Oddly Familiar

The editors of the Nashville Scene gave their own perspective on the Mayor's intentions on the sales tax increase proposal in this week's edition. I was struck by the seeming meeting of minds that Scene editors had with Enclave.

Here is a portion of their commentary:

There's a theory gaining ground around town, and we happen to subscribe to it: Mayor Bill Purcell isn't really in favor of the half-cent sales tax increase he has proposed .... Framing more funding for schools in this way—that is, making it incumbent upon voter approval—is tactically brilliant, if somewhat diabolical. Wherever the chips fall, the mayor's hands are clean. If it tanks, he tried. If it passes, he got more money for schools.

Here is a part of an entry I made to Enclave back on May 24:

The Mayor's proposed sales tax hike is a bad idea. My guess is that the Mayor knows that this is going to fail at the ballot box. I do not see either conservatives or progressives organizing to vote for the sales tax. My guess is that he does not see that either. But at the very least, he can say that he proposed the revenues to support his plan while allowing Nashvillians to reject it come election time.

Now I'm not saying that mine was one of those theories that they had in mind when they wrote the editorial; I'm just saying that my theory may not be too far off base since it is a theory much like another "gaining ground around town."

(Note: Scene editors also comment on Councilman Eric Crafton's recent actions; I updated my June 13th "Crafty Eric" entry accordingly).