SWGA Politics

Race in the Good Life City[ August 31, 2009 – 8:00 am]by Tom Posted in » Albany Dougherty County

In Albany, GA, there are a few topics that are just dangerous to delve into. Politics and religion are hardly new to us. Race, however, is probably the touchiest topic there is in these parts. A wise man once advised me to steer clear of race in this town, and I see his point completely. But, no one has ever accused me of being to bright, so I’m going to talk about it anyways.

In the aftermath of Buie-gate, and following the flap Rod Jolivette (the first time), it’s easy to see racial tensions as being motivators for city officials. There are many in the community who feel both were unfairly targeted because of race. That’s understandable because of years of racial distrust that have never fully gone away. Read More …

[UPDATED] Qualifying This Week for Local Elections[ August 31, 2009 – 6:28 am]by Jeff Posted in » Local

Qualifying is this week for several local city commission seats and at least one mayoral seat. For those that don’t know, ‘qualifying’ is basically when candidates officially get on the ballot. It has different requirements at different levels, but for local – particularly local non-partisan – races, it typically means you sign a form and hand over some amount of money. The amount of money varies based on the location and position.
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Why Protest Reform That Would Benefit Us: A Letter To Congressman Bishop[ August 29, 2009 – 8:27 pm]by Bill Waller Posted in » Editorial

In a recent article than ran in the Albany Herald about the protest at Congressman Sanford Bishop’s office against healthcare reform, Congressman Bishop said, “We have the First Amendment in this country, but I find it curious that people choose to protest healthcare reform that would benefit them.” Congressman, you find it curious because at your town hall meeting in Albany you chose to talk to your constituents rather than listen. I know that your staff in the Albany office has become a fan of SWGAPolitics. I hope you are reading this too. I’ll try once more to explain why America, and more importantly—your constituents, do not want this reform.

There is an old saying that goes… “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I am not implying that the healthcare system in this country could not use a little tweaking, but it is not to the point where we should scrap the entire system and rebuild it. Have you seen the polls that show numbers around 75% of Americans that are happy with their insurance plan? Tweaking the system with free market solutions that involve patient/doctor relationships rather than government officials is where we should look. Let’s explore health savings accounts, tax breaks for healthy lifestyle choices, and a system that is accountable to the patient. Why does the plan not address tort reform? A constituent mentioned that out of 47 million uninsured, only 15 million are chronically uninsured. They can be covered by the savings that will occur through a free market approach. Please sir, I am begging you to listen!
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Austin Scott Completes Walk of Georgia[ August 29, 2009 – 10:29 am]by Jeff Posted in » Uncategorized

As I begin to type this, Austin Scott is on the steps of the State Capitol in Atlanta, completing a journey he began on June 27 in Chickamauga that wrapped around the entire state, going into many communities that had probably never personally seen a Governor candidate.

I personally walked 10 miles with Scott back in July out of Bainbridge and into Climax, and it was a good chance to get to talk to the man as both a man and a politician. Many of his actual ideas and policies I completely disagree with – but that is to be expected with a GOP candidate. But I trust the man. And in someone I know I’m going to disagree with, that is the number one thing I look for – that I can trust them and that they’ll listen to me. Scott does both.
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Heirarchy of rights[ August 29, 2009 – 7:22 am]by Tom Posted in » Editorial

Every American seems to agree on the basic fact that we have rights. What is arguable is what forms those rights actually take and how to determine what is what in regard to right. What follows is my own take on rights, and will obviously not jive with everyone else’s ideas. That is, of course, cool. Read More …

Almighty God, Blessings in Schools, and Religious Homeschooling[ August 28, 2009 – 6:15 pm]by Jeff Posted in » General

Over the past couple of days, three news stories have caught my eye, and I wanted to bring some attention to them.

In the first, apparently Kentucky has several references to ‘Almighty God’ in several of its laws, and a judge has ruled this unconstitutional, per
this AJC article. One quote in particular from the judge sums up my feelings on the matter quite well:

Even assuming that most of this nation’s citizens have historically depended upon God, by choice, for their protection, this does not give the General Assembly the right to force citizens to do so now.

Key words being “choice” and “force”. People have their own beliefs on religion, and those beliefs may be different from yours or mine – and that is perfectly OK. What is NOT OK is for either side to use the force of government to dictate its beliefs to the other.
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John Monds Money Bomb TODAY![ August 28, 2009 – 2:07 pm]by Publius Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

John Monds is having a moneybomb event TODAY and he is asking you to donate your change for REAL CHANGE!

So go over to this page and donate a few bucks please!

Why?
[Why donate to John Monds for Governor?

Personal politics[ August 28, 2009 – 8:00 am]by Tom Posted in » Albany Dougherty County

Looking all around me, at politics of all levels, I’m struck with how personal everything has gotten. Now, I’m not talking about how President Obama’s health care reform will hit you personally, because that makes sense. What I’m talking about is how people take things like disagreement personally. I’m guilty of it too, and I’m going to apologize for it. Read More …

Re: Ox Fights To Maintain His Base: It Was an Honest Mistake[ August 28, 2009 – 7:30 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Last week, I wrote about John Oxendine’s poll numbers and how he is fighting just to maintain his base.

I also reported – correctly – that he lied about the numbers in the latest (at the time) poll. He had said 33%, yet the actual report said 31% – and I had screen shots to prove it.

The Ox campaign continued to spread that 33% number this week via twitter and emails, and finally I got rather sick of it and called Tim Echols, Ox’s campaign manager about it. Like I said in the aftermath of ‘Constable-gate‘, Echols seems to be a genuinely good guy based on my experience with him so far, and this blatant spreading of lies just didn’t jibe with what I thought of him.

It turns out, my faith in Echols in particular was not wrong, and this was actually an honest mistake from a third party.
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Gary Horlacher Has Some Competition for Democratic Nomination for Secretary of State[ August 27, 2009 – 6:28 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

A couple of months ago, I wrote about a guy named Gary Horlacher and his bid for the Democratic Party of Georgia’s nomination for the office of Secretary of State.

Over the past month or so, three other candidates have filed paperwork with the State Ethics Committee to run for the office as a Democrat, two of them with websites – and one of them a current officeholder.

In chronological order according to when the Declaration of Intent was filed, the three new candidates are:

Darryl Hicks of Fayetteville, who filed on July 21.

Michael Mills of Atlanta, who filed on Aug 4.

And Gail Buckner of East Point, who filed on Aug 12. Buckner is the current State Senator from the 44th District and was the Democratic nominee for the office in 2006.

Needless to say, many would say Mr. Horlacher no longer stands a chance – IF he ever stood one to begin with. Me, I say the race just got quite a bit more interesting, though realistically even I expect Senator Buckner to once again be the nominee.

Regardless, we’ll know the winner – or at least who will be in any potential runoff – in 328 days.