The text of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s state-of-the-state address
Sonny Perdue has always had a different approach to the annual state-of-the-state address delivered by the governor to the Legislature.
But this one is more different than most. It was part sermon and part history lesson, and contained very little budget information.
The only two issues mentioned by Perdue – a good 20 minutes into a half-hour speech — were his acknowledgement that a court battle would force the state to boost the amount spent on mental health care, and his proposal to shift the way raises are awarded to public school teachers.
Details of his teacher pay proposal wouldn’t be arrived at until well after his term ends.
No mention was given to the topic of water, transportation or ethics.
Perdue said details of his budget proposal would be released Friday. You could consider most of his speech a warning. As a rule, such addresses aren’t given titles. But Perdue slapped on the advance text of his talk: “Doing the Hard Thing Now for a Better Tomorrow.”
Have a look:
As have previous Governors, I have used this address in past years to talk about the budget, policy issues, and to roll out my legislative agenda.
You’re probably wondering why there isn’t a budget lying on your desk. Actually, it is there, its just really thin.
This year’s message will different, so let me apologize to you and the press corps in advance … it is much bigger than a budget document.
The encouragement I want to offer goes beyond numbers on a page, beyond line items in a bill and to the very core of why we are here and what we are called to do. I hope you’ll grant me that privilege as I make this last lap around the track.
First off, and before I talk about the tasks that lie ahead, I want to recognize the one Earthly person who has stood out as my inspiration and guide throughout this journey. Mary, you are the person I hope to become. Your kindness and gentleness have not only comforted me, but changed me.
Mary, you have been a constant reminder of our purpose in public office, and I thank you for all that you have done as my loving wife and as the First Lady of Georgia….
To my children and grandchildren in the audience today, words can not express my gratitude for your patience, love and support over the past seven years.
I often tell people this story about sharing one another’s reputations…
When I was first elected to the State Senate, I sat my children down and told them there are things you can do down here in Bonaire that will make me embarrassed to come up to Atlanta. And there are things that I can do up in Atlanta that will make you embarrassed to go to school in Bonaire. Kids, you not only have never embarrassed me, but you have made me proud.
… For seven years, it has been my highest honor to work with those of you in this chamber and to represent nearly ten million Georgians. We have been through a lot together. In that time, we have sent our young men and women to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we have seen the worst drought on record and an economy as difficult as any since the 1930’s.
You don’t need me tell you that the challenge we face is real. But we can rest in the knowledge that America has seen these times before. Just over one year ago as Governors gathered with our newly elected President, I sat in the chambers of our nation’s first Capitol at Congress Hall and my mind wandered back to the earliest days of our nation and to the Founding Fathers. There, in those hallowed surroundings, I couldn’t help but reflect on their courage and optimism in the face of ultimate uncertainty. Their hope was against all odds but it was the spirit their time demanded.
Think back to the early months of the Revolutionary War. Families from Savannah to Boston had given their fathers and sons to the American cause … and, as it is with war … many would never return to their homes. General George Washington and his army faced seemingly insurmountable odds. It was cold. His men were ill-equipped and outmatched.
It was then, on December 23, 1776, only two days before the pivotal Battle of Trenton, that Washington sought to inspire his small volunteer army by reading aloud from Thomas Paine’s powerful work, Crisis. Today, we can read the very words that ragged band of revolutionaries heard:
“These are the times that try men’s souls … but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman … we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
Sure of their cause, they pressed on to victory. And thus began the long, rich history of our nation.
Those early days were not the darkest or most uncertain days our nation would see. Years later, the descendants of those revolutionary heroes would face each other, sometimes brother against brother – fighting over the future direction of our growing nation.
The early 20th century brought a war on a scale never before witnessed by mankind. Seventy million soldiers took up arms in a conflict of lethal artillery and machine guns, trench warfare and poison gas. And almost six million would lose their lives in the defense of freedom. In the misery and cold … in muddy trenches along the Western Front… we held strong.
The 1930’s brought a Great Depression – a global downturn so severe that one of every four able-bodied Americans was out of work. Just recently, at the Southern Governors Association’s 75th Anniversary down in Warm Springs, I was reminded how deeply the Depression affected Southern families … and how long it took this region to fully emerge from that time.
A decade later, America would join a world war in a fight against totalitarianism and hatred. At an unfathomable cost, America answered the call, persevered and emerged stronger still – an international defender of individual freedom and liberty.
But two world wars weren’t the end of our trials in the 20th century. In Korea and Vietnam, America would lose more than 90,000 soldiers. And while thousands of young men fought in dark jungles across the world, there was another war at home – a war within the national conscience as America strived ever closer to liberty and justice for all. That struggle was led by brave Georgians just blocks from here.
Our nation’s story, unfolding through the centuries, gives us some much needed perspective … about where we are … and what we face today. It teaches us that each generation has faced their own trial and shouldered their own responsibility. They faced every enemy and bore every cost in their resolve to create a better nation for their children.
What stands out most is each generation’s willingness to pick up the yoke and move our nation forward. It has not always been pretty … but what has never happened in this nation … is for one generation to drop the yoke and wait for the next to pick it up. And neither have they weighted them down with unbearable burdens!
This is our time to carry a heavy load … to do the hard thing now for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
For our generation, the economic storm we now find ourselves in is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. These are hard times for Georgians … many have lost jobs and others are working harder and longer for less … checkbooks are harder to balance.
Here in this chamber, this time has forced tough decisions on us.
We spent the first six years of my administration, before this recession even began, making government more responsive … more efficient … more value-driven. And then came the biggest state revenue drop since the Great Depression.
Together, we worked hard to find the best budget solutions and we asked our state team members for more in an effort to maintain services with fewer resources. But if we fail to do the hard thing now, our government will be spread far too thin to ensure that Georgia is educated, healthy, safe and growing.
It would be easy to sit back and point fingers at Washington, but even here in Georgia, we have to avoid the temptation to serve the needs and wants of today at the expense of tomorrow. We must reject the course forward that promises the next generation little more than an expensive bill – crushing entitlements and unfunded mandates.
We cannot vote ourselves ease and comfort at the expense of our children and grandchildren. Alexis de Tocqueville said it well … almost prophetically … two hundred years ago:
“A democracy can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over lousy fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage.”
There has never been a cautionary tale so well-suited to a time and place as this one is to America, here and now.
I love this one story that Thomas Paine recounted from the days of the American Revolution. He told of a tavern keeper at Amboy, who happened to be a closet Tory, for whom Paine had little respect. Paine described the scene:
“He was standing at his door, with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, ‘Well, give me peace in my day … Give me peace in my day.’”
Thomas Paine goes on to say that a loving parent should have said, “If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace.” And Paine is right … “This single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty.” We must recover the spirit of that loving, sacrificing father.
I believe I stand with most Georgians, when I say, I am for doing with a little less if it means a lighter burden and a brighter future for the next generation.
There is honor in sacrifice and we must never pervert it into the disdain of dissatisfaction!
I’ve talked a lot over the last few years about building a culture of conservation here in Georgia, using only what we need and being better stewards of our natural resources. At its core, that culture of conservation is a simple call to be satisfied with only what we truly need and it extends to every aspect of our lives. Going forward, we must forego the excesses of our time and reject the gluttonous instinct of this age.
These times demand that we worry less about bringing home the pork, and more about empowering our people to grow their own hogs. These times call for true leadership in our communities, calling people to create a better Georgia … elevating them out of the easy way of dependency. We have to call every Georgian to build rather than consume … to give rather than take.
And we must begin that transformation here!
When I was sworn in to my second term, I said that the only legacy I sought was the same one any parent or grandparent seeks: to hand off our state … our home … to the next generation in better shape than we found it. We now find ourselves at a moment in history, in which we must do the hard thing now to ensure that bright future for them.
And we can do none of this without one another. Instead of creating an environment of political posturing and blame casting, we can join hands and hearts and work together … Republican and Democrat, rural and urban, experienced veterans and energetic newcomers.
Governing is a team sport and we are all on Team Georgia. You come here to the Capitol each January, from every corner of the state, elected by distinct constituencies that sometimes have little in common. And together, we form a patchwork quilt with our beliefs, ideas and personalities.
That diversity demands a true commitment to cooperation. I think of marriage and remember how the Apostle Paul exhorted husbands and wives at the Church at Ephesus. He called them to mutual respect, to put away any focus on self and to “submit to one another” for the common good.
Those truths have application beyond marriage. They count here! The people who send us here expect us to work together for the good of this state.
Georgians didn’t elect us to see a rugby match with a scrum on every decision. When we don’t work together, our jerseys get so muddy the people can’t even distinguish which team we’re on. And we all come out with mud on our face.
The folks back home have entrusted us to put principles and progress over partisanship and they have asked us to do the hard thing now for the future of this state.
And that means drilling down in every area of government to redefine our responsibilities and commitments going forward. We have to take this mindset and apply it to every corner of state government, including education. For too long, the easy answer in education has been to preserve the status quo … the prevailing winds have often forced us to accept watered-down compromises that, frankly, nibbled around the edges.
That began to change two years ago when you passed our IE squared legislation. Systems around the state are being freed from state mandates, bringing innovative thinking into their schools, while committing contractually to measurable student improvement. This radical move forward in education policy is already producing results.
Yesterday morning, I outlined a proposal that would tie teacher pay to student achievement. Some will defend the status quo, but it’s hard for me to believe that tying pay to performance is anything other than commonsense. Ladies and gentleman, many young people today have the idea that the salary ceiling is simply too low in teaching. That perception effectively shuts many of our best and brightest out of our classrooms.
Teachers told us overwhelmingly in a survey that they should be evaluated based on both observation of their teaching and student growth.
Let’s make the commitment now to align our compensation with the mission of our schools – let’s do it for our teachers … let’s do it for our students and let’s do it for the taxpayers of Georgia! I look forward to working with you on this unique opportunity to drive student achievement.
… As we rethink the appropriate role of government in these times, we cannot retreat from our duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I am convinced that Georgia can, Georgia must, and Georgia will adequately care for citizens in our state’s mental health program, even though this has been a daunting challenge that precedes my time as Governor.
We took a major step forward last year in creating an agency whose sole focus is caring for the mentally challenged and developmentally disabled.
With a respected mental health professional leading this agency, we have developed a plan that will stabilize hospital staffing and improve care in our institutions. Yes, it will cost more money, but I am confident the additional investment will result in better outcomes for patients.
I want to be clear, my interest is not driven purely by legal mandates, but from my own personal belief that we have a moral obligation to serve those with disabilities. They are our mothers and fathers … our sons and daughters … our neighbors. And we are our brothers’ keepers.
That obligation should carry a tangible effort. It’s a hard thing to do in these budget times … the budgets that I will release on Friday will include additional investment – $20 million in 2010 and over $50 million in 2011.
Together, we are making concerted efforts to do the right thing for this vulnerable population. I ask for your continued support as well as that of our consumers, providers, advocates, families and communities to help us develop a system of care of which we can be proud.
We have already faced tough decisions with respect to our team of state employees. We have trimmed payrolls and asked employees to do the job that two or even three of their co-workers used to perform. We have asked teachers, caseworkers, law enforcement personnel and agency heads to do more with less. And their commitment to go the extra mile deserves recognition.
So, I want to take a moment to speak directly to my fellow state employees:
Wherever you serve, I want to recognize and thank all of you for putting in the extra effort and the extra hours to meet this challenge. Responsibility and workloads have increased and you have met the call with excellence … That doesn’t go without notice. I notice your good work. Your bosses notice it. Your fellow Georgians notice it. Thank you!
Now I want to brag on our talented state team a little bit. The men and women who make up our team have refused to make excuses and they have found a way to deliver great customer service in the face of cuts. That’s why, as I travel across Georgia, citizens continue to thank me for the services you deliver.
In fact, we’ve asked our customers, and they have given you a customer satisfaction rate above 76 percent. That beats most private businesses and makes us one of the only states that compares favorably with the private sector. State employees will tell you their job satisfaction – which has increased 10 percent in the last two years – comes from helping Georgians.
High employee morale means a satisfied customer and a satisfied employee. I want to continue improving to make Georgia an “employer of choice” that can attract and retain top talent going forward.
And I think it is appropriate at the beginning of this legislative session to ask ourselves if we have that same mindset of service. Now is the time to ask ourselves some very foundational questions anew: “Why are we here?” and “What do the people expect of us?”
To answer those questions, I would like to recall the words of a great Georgian who passed away this year – Dr. Michael Guido. That great sower of the seed had it right: “Greatness doesn’t exist in reducing others to your service, but in reducing yourself to their service.” Not only are those the words one great Georgian lived by, it is an ideal that is distinctly Georgian.
Seven years ago today, at my inaugural, I reminded you of the motto adopted by the Georgia Trustees – General Oglethorpe and the original colonists: “Not for self, but for others.” That was the charge back then. It was the charge seven years ago and it is the charge today!
We are trustees of the people’s will. We owe them our best … That is the sacred trust of democracy. The covenant of service which you and I have with Georgians must always be foremost in our hearts and minds – to do what is right by them, not what is best for ourselves or for our party … even to do the hard things now for a better tomorrow.
All of us in this room have experienced an ego boost upon winning an election. But seven years ago on inauguration day, I was humbled when my son, then just a young 25-year old preacher, gave me this charge from the great prophet Micah: to “perform what the LORD requires. To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.”
That charge has stuck with me for these seven years. Circumstances have changed … many faces have come and gone … but that call remains. It echoes in my heart and spirit, and it rings forth to you.
… You may have heard the story about the decorated general, undefeated in battle throughout his long career. When he had finally met his match after being lured into an ambush, he called for his bugler to “sound the retreat.”
When the bugler hesitated, he ordered, “Sound the retreat” even louder. Once again the bugler did not respond, and the general angrily demanded him to immediately “Sound the retreat.”
The bugler looked at the general and said, “But sir, I don’t know that call … and our men don’t know how to retreat.”
It would be easy to sit here and dread the tough decisions that lie ahead. But now is not the time to retreat. Now is the time to dig in even deeper and do the hard things so that our children and grandchildren will know a better Georgia.
It’s a tall order, but ours is a high calling, and you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t men and women especially marked by optimism, ambition and an unmovable belief that we should be working to make things the way they ought to be.
I know we can achieve great things together. And I believe we will!
Thank you. May God richly bless each and every one of you. May God bless this state and our great nation!
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59 comments Add your comment
Daedalus
January 13th, 2010
1:13 pm
Whole lotta nothing from Governor Curly.
His legacy: Go Fish (and enjoy your car).
Elf on the Shelf
January 13th, 2010
1:19 pm
Sound the retreat.
Marveling at the clueless
January 13th, 2010
1:30 pm
“No mention was given to the topic of water, transportation or ethics.”
Big surprise? I think not.
chanceman
January 13th, 2010
1:35 pm
I’m a teacher and I don’t remember that survey ever coming around. Anybody else remember it?
Evey
January 13th, 2010
1:38 pm
I guess when you don’t have anything of substance to say, you quote people who did.
State Employee
January 13th, 2010
1:44 pm
Finally the horn has blown and the Era of Perdue will be over. As the Dems retake the office, hopefully we can rebuild and restore honor to the Office that Perdue has stolen. I hope we all realize that its even more critical to pick the best person for the position of leadership. Learn today so tomorrow will be better. Do all Georgians a favor, leave early so tomorrow hope and faith can be stored in the Capital. Also, Take the other idiots with you, Dick Anderson, Jim Ritchey, Gena Evans, Entire GDOT BOARD and Management…..If we dont put Barnes in, the Stancil please run again and restore faith in the Repub.
Josh
January 13th, 2010
1:51 pm
10% increase in job satisfaction. They sure didn’t get that survey from any state employees I work with at DFCS. After furloughs and a hiring freeze for over a year in an industry with a 30% turnover rate, hard to have any job satsifaction left. Come to think of it I don’t remember receiving that survey.
V
January 13th, 2010
1:57 pm
Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honor to meet all of you and you may call me V.
Elf on the Shelf
January 13th, 2010
2:06 pm
Perdue’s speech was impressive. That man can rally a state behind him! He threw in everything but the last bugle note from Gunga Din.
I think Sonny is the campaign poster pawn for the puppetry arts. So many peachtree power brokers have their hands up his backside that it’s a wonder he can get through a full body airport scanner. (All those Rolex’s)
So you can’t blame Sonny. He has to accomodate the lobbied interests like any politician. We can only pray that he’s eschewed any personal profit during his time in office, so that he’ll be able to live with himself after his term is over.
Capitol Hack
January 13th, 2010
2:10 pm
Huh hhmmmmm…
Evey
January 13th, 2010
2:11 pm
Josh: I agree. No happy state employees where I work, especially since Perdue forced budget cuts which negated the meager raises we hoped to get, mandatory furloughs reduced our income, and we had to fight to keep him from reducing our retirement COLAs.
V: verily, I am moved by your veritable volcano of verbiage.
TP4U
January 13th, 2010
2:31 pm
V vehemently said it all!
Winfield J. Abbe
January 13th, 2010
2:35 pm
1. Change the law to allow legal service by mail or allow anyone to serve papers to another with a witness like Texas does. It is totally unnecessary to waste the time having the Sheriff Deputy serve papers. Government simply sends a letter usually not even certified.
2. Abolish the illegal landlord-tenant law which violates the U.S. Constitution. Landlords must be permitted to contract to evict tenants who refuse to pay rent. Landlords must be allowed to contract for changing locks, turning off utilities and transfering all remaining property to them immediately when tenants do not pay. End these meaningless and worthless and uncollectable judgements. Courts must get back to enforcing private contracts between citizens.
3. End the unfair and illegal property tax and tax every individual for their fair share of costs of government. This might get all citizens interested in participating in government for a change too.
4. Change the voting law to require that no person be elected or no tax increase passed unless a majority of the registered voters say so period. End this minority rule nonsense. If the property tax is not abolished, businesses should be permitted a vote too. After all many of them are supporting many children of others in school with no representation at all.
5. Abolish all secrecy laws for police, district attorneys, local government, UGA, UGa Real Estate Foundation, UGA Athletic Assn., etc., all hospitals, etc. Nothing in government should be secret. In fact abolish the UGa Real Estate Foundation and move the Athletic assn off campus for all colleges and universities in Georgia. All it does is corrupt higher education anyway.
6. Change the law to allow all local or state government officials to be sued personally and forced to pay for their own defense personally, including judges too. This includes state legislators too. Why should any of you have immunity from claims? We citizens don’t do we?
7. Change the law to deal administratively with improper local government conduct. Give citizens practical tools to deal with out of control local government. When local government treats citizens unfairly the state must remedy the situation administratively by withholding funds and prosecuting all government officials. End this nonsense of citizens seeking to do this job at their expense for the state in usually slow and unfair and expensive courts.
8. If the property tax is not abolished, change the law to force local governments to purchase the property themselves if the property cannot be sold in 6 months.
9. No donation of more than $100 for any candidate in any election cycle from anyone or any business period with stiff penalties of fines and jail time.
10. There are too many schools and too many high paid incompetent administrators of these schools in Georgia. End this enormous waste of taxpayer money.
11. End all secrecy at UGa and all other colleges and universities and the Board of Regents. Nothing in Georgia government must be secret. All secrecy does is protect corruption and incompetence and possibly illegal conduct.
12. All police investigative files must be released to the public after 3 years period with stiff fines and/or jail time for anyone refusing to provide them to any citizen or organization.
13. Fine all elected officials of local governments $100,000 per day personally for violations of the Equal Protection Clause of the Georgia Constitution which they routinely violate.
Many more suggestions could be made.
Winfield J. Abbe, Ph.D., Physics
150 Raintree Ct.
Athens, GA 30607
wjabbe@aol.com
These are my true, name and address.
Ticking Teacher
January 13th, 2010
2:54 pm
So, if I teach my buns off in the inner-city I won’t receive a raise??? My students struggle to pass state tests. Perdue has killed education funding and now I have to pray for a miracle for a raise! Shame on you Perdue!!!!!!!!!!
MIKE II
January 13th, 2010
2:57 pm
great ideas Winfield, how about funding? All you anti-this, anti-that types seem to overlook the fact that it will cost billions in taxes to pay for implementing all these new rules. You don’t just do so by “abolishing” everything. If you don’t like our system, go somewhere else.
Keith
January 13th, 2010
3:05 pm
It’s hard to base a raise for teacher performance when the student don’t give a crap about his education and neither do the parents. get off the teacher issue they are doing a great job. How about for one time make the parents of these lazy kids responsible for something. But it’s always the teachers fault.
Teacher
January 13th, 2010
3:08 pm
This is directed to Dr. Abbe. As I was reading your dissertation of the State of the State address, I realized two things. First, you must own a house that you do not currently live in because you are despising paying property tax. (I will refer back to this later.) Second, you must be a professor at UGA because all you are doing is criticizing every aspect of UGA. Now, back to the property tax. Why, as an educator yourself, would you want to get rid of the property tax, when it helps to pay your salary? Why shut down the schools when there is already so much overcrowding? There may be some frivolous administrators, but there are many competent ones out there that are doing their job and the jobs of 10 other people right now. I know as a professor, especially of Physics at UGA, you are probably use to 300 students 4 times a day. However, you are also dealing with the most elite of schools’ population. I am proud to say that my biggest class in a public school is only 22 students, but I may have 5 students with reading comprehension problems, 2 with diagnosed ADD (and they didn’t take their medicine today), and others that are too wrapped up in their social life to engage in class. If I remember correctly, if you didn’t want to go to class that day at UGA, you didn’t have to show up. Why should any student? All you have to do is pay $10 for the notes at Baxter Street Book Store. Plus, most professors didn’t care anyway. They were too busy with their research to worry about who showed up to their class today. However, Mr. Abbe, these students do not get that choice. So when I have 100 students a day, you can bet that my 100 would be about 5,000 to you because you are not use to dealing with these types of students. Besides, if they shut down all of those schools, couldn’t you just imagine the increase in unemployment? That would mean a slower economy, which would mean higher taxes for those that can afford to pay them, like yourself.
V
January 13th, 2010
3:10 pm
Ah Mike, your sentiments are the same as those expressed by the Tories in, oh about 1776. I say we need a new revolution. I do, like you Mike, appreciate the comforts of every day routine, the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as anyone.
But the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? How did all this happen? Who’s to blame? Well, certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease, job loss. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the Government. It promised you order, it promised you peace, and all it demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. I say enough is enough.
eqjustice
January 13th, 2010
3:16 pm
Is the mental illness issue being addressed because of Glenn Richardson?
Bone
January 13th, 2010
3:17 pm
Barnes back in for Governor??? Yea, right! The only thing he would change is putting the flag back to what he had it. There was a reason why he was the first Georgia governor in nearly 20 years prior not winning re-election. A brick wall has more of a brain.
Carter is a Fool
January 13th, 2010
3:17 pm
Sound the bugle call to get this buffoon off the public stage. No teacher survey was received in my school. No happy employees here or any agency that I know of. Only broken promises to the best teachers who have National Board Certification. Only lies and fantasy from the fishing hole guy. Thank goodness he is soon to be history. If the Republicans run anyone who embraces this legacy then they will be defeated.
Carter is a Fool
January 13th, 2010
3:25 pm
We traded Freedom and Opportunity for Government which promised to take care of us from cradle to grave. It was bad trade. Hopefully, we will wake up and realize that we can fix this. It requires both sides to look for compromise instead of the ideological hard line that we now see from the Republicnuts and the Democraps. Term limits. Fire the entrenched fools who are drunk on power. Stop worrying who gets credit and do what is right.
Perdue the Hun
January 13th, 2010
3:28 pm
Our system is broken Mike.The capital needs a douche.The level of corruption of the Perdue administrattion is beyond comprehension to most Georgians.DNR contracts awarded to a Missouri bank of a Political ally,state commisary contracts awarded to major contributors,illegal land deals with appointed officials,etc…….
Perdue's last stand
January 13th, 2010
3:32 pm
“The bugler looked at the general and said, ‘But sir, I don’t know that call … and our men don’t know how to retreat.’ ”…So what was the rest of the story, everybody was wiped out?????? Hold on to your hats, state employees, it may be all you have left in a few months…..
YOUNG AFRICAN AMERICAN
January 13th, 2010
3:51 pm
There will NEVER be true recovery until the FEDERAL RESERVE is ended. The Federal Reserve loans money to the Federal government and WE, the tax payers pay interest on our nation’s debt. We paid for the bailouts of foreign banks that you may have never heard of. Just wait, hyperinflation is right around the corner. See the gas prices people? The weak dollar will be our demise if we do not revolt against the corrupt politicians who have disgraced the country, themselves and their families.
***Turn off American Idol*** TV is dumbing down our kids and America as a whole****
DEMOCRAT=REPUBLICAN. People, party systems only divide. We will never have true unity unless we can have mutual agreement on important issues, regardless of whether someone is a “socialist” or a “conservative”. WAKE THE FUC* UP!
Sam Adams
January 13th, 2010
4:04 pm
V – way to steal your comments from a graphic novel turned into a lame movie.
Perdue is a blowhard. What a waste of skin.
Sam Adams
January 13th, 2010
4:07 pm
Dr. Abbe – stay in your academic ivory tower.
william weldon
January 13th, 2010
4:08 pm
If you teach gifted students, how do you raise their scores? If you have a class where 20% of your students do not speak English good luck. And, does a 60 minute subject area test truly measure what a child has, or has not, learned during the entire school year? Pray they didn’t stay up half the night watching TV. came to school hungry, or have a headache that day.
william weldon
January 13th, 2010
4:09 pm
Enter your comments here
V
January 13th, 2010
4:19 pm
Sam, where the words cam from doesn’t change the truth of the words. And it was a great novel and a good movie.
V
January 13th, 2010
4:22 pm
And the problem is not Purdue, the problem is us, we elected him, twice.
Evey
January 13th, 2010
4:33 pm
I didn’t elect him!
Evey
January 13th, 2010
4:37 pm
And just because he was elected (twice) doesn’t excuse his performance. What ever happened to integrity? Oh, wait a minute. I must be thinking of a Frank Capra film. Guess integrity is something that only exists in fantasy anymore, if it ever existed in political reality.
Rodger
January 13th, 2010
4:44 pm
I want say Perdue was the worst Governor in Georgia History, but bye far the least productive in my life time. Not one thing has been done for transportation since he took office and the GDOT is the most inefficient government run department in the whole state. It is always fummy to hear people complain about MARTA but no mention of the poorly run GDOT
Walter
January 13th, 2010
4:50 pm
Bonaire, your village idiot will soon be returning home!
G G
January 13th, 2010
4:57 pm
Sonny Perdue should be ashamed of himself. What TALL TALES he TELLS! His “Legacy” of dealing with the disabled in this state is HIS – the horror – deaths, rapes, abuses, NEGLECT were NOT, repeat NOT due to the previous Governor – and Perdue KNOWS IT! The Department of Justice has been all over Perdue and his so called “leaders” consistenly now to no avail….horrors still happening. Just link to this: http://www.justice.gov/crt/split from the Department of Justice’s web-site and you can read all you wish to regarding Gov. Perdue’s reign (over what he proclaims to have cared about). He is only making this statement now because the Dept. of Justice is “forcing his hand” and he knows he is going to get sued by them if he continues to FAIL to DO WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE DONE ALL OF THESE YEARS to PROTECT & SERVE Georgians who were vulnerable and disabled. HE FAILED THEM MISERABLY and cared more about covering up tha admitting fault and creating a better world for them.
Go BLOW IT ON THE MOUNTAIN, Sonny, Georgians are not STUPID REGARDING THIS ISSUE!!!
Joe
January 13th, 2010
4:59 pm
Fellow Citizens, we’d best start to reverse the planned government theft of our property, our rights and freedoms, the future of our precious children, and the very substance of our entire nation. If any of you truly believe we have defeated communism, you are not paying attention to what is happening: The ten PLANKS stated in the Communist Manifesto and just a few of their American counterparts are…
1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rents of land to public purposes.
Americans do these with actions such as the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1868), and various zoning, school & property taxes. Also the Bureau of Land Management (Zoning laws are the first step to government property ownership) As long as property taxes exist, individuals cannot actually “own” property, for they shall eternally be paying the government “it’s fair share”.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Americans know this as misapplication of the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, 1913, The Social Security Act of 1936.; Joint House Resolution 192 of 1933; and various State “income” taxes. Another tax that has been sold to us in the name of “paying your fair share”.
3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Americans call it Federal & State estate Tax (1916); or reformed Probate Laws, and limited inheritance via arbitrary inheritance tax statutes. When a member of your family passes away, do NOT run to an attorney or the nearest probate court, quietly settle the matter amongst the members of your family, report absolutely nothing to the government, and leave no traceable “paper trail”. Income and property taxes were paid on the estate as your relative was accumulating it and the government doesn’t deserve one penny of any estate!
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
Americans call it government seizures, tax liens, Public “law” 99-570 (1986); Executive order 11490, sections 1205, 2002 which gives private land to the Department of Urban Development; the imprisonment of “terrorists” and those who speak out or write against the “government” (1997 Crime/Terrorist Bill); or the IRS confiscation of property without due process. Asset forfeiture laws are used by DEA, IRS, ATF etc…). The U.S. Government has been seizing large amounts of cash from average Citizens simply because the Citizens are in possession of it. That is nothing but outright THEFT and it WILL be stopped!
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital (”currency”) and an exclusive monopoly.
Americans call it the Federal Reserve Bank which is a PRIVATELY OWNED credit/debt system allowed by the Federal Reserve act of 1913. If you don’t believe the Federal Reserve Bank is PRIVATELY OWNED, simply go to their office at 1000 Peachtree Street and ask! All local banks are members of the Fed system, and are regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) another privately-owned corporation. The Federal Reserve Banks issue Fiat Paper Money (which is NOT backed by ANY gold and/or silver) and practice economically destructive “fractional reserve banking”. The Federal Reserve Bank is the greatest fraud and scam ever perpetrated on the American people. (To learn the facts, read “The Creature From Jekyll Island”.)
6. Centralization of the means of communications and transportation in the hands of the State.
Americans call it the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Transportation (DOT) mandated through the ICC act of 1887, the Commissions Act of 1934, The Interstate Commerce Commission established in 1938, The Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, and Executive orders 11490, 10999, as well as State mandated driver’s licenses and Department of Transportation regulations.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
Americans call it corporate capacity, The Desert Entry Act and The Department of Agriculture… Thus read “controlled or subsidized” rather than “owned”… This is easily seen in these as well as the Department of Commerce and Labor, Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Mines, National Park Service, and the IRS control of business through corporate regulations.
8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
Americans call it Minimum Wage and slave labor like dealing with our Most Favored Nation trade partner; i.e. Communist China. We see it in practice via the Social Security Administration and The Department of Labor. The National debt and inflation caused by the communal bank has caused the need for a two “income” family. Women in the workplace since the 1920’s, the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, assorted Socialist Unions, affirmative action, the Federal Public Works Program and of course Executive order 11000.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries, gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of population over the country.
Americans call it the Planning Reorganization act of 1949 , zoning (Title 17 1910-1990) and Super Corporate Farms, as well as Executive orders 11647, 11731 (ten regions) and Public “law” 89-136. These provide for forced relocations and forced sterilization programs, just as in China.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.
Americans are being taxed to support what we call ‘public’ schools, but are actually “government force-tax-funded schools ” Even private schools are government regulated. The purpose is to train the young to work for the communal debt system. We also call it the Department of Education, the NEA and “Outcome Based “Education” . These are used so that all children can be indoctrinated and inculcated with the government propaganda, such as “majority rule” and “pay your fair share”. WHERE are the words “fair share” in the Constitution, Bill of Rights or the Internal Revenue Code (Title 26)?? NOWHERE is “fair share” even suggested !!! The philosophical concept of “fair share” comes from the Communist maxim, “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need”! This concept is pure socialism. … America was made the greatest society by its private initiative, aka “WORK ETHIC” … Teaching ourselves and others “how to fish” to be self sufficient and produce plenty of EXTRA commodities if so desired could be shared with others who might be “needy”… Americans have always voluntarily been the MOST generous and charitable society on the planet. If we don’t change the destructive path we’re on in the VERY near future, Americans will soon begin fleeing to Cuba on inner tubes in search of a more free, open, and less oppressive government. The government of the United States of America was not formed by the states to restrict our rights and freedoms and tax us to death, it was created to guarantee our freedoms and relieve us of the burden of outrageously high taxation. Karl Marx would ADORE Obama and “our” absolutely useless and totally corrupt courts and Congress! God help the U.S.A.!
G G
January 13th, 2010
5:02 pm
Sonny Perdue should be ashamed of himself. What TALL TALES he TELLS! His “Legacy” of dealing with the disabled in this state is HIS – the horror – deaths, rapes, abuses, NEGLECT were NOT, repeat NOT due to the previous Governor – and Perdue KNOWS IT! The Department of Justice has been all over Perdue and his so called “leaders” consistenly now to no avail….horrors still happening. Just link to this: http://www.justice.gov/crt/split from the Department of Justice’s web-site and you can read all you wish to regarding Gov. Perdue’s reign (over what he proclaims to have cared about). He is only making this statement now because the Dept. of Justice is “forcing his hand” and he knows he is going to get sued by them if he continues to FAIL to DO WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE DONE ALL OF THESE YEARS to PROTECT & SERVE Georgians who were vulnerable and disabled. HE FAILED THEM MISERABLY and cared more about covering up than admitting fault and creating a better world for them.
Go BLOW IT ON THE MOUNTAIN, Sonny, Georgians are not STUPID REGARDING THIS ISSUE!!!
AF
January 13th, 2010
5:23 pm
Oh, good grief. Dr. Abbe, what is all that stuff?
Not another push for the “fair tax”, please! Can you imagine what the tax would need to be if the federal, state, and local governments all get in the mess – I read somewhere that someone came up with 40%.
I pay taxes on my home – my property. Those taxes have given me good police, fire, courts, schools, etc., etc., etc. We don’t pay too much. Friends in New York are paying tens of thousands in property taxes, plus a hefty sales tax, and income taxes.
We have it good. Ownership of property is a responsibility as well as a right. It is a willingness to invest in community. I think it makes sense to tax property for the upkeep of the community.
OldTeacher
January 13th, 2010
5:24 pm
Survey? I must have been inservice that day………..
OldTeacher
January 13th, 2010
5:28 pm
“Ladies and gentleman, many young people today have the idea that the salary ceiling is simply too low in teaching. That perception effectively shuts many of our best and brightest out of our classrooms.”
So Sonny’s solution is to furlough teachers and lower our pay even more….Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
BTW…WHY is the teacher pay ceiling at 21 years? Why don’t we get step increases through 30 years? No other industry does that…..
tc
January 13th, 2010
5:48 pm
Bone, barnes has more smarts in his pinkie than you have in your entire being….
Thomas
January 13th, 2010
5:53 pm
Sonny, tax the property owner, Purdue is full of hot air…….Goodbye!
Dr. Phil
January 13th, 2010
6:11 pm
Sonny Perdue is the most corrupt and ineffective buffoon to ever occupy the governor’s office. When Sonny goes away, please elect someone honest who will reorganize the Board of Regents and rid us of Sonny’s pals like Michael Adams. It will take years to correct the damage that these rascals have done to the State of Georgia.
ATLien in Japan
January 13th, 2010
6:15 pm
Bubba Purdue,
Thank you for sending the state back 50 years.
Joe
January 13th, 2010
6:25 pm
Roy Barnes is just an ignorant old fool and a failed “lawyer” who actually believes Georgians don’t remember the stupid things he did. You may as well have slapped the faces of more than half the population of this state, Roy. Stay in Marietta, you traitor! Your political future is filled with jeers and embarrassment.
Joe
January 13th, 2010
6:30 pm
Until the wrongs perpetrated against innocent Citizens by Glenn Richardson are righted by Perdue and this session of the legislature, the gold dome clowns have less than “0″ credibility.
The Golden Dome: 1/13/09 : Georgia Liberal
January 13th, 2010
7:41 pm
[...] Here is the text of the speech, and let me know when you find any significant, relevant content. I was wondering how the state was doing, personally. Democrats hopped on this content chasm pretty quickly: “We didn’t hear transportation or water, or job training or ethics,” said House Democratic Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin, a candidate for governor. [...]
Jay
January 13th, 2010
11:08 pm
I work at DFCS and I am thankful to all state leadership that have worked so hard to preserve my job ! Thanks, I see times are hard, with 10 to 12% of the folks in the state unemployed, people are entering our offices every day that have never graced the door of DFCS but now have no choice.
I realize that prosperity is not guaranteed and times may get more difficult. Most folks will never have the opportunities we have experienced. You will never reap riches in money in social work and education but your soul will experience a richness found no where else.
For those employed in DFCS that do not realize the troubles of our economy wake up, times are hard, sales are down, credit is tight but you still have a job. 30% turnover, not now, most of the loss in employees are those that were misplaced to start with. Those that work at DFCS and do not realize as the helping agency that times are tough are totally detached from our mission. Taxpayers do not deserve to have this lack of social and economic awareness serving our most needy citizens. Most DFCS employees I know are proud of the job they have and the job they perform.
Entering social work and education is a noble cause and I believe that state leadership has done well to maintain our status during these hard times. I just hope we are so lucky in the future.
Mike Smith
January 14th, 2010
12:08 am
de Tocqueville wrote a lot of great stuff, but is not responsible for the “A democracy can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury…” quote. Seems like a staffer tried to get a little too philosophical.