Yesterday we talked about the inflationary pressures on the U.S. economy making it more difficult for the average Tennessee family to survive. Informed Americans know about our crushing national debt and the increasing problems that debt is creating as it relates to the value of the dollar, and even the prices of fuel, goods, and services. But our States have debts too, and Tennessee's debt clock gives us an idea of just what the General Assembly and Governor are up against. At a gross domestic product (GDP) of over $252 billion and a total State debt of nearly $39.5 billion, Tennessee's spending is keeping pace with its GDP, and that means that as bad as the fiscal situation sounds, the General Assembly should still be on pace to balance the budget in the coming fiscal year. The Volunteer State is presently in a much better position than many of our sister States in the Union.
The real economic indicator, however, comes when unemployment numbers are examined, and those tell us that one in every seven Tennesseans is without a job. When we include those in that situation who aren't measured in the official statistics because they have dropped off of the unemployment roles, that number likely shrinks to one in every six of our neighbors. At 1.28 million food stamp recipients, that also means that very nearly one in every six of our neighbors is receiving government help just to eat their next meal. As a conservative, it is very easy to sit back and say that so many of these people are just lazy ones who don't want to work. Those kinds of people do exist, of course, and may very well always do so, but when unemployment and food stamp numbers reach a level like we're currently seeing, something very different is going on. Tennesseans are a stubborn and proud people who built a State out of mountains that could barely be farmed, a high and-in the winter often dangerous-plateau where conditions are unpredictable, and a delta floodplain which is very fertile but prone to bouts of flooding, mud, and boll weevils. History reminds us, of course, that there was a day not long ago when there was no TVA to dam up the mighty and unpredictable Tennessee River and its tributaries. We are collectively a people known for our hard work and resilience, and Tennesseans are not, by and large, a lazy people in the least. When one in every six of us can't make it along, that isn't a sign that we are in the midst of a sprawling economic recovery.
Some may say that this sounds pessimistic, but it certainly isn't meant to be. The first step in dealing with a problem of such magnitude as the economic situation of our people is to acknowledge that it exists. The second step is to construct a plan filled with policies that promote and do not hamper job creation, business and personal investment, and economic growth. We can do this at the State level by keeping spending under control and controlling and receeding the growth of the government sector. Doing so will in turn allow government to keep taxes low, and that will encourage people to live, invest, and do business in Tennessee. State government can only do so much, however, because for a plan such as the one described above to work for Tennesseans, the federal government has to advance similar policies on a national level.
Good luck to the Governor and the Legislature in convincing Washington of that reality.
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