Chuck Fleischmann puts out welcome mat for Obama, but raises some prickly issues

Friday, July 26, 2013

photo Chuck Fleischmann

NASHVILLE - Chattanooga's Republican congressman, Chuck Fleischmann, today put out the welcome mat to Democratic President Barack Obama on the president's planned trip to the city on Tuesday.

But the president may want to tread carefully on Fleischmann's mat. It has a few sharp tacks. And they point upwards.

"Welcome to beautiful Chattanooga," Fleischmann says to Obama in his mock postcard sent out via email this morning. "We appreciate that you are in town celebrating the businesses that have come to Tennessee thanks to our low regulation, low taxes and right-to-work policies.

"While here," the congressman continues helpfully, "I write you to visit a few historical natural attractions like Ruby Falls, a true Chattanooga treasure."

However, Fleischmann adds, "Obamacare is making it difficult to maintain or grow businesses of this size. Even though Tennessee's strong leadership has put us in a better position than most, we're not immune to the burdens this policy is placing on Americans across the country."

Arkansas-Tennessee Live Blog

Ruby Falls President Hugh Morrow was recently Washington where he testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about the impact he sees from the president's Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, on the Lookout Mountain tourist destination.

Obama plans his first trip as president to Chattanooga Tuesday where he will speak at Amazon's distribution center.

Fleischmann spokesman Tyler Threadgill said that in light of the president's upcoming trip to Chattanooga, "we wanted to take a minute to remind him why companies like Amazon have located in Tennessee and that our great state is doing well in spite of, rather than because of his policies."