Baxter International bringing Real Jobs to Georgia

State Rep. Bruce Williamson (R-Walton County) posted some photos on Facebook of a tour of the site where Baxter International has already hired 89 Georgians and plans to hire up to 1500 more in the next 18 months.

What an economic boom to Georgia and Walton County. Many thanks to Governor Nathan Deal’s office for helping bring this project to our area!

It’s hard for me to believe after the endless announcements of new jobs for Georgia that anyone’s going to find much of a following saying that Governor Deal isn’t doing enough to help bring new jobs.

Yesterday, the Marietta Daily Journal reported that despite seasonal upward fluctuations that affected Georgia and 27 other states,

Georgia added 30,900 jobs in July, the second most of any state. Much of the gains were in categories that include transportation, utilities, retail, hotels, restaurants and amusement parks.

Meanwhile, Governor Deal has a Facebook survey on issues for Georgia and the nation. Take a moment to share your thoughts with him.

The aviation industry appears to be taking off in Georgia. Pratt & Whitney announced that it expects to add 45 jobs to its fighter jet engine service facility in Columbus, Ga. and Gulfstream asked Savannah Tech to help train workers for its business jet operations.

“(Savannah Tech president) Kathy Love and her faculty and staff have worked closely with corporate leaders like Gulfstream to develop a model facility that will provide outstanding training for our students and place them in great careers in an industry that’s essential to Georgia’s future growth and economic development,” [Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Ron Jackson] said.

 

Lunch with Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer

Today from 11 AM to 1 PM, Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens are hosting a lunch reception honoring Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer (R-Duluth) at Ormsby’s, located at 1170 Howell Mill Road, Atlanta, GA 30318.

Shafer’s receptions are among the most well-attended and this one should be fun. I’ll probably stick around for some skee-ball afterward.

A candidate in State House District 167

Jeff Jones will announce his candidacy for State House District 167, currently held by Jeff Chapman, who announced he will run for Jack Kingston’s Congressional seat. The kickoff will be held Thursday, August 22d at 4 PM at the Glynn County Courthouse (new).

We previously wrote that some local folks were courting retired Glynn County Sheriff Wayne V. Bennett. In that piece we noted the breakdown of the district by county for the 2012 Republican primary was Glynn County casting nearly 66% of GOP primary votes, followed by McIntosh with 30% and Long with just under 4%.

Macon Elections

In-person early voting for the September 17 elections for Macon-Bibb County consolidated government Mayor and Commission begins on Monday, August 26, 2013 and runs Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM until September 13, 2013 and includes Saturday voting on September 7th.

Current Bibb County Commission Chair Sam Hart rounds out the group vying to serve as the first Mayor.

He ran for the county commission in 1996 when District 1 Commissioner Albert Billingslea decided not to seek another term, Hart said. After a three-way primary race he won a runoff, then beat a Republican challenger, he said. Hart served for a decade, then moved to be closer to his grandchildren, he said.

“I resigned because I moved out of my district,” Hart said. Two years later, however, he ran for commission chairman and was re-elected in 2012.

In March 2012, Republican activist and blogger Bill Knowles accused Hart of a conflict of interest related to the Macon Miracle. Knowles said Hart’s tutoring companies S & V Education Systems and the Middle Georgia Center for Academic Excellence got more than $85,000 from the school system over two years. Knowles said that might be an ethical issue but that he didn’t think there was anything illegal about it.

In reply, Hart said he made nothing from the Macon Miracle, and if it succeeded that should actually reduce the need for tutoring services. Knowles’ complaint was a purely political attack, Hart said.

The race for District 6 Commission will feature three newbies and a retread while District 7 has only first-time candidates.

Al Tillman’s candidacy for Commission survived a residency challenge by a 4-0 vote of the Board of Elections. Quote of the day goes to Tillman along with +2 points for style.

Tillman says he’s sleeping, eating and cooking at the apartment, where he keeps a full closet and a full refrigerator.

“I didn’t get this size just snacking,” he quipped.

Weapons-grade crazy

Former Congressperson Cynthia McKinney (D-DeKalb) has a new book out and it sure is crazy. Ain’t Nothing Like Freedom is a combination of autobiography, payback and group therapy. Crossroads News reviewed it:

The book dishes on Georgia politics – both Democratic and Republican, the pro-Israel lobby, “milquetoast blacks” and global politics – and outlines her experiences in the House of Representatives and running for president.

Chapters include “How to Steal an Election”; “America the Beautiful”; “The Politics of Love and Hate”; “What Hurricane Katrina Exposed”; “I Am Still Grieving”; and “Stone Mountain, Israel and Gaza.”

On her 2002 defeat by Denise Majette, whom she does not call by name, and the Republican “crossover” vote, McKinney says that state and national Democrats did nothing to help her and that the Georgia Democratic Party, led by Gov. Roy Barnes, whom she also does not call by name, refused to even question the legitimacy of “such a candidate” running as a Democrat.

“Needless to say, Georgia went Republican for the first time in its history in November 2002 and has lined up solidly behind the Republican Party every since,” she writes in the chapter titled “The Life I Live.”

“Timid Democrats, afraid of supporting a Black woman and of offending the pro-Israel lobby are the reason Georgia, with better than 30 percent Black (and Democratic-voting) population, remains in the Republican column. Due to the Democrats’ fear of standing up for me as I had stood up for them, in 2002, I was defeated for the first time in a decade by a Black candidate who was supported by Republicans, had given campaign contributions to Republicans, and to whom Republicans had given campaign contributions.”

My 2006 re-election campaign had all the hallmarks of a stolen election. But what could I do about it? My situation was just like that of Blacks during the Civil Rights Movement and pre-Civil Rights Movement era: unsympathetic Whites were the judge, jury, and executioner. And very few people recognized the massive manipulation that has taken place, as far as the pro-Israel Lobby operating through the Democratic Party was concerned: one less vote against war.”

Meanwhile in the Cobb Young Republicans sandbox

Last night, a supporter of the liberty movement took to the Cobb YRs page and raged against this machine. He accused me of advocating for the infringement of his rights, whatever that means. Here’s what the Facebook exchange looked like:

For the record, I never advocated shutting them up (until last night). What I advocate is ignoring them. They use your reactions against you and refrain from showing what they did to provoke a reaction.

Last night’s exchange provided an example of their use of over-the-top rhetoric when the crazy Liberty guy called the Chairman of the Cobb YRs a Nazi for trying to keep the Facebook page about actual Cobb YRs stuff.

So I have two pieces of advice. First, if the Liberty crazies attack you or your candidate, simply ignore them. So a few people get annoyed by flyers on their cars. Nobody goes to a GAGOP event and has their mind changed to completely oppose the Republican establishment by a lame flyer. By reacting in any way, you give them something to use against you and get what they most crave – attention.

Second, for the sane people in the Liberty movement: these people are making you all look bad and negatively impacting your ability to play a constructive role in the party. Figure out a way to deal with that and you’ll probably have more success.