The Tennessean examines The Beacon Center

The Tennessean had almost a page and a half devoted to the work of the Beacon Center in today's paper. The story told the history of the organization, where their funding comes from, profiled Justin Owens, the CEO of Beacon and explained some of the organizations positions on issues, and their successes and why they succeed. It was not a hatchet job. I thought it was a very fair representation.

While I disagreed with Beacon on the issue of Insure Tennessee, concluding that with the safe guards in place, and the threat to rural hospitals if it did not pass, and some other factors, I, nevertheless, understand the arguments against it. While I disagreed with Beacon on this one issue, I am usually in agreement and think they have done a great job advancing a pro free market, less government, and greater personal freedom agenda.  They are one of the organizations I financially support.

With The Tennessean now protecting their content behind a paywall, you can not read the Tennessean online unless you subscribe. However, if you are not a Tennessean subscriber I think you  still can get a certain number of free articles.  Below is a video and some excerpts from the story and this is link to the news article. (Update: I found the video that starts automatically very annoying and after unsuccessfully trying to insert code to disable that feature, I just deleted the video.)

"Six full-time employees, a million dollars and an argument. The main ingredients in the recipe used by the Beacon Center of Tennessee to kill Insure Tennessee aren't complex."

"The Beacon Center's past Tennessee successes include tort reform, a cap on the amount of money that can be awarded for "pain and suffering" in lawsuits — although that was recently deemed unconstitutional by a Hamilton County judge — and repealing the state's tax on inheritance, or what the center and other critics call the "death tax."'

"Those successes, and advocacy on issues like school vouchers, helped the center gain attention and money from the general public, Owen said."

"Civil forfeiture — the practice of law enforcement confiscating property before a conviction — is a big issue for the center. But Democrats are more likely to champion removing that policing power than Republicans. So Owen and the center are working with the ACLU of Tennessee and its Executive Director Hedy Weinberg."

'"I think that piques the curiosity of legislators," Weinberg said, of the ACLU and Beacon Center working together."

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