Terry StulceI would recommend to all Tennesseans that they visit Legislative Plaza and witness firsthand the dysfunction of their state government.
On March 31, I traveled there with the advocates for expansion of Insure Tennessee. We came from all over Tennessee, and we packed the plaza in our purple T-shirts. We chanted and sang freedom hymns, and prayed for those who have no access to health care.
It was obvious that our presence was not appreciated by the legislators or their staff members. I overheard one lackey for state Sen. Bo Watson complain of our noisy presence, derisively comparing our sound to the "The Price Is Right." This fledgling right-winger did not understand that his employment was dependent on serving this noisy group. He truly did not understand that his boss was a public servant who was privileged to serve at the pleasure of this crowd.
However, you can't blame the neophyte because the people we elected have become arrogant and narcissistic, thinking they can ignore the will of the people. The attitude in the Legislative Plaza is, "We don't care what you want. We will give you what we please." They only accept input from people in thousand-dollar suits who work for Beacon Center or from outsiders like Americans for Prosperity.
The Senate Commerce Committee meeting on Insure Tennessee was a sham. The meeting room was packed with Insure supporters in their purple shirts. Many could not even get in. Sen. Doug Overby, R-Maryville, made one positive point after another favoring expansion to cover 280,000 poor people. A witness for rural hospitals warned of bankruptcy and closure of Tennessee medical facilities without this expansion. In addition, it was pointed out that two separate polls indicated that 60 percent of Tennesseans approved of Medicaid expansion under Insure Tennessee. Not one piece of negative information on expansion was presented during the hearing. Not one piece! Yet Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey's hand-picked committee voted 6-2 to kill the bill. What an exercise in arrogance!
The Tennessee Legislature has been an embarrassment for years. Who can forget when they legalized eating roadkill? However, this appears to be the worst legislature in Tennessee history. They are totally controlled by wealthy groups of outsiders and totally deaf to Tennessee citizens.
Their attitude was vividly displayed when Sen. Todd Gardenhire referred to one of his constituents as an "a******". This constituent is in the "gap" and has no insurance. The man had asked Gardenhire if he was going to give up his taxpayer-subsidized medical insurance. Of course, if Gardenhire had any integrity or leadership, he would give up his insurance until all of his constituents had access to medical care. Yet Gardenhire's message was clear: "I'll take care of myself. If you have a problem, don't look for me to care or lend a hand."
The pervasiveness of this attitude toward Tennessee citizens in the legislature is apparent in Ron Ramsey's response to the name-calling. He laughed. He excused the reckless disregard of a constituent by claiming it was "great" that you knew where Gardenhire stood.
It is time for us to clean House and Senate of the rubbish that has collected in our name.
Terry Stulce is a retired licensed psychotherapist and former owner of Cleveland Family Counseling. He is a decorated Vietnam combat veteran and is chairman of the Social Justice Task Force at Pilgrim Church.