Where's My Sidewalk?

From Megan Podsiedlik, The Pamphleteer, June 9, 2026 - Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s pitch was “Sidewalks, Signals, Service, and Safety,” in that order. That said, three-quarters of CHYM’s sales tax revenue is going toward WeGo bus services in FY 2027. Why? Because that’s the way the plan was written. 

“The legal structure under which we're allowed to collect it says that we had to make a transportation improvement plan that said, 'These are the projects and this is how we're going to spend it,'” explained CHYM Chief Program Officer Sabrina Sussman during last week's meeting.

Sussman says Nashville will get the “86 miles of sidewalks, 600 traffic signals, 39 miles of complete streets, and really bountiful changes to WeGo” promised in the referendum.

WeGo will never be self-sufficient 
Council Member Tasha Ellis asked whether CHYM and NDOT will ever be consolidated and completely funded by sales tax revenues in order to free up the general fund dollars traditionally earmarked for public transit. The answer was a resounding no.

“We do not envision a future where the general fund does not contribute at all to WeGo,” said Sussman. “Part of what was happening is the general fund obligations and needed investments were rising faster than the general fund was, and so this dedicated revenue allows you to still make those investments [and] really support the system without that increased burden back on the general fund. But we are not going to move to a place where the general fund isn't funding WeGo at all.”

What has your sales tax gotten you so far?

CHYM Finance Manager Andrew Walczak explained how CHYM’s FY2026 operating budget was spent.

“To date, we're just under $51.4 million, and it's worth noting that about $48 million of that $51.4 [million] has gone to direct transit services by WeGo,” said Walczak.

This includes the Journey Pass program, which has enrolled 11,000+ riders who will receive free WeGo rides for the next three years. That money has also gone toward expanded routes, more frequent service, and WeGo Link zones.

Sidewalks and signals 
So far, only one sidewalk project has been completed.

“Our first sidewalk funded through Choose How You Move was completed recently at Edge O Lake Drive,” said NDOT Interim Deputy Director Derek Hagerty.

Two other sidewalk projects are currently under construction, and four more are about to come online. 

As for smart signals, officials started with the 115 signals that are easiest to upgrade.

“Eighty-three of those are downtown; 32 are on Nolensville and Harding Place,” said Hagerty.

That said, delivering similar upgrades to all 592 signals included in the CHYM plan may prove to be a challenge on streets where fiber installation is needed.

Airport routes aren't taking off quite yet. Several council members inquired about WeGo services connecting riders to the airport. According to officials, hour-long bus trips are still a deterrent when people are choosing how to manage travel plans. 

“We used to run some of the trips express, and we found them to be very low patronage,” explained WeGo CEO Steve Bland. 

Bland says the future corridor planned for the airport extension is more promising: “The more streamlined service would be the Murfreesboro Pike all-access corridor, which would extend along Donaldson to the airport with very frequent service, more limited stops, and kind of a direct shot into the downtown court.”

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Trustees Warn Social Security and Medicare Are Approaching Insolvency

by Rod Williams, June 9, 2026- As one of my musical heroes sang, "we are rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell."  

No one seems to care. Not no one exactly, but very few. I am not talking about the prospect of North Korea soon having improved nuclear weapons capable of hitting the United States or the increasing acceptance of ideologies detrimental to our continuing as a democratic republic, or climate change, or any number of other political or international trends. I am talking about the pending economic collapse of the United States. 

The thing that is going to be a great leap forward in this catastrophe is right around the corner and that is the approaching insolvency of the Social Security Trust fund. It will be empty in six years. When it is empty, there will be an automatic cut in benefits of 22%. Do I think there will really be a cut of 22%? No. Congress will not allow that. Congress will fund the SS deficit out of general revenues. The problem is that we are already constantly running deficits. We already spend more than we take in each year. So, to fund the SS deficit, the US will increase the budget deficit. We will borrow more money, adding to the national debt.

The problem with doing that is that we have about reached the point where we have no more borrowing capacity unless we increase the amount of interest we pay to borrow. Already, interest on the debt is the second-largest component of the federal budget, outpacing all other spending categories except Social Security.  Payment of interest on the debt is mandatory. It is not something we can decide to cut. We have very little wiggle room.

While a country is not exactly like a household, as a country, we are much like the household that has borrowed so much money that its greatest monthly expenditure is interest- car payment interest, house payment interest, credit card interest. We are like the household that has trouble buying groceries or keeping the lights on because so much of our current income goes to paying debt and the only way we keep afloat is to borrow more this month to pay last month's bills and we are using the credit card to buy groceries and pay the electric bill. 

In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. paid $1.13 trillion in gross interest on the debt. This amount is more than the combined budgets for national defense, Medicare, veterans, education, transportation, and science. 

The U.S. is still a strong economic power. The reasons we have been able to maintain a strong military and expand the welfare state without paying for it is because other countries want our debt. We are the tallest midget in the room. We are the world's reserve currency. That is not ordained and could change. There are troubling signs that it is changing. Now, when the US refinances debt, we are more and more refinancing long-term debt with short-term debt. That is a troubling sign. 

The only alternative to borrowing is to monetize the debt, which means borrowing from the Federal Reserve or euphemistically printing more money. This is not a good alternative and can lead to out-of-control inflation. 

While I think Trump's economic policies are bad, especially his tariff policy and some of the things in the so-called Great Big Beautiful Bill, this problem cannot be blamed on him. Both parties have led us to this point, and we have known of this coming SS insolvency for decades. This is not something that just snuck up on us. 

I know the immediate response I will get to this is that Congress should pay back the money that it stole from Social Security. That is BS. It didn't happen. Another response is that we need to cut the waste and abuse, and immigrants who are getting Social Security. Again, the waste and abuse are minuscule, and if anything, immigrants make the problem less bad, not worse. People look for scapegoats, but the truth is, we wanted a generous welfare system and did not want to pay for it. Well, the day of reckoning is near, and the Social Security trust fund going bust is going to be a great leap forward on our road to economic ruin. Some things could be done now to avoid this coming catastrophe, but I don't see any appetite for doing them. We are rolling downhill, like a snowball headed for hell. 

See the below from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

.

Trustees Warn Social Security and Medicare Are Approaching Insolvency

 Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, June 9, 2026- The Trustees for Social Security and Medicare just released their annual reports, showing a significant deterioration in the financial states of both trust funds. They project that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) trust fund – which funds retirement benefits – will be insolvent in 2032, and the theoretically-combined Social Security Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance trust fund will run out in 2034. Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI), meanwhile, is estimated to face insolvency in 2033.

Insolvency of these programs would result in steep across-the-board cuts. When the Social Security retirement fund runs out of reserves, beneficiaries will face an abrupt 22% cut; Medicare insolvency would lead to an 11% cut in payments, undermining access to care. Our No State Spared report estimates the state-by-state impact of a similarly-sized cut if it occurred today.

Over 75 years, the Trustees project both programs face shortfalls significantly larger than last year’s projection. The Trustees project the Social Security programs face a combined 4.42% of taxable payroll shortfall – up 16% from last year; they project the Medicare HI shortfall is 33% larger than last year, at 0.56% of payroll.

You can find our preliminary analysis of both reports here. Register for our virtual event, “Checking in on the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds” featuring a conversation with Social Security’s Chief Actuary Karen Glenn on Wednesday, June 10 at 2:00pm ET here. Full analysis of these reports are forthcoming.

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: 

Washington is sleepwalking into a retirement crisis, allowing our nation’s most important trust funds to go insolvent at the expense of over 70 million beneficiaries who count on these programs. 

In just six years – during the next Senate class’s term – Social Security’s retirement fund will run out of money. Medicare will run out just half a year later. Today’s youngest retirees will be turning 68 when Social Security runs dry and 69 when Medicare does. Yet our leaders have no plan to prevent the abrupt 22% benefit cut or 11% payment cut that would ensue.

Politicians have known about and neglected these programs for 40 years now. But the problem is much worse now. Thanks to decades of inaction, solutions like eliminating the taxable maximum or progressive price indexing benefits are no longer close to enough to restore solvency. And thanks mainly to the tax cuts in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” and worsening demographics, Social Security’s projected shortfall is a full 16% worse than last year’s. Medicare’s shortfall is 33% worse.

Instead of talking about solutions to these real funding problems, leaders in Washington instead demagogue each other over the issue, with both sides promising not to touch the programs. Unfortunately, that promise is a tacit endorsement of the across-the-board cuts that will happen at exhaustion – an unacceptable outcome. No state would be spared from the consequences of failure to save these programs from insolvency – each and every member of the House and Senate has constituents that rely on the programs.

There’s no shortage of options out there to avoid this – we’ve put forward several novel ideas in recent months for starters. But enacting solutions requires political will.

It’s time for our leaders to start telling the truth on Social Security and Medicare, and working on real plans to save these programs. Time is running out.

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James Talierico Questions Authur of the FURRIES Act

by Rod Williams, June 7, 2026- You've got to watch this. It is unbelievable that such a dumb thing is being debated in the Texas House. Rep. James Talerico does an excellent job pushing back against this craziness. 

The issue before the House is the F.U.R.R.I.E.S Act. an act Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Educational Spaces.  It would "prohibit any non-human behavior by a student, including presenting himself or herself, on days other than exempt days, as anything other than a human being." The exempt days are Halloween and maybe some other days listed in the bill, but there cannot be more than five such days a year.

Under this act, schools cannot let kids wear animal collars or lick themselves, and the most bizarre part is that it prohibits schools from providing litter boxes for kids who think they are cats. Wow! There must be an epidemic of kids thinking they are cats if the state legislature has to pass a law to address the issue. Actually, there is zero evidence that kids pretending to be animals even exist in Texas.

One might think one nut-job introduced this bill and make excuses. Sometimes that happens. A lone legislator may introduce any stupid thing he wants. When I served in the Metro Council, there was a Black councilman from north Nashville who was as dumb as a box of rocks. He introduced a memorializing resolution calling on the city to build a welcoming landing pad for space aliens. The act was quickly tabled, but not until after the sponsor defended it and the motion to table was explained. This didn't amount to much, yet this story made national news. I thought this FURRIES Act in Texas may be something similar to Nashville welcoming space aliens. Wrong! 

The FURRIES Act has 56 co-sponsors! All of the co-sponsors are Republicans. The Texas House has 150 members. Republicans hold 88 of those seats and Democrats 62. Let that sink in: 56 of 88 Republicans voted for an act prohibiting school children from acting in a manner consistent with thinking they are animals and prohibiting Texas schools from accommodating them.  

What has happened to Republicans? I know stupidity can run in both parties, but all of my adult life, I thought the Republican Party was the smarter and more serious of the two parties. Now, Republicans keep outdoing themselves in saying and proposing stupid things. The bill's current status is "left pending in committee," so I don't know if that means it could still be acted upon or is dead for this session. 

I am more and more skeptical of Republicans' fight on social issues. I wonder if there really is a problem with high school boys identifying as trans and playing in women's sports. Is there a problem with trans girls using the girls' bathroom? I doubt there really is a problem with porn in school libraries. I wonder how often it really occurs that a teacher calls a child by their preferred pronoun and the parent doesn't know. I wonder how often a teacher has displayed a Pride flag in the classroom. If any of these things have occurred, I wonder if the issue could not have been dealt with at the classroom, school, or schoolboard level. 

I am more and more having the feeling that Republicans are swatting at gnats that don't even exist.

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Why I Oppose Metro Funding of TIRRC

Mayor Freddie O’Connell defends his budget funding for TIRRC: “It’s not a kickback.”

by Megan Podsiedlik, The Pamphleteer, June 6, 2026 - Mayor Freddie O’Connell says the $735,000 included in his budget for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition is simply business as usual. Never mind that the nonprofit also happens to have a 501(c)(4) arm that has engaged with thousands of Nashville voters in support of his candidacy in the past, O’Connell says TIRRC does work that receives bipartisan support.

“It started through ARP requests going to these organizations, and they were the ones that fulfilled the mission here, which is actually to support pathways to citizenship and either the securing of or maintaining legal status for immigrants, which is something that has strong bipartisan support,” said O’Connell during this morning’s media round table. 

“It's not a kickback,” he continued. “Again…we didn't do this new this year. You can go back to multiple Metro budgets. They have been offering these legal services to people in their stakeholder community. TIRRC is not exclusively a political organization. They have a 501(c)(4), but they're a 501(c)(3) as a provider organization.”

Rod's Comment:

 

Why I Oppose Metro Funding of TIRRC 

by Rod Williams, June 6, 2026 - While I have been a severe critic of ICE operations and the Trump administration's approach to immigration, I do not support Metro funding of this organization. It is certainly suspect when the 501(c)4 supports the mayor and then the mayor gives a three-quarter million dollar grant to the 501(c)3. I am never convinced that the wall of separation between the political and the social services arm of the same agencies is not pretty thin. As a practical matter, one cannot separate the two entities. This looks like corruption.

Secondly, the organization is controversial, and those who support immigration enforcement should not be taxed at the local level to support an organization working to thwart immigration enforcement. Immigration policy is a national issue, not a local issue. Those with a passion for this issue should make TIRRC a recipient of their charitable giving, not force others to support the organization through their local taxes. 

Thirdly, Metro does too much. Metro spending should be carefully examined, departments should have an efficiency audit, budgets slashed, and taxes cut. 

And, fourthly, while Metro already has a contentious relationship with the State, why poke the bear? 

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Four Republican Senators Join Dems to block Trump’s SAVE America Act, Thwarting Restrictions on Voting

There are still some good Republicans; not many, but some. Sens.
Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski

by Jonathan Shorman, Tennessee Lookout, June 5, 2026 - The U.S. Senate rejected the SAVE America Act on Thursday, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to impose voting restrictions ahead of the November midterm elections.

Senators voted 48-50 against advancing an amendment that would have incorporated Trump’s top legislative priority into an immigration-focused spending bill. The vote offered the clearest sign yet that despite pressure from the president, a handful of Republican senators continue to resist advancing the bill, which critics say would unleash immense chaos ahead of elections this fall.

The SAVE America Act would require voters to offer documents, such as a birth certificate or passport, proving their citizenship when registering to vote. It would also mandate voters show photo ID when casting a ballot and restrict where voters can register, effectively eliminating voter registration drives.

Democrats and voting rights groups have assailed the bill, saying it would disenfranchise voters and upend the midterms because the new rules would take effect immediately. Trump and the bill’s GOP supporters say it’s needed to combat noncitizen voting, an extremely rare phenomenon.

Since taking office last year, Trump has made a series of attempts to shape how elections are run. An executive order that would limit voting by mail remains in effect for now as opponents challenge it in federal court, and the Department of Justice continues to seek to force states to hand over sensitive voter data, so far unsuccessfully.

The Senate amendment, offered by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, also included restrictions on sports participation by transgender athletes. On social media after the vote, Graham called the SAVE America Act “one of the most consequential” pieces of legislation developed by Trump and his team.

“All Democrats voted no, and they will eventually pay a price,” Graham wrote.

Republicans also vote no

But the proposal fell short among a small group of Republicans, too. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina joined Democrats in voting no.

Collins is seeking reelection in what is one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. McConnell and Tillis have both opted against seeking reelection, while Murkowski has said the bill would set up barriers for voters in her large, rural state.

Sixty votes would have been needed to advance the amendment — the same threshold to overcome a filibuster. 

The vote came after the Senate spent weeks debating the SAVE America Act earlier this year before moving on to other business without a vote. Trump has urged Republicans to abandon the filibuster to pass the bill, without success.

“We will squash this blatant attempt at voter suppression,” Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, wrote on social media after the vote.

The Senate also rejected, 50-49, a separate amendment offered by Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, that included a different version of the SAVE America Act. According to Lee, the amendment was the version of the bill passed by the House, which didn’t include provisions on transgender athletes. 

Collins voted in favor of the amendment after earlier opposing Graham’s amendment.

California

Both amendments failed hours after Trump asserted, without evidence, that Democrats were stealing “the vote” in California. The state held primary elections earlier this week, but vote counting is often slow in the state, meaning vote totals reported on election night don’t always reflect the final outcome of a race.

Trump linked California’s elections to his push for the SAVE America Act, writing on social media that “I hope Republicans are watching” so they could pass the legislation.

“They found a lot of mail-in ballots last night, shockingly,” Trump said at an unrelated Oval Office event on Thursday. “So we don’t want that.”

With the Senate unwilling to advance the SAVE America Act, some GOP lawmakers have begun offering alternative election-related bills.

Republican Reps. Julie Fedorchak of North Dakota and Laurel Lee of Florida on Thursday introduced the SAVE America Through REAL ID Act, which would create a grant program to help states provide REAL ID-compliant driver’s license and identification cards to residents for free to low-income Americans.

On Tuesday, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, and Graham introduced the Election Security Partnership Act, designed to encourage states to submit their voter rolls to a computer program operated by the Department of Homeland Security that can identify possible noncitizens. 

States can already upload voter data to the program, called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements or SAVE, but the legislation would provide $20 million in grants for states to offset any costs related to using SAVE.

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Lawsuit Says Immigration Issue is Federal, Not State

by Kim Jarrett, The Center Square, June 6, 2026- Plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging a new Tennessee law making immigration a state crime said it's up to the federal government, not the states, to enforce immigration laws. 

The National Immigration Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union filed the suit in U.S. District Court on behalf of two people who could be affected by the law, which makes it illegal to be in Tennessee with a pending deportation order. Anyone caught could face up to a year in jail under House Bill 1704, which takes effect on July 1. 

A 58-year-old Memphis woman identified as "Lucy" in court documents said she came to the U.S. in 2000 on a visitor's visa and applied for asylum. She remained in the country after her asylum application was denied and a removal order was issued, according to the lawsuit. "Lucy" is afraid she will be arrested on the drive from Memphis to Knox County to visit her college-age son.

A second plaintiff, a 35-year-old man named Benjamin, said he is also afraid he will be jailed because he has a deportation order, according to the lawsuit. He has also unsuccessfully applied for asylum and was accepted into the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. The program was rescinded during President Donald Trump's first term and reinstated by former President Joe Biden, and continues to be scrutinized. 

“HB1704 would threaten our neighbors who have families here and have lived here for years,” said Zee Scout, staff attorney at the ACLU of Tennessee. “This is yet another example of the state of Tennessee improperly wielding its power to baselessly attack neighbors and families who make this a better, richer state for all."

The plaintiffs want a judge to create a class action lawsuit and stop the law's implementation on July 1. 

The law also creates a crime for persons who try to enter the state if they have a deportation order in place, but that part could only take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Arizona vs. the U.S. The 2012 case held that the state lacked the authority to enforce immigration laws. The lawsuit does not include that section of the bill. 

Deportations violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which gives federal statutes precedence over state ones, according to the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit says, "Removal from the country is a quintessentially federal authority. Courts have long and repeatedly recognized the dominant federal interest in removal, which flows directly from the sovereign powers of the federal government – powers that the states do not have."

Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma lawmakers passed similar laws that were challenged by the Department of Justice under the Biden administration. The Trump administration dismissed the challenges, but other lawsuits were filed.

Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said during debate on the bill that he believes the first section of the bill would "withstand judicial scrutiny."

Rod's Additional Comments:

That immigration is a federal, not a state, issue has already been affirmed by a Supreme Court case as recently as 2012. Although I haven't read the Supreme Court ruling, and there may be differences between the Arizona and Tennessee cases, I expect the principle will be reaffirmed by the Courts. 

To read more about that Arizona ruling, follow this link and this one. 

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Andy Ogles takes down post denouncing homosexuality

Scott Bessent is the first gay Senate-confirmed
 Cabinet member in a Republican administration. 
He married former New York City prosecuting
attorney John Freeman in 2011. 

by Kim Jarrett, The Center Square, June 5, 2026  – U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles said a controversial post that appeared on his social media feed was not of his making. 

The post said, "Homosexuality has no place in America, Happy Nuclear Family Month," and was posted by a staff member, the Tennessee Republican said. 

"Earlier today while working on the farm, my phone began going crazy because of a post made by a member of my comms team," Ogles said in another social media post. "The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus. The employee has been reprimanded."

The post was criticized by some of Ogles' Republican colleagues. 

"Homosexuality exists. In America. In fact Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and constituents who are gay and lesbian," said Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. "It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American. What an absolutely idiotic statement to make."

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told NBC News the post was "reprehensible."

“He retracted it,” Scalise said. “He himself said he didn’t post it, and that he’s taking action to reprimand people who did, so it should never have (been) put up."

Rep. Frank Pallone, R-N.J., responded by saying, "Hate has no place in America."

"Extremists in the Republican Party have gone completely off the rails," Pallone said on social media. "While I'm glad the backlash against Rep. Ogles has been swift, the culture of bigotry that made his tweet possible must be rooted out at its source."

Second-term Republican Gov. Bill Lee declared June as Nuclear Family Month in Tennessee, which is seen by some as a response to Pride Month. Ogles' challenger for his 5th Congressional District seat, former Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, praised Lee's decision to name June as Nuclear Family Month.

"The best way to raise strong, healthy children is with a mom and a dad in the home," Hatcher said in a post. "That is God’s design and the foundation of a thriving society."

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ELIMINATE MEDICARE PART D

Ralph Bristol

by Ralph Bristol, Facebook, June 5, 2026 - If the next Republican president wants a first big move, he or she should rescind Medicare Part D, one of the Republican Party’s biggest mistakes. That was the only addition to a major entitlement created and passed almost entirely with Republican support, and I would argue that it’s not working, for either most enrollees or for taxpayers.

FIRST, THE COST

Medicare Part D — the federal prescription drug benefit — covers roughly 56 million Americans. 

The federal government spends approximately $140 billion per year on Part D benefits (net of premiums), representing about 11% of all Medicare spending. This is funded primarily through general tax revenues.

On top of the federal cost, enrollees pay their own monthly premiums, totaling an estimated $21–30 billion per year across all enrollees. The average monthly premium was around $45 in 2024, but plan costs have been surging: bid amounts jumped 42% in 2025 and 35% in 2026, driven largely by the Inflation Reduction Act's redesign of Part D cost-sharing. Republicans created Part D. Democrats “enhanced” it. 

Beyond premiums, enrollees pay out-of-pocket at the pharmacy. Total enrollee cost-sharing is estimated at roughly $22 billion per year (2024).  That’s after President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act reduced this burden — introducing a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap in 2025 and eliminating the "donut hole" — saving enrollees an estimated $7.4 billion annually.

ADDING IT UP

Component Estimated Annual Cost

Federal government (net of premiums) ~$140 billion
Enrollee premiums ~$21–30 billion
Enrollee copays / cost-sharing ~$22 billion
Total gross spending ~$190 billion

Divided across 56 million enrollees, that works out to roughly $3,393 per enrollee per year — about $283 per month.

About 25% of Medicare Part D enrollees pay no additional premium. They are called LIS enrollees. LIS enrollees have heavily subsidized copays, not zero — but they're nominal:

In 2025 LIS enrollees paid:

• $4.90 for generic drugs
• $12.15 for brand-name drugs
• $0 for those in nursing homes or receiving Medicaid (full dual-eligibles pay nothing at all)

There are zero peer-reviewed studies on the question of how many Medicare Part D enrollees would be better off without Part D, and that is what one of my A-I assistants identified as a “policy blind spot.” 

Why the blind spot?  As AI assistant, Claude, explained to me, “The stakeholders who fund research on Part D — CMS, insurers, pharma — all have interests in robust enrollment. Independent consumer-oriented research ("should you personally enroll?") doesn't have a natural funder. Academic researchers tend to study program-level outcomes rather than individual value propositions.”

How convenient. 

Ralph Bristol is the former long-time morning talk radio host broadcasting on Supertalk 99.7 WTN. He was one of the less provocative and bombastic of conservative radio personalities, more thoughtful and grounded in conservative ideas. He left talk radio in 2018 and retired. He lives in Nashville. 

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A Republican Time for Choosing

by Rod Williams, June 2, 2026 - Former Vice President Mike Pence was on the Sunday talk shows, asking what needs to be asked: Will the Republican Party be the party of principled conservatism or continue down the path of being a right-wing populist nationalist party?

Mike Pence was back in the news talking about his newly released book, What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience. It is a 304‑page political manifesto described as a “21st‑century version of The Conscience of a Conservative.”

Pence says he wrote the book to reaffirm enduring conservative principles and warn against the rise of “big‑government populism” within the Republican Party. 

Many of my liberal friends, I am sure, think the current Trump Republican Party is what the Republican Party always was once you scratched away the veneer of respectability. We who have labored for years to advance the cause of conservatism know that what we are seeing in the Party of Donald Trump bears little resemblance to the post-World War II modern conservative movement, which was at home in the Republican Party. 

Amazon link

The party of William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater and moving forward to Ronald Reagan and Paul Ryan, has little in common with the party dominated by and blindly loyal to Donald Trump. The pre-Trump party believed certain things that Trump disavows, either in words or actions. The pre-Trump Republican Party opposed socialism, believed in free trade, accepted America's leadership role in the world, supported selective security, balanced budgets, due process and the Constitution, states' rights, federalism, and limited government, and believed character mattered. 

I have great admiration for Mike Pence. If would have had J. D. Vance as Vice President at the time, or any number of other Republicans who place loyalty to Donald Trump over loyalty to the Constitution, Donald Trump's coup attempt would have succeeded. It is easy to forget the goal of the insurrectionist. The joint session of Congress was assembled to count electoral votes to formalize Biden's victory in the 2020 United States presidential election. The protestors wanted to stop the count. Vice President Pence stood firm. When the protestors breached the Capitol, they ran through it looking to find and kill Mike Pence. A man with less courage and less commitment to the Constitution and his duties would have abandoned the effort to confirm the election results, and the insurrectionists would have won. Mike Pence took cover in the basement and after order was restored, he called the joint session back into session, and Congress fulfilled its duties. Mike Pense is a hero. 

I have some minor critiques of Mike Pence and some different policy priorities. While I am pro-life, this issue does not hold quite the central place in my ideology as it does for Mike Pence. Now that Roe v. Wade has been overturned, I think the issue should be left to the states and fought out at the state level. 

Mike Pence often acts as if the Donald Trump of the first term was a standard Republican and Trump went crazy in his second term. I will grant that Trump is much worse in his second term than in his first. During his first term, Trump was surrounded by traditional Republicans who kept him within resonable guard rails. The signs were there, however, that Trump was a big-government populist, and his nasty character was on full display. It was the first term Trump who attempted the coup. By the end of his first term, it was clear who Donald Trump was. 

I also wish Pense seemed more outraged at times, but maybe being calm and measured is a virtue, not a fault. In any event, I believe that if we survive the Trump presidency with our democracy intact, and history is written about the Trump years, Mike Pence will be remembered as a profile in courage and a hero of the republic. 

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Knox County Schools Takes “Roots” Off Banned Book List, Restores to Libraries

Photo: Haley Heritage Square in Knoxville. Library of Congress

by Angela Dennis, Tennessee Outlook, June 1, 2026- An East Tennessee school district has reversed its ban on “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alex Haley, after weeks of community backlash, board member pressure, and statewide criticism, all unfolding in the same city where a 13-foot bronze statue of Haley has stood for nearly three decades.

Knox County Schools Superintendent Jon Rysewyk said the district will return the 1976 novel to school library shelves, walking back a decision that had added Roots to a growing list of banned books and ignited debate about race, history and the reach of state law into public school libraries.

In a memo to the Knox County Board of Education dated May 26, 2026, Rysewyk said the decision to return Roots to shelves was effective immediately and that the initial removal “was in no way a commentary on the historical, cultural, or literary value of the novel.

He said he spent the weeks following the ban consulting independently with multiple attorneys to review the specific content flagged under the law, and found no consensus. 

“There were discrepancies even among the legal experts I consulted regarding their interpretation of the relevant sections of the Tennessee Code and the referenced terms as they applied to “Roots,'” he wrote. Rysewyk noted that his review committee had applied the law consistently and in good faith, but said the legal uncertainty ultimately drove his decision. 

“Removing any book from circulation is, and should be, an immense decision. Our intent will always be to err on the side of access, which is the decision I have made with regard to “Roots,”' Rysewyk said. 

“‘Roots’ won a Pulitzer Prize and became a cultural touchstone that inspired and united millions of Americans,” said Rep. Sam McKenzie, a Knoxville Democrat. “I knew that taking it out of the hands of thousands of schoolchildren in Knox County would be a grave injustice.” 

The reversal drew immediate attention not just because of the book’s stature in American literature, but because of where it happened. Haley spent part of his childhood in Lauderdale County , and later lived and wrote in Knoxville and Alex Haley Farm in nearby Clinton. Two miles from where the Knox County school board meets, his likeness sits frozen in bronze in Morningside Park, in what was, at the time of its 1998 installation, the largest public statue of an African American in the United States.

District spokeswoman Carly Harrington confirmed that Roots was added to Knox County Schools’ banned book list in May 2026, bringing the district’s total to 124 banned titles, up from 113 in May 2025.

The removal was triggered by Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act, a state law that broadly restricts materials from school libraries if they contain nudity, sexual abuse, sexual content, or excessive violence. The law is stricter for library materials than for classroom instruction, as a book can still be taught by a teacher as part of a curriculum, but cannot remain on library shelves for independent student checkout if certain content is present. 

In an interview, Assistant Superintendent of Academics Keith Wilson said that an internal review committee identified a specific passage in the novel that it determined crossed the legal threshold. Wilson noted this was the second time this year a passage from the novel had been brought up for review, but the first time it did not result in a finding of violation. He said the law’s focus is on specific passages, not the historical significance of a work as a whole. 

The ban sparked swift and pointed criticism from a board member, educators and state lawmakers.

Knox County School board member Katherine Bike sent a memo to her colleagues demanding the book’s return. 

“Removing Roots is not a neutral act,” Bike wrote. “It sends a message to our students, particularly our Black students, about whose history is worth protecting. I don’t believe that is the message any of us intends to send. Intent and impact are two different things.” 

On Tuesday after the reversal was announced, State Rep. Sam McKenzie, whose district includes the Haley statue, called the ban a grave injustice and said he was disappointed but not surprised. 

“’Roots’ won a Pulitzer Prize and became a cultural touchstone that inspired and united millions of Americans,” McKenzie said. “I knew that taking it out of the hands of thousands of schoolchildren in Knox County would be a grave injustice.”

McKenzie said he has taken legislative action in response to book removals like this one. During the current 114th General Assembly, he sponsored HB2434, which would prohibit the removal of books until a final determination can be made about their appropriateness for the age and maturity level of students, and whether the material is consistent with the educational mission of the school. He also filed the Freedom to Read Act, HB1051, aimed at keeping books like Roots accessible to students.

McKenzie pointed to the particular irony of the ban’s timing and location. 

“I am often reminded of the importance of Mr. Haley’s pivotal works when I see the statue of him in Alex Haley Heritage Square in Knoxville and also his significant contributions to the University of Tennessee, where many of his historical documents are housed,” he said. He also noted that the state legislature designated Roots as one of the first ten official Tennessee state books in 2024. 

State Rep. Gloria Johnson, went further in her criticism, writing on Facebook her memory of visiting the Haley statue with Rep. Justin Jones, and called the ban part of a broader pattern. 

“I’m so disgusted that a law passed by the TN legislature has resulted in the book Roots being banned,” she wrote, connecting the timing of the removal to what she described as a legislative special session aimed at diluting Black voting power in Tennessee. 

“This isn’t coincidence folks, it’s the agenda of the white supremacist supermajority working exactly as intended.” Johnson said she is planning legislation for the next session to address what she called white supremacy in the Tennessee legislature.

The controversy in Knox County is part of a broader national debate over book bans in public schools. The reversal does not change state law. The Age-Appropriate Materials Act remains in effect, and the district’s review process that led to the removal of Roots along with 123 other titles, continues to operate across Knox County school libraries.

Rysewyk said district staff will present to the board at a June 1 work session on the Age-Appropriate Materials Act and how it will be applied going forward.

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