Georgia Senate threatens dismantling of USA
It wasn’t quite the firing on Fort Sumter that launched the Civil War. But on April 1, your Georgia Senate did threaten by a vote of 43-1 to secede from and even disband the United States.
It was not an April Fool’s joke.
In fact, Senate Resolution 632 did a lot more than merely threaten to end this country. It stated that under the Constitution, the only crimes the federal government could prosecute were treason, piracy and slavery.
“Therefore, all acts of Congress which assume to create, define or punish [other] crimes … are altogether void, and of no force,” the Georgia Senate declared.
In other words, in the infinite, almost unanimous wisdom of the Georgia Senate, Michael Vick is being imprisoned illegally, Bernie Madoff should serve no time for stealing $60 billion and the Unabomber must go free. In fact, the federal penitentiary in Atlanta should be emptied of its inmates.
But wait, there’s more.
The resolution goes on to endorse the theory that states have the right to abridge constitutional freedoms of religion, press and speech. According to the resolution, it is up to the states to decide “how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may be abridged.”
The resolution even endorses “nullification,” the legal concept that states have the power to “nullify” or ignore federal laws that they believe exceed the powers granted under the Constitution. That concept has a particularly nasty legacy. It helped precipitate the Civil War, and in the 1950s and early ’60s it was cited by Southern states claiming the right to ignore Supreme Court rulings ordering the end of segregation.
Finally, the resolution states that if Congress, the president or federal courts take any action that exceeds their constitutional powers, the Constitution is rendered null and void and the United States of America is officially disbanded. As an example, the resolution specifically states that if the federal government enacts “prohibitions of type or quantity of arms or ammunition,” the country is disbanded.
In other words, if Congress votes to restore the ban on sale of assault rifles, the United States is deemed to no longer exist.
This, your Georgia state Senate voted 43-1 to endorse.
Now, to be fair, the resolution passed because it was snuck unnoticed onto the Senate resolution calendar on the 39th day of the 40-day legislative session, when senators were trying to handle dozens of bills and scores of amendments. Most did not have an opportunity to read the six-page resolution, which in its description claimed to merely affirm “states’ rights based on Jeffersonian principles.”
However, those who introduced and sponsored the measure have no such excuse. Presumably they read and understood what they asked their fellow senators to endorse. And those sponsors include some of the most prominent members of the Senate —- Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers of Woodstock, Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams, Transportation Committee Chairman Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga, and Chief Deputy Whip John Wiles of Cobb County, among others.
The resolution they sponsored is part of a radical right-wing national movement —- a similar resolution was introduced in the Georgia House but not voted on. It has been introduced in legislatures all over the nation, and has passed in both chambers in Oklahoma and one in South Dakota.
And while the Georgia resolution is legally meaningless and was passed without debate or even knowledge of most senators, it has had an impact. It has been hailed by, among others, those fighting the conspiracy to create a single North American country, by the Confederate States Militia, by the John Birch Society, and the League of the South, which still pines for the cause of an “independent South” and believes that “Southern society is radically different from the society impressed upon it by an alien occupier.”
You have to question the judgment of those who would have any truck whatsoever with such nonsense, and who would jeopardize the reputation of the Georgia Senate to lend aid and comfort to such radical causes and fringe groups.
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405 comments Add your comment
SuperDave
April 16th, 2009
1:17 pm
Back 12:35
See my post at 12:41
I do not believe in rewarding failure and punishing success. Capitalism is the greatest engine for creating wealth the world has ever known. But uncontrolled capitalism, over time, will concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the wealthy and powerful. And as a result, those at the lower end of the economy will usually only benefit marginally, at least compared to those at the top. So the ultimate question becomes, who’s effort created that wealth? The mass of workers who actually do the work or the executives and owners who manage the company?
Historically it is clear that uncontrolled capitalism, through competitive pressures, will eventually abuse the working class. It is only government through laws and regulations that can temper those effects. We don’t want to eliminate the rewards for exceptional efforts of the individual. But we do want to recognize the contribution of everyone who contributes. It’s a delicate balance. Poverty and wealth are both great motivators, and like it or not, we need both. What we have had recently is an excess of capitalism, what you are seeing is the pendulum swinging back the other way. It swings both ways, so you cons will get your chance again some day.
I do believe in equal opportunities (playing field if you prefer) but not in equal results. I am so tired of the right’s talking points:
Take money from people who earned it and give it to those that didn’t
Reward failure and punish success
Libs want socialism.
etc, etc, etc.
I don’t know any liberal who wants socialism. But
Taxpayer
April 16th, 2009
1:17 pm
You just gotta love these right wing fringe types and their denials. What next. The governor of Texas did not really use the word “secede”. Or, he just said it as an attention-getting device like SARAH and her Palin around with terrorists cracks. HAHAHAHAHA. You guys. Quit it. You are embarrassing yourselves even more. Is that possible! The least you could do is fess up to what you are. Maroons.
N.J,
April 16th, 2009
1:18 pm
Nothing at all. The Southern Red States dont PAY taxes as a group. They take more from the federal government than all their taxpayers put together pay out to the federal government.
Georgia is not a bad welfare queen of a state getting back 1.01 for every dollar its citizens pay out in taxes. But our neighbor states like Alabama and Mississippi get much more than a dollar per citizen.
What would happen if you stopped paying taxes. Nothing. If the feds simply dropped the amount down to net parity of a dollar back for each dollar paid out the blue states could LOWER their local taxes.
Georgia residents, as is true of virtually ALL Republican states dont pay taxes, they get back MORE than they shell out
Basically for 30 years Republicans from Red States have blocked the blue states from getting a parity back from the federal government, and sent more back to their own states than their citizens pay out. This is a fact.,
Also the fact that most retirees move from their own states to states like Georgia and Florida and oodles of Social Security money that was paid when people worked up North, comes down to Georgia via the federal government
Stop paying your federal taxes and let the federal government stop sending Northern money down South.
The Blue states also tend to have much higher incomes so Blue States also pay a much larger dollar share of their income in taxes than Red States
Compare for example deep blue Connecticut and Deep Red Oklahoma:
Both have roughly the same number of people, five Congressmen and seven electoral votes. Last year, 1.66 million Connecticut tax filers paid $19.1 billion in personal taxes on $107 billion of adjusted gross income. That makes for an average tax rate of 17.9% in Connecticut. In the same year, 1.5 million Oklahoma tax filers paid $6.6 billion in personal taxes on $54 billion in adjusted gross income; an average tax rate of 12.2%.
This is pretty much the divide in all Red State/Blue State comparisons.
The Red States generally get more back from the federal government than they pay TO the federal govermment and the Blue States pay more and get less back.
Sarah Palins Alaska is among the worse perps. For every dollar Alaskans pay in federal income taxes, the federal government sends back 1.87 to the state.
According to the non partisan Tax Foundation the largest tax sucking states are:
In 2003, the top subsidy-sucking state, in percentage terms, was red-lite New Mexico, which received $1.99 in federal money for every dollar it sent to Washington, D.C. All the next eight net recipients of federal spending were redder yet: Kentucky, Virginia, Montana, Alabama, North Dakota, West Virginia, Mississippi and Alaska, which received $1.60 to $1.89 back for each tax dollar.
The states taking it up the rear are:
The list of net losers in the state-federal exchange, by contrast, reads like a Who’s Who of Blue. Two of the top 14 were traditionally red Western states that are starting to turn purple, Colorado and Nevada. The other 12 are all blue: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Washington, Wisconsin and the biggest chump of all, New Jersey, where the federal government spends just $.57 for every dollar it collects. Clearly Tony Soprano did not negotiate this deal.
J Moore
April 16th, 2009
1:20 pm
Here is a good story. Until recently, I had an employee who migrated here legally from Bosnia. Due to massive immigration into Bosnia, their little socialist paradise like the one Jay and Obama want, began to crumble. Some workers decided to stay home because the income was almost the same. Anyway, as the country began to run up massive deficits, the government passed laws making it illegal to quit your job and also to leave the country! In the end, socialists want control of everyone else’s lives. I think this is starting in the US now. The question is: what are we going to do to stop it. We cannot afford to listen to the socialists of this nation. We know they want a free ride through life. Are we going to let them succeed is the question of our time?
david wayne osedach
April 16th, 2009
1:26 pm
Leave it to the State of Gorgia to come up with something like this: a waste of time and taxpayers money.
AmVet
April 16th, 2009
1:28 pm
Apparently Texas guv Rick Perry would like to entertain thoughts of secession.
Given the extraordinary percentage of witless and gutless dolts who now live here, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened in Dixie had she succeeded the last time.
My guess?
A third world, white only country where:
– they remained neutral during World Wars I and II
– atheists and all non-Christians are deported
– still trying to create a working automobile
– still refusing to eradicate small pox
– educational rankings equal to those in the horn of Africa
– not yet having created peanut butter. (Those uppity people never having been allowed in the country.)
N.J,
April 16th, 2009
1:28 pm
Why should this comment:
“Take money from people who earned it and give it to those that didn’t
Reward failure and punish success”
Not apply to states as well as individuals. As a whole the Red States including Georgia do not pay a red cent as a whole to the federal government in ALL federal taxes put together including income taxes, payroll taxes, corporate taxes, federal sales taxes and tariff and all othe federal taxes.
Georgia is a net recipient of federal money receiving MORE money FROM the federal government than it sends to Washington.
This is true of more than 30 Republican States. On the other hand only 15 states almost all Blue states send MORE to Washington than they get back.
The truth of the matter is that the states whining the most about income taxes not only dont PAY for the federal government, the federal government funds the ability of the Red States to keep state and local taxes relatively LOW compared to those in the Blue States.
ALong with this a rather sizable amount of the profits made by small businesses in the South are derived from the Social Security checks of retirees who move from high income, high tax states like New York, to Lower income, low tax states like Florida, the Gulf States, the Southwest etc/.
This southlerly Red States would see their economies COLLAPSE if there was some compensatory measure that required Social Security income SPENT in the South to be returned to the states where it was earned.
ConservativeAnchor
April 16th, 2009
1:36 pm
Having MySay: Where are you going to put this pipe dream? How many homes, farms, etc, will be seized. How many forests bulldozed, pastures separated?
ConservativeAnchor
April 16th, 2009
1:38 pm
JMoore: Just pick your targets for the day the revolt begins. There are more of us than them. I figure in a week they’ll all be gone.
N.J,
April 16th, 2009
1:40 pm
Actually a lot of the blue staters are getting sick of hearing the sucking sound of their tax dollars heading South.
Fly-On-The-Wall
April 16th, 2009
1:41 pm
Where were all these Tea Tantrums over the last 8 years? Why does talk of Secession get them all happy? I wonder, along with others, what their ‘new country’ would look like. If GA seceded right now it would probably need U.N. aid to help feed its people. Secession has been tried and hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their lives during that period. Why would you want to do that again? Why is it that these secessionists most times talk in terms of using force or taking violent action? If you want elected officals to be of your same mind then elect them! It is obvious that elected Repubicans haven’t been listening to you or you would have had what you wanted by now. They controlled Congress, for the most part, for 12 years and the White House for the last 8. I think you need to be mad at your own party and not take it out on Obama or Democrats. Newt, Hannity, and all of the others are mis-directing your anger. The Republican Party failed you. Elect Republicans that reflect your values and then you’ll nothing to complain about. Now if your party is in the minority, as it is now, you’ll need to work at getting a majority, but please stop the whinning and complaining. You look like small childern and sore losers – just like you told followers of Al Gore & John Kerry.
And why does this almost always seem to happen after they lose an election?
Also, why do you always assume that Republicans/Conservative all have jobs and Democrats/Liberals don’t work at all? That approach really doesn’t helps the discussion around here.
N.J,
April 16th, 2009
1:42 pm
All the federal government would really have to do is stop sending more tax dollars to this state than it pays out and most of the gun toting Georgians could no longer afford the ammunition for their guns or their revolution.
You are more likely to see homes, farms, forests bulldozed etc because of some slick political deal that a developer makes with the Governor than the federal government come in and do it.
south side
April 16th, 2009
1:48 pm
dont worry republicans are just mad because they are now the failure party all ofthere policies have fail Bush:9|11,$4agallon gas, both wars ,surplus turn into deficet,started the bail outs,and pissed on America and toldyou it was rain.Georgia republicans:cant solve traffic issues,3 strait year not one meaningful bill, passed, turn state in to third world country,took surplus andturn into dept,took money from metro atl to give to the biggest leach south Ga.That why they are so upset and trying to make every one as misserable as they are.Georgia was athriving state until repubs took over now we are the laughing stock of the world. Bush didnt bow he bent over and allowed the Arabs to screw all of us out of billons in over priced oil.
Fly-On-The-Wall
April 16th, 2009
1:52 pm
NJ, you’ve said many times today how the flow of tax dollars is unequal to the amount paid by some states. Do you have some unbiased data to back that up? Although I’d like to believe what you’ve said I’d like to see your source(s) of information.
Jay
April 16th, 2009
1:53 pm
Anchor, are you recommending political violence?
You need to post an explicit rejection of that approach or be banned. That will not be tolerated here.
Swami Dave
April 16th, 2009
1:55 pm
So much for “objectivity”.
I suppose if she had attended a homeless rally or war protest, she would have been too busy trying to stymie the “feelings in her leg” (Chris Matthews) or “uncontrollable emotion” (ABC News reporter on Election night) to have been so rude in a openly partisan manner.
Of course, we should not be surprised at the complete dismissal of any pretense of objectivity among the supposed “journalists” of today. Most are simply willing accomplices to the lies, revisionism, and patent dishonesty required to posit a defense for the failed theology that is collectivism.
No wonder CNN can’t draw flies for ratings.
-Swami Dave
GMan
April 16th, 2009
1:55 pm
I looked at the faces of people at the capital last night and noticed the significant absence of color. What does this mean? Please help me to understand so that I won’t think you’re an angry, old, bigot. Thanks
Paul Westmonte
April 16th, 2009
1:55 pm
N.J., you’re absolutely correct. There are certain segments of this state that would have to get up and go to work, pay taxes, take care of their children, their healthcare,…
Promises, promises…
J
April 16th, 2009
1:56 pm
I think I’m seeing a pattern here. The Texas Governor said much the same thing as the GA senate in a related CNN article. It’s just the political equivalent of someone “huffing and puffing” in an assertion of toughness. Yes, people are angry or upset over the way some things have been handled by the federal government, but all they’re doing is using extreme language to express that feeling of anger/upset. Think about the logical consequences of secession (again…):
- federal funding would cease, thereby requiring the state to RAISE taxes in GA to pay for the infrastructure; if people are angry over the taxation rate right now, think about what it would be if GA had to support itself autonomously? Everything that the federal government currently funds with taxpayer money from all 50 states would have to be funded solely from the GA residents paying taxes.
- if GA became a separate and independent entity from the rest of the US, it would be subject to import/export taxes to the other states, as well as to foreign countries; Additionally, GA does not have enough agriculture to support an independent existence, so most of our staple foods would need to be imported from other states or possibly other foreign countries; while GA can export some goods, the amount that we would need to import is much higher and would cost far more than the state could probably afford
- GA would have to raise an independent Army, since it’s highly likely that the US federal government would remove all of its military personnel from GA; this means funding an army, clothing an army, housing an army, training an army; how many current military instructors based in GA are from other states, do you think?
Bottom Line: secession isn’t a logical course of action if the State wants to be taken seriously. Look at what happened during the Civil War when several Southern states seceded. Even with 5-6 states working in agreement, they still lost because they couldn’t support themselves either financially or agriculturally. Independent GA would also need to create an infrastructure that could support the entire state, which also costs money. That money would come from the GA residents ALONE. It’s unlikely that other states would be willing to offer loan support to replace federal money that would disappear. In short, it’s fiscally irresponsible to secede from the US or “dismantle” the US as the GA Senate suggests. It would just create more problems than solutions. It’s just a rather extreme way for the GA Senate and others to say “we don’t like the way you’re doing things, Federal Government” – I can almost guarantee, looking at the historical precedent, that if GA tried to secede or remove itself from the US it wouldn’t be able to survive independently without incurring more financial and practical issues than it already has.
N.J,
April 16th, 2009
1:59 pm
For 2005 the dollar amount that each state gets back from the federal governmenbt for each dollar it pays to the federal government
New England
Connecticut 0.73
Maine 1.41
Massachusetts 0.85
New Hampshire 0.75
Rhode Island 1.01
Vermont 1.09
Total 0.86
Mid-Atlantic
Delaware 0.80
Maryland 1.30
New Jersey 0.65
New York 0.82
Pennsylvania 1.08
Total 0.90
Midwest
Illinois 0.78
Indiana 1.07
Iowa 1.09
Michigan 0.94
Minnesota 0.73
Ohio 1.06
Wisconsin 0.88
Total 0.91
South
Alabama 1.63
Arkansas 1.40
Florida 0.95
Georgia 1.03
Kentucky 1.51
Louisiana 1.85
Mississippi 2.02
North Carolina 1.08
Oklahoma 1.35
South Carolina 1.35
Tennessee 1.29
Texas 0.97
Virginia 1.51
West Virginia 1.75
Total 1.19
West
Alaska 1.83
Arizona 1.19
California 0.80
Colorado 0.83
Hawaii 1.43
Idaho 1.19
Kansas 1.13
Missouri 1.32
Montana 1.43
Nebraska 1.09
Nevada 0.67
New Mexico 2.00
North Dakota 1.65
Oregon 0.93
South Dakota 1.48
Utah 0.89
Washington 0.89
Wyoming 1.09
Total 0.95
Northeast 0.89
Midwest 0.91
Northeast and Midwest 0.90
South 1.19
West 0.95
South and West 1.08
U.S. Total 1.00
These figures reflect 2005 revenue transfers FROM the Federal Government TO the repective states and regions of the country and these have been pretty much consistant since the 1980 election.
http://www.nemw.org/taxburd.htm
Pretty consistantly, the Red States tend to get more than they pay out and the blue states tend to pay out more than they get back.
The blue states would actually be a whole lot better off if legislation was passed that said no state could receive MORE than the total paid in income taxes by its citizen taxpayers
Fly-On-The-Wall
April 16th, 2009
1:59 pm
J – Excellent post. Seems as though most of these secessionists having thought things through to a logical conclusion.
Fly-On-The-Wall
April 16th, 2009
2:02 pm
NJ – thanks for the info. I believed you. I wanted to have you post it so the secessionist types would see for themselves. In a modern democratic nation resorting to violence in an attempt to solve a problem usually makes things worse and also usually doesn’t end up solving the problem.
GMan
April 16th, 2009
2:04 pm
Fly-On-The-Wall, these secessionists never think things through to a logical conclusion. They merely listen to and parrot the most charismatic looney toon of the hour. Any nut-job can find a group of people to follow them off a cliff. It just takes a little time to get them together.
N.J,
April 16th, 2009
2:06 pm
Yes. If Georgia seceeded it would lose three percent of the federal income it gets. Of course since the tea party bunch would not want to PAY more state and local taxes, the states entire money supply would by about 25 percent. Of course as a foreign nation, people who earn Social Security COULD get paid in Georgia, but of course the United States would want to move sensitive military manufacturing OUT of a foreign nation. So most of the local companies like Marietta Martin would either lose their bids, or have to pick up stakes and move to the United States in order to build stuff where the design specifications are classified. Of course this would ALSO mean that georgia would have to raise the funds to pay for their own military forces, their own homeland security, etc. of course this would cost a huge amount because of the start up costs, etc.
Georgia does not even pay the taxes that cover its own defense.
N.J,
April 16th, 2009
2:07 pm
To put it simply, the South seems to best be characterized by Blanche Dubois. It relies on the kindness of strangers.
south side
April 16th, 2009
2:11 pm
J, couldnt explain it better right on point. GA leaders are nothing more than a scam artist they cant even solve traffic issues. They are turning metro Atl into the same welfare state as south Ga.
J
April 16th, 2009
2:11 pm
I honestly think the Senate’s move and Perry’s statement are just publicity stunts that backfired. Yes, it’s perfectly understandable that people aren’t happy with the way things are going in the US right now, and even more understandable that not everyone is going to agree with the way the Federal Government handles things. That’s perfectly normal; if, during Thomas Jefferson’s time, we’d agreed with the way England did things, the United States probably wouldn’t be here right now (or it would have formed much later when people finally DID get fed up with things). Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion about how the government handles things, that’s the beauty of the freedom of speech (First Amendment). What we’re seeing with Perry and the GA Senate are just rather “extreme” opinions expressed publicly. Logically, secession makes no sense, and probably wouldn’t be carried out to fruition anyways.
Dave R
April 16th, 2009
2:12 pm
NJ, no one replies to your insane arguments, largely because there is no arguing fiction with someone trying to report it as fact, but nevertheless, I’ll try.
You so-called reports regarding attendance at Tea Party rallies falls a bit short. Austin, Texas had far, far more than the 1000 or so you claimed were there. You just had to see the full panning of the camera from Fox News to see them all. Our local rally in Forsyth County got over 200 alone. Local, NJ, local. The multiple rallies in BOSTON yielded over 2000 combined according to one of their local papers.
Of course, try to find an estimated head count in the local AJC, and you come up a bit short. But since protesters allegedly covered several blocks, I think we can safely say that thousands were downtown protesting yesterday.
Your other arguments about the Founding Fathers and their intentions are too laughable to comment on, except to say that you have a certain talent for, shall we say, inventiveness?
And I’ll just let you stew about why some Southern states might receive more Federal dollars than they pay. I know the answer, but let’s see if your over-large liberal mind can figure it out without resorting to fiction.
Fly-On-The-Wall
April 16th, 2009
2:15 pm
I wonder how all of those companies who’s headquarters are in the North or on the West Coast would feel about GA or any other state seceding? You think they’d stay?
south side
April 16th, 2009
2:16 pm
Ga. new motto:THE EMBARRASSMENT STATE!!!!!!!
Dave R
April 16th, 2009
2:19 pm
Fly, I’ll bet all those companies would end up moving here once they see that they will not be taxed, and once they see how they will not be regulated to death.
Billy Bob the anti-THUG
April 16th, 2009
2:19 pm
N.J. where’s Washington, D.C.?
why not a break-down by Democrat and Republican voters? on the basis of race (not that’d get these wags to posting!!)? by gender? by sexual inclination?
oh, the possibilities.
south side
April 16th, 2009
2:21 pm
Who cares if the total count for all the rallies were 500,000 its still the minorty of the population
south side
April 16th, 2009
2:26 pm
Why dont we all leave Ga and let tea baggers have for there own country.They will be running back to the states
Fly-On-The-Wall
April 16th, 2009
2:30 pm
Dave R – do you really think so? Other than not being taxed, what else would make them move here? It definitely wouldn’t be the higher education levels of the local population. If this new country won’t have the money to repair it’s infrastructure why would any major corporation move here? I thought that’s why they stayed out of some countries. If the corporations won’t have to pay taxes then who will? Would that be enough to keep the roads & power lines in shape? The sewage from spilling over, ports open and running?
I think there is a lot more to running a government/country then most people realize.
Frank
April 16th, 2009
2:31 pm
By all means Georgia remove yourself from the rest of the nation. That means that the U.S. will no longer have to guard your ports, support roads and the bases in the state can close and remove the jobs that they create. Then there is Lockheed-Martin the plant would have to shut down as the U.S. does not build military equipment in foreign areas. Georgia could take over all the prisons in the state including the Federal Pen in Atlanta. The mint would close and the Federal court house could relocate and we all can get passports to visit other states. Let’s not forget to print our own currency perhaps Zell and Sonny could vie for the one cent piece.
SuperDave
April 16th, 2009
2:31 pm
All this talk of secession is nothing more than a temper tantrum by the right because they got their butts whipped in the last two elections. So they say, “If I can’t have things my way, I’m going to pack up my toys an go home!!”
The reality is that theirs is a failed ideology, and the majority of the American people have recognized it for what it is. And they all just keep swinging farther to the right.
As for the Teabaggers. Where the heck were they the last eight years while King George was throwing away over a trillion dollars in Iraq and giving tax cuts at the same time. All the while he and his henchman, Cheney, were engineering the biggest expansion of executive power in history. Not a peep from the right.
Fly-On-The-Wall
April 16th, 2009
2:35 pm
Thanks SuperDave, my feelings exactly.
Dave R
April 16th, 2009
2:36 pm
Fly, the people will pay the limited taxes needed to repair and replace infrastructure, just as they always have.
Corporations don’t pay taxes. Never have. The people who buy their products pay the corporation’s taxes.
And there are plenty of willing and talented workers ready and able to do the jobs needed by virtually any company wishing to come to a country that welcomes their business, industry and inventiveness.
And I know all about what it takes to run a government from first-hand experience – do you?
south side
April 16th, 2009
2:37 pm
SuperDave ,good point
Fat Ga. Redneck
April 16th, 2009
2:41 pm
Hey Billy R U jealous or what? Don’t you have cable?
Dave R
April 16th, 2009
2:42 pm
SuperDave, the only failed ideology is your Socialist philosophy. Name a thriving country that tried it and is still or ever was thriving economically. The silence will be deafening.
And plenty of people complained about the spending of both Republicans AND Democrats. Those complaints were merely drowned out by the fanatics on both sides who control the power in Washington D.C. Yesterday, you saw that they can no longer drown out the complaints of those who disagree with the SPENDING and resulting taxing problems of this Federal government, whether it is run by Republicans OR Democrats.
outhoused
April 16th, 2009
2:45 pm
Are we surprised? The vast (and mainly half-vast) majority of the legislation presented and voted on by the Georgia Legislature is not read and especialy not understood by the members of that body. The question for all these “statesmen” is what did you do FOR the people of Georgia this year as opposed to what you did TO us? Then be prepared for the hemmin and hawin…
I have cast my last vote for those serving themselves in the Legislature, I WILL NOT vote for anyone currently representing me there!
Dave R
April 16th, 2009
2:46 pm
Oh, and Frank? Martin Marietta may not build defensive equipment any longer for the old US, but they can re-tool and start building the best made, best featured automobiles this planet has ever seen. And it will all be done by non-union workers who will earn as much, if not more than their old US counterparts because they will TAKE HOME more of their pay.
And the car companies will flock here to have their products built.
Sean Martin
April 16th, 2009
2:50 pm
If Georgia wishes to leave the Union, I hope it doesnt let the door hit on the ass on the way out.
Just leave Atlanta, if you would. Great city.
south side
April 16th, 2009
2:56 pm
Hey were the tea baggers praising the end of the F22 ?Where do tea baggers stand on the issue?
SuperDave
April 16th, 2009
3:03 pm
Dave R
I’ll say this again. I don’t believe in socialism. I don’t know any American who does.
The failed ideology I’m referring to is the right’s love affair with supply side economics. It doesn’t work. Any economic effect is temporary and marginal and over time balloons the deficit. I think history is pretty clear on this, but I’m sure you will disagree. I believe it was George H.W. who called it voodoo economics and he was right.
I voted for Reagan. I believed the BS at the time. Then after observing the effects of that policy over the years, I realized the middle class had been had.
Then there is the love affair of the right with deregulation of business. The idea that business can self regulate as long as government will just stay out of their way. And that somehow competition causes everyone to act responsibly. That’s working out real well isn’t it?
Real
April 16th, 2009
3:10 pm
GMan at 2:04 “They merely listen to and parrot the most charismatic looney toon of the hour. Any nut-job can find a group of people to follow them off a cliff. It just takes a little time to get them together.”
Let’s see, where have we seen this behavior…oh yeah, the american idol election of PresBO….
south side
April 16th, 2009
3:17 pm
were do teabaggers stand on the F22?
Two States Threaten Secession « Deanna’s Ramblings
April 16th, 2009
3:22 pm
[...] this morning, I read that the Georgia Senate is threatening secession, too. (Hat tip: [...]
SuperDave
April 16th, 2009
3:22 pm
Real 3:10
Obama got elected not because he got a bunch of nut jobs to follow him off a cliff. It was because he had a message that inspired people and that they could understand. People were fed up with the current administration, and all the republican party could offer to the American people was fear.
He’s a muslim
He’s black
He’s going to raise your taxes
He pals around with terrorists
He’s anti Christian
He’s a socialist
He wasn’t born in the United States.
He has no experience.
The terrorists will get you if he’s elected
Blah, blah, blah
Like I said, failed ideology.
Dave R
April 16th, 2009
3:22 pm
SuperDave,
Show me where we have deregulation, and I might agree with you. But we don’t have it.
Show me where we make irresponsible people pay for their actions, and maybe I’ll agree with you. But we don’t.
Show me where we have real competition in business, and maybe I’ll believe you. But we don’t.
For the first 100 years of this nation’s history, we advanced just fine without an all-encompassing Federal government. For the next 50 years, we progressed even with the advancing of a increasing Federal presence. World wars caused us to increase the size and scope of our government for the next 20 years, which became our high point for innovation and discovery. We have been on a steady decline ever since, and it is all due to the large Federal government we created in a time of need, but never got rid of once that need was removed.
kladinvt
April 16th, 2009
3:26 pm
Hhhmm….and if this were done during the Bush regime, these same buffoons, would be frothing at the mouth about being unAmerican & unpatriotic! I know that’s what they said about anyone who even questioned the phony war in Iraq.
So I guess their new name should be the “Treasonous Teabaggers”!
Old Dawg
April 16th, 2009
3:30 pm
Well, here we go again. Same ‘ol crap from the AJC writers who are just sooo smart. May I remind you Bookman that your buddy and fellow liberal (and, I might add racist) is headed to Washington so she can see the first African-American administration up close and personal. Wow! I never heard a displaced person from a near bankrupt newspaper explain it that way before. Anyway, if you don’t like Georgia and its politicians (stupid as they may be) Delta is ready when you are. Go back to whatever northern, liberal poop hole you came from and leave us alone. While we have our not so perfect politicians, just remember that Pelosi, Schummer, Reid and countless other goons come from so-called progressive states. God help us. If its not lawyers and politicians, its “journalists”…..whatever that means.
Bear
April 16th, 2009
3:39 pm
SuperDave 3:22 — I believe the same fear tactics are used by the current administration that rushed the crambill and other bailouts — correct? Seems Clinton had to advise the “one” to back off his gloom and doom forecast a bit…. This IS change we can believe in….
BTW, which items on your list are not correct??
Hera
April 16th, 2009
3:40 pm
Good for the Georgia Senate. Let us make it the first Law on the books in the next session. Those of you who want to live in the Federal World, there is always Cuba and Washington, DC.
Enjoy.
tom
April 16th, 2009
3:48 pm
Gee,what loyal patriotic Americans.They lose an election,start whining and threaten to take their balls and go home. We can only hope.
SuperDave
April 16th, 2009
3:49 pm
Dave R 3:22
We live in a different world than we did the first 100 years. The vast majority lived on farms. There was no modern health care, no cars, no electricity, no interstate highways, no effective transportation systems, not even mass production. Most business were relatively small. Have you forgotten that slavery was an integral part of the success of our economy then? It made our exports cheaper than they could be produced almost anywhere.
We need infrastructure development and top notch education to compete today. We need effective development of research and technology. Government has to play a key role in that. I do agree with you that government is too big. But in my opinion we need to reform it and make it more efficient and effective, not eliminate it. Don’t forget, it was under Clinton that the welfare system in this country was reformed. That was the only time in the last 30 years that the growth of government was held in check. Republicans don’t have a monopoly on smaller government.
These are exceptional times also. I don’t know if this stimulus is going to work. No one does. But, I think, to do nothing is not an option. The effectiveness of this stimulus package will be debated for years. It will be interesting to see how it works out. But I have faith in the American people, and I think we are going to be OK.
south side
April 16th, 2009
3:51 pm
Kladinv ,good point .King George had aleash around there neck now you see what happen when the leash comes off
J L Sims (JS)
April 16th, 2009
3:51 pm
It is astounding at how many people who have commented on this article are either anti-american or don’t understand how anti-american Senate resolution 632 is.
Do they really want the Georgia legislature or any other legislature to have the right to put limits on freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion? Our states don’t exactly have an illustrious history of defending individual freedoms.
Do they really believe that there should be no “prohibitions of type or quantity of arms or ammunition”? Do they realize that bombs and nuclear weapons are “arms”?
It is disturbing people claiming to be Americans have so little respect for the individual liberties that so many have died to protect. I’ll restate that. Actually it is disgusting.
JMC
April 16th, 2009
3:54 pm
Sherman didn’t burn and hang enough while he was down there.
joe6pack
April 16th, 2009
3:56 pm
Please, I beg of you, secede. The south has a parasitical relationship to the rest of the US. While the vast majority of the nation’s wealth is created in the “godless librul” areas, you southerners sit on your bums, sucking off revenue to prop up your failed economies. I think it’s high tome the rest of the nation “went Galt” on the lot of you. Let’s see how long you are able to provide basic functions without ‘welfare’ from the north and west…
Hera
April 16th, 2009
3:58 pm
I question the judgment of those who would not advance this bill in today’s world. I am sure the word TRUCK is wrong, but who knows how liberals think?
Just think, demanding Freedom from Federal Tyranny is now described as lending “aid and comfort to radical causes and fringe groups”. How sad for us.
south side
April 16th, 2009
3:59 pm
Thats Georgia the EMBARRASS me state
Californication
April 16th, 2009
4:00 pm
Susan Myers,
I am wondering where your links are? All I see is hate filled opinions form you? Try using facts…Ooopps sorry didn’t mean to confuse you…
s
April 16th, 2009
4:03 pm
Hey GTTIM get your eyes checked, photo 2 of 28 far right – lady of color!
Dave R
April 16th, 2009
4:07 pm
SuperDave, it was the Republican CONGRESS that forced welfare reform on Clinton. One of the few good things they ever did.
Research and technology advanced just fine without government help. The quest for PROFITS made that system work just fine.
And J L Sims, no one is advocating restricting the freedoms we have guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution with this resolution. They just want the 10th Amendment enforced, that is all.
md
April 16th, 2009
4:14 pm
Our wonderful government (full of lawyers no less) can’t even enforce immigration laws. There seems to be little hope of ever getting back to the constitution.
SuperDave
April 16th, 2009
4:14 pm
Bear 3:39
Different fear tactics for different reasons, so to speak.
I think Obama did display too much negativity and fear early on, that bothered me. I think it was a mistake on his part due to the seriousness and gravity of the situation.
Many on the right claim he used this fear to expand the power of the federal government, which they are afraid of. I don’t believe that. I think he took the best advice of his economic team, which was to implement a package that would get the job done. Time will tell if that was the right decision. That will be debated for a long time.
Yeah, they crammed it through, and that was politics, but what difference would it have made. The Republicans didn’t vote for it anyway. They still haven’t proposed an alternative.
What do you mean, which items on my list are not correct? It’s just stuff I heard from one source or another at the time.
SuperDave
April 16th, 2009
4:21 pm
Dave R
But it was Clinton who said, “The era of big government is over.” Apparently he wasn’t too opposed to the idea.
Good thing we had old W to bring it back.
john
April 16th, 2009
4:23 pm
Let em go! Plllleeeease let them go! If I can help expedite the transfer any faster – please let me know. I’d love to see the looks on their face when the US Govt and army roll in to reclaim all properties of the United States and remove all Federal Funds from their banks. Good luck guys!
md
April 16th, 2009
4:27 pm
“and remove all Federal Funds from their banks”
Considering the federal funds are mystical, there wouldn’t be much loss would there?
Are you refering to the worthless paper the government keeps printing? That will soon be worth about what monopoly money is worth. The bright side is we all have monopoly money.
dichiara
April 16th, 2009
4:28 pm
Just my two cents from Connecticut. Please go if you like. We won’t mind up here.
south side
April 16th, 2009
4:35 pm
It funny how a state thats already a third world country state even think of having a say in anything . thats why there has been 3 straight years our Ga government has not passed one meaningful bill .they are to busy worring about stupid stuff
Seccession « Left on Lanier
April 16th, 2009
4:38 pm
[...] 16, 2009 Seccession Posted by Gray under Governing No Comments Bookman catches a pretty big vote in the Georgia Senate, that was missed by all of us [...]
HavingMySay
April 16th, 2009
4:41 pm
ConservativeAnchor
April 16th, 2009
1:36 pm
Having MySay: Where are you going to put this pipe dream? How many homes, farms, etc, will be seized. How many forests bulldozed, pastures separated?
There are rail lines all over this country that can be revitalized and upgraded to carry out this function. We could also work with AmTrack to enhance our current rail system. Also, I would support putting the rail line above our current highways, which wouldn’t require much to accomplish the task.
There is not a need to confiscate a whole lot of pastures or kill a lot of trees. Just follow our curent rail lines and it would be a major success, with a much faster and effective method of travel.
THINK OUTSIDE THE CAR MAN, THINK OUTSIDE THE CAR.
John J
April 16th, 2009
4:45 pm
What this is really about is who pays and who doesn’t. Go to: http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=6 and take a look at who pay’s what when. The left talks about the Bush tax cuts and how it only took care of the rich. Then why, according to IRS data, do the rich pay a higher percentage of taxes now, then under Saint Bill. In every category the rich pay more, and the poor pay less. Ahhhh, facts are a wonderful thing. Make more, pay more, one of the more progressive lefties will have to explain to me how paying more is regressive. (please don’t use the tired excuse that I have a greater disposable income so it really doesn’t effect me. I have a higher disposable income because I worked for it.)
md
April 16th, 2009
4:46 pm
Would it be as successful as the money pit Amtrack?
md
April 16th, 2009
4:51 pm
Should a student that studies 24/7 and gets all A’s have to share the A’s with a student that parties 24/7 and gets D’s and F’s????? There were no takers on this question yesterday, anyone willing to take a stab at it?
How about: If a seed is a seed is a seed until it is fertilized, how can it ever become an irrelevant seed again?
HavingMySay
April 16th, 2009
4:52 pm
It will be much faster, efficient and cost effective. AmTrack is not a money pit because of the service, it’s becuse it takes too long to get to your destination. Just think of getting from Atlanta to Orlando within one to two hours(probably less) and for much less than a plane ticket.
This would be a dream project for me to work on.
Richard
April 16th, 2009
4:59 pm
Oh wow, this was good legislation.
Thanks for letting me know about it!
HavingMySay
April 16th, 2009
5:00 pm
I’ll bite:
No, but I wouldn’t hire someone just because they made all A’s. People who don’t study 24/7 are sometimes much more creative.
So, I wouldn’t expect them to share their grades, but I would hire both because creativyt will have a huge effect on my profits.
You can’t do everything by the book and you have to think outside the box. My job can’t be done by looking in a text book, the answer just isn’t there.
Von Cracker
April 16th, 2009
5:05 pm
Simply put, the Right’s overwhelming reliance on hyperbole to support their arguments ultimately and unequivocally destroys it.
Keep flailing those arms, sore losers!
Alistari
April 16th, 2009
5:05 pm
I have a question to you right wingers, do you believe in interracial marriage?
md
April 16th, 2009
5:11 pm
HMS,
The question pertains to effort, not smarts.
Equate it to the neighbor with the boat, 2 jet skiis, golf cart, 3 cars, and the foreclosed home that others are now paying for.
Should others suffer the hangover caused by the partying???
jb
April 16th, 2009
5:12 pm
All hail Georgia!
Matt
April 16th, 2009
5:14 pm
see yah, wouldn’t wanna be yah Georgia and Texas. I’d love to see how you get by without sucking on the federal teat. Good luck and good riddance if you really want out. Have fun becoming a third world country within a first world country.
EdSki
April 16th, 2009
5:32 pm
You do realize the Georgia senate is not saying criminals should go free, but they should have been prosecuted and imprisoned by the states where their crimes occurred, right?
Have you ever read the US Constitution? Not the ‘living, breathing’ one modern liberals love to mentally caress, but the actual, signed document.
SuperDave
April 16th, 2009
5:32 pm
ConservativeAnchor
“Alistari: Provided it is between one woman and one man.”
Didn’t men have multiple wives in the Old Testament?
When did this become not OK with God. I didn’t get the memo.
I’m sure Corporal can enlighten us.
David Herron
April 16th, 2009
5:59 pm
This is treason! Each member of this body swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. The authors and co-sponsors of this resolution should be impeached. Do these people even have a clue?
Fly-On-The-Wall
April 16th, 2009
6:49 pm
Amazing discussion today. Not sure it solved anything actually. Of course most days there is never anything solved here. The people on the right refuse to see most anything out side their viewpoint – I’m right your wrong, period. The left believes they know/have all or most of the answers or good ideas.
Personally I lean to the left just because I’d rather give people the benefit of the doubt versus an having an extremely rigid interpretation of anything – the Constitution or Bible. Doesn’t mean I believe in anarchy but I think things need to be looked at in context and many times case-by-case.
Audrey in Georgia
April 16th, 2009
6:51 pm
I do not care how many tea parties you people have as long as none of you bring physical
harm to the president. Regardless of what you say or do, President Obama is our president
and he is your president, too! For those of you who want to secede, DO IT! I dare you! I do
not believe you have the nerve or the resources to secede.
Georgia… « Midlife And Treachery
April 16th, 2009
6:57 pm
[...] 16, 2009 at 3:56 PM (Uncategorized) If this is no prank, then what was the point of that [...]
Vick
April 16th, 2009
6:58 pm
Conservatives are a bunch of babies… you don’t like who won the election, so you want to take your State and leave. PATHETIC! If you don’t like the direction the country is headed, then exercise your rights to fix it… but tear it apart? That is for imbeciles and wing-nuts. If you think our State leaving the Union is a good idea then you are too stupid to vote anyway.
Below The Beltway » Blog Archive » Georgia Threatens To Secede, Again
April 16th, 2009
7:12 pm
[...] they didn’t quite get the message back in 1865: It wasn’t quite the firing on Fort Sumter that launched the Civil War. But on April 1, your [...]
danjonglee
April 16th, 2009
7:20 pm
Jay,
You really have the kooks out with this post…….
OmahaJoe
April 16th, 2009
7:21 pm
OK, I thought my state was a bunch of conservative idiots wandering in the field. But any thimble-witted nutjob who put these Ass-Bags in office should be taken out and shot mercifully to ensure their addition to the gene-pool is null-and-void! Wait, better yet- they should be clubbed & skinned like the baby-seals they probably make fun of in their circle-jerk white-pointy-hat clubs. As the great philosopher Sir Charles of Brown would say… Good Grief!
md
April 16th, 2009
7:30 pm
Oh the tolerance……so thick you can cut it with a knife.
There is a reason this country was set up as a republic, as democracies tend to be their own downfall.
ren
April 16th, 2009
7:31 pm
I encourage Georgia to leave the Union. Take Texas with you, Oklahoma and South Dakota as well. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.
Now Georgia Is Threatening to Secede « Liberty Street
April 16th, 2009
7:32 pm
[...] Georgia Is Threatening to Secede 2009 April 16 by Kathy Via John Aravosis, Jay Bookman at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tells us that on April 1, the Georgia Senate passed Senate [...]