Friday, December 16, 2011

Get A Purpose of Go Home

Occupy Nashville had better come up with a good reason for being at the Plaza:


Protestors reacted by using power supplied by a battery powered generator for the day, and Occupy Nashville says they are going to pay to have the outlet in question rewired so that the wiring is not exposed any longer. That is well and fine, of course, but at this point it is fair to ask: What purpose is Occupy Nashville serving by remaining on the Plaza? Readers will recall that we have consistently supported the right of the protesters to be on the Plaza, but we have also said that they need to develop a purpose and a strategy or end their sit-in. The sit-in is now posing a risk to the health and safety of the very people who came to participate in it, and whose rights we have consistently defended in this space (despite the reality that this writer does not agree with the apparent politics of the Occupiers).

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Thursday, December 15, 2011

We Don't Deliver For You

In order to survive, the Post Office must have a business model that is relevant:

Everyone knows that the real problem for the Post Office is the reality that the institution-one of the few government offices whose creation was authorized in the Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 7) has failed to adapt to the realities of the 21st Century. From colonial times right up to the late 1990's, the majority of long-distance communication in America was done by means of letters sent in the post. Not only has the widespread availability of internet access allowed people to send letters via e-mail, but long distance communication has become cheaper and easier in general. Most wireless telephone providers offer free long distance, and to compete, many land-line phone carriers offer unlimited long distance plans. You don't even have to have internet access at home to send an e-mail-You can do that from your local library for nothing.

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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Ring That Bell

Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey has chosen a conservative stalwart with a strong work ethic to lead the Senate Government Operations Committee:

Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey has announced that State Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) will replace Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson) as Chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee. Watson has been elevated to the position of Speaker Pro Tempore of the Senate, replacing former Senator Jamie Woodson (R-Knoxville) who resigned her Senate seat this last summer. Bell is a committed fiscal and social conservative with the voting record to prove it.

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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Moving Ahead With It

Speaker Beth Harwell and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey are pressing ahead with plans to reduce or eliminate the death tax and the Hall Income Tax:

Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) both say that they are going to press ahead with respective House and Senate plans to cut and/or eliminate the death tax and the Hall income tax on dividends. Speaker Harwell told the Associated Press's Erik Schelzig that " House Republicans have wanted to address this issue [the inheritance tax] for a long time." Indeed, many House Republicans campaigned and were elected throughout Tennessee on platforms that included abolishing the death tax, and Republicans in both Houses of the General Assembly have the numbers to do it is they but stand together. As with any other Governor in Tennessee, a Haslam veto is a worthless one if a simple majority in both Houses chooses to override it.

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Monday, December 12, 2011

If Not Now, When?

If Tennessee taxes will not be cut now, when will they be cut?:

Despite Haslam's admission that these taxes do not represent long-term good or a pro-growth economic policy for Tennessee, the Governor claims that we can't afford to cut or eliminate them, or for that matter to abolish Tennessee's tax on groceries, which hurts the poorest citizens of our State. Haslam says we are still in an economic pinch and need to conserve every penny, and if these taxes were reduced or eliminated, that neither he nor the General Assembly has a strategy to replace the lost revenue that would result. Perhaps the Governor and the General Assembly need to come up with such a strategy so that these taxes can be cut for the benefit of all Tennesseans. Governments always come up with some excuse why they can't really cut taxes or reduce their size, and at some point when economic times are a bit better, it still isn't likely that either Haslam or a future Governor of either party will be beating the doors to the House and Senate Chambers down to demand passage of a major tax reduction. As is currently the case, a group of legislators will have to take the initiative, and we will again hear excuses from all quarters about why it can't be done or shouldn't be done now.

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