with me vehemently, and while I didn’t expect them to necessarily change their minds, I did want them to understand why my family owns guns and what “gun culture” meant to us.

The story began with the first time we faced a threat at our own house. A man blocked our driveway with his car and walked up to Nancy and our kids while they were playing outside. He demanded to see me. I was away, at work. 

It was a terrifying moment. (link)

Rod's Comment: I recommend this thought-provoking article to those who are concerned about gun violence and the Second Amendment.  All arguments about an issue do not neatly fit in a Facebook meme or a bumper sticker. I could not summarize and excerpt and do this well-reasoned, thought-provoking article justice. Please read.

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Report: Tennessee has lowest unfunded pension liabilities per capita in U.S.

By Jon Styf | The Center Square, Jun 13, 2022 -  Tennessee again had the lowest unfunded pension liabilities in the U.S., according to the new rankings from the American Legislative Executive Council.

But that liability grew from $6,345.77 per capita in 2011 to $8,511.92 per capita in the new 2022 rankings.

Connecticut, Illinois and Alaska had the highest unfunded liabilities per capita with Alaska holding the 50th ranking with $42,829.

Tennessee also was atop the list in unfunded liabilities as a percentage of gross state product at 15.47% while Indiana was second at 18.33% and Mississippi was worst at 80.85%.

"This year we found that there are $8.2 trillion unfunded liabilities in state pension plans," ALEC Vice President of Policy and study author Lee Schalk explained.

The study uses a risk-free discount rate (the rate of return on a pension plan’s investments), expressed as a percentage to determine the value of liabilities that these funds must pay in the coming decades.

This discount rate used by ALEC to determine pension liability is based on the yields of U.S. Treasury Bonds (down to 1.13% from 2.34% due to historically low interest rates) and a fixed discount rate of 4.5% that is considerably lower than the discount rate expectations of most pension funds. Tennessee's fund has an expected discount rate of 7.25%. 

The report is the sixth edition of ALEC’s annual report, which looks at government pension plans and their assets and liabilities. The report says that the liabilities account for "$25,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States."

Tennessee ranked 16th in its overall liability with $58.8 billion in unfunded pension liability. Vermont was the lowest at $14.4 billion while California has promised $1.5 trillion in unfunded liabilities.

"If the CEOs and CFOs in the private sector signed off on financial statements with the accounting used by state and local governments, they’d be in prison," said Jonathan Williams, ALEC's Executive Vice President of Policy. "That is the kind of Enron-style accounting, unfortunately, that has gone on for far too long in state and local governments. And so our report cuts through some of the bad accounting and really gives an apples-to-apples comparison on how states are funding, or in many cases unfortunately not funding, the pension obligations."

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Tennessee Supreme Court declines to rehear school Education Savings Account case

by Rod Williams, June 13, 2022- The Tennessee Supreme Court in May ruled in favor of Tennessee's Education Savings Account program.

The ESA program would allow parents to use funds intended to educate their child at schools other than government monopoly schools.  It is a way to give families much-needed choice on where their children learn. 

The ESA program is a three-year pilot program approved by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2019.

Eligible students must be a member of a household with an annual income for the previous year that does not exceed twice the federal income eligibility guidelines for free lunch.

Metro Nashville and Shelby County governments filed a petition asking the court to rehear the case.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has declined to rehear the case challenging the constitutionality of Tennessee's Education Savings Account program. 

For the Tennessean's take, follow this link. To learn more about the program, follow this link.

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First Tuesday Proudly Presents Senator RICK SCOTT Fri, Jun 17, 1:00 PM

 First Tuesday Proudly Presents 

Senator RICK SCOTT

1st Tuesday is proud to welcome Sen Rick Scott to Nashville. Rick Scott was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Rick Scott served two terms as the 45th Governor of Florida.

Join us for lunch and learn about the Senator's American Rescue Plan!

LET'S RESCUE AMERICA TOGETHER!

YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS LUNCHEON!

Fri, Jun 17, 1:00 PM,  Ludlow & Prime, 330 Franklin Rd Suite 226B, Brentwood, TN 37027

RSVP

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Ten Republicans join Democrats to pass common sense gun reform.

by Rod Williams, 6/12/2022 - A bipartisan group of senators announced today that they had reached a deal that would address gun violence. With ten Republicans signing on to the deal, the proposal could have enough Republican support to withstand a filibuster. 

Looking at what the proposal would do, it is hard to call this a "gun control bill."  It primarily provides for improved "red flag' laws, more mental health funding, and funding for enhanced school safety. 

Unfortunately, I suspect that many in the gun rights movement have a knee-jerk "give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile" view.  I hope many see this as a reasonable response to a serious problem. I am afraid they won't. 

I hope I am wrong, but I expect the NRA, and other gun rights groups, to pull out all of the stops to peel off enough Republicans to kill the measure. Those Republicans who have left the gun rights reservation will be subject to enormous pressure. No doubt they will be bombarded with a lobbying campaign and threats of being primaried. If the gun lobby is not successful in killing the bill, no doubt they will try to water it down to where it only provides funding for mental health and school security initiatives. I hope I am wrong,  Watertered down too much and Democrats may reject it as insignificant widow dressing. 

Even if not watered down, there is also a chance that die-hard gun control advocates will see this as insufficiently robust and refuse to support it. Not included in the proposal is raising the minimum age for the purchase of AK-15 style semiautomatic weapons from 18 to 21 which was advocated by President Biden. Nor is a ban on "assault rifles" or high-capacity magazines included, which many advocates of gun restrictions want.  

I hope the Republicans who have come out in support of this proposal will stand firm. I hope more Republicans will join them.  I hope Democrats do not make their vision of the perfect become the enemy of the good. Even if this is not a perfect proposal, it is a start.  I have reached the conclusion that now is the time, actually pass the time, to pass reasonable legislation to address the epidemic of gun violence, especially the horror of mass school shootings. 

I know this want stop all shootings. I know the bad guys will still have their guns. Nevertheless, this could reduce horrific school shootings. It won't do much to stop the weekly carnage in Chicago, but it may stop the next Uvalde.

This is not a "gun-grab," or a trampling of the Second Amendment, although I suspect to hear that from bombastic conservative radio talk show host and Fox News.  Here is what we know is in the legislative proposal at this time:

• A federal grant program that would encourage states to implement “red flag” laws.  This would allow authorities to keep guns away from people found by a judge to represent a potential threat to themselves or others., 
• A federal criminal background check, called Enhanced Review Process, for gun buyers under 21 which would include a mandatory search of juvenile justice and mental health records for the first time.
• A ban on gun sales to domestic violence offenders beyond just spouses. Now the domestic violence ban only applies to spouses. 
• A clarification of which gun sellers are required to register as federal firearms dealers and therefore required to run background checks on their customers.
• The establishment of new federal offenses related to gun trafficking.
• New federal funding for mental health care and school security programs.

This is progress. I hope it passes. 

These are the ten Republicans who have signed on to the proposal: John Cornyn (R-TX), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rob Portman (R-OH), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Pat Toomey (R-PA). 

These are good people. I pray they have the courage to not waiver. May God bless them. 

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