David Spates "Therefore I Am" Published July 16, 2002

Ax the incumbents
and bring on Gene Gene

If any state politician gets re-elected this year, it will be an outrage. There, I said it.

If I had done my job as poorly as the members of the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives did theirs, I'd be justifiably out on my ear. The choices we, the electing public, made were bad ones. The folks we sent to Nashville turned in a dismal performance. It's that simple.

Trouble is, I like many of the incumbents. In my previous life as a full-time newsroom lackey, I pressed the flesh with a fair share of political movers and shakers. Most are nice people with a sincere desire to do what's best for the state. They're not the type who ran for office with aspirations of annually bringing home increasingly larger barrels of pork and moving up the political ladder. These are good people, but sometimes good people do bad jobs.

I understand it was a tough task -- probably a no-win scenario. That, that right there. That's my beef. With a little effort and planning, our state should never face a no-win scenario. The entire time the state legislature was scrambling to slap together a last-minute Band-Aid budget,

I thought about college. I had a few college classes into which, quite honestly, I didn't put much effort. Maybe I missed a lecture or two (or six or eight) and maybe I didn't read all of the books. What happened when the final exam came? You guessed it. I was cramming like a fiend the night before, and do you know something? It never worked.

Our state leaders waited until the night before the test to buckle down, and it shows. An economic plan assembled so hastily, under the gun of a government shutdown, cannot be a best effort. We deserve better than a handful of all-nighters.

The budget was woefully underfunded, and new sources of revenue had to be found. What happened to the tobacco settlement cash that was supposed to be spent on health-related issues? It's long gone, but thanks to our state leaders, Tennessee will be able to maintain some of the lowest cigarette prices in the nation. (Smokes here are higher than most other tobacco-producing states, but take a look at other states' prices.) Meanwhile, the sales tax inches up another percent and business taxes go through the roof, but at least we don't have an income tax. Fine. Great. You say toMAYto, I say toMAHto. Let's call the whole thing off. Call the tax what you like, it's still coming out of your and my pockets.

The incumbents want us to give them another chance. I say they had their swing. It's time to give someone else a hack. After all, the incumbents' action or inaction resulted in the largest tax increase in Tennessee history!

I'd like to repeat that last sentence because it sounds mildly important.

The incumbents' action or inaction resulted in the largest tax increase in Tennessee history! If we don't kick them out of office after THAT, when should we? What else would they have to do before we show them the door? What's the worst that could happen with new leaders? Even if the new leaders voted in the second largest tax increase in state history, wouldn't that be an improvement?

I'm not so much a supporter of the challengers but rather a denouncer of the incumbents, and I'm not concerned with how the incumbents voted. Some voted for the increases, and some voted against them. It really doesn't matter. What matters is that the incumbents, as a whole, have demonstrated that they don't work well together. Individually, one-on-one, I'm sure each legislator can achieve great things with his or her talents. When we put them all in a room, however, things go downhill in a big, big hurry. Maybe the challengers won't be any better, but the incumbents don't deserve another term.

If the Tennessee House and Senate had performed on "The Gong Show," Jaye P. Morgan would have pounded the Zildjian a long time ago. It's time to bring on Gene Gene the Dancing Machine!

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David Spates is a Knoxville resident and Crossville Chronicle contributor whose column is published each Tuesday. He can be reached at davespates@chartertn.net.