Thanks, Tim
Thanks to Tim Chavez of The Tennessean, who quoted extensively from my July 10 essay "Busting the Cap" (below) in his Sunday "Equal Time" column. Chavez's columns are a refreshing change from the usual liberal tribe that infests the pages published at 1100 Broadway. Tripe such as Larry Daughtrey's Sunday comparison of state Sen. Bob "work is a privilege, not a right" Rochelle to Roman Senator Cincinnatus, who "twice left his farm ... to serve as defender and dictator of the empire until his work was done. Then he gave up power and went home..." The point of Daughtrey's ode to Rochelle: the Lebanon liberal is to be honored for voluntarily giving up power having served the people honorably lo these 20 years.

Excuse me while I barf.

The truth is Rochelle isn't giving up his seat voluntarily - he is quitting like a coward. Rochelle would have loved to hold his seat and dictate an income tax be levied on the people of Tennessee, but the polls show his aggressive support for an unconstitutional state income tax has made him very likely to lose a re-election campaign that he had already begun. The truth is, Rochelle looked forward eagerly to being there to help guide the endless expansion of government that such a tax would enable the legislature to afford. No, Rochelle is no Cincinnatus. He is not leaving voluntarily. He was about to be kicked out, so instead he is slinking out the back.

But if the tax had passed, he'd be trying to stick around to spend all that extra tax money.