Congrats to MINORITY LEADER Naifeh

[ukerduker]

The BEST part about this.....I helped make it happen!!!!!!!

Cya Naifeh

[GLOCKMEISTER]

dont get all happy guys, Naifeh has too many Republican friends to count our chickens before they hatch. I hear he's already on the phone this morning getting his side ready.

[Guest abailey362]

silver linings no matter how thick or thin....can still be stolen and sold for meth

we gotta wait before we get too happy about this one and start prank calling ol' jimmy so he doesn't do something (else) stupid before anyone realizes it

[GLOCKMEISTER]

dont get all happy guys, Naifeh has too many Republican friends to count our chickens before they hatch. I hear he's already on the phone this morning getting his side ready.

[GLOCKMEISTER]

dont get all happy guys, Naifeh has too many Republican friends to count our chickens before they hatch. I hear he's already on the phone this morning getting his side ready.

[DavidD]

dont get all happy guys, Naifeh has too many Republican friends to count our chickens before they hatch. I hear he's already on the phone this morning getting his side ready.

Say it isn't so! Surely he won't remain as Speaker . What can we do?

[Guest GUTTERbOY]

Say it isn't so! Surely he won't remain as Speaker . What can we do?

Write your representative and make sure they know how pissed off you'll be if Naifeh remains as Speaker.

[Guest Boomhower]

so when do the house speaker votes and such other appointments happen?

[Warbird]

so when do the house speaker votes and such other appointments happen?

When they come to session in January.

[Warbird]

It is highly unlikely. For one any repubs who voted for Naifeh would be crushed in two yrs. Naifeh managed to get repub votes because they tried to appease him and knew they couldn't unseat him. Now they can win and some of those people will be chairs of committees.

Also Naifeh was already on shaky ground with the dems, they have been tired of his high handed tactics as well as the Memphis west Tennessee stranglehold on leadership for soooooo long. He faced serious opposition even if he had kept a majority.

I never say never with some of the squishes the repubs have in Nashville. But, I think it is HIGHLY unlikely he will retain any control.

[Tim Nunan]

dont get all happy guys, Naifeh has too many Republican friends to count our chickens before they hatch. I hear he's already on the phone this morning getting his side ready.

Agreed, too many RINO's in the state house, hell the senate too, to presume that Naifeh's control is just going to fade away.

Have to remind our legislative friends who let them stay there... contact them and often.

[Tim Nunan]

We've always thought that if the pro gun bills that were killed in subcommittees by Naifeh and his hand picked munchkins could have made it to the floor for a vote by the full House, they would have passed. Now we'll see. This is going to be interesting.

This is a very good point. Naifeh was willing to take the hits to stop progun legislation thus allowing other representatives to claim they would have voted for a specific bill but it never came to the floor.

Now those representatives are going to have to fish or cut bait.

[dunndw]

We're all assuming that the republicans will actually NOT vote for that POS come Jan.

stranger things have happened in the cesspool on the hill

[Guest Boomhower]

We're all assuming that the republicans will actually NOT vote for that POS come Jan.

stranger things have happened in the cesspool on the hill

Well, now is the time to start lobbying our state reps!!!

NO MORE NAIFEH!!!

NO MORE NAIFEH!!!

[Guest 270win]

We need to get Naifeh out of his little position as speaker of the house and get someone new in, who is republican. Sorry for being partisan, but he is the one big roadblock for handgun carry reform in this state. Maybe with a pro gun Republican, reform bills can come to the house floor for a clean vote.

TN does not have wierd handgun laws because it is backward, it is because the house speaker has not allowed an up or down vote on reform for quite some time.

The interesting twist will be to see how pro gun Phil Bredesen really is.

[Warbird]

As I posted on another thread.

It is highly unlikely. For one any repubs who voted for Naifeh would be crushed in two yrs. Naifeh managed to get repub votes because they tried to appease him and knew they couldn't unseat him. Now they can win and some of those people will be chairs of committees, which Naifeh would never offer them.

Also Naifeh was already on shaky ground with the dems, they have been tired of his high handed tactics as well as the Memphis west Tennessee stranglehold on leadership for soooooo long. He faced serious opposition even if he had kept a majority.

I never say never with some of the squishes the repubs have in Nashville. But, I think it is HIGHLY unlikely he will retain any control.

That said, keep up the pressure.

[Guest HexHead]

Ding dong, the witch is dead!

Maybe now we'll get our restaurant carry passed this session?

Edited November 7, 2008 by HexHead

[Mike.357]

i will believe it when it happens. That guy has too much influence and is a poster boy for term limits.

[Guest Phantom6]

Analysis: GOP set to shake up Tenn. Capitol

Associated Press

Originally published 08:07 a.m., November 5, 2008

NASHVILLE - Tennessee Republicans can flex newfound muscle and shake

the Tennessee Capitol to its foundation when they take control of the

General Assembly in January.

And a Republican leader in the House * where Democratic Speaker Jimmy

Naifeh of Covington has thwarted GOP measures for the last 18 years *

should clear the way for measures limiting abortion rights and loosening

gun restrictions.

Republicans could also determine the future of the state's judicial

selection process and whether to replace it with the direct election of

appellate judges.

Mumpower will want to avoid a repeat of the GOP's experience when the

party first took control of the Senate in 2004 and longtime Speaker John

Wilder, D-Mason, still managed to hold on with the help of two

Republicans.

It wasn't until the next two-year session of the General Assembly in

2007 that Ramsey ultimately ended Wilder's 36-year grip on the

speakership.

Naifeh in the past has managed to persuade several Republicans to cross

over to vote for him as speaker. But that was before Republicans held

numerical control of the chamber, and Mumpower (House minority Leader until January then House Majority Leader) will likely seek early assurances from the six returning Republicans who most recently voted for Naifeh that they will now support him.

House Democratic Caucus spokesman Addison Pate blamed the losses on

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's poor showing in

Tennessee despite winning an overwhelming national victory.

"This was a national level race influencing state races," Pate said.

"The country went one way and we went another."

Free at last, Lawd we is free at last! Now is the time to write your state representatives and let's get these gun restrictions eased.

[Volzfan]

i will believe it when it happens. That guy has too much influence and is a poster boy for term limits.

Mike you are right. Too many friends.

I, too, will only believe it when it happens!

[Guest db99wj]

I hope it happens.

I know he has power, but, hopefully since he lost his "position" that the ones that were persuaded will find their nuts and take them back and stand up for what their constituents want.

[Guest ProguninTN]

Let's hope Naifeh is removed. Also, maybe we can get restaurant carry...among other things. Of course that's going to depend on Bredesen, possibly a veto override, and squelching certain lobbyists. (ie Chief Serpas)

[Guest MEC]

I was talking to a friend today and he was suggesting you could see Bredesen getting a position in the Obama Administration. Two of his big issues, State Sponsored Healthcare and Mandatory Pre-K are priorities for Obama as well. Just a guess, I have not heard anything about it in the news.

[Guest GLOCKGUY]

Mike you are right. Too many friends.

I, too, will only believe it when it happens!

I talked to my representative Jim Cobb tonight and he said Tennessee Republicans are not going to vote for a Democratic Speaker. The Republicans now have control of the General Assembly in January he said why would the Republicans give most of the power back to the Democratic by voting a Democratic to the Speaker of the house.

[Guest David Waldrip]

Tennessee Republicans have first majority in both chambers since 1869

By Richard Locker (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Tennessee Republicans served notice Wednesday that the legislature is under new management, all but promising to replace the three state constitutional officers and challenging Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen to open talks on state budget issues.

Although Republicans won a one-vote majority in the state Senate two years ago, they built it to a 19-14 margin Tuesday and, unexpectedly, won a 50-49 majority in the House, which Democrats held 53-46 until Election Day.

Legislative historian Eddie Weeks confirmed it's the first time the GOP has held a majority of both chambers since 1869, during Reconstruction after the Civil War.

Both parties will spend the coming weeks settling their internal leadership issues before the General Assembly convenes in January, but the impact of the election will be felt across the state.

The GOP and its grass-roots activists across the state have chaffed over decades of Democratic maneuvering that blocked such issues as an anti-abortion state constitutional amendment from reaching the House floor for action.

But the change also means more local issues, such as the push by Shelby County suburban residents to turn the county school system into a special school district, will

likely get more of a hearing.

That bill, which would block annexation of county schools by Memphis and try to resolve funding issues between the two districts, has been killed in recent years in a House subcommittee dominated by Memphis Democrats.

Another result: The election commissions in all 95 counties will flip from 3-2 Democratic majorities to 3-2 Republican ones. Under state law approved in the mid-1970s, the party with the most legislators appoints the majority of all five-member county election commissions and the State Election Commission.

"We are ready to lead," said House GOP Leader Jason Mumpower of Bristol after gleeful House Republicans took to the steps of War Memorial Plaza near State Capitol.

He said his party will push ahead with a largely mechanical "Education First" proposal they advanced this year to fund education before anything else in the state budget.

Bredesen said later he believes that would be a Washington-style mistake, mirroring Congress' passage of several funding resolutions every year.

"It doesn't allow for any balancing. You put all the priorities on the table," he said.

But the governor extended an olive branch to the new GOP majority, saying he has made a career out of working across the aisle.

"Sure it's a different dynamic, but we're still going to get things done. Education ought not be a partisan issue. In my mind, 'education first' means fully funding" the K-12 school funding reforms approved in 2007, he said. Plans for a second substantial funding increase fell victim to a state budget shortfall this year.

Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville said Bredesen will have to deal with the new majority on the budget but "it's about governing, not gloating. I'd like to suggest that he pick up the phone and give us a call" for input on the state budget.

Late Wednesday, House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, the Covington Democrat who has presided over the lower chamber since 1991, hinted that he may try to win the vote of a Republican representative or two to retain the speakership as Rep. Henry Fincher, D-Cookeville, suggested earlier in the day.

"House Democrats created Tennessee's Hope lottery scholarship, cut taxes on food and, year after year, balanced Tennessee's state budget. House Democrats led the charge in improving long-term care for seniors. House Democrats will continue to lead the way, and I intend to lead. And I look forward to the challenge," said Naifeh.

-- Richard Locker: (615) 255-4923

Edited November 7, 2008 by David Waldrip