O’Hara: 3 ways Tennessee lawmakers could honor McCain
Gov. Bill Haslam gives a copy of his final State of the State speech to Senate Speaker Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) on Jan. 29, 2018 in Nashville. (Photo credit: Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
With The Tennessee Journal on break this week, former Tennessean political reporter Jim O’Hara offers some thoughts about how Tennessee might honor the legacy of the late U.S. Sen John McCain through some changes in the General Assembly:
Much was written last week about the best ways to honor the late Senator John McCain, from possibly re-naming the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., to general pleas for more civility and bi-partisanship in our politics.
Let me propose three ways for Tennessee to act, not just talk, about honoring the late senator.
When the 111th Tennessee General Assembly convenes in January, the speakers of the Senate and House should name three committee chairs from the other party. In the Senate that would still leave the majority party with nine chairmanships. In the House that would leave the majority party with 14 chairmanships.
Columnist in chemotherapy backs medical marijuana bill
Frank Cagle, currently undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer, declares his support for legislation to legalize medical cannabis oil in his current News Sentinel column. It begins as follows:
If you lose 40 pounds and the sight and smell of food make you wretch, you are tempted to try most anything for relief. If you ask around, you can find cannabis oil here in Tennessee. But it has drawbacks.
— You don’t know where it came from.
— You don’t know what the dosage is.
GOP guber candidate White: Haslam is a RINO
Robert Houk’s Sunday column follows up on a speech to the Washington County Republican Women by Kay White, who has gotten far less media attention so far than the five other GOP candidates for governor. She denounced Gov. Bill Haslam as a RINO.
A couple of columns on the governor’s race: Black bashed, gimmickry noted
U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s recent criticism of weak kneed Republicans in Nashville, delivered at a gubernatorial campaign forum, didn’t resonate with Frank Cagle. Here are the first and last paragraphs of his column on the subject:
Congresswoman Diane Black has a lot of gall, I’ll give her that. She has come down from her leadership position in the dysfunctional U.S. House and criticized the “meek Republicans” in Nashville that run state government.
…Instead of praising the progress that has been made by her Republican colleagues and offering to build on it, Black has decided to appeal to the radical fringe around Nashville. If she can’t distinguish the difference in our state’s progress, as opposed to what she has been doing, she is too clueless to be governor.
On guber candidate theatrics
Robert Houk observes that candidate “gimmickry” of the past – Lamar Alexander walking across the state in 1978, Fred Thompson’s 1994 tour of Tennessee in a red pickup truck – is being echoed this year in “similar stunts” by Republican gubernatorial candidates Randy Boyd and Bill Lee, HERE. (Boyd is running across the state; Lee is touring Tennessee in a tractor.)
Note: It’s not a column, but The Tennessean has a report on Democrat Craig Fitzhugh venturing into solidly-Republican Williamson County that begins with a depiction of the House minority leader having “a Southern drawl and plucky spirit,” HERE. (Southern drawl?? Well, maybe compared to Karl Dean… but certainly not compared to the late Sen. Douglas Henry, D-Nashville.)
University of Tennessee President Bill Haslam?
Victor Ashe speculates in his latest column that Bill Haslam might follow in the footsteps of Lamar Alexander in becoming president of the University of Tennessee as a first job after leaving office as governor.
Current UT President Joe DiPietro, who celebrates his 66th birthday today (Wednesday) is under no pressure to retire, Ashe says, but he recently bought a home in the Chicago area, where he has family. And when Haslam leaves office, DiPietro may be less than enthusiastic about dealing with a new governor, a new state House speaker and hostile legislators — a part of the UT president’s job.
(S)peculation is already starting as to what Haslam may do when he retires in mid-January 2019. He turns 60 in August 2018 and is in excellent health. It is unlikely he would be offered a post with President Trump given his opposition to Trump last fall, and the U.S. Senate seat held by Lamar Alexander does not open until 2020, when Alexander may seek another term anyway.
Haslam certainly has the resources and instincts to lead in philanthropy, and he would be excellent at it. He could return to Pilot Flying J, but that does not appear to be where his passion lies. He was recently asked on a local Sunday talk show by Susan Richardson Williams and Billy Stair about possibly becoming the next UT president.
He demurred on a direct response but did not reject it when asked. He questioned whether he would want to lobby the legislature for more UT funding. There is recent precedent on this when Lamar Alexander became UT president following his two terms as governor. There is no doubt that if Haslam wanted the position, the current board, every member of which he appointed, would support him overwhelmingly without debate.
Some faculty might oppose him without a competitive search, but they do not have a vote. Employees might raise issues on whether he would implement outsourcing as a new president as he advocated as governor. However, other governors have become university presidents and done well. Terry Sanford in North Carolina and David Boren in Oklahoma come to mind.
Note: The referenced TV talk show was WBIR’s “Inside Politics.” Video of Haslam’s appearance on the show can be found on the show’s website, HERE.
A rundown on some recent TN political columns
On kookiness in East TN
In a Commercial Appeal column, Otis Sanford looks east to “political vitriol bubbling up” in the 2nd Congressional District, citing U.S. Rep. John J. “Jimmy” Duncan’s refusal to hold town hall meetings because they could become “shouting opportunities for extremists, kooks and radicals.” An excerpt:
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a microcosm of the state of our political discourse in 21st Century America. The ill will has been around for several years, but it has now gotten worse. And we have to ask ourselves, did the kookiness start with the politicians or with the people who elected them?
… The lengthy diatribe from Duncan is particularly striking in that he is generally not known as someone who resorts to name-calling, even during the most heated political battle… But it’s obvious that the current national political rancor has revealed Duncan’s edgier side. And like so many other elected leaders, starting at the top, the 69-year-old ranking Tennessee congressman is no longer averse to describing some of his constituents as extremists, kooks and radicals.
In like-minded East Tennessee, who knew that deep-seated political enmity was contagious?
In Knoxville, on the other hand, George Korda writes that Duncan displayed “good judgment.”
Duncan decided to not irrigate a field seeded for conflict. A discussion in which members of Congress can hear and speak with constituents is one thing; trying to engage in conversation with people whose primary purpose is contention is another matter entirely…. Shouting down other people isn’t a meeting; it’s putting on a show for the cameras. Regardless of whether Indivisible East Tennessee members
…It’s not going to hurt him politically. In fact, it could be a positive.
Should “Mr. Nice Guy” Haslam play political hardball?
In a blog post, Hank Hayes of the Kingsport Times-News addresses the “perception that Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is too much of a Mr. Nice Guy.” While his “easygoing governing style” has worked in some ways, Hayes suggests that a lack of skill in playing“ political hardball” can also be a hindrance — say in pushing for more fuel tax revenue to build roads — and the governor should consider acting more like a couple of his predecessors.
If McWherter would have pitched a gas tax increase today, I believe he would have called every lawmaker into his office one by one and said: “Look, if you don’t support this, your district won’t get any road dollars.”
Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, another Democrat, described McWherter as one of his mentors. Bredesen was good at crafting what I’ll call the “Do This Or The End Of The World Will Happen” memo sent to lawmakers when he felt strongly about something. Bredesen also wasn’t afraid about making cold executive decisions.
…Every governing style is different, but my point is there is precedent plus scenarios for playing political hardball.
So instead of telling his transportation funding reform plan’s opponents, “Show me the math on your plan,” maybe Haslam should be channeling his inner Ned McWherter or Phil Bredesen.
On Blue Cities at the mercy of a Red State legislature
In a Johnson City Press column, Robert Houk ponders the fate of “a left of center kind of gal or guy living in a Red State like Tennessee. Basically, their options are to “join a support group for local progressives,” move to a Blue State… or move to a Blue City. Excerpt:
Nashville has become a place of refuge for weary liberals. And while the Music City might never be confused for Seattle or San Francisco, members of the Republican-led state General Assembly are nonetheless paying close attention to what’s going on there.
They are determined to see that none of the liberalism found in the state’s Capital infests other municipalities in this state…. This kind of state power grab over cities is not limited to Tennessee. It goes on in most every state, and it has become even more prevalent as the divide between urban and rural communities widens in this nation.
…In the end, Blue Cities have little power in challenging the dictates of the legislatures in Red States. Just as they have gerrymandered seats in Congress, Republicans have been careful to draw safe districts for their members in statehouses.
That means support groups might become the only viable option for progressives in Red States.
Rep. Dunn, school vouchers bashed
Columnist David Hunter takes a rather harsh swat at state Rep. Bill Dunn for his renewed push for passage of school voucher legislation. Excerpt:
As of this writing, Dunn has not been able to get the voucher bill to the floor for a vote, even after his hyperbolic comparison of withholding vouchers to withholding medical care: “You could say they’re (the children) dying of cancer and we’re trying to come up with a treatment for them,” Dunn said.
I will concede that Dunn is familiar with the subject of withholding medical treatment for the poor. He is part of that altruistic bunch of Republicans who refused billions of dollars in federal funds to bring Medicaid up to a viable level for this state’s poorest people — while still presumably being able to sleep at night and look at himself in the mirror when he shaves.
TN political talk roundup: Outsourcing, Rusty Crowe, refugees & marijuana
Arguing over outsourcing
Randy Stamps, executive director of the Tennessee State Employees Association, did an op-ed piece a couple of weeks ago in the News Sentinel under the headline, “Outsourcing state services doesn’t save taxpayers money.”
In a rebuttal op-ed Sunday, state Department of General Services Commissioner Bob Oglesby declares that Stamps’ article “makes misleading and factually wrong claims and chooses to back up his false premise with several charges that are equally incorrect.”
TN political reading list, 10/23/2016 (with some observations)
Tennessee elections rigged?
Commercial Appeal columnist Otis Sanford suggests, tongue in cheek it seems, that there’s evidence of rigged elections “right there under our noses” on the state election ballot where Republican candidates are listed ahead of all others – and Donald Trump is the first name a voter sees. (That’s in accord with a state law, enacted when Democrats dominated in the state, giving the “majority party” top billing on the state ballot.)
He goes on to observe that two of 11 cases of documented voter fraud nationwide 2000-2014 – according to one often-cited study – occurred in Shelby County and both were cast against Republican Terry Roland, now a county commissioner, in a 2005 race for a state Senate seat.
Yet, Roland downplays Trump’s claims that the presidential election is being rigged. “I don’t think there is a consorted effort to manipulate the ballot,” Roland told me last week.
In fact, Roland, like most of us, is sick and tired of the whole campaign. “I can’t wait for it to be over,” he said. “I’m watching Sanford and Son, Andy Griffith and The Jeffersons on TV now rather than the news.”
Column: On bold Bill Haslam, Trump turmoil and down-ballot TN races
The political winds have been blowing rather strongly against Tennessee Republicans in the handful of legislative races where the party’s candidates must face general election storms Nov. 8, inspiring Democrats to hope for a tornado or two touching down in isolated areas of the state.
Indeed, it’s hard to imagine a political environment where developments have fallen into place more favorably for the state’s minority party than this year. And a striking thing is that the face of Republican Gov. Bill Haslam may be seen in the clouds that have formed over the Tennessee GOP as the winds blow – most recently in a declaration that he will not vote for Donald Trump and thinks the billionaire celebrity should resign as the party’s presidential nominee.
That’s about the boldest thing Haslam has ever done politically, rivaled only by his proposal for a modified Medicaid expansion plan that was curtly rejected by the Legislature’s Republican Supermajority as an embrace of Obamacare, wildly unpopular in GOP circles generally. Trump, in accord with all the state’s Republican congressmen and most of the party’s legislators, want to repeal it.
Column: Louie Lobbyist pitches campaign travel investment
Having heard a rumor about Louie Lobbyist planning a new business venture, I called to ask if it was true and was advised he is “exploring an innovative concept” inspired by recent attention given to legislators making investments with campaign funds and taking trips outside the state with expenses covered by friendly folks who happen to be advocates on public policy issues.
A bit of background:
The campaign financial affairs of former state Rep. Jeremy Durham, R-Franklin, ousted as a legislator for other reasons last month involving what might have been attempts at non-financial affairs, are reportedly under investigation by both state and federal officials. One aspect of the probe is Durham’s investment of campaign money in business ventures — one of them founded by Andy Miller, a wealthy fellow who has been a big-time donor to political campaigns. Continue reading
