Article IV Section 1 Says Bill Ketron Is An Idiot

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof. - Article IV Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States

The fascination with which Republicans hold for Barack Obama's "long form" birth certificate is quite astonishing.  Not only are Bill Ketron and Dick Womick willing to declare that the State of Hawaii has engaged in a multi-decade conspiracy, spanning various administrations both Republican and Democrat, to hide the true origins of Barack Obama's birth...but they are willing to violate the Constitution of the United States in order to do it.

Article IV Section 1 is rather clear in that each state is to respect and honor the documents and records provided by other states.  It is Congress that gets to decide minimum standards and rules for these documents, not the individual states.  And as such, the State of Hawaii has provided to Barack Obama a certified copy of his birth certificate which has all the requisite data for said birth certificate as established by the federal government via the CDC (pdf):

Each certified copy issued shall be certified as a true copy by the officer in whose custody the record is entrusted and shall include the date issued, the name of the issuing officer, the registrar’s signature or an authorized facsimile thereof, and the seal of the issuing office. In addition, all certified copies of a birth record shall include at a minimum the following information: certificate number, given name(s), surname, generational identifier, date of birth, State and city or county of birth, sex, and date of filing.

As you can see, the document provided by the State of Hawaii clearly has all the requisite information required to be a certified birth certificate. And Tennessee's requirements for accepting documents from other states is simply that the "vital records, the forms of certificates, reports and other returns required by this chapter, or by regulations adopted under this chapter, shall include, as a minimum, the items recommended by the federal agency responsible for national vital statistics. (TCA 68-3-202(a)"

Ketron gives, as a reasoning for this legislation, that Obama has spent $2 million to keep from showing his birth certificate.  Where does Sen. Ketron get this figure from?  Well, nowhere really.  Birthers have established this $2 million figure by adding up all the money Barack Obama's campaign has spent on legal fees since 2008, and attributed that all towards challenges to his citizenship:

The Federal Election Commission shows "Obama for America," Obama's 2008 political campaign, has made regular payments totaling $2,877,083.56, or $2.9 million, to Perkins Coie since Jan. 1, 2007 – the month Obama formed a presidential exploratory committee and only weeks before he formally announced his candidacy for president.

Nearly $2 million, or $1,941,381.04, of that sum was paid to Perkins Coie since questions about Obama's eligibility were raised in June 2008

Suprise! Running a national campaign costs money. Running a national campaign involves a whole host of legal questions and challenges which requires a legal team. To attribute all of this money towards Obama's legal team writing letters to various courts requesting they throw out challenges, requires the same leap of logic which would possess someone to conclude that a massive government conspiracy exists to hide the fact that a young white American of little means in the 1960s would travel to a third world country to give birth, only to then manage to coordinate a campaign of deception that would give her bi-racial son (born prior to the Civil Rights Act) the chance to become President one day.

If Ketron wants to make a copy of a state issued birth certificate part of the requirements for being a candidate for the office of the Presidency, that's fine, whatever...but his bill requiring special documentation to establish citizenship that isn't required by either the federal government or Tennessee to establish citizenship for any other purposes, would appear to me to be a violation of the full faith and credit clause of the US Constitution.

ICYMI

Karl Dean's campaign headquarters will be opening next Saturday:

Join Karl, Anne, and their children for the opening of the campaign office

Saturday, March 5
10:00 AM

1816 Hayes Street
Nashville, TN 37203

Learn how to get involved with the campaign while enjoying some coffee and snacks with friends.

Beer Me

Rep. Turner and Sen. Haynes have a bill introduced that would allow for alcohol sales at a movie theater in Davidson County that has one auditorium restricted to patrons 21 and older, and is a 20 auditorium theater that is 100% digital.

The only theater that comes to mind is/was Opry Mills...

Anthony Davis Official Announcement

District 7 Council Candidate Anthony Davis has sent off this press release announcing his candidacy and promoting his upcoming campaign kickoff party Wed March 2, at Watanabe's.

“It’d be an honor and a privilege to serve the wonderful area that is Inglewood and East Nashville on the MetroCouncil,” said Davis. “I’d like to see ontinued improvement of our neighborhoods, and so promise to be a highlyopen and accessible Councilmember. Because good communication among neighbors is fundamental to sustainedprogress in our district, and to ensuring that all of Davidson County remains a great place to live, work, and play."

More, including his agenda for District 7, in below.

Looks Can Be Deceiving

Aunt B comes to the conclusion that Mayor Karl Dean is "smarmy" because of his response to criticism over his hiring of Tam Gordon to be in charge of his anti-poverty program.

Until today, I didn’t really have an opinion of Karl Dean. He seems like a fine mayor with a couple of notable exceptions. But this? “‘Maybe the crit­ics don’t share my pas­sion about the poverty pro­gram,’ he said.” Really? Is our mayor in junior high? So, people who have questions about how it is he’s deciding to hire people without opening up the positions to see if there are other qualified candidates or who have questions about how putting a person in a part time job knowing full well they’ll work full time so that they can collect benefits just don’t share his passion about poverty?

To me, the umbrage at these hirings seems more related to timing than anything else. If Gordon or Fyke were brought on at the beginning of the administration along with folks like Jim Hester, Toby Compton, Janel Lacey, etc...I have trouble seeing where the outrage would come from. The Mayor's office may be "non-partisan" buts its not apolitical. Most of the people there don't hold their job because of an exhaustive nation-wide search for the best and the brightest, they got the job because they showed the Mayor something he liked during the campaign or at some other point, be it loyalty or skills is rather irrelevant.

I do recognize that it does look bad, from an optics point of view, to hire on some guy as a "part-time" employee for well above the median income of Nashville. But, arguably, all of these people make way more money than they deserve compared to say, a day laborer, who breaks his back for barely more than minimum wage. But, that's politics (and much of the private sector mind you).

If Fyke and Gordon fail to deliver, they are failing to deliver for the Mayor.  Their job is to make his term as head of Nashville's executive branch to be a successful one.  If they fail at that job, it hurts the Mayor and his political career.  So, reasonably, that should be motivation enough for him to allocate the funds in his budget towards resources that he thinks will most help him accomplish his goals in order to be a successful mayor.

Tennessee Is Almost Health Care Free!

The Republicans succeeded (I know you are shocked) at passing a bill which would (theoretically) exempt Tennessee residents from the responsibility of carrying their own health insurance if not provided by the State or their Employer.  The Senate Caucus had this to say:

Senate Bill 79, as written, is a powerless bill addressing federal health care legislation. Senate Democrats offered four amendments to protect coverage for the following groups:

• Tennessee’s children and young adults, up to age 26;
• Tennesseans with preexisting conditions;
• More than 48,400 Medicare recipients in Tennessee whose vital prescription medications are not covered
• Tennesseans dropped from their private insurance plans for exceeding their lifetime maximums.

Republicans defeated all four amendments on party-line votes.

“I wanted to ensure that a person isn’t denied health care coverage simply because of a preexisting condition,” said Caucus Chairman Lowe Finney (D-Jackson).

“Unfortunately, the majority party wanted to make a political statement instead. Our communities need jobs and our schools need help. We should be working together on those issues.”

The final measure passed 21-10, with Sen. Henry and Caucus Chairman Finney joining the Republicans, despite the failure to amend the legsilation.

95% of Americans Must Be Wrong

95%. That is about the number of people who had sex before tying the knot according to a study released in 2006. But statistics and reality must never get in the way of bad public policy, and so with that Rep. Bill Dunn and Sen. Jack Johnson have introduced a measure to reform our state's sexual (or lackthereof) education program.

HB1352 would replace the "family life" standards set by the state and replace it with the "integrated sex education" program. Don't let the title fool you, the only integration here is between outdated theological views that aren't practiced by most (nearly all) Americans, even those who espouse them, and a token mention of what could happen if two people don't wait until the big party to do the deed.

Now, Tennessee already has laws in place that promote abstinence, but this bill would seem to further expand on this to make it harder to teach people (about 95% of the population) who won't wait until marriage, the proper way to avoid getting knocked up or diseased.

It would bar health care professionals from being brought in to teach kids if those professionals or their organizations "endorses student sexual activity as an appropriate or acceptable behavior."  Which might bar any state employee from coming to speak because ultimately by not outlawing teen sexual activity, are we not declaring it to be at the very least "acceptable"?

The only mention of contraception in this entire bill is a ban on contraceptives being made available to students in schools, though it does say that "medically accurate" information about contraceptives can be provided (though not necessarily as part of the lesson plan), so long as they make clear that only abstinence can remove all risk.

The program would also require teachers to discuss the "interrelationship between premature sexual activity and exposure to other risk behaviors such as smoking, underage drinking, drug use, criminal activity, dating violence, and sexual aggression;"  or in other words, if you have sex, clear your schedule for a drinking/drugging/raping/robbing spree.

This Could Be a Fun Committee Hearing

The ACLU of Tennessee is none too pleased with a bill by Rep. Dunn and Sen. Watson that would protect teachers from disciplinary actions for attempting to "objectively" explain the arguments for and against such scientific principles as "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning." From Hedy Weinberg:

The bill's intent is to enable creationist teachers to instill scientifically-unjustified doubts in their students regarding evolution when prestigious scientific and educational organizations like the National Academies of Science and the National Science Teachers Association unanimously agree that evolution needs to be taught straightforwardly and without compromise.

Now, I get where the ACLU is coming from. Hedy, I feel ya. However, the bill as written doesn't really bother me all that much. Yes, you will get some teacher with a rudimentary understanding of theology and evolutionary biology saying stupid stuff like, "if man evolved from monkeys, why don't we any monkeys being born like us." Hell, there may even be some ridiculously retarded argument about how a banana proves God's existence (hint: those bananas aren't natural, but cultivated and cross-bred to look like that).

http://www.thechurning.com/misc/nokintoamonkey.mp3

Ultimately though, the fact remains that those who only get their information from high school teachers tend to overwhelmingly reject the scientific fact of evolution compared to those who have higher levels of education.  

Banishing discussion doesn't seem to help the evolutionist argument. Now, I'm a product of a public education, but I do recall vaguely that in one of my science classes (it was space science or something, I was a bit of a nerd) my teacher started going on about how carbon dating could be wrong, how do we know? He was obviously religiously inclined and at some level thought all the heavens were quite literally the heavens. Did it turn me away from science? No...it probably made me think, and that is a good thing.

I'm not entirely comfortable with the level of knowledge that those leading the conversation will have, but even if they are science deniers, there is always a good chance that their ridiculous arguments may spur a student to challenge their teacher's wisdom, and draw them towards the scientific field, rather than away from it.

Pretending as if there is no debate is not, in my mind, a healthy thing.  There is a large group, a majority in fact, who think that either God created man in its present form, or in the very least had a heavy hand in it.  Don't treat kids as receptacles of information, void of any outside influences or thoughts, because they aren't.  Simply reading line by line from prepared text isn't going to make them better understand or appreciate the scientific arguments at hand.

My personal preference is a reliance on some of the many well produced science documentaries on the subject that explain the topics in a way non-science people can understand.  Then, have a discussion...let the chips fall where they may.

Hard Right Makes a Comeback

Adam Kleinheider, thought to be a liberal by some conservatives and a conservative by some liberals, has made his comeback to partisan politics, joining Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey as his Communications Director. 

Before Post Politics, and before WKRN took away his editorial voice on Volunteer Voters, Kleinheider made his bones on a conservative blog he called "Hard Right".  This will be good preparation for his upcoming job defending the hard right policies of the Republican legislature as they wage their war of political retribution against those people and groups who didn't pony up enough votes or cash in previous elections. 

What, You Don't Want People To Know You Are An Asshole?

Sen. Watson and Rep. Floyd introduced a bill last week which would allow for the expunging of misdemeanor criminal records for crimes committed "while protesting or challenging the legalization or performance of abortion procedures".   


The bill includes the normal reasons for getting record expunged; charges dismissed, acquittal, mistrial, etc..but adds the provision for those who were convicted at least eight years ago and haven't been convicted of another crime since. 


Basically, this bill is intended to help out those who harass and intimidate women who seek services from known abortion providers. 

Campfield Lashes Out at DEA

Stacey Campfield has introduced a bill that would require any federal law enforcement agent to be given written permission by the local sheriff or attorney general before "mak[ing] an arrest or conduct[ing] a search or seizure." His justification for this is:

Pursuant to the tenth amendment to the United States constitution and this state’s compacts with other states, the general assembly declares that any federal law purporting to give federal employees the authority of a county sheriff in this state is not recognized by and is specifically rejected by this state and is declared to be invalid in this state.

Perhaps Sen. Campfield is anticipating a slate of drug legalization laws that would put us in conflict with the Federal Government, or maybe he's preparing for enforcement of some consumer protection laws, I'm not sure...

Kelsey Fights Public Notices as "Special Interest" Spending

Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-4 on an amendment which would require the Anti-Income Tax Constitutional Amendment to be publicized in newspapers before voters go to the ballots to make their decision, but not before Sen. Kelsey had his say, in which he called the print media a "special interest" and held up a Knoxville News Sentinel editorial in favor of public notices as "unethical".



Sen. Kelsey and Rep. Casada couldn't really give a flip about the $20K or so this measure would cost, this is just another part of the GOP's campaign of political retribution, be it the Teacher's Uninos, Labor Unions, the children of Memphis, or now what they perceive to be a "liberal media".

See Also: Tom Humphrey

CAN DO Passes 2nd Reading

Council members and council watchers were forced to listen to various inane reasons as to why the Metro Council shouldn't pass an ordinance extending our non-discrimination policy to companies that want to contract with the city.  The ordinance was amended to exclude small businesses that have 15 or fewer employees, because apparently the fewer employees the more likely their cooties are to spread.

Councilman Ryman thought we should wait with baited breath for the Republican legislature to pass a bill denying the city's right to make stipulations in our contracts.  Apparently, in addition to the finance and legal director, the council now needs a legislative director to make sure none of our ordinance hurt the feelings of someone in Upper-East Tennessee.

Councilman Hodge showed some serious ignorance of the history of Government involvement in the workplace, assuming that somehow its "wrong" for the Government to tell employers what they can and can't do. Forgetting that this ordinance was related to contractors with Metro and not just any old business, what Hodge neglects to understand is that a great deal of our rights in the workplace are derived from laws passed, including but not limited to the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the National Labor Relations Act.

Councilman Crafton was surprisingly the most coherent and thoughtful of the opponents, saying that there is no enforcement mechanism in this ordinance, but nevertheless, we don't really have enforcement mechanisms for stipulations about race, religion, sex, etc...and yet, they are still required in Metro contracts.

Ultimately the measure passed 21-16 with 3 abstentions.

Ayes: Barry, Steine, Maynard, Matthews, Harrison, Hollin, Holleman, Jameson, Cole, Jernigan, Page, Moore, LaLonde, Gilmore, Baker, Langster, Evans, McGuire, Coleman, Mitchell, Wilhoite.

Nays: Garrett, Tygard, Claiborne, Bennett, Forkum, Craddock, Burch, Gotto, Crafton, Toler, Todd, Stanley, Dominy, Ryman, Duvall, and Hodge.

Abstain: Adkins, Foster, Hunt.

Bredesen Beats Corker

At least, in a preliminary polling match-up from PPP.  Bredesen has an initial 5 point lead, 46-41, against Corker, while all other potential match-ups, including Cooper, Gordon, and Tim McGraw, fair quite a bit worse. Of course, part of that is name recognition, neither Cooper or Gordon are well known outside their district, and Tim McGraw would have some work to do selling himself as a candidate.

While I doubt Corker is quaking over these numbers, I hope that Bredesen takes note and seriously considers a run. While he may not be exactly beloved among the liberal blogosphere, he has the potential to draw out moderate and conservative Democrats or Democratic-leaners in an election year when Barack Obama may not be the most popular among a certain segment of the base.  He has the best (though I wouldn't say only) shot at beating Corker, and he has shown an obvious desire to have an impact on national policy. 

At this point, I'm doubtful he would run, but for a man of his intelligence, post-office life might be too boring for him to bare.  As for Democrats worried about his conservative tendencies, I would love nothing more than to see every politician run and win on a center-left platform, but it simply doesn't work everywhere.  Bredesen is in the Manchin/Warner line of Democratic Governors, and would be much more inclined to work with and support our policies than Corker or Alexander have been.

K.I.S.S.

It looks like we are going to have a bit of a mayoral race this summer, as Councilman Michael Craddock is expected to officially announce his bid to be Mayor of Nashville. Craddock, a rather conservative member of the council, says he'd take a conservative approach to the job of Mayor, focusing more on basic services instead of big projects to bring in new business:

"I had a reporter a while back ask me during the convention center debate, 'Councilman, are you ever for anything?' " Craddock said. "I said, 'I'll tell you what I'd be for. I'd be for a mayor that when he or she left office, all they did was take care of the basic needs of the people — crime, education, infrastructure. Just take care of the everyday needs the people in this city deal with.' "

Craddock said he believed Dean was out of touch with the needs of the people, especially Davidson County's working class.

"At some point I think he jumped the track," Craddock said. "I think he started off pretty good, and then he took that left turn somewhere into oblivion and stopped listening to the people that put him there."

The interesting thing about this race is to see where some of the more liberal/progressive critics of Dean would line up? Would they go with Craddock because he's the only game in town, sit it out, or reluctantly back Dean?

The Need for Public Broadcasting

The heads of WNPT and WPLN write an op-ed in the Tennessean urging funding for their groups. While, personally, I listen a lot more to NPR than I watch PBS, I think there is probably a stronger case to be made for ensuring that PBS funding, especially for Children's programing, stays in place.

But more specifically, it's a threat to those children who watch shows like Sesame Street, Between the Lions, SuperWHY! and Word World. Numerous studies indicate that these children show marked improvement on key literacy skills.

Public television is also cited as the No. 1 source of media content among preschool teachers. In addition, online educational resources provided by public television have become some of the top Internet destinations for children.

Public broadcasting is America's largest classroom. Both public television and public radio are educational and enlightening cultural vehicles for adults on a lifelong quest to understand events and experience art.

Knoxville Tea Partiers Back Anti-Teacher Bill

The Knoxville Tea Party has sent out an email to members of the Tennessee Senate urging them to abolish the ability of teachers to negotiate contracts as a team, rather than be forced to go up against the school board individually (and by extension, with less leverage). 

From: Karen Anthony
Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 4:32 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients
Subject: VOTE IN FAVOR OF SB 113
TO: All Education Committee Members

Dear Senators:

SPECIAL TENNESSEE TEA PARTY LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT

LEGISLATION TYPE: [X] STATE BILL # SB 113 DATE OF ALERT: February 3, 2011

TITLED: Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As introduced, abolishes teachers'
unions’ ability to negotiate terms and conditions of professional service with local boards of education

STATUS: [X] UP FOR SENATE VOTE ON FEBRUARY 16, 2011

LINK TO THE BILL

Bill Summary

OVERVIEW/SUMMARY OF BILL: SB113 is the companion Senate bill to HB130. This bill is certainly not anti-teacher – it is anti-union collective bargaining. The bill will not affect any contracts that are already in place prior to the law’s passage. Further, the bill does not abolish unions, it simply prevents their participation in collective bargaining.

Tennessee is a right to work state. TN does not authorize any other public sector employees to engage in collective bargaining (i.e. firefighters, police officers, state employees). The surrounding states of GA, SC, NC and VA all prohibit collective bargaining by teachers, a few others allow it, but current TN law requires it.

The Tennessee School Boards Association supports this bill. Collective bargaining creates an adversarial relationship between teachers and local school boards. Often, school systems submit to unreasonable demands in their contracts simply to prevent costly lawsuits from the very well financed teacher’s union(s).

Where layoffs, terminations, salary adjustments and bonuses are concerned, union contracts are invariably based upon seniority rather than teacher performance and effectiveness. We believe strongly that teachers’ compensation should be based on student results (TVAAS) rather than length of service. Interestingly, in the most recent state Comptroller’s weighted salary report, teachers in those school systems that are not in collective bargaining on average receive more in salary and benefits than those in systems that are involved in collective bargaining.

Federal Race to the Top education reform funds and grants from the state are to be available over the next four years based upon a performance-pay system.

As a voting citizen of the state of Tennessee I understand the ramifications of this bill and how it will benefit both the teachers and the local boards of education.

I URGE YOU TO VOTE IN SUPPORT SB113 to enable these new incentive programs to be implemented.

Sincerely,

Karen Anthony, TN Tea Party, Knoxville Tea Party

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey sent out an alert to the tea partiers to gain support for this petty act of political retribution on the part of the Republicans, and it looks like they are heeding the call.

Congressman Cooper Lectures on How to Fix Congress

I wish I could give a detailed account of Rep. Cooper's lecture at the Harvard Center for Ethics, but my connection is too slow to load the video, but nevertheless, for your viewing pleasure:

Won't You Be My Valentine?

If you are wondering what to get your favorite cantankerous anti-immigrant legislator for Valentines, well look no further...

This Valentine's Day, spread the love to your state senators and representatives! Show them how much you care with Valentines and other gifts that send a special message from Tennessee's immigrant and refugee communities.

Make a donation to TIRRC this week, and we will hand-deliver a Valentine with your name on it to your legislator on Monday, February 14.

You can either have something sent to your legislator, or one from another district, so gets to sending.

Leader Fitzhugh Introduces Public Campaign Finance Bill

Democratic Leader Craig Fitzhugh is the prime sponsor of a the "Voter-Owned Elections Act" which would establish the Tennessee Democracy Fund to act:

"as an alternative source of campaign financing for candidates who obtain a sufficient number of qualifying contributions from registered voters and who voluntarily accept strict fund-raising and spending limits. This part is available to candidates for the general assembly in elections to be held in 2012 and thereafter, and to candidates for governor in elections to be held in 2014 and thereafter."

The fund would essentially be a matching fund for qualifying contributions from private individuals who reside in the district or county of the candidate. A qualifying contribution is "more than $10 and less than $100" and in order to participate, the candidate would have to raise X number of qualifying contributions as follows:

Governor: 7,000 of which no more than 1/3 can come from that Candidate's congressional district.

State Senator: 400

State Representative: 200

With accepting public financing funds, the candidate would thus limit the amount he can raise from private individuals to $100 per person and would exclude PAC contributions. 

Please Don't Buy Our Product

I'm sometimes a little amazed how folks whose job it is to sell liquor and wine, think its such a bad product:

David McMahan, lobbyist for the Tennessee Wine and Spirit Retailers Association, takes issue with the study. Speaking to NashvillePost.com, McMahan said, “Grow what market? Are Tennesseans going to drink 25 to 55 percent more? Is that a good thing if they do? Their arguments don’t add up.”

Well, for the Tennessee Wine and Spirit Retailers, I'd assume an increase in alcohol consumption would be a good thing for business, no?

Ayn Rand Would Be Proud

Stephen Fincher decides he's gonna be a rider instead of a puller, and gets himself some good old Federal Health Insurance Benefits. From the TNDP:

“It has only taken one month in Washington for Stephen Fincher to break his most personal campaign promise,” said Forrester. “Fincher stood before the people of the 8th District and repeatedly vowed he would not accept taxpayer-funded health care. He was very specific in saying he would keep his Farm Bureau policy.”



Earlier this week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released the names of 15 Republicans who did not accept their government health care while they were attempting to repeal health care reform. Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee noted that Fincher was not among them.

Update: The TNGOP begs to disagree.

Pretty Much Everywhere Stacey, Pretty Much Everywhere

Stacey Campfield seems perplexed by the desire of teachers to be able to bargain for their contracts as a group, where they'll have more leverage, than as individuals.  He ponders:

"I fail to see why anyone has the guaranteed right to force an employer to negotiate with a union if they don't want to. Where else besides government does that happen in the real world?"

Well, luckily for most workers in America, a "failure to see" it doesn't make it so. In fact, contrary to Campfield's knee-jerk comment about how Government just doesn't make sense, private employees actually have MORE rights than State and Local government workers.

You see Stacey, there is this thing called the National Labor Relations Board, established by the NLRA way back in 1935. It oversees the relationship between Unions and Private Employers. And, I know this is gonna sting when you hear it, [private-sector] workers in this country actually have a few rights, of which include the right to organize and the right to collectively bargain. Now, I understand why you might not know this Stacey, because Tennessee is a "Right to Work" state which prohibits compulsory union participating, thus greatly diminishing the ability of unions to operate effectively.

Unfortunately for many teachers, firefighters, police officers, etc...the NLRA specifically exempts State and Local workers from these protections, and Tennessee being a generally conservative state, has not sought to extend these federal protections for private employees to their own workforce.

Brady Banks Making Bank

District 31st candidate Brady Banks has announced that he brought in over $14,000 in his bid to take over the retiring Parker Toler's council seat in the upcoming August election.  According to Banks:

“I am grateful for the financial support of the many persons who gave this period. It’s a wonderful start to the campaign. There is tremendous energy among our supporters and it’s a source of encouragement as our campaign continues to work hard,” Banks said. “People are responding positively to our message of ensuring the quality of our children’s education, preserving the district’s quality of life and safety, and helping manage the growth of our local economy and community. Our campaign is generating enthusiasm in the 31st district and excitement about the district’s future.”

So far, Brady and Fabian Bedne are the only two announced candidates running for this seat.

Update: Fabian Bedne will be having his fundraiser tomorrow. (via Michael Cass) 

Brady Banks Fundraising Numbers