Excuse me?

Just read this at the Tennessean political blog:

'Wamp criptically [sic] tweeted today,

Working people should be wary of candidates who’ve never had trouble paying their taxes, cause they’ll grow govt and raise your taxes.”'

I read this and thought…wait so is gubernatorial candidate Rep. Zach Wamp saying we should embrace folks who HAVE had trouble paying their taxes? Surely not. I’d rather have a governor that didn’t have any tax issues at all, actually.

Wamp shouldn’t make this contest anything close to class warfare. Is this what 14 years in Congress does to your thinking? I don’t fault Mayor Bill Haslam for being rich. Happy he’s got it. Hope he’s using it wisely. Hope he's sharing it.

What I need is a governor who understands clearly that the state budget isn’t their money by right and that every dime comes from hard working folks who also need it. They should look at those golf courses, party bunkers or higher ed expansion and say---are these even a legitimate functions of government and more importantly is it right to ask the Brooks to hold off buying shoes for the kids or tires for the car to pay for it?

Shrinking government and making sure we're only spending money where we must will go a long way toward ensuring lots of Tennesseans don't have trouble paying their taxes.

MNPS taxing authority

Well they had their 'give the BOE taxing authority' rally yesterday and surprise, surprise (not) the news is full of how this would be a good thing for MNPS. Less politics, more accountability, less bickering, yadda, yadda.

I don't understand how having the Mayor, in consultation with the BOE, suggest a budget amount for MNPS and then the Metro Council passes the budget, after budget hearings asking about the needs of MNPS and its past performance (to include how they spent the money they got last time) is LESS accountable than handing over taxing authority to the BOE directly. Please remember, once the Council passes the budget they hand over a lump sum to the BOE who then has the freedom to spend that money as they see fit.

"The public is left out there with no idea which authority to hold accountable,” said Stephen Smith, assistant executive director of the Tennessee School Board Association." City Paper

So the School Board Association instead of educating the public about the process so that we can make wiser decisions about who to hold accountable will "dumb down" the process to ensure this homework isn't too hard for us. Bonus for the education system is they only have to persuade nine people that their pet project is worth reaching into your wallet. Remember, this is all about making it easier for the BOE not easier for taxpayers. I've absolutely no doubt that the BOE doesn't enjoy have to go hat in hand to the Mayor or the Council but that's part of accountability--having to answer for what you've done with what you got before.

And where should it stop? Maybe the police and fire departments should also have taxing authority. The same bogus argument about accountability could be made for them too. Personally, I value public safety over public education. And speaking about public safety...what about the health department? Maybe they shouldn't have to suffer the inconveniences and embarrassment of making a case for their expenditures.

This from the Tennessee County Commissioner's Association back in December of 2008:

"As things stand right now, the Tennessee Constitution would have to be changed in order to directly give school boards taxing authority. That takes time as such a proposal would have to pass two separate General Assemblies and then be approved by the voters. What could happen right away is that the General Assembly could lift the ban on existing school districts converting to special school districts. We have about 14 special school districts in Tennessee currently, but the law has prohibited the creation of any new special school districts for some time. Special school districts levy a property tax pursuant to a private act adopted by the state legislature that sets a tax rate for the school system. So it would take taxing authority away from the county commission, but would give it to state legislators who usually act based on the recommendations of the school board for the special school district." (emphasis added)

How does moving this taxing authority up to the state level make our neighborhood schools and our school board more accountable? Looks like they'll have the same excuse they've got now "Well, we could have done better but the Council/Legislature wouldn't let us have the money we needed."

And what we know about education spending is that the BOE will raise taxes to the maximum the Legislature will allow as quickly as it can with nothing but an election every other year for half of the board to slow it down. You'll have nine folks, most of whom are less financial geniuses than the Metro Council, deciding how much of your money you'll have left to feed and clothe and house your family because they see what they do 'for the children' as more important that what you're trying to do for your own children with the money you earned.

According to the Tennessean the MNPS is 40% of the Metro Nashville budget. 40%! We're getting close to the tipping point. This year the BOE wants $620 million dollars to education about 75,000 children. That's about the current quote for the new convention center. And they've been spending about half a billion dollars for several years now. That's $8,000+ for every one of those 75,000 students and that doesn't include state or federal dollars. They've got enough money.

No matter how many times the Chamber and its partners say 'accountability' this plan is less accountability. They are calling black white and white black. They're going to repeat that often, loudly and in full color brochures as long as we'll let them. I say no. Absolutely no. If the goal really is accountability...how about we see those teacher value added scores AND we put the MNPS check register on-line?

Nip it. Nip it in the bud

Because they've done such a good job at picking BOE members and Superintendents the Chamber now wants to facilitate consideration of the BOE having taxing authority. Who didn't know this conversation was going to be renewed in this era of tight budgets, property reassessments and the unquenchable MNPS budget 'needs'?

Education 2020 Speaker Series As Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) continues to struggle to meet the rising benchmarks of No Child Left Behind, Nashville must have a governance system that aligns the day-to-day responsibility of running our schools with clear accountability for results. With the governance of MNPS currently being shared among the school board, director of schools, mayor and the state of Tennessee, there is a pressing need for community discussion about governance reform. Please join us for a panel discussion exploring the possibility of allowing the Metro School Board to control its own budget by having its own taxing authority.

Panelists:
Julia Bernath, vice chair, Board of Education, Fulton County, Georgia
Kent McNish, board member, Franklin Special School District
Stephen Smith, assistant executive director, Tennessee School Board Association Alvin Wilbanks, superintendent, Gwinnett County, Georgia

Let's start with the fact that once the BOE gets more than 1/3rd of the Metro Budget...they pretty much have carte blanche over how it's spent. They've already got control. And what control they don't have can be vastly fixed by refusing Federal dollars and getting out from under NCLB all together.

Then let's move on to the fact that it was Chamber President/CEO Ralph Schultz that trained the BOE in the very flawed Policy Governance system they already use that fails to provide 'clear accountability' for results. Exhibit A: Pedro Garcia. Exhibit B: State oversight.

Nashville Tea Party 2009-02-27

Two of the children and I attended the Tea Party at the state capitol today at noon. They announced the crowd as being 600. Being as short as I am and being on the Plaza I didn't have the vantage point of being able to confirm that but the crowd was very good for such short notice on a drizzly day.






I always get a kick out of observing the media at these events. It's not unusual for them to be completely unaware that they're being rude by pushing through the crowd to get the spot they 'need' for their shots and being unaware of the fact that some of us are shorter than they are.







Not surprisingly, Ben Cunningham got the biggest applause. He understands and clearly articulates the fact that the power of the US government is via the people and we need to make Congress sit up and take notice. They do need to 'fight for us'.


Some of the speechifying came from folks who are obviously quite willing to use support for the Obama administration's outrageous money and power grab in their own upcoming bids to replace those legislators who voted yes on TARP, Stimulus, budget...



Our state GOP leader, Robin Smith did a fine job herself in ensuring that folks understand that the GOP is going to fight this 'change'. She even gave props to Gov. Bredesen for taking a moment to look at whether Tennessee should commit to accepting all the available money.


GOP Spokesman Bill Hobbs had a pile of the TN GOP's newest bumper stickers: "Honk if you're paying my mortgage". A couple of us agreed that in some neighborhoods it wouldn't be safe to put this on your car so we declined the offer.

The only legislators in attendance seemed to be Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) and Rep. Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville). Some sent their regrets. Since all this came together in less than a week it's understandable that some couldn't make it. It was announced that Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Murfreesboro) was off in Europe. A crowd of folks walked the two blocks down the hill to Rep. Jim Cooper's (D-Nashville) office in the library building. Last I saw them they had gathered in the park opposite his office.

I fully expect that those in attendance are not done yet. I believe they intend to demand legislation dismantling the Porkulus Bill (and its squealing siblings) and will not forget come election time.

Not waiting until January

State legislators are already beginning to file legislation for the upcoming 106th General Assembly. Big thumbs up on HJR0003 (no income tax) and HB0009/SB0003 (picture ID for voters). Looks like Rep. G. A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) is still on his parental rights soapbox. You may remember he was the one who managed to offend nearly every woman in the state by suggesting all babies be tested for paternity. I like lower taxes on food...but Hardaway is sponsoring it?

I certainly hope that this group of legislators realizes that the number of bills has gotten completely out of hand---4,280 last session. Filing a bill doesn't make you a good legislator. Remember quality trumps quantity. You'll have enough to do just balancing the budget mess Gov. Bredesen and Speaker Naifeh gave us.

*HB0001 by *Cobb J, *McCormick, *Dean. (SB0001 by *Watson.)

Highways, Roads and Bridges - As introduced, enlarges optional projects as pilot programs permissible under Tennessee Tollway Act to include: (1) presently permissible single highway project and single major bridge project, (2) two highway projects or (3) two major bridge projects. - Amends TCA Section 54-3-113.

*HB0002 by *Hardaway.

Child Custody and Support - As introduced, enacts the "Equal and Fair Parenting Act" to create a rebuttable presumption that equally shared parenting time is the custody arrangement in the best interest of a child. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 6, Part 1.

HB0003 by *Cobb J. (SB0002 by *Yager.)

Rhea County - Subject to local approval, repeals the ban on partisan elections for county executive and county legislative body of Rhea County. - repeal Chapter 322 of the Private Acts of 1978.

*HB0004 by *Bass, *Turner M.

Handgun Permits - As introduced, provides that person exempt from classroom and firing range training requirement by reason of prior military experience is also exempt from payment of $115 application and processing fee. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.

*HB0005 by *Hardaway.

Child Custody and Support - As introduced, requires that a court in making a decree or order for child support set a presumptive date for the termination of the current child support obligation. - Amends TCA Section 36-5-101.

*HB0006 by *Hardaway.

Lottery, Scholarships and Programs - As introduced, creates the Tennessee Education Lottery financial assistance grant for certain students who are financially needy. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 4, Part 9.

*HB0007 by *Hardaway.

Taxes, Sales - As introduced, reduces sales and use tax on food and food ingredients from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent. - Amends amend TCA Title 67, Chapter 6.

*HB0008 by *Hardaway.

Banks and Financial Institutions - As introduced, limits fee that high-cost home loan lenders may charge for third or subsequent pay-off statement provided to borrow in 12-month period to $10.00. - Amends TCA Title 45 and Title 62, Chapter 13.

*HB0009 by *Weaver. (SB0003 by *Beavers.)

Election Laws - As introduced, requires a voter to present qualified photographic identification before voting; voters without proper identification shall be allowed to cast provisional ballots. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 7.

Joint Resolutions:

*HJR0003 by *Kelsey, *McDaniel, *Casada, *Lynn, *Maggart, *Matheny, *Johnson P, *Shipley, *Halford, *Rich, *Swafford, *McCormick, *Niceley, *Harrison, *Brooks K, *Cobb J, *McManus, *Bell, *Hill, *Lundberg, *Haynes, *Lollar, *Evans, *Dennis, *Brooks H, *Hensley, *Weaver, *Sargent, *Ford , *Dean, *Williams, *Coley, *Watson, *Floyd, *Montgomery, *Carr, *Eldridge, *Johnson C, *Harwell, *Faulkner.

Constitutional Amendments - Proposes an amendment to clarify the constitutional language that currently prohibits the levying of a tax on any class of income, other than income derived from stocks and bonds, and to prohibit any tax levied on or measured by employer payrolls. -

Whose money is it?

I agree.

"Bredesen and his fellow Democrats, on the other hand, view your money as the “common good” and “common wealth” to be used in ways that are beneficial to society as a whole, as determined not by you the taxpayer, but by them." TNGOP

I'd throw in a couple of Republicans too. It certainly seems the only explanation. Families tell legislators we need to keep more of our money and we can decide on our own what charitable efforts to fund. But that's not good enough. It really does come across as they know better than we do how to spend what was OUR money.

Here's the video of Gov. Bredesen's amazing comment (Hat Tip: TnGOP):

Here, again, is what Gov. Bredesen said:

“One of the great things about being governor is you get to take taxes away from people and then give it back to them and they’re happy to have it back. Is this a great job or what?”

“Frankly, Gov. Bredesen, the people of Tennessee would have been very happy to get some of their tax money back last year, when the state had a $1.5 billion revenue surplus,” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party. “Instead, governor, you raised taxes by $242 million, and agreed only to a token cut in the sales tax on food. " TN GOP

And I was up there last year risking life and limb during a thunderstorm saying "Give it back" and pointing out our grocery taxes last year came to $956.30 and asking them to Cut the Food Tax. But Gov. Bredesen and the legislature didn't 'give it back'. They decided that $1.3+ Billion in extra revenue had better places to go than the Brooks family (and your family).

The only money we got back was $10 from the Republican House Caucus. We eventually got an anemic 1/2% reduction in grocery sales tax that just this month went into effect.

The Governor didn't "take taxes away from people and then give it back to them". He gave it to his staff in hefty pay raises. He gave it to former land owners along the upper Cumberland, he's about to give it to contractors for his very exclusive party bunker.

This isn't a great job. This is a very poor job.

Cost of Public Education

Ben Cunningham has a very illuminating chart at his site about the rising cost of public education vs. the cost of oil which he got from Carpe Diem . We're all complaining about the price of gas but we really need to take a hard look at our education dollars.

Carpe Diem's Mark Perry writes in the comment section:

The comparison is between: a) real spending/price to educate one student in a public school and b) real spending/price to purchase one barrel of oil. Even without using oil as a comparison, we can still say that REAL spending to educate one student in a public school has increased by a factor of 10.

and

Since World War II, the real price per public school student has increased by almost 40% each decade. My point was that rising oil prices get a lot of media attention, even though real oil prices are the same today as 1980-1981. During the same period, the real price per public school student has doubled, and receives significantly less attention in the media.

It gets significantly less attention because we're wrongly shamed into silence. To look at the dollars and ask if we're receiving a good return for our money is forbidden. It's for the children, you see. Some would deny us the right to question how this money is spent as if because it's for children it's not possible that's it's being misspent or could be better spent. A 10 minute conversation with a teacher, an aid or even a bus driver will reveal plenty of waste. Likely it will also provide some legitimate insight into how that money could be better spent.

Here's another chart. This one compares dollars to ACT outcome. MNPS is wildly out of line.

Give it back

This morning's City Paper relates the brouhaha that is surrounding the state's version of the Metro Nashville Council 'discretionary spending' fund in an article titled "Local lawmakers upset" (good luck with that link, btw). It's obvious it's not working very well on the state level either.

There's a lot of whining, complaining and but, but, buts and then, if you can hang on and read through all of that, comes this blast of freshness:

Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Brentwood) ...did not want anything to do with distributing the money. "I don't want to hand a check to anyone."

THANK YOU! A few more clear headed leaders like this and we could actually get something done in this state.

GREAT quote from TN Secretary of State Riley Darnell:

"I understand your [lawmakers] unhappiness with it, but I didn't create this mess. You did."

It's times like this it's very clear that that what the state legislature does best is create messes. The legislature decided that they'd be generous with our money and throw $100K to each house district and $300K to each senate district and in their overeagerness to spend last year's $1.5 billion overtaxes didn't take the time necessary to prevent the mess they're in now. Haste makes waste, gentlemen. And it's not always just your time and resources that get wasted.

The thought of actually returning this money to taxpayers and letting US decide which local projects were worthy of support, never seemed to enter their minds. And so now we've got professional politicians acting like 4 year olds fighting over who got the bigger piece of cake.

Just give it back and let us decide.

Cut the food tax!

I was downtown in front of the capitol before 7 this morning along with about 8 other people waiting to trade a grocery receipt for a Kroger gift card courtesy of the Republican House Caucus. It didn't take but an hour for them to hand out all their $5.00 Kroger gift cards.

The state has got some $1.7 BILLION in unexpected additional revenue (thanks to a tremendous economy) and yet we've got to beg our legislature to return to the citizens even a portion of this overage. There is $83 million for property on the Cumberland Plateau but families are supposed to be content with maybe a 1/2% reduction in the food tax??? I've provided over $1,000.00 in food tax money to the state. Too many of the legislators think I should be happy getting a $5.00 break. Shoot--at least the Republican caucus was able to double that to $10.

There wasn't much drive by traffic but a good number of horns were honked in support.

There was, however, a steady stream of what appeared to be office workers passing by on their way to work. Apparently they got to work and bragged about the free money they'd gotten and their office mates realized this 'stunt' was the real deal. And so shortly after the first wave of 'going to work' folks here came their officemates, likely taking an early coffee break, climbing the hill with a receipt in hand to collect their share.




There were several moms, with children in tow, that found a parking place and made the hike up the hill. I can't think of a better illustration of what's at stake than the one at the left. Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) and Rep. Glen Casada (R-College Grove) speak with a mom and her daughters who've come to exchange a receipt for $10.00 worth of gift cards.

The folks I chatted with seemed to appreciate the effort. Some were kicking themselves for cleaning out their purses/wallets and not having a receipt.






Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Lebanon) was there along with Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol), Rep. Glen Casada (R-College Grove), Rep. Mike Bell (R-Riceville), Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough) and a couple of others that I couldn't recognize from my position down the hill at 6th and Charlotte.

I appreciate the effort these legislators made on behalf of families across the state. I'm glad to support them in their effort to support my family.

I understand the argument that the sales tax is a stable source of revenue but that doesn't give the legislature the right to abuse that source by making big plans to spend this gargantuan excess on personal pet projects. We've got families who could really use their $1,000 in grocery taxes back.

One final question---where are all those advocates for the poor who were so vocal in their assertions that the grocery tax had to go back when we were on the cusp of an income tax? Why haven't they been around making a fuss and demanding refunds for these families? There still wouldn't be a better, more immediate benefit for them than to have the tax on groceries disappear.

$956.30 a year

Yes, that was me at the Legislative Plaza reminding legislators as they drove into work this morning that the surplus tax receipts wasn't their money and they should give it back.

NewsChannel 5 posts a brief note about the Tennessee Tax Revolt protest this morning. However, they say the surplus is "$1.3 million".

The group is asking elected officials to return part of the state's one $1.3 million surplus, in the form of tax breaks.

That should be BILLION, with a "B". And I'm not surprised at the error. It's nearly impossible to believe that they collected $1.3 Billion in extra cash.

In preparing for the protest I wondered if putting a dollar amount on the sign would be impactful. Since I save my receipts it was possible for me to figure out what this family of six paid in tax for groceries. That amount came to $956.30. It was impactful. I was surprised and so was everyone else I talked with.

We stayed through the pouring rain, hid during the lightening, and were glad to see a number of thumbs up from legislators and waves (and horn honks) from passing cars and pedestrians.

Poor families had the progressive liberals demanding an income tax to replace the food tax since the later was so harmful to them. (Where are those people during this debate, btw?) And they were right in that respect. One of the quickest ways to bring relief to families is by eliminating the tax on groceries. I'm hoping this will be a solution even Democrat lawmakers can swallow.

Today's must read

Regardless of whether you agree with his politics or not you should do yourself a favor and add Ben Cunningham's Taxing Tennessee site to your RSS feed. His guest blogging elsewhere has only made many of us wonder why he hadn't created his own blog--well, thank goodness--he finally has. You're going to be bookmarking from Ben and glad you did. And if you accidentally discover he's an OK Joe and not as whacked out as some on the other side of the political spectrum make him out to be--all the better.

Yes, he's going to keep you updated on tax efforts here and across the nation but also much more. If you're not into taxes and politics the tastier tidbits from Ben's Internet buffet include:

Google Book: Gutenberg was good--but this is Google folks.
25Gigs of free online storage--who couldn't use more virtual closet space?
Obituary info--family sluthes, heads up.
Marley Money--proving even bad hair decades doesn't hold some back
They do so have a small--now the secret's out.
The Fauxtoshop Diet--sign me up.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Ben. It's good to see you here.

(Hat tip Bill Hobbs)

Elite activist objects

There is an amazing argument against the Tennessee Tax Revolt's efforts to give citizens the right to vote on property tax increases on a local blog for magnet school parents. This entry leans so left you may have to weight your computer monitor to read it while sitting upright. This line leapt out at me.

They [supporters of the petition drive] are interested in a political system that favors wealthy, elite activists who are over-represented in tax referendum elections.

Some have said that that the magnet schools system favors wealthy, elite activists who are over-represented in the school board election process.

The author of this entry may be a good example:

Alan Coverstone
Alan Coverstone is a teacher of Government and Economics, as well as Academic Dean at Montgomery Bell Academy. He is the father of two children who attend Hull-Jackson Montessori Magnet School, a part of the Metro Nashville Public Schools. He helped found and served as president of the PTO at Hull-Jackson. He also served as a Parents Advisory Council representative on the Mayor’s School Funding Task Force and currently serves on the Magnet Cluster board of the Parents Advisory Council.

Mr. Coverstone writes:

They openly call tax increases "pay cuts" for their family with no consideration at all of the "benefit increase" they receive from property value increases regularly experienced in communities with strong schools.

As a teacher of economics maybe (but I doubt) he can explain the 'benefit increase' the families of the Maplewood cluster are receiving from their property tax dollars.