Why I’m Not Voting For Bill Lee…(Op-Ed)
Image Credit: Gov. Bill Lee / Facebook
By Brandon Lewis, Founder of The Tennessee Conservative –
Please read this op-ed until the very end before leaving your comments.
First, I voted for Bill Lee 4- years ago because he made me 10 promises. What he called the “10 for Tenn” campaign promises.
In this op-ed, I will list those publicly-made promises and let you make up your own mind.
Did he deliver? Or did he lie about his intentions to get elected?
Second, I am a Conservative – not a republican. We have lots of “republicans” in Nashville and in our state party, few Conservatives.
Here are the promises of Bill Lee. He said he would…
1 – Foster an Environment Where Jobs Continue to Grow – During the plandemic, Lee shut-down small businesses through his restrictions and/or allowed run-away County Mayors, City Mayors or unelected health boards to do the same. But, the Big Box and corporate retailers remained open. After the plandemic, small businesses closures hit 24.4%. Broken Promise…
2 – Rethink Public Education with Major Vocational Reforms, Real School Choice, and Civics Education – I’ve seen no “real school choice.” Personally, I have ZERO school choice for my kids. Do you? Lee’s much-touted voucher program only gave 350 families school choice out of almost one million TN kids.
Academic achievement is pathetic in Tennessee schools with only 1/3 of our children able to read at “approaching grade level.” Mastery in all subject levels is in the single digits. Schools are unresponsive to parents and filled with leftist indoctrination. Broken promise…
3 – Stand up for Rural Tennessee by Expanding Economic Opportunity and Winning the War On Opioids – Other than a lot of Corporate Welfare, where Lee got a “D” rating from the Cato Institute for his billion-dollar giveaways to woke millionaires and billionaires, I’ve not seen any real investments in economic expansion in rural areas. You may correct me if I am wrong. Broken promise…
4 – Get Tough on the State Budget by Making Government Smaller and More Efficient – He expanded the budget by 21%. The legislature approved it. Is that smaller? Broken promise…
5 – Ensure New Voices in Nashville by Passing Term Limits and the Challenging the Influence Culture of Insiders – No term limits introduced by the Governor or passed. Nashville is more for insiders than it has ever been. Left-leaning corporations spend $450K per in lobbying alone per legislative member trying to get into your pocket. And it WORKS! They got a lot of CASH from you recently. Broken promise…
6 – Create a New Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives – Done. Slow clap. Please point to some results.
7 – Make Government More Accessible, Open, and Accountable to Taxpayers – Is there any accountability to the corporations who Lee has given billions? What if they do not deliver the promises of prosperity and economic benefit to taxpayers? Will they have to give the money back – with interest? Nope. It’s a no-strings-attached-deal. Will we require reporting for taxpayer funded lobbyists? Nope. Broken Promise…
8- Protect and Defend a Culture of Life – He has not sucked on this. No problem here. I appreciate his lack of obstruction on this.
9 – Defend Our Constitutional Liberties Without Compromise – No, Mr. Lee. During the plandemic, you threw our liberties in the garbage. And the Legislature let you. You trample on them still. You tried to cancel holiday gatherings and said that Christians who wanted to worship the Lord in assembly or gather with their family were “selfish.” My church was closed. My gym was closed. I was harassed and humiliated for wanting to live a normal life.
Now we know, the masks were meaningless. The shots did not prevent anything. The lockdowns did NOTHING! Everyone jumped off the bridge, and you foolishly joined them. That is not leadership. That is failure.
If you want to test a man’s convictions, put him through a crisis. Lee had no convictions on our Constitutional rights.
Broken Promise…
10 – Enforce the Rule of Law on Immigration – You approved, against even the RINO leadership’s wishes, an illegal immigration center to be covertly opened in Chattanooga, TN – 5 minutes from my home and business – where children were both molested and lost. You did not back one meaningful legislative reform on illegal immigration in education, transportation or hiring, instead working against them. Yet you opened the door to giving professional licenses in Tennessee to illegals – and signed it into law.
I wish I could say this was a “broken” promise on illegal immigration.
This is likely the biggest lie Bill Lee has told. His response to the current crisis is shameful.
Here’s the deal: Conservatives have to quit “holding their nose” in Tennessee.
Will I vote for the Democrat, nope. But, will I vote for Lee? Not a chance…
He lied. And lied. And lied again. Over, and over.
The only thing Bill Lee has going for himself is Tennessee’s large percentage of low-information voters.
You, as a subscriber to the Tennessee Conservative, are not one of them.
Honestly, if we had a Democrat in the Governor’s Mansion, the Republican super-majority might have to actually start acting on their Conservative campaign promises.
They might DO SOMETHING significant legislatively on….
– School Choice
– Illegal Immigration
– Social Media Censorship
– The Insane Gay Agenda In Schools
– Critical Race Theory
– Immoral Corporate Welfare
– Election Integrity – Etc…
Right now, the Republican party leadership is bought and paid for by the left-leaning corporations in our state. We will reveal this in our upcoming “Follow-the-Money Report.”
They can’t represent their districts because they are funded by the Chamber of Commerce, NFIB, medical lobby (like those in Vanderbilt who mutilate children for financial gain) and all the other left-leaning ilk in this state that are bringing California values to Tennessee!
With the GOP’s help or acquiescence in many cases.
Please don’t get mad at me.
This has been what I have discovered from my 2-years running Tennessee’s only (and now the largest) Conservative news alternative 100% focused on the Volunteer state.
Remember, I am not a journalist or a politician. I make ZERO dollars and have lost money – not made money – doing this.
I do not delight or joy in the fact that this is what my daily experience has directed me to declare. To be honest, I NEVER thought it would be this bad. Never. But, it is.
Do we have some real Conservatives in Nashville? You better believe it…
Thank GOD they are there as the “Thin Red Line.”
They are freaking fantastic. Warriors.
But, they are not in the highest levels of leadership. They chair very few committees.
The Conservatives’ legislation gets killed while the RINO’s carry the corporate agenda. That is the unfortunate reality.
Do not shoot the messenger. Would you rather I mince words or deceive you out of fear for my personal benefit?
That’s not what I would want from a news source or a man who ran one.
When I go to vote, I will not fill in an oval for Bill Lee. I can’t, in good conscience.
Will he win? Yep. No doubt… That’s not the point. The point is the principle of the matter.
A thing that has been lost in our culture these days.
Who will I vote for? Honestly, it does not matter from a statistical standpoint. At my heart, I’m a classical economist.
Sometimes who you DON’T vote for is as important as who you DO vote for. I’ll leave you to make your own, educated decision based on research.
Now, this email will probably lose me subscribers. I do not give a fig.
I did not get into this because I wanted to. Because I needed the money or approval.
I got into this because I HAD TO. Because no one else in the TN media was standing up for normal Tennesseans when the GOP was abdicating their responsibilities to defend our Constitutional Rights during a time most have seemed to forgotten already.
No. I will not forget the last 2 years as if they never happened.
Nor should you. Long memories make for good decisions.
We have no real Conservative News alternative in this state except for ours. Few patriots willing to fight for the truth, even if it gets you accosted or labeled.
Who will stand in the gap? I hope you will stand with me. Many of you do already and I applaud you.
The “easy way out” would have been to never write this op-ed. “Easy” is rarely right. The way, as we are told, is narrow and straight.
Frankly, I do not feel qualified to walk it. Yet one walks beside me. Why I cannot fathom.
Here’s the deal: I will not do the disservice of being dishonest to you politically through my silence. If there is a tough call to make – truth to be told – I’ll tell it.
Even if it costs me. And this has cost me. Plenty.
This op-ed will cost me still more.
That’s my job.
I hope this has both helped and encouraged you. If it hasn’t, I apologize.
However, this is something I’ve needed to get off my chest for a long time.
And I should have done it sooner.
In Freedom – not the fake kind…
Brandon Lewis
Conservative Citizen Journalist
Publisher, Tennessee Conservative News
Please say who you are voting for! John Gentry?
My only comment here is
PLEAEE don’t fool around with rhetoric and elect a Democrat!
Todays Democrats are big crap crazy and that can spell real disaster for tue state of Tennessee.
I am no fan of Bill Lee but Tennessee’ does not need a Democrat as governor!
Yes, Mr. Lewis is voting for John Gentry. He stated so publicly. Here is a link to a copy of Brandon’s live stream posted with his permission. https://youtu.be/qENE7M5lzyw
I totally feel the same way you do about Bill Lee! I’ve emailed him on occasions about certain things! I feel very sure Bill Lee is a RINO! He does nothing for us! I wish we had a Ron DeSantis! THAT is what standing up for your citizens is all about! I was really hoping someone would run against him, a Christian Patriot, like DeSantis! Someone strong! I just can’t vote for him, he’s a RINO to me! Thank you for all the conservative news you give us!
Brandon said, “Thanks so much for your kind words and support.
I lose sleep over trying to do the right thing by our readers.
This was a hard thing to write, but I feel it is the right thing to do.
These things are hard to know.
We need to be engaged in the upcoming legislative session to get some laws on the books to fix these problems.”
You didn’t miss a thing. I get so angry over the illegal’s I could spit. His other promises are just as phony. Your right, he’ll likely win, mainly because there were far to many independents running. Independents need to join forces, pick a candidate they think can win and promote that person and the conservative platform. Thanks for spelling it out.
There is NO WAY THAT I AM NOT VOTING FOR HIM. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GONE IN THE PRIMARY. BUT NO WAY AM I VOTING FOR DEMOCRAT PERIOD. BETTER LUCK NEXT ELECTION. EDUCATION EDUCATION EDUCATION YOU MAKE SINCE JUST CAN’T DO IT
From Brandon –
“I lose sleep over trying to do the right thing by our readers.
This was a hard thing to write, but I feel it is the right thing to do.
These things are hard to know.
We need to be engaged in the upcoming legislative session to get some laws on the books to fix these problems.”
I agree. Bill Lee is far from ideal. My counts against him are similar, but I’d add his haste to declare that outside forces could come into the state during the Covid farce. He did it twice. ALSO, his love of everything China. The CCP has him on their “friendly list”
What I would say to us all who want better is that it is up to US. Vet then support candidates. John Gentry had no support; hardly had a chance to get to know who he was before he was gone. We get the politicians we deserve in the final analysis.
Yes, I read all the way thru it. Yes, I agree with everything you said—and even more that you didn’t even mention—EXCEPT for not voting in the governor’s race. I appreciate TN Stands and what you do and I will not abandon this fine organization, but YES, I AM MAD (whether you “care” or not). Here’s why. Bill Lee is not a good governor and has broken all his promises BUT the alternative is even WORSE! Yes, he allowed lockdowns, for instance, but think where we’d have been if a D ran the state. Lee at least has to dance part of the conservative dance and not go full liberal on us. You SAY that he will win and a D won’t control us, but what if EVERYONE, or most everyone, followed your example and left the circle blank!?! A Democrat WOULD win!!! With iffy machines and practices as it is, all we need is a close race and a few shenanigans and we have a D in there. No, it probably won’t turn out that way because I honestly think he was more or less “installed” because “they” want a puppet in there. But the mere possibility that it “could” happen is frightening and, I believe, irresponsible on your part to even entertain the idea and encourage others to not vote in the governor’s race. Look what happened in the 2020 GA senate race when Lin Wood encouraged people not to vote!!! 2 flaming liberals and we lost the senate!!! Don’t say it was all the machines and ballot problems, etc. If enough voters had shown up to vote in vast numbers, that could possibly have overwhelmed the shenanigans that were pulled. You think that can’t happen in TN, think again. We’re already on a slippery slope in more ways than one. All we need is a bunch of people not voting for Gov. Sadly, sometimes we DO need to choose the lesser of two evils.
John Gentry is not “gone”. I have tremendous support from across the state. Take a look at my Facebook page @Gentry4ThePeople and read the comments. Thousands are voting JOHN GENTRY and proudly stating so.
There is no way I would risk a Dem being elected by me not voting for Lee. Although I am certainly not pleased with most of the points mentioned in the article, I shutter to think what life would have been under a Dem governor during the pandemic. I am also not convinced that Lee has this election in the bag. Many educators/teachers are extremely angry with him over his actions pertaining to education and their vote will not be for him. Tennessee is not as “red” now as it once was. I live in Knoxville and the progressives are making serious inroads in our local elections. Part of the problem is conservative citizens not voting in local elections and it is causing more progressives being elected to our school board, our county commission, and our city council, along with other elected positions. To myself, who follows the happenings all over our country, I see what the Dems are doing to ruin life where they are In charge. I will always vote against them. P.S. the RNC needs a wake up call. They seem to ignore what conservative citizens want in a candidate.
Spot on on all points! This is happening in Clarksville, too. Everywhere, I’m sure. And another problem with local elections is that it is extremely hard to bet those candidates— so little information on them. Combine that with voter apathy because so many take for granted that TN is red and always will be, and we have a disaster and rude awakening around the corner in TN. Try as I might, it’s sooo hard to get the people I know to wake up to that danger. Soooo frustrating! They infiltrate little by little and then boom! I have friends in OR who swear it used to be a red state. They are working so hard to turn red into blue in states you’d have never dreamed would do that. TN, TX, GA, AZ and on it goes— they’ve made great headway in all.
I agree with the list of disappointing results with Gov. Lee, who obviously is a RINO. I met and spoke with him on the campaign trail in 2018 and point blank asked him what he was going to do about the invasion at our border and the “refugees” being flown into our state. His face fell and demeanor changed and then he quickly gave a pat ridiculous answer, “Well we will have to do a better job of vetting these people.” And he walked quickly away before I could say, “But it’s impossible to vet these “refugees”!” I knew immediately he was not the Conservative I hoped he would be, but felt that I had no choice . I still think I have no other choice but to vote for him or risk having a Communist destroy the state. It is exasperating and frustrating. We must begin NOW finding our Governor and representatives for the next election and push hard for a true Conservative. My boss, who works on the state educational problems says over 60% of our high school graduates can’t read. That is beyond appalling!!! Our schools have become Communist indoctrination camps that churn out good little comrads who hate America and our founding documents. We must take back every local Govn . position and fight for our freedoms or we will soon have lost all freedoms to these godless evil people and their tyranny.
** vet not bet 🙄😂
Wish we had known before we early voted. Would have supported Gentry.