Progressive Politics from Memphis

  • Why Would Anyone Want to Teach in Tennessee?

    Track HB 740 here This is a question I keep asking myself as bill after bill slides right through the state legislature. Last year it was the right to have a seat at the table when negotiating salary, class sizes, and all sorts of other things. This year its tenure and perhaps most egregious, payment…

  • $15,000,000 For Fewer Than 900 People a Year

    For as long as I can remember, Republicans have been kicking and screaming about the “DEATH TAX”, also known as the inheritance or estate tax. The estate tax is one of those taxes you hear about a lot, but probably won’t ever have to pay, unless your family is fabulously wealthy. Even then, there are…

  • Restoring Faith

    No one said it would be quick, easy, cheap, or without some bad press, but that doesn’t mean all the news is bad. What am I talking about? The growing number of investigations concerning divisions of the City of Memphis government. Over the two years since Mayor AC Wharton assumed the Mayor’s office we’ve seen…

  • Compromise and Discourse in Redistricting

    If you’ve been watching the news or reading the newspaper, you’ve probably seen a story or 12 about redistricting. Federal, State and Local levels of government are in the process of doing that very thing here in Tennessee. The photo to the left is House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh and Caucus Chair Mike Turner. Both…

  • Whose District is it Anyway?

    An interesting exchange on the floor of the Tennessee State House today. Democrats introduced a number of amendments to the House Redistricting plan, all of which were placed on the table by the Republican majority; effectively killed. The final amendment was proposed by Jeanne Richardson. The amendment would have shifted 6 precincts into the new…

  • Silver Spoon Endorses Silver Spoon

    To the surprise of no one, TN Gov. Bill Haslam endorsed Mitt Romney in the Republican primary. Romney, who has been featured in a hit piece produced by Newt Gingrich’s “Winning Our Future” SuperPAC, which has, perhaps, done the 2012 Obama election team the biggest favor ever. It clearly draws a distinction between what some…