MTSU POLL: One In Six Tennesseans Admit To Telling Racist Jokes About The President

By Kleinheider Posted on March 3, 2009 at 11:58 am

The newest poll on state and national issues in Tennessee is out from our friends over at Middle Tennessee State University complete with charts and graphs. Some of the more interesting findings below.

THE LEGISLATURE: “Meanwhile, the proportion of Tennesseans who approve of the state Legislature’s job performance has slid from 39% in the fall to 34%. The last time the Legislature’s approval rating sank this low was in fall 2005 and spring 2006, when Tennesseans were absorbing news of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “Operation Tennessee Waltz” sting that led to the arrests of several legislators on bribery charges….The best predictor of disapproval is frequent newspaper reading.”

RACIST JOKES: “Nearly one in six Tennesseans has told a joke about Barack Obama’s race, and three-fourths say they’ve heard or read at least one, even though only 15 percent of Tennesseans say they would find such a joke funny.”

IRAQ: “Just over half (53 percent) of Tennesseans say sending troops to Iraq was “a mistake,” while 38 percent say the move was not a mistake, and the rest aren’t sure.”

WINE IN GROCERY STORES: “Sixty-two percent of state residents say grocery stores should be allowed to sell wine, while just over a quarter (26%) disagree, and 12% don’t know.”

BREDESEN: “Gov. Phil Bredesen’s approval rating has slipped to 52%, down from 58% in the fall and well below his tenure’s high of 72% in Spring 2004.”

“Among demographic factors, education makes the biggest difference, with under half (45%) of Tennesseans without a college degree expressing approval of Bredesen compared with nearly two-thirds (64%) of those with a college degree.”

STATE INCOME TAX: When asked to choose between the two statements: “Tennessee should amend its constitution to forbid the state from ever introducing a tax on personal income” and “Tennessee should introduce a tax on personal income to lower sales taxes and eliminate taxes on groceries,” 46% of Tennesseans support constitutionally banning a state income tax, and 40% support introducing a state income tax with cuts in sales and food taxes.

ABORTION: A majority of Tennesseans (52%) say abortion “should be legal under some circumstances, but not others.” Smaller percentages say either that abortion should be illegal under all circumstances (25%) or legal under all circumstances (19%).

OBAMA: Fifty-three percent of Tennesseans say that they approve of how President Barack Obama has done his job so far, and only 27% of Tennesseans disapprove. In the 2008 election, 57% of Tennessee voters cast their ballots for Obama’s Republican rival, John McCain, while only 42% voted for Obama

SEE ALSO:
Sean Braisted
R. Neal

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Tags: abortion, Barack Obama, MTSU, MTSU Poll, MTSU survey, Phil Bredesen, President Obama, racial politics, racist jokes, State income tax, state legislature, wine in grocery stores  

Clarifying The Income Tax

By Kleinheider Posted on December 11, 2008 at 4:11 pm

The pork mailing representative from Germantown aims to drive a stake through the heart of the state income tax:

Representative Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) announced today that he and other House Republicans have filed a constitutional amendment to clarify that the Tennessee Constitution prohibits an income tax and a payroll tax.

“I hope to clarify once and for all that Tennessee is an anti-income tax state. If this amendment passes, we will never have to face another income tax battle again,” said Kelsey. “With the current economic realities some will tell you your taxes must be raised. The last thing Tennesseans need to be worrying about right now is having to pay a state income tax or a payroll tax. There are enough taxes already, and state government must learn to live within its means,” Kelsey continued. “It’s a new day in the legislature, and it’s time to put this issue to rest and let the people vote on it.”

Thirty-nine of the fifty House Republican Representatives have signed onto the resolution as original prime co-sponsors. Rep. Kelsey originally introduced the resolution in 2007, but that was before Republicans took a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives last month for the first time known since 1869.

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Tags: Brian Kelsey, State income tax  

McMillan Blames Past Income Tax Support On Geography

By Kleinheider Posted on April 29, 2008 at 8:49 am

Exploratory Gubernatorial candidate Kim McMillan explains that her support for a state income tax in the past was based on the location of her district and that she would not support one today because we have the “type of tax revenue system that doesn’t need that particular type of environment’:

McMillan, who filed papers Monday creating an exploratory committee to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010, said she supported the income tax because she was following the will of her constituents, who live on the border with Kentucky, which has no sales tax on food.

“When I had to choose between a plan that would allow us to remove the sales tax on food and make us competitive with Kentucky or increase the overall sales tax with no benefit to anybody, I think that was the choice that I took at that time in line with what the constituents of the 67th District told me that they thought was more appropriate,” McMillan said.

McMillan’s entrance into the Democratic race for governor will provide the first test of how Tennesseans react to a statewide candidate who openly pushed for a state income tax.

Since the great fight over a state income tax from 1999 to 2002, no candidate has run for statewide office who openly advocated for the income tax.

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Tags: 2010 Governor's race, Kim McMillan, Lincoln Davis, State income tax