NASHVILLE – Zach Wamp, Republican candidate for governor, today pledged to continue the fight against the proposed federal government takeover of healthcare insurance in Washington this week and vowed to work with the Tennessee General Assembly and other governors around the nation and to block its enactment here after he is elected as Tennessee’s next governor.

Wamp cited the 10th amendment to the Constitution and his fundamental belief in state sovereignty as guiding principals for his two-front battle against the costliest and most intrusive federal mandate in U.S. history.

“I will fight any mandate forced on us by the federal government that hurts our state’s economy and costs us more jobs, and the Pelosi healthcare bill will cost us thousands of jobs and threatens to bankrupt our state,” said Wamp. “State sovereignty gives us the right as Tennesseans to say no to Washington, and I will defend it with every ounce of my being.”

“Not only am I fighting and voting this week to prevent this unprecedented attempt by the federal government to takeover our healthcare, but I vow as Tennessee’s next governor to work with the state Legislature to block this crippling mandate if it’s forced upon the states despite objections from a bipartisan group of state leaders from across the country,” Wamp said.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, who previously served as Tennessee governor, have been among the most vocal critics of the potentially devastating impact passage of the new federal mandate could have on Tennessee’s budget.

Wamp said he would rally the nation’s other Governors to help beat back unfunded federal mandates and to bring them together to help develop practical, common sense solutions to the rapidly rising costs of health care and health insurance faced by working families, small businesses and the states.

As a member of Congress, Wamp has seen firsthand the costly burden placed on state and local government agencies on the receiving end of federal mandates – mandates that tie the hands of local officials and tie up scarce resources.

To date, some 34 state legislatures across the U.S. have stood up for their rights provided under the 10th amendment and moved to preemptively block the healthcare insurance takeover measure being pushed by Democrats in Washington.

In neighboring Virginia, the Republican-ruled House of Delegates, with wide Democratic support, recently voted 80-17 for a bill aimed at blocking the impact of national healthcare reforms being pushed by President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he intends to sign it.

Similar bills are now moving through the Tennessee General Assembly.

Wamp said it is going to take strong conservative governors like himself in Tennessee and Bob McDonnell in Virginia to beat back any overreach by the federal government and to defend the rights and freedoms of every citizen.

Hitting the campaign trail as the gubernatorial race heats up, Zach Wamp visited Cookeville for an exclusive interview with UCDailyNews/CookevilleTimes.com

In our continuing meet the candidates series, we asked Wamp questions about his agenda and strengths as a candidate.

The Chattanooga resident has been representing that area in Congress for the past 15 years.

Jobs and the “Production Agenda”

Asked about Tennessee’s future for jobs, Wamp spoke about his “Production Agenda,”  stating that his priority is anything that we can “make, build or grow.”   Wamp stated that he believes manufacturing plays a critical role our economic viability and success.  Referencing the Tennessee Technology Corridor and the Bloom energy technology, the acquisition of VW,

Wamp includes Tennessee farmers in the production agenda as “the original manufacturers” and sited the facts that Tennessee has the largest number of Farm Bureau members in the nation.   “Our growers were are first manufacturers and deserve more attention today.”  said Wamp.  “We have 650,000 members of the Farm Bureau in Tennessee and in west Tennessee in particular we have an opportunity to grow agri-business, agri-tourism and agri-energy.  There is a big connection between these growers and biofuels, which is the direction that VW is going.”

“We have right to work, high quality of life, low cost of living, no state income tax….all of the advantages that we used to lure VW here are reasons why we can grow manufacturing base, even during a recession.  More and more manufacturing is going to come south.   Our infrastructure is pretty strong.  We need to be centered in “growing, making or building” things becuase if we don’t grow it, make it or build it you can service it or sell it.

 That’s a production agenda.

There are 5-7 service jobs connected to every single production job.  That’s why manufacturing is so important.”

Wamp stated that he believes the right agenda could dramatically move the state forward in just a few years.  “We’ll be able to go from  3rd in new energy production in the nation to 1st, we’ll be able to to from 3rd in transportation produciton in the nation to 1st. Warren Buffet and VW have lived for this moment when others are retreating so they can advance.  We can create a more diverse and healthy economy, even in a national downturn, here in Tennessee.”

Education

“The one thing that we did not have where it needed to be for VW, was the workforce development — the education.  We’ve got a ways to go on that.”   Wamp believes that early reading is key to better education results and, ultimately workforce development.  “Give me a good early reader and I’ll give you a good 5th grade social studies student and a good 9th grade science student and, most likely, a high school graduate and productive citizen.  But if the student is not reading by 3rd grade, how can a math teacher explain algebra in 8th grade.”

Praising the work of Dr. Kathleen Airhart in early reading testing,  “What Kathleen Airhart does and what all of our school systems should do, is benchmark children as they’re entering school to see if they’re meeting basic reading and math skills.  If they’re not, they need an hour a day of direct, special instruction.”

Even though Putnam County is in the lowest half of BEP funding formula, the county performs in the top 10 in all of the important measurements in 3rd grade and 8th grade.  Airhart has been a trail blazer and I really admire her.  I want every county in Tennessee to be focused on what she’s done here.

That will dramatically help us in a short period of time.  There are a number of other innovations associated with education reform states.  But we’re not an education reform state.  We’re 43rd out of 50 states and we haven’t moved for several years.  We’re a status quo state in education. It’s time for Tennessee, as great as we are, to do better in education and it starts with early childhood reading.”

CookevilleTimes mentioned that, at the time of the interview, Dr. Airhart was engaged in what seems to be a continuing stream of meetings on cost reduction.   What of education funding?

“Right now we have to try to hold the line on K-12 funding and not reduce it.  And we have to be more flexible with how we let the school systems spend the money they have.  Dr. Airhart has actually shown me how some savings in pre-K, doing it more efficiently, could be applied to K-12 for efficiencies and savings. 

But right now, the law prohibits that.   The legislature and next governor need to take down the firewall and remove some of the barriers….so that innovative directors like Dr. Airhart can use the money best.  Because until the economy improves, we’re going to have to continue to find ways to do more with less.”  

Leadership

Wamp has stated that the size of Tennessee government is too big.  “It’s no time for a status quo governor.  Leadership is about pulling people together to meet a need.” 

Wamp described the legislative repurposing of the 7,000 acre defense land sitting idle in the Chattanooga area, which became the location for the new VW facility.   “This is the first republican legislature since reconstruction. I would argue that they need a leader with vision, who can pull them together around that vision and agenda to truly capitalize on our assets as a state with a real dynamic economy.” 

Wamp stated that he wanted to see a small government with a big impact, one that could serve as a model for the nation.  “What’s coming out of D.C. has discouraged people that we’re going dramatically the wrong way.  People are angry about big government and big business.  What happened to our focus on small business and entrepreneurship and limited government?    I look at leadership as the ability to pull everyone together around an agenda and, one way or another, find a way to get it done.”

Read the full article here.