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Friday, November 14, 2014
PRESERVE THE COLONIAL BAKERY MAGNOLIA
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House passes Keystone. See How the Tennessee delegation voted.
In their first major voted since last week's election House lawmakers today easily passed a bill to approve the Keystone XL pipeline which would bring crude oil from Canada to the U.S. The bill will be voted on in the Senate on Tuesday. The vote was 252 in favor and 161 opposed. All of the Republicans in the House supported the bill and 31 Democrats broke party ranks and joined the Republicans. Tennessee's Fifth District Congressman Jim Cooper was one of the Democrats who voted for the bill. Below is the list of how our delegation voted.
Aye (R) Roe, Phil TN 1stOn Tuesday the measure will be taken up in the Senate where it will require 60 votes to cut off debate and allow the bill to be voted upon. The Obama administration has been slow-walking the review process to run out the clock on Keystone even though his own State Department has said it would be safe and would not significantly add to greenhouse gases.
Aye (R) Duncan, John TN 2nd
Aye (R) Fleischmann, Chuck TN 3rd
Aye (R) DesJarlais, Scott TN 4th
Aye (D) Cooper, Jim TN 5th
Aye (R) Black, Diane TN 6th
Aye (R) Blackburn, Marsha TN 7th
Aye (R) Fincher, Stephen TN 8th
No (D) Cohen, Steve TN 9th
Construction would add tens of thousand of new high-paying jobs. Many Democrat voters, such as labor union members, are supportive of building the pipeline although activist environmentalist adamantly oppose the pipeline. If the pipeline is not build to bring the crude from Canada to the refineries of the gulf coast, Canada will most likely build a pipeline to the Pacific coast where it will be shipped to China to be refined. As an alternative, the crude oil may be transported by rail and truck to the gulf which is potentially more hazardous to the environment and a more costly way to transport it.
In the Senate, Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu who is in a tough runoff campaign that will be decided on December 6th, is joining Republicans in pushing for approval. Oil refineries are important to the Louisiana gulf coast economy. At least ten other Democrats are ready to join Republicans in voting for passage and it looks like the bill will get the 60 votes necessary to pass the Senate. For several years Senate majority leader Harry Ried has refused to let the bill come to a vote. Even though the Senate has not yet changed hands and the new Republican majority have not taken office the election is already having an impact. If Republicans cannot get the 60 votes to pass the bill in this lame duck session however, they will pass it after the new Congress takes office in January.
President Obama has hinted that if the bill is passed he may veto it. The new Senate would need 67 votes to override and most pundits do not think the Senate can do it. Even if the Senate cannot override a veto of this bill, Obama's veto of the popular bill will result in a further weakening of his power and prestige he will be viewed as an obstructionist who will not work with Congress. If he uses the veto too frequently, then it becomes easier for Congress to override a veto.
To read more about this issue follow this link, this link, and this link.
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Rep. Diane Black's Legislation would roll back ACA’s reporting requirements & mandate eligibility verification
Reposted from The Ripon Advance, Nov. 13, 2014, by - Legislation recently introduced by Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) would
roll back reporting requirements imposed on employers under the
Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate.
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| Rep. Diane Black |
“Obamacare is killing jobs and putting the personal information of Americans across the country at risk,” Black said. “These burdensome reporting requirements take time, money and resources away from the daily operations of running a business. They also put sensitive personal information at risk as it is transmitted to the IRS, where it is then stored. My legislation would allow employers to voluntarily report employees’ health insurance status one time, up front at the beginning of the year, without including their confidential information. This commonsense measure should be considered immediately to ease Obamacare’s burdens on employers ahead of 2015.”
Black’s Streamlining Verification for Americans Act would stop subsidies until verification is completed. “That is what was originally required by the law, and it is unacceptable that this administration has doled out billions of taxpayer dollars without first checking to make sure those receiving subsidies are truly eligible,” Black said.
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Today is last day to comment on EPA power grab. EPA wants to micromanage all water everywhere.
Sheila K. Butt posted in Tennessee Federation of Republican Women
EXTREMELY
IMPORTANT! Today is the last day to comment on the new onerous rules being proposed for the Waters of the U.S. The new rules vastly expand the jurisdiction of the EPA and will strip private property rights. Over 1500 people have commented from Texas and only 103 from Tennessee!
These new rules will have a detrimental affect on farms and agriculture
in our state. For more information see http://www.tnfarmbureau.org/content/time-ditch-rule by Tennessee Farm Bureau. Then PLEASE go to the following link and comment. Your voice can make the difference!
http://www.regulations.gov/…
 | Time to Ditch the Rule
Puddles, ponds, ditches, ephemerals (land that looks like a small stream during heavy rain but isn’t...
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Thursday, November 13, 2014
Gov. Haslam announces Kevin Huffman is stepping down
Gov. Haslam announces Kevin Huffman is stepping down
Posted: Nov 13, 2014, News 2
Kevin Huffman is stepping down from his role as the Commissioner of the Department of Education. (Courtesy: TN.gov)
Huffman will be departing the administration to move into the private sector.
“Improving education in Tennessee has been a top priority for our administration, and having someone of Kevin's caliber to lead the charge during this time of significant progress has made a difference,” Haslam said.
My Comment: I have been very impressed with the improvement in education in Tennessee under Kevin Huffman. I hope Governor Haslam can quickly find a person of quality who has a passion for educational excellence and is a supporter of school choice to replace him.
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Metro Council takes up regulation of Uber and Lyft.
The Budget & Finance Committee and the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Committee held a joint meeting last night to discuss Ordinance No. BL2014-952
which regulates non-taxi passenger vehicles for hire, such as Uber and Lyft. Representatives from the Transportation Licensing Commission and some of the companies to be regulated were in attendance to provide information on the proposed changes, as well as to answer questions following the presentation. I was not there so I don't know what happened. Since The Tennessean is so thinly staffed now, I doubt they had a reporter covering the meeting. If Metro Channel Three post a video of the meeting I will watch it and report on it and post it if it is interesting. It is my hope that the Metro Council does not revert back to their anti-competition, price-fixing position and that any regulations are reasonable and not designed to limit expansion of Uber or Lyft or drive them out of business or prohibit future innovation or expansion of transportation options.
Yesterday in writing a post about how the Houston Texas airport was following Nashville's lead and accommodating ride-share companies at their airport, I summarized how at first Nashville was hostile to new forms of livery service and had attempted to prohibit innovation in the Nashville market but then did an about face. I don't suspect that the about face resulted from a rejection of good-ole-boy crony capitalism and price-fixing but was a pragmatic response to a need for these new forms of service.
BL2014-952 is a 34 page bill and I have not had the opportunity to read it. I hope Uber and Lyft and their attorneys are engaged in this process and I hope some of the Council members who are conservative and believe in capitalism will look carefully at this bill and insure that it is not regulations that stifles competition and innovation and imposes price-fixing. If there is anything objectionable in this bill I hope those would care are engaged in the process now. BL2014-952 is only on First Reading this coming Tuesday. It is much easier to stop a bad bill before it is passed rather than try to get it repealed or overturned in the courts once it is passed.
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Video of the East Nashville Parents Advisory Committee meeting.
I have not watched this video myself yet but plan to. We know that there is a real divide in east Nashville ever since Dr. Register proposed a plan to deal with east Nashville's failing schools. Most of the Nashville "priority" schools are located in East Nashville. Register proposed a plan to deal with this which includes allowing some of the schools to close, allowing the establishment of competing charter schools and converting some of the failing schools to charter schools. The charter school experience in Nashville has shown charter schools can succeed where regular public schools fail. Some in east Nashville have welcomed this new direction and are very supportive, while others do not want to change the old pubic school model and oppose any use of charter schools to improve education in east Nashville. Some seem to actually love their bad schools.
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The Metro Council agenda for November 18th is now available
The Metro Council agenda for November 18th is now available and you can find it at the indicated link. The Council staff analysis is not yet available. If you can wait I will read it for you and tell what of significance is on the agenda, but if you can't stand the suspense, just help yourself.
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Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Houston follows Nashville's lead and accommodates ride-share livery service at their airport.
Back in September ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft were authorized to pick up passengers at the Nashville airport, making Nashville the first in the country to authorize such services. Under the regulations that allowed this service, the ride-sharing companies would pay a fee $3.50 each time they pick up a customer, with the service tracked through its geo-fencing technology. I was proud of our city for being the first airport in the country to accommodate this new form of livery service.
Nashville had, had a terrible record of trying to stamp out competition to limousine service and taxi services. Nashville was one of the most anti-competitive cities in the country. When "Black cars" first appeared in the city a few years ago, the Metro Council passed a minimum fare regulation of $45 for a ride in a limousine and forced Black Cars to operate at if they were limousines. Black cars had been charging as little as $20 for a ride downtown from the airport. They were licensed by the State and approved at the airport but the city tried to force them out of business. What has come to called "Black Cars" are nice clean vehicles with no company name on them that are much nicer than a cab but not as ostentatious as a stretch limousine. When the city voted to impose price-fixing and protect the limo companies from competition, not a single member of the Metro Council voted against it. Even the so-called conservatives on the Council voted for this anti-competitive price-fixing.
In addition to the $45 minimum, the city imposed other irrational restrictions on this new form of livery service, such as prohibiting them from taking more than one fare an hour and ridiculously requiring the vehicles be centrally dispatched. When this restraint of trade and price-fixing was challenged in court, there was a long drawn out and expensive court battle with the Institute for Justice representing the Black Car operators. Unfortunately the city won that court battle.
While Nashville was defending price-fixing and opposing technological innovation and new livery service business models, the city build a convention center and needed more reasonably priced livery service. During this time, Lyft, Uber and Sidecar came on the scene in cities across America and the world and found their way to Nashville. The public embraced this new form of livery service and visitors to our city expected it. In Janissary 2014 the Metro Council reversed itself and lifted the $45 minimum fee and other onerous regulations and allowed vehicles to charge by time instead of miles and allowed point-to-point fees.
I have now used Uber a few times and love it. I was slow getting a "smart" phone but now have one and have downloaded the Uber app and used it. If you are not familiar with it, here is how it works. When you download the Uber app, you register the credit card you will be using. If you need a ride, you click the app and put in your destination. The technology tells Uber where you are. Uber sends you an estimated pick up time and a picture of the driver and the make and model of the vehicle. The vehicle picks you up, takes you to your destination. No money changes hands and there is no tipping. The fare is charged to your credit card.
I have used the service about 5 times and it is quick and easy and cheap. I usually have a car at my door within three to five minutes. To park downtown off lower Broadway can be $20. I can get downtown for less than $5 and if I leave at anytime other than right at the time the bars close I can get back for about $5. If there is high demand then there is a higher fare charge but you are told in advance. The higher fare charge causes more drivers to get on the road. This is really a demand-supply market in real time. The drivers I have met were people who were doing this between "real" jobs or college students making some extra money. Uber drivers work for themselves and work as little or as much as they want and work their own hours.
Some cities are still fighting to keep out this app-based ride-share type of service and the Black Car service. Nashville went from being one of the worse cities for livery competition and innovation to one of the best. I don't think the change of policy was the result of a change of ideology. I don't think suddenly our Metro Council became principled and embraced a market economy and freedom. I wish I could say that I thought our Metro Council had done that, but I don't think that was it. I think as a response to demand and a need to accommodate the tourist coming to town, that the city pragmatically decided to change course. Once it is here, I don't think there will be any going back. There may be some modest regulation over time, but I don't expect the city to try to drive this service out of business or fix prices.
Today Houston Texas became the second city to accommodate ride-share livery service at their airport and the Houston Chronicle said of this development, "The Houston rules are similar to those in Nashville, Tenn." I am proud to see that.
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Mayoral candidate Charles Robert Bone adds to campaign team.
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| Charles Robert Bone |
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Amendment 1 lawsuit has no merit and is "absurd."
As you probably know by now, the opponents of Amendment 1 have filed a federal law suit against the outcome challenging the method officials used to count ballot votes. Their argument is that only those who voted in the governor's race should have their votes counted in the amendment 1 contest. They are asking the court to intervene and require election officials to recount the vote or to declare the outcome invalid.
According to the way an amendment can be adopted in Tennessee, not only do more people have to vote for it than against it, but the votes for it must add up to one vote more than one-half of the number of votes cast in governor's race. In order to lower the threshold necessary for amendments to pass, I was one of those who did not vote in the governors election and voted for all of the amendments. I urged others to do the same.
Tennessee election officials have called the Amendment 1 lawsuit "absurd" and without merit. The first hearing in the case is Jan. 12th. Should the opponents of Amendment 1 win their lawsuit, it would be a difficult task to recount and only count the votes of people who voted in the Governor's race, election officials say. There is not an automated way to do that and each vote cast would have to be examined. Even if a recount did occur and ballots like mine were thrown out, it is doubtful it would change the outcome. About 30,000 more votes were cast for or against amendment one than were cast in the governors race. Some of those, of course, may have been "no" votes who were only motivated to go to the polls to vote against amendment 1. Even if all 30,000 who voted in the Amendment 1 referendum voted "Yes," the amendment would still most likely stand since it got 70,000 more "yes" votes than "no" votes.
Daniel Horowitz, a Nashville attorney and a friend of mine who actually voted "no" on Amendment 1, offers this analysis:
The problem with the plaintiffs’ position is that it exacts a significant price from voters as a prerequisite to allowing them to vote on constitutional amendments. Specifically, according to the plaintiffs’ view, a citizen must first vote for a gubernatorial candidate—even if he or she does not support any of the candidates listed—in order to gain the right to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment. In my opinion, this represents a substantial and unconstitutional infringement on the right to vote and on freedom of association. See, e.g., Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330,336 (1972) ("In decision after decision, [the Supreme] Court has made clear that a citizen has a constitutionally protected right to participate in elections on an equal basis with other citizens in the jurisdiction."); Kansas City v. Whipple, 38 S.W. 295, 296 (1896) (“if suffrage i[s] a sovereign right of the citizen, he must be as free, according to the dictates of his own untrammeled will and conscience, not to exercise it as to exercise it on any particular occasion; otherwise the right is not sovereign.”); Roberts v. U.S. Jaycees, 104 S. Ct. 3244, 3252 (1984) (“Freedom of association . . . plainly presupposes a freedom not to associate.”). As a result, because the plaintiffs’ desired interpretation of Article XI, Section 3 poses serious constitutional problems while the State’s interpretation does not, the State’s view should prevail.Former Senator David Fowler who is head of FACT (Family Action Council of Tennessee) and an attorney, has written a more detailed analysis of the Amendment 1 lawsuit and concludes it has no merit. You can find his analysis at this link.
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Lamar Alexander: “You don’t make a deal with someone by continuously poking your finger in their eye.”
This article in the New York Times offers some insight into what may happen in the lame-duck session of Congress but is only of moderate interest. To sum it up, the article says "not much" and "it depends." The most interesting thing in the piece is the quote from Senator Alexander.
The threat of action by Mr. Obama on immigration is hanging over the lame-duck session — the 20th such postelection meeting since 1940. Even Republicans who say they want to find a way to work with Democrats and the White House to reach legislative deals say the president’s issuance of an executive order would endanger any chance of bipartisanship.
“You don’t make a deal with someone by continuously poking your finger in their eye,” Mr. Alexander said.While some Democrats want the White House to wait until a spending bill is approved, party leaders in the House and the Senate support the president’s forging ahead with an executive order because they do not believe congressional Republicans are serious about moving forward and cannot overcome internal opposition.Some Democrats assert that Republicans are looking for a reason not to work with the White House and will use an immigration order by Mr. Obama as an excuse for failing to deliver much in the new Congress. (link)
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Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Mary Mancini for Chair of the Tennessee Democrat Party
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| Mary Mancini |
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| Lenda Sherrell |
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| Rep. Gloria Johnson |
Mary Mancini who in August lost a Democrat primary to Jeff Yarbro is a self identified progressive. She co-hosted a progressive radio show, Liberadio!. on a low-power, now defunct station and she was Executive Director of Tennessee Citizens Action, a progressive non-profit political organization.
Other candidates for the office of Chair of the Tennessee Democrat Party are Lenda Sherrell of Monteagle who recently lost a race as the Democrat nominee against Republican Scott DesJarlais and former Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville who on November 4th lost her seat to Republican challenger Eddie Smith. Mary Mancini is the best person for the job.
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Judge Moreland goes nuts, flies into Courthouse rage "yelling and tearing up stuff."
Remember Judge Casey Moreland? Back in June Judge Moreland made news for letting a man out of jail accused of domestic violence at the request of a friend of his, when the accused had not spend the required 12-hour cooling off period. The accused, David Chase who was a prominent developer in town, was only in jail a couple hours when Moreland ordered he be released and the accused the went back to his home he shared with his girlfriend committed domestic violence again. A couple weeks ago The Board of Judicial Conduct publicly reprimanded Moreland for that incident.
Now, Moreland is back in the news. Apparently last Friday he had a meltdown at the court house and went into a rage, throwing computers and mattresses and yelling and intimidating people. The following letter is a report filed by newly elected Judge Melissa Blackburn about the incident. Rather than me summarizing it, read if for yourself. This sounds pretty serious. If what is reported by Judge Blackburn is true, Judge Mooreland should resign and seek professional help. If he does not resign, he should be removed from office. As reported by Channel 5, Judge Moreland denies the particulars of the incident and says the whole things was just a "misunderstanding over office space."
The highlighting and markings on the page are mine.
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Monday, November 10, 2014
Kenneth Eaton says stop the AMP spending, responding to Councilman Tygard's Open Letter.
In this open letter from Kenneth Eaton, candidate for Mayor, he responds to Councilman Tygards open letter challenging mayoral candidates to state their position on the AMP. What is at stake is whether or not the city should spend an additional $6 million or so to study and design the AMP when most think the project is dead.
Re: Charlie Tygard
open letter
11/7/2014
Dear Councilman Tygard,
Thank you for your well-wishes for my campaign to become Nashville's next Mayor, and I can only hope the Council members I work with are people of your high caliber.
To Answer your question about halting the spending of unspent AMP appropriations in one word; YES.
To use a few more words, I not only want the Metro Council to stop spending money on the AMP until after the 2015 election, I want the unspent funds taken back, applied to our growing debt, and no more money to be spent on the AMP at all. I never supported the AMP, and while Nashville's public transportation and traffic problems are many, the AMP solves none of them.
As Mayor, I will incentivize Metro employees to save taxpayer dollars, not squander them.
Thank you,
Kenneth Eaton
Mayor Candidate,2015
Kenneth@kennetheaton.com
615-255-0121
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Three Takeaways From the East Nashville United Town Hall Meeting and East Nashville meeting on schools gets heated
Three Takeaways From the East Nashville United Town Hall Meeting
By Steve Cavendish
on Mon, Nov 10, 2014, The Nashville Scene -Yesterday, a town hall-style meeting at East Park Community
Center — hosted by East Nashville United, the parents group that opposes
MNPS director Jesse Register's plans to change the setup of East
Nashville schools — brought together concerned parents with Register,
members of the school board and other elected officials for a sometimes
heated gathering.
The exchanges often broke along the charter debate that seems to
embroil every Nashville school decision of late. Here are three
takeaways from the meeting: (read more)
East Nashville meeting on schools gets heated
by School board member Elissa Kim got put in the hot seat during a public forum Sunday about whether she was being forthright with her constituents regarding proposed campus closures in East Nashville — until Jesse Register came to her rescue.
In a meeting that grew heated and emotional, the director of schools rose from his seat and defended Kim.
"I'm not trying to take the meeting over," Register said. "I just think it's wrong-headed."
Kenny Byrd, the moderator of the meeting organized by East Nashville United, a group that opposes closing schools, had peppered Kim with several questions about a series of emails. The emails dealt with the reorganization plan and referenced someone with her first name. (read more)
by School board member Elissa Kim got put in the hot seat during a public forum Sunday about whether she was being forthright with her constituents regarding proposed campus closures in East Nashville — until Jesse Register came to her rescue.
In a meeting that grew heated and emotional, the director of schools rose from his seat and defended Kim.
"I'm not trying to take the meeting over," Register said. "I just think it's wrong-headed."
Kenny Byrd, the moderator of the meeting organized by East Nashville United, a group that opposes closing schools, had peppered Kim with several questions about a series of emails. The emails dealt with the reorganization plan and referenced someone with her first name. (read more)
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The Sentence That Knocked Down the Berlin Wall (But Almost Didn’t)
....
No matter how it may seem in retrospect, there was nothing inevitable about the event that took place twenty-five years ago this week. The fall of the Berlin Wall took place because certain men and women—people including Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa, and Ronald Reagan—took certain specific actions, demonstrating their capacity for reason and courage. And that, really, is why we study history: to remind ourselves that if those who went before us could do the right thing, then we can do no less ourselves. (read more)
Comment: The fall of the Berlin wall was the most monumental positive things to have happened in my lifetime. The cold war did not have to end the way it did. We could still be fighting the cold war with a shrinking number of free nations and spreading totalitarianism, or worse yet the war could have ended in a nuclear holocaust. I know we have our difficulties now, but nothing compared to the dangers we faced when the Communist movement led by the Soviet Union was determined to conquer the world.
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Obamacare Architect: Yeah, We Lied to The "Stupid" American People to Get It Passed
During a panel event last year about how the legislation passed, turning
over a sixth of the U.S. economy to the government, Obamacare architect
Jonathan Gruber admitted that the Obama administration went through
"tortuous" measures to keep the facts about the legislation from the
American people. ....this bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score
the mandate as taxes. If CBO scored the mandate as taxes the bill dies.
Okay? So it’s written to do that," Gruber said.[Keep Reading]
My Comment: Obamacare was written to deceive. It was built on lies. The administration showed contempt for the American people. And don't forget that the votes of reluctant Democrats in Nebraska and Louisiana were purchased by giving sweetheart deals to those states, and then it was forced through only, passing by one vote. And, those who voted for it, did not understand it. As Nancy Pelosi said "we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it." And, then after it was passed it was illegally tweaked by executive action twenty-some times and exemptions were given to unions and the parts that would result in public discontent were delayed until after the election. And, it is not working. Premiums are rising and many who signed up are not renewing. Congress should immediately repeal the Affordable Care Act. We know President Obama will veto a repeal, but Congress should do it anyway. Those who oppose repeal would be on record. Obama will not allow a bill repealing his signature legislation to become law. After the veto of the repeal, Congress should pass bill after bill in an attempt to amend it beyond recognition.
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Rick Womick to challenge Beth Harwell for House speaker
Beth Harwell has been a voice for common sense conservative governance and has led the House to a greater and greater Republican majority. Managing the House must be like herding cats but she has done a good job of advancing an agenda, passing important legislation and keeping the Republican majority from splintering into warring factions. Along with Governor Haslam and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, Beth Harwell has advanced polices that cut taxes and cut the size of government while bringing about meaningful education reform and efficiencies in government.
Representative Rick Womick has announced he will be challenging Beth Harwell for the Speaker's position. Rick Womick is, to put it politely, not a team player. He is somewhat of a loose cannon and sometimes an embarrassment. In what could be a legitimate political disagreement with Governor Haslam, he called the Governor a "traitor" to the Republican Party.
In Murfreesboro there was a case where the use of a commercial parcel of property changed from one use to different use. The new use required the parking area be paved. This is a very common occurrence in cites all across America. Rick Womick came to the defense of the owner of the property and said this was example of government overreach as part to the UN conspiracy to impose Agenda 21 on the American people. Also in Murfreesboro, Womick characterized the city requirement that flag poles be inspected to insure proper footings and wind-load design as part of the Agenda 21 conspiracy. He also has said city annexation is a way that cities plot to take away property rights via the notorious U.N. “Agenda 21.”
A few years ago, there was almost a hysteria about Agenda 21 among some in the Tea Party movement. Agenda 21 never amounted to much. It was never a treaty but a UN sponsored study that looked at development issues and conservation and sustainability. The concern about Agenda 21 originated with the John Birch Society and people like Alex Jones and Glen Beck but it spread to the Republican mainstream. The ultimate theory was that it was a plan to kill 97% of the world's population, to be accomplished by poisoning them with aspartame and fluoride. Not everyone who jumped on the Anti-Agenda 21 bandwagon even knew of the ultimate theory but everything from shady sidewalks, to traffic roundabouts, to traffic calming, to reintroducing wolves into the wild, bike lanes, bike share programs, conservation easements, and art in public places was denounced as part of Agenda 21. Rick Womick sponsored the non-binding memorializing resolution denouncing Agenda 21. Unfortunately it passed the House by an overwhelming majority and while not vetoing it, Governor Haslam refused to sign it.
Womick has also been active in the anti-Muslim movement. I recognize the legitimate threat of radical Islam but due to the threat from radical Islam there has spread a general suspicion of all Muslims. Also, there is this believe of some on the fringe of the right that we are in danger of having Sharia law imposed on us. Womick has made no secret of his anti-Muslim views. He has warned of the threat of having Sharia law imposed on us and he has taken the position that no Muslims should be allowed to serve in the U. S. military.
I don't think it would happen but I surely hope that the State House would not replace someone of the caliber of Beth Harwell for the bombastic, conspiracy theorist, irrational Rick Womick.
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First Tuesday is November 11. Guest Speaker is John Ryder
Who: John Ryder, Republican National Committee Man known
for his statistical insights, predictions and analysis, John will
come not only with a breakdown from election day, 2014 but likely impacts to
expect from the results.
What: 1st Tuesday
When: November 11. Social time 11AM, Lunch 11:30AM.
Where: WALLER LAW, 511 Union Street - This time the meeting is on the 26TH FLOOR.
Lunch for members is $20. To order your meal and pre-pay, follow this link: www.1sttuesdaynashville.com
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Sunday, November 09, 2014
Today should be a world-wide day of Celebration - The day the wall came tumbling down.
November 9th should be a National holiday. Or better yet, it should be a worldwide holiday. It should rival a combination of New Years’ Eve and the 4th of July. There should be concerts, dancing in the street, Champagne toast, ringing of church bells, fire works, and remembrance.
On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall fell and the world changed forever. As the world watched, we did not know if Russia would send in troops to put down the rebellion or not. We did not know if East German guards would fire on their fellow citizens. In 1958 an uprising in Hungary was crushed. In 1968 the Czech rebellion was likewise suppressed. As we watched in 1989 it was hard to believe that the East German rebellion would end differently, but there was reason to hope.
There was reason to believe that there were few true believers in Communism left behind the Iron curtain. Gorbachev, to save Communism, had launched Perestroika and Glasnost, which had not saved Communism but sealed its fate. The Soviets had been forced to realize that they could not outspend the west in the arms race. The Solidarity union movement had sprung up in Poland and not been crushed and Catholicism had a Polish pope who was encouraging the Catholics behind the Iron Curtain to keep the faith, and America had a president who said his goal was not to co-exist with Communism but to defeat it. The West was more confident and the East seemed exhausted.
With modern communications and contact between the captive peoples of the East and the free people of the West, Communist governments could no longer convince their people that Communism was a superior way to organize society. And, for the first time, attempts to spread Communism had failed. From the tiny island of Granada, to Nicaragua, to Afghanistan, attempts at expansion had met with failure. When the demonstrators in East Germany began chipping away at the wall, the guards did not fire, the Soviets did not send in tanks and the walls came tumbling down.
It would still be a couple more years before the other Communist dominoes fell, but one by one they did, except for the two dysfunctional teetering states of North Korea and Cuba. China did not fall, but morphed into a state that Marx or Mao would not recognize. While still nominally communist, China became a mixed economy with an authoritarian one-party government that daily continues to change.
From the time of the establishment of the first Communist state in Russia in 1917, Communism had steadily grown taking country by county until by the time of the fall of the Berlin wall 34% of the worlds populations lived under Communist domination. And by peaceful means, Communism was gaining ground in much of the west with “Euro-communism” gaining acceptance and becoming parties in coalition governments. For more than seventy years, freedom had been on the defensive and Communism at been ascending.
During that time, between 85 million and 100 million people were killed with a brutal efficiency.
Approximately 65 million were killed in China under Mao Zedong, 25 million in Leninist and Stalinist Russia, 2 million in Cambodia, and millions more in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America. This was accomplished by mass murders, planned famines, working people to death in labor camps, and other ruthless methods. From the thousands of Cossacks slaughtered on the orders of Lenin to the victims of Mao’s “land reform” the totals mounted. In addition to the millions of deaths, many more millions spend part of their lives in prison in the Gulag of Russia and the reeducation camps of Vietnam and China. Those who never spend part of their life in real prisons, lived in societies with secret police, enforced conformity, thought control, fear, scarcity, and everyone spying on everyone else.
While the world looked with horror on the approximate 11 million victims of Hitler’s Europe, for some reason less attentions was paid to the 100 million victims of Communist tyranny. While the Nazi era lasted for only 11 years, the Communist terror began in 1917 and continues to this day. The story would be complete if the last Communist regime fell, but the fall of the Berlin Wall is a land mark event. By the fall of the wall, it was clear that Communism was not the wave of the future and that freedom would survive in the world.
Not only would freedom survive in the world, but the world itself would survive. It is easy to forget what a dangerous place the world was on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The world's nuclear stockpiles had grown to 70,000 warheads, with an average destructive power about 20 times that of the weapons that were dropped on Japan. One deranged colonel, one failure of a radar system, or one misreading of intentions could have led to events that destroyed the world. We were one blink away from destruction of life on earth. If there is any event in the history of world worthy of celebrating, it should be the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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