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Kent Williams Shoots Back at Fellow Republicans -- Incumbent State Rep. Kent Williams has responded to criticism brought by his GOP colleagues last week over a donation he received from Assistant Democratic House Caucus Leader John Litz. Williams turned to criticizing the lawmakers who criticized the donation, saying about Reps Chris Crider, Eric Swafford and Mike Bell that, "they haven't accomplished very much in their home districts. It's people like this who are killing our Republican Party ... I dare say that if a Democrat introduced legislation to give every one in the state a goose that laid the golden egg, these three would vote against it." Meanwhile, former lawmaker David Fowler has asked Williams to stop using his name in an ad that implies the endorsement of Fowler's group, The Family Action of Tennessee. Williams, apparently asked permission to use a letter from the group thanking him for his vote on SJR 127, the famous bill which would have put the question of abortion to statewide voters. However, Fowler declined, on the grounds that it could jeopardize the group's tax exempt status. Williams used the letter in an ad and radio spots anyway. That prompted Fowler not only to deny the group endorsed Williams, but to seek a judicial cease and desist order.

Too Few Buyouts, Bredesen To Fire -- Gov. Phil Bredesen said with the looming Monday deadline for state employees to accept voluntary buy-out packages, there still aren't enough taking the deal. That means Bredesen will have to layoff some state employees to meet the budget shortfall. Only about 1,400 state workers have sought the state's buyout as of late last week, Bredesen said, well below the target of about 2,300 needed. The buy-out package includes: four months of base salary, $500 for each year of service, six months of subsidized health coverage and an option to pay for an additional 12 months, as well as tuition aid, and a one-time $2,400 payment for those 65 and older. Bredesen said he had expected too many applicants for the buyouts, not too few, and that he was surprised that applications have so far fallen short of expectations. More here

Cohen Has Vegas Fundraiser -- Congressman Steve Cohen racked up a fundraising pull recently, when he was the beneficiary of a $64,188 fundraiser in Las Vegas hosted by a group of professional gamblers. Apparently, the gamers wanted to host Cohen a fundraiser after he questioned a witness in a Congressional hearing about online gambling. Cohen cites his support of the state lottery and a referendum to open Memphis for horse racing as previous issues which put him in support of more open gambling laws. Cohen's challenger Nikki Tinker's top out of state donors are connected to the pro-choice Emily's List. Tinker also seems to be having some trouble with her financial disclosure.

VW Will Bring White-Collar Jobs Too -- The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that the Volkswagen deal for Chattanooga means not only an auto assembly plant, it means that lead manufacturing plant for the entire North America production will be headquartered there as well. That means that not only will factory jobs be created, but white collar engineering and management jobs as well.

Alexander Gives Props to Bredesen on VW Deal -- GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander praised Dem Gov. Phil Bredesen for his leadership on several economic development issues, the new Volkswagen plant, which went to Chattanooga being among them. Alexander: "Gov. Bredesen is very intelligent, very focused, and he’s a good dealmaker, whether it’s with the Titans or with the Nissan headquarters or with Volkswagen ... When he focuses on something, there’s a good chance it’s going to happen. And fortunately for Tennessee, he focused on those three big things and they all got done." On the Volkswagen deal, Bredesen brushes off criticism that the incentive packages were too high. Bredesen: "I don’t know whether it’s fair that a Mercedes Benz cost $90,000, I just know if I want one that’s what I’ve got to pay ... So I look at this kind of stuff as look there are people all over the country who are willing to put X dollars on the table for a football team or X dollars on the table for an auto assembly plant or anything else like that."

Cohen Attempts to Play Up Obama Link -- The Commercial Appeal notes that the race in the 9th district Democratic primary could come down to which candidate can claim the closest link to Dem standard-bearer Barack Obama. Obama is widely popular in the 9th district, which is composed of a majority of black voters. Incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen says he endorsed Obama, well before his primary opponent Nikki Tinker - because Tinker was waiting on Clinton-backer Emily's List to guarantee their support. Still, Tinker has played up her Obama connection - making Obama's signs just as prominent as hers at her own campaign headquarters. Cohen's handlers say he is more like Obama because people chose to vote for Obama based on the content of his character, rather than the color of his skin.

Overby & Finney Clash Over Past Votes -- It's an interesting race for the GOP primary for State Senate in 8th district. State Rep. Doug Overby is running against incumbent State Sen. Raymond Finney. Overby criticizes Finney for his support of an overhaul of the state's Basic Education Plan - something local school board officials opposed. Finney, points out that Overby was one of the few Republicans to vote for Democratic House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. Both men say they voted the way they did because their vote didn't matter. Finney partially argues that the BEP vote would have passed even if he voted no and Overby says Naifeh would have been elected had he voted no.

Eaton Hits Tuke on Ford Race -- Senate long-shot Kenneth Eaton has hit other members of the Democratic primary fight for US Senate rather hard. Showing up to a City Paper interview in a casual Hawaiian shirt Eaton called out his Dem primary opponent Bob Tuke for his failure as TN Dem Party Chair to get Harold Ford, Jr. elected against Bob Corker. Meanwhile, the Commercial Appeal notes the race is beyond a long-shot for Democrats and Lamar Alexander says he's in wait-and-see mode.

Cooper Talks About His Early Obama Endorsement -- Congressman Jim Cooper talks about his early endorsement of Barack Obama in today's City Paper. Cooper, following his past experience with the Clinton's and initial meeting with Obama, was conviced to throw the "liberal" Senator his support, even though Cooper is a member of the Blue Dogs Caucus, a group of moderate, budget-hawk Dems. Cooper comments on the possibility of Obama accomplishing his long sought goal - reforming entitlements: "Well probably only a liberal and an African-American could reform runaway entitlement program spending. Now there’s no guarantee of that, but I don’t see a Republican doing it.”

Again - No Toll Road Unless Public Approves -- Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely drew a round of applause Thursday when he promised that the proposed Knoxville Parkway won't be a toll road if the public is opposed to the idea. TDOT officials had proposed that before, but in news media reports following a public forum in which opposition to the toll road was voiced, TDOT said they would listen a federally mandated highway commission, instead of the citizens forum. At the new forum, TDOT recognized there was more opposition to the toll road than support and if that kept, the toll road would not be built.

Knox Co. Commission Tries Message Board -- An new message board unveiled today allows Knox Co. Commissioners to "talk" to one another while the public can see their conversations. The message board idea was in response to a court ruling that Knox Co. Commissioners violated the State's Open Meeting Laws by holding conversations outside the commission meetings. State Rep. Bill Dunn proposed the message board idea as a work around for fatigued commissioners.

Adams Back on Job -- After resigning last week, East Ridge city manager Curtis Adams is back on the job. Adams had met with East Ridge Mayor Mike Steele and East Ridge City Attorney John Anderson and agreed to go back on the job. The city manager has now written a letter to him and to all members of the East Ridge Commission saying that his resignation will become effective when a new city manager is hired. The East Ridge Commission now turns to Adams' controversal budget, which prompted the resignation following a 47c property tax increase proposal.

Shelby Co. Trustee Race Sees Rare Campaign Finance Case -- The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports on the race for Shelby Co. Trustee. Ray Butler a Republican is running against acting Trustee Paul Mattila. Butler, who was former Trustee Bob Patterson's campaign Treasurer, unusually had control of his campaign account after Patterson died. After Butler directed all of the remaining money in the account to his own campaign, Mattila filed a complaint with the Registry of Election Finance, which says that while it is clear that Butler has control of the campaign account as Treasurer, he is limited to donating $1,000 to his own campaign - because that is the limit that campaign committees can give to each other. Butler disagrees with the interpretation - and the case could need to be settled in a lawsuit.

VW Incentive Package Likely Over $400M -- While the exact total for the incentive package offered to Volkswagen to locate their North American auto assembly plant in Chattanooga has not been determined, the package is likely in excess of $400M. That's the amount that Alabama offered and was rejected. What we do know is part of the deal is the land, which was donated by Chattanooga at a cost of $81M. A state incentive package approved as a last minute addition to this year's budget, gives $5,000 per job over 20 years at a value of $200M for 2,000 employees.

Ford in Jury's Hands -- The trial of former State Sen. John Ford has wrapped up and jury deliberations begin today in the federal case. Ford is accused of taking money as consulting fees and then using his office to push for deals with a TennCare contractor that paid him. The trial ended with Doral Dental execs pleading the fifth amendment and refusing to testify before the jury. More here and here.

Hamilton Co. Mayor Ramsey Wants Incumbent to Lose -- Hamilton Co. Mayor Claude Ramsey had strong words when commenting on the race of incumbent State Rep. Jim Cobb. Ramsey criticized Cobb for his vote on the BEP formula changes sought by the metro mayors and said, "I hope he gets beat." Cobb is running against former State Rep. Jim Vincent.

Local Elections Early Voting -- Don't forget that many counties have August elections for county races. Early voting for those elections starts Friday and goes through August 2.

Harold Ford Jr's New Wife Gave to Tinker -- Harold Ford Jr. just got married a couple of months ago, but he's wasted no time in taking advantage of one of the main political advantages of marriage - insulation from controversal political donations. Looks like Ford's bride, Emily Threlkeld Ford, has maxed out contributions to Nikki Tinker, the primary opponent of 9th district Congressman Steve Cohen. That gives Ford the opportunity to say it was only his wife acting independently should the donation go south and Cohen get more popular. Among the other eye-raising contributions tallied by Tinker is a $5,000 one from the Congressional Black Caucus. That's the caucus the white Cohen tried to join - and was rejected - upon becoming a US Congressman.

VW Picks Chattanooga -- Volkswagen will invest $1B in a new auto assembly plant in Chattanooga, the auto company announced yesterday. Gov. Phil Bredesen and Volkswagen President Stefan Jacoby made the announcement, which was also attended by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Congressman Zach Wamp. Volkswagen said it will produce a car designed specifically for the North American market. The company will build the facility in the Enterprise South Industrial Park, located 12 miles northeast of downtown Chattanooga. The industrial park is 100% owned by the City and County and is a certified TVA megasite. More here

Williams Took Money From Dems -- GOP State House members are criticizing one of their own colleagues, State Rep. Kent Williams, for taking a donation from State Rep. John Litz, the assistant majority leader for the House Democratic Caucus. Williams known to vote with Democrats in the past took the $250 donation in his campaign against former State Rep. Jerome Cochran. Among the members criticizing Williams were State Reps Eric Swafford, Chris Crider, Mike Bell and Frank Niceley. Meanwhile, the City Paper reports that Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has raised money for Dem. State Sen. Rosalind Kurita. For good measure - Kurita cast the vote to give Ramsey his seat.

County Mayors Unveil Education Program -- Knox Co. Mayor Mike Ragsdale and Shelby Co. Mayor A.C. Wharton have unveiled a program sponsored by the Urban County Mayors offering free community college tuition. Under the ambitious plan, Ragsdale and Wharton hope to raise money to allow all high school graduates in their respective counties to attend in-state community college tuition-free. The two mayors are trying to get Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey to sign on to the idea as members of the now incorporated, nonprofit organization. If all four mayors are brought on the program could be funded in a line-item each county's budget or through each administration's discretionary money. There are also talks of raising the money privately.

Memphis City Council Counter Sues Schools -- Earlier, the Memphis City Schools sued the City Council seeking to restore the money the Council stripped from its operating budget. Now the City Council has counter sued the Schools saying the schools are behind on paying off the debit service the City took out on its behalf. The city is asking for the right to withhold any tax revenue it would normally pay city schools to recoup the money. Attorneys for the City argued that the charter of the school district requires the bonds be paid back and also authorizes withholding money if they are not.

A Created Controversy -- Late last week, A.C. Kleinheider at the Post Politics blog released an email sent from TN GOP Chair Robin Smith to Gov. Phil Bredesen, defending herself against accusations that her tactics as TN GOP Chair might be considered racist, even though she previously served on the State's Human Rights Commission. Now it has been revealed that it was actually the TN Democratic Party that leaked the correspondence after obtaining it in a public records request for the email. Now Republicans are unclear about how their Democratic counterparts learned of the letter. The KNS reports that Dem Press Sec. Wade Munday requested the letter after "hearing rumors that it existed around Legislative Plaza." But the Democratic Party's open records request for the email showed that they had advance knowledge of when it was sent. TN GOP Spokesman Bill Hobbs on his blog, accuses Bill Mason, Director of Community Affairs for Bredesen with leaking the letter to the press and the Democratic Party before an open records request was sent. More here.

Harold Ford Warned John on TennCare -- The prosecution rested its case in former State Sen. John Ford's trial yesterday after playing a tape in which former Congressman Harold Ford, Sr. warns his brother John that he should stop making money off TennCare contractors. That call was recorded on a federal wiretap after the Commercial Appeal reported that Ford had received huge amounts of undisclosed consulting fees from TennCare contractors, which he didn't report. More here.

Senate Looking Good for GOP -- The City Paper reports that the State Senate is still looking good for Republican retention, despite a national mood hostile to the GOP. Republican state Senate candidates have fund-raising advantages in four of the five races in swing districts. Those seats include two incumbents in State Sen. Diane Black and Jim Tracy and an open seat formerly belonging to Dem Tommy Kilby in which the Republican Ken Yager leads. The GOP also holds the advantage for Independent Sen. Mike Williams' seat, where Mike Faulk holds the lead. Dems lead in the effort to replace former Lt. Gov. John Wilder. Democrat Randy Camp leads Rep. Delores Gresham in that races' fundraising hunt.

Corker Said Congressional Action Required for Offshore Drilling -- Sen. Bob Corker said it will take Congressional action to authorize drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. Corker: "Lifting the executive ban won’t produce one drop of oil on its own, but the president’s actions are an important first step in a two-step process to produce more energy here in the U.S., lessen our dependence on foreign oil, and lower prices at the pump." Corker advocated Congress pass the Gas Price Reduction Act that frees up domestic oil production in the U.S.

"Support" For Tim Barnes -- The Nashville City Paper reports that State Sen. Rosalind Kurita is facing some-kind of challenge from Clarksville attorney Tim Barnes after Kurita cast a controversal vote that landed the Republican Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey with his seat and later backed Republican plans on changes to the Tennessee Plan for electing judges and a GOP-backed lottery plan. Still, the fundraising numbers show Democrats aren't willing to get too far out for Barnes. Among the high-profile donors, Mike McWherter is the only $1,000 contributor. Still, there are impressive names on the list: Former Gov. McWherter ($300 donation), House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh ($200), Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle ($250), Nashville Sen. Harper ($125) and Memphis Sen. Beverly Marrero ($100).

Leatherwood Strategy: Memphis Alone -- The Commercial Appeal reports on the political strategy of Tom Leatherwood who seems conviced he can win the GOP 7th Congressional District primary against Marsha Blackburn by just winning Shelby County. Leatherwood recons 70% of the district vote might come from his home county in his off-season election. Leatherwood has gathered an endorsement list that includes some Shelby Co. politicos, but some higher-ups are warning Leatherwood the race might hurt his political future. John Ryder: "It's a marked contrast to the public persona of Tom Leatherwood .. and the private persona of Tom Leatherwood. Tom is what he is. He's a nice guy, but this has not been a nice-guy campaign."

9th District Race on Race -- It's well known that race remains a big issue in the Ninth District Congressional primary race between Nikki Tinker, State Rep. Joe Towns and incumbent Congressman Steve Cohen. In a televised debate, the candidates didn't take long to get to it. Tinker said she never said the race was "about race or religion," a subtle way to bring up the fact that Congressman Cohen is white and Jewish, but quickly added that "her supporters wanted at least one of Tennessee's congressional seats to have minority representation." Cohen responded: "I would like people to judge me on my record and my character, not on the color of my skin." As for the rest of the issues, Tinker couldn't come up with a single vote that Cohen gave that she would have gone the other way.

The Curious Case of Curtis Adams -- In follow-up to last week's news on East Ridge and the controversy generated by its Mayor Curtis Adams, it appears that Adams has resigned his post after protest over a proposed 47c property tax increase. Adams, who is also a longtime member of the County Commission, said the budget situation is now in the hands of Mayor Mike Steele. The move surprised everyone in the city and was apparently shared with no one beforehand. Meanwhile, in his Commissioner role, Adams has taken the opposite path and proposed property tax relief for seniors.

Chattanooga Election Official Causes Two Ballot Reprintings -- An election worker in Chattanooga has been reassigned after a second ballot mistake was found in less than a week - necessitating a second reprinting of ballots at a cost of $33,000. The latest error was that an opponent of Rep. Zach Wamp was left off the Hamilton County Republican ballots. Teresa Sheppard of Luttrell is in that race. The first error in which the U.S. Senate race was left off both Democratic and Republican ballots caused the reprinting of 140,000 ballots.

Vincent Leads Campaign Money Against Cobb -- The Republican primary between former State Rep. Jim Vincent and sitting Rep. Jim Cobb is heating up, with Vincent lending his campaign $25,000 in April to kickoff fundraising of $33,430.04. Vincent has spent most of that amount with only $2,000 cash on hand. However, that is more cash on hand than Cobb, who has raised $5,300 and has $992.96 cash on hand.

Constituent Letters Subject to Open Records Laws -- A Knox Co. case has pointed out that constiutent communications between a county commissioner and the public are subject to the state's Open Records Laws. Ann Butterworth, director of the state's Office of Open Records Counsel, wrote that under the Open Records Act, "access must be granted to constituent communications received by an elected local government official 'in connection with the transaction of official business.' Access may be denied if the information contained in the communication is deemed otherwise by law to be confidential. Generally speaking, communication of an opinion on a matter to an elected local government official is not deemed confidential." In the case, Victoria DeFreese, a Knox Co. Commissioner, has argued against turning over the information to the Knox Co. Mayor's Office on the grounds it would stiffle constituents ability to communicate with their representatives.

East Ridge Begins Fight Over Taxes -- After City Manager Curtis Adams proposed a 46c property tax increase, members of the city council are seeking to remove him from that post. East Ridge Vice Mayor Jerry Petty on Thursday night made a motion to replace Adams. Other members of the leadership of the city defended Adams saying the city has not had a tax increase in 13 years and it wouldn't be prudent to continue to pull from reserve funds. They also raised concerns that replacing Adams might be expensive. City officials seem upset with a speech Adams made unveiling the tax increase, which he said he was "proud of."

VW Might Bring Two Projects to South Instead of One -- The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Chattanooga officials are still pushing for a Volkswagen manufacturing plant in Tennessee even if Alabama is the leading candidate. Volkswagen officials met yesterday to discuss the plant, but held off on making a decision. Industry analysts say that could be because the two states are still putting finishing touches on incentive packages. Some reports suggest, however, that Volkswagen is actually going to bring a different facility to Chattanooga's Enterprise South Industrial Park -- an engine and drive-train facility. Commentators say the advantages of having two facilities in two states would be to have more political clout.

Bluff City Certifies Recall -- Recall petitions for four members of Bluff City’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen, including the town’s mayor, were certified Tuesday by the Sullivan County Election Commission, which means signatures can begin to be collected. The recall follows a previous recall attempt following the resignation of one its mayors. Under Bluff City’s charter, a recall vote is a simple yes or no matter.

NRA Endorses Blackburn -- Congressman Marsha Blackburn picked up the endorsement of the NRA, despite having primary opposition from Memphian Tom Leatherwood. Chris Cox, the chief lobbyist for the NRA, said they were endorsing Blackburn "because of her consistent support for issues relating to gun ownership." Leatherwood said he expected Blackburn’s endorsement because he was told that the NRA always endorsed incumbents who have an A rating, which is what Blackburn boasts.

Trouble at the Ford Funeral Home -- The state Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers fined Shelby County Commissioner Joe Ford $1,000 and his funeral home, N.J. Ford and Sons, an additional $1,000, for not prohibiting access to the prep room. In March, blogger Thaddeus Matthews entered the prep room and took photos of Shindri Roberson and posted the pictures on his blog. Ford said he did not allow Matthews access to the prep room, but the state organization still fined Ford the maximum fine possible for not securing access. Meanwhile, State Sen. Ophelia Ford says she will fight a decision by the state not to reinstate her funeral license after it lapsed while she was in the hospital.

Ford Trial Update -- State Sen. John Ford's trial continued yesterday with the testimony of business associate Ronald Dobbins, a Philadelphia businessman who testified under an immunity order. Dobbins formed a partnership with Ford in 2001 called Managed Care Services Group, set up to help Wisconsin-based Doral Dental win a TennCare contract. Within weeks of winning an $18M TennCare contract in October 2002, Doral began paying the consulting partnership $40,000 a month. As general partner, Ford got 40% of the partnership's revenue from Doral. Meanwhile, Nashville TV station News Channel 5 is involved in a lawsuit linked to the Ford case. The news station is filing suit against a gag order issued by the judge in the case that none of the witnesses speak to the media. However, one of the witnesses is NewsChannel 5's own investigative reporter Phil Williams.

Chattanooga: We're Still in Running -- The Chattanooga Times Free Press reacted to media reports yesterday that Alabama was the front-runner for the much-sought deal to bring a Volkswagen production plant to Tennessee. Industry analysts say that VW is looking for extra sweeteners for the deal from TN, which is not yet settled. Volkswagen executives meet today to make a recommendation on the location of the new plant, although a decision might not be released until after July 15. Meanwhile, the Nashville Post reports that despite industry reports that Alabama was selected instead of Tennessee, TN's offer was better. [Correction noted by an avid reader]

Docs Target Senators -- Doctors groups are taking aim at Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker for voting for a bill they say would only increase insurance company profits at the expense of providing adequate care to patients. The bill in question cuts payouts to doctors treating patients on Medicare. Doctors say with the bill, they cannot afford to take new patients on Medicare because of the limited payouts. When asked to explain their votes, Alexander and Corker each said the bill delaying the physicians’ payments would have negatively affected Tennessee hospitals, particularly Memphis’ Regional Medical Center. The American Medical Association campaign includes TV and web-based ads.