Has Duane been converted?
Say it ain’t so, Duane. Have they gotten to you? Come back toward the light. It’s not too late! But, it was probably inevitable that you would succumb to the constant drumbeat for an income tax. It would take a superman to withstand the relentless media-driven assault.
Here is an idea. Since you, Duane Sherrill, still have the best conservative credentials at the Southern Standard, you would have the credibility to convert the rest of us horn-honkers over to the income tax side. Here is how you can do it.
Do some research and explain:
1. How it is that all the states that now have an income tax are in as bad (or far worse) financial condition than we are? How it is that Kentucky has both an income tax and a lottery but is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt? How it is New York and California are billions and billions of dollars in the hole? How it is an income tax will be a magic bullet for Tennessee when it does not work anywhere else in the nation?
2. How it is that 11 months ago, Tennessee’s budget was in balance (even collecting more than we were spending since we were funding rainy day accounts) and now, less than a year later, we are over a billion dollars short? How it is that less than one year ago, we could hire new teachers and now, less than a year later, we need to fire thousands of teachers, thousands of state workers, and throw sick people out into the street? How it is a 2 percent inflation rate can cause such a horrific turnaround in such a short time.
3. How it is state auditors have identified over $700 million in waste and inefficiencies (about $500 million in TennCare alone) yet we are told nothing can be done about it?
4. How it is moral to expect someone else to pay your taxes? How it is moral, as pointed out in a guest editorial recently, that Warren countians would be putting one over on Williamson countians because we would pay less than they would under an income tax and how it is that for Warren countians to continue to win this income tax game, we have to continue to be losers in the game of life?
It is a tough assignment, Duane. Over the past 10 years, state governments across the nation have been on an unhinged spending spree. The bill is now coming due. And yes, it is time to tighten the belt around our state’s bloated budget.
Sincerely,
Bob Flanders
170 Mitchell Road
McMinnville