Free Republic

A top building trades union is launching a midterm-election assault on House Democrats who oppose construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. A letter distributed Friday by the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) to the districts of 27 House Democrats calls for union members to make sure their representative "feels the power and the fury of LIUNA this November." Their crime: signing a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last month urging him to reject Keystone, which would carry oil sands from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn will consider running for president in 2016 -- if she sees an opportunity to do so, an aide to the 7th District Republican told RealClearPolitics. Blackburn is scheduled to be one of the speakers at a New Hampshire Republican rally this weekend but was not previously known to be mulling a White House bid. "If there's a door to kick down, she's willing to kick it down," the aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. "These are the kinds of events you go to -- test the waters, and see what...

Last month a baby in Tennessee made history: Emilia Maria Jesty was the first child born in the state to have a woman listed on the birth certificate as her "father." The marital status of the baby's parents was the subject of a flurry of court filings up to a few days before her birth. Valeria Tanco and Sophy Jesty were wed in New York, a state that recognizes gay marriage, and moved to Tennessee, which does not. They are among scores of same-sex couples who, working with advocacy groups, have filed lawsuits to expand gay-marriage rights following a major...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The state Senate has passed a bill to allow Tennesseans to openly carry guns without a state-issued permit.

Just one day after U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) appeared with Common Core champions former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) at an education roundtable event, Alexander sent out an email to voters with a headline that read, “No National School Board,” and a message that left out the words “Common Core.” Alexander, who is fighting to hold onto his Senate seat, appears to be urging voters to notice that he is against the formation of a “National School Board” and will vote against it when the measure is raised. The problem is, there is...

The Obama administration now says more than 6 million people have signed up for Obamacare, but critical information is missing, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told Fox News on Friday. "I think that they are lying to us about who has paid, who has not paid, who is getting subsidies...They don't want to give us the numbers," she said. "The way they are surveying this (web)site -- you know they are trying to cover things up."

Under increasing pressure because of his support for the Common Core standards, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said Saturday, “Let’s don’t talk about Common Core.” “Let’s talk about standards,” Alexander continued. “Education is not just a problem in West Tennessee. It’s a problem in Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee.” As the Jackson Sunem> reported, Alexander said, “I’d like to see a discussion about standards with no national school board,” continuing to cite an issue called the “national school board” that has never been put forward on either the federal or state level. Alexander is being challenged by conservative state Rep. Joe...

Judge Joe Brown is now on the other side of the law. The former TV judge was arrested for contempt of court in Memphis, Tenn., according to TMZ. Brown was there to represent someone in a child custody case, but allegedly became enraged after being told they had no record of the case. Brown reportedly became verbally abusive with the judge and ignored his order to quiet down.The TV judge was cited five times for contempt of court and ordered to spend five days in jail.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The State Attorney General says Tennessee can lawfully use the electric chair on death row inmates if drugs used for lethal injection are not available. Attorney General Bob Cooper's written legal opinion was issued this week as state lawmakers consider a bill that would allow condemned prisoners to be electrocuted if lethal injection is thwarted by big drug companies or the courts.

On a brightly lit stage, in front of a crowd in a dark, quiet theater, Matthew Prus prayed to God for help. In round 18 of the 2014 Regional Spelling Bee, the competition had come down to Matthew, a sixth-grade home-schooler, and Audrey Frische, a fifth-grade student at Allen Elementary in Soddy-Daisy. Audrey, the younger sister of 2012 and 2013 champion Nicole Frische, had just misspelled "hartebeest," a type of grassland antelope from Africa, spelling it with a "D" instead of a "T." If Matthew could spell the next two words correctly, he'd walk away the winner. First word: tokamak,...

A federal judge in Tennessee Friday ordered state officials to recognize the marriages of three same-sex couples during the consideration of their lawsuit challenging the validity of the state’s ban on recognizing such marriages. In considering the request for a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger wrote that “all relevant federal authority indicates that the plaintiffs in this case are indeed likely to prevail on their claims that the Anti-Recognition Laws are unconstitutional.” The plaintiffs, she noted, filed the case only on their own behalf, so the temporary ruling affects only the state’s treatment of the three couples....

This was the flag of slave holding states in the United States that seceded in 1861, causing Civil War. Today the symbol is used by the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups, and other organizations who are hostile to African-Americans. For the last several decades, protests have continued, demanding that this flag not be displayed in public places. Many people were greatly disturbed to see that the Confederate Flag is now being displayed, not in the United States, but in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. Larry Holmes, a civil rights activist in New York City, explained why the flag is...

A group of five U.S. senators have joined the growing chorus of influential voices, telling the Kellogg Co. to end its nearly five-month lockout of more than 220 workers at its Memphis, Tenn., cereal production facility.The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 252G members who make Frosted Flakes®, Froot Loops® and other breakfast favorites were locked out as part of the drive by the company to replace steady, middle-class, full-time jobs with casual part-time employees who would make significantly lower wages and substandard benefits.In a letter to Kellogg’s CEO John Bryant, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Robert Casey Jr....

Tennessee policymakers are considering the repeal or “localization” of the Hall Tax, a tax on investment income (interest, dividends, and capital gains). The legislature is correct to consider this a pro-growth tax reform proposal. The Hall Tax, like all taxes on investment income, takes in little revenue while creating huge economic distortions and severely hampering economic growth. Repealing the Hall Tax is a pro-growth move that is sure to pay dividends in terms of job growth and income growth for all Tennessee citizens. Tennessee is usually a state that tax-reformers hail as a role model, given that it has no...

When the UAW failed miserably in Chattanooga and was not able to unionize the Volkswagen plant, even with a staked deck, it started a chain reaction and the next domino has fallen. The news that the AFL-CIO has decided to keep its money and not even try to save three Southern Democrat Senators comes as no real shock. The powerful union reviewed the polls and the political climate in North Carolina, Louisiana and Arkansas and decided backing the Democrats in these states would be throwing good money after bad. The decision left Democrat Senators Mark Pryor in Arkansas, Mary Landrieu...

Please read to the end. This is important. It’s about National Security…and individual safety. At the WCS School Board meeting last week, a few parents stood up to voice their concerns. One parent was concerned about classroom air quality. Two parents were concerned about the new school in Nolensville being named “Nolensville High School.” Julie West voiced opposition to Common Core, and textbook purchases (at 11 min. mark). Julie West mentioned that CC is not just “a state issue;” many school districts, most recently Bradley County, TN have opted out of Common Core. West said WCS has the ability to reject...

The former US vice president is in line to make a large profit from a firm producing smart meters which monitor household electricity use. He is a partner in a Silicon Valley venture capital firm which invested £45 million in Silver Spring Networks, a small California company which has been developing technology to monitor household power use to make the electricity grid more efficient. Last week the US Energy Department announced £2 billion in grants and a proportion of that, thought to be more than £305 million, will go to utility operators with which Silver Spring has contracts. The venture...

A federal court in Tennessee has dealt a serious setback to those attacking photo voter identification laws around the country – including Eric Holder’s Justice Department in North Carolina. United States District Court Judge Ronnie Greer has thrown out a lawsuit brought by the Green Party challenging the Volunteer State’s photo voter ID law. While the decision was bad for the Green Party in Tennessee, the opinion may be even worse for voter ID opponents nationwide such as the NAACP, the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and Eric Holder . Greer’s opinion undermines most all of the arguments being pushed...

People buying coverage through the new health care exchanges in East Tennessee are paying nearly a third less than the national average and less than half what's being charged in the nation's most expensive markets, including South Georgia. A new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation ranked Chattanooga and Knoxville among the 10 cheapest markets to purchase individual plans offered through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. A 40-year-old buying the most popular "silver" plan offered through BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee can get it for $181 a month, $78 a month less than the U.S. median price for...