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Donna Rowland-Barrett, Shameless, Will Try Again Today

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Doug Jackson and Donna Rowland with their little buddy Ronnie Barrett, who wants a taxpayer-funded free road this year.

Doug Jackson and Donna Rowland with their little buddy Ronnie Barrett, who wants a taxpayer-funded free road this year.

Donna and her boyfriend Ronnie Barrett have tried Senate bills, House bills, sneaky earmarks, and floor amendments - none of them passed. In desperation, Donna Rowland-Barrett will now try today to tag an amendment onto Rep. Joe McCord’s (R-Maryville) bill dealing with road flooding in Blount County (HB3230).

They’ve had editorials, columns, and multiple news stories point out their blatant conflict of interest. There is video of Donna and Mike Turner (D-Old Hickory) getting caught sneaking an earmark into the budget omnibus bill, and video of the desperate scene the next day when Donna tried again with an amendment on the House floor in regular session.

As you read this, Rep. Donna Rowland-Barrett is working to add yet another surprise amendment on the floor during today’s session of the Tennessee House Of Representatives in order to force TDOT to give her boyfriend a federal right-of-way to his factory, even though it violates federal statutes and could cost the State of Tennessee over $760 million in federal interstate funds.

Will Donna and her boyfriend finally force their way into the state’s pocket book today?

Posted in Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) | 4 Comments »

Ronnie Barrett’s Free Road Will Cost State $762 Million

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Doug Jackson and Donna Rowland with their little buddy Ronnie Barrett, who won't be getting a taxpayer-funded free road this year.

Doug Jackson and Donna Rowland with their little buddy Ronnie Barrett, who won't be getting a taxpayer-funded free road this year.

That’s right folks, Ronnie Barrett, Donna Rowland, and all their friends have jumped on board a sneaky plan in the waning hours of the legislative session that will cost the state $762 million in Federal Highway Administration funding. An amendment was approved last night in House Budget Subcommittee to give Ronnie his road, whether or not the Federal Highway Administration approves. The amendment has no sponsor, it isn’t posted online with all the others, and no one will talk about it although the bill is HB3796 sponsored by Rep. Mike Turner (D-Ol Hickory) with amendment drafting code 0192003 section 28.

Maybe no one will talk because TDOT has been issued a letter by the Federal Highway Administration threatening to pull $762 million dollars in funding to Tennessee if the federal right of way is given to Barrett in violation of federal statutes. Michelle Willard of the Murfreesboro Post and Jeff Woods of the Nashville Scene have the scoop:


Should the House Budget Subcommittee finish other outstanding business today, the House Finance Committee could vote on the amendment as early as Wednesday night.

Earlier this legislative session, the Senate Finance Committee voted to advance a similar bill that would grant Barrett the right-of-way needed to widen and extend Miller Lane to his factory expansion.

A companion bill in the state House has stalled after the Federal Highway Administration warned the state may lose highway funding of more than $762 million if the transfer of property is approved.

TDOT Spokeswoman Julie Oaks said the department asked the FHA earlier this year if the legislation would violate any federal transportation rules.

“They said, ‘this legislation seems to be in conflict with the core concepts of our program’,” Oaks read from a letter to TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely.

Woods:

As the session drags on endlessly and reporters nod off at their desks, Barrett’s many friends in the legislature have slipped into action. They’ve hidden an amendment in the latest House omnibus budget bill. They’re sneaky like that. Their amendment orders the Transportation Department to build Barrett’s road for him, and damn the consequences.

What are the consequences? How about the loss of millions of dollars in federal highway funds? That money is at risk because Barrett’s special amendment would force the state to relinquish federal right-of-way along Interstate 24. The feds frown on that.

“This could definitely cost us some money. That sounds like the Washington way of doing business,” said department spokeswoman Julie Oaks, taking a poke at one of the legislature’s more prominent supporters of the NRA.

At this moment, Pith is looking at a letter from the Federal Highway Administration to Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely, which says:

If the Department moves forward with the relinquishment of the Interstate right-of … the State of Tennessee could potentially become ineligible to receive a portion of the Federal funding available to it under the Federal-aid Highway Program. Tennessee’s share of the FAHP totaled $762,023,000 for federal fiscal year 2009.
That’s $762 million. But hey, what’s a little money between friends?

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Posted in Budget, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) | No Comments »

Poor Ronnie Won’t Get His Very Own Free Government Road

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Doug Jackson and Donna Rowland with their little buddy Ronnie Barrett, who won't be getting a taxpayer-funded free road this year.

Doug Jackson and Donna Rowland with their little buddy Ronnie Barrett, who won't be getting a taxpayer-funded free road this year.

Sam Stockard at the Daily News Journal reports the sad news, and savages the little guy for filing so many frivolous lawsuits and using his fiance Rep. Donna Rowland as his personal lobbyist:


TDOT says it never agreed to extend the road and instead offered alternative routes that Barrett refused to take.

Barrett had filed suit against the state, but on March 31, he dropped one lawsuit, according to Circuit Court documents, and during the Senate meeting he called that issue a “smokescreen.”

Even if Barrett had gotten the General Assembly to pass the bill this session, he would still be facing the Elliott lawsuit.

This whole thing could have been avoided if Barrett had reconfigured the plant and extended Miller Lane in front of the building without needing state right of way.

Did the state mislead him? TDOT doesn’t believe it ever had any contract with him to extend the road on state right of way. Did Barrett mislead the Elliotts? They contend the 60-foot strip required in the contract wasn’t reserved.

More than likely, Barrett’s going to have to keep making a lot of guns to win this, whether in court or in the General Assembly.

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Posted in Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) | No Comments »

Congratulations Siegel High Band, 2009 Champions

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Siegel High School is in Donna Rowland’s (R-Murfreesboro) district, but she refused to honor their band’s championship win. Luckily, Kent Coleman (D-Murfreesboro) has the maturity that Ms. Rowland lacks, so he was excited to honor the accomplishments of the Siegel High School Band in its Championship season. Below are photos of the largest honorary presentation in the General Assembly’s history.




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Posted in Awards, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49) | No Comments »

Our Chairman Calls Out Donna Rowland For Petty Partisan Antics

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

donnarowlandMURFREESBORO - Today Rutherford County Democratic Party Chairman Jonathon Fagan admonished Representative Donna Rowland (R-Murfreesboro) for refusing to sign onto a resolution (HJR0750)in the Tennessee legislature honoring Congressman Bart Gordon’s 26 years of service to Tennessee.

“Rowland has already gained a reputation as an incompetent and ineffectual Representative, and this petty partisanship adds immaturity to that reputation,” Fagan said. He added that Rowland has herself sponsored many resolutions in the past, even for her current boyfriend Ronnie Barrett, and questions why Rowland would not simply add her name to a resolution honoring a retiring Congressman of 26 years from our own county.

On Wednesday, January 27 2010, Representative Kent Coleman (D-Murfreesboro) sponsored a resolution honoring the retiring Congressman. It is customary for all Representatives to sign on and co-sponsor such resolutions of recognition for retiring Congressman and Senators. However, Republican Leader Glen Casada of Brentwood notified Coleman that House Republicans would not be doing so.

“Bart Gordon has worked for Rutherford County and the Sixth District for over a quarter century. Whether or not we all agree with his every decision, he deserves to be recognized for his service just as Republicans Bill Frist and Fred Thompson were recognized by all Democrats for their service.”

Rep. Rowland and 36 Republican colleagues, in an unprecedented partisan move, refused to sign the resolution. By contrast, when Republicans Bill Frist and Fred Thompson retired from the U.S. Senate all 99 House members, Republican and Democrat, co-sponsored a resolution of recognition. At that time, both the Tennessee Senate and the Tennessee House of Representatives were controlled by Democrats, but Republicans are unwilling to return the favor this time around.

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Posted in Radical Republicans, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) | 1 Comment »

Republicans Refuse To Honor Bart Gordon’s Service

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

bartgordonYesterday, Rep. Kent Coleman sponsored a simple resolution in the Tennessee House to recognize Bart Gordon’s 26 years of service to the State of Tennessee. 37 Republicans refused to sign it. The Nashville Post and WPLN have the story:

Such a resolution is routinely “co-sponsored” by all the members of the House and Senate so that all their names appear on the framed document for the Congressman’s wall.

But this time most of the names on Gordon’s “thank you” will be Democrats. Coleman was asked by Republicans not to add them as co-sponsors.

“I think with the maybe increased partisanship that exists in government today. It was probably a better idea to allow people to sign on to the resolution and not make that type of motion and cause a political disturbance.”

Only thirteen of the 50 Republicans in the state House signed on to the resolution honoring Gordon’s services.

UPDATE: Donna Rowland (R-Murfreesboro) was among those refusing to recognize Gordon, even though she represents his home city and county of Rutherford.

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Posted in Radical Republicans, Rep. Bart Gordon (D-6), Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49) | No Comments »

Ketron Admits He Votes For Legislation He Doesn’t Read

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

billketron1NOT AWARE HE VOTED FOR INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The Daily News Journal’s weekly columnist Sam Stockard asked Bill Ketron why he voted for Race To The Federal Trough along with every other Republican legislator from Rutherford County. Here is what Ketron said:

Asked if he knows what the international benchmarks are, state Sen. Bill Ketron said, “I do not. We were told they would come from the U.S. Department of Education. The thing was on a fast track,” Ketron said. “We barely had time to read through it. It’s voluminous.”

Yet Ketron and fellow Republicans, Sen. Jim Tracy, of Shelbyville, Rep. Donna Rowland of Murfreesboro, Rep. Joe Carr of Lascassas and Rep. Pat Marsh of Shelbyville, members of the Rutherford County delegation, voted for it. Only state Rep. Kent Coleman, a Murfreesboro Democrat, voted against it.

So Republican Senator Bill Ketron admits that he voted for a massive overhaul of Tennessee’s education system without knowing much of what it actually accomplished. He also admits that as a “conservative” Republican, he thinks its just great to beg for half a billion dollars in stimulus cash with strings attached - strings that could bind our teachers to international standards. Sounds like something Tennessee’s Tea Party crowd would really oppose, but they are deathly silent on the matter because the legislation was backed by their republican overlords Ron Ramsey and Glen Casada. Just more evidence that the Tea Party crowd are willing to ignore their own stated beliefs if republicans tell them to, just like they did when they gave George W. Bush free reign to plunge our nation into huge war debts and pass unfunded federal mandates like No Child Left Behind.

Did Senator Ketron also sponsor workmans’ compensation legislation he didn’t understand, or did he know that he would be taking independent contractors’ hard earned profits while helping his insurance business’ bottom line by enacting Public Chapter 1041? What other legislation has Bill Ketron helped to pass without reading or knowing the consequences?

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Posted in Education, Legislation, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Joe Carr (R-48), Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49), Republican leaders, Rutherford County Republican Party, Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13), Sen. Jim Tracy (R-16), Tea Parties | No Comments »

Kent Coleman Stands Up For Teachers Against All Odds

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

h49_sidebar-1Here’s how Rutherford County’s delegation voted when it came to tying teachers’ jobs to factors beyond their control: Kent Coleman (D) - NO, Joe Carr (R) - YES, Donna Rowland (R) - YES, Bill Ketron (R) - YES, Jim Tracy (R) -YES.

Last week’s Special Session called by Governor Bredesen to overhaul Tennessee’s education system was a locomotive speeding towards passage that even Superman could not have stopped. This massive legislation was debated in committees for a single day, and passed on the Senate and House floor the next.

Every Republican Representative voted to seek stimulus cash through federal Race To The Top grants, and our Democratic Governor and Democratic Caucuses backed the measure as well even though it meant adopting federal guidelines tying teachers’ performance to mere test scores . Only a handful of Democrats (8 to be exact) were willing to stand up for teachers and say ‘NO’ to a governor of their own Party and their own caucus leadership.

Our own Rep. Kent Coleman was the only Rutherford County legislator to stand on principle and stand up for teachers when it came time to vote, even though he knew he was also standing right in front of a speeding locomotive. It took the courage of Superman to rise and say this on the House floor last Friday night:

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Posted in ARRA, Education, Legislation, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Joe Carr (R-48), Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13), Sen. Jim Tracy (R-16) | No Comments »

Guns In Bars Shot Down, Ruled Unconstitutional

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

guns-booze-296x300Republicans 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.”

Posted in ARRA, Budget, Business, Crime, Economy, Guns, Legislation, Public Safety, Radical Republicans, Rep. Brian Kelsey (R-83), Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Joe Carr (R-48), Rep. Stacey Campfield, Republican leaders, Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13), Sen. Jim Tracy (R-16), Small Business, Tax and Spend Republicans, Tea Parties | No Comments »

Tax and Spend Republicans: Rowland, Carr, Ketron and Tracy top the list

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

whattheycost2

The state legislature may be out of session but according to local media reports Rep. Joe Carr (R-48) has been spending a lot of summer days at the Capitol claiming per diems, a day’s pay for showing up. Rep. Carr was at the top of the list when it came to which Republican requested the most per diems after the session was already over.

It’s gotten so bad that Republican House Speaker Kent Williams issued a letter to all Representatives asking them to follow some basic guidelines to cut per diem requests. You can read the letter here.

Rep. Carr must not have gotten the memo because he kept requesting money all summer when he thought no one would be watching. Rep. Carr didn’t think twice about pushing his own bill in the last session demanding Gov. Bredesen not accept federal stimulus funds for extended jobless benefits for his district’s growing unemployed. Now that Rep. Carr needs a stimulus of his own, he’s off to collect his directly from the tax payers.

We’ll take a closer look at Rep. Carr’s summer per diem requests later, but first, let’s look at how much our county’s delegation is costing us.

What the list of our county delegation’s per diem requests for the entire session factually shows the voters of our county is a record of spending on the part of the Republican delegation. Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) doesn’t look that bad on the surface, but then she’s got a lot of making up to do for being deemed the most expensive Republican in the entire House for filing resolutions honoring everything from campaign contributors to her new boyfriend.

The list below does not include per diem requests made after the session, which ought to put Rep. Carr over the top.

Member

(R) Sen. Jim Tracy from Shelbyville

 Mileage

$ 2,039.04

 Per Diem

$ 18,126.00

 Total

$ 20,165.04
(R) Rep. Joe Carr from Lascassas $ 1,425.60 $ 16,929.00 $ 18,354.60
(R) Sen. Bill Ketron from Murfreesboro $ 1,306.42 $ 15,048.00 $ 16,354.42
(R) Rep. Donna Rowland from Murfreesboro $ 831.60 $ 12,825.00 $ 13,656.60
(D) Rep. Kent Coleman from Murfreesboro $ 756.00 $ 12,825.00 $ 13,581.00

Posted in Budget, Economy, Jobs, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Joe Carr (R-48), Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49), Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13), Sen. Jim Tracy (R-16), Taxes, Watchdog Alert | 12 Comments »

Republicans plan protest against extended jobless benefits as county unemployment reaches 10.3%

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

rcdpjobsJust as a growing number of Rutherford County families are feeling the brunt of significant job loses, Rutherford County Republicans are very busy planning yet another “tea party” to protest the help we need from the federal government.

County Republicans will take to the streets July 10 in Murfreesboro to protest an extension of unemployment benefits for the county’s 10.3% unemployed residents. The federal help is provided in President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

It’s worth reminding the voters of Rutherford County of Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) role in drafting legislation demanding Gov. Bredesen deny the extended unemployment benefits.

On July 10, Rutherford County Republicans will also loudly protest $1.6 billion in government loans to Nissan, $13.9 million for Rutherford County schools, enhanced health care for Rutherford County’s veterans, funding for three road projects in our county, and $30 million to retrain dislocated and low-income workers.

Learn more about the funded projects in Tennessee that Rutherford County Republicans will be protesting July 10.

Posted in ARRA, Economy, Events, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Joe Carr (R-48), Rutherford County Republican Party, Taxes | No Comments »

Sen. Bill Ketron’s (R-13) roadblock to the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Last night, the House voted 73 - 20 to postpone fair and accurate elections in the state of Tennessee until 2012. Republican Representatives Joe Carr (R-48) and Donna Rowland (R-34) both voted for the delay. Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49) voted against the delay.

The Senate will now consider Sen. Bill Ketron’s (R-13) version of the bill. SB 872 will delay the implementation of the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (TVCA) which passed the House and the Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Phil Bredesen. The TVCA requires all counties to switch to optical scanned paper ballots instead of using electronic voting machines.

Sen. Ketron and fellow Republicans have expressed concerns over the cost of implementing the new law they passed despite the fact that it will be paid for by $25 million in federal funds from the Help America Vote Act.

The League of Women Voters of Tennessee is one of several groups demanding Sen. Ketron withdraw his roadblock to progress.

A coalition of civic groups denounced voting machine legislation passed last night by the full House of Representatives. Gathering to Save Our Democracy, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, along with VerifiedVoting.org, Voter Action, and Voters Unite.org called for the Senate to reject HB 614. A companion bill, Senate Bill 872, also awaits floor action in the Senate. HB 614 would delay the implementation of paper records verified by the voter from the 2010 general election to the 2012 general election. It would also replace a hand counted audit of computer vote tallies with an “audit” that would involve using the counties’ inventory of ballot scanners. These scanners would nearly always have the same software, and come from the same voting machine company, as the scanners used to tally initial results.

Sen. Ketron has failed to provide a rational arguement for his focus on delaying the implemention of fair and accurate elections in Tennessee, but his actions fall in line with a pattern of promoting bad government. Sen. Ketron was also successful during this session in yanking the teeth out of the independent Ethics Commission responsibile for investigating corruption on Capitol Hill.

Posted in 2010, Elections, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Joe Carr (R-48), Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49), Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) | 2 Comments »

Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) opposes safe and energy efficient home construction

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) tried to exclude Rutherford County from a bipartisan bill that would create statewide building construction safety standards and promote energy efficiency savings for working families.

Several rural counties in Tennessee have no home construction safety standards for one-family and two-family dwellings. The bill would protect residents from builders who place families at risk to maximize their own profits.

Rep. Rowland said establishing basic safety and energy efficiency standards in Rutherford County to protect the lives of homeowners and save them money on energy costs would present an unnecessary burden on home builders. After hearing Rep. Rowland’s argument today on behalf of her major donors, Rep. Rowland’s House constituents voted against her amendment, and it failed.

Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49) and Rep. Curt Cobb (D-62) are co-sponsors of the bill. Here is what the bill would do to protect working families and save them money:

Beginning July 1, 2010, this amendment applies the statewide building construction safety standards established by the state fire marshal to one-family and two-family dwellings, unless the local government has adopted the International Residential Code for such dwellings. Under present law, one-family and two-family dwellings are exempt from the statewide standards. The full text of this amendment establishes a process for appointment of deputy building inspectors to conduct safety standards compliance inspections of one-family and two-family dwellings.

Also, beginning July 1, 2010, this amendment requires that the statewide building construction safety standards must include energy efficiency standards. This amendment prohibits the state fire marshal from including in the standards a mandatory requirement that one-family and two-family dwellings have sprinklers; provided, however, that local governments will be authorized to adopt more stringent standards for such dwellings.

Posted in Home, Public Safety, Rep. Curt Cobb (D-62), Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49) | 1 Comment »

Rutherford County Republicans vote to pollute Tennessee waterways

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

A Republican sponsored bill (HB 1204 / SB 1331) that would have allowed the coal industry to pollute Tennessee’s waterways narrowly failed in the state House today 49 - 42. The bill’s House sponsor says he is not sure if he’ll try to refile the bill.

Rep. Joe McCord (R-8) admitted today on the House floor that the bill was written and given to him to sponsor by the coal industry. The bill would have allowed selenium levels from coal production to reach unacceptable levels (7.5 ppm) in Tennessee lakes, rivers and streams. Watch this video to see what selenium waste has done to aquatic life.

Rep. McCord and several of his Republican colleagues repeatedly claimed the bill would bring Tennessee up to the latest EPA standards for selenium levels in U.S. waterways. The EPA, however, never adopted the proposal which Republicans falsely claimed were the latest standards.

Furthermore, the scientist who helped draft the 2004 proposal for the EPA on selenium levels has since reported that his findings were wrong and that the bill as written would in fact kill nearly 80% of fish in Tennessee waterways, one reason the proposal was rejected by the Bush Administration’s EPA in the first place.

Despite these facts, Tennessee Republicans persisted on behalf of the coal industry, including those representing Rutherford County.

The audacity of Tennessee Republicans to pass off junk science and misrepresent the truth in the state legislature as the basis of their support for poisoning Tennessee waterways is embarrassing and immoral.

Tennesseans are called upon to be good stewards of God’s creation and to protect it for generations to come. Tennessee Republicans demonstrated today yet again whose side they are on when it comes to that calling. Tennessee Republicans sided with the interests of the coal industry over protecting our environment and our great state’s cultural heritage of hunting and fishing.

Here is how our state’s delegation voted on the selenium bill:

Posted in Environment, Legislation, Public Safety, Rep. Curt Cobb (D-62), Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Rep. Joe Carr (R-48), Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49), Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13), Sen. Jim Tracy (R-16), Special Interests, Wildlife | 4 Comments »

Murfreesboro’s tea party movement fizzles

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

cryladyBarely 20 people showed up today for an anti-government protest organized by Rutherford County Republicans. The protest took place on a short stretch of sidewalk in Murfreesboro, TN.

Michael Patrick Leahy, a prominent Williamson County Republican and national tea party organizer, was scheduled to speak at the protest but was a no show just as we predicted he would be.

Leahy was recently exposed by a blogger for having over $100,000 in unpaid tax liens and civil judgments against him over the past 16 years. Leahy has virtually disappeared since our reporting. Leahy is now suing the blogger.

Today’s “instant tea party” was held barely weeks after hundreds of Rutherford County Republicans stood on the square protesting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The federal stimulus funds they protested enhanced health benefits our hereos deserve, invested $13.9 million in our county schools, extended unemployment benefits for our county’s growing unemployed as well as $30 million to retrain dislocated and low-income workers.

Also Read:

Posted in ARRA, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34), Taxes | 9 Comments »

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