Bill Hobbs & Robin Smith, Republican Congressional Candidate in the TN 3rd District
The Tennessee Republican Party’s “family values” are on display in Williamson County, where the former spokesman of the Tennessee GOP, Bill Hobbs, has been convicted of abusing his wife, Anne Hobbs. WKRN reports the following (with documents)
An arrest warrant was issued October 12, 2009 charging William H. Hobbs with domestic assault. His bail was set at $1,500. You can view the public documents here.
Here’s what the affidavit of complaint says:
On 10-12-2009 at approx 5:30 PM, BPD Officer Huddleston was dispatched to Vanderbilt Med Ctr, 21st Ave, Nashville, in response to a reported domestic violence assault. Upon arrival, Officer Hudleston spoke with Anna Hobbs. Mrs Hobbs stated that on 10-11-2009 at approx 11:15 PM she and her husband William got into an arguement that turned physical when Mr. Hobbs struck the left side of Mrs Hobbs head and knocked her down. Mrs Hobbs also suffered visible injuries to her left wrist. A short time later, Mr Hobbs left the residence. On 10-12-2009 Mrs. Hobbs head was so painful that she went to Vanderbilt ed Ctr for treatment. Vanderbilt reported the incident to BPD. Mrs Hobbs gave a written statement to Officer Huddleston.
Hobbs is widely considered an alter ego for 3rd District Congressional candidate Robin Smith, who chaired the Tennessee GOP during his tenure as spokesman. During that time Smith and Hobbs worked together to craft GOP statements touting the superior morality and “family values” of republicans. Apparently, assaulting one’s spouse is one of those “family values”.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Bart Gordon and his colleagues approved bipartisan legislation to require companies holding sensitive personal information to secure that data and provide notice to American consumers when that data is compromised.
“According to a recent report, almost 340 million records containing ‘sensitive personal information’ have been ‘involved in security breaches since January 2005’,” said Gordon. “It is essential that consumers’ personal information, whether it is collected online or through other means, is safe.”
The House-passed bill, the Data Accountability and Trust Act (H.R. 2221), directs the FTC to create rules requiring any person involved in interstate commerce who owns or possesses data containing personal information, or has a third party maintaining the data, to create procedures regarding information security practices to protect personal information. The practices include a security policy to collect, sell, and maintain the information, a point of contact responsible for the management of information, and a process to assess any system vulnerabilities.
“If there is a security breach of any kind,” Gordon stated, “this bill will not only better protect consumers’ personal information, but it will also require data companies to notify each individual whose personal information has been acquired by an unauthorized person.”
With limited exceptions, all security breach notifications would have to be made to each individual consumer within 60 days and the FTC would also have to be notified. If online companies did not comply with the bill’s new regulations, they could face a fine of $5 million for each violation.
The bill was written and approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, of which Gordon is a member. Having passed the House, the bill will now move to the Senate for consideration.
Republicans controlled this year’s session of the Tennessee legislature for the first time since reconstruction (1870’s). They took over in a time of unprecedented economic hardship and sagging revenues, adding up to a budget mess that required quick action. What did republicans do with their newfound leadership opportunities? They plugged the budget holes with the very stimulus money they protested, passed “Guns in Bars”, and headed home with their pockets full of per diem checks.
All the while, far right Tennessee Republicans made impassioned speeches about “following the Constitution”, the evils of the stimulus package (yet spent it to plug budget holes), and “limited government”. They even formed a committee to study secession.
Now a Chancery Judge has ruled that the “Guns in Bars” law is unconstitutionally vague, citing that it is problematic for police and small business owners (you know, the ones republicans claim to protect). Following the Constitution to the letter is the one thing all republicans pride themselves in and espouse constantly. This year, when they finally took power for the first time since reconstruction, they couldn’t even do that. The City Paper has the story
In her ruling, [Chancellor] Bonnyman agreed the law was too vague and “does violate the due process rights of the public in general and plaintiff gun permit holders.” The chancellor based her decision on the fact that permit holders cannot determine whether or not they are in violation of the law.
“The principle business being conducted cannot be known to the ordinary citizen,” Bonnyman said. “Inquiry would not be satisfactory or helpful.”
It’s not clear whether or not the Attorney General will appeal the ruling, which effectively eliminated the statute from the law. The legislature is likely to address a new version of the bill in the next session but it is unclear whether or not a guns-in-bar provision will see the same support.
Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas spoke out in support of Bonnyman’s decision, and said his one concern he had was that the ruling would allow the issue to “again take center stage during the next legislative session instead of the vitally important issue of keeping convicted felons behind bars.”
A 52-year-old state law stipulates that the Rutherford County Commission, not the mayor, should have chosen defense attorneys to handle a lawsuit filed by the family whose rezoning request for Bible Park USA was rejected.
According to the “Private Acts of 1957 Chapter 67″ charter between the state and the county, “no official, agent, department, branch or board of said County shall employ other attorneys to be paid out of the public revenues of said County without the approval of the Quarterly County Court (now called the county commission) of said County in advance of such employment.”
Mayor Ernest Burgess, however, made the decision after consulting with County Attorney Jim Cope behind closed doors.
“That’s an out-of-date statute, and we’re going to update it in the next legislative session starting in January,” Burgess said during an interview from his office at the County Courthouse.
How many more embarrassing and expensive mistakes is Mayor Burgess going to dump on the tax payers of Rutherford County? The law the Mayor claims is “out-of-date” is the law, and even the former chair of the Rutherford County Republican Party says what every law-abiding citizen knows.
Commissioner D.C. “Jim” Daniel wishes the 21-member commission had made the call on hiring the attorneys to defend the county.
“I believe we ought to follow the law,” said Daniel, a retired attorney. “The law is the law. Otherwise, you have chaos if you run around contrary to law.”
Chaos is exactly what the tax payers are paying for under Republican County Mayor Ernest Burgess, and we’re all paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in higher taxes for it thanks to Mayor Burgess. Rutherford County deserves a County Mayor and a County Attorney with the moral compass to uphold the rule of law. It is up to the voters to decide whether the criminal behavior of Republican County Mayor Ernest Burgess and bad advice of our county attorney represents the best interests of our community or the selfish interests of a men who think the law doesn’t apply to them.
Read more about Mayor Burgess’s costly lapses of character and judgment:
Rep. Joe Carr (R-Lascassas) told Channel 4 today that he is refusing a request by voters to return thousands of dollars he recently told the Tennessean he “inadvertently” took from the tax payers and now claims he’s “entitled” to it.
Rep. Carr also told Channel 4 he took over $18,000 (more than any other lawmaker) in expenses to pay for hotel rooms, but no one seems to understand why he’d need that much money when he lives less than an hour from the state Capitol.
In the video above, Rep. Carr couldn’t explain how he “inadvertently” drove himself to the bank to “inadvertently” cash 13 weeks worth of bogus meal and hotel expense checks.
Joe had the nerve to challenge his fellow big spending county Republicans to join him in not accepting anymore expense claims for the entire calendar year after we caught him with his hand in the tax payer’s pocket.
Republican County Mayor Ernest Burgess continues to refuse to release documents related to a secret land deal he tried to hide from Rutherford County tax payers.
Mayor Burgess confirmed to a persistent DNJ today that he spent $100,000 of tax payer money for land in Rockvale that the county valued at $31,300. Mayor Burgess continues to dodge growing public demands for full transparency on his secret land deal that was part of a lawsuit settlement with the county.
Mayor Burgess had an opportunity to do the right thing when no one was paying attention, and when he thought no one was watching, Mayor Burgess chose to break the law and enter an ill-advised secret land deal using tax payer money.
Mayor Burgess had another choice when confronted with his illegal behavior and again chose to violate the public trust, hide behind lawyers and lay the blame that created this mess on the entire County Commission. Rutherford County deserves a mayor who respects the law and whose faith guides them to serve the people with honesty, even when he thinks they aren’t paying attention.
Every day Mayor Burgess refuses to release public documents on this land deal is another day Mayor Burgess is blatantly breaking state law, violating his oath of office and making a mockery of the leadership our county deserves. Every day Mayor Burgess feels he can withhold public records is another day we’ll be here to remind him of his duty to the people and his oath to uphold the law.
red-faced and red-handed County Mayor Ernest Burgess
Republican County Major Ernest Burgess told the DNJ he doesn’t have to tell tax payers how much of their money he spent on a secret land deal made as part of a settlement with a Rockvale land owner.
Mayor Burgess is the latest in a growing list of local Republican politicians who have been caught breaking the law to serve their own private interests while using tax money.
Mayor Burgess can either uphold the law and come clean with the people he was hired to serve, or he can do it the hard way.
The county has apparently agreed to buy 1.7 acres in the Rockvale community to settle a lawsuit filed by a couple whose rezoning request was rejected by the county a few years ago. According to Burgess, the settlement terms are confidential, meaning taxpayers are left in the dark about how much money they paid for this piece of property.
We believe this is a clear violation of the state’s open records laws, and even if it isn’t, as a matter of principle, it flies against this nation’s bedrock concept of transparent and accountable government. Simply put, taxpayers have a right to know how government is spending their money.
Besides, Rick Hollow, legal counsel for the Tennessee Press Association and a noted authority on state open records law, told The DNJ that a Tennessee Attorney General determined in the 1990s that a confidential agreement is void if it pertains to withholding public records.
“The expenditure of public funds is public business,” Hollow said. “An agreement to withhold information from the public is unenforceable.”
A federal judge has granted a temporary order barring Republican Election Commission Chairman Tom Walker from firing Rutherford County Election Administrator Hooper Penuel.
The order is the latest in a federal lawsuit against Walker and seven other Republicans who plaintiffs claim are violating the United States Constitution with politically motivated firings of county election administrators.
County election administrators are appointed by local election commissions, and state law required those commissions to have Republican majorities because the GOP gained control of the legislature last year.
Some of those new commissions have ousted election administrators who were appointed by commissions with Democratic majorities. In their lawsuit, the eight administrators say the moves are unlawful.
At a hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge John Nixon approved a temporary restraining order barring Rutherford’s election commission from moving to fire Penuel.
Penuel is the only one of the eight defendants who still works as an election administrator, though court filings say he was told his firing is imminent.
“This decision puts the brake on what appears to be a wholesale removal of election administrators across the state,” Forrester said. “Why would you fire people who have such a wealth of experience and knowledge of the election process if it weren’t political patronage?
“These firings and the refusal of Secretary of State Tre Hargett to implement the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act leads me to believe there is an organized effort by Republicans to obstruct fair and verifiable elections.”
Republican election commissioners voted to spend Rutherford County tax payer money on lawyers from Chattanooga to defend themselves in a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit filed in District Court yesterday against Republican Election Commission Chair Tom Walker and seven other Republicans across the state alleges violations of the United States Constitution for partisan selections of County Election Administrators.
Republicans gained a 3-2 majority on county election commissions across the state of Tennessee when Republicans took control of the House and Senate. The plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit (view the lawsuit here) will argue in District Court that Republican defendants violated federal law by making hiring decisions for non-policy making positions based on party affiliation. This is the third time within a month that Republican Election Commissioner Walker has had a run-in with the law.
Apparently Republican election commissioners don’t feel there is a single attorney in Rutherford County capable or willing to defend their actions in a District Court. The bill to defend Rutherford County Republicans could cost Rutherford County tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars, all of which will now line the pockets of Chattanooga lawyers.
The Rutherford County Election Commission voted 3-2, along party lines this evening to hire two Chattanooga attorneys to represent the three Republican members of the commission named in a federal lawsuit Wednesday.
A civil lawsuit was filed in federal court late Wednesday on behalf of eight administrators of elections who were allegedly terminated or have been threatened with termination on the sole basis of their perceived or actual political party affiliation.
The Election Commission also voted unanimously, due to the federal litigation, to defer action on the 90 applications for administrator of elections until its Aug. 3 meeting.
Newly appointed Republican Election Commission Chairman Tom Walker is at the center of a federal lawsuit filed in District Court that could cost Rutherford County tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The suit filed in District Court against Walker and seven other Tennessee Republicans claims the defendants violated the United States Constitution by politicizing the selection of the County Election Administrator. Walker and several other Republicans gained control of county election commissions when their party got control of the House and Senate.
At the request of Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49), State Attorney General Bob Cooper issued an opinion in April warning election commissioners that politicizing the hiring and firing of County Election Administrators would violate the United States Constitution.
Attorney General Cooper recently issued another opinion stating counties will have to foot the bill for defending the unlawful acts in court. That means Tom Walker’s partisan antics could cost Rutherford County tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend.
Of course Election Commissioner Walker could have saved the county from having to defend his actions by simply upholding the law, but this is just the latest example of Walker’s disregard for the law and his open willingness to make the tax payers of Rutherford County pay for it.
Last month, Walker literally told local media that he didn’t care what the laws of Tennessee say when he attempted to defy the state’s open meetings law not once, but twice. It took the county attorney valuable time to educate him into compliance. Fellow Republican Election Commissioner Doris Jones supported Chairman Walker’s attempt to break the law saying to local media “we’ve got some crazy laws in this country.”
Read how Tennessee Republicans are preparing for the 2010 election:
If guns are allowed in Murfreesboro’s parks, the city can expect to lose Spring Fling and the $3.4 million in tourism dollars the week-long high school spring sport state tournaments bring each year.
That was the response by TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress on Monday when asked about the high school association’s stance on guns being allowed at parks where high school state tournaments are held.
“We don’t have a written policy,” Childress said. “But if anyone had a gun where our kids are, we wouldn’t be there. There is no way possible that we’d allow a gun in one of our events.
“As much as we’d like Murfreesboro to be in consideration for Spring Fling, I just don’t see how we could recommend them if guns are allowed in their parks.”
Councilman Toby Gilley: more than a day late and a dollar short.
Murfreesboro Councilman Toby Gilley is a vocal supporter of allowing people to carry guns in our local parks and has said all along that Murfreesboro should leave the new law alone.
Now that $3.5 million in revenue to local businesses is at stake, Gilley thinks his new right should now come with confusing conditions and exceptions not clearly allowed by the law he eagerly supported.
“I think we could perhaps compromise that when we have certain events here (like Spring Fling) we don’t allow them,” Gilley said. “Maybe we don’t have a blanket law having it in effect all the time. We can have it up to the event holder’s request.”
Gilley favors the city following a state law that allows people with gun permits to carry firearms into parks provided that the council takes no action to uphold its existing ban before Sept. 1.
City Manager Roger Haley, however, and Police Chief Glenn Chrisman, Parks and Recreation Director Lanny Goodwin, and Golf Course Director Tracy Wilkins recommend keeping the gun ban in place.
Since Rutherford Republicans have cited results of DNJ online polls in the past as justification for silly laws, maybe we can send Toby a message by voting in the DNJ’s new poll on this subject.
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.
The editorial board calls Sen. Ketron’s latest effort a “slap in the face” to those of us seeking good government.
We’re still waiting for Sen. Ketron to explain why he wants to gut the very body that protects our state from corrupt politicians, but do we really expect Sen Ketron to answer to us?
Sen. Bill Ketron’s legislation to merge the Tennessee Ethics Commission with another body to cut personnel and save money is a slap in the face of Tennesseans who are crying out for good government.
Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, wants to reshape the independent body that oversees legislative ethics, combining it with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance to create the Commission of Ethics and Election Finance.
Three of nine Ethics Commission staff positions, including the director, would be eliminated, saving the state $338,000 annually in personnel costs. We commend Ketron for seeking savings in state government.
But just three years after the FBI’s Tennessee Waltz sting caught five lawmakers taking bribes to back legislation, the Tennessee Ethics Commission doesn’t need to be watered down and pushed into obscurity.
Quite the opposite, Tennessee needs to maintain an independent body to let lawmakers and elected officials across the state know it is serious about holding down corruption.
Ketron tried to railroad the Ethics Commission from the very beginning, and he’s still working at it, which is perplexing.
Senator Jim Tracy (R-16) and Rep. Joe Carr (R-48) supported a bill to cap damages for gross negligence of patients in nursing homes at $300,000. SC2160 and HB2243, other wise known as the “kill old people cheaper act” are before the legislature today and are being lobbied for heavily by the nursing home industry.
Rutherford County deserves elected officials that stand up for our family and protect us from abuse in nursing homes. Contact both Sen. Tracy and Rep. Carr and tell them to stop defending nursing home abuse and start standing up for our families.
“What this bill will do is keep guns in the hands of good, responsible individuals and help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and folks that the law says should not have access to firearms,” Pitts said.
The bill passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 91-5-1. Those voting against the measure included Representatives Joe Carr (R-Murfreesboro), Vance Dennis (R-Savannah), Joshua Evans (R-Greenbrier), and Eric Swafford (R-Pikeville). The legislation must now pass the Senate before it can be signed into law.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Bart Gordon and his colleagues approved bipartisan legislation to require companies holding sensitive personal information to secure that data and provide notice to American consumers when that data is compromised. 
Republicans controlled this year’s session of the Tennessee legislature for the first time since reconstruction (1870’s). They took over in a time of unprecedented economic hardship and sagging revenues, adding up to a budget mess that required quick action. What did republicans do with their newfound leadership opportunities? They plugged the budget holes with the very stimulus money they protested, passed “Guns in Bars”, and headed home with their 
In the video above, Rep. Carr couldn’t explain how he “inadvertently” drove himself to the bank to “inadvertently” cash 13 weeks worth of bogus meal and hotel expense checks. 
Last week, Murfreesboro 
