Ron Hart: The Case for Tennessee
Columnist Ron Hart makes the case for why Tennessee is a pretty good place to live:
Tennessee is called the Volunteer State because it can't make people live there. Politicians know that, so they make the state desirable. Tennessee has zero income tax and is run with relative efficiency. Its citizens have a rugged independence that is appealing. Politicians once tried to institute a state income tax and angry mobs descended on the capital. Just the right amount of fear keeps elected officials at bay. If Gov. Bill Haslem gets rid of the Hall Tax on interest and dividend income, Tennessee will really do well.
One Tennessee town knowingly elected a dead man as mayor. The people sent a message: They wanted an elected official who would not steal from them or cheat on his spouse….
The spur of the column is a land dispute between Georgia and Tennessee based on a centuries-old surveying line:
Thirty-thousand Tennesseans live in the area that Georgia wants to take in this retroactive land grab. Those residents get to go from paying no state income tax to paying 6 percent in Georgia. And for what? Maybe Georgia could spend the money on a better surveyor.