Phil Bredesen Quotations

Let's leave behind the predictable and stale debate between liberals and conservatives. Let's take the resources that we have, and prioritize, and manage, and focus our energy on just doing things that count - on real results.

The consequences of decisions don't just affect spreadsheets... They affect, in fundamental ways, the lives of people and they often mean the difference between life and death.

Continuing economic growth requires both recruitment of new companies and expansion of existing businesses.

If the Southeast represents the new battlefield in the war on meth, then Tennessee clearly is at ground zero.

Good access to a doctor and a drugstore when you first have a problem can avoid a lot of cost and heartache later.

When John Kerry and Zell Miller and George Bush can agree on an issue, you know its got legs.

Traditionally, the way deficits have been cut is you hold expenditures more or less constant in real dollars and then let growth come in to fill it up.

I like to encourage people who are entrepreneurs-in-waiting.

The future of our nation depends on our ability to produce food and fiber to sustain the world.

The genius of America is that we are still a land of undiscovered shores, and we are at our best when we open our hearts and allow the night winds to bring renewed visions of great deeds.

We have in Tennessee a number of wonderful faith-based clinics to serve the uninsured. It is an important principle with them that everyone pays something as they are able.

It's not health care reform to dump more money into Medicaid.

Our state's strategy on methamphetamine, and any other issue, is going to be a moving target.

Since the 1960s, there has been a tremendous expansion of the resources available to pay for health care.

We don't go to war on narrow, partisan votes.

Until you sit down and talk with someone who's been through this, it's hard to imagine ... the type of disruption this has placed in people's lives,

We're going to start getting very tough and very aggressive on people trying to take advantage of this situation,

We did not even have a 30-day notice to prepare ourselves so that we could at least have a supply of medications while we tried to figure out what to do next, ... How can you in all good consciousness tolerate this kind of a practice?

My education commitment is simple. I believe that every child is unique. I'm going to work as hard as I know how, and I'm going to ask each of you to help me to offer all Tennessee children the education they need to energize their God-given talents to take them as far as they can go.

I believe they will have that for us, and we'll sit down with the legislature and try to work out how we're going to handle it, whether it's through a special session in November or one in January. That's where I'm leaning,

Our recent legislative sessions had everything a good reporter could wish for: A willful governor, an angry and divided legislature, citizens who know how to use their car horns. Plenty of conflict. Plenty of personalities. As journalists, I'm sure it was a fascinating scene to watch unfold.

We anticipate these evacuees' funds to be depleted by Sept. 2,

The grant is essential to help Trane workers look to the future and begin the process of training for a new product line in their plant, ... This grant will keep the company competitive and increase the skills of talented employees.

Washington, D.C. is full of think tanks, theoreticians and advocacy groups. Governors are the ones whose feet are on the ground.

Tennessee is full of families - rich and poor - who manage to achieve balance. They use the resources they have, and add faith in God, love and commitment to each other, hard work and a focus on their children.These are the real families, the families that work, the families that shine. And that balance is the lesson for us.

It's a fairly technical matter, ... Clearly there is no indication of a misappropriation of funds.

designed to strengthen the standards of accountability and integrity in all areas of state government.

The idea of people opening up their homes to strangers is a bad idea, which we should avoid if possible, ... You don't know what you are getting.

When I was sworn in as Mayor of Nashville back in 1991, I have to admit to you that I felt for several weeks like a bit of an outsider who had somehow taken over but didnt really belong in this nice palace. I secretly wondered if the real mayor would come back from vacation one day and call the police.

My education commitment is simple. I believe that every child is unique. Im going to work as hard as I know how, and Im going to ask each of you to help me to offer all Tennessee children the education they need to energize their God-given talents to take them as far as they can go.

Washington, D.C. is full of think tanks, theoreticians and advocacy groups. Governors are the ones whose feet are on the ground.