SWGA Politics

Campaign Commercials: Eric Johnson[ July 13, 2010 – 10:15 am]by Publius Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

“Better Georgia”

“Too Much”

“Enough”

Eric Johnson Seeks to Ban American Citizens from Georgia Universities[ May 11, 2010 – 7:37 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

AJC’s Jim Galloway has the story. Basically it involves a 21 year old student of my alma mater, Kennesaw State University. Apparently she came into the US as a kid with her parents illegally. When she found out about her status in HS, she began working to become legal.

I’m with Jason on this one – this girl should not be deported.

But Eric Johnson wants to ban this girl – and many others – from Georgia Universities. In fact, per Mr. Galloway’s headline, Eric wants to ban American citizens from Georgia universities. You see, as the law is currently understood, anyone born on American soil is an American citizen – no matter the citizenship or immigration status of their parents. So if he is successful in banning all children of illegal immigrants from attending school in Georgia, he will be banning certain American citizens from attending school here.

This comes on the heels of Eric pandering to theocrats and talibaptists the day before in working against America’s last line of defense against Theocracy, the First Amendment. In that situation, a group of senior citizens was told – correctly – that they could not have an official prayer before their government-paid-for meal, but could instead have a moment of silent reflection similar to that enjoyed by school kids every morning. In steps Eric saying “to heck with the Federal government” and enforcing his own religious beliefs on everyone – something I did not expect from him at all.

I’ve had issues with Eric’s history for quite a while, but these past two days have been a bit too much of current actions for me to be comfortable with. As I told one friend, I know and understand he is playing his game to angle himself into the Republican GAGOV nod – I’ve expected that all along. But if theocracy and nativism is what he thinks he has to do to win, that is an EXTREMELY sad statement on either him or our State – and we’ll find out in July which.

Press Release: Eric Johnson Announces Plans to Reform Budget Process[ March 11, 2010 – 1:31 am]by Publius Posted in » press release

Will Instruct Agencies to Implement Zero Based Budgeting and Focus on Basic Government Services if Elected

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
For Immediate Release

Macon, GA—Former Senator Eric Johnson, Republican candidate for Governor, today announced his plans to reform the state budget process. As Governor, Johnson will instruct agency heads to implement zero based budgeting and partner with the private sector to ensure that state government focuses on the most essential core functions.

“As Governor, I will direct all state agency heads to implement zero based budgeting so that I, the legislature, and Georgia taxpayers will know exactly what services government is providing and what it costs to provide these services,” said Johnson. “Like the private sector, government should be in a position to make informed decisions based on the total actual costs of different programs, not just changes in expenditures.”
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Will This Be the Results on July 20, 2010?[ January 24, 2010 – 8:42 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Recently, some McBerry supporters have been telling me I needed to get my facts straight on him while maintaining that he has “won every straw poll except one in the winer’s home county.”

So I went through the PeachPundit archives – possibly the best single source of information for GOP straw poll results – looking for straw polls from 2009 and specifically how Ray McBerry did in them. The general data was also very interesting from the 14 straw polls I found from April through November, here’s what I saw:
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Religion and the GOP GAGOV Candidates[ January 21, 2010 – 5:35 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Ray McBerry seems to want to make the intensely personal issue of religion a campaign ploy, so let’s humor him for a moment, shall we?

Ray mentioned his religion three separate times in Tuesday night’s debate. I honestly don’t recall any of the other candidates mentioning theirs a single time – which is what prompted this post. You see, Ray seems to think that by constantly telling you he is a Christian, you will think that none of the other candidates are, and if that is one of the major things you vote for a person based on that he will get your vote. What Ray leaves out is that from what I can tell, he is a member of an ultra-conservative fringe sect, the likes of which make even the stereotypical “Independent Baptist” church look hedonistic. Indeed, he sent this guy to speak for him at the Plains Tea Party. (In Ray’s defense, he and that guy have since had a falling out a couple of months ago. There have also been reports of him being at various PeachPundit gatherings in bars, yet simply not drinking himself, and I have been told he does not have a problem with Sunday Sales.)

I can tell you from personal experience that one of the things Austin Scott said he liked best about the South Ga leg of his Walk of Georgia was that he was close enough to home to go to his own church on Sundays, and several times he reported being invited to attend churches near his route while he was walking in other parts of the State.

I can also tell you from personal experience that Jeff Chapman prays over his meals, even in public restaurants when meeting someone for the first time.

And while I wanted to mention those two, they are not the real subject of this post. No, for this post I want to look at someone who is so dedicated to his religion that he will travel literally halfway around the world to further its message, yet is comfortable enough with his own religion that he does not feel the need to mention it at every appearance on the campaign trail.

That man is Eric Johnson.
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Glenn Richardson and the GAGOV Race[ December 6, 2009 – 9:36 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Obviously, when the Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives is accused of threatening to beat his (ex)wife, it becomes an issue for Governor candidates. So let’s look at each of them in regards to this issue (in strict alphabetical order by last name):

Thurbert Baker: No statement yet. Understandable, given that he is currently the top lawyer in the State and this could turn into a criminal case.

Roy Barnes: No statement yet. As a former Governor, he should have a bit of insight here, though he also has to contend with the King Roy image that his opponents would be sure to bring up in response to any statement he issued.

Carl Camon: No statement yet. As someone WELL below the radar, he could have made a name for himself – possibly – by being the first to come out calling for Richardson’s resignation.

Jeff Chapman: No statement yet. Has a record of bucking the GOP establishment which could help him weather this issue – could even improve his chances, given the rest of the GOP field.

Nathan Deal: No statement yet. Faces corruption charges of his own, has been listed as one of the 15 most corrupt Congressmen. Also had a multi-million dollar scandal of his own surface this year that began when he was still in the General Assembly. Scandals anywhere within the GOP become fodder for reminding people of these things, which is not good for him. Futhermore, Richardson -along with Speaker Pro-Tem Mark Burkhalter and Majority Leader Jerry Keen – is a maxed-out donor to Deal, meaning that Deal is clearly the chosen candidate of Richardson.
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Are GA Leaders Costing Georgians Jobs?[ November 29, 2009 – 6:41 am]by Jeff Posted in » Legislation

Georgia leaders like to talk about how they are bringing jobs to Georgia, especially under this economic climate. DuBose Porter has one plan and Republicans in the General Assembly consistently talk about how proud they are of their own efforts this past session with the passage of the JOBS Act.

But I ran into a dirty little secret over the past few days, one which State Rep Jeff Mays was kind enough to point out to me was part of Georgia Law.

You see, I like to do most of my Christmas shopping online. Quite frankly, I’m not such a fan of the crowds on Black Friday or pretty much any day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and most stores offer the same deals online as you get in the physical store. So I get the same price with nowhere NEAR the hassle. As an added bonus, if I shop online I don’t have to pay sales tax. But that is where the dirty little secret comes in.
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Tifton Forum: Wrapping It Up[ November 21, 2009 – 5:58 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Here are the last two questions I was able to get on video before my battery died in the middle of Ray McBerry’s answer for the second question.

The Fifth question is in two parts again due to youtube’s strict 10 minute limit, and involves infrastructure spending:

Part 1:

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Tifton Forum Fourth Question: The Fair Tax[ November 19, 2009 – 6:32 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

This was one of few questions that all candidates answered that could be left in a single youtube video, and in it the candidates discuss the Fair Tax and their views on it.

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In Which John Oxendine Looks Good To Me[ November 18, 2009 – 5:37 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Here’s the Third Question from the Tifton Forum, which is “what are you going to do to protect us from the Federal Government?”

Eric Johnson is up first, then John Oxendine in this video, then Ray McBerry and Austin Scott in the second part.

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