The anti-income tax revolt in Tennessee is over, at least for
this legislative session. Thanks to a coalition of dissenting
politicians, renegade talk radio hosts, an energized public, and
perhaps a Benevolent Deity, Tennessee remains one of the few
no-income tax states in America.
Some rest and recreation is surely in order. The last days of
the campaign were brutal. Hideous charges were leveled against the
no-tax activists, including linking them to the untimely death of a
pro-tax pol (who as it happens had also been brought up on charges
of exposing himself to little girls). The government was shut down
(non-essential services, anyway), making it impossible for regular
citizens to visit museums and get driver’s licenses.
On the brightest side, surviving pro-tax pols face severe
sanction from voters. The two chief candidates in the upcoming
governor’s race promise not to back an income tax, including the
Democratic candidate, who as mayor of Nashville was thought by some
to suffer from taxation intoxication.
THE FINAL PUSH
The anti-tax movement has fought off dozens of attempts to pass
the state income levy, thanks in large part to supreme agitation by
local talk radio host Phil Valentine. Valentine, as reported
earlier,
broadcasts from the legislative square each time he is tipped that
a tax vote has been scheduled. Within a quarter hour hundreds of
anti-tax foot soldiers appear on the scene. Within an hour
thousands might arrive, many driving around the legislative
compound honking their car and truck horns. At times they have
charged the building on foot, causing legislators to be removed to
the hospital.
Valentine, to no surprise, has the best ratings in town. Indeed,
when he put out an anti-tax song it went to number one on the local
charts. For his troubles he has been branded a fool, rabble rouser,
moron, dervish, menace to children and the elderly, enemy of museum
curators and the staff at the DMV.
The final push took place at the beginning of July, and pro-tax
advocates took a page from the Valentine playbook: They fielded an
army of their own, which established its position on the ground
formerly occupied by Valentine and his troops. “There were only
about 30 of them,” sniffs Valentine, “and there seemed to be a lot
of Frisbees flying around.” Valentine notes that when the
anti-taxers occupied that ground they were forced to bring their
own generators, while the pro-taxers were allowed to run ground
lines from the legislative compound. “They were sucking up
government benefits and begging for more taxes.”
Legislators offered various tax-related bills to get the museums
and parks open again, including the income tax and legislation to
raise the sales tax. The income tax was their highest hope, of
course, and on the evening of July 2 Valentine got a tip the
pro-taxers were making their move. The hounds of obstruction were
immediately loosed.
“I got in touch with Steve Gill, who has been fighting the good
fight from his show at WTN, and we both got on the radio and put
out the warning. I also sent out a mass email Within a half hour,
some 1,000 protesters arrived.” House speaker Jimmy Naifeh, his ear
to the ground, postponed the vote, promising to bring it up at ten
the next morning. Valentine went home and returned at 10 a.m.
sharp, leading a protest till four that afternoon. Once again, the
pro-income tax legislators failed, though a sales tax increase
passed. The museums reopened. According to Valentine, the state’s
rising number of illegal aliens can once again get their driver’s
licenses in a timely manner.
VERY BAD BLOOD
But the story is not over. “They’ll be back,” says Valentine,
and it seems the next chapter will be especially poisonous, largely
due to acrimony surrounding the death of State Representative Keith
Westmoreland.
The trouble began when Westmoreland, a pro-tax legislator, was
arrested in Florida for indecent exposure. According to
authorities, Westmoreland has flashed his privates at some girls at
a swimming pool, and for his trouble he was deeply ridiculed by
Valentine and Gill. Sadly, Westmoreland shot himself. Suddenly the
talk show hosts found themselves in crosshairs of a different
sort.
“One local commentator said I’d gone beyond the pale by calling
him a pervert,” says Valentine. “Well, exposing yourself to little
girls is the definition of a pervert. Besides that, the local
police held a press conference and reported they’d received similar
complaints about Westmoreland, and had warned him about this. There
was a sense that more would have come out. But that didn’t matter.
During the protests a reporter from the Tennessean (the
local Gannett rag) came and asked me if I would be ridiculing
Westmoreland if he were still alive. I said yes, of course, but
since he’s dead, I wouldn’t. As my grandfather used to say, the
pale face of death is a flag of truce. But the Tennessean
reported that I said I’d gladly ridicule him again.”
The local alternative paper took a similar tack: “On topics like
tax policy, welfare and TennCare, local talk radio personalities
like Phil Valentine and Steve Gill are champions of what they refer
to as ‘personal responsibility,’” it said in an editorial. “On the
morning following the death of state Rep. Keith Westmoreland,
however, Gill and Valentine vehemently denied any responsibility
for Westmoreland’s disgrace and suicide. We think their denials
carry the distinctive odor of hypocrisy.”
The editorial added that the jocks had “cynically attempted to
use the Westmoreland scandal as a weapon in their on-air battle
against a state income tax” and ended by accusing them of dancing
on Westmoreland’s grave. To no great surprise, Valentine charges
pro-taxers with using the uproar for their own advantage. “They’re
trying to undermine talk radio to help their cause, which is to
pass the income tax.”
For now, however, Valentine and his colleagues seem to have the
better of the situation. State Senator Bob Rochelle, a leading
income tax proponent, has suspended his re-election campaign. “He’s
blaming it on death threats,” said Valentine, “but I’ve heard that
his internal polling shows him trailing his opponent (anti-tax
Representative Mae Beavers) by 30-70 percent.” The tax is “The
Issue” in the governor’s race. Republican Van Hilleary, a U.S.
congressman, is fully against the tax, and opponent Phil Bredesen,
former mayor of Nashville, is also on the record against it. “We’re
also getting word that the speaker is in trouble over his handling
of this last vote, and may not keep his position.”
Death and taxes, it appears, remain closely related in the great
state of Tennessee.
