Bring the Noise

Swiftboating in Tennessee?

2005-12-16T08:41:00.000-08:00

Tip to Say Uncle for this piece about the attacks on Gov. Bredesen and his reactions to them. Interesting read, especially this:

"On the one hand, I admire the way Bredesen tackles these issues head-on and takes swift, decisive action, similar to how early in his tenure he handled a scandal involving a U.T. president by summarily firing him and ending the controversy. On the other hand, it sometimes seems that, in his desire to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, he may sometimes overreact."

Good job by R. Neal. Of course, as Say Uncle points out, overreacting is probably better than doing nothing. Then again, these mainstream media attack dogs feed on firings and public humiliation. It pumps up their egos, and encourages them to start looking for their next victim.

Neal also questions who is behind these attacks: disgruntled Democrats or "the powerful GOP attack machine." I think the latter. I'm sure some Beltway folks took that hype about Gov. Bredesen running for president seriously, and the RNC fears Southern Democratic governors. They would want to take Gov. Bredesen down a notch or two.

Also, some of the MSM reporters around Nashville have interesting connections. More on that later.

Mister State Trooper

2005-12-14T07:14:00.000-08:00

From Go4Truth.com and the Tennessee Democratic Party's "Tuesday Message," a little of the history of politics at the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

‘No Politics’ Questioned

The Chattanooga Times

February 4, 1995

By Andy Sher

NASHVILLE – While the Sundquist administration contends it’s taking politics out of the state Safety Department, Democrats suspect recent personnel moves point to politics as usual.
“I don’t think we have a clear picture yet, but every indication is that politics is very much alive in these initial decisions,” said House Majority Leader Bill Purcell, a Nashville Democrat, in an interview this week.

Gov. Don Sundquist’s campaign records show several Safety Department appointees contributed to his campaign. For example, newly appointed Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Jerry W. Scott, who was promoted from captain, gave $9,850 to Sundquist’s election efforts. Mickey Fletcher, a lieutenant from Memphis who gave $700, was elevated to captain.

Kent Eldridge, who gave $1,000, was promoted to head Safety’s support services division. Safety Commissioner Mike Greene contributed $620.

Eight high-ranking Safety Department officials who rose to their positions under the previous McWherter administration were faced with accepting demotions or retiring since Sundquist, a Republican, took office Jan. 21. Six of the eight were district captains.

Rocking in the Free World

2005-12-13T11:43:00.000-08:00

While my light blogging of late has nothing to do with the "Who-is-Hitman?" flap, the absence has given me some time to think about how I would like to respond.

In short, I'm going to say as little as the rigmarole deserves.

I state plainly and unambiguously that the opinions expressed on Bring the Noise are mine and mine alone. I started this blog of my own volition, and I continue to post of my own volition. NO ONE - period - asked me to start this blog, nor has ANYONE - period - ever asked me to post anything on this blog.

In other words, I am not a spinmeister for anyone. I am not part of any plot to "get" anyone. I'm just a guy with a blog.

Anyone that claims anything contrary to this does so for reasons of their own. For example, perhaps Liz Garrigan of the Nashville Scene is upset because I criticized her for ignoring the Nancy Amons story. You'll note that Garrigan has not denied that she investigated that story - and then chose not to report it.

It's disturbing that many people in this country today simply do not believe in free speech. Whenever they are confronted by an opinion with which they disagree, they try to find some way to stop the expression of that opinion. Often, they do this under the guise of protecting the public from some evil - of course, they define what that evil is.

Bring the Noise will continue. It might be after the holidays before regular posting begins again, but it will begin again. As far as I'm concerned, I'm doing something right if I make the mainstream media angry.

For today, I'll leave you with this quote from John Stuart Mill. It's not the exact quote, but it's close enough for rock n' roll.

"If the whole of mankind, save one, were of the same opinion and only the one were of the contrary opinion, the whole of mankind would have no more right to suppress the opinion of the one than he would have, were it in his power, the right to suppress the opinion of the whole of mankind."

From On Liberty

Sexual Healing

2005-12-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

Too good to pass up. From The Bradley News Weekly:

Miller Comes to Town with Girlfriend, Doesn't Get Divorced

Romance is Still Alive and Well in Cleveland

Reports of My Death . . .

2005-12-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

Bring the Noise will be off-line longer than I had thought. Sorry, I just have too many irons in the fire right now. I will be back soon, though.

I'll leave you with a couple of thoughts:

1. I ain't skeered of no open records request.

2. The rigmarole last week has not threatened my job in any way.

Until Next Week . . .

2005-11-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

Ye Ol' HitMan will be out of pocket for a few days. Unfortunately, I don't have the connections to line up guest bloggers, so Bring the Noise will be on hiatus.

I feel fairly certain that the blogosphere will survive the distruption.

'Nuff Said

2005-11-30T08:27:00.000-08:00

From WMCTV Channel 5 in Memphis:

"John Ford's Collierville Home to Be Auctioned

"You could own the home of former state Senator John Ford.

"Ford's Collierville home will be auctioned off in mid December to cover missed payments. Earlier this year Ford was caught up in the Tennessee Waltz bribery scandal and gave up his Senate seat. Tamara Mitchell Ford says she's divorced from Ford, but not completely. She says her children have a right to that home and she's worried about their future, "We have a connection emotionally and because we have a family. When it comes down to having a family, that has interest involved. This will involve the state of Tennessee if I become destitute and that's where we're heading. Being destitute." Mitchell Ford's house was three thousand dollars behind on taxes but those have been paid but only until January. Ford's Collierville home has been valued at five hundred thousand dollars. The home has ten rooms including five bedrooms, four baths and one half bath."

The Race is On

2005-11-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press

"Watson wins District 22 Republican primary

"Bradley County Deputy Sheriff Eric Watson on Tuesday won the Republican primary in a special election to fill the state House District 22 seat.

"In unofficial tallies, Mr. Watson received 1,085 votes in the district, according to election commission officials. The district includes Meigs, Polk and part of Bradley County. . . .

"He will face incumbent Democrat Sally Love, D-Reliance, in the Jan. 12 general election. Rep. Love, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary, received 565 votes in unofficial tallies."

******

This could be an interesting race. It's a Republican seat, but Rep. Love, the appointed replacement for Rep. Chris Newton, and the Democratic Party have been working the district hard.

On a related note, Chattanooga's WTVC Channel 9 has an interview with Newton, in which he offers this advice to those currently serving in the General Assembly: "Don't make choices that you cannot live with." Unfortunately, the WTVC web site does not have the video of the interview. Also, I didn't link to the CTFP story because their web site requires subscriptions.

The Song Remains the Same

2005-11-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

A tip of the hat to Bill Hobbs for this one. The story speaks for itself:

State agencies in peril over scheduling problems

"A scheduling conflict between House and Senate members has left 45 state agencies up for renewal in peril, including large entities such as the Department of Transportation."

People in the know say that the Government Operations Committees are utter nightmares, completely lacking direction and focus. Also, members supposedly beg leadership to get off of these committees.

The Wild, Wild West

2005-11-29T08:04:00.000-08:00

Look out, folks! An election year is on the horizon, and the bills are flying around Capitol Hill:

Lawmakers to shift focus from ethics

Perhaps the most brilliant aspect of the American system of government is that it's awfully hard to pass any law in our sausage-maker legislative system. When you read about the crap that gets thrown around in the General Assembly, you become REALLY thankful for that.

By the way, TABOR is a horrible idea. Take a look at Colorado.

Hit Me with Your Best Shot

2005-11-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

A member of the TennCareigentsia has continued her attack against the ol' HitMan. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this because it's silly, but there are a few items I'd like to address:

She continues to claim that I'm roaming the blogosphere at the request of Governor Bredesen, which is prima facie silly. If the Governor wanted a blogger, I believe that he could find a better one than I am. She also claims that I admitted to working for the state, which I didn't because I don't.

She also claims that I only post during business hours. I assume she means during state business hours. In response to that, I'll point out that I posted last Friday, which was a state holiday. I've also posted on Saturdays. I don't believe that Saturdays are usually work days for the state. I've even posted in the evenings. If she meant to say that I PRIMARILY post during the day, then she is correct. I'm doing other things at night. Also, I don't post on Sundays.

She also claims that I posted from a computer with a state IP address. That very well might be the case, but it still doesn't mean that I work for the state. Ever heard of computer labs on college campuses?

The sad fact of these attacks is that this person has still not addressed my original charge: she posted incorrect information on her blog. She claimed that a woman died after losing her TennCare coverage as part of TennCare reform. In the post, the woman's husband says that she lost coverage in "April or March." I repeat: the disenrollment process began in July. If this woman lost coverage before that, she lost coverage for a reason other than TennCare reform.

All I asked is that my attacker post correct information on her blog. If I post something inaccurate on Bring the Noise, I hope a reader will point it out. If they do, I will be quick to correct the mistake.

After all, that's the mature and responsible thing to do.

Believe It When You See It . . .

2005-11-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

Word has gotten to Bring the Noise that Liz Garrigan, editor of the Nashville Scene and author of the column "Desperately Seeking the News," has been sniffing around the Nancy Amons misinformation story. Apparently, she has been "working on the story" for the last few weeks.

I'll be surprised if the Scene runs it. Call me cynical, but the mainstream media is so incestuous and tribal these days that I think they'll choose to cover for one of their own rather than telling the people the truth.

In another Amons note, here's a link if you would like to buy the October 1978 issue of Playboy. It includes "Girls of the Pac 10: Part II," in which Amons appears. It also has an interview with Dolly Parton.

Tell It Like It Is

2005-11-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Well, whadda you know, the Tennessean published a positive piece about Governor Bredesen. E.J. Mitchell must be on vacation for the holiday.

From one who’s seen ‘politics as usual’: Phil Bredesen isn’t.

Navel Gazing

2005-11-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

First, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Okay, it's the day before Thanksgiving. Isn't self-reflection forgivable at this time of year . . . even if it is a little indulgent . . . I hope . . .

Anyway, one of the TennCareigentsia took a rather lame shot at the ol' HitMan on another blog. Not surprising. This fellow traveler said that I write about TennCare too much, I probably work for Governor Bredesen, and I should publish under my real name.

Well . . .

I know TennCare bores most people, but I think it's an important subject. Actually, Medicaid/Medicare are important subjects nationally, and they are primarily issues for the federal government. I, however, am a state government person, as I've written before. I prefer to write about Tennessee.

I don't work for the Governor, but I wish that I did. Am I a Bredesen supporter? Damn straight I am.

And I choose to write under a noms de plume because it ain't about me. I believe that too many blogs focus the spotlight on the blogger and not on the content. I want to keep me out of Bring the Noise as much as possible. So HitMan it is . . . and smile when you read that.

Which does leave the question: Who is HitMan?

Part of the answer is that I am a Kennedy Democrat. I find Robert Kennedy to be one of the most fascinating figures in American history. And here's the point most germane to this post:

As a U.S. senator from New York, RFK became a passionate champion of the have-nots in America while remaining an adamant opponent of the welfare state and socialism in general.

(Okay, I can smell the gears grinding in the minds of limousine liberals everywhere.)

Yes, Robert Kennedy believed that government should help provide opportunities for Americans at the lower ends of the socio-economic scale but he detested government handouts. He believed that government should work to create public-private partnerships to revitalize neighborhoods; he believed that government should create environments conducive to private sector job creation; he believed that government should do everything in its power to create educational systems that give citizens the opportunity to gain the skills they need to be successful on their own. (For a good case study, look at what RFK did in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community.)

And, yes, Robert Kennedy fought heart and soul against Robin Hood government because he believed that socialism destroys the soul of a people. He believed that handouts create a culture of dependence and destroy the self-sufficiency of those receiving the handouts; he also believed that handouts create animosity among the wealthy from whom the money is taken toward those to whom the money is given; and finally, as a devout Catholic, he believed that charity has to be freely given.

And I agree with RFK.

I'll bring this post to a close with some food for thought. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, there has been much talk about the poverty in New Orleans. Some argue that not enough had been done for the poor in the city, that these people were too poor to care for themselves.

Is someone that stands in the face of a hurricane waiting for the government to send a ride just a little too government-dependent?

Think about this: Michael Tanner, director of health and welfare studies at the Cato Institute, points out that the federal government spent $10 billion on anti-poverty programs in New Orleans from the beginning of 2001 until the hurricane hit.

RFK was a smart man.

Ditto

2005-11-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

Couldn't have said it better myself, Glen.

Bredesen Has Killed No One

Glen takes direct issue with the postings of Sharon Cobb. A reader of Bring the Noise pointed out to me a glaring error in one Cobb posting. Cobb claims that a woman died because she was disenrolled from TennCare due to Governor Bredesen's reform program; however, the post quotes the woman's husband as saying that she lost her TennCare coverage in March or April of this year.

The problem? The disenrollment process did not begin until July. Remember that the state budget did not take effect until July 1 (the beginning of Tennessee's fiscal year). If this woman lost her eligibility in March or April, she lost it for a reason other than TennCare reform.

But we all know that the Tenncareigentsia doesn't concern itself with sticky little issues like accuracy.

One other note on this subject: everyone disenrolled from TennCare is a non-Medicaid eligible adult. Period. Think about it.

As Heads is Tails . . .

2005-11-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

These stories aren't new, but I want to post them for all those folks extolling the virtues of Republicans in Tennessee. Geez, it seems that reminding them that Bill Frist is a Tennessean would dispell those delusions.

Miller misses ethics vote

Maybe Mr. "My-E-Cycle-money-was-a-campaign-contribution-not-a-bribe-and-I-didn't-spend-it-on-my-girlfriend's-new-breasts" Miller couldn't stand the snickers whenever he sat in on the committee.

Norris represents clients before state agencies

Wait a minute, I thought GOPers said this is bad.

Van pays Rep. Jason Mumpower to endorse him

Okay, so we all know that Van Hilleary is a lousy candidate, but is he so bad that he has to pay public officials to endorse him? Apparently so. And what kind of moral equivocation does it take from Mumpower to ACCEPT MONEY to endorse a candidate. Please explain that one to me.

At Least Half Full . . .

2005-11-21T15:40:00.000-08:00

From No Silence Here:

A poll out today on Gov. Bredesen

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Most Tennesseans still approve of the job Gov. Phil Bredesen is doing, but his popularity had dropped 10 points since the spring, according to a poll released Monday by Middle Tennessee State University.

Bredesen’s approval rating dropped to 52 percent in the MTSU fall poll, compared with a 62 percent rating last spring. The university conducts scientific statewide surveys twice a year on a variety of issues.

Wise Decision, Ron

2005-11-19T10:08:00.000-08:00

In a move that won't surprise too many folks, Ron Ramsey has announced that he will not run for governor next year.

In this article, it's interesting to note that Ramsey thinks "the reforming of TennCare is [a campaign issue] you could hang your hat on."

Hmm . . .

This from the guy that has referred to TennCare as "the beast that needs to be pushed away from the table." And, oh, yeah, Ramsey proposed cutting a huge chunk of change out of TennCare during the 2003 budget process.

There are two problems with Republicans trying to use TennCare as an issue against Governor Bredesen:

1. Most of them have railed against the uncontrolled growth of TennCare. How can they now complain that the Governor has reigned in that growth?

2. Most Tennesseans agree with the Governor on TennCare. In fact, they are glad he stood up and took action.

On the other hand, the Republicans aren't hoping to GAIN votes on this issue. They are attempting to depress Democratic turnout in next year's election. It won't work, especially since it seems that a very conservative candidate (Harwell or Gill) will be on the ticket, probably pushing a hard-core, right-wing "values" platform. Remember, the gay marriage constitutional amendment will be on the ballot. The Republican candidate will definitely try to play on that one.

Read It and Weep, TennCareigentsia

2005-11-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

Federal ruling backs state efforts to change TennCare

"A federal judge yesterday issued a ruling favoring the state's efforts to reform its public health-care program, citing 'the worsening of TennCare's fiscal crisis.' . . .

"Legal advocates have said the state could have avoided cutting people by using TennCare reserves and budget surplus money to cover program costs.

"But the judge ruled that 'alternative reform efforts' presented by advocates 'could not effectively tackle the crux of the state's problem: that of sustaining one of the nation's most progressive and generous Medicaid programs in a state that has one of the nation's lowest tax burdens per person.'"

Hurts so Good

2005-11-16T09:35:00.000-08:00

In today's Nashville Scene, Roger Abramson gets the scoop from Steve Gill about his consideration of a run for governor. Looks like two smackdowns from Bart Gordon weren't enough for Gill. Remember how he cried at a press conference? Oh, yeah, remember that controversy over Steve using campaign funds to get his car out of hock?

To say that Governor Bredesen would crush Gill is an understatement.

And check out the next item about Bob Krumm running against state Sen. Douglas Henry, a very popular Nashville Democrat. That's a tough task, Bob, a really tough task. (Another source, whom I can't name, just told me that this race will never happen.)

While we're talking about potential candidates (and since I've mentioned Bart Gordon), word is that state Sen. Diane Black has feelers out all over the U.S. Sixth House District about running against Gordon. Prior to Dubya's catastrophic drop in the polls and Bill Frist's stock troubles, thinking had been that Black would wait until 2008, when she thought she could get a bump from Frist's presidential run.

Black is a tough campaigner, but campaigners don't come much tougher than Bart Gordon. Remember, he has beaten Gill twice and Marsha Blackburn once. Most impressively, Gordon beat Gill in 1994. Quite a feat.

Thinking Out Loud

2005-11-16T08:32:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of items to throw out there:

1. A couple of weeks ago, Blake Wylie predicted that Marsha Blackburn will run for governor in 2010. I agree with him because I've heard that elsewhere.

Of course, this only works if Governor Bredesen wins re-election in 2006 (because Blackburn would not run against an incumbent Republican in 2010).

Has Blackburn cleared the field of any noteworthy GOP gubernatorial candidates next year?

There has been no talk of her running in '06, which makes sense. It's easier to win an open seat than it is to beat an incumbent. Also, Blackburn has very little statewide name recognition at this point. She has some groundwork to do.

2. Rob Huddleston doesn't think that Dr. Duran Williams has much of a chance of knocking off Sen. Steve Southerland in the state Senate's District 1.

On the face of it, Williams has a long shot. After all, we're talking about a Democrat running in East Tennessee.

Then again, District 1 is made up of Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, and Unicoi Counties. Cocke, Green, and Hamblen Counties are represented in the State House by Eddie Yokley and John Litz. Both are Democrats.

This one could get interesting.

Sobering Reality

2005-11-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

The sad truth is that the United States is rapidly becoming a nursing home nation.

As Robert Samuelson reports in today's Washington Post, "Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid constitute more than 40 percent of federal spending. Given the baby boom, longer life expectancies and rising health care costs, these programs are projected (by the Congressional Budget Office and others) to grow by about two-thirds or more during the next 25 years. To cover these costs, we'd have to do one of the following: Raise all federal taxes by 30 to 50 percent (depending on whether today's budget were balanced); eliminate defense spending and 30 percent of other federal spending, excluding interest payments; run budget deficits three times present levels."

As Samuelson points out, the agenda forwarded by AARP and other liberal health care advocates endangers the long-term fiscal stability of our country. It's time for some new thinking, some new ideas, but the advocates simply dig in their heels and demand that the government continue to write blank checks to out-of-control social programs.

Yeah, that's sound thinking.

Interesting . . .

2005-11-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

From Ben Chao:

FORMER BUSH ADVISOR SWITCHES PARTIES & RUNNING FOR TN STATE SENATE

Dr. Duran Williams, one of Tennessee's newest Democrats, recently announced his campaign for the Tennessee state Senate in District 1. Duran is a former Bush-Cheney Campaign Advisor and long-time Republican who decided to switch his party membership and join the Tennessee Democratic Party earlier this year.

"The Republican Party left me. On issue after issue, the so-called party of Lincoln became the party of the special interests and exploding deficits. I could no longer support their agenda and the damage they've done to America. That's why I switched parties and why I'm proud to be a Tennessee Democrat," said Williams.

1ST FUNDRAISER AS A DEMOCRAT YIELDS $10,000 AND COUNTING!

In his first fundraising event as a Democrat, Duran Williams collected over $10,000 (and counting) in campaign contributions from generous donors from both parties.

"I am proud to have early financial support from both Democrats and Republicans. Voters are responding well to my message of common-sense leadership and they like the idea of replacing the tired rhetoric of the past with some new ideas. That's why I'm running and why I plan on winning back state Senate district 1 for the Democratic Party," said Williams.

ABOUT DR. DURAN WILLIAMS & HIS CAMPAIGN FOR TN STATE SENATE

As the principle of Cosby High School and Tennessee Education Association Board Member, Duran has seen the negative impact the No Child Left Behind Act has had on schools across Tennessee. He cites George Bush's reckless approach to public schools as one of the factors in his decision to become a Democrat.

"George Bush and the Republicans think they can test America's children to a better future. I disagree. I believe we need smaller class sizes, better paid teachers and more technology in the classroom. When we give teachers the tools they need and students the attention they deserve, America's public schools are the best in the world. With your help, I'll do just that as the next state Senator in Tennessee's 1st district," said Williams.

Welcome Duran Williams to the Tennessee Democratic Party today by contributing to his campaign online at:

http://www.duran4tn.com/home.asp

Herding Cats

2005-11-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

Tom Humphrey reports that Governor Bredesen is threatening to bring his own ethics legislation next session if the General Assembly's Joint Ethics Committee doesn't propose a bill "with some bite to it." In the end of the story, Rep. Joe McCord also quotes a story from Jerry Clower. What more could you want?

Bob Krumm has a dead-on analysis of what the Governor's statement means.

I'll repeat myself from an earlier post: as things now stand (Granted, we're a year out from election day.), ethics will be THE issue, bar none, in next year's state races - that's for Governor, state Senate, and state House. If the members of the General Assembly don't get on board with substantive reform - that means REAL reform, not just window dressing - a whole lot of incumbents will be tossed out next fall.

Ultimately, I think real reform will happen because everyone knows that it has to. At this point, there's a lot of grumbling and posturing going on, but what else can they do except grumble and posture? At the end of the day, who is going to vote against ethics reform in the current political climate?

That being said, the Governor is still very wise to draw a clear distinction between himself and the grumblers and posers.

Taking Care of Business

2005-11-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

Tennessee's budget picture brighter, Bredesen says

What do you want to bet that this budget is balanced without new taxes, just like Governor Bredesen's three previous budgets?

Also, what do you want to bet that this budget takes care of the problems in the BEP and makes the necessary investment in the state's consolidated retirement system?

No one can ever say that Governor Bredesen doesn't take care of the state budget, which, by the way, is the only responsibility that the state constitution gives state government.

Same Old Song and Dance

2005-11-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

The TennCareigentsia is at it again.

This about sums it up:

"But state officials contend the latest action is just another attempt to stall reform efforts to control program costs.

"'We have spent the better part of the past year gaining the legal and federal authority to get control of this program,' Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said in a statement Thursday. 'It is regretful, but not entirely surprising, that the TJC has filed this motion, which is the latest step in their efforts to stop the disenrollment through the courts.'"

Here's a question that I have: Has a single Tennessean ever cast a vote for Gordon Bonnyman or anyone from the Tennessee Justice Center? If they want to run this state, why don't they have the guts to put their names on ballots? Do they not realize that we live in a democracy?

Or do they just realize that they would get crushed in an election?

And remember, we, the taxpayers of this state, are footing the bill for the TJC's shenanigans.

Lies, Damn Lies, and the Mainstream Media (Part III)

2005-11-10T12:34:00.000-08:00

"Say Uncle" and others would like to see the actual emails exchanged by Nancy Amons, state officials, and Andrew Finlayson, WSMV news director. Here they are. Personal information of the subjects and telephone numbers have been deleted.

******

From: Michelle MoweryJohnson
To: Nancy.Amons@wsmv.com
CC: Marilyn Elam, Michael Drescher, afinlayson@wsmv.com
Date: Friday - November 4, 2005
Subject: Re: e-mail
________________________________________

Nancy--
I strongly disagree. Your story was not correct. You had the facts and chose not to use them. I feel I must contact your general manager if your news director chooses to allow such inaccuracies to run on WSMV's newscasts without correcting them.
Also, a Channel 4 photographer never showed up at the Clarksville Service Center for the scheduled 10:30 shoot. A phone call would have been nice.
Thanks,
Michelle

Michelle Mowery Johnson
Director of Communications
TN Department of Human Services

>>> "Nancy Amons" 11/04/05 11:31 AM >>>

Michelle,

I have received and discussed with Andrew your desire for a retraction.
My advice to him is that is not appropriate.

Nancy Amons
WSMV-TV Nashville

From: michelle.moweryjohnson@state.tn.us (Michelle MoweryJohnson)
To: Andrew.Finlayson@wsmv.com
CC: Marilyn Elam, Michael Drescher
Date: Friday - November 4, 2005
Subject: RE: E-mail from Nancy Amons

Dear Andrew--
Thank you for your e-mail.

I would like to request that a correction be made on the air tonight at 5, 6 and 10 concerning an important fact in Nancy's story about [deleted]. She stated in her stand-up at 10 pm: "Turns out TennCare made a mistake and the state has no idea how many people like [deleted] have been cut off by accident." Again, that statement was repeated in the graphic that showed [deleted] multiplying..."Question is, how many people like [deleted] were cut off when they shouldn't have been?"
[Deleted] was NEVER cut off TennCare.
In fact, Nancy was told several times in an e-mail (see below) by me and on the phone by Michael Drescher of the TennCare Bureau that [deleted] never lost coverage.

Please make this very important correction on all of your newscasts today.

In upcoming stories, there is another case, with an enrollee named [deleted]. She, too, never lost coverage. This info is also in the below e-mail to Nancy.

Both of these individuals show how the appeals process actually works for people who believe they are wrongly selected for disenrollment from the program.

Because Nancy has failed to listen to and accurately report important facts involving this very serious and complex topic, her story at 10 pm had a gross error. DHS has grave concerns about future stories and how accurately they may or may not be portrayed on Channel 4 News.

Thank you for your time. Please let me know if Channel 4 will be making that correction.
Regards,
Michelle

Nancy--
Please see below for the answers. Let me know if you have any other questions and what time on Friday Zena can be at the Clarksville Service Center.
I have an update for [deleted], too. There was a short period that she was on transitional Medicaid (March-June of 2004), and that's why she had that card that said Medicaid. Our records do indicate that she contacted the Family Assistance Service Center on June 10, after receiving the letter and Brown Forms. She asked the counselor what kind of coverage she had and was told that she had Standard. But she was also told that she should qualify for an open Medicaid category (breast & cervical cancer) due to her breast cancer. She needed to put that info down and send back her brown forms. She never lost coverage, due to the timely appeal and she is now in that category and will have coverage for this (as long as she is eligible) for up to 5 years.
And yes, I have changed my voicemail message. :-)
Thanks,
Michelle

Michelle Mowery Johnson
Director of Communications
TN Department of Human Services

>>> Marilyn Elam 10/28/05 1:56 PM >>>
Nancy,
Questions 1-5 are eligibility and appeal questions and Michelle can help you with those...question 6 regarding bills is a TennCare question and I'll be happy to hunt that up and be back in touch.
-Marilyn

>>> "Nancy Amons" 10/28/05 12:50 PM >>>

Marilyn,

I have some questions regarding the case of [deleted]. I sent you a HIPPA release form on his case in mid-October.

His TennCare ID number is [deleted]. His DOB is [deleted]. If you need
his social, I have that, I'm just reluctant to transmit it via e-mail
for his privacy.

I would like to know:

Why was [deleted] cut off from TennCare? Can you confirm your records
show he listed as being in the TennCare standard population?
[Deleted] was never cut from TennCare. He was selected for disenrollment initially and received the Brown Forms/RFI in early June because he was enrolled in the TennCare Standard population.

Why was he re-instated to TennCare? Did he qualify under a Medicaid
category? If so, which one? Was it because he once had SSI?
Again, [deleted] was never disenrolled...he never lost medical coverage, so he didn't have to be re-instated.
He was informed on September 23 when his wife called the Family Assistance Service Center that he was eligible for Mediaid because he had at one time received SSI . That same day, records indicate that a notice was sent from TennCare that he was Medicaid eligible and would receive an MO card and booklet in the mail and have a 5 scirpt limit (including the short list).

Was he in the class protected by the Cluster Daniels suit?
Yes

Is he reinstated temporarily, or permanently?
[Deleted] should keep his Medicaid coverage with prescriptions as long as he is eligible. His Medicaid coverage now will date back to May 2004

Did the records reflect [deleted] submitted his request for an appeal
on time? There was no break in medical coverage, because he filed a timely appeal on the termination on August 10.

What bills has TennCare paid on his behalf regarding a heart attack he
suffered on September 16, 2005? (I would expect to see bills for [deleted], plus related doctors and surgery costs.)

Marilyn, I am sending a copy of this request to Michelle Mowery-Johnson
as well, since some of the records may reside at DHS. I have let
Michelle know that [deleted] release form is on file at the TennCare
Bureau.

Thanks, and have a great weekend!

Nancy Amons
WSMV-TV Nashville

>>> "Andrew Finlayson" 11/03/05 8:22 PM >>>
I thank you for this information. We always welcome outside voices.

I did review the material that Nancy was working on, as I always do.

We are all lucky to work with someone with the outstanding integrity
that defines Nancy's long career.

I hope that after tonight's story, as complicated as many aspects of it
are, serve our joint efforts of informing the public on this important
issue.

Thank you again.

Andrew Finlayson
News Director
WSMV and WSMV.COM
Please contact us at news@wsmv.com with news stories.

-----Original Message-----
From: Michelle MoweryJohnson [mailto:Michelle.MoweryJohnson@state.tn.us]

Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 1:59 PM
To: Andrew Finlayson
Cc: Marilyn Elam; Michael Drescher
Subject: E-mail from Nancy Amons

Dear Andrew--

Thank you so much for taking my call and listening to my concerns about
the direction of Nancy's story, in particular the part about the DHS
computer system (see the below e-mail that was sent out by Nancy
today).

After I was sent this e-mail, I immediately contacted Nancy to let her
know that there are no computer glitches that "may have caused tens of
thousands of people to be cut off who should not have been."

I quickly contacted the DHS Director of Medicaid and TennCare policy to
have her explain to Nancy what DHS has done throughout this entire
disenrollment process. Mary Anne Rudolph went into great detail how a
special data match system/file was set up with the Social Security
Administration. She also explained how it was HUMAN error that did not
catch a particular case [deleted] that should have gone into the
Cluster Daniel's protected class of Medicaid recipients in Tennessee.
There are currently 130,000 Cluster Daniel Medicaid recipients in
Tennessee--and none of them should have received a Brown Form/RFI from
DHS or disenrollment notice from TennCare because they are protected.
I think Nancy now understands this.

We have been very patient and have explained that errors do
happen--that DHS employees are human and make mistakes. We have also
told Nancy that our computer system, while not new, has served the
Department and the citizens of Tennessee well over the years.

Nancy spent 40 minutes interviewing Commissioner Gina Lodge on
disenrollment and appeals. She spent a few of those minutes talking
about our computer system. I do not think that this makes her an expert
on the ACCENT system.

What causes me great concern is the remark that was made near the end
of our second conversation today. In effect, Nancy said "Why should a
person calling the DHS Family Assistance Service Center believe what
they are being told, because they might be talking to someone from
Canada who is looking at a bad computer system. " While I may not have
recorded Nancy's quote, this is what was said to me and my Medicaid
director. This is outrageous.

Nancy knows that a Canadian company was used to answer benefit change
questions for 9 days in early July, as 700,000-plus benefit change
notices were mailed out to the TennCare population. Nancy was also told
that [deleted], a breast cancer patient, had questions about what
kind of coverage she had. [Deleted] called the Service Center on June
10th after receiving her Brown Forms. She thought she was on Medicaid,
but the worker--a DHS state employee-- told [deleted] she was a TennCare
Standard enrollee--not a Medicaid enrollee and she needed to fill out
the Brown Forms.

Again, I am very thankful that you took my call earlier and understand
our concerns with this story. Please ask those hard questions of Nancy
when you review her scripts. If you have any questions, please don't
hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,
Michelle Mowery Johnson
Communications Director
Tennessee Department of Human Services

>> "Nancy Amons" Nancy.Amons@wsmv.com > 11/03/05 9:36 AM >>
Our TennCare series begins tonight at 6 and 10. We will run several
segments throughout the month. If you have a way to send out a mass
e-mail, you might want to tell people to tune in. Our 6:00 segment is
about a man who went without heart meds (5 script limit) and had a heart
attack. Cost to TennCare: $101.00. At ten: DHS computer glitches may
have caused tens of thousands of people to be cut off who should not
have been. Nancy Amons WSMV-TV Nashville

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling . . .

2005-11-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Governor Bredesen will announce today that the Nissan U.S. headquarters is moving to Middle Tennessee.

"Nissan to leave Southland" (Los Angeles Times)

The Japanese automaker is expected to announce today that it will move its main U.S. office from Gardena to Nashville.

By John O'Dell, Times Staff Writer

After nearly half a century of calling Southern California home, Nissan North America is preparing to call it quits.The company is scheduled to announce in Nashville today that it will relocate its corporate headquarters and 1,300 jobs from Gardena to a growing automotive center in central Tennessee. Nissan already has more than 6,500 employees at its largest U.S. assembly plant in the Nashville suburb of Smyrna.

Company representatives declined to comment, but Associated Press reported late Wednesday that Tennessee state Rep. Glen Casada had confirmed that the announcement was to be made jointly by Gov. Phil Bredesen and top Nissan executives at a news conference in the state Capitol. Neither Casada nor Bredesen could be reached for comment.Separately, a Nashville-area real estate industry insider, who asked not to be identified for fear of jeopardizing his job, told The Times late Wednesday that a major regional developer, Crescent Resources, planned to announce today that it had signed Nissan to an office leasing deal.

"State to announce Nissan move" (Nashville City Paper)

By John Rodgers and Don Mooradian

Officials are expected to announce today that Nissan North America will relocate its headquarters from Los Angeles to the Nashville area.

Nissan’s relocation to Nashville could bring as many as 1,300 jobs.The location of Nissan’s new headquarters is unclear at this point, but could be in the Cool Springs area of Williamson County.

Gov. Phil Bredesen is expected to make the announcement today at the State Capitol. Currently, it is not known what incentives state and local officials might have offered the company.

Lies, Damn Lies, and the Mainstream Media (Part II)

2005-11-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

News flash 1: "reporters" for the mainstream media have personal agendas.

News flash 2: The mainstream media is populated with liberal advocates of the welfare state.

This being the case, we shouldn't be surprised at how slanted the MSM's coverage has been against TennCare reform. Take Tim "Vladmir Illych" Chavez as an example. But Chavez is a columnist. His job is to present his opinion, no matter how biased it is. The "reporters," on the other hand, are supposed to be objective. They are supposed to present the facts independently of their biases.

Yeah, right.

The Queen of Slant so far has to be The Tennessean's Anita Wadhwani. Judging from her "reporting," Wadhwani doesn't know the meanings of "fair" or "impartial."

A source close to the General Assembly told me that Wadhwani's M.O. for putting together a story goes like this:

She calls a lawmaker at night and says, "Department X is spending a gazillion dollars to do such and such. Department Y says they could have done it for nothing. What do you think about that?"

The lawmaker replies, "That sounds like a waste of money, but I'd have to look into it."

Wadhwani thanks the lawmaker and ends the interview.

The next morning, the Tennessean runs a front-page, above-the-fold story with a screaming headline: "Lawmakers incensed over 'waste' of a gazillion dollars."

Does this sound like the manner in which an impartial reporter seeks out the facts?

I didn't think so.

To get to a specific example of Wadhwani's shoddy work, let's look at her story from last Friday, "TennCare lawyers a 'waste' of $1M." In it, our intrepid "reporter" claims, "The state is spending $1 million on temporary lawyers to hear TennCare appeals even though attorneys working for the Tennessee Secretary of State had said they could handle the appeals with no new staff and no additional cost to taxpayers."

A Capitol Hill source has provided your crack staff here at "Bring the Noise" with a memo from Human Services Commissioner Virginia Lodge that tells an entirely different story and questions many of the "facts" that Wadhwani reports. (This memo, dated 11/07/2005, was sent to the legislature's Joint Fiscal Review committee in response to Wadhwani's story.)

According to the memo, the Secretary of State's office told DHS on April 28, 2005 that it could not assist the department with TennCare disenrollment appeals. DHS continued on with the planning of the appeals process. At some later point (the memo does not specify when), the Secretary of State's office changed its position and told DHS that it could "squeeze[e] in" the TennCare disenrollment appeals.

DHS did not take the Secretary of State's office up on the offer because "[i]n our experience, it has taken twice as long for [administrative law judges in the Secretary of State's office] to completely process appeals as it has taken our hearing officers." The memo goes on to say that "[t]his additional time would have had a significant fiscal impact" because the state spends an average of $400 per month in benefits on the people appealing TennCare disenrollment.

Sources tell me that there were approximately 5,000 TennCare disenrollment appeals filed. At an average of $400 per appellant, that comes to $2 million a month.

Now, Wadhwani reports that the appeals hearings began on Oct. 3. She also reports that "[t]he hearings are expected to wrap up in mid-November." That means that the DHS hearing officers will complete the process in about six weeks. If it would have taken the Secretary of State's office twice as long, that means it would have taken them 12 weeks to complete the process.

Let's do some rough math here. At $2 million dollars a month (Let's take four weeks as a month.), six weeks equals about $3 million dollars. Twelve weeks equals $6 million dollars. (I admit that these are rough estimates that do not take into account several possible variables.)

Sounds like the DHS hearing officers are a bargain. The savings they have generated more than cover the cost of hiring them.

Of course, this assumes that the Secretary of State's office actually could do these hearings in the first place, which the DHS memo points out is not very likely.

Wadhwani claims that the ALJ's hear "about 120 TennCare cases a week." She states that there are 30 of them in the Secretary of State's office. That means - according to Wadhwani - they hear 3,600 TennCare cases a week. If they work 52 weeks a year, that comes out to about 187,000 TennCare cases a year. Wadhwani also states that the ALJ's hear other cases on top of these. So they are hearing more than 187,ooo cases a year? How could they possibly fit in more?

But wait, does anyone else smell some rotten math here?

Of course, it's ridiculous to think that the Secretary of State's office hears that many TennCare cases. But Wadhwani never stopped to do the math. Worse, she never bothered to question what she was told.

Apparently, though, Virginia Lodge did. In her memo, she asks, "How could these numbers be accurate when it is our understanding that for the 2005 fiscal year, the Secretary of State only docketed approximately 17,000 cases?"

So here we have a biased journalist attempting to do a "gotcha" piece intended to generate negative publicity for a government policy with which she disagrees. In other words, she tried to do a hatchet job.

And what did she produce? A pile of cheap, steaming . . . misinformation.

Before I go, there's one other thing in Wadhwani's piece that really hacks me. She non-chalantly states that the Secretary of State's office could have taken on the increased workload by "cutting back temporarily on the other types of hearings they routinely conduct. These include such things as appeals from people on government programs such as food stamps, appeals of vehicle confiscations by the Department of Safety, or revocation of licenses from the Department of Commerce and Insurance."

Wait a minute, Anita? Why should these hearings be shoved aside? Aren't they important? Aren't these taxpayers entitled to timely hearings of their grievances? I don't think it would have been such a minor thing to have these cases set aside while the Secretary of State's office spent months hearing TennCare termination appeals.

But I'm wasting my breath. Wadhwani isn't the type of person to let facts get in the way of her agenda.

Lies, Damn Lies, and the Mainstream Media (Part I)

2005-11-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

More on Channel 4's Nancy Amons and her false story of a man being cut from TennCare.

Your crack staff here at "Bring the Noise" has obtained copies of emails exchanged between Amons and officials of both the Bureau of TennCare and the Department of Human Services. The state has Amons dead to rights on this one: she was clearly told that she was misrepresenting facts.

In an email dated 10/28/05, Amons asks, "Why was [the subject of the story] cut off from TennCare?" and "Why was he re-instated to TennCare?" Michelle Mowery-Johnson, DHS director of communications, replies to the first question, "[The subject] was never cut from TennCare." To the second, she answers, "Again, [the subject] was never disenrolled . . . he never lost medical coverage, so he didn't have to be re-instated."

In an 11/04 email demanding a correction, Mowery-Johnson informs Andrew Finlayson, Channel 4 news director, "[The subject] was NEVER cut off TennCare. In fact, Nancy was told several times in an e-mail . . . by me and on the phone by Michael Drescher of the TennCare Bureau that [the subject] never lost coverage."

Mowery-Johnson goes on to tell Finlayson that Amons has another story upcoming on a woman that she claims has been disenrolled. Same problem: this person has never been cut from TennCare.

As Mowery-Johnson concludes, "Both of these individuals show how the appeals process actually works."

Let's be clear: both of the individuals in questions received "Brown Forms." These were the forms that the state sent out to people that could potentially be disenrolled. Should the two people in question have been sent these forms? According to the state, no. But these forms asked for further information that the state would then use to determine if the people were in fact subject to disenrollment. TennCare coverage was not ended for a single person until this process was completed.

In both cases examined by Amons, the folks were Medicaid-eligible. They provided futher info. They stayed on TennCare. No disruption of coverage. End of story . . .

Except that it wasn't the end of the story because Amons chose to intentionally mislead the public.

But it gets worse.

At 9:36 AM on 11/03 (the day her story ran), Amons sent out a mass email touting her 10 o'clock story: "DHS computer glitches may have caused tens of thousands of people to be cut off [of TennCare] who should not have been."

At 1:59 on 11/03, Mowery-Johnson sent Finlayson a lengthy email stating that she had contacted Amons after receiving her email to explain "that there are no computer glitches that 'may have caused tens of thousands of people to be cut off who should not have been.'"

Further, Mowery-Johnson informs Finlayson that she had the department's director of Medicaid and TennCare policy call Amons to explain that no computer error led to the Brown Forms being sent to the man in question. It was "HUMAN error that did not catch [this] particular case."

Again, after being told that her "facts" were incorrect, Amons knowingly ran her false story, including blatant whoppers like:

"Turns out TennCare made a mistake and the state has no idea how many people . . . have been cut off by accident."

And what was Finlayson's reaction to all of this? Remember, he's the guy in charge of the news room; he holds the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that his reporters tell the truth.

He says that "we are all lucky" to have someone like Nancy Amons reporting the news. He discussed it with Amons, and she decided a correction "is not appropriate."

For her part, Mowery-Johnson closed her email conversation with the stand-up-guy news director with this:

"Because Nancy has failed to listen to and accurately report important facts involving this very serious and complex topic, her story at 10 had a gross error. DHS has grave concerns about future stories and how accurately they may or may not be portrayed on Channel 4 News."

Very diplomatic of the state, but let's cut to the chase here.

Channel 4 News, like most of the mainstream media, is not interested in the truth. It is only interested in ratings. This piece is a sweeps fabrication. Why did Amons lie? Because if she told the truth, there's no sexy story that might generate ratings. What kinds of teaser is this?

"State does its job well. Film at 10."

Oh, boy, that oughta titillate viewers.

No, Amons screwed around with the facts and made up a story about faulty computer programs erroneously kicking people off public assistance rolls.

In other words, she fed us a bunch of bunk.

How long is the public going to let this sort of crap go on in the media?

Smell the Coffee, Gordon

2005-11-07T09:11:00.000-08:00

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has a top-notch op ed piece about Medicaid reform in last Monday's Washington Times. Anyone interested in the topic needs to read it. (Okay, I know most people's eyes glaze over at the word Medicaid. Maybe I'm a geek.)

******

Save Medicaid from Itself

Medicaid is a study in contradiction. Thanks to it, America's neediest get health care paid for by taxpayers. Often they get better health care than taxpayers can afford for themselves.

The program is both "free" and break-the-bank expensive. It lets poor people look rich and rich people look poor, and it rewards lawyers and druggists with real wealth. Medicaid works so well it's going broke.

In a sense, the program is a victim of its own success. It has grown so expansive that even the nation's governors recognize that the future without reform is grim. Reform, by the way, is hardly draconian. It amounts to slowing the growth rate by .3 percent. Medicaid will still grow by 7 percent.

Now, critics say 7 percent growth isn't enough. They call it a cut and say it will devastate the poor. I say that Medicaid is doing that right now. Between 2002 and 2005, 38 states reduced eligibility and 34 cut benefits. The greatest contradiction in Medicaid is that it is both growing and collapsing. . . .

It is perplexing to me that so many who say they care the most, want to do the least. If you want Medicaid patients to lose health care, the thing to do is nothing. An argument to keep what we have is an argument for bankruptcy, and it will have the perverse effect of cutting health care for those who can't afford it, and who certainly can't afford to lose it. I don't want that. I want fairness and effectiveness from Medicaid.

******

Is the TennCareigentsia listening?

Oops, They Did it Again

2005-11-05T08:34:00.000-08:00

We shouldn't be surprised any more at the level of unprofessionalism and underhandedness to which some folks in this state's mainstream media have sunk, should we? A sad commentary, indeed.

Nancy Amons, investigative "reporter" for Channel 4 in Nashville, is running a sweeps series this month about TennCare. On Thursday, she did a story about a man that she claims was "cut off [TennCare] by accident."

The problem is that this man was never cut off TennCare at all. Period.

Did Amons make a mistake? Did her subject sell her a bill of goods? Did Amons simply misunderstand the situation?

No, sir. Multiple sources inform me that Amons was told numerous times by officials from TennCare and Human Services that this man had not been disenrolled, and she chose to run her own version of events.

In other words, Nancy Amons intentionally misled the public.

To make matters worse, the state contacted Channel 4 and demanded that they correct their erroneous report. As of the last that I heard, the station had refused to run an on-air correction because "it would look bad"; however, it did add a tepid two-line "clarification" to the end of the on-line text version of the story.

So I guess we know the truth: Channel 4 will do anything to boost its market share. The truth be damned. And God forbid that they "look bad" during sweeps.

We shouldn't be surprised, though. This is the station that (rightfully) forced James Lewis to retire after he reported a story from "The Fabricator" as if it were true. Guess he never read the disclaimer that The Nashville Scene runs at the end of each "Fabricator."

Or, then again, maybe Lewis just believed that his station isn't interested in reporting facts. Most of the mainstream media isn't. Keep track of how many one-source stories you see these days. Take note of all of the uncorroborated "facts" you see strewn around by these bush league hacks.

Is it too much to expect accurate reporting from these "professionals"? Is it too much to expect that they'll correct the mistakes that they do make?

And, most importantly, is it too much to expect that they won't lie to us?

A Swing and a Miss?

2005-11-04T15:53:00.000-08:00

Nashville Files takes issue with my buzz yesterday that Sen. Jim Bryson is running for governor. Looks like NF might have better sources on this one than I do.

Two other things in the piece with which I completely agree:

1. John Jay Hooker has a MUCH better blog than Governor Bredesen. (Sorry, Governor, it's just the truth.)

2. Marsha Blackburn is WAY IN for the 2010 gubernatorial race.

Her opponent?

Lincoln Davis?

Kim McMillan?

You Will See Him Again

2005-11-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

File this one. You'll be hearing a lot about it in state races next year.

******

Bristol drug firm King overcharged TennCare by $2.6M
State expects to recover about $1.9 million
Associated Press

KNOXVILLE — King Pharmaceuticals Inc. overcharged TennCare about $2.6 million for drugs over nine years, the state attorney general's office says.

The Bristol-based branded drug company announced Tuesday that it will pay more than $124 million to resolve claims that it charged federal and state governments too much for its drug products.

Prescription overpayments and penalties involving Tennessee's expanded Medicaid program totaled $5.37 million, said Sharon Curtis-Flair, the attorney general's spokeswoman.

The state stands to recover about $1.9 million of the $5.37 million, Curtis-Flair said. The rest goes to the federal government, which pays the greater share of TennCare costs.

Papa's Got a Brand New Buzz

2005-11-03T15:10:00.000-08:00

There's a definite buzz in the air. I heard it all afternoon. It goes a little something like this:

State Sen. Jim Bryson will announce next week that he is a candidate for governor.

Don't know if he'll resign from the Senate or not. If he does, the Williamson County Commission (Bryson's home county) is sure to name a Republican to the seat. At the very least, Bryson won't be able to run for re-election if he's running for governor. Then again, John Jay Hooker runs for multiple offices at the same time . . .

I think it's a colossally bad move on Bryson's part.

Wonder what the TnGOP promised him?

Dancing with Myself

2005-11-03T11:13:00.000-08:00

There's some anxiety these days around the blogosphere about the '06 gubernatorial race in our fair state. The TennCareigentsia want to resurrect Eugene Debs, call him a native of Carthage, and run him in the Democratic Primary. The conservatives just want a Republican - any Republican - to run.

Now that Jim Henry is out, there's only one viable candidate in the race, Governor Phil Bredesen. (I won't waste space discussing John Jay Hooker and Carl "Two Feathers" Whitaker.) Bob Krumm has an interesting thought on what an uncontested race could mean (I don't always agree with Bob, but he's about as sharp as any blogger that you'll find.), but I don't think the race will be uncontested.

Zogby polled a Bredesen-Fred Thompson race. Big deal. They might as well poll a Bredesen-50 Cent race because Thompson ain't running for governor. He has a nice job, a nice wife, a nice new baby. Life is good for Fred; why would he want to mess it up by running for governor?

The Tennessean mentions four Repub members of the General Assembly as possible candidates: Sens. Ron Ramsey, Mark Norris and Jim Bryson, and Rep. Beth Harwell.

All four face one major problem: It's illegal for members of the General Assembly to raise money for state campaigns while the General Assembly is in session. That means they would either have to resign their seats to run for governor or they would have to forgo raising money next January until at least the end of May (maybe longer, depending on how long the General Assembly bickers over ethics reform). Any Republican candidate already faces a major fundraising disadvantage (because Governor Bredesen has been raising bucketloads). They really couldn't give up five to six months of fundraising.

Would they resign?

Not likely for Ramsey. He's Senate Majority Leader. If the GOP can widen it's majority in the Senate in next year's elections (which is a possibility) or if they could replace Sen. Tim Burchett with a non-John-Wilder-supporting Republican, then Ramsey could become lieutenant governor. In fact, there are better odds of that than of Ramsey beating Bredesen. Ramsey has some liabilities, too. More on that later.

Bryson is up for re-election next year, which he should win easily. Word is that he's floating feelers around about the governor's race. But he's still fairly new and unknown. Why give up a safe seat at this point? He'll stick around and try to accomplish more as a senator.

And Norris? He got walloped in the Republican primary for Marsha Blackburn's U.S. House seat in '02. He has absolutely zero chance of winning the governor's race. Don't quit your day job, Mark.

And Harwell? Well . . .

She's the most likely. She has some statewide name recognition from her days as chairman of the TnGOP and her short stint as a candidate for the U.S. Senate. Word around Nashville political circles is that there are some skeletons rattlin' around those closets, and Halloween is over.

But will she resign from the General Assembly? I thought she would - until I read in The Tennesseean that she won't make her decision until after the holidays. That's important because state law requires special elections for seats in the General Assembly that are vacated with more than a year left in the term. The county legislative body appoints an interim until the special election can be held. If a seat is vacated with under a year left on the term, the county legislative body names a replacement that serves out the rest of the term. No special election.

Does anyone want to bet on whether the Metro Council would appoint a Democrat or a Republican to replace Harwell? If she resigns before November 7, 2005, it wouldn't matter. The interim would only serve until a full-time replacement could be elected.

If Harwell resigns after November 7, 2005 . . .

I'm not so sure now that Harwell is running. But there is another person whose name has been mentioned.

Does this look like the website of a candidate, or what?

I'm shocked!!! Shocked!!!!

2005-11-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

Just shocked that a pharmaceutical company ripped off Medicaid (That's called TennCare in this state.) and that pharmaceutical companies own the Republican Party lock, stock, and barrel.

From the boys at Go4Truth.com:

TUKE CALLS ON GOP TO RETURN GREGORY MONEY

Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Bob Tuke called on Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey and other Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly to take a stand against political contributions by John Gregory and other individuals with ties to King Pharmaceuticals Inc. Tuke made the call in advance of a meeting of the General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Committee on Ethics and following an announcement by the U.S. Justice Department that Bristol-based King Pharmaceuticals will have to pay $124 million to settle claims that it underpaid rebates to state Medicaid programs and overcharged various federal and state entities for its drug products. The federal investigation and settlement was the result of a whistleblower complaint. . . .

In 2004, John Gregory and the Gregory family gave at least $285,000 to his personal political action committee, Tennessee Conservative PAC, which then funneled contributions to state legislators including State Senators Ramsey and Diane Black and State Representatives Jerome Cochran, Steve Godsey, Matthew Hill, Jason Mumpower and Jack Sharp. This year alone, the Gregorys have given the PAC at least $50,000.

That's What I'm Talking 'Bout!

2005-11-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

Want to know why I'm a supporter of Governor Bredesen. Here it is, Bubba Jack.

******

Nashville Business Journal - 10:15 AM CST Monday
Fitch assigns AA rating to $145M state bond offering

Fitch Ratings has assigned a AA Rating to $145 million in general obligation bonds the state is expected to sell on Nov. 2.

The bonds mature at various points between next year and 2025. Fitch analysts also affirmed their AA rating on about $1 billion in outstanding general obligation state bonds. The firm's ratings range from AAA to BBB for long-term investments and F1 to F3 for short-term investments.

Fitch analysts noted the state appears to be having success in reducing spending growth at TennCare, the state's modified-Medicaid program. Among other changes, the state has begun trimming the rolls of recipients by 191,000. Without changes, TennCare was expected to cost the state an additional $575 million in fiscal 2006.

Analysts noted the state's debt burden is low, with net tax-supported debt of $1.4 billion and is equal to $233 per capita and 0.8 percent of personal income.

Analysts also noted that the state's reserves grew from $178 million at the close of fiscal year 2003 to a little more than $275 million at the close of fiscal year 2005. The state expects fiscal year 2006 tax growth of 4 percent with sales taxes forecast at a 4.5 percent increase. Collections so far have exceeded those estimates.

******

That's right: the state's fiscal house is in order. Reserves are up; bond ratings are up; TennCare growth has been reigned in.

Unlike those "fiscal conservatives" on the other side like Dubya and Don Sundquist (You know, guys that never met budgets they couldn't bust.), Governor Bredesen balances his budgets, all three that he's had so far.

And that should surprise no one. Democrats balance budgets. Check the record.

Now, of course, the snivelling TennCare advocates like Tim "Vladmir Illych" Chavez and Joey "Dr. Tax and Spend" Hensley are moaning that the state's reserves are at an all-time high while non-Medicaid eligible adults are being removed from TennCare.

Well, yeah. The money in the Rainy Day Fund is one-time money. Governor Bredesen put a stop to the Sundquist practice of using non-recurring money to pay recurring expenses. Chavez and Hensley apparently didn't notice that Dandy Don and his merry band of robbers got the state into big trouble.

It's a good thing that reasonable people pay no attention to Chavez and Hensley.

Holy Crap!

2005-11-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm dealing with some heavy-duty psychological and emotional trauma right now. I just learned that I agree with Chris Clem on something. That's tough to take.

Oh, that's right: you've never heard of Chris Clem. Lucky you. He's one of the dimmer bulbs in the General Assembly's pack. A back-bench conservative from Hamilton County.

But he posted the following on BillHobbs.com back in August. I have to admit, Chris got it right for once.

******

TennCare is probably the most misunderstoond socialized program ever created. We have 1.4 million people on TennCare. About 800,000 qualified for the old Medicaid program. That means 800,000 are sick enough or poor enough to qualify under the old Medicaid. However, 600,000 are neither sick enough nor poor enough to qualify under the old medicaid program.

Breseden proposed cutting about 200,000 people from TennCare. None of these 200,00 people are from the sickest or poorest 800,000 that qualified for the old medicaid program. These 200,000 were these least sick and the least poor of the 600,000 that didn't qualify for the medicaid program. . . .

The real question is not who is entitled. No one is entitled to free healthcare. This is socialism pure and simple.

TennCare is based upon the principle that if I need someone else's hard earned money more than they need it, then I am entitled to take their hard earned money to pay for my medical bills, food stamps, section 8 housing or other socialized entitlement. In other words, need is given a higher moral authority to take assets than the people who earned it.

Mercy and grace have no part in such a socialized society. There is nothing voluntary about the government taking your money to build a socialized medical program. Few of the recipients are grateful. All the ones I hear from demand their rights and their entitlements to have others pay for their problems.

Karl Marx's maxim of "From each according to his ability to each according to his need" has found life in TennCare.

Those that believe in pursing "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" must now submit their freedom, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness to those that need your assets and income more than you.

God help us.
-Chris Clem

Posted by: Chris Clem at August 24, 2005 08:13 PM

A Good Walk Spoiled

2005-11-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

I like golf. Okay, so I really like golf.

If you play at the public courses that I play around Nashville and the Doughnut, you find that golf isn't quite the blueblood sport some people think it is. (Actually, if you check the history of the game, you'll find it was never meant to be a blueblood sport at all.) It's a chance to socialize, either with friends or with people you don't know - all while every last masochistic one of you is subjecting him/herself to the most frustrating game that Satan ever devised.

For someone that likes to talk politics (like I do), golf is a great opportunity. If I have three other friends that want to golf on a given day, then great. If not, I go out to a course, round up a foursome, play some golf . . .

And talk some politics.

Call it informal opinion polling if you like.

Now, I'll admit up front that this is strictly anecdotal evidence from a guy running his trap in between shanking seven irons into the woods, but I have found two trends:

1. No one wants to talk about TennCare.

2. Everyone wants to talk about ethics.

(Granted, this is if they want to talk about state politics at all. Most people want to talk about the Feds. We all know that Dubya sucks and the DNC is the gang that can't shoot straight. Why babble on about that? I'm a state politics guy, myself.)

I have some theories about why these two trends are . . . well, trends:

1. Most Tennesseans are talked to death on TennCare. I mean, this mess has been going on for how long? At least since 1998. We watched as Sundquist screwed the program. We picked up from the national news that health care costs skyrocketed during that period, and we also picked up from the national news that every state in the country is in the middle of a Medicaid crisis.

Are Tennessean's pissed at Governor Bredesen for TennCare reform? Far from it. Most Tennesseans are glad he took action. He didn't wring his hands, fret, and moan like the last governor. He did something, which is what we elected him to do.

Now, I know those whining advocates are squawking that the sky is falling and one or two right-wing columnists are screaming bloody murder because they think they can hurt the Governor politically . . .

But most Tennesseans don't listen to those jackasses.

Nope, the overwhelming consensus on the golf courses of Middle Tennessee is that the Governor got a bucket of crap dropped in his lap with TennCare, and Tennesseans are glad that he took it out back and dumped it.

2. Tennesseans haven't really even begun to raise hell about the moral morass in the General Assembly. Fortunately or not, Tennesseans are painting every state House and state Senate member with a broad brush - "They're all crooks (except mine)!"

Seriously, people think there's a major problem on Capitol Hill, and they are looking to their individual legislators to fix it. Whether or not there's a special session, the General Assembly better pass some real ethics reform.

Otherwise, Tennesseans are going to throw a lot of bums out next November.

Deja Vu All Over Again

2005-10-31T13:50:00.000-08:00

Think the TennCare problem is new? Do you believe the crap you hear from the advocates about Governor Bredesen creating the mess? Check out the date on this article from The Memphis Flyer.

Also, think about this the next time you hear an advocate saying we can tax our way out of the problem: not fully six months after the largest tax increase in Tennessee history (over $1 billion annually), the program was faced with a shortfall of over one-quarter of a billion dollars.

******

BAD PROGNOSIS FOR TENNCARE
State insurance plan has $258 million hole despite tax increase.
BY FRANK MURTAUGH JANUARY 17, 2003

NASHVILLE - TennCare will end the state's budget year next June with at least a $258 million shortfall despite the largest tax increase in Tennessee history, the program's director told legislators Wednesday. The shortfall is expected largely because reforms failed to generate the expected savings, and payments to managed care organizations (MCOs) and for drugs are higher than expected, TennCare Director Manny Martins told House members during the second day of their organizational session.

"We're looking at a $258 million problem," Martins said.Worst case: an additional $300 million shortage. Martins' appearance was the first of three days worth of presentations to House members by officials dealing with the state's three biggest - and most immediate - financial headaches: TennCare, teacher pay equity and setting up a state lottery. . . .

In his presentation to House members, Martins noted that medical services account for about half of the $6 billion TennCare program. "In the first six months of this year, we're going to spend $593 million more than we budgeted in dental, $43 million more in pharmacy and $4 million more in supplemental provider payments," Martins said. Aggravating the problem is a severe difference between real and anticipated savings expected from TennCare reforms, such as the reverification of who is eligible and who is not. TennCare spends an average of $158 per enrollee every month. But the enrollees booted from the program were largely a healthy group, leaving the state to pay an average of $200 a month for most of its enrollees, who are a sicker group, Martins said.

"It was quite an eye-opener," House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh said later during his weekly news conference. "We have a real problem with TennCare, (but) if something is doing good, it ought to survive." Naifeh said he wants to wait for a TennCare solution from incoming Gov. Phil Bredesen, who made millions of dollars in health care, mainly in managing health maintenance organizations. "I hope to manage our way out of this mess," Naifeh said. "I think it was an innovative program. It's something that's needed."

House Speaker Pro Tem Lois DeBerry, D-Memphis, said TennCare has been underfunded, an argument made by health care providers who say they're underpaid, since its inception in 1994.

"The bottom line is we need a miracle," she said.

Medicaid Costs

2005-10-31T13:36:00.000-08:00

Chew on these numbers:

According to Harper's, the United States' government spends $300 billion annually on Medicaid. One-third of that amount goes to recipients that are in the final year of their lives.

State governments now spend more on their Medicaid programs than they do on K-12 education.

While the advocates cry that Governor Bredesen has "cut" TennCare, he has actually only limited it to 26% of the state budget. One in every four dollars available to the state goes into TennCare. Governor Bredesen's reforms reduced TennCare from the largest state Medicaid program in the country to the seventh largest state Medicaid program in the country.

What's Governor Bredesen doing? He's making TennCare live within the state's means. That's good government, baby.