Recent Comments
Re: “A Little More on Jimmy Haslam's Little (Racist) Rebate Problem”
You liberals are paying for your ignorance. Don't you know that Manuel is a name from the Bible? It means "Gold with us" (although I'm using that Conservative Selected Version of the Bible).
Re: “Did Stacey Campfield Really Model His 'Starve Poor Kids' Bill on Other Countries?”
The best financial incentive would be high-paying jobs for those who succeed in school. Are we bringing those to Tennessee?
Re: “Tennessean, Heal Thyself”
I canceled my Tennessean subscription after its immortally stupid "It's the 'Muslim' vs. the Mormon" headline prior to this year's presidential primary.
My take: I doubt many of the articles are written in-house anymore. Instead anything that might bait the radio talk shows is written by "non-partisan think tanks."
Re: “Rooting Against the Electoral College on Election Eve”
No one's brought up the best reason to have a national vote: the end of the two-party duopoly on presidential politics. Rather than voting for the "lesser of two evils," Americans should vote for their party preference in a general election without fear of "losing" the election for the liberal or the conservative candidate.
Personally, I would favor a run-off election one week after the general election in cases where there is not a clear winner. This would give also-ran candidates opportunities to make endorsements (and gain political concessions).
Otherwise, voters could rank their top three choices at the general election, giving major party players access to voters' ballots.
Re: “So Much for Your Plans to Move to Sumner County for the Schools”
Sumner County School Board vs. Sumner County Board of Education. Last week Sumner County voters had to choose between Lou Ann Zelnick and Diane Black. Leadership that reaches a 2 on a scale of ten would be welcome here, although Dr. Phillips might be making a play here.
Re: “NYT: 'ObamaCare' Could Cost Tennessee $716 Million”
The penalty of the Individual Mandate is $95 the first year, and goes as high as $615 in year four or five.
Driving down the cost of insurance for medium-sized businesses though insurance exchanges, and bringing up the number eligible under Medicaid should shrink the gap significantly from the current 15-16% to around 5%, which is the percentage of
Uninsured Massachusetts residents currently pay a penalty with their yearly taxes. (Many working Tennesseans who don't have health insurance are also Earned-income Tax Credit eligible, which I take to mean that most of the "penalties" will come out of tax refunds, not out of pocket, but that's just me, you know, thinkin'.)
This system works not only in Massachusetts, but also in nations like German and Switzerland (the latter of which have 100% coverage). Is it too much to ask folks to stop running around pretending the Affordable Care Act will never work, and realize how much it will?
Re: “A Little More on Jimmy Haslam's Little (Racist) Rebate Problem”
Jimmy is in real trouble here, but I wouldn't worry about Bill. When he tells the feds, "I was clueless and unable to stop the sinister intentions of those who worked for me," he will be able to submit his three years in the Governor's Mansion as evidence.