State lawmakers are stabbing us in the back
What’s going on in state government? Who gets themselves into a $480 million budget deficit with no resolution in sight?
Legislators are elected to serve, lead, make tough decisions, and yes, do the right thing. That last part is where the General Assembly is failing the constituents of the Volunteer State.
Tennesseans by nature are not cheap, whining people. Form our forefathers, we’re a stand-up and take-it-on-the-chin bunch of folks. We earned our name the Volunteer State, primarily through patriotic war efforts.
Tennessee ranks high in philanthropic endeavors or coming to the rescue of our neighbors. We have good hearts and, for the most part, good sense. That’s what makes this whole mean-spirited, tight-fisted attitude perplexing.
It’s nice at election time to be able to say, “I didn’t raise the sales tax or I sure didn’t vote for an income tax.” But that doesn’t wash when education suffers, state parks close, economic and community development, along with tourism promotion, all take priority as programs to ax.
Get real state lawmakers. Tennessee is suffering. Its people are suffering and the suffering is only going to get worse. What are you going to do about it? You have been elected by the people of your districts to stand up and act responsibly. All the horn honking around the Capital shouldn’t deter you from this mission.
Everybody likes a friend in Nashville. We all like to think our elected representatives are on a first-name basis with us. That makes people feel important, to get patted on the back and given a handshake in solicitation of a vote.
Looking at what’s happening in the House and Senate chambers, our legislators aren’t given us a handshake – they are stabbing us in the back.
Efficient and responsible governing isn’t taking place in Nashville. It hasn’t for the last two years.
It’s time for politics to be laid aside and all the games to end. The best interest of this state and its citizens, and not horn-honkers, are what our lawmakers must consider.