August 31, 2006

Coming Soon: Robots That Blog

I don't have an Xbox 360 and don't want one. And if I did want one, I wouldn't want it to blog.

Rumsfeld is right.

Rumsfeld is right.

Jack's New Site

Jack Johnson, running for the Tennessee state Senate District 23 seat previously held by current Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Bryson and, before that, by current U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, has a newly renovated campaign website. It looks great, and contains a lot of information about Jack and where he stands on a variety of important issues. Jack Johnson is a worthy successor to Blackburn and Bryson. I'm hoping that, after he wins in November, the site will be converted to a blog...

Tearing Down Building Red America

Former Nashvillian Daniel Casse reviews Washington Post reporter Tom Edsall's new book, Building Red America, in the Wall Street Journal today. He doesn't much like it. The review is available to WSJ.com subscribers only, but here's an excerpt...

...most readers will not find much that is new here. Like many before him, he describes the economic power of the growing investor class, the close ties between corporations and Washington's political culture, and the rise of politically active evangelicals. In Mr. Edsall's telling, the middle class's fear of tax increases - combined with the social conservatives' loathing of the social-sexual revolution - has created a wide-reaching Republican base. Fear and greed, it would seem, are the main things that explain GOP success.

To buttress his thesis, Mr. Edsall relies on many long quotations from academics, journalists, pollsters and a few intemperate and garrulous conservatives. But there is very little in-the-field reporting in "Building Red America," despite Mr. Edsall's credentials as an old-school newspaper man. He writes endlessly about the "coordinated machinations of the conservative movement," yet he makes no effort to explore the think tanks, the mega-churches, the small-business coalitions, the fund-raising groups, the bloggers, the magazines, the lobbyists and the party activists that make up today's loose Republican confederation.

So determined is Mr. Edsall to show that the Republican Party is a monolith, controlled by a coterie of K Street lobbyists and evangelical activists, that he barely mentions the current tumult in the Republican ranks. Immigration, White House spending, the war in Iraq - each has stirred GOP dissent and threatened mutiny against a sitting Republican president. But to give such rancor its due would shatter Mr. Edsall's overarching thesis of a lockstep Republican drive for power.

As a result, there is a certain Rip Van Winkle quality to "Building Red America." Mr. Edsall writes darkly about the Republican intent to roll back the welfare state, as if it hadn't been the topic of a hundred Newt Gingrich speeches. He announces a "yawning ideological gap" between the Democratic and Republican coalitions, as if no one else had noticed the red-state/blue-state divide during the past two presidential election cycles. He mines congressional voting records to discover -hold onto your hat - that Republicans are more supportive of the Pentagon than Democrats.

Mr. Edsall is slightly more persuasive when he documents the liabilities of the Democratic Party, arguing (contrary to many other analysts) that the resurgence of progressive movements will not spur a populist, center-left majority. But here, too, he seems out of touch. He ascribes the weakness of Democrats to their failure to generate as much anger as Republicans. Really? Has he never listened to Air America or read the Daily Kos blog when the subject of Karl Rove or Dick Cheney comes up?

If you're still inclined to buy Edsall's book, do so through the link above - at least that way some of the profits will go toward supporting BillHobbs.com, just one small node in the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.

Show Me...

Some Missourians want Fred Thompson to run for president in 2008. I don't blame them. I like Fred too. And if he ran, he'd win. But he's not going to run.

August 30, 2006

No Surprise

No surprise: The Tennessean editorial page comes out against the proposed charter change for the city of Nashville which would give Nashville voters the power to approve or reject future property tax increases. It makes a weak argument:

Members of the Metro Council are privy to considerable discussion and documentation about the cost of services in Nashville and the estimates of the city's revenue streams. Only after that information is digested and the options weighed can council members make informed decisions about tax rates.

The proposed amendment asks voters to make the final call on a property tax hike, despite the fact that most voters do not have detailed information on the Metro budget and do not have the responsibility to provide services.

What The Tennessean is saying, really, is that Metro Council - not the people who earned the money - should have first rights to that money. Says the paper's editorial,

The Metro officials who are responsible for making the city run should also be responsible for setting the tax rate.

The paper and the opponents of the proposed charter change may one day make a strong argument against the proposal, but neither telling the people of Nashville they aren't smart enough to read a budget, nor telling them that it's the government's money first, is that argument.

Update: The unspoken beliefs that underlie the Tennessean's editorial is the belief that, A) tax rate increases are always necessary if Metro Council sifts the numbers and comes to that conclusion, and, B) voters will automatically reject all proposed tax increases. Part A is laughably silly, and I previously showed the paper (here, May 23) why part B, the belief that voters will reject all future proposed tax increases, is wrong, based on the largest long-term living-laboratory study of voters who have been given the power to approve or reject tax increases. That decade-long study, involving hundreds of local-level public referenda on tax increases, shows that voters - once given the budgetary and fiscal information and the reasons for the proposed tax increase - will vote in favor of higher taxes more than half the time.

Voters will vote for higher taxes, if the government elites who want the tax increase are willing to trust voters with the information they need, and to make a case for the higher taxes and higher government spending.

August 29, 2006

Favors Update 2

The video of state Rep. JoAnne Favors speaking on the House floor May 26 regarding an amendment to help validate voter registration, referenced in this post this morning and this post yesterday, has been repaired and is now viewable. I received a call from the House clerk's office this afternoon telling me they had been working on the problem since someone in the Clerk's office read about the problem on my blog this morning. The complete video adds no new information.

The actual transcript of Rep. Favors' brief remarks is not as damning as former state Rep. Chris Clem's recollection of the event, though, quite possibly, her remarks sounded much more damning that day in the context of the wider debate about proposed legislation to clean up the voter registration rolls. And it is clear that someone rushed to silence Rep. Favors - did they fear she was about to make a damaging admission?

No, Rep. Favors doesn't explicitly cop to aiding voter fraud in her remarks. But what exactly was she talking about - and what was she about to say - before she was silenced by another legislator and sheepishly withdrew her question, to howls of laughter from many of the lawmakers in the room that day? We know she said that some of her children keep her house as their mailing address for their "important mail," even though they don't live there. That's not a crime.

But Favors was telling that in reference to an amendment designed to help clean up voter registration rolls and assure the validity of each voter registration. Was she about to admit that her children also are registered to vote at her address even though they don't live there?

Those remain unanswered questions.

The Future of Traditional News In a Craigslist Media World

Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association, has an excellent column at the Washington Examiner's website asking, "Can traditional news organizations cope with a Craigslist media world?" The answer: Only by adopting "Craigslist media world" strategies.

Addressing Illegal Immigration

Tennessee Senate District 21 candidate Bob Krumm: I will propose legislation to make it a criminal offense to knowingly rent to an illegal alien.

That's a good proposal, and one that will address many of the societal ills caused by illegal immigration. Krumm is running against state Sen. Doug Henry, an entrenched incumbent who was first elected to the Senate two years after the first manned moon landing. I searched Henry's campaign website for his position on illegal immigration.

Here is what I found: Nothing. Nada Zip. Zilch.

Krumm's website, by contrast, is loaded with information - detailed information - as to where he stands on a variety of issues, including illegal immigration but also taxes and government spending, education, healthcare policy and more. He even posts all of the "candidate questionnaires" he has received from various special-interest groups and organizations, so you can see where he stands on their issues.

If Sen. Henry is aware that illegal immigration is both a problem and a hot issue, it certainly isn't evident on his website. But, then, there is no "issues" tab on his website at all. Just press releases, pictures, a bio and a "contribute" button. Vote for Henry - why? Because he's been there forever? That's a vote for the past over the future. And in these fast-changing modern times, where the issues are more complex and different than they were in 1971, longevity is hardly a reason to vote for someone who doesn't have a position on one of the year's hottest and most important issues.

Speaking of illegal immigration, Juan Borges, Republican candidate for the Tennessee 60th House district seat, is having a fundraiser event focused on illegal immigration policy, with special guest U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, tonight at Maggiano's Little Italy, 3106 West End, Nashville. It's from 7-9 p.m., and the suggested minimum donation is $100 per person or couple.

Nashville Tax Revolt Update

A Tennessean story today looks at whether allowing voters in Nashville to vote on property tax increases is allowed under the state constitution. The story contains this bizarre paragraph:

Critics of the ballot initiative say the Tennessee Constitution specifically vests the General Assembly with the authority to determine how property tax rates are to be approved. The constitution does not permit lawmakers to vest property-taxing authority in voters, they argue.

At any rate, if voters approve the Metro Charter change - which I expect they will do by a large margin - and then the Metro Council or the mayor's office or some other part of the government takes it to court to try to overturn the expressed will of the people, all hell is going to break loose, politically speaking, in Nashville.

Rep. Pruitt Faces More Fraud Allegations

Candidate Jim Boyd, running for the 58th Tennessee State House district, has called a news conference for Thuresday to release information that Boyd says is new evidence that the incumbent, state Rep. Mary Pruitt, "illegally laundered and pocketed PAC and special interest money."

From Boyd's press release:

"Representative Pruitt deliberately set out to defraud the public," Boyd stated. "I have proof that she set up a sham company. Through this sham company, she was able to launder thousands and thousands of dollars in campaign contributions."

"Representative Pruitt's criminal actions are just part-and-parcel of the old 'business as usual' attitude here on Capitol Hill. An attitude that, thanks to the FBI, the media and the Internet is quickly being blown away. We will one day have a clean legislature in Tennessee."

"What Representative Pruitt conducted was fraud, plain and simple," Boyd said. "I'm sure the authorities would be very interested to look into that."

Boyd, making his first run for public office, is a member of many civic and community organizations including the Reserve Officers' Association, the National Rifle Association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The 58th Tennessee State House district covers downtown Nashville, Berry Hill, and the South and East sides of Metropolitan Nashville.

A recent NewsChannel5 investigation by reporter Phil Williams uncovered many questionable aspects to Rep. Pruitt's campaign expenditures.

Favors Update

The video of Tennessee state Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, making questionable comments on the House floor in May regarding voter registration has been located, but it has only deepened the mystery about what she really said.

The short version of the background story is this: Former state Rep. Chris Clem and others recall that Favors, while opposing some proposal to tighten up validation of voter registrations, said she allowed people to register to vote with her address even though they didn't live there. Clem's recollection, posted in a comment on Adam Groves' Tennessee Politics blog, set off a search for the video, and also of the Hamilton County voter rolls.

And what was found was ... inconclusive.

Favors made the remarks on May 26 on the House floor, but the six-hour video of the session, available here on the Tennessee legislature's website (the May 26-B tape if you want to watch it), inexplicably crashes about 30 seconds into Favors' remarks - although the three hours of House action both before and after her remarks play just fine.

Before the video stops, all Favors says is that her children still use her house as their permanent mailing address. She doesn't mention voter registration at all, but it is the subject of the bill that she rose to speak about. Then the video feed crashes - but not before you hear other legislators laughing and one comes up to her and whispers something to her.

Meanwhile, the Hamilton County voter rolls for 2004 showed only three people registered to vote at her address, (2441 Meade Circle, Chattanooga TN 37406) - Favors is widowed with 4 children. One is named "Kimberly Lee," the other "Jimmy Hood." Favors was first elected to the legislature in 2004, and is running for reelection this year. I don't have information from the 2006 Hamilton County voter rolls yet.

So, what does Favors say after the tape crashes? And, why does that tape crash at that exact moment, and only for the few moments that Favors is speaking? Is it technically possible to insert such a "crash" or error into the middle of a six-hour digital video file that is being streamed online?

There are more questions yet than answers. I will today be requesting a videotape of the May 26-B session. If it does not contain the entire section with Favors speaking, it is very likely that the tape has been tampered with. What Favors says before the tape crashes is not evidence of a serious infraction. What she says after the tape crashes is... unknown.

August 28, 2006

Nashvillians May Get Vote on Property Tax Increases

Ben Cunningham emails:

The Davidson County Election Commission has certified enough signatures so that the charter amendment will be on the ballot in November. The people of Davidson County will finally have a direct say in property tax decisions.

Another One Bites the Dust

This report sez state Sen. Kathryn Bowers, one of five current or former Democrats in the state Senate facing federal corruption indictments, likely will resign today - though it appears the Senator video taped taking bribes will claim she's resigning for health reasons rather than the obvious: She gets her lifetime legislative pension if she resigns before the election, and if she pleads guilty or is convicted, that money will be good to have. Good riddance to Sen. Bowers. The good news: the culture of corruption tolerated by the leaders of the Tennessee Democratic Party is slowly being swept out of the legislature, though not fast enough. The bad news: You have never heard Gov. Bredesen, Lt. Gov. John Wilder, state Sen. Doug Henry or other top Dems call for their resignaton or ouster.

Assistant AG Calls For Fewer Public Records Requests

Would it surprise you to learn that one of Tennessee's assistant attorneys general is not a friend of the public's right to know? The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government highlights a recent AP story from the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual meeting, in Nashville, in which Tennessee Assistant Attorney General Janet Kleinfelter called for the news media to make fewer open-records request. Kleinfelter things government works better the more it works in secret.

Kleinfelter is Senior Counsel of the Financial Division of the Attorney General's Office in Nashville. Her talk at the NCSL was titled "Legislative Documents as Public Records: Why? Why Not?"

TCOG Executive Director Frank Gibson has a lengthy column exposing other evidence of Kleinfelter's hostility toward your right to know.

[Hat tip: Ben Cunningham]

It's Called "Public Office" for a Reason, Phil

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen had a press conference to discuss his illness. Instead of apologizing for keeping the people of Tennessee in the dark for two weeks, he basically blamed them for wanting to know too much information, saying they would have had a press conference if if his condition was serious enough for the people to know. ACK has good commentary on the governor's defensiveness and why the Bredesen camp was wrong to shroud his sickness in secrecy.

Mermo to Gov. Bredesen: If you're sick enough to need a trip to the Mayo Clinic, it's serious and the people of Tennessee have a right to know and to not be stiff-armed by the secrets-keepers in your PR office. If you want privacy, you can always go back to the private sector. But right now you're governor - the most public job in Tennessee. They don't call it "public office" for nothing. And the public has a right to know about the health of its governor.

Key Word Search

State Rep. Stacey Campfield read this story in The Tennessean, in which opponents of clamping down on illegal immigration try to paint those who favor such things as being "anti-immigrant" rather than "anti-illegal-immigration," and points out that that the only Hispanic member of the Tennessee state legislature - a Republican woman - has sponsored tough anti-illegal-immigration legislation.

Back Jack - and Bob

The Williamson Herald has a story on how much the various candidates for the 23rd District state Senate seat spent in the GOP primary. Winner Jack Johnson, who loaned his campaign more than $60,000, now faces a well-funded Democrat in the general election. If he loses, chances are the Democrats take back complete control of the Tennessee state Senate. If he wins, the Senate will have another strong voice for spending reform, lower taxes, and the pro-life cause.

You can Back Jack by donating to his campaign here. II would love it if 500 of my readers would each donate $10.76 or $25.76 or $100.76 or to Johnson's campaign. Why the 76 cents? To let Johnson's campaign know that the donation came via a blog reader of mine - and because 76 reflects the year of America's independence, 1776.

Also, if you're in a giving mood, please donate to Bob Krumm's campaign for the 21st District state Senate seat. If he wins, the GOP will solidify its majority in the state Senate and one of the roadblocks to spending reform and lower taxes - state Sen. Doug Henry - will be gone. Be sure to add the 76 cents at the end of your donation.

And please use the "email this entry" feature at the bottom of this post to send this article to your family, friends and co-workers and urge them to donate to the campaigns of two of the best men ever to seek election to the Tennessee state legislature. It's one way you can help Jack and Bob without it costing their campaigns a dime.

Admitting to Voter Fraud

Former state Rep. Chris Clem drops a bombshell in the comments over at the Tennessee Politics Blog:

But, I do remember sitting on the House Floor 4 months ago and hearing State Representative JoAnne Favors (D-Chattanooga) stand up and complain about a bill sponsored by Rep. Paul Stanley (R-Germantown).

Rep. JoAnne Favors stated that she had many people registered to vote at her home that did not live there in order for them to vote for her. As she was saying this from the microphone democrat leaders rushed up to her and pleaded with her to shut up. JoAnne Favors was concerned that Paul Stanley's bill might actually prohibit her from having so many people registered to vote at her home even though they didn't live there. All of these comments are on video from the House Floor in May, 2006.

And if the video reveals what Clem says it reveals, then the members of the legislative press corps really need to explain to the people of Tennessee why they ignored a state representative's public admission of aiding and abetting voter fraud.

Hat tip: Terry Frank

Update: In the comments, State Rep. Stacey Campfield confirms Clem's recollections.

Update: I won't file an open records request for the video because it is all online here. The bad news: All of the May floor sessions comprise hours and hours of video, which means finding the moment in question will be a tedious affair unless we can better pinpoint the date of the event. Meanwhile, efforts are underway to research the Hamilton County voter registration rolls for every election in which Favors has been or is now a candidate...

Update: Jeff Vanness, last seen working for Ed Bryant's Senate campaign, unfortunately has free time now that the primary is over, so he emailed:

I'm going to step up and volunteer to review some of the video from the General Assembly from May looking for Rep. Favors' suspect remarks. The website lists 17 video sessions for May. Unless you object, I'm going to start in the middle and look at May 17 (2 videos), 24, and 25. Perhaps others can help break this worthy mission into manageable tasks. I've written Chris Clem to see if he has a better recollection of when in May this took place; I'm sure I'm not the only one. If I hear anything, I'll let you know.

Anyone else want to step up and help Jeff and me find the key Favors video moment?

A Letter to Bredesen

An article in the Memphis Daily News puts Gov. Phil Bredesen's ongoing illness into perspective...

As Gov. Phil Bredesen - a multi-millionaire whose net worth some sources estimate at between $50 million and $150 million - made his trek Wednesday to the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for help with "flu-like" symptoms, people like Kim Fields of Millington struggled to survive.

Fields, 46, was one of about 170,000 TennCare enrollees who lost their benefits when the governor decided to slash the struggling program eight months ago. At the time, the Medicaid-related health care program for low-income or uninsured Tennesseans would have required $646 million in state funding to supplement its $7 billion annual cost, two-thirds of which is federally funded.

CoverTennessee covers very few Tennesseans, and has no permanent funding. Meanwhile, people like Kim Fields are left to reduce the amount of medication they take, taking less than they need, because they can't afford it and Bredesen not only didn't fix TennCare, he made it worse for people like Fields. Without enough medication, Fields may go blind.

The article includes the text of a letter-to-the-editor Fields sent to the paper. She wrote:

I'm glad you had a fast recovery and wish you the best of health. At the same time, while you were in the hospital, did you give us, the people you removed from TennCare, any thought? For we are suffering.

I, for one, have a condition (in) which spinal fluids go to my brain and eyes and flood my head. I take a drainage pill, that if I took properly, (would cost) me $386 a month. I work a part-time job (because of this) condition and get no help, cannot afford meds and was told my condition will make me blind. So now I suffer and buy a pill a day to survive.

I know you received the best care while you were in the hospital, and I'm glad for you. (But) you took away our health care. I know you're glad you still have yours.

That's the "business experience" Bredesen brought to the TennCare problem.

Phil Bredesen didn't keep his promise to fix TennCare. Instead, he abandoned Kim Fields and 170,000 people like her.

Cross-posted at the unofficial Jim Bryson for Governor blog.

August 26, 2006

Secrecy and Lies

NewsChannel5 has uncovered some of the deception the Bredesen administration is using to keep the media and public from knowing all the facts about the governor's illness. The story also mentions that a Bredesen staffer, Andrew Jackson, also suffered a mysterious illness recently that resulted in him being confined to a wheelchair. I received an email a few days ago about Jackson with unconfirmed details which said Jackson had been hospitalized from severe complications from some type of insect bite, and the resulting lengthy illness resulted in some losses of consciousness and partial paralysis.

The Bredesen camp repeats over and over that Bredesen is ambulatory, describing how he walked onto and off of the plane to the Mayo clinic, walked from appointment to appointment there, etc., - but they are working overtime to keep the public and the media from seeing the governor.

August 25, 2006

Not Getting the Message

Less than a year ago a multi-faceted scandal enveloped the Tennessee Highway Patrol that included allegations that the Bredesen administration was rewarding troopers who donated to Bredesen's campaign with promotions, and that lawmakers had the Bredesen administration's ear (an ear named Deputy Gov. Dave "FIx-My-Ticket" Cooley) as they pushed for certain people to get promoted.
mo
You'd think that, with the scandal still fresh on everyone's minds, no lawmaker would be sending letters to the governor's office pushing someone within the THB for promotion. But, then, you may not have heard of state Rep. Willie "Butch" Borchert, D-Camden.

We'll get back to Borchert - and name some other lawmakers sending similar letters - in a minute. First, the background.

After reading an AP story in The Tennessean on July 22 that said some lawmakers were still pressing Bredesen to promote certain people within the THP, I got curious as to which lawmakers were doing it. The AP story didn't say:

Gov. Phil Bredesen says some lawmakers apparently haven't realized their input on Tennessee Highway Patrol matters no longer is wanted. More than eight months after beginning an overhaul of the agency, Bredesen said he still gets notes from lawmakers suggesting promotions within the Highway Patrol.

The most recent such note from a legislator came earlier this month, Bredesen said in an interview with The Associated Press. He declined to identify lawmakers who are still trying to push promotions.

Today, Friday, August 25, I received in the mail a thin envelope from Bredesen's office with copies of just six such letters, signed by a total of seven legislators, and no emails or notes or memos. While six letters from seven legislators hardly seems to justify the AP story that the Bredesen PR team probably pulled puppet strings to get published, it's still interesting to see which lawmakers haven't gotten the message yet that lawmakers don't need to be meddling in the THP promotion process any more.

Borchert's letter (PDF), dated July 20, urges the promotion of a THP sergeant then on the State Capitol Detail, to a lieutenant position because, in Borchert's words, "he's a fine gentleman." The letter, interestingly enough, was cc'd to Deputy Gov. Dave Cooley.

Borchert may not realize that Cooley's desk is, or at least is supposed to be, no longer the THP's personnel office.

State Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, sent this letter May 2. It recommends the THP hire a just-back-from-Iraq soldier, and in the letter Odom says the National Guardsman "is the first person I have ever recommended for a position with the Tennessee Highway Patrol."

State Rep. Park M. "Parkey" Strader, R-Knoxville, send this letter dated June 5 urging the hiring of Don Barnes, Assistant Director of Courts in the Knox County Sheriff's Department, as the next Commissioner of the Department of Safety. The biggest selling point for Barnes, according to the Republican Strader: "Don has been actively involved in the Democrat Party for over thirty years."

State Rep. Phillip Johnson, R-Pegram, and state Rep. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, co-signed this letter, dated Dec. 7, 2005, requesting the Bredesen administration to review why a certain THP sergeant was overlooked for promotion. Their letter didn't cite political affiliation as a reason for the sergeant to be promoted, but instead cited her work record, job performance, and high scores on tests and evaluations.

And, finally, two letters came in supporting Nashville lawyer Tom Storey, a former Nashville police officer and a graduate of the FBI Academy, for Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety - this one from state Sen. Joe M. Haynes, D-Nashville, dated March 29, and this one from state Rep. Gary Moore, D-Joelton, dated March 23.

Both Haynes' and Moore's letter cited experience, not political affiliation and activism, in urging the hire, though, at a time when the THP is under such scrutiny for its entrenched politics and corruption, you would think that no lawmaker would be sending the governor letters urging the hiring of this person or the promotion of that one for any reason.

Perhaps that only seven legislators sent such letters is a sign things are improving. On the other hand, it's not all that encouraging that, nearly nine months after the scandal first exploded onto the front pages of the newspaper, the Democratic governor still hasn't gotten through to his fellow Democrats like Borchert, Odom, Haynes and Moore that such political pressure from legislators regarding THP personnel decisions are no longer welcomed.

On the other hand - if the Bredesen camp really did give me a copy of every piece of correspondence - it shows that most legislators have gotten the message. (Unless they're resorting to phone calls to Dave Cooley to call in political favors via THP promotions, so as not to leave a paper trail.)

The only other point is this: The AP let Bredesen get away with declining to name the legislators who sent those letters, when they could have submitted a records request like I did - and probably received a response much quicker than I did. Whether they didn't do the extra work is because of a lack of imagination, laziness, a desire not to offend incumbent legislators, or some other reason, I don't know.

But an unpaid blogger did the work they get paid to do.

Blogging for Dollars

The cover story of the new issue of Business 20 is headlined "Blogging For Dollars, and if you're a blogger it'll have you trying to come up with the next profitable blog idea. You can read the story online here. I love that day of the month when my Business 2.0 arrives - for a few days I am entertained by visions of turning this or that or some other idea into a new business. Right now I've got a great idea for a web-based publication with an estimated potential audience just in Tennessee of around 400,000 families, and it is scalable state by state to all 50 states. All I need is a local VC who backs media start-ups...

Bucks and Buzz

National Journal's "Beltway Blogroll" looks at the political value of advertising on blogs and concludes that Blog Ads Help Challengers Generate Bucks And Buzz.

The Ninth Planet

According to the International Astronomical Union, Pluto is not a planet, based on the IAU's new definition of a planet:

A planet is a celestial body that is in orbit around the Sun has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

The blogosphere is a celestial body composed mostly of hot air and gas. It is round - they don't call it the blogosphere for nothing. It has overcome rigid bodies such as the mainstream media, It orbits the sun, once every 365 1/4 days. And it has achieved self-importance, which sounds a lot like self-gravity. Technorati now tracks some 52 million blogs within the b'sphere, and more media, readers and new bloggers are plugging into it every day.

Meanwhile, the debate over Pluto and the IAU's definition of a planet goes on and on. Kind of like the "Are blogs journalism?" debate...

August 24, 2006

Tax Cuts Cause Unemployment, Liberals Say

Among the items I picked up in the exhibit area of the National Convention of State Legislatures' annual meeting, at Nashville's Opryland Hotel last week, was an inch-thick "candidate briefing book" from the liberal Center for Policy Alternatives, titled Progressive Platform for the States 2006. It's available on the organization's website in a 272-page PDF file, so you can read it if you want to know what the liberals are planning for you in terms of state politics and policies in the months and years ahead.

I was intrigued by the book's two-page spread on the "Taxpayers Bill of Rights" concept that is alive and kicking in many state capitals and, if it becomes law, would result in capping the annual growth of state tax revenue and spending.

The two-page section on TABOR, which I've uploaded here,

The Center for Policy Alternatives makes the mistake - or intentionally - conflates all tax-and-spending-limitation proposals with Colorado's "Taxpayers Bill of Rights," and goes on to tell a variety of lies about Colorado's TABOR and tax-and-spending limitation laws generally.

Here's the craziest lie:

TABOR increases unemployment.
Economic studies show that any private sector jobs that may be created by cutting taxes will be more than offset by the loss of public sector jobs caused by corresponding reductions in spending. That theory became reality in Colorado, which suffered a net loss of 68,000 jobs between 2001 and 2004. Only three states lost a larger share of employment during the 2001 recession.

Additionally, it is simply ludicrous to equate public sector jobs with private sector jobs when the discussion is about taxes. Public sector jobs are funded largely by taxes paid by people who work in the private sector. It has to be that way. A job lost in the private sector results in the government having less money as tax revenue declines. A job lost in the public sector results in the government having more money as it its payroll shrinks.

The liberals like to increase government jobs because government employees are a reliable liberal voting base.

But ny state that replaces a lot of private sector jobs with a lot of public sector jobs is headed for a fiscal crash of epic proportions. Consider this: if you replaced all private sector jobs with public sector jobs paying the identical salaries, from whence would the taxes come to pay those salaries? Unless you tax the government workers at 100 percent, the government would rapidly run out of money to pay its workers (if it was able to find workers willing to work for a paycheck of $0.00 after taxes).

Conversely, if you reduce public sector jobs and increase private sector employment - a trend that can be fueled by tax cuts - the government will have lower costs and higher revenue, eventually leading government being able to afford to pay its remaining employees much better. Public sector employees are often urged by liberal politicians, liberal bureaucrats and liberal think tanks to oppose tax cuts, but any public sector who truly understood that without a booming economy that grows a lot faster than government, they'll never get a decent pay raise would be first in line to support a push for a tough tax-and-spending limitation provision in their state's constitution.

By the way, the only candidate for Tennessee governor this year who supports enacting a tough tax-and-spending limitation provision in the state's constitution is state Sen. Jim Bryson.

The rest of the Center for Policy Alternatives' attack on TABOR - sure to be the blueprint for liberal politicians and candidates opposing TABOR-like laws on the campaign trail and beyond - is just as silly and riddled with errors. I'll have more on it later.

Update: This Michael Barone column from April 2006 is relevant here as Barone discusses how public-employee unions - a reliable part of the Democratic Party's base - are a threat to the thriving private-sector economy. Barone:

My U.S. News column this week is about one force that threatens to gobble up our otherwise thriving private sector economy: the greater-than-economic-growth increases in spending mandated by current entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. But there's another force threatening the private sector economy: public-employee unions. In many but not all states, public-employee unions have been forcing greater-than-economic-growth spending increases on state and local governments - spending that produces very little in the way of public benefit.

NSCC/Henry Update 4

State Sen. Douglas Henry, running for re-election to the state Senate seat he has held since the dawn of the disco era, is continuing to dodge questions about the questionable timing and political nature of a press release issued on Sen. Henry's behalf by Nashville State Community College just one week before the August 4 primary, a press which verged on an endorsement of Henry and rapidly appeared on Henry's campaign website though it was never added to NSCC's press release page. Repeated emails to Henry's campaign with specific questions about this story - which I first broke here at BillHobbs.com last week - have been ignored by the campaign.

Meanwhile, new information from the communications director of the Tennessee Board of Regents makes it more likely that NSCC timed the release to assist Henry's campaign.

After Mary Morgan, Director of Communications for the TBR, emailed me that TBR Chancellor Charles Manning had "encouraged the presidents and directors in the TBR system to publicly thank the governor and their local legislators" for this year's increase in higher-education funding- a response I reporterd here on Tuesday, I asked for clarification of how and when Manning's request was made.

Specifically, I asked Morgan:

1. When did Chancellor Manning encouraged the presidents and directors in the TBR system to publicly thank the governor and their local legislators? Was there a specific email or letter that went out with that kind of request/encouragement in it? If so, on what date was it mailed or emailed or faxed?

2. Do you know of any other TBR member institutions who complied with Chancellor Manning's request by issuing a press release? If so, which institutions?

Her response:

1. There is nothing in writing. I recall the chancellor mentioning this to the presidents a couple of times on conference calls. That most likely was in June.

2. No, I don't know of any other press releases, but we wouldn't know in any case. We don't ask our schools to send copies of their releases.

What doesn't make sense is why NSCC waited until late July - at least a month - to comply with Manning's request. Unless you look at the calendar. NSCC timed the release of the pro-Henry "news" release, which was in fact old news, to benefit Henry's re-election campaign. The release promptly was added to Henry's campaign site.

August 23, 2006

Is Bredesen Sicker Than We're Being Told?

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen is off to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for more tests related to the mysterious illness that's been plaguing him. His press secretary says everything is fine, but the secrecy surrounding Bredesen's illness has some people wondering if he's in much worse health than has been publicly reported.

ACK writes:

Frankly, it seems that they don't know exactly what is wrong with the Governor. There seems to be a whole lot of secrecy around this issue. He was reported to have been getting better but then all of sudden it comes across the wires that the Governor is going to the Mayo Clinic for tests.

Are these tests something that they can't do at Vandy? Is the reason they wisked the man off to Minnesota because they wish not to have the media snooping around the Vanderbilt campus? Go to small media market where no one particularly cares about a Tennessee Governor. Seems like a plan.

The administration should have had daily media briefings on the governor's condition. That kind of thing is standard, and the lack of such briefings - and Bredesen's sudden trip to Mayo after we were told he was getting better - serve only to fuel speculation that his health is poor.

Adam Groves has more here.

UPDATE: The AP says the governor's office has canceled a planned briefing on Bredesen's medical condition which was to feature Bredesen's doctor. The secrecy continues...

Harold Ford Jr. Is a Liar

U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., the Tennessee Democratic Party's nominee for the U.S. Senate, is a liar. A serial liar.

Back on August 4, Ford and U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, debated deficit reduction on the Kudlow & Co. show. As the transcript shows, Ford essentially agrees with Marsha that voting against the Deficit Reduction ACt would be wrong - but then says he voted for it.

That's a lie.

The record shows that Ford voted against the Deficit Reduction Act twice. He voted against the House version and he voted against the final conference report. Could Ford have simply "forgotten" his votes against the Deficit Reduction Act? Not likely for, as Leon Wolf, writing at RedState.com, reminds us, Ford filed filed an amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of the Deficit Reduction Act when it was challenged in court.

This latest case of Ford lying about his record is not an isolated incident. As BillHobbs.com and other blogs have meticulously documented, Ford has lied, repeatedly, about other issues on various radio broadcasts. Rather recently Ford has has liead about his record on gun rights and lied about his views and public statements on private property rights, eminent domain and the Kelo decision.

You can read a transcript of the Ford/Blackburn exchange at RedState.com, by clicking here.

If a Republican running for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee consistently lied about his record, neither the national media nor the Tennessee media would give the Republican a pass for this sort of thing. Ford? He gets a pass from them. But not from the blogosphere.

On Kos

Here's a link to a PDF file with all you ever need to know about Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, the head nut behind the DailyKos.com website, and one of the Democratic Party's leading lights these days.

Peeping In On Government Waste

Terry Frank has done some photojournalism - and a little comparison shopping - to show just how much money the state of Tennessee wasted on its way-over-budget renovation of Legislative Plaza. $43 per peg for a coat rack? A $62 peephole? Frank found a peephole for sale online for $3.20. But, ooh, doesn't that $210,000 marble desk looks nice?

Wanted: Friendly Blogger

Burned by bloggers, Sen. George Allen, R-Va., is looking for a conservative blogger to help his presidential campaign. I suggest he start with the list of conservative bloggers being compiled over at RedState.com.

The Mounting Toll of Illegal Immigration

A man thought to be an illegal immigrant from somewhere south of Texas stands accused of killing a Nashville woman. A few quick points: 1. If the federal government was doing its border-control job properly, illegal immigrants' homicide victims wouldn't be dead because their killers wouldn't be here to kill them. 2. If the federal government isn't doing its border-control job properly, then at least the legal residents of state of Tennessee ought to have a state government that isn't making Tennessee a magnet for criminals by giving them drivers licenses and other services. 3. Tennessee doesn't have such a government right now. 4. Tennessee's governor only pays lip service to the issue. 5. Perhaps it should be made illegal in Tennessee to rent one's property to an illegal immigrant.

New To Me

Nashville blogger Craig Bardo is going on my "check daily" list. Apparently he's been blogging since November 2005, but I just heard about him today. My bad.

Sen. Cooper Indicted on Fraud, Conspiracy Charges

Well this took long enough:

State Sen. Jerry Cooper was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on three felony counts, accused of using crooked numbers and political clout to help an Alabama couple buy his property.

Cooper, D-Morrison, stands accused of bank fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud. He could face as much as 65 years in prison and more than $2 million in fines if convicted, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

More than one third of the entire Tennessee state Senate Democratic Caucus has now been indicted on serious federal charges ranging from accepting bribes to bank fraud. It appears to be a culture of corruption that infects only the Democratic side of the Senate - no Republican senators have been indicted.

Cooper is chairman of the Commerce, Labor and Agriculture Committee. Indicted senators automatically lose their committee leadership positions unless they can convince the Senate Ethics Committee otherwise.

Cooper - who resigned from the legislature's Fiscal Review Committee in 2004 after defaulting on nearly $1 million in bank loans - shouldn't ask the Senate Ethics Committee to retain his committee chairmanship. He should resign and apologize to the people of Tennessee for using his position and power to enrich himself at taxpayers expense. For even if he isn't guilty of the criminal charges against him, he most certainly is guilty of doing that.

August 22, 2006

Henry/NSCC Update 3

The Tennessee Board of Regents has responded to questions about Nashville State Community College issuing a press release that verged on an endorsement of state Sen. Doug Henry, D-Nashville, a week before the August 4 primary, a story I first broke here last week. The NSCC's July 27 press release - thanking Sen. Henry for something he did three months earlier - began, "Nashville State Community College (NSCC) is fortunate to have Senator Henry as its advocate."

After getting NSCC's side of the story, which I reported on here Monday, I emailed the TBR's general counsel seeing information regarding "ethics and legalities involving a public college engaging in political activity on behalf of a candidate" and "clarification of the laws, rules and ethics guidelines that apply." As you can see from TBR's response, reproduced verbatim below, they didn't respond directly to that question at all. Instead, Mary Morgan, Director of Communications for the TBR, wrote:

Public higher education in Tennessee had its best year for state funding in quite some time when the General Assembly approved for FY 2006-2007 an increase in operating funds of $39 million, plus almost $204 million for capital construction and almost $52 million for capital maintenance. This level of funding allowed the Tennessee Board of Regents to hold tuition increases down to 4.1%, a great benefit to our students and their parents.

Chancellor Manning encouraged the presidents and directors in the TBR system to publicly thank the governor and their local legislators - some of them Republicans, some Democrats - for this year’s state funding. Many of them did so, including Nashville State Technical Community College. Decisions about how to use the expressions of thanks are up to the people receiving them and do not constitute partisan political support by the institution expressing gratitude.

Stating that a press release implying an endorsement of an incumbent state legislator does not "constitute partisan political support" doesn't make it so. NSCC'S release said.

Well, perhaps not "partisan" but certainly pro-incumbent and anti-challenger. NSCC's release, both its language and the timing of its release, were clearly designed to boost Sen. Henry, who was facing a primary challenger.

If TBR member colleges and universities issued similar press releases for other incumbents a week before the primary, they too were engaging in political activity on behalf of specific candidates.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for the TBR to provide specific details of the rules, laws and ethics guidelines covering TBR member schools engaging in political activity on behalf of specific candidates.

Asserting that your behavior was ethical doesn't mean it truly was ethical.

Meanwhile, neither Sen. Henry nor his office or campaign staff has bothered to respond to repeated questions about the NSCC press release.

Developing...

August 21, 2006

Henry/NSCC Update 2

Nashville State Community College has now responded to my questions seeking to clarify facts regarding a possible ethics violation involving NSCC issuing a press release lauding state Sen. Doug Henry a week before the August 4 primary election - although NSCC's response leaves some unanswered questions.

Nati Lentino, Interim Executive Director of Development & Public Affairs for the NSCC Foundation, emailed answers to my questions. Here are the questions, with his answers below. Questions are in bold, NSCC's responses are in italics.

State Sen. Doug Henry's campaign website contains a press release from Nashville State Community College dated July 27, lauding him, that I have some questions about for a story I am covering on my online political newsletter at www.billhobbs.com. The state's fiscal year 2006 budget was passed in May 2005. When did Sen. Henry secure the funding for NSCC as described in the news release?
The state's fiscal year 2006 (FY 06 07) budget was signed into law on June 21, 2006; it was not, as you referenced, passed in May 2005.

Why doesn't the release appear on the NSCC's press release page - http://www.nscc.edu/media/press.html - ?
The story was posted on the Nashville State In the News page (http://www.nscc.edu/media/news.html). The reason it was not posted on the Press Release page was because of the short turn around between when the press release was sent out to the media and when the media covered the story. Since the story was covered in the news before we had a chance to post the press release we chose to post the news story and not the press release.

Did Sen. Henry, his staff or his campaign ask NSCC to write the release?
No

What is the state's annual budget allocation for ongoing operations of NSCC?
$14,044,900 (state subsidy amount)

What are the ethics rules regarding taxpayer-funded institutions such as NSCC engaging in partisan political activity?
This question involves research and interpretation. You can access TBR Policy and Guidelines at http://www.tbr.state.tn.us. However, you should know the college maintains a politically neutral position. As such, the college has never endorsed a political candidate, party, or cause.

I have responded to Lentino for clarification on a few points. First, it is common to use the last year of a fiscal year-designation to refer to the year in shorthand, i.e., we are currently in the fiscal year 2006-07 budget for the state of Tennessee, or "fiscal 2007." But even if the budget the NSCC release referred to was passed in May of this year instead of May 2005, and signed into law June 21, that still doesn't explain why NSCC waited almost two months to issue a press release regarding the funding included in the budget for NSCC, and then released it on the eve of the August 4 primary - and lead the release with praise of Sen. Henry that, given the timing of the release, bordered on an implied endorsement.

And if neither Sen. Henry nor his office or campaign staff requested NSCC to issue the news release praising Henry, then why did NSCC decide to send out a release with three-month-old news in it just before the primary?

NSCC is receiving more than $14 million in taxpayer funding via the state, and Sen. Henry chairs the Senate committee that oversees the budget. He made sure NSCC got the money it wanted this year, and they made sure he got some positive press for it just before the primary. (A check of the NSCC "in the news" web page that Lentino mentioned shows that the story ran in the local community paper The Westview on August 2, two days before the primary. The suburban community paper, which circulates in an area that overlaps with parts of Henry's Senate district, simply ran the press release verbatim.

Neither Sen. Henry nor his office or campaign staff has yet responded to my repeated emails inquiring about the NSCC press release.

I am continuing to pursue this story.

I have emailed Christine Modisher, General Counsel and Secretary to the Tennessee Board of Regents, and Cheré Holland, TBR Legislative Assistant, seeking clarification as to the legal and ethical guidelines regarding public colleges such as NSCC engaging in partisan political activity.

Developing...

Update: In the comments, Donna Locke suggests creation of a "blogger pool" that would cover the legislature with a rotating group of bloggers. Not a bad idea. Perhaps we need a "Tennessee Bloggers Media Association" with a few basic membership requirements and a $10 annual dues that would issue "media credentials" to bloggers. They'd have just as much legal weight as a "press pass" from the Tennessee Press Association, which is to say, none, but perhaps they'd be enough to convince the legislative powers-that-be to grant access to bloggers to the Legislative Plaza press office and the media's space on the House and Senate floor.

It might also help bloggers covering local city governments, school boards, county commissions, etc., across the state. All we need now is a blogging lawyer to draw up the paperwork pro bono...

Henry/NSCC Update

It has now been three days since I emailed the public relations office at Nashville State Community College and the campaign of state sen. Doug Henry seeking clarification of facts regarding a possible ethics violation involving NSCC issuing a press release lauding Henry a week before the August 4 primary election. Neither NSCC nor the Henry campaign have provided any answers. I have re-emailed the Henry campaign, and also am now emailing the administration of NSCC, since the PR office has chosen not to respond.

Some Things Need Changing

Danny Glover, who writes the National Journal's excellent Beltway Blogroll blog roundup, notes my battle to get the National Conference of State Legislatures to grant me a press pass to cover a session on legislative blogging, and recounts his own interaction with the NCSL on the issue of bloggers getting legislative press credentials, noting that most states are unwilling to credential political bloggers as "media" to cover the legislature:

Of the explanations given for not granting credentials, the only one that has any legitimacy involves space. If the press space at state capitols is as tight as it is at the U.S. Capitol -- and I suspect that it is -- then officials really have no choice but to restrict access based on reasonably objective criteria. But the ultimate goal should be to include as many people as possible, not to exclude people based on whether they are citizen journalists rather than professionals."

That needs to change.

A Surplus of Spending

The Monday Nashville City Paper reports on how Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson and 21st district state Senate candidate Bob Krumm are pushing the issue of reducing the state's high sales tax on groceries.

The state took in $443 million in sales tax on food revenue last year. Overall, the state took in $411.2 million in surplus revenue in fiscal year 2005-06 - "surplus" defined as revenue in excess of that amount needed to fully fund the budget as passed by the state legislature before the start of the fiscal year.

The City Paper story says Gov. Phil Bredesen also favors reducing the food tax - but that's not exactly true. While Bredesen says he's for reducing the food tax, he fought against doing so last May when the state had the money to do as record tax revenue piled up huge revenue surpluses. Gov. Bredesen fought proposals to reduce the food tax even by half a penny, saying we couldn't afford it - and then spent the money on other things.

From the City Paper:

The Bryson campaign and Krumm cited a recent $400 million general fund surplus that could have "gone back to the taxpayers" if the food tax were cut. "Let's focus for a little while on the family budget," said Bryson spokesman Lance Frizzell. ... But the problem with reducing the sales tax on food, critics say, is replacing the revenue lost from the most stable part of the most stable source of revenue for Tennessee - the sales tax.

State Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said it would be "very difficult" to replace the lost sales tax on food revenue.

Krumm, who is running against Sen. Douglas Henry (D-Nashville), said the state "shouldn't be spending budget surpluses.""I think our budget surplus should be used only for reducing taxes and building the rainy day fund," Krumm said. Krumm said he would like to cut the sales tax on food and set aside rainy day money to replace the lost revenue in tight times.

Henry, who was elected to the state Senate in 1970 when the sales tax rate was 3 percent - and has presided over may of the sales tax rate increases since than as Chairman of the Finance Ways and Means Committee - says using this year's surplus to wipe out the grocery tax would not be good policy as because it would use one-time money to pay for an expense that reoccurs.

Henry doesn't know what he's talking about.

First, the surplus isn't "one-time money," or some sort of once-in-a-blue-moon windfall. It merely represents extra revenue generated by an economy that is growing faster than the legislature expected it to grow when they were crafting the fiscal 2005-06 budget back in May of 2005. Total revenue in fiscal 2006-07 will be larger than the total revenue in fiscal 2005-06.

Second, there is no recurring expense to cutting taxes because a tax cut doesn't "spend" government money because it isn't the government's money in the first place, it is the taxpayers' money, and cutting the tax rate or eliminating the sales tax on food merely means the government would take a little less money from the taxpayers.

And if Sen. Henry is so all-out-opposed to using the "one-time" money of a surplus to fund recurring expenses, he should have voted against Bredesen's budget plans, which did just that. As the City Paper article notes, the surplus was spent "on various priorities that reoccur."

That's right. Much of the "one-time money" from the surplus was spent on recurring items.

UPDATE: ACK has some thoughts about the article and the sales tax on food, and also points to Bob Krumm's blog, where Krumm smacks Henry, hard:

Let me describe the difference between me and Senator Henry even more succinctly: Senator Henry objects to my plan to reduce a regressive sales tax on food by $200 million because the tax cut might not be sustainable in the long run, but he supported a reoccurring spending increase of $300 million. Which one of us do you want guarding your money?

Of course, Sen. Henry is wealthy - inherited, old money - so he doesn't mind the sales tax increase. But the average Tennessean makes about $30,000 a year. They could have used a tax cut.

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join Em

The Washington Post has formed a "blog network" designed to boost lesser-known blogs - and also to carry WaPo ads. Details here from Online Media Daily. If you're a blogger, you can submit your blog for review and a possible invite to join the WaPo's blog network here.

August 18, 2006

NCSL Notes

The blogger at Music City Oracle blisters The Tennessean for its failure to cover much of the substantive stuff going on at the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual meeting at Nashville's Opryland Hotel. The Tennessean's coverage of the NCSL has been rather, uh, light on substance. Read the whole excellent critique.

Public College Engages In Partisan Politics

Did Nashville State Community College recently use tax dollars to boost a favorite legislative candidate's campaign? Consider the facts: On July 27, exactly one week before Tennessee's primary election, NSCC issued this press release, which reads, in part:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BUSINESS/EDUCATION
Nashville State Community College (NSCC) is fortunate to have Senator Henry as its advocate. For several years, Senator Henry has worked diligently to resolve a pressing facility problem at NSCC so that the college can better serve the residents of Middle Tennessee. According to Henry, "Nashville State creates better lives for students who are eager to learn and their families." Senator Henry introduced a budget amendment to Governor Phil Bredesen for FY 2006 that included support for NSCC's capital needs. Henry met with Senators and Representatives of the Nashville delegation to discuss the facility inequities that were plaguing NSCC. The meetings led to a resolution for amending the budget to include funds for NSCC's long-awaited building and much needed renovations to the existing campus.

Did Sen. Henry's office or campaign as NSCC's media relations office to write the laudatory-but-old-news news release? It looks that way - after all, the release appears on Henry's campaign website, but NOT on NSCC's news release page.

NSCC is a taxpayer-funded institution, and as such is limited to the extent that it can participate in partisan political activity. If NSCC used taxpayers' funds to do media relations work on behalf of Sen. Henry, that's wrong. If Sen. Henry or his office or campaign staff requested it, that's an ethical scandal.

I have emailed NSCC's media relations office and Sen. Henry's campaign seeking more information and clarification.

Developing...

UPDATE: No response yet from either NSCC or the Henry camp. Meanwhile, Jay Bush says it wouldn't be the first time a Tennessee taxpayer-funded college or university engaged in partisan politicking on the eve of an election.

NCSL Roundup

Welcome, hordes of Instapundit readers! Here are links to all my blog posts regarding the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual meeting, which has drawn some 6,000 people, including 1,000 legislators, 2,000 lobbyists and 3,000 staffers and other hangers-on, to Nashville's Opryland Hotel this week.

Live-Blogging From the NCSL
NCSL: Term Limits Shift Budget Power To Executive Branch
NCSL Says Term Limits May Boost Power Of Lobbyists
NCSL Agrees To Let Blogger Cover Session on Blogs
NCSL's Report Belies Its Press Release
Newsflash: Association of Legislators Doesn't Like Term Limits

As long as you're looking for coverage of the NCSL, you should also mozy on over to Music City Oracle, who has been doing great stuff from the convention. And Stacey Campfield, the only regularly blogging member of the Tennessee state House of Representatives, has some stuff from the NCSL as well.

State Rep. Stacey Campfield, at Thursday's session on legislator blogs.

Sizzle

NASHVILLE - At the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting this week at Nashville's Opryland Hotel, some media cover the sizzle, and some cover the steak.

August 17, 2006

Live-Blogging From the NCSL

NASHVILLE - I'm writing this from the National Conference of State Legislatures' session on E-Legislatures: Technology and the Policymaking Process, exploring the role blogs and other Internet technologies have in the policymaking process, and I'm sad to report that it isn't packed with attendees. While approximately 1,000 legislators and 2,000 lobbyists are attending the NCSL's annual meeting, at Nashville's cavernous Opryland Hotel and convention center, there are only about 100 people attending this session.

Utah state Rep. Steve Urquhart, a pioneer of legislator bloggers, just concluded his talk, in which he demonstrated the basics of posting to a blog. Urquhart, blogging since November 2004, mixes serious policy postings with more relaxed items such as one recently showing photographs from a trip lawmakers took to learn more about the oil and gas industry.

Some call such trips "junkets," but posting photos was a way to show the people that lawmakers really were doing work on the trip, Urquhart said. "My blog is just a way to tell people what I'm doing."

Says Urguhart, "This isn't about the technology. This is about doing the job you've always done but just doing it a little bit better."

Urquhart says a serious post about a controversial issue might draw 500 to 1,000 readers. "For a state legislator, that's almost rock-star status," he says.

Urquhart also showed off the group blog published by Utah Senate Republicans, which looks like a very interesting project that Tennessee's GOP Senate majority would do well to emulate. (For that matter, Tennessee's Senate Democrats ought to publish a similar site, I'm just not offering to help them do it.)

Following Urquart to the podium: Laurie Maak, Web Dialogue Developer and Manager with WestEd in San Francisco, California, who is discussing the application of "web dialogues" to help policymakers inform and involve members of the public, including young people, throughout the policymaking process.

Web Dialogues are orchestrated discussions that can involve policy-makers, subject experts, students and members of the public in the exchange of information and ideas. "When individuals have the opportunity to participate in the process online, they will do so more in the future," predicts Maak.

Well, yeah.

Session moderator and Wisconsin state Sen. Robert Jauch just asked the session speakers about the need to keep blogs updated regularly - and noted that his own website's most recently added content is a press release from two months ago.

Maak responded that web dialogues "are not ongoing," but are structured online conversations that take place at a scheduled time and are "opened" and then "closed"

"I have always objected to ongoing online conversations because they tend to dribble after awhile," Maak said, adding she prefers that the conversation be scheduled and have a start and end.

Apparently she is not a fan of legislators maintaining ongoing conversations with constituents via blogs.

Urquhart says he doesn't feel the need to update his blog daily, and only posts when there are issues or things to write about. "I don't feel a need to keep my blog very current," said Urquhart, noting he doesn't have staff help for the blog. "I have my job, I have my family.

"If you did that with a typical blog it wouldn't work. People wouldn't read you anymore," he said.

Urquhart said there is a Utah politics blog that is updated daily with links to the latest articles and blog posts, including the latest on his blog. "That's the way a lot of people start their day, reading that blog," he said. I didn't catch the name of that Utah politics blog, and Urquhart's bare bones blog doesn't have a blogroll, but a quick Google search turned up UtahPolicy.com

Responding to a question about credibility of what is posted on blogs, Urquhart says he links to things from credible sources like newspapers and think tanks, adding, "I verify the things that I link to on my site."

Blog posts are a way to "move" the policy discussion, he said. "I do promote my agenda on my blog." The media "read the heck out of my blog," says Urquhart, who is Majority Whip in the Utah House of Representatives.

Urquhart says his blog and the information he's received from readers via comments and emails responding to a blog post has helped him pass legislation. "I've passed some legislation that I wouldn't have been able to pass, or it wouldn't have been in as good shape as it was, if it were not for the [feedback] from my blog."

He says that, when he started his blog, some thought he was nuts, telling him that opponents "are going to take things out of context" and use it against him in a future campaign. But he's finding instead that people are appreciative of the blog, even if they don't always agree with him on issues. "You can show that in a blog - that you are attentive to the people and listening to what they have to say."

The biggest benefit from blogging, Urquhart says, is the openness it conveys to constituents. "How could anyone think someone who would put up idiocy like this would be unapproachable?"

Previous coverage of the NCSL annual meeting:
NCSL: Term Limits Shift Budget Power To Executive Branch
NCSL Says Term Limits May Boost Power Of Lobbyists
NCSL Agrees To Let Blogger Cover Session on Blogs
NCSL's Report Belies Its Press Release
Newsflash: Association of Legislators Doesn't Like Term Limits

P.S. Before yesterday, the NCSL's official policy on giving bloggers media credentials to cover NCSL events was a flat, "We don't credential bloggers." Which, I'm guessing, makes me the first blogger in history to get media credentials from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Which is almost kind of a cool thing.

Meanwhile, it ain't live-blogging, but The Tennessean does have notes from the NCSL, and a story today about an NCSL session yesterday on lobbying.

Update: I emailed the NCSL press room after live-blogging the session and got a response. Both are below. My email:

Dear NCSL press room.Thanks again for the press credentials to cover that session this morning. I blogged the session live. You can read my post here: http://billhobbs.com/.

The direct link for it in the archives is http://billhobbs.com/2006/08/liveblogging_from_the_ncsl.html

By the way, I am a founding board member of the Media Bloggers Association (www.mediabloggers.org) and I'm sure we would be interested in working with the NCSL next year to arrange for a group of media-and-political bloggers to cover the NCSL annual meeting in Boston. I have cc'd this email to Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association.

Pretty cool, Bill. This live blog of a session is a first, and a great idea. Except 100 people at one session is a pretty good showing. Did you see our agenda? There is so much going on here, and many, many of them overlap. Just look here to see what this session was competing with: http://www.ncsl.org/annualmeeting/agenda/index.cfm. You have to select the day and scroll down to the time. And there are actually about 6,000 total people registered. There are about 1500 legislative staff and there are other government officials.

Nicole

NCSL: Term Limits Shift Budget Power To Executive Branch

NASHVILLE - A report on term limits released yesterday by the National Conference of State Legislatures, which is holding its annual convention in Nashville, says term limits on state legislators in 15 states has produced a "decline in the influence of the legislative branch of state government in relation to the executive branch" that is "most visible in the budget process."

The NCSL annual meeting - reported to have drawn the attendance of some 1,000 state legislators and 2,000 lobbyists - was the backdrop for the release of Coping With Term Limits, A Practical Guide, a 36-page report produced by the NCSL, the Council of State Governments, the State Legislative Leaders Foundation and the Joint Project on Term Limits. The report is designed to provide ammunition to opponents of term limits seeking to repeal them in the 15 states where they exist for state legislators or fighting their imposition in the 35 states that don't have them.

Regarding the shift of power from legislative to executive branch, the report says...

During the period of study, the balance of power between the executive branch and the legislative branch in the control states - those without term limits - did not change. However, in all but one of the study's states with term limits (Ohio is the exception), influence over state spending, both in broad terms and in the details, has shifted to the executive branch.

A study of four term-limited legislatures, for instance, revealed that legislative adjustments to governors' budget proposals have declined significantly in all four states since term limits took effect. This shift in power reflects the key problem term limits creates: inexperience. Inexperienced legislators do not always know the questions to ask of experienced executive branch administrators and agency directors. Legislatures that lack veteran leadership may hesitate to challenge the governor's budget.

On the other hand, the quality of the policy enacted by term-limited legislatures has not changed measurably under term limits. JPTL interviews reveal that more bills are designed to build a legislator's resume for re-election (termed "brochure bills" by a Colorado observer), and more bills reintroduce old ideas. However, the study did not reveal evidence that the policy produced in term-limited legislatures in any way differs from or is of poorer quality than that produced in non-term-limited legislatures.

This may change over the long-term as term-limited legislatures lose their "policy champions," what one Colorado observer called legislators who are specialists in an issue area. They spend years studying the issue, introducing legislation but losing, refining their ideas, educating colleagues and building coalitions. The process takes years, but the result is well-crafted public policy. It has become more difficult under term limits to find legislators who champion policies and this sort of policymaking. They simply do not have the time necessary to achieve such results.

Previous coverage of the NCSL annual meeting:
NCSL Says Term Limits May Boost Power Of Lobbyists
NCSL Agrees To Let Blogger Cover Session on Blogs
NCSL's Report Belies Its Press Release
Newsflash: Association of Legislators Doesn't Like Term Limits

August 16, 2006

Blogging the NCSL Annual Meeting

State Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, is blogging from the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual convention, which is in Nashville this year. He reports here on a session on eminent domain reform in the wake of the Supreme Court's misbegotten Kelo decision. Meanwhile, the blogger at Music City Oracle is putting the local daily newspapers to shame with his wall-to-wall coverage of the NCSL convention's various sessions. Go here and scroll. He skewers The Tennessean for ignoring the two-hour session on "Critical Health Topics: Lessons from Tennessee." Says MCO:

Had a reporter managed to cover the event, they might have found any number of angles for a story: what the governor's office is saying to people from other states about why TennCare failed, future goals for CoverTennessee, the impact of disenrollment from TennCare on mental health patients, the use of disease management methodologies and technology to cut health care costs, why Tennessee is refusing federal funds in some