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28-455: The organization was incorporated as a public benefit corporation of Tennessee on October 22, 2001. Donation pages on its site note that donations to TTR are not tax-deductible . In nearly all appearances in the media and speaking engagements, TTR is represented by its spokesman, Nashville real estate investor Ben Cunningham , who is also listed as a founder of the organization. In his book Covenant of Liberty: The Ideological Origins of

56-480: A U.S. state government , and organized primarily or exclusively for social , educational , recreational or charitable purposes by like-minded citizens. Public-benefit nonprofit corporations are distinct in the law from mutual-benefit nonprofit corporations in that they are organized for the general public benefit , rather than for the interest of its members. They are also distinct in the law from religious corporations . This organization-related article

84-456: A "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" promising not to raise taxes. The organization has also sponsored polls of Tennessee voters on various issues. TTR endorses candidates in state elections; in 2006, it endorsed Edward Glenn Bryant , in his unsuccessful 2006 bid for a Tennessee U.S. Senate seat. In 2005 TTR gave a "Taxpayer Hero Award" to State Representative Donna Rowland and anointed the City of Memphis

112-535: A conservative "grassroots legislative training" session. In a January 2011 presentation to the Tea Party of Bradley County (entitled "How to Fight Local Tax Hikes and Win") Cunningham invoked Khmer Rouge , Stalinist Russia , and the Chinese Communist Party "Thankfully we haven't had to result [sic] in violence and certainly no one is advocating that, but clearly many people have. And clearly many people had

140-459: A largely Democratic area mostly in the northwestern part of the state. He lost in the general election to Union City attorney and state representative John S. Tanner . Bryant resumed the practice of law, having been appointed as United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee by President George H. W. Bush in 1991. He later moved to Henderson , near Jackson, located in

168-483: A serious bid for the seat since it fell into Republican hands in 1972 (when it was numbered as the 6th District; it has been the 7th since 1983). Bryant was unopposed in 1998, and was reelected by over 40 points in 2000. Bryant established a solidly conservative record and was a darling of both business-oriented groups such as the National Federation of Independent Business and social conservative groups such as

196-732: A student, he was active in the Sigma Nu fraternity. Bryant was also selected to the national leadership organization of Omicron Delta Kappa . He received a commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army through the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps . Initially serving in the Military Intelligence Corps , Bryant was later selected to serve in the Judge Advocate General's Corps . During his time in

224-527: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Edward Glenn Bryant Edward Glenn Bryant (born September 7, 1948) is an American politician who is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee (1995–2003). From 1991–1993, he served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee . On December 12, 2008, Bryant

252-605: The American Conservative Union , the National Rifle Association of America , and National Right-to-Life . He was best known as one of the House managers (prosecutors) in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton . Bryant was regarded by many as one of the less strident and pompous and more personable managers. This is supposedly why Monica Lewinsky chose Bryant to be the manager to interview her about

280-518: The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and in an associated radio broadcast said that President Obama's health care reforms would "ruin our medical system" and result in a "decline into mediocrity and tyranny." In 2012, TTR and Cunningham supported legislation put forward in Tennessee to phase out and then completely eliminate the state inheritance tax . The bill passed the legislature and

308-507: The Lacey Act governing the importation of wildlife and plants under conservation protection, specifically hardwoods used in the manufacture of that company's guitars. Speaking at a 2011 rally in support of Gibson, Cunningham called the raids an abusive federal overreach. In 2011, TTR asked state legislators to work to oppose federal health care reform proposals. That Cunningham spoke at an event sponsored by Ralph Weber's company MediBid and

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336-484: The booby prize winner of the "Tennessee Tax Bowl" for having the highest combined county and municipal tax rate in the state. In 2006 TTR spearheaded a successful effort and petition drive to amend the Nashville city charter requiring any increase in property taxes to be approved by voters. TTR has spoken out over the property seizures and police raids of Gibson Guitar Corporation in Nashville over alleged violations of

364-484: The Republican nomination. Alexander had both greater statewide name recognition and greater financial resources, even though he hadn't appeared on a ballot for a statewide office in Tennessee in 20 years. Despite this, Bryant held Alexander to 55% of the primary vote while garnering 44%. Additionally, Bryant made a good impression on many Republican activists in the state, especially with his willingness to make appearances on

392-538: The Republican ticket's behalf during the fall campaign after his own defeat. After Bryant's defeat in 2002, he moved to Nashville briefly, but returned to West Tennessee . There he sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat then-held by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who did not seek re-election in 2006. Bryant faced two other major Republicans in the primary on August 3, 2006: In an interview with John Gibson of Fox News , Bryant stated that he did not believe Harold Ford Jr. should be considered

420-740: The Tea Party Movement conservative activist and author Michael Patrick Leahy describes an event that he calls the Tennessee Tax Revolt which he credits as the genesis of the organization of the same name. This was a three-year popular campaign to oppose the institution of a state income tax in Tennessee, a cause championed by Republican Governor Don Sundquist . Ben Cunningham and state radio personalities Phil Valentine , Steve Gill , Darrell Ankarlo , and Dave Ramsey , aided by Republican lawmakers such as Marsha Blackburn , spearheaded an effort that involved dissemination of information over

448-748: The U.S. Army, he was assigned to the Ballistic Missile Defense System Command in Huntsville, Alabama , the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson in Colorado and taught constitutional law to cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point . Bryant served another year in the Tennessee Army National Guard . Upon returning to Jackson, Tennessee, he joined the law firm of Waldrop & Hall and

476-455: The activists at the State Capitol there was a competition to produce the loudest noise which was achieved in 2002 with a dismounted train whistle powered by a portable air compressor , requiring other protesters to cover their ears when it was sounded once or twice per day. In 2001, the Tennessee Tax Revolt organization was incorporated as a public benefit corporation and by the end of 2002

504-431: The air waves, email lists , and a web site, emails and telephone calls to state legislators, postal mailing of tea bags to officials, street protests and driving past the state capitol building while honking their automobile horns, and a tactic that a Los Angeles Times reporter referred to as "steering protesters to lawmakers' homes." According to Mr. Cunningham, in addition to the honking of automobile horns among

532-465: The campaign had been successful and the effort to enact an income tax had ceased. The TTR web site hosts photographs from the 2001 and 2002 protests. In 2004, the group claimed that their email list was subscribed to by 5,000 recipients. Cunningham has frequently been interviewed in Tennessee state and local media outlets about tax and budgetary issues. TTR's own events, as well as Tea Party movement and other events and rallies around Tennessee and around

560-522: The case. In 2002 Bryant entered the Republican primary for the United States Senate after Republican Fred Thompson announced that he was changing his mind from an earlier announcement and would not be seeking re-election. The circumstances resulted in his piecing together a hurried, underfinanced campaign. Bryant was opposed by former governor of Tennessee , U.S. Secretary of Education , and two-time presidential candidate Lamar Alexander for

588-492: The center. In 2012, Cunningham criticized the state's economic development negotiations with private companies, calling upon Governor Bill Haslam and the State Funding Board to "stop holding these secret negotiations with large corporations over handing out these huge wads of money." Public-benefit nonprofit corporation A public-benefit nonprofit corporation is a type of nonprofit corporation chartered by

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616-504: The country. He spoke as a panelist at a Tennessee Alliance for Progress event in 2005. In 2009, TTR spoke at a Nashville Tea Party rally in opposition to the federal bank bailouts in response to the 2007–2008 financial crisis and in opposition to the economic stimulus of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 . In 2011, Cunningham was a guest speaker at a paid event held by several other state organizations and described as

644-456: The neighboring Seventh Congressional District. When Seventh District Congressman Don Sundquist did not run for re-election in 1994 (choosing instead to wage an ultimately successful campaign for governor ), Bryant won the Republican primary for the district. The 7th is one of the state's most Republican districts outside of East Tennessee . Under the circumstances, Bryant's victory in November

672-440: The opportunity to fight these forces of tyranny and they didn't do it. Ultimately, the burden is on our shoulders and we've got to accept that burden and we've got to take the time to get involved in government at every level - nationally, state, local." Cunningham moderated a Tennessee 20th Senatorial District Republican candidate discussion forum in 2012. TTR has sponsored efforts to persuade state officials and candidates to sign

700-410: Was a foregone conclusion. In his three subsequent re-elections, Bryant never failed to receive under 60% of the vote. His only serious opposition came in his first reelection bid, when Clarksville mayor Don Trotter faced him. Bryant defeated him by over 30 points. As of the 2016 elections, Trotter is the last reasonably well-financed Democrat to run in the 7th, and one of only three Democrats to make

728-482: Was later elected President of the Madison County Bar Association. Bryant first became politically active in a high-profile way in 1988 when he served as an early organizer for the abortive presidential bid of conservative televangelist Pat Robertson . Earlier that year, Eighth District Congressman Ed Jones decided not to run for reelection. Bryant won the Republican nomination for the district,

756-453: Was signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam . While most frequently protesting increases in personal taxes, TTR has also opposed some tax breaks offered to large companies and special exceptions to sales taxes. It criticized the budgeting process for a planned Nashville convention center, and in January 2010 called for the recall any city council member who supported issuance of bonds to finance

784-620: Was sworn in as a United States magistrate judge for the Western District of Tennessee. He retired from this position on February 28, 2019. Ed Bryant was born and raised in Jackson, Tennessee . His mother was a registered nurse , while his father was an electrician . Bryant attended Tennessee Technological University for a year before transferring to the University of Mississippi , where he received both his B.A. in 1970 and J.D. in 1972. As

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