The Conscience Of A Conservative

12 Responses to “The Conscience Of A Conservative”

1. Terry writes
   May 13th, 2008 4:13 pm

   Good question, A.C. If you mean isn’t Bredesen like a “big spending” Republican, you may be right. I don’t know if trying to sneak through 27.2 million in new taxes by way of calling it a technical correction is so fiscally restraining.

   Nor was the tobacco-tax increase boondoggle that was supposed to bring in bucketloads of cash.

   And how about blowing nearly a billion and half dollars in surplus? And before that, nearly a billion. And raiding the road fund and then supporting toll roads (more new taxes) in order to cover that short-fall as he commits the state to more recurring expenditures.

   And what of his support of the massive increase of coal taxes? A tax that would be directly passed onto to electric consumers?

2. Truth writes
   May 13th, 2008 4:27 pm

   Uh, the primary proponent of tolls roads is Sen Diane Black, the Republican Caucus chair. Maybe Bredesen has gone along with her, but she’s the force behind it.

3. D writes
   May 13th, 2008 4:28 pm

   Terry,

   What about the national situation? An $850 bilion trade deficit. A one time surplus is now a $5 trillion debt. Agonizingly high gas prces due to record oil spikes all under a Republican administration and a majority Republican Congress.

   And at the state level, Bredesen has improved the state from where Republican Don Sundquist had depleted the rainy day and reserve funds, making the state more attractive to investors and companies looking to relocate and provide good jobs with healthcare.

   If you want to continue on about “sneaking through” a tax hike which a number of Republican legislators either knew about, voted on, or were too busy to notice, then please address why Tennessee should have one of te lowest tobacco taxes in the country? Why should Tennessee rely on only state funds after Pres. Bush stripped nearly $70 million from state highway projects?

   You, my friend, and your party have no legs to stand on when it comes to fiscal restraint and tranparency in government. You’ve squandered your credibiliy all while your were squawking on your nitwt radio program.

4. Sean Braisted writes
   May 13th, 2008 4:35 pm

   Bredesen is a Northeastern Republican, yes.

5. Terry writes
   May 13th, 2008 5:55 pm

   Sean, we might finally agree on something.

   And “D”, I criticize Republican errors quite frequently on the radio program. But don’t act as if Nancy Pelosi or anything of even the so-called Blue Dog Dems have done anything to stop spending. Check out the spending restraint of Congressman Lincoln Davis, for instance.

   When it comes to spending and growing government, Bredesen ranks at the top. And why shouldn’t Tennessee have one of the lowest tobacco taxes in the country? It seems the economic genius of raising taxes as high as Tennessee did kind of back-fired for the revenue windfall, didn’t it?

   At least when we had low taxes, we served as a draw for folks to come from other states to escape their high taxes. Kind of like folks move to our state for our no income tax status. And linking recurring expenditures to a tax passed for the purpose of discouraging tobacco use (and therefore an acknowledged diminishing return) is kind of silly.

   And by the way, Tennessee is a DONOR state to the national transportation fund. You know, we could opt out, couldn’t we? Has Bredesen ever thought of doing the math on that one?

   And “Truth”, so now Bredesen is just following a Republican State Senator who has a stupid idea? Diane Black is right on a lot of issues, but dead wrong in my opinion on this. Diane told me to: I guess that explains why Bredesen gal Velma Jones walked out of TDOT into her role as a lobbyist for toll roads? And he supported the idea.

   This is news to me. Governor Bredesen supports toll roads because Senator Black told him to!

6. LOL writes
   May 13th, 2008 7:23 pm

   As if we needed more evidence that Terry Frank is a drooling idiot, she now argues that Tennessee should keep its cigarette tax low so more smokers will move to the state.

   Do the world a favor, Terry, don’t pass your imbecile genes on to another generation.

7. Mickey writes
   May 13th, 2008 7:38 pm

   Leave Terry alone, she is a great Republican… she just doesn’t know what a conservative is.

8. Donna Locke writes
   May 13th, 2008 9:15 pm

   Bredesen hasn’t done Tennessee any favors. He has been a destructive force.

9. Sweargen writes
   May 13th, 2008 10:27 pm

   There’s a pair of intellectual titans for you, Donna Locke and Terry Frank. Do they have half a brain between them?

10. Donna Locke writes
    May 13th, 2008 10:56 pm

    Does size matter in gray and white?

11. Terry Frank writes
    May 15th, 2008 5:33 am

    LOL: I was referring to the fact that purchasers cross the border and purchase their smokes here. We get their tax and purchases benefit our own businesses.

    I notice most can’t argue or negate any of the points here.

12. Tom Paine writes
    May 15th, 2008 10:11 am

    Terry, no one ever suggested raising the tax on tobacco would negate the effects of yet another Bush recession. They DID suggest it would be a “revenue positive” way of reducing Tennessee’s consumption of tobacco by the 25% of Tennesseans who smoke.

    Let’s not forget the first year of Bredesen’s administration was spent digging the state out of the ditch in which Don Sundquist had led the state (hey, wait a minute, wasn’t Sundquist your guy, hmmmm…..?)