Year in review

The top ten things, people, issues and non issues that made 2010.

#10. The Carter county fish pond and Kent Williams.


"Fish, the other white meat" It was the line of the year, the waste of time of the year. It almost caused the budget to fall apart and force tax increases but...

#9 Republicans in the house won a 50th seat (Pat Marsh) making Kent Williams insignificant to any budget negotiation. Not a lot of play on this issue but one race made a huge difference on getting things done for Republicans.










#8 Guns in .....Who cares? It was a media ginned up story that the legislature spent less then 3% of our time passing. Tennesseans by in large seemed to approve. The media lost credibility by over playing this story while leaving behind or under reporting others (TEA any one?)







#7 was where the action was in the "Race to the top (trough)" federal education money. It was the bribe that got some positive change to occur in education. One of the few positive things Obama achieved. Too detailed for many people to understand but it was a step that may have a long term impact for our state.













#6 unlike the moves to address the red light camera issue. All the substantive reform bills were killed in committee. When a bill with an open caption hit the floor it was a free for all showing how many legislators want change on this issue. It was the hidden issue of the year.

#5 Hey! I won my race for the senate!






I know its not a big deal for everybody and some people about chipped a tooth putting a shotgun barrel in their mouth, but I am digging it and it is my blog, so its in my top 10.



#4 May Beavers quits senate, runs for mayor, quits, re enters race for senate against Susan Lynn. What a web of intrigue and back room personal politics. Total inside baseball, but interesting.



#3 Mumps quits. and gets a different job.

Jayson Mumpower, the top Republican and man expected to be speaker of the house decides not to run for office again.

#2 Republicans STOMP a mud hole into the Democrats. I know several prominent Tennessee Democrats were predicting a long run for their party with the momentum from 08. They knew the implications of redistricting and thought it was in the bag. Instead, it was the epic beat down we all saw. This could have effects into the next generation.

I could say we owe it all to the growth of the TEA party movement but that would only be partly true. The man who made it all possible, is the number 1 with a bullet, most influential person in Tennessee or Tennessee politics. The one we all talked about, had to be...

#1 Barack Hussein Obama (Barry Soetoro).



Sort of like the "Gun salesman of the month" posters you see at some gun shows with his picture on them. The conservative movement/explosion would not have been possible without his election. McCain would have been more of the same and people would have stayed in a slumber. Obama lit the fuse and made it easy. People woke up and got mad and not just a little mad. SCREAMING MAD!!! If one person can be credited with collapsing the Democrat party and reviving the Republican party with fresh new conservatives nation wide it has to be him. Thanks Barry!

Why dont they want elections?

Despite what the constitution says, the members of the supreme court do not want to run for office. They are above the process. The common excuse is fundraising from people who they may be deciding cases in front of might compromise their shaky ethics (or some thing along those lines).

The solution?

Fundraising from people who they will be deciding cases in front of so they don't have to follow the constitution.

More from John Jay Hooker who give them the facts.

For gun owners, this could be big

If court rulings like this continue nation wide it could have huge implications for gun owners in Tennessee.

I question where a ruling like this would leave local laws that are limiting gun possession in some parks but not others across Tennessee. It could render them void. This could be interesting. I would like to see the full ruling.

Quotes of the day

The most valuable of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it has to be done, whether you like it or not."

~Aldous Huxley


"The common denominator of success - the secret of success of every man who has ever been successful - lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do."

~Albert E.N. Gray

A billion here, a billion there.

Action Andy lays out how Bredesen raised taxes by a billion dollars and also got "lucky". First, by coming in after Sundquist raised taxes and then with the Obama bail out money.

He is also inferring the Haslam pledge to not raise taxes may be under "adjustment"

During Bredesen's tenure, the administration each year pitched a "technical corrections" bill that included measures aimed at shutting down what officials called "loopholes." They also included flat-out tax hikes, and some lawmakers complained about the process.

State Senate Finance Committee Chairman Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, said the annual "technical corrections" legislation brought each year by Bredesen "in some ways closed some loopholes and in other regards it was, you know, I guess you could call it tax increases, fee increases."....



....Haslam said he would work to shut down tax loopholes but "not use this as a backdoor means of raising taxes."

He steered clear of an outright no-new-taxes pledge"

Looking back, looking forward

Jeff Woods looks to the possible legislative future for Tennessee with a peak back at the past.

Move over Brad Pitt

I have been named "East Tennessee person of the year" over at the Knoxville Focus.

I hear I just missed the cut to be on the cover of People magazine.

yes there are

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
A Colbert Christmas: Colbert/Costello Duet
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> March to Keep Fear Alive

"Guns are not needed on campus for safty"

Except if you are at MTSU and are a police officer. Then it is time to upgrade. If it is good for the police then why not legal upstanding trained citizens?

Hat tip: Say uncle

Just because

When a friend called to tell me about the 60 minutes piece and Chris Cristie I said I had long been a fan of his and had blogged about him in past posts. I went back and did some checking and I guess I never put them up. Here is a good taste for those who don't fear strong words in tough times.

Budget backlash

60 minutes does a pretty good piece on the deficits some states are facing. Tennessee is not quite in the same boat thanks to some hard ball being played at the senate level in years past (You can thank Ron Ramsey for that). We have some problems but they are laughable compared to many.

My favorite governor (Chris Christie) has a major part in the show and talks about some of the tough choices he is now having to make for his state.

The key issue for Chuck Fleischmann

When I look for in depth reporting on the important, key issues that will shape and change America for the better I know I can turn to the Knoxville News Sentinel and Georgiana Vines

From the article...

Fleischmann announced he has been assigned to the Small Business Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.

For the latter committee, he's going to have to check the spelling of one of the area's natural resources. Several of his press releases said the 3rd District and East Tennessee have many natural treasures, including the "Smokey Mountains."

It's Smoky Mountains, short for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

End of article.

Like in the "DREAM" act or gays in the military?

Ken Whitehouse comes out and makes his case saying US Senate Republicans (namely Lamar! Alexander) are already in the majority (46(R) to 54 (D+I)? Must be public education) and can pass legislation to fix the economy the way Democrats were in the process of.

Cutting off their balls

Many new state governors facing budget cuts are not looking to taxpayers to foot the bill for their partying. Instead, they are looking to fund inaugural events and balls by raising donations from private donors.

I like it. While it may not balance any budget it shows that a new governor is looking out for the taxpayer from day one.

From the USA Today article...


Incoming Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, rejected $50,000 in state money and instead is raising up to $50,000 each from private donors for his inaugural and transition expenses. Deal has not disclosed the names of his contributors, but will do so after the inauguration, spokesman Harris Blackwood said....

...Other governors planning inaugural parties include:

• Florida's Scott, who has collected nearly $2 million. The donations will help pay for two days of festivities, including a military appreciation event, a tribute to incoming first lady Ann Scott, a parade through Tallahassee and a ball.

Scott has set a $25,000 cap on donations and releases his list of donors weekly....

...•South Carolina Gov.-elect Nikki Haley is selling sponsorships for her inaugural events. "Platinum" sponsors who give $25,000 get eight reserved seats at the inaugural ceremony, two tickets for a lunch with the Republican governor and other top state officers, along with admission to the inaugural gala and eight private reception passes, according to a sponsorship form on her website.

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey said donors would be disclosed.

"we're caught in a trap. There's no way out......

A true hard look at revenue cameras may get some play this year.

So many things can be done and this year I think many have a good chance.

On the table:

Limiting where they can be used (No speed traps on highways). Limiting right on red tickets to only be issued by officers. Making it so revenue from cameras be used to study traffic calming options in the area or for drivers education in schools. Requiring traffic study for a light to see if other options could limit the problem previous to camera installation. Limiting how short or how long a yellow light can be or should be made. An outright ban is also on the table.

So many ideas out there. Last year they never got out of committee. This year I think many will.

States right of repeal. Has its time come?

The movement for giving states the right to repeal federal law is gaining steam. 12 states are already on board.

Awaiting the headline "TNIvesco investigation begins"

In the legislature we are sometimes asked to do things on faith. Sort of like at the federal level where legislators were asked to vote for the "Obamacare bill" without having read it.

In the state legislature, the big bill this last year was for TNIvesco. A shady deal for hundreds of millions of dollars going to unnamed businesses for unknown reasons with unknown expected returns. A situation ripe for corruption. The more I looked the more trepidations I became. I voted against it, but it was given little to no coverage and passed with little fanfare. Since that time I have been waiting on the headline "TNIvesco investigation begins"

The Tennessean is starting to look into the cover up. Like bad pennies, some of the same old names keep popping up. With a large chunk of the money going to solar start ups, I have concerns of a possible TNInvesco direct, or indirect, link to the new Bredesen Kisber-Farr solar start up.


From the article...

Farr's role in economic development also included designing TNInvestco, which channeled cash from insurance companies into venture capital firms through the sale of state tax credits.
Farr and Kisber reviewed the 25 business plans submitted for TNInvestco funding themselves, grading and ranking each one. They selected the 10 finalists less than a week after the application deadline, all of which would eventually receive $20 million in tax credits.
One of the losing applicants filed a public information request asking for the release of the scoring matrix that Farr and Kisber used to arrive at their decision. State lawyers have fought the request in court, saying that the matrix includes confidential information and that its release would embarrass the losing applicants.

"The state is spending roughly $200 million, and the questions is, 'How did they select the people they selected?' " said Larry Coleman, the Franklin venture capitalist who has pressed for the records' release. "This was a contract-bid situation, so there wasn't really anything (confidential) in there."

We need her more.

A major pick up for a governor looking to make a real impact on education might want to check the long term availability of this woman. Anyone who can make a dent in D.C. schools needs a good long second look and a hard sell to come to Tennessee. If Michelle Rhee could be pulled away from a Florida transition team and a program already improving it could be huge pick up for our state.

The last interview I could find of her from the first of the month can be viewed here.

Bless their heart!

California is about to pass cap and trade on their employers. All I have to say is thank you!!! This will be great news for Tennessee. With California already collapsing economy, states like Tennessee are set swoop in and pick up even more of their employers as they look to escape the high tax and regulation state.

Our states job recruiters have to be licking their chops.

When will they learn?

Fresh thinking

Florida is where Tennessee needs to be on education. Ahead of the game and moving forward.

Democrats support closed primary.

There is a good chance that Democrats could elect a new house minority leader tomorrow. Although I, nor any Republican will have a vote in their primary (What? a closed primary? Why do you think Democrats would do that? I guess they support closed primaries.) I will give my two cents.

I have served under and with all three candidates, they all have pluses and minuses, but to me one candidate stood above the others. I like John Deberry (I don't know anyone who doesn't for that matter) and hope he gets the position. I have always gotten along well with John. He is firm as a leader and or as a chairman and gracious to all no matter party affiliation. He is cognisant of what has happened at the last election, understands why it happened and what it means to Democrats. He will work for his members where and when he can but is not the sort of person to burn the bridge to get the one time hit.

I think it is his time.

On the flip side of the picture is Gary Odom. Gary is a fighter, who has a history of leaving burned bridge after burned bridge in his wake (on both sides) in his rise to power and his attempt to hang on. Although he has a way of firing his people up, with that, he also has a way of burning people up. At times that skill serves well, say when you are within striking distance of control or trying to hang on to control.

That time is not now.

In fact it could be quite a while before that time comes again for Democrats in the Tennessee state house. If he does hang on he will only make it easy for Republicans to become angry or still feel vengeful toward him and other Democrats. Not a good long term plan.

The third candidate is Craig Fitzhugh. While possibly thought of by some as a numbers guy I just don't see him as the prototypical leader. He is just too quiet. I don't see him taking control of any real situation, being ready to make hard decisions or stands, or being willing to pull a fellow member into line. Nothing personal, I just don't think it is in him. Some have it, some don't. He could still win it, but it would probably lead to more inter party squabbling. Not necessarily a bad thing for Republicans though.

The two that got away.

While they are not in the mix I will throw two names in there that would have made things quite interesting. Charlie Curtiss or John Mark Windle. Clearly what Democrats stand for and are doing is not selling in Tennessee. The flip side of that would be someone like either of these two non candidates. They are both cut from the same cloth but at different points in their political carrier.
A more seasoned version of the two would be Rep. Charlie Curtiss. He has already has a long history in the legislature, served in the military and is well known as a conservative Democrat. He is from a more rural area where Dems are lacking representation, he is sharp, knows how to work the system and both sides of the fence. It could have been quite interesting if he got in the race but for some reason he did not.

John Mark on the other hand is a great example of an anti Democrat, Democrat. He may be out of the running because he might be called up for active duty at any time but still, someone like him could really have helped change things up and put a new face on the party. He is young, in the military, more conservative, smaller government and also sharp as a tack. In fact, if I were in charge of the Democrat party I would do anything I could to keep him involved and up front. Instead he is relegated to be a back bencher who occasionally gets trotted out when the party needs him (But for the most part Democrats just ignore him and his ideas).

G.O.P. stands for Great Opportunity Party for someone like him. He is still young enough to switch parties and would fit right in as an (R). In fact, he would probably be more conservative then a few members we already have. Serious courting should be going on now. As a Republican he could write his own ticket (for himself and his district). If not, he will probably stay about where he is for a long, long time. Respected, but stuck at mid, bottom level of the minority party, being shunned by the libs who now run the Democrat party and out of the inner loop with the Republican party.

It will be a cold day in.....

The new Republican state house members are a conservative bunch (I hear 18 of the new members claim to be strong conservatives) and they just passed some new caucus bylaws changes. They say if you don't vote for the caucus nominee you are out of the caucus without 4/5 of the caucus vote to let you back in.

HOME SCHOOL VICTORY!!!

Starting next year home school student athletes will be able to participate in state school team athletics.

This is a huge victory myself and other legislators have been working toward for years. While this may not be all things to all people (There are 10 basic limitations or rules) it is a great kicking off point.

For those interested the rules are listed below...

A home schooled student wishing to participate in extracurricular athletics at a member school shall be eligible if the following qualifications are met:

1. The student shall be enrolled in a home school study program in compliance with Section 49-6-3050(b)(1) and be registered with the local director of schools (or head of school, if a private school) by August 15 of the current school year.
2. The participating student must have a legal residence within the school district where he/she is registered, if registering with a public school. If registering with a private school, the student must have a legal residence within 20 miles of the private school and meet all tuition and financial aid requirements.
3. By August 15 of the school year, the parent or guardian must make application to the principal of the member school in which the home school athlete wishes to participate.
4. The home school athlete shall meet the same academic standards required of a member school student athlete to participate in the athletic program; however, the Director of Schools for public schools (or the head of school for private schools) in which a home school athlete wishes to participate shall work with the parent or guardian to ensure that the home school athlete is academically eligible. If a home school student’s course of study does not include five (5) academic subjects, then the Director of Schools (or head of school, if a private school) and the parent shall develop an alternative measure of academic progress and submit the same to the TSSAA for approval. Proof of academic eligibility shall be provided by the member school to the TSSAA each semester.
5. The home school student must provide proof of basic medical insurance coverage and both independently secured catastrophic insurance coverage and liability insurance coverage which names the TSSAA as an insured party in the event the school’s insurance provider does not extend coverage to students enrolled in home school programs. The insurance must be in place before the home school student practices or participates.
6. The LEA may impose a participation fee for each athletic sport in which a home school athlete wishes to participate. Such participation fee shall not exceed three hundred dollars annually for each sport and shall be paid in full prior to the first regular season contest. A home school student participating at a private school shall be subject to full tuition and financial aid rules.
7. The home school student must meet all other TSSAA eligibility requirements.
8. All eligibility issues may be appealed in accordance with the Bylaws of the TSSAA.
9. The home school athlete must adhere to the same standards of behavior, responsibility, performance, and code of conduct as other participants of the team.
10. This rule gives a home school athlete the opportunity to try out for a member school’s athletic team. Ultimate decisions on the roster are left to the member schools and are not governed by the TSSAA. No student is guaranteed participation, but only the opportunity to try out for a position on the team, subject to the other provisions of this rule.


Transfer:


1. Eligibility will be established at the first member school the home school athlete decides to participate. After participation at the first member school, any changes within member schools shall be governed by the transfer rule.
2. Any student who withdraws from a regular school program, which for the purpose of this policy is defined as a member school, to enroll in a home school education program and who is ineligible at the time of withdrawal from the regular school program due to his/her failure to meet academic or behavioral eligibility standards shall be ineligible to compete in interscholastic athletic competition as a home education athlete until such time as he/she has satisfied this home school bylaw as well as all other eligibility bylaws of TSSAA

I caught a possum

He showed!

Just got back from the GOP caucus fundraiser. What can I say. HUGE!!!! I mean REALLY HUGE!!! I have been in years past and it could be, and was, held in small venues about the size of a cosy restaurant. This year was different. This was so big it probably was close to a thousand people. Possibly more. It was held in A big house (the country music hall of fame) and it was packed! Roaming around the crowd beside congressmen, former governors and the Nashville political crowd was George Jones (Yes, he really showed!), Fred Thompson and Darrell Waltrip.

Earlier in the day (at lunch) was the Ron Ramsey, RAMPAC fundraiser. Lots of politicos and lobbyists. One face that was a shock to me was former State Democrat party chair Randy button.

I guess the old saying holds true. If you can't beat them...

Turner comes out against The Med in Memphis

Democrat leader Mike Turner has come out against the traditional earmark spending that goes to The Med in Memphis. I wonder how the black caucus will handle this measure.

Democrat leader Rep. Mike Turner has come out against the traditional earmark spending that goes to The Med in Memphis. I wonder how the black caucus will handle this measure.

As I recal it was Democrats siding with Kent Williams for the Fish pond last year.
Hat tip: TN Reports

Now for my fellow Christians

From App State none the less.

For my jewish friends

I like what I am hearing

One of my big frustrations with the last governor was when things were good he would continue to increase spending. If we had held the line on just a few spending projects (the bunker, the switchgrass refinery, etc.) we could have really moved to cut down some small taxes like the Hall income tax or the sales tax on food. Neither of these two taxes really accounts for much of the overall budget but cuts to them could really be rewarding to the taxpayers in our state.

Now as revenue is slowly on the rebound, governor Haslam is not caving right in and saying spending should go back up as well.

From the Chas Sisk article...

"The blueprint is there," Gov.-elect Bill Haslam said in November. "(But) one of the things a new governor starts is (he) goes back and goes through department by department … to make certain that's the best way to use it and to ask the question, 'If we were starting over again, would we be spending money that way?' "

I hope his resolve stays strong. People are ready for a leader that will take charge and cut government programs and spending. Imagine a state government that will not penalizing people for buying what they need to live (food), and will reward people for doing what they should do and have done (working, saving and investing) instead of a government that rewards people for partying and doing what they might do or invent.

The opportunities are there for the taking and the reward could be great.

I will not just stand over there!

From what I am hearing from other legislators, some big things could be coming down the pike for next year. I don't think many legislators are of the "Sit tight and wait" philosophy. We were given a mandate for a reason and many people expect big things. From what I am hearing some bold initiatives are still coming forward. Good to hear there has not been a lot of support for fear monger theories.

Who is the party of fear? Well to hear Dems and the media say it, it is the Republicans but the funny thing is the Republicans have not even taken control of one body of the US legislature and the left is already pushing a national campaign of fear saying there is going to be a huge backlash because Republicans may follow their political promises and work on the lefts sacred cow social issues.

"Jobs, jobs, jobs and only jobs". That is all Republicans can ever talk about or else it could be a problem in the next election the left claims.

It is not getting traction.

Why we would ever listen to our enemies on what we should or shouldn't do politically is just crazy to me to start with.

Yes, there will a handful of what the left call "Jobs bills" but those bills will be carried by a few senior Republican members who Democrats can't or don't want to beat. If the left has their way the rest of the legislature will sit on their thumbs, stay silent and do nothing.

There is a ton of truth in what was said by defeated "fiscally conservative" Democrat Lincoln Davis. "When you champion moral issues that are repulsive to Southern Baptists or to devout Catholics, it's hard to convince them they ought to vote for you." Notice he didn't mention the budget, the economy or jobs.

Legislators like Lincoln were exposed to their voters when the Democrats pushed social issues that exposed how he/his party really feel.....And the voters did not like it. Lincoln got beat.

By his own logic, when a person champions moral issues that are supported by Southern Baptists or devout Catholics, It will be hard to vote against them. The thought of having a record voting on social issues terrifies many Democrats.
The more Democrats are exposed for how they really are on those issues, the more Democrats will get beat.

Incumbent Democrats are hoping that the wind will be blowing in another direction in two years. They hope there will be limited change in the economy. They will say Republicans had control of the legislature and the economy didn't miraculously turn around, or if it does, it could be better with a Democrat who will offer more goodies or aren't so mean or made such evil cuts.

They want to limit the issues.

In that race, what issues will the Democrat run on? Well, traditionally it has been "I am a conservative, pro life, pro gun Democrat with a big heart who will find a better way to do whatever." "My opponent is a do nothing legislator (or challenger) who will cut granny off of whatever, or did nothing to stop it from happening. Vote for me."

What will the Republican run on? What will be the difference? If the Dems have there way the only visible difference in that race will be one candidate hates granny. The other seems just as good but doesn't seem to hate granny. The issues that moved people in the last election will not be touched.

What will the left say if we run on "third rail" issues? "That evil Republican voted to save the unborn, stop illegal immigration, supports second amendment and property rights!"

I don't think thats a winning campaign mail piece for Democrats.

Republicans have nothing to fear pushing conservative or social issues. Democrats do, and they know it.

They are open if you're Republican or Democrat

The Republican SEC is considering a resolution that would advocate closing the Republican primaries. It makes sense to me, the idea of a party primary is to elect the parties nominee who will support and closest represents that parties views, ideas, ideals and goals.

Lately, in some elections, it has turned into an attempt by some minority parties to weaken the opposing parties candidate or to pick a candidate who doesn't necessarily represent that parties views.

At the top level, on the Republican side of the ticket, this was openly advocated by Rush Limbaugh to help Hillary Clinton make Obama spend money in the primary. It kept Hillary in the race longer then she deserved and had limited success.

On the national Democrat side, this was done to help John McCain gain momentum and pull out some early, open primary state victories, but the same people later allowed him to collapse on the true election day.

At the state level this threw the Democrat party into chaos when Republicans crossed over and helped in the primary election of Rosaland Kurita but it later put the party in a tough spot when they overturned the primary election results because of her (support of Ron Ramsey?) questionable election results.

The primaries are not true state elections. First off, no one is elected. That happens in the general election. The primaries are a party election. They are preformed courtesy of the state to help pick the parties nominee for the election. The party is the final word on the nominee and for that matter, the final word for the people who will help make the selection. They can allow, or disallow, whoever they want to help make the selection. They can even refuse to hold an election and appoint a nominee if they so chose.

If the party only wants people who have the best interest of their party to help decide who that candidate will be, then they should.

The thought is, while some people switch parties, they should be required to do it early, as in before a field is set for the current primary election or have them sit out an election cycle. This would stop last minute switches when a primary is empty on the opposing ticket.

When a person changes party I don't think it is unreasonable to also ask them to sign a paper saying that they pledge or affirm that the party they are switching to, most closely represents their current values and ideals. If they don't want to do that then their reason for suddenly switching should be clear and it is not to help or truly support the party or candidate of their current choosing.

Hey, hey Mr. football!

Davis Frank, son of radio personality Lee and (blogger) Terry Frank has been named Mr. football for Tennessee. Besides a great football player Davis is also a 4.0 student. Offers for scholarships to attend top schools are flowing in. Davis will be the second scholar athlete from the Frank family as older brother Aticus Frank is already on scholarship at Swanee.

Congrats to Davis and the Frank family for all of your hard work!

Charter schools on the rise

What do you know? Charter schools (schools with little limits or regulations such as teacher tenure) are showing great strides.

You are so 2006

The Tennessean looks at the effects of a "Breakthrough new" drug used in the treatment of drug addicts. It is called Suboxone. While it did not get any play, I was advocating for the drug to have more availability as a replacement to methadone in methadone clinics back in 2005 or 2006.

Quote of the day

"When you champion moral issues that are repulsive to Southern Baptists or to devout Catholics, it's hard to convince them they ought to vote for you."*

*Former US Rep Lincoln Davis

How government does Thanksgiving dinner

Have a good one everybody. No matter how bad it may look, we really do have a LOT to be thankful for.

Jobs!, Jobs!, Jobs!

It seems to be the catch Fraze now by the left, moderates and even some libertarians "The only issue you need to talk about in the legislature is jobs."

A little enlightenment for some. Legislators do not create jobs. Jobs are created by the Private sector. The only exception to this is when legislators expand government and create government jobs and Those jobs often come at a cost to the private sector greater then the jobs they create.

Job recruitment of foreign or out of state companies is not done by the legislature either. It is done by ECD and that is part of the governors staff.

The best thing a legislator can do at a legislative level is create a positive environment for a private business to start up, stay, expand, employ more people or move into their area. There are a variety of things and issues business look at before moving to an area or expanding.

Many of the issues that get looked at, that help or incentivize business to grow, are the exact same issues the traditional left and some libertarians do not want us to talk about.

Well, here some of the issues no one wants to talk about and how they create jobs and effect employment in Tennessee any way.

Gun rights for jobs!

Yes, even gun rights can have a slight effect on jobs. First, Tennessee is a gun production state. We have employers that produce guns. More gun freedom will lead to more gun sales. Sales will lead to more production that will lead to more jobs.

Also it is a well know statistic that more legal gun freedom has proven to reduce criminal activity. Less crime equates to less jails, prisons, court and police costs.
Less costs in those areas leads to less taxation. Less taxation leads to a companies ability to expand and hire more people.

Jobs.

Legal solutions. Allow people who are legally allowed to carry, the right of self protection where ever their immediate health and safety is not secured and insured by another party.

Social issues for jobs

What? Social issues have an effect on jobs? "Impossible!" the left and even some of my more libertarian friends say. "They are mutually exclusive"

Absolutely wrong.

One of the top thing that has changed in my mind from my time in the legislature is how huge the impact of social issues are on the state budget and how they effect employers, employees and jobs in Tennessee. The thing is you have to be willing to look at the root of origional problems to see it.

Drug and alcohol addiction causes huge losses for state employers.

Absenteeism, Lost productivity of workers while on the job, increase in injury of workers leading to workers comp claims, unemployment, the high cost of social programs (Child supports, welfare programs, etc.), prisons are all costs to the employers in the form of direct costs or taxes that could be used to support more employee or keep American workers competitive with lower paid foreign workers and companies.

Why do we have such huge problems with these issues?

While not the sole cause or a guarantee of failure, from what I have seen, a large chunk is due to the breakdown of the traditional family unit. Absentee parenthood, perpetuated by a society that rewards and props up that behavior, only expands the problem. An unstable/insecure/parent-less home just helps create the next generation of unstable insecure adults with a low self worth.

This, more then any other factor (Economic background, race, location, school or teacher) is also the top predictor of a child's potential for success in school.

What happens to adults who are unstable, insecure with a low self worth and poor education? They often turn into drugs/alcohol abusers and get into bad relationships to compensate. Many times this leads into a life of criminal activity and or physical and mental abuse of the next generation.

How do you legislatively help change the course?

We have seen what does not work. Dehumanizing young, unborn children, disenfranchising and alienation of good parents in our courts, hyper sexualization of young children in schools, incentivize single parenthood through social programs and taxation, ease of marriage and divorce.

When one direction has proven a failure, possibly it is time to go in another direction.

Want productive workers to get and keep jobs? Want an educated workforce? Want employees that compete in production with foreign employees for jobs? We need to work on social issues and rebuilding the traditional family unit.

Government reforms needed to create jobs

Cutting government is needed if we are to compete for jobs in a global market. While many of the restrictions that we have in place are federal issues, we will need to do more as a state if we are going to compete even nationally for jobs. We need a state government that respects the small business as much as it respects the large business from out of state. It's a little like baseball in that we have a salary cap (limited budget) and we can afford to buy one or two big hitters or we can build a farm team. While renting the home run hitter (A largely subsidised company) is nice for a few years, we need to develop businesses that can grow into singles and doubles hitters that don't cost the state as much long term and employ more in the big picture.

We do that by keeping business taxes low.

By giving people faith that when they buy land it won't be taken unjustly by Eminent Domain just to give it to a bigger company.

By limiting unwanted and unwarranted annexation doubling property taxes on some people and businesses.

By setting some reasonable definitions and limits for the EPA.

Legal reforms for jobs

Jobs is the issue, Now here is how legal reform is needed to help Tennesseans get jobs. When Tennessee businesses are having to pay lawyers to fight off frivolous lawsuits (a system often used to impeded legal businesses from being able to grow) it hurts the businesses ability to expand and employ more people.

Legal reforms needed to cut frivolous lawsuits and allow businesses to create jobs.

Loser pays legal fees of the winner in all civil lawsuits.

Limits on non economic/punitive damages.

Illegal immigration reform for jobs

Jobs are the hot issue right now and the left seems to think that should be the only issue we talk about. Not that it isn't important but it is not a single topic issue. It has tentacles that effect many other area and are effected by many other areas.

In my last post I talked about how k-12 education reform effected jobs.

Now on to how Illegal immigration also effects jobs.

When an illegal alien takes a job from a legal citizen that hurts legal residents ability to get good jobs. When a illegal alien business under bids a legal tax paying business that hurts that legal businesses ability to stay in business and employ people (Lost jobs). When an illegal alien takes a seat at a university class with a limited enrollment it hurts the legal citizens ability to get a proper and timely education. That hurts the legal citizens job potential.

Some of the illegal immigration reforms I would like to see to help legal Tennesseans get jobs...

E verify law passed to check name vs SSN previous to employment or sub contracting.

e verify type system for all new state funded university students.

Stop issuance of free STATE birth certificates to children of illegal aliens. This will help demagnetise our state.

Stop allowing non emergency services to illegal aliens to help demagnetise our state.

Education reform/Jobs

While Tom Humphrey did a good job laying out the potential reforms for business, one key area not mentioned was the need to reform education. If you listen to the pundits education has an effect on our job recruiting abilities.

For years (Decades?) The Democrats of Shelby county legislative delegation have controlled the education committee in the state house and stopped education reform. They were locked in with the teachers unions who refused to make corrections. This was incredibly maddening to me as Shelby county (particularly Memphis city schools) have had some of the worst education system results year after year, decade after decade, in the entire nation. The results from this one county pull the testing results for the rest of the state down to the cellar.

The fact that we let possibly the worst county for education results in the nation tell the rest of the state how to best educate children, to me, was akin to asking Mel Gibson how to best keep a happy home life and asking Michael Vick how to care for and train your family pet.

Crazy.

Hopefully a speaker Harwell will change this and stack the education committee with people who are ready and willing to make needed reforms to move us up.

On the list of possible reforms?

Just speaking for myself, among the things I would like to see reformed in pre K - 12 education would be...

A swap of lifetime tenure teacher protection with civil service protection.

A removal of the charter school limits.

A real look into vouchers to private schools to get kids out of repeatedly failing schools.

Allow home school students to participate in TSSAA sports programs.

Fully funding of English as a Second Language classes only AFTER fully funding of the Basic Education Plan.

Sending of a resolution about NCLB to the fed telling them to work on the formula would help as well.

Put funding for pre K back out of the lottery scholarship and put the non lottery funds currently spent on pre K into K-12 education. Possibly earmarking it for teacher bonus for improvements in individual student scores.

The list is long but it is a starting point.

Just call me...

"A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so they can get on with their jobs."

~Robert Townsend

OK, lets lay it all out there. I am a senator. The office is transferred on election night at midnight. We all start getting paid as our office holds from that point on and if an issue were to arise the person elected would go to Nashville the next day. The election results were certified last week some time and there is an official swearing in ceremony the second Tuesday in November, but it is more of a formality that goes with the office that you already have.

A lot of people make a big issue about what they are called. Titles are funny things. Some people get pretty wrapped up in them. If someone asks about my official title, I am a senator. But being called one is really not a big deal to me. I may kid about it, but heck, during the election I was called much, much worse. Now that the election is passed I honestly still prefer people call me by my original title.

Stacey.

The old title of Representative was alright in that it was descriptive of the job. Representative fit because we represent the people.

I never really understood the entire "Well, your a (whatever) now, that is a big deal, you have a lot of power over people" mentality. To me it is sort of the opposite. The people are the bosses. A lot of people now have power over me. I have 180+ thousand bosses. It was the people that put me into this position. It is the people that can take it away. They are the bosses. In my mind, the boss gets the title and the servant serves.

When I think about making a big deal about the title I think back to the old roman movies where the leader clapped his hands and said something like "Slave! bring me more pealed grapes!" and the servant did it. If the servant had a fit about it and said "How dare you tell me what to do! Do you know who I am? I am a licensed dietitian! I say how, what and when you can eat" It would have been off with the servants head.

We all have jobs and titles. A title does not make an employee a superior to the employer and a title does not make a person any better or worse then before they had the title. The job did not come with a cape. I did not suddenly shoot up in I.Q. 40 points when I was elected. My spelling sure didn't get dramatically better and it is foolish to think I am suddenly not going to ever get mad or make another mistake.

Get over it. We are all still regular humans. We just have different jobs, some with titles.

Chip Forester sings!!!!

Business reform plan

"The Dean" does a good job of laying out some of the top Republican ideas to surpass North Carolina and make Tennessee #1 for a business friendly climate.

On the list, tort reform, workers comp, unemployment reform and reform of the department of revenue.

Not mentioned on the list but still on the table are union reforms.

Pass a budget and go home? Oh no.

Some people are saying that now as Republicans are about to take over the legislature (for real) that we should just pass a budget and go home.

Their reasoning is, now that we have control, we shouldn't do a lot and possibly screw it up or upset people. The fringe minority media cries of "No more gun bills or abortion bills! It's all you guys did! You are the party of "No!" We don't like that! We need government services! Moderation! Middle of the road! You're all a bunch of RADICALS!!!" have some members scared.

Are They nuts?

Guess what? We talked about guns, abortion and cutting government three years ago. The press freaked out! They called us "Radicals" and "Crazy".

Our base was motivated.

We picked up 4 seats in the house in a down Republican year.

This last session, We passed a small fraction of our conservative agenda. We spent less then 3% of our time pushing and passing gun and abortion bills. The press went bonkers. The Democrat governor vetoed the legislation. The press roared! we over road the veto. The press SCREAMED! We attacked the liberal education bureaucracy. They called us short sighted Neanderthals. We started to take action on illegal immigration. They called us xenophobes. We cut government jobs, stopped tax increases and said we planned to do more next time. They cried like the world was coming to an end.

There was wailing and gnashing of teeth at the editors desk about every single day!

We still picked up 14 seats in the house, one in the senate, three in Congress and the Governors mansion.

Now, we have control. Our base who volunteered, worked and voted to put us in office want us to do what we promised. They want the reward for their time and effort. And they deserve it. All the promises we have made should be fulfilled.

Now is not the time to be silent. Now is not the time to allow the status Quo to continue. We have nearly super majority in both bodies.

Guess what? The press is still going to freak out as we pass our agenda. They will yell, scream and call us names just like they did last time. I don't think they could possibly scream any more or be any more vindictive then they were the last few years. If the liberal media has not shown they have turned into the living definition of a paper tiger I don't know what else they can do to prove it. They didn't hurt us then and it won't hurt us this time.

Now it is our time.

If not now when? Are the numbers going to get radically better? Not likely. Could we lose some seats in the future? Possibly, but if history is any precursor to success it will NOT be because we were too aggressively following our agenda. It will be because we did not follow it close enough. It will be because we were timid when we should be bold. It will be because we let the majority of people down who do support our ideas, to follow the wishes of the fringe minority of loud liberal whiners who do not.

Now is the time for ACTION!

Motivational quote of the day

"How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience, would have achieved success."

~Elbert Hubbard

Harwell wins

Beth Harwell has just won the primary election to be the Republican caucus nominee to be speaker of the house.

What to watch for

In today's nomination for Republican majority leader (presumably to be the Republican candidate to be speaker of the house) there will be some interesting things to watch for.

Who will run the show? Will Jayson Mumpower be back to run it even though he is no longer an elected rep? Will Casada move up from his formerly number two position or will there be another person to run the show?

Will Kent Williams show up for Beth Harwell? He has said he supports her. I am not sure if that was the kind of support she wanted but she has it.

Will Kent show up to a vote?

Can he even vote? He is not a member of the party but he was never kicked out of the Republican caucus (even though many of us tried). He could try and make a stink and say he should still be able to vote since he was not officially kicked out of the caucus and this is a caucus election.

If it is expected to be close this could be a bone of contention but a public squabble could hurt Beth more then his one vote could help.

One precursor will be to watch and see if it gets rough and tumble in the speech each candidate gives after nominated. If it is close the long knives may come out, but if it is all but decided then expect kind words as both the players know they will have to, and will want to, work together in the future.

Who ever the non winner (I know totally PC phrase) is, will they try and drop down a position, run for a different slot and still help the cause or will it be an all or nothing sort of run.

Chip and Nancy sitting in a tree......

Its official, The crazies have taken over (Kept control?) of the Democrat party. Nancy Pelosi has won re election as leader of the US house Democrats.

A conservative friend and I were talking just before the Pelosi vote. We were both laughing at the Democrats because we knew they were going to re elect her by wide margins. The Heath Shuler run was just a re election tool for for him and the few remaining "blue dogs" in the Democrat party. All along they knew he had no chance of winning but now they can say "I didn't vote for her" at least until the speaker vote.

The good/bad thing is he really sort of threw the rest of the Democrat party under the bus. By Pelosi winning so big it shows the Democrats in Washington really like her style and results as leader. If he had not run, they could have gone with "We had no other choice." but now it's even more obvious. The Dems like what she stands for. She will remain the "boogie man" of the Democrat party for all Republicans to raise money and run against.

Of course Republicans love it.

Almost as good is the impending Chip Forester election. His results were a disaster. He does not know how to run a campaign or a party. He destroyed the Tennessee Democrats so bad no one else credible even wants the job any more. It is too monumental a task with no realistic hope for immediate recovery.

The line to bang your head against the wall is short.

Even in the Democrat party.

I can only think of one person who might have had the ability a few months ago to take over the Dems in Tennessee and that would have been Lincoln Davis, but he is tarnished goods now. He was too dirty in his last campaign and people could say he wants to bring his Washington ways to Tennessee. I doubt he will run.

Quote of the day (Hypocrisy edition)

"A pregnant woman and her unborn child are one of the most vulnerable segments of our society. If we cannot help them, then we are doomed to an uncompromising agenda of hate."

Chip Forrester, Chairman
Tennessee Democratic Party

"Good for thee, but not for me"

Dan Andrews drops the bomb on the Knox News Sentinel and calls them out for their own case of nepotism/cronyism while at the same time the KNS is calling out Jimmy Duncan III for his expanding his office with political friends.

The KNS does receive governmental tax breaks and was built on land taken by the city with eminent domain.

Rumor mill

Rumor has it that former state rep. Joe McCord who has been lobbying for Beth Harwell to become speaker of the house over Glen Casada (with the expectation that Joe would in turn replace Bernie Durahm under Beth Harwell) is now expecting a position within the Haslam administration.

Rats, bunnies and birth certificates

Some times I think I am just a little ahead of the curve.

While the choice of terminology was not very good, Curry Todd is starting to take notice of the problem created by illegal aliens having children in America and the cost to our state. It is an issue with a pretty good partial solution out there that I broached on this blog and in the legislature back in 2008.

It all comes down to the vague 14th amendment and what states can do about it. Possibly Tennessee is about ready to step up to the plate and start talking solutions.

In brief, the state is not required to issue birth certificates at all, so stop issuing state birth certificates to children of illegal aliens.

Planned Parenthood to teach Knoxville sex ed?

I have been hearing talk that Planned parenthood has been certified to teach sex education classes in Knoxville schools.

This could work out about as well as it did in Nashville where another private advocacy group (Nashville cares) was teaching the sex ed classes.

ACLU continues support for felons

The ACLU has asked for a federal appeal to have the voting rights of felons restored without their having to pay restitution for their crimes or having to be current on their child support (An amendment I added to a bill a few years ago).

3000

I just noticed I passed my 3000th blog post when I posted the video of "When you wish upon a star".

How appropriate.

Now back to your regularly scheduled misspellings.

The new Carter County fish pond

With tough budget cuts ahead and the shift in power structure I hear there has been some scaling back of the multi million dollar Carter County Fish Hatchery project.

Here is the latest rendition of the expected project.

Quotes of the day

"We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it."

~Thomas Jefferson


"Sometimes the greatest respect is earned by the way you respond when your opponent has outplayed you."

~Dan Green

Stuck in my head

Now may it be stuck in yours.

New moniker?

OK, so I am now a senator. I thought it was senator elect but have been informed that I officially became a senator at midnight election night. It has been brought up to me that I should change my on line moniker since I am no longer a representative.

I know it will be tough for some of you but CLEAN suggestions are welcome.

A few thrown out so far: Rep Emeritus, Ex-Rep, Bad Rep, The Sen,

Hitler hears about GOP victories

The games we play

Now the races begin. I was in Nashville yesterday. Some interesting talk was going around.

In the senate there is one race so far Jim Tracy v. Bo Watson.

I talked to the staffer for former senator Jackson and asked what he knew about the new incoming senator. He said he was a TEA party guy (All right!) a English lit prof at the college and beyond that not much was known about him. He said Jackson was off on a hunting trip the week before the election and came home to watch the results roll in. They did, but they were NOT what he expected.

In the house all the talk is Casada and Harwell. Beth looked like a possible front runner when Repubs were only supposed to get 53 or 54 seats. 64 is an entirely different ball game. Casada is clearly the front runner now. Some people think Beth is just trying to position for number 2 as pro tem but others are positioning for that spot now.

Kent Williams coming out for her probably didn't help her much. Kent is expected to get the smallest, darkest, dampest closet, in the basement of the parking garage in the Rachel Jackson building for an office. He might get a desk, but it is still in question.

A split ticket run for Harwell is not likely. Harwell can do the math and the votes are not there. Plus, if she wants to run for congress after redistricting she will need to have party support. She could kiss it goodbye with a Williams type move.

I suspect the top spot will all be sorted out by the middle of next week after noses are counted over the weekend.

On the Dem side there is talk of a youth movement. The strain of raising funds in a down year and then still getting their tails handed to them has some of the Dem leadership frustrated and looking for greener pastures.

The black caucus will probably control more of the Democrat agenda now that they are almost 50% of their remaining members. Word is they think the party needs to shift more to the left. I know, shocking. Their logic is that the majority of Democrats who got beat were more "Moderate" and the liberal Democrats held on.

Some people never learn.

The Dems I talked to were down. Way down. Some talk is going around that there may be a few party changes but I don't hold out a lot of hope for that.

Got a minute? I've had this little problem with my computer

Bill Gates was up at the capitol yesterday talking about his initiative for education with Haslam, Ramsey and some others. He has some good ideas for education. Just keep that income tax talk in Washington.

Boy, was I gassed.

TN Reports was in Knoxville election night. They got some video of me responding to questions as results were rolling in. I was pretty tired at that point. I had been up for about 48 hours doing campaign stuff. TN Reports is becoming a real media force as far as I am concerned. They ask real questions about issues and put the video on line for all to see.

I like it.

We had a huge party on the 6th floor later in the night. My mom said I have the ultimate "rogues gallery" of supporters and friends. Sort of like the senate District, a wide spectrum of different kinds of people and ideas. I think a great time was had by all.

It was a lot of fun.

Master prognosticator

I wish he was into sports more because I would start betting with Frank Niceley and crew more. Two years ago Frank said republicans were going to get to get to 50. I thought he was crazy.

He was right.

This year Frank said Republicans were going to get to 60. possibly more. I laughed.

At first glance

I thought when got into politics it wouldn't last. I kept reading about how everything I agreed with made me one of those "Minority of extremists". I have started to realize we aren't the "minority of extremists". Those who hate us are.

The left must be starting to feel like Vizzini in the movie "Princess Bride".

They keep using the word "Inconceivable!" in regards to our winning.

Well Like the dread pirate Roberts (Who wore a mask to some fame and fortune) we have bested that giant on the hill. We have beaten those who would cut us to ribbons and outsmarted those who would think they are the smartest people in the room.

"Inconceivable?" It keeps happening with such regularity that I am starting to think they don't know what that word means anymore!

Time to get after it

Today is the big day. Please go vote (preferably for me) Thank you.

If elected can not serve.

Some questions are popping up about some candidates for office and their full time job.

My opponent has always bragged on how he works for ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) it is prominently on his web site where he says...

"Randy works as a Program Manager and Business Developer for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he has worked for 21 years."

Just curious. even if he were elected, how could he serve in office without it being a violation of the hatch act?

The same question come up on firefighters who serve in the legislature. They have been receiving federal funds from homeland security. Isn't that a violation also?

Firefighter Rep. Mike Turner and Rep. Gary Moore's race could be effected.

If you are so inclined

I am looking for a few volunteers to stand at polling locations in Knoxville and hold a sign. No hard sell, just hold a sign, smile and offer information if asked.

Even a few hours would be appreciated. If you are interested please shoot me an e mail or comment with your name, phone number or e mail, and available times and I will call or e mail you today.

I will not post your name or info on this post. My e mail is stacey@votestacey.com

Thank you,

Stacey

Separation of church and state in the Star Spangled Banner

"False and Misleading"

Anthony Welsch of WBIR covers the Democrats advertisements against me calling them "False" and "Misleading" the only thing I would add would be that if the fair tax did pass at the federal level (again, something I would have no vote on) it would not increase taxes on products at all. It would be revenue neutral. The sales tax you pay would be equal to the amount you save by not having to pay for the embedded cost of other taxes on the products that would be removed.

Motivational quote of the day

Loving what you do is one of the most important keys to maintaining a positive attitude. You can't fake passion. It is the fuel that drives any dream and makes you happy to be alive."

~Mac Anderson

Campfield 1, ACLU/Deadbeat felons 0

Ya got to love it when an amendment I added to a bill making deadbeat felons pay off their child support before getting their voting rights restored gets held up as legal and constitutional in court.

One of the few times I will have to link Jeff Woods

I have to give credit where it is due. Jeff Woods calls the Dems out on their fabrication that I want to give child predators guns.

Examiner Interview

Here is a link to the Examiner interview I did Monday.
Lennis Waggoner must be a fast typist.

Welcome Neal Boortz fans!

Hello, If you are first reading this blog because of my reference on the nationally syndicated Neal Boortz radio show welcome!

If you missed it. Neal highlighted my race today and the Democrats attempt to miscaracterize me, my support of the national fair tax and the fair tax itself as a replacement for the income tax (and various other taxes).

This on the heals of their other mis characterization of my support for the second amendment.

It's official. Haslam supports guns on campus

The Comm. appeal asks the question directly and Haslam made clear that he supports guns in cars on school and university campuses.

From the article...

Haslam talked about whether businesses and schools should have the right to ban firearms on their property.

Haslam is now emphasizing he believes an employer or school should have the right to keep firearms out of buildings, but supports the right of citizens with permits to keep them locked in their personal vehicles, even if it is on company property.

"Quite frankly, particularly the news media here, I don't think has gotten it straight and I've been a little frustrated by it," Haslam said. "Real quick, point by point -- I strongly support the Second Amendment. I also strongly support the handgun-carry permit as it is now written. I am in favor of that and if it comes up for debate I will be arguing for leaving it the way it is now.

"The third is, I've distinguished between there is a difference between keeping your firearm locked in your car and a building."

Democrats attack add covered

WATE TV covers the attack add Democrats are using that compares me to a child rapist. It is similar to the piece they are using against Haslam.

Haslam comes out for guns on campus!

Bill Haslam has clarified his position for employee gun ownership rights on private property of employers. I would think it quite clearly would include state employees such as teachers, faculty and staff to have the right to keep guns in their cars in places where they are employed by employers such as the University of Tennessee or for that matter even high schools or middle schools. In a round about way I guess that would also include employees of private businesses on UT campus such as Starbucks or the various other private restaurants or businesses on UT campus.

It is good to see the future governor taking a strong stance for the rights of the individual gun owner and I appreciate his support of my past legislation.

So much to say, so much to say, so much to say.

But I must be silent until after the election. Then.....

"Am I crazy or is the world crazy around me?"

Dan Andrews does an in depth piece about me in "The Focus" starting on page 3.

Sec. of State Tre' Harget is pictured as well from when he stopped in at the polling location I have been working.

Santorum race update

Dan Andrews Photo


I went to the Tennessee right to life dinner last night where Sen. Rick Santorum spoke. He did a great job of talking about the need to be a life centered society and how many times, countries who go to socialized medicine are the first to diminish the value of life to cut costs. He said how in the Netherlands about 10% of the elderly are euthanized in hospitals. He said how the latest studies said about 5% were killed through doctor assisted suicides and another 5% at the doctors discretion.

Yikes!

After the event Rick stuck around and spoke with people at the event. While talking with the former PA senator I mentioned how it appeared to me that the media was focusing on the Christine O'Donnell race. I said how I thought it was because most politically savvy people expect her to lose and then the media would hold her up as a loss for the TEA party in an attempt to diminish the movement.

Rick became extra passionate. He said that was exactly what it was. She was not expected to win and he did not think she (or Angle in Nevada) were our best candidates or had much of a chance of victory. He said the media isn't reporting on the four probable Republican pickup seats or the eight other possible Republican pick up seats. They are concentrating on the two less likely Republican pick up seats and lower quality candidates so that election night the left can still crow as Democrats win two "high profile" races.

Almost laughable

The latest "Attack mail piece" against me has come out. It is almost laughable. It says "Stacey Campfield would let convicted rapists and child sex predators carry concealed guns"

Stacey Campfield is so extreme on guns that he believes anybody should have access to one. No matter who they are. No matter what they have been convicted of. No matter where they want to carry it. That means convicted rapists, convicted child sex predators, you name it , any felon convicted of a violent crime."
It references this survey. where I say I support the second amendment and a Vermont style licensing system.

What they fail to realize is it is illegal for felons to carry in Vermont. With or without a permit, concealed or otherwise. That ban is supported by the second amendment. It is similar to the legislation that Bill Haslam said he would sign into law if the legislature passed it.

The piece goes on but the only other thing of note that sort of made me laugh was the fact it ends with

"Armed with extreme ideas. And dangerous."

Great sentence structure there boys. Need me to edit those for you?


UPDATE:

After contact with the creator and administrator of the questionnaire guarding this issue I was forwarded this response.

There was never a mention made about a sexual predator. It would be a far reach to try to infer that either candidate in his answers to the questionnaire is in favor of giving guns to sexual predators.

Liston

Haslam supports permit freedom

Bill Haslam has made a bold statement for gun owner rights by saying he would sign legislation similar to the Arizona legislation if brought to his desk. I had drafted this legislation last year but my Democrat senate sponsor decided he did not want to run it at the last second.

Here is some video of Haslam and some of the Knoxville legislators on the issue. Some were noncommittal. Joe Armstrong shows he never read the bill of rights.

Did they change the constitution without my knowledge?

Last I checked they have not added the words "separation of church and state" into the constitution or bill of rights.

On the wire

By now many of you may have heard that the National Democrat party has pulled the plug on Roy Herron.

Sources close to the race say Herron may not be alone long as a Tennessee Democrat on the outs. Not a lot of people would have thought this was possible a few months ago but rumor is Lincoln Davis is next on the waiver wire and is begging to keep his federal funding from being pulled.

The national boys are really trying to circle the wagons around the conservative Democrats in winnable states and districts but now it is looking like Lincoln may be the next to slip out of the circle.

What did she know and when did she know it?

Who reports on reporters?

It has come out that the significant other of one of the KNS regular reporters (Georgiana Vines) has been giving money to my opponent while Miss Vines was supposedly reporting on my race in an unbiased way.

The question of media bias comes directly to my mind. While the KNS did the right thing in removing Miss Vines from writing anything further on my race, the question comes to my mind as to past coverage.

Miss Vines was pushing for another interview for another article even on the day this information came out in the financial disclosures of my opponent. While I always try to be open and honest with the media, even before this revelation came to light I had told miss Vines I no longer wanted to do interviews with her or her paper. The articles and editorials had gotten so biased, one sided, mean spirited and in some cases just plain false that I had had my fill.

The question remains will the facts of the conflict of interest be reported by the source so that people can make their own judgement of past bias or not.

Some simple questions I have asked of the editor of the KNS but have yet to get a reply on.

When was communication between Vines and the Walker campaign initiated? Was there any talk of campaign strategy mentioned between the two (the Walker campaign and her significant other) in Vines presence? Did she ever comment? Was there communication between the person she was dating and Miss Vines regarding the campaigns? What was said? What did she know and when did she know it? How much was the contribution? What was the gentleman's name who made the contribution? How many stories did she do after the contribution was made? Not when it was reported but when it was made? Did she know of the donation? Did she approve of the donation? How did it become public? Did she self report or was it found out and reported to you by others?

To provide proof that her reports were, or were not tainted the facts of this should be reported.

While I have no problem with reporters having points of view or even donating to campaigns, when it gets to the point of where their family is openly working to support one candidate over another it should at least be noted if they wish to portray themselves as neutral when reporting on that race.

I hope the KNS want to be as open and forthcoming as they ask others they report on to be.

Give light and let the people decide.

Bar Stool Economics

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100 and If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.)

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." so drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way
we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected...They would still drink for free...But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair
share?'...They realized that $20 divided by six is
$3.33...But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer..So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing
(100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before...And
the first four continued to drink for free...But once
outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the
sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Quote of the day

“If you plan to be a Christian, act like one.”

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Jamestown

Hat tip: Terry Frank

Congrats to the O'

Congratulations goes out the O', David Oatney for his election to the Jefferson county Republican party leadership. "The White Pine warrior" will be, and from what I am hearing already is, a great asset to them in dealing with the MSM. From his history I am sure he will also be moving the local party forward into new media as well. The long time Republican will also help bring out and raise up the party's sometimes silent conservative voice.

Nice move.

Debate last night

Last night I did my third debate to fill the state senate dist 7 seat currently being held by Senator Steve Hill. It was fun. We hit on a lot of issues. The CRs and the CDs who put on the show both did a great job of coming up with questions. I have to hand it to them, it was what a debate should be. Asking candidates where they stand on actual issues.

Some of the highlights were covered in the media. Here is the channel 6 coverage.

One of the issues I talked about was what I call the Tennessee air force. An issue well known by my blog readers. My opponent said I have never talked about it in the past. Just because it is not reported in the MSM does not make it so. Here is a story I did back in May 2009.

One strong area of difference was on implimenting the e verify system to check a persons name versus their social security number previous to their employment. This will cut down on illegal immigrants getting jobs as well as people trying to dodge things like child support payments. I support it, my opponent does not.

From the WATE story...

"I believe in the E-Verify system, and what that does is it says, before you hire someone, check the name versus the Social Security to make sure that person is actually who they say they are," Campfield said.

"If you're going to E-Verify, and I assume that's some kind of computer program that Rep. Campfield and his friends in Nashville are going to buy from a contractor, I can tell you from working at ORNL, there are no systems that do that," Walker replied.

"Mr. Walker is obviously uneducated on the issue, unfortunately. E-Verify is already in place. It's already being done by the federal government. There is absolutely no cost to the employer or to the state," Campfield said.

More from WBIR



Pre-K
Campfield: The state's own study has shown the impacts of Pre-K diminish well before a student reaches high school. By spending the money on Pre-K we are taking away from money that could go toward K-12 resources like teacher pay and textbooks.

Walker: Believe in it, "education is the great equalizer". In order to compete with other nations we need to have a strong Pre-K, K-12, secondary education.

Lottery Money Uses?
Campfield: Other educational infrastructure uses are ok and were included in the lottery legislation Tennesee voters approved.

Walker: Voters believe the lottery money should go only toward college scholarships and that's why they voted to pass the lottery in the first place.

Fire Department Fees:

Campfield: "If people didn't buy the insurance they wouldn't have the trucks and hoses to fight the fire in the first place"

Walker: Accuses Campfield of being in the pockets of national insurance companies for his stance, a charge Campfield denies by saying he has not accepted PAC money up until this election. Walker worries Tennesseans do not want to see their neighbors houses burn down and the pay-for-service system is a slippery slope.