SWGA Politics

Republican Runoff Debates [press release]

Please make the time to attend to listen to the candidates that will be present!

Republican Runoff Debates
Sponsored by the Lee County Teen Republicans
Date: August 7, 2010
Time: 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Thronateeska Heritage Center
100 West Roosevelt Ave.
Albany, GA 31701

Format: Candidates will have one minute for an opening statement at the beginning of the debate. After each candidate makes his/her statement, the candidates will proceed to ask each other questions with 30 seconds to ask the question and one minute to answer. The candidate asking the question will then get 30 seconds respond to their opponent’s answer. After approximately 25 minutes of debate, the candidates will make one minute closing remarks. Each debate will last about 30 minutes. The Gubernatorial debate will be first, followed by the Attorney General debate, followed by the Commissioner of Insurance debate, and finally the PSC debate.

Candidates Confirmed:
Sam Olens, Attorney General (sending a campaign representative)
Maria Sheffield, Insurance Commissioner
John Douglas, Public Service Commissioner
Tim Echols, Public Service Commissioner

A Friendly Reminder For Dissatisfied Voters

The following originally appeared as a Facebook note from Erik Viker, a Libertarian Candidate for the State House of Representatives in Pennsylvania.

The extremist blogosphere and the countless chain e-mails it spawns are ratcheting up the sedition rhetoric again. Before you make the gun dealers happy or get out the torches and pitchforks, please remember that defense of person or property from those who are violating our law is one thing, but violence against the government is called “treason” by the Constitution we all honor.

Vote for better candidates, at all levels of government. If you want members of your political club to win elections, you need to recognize that all those people who voted Democrat are U.S. citizens just like you, with the same right to vote that you have. Every elected official was placed in authority by the will of the majority of constituents who cared enough to vote. Not happy with the outcome, or with how those people conduct our government affairs? Then work harder next time to get better candidates elected. You choose a whole new House of Representatives and a third of the Senate every two years, and a new President every four years.
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Liberty Locally: Playgrounds

A version of this post went online last Thursday at UnitedLiberty.org

Nearly all of us played on various playgrounds as kids. Whether it be swinging, sliding, climbing monkey bars, or simply playing tag on an open field, play is an important part of childhood and one many of us look back on fondly.

The problem for local governments is that these days, playgrounds can be expensive. Depending on exactly what you want, they can easily cost upwards of $20K for a small one, and in the six figures for larger ones. Even for larger towns, this is a lot of money – and my town only has a population of around 3,000 people!

So how do we as a community promote small government while also providing ample play space for our community’s children?
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Go VOTE SWGA!

and everywhere else in Ga as well, obviously.

Voter turnout is predicted to be fairly low – the numbers I’ve heard are anywhere from 15% to 30%. In Lee County, only 487 votes were cast during advance and early voting, though that number may rise as more mail-in ballots come in today. In 2006, there were 1621 Repulican ballots and 1736 Democratic votes cast, for a total of 3357 votes cast. There were 14,151 registered voters in Lee County as of 2006, meaning that only 23.72% of them cast a ballot in that year’s Primaries. Turnout in the General Election that year in Lee County barely topped 50%.

This is supposed to be an “anti-incumbent” year, a year where people are pissed off and ready to change things.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are only 2 incumbents running in 10 Ga Statewide seats (Casey Cagle and Johnny Isakson), and both are running unopposed in the Primary, though they will face two challengers each in November.

Don’t let someone else dictate to you who your options will be in November.

Get out there and make that decision for yourself! Polls will be open from 7a-7p today.

GO VOTE GA!

A War That Forged a Nation

July 4. A day filled with picnics, fireworks, and politics. Many of you will spend some time enjoying the outdoors this weekend, and some of you will probably go to some kind of parade in your town, where you will see a large number of candidates riding through the streets along with people in 1700s attire of various forms, and probably quite a few military uniforms.

It truly is a great day to celebrate America in all of her greatness.

You’ll probably hear Stars and Stripes Forever and Star Spangled Banner played quite frequently. Both are truly great songs. In all honesty, Stars and Stripes Forever is my favorite “classical” song of all time.

But Stars Spangled Banner has a history behind it, which you may or may not know and may or may not hear about, so I wanted to take you back to when it was written.

The year is 1812. The United States of America are involved in a brutal war against the British on three different fronts on their own soil – again, barely 30 years after the last war. The Americans have been defeated in battle after battle after battle on their own soil. Their new capital, with its Presidential Palace, has been burned to the ground and their President has been forced to flee the city.

The Americans are crushed. Britannia is poised to once again rule the American continent.

All the British have to do is capture Baltimore, on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, and their victory is all but assured. Their Navy – by FAR the best in the world, whose dominance is little challenged in this hemisphere – is blockading the bay into Baltimore. Meanwhile, the British Army is advancing to Baltimore on foot.

There is little hope left.
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[UPDATED] Ox and Former Campaign Manager Now In Hot Water

John Oxendine and his former Campaign Manager (and current PSC District 2 Candidate) Tim Echols are now in hot water – AGAIN.

This story by AJC’s Aaron Gould Sheinin describes an interesting tale. Apparently Ox doesn’t have quite the active fan base he thought he did, and he felt he needed to spent $12,500 to hire 150 teenagers to go knocking on doors.

That alone, not such a big deal, so long as it shows up on his disclosure.
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Condoms. In First Grade.

Condoms are now being made to students as young as first grade in one Massachusetts school. Apparently this story is now getting some play on Fox News (no, I don’t watch that drivel, the headline and link was retweeted by someone in my twitter stream), but I first heard about this story on AJC’s Momania blog this morning.

Because it is getting play on Faux News, expect the conservatives to get up in arms about it. Like clockwork.

We’ve actually got two different issues raised in this one story. One is whether schools should give away condoms at all. The other is whether first grade is appropriate for this.

This whole episode is a perfect illustration of the need for separation of school and State. If that happened and parents had to pay for their own childrens’ schooling, they could pay to put their children in schools where condoms were given away or not, based on the parents’ wishes, without infringing on the rights of other parents who disagree. As is, no matter what decision this school makes, it is infringing on some parents’ rights by forcing them to pay to support a program they do not agree with or by denying them services they want their school to provide.

For the record, I believe sex education should be done at home, and NO WHERE else. That is one of the most personal decisions a person makes, and it should be the parent that teaches the child about sex – not government schools and not their youth pastor. In an environment where school and State were separated, I would not pay to send my child to a school – of any form – that violated that basic rule.

That said, for those that see my personal beliefs here as a cop-out, I offer these thoughts:
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[Press Release] Libertarians note anniversary of bad Kelo decision

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Libertarians note anniversary of bad Kelo decision
WASHINGTON – Tomorrow, June 23, marks the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v. New London decision. Today the Libertarian Party published the following open letter:

We, the state chairs of the Libertarian Party, and members of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC), wish to call attention to the fifth anniversary of the wrongful Kelo v. New London decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Susette Kelo and her co-plaintiffs simply wanted to be left in peace in their homes, but the New London Development Corp. wanted their land for its own development purposes, and convinced the City of New London to condemn their property for its benefit.

By rendering its decision against Susette Kelo and her co-plaintiffs, the court gutted an important private property protection of the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court decided that it is acceptable for government entities to condemn and seize private property, even when the purpose is to offer that property to another private owner for economic development.

The Supreme Court’s decision expanded the government’s unjust power of eminent domain.

Even more shamefully, the proposed development never materialized. The Institute for Justice recently noted that ‘The very land where Susette Kelo’s home once stood remains barren — home to nothing but feral cats, seagulls and weeds.’

Eminent domain is bad enough when it is used to expand government roads and schools, but the practice of forcibly taking a person’s land to give to a company for things like shopping malls is utterly wrong.

The Libertarian Party has always showed strong support for private property rights. Our platform states that ‘we oppose all government interference with private property, such as confiscation, nationalization, and eminent domain.’

Last year, Susette Kelo commented that ‘even though over 40 states have passed legislation offering some protection to home and business owners, don’t think your property is safe, because it is not.’ The Castle Coalition, which works to protect property owners from eminent domain abuse, has given only five states an A or A- rating for eminent domain reform in the wake of the Kelo decision. Many states have passed reforms that sound strong at first, but contain major loopholes or other bad provisions. Republicans and Democrats like to posture as eminent domain reformers while they carve out exceptions for special interests.

We call on the Supreme Court to reverse the Kelo ruling in a future case, and we call on all 50 states to adopt laws or constitutional amendments to eliminate this practice.

(signed)

Mark Bodenhausen, Alabama
Scott Kohlhaas, Alaska
Michael Kielsky, Arizona
Rodger Paxton, Arkansas
Kevin Takenaga, California
David Williams, Colorado
Rich Lion, Connecticut
James W. Rash, Delaware
J.J. McCurry, Florida
Daniel Adams, Georgia
Roger Taylor, Hawaii
Rob Oates, Idaho
Lupe Diaz, Illinois
Sam Goldstein, Indiana
Ed Wright, Iowa
Andrew Gray, Kansas
Ken Moellman, Kentucky
T. Lee Horne III, Louisiana
Shawn Levasseur, Maine
Robert Johnston, Maryland
David Blau, Massachusetts
Emily Salvette, Michigan
Bob Odden, Minnesota
Danny Bedwell, Mississippi
Cisse Spragins, Missouri
Mike Fellows, Montana
Gene Siadek, Nebraska
Jo Silvestri, Nevada
Rich Tomasso, New Hampshire
Jay Edgar, New Jersey
Jay Vandersloot, New Mexico
Mark Axinn, New York
Barbara Howe, North Carolina
Richard Ames, North Dakota
Kevin Knedler, Ohio and LNC Representative
Angelia O’Dell, Oklahoma
Jeff Weston, Oregon
Mik Robertson, Pennsylvania
David Bibeault, Rhode Island
Michael Carmany, South Carolina
Tony Ryan, South Dakota
John Sebastian, Tennessee
Patrick Dixon, Texas
W. Andy McCullough, Utah
Jeremy Ryan, Vermont
Wilbur (Bill) Wood, Virginia
Rachel Hawkridge, Washington and LNC Representative
Kyle Hartz, Washington D.C.
Tad Britch, West Virginia
Ben Olson, Wisconsin
Don Wills, Wyoming
Mark Hinkle, LNC Chair
Mark Rutherford, LNC Vice Chair
Alicia Mattson, LNC Secretary
James Oaksun, LNC Treasurer
David Nolan, LNC Representative
William Redpath, LNC Representative
Wayne Allyn Root, LNC Representative
Mary Ruwart, LNC Representative
Doug Craig, LNC Representative
Stewart Flood, LNC Representative
Daniel Wiener, LNC Representative
Rebecca Sink-Burris, LNC Representative
Norman Olsen, LNC Representative
Dr. James W. Lark, III, LNC Representative
Daniel Karlan, LNC Representative
Dianna Visek, LNC Representative

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets and civil liberties. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

The problems with the new energy policy

What follows originally appeared on TomKnighton.com.  When you get done here, come on over and read what else I’ve got going over there.

Last night, President Obama brought forth on this continent, a new policy regarding energy.  OK, it’s really not that new, but it’s getting a new emphasis. He lamented a lack of solar and wind power, and even commented on how the jobs being those things were over in China, rather than here in the good old US of A.  He lamented a lot of things, but apparently doesn’t grasp the reality of what he’s wanting. Read More …

[UPDATED] [NEW LOCATION] June 12 Lee County Forum

Visit our Event page here

The inaugural SWGAPolitics.com Candidate Forum will be held at Connections Albany, 2401-D Dawson Rd Albany Ga 31707, on June 12th , 2010. We have the room from 5PM to 10 PM, and the formal forum will start promptly at 6PM, feel free to bring a campaign table to distribute campaign information as well. We will follow a simple format with a 2-3 min introduction, 1-2 questions per race, 2 min closing remarks, upon completion should you choose you can meet the locals and mingle as you see fit. We would like to know if you can attend by June 4th. Should your plans change as campaigns can we understand and you CAN attend the event without an RSVP.

The Forum will be broadcast live online at http://www.livestream.com/connectionsalbany beginning at 6pm! It will also be videotaped for youtube clipping, and we hope to have those clips up within the week.

If you have any questions contact myself :
tim@badluckcompany.com or 2010campaigns@jefferysexton.com

****Confirmed Moderators:
Kurt Baker – WOBB B100
Jim Hendrix – Albany Herald
China Sellers – WFXL
Tom Knighton – swgapolitics.com
Kevin Hogencamp – Albany Journal

******RSVP TO DATE
Lonnie Smith – DoCo Commission Dist 2
Donnie Smith – DoCo SB Dist 2
Sherrell Byrd – DoCo SB Dist 2
Ewell Lyle – DoCo Commission Dist 4
Richard Thomas – DoCo Commission Dist 6
Jeff Sexton – Leesburg City Council
John Douglas – PSC 2
Jeff May – PSC 2
Tim Echols (represented by Stephen Morrison) – PSC 2
Will Costa – Labor
Melvin Everson – Labor
Richard Woods – School Super
John Barge – School Super
Kira Willis – School Super
Joe Martin – School Super
Brian Westlake – School Super
Kevin Cherry – Agriculture
Darwin Carter – Agriculture
Denis Cain – Insurance
Shane Bruce – Insurance
John Mamalakis- Insurance
Seth Harp – Insurance
Gerry Purcell – Insurance
Maria Sheffield – Insurance
David Chastain – SOS
Sam Olens – Attorney General
Preston Smith – Attorney General
John Monds – Governor
David Poythress – Governor
Thurbert Baker – Governor
Dubose Porter – Governor
Rick Allen – Congress Dist 2
Lee Ferrell – Congress Dist 2
RJ Hadley – US Senate (tentative)
Chuck Donovan – US Senate

Not able to make it:
Doug MacGinnite-trying to send a rep
Jeff Sinyard – DoCo Commission Chair – Declined
Mike Keown – Congress Dist 2 – Declined
Rob Teilhet -Attorney General
Gail Buckner- SOS
Gary Black – Ag (sending team)
Michael Mills – SOS
Carol Porter – Lt Gov
Jeff Chapman – Gov
Max Wood – Attorney General
Milton “June bug” Griffin – DoCo SB Dist2
Stephen Northington – Insurance
Darryl Hicks – Labor
Roy Barnes – Gov
Angela Moore – SOS

[IF YOU ARE RUNNING AS AN INDEPENDENT OR OTHER POLITICAL BODY PLEASE NOTIFY US AS YOU ARE ALSO WELCOME TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE CONTACT INFORMATION FROM EVERYONE IN THE RACE]