In a letter posted in today's edition of The Tennessean, Sen. Minority Leader Lowe Finney (D-Jackson) and House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) called for Republican leadership to be more proactive in reducing the rising unemployment rate in Tennessee:
Major investments like those by Volkswagen and Hemlock required a governor who was all-in for jobs. Tennessee needs that kind of hands-on approach, now more than ever, through investments like the West Tennessee megasite, which is not funded in the governor's proposal. We believe that our rural communities should have the same opportunities as Chattanooga and Montgomery County, especially in areas with continued double-digit unemployment rates. Until we see that kind of proactive commitment from the majority party, they cannot truly say that they are working to put Tennesseans back to work.
Fitzhugh and Finney responded to the first "State of the State" address delivered by newly-elected multimillionaire Republican governor, Bill Haslam, who ran on a platform that he knew how to run a business and bring jobs to Tennessee. Thus far, Haslam has done little or nothing to create jobs, and the Republican majority has twiddled away its time with issues like Islamophobia, restrictions on teacher unions, and requiring drug stores to monitor purchases of Sudafed. (Tennessee's black market methamphetamine business seems to be booming, a side effect of high unemployment.)
As President Obama continues to look for new markets and new products to boost exports, the Republicans in Tennessee and across the country have spent much more time union busting and attacking NPR, rather than addressing the kitchen table issues faced by American families or the massive national debt created by wasteful tax cuts, endless wars, unbridled military spending, and a Medicare Part D drug plan that price-gouges the American taxpayer while padding the pockets of drug companies.
The fact is, the same Republican party that was out of ideas in 2008 is still out of ideas today. And when you're out of ideas, you start hoarding ammunition or looking for a new state currency, which is what Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) has done recently. And the "small government" Republicans are apparently very interested in women's sex habits and vaginal bleeding. (Don't worry though - if South Dakota Republicans get their way, you won't be prohibited from "justifiable homicide" if you kill an abortion provider.)
To all those who say, "Republicans and Democrats are all the same - it makes no difference," I'd encourage you to come to Tennessee. There is a difference. It's the difference between those who use their wealth to create opportunity for "the least of these" in our society, and those who use their wealth to discriminate and intimidate minority groups and maintain economic inequality.