It turns out the Chairman of the “family values” party spent $2000 at an S&M-themed L.A. night club featuring topless girls acting out lesbian bondage scenes. He must have been meeting with lobbyists that required a “full service” bar. A February report to the Federal Election Commission also lists $17,000 for private jet service, more than $35,000 for upscale hotels, and more than $43,000 in expenses, not including airfare, for the committee’s winter meeting in Hawaii.
In Los Angeles, it takes a lot to shock and awe. When you walk into Voyeur on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, you might not be completely shocked at the almost naked women writhing on each other but you will undoubtedly be in awe.
Voyeur is an intimate space, provocative and sexy, sophisticated and interesting. Inspired by Eyes Wide Shut and London lounge, Annabelle’s of London, Voyeur transports you to a world of risqué sexuality and eroticism. In fact, even if you tried to escape looking at the naked women all around you, you would ultimately fail. But then again, why would you even try?
Of course the guests are sexy, but the walls are also lined with black and white pictures of beautiful naked girls from decades past while temptresses wearing nothing more than pasties and a black thong “stretch” on tables or in large glass boxes. Yes, the women don’t strip or show off their outdone go-go girl dance moves. Instead, they hold onto ropes on the walls and literally stretch, like yoga class but much sexier (and probably more naked).
By contrast, the Democratic National Committee said that its chairman, Timothy M. Kaine, usually travels on commercial flights and does not generally use limousine or town-car services.
“We think their extravagant spending and their high burn rate speaks for itself,” spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said the legislative record of state Sen. Bill Ketron indicates that the Murfreesboro lawmaker is simply a “yes” man for fellow Republican senator and gubernatorial candidate Ron Ramsey, the state’s lieutenant governor.
“The district’s voters deserve an elected official who is looking after their interests, not someone who is more worried about political posturing and feathering his own nest,” Forrester said. “Mr. Ketron has demonstrated time and again that his priorities align more with the powers that be than with the hard-working families in Middle Tennessee.
“At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet and the state’s budget is being trimmed to the bone, you have a legislator introducing bills that bleed the working man, delay fair and accurate elections, and shut the door to a more open government. Mr. Ketron is out of touch with ordinary people.”
For example, Ketron introduced poorly written workers compensation legislation that passed into law in 2008 but was delayed at the beginning of this year’s legislative session after concerns arose; a bill that delayed implementation of a law requiring the purchase of new voting equipment across the state; and a bill that would make some public records off limits to the general public.
“We need lawmakers in the General Assembly who understand the challenges we face and work tirelessly to make Tennessee a better place to live and raise a family,” Forrester said.
“Policies that create jobs for our communities, ensure our children are well educated and make our lives more comfortable should be at the top of the priority list, not how to take care of a special interest group contributing to your campaign or a colleague with ulterior motives.”
Ketron has even admitted he doesn’t always have time to thoroughly read and understand legislation he votes for or against. He represents Lincoln, Marshall, Maury and part of Rutherford counties in the Senate.
“The thing was on a fast track,” Ketron reportedly told the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal when explaining his vote to reform education through the state’s application for federal stimulus money. “We barely had time to read through it.”
Forrester called Ketron’s explanation for not reading legislation thoroughly before casting a vote a “lame excuse and a blatant disregard for your duty as a legislator.”
“It appears to me that Mr. Ketron is Ron Ramsey’s ‘yes’ man,” he added.
Republican Senator Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro is an insurance salesman. He has taken in over $20,000 in campaign cash from big insurance and large homebuilding special interests. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he sponsored a new state law to force small contractors and subconstractors to spend their hard-earned profits with him and his insurance buddies instead of spending it on their families in tough economic times.
Public Chapter 1041, sponsored by Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) was lobbied for heavily by the Tennessee Hombuilders Association (a special interest group that represents large development companies) and the Tennessee Insurors Association, who greased the wheels of government with copious amounts of campaign cash for Republican lawmakers in order to further the interests of big business over the little guy. It would require all contractors to purchase workers’ compensation insurance even if their only employee is themselves. The new law took effect January 1st, and small contractors are howling mad about it:
Gerry Fridlund, owner of Skybright Metal Roofing in Memphis, found out about the law the hard way when his insurance company sent him a bill for $4,300 last summer.
“I told them I wasn’t going to pay it,” Fridlund told NIT. “When I asked who was responsible for this I was told the Home Builders Association pushed this through. I think they wanted to stop the little guy from bidding up against the big boys. They want to squeeze the sole proprietors and make it difficult for people to start small businesses.”
The new law’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), is himself an insurance salesman who benefits from raising premiums on small contractor businesses. During his current term, special interest PACs representing large home builders, developers and insurance industries gave more than $20,000 to Ketron’s campaign war chest.
The new law’s House sponsor, Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol), has received $18,000 from special interest PACs representing large home builders, developers and insurance industries during his current term.
Its all fine with Bill Ketron, who will be sending out grossly inflated insurance bills to his customers this year. He doesn’t really care that jobs may be killed to pay for it as long as he gets paid.
Thankfully, Rep. Joe Pitts (D - Clarksville) and Sen. Tim Barnes (D-Clarksville) have listened to the voices of Tennessee’s small business owners and are seeking to delay the enforcement of the new law in Special Session of the General Assembly next week. HB1899 and its companion bill SB2055 delay Ketron’s law until July 1st of 2010. As usual, its up to Democrats to finally stand up for small business owners when republicans and their big business cronies try to sneak in sweetheart deals for themselves.
Former Republican Speaker of the House turned lobbyist Dennis Hastert drives an SUV and has a nice office where he and his staff gab on cell phones all day. Its all paid for with your money though:
U.S. taxpayers are spending more than $40,000 per month on office space, staff, cell phones and a leased SUV for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, even as he works as a lobbyist for private corporations and foreign governments.
“It is specifically prohibited — federal dollars can’t be spent on lobbying operations,” Ellis said. “We are paying for his staff [and] for a car, and we need to be very sure that he isn’t spending a dime of that money on lobbying operations. “That all needs to be above board, in the clear and transparent. And it’s not.”
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.”
During a time of unprecedented budget constraints, mass state employee layoffs and furloughs, and penny pinching on the part of Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen, our new Republican State Comptroller Justin Wilson has decided to give his office a personal stimulus check on the Tennessee taxpayers’ dime.
Luckily, Democrat Joe Haynes, who sits on the Fiscal Review Committee, caught the error and is calling Wilson out. WSMV has the story.
Red-faced & Red-handed, County Mayor Ernest Burgess is caught with his hand in the power jar
In a shocking display of arrogance, Republican County Mayor Ernest Burgess is proposing to repeal the entire Private Act of Tennessee State Law governing the hiring of Rutherford County’s legal representation. The current statute puts power in the hands of Rutherford County citizens through their elected County Commissioners to decide who represents the taxpayer’s interest. But Burgess will seek to completely to do away with current state law tonight before the County Steering Committee, and even proposes to make decisions for Sheriff Truman Jones on who he can and cannot hire to represent the Sheriff’s Department.
The proposed Legal Services Agreement stipulates that the County Attorney will decide who represents the Sheriff’s Dept. -
Section V. Subsection H- “…the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Dept. representation shall be handled by an attorney selected by the Sheriff, subject to the approval of the County Attorney, provided the hourly compensation for the attorney selected by the Sheriff shall not exceed $150 per hour”
It also stipulates that Rutherford County (aka taxpayers) will pay the bill if the County Attorney is sued for damages:
Section V, Subsection B - “…the County shall act in good faith to represent, defend, and pay liability claims against the County Attorney and associates”
In fact, County Attorney Jim Cope is currently a co-defendant in a lawsuit for his handling of the failed Bible Park. If County Mayor Ernest Burgess gets his way in grabbing the reins and implementing the Legal Services Agreement, will Mr. Cope be safe from liability and will taxpayers foot the bill?
UPDATE: The Daily News Journal’s Editorial Board is calling for revision of the Legal Services Agreement
CLAIMS FORMER GOP MAJORITY LEADER FRIST AGAINST FREEDOM
On her conservative talk radio show yesterday, Laura Ingraham and Republican Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann described Bob Dole and Bill Frist (R-TN) as “losers” who were against a “pro-freedom” agenda because he supports healthcare reform. Ingraham went so far as to suggest that Frist’s ideology was a “losing outlook”. Will the circular firing squad (otherwise known as the republican party) come to an end? Considering recent polling, let’s hope not…
The pair discussed recent statements made by retired GOP Senate Majority Leaders Bill Frist (TN) and Bob Dole (KS) in support of some type of comprehensive health reform.
Dole has called for Republicans to become engaged in the process, stating “we’ve got to do something” to solve the current crisis. Frist has endorsed the Senate Finance health reform bill, and has called out “people on the extreme” in his own party for falsely labeling President Obama’s health reform as “socialized medicine.” Clearly incensed by these comments, Ingraham and Bachmann traded barbs trashing the former Republican leaders for daring to veer away from a “pro-freedom agenda”:
INGRAHAM: Of course. God bless Bob Dole he just came on our show, I have great respect for the man. And also for Frist. But Frist presided over a pretty disastrous situation in the Senate.
BACHMANN: They lost.
INGRAHAM: They lost. And Bob Dole lost how many times on a national level? I guess I’ve lost count. [...] That Republican ideology and that Republican outlook has been a losing outlook. That’s why President Obama wants more of us to be like them.
BACHMANN: Because we want a pro-freedom agenda. And he’s trying to throw people around who he believes will increase a non-pro-freedom agenda.
A tracking poll conducted quarterly for the past 30 years has found that an initial rally by republicans earlier this year has been wiped away and replaced with the lowest confidence among likely voters that the GOP has faced since 1983. Chris Cilliza has the breakdown.
Less than one in five voters (19 percent) expressed confidence in Republicans’ ability to make the right decisions for America’s future while a whopping 79 percent lacked that confidence.
Among independent voters, who went heavily for Obama in 2008 and congressional Democrats in 2006, the numbers for Republicans on the confidence questions were even worse. Just 17 percent of independents expressed confidence in Republicans’ ability to make the right decision while 83 percent said they did not have that confidence.
On the generic ballot question, 51 percent of the sample said they would cast a vote for a Democratic candidate in their congressional district next fall while just 39 percent said they would opt for a GOP candidate. (As late as this summer, Republicans had seemingly narrowed the wide generic ballot lead Democrats enjoyed for much of the last two election cycles.)
And, perhaps most troubling for GOP hopes is the fact that just 20 percent of the Post sample identified themselves as Republicans, the lowest that number has been in Post polling since 1983. (No, that is not a typo.)
The poll was conducted by conventional and cellular telephone from Oct. 15 to 19 among a random sample of 1,004 adults. The margin of sampling error for the full poll is plus or minus three percentage points.
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.
Rep Joe Carr: I didn't know I took all that money.
Rep. Carr must think Rutherford County voters are stupid enough to believe he inadvertently requested expense money, inadvertently signed for the check and inadvertently drove himself to the bank to cash them.
This weekend’s Tennessean focused more on Rep. Joe Carr (R-48) out spending every single lawmaker in the House when it came to requesting $171 per day for hotel and meal expenses.
Rep. Carr had the nerve to tell the newspaper that he “inadvertently” requested more money for hotel and meal expenses than lawmakers who live in Memphis and Knoxville. Rep. Carr lives only 30 miles from the Capitol, and no one seems to know how he could have run up so many expenses.
“Among area lawmakers, Carr, a first-term lawmaker, claimed the most in per diem expenses in the first quarter of 2009, filing for $9,234 in charges. Carr said he inadvertently ran up the per diems while preparing for his first session in the state legislature.
“Because the state finances were in such a mess, after the election and before the session, I took several trips to Nashville,” Carr said. “I didn’t realize that every time I came to the legislature, they did a per diem.”
Carr said he did not become aware of the extent of the charges until media attention was called to it in the wake of Williams’ letter. He pledged to claim fewer days in the future.
During the last legislative session, Rep. Carr tried to deny extended unemployment benefits to residents in his district, but then he made bogus expense requests for hotels and meals he never purchased and got his own unemployment stimulus check compliments of Tennessee tax payers.
Now that the media caught him with his hand in the tax payer’s wallet, Rep. Joe Carr has promised to claim fewer bogus expense requests in the future. That must make the voters of Lascassas feel much better.
“Mr. Carr seems to be talking out of both sides of his mouth on this issue,” Forrester said. “Back home he rants about taxes, but he sure comes to Nashville often to collect his per diem, which reimburses lawmakers for their expenses while doing official business.
“Speaker Kent Williams even sent a letter recently to House members encouraging them to limit use of expense money they collect from the state.”
It must be embarrassing for Rep. Carr to know voters pay attention to these things. For months, Rep. Carr ignored his own party’s leadership warning him and other free -loaders to stop using per diems as his personal unemployment check, but that’s exactly what he’s done.
What’s worse is Rep. Carr doesn’t feel he owes anyone an explanation.
Like many of his constituents, Rep. Carr has fallen on hard times in this 1 1/2 year long Bush recession. But instead of trying to help his district recover from the results of 8 years of failed conservative economic policy, Rep. Carr drafted legislation demanding Gov. Bredesen deny extended jobless benefits to the growing unemployed in Lascassas when they needed it the most. Rep. Carr told listeners on 1450 WGNS that extending their unemployment benefits “would cost too much of the tax payer’s money.”
Now we find out that Rep. Carr, who has no job himself, has been taking his own personal stimulus check directly from tax payers through bogus $171 a day per diem requests meant to pay for hotel and meals for out of town legislators. Rep. Joe Carr claimed more than $18,000 for hotels and meals, even though he lives 30 miles from Nashville. More than $7,000 of that was since July when nothing is going on at the Capitol!
Lascassas deserves an honest, hard working Representative who doesn’t spend as much tax money as Memphis legislators who actually need hotel rooms. The voters ought to ask Rep. Carr what on earth he did with their money.
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.”
It turns out the Chairman of the “family values” party spent $2000 at an S&M-themed L.A. night club featuring topless girls acting out lesbian bondage scenes. He must have been meeting with lobbyists that required a “full service” bar. A February report to the Federal Election Commission also lists $17,000 for private jet service, more than $35,000 for upscale hotels, and more than $43,000 in expenses, not including airfare, for the committee’s winter meeting in Hawaii.
Republican Senator Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro is an insurance salesman. He has taken in over $20,000 in campaign cash from big insurance and large homebuilding special interests. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he sponsored a new state law to force small contractors and subconstractors to spend their hard-earned profits with him and his insurance buddies instead of spending it on their families in tough economic times.
Former Republican Speaker of the House turned lobbyist Dennis Hastert drives an SUV and has a nice office where he and his staff gab on cell phones all day. Its all paid for 
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 
CLAIMS FORMER GOP MAJORITY LEADER FRIST AGAINST FREEDOM
A tracking poll conducted quarterly for the past 30 years has found that an initial rally by republicans earlier this year has been wiped away and replaced with the lowest confidence among likely voters that the GOP has faced since 1983. Chris Cilliza has the 
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. 
