C'mon, Bill, this is beneath you.

I've lived and paid taxes in nine states, and Tennessee requires the least of all those states. The tax situation here -- regardless of how you paint it -- is outstanding compared to other places.

I love people who can only bring themselves to think in black and white. To you, gray is just an inconvenience on the road of happy destiny. Perhaps no one in your family is affected by this, but my mother-in-law -- an elderly woman who lives in chronic pain -- won't last without TennCare. The program needs reform, but it doesn't need to just go away. From what I know, the governor appears to be trying to do just that.

While you and the taxpayers you reference are busy counting your money while shouting, "Hallelujah" next week, I suggest you not do it in one place. Otherwise, the lightning bolt may destroy all of you at once.

Terry

Terry, TennCare has been a fiscal disaster from day one. Attempts to reform it have been stymied by the "advocates" who demand it pay for everything all the time, with no meaningful limits or effective controls against fraud and abuse. Left alone, it would have bankrupted the state or forced huge tax increases that would have wrecked the state's economy, harming tens of thousands of Tennesseans.

TennCare can not survive in its current state and the "advocates" won't allow it to be reformed. Bredesen is only going to pull the plug because it was going to collapse financially soon anyway. My guess is, he's engaged in some brinksmanship to force the advocates to back down, and if they don't, he'll pull the plug but soon replace TennCare with another program, better designed and more fiscally sound, by executive order.

TennCare was created by executive order, and Bredesen can implement a replacement program the same way. And that program will not be governed by the various lawsuits and court orders and "consent agreements" that currently hamstring TennCare reform efforts. By "pulling the plug" and replacing it, Bredesen gets a clean slate, legally speaking.

Mark it down: Your mother-in-law will not be without healthcare coverage. Bredesen, a former healthcare exec and a Democrat who believes in government healthcare for those who need but can't afford it, will see to that.

It will either be by forcing the "advocates" to allow his TennCare reforms to take effect, or by scrapping TennCare and replacing it with something better and more fiscally sound.

Bill,

Since our taxes have been raised in recent years, to cover the rising costs of TennCare and now that TennCare will be eliminated, what will happen to the money that once went into TennCare?

Wouldn't the surplus (the amount of taxes Tennesseans overpaid in the last budget year) increase dramatically due to the extinction of TennCare?

FightinTitan,

You are right. Let's just hope that it's not spent on some other misguided government programs but instead returned to us, the taxpayers.