I backed Congressman Ed Bryant, a true conservative. But in a massively disappointing move, Bush selected ex-governor Lamar Alexander, who is Republican only in the Yankee sense of the word. Besides having a few skeletons in his closet, he was a mediocre governor, a poor Secretary of Education, and failed at two presidential bids.
But most telling about Alexander is that Tennessee sales tax increased 83% while he was governor.
And now he's at it again.
In spite of a tax surplus in Tennessee (well reported by the indispensable Hobbs), Tennessee Tax Revolt Alexander is aligned with Democrats to keep a crucial vote from happening - the vote that will extend the moratorium on internet sales taxes, which ends this Saturday.
Given that the Wall Street Journal reports that third quarter economic growth was at "a sizzling 7.2% rate" (the strongest in 20 years), one would think that Lamar (who owes his job to the president) would align himself with the president's tax-cutting policies. But Alexander wants more taxes.
As he is nearing the end of his political career, it is doubtful that Alexander will respond to public pressure from the voter base. IMHO, he is more interested in expanding his those-who-owe-him-favors circle and feathering his own nest.
Still, it certainly won't hurt to try. Contact Senator Alexander and demand that he get in line with his party and his president.
Update: Hobbs has more on this subject (of course).
Naifeh announced he will run for re-election next year and undergo surgery for prostate cancer next week. The cancer was discovered early and the prognosis is good.
As House speaker, Naifeh is among the top three or four officials in state government. He has served in the legislature since 1974, rose through the ranks and has been speaker since 1991, tying former governor Ned McWherter as the longest-serving House speaker in Tennessee history.
Naifeh is not expected to have a major opponent in next August's Democratic primary, but already has a Republican challenger in the general election just over a year away: Dr. Jesse Cannon, a Covington physician and businessman.
Naifeh's House District 81 includes most of Tipton County and all of Haywood County. Although he is usually a GOP electoral target, efforts to unseat him heightened after he emerged two years ago as a leading advocate of tax reform centered around a state income. But he defeated Republican challenger Antonio Lopez, a retired Air Force officer, last November with 52.8 percent of the vote.
As Mike of Half-Bakered notes:
No mention of the gerry-mandering Naifeh engineered to make sure his increasingly Republican Tipton County was supplemented by the still Democratic Haywood County so that he could keep his seat. Without Haywood, Naifeh would have lost; election results proved it. Nor is credit given to Lopez, who entered the race at literally the last minute and ran a write in campaign against the State's most powerful and feared legislator. Cannon emerged later as a "standard" candidate and has been constantly and carefully building a network for his run. It should prove interesting and you can bet I'll be covering it.
As a lifelong outdoorsman, I am a strong proponent of the Second Amendment.As Governor, I will focus on maintaining current gun control laws rather than enacting new ones. I believe that existing laws, if properly enforced, are sufficient in keeping guns out of the hands of criminals without illegally infringing on the rights of law-abiding sportsmen.
Again, thank you for sharing your opinion. Rest assured, I am deeply committed to preserving the right of Tennesseans to own and use guns. It is an important component of both our heritage as Tennesseans and our freedom as Americans.
Because she resigned with more than a year left in her term, state law calls for a special election to be held. If she had waited until after the runoff race to resign, less than a year would have remained and the Shelby County Commission would have chosen a replacement to serve until the next scheduled election in November 2004.