From Nashville’s daily online and bi-weekly print publication: 

A small but vocal group of Tennessee Republicans is suffering from a version of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

 

Lead by their ringleader in spokesman Bill Hobbs, these conservatives have become fixated on linking the underground ballroom being built at the governor’s mansion — most commonly known as “the bunker” — with Tennessee’s financial woes.

 

The “logic” perpetuating this theory is that if Gov. Phil Bredesen and first lady Andrea Conte hadn’t spent roughly $12 million in tax dollars on the “bunker,” then the state wouldn’t have as much trouble finding money to balance the budget.

 

That “logic” was ramped up a notch last week after Bredesen announced he was cutting more than 2,000 jobs from state government in an effort to cut $468 million from the budget. He hoped to cushion that blow through offering voluntary buyouts.

 

Political observers knew it was going to happen, but a few hours after Bredesen’s announcement, Hobbs and the GOP went to the bunker one more time trying to score political points.

 

“The people of Tennessee have to wonder why the wealthiest governor in Tennessee history and the party he leads believe that a new ballroom for the elites in politics and business is vital even as thousands of state employees’ jobs are being eliminated,” Hobbs said in a statement shortly after the class warfare card was slammed onto the table.

 

Hobbs and co.’s fixation on the “bunker” is causing perhaps more adult Republicans to chuckle and shake their heads in bemusement.

 

They know that the funds for Conservation Hall have been appropriated in past budgets, many times with the majority of Republicans effectively voting for the spending. Plus, construction on Conservation Hall had already begun before the true depth of the state’s fiscal woes were known. Halting construction and filling back in the gargantuan hole would’ve cost more money.

 

Now, questioning the merits for building Conservation Hall are fair game and there have been and will be unanswered ones along that front. But linking the state’s fiscal woes to construction of the bunker is a stretch to say the least.