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by Danielle Goodrich [East Tennessee Freedom] –
Watching the Tennessee School voucher hearings yesterday was reminiscent of going to a (COPA) Certificate of Public Advantage hearing for our regional healthcare monopoly.
Northeast Tennessee is home to the largest healthcare monopoly in the country, created at the hands of Republicans.
Republicans who are supposed to understand free-market principles of competition and the necessity of limited government, had amnesia to Republican principles and changed the law to allow the largest government created and controlled healthcare monopoly in the country.
Interestingly, the Tennessee State Constitution states, “Section 22. That perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State, and shall not be allowed.”
So how did the Tennessee legislature pass a law that was constitutionally infirm, injurious to the state Constitution? How were they able to create the largest healthcare monopoly in the country when the state Constitution specifically states monopolies aren’t allowed as they are “contrary to the genius of a free State.”
No one seems to know.
The 2016 Republican platform was wonderful. It is why I consider myself a Republican. Not because I like the leaders, or any one person who is subject to change, but because I like the principles which are supposed to remain constant in order to guarantee liberty.
I did a comparison of the 2016 Republican platform and the 2024 platform here.
If you had never read the 2016 platform and you had only read the 2024 platform it would look fine. However, once you see my word analysis of all that was removed, those of us who like liberty, are rightly concerned. When you remove the principles that guarantee liberty, you eventually remove liberty.
The principles weren’t just taken out of the written platform, they have been removed from Republican’s votes, their actions, their considerations. Now it is more important to follow the leader than to follow the principles. That means if the leader doesn’t follow the principles, there are none.
What is the Republican party minus the principles of upholding the Constitution, standing for limited government and standing against unelected unaccountable government? What makes them different from yesterday’s Democrats?
How do they do the job of ensuring the Republic in the absence of the principles which ensure it?
Republicans are supposed to understand the principles of limited government. Republicans are who were tasked with upholding the Republic form of government that our founding fathers handed to us.
Franklin said “It’s a Republic, if you can keep it.” Acknowledging it would take work. Keeping the government limited would not be easy.
We have a lot of Republicans saying we are a Democracy, but we are not. Democrats say we are a Democracy. A system which is prone to mob rule, what the majority wants, the majority gets, even if it is socialism
We are a Constitutional Republic, beholden to a Constitution, built off of individual liberty which stands in contrast to the collectivism of Democracy.
What Republicans did to allow a healthcare monopoly in Tennessee was make concessions on the value system of Republicans.
And that is exactly what they are doing with the school voucher program.
Making concessions on Republican principles.
This plan doesn’t shrink the government, it grows it. It monopolizes education.
You are talking about the government now getting involved in regulating private education. It is an entitlement program, a welfare program. It breeds dependency. It isn’t fiscally conservative. It isn’t in any way Republican. Yet Republicans are pushing it through?
In the legislative hearings last year, Governor Lee’s woke education choice Lizette Gonzalez Reynolds, when asked by Conservative Representative Todd Warner how this plan was going to fix public schools, she said, it’s not, public schools are just fine.
She said she is looking to have “ample communications with private schools.” Her full record and Soros connections here.
Many of us pulled our children out of public schools during COVIID. The woke agendas and humanist history of public schools were exposed.
But understanding there were still kids left behind we fought to get conservatives on the school board.
I pulled my kids out of public school and put them in a private Christian school. Thousands of us did.
In the hearings one person mentioned 3000 students left their public school and when asked if they had returned she said most hadn’t. That should have prompted the legislature to address the cause of the hemorrhage.
It didn’t.
They just put a band-aid on it and made it so even if they lost the children they wouldn’t lose the funding. And that is exactly what they are doing with the voucher legislation, which is why now you are paying for that same child – twice. Once to pay for their empty seat in public school and again to put them in private school.
To add insult to injury rather than addressing the issues which forced families out, rather than getting woke out and traditional values back in, they seek to regulate the private schools. That is insanity.
Voddie Baucham, a well known evangelist, spoke at our school fundraiser last year. He says, ‘We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.’
Many of us got our children away from Caesar. But now Caesar is dangling a carrot, saying there are no strings attached. But we see the strings. And they’ve been openly discussed.
In the House Education Committee hearings, Leader Lamberth who is carrying the bill in the House as lead Lee lackey added an amendment to require TCAPs be taken by voucher recipients.
Initially the legislation gave more flexibility and allowed the school to choose based on their own curriculum. Lamberth said, we must be able to compare “apples to apples.” Lamberth mentioned, “normative curriculum.”
Senator Adam Lowe was recently under fire for a homeschool bill which mentioned “normed curriculum.”
Search “normative curriculum” and “UNESCO” and you will find it is a set of standards and guidelines for what constitutes a quality curriculum as defined by UNESCO (The United Nation’s Education, Science Culture Organization.) They have an International Bureau of Education responsible for developing these standards.
A Christian Ministry document stated, “Hitler, Lenin, Mao and other totalitarians took control of education to mold the minds of the next adult generation. The United Nations has codified this type of mind control in their Agenda 2030 as Sustainable Development Goal #4, which the United States has signed onto.”
Part of SDG #4 states:
“Our vision is to transform lives through education, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development and in achieving the other proposed SDGs. We commit with a sense of urgency to a single, renewed education agenda that is holistic, ambitious and aspirational, leaving no one behind. This new vision is fully captured by the proposed SDG 4 ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’ and its corresponding targets.”
Everyone remembers the United Nations and their World Health Organization from COVID. Republicans rejoiced when President Trump said he was going to separate from the global entities because a lot of us see these globalist organizations for what they are.
They stand against the principles of liberty. They aren’t elected or accountable, and they are openly walking us towards one world government as stated in their documents.
The founding fathers knew that absolute power corrupts absolutely and there is nothing more absolute or corrupting than one-world, centralized government. And if you want to never listen to any of their advice again, read their purpose and philosophy document which discusses eugenics, population control, taking control of world resources and more.
And we have Tennessee politician Lamberth discussing UNESCOs speaking points “normative curriculum.” And Senator Lowe with a homeschool bill mentioning a similar term?
Senator Lowe had perhaps the most honest yet seemingly accidental statement in the hearings. He said, he ”understands the bill is compromised.” I think he meant it is a compromise, but the Freudian version slipped out.
If globalists and regulating homeschool curriculum doesn’t make you mad, the price tag will.
Gary Humble points out this plan is not fiscally conservative, you are paying for education twice. Bill Lee didn’t want to upset the schools so he said he won’t take their money away even if he sends the kids to a different school.
“The program’s first-year cost would exceed $400 million. This includes:
- $140 million for initial vouchers
- $140 million in continued funding to public schools for students they no longer serve
- $2,000 bonuses for every public school teacher in Tennessee
- Additional administrative costs
This means that eventually your taxes will go up. Nothing says Republican like raising taxes.
Anyone ready to dump tea?
But as Gary points out, “the financial burden tells only part of the story. The program would redistribute wealth from rural to urban areas, with 51 of Tennessee’s 95 counties having no qualifying private schools while still being forced to fund the program through their tax dollars.”
Is wealth redistribution a Republican principle now? Socialism is Republican?
The program is classified as an entitlement program. Republicans understand that anything worth having you have to work hard for. You shouldn’t be looking to the government to provide it for you, because that breeds dependency.
A comment went viral about Trump boat parades. A Democrat made the comment: why do so many Trump supporters have boats? Someone replied, because the government doesn’t give them to you.
But this new ideal of you deserve it, you get it, might.
Boat choice? It doesn’t matter if you can’t afford it, we will fund it with your neighbors money!
There are 8 steps to transforming a country into communism via socialism and we are hitting a lot of them through Republican policy.
• Create a welfare state make people dependent on the government
• Take control of education control the people
• Take control of healthcare control the people
All at the hands of Republican government. Sure Kamala and the Dems are communist. But as Jeff Cobble who teaches our Constitution classes points out, Democrats and Republicans are on the same road to socialism just Democrats are in the fast lane.
And what is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican who has no principles?
Interestingly, in the hearings it was a Democrat who pointed to the fact Tennessee will be asking the taxpayer to now pay twice.
Rep. Democrat Gloria Johnson said Tennessee is ranked 45th in the country for education and now we are going to pay twice for sub par education. It was pointed out that we already have these programs in Memphis and they are underachieving. So now Democrats are fiscally conservative and Republicans are not?
The healthcare monopoly hearings for the public to discuss whether or not the state certificate of public advantage should be renewed looked similar to the voucher hearings. Most East Tennesseans do not care for the quality of care that is provided by the healthcare monopoly. There is no competition to drive up quality and drive down price. Competitors have to apply to the government, lobbied against by the healthcare monopoly, in order to gain a Certificate of Need, which is essentially a permission slip from the government for the healthcare competition to exist. In order to enter a market which is supposed to be free, they need permission from the government in Tennessee. A Republican super majority state.
Tennessee Republicans are making the word Republican meaningless by not adhering to the principles which are supposed to define it.
In the public hearings the healthcare monopoly loads the public comment with people who are accepting checks from the healthcare monopoly. I wrote an article about how the monopoly operates as if they are a mini Blackrock. They fund local DEI efforts and then the organizations come to the hearings and say they like the healthcare monopoly. Then the state says look, there are people who like the monopoly so they never have do anything about it.
That is what the voucher hearings looked like.
They hand picked testimonies which would be weak opposition. They had a young liberal man from Williamson county running for Commissioner answer more questions than the bill sponsor. Just so they could puff up their chests about all the ways he was misinformed. When it was time to actually question Leader Lamberth they called the last question and brought it to an immediate vote.
There is nothing conservative about Tennessee leadership or this legislation. It grows government as now it’s involved in private school. ESAs will create $225.8M in new recurring expenses. FY 2025 and 2026 estimate growth in new recurring revenue at approx $377M annually. ESAs alone will consume 60% of the state’s estimated new recurring revenue annually.
It monopolizes education just like healthcare has been as now the government is regulating private options.
Right now we have three options: private, public and homeschool. With this we will have government regulated across the board.
As Tennessee Stands points out, “While the Governor claims there are ‘no strings attached,’ the proposed legislation already includes:
- Mandatory state testing requirements
- Student data reporting to state authorities
- Compliance with state-established “requirements” for educational services
- Authority for the Department of Education to create additional rules after passage
History shows that government funding inevitably leads to government control. Once private schools become dependent on voucher funding, resisting future regulations becomes nearly impossible.”
It’s a welfare initiative, and classified as an entitlement program.
It’s part of the UN agenda Sustainable Development Goal 4 quality and inclusive education for all. It’s an equity initiative.
I give the example, it’s the government saying everyone deserves equitable delivery services so they start publicly funding private FedEx. Before long FedEx looks just like the Post office with the same regulatory burden and culture. Woke. The E from DEI!
And we can’t forget what already happened in countries which have implemented this plan. In a decade or two it led to them losing their religious distinctions. Government in, led to God out.
In Canada’s Alberta province Christian schools were given a choice. Quit being Christian or lose funding.
And Tennessee Republicans are bringing this to the Bible belt!!!
That is a fourth step to communism, Getting God out so government becomes the highest authority. At the hands of Republicans!
Americans allowed the government to take Bibles out in the 1960s. The basis for our Constitutional system and morality removed from education. And here we are 65 years later. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that there is an absence of ethics. How could there not be with an absence of God?
Getting government in private schools will be the nail in the coffin for our society and liberty.
What an awful legacy Governor Lee is leaving. How about instead the legislature fixes the public schools they are already over?
We should get evolutionary humanism out and biblical worldview back in. Teach morality, faith, liberty, law. Traditional principles. Work hard and achieve instead of what they are teaching through this program. Dependency. Government will give it to you. Wealth redistribution.
Government is supposed to protect rights, not provide equal things.
Republican leaders are leading us to socialism. They are costing us our Republic. It is time to stop following the leader, and it is time to start teaching and adhering to the principles. It’s time to Make Republicans, Republican Again.
2 Responses
AMEN!! If we could somehow wake the sheeple to the fact that TN gubmint “leaders” are EVIL!
Good article. Thank you.