As the days of “America Held Hostage” roll on, as many state governors and mayors issue business closure orders – and the economy tanks - the examples of political insanity mount.
And Nashville, Tennessee is one of the perfect examples.
As The Blaze’s Breck Dumas reports, Democrat Nashville Mayor John Cooper just “floated a 31.7 percent property tax increase in his budget proposal this week, saying the city is facing ‘the greatest financial challenge’ its seen in decades.”
Which goes to show people how Mr. Cooper doesn’t seem to grasp what “the city” is.
Clearly, he sees “the city” as the city government, as if it’s some living entity that MUST survive, as if it’s being starved of oxygen, food, water, never realizing that “the city” is not his vaunted government. “The city” is composed of the people, the individuals, living in it, owning property, running businesses, trying to cater to neighbors, survive, and prosper. What he views as “the city” is a corporate-political entity that sucks off of everything the REAL city residents produce.
And, as Dumas notes:
The citizens of Tennessee's capital city have had a devastating year already, after being hit with deadly tornadoes and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But Nashville had a massive budget shortfall long before those tragedies struck, and critics say a dramatic tax hike on struggling residents and small businesses during the current crisis is ‘an insult.’
Imagine the sickness.
Many folks who live and own property in Nashville are musicians or music hall, bar, and studio owners. And they are at risk of losing their homes because TN Governor Bill Lee (R), issued a “Stay At Home” order on April 1, an order that’s seen Lee tell state police to make sure restaurants and “entertainment venues” are closed.
So that means that while people are being put out of work by the TN Governor, they run the risk of losing their homes because of the vampiric money-lust of the Nashville Mayor. These would be the very homes in which the Governor tells them they must shelter.
And, as Reason’s Christian Britschgi reported last year, the city government won’t even let many people work from their homes. Folks with home recording tech who could offer their services as studio owners or music producers have been banned from doing so by the very Nashville government that wants even more money from them in order to keep their homes -- and this prohibition existed long before teh COVID19 crackdowns.
Heck, it’s got to be hard to comply with conflicting gangland commands.
But, of course, all these commands are uncalled-for, and they run contrary to fundamental ethics as well as most of the Bill of Rights.
It’s too bad the parasites in government don’t know that. And it’s too bad politicians on the federal level don’t do more to stand up for the Constitution than offer off-hand “warnings”, like those mentioned by Bill Barr -- whom President Trump easily could tell to prepare federal suits against these politicians for breaches of civil rights.
Not since World War Two have American liberties been under such widespread and intense attack, and each time the politicians gain ground on our innate rights, governments rarely cede back that ground.
Now, in Nashville, that ceding of ground could become a literal reality, as the government prepares to suck more cash off of people who might soon realize the government never recognized their property ownership at all, and merely treats them like resources to feed the growth of their political creation.