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

Well, Hilly boy has sold his coffee shop. Or more accurately, he has sold his coffee shop supplies. I guess you can only lose so much money. Since it was hardly ever open I am certain he just used the shop to try to convince voters that he was a hard working, small business owner. And since it has been for sale since right after he won the election, about 6 months after he opened it, I don't buy that he is selling it to focus more time on being a legislator.

In other news, Hilly boy's friend, Rep. Shaw, was in town last week. I wonder if Matthew Hill dropped by to say hello.

And finally, check out this nice picture of Matthew Hill, who is specifically named, protesting U.S. troops.


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The following is an adapted post by Reformer:

Recently, in Johnson City, a teen was racing a "souped-up" Mustang and struck the stopped car of another teen, killing her. If Rep. Matthew Hill truly values life, then Hill owes legislation to Tennessee victims outlawing high performance motor/suspension gear.

Rep. Hill should introduce every point of the following model legislation (at the end of this post) to help protect the lives of people in Tennessee.

This legislation provides Tennessee families safer public roadways, fewer victims of drag racing accidents and it removes dangerous vehicles from the streets.

If you think about this problem, there really is not any rational reason to sell this kind of high-performance auto aftermarket gear in Tennessee. Gear such as, nitrous oxide systems, air induction systems, modified suspension systems, elevated truck suspension systems, gear that is on the market here in Tennessee.

Two callers alleged recently on the Bernier radio show, about the only place someone could get this type of gear locally is Ride Revolution, a Gregory owned business (the family that heavily funded Hill's election). Ride Revolution's company offices are also within the Gregory owned Leitner Pharmaceutical Building that houses the Hill family radio station.

Will Hill (or other TNGA Gregory money takers) introduce or support this type of legislation outlawing the high-performance auto aftermarket gear, knowing that he might fall out of grace with the Gregorys?

If Hill refuses to support such proposed legislation I don't think he can say he cares about the victims of the car crash. Will he place his value of Gregory campaign donations and AECC financial support over the safety of his 7th House District constituents? We'll see. Honestly, this time I hope he steps up and stands on his own two feet, and then I will whole heartedly applaud his actions.

Such model legislation would...(click & scroll down)

1) prohibit the consumer and/or retail dealer purchase, retail dealer sale, retail installation, and transfer of high-performance automotive aftermarket components and/or systems designed to increase high-speed engine performance and/or high-speed suspension performance exceeding the original performance specifications as established by vehicle manufacturer for all motor vehicles operating on the State of Tennessee public roadways;

2 ) prohibit the titling of motor vehicles in Tennessee that have been equipped with either high-speed engine performance systems or components and/or high-speed suspension performance systems or components within motor vehicles operating on the State of Tennessee public roadways;

3 ) allow seizure by Tennessee peace officers of motor vehicles modified with either high-speed engine performance systems or components and/or high-speed suspension performance systems that are found to operating on the State of Tennessee public roadways in violation of this act;

4 ) create a new Tennessee Department of Safety motor vehicle title class authorizing consumer motor vehicles modified with either high-speed engine performance systems or components and/or high-speed suspension performance systems or components to be operated in Tennessee for off-road/ track use only;

5 ) authorize the Tennessee Department of Safety to require any licensed motor vehicle operator in Tennessee utilizing either high-speed engine performance systems or components and/or high-speed suspension performance systems or components to be operated in Tennessee for either off-road or track use to purchase an off-road high-speed endorsement at the time of obtaining or renewing their Tennessee drivers license with the cost of such high-speed endorsement being of the same amount as obtain the motorcycle endorsement;

6 ) exempt professional individual or professional team race car teams who are members of nationally recognized and professional car racing associations (e.g: NASCAR) and operating their vehicles for track events and/or limited community and/or sponsor site display of their modified motor vehicles from the provisions of this act;

7 ) (a) upon conviction of a Tennessee motor vehicle owner in violation of this act, permit Tennessee law enforcement agencies to sell at public auction within the county of arrest and seizure, motor vehicles modified for either high-speed engine performance systems or components and/or high-speed suspension performance systems or components seized under this act;

(b) total auction proceeds collected under this act from the auction of a seized motor vehicle(s) modified with either high-speed engine performance systems or components and/or high-speed suspension performance systems or components shall be allocated in the following order:

(i) payment of court fees of motor vehicle operator convicted under this act;

(ii) payment of auction fees by state, municipal, and county law enforcement agencies pursuant to this act;

(iii) the remaining auction proceeds, this amount being the total auction proceeds less 7(b)(i) payment of court fees for the convicted motor vehicle operator and less 7(b)(ii) payment of auction fees, shall be as follows:

ninety percent (90%) the auction proceeds collected under this act shall be retained by the arresting state, county, or municipal law enforcement agencies and be allocated to agency programs enforcing the above listed provisions of this act, DUI enforcement, drag racing enforcement, and speed limit enforcement,

ten percent (10%) of the remaining auction proceeds collected under this act shall by retained by a municipal government in the instance of arrest by a municipal law enforcement agency or constable within municipal limits or retained by the county government in the instance of arrest by county sheriff department or by constable outside of municipal limits and allocated to the installation of street signs, traffic lights, or speed bumps serving public roadways.
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For those who think I am making this up, check out the April 18, 1999 Bristol Herald-Courier (you can find it at the Bristol public library, or I can e-mail it to you). It contains an article about the Kosovo War protest that Matthew Hill attended and promoted on his radio show. There is even a photo with Hill in it and he is specifically named in the caption. I bet the troops over there at the time really appreciated that. I find it funny that all the complaints in this article sound just like those voiced by critics of the current Iraq War. I'm not quite convinced Hilly boy really does support our troops right now. The organization that he partnered with on this protest, the International Action Center, is about as anti-Bush as I have seen.

In addition, below is the headline from the April 18, 1999 Kingsport-Times News story (you need to go to the Kingsport public library to read the entire article, or I can e-mail it to you).




And in the photo below, I doubt those veterans know that Hill protested against their fellow comrades. Seems awfully two-faced to me. Isn't that called flip-flopping?


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Here's an article about efforts to reform ethics in Tennessee's government. Obviously, because of Gregory, the Republicans want no part of limiting a person's amount of campaign spending. I don't care if it is Al Gore giving $700,000 or John Gregory giving $1.5 million, no one person should be able to have so much influence on the political system. It is just not safe and the methods used to give as much as possible (the various PACs) are very similar to money laundering.
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The following is from some comments by Reformer:

Isn't it remarkable that our Most Ethical Rep. Matthew Hill's Appalachian Radio Group has managed to sell some post-primary election commercial air time on WPWT 870 AM to a lobbyist who donated PAC money into Hill's 2004 election campaign coffers. According to Federal Communications Commission ownership records, PAC Daddy Rev. Dr. Kenneth Hill owns 51% of WPWT 870 AM (a.k.a. Information Communications Corporation) while the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Appalachian Education Communications Corporation (AECC) that Dr. Hill controls as AECC President owns the other 49% of WPWT 870 AM.

Robert "Bob" Anderson is on the TNSOS registered PAC /lobbyist list as the Life Underwriters-TN PAC and perhaps one other PAC. Anderson was also listed as an individual campaign contributor within Rep. Matthew Hill's 2004 campaign finance disclosure reports and WPWT 870 AM has been regularly airing commercial advertisements for Anderson's Tennessee Financial Group following the 2004 republican primary election.

It is the non-profit organization AECC that pays "key employee" Rep. Matthew Hill, so Rep. Hill is at the very least indirectly benefiting from this business relationship with his friendly lobbyist.

I do not know if PAC lobbyist Bob Anderson and Kathy Anderson (Matthew Hill's 2004 campaign manager) are related to each other...it would be informative to learn that Rep. Hill has at least one Jonesborough family supporting his campaign efforts.
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Hill family real estate for sale & the cohabitation of the Hill & Gregory families.

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Apparently the Hill family is having a bluegrass performer on Friday, October 7 at the Cameo Theatre, an asset of their non-profit organization AECC. What is interesting about this is that Matthew Hill and family staged an anti-John Kerry film at the same place last fall. It is illegal for non-profit organizations to engage in the promotion of or discouragement from voting for any politician. I am part of a church in which my minister voted for Bush (as did I), but he refused to break the law by having the church (a non-profit organization) endorse any candidate. Not the Hills.

In addition, the bluegrass event is funded in part by federal (National Endowment for the Arts) and state money (Tennessee Arts Commission). Non-profit organizations that break the law are not supposed to be eligible for federal and state money. I think a lawyer has a very ripe case here. Plus, the fact that the Cameo is currently for sale makes the whole thing even dicier.

The Tennessee Arts Commission...wait a minute...doesn't State Rep. Matthew Hill work for the Appalachian Educational Communications Corporation? Just how much is this state grant?

For a little more info, check out this blog post and comments.
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