Below is the latest newsletter from the Tennessee Council for Political Justice.

Newsletter #156 — What Does Governor Haslam Get For Selling Out Tennessee?

Let’s ask Obama.

December 9, 2014 — Obama will come to Nashville to gloat

Obama lost BIG in red Tennessee. The state legislature is Republican controlled super-majorities, and the state has a Republican governor. Then why is Tennessee is an ideal spot for Obama to gloat about his most recent end-run around Congress on illegal immigration?

Left-leaning Tennessee Chattanooga RINOs Sen. Todd Gardenhire and Rep. Richard Floyd passed bills in 2014 giving in-state tuition to children born in the U.S. even if their parents were illegally in the country. Gardenhire and Floyd (who cried over these bills) also sponsored legislation to give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants graduating from Tennessee high schools. Floyd’s bill to give illegal immigrant students in-state tuition was co-sponsored by Rep. Gerald McCormick, who as House Majority Leader works to advance the Governor’s agenda.

Nashville is also desirable for Obama because at least 50,000 illegals are reported by The Tennessean to be living there and 124,000 state-wide. So when Haslam wonders why the unemployment rate is so high, he should read the local newspaper. Or he could read the August 2014 Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) analysis that based on federal employment data showing that the jobs in Tennessee are going to legal and illegal immigrants:

“Tennessee’s working-age immigrant population grew 176 percent from 2000 to 2014, one of the highest of any state in the nation. Yet the number of natives working in 2014 was actually lower in 2000.”

Obama’s loss in Tennessee is irrelevant because Haslam, with the help of the Chamber of Commerce, is pushing all the president’s big agenda items — Medicaid expansion, Common Core, entitlements, and amnesty. “Coincidentally,” Haslam’s director for legislation, Leslie Hafner, is also the business partner of the Chamber’s chief lobbyist, David McMahan.

For example, Haslam’s new Attorney General, Herbert Slattery, who has long-time very close ties to Haslam, has not joined the 17 other states suing over the Constitutionally invalid grant of amnesty to illegal immigrants. In 2012 Haslam didn’t join other governors in opposing Obama’s DACA executive order either. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) rewarded illegal immigrant parents who brought their young children, also illegal, to be raised and educated in the U.S. The children can work here legally, get a social security number and a driver’s license.



Haslam introduces Obama at 2011 No Child Left Behind briefing Haslam introduces Obama at 2011 No Child Left Behind briefing

As established by Tennessee’s Constitution, the Attorney General advises all branches of state government but is also supposed to represent the interests of the citizens of Tennessee who are a majority of conservatives opposed to Obama’s immigration plans. This is the young workforce that Haslam approves of that will be in direct competition for jobs with Tennessee’s legal citizens.

Obama will speak at Casa Azafran, the building owned by Conexion Americas. TIRRC (TN Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition), Muslim Brotherhood inspired groups AMAC (American Muslim Advisory Council) and ACO (American Center for Outreach) are headquartered there, making it a convenient place for Obama to visit his high priority constituencies.

Even if Governor Haslam doesn’t show up for Obama’s speech (he wasn’t available for Obama’s January visit), it’s not because Haslam isn’t also highly supportive of the agendas of these organizations. In fact, Haslam’s Leadership Tennessee training program, housed at leftist Lipscomb University, has made sure to include Conexion Americas founder Renata Soto and representatives from TIRRC and the Muslim Brotherhood Islamic organizations.

Last week in D.C. at Obama’s invitation, Haslam showcased his new free tuition program called “TN Promise.” For now, only Tennessee’s high school graduates who are U.S. citizens can apply for Haslam’s free tuition program. This could easily change under either Obama’s amnesty plan or even the U.S. Senate’s Gang of Eight amnesty plan, which Senators Alexander and Corker are hawking around the state. Students applying for the TN Promise money must also be eligible for in-state tuition — the bill that Gardenhire tried to pass but didn’t. Will he be successful this year?

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So what is Governor Haslam getting for his pro-Obama efforts? Establishing his RINO credentials for the 2018 nomination?