Friday, August 28, 2015

EPA Fines State Sen Holt Hog Farmer for Pollution...More from Crockett

Independent Audit Will Review Staffing, Violence at Prisons

State Lawmaker Faces Major Fine From EPA

The GOP’s stunning new attack on America’s national forests

Some Presidential Hopefuls Need Unlimited Donations To Compete With Ultra-Rich, Says Sen. Alexander

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Corker Supports Haslam Gas Tax Increase...more

Crockett Buzz for 8-27-15

The American religion of guns & money has blinded us to an epidemic of death

Why Is Gun Control So Hard

Corker Urges Long-Term Road Funding Solutions in Tennessee

Columnist sees TBI being used for political purposes

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Corker Campaign Director Say We Now Have "Elections by Auction" Buzz for 8-26-15



Democrats Blast Latest Haslam Privatization Plan

Survey finds TN teachers worried by testing

Former Tennessee Congressman Calls For Reining In Super PACs

Pat Nolan: State Of The State

Former Dem congressman, GOP operative decry dark money

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Quote of the Day

If the country is to remain a strong world leader, he said, it needs "not just a president who, after a few gray hairs, seems to know what he's doing, but we also need a Congress that functions."

President Obama admits to learning on the job

Earlier Monday, Obama spoke at a green energy conference where he accused fossil fuel interests and other critics of his energy policies of trying to restrict consumers from accessing solar, wind and other renewable sources in order to protect the status quo.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Taco Bell is Mexican? Who Knew! Crockett Buzz for 8-24-15

Tennessee Republican Wants Taco Bell Shut Down For ‘Being Too Mexican’

A Bullet from a Good Guy's Gun is Just as Deadly

Memphis mayoral candidate charged with vandalizing Forrest statute

Berke downplays notion of running for governor

After 10 Years, Tennessee Says Its Last Super-Sized, Industrial 'Megasite' May Be Too Big To Fill

Friday, August 21, 2015

Democrats Criticize Haslam for Funneling More Tax Money to Outsourcing Contractors



Haslam's former chief of staff to earn $120K with state museum

Nashville hotel cancels rooms for white supremacist event

Democrats criticize Haslam for exploring more outsourcing

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

With an Extra Half Billion Dollars Collected Haslam Orders Budgets Cut 3.5% Buzz for 8-19-15



Haslam defends tentative step toward more privatization

Lawmaker says he's growing concerned about safety in Tennessee

Oligarchy Of Super PAC Megadonors Have Conquered American Politics

Tennessee agencies asked to prepare budgets with 3.5% cut

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Buzz for 8-11-15

Legislators ask AG to file another lawsuit against EPA

Super PAC election notice gave wrong voting address (for Nashville Mayor Race)

Despite Data, Tennessee Not Declaring Prison Emergency

Ted Cruz Draws Big Crowds, Hits Conservative Hot Buttons In Tennessee Tour

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Idaho "Ag-Gag" Law Ruled Unconstitutional...TN Law Should Follow

Captured by undercover investigators and released in 2012, the above video depicts a disturbing scene inside a large Idaho dairy facility. We see workers committing various acts of violence against cows: kicking and punching them, beating them with rods, twisting their tails, and, most graphically, wrapping a chain around the neck of a downed cow and dragging it with a tractor. The exposed dairy promptly fired five workers in the aftermath, but behind the scenes, Idaho's $6.6 billion dairy industry quietly began working with its friends in the state legislature on a different response, according to US District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill.

In a decision released Monday, Winmill wrote that the Idaho Dairymen's Association "responded to the negative publicity by drafting and sponsoring" a bill that criminalizes the "types of undercover investigations that exposed the [violent] activities." Known as ag gag legislation—check out Ted Genoways' must-read Mother Jones piece on the phenomenon—it sailed through the Idaho Legislature and became a law in 2014.

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Winmill declared the law unconstitutional in his decision, stating that its only purpose is to "limit and punish those who speak out on topics relating to the agricultural industry, striking at the heart of important First Amendment values." Moreover, the judge ruled, the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, "as well as preemption claims under three different federal statutes."

 http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/08/judge-idaho-ag-gag-law-unconstitutional

Haslam Wants Lawmakers to Review Guns in Parks (A Bill that bears Haslam's signature)

Crockett Buzz for 8-4-15

Haslam: Lawmakers should review guns-in-parks law

Questions Abound Amid Tennessee Supreme Court Vacancy

AG opinion may open door to guns at Titans, Predators games