Click on the links below if you have a desire to see how the Tennessee Legislators voted on “Right to Life” issues..
Tennessee Right to Life Scorecard – Pro-Life Legislation Votes, 2009
Tennessee House of Representatives
Something does not seem to be right with the Tennessee Legislators for considering a law that requires a fingerprint for traffic tickets. HB 2220 has passed in the Tennessee House and is to be voted on (SENATE BILL 2153) by the Tennessee Senate on June 8, 2009.
The new law, if passed today by the senate, would require a fingerprint even before you have your day in court. It appears that there is a double standard being applied since the Tennessee Legislators voted to delete the requirement that the purchaser of a firearm give a thumbprint as part of background check process. But, if I wanted to apply for certain jobs, cash a check, etc, then a fingerprint is needed.
It appears that the gun lobby has been successful with the legislators. Perhaps one should look at the money given to the legislators by the gun lobbyists.
If I run a red light where there is a red-light camera, then I would not be fingerprinted, but if I got the ticket from the police, then I would have to give a fingerprint.
For the hand gun purchasers out there that don’t have to give a fingerprint, you better hope that you don’t get a traffic ticket and have to give a fingerprint.
HB2220 by Stewart – FLOOR VOTE: PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 5/7/2009
Passed
Ayes………………………………………..72
Noes………………………………………..17
Present and not voting…………………..1
Representatives voting aye were: Armstrong, Barker, Bass, Bell, Bone, Borchert, Brooks H, Brooks K, Brown, Cobb C, Cobb J, Cobb T, Coley, Curtiss, Dean, DeBerry J, DeBerry L, Dunn, Eldridge, Evans, Faulkner, Favors, Fincher, Fitzhugh, Ford, Fraley, Hackworth, Harmon, Harrison, Harwell, Hawk, Haynes, Johnson C, Johnson P, Jones S, Jones U, Kelsey, Litz, Lollar, Lundberg, Lynn, Maddox, McDaniel, McDonald, McManus, Montgomery, Moore, Mumpower, Naifeh, Niceley, Odom, Pitts, Pruitt, Ramsey, Rich, Richardson, Roach, Rowland, Shaw, Shepard, Shipley, Sontany, Stewart, Swafford, Tidwell, Todd, Turner M, Watson, Weaver, Winningham, Yokley, Mr. Speaker Williams — 72.
Representatives voting no were: Campfield, Carr, Casada, Dennis, Floyd, Hardaway, Hensley, Hill, Kernell, Matheny, Matlock, McCord, McCormick, Sargent, Towns, Turner L, Windle — 17.
Representatives present and not voting were: Camper — 1.
The Tennessee Senate scheduled to vote on SB 2153 below on June 8, 2009
SENATE BILL 2153.
By HaynesAN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7,
Chapter 63; Title 16, Chapter 1; Title 40, Chapter
7 and Title 55, Chapter 50, relative to methods of
acknowledgment.BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated Section 7-63-102, is amended by deleting the section in its entirety and by substituting instead the following:
§ 7-63-102
In order to prevent the offender’s arrest and the issuance of the warrant against the offender, the offender must sign or affix a fingerprint to, or sign and affix a fingerprint to, an agreement to appear at the time and place indicated, and to waive the issuance and service of a warrant upon the offender.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated Section 7-63-104, is amended by deleting the first sentence in the section and substituting instead the following:
In the event the offender refuses to sign or properly affix the offender’s fingerprint to, or sign and properly affix the offender’s fingerprint to, the agreement to appear in court and to waive the issuance and service upon the offender of a warrant, then it shall be the duty of the officer, in whose presence the offense is committed, forthwith to place the offender under arrest and take the offender before the proper authority, procure a warrant, serve the warrant upon the offender and book the offender as in other cases of violations.
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated Section 7-63-105, is amended by deleting the first sentence in the section and substituting instead the following:
In the event that the offender signs or properly affixes a fingerprint to, or signs and properly affixes a fingerprint to, the agreement and waiver as provided in § 7-63-102, and then fails to appear for trial at the time and place designated, then the court having jurisdiction of the case shall immediately issue a warrant against the offender for the offense, and an additional warrant for the offense of violating the agreement to appear; provided, that the municipal, metropolitan or city government has made the failure so to appear an offense, or has adopted the state law creating such offense.
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated Section 7-63-203, is amended by deleting the section in its entirety and substituting instead the following: Read more…
Kingsport, it’s seems likes to talk about all the success that it is experiencing, but one needs to ask the question, if Kingsport is doing all that well, then why don’t they use some of that money from that success and pay for projects instead of borrowing money.
It appears that this ramped up spinning started the day that Eastman Chemical announced the $100 million cost reduction. Part of this cost reduction was that no Eastman Chemical employee would get wage/salary increases in 2009.
There has been many newspaper articles about this success lately and the Kingsport Times-News has announced that there will be many more to come. Some of the newspaper articles are poorly researched and it is very clear to this blogger, that the author of the newspaper is not doing investigative reporting. It appears that the newspaper is taking the City of Kingsport word as the gospel.
An example of spinning data was reported by Jeff Fleming, Kingsport Assistant City Manager, that the Kingsport area (Sullivan County) had the 3rd best unemployment rate in Tennessee. What Jeff Fleming conveniently failed to do is mention that the City of Kingsport rate was 7.2 percent. You can check it out yourself by going to the link: Kingsport Area = 3rd Lowest Unemployment in Tennessee. The first part of the post that Jeff Fleming is the press release from the State of Tennessee. The percentages posted at the bottom are from Jeff Fleming’s selected extraction of data from the Tennessee numbers. Also, see previous post on a citizen reaction to City of Kingsport claims and Tennessee – November 2008 Unemployment rate for Tri-Cities area.
There may be a concern in the City of Kingsport about the public perception of the Tax, Borrow, and Spend label that has been given to city leaders. It is quite possible that the “spin” the city has been doing lately is to justify all the spending.
Also, it is an election year where four Board of Mayor and Alderman positions are up for grabs.
The Kingsport Times-News is a willing participant in the spin on how great things are going. But, one needs to look at the role of the top two management positions at the newspaper. Keith Wilson who is the publisher and Ted Como as editor are not exactly innocent and unbiased bystanders.
These two newspaper people are deeply involved with the City of Kingsport and economic development in the region. You could do a goggle search on Keith Wilson and Ted Como to see for yourself their involvement in local government affairs.
It is difficult if not impossible to find a politician, whether early in their career or a political office veteran, who has not given in to political pressure, special interest groups, lobbyists, or the good-old-boy-network practice of you-help-my-cause-and-I’ll-help-yours
There is nothing wrong about talking about success, but please cut out the spinning of data.
Apparently, Tennessee Rep. Nathan Vaughn liberal voting has caught the attention of a liberal blog named Abomination.TN420.org,…………they are giving an endorsement.
TN420.org Election Endorsements ’08
Well, this will be brief and easy….
After careful consideration of the subject matter at hand, we have come to the following conclusions…
President of the United States:
Since Dennis Kucinich gave his blessing, and in the interests of America and her people, TN420.org gladly endorses Barack Hussein Obama, Democrat, for President of the United States of America.
United States Senate:
All at TN420 proudly endorse our friend and blogging comrade, Chris Lugo, of the Green Party, for United States Senate.
United States House of Representatives:
TN420 hereby endorses Rob Russell, Democrat, for TN-1 Congressional Representative.
Tennessee State Representative:
TN420 is pleased to endorse Nathan Vaughan, Democrat, for Tennessee House.
As for the rest, we wholeheartedly endorse Democratic candidates for all challenged positions within the state.
That means Mumpower, Godsey, Lundberger, and the rest of those Right-Wing idiots can kiss our asses.
There are a great number of organizations that help voters understand the issues and where candidates stand on them. Family Action Council of Tennessee deals with many issues that deal with families. Some of the issues are as follows:
| - The Family | - Religious Liberty |
| - Adoption | - Sexuality within Marriage |
| - Right to Life |
They have a neat web site and I would encourage you to visit. They keep up with the bills in the Tennessee Senate and House that affect the above areas.
They also have a survey for candidates that are running for office to indicate whether or not they support or oppose an issue. There are 13 questions in the survey and they are below.
Also, you can go to the “Voter’s Guide – Tennessee House & Senate”. If you do not see the information for the candidate you are looking for, then try the link above for “Your District Only”.
Do you support or oppose:
- Abstinence Education: Allowing local school systems to use “abstinence only” curriculum in connection with sex education classes?
- Parental Rights: Prohibiting public school based mental examinations from being performed on students without express written consent from parents?
- “Voluntary” PreK: Keeping enrollment in and attendance of pre-kindergarten classes voluntary?
- Abortion – Amendment: Amending the state constitution relative to abortion to include the language found in SJR 127 as adopted by the Tennessee Senate in the 105th General Assembly?
- Abortion – Full Vote: Voting to bring to the floor for a vote by the membership of the body to which you are elected a resolution to amend the state constitution to make it silent on the issue of abortion if the resolution becomes stalled in any subcommittee or committee of that body?
- RU-486 Restrictions: Requiring doctors who prescribe the abortifacient RU-486 either to follow the Food and Drug Administration’s protocol for use of the drug or to inform the woman in writing that they are not following the protocol?
- Adult Business Regs.: Regulating sexually-oriented businesses to the fullest extent allowed by law?
- Limit Obscene TV Ads: Prohibiting television stations and cable television companies from advertising or promoting the sale of materials that are obscene for minors during the hours from 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.?
- Religious Freedom: Enacting a state law patterned after the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act relative to state action and state law?
- Civil Unions: Giving legal recognition to “civil unions” or “domestic partnerships” between people of the same sex?
- Domestic Partner Benefits: Requiring, as a condition of providing goods and services to state or local government, that employers provide “domestic partner” benefits to unmarried heterosexual couples or to homosexual couples.
- Sexual Orientation Rights: Including sexual orientation or preference under Tennessee’s equivalent of the federal civil rights laws?
- Elected Judges: Open and contested elections for judges on the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals such as were held before the current process of Gubernatorial appointment followed by unopposed retention elections?
Below is information from many media sources concerning Tennessee Rep. Nathan Vaughn’s filing of paperwork for Community Enhancement Grants in a timely matter.
Bristol Herald Courier
A Kingsport, Tenn., legislator’s not meeting a filing deadline could cost his constituents $100,000
BRISTOL, Tenn. – A Kingsport state legislator missed a deadline that could cost his constituents $100,000 in grant money.
State Rep. Nathan Vaughn, a Democrat, concedes he missed the deadline to deliver applications on behalf of several Sullivan County organizations for Community Enhancement Grant money. Read more on Legislator not meeting a filing deadline
Kingsport Times-News
The Tennessee Republican Party (TRP) is taking state Rep. Nathan Vaughn to task for missing a deadline to file requests for state grant funds — a charge that Vaughn labels a smear tactic. More on Vaughn, Tennessee GOP tangle over grants
BillHobbs.com
More blame-shifting and excuse-making from Tennessee state Rep. Nathan Vaughn, D-Kingsport, in the Kingsport Times-News, trying to defuse the criticism over his failure to help local community organizations get their share of the state’s Community Enhancement Grants money.
In today’s Times-News article, Vaughn tries to shift the discussion, calling Republicans hypocritical because they voted against the CEG program in the first place: More on Nathan Vaughn Whinery
Tennessee Republican Party
The Tennessee Republican Party today calls on state Rep. Nathan Vaughn, D-Kingsport, to stop blaming others for his failure to secure $100,000 in Community Enhancement Grant funding for the 2nd House District.
Vaughn missed the submission deadline for applications toward $100,000 in Community Enhancement Grants (CEG) for Sullivan County that were made available via legislation passed in the last session of the state legislature. In response to media coverage of his failure to secure the CEG funds for his district, Rep. Vaughn has lashed out at Republicans, accusing them of hypocrisy, of using smear tactics, of partisanship, of trying to discredit him, and of piling on for political reasons.
Knoxville News Sentinel
NASHVILLE – The city of Knoxville served as a conduit for state Rep. Nathan Vaughn in sending state grant money to charities in the Kingsport area, a move that is being criticized by some Republicans.
“Nathan Vaughn has used the city of Knoxville to help launder Community Enhancement Grant money,” House Republican Leader Jason Mumpower said last week. “It looks like our Democrat secretary of state and other Democrat officials helped cover Nathan’s hide after he fouled up royally.” Read more on Grant issuance criticized