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Dr. Carol Swain

This Monday, April 8, 2013 at 8:00 PM, Sean Hannity will host a studio audience of nationally known black conservatives as he focuses on the vicious attacks being levied against black conservatives, such as Dr. Ben Carson.  Dr. Carol Swain, Professor of Political Science and Law at Vanderbilt University and conservative talk show host of “Be The People” will be a guest on the show.

We encourage you to tune in to this special program and hear one of our own Nashville voices address these issues before a national audience.

Dr. Swain’s conservative talk show, “Be The People” airs on Nashville’s Channel 4 at 11:30 PM on Sunday nights.

She recently published her latest book, Be the People. “Be the People is a courageous analysis of today’s most pressing issues, exposing the deceptions by the cultural elite and urging ‘We the People’ to restore America’s faith and values.”—Sean Hannity

Dr. Swain will also be our guest speaker at the next Wilson County Tea Party meeting on April 22 at 7:00 P.M. in the School House building at the Ward Agricultural Center in Lebanon.  Please plan to join us and don’t forget to tune in to Hannity on Monday night at 8:00 PM central time.

 (LEBANON, TN) – After much debate and input from constituents, State Representative Mark Pody (R- Lebanon) has taken HB­­1150 off notice in the House.  The intent of this legislation was to protect students against discrimination on the basis of religion.  Private institutions enjoy special privileges granted to them by the state.  Some receive millions of taxpayer dollars and they have been granted full police powers from the State of Tennessee. This would seem to make them state actors rather than merely private institutions.  With these state granted privileges should come a higher level of accountability and scrutiny. Based on the evidence, Rep Pody believes Vanderbilt University’s “all-comers policy” is a violation  of the Tennessee Constitution, Article 1 section 3 concerning religious freedom.

 Rep. Pody has been working diligently on this bill to ensure that it does not exceed the State’s authority.  He has consulted with many people, including Speaker Beth Harwell, who have pointed out potential issues with this legislation in its current form. This resulted in a consultation with the State’s Attorney General.

 The purpose of the bill was never to undermine Vanderbilt’s police force. The purpose was to ensure that institutions that discriminated against students and employees would not have special police powers.  The University would have a choice of ending its discrimination or see its police force’s authority returned to what most other private universities have been granted.  Nothing in this legislation was directed at the quality or professionalism of the Vanderbilt police force.

 Private Universities cannot operate without some oversight from the State Government.    Rep Mark Pody has plainly stated, “I want to be sure to stand up for our students’ religious rights without overstepping our state authority. At this point, I am still not satisfied with the “all-comers policy” at some private institutions.  However, it needs to be addressed in a different way. I am taking this bill off notice until a more appropriate solution can be found.”

 Students at the University should pursue multiple forms of redress.  A judicial option is certainly one of these.  The Legislature will continue to seek a resolution that will protect students from religious discrimination.  It should be treated just as diligently as racial and ethnic discrimination.

Please call my office if you would like to discuss at 615-741-7086

You can register your phone numbers for free, and they will remain on the list until you remove them or discontinue service.  The Do-Not-Call Registry does not prevent all unwanted calls, including calls from organizations with which you have established a business relationship or you have given prior written permission, plus calls that are not commercial.

How to Register:  Online and for additional information, go to donotcall.gov. To register by phone, call 888-382-1222; for TTY, call 866-290-4236.  You must call from the phone number you wish to register.

How to file a Complaint:  call 888-CALL.FCC (888-225-5322) voice or 888-TELL-FCC (866-418-0232) via an electronic complaint form at donotcall.gov, or my mail.  To process your complaint, you must either fill in the electronic form or otherwise indicate:  Your name and address and the home phone number where you received the solicitation; ID of the company whose products or services were being advertised or sold and phone numbers; any phone number provided to allow you to “opt-out” of future calls; whether you gave the caller express prior permission and whether you have any established business relationship with the caller.

If mailing a complaint, send to FCC, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division, 445 12th Street., SW, Washington, DC 20554.

For more information about protecting seniors from scammers, contact your local Home Instead Senior Care office or visit ProtectSeniorsFromFraud.com or NationalTriad.org.

Decision on Affordable Care Act made after thoughtful consideration

 NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced Monday the state will not operate a state-based healthcare exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act. Haslam made the following statement on the issue:

 “Tennessee faces a decision this week about health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.
“I’m not a fan of the law.  The more I know, the more harmful I think it will be for small businesses and costly for state governments and the federal government.  It does nothing to address the cost of health care in our country.  It only expands a broken system.  That’s why I’ve opposed it from the beginning and had hoped we would be successful in court and at the ballot box this year.“Now we’re faced with the fact that the law remains, and it requires every state to participate in an insurance exchange. Our decision is whether the state or federal government should run it, and the deadline for that decision is Friday.
“I’ve said that I think Tennessee could run a state exchange cheaper and better, and my natural inclination is to keep the federal government out of our business as much as possible.  What our administration has been working to understand is whether we’d have the flexibility for it to be a true state-based exchange, how the data exchange would work, and if it would work.  “Since the presidential election, we’ve received 800-plus pages of draft rules from the federal government, some of which actually limit state decisions about running an exchange more than we expected.
“The Obama administration has set an aggressive timeline to implement exchanges, while there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the process will actually work.  What has concerned me more and more is that they seem to be making this up as they go.“In weighing all of the information we currently have, I informed the federal government today that Tennessee will not run a state-based exchange.  If conditions warrant in the future and it makes sense at a later date for Tennessee to run the exchange, we would consider that as an option at the appropriate time.“This decision comes after months of consideration and analysis.  It is a business decision based on what is best for Tennesseans with the information we have now that we’ve pressed hard to receive from Washington.  If this were a political decision, it would’ve been easy, and I would’ve made it a long time ago. “I believe my job is to get to the right answer.  That’s what Tennesseans expect of me and elected me to do.”
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Monday, December 10, 2012    

CONTACT: David Smith

OFFICE: (615) 741-3763

HASLAM ANNOUNCES STATE WILL NOT RUN HEALTHCARE EXCHANGE

Decision on Affordable Care Act made after thoughtful consideration

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced Monday the state will not operate a state-based healthcare exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act. Haslam made the following statement on the issue:

“Tennessee faces a decision this week about health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.

“I’m not a fan of the law.  The more I know, the more harmful I think it will be for small businesses and costly for state governments and the federal government.  It does nothing to address the cost of health care in our country.  It only expands a broken system.  That’s why I’ve opposed it from the beginning and had hoped we would be successful in court and at the ballot box this year.

“Now we’re faced with the fact that the law remains, and it requires every state to participate in an insurance exchange. Our decision is whether the state or federal government should run it, and the deadline for that decision is Friday.

“I’ve said that I think Tennessee could run a state exchange cheaper and better, and my natural inclination is to keep the federal government out of our business as much as possible.  What our administration has been working to understand is whether we’d have the flexibility for it to be a true state-based exchange, how the data exchange would work, and if it would work.  

“Since the presidential election, we’ve received 800-plus pages of draft rules from the federal government, some of which actually limit state decisions about running an exchange more than we expected.

“The Obama administration has set an aggressive timeline to implement exchanges, while there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the process will actually work.  What has concerned me more and more is that they seem to be making this up as they go.

“In weighing all of the information we currently have, I informed the federal government today that Tennessee will not run a state-based exchange.  If conditions warrant in the future and it makes sense at a later date for Tennessee to run the exchange, we would consider that as an option at the appropriate time.

“This decision comes after months of consideration and analysis.  It is a business decision based on what is best for Tennesseans with the information we have now that we’ve pressed hard to receive from Washington.  If this were a political decision, it would’ve been easy, and I would’ve made it a long time ago.
“I believe my job is to get to the right answer.  That’s what Tennesseans expect of me and elected me to do.”
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