Gunning For a Shutdown?
Who wants to bet that the President's negotiators really want a government shutdown?:
The difference now is that Barack Obama and his dirty minions in the West Wing know that conservatives don't like to operate without budgets, and Republicans are no longer in a position to be seen as fiscally irresponsible enough to run the government for a year without a budget. The President would be content to allow the federal apparatus to grind to a halt so that he can blame Republicans, when he knows that his initial plan-to run the government his way without a budget-would blow what is left of our national bond and credit rating half way to the moon.
Labels: Congress, Conservatism, Democrats, Duh, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, News Media, Political correctness, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
McWherter's Biggest Impact
The late former Governor Ned Ray McWherter's biggest contribution to Tennessee politics may have been as Speaker of the House:
Ned McWherter understood that Tennessee's Constitution really gives the legislative branch the vast majority of the power in our government, but he also knew that for years, previous Tennessee Governors took power that didn't belong to them by abusing what was a lack of a good committee system in the General Assembly. The Legislature often had to wait on the Governor before beginning even the most basic work, and that essentially made the House and Senate rubber stamps for an executive that was supposed to be weak.
House Speaker Ned McWherter changed all of that by strengthening the power, number, and role of legislative committees in the Tennessee House. He made the Calendar and Rules Committee the Great Decider, by giving it the power to essentially nix any bill that came before it, even if that legislation had already passed its designated committee or committees. This made Calendar and Rules the most powerful committee in the House, and it remains so today.
Labels: Local politics, Tennessee politics
Barbara McAndrew
Tennessee Republicans-especially Republican Women-have lost one of their greatest champions:
We live in a cynical age that is often filled with cynical people, but Barbara McAndrew not only cherished her ideals and believed in them, she lived them to the fullest. In an era of history when it seems difficult to find someone to volunteer for anything for various reasons, Barbara McAndrew took the attitude that if something needed to be done, she would do it precisely because it needed doing. Tennessee Republicans are quickly taking our vast majority for granted in some cases, but there would be no majority were it not for Barbara McAndrew and the Republican Women who worked alongside her. She didn't just serve as Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party and help build it into a respected local civic and political institution, her work to help elect Republican State legislators would bring about the Barbara McAndrew Iris Fund, which continues to help put Republicans in our State Capitol.
This writer has had the honor-and it was certainly that-to work and serve alongside Barbara McAndrew on the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee. Never have I known someone with the passion for conservative principles and for the community that Barbara McAndrew had. I've met many people who like politics, but none who cared enough to put the kind of time into public life that Barbara did, when she could have just as easily been doing so many other wonderful things. In the last year alone, the Jefferson County Republican Party was able to have a town hall with our local candidates which Barbara McAndrew largely helped to fund. Many of our Lincoln Day Dinners were funded as much from the tables Barbara McAndrew would buy. No one knew how to plan a dinner the way Barbara could, either-she was the Queen of Political Protocol.
Labels: Conservatism, Elections, Federal politics, Local politics, Republican Party, Tennessee politics
Former Governor Ned McWherter Has Died
Former Tennessee Governor and House Speaker Ned Ray McWherter died yesterday afternoon: During his time as Governor, McWherter sat as one of the most popular Governors in the history of the State up to that time. His fiscal legacy was certainly a mixed one. He was the father of TennCare, which was considered by many at first to be a revolution in public health care, but the original legislation failed to plug potential loopholes in the system and, far worse, the original TennCare failed to take account of the potential cost to State government to carry out such a radical program. At the beginning of his second term, Ned McWherter initially proposed a State income tax but would later shy away from the proposal, understanding (as his Republican successor Don Sundquist apparently failed to learn) that to further press the issue would be political suicide for him and perhaps his party. After leaving office in 1995, former President Bill Clinton appointed McWherter to the United States Postal Service Board of Governors.
Labels: Democrats, Federal politics, Local politics, Tennessee politics
Care To Explain?
Would someone on the anti-God Left care to explain this to me?:
Would someone care to explain how "shall not be construed to promote any religious or non-religious doctrine, promote discrimination for or against a particular set of religious beliefs or non-beliefs, or promote discrimination for or against religion or non-religion" somehow translates into the public schools openly teaching Christian religious doctrine, including a six-day creation?
Labels: Conservatism, Faith, Local politics, Tennessee politics
