What if the government began running your local supermarket?

Nashville, TN – Today, President Barack Obama held a “town hall meeting” in a Bristol area supermarket. The Tennessee Republican Party finds it both interesting and ironic that the President chose the American Supermarket, the most familiar example of today’s free-market system, as a location to make his pitch for government-run healthcare.

“Given the fact he wants to limit patient choice with his healthcare plan, it is interesting that President Obama picked a grocery store, something that illustrates consumer choice at its best, to highlight that plan,” stated TN Republican Party Chair Chris Devaney

The modern American supermarket is place full of choices. When families go to their local supermarket, they have a variety of products and foodstuffs available to purchase to prepare their weekly meals. It is doubtful that many Americans would choose to shop at a government-run marketplace where choices are limited, check-out lines are long and there is a rationed limit on the number of items you may purchase.

If the government ran a supermarket chain, be assured they would limit your choices, provide less variety and quality and still cost about the same. How can Americans believe that government-run healthcare would be any different?”

The President is promoting a one-size fits all government-run plan for healthcare. In Tennessee the TennCare program has already been stretched to its limits. Even Governor Phil Bredesen expressed his skepticism of the Obama Healthcare plan in a recent New York Times article:

Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat, said he feared Congress was about to bestow “the mother of all unfunded mandates.”

“Medicaid is a poor vehicle for expanding coverage,” added Mr. Bredesen, a former health care executive. “It’s a 45-year-old system originally designed for poor women and their children. It’s not health care reform to dump more money into Medicaid.”

Several other Governors also have concerns of their own, click here for the July 19th article from the NY Times.

Nashville, TN – Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney announced today that he has hired John Newman to be his Chief of Staff and State Director. Newman is a long-time Republican grassroots leader from West Tennessee with extensive experience in campaign management and administration.

Newman will manage the day to day operations of the Tennessee Republican Party and oversee grassroots and political development throughout the state.

Chairman Devaney said, “John understands grassroots politics from the inside and out and has extremely strong organizational skills. As we look toward the critical elections of 2010, John and the rest of our team will be ready to help lead our party to victory.”

Newman, who has extensive business experience, also has had a long career in supporting Republicans including service as West Tennessee Field Representative for U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, a member of the Republican State Executive Committee and Chairman of the Madison County Republican Party. He was named Tennessee Republican Party Statesman of the Year in 1999 and has been instrumental in consulting many winning campaigns over the years.

“I have known Chris for a long time and know the kind of leadership he brings to this organization and I’m proud to have the opportunity to work at the State Republican Party under his direction. It is exciting to be part of a team that is ready to help Republicans solidify their majority in the General Assembly and to help elect a Republican Governor,” Newman said.

Newman is a native of Jackson, Tennessee. He is a graduate of Union University with a B.S. in Organizational Leadership.

Nashville, TN – Today Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney sent the following letter to State House Minority Leader Gary Odom after a string of inflammatory and divisive statements and actions taken by Odom and his party’s leadership on the issue of the Voter Confidence Act.

Letter to State House Minority Leader Gary Odom

July 14, 2009

The Honorable Gary Odom
House Minority Leader
Tennessee General Assembly
Suite 18A Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243

Minority Leader Odom:

I am writing with a matter that greatly concerns our state and the integrity of our elections. Your recent comments and those of your fellow Democrats in leadership on the implementation of the Voter Confidence Act are disruptive to the integrity of the voting process.

As citizens of this great state we encourage you to temper your comments and work with the Secretary of State and other legislative leaders to find a solution to fulfill the requirement of the law. Additionally, we urge you to look beyond Nashville to consider the burden that will be placed upon rural counties (presently struggling to balance their local budgets) that will be obligated to pay for a series of new costs associated with paper ballots under this law.

While the Tennessee Republican Party has no role in the decision making process regarding new voting machines, as citizens we believe Tennesseans deserve the best machines that meet the legislative criteria. The statements of Secretary of State Tre Hargett last week and his previous testimony to the General Assembly make it clear: there are not currently any optical scan machines certified by the safest and most secure standards of the federal Voluntary Voting System Guidelines.

It appears that politics are playing more of a role in your party’s actions than those of concrete public policy. It is doubtful you would be raising such an issue if you had not lost your legislative majority and retained a Democrat as Secretary of State and a Democrat majority on the State and County Election Commissions. Your leadership in overseeing these losses for your fellow party members certainly appears to be intensifying your misleading attacks towards the current Secretary of State and is unproductive in moving our state forward.

We find it curious that the Democrat Party is now questioning the integrity of Tennessee elections. The track record of the Tennessee Democrat Party and its legislative members on election integrity is questionable at best. We would like to remind you of the dubious tactics and events that have surrounded the Democrat Party in recent Tennessee elections.

For example in 2006 Tennessee Democrats defended the questionable voting practices that led to the election of Ophelia Ford in a 2005 special election. Senate Democrat Leader Jim Kyle and State Senator Roy Herron both voted to uphold the election of Ophelia Ford that was tainted with voting irregularities.

Even more shameful were the actions of Tennessee Democrats when they overturned the certified election results of Senator Rosalind Kurita from August 2008. Your party chose to undermine the integrity of the election process and seek revenge because Senator Kurita dared to vote her conscience and defied the demands of Democrat Leadership in the election of the Lt. Governor in 2007.

If you are truly concerned with the integrity of elections, we challenge you and your Democrat colleagues in the House and Senate to drop your opposition to legislation that has not advanced in the General Assembly. We believe that these proposed election rules will improve the standards whereby Tennesseans vote in our elections.

• HB.1838 – Requiring the county registrar to verify proof of citizenship for voter registration and identify verification when voting.

• HB.0779 – Requiring the State Coordinator of Elections to promulgate rules to make it easier for overseas Military voters to return their absentee ballots.

• HB.0639 – Requiring a voter to present photo ID to vote, and allowing voters without proper ID to cast provisional ballots.

Mr. Odom, we fundamentally disagree with the Tennessee Democrat Party’s marching orders to elect more Democrats at any cost. Sir, some costs are too high. The integrity of our elections is paramount to the foundation of our Representative Democracy and the Republic as a whole.

Thank you for your consideration of our request. You can count on us to hold you accountable when you advocate poor public policy that does not benefit all of Tennessee’s citizens.

Sincerely,

Chris Devaney
Chairman
Tennessee Republican Party

CC: Senators Jim Kyle & Roy Herron
House & Senate Republican Leadership