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

Here’s an interesting story about one of Matthew Hill’s special interest funders from outside the 7th District:

Larry Bates is listed by Hill or his organization as being "self-employed" within the broadcast industry without listing Bates' actual company name.
So just who is the Memphis area broadcaster Larry Bates anyway?
A lengthy Google search reveals that Larry Bates is both a former associate of Jake Butcher and a former three-term Democrat member of the Tennessee House of Representatives (1970-1976; Bates switched to the Republican Party after he moved to Memphis). It also turns out that Bates wears many other hats (small bank CEO, economist, author) and heads up the Information Radio Network, Inc. (IRN USA Radio News) --- and one of the radio programs featured on for-profit Information Radio Network is the newly and nationally syndicated "The Matthew Hill Show" airing at 0800 a.m. and 1200 noon (1-800-773-8255).

So why is it that Rep. Matthew Hill is hiding his employment/independent contractor relationship with Larry Bates from public review of the Matthew Hill campaign disclosures filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State?

Here are a couple of things Bates is alleged to have said: We SHOULD execute ALL women that have ever had an abortion. And God has forbidden women from being leaders of countries, including the U.S. and Indonesia.

-Apparently the latest “nonprofit” incarnation by the Hills (this one out of Matty's home) was cited by the Federal Communications Commission over CFR violations regarding too-many new construction license applications for non-profit radio stations in various locations across the United States and filed late in 2007.

Labels: larry bates, matthew hill, Todd Smith, washington county

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Well, I knew it wouldn't take him very long to give us more fuel for Todd Smith's campaign. Matty has made headlines for his deception and disrespect to his fellow lawmakers by trying to add his useless English only law to a bill about septic tanks, of all things. Here are some gems:

“I fail to see how English as a second language has anything to do with septic tanks,” said Rep. Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville), who sponsored the septic tank legislation.

...House Majority Leader Gary Odom (D-Nashville) said the GOP amendment, which Odom says Hill added Thursday morning and never told Gilmore about, showed a lack of respect to Gilmore.

“To me, that has a lot to say about the seriousness of the amendment’s sponsor,” Odom said. “Now we can do this, we can play these games for the next few weeks that we’re going to be in session, and that’s going to make the days a lot longer and a lot harder.”

While that story came from Nashville, The Bristol Herald Courier , Hill's hometown paper, had this to say:

THUMBS DOWN TO: Legislative bait-and-switch - State Rep. Matthew Hill’s sneaky maneuver to tack an English-in-the-workplace measure on to an unrelated bill dealing with sewage systems is disappointing, but not surprising. Hill, R-Jonesborough, has a history of placing a higher priority on partisan politics than on actually governing. His effort was thwarted on a 51-46 vote.

...No doubt, this disappointed Hill. But the manner in which he attempted to revive the English-only measure runs counter to the premise of open, transparent government. The sponsor of the sewage system bill didn’t learn about Hill’s amendment until her bill reached the floor, nor was the amendment offered as the bill made its long and winding journey through the state’s Byzantine system of committees and subcommittees.

Rep. Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol and part of the House Republican leadership, gave his approval to Hill’s end-run around the normal legislative process. Mumpower noted that lawmakers sometimes must "make decisions on the fly" in order to handle matters important to their constituents. In other words, the ends justify the means.

We disagree. In this instance, Hill and Mumpower, by his assent, made a mockery of the legislative process – attempting to exploit it for political ends. Given that this is an election year, we expect more of the same.

Once again, Hill's actions make the Tri-Cities look like a joke. I don't know why Hill hasn't been very good at directing more roads money our way. It certainly couldn't have anything to do with the way he needlessly ticks people off while trying to pass bills that help no one at all.

Labels: brenda gilmore, bristol herald courier, johnson city, matthew hill, mumpower, septic tanks, Todd Smith, washington county

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Well, luckily Bob Patton has withdrawn in a move to bolster Todd Smith's chances of sending Matthew Hill packing. All I can say is Thank You. With the support of Bob's friends, Smith should have more of the votes now, but he definitely can't take it for granted. He'll have to work extra hard since Hill doesn't have a real job.

In other news, according to Tennessee.gov's online campaign finance info, Matthew Hill has received $24,500 in donations for the current campaign, and $18,050 (more than 2/3) came from outside the 7th District. More than $10,000 of that came from the Gregorys alone. In addition, Hill spent $4,100 of his campaign money with groups outside of the 7th district, quite a bit more than he spent in the district. Not surprising, really.

Here are the links to this info.

Labels: 7th District, bob pattton, johnson city, matthew hill, Todd Smith, washington county

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Well, Todd Smith is already giving Matty Hill a run for his money by knocking on doors in early April. He happened to knock on the door of Matt's official blogger and her only complaint is that Smith has support from a wide range of people in the 7th District. I guess she is disappointed that Smith is not like Hill, a Sullivan Countian being funded by Sullivan Countians. I'll take a native over a carpet bagger, so my vote is still for Smith.

Labels: johnson city, matthew hill, Todd Smith, washington county

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Well, after this recent Johnson City Press article, it's pretty clear that Bob Patton needs to step aside and let Todd Smith clean Matthew Hill's clock. Otherwise, Bob will be helping the Sullivan County kid who beat him by spreading lies about Patton. I would think the last thing septuagenarian Patton would want to do is help kid clueless.

I also thought this quote by Smith was pretty funny:

“Bob Patton was a good representative, but in today’s environment when you have a lot of people unsatisfied with the incumbent, it clogs things up,”

There are definitely a lot of people fed up with Hill.

Labels: bob patton, johnson city, matthew hill, Todd Smith, washington county

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So, even though Republican Todd Smith very early on announced his campaign against against Matthew Hill, the rumor is that Bob Patton is thinking about jumping in too, in addition to a possible fourth candidate. This has to make Hill happy. If a ton of people run against the brainless one, since he is the encumbent, he will likely get the most votes because his name will be most recongizeable. The Republicans need to get their crap together and stand behind Smith, who declared first and has the experience to run circles around Hill.

Patton is a great guy who was smeared by Hill and his Sullivan County money, but Patton's 10 years were long enough. Plus Patton's income tax vote will be brought up all over again, even though Ron Ramsey publicly said he thought he would have to support the vote too. Ramsey decided against it, but he and Patton publicly talked about it with the very same words. If you don't beleive me, go to the library and look at the local papers' discussions of the issue before the vote. I stumbled on them and was amazed at what came out of Ramsey's mouth. Obviously the difference is he didn't vote his conscience.

Another reason there only needs to be one Republican candidate is because the one thing Matthew Hill does well is knock on doors. Since he doesn't have a real job, his daddy lets him campaign full-time during election seasons, probably because hid daddy's "nonprofit" businesses are funded by the Sullivan County Gregory clan, the same one's who fund Hill's campaigns. All other candidates have actual jobs and businesses, but Hill just goes around knocking on doors. He doesn't fulfill promises or get anything done in Nashville, but his door knocking does hoodwink a number of people whose doors haven't been knocked on by a politician. For this reason, there needs to be a unified front against Hill by the Republicans.
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As one commenter reminded me, a big reason that Hill "knocks" on so many doors is that he uses home-school kids from around Chattanooga to do his door knocking for him. I think Hill should run for office there instead of here.

Labels: bob patton, johnson city, jonesborough, matthew hill, ron ramsey, Todd Smith, washington county

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Here’s a stay-at-home-blogger who is not too excited about Hill’s so-called attempt at DUI punishment reform.
The blogger also discussed Hill’s stupid waste of taxpayers' funds with his “Protecting English in the Workplace” bill. This is why he has a Christian Republican opponent this year. While Washington County loses out on road funding, Hill wastes his time on trying to pass laws that accomplish absolutely nothing. He is a clueless Sullivan Countian who also happens to be a U.S. military protestor. Plus, this looks like another example of government intruding into the private sector yet again. It’s pretty clear that Hill has never owned his own real business. I’m looking forward to a new rep this year, that’s for sure.
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In other news, I think it’s is pretty funny that Jerome Cochran is trying to get his old seat back. I’m sure Gregory wants his puppet back in office. Like Hill, Cochran is good at getting little done. Here’s proof from the man that beat Cochran:

Following the meeting, Williams stood by his comments. “When I was first elected I went to TDOT to ask about the Northern Connector and they could not even find a file on it. That told me what the status was.”

I also thought that Ramsey had an interesting quote:

With a nod to the Democrats, Ramsey said his relationship with Bredesen has been good. “It is so nice to have a governor in the mold of Ned McWherter, who knows how to work with both sides and knows how to say ‘no’ and not make people mad,” Ramsey said.

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More Proof That Hill Needs To Be Replaced

It sure seems ironic that U.S. military protester Matthew Hill talks about being proud of those who served in the U.S. military.
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Journalists are taught to write in the inverted pyramid style, putting the most important information first and the least important information last. That is why I find it telling that Matthew Hill’s plans are the very last part of this story about our area’s representatives.
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I find this story’s quote about Matthew Hill pretty telling too. The story was about accomplishments by area legislators in the 105th Assembly:

Attempts to reach Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, were unsuccessful.

If you want a change, vote for Todd Smith.

Labels: cochran, jama, johnson city, matthew hill, Todd Smith, washington county

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Here's the Web site for Todd Smith's campaign: www.smithworksforyou.com. It looks pretty good. He sure has more experience than Matthew Hill.

Oh, and by the way, Smith is a U.S. military veteran. Matthew Hill is a U.S. military protester. There's a big difference!

Labels: johnson city, jonesborough, matthew hill, Todd Smith, washington county

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Well, it appears that Timmy Hill's fate for taxpayer-funded vandalism is having to learn how a press secretary is supposed to be behave.

UPDATE on 8.24.07: Matthew Hill Noticed by the AP & the Tennessean
-Press aide who altered Wikipedia bios to attend classes.

-Davis aide to attend conduct classes (Knoxville News-Sentinel, 8.23.07).

U.S. Rep. David Davis will require his press secretary, Timothy Hill, to attend classes on appropriate conduct for congressional staff members because of Hill’s attempted alterations of Wikipedia entries using an office computer.

-Staffer who altered Wikipedia entry to attend conduct class. (KTN on 8.23.07)

-Staffer who altered Wikipedia entry to attend conduct class. (Oak Ridger on 8.23.07)

-Davis' Press Secretary Going to Class. (TNPoliticsBlog.com)

-Rep. Davis’ press secretary to take classes after Wikipedia problem .(Knoxville News-Sentinel, 8.22.07)

Brenda Otterson, chief of staff for Davis, said Hill will attend the classes each Friday in September. She said the requirement is considered discipline...

-Congressman Davis' press secretary will attend "appropriate conduct" classes. (BHC 8.23.07)

-Congressional press aide disciplined for 'net alterations.' (KNS Blog, 8.22.07)

Labels: david davis, johnson city, matthew hill, timothy hill, washington county, wikipedia

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Thanks to this great find by another anti-Hill blogger, we now know all that "grassroots" campaigning by the Hill clan in 2004 included almost no one from the 7th District. What's amazing is that many of those door knockers who impressed voters were from McMinn, Meigs and Monroe Counties.

They pretty much say they were surprised to just barely beat Patton given that Hill was not even from the 7th District. I think they were surprised they pulled the wool over so many people's eyes so easily.

Those who believe in true democracy, as our forefathers envisioned, need to stand up and oust Matthew Hill. Everything about him screams imposter and outsider.
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In other news, the Johnson City Press has redesigned their Web site. Luckily, all archived stories from the online edition are available, but the url addresses have changed slightly. So, if you click on a JC Press link on this blog, it probably won't take you anywhere. I will have the links updated shortly though, so that shouldn't last long.

Labels: bob patton, johnson city, jonesborough, matthew hill, washington county

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