Short Bursts: Volume 06-04

Cooper the chameleon, dropping anchor in Tennessee, Kovach beats the big boys, anti-terrorist "oops"

By Tom Kovach

Cooper the chameleon

Regular readers know that I'm running for Congress against a wealthy Democrat named Jim Cooper — the son of a former governor. In a city that relies so heavily upon "image," Cooper has that elusive quality known as "electability." He is billed as a "nice guy." On his campaign Web site, a prominent feature is that he plays the banjo. (Wow, now that's a trait that I look for in a candidate to make important decisions....) And, the site seems to be based upon a common theme of Democrat politics: hide behind children. (I'm not voting for his wife, or his children. So, why are they all over his Web site?) You know the drill. Whenever the Democrats want to increase government spending, or government power, they whine, "It's for the children." Yeah, right. (And, how much do Cooper's children actually know about his voting record? Do they know that their father voted against the Border Security bill? Do they know that he is the recipient of a pro-abortion "Good Guy Award" — which promotes killing children? Of course, the NWPC doesn't call it that. Instead, they euphemistically refer to the "privacy rights of women".)

This year, however, an interesting transformation is taking place. Jim Cooper, the nice guy, is suddenly in a fighting mood. And, he has his sights on ... Congress! Yep. Back in the Spring, he called the body to which he belongs "the laziest Congress since 1948". Cooper bemoaned the low number of session days (71), and the Tuesday-through-Thursday work week for legislators. But, did he mention volunteering to stay and work on Friday to help his staffers? Nope. Does anyone order him to go home on Thursday? Nope. Hmmmmm.

Cooper's next fight is with the accounting system for the Federal budget. He says — rightly — that the method of accounting for the budget deficit produces false numbers. He says that the budget deficit is much larger than most pubic documents admit. Bravo! I agree. However, I must ask: why now? Jim Cooper was first elected to the House in 1980, and remained there until a failed Senate run in 1994. (Fred Thompson "whooped up on" Cooper with 64% of the votes.) Cooper became an investment banker, until he ran and won again in 2000. Thus, he has been in Congress for 20 of the past 26 years. Why is Cooper only now speaking out about the budget shenanigans?

The difference in Cooper's behavior becomes even clearer when compared with his previous voting record. A recent column by Ken Shepherd of the Business and Media Institute points this out — with links to supporting details. Cooper's rating for this term is only 31% from the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste. (They are considered one of most truly neutral of all the non-partisan groups.) Cooper's previous rating from CAGW was only 26%. So, he is in line with other big-spending Democrats — even though he bills himself as a "conservative" Blue Dog Democrat. Shepherd's column contains many other, similar details about Cooper.

Could it be that Cooper realizes that he has a serious fight on his hands this election year? Could it be that he is trying to deflect the blast from his vote against the Border Security bill? Could it be that he knows his "seat is too warm," and the voters are in a "throw 'em all out" mood? Could it be that he realizes that 130 consecutive years of Democrat control of the 5th District is about to crumble ... on his watch? Could it be that Cooper is hoping to hold onto his seat for one more term, in hopes of being selected for some position under a would-be President Hillary Clinton?

Regardless of the reason, Cooper is beginning to look like a chameleon.

Dropping anchor in Tennessee

Last week, I attended a congressional committee field hearing on the topic of illegal aliens. Regular readers know that I've done research and written columns on this topic, and have pointed out that the problem is far more threatening that the MSM wants the public to realize. Those that have followed the situation know that border security and illegal aliens are key features of my own campaign for Congress. That is why I have been endorsed by the Team America PAC, founded by Congressman Tom Tancredo. So, the topic of the field hearings was important to me.

One tidbit that came out of the testimony by board officers of three major hospitals in Tennessee had to do with "anchor babies". For those that still don't know, an anchor baby is a child born within the United States to parents that are in this country illegally. Under the current (misguided) interpretation of the 14th Amendment, the child is automatically a United States citizen because of the location of its birth. And, thanks to (liberal activist) court rulings, the parents become entitled to not only remain in this country to care for the child, but also become entitled to government welfare benefits "for the children." (There's that phrase again....) Thus, the child becomes the "anchor" for the parents that drift into the United States.

Now, here's the tidbit. The largest unreimbursed medical expense in Tennessee hospitals is the emergency delivery of anchor babies. Thus, illegal alien parents are not only using our emergency room facilities, and not only having babies without the benefit of a proper prenatal care program, but are also waiting until the last possible moment to seek medical care for the pregnancy. And, the other customers of hospitals, along with the taxpaying public, are stuck with the bills. News reports indicate that 60 hospitals in California had closed permanently because of the financial damage caused by the flood of anchor babies.

The committee co-chair, Congressman Marsha Blackburn (she prefers "Congressman" to "Congresswoman") put it succinctly by saying that, "Every state is a border state." The problem of illegal aliens is affecting all Americans, regardless of location, and regardless of whether they realize that they are being affected. Tennessee has one of the largest, and fastest-growing, populations of illegal aliens in America. And, no wonder — with so many of them "dropping anchor" in Tennessee.

Kovach beats the big boys

The district that I'm running in is fairly concentrated; there are only three counties within the 5th Congressional District. The district does not even cover any of the three entirely, although it covers about 95% of Davidson County. I live in Wilson County, east of Nashville. The other county is Cheatham County.

In an uncontested primary, I got 581 votes in Cheatham County. (Keep in mind that the 5th District covers less than half the county.) But, I got more votes than Jim Bryson (493), who won the Republican primary for governor, which obviously covers the entire county. I also got more votes than any of the major Republican candidates for US Senate (Ed Bryant — 498, Bob Corker — 410, Van Hilleary — 581), which also covers the entire county. And, I got more than twice as many votes as Marsha Blackburn (270), who has money to burn, who has no serious challenger in the general election, and whose district covers far more of Cheatham County than my district. However, the man to beat — Democratic incumbent Jim Cooper — still got almost twice as many votes (981) as I got in Cheatham County. (However, in Wilson County, with ten times as many votes cast, I was within 200 votes of Cooper, even though my uncontested primary was not one of the "races of interest.") I think the numbers will be quite interesting in November.

Even though Cheatham County is the farthest from my home, even though it has the lowest population, even though my low-budget campaign has kept me from visiting Cheatham County as much as I'd like to (the drive along River Road to the TSU Farm is pretty), and even though I've only made one speech there so far, the message is obviously getting out. It is quite apparent from these numbers that Republican voters in Cheatham County view me as viable — regardless of what the "kingmakers" in Nashville or Memphis might have to say. It is also apparent that those voters are fed up with "business as usual," and are looking for a candidate that will take a stand on issues, even if it makes some people feel ... uncomfortable.

A lot of naysayers have overlooked my campaign, because they think that political victory hinges only upon fundraising. They are wrong. The numbers prove that a solid conservative message, delivered straight from the heart, will win the voters. Now that an official set of numbers proves that I'm officially "viable," I hope that more people will get on board to contribute to my campaign fund. Victory is possible in November!

Anti-terrorism "oops"

I recently attended part of the National Conference of State Legislators annual convention. This year, it was hosted here in Nashville. I did not get to hear the speech by Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security. He spoke about the need to be more prepared at every level against a possible terrorist attack. He was addressing the very people that pass the laws and provide the funds to make such anti-terrorist measures possible within each state. Unfortunately, according to the Nashville City Paper, there was no security screening to get into the room where he was speaking. I can say from personal observation, though, that the entire facility had uniformed and plainclothes security and police officers from a variety of agencies. So, in defense of NCSL and the host planning staff, perhaps they felt that an extra measure of security was redundant. (Of course, it's also possible that the reporter from the City Paper simply didn't see the security measures in place.) I simply point out the story because of its irony.

© Tom Kovach