Follow-up to Don't disenfranchise me!:

After a growing buzz online and on the streets, FL Dems have mixed feelings on the DNC proposal of caucuses as a resolution to the delegate debacle from our primary. While the FL Chair says no, I have been contacted by more than one grassroots organizer seeking support for a push for caucuses here. If FL delegates are to be seated, the DNC appears to be signaling that caucuses are the only way.

I couldn't agree more.

UPDATE: Florida Kossacks writes "Let's amend our delegate selection plan to allocate our delegates based on a caucus to be held in early April."

Florida Dems Hope Against Hope

The wicked witch of the Right appearing before a Young Americans for Freedom audience totally trashed McCain, calling him a bone-head. She said she thought Hillary Clinton's stand on the war on terrorism was better than his, even though she hates the Clintons. She blamed Mitt Romney's failure to get more votes on the media "because they always focus on our weakest candidate". She said she thinks Romney would be the best vice president. Then she compared Huckabee to Jimmy Swaggert.

One young woman asking questions practically broke down when she said she thought Coulter was causing a division in the Republican party with her attacks on McCain, and she was afraid the Democrats might win because of it. The fear the young woman expressed about living under a Democratic president seemed genuine. You could tell her disappointment with Coulter was painful.

The most interesting thing about it was realizing that the young people in the audience, who one could suppose became enchanted with politics (the young girl admitted as much) because of Ann Coulter's ruthless biting commentaries about Democrats, seemed confused about how to respond when she was attacking McCain and Huckabee. Not all of them were laughing at her jokes.

Pledged delegates: Clinton 40, Obama 28

Knox County delegates to the Congressional District Conventions will be 67 for Clinton and 60 for Obama.

Detailed breakdowns here and here. Selection process, rules etc. here.

In case you missed it, WUOT has posted the podcast of their feature on where folks in Knox County go to talk politics. KnoxViews is mentioned.

An interesting new report from the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) looks at how various tax incentives skew BEP education funding:

When a local government earmarks local sales tax revenues for a sports facility, for example, it has voluntarily diverted school revenues to another purpose. A TIF is a voluntary diversion of property tax revenues to a development project. A property tax abatement results when a public entity voluntarily grants a private entity the use of publicly-owned tax-exempt property.

When property is removed from the county and municipal tax rolls, this diminishes the property tax base, lowers tax capacity, and, in effect, rewards local governments that have voluntarily relinquished revenues that would have gone to public schools had the abatement not been granted. While abatements effected through leases are legal under Tennessee law, officials in counties that have utilized (or over-utilized) them should not be subsidized by excluding the values of abated parcels from their property tax bases.

In 2002, tax abatements were estimated to have cost counties and municipalities approximately $104.3 million in forgone revenues. The loss to county school systems was at least $33 million. The actual total revenue loss was undoubtedly much higher because of under-reporting. The fact is that no one knows the total amount of school revenues that are diverted or abated, and no one knows to what extent the economic benefits of abatements compensate for those losses.

If I read all this correctly, the concern (other than diverting local funds from education) is that counties that use such tax incentives understate their tax base and revenue generating capacity, thus getting a bigger piece of the BEP pie for education than they might otherwise be entitled to.

In their report, which is a follow up to a 2004 report regarding the effects of tax incentives and school funding, TACIR recommends a number of steps to address these concerns. They include improved reporting and oversight of tax incentives, accountability for cost/benefit analysis, and maintaining up to date records used in analyzing the tax base with the goal of leveling the playing field based on comparable information.

My "pet" Kingfisher at Maxey's, last week. He/she (actually, there is a pair -- one was hunting in the other cove) seemed less skittish than usual. Click read more for larger view and some other pics...

According to Friday's Morning Edition we may be in for another British invasion. Judging by the samples online, it is way overdue.

Listen to Duffy here.

KNS: 14 apply for dozen empty slots

By late Thursday afternoon, 14 candidates had applied for the interim appointments to all but two of the 12 vacant positions in Knox County government, including five winners in Tuesday's primaries.

Today is the last day to apply, with forums where the public can meet the candidates starting Saturday.

The article page has links to the candidate's resumes and the schedule for public forums.

Note: The article lists Bolus as an applicant, but Mark Harmon said in comments here yesterday that he had withdrawn his name from consideration.

This election cycle, things seem to be getting worse. I'm feeling drowned in requests for money. Everyone is begging me to give them the few dollars I have left over after I buy groceries and pay for Krishna and Itchi's monthly heartworm/flea medications. Every day when I open my email, I find not just the candidates, but a few dozen other affiliated organizations emailing me for donations. The National Democratic Party, the State Democratic Party, Knoxille Democrats, MoveOn.org, Everyone it seems has goals. PLEASE HELP US RAISE $2 MILLION DOLLARS BY MONDAY! WE CANNOT CONTINUE WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT! The palpable sense of urgency, directed right at ME in those letters does evoke some latent desire I have to be important, to come to the rescue of the army of do-gooders, reformers, and elected officals I support. But where to give my money? The twenty-five dollar contribution I intend to make simply can't stretch across the whole gamut of agencies and persons clamoring for my assistance, so usually I try to discern who needs it most and who will spend it most wisely.

Isn't it surreal we have a two page form to file for income taxes that requires 88 pages of instructions and the possibilty of 39 or more additional forms?

Have you ever heard of the Life Cycle Series of publications? It is a list of 14 forms and publications your child may need from birth to childhood. How about Innocent Spouse Relief? Apparently, if your tax refund was kept by the IRS to pay off past due Federal tax, child support, or Federal non-tax debt, such as a student loan, and it was your spouse, not you, that incurred the debt, you too may file for part of the refund. Then there is the Tax Guide for Seniors. An additional 34 page publication with topics that are "of interest to older taxpayers".

No wonder all of those H&R BLock and Jackson Hewitt offices pop-up this time of year. One of my favorites is the Liberty Tax Service. Their walking billboards dressed as the Statue of Liberty certainly make me want to use their service.