by Kathleen Marquardt
February 3, 2023
When did promoting the drive to communism become the flagship of the Right? Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee may not be driving that train, but he’s on it and giving directions.
He’s right on and righteous when he brags about “Tennessee’s status as the “lowest tax rate per capita in the nation, the lowest debt rate per capita in the nation, and the fastest growing economy of all 50 states.” Were those achieved under his term? At least he didn’t undo them. But…
His examples for what he intends to focus on in his second term looks like Agenda21/Great Reset. My sorry conservative eyes see nothing but Sustainable Goals. In Kaitlin Housler’s Tennessee Star article, she states:
The governor highlighted five specific areas he intends to focus on during his second term as Governor – transportation, energy, natural resource conservation, environment preservation, and protecting children in the state’s foster care and through the adoption process.
Those are not necessarily Sustainable Goals until you read the fine print. In a previous article, Housler homed in on just one of those topics from his speech: “his Transportation Modernization Act of 2023 in an effort to address transportation needs across the state… This is where we get down to the nuts and bolts. Let’s look at them.
The proposal, according to Lee and (Tennessee Department of Transportation) Commissioner Butch Eley’s presentation, does not:
- Propose raising the gas tax or issuing road debt
- Spend a disproportionate amount of funds in urban areas, to the detriment of rural areas
- Reduce road and bridge maintenance budget
- Propose toll roads
All good things. Here the kickers begin:
Instead, the proposal calls for choice lanes to be built through a partnership with private companies, where drivers will pay to access them. Optional choice lanes allow drivers to access a more “reliable lane” with a “user fee” while still being able to use traditional highway lanes for free.
First, the “partnership with private companies”, i.e., Public/Private Partnerships (PPP). Let’s look at what a PPP is. A public private partnership is a partnership that is a business arrangement; it is for profit. A partnership can have two or more partners, plus several layers of partnerships, which are all interrelated. It has partners that are both public, meaning government, and private, meaning individuals, corporations, foundations, and/or non-governmental organizations. A PPP includes all levels of government, from local government to county, state, regional, and federal. In addition to international agencies and foreign governments, public private partnerships include a wide range of non-governmental organizations. These can include any corporations, national, multinational, or transnational corporations and non-governmental organizations like the Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Humane Society of the United States, and foundations like Ford, Mellon, Rockefeller. They also include Facebook (now META), Big Pharma – you get the picture.
Governor Lee is right that we need our highways and bridges to be improved. There is no question that it needs to be done. However, it’s vitally important that local, state, and federal government agencies avoid calls to fund this massive effort through Public/Private Partnerships. Local officials must understand that there is a vast difference between calls for a competitive bidding process to select private companies for the projects verses an actual partnership with government, non-governmental organizations, and global corporations. The people have no say when PPPs are used. Let us use reliable American businesses that can be held responsible.
During the presentation, Eley noted that while technology continues to increase and get smarter, Tennessee’s infrastructure needs to increase and get smarter as well.
Lee’s proposal calls for:
… the proposal calls for choice lanes to be built through a partnership with private companies, where drivers will pay to access them. Optional choice lanes allow drivers to access a more “reliable lane” with a “user fee” while still being able to use traditional highway lanes for free. [i]
We know what SMART means. When we talk about infrastructure and smart, it means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely. Getting down to the nitty gritty, SMART means that all usage is trackable – and controllable.
Another areas Lee plans to focus on:
- Energy: I am only guessing here, but with the invitation of the Blue Oval cities[ii], Lee’s talking Green energy which is anything but good for the environment. “Europe’s anti-carbon policy offers ”Green New Disaster” lessons for America as soaring energy prices and crippling shortages have rippled across the Atlantic.
“Efforts to meet their CO2 emission reduction commitments under the Paris Climate Accords through heavily subsidized wind and solar programs which don’t provide reliable round-the-clock power have succeeded only in making Europeans more desperately dependent on competitively scarce and costly fossil energy to power their grids”. [iii]
“So, maybe some of you seriously imagine that America is really going to successfully implement a Green New Dementia model of switching from recently achieved fossil-fueled energy independence (80% of U.S. supply) to planet-climate-saving windmills and sunbeams (that intermittently produce 3% or less)?
“Then, in addition, we’re going to replace 98% of current petro-fueled vehicles by adding millions of electric vehicle (EV) plug-in marvels to our overloaded power grid that can be recharged during hot, high power-demand windless and sunless evenings which depend upon rare earth materials obtained from China that controls 80% of the world supply?
“Well okay.
“But first, how’s that working out so far in California?”[iv]
Rather than issues that are on the Agenda21/2030, Great Reset, perhaps our governors could start cleaning up past messes. A recent one that would help all of Tennessee and every other state would be rebuilding Small Businesses. The lock-down (deliberately IMHO) destroyed the backbone of our country. It is the small businesses that keep us strong. And please note, they do not get huge amounts of money from we taxpayers – and major tax breaks. Another thing they do not is take thousands and thousands of acres of farm and rural land (you know, those natural resources and environment the governor wants to protect).
Lee hasn’t shown that he holds conservative values. He opted to take illegal immigrants (called refugees) after Trump told states that it wasn’t mandatory. Then he signed a bill that allowed DACA illegals to get professional licenses. This was all from a governor who said he opposes illegal immigration.
And what did Lee do for Tennessee during COVID? Point 8 of his Executive Order No.83, an order to facilitate the continues response to COVID-19? Point 8 states:
- Discretion to utilize National Guard and State Guard members in connection with certain health care and emergency services operations. This Paragraph 8 is issued for the limited purpose of authorizing personnel recognized under Tennessee Code Annotated, Sections 58-1-203, 58-1-204, and 58-1-402 (collectively, “Personnel”), to serve in certain health care and emergency services roles to reduce system capacity strain resulting from COVID-19. Namely, Personnel may: (1) perform authorized diagnostic testing for COVID-19 in health care settings, including but not to limited to hospitals, emergency departments, and alternate care sites (collectively, “Facilities”); In other words, he was giving himself permission to set up military-controlled camps for COVID patients. All violating the Constitution.
- He didn’t stand up to the Marxists during the tearing down of statues of the state’s historic heroes. In fact, he appointed them to the historic commission.
Plus, the recent COVID lockdown also damaged our children in their learning; closed churches – many of which haven’t come back or are struggling to get up to even 50 or 75% of their pre-lock-down parishioners. There should never be government officials having so much control over “we the people” who are deemed to be the bosses.
- He expanded trade with China. Hmmm wonder why.
Instead, a truly helpful thing for the governor to do is ask for a bill removing the tax on food. Food is a necessity, not a luxury – although it may soon become one.
Obviously, I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that designing all legislation to reducing the CO2 output of us humans (which is the core focus Agenda21/2030, Great Reset) is absurd for a number of reasons:
- Without CO2 we don’t exist (and neither does the environment),
- We “little” people, the peons, are the ones limiting our energy use. It is the powers-that-be, those who fly in their private jets to Davos and the other playgrounds of the rich, that are the culprits – if there are any.
- Man-made global warming is a farce, a hoax perpetrated on the world in order for the fat cats and those who would be kings to take control of the world.
May our governor throw away 1984, Brave New World, Global Biodiversity Assessment and join those few who are really trying to save our environment, like Kristi Noem of South Dakota.
No, he is certainly not the only governor to preach integrity and values then sell us and our values down the river. Younkin of Virginia, Brasher of Kentucky, Scott of Vermont, and way too many other R governors are on that same train to the one world government. Too bad they don’t realize that they are quite low on the useful idiots list. But if Lee and the rest continue down this road, they will destroy their states’ economic, educational, and health systems.
Oh, right. That’s the plan.
Well, we the people, those who believe in moral truths and liberty, will not give up. We have something to fight for. They only fight against, to destroy.
Let’s roar.
[i] Governor Lee-unveils-26-billion-transportation-modernization-act-of-2023/
[ii] Blue-ovals-and-infrastructure-boondoggles-are-targeting-tennessee/
[iii] Green-energy-policies-offer-no-help-to-the-most-desperate/
