Free Republic

TFT blasts Tennessee for regressive tax structure Wednesday, January 08, 2003 By Hank Hayes Times-News KINGSPORT - Taxation in Tennessee has gone from bad to worse, according to a statewide group that continues to advocate tax reform. In a series of news conferences held statewide, Tennesseans for Fair Taxation announced the release of a report concluding that Tennessee has moved from having the sixth to the third most regressive tax structure in the nation. The report, done by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, said Tennessee is among 10 states asking their poorest residents - those in...

<p>Faced with a potential $400 million teacher-pay problem, a potential $300 million TennCare problem and a new tax system not living up to expectations, state lawmakers may try to carve into a couple of sacred cows to balance next year's state budget.</p>

Limited new revenue could tax Bredesen's effectiveness By Tom Sharp, Associated Press November 17, 2002 NASHVILLE - Gov.-elect Phil Bredesen vowed on the campaign trail that Tennessee needed more efficient management of state government, not new tax money. Bredesen should get help fulfilling his no-tax pledge from the $933 million tax increase passed by the General Assembly in July. Conventional wisdom says even a moderately capable manager, let alone someone with Bredesen's reputed business acumen, should be able to manage for a while with that much new money. Frequently overlooked is a contrary fact: There isn't that much new money...

News of the death of Tennessee tax reform may have been exaggerated Sunday, November 17, 2002 By Hank Hayes Times-News Is the idea of tax reform in Tennessee - including the possibility of a state income tax - really dead? Or is it merely hibernating? House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, who unsuccessfully tried to push tax reform through the House last spring, doesn't see the issue resurfacing. "I think the only way we will have tax reform will be through a constitutional convention," said Naifeh, D-Covington. "We did pass that last year in the House, and the Senate did not pass...

Stakes high on lottery, top offices By Paula Wade wade@gomemphis.com November 5, 2002 Tennesseans will brave steady rain today to make history - electing a new governor, a U.S. senator, filling three open congressional seats, recasting much of the state legislature and deciding on a long-debated state lottery. The contest between Democrat Phil Bredesen and Republican Van Hilleary is the closest governor's race since 1986 but the stakes are much higher than simply deciding who gets to live in the Governor's Mansion. After three brutal years of fiscal crisis in state government and a vicious campaign season, Tennesseans will choose...

Bredesen says GOP flier plays to religious bigotry By Paula Wade wade@gomemphis.com November 2, 2002 NASHVILLE - Gubernatorial candidate Phil Bredesen blasted a recent Republican mailing as ''a blatant appeal to religious bigotry and hatred'' because it questions teaching about world religions in Nashville schools. Bredesen, speaking to the Nashville Downtown Kiwanis Club Friday, said he was ''disgusted'' by the mailer, sent by the Tennessee Republican Party to about 50,000 Tennesseans, mostly in rural areas. A spokesman for Bredesen's Republican opponent, Van Hilleary, denied a role in sending the mailing. The direct-mail ad pictures a statue of Buddha and says...

Bredesen's radio blitz gets help of local leaders By Paula Wade wade@gomemphis.com October 31, 2002 NASHVILLE - Hoping to spur black voters to the polls, Phil Bredesen's campaign for governor is blitzing Memphis's black radio listeners with political ads featuring top local leaders. The $75,000 buy on radio stations with heavy concentrations of black listeners - a huge amount for a single radio market - features endorsement ads from Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton, Tennessee House Speaker Pro Tem Lois DeBerry, U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., City Councilman Rickey Peete, Sen. Roscoe Dixon and Rev....

Hilleary lead 'a real one' in tight poll By Paula Wade wade@gomemphis.com October 27, 2002 NASHVILLE - Van Hilleary and Phil Bredesen are neck-and-neck in the Tennessee governor's race, with Hilleary measuring a 2 percentage-point lead, a new poll shows. The poll, which shows Hilleary at 41 percent and Bredesen at 39 percent, suggests a photo finish that hinges on turnout and the 15 percent who say they're undecided. The Commercial Appeal and News Channel 3 commissioned the poll of 819 registered voters across Tennessee. The two-point spread is statistically meaningless, because the error margin is 3.5 percentage points. The...

Bredesen snubs law, kicks in $1 million Democrats say Hilleary broke liquor-money vow By Tom Humphrey, News-Sentinel Nashville bureau October 18, 2002 NASHVILLE - Democrat Phil Bredesen said Thursday he has provided $1 million to his gubernatorial campaign and stands ready to spend more to counter negative ads against him. Republicans denounced Bredesen's move as a violation of law that limits gubernatorial candidates to $250,000 in self-financing per election. Bredesen spokesmen said the law is patently unconstitutional and is not being enforced by state officials. Republican nominee Van Hilleary, meanwhile, was criticized by Democrats for collecting contributions from liquor- and...

<p>In the statewide battle to become governor, one candidate has been trying to make Nashville's recent tax history a campaign highlight film.</p> <p>Over the airwaves and even on the side of a mobile billboard, state Republicans paint former Nashville mayor Phil Bredesen as a man eager to boost taxes, despite his vigorous claims otherwise and despite assertions by campaign staff that two tax hikes were for schools — ''an investment in Nashville's children.''</p>

Hilleary challenging Bredesen about law that's been ruled unconstitutional By Woody Baird, Associated Press October 11, 2002 MEMPHIS - The election finance law Van Hilleary keeps accusing Phil Bredesen of ignoring was seen as a legal long shot even by its backers in 1995. The law limits the amount a candidate in a statewide race can spend on his or her own campaign to $250,000. In their race for governor, Republican Hilleary has repeatedly chided Bredesen, a millionaire, for refusing to promise to abide by that restriction. Bredesen, a Democrat and former mayor of Nashville, spent $6 million of his...

Van Hilleary weasel word phil bredesen Bredesen, Hilleary trade shots on records By Jody Callahan callahan@gomemphis.com October 7, 2002 Outside WREG-TV's downtown studios Sunday afternoon, supporters of gubernatorial candidates Phil Bredesen and Van Hilleary waved placards and shouted at one another. Inside the studio, a slightly more civilized confrontation occurred. The first Memphis debate between Democrat Bredesen, the 58-year-old former Nashville mayor, and Republican Hilleary, the 43-year-old congressman from Tennessee's Fourth District, began with civility but soon turned sour as both candidates went on the attack. The negativity was particularly apparent in the second half of the hourlong debate,...

Bush due here Tuesday for fund-raiser By Georgiana Vines, News-Sentinel associate editor October 7, 2002 President Bush comes to Knoxville Tuesday to speak for fellow Republican Van Hilleary in the congressman's quest to be Tennessee's next governor. The noon luncheon at the Knoxville Convention Center will be one of the largest fund-raisers ever held in East Tennessee, event sponsors say. Hilleary opposes former Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen in what is considered a close race that will be decided on Nov. 5. The winner will succeed Republican Don Sundquist, who isn't eligible to seek another term. Susan Richardson Williams, luncheon co-chair,...

<p>When Tennessee voters arrive at the polling booths for the November general election, they may be stupefied to discover that Republican Don Sundquist will not be on the ballot.</p> <p>Even in the campaign's final month, the term-limited Sundquist seems to be everywhere. This late in the race, Sundquist is still in it.</p>