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Nashville, Tennessee

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Nashville Scene - Pith in the Wind

The Nashville Scene News Blog

Paving Wetlands for the Wealthy

Posted May 15, 2008 at 01:03:52 PM by Jeff Woods

Now that state lawmakers have decided to let certain commercial real-estate tycoons off the hook on taxes, they're desperately looking for an extra $15 million to plug the budget hole. One possible target? The state's land acquisition funds that are used to protect wilderness areas and wetlands.

It's a neat solution to the budget problem, isn't it? Lawmakers decide to keep giving a tax break to commercial real-estate businesses, which can then pave wetlands that would have been protected by the land acquisition funds if they hadn't been depleted to give the biz pigs the tax break.

Among the fabulously wealthy who benefit from the tax break are Nashville's May family, which started May Hosiery Mill in 1895 and now owns downtown properties, Belle Meade Plaza and Belle Meade Office Park. And that's not to mention lots of land at Bells Bend, which the family wants to pave for a Cool Springs-like shopping paradise.

Category: Legislature, Politics, Woods
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Pride and Prejudice

Posted May 15, 2008 at 11:08:45 AM by Jeff Woods

Republicans made this little video to welcome Michelle Obama to Nashville today and they're asking Tennessee's radio stations to play patriotic music to mark the occasion. "The Tennessee Republican Party has always been proud of America." And America is proud of the Tennessee Republican Party. My chest is swelling with pride even as I type this.

Category: Politics, Woods
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Dean Making Political Mistake

Posted May 14, 2008 at 01:02:27 PM by Jeff Woods

Mayor Karl Dean is misleading the public about the state of Metro's finances and making a political mistake by not preparing voters for the need for a property tax increase.

Just about everyone familiar with the city's finances figures a tax hike will be needed next year to avoid some serious slashing of spending. But as we write in this week's Scene, Dean has been running around the city telling people that a little belt-tightening will take care of our problems.

To this point, Dean has pretended not to understand the troubles that lie ahead. (Or maybe he’s naive. Over drinks during the campaign, one Dean adviser griped to Scene staffers, “We’re talking about a candidate with about as much political sense as this beer mug.”)

At Glencliff High School during one of his town meetings last month, Dean actually said this: “The stars have sort of aligned right now in our city where we can make an investment in our schools.” And this: “If we plan for some tight years, we’re going to be fine.”

In his State of Metro speech Tuesday, he suggested “smart fiscal management” is all that’s needed. “Although times are tight,” he said, “we know that will not always be the case.”

Dean did say during last year's election campaign that he wouldn't raise taxes as mayor. But breaking that promise is inevitable. With the kinds of comments he's making, he'll eventually damage his credibility with voters, and he's going to need it. When the time for the tax increase arrives, he'll have to mount a big campaign to persuade the public that the city needs more money. Then, how's he going to explain away all those times he said the government could manage its way out of trouble?

Category: Politics, Woods
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Tuke's Long Walk

Posted May 13, 2008 at 01:09:37 PM by Jeff Woods

Bob Tuke is walking across Tennessee. What an original idea! And he's wearing his combat boots. He's an ex-Marine. But how could you not know that? With nearly every breath he takes, he tells us that he was a Marine.

"This march also will demonstrate an important difference between Lamar Alexander and me," Tuke says in an email to supporters today. "My boots aren't a gimmick – they are the real thing, earned by military service in war. Our nation is fighting two wars now and we need at least one more senator who has fought in combat and understands the difficulty of ending a war with minimal casualties and maximum honor."

Personally, I'm tired of hearing Tuke talk about his military service. To some voters, it may matter as a sign of his willingness to sacrifice for his country. And that's fine. But it's wrong to claim, as Tuke is doing, that military service is a prerequisite to understanding foreign policy. If that were the case, then Barack Obama, whom Tuke supports, shouldn't be president.

Category: Politics, Woods
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Dean Ducks Tax Issue in Speech

Posted May 13, 2008 at 10:49:12 AM by Jeff Woods

dean.jpg

Mayor Karl Dean, operating in a tight budget year, was reduced this morning to trying to make a big deal out of a few minor initiatives in his first State of Metro speech.

Nashville has been chosen to participate in a National League of Cities program, which apparently will bring more "small learning communities" to schools. The juvenile court system is going to start running an attendance center for kids who play hooky. And the mayor will add funding to the capital budget for a DNA crime lab for police.

Otherwise, Dean congratulated Maplewood High, arguably Tennessee's worst school academically, for losing the state championship football game. (The Panthers "outplayed all but one other class 4A football team in the state last year," Dean gushed.) And he recognized a couple of cops for fixing a family's flat tire last Thanksgiving. We're not making this up.

There was nothing in the speech about the central issue confronting Dean's administration: how hard it will be for Metro to raise enough revenue to provide the same level of services in the future because of the 2006 charter amendment that requires public approval of property tax rate increases. In fact, Dean pretended it'll only take "smart fiscal management" to overcome these little pesky money problems we're facing now.

"Although times are tight," the mayor said, "we know that will not always be the case." That's reassuring.

After the jump, the text of Dean's speech.


Continue reading "Dean Ducks Tax Issue in Speech"...
Category: Education, Politics, Woods
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Cooper: 'About As Bad As They Come'

Posted May 12, 2008 at 11:13:26 AM by Jeff Woods

Jim Cooper is ranting against Hillary Clinton again for opposing his health-care reform bill back in 1993. To the Memphis Daily News, he comments on The Hill newspaper's report last week that Rep. Lincoln Davis, one of the Democratic Party's uncommitted superdelegates, turned down an invitation to meet with Clinton.

"He says that's not true," U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., told The Daily News about Davis' refusal to meet with Clinton. "But that's on the front page of The Hill. I told him he might as well go ahead and endorse Barack (Obama), because once Hillary sees that he's a dead man anyway."

There's more Cooper venting in the article. He paints Clinton as petty and vindictive, which is an interesting complaint coming from someone who's still steaming over something that happened 15 years ago.

Cooper's comments prompted the blogger Chris Bowers to examine the congressman's ancient health-care plan. He calls Cooper "a right-wing Democrat, about as bad as they come" and puzzles over how he gets away with it while supposedly representing a relatively liberal district. We've been asking ourselves that question.

Category: Politics, Woods
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Tennessee Dems Grab Gas Tax Issue

Posted May 08, 2008 at 01:52:44 PM by Jeff Woods

Tennessee Democrats have found a new issue for this fall's legislative elections. Over the weekend, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey criticized a gas tax holiday as "a short-term gimmick" that would "devastate our road construction budget." Today, Sen. Jim Kyle has suddenly decided it's a great idea.

"If 49 states in the country are going to have a gas tax holiday, then I believe that Tennessee should have one, too," Kyle says. "I'm committed to making sure that we get a break at the gas pumps just like everyone else.

Category: Politics, Woods
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Bredesen Hiding in the Weeds

Posted May 08, 2008 at 11:11:57 AM by Jeff Woods

Gov. Phil Bredesen, taking time out from budget cutting, is criticizing superdelegates who haven't made up their minds yet.

"For a lot of people, it’s a lot easier to hide in the weeds here until the convention comes around," he tells Politico.

Did Bredesen declare who he's supporting? We must have missed it.

Category: Politics, Woods
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GOP Decries 'Malicious Lie' Against McCain

Posted April 30, 2008 at 09:32:28 AM by Jeff Woods

The state Republican Party is outraged by the latest DNC attack ad against John McCain.

That advertisement includes video of a terrorists’ roadside bomb attack on two American soldiers, footage not unlike that often used by Al Qaeda in its recruiting videos, as Democrats seek to exploit the attack to promote Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for president.

Airing footage of what's actually happening in Iraq in a political ad? That's so low. And using sound-bite oversimplifications to attack a presidential candidate ... Republicans would never do that, would they?

Category: Presidential Politics, Woods
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McMillan Sends Message to Purcell

Posted April 28, 2008 at 10:53:08 AM by Jeff Woods

By announcing her intention to run for governor so early, Kim McMillan is telling Bill Purcell to stay out of the contest. There's room for only one liberal candidate to go against Lincoln Davis in the Democratic primary, she's saying, and she's it. She hopes to discourage Purcell by showing fund-raising strength and generating excitement as possibly Tennessee's first woman governor.

She's off to a good start. Coinciding with her announcement, Jimmy Naifeh and Jane Eskind were prepped to say good things about McMillan to reporters.

Purcell has always been a cautious, risk-averse politician, and the betting here is that McMillan could succeed in keeping him on the sidelines.

Category: Politics, Woods
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