‘No new taxes’ protest in Tennessee

Tennessee should consider changing its official nickname from “The Volunteer State” to the “We take no crap” state, following last week’s protest of a legislative effort to implement a statewide income tax.

Tennessee is one of nine states that doesn’t have a statewide income tax. It’s sales taxes, however, are among the highest in the country – 6 percent – with localities adding another 3 percent on top of that in some cities and counties.

But residents don’t pay an income tax and don’t want to, either. If state lawmakers don’t get that through their thick skulls, some of them could end up hurt someday, and soon.

Gov. Don Sundquist, a Republican, rode into office a few years ago with a Bush-like pledge: “No new income taxes.” But, as did Bush the Elder, within a few years Sundquist reneged on that pledge, saying a new state income tax was “needed” because the state’s bean counters couldn’t make the budget balance.

When Sundquist reneged, many Tennesseans banded together and staged a non-violent, modern-day version of a Boston Tea Party. Using local and statewide talk radio hosts, anti-tax activists managed to “whup up” enough support from residents to not only oppose the new state income tax proposal, but to actually act upon that opposition with enough noise to get lawmakers and Sundquist to listen – at least temporarily.

Street protests took place. Horn-honking campaigns in the capitol and around the state were organized. People did anything and everything they could to not only make their anti-tax voices heard, but to add strength to their effort with numbers and by showing up in public.

That brings me to the latest chapter in this anti-state tax saga.

Sundquist the “no new taxes” liar, along with other lawmakers, were again trying to sneak through a new income tax last week before they were, once again, caught and exposed.

House and Senate negotiators had hammered out the details in a private meeting, according to published reports, and had decided upon a new income tax figure of 2.75 to 3.5 percent.

There was no indication in reports on whether lawmakers were planning to lower the state’s high sales tax rate to offset the new income taxes, but some sources tell me lawmakers were likely planning to keep the 6 percent sales tax rate and add the new income tax on top of it.

Word of the plans leaked out, though, and – as before – made it onto the statewide talk radio circuit (today’s equivalent of Paul Revere’s famous ride). The next thing lawmakers knew, over 200 Tennesseans “stormed” the capitol building in Nashville, breaking out windows, invading the state house interior and banging on the closed doors of the state senate chambers.

Screeches of “no new taxes” echoed loudly from the halls. Horn-honking campaigns began once again in earnest. Lawmakers were verbally harried by protesters as they made their way into the capitol (guarded by armed state police, of course). Some even suggested going to the home of the senator who proposed the new income tax and storming his place.

In the end legislators and senators again decided they’d better drop the new income tax measure. Instead, they voted to use $560 million of the state’s portion of the national tobacco settlement to help balance the books.

What lawmakers apparently did not do, however, is cut out much of the wasteful spending anti-tax residents say is driving lawmakers to find new revenue sources.

My contacts tell me one of the biggest budget biters these days is something called “TennCare” – a statewide socialized health-care plan that is now so grossly out of control and over-budget that it is becoming the state’s version of Social Security; offering no real health benefits but costing a fortune to fund. In fact, Sundquist’s initial violation of his “no new taxes” pledge, I’m told, centered around trying to keep TennCare funded.

Rather than repeal this monstrosity or scale back other programs, state lawmakers instead have obviously chosen to mimic federal lawmakers and simply bilk Tennesseans for more of their hard-earned money.

Except that Tennesseans are having none of it.

If Americans across the country take anything from what is going on in Tennessee, it should be this: If we’re serious about opposing the wasteful spending and oppressively taxing nature of Washington’s politicians and bureaucrats, obviously a show of force is the only way to get some action.

Sounds pretty radical, to be sure, but since no other kind of protest has worked worth a damn, Boston Tea Parties and invasions of Capitol Hill seem to be our last remaining viable options.

Until we barbarians bust down the gates of the ruling elite, they aren’t going to pay much attention to what we say or what we want.

Want proof? Go to Tennessee and suggest a new state income tax.