Joke of the week (Phonics edition)

A few days ago I was touring a local school. At it,

the six year old students are learning to read.

One of them pointed at a picture in a zoo book and said,

"Look at this! It's a frickin' elephant!"

I took a deep breath, then asked..."What did you call it?"

"It's a frickin' elephant! It says so on the picture!"

And so it does...






" A f r i c a n Elephant "

Hooked on phonics! Isn't it wonderful. It worked for me!

Heller who?

This supreme court decision could make the Heller versus DC decision look wimpy by comparison.

The life of Lynn

Blogging state Rep. Susan Lynn gets a nice feature piece in the Tennessean. Also featured (Drum roll please).........The back of my head.

Little Al Gore and UT

Al "I'll leave a light on for you" Gore will be getting an honorary degree from UT. Might I suggest for his achievements as a fiction writer.

Cool aid will be served at a reception following the ceremony.

Big names all coming to Tennessee

A few weeks ago it was Sarah Palin (but tickets were WAYYYYYY out of my and most peoples price range)Tonight is Sen. John Thune (only 25 bones in Knoxville). I hear in April or May Newt Gingrich and Ann Coulter will be in Nashville with tickets in the $65.00 range. Word on the street is former PA senator and possible POTUS candidate Rick Santorum will also be coming to Knoxville to speak at the right to life dinner in the spring. It is a good time to be a conservative in Tennessee.

Party people!

Tonight is the Knox county Lincoln Day Dinner Sen. John Thune (R) SD is the keynote speaker.
Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm Location: Rothchild Conference Center Tickets are only $25. Call (865) 689-GOP1 for tickets and details.

Was that a cricket?

It has been mighty quiet in the legislature so far. It seems like no one is pushing any of the major pieces of major legislation we have pushed for years. That could all change next week, I know, but so far it seems the general consensus is to pass the budget, blame the governor, go home and campaign.

A few Republican legislators were saying how when ever they bring up any controversial piece of legislation in conversation with Democrats, the Democrats yell and scream that Republicans are just trying to be partisan and bring up issues that will hurt them in their campaign.

There are a lot of nervous Democrat legislators out there right now. They want silence so the people remain apathetic to their positions and vote histories. An uninformed and unexcited electorate favors an incumbent.

Issues only beat people when they are on the wrong side of legislation their constituents want. Vote right and you will win time and again. In fact it will make you stronger. The only reason to worry is when you plan on voting against the majority of your constituents wishes and vote instead for a party line.

I guess that would be a way to show who is more partisan. If a person gets upset when an issue is brought up and calls it "partisan" it is usually that person who is actually partisan.

The age old saying "A skunk smells its own stink first" makes a come back in politics.

Evolution of resolutions

Legislators are getting tired of all the long resolutions. Today we spent over an hour honoring people. Everyone from future farmers to the cleaning lady who made the coffee (No exaggeration). While the resolutions are nice some are saying a 5 or ten minute limit should be set on each resolution. Others say a fee should be put on each resolution brought after the second or third by that member. That fee should come out of the legislators mail account.

Quote of the day

"You can get the blues if your woman leaves you. But you can also get the blues if they stay too long!"

Blues man Bobby Rush on the house floor today.

The more I listen

The more I hear from people that they are not liking the idea of the governor giving some people a 3% pay bonus while he is laying off others.

Even the people who are getting the bonus don't feel it is right. I think they understand how selfish it sounds to be getting a bonus at the expense of putting other people on unemployment.

Teaching them the ropes early

Democrat Election coordinator Holly Henegar seems to be trying to teach her young children the ropes of Democrat electioneering early. Word is the Marrion county election coordinator was paying her young children to work (By young I am hearing single digits years old) allegedly in an attempt to funnel money to herself and her husband. Now checks are coming up missing....

More later.

New blog look

I want to say I am sorry to some people who commented but have not had comments appear on some of my posts. While you may have followed my rules for comment I had a problem with my comment section. I had two comment buttons but only one would work to where I could allow them to post. The other one I could read but could not post it.

I finally got around to fixing my blog during some spare time today. While I was at it I added an aggregator on the lower left hand side of my blog.

I hope that helps.

New Blogs

There are a few new conservative blogs you may want to check out. Pro life activist Fletcher Armstrong has a new blog you can check out here

A disgruntled Republican can be found here.

If you are from the Dyersburg area you may want to check this site. Starting March 1.

Here is one from the Manchester area.

Rep Joe Carr has a blog as well.

ACLU less popular then Michael Jackson

A resolution to honor Hedy Weinburg of the ACLU was removed from the regular calender last night. After it sailed through the senate on consent calendar house Republican legislators noticed and bumped her off the house consent requiring a regular up or down vote as single a piece of legislation on its own instead as part of a pack of resolutions.

Republicans were unified against it. Word on the hill was that with the added attention, and the abuse many took for supporting the Michael Jackson fiasco, less then 20 democrats were willing to publicly support her with an up or down vote.

A day at the office

Quote of the week

"The problem with quotes on the internet is that it is difficult to verify their authenticity"

----President Abraham Lincoln

Is that hate?

David Oatney has a great post (Love the title)on how many people feel about the GLBT movement. While many may disagree with your lifestyle, most people don't really care what you do in your own home as long as it is between consenting adults.

Be as gay as you want. But do it on your own time with your own dime. Leave us alone. Save pushing your agenda for your own soap box. I don't want to be forced to hear it, much less pay for it. If you want to call me a bigot, hater or what ever for that then so be it.

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE L.G.B.T TO GET STATE FUNDS

As many departments of government are being forced to cut their funding, staff, cut back on space and other niceties of life, one group I have found out is getting funding to expand. UT Knoxville is starting up an office for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and transgendered outreach.

They are getting a permanent "Meet up" room/office as well as state funding through the university. I wonder if Christian outreach would get an office and funding or possibly conservative outreach or Republican outreach is on the list...No? I wonder then who is next on the list? Is it the heterosexual "Players" outreach? Chubby chasers? Swingers outreach? B.D.S&M outreach? Or will the furries be the next to get an office, money and a room?

Why do some people feel entitled to other peoples money based on their sexual orientation or fetish?

I am sure this is what UT's big donors want to hear that their tax dollars are being used for.

U.T. L.G.B.T. TO GET STATE FUNDS

As many departments of government are being forced to cut their funding, staff, cut back on space and other niceties of life, one group I have found out is getting funding to expand. UT Knoxville is starting up an office for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and transgendered outreach.

They are getting a permanent "Meet up" room/office as well as state funding through the university. I wonder if Christian outreach would get an office and funding or possibly conservative outreach or Republican outreach is on the list...No? I wonder then who is next on the list? Is it the heterosexual "Players" outreach? Chubby chasers? Swingers outreach? B.D.S&M outreach? Or will the furries be the next to get an office, money and a room?

Why do some people feel entitled to other peoples money based on their sexual orientation?

I am sure this is what UT's big donors want to hear that their tax dollars are being used for.

ACLU to get bumped

The resolution honoring Hedy Weineberg of the ACLU is about to be bumped off of the consent calendar.

More filming

Well I hope I don't let a lot of you down. I don't think there was a lot of excitement on the show. They asked me a lot about Gay straight alliance clubs on campus. I pretty much said My bill doesn't really deal with that so much.

Penn and Teller show

They are still filming as I type this. They want video of me at work typing something.

It's showtime baby!

Showtime is coming to shoot some video of me talking about the bill to keep teachers from teaching about homosexuality to young children.

The video should air on "Penn and Tellers B.S." Show in coming weeks.

No love because of the hall

Yahoo news does a story on states without income taxes and how they are fairing. Oddly (or not) Tennessee is not mentioned as a state that has no income tax. I guess Yahoo can see what the AG can not, that the
Hall income tax is an income tax.

Gubers on education

Part two of the gubernatorial candidates compare pieces is covered in this KNS story. This months segment is on education.

I am not sure

I am not sure what I like more. The fact that D.C. is covered in snow as the global warming alarmists try and push cap and tax or the fact that D.C. is so covered in snow that they have to shut down.

Shooter victim is Cooper kin

Word on the hill is that one of the two people shot at a Knoxville school was the daughter of Sen. Jerry Cooper.

"Gun ban works"

Yep, it stopped legal permit holders from self defence and allowed a mad shooter to shoot who he wanted to. I guess he missed the memo about guns not allowed on school grounds.

Well boo hoo!

The Phil is already getting testy with Republicans because we are not falling in line behind his tax increases. I can hear the calls of "Republicans are the party of no!" coming now.

The thing is, it is the governor who proposes the budget. Not the legislature. If the governor doesn't like the fact that Republicans don't support his tax increases then possibly he should propose a budget with the numbers he is given and not the numbers he wants.

Then if he wants to pass his tax and spend proposals he can run them as their own piece of legislation. Funny how The gov is crying about not enough forestry workers to keep up with forest land yet he wants to spend $11 million to purchase more land from tax paying private property owners. Who will keep an eye on that land?

Copeland cap correction killed

A bill by Sen Mae Beavers to improve the Copeland cap died in the senate today. The bill would have made it harder to override the cap. The cap currently limits the growth of government to similar to the growth of a Tennesseans income. To over ride the Copeland cap and spend as much as they can currently only requires a vote of 50% plus one of legislators. The Beavers bill would have made it 2/3 of legislators to over ride the cap.

I hear it was party line vote with Doug Overby crossing over to side with the Dems against the new cap protection.

Burn the boats!

Oh Harold. You continue to amuse. Not only do you go to NY and flip all your positions you ran on a few years ago but you then go on to bad mouth the place that almost elected you by calling them racist. I am not sure who he is insulting more, the people of Tennessee or the people of Memphis. Either way, not a good way to ingratiate your self to the home town folks.

One thing is for sure. He does not plan a return to the state that has given him so much.

Getting a beating with their own stick

Some times its just too easy to clobber Democrats for the silly things they say and do. Today's installment comes courtesy of TDPC Chip Forrester.

In a press release out today by the State Democrat party chairman (Detailed here on A.C.s blog) The Chipmunk goes after Chad Faulkner for a piece of legislation he has filed. He rants and raves about how terrible it is, how evil Chad is and how this is not the sort of legislation Tennessee needs to support.

In short, Get rid of Chad and bring in someone who will not support this sort of legislation.

The problem with his blind rage is that it has caused him to be blind to the other sponsors on the bill. 14 Democrat names follow Chad's and most of them are in Democrat leadership!

I wonder how they feel about their leader beating up on them?

Busted!

The Knoxville media gets called out for shilling for the left wing. Not to tell the entire story but Terry Frank does a little digging and comes across A blog where liberal media face Cortney Piper brags how she can get what ever she wants in the Knoxville News Sentinel and on WATE.

The latest example was in the Knox News Sentinel, WATE and WBIR this last week where Cortney and her boss Susan Williams Richardson are featured as commentators pushing an issue they are paid to lobby for, Cap and trade. They do not disclose their paid position in the story.

That's it???

I just saw what I guess was the Tim Teabow/Focus on the family TV commercial. If the one I just saw was the one they plan to run for the Superbowl then all I have to say is, Is that it? Not that it was bad but to hear the lefties tell it, it was going to be dead babies and blood on the screen.

It was tame. Tim's mom saying how she loves her son and then Tim shows up. Close with focus on the family and support life. That's it.

Quote of the week

"Any man who thinks he runs his house has a wife who needs to be in politics more then he does."

KNS Lobbies for lobbiest

The Knox News Sentinel is all about doing a puff piece on a "State group" working for cap and trade legislation to end "Global warming".
They love to push the fact that it is being lead by former state Republican party chair woman Susan Richardson Williams as if all Republicans should fall in line and support the man made global warming myth.

From the article...

Susan Richardson Williams realizes it might strike some as a little odd that she is leading a campaign to urge Congress to pass comprehensive energy and climate change legislation.

The very subject of climate change is anathema to many Republicans, and Williams is not just any Republican. The Knoxvillian is a former chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party.

But to those who might be perplexed about why someone with her pedigree is taking up the climate change cause, she gently offers this reminder: "Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican and a strong conservationist."

"I do feel strongly about this," Williams said....


They seem to be covering up the fact that it is not really some independent "State group" of concerned citizen activists but is actually a paid group of professional lobbyists. These paid lobbyists are pushing the man made global warming myth to implement taxes and regulations that would be beneficial to the income of their personal industry at the expense of others.

Susan Richardson Williams is being paid to lobby for the group. Would she do what she is doing for free? I highly, highly doubt it. Is she making a statement for the party as a former party chair? No. She is making a buck.

I have no problem with environmental activist petitioning their government. I have no problem with lobbyists plying their trade. But a newspaper should not try and cover up and bill one as the other or try and frame it as some political ideological shift.

A week or so ago the KNS was railing against how corporations could now legally buy advertising in political campaigns to present the public with their point of view.

Funny how when the corporations and paid lobbyists support their point of view they get free advertising passed off as news about community activists in an ideological shift.

Interesting

The rules for the ethics committee were brought forward today. One interesting point that was that directly spelled out was that absolutely no claims of sexual harassment would be heard by the ethics committee.

The smooth criminal

The talk at the capitol was all about the Michael Jackson vote. Who would be honored next? O.J. was a name heard often.

I have been wanting to say that

But Terry Frank said it better and first. If we had not gone on a spending spree a few years ago we would be fine.

Michael Jackson honored

The bill honoring Michael Jackson passed 51 for, 22 against, 16 voting present but not voting, 10 did not push a button at all.

Proposed budget talking points

Here is a brief rundown on the governors proposal for a budget.


2010 Budget Highlights

General Appropriations Bill Overview

• The budget will decrease by 5-6%. This includes:
o $400 million in recurring reductions
o $200 million in recurring reductions in TennCare
o $64 million reduction in higher education
o $16 million recurring reductions in Child Services
o $20 million recurring reductions in non-BEP K-12 funds (Capital projects)
• $200 million in one-time money from Rainy Day Fund and TennCare reserve
o This money will fund various programs for a 2 year period
 Examples: Family Support Services, Coordinated Health in schools
 Roughly 40 programs impacted
 Because there is approximately $800 million in the Rainy Day Fund and TennCare reserve combined, this reduction will leave about $550-$600 million in reserves
 Most of the money is coming from TennCare reserve
• The Department of Safety was prepared to reduce state troopers in 13 rural counties. This will be avoided by:
o A proposal to increase the cost to renew a Tennessee driver’s license.
o Proposal will increase DL cost from $19.50 every 5 years to $46 renewal every 8 years.
 Driver’s license renewal fee has not been increased since 1988.
o In addition, the Dept. of Safety will use the proceeds to purchase new radio equipment
• There will be $47 million in growth for the BEP formula
• $82 million in growth for the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System to shore up the fund
• TBI will begin charging lab test fees (even to local governments)

Technical Corrections Overview

• Bill will increase revenues by roughly $50 million. It includes two parts:

1. A sales tax on the first $15 of cable TV service Cable is currently taxed at 8.25 percent of the amount over the first $15. Boxes are not currently taxed, only the service. However, it appears satellite TV is taxed at 8.25% as well, but without the $15 exemption
a. Cable providers tax on equipment
2. Tax on real estate investment trusts (REITs)

Additional information:

• $10.9 million one-time money for land conservation
• The budget is crafted from the highest end of the revenue figures adopted by the Funding Board (1.9 growth rate)
• State revenues have plummeted (for a record 19 months)
• BEP is fully protected/fully funded (K-12 is 15% of budget)
• State employees will receive one-time 3% bonus
• As presented, TennCare would be 24% of the total budget (as compared to 34% in 2004)

Privacy of vote fails

Rep. Susan Lynn's bill to stop card check in Tennessee failed today in committee. Unions will still have the right to see how people vote.

The vote was party line. 3 to 3.

Not that it matters but...

Harold Ford Jr. is cracking me up.

He is what is killing Democrats and at the same time he is what Democrats needed more then any thing.

Nationally, Democrats needed an outspoken somewhat less liberal face to try and pull their party back up from the bottom of the cliff. Someone to be out front and say "Hey, look. We aren't all a bunch of baby killing, illegal alien, gay marriage crazies." If he had stuck with the song he sang while running for senate in Tennessee he could have been that candidate. Republicans outside of NYC (There are a bunch) and moderate Democrats might have been pulled in to vote for him. He almost pulled it off in Tennessee.

A win and he is the new face of the "Reasonable Democrat party"

Instead, he is digging a new hole at the bottom of the cliff to get to the left of his opponent. He is on every TV show screaming how he is the bestest baby killing gay alien ever! In the process he is making all Democrats look like two faced liars who will say anything to get elected.

What a lost opportunity.

We love you! We hate you!

One of the funny moments last night came as the governor was talking about how wonderful DCS (Department of Children's Services) was doing. He went on and on about how they are now accredited , things are going in the right direction, etc.

A lot of us were laughing because about 20 minutes before we were being told how Bredesen was planning on making a major portion of his cuts from the DCS budget. Talk about smiling as you stick in the knife.

budget stuff

High end of budget estimates are being used expect triggers.

Budget stuff

Lots of one time money from reserve funds being used to prop up programs for one more year. After that there will be no money to keep it going. Of course Phil will be gone by then and someone else will have to play the knife.

M.J. rolled

We moon walked it until the next calender.

Michael Jackson up. Can we beat it?

The bill honoring Michael Jackson is coming up tonight. Some may try to beat it on a vote and send it to neverland. The vote could be a real thriller since some think Michael is bad. All I know is, when it is done, we will all have to be able to look at that man in the mirror.

10 million for trees

We just got an overview of the budget. Now it is about 300 pages but a few things stood out. The government is buying 10 million dollars worth of land. You can not stop the governments quest to take more land even in a down economy.

Cuts to mental health, tenncare and children's services. Teachers are getting a bonus. There are cuts to higher ed. Lots more but not a clear picture yet. We got the budget about 15 minutes ago.

Tax increases on drivers licences.

$30K for bottled water

I just got the fiscal note back. It said the state alone spends $30,000.00 for bottled water a year. I don't think locals were added into that number.

I have gotten more negative comments and threats (tward the bill) about that one idea from fellow legislators then I have any other bill I have offered in all my years.

The way I look at it 30K is one more social worker to investigate a child abuse case that is currently not being investigated. The state currently does not investigate a large number of child abuse complaints. They don't have the staff. Possibly I should amend the bill to direct the money there.

It is all about choices.

Abortion clinic to be across street from church

The location of the abortion clinic I mentioned in my last post is actually across the street from a church that is hosting the press conference to stop it.

From a email I received this morning from a pro life supporter...

The press conference is scheduled for Tues, at 11:00 a.m. at the True Vine Baptist Church on 2547 Washington Ave (on the corner of Cherry St. across the road from the clinic site).

We have a good number of clergy and leaders from the African-American community that will be attending and who want to take ownership of this issue regarding Planned Parenthood moving into their community. The Church, though small, is located directly across Cherry St which adds to the location's value.