A few points to ponder while waiting for your NCAA brackets to fall apart:
NO RAISE FOR NOW: A bill in the Tennessee General Assembly that would have allowed Hamilton County commissioners to set their own salary has been pulled from consideration.
Commissioners undoubtedly deserve more money for the full-time part-time job they do, but the way they sought to get it - with no public discussion, and only a letter left in a private chamber to which they could add their signatures - was not in keeping with the transparency they should show the public in conducting their business.
When eight of nine commissioners signed the letter - only Commissioner Joe Graham refused - state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, as a courtesy, introduced it. The bill would have untied the commissioners' salaries from the county mayor's salary and allowed them to set their own pay. But, upon learning an unforeseen aspect of the bill would have given them an automatic pay bump, they agreed to it being pulled because, according to several commissioners, they weren't really looking for a raise.
LET THE SUN SHINE: Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell sounded the correct tone Wednesday when she asked those members who have been conducting secret "pre-meetings" ahead of committee and subcommittee hearings to allow them to be open.
Committee and subcommittee members understandably would like to ask questions and get preliminaries out of the way without the encumbrance of parliamentary procedure before they officially go "on the record" in the scheduled meetings, but the secrecy might make one think back-door deals are being done or bills are being decided out of the "sunshine" of public scrutiny.
If nothing untoward was going on in the "pre-meetings," as House members maintain, their availability to the public won't be a problem. And if they allow government to flow more efficiently, all the better.
MANDATORY VOTING: The privilege of voting has been so watered down in the United States that, in some cases, illegal immigrants, felons and dead people vote. President Barack Obama floated an idea Wednesday that would water down the privilege even further, calling it "potentially transformative" - he would force people to vote.
Indeed, it would be transformative. Not only would it remove voting as a privilege, but it would increase the possibility that one's vote could be bought. Whichever party promises more free goodies - never mind how or if we pay for it - would be the winner in every election. Statistics already tell researchers that those who vote with less regularity are those who are more dependent on the government for their well-being. Thus, forcing those people to vote would require the government to up the ante.
This is in no way a sound idea.
Dr. Mark GoodenGOODEN'S PRAYER: The prayer opening Wednesday's session of the United States House of Representatives was given by Dr. Mark Gooden, a Hixson native and senior pastor from 2006 to 2014 at Signal Crest United Methodist Church on Signal Mountain.
Now senior pastor at Munsey Memorial United Methodist Church in Johnson City, Tenn., he was introduced by House Speaker John Boehner. In his prayer, he asked God to bless the women and men "who sought public office to make a difference," asked him to help them "stay the course and compromise when conscience allows but stand strong in their convictions when they can do no less," and asked him to give them "clarity of thought, wisdom and understanding." He also asked God to "forgive us as a people when we act with hatred and not kindness, when we are quick to speak and slow to listen" and "when we seek not to be understood but to judge." In closing, he exhorted God to help us remember "to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with you."
U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, R-Johnson City, a member of Gooden's church, then was recognized for a moment of personal privilege and spoke briefly on Gooden's leadership and his comfort at the recent death of Roe's wife, Pam.
NUTTY, BUDDY: If any publicity is good publicity, McKee Foods of Collegedale got more than seven-minutes worth of it Wednesday night when comedian Will Ferrell appeared on "The Tonight Show" in a blue checked dress, white apron, curly wig and straw hat and pronounced himself the new spokesman for Little Debbies.
The face of the snack cakes for years, the original Little Debbie is the granddaughter of McKee founder O.D. McKee.
Ferrell, who had not coordinated the stunt with McKee, brought out actual Little Debbie snack cakes in a basket when he sat down with Fallon. Calling them "sweet, yum-yum snack cakes," he later handed out cakes to audience members.
Though Ferrell made a fetching spokesman, don't look for the face on the box to change.