Bill,
Not taking sides here, but here's how I think the average guy at the "lunch counter" sees it. He knows that nearly one-in-four Tennesseans are on TNcare. He thinks that's outrageous that we're using taxpayer dollars to pay for welfare medicine for that many people. He's further outraged that TNcare pays for dental and prescriptions, which he is probably paying for out of his own pocket. So in his mind slashing people from TNcare is reform.

Unless Republicans can explain how they can do it better and cheaper (in 25 words or less), then I think the Governor wins big on this issue with the average Tennessean.

I'm not a Tennessean (although I'm told that someone in TN who runs a wellness program looks like me), but perhaps y'all (is that how you say it?) are being too hard on Bredesen. TennCare was a great idea, but activist lawsuits removed all of its constraints. Under those circumstances it was going to eventually consume the state budget. Unable to constrain services, the Governor took the only way out - limit the number of people getting services. Does that mean health care for all cannot be acheived? No; but it is only possible, as the Governor implies, if people are responsible in some way for their own demands. The Dems will not win the White House with a blowhard from the Senate. They need to nominate a governor who has experience in dealing with the consequences of well-meaning laws and lawsuits. Another Bill Clinton, without the personal failings, is needed.

TennCare is a bloated, fraud-riddled mess that requires much more action than what we've seen from Bredesen and the General Assembly.

So far as all this talk about Bredesen being a potential presidential candidate, that's cool if folks with all the charisma of a cabbage head suddenly come into vogue.

Bredesen will retain the Governor's seat by a landslide. First, he will win because the Republicans will focus on the Senate race to replace Frist. Once they have done that, they will not fight Bredesen with much vigor because of the things he has done that are very Republican; namely reform workers' comp. Eliminating the absurd recoveries that Plaintiff's attorneys were getting for their clients is a big plus for the small business.

Second, like Bob K said above, most people who realize the uber-ridiculous level of benefits the Tenncare enrollees were getting don't like paying $6-800 per month to get a plan inferior to Tenncare. When one talks to a doctor who has to prescribe a bottle of Tylenol that costs $30 when they buy a generic bottle for $4, it puts the whole boondoggle into focus. Bredesen was wrong when he said that Tenncare was provding a Cadillac level of care--Tenncare is providing a Mercedes level of care.

Why was there no investigation two years ago when the headline in the Tennessean read "Bonnyman appointed Davidson County Chancellor" and 10 days later there was a headline that read "Bredesen deal with Bonneyman to save Tenncare $300 Millon"?

There will be no Republican who can say that she or he will fix Tenncare because the way it is now with the Court oversight, there is no fix for Tenncare. No one has the guts to suggest going back to medicaid as what could be the best solution.

You're a conservative Republican. Why would you think "reform" meant anything other than slashing the program? I can't blame the Governor for that action. Addressing the problem of the uninsured is not one that a single state can handle effectively.

Sounds like a lesson for any state that wants to improve its health care system. Include a passage in the law:

"In the event of lawsuits that restrict the implementation of this plan as designed, this plan will immediately terminate, and Medicaid will be immediately re-instituted.