A Tale of Two Cities- September 22, 2005 This picture - of Galveston school buses carrying evacuees out of the Gulf Coast city before Hurricane Rita strikes - sure puts the picture below in perspective. The picture below shows some of the 255 New Orleans school buses destroyed by Hurricane Katrina after New Orleans and Louisiana officials decided not to follow their pre-hurricane evacuation plan's directive to use such public vehicles to evacuate the city's poor residents, thousands of whom had no...http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007364.html Porkbusters- September 22, 2005 I haven't done much on the Porkbusters initiative that's sweeping the sensible side of the blogosphere, but I agree heartily with John Hutcheson and Bob Krumm about this: As politicians look for federal spending to cut in order to pay for rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Lipscomb University - where I was enrolled for three-plus years back in the mid-1980s - ought to step up and give back the $3 million...http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007358.html Bredesen's Approval Rating Under 50 Percent- September 21, 2005 Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's approval rating continues below 50 percent in the latest SurveyPoll. Among all 50 governors, he's 34th in popularity. Here's the tracking data from SurveyUSA....http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007357.html Lunch With Ed- September 21, 2005 Former U.S. Rep. Ed Bryant, running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, was the guest at today's meeting of the Nashville citizens' editorial board, aka, the monthly Nashville Area Political Bloggers lunch. Thanks to Randy Rayburn and Sunset Grill for allowing us the use of the private room for nothing other than the price of whatever we ordered from the menu. (Chicken Quesadillas for me - very good!) I'll have my thoughts later...http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007355.html They Don't Let Nashvillians Run Peru, Do They- September 21, 2005 Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell appointed a non-citizen to the Metro Charter Revision Commission, which recommends potential changes to the city government charter, even though as a non-citizen he is ineligible to vote in any election in Nashville. After questions are raised, the nomination is withdrawn. The man in question is here legally - he is not an illegal alien. Still, until he becomes a citizen, he should not be allowed to be involved in the...http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007354.html Nagin, Blanco Decide to Use Buses- September 21, 2005 Well, how ironic. It seems that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babbling Blanco have decided to use buses to evacuate people from New Orleans as Hurricane Rita possibly approaches the already-devastated city. Here's a copy of a memo from U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, vice-chairman of the House Republican Conference, circulating, on Capitol Hill that notes the difference. It's a pity they didn't use the buses before Hurricane Katrina struck....http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007353.html Bredesen's TennCare Cuts Killed Man, Doctor Says- September 20, 2005 There is now at least one patient whose death is documented as having been caused by Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen's meat-axe slashing of TennCare. The Tennessean reports:An East Tennessee man's lack of needed medicines which had been capped by TennCare was a contributing factor to his death last month, his doctor found, noting it on the death certificate. James Bryant, of Rutledge, Tenn., was a very sick man, with a hereditary bleeding disorder...http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007343.html Taxing News- September 20, 2005 Republicans in the Georgia state legislature are proposing "a sweeping initiative to lower taxes and limit spending by state and local government," reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The measure, similar in concept to Colorado's Taxpayers Bill of Rights, would tie state spending increases to the rate of inflation and population growth; and also place limits using similar formulas on city, county and school district spending - and tax collections above what governments were allowed to...http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007344.html Thanks- September 20, 2005 BillHobbs.com gets a mention in today's Memphis Commercial Appeal....http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007342.html What's Wrong With This Picture- September 20, 2005 A union paid non-union temp workers at $6 an hour to stand in 104 degree weather and protest outside a Las Vegas Walmart where workers average $10.17 and hour, reports Las Vegas Weekly....http://billhobbs.com/hobbsonline/007341.html |