Tea Party Hypocrites, Tennessee Edition

Thanks to Mack at Coyote Chronicles for calling my attention to this.

It seems Tennessee's freshman Teanut Rep. Stephen Fincher is living large off the government dole, while crying about how government spending is out of control. And he's not the only Tea Party hypocrite, either:

ABC's senior political correspondent Jonathan Karl reported "the Tea Party movement is all about slashing federal spending, but at least five House members with Tea Party connections have themselves collected more than $100,000 each in federal farm subsidies, totalling more than $8 million since 1995."


The subsidies are included in a report out Thursday by the Environmental Working Group. "We need a better system," said Rep. Stephen Fincher, a Tennessee Republican whose family farm has received more than $3 million in subsidies, with more than $100,000 going directly to the Congressman himself. Asked directly if he'd refuse to take any further subsidies, he dodged the question.

This isn’t anything new, of course; we DFHers have been talking for years about Michelle Bachmann’s hypocrisy in this regard. But I’m glad the media is finally paying attention.

Watch the segment here:

Hypocritical Yes, But Is It Legal?

Well we knew this was coming:

High-dollar GOP fundraiser to be held at facility that top Republicans sought to scuttle

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Republicans are holding a high-dollar fundraiser at the new underground entertainment hall at the governor's mansion that prominent members of the GOP unsuccessfully tried to scuttle.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Tuesday that it will cost between $3,000 and $25,000 per couple to attend the March 31 event hosted by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam.

The Conservation Hall entertainment facility was built during former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration, and was derided by mostly Republican critics as the "Bredesen Bunker."

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville voted against construction of the hall in 2008, and fellow Republican Rep. Beth Harwell of Nashville unsuccessfully sought to cancel bonds for the project the same year.

Harwell was elected House speaker this year.

Of course the TNGOP will argue "since we couldn't stop it from being built we might as well use it." But as some folks on The Twittaz have noted, is this even legal? Since the Governor's Mansion is public property, can they hold a partisan event like a high-dollar Republican Party fundraiser there?

I'm thinking ... no. Someone please check into this for me, 'mm'kay? Of course, it won't be the first time the TNGOP made money off of Bredesen's bunker.

MORE ... from the memory hole:

Conservation Hall, referred to widely as "Bredesen's Bunker" for its underground design and hidden entrances, has already been criticized as a possible place for governors to shake down donors. It appears that Gov. Bredesen may have gotten a head start by using the bunker to engage in potential quid pro quo before ground was ever broken.

Yes, that was the right-wing Tennessee Center For Policy Research. Isn't it ironic? IOKIYAR.

[UPDATE]:

A few folks have weighed in and said it's legal, though no one is sure how. And it appears I'm not the only one put off by this:

State law bans fundraising by legislators while the General Assembly is in session. It was passed years ago to address public perceptions that lawmakers were “shaking down” special interests with business directly before them.

But according to state Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance Executive Director Drew Rawlins, there is a difference between individuals’ campaigns and the state party.

“The party can raise money for the party as long as it’s not going to candidates, to support or oppose candidates,” he said. “They can raise it for getting out the vote ... and for just normal party activities.”

Former House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington, said, “I would still think in the spirit of the law that they shouldn’t be doing this during the session — at our residence, being the Tennessee residence.”

And since the Lee Beaman-funded Tennesseans For Accountability in Government doesn't appear to be in existence any longer, who's to complain? Hell, they're probably on the guest list.

I'm sure all of that money will go toward paying for the TNGOP's toner cartridges and phone bills. Riiight. Aren't these the folks who told us that Planned Parenthood had to be defunded because every dollar spent on cancer screening and STD testing is a dollar they can spend on abortion? Wasn't that the argument?

Oh well, nothing to see here. It's always okay when Republicans do it.

Republican Math, 2.0

Here’s some Tennessee hippie-punching:

GOP Looks To Drop 'Labor' From Committee Name

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Republicans in the Tennessee Senate want to drop "labor" from the name of the committee that handles commerce and employment issues.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville said Thursday that it's in the interest of brevity that he has proposed excising the term from the Senate Commerce, Labor and Agriculture Committee.

Removing the five-letter word instead of the eight or 11 letter word for the sake of brevity? Hilarious.

Okay, to be fair, Tennessee Republicans also want to ditch "Conservation" and "Tourism" from the panel on Environment, Conservation and Tourism and add "Energy" and "Committee." So they'd be changing a 37 character committee name to a 32 character committee name. Or something.

Yes this is truly a pressing issue for the people of Tennessee right now. The length of our committee names. Praise Jesus Tennessee Republicans are in office to right these grievous wrongs that have gone unchecked for so many administrations.

Or something.

Hey guys, we get it. You really, really hate us. You want to wipe us off the map. You want to erase our very existence. Guess what. We aren’t going anywhere. Suck on that, asshole.

Hall Tax Hilarity

Here in Tennessee we believe that every time you levy a tax to fund a government program Jesus kills a kitten. So it’s no surprise to read in today’s fish wrap that a plan to do away with the Hall Tax has “broad support” in the legislature.

The Hall Tax is a 6% tax on investment income, dividends, and the like over $1,250 for individuals and $2,500 for couples. It’s the state income tax no one ever mentions when they brag about how Tennessee doesn’t have an income tax, because of course not everyone gets income from these sources. Mostly it's a tax on rich people and senior citizens and, well, rich senior citizens.

What I love about this story is how the legislature plans to pay for the projected $186 million loss of income:

Ramsey said he plans to pay for his proposal by eliminating the legislature's joint House and Senate oversight committees — which deal with TennCare, education, corrections and long-term care — and shifting their function to committees that have overlapping jurisdiction within each chamber.

Oh! Well that ought to cover $186 million dollars! Riiight.

Er, maybe not. But then there’s this:

Eliminating the tax would cost far more. But supporters argue that phasing out the tax would encourage retirees to move to the state, stimulating the economy and offsetting the cost with higher sales tax revenues.

Sure, because we all know folks on a fixed income are just cash cows waiting to be milked. You know, as I push my cart around the Kroger on Senior Discount Tuesdays the one thing that’s always occurred to me is that this state needs more old people.

Okay, that’s just me being snarky.

Seriously, this is a terrific idea, if for no other reason than the entertainment value. Let’s watch wealthy cities without a significant commercial base try to fund their operations without the Hall Tax. I’m thinking of places like Belle Meade, whose residents have come to expect a rather high level of service -- 16 police officers for what is basically three square miles, for example. How y’all gonna pay for that without the Hall Tax? Or what about Forest Hills, which near as I can tell is 100 percent residential. Good luck providing trash service to your 4,500 or so residents, building code and zoning enforcement and the like. I’m sure that influx of seniors with their Medicaid-funded Hoverounds will fill that budget hole nicely. If not, I'm sure the wealthy denizens of Forest Hills -- TNGOP moneybags Lee Beaman, for instance -- won't mind a teensy hike in their property taxes.

This is gonna be fun, folks!

Haslam’s Near-Sighted Trust

Well, so much for my news fast. I swear I turned on the local news to find out about the weather! Instead, I learn our new Governor Bill Haslam has put all of his money in a "blind" trust ... except his holdings in Pilot Oil because,

Haslam said in a release Tuesday that Tennesseans are "very familiar" with his relationship with Pilot, a privately held company with annual revenues of $20 billion.

Um ... so? What does that have to do with anything? The blind trust isn't to shield the public from information about your financial holdings. It's to shield YOU from information about your financial holdings! So your actions as governor are made completely separate and independent of any potential gain or loss to your personal fortune -- even an unintentional one! It's to protect YOU from conflict of interest, not us.

I mean ... how can you not get that? Or do you just think we're stupid? Nice way for the new Republican Governor to start off his term, eh?

So, now that we have Mr. Pilot Oil keeping a keen eye on his family business I’m wondering if that will have any bearing on his approach to issues like, say, alternative energy, EV automobile incentives, enforcement of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, environmental regulations, sales of wine in stores like Pilot’s Flying J convenience markets, etc. etc. I mean, we'll just never know, will we? Any action Gov. Haslam takes from here on out will be tainted by his $20 billion private corporation: good, bad or indifferent. The fact that he will be kept informed of the profits and losses of the family business means his every act as governor will be tarnished by a cloud of potential self-interest.

Even worse, this comes right on the heels of Mr. Transparency’s first official action being to shield his personal bank account from the prying eyes of the voters. Classy.

So just to be clear: Haslam wants to keep us from knowing how much money he and his top aides make during his term, and he wants to keep an eye on his family fortune while in a position to set government policy affecting said family fortune.

Can you imagine the uproar if a Democrat did that? But so far it's crickets from the Tennessee Center For Pouring Over Al Gore’s NES Bill Policy Research.

Because, ya know, IOKIYAR.



Yes On The Right To Hunt & Fish Amendment

[UPDATE]:

I did early voting this week. The language of this constitutional amendment, which talks about how it won't interfere with private property rights and economic activity, tells me it can't be used for any real environmental preservation. That and my usual antipathy for stupid rednecky bullshit legislation like this led me to say, "meh." Ultimately I voted no.

--------------------------------

R. Neal is on to something:

In order to exercise our constitutional right to hunt and fish there must be sustainable habitat for fish and game. Therefore, any action that threatens fish and wildlife habitat is unconstitutional.

That means stormwater runoff and agricultural waste that degrade water quality would be unconstitutional. So would coal-fired power plant emissions that degrade air and water quality and impact forest growth and sustainable fisheries. Mountaintop removal mining, clear cutting, and ridgetop development that destroy natural wildlife habitat would be a violation of your constitutional rights.

Wow that’s brilliant. He’s absolutely, 100% correct.

Ironically enough, similar state constitutional amendments are on the ballot in Arizona, Arkansas and South Carolina. Don’t you wonder how these things crop up all of a sudden at the same time?

Someone Better Pander To Me

I’m having a really strong, visceral, negative reaction to Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam’s latest ad where he muses in his avuncular fashion about whether there is any way we can make Tennessee safe? Really, how can we achieve this monumental task? Oh, let me guess: tougher sentencing laws and ensuring our prisons aren’t like luxurious hotels!

These are nice agenda items of the industry-funded ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council, which I wrote about here.) I’m sure Tennessee-based Corrections Corp. of America approves of that message, hell they paid for it. It’s also a nice little dog whistle that plays into peoples’ fears and the “conventional wisdom” that we live in a crime infested land filled with bogey men who want to steal your white women and your flat-screen TV. The fact that crime has been dropping across the state (and the nation) for the past few years is a little inconvenient for this message. Oh well, don’t let facts stand in the way of some fun little pandering.

And let me add: if Bill Haslam thinks our prisons are as luxurious as a fine hotel I suggest he stay in one next time he travels around the state. You know, save the campaign some money that might have gone to the Hiltons and Marriots. What an ass.

Jesus but I’m tired of hearing these stupid canards. You know the drill: we liberals want to offer hardened felons hugs and therapy and lollipops, but you can count on the Republicans to be tough and wield that whip! Bleed, felon, bleed! Everyone feel better now? Safe? Yes?

What I really wish is that we had a Democratic candidate for governor who could counter some of this nonsense. But no, we have Mike McWherter accusing Haslam of being a billionaire oil man who buys his oil from “socialist Venezuela.” Talk about the mother of all dog whistles! And this after the Haslam-hearts-Iran nonsense.

I’m feeling decidedly un-pandered to. McWherter is a joke -- even worse of a joke than I feared back in July. I refuse to believe that McWherter was the best we Tennessee Democrats could do.

I can’t vote for either one of these clowns.

You know who panders to me? My dog. She loves me and lets me know every day. Maybe I’ll vote for her:

My Pick For Governor

Aren't You Forgetting Someone?

We caught Bill Haslam's new TV ad this morning. Good lord but the folksy aw-shucks "I'm just an ordinary hayseeed" voiceover is annoyingly condescending. But I digress. Here's the ad and tell me if you think it's odd that the father of Haslam's Democratic rival is mentioned but one certain income-tax loving Republican governor is not:

Tennessee Election FAILs

Here are my off the cuff, completely uneducated, uninformed opinions on what the results from yesterday’s elections mean. Feel free to disagree, I've said before that I didn't pay close attention to the state and local races that I wasn't voting in. Go over to Braisted's for more educated political commentary.

That disclaimer aside: We had some really big losers, namely national conservatives Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin. Their endorsements didn’t help Robin Smith and CeCe Heil, both of whom were spectacular FAILs.

The Tennessee Tea Party’s candidate, Ron Ramsey, was also a spectacular FAIL, finishing a distant third. Oh noes. When will the media get over its infatuation with this fringe group of Obama haters?

It was a FAIL for the "Judeo-Christian heritage"-Muslim bashing right-wing fundiegelical Christian contingent. Those candidates who blew the anti-Muslim dog-whistle didn't fare too well, near as I can tell.

It was FAIL for negative politics: mud slingers Robin Smith and Lou Ann Zelenik were big losers. Ditto Zach Wamp, Ron Ramsey, and George Flinn and Ron Kirkland. Over in my own District 21, we’re all biting our nails as the provisional ballots are being counted in the Douglas Henry/Jeff Yarbro race. For my non-Tennessee readers, this was a Democratic primary for state Senate. Yarbro is the pro-choice progressive candidate, running against an octogenarian who had served in the Tennessee legislature since before Yarbro was born. When I went to bed last night Yarbro was behind by TWO votes. Interesting to note, Yarbro ran a very positive, professional, respectful campaign. Douglas Henry, when he realized he might actually lose, went negative with an unfair attack ad. I don’t think it helped his case one bit.

So if nothing else, perhaps the Tennessee results can put to rest the old cannard that negative campaigns work. They don’t.

Perhaps also the Tennessee race can put to rest the piece of media conventional wisdom that the Tea Party is a significant political movement. They're going to need to start winning some actual elections for that to be true.

And maybe we can finally, finally stop treating Sarah Palin like she matters. She doesn’t.

Just my .02.

Adding ... Among our crackpot candidates, check out racist nut job June Griffin of the Rhea County Tea Party who ran as an independent in the governor's race. Needless to say, another spectacular FAIL. I think Basil Marceaux got more votes.

AND ALSO.... Okay I've now had a chance to check in with some friends who are less politically inclined than myself. They did not vote. Not unexpected, this being a primary and the midterms and the uncontested Democratic Goober etc. etc. Still, I have not missed an election in 30 years, possibly ever. It just was instilled in me from a young age that the two things every good citizen must do is a) vote, and b) jury duty. Those are our obligations and you don't weasel out of them. Fine, I was raised by a bunch of DFH radicals (not really ....) but I would have thought that we all learned a lesson in the 2000 presidential race.

Every. vote. counts.

Cripes, people. How hard is it to vote, now that we have early voting? Le Sigh.

Best Worst Campaign Spokesman Ever

Okay I confess I haven’t paid too close attention to the Tennessee congressional races. It’s not like I’m voting in the Republican primary, and near as I can tell from the TV ads, they’re all jumping over themselves to prove they’re the real conservative and everyone else in the field is a fucking hippie poseur.

But George Flinn’s TV ads just crack me up. He’s running for John Tanner’s seat in Tennessee’s 8th Congressional district. His use of wingnut dog whistles are hilarious, like how he throws around the names “Obama” and “Pelosi” -- no need for titles like “President” or “Speaker Of The House,” thank you; such niceties are reserved for real honest patriots not socialist anti-American trash -- and I love how we’re reminded over and over again how he created jobs jobs jobs, even though no one explains how many jobs a radiologist who also owns a bunch of radio and TV stations (most of them out of state) can create.

But the absolute best part of George Flinn’s ads has to be recurring “Southern folksy” guy Otis Griffin. Yes, his name is Otis and you can see him in this Flinn ad which has been playing non-stop in Nashville. The money quote comes at the very end:



I’d like to know what time portal George Flinn’s campaign pulled Otis Griffin from, perhaps one leading straight to the set of the 1960s era Andy Griffith Show. I just want to give Otis Griffin a hug when he says of Flinn:

”Just give him a chance! That’s all the man wants, just give him a chance!”

Hmm ... maybe not the most winning campaign slogan, but perhaps that's just me. Griffin also has a starring role in this ad, which is maybe even more hilarious than the first one.

I did a web search and learned Griffin has penned a few homespun columns for the Covington Leader; I can't read them, unfortunately, because I'm not a subscriber, but the teasers give you an idea.

I’ve asked a few West Tennessee folks if they know who Otis Griffin is and they don’t, which is a shame, because someone with this down home Southern charm needs to ditch the dweeby George Flinn and run for office himself, or at the very least be a spokesman for Cracker Barrel. He’s certainly more articulate than Basil Marceaux.

The Best Campaign Support Money Can Buy

Bad enough that some candidates put campaign signs in the public right of way to make it look like they have more support than they actually do.

But it’s far, far worse to learn some candidates are paying people to show their “support”:

Senator Henry has had people at the intersection of Thompson Lane and Nolensville Rd all week, wearing blue t-shirts and waving at people with signs.

I stopped and spoke with one of them this morning. They are working through a temp service and being paid by the hour. The man I spoke with didn’t know who Mr. Henry is or what he is running for.

It seems pretty pathetic to have to pay pretend supporters ....

Ditto for the campaign “volunteers” parked at West End and Murphy Road for the past week. I was pretty sure these were not actual campaign supporters but hadn’t had a chance to ask.

Yeah, pathetic is the word for it alright.

Tennessee Governors' Race Hilarity

Ron Ramsey embarrasses Tennessee with his "Islam is a cult" stupidity and still manages to not be the craziest candidate running. No, that dubious distinction goes to Basil Marceaux, now riding high on some national attention courtesy of The Colbert Report:

Colbert Lampoons TN Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey For Calling Islam A Cult

I saw that Basil Marceaux clip last week when someone posted it on Twitter and thought it was hilarious and sad all at the same time. I just wanted to say, "well bless his heart."

Thankfully Colbert got one thing wrong: Ramsey isn't anything close to the "clear favorite" in the primary; every survey I've seen has him ranked a distant third. Marceaux is the crackpot candidate that I suppose every race draws. Hey, buck up Tennessee, there are wackos and weirdos everywhere, right?

But pssst ... please don't tell the folks at Colbert Nation about perpetual candidate Vijay Kumar!

Silly Campaign Promises

Dear Mike McWherter:

Please don’t send me an e-mail with the subject line “Focusing on Issues that Matter” and then as your first order of business declare you will

“...veto any attempts to impose a state income tax...”

I do not give a rat’s ass about a state income tax. I think we all know that attempts to pass a state income tax in Tennessee are dead -- indeed, it’s been a dead issue ever since a Republican governor tried to pass one over 10 years ago. Anyone with a brain knows that supporting a state income tax is political suicide, especially in this political climate.

Let me be clear: saying you are against a state income tax in Tennessee is tantamount to saying puppies are cute and you won’t ban kittens. For crying out loud, it’s bad enough that you feel you need to pander to conservative voters, but you’re not even very good at it.

I think we all can agree that the number one issue that matters to Tennesseeans is jobs. I’d like to know what you plan to do about that. Frankly I don’t see how a tax cut for small businesses will be sufficient to bring our 10% state unemployment down. On top of which, our state budget is cut to the bone as it is.

So, is that all you’ve got?

McWon’t. McCan't Make Me

There’s been a good bit of talk in the Tennessee blogosphere about Mike McWherter, our Democratic candidate for governor. For my readers not in Tennessee, McWherter is the son of Ned Ray McWherter, who became governor right after I first moved to Nashville.

So now we have his son Mike running for the same office. He “won” the Democratic primary simply by hanging in there while all of the other candidates dropped out. He hasn’t said much, preferring to sit back while the Republican gubernatorial candidates suck up all the air in the room in advance of their August primary. But what he has said hasn’t pleased Tennessee’s liberals. Last fall he came out in support of a ban on gay adoptions, which sparked an uproar among lefties here. And now he has decided that the Obama Administration is wrong to sue Arizona over its immigration bill, citing a right wing argument about state’s rights (and see Aunt B for a classic response).

He’s even, for crying out loud, against selling wine in grocery stores. Not a big shock, since he’s Mr. Beer Distributor. But still, his exact words were:

“I support the current state law with respect to wine sales.”

Everyone knows our current state law in respect to wine sales is antediluvian, designed to protect distributors not serve consumers. Heck you can’t even buy a freaking corkscrew in a wine store in Tennessee. How stupid is that? You’re not open to a minor bit of tweaking? Anything?

So this is the Democrat we’ve been given for governor. Needless to say, a lot of us Democrats are none too pleased. He hasn’t told us much about himself but what he has told us offends some major Democratic Party constituencies (I’m thinking gays and immigrants, not wine drinkers, though we liberals have been known to love our elitist swill.) All we need now is to learn he supports SJR 127 and we’ve hit a home run.

Look, I realize it’s still early. Lots of things can change between now and November. But here’s my sense of things. Not only are the Dirty Fucking Hippies on the internets not jazzed by McWherter, but some far more moderate folks than myself aren’t psyched either, and they’re talking about voting Republican. They’d like to vote for a Democrat, they really would, because with all the culture war crap coming out of the state legislature last year they think the Tennessee Republican Party has jumped the shark. But with McWherter looking like a TNDP sacrificial lamb, they'd just as soon vote for Bill Haslam, assuming he gets the GOP nomination. I'm not sure I get the logic, I think it has something to do with sending the message that Tennessee is a moderate state, not the wingnut Mecca we've been portrayed as. Maybe it's an attempt to send a message to the Zach Wamps and Ron Ramseys of the TNGOP. I dunno, I don't get it, but there it is. People like to back a winner, not a loser. And McWherter has that unmistakeable stench of fail wafting around him right now which turns off that segment of voters who can go either way.

Left Wing Cracker writes:

Look, if Mr. Pilot Oil becomes Governor, he'll be the GOP version of Bredesen, except that it will be the wingnuts screaming for 8 years that Haslam has betrayed them, which he will, which could be real fun to watch.  I would still rather have a DEMOCRATIC governor, if Mike will just stay away from the the right-wing bullshit, this could still be salvageable.

Well, I don’t want to see Mr. Pilot Oil become governor either (that's Haslam, for my non-Tennessee readers). Can't imagine Mr. Pilot Oil will support things like the smart grid solar-powered EV charging stations TVA is planning across the state, for one thing. So maybe McWherter can step it up at this late date. I don’t know. A lot depends on who his opposition is going to be.

But I can tell you, I’m not excited about voting for someone who seems to think he can win by running as a Republican, without the big money the TNGOP brings in. I really don’t get that logic, either. And it occurs to me that maybe there is no logic. We bloggers tend to overthink these things sometimes, but perhaps it’s possible that Mike McWherter really does believe that having two gay parents is bad and maybe he really does think that Arizona was right to pass a racial profiling law targeting Hispanics. In which case, dude, I’m so never voting for you.

I’ve never been a believer in third party candidates, ever. It’s a nice idea but most of the time third party candidates, if they are at all competitive, end up being spoilers. That’s just the reality of our winner-take-all elections. Personally I’d love to have some kind of election reform, instant runoff voting or some such, which I imagine would appeal to people on the right, too. Maybe those Tea Party candidates might actually win a few elections for a change.

But we go into the voting booth with the elections we have, not the elections we wish we had. On top of which, Tennessee’s third party candidates can be a little nutty. Not voting in a race is simply not an option. So, what to do?

Election day is four months away but I’m thinking we’re going to have a Republican governor. I can’t be like my "mushy middle" friends who see the writing on the wall and prefer to back the winner, provided he's not batshit insane. I’d sooner cut off my arm than vote Republican, at least in this political climate. Good grief what a thought.

I’m thinking we lefties need to write in a candidate. We need to put our heads together and figure out who our ideal candidate would be, maybe Sen. Andy Berke or Rep. Steve Cohen -- and don’t worry guys, you won’t win, so no fear, carry on with your day jobs as usual. But just write that person’s name in on the ballot in November to -- and I shudder as I write this -- “send a mesage.”

I know it sounds lame, “send a message,” who am I kidding. I used to laugh at people who said they were casting a vote of conscience to "send a message." Oh how the worm has turned. But honestly, I don't see McWherter having a chance anyway and I'm pissed off. What is wrong with the Tennessee Democratic Party that it can't seem to find any Democrats to run for office? Hello?

I won’t not vote and I won’t vote Republican or Green. And if no one I like has a chance of winning anyway, then maybe this is the one time I really should cast a vote of conscience.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, Jim Cooper Edition

[UPDATE]:

As of 7/7/10 all campaign signage has been removed.

---------------------------------------------

Well here’s a nice little “screw you” to Rep. Jim Cooper, courtesy of Nashville’s David Lipscomb University:



Jeff Hartline, of course, is a Republican wackadoo “Constitutional Conservative” hoping to get the Republican nomination for Jim Cooper’s seat. Judging by the large number of yard signs in the district, I’d say he’s a shoe-in for the GOP nomination, though his hopes to win the general look iffy on account of him being, well, crazy.

But so what, a humongous yard sign for Jim Cooper’s opponent, what’s the big deal, you say? Well, for one thing, it’s on property owned by the private, Church of Christ-affiliated David Lipscomb University. Yes that’s right, Parkwood Terrace Apartments is owned by DLU, according to Metro property records. There is a permanent “no vacancy” sign out front; I guess they use it for student housing.

So, you say? Well, back in 2005 Rep. Cooper secured a $3.17 million earmark in a highway funding bill for Lipscomb’s new parking garage. He took heat from conservatives like Bob Krumm, who decried the move as “pork” and from liberals like, well, me for using taxpayer money to support a construction project at a private, church-affiliated college.

Even worse, the sign is on Belmont Boulevard, right across the street from the Lipscomb campus, and pretty much directly across the street as the crow flies from said parking garage. Ouch.

So now it appears that five years later David Lipscomb University is endorsing Cooper’s “Constitutional Conservative” opponent. Who is running on a platform of Tentherism and killing Medicare and Medicaid, eliminating the Dept. of Education and other fringe ideas. One can only imagine what he thinks of the highway transportation bill that allowed David Lipscomb University to build its parking garage with taxpayer money.

Looks like Coop can’t win for losing.

Regardless of Cooper's past assistance to the university, I think it's extremely inappropriate for a university to endorse candidates of any type (and that goes for the smaller Bill Haslam sign you see pictured as well). You just can't assume all of your students, faculty, staff and alumni--or tenants--are going to share your political views. Not very smart, Lipscomb.

Stacy Campfield On Bullshit

So last night I was lying in bed with the remote in one hand and a cat in the other and I pause on Penn & Teller’s show “Bullshit” which was talking about all the fearmongering about teens having sex (OMG OMG OMG OMG) when who should I see but Tennessee’s own Stacy Campfield, interviewed about his ridiculous “Don’t Say Gay” bill that would keep teachers from talking about homosexuality in the classroom.

Oy. This morning I noticed Campfield discussed his appearance on his blog, and if you want to read it go right ahead, it reaffirmed for me that conservatives are completely lacking in a) humor, and b) irony, since he complains about profanity in a show called “Bullshit!” and also includes a crude, homemade video clip of the appearance in violation of Showtime’s copyright (he appears to have videotaped his TV screen). Conservatives love love love to violate copyright laws when it suits them, which I find amusing. Anyway, if you get Showtime and want to see the entire episode, here’s when it’s scheduled to air.

The whole thing was so lame because Campfield ended up sort of floundering, trying not to look like the intolerant homophobic asshole we know him to be. Since his bill has no merit in reality (who and where are they teaching third graders about sexual orientation except in your sick mind, Stacy?) he ended up having to defend himself with this unicorns-and-lollipops argument about how we all should love each other and no one should be discriminated against or face persecution or hazing, so we don’t need groups like a Gay-Straight Student Alliance because that puts a big red arrow over some kids’ heads saying “hey look at the gay, over there!” Which I’m sure would have been very awkward for Stacy when he was in school. Oops did I say that out loud?

So once again Tennessee hits the national media for something stupid one of our conservative legislators has done. This is getting to be a little old hat, folks, so I suppose I should be used to it. Mention Tennessee anywhere in the country and I’d say our reputation as a bunch of intolerant knuckle-dragging Neanderthals is pretty much assured. Our local CVB folks are going to have to work overtime to compensate for the negative publicity legislators like Stacy Campfield heap upon the state. The flood was bad enough but now we have this flood of stupidity issuing forth on a daily basis and it’s undermining all the good messages ambassadors like Dolly Parton send about our state.

So I’m going to ask people like Stacy Campfield to just say no to future appearances on shows like Penn & Teller’s “Bullshit.” Right now, with unemployment still over 10% and big tourist destinations like Opryland shuttered from the flood, we really can’t afford it. You’re sending the wrong message and it’s not helping.

Take one for the team and just say no, ‘kay? Thanks.

Show Your Papers, Tennessee

Gov. Bredesen capitulated to whatever insane forces have taken root in this state and signed Tennessee’s version of an Arizona-style immigration law. Now those who look foreign better keep their papers handy. Yes, I said “look foreign” because we all know that’s who this law applies to. Not everyone, just certain ones. Foreign-looking and foreign-sounding ones. People with accents. Others. Not, of course, “us.” It applies to “them.”

And no I don’t buy that whole “this only applies to people sent to jail” nonsense. I imagine that’s what they said about the fugitive slave laws 160 years ago, too. Tell that to Juana Villegas. Anyone can find themselves booked or arrested on some ridiculous charge any old Boss Hogg or Barney Fife wants to trump up.

When stuff like the Arizona immigration bill comes up I always think of one very close friend of mine: blonde-haired and blue eyed and a perfect English speaker who, as it happens, is a native of Canada and lived and worked in this country illegally for over 15 years. She was, in fact, an illegal immigrant, but you wouldn’t know it to look at her, talk to her or even to examine her shoes. And you know damn well if she was ever pulled over by a Metro cop no one would think twice about asking her for proof of citizenship because she looks and sounds like anyone else trying to make it in Nashville, even down to the guitar in the back seat of her car.

Not so her husband, who is from South Asia and has very dark skin and whose English is excellent but nonetheless heavily accented. He does happen to be in the country legally (my friend is too, now; in fact she’s become a U.S. citizen) but getting his visa was a prolonged, expensive ordeal involving lawyers and long waits and lots of paperwork. My point is this: if you put them side by side, which one is going to have their citizenship questioned at a traffic stop? The blonde, blue-eyed, English speaker or the dark skinned, obvious foreigner who speaks with an accent?

I just think it’s hilarious that the only illegal immigrant I personally have ever known to be illegal is a white person.

The reality is, if you’re going to be in favor of laws like Arizona’s then you have to acknowledge that all sorts of people can be illegal immigrants, not just brown people, not just Mexican and Central American and other so-called “undesirables.” White people can and are here illegally too. If you are okay with white people being here illegally but not brown and yellow people, then you are a racist.

Alternately, you have to recognize that any “show us your papers” law designed to identify illegals and send them back across whatever border they came from has got to apply to everyone, regardless of what they look and sound like. Otherwise it’s not fair, or objective or impartial. Because if nothing else, we are told the law is impartial.

So that means we all need to carry proof of citizenship with us, every one of us, and we have to be okay with showing that paperwork to law enforcement when they ask. I thought we weren’t in favor of things like National ID cards and Soviet-style “show us your papers” laws here but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I misread the mood of the country.

Alternately we can go at this issue another way. We can address the root of the problem, which is that this country was founded on cheap labor and remains addicted to cheap labor.

Part of this, I think, is related to our energy crisis: because at its root, what is cheap labor but a form of cheap energy? Perhaps our next abundant cheap energy source to replace fossil fuels will bring about technological innovation and replace the human sweat and muscle picking our tomatoes.

Part of it is that we’ve become accustomed to not paying what things actually cost. We might think a Big Mac only costs $3.50 but that’s because we’ve socialized all sorts of costs associated with food production. When companies pay poverty wages for fast food workers or hire illegal immigrants to pick lettuce and tomatoes and work in the meat packing plant, then there are going to be social costs attached to that.

And then part of it is the grinding poverty and lack of opportunity in some parts of the world that has people seeking a better life here. One of the selling points of “free trade” agreements like NAFTA was that they were supposed to spur economic development in other parts of the world. But I’m wondering if that’s really happened? We have GM, Ford and Chrysler opening auto plants in Mexico, Maytag shuttering historic U.S. plants and moving production to Mexico, GE, Honeywell and other U.S. companies all opening factories in Mexico and Central America, heck the entire U.S. garment manufacturing industry is practically wiped out for textile factories in Honduras and Guatemala. So it’s a veritable beehive of manufacturing activity south of the border and I wonder why the hell hasn’t that “trickled down” to the communities down there? Why aren’t people staying in Mexico since that appears to be where all the jobs are?

So there are a whole lot of policy issues associated with immigration and not a damn one of them is addressed by any “show us your papers” laws. In fact, all these laws do is basically make a bunch of people feel good about being bigots and puts a target on the backs of those who are least able to fight back.

It’s stupid policy and it solves nothing.

Pith Takes It Back

Last night while watching the evening news and quaffing our elitist swill, we saw a campaign ad for Diane Black, a wackadoodle Republican state senator currently running for Congress. Some of you outside of Tennessee may remember Black as the Tennessee legislator who basically slapped her assistant Sherri Goforth on the wrist for sending a racist anti-Obama e-mail.

Black has received less attention for feeding at the wingnut welfare gravy train, but I think this story is worth remembering because it sure smells fishy. Let’s face it: Republicans hate government and government oversight and regulations unless they or their family members can get in on the action. And you dare lecture us about morality, Senator? Give me a break.

Anyway, needless to say we don’t think very highly of Diane Black at our house, so when we saw in her campaign ad that our alternative newspaper The Nashville Scene allegedly called Sen. Black “refreshingly bold,” Mr. Beale just about spewed his pinot noir all over the flat-screen.

No freaking way, we said. Et tu, Scene? Turns out, not so much. Black’s campaign reached waaay into the memory hole for these kind words, finding something written in 1999--eleven years ago. How sad is that? As the Scene points out, they have called her to task far more recently for her intolerance towards gays and the whole racist e-mail thing. The paper writes:

We'd like to make it plain that the Scene has changed its mind about Black. We don't think she's refreshingly bold anymore.

Heh. Proud to say that over at our house, we never did.

Hey TN: Who’s Looking Out For You?

It seems Republicans in the Tennessee legislature are bending over backwards to do the corporate world’s bidding, none more so than Diane Black, who has gone to unprecedented lengths to make sure the ALEC-written anti-healthcare reform bill bypasses the committee process and makes its way to the floor. Something about sick Tennesseans no longer being denied health insurance because of pre-existing conditions really burns people like Diane Black; guess she thinks free market fairy dust will help people like Demitrie Maralescu.

As I mentioned yesterday, ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is the corporate lobby working to repeal healthcare reform across the land through state legislative efforts:

These state-based efforts to repeal reform may be supported and championed by the Tea Party movement (like the Ohio Liberty Council), but they’re being orchestrated and organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC], a “business-friendly conservative group that coordinates activity among statehouses.” The Council is currently pushing model legislation to protect “the rights of patients to pay directly for medical services” and prohibit the individual mandate. At least 35 states are using the legislation as a model for their own repeal efforts, including Ohio and Alabama.

ALEC is no fan of health reform or health, for that matter. “For years the tobacco industry has been one of ALEC’s chief underwriters” and has generally been used as a vehicle by which large corporations advance their agenda in state legislatures The National Resources Defense Council reports that “the tie that binds is money, and ALEC’s major underwriters have included the now-disgraced Enron Corporation, as well as the American Nuclear Energy Council, the American Petroleum Institute, Amoco, Chevron, Coors Brewing Company, Shell, Texaco, Chlorine Chemistry Council, Union Pacific Railroad, Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, Waste Management, Philip Morris Management Corporation, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and many other of the nation’s major corporations and trade associations.”

If ALEC succeeds in repealing health care reform, some corporations may benefit, but the residents who live in these states certainly won’t. As a new Center for American Progress Action Fund report concludes, thousands in Ohio, Alabama and the other states considering repeal would lose access to expanded Medicaid coverage and affordability subsidies.

Note to Demitrie Maralescu and everyone else for whom pre-existing conditions makes getting affordable health insurance an unreachable dream: if the Tennessee Legislature takes away the relief the Federal government just gave you, go ahead and thank Diane Black, the Tennessee Republican Party, a handful of Tennessee DINO’s, and most of all, the corporations at PhRMA who dominate ALEC.

A look at ALEC’s “model legislation” is an eye-opener: these boiler plate bills, crafted by corporations and sent down the conveyer belt to state houses via ALEC’s state chairmen (Hello, Rep. Curry Todd!) is a Tenther/free market freak show. Out with the minimum wage! Out with limits on ATM fees! In with charter schools! Out with the EPA enforcing the Clean Air Act! In with guns on campus! And, not surprisingly: Out with ACORN! Yes, state defunding of ACORN is here too. In fact, quite a few of these bills look familiar.

Meanwhile, considering dirty energy’s considerable presence in ALEC (Koch Industries, Exxon Mobil and Peabody Energy have reps on their “private enterprise board”) I found this turn of events interesting. If bypassing the committee process is good enough for Diane Black to yank back healthcare reform, Sen. Andy Berke thinks it should be good enough to ban mountaintop removal mining:

In response to the move, Democratic Sen. Andy Berke of Chattanooga said he'll seek to revive the mountaintop mining bill (SB1398) through the same process on Saturday.


"If they don't want to use the committee system, then we should allow votes on overwhelmingly popular items like mountaintop removal," Berke said.


Ramsey said he doesn't see why the mountaintop removal bill should get a new hearing.

Of course he doesn’t!

Hippie Punching, Tennessee Style

Yesterday afternoon the Republican-led Tennessee House approved a resolution commending Arizona for its racial profiling immigration law.

The language, specifically:

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE CONCURRING, that this body hereby honors and commends the State of Arizona and its government officials on the upcoming commemoration of Arizona's Centennial and that this body also salutes the initiative and the courage of the Arizona State Legislature and Governor Jan Brewer in their actions to protect their citizens and the borders of our great nation.

Oy. With state unemployment still over 10 percent and state tourism suffering from the recent floods, who thought wading into a controversy costing the state of Arizona millions of dollars in lost business was a good idea? House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada, for one. Casada brushed away criticism from House Democratic Leader Gary Odom with a dismissive verbal wave:

"I've never heard so much belly aching in my life."

Yeah, protests over racial profiling are so silly!

What an idiot. Glen Casada, you are an embarrassment to the people of Tennessee.

(As if inserting Tennessee into Arizona’s economically-damaging immigration battle wasn’t bad enough, House Republicans dissed President Obama in a resolution offering thanks for flood assistance, too.)

It seems in this election year, certain factions in the Tennessee House are tripping over themselves in a battle to appear more right-wing and reactionary than their colleagues. Perhaps this particular brand of hippie-punching is seen as the key to re-election, a way to affirm one’s knuckle-dragging bonafides. But hippie punching doesn’t create jobs and it doesn’t convince industry that this is a place you want to do business. It does the opposite.

So Glen Casada and Rep. Joe Carr and the rest of the Republican House Caucus I have three words for you:

Stop hurting Tennessee.

More from Aunt B, including a list of those Tennessee Democrats who sided with the knucle-draggers. Shame on you.