Georgia Politics, Campaigns & Elections for December 12, 2013

Today in 1804, the Medical Society of Georgia was founded in Savannah and is the oldest such organization in the United States. Today its membership comprises roughly 500 physicians in Chatham, Effingham, Bryan, McIntosh and Long Counties.

On this date in 1943, Dickey Betts, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, was born in West Palm Beach, Florida.

On December 4, 1974, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter announced his campaign for President of the United States in an address to the National Press Club.

FACE it Cobb — You’ve been infiltrated by liberals

A group calling itself FACE it Cobb is holding a series of meeting in Cobb County to attempt to extort tax dollars from the state government by threatening political reprisal against Governor Nathan Deal if their demands for more money are not heeded.

Cobb school board member Scott Sweeney called on parents at a Wednesday town hall meeting to deprive Gov. Nathan Deal of another term in office if he doesn’t give the school system more money.
“Gov. Deal needs to feel uncomfortable,” Sweeney said to about 100 parents gathered at East Side Elementary School. “He needs to think the people of Cobb County will not support him unless he writes in additional funding for education. It’s a fight for dollars.”
Board Chairman Randy Scamihorn and member David Banks, who were also at the meeting, agreed with Sweeney.
“The second largest school system in the state of Georgia is broke. That’s alarming,” Scamihorn said.

What’s alarming is that Republicans in Cobb County are scammed into supporting yet another initiative by the liberal Georgia Budget and Policy Institute to increase taxes and government spending.

For those who are not familiar with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute but are impressed with its official-sounding name, here’s a quick review of what they’re all about:

And that’s just the result of a few minutes on the group’s website and with Google. In 2011 in the depth of a recession, while Republican leaders in the legislature were looking at how to reduce taxes on Georgians so that everyone received a tax cut, the GBPI actually said they should raise taxes. From Georgia Public Broadcasting:

Alan Essig with the nonprofit Georgia Budget and Policy Institute says lawmakers should be gearing the changes to boost tax collections.
“When they first formed the tax reform council, one of the issues was how to deal with the immediate fiscal crisis and the structural deficit going forward,” he said. “This doesn’t help with that. And that’s very problematic. This isn’t going to help the budget. This isn’t going to help avoid future cuts to education, healthcare, infrastructure.”

It’s not even necessary to address the question of whether George Soros is funding the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute to conclude that the group appears to exist for the sole purpose of pushing higher taxes and higher spending in Georgia.

And about that Cobb County School Board. Let’s look at what their priorities are. From the Marietta Daily Journal:

To close the nearly $80 million gap with teacher salaries, about 1,053 teachers would need to be cut.
Of the 13,526 people employed by the school district, 5,538 are classroom teachers, according to the district’s website.
At a savings of $3 million each, there would need to be about 26 furlough days instituted to fix the deficit next year if no staff cuts were made or any other sources of revenue gained.

The most-conservative analysis of the issue I’ve seen comes from a Letter to the Editor by Jim Mallard that ran in the MDJ.

The solution is rather simple. “Of the 13,526 people employed by the school district, 5,538 are classroom teachers.”
It’s elementary arithmetic that there are 7,988 employees who are not classroom teachers. So, for every seven teachers there are 10 other employees.
The core mission of the CCSD should be educating students, and teachers are the front line of this activity. Every single employee’s daily work must be confronted with the question of whether or not their effort is educating a student. If not, that activity should be evaluated as to whether or not it serves the core mission.
The CCSD should do its homework and cut some overhead before asking Gov. Deal to give it more of our money.

Make no mistake: this is an attempt to deceive Republicans into thinking that the only solution for educational improvement is more of your tax dollars, not better spending of existing money.

Ralph Hudgens draws Democrat opponent

Republican Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens has drawn a Democratic opponent in 2014.

Legislators to be sworn-in

Today at 1:30 PM at the Georgia State Capitol, Bruce Thompson will be sworn in as State Senator from the 14th District.

Senate President Pro Tempore David Shafer, R-Duluth, will participate in the swearing-in ceremony for District 14 Sen.-Elect Bruce Thompson, R-Cartersville, on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 1:30 p.m., in the Senate Chamber at the Georgia State Capitol.

Tomorrow at 10 AM in the House Chamber, Chuck Efstration will be sworn in as State Representative for District 104.

Judge Billy Ray, a former Gwinnett senator who now sits on the Georgia Court of Appeals, will give the oath of office.

“Everyone is invited to attend the ceremony on Friday,” Efstration said. “I look forward to taking the oath of office and immediately beginning work to foster private sector job growth and improve the economy.”

Tom Price on Fox News with Bret Baier

Yesterday, Congressman Tom Price was on Fox News in the Center Seat with Bret Baier. Here are a couple clips.

Price on the Budget Deal:

Price on his alternative to Obamacare:

Additionally, Congressman Rob Woodall signed a letter to President Obama discussing the Republican alternatives to Obamacare designed to minimize the negative consequences of the legislation.

Shafer previews legislative session

Senator David Shafer spoke to the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce at lunch yesterday and discussed priorities for the 2014 legislative session. From Camie Young and the Gwinnett Daily Post:

A month before the General Assembly reconvenes in Atlanta, Shafer focused on budget talks, as leaders are expected a rushed session in a big election year.

While economic times forced $5 billion in budget cuts over recent years, Shafer said he doesn’t expect much trimming in 2014, but after success in a decade-long struggle to have the state tackle zero-based budgeting, the Republican leader said he expects legislators to delve into the details of spending.

“I believe government is better and more efficient now than it was when we were spending more money,” Shafer said of belt-tightening the past five years.

His zero-based budgeting approach, he explained, will mean leaders will more closely examine an eighth of the nearly $20 billion state budget each year, instead of simply approving continuation spending.

“That piece of legislation is something of which I am immensely proud and that will help us be a more efficent state moving forward,” Shafer said.

State Rep. Jason Spencer on the Mt Vernon Assembly

State Rep. Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine) emailed out a statement about this past weekend’s Mt. Vernon Assembly, which he attended with nine other state legislators.

At our own expense, 97 legislators from 32 states gathered on that Saturday to discuss how to begin the process of establishing an Article V Convention for the purposes of amending the U.S. Constitution.

As you may be aware, there are two methods of amending the U.S. Constitution. One way is for Congress to propose amendments and send them to each state for ratification. The other way, which has never been done before in our nation’s history, is for the states to call a convention for proposing amendments for state ratification.

The goal of the Mount Vernon Assembly was to begin the discussion of writing rules for an Article V Convention of States so that a restrained and legal process can be developed in order to control any potential wayward delegates. No constitutional amendments were discussed, but rather a thoughtful and deliberative process ensued on the organization and construction of the Convention process.

The meeting was very serious and much discussion surrounded the topics of selecting delegates from each state, writing of the rules and discussing when the next meeting would take place. A sense of urgency for moving forward was a very palpable feeling in the room. Also, an emphasis on bipartisanship to move the process forward was one of the major themes of our discussion since it requires 34 states to call a convention and 38 states to ratify any amendment.

On Monday, December 16th, Spencer and Representatives David Stover (R-Newnan), Scot Turner (R-Holly Springs), and Michael Caldwell (R-Woodstock) will hold a press conference at the State Capitol to discuss legislation that will be offered in the 2014 Session.

“The bill’s main thrust is to prohibit state agencies, officers and employees of the state from implementing any provisions of the Affordable Care Act, leaving implementation entirely in the hands of the federal government, which lacks the resources or personnel to carry out the programs it mandates,” said Rep. Spencer. “Also, we will be asking the Attorney General or a special appointed counsel to file a lawsuit on behalf of the citizens of Georgia in federal court to overturn NFIB vs. Sibelius.”

So, this is becoming a thing

Note the disclaimer about posting only on private property. This growing trend appears to have started in Warner Robins in the Mayoral race earlier this year and then spread to Atlanta’s City Council election with Mary Norwood.

Later this morning in Gainesville

2003 Miss America and current Republican candidate for Congress in Illinois Erika Harold will attend a fundraising coffee at Christopher’s in Gainesvillle,