The lessons of Arizona, Mississippi for Georgia Republicans
On Tuesday, state lawmakers will begin submitting bills for their colleagues’ consideration in January, when the Legislature returns to Atlanta.
We are entering an election year, which means more than a few of the measures will be intended to stir the blood and drive GOP voters to the polls in November.
But stir the blood too much and the patient revolts. Votes in Arizona and Mississippi last week may have set boundaries for Republicans in Georgia when it comes to two hot topics: Abortion and illegal immigration.
Let’s address the more subtle of the pair first: Last Tuesday, voters ousted Republican Russell Pearce, president of the Arizona state senate and architect of that state’s illegal immigration law — which became a model for Georgia’s HB 87, passed earlier this year.
Opponents of state attempts to enforce federal immigration laws called Pearce’s defeat a victory. But Pearce was replaced by another Republican who also supports Arizona’s approach. Reports from the Southwest indicate that the difference between the two candidates was one of tone.
Pearce came across as sharp, mean-spirited and heedless of the consequences of his legislation. At least that’s the warning that some GOP lawmakers in Georgia have taken to heart.
“Both sides need to lay aside their ideology,” said House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, who will be in charge of rousting that chamber’s votes for Republican causes next year.
Lindsey voted for HB 87 last year, and says there’s no chance that the GOP-controlled Legislature will back away from the measure.
But Lindsey was one of several Republican legislators given tours of south Georgia farms where crops were left to rot this summer — after migrant workers fearful of arrest fled the state.
Republicans do not want an alienated south Georgia.
An attempt to create a guest worker program is likely next year, he said. Such things usually require coordination with — and approval from — the federal government. But the symbolism could be important.
“If my friends in south Georgia want to see us try to put the cart before the horse, to show the federal government that we’re serious about a guest worker program, we’ve more than happy to take a look it,” Lindsey said. “I think the state probably needs to show its willingness to run with it once the feds are willing to give us that leeway.”
Last month, state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, a Republican, testified at a U.S. Senate hearing endorsed a “penalty-based work authorization permit” for illegal immigrants already here.
Would Lindsey’s House colleagues consider that idea? “I don’t know,” the House whip said. “That’s something that needs to be put on the table, along with a lot of others I’ve heard.”
Mississippi is another matter. Voters there were presented with a proposed amendment to that state’s constitution that would have declared life to begin at fertilization. All abortions would have been banned, some birth control methods would have been made illegal, and physicians and the use of in vitro fertilization would have been curtailed.
The amendment, designed as a vehicle to overturn Roe v. Wade, was rejected by 58 percent of some of the most conservative voters in the country. Similar legislation — under the name of “the Human Life Amendment” — has been rejected by House GOP leaders in Georgia. Tuesday’s results in Mississippi are likely to reinforce that decision, especially as a means of driving GOP voters to the polls.
“Certainly we’re going to listen to our caucus,” said Lindsey, who has chaired hearings on the issue. “But the same concerns I had about the Human Life Amendment I still have today. I believe it has a lot of unintended consequences.”
Moreover, Lindsey said the proposed amendment splits the pro-life movement. The Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta is among the opponents. “I don’t want to see another civil war break out among pro-life organizations in Georgia,” he said.
Dan Becker, on the other hand, thinks the war needs to be fought — as a revolt against the “tired arguments of timing that the pro-life leadership has been putting out there for the last 24 years.”
Becker is president of Georgia Right to life, and sits on the board of directors of Personhood USA — one of the groups behind the proposed Mississippi amendment.
Two Georgia lawmakers, one in the House and one in the Senate, are prepared to drop legislation to renew the fight here, Becker said.
The lesson of Mississippi, the GRTL leader said, is that the implications of the measure needed to be spelled out beforehand, in legislation that would accompany it. To ease legitimate concerns and combat illegitimate ones.
“We have 50 sections of the Georgia Code being worked on right now. That will determine what will and won’t happen,” Becker said. “We won’t have doctors prosecuted for ectopic pregnancies. Women will not be prosecuted for miscarriages. Passports will not be issued to the pre-born.”
A constitutional amendment requires two-thirds passage in the House and the Senate. “That’s not going to happen without the leadership being in favor of it,” Becker concedes. “We’re cognizant of that. We’re in it for the long term.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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130 comments Add your comment
Acer706
November 12th, 2011
10:23 pm
GOP candidates should follow the Dem’s lead on Immigration during a campaign… just ignore it and promise the world.
Madison
November 12th, 2011
10:34 pm
Not long ago, republicans couldn’t win in south ga. Arrogance and rotten cucumbers could see those days return.
vuduchld
November 12th, 2011
10:58 pm
Not to worry, your state has been overtaken by gooks, crackpots and goofballs. People are leaving or shying away from Jawja in droves. Keep electing the stupid and retarded and you’ll continue to get the same stupid, retarded results.
Acer706
November 12th, 2011
11:28 pm
vudu:
What in the world are you talking about? Do you have any basis on your response[s]?
GOP Crazies
November 12th, 2011
11:47 pm
@Acer706 November 12th, 2011 10:13 pm
Acer706 I am not “poking-fun” at those 8 idiots. They all have too much baggage! They throw rocks at Obama yet they live in glass houses. I do have some respect for Huntsman he has more class than the rest.
YOU CAN’T BEAT SOMEBODY WITH NOBODY.
The Republicans are warriors for the rich.
The Republicans are the reverse robinhood, they steal from the poor and give to the rich.
The Republicans are the party of “No”.
The Republicans are insensitive to the poor and middle class.
The Republicans said no to “The Jobs Act”.
The Republicans said no to infra-structure spending.
The Republicans said no to hiring veterans.
56% of the american people say that the Republicans are the problem. I could go on and on and on.
You say – speak against topics in which you disagree and why… or is that over your head?
There is nothing over my head because I know a con job when I hear it.
Acer706
November 12th, 2011
11:53 pm
Dems are against the “Jobs Act.”
Infrastructure spending… what happens once “the bridge” is built? America is not for temp positions.
GOP Crazies
November 13th, 2011
12:00 am
@Bill Orvis White November 12th, 2011 9:18 pm – YOU SAY – I’m saddened that the personhood amendment failed here in MS. WE WILL MAKE SURE TO TAKE THIS ALL THE WAY TO THE HIGHEST COURT TO OVERTURN THE WRONGFUL ROE V. WADE AND MAKE SURE THAT EVERY LIVING HUMAN FROM THE POINT OF CONCEPTION GETS LIFE NO MATTER WHAT! ANYTHING LESS IS MURDER, pure and simple. The only candidate out there who agrees with this rightful view is the honorable Mr. Herman Cain. WHEN HERMAN CAIN IS SWORN IN IN JANUARY 2013, HE WILL MAKE SURE TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT.
*************************************************************
Why are you people so worried about a woman’s uterus? What you should be focusing on is taking care of the babies/children that are already born. Black and white children go to bed hungry every night.
You say that Herman Cain will protect the innocent.
I say YOU CANNOT DANCE WITH THE DEVIL (HERMAN CAIN) AND EXPECT TO GO HOME WITH JESUS.
Acer706
November 13th, 2011
12:01 am
Pushing a failed administration onto the top 1% is pathetic. “Change” never had an asterisk is 2008… Pending on “The Rich.” They had all of the answers with a super majority… They could pass anything they wanted, but failed to do so.
Sorry. Next.
GOP Crazies
November 13th, 2011
12:05 am
@Acer706 November 12th, 201111:53 pm Dems are against the “Jobs Act.” Infrastructure spending… what happens once “the bridge” is built? America is not for temp positions
An out of work man who has a family to feed would kill to have a “temp position”.
Do not get to HIGH AND MIGTHY because you have a job!
Acer706
November 13th, 2011
12:08 am
Yardwork in the AM. Have a great weekend…
Acer706
November 13th, 2011
12:09 am
What about an out of work woman GOP Crazies? They get jobs too!
Acer706
November 13th, 2011
12:10 am
You are so weak.
GOP Crazies
November 13th, 2011
12:11 am
@Acer706 November 13th, 2011 12:01 am
I have a modest retirement income around $72,000 a year. I am not rich, however, I give financial help to my family and I help others that need my help.
I SLEEP GOOD AT NIGHT!
Smoke
November 13th, 2011
6:44 am
Does anyone remember when the U.S. was losing 700,000 jobs per month?
Smoke
November 13th, 2011
6:48 am
The five things that has made America great, Dixiecrats have been against historically. Public education, investment in instrastructure, research and development, immigration of semi-and skilled workers (yes migrant an construction workers are skilled), and reasonable regulatory systems.
Smoke
November 13th, 2011
6:57 am
Does anyone remember Mitch McConnell saying the GOP’s #1 political agenda is to make Obama a one-term President? No work on policies to create jobs, reducing unemployment, getting a handle on healthcare costs, public education, infrastructure, R&D, rational regulatory retorms, and Lord knows certainly not immigration reform. And someone criticizes Obama for missing a unemployment rate target? Man Please.
Smoke
November 13th, 2011
7:16 am
When Boehner took office, he said his #1 Priority was to create jobs. Now you know why Congress has a 9% approval rating.
Smoke
November 13th, 2011
7:20 am
While Dixiecrats are talking about electric fences and arresting domestic workers. Meanwhile, Obama has deported bad guys in mass targeted businesses that exploit illegal immigrants, and has gotten the cold shoulder from Boehner and McConnell to move toward real immigration reform.
Lakeside97
November 13th, 2011
7:28 am
Bush grew up privileged and wealthy and yet poor and midle-class repubnecks felt they could identify with him. LOL. Look at this country now, we’re on the precipice of collapsing, and some of you still don’t get it.
Frederick Douglass
November 13th, 2011
7:45 am
Smoke
“Does anyone remember when the U.S. was losing 700,000 jobs per month?
If they can’t remember that Bush started the Iraq war unnecessarily, I’m sure that they’d never remember 8 million lost jobs under his watch.
LizBeth
November 13th, 2011
8:16 am
Lakeside 97: …yet poor and midle-class repubnecks fell that they could identify with him…
When Bush was running the second time, one of my neighbors told me she was voting for him because he was just like her, right before she explained how she planned to cheat our local government. People who are poor both financially and in spirit seek to fill their needs with cheap thrills. Their heroes are the sly smartalecks that beat “the man” in some way. In this case, it’s not just Obama, it’s the government in general, and the sly smartalecks are Gingrich and Cain.
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
9:07 am
The lesson (as you call it) to be learned here is that no one really wants to do bodily harm to the illegals among us, and we don’t know how many there are, but merely to remove them from the backs of the taxpayers. I wonder if all of you liberals here would be willing to give up a share your entitlements to help support their existence.
Buckhead Boy
November 13th, 2011
9:17 am
Learn from contemporaneous events? How can reactionaries do that? Their mindset is in the past. Last evening Mrs. Bachmann suggested the she would eliminate AFDC in a paen to China’s lacking any social safety net, when AFDC was regrettably eliminated fifteen years ago and despite China now actively developing a social safety. Mr. Romney, is stuck in the 1950’s, seeing this country as “leader of the free world” and suggesting another invasion in the Third World. Messrs. Cain and Gingrich see the Geneva Conventions as an inconvenience that can be ignored. Mr. Perry, when he can remember it, wants to eliminate the agency that controls nuclear energy, as if this was a time before the Manhattan Project. All reject science when it contradicts faith, want to restrict a woman’s freedom for the same reason, and intend to relegate government to a past posture in contradistinction to present needs or future challenges. Yes, Republicans do want to take the country back — back to a time when life was “nasty, brutish and short”.
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
9:26 am
Buckhead Boy
November 13th, 2011
9:17 am
“Yes, Republicans do want to take the country back — back to a time when life was “nasty, brutish and short”.
And your definition of the country today is??
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
9:37 am
“And your definition of the country today is??”
I can’t speak for Buckhead Boy, but my definition of the country today is…
A country that is recovering from a president that tried his hardest to take us back even further than the 1950’s, all the way back to 1929.
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
9:42 am
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
9:37 am
I can’t speak for Buckhead Boy, but my definition of the country today is…
A country that is recovering from a president that tried his hardest to take us back even further than the 1950’s, all the way back to 1929.
So then, we can count you as among those willing to forfeit a share of your entitlements to help support the illegals, right???
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
9:49 am
“So then, we can count you as among those willing to forfeit a share of your entitlements to help support the illegals, right???”
LOL, is that all you have? A 12th grade comeback from a big time GT/MIT intellectual? Impressive.
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
9:56 am
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
9:49 am
“LOL, is that all you have? A 12th grade comeback from a big time GT/MIT intellectual? Impressive.”
I didn’t see an answer in that Danny, so can I put you in the no column ???
td
November 13th, 2011
9:56 am
Smoke
November 13th, 2011
7:16 am
When Boehner took office, he said his #1 Priority was to create jobs. Now you know why Congress has a 9% approval rating.
You keep saying this as if the Republicans controlled Congress. The Republicans only control the House of Representatives. The Senate is controlled by the Democrats. Not only do the Dems control the Senate they also control the WH. They control 2/3 of government and you want to blame the Republicans. The Senate is the body that has done absolutely nothing. The House has sent 15 bills to the Senate that would help produce jobs and the Senate will not take them up. The normal process is for the Senate to take up the bill, debate the bill, amend the bill and send it back to the house. Why will they not take the normal process? Could it be because the plan of the Dems is to run for office by blaming the Republicans? Could it be the Democrats have decided that they can not win re election on their record and are trumping up charges against the Republicans?
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
10:05 am
“I didn’t see an answer in that Danny, so can I put you in the no column ???”
Actually I shouldn’t have to give up any of my entitlements. The employers should be the ones giving up some of their entitlements. Like the entitlement to farm subsidies. Like the entitlement to slave wages with no benefits.
If that increases the cost of goods then so be it.
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
10:16 am
td, your post at 9:56 is complete nonsense. A bill has to pass both Houses before the president has anything to do with legislative action, thus rendering your 2/3rds argument void.
Also, the advantage the Democrats have in the Senate is useless because of the filibuster, this is basic stuff. And yes both parties abuse the system.
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
10:17 am
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
10:05 am
“Actually I shouldn’t have to give up any of my entitlements. The employers should be the ones giving up some of their entitlements. Like the entitlement to farm subsidies. Like the entitlement to slave wages with no benefits.”
“If that increases the cost of goods then so be it.”
Actually I already knew your answer Danny and if it makes you feel good, know that you are spot on with a vast majority of liberals. Your credo seems to be, lets spend lots of money, as long as its somebody else’s.
Rick in Grayson
November 13th, 2011
10:21 am
There is an increasing opposition to illegal aliens in the US. I have followed blogs here on the AJC and the New York Times for years.
The New York Time continues to advocate for illegal aliens, but the responses to these articles show that US citizens are fed up with the invasion of illegals and the subsequent costs to local taxpayers.
With the current recession and the fact that it will not improve much over the next 5 years, politicians should fear taking stances that advocate for illegal aliens. They will be losing their constituents support.
If illegal aliens were more dispersed throughout the country, even more US citizens would be outraged. If you examine the census data, you will find that many states/regions don’t have a serious illegal alien problem at this time, so those US citizens don’t see what all the fuss is about. In states that do have an illegal alien problem, US citizens, especially those that are unemployed, are increasingly opposed to illegals an foreign nationals working in the US on H1-B visas.
Illegal immigration is a jobs/economic issue not a racial issue as illegal aliens are of all races and nationalities.
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
10:31 am
“Your credo seems to be, lets spend lots of money, as long as its somebody else’s”
No its not. You have a hard time with comprehension. Go back and read my post. The farm subsidies that the farming industry receives are somebody else’s money. I also said I would pay more for goods.
The crops are rotting in Georgia because the farm industry only wants to pay slave wages. With the current recession the unemployed in the state didn’t save the crops did they?
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
10:33 am
Rick in Grayson:
Well written.
DannyX
November 13th, 2011
10:43 am
The Republican utopia thinks the unemployed from all races and walks of life are going to flock to the fields of south Georgia to work in a miserable sweltering climate at near minimum wage without benefits and will not use medical facilities or send their kids to school.
Dream on.
zeke
November 13th, 2011
10:55 am
Here is the thing all elected reps need to remember; WE WANT ALL ILLEGALS INCLUDING THEIR ILLEGAL ANCHOR BRATS, GONE FROM THE USA IMMEDIATELY! Abortions is abhorrent, but, if the moral decay of the USA insists on having it legal, IT MUST BE ENACTED BY CONGRESS NOT BE A LIBERAL COURT WHICH HAS NO CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY TO MAKE LAWS!!
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
11:06 am
Danny, my young friend, your mind set is quite clear to anyone who can read. You and those of your ilk, have no incentive to work as long as you can live off those who do. It has been, lets just say different, (chatting) with you.
I know that nothing I can say is going to alter your outlook, nor are you going to justify your attitude to me, so let me just say good day my friend, and hope that by the time you’re my age you will have acquired a more productive set of values.
GaBlue
November 13th, 2011
11:16 am
How about State Sen. John Albers wanting to follow Florida’s lead (AS IF that would ever be a good idea!) and implement drug testing for welfare recipients? REALLY? First, how much will that cost, and whose good buddy will get a commission off that cushy contract? Second — and I intend to ask him this myself — is he willing to lead by example, and break the program in by testing ALL state-level legislators and elected officials first?
Given the consistent level of BONEHEADED stunts perpetrated by the trough-guzzling gang under the Gold Dome, I think the citizens’ best interests would be better served by examining their excrement first!
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
11:39 am
GaBlue
November 13th, 2011
11:16 am
“How about State Sen. John Albers wanting to follow Florida’s lead (AS IF that would ever be a good idea!) and implement drug testing for welfare recipients? REALLY? First, how much will that cost, and whose good buddy will get a commission off that cushy contract? ”
Well GaBlue, really won’t cost us any more if we simply deduct the cost of the test from their entitlement check. If it is handled this way, doesn’t much matter who gets the contract.
“Second — and I intend to ask him this myself — is he willing to lead by example, and break the program in by testing ALL state-level legislators and elected officials first?”
You got this one right, I don’t know if he would support that idea or not, but if he doesn’t, he should be replaced by someone who does.
“Given the consistent level of BONEHEADED stunts perpetrated by the trough-guzzling gang under the Gold Dome, I think the citizens’ best interests would be better served by examining their excrement first!”
Well my friend, I’ll let do the poking around in their excrement.
honested
November 13th, 2011
11:40 am
What a nice morning to watch political teevee……
And see the polling that shows no matter which moron is picked from the clown car, President Obama wins in a landslide…..
Now if we can concentrate on removing ToolsEnablingAristocrats/GrossObstructivePlutocrats from the Georgia Congressional Delegation….
Maybe we can move our state back to at least the late 20th Century!
PLEASE TAKE US BACK 2 DA 1950'S GUD OLE BOY DAYS
November 13th, 2011
11:41 am
BRING SHERMAN BACK TO BURN DOWN REDNECK RURAL NORTH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
Frederick Douglass
November 13th, 2011
11:52 am
Rick in Grayson
Illegal immigration is a jobs/economic issue not a racial issue as illegal aliens are of all races and nationalities.
Damn right it is. I just recently ran off a carload of what I took to be drunken Swedes, trying to browbeat me into giving them a shot at some yard work.
PLEASE TAKE US BACK 2 DA 1950'S GUD OLE BOY DAYS
November 13th, 2011
11:57 am
LOOK HERE DEVILWORSHIPPING REDNECKS WHO RAPES LIL BOYS AND GIRLS,BLACK JESUS IS COMING FOR WAR AGAINST YOU EVIL CRACKERS,SO HAVE FUN DOING YOUR WICKEDNESS,BECAUSE YOUR TIME IS UP,SATAN CHILDREN!
GaBlue
November 13th, 2011
11:57 am
GT/MIT,
So you approve of our legislators looking for ways to kick people off assistance when we have 10+% unemployment, instead of generating the JOBS that people need to feed their families? When you motivate people by taking food out of their children’s mouths, don’t be surprised when all you get in return is a higher crime rate. Of course, that’s okay with the legislators who pride themselves that we incarcerate a higher percentage of our population than just about any place on earth, especially when they can “privatize” the prison business for profit.
PLEASE TAKE US BACK 2 DA 1950'S GUD OLE BOY DAYS
November 13th, 2011
12:17 pm
2012 EVIL WHITES YOUR TIME IS UP
double
November 13th, 2011
12:18 pm
Instead of giving part of our entitlements to help support the illegal/Aliens suppose the employer is required to add to the amt.of SS he pays on the employees behalf..Also let the employer pay continuous amounts of unemployment insurance.If this fund becomes excessive,then let the overflow go into a retirement fund for the employees.
honested
November 13th, 2011
12:22 pm
double,
As I suggested yesterday, JUST ARREST THOSE WHO EMPLOY ILLEGALS.
Sell their stuff to a CITIZEN who will employ CITIZENS.
That or providing a list of laws that the current majority in the General Assembly is willing to allow continuous infraction.
The damage done by those hiring illegals is equivalent to major drug importers yet we prefer to bury our heads in the sand.
double
November 13th, 2011
12:35 pm
I think what GABlu is saying is get your s–t straight before poking in mine.Or get splinter out of own eye………….In some instances drug testing would be ok.Some get drugs and sell or sell part.Drugs prescribed and paid for by taxpayer.
GT/MIT
November 13th, 2011
12:37 pm
GaBlue
November 13th, 2011
11:57 am
GT/MIT,
“So you approve of our legislators looking for ways to kick people off assistance when we have 10+% unemployment, instead of generating the JOBS that people need to feed their families? When you motivate people by taking food out of their children’s mouths, don’t be surprised when all you get in return is a higher crime rate. Of course, that’s okay with the legislators who pride themselves that we incarcerate a higher percentage of our population than just about any place on earth, especially when they can “privatize” the prison business for profit.”
Wow you really had me rereading my comments to see just where I advocated kicking folks off the welfare rolls, generating unemployment, taking food out of children’s mouths, causing a higher crime rate, and privatizing the prison system. You sir have accused me of everything short of beating poor folks with my cane. You know what?, that smoke screen simply won’t work. You present no creditable points of argument therefore you attack with wild accusations. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?.
Assuming that you are a taxpayer, I then surmise that you are OK having your money buy illegal drugs. I doubt you’ll find much consensus for that argument.