Georgia’s power base jumps right over Atlanta, Democrats
The giant sucking sound expected after last year’s census — pulling statehouse seats, and with them political power, from the southern part of the state into metro Atlanta — isn’t quite as loud as everyone expected.
Or maybe it just depends on how we define “southern” and “metro Atlanta.”
Leading up to the census, South Georgia was bracing itself for a huge loss of clout: perhaps half a dozen of the 45 or so House seats below the fall line (Columbus to Macon to Augusta), and maybe two or three of the region’s 15 Senate seats, too.
The implications for politics and policy were huge. From education (school choice) to transportation (Atlanta congestion versus “four-lanes to nowhere”) to water (interbasin transfers), the continuation of a long northward shift potentially meant big changes.
In the event, redistricting data for Georgia do reveal that roughly six House seats and a Senate seat or two will move northward. Yet, about half of the loss may come not from true South Georgia, but from DeKalb and Fulton counties.
That’s right: The counties at Atlanta’s core stand to lose about as many seats as the rural, not-so-densely populated, southern half of the state.
That duo’s loss equals a boost for three other counties: Gwinnett is in line to pick up two House seats, Cherokee and Forsyth another one apiece.
Draw an arc starting at Cherokee’s border with Bartow County, continuing across Forsyth and through northern and eastern Gwinnett, over to the Walton County line, and you’ll cross seven current House districts. After redistricting, those seven could be 11.
Along that same arc, but in the other legislative chamber, Sen. Jack Murphy, R-Cumming, saw his Cherokee-Forsyth district grow from the state’s fourth-smallest by population to its absolute largest during the past decade. Murphy and Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, currently represent three Senate seats worth of people — a pretty significant shift.
Throw in the fact that Georgia’s new 14th Congressional District is likely to be drawn somewhere between Woodstock and Gainesville, and it looks like the state’s power base has leaped completely over Atlanta to the northern, GOP-leaning suburbs and exurbs. (An exception is Cobb, where moderate population growth may mean a slight relative decline — maybe the loss of one of the House seats it now shares with another county.)
The population shift wasn’t equal in Fulton and DeKalb. House districts in those counties represented by Republicans grew at almost exactly the same pace as the rest of the state. The population loss was all in Democratic-held areas.
There are obvious policy implications, starting with next year’s transportation-tax referendum: The project list needs to reflect this northward population shift if the tax is to pass.
Beyond that, Georgia’s Democrats, still smarting from last year’s electoral thumping, ought to think long and hard about what it says about them and their policies that their power base is shrinking so fast.
The 22 House districts that lost the most people during the 2000s all elected Democrats last year (though two of the 22 switched to the GOP after the election). Meanwhile, just three of the 24 fastest-growing districts went their way.
Democrats, particularly in the House under the leadership of Rep. Stacey Abrams, had their moments during the 2011 legislative session. But a party that can’t win outside a few relatively shrinking urban pockets is doomed to rising irrelevance.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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87 comments Add your comment
Tech Man
May 6th, 2011
9:46 pm
I’ll take some of that bet!
Michael H. Smith
May 6th, 2011
9:51 pm
Don’t take it so hard brucie.
Le Bourgeois
May 6th, 2011
11:00 pm
A cogent analysis Kyle. Well done.
Now the set-up is upon us but will the Republicans blow what may be the most lop-sided, party-base gains in state history by expanding a self-serving platform while espousing a faux-libertarian rhetoric of true fiscal conservatism?
wait for it
May 6th, 2011
11:11 pm
The new census data show that the Hispanic population in Gwinnett County more than doubled, in round numbers from 64,000 in 2000, to 162,000 in 2010.
That means that about 20 percent of Gwinnett County residents, two of every ten, are Hispanic.
(By comparison, African Americans in Gwinnett County also more than doubled, and are now 24 percent of the county’s population).
You think they are all Republicans, Kyle?
Michael H. Smith
May 6th, 2011
11:46 pm
Gotta love these “politically incoherent” DEMwits Kyle.
From 100% total control for over 100 years to near 0% influence remaining within about a decade.
Political strategist they ain’t!
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
May 7th, 2011
12:26 am
Kyle, whatever the policy implications, I’m just glad that we can all rest assured that the AJC is on TOP of it, just like their location…on the TOP End of the Perimeter. Looks like house seats and political clout aren’t the only things moving to the Northern suburbs. Can anyone say Dunwoody Journal Constitution?….
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
May 7th, 2011
1:36 am
Just KIDDING! I kid, I kid! Just a little good-natured ribbing towards the AJC about the recent move from Downtown Atlanta to Dunwoody. Kyle, you made some good points about the obvious. The handwriting looks to be on the wall for the Georgia Democrat Party, but “wait for it” @ 11:11 pm made a good point about much of the population growth in Gwinnett County being in the Hispanic and African-American demographics which don’t tend to vote Republican at this point. Hispanics and African-Americans may not vote overwhelmingly Republican, but two key points that should be noted about the population growth of those two ethnic groups in suburban areas are that African-Americans and, especially, Hispanics don’t consistently vote in heavy numbers for the first few or even several years after relocating into suburban areas. Many of the Hispanic and Afro-American relocatees have little, if any, involvement in local politics upon moving into an area like Gwinnett, seeing as though many of them have relocated from another part of the country and seem to be uninvolved in local politics to the point of almost being disenfranchised. It takes a few years for black, brown and yellow relocatees and transplants to get familiar and become involved with local politics, politicians and personalities so there may be AT LEAST a 5-10 year lag in seeing a significant effect depending on current and future political events. Also, with the Hispanic population in particular, a significant chunk of the population may not even be eligible to vote because of their undocumented and questionable legal status which means that much of the effect of the growth in that community on the local political scene may not come for about a generation when many legally U.S.-born Hispanic children grow to reach voting age.
The voting effects of Black, Hispanic and Asian newcomers may not be felt at this early stage in their population growth in suburban areas like Gwinnett and Cobb, but if past growth trends in states like California are any indication, the overwhelming effects from those voters will be felt soon enough in those counties as the white population ages and relocates out farther from the urban core to counties like Cherokee, Forsyth, Dawson, Lumpkin, Hall, Barrow, Jackson and Walton and more Blacks, Hispanics and Asians move into those aging suburban communities in the same way that whites moved out of Fulton and DeKalb into Cobb, North Fulton and Gwinnett while non-whites moved in. With Metro Atlanta’s continuing status as “The Black Mecca” and continuing growth into a major center of Latin American and Pan Asian cultures, there is no doubt that the scales may likely tip towards Democrats in the longer term, a trend that can be slowed or even halted if Republicans in these fast-growing and quickly-urbanizing suburban areas stay away from divisive racial rhetoric and govern effectively because, for the most part, many minorities are culturally conservative and identify with conservative values much more than they do liberal cultural values. A really good example of this can be found in predominantly black suburban South Gwinnett (below Highway 78) where Melvin Emerson, a BLACK REPUBLICAN, was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. Republicans gained full control of state government in Georgia for the first time since Reconstruction, the question is can they govern effectively enough to stay dominant and in full control of state politics over the long term?
steve from Dalton
May 7th, 2011
2:38 am
nice story, Kyle.
S
May 7th, 2011
3:03 am
You have to be truly clueless to vote for a Republican after all the damage that has been done to this state and country by that very republican group. This group of right-wing radical republicans have to be purged from the system. They are not the moderate republicans of yesteryear, no, they have been invaded by fanatic’s, that do not care about the people of this State or Country. They have sold out the American people, to line their own pockets. They are so stupid and out of touch with the American people that they are trying to take away Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the Holy Grails of this country. What is more important, people or corporations. Corporations are not living breathing things and yet our right leaning Supreme Court, says they are..that is wrong. No, it is time to purge the system of these republican radicals. Vote smart come 2012..do your research. Just because they go to church, say things you like to hear, or happen to be a Doctor or someone professional who should know what their doing, does NOT mean they are qualified to be your Representative or Senator.
Road Scholar
May 7th, 2011
5:29 am
Michael: Just remember it took a democrat to size up the “new” tax bill , did the math, and found that it was a tax hike on the middle and lower class. It didn’t pass because of the financial examination. Then the Repubs threw GSU under their own bus! Do Republicans “got” math skills?
Brian
May 7th, 2011
6:39 am
S, I’m all in favor of getting rid of the government entitlement programs that you mentioned. Let me keep what is normally over 15% of my salary. I could retire a lot earlier without the handouts to the moochers.
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
May 7th, 2011
7:02 am
Even in a state as socially and culturally conservervative as Georgia where it seems as though Republican dominance is a given and should be long-term, even semi-permanent at the very least, the GOP shouldn’t take its overwhelmingly dominant position for granted. As we’ve seen with both parties recently over the last few years, voters won’t hesitate to throw either party out on their [backsides] if they do a bad enough job of governing over a long enough period of time. Georgia Democrats got smug, arrogant and way too comfortable in their dominance, which was kinda understandable seeing as though they had control of state government and politics for over 130 years, but because they took their power for granted Georgia Democrats now find themselves not even being able to be elected to that office of the guy who picks up the dead animals off the roads. If Republicans don’t adequately address pressing issues like education, water, congestion and infrastructure investments, etc, they could very well find themselves in a similar position after a few election cycles.
Your Mom
May 7th, 2011
7:13 am
Brian, after all I’ve done for you why throw me under the bus?
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 7th, 2011
7:22 am
S: You have to be truly clueless to vote for a Republican after all the damage that has been done to this state and country by that very republican group
——————
It ain’t the Republicans proposing $1.5 trillion deficits and blowing through a $900 billion “stimulus” that increased unemployment to 10%. Unemployment has been higher every month of your Idiot Messiah’s regime than in any month of our President Bush’s eight years.
Damage?
Not So Casual Observer
May 7th, 2011
7:24 am
S,
So you propose the voters choose the left-wing radical Democrats?
The same Democrats who support the financial destruction of the United States?
The same Democrats who refuse, under the AG of the US, to prosecute those who have the same skin tone as the AG?
The Democrats who would eliminate the very intelligence gathering techniques that led to the end of OBL?
The Democrats who would cede control of our borders to other countries?
The Democrats who have taken every path to destroy our economy and the value of the dollar?
The Democrats who are led by a fraud, a thief and a woman who has funneled millions of tax dollars to her husband’s business? Not to mention a Mass. Congressman who operated a male prostitution organization from his home?
A Democrat President who has an isatiable thirst for spending tax dollars on his family vacations? A President who allows his wife to hire more assistants and aides than most other Presidents?
A Democrat President who has fewer than 10% of his Cabinet and administration who have ever held a job in the private sector they so earnestly wish to control?
ALL of the problems we now face in this country are a result of the mostly unfettered control of Congress by Democrats over the past 60 years and yet you glorify these clowns?
The Democrats who wish to destroy the greatest economy in the history of the world in order to buy votes from the non-taxpaying and non-producers among the population?
Are those the Democrats you propose to support?
There is absolutely no intellectual basis for liberalism or the Democrat party!
Mclandmike
May 7th, 2011
7:55 am
HSN…
A rather crude metaphor
Hates Republicans
May 7th, 2011
8:05 am
Anyone who voted for a Republican doesn’t care about anyone but themselves. You will eventually get what you deserve – thrown under the bus by every one of them. Say what you want about Democrats but they do realize that there are some people who worked all their life, paid taxes for over 50 years, and never got a dime in assistance during that time but now thanks to the Republicans and their give to the rich and shove those on lower economic scale further under water, find they do need assistance just to survive. Not So Casual Observer – you are one of those who probably doesn’t give a hoot about anyone but you and your rich friends.
carlosgvv
May 7th, 2011
8:10 am
No matter how or how much you redistrict, it is certain that Georgia politicians will always be the worst of the bad.
wait for it
May 7th, 2011
8:11 am
@will the last…
Gonzalez said that in 2003, there were just 800 Hispanics who were registered to vote in Gwinnett County.
“And in 2009 we did an analysis, and we found 26,000,” and, he pointed out, to register to vote, they have to “be a U.S. citizen.”
2009 and 26,000 registered voters–and you point out it takes elocatees a few years to get involved–the new immigration bill will be a great motivator!
I know from personal experience...
May 7th, 2011
8:20 am
…the only way Demos can pick up seats is to lie, cheat and steal the election.
Real American
May 7th, 2011
8:20 am
“not to casual observer”….really? Those tired stupid talking points of lies? Seriously?
dd
May 7th, 2011
8:25 am
Comments section would be SO much more interesting if you would limit the length of each comment. Not at all interested in reading comments that are longer than the actual article……
WorkinDawg
May 7th, 2011
8:49 am
Hates republicans, it’s dem economic policies that allow one to work for 50 years yet require assistance. If you averaged $30,000 per year for 50 years you put in nearly $200,000 into “the social security trust fund”. Had you invested that money and received a modest 5% interest you’d OWN, in your account, not the government, over $700,000.
So I ask, who’s looking out for the little guy?
Chris
May 7th, 2011
9:03 am
We Georgians are generous people and will help each other out in times of need. That is difficult when government takes over half of our incomes to redistribute. Helping people in need is the right thing to do but providing for folks who will not try to provide for themselves is not what government is elected to do. And attacking successful people simply because they do not want to have the benefits of their hard work confiscated by government is silly.
Politicians, regardless of party, need to be watched closely and changed often! Term limits should be enacted at ALL levels of government. And people who foolishly vote for a candidate simply because of party affiliation deserve what they get. If the GOP in Georgia does a good job in the coming years they can expect to remain in control for a long time just as the Democrats did for so many year before they completely lost touch with the people they would govern.
My liberal friends, don’t blame Republicans for your continued electoral losses, blame Roy Barnes.
Stanford
May 7th, 2011
9:21 am
The white exodus from the Democratic Party in GA is purely racial. Always has been!
I know most people won’t admit it, even in an anonymous little blog like this – but it’s still true. You’ll admit in private, after looking over your shoulder to see who might be listening!
Hate and fear causes working people to vote republican against their own best interest. The GOP in GA and nationally caused all this debt you’re sooooo concerned about now. You were OK with the massive tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, the idle rich. Fact is, Clinton left a giant surplus and bush blew! You weren’t worried when bush lied us in to phony wars that cost trillions.
We don’t have many unions in GA; so you can’t blame unions for causing local government budget shortfalls, furloughs, layoffs and lack of services. What we do have is republican control in all public offices county and state! “There’s your sign!”
The recent GOP attacks on the middleclass may finally wake people up to the simple fact – republicans are for the rich by the rich.
Boomers are the largest voting bloc in the country. Now that we are about to reach retirement, the republicans want to take away Social Security and Medicare. Most of us with half a brain and a decent job won’t be dependent on SS income; BUT the cost of health care is the killer.
The republicans in Congress want to kill Medicare! They are all rich, they don’t need it! Millionaires can afford health care insurance premiums of 15 to 20 thousand dollars a year – middleclass retirees can’t! Surely to God this will finally open the eyes of middleclass voters!
TruthBe
May 7th, 2011
10:19 am
If it wasn’t for Racism and Homosexuality there wouldn’t be anywhere for democrats to go. The democrat party in Georgia mainly Atlanta and Columbus is full of Black Racists like Lewis, Bishop, and the gang of I have a Dream fools in Atlanta. They like to speak of Dr.King but they don’t follow his true message. Just ask Jessie, Al, and Rev.Wright.
eatmotacos
May 7th, 2011
10:23 am
Just substitute Democrats and Republicans for Eagles and Rattlers:
The Robbers Cave Experiment
In 1954, Muzafer and Carolyn Sherif studied the origin of prejudice in social groups in a classic study called the Robbers Cave Experiment. They conducted their research in a 200 acres (0.8 km2) summer camp which was completely surrounded by Robbers Cave State Park in Oklahoma.
During the study, Sherif posed as a camp janitor. The study team screened a group of 24 twelve-year-old boys with similar backgrounds. They were picked up by two buses carrying 12 boys each. Neither group knew of the other’s existence. The boys were assigned to two living areas far enough apart that each group remained ignorant of the other’s presence for the first few days. The Sherifs had broken up pre-existing friendships to the extent they could, so that each boy’s identification with his new group could happen faster. Asked to choose names for their groups, one chose “The Rattlers”, the other “The Eagles.” Within two or three days, the two groups spontaneously developed internal social hierarchies.
The experiment was broken into three phases.
1.In-group formation, as described above.
2.A Friction Phase, which included first contact between groups, sports competitions, etc.
3.An Integration Phase (reducing friction).
None of the boys were previously acquainted before the experiment, but hostility between the groups was observed within days of first contact. Phase Two activities proceeded as planned, but soon proved overly successful. Hostility between the groups escalated to the point where the study team concluded the friction-producing activities could not continue safely. Phase Two was terminated and Phase Three commenced.
TruthBe
May 7th, 2011
10:30 am
Stanford you are a fool. Obamacare cuts a half billion dollars from medicare. Get your facts straight nobody believes you paid democrat bloggers anymore. As for racism just look at the facts about the party of the KKK and the Black Panthers the democrat party. Lets talk facts not political hogwash son. How’s that “Hope and Change” working out for you. Do you like $5.00 a gallon gas, President Obama does he said so. The democrat party has been taken over by left-wing progressive socialist racist perverts that’s why people are leaving the democrat party. FACT!
Michael H. Smith
May 7th, 2011
10:34 am
Road Scholar – Don’t forget Kyle went over tax reform before your champ ever got to her sizing up. For what is worth pal, I’ve been around too long to be sold a bill of goods on YOUR DEMOCRATS in this State. Republicans have problems no doubt but YOUR DEMOCRATS have no real answers.
I saved something that Rep Abrams wrote recently in the editorial section of the site that goes directly to my point and the very one Kyle has made, which not one of these socialist libs have locked in on. If anyone plans to run against Abrams let me know. Libertarian or Republican or anything but a Democrat. This gal is still reading lines from the same old Democrat cue-cards that got this State into mess after 100 years of total power.
WorkinDawg
May 7th, 2011
10:38 am
Stanford, there will not be a Medicare program if we don’t fix it. Do you not understand that??
And read my post above about social security taxes vs investing the money for your own benefit and remind me again who’s interests are better served. You’ve traded economic liberty and wealth for government cheese and broken promises. You are free to make your own poor decisions and live with the consequences. Unfortunately the ignorance of folks who think and vote like you do has a great affect on me. Our nation is in a struggle for it’s very survival and you want to eat the rich.
Michael H. Smith
May 7th, 2011
11:08 am
WorkinDawg, your point is well made. As we both know what you and I want, which is to Individualize the “Safety Net” will likely not happen, because as long as it remains Federalized (under socialism) it is big slush fund for those in the federal government to rob and abuse for their own self-interest and petty projects that help get them elected and re-elected.
They will never cut their throats to save our necks!
Edward
May 7th, 2011
11:16 am
It is rather ironic that so many here in GA want a “one-party-rule” government with no government safety nets for the unemployed or poor or environment and a morality-police enforcement upon the populace. Wait, that sounds just like China. Is the Georgia GOP a front from the CCP? LOL
Michael H. Smith
May 7th, 2011
11:23 am
It rather moronic to hear from those of the once one party ruling power of Democrats in this State, now crying about one party ruling.
TruthBe
May 7th, 2011
11:45 am
Edward, you are also a fool that has drank too much obamajuice. And as for morality police enforcement upon the populace just look at the “Big Brother” federal government that’s forcing it’s false morals on all of us by means of laws, taxes, and gunpoint. Example gay so-called rights and gay marriage. People that are gay have the same rights as anybody else period. They have unions and they serve in the Military. Marriage by design is between one man and one women. Author GOD. Don’t like it ask GOD about it. Wake up and smell the roses please.
MrLiberty
May 7th, 2011
12:51 pm
Last time I checked, the parasite who feed off the hard work and productivity of those of us in the voluntary (non-governmental) sector of society. Nobody cares that the host is nearly dead, and whether urban, suburban, metro, or whatever group is taking power, their ability to use the power of government to steal from the rest of us both our money and our freedoms is the source of all of our problems and needs to be put to a halt.
TRUTH
May 7th, 2011
12:57 pm
Clueless, Out of Touch, and Bringing the Country to the very brink of Disaster = Republican Party….
Laughable…
Michael H. Smith
May 7th, 2011
1:29 pm
KW: Beyond that, Georgia’s Democrats, still smarting from last year’s electoral thumping, “ought to think long and hard about what it says about them and their policies” that their power base is shrinking so fast.
You might think that these brain dead DEMwits in Georgia would ask themselves, “what is wrong with us and our policies”?
But, as John Wayne said, “Life is hard, it’s harder if you’re stupid.”
get out much?
May 7th, 2011
3:13 pm
What goes unmentioned is that how of those in government with R’s after their names used to have D’s a few years back. The only thing that has changed is the jersey, the players are still the same.
Linda
May 7th, 2011
3:32 pm
S@3:03 AM, What damage did the Republicans do to the country? Are you referring to the economic crisis engineered by the Democrats? Do you have any clue as to what caused it? Have you read any of the 3 reports by the Financial Crisis Commission?
No one is trying to take away Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. They are already gone. If you will click on the debt clock (below), you will see that the US debt is over $14 T. In ADDITION to that, you will see at the bottom of the screen that social security is in the red by $15 T + the prescription drug liability by $20 T + Medicaid by $79 T = $113.7 T in unfunded liabilities.
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Unfortunately, this does not include the $1 T in student loans & trillions more in continuing to fund Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. THERE IS NO MONEY!
Homes & churches are not buildings. They are people. The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations are also people & have the same rights as the people who own them & work for them.
Michael H. Smith
May 7th, 2011
3:55 pm
What goes unmentioned is that how of those in government with R’s after their names used to have D’s a few years back.
Which means some people in denial eventually wise-up when they realize that they cannot change a political party of dumb people with stupid policies which have been rejected and will continue to be unacceptable to the majority of voters. Now that’s what hasn’t been mentioned: Not that anyone in the Democrat party or those aligned with any of them will hear of it or accept it.
Linda
May 7th, 2011
5:27 pm
Sanford@9:21 AM, Do you know how ridiculous you post? You start out by calling those who are leaving the Dem. Party racist. Playing the race card is SO ‘70ish & doesn’t get you any credibility.
Then you spout Dem. talking points that you must have heard on MSNBC that we have all heard before & have NO basis whatsoever & which you could not back up if you had to. Finally you say, “surely to God.” If you believe in God, you are indeed in the wrong party.
Tommy Maddox
May 7th, 2011
5:48 pm
Hey Stanford @ 9:21 – which half of Obama is abandoning the Democratic Party? His Mom’s half?
killerj
May 7th, 2011
5:52 pm
The only ejaculation going on hsn is in your face,ENJOY!,Go Tea Party,please come on 2012.
Lynnie Gal
May 7th, 2011
5:54 pm
Democrats are leaving Georgia because it is so hopelessly ignorant and redneck. Pretty soon, the entire state of Georgia will have no public schools, no health care, no libraries, no art, music, or anything of cultural value because Republicans hate those things, and those will be only available to the rich. Then, the Republicans will have their paradise.
Linda
May 7th, 2011
6:48 pm
The DC Democrats bash millionaires & billionaires, but at the same time, propose to increase marginal tax rates on single people earning $200,000 & couples earning $250,000 per year.
Al Gore said couples earning $250,000 per year were millionaires after 4 years, as if they had no bills or expenses. His math is $250,000 X 4 = $1,000,000. In NYC & other expensive cities in which to live, firefighters married to teachers, couples who earn $250,000 per year, are considered poor & live in what we in GA consider shacks.
Singles who make $200,000 are $800,000 from earning a million dollars & couples who make $250,000 are $750,000 from making a million dollars. Earners in these income brackets have children & expenses for food, clothing & shelter. They could be decades, if not an eternity, from becoming millionaires.
When will clueless Democratic minions realize their equally clueless Democratic leadership are engaging them in class warfare & misrepresenting the facts? Why do Democratic minions follow this rhetoric?
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 7th, 2011
6:48 pm
Sweet.
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 7th, 2011
6:50 pm
The national Democrat party left the mainstream, and that’s when southern Democrats became Republicans. Southern Democrats didn’t believe in sending all power to Washington, and they also don’t hate America, so they really had no choice but to leave.
Sister Sarah
May 7th, 2011
8:27 pm
Lil Barry.
Stop lying. The Democrats left the party and became Republican when the Democratic party began to embrace and pass legislation granting Civil Rights to Black Americans. It was just too much for their racist little minds to bear so they SWITCHED. “Left the mainstream” = CODE LANGUAGE for REJECTING THE BIGOTRY AND OPPRESSION OF THE “MAINSTREAM”. Just be honest for a change.
Linda
May 7th, 2011
9:09 pm
Lynnie Gal@5:54, You & I have so much in common: education, health care, art, music, etc. Unfortunately, both the Democrats & the Republicans, especially the Dems., during the last several years, spend every dime we paid in taxes & are now borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we are currently spending. There is nothing left, not even a dime for Medicare, Medicaid or social security.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
May 7th, 2011
9:14 pm
And now, the real numbers-
UNEMPLOYMENT BACK UP TO 9.0%…
Gas nat’l average: $3.99…
Had enough?
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 7th, 2011
9:16 pm
Sister Sarah: Stop lying. The Democrats left the party and became Republican when the Democratic party began to embrace and pass legislation granting Civil Rights to Black Americans.
—————————
Hmm…what year was it that the Civil Rights Act was passed? And what year was it that Republicans won control of the Georgia legislature?
Stop being a racist, Sister Sarah.
Michael H. Smith
May 7th, 2011
9:19 pm
Nearly 50 legislators owe Georgia money
~ By James Salzer
Forty-seven Georgia legislators, about 20 percent of the General Assembly, owed the state money as of Friday morning because they were late filing campaign finance reports — or didn’t file the reports at all, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of state records.
The sums involved are relatively small, but some of the late fees among legislators date back almost a decade. In total, legislators owe about $11,000 in late fees, according to state ethics commission records. These are the same legislators who write ethics laws and fund the ethics commission.
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/nearly-50-legislators-owe-938501.html
Which political party has the greatest number of violators, according to this report (*see the print edition)?
Linda
May 7th, 2011
9:21 pm
Sister Sarah@8:37, What a pitiful attempt to inject racism into the parties. For the most part, our children are not racists. They get along. They do not even see colors. The only racists left in America today are a few old reverends from decades that use their clout to stir up their minions. .
Michael H. Smith
May 7th, 2011
9:29 pm
Linda@9:09 pm – You might want to reevaluate how much you and loonygal have in common on education, particularly on money spent for the results achieved.
Michael H. Smith
May 7th, 2011
9:41 pm
Linda@9:21 pm – We know Democrats can’t speak to individuals, as an individual. Democrats must speak to people only as a skin color or an economic class in group terms. Otherwise, without using these “social crutches” they must rely upon they are too “mentally weak” to conduct a civil coherent conversation.
WorkinDawg
May 7th, 2011
10:42 pm
Sister Sarah, you are very much correct, there is in fact institutional raceme today. Some jobs go to companies run by preferred races. Colleges let in less qualified students if they are a preferred race. Big corporations hire less qualified applicants if they are a preferred race. Every level of government seeks out preferred races.
Funny that the actual racists are usually the ones hollering about how racist everyone else is. Perhaps you should reflect on what “equality” means…cause changing the color of the victims and the perpetrators makes it no less racist.
Road Scholar
May 8th, 2011
7:57 am
M H Smith; And what political office does Kyle fill? Then the ELECTED repubs discounted the appraisal by GSU. Had they done their own? And still touted the bill? We need solutions… that have been tested and examined. Not just firing from the hip! And I’m not trying to sell anyone a bill of goods, pal.
Dirty Dawg
May 8th, 2011
8:36 am
There was a time when Atlanta was widely considered the Gem of the South…and because of it Georgia was considered a forward-thinking and acting state and a prime example of ‘The New South’. Now this.
Name one other large, metropolitan, economic hub of any other Southern State that is treated by the rest of the state and by the State’s elected officials like Atlanta is….you can’t, and as a result the Charlotte’s and the Nashville’s and virtually all of the others are thriving and growing because they are doing it together.
Abe Lincoln said ‘A house divided cannot stand’. He was referring to the US and it’s slave versus non-slave states at the time, but it’s as true now about Georgia as it ever was 150 years ago. And the saddest thing…hell, the only thing…driving the way the Republican leadership (sic) looks on Atlanta is prejudice and hate. You guys keep it up and in another twenty years they’ll be talking about us like we were Detroit, only we won’t have an automobile industry that could turn things around for us.
Sam Massell once used the phrase ‘Atlanta…a city too young to die.’…as his re-election theme against Maynard Jackson. At the time it was received with disdain from the, then, forward-thinking white power structure. Now it would likely be cheered on, certainly by the surrounding counties.
If we don’t do a better job of working in tandem – state and city – this state will soon become the laughing stock of the nation – of course our Republican Congressmen are already, but fortunately most of the rest of the country hasn’t yet connected dots between those idiots and the idiots that keep putting ‘em back in office…or have they?
Michael H. Smith
May 8th, 2011
9:44 am
Road Scholar – It doesn’t matter what political office Kyle holds. Fact is PAL!, Kyle went over this tax plan before your champ Stacy made her disclosure. And, several of us made negative comments based on what we read from Kyle’s analysis of it. Solutions are needed, indeed; so what has Stacy got? What have the Democrats got? Zero.
Proven solutions is what you want? Really? Then don’t look to Stacy and the Democrats. And, don’t tell me about her great disclosure to attack me personally, then claim you’re not selling a bill of goods, cause I ain’t buying it.
Here’s one of Stacy’s proven solutions in her own words:
Federal Race to the Top monies offer the state’s underperforming education system a crucible to prove out theories of independence coupled with appropriate levels of funding. Georgia has taken critical steps on the first and has a depressing record on the second. Until we as a state recognize the intractable link between the two, our quest for the jobs of the near future will continue to be hamstrung.
Are you buying this one Roads? I’m not. And, she wants to experiment on unfounded theoretical approaches that have not, as you demand, be proven.
Fact Rep. Stacy, the U.S. ranks third in the world on spending for education and achieves dismal results ranking 14th and worse in some areas as for the results. So Rep. Stacy you want more money for education, so your answer is to “throw more money at the problem”, which has been a proven failure, as year after year we spend more to get less.
Excerpt:
Since 1985, federal education spending tripled, yet studies by the National Assessment of Educational Progress show reading, math and science scores remained flat. Internationally, our 8th graders rank 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math. Almost 30 percent of our teenagers don’t finish high school, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, and half who enter college drop out, even though per pupil spending nationally averages more than $10,000 a year. America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree.
Despite those numbers, most educators say American schools are under-funded.
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/04/08/taxpayer-calculator-education-spending
End excerpt.
Keep your “crucible to prove out theories of independence” Stacy, for right here in Georgia there has been a proven model of success and it was done… are you ready for this Roads, Stacy… for less money!
WorkinDawg
May 8th, 2011
9:57 am
Dirty Dawg, the city of atlanta pols are complete morons and can’t be dealt with in a reasonable manner. That is the problem with the Atl vs the rest of the state. This is an area that elects folks who sit in front of our highest military officials and discuss Guam tipping over. How are you supposed to deal with that level of ignorance?
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 8th, 2011
10:14 am
Dems are all for trying new solutions to the education mess they’ve created…as long as they involve spending vast sums of other people’s money and enhancing their ability to get reelected.. Of course, any free market ideas, school choice, or reducing the influence of teacher’s unions need not apply.
Edward
May 8th, 2011
10:15 am
You people are just too easy. You proved MY points for me. Thanks! BTW, I’m not an Obama fan nor a Democrat, so your continued use of invalid assumptions only validates my opinion further. You people, just like the GOP, are pathetic.
Michael H. Smith
May 8th, 2011
10:43 am
Interview with Truett Abbot: Proven success.
TRUETT ABBOTT, PRINCIPAL, WARREN COUNTY MIDDLE SCHOOL: Good to be here, Lou.
I want to ask you, if I may, to start out, because there are a broad myths in public education, as you very well know. I’m sure that a lot of people are already thinking, well, Principal Abbott, Warren County, must have a bunch of high-income, already well-tutored and schooled white students, and that it isn’t a very diverse place, and doesn’t face economic challenges like much of the country. But we’d all be very wrong in that assumption, wouldn’t we?
ABBOTT: Yes, we would. The jobs have moved out of Warren County in the last 10 years, as a matter of fact. We have a student population that’s 92 percent African-American, and all of our students are on 100 percent free and reduced lunch, which indicates that it’s not a high-income neighborhood. And they are beginning to — our students are beginning to be successful and we’re very proud.
DOBBS: Well, let’s — let’s show everyone just what success means and — I love that, striving for excellence. Here’s what has been accomplished at Warren Middle School, if we could see that projected up on the screen.
In 2000, 28 percent of your middle schoolers were passing the state writing test. This year, 86 percent of those schoolers passed. Now, that is very impressive.
In mathematics, in 2000, only 14 percent of eighth graders passed that test. In 2004, 88 percent. That’s remarkable progress.
We’re hearing, across the country, that we need more money, that we need more resources. Do you have more money? Is that the difference? Was it more resources? What turned around your school?
ABBOTT: The state has reduced the funding in all the counties in Georgia for three years in a row. So, we haven’t had more money, we’ve had to do with less money. The significant changes have been that we discovered that our students could not coming into the middle school could not read higher than a third great level, and they were coming to sixth grade. So we found a phonetic program, phonographic, it is called, that we could use in the classrooms to remediate the students so they could begin to read the textbooks all across the curriculum…
DOBBS: You got the parents involved, it’s the last one. You rewarded students for performance. You made class times longer. You’re fighting a national — national trend, which is to make time shorter and to reduce homework. Have you…
ABBOTT: I felt that with — if our teachers were good in doing the right things in the classrooms, we increased the core class time by 50 percent, that we would obviously make great gains. And that’s proven to be true. We involved our parents, especially, to help us to make discipline work. And that was a big part of it, making discipline work.
Taken from:
http://alexanderhamiltoninstitute.org/lp/hamilton/Insourcing%20Jobs%5CDobbs_2005%5CCriminal%20Illegal%20Aliens.htm
redneckbluedog
May 8th, 2011
10:45 am
I have no problem with South Georgia politicians…Sonny Perdue and Saxby Chambliss both used to be Democrats….I don’t think either of them is entirely crazy, unlike the electorate down there, unfortunately….
Dirty Dawg
May 8th, 2011
11:53 am
Workingdawg…thanks, you just made my point…’morons and can’t be dealt with’ = Code for…oh, nevermind. As for Hank Johnson, he’s actually DeKalb County/Decatur and just because he can’t tell a joke or use metaphors effectively (You don’t actually think he was serious about that do you?) doesn’t mean he’s ignorant…but again, for you, what it does mean is that he’s black and therefore fair game for those whose only motivation is to find fault.
WorkinDawg
May 8th, 2011
2:40 pm
Dirty Dawg, when all else fails just shout racism. The last refuge of the ignorant. Funny how throughout the entire blog the only folks bringing up race are the folks trying to defend the indefensible. And anyone who wants to argue the merits of Atlants City Government….well that Is so ridiculous it’s not worthy of debate.
Happy mothers day.
Mary Elizabeth
May 8th, 2011
3:27 pm
“A rose by any other name is still a rose.”
Today’s Georgia Republican is yesterday’s Georgia Democrat. Only the labels have changed. The
worldviews are the same. The change in labels began with Strom Thurman’s change from Democrat to Republican in the late 1960s. Georgia’s last election was simply the saturation point for this crossover of labels in Georgia. Few will abandon the thinking of their own social group because of fear of isolation – even if that thinking, in many arenas, is wrong.
Population shift is only the symptom, not the cause, of a more profound phenomenon.
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 8th, 2011
3:44 pm
Mary Elizabeth: Few will abandon the thinking of their own social group because of fear of isolation – even if that thinking, in many arenas, is wrong.
——————-
For example, we learned in the last Atlanta mayoral election that Atlantans aren’t yet ready to vote for a white person. Perhaps one day soon Atlantans will grow and achieve a higher consciousness and free themselves from the intellectual bondage of their own social group.
Mary Elizabeth
May 8th, 2011
3:52 pm
It is important for all to recognize that we are all interconnected and that what effects one, will ultimately effect us all. We must, at the very least, try not to think in simple labels and to rise, in consciousness, above the limitations of the happenstance of our birth.
WorkinDawg
May 8th, 2011
4:08 pm
Lil Barry bailout…..don’t forget about the 97% approval rating our current president enjoys with the black community. I guess that’s not the “crossover” we are looking for…..nor is it a good example of thinking outside our social group.
Mary Elizabeth
May 8th, 2011
4:20 pm
Again, We must, at the very least, try not to think in simple labels and to rise, in consciousness, above the limitations of the happenstance of our birth.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: Thee Magnificent!!! mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
May 8th, 2011
4:34 pm
I guess the Urinal will be reporting on bin Laden’s death until November 2012 or so it seems.
Only good news ya got, eh?
carlosgvv
May 8th, 2011
5:20 pm
Barry
I would be nice if “one day soon” Black Atlanta might actually give fair consideration to a white candidate. Unfortunately, we both know that day, if it ever comes, will be very far into the future. For all their history of demanding civil rights and integration, Blacks in this country are the strongest example of “birds of a feather flock together”.
Linda
May 8th, 2011
5:40 pm
carlosgvv, When white “birds of a feather flock together,” we’re called racist. Shucks, we’re called racists for just flocking.
carlosgvv
May 8th, 2011
5:51 pm
Linda
Most times, no matter what we do, we’re called racists. Professional victims know no boundries and have no shame.
Sister Sarah
May 8th, 2011
6:03 pm
@Linda and Working Dawg.
I see you are both operating from the ol playbook. Let’s tackle the very logic behind your claim. To say that there is institutional racism that favors minorities (let’s just go ahead and say, Blacks) is merely pushing the concept of AA to the extreme. I want to know where all the employment or corporate contracts are that you claim are being doled out to Blacks are? You are basically saying that requiring by law a seat at the table for all competitive contract bids regardless of race is wrong? We all know how it worked out previously before the laws were changed. But no, that’s what you are really saying, you’re just spinning it the way you have been trained to do so. You peddle the idea that government jobs are merely handouts to Blacks. Well, the Blacks I know working in professional capacities whether in public OR PRIVATE sector have MINIMUM Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degrees or other certifications, no different than the good ol White folk. Furthermore, a LARGE portion of “government employees” are military veterans (of all races) as there is HIGH preference given to them. I’m guessing you “love” the military, given socio-political angle right? Well, do you have a problem with that?? Just wondering…Back to the education thing…so about those B.S., M.S. degrees and such…oh… the college was forced to admit them because they were Black…or the professors were “forced” to pass them because they were Black…or let’s just discount their education altogether because they went to an HBCU. Don’t want to recognize that though, as that’s a racist college system (even though they are only “historically” Black because the good ol White folk didn’t want to allow them into the good ol White universities to get an education). Never mind the fact that good ol White folk have long had “affirmative action” in place and exercise it everyday through posterity, nepotism and “good ol boy” networks.
Just discount em’, if they are in “corporate america” or public sector. That’s the way to go; it’s so much easier that way. Keeps you from having to deal with the reality of things. Sweep the White underachievers under the rug and amplify the Black, as many Black children and other minorities stand side by side academically with their White counterparts at overwhelmingly “White” institutions and manage projects in the private sector because of their ABILITIES and not simply because of their skin color.. Of course you won’t hear about them; it’s all a part of maintaining “supremacy”. PUHleez!
WorkinDawg
May 8th, 2011
6:17 pm
What can I say? All want is for everyone to be treated the same….is that racist? No doubt there are outstanding blacks business people who would succeed in any environment. I work with many and am fortunate to call many of them friends. When the deck is stacked to favor certain groups over others it is my belief that doing so is wrong. Regarding “who are these people” or such nonsense, major universities employ people to recruit minorities. Some folks get put on a waiting list or denied admission while others of equal standing are getting scholarships. Not exactly ignoring race which used to be the goal of the equality movement.
Angela
May 8th, 2011
6:20 pm
http://www.examiner.com/elementary-years-parenting-in-atlanta/motivation-who-s-job-is-it
Linda
May 8th, 2011
6:37 pm
I Report @ 4:34, Bush was criticized for “going it alone,” enhanced interrogation techniques, Gitmo, warrantless eavesdropping, military tribunals, rendition, black sites, indefinite detention, etc.
The corrupt media reported that one of Obama’s first executive orders ended EITs, ordered the closing of Gitmo & black sites & ended rendition. They did not fully report his 8/24/09 decision to continue rendition. I think that sending “detainees” to other countries to be interrogated might be more than “enhanced.”
Obama reinstated military tribunals in 5/09 & Gitmo is still open & fully operational.
I don’t think his adm. checked with the UN or NATO this time.
They moved a team into a rented house in Pakistan with cameras with telephoto lenses & infrared imaging equipment & used sensitive eavesdropping equipment. They used satellite radar.
There was never a warrant issued. bin Laden was not arrested, tried & found guilty in absentia.
They flew into a sovereign country without permission from Pakistan, broke into his home, executed him, stole his stuff & disposed of his body by “waterboarding” it.
I support the events & am proud of our military. I just find it hypocritical of the left to criticize Bush & applaud Obama, especially condemning waterboarding but approving execution.
Linda
May 8th, 2011
6:54 pm
Sister Sarah@6:03, You are mixed up. The only comment I made was about white birds flocking. If you’ve got birds flocking at your place, it’s not my fault. I don’t care what color they are. I did not send them. Call the Humane Society or the zoo. Whatever you do, don’t feed them.
carlosgvv started it! I think they might be his flocking birds.
Weren’t they mentioned in the Twelve Days of Christmas? How many are there? Are they a-laying or a-leaping?
Hope you get (it) straightened out.
Michael H. Smith
May 8th, 2011
11:05 pm
Thank you, Angela.
The solution and answer to the question [ education ] is a 100% team effort and not all on teacher ‘s effort. Each party must give 100% percent. And, in pert near all cases if the parents and students are giving 100% the teacher will give 200% because he/she feels that they are truly making a difference and appreciated.
Education in Georgia, in fact, education in this nation as a whole is not underfunded. Education is however, severely under-invested.
“Investment of person” is the “intractable link”, which invariably determines the performance and eventual outcomes in all educational results – Not more taxpayer money being spent.
Linda
May 8th, 2011
11:26 pm
Michael@11:05, Thank God you are here!
MiltonMan
May 9th, 2011
8:26 am
Kyle, please in the future make a distinct reference to North Fulton vs. South Fulton. North Fulton continues to grow, our schools are some of the best in the state, crime is low, etc., etc. South Fulton is nothing more than a cesspool.
Self_Made
May 9th, 2011
1:39 pm
Every time I tried to teach my kids to “ignore race”, they got cracked upside the head with it. They got cracked in the head by Whites, then they got cracked in the head by Blacks. Then I was left no choice but to pass on a few stereotypes as a means of survival.
And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.
Truth Squad
May 9th, 2011
3:07 pm
Georgia’s “power base”, such as it is, is shrinking. Despite geography, the Republicans are dependent on a segment of the population that is not expanding. It matters not whether that population is concentrated in the Atlanta area, or in the sticks.
The Republican Party’s days are number in Georgia. Their only hope (and apparently plan of action), is to run as many people out of the state as possible, and to lock up as much as the rest as they can to take away their vote. It will not work.
Power will rightly shift to the metro area, we all know this to be true. I hope at that time, the metro politicians show more respect for the rest of the state than is currently shown toward Atlanta.
Tamika
May 9th, 2011
4:58 pm
South Fulton is not a cesspool unless Union City, Palmetto, and Fairburn are a cesspool.
And Lil Barry is a joke. Whenever he talks about Democrats, he talks about Obama. What about the Democrats in the state of Georgia since this article is about the state of Georgia and not the national level?
But addressing that would mean that he would have to stop frothing at the mouth long enough to focus.
And Sistah Sarah, thank you for pointing that out.
satch
May 12th, 2011
1:03 am
Self_Made
May 9th, 2011
1:39 pm
Every time I tried to teach my kids to “ignore race”, they got cracked upside the head with it. They got cracked in the head by Whites…… lol i was taught do not trust whites and everybody black is not your friend. good rules for a black person to live by .it will save you a lot of heart ache.good white folks i’m sorry