It Makes You Tear Your Hair Out: Gov. Phil Bredesen Of Tennessee

OS heard this snippet as he roused this morning, had to check to see if he heard correctly.

He did.

Bredesen is a businessman, who served two terms as Mayor of Nashville, cleaning up after the disastrous Bill Boner (who had served as a Democrat House Member, btw!) he then served two terms as governor, cleaning up after the disastrous Don Sundquist (who had served as a Republican House Member, btw!). Get the theme?

Bredesen is a boring guy who knows that words matter and math doesn't lie. OS has his differences with the governor, but that's ok. Phil Bredesen is sane, and while other states in the nation are burning to the ground, we're juggling and dipping into carefully set-aside cash reserves. The Rainy-Day Fund. Because rain happens.

From local NPR affilate WPLN:

Congress has passed a bill that is meant to restore the jobs of laid off teachers. But the state’s top officials are unsure if Tennessee will get much of the money.

The U.S. Department of Education estimates some 3,700 teaching jobs would be restored in Tennessee. While there have been some layoffs in local school districts, Tennessee has not resorted to mass teacher layoffs to balance the state budget, instead finding other areas to cut and dipping into reserves. Governor Phil Bredesen says it would have been nice to know this money might be out there back in January when the budget was getting hashed out.


“The whole notion of doing this in August, it’s the sort of thing that makes you tear your hair out.”

Bredesen says he will be “irritated” if Tennessee doesn’t qualify for some of the money, and hopes it can be used for other purposes. “State’s that have managed well,” he says, “shouldn’t be punished.” That’s the same sentiment that came from Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper, who was one of just three House Democrats to vote against the bill.

It's not about the health of the schools, Governor. It's about buying votes for Democrat House members from the teachers' unions. You're just experiencing a sane reaction to a federal government run by Chicago pols and idiots.

Congressman Cooper (D-TN5, Nashville) has credible opposition for the first time in years, so no way is he voting for this nonsense. Were his seat safe, he would have, make no mistake.

Kinda' Gives An Entirely New Meaning To The Term 'Red State': Illinois, Obama's Home State, Is About To Melt Down

Gosh. If you spend way way way more than you take in, borrow borrow borrow the rest, one day, you'll have a several billion dollar shortfall in the ole' state budget.

From the WSJ:

Illinois lawmakers were in disarray Thursday as they groped for stopgap measures to address a $13 billion deficit equaling nearly half of the state's general-fund revenue.

The state faces one of the nation's worst budget crises, spilled over in part from the broader national economic crunch, and its current bond ratings lag only California's. But the confusion in the legislature indicates that serious steps to fix state finances won't be taken until after the November elections—if then.

Illinois lawmakers have little appetite for drastic spending cuts. An income-tax increase proposed by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn is going nowhere. Even temporary steps, such as borrowing to make pension payments, have stalled. Illinois is months late on many of its bills and has no plan for catching up.

The legislature may push the problem to the governor's office by granting Mr. Quinn emergency budget powers and adjourning Friday, about three weeks earlier than usual.

Yeah, baby! Talk about-cher' profiles in courage!

And they don't have a Reagan or a Bush to blame for it. The One is in the White House, and if he ponies up $20 billion or so to bail Illinois out, with no chance of repayment, then Katie-Bar-The-Door on Election Day.

Does sort of make one reconsider that definition of 'Red State'.

Tennessee, on the other hand, is grappling with a shortfall of about 100 million--a lot of money, but Democrat Governor Bredesen and the Republican-dominated legislature stoked away a bunch of cash during the good times. So now the argument is about if and how much of those funds to tap versus how much to cut. They'll get through it, and won't be adjourning early. It won't be pleasant, but everyone will survive.

Read more about the knock-on effect in Illinois at Doug Ross Journal.