BASIC RULE --- There is no limit to the government's hunger for your hard-earned money.
Flash back to last summer. Tennessee's governor and the state legislature tried to sneak a state income tax under the radar screens of the voters and the news media. They conducted most of their discussions in closed-door meetings and worked on weekends to get the income tax they wanted. Local talk radio stations got wind of it and set off a massive protest outside the state capitol. After the income tax proposal failed spiteful (Democratic) legislators tried, and failed, to levy a tax on talk radio stations.
Now, to the present. State legislators in Tennessee have been working on a new budget this week. A state income tax was on the agenda. It was tabled last week. But, was the idea dead? Apparently not. Late yesterday afternoon the word went out … the state senate began talking about resurrecting the income tax and would be voting on it later that evening.
That's when it hit the fan. Talk show host Phil Valentine heard of the plan, told his listeners, and protesters headed for the capital building. It wasn’t pretty. They shouted "No new tax" and "No means no!" State troopers in riot gear and scores of metro police officers were called in to help control the protesters.
Unfortunately some windows were broken. That’s not good. But the Senate backed off the income tax thing in a heartbeat. That was good. The end result? State lawmakers wound up passing a bare-bones budget. Tennesseans have won this latest round.
Rest assured that state legislators will try again--if not this year, then next year. And the next year. And the year after that. They won't give up their fight for the power to raid your wallet. Cut spending? Streamline government? Are you kidding? They need that money to buy votes! Cutting government down to a reasonable size is out of the question. They know what kind of political power they can buy with your money. They won't stop until your money is theirs.
Never stop paying attention to your elected representatives.
http://www.newschannel5.com/news/0107/12/protest2.html
Flash back to last summer. Tennessee's governor and the state legislature tried to sneak a state income tax under the radar screens of the voters and the news media. They conducted most of their discussions in closed-door meetings and worked on weekends to get the income tax they wanted. Local talk radio stations got wind of it and set off a massive protest outside the state capitol. After the income tax proposal failed spiteful (Democratic) legislators tried, and failed, to levy a tax on talk radio stations.
Now, to the present. State legislators in Tennessee have been working on a new budget this week. A state income tax was on the agenda. It was tabled last week. But, was the idea dead? Apparently not. Late yesterday afternoon the word went out … the state senate began talking about resurrecting the income tax and would be voting on it later that evening.
That's when it hit the fan. Talk show host Phil Valentine heard of the plan, told his listeners, and protesters headed for the capital building. It wasn’t pretty. They shouted "No new tax" and "No means no!" State troopers in riot gear and scores of metro police officers were called in to help control the protesters.
Unfortunately some windows were broken. That’s not good. But the Senate backed off the income tax thing in a heartbeat. That was good. The end result? State lawmakers wound up passing a bare-bones budget. Tennesseans have won this latest round.
Rest assured that state legislators will try again--if not this year, then next year. And the next year. And the year after that. They won't give up their fight for the power to raid your wallet. Cut spending? Streamline government? Are you kidding? They need that money to buy votes! Cutting government down to a reasonable size is out of the question. They know what kind of political power they can buy with your money. They won't stop until your money is theirs.
Never stop paying attention to your elected representatives.
http://www.newschannel5.com/news/0107/12/protest2.html
