An appalling lesson in ethics and the Ga. Legislature
In the last two hours of the very last day of the 2012 Georgia General Assembly, with scores of proposed bills flying back and forth between the House and Senate, a handful of powerful state legislators tried to take advantage of the confusion. The conspiracy they launched demonstrates just how contemptuous they have become of the people whom they were elected to serve.
The goal of their little plot was to further weaken Georgia’s already lax ethics laws. Had it succeeded, it would have prevented voters from learning the identities of elected officials who had failed to meet deadlines established in state law for filing ethics disclosure and campaign finance statements. It also would have allowed fines levied against legislators for violating those laws to simply disappear, without payment and without anyone even learning they had existed.
And believe or not, the means by which legislative leaders attempted to accomplish that deed was more sordid than the deed itself.
We begin with House Bill 875, a harmless little piece of legislation meant to ensure that the Department of Natural Resources did not have to release personal data of applicants for hunting and fishing licenses, such as Social Security numbers and drivers’ license photos.
However, in what now looks to have been a well-orchestrated scheme, this innocuous little bill was passed in slightly different versions in the House and Senate. That forced the appointment of a six-member conference committee — three from each chamber — to work out the differences.
In hindsight, the membership of that conference committee should have signaled trouble, because it was oddly high-powered for such a little bill.
In the Senate, it comprised Don Balfour of Snellville, the powerful chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and a prominent foe of ethics reform. John Bulloch of Ochlocknee and Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga, also members of the Rules Committee and influential legislators in their own right, were also appointed.
In the House, Ethics Committee Chairman Joe Wilkinson of Sandy Springs was named to the conference committee on HB 875, along with David Knight of Griffin and Tom McCall of Elberton.
Meeting in private in the last hours of the session, those six legislators agreed to dramatically revise HB 875 by adding the ethics-related language outlined above. They knew that such provisions would be highly controversial, but they were counting on the fact that in the last hectic hours of a session, members were much too busy to read the piles of legislation flying across their desks.
Under such circumstances, legislators casting votes are forced to rely on assurances from their colleagues that the bills coming before them are worthy of support. It is an act of faith and trust, and in this case, that faith and trust was betrayed.
After the conference committee concluded its work, Bulloch went to the Senate chamber, told his fellow senators that a deal had been worked out on little ol’ HB 875 and urged their support. It passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 46-4, but a look at the four “no” votes suggest that word of the bill’s true intent had already begun to leak out.
One of the four “no” votes was Josh McKoon, a freshman Republican from Columbus who had angered his party leadership by daring to sponsor ethics-reform legislation. Another was Democrat Jason Carter of Decatur, who earlier in the evening had tried and failed to force a floor vote on legislation imposing a $100 limit on gifts from lobbyists. The third was Democrat Gloria Butler, secretary of the Senate Ethics Committee; the fourth was Mike Crane, a freshman Republican from Newnan.
With time ticking down in the session, the bill now moved to the House, where it was introduced to legislators with no mention of its revised content. By then, however, AJC reporters and others had caught wind of the changes made to the bill. As House members began to vote, word was spreading. Alarmed legislators who had initially voted “yes” on the bill quickly began changing those votes to “no”, and in the end the bill was defeated by a vote of 25 to 143.
Wilkinson, the House Ethics Committee chairman, later tried to defend the rejected language, calling opposition to it “disgraceful.” As he saw it, the public has no right to know when legislators miss legal deadlines for filing ethics forms.
“Why should [a politician’s] name be up there if he didn’t do anything wrong?” he said.
That is wrong on so many levels. First, it is wrong as a matter of process. If the only way to enact your “good idea” is by smuggling it into unrelated legislation at the last minute, then maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t really such a good idea.
Second, let’s think about what really happened here. In the past, Wilkinson has defended Georgia’s ethics laws by stressing the importance of disclosure. If legislators and lobbyists disclose everything as required by law, he has argued, we don’t really need laws against gifts and conflicts of interest, etc. The voters will have all the information they need to discipline their elected officials.
In reality, however, some legislators are going years without filing required disclosure forms; they also aren’t paying the required fines, because the state ethics commission lacks the resources and gumption to take action. As a result, the only remaining incentive to encourage legislators to file disclosure by the legal deadline is public exposure if they do not.
Last week, Wilkinson and other tried to reduce public disclosure about legislators’ failure to publicly disclose, and they tried to do it without full disclosure. That is not open government.
That is, to borrow Wilkinson’s word, “disgraceful.”
– Jay Bookman
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682 comments Add your comment
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
7:15 pm
please do make them dinner and maybe you can let long borrow the boa. bernice will probably wanna wear the strap on……….
Jay
March 31st, 2012
7:16 pm
That too, Dog…
josef
March 31st, 2012
7:16 pm
DEL
I check in with Dusty from time to time over to Kyle’s…she’s still Sister Dusty, full of p*ss and vinagre, good for some literary allusions…
And supper? A muffalleta from Jason’s…mmmm, good…
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
7:20 pm
josef
March 31st, 2012
7:01 pm
Don’t forget
I miss Paul Harvey…
The world could use him now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYEFkYtANVg
Recon 0311 2533
March 31st, 2012
7:20 pm
josef,
Good food, good wine and good times. I miss Dusty and @@ as well as Hillbilly.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
7:21 pm
OMG josef!!! i spit good tequila all over the screen when i read that!! YOU. ARE. SOOOOOOOO. BAD!!!!! your comment (it was great);was totally outta line!!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
March 31st, 2012
7:21 pm
Well, the womens rights people are here and tonight on NBC News they showed that Hillary Clinton meeting with the head of Saudi Arabia. They had a big square table arrangement with the King and his people on one side and Hillary and her people on the other. One table had a modesty panel so Hillary could hide her legs from the King. But would she set at it? Noooooooo! She set at a table without a panel so she could flash her legs at the King and all his people, while some guy nobody cares about set at the table with the modesty panel. No wonder we’re so hated around the world! I can’t hardly wait till John Bolton is Secretary of State and all our women diplomats are bundled up in robes and veils and all that stuff. Bunch of hussys!
Recon 0311 2533
March 31st, 2012
7:24 pm
Redneck,
No comment on Hillary’s legs.
josef
March 31st, 2012
7:26 pm
DDR
That dinner was for Sweet Honey…don’t think the Bishop and Berenice would trust a meal of mine… and, ooohhh, girl that strap on…you jus bad, I say, baad…
JAY
I’m glad you didn’t take it the wrong way…
I guess it’s having grown up in the newsroom, but I’m always amazed at how both friend and foe put you on some kind of pedastle you never arrogated yourself and, while you DO have to be held to a higher standard having as you do the public podium at your disposal, you’re still a regular guy and heir to the same foibles and virtues as us all..and, as I often say, this is a fr*kken OPINION for the love of G-d, the Imam is just lucky enough to get paid for his!
josef
March 31st, 2012
7:35 pm
DEL
Get to check in with Hillbilly over to Kyle’s from time to time. If I could be more what I’d like to be, it would be him…
Don’t forget…
That Paul Harvey is one of the best things I’ve ever heard (read)… thanks for reminding me…
*****
Glad y’all liked the legend!
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
7:38 pm
ha! i think the good “bishop” as well as bernice will feel better when they stop living a lie.
i remember when i first started dating dudley i used to try and hide the fact that i was skiing the slopes so that my “friends” wouldn’t find out. dudley soon put a stop to that madness — and guess what? i felt better and more free when i stopped lieing and tipping around.
i’m sure the good “bishop” and bernice will feel more better and will probably loosen up; when they stop lieing to themselves and everyone else too.
Bud Wiser
March 31st, 2012
7:38 pm
Speaking of ethics, I see that Keith Olbermann was fired (again) from his latest gig on Al Gore’s CurrentTV network.
Even Gore (I invented the internet) apparently could not stomach the trash mouth degenerate crowd that KO represents.
KO says he is going to sue.
Yawn.
Another leftist tool bites the dirt. They’ll start disappearing like the carrier pigeons after the November elections.
Maybe KO can team up with that fat hag Rosie O’Donnell and start a cooking show.
Hahahahahahahahaha………..
Recon 0311 2533
March 31st, 2012
7:38 pm
Chow call…later y’all
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
7:40 pm
just like that — kentucky up by 10. man this is a good game.
josef
March 31st, 2012
7:41 pm
DDR
My life? Says it all,,,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiQshgKO6Co
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
7:45 pm
Bud, you’re so angry all the time. have you ever thought of other ways to dispose of some of that anger?
exercise?
yoga?
join a rock band?
sex?
dude you are wound wayyyy to tight….
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
7:48 pm
dang….anyone watching this game?! this is a great game folks!
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
7:57 pm
Debbie, great game. Louisville just keeps hangin around. That’s their only chance but if they can keep it close………… Kentucky hasn’t had to win a close one yet ( I think)
As for those who like to come in here with guns blazing, a lot of them just want to get everyone riled up as a kind of sophomoric thrill. Not sure which is which though.
josef
March 31st, 2012
7:59 pm
DDR
Yeah, Ole Bud do have issues…I’m gonna have to take him on a trip to the “sophisticated” world of the French speakers! I’d love to see him at a fais do do…
Say what? He decided Mardi Gras that I was being a snob because I was taking the opportunity to post in French in celebration of, well, at least some of “my people” courtesy Jay’s use of the language in his lead in… he accused me of google translation…heh, heh…even google wouldn’t make MY errors!
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
8:01 pm
man — everyone is so polite today………..what’s up?
usually this blog reminds me of a boxing match…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHqEUX2Vw6k
TaxPayer
March 31st, 2012
8:02 pm
Here’s some chillin music for ole Bud.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
8:09 pm
DF – this is one of the best games this year that i’ve seen!! did u see that slam Louisville made on KY? ths is WAR; this isn’t b-ball!!
there’ll be civiil war in ky tonight jack!!
josef – Bud just need a hug. and some prozac. and maybe a date. with a human. no more farm animals……..
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
8:11 pm
DebbieDoRight – Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
8:01 pm
man — everyone is so polite today………..what’s up?
usually this blog reminds me of a boxing match…
A little like the lady who was married to a drunk but didn’t realize it until he came home sober one night.
Doggone/GA
March 31st, 2012
8:13 pm
“Even Gore (I invented the internet)”
Some lies just never die
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
8:15 pm
Louisville’s in trouble now. They put up a heck of a fight though.
josef
March 31st, 2012
8:15 pm
TAXI
I was thinking more this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a84va_q-cP0&feature=related
Doggone/GA
March 31st, 2012
8:15 pm
“man — everyone is so polite today………..what’s up?”
Look around and see who ISN’T here.
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
8:17 pm
Hmmm, still has a pulse.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
8:18 pm
dang louisville is like a junkyard dog — they refuse to give up and they refuse to back down. thi is great!!
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
8:20 pm
DF did you see that off balance one handed slam by Davis?? DAMN!! this game is the bomb! Highlite reels are gonna be full. i hope the 2nd game is like the firt
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
8:23 pm
i should’ve recorded this dang game!! KY won; but man Louisville didn’t back down and they weren’t intimidated. I’m ready for next year!
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
8:24 pm
Shoot, I saw several off balance one handed jams. Great game too bad someone had to lose.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
8:29 pm
DF — who do you got for the next one? Kansas or Ohio State. For various reasons, I’m going with Kansas. What about you?
TaxPayer
March 31st, 2012
8:29 pm
josef,
I never pictured Bud as a cajun. I figured with a name like Bud Wiser, he was more partial to green beer and that would make him Irish. Okay, that logic may be a little flawed though.
josef
March 31st, 2012
8:42 pm
TAXI
Believe me, I never pictured him as a Cajun either!
getalife
March 31st, 2012
8:48 pm
The knee jerk con reaction is to deflect blame for their corrupt party to blame the other corrupt party.
It is all they got so they surrendered on this blog.
bud worshiped w so he is still angry.
Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
March 31st, 2012
8:58 pm
One more thing. If I remember correctly, the Democrats controlled the state legislature from Reconstruction to a few years ago. Where is their ethics legislation? We can frame this mathematically. If everything the Republicans do wrong = “y”, then everything the Democrats do wrong = “100y + 1000″.
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
9:01 pm
Debbie, I’m inclined to pick Kansas but that’s dangerous. They’ve come up short so many times. Bradley, over on the sports blog has sworn he’ll never pick to win it again, too many disappointments. They beat NC but NC didn’t have their starting point so that’s not that impressive. Guess I’ve talked myself into OSU. What a revoltin turn of events. J/K
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
9:09 pm
Sorry vast, the time machine is broken so I guess it’s up to the R’s to fix it. Doesn’t look like they realize that.
josef
March 31st, 2012
9:21 pm
Before we go off on a Dem-GOP thingie here, in relation to the topic, if you go back and look, the four who threw up the red flag were two dems and two GOPs…there is, after all, a point where the two “sides” are on the same track…
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
9:21 pm
“This is an open forum. If I have any part of this wrong, if someone out there knows something I got wrong or misinterpreted or twisted into something that is untrue, they are free to post here and expose that mistake or even worse, that willful error.”
JAY:
Opinion is one thing but that said, I have been wrong (never willful and hopefully very rare) on posts of “fact”, etc. Usually, it is because I have just passed on information from another article without taking all the time to fully research it. And for those few times that were brought to my attention as to fact, I have apologized (i.e., the West Point graduation).
I very rarely see that kind of response/apology from anyone else on here.
Most of the posting is just pure drivel ….. “you’re an idiot, Obama rules, etc., etc”.
I stay on here because I enjoy actual debate with those who choose that route on both sides of an issue. Again, that is very rare.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
9:24 pm
scout,
Posting drudgey is not debate silly.
godoggo
March 31st, 2012
9:35 pm
Wow……being a Representative here in Atlanta would be a Great parallel move that my Ex-wife should l@@k into………..misrepresentation, good at doubletalk, perjury and deceit, Oh…..and extorting assets……Sorry, that wasn’t mentioned….im sure he’s never done that : )
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
9:40 pm
getalife:
Posting “drudgery” is almost always an article from another journalism source (many times CBS, MSNBC, New York Times, Washington Post, etc.)
You choose not to debate.
Just your little “quips”.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
9:44 pm
School Yard Bullies !
http://www.mittromney.com/news/embedded/video/obama-isnt-working-labor
getalife
March 31st, 2012
9:46 pm
scout,
drudgey and drudgery.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
9:47 pm
Back to BANJO stuff !
http://www.youtube.com/user/sleepymanbanjoboys?v=J7MoWPTeYS4&feature=pyv&ad=19764705594&kw=bluegrass%20music
getalife
March 31st, 2012
9:51 pm
scout,
Please stop attacking the American workers .
Thanks.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
9:59 pm
Union thugs.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
10:01 pm
getalife:
You don’t like:
MSNBC
CBS
Washington Post
New York Times
??
getalife
March 31st, 2012
10:03 pm
scout,
The American workers are not thugs.
Why do you mindlessly attack the American worker?
Oscar
March 31st, 2012
10:08 pm
There are union excesses. But the unions were formed to combat the excesses of the employers.
The ad however is biased and is a good reason not to vote for Romney, as if another reason was needed.
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
10:10 pm
Scout,
I’m certainly not gonna defend the actions that were portrayed in that clip but the “struggle” between labor and management, for lack of a better term, has been going on for well over a hundred years and there have been abuses on both sides. That’s even more apparent when you consider non union shops. The problem I have with that ad is that it’s no more valid to link Obama to that specific case than it is to try to link a “pro business” republican (like Romney) to a company that illegally discharges cancer causing toxins into a river or stream or the air. No reasonable person, IMO can be “anti union” or “anti business” because it simply paints too broad a brush and ignores the positive contributions that responsible unions and business’s have made. Would it be fair to say Romney supports exploding oil rigs and dead oil rig workers as well as massive environmental damage because he supports oil exploration?
getalife
March 31st, 2012
10:11 pm
Funny how willard’s website is just like our President’s.
David Green
March 31st, 2012
10:16 pm
Jay wrote: They DON’T get paid enough. That is absolutely true.
_______________________
In my view they {georgia legislators} are paid too much!
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
10:17 pm
getalife:
Most American workers are good, honest, hardworking folks. Many would rather not be in a union but have little choice.
Many union workers (especially the “enforcers”) are thugs. I have been a member of a union like that and I know. Pretty disgusting !
Rule by intimidation.
.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
10:22 pm
scout,
Unions are organized labor that built this country.
You fight for the corporations that do not need your help.They won. You can stop carrying their water.
It does not make sense scout.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
10:23 pm
Oscar and Don’t Forget:
Political advertising aside (I can come up with ridiculous ones from the liberal side), there was a time in our country when unions were needed. My dad was a non-union coal miner and he knew that.
However, today there are countless federal and state laws, regulations, civil avenues that ensure workers rights almost to the point where you can’t fire anybody no matter how bad they are.
Too much union thuggery today. I saw it firsthand.
David Green
March 31st, 2012
10:23 pm
Actions speak louder then words.
The political corruption running rampant underneath the gold dome all too often promoted by those who call themselves “Conservative Christians.” Just goes to show how corrupt the sociopathic ideology of conservatism is and the religion of Christianity has become in this day and age.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
10:29 pm
“Just goes to show how corrupt the sociopathic ideology of conservatism is and the religion of Christianity has become in this day and age.”
To quote scout, it is disgusting.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
10:42 pm
Where is that honest debate scout?
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
10:52 pm
scout: Usually, it is because I have just passed on information from another article without taking all the time to fully research it.
well duh! we all knew THAT!
And for those few times
hahahahhahaha scout made a “funny”
DF – you picked THE Ohio State? Eeeewwww i HATE the pretentious sissy boys! i hope they get stomped………so far Kansas has been doing that after a disastrous first half
getalife
March 31st, 2012
10:59 pm
Lets put that honest debate lie to rest scout.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
March 31st, 2012
11:03 pm
DebbieDoRight – Doing The Right Thing:
He (or she) who is without an incorrect post cast the first stone.
Good grief …………… polite debate never hurt anyone.
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
11:07 pm
Debbie, I didn’t say I WANTED osu, I just said I thought they would win and added it was a “revoltin” set of circumstances. I don’t see either team beating Kentucky.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:10 pm
Now it is polite debate.
Move those goal posts scout.
Forget the honest debate.
Too funny.
td
March 31st, 2012
11:13 pm
I have been in two unions in my life and can tell you first hand that they are nothing more then group think devises that do nothing but make the workers look stupid. Example: I was in the union working at Lockheed. I went to a union meeting on a Saturday in October of 1984. The union President was telling all the workers that they had to go and vote for Mondale for President. Mondale had just made the statement that he would drastically cut military spending including the program that employed all the workers. yes, let us go out and vote against our own jobs to protect the union. Pure stupidity.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:15 pm
td,
When you voted for w, you voted to lose millions of jobs.
td
March 31st, 2012
11:20 pm
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:15 pm
Which time? Can you honestly say that (I invented the internet) Gore or (I am a kept man) Kerry would have been a better choice? I thought Bush was an establishment Republican and not a great Presidential choice but Lord he was 1000 times better then either of the Dems choices. The same goes with Romney this year. Not the best choice but 1000 times better then the current occupier of the office.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
11:21 pm
kansas vs. kentucky!!!
td
March 31st, 2012
11:23 pm
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:15 pm
BTW: My business is not tied in any manner to the housing industry and did very well during the Bush years and those tax cuts sure helped the bottom line and allowed me to hire 10 additional workers during his time in office.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:24 pm
td,
1000 times better?
No, willard would hire the same incompetent gop that collapsed our economy and said they never saw it coming.
Do you know the definition of insanity td.
Lets keep our President instead of your insanity because he is not destroying our country like the gop did last time.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:25 pm
Debbie,
I think it is Kentucky’s year.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:29 pm
td,
What about after the collapse?
Did you fire those 10 workers?
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
11:30 pm
Debbie, I’ll be rooting for Kansas but predicting Kentucky.
td
March 31st, 2012
11:32 pm
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:24 pm
Insanity really, lets talk about the Obama budget that was sent to the US House of Reps and defeated 414-0. Not even one Democrat would for for his insane budget. And this is the same person you want to run the country for four more years.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
11:33 pm
td – i truly believe that a 3 legged mule would’ve been better as president than Dubya. for the following reasons:
1. gore would’ve continued the “pay as you go” system that was in place and was steadily trimming down the us debt.
2. gore would not have wiped out a surplus his first year in office as dubya did.
3. gore would’ve listened to advisors and 9/11 could’ve been averted; thus saving american lives, billions of dollars (afghanistan) and even more billion by not invading iraq in a false moment of bravado.
4. as for kerry – kerry was already rich, married well, and didn’t need to cater to special interest for donations.
getalife – yep. the SEC is BAD 2 The Bone this year huh!!!?? it seems like every college championship has to come through the SEC.
Don't Forget
March 31st, 2012
11:34 pm
Td – a bubble raises all boats and a crash sinks them all. I don’t blame W for all that happened but the bottom line is that Americans lost 16.4 trillion in the wall street and housing market collapse. You can regulate the markets and have stability like we had for 80 years or you can have boom and bust cycles. I choose market stability.
getalife
March 31st, 2012
11:35 pm
“And this is the same person you want to run the country for four more years.”
Yes.
After passing w’s budgets that gave us our huge deficit, corrupt congress will not pass anymore Presidential budgets.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
11:36 pm
DF – good choice!!
td
March 31st, 2012
11:41 pm
DebbieDoRight – Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
11:33 pm
Points one and two is your speculation and I will just politely say I will disagree with you assessment.
3: Gore was sitting in the room for at least 4 years when the CIA and the military warned about Osama and yet he did nothing as the VP. I can not see him changing his mind if he had won.
4: You could say the same thing about Romney now, could you not?
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
11:47 pm
td – you forget that, until cheney, the VP did not have any power. gore could not have “done anything” his role was mostly ceremonial, per se. we don’t even know if clinton even advised him on anything as obama does with biden and dubya did with cheney.
as for #4……………..you ARE kidding right?
td
March 31st, 2012
11:49 pm
Don’t Forget
March 31st, 2012
11:34 pm
You seem to forget about the 2006 testimony in front of Dodd and Franks committees when Bush sent the Treasury Secretary to warn about the housing bubble and ask for changes in the Clinton law. Is it not true that the Dems came out and said something to the point that all Bush wanted to do was to take housing away from the poor?
td
March 31st, 2012
11:52 pm
DebbieDoRight – Doing The Right Thing
March 31st, 2012
11:47 pm
“4. as for kerry – kerry was already rich, married well, and didn’t need to cater to special interest for donations.”
Your statement not mine. I am just pointing out that if your statement was true about Kerry then it has to be even truer about Romney since he is richer then Kerry.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
April 1st, 2012
12:00 am
Romney caters to everyone!! When in the south, he dons a drawl and talks of eating grits! he caters to the tea party, he caters to the cubans, he caters to the gun lobby………… i mean who doesn’t the man cater to?
if he really liked mcdonald’s but was campaigning at burger king, he’d cater to the bk crowd for votes!!
Don't Forget
April 1st, 2012
12:05 am
td do you have a link for that? The changes that Clinton made was repeal of Glass Steagall, a mistake IMO. Did Bush wish to reinstate? I don’t think he did. I do know that Bush had initiatives to increase home ownerships that included extension of CRA loan criteria to people who weren’t low income which opened the door to the so called “liars loans” and increased speculaton/flip this house types.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
April 1st, 2012
12:11 am
td regarding your post at 11:49 – poor people buying houses did not cause the housing implosion.
investment bankers playing chicken with the market did.
DebbieDoRight - Doing The Right Thing
April 1st, 2012
12:14 am
allright, i’m out. have a good night, ya’ll……..i may eat some grits in the morning.
that was my ode to romney……..
Don't Forget
April 1st, 2012
12:16 am
If the housing market had recovered but the stock market was sitting at 8000 I’d consider Romney. But that’s not the case. Wall street is doing fine even if their feelings are hurt. Well, it’s not hurt feelings that are the problem and I don’t think Romney could do any better than Obama has. And I’d really rather not go through another first term learning curve with Romney on all the other issues a president has to deal with.
Don't Forget
April 1st, 2012
12:18 am
Make sure you put some cheese in those grits Debbie!
Oscar
April 1st, 2012
12:46 am
Don’t like cheese in my grits. Just messes up good grits and good cheese.
Doesn't matter
April 1st, 2012
1:47 am
Jay is probably not reading this by now, but I read another ethics article in the paper earlier this year written by him. Who again is the Rules Committee chairman in the GA House? That’s really not a hard fact to get right.
Social Media Credited With Derailing Last Minute Slight Of Hand In Georgia | The Moderate Voice
April 1st, 2012
3:48 am
[...] Who were the architects of the re-write? [...]
Jay
April 1st, 2012
6:19 am
You’re right, Doesn’t. That was a pretty dumb error on my part. At the time, the House website listed the information incorrectly, but I still should have known better.
ken
April 1st, 2012
7:35 am
And the Supreme Court ruled against the EPA !!!! Bout time.
ken
April 1st, 2012
7:40 am
Jay, up so early ! I am getting totally turned off by all politics in our once great country. It is not the country I grew up in. It makes me not even want to look at the news. Have a great dy Jay.
Black Mormons
April 1st, 2012
7:41 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFP6VUGwmAg
JamVet
April 1st, 2012
7:58 am
Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk.
What a great game.
One more to go.
carlosgvv
April 1st, 2012
8:19 am
“you can’t fire anybody no matter how bad they are”
I was an American worker for many years. I worked for a number of corporations and was, without execption, always given a very generous amount of work and a very stingy amount of pay. My bosses always made it clear they would fire me in a second if I didn’t work like a dog each and every day. And, in some of those jobs, they did. Where is this wonderful country where “you can’t fire anybody no matter how bad they are”? It’s certainly not the country I worked in.
Normal, plain and simple
April 1st, 2012
8:25 am
JamVet…Kentucky by 7, and the national champs…GO BIG BLUE!!!