Now there is a State that uses more drugs than TN

Yea, That Tenncare reform is doin' the trick

Link

Tennessee is no longer the top prescription drug use state in the U.S., according to a leading pharmaceutical company.

Novartis Pharmaceutical released a study citing West Virginia, which averages 17.4 prescriptions per capita, as the top prescription drug use state.

Tennessee didn't fall far though, grabbing the No. 2 spot with an average of 16.9 prescriptions per year for each man, woman and child. Tennessee's numbers did decrease 6.6 percent from last year's average of 18.1 percent.

Tennessee per capita spending for prescriptions grew 7.2 percent to $1,272.94, the study found. The national per capita spending average increased 18.8 percent to $948.72.

"Voter Privacy Is Gone -- Get Over It"

Link

Last month VanityFair.com published an enlightening article that unfortunately got lost in the holiday shuffle and didn't get a lot of play. It's worth reading so I want to highlight it here.

The article examines a voter registration data broker named Aristotle, which buys voter registration lists from counties and states. It then combines that information with highly personal and detailed information about voters that it mines from various other sources before reselling the data to candidates, political operatives, and commercial entities.

The company has quietly become the largest voter registration data broker in the country and is the go-to source for people like political mastermind Karl Rove to learn everything about you, such as how much money you make, whether you own a gun and potentially even what medical procedures you've had done.

Will Phil Bredesen admit that Pre-K isn't working?

No. He will expect the taxpayers to continue funding a program he very probably would not have chosen for his own child. We have no way of knowing for sure of course but he didn't choose Nashville Public Schools for his own child's K-12 and probably would not have chosen State Pre-K had it been available. A new study shows results to be inconsistent and limited for Pre-K. Phil Bredesen would have wanted better than inconsistent and limited for his own child.

Education funding normally follows the same depressing pattern of most other government programs. They are started because of some mix of good intentions and special interest lobbying but never changed or stopped because of bad results.

By the time they become fully funded there are so many people dependent on their cash flow that they become their own justification and no amount of pressure will slow them down no matter how bad the results, even when they involve our children.

Phil Bredesen seemed very earnest in his interest in Pre-K. Good intentions are not enough.

Phil Bredesen will ask for more funding from the taxpayers for Pre-K. Will our representatives in the General Assembly demand better results or less funding for a failed program? No, sadly they will not.

DC Lobbyists buy houses to wine and dine

Great investigative piece by USAToday about Lobbying firms buying houses in DC to host receptions outside fundraising reporting laws.

Link

Despite a strict new ban on gifts to lawmakers, lobbyists routinely use these prime locations to legally wine and dine members of Congress while helping them to raise money, campaign records show. The lawmakers get a venue that is often free or low-cost, a short jaunt from the Capitol. The lobbyists get precious uninterrupted moments with lawmakers — the sort of money-fueled proximity the new lobbying law was designed to curtail. The public seldom learns what happens there because the law doesn't always require fundraising details to be reported.

[...]

Even so, they illustrate that lawmakers still are allowed to accept valuable favors from special interests willing to pay for access, despite promises by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers that the restrictions on gifts and trips would "break the link between lobbyists and legislators."

The role of lobbyists in fundraisers wasn't addressed in the lobbying law signed last September. As long as they don't exceed the federal cap on campaign donations — $10,000 per two-year election cycle for political action committees — lobbyists can underwrite an event for a favored senator or representative at a resort, on a golf trip or at their town house.

Study: Ethical breakdown at all levels of Govt

This study is clear evidence that we need to STRENGTHEN ethical standards in Tennessee, not weaken them. Public confidence in government is extremely low. Its time to start rebuilding that trust.

Link

Washington, DC – With employees at all levels of government witnessing a high incidence of ethical misconduct – and with many local and state entities, particularly, failing to establish strong ethics programs – the public sector is at considerable risk of seeing major ethics scandals unfold, the Ethics Resource Center's National Government Ethics Survey (NGES) shows.

"The next Enron could occur within government," said ERC President Patricia Harned, Ph.D. "Almost one quarter of public sector employees identify their work environments as conducive to misconduct – places where there is strong pressure to compromise standards, where situations invite wrongdoing and/or employees' personal values conflict with the values espoused at work. Government – especially at the state and local levels – simply is not doing enough to address the problem."

[...]

Slightly less than one-third (30%) of federal workers surveyed believe their organizations have well-implemented ethics and compliance programs, which ERC has found greatly reduce the incidence of misconduct. Only one in 10 said there is, indeed, a strong ethical culture in their federal workplace. But the results were considerably less impressive at the state level (where only 14% saw strong ethics programs and a mere 7% perceive a truly ethical culture) and in local government (where the figures were 14% and 9%, respectively).

Almost two thirds of local government employees (63%) said they observed at least one type of misconduct in the previous year. At the state level, the rate of reported misconduct was 57%, while 52% of federal workers had witnessed ethics breeches. In the aggregate, 57% of public servants surveyed had observed misconduct in the past year. There has been no improvement since ERC's last survey of government employees in 2005, and the rate is worse than that of the biennial survey in 2003.

Local government had the highest level of workers who witnessed misconduct but did not report it – 34%. That compares with 29% at the state level and 25% within federal agencies.

Taxpayer funded Stadiums never up to press hype

Two conclusions, according to this author, concerning public referenda for taxpayer funded stadiums: 1-The local press virtually always acts as an unapologetic cheerleader for these projects and 2- They never live up to the promises of economic rejuvenation. The only thing that gets rejuvenated is the bank account of the already rich owners.

Link HT: Sports Economist

There's only one problem with this scenario. It's not true. Never has been. They do come, but cities are not saved. Over the past two decades, academic research has generated literally hundreds of articles and books empirically challenging the alleged economic wonders of new stadiums, even when they're part of larger development schemes. I have been studying and writing about publicly financed stadiums for more than 10 years and cannot name a single stadium project that has delivered on its original grandiose economic promises, although they do bring benefits to team owners, sports leagues and sometimes players.

There are many reasons for these consistently unmet expectations. Among them are, first, stadiums (and ancillary projects) almost always cost more than projected, forcing municipalities to cough up extra subsidies for fear of having a half-built ballpark in the neighborhood. Second, ancillary development projects rarely unfold as initially promised. However, it's difficult holding (usually) well-meaning developers accountable for this since the stadium "anchor" of the project always gets built first - and, again, municipalities have no use for half a stadium.

Ethics Committee: Which blinking light gets answered

From yesterday's Joint Ethics Committee: Rep. Ulysses Jones says that he can't be influenced by a baked potato. Dick Williams, with Common Cause, answers by getting to the heart of the matter.

Real Photo height/weight chart

5'6"/200 lbs

Link HT: J-Walk

Legislators want $1,000 of free meals from lobbyists

That darned ole ethics law is just too restrictive say Representatives Gary Odom and Curry Todd. It doesn't allow lobbyists to provide enough free food so Gary Odom and Curry Todd want to allow lobbyists to give them $1,000 per year in free meals. Rep Odom's comment pretty much sums it up. He says $1,000 is "reasonable" because that is the same as the contribution limit....now THAT is honesty.

Rep. Ulysses Jones says that "No one in my district has ever thought they can buy me for an egg and biscuit."

Link

State Rep. Curry Todd, a Collierville Republican, planned to file a bill, which he called a "working draft," that would permit lobbyists and their employers to spend up to $1,000 per year per legislator.

There would be a $75 cap on each meal, according to the bill, which is being filed on behalf of the committee. The lawmaker and the lobbyist would have to turn in paperwork with the Tennessee Ethics Commission disclosing the meal.

Odom, who initially floated the idea, said it was a reasonable cap, patterned after the state's campaign finance law, under which residents are permitted to donate $1,000 per election to lawmakers.

[...]

Rep. Ulysses Jones, a Memphis Democrat, said he feels like a "space alien" when he attends conferences. While other attendees are dining together, he "sits in a room and watches TV."

He was annoyed by the notion that he could be bought for a biscuit. "That's ridiculous," Jones said at the meeting. "You're saying if I buy you a meal, I own you. That's not right. No one in my district has ever thought they can buy me for an egg and biscuit."

Reverse memory loss with deep brain stimulation?

Deep brain stimulation may reverse memory loss.

Link

The accidental breakthrough came during an experiment originally intended to suppress the obese man's appetite, using the increasingly successful technique of deep-brain stimulation. Electrodes were pushed into the man's brain and stimulated with an electric current. Instead of losing appetite, the patient instead had an intense experience of déjà vu. He recalled, in intricate detail, a scene from 30 years earlier. More tests showed his ability to learn was dramatically improved when the current was switched on and his brain stimulated.

Fake bomb makes it past Tampa TSA

Link

TAMPA, Fla. -- Tuesday, Florida airport security agents will be extra cautious, especially since a fake bomb made it through security during an undercover sting on Monday.

An agent from the Transportation Security Administration strapped a fake plastic explosive around his waist and walked through the security checkpoint at Tampa International Airport, Monday. Immediately afterwards, the team showed the screener the mistake he made.

The TSA said similar tests are improving its system and making airports safer.

Illinois Supreme Court Oral Argument videos online

This is a great next step. Hopefully Tennessee will follow.

HERE is the web site. HT: Legal Dockets Online

"Great" News-Memphis wants new Convention Center

Mayor Herenton says he wants a new convention center to compete with Nashville's new convention center.

Link

Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton announced Tuesday during his state of the city address at the Memphis Rotary Club meeting that the city will study whether the current Memphis Cook Convention Center should be expanded or relocated altogether.

He also said a deal between the city of Memphis and Bass Pro Shops could be finalized Wednesday and backed away from calling for a new Liberty Bowl stadium.

But the majority of Herenton's time Tuesday was spent discussing his vision and plans for a new convention center.

"We are going to appoint a committee in the next 30 days to look at the feasibility of expanding or building a new convention center," Herenton said.

Kettle thief sentenced to homelessness and a job

The most interesting part of this story is the judge making "finding a job" part of the sentence.

Link

PAINESVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- A Salvation Army worker who was ordered by a judge to spend a night homeless for stealing a holiday kettle containing about $250 returned to court Friday with red eyes and red cheeks.

[...]

Smith, 28, worked as a bell ringer for the Salvation Army outside a Kmart store in nearby Eastlake on Dec. 17. Police arrested Smith at his mother's house after a co-worker reported that one of eight kettles was missing.

[...]

Smith, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of theft, still must serve three days in jail, do eight hours of community service, get a general equivalency diploma and find a job, the judge said.

Da Bears and Da Red Light Cameras

Link

Wilson County votes down development tax

Link

Wilson County commissioners voted down a proposal Monday night that would have added a $1,000-per-home fee on new residential developments.

Supporters had pushed for the new development tax to help replenish the county’s low general fund and pay for needs created by the county’s rapid growth.

Good news for the Karl Deans and Phil Bredesens

of Cleveland, Ohio. They won't have to choose private schools like Karl and Phil did here in Nashville. Charter Schools are giving more parents in Cleveland a reason to choose public schools. If Karl dean wants to keep parents in Davidson County, the path is clear. Give them more quality educational options.

Link

"It was a savior for us," said Shafer, who has two children in the State Road charter school. "We were ready to leave the city because of the schools. We stayed because of this school."

After a rocky start, charter schools -- independent, tuition-free schools that are publicly funded but privately operated -- are taking root in Ohio neighborhoods.

1,000 phones tapped each day in UK

Link

The report shows that in the last nine months of 2006, there were 253,557 applications to intercept private communications under surveillance laws. It is understood that most were approved.

In that period 122 local authorities sought to obtain people's private communications in more than 1,600 cases.

Councils are among more than 600 public bodies with the power to monitor people's private communications.

Senior council officers are given the power to authorise surveillance in order to catch fly-tippers, benefit fraudsters and rogue traders. However, intelligence agencies must seek the permission of ministers while police need approval from chief constables.

Eric Pickles, the Conservative local government spokesman, said the use of surveillance powers against suspected fly-tippers was "completely over the top."

Is a College Degree worth the ever rising cost?

Link

Here are 25 of the top-paying jobs that don't require a four-year degree and their average salaries, based on data from the BLS and CBSalary.com.

1. Air traffic controller: $102,030

2. Funeral director: $79,517

3. Operations manager: $77,839

4. Industrial production manager: $73,000

5. Transportation manager: $72,662

6. Storage and distribution manager: $69,898

7. Computer technical support specialist: $67,689

8. Gaming manager: $64,880

9. First-line supervisor/manager of police and detective: $64,430

10. Nuclear power reactor operator: $64,090

11. Computer specialist: $59,480

12. First-line, nonretail supervisors/manager: $59,300

13. Nuclear technician: $59,200

14. First-line supervisor/manager of fire fighting and prevention worker: $58,920

15. Real estate broker: $58,720

16. Elevator installer and repairer: $58,710

17. Sales representative, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products: $58,580

18. Dental hygienist: $59,790

19. Radiation therapist: $57,700

20. Nuclear medicine technologist: $56,450

21. Power plant distributor and dispatcher: $57,330

22. Fashion designer: $55,840

23. Ship engineer: $54,950

24. Detective and criminal investigator: $53,990

25. Commercial pilot: $53,870

$10,000 offered for identity of Blogger

Link

A Chicago lawyer who is being criticized, along with his law firm, in an anonymous Internet blog supposedly authored by a fellow attorney has offered a $10,000 reward to anyone who can provide him with the identity of "Troll Tracker."

The anonymous blogger, who claims to be "just a lawyer; interested in patent cases but not interested in publicity," has criticized Raymond Niro and his 30-lawyer IP boutique, Niro Scavone Haller & Niro, for representing clients who own patents but don't necessarily make products. Instead, the firm earns licensing fees from users of the patented technology—and potentially sues users if they don't pay up, explains the Chicago Tribune.

Some Good..make that GREAT Tax News

Get married and use all the retirement saving credits and deductions and you can save a ton. According to the calculation below you can earn $55k and pay no taxes. Haven't double checked his calcs but it looks realistic. Its from the Carnival of Taxes.

Link

Here’s what Joe Taxpayer did:

• Got married and stayed that way—this earns him $17,500.

• Contributed the max to a 401k plan—this earns him $15,500.

• Contributed the max to two IRAs (his & his wife’s)—this earns him $8,000.

• Because he contributed so much to savings, he got the saver’s credit—this covered what little he did owe after all deductions and other credits. This could’ve earned him up to $2,000, but only earned him $1,148.

• He contributes to his employer’s pension plan and opted for a PPO plan—this earns him $2,550 in pre-tax dollars.

• He used a commercial tax preparer for his return—they cost him $165 to use, but got him over ten times that amount for a refund. They do this consistently.

Libation, Urination allowed at State Golf Courses

Link

Delisa Simpson-Schubert made national news last spring when she videotaped golfers urinating near the 18th tee on Tennessee Centennial Golf Course in Oak Ridge.

Simpson-Schubert said that she then reported the incidents to police, city officials and the district attorney's office - all to no avail. She also asked the city to enforce an earlier state attorney general's opinion on the legality of beer sales on golf courses, said Tammy Dunn, the city's senior staff attorney.

"She had been telling us she thought beer couldn't be sold on the course based on a previous attorney general's opinion," Dunn said Monday.

That earlier opinion only pertained to beer licenses issued for a golf course restaurant or clubhouse - known in golf circles as the 19th hole - and stated that brew sales are limited to those areas, Dunn said.

The new attorney general's opinion, issued Friday, tackles the issue of on-premises beer licenses for entire golf courses.

"If the local government has issued an on-premises permit to the golf course, then by definition consumption would be permitted on the course," the latest opinion states.

More on the TIF madness in Knox County

There is more info on the Knox County, City of Halls Wal-Mart development tax giveaway that was the subject of my rant last night. Two of the commissioners did vote against it but on a voice vote it passed.

This kind of craziness is not going to stop until HOMEOWNERS demand a break on their property taxes when they remodel or build a new house. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Unfortunately, homeowners are getting the shaft with Wilson County actually HIKING taxes on new homes. Commercial Development is being subsidized and residential development is being penalized.....its tax craziness.

Link

"I don't know that I can go ahead and sort of open up the blank check for the whole 4.5 (million)," Luethold said. "Right now, since I don't have any hard numbers in front of me, I can't support it. I do need to know that number, and I asked it last week at committee."

Brit version of Mac and PC ad

$10,000 missing from Clinton Schools-Fraud Suspected

Link

CLINTON - City school officials have requested a state audit after they recently found at least $10,000 missing over a two-year period.

Fraud is suspected, and more money may be involved, officials said Monday.

The Anderson County District Attorney General's office has been alerted, schools director Vicki Violette said.

"There will be some things come out (during the audit) that we're not aware of yet," predicted Dale Isabell, recently named the system's part-time chief finance officer.

"I expect that to happen," he said. "I think it will be more than $10,000."

The Knox County Commission is crazy as hell

I don't know any other way to put it...this is so mind bendingly stupid that it defies explanation.

Ok, here is the deal: Wal-Mart is building a new store in Halls and its "going forward." Everybody knows its going to be built. Its a DONE DEAL!! The County Commission does NOT have to give away the taxpayers money via TIF financing in order to get the project going.

And yet, they are going to give away $4.5 million of Knox County Taxpayer's money.

It doesn't really matter but YES we are watching

Some are wondering if anybody is watching the video in the many States that now record their State Legislatures. Of course, it doesn't really matter since the REAL value is just having them available in case we need to go back and check someone's...er, veracity, but as it turns out, YES, lots of people are watching:

Link

For calendar year 2007, the Minnesota House had:

• 111,754 combined hits to the live and archive webcast streams, averaging 306 hits per day.
• 11,652 "distinct visitors" (This means the number of unique IPs. Each one could have watched one or 111 clips.)
• Average play duration of live and archive streams was 29 minutes, 27 seconds
• A relatively even usage pattern Monday-Friday, with a slight increase on Thursdays.

Oh, Bambino!! IRS Convicts the Babe's Nephew

The press is going wild with bad Babe puns: "The Sultan of Swindle"...boooo

Link

A serial fraudster who claims to be a nephew of baseball legend Babe Ruth was convicted in federal court yesterday of filing 178 bogus tax returns -- from prison.

George Herman Ruth, 51, was serving a 33-month term for mail fraud at the federal prison at Fort Dix when he hatched and carried out a plan to soak the Internal Revenue Service for $360,000 in refunds, a jury ruled in U.S. District Court in Trenton.

eBay helping Consumers save billions

Link

Now researchers from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad, have quantified that surplus – the key to eBay’s value proposition, particularly during rough economic times. Writing in an upcoming issue of Information Systems Research, the researchers report that eBay buyers saved more than $7 billion in 2003 and $8.4 billion in 2004. Extrapolating from their data, they project that consumers saved $19 billion on eBay last year.

The researchers quantified the surplus by using a sniping agent called Cniper to track 4,500 eBay auctions in 2003 and 2004. (Sniping software lets people automatically bid on auctions in the final moments.) By using the sniper software, the researchers could track the highest bids and measure the difference with the winning bid – an average of $4, or 30 percent savings on the average $14 eBay auction.

“Everyone is talking about the recession. This is where people are conscious of the money they are spending,” Galit Shmueli, an assistant professor of management science and statistics at Smith. “EBay should try to extract more of this consumer surplus.”

Cholesterol and Heart Disease: Is there a link?

Link

The truth is, we've always had reason to question the idea that cholesterol is an agent of disease. Indeed, what the Framingham researchers meant in 1977 when they described LDL cholesterol as a "marginal risk factor" is that a large proportion of people who suffer heart attacks have relatively low LDL cholesterol.

So how did we come to believe strongly that LDL cholesterol is so bad for us? It was partly due to the observation that eating saturated fat raises LDL cholesterol, and we've assumed that saturated fat is bad for us. This logic is circular, though: saturated fat is bad because it raises LDL cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol is bad because it is the thing that saturated fat raises. In clinical trials, researchers have been unable to generate compelling evidence that saturated fat in the diet causes heart disease.

Art Laffer (curve) chooses Tennessee

Link

Arthur Laffer Sr. had enough of California.

Taxed at an 8.84 percent corporate rate and a top marginal personal-income rate of 10.3 percent, Laffer, an internationally renowned supply-side economist, loaded up his 20-person business in 2006 and aimed for Nashville.

It was an odd decision for the one-time adviser to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But Laffer's advice had seemingly fallen on deaf ears, so he looked eastward.

Study: Simple answers win elections

Did Fred try to splain too much?

Link

"Low complexity wins elections," said psychologist Lucian Gideon Conway III of the University of Montana at Missoula, who published his analysis of the presidential speeches in the journal Political Psychology. "People like simple answers, and someone saying, 'I don't have all the answers and here are five possibilities' is a hard sell compared to someone who says, 'I have a plan and it is going to work and my opponent is completely wrong.' "

The result is a paradox. Politicians offer simplistic solutions in order to win elections. But to govern, they must quickly ratchet up their complexity because they confront costs, consequences and compromises. But when up for reelection, it's time to dumb things down again.

Parasites feeding off our tax dollars

Forbes has looked at the richest counties in the US and it will come as no surprise that they surround our nations capitol.

Link

Fairfax County, Va., Loudoun County, Va., and Howard County, Md., top the list of America's richest counties, which we based on median household income data from the 2006 census. In Fairfax, that number reaches $100,318 a year; Loudoun households pull down a livable $99,371 a year; Howard residents follow at $92,260.

[...]

In the case of Washington, D.C., she says that well-paid government employees, and the area's lobbyists, lawyers and other tangential personnel, are "suburbanizing like mad" and in doing so have created a "feedback loop," driving more money into the area's suburbs by populating them with higher-priced homes and better school systems.

Wilson County's "Growth" Problem

It is very odd the way that "Growth" is always used as a justification for more taxes. Growth PRODUCES more revenue but MORE never seems to be enough.

However, the Wilson County Commission seems to be intent on killing future growth and will vote tonight on a new $1,000 per house lot tax.

"The growth is a big cause of our (financial) problem right now," said County Commissioner Bernie Ash, the sponsor of the resolution creating the development tax.

Good luck to the County Commission, if they are "successful" Wilson County will be just another slow growth county.

What is it about public service and alcohol ?

Link

She became Britain's youngest female councillor (British equivalent of City Council) when she was elected last year at the age of 18 on a promise to prove young people are "not all hood-wearing yobs getting drunk".

But a series of risque pictures on the internet show that Laura Pye seems to have taken her own manifesto less than seriously.

The shots may not show her wearing a hood, but there is certainly evidence of drunkenness - and plenty more besides.

$60,000 embezzled from City Owned Golf Course

Link

A joint investigation between the Chattanooga Police Department Fraud Division and the City Internal Audit Division has led to the arrest of an employee of a Chattanooga City owned golf course.

James R. Simmons, 37, of Chattanooga was an employee at the Brainerd Golf Course. He has been charged with Theft over $60,000 dollars.

After a lengthy investigation between these two divisions, investigators determined he has been embezzling money from the golf course for some time. Simmons had been employed at the golf course for five years.

Morristown ,TN Taxpayers paid for THIS sign

and it is posted on taxpayer funded public property.

Linda Noe continues to document the outrageous behavior of City of Morristown officials in regards to the upcoming Sales Tax Hike Referendum. Their behavior is unprecedented as far as I am aware.

The CITY OF MORRISTOWN actually registered as a political committee to support the tax hike. Yes, you read that correctly. This is basically the same as using taxpayer dollars to support a candidate. Taxpayer money being used to promote a tax hike!! More as this story develops.

Nashville Convention Center Snowball is rolling

Today's series of articles on the proposed convention Center, in the Tennessean, offer little more than cheerleading and "aint this gonna be wonderful"ness.

Councilman Jerry Maynard's timid "Not so fast" article should have been titled "almost full speed ahead." Our Metro Council is a toothless lapdog regarding these kinds of projects. Of all those involved, THEY should be asking the hard questions and approaching this with skepticism. Not one number should go unchallenged but unfortunately NONE of the pro forma fairy tales will be questioned.

Ron Samuels says the project will expand the tax base but offers not one hard number prediction so we can come back in five years and compare reality to what he told us reality would be.

Lets be honest. This project is a huge subsidy for downtown hotels and restaurants. They will profit from this project and taxpayers will NOT. The overwhelming majority of the 600,000 plus residents of Davidson County will never darken the door or receive any benefits, period.

Craig Leipold has not sent out any checks to taxpayers after he bagged $195 million for the Predators. We can expect the same return on "our" convention center investment.

UK Docs: Don't treat old and unhealthy

Boy, that socialized medicine sure is compassionate.

Link

Doctors are calling for NHS treatment to be withheld from patients who are too old or who lead unhealthy lives.

Smokers, heavy drinkers, the obese and the elderly should be barred from receiving some operations, according to doctors, with most saying the health service cannot afford to provide free care to everyone.

Fertility treatment and "social" abortions are also on the list of procedures that many doctors say should not be funded by the state.

The findings of a survey conducted by Doctor magazine sparked a fierce row last night, with the British Medical Association and campaign groups describing the recommendations from family and hospital doctors as "out­rageous" and "disgraceful".

Tax Poll - Jan 20-22

Link

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). Jan. 20-22, 2008. N=1,008 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.1 (for all adults).
"Do you think Congress should or should not pass a tax cut as a way to help stimulate the U.S. economy?" Half sample, MoE ± 4.4 (Form A)
.
		Should	Should Not	Depends (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
1/20-22/08
	59	26	7	8
1-Mar
	66	23	6	5
.
Please tell me which of the following statements comes closer to your point of view when it comes to tax cuts. Statement A: Federal tax cuts have been worth it, because they have helped strengthen the economy by allowing Americans to keep more of their own money. Statement B: Federal tax cuts have NOT been worth it, because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs. Half sample, MoE ± 4.4 (Form B)
.
		Worth It	Not Worth It	Depends (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%
1/20-22/08
	42	45	8	5
10/8-10/05
	39	53	4	4
3/31 - 4/3/05
	38	54	4	4
.
Now here are some things that the federal government could do to help boost and improve the economy. Please tell me how much impact you think each one would have in helping the economy: a great deal of impact, quite a bit of impact, just some impact, or not much impact. . . .
.
		A Great Deal	Quite a Bit	Just Some	Not Much
		%	%	%	%
Lowering taxes for middle- and lower-income taxpayers only
1/20-22/08
	40	18	28	12	2
.
Lowering taxes for all taxpayers
1/20-22/08
	31	17	28	22	2
.
Continuing to raise the minimum wage
1/20-22/08
	32	14	28	24	2
.
Stopping and freezing all subprime mortgage foreclosures for ninety days and creating an automatic rate freeze on subprime mortgages for at least five years
1/20-22/08
	28	15	27	18	12
.
Extending and broadening unemployment insurance to help Americans who are having difficulty finding work
1/20-22/08
	29	13	36	19	3

You can shoe horses without a State License?

Our legislature is clearly not doing it's job of protecting horse owners against unscrupulous horse shoers. I looked HERE and I find absolutely no effort to regulate unscrupulous horse shoers.

This article in the Knoxville News Sentinel about a successful horse farrier is soooo scary. How do people know who to hire. Who says this guy is good? Certainly not the State of TN, there is no license requirement for horse shoers. This guy could be a serial horseshoe criminal?

People spend hundreds of thousands on horses and are expected to rely on their own good common sense to make this decision?

Watch out Karl Dean, you are about to step in it

Michael Cass interviews the Mayor about education and right out of the box, the dreaded C word is spoken. Doesn't Karl Dean know that he is treading on very dangerous ground? Somebody, quick, warn the Mayor before he winds up in the Cumberland River wearing concrete cowboy boots. There is NO WAY the education bureaucracy or the teacher's union or the politically charged school board will allow him to put more power in the hands of parents.

Public School Parents are TOO STUPID and uncaring to make decisions about their little crumb crunchers. Bureaucrats should be in charge of schools. Oh SURE, the Mayor got to make his choice (damn, I said the dreaded C word) about where to send his children to school but EVERYBODY knows that public school parents can't be trusted to make important decisions like that about their own children!!

I checked and the Mayor mentions "choice" or "choices" FOUR times in the interview. Hire this man a bodyguard!!

Link

What do you think needs to be fixed first in Metro schools, and what should be done to improve whatever you see as that most pressing need?

Well, I think the fundamental goal for schools is that we should be in a position where we’re offering choices so that all kids can go to schools where they can succeed. That’s where we start. How we get there, there’s a variety of things going on right now.

Open Meetings Law violation avoided..this time

The word seems to be spreading in Rutherford County and elsewhere in TN. Public business should be conducted in PUBLIC, a novel concept but one that seems to be catching on, thank you to these Rutherford County Commissioners.

Link

Commissioners Will Jordan, Joe Frank Jernigan, Jack Black and Bob Bullen had been invited. Jernigan and Bullen both said in advance that they wouldn't attend because of schedule conflicts. After learning that other commissioners might be there, Black had said he probably wouldn't attend.

Tennessee's open meetings law requires public notice and access to any meetings where two or more elected government officials deliberate on issues that will come before them in their official capacity.

Jordan said he didn't want the perception that behind-the-scenes deals were happening on such a controversial issue. "I just decided the best thing for me to do was leave that alone," Jordan said.

Share of Taxes paid by Rich after 4 Tax Cuts

Mark Perry

The graph above shows the share of personal income taxes paid by the top one-half percent of earners from 1960 to 2001. During this period, there were 4 major reductions in marginal tax rates.

Tax TVs to "fight" childhood obesity

Do you guess there is a point at which some parents will say "back off" to legislators? Maybe we zipped past that point long ago without a whimper?

Link

A Democratic lawmaker in New Mexico wants to tax televisions and video games to raise funds to fight childhood obesity and improve education in the state, officials said Friday.

"I have asked our legislative council service to prepare the "Leave No Child Inside" bill and am hopeful that it will be ready for me to introduce on Monday," educator-turned-lawmaker Gail Chasey told AFP.

"Leave No Child Inside" -- a play on the federal education initiative "No Child Left Behind" -- is backed by grassroots environmental group, the Sierra Club.

We are selling stuff to the world

Link Main Export Data Page HERE. The world is out-sourcing its jobs to Nashville. Why aren't they producing these goods and services in their own country? Because we can do it better or cheaper....its called competition.

Export Destination for Nashville Metro Exports	Export Value 2005	Export Value 2006
Africa	$26,547,177	$21,295,048
APEC	$3,510,470,570	$3,664,957,427
ASEAN	$76,175,058	$163,048,103
Asia	$390,993,435	$542,040,445
DR-CAFTA	$75,916,201	$105,269,588
European Union	$582,513,569	$547,247,067
FTAA	$3,298,383,275	$3,351,168,941
NAFTA	$3,054,435,405	$3,052,656,144
OPEC	$580,059,008	(D)
South America	$135,852,043	$159,901,561

wife beaters, drunks, adulterers, and thieves?

Gail Kerr laments the fact that the TN General Assembly is doing nada but she says there has been humor:

Link

Oh, there have been some amusing moments. This week, after Rep. Rob Briley made a heartfelt apology for his well-publicized drunken behavior, Rep. Gary Moore, the straightforward Joelton firefighter, made the excellent point that everyone battles secret demons. But the way he made it was hilarious:

"Some of us are alcoholics," Moore said. "Some of us are thieves. Some of us are adulterers. Truth of the matter is, we reflect society."

Rep. Charles Curtiss of Sparta said Moore's comments might have been a bit much. But he made it even worse: "I don't think there are any criminals in here. But we're a cross section of society. There are people in there that drink, people in there that beat their wives, people in there unfaithful to their wives. No question in my mind about that."

Sooooooooo. There are no criminals in the state legislature, he asserts, but some of them do beat the tar out of their wives. Domestic violence law was set back three centuries.

Cleveland TN installs Red Light Cams

Link

Pay special attention to how you're driving in Cleveland because soon bad driving will cost you money.

Cleveland is the latest city to approve the use of red light cameras.

The council voted to purchase and install cameras throughout the city.

[...]

"We're trying not to look at it as a source of revenue," say District 3 councilman Avery Johnson.

CEOs rank TN 6th Best State for Business

Link

Tennessee News Aggregators

Google
Big News Network
EIN News
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News by State
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USA Today

The 50 Ugliest Guitars

Link

CA Phone tax gets heavy backing from unions

Link

The campaign for a $243-million telephone users tax on the Feb. 5 ballot has amassed nearly $2.6 million, almost three-fourths of it from labor unions, according to campaign contribution reports filed Thursday.

Unions provided nearly $1.9 million to the Proposition S campaign, which is seeking to preserve a tax on cellular and land line calls that has been challenged repeatedly in court.

The size of the donations appalled foes of the tax, who said that city employee unions were rewarding politicians for giving them raises -- and ensuring that more will be granted in the future.

"This is the economics of special interests," said Walter Moore, who has been battling the measure. "You have a special interest that can make hundreds of millions of dollars by putting in $1 million or $2 million at City Hall."

Tougher Education Standards: Version Gazillion

Hoboy!! THIS sounds reaaaaaaally promising. Lets do away with the test that determines if standards have been met but lets (wink, wink) create tougher standards.

Our education bureaucracy is certifiably crazy......every year they tell us that NOW they have the answer. Forget last year's disaster or the one before that. THIS YEAR will be different. Karl Dean and Phil Bredesen clearly never believed this yearly PR parade, they explicitly chose NOT to have their children attend Metro Nashville Public Schools but somehow they expect us to swallow it all, hook, line, and sinker....or maybe deep down they don't really expect us to believe what they know is wrong, that seems like a more likely explanation.

Link

The state Board of Education this morning approved new and tougher standards for Tennessee students as well as did away with the Gateway exams, a series of tests required for students to get a diploma.

The tougher standards include math all four years of high school and taking chemistry or physics in addition to biology.

These requirements will go into effect in the 2009-10 school year and will affect current 7th graders.

[...]

"They are rigorous but they are doable," said Gary Nixon, executive director of the state board. "What we want students to do is to develop their minds, and think critically ... and to better assure that when our student graduate from high school, they are truly prepared." (Ben's note: didn't "we" want that last year and the year before and the year before that?)

New Transplant Technique: No organ rejection

Link

The treatment involved weakening the patient's immune system, then giving the recipient bone marrow from the person who donated the organ. In one experiment, four of five kidney recipients were off immune-suppressing medicines up to five years later.

"There's reason to hope these patients will be off drugs for the rest of their lives," said Dr. David Sachs of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who led the research published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Is this a violation of the Little Hatch Act? YES

There is a US federal Law called the Hatch Act which prevents federal employees or elected officials from using their official position to campaign.

Tennessee has a law called the Little Hatch Act. This law prohibits all Tennessee State and Local elected officials from using their official position to influence elections of any kind. Specifically:

"or to otherwise use such person's official position or employment to interfere with or affect the result of any regular or special primary election conducted within the state,"

Linda Noe points to this letter in support of a local sales tax increase in Hamblen County. This appears to me to be a clear and obvious violation of the Little Hatch Act. The letterhead says "Hamblen County Government", below it says "from the courthouse", it lists all local officials in their official capacity and uses a government email address. Any reasonable person would see this as an official county government communication.

College Chancellor expected to sing like a bird

after pleading guilty to government corruption.

Link HT: FlashPoint

Johnson's cooperation is significant in a case focusing on political corruption inside the state's college system. The former veteran legislator who rose to become House speaker pro tempore served for decades as one of the state's most powerful political figures and kept close ties to lawmakers after he took over the college system in 2002.

Dozens of legislators, their close relatives and businesses received jobs in the system, and some of those arrangements are under federal investigation.

NJ Taxpayer Activists Arrested Protesting Toll Hikes

Taxpayer activists Seth Grossman and John Lonegan were arrested outside a TownHall meeting held by Governor Corzine to explain his outrageous road toll hikes.

This is good news - More Entrepreneurs

Link

MURFREESBORO — Pam Wright graduated from MTSU with a degree in psychology in 1973, but her passion for travel led her to open a travel agency.

"It gave me an opportunity to turn a love and a passion into a business venture," she said.

In 1981, she founded Nashville-based Wright Travel Agency.

Now she will share her success with a new generation of entrepreneurs. Wright has endowed a $1.25 million chair in entrepreneurship at MTSU's Jennings A. Jones College of Business.

"Of this type, it is the first chair," said Joe Bales, MTSU vice president of development and university relations.

An endowed chair typically is occupied by someone who is the best in their field, is exceptional at teaching and research and has a commitment to education, Bales said.

Translation of Clementspeak

Former Congressman and Former Senatorial and Mayoral Candidate Bob Clement announced that he has formed a new lobbying firm and according to the Tennessean he said:

"Now, I'm focused on helping the private sector and local governments of this region maximize available resources on the state and federal and international level."

Here is a translation of this statement from Clementspeak to Taxpayerspeak:

"Dear taxpayers, you have paid for my advanced degree in government influence peddling. I now intend to use that vast knowledge and network of fellow Republican and Democratic influence peddlers to use YOUR GOVERNMENT to enrich myself. I will use YOUR GOVERNMENT to funnel special favors and bundles of taxpayer cash to my clients and they will pay me big bucks. Is this a great country or what.

Thank You and Good luck suckers!"

Hooray!! Two Ga Congressmen swear off earmarks

Now THIS is the kind of courage and guts we need to see more of...THANK YOU Georgia Congressmen Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland.

Link

You will soon be able to encrypt Cell talk

Link

A new fingertip-sized voice encryption chip could lead to broader adoption of mobile device voice encryption.

Next month, KoolSpan will release the TrustChip, a US$300 encryption chip in an SD memory card form factor that end users themselves can slide into any Windows Mobile or Symbian device with an SD card slot.

The TrustChip automatically encrypts voice data when an end user calls another TrustChip-enabled phone.

No contest, this is the BEST shopping site

on the net:

TheFind.com

Do Teacher Unions care about students?

NO, of course not, they care about one thing and one thing only: their own power...and even a very liberal newspaper editorial page sees through their motives:

"But the union, frankly, had been backed into a corner on this issue. Decline a request from a successful inner-city school that has gotten national attention and you look like obstructionists. Agree, and run the risk that other Denver schools will want the same thing and your organization ebbs into irrelevancy. So the union tried to come out somewhere in the middle, granting waivers but not buying off entirely — a move that ends up smelling of desperation."

Maybe the economy ain't so bad

Professor Mark Perry says things are actually looking up. Of course, this will not stop the pompous political peacocks in DC from claiming they will come to our "rescue" (eyes watering, fighting back the tears) by giving us back our own money.

All major US Banks made a profit in 2007

Unemployment claims at a 3 month low

Improving inventory of Existing Homes for sale

The TN Lottery is a bloody Disaster

Lets review.......most of the people who buy lottery tickets are poor who can least afford this waste of their money. The money spent on the lottery should be spent on children and healthcare etc etc etc. Many of these same people rely on their fellow taxpayers for taxpayer subsidized services for their children and healthcare.

This is clearly very destructive behavior which OUR government is encouraging every day with tens of millions of lottery advertising.

AND...when we look at how the money is spent....the disaster grows. The Higher Education lobby doesn't care that most lottery students are failing, they simply want to keep their cash cow.

The TN Lottery is a Disaster in so many ways, its hard to count them all.

Link

Half the students who earn Tennessee's lottery scholarship lose it after their freshman year, and more than two-thirds lose it by their senior year.

The findings come from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, which will release its annual report on the lottery scholarship today.

Update: Mick Wright has a beautifully written piece in the Main Street Journal on the lottery.

Are Cooley and Gowan Lobbyists?

If they are then they are breaking the law. The TN Ethics Commission has NO enforcement authority so it doesn't really matter. You can bet the AG will do nothing about this.

Link

Neither Cooley, who is a consultant for AT&T, nor Gowan, a consultant for Comcast Cable, are registered as lobbyists. Both would be covered by a provision of state law that says high-ranking state officials, until one year after they leave their position, are prohibited from lobbying.

Cooley stepped down as deputy governor in December 2006. Gowan left his senior adviser position with the administration on Nov. 16, 2007.

A lobbyist, according to the relevant portion of a definition incorporated into state law, is a person who "directly or indirectly" communicates with a legislator or an officer of the executive branch of state government for the purpose of influencing legislation.

Yea, Riiiiiiiiiight!! You just want the best for us

The Tennessee Medical Association says they are concerned about these new cheap, convenient walk-in medical clinics. I'll bet they are. They will no doubt try to use OUR government to restrict the free market in healthcare. And if they pour enough money into lobbying the TN General Assembly then they will probably be able to do just that...sad.

Link

The Tennessee Medical Association had planned this week to propose new rules to the state's Board of Medical Examiners that would have required that a supervising doctor be within 30 miles of a clinic and spend more time there.

Currently, nurse practitioners must be supervised by a physician, but there are no requirements concerning the location of the supervising physician.

The medical association changed its mind about proposing new rules after weighing the potential effects on other types of clinics, especially in rural areas, but it still plans to recommend changes after more talks with other stakeholders.

"We're not trying to keep the MinuteClinics from delivering a good service," said TMA Chairman Dr. Michael Minch, referring to the convenience care concept by a well-known brand.

"We want to make sure they're safe, effective and doing the appropriate services."

What an extraordinary Voice

YouTube is an extraordinary cultural archive. I have never heard of this German Tenor, Fritz Wunderlich, but what a voice and a range.

John Lunt circulating Charter Petition for Shelby Cnty

John Lunt has petitioned successfully before in Memphis for a charter amendment and he is a great example of a citizen willing to ACT. Congrats and best of luck to John.

Link

John Lunt, a financial consultant and organizer of the grassroots group Concerned Citizens of Shelby County, said he's concerned with changes to the county's charter that could turn the offices of sheriff, trustee, register, assessor and county clerk into appointed jobs.

He's launched a petition to let voters choose whether to keep the five officers exactly as they are: Elected officials whose duties are spelled out in the state Constitution.

"I believe in freedom, and I certainly don't believe in anyone taking away my freedom to vote for those five officers," Lunt said.

CBO Budget and Economic Outlook 2008-12

Link

Entire School Staff to be replaced

Link

Cincinnati Public Schools will replace the entire staff at the chronically low-performing Taft Elementary School in Mount Auburn.

The action is the result of the school's inability to meet improvement goals mandated by the federal government and, before that, the district for nine consecutive years.

Students there score about 20 points below the district average on standardized tests, according to state data.

THANK YOU Senator Gregg of New Hampshire

Government has a much greater ability to screw up the economy than to help it but few politicians will admit the obvious.

Link

"To the extent that the government steps in, it's often too late and when it takes effect ... it aggravates the overall debt structure," Gregg told a handful of reporters in the Senate press gallery Tuesday afternoon.

In other words, sending people checks months after an economic downturn has begun will not fix the economy, but it sure will make politicians feel good about themselves.

Rebate Rack

Link

GREAT TIME to build a Convention Center-NOT

There is NEVER a good time to use taxpayer's money to subsidize private businesses but this looks like one of the worst for Metro Nashville to build a Convention Center. There are many other public priorities that require the time and money of our elected representatives.

Link

Metro Nashville can still afford to build a $595 million downtown convention center despite having to spend $18 million in reserves to balance its annual budget and being almost maxed-out on issuing bonds, the city's finance chief said Tuesday.

Dipping into the reserve fund to balance its budget at the end of the current fiscal year could hurt the city's standing with bond rating agencies, making it more expensive to borrow money for building projects.

Finance Director Rich Riebeling said Metro could still afford to build the convention center, which would be financed through fees and taxes collected mostly from tourists.

NEA Teacher's union dues fund these groups

$12 million of teacher's union dues fund outside groups.

Here is the List from EIA

Lloyd and Kelvin back on the Air in Knoxville

Lloyd Daughtery and Kelvin Moxley are back on the air in Knoxville starting January 28 along with Frank Cagle. Welcome back guys and just in time for Super Tuesday.

Station is WQBB 1040 AM from 10 til Noon.

Disturbing Report from Blount Cnty - Sheriff's threats?

Citizens for Better Government in Blount County have previously reported on 27 missing cars in the Sheriff's Department.

They are now reporting serious allegations of harassment of citizens by the Sheriff's Department:

The latest example occurred at the January Commission meeting. Ron McTigue, 77 years old, found himself being waved out of the Commission room into the hall by Sheriff James Berrong. The Sheriff told McTigue that if he continued to ask questions about what happened to the 28 Sheriff’s vehicles missing from the recent inventory, that he would sue McTigue. Mr. McTigue, is seriously ill, partly from the lifelong effects of serious wounds suffered while a Marine fighting in Korea. The cost of drugs for he and his wife leave very little extra money. He was shaken by the Sheriff’s threat, particularly because, just a few months ago, in a similar encounter, the Sheriff ordered McTigue “to be in my office tomorrow at 10am”. McTigue declined the Sheriff’s order. Strangely, a black unmarked car followed McTigue home from the Commission meeting and parked in front of his house. But he is not about to knuckle under to the Sheriff’s threats. Mr. McTigue says:”I did not get shot up in Korea only to be intimidated by a Sheriff who refuses to answer a simple taxpayer question.”

Bush to disappoint again on earmarks

Bush and Republican leaders give us yet another reason to distrust them when they claim to care about reducing spending. They do not.

Link

WASHINGTON — President Bush is unlikely to defy Congress on spending billions of dollars earmarked for pet projects, but he will probably insist that lawmakers provide more justification for such earmarks in the future, administration officials said Monday.

Fiscal conservatives in Congress and budget watchdogs have been urging Mr. Bush to issue an executive order instructing agencies to disregard the many earmarks listed just in committee reports, not in the text of legislation.

More than 90 percent of earmarks are specified that way, not actually included in the texts. White House officials say such earmarks are not legally binding on the president.

Congressional leaders of both parties, who are scheduled to meet on Tuesday with the president, said Mr. Bush would provoke a huge outcry on Capitol Hill if he ignored those earmarks.

Lawmakers, including the House Republican whip, Roy Blunt of Missouri, have cautioned the White House that a furor over earmarks could upend Mr. Bush’s hopes for cooperation with Congress on other issues, including efforts to revive the economy.

Moreover, Republicans shudder at the possibility that a Democratic president might reject all their earmarks.

Catering to customers works in Healthcare too

Link

No state has more experience with retail clinics than Minnesota, the birthplace nearly eight years ago of MinuteClinic, which still dominates the field even as competitors crowd in. An independent, nonprofit coalition of doctors, insurers, consumers, and employers called MN Community Measurement annually rates health clinics' and doctors' practices statewide.

"Lo and behold," said Jim Chase, executive director of MN Community Measurement, "the MinuteClinic actually did very well."

The most recent report card from the group, based on data from 2006, awarded MinuteClinic the highest marks in Minnesota for treating children 2 to 18 years old for sore throats, giving it a score of 99 percent. The lowest grade: 26 percent for a doctors' group.

Senate has come to their senses?

We can only hope.

Link

Legislation to create a "National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism" (HR 1955) died a quiet death in the Senate last week. Much maligned here as a $22 million boondoggle, the idea to create yet another government entity to study an overblown threat already addressed by the $44 billion-a-year U.S. intelligence community, not to mention countless think tanks and authors, was the brainchild of Rep. Jane Harman , D-Calif. A few years ago local police and the FBI broke up a prison-based plot to bomb synagogues in the name of jihad in her district. Sen. Susan Collins , R-Maine, introduced a companion measure, but it was doomed by a lack of specificity on who the commission's targets were, among other problems.

State Voter Registration Verification Web sites

Link

Who will protect us from good intentions?

Link

In a Sunday NY Times article " Unintended Consequences ," Freakonomics authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner explain why "do-good" laws often fail:

1. The Endangered Species Act is actually endangering, rather than protecting, species.

2. The Americans with Disabilities Act, enacted in 1992, has led to a sharp drop in the employment of disabled workers.

How pols used tax law to harass MLK

Great post by Tax Prof Paul Caron on the use of State Tax laws to harass Martin Luther King.

• "In Alabama, ... Governor John Patterson in early 1960 directed state revenue authorities to charge Martin Luther King, Jr., with tax evasion and perjury in completing his Alabama state income tax returns. The charges against King, who had already moved his ministry from the Dexter Street Church in Montgomery to his father's church in Atlanta, specified that he had diverted money raised for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) into his own pockets without ever reporting it as income." Kermit L. Hall, "Lies, Lies, Lies": The Origins of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan , 9 Comm. L. & Pol'y 391, 404 (2004).
• "The only person ever prosecuted under the Georgia income tax perjury statute was Martin Luther King." Corey R. Chivers, Desuetude, Due Process, and the Scarlet Letter Revisited, 1992 Utah L. Rev. 449, 454 n.27.

"If they wear Che Guevara, they're probably a tourist."

Cuba starts the post Fidel transition.

Link

Here, if you see someone wearing an American flag, they're probably Cuban. If they wear Che Guevara, they're probably a tourist.'

[...]

Román has found a wife-to-be in Birmingham in the UK, and says: 'When people leave, it is used as something political by the government and by its enemies - betraying the revolution or fleeing communism. But it has nothing to do with politics, it has only to do with economics.'

Booming Business in Liability Insurance for Feds

Link

WASHINGTON — When Jose A. Rodriguez Jr. came under investigation for ordering the destruction of Central Intelligence Agency interrogation videotapes, one of his first calls was to a small Virginia insurance company that thrives on government trouble.

Like a growing number of C.I.A. employees, Mr. Rodriguez, former head of the agency's clandestine service, had bought professional liability insurance from Wright & Company. The firm, founded in 1965 by a former F.B.I. agent, is now paying his mounting legal bills.

The standard Wright policy costs a little less than $300 a year. The government pays half the premium for all supervisors and certain other high-risk employees, a group that includes hundreds of C.I.A. officers, including everyone at the agency involved in counterterrorism or counterproliferation.

The more scandal official Washington produces, the better for Wright's niche business for federal employees. Every whiff of investigation or litigation drives additional nervous federal workers to the company's door.

Hamblen County: Is this criminal mismanagement?

Linda Noe has been looking into the Hamblen County audit and what she found was a County Budget that is completely out of control. They are going DEEPER and DEEPER into debt and no one seems to care or, for that matter, be aware of the mounting debt. Thank you Linda on behalf of Hamblen County Taxpayers. Now, no one can claim ignorance of the problem.

Link

What happened to the wheel tax money in 2002? What happened to the statement to the voters that it's "either the wheel tax or a property tax"? Why were the voters lied to? Because no one is minding the store in city or county government. The city doesn't have a clue about its revenue, and it sure doesn't know what's going on with its vaunted sewer. The county has a better handle on its revenue but the spending is out of control and no one has a clue about the impending debt doom. Debt is killing the city and county! Take a look at this page from the 2006 Hamblen County Audit. Since 1998, the county has borrowed $40M (that's 40 million dollars) for the courthouse addition and some other small projects but primarily (about $35M) for the last school building program. Now look at the last column. The county still owes the entire $40 Million that was borrowed. Not one penny of the debt has been paid down. The county has been making "interest only" payments for 8+ years. And now the School Board wants to spend another $57M or more. County Commission Chair Stancil Ford estimates anywhere from $70-$100M. And what does the County Trustee say? A property tax hike of 45-cents would be needed just to pay the interest! That is outrageous. We've been paying interest only on $40M for 8 years and now the Trustee talks about a TAX INCREASE just so we can pay interest only on another $100 Million.

Poll: Are the people running the Govt Crooked?

Link

USA Today/Gallup Poll. Jan. 10-13, 2008. N=2,010 adults nationwide. MoE ± 2.
.
"Do you think that quite a few of the people running the government are crooked, not very many are, or do you think hardly any of them are crooked?"
.
		Quite a Few	Not Very Many	Hardly Any	All (vol.)	Unsure
		%	%	%	%	%
	1/10-13/08	52	28	10	5	4
	7/6-9/00	49	38	8	3	2
	5/30 - 6/1/97	50	37	8	3	2
	5/9-12/96	52	32	9	5	2
	6/3-6/94	58	29	6	5	2
	4/20-22/92	61	25	7	4	3

How sweet, the CIA says we can handle the truth

this time.

Link

The CIA on Friday admitted that cyberattacks have caused at least one power outage affecting multiple cities outside the United States.

Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, said that CIA senior analyst Tom Donahue confirmed that online attackers had caused at least one blackout. The disclosure was made at a New Orleans security conference Friday attended by international government officials, engineers, and security managers from North American energy companies and utilities

[...]

Donahue said that the CIA had thoroughly weighed the pros and cons of making this information public, according to Paller.

The prospect of cyberattacks crippling multicity regions appears to have prompted the government to make this information public. The issue "went from 'we should be concerned about to this' to 'this is something we should fix now,' " said Paller. "That's why, I think, the government decided to disclose this."

Why would anyone stay in New Jersey?

Link

Although the study, prepared by a transportation consulting firm, did not specifically ask drivers how they would react if Mr. Corzine's plan to increase tolls by 50 percent every four years from 2010 through 2022 was enacted, answers to questions about their driving habits suggested that the majority would not be able to use alternative routes, and are largely unaware of the amount of tolls they now pay.

The report, prepared by Steer Davies Gleave, British transportation consultants, observed that after previous increases on the New Jersey Turnpike, including one in 2000, the majority of drivers did not change their commuting patterns.

"The overall conclusion is that people will continue to use the toll roads in large numbers," said Nancy B. Feldman, director of the state's Office of Public Finance. "It's the most expedient and direct way to do what they want to do."

Thank You, Metro Cops with common sense

Heard on a Nashville police scanner today: one cop calls another (his sergeant probably) and asked if its legal to sell firewood from a pickup truck on the shoulder across from Target. The sergeant responds that he doesn't know all the vendor rules but doesn't guess there is a problem. The first cop presses a little and sounds like he would like an excuse to run them off. Sergeant says that its cold outside and people need firewood and unless there is a complaint just let them continue selling.

I would guess it is almost a certainty that some well intentioned Metro Council member has proposed and passed an ordinance in the past that would allow the cop to run these guys off or even fine them. Thank goodness for a level headed sergeant.

Every bit of power and authority the police exercise is first granted to them by the citizens to use on behalf of citizens. Its nice to hear a cop who uses that power with a bit of common sense.

Solving the "Homeless" problem is about MONEY

but not money for the homeless, it is about MONEY for the huge array of "agencies" that "serve" the homeless population.

"Fighting homelessness" is big business, employing hundreds of "advocates" in almost every big city. The LAST thing these people want to do is "solve" the homeless problem.

Here is a great article from Dallas:

Link

Here in Dallas more than 45 agencies offer housing, food, medical care and counseling/employment services to the homeless population.

[...]

In short, for less than the cost of one year's service expenditures for our current system of managing and serving the homeless population in Dallas, we could develop all of the housing needed to take every chronically homeless person off the streets and provide exactly the supportive services they would need to maintain themselves in the new housing! In addition, we would be able to sustain the plan for 1/10 the cost we are now spending each year. These savings could insure the development of more fit and affordable housing.

Wal-Mart tosses 1,000 Magazines from their racks

Link

January 18, 2008 -- RETAIL behemoth Wal-Mart is tossing more than 1,000 magazines from the racks in its stores, sending yet another shock wave through the battered publishing industry.

Most of the magazines are small, and more than a few of the victims are titles that have long since stopped publishing, including Child, Celebrity Living, Elle Girl, Teen People, Suede, Shop Etc., Weekend and FHM. However, virtually no major publisher was spared.

Wal-Mart, which released its official purge list on Jan. 15, is believed to be responsible for generating more than 20 percent of all retail magazine sales in the US.

Wal-Mart had not returned calls by presstime.

The move is likely to hurt new magazines, which take time to nurture and develop a following.

Drew Carey: County Govt bans outdoor dancing

I have ‘Oppositional Defiant Disorder’

As health care becomes more and more governmentized, the road to riches is as simple as hiring a lobbyist. Simply choose a behavior and get it written into some health care bill and voila, you are a taxpayer funded therapist. The real problem is a behavior we call Government Corruption.

Link

Shyness is now 'social phobia', and dissent is 'Oppositional Defiant Disorder'. How did everyday emotions come to be seen as illnesses?

[...]

Some claim that up to 50 per cent of the population will suffer from mental illness some time in their lives. A 2001 report titled Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope, published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), claims that today between 10 and 20 per cent of young people suffer from mental health or behavioural disorders. Hans Troedsson, WHO director for child and adolescent health, has expressed grave concern about the mental health status of the world's young. 'It is a time-bomb that is ticking and without the right action now millions of our children growing up will feel the effects', he warned. In the WHO report, it is claimed that mental disorders can be diagnosed 'as reliably and accurately as most of the common physical disorders'.

Also, many more children and young people are on anti-depressants and other forms of medication today, particularly in the USA but also in Britain and other parts of Europe. Figures published by the UK Department for Children, Schools and Families in July 2007 show a huge year-on-year increase over the past decade in drugs prescribed by British General Practitioners for behavioural and mental disorders in children and young people.

San Francisco residents surveyed about local Govt

and, to be kind, things do seem to be...remaining the same where they are not getting worse.

Link HT: Governing

1- Forty percent of San Franciscans gave favorable ratings (A or B grades) to City government – more than in any other survey year, where favorable ratings have ranged from 32 to 37 percent. Fewer residents gave unfavorable ratings (D or F grades) as well.

2- In 2005, 45 percent of parents with children 0-5 were either very or somewhat likely to leave; in 2007, only 36 percent of these parents are considering leaving. Larger households and families are still more likely to leave than other residents, but not as likely as in 2005.

3- Municipal Railway transit system ratings declined overall for the third time in the last three City surveys. Convenience of routes, fares, and communication to passengers are at their lowest point since each of the categories has been surveyed. Muni ratings on timeliness and reliability are low and falling throughout the City but fell the most in the Western districts. While District 6 remains most satisfied with Muni (36 percent give A or B
grades), it also shows a slight decrease in ratings in 2007.

Stimulate THIS You Pompous Pandering Politicians

Russ Roberts has a great commentary on NPR. The only thing politicians will stimulate is their already over inflated egos.

Link

That's why stimulus schemes based on giving people money have a poor track record of energizing the economy. Usually, the only thing that gets stimulated is a politician's approval rating.

I'm not saying that economy policy is irrelevant. Economic policy matters because it affects the long-run growth of the economy. I'm all for policies that make us more productive or innovative by changing incentives. But those policies take time. There's little any economic doctor can do to move our $14 trillion organism of an economy in the next few months.

Politicians who work in the Oval Office—or those who seek to work there—would be wise to remember that patience is a virtue. Focus on the policies that lead to growth over time. Expecting results overnight is bound to lead to disappointment.

Inspiring Grassroots fight against Eminent Domain

Here is their website and here is their story:

Link

One night in February 2004, my fiancé and I headed off to our typical Friday night dinner destination--Hu Nan Restaurant in Ardmore. This was a tradition started by my parents when I was a child. That night we found out that my family tradition for the past 30 years might cease to exist.

When we got to the restaurant and were seated, the proprietors, Dr. E Ni and Betty Foo were unusually subdued, and Betty was sad.

"The township sent me a letter. They want to take my business." Betty said with tears in her voice.

Betty told us about all of the businesses at risk, including Suburban Office Equipment, which has been in business since 1926, and the local VFW Post next door to Hu Nan.

The township had declared the block "blighted," and it intended to acquire these properties in a certified historic district for inclusion in a mixed-use development project to be owned by a private party. Eminent domain abuse was coming to Ardmore.

Texas must release State Employee Birthdates

Link

A Texas appeals court ruled Thursday that state employees' birth dates are public and must be released, a decision hailed by open-government advocates.

The state comptroller's office sought to withhold date-of-birth information from The Dallas Morning News, citing concerns about possible identity theft. But the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Austin upheld a lower court ruling rejecting that argument and said the comptroller hadn't proved its claim.

"The speculative and unproven threat of identity theft is insufficient to exempt date-of-birth information from disclosure," the court said.

The comptroller's office said it was disappointed by the ruling and was considering an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. "No private sector employer is required to release to the public its employees' date-of-birth information," spokesman R.J. DeSilva said, "and we believe government employees should have the same protection."

Georgia Govt Credit Card Investigation

Link

Pornography, tattoos, concerts, dating services — you name it, state and local employees have charged it and taxpayers have paid for it.

A Journal-Constitution analysis of more than four million transactions on government purchasing cards in the last three years reveals a program that has morphed from a simple way for workers to buy office supplies into a spending spree on track to hit $370 million this year.

There are now more than 23,000 cards floating around the state. State, city and county employees used the cards to buy hundreds of thousands of items, from mattresses to jewelry, the records show.

TN County Referenda on Feb. 5 Ballot

Five County Wheel Tax Hikes and Six Local Option Sales Tax Hikes

County	Referendum
Cumberland	Wheel Tax
Giles	Financial Management
Giles / City of Pulaski	Sales and Use Tax
Grainger	Wheel Tax
Grainger / City of Bean Station	Utility District
Hamblen	Sales and Use Tax
Humphreys / City of McEwen	Sales and Use Tax
Humphreys / New Johnsonville	Sales and Use Tax
Lincoln	Metro Form of Gov't
Loudon	Sales and Use Tax
Polk	Wheel Tax
Rhea	Sales and Use Tax
Roane / City of Harriman	Annexation
Roane / City of Kingston Springs	Annexation
Smith	Wheel Tax
Washington	Wheel Tax

Political Arrogance Personified

Ok, you are an elected public servant and you want to find a way to make the greatest number of people as mad as hell. How do you do it?

You make a statement like this: "no more money to spend on tax reductions."

I recommend Hawaiian taxpayers say to Mr. Say: "we don't have any more votes to spend on your re-election."

Link

(Hawaii) Gov. Linda Lingle proposed five tax bills yesterday that her administration estimated would save Hawaii taxpayers $102 million during the next two years.

Legislative leaders, however, say there is no money in the state budget for tax cuts. "To lead people to think we are going to do it would be irresponsible," Senate President Colleen Hanabusa said. Speaker of the House Rep. Calvin Say flatly said the state has no more money to spend for tax reductions. "

At this point the governor does not have a balanced budget," Say said. "Let's be honest, if she doesn't want to address the needs of the University of Hawaii, be my guest."

New Web Widget Fundraising Monitor

Link

Obama: Reagan was change agent

Karl Dean and Phil Bredesen sent their children

to private schools, along with many other Republican and Democratic pols, and yet they actively deny Nashville and Tennessee parents the same alternatives they chose. AND yet we continue to see stories like the one below from Pennsylvania.

WHY aren't public school parents mad as hell about this??

Link

Statewide, 45 percent of the 127,000 seniors failed the tests, leading Zahorchak to lament that diplomas were awarded to many who "show up and shut up."

Zahorchak used that statistic to push for rules that would require most of this year's sixth graders to pass either the PSSA - Pennsylvania's No Child Left Behind benchmark test - or a new set of state tests before they could graduate in 2014.

The proposed regulations are scheduled for an initial vote today by the state Board of Education. To go into effect, the rules must undergo a lengthy review, including legislative scrutiny.

Speaker's wife is just another hard working lobbyist

Great investigative piece by the Nashville Scene on Betty Anderson, lobbyist wife of Speaker Jimmy Naifeh.

Link

It's a delicate issue. Like many lobbying spouses, Anderson was a prominent lobbyist even before her personal relationship with Naifeh began. The spouses argue they have the right to make a living the way they choose.

Naifeh, for his part, insists Anderson never lobbies him and claims he has only a vague knowledge of her client list, and both of them say there's no reason for any legislator to feel that they are working in tandem for or against any bill.

Lobbyists privately scoff at that, however, as meaningless in any practical way even if true because, regardless of what Naifeh or Anderson say, "there's a fear and apprehension out there among the legislators" that the speaker might retaliate if his wife is crossed, one lobbyist says.

"Jimmy Naifeh doesn't have to announce to the members of the legislature what bills his wife is working on," this lobbyist says. "Everyone already knows. I've had legislators tell me that they were afraid to vote against Betty Anderson's bills because of her relationship with Jimmy. AT&T made a conscious decision to hire Betty. They knew what they were getting for it."

Bain News Service Photos 1910-12

Link

Damn these consumers!!

They keep taking their precious, hard earned dollars and voluntarily exchanging them for medical services at walk-in clinics which now number over 1,000.

My prediction: those who have been trying to demonize Wal-Mart customers will now go after walk-in clinic customers.

Link

YARDLEY, PA - A recent survey of retail clinics in the nation set the number of such caregiving sites at nearly 1,000.

The listing, released by the healthcare list division of Verispan, Yardley, Pa. , listed a total of 921 such clinics.

$10 flu shots will be more in TN

Link

Kmart Pharmacy has reduced the price of its flu shots to $10 nationwide, although prices in Tennessee may be slightly more because of state regulations.

25 years of the Brown Sisters

Link

The morality of Free Trade

Great article by economist Steve Landsberg. It is one thing to to feel sorry for and want to help those who lose their job, it is quite another to prevent us all from benefiting from free trade.

Link

Suppose, after years of buying shampoo at your local pharmacy, you discover you can order the same shampoo for less money on the Web. Do you have an obligation to compensate your pharmacist? If you move to a cheaper apartment, should you compensate your landlord? When you eat at McDonald's, should you compensate the owners of the diner next door? Public policy should not be designed to advance moral instincts that we all reject every day of our lives.

In what morally relevant way, then, might displaced workers differ from displaced pharmacists or displaced landlords? You might argue that pharmacists and landlords have always faced cutthroat competition and therefore knew what they were getting into, while decades of tariffs and quotas have led manufacturing workers to expect a modicum of protection. That expectation led them to develop certain skills, and now it's unfair to pull the rug out from under them.

Once again, that argument does not mesh with our everyday instincts. For many decades, schoolyard bullying has been a profitable occupation. All across America, bullies have built up skills so they can take advantage of that opportunity. If we toughen the rules to make bullying unprofitable, must we compensate the bullies?

Revered economist says Fed caused sub-prime problems

Link

According to Schwartz the original sin of the Bernanke-Greenspan Fed was to hold rates at 1 per cent from 2003 to June 2004, long after the dotcom bubble was over. "It is clear that monetary policy was too accommodative. Rates of 1 per cent were bound to encourage all kinds of risky behaviour," says Schwartz.

She is scornful of Greenspan's campaign to clear his name by blaming the bubble on an Asian saving glut, which purportedly created stimulus beyond the control of the Fed by driving down global bond rates. "This attempt to exculpate himself is not convincing. The Fed failed to confront something that was evident. It can't be blamed on global events," she says.

StartupSearch.org - Web Startup Company directory

Link

Welcome to Startup Search, a directory of the startup companies, products, investors, and people changing the web.

Happiness is WAAAAY overrated

Economists tell us how to achieve it, doctors prescribe psychotropic drugs to bring it on, and politicians promise they will deliver it and yet HAPPINESS is WAY overrated according to this author. Various states of anxiety, resentment, rejection, and yearning are those that motivate us to personal exploration and striving that is the very essence of life. I am convinced that the popularity of shows like American idol are in part due to our strong desire for someone to judge us against a standard which that someone holds dear. We all need a little insecurity. Humility is the starting point of change and growth.

Link

I for one am afraid that American culture's overemphasis on happiness at the expense of sadness might be dangerous, a wanton forgetting of an essential part of a full life. I further am concerned that to desire only happiness in a world undoubtedly tragic is to become inauthentic, to settle for unrealistic abstractions that ignore concrete situations. I am finally fearful of our society's efforts to expunge melancholia. Without the agitations of the soul, would all of our magnificently yearning towers topple? Would our heart-torn symphonies cease?

My fears grow out of my suspicion that the predominant form of American happiness breeds blandness. This kind of happiness appears to disregard the value of sadness. This brand of supposed joy, moreover, seems to foster an ignorance of life's enduring and vital polarity between agony and ecstasy, dejection and ebullience. Trying to forget sadness and its integral place in the great rhythm of the cosmos, this sort of happiness insinuates that the blues are an aberrant state that should be cursed as weakness of will or removed with the help of a little pink pill.

Farm Bureau wants to raise YOUR taxes

so farmers can't get more of YOUR money. Just as the Tennessee Farm Bureau flirted with the State income tax and probably would have come out in full support if the income tax bill had passed the TN House, the National farm Bureau is a VERY powerful special interest group that does what special interest groups do. They use OUR government to enrich themselves. The Farm Bureau doesn't really care HOW farmers get more taxpayer money. It can be ethanol subsidies or higher taxes...whatever works to use OUR government to enrich their members. The Farm Bureau and the NEA national teacher's union are the two most effective special interest group lobbies in DC.

Link

Speaking to reporters on Jan. 13, Stallman called the administration's talk of a veto disappointing.

"I have talked to a lot of farmers and I can tell you they don't really care whether something is a budget gimmick, or closing a loophole, or providing a tax credit," Stallman said.

When Stallman delivered his annual address to the annual membership Sunday he said the House and Senate bills "provide the kinds of programs America's farmers want."

But when (Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck) Conner spoke to the group a half hour later, he described the tax measures as a "nonstarter" and said allowing wealthy Americans to get subsidies "is something that has to stop."

In the interview, Stallman also said Farm Bureau continues to oppose the Bush administration's payment limits proposals. Farm Bureau has long held a position that any payment limits are bad policy because federal farm policy should support agricultural production rather than income.

Number of Bureaucracts and Homeless Increase

Half way through a 10 year program to reduce the number of homeless in Montgomery County, Maryland the number of homeless, and the number of bureaucrats who are paid to reduce homelessness, have both increased...hmmmmmm. So what is the answer to this dilemma? You guessed it, hire more bureaucrats and spend more taxpayer money.

Link

In 2002, Montgomery County officials vowed to end homelessness in the county within 10 years. As part of their initiative, they said they would construct 800 studio apartments by 2012.

Six years later, only 48 such units have been created -- eight of which opened last month. And according to the most recent census of homelessness in the region, there are more homeless people on the streets of Montgomery than there were in the year before then-County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) made his pledge.

"Six years have gone by, and we haven't made any progress," said council member George L. Leventhal (D-At Large). "We haven't fulfilled our promise."

Oops: TN Tech can't find student data

Link

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Tech officials say the school can't find a flash drive that contains records of nearly a thousand students — including their Social Security numbers.

The university notified 990 students Monday who live in Capital Quad and Crawford dormitories on the Cookeville campus, saying their personal information could be at risk.

University spokeswoman Monica Greppin says it isn't clear whether the information has fallen into someone's hands.

Crutchfield Attorney: Not a bribe, a gratuity

Link

Attorney Farmer said, "The massive publicity from his indictment and subsequent guilty plea has caused irreversible substantial damage to his long established reputation. Mr. Crutchfield is extremely embarrassed because of these events."

It was noted he gave up his seat in the Legislature and also lost his law license after pleading guilty to taking $3,000 from what turned out to be undercover FBI agents.

The attorney contended that the $3,000 he received was a "gratuity" and not a bribe. He said the former senator had already agreed to sponsor the bill sought by the bogus E-Cycle firm, believing it to be "good for education." The memorandum said there was "no quid pro quo" involved.

Office Orchestra

AFS Trinity Power Corporation Hybrid Car

150 mpg. More videos HERE. HT: Gizmo

PRIVATE Foundation offers $500 grants to all newborns

Private Foundation offers $500 College Fund Starter for new Maine Parents.

Link

Hadley is a beneficiary of the new Harold Alfond College Challenge, a first-in-the nation philanthropic program that will give families statewide a $500 starter grant – and assistance with paperwork – to set up 529 college savings accounts for infants.

"It was very exciting to think she's not even a couple hours old, and she's already looking at her college fund," Ms. Farwell said in a phone interview as Hadley patiently sucked on her tiny hand, awaiting a feeding.

Geeks against the Monopoly and they WON

No government was involved, just ordinary geeks who wanted WiFi....why can't those on the left learn from this great example. STOP trying to use Government to force others to conform to your moral orthodoxy...simply lead by example.

Link

"What better place to start a municipal WiFi project," jokes Joshua Montgomery, founder of the Lawrence Freenet Project and CEO of the organization's for-profit service provider, "I mean what could possibly go wrong?"  The Lawrence Freenet municipal WiFi project was launched in April of 2005 by a small group of local geeks.  "Mostly we just wanted to see what we could do with Wi-Fi," says Montgomery, "we started off with a $50 WiFi access point and a DSL connection.  Now the organization has one of the largest mesh networks in the nation and serves over 1,100 members with broadband Internet access – all without a single dime of tax payer money."

"The local newspaper barely mentions us," says Kris Adair, Freenet's treasurer, "but we don't much care, it is about the community, not the coverage."  When it comes to community service the organization's record is impressive.  Freenet currently provides free computers and Internet access to the local Habitat for Humanity neighborhood, the Humane Society, the Housing Authority, a local group home called the O'Connell Youth Ranch and dozens of individual families.

In fact Lawrence Freenet has been so successful that the local cable monopoly is launching a free service just to keep up.  On December 18 Sunflower Broadband became the first cable provider in the nation to provide free access to low income families.  This isn't the first time since the launch of the Lawrence Freenet project that the local cable provider has had to make adjustments.  Shortly after the launch of Freenet's $19.98/Mo service, Sunflower launched a low cost $14.95 service.  It also reduced its overage charges from $10/Gb to $2/Gb (yes, the Sunflower Broadband charges you extra if you download too much).

When bureaucrats are in charge of security

only bureaucrats' jobs will be secure. The politicization of the Department of Homeland Security is rendering it a pathetic morass of bloated impotence.

Link

In a letter last September (pdf) to Rep. Peter King, Chertoff wrote that oversight of the department by a myriad of committees and subcommittees "creates a uniquely difficult and unnecessary burden for DHS."  At that point, there were EIGHTY-SIX different committees and subcommittees to which the Department had to respond. And here are some more amazing stats, all for the year 2006, the most recent available at that point:

Number of DHS hearings                             206

Number of DHS briefings                          2,242 (approx.)

Number of DHS witnesses                           268

Number of required reports                          373

Number of questions for the record            3,745

Most ominously, Chertoff told Rep. King:  "In my view, the problem is getting worse rather than better.  Recent proposals by several committees to remove elements of DHS to other departments or force co-sharing of DHS authorities with other departments seems [sic] mainly designed to accommodate competing jurisdictional claims among Congressional committees."

Kudos to TN Senate on their video enhancements

The web video of Senate Committees offers several very welcome and helpful enhancements this session.

The Bill number being considered is listed just below the date. The member's name and party are listed AND probably most helpful, Power Point presentations are fed directly through the video feed so you can actually see what they are talking about.

Mucho kudos to the Senate. Hopefully the House will soon follow.

Govt Lottery bloodsuckers can't resist temptation

to lure more people into the financial abyss. This particular example comes from Texas but as "pressure" for more revenue is felt in other lottery states, more lotteries will try desperately to lure the middle class to join the poor in playing the lottery.

Link

AUSTIN — When top lottery officials last winter announced the introduction of a $50 scratch-off game — the priciest lottery ticket in the nation — they said they hoped to appeal to a particular type of player: The affluent.

As it turns out, the $50 game, called $130 Million Spectacular, has fared best in middle-income neighborhoods typically not considered affluent, according to six months of sales data analyzed by the Houston Chronicle.

The Chronicle looked at each of the state's ZIP codes with at least 1,000 adult residents, dividing them into groups based on their median household income in the 2000 census.

The analysis found that sales of the $50 Spectacular surged across middle-income ZIP codes, seeing strong per-capita sales in areas both with incomes of just more than $30,000 and in those with earnings upwards of $50,000 and $60,000.

OK, I suspect a conspiracy in TN Newspaper land

First, the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro says we should "cut spending instead of raiding reserves". NOW, the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle editorial page says this (see below). Someone has spiked the office water coolers in Middle TN newspapers?? The endtime is near??
 
Link

"The state needs to live within the budget and not look to the people of Tennessee for a new tax revenue stream."

Bredesen: No one is aware food tax reduced

The Tennessean interviewed Gov Bredesen. Full interview HERE.

Kudos to the Tennessean for segmenting the interview by subject, makes listening much more efficient.

HERE is the 2 minute MP3 segment of the interview on Taxes. Gov says "I haven't even found anybody that knows the sales tax on food went down." I can give the Governor names and phone numbers if he would like to talk to taxpayers who know the tax has been reduced. He also says "it seems kind of a shame to me" and appears to be referring to the fact that that the tax was reduced.

Wesley Snipes made $38 mil and says he doesn't owe

the IRS a dime. Good luck with that...I wouldn't recommend this particular method to reduce your taxes unless you prefer the inside of a jail.

NYTimes article

Tax deniers maintain that the law only appears to require payment of taxes. All their theories have been rejected by the courts, including the one invoked by Mr. Snipes, which is known as the 861 position, after a section of the federal tax code.

Adherents say a regulation applying the 861 provision does not list wages as taxable, though it does say that "compensation for services" is taxable. The courts have uniformly rejected all such theories, and eight people have been sentenced to prison after not paying taxes based on the 861 argument.

Despite the court rulings, juries have acquitted some prominent tax resisters in recent years, and failed prosecutions have encouraged others to join. Even when the government has failed to obtain convictions, it succeeded in collecting the taxes through civil enforcement.

Cover it Live - Real time blogging platform

Link

CoveritLive's web based software takes your next live blog to a new level. Your commentary publishes in real time like an instant message. Our 'one-click' publishing lets you drop polls, videos, pictures, ads and audio clips as soon as they come to mind. Comments and questions from your readers instantly appear but you control what gets published. Try our software for your next live blog. Your readers will love it.

Bredesen audio: "you get to take taxes away"

Here is a short clip of the audio from Channel 2 WKRN's report on the Gov announcing the $1 mil grant to the Hermitage. Blogged it earlier HERE.

Foreign Car competition saved US buyers billions

Prof Perry has done it again. If labor unions and other trade restrictionists had their way and no foreign cars were allowed into the US market, we would ALL be driving cars that cost far more and were lower in quality.

Link

Notice that since 1995, consumer prices have increased by 40%, an annual rate of 2.6% for consumer prices on average. However, new car prices have FALLEN by about 2% over the last 13 years, meaning that new cars are much more affordable today than in 1995. If new car prices had increased at the same rate as the average product in the CPI, new car prices today would be 40% higher than they are today! Keep in mind that wages and income have increased at a rate equal to, or higher than, the CPI, meaning that cars are about 42% MORE AFFORDABLE today, relative to income and average prices, THAN IN 1995!

Despite the financial troubles for the UAW and the Big Three, American consumers have benefited tremendously from the intense foreign competition in the auto industry. Except for electronic goods, what other consumer products are actually cheaper today than in 1995? Not too many.

Raise Taxes and watch approval plummet

Maryland Gov. O'Malley is learning about taxpayer's remorse.

Link

Voters are profoundly dissatisfied with the $1.3 billion in tax increases passed during November's special legislative session, and a majority consider the package unfair, according to a new Sun Poll.

As a result, public approval of Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, has dropped precipitously, particularly among the blue-collar voters he says he sought to protect in crafting a solution to the state's projected budget shortfalls.

[...]

The poll found that opposition to the tax package is intense, with 39 percent of voters saying they disapproved strongly. Of the 32 percent who approved of the outcome, 20 percent did so "not so strongly."

The discontent with the tax increases was not universal. Some voters said they approved of O'Malley's actions and believed that they were a necessary evil. "Nobody likes taxes," said Commodore Monk, 60, of Prince George's County, who saw the budget crisis as a problem O'Malley inherited. "But if that's going to make the state more fiscally sound, and deal with some of the other pressing issues of the state like improving the school system and crime, we have to do what we have to do."

Asked to set aside their own personal feelings about the outcome and comment on the general fairness of the tax increases, 51 percent said they were unfair, compared with 33 percent who said the package was fair.

Biden and Dodd console each other (Profanity)

Boy, that Govt Run Healthcare will be GREAT

Link

Three months later, the same judge, E. Chouteau Merrill, made the guardianship permanent - in a two-minute hearing in which the judge asked not a single question.

"You think living in America is just great, but you never anticipate something like this," Cromwell said. "It's just been a disaster for me. If I was robbed on the street and everything taken, I wouldn't be as upset as I am now."

The Cromwell case typifies an everyday practice in Massachusetts probate courts. Too many judges, as Merrill did with Cromwell, award custody of elders to guardians without insisting on the minimal medical documentation required by court rules; without asking about the patient's long-term prognosis; and without considering whether an independent fact-finder should conduct an inquiry before such a life-altering judgment is rendered. And those whose lives are so radically affected are given no legal representation.

Kangaroo Court in Canada meets it match

Ezra Levant, a Canadian editor who published the Mohammad Cartoons offers an angry and defiant and articulate protest for having been compelled to appear for an interrogation before the Canadian Human Rights Commission.



Video 2

Video 3

CAFTA is creating jobs HERE in the US

Link

This was always a silly statement, because the CAFTA countries already had one-way free trade into the U.S. market. The big deal in CAFTA was that in exchange for making their access to the U.S. market permanent, they would eliminate their trade barriers to Made-in-the-USA products. How we could lose in such a deal is beyond me.

Now the facts are in, showing that logic once again prevails over mythology. Far from being a “job killer,” CAFTA has been a real plus for the United States – as has NAFTA, another trade agreement for which these isolationist organizations have been unable to read the trade statistics.

American manufacturing faces some real problems – but CAFTA and other trade agreements are not among them. It would be nice if these anti-trade groups would ‘fess up and acknowledge they were dead wrong, but that probably is too much to hope for.
Congressional Representatives and Senators are besieged by lobbyists advocating various positions on trade. I hope that our elected representatives will start demanding of all lobbyists, “show me the data.” The NAM would be happy to comply.

Original Plates from Audubon's Birds of America

Link

Snopes: IRS Notices re PayPal are legit

Link HT: TaxGuru

Back in 2006, the IRS won approval from a federal court to ask PayPal to turn over account information for American taxpayers who have bank accounts, credit cards or debit cards issued by financial institutions in various foreign countries = sites commonly used as tax havens by persons seeking to evade taxes through hiding income in offshore accounts. The current notice was sent to PayPal customers to advise them that the company would be providing some of their account information to the IRS in response to that agency's summons.

Yea, thats the ticket, lets ban swearing in bars

Link

City Councilman Richard Veit said he was prompted to propose the bill after complaints about bad bar behavior. He says it will give police some rules to enforce when things get too rowdy.

But some bar owners worry the bill is too vague and restrictive, saying it may be a violation of their civil rights.

Marc Rousseau, who owns bar R.T. Weilers, said he thinks the bill needs revision.

"We're dealing with adults here once again and I don't think it's the city's job or the government's job to determine what we can and cannot play in our restaurant," Rousseau said.

The proposal would ban indecent, profane or obscene language, songs, entertainment and literature at bars.

A lefty libertarian talks about urban poverty

Link

The favorite solutions of the welfare state—government doles and “urban renewal” projects—mark no real improvement. Rather than freeing poor people from dependence on benefactors and bosses, they merely transfer the dependence to the state, leaving the least politically connected people at the mercy of the political process.

But in a free market—a truly free market, where individual poor people are just as free as established formal-economy players to use their own property, their own labor, their own know-how, and the resources that are available to them—the informal, enterprising actions by poor people themselves would do far more to systematically undermine, or completely eliminate, each of the stereotypical conditions that welfare statists deplore. Every day and in every culture from time out of mind, poor people have repeatedly shown remarkable intelligence, courage, persistence, and creativity in finding ways to put food on the table, save money, keep safe, raise families, live full lives, learn, enjoy themselves, and experience beauty, whenever, wherever, and to whatever degree they have been free to do so. The fault for despairing, dilapidated urban ghettoes lies not in the pressures of the market, nor in the character flaws of individual poor people, nor in the characteristics of ghetto subcultures. The fault lies in the state and its persistent interference with poor people’s own efforts to get by through independent work, clever hustling, scratching together resources, and voluntary mutual aid.

Smokers are Govt Cash Cows, "overeaters" next

USAToday documents the fact that "anti-smoking money" is being spent on everything but. Smokers are cash cows for govt at all levels just as much as lottery players. Anti-smoking money is not about benevolence or encouraging good behavior, it is about using power to enrich special interest groups. Over weight people or anybody else who has a taxable "sin" will soon be a target for politicians.

Two reports from public health advocacy groups underscore just how irresponsible some states have been:

•Last year, four states — Ohio, Michigan, Rhode Island and West Virginia — sold off the rights to all or part of future settlement payments in exchange for a quick infusion of cash now, according to a report released Thursday by the American Lung Association. States call these deals "securitization." We'd call them bad bets: Ohio got about $5 billion in its deal, but it gave up what some projected would be $10 billion over the next 24 years. None of the $5 billion will go for smoking prevention — even though one of every five Ohio teens still smokes, according to the most recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

•This fiscal year, 30 states and Washington, D.C., are spending less than half of the minimum recommended by the CDC for anti-tobacco programs. Connecticut appropriated no money at all for smoking prevention, according to a report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Which so angered the state's congressional delegation that it wrote Gov. Jodi Rell this week, demanding she account for how the state has spent the $1 billion it received from the settlement so far.

Digital Durham, NC - Late 19th Cen Docs and Pics

Link

John Harvey, Cop, on Homeland Insecurity

John Harvey, retired cop who has now un-retired, has a great blog. Today he talks about his homeland security experiences on a cruise:

Next up, getting on the cruise ship was fun. I don't yet have a passport (soon to be remedied), so I had to take a birth certificate with me. Now, the birth certificate is merely a document that has a name on it, and it appears to have been issued by a governmental entity, but beyond that it identifies absolutely nothing. The birth certificate I took was issued by the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis in 1953. That wasn't good enough, it had to be a "state" issued certificate. So, we had to call and get someone to go into the gun safe, retrieve my marriage certificate, then fax it to the cruise line. It seems a marriage license, or one of your children's birth certificates is considered "identification". I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.

Stay with me now. The cruise line and/or the department of Homeland Security decided that this document is proof that I am who I say I am. It is also acceptable that this document can be faxed to the cruise line. Now, they don't know where this document is coming from, who it is coming from, there is nothing on the document that identifies who I am, and it could refer to anyone. Are you seeing some holes in the system?

Here's another example of "government intelligence" - social security card required. Now, if ever there was an exercise in stupidity, it is using a social security card for identification purposes. Here's a link to a bunch of social security cards you can download, type your ssn on the card, print and there you go.

Phil Bredesen: "you get to take taxes away"

You have got to admire Phil for his raw honesty. He really enjoys his job. He gets to take money away from you and me and then give it away as  a "grant from the Governor."

Maybe he could really make this fun. He could invite all the grantees and for their (and his) entertainment he could stage stage a mock robbery of TN Taxpayers...sort of like the Roman gladiator events.

Link

"One of the great things about being governor is you get to take taxes away and later give it back and people are happy," Bredesen said.  "Is this a great job or what?"

Ho Study: Chicago Cops get freebies

Chicago Tribune article Link

The researchers hired trackers, typically former prostitutes themselves, to follow a sample of about 160 female sex workers and record details of each sex act they performed. Working prostitutes were paid $150 a week to participate in the two-year study.

Street prostitutes reported that about 3 percent of the sex acts they performed were "freebies" given to Chicago police officers to avoid arrest, according to a draft report of the study, which was presented to a packed session last weekend at an annual national economics conference in New Orleans.

According to the paper, full-time prostitutes made on average less than $20,000 a year. If they had a pimp, the women made a little more, even after giving up a 25 percent cut of their earnings. The women reported being beaten about once a month on average.

Fridays were the sex trade's busiest days; Mondays the slowest.

Differences in price

White and Hispanic men were charged more, the study found, while blacks and repeat customers paid less. Seasonal spikes in demand drove up prices -- the study found prices increased 30 percent in Washington Park over the July 4 week -- and brought more women into the market.

TN has 107,355 millionaire households

Link

2007
Rank	State	Total Households	$1MM+	Ratio Millionaire to Total HH
1	New Jersey	3,210,592	228,442	7.12%
2	Maryland	2,143,128	151,756	7.08%
3	Connecticut	1,358,170	95,028	7.00%
4	Hawaii	438,893	29,365	6.69%
5	Massachusetts	2,493,707	156,208	6.26%
6	Virginia	2,979,225	186,576	6.26%
7	Delaware	333,263	20,274	6.08%
8	Alaska	240,842	14,594	6.06%
9	New Hampshire	517,725	30,918	5.97%
10	California	12,461,651	720,733	5.78%
11	Colorado	1,841,538	105,351	5.72%
12	Minnesota	2,026,451	115,587	5.70%
13	Illinois	4,760,856	269,098	5.65%
14	Michigan	3,936,519	214,069	5.44%
15	Washington	2,489,441	133,812	5.38%
16	Nevada	952,864	51,153	5.37%
17	Rhode Island	424,216	22,550	5.32%
18	Florida	7,308,878	387,886	5.31%
19	New York	7,235,413	381,786	5.28%
20	District of Columbia	261,792	13,776	5.26%
21	Arizona	2,297,734	120,116	5.23%
22	Vermont	253,582	13,163	5.19%
23	Pennsylvania	4,916,948	252,326	5.13%
24	Wisconsin	2,228,294	112,692	5.06%
25	Utah	801,821	39,670	4.95%
26	Georgia	3,439,800	170,160	4.95%
27	Wyoming	207,248	10,160	4.90%
28	Ohio	4,578,456	224,305	4.90%
29	Oregon	1,456,021	71,046	4.88%
30	Kansas	1,075,666	51,580	4.80%
31	Indiana	2,468,351	118,306	4.79%
32	Texas	8,333,041	393,640	4.72%
33	Iowa	1,191,013	56,235	4.72%
34	Nebraska	697,600	32,896	4.72%
35	Missouri	2,330,315	109,256	4.69%
36	Maine	557,043	25,960	4.66%
37	New Mexico	750,428	34,610	4.61%
38	South Carolina	1,704,376	78,285	4.59%
39	North Carolina	3,496,649	160,307	4.58%
40	Alabama	1,841,006	81,994	4.45%
41	Tennessee	2,415,110	107,355	4.45%
42	Idaho	540,847	23,652	4.37%
43	Montana	382,778	16,511	4.31%
44	Louisiana	1,632,824	69,296	4.24%
45	Kentucky	1,699,590	70,720	4.16%
46	Oklahoma	1,406,412	57,789	4.11%
47	South Dakota	306,176	12,563	4.10%
48	North Dakota	262,501	10,763	4.10%
49	West Virginia	759,937	30,374	4.00%
50	Arkansas	1,112,643	43,533	3.91%
51	Mississippi	1,108,629	42,703	3.85%
	Total	113,668,003	5,970,929	5.25%

The Right of Revolution

Article 10 of the New Hampshire Constitution

10. Right of revolution.

Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.

How do you "negotiate" with a monopoly?

Jackson-Madison County Teachers have rejected a contract offer from representatives of the taxpayers. So, what happens now?  How do you negotiate with a monopoly?

You don't of course even if you are the taxpayers.

Will the elected representatives of the taxpayers hire new teachers to replace those who refuse to work for the amount offered? In the private sector employers have that option. But in government that is not an option because of the political power of public employee unions.

So, its back to the "negotiating" table to offer the teachers higher pay...and if they reject that offer, even more "negotiating."

Link

Rep Susan Lynn - articulate as ever

Link

Yet, if you say "I have a right to healthcare," you are expressing an expectation to get all the healthcare you want for free. However, if it is your right, why must others suffer to pay for it?

No, socialized healthcare is not a right but a government program. All socialism, democratic or totalitarian, is born of a politician with a “Plan.” He typically thinks he knows better how to spend your money, and pretends to care more about your children than you do. All in a scheme to force your dollars out of your pocket into the government coffers for some program that will provide him power and make him immortal. However, the program is destined to be laced with coercion, power struggles, turf wars and pressure from special interests that are assured to grant you less and less power, and less of your own money for time immemorial. Before you know it, you’re pathetically begging some politician for something that you should decide on for yourself.

Online PDF editor - PDF Hammer

Link

PDF Hammer is in beta and currently has the following features:

• Reorder pages
• Delete pages
• Append PDF to another PDF

Features coming soon:

• Rotate pages
• Apply Watermarks and stamps to pages

Using PDF Hammer is very easy, try it out right now by clicking below!

New York Public Library Digital Gallery

Link

Uncanny: This will guess your number every time

Link

Super Soaker Inventor uses obscene profits

to make a solar energy break thru. Damned greedy capitalists!!

Link

The Atlanta-based independent inventor of the Super Soaker squirt gun (a true technological milestone) says he can achieve a conversion efficiency rate that tops 60 percent with a new solid-state heat engine. It represents a breakthrough new way to turn heat into power.

Johnson, a nuclear engineer who holds more than 100 patents, calls his invention the Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Conversion System, or JTEC for short. This is not PV technology, in which semiconducting silicon converts light into electricity. And unlike a Stirling engine, in which pistons are powered by the expansion and compression of a contained gas, there are no moving parts in the JTEC. It’s sort of like a fuel cell: JTEC circulates hydrogen between two membrane-electrode assemblies (MEA). Unlike a fuel cell, however, JTEC is a closed system. No external hydrogen source. No oxygen input. No wastewater output. Other than a jolt of electricity that acts like the ignition spark in an internal-combustion engine, the only input is heat.

Interesting profile of a work at home virtual

call center company, Alpine Access, at the Web Worker Daily Blog. This model could probably work well for a large political campaign.

Link

Here's how Alpine Access uses the new way of working to succeed:

Offer home-based employment. Alpine Access hires U.S.-based call center representatives who work from their own homes. Agents earn between $8 and $13 an hour, receive health insurance and other employee benefits, and can climb a career ladder into team leader and account manager positions. In contrast to some other virtual call centers who mainly hire contractors who don't get paid for training and don't receive employee benefits, Alpine Access chooses to hire employees in order to attract the very best candidates.

Hire for passion, skills, and experience, not geography. Because Alpine Access offers desirable home-based employment, they get their pick of people. While traditional brick-and-mortar call centers typically hire people in their early twenties with just high school education, many of whom take the job temporarily while looking for something better, Alpine Access attracts agents with an average age of 41 years old, 80% of whom have a college education, and most of whom are looking for a long-term commitment.

Alpine Access receives huge numbers of applications — over 200,000 last year — so they can hand pick each new agent to match their clients' needs. They're not limited to just the people in commute distance from a call center facility. For example, they only hire people with travel industry experience to serve their ExpressJet airline client.

Stay in touch electronically. Agents chat with their coaches and supervisors using instant messaging throughout the day any time they have a question about how to handle a particular call. Alpine Access' call center technology allows agents and their managers to listen in on a call together.

Use web-style thin-client computing. Since employees are working from home, it's not feasible for Alpine Access to install, configure, and maintain software on each employee computer. So they use a thin-client model where most of the processing happens on servers. Employees don't download customer data; they just connect into a central facility that gives access to all the applications and data they need.

Create a virtual water cooler for employees. Alpine Access has deployed social networking tool HiveLive to provide a virtual water cooler to employees. This allows employees to get to know each other in a personal way even though they don't work physically together. HiveLive is used to share photos, post birth announcements, swap recipes, and more. Some teams even use it to host virtual happy hours each week.

Repubs try to regain their small govt creds

The Republican House Leadership in Congress created this pub to make the case that we shouldn't give up on Republicans.

Link

For some time, Republicans have been criticized for losing their way on core, defining values of limited government and fiscal restraint. Public opinion polls reinforce this criticism – indicating that Republicans have lost their historical advantage on the issue of whom you trust to control wasteful spending and limit government. While our record as a majority on these issues could have been better, Republicans were able to achieve some marked successes. A GOP Congress enacted legislation in 2005 to reduce mandatory spending by $40 billion, the first such bill in almost a decade – and also successfully froze non-security discretionary spending. Over time, however, our efforts to rein in government failed to produce the results we and oursupporters wanted to see.

This is in part a function of the fact that, as a whole, Republicans stopped making the case about the need to eliminate wasteful spending and reduce the size and reach of the federal government. We no longer spoke up aboutwhy limited government is important to the long-term well being of America. As a result, we left the impression that we were no longer committed to pursuing smaller government. Now is the time for Republicans in Congress to make our voices heard and set the record straight. Our work must begin now to lay the foundation for legislation we will pursue once we earn back the majority, and work to restrain government, expand liberty, and ensure that those funds entrusted to us by hard-working Americans are well spent. This book is a compilation of useful facts, figures, and examples to assist Republicans in making the case for a smaller, more limited, more efficient, and more effective federal government.

Reversal of Alzheimers? Maybe

Link

The new study documents a dramatic and unprecedented therapeutic effect in an Alzheimer's patient: improvement within minutes following delivery of perispinal etanercept, which is etanercept given by injection in the spine. Etanercept (trade name Enbrel) binds and inactivates excess TNF. Etanercept is FDA approved to treat a number of immune-mediated disorders and is used off label in the study.

The use of anti-TNF therapeutics as a new treatment choice for many diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and potentially even Alzheimer's, was recently chosen as one of the top 10 health stories of 2007 by the Harvard Health Letter.

Net based Personal Shopper Service

Link

Toll Roads are Pilot Projects NO MORE

let the tolling begin.

When the Pilot Toll Road Legislation was passed last year my guess is that the overwhelming majority of Tennesseans assumed that:

1- Tolls were NOT a general tax and would only pay for the road they were levied on. This has turned out NOT to be the case. See previously posted video HERE.

2- The toll bill was passed with the understanding that it would involve only two pilot projects. Now, Rep Pinion who is the very powerful Chairman of the House Transportation Committee says he feels like all that talk about toll roads being Pilot projects is too restrictive. Every local official who wants their own toll road darn well ought to have one so he is going to forget the whole "two pilot projects" concept upon which the original legislation was passed (and would not have passed otherwise). See video from Tuesdays Transportation Committee.

'Professional hypochondriac' arrested

Link

VIENNA (AFP) - A 59-year-old Austrian man has been arrested for faking illnesses and injuries so that he could live rent-free in hospitals for the past two years, police announced on Tuesday.

[...]

His scam was estimated to have cost the Austrian healthcare system as much as 100,000 euros (147,000 dollars) in bed and board during the period, the police said.

Area lawmakers say tax hike is last resort

Every morning I search the net for tax related stories and I can't tell you how often I have seen some version of this headline, "lawmakers say tax hike is a last resort." HERE is this morning's example. Unfortunately, most national, state and local lawmakers who profess that a "tax hike is the last resort" actively eliminate all other options and create a self fulfilling prophecy.

Legislative bodies, in particular, gravitate towards the path of least resistance and this virtually always involves avoiding decisions which disappoint those closest to them. And the people closest to our elected representatives are the Department heads and lobbyists that are in their face constantly telling our representatives that the world as we know it will come to an end if they don't make the difficult decision to take more money from their constituents.

Tax increases are the "last resort" only when you have eliminated all other possibilities.

$3 Quadrillion in Katrina Claims

Link

The US Army Corps of Engineers says it has received 247 claims for at least $US1 billion ($A1.14 billion) apiece, including one for an even $US3 quadrillion ($A3.43 quadrillion).

Journalism Prof asks advice after cops hassle him

Link

So I see a car crash. I park the car, get out my camera and start shooting still photos and some video. Soon a Georgia State Police officer starts asking me questions like my name and address. At first I refuse, saying it is a public space. He gets a little more intimidating and maybe it is because of the nature of the crash. All of which builds into an interesting question: What should a citizen journalist do under these circumstances?

IL Tax auditors charged with taking bribes

Link

CHICAGO (AP) - Federal prosecutors in Chicago say three former state tax auditors have been indicted on charges of taking $25,500 in payoffs in exchange for referring clients to an attorney.

The attorney (Dean Roupas of Burbank) is also charged in the indictment with making the payments to the three former auditors.

The auditors (Michael Krol, Chuck Maali and Leo Langley) are all former employees of the state Department of Revenue.

New Gov Bobby Jindal does "economic development" RIGHT

He reduces taxes for ALL businesses not just a few corporate pirates who try to extort favors with campaign contributions or expensive lobbyists.

Link

Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal told business leaders Tuesday that he will push for tax relief on utilities in a special legislative session.

"The business utility tax must go," Jindal said at the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry's annual luncheon at the Holiday Inn Select.

Jindal said business leaders made it clear to him that the elimination of the utility tax should be a priority of his administration.

Later in the day, he said he wants to eliminate 1 cent of the 3.3 percent sales tax that businesses pay on natural gas purchases. The rest of the tax already is scheduled to go off the books next year.

Red Wine Drug shows promise

Link

SAN FRANCISCO -- For the first time, scientists have proof in human subjects that a derivative of an ingredient in red wine combats some symptoms of aging. Sirtris Pharmaceuticals announced the results here on Monday at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference.

Resveratol, naturally found in red wine, stimulates a gene known as SIRT1, which has been linked with extended lifespans in rodents. The new study is the first time similar effects have been replicated in humans.

"We believe that this is the first time that a drug candidate has shown efficacy in a disease of aging by targeting the genes that control aging," said Christoph Westphal, CEO of Sirtris.