OUR “CONSERVATIVE” CHOICES FOR GEORGIA GOVERNOR

This is an overview of the candidates for office of Governor of Georgia who are running as Republican candidates. My question is: What do we want in our Governor in order for that person to be more effective? In my opinion, we want a conservative-minded Governor (economically and morally) who has a record of being ethically moral, dependable in terms of standing by their principles, willing to work outside of the RINO logic of our state and federal government, and Constitutionally principled to the point of standing up for our state’s rights (and the rights of her citizens) as guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment and Articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the United States.
After studying trends and straw polls (after debates), I concluded that two of the following candidates will be involved in a runoff after the upcoming state’s Republican party primary:
1. Karen Handel
2. John Oxendine
3. Nathan Deal
4. Ray McBerry
5. Eric Johnson
After further study, I eliminated Eric Johnson because he looks like the only candidate who would definitely lose the state election to Roy Barnes (Yes, former Governor Roy will win in the Democratic primary) in November. Ray McBerry and Nathan Deal also appear to be unable to withstand the Democratic “good ol’ boy “ politics of “dirty pool” (with the Dems relentlessly advertising on scandals against these two), but I have included these two because of their issue positions.
When it comes to states’ rights (remember the Tenth Amendment?!) and how it can be applied to protect Georgia’s citizens from federal legislation that is outside of the limitations as described in Articles 1 and 2 of the U.S. Constitution, Ray McBerry has been the strongest advocate since his last election attempt in 2006 (and before). McBerry went so far as to draw up 8 states’ rights legislative bills (related to health care reform, Second Amendment, etc.) that were introduced on to the House floor at the beginning of this year’s winter session in January. These pieces of legislation spurred additional bills by other state legislators along the same premises (some people just cannot be outdone politically). As a result due to reactions in town hall debates with Oxendine and McBerry present, candidate Oxendine followed suit by proclaiming that he was an advocate of states’ rights. He has just never followed thru and included states’ rights on his list of issues on his campaign website. Overall, McBerry appears to be an individual who believes in his agenda and in the future of Georgia.
However, McBerry has two scandals which, if he is able to make it thru the primary process to become the Republican candidate, could become fodder for the “dirty pool” of Georgian Democratic politics. McBerry carries one scandal of illicit behavior with a minor back in the 80’s which he was declared innocent of. However, this matter keeps bringing up it’s ugly head at the most convenient time; during the Republican run for Governor in 2006 and again during the current race. In addition, McBerry has been connected to the League of the South (LOS), a Southern organization infamous for it’s declaration of secession of Southern states from the Union before McBerry’s involvement in the late 90’s. Instead of directly addressing his involvement with LOS, McBerry has been brazen enough to salute the state flag but NOT the current U.S. flag. His reasoning: he refuses to salute the current flag because it represents the current federal government which has been operating outside the limitations of the U.S. Constitution (a point of which I agree with). McBerry needs to stop providing the fodder for his opposition and recognize that the current U.S. flag, like all previous versions of the flag, represents the United States of America and it’s citizens, NOT JUST an administration in Washington which he rightfully objects to. But this is just my opinion.
Nathan Deal resigned from the House of Representatives in April of 2010 to devote full time to his candidacy. Unfortunately, Deal resigned just shortly before the House Ethics Committee was to decide whether to pursue ethics abuse charges. ANOTHER CANDIDATE, ANOTHER SCANDAL?? SAY IT AIN’T SO!! I’m afraid it is. In December, 2009, House Ethics investigators began looking into whether Deal steered contracts to a salvage company he owns, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Per AJC, Deal, on three occasions in the past year and a half, questioned proposed changes that state Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham wanted to make in the way Georgia inspects rebuilt salvaged vehicles. Deal coordinated his efforts through the office of a political ally, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. Deal’s salvage company faced some possibilities to lose over $300,000 in contract deals with Commissioner Graham’s proposed changes.
A review of Nathan Deal’s issues and his proposals read like a typical roadmap (in my opinion) of a politician’s responses and ideas. In order to rely on someone to follow thru on their proposals, it is advantageous to look at one’s past political experiences to show how dedicated to their beliefs they may be. A thorough study of Deal’s voting record since he was a member of the House reveals some interesting facts, as analyzed by govtrack.us. Just on Deal’s presence during votes on the floor, Deal has an intolerable record. From August, 2009 to the end of March, 2010, Deal missed up to 60% of the votes on the floor. From February to the end of March, 2010, Deal was recorded as not voting 58% of the time. His “Aye” or “Yes” votes totaled 11 out of 93 votes during the same period. All of these bills were passed unanimously or within 95% of unanimity. And We, the People of Georgia paid for this voting attendance record. Looks like another “professional politician” at work striving to climb the ladder, principles be damned; but that’s just my opinion.
John Oxendine has commented on more than one occasion that he is a morally ethical Christian. I will not dispute anyone’s statements regarding their faith, because as a Christian, I have no right (or desire) to do so and I personally know that John is a Christian. As to being morally ethical, John shows up on both sides of the coin. But more on that later; let’s talk about a couple of his political issues for this race. John appears to be genuinely concerned about transportation problems through Georgia; in particular, navigating thru the Atlanta corridor. John has proposed a western bypass, a northern expressway and an interstate from Columbus to Augusta in order to alleviate traffic problems thru Atlanta and provide relief for interstate travelers, including visitors and business/freight trucks, as they travel thru the state to their destinations. This is a major issue on John’s list. One small problem with this is that these very ideas have been proposed in the past 20 years and have been turned down by state citizens and municipalities whose property would be adversely affected by the proposals. John recognizes this but doesn’t provide any answers as to how to satisfy the needs of those affected by these proposals.
John’s Contract With Georgia lists some strong conservative initiatives which so many of us would find easy to agree with, myself included. Instead of dissecting each initiative and taking for granted that John would follow thru on these “contract proposals”, I’ll simply say that I concur with all of these proposals but I’m going to dissect two proposals for the obvious following reasons. First, proposal # 3 on a “comprehensive statewide transportation system” has already been addressed above so I’ll let it go at that. Proposal # 4 (“Actively assert that the tenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution belongs to the American people and not Washington politicians.”) is a direct result of earlier debates this year where he shared the stage with Ray McBerry, had not comments (either of no substance or no comment at all) on states’ rights when questioned by the audience and was overwhelmed (in my opinion as an attendee on several occasions) by McBerry’s approaches to preserving states’ rights via the Tenth Amendment and the limitations of delegated powers to our federal government by Articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the United States. Hence, his reason to be sure to have this point outlined in his “Contract”.
Several scandals and questions of objectivity have followed John Oxendine throughout his tenures as Insurance Commissioner. Previously, state election commission investigations revealed that Oxendine, who wields regulatory power over all insurance companies in Georgia, received $120,000 during a reelection campaign through 10 Alabama-based political action committees set up by Donald V. Watkins, a director of Admiral Life Insurance Co. of America and State Mutual Insurance. Both companies are headed by prominent businessman Delos “Dee” Yancey III and are run out of the same building in Rome. The problem (and John has no excuse to have not known about it since he was up for another reelection) is that individual PAC contributions are limited to 12,000 per person. However, since all of these PAC contributions were funneled into one account controlled by a single businessman, the $120,000 contribution was illegally obtained. Per the Atlanta Journal Constitution , the Ox campaign initially denied any wrongdoing, but announced within a few weeks, that they were returning the money. (Oops, caught red-handed and tries to “buy” his way out).
Another “awkward” incident for John occurred in August, 2009. His father, Judge Oxendine, hired Wayne Reece, a political consultant and fellow board member (with the Judge) of the Warm Springs Rehabilitation Development Fund to work on John’s campaign, at the tune of almost $400,000 that was later discovered to be allocated from the WSRD fund. The WSRD Board determined that both John Oxendine and Wayne Reece tried to conceal the payments. Another “awkward” scenario (in my opinion) lies in the fact that Ivy Oxendine (John’s wife) has been working with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia (BCBS of GA), worked her way up to the corporate office in Atlanta and has served as President of the Middle Georgia Association of Health Underwriters as well as State board member of the Georgia Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Kudos go out to Mrs. Oxendine for a successful career. However, my dilemma is in John’s track record as regarding investigations and fines of insurance companies within Georgia. With a little research, you will note a pattern where John Oxendine has extended fines against insurance companies in excess of any fines (and they are very few; look for yourself) levied against BCBS of GA. A little favoritism?; hard to honestly call without some direct evidence, which is truly tough to dig into without strong inside sources. However, it is my opinion, based on the scandals referenced and the “awkward” situations during John’s tenure as IC, that principles are not his best suit and that is a personal attribute that I demand of my legislators at all levels.
Karen Handel is a “case” all to herself. She is so “squeaky clean” it is almost scary. Karen has done some admirable work as Secretary of State, especially when it came to the voter ID question. One may remember that Georgians voted in favor of voter registration photo ID requirements in 2008. However, the “Obama” Justice Department ruled that Georgia could not implement this law. Karen’s staff argued with the DOJ in Washington and found themselves with no alternative but for the state of Georgia to take this thru the federal court system. The federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled against the DOJ’s objection to this statute ( a similar statute in Illinois had already been recognized as constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court) and a recent filing by the Georgia Democratic Party has been overturned by the Fulton County Superior Court on these basis just last month. Though Karen wasn’t SOS at the time of the Fulton Co. Superior Court decision, it was her dedication to ensure that the Georgia voter ID registration law, as approved by Georgian citizens, would be upheld. As is typical in the political world, there have been a couple of allegations against Ms. Handel which were never corroborated and were dismissed by the appropriate agencies. As Secretary of State, with results like bringing in billions in fines from investment firms involving illegal sales of auction sales securities, Handel has followed thru with her conservative approach on her solutions to issues vital to our state, such as implementing potential plans to help stymie the flow of illegal immigration into our state since the federal government has failed to secure our borders, developing sound conservative solutions for our state economy, including health care initiatives, and more fiscally-sound solutions to our state budget. These solutions, along with many others, continue to show how much Karen Handel is willing to fight the “good ol’ boy” network to solve our state’s problems from education to health to water and landscape issues to our state budget deficits. I only wish she were more vocal on how the state of Georgia could use the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and our Georgia State Constitution to work against any federal legislation passed that is outside of the limitations as found in the 1st and 2nd Articles of the U.S. Constitution for our federal legislative and executive branches.
I know whom I am supporting for Governor of Georgia and I would guess that you would guess incorrectly, even after reading this review. I believe that my choice will have the fortitude and principles needed to stand up against the upcoming Democratic Party campaigning methods (and they will be nasty) and become our next Governor. And, yes, I am a believer in the principles of the Constitutions of both the state of Georgia and the United States of America. And I am a true conservative. But, in the end, I can only offer you my opinions of the candidates. Your choice is yours to make. Let’s pray that we all help select the best Constitutionally principled, morally ethical candidate in the upcoming primary who will defeat the “Obama Kool-Aid drinker” from the Democratic primary and become our next successful Governor for the Great State of Georgia.