The World According to Oatney

Former Governor Ned McWherter Has Died

During his time as Governor, McWherter sat as one of the most popular Governors in the history of the State up to that time. His fiscal legacy was certainly a mixed one. He was the father of TennCare, which was considered by many at first to be a revolution in public health care, but the original legislation failed to plug potential loopholes in the system and, far worse, the original TennCare failed to take account of the potential cost to State government to carry out such a radical program. At the beginning of his second term, Ned McWherter initially proposed a State income tax but would later shy away from the proposal, understanding (as his Republican successor Don Sundquist apparently failed to learn) that to further press the issue would be political suicide for him and perhaps his party. After leaving office in 1995, former President Bill Clinton appointed McWherter to the United States Postal Service Board of Governors.

Labels: Democrats, Federal politics, Local politics, Tennessee politics

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 12:00 AM