CAPITOL VIEW
By Pat Nolan, NEWSCHANNEL5 Political Analyst
October 6, 2023
JUST WHEN IT APPEARED CONGRESS COULDN’T GET ANY MORE CHAOTIC, IT IS, WITH MORE TO COME? IN ITS FINAL DAYS, THE FRANKLIN MAYOR’S RACE IS GETTING DOWNRIGHT SCARY AND DISTURBING; FORMER NASHVILLE MAYOR JOHN COOPER GIVES AN EXIT INTERVEW ON INSIDE POLITICS; NEXT WEEK; THE STATE OF TENNESSEE FACES MORE LEGAL CHALLENGES; THE 2024 TENNESSEE U.S. SENATE RACE ALREADY HAS BIG DOLLARS TO SPEND; THE NEW METRO COUNCIL BEGINS ITS TERM; THE ECONOMY CONTINUES TO DEFY PREDICTIONS: NASHVILLE IS NOW A BOARD GAME
JUST WHEN IT APPEARED CONGRESS COULDN’T GET ANY MORE CHAOTIC, IT IS, WITH MORE TO COME?
Last Friday (September 29) with the Republican Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives unable to agree on the spending bills necessary to fund the federal government, a shutdown appeared all but certain.
But then Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy crossed a political “Rubicon” and cut a deal with Democrats to keep the government funded for another 45 days.
That development relieved most of the country, but it enraged right wing Republicans in the GOP House Caucus. Led by Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. He filed a motion to oust Speaker McCarthy and vacate the office of Speaker. Such an effort had never worked before, but on Tuesday, by a vote of 216-210, it did! The yes votes included Rep. Gaetz, Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett, 6 other Republicans and all the House Democrats.
This vote again throws the House into chaos, facing its second search to fill the Speaker position this year.
In many ways, the demise of Speaker McCarthy was all but inevitable, given the way he was elected in January after 15 ballots, and after making numerous deals and concessions to right wing members to get their support. It left him with only a 4 -vote majority, meaning it really didn’t take much to oust him.
Despite its unprecedented nature, McCarthy’s departure marks the third straight Republican Speaker of the House (Kevin McCarthy, John Boehner and Paul Ryan) who either resigned, gave up or were fired because they couldn’t control the conservative members of the GOP House Caucus.
The House can’t conduct any votes or other regular business until they elect a new Speaker. The members went home Tuesday night and won’t be back until next Tuesday. That means the earliest a vote can be taken to pick a new Speaker is next Wednesday. By then the deadline to pass the needed legislation to keep the government open will be well below 40 days, with the actual new shutdown date being November 17. It is looking likely again that a government shutdown is going to happen.
And who are those being mentioned to be the next Speaker? There are several members of the current House Republican leadership and (again) Donald Trump!
As for Trump, it appears he is not eligible to serve because of one of the rules adopted by the GOP House Caucus back in January. But Trump did say he plans to come to D.C. next week. The former President spent most of this week in a New York courtroom where his company is facing a $250 million fraud civil lawsuit. After the judge in the case slapped a gag order that prohibits anyone from criticizing anyone on his staff, which Trump had done on line, while he also continues to lambast the judge. Now Trump is complaining he’s spending too much time off the campaign trial (duh!) and he is looking to appeal before a final penalty is determined. The judge has already found him guilty of fraud in valuing his business interests.
Back in Washington, by the end of the week, it appears the two front runners to be Speaker are Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan. Here’s an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses and the possibility that a deal might be cut. Late Thursday, Donald Trump endorsed Jordan.
The problems from the McCarthy demise just don’t impact the House. The Senate can still pass bills, but without approval of the House, no legislation can get final approval. That particularly concerns Senate Republicans, concerned their party will get the blame.
The White House has issues too. In particular, additional aid to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion, was not included in the 45-day budget extension. Officials of the Biden administration are remaining hopeful more funds will be approved soon. But if the search for a new Speaker bogs down and approval of more funds remains uncertain, there is sure to be growing anxiety in Ukraine and among our European allies as this disruption could be a major plus for Russia and its dictator Vladmir Putin.
IN ITS FINAL DAYS, THE FRANKLIN MAYOR’S RACE IS GETTING DOWNRIGHT SCARY AND DISTURBING
With early voting well underway, the contest for mayor of Franklin, keeps getting more strange and now downright scary and disturbing.
Mayoral challenger and Alderman Gabrielle Hanson now appears to be using a self-proclaimed white supremacist Neo-Nazi group as security for her campaign.
But on Wednesday the situation got even stranger with Hanson denying she is employing or has any ties to white supremacist groups, even though there are video and social media posts that indicate otherwise. Meanwhile the white supremacist group is claiming Hanson’s opponent of having ties to Antifa.
And if all this isn’t enough, NEWSCHANNEL5’s Chief Investigative reporter Phil Williams has found another Franklin candidate, this one running for Alderman, who seems to have major resume issues.
Election Day in Franklin (perhaps mercifully) is October 24.
FORMER NASHVILLE MAYOR JOHN COOPER GIVES AN EXIT INTERVIEW ON INSIDE POLITICS
We have a very special and somewhat uniquely-timed guest on INSIDE POLITICS this week.
He is former Nashville Mayor John Cooper who just left office late last month on September 25.
We appreciate Mayor Cooper joining us for this slightly belated exit interview.
We look back on his four years in office where he faced a number of unprecedented challenges.
But he believes he handled them and leave accomplishments for future mayors to build on.
We also talk about his post-office plans which include taking up painting after an 8-year hiatus.
Tune in to watch our discussion!
Our conversation will air on the regular weekend schedule for INSIDE POLITICS on NEWSCHANNEL PLUS.
Those times include:
7:00 p.m. Friday.
5:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
1:30 a.m. & 5:00 a.m. on Sunday.
THE PLUS is on Comcast Cable channel 250, Charter Cable channel 182 and on NEWSCHANNEL5’s over-the-air digital channel 5.2. We are also on DISH TV with the rest of the NEWSCHANNEL5 NETWORK.
One option for those who cannot see the show locally, or who are out of town, you can watch it live with streaming video on NEWSCHANNEL5.com. Just use your TiVo or DVR, if those live times don't work for you.
This week’s show and previous INSIDE POLITICS interviews are also posted on the NEWSCHANNEL5 website for your viewing under the NEWSCHANNEL5 PLUS section. A link to the show is posted as well on the Facebook page of NEWSCHANNEL5 PLUS. Each new show and link are posted early in the week after the program airs. I am also posting a link to the show each week on my Facebook page.
NEXT WEEK
There will not be a Capitol View column produced next week.
I am taking some fall break time off with my grandchildren.
Look for the next Capitol View on Friday October 20.
INSIDE POLITICS on the weekend of October 13-15 will be an encore presentation of WELCOME TO CAPITOL HILL 50 YEARS OF SCANDALS IN TENNESSEE POLITICS.
It’s an excellent book by noted journalists, Joel Ebert and Erik Schelzig.
THE STATE OF TENNESSEE FACES MORE LEGAL CHALLENGES
This week Nashville State Representative Jason Jones went to federal court to file suit against the state and Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton.
Jones, one of the members of the Tennessee Three expelled from the House last spring and muzzled this summer by new rules during the recent special session on public safety, says what has happened to him is unconstitutional.
And the state may soon face legal action from students at Tennessee State University.
A recent report by the Biden administration finds Tennessee has shorted the school $2.1 billion over the past three decades. That’s the most of any state in the nation.
Tennessee officials believe the shortfall is only $500 million. But students at TSU held a rally this week to demand justice. They also brought noted Civil Rights attorney Ben Crump to campus. Crump says the school should get an apology, and if the funding discrepancy isn’t rectified, a lawsuit could be coming.
THE 2024 TENNESSEE U.S. SENATE RACE ALREADY HAS BIG DOLLARS TO SPEND
Tennessee’s 2024 U.S. Senate race already has big bucks to spend.
Tennessee Democratic State Representative Gloria Johnson of Knoxville has already raised over $1 million dollars in the few short weeks since she officially announced her candidacy.
That’s a pretty good nest egg if more contributions are still to come.
But Republican incumbent U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn is ready. She has $6.5 million in the bank!
These two are already getting after each other, which means it will be a quite lively contest.
Johnson also seems to have an opponent to beat in the August primary. She is environmental activist Marquita Bradshaw, the party’s 2020 nominee for the Senate who lost to current Senator Bill Hagerty.
THE NEW METRO COUNCIL BEGINS ITS TERM
The new Metro Council held its first business meeting Tuesday. On display for all were the historic demographic changes in the body, including for the first time a female majority (22) in the 40 member body and all 5 of the At-Large positions, selected countywide, also being women.
While most of the first agenda was routine business, there was debate and a deferral of a nearly $3.4 million dollar state grant to hire Resource Officers in all Metro middle and high schools. Metro police officials have been cool to the idea because of lack of current available officers and there was opposition voiced to the new Council from the public.
And it wasn’t just questions about that one public safety related grant. There were other resolutions involving funds for police deferred as well.
With half the Council being new, you knew there would be lots of questions and a little confusion during a first meeting. But the persistent technical problems that has bedeviled previous Councils appeared as well, no doubt leading to some frustration.
This first Council session lasted just over two hours. That’s short by the last term of Council, which routinely adjourned well after midnight. How will this Council do as the next two meetings will see second and third reading ordinances added in?
This will be particularly interesting to watch, since new Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced this week, he wants to move quickly on the massive new East Bank revitalization project. That seems to indicate he hopes for Council approval of the ordinance(s) needed to complete the hiring of a new master developer for the East Bank by the end of this year.
Doing that will require the Council’s approval three times in three different meetings. The Council only has only five scheduled meetings in the rest of 2024.
Based on its first meeting, with the new Council asking lots of questions and getting down to the granular details of grants, is there enough time left to do that before year’s end?
THE ECONOMY CONTINUES TO DEFY PREDICTIONS
The monthly government jobs report for September released today (Friday) continues to defy expectations.
The experts said the number of new jobs would be smaller and show some weakness in the economy.
Instead, the report showed many more jobs than expected and unemployment remaining steady at 3.8%.
One ongoing economic variable is the ongoing United Auto Workers strike against the Big 3 automakers. It is going into its third week with an announcement set at 1:00 p.m. Nashville time this afternoon as to whether the walkouts will be expanded to include other plants nationwide. Will the General Motors plant in Spring Hill be called out to join the picket line?
Even before any walkouts in the state, the UAW strike has importance for Tennessee because of the “battery belt” being created as a part of the EV (electric vehicle) revolution sweeping the car industry in which the Volunteer State is playing an increasingly important role.
Already the UAW labor action is impacting supplier companies and creating some layoffs by the auto making companies.
NASHVILLE IS NOW A BOARD GAME
After years of being Music City U.S.A, a weekly ABC television show and the IT City, Nashville Is now a board game.
This week the Nashville edition of MONOPOLY was unveiled so you can buy it, pass GO, pay $200 (in play money) and try to stay out of jail, all while playing on a board filled with very familiar, well known locations suggested by locals.
