WATE Knoxville:

A proposal that would restrict credit card solicitations to students on college campuses is headed to the governor for his consideration.

A compromise allowing solicitation on game days saved the bill from the GOP.

Sean Braisted critiques Harold Ford Jr.'s American Center for Cures proposal and wonders how it's different from the National Institute of Health. Good question.

I am in a state of deep confusion and conflict. Now, the confusion part is not new ground for me but this whole thing is interesting and so typical of my (right now) home of Louisiana, I thought I would post this just for ##i## and grins. The Legislature of Louisiana is mad at the newspapers. Not a unique situation, the Lege is usually mad at someone or something but right now it is newspapers in general and the Baton Rouge and Lake Charles papers in particular.

Rep. Campfield:

The Gov is killing the drunk driver licence [sic] revocation bill. He is saying he can not afford the 75 employees needed to process the information. I started to wonder. 75 people to type in a revocation of someones [sic] licence at the DMV? How many drunk drivers does the state catch in one year?

I did some simple math, lets just say it takes all of ten minutes to type one in. That is 6 per hour x 8 hours in a day x 5 days a week x 50 weeks a year x 75 employees that totaled 900,000 DUI arrests in one year. I did not realize that almost 1/6 of the states total population of 6 million (That includes every man, women, child and elderly person of the state. some who I doubt drive at all) get arrested every year for a DUI! Look out, our roads are more dangerous then I thought.

Fortunately, the Tennessee legislature doesn't pass bills based on simple-minded calculations such as these. Bills must have a "fiscal note" explaining the financial impact of the legislation.

The bill in question is HB4213/SB4196. The fiscal note for HB4213 says there are "34,000 DUI arrests and approximately 27,000 convictions per year," which answers Campfield's first question.

It goes on to say:

To implement the provisions of this bill [Department of Safety] will require the following additional resources: 44 additional positions in the Driver License Issuance Division; 17 additional positions in the Information Processing Division; two additional positions in the Human Resource Division; two additional positions in the Fiscal Services Division; three additional positions in Information Resources; and seven additional positions in the Legal Division. The total number of positions required is estimated to be 75.

It also estimates that three additional Chancellors with two support positions each will be needed to handle appeals, plus one additional Court of Appeals Judge with a staff of three support positions.

This bill appears to be a more comprehensive replacement for HB2882, which Campfield co-sponsored. The fiscal note for HB2882 says the Department of Safety would need 35 additional employees and that the Attorney General would need two additional lawyers and a paralegal.

So Rep. Campfield doesn't even read or understand the legislation he cosponsors and supports, or he would know that there is a lot more to it than hiring someone to "type in a revocation of someones [sic] licence at the DMV."

Drafting legislation is complicated business best suited for adults. Perhaps the simple-minded ought to find more suitable work.

At the end of April, the Commercial Appeal ran an important report about guns in the Memphis public schools - 162 incidents over five years. Even with no fatalities and only a few actual woundings, this is a jaw-dropping number - close to one a week during the school year.

Six of the incidents happened at a school I once attended. One happened where my mother taught remedial reading many years ago, another where my father taught math even more years ago. Three guns were found at the high school that I could see from the dining room of the first house I really remember.

I have to wonder how many guns are not being found. Metal detectors only managed to find eight of the guns. Tips led to most of the confiscations. Many of the violating kids started as victims. How many gang members are too intimidating for anyone to rat on? How many of them carry a gun every day without the school system finding out?

At WBIR

UPDATE: Guess it's over? Is there an archive?

UPDATE: WSMV liveblog (by way of ACK).

UPDATE: Tom Humphrey: 2000+ layoffs.

The Donkey’s Mouth:

A routine bill to reauthorize the continued existence of approximately 60 state agencies and departments is now being held hostage by Senate Republicans in the Government Operations Committee. Ramsey says he will not allow the bill to pass unless the state changes the way it elects justices to the Supreme Court in a way that allows Ramsey to appoint activist judges to the panel. "[This bill] is the hammer that I have. I’ll admit that," Ramsey told the Tennessean.

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. How'd that work out for Newt Gingrich?

North Carolina and Indiana primary reaction from Tennessee progressive bloggers:

WhitesCreek Journal: Congratulations! Obama will be the Democratic Nominee

Obama ran a positive campaign against a formidible opponent who did not...and has won.

Nashville for the 21st Century: Will Limbaugh Win?

If Hillary wins by 10-15,000 votes, I think it becomes much easier to see the effect of Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" on the Democratic race.

Sharoncobb: Hillary Won't Appear On Talk Shows Today, And Has Only One Public Appearance. Why Her Campaign Is Over

Hillary will probably quit going negative, and in an ironic twist, will stay in the race because she doesn't want to make Obama look bad by dropping out and him possibly losing Kentucky and West Virginia without her in the race.

Today she'll be meeting with her closest advisers planning her exit strategy. She will most likely stay in the race through May 20 or June 3, but will start winding down and start uniting the party.

Silence Isn't Golden: The Post-Mortem

But as far as a Presidential race is concerned, it's over. Hillary is now the post-Super Tuesday Mike Huckabee--she may win a few more contests, but there is no chance of her winning the nomination now. I would like her to drop out tomorrow, but I have no illusions that she'll do so. Her window to win it via superdelegate coup is narrowing too, because there's no reason for undecided superdelegates not to back Obama now. He recovered from losing Pennsylvania. He weathered the Wright debacle. He wasn't hurt by his refusal to pander on the gas tax issue. Hillary's "electability" argument lost a lot of air tonight.

Clinton's done | KnoxViews

OK, then.

10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: NC, IN

Oh, please, let this be the night that puts us all out of our misery. UPDATE: Clinton has cancelled all public events for tomorrow (except for a fundraiser tomorrow night).

Vibinc: PRIMARY THAT WILL NEVER END - liveblog - Updated with Cookies

Harold Ickes warns of Obama October Surprise. His argument is that we just don't know enough about Obama, but Hillary has been out there for years and is safe. Puhhhhleeeze! Hang it up Harry. Chances are, you're not getting paid either.

UPDATE: Tennessee Guerilla Women: Indiana/NC Primary Drama: Brazile and Begala Slug It Out On CNN (Video)

But the real drama was at CNN where Campbell Brown actually challenged Donna Brazile's sham of a "neutral" position. The whole world knows that Donna is an Obambot, yet the Democratic Party leader continues the sham of appearing on CNN as a neutral commentator. With leadership like Brazile's, little wonder the Democratic Party appears to be "cracking up." At one point Brazile seemed to suggest that the new Democratic Party of Blacks and elite liberals (eggheads and African-Americans) doesn't really need working class and Hispanic voters.

Medical Malpractice Notice and Certificate of Merit Bill Sent to Governor

The legislation creates a significant hurdle for filing medical malpractice actions in Tennessee. Attorneys now face a financial penalty for filing cases without consulting an expert before or shortly after filing suit.

Previous discussion here. The limit on damages did not make it in to the final bill. That's next.

(By way of ACK)

Progressive Nashville:

Noted economist Phil Valentine says all this talk about a recession is nonsense. We haven't recorded two consecutive quarters of negative growth, so we should spend like drunken sailors lest our pessimism create a recession.

Thank heavens Valentine doesn't have control of anything more dangerous than a cough switch.

Yes, wingnut radio talk show hosts are the first place I turn for financial advice.

Some believe we can talk ourselves into a recession, or spend our way out of one. I'm not so sure the borrow-and-spend approach is working. What do you think?

The Tennessean

"The blatant prosecutorial misconduct in this case shows two things," Gilbert S. Merritt, the presiding judge on the panel, said in an interview after the ruling.

"First, the local district attorney in East Tennessee should never have prosecuted House in the first place, but certainly should have released him more than 10 years ago once he received the exculpatory DNA evidence.

"Second, the local district attorneys, rather than the Attorney General or the Governor, exercise almost complete control over the system of criminal justice in Tennessee.

"They are frequently mistaken and frequently abuse their power," Merritt said.

Flashback: Nashville Scene, 2005.

The current session of the Tennessee General Assembly is winding down, and while restricting abortion is off the table, coal mine operators are free to continue blasting the tops off mountains, and AT&T got its cable franchise bill passed putting hundreds of lobbyists out of work, there are still a number of important bills pending such as home health care for seniors, lottery scholarships, paper ballots, and more. The Nashville Tennessean has a summary. Oh, and there's that budget thing.

After dropping out of high school in the 9th grade, Gretchen Wilson (at 34 years old) passed her GED exam in April.

I'm not sure what she means by this statement:

Wilson told The Tennessean that her 7-year-old daughter was the big reason to finally finish, saying, "I certainly don't want her to think you can be this successful without an education."

I'm pretty sure she already proved you can be very successful without an education.

The next general meeting of the Sumner County Democratic Party will be Saturday, May 10, 9:30am in the cafeteria at the Billy S. Hobbs Municipal Center, 105 College Street in White House. This is a joint meeting with the Robertson County Democratic Party. Continental breakfast will be available. Former House Majority Leader Kim McMillan will be our guest. Kim has formed an exploratory committee in preparation for a possible run for governor in 2010. She is touring the state to get input from Tennesseans. Here is your chance to let her know what is on your mind as we look to continue Democrats' legacy of good government in Tennessee. Of course our candidates for state office will be available to listen to your concerns. Come meet Andy Allman, Mike McDonald and Jim Hawkins. Rep. Bob Bibb from Springfield is also scheduled to attend. For more info contact stillblue@sumnerdems.org

Tennessean: Senator discloses AT&T link after vote

What Ketron didn't mention then was that his wife, Theresa, works for AT&T Mobility, the company's wireless unit, which he had noted on his ethics disclosures this year. Nor did Ketron mention the tie when he acted as an unofficial spokesman for behind-the-scenes wrangling over the bill earlier this year.

[..] Ketron said beforehand that he planned to invoke the rule, and he did, though not from the floor. He declared it after the vote with the Senate clerk's office. Ketron said he forgot to declare Rule 13 earlier amid his excitement over passing the bill.

The article lists other legislators with ties to AT&T, some of whom recused themselves from the vote.

But all that sounds somewhat sounds trivial compared with AT&T's connections to Bredesen and Jimmy Naifeh, who shepherded the bill through. From WBIR:

AT&T has a small army of registered lobbyists -- 28 in all, according to Tennessee Ethics Commission records. Among them is Naifeh's wife, Betty Anderson. Though registered with the state, Anderson cannot lobby for the franchising legislation, according to AT&T.

The company has also enlisted Randy Camp, a former state court administrator and personnel commissioner to Bredesen; Beth Winstead, Naifeh's former assistant chief clerk and Bredesen's former chief lobbyist when he was Nashville mayor; and Anna Windrow, Bredesen's former senior adviser.

AT&T also employs Bob Corney, Bredesen's former communications chief, as a spokesman, and Dave Cooley, Bredesen's former deputy governor, as a consultant.

The article also talks about nine lobbyists for the cable companies, some of whom also have Bredesen ties.

At any rate, AT&T has been pretty successful doing business in Tennessee. Does this mean I might get DSL soon? I've been waiting four years.

Erika Johnson, who worked with acclaimed feminist artist Judy Chicago at the Vanderbilt University invitational in 2006, will create an installation in the Parthenon’s West Gallery. (Link...)

Curtain Erika Johnson

Johnson’s installation is an attempt to address and reconcile these issues. As she states, “Curtain is an installation, a fearful, playful, hopeful attempt at reclamation, an invitation.”

An opening reception will take place at the Parthenon on Saturday, May 3 from 6-8 p.m.

CLARKSVILLE, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY at Customs House Museum (Link...)

Annual Clarksville Train Fest Free Admission!
May 3rd (10:30 am to 4 pm) & 4th (1 pm to 4 pm)
Two locations: The Customs House Museum & L & N Train Depot

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

The Netherland Inn House Museum and Boatyard Complex in Kingsport opens Its Season Saturday May 3. The Netherland Inn is open May through October. The Nation's only registered historical site which was both a stage stop and a boatyard. For details see the Netherland Inn page on Art Museum Touring.com. (Link...)

Opening Day May 3! Come and celebrate! Free Admission.

• Fun and Games
• Cake walk
• Bake sale
• Blue grass music
• Col. Hubert Gilliam will give a talk about the Battle of King Mountain
• antiques

Sounds like a day of family fun!

Support your local galleries and museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

That's Two dead women connected with this very Republican scandal, and Senator David Vitter is still in office.

Let the Conspiracy Games begin!

You need a flowchart to follow this drama in the House as Republicans attempted to pull the SJR127 anti-abortion bill up for a vote. The attempt failed. It's deja vu all over again.

Chattanooga Times Free Press

After little debate, the state Senate voted 29-0 this morning to send compromise legislation that would let AT&T begin competing with cable companies to Gov. Phil Bredesen.

Just checked outside. Didn't see any AT&T or Charter trucks lined up competing for accounts. And still no AT&T DSL, four years later.

"Hometown Tennessee" Exhibition Closes Today, May 1, at the Tennessee State Museum. An exhibition, organized by the Tennessee State Museum, celebrating the history, industry, and community spirit of towns throughout the state opens April 7, at Legislative Plaza in the War Memorial Building.

Visitors can examine the past through everyday artifacts such as postcards, patent medicine bottles, and white oak baskets associated with great Tennessee towns. The exhibit will showcase the history of local communities, as well as the museum’s vast collections which document the state’s storied past. It is free and open to the public through May 1, 2008. (Link...)

Support your local galleries and museums! The are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Knoxville News Sentinel

Tennessee Chief Justice William M. Barker's retirement clears the way for Justice Janice M. Holder of Memphis to become the state's first female chief justice.

Read more at the link.

Ideas and policies from the days of Jimmy Carter on energy independence and a massive push for development of alternate energy sources are all the rage again. It's worth noting that Carter's Energy Security Act of 1980 was dismantled within a few months by President Reagan. As fuel and oil prices fell, zero plans for the future were made, even with the creation of the Department of Energy in the late 1970s. The real cost of ignoring energy needs for the future is being calculated today and it will burn into every layer of our economy and into every lifestyle.

Carter's speech from the summer of 1979 echoes all the rhetoric today: reducing imports, a brand new research and development of alternate fuels, a new commitment, windfall profits taxation, and on and on.

Current programs enacted by President Bush now have energy needs and food needs competing. As R. Neal posted yesterday, it seems more a backward movement than forward. Today's Washington Post reports on the corn as fuel and corn as food battle.

As much as the leadership in Washington is to blame for abandoning real solutions over the last 30 years, we have to blame ourselves too - for letting them slide and for indulging ourselves even more and for increasing our reliance on the commercial structures which have expanded our needs for energy.

I keep hearing the Narrator's lines in the opening of the post-apocalyptic movie "The Road Warrior":

"To understand who he was, you have to go back to another time. When the world was powered by the black fuel. And the desert sprouted great cities of pipe and steel. Gone now, swept away. For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all. Without fuel, they were nothing. They built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked. But nothing could stem the avalanche ... On the roads it was a white line nightmare ... In the roar of an engine, he lost everything. And became a shell of a man, a burnt out, desolate man, a man haunted by the demons of his past, a man who wandered out into the wasteland."

Chattanooga Times Free Press:

Tennessee sales tax collections suffered their worst drop in 47 years this month, officials said Tuesday.

[..] Using his numbers, Dr. Fox is projecting as much as a $600 million shortfall, which appears to take into account the $180 million in previously stated reductions.

[..] Commissioner Goetz later said in an interview that the state likely will have to cut "substantially more" than the $389 million.

Analysts blame the shortfall on the slowing economy. In my opinion, lack of consumer confidence is also a factor as people cut back on non-essential purchases.

P.S. But see, this is the great thing about a sales tax. You can voluntarily give yourself a tax cut!

Chattanooga Times Free Press:

Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice William M. Barker will retire at noon Sept. 1 after a 25-year judicial career, according to a statement from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

Looks like Gov. Bredesen will be appointing another Justice. Do you think there will be controversy?

The State of Tennessee House Budget subcommittee of the Finance, Ways,and Means Committee has HB1256 on their April 30, 2008 agenda.

HB1256:

Election Laws - Requires any voting system purchased after the effective date of this act to provide the ballot of record be a paper ballot marked by the voter with appropriate accommodation for persons with disabilities; requires such ballot to be available to voter to verify the vote; requires that secrecy of the voter's choice be maintained. - Amends TCA Title 2.

Sharon Cobb has a list of the House Budget subcommittee memeber to contact in support of the bill.

Mike Padgett says Senator Alexander is engaging in election-year grandstanding about gas prices:

"In five years as a United States senator, he has done nothing that would prevent the pain we’re feeling now at the pump," Padgett said after Senator Alexander announced that he would propose a "Manhattan Project-style" effort to break U.S. energy dependence on foreign producers.

"This is nothing more than an election-year re-invention for Senator Alexander.

"When Democrats put a strong energy bill on the table last year, he made a lot of noise about how he was for its 35 mpg requirement, then he stepped right in line with the White House and threatened to stop the bill in its tracks if it ended tax breaks to Big Oil.

"And if he is really a champion of clean energy, why has he led the charge against wind energy? Meanwhile, he is a big fan of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"Tennessee voters are too smart to be fooled by this pandering. I ask them to stand with me, and when it comes time to vote on energy legislation, I will stand with them, not the oil industry."

Mike Padgett is exactly right about Alexander's election year pandering.

But Padgett's thoughts on energy policy at his website are a little short-sighted, being focused mainly on the price of gas (which is already artificially low) and helping out Tennessee's farmers by replacing oil with biofuel from corn and soybeans and switchgrass.

We used to feed grains to our horses. Feeding them to our cars is a step back 100 years into the past. Switchgrass is marginally better. But we need to get beyond internal combustion and burning up our natural resources (including topsoil) and competing with our cars for food.

But at least Padgett has thoughts. Bob Tuke does not address energy policy at all on his website.

Democrats are going to have to bring their A game to compete with the GOP machine against Lamar Alexander.

That said, either Democrat will improve by an order of magnitude our current Tennessee Senate delegation, and help give us a fighting chance to start undoing eight years of catastrophic Bush/GOP/Big Oil energy policy.

Bob Tuke, candidate for U.S. Senate, notes that Thursday is the fifth anniversary of Bush's "Mission Accomplished" stunt carrier landing and costume photo event, wonders what mission Bush and his allies in Congress have accomplished? Tuke notes a few accomplishments...

The League of Women Voters, the Tennessee Womens Political Caucus, the Nashville Section of the National Council of Jewish Women, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU of Tennessee have banded together to send the Tennessee House of Representatives a simple message: Just say "NO" to SJR127.

The group has also singled out former State Senator-turned-lobbyist David Fowler for fighting amendments that would protect victims of rape or incest and provide exceptions to save a pregnant woman's life, noting that the bill would have a better chance in the House with those amendments.

They also note that justifying the bill on the grounds of banning late term abortions is misleading and a non-issue because the practice is already illegal under federal law.

The coalition issued the following press release today...

And, he proposes a $3.6 trillion tax increase to pay for it.