Beacon Center of Tennessee » Recent News

Beacon hits Canadian radio

editor — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:32:59 +0000

Beacon Center senior fellow Dr. Art Carden appeared this morning on CBC/Radio-Canada to discuss how mom and pop stores can actually compete with big box retailers despite widespread public opinion that the latter threaten local community retailers. Listen to the podcast at this link.

Beacon’s letter cited by Washington Examiner

editor — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:30:18 +0000

The Washington Examiner publishes an Associated Press story noting the Beacon Center’s role in urging Gov. Bill Haslam to support a repeal of the state death tax. Read the entire article here. Beacon’s president & CEO recently signed a letter to Haslam along with several prominent national taxpayer advocates, including Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist. The letter can be downloaded at this link.

Anti-death tax advocates eye victory in TN

editor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:05:53 +0000

The Daily Caller looks at the work of the Beacon Center and other key groups who are urging Gov. Bill Haslam to support a repeal of the state death tax. Read the entire article here.

Newspaper editorial board sides with Beacon

editor — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:10:11 +0000

The Times editorial board of the Chattanooga Times Free Press concurs with Beacon’s choice of the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association as its 2011 Lump of Coal Award winner. Read the editorial board’s position here.

And the winner is…

editor — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:02:33 +0000

Liquor Lobby Receives Lump of Coal Award for Thwarting Wine in Grocery Stores

NASHVILLE – The Beacon Center of Tennessee (formerly the Tennessee Center for Policy Research) today announced the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee as the recipient of its 2011 Lump of Coal Award.

The Beacon Center awards this dubious distinction annually to the person or group in Tennessee who, more than any other during the past year, acted as a Grinch to Tennesseans by bah-humbugging the principles of liberty and limited government.

For the first time, the 2011 Lump of Coal Award was chosen directly by Tennesseans in an online poll. Respondents chose from a list of five finalists selected by Beacon Center staff. The Wine & Spirits Wholesalers received the most votes for the not-so-coveted prize, beating out Nashville’s Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency by a single vote.

The Lump of Coal Award goes to the association for its actions to prevent grocery stores from selling wine in the state, a measure that 33 states allow and one that would benefit Tennesseans economically.

“The liquor lobby, led by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee, has used questionable tactics to scare rural Tennesseans and lawmakers into erroneously believing that allowing grocery stores to sell wine will bring about some type of booze-propelled chaos, all in an effort to protect its powerful monopoly over wine,” said Justin Owen, the Beacon Center’s president and CEO.

“Despite the fact that nearly three out of four Tennesseans want to end the Prohibition-era restrictions on wine, their calls were yet again drowned out by this formidable lobbying force. Maybe the association’s leadership can wash down its lump of coal with a nice bottle of cabernet, purchased exclusively from a liquor store, of course.”

The Beacon Center of Tennessee is an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization committed to providing free market solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee. Through research, advocacy, and investigative reporting, the Center advances ideas grounded in the principles of free markets, individual liberty, and limited government.

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Unemployment extension hurts jobless and taxpayers

editor — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:27:13 +0000

The Tennessean and WBIR-TV in Knoxville cover the ongoing debate to renew unemployment benefits before the end of the year. Beacon’s CEO Justin Owen cautions against the move:

“The more you extend unemployment benefits to someone who’s jobless, the less likely it is that they’ll take the necessary measures to go out and find a job,” said Justin Owen, CEO of the free-market think tank the Beacon Center of Tennessee. He supports the Republican plan of tying benefits to a work program.

“We’re not trying to attack those who have lost their jobs,” he said. “It’s the extension of it that’s become problematic. When you go from 26 weeks to 99 weeks, that’s a substantial expansion of this. And it’s not only an expansion that hurts the people it’s trying to help, it also hurts the taxpayers.”

Read the entire article here.

Lawmakers seek to require voter approval of tax hikes

editor — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:13:06 +0000

The Beacon Center’s Ryan Turbeville talks to Channel 4 News in Nashville about a state lawmaker’s proposal to require voter approval of any local property tax increases that are greater than one percent. Click here to watch the entire interview.

Biz-Friendly Cities report captures attention

editor — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:10:24 +0000

The media has extensively covered the Beacon Center’s recent report, How Business-Friendly are Tennessee’s Cities?, since its release earlier this week. Below is a list of the mentions so far on television and in newspapers, with links. Click here to read the release of the report itself.

Nashville Business Journal
Middle Tennessee dominates biz friendly rankings
TOP 10: Most Business-Friendly Cities
TOP 10: Least Business-Friendly Cities
Where are TN’s most (and least) tax-friendly cities

Tennessean
Nashville area cities named most business-friendly

TN Report
TN cities ranked for business-friendliness

WCYB, News 5 Johnson City
New report: Tri-cities not very business-friendly

Memphis Business Journal
Memphis named as Tennessee’s least business-friendly city

Main Street Journal
News for Tuesday, November 15

Knoxville News Sentinel
Farragut named state’s most business-friendly city
Owen: Farragut earned business-friendly ranking

WBIR, Channel 10 (Knoxville)
Farragut named most business-friendly city

WATE, Channel 6 (Knoxville)
Farragut named most business-friendly city in TN

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Survey faults Chattanooga’s friendliness to business
Free Press Editorial Board: Local strengths, weaknesses

WYXI Radio (Athens)
Athens: The business-friendly city

Shelbyville Times-Gazette
City falls in state business study

Farragut Press
Biz Beat
Farragut “Most Business-Friendly” again

Crossville Chronicle
Crossville recognized for business climate

Farragut Shopper
Farragut Shopper News

Hendersonville Standard
Hendersonville named sixth most business-friendly city in state

Tax dollars spent on booze and porn?

editor — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:12:37 +0000

The Beacon Center’s Justin Owen takes the state Dept. of Human Services to task for its failure to oversee a federal welfare program that gives debit cards to families in need. A WSMV, Channel 4 News investigation found that the debit cards were being swiped at adult bookstores and bars.

“Is this really how we’re helping ailing families, giving them taxpayer money to booze it up and enhance their porn stash?” asked Owen. “This is what people are angry about these days.”

Watch the entire interview here.

Beware of taxpayer-funded nuclear energy

editor — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:41:30 +0000

October 27, 2011

Despite seeing a strong future for nuclear energy, the Beacon Center’s Justin Owen cautions against the government leading the charge with taxpayers’ money.

Putting up taxpayer money for small reactors is wrong, said Justin Owen, president and CEO of Beacon Center of Tennessee, a policy group that advocates limiting government.

“While there certainly is significant potential in the realm of nuclear energy, the government should not lead the charge,” he said.

An alternative if Congress doesn’t help on the small reactors may be for TVA to partner with investor-owned utilities, generation and transmission cooperatives, and investors. Bailey said TVA has talked to potential partners about this but no agreements have been made.

His comments come from an article on the expansion of small nuclear reactors in today’s Tennessean. Read the entire article here.