Another Day, Another Spin
Today's Tennessean story on the latest in the state budget/ tax battle is full of oddites.

It accidentally reveals that the Naifeh income tax wouldn't raise $1.1 billion in new revenue anually, but instead a whopping $2.5 billion in extra revenue per year. The paper, which previously has used the $1.1 billion figure, merely reports the new figure without acknowledging the change - or commenting on the fact that the state currently raises less than $7.5 billion per year in tax revenue, so Naifeh's tax represents an astounding 30 percent increase in taxation in one year.

Meanwhile, Gov. Sundquist is quoted as saying the state's budget crisis is "the most serious problem since the War Between the States." The Great Depression and a few other problems notwithstanding.

Also, Rep. Frank Buck reportedly declined to answer a question about the CATS II budget plan and whether its multitude of tax increases would affect people's purchasing habits. Or, as The Tennessean phrased it, "whether people would make fewer purchases with so many new taxes." Hmmm. I don't recall them asking if the income tax would cause people to make fewer purchases or otherwise harm the state's economy.

And Sen. Jim Kyle wins the award for the day's best ironic statement, when he condemned the CATS II plan as potentially "the largest tax increase in the history of the state." Kyle is a supporter of the Naifeh income tax plan, which would increase taxes nearly three times as much as the CATS plan.