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

Labels: governor 2010, kent williams, ron ramsey, tennessee center for policy research

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Well, Jerome Cochran, a buddy of Hill who loves taking Gregory money, was busted by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research for not turning in his disclosure of conflicts of interest form. This nice bit of law-breaking by Cochran is another reason why he needs to be kept out of office. I'm surprised Hill even knew he was supposed to turn this form in. His close relationship to Cochran speaks to Hill's character regardless. Good job to the TCPR's director and Johnson City native Drew Johnson on this one. It appears one of Cochran's opponents also didn't file her form, but I've never heard of her.

UPDATE: The May 14 JC Press ran a front-page story about Cochran's failure. His quote and the headline sure are a gem:

Cochran: Unfiled form must have been lost

According to the story, apparently Cochran is no stranger to unethical actions:

Cochran faced sanctions once before over a financial oversight. Last year, the state Registry of Elections made allegations Cochran had violated election statutes when he accepted the maximum donations of $2,000 in contributions from James and Susan Gregory for the 2006 Republican primary and another $2,000 from the Gregorys for the 2006 general election. Since Cochran lost in the primary, the second donation should not have been used, yet Cochran reported an ending balance of only $428.32. The registry voted to take no action when Cochran promised to reimburse his campaign an additional $204.22.

The JC Press ran this story on the 15th. It looks like Gregory called and chewed out Drew Johnson.

Labels: drew johnson, jerome cochran, matthew hill, tennessee center for policy research

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Well, Matthew Hill was one of three lawmakers called out by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, run by Johnson City native Drew Johnson.

Wasteful Spending Continues for the Three Little Pigs of Washington County

Everyone remembers the fairy tale about the “Three Little Pigs.” You may not know, however, that we have our very own version of the Three Little Pigs right here in Washington County. In the fairy tale version, the Three Little Pigs leave home to seek their fortunes, learning valuable life lessons along the way. The Three Little Pigs in the Washington County version are state legislators who leave home to spend your money, forgetting their promises of fiscal responsibility in the process.

Washington County’s Three Little Pigs are state Sen. Rusty Crowe and state Reps. Dale Ford and Matthew Hill. All three of these state legislators, each of whom is Republican, claims to be a fiscal conservative and a responsible steward of your tax dollars. Unfortunately, for taxpayers, those claims appear to be fairy tales...

Matthew Hill, who, to his credit, was against the idea of the pork grants when they came up on the House floor, was quick to present one of the oversized checks. In a quote to the Johnson City Press, Hill proclaimed “it’s always a good thing when I can bring home money to the community.” While the vote-buying practice of sprinkling pork throughout a district in a way that benefits a few people at the expense of all other taxpayers may be a “good thing” for Rep. Hill, I imagine most taxpayers don’t believe that it’s a good thing for them.

Labels: drew johnson, johnson city, matthew hill, tennessee center for policy research

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