Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action) endorsed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles

MAY. 26, 2022 PRESS RELEASE, Nashville, Tenn. — Americans for Prosperity Action (AFP Action) endorsed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.

Ogles was endorsed because of his track record supporting local, state, and federal policies that promote economic freedom and create opportunities that improve the lives of Tennesseans. 

AFP Action will leverage a wide range of tactics, including the country’s largest grassroots outreach, a full-time dedicated staff, and trained volunteers to educate and mobilize voters to support Ogles’ campaign.

Ogles served as state director of Americans for Prosperity’s Tennessee chapter from 2013 to 2017. 

“Andy Ogles is the kind of champion Tennesseans need in Congress – a tireless advocate for economic freedom and stopping government overreach,” said AFP Action Senior Advisor Tori Venable. “Inflation is crushing the American dream. Andy understands everyone is paying more and getting less because of Washington’s reckless spending. We can count on Ogles to uphold Tennessee’s values and stop the D.C. spending spree.

“As AFP state director, Andy worked to repeal the Hall tax and stop the gas tax hike,” she said. “As mayor, he supported balanced budgets and prevented the economic lockdowns that destroyed livelihoods for so many Tennesseans. In Congress, Andy will stand up to the big-government bureaucrats who are undermining America’s future.” 

AFP Action is a 527 political action committee focused on electing candidates who will drive policy change and facilitate the building of broad policy coalitions that remove barriers to opportunity and help people improve their lives. The organization has a strong, permanent grassroots presence, including highly motivated activists who volunteer during the election season by making telephone calls and knocking on doors in support of policy champions.

During the 2020 election cycle, AFP Action supported candidates nationwide with more than 8.5 million telephone calls, 1.5 million door knocks, and more than 49 million pieces of mail. AFP Action has unmatched direct voter outreach capability that is supported by a world-class data operation.

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Caffeinated Conservatives meet March 17th at noon. Guest speakers Americans for Prosperity spokesmaen Sam Nienow and James Amundsen

From Caffeinated Conservatives: The next meeting of Caffeinated Conservatives will be March 17th at noon. The location is at Common Grounds in Old Hickory, 1053 Donelson Ave.   Our speakers are members of Americans for Prosperity, both Sam Nienow  and  James Amundsen will be there!

As you know the Transit Tax is still being pushed by Mayor David Briley.  Our speaker will address this subject and give us insights into what other taxes are being pushed by anti-conservative forces.

Terry

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Caffeinated Conservatives meets Sat. March 18th. Guest Shawn Hatmaker, Field Director of Americans For Prosperity

From Caffeinated Conservatives:

We have the pleasure of announcing that next Saturday our speaker will be Shawn Hatmaker, Field Director of Americans For Prosperity. 

AFP says, "We protect the American Dream by fighting each day for lower taxes, less government regulation and economic prosperity for all.  There are over 3,200,000 of us, and we're active in your neighborhood."

Shawn previously worked as a legislative assistant to Representative Timothy Hill.  In that role and his current role with AFP, Shawn has a wealth of knowledge about the legislative process.  With the gas tax discussion that is going on now within the General Assembly, his talk with us will be particularly timely.

Look forward to seeing you:

Saturday, March 18

12 noon to 2 pm

Uncommon Grounds

1053 Donelson Avenue

Old Hickory 37138

Best, Kevin and Laura Baigert

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What's on the Council Agenda for 10-4-2016: Gulch Pedestrian Bridge, making Google pay to defend One-Touch-Make-Ready, Diversity training and Sexual Harasement training for Metro Council

The Metro Council will meet Tuesday, October 4th  at 6:30 PM in the Council chamber at the Metro Courthouse. To watch the Council meeting, you can go to the courthouse and watch the meeting in person, or you can watch the broadcast live at Metro Nashville Network's Government TV on Nashville's Comcast Channel 3 and AT&T's U-verse 99 and it is streamed live at the Metro Nashville Network's livestream site. You can catch the meeting the next day on the Metro YouTube channel. If you will wait, I will watch it for you and post the video and point out the good parts so you can go to that point in the video and watch just those segments. Also, I will  tell you what I think about what happened.  Council meetings are really boring and I watch them so you don't have to.

If you are going to watch a council meeting, you really need the agenda and  the Council staff analysis or you won't have a clue about what is going on. Follow the highlighted link to view the agenda.  Here is my commentary and analysis of the agenda.

There are seven people up for confirmation to Boards and Commissions. These are people appointed by the mayor subject to approval by the Council. They will be approved as always.

There are 29 bills on Public Hearing. Most of them are zoning bills and I do not even attempt to understand every zoning bill.  Most zoning bills concern only a few nearby residents and are boring to everyone else.  Opposition to rezoning is almost always the same and comes down to (1) increased traffic, (2) increased water run-off, (3) overcrowded schools and strain on infrastructure, and  (4) a detrimental change to the character of the neighborhood. For those who are interested in zoning issues, this link is a good resource that tells you what is permitted in which zoning district.

I am only reporting on bills that I think will be particularly controversial or have general importance beyond one neighborhood.

BILL NO. BL2016-350  would curtail strip clubs by removing "adult entertainment" from two zoning classifications.  Nashville has almost destroyed all of the strip clubs and made it almost impossible for new clubs to open.  About 20 years ago, metro imposed a three-foot rule allowing patrons to be no closer than three feet to a nude dancer.  That pretty much destroyed strip clubs in Nashville.  The city also established a requirement that dancers be licensed. The city has continued their policy of discouraging strip clubs by restricting where they are permitted to only a few zoning district classifications.  This bill further restricts where strip clubs can locate.

BILL NO. BL2016-379  would curtail alternative financial services.  Currently a metro ordinance defines a financial institution and part of that definition is that it is open to the public within hours that do not exceed 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.  In my view this is a really stupid law and overly restrictive.  If your local branch bank wanted to extend their Saturday hours to 3PM or stay open till 7PM on Friday, they would not be allowed to do so because their zoning does not permit those extended hours. This would change that definition by removing the restriction on operating hours and replace it with a definition that says they must be “a state or federally chartered bank, savings and loan association, or credit union, a mortgage company, or other financial institution whose services are insured by an agency of the United States government.” That is an improvement.  However, the reason we have these restrictions at all is to curtail alternative financial service companies, places such as pay day lenders and check cashing services.  These alternative financial services are often called "predatory."  They charge outrageous rates of interest, rates as high as 600%.  However, that is no worse than the late fee a bank charges for a bounced check if one were to calculate overdraft fees as interest.

Borrowing money from a pay day lender can be less inconvenient and less expensive than getting one's electricity cut off and paying a reconnect fee.  Unfortunately, this "predatory" financial services are needed by some people and are no more expensive than respectable financial institution in many cases.

My view is that people should be free to be stupid and as a society we should attempt to educate people so they do not need alternative financial services. Some people simply can't manage a checking account however and they need the alternative banking services. Their math skills and their discipline is not sufficient to do mainstream banking. These are services used by the poor.  A lot of these type businesses in a community creates a bad impression of the community and supposedly can impact property values.  The advocates of the poor and opponents of gentrification are not going to be found defending alternative financial institutions but these are services needed by the stupid poor and curtailing their presence helps in gentrification.

BILL NO. BL2016-409  on Old Charlotte Pk in Councilman Rosenberg's district down-zones a parcel from R-80 to AR2a. I am calling attention to this because it is a rare down zoning and because it is disapproved by the Planning Commission 7-0.  I know nothing more about the bill than that. Disapproved bills must receive a 2/3rds approval by the Council on third reading.

BILL NO. BL2016-411  rezones 23 acres from a zoning that permits duplexes to one that does not. This has been happening for many years. Allowing more areas to be zoned for less density seems counter to a goal of promoting affordable housing and mass transit.

BILL NO. BL2016-414  in Councilman Scott Davis's district is a bill disapproved 7-0 by the Planning Commission.

There are 10 resolutions on the consent agenda. Resolutions on "consent" are passed by a single vote of the council instead of being voted on individually. If a resolution has any negative votes in committee it is taken off of consent.  Also any council member may ask to have an item taken off of consent or to have his abstention or dissenting vote recorded.  None of  the resolutions appear controversial or of much interest.

Bills on First Reading. There are 23 bills on First Reading but I usually don't review bills on First Reading. First reading is a formality that gets bills on the agenda. They are not evaluated by committee until they are on Second Reading. All bills on First Reading are lumped together and pass by a single vote.

Bills on Second Reading. These are 14 bills on Second reading and these are the one's of interest.

BILL NO. BL2016-336  says that if a local company is competing with a company that is not local for a metro contract and the local company submits a Matching Low Bid with the company that is not local, that preference be given to the local company. The staff analysis says that, "Historically, the Tennessee Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals have strongly disfavored local bidder preferences, citing the negative impact such preferences can have on competitive market forces," and that this bill may violate the Metro Charter and State law. This was on Second Reading last council meeting and deferred to this meeting.

BILL NO. BL2016-416  by Councilmen Mendes and Cooper would require that any Metro department or agency that must submit regular reports to the Metro Council should post those reports on their website and keep them posted for up to six months. There are 14 reports that must regularly be submitted to Council.  This should be easy and cost nothing to accomplish.  I support this move to make government more transparent and accessible to the public.

BILL NO. BL2016-417  would prohibit one from putting a "for sale" on their vehicle parked on residential property.  I wonder how often this occurs and if this is really a problem.

BILL NO. BL2016-418 would require Google to bear the cost of defending Metro in the lawsuit brought by Bell South against Nashville over the One-Touch-Make-Ready bill the Council passed last Council meeting.  The staff analysis says that while their is no know prohibition against requiring a third party to reimburse the city for the cost of a lawsuit, there is no known legal precedent for requiring it.  For background on OTMR and the controversy surrounding this issue see "BILL NO. BL2016-418" at this link.  I would oppose this bill.  The city should bear the cost of defending itself in court.   

BILL NO. BL2016-419  would require Council members to receive diversity training.  This is more useless unnecessary political correctness. Last Council meeting the Council passed a bill on Second Reading requiring the Council to receive Sexual Harassment training. Maybe this and that requirement could be combined and both included in some orientation. While they are at it they could throw in some sensitivity training and have a group hug-in.

BILL NO. BL2016-421  is a part of the effort to build the pedestrian bridge across the

gulch. This bill would acquire the parcel of land known as the Clement Land Port and sell it to Cummings Station and it would permit metro to acquire a piece of land owned by Cummings Station. This parcel would be the eastern end of the bridge.  The gulch pedestrian bridge is already approved and funded.  A couple of years ago this project was stopped by Council when council refused to approve a land acquisition ordinance necessary to facilitate the construction of the bridge. At that time the Council rebelled against the deal in frustration that so much money was being spend downtown and neighborhoods were being ignored. The project was funded then and is still funded. The means of funding was changed so that the bridge is paid for out of revenue generated from downtown development.

I support the pedestrian bridge.  Certainly we could build a more utilitarian bridge for less or not build the bridge at all, but I believe this will be an important connection to tie the gulch to downtown.  Also, I support the bridge as a beautification and an arts project.  It will be one more thing to make Nashville a place tourist want to visit and a city where people want to live. Cities should not be just utilitarian but beautiful, pleasant places to live.  

The argument against if of course is that the residents of the gulch are wealthy people, that tax increment financing means the gulch development does little to support the city coffers so the wealthy residents of the Gulch are not contributing their fair share to the city, and that neighborhood streets need sidewalks and $16 million dollars would build a lot of sidewalks.  The bridge of course is also being funded by Tax Increment Financing. That really is slight of hand however, and is like taking money our of your right pocket rather than your left pocket. If not funding this project then downtown development wound start putting money into city coffers earlier. There are valid arguments against it but I come down on the side in favor of it. 

Pause should be given to reflect on the wasteful pork spending that funded the Clement's Land Port, the "Clement" being Bob Clement when he was congressman for this district.  In 1996, he acquired $3.6 million dollars in federal funding for the project which was envisioned as the central transportation hub for the city. It never happened. It was a waste of money. For one thing the Demombruen Street bridge was determined to be in need of replacement and could not support the volume of heavy traffic that would use it if the land port was the central bus terminus.  Then the bridge had to be closed and reconstructed which took some time to complete.  Anyway, the Clement Land Port never became much more than a bus stop. I wish the city would install a historic marker on the site explaining the wasteful pork spending and mismanagement. 

 Bills on Third Reading. 

BILL NO. BL2016-385  requires members of the  Metropolitan Council and other Davidson County elected officials and members of Boards and Commission to receive Sexual Harassment training. Ridiculous political correctness and unnecessary in my view.

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What happened at the 8-15-16 Council meetng: Pot bill survives rare First Reading challenge, Affordable Housing bill advances, Google Fiber bill deferred.

For a link to the Council agenda and the Council staff analysis and my commentary on the agenda, follow this link.  If you are going to actually watch the meeting, you really need to follow along with the agenda.

If you are going to watch the meeting you may want to watch it in double speed. That is usually what I do with council meeting and most meetings and speeches. I can watch it in double time and not lose much content and I slow it if something is interesting. To watch it in double speed, hover your cursor over "YouTube" and click it. The video will then open in another screen. Then click "setting" which is indicated by a gear icon. When that opens change speed from normal to the desired speed.  If you are not given that option, then follow this link for instructions.

Below is a summary and the highlights of the meeting.

All of the resolutions pass except the resolution to approve purchasing land for the new Cain Ridge school and it is deferred one meeting, apparently to track with a zoning bill not because there is any opposition. To see which of the resolutions were of significance see my commentary.

Bills on First Reading. First reading is a formality that gets bills on the agenda. They are not evaluated by committee until they are on Second Reading. All bills on First Reading are lumped together and usually pass by a single vote. It does happens but is rare that anyone votes against a bill on First Reading. It is almost considered rude to vote against a bill on First Reading. All bills on first, pass lumped together with a single vote except for one that is with drawn and the bill that would  substantially decriminalized pot possession in Davidson County.

• The bill that is withdrawn is a bill that would have imposed a 120-day moratorium upon the issuance of building and grading permits for multi-family developments on property within Metropolitan County Council Districts 28, 29 and 32.  This was a bad bill and should have been withdrawn.  We can't function as a city if we have different rules for different council district.  There is concern that those districts are seeing so much rapid growth that infrastructure cannot keep up with it. The concern may be valid but a moratorium on new development is not the way to deal with it.

• BILL NO. BL2016-378 is the bill that would substantially decriminalized  possession or casual exchange of small quantities of marijuana in Davidson County. I favor this bill. To see my commentary follow this link.  The motion for a roll-call vote was made by Councilman Dour Pardue. In addition to Pardue others voting against the bill were council members Steve Glover, Holly Uezo and Bill Pridemore. Council member Karen Johnson abstained. It passes First Reading by a vote of 34 to 4. To see the discussion see timestamp 21:22 - 28:21.

Bills on Second Reading:

• BILL NO. BL2016-334 is an expansion of the PILOT program (payment in lieu of taxes) for use as a tool to develop more affordable housing. This will be a new use for this program.  It is normally used by the Industrial Development Board as a tool to incentivize companies to locate in Nashville. This would allow MDHA to use this tool to encourage development of affordable housing. This passes by voice vote.

• BILL NO. BL2016-342  is an Affordable Housing Grant program to encourage developers to develop affordable housing.  This is not the Council's version of the inclusionary zoning; this is the mayor's plan which really would be a voluntary plan. Before being amended it was to be a two year trial program capped at $2 million dollars. It is amended to make the cap $2.5 million. The sunset date is also extended. I do not have copies of the amendment and am not sure how long the trial period last, but it would not come up for review until the next council takes office. Both of these changes make the bill less desirable in my view.  Apparently the builders wanted the longer trail period and I can understand why they would, but it means a new council would be evaluating the bill rather then the council that passed it. While I was previously of the view that I would support this bill, if I were serving in the council, I am now less inclined to be supportive.  If this passes, however, then the much worse inclusionary zoning plan could still pass but this may lessen the likelihood of that bill passing. The only way I think I could support this bill as amended was if I believed that passing this bill would result in the inclusionary zoning bill not passing. This bill however would work with the other bill, if the other bill also should pass, so that those who are required to build affordable housing under the inclusionary zoning proposal could also get this grant and lessen the pain.

 Background and more information on this proposal is in the press release from the mayor's office which you can find at this link.  Both developers and housing advocates support this bill, for the most part, or at least they did before it was amended. The bill will still be amendable on third reading. For those who want a deeper understanding of this bill, you may want to watch the meeting of the Ad hoc Affordable Housing Committee found at this link and the Budget and Finance Committee meeting found at this link. The bill is amended as noted above and then passes by a voice vote. To view the discussion see timestamp 33:57 to 44:14.

• BILL NO. BL2016-343 would change the rules for how companies may use utilities poles to string cable. This may sound mundane but it is important. It is also not as simple as it sounds. As readers probably know, Google Fiber is coming to Nashville promising to bring cheaper and faster internet access.  This was announced in January 2015. What is taking so long?  What is taking so long is that it is a slow process to string cable. Before Google can string cable, Comcast must move their cable, but before Comcast can move their cable, ATT must move their cable, or who ever is below on the pole must wait for the provider with cable above to move their cable. The other providers and users of the utility poles are in no hurry to do what they must do so Google can do what they need to do.  This bill would apply a“One Touch Make Ready” (OTMR) approach for connections to utility pole. One company would be authorized to move all of the wires on the pole. The complexity of this is explained in  articles you can find at these links:

Google Fiber warns it could pull plug over Nashville impasse  
Council attorney raises legal issues with Google Fiber proposal  
"Google One Touch" plan: Solution in search of problem

The bill is deferred one meeting. 

 Bills on Third Reading 

• BILL NO. BL2016-298 in Councilman Scott Davis's district would rezone 46 acres now with various zonings including commercial zoning to a multi-family zoning.  I would like to know if this has the approval of the property owners.  I don't know.  To downzone property without the consent of the owner is a "taking" of property. This is deferred one meeting.  
• BILL NO. BL2016-309 changes some of the rules regarding signs in order to conform to a Supreme Court ruling regarding the First Amendment prohibition against regulating content of signs. It passes.
• BILL NO. BL2016-319  by Councilman Davis is subject to a last minute attempt to amend that generate some discussion and controversy. It is a rezoning that attempts to change properties that now has various zonings "to  permit all uses permitted by the MUL-A district except for alternative financial services uses." I am not even going to try to explain the nuances involved, but if you want to see the discussion see timestamp 1:01:55 to 1:17:09.  
• BILL NO. BL2016-329  which makes 60 "housekeeping" changes to the regs governing taxi cabs passes on a voice vote without discussion. 

The council passed the resolution and the bill that was necessary to facilitate "Marine week" in Nashville without any opposition.

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Protect the Academic Freedom of Professor Carol Swain

Carol Swain

by James Lopez, reposted from Citizen Go - Professor Carol Swain has First Amendment rights like every other university student and professor. We support Professor Carol Swain's freedom of speech and expression rights and WE stand with her. What WE want is for university administators to not silence the voices of professors simply because the professors dare not subscribe to political correctness. We live in a pluralistic, and democratic society -- this means that as a free society, we need to welcome and entertain even unpopular ideas in the public discourse, rather than going bonkers whenever someone expresses them.

There is an online student petition demanding the suspension of Professor of Law and Political Science Carol Swain for being “hateful” toward minorities, "unprofessional intimidation on social media", and performing "discriminatory practices in the classroom." This petition has gathered over 1,500  signatures already. These hypersensitive liberals forget that Professor Swain has testified a number of times before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Nicholas S. Zeppos, the Chancellor of Vanderbilt University wrote on Nov. 11th, "Vanderbilt also has a deep and longstanding commitment to freedom of speech and academic freedom, which are the foundations of our university’s scholarly activities. Such freedoms necessarily allow for the expression of unpopular and offensive views."

Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt wrote in The Atlantic an article titled, “The Coddling of the American Mind.” In this article, Lukianoff and Haidt define vindictive protectiveness as the creation of a “Culture in which everyone must think twice before speaking up, lest they face charges of insensitivity, aggression, or worse.” In this new university climate, students not only refuse to engage uncomfortable ideas, and refuse that others get a platform to express them, but go further and demand that disciplinary actions follow suit to those who violate the safe space that a university is supposed to be as seen in what has been happening at Yale University and the University of Missouri.

Who would have ever thought that a university owed students a “safe place,” a place where students are shielded and coddled from positions, expressions, ideas, and/or actions that challenge them, present different perspectives, or from others who exercise their First Amendment rights? This new climate in the university replaces the importance of talking about issues with feelings. Emotional reasoning monopolizes the university’s debates and discussions. Lukianoff and Haidt define emotional reasoning in their article as “Assuming that your negative emotions necessarily reflect the way things really are: ‘I feel it, therefore it must be true.’” Emotional well-being is rapidly trumping the exercise of the First Amendment. We must stand up for the voices like the one of Professor Carol Swain. We cannot let hypersensitive students succeed in trumping her First Amendment rights. #StandWithSwain




To sign the petition showing your support of Professor Swain, click here. This will link you to the petition webpage.

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Great time at Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream Summitt

Wow! I had a great time at the Americans for Prosperity Defending the American Dream summit

At the Tennessee delegates reception. From left to right: Derick Adams,
 Peter Vorsey, Rod Williams (me), Greg Halvorson,  Gene Wisdom, Dan Sifuentes,
and  Kasondra Watkins

in Cleveland Ohio this weekend. I was educated, motivated, entertained, and thrilled. And the cost of travel, the convention, hotel rooms and most meals came to only $29! Thank God for the Koch boys!

I left home Thursday 11:30 in the morning and went to Legislative Plaza where I caught the bus, joining other people who had gotten on the bus in Brentwood. A second bus left Brentwood and stopped in Hendersonville. We then went to Cleveland where we registered at the convention center and then got to our hotel about 9PM. From 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM all day Friday and Saturday we attended the conference then left Cleveland about 6PM and got back home about 12:30AM Sunday morning.

Next to Ohio, Tennessee had the largest delegation at the convention, with almost 400 people from Tennessee attending. We all wore matching tee shirts; neon light green the first day and bright red the second day and we were highly visible.

The mornings were taken up by breakout session that covered a range of topics from school choice, to right to work and prevailing wage,  health care reform, how regulatory overreach is taking our freedom, energy policy,  how to talk to millennials about freedom, how to be an effective advocate for your position and lots more. The panelist at the breakout session were all experts in their field and accomplished.

Break out session “Don’t Let Them Tell Your Story- Countering
 the Left Narratives.  From left to right: Lawrence Jones, writer
The Blaze; Donald Bryson, North Carolina State Director AFP;
 Sonnie Johnson, Political Activist and Commentator, Brietbart.com

After the breakout sessions we had a box lunch and then reconvened in the big hall. The events in the big hall were well organized and ran like a well oiled machine. There were wrist bands handed out that flashed lights at appropriate times and gave the room a glow of thousands of little lights, there were big screens and music to get you pumped up and music as people entered and left the stage and pyrotechnics. It was a great show! Much like a sporting event or a concert, there is something about being in a crowd of thousands who are there for the same reason and who enjoy the same thing that is exciting.

We heard from five of the presidential candidates: Jeb Bush, Bobby Jindal, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Rick Perry. Among this crowd, the least favorite by far was Jeb Bush and the most favored was Ted Cruz.  The audience was polite to Bush. He was not heckled or booed and people did not walk out but the applause was not as loud and his remarks got fewer standing ovations than that for any of the other candidates.

Rick Perry

For Ted Cruz, the applause and cheering was deafening, and the standing ovations made the audience look like pop corn: up and down, up and down. For some periods of his speech, the audience stayed standing. Cruz threw out the red meat and the crowd ate it up.  Ted Cruz was not my favorite, however. For one thing, I think Cruz is a little too bombastic. I want someone who will bring me to my feet and get me to cheer, but who will also reason and persuade me.  I feel he has too much the touch of a televangelist. Also, I had just seen Cruz speak in Franklin a couple weeks before and he gave the exact same speech. It was a rerun for me. I was more impressed the first time I heard the speech.

Ted Cruz

After hearing Bobby Jindal speak, he rose back to the top of my preferred candidates list. He has a compelling personal story and has a record of having been a good governor of Louisiana having cut the size of government and grown the economy and advanced school choice and improved education.  I like his delivery style. He threw out enough red meat zingers to keep the crowd roused, but also talked policy prescriptions. He took a humorous jab at Cruz or Paul or both when he said, "if you are looking for the candidate with biggest bladder, I am not your guy."  If you recall, both Paul and Cruz have each conducted filibusters, however they were not real filibusters that had a chance of changing the outcome of a bill and served no real purpose except to call attention to an
issue and gain the respective senators some attention.

Several people I spoke to claim Jindal's claim of accomplishments as governor are inflated resulting from a  ending of Federal flow-through Katrina relive funding and other factors that only make it appear he cut government. I'll be paying close attention to see how true that is. Marco Rubio also gave a great performance.  I have seen him speak a couple times before but not in a while and his speech did not seem like a rerun. At this point in time, my top tier candidates are Jindal, Rubio and Walker.

I had never seen Rich Perry speak before and somehow, I had low expectations but ended up being really impressed. He did not keep people on their feet cheering, but talked about the serious issues facing out country and he modulated his tone from rousing crescendos to low confiding conversational tones, and at one time had the 3,600 absolutely silent.

Part of the 400 Tennessee attendees

An obvious snub was that candidate John Kasich was not present to address the gathering.  He is governor of Ohio and the event was in the capital of Ohio, Cleveland. Kasich is considered a moderate in the Party due to his expansion of Obamacare Medicaid and he failed to enact right-to-work when he had the chance. His absence was noted. Of course, all of the candidates could not have been there but the talk among delegates was that Donald Trump was not invited. Trump's phenomenal rankings in the polls was the topic of several conversations, but I met almost no one who was for him or who believe he will be the nominee. Among people I talked to at this event, the consensus seems to be that Trump is not to be trusted and his support has to do with his refusal to kowtow to the press and his celebrity status.

In addition to to presidential candidates there were speeches by APR officials and war heroes and
others. There were also protesters outside the hall and a bomb scare. In addition to the events in the big hall and breakout session, one of the most enjoyable parts of the trip was spending time with people I know and making new friends. On Friday night after we all checked in to the hotel, about ten people, including a couple state legislators, and some local activist went to a nearby bar and talked for a couple hours and on Saturday night, I had dinner with some people I know, but got to know better, and some new friends. It was a great event. Sometimes you need a revival to keep motivated to fight the fight.

For press coverage of the event: Ted Cruz gets enthusiastic greeting at Americans for Prosperity event

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Join me in Columbus, Ohio for the Defending the American Dream Summit, August 20- 22.

 

Last year I missed the trip to Dallas for the Defending the American Dream Summit. Given unforeseen circumstances related to my wife's health, I intend to go to this one! I have already been awarded a scholarship.  With a scholarship, for only $29 one can attend the conference including the event, lodging, travel and most meals. We will be traveling on a chartered bus which will be a great opportunity to network and enjoy the company of local like-minded people. At the conference, one will hear speeches from most of the Republican presidential candidates. In addition there are several break-out sessions on how to be a better activist and various other topics. Schlorships are still available. To sign up, follow this link: http://bit.ly/1esZkyA.

For more information see Americans for Prosperity - Tennessee.  

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