Sebelius, Not Bredesen, Obama’s Choice For HHS
Posted on February 28, 2009 at 6:19 pmThe Associated Press reports:
A White House source says Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is President Barack Obama’s choice for secretary of health and human services.
There had previously been speculation he might choose Gov. Phil Bredesen to fill the post.
Governor Bredesen has issued this statement in response to reports:
“Kathleen Sebelius would be an absolutely first-rate choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services and would be in sync with President Obama’s goals for health care reform.
“We’ve been friends and worked together on various issues for several years now and I think very highly of her. She has an excellent mind, she makes decisions carefully and well, and her obvious empathy for the plight in which so many Americans find themselves will serve them and our country well. She has been a great governor, is well respected by her colleagues, and for my part, I stand ready to help her in any way.”
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Ken Whitehouse
R. Neal
Ilissa Gold
Southern Beale
Guerilla Women
Putting It Right Out There: Ramsey Says He’s Running For Governor
Posted on at 12:55 pmAt an annual Lincoln Day dinner out in Greene County yesterday, Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, whose task was only to introduce the keynote speaker TNGOP Robin Smith, added a little something extra to his remarks: an announcement of his imminent campaign for Governor:
Ramsey noted that the three officials who had already spoken were “three great candidates for governor,” but he was enthusiastically applauded when he said, “I am here in Greene County to announce that I am going to be a candidate for governor” as well.
He said he and his wife of 29 years, Sindy, had “thought about this, prayed about this,” and decided to go ahead, “for the right reasons.”
Ramsey said Republicans engineered a 19-to-14 majority in the Senate in last year’s election, and elected the first Republican majority in the state House of Representatives “in the history of time,” because they “stuck to Republican principles.”
At a time when “Republicans in Washington stopped acting like Republicans, Tennessee didn’t,” he said.
Ramsey commended Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Smith, whom he said is “not afraid to stand up and say what she thinks.”
He brought her to the platform by saying that Republicans would not enjoy the majorities that they do “if it wasn’t for Robin Smith.”
Ken Whitehouse broke the news on Thursday that Ramsey acolytes were in the process of forming an exploratory committee.
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Jackson Baker
Associated Press
Mr. Turnbow
Cooper Supports Stimulus But Wants To Eliminate Wasteful Programs
Posted on at 12:36 pmNashville’s congressman sees opportunity in the our economic crisis:
Mr. Cooper said the budget was a provocative plan that could spur needed debate in Congress about just what the government pays for and how it pays for it. “We have an opportunity to find federal programs that are wasteful and eliminate them,” he said. “I am ready to do that in programs big and small.”
A Little Snippet From A New Bill Filed In The General Assembly
Posted on February 27, 2009 at 7:17 pmIs somebody having a laugh here or what?
Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to a vasectomy. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding how and when a vasectomy may be obtained, especially related to situations involving the knowledge and consent of a spouse when the person requesting the vasectomy is married.
UPDATE: Aunt B. likes what she sees here.
A Series Of Fortunate Events
Posted on at 6:50 pmLawmakers say the time for reforming higher education in Tennessee is now:
Kyle said a “convergence of events” recently has made the timing right for reform. UT President John Petersen has resigned, and Regents Chancellor Charles Manning is retiring. Neither system has chosen a successor.
HHS Announcement Imminent
Posted on at 6:18 pmPolitico reports that it will likely come Monday and it likely will not be Governor Phil Bredesen:
President Barack Obama is close to announcing his choice for Health and Human Services secretary.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Friday it is “entirely possible” that Obama will name his nominee before a health care summit scheduled for Thursday.
“I think we’re getting close,” Gibbs said.
The remark, which went beyond his usual no-comment response to questions about the timing of nominations, aligned with increased chatter Friday among Washington health care insiders about an imminent announcement, possibly as early as Monday.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, is considered a top contender for the post.
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Steve Cohen On Southern Governors Thinking Of Declining The Stimulus
Posted on at 5:46 pmThe congressman’s words are not kind:
Not to take the funds, said Cohen, would be “wrong—socially, morally, and economically.” Drawing an implicit comparison to Southern officials of an earlier age, Cohen suggested that those Southern governors (few so far, and so far all Republican) who have declined to accept federal stimulus funds for the unemployed are acting in the tradition of “”Jim Crow,” in the mold of former separatist-minded officials like the late Alabama governor George Wallace.
Asked if he would so characterize Bredesen in the same light, should the Tennessee governor also turn down the unemployment funds, Cohen declined to do so, but he said, “It is odd that all of the governors who’ve turned down the money so far are Southerners. Southern governors aren’t the only ones who care about fiscal solvency.”
What’s A Young Conservative To Do?
Posted on at 5:41 pmMike Warren struggles at CPAC with which way to best serve the cause:
I asked a question about an internal struggle I have: should I be a journalist or an activist? There was a lot of discussion about this, and the consensus was that we should be both. We need to use the investigative aspects of journalism to let people know more about their government and what they can do to have their voice heard.
‘Cause Haslam Probably Ain’t Her Favorite
Posted on at 4:58 pmKind words from the TNGOP chairwoman on Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey’s increasingly likely run for governor:
“He’s very well-received amongst the grassroots, he is a logical candidate, and we wish him well as he makes his decision.”
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The Press Release That Writes Itself
Posted on at 4:35 pmThe TNGOP responds to efforts to revive talk of a state income tax:
“It is unthinkable that Democrats in DC and Nashville want to raise taxes during a recession, and all the more unthinkable that Tennessee Democrats are proposing to create a new and unconstitutional state income tax at a time when thousands of Tennesseans are losing their jobs,” said Robin Smith, Chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.
“The Tennessee Democrat Party must feel emboldened to follow their leaders in Washington D.C. who are pushing for huge tax increases and mammoth increases in government spending and the national debt,” Smith said.
“Not satisfied with a pork-laden ‘emergency’ bill that will add more than $1 trillion to the national debt, President Barack Obama is now proposing $1 trillion in new taxes and $1.75 trillion in deficit spending that will have to be repaid with higher taxes in the future. And Democrats in Congress – including Tennessee’s John Tanner, Bart Gordon, Jim Cooper, Steve Cohen and Lincoln Davis – are all going along for the ride.”
TNDP Chairman Chip Forrester has a few words on the issue as well:
The Tennessee Dem. Party had no knowledge of any income tax bill being proposed. We would certainly not advocate anything of the sort. The comments by the Tennessee GOP are just another way to muddy the waters over the terrible economic crisis facing working men and women in an attempt to rally Republicans to oppose the president’s plan. It shows a willingness to throw working men and women under the bus when the stimulus package will provide jobs, allow people to save their homes, and allow small businesses to keep their doors open.
The Mortgage Deduction: The Bubble Maker
Posted on at 4:21 pmDr. Martin Kennedy holds court:
Consider for a moment the distortionary nature of the mortgage interest deduction. It is a subsidy that goes to rich and middle income alike yet the idea is to encourage home ownership. Does anyone thing that higher income people would not own a home were it not for mortgage interest deductibility? It increased home prices; that’s what subsidies do. It encouraged people to buy more house - get a bigger mortgage - than they otherwise would have. It encouraged people to borrowing against their house in order to consume - so much for eliminating the deductibility of consumer loans. It is bad energy policy; bigger homes use more energy.
More Legislators Play Pattycake With Libertarian Think Tank
Posted on at 3:58 pmFrom Drew Johnson:
In total, 20 of 49 Democrats and 28 of 49 Republicans in the House have complied. Speaker Kent Williams, a Carter County Republican, has not complied with the request for open records, according to the most recent review by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.
“I applaud the 73 members of the Tennessee General Assembly who have responded to this open records request and encourage the 59 who have not to renew their commitment to government transparency,” Johnson said.
Why We Must Go
Posted on at 3:54 pmPresident Obama explains to the troops why we have to make like a tree in Iraq:
Each American who has served in Iraq has their own story. Each of you has your own story. And that story is now a part of the history of the United States of America – a nation that exists only because free men and women have bled for it from the beaches of Normandy to the deserts of Anbar; from the mountains of Korea to the streets of Kandahar. You teach us that the price of freedom is great. Your sacrifice should challenge all of us – every single American – to ask what we can do to be better citizens.
There will be more danger in the months ahead. We will face new tests and unforeseen trials. But thanks to the sacrifices of those who have served, we have forged hard-earned progress, we are leaving Iraq to its people, and we have begun the work of ending this war.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America. Semper Fi.
Did He Really Have A Choice?
Posted on at 3:40 pmBob Krumm gives credit where credit is due.
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Truckers And Bikers Only
Posted on at 3:13 pmThose who drive the big rigs and their affect on politics.
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A Conversation With Congressman Jim Cooper
Posted on at 2:40 pmThe Center for Non-Profit Management invites Congressman Cooper to explain the effects of the stimulus on the non-profit community.
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The Nashville Tea Party
Posted on at 2:21 pmDru reports on the remarks of Ben Cunningham:
If they are not willing to fight for us we will turn them out. Jim Cooper, I had great hopes for him, his rhetoric was good, he said he was against deficit spending, but he caved. We’ve got to make sure that Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker fight for us. We don’t need a tepid response. We don’t need a maybe. We need them in there fighting so that we don’t lose our country. This budget is a fairy tale. This budget was the last straw. This budget shows trillion dollar deficits as far as you can see. There will come a point in time when taxpayers simply cannot bear the burden of debt. Barack Obama didn’t borrow this money. Nancy Pelosi didn’t borrow this money. They used our credit worthiness to borrow this money. At some point, the people who buy the debt will say, look, the American taxpayer has too much debt. They can’t pay all this debt. They are not going to buy our debt. We are going to be bankrupt. We have got to stop before we reach that point. We have got to have elected representatives who will fight for us.”
SEE ALSO:
Colby Sledge
Moore Thoughts
Sarah Moore
Bob Krumm
Pictures
Kay Brooks
Palin Still Beloved By GOP Women
Posted on at 2:06 pm“Among GOP men, the same pattern emerges — no clear advantage for Palin, Huckabee or Romney. But among Republican women, it’s a different story. Palin has a 10-point edge among Republican women, winning 32 percent support among them to 22 percent for Huckabee and 20 percent for Romney,” adds Holland. “With the sampling error, that’s not enough to say for sure that Palin is in the lead, but it does indicate that if the primaries were held tomorrow, Palin would have a good chance of being the favorite among GOP women.”
One note of caution. The 2012 campaign is still a long, long, long way away.
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