VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing Friday, March 3 James 1:2-4 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
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David Fowler, president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, is making a unique comparison between the recent defeat for religious liberty in an LGBT case in Washington state and a case more than 100 years ago in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law punishing polygamy. In both cases, courts upheld an underlying moral code, Fowler says. The difference between then and now is that the moral code has changed “What has changed – and it explains why polygamy could be banned in 1879 and why it will not be able to be banned in the coming years – is the religious beliefs that informed our laws back then. We no longer believe that God has imposed any laws on the social order that all must recognize, including those who make our civil laws,” Fowler wrote in his blog. In 1879 in Reynolds v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against George Reynolds, a Mormon and resident of Utah territory who argued that marrying more than one woman was integral to his religious faith. The high court said that allowing it would make an individual’s religious belief superior to the law of the land. Last month, the…
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Last week we told you about the Beacon Center’s online poll asking Tennessee taxpayers if they supported the Metro Nashville City Council’s preliminary vote to grant a tax incentive deal worth $14 million to Opryland. The early results showed that a staggering 92.5% opposed the luxury resort receiving generous tax breaks to build a private water park available to only their hotel guests. The poll is now completed, and the final numbers are in. After a full week of voting, an even larger margin of Tennessee Taxpayers – 95% – now oppose the deal. With such an overwhelming response, the Beacon Center took a look at how else that $14 million could have been used. Based on average salaries in the city of Nashville, this $14 million tax break to the Opryland hotel could have paid for one year’s salary for 276 teachers, 280 police officers, or 335 firefighters. Mark Cunningham of the Beacon Center noted in a statement, “Nashvillians and Tennesseans are almost unanimously opposed to giving taxpayer money to a water park. A whopping 95% of Tennesseans believe that this incentive deal to the Opryland Waterpark is a bad idea, which is truly incredible. Not even 95% of people…
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After Gov. Haslam ally and gas tax advocate State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma) voted “yes” in the House Transportation Subcommittee on Wednesday to send the governor’s IMPROVE Act to the full Transportation Committee which he chairs, The Tennessee Star contacted him and asked three simple, yet key questions pertinent to any further consideration of the gas tax: Can you confirm that 25% of  Highway Fund user fees go to the general fund? Can you confirm that suppliers and retailers of both gas and diesel can hold the tax money anywhere from 20-51 days depending on the month before remitting to state per dept. of revenue fuel tax schedule?” Was there any particular reason these important and highly relevant issues were not raised prior to the subcommittee vote today? Rep. Doss did not respond to The Star prior to our deadline. As the House Transportation Committee which he chairs now takes the IMPROVE Act under consideration, Rep. Doss has an opportunity to bring the answers to these questions out in the open for public consideration. The answers to those questions are of great relevance to the public, since “[o]ne of the principles asserted by Governor Haslam in support of his IMPROVE…
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VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing Thursday, March 2 Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.
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Wednesday afternoon, State Representative Andy Holt let loose with a blistering rant against the House Transportation Committee’s arcane maneuvers to pass Gov Bill Haslam’s IMPROVE Act, going so far as to include a photo of a bag of thirty pieces of silver. Via Facebook: Well everyone, The Governor’s gas tax just passed out of the House Transportation Sub-Committee. That’s what you expected from the “fiscally conservative” super-majority controlled republican House of Representatives here in Tennessee, right? So. Gross. If allowed to pass, your taxes are about to go up by HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of dollars in Tennessee — literally!! You all need to know something. You need to know the truth. You deserve the truth. The “media” will likely tell you that the tax was “stripped out of the bill”. That’s not true, and they know it isn’t… This episode of political theater was a well orchestrated display. The bill will soon be returned to its original form so they can add back all the taxes, and possibly more… Worst part of all? The “media” has been told by countless people what’s going on behind the scenes. They’ve literally been shown proof of corruption, lies, and quid pro quo, but…
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Sometimes government action creates unintended consequences. It is estimated that nearly 10 highly committed educators lose their license each year due to no fault of their own. Then have no recourse to resolve this issue. That is why we worked with Rep. Pitts and Senator Tracy to address this issue with House Bill 111 and Senate Bill 661.
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Andrew Ogles, the Tennessee director of Americans for Prosperity, was in a glum mood Wednesday afternoon after Gov. Haslam’s gas tax plan seemed to get a boost forward. Earlier in the day, Ogles and his fellow tax opponents were more buoyant as they rallied around the costumed Gas Can Man and hoped for a more positive outcome. The House Transportation Subcommittee voted in favor of Haslam’s transportation plan, albeit with an amendment that includes elements of an alternative proposal favored by opponents of the proposed tax increase. But Ogles believes that amendment will disappear once the plan is considered by the full House Transportation Committee, which Ogles says could happen sometime next week. “My suspicion is they’ll strip that off,” Ogles said. “This was merely a Trojan horse to get it out of committee.” Haslam wants to raise the tax on gas by 7 cents a gallon and for diesel, 12 cents a gallon. The current gas tax of 21.4 cents per gallon hasn’t changed since 1989. The alternative plan, known as the Hawk plan because it was put forward by Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, proposes using existing sales tax revenue to pay for road improvements. The Hawk plan was…
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