Thursday, July 06, 2006

The End of My Own Personal Boycott of State Parks

We just passed the 161st anniversary of Henry David Thoreau's sojourn on Walden Pond (July 4, 1845 -- culminating in Walden or Life in the Woods), and I now give myself permission to return to Radnor Lake State Park after too many years of missing it. You see I absolutely refused to pay ex-Governor Don Sundquist's entry fees for public parks, since the parks were, well, public and paid for to begin with. Republicans always find a way to tax by other means, but Phil Bredesen has now eliminated those fees; so, woo hoo! My boycott is over.

However, S-townWife just reminded me that we also just passed the 151st anniversary of Walt Whitman's publication of Leaves of Grass (July 4, 1855), and it is time for me to mow the yard again.

4 comments:

  1. should we boycott the golf courses until they eliminate greens fees?

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  2. boycott whatever you want to

    knock yourself out

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  3. I'm interested in your opinion. What is wrong with user fees?

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  4. Good response. I would only quibble with a couple of points.

    Golf isnt restricted to only mid and upper classes any longer. Take a tour through Shelby, as an example, and you will see a broad cross section of people.

    And the fees weren't Sundquist alone. He tried to enact an income tax and the legislature didnt agree, so the fees were an outgrowth of the need for another source of revenue.

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