Virtual Appliances

…was Carol Porter.

In 2006, Ralph Reed’s political career was brought to a screeching halt by the Abramoff investigation. Reed’s part in the Abramoff scandal was minor. But the Democrats were able to paint the entire GOP with the culture of corruption mantra and ride to power.

Last night, the GOP handed Barnes a gift in the form of a 122 page Office of Congressional Ethics report. The one name all over that report is that of the person who hosted the meeting between Deal and Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham – Lt. Governor Casey Cagle. Cagle’s role in the Gainsville Salvage and Disposal matter was much more significant than Reed’s role in Abramoff’s activities.

As Roy Barnes and all the national democrat money pours into this state, the OCE investigation will be center stage. Every time the issue is brought up, it will be Deal and Cagle. This is a tremendous about of free negative publicity benefiting Porter. Unlike Handel, Porter won’t have to roll around in the dirt. The media, national dems, and various left-wing groups will do it all for her.

Carol Porter has a fundraiser tomorrow night I’ll be going to. It’s from 6-8pm at RIRA IRISH PUB. Nan Orrock is on the host committee, so I do hope they serve my brand of Whiskey. I suspect I’ll need it.

Today, Republicans across this state will, if they have not done so already, make a choice regarding the future of their party. They will decide if they want to be a party that stands for something more than “ask not what I can do for my government, but what my government can do for me”.

2006 saw the GOP lose the US House and US Senate. Leading up to this loss, the House Majority leader was indicted. Another House member pled guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy to commit bribery, and fraud. A third was have inappropriate Instant Message conversations with under-age congressional interns. Like the scandal rocking the Vatican, there were allegations that GOP Leadership knew about these conversations and covered it up.

While the GOP in Washington was enriching themselves in the halls of power, they were ignoring the critical issues the country faced. The Wars in Iraq and Afganistan were going poorly. Millions of Americans were un or under-insured. ObamaCare came about for one simple reason: The GOP ignored the problem for 12 years. The national debt was growing. President Bush’s education “reforms” were failing our children. Massive new entitlement programs were enacted with no thought on how to pay for them. The GOP was fiddling while America burned.

Contrast this with 2010 here in Georgia. The Speaker of the House forced to resign amid a scandal involving an affair with a lobbyist whose legislation he pushed. The nominee for Labor Commissioner has his own problems sleeping with lobbyists. A powerful committee chair has his DUI brushed under the rug. $120,000 funneled from an Insurance Executive with close ties to the Insurance Commissioner via different out-of-state PACs.

What has the GOP accomplished in the past 6 years since taking control of the state government? Have any of our major problems been fixed? Transportation? No. Education? Eric Johnson managed to push a few small reforms, but in a word, No. Jobs? We’re in the bottom half of the country. Below New Jersey, above Indiana. Taxes? So far the GOP’s solution to tax reform is to stick the cities and counties with the bill and limit how they can raise revenue.
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Governing is hard. The problems with easy and popular solutions aren’t problems. The problems are problems because the solutions aren’t easy or popular.

At some point, you need to trust the guy or gal you elected to study the problem and do the right thing.

It would be nice if the guy or gal would be able to explain why they did something and have the trust of the people to do the right thing.

Case in point – I was a supporter of the regional transportation idea. It made more sense than a one-size-fits-all plan managed at the state level with all the corruption with speakers dating lobbyists and Lt. Governors with untied shoes. Karen Handel disagreed. She supports the state level plan. Her reasoning to oppose the state level plan? The regional plan would create 12 more quasi-governmental agencies with divided loyalties and people seeking to enrich themselves off by suckling at the taxpayer’s teat. It’s a valid reason. A good concern. Not something that can be conveyed in a 30 sec TV commercial or the 5 second sound bite the lame-stream media would give her to explain it.

Sadly, our government has gotten so big, on all levels, that many actions are, or appear to be, influenced by personal gain on the part of the guy/gal we elect. Thus, everyone is corrupt. Everyone panders. They are all being yanked around by the short and curlys by special interests.

I’ve been back and forth with myself about Johnny Isakson. Part of me wants his head on a pike for supporting TARP, bailouts and Bush’s massive spending. Part of me wants to see him re-elected because he is as good a statesman as we can find in this hyper-partisan political environment.

They say, “Politics is the art of compromise”. We should stick his head on a pike, THEN re-elect him to the Senate.

I voted today. Handel, Olens, Hudgens, Douglas and Crane. I voted for the ones I have slightly more faith would 1) do the right thing and 2) tell me about it and 3) not come across as totally self-serving or self-enriching when they do.

That is my rant for today.