Facts are funny like that

Tom Humphrey lays out the facts on legislation in a "vote sheet". One was regarding a piece of my legislation. Democrats are saying bringing up the votes is a "Lie".

Lets go through one by one and you decide.

From the KNS article....

Republicans offered an amendment that stripped out any reference to price-gouging and instead urged Congress to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Yokley and Vaughn were among Democrats who voted to kill the Republican amendment....


O.K. With that vote did they vote against urging congress to drill? If you think yes, then they voted against more drilling for more oil. Did they ever vote to urge congress to drill for oil at another time? No. Seems cut and dry to me. They voted against more drilling.


Other examples that Democrats say are misleading:

n The charge that Democrats oppose private property rights involves a non-controversial bill that revised procedures for the state Department of Transportation in selling surplus property. Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, offered an amendment that would have required TDOT to give previous owners of land the right to buy back the property when the government no longer needed it. Democrats voted against the amendment.

O.K. Would the amendment have give rights to private property owners who have had their land taken by E.D.? If you think yes it would, then they voted against private property rights.

The term "jobs killer legislation" has been used by business lobbyists in opposing several bills. . (That they voted for)

To be more specific I think the term "Job killer legislation" was brought by the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Businesses) after studying sevral bills. As the largest supporter of small businesses that employ people I think they would have a clear idea of what would kill jobs for working people.

A $250 million tax increase cited in the list was a 42-cents-per-pack increase in cigarette taxes, which proponents say was needed to provide funds for education.

Unfortunately the money was not earmarked to go to education. I am pretty sure that amendment was also offered by Republicans and was also shot down by the Democrats. The money went into the general fund. So it was just a straight tax increase that may or may not have helped education.

The vote cited as support of the governor's "party room" came on an amendment offered to the state budget in May. Opponents of the amendment argued that, by then, the project to renovate the governor's residence and add an underground banquet facility was virtually complete, so that undoing the work would increase taxpayer costs.

The facts speak different. Republicans were ready for that claim when the amendment came up. Republicans had and showed photos of "the party room" taken just days before. The construction had not even started. It was just a half dug hole in the ground. No foundation poured. No bricks and mortar. No walls up. No roof on. No electrical run. No plumbing. No heating and air. Nothing. Just a hole in the ground that could be filled back in for virtually nothing except a savings to the taxpayer of tens of millions. The contracts all allowed the state to back out of construction at any time for no cost. Did they vote to stop the construction? If you think they voted no then they voted for the construction to continue and for the party bunker.


A charge of "raiding" the state's highway fund involves votes to transfer money from road-building efforts to the state general fund, which pays for such things as education and health care. The move was pushed by Gov. Phil Bredesen....

It also paid for golf courses and about every thing in the pork report. The move was voted on by the the legislature not just Phil. The gas tax money is supposed to be a dedicated tax for road and bridge construction and repair only. As you know Phil and the Democrats want to increase the gas tax already without having repaid what they took from the highway fund (Even in a surplus year). Any guesses where the new money would go?

Other measures on the list are fairly straightforward.

The Democrats, for example, voted against a Republican amendment that would have required voters to present identification, including a photograph. Opponents contended the amendment, offered on the House floor, was inappropriate to the bill in question, which made minor changes in state election laws.

They say that about every amendment they don't like. The legal department drafted the legislation and it totally fit in the same caption of law. It was properly filed and totally appropriate.

The list distributed by Shipley also cites Vaughn's vote in the House Calendar Committee to scuttle legislation that would have stripped elected officials of state-paid health insurance when convicted of a felony That vote alone, says Shipley, would justify voter rejection of Vaughn..

AHHH. The John Ford and the Tennessee waltz amendment. That was a good one. Who were they protecting? Felons who had stolen probably millions from the taxpayers and those who might be still stealing millions from the taxpayers who are yet to be convicted.

Cut and dry.


Ford's list, in turn, cites Yokley's vote against a Republican-sponsored proposal to distribute surplus lottery money to local school systems - a move that Odom argued would have violated a state Supreme Court ruling on education funding. .

Only no court ruling or attorney generals opinion was ever researched, sited or offered. The legislation was drafted and researched by the legal department and deemed as totally legal and allowable. They voted against the bill that would send more money to local schools.

Cut and dry.

I did not see any out and out lies in the fact sheet. But facts are funny like that.