The World According to Oatney

We Told You So

2012-01-17T09:16:00.001-05:00

Remember I told you Tony Shipley and Dale Ford would be exonerated:

Indeed, the evidence that the so-called investigation into Shipley and Ford was really a witch-hunt mounted as then-Health Commissioner Susan Cooper and former legislative aide to the Governor Dale Kelly were dismissed under rather mysterious circumstances. Both of those individuals had a hand in seeing to it that the nurses in question were given their licenses back. The Examiner was able to pose the hard questions to one of those nurses, Bob Reynolds, who put himself at some risk to bring us the truth of the case and of the politicized nature of certain officialdom at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to light. All along, this writer maintained that Reps. Shipley (R-Kingsport) and Ford (R-Jonesborough) were victims of a hatchet job, and were being used as political fall guys for the failure of the Board of Nursing to do its job correctly.

Would You Like Cheese With That Whine?

2012-01-12T16:11:00.000-05:00

The Democrats are already whining about redistricting:

This new district map essentially does the reverse, and insures that cities, which are losing population, are not overrepresented in the next General Assembly, hence the real source of the Democrats' concern. There was very little in the way of complaint from Democrats about under-representation of rural Tennessee and East Tennessee back when they drew the districts and drew them to manufacture Democratic majorities that were padded at best and an outright fabrication of reality at worst. Now that it is time to administer the medication to the patient-Tennessee's electoral system-that Democrats made sick with years of neglect and taking their majorities for granted, Tennessee Democrats do not want to take their medicine. As they know very well from experience, the party that runs the General Assembly calls the tune in Tennessee-see how we felt all those years?

2012-01-11T17:04:00.003-05:00

If Tennessee wants a say in the Republican nominating process, South Carolina had better save the day:

Contrary to popular belief, the Republican nomination is far from decided in reality. After South Carolina, the series of States which vote on what this year will be Super Tuesday, March 6th, will all have their delegate counts decided on a proportional basis, most by congressional district. That means that if candidates were to campaign well, they could still challenge Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. The practical reality is that if Tennesseans want a real say in who will be the Republican nominee, it would appear that South Carolina is going to have to be the contest where someone defeats Mitt Romney, because at some point, money becomes a factor for those candidates who would otherwise have a chance to be nominated.

Just Make Sure You Do the Business

2012-01-10T14:42:00.002-05:00

Talk of early adjournment of the Tennessee General Assembly is a very good thing:

The Tennessee General Assembly convenes its second session today and gets underway in a matter of minutes as this column is being written. Indeed, by the time we go to press, session will almost certainly be underway in both Houses. Just as the General Assembly gets underway today, there is already talk of when the session will end, with the leadership of both Houses eager to get on with business and get out of Nashville as quickly as possible. Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey hinted during today's Senate session in an exchange with Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) as this column is being written that he was hoping for adjournment as soon as late April.

The New Congressional Order

2012-01-09T13:52:00.000-05:00

East Tennessee will soon have a new Congressional configuration:

With the Tennessee General Assembly set to open tomorrow, Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey releasing the likely Tennessee Congressional District map late last week, the the proposal set to become finalized early in the new session of the General Assembly. One thing that doesn't change is the compsition of the First Congressional District, in which this writer lives. Congressman Phil Roe's (R-Johnson City) will remain virtually the same, including taking in the 3rd civil district of Jefferson County (White Pine Precinct). The remaining 2/3rds of Jefferson County, however, won't be in the 3rd Congressional District represented by Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R-Chattanooga) any longer, but will join Grainger, Claibourne, and part of Campbell Counties in a refomed 2nd Congressional District anchored in Knox County and represented by Tennessee's senior Member of Congress, John J. Duncan Jr. (R-Knoxville).

Redistricting Is Here

2012-01-05T18:11:00.000-05:00

The Tennessee House and Senate redistricting plans have arrived:

The real changes appear to be coming in the Tennessee House of Representatives, especially for those of us in East Tennessee. What amounts to three new districts will be created in Knox County, including (if the map is correct) an 89th District in West Knox County. We won't ask for details on how 89 is consecutive with 13 through 19. Representative Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) won't represent any part of Knox County anymore, but he will have around 2/3rds of Jefferson and roughly the northern third of Sevier County as his new 17th District.

Wow...

2012-01-04T17:34:00.000-05:00

Sometimes that is the only word that comes to mind when the impossible becomes political reality:

There are times when watching a political result that all you can say is "wow." Last night's Iowa Caucuses were such a moment. This writer prays his wife will forgive him for being up until after 4:00am awaiting the final result. We've been up all night to await election outcomes before, but I can't recall the last time I was up all night awaiting an outcome during primary and caucus season.

When the final result came in, even though the numbers showed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at the top literally by just a few votes, it is former Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) who can be the one to claim victory. Within a matter of a month, he came from around 3% of the vote to effectively tie at the top of the caucus margins.

Occupy the Rose Parade?

2012-01-02T11:29:00.000-05:00

Is nothing sacred to these people?:

Another group of Occupy protesters are set to make utter fools of themselves before a national and worldwide audience. The annual Tournament of Roses Parade is scheduled to get underway this morning in Pasadena, California. The annual spectacle features floats made of roses, a beautiful Rose Queen, and ends the day with the oldest college football bowl game in existence, the Rose Bowl. It isn't remotely a political place or a political event, indeed many of the floats and attractions in the parade are geared toward children. That doesn't seem to matter to the publicity hounds of Occupy. Rather than organize their own event, they are going to sponge off of the hard work of the Tournament of Roses organizers in what they are calling "Occupy the Rose Parade," where the intend to display a giant octopus at the end of the parade route.

Occupy Somewhere Else

2011-12-26T13:47:00.002-05:00

Occupy Nashville may ruin it for the rest of us:

As readers recall, we have defended without reservation the constitutional right of those sitting in at the Tennessee Capitol to be there, and we were critical of the Governor and Public Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons for attempting to evict them. Rights come with responsibilities, however, chief of which is that those exercising a right should conduct themselves with good sense so as not to ruin that same exercise for others who may wish to engage in similar activities in future for other reasons. Governor Bill Haslam's apparent move to modify the use policy of the Capitol grounds, which have traditionally always been open to the public at all times and all hours of the day and night, has its roots not with the Governor's office, but with the frustration of the legislative staff who work at the Capitol every day.

The 25th of December

2011-12-25T01:48:00.000-05:00

ON THE 25th OF DECEMBER-

In the 5199th year of the creation of the world, from the time when in the beginning God created heaven and earth;

In the 2957th year from the time of the Great Flood over the whole Earth;

2015 years after the birth of Abraham, our Father in Faith;

1510 years after Moses and the going-out of the children of Israel from Egypt;

1032 years after the anointing of David as king;

In the 65th week according to the prophecy of Daniel;

In the 194th Olympiad;

The 752nd year from the founding of the city of Rome;

In the 42nd year of the rule of Octavian Augustus,

When the whole world was at peace;

In the sixth age of the world;

JESUS CHRIST, the eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to sanctify the world by His most merciful coming, having been conceived by the Holy Ghost, and nine months having passed since His conception, WAS BORN in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary, HAVING BECOME MAN.

THE NATIVITY of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

Drugs On the Dole?

2011-12-22T16:26:00.002-05:00

If you're on the dole and you aren't on drugs, why wouldn't you want to be tested?:

Senator Campfield's proposal, unlike the controversial Florida law under federal injunction, would only test for illegal and/or illicit substances, not for prescription drugs of any kind. Because of this, Campfield's legislation should be relatively low-cost and well worth it in order to keep the State of Tennessee from funding someone's illegal choices as much as it is possible to do so. Since these are taxpayer-funded benefits, there should be no debate about the need to keep tax money from moving into the world of illegal drugs and-for more importantly-the current criminal underworld which deals in them which such tax money would be (and in some cases-however small the number-certainly is) helping to fund.

DeBerry Is Free

2011-12-21T18:02:00.000-05:00

Former Tennessee House Speaker Pro Tempore says that she is free of cancer:

State Representative Lois DeBerry (D-Memphis) has said that after over three years of fighting cancer of the pancreas that she is free of the disease. Doubtless she is thankful, as The Tennessean put it today, just to be alive this Christmas. The veteran Shelby County Democratic legislator has been a fixture in the Tennessee House of Representatives for four decades, and she served as the first woman Speaker pro Tempore of the House. She has battled cancer since 2009, and now she says she feels as though she has a new lease on life.

Boehner's the Deal-Breaker

2011-12-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

Apparently, the Chattanooga Tea Party won't endorse Chuck Fleischmann because House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) showed up at his fundraiser:

When we have said in the past that many local Tennessee Tea Party leaders strike us as not knowing the first thing about the game of politics, this is an example of how this writer and others have come to that conclusion. Political parties in any political system anywhere in the world are coalitions which exist in part to gain power over government bodies. Once they have that power, their first and primary goal is to do what it takes to keep that power, and in our political system, that means raising money. A Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives normally wants to raise money for all of his candidates to help them stay in office, and he or she will appear at as many fundraisers as they possibly can for them. Appearance at such a fundraiser is not necessarily indicative that candidate X always sees eye-to-eye with the Speaker, it just means that the Speaker is doing what he has to do politicaly to make sure that a seat stays in his party's hands. If Weston Wamp or Jean Howard-Hill were to win the Republican nomination instead of Fleischmann, it would not be the least bit surprising to see John Boehner at a fundraiser for either of them in the future.

Haslam and Voter ID

2011-12-19T16:57:00.002-05:00

Does he just walk the way the wind blows?:

We understand that in Tennessee, a Governor's veto is essentially worthless, since a veto can be over-ridden by a simple majority in both Houses of the General Assembly. However, Governors have used vetos before in order to make a public statement about their objection to some particular piece of legislation that came to them from the General Assembly. If Haslam has such an objection to the provisions of the Voter ID law, wouldn't the appropriate time to voice those issues be when the bill comes to his desk for his required signature, and he has a public news conference and says "I just can't abide this and I am going to veto it, you all worry about it if you decide to over-ride me?" Haslam didn't do that, in fact he didn't even veto the legislation without public fanfare. What did Governor Haslam do to voice his supposed objections to the Voter ID Law? He signed the bill, and with little public comment.

Get A Purpose of Go Home

2011-12-16T15:22:00.001-05:00

Occupy Nashville had better come up with a good reason for being at the Plaza:

Protestors reacted by using power supplied by a battery powered generator for the day, and Occupy Nashville says they are going to pay to have the outlet in question rewired so that the wiring is not exposed any longer. That is well and fine, of course, but at this point it is fair to ask: What purpose is Occupy Nashville serving by remaining on the Plaza? Readers will recall that we have consistently supported the right of the protesters to be on the Plaza, but we have also said that they need to develop a purpose and a strategy or end their sit-in. The sit-in is now posing a risk to the health and safety of the very people who came to participate in it, and whose rights we have consistently defended in this space (despite the reality that this writer does not agree with the apparent politics of the Occupiers).

We Don't Deliver For You

2011-12-15T15:02:00.002-05:00

In order to survive, the Post Office must have a business model that is relevant:

Everyone knows that the real problem for the Post Office is the reality that the institution-one of the few government offices whose creation was authorized in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 7) has failed to adapt to the realities of the 21st Century. From colonial times right up to the late 1990's, the majority of long-distance communication in America was done by means of letters sent in the post. Not only has the widespread availability of internet access allowed people to send letters via e-mail, but long distance communication has become cheaper and easier in general. Most wireless telephone providers offer free long distance, and to compete, many land-line phone carriers offer unlimited long distance plans. You don't even have to have internet access at home to send an e-mail-You can do that from your local library for nothing.

Ring That Bell

2011-12-14T20:12:00.004-05:00

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey has chosen a conservative stalwart with a strong work ethic to lead the Senate Government Operations Committee:

Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey has announced that State Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) will replace Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson) as Chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee. Watson has been elevated to the position of Speaker Pro Tempore of the Senate, replacing former Senator Jamie Woodson (R-Knoxville) who resigned her Senate seat this last summer. Bell is a committed fiscal and social conservative with the voting record to prove it.

Moving Ahead With It

2011-12-13T16:06:00.001-05:00

Speaker Beth Harwell and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey are pressing ahead with plans to reduce or eliminate the death tax and the Hall Income Tax:

Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) both say that they are going to press ahead with respective House and Senate plans to cut and/or eliminate the death tax and the Hall income tax on dividends. Speaker Harwell told the Associated Press's Erik Schelzig that " House Republicans have wanted to address this issue [the inheritance tax] for a long time." Indeed, many House Republicans campaigned and were elected throughout Tennessee on platforms that included abolishing the death tax, and Republicans in both Houses of the General Assembly have the numbers to do it is they but stand together. As with any other Governor in Tennessee, a Haslam veto is a worthless one if a simple majority in both Houses chooses to override it.

If Not Now, When?

2011-12-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

If Tennessee taxes will not be cut now, when will they be cut?:

Despite Haslam's admission that these taxes do not represent long-term good or a pro-growth economic policy for Tennessee, the Governor claims that we can't afford to cut or eliminate them, or for that matter to abolish Tennessee's tax on groceries, which hurts the poorest citizens of our State. Haslam says we are still in an economic pinch and need to conserve every penny, and if these taxes were reduced or eliminated, that neither he nor the General Assembly has a strategy to replace the lost revenue that would result. Perhaps the Governor and the General Assembly need to come up with such a strategy so that these taxes can be cut for the benefit of all Tennesseans. Governments always come up with some excuse why they can't really cut taxes or reduce their size, and at some point when economic times are a bit better, it still isn't likely that either Haslam or a future Governor of either party will be beating the doors to the House and Senate Chambers down to demand passage of a major tax reduction. As is currently the case, a group of legislators will have to take the initiative, and we will again hear excuses from all quarters about why it can't be done or shouldn't be done now.

Open Meetings Act

2011-12-09T15:29:00.001-05:00

Revisions to the Tennessee Open Meetings Act should be done sparingly and handled with great care:

It is true that the chief proposal, which comes out of Williamson County and is being sponsored in the Tennessee House in the next session by former House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada (R-Franklin). The legislation was apparently brought to Casada by the Williamson County Commission. The proposed change would allow closed-door discussions among commissioners and other local officials so long as a quorum is not present. The problem with this approach is that it could too easily be used to circumvent public input simply by setting up two separate non-quorum meetings, quietly coming to agreement behind closed doors, and taking a vote at the public meeting without recourse to free, open, or public debate. Such a maneuver-however well-intentioned-is a serious danger to free government wherever it exists and should be discouraged at all costs.

NAACCCP

2011-12-08T17:52:00.001-05:00

Watch it, if Tennessee doesn't repeal our voter ID law, our friends at the NAACP are going to bring in the UN!:

Suppose that the United Nations Human Rights Commission decides that Tennessee is violating the human rights of voters by requiring them to identify themselves. How would the U.N. correct the problem? Would the United Nations attempt to tell the U.S. Justice Department how to interpret constitutional law? If the Justicew Department or the federal government did not intervene in Tennessee, does the NAACP propose that the U.N. send in multinational troops to enforce its will on the people of the State of Tennessee?

Silence Here

2011-12-07T16:30:00.001-05:00

The Knoxville News Sentinel has apparently decided that there is really no Silence here:

This is yet another example of the declining quality of the News Sentinel and of Scripps newspapers generally. One has to wonder if the News Sentinel will suffer the same fate eventually as the Rocky Mountain News and The Cincinnati Post-which had been the very flagship of the Scripps chain. The Rocky and the Post were good papers, but if the KNS wants to join them in their fate, cutting your best people from the staff is not the way to insure viability. In what is likely the last post on his blog No Silence Here, Michael Silence confirmed via the paper's online staff that the rumors of his departure were true this morning.

The Ballot Is Fixed

2011-12-06T12:36:00.001-05:00

The ballot for Tennessee's March 6th Presidential primary is fixed:

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced the names of the candidates who will appear on the ballot Tennessee's scheduled March 6th, 2012 Republican Presidential Preference Primary yesterday. The Republican candidates that Tennesseans will have to choose from in March are Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Charles “Buddy” Roemer, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

Super Tuesday?

2011-12-05T13:39:00.001-05:00

Tennessee's influence in the presidential race may just have increased:

If Cain endorses Gingrich, he may throw more conservative support in Tennessee behind Newt, even as we know that Haslam family money and political push are behind Mitt Romney. That kind of political pull may wield results in Statewide races, but in 2008, we saw a clear backlash from social conservatives against the prevailing establishment wisdom when they chose Mike Huckabee in the Tennessee primary over John McCain or Mitt Romney. If more conservative primary voters are in that kind of mood in 2012, and they see Gingrich as their only option against a former Massachusetts Governor with a liberal record who can't even decide if he is pro-life this week, they may choose Gingrich as well.

Just as the 2012 presidential campaign is very fluid at this point, so is the primary race in Tennessee itself. Perhaps the biggest question for interested Tennesseans may be what kind of role Tennessee will end up playing in the nomination process. In 2008, Tennessee ended up having a quasi-major role in keeping former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in the campaign for as long as he was. According to the current schedule of primaries and caucuses, Tennessee appears to be set to vote on March 6th, which-if there are no major changes in the primary calendar before that date-will be Super Tuesday.

No Hiding

2011-12-01T14:30:00.001-05:00

When you comment on a major news site, you should stand by your words with a name:

V=The Examiner now essentially forces commenters to post via their Facebook accounts, and the number of vitriolic or (for lack of a better word) just plain ignorant comments seems to have been drastically reduced, and instead we see thoughtful comments that contribute to the discussion. E.W. Scripps and the Knoxville News Sentinel ought to consider adopting a similar policy for their websites. If you believe in what you are saying, then it shouldn't be something that you are attempting to hide behind on the internet.