Knoxville News Sentinel:

A proposal that would require a paper record for voters’ ballots in Tennessee passed the Senate.

The measure was unanimously approved today. The House passed the companion bill 88-6 earlier this week.

According to the report, some details between the two bills must be reconciled before sending to the governor. It requires changes in place no later than 2010.

This is pretty good news for Tennessee voters.

The most encouraging chart you're likely to see today, if you're a Democrat.

I have just received word from the Director of Online Communications for the Democratic National Convention Committee that KnoxViews/TennViews has been selected as the official credentialed Tennessee blog for the August 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Part of the deal is that yours truly will be seated alongside the Tennessee delegation on the convention floor ("one of the best seats in the house") to live-blog the greatest political event in recent history.

Developing...

UPDATE: DNC Chairman Governor Dean Announces Blogs Selected For 2008 Democratic National Convention 'State Blogger Corps'

"Similar to the record-breaking voter turnout our Party has seen during the primary season, the demand for these coveted blogger positions is yet another indicator of the tremendous interest in this historic Convention," said Governor Dean. "The Internet has played a critical role in connecting Americans to elected officials and candidates seeking office. The DemConvention State Blogger Corps will continue to foster this dialogue - in all 50 of our states and our territories too - as we head towards this year's historic election and elect a Democrat to the White House."

Follow the link for the full press release and list of blogs.

UPDATE: Square State, the official Colorado blog, interviews Howard Dean about the State Blogger Corps.

UPDATE: Howard Dean welcomes state bloggers:

What's up with this?

Freshman Republican Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee watched his average net worth slide from $78.1 million to a negative $1.8 million.

There's this comment on that:

Bill Allison, the Sunlight Foundation senior fellow who led the research, noted that members of Congress who sink into debt are worth watching because they could be ``more open to temptation'' and ``more likely to deal with special interests.''

Members of Congress are due to file their 2007 financial statements this week.

I guess we'll see if Corker bounced back. If so, how did he do that? On the Speaking tour with Clinton?

Michael Silence confirms apology posted on a blog without attribution.

Bob Tuke is marching across the state of Tennessee (wearing his Marine combat boots from Vietnam) to meet and talk with voters and to emphasize the need for someone in Congress who has "fought in combat and understands the difficulty of ending a war with minimal casualties and maximum honor."

He also intends to highlight the natural beauty of our state and our obligation to be good stewards of the environment, and to demonstrate his commitment to the voters of Tennessee.

Read the full press release after the jump...

Gov. Bredesen yesterday outlined his proposal to cut the state budget by $468 million. Here's a summary:

• BEP fully funded, with an increase of $59 million for the inflationary costs for both pre-K and the traditional K-12 system. No new pre-K classrooms or BEP expansion, savings $109 million. Every teacher and every classroom is funded, with inflation.

• Higher education cut $56 million (4.1%). UT and the Board of Regents will oversee budget cuts without raising tuitions.

• Forgoing $35 million addition to rainy day fund, eliminating planned $80 million TennCare expansion for a new medically needy program.

• $229 million in reversions back to general fund from departments.

• No state employee salary increases. Reduction of workforce by 5%, approx. 2000 people. Voluntary reductions through buyout program, funded by one-time expenditure of $50 million from reserve funds. Only offered to employees whose department head has committed to permanent reductions. If buyouts do not achieve the necessary reductions there will be layoffs this summer.

The Governor's office says the proposal protects pre-K-12 education and that cuts are based on "asking for no new taxes, matching recurring revenues to recurring expenditures to ensure long-term financial stability, and preserving the state’s Rainy Day fund to ensure the state can weather an economic downturn of undetermined length."

Other things that were interesting:

Voters are more uncomfortable with an old person than they are with a Woman in the Presidency. (34% to 17%)

Voters are slightly more uncomfortable with a woman than they are with a black person in the Presidency. (17% - 16%)

Other projections show Tennessee going solidly for McCain, even in the best case scenario for the Democrats. We ARE the firewall state for the neo-cons.

Link...

We use them all the time - our firefighters, police officers and emergency medical service personnel. Hardly a day goes by that we don't come into contact either directly or indirectly with these hard working public servants. When we have traffic accidents or emergencies at home or at work these public servants are the first on the scene in our communities. Often risking their own safety in order to serve the public good, these employees of our cities, states and municipalities deserve to have collective bargaining rights.

Democratic Senate candidate Bob Tuke's campaign remarks on Sen. Alexander's energy proposals:

Nashville: Senator Alexander has attempted to reinvent himself and his anti-environmental voting record with his proposal for a "Manhattan Project" on alternative energy sources, an election year stunt aimed at covering up the truth about Senator Alexander's close ties and vested interests with Big Oil.

Rest of the press release after the jump...

America faces a housing crisis that it has not seen the likes of since the great depression. Hundreds of thousands of families have lost their homes due to the mortgage crisis in the past year and more are at risk if we don't act now. That is why the US Senate must support some version of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which passed this past week in the US House. This legislation, which is on its way to the Senate next week has been threatened with veto by President Bush.

They're kidding, right?

Democratic Senate candidate Mike Padgett responds to Sen. Alexanders "Manhattan Project" with an "Energy 2.0" proposal. At least it has a more up-to-date new age moniker. Read the press release after the jump...

Speaking at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory today, Sen. Lamar Alexander proposed "launching a 5-year New Manhattan Project to put America firmly on the path to clean energy independence within a generation."

A message from Bob Tuke:

The recent devastation in Myanmar left by Cyclone Nargis has our hearts grieving, and our fervent prayers are with the victims of this unspeakable disaster. With the death toll already estimated as high as 100,000 and countless men, women, and children left homeless and destitute by this week's destruction, the call to give generously, with open hearts, cannot be ignored.

Earlier today our campaign made a donation to the Red Cross International Response Fund. Will you join me by donating $25 dollars to Myanmar relief today?

Click here to support relief efforts.

Your contribution will go entirely to the efforts of the Red Cross in providing medical attention, food, water, and shelter to hundreds of thousands in need of emergency assistance.

One of the many reasons I am proud to call myself a Tennessean is because our men and women have always answered the call of duty. Donate $25 today, and let's answer the call to provide for the victims of Cyclone Nargis and to deliver a message of hope to Myanmar.

Sincerely,
Bob Tuke

A good idea, regardless of which candidate you support.

GoldnI endorses an idea proposed by MSNBC's Chuck Todd on how to deal with the Michigan and Florida Democratic Primary delegates.

The idea is to seat the elected delegates but not the superdelegates, thus penalizing party leadership in those states (who some could argue allowed this to happen) but not the voters. That almost sounds like a reasonable solution.

GoldnI notes the problem with Michigan, however, where Obama wasn't on the ballot. If I recall correctly, the choices were Clinton v. "uncommitted." The simple solution would be to allow the Michigan "uncommitted" delegates to vote for whoever they want.

WATE Knoxville:

A proposal that would restrict credit card solicitations to students on college campuses is headed to the governor for his consideration.

A compromise allowing solicitation on game days saved the bill from the GOP.

Sean Braisted critiques Harold Ford Jr.'s American Center for Cures proposal and wonders how it's different from the National Institute of Health. Good question.

I am in a state of deep confusion and conflict. Now, the confusion part is not new ground for me but this whole thing is interesting and so typical of my (right now) home of Louisiana, I thought I would post this just for ##i## and grins. The Legislature of Louisiana is mad at the newspapers. Not a unique situation, the Lege is usually mad at someone or something but right now it is newspapers in general and the Baton Rouge and Lake Charles papers in particular.

Rep. Campfield:

The Gov is killing the drunk driver licence [sic] revocation bill. He is saying he can not afford the 75 employees needed to process the information. I started to wonder. 75 people to type in a revocation of someones [sic] licence at the DMV? How many drunk drivers does the state catch in one year?

I did some simple math, lets just say it takes all of ten minutes to type one in. That is 6 per hour x 8 hours in a day x 5 days a week x 50 weeks a year x 75 employees that totaled 900,000 DUI arrests in one year. I did not realize that almost 1/6 of the states total population of 6 million (That includes every man, women, child and elderly person of the state. some who I doubt drive at all) get arrested every year for a DUI! Look out, our roads are more dangerous then I thought.

Fortunately, the Tennessee legislature doesn't pass bills based on simple-minded calculations such as these. Bills must have a "fiscal note" explaining the financial impact of the legislation.

The bill in question is HB4213/SB4196. The fiscal note for HB4213 says there are "34,000 DUI arrests and approximately 27,000 convictions per year," which answers Campfield's first question.

It goes on to say:

To implement the provisions of this bill [Department of Safety] will require the following additional resources: 44 additional positions in the Driver License Issuance Division; 17 additional positions in the Information Processing Division; two additional positions in the Human Resource Division; two additional positions in the Fiscal Services Division; three additional positions in Information Resources; and seven additional positions in the Legal Division. The total number of positions required is estimated to be 75.

It also estimates that three additional Chancellors with two support positions each will be needed to handle appeals, plus one additional Court of Appeals Judge with a staff of three support positions.

This bill appears to be a more comprehensive replacement for HB2882, which Campfield co-sponsored. The fiscal note for HB2882 says the Department of Safety would need 35 additional employees and that the Attorney General would need two additional lawyers and a paralegal.

So Rep. Campfield doesn't even read or understand the legislation he cosponsors and supports, or he would know that there is a lot more to it than hiring someone to "type in a revocation of someones [sic] licence at the DMV."

Drafting legislation is complicated business best suited for adults. Perhaps the simple-minded ought to find more suitable work.

At the end of April, the Commercial Appeal ran an important report about guns in the Memphis public schools - 162 incidents over five years. Even with no fatalities and only a few actual woundings, this is a jaw-dropping number - close to one a week during the school year.

Six of the incidents happened at a school I once attended. One happened where my mother taught remedial reading many years ago, another where my father taught math even more years ago. Three guns were found at the high school that I could see from the dining room of the first house I really remember.

I have to wonder how many guns are not being found. Metal detectors only managed to find eight of the guns. Tips led to most of the confiscations. Many of the violating kids started as victims. How many gang members are too intimidating for anyone to rat on? How many of them carry a gun every day without the school system finding out?

At WBIR

UPDATE: Guess it's over? Is there an archive?

UPDATE: WSMV liveblog (by way of ACK).

UPDATE: Tom Humphrey: 2000+ layoffs.

The Donkey’s Mouth:

A routine bill to reauthorize the continued existence of approximately 60 state agencies and departments is now being held hostage by Senate Republicans in the Government Operations Committee. Ramsey says he will not allow the bill to pass unless the state changes the way it elects justices to the Supreme Court in a way that allows Ramsey to appoint activist judges to the panel. "[This bill] is the hammer that I have. I’ll admit that," Ramsey told the Tennessean.

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. How'd that work out for Newt Gingrich?

North Carolina and Indiana primary reaction from Tennessee progressive bloggers:

WhitesCreek Journal: Congratulations! Obama will be the Democratic Nominee

Obama ran a positive campaign against a formidible opponent who did not...and has won.

Nashville for the 21st Century: Will Limbaugh Win?

If Hillary wins by 10-15,000 votes, I think it becomes much easier to see the effect of Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" on the Democratic race.

Sharoncobb: Hillary Won't Appear On Talk Shows Today, And Has Only One Public Appearance. Why Her Campaign Is Over

Hillary will probably quit going negative, and in an ironic twist, will stay in the race because she doesn't want to make Obama look bad by dropping out and him possibly losing Kentucky and West Virginia without her in the race.

Today she'll be meeting with her closest advisers planning her exit strategy. She will most likely stay in the race through May 20 or June 3, but will start winding down and start uniting the party.

Silence Isn't Golden: The Post-Mortem

But as far as a Presidential race is concerned, it's over. Hillary is now the post-Super Tuesday Mike Huckabee--she may win a few more contests, but there is no chance of her winning the nomination now. I would like her to drop out tomorrow, but I have no illusions that she'll do so. Her window to win it via superdelegate coup is narrowing too, because there's no reason for undecided superdelegates not to back Obama now. He recovered from losing Pennsylvania. He weathered the Wright debacle. He wasn't hurt by his refusal to pander on the gas tax issue. Hillary's "electability" argument lost a lot of air tonight.

Clinton's done | KnoxViews

OK, then.

10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: NC, IN

Oh, please, let this be the night that puts us all out of our misery. UPDATE: Clinton has cancelled all public events for tomorrow (except for a fundraiser tomorrow night).

Vibinc: PRIMARY THAT WILL NEVER END - liveblog - Updated with Cookies

Harold Ickes warns of Obama October Surprise. His argument is that we just don't know enough about Obama, but Hillary has been out there for years and is safe. Puhhhhleeeze! Hang it up Harry. Chances are, you're not getting paid either.

UPDATE: Tennessee Guerilla Women: Indiana/NC Primary Drama: Brazile and Begala Slug It Out On CNN (Video)

But the real drama was at CNN where Campbell Brown actually challenged Donna Brazile's sham of a "neutral" position. The whole world knows that Donna is an Obambot, yet the Democratic Party leader continues the sham of appearing on CNN as a neutral commentator. With leadership like Brazile's, little wonder the Democratic Party appears to be "cracking up." At one point Brazile seemed to suggest that the new Democratic Party of Blacks and elite liberals (eggheads and African-Americans) doesn't really need working class and Hispanic voters.

Medical Malpractice Notice and Certificate of Merit Bill Sent to Governor

The legislation creates a significant hurdle for filing medical malpractice actions in Tennessee. Attorneys now face a financial penalty for filing cases without consulting an expert before or shortly after filing suit.

Previous discussion here. The limit on damages did not make it in to the final bill. That's next.

(By way of ACK)

Progressive Nashville:

Noted economist Phil Valentine says all this talk about a recession is nonsense. We haven't recorded two consecutive quarters of negative growth, so we should spend like drunken sailors lest our pessimism create a recession.

Thank heavens Valentine doesn't have control of anything more dangerous than a cough switch.

Yes, wingnut radio talk show hosts are the first place I turn for financial advice.

Some believe we can talk ourselves into a recession, or spend our way out of one. I'm not so sure the borrow-and-spend approach is working. What do you think?

The Tennessean

"The blatant prosecutorial misconduct in this case shows two things," Gilbert S. Merritt, the presiding judge on the panel, said in an interview after the ruling.

"First, the local district attorney in East Tennessee should never have prosecuted House in the first place, but certainly should have released him more than 10 years ago once he received the exculpatory DNA evidence.

"Second, the local district attorneys, rather than the Attorney General or the Governor, exercise almost complete control over the system of criminal justice in Tennessee.

"They are frequently mistaken and frequently abuse their power," Merritt said.

Flashback: Nashville Scene, 2005.

The current session of the Tennessee General Assembly is winding down, and while restricting abortion is off the table, coal mine operators are free to continue blasting the tops off mountains, and AT&T got its cable franchise bill passed putting hundreds of lobbyists out of work, there are still a number of important bills pending such as home health care for seniors, lottery scholarships, paper ballots, and more. The Nashville Tennessean has a summary. Oh, and there's that budget thing.

After dropping out of high school in the 9th grade, Gretchen Wilson (at 34 years old) passed her GED exam in April.

I'm not sure what she means by this statement:

Wilson told The Tennessean that her 7-year-old daughter was the big reason to finally finish, saying, "I certainly don't want her to think you can be this successful without an education."

I'm pretty sure she already proved you can be very successful without an education.

The next general meeting of the Sumner County Democratic Party will be Saturday, May 10, 9:30am in the cafeteria at the Billy S. Hobbs Municipal Center, 105 College Street in White House. This is a joint meeting with the Robertson County Democratic Party. Continental breakfast will be available. Former House Majority Leader Kim McMillan will be our guest. Kim has formed an exploratory committee in preparation for a possible run for governor in 2010. She is touring the state to get input from Tennesseans. Here is your chance to let her know what is on your mind as we look to continue Democrats' legacy of good government in Tennessee. Of course our candidates for state office will be available to listen to your concerns. Come meet Andy Allman, Mike McDonald and Jim Hawkins. Rep. Bob Bibb from Springfield is also scheduled to attend. For more info contact stillblue@sumnerdems.org