Senator Jim Davis of Franklin is refusing to advance a room tax through the legislature until innkeepers in his constituency approve. Granted, room taxes are supposed to be taxation without representation for tourists, who have less voice in the halls of government than the spotted salamander. Still, it would take a grad student to multiply the economics enough to show the room tax is good for hoteliers.
I know, I know. The room tax goes to create some hyped up useless waste on which tourists will feel obliged to burn credit cards. Meanwhile, skinny kids are starving in Africa, dictators are demanding blood, diseases are still abundant. How ‘bout we spend some money to improve the human condition?