Some Georgia Republicans’ newfound fondness for state jobs
A bunch of small-government Republicans sure are learning to love life in the public sector.
Chip Rogers, the recently deposed Senate majority leader, last week became the latest GOP lawmaker to leave the Gold Dome for a job at a state agency. Rogers resigned his seat to accept Gov. Nathan Deal’s offer to work for Georgia Public Broadcasting.
One guesses he won’t use his new perch to take up Mitt Romney’s crusade against government subsidies for Big Bird.
If Deal ever holds an all-agencies employee picnic, Rogers won’t lack for familiar faces. He’s the seventh Republican legislator in the past two years to take a job with the state.
There are former representatives Timothy Bearden, now head of the Georgia Law Enforcement Training Center; James Mills, now a member of the Board of Pardons and Paroles; Hank Huckaby, now chancellor of the University System of Georgia; and Mark Williams, now head of the Department of Natural Resources.
Then there are ex-senators Mitch Seabaugh, now deputy state treasurer, and Jim Butterworth, now adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard.
Normally, when good-government advocates bemoan the “revolving door,” they mean legislators, regulators and their aides moving on to jobs working or lobbying for the companies they used to oversee – not people leaving the Legislature for the full-time state payroll.
There also are, of course, a number of GOP legislators-turned-lobbyists. Nor should we ignore that, as with lobbyists for private companies, these ex-legislators’ experience and relationships in the General Assembly are coveted by the agencies that hire them.
And it’s true certain state jobs are appointed by the governor, and it’s true the governor has the right to fill them as he sees fit. That includes appointing legislators to them.
And perhaps we shouldn’t read anything into the fact that, by my count, these seven appointees represent more Legislature-to-bureaucracy career moves in two years than we saw in eight years under Gov. Sonny Perdue. (Technically, Perdue recommended Williams for the DNR job, in consultation with then-Gov.-elect Deal.)
But if there is concern about these moves among Georgians, particularly those who consider themselves small-government conservatives, there are at least two justifications for it.
First, there’s the obvious worry that legislators will spend their time angling for state jobs rather than doing the jobs they were elected to do – particularly when the sluggish economy is still making it tough to make a living in the private sector. But we might wave off this notion as overblown: We are talking about seven legislators in two years, and there are 236 members of the General Assembly. It’s a trend, but not yet a stampede.
The second concern may be less obvious but more pernicious: A big problem with chumminess among lawmakers and lobbyists is it’s harder to say no to one’s friends. It’s no different when those friends work for state agencies, with their annual budget requests.
That’s bound to enlarge government. And how many legislators would vote to close an obscure board, knowing it might one day hire them at a six-figure salary?
It would be nice to think the effect might be reversed, that these former GOP legislators might be just the ones we need to filter into the bureaucracy with their conservative principles in tow. It seems we’re due for an object lesson in whether you change the Leviathan, or it changes you.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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126 comments Add your comment
curious
December 10th, 2012
10:03 am
You highlight the problem with Republicans. They rail against government , but eagerly jump right in the trough.
Credibility. Nobody believes them.
Mr. Holmes
December 10th, 2012
10:08 am
I am shocked, SHOCKED, that “small-government conservatives” would re-evaluate their principles in return for a nice cushy public appointment. What’s next, professional athletes cheating on their wives?
Whirled Peas
December 10th, 2012
10:12 am
Too many Republicans just want their snouts up at the government trough. That is why the Tea Party exists.
stands for decibels
December 10th, 2012
10:14 am
I’ve been tempted to take more than a couple of cheap shots at Chip, but I’m basically on the “pay the guy to go away” side when it comes to explaining the wherefores of that recent hubub. (Does anyone yet know just how much he’s supposed to be paid for this new gig at GPB?)
And how many legislators would vote to close an obscure board, knowing it might one day hire them at a six-figure salary?
That’s a fair question, but it’s always going to be with us, unless you have very strict laws forbidding elected officials from ever working for such organizations afterward, and I don’t know how useful, or necessary, such a rule might be.
Real Athens
December 10th, 2012
10:24 am
Kyle,
In defense of Hank Huckaby: He retired as Comptroller at UGA (under Mike Adams) and THEN decided to run for office in his District in Oconee County.
He was then APPOINTED Chancellor of the University System of Georgia. Hank Huckaby is a good, hardworking man who has done more for the state of Georgia than most realize; because he has been a behind the scenes man, out of the limelight, by his own choice,
Jaquandria
December 10th, 2012
10:33 am
This kind of expose about Republicans feeding @ the public trough is something I’d expect to find over on Bookman, so kudos to Kyle for even talking about it.
Why people, particularly Georgians, seem to expect Republicans to be more virtuous escapes me. At the end of the day politicians are like everyone else, looking out for themselves first.
td
December 10th, 2012
10:37 am
As much as some Conservatives thing so, we can not get rid of all government functions and if we have to have them then Conservatives should be running those agencies. I have advocated to the Governor for years to put Conservatives into leadership positions in the bureaucracy. I think the Governor only has about 500 jobs to go before we can start implementing real Conservative philosophies into these rules and regulations.
Next step is to get about 200 or so Conservatives at the State DOE and in the University system to start writing Conservative curriculum.
splavistic
December 10th, 2012
10:41 am
So, you’re saying that the Republicans spout one thing, and then act another? Hmm. I would NEVER have said that about the ‘principled’ Republicans.
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
10:47 am
Kyle
Nice coulumn. Both parties have a history of doing what you stated in the article or going the lobbyist route to leverage their connections and influence.
Nothing new..
This is right up there with the stimulus rants that have come from some who took stimulus money.
Neither side is immune from hypocrisy and never will be.
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
10:50 am
td
Yeah boy…. We will have arrived when we start seeing the Jesus rode the dinosaur curriculums..
What a day that will be
CB
December 10th, 2012
11:06 am
I have said it once, twice. As a matter of fact I have lost count of the many times I have said it. So, let me say it again just for the record. Republicans are a bunch of hypocrits!! Their hypocrisy know no limits.
middle of the road
December 10th, 2012
11:06 am
I thought Chip Rogers resigned to be with his family more.
JF McNamara
December 10th, 2012
11:07 am
There is no way they are going to go to those agencies and fire people like you advocate. It was harder when they were nameless and faceless while working in the legislature. Its going to be even harder now that they know them. It’s highly likely they ask for more, not less, money.
——
“particularly when the sluggish economy is still making it tough to make a living in the private sector”
The economy isn’t that bad anymore. The election is over. Maybe its time to drop the pessimism…
Kyle Wingfield
December 10th, 2012
11:08 am
td @ 10:37: I’d be a lot more sympathetic to that line of thinking — and note that I did mention it toward the end of the column — if we were talking mostly about agency heads and other posts with a chance to bring about real change. I’m far from convinced that’s the case with most of these.
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
11:16 am
Kyle
As for the economy, is that really Chip’s issue?
Seems a job was created at GPB for “someone” and by mere coincidence With the problems swirling around Chip, he got the job.
Let’s make sure your bias as a right leaning Op Ed writer still stays on an intellectual level.
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
11:20 am
Kyle
Excuse me. Should have typed “intellectually honest level” not “intellectual level”
My apologies.
td
December 10th, 2012
11:21 am
Kyle Wingfield
December 10th, 2012
11:08 am
I agree with you about the agency heads. I would much rather see Chip Rodgers running DHS or DCH then the job he took. I also would like to see a good Conservative as the next President of UGA.
Road Scholar
December 10th, 2012
11:22 am
Kyle, have you filed a FOIA request yet to see Mr Roger’s salary and job description? Is he being paid out of the Governor’s budget? Ya’ know GPB has had their budget cut recently. Also, does Mr Rogers get a sweater?
catlady
December 10th, 2012
11:24 am
Thank you, Kyle. Something I can agree with! Part of the problem with the “Democrats did it first” is that the Democrats never called themselves the “small government party.” Never campaigned on “family values.” Always have held themselves up as the “morally superior party.”
I am absolutely opposed to wasting any more time or money supporting the syncophants that our governor seems to be dedicated to supporting from the public monies.
snoqualmiefalls
December 10th, 2012
11:24 am
td@10:37
HMMM, you are advocating consevatives to run just about everything in the State, and write the laws and regulations, with what goal do these folks have in mind? Do these folks wish to promote the general welfare of the good citizens of the State? Do they wish to enrich themselves from the coffers of the State? Is one of the primary goals to achieve a One Party State, ala Cuba or N. Korea, not allow for opposiong opinions? I always hold suspect any ideology that advocates one party rule, one ideology and I would think the good citizens of the State would feel the same, providing they know something of 20th century political history.
Road Scholar
December 10th, 2012
11:24 am
td: I would like to see Rogers in jail for fraud! Oh, and let HIM pay for any election costs.
Pizzaman
December 10th, 2012
11:27 am
Politics as usual. The Gov paying off his political cronies.
Puck
December 10th, 2012
11:30 am
I wonder if these jobs also include Platinum plated pensions, that they are immediately eligible for.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
December 10th, 2012
11:32 am
Where else you gonna get a job?
Proofread
December 10th, 2012
11:33 am
Fondness
md
December 10th, 2012
11:36 am
“The economy isn’t that bad anymore.”
I’m guessing the 23 million still unemployed/underemployed would not agree with that comment.
The economy is anemic at best………..
md
December 10th, 2012
11:40 am
“is that the Democrats never called themselves the “small government party.” Never campaigned on “family values.” Always have held themselves up as the “morally superior party.””
And amazingly keep get elected as the non small gov’t party.
As for the “morally superior” part of the equation, I disagree. That is exactly what they think they are when they make the decision to require others to pay for the “less fortunate”, although I’m at a total loss as to how one can claim the moral superiority by doing so.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
December 10th, 2012
11:42 am
Friday’s “Employment Situation” report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that 5.4 million Americans have dropped out of the labor force since Barack Obama took office. The labor force declined by 350,000 in November, despite an increase of 191,000 in our working age population.
This is what the libs call a good economy.
DannyX
December 10th, 2012
11:42 am
Of course Chip’s phony position will come with a pass to all of the events that will take place at the new unnecessary Falcons stadium. If Chip is to be fully tuned into the economic development of the state he’ll have to have access to all the occupants of those 500 new corporate stadium suites. Hey, maybe he can tape a few shows there!
Gotta love our Georgia “Republicans”.
Kyle Wingfield
December 10th, 2012
11:44 am
Proofread @ 11:33: Thanks. Fixed now.
Lee Stu
December 10th, 2012
12:05 pm
It’s Small Gov t for YOU big Government for them Cut Gov’t taxes but pay Me a BIG salary plus pension Health care for family College for kids while bemoaning BIG Government
Lee Stu
December 10th, 2012
12:13 pm
I remember when Ouinn Gov of Ill in ois was consumer advocate Now as GOV pay back for pols who helped raise taxes by appointing to Gov’t boards where big npay/pensions but little work Meetings 1 a month or every 3months but take home pay monthly found out HOW springfield really works
carlosgvv
December 10th, 2012
12:17 pm
Georgia politicians have been feeding on the Government and lobbyist gravy train for years now.
Darwin
December 10th, 2012
12:32 pm
Kyle – Are you saying that GOP politicians are a bunch of hypocrites? That small government equals more freedom really DOES sound like it just belongs on a bumper sticker?
JDW
December 10th, 2012
12:33 pm
“I would much rather see Chip Rodgers running DHS or DCH then the job he took”
I think he would make a dandy dogcatcher in say Taliaferro County population…1,717
Some Georgia Republicans’ newfound fondness for state jobs | Kyle Wingfield ajc.com | Georgia News Digest
December 10th, 2012
12:44 pm
[...] Go to this article [...]
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 10th, 2012
12:48 pm
The proglodytes who have a problem with Republicans taking state jobs should advocate for those jobs to be eliminated. Otherwise, shut up about it since you think those jobs are so necessary.
tiredofIT
December 10th, 2012
12:49 pm
Conservationism is a racket.
Johnny boy says..
December 10th, 2012
12:51 pm
May be the first Republican ever, to hold a position at GPB. Wonder if he is interested in a PBS office ?
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
12:51 pm
“Otherwise, shut up about it since you think those jobs are so necessary.”
Deal is a “proglodyte”? He created Chip’s job
Nice try, but big whiff.
Take another swing.
The Kid
December 10th, 2012
12:54 pm
Contrary to all the posturing, there is no morality in our government. There is the lordly dollar which seems to convert the majority of our elected officials to it’s lordship. Corruption is from the top down but our prisons are filled from the bottom up. The R.I.C.O. laws are the perfect tool to correct what is wrong in the politics of; not just Ga.; but American politics.
Cutty
December 10th, 2012
12:55 pm
What Kyle omits is that these are the same individuals that rail against the size of government as a plank in their governing platform, except when it benefits them. Where are all you GA Republicans who claim socialism at every turn? I do think there are more qualifies people for these positions if Deal ever looked outside his office.
td
December 10th, 2012
12:58 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout – OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 10th, 2012
12:48 pm
If Republicans start taking government jobs away from the few Dems that actually work then the party will actual turn into the “do nothing. taker” party.
Kyle Wingfield
December 10th, 2012
1:06 pm
Cutty @ 12:55: Right, I omitted it by mentioning it in the very first sentence…
The Snark
December 10th, 2012
1:14 pm
Kyle, your naivete is showing again. Some of those people were bought off with government jobs because they were causing problems in the legislature, or otherwise embarrassing the party. If this was Russia, the powers that be would simply have dropped a plutonium pellet in their pillow.
The Snark
December 10th, 2012
1:18 pm
td: If you think Chip Rogers could run DCH or DHR, then you truly don’t know a damn thing about government.
puck: Rest assured that state workers do not have access to platinum plated pensions. The good pensions were phased out years ago. Someone who joins the executive branch in 2012 is eligible for a watered down 401k plan that would make working at McDonald’s look good.
Kyle Wingfield
December 10th, 2012
1:19 pm
Snark @ 1:14: I think you’re overstating it by saying “some” — I’m not sure your theory really applies to anyone but Rogers. But I don’t think their reasons for leaving make any difference wrt the effects I discussed in the column, which in the grand scheme of things are more important imo.
JF McNamara
December 10th, 2012
1:19 pm
@Aesop, @md,
Unemployment is not the same thing as Economy. Companies are making money hence the stock market increase and consumer spending doing really well.
Unemployment is high, but that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the economy. Companies found out they can do the same job with less people during the recession. Hence they are doing that and sitting on huge piles of cash. Double that with the fact that outsourcing sent a lot of middle class jobs overseas and you understand why unemployment is behind.
mbtc
December 10th, 2012
1:33 pm
“Next step is to get about 200 or so Conservatives at the State DOE and in the University system to start writing Conservative curriculum. ”
You would have fit sooo well in the Third Reich’s propaganda machine, TD. Don’t give our youth an education, tell them what we want them to know.
Bob Loblaw
December 10th, 2012
1:36 pm
A big problem is a lot of these legislators spend a lot of time in a $17,000 a year job, have businesses that dry up and kids about to go to college and in all candor, they see a job opening and apply with the governor because they need a job that pays. Many of those that have taken the jobs are well-qualified, but I can see the correlation and the image issue that arises. The most recent one has a little of a different twist, however. It’s not like a seat on the Parole Board, that, well, is required by the Constitution.
clem
December 10th, 2012
1:38 pm
what a load about putting repubs as agency heads. what do you folks think has been going on since perdue came in? most agency heads replaced by folks compatible with conservative thinking. ga has always been fiscally conservative, look at their bond ratings.
HDB
December 10th, 2012
1:41 pm
Interesting……conservatives rail against government jobs when it can get many in the populace back to work….but QUICKLY get government jobs to eliminate their own personal recession……..
Sister Sarah
December 10th, 2012
2:02 pm
It would be nice to think that, now wouldn’t it Kyle? It’s all a farce with most of these politicians anyway, especially those always criticizing “big government”. Funny how they devote their ENTIRE LIVES to being a part of “goverment”, all while selling their minions the silly idea that they are for “small” government. Ha!! I say make me a believer. LEAVE GOVERNMENT and make it in the private sector like most of the rest of us!!! It’s like the dopefiend parent who tells their kid, “You better not EVER use this —t!” All the while, they slam a shot of heroin into ther veins. The joke’s on you “small government” lovers.
Grasshopper
December 10th, 2012
2:03 pm
What a demotion Rogers got.
From leader of the state senate to leader of the Barney/Antiques Roadshow/Celtic Thunder channel – you know, the channel no one watches.
How much is he making?
td
December 10th, 2012
2:04 pm
mbtc
December 10th, 2012
1:33 pm
“Next step is to get about 200 or so Conservatives at the State DOE and in the University system to start writing Conservative curriculum. ”
You would have fit sooo well in the Third Reich’s propaganda machine, TD. Don’t give our youth an education, tell them what we want them to know.
The socialist left has now been writing the curriculum and spreading their ideology as fact for the past 30 years, so please get off your high horse about propaganda. It is time for Conservatives to wake up and doing what the left has been doing for decades.
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
2:08 pm
“It is time for Conservatives to wake up and doing what the left has been doing for decades.”
So you are advocating propaganda, but from the right?
You did say that “The socialist left has now been writing the curriculum and spreading their ideology as fact for the past 30 years”
md
December 10th, 2012
2:10 pm
“Unemployment is not the same thing as Economy.”
Try telling that to the unemployed. They are one in the same when one does not have a job as the reason they do not have a job is because of the economy.
clem
December 10th, 2012
2:11 pm
good gosh, repubs have had a republican in as state superintendent since 2003…cathy cox until now. before that they had linda shrenko before her problems. this is 2012.
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
2:11 pm
td
Can’t wait for that combined religious and science class…..
Lesson 1: Jesus, the disciples and their brontosaurus burger feast
md
December 10th, 2012
2:13 pm
And you are making a huge mistake assuming most corps are sitting on huge piles of cash, as most corps are not. The mom and pops are still struggling to keep their doors open. The bigger ones have more cash because they cut expenses……..people.
Jerry Eads
December 10th, 2012
2:14 pm
With some regularity you actually speak from a conservative view, rather than knee-jerking for the radical right-wingers who have the gall to label themselves Republicans. More actual conservatism, please. Most appreciated.
td
December 10th, 2012
2:15 pm
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
2:08 pm
I am advocating teaching the Conservative philosophy of the free market, hard work and depending on your own hard work and not what the government can give you. If you want to call this propaganda the so be it.
td
December 10th, 2012
2:17 pm
clem
December 10th, 2012
2:11 pm
good gosh, repubs have had a republican in as state superintendent since 2003…cathy cox until now. before that they had linda shrenko before her problems. this is 2012.
Nice to see you are so well informed about who the current Superintendent is. Dr. John Barge. BTW: I would not classify Cathy or Linda as a Conservative.
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
2:18 pm
td
It was your own words, not mine.
You said “doing what the left has been doing” and to that you said “spreading their ideology as fact”.
Clarify your post, but no need to get upset with me.
@@
December 10th, 2012
2:20 pm
Government workers (politicians) unwilling/unable to function in the real world?
Why am I not surprised.
clem
December 10th, 2012
2:21 pm
td, you moron. i know who super is. i said from cathy cox unti now. try reading slower.
mbtc
December 10th, 2012
2:26 pm
“The socialist left has now been writing the curriculum and spreading their ideology as fact for the past 30 years….”
Gotta sting that facts have a liberal bias. Ouch.
td
December 10th, 2012
2:27 pm
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
2:18 pm
So you believe the left has been in charge of the education establishment and has been spreading their propaganda for 30 years?
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
2:30 pm
td
You said that, not me. I was only pointing out exactly what you said. Again, clarify it or you can move on. Problem is that you do not want to clarify it because you said exactly what you want done: propaganda pushed to meet your ideology, facts be damned.
That is fine if that is what you believe, but do not twist and turn your words against me because I called you out for your words.
But keep flailing if it makes you feel good.
mbtc
December 10th, 2012
2:32 pm
“I am advocating teaching the Conservative philosophy of the free market, hard work and depending on your own hard work and not what the government can give you.”
That’s your curriculum? LOL Sounds like a kindergarten “values” class gone amuck with our Lord the Free Market replacing the Golden Rule. Ever had a thought of you own, td, you know, that wasn’t a direct quote from Hannity?
yeah baby
December 10th, 2012
2:36 pm
td
Lesson 2: Isaiah and his pet T Rex……… How he domesticated a few and raised them to sell to other families.
mbtc
December 10th, 2012
2:40 pm
” How he domesticated a few and raised them to sell to other families.”
Those little nestlings are so cute!
Cutty
December 10th, 2012
2:52 pm
But if there is concern about these moves among Georgians, particularly those who consider themselves small-government conservatives, there are at least two justifications for it.’
And then you found some ironic way to justify also. As much as you talk about the current President’s czars and such, you would think a similar instance occurring a lot closer to home would draw more of a rebuke from you. Guess not.
yuzeyurbrane
December 10th, 2012
2:52 pm
Why the shock? Deal has always been a spoils system politician, no matter which party he has been in.
JF McNamara
December 10th, 2012
3:03 pm
@md,
I feel bad for the unemployed, but you are simply wrong. The economy and unemployment are not the same thing. Like I tried to explain to your before, the biggest factor driving up unemployment is outsourcing.
Here are the unemployment stats by education level?
http://www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/demographics/
Which level jobs have been outsourced? Who has the highest unemployment rate here? The economy is fine. The problem is that many of the jobs that low skilled workers did are no longer here. Couple that with the fact that businesses really got lean over the recession, and it’s going to keep unemployment high for a while.
As a super Republican, I would think that you would agree with me. Those who took the initiative to get educated have jobs. Isn’t that what you preach? Those who worked the hardest are being rewarded. That’s the Republican ethos. Winners get rewarded.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 10th, 2012
3:05 pm
I’m sorry, but were any of these positions created specifically for these former pols?
Not that I can see.
So for all this faux poutrage from the left about Republicans and small government, they are simply filling existing jobs – NOT creating new government sending.
But if you’re all so hot to get rid of government on your own terms, then let’s just kill GPB completely so that Rogers (and anyone else) no longer has a job.
Otherwise, quit whining, even if you do it so darned well.
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
3:09 pm
ATLANTA (CBS ATLANTA) -
CBS Atlanta News has learned Gov. Nathan Deal may have played a bigger role in the selection of former state Sen. Chip Rogers of Cherokee County for a new position with Georgia Public Broadcasting than his office acknowledged.
Through an open records request, CBS Atlanta obtained an email showing Deal called a meeting to discuss his plans for a new GPB economic development programming initiative. The meeting was held at the Capitol in early November with then Senate Majority Leader Rogers, Teya Ryan, president of GPB, and three of Deal’s top staffers.
According to a GPB spokeswoman, this meeting was the first time Ryan learned of the governor’s initiative.
Records don’t reveal what was said in that meeting, but it clearly led to a new job for Rogers who suddenly stepped down from the Senate earlier this week to pursue the GPB position.
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/20286969/gov-deal-called-meeting-to-discuss-former-senators-new-gpb-job
JF McNamara
December 10th, 2012
3:10 pm
@md,
“The bigger ones have more cash because they cut expenses……..people.”
Indeed, and they sent the work overseas where it could be done cheaper.
“The mom and pops are still struggling to keep their doors open. ”
This is nothing new. Here is the success rates of small business from back in 2008 before the crash. It’s just hard to do business.
http://blog.globalbx.com/2008/10/06/small-business-statistics-and-failure-rates/
“And you are making a huge mistake assuming most corps are sitting on huge piles of cash, as most corps are not.”
Not true, they are. If businesses were performing poorly, their Wall Street Earnings would reflect it and their stock prices would fall. They have the money to hire and just aren’t.
Kyle Wingfield
December 10th, 2012
3:16 pm
Cutty @ 2:52: Those are justifications for the concern, not the moves. Thus, “justifications for it,” not “for them.”
Kyle Wingfield
December 10th, 2012
3:18 pm
JF: I pushed your 3:10 through. Not sure why it got hung up.
Kyle Wingfield
December 10th, 2012
3:20 pm
Also, Cutty: Thus I refer to “First…the obvious worry” and “The second concern.”
Georgia
December 10th, 2012
3:20 pm
Potatoe
1961_Xer
December 10th, 2012
3:23 pm
My questions:
What does Timothy Bearden know about the Georgia Law Enforcement Training Center?
What does James Mills know about the Board of Pardons and Paroles?
What does Hank Huckaby know about being chancellor of the University System of Georgia?
What does Mark Williams, know about the Department of Natural Resources?
What does Mitch Seabaugh know about being deputy state treasurer?
What does Jim Butterworth know about being adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard?
My guess is that none of these folks knew anything about the work and daily routine of these jobs. They got these jobs, not through merit, but through political connections. How very USSR of them. All in All, this looks like the perfect method to build inept bureaucracies at the very highest levels of state government. Shouldn’t these jobs have been filled with people QUALIFIED to do them?
nathan's political arsonist
December 10th, 2012
3:29 pm
all totally inept appointees with no credentials or expertise. deal will soon be exposed, once a crook, always a crook
nathan's political arsonist
December 10th, 2012
3:32 pm
butterworth wasn’t even qualified with his low military rank and had to seek an exception, williams hunts deer, bearden was a street patrol officer for one year. experts with national expertise were removed so these folks could land 6 figure jobs in tough ecomomic times
td
December 10th, 2012
3:36 pm
1961_Xer
December 10th, 2012
3:23 pm
What does all those College professors and community organizers know about the economy and creating jobs that Obama has appointed to key positions in his administration?
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
3:37 pm
td
Name the appointee and their background………….
@@
December 10th, 2012
3:40 pm
Potatoe. 19th century spelling.
We got lazy and cut off the “e”.
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
3:41 pm
@@
Maybe that blogger is Dan Quayle…….
Sister Sarah
December 10th, 2012
3:49 pm
I despise “government”.
Now can I get a GOVERNMENT JOB?
With GOVERNMENT PERKS?
and GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE??
and GOVERNMENT PENSION??
Gee thanks!
HEY MINIONS, GOVERNMENT IS BAD!! Keep it small (but keep ME in!). I got your back (yeah… waaaayyy back)
Suckers!
Sister Sarah
December 10th, 2012
3:58 pm
td
December 10th, 2012
3:36 pm
NAME THEM!!’ or is this just one of those “hyperbole much?” situations?
1961_Xer
December 10th, 2012
4:03 pm
1961_Xer
December 10th, 2012
3:23 pm
What does all those College professors and community organizers know about the economy and creating jobs that Obama has appointed to key positions in his administration?
Not sure why that was aimed at me… I am a conservative. I AGREE that Obama (nor any member of his administration) knows the first thing about the economy or creating jobs.
What we are seeing is inept government at virtually every level … any you liberals want to give government (yes, that means Obama at the national level and Deal at the state level) control over your healthcare?
I suppose that if you can’t afford it, government health insurance is better than no health insurance. For everyone else though, this is bureaucracy building at the very worst.
Real Athens
December 10th, 2012
4:08 pm
“I am advocating teaching the Conservative philosophy of the free market, hard work and depending on your own hard work and not what the government can give you. If you want to call this propaganda the so be it.”
Just like Chip Rogers? Or maybe Nathan Deal who has been on a government payroll (including all the unpaid as-of-yet benefits) since 1980.
Real conservatism. LOL.
Dusty
December 10th, 2012
4:11 pm
Hey, seems to me you folks are not studying these developments with an open mind. Tiberius came up with a good point. Were these jobs not already set up and had to be filled? None were recently designed as far as I can tell.
Who else besides the governor would be leading a discussion about applicants and requirements for a new leadership position that is available?
Also, would someone who has been active in the governmental activities of the state know more about governmental requirements and other info that a newcomer?
Many of you are following the same old mindset that every governor and every governmental employee is crooked or interested only in his own welfare. I don’t think that is true of Deal and many others. Deal is governor of GEORGIA and that is where he looks primarily for workers.
That is not true for our educational system at universities. Professors are chosen for their expertise and study in a particular field.Tthis talk about dinosaurs is as backwards as are the times of dinosaurs. Only a few isolated schools in the USA ever thought of that age in nonscientific ways. To think so is only the prolific use of ignorant judgmental propaganda.
Dusty
December 10th, 2012
4:47 pm
Just for a moment, did everyone have a good time like I did driving home in the pouring rain? Now, no rain, lotsa clouds and cold air drifting in with icy fingers.
I bet Hillbilly is shivering up there in the chilly mountains. Throw another log on the fire, Hillbilly..
Real Athens
December 10th, 2012
4:49 pm
1961_Xer @ 3:23 pm:
In the 1960s and 1970s, Hank Huckaby taught at Georgia Perimeter (then Dekalb) College and Emory University. He worked as an administrator at Gordon College and Georgia State University. He worked as senior vice president for finance and administration (Comptroller) at UGA until 2006. He serves on the Young Harris College Board of Trustees.
He spent years as a trusted confidant/advisor to Zell Miller.
http://www.usg.edu/chancellor/bio
He is arguably the only qualified appointment Nathan Deal has made in his short tenure.
Real Athens
December 10th, 2012
4:54 pm
“The socialist left has now been writing the curriculum and spreading their ideology as fact for the past 30 years, so please get off your high horse about propaganda. It is time for Conservatives to wake up and doing what the left has been doing for decades.”
The poster obviously hasn’t been on a Georgia university or college campus in a very, very long time (if ever).
Dusty
December 10th, 2012
5:00 pm
Real Athens.
I haven’t heard of any others that Deal recommended that failed to pass the test. Rogers has not started yet so he can’t be judged on his new job.
Who did you have in mind that has failed miserably?
Real Athens
December 10th, 2012
5:28 pm
D -
Trying to pick a fight are ye? Who mentioned “failing miserably”? Um, you. Need to work on those retention skills.
I said: “He is arguably the only qualified appointment Nathan Deal has made in his short tenure.” Qualified as in, qualified for his position. Deal’s other appointments? Not so much.
Go play in the rain.
Dusty
December 10th, 2012
5:47 pm
R A-
Pick a fight with a pleasant fellow like you? Why nol I’d rather ;play in the rain.
Perhaps you would not mind telling me who are the unqualifed people appointed by Deal. that you implied? Obviousy you have someone in mind or was it just any ol’ Republican?.
Real Athens
December 10th, 2012
6:04 pm
Newsflash: Hank Huckaby is a Republican.
Figure out what’s going on around you and draw your own conclusions. Start with Kyle’s blog. Google your own name (as you respond to every post) and that might serve to jog your memory regarding Deal’s appointments.
Not that it hasn’t been going on in Georgia since time immemorial, it appears Deal’s blatant cronyism and disregard for the appearance of malfeasance has soared to new heights. I find it hard to believe that the states best and brightest all reside in Hall County (or counties that touch it).
Upon entering the governors race, Nathan Deal filed for bankruptcy. If when he leaves he isn’t a millionaire I’ll eat my hat.
@@
December 10th, 2012
6:24 pm
Maybe that blogger is Dan Quayle…….
Maybe Quayle was the reincarnation of William Wordsworth.
maybe….maybe….maybe
yuzeyurbrane
December 10th, 2012
7:06 pm
tiberius–I am sure you will doublecheck me, which is fine, but it appears that Chip Rogers’ position was designed specifically for him, although I am certain GPB will deny it.
Dusty
December 10th, 2012
7:42 pm
R-A
Nathan Deal filed for bankruptcy after losing most of what he owned to help HIS ;DAUGHTER. Do you remember that? His daughter made a bad business decision and Deal did his best to help her. What money/investments he has now are put in trust. He does not direct his business dealings while he is govenmor.
So it is also important to you what county an appointee is from. Even that is questionable.
What next? You got a certain city in mind?
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
7:53 pm
You get em big Dust……………
straighten them out
Real Athens
December 10th, 2012
7:59 pm
Dusty -
Been in the booze?
Where appointees are from is important when nearly 15 percent of the 300 appointees made early in his administration are from one county. Deal’s use of appointments and re-appointments to “independent boards” is an oxymoron. Longtime Republican activist Warren Budd was not reappointed to the state’s Department of Natural Resources board “after he openly complained that the location of reservoirs under the Governor’s plan were too heavily weighted north of Atlanta and served interests of connected developers.” Deal’s Deputy Chief of Staff went so far as to call Budd’s removal a “teachable moment for others who serve at the pleasure of the Governor.”
The Executive Secretary of the State Ethics Commission was removed from her positions as she sought subpoenas in ethics cases against the Governor.
Deal somewhat quietly appointed three close political allies to the board of the Georgia Ports Authority. Ken Cronan of Gainesville, the Governor’s business partner for decades; James Walters of Gainesville, the Governor’s banker, landlord and campaign donor to the tune of $30,000; and Hugh Tarbutton of Sandersville, also a large campaign donor.
Toby Carr, GDOT Planning Director — A political adviser to Gov. Deal, Carr had no previous transportation experience. He replaced Todd Long, a career transportation planner and engineer. His qualification? Former director of the Georgia Republican Party.
State Sen. Jim Butterworth, Adjutant General, Georgia National Guard — Gov. Deal advanced State Sen. Butterworth six ranks to make this appointment. Butterworth had left the Air Guard with the rank of captain — but now wears the uniform of a two-star general.
Patricia Pridemore, Director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development —After appointing his political ally to this post, Gov. Deal increased her budget by 1,339 percent to $73.4 million.
Debbie Dlugolenski Alford, CEO of Georgia Lottery. Alford became the first person to serve in this position with no previous state lottery experience. Alford held several high-profile jobs in state government. She received a 93 percent raise over what she was paid in her last position.
Elizabeth D. Gobeil, State Board of Workers’ Compensation. Her qualification? An attorney for 15 years. Oh, that and the wife of the Deal administration’s Chief Operating Officer.
David Cook, to head the Department of Community Health. A longtime lobbyist and Deal’s chief of staff during the 1990s while he served in the state Senate and Congress.
Chris Cummiskey, to head the Department of Economic Development. Lobbyist for the University of Georgia and a former aide to U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and House Speaker Glenn Richardson.
Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, named deputy state treasurer, shortly after he successfully led the Senate’s Republican-run political redistricting effort.
It’s Nathan Deal that is questionable.
Real Athens
December 10th, 2012
8:04 pm
Perhaps you’ll listen to another voice of reason:
(Then) “Deal announced he was running for governor. And I found I couldn’t name a single thing he had done while in Washington. Not one.
Come Tuesday, however, this one-time invisible congressman stands to win the most votes for governor. … If he does win, it will happen despite his thin congressional record and thick paper trail of mixing public office and personal business interests in a way that is questionable at best. It will happen even though the most partisan Republicans know deep down that that record and paper trail would, if owned by a Democrat, cause them to howl. … So, start getting used to saying Governor Deal. But don’t forget these questions:
1. In Congress, few of the bills Deal did sponsor went anywhere. How will he fare with a Legislature whose chambers — when they’re not at war with each other — have often been hostile or indifferent to the governor’s agenda?
2. There is little to get excited about in the policies that Deal proposed as a candidate. (Example: He’d flatten, but not lower, individual income-tax rates.) Even the better parts of his plan are not what I’d call ambitious. Does Gov. Deal have a vision that will take him (and us) through years three and four?
3. When news stories first emerged about Deal’s lobbying state officials not to change an auto-salvage program that richly benefited his own business, he defended himself in part by voicing concerns that the change ended the elementary safety checks that went with the title work. But thousands of Georgians buy used cars every year without government-mandated inspections. Why should the state tell consumers to pay a specific company to perform such a basic service? In which cases will Deal trust free markets and personal responsibility, and when will he not?
4. Deal says he favors a limited federal government that doesn’t interfere in state and local affairs. So why was it appropriate for him to travel to Georgia, as a congressman representing a constituent (himself), to meet with county and state officials about local zoning and road-maintenance matters? In which cases will Deal side with local control over federal, and when will he not?
As you can tell, there’s much about Deal that makes me skeptical. But he’s about to get the chance to prove me and the other skeptics wrong. All Georgians better hope that he will.”
6:58 pm October 27, 2010, by Kyle Wingfield
Has he?
http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2011/07/08/the-implications-of-a-routine-appointment-by-nathan-deal/
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
8:08 pm
RA
Those are are coincidences, right big Dust?
Dusty
December 10th, 2012
8:14 pm
wa wa wa
Rock-a-bye baby
In the tree top
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks
The cradle will fall
Down will come baby,
Cradle and all.
wa wa wa
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
8:14 pm
Big Dust
Don’t let RA get away with this. Set that blogger straight with the facts.
You do know the facts, right big Dust?
Get that blogger with the facts
itpdude
December 10th, 2012
8:26 pm
You forgot to mention the state job Rodgers is going to fill is a still yet to be formally created job.
It makes it worse when the Governor is creating jobs so they can be filled by his buds.
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
8:32 pm
RA
Check back later. Dust has the facts and will respond accordingly to the items you posted.
Right Dusty?
Dusty
December 10th, 2012
8:43 pm
R-A
Your list is impressive although it does not give the specific work that many of those people were involved with. So a lady is a lawyer for 15 years but she’s inexperienced? On and on. Where are you going to find an experienced director of a lottery? Deal does appoint people with whom he has confidence and knows their achievements and background. I guess he should suggest “foreigners”.
Kyle is a very fine fellow and an employee of a Cox(D) enterprise. If he sometimes slips off the moderate fence, I don’t hold it against him. Everybody makes mistakes!!
But this great concern over lack of experience is laughable. For president, we elected a lawyer who was a community organizer,partime professor, a short term member of state and national government and his experience could have been put in a thimble. And…. I don’t doubt that you approve every move he makes even as this debt loaded country of ours is bursting at the seams. And…he’s already been in office four failing years!
And… thank you but I don’t drink alcohol except at Christmas with a little Manichevits with the fruitcake.
Methinks thee are the drinker of “spirits”!
md
December 10th, 2012
9:02 pm
“Like I tried to explain to your before, the biggest factor driving up unemployment is outsourcing. ”
And why are we having to outsource? Buying habits and labor costs.
“Not true, they are. If businesses were performing poorly, their Wall Street Earnings would reflect it and their stock prices would fall. They have the money to hire and just aren’t.”
Stock prices reflect the balance sheet and income statements and an overcorretion in 2008. Corps didn’t just go bad overnight, the initial drop was based on emotion, not financials. As for the doing poorly part, they cut expenses (people/benefits) which boosted cash reserves and make the balance sheet look nice and tidy to an investor. And they are sitting on that cash because they have no guarantee they will stay in business if they spend it.
md
December 10th, 2012
9:08 pm
Debating appointments? It’s been that way forever on all levels of gov’t. To the victor goes the spoils.
Even the President does that. Why do some of you think people volunteer to work on campaigns for next to nothing?
Numbers-R-US
December 10th, 2012
9:42 pm
Could Kyle finally be seeing the real Republicans. They are not nor have they ever truly been for small government. They simply want a vey small amount of government going to others so there’s more for them.
Hillbilly D
December 10th, 2012
9:45 pm
This is pretty much the same as it’s been for the last 150 years and it’s not likely to change in the next 150.
I will say this though, if you’re from Gainesville/Hall County and Nathan hasn’t taken care of you yet, face it, you’re a nobody.
Hillbilly D
December 10th, 2012
9:50 pm
But thousands of Georgians buy used cars every year without government-mandated inspections.
True but a car that has been totaled (i.e. has a salvage title) does have to be inspected, to be resold as road worthy. The inspection site has to be state certified. The conflict of interest (Deal and Ken being in the business together) is where the rub comes in for me.
Lil' Barry Bailout -OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 10th, 2012
10:26 pm
Politicians being politicians. Yawn. It doesn’t tell us anything more about conservative principles than Obozo’s dealings with Tony Rezko tell us about progressive ones.
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
10:57 pm
Dusty
You had the D by Cox Communication’s name. While the family themselves have been huge Democrats for years, Con Enterprises loves to spread the wealth around, but you knew that didn’t you Dust? You always bring the facts to the table……….. hahahahahaha
//www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00477653&cycle=2012
wa wa wa
December 10th, 2012
10:58 pm
Cox Ent. not Con…….
Real Athens
December 11th, 2012
12:33 am
Hillbilly,
As I said, it’s been going on for time immemorial, that doesn’t mean it has to. The electorate holds power over those elected: they put them there.
Real Athens
December 11th, 2012
12:37 am
Dusty -
I thought we were talking about Nathan Deal. I don’t understand what President Obama has to do with the governors appointments.
Don’t let that get in the way of intelligent discourse or a free and open exchange of ideas.
Real Athens
December 11th, 2012
12:48 am
“Politicians being politicians. Yawn. It doesn’t tell us anything more about conservative principles than Obozo’s dealings with Tony Rezko tell us about progressive ones.”
Doofus, exactly my point. There is nothing conservative about Nathan Deal. Nothing connects him historically to the Republican party of the 20th Century. He has more in common with Murphy and the Talmadge family.
Oh, I forgot. He was first elected as (and several times thereafter) as a Democrat. He switched parties when it became essential to continue suckling at the taxpayer teat.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 11th, 2012
7:31 am
Gotta love it when liberals like Real Athens complain about anyone else suckling at the taxpayer teat.
We know they want it all for themselves.
Real Athens
December 11th, 2012
10:57 am
And the sheet wearing, Forsyth County, racist appears:
Not to add anything to the discussion regarding Nathan Deal’s appointments or Kyle’s assertion that many State GOP folks aren’t the small government conservatives they say they are; nor to debunk any of the assertions made by bloggers in support or denial of the claims.
No, the ninnyhammer appears to spew invective and cast un lauded aspersions; still haunted by the last election and the two years of daily predictions of its outcome that he was so clearly wrong about.
What a sad professor.