Tax issue dead? Hah.
Frank Cagle has written a brilliant essay on how the teacher pay lawsuit and the income tax agenda are intertwined. It's exactly what I've been saying since a few hours after the Supreme Court issued its ruling, only Cagle says it better.

Here is an excerpt:

You can expect pro-income tax groups to start holding press conferences this week calling for a revival of the effort. Most legislators have the good sense to say "oh no" it doesn't mean an income tax. But it's early yet. There are "town meetings" being held around the state to deal with this grave crisis by bringing back the income tax. The Democrats hoped that they could keep this talk quiet until after Nov. 5.

Phil Bredesen is no doubt upset about all this talk. He won't rule out an income tax in his second term and he has supported it in the past. He has said in debates that he wouldn't rule it out because "you never know" when there might be an extraordinary circumstance that will create the need for it.

So is the court decision the extraordinay need that will necessitate passing an income tax? Bredesen is downplaying the impact of the decision and continuing to say he is against an income tax, at least for now. At least until after Nov. 5. At least until a decent interval until the drumbeat has created another "crisis."

No one is sure how the court decision will play out. Keep in mind the source for this $450 million figure to solve the problem. That source is Lewis Donelson. The father of the income tax. The attorney that filed the suit. Donelson and the income tax forces will create a public hysteria by next session, trying to leave people with the impression that an income tax is the only way out.

Who do you want in the governor's office when this drum beat reaches a crescendo? Van Hilleary? Who says no way, no how, it ain't going to happen? Or Phil Bredesen, who has a track record of using taxpayers like an ATM machine?