Fans of Volunteer football can’t catch a break. The last five years or so have been rough. Under Fulmer, we couldn’t’ seem to win. Then Lane Kiffin took over. While we won a few football games, Kiffin proved to be a jerk. Look where that got us.

I know this is idealistic, but good sportsmanship is more than winning football games. When the University of Tennessee Athletic Department dumped Coach Fulmer, they dumped any remaining character that the football program had with General Neyland’s legacy.

UT sports have cashed in, which makes me disappointed in my alma mater (and why I will never donate money in my lifetime to the general fund). We’re not like Bama or Florida. We’re the Volunteers. We have that name because the people of Tennessee had a history of character, loyalty and patriotism. How many schools have that tradition? Most schools pick a name based on a mascot, industry of geographic location. Our name denotes something better and inspirational. The pride of being part of the Volunteer tradition is one reason I chose to to attend the University of Tennessee. Our name and teams should honor that tradition.

Coach Fulmer exhibited those qualities. Oh, I agree that he needed to go, but the university treated him terribly. He may be hated among other SEC teams, but he always showed grace and respect in the aftermath of last year.  How many football programs have the loyalty that Fulmer had? Mike Hamilton, UT Athletic Director, got what he deserved this week. Take the statement that Fulmer released today:

“Over the last 24 hours, I have been contacted by friends, great fans and media members, and I feel it is important to comment, as a man who loves the University of Tennessee deeply and shares this love with millions of great Volunteer fans and friends.

“Recent events have been painful and an embarrassment to all of us who care about UT. I love the university. I am loyal to my alma mater and am ready to help as the university makes one of the most important decisions in the history of our football program. However, to prevent any misunderstanding, I am not seeking to be a candidate for the head-coaching position.

“I am looking forward to embracing the next coach and have some strong beliefs about the kind of man he should be. He must embrace Tennessee’s culture and traditions, be mature and of good character, and demonstrate integrity and leadership to our young men who desperately want to be shown the way. He must deserve, earn and keep the trust of our young men — both present and future.

Fulmer has something that Kiffin will never understand. Seeing The Blindside reminded me of that.  Pat Summit also has it. They represent an era that’s now gone in SEC sports. Coaches today are not same class as General Neyland or even Bear Bryant. Now, it’s all about the money and championships. There’s no concept of loyalty or legacy left.

Being a head coach is more than coaching or recruiting. It’s displaying leadership and mentoring students. It’s difficult to be a college athlete. I may have scoffed at football players and actually once dropped a class because Casey Clausen (then the quarterback ) sat behind me and was incredibly annoying. However, I developed the utmost respect for the Lady Vols after having classes with several of them. Coach Fulmer said it well:

“Tennessee football has been successful for so many years because it has been rooted in values and traditions. We can’t take those values for granted — if we do not guard them carefully, we will lose them.”

I wish the athletic department and Vol fans would listen to Coach Fulmer and follow his advice.

This week, we heard another story of stimulus fraud sending millions of dollars to nonexistent zip codes. Prior to that, Americans learned that funding was going to fake congressional districts. Then Senators McCain and Coburn’s released a report that highlighted 100 wasteful projects in the stimulus. I can’t be the only one outraged that digging for dinosaurs in Argentina and sending college students from Alaska to the Copenhagen conference were approved programs.

Seeing the waste on the national level made me question what’s going on locally. Finding out exactly where are taxpayer dollars have gone is critical to ensure that nothing like this bill ever passes again. It’s not enough for the national media or top bloggers to pick out a few egregious examples of stimulus waste. Politicians need to hear from their constituents.

That’s where we come in. Bloggers and activists in every town and county throughout the country need to keep an eye on stimulus funding.  It’s up average taxpayers like you and me to make sure that no fraud is going on in our communities.

How do we start?

The Recovery Act promised transparency to the American people, yet how many Americans have taken time to sift through all of the grants, loans and awards? Do you know what’s going on in your backyard?

Recovery.gov is the official site that documents and tracks all stimulus funds. From the homepage, you can search by Zip code, or you can download detailed information about awarded grants in your community or state. These searches provide the most basic information about what’s going on in your area.

If you really want to dig into data, visit the Recovery.gov Download Center and look at spreadsheets that indentify organizations and contacts for all of the awarded grants.

A number of watchdog sites have emerged that track stimulus projects and are easier to use than Recovery.gov. At StimulusWatch.org, you can search by project, agency, state, city, zip code and keyword. I was able to pull up all of the projects in my hometown of Chattanooga, Tenn. Thankfully, all of the projects seem to be legitimate and fall within the parameters of the Recovery Act.

StimulusWatch.org is built as a wiki, so users can vote a project up or down and track the most wasteful project, such as “Explaining the African Vote” project at the University of California, San Diego. They received $233,823 to conduct exit polls in sub-Sarahan Africa.

ProPublica also created a Recovery Tracker. Unlike the other two sites, ProPublica also releases information on businesses that obtained loans through the stimulus. For example, the new Melting Pot in Chattanooga borrowed $684,000.

All of this information can get confusing. While some projects stand out, such as a $950,000 grant to colleges in Arizona to study ants, what is the difference between a grant, contract and loan? How do we know if it should be funded by the stimulus?

How the Recovery Act Works

According to Recovery.gov, the stimulus aims to

• Create new jobs as well as save existing ones
• Spur economic activity and invest in long-term economic growth
• Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending

How does this work?

After the stimulus was passed, Congress allocated a set amount of funds to different federal agencies. These agencies then established requests for proposals or grant opportunities. These can be accessed through Grants.gov or Recovery.gov. Another pot of money was allocated for states, which turned it over to state agencies to either directly use or create sub-grants.

Often, this is where the waste starts.

Since the federal government allocated funds to various government agencies, the agencies are actually the ones making the grants and distributing funds. This means that the kids who got a free trip to the Climate Change were accountable to the National Science Foundation not the Obama Administration. Many of the questionable grants were awarded through government agencies like the National Science Foundation or the Institutes of Health. These are huge bureaucratic entities, and once they got control of the money there was no accountability.

Since many of the contracts and loans are also awarded by smaller agencies, it’s difficult to track where the money is going. Available contracts are listed on Recovery.gov and the site posts winning contractors. Loans are not as transparent, and ProPublica is the only site that I’ve seen include loans with community information.

What Can You Do?

Tracking stimulus funding in your community is the perfect activity for bloggers, local tea parties or concerned activities. Once you’ve researched the information, there are a number of ways that you can use it to raise awareness or hold your local, state and national elected officials accountable:

• Create a local Google Map of all the projects
• Write a blog post
• Write letters to the editor of your newspaper
• Write or call your local Congressman or Senator
• Create fliers about any questionable projects to hand out at local GOP meetings or Tea Party events
• Contact local media outlets about projects that need attention

The next Recovery.gov filing deadline is January 30, so get ready for another round of stories about government waste.

The Red, White and Food team may have lost last spring, but they did make waves in Nashville. According to an email this morning, the General Assembly has established a committee to review the state’s liquor laws. They will have a public meeting this Wednesday, October 28 from 10 a.m. to noon in Room 16 of the Legislative Plaza.

As I’ve said before, giving consumers choices with wine is an economic boon. More people purchase wine in states that allow it to be sold in grocery stores, and it also woos better grocery stores into the area. It helps local businesses when their products have more outlets. Its good for everyone. Well, maybe not the tee-totaling Baptist or the liquor store owners. Baptists have the choice to not buy wine and liquor stores have an unfair monopoly in the state.

Now that I’m in Northern Virginia, it’s so nice to purchase wine when I’m at the grocery store or at Target. (It’s strange to get used to Target selling wine!). I’ve yet to see any teenagers peruse the wine aisle in hopes of illegally purchasing their Malbecs or Beaujolais.

Red, White and Food is asking for Tennesseans to contact their state senators and representatives, especially the ones on the this committee, in support of wine in grocery stores. Click on the jump for names and numbers.
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