SWGA Politics

Deal. Real. Crook.[ August 24, 2009 – 1:45 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

For those that missed this story in the AJC over the weekend, I apologize for my tardiness on it. I had quite a busy weekend with meetings, and I didn’t get a chance to write about it. I don’t feel THAT bad about just now getting to it though, since Erick only got to it this morning himself – though has apparently heard rumors of it for quite some time.

Nathan Deal is currently the US Representative from the 9th District and is running for Governor of Georgia in 2010. He first came on to the legislative scene during the 1980 election cycle, where he ran for an won a State Senate race, remaining in that position until being elected to his current position in the 1992 elections. He worked his way up to second in command of the State Senate, the position known as President Pro Tempore – currently held by Tommie Williams (R-Lyons).

Way back in 1982, the State of Georgia passed a law that said that any wrecked car had to be inspected before being allowed to be sold or driven. Remember, Deal was already in the General Assembly at this point. Unfortunately, LEGIS, the site that I use to do my bill research, only goes back to 1995, meaning that I cannot find this particular bill and how Deal voted on it at the time. Regardless, in 1989 the State contracted with one site in Athens to do the inspections, and expanded the program a year later.

At the beginning of February, 1990, Deal partnered with Ken Cronan to open Recovery Services, Inc. Under a non-competitive selection process, this brand new business became one of the sites the inspections program was expanded to. No paperwork exists to explain what the selection process was, and Deal currently doesn’t “know there was much of an official thing”. But remember, this was a State program and Deal was then a powerful enough State Senator that he was about to become the President Pro Tem of the Senate.
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Ox Fights To Maintain His Base[ August 21, 2009 – 6:00 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

So Ox is now bragging about a 33% showing in a poll released today. What he failed to mention is that this is actually an FIVE point DROP from one month ago. Furthermore, this is the exact same number that he got 4 months ago – and a 25% DROP from just last November.

In other words, don’t believe Ox’s spin – he’s fighting right now just to maintain his base.

Of course, with his feelings on free speech and property rights – not to mention the fact that he allows his campaign to bully 15 year old kids – it is fairly obvious why he is struggling so much.

Oh, and it gets better…
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Finally[ August 17, 2009 – 7:08 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

After two bogus ‘petitions’ being used as a campaign ploy to get more data in campaign databases (by Karen Handel and John Oxendine), I finally get an email that is both a fundraising email AND a campaign database scheme – but doesn’t involve some ‘petition’ whose actual statement you never see.

This one comes from State Senator Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), who was the second highest fundraiser in the first half of this year, behind only Nathan Deal, and who I interviewed for this site back in June.

It is a ‘birthday card’ for the Senator’s 56th birthday this Thursday, and let me go ahead and say ‘Happy Birthday, Eric!’. The email also asks for some variation of 56 – such as $5.60, $56, or $560.

I’ll begrudgingly admit that any of these three tactics are politically smart moves, but I thank Senator Johnson for using something OTHER than a bogus ‘petition’, and as a token of my gratitude I’ll give him my own version of a gift: I’ll post his email here, with working links.

Oh, and an early ‘Happy Anniversary!’ to the Johnsons as well, as they will be celebrating 34 years of marriage next week.
[Read Johnson For Georgia Campaign Email]

Karen Handel Just Doesn’t Get It – and Brian Kemp Agrees With Her[ August 16, 2009 – 8:34 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

You see, she seems to think that a process that is so faulty that 60% of those it labels as “non-citizens” are in fact citizens is a good thing!

I wrote a decent amount on this topic in June, when it was first breaking. Back then, I used the actual DOJ and court documents to show exactly where MS. Handel erred in this situation, and those posts can be found here, here, here, and here for more details on the particulars of the issue.

The basics are this:

Ms. Handel has claimed that this is an issue with the “Obama Department of Justice”, yet it was a Bush Administration court that gave the initial order 9 days before the November 2008 elections and nearly three full months before Barack Obama was sworn in as President – and even longer before he actually had placed anyone in the Department of Justice or Court system.

This “common sense” program Ms. Handel created has been shown to be so flawed that 60% of the people it labeled as “non-citizens” were, in fact, citizens.

Regarding the “petition” itself, it is nothing more than a campaign ploy. A valid petition would have an actual petition statement available for you to read before signing, all Ms. Handel’s “petition” has is a place for your name and email information. It is designed to build her campaign database and NOTHING more.

Here is the email Karen Handel sent out Friday:
[Continue Reading for the Handel Email and more!]

SWGAPolitics.com Interview with Austin Scott, Part 1: Why Governor and Other GOP Candidates[ May 22, 2009 – 6:14 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

After Carlton’s article on State Rep Austin Scott (R-Tifton) ran this past Sunday, I contacted his campaign via its website to ask about interviewing him for this site. To my surprise, I not only heard back from them within 24 hours, but I was sitting down with Mr. Scott himself by the middle of the week.

Talking to the man, he came across as very sincere, honest, and open. He is a man deeply committed to his family before his political career, and that came across as very genuine in my talk with him – not just the cliche that you would typically associate with a politician mentioning his family.

Note: I will post the full, unedited audio once this series is complete. I wouldn’t want to ruin any surprises, but I have said I will post it for transparency, and I will. Note that I am already posting the audio for each segment and that this was recorded in a local Starbucks here in Albany, hence the various background noises. It was also the first interview I’ve ever conducted, and first time I’ve ever attempted to transcribe anything, so please forgive any goofs on my part. [Continue Reading]

The Karen Handel Video[ May 16, 2009 – 10:45 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

That video was one of the most talked about things to happen at the GOP convention last night, and I expect it to garner a lot of attention moving forward. Read More …

SWGA Politics Claims the First Casualty of the 2010 Governor’s Race[ May 15, 2009 – 6:30 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

The GAGOP is meeting at their annual convention in Savannah this weekend, so expect a LOT of things to be going on over on their side of the house, particularly with the various Governor campaigns.

But one of the most interesting things for us here at SWGA Politics is that John Oxendine has revamped his website – to specifically exclude all of the pages and statements referenced in my ‘John Oxendine and Liberty’ mini-series.

I’m sure Ox will try to spin it otherwise, but the fact of the matter is that ‘Ox and Liberty’ has been getting a wide variety of attention in a wide range of places, including the AJC’s Political Insider and the forums at GeorgiaPacking.org among many others. And ‘Ox and Liberty’ makes a very strong case for anyone that loves liberty – or even consistency and honesty – that John Oxendine should NOT be the next Governor.

So the Oxendine campaign has removed all of the pages referenced, but SWGA Politics will be putting the text of those pages up over the weekend, even if I have to do it on my personal site.

Again: SWGA Politics was the FIRST on the scene firing the heavy ammunition in this campaign, and we have already scored our first victory, only really one month in to the campaign.

You have my word, we will be continuing with everything we have been doing, and we will be spreading it to other campaigns soon.

John Oxendine and Liberty, Part 3: Jeff’s Conclusion[ April 29, 2009 – 6:07 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Hopefully my readers now know exactly how ignorant, theocratic, and hypocritical this ‘politics as usual’ politician named John Oxendine is and intends to be as Governor.

I wrote the following nearly two weeks ago in my introduction to Part 1 of this ‘John Oxendine and Liberty’ series, and I believe it all the more now, after having looked in depth at his positions as noted on his website:

You see, quite honestly John Oxendine is a theocratic Statist of the worst sort. While this comes into play somewhat in his current position as Insurance Commissioner, it will be one of the greatest tragedies this state has ever experienced if he somehow lays claim to the Governor’s Mansion.

I’ve also come to find out that ‘ignorant’ and ‘hypocritical’ also apply to Mr. Oxendine, and I sincerely hope that you will join me in working to defeat him in the GOP primary next July,as I believe him to be worse than any politician I’ve yet seen running for Governor – but I could be proven wrong in future ‘Candidate and Liberty’ series.

As always, thank you for reading SWGA Politics. (Now if we can just get some of y’all to comment more… )

John Oxendine and Liberty, Part 2c: Oxendine Business Plan: The Business of Georgia Is Business[ April 29, 2009 – 6:03 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

The Business of Georgia is Business

The choice in 2010 is clear. Georgia can continue down the same road of traditional politicians putting ego before policy, personal political gain before the taxpayers or Georgia can elect a pro-business, pro-free enterprise Governor.

As we’ve seen, such a pro-business, pro-free enterprise Governor is NOT you, Mr. Oxendine. In fact, as we’ve seen in this series, you are NOTHING but a ‘traditional politician putting ego before policy’ and ‘personal political gain before the taxpayers of Georgia’. Personally, I think the candidate that best espouses what you yourself just admitted Georgia needs is John Monds, but I will be continuing this series as more information from each of the candidates is released online, and I encourage any candidate that wishes to speak with SWGA Politics for an in-depth interview to please contact us, as we’d LOVE to talk to you personally. We try to be genuinely equal opportunity here, and as you’ve seen in these posts, I do admit when I agree with your positions.
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John Oxendine and Liberty, Part 2b: Oxendine Business Plan: Working for Georgia Business[ April 29, 2009 – 6:00 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Moving into the ‘Working for Georgia Business’ category, we find:

We must preserve and maintain a fair and impartial judicial system in Georgia.

I could not agree with Mr. Oxendine more on this point, as the Judiciary is one of very few legitimate functions of government. I just hope his use of ‘fair’ and mine coincide, as I remember once having an education professor who insisted that ‘fair’ did NOT mean doing the same thing in every situation, and I insist that it does. If two people come in who have committed the same crime under the same circumstances, they should receive the same punishment, regardless of ANY other factor.

A John Oxendine Administration will support a business friendly tax code which is fair, stable and encourages economic growth, entrepreneurial enterprise, and freedom. A John Oxendine Administration will support a repeal of sales tax on energy used in the manufacturing process and the elimination of the inventory ad valoreum tax.

The most business and freedom-friendly tax code is some form of flat tax with ZERO exceptions, yet in the very next line Mr. Oxendine is making exceptions to his tax system. Mr. Oxendine, if you’re going to be a hypocrite, try not to put the actions that make it obvious so close together, please!
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