“How is rejecting $1 BILLION/year in Medicaid Expansion funds helping TN’s rural communities?”
TN is #1 in MEDICAL BANKRUPTCIES & HOSPITAL CLOSURES. Maternal mortality of a 3rd world country.
Gov. Lee says a BLOCK GRANT means MORE?, but facts disagree.
WATCH Holler co-founders Holly McCall & Justin Kanew – and Howard Garrett – speak out against a Franklin ordinance that seeks to regulate citizens’ First Amendment right to peaceable assembly.
NEW: Rep. Rick Tillis (R-Lewisburg) “doesn’t necessarily agree” with GOP house caucus leader Jeremy Faison’s call to remove the KKK Grand Wizard bust from the Capitol.
Tillis worries about “whitewashing” history, wonders where the line would be.
All reps should be asked about this. Contact THE STATE CAPITOL COMMISSION to ask them to move the bust.
Below is our interview with Tammy Hatcher, who runs Maury County’s Confederate Christmas Ball, which Natalie Allison of The Tennessean tweeted about earlier today:
Very normal holiday festivity, because nothing screams Christmas like the Confederacy https://t.co/nhznCnIlVW pic.twitter.com/DxT15bWGoT
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) December 6, 2019
It turns out it is in fact a real thing, taking place tomorrow night in Columbia.
“Step back in time and fill your dance card as you swirl the floor to authentic Reels, Promenades and Waltzes popular during the 1860s. On site dance instruction provided by dance master Mark Orman, period music provided by the 52 Tennessee Band. Light refreshments will be served.
Period dress is a must for participants and optional for spectators. Tickets go on sale October 1st. 2019.
Advanced tickets 30.00 and 35.00 at the door. Spectator tickets (non period dress) 25.00. For tickets and costume rental contact Tammy Hatcher at 931-698-3876 mailing address 4595 Old Sowell Mill Pike Columbia Tennessee 38401.”
We went ahead and called Tammy Hatcher. Here’s what she had to say.
HOLLER: How long has the Confederate Ball been running?
TAMMY: This is our 23rd year.
HOLLER: And how many people generally attend?
TAMMY: Anywhere from 150… I have had 200.
HOLLER: And what kind of events happen there? What is the program?
TAMMY: It’s basically a historic dance. We have a band that plays period music of the time and we dance. We just dance and have a good time. We do serve finger foods. That’s basically what we do.
HOLLER: What’s your background? Are you born and raised in Tennessee?
TAMMY: I am, yes. Born and raised in Columbia. I’ve always been into history.
HOLLER: And how do people dress at the Ball?
TAMMY: They dress in 1860’s period clothes. Spectators are welcome also. They cannot dance. We reserve the dance for period costumed participants.
HOLLER: Is there an acknowledgment of the racial aspect of it?
TAMMY: No. I have black folks that come. It’s not racially divided in any way. And no – we don’t do speeches, we don’t talk about anything, we dance. That’s all we do.
Tammy then asked about the Tennessee Holler.
TAMMY: Do y’all take… I don’t know how to say this without sounding ugly – there are a lot of people who don’t like people that do what we do. Are y’all on board with that train?
HOLLER: What train is that?
TAMMY: The one that’s trying to cover up our history, tear down our monuments… a lot of people like to advocate for certain kinds of things, and I don’t have any tolerance for those kinds of people. I don’t oppose to anybody knowing what we do. We’ve done it for years. We get together, we dance, and we have a good time. It’s not political. It’s not racial. It’s not anybody trying to segregate or… you know, be ugly to any one group of people.
HOLLER: Seems like what they would say probably is if it’s a celebration of the Confederacy that tends to rub people the wrong way.
TAMMY: It is a celebration of our history. We dance, and we have a good time. That is all we do. It is a Christmas celebration. We just picked the year 1860… but just because I have the word “confederate” in it, I don’t want anybody trying to stir up shit. Because the word “confederate” should not offend anybody. And it does offend a lot of people. But it shouldn’t. It’s ridiculous.
HOLLER: But sometimes the person who gets offended can’t control what offends them, right?
TAMMY: Well that’s true. And that’s what’s wrong with our society today. People can’t seem to control themselves. Just because they’re offended they think everybody else should be offended, and everything should be changed because they’re offended. People need to get over being offended. My goodness. I’ve lived 60 years and I can’t tell you the things that offend me and have offended me during my life – but I don’t try to change people because I’m offended… anybody that wants to come, we are a family-friendly event. We have young people come. Up from children to 15-16 year-old teenagers. No alcohol. Very hospitable. Nothing for anybody to be offended by in my opinion.
Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron and his family have been buried by scandal after scandal lately.
Watch him lash out (BELOW) at County Commissioner Robert Stevens who made a motion to ask Ketron to step aside.
Stevens has suggested starting an ouster suit. 10 citizens are needed. Rutherford county citizens should contact their county commissioners and support a leave of absence for the mayor. Contact info here.
Recently we learned a $4 MILLION line item found its way into the budget, seemingly intended for grant projects in rural communities to grease the skids for Governor Lee’s public school-harming vouchers, which would steer public money to private schools.
The legislation may have been the brainchild of Speaker Glen Casada, who has since stepped down in disgrace, but it clearly also has the fingerprints of Governor Lee and his Finance Dept. chief Stuart Mcwhorter all over it.
There have been reports that 60 specific projects were promised to rural legislators to get their votes for the bill, which barely passed the house, but Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe says he has seen no such list, and points the finger SQUARELY at Lee and Mcwhorter.
WATCH BELOW as Rolfe says “WE DID NOT PROPOSE THAT”, distancing himself from the money at the budget hearing last week. (Rep. Martin Daniel has said there will be no investigation into this. Shocker!)
Watch TN’s Dept. of Ag Commissioner Dr. Charlie Hatcher tell the truth about Trump’s Trade War decimating TN’s farmers.
TN has been the hardest hit state by the Trade War by far.
Eagle-eyed Nashvillians, including Tennessean reporter Natalie Allison, have spotted Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney and consigliere to President Trump and chief Ukrainian arm twister, in Nashville. We’re pretty confident he ain’t here for the hot chicken.
Rumors have swirled: Is he here for visits with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, another notorious Trump defender and smearer of actual patriots?
Allison reported Monday that Giuliani denied being in Tennessee to see local lawyer Jay Sekulow, another Trump attorney.
But, a local attorney well connected in government circles and a reliable Holler source has proposed a theory.
As first reported by Reuters Monday, federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records belonging to Giuliani and his consulting firm. The subpoena doesn’t accuse Giuliani of wrongdoing but does specify the work is part of an investigation of money laundering, wire fraud, campaign finance violations, obstruction of justice, making false statements, and and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). As a result, it would have been far better to contact a professional forensic accountant who might be familiar with the basic legal framework for fraud investigations. Anyway, looking at these reports, it would be natural for anyone to assume that he is in the city to meet a criminal defense attorney (if interested, you might want to visit for more information). Nonetheless, this visit could surely do Giuliani a world of good right about now).
Which brings us to our theory: Richard W. Westling, an attorney in Epstein Becker & Green’s Nashville and Washington, DC offices, was added as an integral part of Trump associate Paul Manafort’s defense team in 2018. Prior to that, Westling, who counts both tax law and — Shock! Government and internal investigations — among his expertise, was on the defense team for U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous. Porteous, of Louisiana, was impeached and removed from the bench for perjury in signing false financial disclosure forms under oath.
Westling’s bio on Epstein’s website says: “Clients call upon Mr. Westling when facing complex compliance challenges, government investigations, high-profile enforcement actions, or the prospect of severe criminal, civil, or administrative actions.” (Boldface is ours.)
We left a message with Westling’s office to ask if he’s representing Giuliani, but at publication time, had not heard back.
State Senator Raumesh Akbari talks about why Governor Lee’s public school-harming vouchers shouldn’t be rushed, and why Tennessee needs to expand Medicaid.
Listen to the PODCAST HERE.
FULL INTERVIEW:
CLIP: State Sen. Akbari on $1 BILLION In Unspent Aid: “FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD”
Watch Republican Rep. Ryan Williams tell TennCare officials Tennessee is “like a third world country” when it comes to maternal mortality, thereby making a great case for MEDICAID EXPANSION, which his own party continues to block.
TN is #1 in Medical Bankruptcies and rural hospital closures per capita as a result.