Idiot Congresswoman wasting time, money

From today's Tennessean...

Marsha Blackburn presses fight to save incandescent bulbs

A gem...

“Despite my best efforts, our beloved incandescent light bulbs are still scheduled to go away at the end of the year,” Blackburn said in a statement a staffer provided Tuesday.

“I will fight until the end so that people can keep their light bulbs and we’ll see what happens in the coming days. In the meantime, I am stocking up and filling my family’s Christmas stockings with light bulbs. Hope my friends in Tennessee are too.”

and what she'll never understand...

Replacing a single light bulb in every home in the country with a CFL would save enough energy to light about 3 million homes for a year and keep 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air a year, according to the EPA. That’s the same amount that is emitted by about 800,000 cars.

“Sometimes we have to pass a law to make a difference on a mass scale,” said Scott McIntosh, who is working on master’s degrees in both business and sustainability at Lipscomb University.

“People aren’t aware how little changes can make big differences.”

Let the TN Election Season begin!

State Sen. Eric Stewart declares bid for Congress
1:15 AM, Nov. 18, 2011

State Sen. Eric Stewart announced Thursday that he is running for the 4th Congressional District, taking on first-term incumbent Rep. Scott DesJarlais.

Stewart, a Democrat who has represented the 14th Senate district since 2009, said there is widespread dissatisfaction with DesJarlais, a Republican physician with no prior political experience who pulled off a surprising win last November over Democratic Rep. Lincoln Davis.“I actually think across this district there’s some buyer’s remorse about who they sent up there to serve them,” Stewart said. “They’re pretty disgusted with what’s been going on up in D.C. on both sides of the aisle.”

Stewart, who won’t run again for his Senate seat, is entering the race even though state lawmakers are still redesigning the 4th District. It currently stretches from Lawrence County on the Alabama border to Campbell County on the Kentucky border. Stewart currently represents seven counties within the 4th Congressional District, and his home of Franklin County borders DesJarlais’ home of Marion County.

“I feel pretty confident that Franklin County will remain in the 4th District, as well as most of my state Senate seat,” Stewart said.

DesJarlais has not yet set up a campaign organization, an adviser said. The congressman said in a statement that he is focused on efforts in Congress to reduce the nation’s $15 trillion debt.“My focus is on the upcoming supercommittee recommendation and how to best reduce our national debt,” DesJarlais said in a statement. “There will be a time to focus on the campaign, but it isn’t now.”

Dirty politics

A very good article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal about the politics of regulation. Of course, it gives credit to our TN-07 congressman.

Make your own poll results!

Not sure which Tennesseans are saying don't tax the rich, but Marsha seems to think they exist.

Blackburn provides us her overly simplistic thoughts on the economy

We Can Create More Jobs With Less
Marsha Blackburn

Everyone in Washington is focused on ways to get our economy back on track. Unfortunately, President Obama and the Democrats are focused on all the wrong things. Ask any small business owner what they want the government to do to help them create jobs and they will tell you - we just need them to get out of the way.

That's why I will continue to focus on less - less regulations, less taxes, less litigation. These are the things that will help small business owners. And, after all, they are the ones who create the vast majority of new jobs in America.

President Obama has been in office for nearly three years, yet he still refuses to accept any responsibility for the economic mess we continue to be in. Now he is pushing for a new "jobs" bill. But it is just a rehashed stimulus. The others didn't work and this one won't either. Most of us in Congress recognize that there is no single bill or single stroke of the pen that is going to fix the economy.

It has to be a long-term focused project by everyone working together. Washington must find a way to give hard-working taxpayers a fighting chance. The President keeps saying just do the math, so let me suggest this equation: (-regulation)+(-taxation)+(-litigation)=(+innovation)+(+job creation)

It's time for the President and Democrats to recognize that if we are truly going to get this economy growing again, we have to start by eliminating the excessive regulations that are creating so much uncertainty for businesses. To truly create stability, the President should declare a one year moratorium on the creation of new regulations.

We also cannot raise taxes on anyone in the midst of such a huge economic crisis. Instead, we need a flatter, fairer, simpler tax system that would allow individuals and businesses to keep more of their money.

It's also time for Congress to pass serious tort reform legislation to put an end to all the frivolous lawsuits that place such a burden on our small business owners. And finally, Washington needs to stop the out of control wasteful spending.
---

I'm guessing some people weren't required to take Macroeconomics 101 in college.

Who wants to go?!!

$250 for a book seems reasonable.

Don't buy at Beaman

From today's Tennessean...

Presidential hopeful Rick Perry comes to town, raises cash
Posted on September 29, 2011 by Michael Cass

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, one of the front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination, spent time in Tennessee this week, including a fund raiser in Nashville on Wednesday.

Lee Beaman, CEO of Beaman Automotive, hosted the 90-minute fund raiser, which was closed to the press, at his Oak Hill home. Beaman said “probably over 200″ people attended, including Gov. Bill Haslam and House Speaker Beth Harwell, though he said they attended for reasons of political courtesy and not necessarily endorsement.

Beaman said he’s donated to several candidates, but he thinks Perry, who made a 15-to-20-minute speech inside a big tent set up in the yard, is the one to beat.

“I think he can win the Republican nomination and the general election, and I think he has the best chance to do both of those,” he said.


Beaman said he didn’t know how much money the Perry campaign raised at the event. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, the campaign’s leader in Tennessee, did not immediately respond to a request for comment; a Ramsey spokesman later said he would try to get a number.

Ramsey tweeted from the fund raiser, “Having a great time at Lee Beaman’s listening to Gov. Perry talk about how he’ll bring us out of the Obama Recession.” That remark quickly drew several retorts, like this one from

@Litzz11:

“@RonRamsey Right, you mean the “Obama Recession” that Bush started & the GOP has refused to do anything about until they win in 2012?”

Perry also visited Memphis before he came to Nashville and was in Knoxville, where he did speak to reporters, Thursday morning.

---
I knew Beaman donated to the GOP, but not at this level! I guess this explains why the only magazines they have in their waiting room are Newsmax.

Tard.

BLACKBURN TO HOST GIBSON GUITAR CEO FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS
Washington, Sep 7 -

Congressman Marsha Blackburn issued the following statement today announcing that Gibson Guitar CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, will be her special guest for President Barack Obama’s address to the Joint Session of Congress on Thursday night.

“Gibson Guitar is at the heart of this jobs debate, and is an example of exactly why President Obama has it wrong when it comes to getting our economy back on track. Maybe if the President spent more time finding real solutions to empowering small business owners and less time hindering businesses like Gibson, we'd see more new jobs being created.

“Small businesses under the leadership of executives like Henry are the key to getting our nation’s economic engine running again. While the President is busy delivering speeches, small business leaders like Henry are busy trying to deliver results. The best thing President Obama could do is seek their advice, then get out of the way. Big government doesn’t create jobs, small businesses like Gibson Guitar do.”

---
In case you didn't read about this, Gibson was raided because they're importing illegal rain forest wood for guitars. Once again, Blackburn twists the facts.

Bout right.

*Gasp*

The GOP doesn't value a woman's opinion. Not even is that woman is Marsha Blackburn!

Finally! A vote I can agree with!

H.AMDT.735 (A012) Amends: H.R.2584
Sponsor: Rep Dicks, Norman D. [WA-6] (offered 7/26/2011)

AMENDMENT PURPOSE: An amendment to strike the proviso relating to funding limitations in the Endangered Species Act.

STATUS:
7/26/2011 8:15pm: Amendment (A012) offered by Mr. Dicks. (consideration: CR H5550-5552, H5553-5561; text: CR H5550)

7/27/2011 1:44pm: On agreeing to the Dicks amendment (A012) Agreed to by recorded vote: 224 - 202 (Roll no. 652). (consideration: CR H5601)

Votes from Tennessee's delegation...

Black - No
Blackburn - Aye
Cohen - Aye
Cooper - Aye
DesJarlais - No
Duncan - No
Fincher - No
Fleischmann - No
Roe - No

Could it be that Congressman Blackburn is OK with protecting endangered species??!!! There might be a soul in there, folks!

It's a swing and a misssssss!

Crazy Rep. is still crazy

Still creating conspiracy theories... dumb lady keeps forgetting that Pres. Bush signed the so-called "ban" into law...


Save The Light Bulb - What Next?
Marsha Blackburn

I wanted to personally thank you for signing my Petition "Save the Light Bulb." In the last week, we have lost one battle, but won another in this fight to maintain a basic consumer choice. Although a majority of the House voted to repeal the light bulb ban, we did not get the 2/3 majority needed to pass the bill and later override a certain Obama veto. But your voices were heard through phone calls, e-mails and social media. And, later in the week, we passed an amendment into the Energy & Water Appropriations bill that would prohibit the Department of Energy from using any taxpayer funds to enforce the light bulb ban. The liberals knew we had won that round and did not even call for a recorded vote.

I know that you understand that the issue is far more important than merely saving a specific consumer product. It's about fighting for individual freedom - the freedom to make our own choices in America - whether it is about purchasing consumer goods or our right to bear arms. My point has always been when we permit liberals to chip away at the foundation of our individual freedoms; eventually that very foundation will crumble. I intend to fight every attempt by liberals to limit our individual freedom.

Let’s not stop! Let’s keep this grassroots effort growing!

Thanks for your help.

Marsha Blackburn

---
To clarify, I signed no petition...this is her campaign literature. Nothing like energy efficiency to really bring out the crazy in a right-wing broad.

Dumbash...

From today's Tennessean...

Coal ash: headed for your landfill?
House undercuts EPA effort to reach answer on waste

After the 2008 Kingston, Tenn., coal ash disaster, there was hope that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would finally address the dangers associated with toxic coal ash waste.

That hope began to fade when EPA published an ambivalent draft rule more than a year ago. Although EPA has engaged in a rigorous process of evaluating the law, science and economics of coal ash regulations while reviewing the substantial public input in response to last spring’s proposal, actual progress toward a final rule of any kind is slow, and some in Congress want progress to stop entirely.

Coal ash, the waste left behind after coal is burned, is laden with heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, chromium and selenium. For generations, coal ash has been dumped in unlined ponds and landfills where toxic substances enter ground and surface water. In spring 2010, EPA proposed two regulatory options to address this problem: One would treat coal ash as hazardous waste, the other would merely issue voluntary guidelines that utilities could choose to ignore without threat of federal enforcement.

EPA’s final rule is still pending, as they consider thousands of scientific documents and hundreds of thousands of public comments, including many from Tennesseans expressing personal understanding of the need to comprehensively regulate coal ash.

Now, instead of letting EPA finish the process, Congress is engaging in politically motivated attempts to undermine the agency’s work. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill to prohibit EPA from adequately dealing with coal ash. Committee member Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is supporting the charge against coal ash regulation, which comes as no surprise given her staunch anti-environmental views, but, given the dozens of risky coal ash sites in this state, is directly opposed to the interests of Tennesseans.

Congress’ unnecessary intrusion not only pre-empts the rulemaking process before completion, it also undermines critical scientific inquiry and transparency inherent in the EPA process. The votes of Rep. Blackburn and others on the committee are an affront to residents of Tennessee who experienced firsthand the disastrous 2008 Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston coal ash spill and still face damage and threats from other coal ash sites across the state.

Citizen groups form

Make no mistake: People in Tennessee have been vocal about their concerns. A group in East Tennessee held a public meeting last fall unanimously calling for strong hazardous-waste regulations; hundreds more attended an EPA-sponsored hearing in Knoxville. In Middle Tennessee, a group has formed in Humphreys County, in part to investigate the impacts of coal ash from TVA’s New Johnsonville plant. A state bill was recently offered in Nashville to improve control of the dozens of risky coal ash sites in the state, but was stymied by interference from the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce.

Some institutions, including the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, utilities that produce coal ash and anti-environmental crusaders like Rep. Blackburn flatly oppose rules to tightly regulate the waste. Yet, whether or not you support strict coal ash protections, and whether or not you live near one of Tennessee’s many ash ponds, you should reject the idea of congressional action to undermine the rulemaking processes.

It is simply unacceptable for Congress to ignore science and the voices of people from Kingston, New Johnsonville and other communities burdened by coal ash.

Until we see this on Murray Lane...

...Marsha Blackburn won't give a damn.

From today's Tennessean...

Coal ash could be treated as city trash

WASHINGTON — A House committee approved legislation Wednesday that would bar federal regulation of coal ash as hazardous waste.

The bill, passed 35-12 by the Energy and Commerce Committee, now moves to the House floor, where a Republican majority probably will pass it.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood, the only Tennessee lawmaker on the committee, voted for the measure.

Six Democrats joined the committee’s Republicans in voting for the bill.

The Environmental Protection Agency began urging regulation after more than 5 million cubic yards of coal ash sludge spilled from TVA’s Kingston power plant onto the banks of the Emory River in December 2008. The ongoing cleanup effort could cost ratepayers more than $1 billion.

TVA's Kingston disaster

While barring the EPA from regulating coal ash, the legislation would allow states to treat the ash as municipal waste, placing it in the same category as household garbage and cleaning chemicals, wastewater and construction debris.

Landfills and ponds holding coal ash generally would be subject to the same rules for design, lining and groundwater testing as landfills containing municipal garbage.

The bill would allow the EPA to step in if it finds a state isn’t properly disposing of coal ash under that state’s municipal waste program.

Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee pointed to the Kingston spill as evidence that states’ disposal methods aren’t safe enough, especially in holding ponds where wet ash is stored. Five of TVA’s plants dispose of coal ash in wet impoundments. Six use dry storage.

“I don’t believe anyone really thinks we should be treating wet impoundments of coal ash the same way we treat our municipal garbage,” said Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa. “The Tennessee thing was a wet impoundment, and that’s a real problem.”

Rep. Henry Waxman, the committee’s top Democrat, said the bill wouldn’t protect public health.

“It won’t make high-risk impoundments of coal ash safe,” he said. “It won’t stop contamination of drinking water. It will establish a weak federal program designed to maintain the status quo.”

But Rep. John Shimkus, the Illinois Republican who is chairman of the committee’s environment panel, said the bill would “prevent issues like the one that caused the problems at TVA in Tennessee.”

“State officials affirmed their expertise and desire to regulate this area without federal control,” Shimkus said. “Given the unique challenges of each individual state, I believe this is the best approach.”

If the bill is approved by the entire House, it will move to the Senate.

Health, job factors

Environmentalists argue that chemicals in coal ash cause cancer and other ailments.

Industry representatives and many Republicans say studies of health risks have been inconclusive, and regulating coal ash as toxic waste would raise utility prices and threaten jobs by stigmatizing products made with the substance.

Almost half of the country’s 131 million tons of coal ash are recycled in wall board, concrete, carpeting, kitchen counters and other household products, according to the American Coal Ash Association.

In June last year, the EPA proposed two options for regulating the waste. One would deem it hazardous and require federal oversight. The other, less stringent option would put states in charge.

The Energy and Commerce Committee also voted Tuesday to require an analysis of the overall impact of EPA regulations on jobs, energy prices and the economy. Blackburn also voted for that bill.

House Republicans also are targeting coal ash regulation in a draft spending bill for fiscal 2012, stipulating that the EPA may not use any money in the bill to regulate coal ash as hazardous waste.

Repealing Progress Fail

From the Memphis Commercial Appeal...

Effort by Rep. Marsha Blackburn to preserve incandescent light bulbs falls short

WASHINGTON – Chris Dempsey, manager of the family-owned Stewart Hardware stores in Midtown and Bartlett, stocks both efficient compact fluorescent and inefficient incandescent light bulbs.

Although sales of the CFLs are increasing, “the majority of customers prefer the incandescent bulbs,” he said. “I don’t think anybody thinks it’s the end-of-the-world type of thing but, given the choice, they prefer the incandescent bulb.”

In Congress, to hear the debate over light bulb efficiency standards this week, you might think it is an end-of-the-world type of thing. U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has been leading the effort to repeal higher standards signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007.

The Obama Administration weighed in earlier this week saying the bill she sponsored, the Better Use of Light Bubs (BULB) Act, is “unnecessary” and would have “negative economic consequences.”

“It’s time for us to say it was bad policy. It was a bad idea and we need to get it off the books,” Blackburn said in a floor debate Monday evening. She said the stiffer standards are “a de facto ban on the incandescent light bulb.”

The House voted 233-193 this evening to repeal the higher standards but, under the suspension rules, it needed two-thirds to pass. The failure was a blow to the coal industry, electricity generators and opponents of greater regulation. It’s estimated the higher standards, due to take effect next year, would save the output of 30 large electrical power plants and the tons of air pollution they produce.

U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., was one of 35 co-sponsors and voted for the measure, as did U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., voted against it.

Supporters of the 2007 standards note that the higher-efficiency bulbs mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act not only would save energy but, despite higher up-front costs, also save consumers money over time because of their longer useful life.

Those who want to repeal the efficiency standards, like Blackburn, say consumers tell them they don’t like the new compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) and particularly don’t like their higher costs. More efficient incandescent bulbs are also available but are also more expensive than their inefficient counterparts.

“Why take the low end of the market off the market?” U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, asked during Monday’s debate. “If you’re Al Gore and you want to pay $10 for a light bulb, more power to you.”

Blackburn and others also note that most CFLs – Blackburn in her House floor speech Monday said “all” – are made in China, and that the last major General Electric plant making ordinary incandescent bulbs, in Winchester, Va., closed last September, taking 200 jobs.

Those bulbs, which the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington-based think tank, says waste 90 percent of the electricity they consume as heat, cannot meet the energy standards that go into effect in 2012.

But the NRDC notes that the 2007 increased efficiency standards have been embraced by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the trade association for domestic light manufacturers, as well as the leading manufacturers themselves.

The NRDC points out that the standards have “jumpstarted domestic industry investment in research and development and production of more efficient lighting products.” It points to a factory in St. Marys, Pa., retooling to make more efficient incandescent bulbs, a new factory for CFLs opening in Ohio this year and “thousands of jobs” being created by companies such as Cree, Lighting Science Group and Phillips Lighting.

The NRDC also released a statement quoting Barry Edison Stone, the great-grandson of the inventor of the incandescent bulb, suggesting proponents of the repeal of the higher standards are “narrow-minded.”

Proponents of the higher efficiency standards say they will spur innovation while reducing electricity usage and the carbon dioxide and other pollutants associated with coal-burning power plants.

But Blackburn, in her speech, said the bulbs “don’t save any energy,” adding, “we also know they’re also dangerous because they’re filled with mercury.”

The NRDC acknowledges the CFLs require between two and five milligrams of mercury, but notes that a single older thermometer contained nearly 500 milligrams of mercury – equivalent to the amount in more than 100 CFL bulbs.

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who is opposed to repealing the higher standards, noted that not only manufacturers but the Consumers Union, which produces Consumer Reports, as well as Johnson Controls, United Technologies and the Environmental Defense Fund all support retaining them.

Consumers Union also paid for a newspaper ad now circulating saying incandescent bulbs aren’t being banned, just “getting better,” noting than the new bulbs, that look just like the old ones, are between 28 and 33 percent more efficient. Spokesman Michele Schaefer noted that lighting is 10 percent to 15 percent of household electrical use and more efficient upgrades will ultimately save consumer billions of dollars in reduced utility bills.

As with many partisan debates, the light bulb debate is largely ideological, pitting the higher efficiency mandate against the free market and consumer choice. As Waxman put it, the higher standards are already “working as we intended,” moving industry to innovate.

But Barton insisted consumers should have the option to choose the cheaper, less efficient alternative.

“Let the people make their own choices,” he said. “Why in the world does the federal government have to tell people what kinds of lights to use in their home?”

An interesting interview with Gov. Haslam

From the City Paper...

Bill Haslam: 'Gay rights is a broad topic'

Here's a snippet...

Q: Why do you take these positions? Do you think the gay lifestyle is a choice?
A: Oh, I’m not going to go into all that discussion.

Where is this history coming from?

Tell me, Representative, at what point in history did government spending cuts lead to economic growth? Your logic doesn't make sense. Period.

Blackburn and gay?

Congressman Blackburn and her gay sidekick. The Hillary aide is right on target... passing hatred off as patriotism is just plain sad.

Blackburn is not the 7th

From the Jackson Sun...

Blackburn, Republicans want to destroy Social Security
11:00 PM, Jun. 15, 2011

Rep. Marsha Blackburn is not one of us. She lives in a Brentwood mansion in Williamson County, one of the wealthiest in the country. She paid her children hundreds of thousands to manage an unopposed campaign. She thinks nothing of spending thousands on opera tickets. When she stoops to visit constituents, it's brief, on short notice and when most people can't attend.

Last year while Nashville was under water and tornadoes ripped through her district wreaking havoc and costing lives, she sponsored "spa day" at a posh D.C. hotel rather than checking on us. She doesn't know what it means to work hard for a living only to make ends meet. She draws a salary of $174,000 a year plus expenses. She won't have to depend on Social Security in her old age. Unlike many of our elderly and sick, she will never have to make a choice between eating and buying her medicine.

No wonder Blackburn co-sponsored Paul Ryan's plan to abolish Medicare and replace it with a "shop-your-own-insurance" voucher. No wonder Blackburn, along with six other Republicans, introduced legislation last week that allows workers to opt out of Social Security.

The SAFE (Savings Account for Every American) Act is anything but safe. Workers would be allowed to take the 6.2 percent they currently contribute to Social Security and throw it to the whims of the market in a privatized account. After 15 years, employers could also privatize their 6.2 percent match.

Reforms are needed to sustain this safety net for the aged and disabled, but diverting monies into privatized accounts means death to Social Security. Social Security will be there for us as it has been for the past 75 years, if we continue to contribute to it. If Blackburn and other GOP culprits get their way, they will destroy Social Security and Medicare for those whose very lives depend on it.

Meryl Rice
Whiteville

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Speaking of... this is where you can find our Rep. Blackburn on June 29...

New York Young Republicans Club 99th Annual Dinner
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011
6:30PM – 10:00PM
Manhattan Penthouse – 80 5th Avenue (at 14th Street)

Includes passed hors d’oeuvres, open bar, and three course dinner.

The NYYRC is celebrating our 100 year anniversary! Last year’s annual dinner was our most successful annual dinner to date with over 180 attendees and this year being our 100th anniversary will be bigger and better than ever.

This event will feature Congressman Marsha Blackburn and Monica Crowley as a guest speakers, and Curtis Sliwa as emcee.

Inspiring, to say the least

One of the first pictures of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords post-shooting...

TN Legislator wrap-up

A good wrap-up from MetroPulse out of Knoxville...

Bullshit from Blackburn

The Nashville Scene calls out Blackburn on her stale ideas, and the Tennessean for praising them...

How Serious Is The GOP About Reforming Health Care?
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 1:41 PM

The answer: Not very serious, if a bill advanced by Rep. Marsha Blackburn is any indication. Read this story to find out why.

But in the meantime, I'll give you the CliffsNotes. Blackburn has proposed a piece of legislation, the Health Care Choice Act, that would mandate that states allow the interstate sale of health insurance — something that's currently illegal. It's the classic GOP free-market argument, the theory being that it would spur competition and drive down prices, thereby decreasing the shamefully massive number of uninsured Americans.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says that's some seriously wishful thinking — or at least it said so back in 2005. That's when Blackburn's bill was essentially proposed before, word-for-word, by Arizona Republican John Shadegg.

We were motivated to write about this by a story in The Tennessean, which proclaimed the bill as "another advance in Blackburn's profile as a policymaker in Congress." Respectfully, we call bullshit. Read on and you'll see why.

First, we got a response from a Blackburn spokesman that didn't make it into the story. When asked about worries that states with fewer insurance regulations would poach healthier people from states with more protections, consequently depleting the counterbalance that keeps rates relatively stable, he said Blackburn's bill has an answer for that. The bill leaves intact state high-risk pools, he said.

The more Pith thought about it, the less satisfactory we found that answer.

For starters, not every state has a high-risk pool. A 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation estimate puts the number at 34, with a paltry 222,000 enrollees. Why is the number so low, you ask? Because they're a well-intentioned but failed experiment. They're too damned expensive, for obvious reasons. What can you expect from an insurance pool composed of nothing but people in various states of disrepair?

Of course, this is all merely a philosophical exercise. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell the Senate will pass a repeal measure, and it could be sometime yet before the U.S. Supreme Court gets its hands on the various legal challenges wending their way through federal district and appeals courts. And don't get us started on that.

Blackburn says screw everyone!

Blackburn pushes interstate health insurance bill
Critics say measure would make it hard to regulate insurers


Check out the front page of the Tennessean today... basically more of the same from Marsha: let corporations call the shots because they have everyone's best intentions at heart.

The Williamson County GOP is no longer a political party

Read and you will see why (from the Tennessean)...

Dutch politician brings anti-Islam views to TN

Dutch politician Geert Wilders sees a kindred spirit in Tennessee — a state where new mosques draw protests and the legislature is considering a bill that once targeted adherents of Islamic law.

On trial for hate speech in his home country, Wilders brought his headline-grabbing views on Islam to Middle Tennessee on Thursday. He came to town as the invited guest of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition, a 2-week-old political coalition founded by Republican former congressional candidate Lou Ann Zelenik.

“I come with a warning for America,” said Wilders, a filmmaker and member of the Dutch parliament, and something of a cult celebrity in some conservative circles.

Close Islamic schools, he warned America. Halt construction of mosques — or “hate palaces,” as he calls them. Cut off immigration from “non-Western and especially Islamic countries,” and expel any immigrants who do not “assimilate.”

“I was happy to visit the state of Tennessee, where I know a lot of people — certainly a lot of Christians — feel the same threat as we do, and know when you talk about values, when you talk about who you are and who you are not, and that Christianity is for certain not the same as Islam,” said Wilders, who is not himself a Christian. “I compare Islam not with Christianity and Judaism. I compare Islam with fascism and communism.”

His first stop of the day was talk show host Steve Gill’s radio show, then a meet-and-greet and news conference at Williamson County Republican Party headquarters in Franklin. The evening ended with a closed-to-the-press speech at Cornerstone Church in Madison about what Wilders sees as the evils of the world’s second-largest religion.

In Franklin, about a dozen protesters stood in the punishing May sunshine across from Republican headquarters, waving signs that said “SHAME” and “Be nice or go away.”

“It’s very inappropriate for an official political party here in Tennessee to bring in someone so notorious,” said Williamson County Democratic Party Chairman Peter Burr. “This guy is sort of the epitome of the outside agitator. That’s not the way we do business here in Tennessee.”

Across the street, about two dozen visitors milled outside Republican Party headquarters, eating lunch or filing inside to shake hands with Wilders. He traveled with a contingent of local and Dutch security, wary of the large number of death threats he has drawn over the years.

Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, his visit was a headline-grabbing coup for the fledgling Tennessee Freedom Coalition.

“Not bad for our first event,” said Jeff Hartline, the coalition's director. Wilders’ visit was not an official fundraiser for the coalition or the GOP, although Hartline said he expected to see a spike in donations as a result.

Wilders’ visit comes as the Tennessee legislature moves toward a vote on what was once known as the anti-Shariah law bill. After a storm of protests, lawmakers stripped any reference to Shariah — the religious law of Islam — from the bill. Instead, it now grants the Tennessee governor and the state attorney general the power to declare organizations to be terrorist groups.

It is expected to pass overwhelmingly.

Wilders, meanwhile, squeezed in his Tennessee visit between a speaking tour of Canada and his return home to the Netherlands.

“We have nothing against Muslims, as such,” he said in parting. “We have nothing against people of any kind of origin. We have a problem with the Islamic ideology.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement condemning Wilders’ visit to Tennessee and asking state and local Republican officials to repudiate the decision to “honor one of the world’s leading Islam-haters.”

B.S. from Beth

It's no secret how nutty the TN legislature has gotten since the November elections. Instead of doing anything meaningful, they've focused on banning Islam, abortion, and homosexuality. Here's Speaker Beth Harwell's response to concerns on the Special Access to Discrimate Act... which would prohibit Metro gov't from including sexual orientation in its discrimination policy...

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Thank you for contacting me in regard to the Equal Access to Intrastate Commerce Act, House Bill 600. I appreciate hearing your concerns.

The bill passed through the house last night. When local government mandates to private businesses what their policy regarding employment practices should be, it causes undue burden on those businesses. Further, this legislation will ensure that continuity exists across the board with regards to businesses who contract with local governments. This is why business groups like the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business support the legislation.

While much of the public discussion of the bill has been regarding the anti discrimination ordinance in Nashville, the legislation has broader implications. This bill would prevent local governments from going in the opposite direction - passing local laws that are discriminatory in nature. By passing this legislation, all local laws will be uniform across the state. While I understand your concerns about its effect on Nashville, I believe this is a positive step for the state as a whole.

Beth Harwell
Speaker of the House

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*Cough, cough*... bullshit.

Rep. DesJarlais works to starve his constituents... literally.

DesJarlais vows cuts despite numbers
By Chris Carroll

More than one-quarter of Tennessee’s 4th Congressional District depends on the government for groceries, but its congressman said he’s likely to slash the federal program that provides them.

“Folks on any entitlement programs, we’re going to have to take a look at it,” said U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a Republican physician who lives in South Pittsburg, Tenn. “If it hurts me politically, then I guess it hurts me politically.”

Throughout a 20-minute interview in Tracy City, Tenn., last week, DesJarlais denied having worries about the next election 19 months away, claiming voters sent him to Washington to “get government out of our lives.”

Records show more residents in the 4th District are registered for food stamps than voted for DesJarlais when he ousted four-term Democratic congressman Lincoln Davis in November.

In February, more than 150,000 4th District residents were signed up for food stamps, according to records from the state Department of Human Services. DesJarlais received 103,969 votes in the general election.

DesJarlais’ district is Tennessee’s largest geographically, sweeping across 24 mostly rural counties from Southeast Tennessee to a point south of Nashville. Three of its counties are among the state’s 10 worst for unemployment, including Scott County at 23.2 percent.

Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said the numbers indicate a “contradiction of who DesJarlais is and the constituency he represents.”

“Republicans talk about government as this monster strangling the American economy,” Forrester said. “Now you have a congressman who’s talking about stripping basic things people in his district need to survive.”

Despite his district’s economic makeup, DesJarlais has identified with a conservative bloc of young, tea party-backed legislators intent on cutting back entitlement programs — Social Security and Medicare among them.

“How much does he really know about his district?” asked Vanderbilt political science professor Bruce Oppenheimer. “You get one group of people who get you elected, but there’s another part of your constituency that maybe didn’t vote for you. And you may have to worry about them in the long run.”

But the congressman said his votes fall in line with a clear message sent by people back home. He acknowledged the poverty in the 4th District, but he’s ready to trim programs that are “very personal to people” for “the good of the whole.”

“Whether the people judge me in a poor light politically because of what I don’t do for the district will be up to them,” he said.

During the campaign season, DesJarlais touted a tea party endorsement and Sarah Palin’s political action committee donated $5,000 to his campaign, finance records show. Last August, he told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he “won’t be hamstrung by the Democrats or the Republicans.”

Through 193 House floor votes since he arrived in Congress, DesJarlais has voted with Republicans 98 percent of the time, according to records maintained by the Washington Post.

“I don’t feel I’ve compromised my conservative principles at all to this point,” he said.

Perfect Scene

The Nashville Scene keeps getting better and better!...

Marsha Blackburn May Have Something: Let Taxpayers Fund Only Things They Agree With!
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 5:51 AM

Thursday morning I was listening to WPLN and there was Marsha Blackburn talking about how Congress had to defund NPR because it's not right for taxpayers to have to pay for something they disagree with (I couldn't find Blackburn's exact comment online).

Aside from being antithetical to living in a society, I think this is a great idea. I'd like to be able to direct my taxes towards only things I support. I'd like to say to the IRS, "Give all of my money that would have gone to paying Marsha Blackburn's salary to an investigation of I-35 instead."

See, I-35 annoys me. Odd numbered interstates are supposed to be north-south routes, while even number interstates are east-west. But I-35 runs almost exactly parallel to I-44 for most of its length in Kansas, with nary an acknowledgment that it's impersonating an east/west interstate through a whole state! It's not right.

At the least, I'd rather my tax money went to paying for anything else at all, no matter how stupid, other than to paying Marsha Blackburn's salary. And by her own standards, I should have the right to refuse to give her my tax dollars, since I don't care for most of what she has to say.

I'll be expecting my tiny refund check from you, Congressman Blackburn, whenever you have a chance to send it.

Embarassing on video

Here is Marsha Blackburn making an ass out of herself by making NPR the enemy of her extreme right-wing bloc.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn: "It is a wealthy, educated listening audience. If people want this programming, they're going to be willing to pay for it but the American taxpayer has said, 'get NPR out of our pocket.' They have some sponsors that land in the $1 million plus category."

Aaaand some of the responses from the more educated side of the aisle...

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass: "They want to move to radio silence and when the American people find out about that, they're going to be outraged."

Rep. John Dingel, D-Mich., "Public broadcast is a national treasure... It sheds a little bit of culture on our people, something my Republican colleagues find offensive."

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon: "It's not going to stop NPR, which will go on. What it will cripple is what happens in smaller stations around the country."

Rep. John Larson, D-CT: "Americans are seeing through this... it's an ideological purge under the guise of dealing with the deficit... What they are doing is silencing NPR because it's not on the same ideological frequency as the extreme right."

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-CA. "I guess they figure if they can't catch Bin Laden, they might as well go after Prairie Home Companion. Public broadcasting is twice as popular as the Afghanistan war.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas: "These Republicans just can't tell the difference between Big Government and Big Bird. All things considered, their attack has nothing to do with balancing the budget.

Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ: "Saying factual information is somehow a liberal bias... we talk about the need for a well-informed public. Today there was a news report on the slow progress the Army is making on seeing that the wounded soldiers get their Purple Heart. This is good reporting. The other side seems to think this is... wait, wait, don't tell me.... biased reporting. We need NPR."

Rep. Carolyn Mahoney, D-NY: "Those who primarily listen to NPR were considerably less likely to hold demonstrably false beliefs. So now our colleagues across the country want to pull the plug on NPR... our colleagues want to fire the messenger. (It) is not a move to save money; it's a move to save face."

In her own words, Marsha's idiocy

Mar 16 2011
Fighting to Defund NPR
Marsha Blackburn

Today the House Rules Committee will consider H.R. 1076, the bill introduced by Rep. Doug Lamborn to defund NPR. Tomorrow I will lead the debate on the floor in support of Congressman Lamborn's legislation.

National Public Radio (NPR) has proven in the last few weeks that taxpayer money should not be given to support their extreme left wing views. Just recently an NPR official was captured on video calling Conservatives and Tea Party members "racist." The Washington Post says that NPR receives $2.4 million to spread their liberal message. That must end. Our government must not be involved in supporting an extreme left wing organization.

H.R. 1076 is a standalone bill that will still provide funds to local stations, but will prohibit those stations from spending federal funds on NPR programming or dues. This legislation will not be impacted by pending negotiations between the House and Senate on a continuing resolution. The time has come to stop spending taxpayer money on the NPR, especially during a time of rising deficits and out of control spending. An organization that is so heavily biased should not receive taxpayer monies. I hope you can watch the debate on the floor of the United States House of Representatives as it takes place tomorrow.

---

Just remember, Big Bird is a distant relative of Ho Chi Minh.

Blackburn wants future generations to be embarassed of her

From the Nashville Scene...

Rep. Blackburn and Every Other Republican On House Energy Committee Denies Climate Change
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 12:54 PM

Who would have thought that by the year 2011, we'd still have a chamber of Congress where the majority deny the universal conclusion arrived at by the worldwide scientific community pointing to anthropogenic (man-made) causes for climate change?

Even after Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) ordered a full investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General into alleged climate-change collusion and data manipulation between researchers at the University of East Anglia and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — and it turned up no conspiracy whatsoever — the furor refuses to die. Some 82 percent of Earth scientists and nearly 98 percent of climate scientists believe climate change is caused by human activity, according to a survey conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago. Yet lawmakers such as Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-7th), who is on the the committee, still cast votes denying what is apparent to so many.

Yesterday, Blackburn voted against the EPA's finding that climate change is occurring. She actually didn't vote at all on an amendment that states climate change is caused by man. Finally, she voted against an amendment that states unequivocally that climate change will endanger the health of future generations. Why? Because she probably believes climate change is a hoax perpetrated on us by the entire (credible) scientific community — or, at the very least, she knows she'd never get re-elected in the 7th if she admitted she didn't.

Gotta make that money, too. Koch Industries sends its love, Marsha, to the tune of $32,000 (and mind you, they didn't really start making it rain until 2008).

Marsha Blackburn on the wrong side of reality

Blackburn for sale, cont'd.

A nice, sweet article from the Commercial Repeal about Congressman Blackburn's representation of corporate interests over public welfare...

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn challenges pro-net neutrality group
By Bartholomew Sullivan
Memphis Commercial Appeal

WASHINGTON -- When it comes to Internet neutrality, is corporate financial influence an interest or a bias?

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said Wednesday that she understood the "interests" represented by AT&T and two Internet start-up companies but needed clarification on the "bias" of the nonprofit media reform group Free Press.

During a House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing, Blackburn pressed for information about the media reform group's sources of funding.

Free Press champions preserving an open Internet and neutrality rules preventing companies from slowing or blocking traffic for their own competitive advantage. It also opposes media consolidation.

"I think it might be instructive to us, if we read your testimony, and as we try to figure out, you know, the bias that you bring to the argument, if you could detail to us where Free Press gets its funding," Blackburn said.

S. Derek Turner, Free Press' research director, agreed to provide the information but added, "Free Press takes zero corporate money. We're completely supported by our members and by foundation support."

Blackburn has reintroduced a bill that would prevent any entity but Congress itself from regulating the Internet and has become a leading advocates of a hands-off approach to the telecommunications industry.

Free Press' website indicates it is supported by several major foundations, including such well-known philanthropies as John D. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Haas Foundation, The Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and George Soros' Open Society Institute. Soros is a Hungarian-American financier and supporter of liberal causes.

Free Press spokeswoman Jenn Ettinger said it had more than 500,000 members nationwide.

The Republican-controlled subcommittee later voted 15-8 along party lines to repeal the Federal Communications Commission's new "network neutrality" rules.
---

Check out some of the comments from unhappy folks in the 7th District.

Throwback but had to post

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) speaks about Republicans' crusade against womens' rights and Planned Parenthood. She makes me smile.

This is for my people, my party people...

Pro-teacher rally yesterday at the State Capitol.

The next rally is Saturday, March 5 at Bicentennial Mall from 12-3pm.

Embarassment: Example #2,653,127

From the Tennessean...

2 Tennessee GOP lawmakers want presidential candidates to prove citizenship

MURFREESBORO — Two Rutherford County legislators are sponsoring a bill that would require U.S. presidential candidates to prove to the state of Tennessee that they were born U.S. citizens to run for the nation's highest office.

State Sen. Bill Ketron said he proposed the bill because he thinks President Barack Obama might be hiding the fact that he was born in another country.

"Why can't he (Obama) come forward and show he is a citizen?" Ketron said Friday, adding that he has read articles stating Obama has spent $2 million from his campaign fund fighting lawsuits to keep from showing his birth certificate.

Ketron and state Rep. Rick Womick, both Murfreesboro Republicans, filed the bill that would attempt to force those running for president to file a sworn affidavit with Tennessee's secretary of state proving they meet "constitutional residency requirements."

Ten other states are considering similar legislation. Ketron said when the bill was brought to him for sponsorship, he decided it would give the state of Tennessee a chance to vet the matter and determine if it needed legislation.

But he added that if Obama has spent $2 million protecting his birth certificate from lawsuits, "I would lean on the side of he's trying to hide something and he's not a citizen."

Ketron's doubts mirror those of "birther" activists who believe Obama has refused to show the long form of his birth certificate because he was born in Kenya, the homeland of his father, and isn't eligible to be presidency.

Critics of the movement say birthers are fanatics whose claims have been repeatedly disproved and who won't accept any evidence that Obama is a U.S. citizen.

Womick said he decided to sponsor the bill in response to some 250 requests. He likened the requirement for seeking the presidency to requiring children to show their birth certificates to participate in youth sports such as football or Little League.

The bill is designed to make sure candidates for the nation's highest office are following constitutional mandates of Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution, Womick said.

"We don't have the federal government enforcing it or the Supreme Court upholding it," Womick said.

Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution says: "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

Womick said the bill is not targeting any particular candidate.

"I believe President Obama has a birth certificate," Womick said. "He says he does."

An investigation by snopes.com determined claims were false that the Obama campaign provided a forged certification of live birth three years ago.

It notes that the certificate from the state of Hawaii made available on the Internet in 2008 shows his full name as "Barack Hussein Obama II" and lists his father's race as "African" and his mother's race as "Caucasian" while reporting his birthplace as Honolulu.

Womick noted that U.S. Sen. John McCain, Obama's Republican opponent in the 2008 election, was born in Panama.

"Whether it's John McCain or Barack Obama, you have to prove you meet Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution," Womick said.

Artsy fartsy

Toe the line

Can the TN GOP toe the line? Will they really focus on jobs, or on guns and gays?

From State Senator Jim Kyle (D-Memphis):

“I think the social conservatives are going to win out. If they do prevail, it is to the long-term detriment of Tennesseans. Ultimately, Tennesseans will realize that this last election was not about jobs, but it was about directing lifestyle choices from a centralized government, and eventually Tennesseans will rebel and say that the Republicans are not on their side.”

Good article from the usually conservative-leaning Nashville City Paper.

Blackburn for sale!

Front page on the Tennessean today!

Blackburn's leadership role brings surge in PAC giving

Rep. Marsha Blackburn's donations from special-interest groups skyrocketed during the last election cycle as she assumed a leadership role on a powerful House committee. But her fundraising is standard in several ways for a lawmaker seeking to advance in Congress.

What an inspiring legacy she'll leave...

Smack down

Congressman Marsha Blackburn's free market mumbo-jumbo regarding tech policy is torn to shreds in this article on the Huffington Post.

I haven't pasted because it's got some neato graphics, but I DEFINITELY recommend you viewing if you wanna see what this Marsha + net neutrality thing is all about.

I found this comment from a HuffPost blogger pretty interesting....

Yes, Blackburn basically runs errands for Verizon, AT&T and Comcast. Even before becoming a member of the House Commerce Subcommitt­ee on Telecommun­ications and the Internet she was known to appear suddenly in chambers whenever a hearing was going bad for the telcos, to muscle her way to the podium and read from a statement apparently just faxed to her offices by industry lobbyists. The Politico puffery missed that little detail.

You misunderstood my partisanship

From Politico...

Will Marsha Blackburn be GOP’s next tech policy champion?

In the first few weeks of 2011, Rep. Marsha Blackburn didn’t just test the tech policy waters, she dove in head first.

On the opening day of the 112th Congress, the Tennessee Republican reintroduced a bill to bar the Federal Communications Commission from instituting net neutrality rules. Days later, she spoke on an online privacy panel at the geek equivalent of the Oscars: the International Consumer Electronics Show. Last week, she keynoted the State of the Net conference — the biggest tech policy fete in the capital so far this year.

Blackburn’s turf, however, is far from the tech hubs of Silicon Valley, New York’s Silicon Alley or Boston’s Route 128 corridor. She’s from Brentwood, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville, known more for producing country music than silicon chips or Web startups.

The tech community has taken notice.

“She seems to be doing more keynote addresses and taking much more of a visible role,” said Darrell West, founding director of Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation. “There’s been great public interest in tech, and she’s taken advantage of that to carve out a niche in tech policy.”

Blackburn says she’s been active all along.

“Maybe some people just weren’t paying attention,” Blackburn told POLITICO. “But I’m glad they are now.”

Blackburn’s opposition to net neutrality — she calls it “the Fairness Doctrine for the Internet” — dates back to 2006, when Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) introduced a bill to keep the Internet open. She said the content community in Nashville feared the federal government would control Internet traffic, and it wanted to deal directly with service providers.

Today, Blackburn says the burgeoning health and energy IT sectors in her district are concerned the FCC will use net neutrality to regulate their businesses.

With her district’s country music roots, Blackburn has been involved in intellectual property issues since her election to the seat in 2002, serving on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. She also founded the Congressional Songwriters Caucus — for which she serves as chairwoman — “to shine a light on some of the concerns with intellectual property.”

But her keynote at the State of the Net rubbed some the wrong way because it was partisan; the word “conservatives” popped up nearly a dozen times.

“Beginning with the coming repeal of the FCC overreach, conservatives should apply our philosophy to the broader arena of tech policy,” Blackburn said in her speech. “We must do so in the spirit of our classic defense of free markets and property rights, while guarding against needless regulation and federal intervention.”

Net neutrality aside, the tech sector often boasts bipartisan support. “Nobody wants no regulation, and too much regulation and the wrong kind can be damaging,” said Ed Black, president and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association.

Blackburn, however, says she was misunderstood.

“Defense of free markets is where we need to be when establishing a vision for national technology policy,” she said.

Congressman Blackburn gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling inside

From the Indiana Daily Student...

Clean Air Act to be reviewed
By Colleen Sikorski

On the 112th Congress’ second day in session, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., introduced a bill that would amend the Clean Air Act in a way that has environmental groups seething.

H.R. 97, the Free Industry Trade Act, amends the Clean Air Act so that nothing in the act regulates global warming or climate change.

H.R. 97 also excludes greenhouse gases from being defined as “air pollutants.”

Indiana Representative Todd Young, R-9th District, has signed on as a co-sponsor of H.R. 97.

Trevor Foughty, communications director for Young, said Young co-sponsored the bill in order to stop future Congresses from enacting cap-and-trade “schemes.”

“That legislation would have been crippling on the economy, especially in southern Indiana which is heavily reliant on the coal industry for jobs and electricity,” Foughty said in an e-mail.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website, cap and trade sets a mandatory limit on emissions and allows sources to buy and sell amounts of pollutants they can emit.

Foughty said there are other technologies that could reduce emissions without hurting the job market, specifically mentioning carbon sequestration clean coal technology.

According to reports by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, carbon sequestration clean coal technology is the process of removing carbon from the atmosphere to be released in a reservoir. Carbon is released when coal is burned for fuel.

Two other Indiana congressmen, Dan Burton, R-5th District, and Mike Pence, R-6th District, have also signed on as co-sponsors. As of Thursday, H.R. 97 had 100 co-sponsors.

Two days after H.R. 97 was introduced, Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, who is also a co-sponsor, became the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, the Environment and Related Agencies. The subcommittee oversees funding for the EPA. In a statement, Simpson declared the EPA was “the scariest agency in the federal government” and had “run amok.”

H.R. 97 is currently being reviewed by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Sierra Club is one of the environmental groups opposed to H.R. 97. Officials sent out a press release that said “it took Republicans one day ... to declare an all-out war on the Clean Air Act and the EPA.”

One of the Sierra Club’s main concerns is that H.R. 97 would decrease the EPA’s ability to protect the environment and health of Americans, said David Graham-Caso, an associate press secretary for Sierra Club.

“This is a division of our government that is supposed to protect people from pollution,” Graham-Caso said. “Pollution that harms and pollution that kills. Trying to prevent protecting people from pollution is obviously a bad thing for every single American.”

Sierra Club is also concerned about the technological and economic implications of H.R. 97.

“Any legislation that blocks the EPA’s ability to regulate CO2 keeps our country reliant on old energy technologies and delays technology investments that can create new jobs,” said Lyndsay Moseley, a federal policy representative for Sierra Club.

IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs professor James Barnes said H.R. 97 would hurt the EPA’s ability to enforce fuel economy standards for automobiles that it developed last year with the Department of Transportation.

“They’re designed as fuel economy standards, but the effect of the fuel economy standard was also to lower the greenhouse gas emissions,” Barnes said. “That move was going to give us more fuel efficient cars and was going to be a help to our automobile industry in terms of developing technologies.”

Brutal honesty from West Tennessee

You repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie... and you get someone shooting up a public meeting.

How would you cut the debt?

H.R.68
Latest Title: To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting after fiscal year 2013.
Sponsor: Rep Lamborn, Doug [CO-5] (introduced 1/5/2011)
Cosponsors (12)
Related Bills: H.R.69
Latest Major Action: 1/5/2011 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
COSPONSORS(12), ALPHABETICAL
Rep Bishop, Rob [UT-1] - 1/12/2011
Rep Blackburn, Marsha [TN-7] - 1/12/2011
Rep Broun, Paul C. [GA-10] - 1/12/2011
Rep Coffman, Mike [CO-6] - 1/12/2011
Rep Duncan, Jeff [SC-3] - 1/12/2011
Rep Foxx, Virginia [NC-5] - 1/12/2011
Rep Garrett, Scott [NJ-5] - 1/12/2011
Rep Gibbs, Bob [OH-18] - 1/12/2011
Rep Hayworth, Nan A. S. [NY-19] - 1/12/2011
Rep Herger, Wally [CA-2] - 1/12/2011
Rep Olson, Pete [TX-22] - 1/12/2011
Rep Ribble, Reid J. [WI-8] - 1/12/2011

H.R.69
Latest Title: To prohibit Federal funding of certain public radio programming, to provide for the transfer of certain public radio funds to reduce the public debt, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep Lamborn, Doug [CO-5] (introduced 1/5/2011)
Related Bills: H.R.68
Latest Major Action: 1/5/2011 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
COSPONSORS(18), ALPHABETICAL
Rep Akin, W. Todd [MO-2] - 1/12/2011
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6] - 1/12/2011
Rep Bishop, Rob [UT-1] - 1/12/2011
Rep Blackburn, Marsha [TN-7] - 1/12/2011
Rep Broun, Paul C. [GA-10] - 1/12/2011
Rep Burton, Dan [IN-5] - 1/12/2011
Rep Chaffetz, Jason [UT-3] - 1/12/2011
Rep Coffman, Mike [CO-6] - 1/12/2011
Rep Duncan, Jeff [SC-3] - 1/12/2011
Rep Foxx, Virginia [NC-5] - 1/12/2011
Rep Franks, Trent [AZ-2] - 1/12/2011
Rep Garrett, Scott [NJ-5] - 1/12/2011
Rep Gibbs, Bob [OH-18] - 1/12/2011
Rep Hayworth, Nan A. S. [NY-19] - 1/12/2011
Rep Herger, Wally [CA-2] - 1/12/2011
Rep King, Steve [IA-5] - 1/12/2011
Rep Ribble, Reid J. [WI-8] - 1/12/2011
Rep Schmidt, Jean [OH-2] - 1/12/2011

The List

As we learn more about the lunatic who shot up Congresswoman Gifford's constituent meeting, I think it'll become necessary to compile a list of people indirectly responsible who should be tried for treason. For starters...

Sarah Palin
Glenn Beck
Sean Hannity
Bill O'Reilly (how bout we just say everyone at FOX)
Rush Limbaugh
Michele Bachmann
Michelle Malkin
Sharron Angle
Steve King
Steve Gill
Allen West
Phyllis Schlafly
Mark Levin
Those associated with the "Tea Party Movement"

Note that this is a working list. Also, note that I will not include Marsha Blackburn because, as right-wing and hateful as she can be, I have never heard her incite violence like ALL of those listed above.

What is happening???

Pleeeease don't let this be a politically-motivated shooting...

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) shot at constituent meeting.

Lord, help us...

WASHINGTON-- At a pre-swearing in reception on Capitol Hill this morning, Reps Marsha Blackburn (TN-7), John Duncan (TN-2), and Phil Roe (TN-1), welcomed the new members of Tennessee's Congressional Delegation.

Pictured from left to right are, Rep. Phil Roe (TN-1), Rep. Elect Chuck Fleischmann (TN-3), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN-7), Rep. John Duncan (TN-2), Rep. Elect Diane Black (TN-6), Rep. Elect Stephen Fincher (TN-8), and Rep. Elect Scott DesJarlais (TN-4).

Repeal and replace with nothing!!! Cackle, cackle.

Congressman Blackburn creates her own mandate to repeal everything and replace it with nothing. The free market will fix everything, right?

So far, Marsha's to-do list includes repealing healthcare, repealing a ban a incandescent lightbulbs, and repealing net neutrality rules. I assume then she'll begin funneling money out of public schools and into the military. Just call me psychic.