[GailA]

I sent this to Rush and Fox News

I live in Tennessee and have been following this battle to force through an Unconstitutional Income Tax for four years now

Tennessee like all states has a SPENDING problem.

We have a Constitutional growth cap of 5.45%. BUT each budget for the past 8 years has been 12-13% higher than the year before. ONE BILLION dollars higher each year for the past seven years. This current budget is 12% higher than last year's budget.

Tax revenues have been 21% higher for the past decade while spending has risen 47%. Gov Spendquist wants to spend $1.5BILLION in NEW spending this year. $40M is for a NEW mandatory Pre-K for four year olds. In 5 years it will grow to $153M.

Rep (David Davis), with the agreement of Crowe and Patton, said a shortfall in the current budget of upwards of $350 million is a "real deficit,'' while past budgets "artificially" inflated expenditures to produce a deficit. (The Kingsport Times)

In other words these Lawmakers have been COOKING the budget to produce these deficits. They changed reporting dates to also effect how the revenue figures will look. They closed parks to lose tax revenues. Norris Dam Park lost $3M in sales tax revenue in just a few short months.

Only one item in the Commercial Appeal on 4/30/02 by Locker has reported the fact that Seniors whose SS income is subjected to the Federal IT will have to pay the 4.5% State IT on their SS income.

Mr. Naifeh said he would not be spending wildly yet he wants to grow the government by 300 new T-I-IRS employees. That sir/madame is spending wildly. ''I assure you that we, the Tennessee General Assembly, as long as I am there, won't be spending wildly because we're not going to have enough revenue to be spending wildly. We are going to have to be very prudent in what we do and what we spend if we are able to pass this bill. Naifeh The Tennessean 4/30/02

Last year they were forced to remove dozens of NEW college buildings from the bloated budget. They put them back into this years budget knowing it would drive the budget into the RED even further.

NOW they are threatening to cut 7,500 K-12 teachers.

Here's a cut you can make pg b35 womens economic council it has 2 full time employees 1 part timer and 1seasonal employee, salary consumes $73,500 and operations consumes $25,500 for a total of $98,700. Since they only spend a small amount of money on the actual job they do this council is NOT a necessity and should be abolished. It is one of those do nothing line some friend or relatives pocket job.

We had a doom & gloom no new taxes budget last year. Yet no child starved, no old lady did with out medical care. NO teacher lost their jobs. Memphis City School has 14,000 employees..of which 55% are teachers. Not one mention of laying off support personnel or administrators, just teachers.

There are things we could eliminate that would not effect basic human services. Holocaust Commission is one of them eliminate it. We could roll the TWO higher ED boards into ONE. Sundquist is purposing THREE NEW ED programs...he can't pay for the ones he has yet he wants to spend $61M for THREE NEW ONES. ONE A MANDATORY Pre-K for 4 year olds $40M is set to grow to $153M in 5 years.

Eliminate the wildflowers in the Medians it would save $1.5M money better spent DIRECTLY on Veterans; eliminate quality awards $50,000; eliminate diversity marketing $100,000; eliminate minority business center $200,000; eliminate economic council on women $92,000; eliminate funding for small & minority telecommunication programs $80,100; eliminate golf cart crossing $260,000 for Warrior's Path State Park; eliminate 2 positions on the Historical Commission $185,000, eliminate TN Commissioner on National & Community Services $185,000; eliminate judicial & court clerks conferences $360,500. Eliminate the "in honor of road signs" they cost $500 per pair we get 20 of them a year. Eliminate NEW specialty plates, it cost $2,000 for each plate to alter the computer. Eliminate the Black Enterprise Conference $400,000. We were paying Miss Tennessee $30,000 to speak about Education..this could be eliminated.

Consideration should be given to possible merging of the Dept of Safety and the TDOT. Comments made by TDOT indicate that savings of $3,600,000 could be achieved just by merging certain functions. U of M Central avenue improvements $200,000 N Central Parking log extension $1,180M N parking garage $14M Performing arts center $16M University center renovations $22M Richardson Tower improvements $8,590M Various dorm improvements $4,430M

Chattanooga STC Athletic facilities lighting improvements $320,000

Walters SCC Greene Co Expo Center $5M Sevier Co Library $3M Sevier Co socer facilities $250,000

UT@ Chattanooga College St special housing $4.420M

UT @ Knoxville Neyland Thompson sports center $11.6M Morrill Hall renovation $3.65M Administration parking garage phase 2 $700,000 Campus entrance $2M Intercollegate swim facility $19.3M (there are 2 Olympic size pools on this campus, one reserved for the swim team) Stokley athletic center renovation $19.4M dinning hall renovation $2.5M

Ft Campbell museum $1M (annual expenditure) Country Music Hall of Fame $1M (annual expenditure)

ETSU Sherrod library renovation $10.3M (This was $9,99M last year)

NESTCC New humanities bldg $13.990M Paris landing kitchen renovation $1.290M ETSU golf Practice area $250,000 Warriors State park golf cart crossing $260,000 (this was only $247,000 in last year's budget)

APSU McCord bldg renovations $6.840M WSCC college center renovation $4.380M DSCC--LLC Eller & Glover addition/renovation $6.90M UTK Glover bldg renovation/addition $24.3M UTMHSC college of pharamacy bldg $32.9M ESTU Greek row $9.250M FRAT HOUSE ETSU Tennis facility $1M

MTSU Greek row development $17M FRAT HOUSE housing renovations $15M obsovatory relocation $500,000 NEW sports museum $1M recreation fields replacement $4.150M property demolition $350,000 parking lot $600,000 Nursing bldg addition $4.15M women's soft ball locker room $500,000

State Museum new planning phase 1 $150,000 (State Museum already gets $2.4M)

MISC spending goes from $21,533,400 to a WHOPPING $176,438,800 with no listing on what it is being spent on.

Black Enterprise conference $400,000 Womens conference $92,000 warbler and elk land purschase $10M Electronic library $1M Public TV $3.223,600 (and they want $6.6M more to go digital)

This does NOT include the governors 3 new ED programs. $10M reading coaches $11.1M catch up for 7-9th grade for the new Gateway test $40.3 for the Early Childhood program which grows to $153M in 5 years.

NOR the $131M for the three pay raises he wants 5% for State workers $49.150M, 3.5% teachers $41,350M, there is another 2.5% pay raise $40.1M .

$20M for compensation job equalization for State workers $138M new funding for TennCare $10M for a new round of open enrollment TennCare AND he wants to replace the money they took out of the Tobacco settlement, that is a big chunk $233M

The State lost 91M to the CA energy mess, $18 in the Enron mess and $30M in the Reliance ins mess.

The TNCAFR reports says the TN government has $4.74 BILLION in reserve revenues. Sen Curtis Person has tried to get this report...but the Comptroler can't seem to find where the money is. http://www.cafrman.com/Articles/Art-TN-S1.htm

IT'S A SPENDING CRISIS NOT A REVENUE CRISIS.

Gail Keasling Millington, TN 38053

[tomahawk]

Message to Taxquist: No income tax now, no income tax tomorrow, no income tax ever! Stop spending so much money that isn't yours.

[vanna516]

I heard a "rumor" today from someone that does work on behalf of the state. Her boss is married to someone who works with the state IT department and they have purportedly been upgrading software and hardware in preparation for the collection & administration of the income for over a year now. I tried to go through the IT budgets in hopes of trying to find a money trail but no luck. I'm sure if any expenditures have been made for this, they are buried somewhere that we will never find it.

Regardless, there has been little discussion on how this will be handled if the income tax is passed. Curious.

[CamperDad]

> create a relatively small income tax, just 1 percent, effective next January

Boy, this is a "toe in the door" if I ever saw one. If Tennesseans allow ANY % income tax, that's the end -- it will never go away.

- CD

[ricer1]

"The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers with the least possible amount of hissing."
J.B. Colbert (1619-1683)

"I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load on us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy."
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)

[maximus@Nashville]

OK, day 2 of 21,000 less state employees....has anyone noticed a difference? I heard a traffic report this morning in which we were reminded "be sure that you have plenty of gas and your car is in good working order as TDOT trucks are not on the road to help you."

Well Duh, if everyone would take such precautions (as they should) there would be no need for this program in which guys ride around in trucks looking for cars on the side of the road. What did people do a couple of years ago before this program started? They called for a tow truck, as people have done since the begining of auto usage.

[IronJack]

as a last resort, harshly cutting state programs.

There's the problem! Harshly cutting state programs should have been the FIRST resort!

[IronJack]

You'll be told that every single one of those boondoggles is not only valuable, but absolutely critical to life in Tennessee as you know it. Cutting any of them one penny will result in cataclysms that will make Krakatoa look like a dog fart. Consequently, the only solution is to raise more money, since the Spendocrats' hands are tied.

But you know the drill. You've seen it before.

[LONEGUNMAN]

I heard about your tax protest in Ten. a few years back and I admired you folks for it ,but this time you seem to be buckling under. I wish that I could offer more in the way of tangible support,but since I cannot I will say only this;you know from your previous experience that your local gutless wonders are afraid of a big stink,so make one!Have an all day ,all night day of celebration and thanksgiving for the period of no government burden,have an open mike on the capitol steps which ordinary citizens may use to express their thanks to God for their relief from the burden of the bureaucracy. Do the Joshua with the car horns and the circling the Capitol like you did the last time,and the thieves will probably run for cover like they did before. Keep people aware of the actions of the incompetents in your government and the cost to them of the stupid plans they come up with and you might win again.

[wcbtinman]

So 22,000 "non-essential" state employees stayed home?

Looks like a 22,000 part tax cut to me! If the employees are non-essential in the first place, why are they working for the state govt at all? It's amazing how these morons cannot see the solution to their own problem right in front of their nose. (sarcasm)

[yoe]

If the TN government were shut down entirely, it would be a blessing!!!

[Lancey Howard]

Gail,

BUMP for great freeping!

Regards,
LH

[Lancey Howard]

Sundquist's complex proposal would......create a relatively small income tax, just 1 percent, effective next January. Voters would be asked to approve a constitutional convention, and if they rejected such a convention, then the income tax rate would increase to 3.5 percent on Jan. 1, 2005.

See what this sneaky scumbag is doing here?
He could have made the income tax a half percent. It doesn't matter. The objective is simply to get an income tax - - any income tax - - on the books. They can always raise it later. And again later. And again later....

Surely, the non-parasite Tennesseeans aren't stupid enough to fall for this....?