Look at today's front page of The Tennessean and weep.
It is representative of a high price paid by the good people in Nashville and Tennessee for a man who governs as more of a myth than a leader of actual competence because of a fawning news media and an enriched chamber of commerce.
As for the 500 jobs Bredesen is bringing to Clarksville, the same number will be eventually lost in Nashville the next two years because of a Metro Nashville Davidson County budget dedicated during his years to pro sports and its billionaires -- like Bud Adams and Michael Dell -- and away from the needs of the people.
Ol' Bud is smiling on the front page today because he soon will call in his contract chip for $170 million in improvements to aging LP Field. A winning team gives an owner more power in forcing his way on taxpayers. And Bredesen negotiated the contract to bring Bud here, along with $5 million that comes off the top of the budget each year for the Titans.
The Dell deal was another disaster. Even before the deal went before the Council, The Tennessean's great investigative reporter Shelia Wissner showed that all the Bredesen giveaways -- for what was supposed to be a manufacturing plant -- to be a loser for taxpayers over 40 years. Yet The Tennessean still endorsed the deal. And Dell took away the manufacturing from the Nashville facility. It now is a box packing plant, paying a lot lower wages.
With the recent VW plant announcement, Bredesen gave away $600 million in tax giveaways for jobs not dedicated to Tennesseans. Alabamans and Georgians will get them, too. And for every giveaway, a regular taxpayer has to make up the difference, because Tennessee is facing a $1 billion budget deficit for the current year.
Just wait and see how many state jobs Bredesen cuts because he preferred to get elected than do the right fiscal thing and push a state income tax.
Bredesen giveth and Bredesen taketh away ... too damn frequently.
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