"Today's unanimous vote in the House Finance Committee was another big step in restoring $659 million in proposed TennCare cuts," Hospital Association President Craig Becker said. "We are optimistic that the legislation will receive the same positive response by the full Senate on Thursday and the full House next week."

In Brazil -- which learned a thing or two about frenzied finance during its many bouts with hyperinflation -- bank directors, senior bank officers and controlling bank stockholders know that they are personally responsible for the solvency of the institution with which they are associated. Let it fail, and their net worths are frozen for the duration of often-lengthy court proceedings. If worse comes to worse, the responsible and accountable parties can lose their all.

“Essentially, we just need to have flexibility at the local level to meet the needs of each community’s businesses and workforce,” Haslam continued. “This can mean a lot of different things, but the point is to let local demand drive the operation the way we do in business.