Monday, November 5, 2007

The Library Tax is Not a Done Deal

The momentum on the library tax seems to have shifted over the weekend. Previously, the tenor of the pro-tax ad campaign made it somewhat embarrassing to oppose this tax, at least publicly. The pro-taxers had cleverly defined the issue in a way that suggested that only illiterate Grinches could oppose the tax.

But as more and local celebrities -- like Denny Crum and Rick Pitino -- voiced their support, the citizenry became enraged. We may love our coaches, and happily pay them their humongous salaries. But if these guys want to give money to the library they need to donate. We pay them the big bucks, so they can spend their money as they please -- and we'd like to spend our money as we see fit. We didn't hire them to make fiscal policy.

And Mayor Jerry Abramson, whom many Republicans supported, has revealed himself to be a flip-flopper. He promised us that he could merge county and city governments with such cost-savings that we'd get new libraries without new taxes. Jerry's about-face may be the biggest factor that draws fiscal conservatives to the polls tomorrow.

People began grumbling about the tax over the weekend, and now the emails in opposition to it are going viral. (Readers, if you post your comment to this blog, I can share it. If you send it to my email, I can't).

1 comment:

Julie said...

Thank you for your valuable insight. Keep up the great work!*