Archive for the ‘Abortion’ Category

Fair elections in Tennessee held hostage by Republican agenda

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

A battle is brewing in the state over a new law requiring the use of paper ballots in the 2010 elections, and Secretary of State Tre Hargett says the legislature was too busy with other things to fix it.

Last year the House and Senate passed the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (TVCA) requiring every county in the state use paper ballots in next year’s elections. The bill passed almost unanimously, and the Gov. signed the bill into law. But the newly appointed Secretary of State has spent the last nine months complaining about the law instead of working to implement the expressed will of the people of Tennessee.

Yesterday the Secretary of State’s office issued a questions and answers document on the TVCA outlining his office’s complaints about the new law. Chief among the complaints was the lack of time his office now has to fully implement the use of paper ballots in 2010.

Over the past nine months, however, Secretary of State Tre Hargett and State Election Coordinator Mark Goins have been busy instead working through Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) to delay the law’s implementation until after the 2010 elections.

Rather than spend the greater part of the past year addressing their concerns with the law through Capitol Hill, the Secretary of State’s office has done nothing but waste time. Tennessee voters shouldn’t be surprised.

In the last legislature, the Republican controlled House and Senate wasted months on abortion, guns and booze bills. When they finally decided in the last minutes of session to get around to important issues like election reform, they failed the people of this great state.

A paper ballot advocate in Columbia, TN was recently visited by the TBI after the Secretary of State made an “unsubstantiated” terrorist threat claim against the man. Bernie Ellis had merely referenced the Battle of Athens on a blog. And that’s just the latest example of how Republicans are handling the laws that govern our election process.

Here in Rutherford County, the Election Commission Chair Tom Walker attempted to violate state law and told several people he didn’t care what the state law says. Another Republican election commissioner, Dorris Jones, was quoted as saying “We’ve got some crazy laws in this county.” Sen. Ketron’s success in declawing the state’s Ethics Commission conveniently makes investigating corrupt law makers a lower priority for the Registry of Election Finance.

There is a reason the Republican controlled House and Senate delayed addressing concerns over the use of paper ballots in 2010. Protecting the constitutional right we have for our vote to count in 2010 was trumped this year by a Republican legislative agenda more focused on abortion, guns in bars and booze bills. When given the chance to serve the people of Tennessee, Republicans chose instead to pander to fear, erode the safe guards of our liberties and freedoms, and ignore the priorities of Tennessee’s working families.

Posted in 2010, Abortion, Elections, Ethics, Guns, Legislation | 1 Comment »

Senators Bill Ketron (R-13) and Jim Tracy (R-16) try to scuttle Education Building

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Senators Bill Ketron (R-13) and Jim Tracy (R-16) ran to the media to take credit for funding a needed building project at MTSU, but behind closed doors they’ve pledged allegiance to the Republican Party to defund it.

The Rutherford County Republicans have pledged to pull the plug on construction jobs at MTSU and the on site progress for a new education building for the state’s largest university.

According to David Gregory, vice chancellor for administration and facilities with the Tennessee Board of Regents, the $29.8 million project was funded in the 2007-2008 budget year as a Board of Regents capital outlay project, with a funding structure consisting of $17.3 million in cash and $12.5 million or in bonds.

Of that, $1.7 million has already been allocated in design fees and programming fees to the new building near Cummings Hall and the new roundabout on the MTSU campus. In addition, another $260,000 plus in construction management and site utility construction has been obligated.

Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and Senators Ketron and Tracy are united in their opposition to improvements in education, health care and jobs. All three Republicans have opposed federal stimulus funds in all three areas, oppose recurring funds for pre-k education and now want to make major cuts in promised funds to MTSU.

Friday, the Senate Finance Committee passed Republican revisions to the governor’s budget plan eliminating the authorization of bonds for several higher education construction projects, including the MTSU project.

Some hope that will be changed on Tuesday, when the full Senate takes up the budget.

“I would say to you, we don’t build those buildings now, we will be unable to build them for some years to come because of the state finances,” said Democratic Sen. Jim Kyle.

MTSU was founded 98 years ago as a teachers college. University officials hope to mark the 100th anniversary by opening a building devoted to education teachers.

Senators Ketron and Tracy have spent months pushing a Republican agenda focused on abortion, guns and booze. When it comes time for leadership on issues that matter to working families of Rutherford County, they both choose cuts in education, health care and jobs instead of the hard work it takes to improve the quality of our lives.

Posted in Abortion, Economy, Education, Guns, Health care, Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13), Sen. Jim Tracy (R-16) | No Comments »

Gov. Bredesen calls TN GOP budget plan what it is - “stupid”

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Gov. Phil Bredesen used one word to describe the budget plan cobbled together at the last minute by state Republican lawmakers: “Stupid.”

State Republicans propose major cuts in education, health care, and jobs after wasting several months on abortion, guns and booze legislation and ignoring the priorities of working families.

Tennessee Republicans have also proposed knocking Tennessee off the top of another good list by cutting funds to our state’s nationally recognized leadership in clean energy jobs. In a report released today by the Pew Environment Group, Tennessee ranks 3rd in the nation for creating clean energy jobs.

The GOP proposal would remove funding for the state to acquire land for a West Tennessee megasite that would be used to attract large manufacturers and more jobs to the state.

It would also scuttle Bredesen’s plan to spend $62 million in federal stimulus money to build a solar generation plant at the site near Brownsville and establish a solar research institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

One of the bad lists Tennessee tops is infant mortality rates. Rather than save the lives of babies and enhance the quality and culture of life in Tennessee, Republicans propose to cut needed funding to fix the problem.

“Some of these cuts are personal. The House spent two months talking about abortion this year, and now we’ve got a budget cut to eliminate the infant mortality money. That borders on being hypocritical as to what you believe in, whether you are pro-family or pro-life. It’s a study on infant mortality. It’s a study on how to keep these babies alive. I’ve got zip codes in my hometown with infant mortality rates of Third World countries. We’ve got to figure out how to stop that and we don’t need to wait until we’ve got a budget surplus to do it.”

Check back later for more focus on the role Rutherford County’s Republican delegation is playing in the state party’s proposed cuts in education, health care and jobs.

Posted in Abortion, Budget, Economy, Education, Guns, Health care, Jobs, Rutherford County Republican Party | 4 Comments »

Second right-wing domestic terrorist attack in the United States in two weeks

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Today was a very sad day for America with news of another fatal act of domestic terrorism within two weeks. This time the targets were visitors to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. According to several news reports, the terror suspect was driven by a noted anti-Semitic, right-wing ideology.

Last week, another right-wing domestic terrorist driven by a fanatic ideology entered the church of abortion Dr. George Tiller and shot him dead. Shortly after Dr. Tiller’s murder, a local conservative leader explained how murder of abortion doctors is justified in the mind of anti-abortionists.

Shortly after today’s domestic terrorist incident FOX News anchor Shepard Smith took a moment to ponder the level of hate expressed by FOX News’s more extremist viewers. Watch this video for a glimpse into their current state of mind.

In April, Department of Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano was attacked on right-wing radio by conservatives for issuing the following warning on the potential for violence from right-wing hate groups. It is now clear DHS was right to warn law enforcement.

Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

From time to time, extremists on both ends of the political spectrum can come to define a movement’s beliefs and hopes for our country’s future. It is our great hope that hatred and the resulting domestic terrorism from right-wing extremists is an aberration and a distortion of the values and beliefs of American conservatives. Our country has plenty of shared enemies and even more shared beliefs and values, and none are greater than our shared love for our country.

Please pray for the family of the victim of today’s senseless act of domestic terrorism, and pray for our country.

Posted in Abortion, Crime, Public Safety, Terrorism, Watchdog Alert | 1 Comment »

Tennessee Democrats pledge to take back House from right-wing zealots

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

With a one seat advantage in the state house, Tennessee’s Republican Party has empowered radical voices who spent the entire legislative session focused on abortion, guns and booze while the priorities of working families were ignored.

Rutherford County’s Republican delegation has sponsored legislation to deny our county’s growing unemployed the benefits they deserve. They’ve protested in the streets against enhanced health care for our veterans and millions for our schools. Rutherford County Republicans have said they want nothing to do with the jobs being created in our county and the help to retrain workers.

This is the real agenda of the Tennessee GOP, and if given more power in 2010, Republicans will redraw district lines and ensure their radical agenda has a regional foothold in American politics for years to come.

When the census is complete in 2011, the Tennessee General Assembly is charged with drawing new lines on congressional and state legislative districts.

With the state’s Republican Party taken over by “right-wing zealots,” Mr. Forrester said, the Democratic Party has developed a strategy to regain the House.

The House now has a one-member Republican advantage.

“We know we have enough money,” Mr. Forrester said. “We don’t know if we have enough boots on the ground.”

He said the party plans to target eight to 12 state Senate and House seats, while also making sure every state House and Senate seat up for election and held by a Republican has a Democratic challenger.

This is where we put a stop to it. This is where America’s Democratic party was born, and this is where your hard work starts to move Tennessee forward.

Posted in 2010, Abortion, Guns, Legislation, Rutherford County Republican Party | No Comments »

Tennessee conservative explains justification for doctor’s assassination

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Family Action Council of Tennessee President David Fowler penned an article yesterday condemning the assassination of Dr. George Tiller but then explained how murdering doctors is justified in the minds of the politically deranged.

Over time, those who grew up with abortion legal and common no longer had a moral sense that it was wrong. And if not wrong, then why would any particular type of abortion, like partial-birth abortion, be wrong? On the other hand, when the law allows something as horrific as partial-birth abortion, some perhaps begin to lose their respect for the law and, taking that disrespect to its final conclusion, it becomes justification for breaking the law, taking the law into one’s own hands–vigilante justice against persons like Dr. Tiller.

Posted in Abortion, Special Interests, Watchdog Alert | 1 Comment »