Your morning jolt: Johnny Isakson’s opposition kills Law of Sea treaty
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson on Monday was one of three Republicans to add their names to the list of opponents to the controversial Law of the Sea treaty backed by President Barack Obama, depriving Senate Democrats of the super-majority needed to move the maritime pact toward ratification.
Read Isakson’s brief explanation here. He opposed it in 2007 as well.
The other two senators, Rob Portman of Ohio and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, have both been mentioned as running mates for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. In a joint letter, Portment and Ayotte expressed serious concerns about the breadth and ambiguity of the Law of the Sea treaty, according to the Associated Press:
The development was a blow to the Obama administration, military leaders and the business community led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who had argued that the treaty would improve national security and enhance U.S. standing in the world. They had pressed for ratification of the treaty, which was concluded in 1982 and has been in force since 1994. The United States is the only major nation that has refused to sign the pact.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and other conservatives have led the campaign against the treaty, contending that it would undermine U.S. sovereignty. DeMint heralded the latest development on Twitter, saying, “34 Senators now oppose LOST, sinking the misguided treaty.”
***
Voters in his home state of New Jersey say Gov. Chris Christie, who is in Atlanta today to host a Mitt Romney fundraiser with Gov. Nathan Deal, is doing fine as governor, but would make a lousy vice president. Fifty-three percent of registered voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released today say Christie would be a bad choice as Romney’s running mate. On the other hand, 54 percent approve of the job he’s doing as governor.
***
Ashley Fielding over at the Gainesville Times reports that state Rep. Doug Collins has edged out former radio talk show host Martha Zoller in the Republican money race for the new 9th District:
In the three-month period between April and June 30, it was Collins who led the race to raise money, pulling in some $81,685 in contributions.
Collins also had the most cash left over at the end of the quarter.
Following behind him in the fundraising race, Zoller, a former conservative radio talk show host, raised more than $73,510; Fitzpatrick, a former White County school principal, pulled in some $11,811.
***
Enemies of the transportation sales tax have set their opposition to music. Listen to the bluegrass tune here. A “smooth country” version, sans banjo, can be found here. Apparently, no one thought to produce a hip-hop cover.
The hook: “Heads up, Georgia, don’t get on the train. If it leaves the station, it won’t come back again. No one can control it. Everyone will pay.”
***
At 10 a.m. today, a group out to remove the toll on Ga. 400 will hold a press conference in the state Capitol.
***
The group behind the push to restore the state’s authority to create charter schools – even where local systems don’t want them – has set up its Internet presence here. Families for Better Public Schools, which will have the backing of Gov. Nathan Deal, already has hired campaign manager Mark Peevy for the November vote.
Opponents of the measure, a coalition of PTA groups, the Georgia School Board Association, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators and other groups called Vote Smart Georgia, recently started up their website as well. Compare the two sites, and you’ll know where the money is in this contest.
***
The AJC’s Politifact Georgia today takes a look at House Speaker David Ralston’s statement that new federal regulations are largely to blame for long lines at the state Department of Driver Services.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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87 comments Add your comment
Deanna
July 17th, 2012
9:38 am
Can someone explain to me why there are questions on the Republican ballot about abortion and gambling that aren’t on the Democratic ballot for the July 31st election? What’s that all about?
jgalloway
July 17th, 2012
9:44 am
Deanna:
Because these are primary ballots, each political party has a degree of control over the content. They’re permitted to load up these questions as they like, but none are binding.
JacketFanMarcus
July 17th, 2012
9:44 am
How can David Ralston blame the Feds for 4 hour waits at a state office???
I’m OK with the requirements. People need to prove who they are. But the Dept of Driver Services had 5 years to prepare.
I don’t think the feds are managing and training the staff.
As someone that’s managed before – this is just plain poor management and planning. It’s no one’s fault but the state!
GaBlue
July 17th, 2012
9:47 am
Deanna,
Good question! What on Earth would their “personhood” nonsense accomplish other than wasting MORE of our legislature’s time — and taxpayer money — on debating issues that solve absolutely NONE of the problems we elect/pay these jerks to solve?
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you live in Fulton County, and you’d like to vote in the Sheriff’s race or Tax Commissioner, then you MUST pick up a Democratic primary ballot between now and July 31st. These important races will be decided then. (Personal note: The incumbents REALLY REALLY need to go! Thank you.)
Sideline Dude
July 17th, 2012
9:48 am
I haven’t listened to the TSPLOST song but it will be music to my ears when it fails to pass. The DOT is already the fourth branch of state government & if it could get its hands on the kind of money the TSPLOST will generate, watch out. I have already voted against this boondoggle as I hope most Georgians will also do. No more taxes.
Greg
July 17th, 2012
9:52 am
Jim your link to the Kock brothers and Gov Baddeals site does not work.
Drago
July 17th, 2012
9:53 am
So, Isakson is in China’s back pocket now.
Marlboro Man
July 17th, 2012
9:53 am
Is your mom tied up in traffic again ? Sitting in a car is no way to live.
Rich
July 17th, 2012
9:56 am
And which state would that be? (I know. Do all your readers?)
Voters in his home state say Gov. Chris Christie, who is in Atlanta today to host a Mitt Romney fundraiser with Gov. Nathan Deal, is doing fine as governor, but would make a lousy vice president. Fifty-three percent of registered voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released today say Christie would be a bad choice as Romney’s running mate. On the other hand, 54 percent approve of the job he’s doing as governor.
Dirty Dawg
July 17th, 2012
10:03 am
I can’t tell you how fundamentally disappointed I’ve become with Jounny Isakson. There was a time when he was as fine a Statesman, in the truest sense of the word, as Georgia had ever produced. He would serve the people of Georgia with pride and dedication regardless of which Party was in power… then he went to Washington. It’s been clear for some time that he ’sold out’ to the money, but increasingly it appears that he very well have, now, sold his soul to the Devil. Shame on ya Johnny, I thought you were a better man than this.
LA Hays
July 17th, 2012
10:08 am
Thanks, Isakson, for taking us another step down the road toward isolationism. Maybe we should just withdraw from ALL treaties just in case they affect what you perceive as loss of American sovereignty. Is American really that weak?
brian
July 17th, 2012
10:18 am
Really so you think we should. Then give our tax money to the UN.. Sea treaty research
it.. China signed it..
brian
July 17th, 2012
10:20 am
Enter your comments here Does most people understand that our company’s in USA would pay a tax to UN if any of there product came across sea?
dc
July 17th, 2012
10:27 am
Wondering when the idiot in chief’s comment about how small business owners didn’t build their business, but rather they owe their success to “others who built it for them” will make it as a topic of this blog…..suspect it doesn’t fit the narrative.
Pedro
July 17th, 2012
10:32 am
Can Drago or LA Hays please explain their positions? I am of the belief that LOST is yet another compromise for the U.S. Perhaps we are to shrink into a corner and apologize to the world again? How is Johnny in the pocket of China? How is rejection of LOST a move toward isolationism? I don’t get your points.
po
July 17th, 2012
10:34 am
dc, you apparently find it difficult to see the wonders that 1st world public infrastructure and stability provide to most businesses (even illegal ones) who chose to do business in the US. Could they do what they do without roads, the internet, the courts, regulation, etc., etc., etc.
The Ghost of Lester Maddox
July 17th, 2012
10:35 am
Jim -
Given Deanna’s confusion above (and your prompt reply) it might be nice to have a column on why the separate Dem and Repub primary ballots even exist.
It’s the ultimate example of incumbent protection insurance, in my mind.
ncgreybr
July 17th, 2012
10:36 am
Brian. Is English your second language?
ragnar danneskjold
July 17th, 2012
10:37 am
Glad to see Mr. Isakson come to the side of goodness and light, even if it is only a temporary visit for a RINO.
ragnar danneskjold
July 17th, 2012
10:38 am
It would be cheaper to fully fund the Navy than to pay the royalties to the UN under the Law of Sea.
Deanna
July 17th, 2012
10:39 am
Thanks all for your answers about the questions that only appear on the Republican ballot! What will the Repubs do with the results from these questions if they are non-binding? What’s the point?
Rafe Hollister
July 17th, 2012
10:41 am
Thanks Johnny, for once, he voted as his constituents wished.
The DMV fiasco, is as usual a government tradition. Gov always uses the shotgun approach, they never single out the offenders, that would be profiling, they always choose to make every citizen suffer. People with licenses, had to provide all these documents to get their license in the first place, so renewal should be easy. Why do they not put the emphasis on border control and first time licenses and not on making every Georgian suffer.
Why so much government emphasis on who is driving and no interest in who is voting?
mumm
July 17th, 2012
10:41 am
@dc, if you listened to the speech in context, there’s nothing to discuss. His statement was “essentially that no man is an island unto himself”. If I’m not mistaken, the speech was about infrastructure and how every single taxpayer funds it.
Tea Party Hobbit
July 17th, 2012
10:46 am
rangar…a pirate would know!
I agree that we do not need to cede any sovereignty to the UN. There has been a long standing proposal to modify Part XI (on the Exclusive Economic Zones) that is the only hangup that our country really has. But that is likely the part that has the rest of the UN salivating (along with our own enemies of capitalism). Good job, Senator Isakson!
aposter
July 17th, 2012
10:50 am
I hope you all realize that many more states decided NOT to go forward with the REAL Id Act (the Homeland security measure that the state is citing) since they thought it was an unfair intrusion on our civil liberties. The act itself has already been watered down and in legal limbo.
Funny how a state like Georgia and many of its politicians that claim to be against all things Federal has no problem hassling its citizens and eroding their freedoms when it comes to this.
Will the AJC or someone bother calling them out on the fact that many more states did away with the requirement via their legislature than those that are enforcing it?
biscuit
July 17th, 2012
10:50 am
We need to get out of the UN altogether. Cabal of international gangsters and globalists. And tell them to take their business elsewhere. Voting this horse manure down is always the right thing to do. Thank you, Congress. Now if you could just get busy with the other matters at hand that are in America’s interest.
jd
July 17th, 2012
10:52 am
Era of Reconstruction – 1868 – 1882
Era of Deconstruction – 2001 – 2016
Which party was in charge of Georgia for each of those periods of history?
yuzeyurbrane
July 17th, 2012
10:56 am
re charter schools issue, just follow the money. The charter school contracting industry has already become huge and sees potential for multi-billion dollars in profits from charter schools. Combine this with venal politicians and you have a potent mix.
dc
July 17th, 2012
11:04 am
If only there was in fact nothing to the speech. It captures perfectly the reason we have so few jobs being created. People who take the risk of putting their finances at risk of bankruptcy, work incredibly long hours, to create the small businesses that create the jobs in America shouldn’t be held up as positive examples. But rather told (exact quote) “”If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that,” Obama said. “Somebody else made that happen.” Which of course positions the govt to then take more of the proceeds from the business, as payback for what the small business entrepreneur “didn’t do”…
There is a clear and obvious result to this rhetoric, and the govt acts that are a natural outgrowth of such talk. People would be crazy to start businesses and employ people with this mentality running the govt
And guess what……we’ve had no job creation. The people running the fed govt either don’t know how jobs are created or don’t care. Either way, it’s a scary situation for the country.
Baron Dekalb
July 17th, 2012
11:23 am
Score one for the black helicopter crowd.
Keith
July 17th, 2012
11:23 am
Say what you want to about Bush (and I could say several bad things), but I always appreciated his view on U.S. sovereignty and the United Nations.
Going with Johnny on this one
July 17th, 2012
11:25 am
@Tea Party Hobbit. You are correct that Part XI poses some real concerns, especially after the Feb. 2011 advisory opinion by the International Tribunal. However, in my opinion, that concern is not “the only hang up.” I believe that the concerns regarding the inability to board a foreign vessel that may have terrorists or terrorist materials and the language that would require unmanned underwater drones to surface in another country’s territorial waters are also “hang ups.” It seems to me that these concerns represent the case where a treaty negotiated in the late 70s and early 80s did not envision new technology or new global threats and, as such, fails to fully protect the US’s interests.
Clewis564
July 17th, 2012
11:37 am
What’s wrong with opposing a treaty that would give the United Nations or other entity control over what the United States does or how it explores our deep sea mineral deposits. Guess if you’re for a loss of sovereignty and world gov’t the Isakson’s decision might upset you.
Clewis564
July 17th, 2012
11:41 am
Most leaders and representatIves at the UN are dictators, socialists and strong men. They’re goal is to not have any nation free but all answer to a world gov’t. it has been said the only obstacle to a world gov’t is the United States, it’s constitution and the religious state of its people. Marginalize religion, walk over the constitution and destroy the nation economically and they get what they want.
Tea Party Hobbit
July 17th, 2012
11:48 am
Dick Morris on Boortz discussing Law of Sea. Gist of his point – Hillary could sign, Obama gets reelected, does not move to have it come up for vote in Senate and it still goes into effect by 2016! Scary ceding of American sovereignty…reason # – um – oh what the heck – 999,999,999 not to re-elect President Obama!
Don McAdam
July 17th, 2012
11:51 am
I’m much more concerned with Isakson’s and Chambliss’ vote against campaign finance disclosure. Yesterday, they voted to allow corporations and wealthy individuals the ability to provide secret campaign contributions.
In other words, they don’t think the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling went far enough. Not only should corporations be allowed to give unlimited campaign contributions, they should be allowed to do so in secret!
Please call our senators and voice your sentiments.
Isakson…202-224-3643
Chambliss…202-224-3521
DannyX
July 17th, 2012
12:03 pm
“Yesterday, they voted to allow corporations and wealthy individuals the ability to provide secret campaign contributions.”
Excellent point Don. Its funny how a few posts claim things like “Scary ceding of American sovereignty” when it comes to the UN only to remain silent at the thought of foreigners flooding our political campaigns with secret donations.
Abe Lincoln
July 17th, 2012
12:05 pm
Typical political coverage. One side opposes it, the other supports it. No need to mention any of the substance of the bills/treaties in question, because most people refuse to think for themselves anyway.
md
July 17th, 2012
12:14 pm
Good for him……..now, pull out of the worthless UN and end NATO. The UN is a toothless organization that adds nothing for us and it is quite obvious that NATO means the US, as the other countries involved contribute inadequate percentages to the effort.
Europe is swimming in social programs for 2 reasons……they have high taxes and they piggy back our military spending. Time for that to stop………….
maximum
July 17th, 2012
12:21 pm
Interesting that Republicans refuse to support national security and business interests represented in the Law of the Sea treaty. Inaction in this matter will help deliver resources beneath the Arctic ice cap to the Russians, who are already working to establish their claim. It’s not surprising to see 18th century throwback Jim DeMint oppose anything related to keeping USA competitive in 21st century, but I had thought Johnny Isakson was more forward thinking.
WDWJ
July 17th, 2012
12:25 pm
Thanks Johnny for standing up for America. We don’t need the UN telling us what we can and can’t do.
We don’t need the DOT getting our Taxes and then turn around and vote another splost money (tax)for them. Thats two tax deals going to DOT. Vote No! they will still get the taxes they already get. Plus it a region deal, your tax will play for someone else’s problems. Let each County do it own taxes.
Hillbilly D
July 17th, 2012
12:31 pm
The link to the bluegrass version of the song takes you to a blank page.
Tea Party Hobbit
July 17th, 2012
12:31 pm
maximum…wow…so because some provisions of a proposal may be good, it should just be passed without concern? geez I’d like to have you on the other side at a negotiating table! the problem with the UN is that many of the members want to see a greatly diminished US, and will attempt to build measures to tax and limit us wherever they can, as evidenced in the Law of the Sea treaty. The UN simply cannot be trusted to do what is good for the US
richard
July 17th, 2012
12:48 pm
dc read the whole quote in context and then please apologize for your misstatement
Must be Embarassing to Have You People as Constituents
July 17th, 2012
12:48 pm
Rock the boat. Rock the boat, Johnny. Rock the boat. Rock the boat, Johnny.
Dan
July 17th, 2012
12:50 pm
Good to see Isakson not voting to cede more U.S. sovereignty over to the clowns at the U.N.
Typical GA GOP Voter
July 17th, 2012
12:51 pm
OMG! What are we gonna do? The UN is gonna take away our sovren’tee!
We gotta stop this thing.
I’m soooo scared of the UN.
Hang on; I forgot what else I was gonna say. Let me turn on Fox News. BRB.
NO TSPLOST !!!
July 17th, 2012
12:53 pm
VOTE NO FOR TSPLOST!! What they have done in Gwinnett County is horrible. Traffic is much, much worse than before the state’s so-called “vision for Gwinnett Interstates!” Also, MARTA cannot control their own budget and have been unable to do so for years – why should we have to suffer those consequences yet again??? No – I don’t wish my $ to go to these same people who have mis-managed and hoarded our money. And remember, long since by now, there were to be no further tolls for 400 – yeah, right!! Our state government has not proven they can manage these funds, and KEEP committments – so VOTE NO ON JULY 31st to TSPLOST !!!!!!!
Leather Goods
July 17th, 2012
12:53 pm
My aunt told me she knew Johnny Isakson when he was just a pup, and his grandaddy was actually a Chinese Sharpei. Guess we better keep a close eye on him.
Vote Yes T-SPLOST!!
July 17th, 2012
12:56 pm
1. Metro Atlanta has a traffic crisis.
Depending on which study you read, Atlanta traffic is anywhere from 9th to 15th worst in the nation. We have seven of the 50 worst freeway bottlenecks in the country and that doesn’t even include I-285 at Ga. 400 because 400 is not a freeway. Our average commute times are over 60 minutes which is also one of the worst in the country.
Many may wonder what Atlanta traffic has to do with Fayette County. The answer is that, according to Census Bureau data, 73.8 percent of Fayette County workers leave the county to work and about three-fourths of them work in the five core urban counties of Metro Atlanta. That’s over 50,000 trips by Fayette County residents to and from Atlanta each day. Add to that all of the trips we make to Atlanta for ball games, concerts, shopping and dining and we see that Fayette County is very much impacted by traffic congestion in Atlanta.
2. Fayette County gets a significant return on its tax contribution.
Fayette County is projected to contribute $190.2 million over the 10 years of the tax. In return, we will receive $129.9 million for 10 projects in our county from the list of 157 regional projects, plus $43.6 million of the 15 percent mentioned above for local discretion, for a combined total of $173.5 million.
Not included in that number but of significant benefit to Fayette County is another $22.5 million to reconstruct the I-85/Ga. Highway 74 interchange, $40.2 million to widen Ga. Highway 54 in Fayette and Clayton County, and significant improvements on almost all of the major I-285 interchanges. You can see a list of all the projects at http://transformmetroatlanta.com/regional-projects/.
3. Economic development and jobs.
An economic cost/benefit study of the impact of the referendum indicates that there will be more than a 4 to 1 return on our investment. By spending about $8 billion, the region receives more than $34 billion back in Gross Regional Product by 2040.
If the referendum passes, transportation investments in the metro Atlanta region over the next 10 years will be almost double the investments made in metro Atlanta for the 1996 Olympics.
Econometric modeling shows that tens of thousands of additional jobs will be created and supported and two-thirds of those will be in mid to high-paying sectors.
Finally, because of the congestion relief the transportation investments will bring, the region will save $18 billion from reduced fuel costs and time.
4. Businesses throughout metro Atlanta are supporting the referendum.
Over 200 businesses have already contributed nearly $8 million to help educate and advertise for this referendum. These include some of the biggest economic engines in our state like Cox Enterprises, Georgia Power and Coca-Cola who have each donated at least $250,000; AT&T, Delta Airlines, Home Depot, Newell Rubbermaid and UPS who have each donated at least $100,000.
Some opponents of the referendum have said that raising taxes will drive business out of the state but clearly the business community is clamoring for the state to solve some of our pressing transportation issues and believes the regional TSPLOST should be supported.
5. Existing transportation funding is not meeting our transportation needs.
The overwhelming majority of transportation funding comes from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF), which is funded primarily by the federal portion of fuel taxes, and the Ga. State Motor Fuel Tax. The problem is that neither is able to keep up with our transportation maintenance and new capacity needs.
This is primarily because fuel economy of cars and trucks has improved dramatically over the last few decades while the fuel tax rate has risen little to none. On the federal side, the gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon (24.4 cents per gallon for diesel) and hasn’t been increased since 1993. On the state side, the motor fuel excise tax of 7.5 cents per gallon hasn’t increased since 1971.
In contrast, fuel efficiency for the average passenger car has increased 40 percent since 1980. That has created a steadily declining revenue source for transportation infrastructure needs at both the state and federal levels while at the same time maintenance and capacity costs have increased.
After years of debate on multiple options, the Georgia legislature has decided that the best way to bridge this widening gap is with a one cent sales tax to be used for transportation.
Vote No for UN ALien Probes
July 17th, 2012
12:57 pm
They terk er jerbs!!
Auntie Christ
July 17th, 2012
12:58 pm
dc @ 1027: Wondering when the idiot in chief’s comment about how small business owners didn’t build their business, but rather they owe their success to “others who built it for them” will make it as a topic of this blog…
Go over to wingfield’s blog where you can join the other juvenile punks commenting with their school yard insults about the POTUS. Generally the adults post comments here, ignoring you kids with your school yard name calling. Ta TA mommy wants her computer back.
md
July 17th, 2012
1:03 pm
“Wondering when the idiot in chief’s comment about how small business owners didn’t build their business, but rather they owe their success to “others who built it for them” :
It’s really quite comical considering Obama is employed by the gov’t which owes it’s very existence to those businesses……..
A
July 17th, 2012
1:08 pm
Isakson is an idiot and needs to be voted out.
dc
July 17th, 2012
1:09 pm
Oh, OK Auntie…sorry, didn’t realize you were the queen of this blog….:)
btw, how are those job numbers looking? I guess you’re all still waiting for the govt to create them for you. Enjoy that govt check.
Glen
July 17th, 2012
1:19 pm
Bravo to Isakson for not ceding US sovreignity to the UN.
As for TSPLOST, after the legislature lied to us and refused to end the GA 400 toll when they promised to do so, I’m voting against it. That toll raised enough money to pay off the bonds years ago, but they were not allowed to pay them off early. If we need money to “Untie” traffic, let’s have an accounting of where the toll money went and where it continues to go.
Or the legislature could honor its word and remove the toll. That might restore enough faith for me to vote for the TSPLOST if it makes it back on the ballot next year or in 2014.
Carol
July 17th, 2012
1:25 pm
Interesting how Ralston blames the Feds for the long lines, but doesn’t bother to mention that it’s Bush’s fault LOL.
Carol
July 17th, 2012
1:28 pm
A follow-up question: Why don’t we just have this Primary and the Presidential Preference all at the same time? And why are parties allowed to load the ballots with nonsense questions?
GaBlue
July 17th, 2012
1:47 pm
The Presidential primaries are based on qualifying for the Presidential race, and are being moved earlier by many states because they’re tired of a handful of Iowa residents picking the frontrunners for us.
The summer primaries in Georgia are for state and local elections for which candidates may not be ready in the winter months. Already, we have Presidents and Congressmen who are pretty much campaigning for the next race as soon as they’re elected. If we had that at the local level too, absolutely nothing meaningful would ever get done (as opposed to the next-to-nothing we get now.) It’s important that regular citizens have the chance to run for state and local office, and not be eclipsed by the cacophony of the Presidential primaries.
Of course we’re all cynical about government. How could we NOT be? These nonsense questions are a good example of why. But let’s try to remember that it’s important to have competent local representation, and for that to happen, decent people need the opportunity and the chance to say, “Hey, I am a citizen and I can make a difference.” Those who are not sponsored by California billionaires need more time to scrape together enough money and support to run, and to get a grip on the local and state issues that affect our lives.
Nonsense questions aside, I hope everyone will scope the sample ballots carefully and decide which ballot to choose between now and the 31st. Our participation is key to competent, accountable government.
honested
July 17th, 2012
2:02 pm
Of course Senator isakson opposed the treaty.
The morons who depend on talk radio for their news and opinion vote for him. If he does something that is viewed negatively by the talk radio loudmouths, isakson loses his ‘base’.
He doesn’t care what Georgians with an IQ above 80 think of him, because they didn’t vote for him in the first place!!
Malthusian way
July 17th, 2012
2:33 pm
“The sky is falling”, “the sky is falling’………ie. US sovereignty, charters schools, Atlanta transportation, free speech (citizens united), GA400 toll, long lines at the DMV.
I knew it – the sky IS falling…..its raining right now.
How about a few more dams/reservoirs in Ga. before we all starve?
Georgia Jobs
July 17th, 2012
2:54 pm
Has Johnny Isakson ever voted for a bill that brought jobs to Georgia? I can’t recall a bill, nor do I recall you ever reporting that he has sponsored or supported such a bill. I did notice that his wealth has more than doubled since he has been in office. Query: who is benefiting from Johnny Isakson besides Johnny Isakson? His voting record as a Senator is full of Nea votes. How about a vote for term limits!
P F
July 17th, 2012
3:21 pm
Apparently it is all Senator Isakson’s fault. Blaming just one Senator. How quaint. Actually, I was suprised he didn’t blame W. Oh, wait! That’s Bookman’s job.
Auntie Christ
July 17th, 2012
3:37 pm
kid dc said: I guess you’re all still waiting for the govt to create them for you.
My job depends on the Internet, which was created by the government. I use an Apple computer to access the Internet. Get mommy to tell you about Steve Jobs, who conceived of and invented the Apple, after he graduated from a PUBLIC (you know government run) school. When I get my check, government or otherwise, I know the money is safe in a bank protected by the F (for federal) DIC. When I spend that check on airfare to vacation, I land at airports built and maintained by my government, and I fly with people in BUSINESS class, who utilize those same facilities all the while the john galts among them claiming they “made it on their own, without government help.” I go to an office several times a month using streets and highways built and paid for by the previous generation who realized their duty was to pay taxes to improve their society and government, and didn’t whine about being “taxed enough already,” like you t werps living in your Ayn Rand wet dream. Enjoy your government benefits little man, just don’t pay for them, be a free rider like the rest of the conservative movement.
The Truth
July 17th, 2012
3:45 pm
“Wondering when the idiot in chief’s comment about how small business owners didn’t build their business, but rather they owe their success to “others who built it for them” :
Funny how Cons have to resort to lying to boost their argument. Everyone already has acknowledged that Fox News took the quote out of context and cut it off as it is clear that the President was referring to the roads and bridges that “if you own your own business, you didn’t build that.” You Cons are a joke and if anybody believes Fox News and your lies, Mitt Romney will be the next President. LOL!
Auntie Christ
July 17th, 2012
3:53 pm
md @ 103: the gov’t which owes it’s very existence to those businesses……..
Pardon the repetition from the above comment, but ask the CEO’s of FedEx and UPS how they would make their money if there were no govt buiilt and maintained airports and roads. Ask any major company how they would distribute their products without these facilities. Do you think they relish the idea of being at the mercy of a libertarian government where roads, sea and airports were maintained as private enterprise gouging them everytime they had to get on a freeway or land at a port. Ask if they want a private company supplying their water and sewage, to be at some capitalist’s mercy for a product essential to their very existence. I could go on for pages, but if you haven’t caught the drift by now, you never will. But if you don’t have these government benefits, don’t worry, you can always eat your copy of Atlas Shrugged.
dd
July 17th, 2012
3:54 pm
you tell those evil cons and job creators, Aunti em…. you tell em!! damn those evil capitalists.
wake up, there is NO incentive for someone to take risk failure and work tremendous hours, while creating jobs for others, when the govt decides they aren’t really responsible for their success, and thus the business creators “owe” the rest of us……TAX TIME, BABY!
Now…how’s that job creation going?
dd
July 17th, 2012
3:55 pm
Oh..did I forget to ask….Hows that job creation going? or did I already ask that? Didn’t catch your answer if I did.
The Truth
July 17th, 2012
4:00 pm
dd
July 17th, 2012
3:55 pm
Oh..did I forget to ask….Hows that job creation going? or did I already ask that? Didn’t catch your answer if I did.
Well with the Bush tax cuts in place, there shouldn’t be any problems with job creation according to Dubya. I mean those tax cuts have really helped the last four years. Correct?
dd
July 17th, 2012
4:03 pm
after all….our absolute biggest economic issue is miserable job growth….so what a great idea it is to go after the very folks who actually create jobs in the economy, and tell them that they shouldn’t take credit for their success…. and in fact, you greedy pigs, you need to share your success with those who took no financial risk, and got paid for every hour they ever worked (include time and a half).
Yeah, that’ll really help incent people to take huge risks, work awful hours, and create jobs.
Auntie Christ
July 17th, 2012
4:04 pm
How’s the job creation going? Well over the last 18 months there have been 90,000 jobs a month created, after we began recovery from the latest con debacle. How did your hero bush do? He created average 31,000 a month for 8 years, before leaving a devastated economy. Poor Obama, he’s such a socialist, but absolutely the worst ever, since he’s done more to save this evil capitalist society than the bush cheney junta could ever accomplish. Since you cons love sucking up to the rich like romney, ask the capitalists how their stock market is doing, after the bush debacle caused it to lose 40% of it’s value.
Auntie Christ
July 17th, 2012
4:09 pm
And please quit harping on what Obama said, because what he was saying went straight over your pointy little con heads. He was speaking to people who can think critically and abstractly, abilities not possessed by very many on the right.
dd
July 17th, 2012
4:11 pm
hey Truth….lower taxes can help. but when the positive impact of lower taxes is obliterated by the inane policies of our current idiot in chief and his team, it’s like trying to hold back the chinese army with a batallion of rifles. Not a chance. And they he tells the few folks (that’s right…most of us don’t actually create a single full time job in our lifetime) that are creating jobs, that they don’t deserve either credit for or to keep the value that they’ve created.
Again, it’s really not hard. How….is …..that …. job…… creation… going? Seriously, is it really that hard to see? We’ve spent $5 trillion or so dollars on so called stimulus, and it hasn’t delivered squat….other than a phantom “well well well…. it would’ve been so much worse if we hadn’t done it”.
The Truth
July 17th, 2012
4:12 pm
after all….our absolute biggest economic issue is miserable job growth….so what a great idea it is to go after the very folks who actually create jobs in the economy, and tell them that they shouldn’t take credit for their success…. and in fact, you greedy pigs, you need to share your success with those who took no financial risk, and got paid for every hour they ever worked (include time and a half).
Your argument is based on a straw man. Obama never did “tell them that they shouldn’t take credit for their success…” That was something you and the fat pig drug-addicted Rush Limbaugh came up with.
dd
July 17th, 2012
4:15 pm
oh ok, Auntie Em….sorry, forget that you are the queen of the blog. And so darned smart too. Wow, I’m honored just to be in the same (virtual) presence with you.
Seriously, you actually seem to have at least some intelligence…even if it is blinded by total BS as to how the real world works. there are no jobs being created. There is a reason why. It’s not because we didn’t spend the money (that we didn’t have, and thus borrowed). When something is made expensive (via taxes, regulations, paperwork, whatever reason) you get less of it. If you ever take your blinders off, you’ll realize that is just reality of the world.
honested
July 17th, 2012
4:17 pm
I do wish job creation would improve more quickly, but with the House under the firm grip of the Party of No, I doubt the conditions making it possible will occur.
I am glad that the disastrous job loss that was the weekly (week after week, consistently for 8 years) reality has stopped because my customers need their jobs to PAY ME.
I just wish people in this state were smart enough to realize that the ‘conservatism’ they hold so dear has failed them, miserably and doubling down would only make it worse.
Throw out the Party of No in the House and bring back the prosperity we knew in the ’90s!
Auntie Christ
July 17th, 2012
4:17 pm
Here’s a quote you cons can all agree with, regarding poor job numbers: “You guys are bright enough to look at the numbers. I came in and the jobs had been just falling right off a cliff, I came in and they kept falling for 11 months. And then we turned around and we’re coming back and that’s progress. And if you are going to suggest to me that somehow the day I got elected, somehow jobs should have immediately turned around, well that would be silly. It takes awhile to get things turned around. We were in a recession, we were losing jobs every month. We’ve turned around and since the turnaround we’ve added 50,000 jobs. That’s progress.”
Well I guess you can agree with it, it comes from Governor mitt romney from a presser in 2005. Otherwise it would make you all hypocrites wouldn’t it?
dd
July 17th, 2012
4:18 pm
(exact quote) “”If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that,” Obama said. “Somebody else made that happen.”
Man, I had no idea that I was that powerful. you mean that, even though he said those exact words, it wasn’t really him who said it, but me who made it up?
dd
July 17th, 2012
4:22 pm
sorry, Auntie Em…..missed your incredible insight on where the US jobs actually are….other than in China where the idiot in chief can’t tax them, regulate them, overwhelm then with paperwork, or take their value.
the funny thing is that the dramatic reduction in natural gas cost (due to fracking….wow, that word scares the crap out of libs) has driven HUGE numbers of jobs. without this, the admin’s policies would be even more obviously crushing to our job growth.
Auntie Christ
July 17th, 2012
4:25 pm
dd says: “We’ve spent $5 trillion or so dollars on so called stimulus, and it hasn’t delivered squat…” then says “there are no jobs being created. There is a reason why. It’s not because we didn’t spend the money (that we didn’t have, and thus borrowed). ”
guess what genius, we’ve ’spent ‘ twice that much in tax cuts to the wealthy that have resulted in diddly in terms of jobs, and astronomical deficit and national debt. Thanks a lot george, but don’t worry, dd stills loves you, he is willfully blind and loves you forever.
dd
July 17th, 2012
4:30 pm
and while this has been quite engaging…time to go do some work for my wife’s small business. yes, the one she started in 2007, we leveraged and put at risk everything we owned to fund, and she works 100+ hours per week to run. Oh, and in the meantime she has quadrupled the employee force….providing something that is in really short supply….. actual paying jobs. while most of us have been but of course, she “didn’t build that”
So, it’s been fun. and if you find those jobs anywhere, be sure to let the millions of people know who are desperate for a paying job.
The Truth
July 17th, 2012
4:31 pm
hey Truth….lower taxes can help. but when the positive impact of lower taxes is obliterated by the inane policies of our current idiot in chief and his team, it’s like trying to hold back the chinese army with a batallion of rifles.
Wait a second, the GOP told us that the so-called ‘job creators’ need lower tax incentives such as the Bush tax cuts to create jobs and lower unemployment. Did the GOP and Grover Norquist lie to us? LOL.
The Truth
July 17th, 2012
4:34 pm
dd
July 17th, 2012
4:18 pm
(exact quote) “”If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that,” Obama said. “Somebody else made that happen.”
Yes, and the exact previous statement he made to that quote was referring to roads and bridges, so once again, Fox News and you Cons have been caught in a lie…
honested
July 17th, 2012
4:50 pm
Auntie,
Repeat the reality that the tax cuts have provided NOTHING but DEBT and done NOTHING to improve any part of economic conditions.
Yet these low information types want to CUT MORE as if somehow there would be a different result.
To what Country do they hold loyalty?
Auntie Christ
July 17th, 2012
7:04 pm
dd @ 422 PM praises the practice of fracking. Like all cons, he believes the one true god, the American dollar trumps everything, even the lives of human beings. follow this link: http://gaspropertydamage.allenstewart.com/
You will find that in addition to causing small earthquake tremors, fracking also does this:
“One effect that has been documented is the rise in methane levels in private water wells in areas connected to heavy fracking activity. For example, increased methane levels in water have created significant controversy near Dimock, Pennsylvania. In a dramatic display of resultant water contamination resulting from fracking, some residents living in and around Dimock can turn on their tap…and then set their water on fire. The methane levels in their well water are so high that it appears that the water itself burns like gasoline.”
To the conservative mind this is perfectly ok, if your life and limb are put in jeopardy by a corporation, well, suck it up because this ‘person,’ exxon mobil’ has every right to do it. If you’re concerned, you’re a bed wettin, anti Amerkin liberal. And don’t expect redress because the cons are going to pass tort reform, because while they expect us to show ‘personal responsibility,’ it would be anti-American to expect it of a corporation.
Edmund Ruffin
July 18th, 2012
7:20 am
To LAHayes, yep, isolationism might be a good thing for a change. Get the US out of the UN and the UN out of the US. All of our foreign entanglements needs to be reviewed.
honested
July 18th, 2012
8:13 am
Mr. Ruffin,
Maybe we should end ALL of our offshore military adventures first, as that would eliminate much of the ‘problem’ in international relations.