Oak Ridge Today

Sen. McNally to discuss recent Supreme Court decisions at AC Tea Party meeting

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Randy McNally

Randy McNally

Tennessee Senator Randy McNally will discuss recent Supreme Court decisions and what they mean for the state during an Anderson County Tea Party meeting on Tuesday, July 14, a press release said.

McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, is also expected to discuss how the Tennessee General Assembly plans to address the decisions, the press release said. Those are among the items McNally is expected to address as he talks about items concerning Anderson County and Eastern Tennessee.

The July 14 meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Clinton Church of God. [Read more…]

Broadcaster Hallerin Hilton Hill to speak to AC Tea Party

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Hallerin Hilton Hill

Hallerin Hilton Hill

Radio broadcaster Hallerin Hilton Hill will be the featured speaker for an Anderson County Tea Party meeting on May 12 in Clinton.

The monthly meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, at the Clinton Church of God.

Hill hosts the weekday “Morning Show” on Knoxville FM radio station News Talk 98.7 WOKI, and he hosts “Anything is Possible” on WBIR-TV on Sundays at noon. [Read more…]

Frank, Gooch talk to Anderson County Tea Party on Tuesday

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Warren L. Gooch

Warren L. Gooch

The next monthly meeting of the Anderson County Tea Party will feature Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, at Clinton Church of God.

Frank and Gooch will discuss their goals for 2015 and the difficulties they see in reaching them, a press release said. [Read more…]

Alexander, Fleischmann finish first in primaries

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Lamar Alexander and Johnny Alley

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, left, a Tennessee Republican, campaigns at Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, one day before he beat Tea Party challenger Joe Carr, a state representative from Middle Tennessee, in the seven-candidate GOP primary. Alexander is pictured above with Anderson County Property Assessor Johnny Alley.

 

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

Ninth District judicial race close; Supreme Court justices retained

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander finished far ahead of a Tea Party challenger in the Republican primary on Thursday, and Representative Chuck Fleischmann narrowly beat Weston Wamp, the son of former Congressman Zach Wamp, in the second battle between the two men.

Alexander’s top opponent in the seven-candidate GOP primary was State Representative Joe Carr of Middle Tennessee. Alexander, who lost in his home district of Blount County, had 329,929 votes, compared to 269,883 for Carr, according to unofficial results posted by the Tennessee Secretary of State.

George Flinn, a Memphis radiologist and radio station owner, finished a distant third, with 34,568 votes.

Alexander, a former Tennessee governor and University of Tennessee president, will face Democrat Gordon Ball in the November 4 general election. [Read more…]

In Oak Ridge, Alexander, Haslam promote GOP accomplishments

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Bill Haslam and Lamar Alexander

Governor Bill Haslam, left, and Senator Lamar Alexander touted the accomplishments of Republicans in Congress and Tennessee during a campaign stop at Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, one day before Thursday’s state and federal primary elections.

 

Governor Bill Haslam and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander campaigned in Oak Ridge on Wednesday as the two-term senator fought to prevail in the federal Republican primary in Tennessee on Thursday. The duo also promoted GOP accomplishments, both in Congress and in Tennessee.

Alexander is facing off against seven candidates for one of the state’s two U.S. Senate seats. Most of the attention has been focused on the race between Alexander and state Representative Joe Carr, a Republican Tea Party challenger from Lascassas in Rutherford County.

Alexander, who is also a former Tennessee governor, didn’t mention Carr by name during a stop at Dean’s Restaurant and Bakery in Oak Ridge on Wednesday.

Instead, he focused on accomplishments such as his vote to end “perpetual amnesty,” his “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, and the possibility that Republicans could gain a majority in the U.S. Senate. He also made some promises if Democrats lose control of the Senate.

“We’ll get rid of Harry Reid’s agenda,” said Alexander, referring to the current Senate majority leader, a Democrat. “We’ll get rid of ‘Obamacare.’” [Read more…]

Fleischmann touts record, Appropriations seat; Wamp willing to work across aisle

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U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann

Chuck Fleischmann

They’ve battled over negative ads, political endorsements, special interest money, and the Affordable Care Act.

U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, the two-term incumbent, touts his seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and, important to Oak Ridge, the Energy and Water Subcommittee.

Meanwhile, Weston Wamp, his challenger, has suggested a willingness to work across party lines to “move the country forward.”

The two men face off in a in two-man battle in the Republican primary on Thursday. It’s in part a rematch of the three-man GOP primary in Tennessee’s Third District in 2012, when Wamp and Scotty Mayfield lost to Fleischmann. [Read more…]

Guest column: Burying mistakes

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John Ragan

John Ragan

Our founders boldly asserted in the Declaration of Independence that our nation should exist because the “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” entitle it to exist. They further held the God who authored these natural laws endowed everyone with certain, self-evident rights.

By these concepts, every individual has the same God-given equality before the law. There can be none with special, legal “privileges” such as royalty or aristocracy. Likewise, there can be no serfs inherently lacking certain rights.

An even more radical concept in that document is that government exists to protect these God-given rights. Furthermore, our nation’s founding document maintains that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, thus are accountable to them.

In other words, our founders insisted that government must answer to its citizens, not the other way around. However, events recently in the popular press have called this concept into question. [Read more…]