McMinn County cuts budget

ATHENS, Tenn. - A budget impasse was broken Monday night when the McMinn County Commission voted to cut $10,000 from the county’s school budget after the school board decided to raise newly appointed Director of School David Pierce’s salary by the same amount.

Officer accused of illegal background checks

NASHVILLE - A Tennessee state trooper was suspended Tuesday after investigators said he used his position to conduct 182 background checks - at least some of them unauthorized - on people including two journalists and a country music figure.

Property tax freeze proposal put on ice

BLOUNTVILLE — You might say it’s been put on ice.

A proposal to “freeze” county property taxes, under certain guidelines, for property owners over age 65, didn’t make it to a vote Monday by the Sullivan County Commission.

Bob Barr petition drive update

For Immediate Release:

On Monday, August 18, 2008, Libertarian Party Presidential Candidate Bob
Barr filed petitions with the Division of Elections in Nashville,
Tennessee for inclusion on the November 4, 2008 Presidential Ballot in
Tennessee. The petition drive was led by Libertarian Party of Tennessee
Chairman, Tony Wall, who hand delivered petitions containing 487
signatures this morning, along with several other State Party members.
The State of Tennessee requires 275 signatures of registered Tennessee
voters for ballot placement. “This ballot drive was completed with an
all volunteer effort led by Libertarian Party of Tennessee County Chairs
and activists throughout the state,” stated Tony, “and I’d like to thank
everyone for their efforts in helping to secure a place for Bob Barr on
Tennessee’s ballot this November.” The Division of Elections will
certify the petition signatures and should officially confirm Mr. Barr
later this week.

For more information, please contact the Bob Barr Presidential Committee
at 800-262-2277 or the Libertarian Party of Tennessee at 888-960-1776.

Taxing tourists

Welcome to Music City. Now, pay up.

Even though the National Business Travel Association says Nashville has the second-highest tax rate for travelers in the nation, the city is poised to tax its tourists once more.

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Another revenue camera

Cleveland  — Contractors begin installing the infrastructure for red light cameras Wednesday at 25th Street and Peerless Road.

Bob on Third Party Debates

Bob Barr met the press today, a group of conservative reporters gathered by The American Spectator who lobbed questions about the big two parties, the environment, Georgia, and guns.

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Who will pick the next judge?

Blount County - There’s a possibility that voters — not Blount County Commission — will pick the successor to General Sessions Judge David Duggan.

County Commission’s plan to appoint Duggan’s successor may be premature as his leaving office could fall within an ambiguous statutory time-frame that would require the seat to be put on the ballot in November.

Davis complains that Democrats used tactics touted by his own party

Sullivan County - David Davis’ campaign says it took a “well-funded and systemic effort by outside parties to pervert the Republican primary process” to get him removed from office in last Thursday’s election.

Clites’ Corner

Inflation and Price

When government increases (inflates) the money supply, each individual dollar loses value and prices begin to rise. Initially the price increases lag behind the rate of money supply growth.

Gradually prices begin to catch up. People begin spending their money faster to stay ahead of the price increases. This accelerates the rate of price increases to much more than the rate of increases in the money supply.

For example, in Germany in 1914 a pound of butter cost 1.4 marks. In 1918, 3.o marks. In 1922, 2400 marks. In 1923, 6 trillion marks. In 1914 an egg cost less than one mark, in 1923, 80 billion marks. Similar increases took place in France in the 1790’s.

According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank website, the U.S. money supply was $482 billion in 1971. Today it’s $8,066 billion- almost 17 times more than in 1971. Will prices rise to 17 times more?

Will they rise to more than 17 times? Will people begin bidding up prices faster and faster? How high might prices go? Will they rocket upward as they have done in Germany, France and many other countries?

The Federal Reserve is inflating rapidly today. What will you do to protect yourself? There are things to do. Learn about them and do them now. It’s better to be a year early than a day late.

Things that happen in other countries can happen here. Sinclair Lewis demonstrated this in his 1935 book, “It can’t happen here.”