TennWatch/Volitics

Naifeh Hypocrisy Exposed

As Speaker of the House, Jimmy Nero Naifeh has long wielded power with an arrogance seldom seen outside of a tyrant's palace. Bill after bill passes the Senate, but Naifeh uses his dark and absolute powers to ensure that the House companion bill never makes it out of committee.

The one time that a pro-gun bill actually made it to the House floor, Naifeh broke House rules in order to kill it. If you doubt it just do a little digging and you will find the video of the House proceedings.

Lawyer, activist and TeamGOP principal Jeff Ward reports that just one day after Naifeh's hometown paper ran an op-ed penned by Ward in which he addresses Naifeh's hoplophobic record, Naifeh goes to the gun range. And why?

Strangely enough, Naifeh and eight or nine comrades attended a private class for their concealed carry permit on Saturday March 29, 2008.  I guess Naifeh wants to get his permit to combat the negative press this fall in his re-election campaign.

Naifeh has fought arming the populace tooth and nail for years, yet he takes advantage of laws passed in spite of him in order to arm himself. Why the hypocrisy?

Could it be that Naifeh is about to loose state protection because he is going to retire?

One can only hope and pray.

Defenders of Freedom Meeting

In case you haven't heard, the Shelby County Conservative Club is no more, having been replaced by the Defenders of Freedom, which is the entity that originally morphed into the SCCC.

Ah well, the important thing is that the intrepid local political activist Angelo Cobrasci is back in charge and getting things ramped up.

DoF meetings (dubbed "Citizens' Forums") are being held on the second Monday of each month at Neil's. That's in midtown at 1827 Madison Avenue from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.

The next meeting will be 14 April on the topic of Crime in Shelby County. Planned speakers include persons from the Shelby County DAs office, the Sheriffs' department, Memphis PD, and a Criminal Court Judge.

Y'all come on out and bring a friend, won't you?

Don't Count Out Willie's Congressional Run

I have learned from a very reliable fourth-hand source that Willie Herenton has filed papers to run for the Ninth District seat in Congress.

To those who would say that a candidate can't file public papers and keep the news private, I would say that you don't know the full extent of the power that Willie wields.

I never did buy that whole "going back to be a school superintendent" thing.

And Steve Cohen is vulnerable, just because he's a white guy representing a majority black district. You can call me racist for saying so, but that doesn't make it not true.

Mickey White Just Doesn't Understand

Mickey's on another rant (I know, that's no surprise) over at Blue Collar Republican. This time, he lumping congressional candidate Tom Leatherwood in with (and I quote) "Marsha 'Queen of Pork' Blackburn".

Yep, Mickey's taking Tom Leatherwood to task while Tom's a candidate who hasn't yet had the opportunity to do any federal pork barrel spending.

And at the local level as Shelby County Register, Tom Leatherwood actually reduced costs, lowered fees, and radically increased services. Just take a look at the Register website that came about due to Tom's leadership. [I often use the GIS feature, and you can too. For instance, here's the house that the mayor of Bartlett lives in. Neat, huh?]

That's right, Tom Leatherwood succeeded in pulling Shelby County into the 21st century, and did it while keeping the Register of Deeds a profit center for the county. Not bad for a civil servant these days.

Now then, let's examine Mickey's "Queen of Pork" accusation leveled at the sexiest woman in congress.

When it comes to measuring pork and looking out for the taxpayers, I have two favorite sources: the Citizens Against Government Waste and the Club for Growth.

According the Citizens Against Government Waste, there were 44 critical spending bills in the 2007 congress, of which Marsha Blackburn voted what they consider to be "the right way" on 43 of them. She has a 98% rating for 2007 from CAGW, earning her the label "Taxpayer Hero". In fact, she could have voted the "wrong" way another eight or nine times and still been considered a Taxpayer Hero.

Marsha enjoys a lifetime rating of 91% from the Citizens Against Government Waste, putting her solidly in the middle of the "Taxpayer Hero" category.

Turning now to the highly respected Club for Growth, let's examine the 2007 Club for Growth RePORK Card where Blackburn earns a score of 94% for her voting record last year.

When Mickey says "Queen of Pork", he means every single member of congress because they don't go up there and consistently vote "no" on every single appropriations bill that ever comes up. Mickey, I love ya like a brother -- OK, maybe more like that crazy uncle that got put in a home a few years ago and nobody talks about anymore at the family reunions but everyone still has a few fond memories.

While I am not yet certain of who I will support in the primary for the 7th congressional district of Tennessee, but I do know that I am privileged to have the choice between two very fine candidates.

I also know that Tom has picked a very difficult fight and I give him about a 3% chance of winning. Not only is Marsha an entrenched incumbent, she is viewed as a rising star in the Republican party, makes frequent appearances on political talk shows and has about a million dollars in her campaign war chest. She's going to be tough to beat.

But I have to admit that it would be nice to be represented by someone from Shelby County instead of someone from over 200 miles away. The 7th district stretches from Mississippi to Kentucky as it weaves it's ludicrously gerrymandered path across the state and Blackburn is from Franklin, just south of Nashville.

Wendi Says Herenton's Resignation New Low

Wendi Thomas is in rare form with today's editorial on King Willie's resignation. She says that she is disappointed by it:

Not because I was a fan of Herenton. Don't get it twisted. I've spanked him in at least 15 columns. I shook my head when he fathered a child with a security guard. I shuddered when I saw him, shirtless, in a charity boxing match with Joe Frazier.

I sighed when he declared himself appointed by God, not the voters. I rolled my eyes when he got all street with the City Council and told them, "Don't bring me no mess, won't be no mess."

And I was nauseous when, in his October victory speech, he rejected an opportunity to be conciliatory and instead used his time at the mic as an opportunity to further divide the city along racial lines.

He has buried any civic achievements he could take credit for under a pile of trifling mess. His combative attitude, his condescension toward anyone who dared criticize him, his appointments of cronies to high-paying jobs, all while property taxes rose and city services shrank and citizens fled for anywhere outside the city limits.

But with his resignation, the chance -- albeit an off-chance, the remotest of possibilities -- of Herenton ending his tenure with honor and on a high note is gone.

OK, so maybe that wasn't a realistic dream -- that Herenton would suddenly stop acting foolish. But a girl can hope. Now, even that dim hope has been dashed.

She declares that she cannot take part in any celebrations of schadenfraude. I, on the other hand, see no reason not to.

King Willie's resignation cannot be a bad thing. If Wendi loves her city, then she should welcome this opportunity to instill a real leader to help us recover from more than sixteen years of Willie's ruinous rule.

Herenton to Resign

King Willie says he is leaving office to "pursue other challenges" effective 31 July.

With Herenton’s resignation, Memphis’ charter dictates that City Council chairman Scott McCormick will become mayor for 20 days. The council then will vote to appoint an interim mayor to serve until the next municipal or general election, which is scheduled for November. If the council cannot agree on an interim mayor within the 20 days, then CAO McGee becomes mayor until the next election.

Herenton, Memphis mayor since 1991, was re-elected to his fifth term just last November in a contentious three-way race. With his resignation, the city will be subjected to another expensive mayoral election process.

Willie says that he is considering several options, including returning to education from whence he came. A FOH (friend of Herenton) says that Willie is considering either going back to be the Memphis City Schools Superintendent or running for the Ninth Congressional District seat.

But one cannot help but wonder if his sudden departure has anything to do with the ongoing investigations:

As recently as December a federal grand jury subpoenaed records related to Herenton’s association with a city contractor.

The rumors of more arrests spinning off from Tennessee Waltz have refused to die, but I have come to the conclusion that this was more wishful thinking than anything else. Indeed, I think Left Wing Cracker may be correct when he suggests otherwise:

Does this have anything to do with the Grand Jury investigation, or is it just that he wanted one last electoral victory to say F--- YOU to those who wanted him out?

Creativity in War on Illegals

Tennessee lawmakers are often bound by federal legislation, and the fight against illegal immigration is no exception. But thanks to a bit of creative thinking by a Goodlettsville Democrat, the fight goes on:

A proposal to make it a crime for illegal immigrants to accept pay for work done in Tennessee is headed for floor votes in both chambers of the General Assembly. . . .

The measure sponsored by Sen. Joe Haynes, a Goodlettsville Democrat, could lead to fines of $500, up to six months in jail and require illegal immigrants to forfeit any earnings they receive.

Haynes says the Legislature is prevented from enacting tougher penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants because the state must defer to federal laws on the matter.

But federal laws do not pre-empt increased penalties against workers.

Now that's thinking outside of the box.

"English Only" Bill Passes TN Senate

The Tennessee Senate unanimously passed a bill allowing employers to mandate that only English can be spoken by workers while on the clock.

Meanwhile, the companion bill languishes in a House subcommittee. Anyone want to bet that Naifeh never lets this one see the light of day?

Speaking of old Jimmy Naifeh, I heard a rumor that Rory Bricco was considering a run against the House Speaker, but his site hasn't been updated to reflect that. In fact, his blog is little more than a convenient target for comment spam (only two blog posts and nearly 25,000 comments -- I won't provide the link so as to bump it up in Google ratings).

Lawmakers Pad Accounts with Per Diem

The Commercial Appeal has a rather inflammatory article about our state lawmakers pocketing per diem checks that far outweigh their base salary.

But in my opinion, anyone who is making less than $20K per year doing a job that doesn't stop just because congress is in recess should be able to get reimbursed for continuing their work. Representatives were in session 81 days last year, making them eligible for $13,041 in per diem expenses (at $161/day). The senate sat for 77 days, so they could reasonably collect $12,397.

Add on top of that Friday committee meetings, special hearings, a convention or three, and so on, and I can see that amount approaching $20K, effectively doubling their base salary.

Then again:

Topping the list was House Speaker Pro Tem Lois DeBerry, D-Memphis, who collected $31,967, much of which came as a result of 14 out-of-state trips -- more than any other legislator. . . .

Records of the payments show "legislative office work" as the most common entry. For example, state Rep. Brenda Gilmore, a Democrat who lives in Nashville, collected $4,830 in per diem for 30 days of out-of-session "legislative office work" in 2007, more than any other lawmaker.

Ah, now I see what the Commercial Appeal is upset about. Excessive junkets and "office work". Come one, the chick lives in Nashville. What does she do to with those $161 a day, spend it all on meals?

Two of them -- veteran Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville, and freshman Rep. Bob Bibb, D-Springfield -- reimbursed the state for the per diem payments they received in 2007. Both said their decision was personal and they do not fault others for accepting the payments.

"For me, I just could not in good conscience take money for expenses when I sleep in my own bed every night," said Bibb.

How refreshing. Ethical behavior. From Democrats, no less. Kudos.

Top per diem recipients for 2007:

Todd Curry Kowtows to Special Interest

It turns out that the organized attack against proposed legislation that would allow you to have wine shipped to your house (handy for those rare visits to Napa Valley) is actually funded by Tennessee wine and liquor wholesalers. [Gasp! Holy profit motive, Batman! You mean this blatant manipulation of the voting public is really just about money?]

That's right, gentle reader, the liquor industry is shamelessly sending out brazen, barefaced, unmitigated lies to constituents in a desperate attempt to shut down any possibility of competition from out-of-state retailers.

OK, "desperate" may be inaccurate, because their smear campaign is actually working.

Rep. Curry Todd (R - Collierville), whom I have met and respected, is apparently backing off of the very legislation that he sponsored!

Todd said he now intends to abandon efforts to pass the Internet wine sales bill. . . .

All four sponsors said they have been bombarded with critical comments on the pending legislation from constituents who had received information from Tennesseans Against Teen Drinking. Shepard said several "preacher friends" got faxes.

All four also said that, once they had talked with complaining constituents and explained the legislation, most people dropped their complaints.

A bill that will pour $10 million per year into the state's treasury is being killed because of a special interest and they are getting away with it.

Why am I not surprised.

HT to Mick Wright, who has previously expressed his disappointment with Todd.

Lies of StopTeenDrinkingTN.org

An organization calling itself StopTeenDrinkingTN.org sent me a rather inflammatory letter asking me to contact Senator Paul Stanley, author of a bill that is designed to allow adult citizens of Tennessee to have wine delivered to their home from out of state wineries. One section claims (emphasis in original):

Senate Bill 1977, sponsored  by your local state legislator, Sen. Paul Stanley, will make it legal to ship wine across state lines and directly into the hands of whoever opens the door of a home, no matter what their age. No ID check required.

Yet a simple search of current Tennessee legislation shows that article five of Senate Bill 1977 clearly states:

The containers must contain a label identifying the contents as containing alcohol and stating that a signature of a person age 21 or older is required.

Further, the status summary page shows that there have been no amendments to this legislation, meaning that the requirement of an adult signature has been in the text of the bill since the beginning. StopTeenDrinkingTN.org is lying, pure and simple. A check of their web site shows that the lie is repeated there as well.

This leads me to believe that StopTeenDrinkingTN.org is a fascist organization that will stop at nothing in their quest to extinguish freedom. The end, after all, justifies the means.