Senator Corker, State Leaders to Speak Tuesday at NFIB Small Business Day

 

Sen. Bob Corker

NASHVILLE (Feb. 11, 2022) -- Former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker is among the leaders on the agenda at NFIB's annual Small Business Day. 

The event will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, in Room 8-C of the Cordell Hull State Office Building, 425 5th Ave. N.

Corker will join NFIB State Director Jim Brown in conversation at 12:15 p.m. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton are scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. Click here for a full agenda.

Small Business Day is designed to educate NFIB members and their guests about the state and federal issues affecting Tennessee's job creators.

To learn more about NFIB in Tennessee, visit www.NFIB.com/TN.

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Quincy McKnight Drops Out of TN-5 Republican Primary, Endorses Ortagus, and Announces Run for Nashville Mayor

Quincy McKnight Drops Out of TN-5 Republican Primary, Endorses Ortagus, and Announces Run for Nashville Mayor

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End Civil Forfeiture! Now is the time! #FundThePolice and End Civil Forfeiture.

Criminal Asset Forfeiture

What is the problem? (Click here for a deep-dive into the problem of civil asset forfeiture in TN)

Civil Asset Forfeiture is the practice that allows police to seize your property if they suspect you of a crime, even if you are never actually charged with an offense. Oddly enough, the legal proceeding is against the seized property and not against the individual. For innocent people whose property has been seized through civil asset forfeiture, legally regaining such property is notoriously difficult and expensive.

• Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thomas said that, “This system — where police can seize property with limited judicial oversight and retain it for their own use — has led to egregious and well-chronicled abuses” 
• This threatens Tennesseans’ property and due process rights, and “frequently targets the poor and other groups least able to defend their interests in forfeiture proceedings.” 

MAJOR UPDATE from Gov. Lee’s administration: 

• Apparently, Gov. Lee has given word that no agency or state department will work against civil asset forfeiture bills this year.
• This means that we will not have to deal with the Department of Safety this year.
• While we still must overcome local DAs, police, and sheriffs, this is a massive win for CAF even before we start determining the level of support for change this year.
• Did you all know that in the state of Tennessee there are tons of taxpayer funded lobbyists?
• I kid you not.
• Dozens and dozens of people paid by you and I that are lobbying each day for and against bills that may or may not be in our best interests.
• The lobbyists are there on behalf of the particular department they represent.
• Let's say you have a bill you really like... maybe someone in the department of safety really doesn't like it... well... they just send down their lobbyist to meet with all the legislators and give testimony in committee to work against the bill you hope might pass.
• Regardless of whether you agree with the position of the particular governmental department or not doesn't matter... the point is that WE ARE PAYING THE SALARY OF THOSE PEOPLE. THEY ARE NOT ELECTED.
• Moreover, most of the time those taxpayer funded, department representative, lobbyist are the most influential people in the building.
• Let me put it this way... someone that IS NOT a representative of the people has far more influence over your representative than you do... that fact by itself isn't crazy to believe... now consider that YOU ARE PAYING FOR IT... LITERALLY.

Bills running this year

• HB 59 / SB 260 – Removes the requirement to pay $350 per item seized just to have your day in court.
• This bill passed through every major step needed in the house and senate last year; however, it did not receive the funding needed to become law.
• This bill is still stuck "behind the budget" in finance subcommittee from last year.
• Luckily we don't have to gather votes in subcommittee and committee, but we will need to press the finance subcommittee to get funding.
• HB 2427 / SB 2280 – Reporting bill; adds information to the list of things DOS must report at the end of each calendar year. Ex: demographic information, type of seizure, whether the seizure ended in a criminal conviction, etc.
• This is a similar bill to the one that ran last year. It did not do too well last year because Department of Safety fought us every step of the way.
• Hopefully, this year DOS will not fight the bill due to Gov. Lee's new directive.
• HB 2525 / SB 2545 – Comprehensive overhaul of our forfeiture process in TN. The big pieces include… requiring a criminal conviction before property can be forfeited, dealing with the equitable sharing federal loophole, and ending the administrative court system process.
• This is the model language provided by Lee McGrath, Senior Counsel at the Institute For Justice.
• https://ij.org/legislation/criminal-forfeiture-process-act/
• The model is premised on: (1) police and prosecutors should not profit from forfeiture; and (2) an owner should be found guilty of a crime before the state takes final title to his property in criminal court.
• This is the best possible version of a forfeiture bill.

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New Tennessee Bill Would Disqualify Congressional Candidates Ortagus And Starbuck

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn], February 10, 2022 – A set of companion bills introduced in the Tennessee Legislature would disqualify two Tennessee Congressional candidates for District 5 should they pass into law.

House Bill 2764 (HB2764), sponsored by Representative Dave Wright (R-Corryton-District 19) and Senate Bill 2616 (SB2616), sponsored by Senator Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains – District 8), as introduced, would prohibit a person from being nominated as a candidate for United States senator or member of the United States house of representatives unless the person has voted in the three previous elections in this state (Tennessee). – Amends TCA Title 2. (Read more)

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Speaker Sexton Talks Illegal Immigration, School Choice, Critical Race Theory & More

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Summer County sex crime sting arrest lacks equity, indicating systemic racism and sexism.

by Rod Williams, Feb. 9, 2022 - I am pretty sure Blacks and Hispanics are proportionally overrepresenting among those arrested in this TBI Summer County sex sting operation. Does this indicate systemic racism and ethnicism and genderism?  The Female gender surely represents half the population of Sumner County, does it not?  Why is not half of those arrested, not female? For more on the sting and the notable absence of a discussion of the lack of equity involved, follow this link. 

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The World lost a True Friend this past Friday, Feb 4th. Rest in Peace, Tim Skow.

Tim Skow

by Councilman Robert Swope, reposted from Facebook, Feb. 7, 2022 - Tim Skow was my Friend.  He was also the Friend of Life, Liberty, Politics, Baseball, Ladies, and above all else, his Mother Ann.

Tim passed early Friday morning accidentally, and completely unexpectedly.   

While I could literally write a novel about my dearest friend, and the profound feeling of loss that has now set upon me, this is not the medium that he, nor I, preferred for sharing such unmasked emotions.   I will say that Tim Skow DID change the world in his unique way.   He connected people and things into a network of love, humanity and focus that will forever be remembered by the thousands of souls he encountered.  

Please join me, and Tim's Family & Friends for a Celebration of Life this coming Saturday, February 12th, at 3pm.   You are invited to gather at the Franklin Elks Lodge #72 (485 Oak Meadow Drive, Franklin TN 37064) to Celebrate the extraordinary life of Tim Skow.

For those who have been members of First Tuesday, the baby that Tim has raised and loved for over a decade, YES we will be continuing our monthly meetings.   Join us for lunch on Thursday, February 10 for a program that Tim was enormously proud of putting together.   For tickets, please visit https://www.firsttuesdaynashville.com

As both Tim and I were raised.... we always believed that the show will go on.

My heart hurts.... and my ears are waiting for the phone to ring and Tim to ask "Hey....tell me something good!"

Tim Skow WAS "Something Good".   His love of the world and all people within it was contagious and beautiful.  He made you smile.

I miss my Friend.

Rod's comment: This tribute reflects my sentiment too.  Tim Skow was a good friend.  He was someone I liked.  He was someone who it made me happy just to be around.  It made me happy to hear from him.  And, he was a good man.  He loved liberty and loved his country. He was a warrior in the battle for ideas. He was not only a proponent of the right ideas but a tactician for winning the battle of ideas.  His opinions were valued.  Everyone seemed to know Tim, and it seems everyone who knew him, liked him. 

I was in the hospital recovering from a surgery when I open Facebook and saw the announcement that Tim had passed. I could not believe it. It did not seem possible.  It did not seem real. Tim was one of those personalities that filled a room.  He was bigger than life. 

He will be missed.  Go rest high on that mountain.

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13 Metro Councilmembers Have Yet to File Their Required Campaign Finance Disclosures due more than two years ago

Three CMs have made no disclosures whatsoever since their election more than two years ago

by STEVE CAVENDISH, Nashville Scene,  FEB 4, 2022 - ... At-Large Councilmembers Sharon Hurt and Steve Glover have not filed since fall 2019, and neither has District 1 Councilmember Jonathan Hall. ... 10 other councilmembers failed to file their disclosures, which were due Jan. 31: Robert Swope, Tonya Hancock, Larry Hagar, Freddie O’Connell, Mary Carolyn Roberts, Brandon Taylor, Thom Druffel, Russ Pulley, Sandra Sepulveda and Antoinette Lee. (Read more)

Rod's Comment:  The above list contains some of my favorite councilmembers and some of my least favorite councilmembers.  No matter in which category you fall, you should file required campaign finance forms in a timely manner.  There is no good excuse for not doing so.

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No Comment Needed.

 

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Memphis BLM founder Pamela Moses sentenced to 6 years for illegally voting

Pamela Moses

By Jackie Salo, New York Post, February 6, 2022 - The founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Memphis has been sentenced to prison for six years for illegally registering to vote in Tennessee, prosecutors said.

Pamela Moses, the 44-year-old activist, was ordered to spend six years and one day behind bars Monday for registering to vote despite felony convictions in 2015 that made her ineligible to do so, Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich said. (read more)

Who Is Pamela Moses? Black Woman Sentenced to Prison for Trying To Vote

Newsweek, - .... Moses, 44, a Black woman and Black Lives Matter activist, had 16 prior felony convictions and attempted to register to vote when she was ineligible and on probation, according to the Shelby County District Attorney's Office. (read more)

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Today, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Tennessee’s ban on abortions for reasons such as race, gender, or genetic abnormality.

Rod Comment:

Feb. 4, 2022 - This week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an order allowing the enforcement of what is known as the Antidiscrimination Provision of Tennessee’s 2020 abortion law. This provision prohibits doctors from knowingly performing abortions that target unborn children because of their race, sex, or Down syndrome status (actual or perceived). (link)

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