Tag Archives: bipartisanship

An update on Campfield’s Obamacare/Holocaust commentary

Sen. Stacey Campfield likened signing up for “Obamacare” to Jews taking a “train ride” during the Holocaust on Monday, drawing prompt condemnation from state leaders of both major political parties.

The Knoxville Republican said the Tennessee Republican and Democratic party chairmen “miss the point” of his comparison, posted on his blog Monday morning under the headline “Thought of the day.” The post reads:”

“Democrats bragging about the number of mandatory sign ups for Obamacare is like Germans bragging about the number of manditory (sic) sign ups for ‘train rides’ for Jews in the 40s,” the one-sentence post said.

State Democratic Chairman Roy Herron issued a statement to media saying the comment “is just the latest example of Tea Party Republican extremism.

“To compare attempts to save American lives through access to healthcare with Nazis killing European Jews is outrageous, pathetic, and hateful,” wrote Herron in the emailed statement.

“Sen. Campfield and other Tea Party Republicans ought to look at the 5,000 Tennesseans who will die within the next 3 years because Tea Party Republicans refused to take the 100% federal funding to expand Medicaid and have denied working Tennesseans access to healthcare,” Herron said.

State Republican Chairman Chris Devaney was at least as critical, if not more so, in denouncing Campfield’s comments, declaring in an email statement:
“While Stacey Campfield routinely makes remarks that are over the top, today’s comments are ignorant and repugnant. No political or policy disagreement should ever be compared to the suffering endured by an entire generation of people. Those comments have no place in our public discourse. He should offer an apology to members of the Jewish faith immediately.”

State House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, also called for a Campfield apology. McCormick said he was “shocked” that Campfield’s “disgraceful blog post compared a policy dispute with the suffering of an entire race of people… and any effort to cheapen that suffering is distasteful and classless.”

Campfield said in a telephone interview “it was never my intent to insult anyone,” but he is not making an apology and believes the analogy is appropriate.
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Campfield blog post likening Obamacare to holocaust draws bipartisan criticism

Sen. Stacey Campfield’s comparison of Obamacare to the holocaust drew bipartisan criticism Monday from the chairmen of both political parties in Tennessee.

The Knoxville Republican posted this remark on his blog Monday morning under the headline, “Thought of the day:”

“Democrats bragging about the number of mandatory sign ups for Obamacare is like Germans bragging about the number of manditory sign ups for ‘train rides’ for Jews in the 40s.”

Tennessee Democratic Chairman Roy Herron was the first to send media an emailed statement criticizing the posting:

“Senator Campfield’s blog post this morning is just the latest example of Tea Party Republican extremism. To compare attempts to save American lives through access to healthcare with Nazis killing European Jews is outrageous, pathetic, and hateful.

“Sen. Campfield and other Tea Party Republicans ought to look at the 5,000 Tennesseans who will die within the next 3 years because Tea Party Republicans refused to take the 100% federal funding to expand Medicaid and have denied working Tennesseans access to healthcare.”

Tennessee Republican Chairman Chris Devaney followed with this statement shortly afterwards:

“While Stacey Campfield routinely makes remarks that are over the top, today’s comments are ignorant and repugnant. No political or policy disagreement should ever be compared to the suffering endured by an entire generation of people. Those comments have no place in our public discourse. He should offer an apology to members of the Jewish faith immediately.”

Campfield, contacted by phone, said “it was never my intent to insult anyone,” but he is not making an apology and believes the analogy is appropriate.

“I think Jewish people should be the first to stand up against Obamacare,” Campfield said. “If government is controlling people’s health insurance, they are potentially controlling people’s lives….lettting the government choose who lives and who dies.”
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UPDATE NOTE: The senator also sends this response via email:
I regret that some people miss the point of my post. It was not to offend. It was to warn. To draw attention to Obamacare and the slippery slope that I see occurring in the lives of myself, my constituents, and the rest of the country with the continued taking of freedom by the federal government.

In no way was my post meant to diminish or detract from the pain, suffering and loss of human life that occurred during this dark time in human history. Instead the post was meant to draw attention to the loss of freedom that we are currently experiencing. I stand by my steadfast opposition to Obamacare.

My position and record on the sacredness of human life and protecting that life speaks for itself. 300 million Americans are at risk from government bureaucrats
deciding who should be given life saving medications and who should be denied.

Every citizen now faces the possibility of their tax dollars going to pay for a government funded abortion. At no point in our history have we ever faced a federal government and administration with a lower regard for human life, and that is something that I cannot and will not allow to go unchallenged.

I will continue to stand up against the government takeover of the nations healthcare. I will continue to support freedom and life.

Whatever Happened to Phil Bredesen?

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Philip Norman Bredesen is writing a book, crusading for bipartisanship and federal debt reduction, promoting the study of humanities, making speeches, keeping track of investments taken out of a blind trust and contemplating what to do next.
“I’ve got another career in me. I’ll figure out what it is in a while,” he said in an interview last week.
Three weeks shy of his 69th birthday, Bredesen joked that “I think I’ve gotten younger, actually” since watching Bill Haslam take the oath of office to succeed him as governor of Tennessee almost two years ago — an event he described as “sort of an out-of-body experience.”
Interestingly, Bredesen did not rule out re-entry into the political arena as a candidate for something in 2014 when asked about the possibility. That is a contrast to the latter part of his reig as governor when he flatly declared he would not run for any political office in 2012.
Bredesen says, “There’s no message there.” He’s just keeping options open.

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