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President Hall took the time to personally communicate both the increase and his plan for making up the remaining budget shortfall to all of APSU’s students. In his plan, the budget for instruction is to be held sacred and remain untouched. Similarly, the President hopes to avoid cutting any teaching positions, filled or vacant (for the purposes of the budget, money is allocated as if these positions will be filled), another erstwhile goal. Unfortunately, this leaves two areas that will receive big cuts, maintenance and operations, two areas in which Austin Peay has already been struggling in recent years to meet needs. Announcements of various service interruptions in things such as water, electricity, or heat and air due to failure of campus infrastructure are common enough that students expect those emails.

However, President Hall isn’t at fault here. As much as he can do, he does not have control over how the Tennessee Legislature appropriates funding, and he is simply doing the best he can to compensate for their bad decision making. The figures on pork spending for this session aren’t in yet, but looking at last year’s expenditures reveals more than 260 million dollars in spending that is questionable at best, and an amount that is more than enough to cover the shortfalls in essential budgetary items.

Top on the list is Boll Weevil eradication, yes, you heard right. Fiscal year 2007-2008 (that’s last year) featured 6.5 million dollars to combat the little buggers. Yes, they don’t do very much for cotton crops, but according to most estimates there are less than 9,000 of the quarter inch long insects alive in the state in total, meaning taxpayers are spending $730 dollars per insect to attempt to kill them. The kicker, the Boll Weevil population has been stable for roughly a decade. Fortunately, its biggest proponent, Senator Wilder (who coincidentally was president of the Tennessee Cotton Ginner Association in the past and still owns Longtown Gin and Supply Co.) has gone the way of the dodo in the Senate. Hopefully this abysmal waste of resources goes with him.

Next up, 70 million dollars over five years (12.2 million dollars per year) to pay farmers to grow switch grass (a type of prairie grass that most farmers would call a weed) instead of corn to produce ethanol. Before the environmentalist nut-jobs start pointing out this is investing in alternative energy, let’s take a look at something. Ethanol is NOT, I’ll repeat NOT, a viable alternative to gasoline. For starters, ethanol is more expensive to make than gasoline, period, end of story, not changing in the near future, which means it WILL cost more per gallon that gasoline. Second, ethanol contains approximately 30% less energy than gasoline per unit volume. This translates to the Ford Focus at 29 miles to a gallon on gasoline achieving only 20 miles per gallon on ethanol, meaning you have to buy and burn more ethanol to go the same distance. That leads to point number 3, biofuels made from Switch grass grown on land intended for corn production (a staple crop in Tennessee by the way, and a highly profitable one) leads to a 50% increase in carbon emissions as compared to growing the corn and using the gasoline instead. Point 4, this also makes no economic sense. According to the United Nations there is a global shortage of staple food grains including corn. So, instead of growing corn, which could be sold on the world market to help such a shortage, Tennessee wants its farmers to cease corn production (exacerbating the shortage) and grow economically unviable (if it was profitable on its own, why would we pay them?) switch grass. Axing this alone would cover almost the entire budget cut that the TBR system raised tuition to cover.

Corruption also rears its ugly head in Tennessee, at least last year. Rep. Janis Sontany (D-Nashville), put in for $52,000 in earmarks to various organizations, she sits on the board for all of them. She also sent $10,000 to Seth Norman’s drug court. He provided her with generous campaign donations. Rep. Mary Pruitt (D-Nashville) set aside $55,000 for a group she helped found, plus she’s an ex-officio board member. Rep. Barbara Cooper asked for $61,000 for organizations that her own campaign claims she is a key member of.Rep. Joe Towns (D-Memphis) pushed for $10,000 for his college fraternity (which is even more suspect and worthless than the previous examples). This doesn’t even begin to include kickbacks given because of friendship or political contributions.

Speaking of corruption, how about how legislators have been using their general office funds (taxpayer funded general fund that is meant to cover things like paper, printer cartridges, schoolhouse flags, etc) to pay for their campaigns. Again, Rep. Towns takes the cake for the most egregious offender, spending $2,251 to send out campaign newsletters. At least four other legislators have done so. Legislators are also very fond of abusing their Per Diem allowances. House Speaker Pro-Tempore Lois DeBerry (D-Memphis), Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville), and the Mister Speaker Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington) all billed the state for more than $30,000 in Per Diem. All three of them billed the state for a trip to China. Speaker Pro-Temp DeBerry billed the state a total of $31,967 with 14 out of state trips. That is, she billed the state for her full allowance for 199 days. That’s far longer than the legislature is supposed to be in session, by about 109 days, actually. Just what were the taxpayers funding on those extra days exactly? Sen. Doug Jackson (D-Dickson) and Rep. Towns both claimed more than $25,000 is Per Diem. In total 22 legislators claimed more in Per Diem than their $18,123 base salary (Speaker Naifeh has a base salary of 3 times that, by the way and he was still in the top 3 for Per Diem billing). Speaking of outrageous though, how about Reps. Sherry Jones and Brenda Gilmore (both D-Nashville) who live less than 10 miles from their offices at legislative plaza and still claimed better than $22,000 in Per Diem allowances. These ladies sleep in their own homes every night, so how they managed to spend $22,000 on room and board traveling to Nashville will forever remain a mystery.

Also, cronyism is alive and well in Bredesen’s administration. State employees received a 3% raise last year; Bredesen’s cabinet received raises that averaged 23%, for not doing their jobs. DCS failed to investigate child deaths in a timely manner, then failed and refused to share the findings with prosecutors and judges. The commissioner received a 63% pay raise. Economic Development failed to collect final reports on over $865,000 worth of grants. Are we rewarding good service, or handing out bones here?

On loose ends in parks and recreation, the state lost over 1.4 million dollars on golf courses, $500,000 on a feasibility study of making a “fishing trail” and “stocking it with fish.” Grant, on a technicality, most parks cost the state money for no profit, but the golf courses charge for use and are supposed to be self sustaining. Only two of the fourteen courses were self sustaining, the two located in urban areas. The other 12 scattered across rural Tennessee in such odd places and Chester County lost money at insane rates. As for the fishing trail idea, the feasibility study is half a million, wagers are open for how much the actual project, the environmental impact studies, continual stocking expenses, etc will cost the state, for no apparent reason.

Another odd project is the resurrection of the Tennessee River ferry between Houston and Benton counties. It cost the state 1.2 million dollars to put the service in operation again, and costs approximately $1,380 per day to operate. Twenty-three people per day pay $.87 to make use of it, meaning the taxpayers are subsidizing 98% of each passenger’s fare (if one were to charge those 23 people the $59 and change their tickets would need to cost to equal the cost of running the service) for something that 99.99… of the people in this state will never hear of, much less use.

This brief rundown cannot even begin to account for every piece of unneeded spending in Tennessee. The lavish and decadent spending at the Governor’s mansion remains, the so-called obligatory spending on the abysmal socialist failure that is TennCare remains unchecked, and there is still no guarantee that money legitimately and wisely appropriated to different agencies was spent wisely or well, or will be in the coming fiscal year. Perhaps instead of asking for hard decisions on spending cuts, Governor Bredesen and the General Assembly should look to remove some of these outrageous and unneeded items of spending first that no one will notice or miss.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The story of what happens to everyday Americans when corporations go to war.  Acclaimed director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed, and Uncovered) takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so.

This film was funded by people like you, and me.

Brave New Films are both funded and distributed completely outside corporate America. Over 3000 people donated to make Iraq for Sale, and it is up to you to distribute it. Give copies to co-workers and organize a screening in your neighborhood. Get involved

President Eisenhower said it best:

A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction.

Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or indeed by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Akin to, and largely responsible for the sweeping changes in our industrial-military posture, has been the technological revolution during recent decades.

In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government.

Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.

The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present

• and is gravely to be regarded.

Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.

It is the task of statesmanship to mold, to balance, and to integrate these and other forces, new and old, within the principles of our democratic system — ever aiming toward the supreme goals of our free society.

It’s past time to look at the contracting processes for both the Iraq war and the Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts. There has been rampant abuse, which has been left unchecked for far too long. The cronyism was sickening.

It’s time to re-evaluate the use of private companies like Bechtel, Haliburton, KBR, and others, to provide vital services to our nations military. While the common wisdom says that private companies can do it cheaper and faster, the Bush Administration’s experiment has proven this a failure, and prone to abuse.

Its way past time to find out where the billions of dollars of taxpayer money that disappeared in Iraq has gone. We need a strong and independent auditor to look into the entire mess over there.

It’s time to find out the true extent of the Administration’s spying on Americans. I would bet that there are other more serious violations of the constitutional rights of Americans going on which are still secret. Like the Total Information Awareness program, which is likely still around despite the termination of it’s funding by Congress.

Lets clarify the limits of executive powers and put an end to Presidential signing statements forever.

It’s time to look at revoking the current authorization for the use of military force, which has been severely misused, and replace it with a more limited, but better targeted authorization.

It’s time to do something about the corporate media and the consolidation of media ownership in the United States. Let’s break up and diversify the media again. Lets bring back the fairness doctrine, equal time, and establish a requirement for the media to report the news accurately and fairly, without the spin that currently goes on.

You have already discussed raising the minimum wage so I will not go into that one. I would like to see a yearly minimum wage increase which is automatically given, unless it’s voted down by Congress. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Let’s limit congressional pay raises to increases in the minimum wage.

Lets find a way to discourage companies from moving jobs off shore. I suggest requiring any company which does business in America to operate all their facilities under American laws even when they are located in other countries except in cases where the local laws of exceed the requirements of American law then their local laws would take precedence. That means at a minimum fair wages, benefits, safety standards, labor practices, and oversight.

Lets actually get in New Orleans and help those who are still displaced to return home. Lets unlock the public housing projects that have been closed by the city even though they were not damaged in the flooding which hit the city.

Let’s bring back some reality in copyright law. It’s easier today to get a return from copyrights than it was back in the 1700’s. Then it might have taken months just for shipping. Today we can ship anywhere in the world in a few days. So lets return to a 14 year copyright term after which I would recommend allowing companies to keep extending the copyright by paying a minimal yearly fee up to the current maximum term. If the fee isn’t paid then the work returns to the public domain. This would free up tens of thousands of orphaned works.

Oh, I could keep going for a month but you have enough to chew on for now. Prove yourself to us Democrats, especially if you want America to support a Democrat for president in 2008.

The State of Tennessee has sued to remove Danny J. Crosby as the Mayor of Coopertown, Tennessee.

Many Clarksville, Tennessee residents have learned the hard way about this sleepy little town of 3,176 residents. The town operates several infamous speed traps on Interstate 24, U.S. 431, and State highway 49. The city’s police budget has nearly tripled, from $155,880 during the last year to $451,550 this fiscal year. The town budget plans on between $400,000 and $800,000 in traffic court revenues, comprising over one third of the city budget. This percentage is much higher than that of many larger U.S. cities.

Mayor Crosby is accused of misusing the city’s power, disgracing the office of the mayor, and multiple violations of the public trust including:

• Running a speed trap
• Ordering police to profile out of town residents, Hispanics, and US Military Personnel from Fort Campbell who would be less likely to contest the tickets
• Racism and fostering an atmosphere of racial intolerance
• Violating the civil rights of state residents
• Planting false evidence
• Ordering unlawful arrests of his political enemies
• Violating the state open-meeting laws
• Violating child labor laws
• Threatening and intimidating local citizens

Coopertown is located 25 miles north of Nashville and 20 miles south of Clarksville on Interstate 24 in Robertson County Tennessee. Coopertown encompasses nearly 25 square miles.The City of Coopertown has no property tax. Local services are paid for by funds raised from sales taxes and traffic fines. The city offers 24 hour a day police protection, road maintenance, and building and codes enforcement. Fire service is contracted out to Pleasant View Volunteer Fire Department.

In January 2006 the Coopertown PD had 11 full time and one part time officer. They have eight police vehicles assigned to the department. It was also stated that they patrol I-24 4 miles on the east bound lanes, and one mile westbound.

Tennessee State Representatives have acknowledged that speed traps are a serious problem in Tennessee. Legislation has been proposed, which would require that safety be the only reason for reducing speed limits, prohibit towns from annexing land to gain jurisdiction over interstate highways, and ban local law enforcement officers from from policing the interstates. They understand that police speed traps damage the image of Tennessee held by tourists, and annoy commuters.