Tennessee Governor Focuses on New Jobs

Tennessee’s Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen used his seventh State of the State address last night to push for a national health care system, propose more “green business” in the state, and plead for bipartisanship.

Bredesen, whose term expires next year, is being vetted as a candidate for Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration.

Bredesen prioritized education, job creation and health care as basics that would not fall by the wayside during tough economic times. He said “a national solution” was needed for health insurance.

Bredesen also stressed education as a priority and said he supports teachers being drawn from a broader pool of professional candidates.

He talked about Tennessee’s prospects as a center for green technology investment, and said the addition of a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga and a Hemlock Semiconductor in Clarksville would be catalysts for enormous job creation.