Drop It Like It’s Hot: Strip Club Invitations On Capitol Hill Spark Controversy
Posted on May 15, 2008 at 2:32 pmThis evening at 4:00pm a VIP party will be held at Deja Vu Showgirls, a popular Nashville “Gentleman’s Club.” The Tennessee Cabaret Association’s lobbyist, Tracy O’Neill, who is registered to lobby both at the state level and here in Metro Nashville, admits to Post Politics that she handed out invitations to this event at Legislative Plaza but stated that the event “is in no way” a legislative reception as characterized by at least one state representative. O’Neill asserts that she merely shared information about an event being held by one of the Association’s members to “friends and colleagues.”
The invitation, which can be seen at this link, was handed out to various folks at the Plaza, including legislators, offers the chance to “Party like a Rock Star and Rock it Like a Porn Star.” Rep. Stacey Campfield discussed the circulation of the invitation here and described the event as a “legislative reception” sponsored by the Tennessee Cabaret Association.
Within the invitation, along with promises of totally nude performances and $10 dances, is an offer of complimentary drinks and a free buffet.
While free gifts to legislators are largely forbidden, entertainment, food, refreshments, meals, beverages, or health screenings that are in connection with an in-state event to which invitations are extended to the entire membership of the general assembly are permitted by Tennessee law under an exception list in Public Act § 3-6-305.
However, an invitation must be submitted to the ethics commission and to each member of the General Assembly at least seven days in advance of the event by the employer or lobbyist paying for the event.
This event is not listed on the Tennessee Ethics Commission website and Post Politics was told by the Commission that there had been no notification of the event nor were they in possession of a copy of the invite.
Additionally, Rep. Stacey Campfield announced publicly on his blog that he had not been invited to the event.
If all legislators are not invited to the event legislators can attend and receive food and drink in accordance with other provisions in § 3-1-106 so long as they do not receive a per diem allowance for the day. Also, an officer or management-level employee of the sponsoring organization must be present. The sponsor’s registered lobbyist cannot be counted as the officer or management-level employee.
The question of who is the sponsor then becomes important. In an opinion issued by the Ethics Commission in February of 2007, the commission concluded that local affiliates of the Tennessee Education Association were not “employers of lobbyists” or “lobbyists” and thus could “serve refreshments at meetings to which State Senators and Representatives are invited to discuss matters related to public education.”
While the correlation is not a direct one, Deja Vu, as a member of the Tennessee Cabaret Association, could possibly be seen in a similar fashion as the TEA’s local affiliates.
When contacted by Post Politics, lobbyist for the Tennessee Cabaret Association, Tracy O’Neill said that the Tennessee Cabaret Association doesn’t, due to the controversial nature of the adult entertainment business, host legislative receptions.
O’Neill stated to Post Politics that it is “completely inaccurate” to categorize the event as a reception, “The Tennessee Cabaret Association has nothing to do with this event.”
O’Neill went on to castigate a member of the legislature for describing it as such on his website, “Being aware of the history of [Rep. Stacey] Campfield, I can only assume that he is trying to exploit a potential situation here.”
Ms. O’Neill sent an email to Rep. Campfield, copying Tennessee Ethics Commission Executive Director Bruce A. Androphy, registering her dismay with his characterization. You can see that email at this link.
As to the role she did play in regards to the disbursal of the invitation, O’Neill did admit to handing out a few in the halls of Legislative Plaza to “a few friends” but said she made clear to everyone that she personally talked to about the event that it was not a legislative reception.
“I made it very clear that these invitations were being handed out at the request of one of our members and not on behalf of the Association,” O’Neill explained.
When asked whether or not she personally put an invitation in any legislator’s hand, O’Neill responded, “I cannot say that for sure.”
The FONCE Is Dead
Posted on May 14, 2008 at 7:00 pmFifteen million dollars worth of “technical correction” just went out the window according to John Rodgers:
The provision would have eliminated a tax break for commercial real estate holdings of Family Owned Non-Corporate Entities, or FONCEs. A limited liability company is a non-corporate entity.
Business lobbyists and some like-minded lawmakers have targeted that section of the Bredesen administration’s so-called “technical corrections bill,” saying it would be a tax increase on some small businesses.
The administration says it would only hurt wealthy families.
But apparently the business lobby won the fight as the provision was taken out of the technical corrections bill today.
SEE ALSO: Whitehouse on FONCE
Tom Humphrey
WPLN
Andy Sher
TNGOP Engages In “Class Warfare” Over Budget
Posted on May 7, 2008 at 2:39 pmGOP Communications Czar Bill Hobbs throws a little dust on the Governor for announcing employee layoffs for workaday bureaucrats while leaving his top dog political appointees’ pay raises intact:
“Upper management making out like bandits and getting lavish party facilities while the rank-and-file stand to lose everything.Gov. Bredesen promised voters he’d run Tennessee like a business. We didn’t know he meant Enron,” said Hobbs.
Budget Issues To Prevent Cops From Acting As Judge And Jury
Posted on at 10:33 amGovernor Phil Bredesen has sent a letter to Senator Randy McNally requesting the withdrawal of a bill which would authorize police to take away a motor’s drivers license at the point of arrest on a DUI charge due to budget constraints:
Unfortunately it is not possible to dozens of new positions to administer this measure at the same time we are planning workforce reductions across government.
Read the full letter here which was sent to both the House and Senate sponsors of the legislation.
Last summer, Governor Bredesen embarrassingly praised administrative revocation as a legislative achievement before finding out it had not actually passed. He subsequently vowed to make the effort to pass such legislation a priority.
SEE ALSO:
City Paper
Tom Humphrey
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Harold Ford, Jr. Calls For Democratic Unity Ticket
Posted on at 8:08 amFormer Congressman and Senate candidate, Harold Ford, Jr., now chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, suggests that being a “numbers guy” makes him a believer in the formidable nature of a joint Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton ticket. GoldnI translates what Ford is really saying:
“I’m aware that this is pretty much over and that Obama is going to win, but I can’t say that because that would piss off my DLC buddies. On the other hand, I can’t come out for Clinton because that would royally piss off the Memphis base that I need to support me if I ever run for office again. So I’ll just keep pushing for this ‘joint ticket’ so I won’t have to publicly decide.”
SEE ALSO:
Hotline (II)
Daily Kos
Big Pimpin’
Connie Manes
State of the Day
Webutante
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Cable Bill Passes
Posted on April 28, 2008 at 6:02 pmThe compromise cable bill known as the Competitive Cable and Video Services Act passed tonight in the House chamber by a vote of 93-2.
SEE ALSO:
R. Neal
Joe Powell
Cara Kumari
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Thanks For Noticing
Posted on at 6:40 amTom Humphrey eulogizes the recently departed comptroller emeritus William Snodgrass:
[C]ity and county governments had basically no financial oversight before Snodgrass. At his urging, and over local opposition, they are now subjected to annual audits by the state. Disclosure of many local misdeeds has resulted over the years.
He influenced policy debates as well. In the 1980s, he launched a study of tort reform that concluded laws restricting the damages awarded in lawsuits were ineffective. The study was widely credited with derailing tort reform efforts of the day - when the idea was wildly popular in other states. Not much has changed since.
On a personal note, he would take the time to sit down and explain to an ignorant young reporter the arcane minutia of very complicated matters in understandable terms - bond finances, for example - and how it related to pending legislation. The best way to steal from the public, he once said, was to do so in such a complicated and boring fashion that no one would notice.
But Snodgrass would notice, often enough, to keep folks honest when they were otherwise inclined.
SEE ALSO:
Betty Brown
Whitehouse and Wood
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Keyed Off On Tennessee’s Digital Download Tax
Posted on April 25, 2008 at 7:56 amBoth the City Paper and the Knoxville News Sentinel write up the TNGOP’s rallying cry to prevent a new digital download tax and the subsequent revelation that the tax is already being collected:
As for the confusion perhaps caused by the Tennessee Republican Party, spokesman Bill Hobbs said he doesn’t now “dispute” that iTunes sales are taxed.
Hobbs said he based his description on a memo from the law firm of Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, which called the section of the technical corrections bill the “Digital Products/iPod tax.”
“It’s probably an unfortunate choice of a headline, but Waller Lansden called it that, and I just keyed off of what they wrote,” Hobbs said.
Click here for yesterday’s Post Politics report on the issue.
No New Tax: Tennessee Already Collecting Revenue From Digital Media Downloads
Posted on April 24, 2008 at 3:11 pmIt turns out that the Tennessee Republican Party and the rest of the anti tax crew were a little late to the party on this digital tax scare. Tennessee currently taxes digital downloads, such as songs from iTunes, and have been since the beginning of this calendar year.
A Waller Landsen email yesterday on the technical correction bill currently being drafted by the government started people talking when Instapundit linked to a section in the draft called the Digital Products/iPod Tax.
The Bill contains sweeping legislation that would subject downloaded sales of digital media, including music videos, motion pictures, news and entertainment programs, music, ringtones, electronic books, etc. to the retail sales tax. Under current law digitally delivered goods are not taxable unless delivered in a tangible form.
The Tennessee Republican Party, in the form of Bill Hobbs, whipped up a frenzy about this impending doom both in a press release and a blog post warning folks about the long reach of Johnnie Q. Tax in their digital library. Turns out however that tax is already being collected on your downloads as noted by Nashville Is Talking.
Department of Revenue Commissioner Reagan Farr tells Post Politics that the State of Tennessee began to collect revenue from digital media starting January 1, 2008. Companies such as Apple are currently charging taxes on downloads to consumers in the state of Tennessee and the Department of Revenue is collecting them.
The Department does not have any numbers for the amount of tax being collected on downloads because the Department keeps no records on line items, an iPod bought in the Apple Store in Green Hills is no different than a song downloaded by a Tennessean via iTunes.
Because Apple maintains property or payroll in the state they are subject to the sales tax where a company like Amazon, who does sell traditionally tangible products to Tennesseans, is not subject to tax.
Farr concedes that even though current law subjects downloads to sales tax that the code “needs cleaning up.” Right now, for instance, the Department of Revenue makes no distinction between tangible personal property and intangible personal property.
Downloads are considered tangible personal property by the State. According to Farr, under Tennessee code an ITunes song is considered “pre-written computer sofware” [T.C.A. §§ 67-1-102 (60)] that then “performs the task“[T.C.A. §§ 67-1-102 (17)] of playing on your iPod. It is thus taxable under Tennessee law.
Farr looks forward to fashioning a more modern definition of software that makes makes clear that downloaded songs, books, or movies, while intangible, are the digital equivalent of tangible personal property.
UPDATE: A statement and a linkable PDF timeline of the changes in the code that resulted the tax levy beginning this year, courtesy of the Department Of Revenue.
SEE ALSO:
Rex Hammock
The City Paper
Tom Humphrey
Terry Frank
Glen Harness
TNGOP Updates
The Sudden Impact Of A Wide Net
Posted on April 22, 2008 at 2:31 pm“When you go looking for something specific, your chances of finding it are very bad. Because of all the things in the world, you’re only looking for one of them. When you go looking for anything at all, your chances of finding it are very good. Because of all the things in the world, you’re sure to find some of them.”
~ Daryl Zero in The Zero Effect (1998)
Joe Powell has a big problem with “Operation Sudden Impact” a three-state, 50-agency project initiative design to ferret out terrorists an American soil:
If law enforcement stops every car and driver, searches every business and home, they will likely find some kind of violation of something somewhere … but that’s playing a game of blind luck and not ‘enhancing security efforts’.
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