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Chip Brown.

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House Arrest

Used to be back in olden times elected officials could do what they wanted with no fallout from the people at home. These days, what with the information revolution I see things changing.

Last week, we almost saw an old fashioned tar and feather party at the Tennessee State Capitol. I was already plucking chickens when the Governor ran out the back door and all the congress people ran home. There is no doubt in my mind that a few nin-compoops had decided to slide an income tax under the people's noses.

Now I'm not saying we won't have to have an income tax one day, I'm just saying not now. Not next week or next year. In fact I think it should hold off until I'm dead and gone. I'm taxed enough.

Our governor must own stock in some tax audit firm the way he pushes that income tax. He reminds me of a six year old little boy who isn't getting his way. I have visions of him pitching tantrums in his office every time it gets voted down. He says he's "disappointed" in the elected official that helped incite the riot. I could see that same six year old screaming at the top of his lungs, Jimmy is a tattletale!" This elected official didn't incite a riot, they simply told people what was happening. Was it not happening? Of course it was, the powers that be just got angry that the little people found out. They start pointing fingers and asking, who snitched on our scheme?

I am sorry for the office workers who got scared. The tax scheme wasn't their fault. But the fact is, when these people impose a new tax there are repercussions. Maybe not always what we saw at the capitol, but maybe the ones that happen silently are worse. The lady ran from her office because she was scared. When we pass a new tax, an eighty year old woman may have to leave her home. Not because she's scared, but because she can't afford to keep the farm now that old Frank has died. She sells it so that state workers may get a pay increase without cutting any of the pork barrell four lane roads to important people's houses out in the middle of nowhere.

I've written extensively my ideas on taxes. There is no need for an income tax at this point. They call the new proposal "Bare Bones." Bare bones in my opinion is status quo, not a budget that allows pay increases. When they say we have to cut 300 million don't be scared, look at the amount of proposed spending increase for new projects. The trick, much like training a bear to ride a bicycle is to teach our elected officials to cut the 300 million from the new spending and leave established funds alone.

It's like me wanting a new motorcycle. My wife says, "Chip it's not in our budget to buy the new Harley next year." If I were an elected official I would say something like, "We have a motorcycle deficit...give me more money!" My wife, much like the yahoos who stormed the capitol would say, maybe in a nicer way, "no."

So then I would threaten budget cuts! I would leave the spending for the new Harley on the books and threaten to cut spending next year on say...the electric bill.

We spend and spend in this state and still we see no difference. The roads in Knoxville are still full of potholes. Yet our President appoints Mayor Ashe to some sort of post. I'm happy for Mr Ashe. What few times I've met the man he seems nice enough. However, if I lived in Knoxville and paid taxes I would probably treat him as I would a child. "Now Victor, don't you think you should fix the streets before you go play with George W.?" "That's a good boy, theres plenty of time to play after your chores are done."

And our state ran college is becoming a joke on the national level. We're too interested in football and who wrote love notes to who to concentrate on education. Do we really need to pay administrators a million a year to oversee our college? Now, many of my newsletter readers are UT faculty and some are close friends of mine. They have told me in the past that we do this to attract students away from other colleges. We want to be a research college. Last year one of my friends pointed out that we cloned a cow!

I was impressed at first but later I began to think about it. We spend gazillions a year, raise tuition and all we have to show for it is a cow? A dead cow now. Tennessee farmers produce cows every week for about $85. Maybe we need to get rid of the administrators and hire a farmer to run the school.

For that matter, maybe we need to hire a farmer to run the state. Take ol' Joe down to the capitol and let him make decisions based on common sense. That's something that seems to be lacking in our state. Every budget year the first plan of balancing the books is to create a new income tax. I'm telling you if they had tared and feathered the whole bunch last week no jury in Tennessee would have convicted them.

Somewhere these brains of society decided the people of Tennessee would rather have an income tax than a lottery. Sure, both will take our money like a mugger in an alley. But at least with the lottery we have a chance of getting something for our money.

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