Thursday, January 20, 2005
Cut and Run
Posted by Bruce Barry on Thu, Jan 20, 2005 at 9:17 AM
The pieces published in the Scene this week reveal that TennCare antagonists are exerting more energy talking past one another than engaging on fundamental questions. Gordon Bonnyman and others upset with Bredesen's actions point to federal aid (a bailout of sorts) and to the revenue side (yes, taxes) as alternatives to gutting enrollment. Yet Bredesen apologist Stryker Warren Jr. writing in the Scene rejects these options out of hand rather than through persuasive argument: "if Mr. Bonnyman can manage the TennCare program without additional taxes and a federal bailout, I know the governor is always open to recruiting talent."
In a Scene interview, Congressman Jim Cooper gives Bredesen a disingenuous pass: "He's honest; he ran on a no-tax platform. People get the government they vote for. As I recall in that election, no one ran on a tax-increase platform. If someone does want to run on a tax-increase platform, they're welcome to do so." Bredesen didn't pledge to reform taxes, true. He also didn't pledge to toss sick people off health care and old people out of nursing homes. Is that the government we voted for? Honesty, as always, is in the eye of the beholder.
In a Scene interview, Congressman Jim Cooper gives Bredesen a disingenuous pass: "He's honest; he ran on a no-tax platform. People get the government they vote for. As I recall in that election, no one ran on a tax-increase platform. If someone does want to run on a tax-increase platform, they're welcome to do so." Bredesen didn't pledge to reform taxes, true. He also didn't pledge to toss sick people off health care and old people out of nursing homes. Is that the government we voted for? Honesty, as always, is in the eye of the beholder.
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