July 4th marks the anniversary of the birth of this nation. On that day, the Declaration of Independence was signed by a cadre of men, who wrote the words ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ That declaration was a living promise to future generations of certain fundamental, inalienable rights such as the right to privacy.

Real Clear Politics interviews Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen on a wide range of electoral topics. There are some interesting remarks that the GOP will wring out in the spin cycle. But overall, Bredesen shows once again he is one of the "adults" who knows the score and how the game is played (even when he's not hitting for our team).

(By way of Knoxville Talks.)

George W Bush is perhaps the worst American president who has ever served. To this day it is a mystery to me how the man was able to gain the Republican nomination, steal the election, start two wars, get re-elected and then drag on a failed war for five years and drive the economy into the ground without getting impeached. Although the light is fading on the Presidency of Bush, it is not too late to impeach the man who lied to us about weapons of mass destruction. As of result of the President's deception, over four thousand American soldiers have died in Iraq and tens of thousands have been wounded, not to mention the one million or so Iraqis who have died directly or indirectly due to Bush's interference in their country.

Press release:

As a direct result of a new state law that encourages statewide video competition, AT&T Inc. has announced plans to offer video services in communities across Tennessee and to invest approximately $400 million during the next several years in fiber network upgrades, further broadband deployment and Internet-based technologies to bring new services, including cutting-edge IP based television, to Tennessee consumers.

"The Legislature and the governor have created a competitive environment for video services, and consumers are the real winners," said Gregg Morton, president, AT&T Tennessee. "We commend Gov. Bredesen, Speaker Naifeh, Lt. Gov. Ramsey, Comptroller Morgan, Chairman Curtis, Chairman Jones, Rep. McDaniel, Sen. Ketron, Sen. Jackson, Sen. Finney and all of the members of the Tennessee Legislature for their vision."

Yes, and thanks to the lobbyists and consultants, who include Naifeh's wife, Betty Anderson (who technically couldn't lobby on the bill), "Randy Camp, a former state court administrator and personnel commissioner to Bredesen, Beth Winstead, Naifeh's former assistant chief clerk and Bredesen's former chief lobbyist when he was Nashville mayor, Anna Windrow, Bredesen's former senior adviser," and spokesman "Bob Corney, Bredesen's former communications chief," and consultant "Dave Cooley, Bredesen's former deputy governor." (Source)

Still waiting for DSL in my neighborhood, five years and counting...

The "shoot 'em if you got 'em while Big Brother watches" edition of the random interval Tennessee progressive blog roundup with a look at what the best Tennessee bloggers are talking about.

• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: Wordless Wednesday

• Tiny Cat Pants: Will Campfield ever realize the bitter poetic injustice of his being a servant of the people of Tennessee while at the same time working to deny legal personhood to some of those people?

• Carole Borges: Understanding how these girls think might actually spur people to make changes that would help problem teens. Usually it's easier to just condemn them.

• The Crone Speaks: The average campaign contribution payoff is around $9000 for those dems that changed their vote to support retroactive immunity. Maplight has the list of who made how much. Plus: Countrywide taken to court by the Illinois AG.

• Cup Of Joe Powell: Interview With Congressional Candidate Rob Russell, plus: Super Giant Exxxtreeeeeme Summer Edition Madhouse Marathon... quite possibly the best movie blog of all time and space

• Don Williams: Tell me you don’t believe Barack Obama’s a secret Muslim, or that the "fist bump" thing he and Michelle do contains terrorist overtones. Evidently thousands or millions of people believe such nonsense..., plus: Activists, priests, scholars, artists, musicians, writers, teachers, environmentalists and others from a range of spiritual traditions accomplished much June 21 and 22 as they initiated Peace On and With the Earth, a conference to explore the relationship between peace and the environment.

• TNDP: a new religious left movement?

• Enclave: ...Ben puts words into the mouths of Social Gospelers that they never would have uttered because it is politically expedient for the anti-revenue mob to discredit mobilized progressive Christians with half-truths about who they are and what they want to "steal." Plus, judicial activists legislating from the bench, Part I and Part II.

• Fletch: Tuesday Afternoon

• KnoxViews: Supreme Court rules against Obama!, plus: Authorities shut down largest known TN puppy mill operation

• Lean Left: Heller Open Thread

• Left of the Dial: Should marijuana smoking be allowed in airports before one takes a flight? ...who would you rather sit next to on a flight: a drunk or a stoner? Plus: George Carlin’s Legacy

• LeftWingCracker: You know, two years ago, Harold Ford Junior thought he had HIS race won, too; that didn't work out so well, did it? Obama needs to tighten up, and fast. Plus: George Carlin: Baseball v. Football

• Liberadio(!) interviews David Sirota

• Newscoma: They are creating holes when it comes to civil liberties. And I’m with much of the progressive blogosphere when we see that Barack Obama said he would filibuster this bill last year and he didn’t. I ain’t happy, campers. Obama simply blew it. Bonus: I Need To Start My Own Hippie Newspaper

• A Pesky Fly Must Read: The Top Five Reasons Why The Republican Party is Good for Democrats

• Progressive Nashville: Who's getting stimulated here?, Bonus: A Bill Gates memo to staff re. Windows usability

• Resonance: 2008 Cherohala Challenge Photo Ride Report, plus $7 gas and public transportation.

• RoaneViews: Handguns flying off the shelves, severe drought, working on exceptional, and off road vehicles v. the environment.

• Russ McBee: I suppose it's possible that the crippling of a census program which improves the accuracy of counting minorities is just a coincidence., plus: Feingold on FISA

• Sean Braisted: While everyone is focused on Heller, another important ruling was issued, this in regards to campaign finance reform.

• Sharon Cobb: Who's your daddy, Hillary?, and Cohen:Conscience of the Freshman Class, plus Why is Luke Russert on my TV?

• Silence Isn't Golden: In summation: Mike Stewart, good. David Sirota, wrong. Matt Pulle, full of shit. (Click the link and read why.) Also read this.

• Southern Beale: Hell Freezes, I Thank The NRA - Why? Because they just took away the trusty old standby argument they’ve used against every Democratic candidate since forever... Plus: Supreme Court hands ExxonMobil a Big Payday, and Bobby Jindal? Really?, bonus: Nashville welcomes Cher

• Tennessee Guerilla Women: You might have thought that after eight long years of the Bush trainwreck, we could have gotten an actual liberal candidate. As the Hillary corner of the lefty blogosphere has repeatedly warned, Obama is no liberal. Is it time to say, we told you so, yet? Plus: Lusty Senators Larry Craig & David Vitter Sponsor Anti Gay Marriage Amendment: Suffice it to say, the Marriage Protection Amendment does not read: Thou shalt not publicly humiliate your wife by coveting another man in a bathroom stall. Nor does it read: Thou shalt not publicly humiliate your wife by fooling around with prostitutes.

• TennViews (Chris Lugo): Big brother is watching you and his name is AT&T. Sometimes he goes by the name of BellSouth and at other times he is known as AOL-Time-Warner. Big brother goes by a lot of names. He is listening to you while you talk and watching you while you type and everything you say could be recorded so he can look at it somewhere down the line.

• Vibinc: People seeking an office should be comfortable enough with themselves and their positions to take criticism of these topics constructively. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

• WhitesCreek Journal: Barack Obama is attempting to do something radical and dangerous for a Presidential candidate...Speak intelligently about religion...

• Women’s Health News: Seriously, what better way to proclaim that a lack of proper sex ed or lack of contraceptive availability has no bearing on these pregnancies than to suggest that the girls were sneakily and deliberately trying to become pregnant?

Big brother is watching you and his name is AT&T. Sometimes he goes by the name of BellSouth and at other times he is known as AOL-Time-Warner. Big brother goes by a lot of names. He is listening to you while you talk and watching you while you type and everything you say could be recorded so he can look at it somewhere down the line. Now everyone knows that it is not polite to intrude on people in their private moments. The problem is that big brother doesn't seem to know that peeking into people's private communication is wrong and it should be illegal. Unfortunately President Bush wants to continue to grant immunity to telecommunications companies in the name of the so called 'war on terror' which in actuality is a war on the American people and the telecommunications infrastructure is the front line in the gradual diminishment of civil rights that Congress has permitted in recent years.

Tennessee Conservation Voters has recognized Sen. Rosalind Kurita, Sen. Raymond Finney, and Sen. Bill Ketron as the top environmental supporters in the Tennessee Senate for 2008.

The full scorecard (9MB PDF!) is here.

(Sen. John Wilder scored near the bottom with a -1.)

The "Summer Solstice" (Copyright (C) Associated Press, All Rights Including Yours Reserved) edition of the weekly unpredictable Tennessee progressive blog roundup with a look at what the best Tennessee bloggers are talking about.

• 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: with Democrats like these, who needs Republicans?

• 55-40 Memphis: We could achieve more progress in the coming months than in all of the 40 years since Martin died.

• Tiny Cat Pants: I’m sure "We’re still pissed about things that happened before you were born" will make a stirring campaign slogan for the Republicans this fall.

• BlountViews: Swiftboating a local judge candidate

• Carole Borges: Prescription drugs are becoming a menace to society and patients don't know who to trust anymore.

• The Crone Speaks: We all know, that for years, Jeb is being "groomed" to follow in daddy’s footsteps. [..] Corporations, especially the oil companies, want a Bush in office.

• Cup Of Joe Powell: The first rule about Congressional Elections in the 1st District is - You don't talk about Congressional Elections in the 1st District. Plus: Rep. Davis Dodges Debate

• Don Williams: ...this is about electric moon spiders and giant rainbows that wade ocean waters in order to show you the whole round realness of wonder that only a vacation can provide by reminding you of who you were before you became what you do...

• TNDP: Tennessee Young Dems look to capture 5,000, plus TNDP Chairman Gray Sasser: Lamar Alexander is wrong on energy

• Enclave: It would be a shame if the next President was more of an advocate for programs that support Metro Nashville than our own elected representative.

• Fletch: Realization

• KnoxViews (Rocketsquirrel): Currently, oil and gas companies hold leases on nearly 68 million acres of federal land (both onshore and under OCS waters) that they are not developing.

• Lean Left: If the President tells a company it’s legal, it’s legal.

• Left of the Dial: "Staycation" is the new buzzword for the summer of 2008.

• LeftWingCracker: I can see THAT now: LOOK HOW SAFE I'VE MADE SHELBY COUNTY! That's a winner, bubba, I'd take that and really run with it if I were you. Oy. Next, other than the Baker-Alexander-Thompson tribe, who knows Gibbons outside of Big Shelby? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? I digress.

• Liberadio(!): ...tonight’s 500 foot swim, which is scheduled for 5:00pm at Riverfront Park, has already served its purpose - prompting Nashvillians to start chattering about the state of the river and its environs.

• Newscoma: wish just once that Tanner voted the way I wanted him to vote. Cohen just may be the only lifeline that Tennessee has for calling foul on this sort of stuff. This isn’t about warrantless wiretapping. It’s about saving corporations money.

• The Pesky Fly: The real traitor here is Steny Hoyer. And Nancy Pelosi.

• Progressive Nashville: ...a brief overview of some of McCain's 2007 votes on children's issues..., plus: What does it take to get fired in Memphis?

• Resonance: I was not at all surprised to see Senator McCain flip-flop with yesterday's announcement that he now opposes the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling. I expect more politicians to follow this path as public pressure to do something about the energy crisis builds.

• RoaneViews: Here's a "Predict the Race" spreadsheet for the Ruppe-Yager Senate race.

• Russ McBee: Just like their recent obstruction of the carbon reduction bill, today's actions show that the GOP have no intention of doing anything meaningful about our most pressing environmental and energy issues.

• Sean Braisted: ...I still don't get the argument by some against immunity. There seem to be two thoughts.

• Sharon Cobb: I can tell you I know first hand Obama has been in and out of Nashville visiting Al Gore during the past year, and Gore advised him, as he did other candidates.

• Silence Isn't Golden: Everyone's buzzing about the new Quinnipiac poll numbers that show Obama not only handily winning in the swing states of Pennsylvania and Ohio, but also have him up in Florida.

• Southern Beale: Isn’t that special! The four largest Western oil companies are preparing to sign no-bid contracts in Iraq, bringing them back to a position they had 36 years ago. Is that some long-range planning or what!

• Tennessee Guerilla Women: What with Michelle's dangerously feminist habit of speaking her mind, or sounding altogether too much like First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, extreme stepford, um, I mean steps are being taken.

• TennViews (Chris Lugo): Abstinence only until marriage curricula is censorship, pure and simple. Any school program that withholds scientifically valid information does not present young people with the full range of options they will actually face in life.

• Vibinc: Ahh, but constituents aren’t good at Change™ either. They want to balance their household budgets while owning the biggest big screen HDTV with 4 picture in pictures and total immersion surround sound. They want rock solid abs after a mere 20 minute workout and to eat that carton of Twinkies in one sitting. It’s a startling contradiction.

• WhitesCreek Journal: A message to Tennessee Democrats, "Get on the Love Train now, cause the good seats are going fast."

• Women’s Health News: Thoughts on the AMA Homebirth "Ban," Ricki Lake, and Midwifery

BONUS ROUND: The AP v. blogger dustup - a sampling...

• Enclave: At the Risk of Violating Rexblog's Fair Use Policy

• The Crone Speaks: Ass.Press’s Desire to Re-write Fair Use

• Newscoma: Connecting The Dots

• Newscoma: The AP vs. Bloggers

• KnoxViews: AP, bloggers, and the fair use controversy

• Russ McBee : AP follows RIAA and MPAA into the gutter

• The Crone Speaks: Heavy Hand of the AP

DOUBLE BONUS ROUND: The Hobbs (no not that one, the other one) controversy...

• TennViews (WhitesCreek): Fred Hobbs Seems intent on destroying Lincoln Davis Gubernatorial chances

• KnoxViews: Obama connected

• The Pesky Fly: Just Speechless

• Silence Isn't Golden: What The Hell Is Going On Here?

• LeftWingCracker: Feel Good Friday this is NOT, not today

• Sean Braisted: Benefit of the Doubt

• Sean Braisted: The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round

• Silence Isn't Golden: Here's How It's Done

• Sean Braisted: Fred Hobbs Apologizes

• Sean Braisted: Glass Houses

• Sean Braisted: More on the Hobbs/Terrorist-Gate

• Sean Braisted: The Commish Says Fire Hobbs

Jake Jost at WBIR's Knoxville Talks breaks down our Tennessee Senators' comments regarding a complicated tax bill.

Interesting observation by Jake: Taxes are the child of spending. If you don’t like taxes, get spending under control.

See also: Russ McBee.

Related: Neither presidential candidate was present to vote.

The Nashville City Paper profiles young Nashville progressives turned political activists, including two bloggers you may be familiar with.

The Nashville Post helps out organizers of the latest "English only" movement. Looks like somebody skipped a couple of English composition classes.

See also: Enclave and GoldnI

Our condolences to the family and friends of Tim Russert, and his extended family at the NBC Washington Bureau and beyond.

Gun Owners of America House Ratings For The 110th Congress

TENNESSEE

1 DAVIS A
2 DUNCAN A
3 WAMP B
4 DAVIS A-
5 COOPER A-
6 GORDON B-
7 BLACKBURN A-
8 TANNER B-
9 COHEN B

it may not matter to you when our military personnel come home; in fact it probably helps your election chances for this conflict to wear on; but for many people it matters a great deal.
It matters to the 11,000 soldiers who are being held for, in some cases, years after their original separation date because we can’t recruit enough replacements. They were told recently the policy will not change soon and the numbers will probably grow. It matters to their wives and children, their parent and their friends.
It matters to the thousands of Reserve and Guard soldiers who are serving their second and third 15 month tours away from their families, struggling to keep homes and businesses going on a third or a quarter of their usual income.
It matters to people like my grandson who was medically discharged after a Humvee wreck in his 11 month in Iraq. He wishes some of the 12 billion dollars a month being poured in Iraq was being used to grow jobs where he lives in Arkansas and other depressed areas. He is barely able to support his family.
And lastly you said what really matters is the casualties to American troops. Can you honestly tell the American people you think the casualties will stop in the next year or two or three? Maybe they will drop to 100 a year or 75 a year but in 60 years the deaths have not stopped in Israel and I don’t think they will in Iraq either. And if it is one American soldier a year it will matter to someone. A wife or a mother or child but it will matter Mr. McCain; to someone other than you.

The Tennessee chapter of the National Nurses Organizing Committee says Bill Frist is not fit to be governor of Tennessee because of his record on health care. They have prepared a report and will hold a press conference outside HCA Headquarters in Nashville tomorrow:

WHAT: Tennessee Nurses and Healthcare Advocates Unveil New Report: "Is Bill Frist Fit to be Governor?"

WHEN: Thursday, June 12, 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Centennial Park, opposite HCA headquarters, One Park Plaza, Nashville

Frist is scheduled to speak at a June 19th convention of health insurance companies in California. Tennessee RNs and other healthcare activists plan to attend and present their report there.

The report is said to detail Frist's failure to secure funding for TennCare and his cozy ties to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, among other things.

Kathy McGregor, RN, a leader with NNOC Tennessee, says "As Tennessee nurses, we are concerned with anything that impacts the health of our patients, and this report makes clear that Bill Frist is a danger to Tennessee patients. His time in the Senate made our state and our nation less healthy. As the healthcare crisis deepens, Tennessee cannot afford to elect someone who is unfit to be our Governor."

Healthcare Now advocate Debby Hester says "Tennessee deserves to be governed by someone committed to improving our public health. Healthcare advocates in Tennessee join others in closely scrutinizing the background and voting record of former Tennessee Senator Bill First. We want improvement, not more of the same."

Southern Beale has the details.

I don't know what she's complaining about. The oil companies are spending millions on alternative energy. Alternative energy hype, that is. Look at the news magazines, national newspapers, and cable TV news breaks to see all the great ads about how "green" and concerned they are about our planet and our energy supplies.

Also, I hate to tell you this but the real price of gas right now is about $10 per gallon. You're just not paying it at the pump. You're paying it with an IOU for damage to the environment and oil company tax breaks and defense spending and trillions in budget and foreign trade deficits that are costing us jobs and piling up massive debt for somebody to pay off someday. Except they won't be able to get to work because they'll be out of oil and they won't have figured out how to get past 150 year old internal combustion technology for transportation.

And every time the oil companies raise the price of gas, the Average American worker gets a pay cut and a tax increase, with the proceeds going directly into the pockets of oil companies and their enablers in Congress. How's that stimulus check working out for you?

At any rate, the argument shouldn't be for lowering gas prices or opening up ANWR and the Continental Shelf to drilling (although that would help expedite using up all the oil so America would finally have to do something about the real problem). The argument should be for a rational energy policy. But we are way beyond that, and it may be too late.

If you want more of these same brilliant strategies, vote for John McCain and Lamar Alexander in November.

P.S. Bush and Cheney aren't "oil men." They are "oil company men."

UPDATE: TNDP: Alexander, Corker throw Tennesseans in the tank

As gas prices hit $4, some tough talk on energy.

Joe Powell on how war is good for business and Rep. David Davis.

Sean Braisted explains.

As you've probably heard, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a new law requiring voter verifiable voting in Tennessee and the Governor signed it into law on Thursday.

Contrary to some earlier media reports, county election offices will not be able to simply retrofit DRE (direct recording electronic) voting systems with printers. Instead, the new law specifies that "the ballot of record shall be a paper ballot marked by the voter" and that optical scan machines at the precinct level will be used to tally the votes.

The bill also requires county election offices to audit machine tallies by hand counting 3% of the votes from 3% of the precincts selected at random.

County election officials are rightly concerned about the increased cost for printing and storing paper ballots. The law does, however, allow for "printing on demand" to help mitigate the costs.

The law goes into effect Jan. 1 2009. Existing systems can be used for 2008 elections, but any new systems purchased or leased after Jan. 1 must comply with the new regulations. The estimated cost for new machines is $25 million.

The law authorizes election officials to expedite replacing or modifying old systems for compliance, and mandates that new systems must be in place for the 2010 general election.

But there's a catch:

...notwithstanding any provision of this act or any other law to the contrary, the requirements of this act mandating the purchase or lease of new voting systems shall be implemented if and only if federal “Help America Vote Act” (HAVA) funds previously allocated, or other federal funding resources, are available to pay the full cost of purchasing or leasing such new voting systems.

This is significant, because the vast majority of voting machines in the state of Tennessee are DRE touchscreen or pushbutton voting machines. Optical scan machines are used in only two counties. DRE touchscreens are used in 17 counties, and the rest, 76 counties, use DRE pushbutton machines.

In other words, if I read it correctly* the bill requires replacement of voting systems in 93 of 95 Tennessee counties, but does not provide any funding for it and only requires it if federal funding becomes available. It is our understanding that there is some HAVA money left over, but is it enough?

UPDATE: According to the most recent U.S. Election Assistance Commission report I could find, Tennessee has approx. $31.4 million in unused HAVA funds available. The EAC had issued an opinion at one point that states could not use those funds to replace machines already purchased for compliance with HAVA (most of the systems in Tennessee), but this decision was later reversed. So if I'm reading all THAT correctly, Tennessee would have enough HAVA money to cover the $25 million cost.

Previous background on Tennessee's voting systems here.

(*Y'all can help me out. The bill info is here. If I read it correctly, the Senate bill was withdrawn and the House bill was substituted. Then a Senate amendment was adopted with the above "catch", and the amended bill passed both chambers and was signed by the Governor.)

There is a bill in the US Senate right now that deserves our support. Senate Bill 594, the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act, currently has twenty-one sponsors in the Senate. This bill would ban the use of cluster bombs, which injure thousands of innocent people each year. Unfortunately the Pentagon and Department of Defense officials have fought the effort to outlaw these weapons. Their reasoning is difficult to understand given the sobering reality that almost thirty percent of the bomblets released in each bomb fail to explode initially, leaving a deadly legacy for future generations of children to discover. The Middle East is filled with children who have lost arms and legs to unexploded cluster bombs. This is not the legacy of freedom and democracy we wish to leave the people of Iraq.

AP:

“We’re supportive of Wal-Mart’s broader initiative,” Will Pinkston, senior adviser to Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, said in an e-mail. “But we’ve had a couple of false starts that probably were unique to Tennessee, and we’ve run into some unrelated issues that frankly complicated things.” Pinkston did not elaborate on those issues.

Anybody know what's up with this? Sounds like a Wal*Mart PR stunt gone sour.

UPDATE: Sean Braisted speculates on what this is all about, citing a Nashville Scene article re. some inside hardball, which may or may not be related.

The second session of the 105th General Assembly wrapped up last night, with last minute compromises on lottery scholarships and passage of Governor Bredesen's proposed state budget with wide ranging cuts including the elimination of 2000 state jobs. The budget passed in the Senate 31-1 and 91-4 in the House.

The Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus talks about the session...

As the current session winds down there's a flurry of activity. Here are some highlights...

Nashville City Paper

The state’s first major overhaul of its open records law in 25 years is on its way to Gov. Phil Bredesen after the General Assembly approved the changes Tuesday.

WZTV FOX 17/Nashville

Legislation that would use lottery reserve funds to help make Tennessee schools more energy efficient is headed to the governor for his consideration.

The Leaf Chronicle

Sweeping legislation that includes loosening requirements for students to maintain lottery-funded scholarships passed the Senate and is likely headed for a conference committee.

The Leaf Chronicle

[Kurita's] legislation requires schools to inform students about their credit transferability policy. Proprietary schools must also disclose total tuition costs, job placement and other graduation data upon enrollment, according to the release. Schools that don't comply could lose their license to operate in Tennessee.

The Paris Post-Intelligencer

A bill that authorizes the Tennessee Board of Education to create an academic nonsectarian elective course about the Bible has passed the state House and Senate and is now going to Gov. Phil Bredesen for his signature.

Tom Humphrey reports that Gov. Bredesen's office has provided more details about proposed state employee buyouts to state legislators as they try to wrap up the budget and the current session.

According to the article, the voluntary reduction in workforce incentives will include four month's pay plus $500 per year of service, six months of health insurance, and two year's paid tuition. No word on who would or would not be eligible. Also, all state employees would get a one time $400 payment, presumably in lieu of a raise.

The state is expecting 2,000 employees to accept buyouts. If not, there will be layoffs according to the governor. Today's report says the governor has agreed to postpone any layoffs until Jan. 1st.

Earlier reports said that the state is paying consultants $500K to help develop the buyout plan.

And Campfield wasn't invited to "Rock it like a Porn Star," even though it wasn't an invitation, because that would be, like, illegal or something.

Blogging from the NRA convention in Kentucky, SayUncle approves the policy of allowing attendees not violating the inalienable right of attendees to carry their handguns at the event (except when McCain is speaking).

What are they so worried about? Getting mugged at an NRA convention? Doesn't say much about their trust of fellow gun owners.

Steve at WhitesCreek has more.

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.

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."

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...