Libertarian View
Given the current joke of a governor in Don Sundquist and some serious need of house cleaning in the legislature, I've decided that I will vote for Ray Ledford for Governor in November.
For the most part, the Democrats and the Republicans either want to levy an income tax or at least won't stand against it. What part of the Tennessee State Constitution do they not understand? The Libertarian Party will put a stop to this nonsense. Nonetheless, the people of Tennessee will have their work cut out for them until the November elections. There will be another attempt by our elected officials and special interest groups to implement a state income tax and line their own pockets while the working people continue struggling to make ends meet.
When it takes 196 years for state spending to reach 10 billion dollars and just nine years for it to double, it sure doesn't sound like a revenue problem. It seems more like a spending problem.
I won't make the same mistake of allowing a politician like Sundquist to smooth talk me into voting for him like I did in 1994. I will vote for the candidate that will enact spending reform, not tax reform in November.
Chris Fortner
Knoxville
Reprehensible Reprint?
Unfortunately, I've come to expect it from news conglomerates like E.W. Scripps and Gannett—recycling news stories, features, and editorials. Scripps even had the gall to centralize its presidential endorsements, disregarding regional differences and community diversity. As a result, the daily in Memphis, a hotbed of Democratic politics, carried an endorsement of George Bush. These practices bastardize community papers, lessen our sense of regional identity, and reduce the quality and quantity of public discourse.
It is reprehensible when an independent, alternative newspaper stoops to such practices. Bill Carey, while a competent writer with a keen understanding of Tennessee legislative politics, writes for the Nashville Scene. "Tennessee's 10 Worst Laws" appeared in the February 21 edition of that newspaper. Your verbatim reprint (March 14, cover story) of the story is just plain lazy. I enjoy the Metro Pulse and look forward to its weekly release. You can do better.
Garrett Wagley
via email
The Long View
Oh my, two of my favorite people in Knoxville—Jack Neely and Dorothy Stair—duking it out in the pages of Metro Pulse ("Secret History" March 28, letter April 4) In the same pages nearby we have a letter regarding the conflict in the Middle East and a thoughtful editorial ("Editor's Corner" April 4). The tragedy in every instance is that—with significant but far too few exceptions—the people who can afford to take the long view, do not. It is always easier not to care. I salute the courage and conviction—and the "long" views for the greater good—of both Stair and Neely. What would do without you both?
Theresa Pepin
Knoxville
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