Knox County mayor, Tim Burchett, was the guest speaker at the Cross County Patriots Tea Party meeting, which in it's self is curious given that Burchett is the quintessential, republican establishment, career politician not usually popular with Tea Party organizations.

I certainly don't mean this to be rude, but he could say more without saying anything than any politician I've heard in a long time. He had all his talking points downpat, told a couple of humorous, but long, long, stories yet I heard very little if anything as to what would qualify him to represent us in congress. He touted what he considered his accomplishments while county mayor but failed to mention that as county mayor, he doesn't even have a vote.

He did seem awful proud that he was now wearing a Carhartt jacket. Mentioned it several times as though he had discovered Carhartt. Not sure if that's suppose to make him more of a man of the people or what.

During the question and answer time, I did get the opportunity to ask him why he didn't oppose Bill Haslam's gas tax increase. I told him as the mayor of one of the states largest counties, his opposition to the tax increase could possibly have had a major impact. Why then did he not take a stand against the gas tax increase if he is a true conservative? His answer was very telling. He said he had talked with some of his former colleagues in state government and they told him it was a done deal, it was going to pass. That's why he didn't oppose the huge tax increase? Think about that. He stuck his finger in the political air to see which way the wind was blowing, then went with the wind.

Don't we already have enough career politicians in Washington making decisions based on which way the political winds are blowing? Do we really need another one? The one issue, higher taxes, Burchett could have had a huge impact on, he threw his constituents under the bus for political expedience.

Unlike Burchett, Jimmy Matlock not only opposed the gas tax hike, he voted against it on the floor of the state house and I'm sure many of his colleagues also told him it was a done deal. Unlike Burchett, Jimmy stood up for his constituents instead of taking the easy out. That's the kind of congressman we need.    

We need a true conservative like Jimmy Matlock in Washington, not Burchett.