Member Group Holds Rally for Tax Reform
Starting the year off with a bang, 30 members of Save Our Cumberland
Mountains (SOCM) gathered on January 6th to protest the sales tax on food.
The rally and press conference was organized by the Campbell/Anderson Chapter
of SOCM and held outside Wal-Mart¥s foodcenter in LaFollette (north of Knoxville
near the Kentucy border). Members handed out leaflets, held up signs, and
spoke to the media about the need for tax reform.
 "It¥s
really an issue of fairness," said local Chapter member Anne Hablas, "A fair
deal is what we¥re seeking. The sales tax is really a huge burden on low
income and poor people. 60-80% of Tennesseans would pay less under new
proposals." Other speakers at the rally were SOCM President Marvin Ellis
and Father Greg Neuzil from the local Catholic Church. Local member and
high school student Wesley Nix MC¥d the press conference.
The morning¥s activities also included a skit by members Kathy Nix and Tom Brookman.
Tom wore the large dinner plate costume, M.T. "empty" Plate. "Mr. Plate,
why is your plate empty?" asked Kathy Nix. "Why is my plate empty?" responded
Tom Brookman in the plate costume, "How can anyone afford to keep their plate
full with this crazy sales tax on food?" Several other questions were
asked and answered in an attempt to drive home the need for tax reform.
"The skit was a fun way to get our message across," said Kathy.
The purpose of the event was to draw local media¥s attention to
the issue and to ask local legislators to support tax reform. "We want
to send a signal to our representatives that this tax system is very unfair
and needs to be reformed," said Anne Hablas. Tom Brookman added, "We need
more evenly distributed taxes. We¥re pushing for a state income tax and
we believe it would benefit the most people. We were really proud of Senator
Randy McNally for pushing to advance the income tax proposal last year."
Successfully spreading the word, the members made the front
page of the Clinton Courier News with a big color picture of M.T. Plate
and also received coverage in the Knoxville News Sentinel and the LaFollette
Press. A video clip from the event was used in a series on tax reform
that ran on a Nashville station. If you would like more information
on how to host a press event on tax reform in your area, contact TFT at 1-888-671-5188. Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) can
be reached at 865-426-9455.
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