Heidi Alexander: “I thank Governor Johanns. It is terrific to be on the Senate floor with other former Governors. When we were doing the…”

“I thank Governor Johanns. It is terrific to be on the Senate floor with other former Governors. When we were doing the health care bill last year, I said everyone who voted for it ought to be sentenced to serve as Governor for 8 years and actually try to implement it. But let me try to answer the question briefly so we can hear from the other Governors. I became Governor 30 years ago, in the early 1980s. Inflation was 20 percent. It is hard to imagine, in the early days of the Reagan administration, they had driven up interest rates to 12 percent to try to bring inflation down. We had terrible times. Of course, we still had to balance our budget. We had to live within our means. We had to have the amount of money coming in equal to the amount coming out. Let me tell one story of the difference that has made in our State and how it could make a difference in the Federal Government. The other day, in the Environmental and Public Works Committee, the Tennessee chief highway engineer was testifying. He was there when I was Governor. He is still there. One of the Senators, the chairman, suggested perhaps some flexible Federal financing would be a good thing for Tennessee; in other words, loaning some money to the State of Tennessee to build roads. The State engineer said: Madam Chairman, with all respect, we don't want to borrow any Federal money. The State of Tennessee has zero road debt.…”