The World According to Oatney

State of the Re-election Campaign Address

I have not blogged all day today partly because my days have been incredibly busy of late, and partly because I wanted to hear what Bredesen had to say for himself before I said much of anything.

The Governor told us tonight that he had no intention of raising taxes this year, and left the strong impression that he would not do so at all if elected to a second term. This is a pledge that I will believe only when I see, because as we have said and cited here on many occasions, State Democrats are always looking for new ways in which they might raise taxes. Their favorite way to raise taxes would be to levy an income tax, and if they can't do that under the law, they will find some way around the law.

As for the rest of the Governor's address, there was little that he said that could be argued with, only his pledge to insure every child in Tennessee without raising taxes left me scratching my head wondering how such an ambitious social project could be attempted after TennCare collapsed, and could be done without a tax-hike in disguise. The rest of Bredesen's pledges make him sound Republican, which means that he will attempt to win a second term by portraying himself as something he is not. It is an open question, I think, as to whether that makes him a fraud.

Bredesen's administration has bigger problems, however. Former State Highway patrolman Charles Farmer is alleging that he was run out of the Patrol because he is a Republican. That indicates a level of political favoritism and corruption that, if it truly pervades even the state police in this manner, means that no Tennessean can be assured of a fair application of the law in this State. That is more than enough reason to run Phil Bredesen right out of the Governor's mansion.

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 7:45 PM