Tennessee universities, medical centers warn Trump administration cuts will 'devastate' search for cures

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF), Feb 15, 2025- .... Now, the people on the forefront of medical research across the Volunteer State are sounding the alarm, warning that their efforts to find cures will be devastated by the Trump administration’s plan to slash funding provided by the National Institutes of Health.

"Put simply, this new policy would devastate biomedical research across the United States, including the significant presence we have built in Tennessee,” they warn in a three-page letter sent Tuesday to every elected member of Congress from Tennessee.

Those impacts, they warn, will affect research into everything from cancer to deadly childhood diseases to Alzheimer's and traumatic brain injuries. 

... "Our institutions invest hundreds of millions annually to cover research costs not fully funded by federal grants," the letter added. "We cannot replace lost federal support and sustain the same level of research."According to an analysis by the New York Times, if that policy had been in place last year, here is how much it would have cost Tennessee institutions:

• Vanderbilt University Medical Center, $71 million
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, $22 million
• Vanderbilt University, $19 million
• University of Tennessee Health Science Center, $9 million
• University of Tennessee-Knoxville, $2 million
• East Tennessee State University, $1 million
• Meharry Medical College, $761,000

“Scaling back our research capacity will slow scientific progress and have severe consequences for our global competitiveness,” the letter continued. (read more)

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How to Abolish the US Department of Education

by Rod Williams, Feb. 15, 2025- I am appalled at the way, Elon Musk and the Trump administration is taking a sledgehammer to government. In doing so they are causing chaos and endangering public health and public safety and endangering American security and violating the rule of law. An agency or department created by Congress cannot simply be closed by executive order. Money appropriated by Congress cannot be legally impounded. If these things happen, we have surrendered our democracy. If Trump is successful in doing what he is doing, then Congress might as well go home and admit we are ruled by a strong man and democracy be damned. 

Having said the above however, I support significant downsizing of the Federal government. I support greater efficiency.  I believe there is significant waste in government, and some fraud and there are things the government should not be doing at all. I support a leaner government; I just want it to happen in the right way. I don't want to sacrifice democracy for efficiency. I accept that if we can't cut government the right way, if we can't muster the votes in Congress to cut an agency, then we just have to live with it. 

One thing Trump has proposed is abolishing the Department of Education. I support this. I just want it done the right way. C. Ronald Kimberling  the American Spectator has written a piece detailing how the U. S. Department of Education could be abolished in a methodical legal way without chaos. Read it at this link.

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Nashville Population Declined by 5,149 Residents Between 2020 and 2023.

by Rod Williams, Feb. 14, 2025- With all of the construction around town, it is easy to conclude that the city of Nashville is growing by leaps and bounds. The greater Nashville MSA is growing rapidly, but if you exclude the incorporated cities within Davidson County, the city proper actually lost 5,149 residents between 2020 and 2023.

Clarksville is booming. While Nashville lost 5,192 residents, Clarksville gained 13,983 residents in the same time period. 

For more data on the Nashville MSA, follow this link to the Nashville Business Journal. 

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How to get the most Tennessee children access high-quality private education

 By Tim Benson, The Heartland Institute, Feb 11, 2025 - The Tennessee Legislature finally has acceded to the request of Gov. Bill Lee and passed a universal education savings account program that would provide all Tennessee parents with state funding to choose the educational model that best meets the learning needs of their children.

The program established, the Education Freedom Scholarship Program (EFS), is a massive and important step forward in improving Tennessee’s educational landscape. However, to be successful in the long term, the program will require a robust statewide private school sector. Our paper, Streamlined: Reforming Tennessee’s Private School Regulatory Environment, describes the current regulatory burdens on private schools in Tennessee and recommends policy changes that can lead to new private school options for Tennessee students.

Because Tennessee’s current private school regulations are so complex and burdensome, many education entrepreneurs are not interested in opening private schools in the state. Allies of ours have worked with several leaders who initially wanted to start private schools in Tennessee but ultimately decided against it because of the difficulty of navigating the state’s private school regulatory environment. In the course of conducting research for this paper, before the passage of EFS, we spoke with several private school leaders from across Tennessee who said that they had declined to participate in the current Educating Savings Account (ESA) program due to regulatory concerns and would continue to do so even if a universal program were created.

Given these constraints on private school growth in the Volunteer State and the establishment of a school choice program that theoretically has the ability to service any Tennessee family seeking to make use of it, we recommend the following changes to Tennessee’s private school regulations:

First, consolidate Tennessee’s private school landscape into three types of schools – church schools; non-church schools; and EFS, ESA, and individualized education account (IEA) schools – and reduce the regulatory requirements for all schools to streamline school approval processes and reduce schools’ compliance burdens.

Second, remove the testing requirement for schools participating in these programs to encourage existing private schools to consider participating in school choice programs.

One major problem with the current ESA program is the provision that participating schools must have their students complete the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP), the state’s testing program, which has been in place since 1988.

Many private schools in the state do not administer this test to their students and have no desire to do so in the future. In this sense, the provision ensures that these schools will not participate in that program regardless of how enticing it may otherwise be. Most of the administrators said that they have no ideological opposition to the ESA program in theory and would like to participate, but they will not do so unless they are certain that they will not need to surrender an inordinate amount of autonomy to the Bureau of Education.

However, the text of HB 6004, which established the EFS, allows participating schools to substitute the TCAP with “a nationally standardized achievement test that is aligned to the respective private school’s instructional plan, as determined by rules promulgated by the state board of education.” The rules to be promulgated have yet to be announced, and it is unknown whether these TCAP alternatives will be more palatable to private school administrators who have autonomy concerns.

Third, it would be prudent to extend the approval term for Tennessee private schools to 10 years to reduce school costs and administrative burdens for both schools and the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE).

Fourth, rescind the May 2023 Board of Education rule requiring a commercial driver’s license (CDL) for drivers transporting students to school activities in school-provided vehicles to reduce the onerous financial burden on private schools and increase student safety.

This regulation, which was universally condemned by all of the administrators we spoke to, requires schools to either pay for staff members to complete the time-consuming process of obtaining a CDL-P (Passenger) and CDL-S (School Bus) through the state or hire existing CDL license holders, if any are available, to transport students to school activities. These costs are effectively prohibitive for many schools.

Many of the school administrators reported that, because of this rule, their schools had essentially stopped providing students with transportation to school activities. Instead, parents and students had to arrange their own transportation via carpooling. The administrators noted that this decision effectively shifted the costs of transportation from the school to the parents and students, although some schools reimbursed drivers for their mileage expenses.

Finally, we recommend some of the safety guidelines passed in the wake of The Covenant School shooting should be reconsidered to reduce stress and anxiety among parents, students, and school leaders, as well as reducing school costs.

One concrete step that could be taken is to remove the provision requiring an annual armed intruder drill at private schools. Research has shown that these drills can lead to increased levels of anxiety, stress, and depression among schoolchildren. At minimum, parents and students should be forewarned of the day or days on which these drills will be executed.

In sum, Tennessee’s complex levels of regulation for private school requirements are unnecessarily burdensome for school leaders, who should be able to focus on the demanding work of educating students rather than whether their van driver has the right type of license. Additionally, these extensive compliance requirements create additional busywork for TDOE staff and impose barriers to entry for parties who are interested in opening private schools in Tennessee.

The extent to which our recommendations for streamlining private school compliance are implemented will directly correspond to the degree to which administrative costs and burdens will be reduced for both private school and TDOE leaders. Furthermore, these recommendations will not only help to create a private school landscape in Tennessee that grants private schools the autonomy they need to thrive but also provide sufficient regulation for TDOE to ensure that the state’s private schools meet the health, safety, and educational needs of all students.

Tim Benson (tbenson@heartland.org) is the senior policy analyst with The Heartland Institute, a national, free-market think tank headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

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Bill would give lawmakers power to challenge local ordinances

House Speaker Cameron Sexton

By Kim Jarrett, The Center Square, Feb 7, 2025 - Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton filed a bill that would give members of the Tennessee General Assembly the authority to question local ordinances they believe violate the state constitution.

The state could withhold funds from the local government if there is no resolution, according to House Bill 1097.

Lawmakers can request an investigation from the attorney general after notifying the local government of their intention. The local government has 60 days to address the issue before the lawmaker can ask for an investigation.

"The attorney general and reporter shall make a written report of findings and conclusions as a result of the investigation within thirty days after receipt of the request and shall provide a copy of the report to the governor, the speaker of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the member or members of the general assembly making the original request, and the secretary of state," the bill says.

The local government has 30 days to challenge any findings or resolve them if the attorney general finds it is in violation. The attorney general would file an action with the Tennessee Supreme Court if it's not clear that the ordinance is a violation.

The state can't withhold funds that "would violate contracts to which the state is a party, the requirements of federal law imposed on the state, judgments of a court binding on the state, or obligations of the state under the Tennessee Constitution," according to the bill.

Sen. Adam Lowe, R-Calhoun, filed the bill in the Senate.

It's the second move by state legislators to have a say in local government decisions. The General Assembly approved a sweeping immigration bill last week that created a Class E felony for public officials who support sanctuary cities.

Rod's Comment: This proposal seems reasonable to me. However, I would like to see some examples of what he is talking about. Cites have attorneys to advise them on the legality of what they vote on. I wonder if this is a real problem. Is it needed? Also, what other remedies are available to address the issue if a local government passes an unconstitutional ordinance. 

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Lee's $59.5B budget includes $3.9B in new spending

 By Kim Jarrett, The Center Square, Feb 11, 2025 - Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is asking lawmakersfor an additional $3.9 billion in new spending.

The governor presented his $59.5 billion plan to lawmakers during his State of the State address on Monday night. It includes a $36.5 million investment in the state's rainy day fund, which would bring it to $2.2 billion, according to the governor's office.

The Department of Transportation will receive one of the most significant chunks of the budget with an additional $1 billion. The money would be used for roads and bridges, the governor said.

State Democrats questioned Lee's plan.

"Today, Tennessee has a $78 billion dollar backlog of infrastructure projects – roads, bridges, schools, water systems – critical investments that we cannot afford," said Rep. Johnny Ray Clemmons in a prebuttal to Lee's speech released Friday. "Republican fiscal mismanagement is so bad that they argued the necessity of toll lanes on state roadways just to pay for road projects."

Lee introduced two new programs during his speech. The governors announced a TennesseeWORKS scholarship that would cover all of the tuition and fees for students attending the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology. The cost for the initial year is $12 million.

Lee said the average home price has edged up 42% in the past four years and mortgages have doubled.

"Our state needs a housing plan that makes this key part of the American Dream possible," Lee said. "First, we’re proposing a $60 million Starter Home Revolving Loan Fund. This self-sustaining program will provide 0% interest construction loans for the building of new single-family homes."

The governor said he is allocating $30 million for a new Rural and Workforce Housing Tax Credit.

Education is receiving most of the funding – 37% of each dollar for a total of $580 million. Lee is asking for $244 million for the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement formula growth that includes teacher pay raises. An additional $198.4 million would go to a teacher bonus program approved in the school choice bill that passed during the special session.

The budget includes $24 million that would provide an increase in pay through the state's WAGES program and cover child care for families through the Smart Steps Child Care Program.

"All of this – plus our work to streamline childcare facility licensing and permitting – will lead to tens of thousands of new daycare spots across rural and urban Tennessee, and in turn, create one of the most family-friendly workforces in the nation," Lee said.

Lee said he would follow the example of the federal government's Department of Government Efficiency.

"More bureaucracy does not mean better service. Businesses already know this – government should do the same. So, this year, we are bringing multiple proposals to streamline state boards, to simplify licensing practices, and to save local governments millions in administrative fees," Lee said. "All of this will save taxpayer dollars and better serve Tennesseans."

Other highlights from Lee's budget:

• An additional $130 million in the state's Violent Crime Intervention Fund.
• A new Downtown Public Safety grants program. The cost is $75 million.
• Spending for the Education Freedom Scholarships, the school choice program passed by lawmakers at $145.9 million.

Democratic lawmakers said in a news conference after the State of the State that they were united against Lee and his "harmful agenda" presented.

"This is the type of fiscal recklessness and misplaced priorities that we've been railing against for years and seven years into this governor's administration he continues to say the same old tired agenda items when he's up there trying to talk about being innovative," Clemmons said at the news conference.

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What if Trump Just Ignores the Courts?

by Rod Williams, Feb. 11, 2025- We are on the cusp of a Constitutional crisis.

In this insightful podcast New York Times columnist Ezra Kline and his guest Quinta Jurecic, who is a fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and a senior editor at Lawfare, discuss the current situation, how the courts have blocked or slowed Trump's implementation of most of Trump's questionable Executive Orders, how President Trump has so far mostly avoided a direct defiance of the courts, how Congress could restrain the President if it had the will, the role of the public and protest as a restraint, how Trump and Vance and others are now openly talking about defying the Court, how the Supreme Court may rule on the appeal of lower court rulings, and what the implication would be should Trump simply ignore a Supreme Court ruling. 

While Kline and Jurecic are very concerned they are not yet in full panic mode, noting that despite Trump team's defiant talk they are showing restraint in actually defying the Court and while we are approaching a crisis, we are not there yet. In the administrations court fillings, the administration is asking for relief from aspects of the ruling and are still engaged in legal maneuvering. They seem to say that while we are headed for a crisis, a full Constitutional crisis may still be avoidable. 

This podcast is well worth consuming. One can listen to this podcast at 1.25 speed without losing context. Also, on the screen hit "skip" to skip the commercials.  If you prefer to read the transcript instead of listening, read the transcript at this link. 

 

Transcript: We are moving into the next phase of Donald Trump’s presidency. Phase 1 was the blitz of executive actions. Now comes the response from the other parts of the government — namely, the courts.

A slew of judges, some of them Republican appointees, have frozen a number of the administration’s most aggressive actions: the destruction of U.S.A.I.D., the spending freeze, DOGE’s access to the Treasury payments system and the executive order to end birthright citizenship, to name just a few.

The administration has largely — though not entirely — been abiding by these court decisions. Over the weekend, Vice President JD Vance suggested it might stop. “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” he posted. Down that path lies a true constitutional crisis.

So what happens if the Trump administration simply tells the courts to shove it? And what other pushback and opposition is the administration beginning to face across the government? Quinta Jurecic, a senior editor at Lawfare, joins me to talk it through. (more)

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Harwood Salon (formerly the Bastiat Society) is Now Free!

by Rod Williams, Feb. 11, 2025- I have been attending the Bastiat Society for years and enjoy it greatly. Recently the name changed to the Harwood Salon, but otherwise it is still the same. It meets once a month at the Richland County Club. The line up of speakers are experts in their field of study or activity. Speakers are often scholars or authors. Often speakers are college professors or work for thinktanks. The programs are always thought provoking and insightful.

Topics include political philosophy, free market economic theory, fiscal policy, constitutionalism, and relevant current topics such as housing policy, economic policy. and tax policy. To see what you have been missing if you have not been attending, follow this link. 

In addition to being informative and hearing from engaging experts in their field, Harwood Salon also provides and open bar and hors d'oeuvre. I am not talking about cheap box wine and a Kroger's cheese tray. They have an open full bar. You can order a Manhattan if you want. The food is delicious. They usually offer a grilled salmon that is wonderful and another great main dish, plus delicious cheeses and other treats. There is time of socializing before and after the meetings and the people attending are interesting and informed. You will have interesting conversations.

Best of all starting this month, the events are free! Registration is still required, however. To register follow this link.

 

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J. D. Vance: "‘The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it’.”

To hear the exact words of J. D. Vance advocating defying the Supreme Court, see timestamp 9:05-9:27 in the video below: 

by Rod Williams, Feb. 11, 2025- As we wait to see if President Trump will defy the Supreme Court, it is worth noting that J. D. Vance has advocated him doing so.  

In Feb. 2024, in an interview with ABC’s This Week host George Stephanopoulos, Vance was asked about a statements he made in 2021, when he stated that he would advise Mr. Trump “fire every single mid-level bureaucrat, every civil servant in the administrative state, replace them with our people” and that if he was blocked from doing so, that he should “stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did, and say, ‘The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it’.” In the George Stephanopoulos interview he did not back down from that statement he made in 2021 on the Jack Murphy Live podcast.

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This week May be the Week We Cease to be a Democracy.

by Rod Williams, Feb. 10, 2025- This week may be the week we cease to be a democracy. Not that it will be as if one flips a switch and suddenly all of our liberties disappear and we live in a police state, but this could be the week that we cross the line from being a democratic republic to living under an authoritarian regime. 

Democracy is more than just majority rule. Majority rule can trample one's rights also. There is an old saying that democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner. I don't think that is so, if democracy is adequately understood. In addition to majority rule, democracy recognizes individual liberties and the rule of law. This week may be the week that we lose the rule of law.

Donald Trump has been moving fast and breaking things. It has been disruptive and messy and may have weakened us as a nation. However, he has not gotten by with all he has tried to do. On allowing Elon Musk to access everyone's bank account information and social security numbers he was blocked by the court. The take-it-or-leave it massive employee buy-out was slowed by the courts. The permanent shuttering of USAID has been blocked. Abolishing birthright citizenship by executive order has been blocked as well as other Trump efforts.  

With Republicans in full support of Trump, there has been no legislative check on his authority and opponent of Trump's actions have turned to the courts to constrain him and so far, the actions that most likely violate the Constitution are being put on hold. So far, our democracy has held. Unfortunately, I don't see this continuing. I fear that Trump will defy the Supreme Court. When that happens, we no longer have rule of law. When that happens, we are living under an authoritarian regime. 

President Trump now has several Temporary Restraining Orders preventing him from carrying out actions he has attempted. One of those is the TRO on Birthright Citizenship. It the court makes that order permanent, Donald Trump may just ignore it. If the Supreme Court rules that President Trump cannot just change the Constitution by executive order, Trump may simply order the appropriate department simply not to issue birth certificates to children born to non-citizens.

If he does that he will likely be held in contempt of court. My understanding is that normally a daily fine would be imposed until one comes into compliance. Trump will not care. Next the Court can direct the person defying the Court be arrested. Of course, the Supreme Court does not have its own police force.  The US Marshals are part of the Executive Branch. President Trump will not be arrested. In this case, the thing that one would expect to happen is that the legislative branch would then move to impeach the president. I do not see that happening. Trump has a slim majority in the House but so far that have walked in lockstep loyalty to him. It takes a simple majority in the House to impeach, and the Republican majority is slim. Even if some House Republicans did vote for impeachment, in the Senate it takes two-thirds of the members voting to convict remove a president from office. I do not see Trump being impeached or removed from office. 

If the Supreme Court rules against Trump and he ignores the Court and Congress does not impeach, then massive protest is all that is left to constrain Trump. Such protest could not be just the normal activist protesting. To be effective there would have to be a massive outpouring of opposition. Normal people would have to clog the streets of our cities. I don't see that happening. Sure, there will be protest here and there but not the massive protest needed to force President Trump to follow the rule of law. 

For one thing, birthright citizenship is not popular. If people have an opinion about it at all the majority think it should be ended. Most people are concerned about an outcome, not how that outcome was achieved. I would be surprised if there is a lot of public outrage about Trump ignoring a Court's ruling on birthright citizenship. People will not lay down in front of tanks to preserve birthright citizenship. 

Consider that if we had a Democrat president who banned semi-automatic weapons by Executive Order and then defied a Supreme Court ruling overturning that ban. I doubt a Democrat Congress would move to impeach him. I doubt there would be massive protest about the president defying the Court in that instance.  People care about policy and outcomes; they don't care a lot about process. 

If Trump does defy the Supreme Court in this one instance, then in the next case it will be easier to do. If the next defiance of the Court is over USAID, I don't see that generating a lot of opposition either. Foreign aid is not popular. Once he can defy the Court over one thing like birthright citizenship, then he can do it again and again. We will still have Courts and Trump defying the Court will not lead to a collapse of order. The Courts will still function much as always, but they will not be a check on the President. It may hardly be noticeable, but we will have ceased to be a functioning democracy. 

To be fair and to moderate my alarmism, Trump did not defy the Court in his first term. When the Court ruled against him, he backed down. I am not taking a lot of comfort in that, however. This time Trump is much more determined and is mad and is not surrounded by institutionalist who can work to constrain his behavior. 

If Trump does defy the Court as I have speculated and he gets away with it, then in the mid-term the public could deny him his legislative majority and then there could be a check on his behavior. However, I am not going to be greatly shocked if Trump engineers and declares a national emergency and delays the mid-term elections. As a candidate he said there were times when it may be necessary to suspend the Constitution. I believe he meant it when he said it. I believe that is what he really believes. If he does try to delay the mid-term election, what can we do? Sue him? 

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Nothing to See Here, Comrades

by Rod Williams, Feb. 9, 2025- It has been exposed that Kash Patel has received funding from a Russian filmmaker with ties to the Kremlin.  The payment to Patel came as he participated in a documentary that that the filmmaker produced depicting Patel and other veterans of the first Trump administration as victims of a conspiracy that “destroyed the lives of those who stood by Donald Trump in an attempt to remove the democratically elected president from office.”

Trump already has Tusi Gabard in his cabinet who repeats Krimlim talking points and who has sympathy toward Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s arguments for waging war in Ukraine and was a defender of the Russian backed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. If Patel is confirmed as FBI director, as it appears he will be, this will be a second high ranking official in the Trump administration with questionable loyalties. 

I am having a hard time understanding what has happened to the Republican Party. All of my life it was the Republican Party that was suspicious of people with questionable loyalty and was on guard against government officials with ties to our adversaries or intellectual sympathies to anti-democratic ideologies. If there were government officials or high-profile influential people with sympathies to non-democratic ideologies, it was likely to be a Democrat. Now, it is likely to be a Republican. 

People who I thought I knew and whose values I thought I shared, are not concerned that we have people like Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel in the highest levels of our government. They could care less. First, they respond with "fake news" when what these people do and the ties they have are revealed.  Then, they will minimize the importance of the ties or anti-democratic point of view. Next, they agree with the pro Kremlin or anti-democratic point of view. It is alarming. I never thought I would see the day when Republicans would approve of having people like Gabbard and Patel in our government. 

Kash Patel was paid by Russian filmmaker with Kremlin ties, documents show

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