The World According to Oatney

• Keep 'Em Closed

  Number of comments: 4
  Today I call on State Rep. Debra Maggart and the Tennessee House GOP Caucus to continue pushing for closed primaries in Tennessee:
  
  David Davis did have a point, however-he was almost certainly defeated because of Democratic crossover voters, since Tennessee law allows crossover voting with such ease and [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 2:44pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• First Sunday of Advent

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  Luke 21:25:36:
  
  
  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves;
  
  Men [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 5:24pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Question of the Weekend

  Number of comments: 0
  Earlier this week we discussed in detail in this space the stink created by workers' compensation legislation that is due to go into effect at the New Year that would require small contractors to carry workers' compensation on their employees. The move could cost small family businesses of various kinds [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 8:29pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Rep. Larry Turner Passes

  Number of comments: 0
  State Rep. Larry Turner (D-Memphis) has died:
  
  

  I did not personally know Turner, but I was his hotel neighbor on a couple of occasions as he happened to be staying in the room next to mine while I was in Nashville covering the General Assembly. A day or [...]

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  Posted: November 27, 2009, 11:13pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• The Mayflower Compact

  Number of comments: 1
  IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian [...]
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  Posted: November 26, 2009, 12:22am EST
  by Dave Oatney

• The Test

  Number of comments: 1
  The Tennessee General Assembly apparently won't be meeting in special session in a couple of weeks, but how quickly they act to nix faulty workers' compensation law, but how quickly the Legislature acts on the issue in January will be a test of priorities:
  
  The real test of [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 1:26pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Special Session On Stupidity

  Number of comments: 1
  The law which became Public Chapter 1041 needs to be repealed, and has created something of a mini-crisis in the Tennessee House of Representatives:
  
  
  While I am not sure that this rises to the emergency status that should necessitate a special session, and could be repealed [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:15pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Cut Registry, Not Carriers

  Number of comments: 0
  If Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen wants to cut something, how about the gun permit registry?:
  
  
  A well-placed source at the State Capitol informed The Examiner over the weekend that as part of his plan to cut the State budget and find additional revenue, Tennessee Governor Phil [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 1:17pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Crown Him With Many Crowns

  Number of comments: 0
  On this feast of Christ the King, we give homage to the Lord with a great hymn commemorating his role as King of the Universe.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 11:30pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Question of the Weekend

  Number of comments: 0
  This week's Nashville court decision about "guns in bars" leads to our question of the weekend for reader response and comment. [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 1:48am EST
  by Dave Oatney

• It Isn't Just Guns In "Bars"

  Number of comments: 1
  The press has never truly understood what 'guns in bars' was really all about:
  
  
  Tennesseans have been left with the impression that this law was about letting people pack heat in Tootsie's. While the legislation certainly allowed for that (provided the owners of Tootie's didn't object), the [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 4:07pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• How Gibbons Helps GOP Gubernatorial Candidates

  Number of comments: 0
  Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons may not win the Republican nomination for Tennessee Governor, but he is keeping the campaign for the GOP nod competitive, instead of allowing one candidate to run away with it:
  
  Despite Zach Wamp wishing that Ron Ramsey would find some reason to [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:31pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• By e Bye State Fair

  Number of comments: 0
  The Tennessee State Fair is no more:
  
  
  So what killed the Tennessee State Fair?
  
  Regionalism is a huge part of the problem, of course. East Tennessee has the Tennessee Valley Fair as its popular regional agricultural exhibition, and people in this area [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:08pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• He's With Stupid

  Number of comments: 0
  Governor Phil Bredesen called this past legislative session's original Republican budget proposal "stupid," yet he is apparently in a dumb-down cycle:
  
  During the last legislative session, the Governor delayed presenting a budget until federal stimulus money arrived. When that money did appear on the scene, it wasn't nearly' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 4:43pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Governor Whatsisname

  Number of comments: 3
  Tennessee Democrats are grasping at straws over their party's nomination for Governor:
  
  
  One has to feel for the Democrats, because they all know that legislative races notwithstanding, unless something changes drastically with the developing political dynamic in Tennessee the Democratic nominee will be beaten. Without some major' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 1:31pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Sovereign King

  Number of comments: 0
  One of my favorite hymns-To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 11:27pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• The Speaker

  Number of comments: 2
  

  There has been much discussion this week about whether or not Speaker Kent Williams should be readmitted to the Republican Party, and the apparent divisions within Republican ranks [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 2:26am EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Corker Out On Williams

  Number of comments: 0
  At a time when other non-legislative officials are jockying to get their licks in about whether or not Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams should be re-enstated to the Republican Party, Bob Corker is staying out of it:
  
  While it is becoming increasingly apparent that there is a developing [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 4:53pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Mumpower Political Suicide?

  Number of comments: 2
  If Jason Mumpower really wants to be Speaker of the House by 2011, he is not off to the best of starts in that regard:
  
  
  For Jason Mumpower to try and get the members of the House Republican Caucus to sign on to a letter "reprimanding" Tennessee [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 4:20pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Why We Are Free

  Number of comments: 0
  On this Veterans Day, don't forget why I am free to be writing to you in this way:
  
  As of yet, I can't be locked away for being openly critical of the President, or of Governor Bredesen, or of our Members of Congress or [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 5:20pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Prodigal Son?

  Number of comments: 0
  Despite what some may say, there is a way for Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams to get back into the Republican Party:
  
  I will doubtless anger some when I say that our doors should never be permanently closed to anyone, including Kent Williams. However, for Williams to be [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 4:12pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Going Where The Votes Are

  Number of comments: 0
  What was a major reason Knoxville Mayor and and gubernatorial candidiate Bill Haslam skipped out on a Knoxville conservative straw poll Thursday night and attended a fundraiser hosted by a Democrat instead?:
  
  Since Tennessee has no party registration and our primaries are essentially open, Haslam may be trying [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 3:43pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Joy of Man's Desiring

  Number of comments: 0
  The Celtic Woman sing a beautiful version of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.
  ' [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 11:19pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Question of the Weekend: A foreshadowing?

  Number of comments: 1
  It has been a good week to be a Republican, and that leads to our question of the weekend.
  
  

  This week's question of the weekend comes after a week of positive off-year election results for Republicans and a major gubernatorial straw poll in Knoxville.

  [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 11:28pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Reagan Day

  Number of comments: 2
  Today I give a personal retrospective of last night's Tennessee Conservative Union Reagan Day Dinner:
  
  
  The conversation was going so well that I didn't notice Rep. Frank Niceley trying to get my attention, but Nicole did. He stayed for a few minutes at our [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:44pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• University Waste

  Number of comments: 0
  The University of Tennessee knows no bounds when it comes to the wasting of our money:
  
  

  In a time of deep recession-some would say (as I have in this space) that we are in a depression, the University of Tennessee has conducted itself as though it is immune [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 1:43pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Carry Me Back...

  Number of comments: 0
  Adam Graham and myself devoted a special podcast to the fallout from the Virginia and New Jersey election results. You can hear that program here. [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 1:41pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• The Election Cycle of Our Discontent

  Number of comments: 2
  Yesterday's races in Virginia and New Jersey revealed that Tennessee Republicans havew a wonderful opportunity in next year's elections-if we can capitalize on it:
  
  Yesterday's gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey were nothing short of a whipping for Democrats,' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 12:51pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Carry Me Back to Old Virginia

  Number of comments: 0
  A special results show discussing the results in the State elections in Virginia and New Jersey and the special Congressional election in New York 23 and the impact of these races on the White House and the national Democratic Party. Also, what this could mean for 2010 elections in Tennessee.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 12:48pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Another Case for Per Diem

  Number of comments: 0
  Today's Examiner column takes a second look at legislative per diem in Tennessee since Knoxville News-Sentinel columnist Tom Humphrey has caused its ugly head to once again be reared:
  
  
  In the very first column that I wrote for The Examiner, I dealt with [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 2:10pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Campaign Finance

  Number of comments: 0
  In today's Examiner column, I explain the need for PACs-or more specifically, personal PACs-and why they help keep the political process in Tennessee open to more of the citizenry who might like to participate:
  
  The reality, of course, is that our present campaign laws, intended to limit the' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 2:42pm EST
  by Dave Oatney

• Feast of All Saints

  Number of comments: 0
  Revelation 7:1-16:
  
  After these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that they should not blow upon the earth, nor upon the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the [...]
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  Posted: November 01, 2009, 10:48pm EST
  by Dave Oatney