Who was the guy on TV last night pretending to be Tim Burchett? He had the Carhartt jacket and the beard, but he was not the Tim Burchett that we sent to Congress.
“Are you prepared to go over the cliff (on the debt ceiling)?” asked the reporter.
“Yes,” said the guy masquerading as Burchett. “Over the cliff. Shut it down.”
Hey, Tim. We didn’t send you to Washington to “shut it down.” We sent you to make it work. You have special skills to bring folks together to achieve good work. You proved that in Nashville as a legislator who could pass bills both when Democrats were in control and later when Republicans took over.
Here’s my recollection of the real Tim Burchett:
Hard-working: Starting with your mulch business in the early ’90s, you were willing to sweat to get the work done.
Effective: Even though your district was primarily inside the city, you sponsored and passed legislation to eliminate a major incentive for annexation – allowing package stores and liquor-by-the-drink outside the city boundary in counties like Knox. You did that despite the Tennessee Municipal League’s strong opposition.
Flexible: As county mayor, you talked about reducing debt; you sold county assets to build the new Carter Elementary School without borrowing money. Amazing. But by the end of your 8-year term, you saw the population justification for a new middle school in Hardin Valley, and the political justification for a similar middle school in Gibbs. By packaging the two, you secured the votes to borrow the money to build both – even as it ran the debt back up to near where it was when you started.
How you vote and who you sit with reflects who you are. It reflects what you think of us, the folks back home. And I say we did not send you to Washington to shut it down. We sent you to make it work. I’ll return next time with a couple of good ideas.
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today Inc.
