How I *would* be voting
So thanks to bureaucratic stupidity, I still don’t get to vote this year, despite the improvement to the law.
But if I did get a say, here’s how I’d go. Perhaps one of you non-voters in the audience might go in my place and cast my votes accordingly?
- Governor: Bredesen
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One of the rare times that a major party candidate, not to mention the likely winner, is actually the best one on the ballot. Icky as it feels to agree with the majority for once, I say we keep him.
- The Pro-Bigotry Amendment: No
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Because, well, I have a soul, and I’m not an evil redneck douchebag. Really, of everything on the ballot, this is the only one over which I’m upset that I don’t have a real vote. My opinion on all the others is rather “meh” this year, but this unconscionable piece of filth needs to die fast and hard. Sadly I fear the people of Tennessee will disappoint me, but I will hold out hope as long as possible.
- Property tax limits for retirees ammendment: No
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I do favor taking steps to mitigate elders being driven out of their neighborhoods by gentrification — so I would agree with freezing the home’s appraisal value. But the percentage rate — the political football — needs to be the same for everyone. Anything else is class warfare. Also because my concern is someone losing a long held family home to gentrification, any relief should only apply to the home they already have — if they choose to move, they should forfeit the freeze.
- United States Senate: ???
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I’m really not going to be mad at any votes on this one. Well, no, Bo Heyward & his voters all need a kick to the head, but otherwise, I’m not particularly for or against any of the others. I suppose if I was filling out an IRV ballot, I’d first pick Lugo as a single-issue anti-war/pro-civil-liberties protest vote. I’d second pick ‘NOTA’ Gatchell. I’d just flip a coin to see which of the two major party bafoons gets third or fourth. I like the idea of flipping the Senate, but I can’t personally find anything about Ford himself to like; meanwhile I’m not terribly anti-Corker, he seems like a mostly sane & competent moderate — but I couldn’t bear to validate BushCo. I guess we needed a neocon & immigrant basher like Bo in the race, just so I’d have at least one person to clearly vote against.
- United States House of Representatives, 5th district: Jim Cooper
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Another tough call. I’d like to support the Independant Ginny Welsch, but Cooper is one of the best of his breed. Unfortunately he’s been weak on some of the most important issues of the day — like the war — but on average he does pretty well. So well in fact that he lands in the top 6 ‘most libertarian’ on the Freedom Democrats House Scorecard. With Ginny, I basically don’t agree with her on much *except* those important issues where Cooper is weak. It’s a quandry. I wish she was running against — well pretty much anyone else. Hell, I wish she was in the Senate race, I’d have many fewer qualms with her than I do with Lugo.
- Tennessee Senate district 21: abstain
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I really don’t know much about Henry except that he’s an incumbent who’s been there way too long. And sorry, but I can’t join the Krumm lovefest — I do like that he’s good on ‘open government’ issues, but on the whole he strikes me as a run-of-the-mill big government conservative. My curiosity is piqued about Gary Odom as a potential candidate for the next cycle though.
- Tennessee House district 53: Janis Sontany
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Well I don’t know. She’s had some votes I liked, some I didn’t. But she’s unopposed & she seemed a decent enough human being when I met her.
- Metro Charter Amendment No. 1 (property tax referendum): Yes.
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I’ve really had to mull this one. If it were any tax other than the property tax, I’d say yes in a second. But as mentioned many times, I’m on a different wavelength when it comes to land taxes. I don’t like property tax being a function of arbitrary political decision regardless of whether it’s the council or the people making the decision. Give me my druthers, the property tax on land would be 100% of the rental value, the tax on the house & improvements would be zero, and the proceeds would be evenly distributed among the people. So is this ammendment going to work for or against that goal? I’m not sure. But change is more likely to get us there than status quo, so I’m going for yes.
