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« Osamarama | Main | Frist In Line » October 30, 2004Tennessee Legislative Races Face Income Tax Impact
Many of Tennessee's GOP candidates have signed a pledge to support an amendment to the state constitution to explicitly ban a state income tax. The story extensively quotes Democratic state Rep. Rob Briley, who calls the pledge a "cheap political stunt." He would - Briley voted for the proposed state income tax two years ago, one of 37 Democrats in the state House to do so. His opponent in this election, Karen Bennett, is an outspoken foe of the income tax. Briley also, according to The Tennessean, said no court had ever ruled on the constitutionality of a state income tax. The Tennessean lets that go unchallenged, but it is simply a lie. Briley, an attorney, probably knows - or should know - it is a false claim. The state Supreme Court has ruled three times that the state constitution does not permit an income tax, in 1932 in Evans v. McCabe, and in 1960 in Jack Cole Co. v. MacFarland and reaffirmed in 1964 in Gallagher v. Butler. In all three cases, the justices ruled unanimously. Nashville attorney Forrest Shoaf examines those rulings, and attempts by income tax proponents to get around them, in an excellent article posted here. Shoaf: When the current Tennessee Constitution was adopted in 1870, Article II, §28, contained the sentence "the Legislature shall have the power to levy a tax upon incomes derived from stocks and bonds that are not taxed ad valorem." In 1929, the General Assembly imposed a tax on the income from certain securities. The validity of that tax, now known as the Hall income tax, was upheld by the Tennessee Supreme Court in Shields v. Williams, 159 Tenn. 349 (1929). Two years later, the General Assembly, in extra session, levied a graduated tax on all income. This act, however, did not fare as well as Sen. Hall's. In Evans v. McCabe, 164 Tenn. 672 (1932), the court struck down the tax on the principle of "exclusion by affirmation," i.e., that §28's enumeration of a permissible tax on one form of income (from securities) made impermissible a tax on all other forms of income. "When the Constitution conferred upon the Legislature the power to tax only one class of incomes, that instrument necessarily denied to the Legislature the power to tax incomes of other classes." Evans, at 680.The Tennessean knows this. They have written in the past about the constitutional issues surrounding the proposed state income tax. Why they allowed Briley's bald-faced lie to go into print without challenge, three days before an election in which Briley's advocacy for a state income tax is a key issue, is beyond me. Posted in Tennessee News
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One note regarding the Tennessean reporting on the income tax pledge...the same editorial that says the income tax is a dead issue which the Republicans are only bringing up as a political issue also brings them to task for wanting to tie the hands of future legislatures. They then proceed to regurgitate the argument for "fair" taxation. Posted by: Mark at October 30, 2004 08:31 PMBill, This comment is off topic for this particular post but ON TOPIC for several of your other posts that I have been reading. Mainly this is in response to a post on "Kerry's Lies" dated back in March 29th of this year but I didn't know if you would see my comments and I wanted to commend you. Thank you for your decision to STAND for the Word of God on your site. I have enjoyed reading your responses and TOTALLY agree with you. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING we can do on our own to obtain our salvation. It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ & our faith in His resurrection which is the hope of our salvation. This was accomplished 2000 years ago and we can add NOTHING!! By His grace we are saved through faith alone, not by works that any should boast!!! Praise God!! I would hate to live my life "wondering" if I could ever be good enough to make it to heaven. I KNOW I will be there because of what Christ has done! God Bless You! Posted by: Janice at October 30, 2004 11:47 PMHey, where are the bloggers!!! Get on this one. Newsmax is airing Stolen honor in its entirety this weekend, started last night. Will be shown 10 times today.... NewsMax.com NewsMax.com has broken the media’s censorship of the controversial documentary “Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal” and has begun airing the film on national television. Beginning Saturday morning, NewsMax began airing the documentary directed by award-winning journalist Carlton Sherwood on national networks and in local networks across the nation. Sherwood’s account of John Kerry’s activities as a leader of the Vietnam anti-war movement has infuriated the Kerry campaign. “Very simply, the press has accepted everything John Kerry has said for the past 33 years,” Sherwood said, explaing the media’s reluctance to air his film or offer the public a detailed account of its charges. "They have never challenged him. They never challenged him in ’71. They are afraid to do so now because they might discover that over three decades they were wrong about him and his war allegations." "Stolen Honor" aired on PAX-TV twice Saturday. PAX-TV, one of the nation's largest TV networks, reaches approximately 90 million homes. The documentary will air 10 times on PAX alone during this weekend, including showings on Sunday at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. EST/PST. In addition to national networks like PAX, NewsMax will be airing ‘Stolen Honor’ this weekend on numerous local stations across the nation, including ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates. NewsMax.com decision to air the censored program was based on the film’s newsworthiness. After a flurry of controversy earlier this month, Sinclair Broadcasting aired only four minutes of the 43-minute documentary. In a statement, NewsMax explained its action by noting that it was "critically important for the American people to hear the accounts of 17 American POWs and their claim that John Kerry and his anti-war activities betrayed them and the country." Also, EchoStar Communications, which operates the DISH satellite network, announced that on Monday, Nov. 1, it will offer Carlton Sherwood’s documentary available on a pay-per-view basis. DISH said "Stolen Honor" will be available to more than 10 million customers for $9.95 on channel 457 at 8 p.m. Eastern time and channel 455 at 8 p.m. Pacific time. "We are pleased to provide our customers a variety of political films and documentaries so they can make informed choices," said Susan Arnold, vice president of programming at EchoStar's DISH Network. Post a comment
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A story in today's Tennessean looks at the reasons why