Tennessee News:

Hargett Just Says No To Drugs, September 08, 2005
State Rep. Tre Hargett has decided not to become Pfizer's top lobbyist in Tennessee after all. Details in The Tennessean....

Ethic Update: Did Ethics Panel Go Easy on Cooper?, September 06, 2005
While much of my focus here the last few days has been on an element of the Hurricane Katrina story, there has been other news. NewsChannel5's Phil Williams had an excellent report a few days ago showing how the state Senate's ethics committee didn't apply the same standards to investigating state Sen. Jerry Cooper as it did former state Sen. John Ford, despite both being involved in ethically questionable situations in which they used their...

Ethics Updates: Wilder Meddles, Newton Quits, September 02, 2005
Lt. Gov. John Wilder's appearance at a secret subcommittee meeting of the state Senate ethics committee looking at a questionable land deal that Wilder's bank funded - a deal that has lead to three federal indictments - raises the possibility that he was "trying to meddle" in the subcommittee's work. Well, yeah. Of course he was. Wilder's bank loaned $1.77 million dollars to the the buyers in a land deal involving state Sen. Jerry Cooper,...

Ethics Update, September 01, 2005
Here's the latest on the investigation - or, rather, the non-investigation - into state Sen. Jerry Cooper's use of his elected position to get a state grant to fund a rail spur to a piece of real estate he owned so he could sell it for $1.3 million. The deal has already resulted in three people being indicted. And now Lt. Gov. John Wilder admits he was involved in his bank loaning money to the...

Confirmed: Bredesen Friend Lobbied for Tripling of TennCare Contract for Poorly-Performing Contractor, August 31, 2005
Tennessee's Commissioner of Finance & Administration has confirmed that a powerful lobbyist who is a friend of Gov. Phil Bredesen played a role in helping a company get a huge contract expansion with TennCare despite a record of poor performance. The details are in an excellent story by John Spragens in this week's Nashville Scene. The story recaps information I brought to you in two posts on July 7 and July 8. An excerpt follows......

Hargett Update, August 30, 2005
This doesn't look good for Tre Hargett - but it doesn't look as bad as the overraught headline and the lead. Bottom line: The bill that negatively impacted Pfizer passed the full House 93-0 and Hargett did not vote against it there or in committee. The changes he argued for in committee were changes that legislators of both parties supported. And as I reported here on August 20, the chairman of two key committees through...

Lobbyist Watch, August 27, 2005
Lobbyist Watch: The Tennessean reports that Curtis Person is the new director of legislative affairs for Comcast Cable of Tennessee. In other words, he's their lobbyist. The Tennessean didn't mention it but I will: Person's father is a state senator from Memphis. Sen. Person has in the past pushed legislation sought by the cable television industry. He also is a member of the Senate Ethics Committee. In related news, state Rep. Gary Moore, a Democrat...

Defector, August 25, 2005
Former Memphis newspaper reporter Paula Wade has left Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration and taken a new job as communications director with the Tennessee Justice Center, which has battled the administration's efforts to slash hundreds of thousands of people from the TennCare rolls. Liz Garrigan thinks this is horrible news for Bredesen: "Clearly, Wade, whose reporting expertise was TennCare, didn't like what she saw on the Hill and became disillusioned with her boss and the direction...

A Killing Failure, August 23, 2005
Gov. Phil Bredesen's record on TennCare reform has gone from atrocious to abysmal. From the editorial in today's Tennessean:At this point in the painful process of TennCare cuts, the absence of the much ballyhooed safety net is simply inexcusable. Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration never minced words about the stark reality of cuts in TennCare enrollment. But throughout the process, the administration was quick to assure everyone of its intention to build a safety net to...

Defending Hargett, August 21, 2005
Matt White, who formerly worked for Tennessee House Minority Leader Tre Hargett, has written a very good piece about Hargett's decision to leave the legislature and take a job as a lobbyist for Pfizer - and about the way the media and some Democrats have reacted to it. White dismembers the hypocrisy of state Rep. Ulysses Jones:And speaking of Tennessee Waltz, several of the editorials/articles above quoted Ulysses Jones' assertion that Hargett is a hypocrite...

The Wrong Target, August 20, 2005
The Tennessean has raised the possibility in both story and an editorial that state Rep. Tre Hargett might have voted Pfizer's way on an important piece of legislation, while also seeking a job with Pfizer as a lobbyist. As I outlined here, there is no evidence of that - and the legislation, the Tennessee Affordable Drug Act of 2005, passed the state House on a vote of 93-0. Hargett was one of six legislators who...

Right, But Unfair, August 19, 2005
Today's Tennessean editorial, "Hargett personifies need for 'revolving door' law," is right - but rather unfair.Anyone looking for an example of why Tennessee government needs strong ethics legislation can find one in Tre Hargett. Hargett, the Republican House leader from Bartlett, announced this week he is leaving his position to become a lobbyist for the drug giant Pfizer. His step from leading lawmaker to drug firm lobbyist shows part of the problem on Capitol Hill....

Surplus Confusion Update, August 18, 2005
NASHVILLE - Today's Tennessean story about the state's revenue surplus may help clear up the confusion over two conflicting press releases issued yesterday by Gov. Phil Bredesen's office and his Department of Finance & Administration....

A Surplus of Confusion, August 17, 2005
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration on Wednesday issued two confusing announcements regarding the state's tax revenue surplus. Just hours after the Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration announced a $260 million surplus for the entire fiscal year, Gov. Phil Bredesen's office announced the state had recieved $120 million in surplus revenue in May....

Ethics Failure, August 16, 2005
A new report from the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization that researches public policy issues, gives Tennessee a failing grade for its laws governing lobbyists. Details here....

One in Four?, August 15, 2005
Karen Stroup, an adjunct professor at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School, writing in a "Nashville Eye" column in the Friday Tennessean:I was recently astounded to learn that 25% of TennCare enrollees are employed by Wal-Mart. It did not take much research to discover that this is true.Actually, it did not take much research to discover that it is false. Only about seven tenths of one percent of TennCare's 1.4 million enrollees (before the recent cuts)...

Ethics Panel May Investigate Cooper, August 10, 2005
The senate Ethics Committee may investigate state Sen. Jerry Cooper over a land deal in which Cooper sold a piece of property after using his political position to get a rail spur funded that made the property more valuable. A federal indictment of others in the deal describes an "unindicted co-conspirator" that is assumed to be Cooper....

Battling the ACLU's Attempt to Silence Your Vote, August 09, 2005
A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday related to lawsuit that has major implications for the 2006 Tennessee gubernatorial campaign. Byron Babione, Senior Legal Council for the Alliance Defense Fund, will be discussing the case ACLU of Tennessee v. Darnell, which is the ACLU's attempt to prevent Tennessee voters from having a voice in the state's marriage definition policy....

GOP Releases Ethics Reform Proposals, August 09, 2005
The Tennessee Republican Party's General Counsel has presented its proposals for ethics refrom to the General Assembly's special Joint Ethics Committee. Read Paul Ney's prepared remarks at The Hidden Agenda....

Bredesen Silent on Kelo Ruling; Governor Making No Moves to Protect Private Property Rights in Tennessee, August 03, 2005
NASHVILLE - States across the country are rushing to pass laws to counter the potential impact of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that allows state and local governments to seize homes for private development, reports USA Today. South of Tennessee, the legislature was called into special session to pass legislation the specifically state, cities and counties from taking private property for retail, office, commercial, industrial or residential development. Gov. Bob Riley signed the...

He Hasn't Said No, August 03, 2005
An anti-tax group, flanked by five legislators, called Tuesday for Gov. Phil Bredesen and members of the House and Senate to sign an anti-income tax pledge for the upcoming elections in 2006. The Nashville City Paper story notes that Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who has steadfastly refused to rule out seeking an income tax if re-elected, called the stunt "pure political posturing" and "nonsense." The only way to guarantee Bredesen won't seek a state income...

Just Haggling Over The Price?, July 29, 2005
The Tennessean's editorial page today rakes state Rep. Lois DeBerry over the coals for the ethical lapse that lead her to resign from her newly appointed position as co-chair of a new joint committee on ethics....

Lying is Unethical, Too., July 28, 2005
State Rep. Lois DeBerry, co-chairman of the legislature's new Joint Committee on Ethics, now admits she took $200 in cash from a representative of the same company that bribed lawmakers in the FBI sting Operation Tennessee Waltz. She says she gambled the money away in the nickel slot machines down at Tunica. House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh is defending her, saying she shouldn't have to step down from the Ethics committee because he knows that in...

The Past - and Future - of the Round Table, July 27, 2005
The newest issue of the Nashville Scene has an inside look at the demise and possible revival of the radio show Teddy Bart's Round Table. Bruce Barry has further thoughts - and the link the the story - here....

Playing Games, July 27, 2005
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that State Revenue Commissioner Loren Chumley said yesterday the state expects to have a surplus above $100 million when the books are closed on the 2004-05 fiscal year. Chumley, speaking to the Rotary Club of Knoxville, attributed the windfall to a boost in business taxes, specifically franchise and excise taxes. That's strange. At the end of June, with 11 months of revenue in hand, the state's revenue surplus was already...

Saving The Round Table, July 26, 2005
The Nashville City Paper reports that the Teddy Bart’s Round Table public affairs radio show "might only be off the air temporarily." That's because the board of directors of the not-for-profit organization The Public Forum, which owns the show, voted only to cancel the radio show to save money, not to shut down The Public Forum itself.Chairman of the Board Ted Welch said Monday that the panel voted to cancel just the show and (Karlen)...

Gov. Bredesen's Blog Has A Pulse. Barely., July 25, 2005
Gov. Phil Bredesen has posted his third blog entry ever, and the first since May 22, on his underwhelming Phil Blog. He actually posted it back on July 19, but when a blogger only posts something once every two months, you don't get into the habit of checking his blog every day. And, no, his blog still doesn't actually allow readers to post comments or make it easy to email the Guv....

Help The Round Table, July 25, 2005
Bob Krumm emails: "Bill Fletcher has put out a fundraising call. It's likely the only time I'll give money to one of Fletch's causes. But this is a good cause. I put Fletch's email up on my website. Please pass on the link or add it to your own page." I second Bob's call, for Fletcher - a take-no-prisoners Democratic political operative - is this time raising money for a good cause.Sve...

More on the End of the Round Table, July 24, 2005
Here's an update from The Tennessean on the demise of Teddy Bart's Round Table, a two-hour daily radio show about Tennessee politics that will be greatly missed. I think the program could be saved, but not by the board that voted to shut it down. Matt White says he'll miss the show, and is willing to donate to a fundraising effort to save it. So am I, though I, too, note the irony that most...

Off the Air, July 23, 2005
Here is sad news for anyone with a serious interest in Tennessee politics and policy discussion. I have been a guest on the Teddy Bart's Round Table radio program four or five times and always found it to be an enjoyable experience. Tennessee's political scene will be worse off for it being off the air. Here's hoping some way can be found to resurrect the program. (The Nashville City Paper broke the story of the...

Ethically Ironic, July 23, 2005
In yesterday's Tennessean, Trent Seibert examines the story of state Rep. Kim McMillan's new job, noting that "The chairwoman of Tennessee's House Ethics Committee has taken a job with a law firm that does lobbying work for health-care companies, the wireless industry and other special interests." Read the whole thing....

Inside the Loop, July 21, 2005
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen is currently considering calling a special session to enact ethics reforms covering legislators and lobbyists. But a few months ago Bredesen demonstrated just how little he minds the too-cozy relationship between legislators and lobbyists with one of the many appointments a governor makes while he's in office. MetroPulse comments......

Ethics Committee To Investigate Cooper, July 19, 2005
State Sen. Jerry Cooper's "unindicted co-conspirator" role in a land deal that has resulted in three other people being indicted on federal criminal charges has now sparked an investigation of Cooper by the Senate Ethics Committee. Matt White has some thoughts about it....

State Sen. Jerry Cooper Named "Unindicted Co-Conspirator" In Criminal Case, July 15, 2005
State Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Smartt, might not have been so smart after all when he used his Senate position, influence and connections, to enrich himself to the tune of $1.3 million in a real estate deal, a story I provided you the details on here more than four months ago. Tonight, NewsChannel5 reports that Cooper has been named an "unindicted co-conspirator" in the case, while some of his alleged co-conspirators have been indicted. Here's what...

Falling For Bredespin, July 13, 2005
The WSJ's Brendan Miniter falls for some serious spin from Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who is trying to position himself nationally as a leader on Medicaid reform, while at home he not reforming the state's version of Medicaid, TennCare, at all. Miniter writes:To fix the system, he's pulling the plug on TennCare and returning the state to traditional Medicaid. That will still mean the state will be splitting the tab with the federal government, but...

Stating the Obvious, July 12, 2005
The Tennessean echoes my thoughts today: Sundquist wrong person to lead Medicaid panelTurning to a former governor who has firsthand experience wrestling with Medicaid makes perfect sense. But while Sundquist's experience with Medicaid was firsthand, it was not successful. TennCare, which is Tennessee's Medicaid program, had nine directors during the Sundquist years. The computer system was always inadequate. Some of the managed care organizations within TennCare were under-funded and unprepared. Some had to be taken...

How Sundquist Scammed Medicaid, July 09, 2005
Now that former Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist has been appointed to head a national commission on Medicaid reform, it's worth looking back at how the Sundquist administration scammed the federal Medicaid program - and ripped off federal - taxpayers to the tune of $555 million, while driving up nursing home costs for thousands of Tennesseans during his eight-year reign of error....

Storm Clouds Gathering Over Sundquist?, July 09, 2005
I'm hoping former Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist won't stay head of a new national commission on Medicaid reform for very long, given the front-page story in the Saturday edition of The Tennessean....

This is a Joke, Isn't It?, July 08, 2005
Former Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist, who let TennCare fester unreformed so as to exacerbate Tennessee's fiscal problems in order to make a proposed state income tax more attractive to the state legislature, has been appointed to head a new national advisory commission on improving Medicaid, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced yesterday. Stop laughing. I'm not kidding . It's true - a governor who disastrously mis-managed his state's version of Medicaid has...

Tennessee's Tax Surplus Soars in June, July 08, 2005
This will be in your newspaper tomorrow... NASHVILLE - Tennessee state government continues to pile up a large revenue surplus, adding $92.6 million to that surplus just in the month of June, according to data released by the Department of Finance and Administration at 11 a.m. today. That data shows that, through the first 11 months of revenue collection for the 2004-05 fiscal year, revenue is up $194.5 million more than the budgeted estimate of...

Bredesen Gave What Lobbyist Asks For , July 07, 2005
How serious was Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen about reforming TennCare? So serious that, when the company that serves as TennCare's pharmacy benefits manager was found to be grossly incompetent - causing TennCare to spend too much money - the Bredesen administration did what Bredesen's good friend urged the administration to do: It gave the incompetent company a contract extension without competitive bidding, tripled the firm' fee to $45 million, and hired another company to take...

There Are None So Blind..., July 07, 2005
The state of Tennessee is claiming that its new tax on illegal drugs is generating more revenue for the state than it is costing to enforce, and media has bought the story. But an analysis released last week by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research finds the tax has actually cost far more to administer than it has generated in revenue - and the "Uncontrolled Substances Tax" or UST has serious constitutional problems....

Why Some People Are Going to Die, July 05, 2005
When former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen ran for governor in 2002, his chief selling point was that, as a former healthcare company executive, he had the relevant managerial expertise to fix TennCare, the state's exorbitantly expensive, waste-riddled, out-of-control healthcare program for the poor, elderly, disabled and uninsurable sick. Which means you really have to work hard to stifle a snort when you read this Tennessean headline:Governor’s early decisions may now beblocking his own TennCare reformsBredesen's...

The Missing Piece, July 03, 2005
Larry Daughtrey has a good column today on how the Tennessee media is covering the legislature less. Daughtrey: "It just sticks in my competitive craw to see the FBI, not the press, break the biggest Capitol Hill story of the decade." The only media development Daughtrey misses is the growing impact on legislative media coverage of independent "citizen journalists," who publish blogs and online news magazines. This year alone, Tennessee political news blogs and online...

Clippard Declines to Run Against Bredesen, June 28, 2005
The Tennessee Republican Party still doesn't have a candidate to run aainst the stumbling, wounded, vulnerable Gov. Phil Bredesen as banker and businessman B.C. "Scooter" Clippard, Jr., has decided to to run....

Late to the Party, June 28, 2005
The Tennessean today concludes its three-part series on the culture of corruption at the state legislature. A good round-up, with an interesting paragraph noting that Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen "says he favors more disclosure of what lobbyists do." Oh, really? Then why, Gov. Bredesen, when legislation was proposed a few months ago to require more such disclosure from lobbysists, where you nowhere to be found in the effort to try to get it passed? Why...

The People's Legislature?, June 27, 2005
The Tennessean continues its three-part series examining the dysfunctional culture of the state legislature with its second part today looking at how the General Assembly often does its business by "closing itself off from the people it exists to serve" via secret meetings, closed records, unrecorded "votes" and more. Read the whole thing....

As Calls for Ethics Reform Grow Louder..., June 26, 2005
State Rep. Stacey Campfield has a long post the need for reform of ethics rules covering the state legislature and lobbyists - and also spotlights the incestuous relationship between lobbyists and the administration of Gov. Phil Bredesen....

Campfield on Kelo, June 26, 2005
State Rep. Stacey Campfield, Tennessee's first blogging legislator, has some very good thoughts about private property rights and the Kelo v. New London decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday. Campfield is proposing legislation to reign in abuse of "eminent domain" powers by state and local governments in Tennessee. You can read all about it here....

Politics, Power and Privilege, June 26, 2005
The Tennessean today starts its three-part series, Culture on the Hill: Politcs, Power, Privilege, a look at how lobbyists run Tennessee's legislators to a large degree, and how legislators "close themselves off from the people they serve and use their own power to further insulate themselves and protect their culture."...

Governor's Race Update, June 22, 2005
Jeff Ward has an update on the prospects of state Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey running for governor. Ramsey's profile is as high as it has ever been in Tennessee because of his leadership of the Senate Ethics Committee in a year when four sitting lawmakers were arrested on federal corruption charges....

Gov. Harwell?, June 21, 2005
State Rep. Beth Harwell, former chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, is edging closer to running for governor instead of the U.S. Senate. I think that's a wise move - for her and for the Republican Party in Tennessee. She'll have an easier time defeating wounded incumbent Gov. Phil Bredesen than she would have capturing the GOP's U.S. Senate nomination in 2006. A moderately conservative Republican, Harwell will be able to present a favorable...

Ramsey for Gov?, June 20, 2005
There growing speculation that state Sen. Ron Ramsey, the Senate Majority Leader and chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, might decide to run for governor in 2006 against incumbent Gov. Phil Bredesen. Watching Ramsey address the crowd at the Tennessee GOP's 2005 Statesmen's Dinner Saturday night at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center, I remarked to my wife, "He looks like a governor." He does, though I wasn't expecting he'd make a run at Bredesen. It's...

Statesmen Dinner, June 17, 2005
Looks like I might soon have the chance to meet Rob Huddleston, Knoxville's best new political blogger, as we'll both be at the Tennessee Republican Party's 2005 Statesmen Dinner Saturday night. I won't be live-blogging the event out of courtesy to my wife, who would be embarrassed, and my father-in-law, a former state party chairman who provided the tickets. But I may sneak my camera in, and a tiny digital audio recorder, and post some...

To Make Law, She Must First Break the Law, June 17, 2005
Ophelia Ford, sister of disgraced former state Sen. John Ford, who was videotaped taking cash bribes from undercover FBI agents in a corruption sting, says she's going to run for his former seat in the state Senate. One problem: she doesn't meet the residency requirements. But the local elections commission appears inclined to let her run anyway, despite the law. From today's Tennessean:She does not live in District 29, but said she plans to move...

Will Phil Drink the Lobbyists' Gall?, June 15, 2005
SBK, one of my regular commenters, posted a comment to this post about legislative and lobbying ethics reform in the aftermath of the Operation Tennessee Waltz arrests that was so plainly on target that I decided to edit it into a blog entry all its own. SBK writes:As ethics reform is a subject of self interest to the lobbyists they should have no more access to the process than any other Tennessean who is looking...

Lobbyists Seek "Consensus" On Ethics Reforms, June 15, 2005
As I noted two days ago, the lobbyists who run the show down at Tennessee's state legislature are hoping to influence the direction of ethics reform legislation that impacts their business - a huge conflict of interest if ever there was one. Now, the Tennessee Associated Press has reported on the lobbyists' plans to water down ethics reform (although the AP doesn't characterize it that way)....

Ethics Best Practices, June 15, 2005
As Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen mulls whether to call a special session of the legislature to address legislative/lobbyist ethics reform in the aftermath of the arrest of four sitting legislators for taking bribes from a lobbyist - and as the Bredesen adminstration asks the lobbyists to help write the new ethics rules - Ben Cunningham of Tennessee Tax Revolt has been doing a little research into how other states handle such things and has produced...

Chavez: Blogs "Taking Aim" at "Bredesen's Supposed Fix of TennCare", June 15, 2005
Thanks to Tennessean columnist Tim Chavez for the mention in his column today about the battle over TennCare. Chavez mentions this blog and two others (GeoTennCare and Sharon Cobb) as good sources of info on TennCare and Gov. Phil Bredesen's handling there-of....

Watch This Space, June 11, 2005
Nashville journalist and blogger Sharon Cobb has been working on a big scoop involving TennCare and the administration of Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen - and she's alerted some other Tennessee political bloggers that she'll be sharing some of the "smoking gun" documents with them as she publishes her scoop. Now, it seems she's about ready to release the scoop, posting the following in a comment to my previous post:There are internal memos that show this...

Live Blogging, June 07, 2005
It's 2:18 p.m. and I'm sitting outside at Bongo Java with a group of Tennessee bloggers along with Lawrence Reed, president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy; Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research; and New York Times reporter Jason DeParle. We're discussing issues of open government, public policy, and blogging. There's also a photographer here shooting for the NYT. UPDATE: Blake Wylie was there too, and live-blogged it. Matt White...

Lessons Learned from Bad Politicians, June 07, 2005
AlphaPatriot has an excellent post tying together the Operation Tennessee Waltz arrests of four sitting lawmakers on federal felony corruption indictments, and the recent shenanigans in the state House in which House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh broke the rules in order to kill a popular gun-rights bill. Read the whole thing....

Silent Leadership, June 05, 2005
The Tennessean has a long editorial today urging Gov. Phil Bredesen - who was silent on the issue of legislative ethics before the May 25 arrest of four sitting lawmakers on federal felony corruption charges - to call as special session to adopt tough new ethics laws for legislators and lobbyists. Many of the things they are calling for are things the legislature rejected in the just-finished session. Some of them might have passed if...

Bredesen's Lack of Interest in Legislative Ethics Goes Way Back, June 04, 2005
As I have noted before on this site, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen provided zero leadership on the issue of legislative ethics this year, despite the fact that legislative ethics was the topic of primary discussion and public interest during the just-completed session. Throughout the session, the governor was silent on the issue, providing no leadership as the legislature debated various ethics reform measures in the midst of an ethics crisis. Now, as as we learn...

The Grand Slam, June 03, 2005
Rob Huddleston writes:It's hard to be anti-civil rights, anti-family values, anti-religious rights, pro-divorce, and anti-pharmacist in one editorial, but the liberal elites at the Nashville fishwrapper somehow managed to pull it off.Yes, they did...

State Senate Would Be Better Without Wilder, June 02, 2005
Knoxville's MetroPulse has the must-read editorial of the day regarding Operation Tennessee Waltz, corruption in the state legislature, and why Lt. Gov. Wilder was wrong to defend the indicted against the FBI....

"A sea change in the way news is disseminated.", June 01, 2005
Today's Nashville City Paper has an editorial noting the role bloggers played in quickly disseminating news of last week's stunning arrests of four members of the Tennessee legislature on federal corruption charges as a result of the two-year FBI undercover probe called "Tennessee Waltz."The revelations of Operation Tennessee Waltz last week came swiftly and stunningly. How they came was via one of the older forms of mass communication and one of the newest. ... one...

Hot Deals at Wheeler Dealer Ford, May 31, 2005
Former state Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis, says he didn't resign from the state Senate because of those federal bribery and witness intimidation charges against him. Oh, no. He resigned because the legislature had just passed a law making it illegal for legislators like him to get paid for consulting services by companies that also do business with Tennessee. You see, he just couldn't make an honest living selling his influence while serving as a state...

A Vote of No Confidence, May 31, 2005
Jay Johnson, who has a new blog at Backassward.com, responds to the email Gov. Phil Bredesen sent to all state employees after the arrest last Thursday of four legislators on a variety of federal corruption charges. Johnson to Bredesen:The real tragedy is that YOU haven't recognized that the public has no confidence in our state government that has existed for a long time before these arrests.Read the whole thing - it's rather pointed and on...

On TennCare and Corrupt Legislators, May 30, 2005
Sate Sen. Jim Bryson, R-Franklin, has sent out an email discussing last week's arrest of four legislators on corruption charges and also detailing the effort) made by many Republicans in the state legislature to prevent Gov. Phil Bredesen from slashing 67,000 peopled deemed "uninsurable" from the TennCare rolls (and another 11,500 people who are mentally ill). It's an effort that failed because, as, Bryson notes, "the Governor fought this plan with all the tools at...

Our Well-Paid Legislators, May 29, 2005
State Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, Tennessee's first blogging legislator, has some thoughts about the notion that a full-time better-paid legislature would be one way to reduce corruption:"Put your mind at ease. No one here is going to starve by being honest."Campfield's excellent post details all the various forms of income legislators receive, including a $12,000-per-year office allowance, membership in the state healthcare coverage plan, a 401K plan and the generous $141 per diem pay that...

Wilder Waltzes Around The Issue, May 28, 2005
State Sen. John Wilder thinks its not bad to take a bribe if the bribe is being offered by someone for the purpose of testing whether or not you are corrupt. That and more legislators' reaction to the arrest of four of their colleagues for taking bribes here. Sen. Wilder, I suspect most Tennesseans don't agree with you. I suspect most Tennesseans understand that if Sen. John Ford, Sen. Ward Crutchfield, Sen. Kathryn Bowers and...

A Non-Blogging Day, May 27, 2005
Sorry for the lack of blogging today, the day after the arrest of four Tennessee state legislators on federal corruption charges. There's plenty of news coverage and probably lots of bloggage about it, but I haven't had the time to cover it here. So look on my blogroll for the Nashville and Tennessee blogs and click those - most if not all will have at least something on the Tennessee Waltz scandal. Matt White has...

On The Good Ship TennCare, May 27, 2005
Tennessee's first blogging state legislator, Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, has a very good post about the TennCare fiscal crisis and Gov. Phil Bredesens's plans to fix things.Governor Bredesen is a successful businessman with much touted experience in healthcare and HMOs. But it must be noted, that he made money in healthcare by removing high-risk people from their health plans. He has brought this same management style and strategy to TennCare.Read the whole thing....

Tennessee Perp Waltz, May 26, 2005
Ford, Newton, Crutchfield, Bowers Click the images to read the indictments. Scroll to previous entry for more details and links....