PSC newcomer yet to master subtle art of back-scratching
There’s the right way to do these things. And then there’s Tim Echols’ way.
Echols is a member of the state Public Service Commission, charged with regulating the state’s energy utilities, telecom companies and trucking and limousine services. As Kristi Swartz reports in today’s AJC, Echols wrote a letter back in March to Augusta National Golf Club, using official PSC stationery, requesting two tickets to a practice round of the Masters.
“As a statewide elected official, I would welcome the opportunity to visit with constituents and guests in our state,” Echols wrote.
Getting no response to his first letter, Echols stepped up the heat. He wrote another letter, demanding access to the grounds to allow him to inspect limousines being used to service members, players and guests at the tournament, so that he could ensure that they were properly licensed by the PSC.
He still didn’t get in.
If you’re wondering how Echols came up with such a cockamamie approach, I may be able to help you out. You see, before filing to run for the PSC last year, Echols served as campaign manager for then-Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine in his failed run for governor. And Oxendine was renowned for his less-than-subtle use of public office as leverage to get what he wanted.
As Swartz reported in late July, the newly elected Echols has also run up twice as much in expense reimbursements as any other PSC commissioner, spending more than $12,000 on trips that have often been a dubious mix of personal and public business.
“Since he took office in January, Echols’ billings for mileage, hotels and meals have included $1,231.42 for a trip to Savannah to showcase his personal compressed natural gas-fueled car in a St. Patrick’s Day parade; $337.62 to Albany for nuclear waste meetings, which coincided with his daughter’s track meet there; and $79.05 in mileage from his Winterville home to the Woodruff Arts Center because he wore a gold PSC name badge and represented the agency.
There have been additional trips to Brunswick, St. Simons and Ossabaw islands, some of them including members of his family….
That said, Echols has lined up a 10-day trip to France next year to tour some of the country’s 52 nuclear plants and learn how that industry handles spent fuel. He will pay for the trip out of campaign funds rather than expense it.”
Echols defends his blunt approach to the Masters by explaining that he didn’t want to acquire tickets through lobbyists, which might make him beholden to them. That makes a certain strange kind of sense. Indeed, if you look through disclosure forms, you discover that so far this year, Echols has accepted just two meals, worth a total of $66.75, from lobbyists.
On the other hand, Echols’ colleague at the PSC, Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, did wrangle a ticket to a Masters practice round, courtesy of an AT&T lobbyist. So far this year, McDonald has also accepted $1,999.67 in lodging, meals and other goodies from SCANA, a gas marketing company that he was elected to regulate on behalf of the people of Georgia.
SCANA has been even more hospitable to another commissioner, Doug Everett, for whom it has purchased $2,169.96 in lodging, meals and other benefits so far this year.
A third PSC colleague, Stan Wise, isn’t listed as attending the Masters this year but did accept three rounds of golf, for a total of $435, from David Christopher Weaver, a lobbyist for Atlanta Gas Light Co., which the PSC regulates. So far this year, the AGL lobbyist has showered Wise with $1,237.65 in golf, meals and other benefits.
(The fifth PSC member, Chuck Eaton, hasn’t accepted — or perhaps been offered — largesse on that scale.)
And of course, PSC commissioners are hardly alone. Another lobbyist reports spending $990 on tickets, food and lodging to take state Sen. Renee Unterman and her spouse to the Masters, courtesy of Hall, Booth, Smith and Slover, an Atlanta law firm. Two other state legislators are also listed as accepting Masters tickets from lobbyists.
Other entries in the disclosure data base are a little more opaque. One lobbyist reports spending $668 to take two state representatives to an unnamed “golf tournament” on April 7. That happened to be the starting date of the 2011 Masters, which ran April 7-10. Another reported spending $50 to buy “ticket to golf tournament” for House Speaker David Ralston on April 10. (If anybody else knows how to snag a ticket to the final round at Augusta for $50, please let me in on the deal.)
The point is, there’s clearly a “right” way to get your back scratched. If you stay within approved channels, under Georgia law you can legally accept thousands of dollars worth of benefits, even from companies you’re supposed to be regulating. In the words of the Wicked Witch of the West, “these things must be done delicately.”
It’s an approach Echols has yet to master, so to speak.
– Jay Bookman
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277 comments Add your comment
Jay
August 25th, 2011
11:23 am
“Puts Romney in perspective. Pres Obama got elected, then did what he thought right, regardless of party power base. The though(t) Romney would not do the same is disturbing.”
Romney COULD not do the same, Paul. In case you hadn’t noticed, the GOP is a lot more ferocious and effective at enforcing party discipline than Democrats could even hope to be.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
11:24 am
“Obama Patella Convulsitis”
Putting that in my lexicon…..now….
jconservative
August 25th, 2011
11:25 am
“But you can sure as hell tell them they can’t shower legislators, regulators and state employees with gifts.”
Yes you can. But if the Georgia General Assembly does that then they will not be showered with gifts. And we all know how the State legislature likes showers.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
11:26 am
“The GOP damn near controls the entire South. By their own hubris, the Southern US should be the shining example for the rest of the country to follow by 2020. I won’t hold my breath to see that happen”
For real, it’s like the Dave R. utopian wonderland we longed for so many years ago….where everyone is conservative and nothing ever goes wrong!
USinUK
August 25th, 2011
11:27 am
“”I’m not a member of any organized political party, I’m a Democrat!”
— Will Rogers
USinUK
August 25th, 2011
11:28 am
Bosch – “it’s like the Dave R. utopian wonderland we longed for so many years ago….where everyone is conservative and nothing ever goes wrong!”
you mean like this:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120789/
Adam
August 25th, 2011
11:28 am
Bosch @ 11:26a
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
11:28 am
“Some people have no idea how a consumer based and driven economy works.”
So taxing the rich does not affect a consumer based economy but taxing the poor will? If that is true, why does the fed take the money from low income workers each payday and not give it back until April? If your theory was true, they should not take the taxes on payday.
Message from Matti
August 25th, 2011
11:29 am
Also, they shouldn’t shower WITH legislators, either. There’s been too much of that as well. (Ewwwww.)
Steve Hodges
August 25th, 2011
11:30 am
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
10:46 am
“The reason you are not hearing about Dems having the same transgressions, there are hardly any left in state government!!!”
*************************************************************
Heh, heh, heh.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
11:32 am
Jay
That was my not very well made point with “left in the dust” and ‘would not do the same.’ It wasn’t just a question of Romney’s integrity vs desire, it’s what he faces within his own party and the doctrinal control they exercise that’s what’s really disturbing.
USinUK
August 25th, 2011
11:33 am
“So taxing the rich does not affect a consumer based economy but taxing the poor will? If that is true, why does the fed take the money from low income workers each payday and not give it back until April? If your theory was true, they should not take the taxes on payday.”
tax INCREASES,
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
11:33 am
For me this is the political equivalent of when Georgia plays Florida. The biggest disappointment is that they can’t both lose…
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/25/rove-levels-palin-accusation/#more-172321
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
11:33 am
“So taxing the rich does not affect a consumer based economy but taxing the poor will?”
Yes. This has been another episode of simple answers to simple questions.
But seriously Reb, it does so because the poor are consumers — they buy stuff just like the rich do, and if you take away bigger relative chunks of their purchasing power, there is even less demand for products.
Adam
August 25th, 2011
11:35 am
JohnnyReb: So taxing the rich does not affect a consumer based economy but taxing the poor will?
Yes.
If that is true, why does the fed take the money from low income workers each payday and not give it back until April? If your theory was true, they should not take the taxes on payday.
Good idea.
Of course, as we all know, good ideas get immediately implemented and retroactively prove themselves.
Jay
August 25th, 2011
11:35 am
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
10:46 am
“The reason you are not hearing about Dems having the same transgressions, there are hardly any left in state government!!!”
*************************************************************
Heh, heh, heh.”
Sure there are. They just changed from D to R, which suddenly means they can do nothing wrong. We can start with the governor’s office and work from there….
PSC newcomer yet to master subtle art of back-scratching – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Today Golf Store
August 25th, 2011
11:39 am
[...] webmaster@technorati.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
11:39 am
AmVet,
Everytime I heard anything about Sarah Palin these days, this Luckovich cartoon pops into my head — it pretty much sums up everything you need to know about that Alaskan dingbat:
http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=54412
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
11:40 am
“They just changed from D to R, which suddenly means they can do nothing wrong.”
OH SNAP!!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 25th, 2011
11:42 am
Well, this whole mess just goes to show you need experienced people in these guvmint jobs. They need to be elected again and again and again just to get a handle on how to
take bribesuse lobbyists to get what you want. At least till you can get a handle on things. For instance, I see that our godly Gov. Deal, after being $2 million in the hole when he took office, is almost free of debt after a year or so in office. Heck, this guy could of made a appointment with the Guvner’s office and learned a few things. Even a rank amateur knows you don’t demand nothing of the people at Augusta National. They won’t even let a President play there if they don’t like him. I notice they tend to like Republican Presidents. They can play there about any time.This guy will learn how to get his palm greased. For now it’s just a tiny mistake. Before you know it he’ll be taking free trips around the world and getting free tickets to the Masters and the World Serious and all that stuff.
Have a good Thursday everybody. That is, except for the people that don’t like me. It wouldn’t break my heart if they got a fatal disease or were in a fatal car accident or something like that. Not that I wish bad luck on anybody. I’m a Christian after all.
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
11:42 am
You guys can have some fun with this. It’s a Conservative scorecard where the state is selected and it lists each congressman and shows their individual score for voting conservative. It lists Democrats also. For example, my congressman is David Scott who claims to be a “blue dog” Democrat. That of course only applies during campaigning or when the heat is on. He is tied with Hank Johnson having the lowest conservative voting record at 10%.
http://heritageactionscorecard.com/scorecard/index.html#home
PSC newcomer yet to master subtle art of back-scratching – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Golf Deal Blog
August 25th, 2011
11:42 am
[...] webmaster@technorati.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
godless heathen
August 25th, 2011
11:44 am
“spending more than $12,000 on trips that have often been a dubious mix of personal and public business.”
Who does he think he is, Michelle Obama?
Jefferson
August 25th, 2011
11:44 am
Jay, who you going to call when you get that huge utility bill? You may want your back scratched…
stands for decibels
August 25th, 2011
11:44 am
I think I see the problem.
the people who love to sling around the “half of all taxpayers don’t pay income taxes” stat seem to think that that 47% = 47% of the country’s economy.
Or as the kid said: “I see stupid people.”
Jay
August 25th, 2011
11:46 am
Jefferson, that ship sailed by a LLLOOONNNGGG time ago.
USinUK
August 25th, 2011
11:46 am
“Who does he think he is, Michelle Obama?”
such as?
Paul
August 25th, 2011
11:46 am
JohnnyReb
That matters only if you agree with Heritage’s view of what legislation is ‘conservative.’
Mr. Snarky
August 25th, 2011
11:47 am
It’s good to be a good ol’ boy!
USinUK
August 25th, 2011
11:47 am
dB – “Or as the kid said: “I see stupid people.””
f’real
ty webb
August 25th, 2011
11:47 am
Jay,
let me guess…these ethics(or lack thereof) concerns are some sort of virus that these party switchers either catch upon becoming an “R” or are dormant while they’re “D”’s?
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
11:48 am
Jay, I expected that comment from one of your faithful. Yea, I registered as a Democrat when I was in high school. It didn’t take long for me to see the error.
Jay
August 25th, 2011
11:49 am
A very bad guess, Ty.
Don’t go blowing your beer money on the lottery anytime soon.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
11:50 am
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/state-utility-commissioners-pursuit-1139795.html
For more on the story…
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
11:50 am
Paul, it ISSSS a Conservative scorecard, Heritage ISSSS a Conservative think tank. It’s not fool proof.
godless heathen
August 25th, 2011
11:50 am
“I think the earthquake happened because of tectonic plate movement.”
I’d go with isostatic rebound, myself.
USinUK
August 25th, 2011
11:52 am
“Yea, I registered as a Democrat when I was in high school.”
you were “registered” before you could vote?
or were you in high school well past the age of 18?
Paul
August 25th, 2011
11:52 am
“when I was in high school”
when I took part in that socialist program of other people paying for my education because somehow 13 years of free education got thought of as a ‘right’….”
Jefferson
August 25th, 2011
11:53 am
Does Hootie give a Hoot about the PSC ?
DebbieDoRight
August 25th, 2011
11:54 am
PSC = Publicly Scr#wing Consumers.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
11:55 am
JohnnyReb
I see your point, but digging down, they view cutting huge amounts from Interior as the True Conservative Position, while others might think conservative would want to, you know, actually conserve our natural resources and lands and their beauty and that to cut such preservation programs is quite unconservative.
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
11:55 am
Paul, I’m an old guy. I completed HS before integration. If there was a private school in Coweta County at the time, I don’t know of it. It would not have mattered, however, as we were to poor to go to anything but government scrool.
PSC newcomer yet to master subtle art of back-scratching – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) | Golf Today Blog
August 25th, 2011
11:56 am
[...] webmaster@technorati.com wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]
Adam
August 25th, 2011
11:57 am
It’s not fool proof.
Could not have said it better myself.
USinUK
August 25th, 2011
11:57 am
“I’d go with isostatic rebound, myself.”
so, one of the tectonic plates just went through a bad break-up?
Adam
August 25th, 2011
11:58 am
I didn’t know enough in high school to decide which party to register as. I still don’t remember what I picked. The only thing I was told was “if you pick independent you won’t be able to vote in a primary.”
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 25th, 2011
11:59 am
Well, I don’t look at it as somebody else paying for my edumacation. I look at it as three years of preparing for life in each grade until the 5th grade turned out to be my senior year.
Dang multiplying table. I could of really been somebody. Course, it would of disqualified me from being a legislator.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
12:00 pm
JohnnyReb
Kinda makes one grateful that all kids, no matter their parents’ circumstances, are provided a free education so they can make the most of life’s opportunities, doesn’t it?
It’s why I have no problem with kids of illegals getting educated. The bottom-line benefit to the country of having kids in school and getting educated can only be good.
USinUK
August 25th, 2011
12:01 pm
Paul – commie-pinko-hippy-socialist!
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
12:01 pm
Bosch, that was great. Thanks.
Paul @11:55, preach it brother.
Neo-cons are NOT conservatives.
In addition to their new-found anti-environmentalism and pro-pollution policies you refer to, I have listed numerous other party-wide positions that confirm this.
Actual American conservatism in the GOP has been mortally wounded for thirty years and is on the very verge of it’s swan song…
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
12:02 pm
Paul – we are big animal lovers and support protecting the environment and maintaining public parks/lands. However, there appears to be too much federal movement on acquiring more public lands especially when those lands have the potential for producing fossil fuels. I’m OK with drilling public land, within reason.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
12:04 pm
“Paul – commie-pinko-hippy-socialist!”
See, Bosch?
I told you it wasn’t lib day!
godless heathen
August 25th, 2011
12:04 pm
bad break-up – Yea something like that.
ty webb
August 25th, 2011
12:05 pm
“free education”
hmmm…me thinks that the property taxpayers of coweta county may just have a few questions about this.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
12:06 pm
“However, there appears to be too much federal movement on acquiring more public lands especially when those lands have the potential for producing fossil fuels”
Ummmm…if they’re “public lands” doesn’t that mean they are ALREADY owned by the federal government?
DeQuincy
August 25th, 2011
12:06 pm
Jay I would hope the AJC and other local media will remind us of Tim Echols’ shenanigans before the next election. This being the United States of Amnesia, if you don’t we’ll have long forgotten about it and we’ll re-elect this joker. Sleezebag politicians like him count on us having short memories.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
12:07 pm
ty webb
“Free” does not mean ‘it’s magic, there’s no cost” it means, usually, no cost to the recipient.
It’s like when you get a ‘free’ gift. Someone, somewhere paid, it’s just not you.
Unless you know of a group of 12-year-old property barons, that is -
Mary Elizabeth
August 25th, 2011
12:07 pm
Paul @ 12:00 p.m.
Paul, please keep saying that – over and over. “Free education” not only benefits the young “so they can make the most of life’s opportunities,” but it benefits our nation, as a whole.
RB from Gwinnett
August 25th, 2011
12:08 pm
Still can’t find anything to write about Obama, Jay? Perhaps you just aren’t paying any attention?
What did it cost the taxpayers for Michelle and the kids to fly separately to their vacation?
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
12:08 pm
I think I see the problem.
the people who love to sling around the “half of all taxpayers don’t pay income taxes” stat seem to think that that 47% = 47% of the country’s economy.
Or as the kid said: “I see stupid people.”
md
August 25th, 2011
12:09 pm
Is it just me, or do I constantly hear just about all politicians promising to clean everything up…….and then very few ever do……………….
When their skill set is to master the art of bs, we get what we deserve…………….
Liberal Larry
August 25th, 2011
12:09 pm
Irrefutable evidence that the Republicans are trying to sabotage the economy for the 2012 elections. Several Repugnicans are criticizing Obama’s vacation in a cynical attempt to get him back to Washington to work on the economy.
Adam
August 25th, 2011
12:09 pm
Still can’t find anything to write about Obama, Jay?
Annnnnnnd it’s back to “everything is Obama’s fault.”
Also, the logical fallacy that involves “your issue isn’t important compared to what I think is important. Here’s my important issue. Stop talking about the main topic and talk about what *I* want to talk about.”
ty webb
August 25th, 2011
12:10 pm
Paul,
my point exactly.
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
12:11 pm
Paul – the educating illegals subject is a wide one. I don’t think you would have seen the uproar if the economy was not in the tank.
When in my office, I want to see all the illegals deported. However, I know that is not possible and that if I was on-hand to see the family being hauled away my position would soften considerably. There is no outcome that will satisfy everyone. But I believe most would agree the top priority should be to stop illegal entry. Otherwise, any fix won’t last.
md
August 25th, 2011
12:13 pm
““Free education” not only benefits the young “so they can make the most of life’s opportunities,” but it benefits our nation, as a whole.”
Would be better if they were educated to understand where it comes from……………
Soothsayer
August 25th, 2011
12:13 pm
Now, Jay, don’t you go rockin’ the boat none. That’s just the way things is done ’round heah! We’ve been doin’ it that way long before you got heah and we’ll be doin’ it that way long after you gone.
What’s that? The Ratepayers? Oh, them! Well, they ain’t gonna miss a few more dollars heah and there! After all, things is gettin’ more expensive all the time, ain’t they?
Adam
August 25th, 2011
12:13 pm
ty webb: my point exactly.
No, your POINT is that free ______ is somehow bad.
Let me know how well you life has worked out, having accepted NOTHING from anyone for free. That means you would have had to deny your mother’s milk, and anything they may have paid for to help you, and you didn’t let other people pay for part of your fuel in your car… you paid the extra cost yourself while everyone else paid regular gas prices, and you never used any public roads ever.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:13 pm
Mary Elizabeth,
Twas reading through the posts last night and was quite impressed with your knowledge of Van Gogh. Well, I’m always impressed with your knowledge, but Van Gogh is one of my favs. WAAAAYYYYY ahead of his time.
getalife
August 25th, 2011
12:13 pm
Lets deport the cons that want to default instead jr.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
12:14 pm
But I believe most would agree the top priority should be to stop illegal entry.
And yet with the efforts that Obama has made that exceed those of the prior Pres, I bet he’s still blaming Obama……
Adam
August 25th, 2011
12:14 pm
Would be better if they were educated to understand where it comes from……………
But they can always CHOOSE to go find that out themselves.
Jefferson
August 25th, 2011
12:14 pm
What it costs for the president’s family to go on vacation is no concern of nobody but the president.
Adam
August 25th, 2011
12:14 pm
LUNCH
Soothsayer
August 25th, 2011
12:17 pm
Meanwhile, over at Wingnut’s blog, they’re discussing the fine points of “tax reform” (i.e., shifting taxes from the rich to the poor) in Georgia and how that’s going to improve unemployment. You don’t want to miss it. And, besides, poor ol’ Wingnut really needs a few posts so he can keep his job!
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
12:17 pm
JReb
As long as we allow people to enter the US legally with or without visas, we will have a problem with illegals. Unless we lock the borders down like Eastern Germany, we will always have that problem. Unless that’s the idea that people have in mind when they’re saying that we need to control the borders, it’s best to not even trot that meme out.
Mighty Righty
August 25th, 2011
12:17 pm
I know we are all shocked. The idea that elected offcials receive gifts from constituents and businesses. Never heard of such a thing. I do prefer it to stealing from the taxpayers though.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:17 pm
Adam,
How do you make the “big” smiley face?
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:18 pm
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
12:18 pm
: D Bosch
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:19 pm
“I do prefer it to stealing from the taxpayers though”
So, MR, you don’t mind corporate influence in your democracy instead of you know, regular old democracy?
Mary Elizabeth
August 25th, 2011
12:19 pm
I have paid over $2,000. a year for property taxes – which goes primarily to public schools – and I have not had a child in school for 12 years. That means that I have paid over $24,000. in property taxes to support the “new crop” of oncoming Americans for the last dozen years without its benefitting me personally – except for the knowledge I have accrued over time that “What Benefits One, Benefits All.”
Not to see that is short-sighted – and not to see that will be the undoing of our nation – if we do not wake up to the propaganda of “Divide and Conquer” that is being fed to the more mercenary side of our natures.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:19 pm
Hehehehehe.
stands for decibels
August 25th, 2011
12:19 pm
Off-topic as all get out, but damn. sometimes Rude Pundit is merely funny, and sometimes he hits it out of a pitcher’s ballpark…
Someone Should Smack Marco Rubio with a History Stick
So yesterday, Florida Senator Marco Rubio was speaking at the Reagan Library (motto: “What? No pudding?”) and he said a truly ignorant, stupid ####ing thing about Social Security, Medicare, and other safety net programs: “These programs actually weakened us as a people. You see, almost forever, it was institutions in society that assumed the role of taking care of one another. If someone was sick in your family, you took care of them.”
[...]
You gotta love the fantasy America that Republicans conjure all the time, where the little people live decent lives, helping one another, sharing cups of sugar and loaning each other a few bucks when little Tommy breaks his leg in a bicycle accident; where you could save your money in a little local bank where you knew the tellers and the president and know that the money would be there, security, yes, but private, not social, which is also in the word “socialism.” Ahh, fantasy America is quite a place. Who wouldn’t want to live there?
Of course, real America is filled with unscrupulous ####sucker capitalists who would stab your children in their eyes to take their money. It’s one reason we have recessions and, oh, hell, a Great Depression that destroyed the pleasant little nest eggs that all those little people saved in their little banks so they could help their little neighbors and their little selves. That’d be why we have safety nets. Because people are people, and everyone is not on board with the whole “compassion” thing.
md
August 25th, 2011
12:20 pm
“But they can always CHOOSE to go find that out themselves.”
That would be my preferred method……..but it needs to be understood one way or another……….
Most kids are clueless about the link between taxes and schools…………I’d say that may be a failure of the system……………..as is the lack of any kind of class not preparing for everyday life……like checkbooks, debit cards, savings accounts, etc………..and how they work.
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
12:20 pm
Good Fight – I blame Obama for trying to achieve through regulation what Congress said No to, i.e., The Dream Act. I like what the AZ governor stated – Obama was elected to serve under the law, not a king above the law.
ty webb
August 25th, 2011
12:20 pm
“And yet with the efforts that Obama has made that exceed those of the prior Pres,”
and yet no cries from anyone that obama hates “those people”…
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:22 pm
stands,
And people conveniently forget that Medicare for example is HOW many of us who have done the “taking care of the old folks in the home” gig actually do it. What? They think we just get all that in home health care for freaking free?
Liberal Larry
August 25th, 2011
12:23 pm
In response to the DC earthquake Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee D- Houston is proposing legislation to fund research confirming the linkage between global warming and growing earthquake activity.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:23 pm
I guess Rubio thinks that we care givers grow our own herbs in the back yard and get the local “wise” woman to come and conjure up the potions to make our old folks feel all better!
stands for decibels
August 25th, 2011
12:23 pm
What? They think we just get all that in home health care for freaking free?
why, yes. Yes, I believe they do.
md
August 25th, 2011
12:24 pm
“I have paid over $2,000. a year for property taxes – which goes primarily to public schools – and I have not had a child in school for 12 years. That means that I have paid over $24,000. in property taxes to support the “new crop” of oncoming Americans for the last dozen years without its benefitting me personally – except for the knowledge I have accrued over time that “What Benefits One, Benefits All.” ”
Did you ever convey this to your students?
I don’t know too many schools that teach practical matters…….we all get algebra……but not taxes and how they make society work…………..
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:24 pm
Well, actually I have grown a few herbs in the backyard that could make my old folks feel better, but that’s beside the point.
Manchurian-Kenyan Candidate
August 25th, 2011
12:25 pm
Yup, completely agree. This Republican PSC commissioner ranks almost, but not quite, up to the standards set by our former Democratic Mayor Bill Campbell……just sayin…..for comparison sake…..
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
12:25 pm
Right @12:17, yet we do anyway.
It is called conservative trickle down poverty through corruption costs.
Endless Georgia bank failures paid for by?
Ga Power’s new nuke plants paid for by?
Bribing companies to move here and supposedly create jobs, paid for by?
Outright tax avoidance and cronyism via auto inspecting schemes paid for by?
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge protection of Georgia consumers from insurance commissioners in the pockets of their “regulated” industry.
Ad infinitum, ad nauseum…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
12:26 pm
yes Johnny, I knew you would fail to understand limited resources, actual border protections and the nuances of policy to focus on the real criminals…..
Here let me chant it for you: “What part of illegal do you not understand? I blame Obama!” Altogether now….. chant it, rant it and make no sense.
King is a nice touch…. I am surprised she had time to think of that given all those headless bodies all over the place in AZ and the corporate donations from the privatized prison system “hurt” by sensible policies like what Obama has done.
stands for decibels
August 25th, 2011
12:26 pm
Well, actually I have grown a few herbs in the backyard that could make my old folks feel better
We grow an herb in the backyard that makes my old cat feel better.
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
12:26 pm
Brosephus – don’t agree. The Fed government should be tracking and enforcing all those temporary entries they permit. That would be a legitimate fed government function. But instead, the feds waste resources on such things as telling us what to eat. Now don’t come back with the ridiculous argument on inspecting food. I did not state stop inspecting food. The point is, the feds do a poor job on what really matters.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
12:28 pm
stands,
I actually kicked a home health care worker out of my house recently for lecturing me that I should quit my job in order to better care for my old person. I not so nicely “splained” to the bitch that it is HER JOB to care for my old person, not mine, and if I was neglecting my old person by (”shock”) working, then I wouldn’t have freaking called her to freaking begin with!
Yes, I did!
I mean just damn! So, in her world, I’m supposed to quit my job in order to care for my old person that SHE’S supposed to do, and in the meantime, lose my freaking house because I have no job to pay for it, and then not only will my old person be homeless, but so will my family and puppies!
Paul
August 25th, 2011
12:28 pm
JohnnyReb 12:11
Glad to see the issue viewed not as one standalone issue but as having many components, each requiring a different approach.
md
“Would be better if they were educated to understand where it comes from…”
Your school included a section on property taxes?!!? Or federal supplementals?!!?
“Lets deport the cons that want to default instead jr.”
Now that’s a platform I could get behind!
Bosch
All that
stuff? And you call me sick?
Well…. maybe I am… but you’re a real
http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/muze/books/0446604666.jpg !