Singing Soprano
The Tennessean wants you to think Jimmy Naifeh can't lose so it runs this story about his massive campaign war chest.

But Naifeh lets slip in the story that the income tax is dead for two years, hardly the long time he indicated previously. So now you can bet Naifeh will try to bring the income tax back in 2005 if Phil Bredesen is elected governor. After all, Bredesen says he doesn't think the income tax is "the right answer" now, but has left the door wide open to changing his mind. And he's never said he'd veto one if it passes the House and Senate.

The Tennessean says Naifeh plans to give generously from his prodigious political slush fund of nearly half a million dollars to help Democrat incumbents and pro-income tax Republicans get re-elected, no doubt in return for their promise to re-elect him as Speaker of the House so he can lay the groundwork for pushing the income tax again two years from now. It's a good bet he won't be helping Rep. Frank Buck get re-elected.