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« Gored | Main | Tennessee Fire Marshall Attacks Homeschoolers » March 5, 2007No Tax Cut Despite Surging Surplus, Bredesen Says
The Tennessean reports on the governor's refusal to consider cutting taxes at all despite the state's revenue surplus... Spending from state dollars has outpaced inflation for most of Gov. Phil Bredesen's four years in office and will increase another 7 percent under his fiscal 2007-08 budget proposal. Yet the governor does not believe the state should cut its sales tax on food - a tax that some say unfairly burdens the poor - even though the state again expects to end the year with a surplus.Bredesen makes it sound as if tax dollars are scarce but he was poised last week to give more than $200 million to Toyota, which rolls up profits of more than a billion dollars a month. Which is it, governor? Are we so flush with cash that we can subsidize a hugely profitable corporation? Or so poor that we can't afford to reduce the tax on the food people eat. A fight over where to spend the state's growing revenues, and over whether even more money is needed, is shaping up in the state legislature as lawmakers in the coming weeks begin discussing several bills aimed at reducing the 6 percent sales tax on food. "We have plenty of new money coming in this year to put money in reserves, reduce the sales tax by half a cent, which is around $38 million, and still have money left over for new spending,'' said Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, sponsor of one of the food tax reduction bills.Cutting the food tax by half a cent would require Bredesen only cut his proposed budget by 0.14 percent. That's it. It's a minor reduction in what would still be a large spending increase. Posted in Tennessee Government News
Comments
OK . . . we get it. This is the Anna Nicole-equivalent for you, Bill. Great. Fine. This is like the Republican Party and homosexuals: why do you obsess so much? It is a bit telling is it not? Walter Reed? Nope. Coulter and her oh so classy political discourse (and quite the bit more mainstream than a bunch of dirty-mothed hippie bloggers I might add what sharing the stage/introduced by GOP candidates)? Double-nope. Or how about a post about the message as opposed to the messanger . . . ahem . . . the environment? Triple-nope . . . Too busy . . . Gore = hyprocrite . . . must keep discussing Gore. I suppose these stories are all just a bit too inconvenient, huh? Hey . . . I am all for you getting to the bottom of this story. I have a sharp disdain for hypocrisy in all shapes and forms, but is this all you got? Is this all that occupies your time? You seem to care more about Al Gore than any liberal I know. What about a little more on the mayoral and city council races to touch on some local issues? Posted by: Morris Berg at March 5, 2007 11:48 AMAnd I apologize because I actually posted my last comment on an honest-to-goodness non-Gore entry. Being a man who admits his mistakes (of the mouse or the mouth): KUDOS, Bill! Thank you. Posted by: Morris Berg at March 5, 2007 11:50 AMI don't know... There seems to be a key difference between the stories: Gore v. Coulter. In the case of Coulter, she said something idiotic and everyone is weighing in on it. In the Gore case, Hobbs is doing original reporting. Frankly, I'd rather see more original reporting than yet another opinion on Coulter's hateful comment - or on Sen. Clinton's accent fiasco, for that matter. Posted by: notfaulkner at March 5, 2007 1:59 PMAlso, if I can add one more thing: It makes more sense for a Tennessee blogger to investigate a Tennessee favorite son than, say, Walter Reed or Anna Nicole Smith... although I hope that the DC bloggers are digging into issues surrounding the VA hospital and that Bahama bloggers are getting the real story behind America's current favorite blond bombshell before the E Network does. Posted by: notfaulkner at March 5, 2007 2:14 PMKeep pounding on Philly B. An ignorant air head blond like Anna Nicole has no affect on anyone outside of her junky friends. She is more alive now in the media than she was in real life. However, Philly B's persistence in denying a tax cut on food does affect us directly. And it will eventually affect Philly B. His tired old Democrat excuse of "cost too much" will eventually wear thin with the citizenry. Especially if they can be shown the hypocrisy of $200 million for a very profitable(34%) and successful company versus putting an extra 10% of food on your table. You think Philly B. even knows what a gallon of milk costs? Posted by: Rick Forman at March 6, 2007 12:17 AMPost a comment
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Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen was eager to give away $200 million or more of Tennesseans' hard-earned tax dollars to Toyota, which made a $3.6 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2006, but he is adamant that the state can not afford to give up $39 million in future revenue to cut the sales tax on grocery by half a cent. 