Congressman John Rose Speaks at DeKalb GOP Event

September 26, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Congressman John Rose is opposed to a $3.5 trillion spending bill which was advanced by the US House Budget Committee Saturday and will be sent to the House floor for a vote.

The Sixth District US Congressman, who serves DeKalb County in the Congress, was in Smithville Saturday for a DeKalb County Republican Party event.

“These proposals to spend trillions of dollars and fundamentally change the nature of our country from a capitalist free enterprise democracy to a socialist command economy I think really threatens the American dream and the American way of life,” Rose told WJLE.

The committee vote was 20 to 17 with Democratic Rep. Scott Peters of California joining Republicans to vote against the bill. It came as a necessary step for the bill to reach the full House floor, where it can be amended.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated in a statement Saturday that she wants to bring the massive economic package as well as a separate one – which includes funding for roads and bridges, money for transit and rail, a broadband upgrade and an upgrade for airports, ports and waterways — to the House floor this week.

Democrats have been struggling to pass President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. This bill has raised concerns among moderates who worry some of the measures go too far, as progressives say they’ve already compromised enough. Republicans, including Congressman Rose are united in their opposition to it. Even if it passes the House, Rose said he is hopeful the bill can be defeated in the Senate.

“Unfortunately right now we (Republicans) are at the mercy I think of two so-called moderate US Senators, Joe Manchin from West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona so we have to hope that they hold the line and refuse to let this massive spending proposal go through. There is some talk that there may be some liberal Democrats in swing states and in swing districts that could join us in stopping some of this but so far they seem to have capitulated to the radical extreme socialist elements of the Democratic Party,” said Congressman Rose.

Another bill Congressman Rose opposes is the “For the People Act” which passed the US House earlier this year. The bill stalled in the Senate on a 50-50 vote.

“Democrats have attempted to disguise this legislation as voter and election reform, but nothing could be further from the truth,” said Congressman Rose. “This bill seeks to change election laws to federalize our elections and change outcomes of elections all across the country. Its one of the most damaging pieces of legislation I have seen in my short two-plus years in Congress. I will continue to do everything I can to fight for the integrity of our nation’s elections. This bill would bring the same dysfunctional election procedures to Tennessee that we saw in states like California, New York, Pennsylvania, and others during the 2020 presidential election where results were delayed for weeks and months, further bringing the integrity of the outcome into question,” said Congressman Rose.

Although if passed the legislation would likely be contested in state and federal courts, Rose said the law would still impact elections until the issues are adjudicated.

“I think the worst aspects of the legislation ultimately would be found unconstitutional in the courts but that takes time so you would probably see some impact on elections in the short term before the courts could fully adjudicate those claims, which could take two to ten years,” Rose continued.

The state is undergoing redistricting based on results of the 2020 Census. Congressman Rose said his district will have to lose some 40,000 residents. He is hopeful that the legislature will keep the district intact as much as possible.

“I know it’s the general assembly that has the power to re-district based on the results of the 2020 census but I would love to see the sixth district stay the same. We have grown faster than the rest of the state so we will have to lose some residents. About 40,000 of the current population of the district will have to be drawn out one way or another. There is some conversation happening about perhaps shifting dramatically to have an 8-1 split between Republicans and Democrats which would then make the sixth district probably include part of Davidson County or Nashville but that would be a pretty dramatic change. I hope we can keep the Upper Cumberland together,” said Congressman Rose.

The sixth district includes all of Cannon, Clay, Coffee, Cumberland, DeKalb, Fentress, Jackson, Macon, Overton, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, White, and Wilson counties and areas of Cheatham and Van Buren counties.

September 21, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

A bomb threat resulted in the evacuation of employees at SW Manufacturing Thursday night.

Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins said the building was searched but nothing suspicious was found. Employees later returned to work.

The threat was made by phone and the investigation continues. No arrests have been made.

The Smithville Fire Department joined Smithville Police in responding to the call.

September 25, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Unemployment rates in nearly all of Tennessee’s counties decreased in August. This marks the second consecutive month the jobless situation has improved in 93 or more of the state’s 95 counties.

DeKalb County’s jobless rate for August was 4.4%, down from 5.2% in July and below the August 2020 rate of 7.5%.

The local labor force for August, 2021 was 7,660. A total of 7,321 were employed and 339 were without work.

August unemployment rates were lower in 93 counties across the state. The rate in Williamson County remained unchanged from July at 2.6%. Unemployment increased in Maury County from 4.2% to 4.5% in a month-to-month comparison.

Seventy-nine counties recorded unemployment rates of less than 5% for the month. The remaining 16 counties had August rates of 5% or greater, but less than 10%.

Williamson County continued to have Tennessee’s lowest unemployment rate in August. Moore County recorded the second-lowest rate at 2.7%, which was down 0.2 of a percentage point from its July rate.

Shelby County had the month’s highest unemployment rate at 6.7%. While it was the highest in the state, the county’s new rate represented a 0.8 of a percentage point decrease from July.

Unemployment in Perry County was the second highest at 6.6%, but that accounted for a 4 percentage point drop from its July rate of 10.6%.

Unemployment statewide improved for the third consecutive month in August. The rate ticked down from 4.7% to 4.6%.

Nationally, the jobless rate also improved in August. It decreased by 0.2 of a percentage point from 5.4% to 5.2%.

Unlike the statewide and national unemployment rates, county unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted to factor in seasonal economic influences such as school breaks and severe weather conditions.

This week, there are more than 470,000 open positions across Tennessee. The state is working to help unemployed Tennesseans become TN Work Ready, so they can successfully rejoin the workforce. Job seekers can find a multitude of online and in-person resources by visiting www.TNWorkReady.com.

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