No. 146: Not a moment too soon

Good morning, everyone.

Below we recap last night's metro council meeting, detail who benefitted from Donald Trump's tax break, and enough additional content to keep your folio full until lunch. If you're so inclined, sign up to win some free tickets. We're offering Titans/49ers tickets in addition to tickets to St. Paul & the Broken Bones on New Year's Eve. Scroll down to learn more.

In other red-blooded news, if you haven't seen our Pierce Brosnan Shrine scroll to the bottom of this email to cleanse your palate of the politics. You can follow us on Twitter (@realpamphleteer), LinkedIn (@realpamphleteer), or Instagram (@realpamphleteer) for additional content.

Thanks for reading.

🎫 END OF YEAR TICKET GIVEAWAYS

Enter to win four tickets and a parking pass to the Thursday Night Titans/49ers game on December 23rd, or four tickets to see St. Paul & the Broken Bones at the Brooklyn Bowl on New Year's Eve.

If you refer people to the contest, you will increase your chances of winning.

🏈 Enter the Titans vs. 49ers Ticket Giveaway Contest (Link)

🎙 Enter the New Year's Eve Ticket Giveaway Contest (Link)

◉ Metro Council Passes Huge Metro Budget Plan

$564 M in capital spending. Last night, the Metro City Council approved Mayor Cooper’s 2022 budget. The budget didn’t deviate far from its original form except for some money changing hands and being reallocated to different projects. What left council members scratching their heads and stunting for their constituents the most was the $15M dollar price tag on the zoo parking lot which remained in the final plan.

“After a year of crisis, Nashville is finally entering an era of investment,” said Mayor John Cooper. “And with this budget, we’re laying the foundation to build a city that truly works for everyone with historic investments in our schools, transportation, community safety, and affordable housing.”

The legacy building language paired with the expenditures has some Tennesseans wondering if Cooper is actually going to run again for Mayor.

Things That Matter

• Downtown party vehicle routes were voted to be restricted from going within 600 feet of schools M-F, 8am-6pm and BYOB alcohol permit requirements for the party vehicles both passed on first and second reading respectively.
• Creating a special committee to address homelessness was deferred.

From The Floor

Councilman Glover prevented a dangerous precedent regarding final voting by council members. During one of the votes, a council member wanted to add their name to the list of “yes” votes after the votes had been cast. The vote would not change the outcome, but Glover pointed out that it would create a dangerous precedent. After deliberation, the request was denied and the vote was not changed.

Councilman Bob Mendes alluded to this being his final term. While pointing out some financial problems that might hurt Metro down the road, Mendes called on council members to remember the moment because he wouldn't be there in a few years down the road when the decisions they were making would affect the budget.

The voting machines began to glitch and break down towards the end of the meeting. We will see if this becomes a problem that wreaks havoc in the future.

HEADLINES

• Nathan Bedford Forrest statue along I-65 removed after more than 2 decades (Channel 5) The controversial statue came down Tuesday morning, and the decision came after the death of the property owner.
• Nashville releases third redistricting proposal; Planning Commission to review Thursday (Tennessean) Nashville's planning department on Friday released the third drafts of its proposed new Metro Council and school board districts.
• Nashville commits $1B to capital spending in 2021 (Axios) Nashville Mayor John Cooper on Friday unveiled $568 million in construction and infrastructure projects, running up the city's capital spending commitments this year to over $1 billion.
• Democrats cry foul on redistricting (Lookout) Redistricting maps haven’t been released, but some House Democrats are already complaining that supermajority Republicans are trying to draw them out of existence.

DEVELOPMENT

• Cocktail restaurant eyed for Centennial Park area (Post)
• Amazon makes $150K donation to O’Bryan Center (Post)
• New details released for Main Street mixed-use project (Post)
• Elm Hill Pike warehouse listed for $9M (Post)
• Developer buys McFerrin Park site eyed for $300M mixed-use plan (Post)

⎋ THE FATE OF TAXES

Despite Biden's admonition that Trump's tax cut "only benefitted the rich", a study released by The Heartland Institute showed that the lower and middle classes received massive tax bill reductions:

• Between $15,000 and $50,000 saw taxes cut by 16 - 26%
• Between $50,000 to $100,000 averaged tax savings of 15 - 17%
• Between $100,000 to $500,000 saw taxes cut by 11 - 13%
• $500,000 or more received an average tax cut above 9%
• Over $1 million received a tax cut of 6%

Meanwhile, Biden's tax plan has proven to actually raise taxes across all income brackets, empowers the IRS to monitor business accounts with as little as $6oo in total transactions — the current limit is $20,000 — and eradicates the SALT tax which caps deductions for all income classes — a measure that would disproportionately favor the "rich".

⚔︎ MISSIVES

• White House announces diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns. President Joe Biden was considering the move last month under mounting pressure from lawmakers.
• Some of the biggest names in the corporate world sold a record $69 billion in stock in 2021 as share valuations surged to record highs, new data from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings show.
• 🦠 Unvaccinated people in Italy face restricted access to some services from Monday as the government tightens rules aimed at keeping infection rates down.

We’ve sifted through the hordes of imposters calling themselves “artists” to bring you some worthwhile shows in Nashville this week.

THINGS TO DO

View the full calendar here.

⭐ Cheekwood’s Christmas lights exhibit is running until January 9.

🖼 At the Frist, Medieval Bologna: Art for a University City is running until January 30 and American Art Deco: Designing for the People, 1918–1939 until January 2.

TONIGHT

😳 Comedy Open Mic @ Fat Kat Slims, 7p, Free, Info

Around the Web

☀ Herbie Spoils the Party Why America's over-reliance on solar for its Green initiatives is doomed to fail.

✱ The New Blue Confederacy How did the New North become the Old South, and the New South the Old North?

▉ On The Game of Globalism Some words on the EU's "Global Gateway" and China's "Belt and Road Initiative"

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﹅☉✦ Pierce Brosnan Shrine ✦☉﹅