Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn at her Town Hall meeting in Clarksville, TN

Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn held a town hall meeting yesterday afternoon with her constituents. During the roughly hour long meeting Blackburn repeatedly expressed her opposition to the Democrats’ health-care reform principles. The meeting was quiet and orderly. Blackburn punctuated her responses using frequent Republican Party talking points, like not allowing bureaucrats to stand between patients and their doctors and hospitals. In all fairness, it must be said that is exactly what Health Insurance companies do on a daily basis. She also expressed her support for leaving the for-profit insurance companies in overall control of the health care system.

Blackburn took questions from the audience on topics ranging from the obvious questions on healthcare reform to lobbying, the growing number of cabinet Czar positions, immigration reform, tort reform, and emergency room misuse. Many members of the audience raised their hands to ask questions, however just a select few were able to ask them. Of those, the majority of those who were allowed to ask questions supported Blackburn positions on healthcare reform, however that could easily be a result of how those questioners were selected.

The Civic Hall was packed for Marsha Blackburn's Town Hall meeting

Blackburn presented some unbelievable numbers, including a claim that 4,000,000 jobs would be lost if H.R. 3200 was made into law. The high cost of healthcare and other benefits are frequently cited as the primary concerns holding businesses back from hiring more employees. She also did not address the ever increasing amount of money made by the C.E.O’s and top executives of the health insurance companies, which is paid for by increasing their customers premiums each year.  (The numbers and C.E.O.’s below are from 2008)

• Aetna – Ron Williams – $24,300,112
• Amerigroup – James Carlson - $5,292,546
• Centene – Michael Neidorff - $8,774,483
• CIGNA – H. Edward Hanway – $12,236,740
• Coventry Health Care – Dale Wolf – $9,047,469
• Health Net – Jay Gellert – $4,425,355
• Humana – Michael McCallister – $4,764,309
• UnitedHealth Group – Stephen Hemsley – $3,241,042
• Universal American – Richard Barasch – $3,503,702
• WellPoint – Angela Braly – $9,844,212

These 9 CEO’s made the as much as 2,521 families living in Clarksville, TN ($33,885 per family). Their salaries ate up the combined yearly premiums of 29,547 Tennesseans (Average per individual $2891.25).

In the end, those who went into yesterday’s town hall meeting opposing healthcare reform still, oppose it. Those who went in supporting it, still support it. There is one point that everyone can agree on, doing nothing is not an option!

Did Pastor Robert Byrd of the Jonesville Church of God step over the line in Jonesville, South Carolina, when he posted the following words outdoors on a church sign for all to see: “Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?” Pastor Byrd maintained it was not intended to be racial or political and claims it was meant to foster thought about having a non-Christian, non-Christ follower, leading the country. Byrd says he doesn’t know if Obama is Muslim or not but wanted to pose the question. Quite frankly, I don’t see what spiritual direction or choice has to do with one’s ability to run the business that is the United States of America. I wasn’t a Romney fan for many reasons, but his Mormon faith was a non-issue. Funny how no one questions religious affiliation to Christian candidates such Mike Huckabee, who is now out of the race too.

Give me a break. It was a cheap shot based on dis-information and a desire to push a congregation of the opinionated and the blind-faith followers to back candidates like Mike Huckabee and others who would push an obvious Christian agenda all the way the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court. Their way or no way.

Now, I don’t care which way Byrd and his congregation vote; it’s their vote and their choices. I don’t care how many people they talk to or what they talk about with each other. I don’t care how a candidates prays. I want to know if can tell the truth, balance a budget, work with diverse people and ideas, have the ability to truly listen to the voting masses, and have — oh no, a dirty word: COMMON SENSE.

But to publicly pose such a BLATANT political-religious question on a church signboard is a clear as crystal violation of the separation of church and state. I was fed up with such church signage against gay marriage, civil unions, and abortion that popped up in recent elections around the country and right here in Tennessee. This just ticks me off. Sends me off the Richter scale. Why? Because this churches and all the others who receive massive tax breaks as non-profit religious entities are promoting their politics on your dollars and mine. This irresponsible and vicious taunt of a viable presidential candidate in 2008 is no different than Catholic churches reading letters from their Diocesan bishops against civil unions and gay marriage legislation (and the candidates supporting it) from the pulpit during Sunday morning Mass (which happened all over Massachusetts several years ago).

We all have opinions as individuals and as a part of the religious structures we support and endorse, but that does not give any of those faith-based structures the right to get into a public political fray. Today, more and more churches and religious-based non-profit organizations [read tax-exempt] are tossing their hat into the ring in an attempt to influence legislators and legislative actions. It has to stop. And since money talks, let’s go for the jugular on this one.

Churches (of all denominations and persuasions): If you want to be a political lobbying organization, file the papers and change your status and tax rates accordingly.

Become a lobbyist or lobbying organization.

Designate yourself as a profit-making center and be free to say whatever you want about anything you want and lobby for it. Pay the same taxes as other businesses and organizations with an agenda.

Otherwise, stick to the spiritual beliefs and moral values your particular faith espouses and leave irresponsible innuendo and public policy in the public arena, not on the church sign on your front lawn.

I am a feminist, and anti-war activist, and environmentalist, and advocate for human rights. I have an arena, a platform, a stage for that. I don’t foist my opinions on you through my church and its property or via my spiritual organizations while claiming tax breaks as a non-profit religious institution. I deeply resent the blatant politicking stamped on the face of non-profit religious groups.

Does anyone out there want to petition for penalties and potential loss of non-profit status for such obvious violations of the separation of Church and State?

TEP is gearing up for its annual “Advancing Equality Day on The Hill” event. The event will start on February 18 at 3:30 PM with a candidate training at the Red Restaurant at the Tribe Bar on Church Street. The candidate training is free and open to the public, and is meant for those who may be interested in or who are already running for state office. After the candidate training there will be a reception in the small room at Tribe starting at 6PM. The event continues the next morning with a breakfast meeting at the Rymer Art Gallery on 6^th Avenue, where the Honorable Sherry Jones will deliver the keynote address. TEP will then relocate outside the office of Mr. Speaker Naifeh’s office while participants head out to meet with their legislators for the day.

Jenny Ford, TEP’s lobbyist has the following recommendations for visiting a state legislator:

1. Make an appointment.
2. Always arrive slightly early.
3. When you go in great the Legislative Assistant. Tell the assistant your name and that you have an appointment. Don’t sit until invited to do so. Remember, the LA is the guardian of the gate. Would you really want to make St. Peter mad at you as you try and enter the pearly gates?
4. Always have your notes and talking points ready in advance. Legislators are happy to meet with constituents, but we don’t pay them enough to listen to incoherent rambling on top.
5. Any time a legislator enters a room, stand up. They are elected officials and should be show the respect of their office.
6. When meeting with the legislator, remember to introduce yourself to them. The LA knows who you are, but chances are your legislator won’t remember you from the cheap coffee they had for breakfast that morning.
7. Make your points, thank them for the meeting, and keep it on topic. It bears repeating.

TEP also has general recommendations for any time you visit the State Capitol, no matter what your reason for visiting. Most of these should be common sense, but experience dictates they’re not, so here goes:

1. Dress appropriately. The State Capitol is a place of business and very important business at that. Leave your purple hair dye and t-shirts at home. By appropriate dress, we mean business casual. Gentlemen, that means a shirt and tie. Ladies, it means something you can wear hose with. A good rule of thumb: would you wear it while asking Bill Gates for a job? If you answered no to that, back to the closet.
2. Have a photo identification with you. This is post 9/11. Security will not let you in if you do not have ID.
3. If you get lost, ask for directions. The legislators, assistants, and state troopers will be more than happy to direct you in the proper direction.

The Tennessee Equality project is a non-profit organization incorporated in the state of Tennessee. It exists to promote equal rights for Tennesseans regardless of sexuality. The views of TEP do not necessarily reflect the views of the author, Clarksville Online or its staff. For more information please visit TEP at their website