2009-05-27 Round up

Metro employee residency: The City paper tells us Councilman Eric Crafton has filed a bill to require Metro employees to live in Metro. I'm glad to see it. I've long thought that the people who make and enforce the rules need to live under them. I do believe if they had to live with the system they're a part of it would bring some accountability to the system. It's Bill 467 which should show up here once they upload it to the web.

Health data info: Tennessee Center for Policy Research (TCPR) has a new policy paper out on the privacy grab by the State of Tennessee via HB2289/SB2239 also known as "all payer claims database". TCPR touches on the vagueness of the bill, whether it will be effective, access to the data, privacy, costs and throw in some other important considerations like why is there only one actual health care consumer on this 19 member board? It seems heavily weighted in favor of the bureaucrats in my opinion. Here's a snip:

As with all public databases, there is a significant chance the information could become compromised. This could occur from a computer “hacker” or from someone within state government (as was the case in the State Trooper’s office last year). Exposure to liability should this sensitive data become publically available is virtually infinite and could open the state to decades of litigation from around the country. Also troubling is the potential to cross-reference health care data with other databases such as school records, criminal records, and travel logs.

Pork BBQ: provided by the Tennessee General Assembly, Governor Bredesen and TCPR. 44 pages of waste that makes you shake your head in wonderment. Some of it spent on things so foul they shouldn't be mentioned in mixed company. Some of it making repeat appearances on the report because no one in charge of the checkbook has the backbone to stop it. Only folks who are spending other people's money would allow this to continue. In this telling statement TCPR nails it.

The following is an overview of the amount of money spent subsiding some of the dozens of projects Gov. Bredesen thought were more deserving of taxpayers’ money than taxpayers, themselves:

If these projects were truly worthy why not make direct appeal to investors and donors instead of forcing taxpayers to pay for them? When will 'they' actually understand that it may be just $10,000 of someone else's money...but it's a year's worth of groceries for a family. No golf course, no art exhibit, no imaginary boll weevil is more important than feeding, clothing and housing a family.

Another snip from the Report:

In 2007, when the Pork Report first questioned this improper government expenditure, Gov. Bredesen and the Tennessee General Assembly shook taxpayers down for $2.7 million in state tax dollars to subsidize the “charity.”[Books from Birth] Ah, the good old days. In 2008, the state budget earmarked $3,444,500 for the program. In the Governor’s 2009 proposed budget, another $3,444,500 is requested for Books From Birth.

It would be a heartwarming story if Gov. Bredesen, whose personal fortune is worth an estimated $250 million, funded Book From Birth himself.

Unfortunately, he relies on Tennessee’s taxpayers – almost all of whom are less able to afford contributing to his pet project than he is – to fill up the coffers of his own foundation.

$2.64? I don't think so. I am hesitant to second guess the Chief of Police and probably like most councilmen am willing to give him great latitude in his expenditures as long as his department is doing their job well. But I just don't understand why a finance officer needs a take home car. She needs to make a midnight run to the bank to deposit evidence cash from a drug bust? Needs to authorize a check at 3:00 a.m. for K-9 dog treats? Serpas' unwillingness to explain it doesn't help and saying it costs about one gallon of gas for them to take these cars homes makes it worse. The IRS mileage deduction for 2009 is 55 cents. That's 4.8 miles. Just not believable. City Paper and WSMV.

Another reason not to vote for Wamp: Cong. Zach Wamp (R) after voting for the porkulous package gives us another reason to not for him in as governor if this KnoxNews report is accurate:

According to Tri-Cities TV reporter George Jackson, Republican Congressman Zach Wamp "stopped by Dino's restaurant on Saturday to express his support for Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams" and to have lunch.

Further evidence that Washington DC is a long way from Tennessee. I can't read this any other way than Wamp deliberately made plans to shake the man's hand. He didn't have to. Would have had legitimate reasons not to. Wasn't, apparently, invited and compelled to visit. He just wanted to shake the hand of the pawn of Naifeh and Odom.

2008-12-13 Roundup

I've got 83 Firefox Windows of interesting stuff I need to clear out. So here goes. No, I didn't count the windows. Firefox has an add-in for nearly everything.

I'll start with a huge THANK YOU to Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker (R). While I'd rather taxpayers not bailout or subsidize or loan money to any private entity and take a risk of losing my tax money what he did manage to do was highlight the absolute fact that the UAW isn't one bit concerned about saving the auto industry. It's only concerned about saving their own benefits. Why their membership continues to believe that they can kill a company and still stay on the payroll is beyond me. It's an alternative planet than Planet Reality where workers who've been fired still receive FULL compensation four (4) years after being fired. Fox Business has the video of Sen. Corker explaining why the bailout failed. Those three words were 'a date certain'.

You want a clue about how many chains are on that UAW anchor to free enterprise? Check out this 22 lb, 2,215 page Year 2007 agreement with Ford. Will workman's comp cover you if you throw your back out putting it on the table to read?

The UAW is so upset that they didn't get what they wanted that they've nearly initiated another 'War of Northern Aggression'.

Festering animosity between the United Auto Workers and Southern senators who torpedoed the auto industry bailout bill erupted into full-fledged name calling Friday as union officials accused the lawmakers of trying to break the union on behalf of foreign automakers. AP via Yahoo News

Unfortunately for them, the south of 2008 isn't the south of 1860.

Educational transition: The Obama's are sending their girls to the very exclusive Sidwell Friends school in the DC area. Ben Cunningham points out that the PTA meetings could be very interesting considering the number of well placed DC insiders with children also attending. I'm wondering if Sunshine Laws might be violated with a group like this. But I won't worry too much about that considering the ever vigilent national press is also very well represented in this parent group. Here's the full Washington Post article.

Further the Obama's will be homeless for their first couple of weeks in DC. Apparently, historic protocol for the incoming presidential family is to stay across the street from the White House at Blair House beginning 5 days before the inauguration. However, the Obama's want to get the girls settled in time for the new school term. They're trying to avoid, I assume, the mobility issues that so many DC students (and students in Nashville) experience when they're homeless. What is curious to me is why they just don't cut out the middle move and ask George and Laura Bush to move out of the White House immediately to accommodate the girl's schooling schedule. MSN.com

Clarksville is planning ahead...but based on what? From the Cheatham County School Board Watchdog:

"Commissioner Wood and McCannless stated at previous board workshops that due to huge residential developments in Pleasant View there needed to be a NEW high school built. (Interesting enough is that all these new families would only have HS students - don't you think?)"

They also have an on-line poll going on now. If you're in Cheatham County you might want to stop by their blog.

iTunes U: Dr. Tim Webb of the Tennessee Department of Education introduces folks to their Electronic Learning Center.

According to their press release:

"Students currently can access curriculum-based lessons in language arts, and study skills, with math to be added this month. Educators can view training sessions on Tennessee’s new academic standards, School-wide Positive Behavior, reading and other teaching resources. Additional podcasts will be developed and added on an ongoing basis."

Pity they've linked these podcasts to iTunes instead of just linking to the video files and letting folks pick their own media player. There is one that's an 8 minute primer about Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) which parents might appreciate but it took a couple of attempts for it download. And the production is basically a PowerPoint presentation with audio. I would have expected better. Maybe the others are.

Certified ≠ effective: There are several pieces that crossed my browser this week about teacher quality and effectiveness.

"...between 2003 and 2007 students in states with a real alternative pathway to teaching gained more on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (a federal standardized test) than did students in other states. (snip)

The study undermines the arguments from colleges of education and teachers unions, which say that traditional certification, which they control, is the only process that can produce quality teachers. The findings hold up even after controlling for race, ethnicity, free-lunch eligibility, class size and per-pupil state spending. (snip)
President-elect Barack Obama has expressed guarded support for education reforms like merit pay and charter schools. Yet he chose Linda Darling-Hammond to head the education policy team for his transition. Ms. Darling-Hammond, a professor at Stanford, is a union favorite and vocal supporter of traditional certification. She's also been a fierce critic of Teach for America and other successful alternative certification programs.
Via the Wall Street Journal (Hat Tip: Rep. Stacey Campfield)

More from the study authors at the Hoover Institute.

Unfriendly Feds: Ben Cunningham points out how unfriendly the Federal government is toward 'undocumented students'. Seems the State of California will give an illegal immigrant in-state tuition but not legal citizen from, oh, say, Nevada. The Federal Appeals Court has said that has to stop. Documented students are looking for tuition refunds.

Speaking of unfriendly. Councilman Eric Crafton has had a lot of irrational and over the top heat directed his way for initiating a charter amendment in Nashville which would require our city's official business to be done in English. Some have suggested that he should be removed from office. However, they may want to rethink that when he's also sponsoring a change to the Metro Water fees which have prevented some of the very local restaurants that these same Goo Goos insist are essential to the vitality of their neighborhoods (and their community organizing efforts--they gotta meet somewhere). Seems the fees are so huge it's a financial strain on even seasoned restaurateurs and are preventing the next new round hot spots from opening. I don't want citizens footing the bill for these risky endeavors but we don't need to make it impossible to even attempt the effort either. Next hearing on the bill is this Tuesday evening.

Rude Guests: One more comment on this charter amendment. How is it that a Honduran immigrant comes here to escape her own bad government and then demands the right to derail our electoral system? CM Crafton has this absolutely right:

She alleges this would be hard for her to communicate, yet she knows enough about our constitution that she knows what unconstitutional is. She knows enough she can hire an attorney and file a complaint.” via City Paper

I'm of the mind she was actually a recruited pawn however, it's galling that any non-citizen should have any standing to keep legal citizens from voting on any issue. If she truly wants to reform any political system---she and her recruiters should start with the Honduran one. This isn't a battle about English, this is a battle against our republican form of government by folks who would rather we submit to rules and regs by unelected officials rather than the vote of the people.

BlagObama: Does anyone seriously believe that Illinois Governor Blagojevich didn't ask his outgoing Senator Barack Obama if he had an opinion on who should replace him? No. Most of us would consider it a dereliction of duty if Blagojevich didn't ask or Obama didn't suggest. The sin isn't in the asking or suggesting. It's in offering it to the highest bidder.

Tennessee makes another Pork Report. This time Sen. Tom Coburn reveals it (page 22) not the TCPR. Apparently, there's an airplane shaped gas station in Knoxville---

It is an airplane that cannot fly and a gas station that has not pumped gas for nearly half a century, but the Powell Airplane Filling Station has just landed a $9,000 federal grant.(95) It is an old airplane‐shaped building that once served as a gas station, liquor store and used car lot, though is now an eyesore on the side of a busy highway. A few local residents have rallied around the old filling station in hopes of turning the tiny airplane into leased office space. Tom Milligan, who has been instrumental in the effort, said, “I was coming up through here one day and I seen they had two bulldozers on the front and I thought they was fixin' to wreck the place. [I] knew we were going to have to have quite a lot of money to fix it.”(96) Rock Bernard, another local resident, added, “If you ask 100 people in Knoxville, I bet 80 will know where it's at.”(97)

I think the $9,000 would have been better spent on grammar lessons. Apparently, Matthew Lesko is right---you can get government money for just about anything. Better yet, gents, use your own money.

Last minute Christmas Shopping at Terry Frank's place. If you truly want to shop local and green check out her one of a kind 'Tennessee Treasures' gift ideas. My favorite is this 'Flip Your Lid'.






I'm down to just 67 tabs and there are cookies to be baked. More later.