November 6, 2002

Was I Right?

Was I Right?
I went back and re-read a column I wrote 15 months ago about Phil Bredesen and the income tax, a column that was wrongly interpreted as a near-endorsement of Democrat Bredesen over Republican Van Hilleary in the Tennessee governor's race.

It was nothing of the kind. It was a warning to conservatives that Bredesen had the rhetoric right on the income tax - and it could propel him to a victory they didn't want.

I wrote: Bredesen said the state’s heavy dependence on the sales tax inevitably causes revenue growth that rises and falls more or less in sync with economic growth and economic slowdowns. When revenue growth slows, he said, "It's fair to ask the governor of our state to manage through the process" and "tighten up."

That diagnosis was right on target, and easily understandable by the average voter. At the time, Hilleary was saying he was against the income tax unless voters approved one in a constitutional convention - which made it possible for some to suggest, wrongly, that Hilleary secretly supported just such a constitutional amendment. While Hilleary discussed constitutional intricacies, Bredesen was saying, in effect, "the guvmint's gotta live with what it's got."

His track record of serial tax-raising and spending, notwithstanding.

But that was then. This is now. Bredesen is our next governor.

Incidentally, out on the campaign trail he said he opposed Hilleary's plan to roll back the 1-cent sales tax increase the Legislature passed last July. But 15 months ago, I reported in my column, Bredesen told the newsletter Tennessee Politics that the no-new-taxes budget the General Assembly passed July 12, 2001, was sufficient and the legislature should pass another one in 2002. They didn't. They passed a tax increase that will cost Tennessee taxpayers $933 billion this fiscal year and more than $ billion next year... and the year after that, ad nauseum. Bredesen favors the government keeping every dime and spending it.

That's Bredesen consistency for you. He's says he's not for tax increases, but he'll be glad to spend them. If, two years from now, Naifeh & Co. pass an income tax to deal with equalizing teacher pay "for the children," I guarantee you Phil Bredesen will either sign it or allow it to become law without his signature.