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The upcoming session of the Tennessee General Assembly begins in just 15 days. Between now and then there will likely be a whole bunch of nothing news wise, except for the TNDP Chair election which is about as exciting as watching socks dry in the rain (no offense guys, but seriously). Considering the huge...
WPLN reports that Federal Officials have approved the so called “Bed Fee” that will help stave off cuts in TennCare. The fee, the only revenue enhancement approved by the state legislature this session, imposes a 3.5% rate on net revenue generated by private hospitals for the benefit of the state’s public institutions. The fee,...
So yesterday I talked about old habits, and in that post I bemoaned the way that I used to torture myself with Morning Joe. I was doing that very thing as I was writing Morning Coffee. Unfortunately for me, just when Politico Executive Editor Jim VandeHei came on, I turned it down because he...
Stephen George is blasting the legislature for wasting money this session. Speak to Power discussed this last week about the per diem problem in Nashville. I’d bet the money I just paid for our legislators to prance and pose that, were a poll to be taken of the voting public, more people would agree...
It seems that its milestone time around here. Last week we passed out 1000th post, then we had our first speaking gig and now we have our first full week without the shenanigans of the legislature. While that may seem like a big change for a little blog that’s spent a lot of time...
I never met Harold Buehler. I, like most Memphians had heard of him, but honestly, until the past several months I didn’t know that much about him, or what he did. I didn’t know that he was a former educator and coach, or the impact he had on the community he served. I didn’t...
Yesterday, we here at Speak to Power passed a milestone with our 1000th post. Way back in February when we started this thing we had a vague idea of what we were trying to accomplish; build up and help promote a community of people with a shared purpose focusing on the things that unite...
Tennessee you can rest easy. As Senator Mark Norris tweeted at 2am this morning the Tennessee Legislature adjourned early this morning. Thank God! Y’all, it’s been so bad that one opinion piece yesterday called this legislature inept. More importantly, they laid the blame squarely at the feet of Ron Ramsey. You see, legislators are...
The Tennessee Legislature is in its last throes. The Senate meets at 11am and the House meets at 1:30. Most people I talked to yesterday believe today will be the last day of session. We’ll see if both houses are willing to play nice and make that happen. Last throes or not, there was...
The New Poll Tax
Voting is a fundamental right in our nation. Since the 1960′s when the Voting Rights Act repealed the Jim Crow laws that sought to disenfranchise African-American voters that right has been protected from all sorts of shenanigans. Now the Tennessee legislature has voted to restore one of these laws, the poll tax. Just like...
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