Redstate

Posted at 2:58pm on Jul. 2, 2008 Team America PAC Supports Paul Broun

By Erick

Tom Tancredo's Team America PAC, headed by Bay Buchanan, has endorsed Paul Broun and is pushing others to send him money.

Posted in 2008 | GA-10 | Georgia | Paul Broun — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:04pm on Jun. 20, 2008 Not Gonna Happen

By Erick

The Obama campaign surprised a lot of people in the past week by suggesting that Georgia was in play. In fact, the Obama campaign has begun running advertisements in Georgia this week -- launching Obama's opening ad campaign.

This has more to do with Obama trying to shape the press message than it does Obama actually trying to win in Georgia. Witness this Time article. After weeks of stories about Obama not being able to win in places like Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Florida, and Ohio, the Obama campaign is working overtime to convince the media that it can win in places it absolutely cannot. Georgia is one of those places.

"By some estimates we have about 600,000 African Americans in Georgia are eligible but unregistered. I think that number is a little high, but we will be working very hard to register as many voters as we can before the election," said Jane Kidd, chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic Party. "Georgia is one of the most progressive southern states. There are a lot of people moving in, there's a lot of transition, a lot of progressives."

This is, of course the strategy. Obama will win with the votes of black voters. And arguably his data makes the case. In 2004, only 626,838 voters turned out for the Democratic Primary. This year, however, 1,028,495 voters turned out for the Democratic Primary.

That sounds impressive until you realize 947,423 voters turned out in the Republican Primary this year, smaller to be sure, but then everyone knew Huckabee would win Georgia by the time the race got here and Obama could capitalize on the African-American turnout.

Regardless of the impressive primary turnout, let's put some concrete perspective on this.

Posted in 2008 | Georgia — Comments (22)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:00pm on May 21, 2008 The minimum wage and the law of unintended consequences

By Erick

I sit on the Community Resources and Development Committee on the City Council of Macon, Georgia.

Last night, a lady came to brief us on a workforce development program the city runs. To summarize the program, the city uses federal dollars to place high school students in summer jobs. An employer gets a willing worker, the student gets off the street for the summer, and the city pays the student's salary so the employer does not have to do anything other than train and teach the student usable job skills.

It is actually not a terrible program. It gets several hundred high school students off the street during the summer, cutting the number of idle hands that might otherwise subsidize their summer with petty crimes. It also trains potential workers who are not college bound.

During the course of the lady's presentation she lamented the increase in the minimum wage -- this from a government bureaucrat who'd already blamed Bush for cutting other social program funding.

Because of the minimum wage increase, it is now more expensive to employ each student. Because it is more expensive per student, less students can be employed. The less students that can be employed through the program, the more students there will be on the street during the summer without jobs.

And that could very probably increase the rates of petty crime during the summer.

Way to go Democrats!

Posted in Congress | Georgia | job training | minimum wage — Comments (39)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:41am on May 20, 2008 Another Democrat gives away the game: They really don't like the military

By Erick

One of the silver linings in all these attacks on John McCain's war record is that we're finally being reminded how much the left loathes the military.

I think it is worth repeating that the left does not want to surrender to the enemy so much as they do not want our soldiers emboldened by victory. Victory by American troops is anathema to the left.

Today, another Democrat gives away the game.

In a nearly-half hour speech, Democratic congressional candidate Bill Gillespie praised Obama, his party's leading White House hopeful.

But he devoted most of his remarks to criticisms of McCain, an Arizona senator who has wrapped up the GOP nomination and was in Savannah for a fundraiser. . . .

"Admirals' sons," Gillespie said, unopposed for the Democratic nomination in the 1st Congressional District held by Republican Rep. Jack Kingston, "were treated like royalty. They were privileged people. They were given a silver spoon. Their careers were prepared for them."

Gillespie, a former Army officer who served in Iraq, said McCain was the kind of admiral's son who became a "maverick."

McCain, Gillespie added, was "somebody who needed to stand out, someone that needed to draw attention to themselves and ... was usually out for themselves."

Yes, being tortured by the communists was all part of John McCain's plan to stand out.

Geez, if this is what they say about the man for sticking it out in the Hanoi Hilton, imagine what they'd say if he actually did fold and allow the commies their PR ploy of releasing the admiral's son.

No shame.

When will Barack Obama publicly say attacks on John McCain's war record are off limits?

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Bill Gillespie | GA-01 | Georgia | John McCain — Comments (24)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:36am on May 6, 2008 Why Won't Sonny Perdue Sign H.B. 881? This really is for the children and not in a socialist anti-freedom way.

By Erick

Georgia House Bill 881 is legislation in Georgia to help improve the conditions in which charter schools grow. Given the mess in Clayton County, Georgia, the first school district in the nation to lose its accreditation in over a decade, and the kids who are stuck down there, I am really surprised Governor Sonny Perdue hasn't signed this legislation -- it's just common sense reform to prevent local school boards like Clayton County from shutting down charter schools without cause and the legislation provides adequate funding and freedom for charter schools.

Right now Georgia has 71 charter schools with about 30,000 students across the socio-economic spectrum. These schools are currently out performing state averages on standardized tests despite receiving about 30% less than typical public schools. And charter schools don't even get facilities funding.

Under H.B. 881, funding will following children. If a child goes to charter school, the money goes with the child there. If the child goes back to public school, the money goes with the child back. It forces public and charter schools to compete, and competition improves schooling.

Twenty-six Georgia school systems have failed to meet federal and state standards. Clayton County is losing its accreditation. Charter schools are a great alternative.

H.B. 881 is a common sense reform to help foster charter schools. Too often local school districts try to make things extreme difficult for charter schools, while ignoring the need to actually improve local public schools.

It's time for the Governor to sign off on H.B. 881.

Please join me in calling Governor Perdue at (404) 656-1776. Ask him to sign H.B. 881. If you don't want to call, you can contact him via the web by going here.

Posted in Charter Schools | Georgia | School Choice | Sonny Perdue | State Politics — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:15pm on Mar. 25, 2008 Once you understand the punchline, this is darn funny.

By Erick

Ah, Georgia Democrats. Watch them beat each other up to take on Saxby Chambliss.

Shortly after Jim Martin, the former head of the Department of Human Resources and most prominent Chambliss challenger, announced he was going to run against Saxby Chambliss, the TV new story below hit the airwaves in Atlanta.

Not funny to you? Well, you probably should know that (A) no one knows who really put this on YouTube but (B) Dale Cardwell is running against Jim Martin in the primary and is thoroughly hacked off that Martin got in and stole his alleged thunder.

Hat tip to Buzz.

Posted in 2008 | Georgia — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 1:22am on Feb. 18, 2008 This sentence pretty much says it all.

Booooooo, Free Market! Yaaaaaaaay, government programs!

By Jeff Emanuel

From Georgia's Catoosa County News comes this very apt description of the difference between the two sides of the political aisle on health care reform (and on problem-solving as a whole):

Among the major proposals in front of lawmakers right now [to reform Georgia's health care system and help those in need of coverage to be better able to attain it] is a move by Gov. Sonny Perdue to embrace high-deductible health care plans and accompanying health savings accounts. Also getting attention is a pair of proposals from Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, one that would give a financial boost to free clinics and another that would provide more information to health-care consumers. Rounding out the bunch is a proposal by Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine to force health insurance companies to get his approval before they can raise premiums.

Critics, though, question how valuable some of those free-market ideas might be and tend to focus on efforts to expand what they see as tried-and-true government programs, like the joint state-federal Medicaid health insurance plan for lower-income Georgians.

Read on.

Posted in Georgia | Government-run health care | Health care | Policy | The difference between Democrats and Republicans — Comments (37)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:22am on Jan. 2, 2008 Dear Dale Cardwell

By Erick

I'd say this was gay or lame but it would be an insult to those two groups from whom we often take their labels and use as pejoratives against such ludicrously inane and dumb things as your attention getting grab.

You are suppose to be a “credible” candidate for office. Credible candidates do not climb tall poles and beg for media attention. Doing so admits that your campaign is getting no traction and the media is ignoring you. It also opens you up to having another candidate, someone who is credible, jump into the Democratic primary and beat your butt off that pole and out of nomination.

Dale, come down. I know you want high name identification so you can beat Snuggles. But when people talk “high name id,” they don't mean 300 feet in the air. They mean the number of voters who know who you are.

I bet a good number of voters will now know who you are. And they're going to think you are nuts.

Come on down now, Dale. Show's over. The circus is gone. We've already got one clown in the Democratic primary. You were suppose to be the sane one. Oh, and thanks for helping make this one heck of an easy re-election race for Saxby!

Posted in 2008 | Dale Cardwell | Georgia | Saxby Chambliss — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:49pm on Nov. 14, 2007 Meet the Democrats' Front Runner in Georgia

By Erick

With a hat tip to Peach Pundit, we bring you the Democrats' front runner for the United States Senate against Saxby Chambliss.

In case you don't want to hear Vernon Jones a/k/a Snuggles on YouTube, here's the quote you'll enjoy:

"I'm not familiar with the Constitution, I'm familiar with DeKalb County." - Vernon Jones, candidate for United States Senate

[Note by Jeff] The quote in question occurs at -1:02 on the video.

Posted in 2008 | Georgia | Saxby Chambliss | Snuggles | Vernon Jones — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:11pm on Oct. 16, 2007 Blackfacing Jim Marshall (D-GA08). It's not the right doing it.

By Erick

Having helped Joe Lieberman to victory by putting him in blackface, the left is now trying to do the same to Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA8). Marshall, who only won re-election in 2006 with a 1% margin of victory, voted against the SCHIP reauthorization.

Now the left is out running full page ads in the Macon Telegraph, the largest newspaper in Marshall's district, with the headline "Why is Jim Marshall Committing Malpractice Against Kids?"

At the bottom, in the disclaimer box, the ad notes it is being paid for by Blue America PAC. The ad also lists firedoglake.com and blogpac.com. A slightly different version appears on BlogPAC's site here.

This morning I co-hosted the local talk radio station in Macon, GA. It's the largest talk radio station in Marshall's district, reaching far out into the district. A number of callers had seen the ad and they started calling in after I discussed firedoglake.com, the black facing of Joe Lieberman, and the other invective regularly found on the site. To a person, even the folks who dislike Marshall, the callers were supportive of Marshall.

In fact, one person, a Republican, said that in the face of this ad, were Marshall to stand up to the far left and uphold the veto, the Republican would vote for Marshall.

This is notable in Georgia's 8th because the district leans Republican. But for Jim Marshall, who has played the fence very well, the district would be Republican. Even in a year as disastrous as 2006 for Republicans, Marshall won with exactly a 1% margin of victory. And this year he is running against a popular former general of the large Air Force base in the district -- a major employer and pool of voters.

I don't think the issue will, at the end of the day, hurt Marshall one way or the other. But the far left has just given Marshall the ammunition he needs to prove to this Republican district that he is his own man.

Posted in 2008 | Georgia — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:16pm on Oct. 14, 2007 The Measurable, Quantifiable Impact of Voting Pro-Life

By Erick

It took a long time for pro-life Republicans to wrest control of the Georgia legislature from pro-choice Southern Democrats. Once they had done so, they set about pushing legislation ratifying promises made to the pro-life community.

In May of 2005, Georgia's "Woman's Right to Know Act" went into effect. As Senate President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson explains, "The law required that doctors explain to women the medical risks of abortion and the status of life in their womb. They then had to wait 24 hours before proceeding with this critical decision."

Two years have now passed since the Act went into effect. Again, from Senator Johnson

According to the Senate Majority Leader, Tommie Williams, we have already seen significant results in passing this critical pro-life legislation. Since it went into effect in May of 2005, the DHR reports that between 32,500 and 40,500 women have talked to their doctors about an abortion. After that conversation and the information provided to them by this law, approximately 10,000 chose to carry their babies to term. In addition, 2,300 minors considered terminating their pregnancy and only 500 did so. So we saved about 11,800 babies so far. Pretty neat, huh?

This past year, the Georgia General Assembly passed a sonogram bill that gives women the chance to see the children in their wombs before having an abortion. Hopefully, this will save more lives.

These measures would not have passed without pro-life legislators being elected. The lives saved through these measures are quantifiable, measurable metrics by which to gauge the necessity of electing men and woman who, as a central tenet of their disposition, are pro-life.

Posted in Abortion | Georgia | Life | Life Issues — Comments (59)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:17pm on Oct. 8, 2007 Will Christians Be Allowed Use of This Precedent?

I Won't Hold My Breath

By Erick

As a lot of you know, I live in Macon, Georgia. Prior to our mayor expressing solidarity with Hugo Chavez, he converted to Islam. Now, it seems, with just a few months left in office, the mayor is going to push things just a bit far. He's going to take over City Council Chambers to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Were it a Christian celebration, I have no doubt the ACLU would be beating on the doors of City Hall with an injunction. But not so with this Islamic celebration.

Letting Mayor Ellis conduct an Islamic religious celebration in City Council Chambers may not be progress that most progressives like, but for an evangelical Christian like myself, I must applaud it.  I certainly hope that other religions embrace this new precedent of free access to City Council Chambers for religious celebrations.  I eagerly await a public baptism celebration, community communion, and all the other religious celebrations I expect to see under this new precedent.  

Now, some people say that City Council is just doing this because it's Mayor Ellis and we all know how he is (unhinged, to say the least).  But I cannot imagine the responsible, upstanding members of Macon's City Council would not realize that once they've opened the doors to one religion's celebrations in their chambers, they cannot shut it to others without discriminating among religions.

This embrace of religious ceremonies in City Council Chambers at no cost despite progressive platitudes about walls between church and state and constitution platitudes about separation of powers is a bold and courageous step forward for this city of over one hundred churches.  I hope each church, synagogue, and temple takes advantage of this new precedent.

Posted in Culture | Georgia — Comments (33)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:23pm on Oct. 8, 2007 Corruption at Emory:Opening a Pandora's Box

By mike volpe

When Erick, at Redstate, published a piece about corruption at Emory University, I thought it was an interesting story and I published a follow up on my own blog. At the time, I had no idea the pandora's box that I had opened.

Last night, I had a three hour conversation with a whistleblower by the name of Kevin Kuritzky. Kevin was 41 days from graduating from medical school at Emory University when he was expelled.

Read on . . .

Posted in Emory University | Georgia | Special Features — Comments (41) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:20am on Sep. 18, 2007 Roy Blunt and Tom Price talk to RedState

By Erick

Yesterday, I met by phone with Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) and Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO). We talked about Gen. Petraeus's report and how it has united the GOP and divided the Democrats.

As Congressman Blunt noted, the Democrats pre-emptively ran away from Gen. Petraeus and it hurt them. Now the Dems are slowly walking back to Petraeus in an attempt to score points against the White House -- trying to have it both ways.

We also talked about Republican unity and taking back the House. As both congressmen noted, the GOP in the House will most likely soon be fully back where the base wants it — on the side of taxpayers against big government spending. Congressman Blunt expects a show of real unity voting against the Democrats' spending plans.

What can we do to help? Congressman Price has a great idea. Most of us do not live in swing districts. But there are about 61 districts out there where the Democrats control the seat while President Bush won them in 2004. We should all look at adopting a candidate for Congress if we live in a district that is definitely safe for either side.

You can hear the whole interview here.

or listen here:

A programming note: tomorrow I'll have an interview with Laura Ingraham.

Posted in Georgia | Missouri | Podcasts — Comments (2)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:50pm on Sep. 12, 2007 Thompson way ahead in Georgia

By Erick

Well, so much for the prognosticators who thought Fred had no where to go but down once he announced. The latest polling from Georgia shows him with a commanding lead over the rest of the field.

Fred Thompson 32%
Rudy Giuliani 17%
Newt Gingrich 9%
John McCain 8%
Mitt Romney 6%
Mike Huckabee 6%
Sam Brownback 2%
Tom Tancredo 2%
Ron Paul 2%
Duncan Hunter 1%
Undecided 15%

On the Democratic side, Hillary is ahead of Obama by just 9 points and Saxby Chambliss hovers around 57% over any opponent.

The only question remaining is when will pollsters stop throwing Newt's name in the list.

Posted in 2008 | Fred Thompson | Georgia — Comments (25)/ Email this page » / Read More »