Tenn has huge toxic disaster plus their House in up in arms

[ensho]

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090114/NEWS0201/901140375


Tenn. House in disarray following speaker upset
Speaker election may hurt Republican agenda


The startling leadership upset in the House left the General Assembly in a state of confusion on Wednesday, with lawmakers, staff and onlookers alike scratching their heads over how best to proceed with the business of the legislature.

Outside the House and Senate chambers, lobbyists and lawmakers milled in the hallways, as lawmakers in both chambers sat for the one piece of certain business: a legally required ethics training session.

The work of both chambers during the organizational session was otherwise left in a suspended state by Tuesday's surprise election of Republican Speaker Kent Williams in the House, who was elected by 49 Democrats and one Republican -- himself.

Williams' election came as a shock to many -- incluuding some Democrats who learned of the plan only minutes before it was executed. His election meant the end of Jimmy Naifeh's 18-year tenure as speaker, but it also stymied GOP Majority Leader Jason Mumpower, who was poised to become the next speaker.
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does this mean that not much will be done on the toxic coal cleanup?

[notadmblnd]

1. The clean up could be one of Obama's first job creation projects. No?

[Hamlette]

2. I love the speaker of the house story. It's a classic.

[tosh]

4. So true, An amusing story, that.

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. I read that as "Teen". I thought, well yeah, who's surprised by that?

:rofl:

[ljm2002]

5. That political maneuver was indeed a classic...

...I suspect we'll be hearing about it for a long time to come!

And it is especially sweet, because the new speaker was bullied and threatened by his Republick "brethren" in the past, including threats to boycott his family business, for not walking in lockstep / goosestep with the rest of 'em.

Good on him for screwing them, and good on the Tennessee Democrats for helping him!

(on edit: "threats to boycott his family business", not "threats to his family")