Don’t Be Fooled … The Knox Co. Mayor Can’t Raise Taxes
The best promises probably are those that one never has to keep. They are certainly the most convenient. The peculiarities in politics are like the stars in the sky – – – without number. Still, some Knox County voters seem to be lulled to sleep by the promise of one candidate for county mayor NOT to raise taxes, period. That is one of those convenient promises to make because most Knox County voters seem not to realize the county mayor can’t raise or lower taxes. That power lies solely with the legislative body, just as nationally it rests with Congress, meaning only the county commission can raise property taxes. Increasing the sales tax has to be done through a referendum, meaning the people have to vote to increase their own taxes. Yes, the county mayor, like the president of the United States, can veto anything passed by the legislative body. But the county commission can still override the mayor’s veto just as Congress can override the president’s veto of a bill. So, in truth, a candidate for county mayor can make the promise to not ask the county commission to raise taxes, but he or she can’t do anything more except exercise his or her veto power and that may not be enough.
Betsy Henderson’s campaign has made that empty promise the center piece of her campaign, along with a pledge to do everything by cutting this or that, most of which is pretty skimpy on details. Henderson’s campaign has bragged that her candidacy has been endorsed by our congressman. At the same time, Henderson’s campaign has labeled her two opponents in the Republican primary, Larsen Jay and Kim Frazier, “career politicians,” which is remarkable. Frazier has been elected to the county commission exactly once, while Jay has been elected twice. Betsy Henderson has been elected at least twice to the Knox County Board of Education. Our congressman comes much closer to being a career politician than either Frazier or Jay, but Henderson brags about an endorsement that Rep. Tim Burchett says he never made.
Endorsements are nothing new in politics and politicians endorse one another every day. The only endorsement that matters is YOURS when you go into the privacy of the voting booth. Polls are meaningless, as the only result that matters is when the votes are tallied on election day.
Voters need to be aware of the issues and just what authority an officeholder has at his or her fingertips. Then voters are free to make their own choice with all the facts available.
The Knox Co. GOP: United They Win, Divided They Lose
The Knoxville News Sentinel has been the lucky recipient of several letters from readers who are criticizing the leadership of the local Republican Party. The Sentinel, an organ for whatever narrative the Democrat-Socialists are peddling day-to-day, has been only too happy to print them. Now party chair Martin Daniel is drawing fire from those who complain that local Republicans are losing faith in the GOP. That is a typical complaint from those who have moved here from states where a Republican could not even be elected dogcatcher. These would-be leaders were unable to elect Republicans in Illinois, California, New York or elsewhere, but they claim to know all there is to know. Evidently, only the leaders they handpick themselves are strong, bold and honest enough to get on the ballot. The truth is that the division in the local Republican Party centers around a guy who makes his living as a campaign consultant and he makes money by starting primary fights.
The disconnect locally is from those who have little or no idea about Knox County and don’t know the difference between Heiskell and Bearden or Vestal and Lonsdale. They insist that everyone agree with them about anything and everything, all of the time. One writer to the Sentinel conjectures that “strong, committed conservatives have walked away from the Knox County GOP altogether, forming alternative groups where they feel their voices are valued and their efforts can make a difference.” In the same breath this writer complains about “growing division” and “a fractured local party that is losing credibility with its own voters.”
The people losing credibility are the ones who are walking away to form their own fringe clubs and organizations under appointed leaders, all beholden to a guy who makes his living by sponsoring political candidates inside Republican primaries. Some of these same complainants never take the fight to the Democrat- Socialists, instead they badmouth other Republicans – constantly. They talk about “our Tennessee values,” which they most certainly did not bring here from Illinois, Massachusetts, or California.
The Republican Party here has been quite successful in this congressional district long before these outside antagonists landed here, attempting to decide everything for us. These people and their guru want to be able to say who is or is not a Republican; who is or is not a conservative. They haven’t earned that right, and they wish to criticize others for not having a perfect record when their own guru likely spent more time as a Democrat than as a Republican.
Fighting amongst ourselves only helps the Democrat-Socialists. That example is borne out by the election of Shane Jackson, a Democrat, who narrowly won a seat on the county commission after intraparty warfare weakened Garrett Holt in the general election. That isn’t strong, bold or even good leadership. It is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at the expense of the Republican Party and conservatives. It is the kind of leadership that would make the GOP extinct and give the Democrat-Socialists every office, local, state and federal.
