In his guest column on July 4, Tennessee Representative John Ragan requests us to cast our ballots to hold government accountable. This is an excellent idea!
Hidden in Mr. Ragan’s rhetoric about IRS tyranny is the underlying economic policy he espouses: the notion that cutting taxes will lead us to prosperity in all circumstances. Our nation’s experiment with that fanciful notion has been a miserable failure for the last 30 years, causing incredible hardship on our people. It is now overwhelmingly discredited by economists from both sides of the aisle.
Mr. Ragan would likely be good enough with mathematics to have studied economics, but he seems to not have done so. In fact, it appears he learned his economics, not from the best in the field, but from politicians and the media. This has been greatly to the detriment of Tennessee.
In his 400-word column about government, Mr. Ragan mentions God four times—lest anyone be in doubt about his theory of governance. Despite the fact he lives in Oak Ridge and must surely know that this region is blessed by the diverse people drawn here from around the world by the scientific facilities, he chooses to represent only those who share his exact beliefs.
Nothing has been more abhorrent to many of this community than his misinformed efforts to allow bullying of those with different religious beliefs and to shackle educators from even discussing lesbians and gays with students. He wishes our government to apply his moral standards toward lesbians and gays while purporting to represent a district of considerable religious and ethnic diversity. This is the height of arrogance.
It is because I believe Mr. Ragan has represented this community so poorly that I have filed a Certificate of Write-In Candidacy to run in the August 7 Democratic primary for the seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives for District 33. The candidate who appears on the ballot, Misty Neergaard, has dropped out of the race. Readers may learn more about my candidacy at my website: leslieagron.com.
In the height of irony, Mr. Ragan calls for us to hold government accountable! Would he have us forget he holds a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives? Since he also is a part of government, I call on voters to hold him accountable for his poor representation of our community and divisive rhetoric. Since he has been a source of great embarrassment to Tennessee, I call on you to cast a vote to retire John Ragan in the upcoming elections!
Leslie Agron is a Democratic write-in candidate for the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Raymond Charles Kircher says
“he espouses: the notion that cutting taxes will lead us to prosperity in all circumstances. Our nation’s experiment with that fanciful notion has been a miserable failure for the last 30 years, causing incredible hardship on our people.” Can Mr. Agron expand on this notion and how this country would be in existence if weren’t for a rebellion over high taxes? Mr. Agron is horribly wrong about our country’s history, even as recent as 30 years ago where capital gains taxes were cut in the 80’s and led to a Great Expansion. Just how does raising taxes help people? Well the people who want government to be cradle to grave providers want high taxes, because they don’t work or save or invest in America.
Nancy England says
Sorry, but saying that “people who want government to be cradle to grave providers want high taxes, because they don’t work or save or invest in America” is ridiculous. The amount of taxes correlates nicely to the amount of services, yes. Low taxes, low services. But what are you going to blow off? Police protection? Fire Department? Public Schools? Decent pavement and sidewalks? Indoor plumbing??
I happen to be a full-time caregiver for my bed-bound husband. I get no salary or percs for that other than being dog-tired. Our medical expenses have eaten our considerable savings completely down to the bone. I’ve done my share of “working, saving and investing in America” or at least Oak Ridge. I’ve served on the Board of Education. I’ve served on various nonprofit boards. I served as Secretary and then President of ORCMA. I founded Music Arts and founded the Oak Ridge Community Orchestra. I’ve bought, personally remodeled and sold several cemesto houses and helped raise neighborhood values. I keep abreast of goings-on here; a lot of it thanks to “Oak Ridge Today” (thanks, John Huotori) and The Oak Ridger and was a supporter of the now defunct Oak Ridge Observer. I vote in every election, no matter how small or how long the line is.
At this point if it were not for Medicare, Social Security and a small pension from Carbide, we’d be on the streets.
Oh, there’s much more in your statement that could be easily challenged, and I trust others will do that.
Raymond Charles Kircher says
The correlation as you succinctly characterized as the basic needs of life is exactly what is taxed too much, and he has done nothing to remove the TN Tax on investment income; all while Amazon collects money here in TN that is already taxed and sent to his place of employment in Nashville. NO INCOME TAX! You want to run on that, then stand by it and do it. The tax he may be claiming to be removed may be mistakenly placed on him but was introduced before his time is the Inheritance Tax. The only point where I see he has reduced taxes is on businesses, not on my property taxes and investment income. We are facing another property tax increase due to state transportation rules. Nancy England, don’t tell me what he is campaigning is true. It all isn’t.
Virginia M. Jones says
While Mr. Ragan has sponsored a number of bills, helpful to communities in District 33, such as Lake City, which is now Rocky Top, and helping to find funds to widen a particularly dangerous stretch of the state highway running through New River, others of the bills he has sponsored and co-sponsored have been unfortunate and misguided, particularly the House versions of bills introduced in the Senate by Stacey Campfield. Many Oak Ridgers are delighted to have someone to vote for in the Democratic Primary on August 7. The ballot still has the name of Misty Neergaard, who sought to challenge Mr. Ragan primarily in the area of legislation which would allow bullying of particular children, but she had to drop her candidacy, and Leslie Agron stepped forward to become certified to be a write-in-candidate for District 33, which includes Anderson County and much of Oak Ridge.He is well qualified to understand Oak Ridge, as a native of the city, and someone who has demonstrated his concern for finding solutions to a number of problems for the city in writing newspaper columns with well-thought out ideas to help Oak Ridge. He has served as a member of EQAB, and is greatly interested in what Oak Ridge has to offer technically, especially in the area of carbon fiber. His comprehension of the issues is sound. Voters can write-in a vote for Mr. Agron by clicking “write-in” and turning the dial on the voting machine to spell out the letters “Agron.”. Mr. Agron is a candidate who can represent the entire community of Oak Ridge.