Tennessee Democratic Caucus:

Under the bill (SB2983), community organizations like school clubs, church youth groups and neighborhood associations can request permission from the county to clean up overgrown properties. Property owners will have to pay the community organizations for the services, just as they would if the county cleaned up.

The State Senate passed the bill 29-0, and the House version is in committee.

CBO report to the House:

CBO and JCT estimate that enacting both pieces of legislation — H.R. 3590 and the reconciliation proposal — would produce a net reduction in federal deficits of $138 billion over the 2010–2019 period as result of changes in direct spending and revenue.

Four Tennesseans on the Forbes 400 list...

As an update on Greg Lonas' post yesterday about the Knox County Democratic Party scholarship fund, we've added a thermometer over on the right to track their progress. You can click on it to make a donation of any size small or large to help the KCDP reach their goal of $5000 for the fund. Tell your friends and neighbors, too, and send them this link:

KCDP Scholarship Fund

A company in Texas installs GPS devices on cars they sell in order to more easily repossess when necessary. A disgruntled ex-employee used the Internet and access to the GPS devices to harass customers of the Texas company. He was able to "remotely disable ignitions and set off car horns of more than 100 vehicles sold at his old workplace".

Ain't technology grand?

The Tennessee House Elections Subcommittee has approved legislation to allow a candidate for state representive to file as an independent candidate & also run as a write-in candidate in a Party primary.If this legislation were to become law and a candidate were to utilize this method..if that candidate were nominated by their Party,in the primary,that candidate would withdrawl as a independent candidate.

According to a ruling,in a challenge to the Democratic National Committee's decision to strip Florida of delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, by the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals:"political parties have a constitutionally protected right to conduct & manage their own affairs."

If this legislation,approved in subcommittee,became law,would the political parties have a right,per the appeals court ruling,to declare a Party nominee selected in the manner proscribed..void?

Looks like RNC has hired the the Associated Press to generate their PR. Nice touch quoting the retired Air Force guy who says getting the government involved in health care will create a "big mess."

It sounds a lot different when you say it to someone's face:

"It's gone beyond hypocrisy. The rhetoric emanating from the Republicans is as if some prelude to civil war."

The Tennessee Democratic Party announced today that the keynote speaker and special guest at the annual TNDP Jackson Day Dinner in Nashville will be Vice President Joe Biden.

Presser after the jump...

Continued...

“This bill does nothing to change the expectations in the market that some firms are too big to fail,” said Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican who serves on the Banking Committee. “I’m disappointed that Senator Dodd has decided to abandon any sort of bipartisan approach in favor of political posturing on behalf of the Obama administration.”

This hews closely to the advice that GOP pollster Frank Luntz gave to Republicans earlier this year, which was to portray financial reform as inevitably leading to more big bank bailouts, no matter what the legislation actually says. House Republicans also used this tactic incessantly during the regulatory reform debate last year, falsely claiming that Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-MA) bill created a “permanent bailout fund.”

However, Dodd’s actual legislation tells a very different story.

Continued...

Let's fix stupid laws now and other pressing issues! Meanwhile, back at the perpetual TN state financial crisis....

FACT CHECK: Premiums would rise under Obama plan

This so-called fact check seems to have fewer facts than the facts they are checking. At any rate, the headline is the important thing for people to talk about around the water cooler, along with the impending socialist government takeover of health care and death panels which were also thoroughly vetted and confirmed by the same "liberal media," I'm sure.

A message from the President of Ireland and some fun facts from WhitesCreek Steve, who was born in Dublin (but not that one)...

The Knox County Democratic Party will offer a scholarship to a graduating senior this spring. More details to come soon. You can contribute to the scholarship fund here.

http://www.actblue.com/page/scholarship

A new report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) finds, among other things:

• More middle-class Americans are uninsured.

Nationwide, the total number of uninsured, middle-class people increased by more than 2 million since 2000, to12.9 million in 2008.

• The average employee’s costs for health insurance rose, while income fell.

Nationwide, the average cost an employee paid for a family insurance policy rose 81 percent from 2000 to 2008. During the same period, median household income fell 2.5 percent (adjusted for inflation).

• Fewer people were offered, eligible for, or accepted insurance coverage through their jobs.

As costs of health insurance premiums rose, some employers stopped offering coverage benefits to employees, or changed the criteria for employees’ eligibility. While most employers still paid the lion’s share of their employees’ insurance premiums, rising costs have been passed on to workers — with some choosing to drop insurance.

The report is being released during Cover the Uninsured Week (March 14-20), a campaign organized by RWJF to advocate for health coverage for all Americans.

In Tennessee, median household income declined 8.2% from 2000 to 2008 while employer provided insurance premiums went up 45.3% for individuals and 63.5% for family coverage.

The report also says 1.3 million Tennesseans (25.3% of the population) age 0 to 64 are on government provided health care such as TennCare, an increase of 3.5% since 2000. Another 859,000 (16.4% of the population) are uninsured, up 6.4% overall and up 10% among those with income less than 200% of poverty.

Another troubling statistic about that latter category: the number receiving public assistance (i.e. TennCare) declined by 2.5% at a time when they need it the most.

On the other hand, the greatest increase (4.4%) in the number receiving government provided health care was among those with incomes greater than 400% of poverty. This suggests that employers are shifting more of the health insurance burden to taxpayers, and is another reason why health insurance should be divorced from employment.

The numbers in this report are likely worse now, because these statistics were compiled before the economy crashed and reported just as the state begins more cutbacks in TennCare.

RELATED:

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report
• State by state analysis

But Tim Burchett is?

Knoxville Chamber of Commerce says Niceley-sponsored bills are ‘hostile to business’

NASHVILLE — In an apparently unprecedented move, the Knoxville Chamber has publicly singled out an individual state legislator, Rep. Frank Niceley, as “hostile to business” for five bills he is sponsoring...

...State Sen. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, is Senate sponsor of all five bills that Niceley is sponsoring in the House. But Burchett is not being criticized, Wagley said, because “he has worked with us on other issues” while Niceley has not...

"and it is about time we took some real action. We're here to do it.” -Chuck Schumer

A bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday introduced legislation to pressure China to raise the value of its currency, a step the Chinese government has adamantly resisted in order to keep its exports relatively cheap.

Arguing that the Treasury Department has failed under successive administrations to combat China's policy of artificially pegging the yuan at low values against the dollar, the bill would compel the department to make such a determination. This could result in import duties.

The legislation is similar to a measure co-authored by Schumer and Graham in 2006. That bill passed the Senate with 67 votes, but was abandoned before being introduced in the House after Beijing took steps to boost the exchange rate of the yuan.

From the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (link to 3/15 CBO report at that link also):

"The current economic climate creates tough decisions for everyone," said NASFAA President and CEO Joan Crissman. "It is encouraging that Congress continues to make funding student financial aid a top priority in these difficult times."
The reconciliation package is expected to garner widespread support from the higher education community, but higher education associations are waiting to see the final language before offering official positions on the bill.

But Senator Alexander's postion as GOP #3 does not afford him the opportunity to wait for the final language before calling for the repeal of another "government takeover." The Tennesseean:

At two Capitol Hill news conferences, Alexander on Tuesday decried the proposal as another government takeover that would deny choices for students

When are reporters such as BILL THEOBALD • Tennessean Washington Bureau, when given statements such as "deny students choices" by politicians such as Lamar Alexander, going to start asking "WTF does that mean?!"
"He said

Continued...

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is recruiting 8th grade girls for the second summer Girls in Science Camp at Tremont. The camp is funded by a a 3-year, $1,000,000 Science Education grant from Toyota to Friends of the Smokies. The deadline for registration is this Friday, March 19th.

More info and link to registration form...

UPDATE: There was some confusion in the GSMNP announcement regarding the registration fee. We spoke with John DiDiego, who heads up education programs at Tremont. He said the registration fee is $50, which is refundable if the application is for some reason not accepted. He also said there are still openings and that the Friday deadline will be extended if all of the 24 available openings aren't filled by then.

What: Blogs, Social Media and Political InCivility with Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit and UT College of Law
When: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 7:00pm
Where: Toyota Auditorium at the Baker Center on UT's Campus

Instapundit first? UT Law second? ;) It should be an interesting talk, to say the least. I wonder how he will approach the "InCivility" part of it all. The Baker Center has really started to grow into its potential, which is great for UT. I'd like to see some TED like events in the future there!