Hilly Boy's Deception (as in the Lovely Tennessee Rep. Matthew Hill)

I found it interesting that Tennessee's Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, Matt Kisber, who also spends a lot of time in Northeast Tennessee, is married to a well paid lobbyist. This makes me just a little more leary of him since his decisions "on our behalf" could dramatically increase his family income. And let's not forget that Hilly boy has said his career aspirations are to be a lobbyist in Nashville.
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In the Kingsport Times-News on Thursday this article was published. It talks about some writing by John Danforth that suggests the church, not the government, should be about spreading the message of the Bible. Thomas' article also discusses just how hypocrtical many Christians behave while throwing fiery darts at the left. Anyway, it helps to be challenged sometimes. Feel free to voice your agreement or disagreement.
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This article was in the JC Press on June 20th. This lady can be awfully hateful sometimes, but this particular article is pretty important, in my opinion. Many Christian voters have been tricked by Republican leaders who really just answer to the almighty dollar. I do think many of our local politicians are sincere, but I am not quite convinced of that with Hilly boy.
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Well, I honestly can't say that I heard all that much at the Town Hall meeting I attended. Pretty much the same thing was echoed by a few people I spoke with.

Here is a quote from Hilly boy, out of the Jonesborough Herald & Tribune, about his town hall meeting held there on Thursday June 17, page 3a:

“We have a list of things we can do to help save [TennCare]. We just need people in government who are willing to work on improving the plan instead of kicking people off of TennCare.”

I am going to do some digging, but I am pretty sure about four months ago Hilly boy was complaining about how there were way too many people on TennCare. So when Bredesen responds to that Hilly boy changes his position. He is priceless. And related to that topic, I found it interesting how Mr. Vonderfecht of Mountain States Health Alliance intelligently argued that our politicians need to be fighting to lower pharmaceutical drug costs, not focusing solely on TennCare. This was definitely a message that drug money funded Hilly boy did not want to hear.

In the same paper Hilly boy wrote this in "his" column:

“The General Assembly saw two bills this year that dealt with allowing a person with a carry permit to bring their firearm into a restaurant where alcohol is served, provided that the carrier does not drink.”

Hilly boy describes them as both being defeated by Democrats. How in the world will restaurants that serve alcohol know if any of their customers are carrying firearms? These bills are incredibly dangerous because we don’t need drunks with guns in the same restaurants we take our children to.

And finally, I was told that at the Jonesborough town hall meeting that Hilly boy arrived late, and then said, "It is not government's place to create jobs." I sure am glad he is working for us in Nashville. And it appears that Jason Mumpower sharply disagrees with Hilly boy from the context of this article about how government better be creating jobs. When is Hilly boy up for re-election?
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Apparently the only way to know when and where Hilly boy will be available to meet is by listening to his horrendous radio show. From one of those listeners the next meeting is Friday night from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Sister's Family Restaurant in Telford. The Saturday meeting is from 1-3 p.m. at Hilly boy's Gregory funded constituency office in Johnson City on Montgomery St. or somewhere thereabouts. He has never been real clear about that office because he knows so many city voters don't like him.

Anyway, it looks like the Telford meeting will be the only meeting I will be able to get to. I hope some folks can tell me what he said at the Jonesborough & Johnson City meetings. Bring a recorder for his priceless quotes.
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According to Hilly boy radio listeners the meeting is tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. in Jonesborough Visitor's Center on Boone Street in Jonesborough. I don't think he wants that many people to show up.
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Hill said he is having 'Town Hall-style' public meetings on June 16 in Jonesborough, June 17 in Telford and June 18 in Johnson City. As for the time and place, he is not letting anyone know, at least not without hunting him down. There is absolutely nothing about these meetings on his Web site. I'll assume the Visitor's Center for Jonesborough. I'll call them tomorrow & post as soon as I know of the time and place.

What a joke. Mr. Accessible my foot. Only if you can read his mind.

Anyway, make sure you go and excercise your right to speak with and listen to your representative. I am not sure I will ask questions, but I will definitely listen. Hope to see you there, whether you agree with me or not.
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I just wanted to pass on a few links to some newspaper articles that speak to the topic of ethics in politics. Today's JC Press had this story on the front page today. I have repeatedly said that Tennessee's ethics rules are still too lax. I am sure that the Tennessee Lobbyists Association will come up with their own ethics rules and those rules will be worthless. At least they admit that they have no plans on reporting how much money they make.

For some concrete ideas on better ethics reform read this article. At least one Tennessee politician seems to agree in this post and again in this one. I must agree that "greed is the real cause of corruption in government but the behavior of lobbyists support that corruption." This seems to speak to Hilly boy's behavior and his lobbyist aspirations.

On another note, I have heard that Bredesen's campaign manager doesn't know much about ethics himself. The fight goes on.

And finally, this article points out how many of the politicians currently in power are leading this country into the same place the the nation of Isreal went in the Old Testament of the Bible. The rich are getting insanely richer while the poor are being walked on and ignored. It makes me sick, as a Christian, and as an American citizen.
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For Hilly boy, this was a less than impressive first session. Admittedly, this is the most coherent language I have ever heard from Hilly boy. Some of the things he attempted to get done are things I have no problem with. Nonetheless, he provided plenty of fuel for me in many of his responses in this article.

First of all, the voters got what they asked for. Hilly boy repeatedly mentions how his inexperience has had to be overcome. We are the one who lose while he learns how the government works. “Hill said his first year in office was a lesson in learning how Capitol Hill works... One of the big things I learned is that it's a process.”

Hilly boy clearly stands against many elements of public education, though he said, “We need to shore up K through 12 (education)."

"In Washington County alone, we need two more schools.” I am surprised Hilly boy admits that there is a school building problem in the county since he tried to go over the county’s head by playing to Johnson City.

"To get feedback on his first year in office, Hill said he is planning a series of 'Town Hall-style' public meetings on June 16 in Jonesborough, June 17 in Telford and June 18 in Johnson City." I am amazed he actually announced this ahead of time.

And finally, in response to this blog, Hilly boy uses his quintessential lack of clarity as he claims he does not stand for public school education.

“If special interests are being pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-home schooling and pro-constituent services, that's the only thing I'm really interested in."

Which one of those four is “the only thing” he is “really interested in?”

My guess is pro-home schooling, since he once slipped up on the radio by mentioning how much he struggled in public school before he started getting home-schooled. This was in the middle of a rant in which he made fun of Washington County residents who attended public schools. Now he is helping to determine policies that affect public schools and I don’t think anyone should be surprised when public schools get shafted.

I must say that I am pleased that this blog made it into the JC Press two days in a row (Sunday & Monday). Whether he likes it or not, there are many of us who are pro-life, pro family and pro-Second Amendment who are NOT pro-Hill. I don't think he quite gets that.

I just want Hilly boy to be defeated in the next Republican primary. And I am not the only one who feels this way.
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When it comes to "Operation Tennessee Waltz," is anyone surprised? There are four lobbyists for every legislator in Tennessee. Though it is great that these people got caught, is anyone else disturbed by the fact that the FBI caught so many Tennessee politicians? This is more indicative of the culture Tennessee politicians have created, especially by their resistance to make dramatic ethical reforms.

For proof, just listen to David Davis. It seems that he is a little worried about more ethics reform; “...some people will be dishonest. More laws and more rules aren't going to fix that.”

Then, check out some of the political work by Jason Mumpower.

Some other bills Mumpower sponsored faced challenges. One was a private act that would have ratcheted up requirements for a recall election in Bristol. The bill was filed just months after a contentious Bristol recall election last year. "It passed, but I stripped out anything that had to do with recall provisions," Mumpower said of the Bristol private act. Mumpower bills that were left in committees as the legislative session ended included a sales tax reduction measure and legislation to abolish state and local caps on campaign contributions and require that all campaign contributions and expenditures be reported within five days.

Abolishing state and local caps on campaign contributions does not seem like ethics reform to me. It seems like opening the door for more Gregory money, plain and simple.
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Welcome Mr. Darden. Finally, Johnson City has a new and competent mayor. Paduch is the only politician who gives Hilly boy a run for his money when it comes to lacking class.
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I am just reviewing a few things that have occurred within the last month or so.

First, there is nothing wrong with encouraging people to save, but Hilly boy's Tennessee Saves bill doesn’t accomplish a thing. It is a waste of time and taxpayer money. It is very similar to the bill that criticizes the national debt. Too many politicians just need to get a life. By the way, good job Nathan Vaughn for standing up for what the political system is supposed to be about.

The bill for a sales tax holiday for school supplies sounded good, but why was only half of the desired amount passed? I am convinced a more seasoned representative would have had more success with it as House Republican Leader Tre Hargett said “I think both parties are interested in passing that legislation this year."

And, while the failed milk and bread tax exemption was sponsored by Hilly boy, Crowe co-sponsors it. I truly doubt Hilly boy came up with much of it on his own. Oh well, what else is new?
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