One issue I haven’t discussed yet has been the speculation and subsequent actual selection of who the new Secretary of State would be, to fulfill the remainder of the term Karen Handel abandoned.
Earlier this week, Governor Perdue gave a belated Christmas gift to Doug Macginnitie and Brian Kemp when he announced that he had selected his former Floor Leader State Rep Jim Cole (R-Forsyth) as the interim Secretary of State, and Cole announced that he would seek election to the full term of the post this November.
I honestly know nothing about Cole, so I went to the source I always go to for information about a current member of the General Assembly – LEGIS.
There, I looked at the bills he sponsored so far this term, with particular emphasis on the bills he authored himself. It is these bills, the ones he authored himself (or at least takes official credit for doing so), that I want to point out to you:
The first bill he authored was one ratifying an Executive Order from the Governor regarding temporary motor fuel tax suspensions in 2008. That one was good – it cut taxes, at least temporarily.
But the second one he authored was the infamous “Super Speeder” law that in addition to charging you $200 (in addition to any fines the local court orders) for driving 75mph on any two lane road in the State or 85mph on any four lane road in the State – including Interstates – also increases a number of other taxes (called “fees” in the law) anywhere from 33-400%.
The third bill he authored directly raises your healthcare costs! It does this by charging hospitals – and “care management organizations” – a windfall tax on profit from patients – which, as any business does, will be passed straight to you, the consumer. Oh, and the kicker? This fee is imposed with the explicit instructions that the money raised is to be used to get MORE Federal regulations on your healthcare in this State by begging for MORE money from the Federal government. So not only are you going to get the price you pay at the hospital jacked up, you’re going to see more of your money stripped via taxes as well – all because of a bill Jim Cole WROTE! Fortunately for us, this bill is sitting in the House Appropriations committee and hasn’t yet made it out of committee from what I can see on LEGIS.
The fourth bill Jim Cole wrote limits the ability of private organizations to give scholarships to private schools and limits how much of a scholarship they can give to the amount a public school would receive for a student. It also forces any school that receives a student who is using one of these scholarships to participate in “a nationally norm-referenced test approved by the State Board of Education”. In Cole’s defense, it also appears to open up schools qualified to receive students receiving these scholarships to ANY accredited school in the State, not just private schools. In other words, private organizations would now be allowed to award scholarships such that the money follows the student to any school the student selects – even a better public school. This bill is currently sitting in the House Ways and Means Committee, where it has been since Feb 17, 2009.
The fifth bill Jim Cole wrote in 2009 would mandate that you submit to inspections regarding use of dyed motor fuel by agents of the State Revenue Commission – Georgia’s version of the IRS. Most of us don’t use dyed motor fuels, but this is an issue for farmers and others who use non-highway based heavy equipment – and it is an issue for ALL of us in that it is the State mandating they be allowed to inspect a person’s private property absent a court order. This bill is also currently sitting in the House Ways and Means committee, where it has been since Feb 24, 2009.
The last bill Jim Cole authored recreates the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Authority with 9 members, 5 of which are appointed by the Governor and 2 of which are appointed by the President of the Senate (Lt Governor) and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. In other words, the Governor would essentially control this Authority under this bill, rather than having a more balanced appointment authority of 3 members each from the Governor, President of the Senate (Lt Governor), and Speaker of the House. But hey, what do you really expect from the Governor’s mole in the House? This bill is sitting in the House Economic Development and Tourism committee, where it has been since March 10, 2009.
I don’t know anything about Jim Cole prior to the 2009 session of the General Assembly, and I’ve really got more pressing matters than looking into his past. His present is bad enough, with the Governor hand-picking him to circumvent the GOP primary (eerily reminiscent of what has happened in the Attorney General’s office for nearly 70 years) and these bills he has written himself.
In 2009 alone, Jim Cole wrote bills that raised our taxes; attempted to raise the price of our healthcare; attempted to bring MORE Federal government intervention into Georgia; attempted to force private schools to submit to the Georgia Department of Education; attempted to force government inspections of private property without regard to presumption of innocence, probable cause, and warrants; and were a blatant power grab for the Governor on what is truly an unnecessary State program to begin with.
I don’t know who I will be supporting in the 2010 GOP Primary for Secretary of State, but I can tell you one thing:
It won’t be Jim Cole, unless the other candidates do something STUPENDOUSLY stupid.
Another prime example of how both parties (the political class) are imposing higher taxes, destroying freedom and attempting to RULE the citizens. Every dollar taken from the productive private sector and squandered by the government is an assault on liberty. Every new mandate is a shift of power to the government (political class). We must remove every incumbent in 2010. No exceptions.