The Tennessee General Assembly has adjourned, so the people of Tennessee are safe. For now.
Us commie liberal bloggers tried to warn you, but voters were fooled anyway by Republican talk of jobs and improving our state's economy. Instead, they got a fantasy smorgasbord of conservative social engineering:
• Tort "reform," taking away your right to seek just compensation for injury or death due to negligence. (They say this is a "jobs" bill. Do we really want employers lured to the state just so they can avoid responsibility for their actions?)
• Made it harder for employees to seek compensation for workplace injuries. Will also allow employers to present uncorroborated, made up evidence when denying unemployment claims.
• Attacks on public education and teachers. Your tax dollars will fund private schools run by drive-by dilettantes for wealthy families, while hard-working teachers and professional educators are shut out of the discussion and subjected to greater political pressure and special interest influence to keep their jobs.
• Authorized contractors to discriminate against gay people when doing business with local governments. Set the stage for banning education about homosexuality in schools.
• Invoked the 10th Amendment to opt out of federal health care programs and regulation.
• Passed a constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to take away a woman's right to make her own decisions about reproductive health. Bonus: it will get even more conservative fundamentalist voters to the polls during the next election when it appears on the ballot for voter approval.
• Enacted a meaningless "anti-terrorism" law aimed at persecuting Muslims.
• Attacked free and fair elections by banning voter verifiable voting machines. They also made it harder for the elderly, disabled and economically disadvantaged to vote while at the same time allowing corporations to now make campaign contributions.
Where are all the bills promoting jobs and economic development? While legislators were busy plotting against the middle class, teachers, women, and gay people, our state unemployment went up while at the same time going down in nearly every other state in the country. Heckuva job, Republicans!
And these are just the greatest hits. It will take months of forensic analysis to determine just how much damage was done. (Even legislators admit they don't read the bills they submit on behalf of special interest and fringe nutjob groups.) By the time it's all sorted out they'll be back in session doing more damage.
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Here's an example of how the
Here's an example of how the mainstream media covers the carnage:
House restore number foreclosure notices to 3 » Knoxville News Sentinel
Aside from the grammatically incorrect headline, what else is wrong with this? Hint: three notices have always been required. They didn't "restore" anything. They just failed in their attempts to get it reduced to one.
Also, what she said
Southern Beale
Southern Beale
That's the best darned rant I've seen on this topic all weekend.
Thanks, SB.
I'm Min...
...and I approve this message.
See also:
Senate Dems salvage a few wins for working people in TN
Jobs?
Not one bill to help create jobs?
Just bills to scare off potential employers?
Just bills to scare off
Just bills to scare off potential employers?
The claim is that the constitutional amendment to prohibit a state income tax (work in progress) will have them coming here by the busload! (Whatever's been stopping them to this point?)
Great point
The claim is that the constitutional amendment to prohibit a state income tax (work in progress) will have them coming here by the busload! (Whatever's been stopping them to this point?)
It's almost a corollary to the obvious question about the Bush Tax Cut. Where are all the jobs it's going to create? Looks like we've gone in the opposite direction to me.
That was my question, Andy.
Tennessee doesn't have an income tax (except for the Hall Income Tax), Tennessee has never had an income tax. Why aren't we up to our collective asses in eager employers with beaucoodles of jobs right now?
This BS represents the same kind of deceitful, pandering rhetoric that lay behind extending the Bush tax cuts. If the years of tax cuts haven't created jobs and promoted economic development so far, where, exactly, is the justification for extending them?
Great minds
Think alike.
C'mon, everyone knows that
C'mon, everyone knows that only employers who can suck the life-blood out of their employees for free will provide good jobs for a fair and robust economy. Just ask the Republicans.