Philip Bredesen

Every doctor learns the rule — reflected in the Hippocratic Oath — to “first of all do no harm.” When you’re faced with a decision, it may be better to take the conservative path rather than risk causing more harm through your intervention.

This is too good a rule to just leave to physicians. There are plenty of other areas where it applies as well. One of these is the much-discussed area of public infrastructure, and we have a good example right here in Tennessee.

In his recent budget, President Trump proposed selling off a part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA. His idea was to sell off the transmission assets — the power lines and the substations — that Washington would then use for other expenses. This is not entirely new with Trump; President Obama proposed something similar at one point.

But we Tennesseans have a lot of common sense, and know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Tennessee electric ratepayers have been paying to build this electrical infrastructure for three-quarters of a century. We’ve paid for it, and it works well. When I worked as governor recruiting jobs, one of our competitive advantages was the availability of efficient, reliable power here in Tennessee, thanks to TVA.

If politicians sell parts of TVA to a private corporation, here’s what happens: Those politicians will take the proceeds and spend it somewhere quickly. But any private purchaser is going to have to get its investment back, plus interest and a profit. There’s only one place that is going to come from — TVA’s electrical customers. That is, you and me. We have to start back at the beginning, buying that infrastructure a second time, and will be doing so in our electric bills for decades to come. Politicians play, electrical customers pay.

So, Mr. President (and Mr. and Ms. Congress), let’s talk about our real infrastructure needs, but please remember: “first of all do no harm.”