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Republican Party
of Rhea County
P.O. Box 1106
1359 Railroad Street
Dayton, TN 37321
423.775.2118
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| February 21, 2008 |
| TENNESSEE DEMOCRAT PARTY THINKS GOVERNOR’S BALLROOM PROJECT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EDUCATION, TORNADO RELIEF, SERVICES TO MENTALLY RETARDED, ETC… |
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NASHVILLE, TN – Tennessee voters who think “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference” between Republicans and Democrats should take note of the vast difference of opinion between Tennessee Republicans and Tennessee Democrats on the wisest use of $8 million in a tight budget year.
When House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol, called a press conference today to urge Gov. Phil Bredesen to cancel the underground ballroom project at the Governor’s Mansion and divert the funds to more pressing needs, a dozen Republican lawmakers came to suggest ways the $8 million would be better spent, including
- State Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Brentwood, who said, “Let’s be honest, the majority of Tennesseans will never step foot in Conservation Hall, and there are other worthwhile projects that will benefit all Tennesseans.”
- State Rep. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, who said, “In my district, the schools have a total of 31 portables. It’s shameful that we are educating our children in portables but somehow find the money to fund this wasteful project.”
- Rep. Mumpower, who said, “The most vulnerable of our citizens, the mentally retarded - the Department of Mental Retardation right now is cutting services to those who are mentally retarded … we need to be taking care of those people. That’s what this money could be used for.”
No Democrat lawmakers showed up – although a few brave Democrat lawmakers have publicly expressed opposition to the ballroom project, bucking their Democrat governor and also bucking the Tennessee Democrat Party, which is officially pro-ballroom. Despite bipartisan opposition to the ballroom, Wade Munday, spokesman for the pro-ballroom Tennessee Democrat Party, attended the press conference and afterward expressed the Democrat Party’s support for the lavish ballroom project and claimed opposition to the ballroom project was a “partisan” smear campaign.
“We understand that even the many Democrat lawmakers who privately are appalled at the waste of $8 million in tax dollars on the ballroom can’t come out publicly against because they want Gov. Bredesen to help them raise money and campaign for re-election this year,” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party. “However, it is now clear that the Tennessee Democrat Party is endorsing an $8 million ballroom for the state’s political and business elites rather than using that money for projects and priorities that would benefit ordinary Tennesseans.”
“We can think of a dozen better uses for $8 million than a party hall for the governor – it’s regrettable that the Democrat Party can not think of even one,” Hobbs said. “Republicans praise the governor when he does the right thing, but the Tennessee Democrat Party’s blind partisan loyalty to Bredesen sends them out screaming ‘Partisanship!’ simply because we disagree that an $8 million party room is the best use of $8 million of limited public funds.”
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| Reprinted from Tennessee Republican Party |
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