Is anyone surprised by this?

Of course he doesn't want anyone to know how rich he's getting off gas, beer, cigs, and lotto that he now regulates.

I thought that second link was going to be the News Sentinel's editorial praising Haslam for being so open and transparent and hailing his long history of open government in Knoxville. Instead, it's Haslam's press release at the TN Report. Same difference.

If anyone has any doubt about who's running this state now, it's the guy standing behind Bill Haslam in the photo accompanying the KNS article.

And the KNS's first installment in their week-long love letter to the Haslams gives us a glimpse of how they operate since a long time ago:

According to a newspaper account, someone from outside the university challenged the assertion that Haslam had been held out of the 1949 season, and a Southeastern Conference review of game film verified that he had played in that year's Ole Miss game - using up an entire season of eligibility. The discovery knocked Haslam off the roster for games against Kentucky and Vanderbilt, plus a Cotton Bowl matchup against Texas.

See, it's only a violation if you get caught.

And the violations we must get prepared for will be the conflicts of interests for all his 'aides' and their "second incomes"...First, don't these political appointees get super salaries for becoming servants of Tennessee? Why would they EVER need second incomes? Would those extra pots of 'income' include consulting fees, part-time secret lobbying, bonuses or WHAT?
But since the Guv'nor got away with refusing to reveal HIS income when running for his new position, I guess he wanted to 'cover' his new hirelings, also.

Yep, we will have to wait and see who gets caught...it will take awhile, but it is likely to happen.

well, we know his income is at least $100,000, the 5% tax-free interest from his investment in the downtown movie theater.

if you do a google search for "bill haslam net worth" you'll get this blog entry as No. 4 on the list. the issue has now made the new york times via the associated press. any good investigative journalist could likely estimate his annual income. a willingness to reveal sources but not income suggests that his income - like that of many of the super-rich - may have risen at a time the economy was in decline.

Turnng on their own?

No, I don’t know what this is about, but it looks bad.

Nah, he's not a Republican.

I'm surprised he's willing to travel on the state's rickety old King Air turbo props, having campaigned all year on Pilot's fleet of Dassault Falcon jets. He's accustomed to traveling quietly and smoothly, now he's going to travel loudly and get shaken everywhere he goes.

Perhaps Haslam has something to hide?

Tennessee Democratic Party
From the Sunlight Foundation: "To exempt oneself, as a American public official, from financial disclosure rules, is to empower corrupt and ineffective governments throughout the world, and to undermine those who struggle to improve them."

If we want to cite the Sunlight Foundation to help bash Tennessee's top Republican we could at least pass around their transparency pledge to all of the legislators and mayors while we're at it and get everybody on record.

The "as an American public official" quote is pretty good, but let's not miss the one directed personally at our new Governor.

"This shows an astonishing lack of knowledge and respect for one of the primary instruments of accountability in government."