Glassman: Tenn., U.S. must rely on private sector

James K. Glassman (at left), a former Bush Administration State Department official and now president of the World Growth Institute in Washington, D.C., brought his warnings about over-reliance on Federal spending and the weakening of private enterprise to Nashville today. In a brief interview with VNC this afternoon, Glassman warned that Stimulus funding for broadband infrastructure should not go to service providers, but should go directly to schools, healthcare institutions and other consumers. More broadly, he cautioned against overreliance on Federal spending that could lead to more burdensome taxes and regulations being placed upon businesses. Sustainable growth, he observed, can only come from the private sector. He commended Tennessee for last year's revision of video franchising laws, which freed AT&T and others to seek one-stop statewide franchises, circumnavigating local the city-county authorities with which Comcast and other providers have dealt for decades; and, Glassman commended the General Assembly for moves to deregulate further services provided by AT&T, following an AT&T push on the issue during the current Session. Glassman said WGI, which has traditionally focused abroad on developing nations, will expend more energy on domestic U.S. policy issues in the near future. Earlier in the day, Glassman participated in a panel discussion sponsored by the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national organization, which had gathered at The Hermitage Hotel downtown.