SWGA Politics » 2010 GA Governor Candidates

Deal. Real. Crook.

Jeff — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:45:28 +0000

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.

Flash forward to 2008. Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham decides to look into this 20 year old program for inspecting wrecked vehicles. He started asking what sound to me to be some pretty good questions, such as this, from the article:

“How did they get assigned to doing this work?” Graham said. “How does it work? Is there a better way to do it? I thought it was interesting that you had dedicated businesses that had not been [competitively] bid.” … Graham also thought the locations of the inspection stations made little sense. The nearest one to Atlanta, for example, is Gainesville. The station nearest Savannah is in Hazlehurst, more than two hours away. The stations are essentially regional monopolies, Graham said.

Pretty soon after Graham starts looking at this matter, he gets a call into the Lt Governor’s office – fairly similar, I would imagine, to a student getting a call to come to the Assistant Principal’s office. He gets there, and he sees the Casey Cagle, Brad Alexander, Nathan Deal, Chris Riley, and Ken Cronan. Cagle is the Lt Governor, Alexander is Cagle’s right hand man (chief of staff), Riley is Deal’s right hand man (chief of staff), and Cronan is – you will remember – Deal’s business partner. Also note that Cagle, before becoming Lt Governor, served in the same State Senate district that Deal had once represented. Deal even gave Cagle $6,000 in the runup to the 2006 election where Cagle won the Lt Governor position. Gee… I wonder what could be the problem here?

Deal admits to requesting the meeting, but says he was doing it from a constituent services angle. If it was just a constituent service meeting, why did Deal AND his chief of staff need to be there?

Six months after that meeting, in June 2008, Graham gets another call to come to the Lt Governor’s office. For another meeting with Deal. Graham says this meeting didn’t influence his decision, but shortly thereafter he changes tactics and decides to work to privatize the system.

Apparently, the program costs the State nearly $2 million to operate, and Graham recommended that funding be cut from the Department of Revenue budget. Governor Perdue agreed, and the money wasn’t there in his budget proposal. When the House passed the budget bill, the money still wasn’t there.

And then Riley, Deal’s Chief of Staff, used his congressional email account – in apparent violation of House rules, but more on that in a minute – to email the deputy revenue commissioner about putting the money back in the budget. Cagle’s office was also contacted, and within days, the Senate Appropriations Committee – chaired by Jack Hill (R-Reidsville) – had put the money back in the budget. Just before this though, Graham was summoned to yet another meeting with Cagle, Deal, and Cronan, but this time insisted on a neutral site – which turned out to be Governor Perdue’s conference room. While Graham didn’t discuss what exactly happened there with the AJC, he does say that “without a doubt” it was clear that Deal and Cronan didn’t want the inspection system changed. Interesting to note here is the level of forgetfulness of the people involved. Deal can’t quite remember much of this, Cagle wouldn’t talk to the AJC about it, Hill couldn’t remember but thought a subcommittee that handles the Department of Revenue had handled it, and the subcommittee chair, Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) doesn’t seem to remember either.

So here we have a man who is saying he wants to be our next Governor, yet has absolutely no problems abusing the power of his past and current offices to profit himself. Furthermore, the guy is an absolute hypocrite, hiding behind House rules when they allow him not to take a stand on the politically volatile Cash for Clunkers program but breaking them when it is convenient to make him more money.

While some would like to give him credit being very hands-on with this story, instead of relying on staffers like one of his competitors (who shall remain nameless, but goes around portraying himself as a sterile bull), the fact of the matter is he has been hands on throughout this process – including during most of the shady events themselves. Why should we then praise him for remaining hands-on during the spin attempt?

Ox Fights To Maintain His Base

Jeff — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:00:02 +0000

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…

That 33% number that I mentioned Ox bragging about?

He LIED about it – and was such an idiot that he linked to the very article that showed he doctored the numbers!

You see, Ox claimed in the email I received at 1:38pm today – and was on his website shortly thereafter – that Rasmussen showed him with “33% support” and a “20 point advantage” – as the highlighted areas in the top picture on this post show.

Click to view image full size

The problem is that the actual report – linked in the email I received – showed “31% support” and an “18 point advantage”, as seen in the bottom image.

Click to view image full size

Also note one other thing that Ox forgot to include in his version of the Report – among a few things he left out – was this gem:

At this point in a campaign, Rasmussen Reports considers the number of people with a strong opinion more significant than the total favorable/unfavorable numbers.

You see, Ox does have the highest “very favorable” numbers at 22% – but he also has the highest “Very unfavorable” (emphasis mine) numbers at 5%.

Indeed, of all the GOP candidates included in the poll, Ox had the LOWEST “not sure” numbers, nearly half that of the next competitor. (He had only 24% not sure, Karen Handel was the next lowest at 42% not sure, followed by Nathan Deal at 55% not sure, Eric Johnson and Austin Scott tied at 68% not sure, and Ray McBerry leading that particular category with 71% not sure.)

What does this mean?

More than 75% of people have already made up their minds when it comes to John Oxendine – and only 22% of those people really like him. The rest think he is ok, at BEST.

Finally

Jeff — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:08:37 +0000

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.

Friends,

Thank you for your hard work on Eric’s campaign. Things are going great, and I can’t express how much your trust means to all of us. We couldn’t do this without your coming along side us with your support and prayers! We are so very grateful.

I wanted to make sure all of Eric’s friends and supporters know of an important day coming up. His 56th birthday is this Thursday. And while he’s spending the day campaigning in Troup County, I want to have a special surprise waiting for him when he returns.

Would you help me make his birthday a great one by clicking here to sign his birthday card? I want to gather as many signatures as possible and then give it to him on the 20th to celebrate his special day!

And, because as you all know, financial support is critical to the success of his campaign for Governor, if you’d like to add a birthday gift to his birthday card, I know any gift you’d like to give — $5.60, $56, $560 — would make this birthday a very happy one indeed!

This coming week we will also celebrate our 34th wedding anniversary. After all these years I’m still impressed by his love for his family, his heart for public service, and his passion for the values we all share. Although these days he might come home tired after a long day of traveling the State, he always has a smile on his face and great stories about the folks he met out on the campaign trail. You see, he loves the people of this state, so I know he’d love to hear from you on his birthday. So, if you will, please click here to wish Eric a happy birthday, send him a personalized message, and maybe even surprise him with a special gift.

Your support means more than you’ll ever know. I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail soon.

Sincerely,

Kathryn

Karen Handel Just Doesn’t Get It – and Brian Kemp Agrees With Her

Jeff — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:34:05 +0000

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:

Karen Handel Calls on Obama Justice Department to Reverse Position on Non-Citizen’s Voting

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel today sent a formal request to the Obama Justice Department to reverse course on its prohibition against the state confirming U.S. citizenship for people registering to vote.

The common sense program enacted by Karen’s office in 2008 used data from the Department of Driver’s Services and the Social Security Administration to make sure newly registered voters were actually U.S. citizens.

Last May the Justice Department banned Georgia from conducting citizenship checks – opening the doors to organizations like ACORN to register non-citizens and encourage them to cast ballots.

Following this move, Karen launched an online petition allowing Georgians to express their opposition to the Obama Administration’s move. More than 25,000 Americans signed that petition.

Today’s letter is the next step in a legal process to protect Georgia’s right to conduct its own elections and to ensure that all Georgia voters are actually citizens of this country.

“Citizenship verification worked in 2008, plain and simple,” Karen said. “Historic numbers of people of all ethnic backgrounds voted without difficulty and no qualified voter was kept from casting a ballot.”

To show your support for Karen’s fight against the Obama Administration and for citizenship verification of voters, please sign the petition today.

Pro-Amnesty MALDEF denounces voter check appeal to DOJ

Not only is Karen taking on the Obama Administration to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections, she is also fighting other liberal groups such as the ACLU and MALDEF. It was no surprise this week when MALDEF attacked Karen for her efforts.

Karen announced the appeal on Wednesday, and according to yesterday’s article by the Associated Press, “the Mexican Legal Defense and Education Fund is denouncing Georgia’s appeal of the Justice Department’s rejection of a voter check plan.” The article also cites Elise Shore, regional counsel for MALDEF, calling Karen’s voting reforms a “flawed, unreliable system that creates barriers to voting.”

Karen is going to continue standing up against these groups to fight for sensible voting reforms. To read the entire article, follow this link.

The problem for Ms. Handel is that she is blatantly wrong here. At a minimum, according to my own understand of the law (and remember, I am NOT a lawyer), she is guilty of violating Federal law by making a change in the voting procedure in Georgia without explicit approval from the US Department of Justice. The particular Federal law in question is one that I personally feel is unconstitutional to begin with, but it has never been repealed or stricken by the courts, and therefore remains law, and that is Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (reauthorized within the last couple of years for 25 more years). For those who are unaware, Section 5 of VRA basically says that in Georgia, several other states, and a few cities/counties in other states that aren’t wholly covered, to make ANY change to the elections process and/or procedure, you must get the US Department of Justice to approve your change BEFORE you implement it.

In the situation in question, Ms. Handel believed she was bringing the State into compliance with a Federal law called the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA) by tieing drivers’ license data into a way for the Secretary of State’s Office to verify citizenship. Nevermind the fact that – again, according to my own understanding here – the drivers’ license data was never meant to provide any indication of citizenship, since we want even illegals and other non-citizens to at least have the minimal competencies to drive on our roadways that a drivers’ license is proof of.

Of course, at least one of the candidates for her current job, Brian Kemp, said recently via twitter that “I support Sec. Handel’s defense of our elections”, which says to me that it is possible Mr. Kemp would follow in Ms. Handel’s fallacious footsteps.

Finally, a couple of very important points that I recently made on PeachPundit and feel should be repeated here:

I never said Voter ID was a bad thing – in fact, I think it is a very GOOD thing.

My contentions here are simple, and again, relate directly to HOW this was done, not WHAT (as far as general principle) was done:

1) Like it or not, Section 5 of VRA is Federal law. By implementing a change in voting procedure without getting explicit USDOJ approval beforehand, Karen Handel in her duties as Secretary of State violated that law. This is one of those situations where even *I* would more than likely play it EXTREMELY safe rather than sorry.

2) The process she implemented to achieve the noble goal of Voter Verification (NO ONE wants people voting who are not legally eligible) was so flawed that 60% of the people it labeled as ‘noncitizens’ were, in fact, citizens. In other words, it only labeled 40% of the people correctly! Back when I was in school, you had to get 70% of the stuff correct to pass the class!

SWGAPolitics.com Interview with Austin Scott, Part 1: Why Governor and Other GOP Candidates

Jeff — Fri, 22 May 2009 22:14:50 +0000

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.

My first question for Rep. Scott was very straightforward – “Why Governor?” (audio), and I got an honest and straightforward answer: “Well, I’ve been in office for 14 years and like most people I’m pretty frustrated with what I see out of government.” Rep. Scott went on to point out that he’s tired of people buying their positions and that at the Governor level “they can’t push you aside anymore”. Even though he is among the youngest Gubernatorial candidates at 39 years old – he’ll be just shy of his 41st birthday at next November’s General Election – he trusts that “the sooner the debates start, the more our experience will show through” and points to his 14 years as a State Representative and 18 years owning his own small business. Even at this point, Rep. Austin also alludes to some of his competition, saying “I chair the Governmental Affairs committee, which one of the candidates in the race is taking a lot of the credit for the bills that we have passed out of that committee that they really didn’t have anything to do with.”

Finally, he believes that once people see his resume and take an objective look at him and his experience, people will “see that [he is] the candidate that is best prepared to lead from Day 1. And I do not believe that this State in the economic times that we’re in can afford to elect a Governor that on Day 1 when they take office is not prepared to govern.”

Next, I asked him about each of his competitors.

Regarding Karen Handel (audio), Rep Scott takes issue with her taking credit for elections laws that he says the Legislature should rightfully take the credit for. Indeed, he says ” If you look historically at those laws and you see who did the work on them, it was Austin Scott” and that Secretary Handel has “got her new phrase ‘bring it on’ and Karen Handel’s idea of getting something done is bringing it on down to Austin Scott’s office, dropping it off and letting me do it.”. Rep Scott also takes issue with Secretary Handel taking credit for budget cuts he says were handed down to her as an agency head from the General Assembly. He also calls into question her experience and says he looks forward to the debates, as he is confident this lack of experience will shine through.

Rep Scott also spoke about his own experience owning his own small business, pointing out that “being a small business owner, you understand the burdens and the time constraints that more and more government forces on you. … You know, by the end of the week, as a small business owner, its realistically a full day a week in dealing with government compliance. It’s a waste, its a burden and if we’ll get off the backs of the small business owners they’ll become profitable.”

Next, Rep Scott spoke about John Oxendine (audio) and noted “I’m an insurance agent, as an agent I think he’s been a pretty good commissioner as far as we go.” But getting back to politics, he thinks that “significant questions” will continue to be raised about Ox’s fundraising, specifically “how much money has been raised from people and industries that he regulates”. Rep Scott points out that Ox is a “formidable opponent” but that “I think that when we get into the debates, he’ll shine on the insurance issues and I think on the other issues he’ll come across as not knowing that much.”

On the latest entry into the GOP gubernatorial race, Nathan Deal (audio), Rep Scott pointed directly to the Congressman’s vote for the bailouts saying “I personally as a 40 year old with a 10 year old son don’t appreciate him financing my generation, my child’s generation to the point that we may never be able to overcome it.” Rep Scott also noted that Congressman Deal talks a fine talk, but that in the 16 years Deal has been in Congress, Republicans have failed to do those things they were elected to do, and because of it lost the Presidency and Congress. He says that because of this, “now that they have driven our party down the path that they did, and now that we’re the minority in Washington and they don’t like being in the minority party, he wants to leave Washington and come home and be Governor” and that Deal “wouldn’t even be considering running for Governor” otherwise.

Regarding State Senator Eric Johnson (audio), Rep Scott notes that “up to and until a couple of weeks ago, he was running for Lt Governor” and that “I think Republicans will have a real problem with the fact that he raised money and gave it to Democrats in the primary”. He also notes how Johnson has allegedly shifted money between the accounts of various races Johnson was in and says that “Quite honestly those transactions ought to be prohibited probably and maybe something we need to go back and look at again in the ethics laws”. Scott also points to the State flag issue from a few years ago as an example of his own leadership and notes that “I voted to change the flag. A week later, Eric’s wearing the flag like a cape in the Savannah parade.” On leadership in general, Scott notes that “I don’t think we necessarily as elected officials should go to the general public and ask them for tax increases each and every time we want to fund something. I think we’re a democratic republic, you elect people to lead, let’s lead. Let’s not push it back to the general public every time there’s a tough decision.”

Scott then takes aim at what he sees as the key difference between himself and Senator Johnson: school vouchers. Scott says Johnson is “adamant that vouchers are the solution to the public education problem” and that “I do not believe that. My mom’s a public school teacher, my child is in the public schools. We’ve certainly got challenges in the school systems. I think that those societal challenges that are there are going to be there regardless of if we have vouchers or not. You’re still going to have that segment of society that causes our scores to be at the lower end of the spectrum.” He then continues “I prefer to concentrate on – well when I say ‘partnerships’, I don’t mean government-sponsored partnerships but bringing the faith based communities into partnerships with the schools. Again, I don’t mean paying them. I mean making after school programs available through the YMCAs, the Boys and Girls Clubs, the churches, and the others that are the faith based communities. We’re going to have to take those kids that at 3:30 are going home to nobody there and give them a place to go where they’ve got parental supervision, activities, people that will help them with their studies. The government’s not going to do that. Its going to be up to the communities to do that.”

Finally, on the last of his competitors for the GOP nomination, Ray McBerry (audio), Rep Scott says “I appreciate his passion. The fact that he’s pro-life, I like. The second amendment stuff I like about Ray McBerry. As far as his positions go, for the most part I like him. … I’m not a big advocate of secession or any of those things from the Union and I do hear that talk from him…. He’s a true conservative. I think he somewhat has a hard time articulating his message and I may have that same difficult time articulating my message in a manner that can bring you 50% + 1 of the votes.” He goes on to note that McBerry says that California’s gun laws are better than Georgia’s, and this is where Scott takes issue with McBerry because “the California gun laws don’t even allow you to have a clip in the same compartment – or ammo in the same compartment with the firearm” and “in California you have to get an individual permit from the Chief of Police or from the Sheriff of the County to have the concealed carry permits and they have to believe you’re in immediate danger to issue you the permit”.

Check back with SWGAPolitics.com early next week for Part 2 of the interview, where Rep Scott looks at his Democratic challengers and answers the question of whether he would consider challenging Jim Marshall for the 8th Congressional District, and Part 3 where we discuss a variety of issues including the Obama Resolution, the Nuclear Power Financing Act, Super Speeder, and others.

The Karen Handel Video

Jeff — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:45:16 +0000

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.

First, let me point out that it is no more of an attack on Ox than his emails last weekend were on her, so while both are guilty of ‘going negative’ already, Ox really doesn’t have any room to complain, as he was the first one to fire.

Second, I will point out a major issue I have with the video: where Ms. Handel points out that she has ensured ‘fair elections’ in this state. Quite frankly, our elections in this state are anything but fair, as they are rigged in favor of the single party that has dominated all recent elections – the Big Government Party. Georgia’s ballot access laws are some of the most restrictive in the nation, and Ms. Handel wants to promote that she has ensured ‘fair’ elections? Only if you are a member of the Big Government Party – maybe.

If you dare to oppose the Big Government Party, the hoops you have to jump through are pretty extreme. But there ARE those who are working to change that. John Monds is one of them. There are also currently 79 members of the Facebook group I created, Equal Ballot Access For All (GA Chapter), and I hereby challenge everyone who reads this blog to join this group and work to allow genuinely ‘fair’ elections in this State – including any and all politicians that read this.

SWGA Politics Claims the First Casualty of the 2010 Governor’s Race

Jeff — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:30:59 +0000

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

Jeff — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:07:12 +0000

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

Jeff — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:03:19 +0000

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.

Georgia needs a Governor who understands that government must be a servant to the private sector not attempt to be a master; that government must reduce taxes and regulations on businesses and provide a budget that enhances the ability for businesses to create jobs and expand their operations.

Again, as we’ve seen in these posts, you would NOT be such a Governor. Instead, you would protect your friends in the private sector and hinder their competition.

Georgia businesses need a Governor who is ready to lead on the hard issues of transportation, a new tax system, education, healthcare, water, serious economic development program, and an office that listens to and works with the Georgia business community.

Again, as we’ve seen, your ideas are nothing more than ‘politics as usual’, and your definition of ‘listens to and works with the Georgia business community’ means that you would listen to lobbyists rather than citizens, and would do the marketing job of businesses for them rather than forcing them to do it for themselves, as they would have to on a free market.

Georgia needs a Governor who will unite the House and Senate, work with our counties and cities and listen to and include all interested parties

Well, I don’t see how you plan to work well with the Senate when you blatantly endorse the House state-wide tax increase, and the only ‘interested parties’ you intend to listen to – as proven by your own statements – are big business lobbyists and not the TRULY interested parties, the private citizens.

I will be a champion for the Georgia business community. The business of Georgia is business and the business of a John Oxendine Administration will be to preserve, expand, make more efficient and promote business in Georgia.

Again, this is not the function of Governor, and maybe you should go back to school to learn what the proper roles of government and a State Governor ARE before you try to lead State government as its Governor.

John Oxendine and Liberty, Part 2b: Oxendine Business Plan: Working for Georgia Business

Jeff — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:00:50 +0000

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!

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.

But isn’t the ‘Fair’ Tax supposed to apply to ALL sales, Mr. Oxendine? It isn’t quite so fair if you’re planning to grant an exception to big businesseses…

A John Oxendine Administration will insist upon less government regulation – no new mandates and no unnecessary regulatory burdens on Georgia business.

But you don’t mind placing additional regulatory burden on individuals by defining who they can marry or what language they can speak, among SEVERAL other issues previously discussed in this series. Interesting…

A John Oxendine Administration will focus on quality of life issues so we make Georgia a place that businesses want to relocate to and that means more jobs for more Georgians.

The best thing government can do to promote ‘quality of life’ is to get OUT of an individual’s life, Mr. Oxendine. Grant people the freedom to succeed or fail completely on their own, and they will choose the quality of life they want.

A John Oxendine Administration will support creating beneficial technology policies in Georgia. I will work to ensure that obstacles that are detrimental to long-term technological innovation and deployment are identified and removed and to ensure that beneficial policies are established. ??

Again, Mr. Oxendine, the single BEST way to do that is to remove government from the picture altogether. Don’t hinder them with regulatory burden, and don’t cushion their risk with taxpayer dollars if they fail. As the old saying goes sir, ‘Great reward comes only with great risk’. Also, I just HAVE to point this out: either you or someone on your staff evidently thinks this isn’t possible, as evidenced by the question marks!

A John Oxendine Administration will identify and utilize opportunities for business and industry to interact with and voice opinion to federal policy makers and other parties concerning key issues that affect the successful development and deployment of new and emerging technology products into the marketplace.

In other words, not only are you going to tax the citizens of Georgia to market private businesses in China, you’re also going to tax the citizens of Georgia to do the lobbying in DC for private businesses. Yet in your belief statement, you said ” A conservative, free market approach to government will create jobs” (emphasis mine). Mr. Oxendine, in the free market, businesses handle their OWN marketing and lobbying, without government assistance. I know you’ve been around a couple of decades more than me, but I learned early in life we have a word in the South for person of such duplicitous speech. It is ‘HYPOCRITE‘.

A John Oxendine Administration will oppose a state-level Occupational Safety and Health Administration agency. We must reduce excessive government regulation.

I DO try to be fair and point out where we agree, and on this one we are in complete agreement. Such government agencies should NOT exist, and I thank you for your opposition.

A John Oxendine Administration will support access to affordable health insurance for Georgia small business owners to benefit their employees. I would like to see small-business tax credits enacted to help offset the ever increasing costs of health insurance.

Again, you have no idea what a ‘free market’ is. This is nothing more than ‘Democrat-lite’. This plan is Obamacare, repackaged to appeal more to people who somehow think that government regulation that favors them is less tyrannical than government regulation which does not. Government regulation of private decisions is TYRANNY, Mr. Oxendine, and I thank you for admitting that you wish to be a tyrant.

I support policy reforms to balance the competing goals of access to quality care, affordability, predictability, and consumer choice.

And yet you JUST SAID that you want government to pay for it in the terms of tax credits. If truly left alone, the free market WILL provide all those things which you say you desire, and yet you propose continued government intervention! The problem with government is… government, Mr. Oxendine!

I believe to the greatest extent possible, Americans should receive their health insurance and healthcare through the private sector.

The ‘greatest extent possible’ is COMPLETELY, Mr. Oxendine. Yet clearly, you support government programs for SOME people.

Care must be taken to minimize the extent to which governmental safety nets crowd out private insurance and care.

Eliminate the safety net completely and you have truly ‘minimized’ it AND allowed the free market to work as it should.

I support the Georgia business community in believing that healthcare and tax laws should not push Americans into employer-provided or government-provided insurance programs and hobble the market for individually purchased policies.

Again, a great concept that I concur with you on, but I am worried about exactly how you intend to do this, given your other hypocritical statements.

A John Oxendine Administration will support consumers having many choices among insurers and providers.

No you won’t, because you’ve already stated four paragraphs above that you support giving businesses tax credits to “offset the ever increasing costs of health insurance”. This gives these businesses an advantage over the individual when shopping for insurance. ‘Many choices among insurers and providers’ would mean you would be allowing the free market to work, and we’ve already seen time and time again that you either don’t understand genuinely free markets, or you – or just as likely, your Big Insurance backers – are extremely afraid of the idea.

A John Oxendine Administration will support legislation to stop Federal government contract bundling, the practice of combining several smaller federal projects into one large package, too large for a small business to handle.

While I agree with you here in concept, I notice that you only oppose the Federal government doing this, which is something as a State Governor you have very little power over. Yet you are completely – and possibly intentionally – silent on the State of Georgia doing the exact same thing, even though as its Governor, you would have a great deal of power to have such practices stopped in this State.

A John Oxendine Administration will support opening up bidding to the private sector for commercial government services, from trash collection to food and lodging, which would allow the government to use the competitive marketplace to create jobs.

Gee… another politician claiming to ‘create’ jobs… once again sounds eerily similar to a currently sitting President…

Completely agree with the statement, up until the word ‘which’ though, and I do thank you for pledging to end government monopolies on services. Now, about Transportation and Education…

A John Oxendine Administration supports – “Drill Here, Dill Now, Pay Less”.

You support herbs? hmmm… got a certain one I could use your help legalizing…

Outside of the typo – and I’ve sure I’ve got several on this site as well – it is not a State’s place to conduct foreign policy. Now, if you wanted to open up drilling in the offshore areas near Georgia or even onshore within the State of Georgia, that would be something a State government should be allowed to do with no Federal interference. But the basic idea preached by many I’ve seen in Newt Gingrich’s ‘Drill Here’ movement is essentially foreign policy. We need better clarification from you of your ideas here at best, and at worst you need to go back to school and learn the responsibilities of the various levels of government, Mr. Oxendine.

A John Oxendine Administration will oppose government encroachment on the uses Georgia businesses can legitimately make of their property.

Define ‘legitimately’ please, Mr. Oxendine. With your other theocratic and hypocritical statements, use of such a word in an otherwise great position statement is cause for great concern, as I fear you would use your personal religious beliefs to determine what a ‘legitimate’ use of a piece of property is.

A John Oxendine Administration will work to ease complex environmental regulatory requirements placed on Georgia businesses, to bring a sense of equity to the regulations administered and to make policies more business friendly.

If you REALLY wanted to make them more friendly to both the consumer and the business, you would eliminate all regulatory requirements and let consumers vote with their pocketbooks as to which business policies they will support or oppose. Its a thing called the ‘free market’, which I know isn’t exactly your strong suit.

A John Oxendine Administration will support efforts to limit liability for Georgia businesses that legally followed existing laws and regulations and protect them from any response costs or damages due to a subsequent change in such laws or regulations.

So you don’t support a business being held liable for harm it caused, so long as it was following orders from government. Do you also oppose government being held liable for damage that its regulations cause? I’m assuming from this statement and several others that this is the case, but if I am wrong – and I know your campaign reads these posts – please let me know, as I would LOVE clarification here. Y’all have my number.

Assuming that you also oppose government being held liable, who then should be held liable for harm caused to an individual by bad action of a business? My own position is that there should never be any liability protection for businesses – or anyone, including government. If someone causes harm, the person or organization should be held liable in a court of law – be it civil or criminal – for the harm caused. No exceptions.

A John Oxendine Administration will oppose efforts to increase the federal minimum wage.

Again, this is not a function of a State government. Of course, the federal government should not have a mandated minimum wage for anyone other than its own employees, and I agree with your sentiment here, but such opposition is not within the power of a Governor. Now, if you wanted to run for a US Representative or US Senator position, then it would be within your powers in that position to adopt such a stance. Once again, however, you are showing your own ignorance of the very job you want the citizens of Georgia to grant you!

A John Oxendine Administration will support legal reform protecting business from frivolous lawsuits such as tobacco, obesity, or the infamous hot coffee case.

Lawsuits such as these are only frivolous if you’re not the one that was harmed. To the people that were harmed by these cases – even the hot coffee case – these were very serious matters, and everyone should have the facts of their case heard in open court when they are harmed, no matter how ‘frivolous’ the case may seem to outsiders.

That said, because I’m pretty sure your argument here is banning such ‘frivolous’ cases so that courts can get on with more serious issues where NO ONE was harmed, such as prostitution or basic drug use/possession, let me just point out that if you actually simplified the criminal code to eliminate victimless crimes, you would cut the burden on the courts FAR more than simply denying people the opportunity to have their day in court when they WERE harmed.

A John Oxendine Administration will support mandatory sanctions for lawyers who bring frivolous lawsuits.

So not only do you want to deny a person his or her day in court when they have a grievance YOU deem ‘frivolous’, MR. Oxendine, you also want to threaten the very lawyers who would represent these valid claims. Shouldn’t you be ENCOURAGING these lawyers instead, Mr. Oxendine? They allow people to air their grievances in court professionally, vs having to stumble around not knowing the court procedures and customs. Without these lawyers, you are effectively silencing matters you deem ‘frivolous’ without ever addressing what could be real and serious harm done. It is NOT the Governor’s job to decide the merits of a particular case, sir. It is the court’s, and specifically the judge and the jury. Yet again, you prove your own ignorance of the very job you wish the citizens of Georgia to grant you.