The Crone Speaks

Susan Adler Thorp pens a paean to the departing State Senator, and power behind the throne, Robert Rochelle. It is the usual drivel, casting Rochelle as the tired warrior leaving the field of battle with great honor and not as the defeated loser running away and crying foul.

But what's important in this column is how she uses it to sweep aside a potentially explosive issue. Buried deep in the column, she briefly addresses and dismisses Senator Curtis Person's claim that the State has well over $4 billion sitting in various State accounts. We covered this story previously, here.

Adler writes:

"What frustrated Bob so much on this issue of tax reform is that
he knew the facts and people turned a deaf ear to it,'' [Senator Jim] Kyle said.

People such as Sen. Curtis Person (R-Memphis), a 36-year
legislative veteran who faces opposition this year in his bid for
re-election. There couldn't be a clearer contrast between two
lawmakers.

While Rochelle put his career on the line to do something for the
state, Person pandered to his anti-tax constituents and did
nothing. To the extent Person believes he can solve the state's
budget problems, his actions demonstrate how little he
understands those problems.

He sent his constituents a letter giving credence to a report,
circulated on the Internet and on talk radio, that accuses the
state of hiding $4.74 billion in surplus reserve funds while
Tennesseans prepare to pay a higher sales tax Monday. It's an
accusation the state's finance commissioner and comptroller have
demolished.

In a letter sent to Person last week, finance commissioner
Warren Neel said in part: "You have been provided with
extensive detail. I have had numerous personal conversations
with you. The Comptroller also had discussions with you. The
explanations seem to either go unheard or were presented in a
fashion you did not comprehend.''

It's shameful that Person, who didn't offer a solution to the
state's budget problems this year and who didn't vote for a
single measure to raise taxes or cut spending, is using such a
preposterous report as a campaign tactic.

Person likely will win re-election in November in his mostly
Republican district, and return to Nashville next year to continue
a lengthy Senate career that almost certainly won't be marred by
accomplishment.

Yep, the report must be false--it was only reported on the Internet and talk radio! Good luck getting the papers to cover that one.

Finance Commissioner Neel's explanation that he gave "extensive detail" is disengenuously reported. The report that Neel gave to Person, after several requests, was simply a bloated version of the State's CAFR. It did not detail the specific accounts as Person requested.

It must also be noted that Person, Blackburn and a few other Senators never voted for any tax plan this Summer. While the press loves to paint this as "do nothingism," the real truth is that they opposed all new taxes before any spending cuts had been implemented. They had principles and stayed true to them. It should also be noted that these Senators also provided to the Budget Committee a list of proposed cuts. Their ideas were buried in committee, to keep them from interfering with the income tax drive, by its chairman: Bob Rochelle.

The Commercial Appeal's reporters and columnists love to think they are slick. That is why Half-Bakered exists--to point out the Emperor's new clothes.

Until next time, that is all.