Monday, March 30, 2009
Legislature / Politics / Woods Who Needs the Tennessee Democratic Party?
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 5:26 AM
Knoxville's Harry Tindell wants to allow handguns onto our city playgrounds. Cookeville's Henry Fincher thinks it's a great idea for hillbillies to ride around in their pickup trucks with loaded rifles and shotguns. Five Senate Democrats voted for the anti-abortion SJR127, the Christian Right's No. 1 priority. The party's House leader, Gary Odom, is against closing the outrageously unfair tax loophole for wealthy real-estate developers, including an out-of-state titty bar owner. Two party leaders, Lois DeBerry and Thelma Harper, are courageous sponsors of the Kill Old People Cheap Act to limit nursing home payouts for abusing grandma.
There also are Democrats hiring out as lobbyists for some of the most contemptible bills before the legislature. Case in point: Tom Lee. That's right, Mr. Progressive. A one-time adviser to Harold Ford Jr. and Karl Dean, he also works for Pith's favorite lobbying/law firm, Waller Lansden, which represents corporate polluters and tax dodgers. Lately, he's pushing a wonderful bill that would turn many of our streams into open sewers.
Under this legislation, thousands of burbling brooks magically would transform into mere "wet weather conveyances." The water quality law wouldn't protect them anymore. Incredibly, a consultant in the landowner's employ would have the final say over how a stream is categorized. The EPA is calling bullshit on this and threatening to withhold a couple million dollars in federal funds if the bill passes. Of course, that's not stopping it. Already, it's rolled through the Senate's so-called environment committee.
For this work, Lee is handsomely paid by Tennessee Road Builders Association, Tennessee Mining Association, Tennessee Farm Bureau, Tennessee Bankers Association, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Associated Builders and Contractors, Tennessee Paper Council, and Home Builders Association of Tennessee. What a great lineup!
Lee says he believes the bill "would arrive at the right balance between clean water, environmental protection and economic development." Amazing how he can keep a straight face while making ludicrous statements.
Comments (14)
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?? They did? I must have missed that voter rebellion. Heatseaker dreamed and upon awakening believed it was real.
What world are you living in, stella? Democrats lost about nine seats total in the General Assembly. You are now down five votes in the Senate, and you lost the State House. Oh, yeah, your presidential candidate got spanked and your U.S. Senate candidate got treated like a prison bitch.
By anyone's standards, stella, Democrats were resoundingly rejected by Tennesseans last November.
Heatseeker, this is a generic Republican state, much like Kentucky. This is a state full of Joe the Plumbers. That's why they lost, especially with a black man with a funny name at the top of the ticket. Tennessee has similar demographics to Kentucky, West Virginia, and Arkansas and it was a similar story across the board. While the Dems in this state are busy screwing themselves, the Repubs haven't exactly been doing the state any favors. In these bad economic times, they are more interested in culture war. But will the general, Joe the Plumber, public make them pay in 2010 or 2012? My guess is they will probably gain seats anyways. The general public could not care one iota about Chip Forrester or any of the behind the scenes political intrigue. And take out Memphis and Nashville and this is a conservative, lilly white state who thinks guns in parks (and other similar culture war laws) is a great idea. Republicans are doing better at marketing to that segment and that's why they took over the state.
Meatseeker,
ditto on what Chris said though I'd add that the TNGOP showed just how to handle such a gift dropped on their doorstep. They performed like the Keystone Cop rejects they are, promptly losing control because they watched the goal posts instead of the ball. Yes, I mix metaphors for a living.
Chris and Mark,
Keep up, morons. I'm no big fan of Tennessee Republicans either. They suck ass and you Democrats suck even more ass. That's the sorry state of affairs in Tennessee.
Disband both political parties if you ask me. Make candidates run on their own merits.
Heatseeker,
I'm not a Democrat (nor a moron). I'm a left-leaning independent and very libertarian on social and civil issues. That said, I was just disagreeing with your argument that Democrats lost because of the aforementioned items. They lost because this is a Republican state and Barack Obama was at the top of the ticket. Hell, the cretins in the house who keep asking for Obama's birth certificate won't lose their seats. Virtually the only counties in the country that Obama did worse than Kerry did in '04: a narrow swath of territory from WV down through KY and TN and into Arkansas. What do all those counties have in common: their almost completely white and conservative. No Democrat outside of Shelby or Davidson counties is going to win running as a progressive. Not going to happen. So call me a moron but you haven't defended your argument.
I would just like to defend Tom Lee a bit because I think that Jeff Woods was crude with his criticism.
Tom is a dedicated Democrat who has made his bones working within and without the party in this state. His good work for Harold Ford Jr. nearly got him elected in what has been correctly described as a Red state - especially regarding national offices.
I think Tom has earned and deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the legislative initatives he lobbys for, and the firm he works for Waller Lansden is also unfairly attacked.
Since when is it something to be ashamed of to offer first class legal counsel to corporate clients in all kinds of matters which include tax and regulatory advice?
I am afraid that Jeff Woods is the kind of far left liberal that gives the Democrats a bad name, with his knee jerk reaction to complex issues, and his superficial take on work which may not fit into the narrow ideological leftist box but is nevertheless worthwhile and good for this state.
Well, I didn't make an argument as much as I simply stated that Democrats got crushed in Tennessee last fall.
I will disagree that Tennessee is a Republican state. Tennessee is a conservative state that tends to vote Republican. Conservative Democrats can win in Tennessee . . .
However, at the rate they're going now, I'm not sure Tennessee Democrats will win anything for a long, long time.
David,
Tom Lee can whore down for the polluters if that's what he wants to do. It's fine with me. Everybody's got to make a living. But he can't claim to be a progressive Democrat at the same time. He's not offering "first-class legal counsel" to anybody. He's a lobbyist.
I have to go with Jeff on this one, David. It's just another example of a top Democrat whoring out for personal interest. A party earns its support from the rank-and-file by way of its leaders abiding by a basic, consistent belief system. But it seems top Tenn Democrats believe they have an opt-out clause to occasionally whore in the most flagrant ways. Whether it's Lee working on behalf of pollution, Odom covering for wealthy tax breaks, or the Dems who are supporting the nursing home bill, there's this persistent trend of violating essential Democratic beliefs for personal gain. If you were figuring out the best way to disillusion the rank and file, I can't think of a better way than this.
Heatseeker,
And my point is Republicans in this state can act stupid and get away with it (which they do constantly). Democrats can't to that extent. That makes this a Republican state. A generic Republican will beat a generic Democrat in this state 9 times out of 10. And Democrats didn't get "crushed" because they were acting like Republicans. They got crushed because the conservative white vote didn't care for Obama, far less than they cared for Kerry, which is interesting considering how bad a candidate Kerry was. I won't elaborate on why that was, although it seems fairly obvious.
How are you. Ordinarily he was insane, but he had lucid moments when he was merely stupid.
I am from Germany and also am speaking English, please tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Personally, I not at all sure that giving computer access to preschoolers is such a great idea."
Best regards :o, Carsyn.
