Blackburn backs tax fairness for Tennessee families

Rep. Marsha Blackburn

By Ripon Advance Reports  |  April 15, 2015 - U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) vocalized her support Tuesday for legislative efforts being implemented to make the tax code more equitable for families across the United States.

 

“Hard-working Tennesseans pay their share of taxes just like citizens of every other state,” Blackburn said. “They should not be punished because they pay state and local sales taxes rather than an income tax.”

If passed, the State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act would institute the ability for Tennessee residents to deduct their state and local sales tax from their federal income tax.

“I am so pleased to join my colleagues in pushing forward legislation to provide tax fairness for hard-working taxpayers who live in non-state income tax states,” Blackburn said. “Making permanent the sales tax deduction, line 5B of a federal income tax form, is an issue Congressman Brady and I have been working for over a decade now.” Backed by Blackburn along with Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the House will vote on the act later this week.

“I hear from constituents every single day who are fed up with the unfairness and the overreach of the IRS,” Blackburn said. “They are sick and tired of working so hard to live within their means and sending money to a government that refuses to live within its means. It’s basically immoral.”

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SPIRITUAL CORRECTNESS: Is It A Danger? An Evening with Jay Sekulow and Allen West!

The Republican Women of Williamson County Proudly Present:

Allen West

Jay Sekulow

 SPIRITUAL CORRECTNESS: Is It A Danger? 

Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 

VIP Meet & Greet: 4:30 - 6:15 PM CST  

Speakers & Banquet: 6:30 - 8:30 PM CST

Begin your evening with a very special offering of a "Meet and Greet" from 4:30 to 6:15 pm enjoying a cocktail or beverage and appetizer while mixing and mingling with Mr. and Mrs. Jay Sekulow and Lt. Colonel Allen West. This purchase option is limited to Sponsorships and VIP Ticket Holders and is being limited to a capacity of 60 people. Dinner will begin at 6:30 pm followed by Mr. Sekulow and Lt. Colonel West speaking on the defense of our religious liberties right here in the US and the persecution of Christians and Jews here and around the world!!! (link)

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Kane Campaign Announces Campaign Team. Nashville-Based Team Has Record of Local Success.

Jeremy Kane

Press release - The Jeremy Kane for Mayor campaign today announced new additions to its campaign team with deep Nashville roots.

Seasoned political operative Siobhan Harley has joined the campaign as deputy campaign manager. Veteran communication strategist, Mike Kopp, will assist with communications and direct mail. Alan Seacrest, a nationally-recognized pollster and former executive director of the Tennessee Democratic Party, will serve as the campaign’s pollster. Brandon Tucker and Nate Lerner are now leading the campaign’s cutting-edge field operation.

Giovanni Hashimoto joins to work on a portfolio including digital, press, and campus outreach.

The new additions join campaign manager Darden Copeland of the Calvert Street Group, Linus Catignani who is leading the fund-raising efforts with the help of Finance Chair David Ingram, Treasurer Pam Martin, and former Councilmember Vivian Wilhoite. In addition, local creative agency, Mountain, is providing support on digital strategy, web development, and engagement, while local video production company, Make It Pop!, has produced web videos for the campaign.

“We’re well on our way to building a grassroots campaign that will reach everybody in every neighborhood,” said Jeremy Kane. “I’m proud to have the support of a talented and diverse team that understands campaigns are won with front-porch conversations and a commitment to the values that make Nashville great. They represent the best in their fields. I’m excited to work together to build a better Nashville for all of us.”

Siobhan Harley, Deputy Campaign Manager, manages public affairs campaigns at the Calvert Street Group. Previously, she ran the successful underdog campaign of Tampa’s current Mayor Bob Buckhorn and later served as Special Assistant to the Mayor where she led efforts to increase transparency, innovation, and citizen engagement. Her prior experience also includes Obama's 2008 presidential race as well as a handful of state and local campaigns.

Mike Kopp, veteran communication strategist brings more than 30 years of experience from creative, corporate, and political initiatives. Kopp served eight years as the communications director and press secretary for Al Gore. He has been involved in more than 250 corporate and political campaigns. He is currently a Partner in the All Good Factory, an artist management agency based in Nashville, and was instrumental in saving Studio A and Music Row.

Alan Seacrest, brings over 30 years experience as a leading national strategist and pollster. He has won statewide, congressional, and mayoral races across the country and in Tennessee, he helped elect former congressmen Lincoln Davis and Gordon as well as former Mayor Bill Purcell. He recently served as the Executive Director of the Tennessee Democratic Party.

Brandon Tucker, a graduate of Fisk University, has made his mark as a leading field operative on campaigns across the country. Tucker comes to the Kane campaign from the United Food and Commercial Workers International where he served as political coordinator. Previously, he served as political director to President Obama’s former Chief of Staff Bill Daley and as deputy field director to Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s election.

Nate Lerner, Field Director, has worked on five campaigns in less than three years, including the 2012 Obama campaign and a Pittsburgh Mayoral race where he helped build and run the largest ground game in the city's history leading to a resounding victory over the establishment backed and better funded candidate. More recently, he oversaw field and political operations in Southwest Arkansas for Mark Pryor's US Senate campaign. An avid fan, he looks forward to watching the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup this year.

Giovanni Hashimoto, Director of Digital Engagement, joined his first political campaign while in high school. His recent experience since includes stints as the communications associate at Ready for Hillary PAC and as the press fellow at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. He also recently served on the national communications team for the College Democrats of America.

Previous Announced:

• Darden Copeland, Campaign Manager, has worked on presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, and local races in Nashville and across the country. He organized the “Save My Fairgrounds” effort in 2011. 
• David Ingram, Finance Chair, is a Nashville native. He serves as Chairman of Ingram Entertainment, the largest distributor of DVDs and video games in the United States, and is the Founder and Chairman of DBI Beverage Inc., the second largest beer distributor in California. 
• Linus Catignani, Fundraising, is a native of Nashville, Tennessee and partner at LCM Strategies, a social media and online content management company that manages political and non-profit clients. He has led successful fundraising operations for a number of notable Republicans, including Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. 
• Vivian Wilhoite, Outreach, brings over 10 years experience as both an elected official and campaign strategist. She was first elected to Metro Council in 2003 and represented District 29 for eight years. In 2014, she served as a key strategist in District Attorney General Glenn Funk’s successful campaign. 
• Pam Martin, Treasurer, President of Cushion Employer Services and a longtime civic leader, served as co-chair of Mayor Karl Dean's 2007 campaign for mayor, as well as a member of his initial transition team. Martin was appointed by Gov. Bill Haslam to serve on the Tennessee Ethics Commission and has also chaired the Mayor's Minority Business Advisory Council the Metropolitan Tourism Commission. She currently serves on the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. Mountain, Creative, a Nashville-based team of culture makers, thinkers, problem solvers, and doers that specialize in storytelling through digital strategy, social content development, PR campaigns, strategic partnership alliances, and brand development. 
• Make it Pop, Digital Video Founded in 2012,is focused on creating unique, attention grabbing video, and animation content.

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Caffinated Conservatives meet Saturday 25th Noon-2PM at Bagel Face Bakery

From Stephen Clements:

Hi everybody,
Saturday the 25th from NOON - 2 PM at Bagel Face Bakery (700 Main Street), come meet Vice-Mayor candidate David Briley and hear his sales pitch for your vote! The Vice-Mayor basically runs the Metro Council, so definitely bring your questions and comments (along with your appetite for bagels and coffee)! All opinions welcome!
To learn more about David Briley, visit his website here: http://www.davidbriley.com/

Stephen Clements

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Candidates ordered to refund runoff campaign funds

by Joey Garrison, The Tennessean, April 16, 2015 - Four Nashville mayoral candidates will have to refund money they prematurely raised for a runoff election they hope to compete in but one that won't necessarily take place. The Davidson County Election Commission on Thursday issued a letter ..... Bill Freeman, Jeremy Kane, Charles Robert Bone and Megan Barry have each raised money for not only their race in August, but also a Sept. 10 runoff that would occur between the top two finishers if no candidate collects at least half the votes. (read more)

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Does that mean Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Jeff Flake are traitors, too?

"Republican Senator Bob Corker Is A Traitor." says Richard Viguerie of CHQ.

I guess if one thinks Bob Corker is a traitor for getting the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to pass his bill requiring the President to submit any treaty lifting sanctions on Iran back to the Senate for ratification, then every one of the members on the Foreign Relations Committee are also traitors for voting for it. That includes Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Jeff Flake. If these three leading conservatives are traitors, then there are not many Republican leaders who are not traitors. Here is the membership of the Foreign Relations Committee that unanimously passed the bill: link.

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"Republican Senator Bob Corker Is A Traitor." says Richard Viguerie of CHQ

In my previous post commending Bob Corker for his accomplishment in getting the Iran deal accomplished and in acknowledging the recognition he is receiving for that accomplishment, I mentioned those who oppose any compromise and said of them:

An all-or-nothing, scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners position accompanied by bombastic rhetoric and demonizing of everyone who does not agree with you 100% is not conducive to good governance. Persuasion and compromise and listening to the other side is still how things usually get done. ...

 ... Bob Corker got the Iran deal done by hard negotiations and reasoned persuasion and compromise. A bumper-sticker type denunciation of the opposition may get a Senator face-time on TV and the base may like the red meat, but it rarely produces results.

Well, it did not long to find an example of what I was speaking.  After my Bob Corker blog post, I went back to reading emails and this was the first one:

 Republican Senator Bob Corker Is A Traitor 

By George Rasley, CHQ Editor  -  In caving to Obama on the Iran nuclear weapons treaty, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee has betrayed the constitutional principle of Senate advice and consent on treaties. The world will be a much more dangerous place for his inexplicable failure to grasp the existential threat a nuclear armed Islamic Republic of Iran poses. And in that willful blindness he has betrayed the United States and all peoples across the globe who share the values of freedom of conscience, freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Read and Comment

Richard Viguerie is often called the "funding father" of the modern conservative movement. He has been a lead fund raiser for conservative causes since the days of Barry Goldwater.  He was doing direct mail, before the days of computers. He was at one time cutting-edge. I have had respect for his contribution to the movement.  I fear however, that as more and more groups try to compete for the dollars of conservative contributors, that activist leaders have to use more extreme language and be more "pure" in their ideology to get people to turn loose of their money. 

On the other hand, maybe the view expressed above really is the view of Vigureie's CHQ. If it is, I think he is dead wrong. If Iran does not get a nuclear weapon, we can thank Bob Corker. As I said in a previous post, what Corker accomplished should not have even been necessary, but it was.  The Corker bill is not perfect, but without the Corker bill, Obama was going to cut a deal with Iran that would not even be reviewed by Congress.

The base may love this red meat dished out by CHQ and "Republican Senator Bob Corker is a Traitor" is what I mean by "bumper-sticker type denunciations."  I think it is despicable.

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Time picks Corker as one of world's 100 most influential

Senator Bob Corker

WASHINGTON — Time magazine has named U.S. Sen. Bob Corker as one of its 100 most influential people in the world.

“I am grateful that Tennesseans have given me the tremendous privilege of serving them in the United States Senate, and I am deeply humbled by this honor,” said Corker, a Chattanooga Republican who serves as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I wake up every day trying to find ways to move our country ahead,” Corker said, “and for as long as Tennesseans afford me this opportunity, I will remain focused on solving the big domestic and foreign policy issues facing our nation.” (link)

Our View: Corker shows leadership on world stage  

Daily News Journal - Tennessee through its history has taken pride in leaders from the state who have moved from sometimes rustic settings to national and world stages. ...

Corker also this week won a victory in building a bipartisan consensus to support a bill that would give Congress an opportunity to review the deal between the United States and Iran on limiting Iran's nuclear program, specifically barring the development of a nuclear bomb by Iran.

While that bill is not yet through Congress, President Barack Obama already has agreed not to veto the bill, if it should win full approval. ....

In an era of congressional gridlock, Corker brings a refreshing level of pragmatism in his leadership of the Foreign Relations Committee.

While the notion of pragmatism may be damning praise for those who see everything in stark ideological terms, we think Corker is exhibiting the common sense that now seems sorely lacking in Congress – on both sides of the aisle.

My Comment: I think the praise being heaped on Bob Corker is well deserved.We need more   statesmen in Congress like Bob Corker. We need more people who can get things done.

In my view, the well of good will and compromise was poisoned when Democrats pushed though Obamacare without allowing a single Republican amendment to be considered, and before the bill had even been read, on a strictly partisan vote without the support of a single Republican and used bribery such as the Corn husker kickback and the Louisiana purchase to even get sufficient Democrat votes to pass it.  The well of goodwill and compromise and respect for the opposition was further poisoned by a president who pushed the limit on ruling by fiat, by administratively making over 30 changes to the health care law after it was passed and by declaring he would not enforce immigration law and other unilateral actions more characteristic of a monarch than a president.

Despite the actions that led to the current climate of ill will, we still need pragmatism and compromise, and civility and respect toward those with whom we may disagree.  An all-or-nothing, scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners position accompanied by bombastic rhetoric and demonizing of everyone who does not agree with you 100% is not conducive to good governance. Persuasion and compromise and listening to the other side is still how things usually get done. That is not how Democrats got Obamacare, but look where that left us.

If we wait until we have the votes to get a 100% of what we want without compromise, nothing may get done. We may wait a long time.  Bob Corker got the Iran deal done by hard negotiations and reasoned persuasion and compromise. A bumper-sticker type denunciation of the opposition may get a Senator face-time on TV and the base may like the red meat, but it rarely produces results.

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Liberty on the Rocks, Thursday, April 16

Liberty on the Rocks, Thursday, April 16, 2015 5:30 PM, Mafiaoza's 2400 12th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37204
Liberty on the Rocks is a great place to meet other people, have a beer and some great food. We promote thoughtful and rational discussion on a wide range of topics. (link)

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Petition drive for charter amendment to reduce the size of the Metro Council to 27 and expand to three the term limit

by Council member Emily Evans

Emily Evans

On September 1, 2015, Nashville will welcome a new Mayor, a new Vice Mayor and no less than 27 new Council Members. This turnover, brought to you by term limits, is unprecedented in our city’s history. When Mayor Bill Purcell was elected, he was joined by a new Vice Mayor and just 19 new Council Members. For a host of reasons, Council Member terms are coagulating around the eight years of the Mayor’s administration. We are, then, on track to have a government that changes hands almost entirely every eight years. However, you may feel about term limits the current situation cannot be a good one for Nashville.

In May of last year, Council Member Charlie Tygard and I proposed a charter amendment to address this issue. Knowing well that changes to the term limit law have been rejected three times by voters by increasingly wider margins, we proposed a compromise. In exchange for relaxing the term limit law slightly, voters would get a slightly smaller, more efficient Metro Council. Our amendment would have changed the maximum term limit a Council Member could serve from two four year terms to three four year terms while reducing the size of the body from 40 members to 27.

We took the amendment to the Charter Revision Commission, headed by Dewey Branstetter whose father Cecil was one of the authors of the 1963 Metro Charter. Recognizing the problem – the intractable position of voters with respect to the term limit law despite the consequences – the Charter Revision Commission approved a reduction in the size of the Council as part of a larger compromise. With that endorsement, CM Tygard and I asked for approval of the full Council to submit the measure to the voters in August 2014. We were denied.* The Council did not want to afford voters the opportunity to weigh in on this important issue.

The Metro Charter allows amendments to get to the voters two ways: a Council vote or a petition drive. Having been shot down by our colleagues, we decided to engage the grass roots and get the amendment on the ballot via a petition drive. For the last several months, several concerned Council Members, business leaders and neighborhood activists have been hard at work circulating petitions and gathering signatures. Today we have about 5,000 verified signatures and plan to mail more cards throughout the month of April. We must submit at least 6,845 verified signatures by May 18, 2015.

If you believe, unlike the Metro Council, that voters should have the opportunity to vote on this important issue, you can download, print and mail a petition (must provide original signature) at www.councilnext50.com. Thank you for your consideration.

*Council Members that supported the people’s right to vote were: Tygard, Bennett, Glover, Stites, Evans, Holleman, McGuire, Dominy, Todd, Mitchell. 
Council Members opposed to letting the people vote were: Barry, Steine, Garrett, Matthews, Harrison, Hunt, Banks, Scott Davis, Westerholm, Anthony Davis, Pridemore, Pardue, Stanley, Claiborne, Moore, Allen, Gilmore, Baker, Blalock, Johnson, Potts, Bedne, Dowell, Duvall. 
Councilman Chris Harmon abstained.

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Happy April 15th Comic Book

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How to get business with Metro if you are not Black or female.

I have not watched this and I won't. I am not a small business man. I am not looking for work.

Here is how it really works: If you are the sole proprietor of a family business, name your wife, daughter or trusted girl friend as "President" of the company and you be her employee, or form two companies, and she is "President" of the company when trying to get metro work.

If you are a small businessman, say for instance you own a janitorial service or a brick laying company and you run one crew and the other crew is run by a Black man who does a good job, then let the Black man be the company president when trying to get metro work and you be his employee. I have seen it happen. Don't pass up the opportunity for preferential treatment just because you are a white male.  It also helps if you have influential friends.

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