Monthly Archive for October, 2008

Counting It Down! GriftDrift on the Election!

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Wilson
on October 23, 2008
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Once again James Williams (GriftDrift) and I, engage in vain musings about the ups and downs of politics, national and state. If our predictions turn out to be correct, America will be as surprised as we are! But there is hope, hope this will all be over in 12 days.

Summarizing an interview with James is like walking through a chicken coop, there is just too much stuff out there to see it all. Thus, I suggest you listen to this one, if you really want to get the flavor of James’ keen insight into all things political. Me? I am just there for the ride, mostly.

We do cover the implosion of the McCain/Palin campaign, if it can still be called a campaign. It’s just too bad that somewhere between this year and last year, McCain lost his mind. The interview with Brian Williams ought to be interesting.

And then there is the Georgia political scene with hints of a massive voter turnout. Everyone reports that early voting lines are heavy and seem to favor the Democrats. Obama has a chance to carry Georgia, but McCain still leads in the polls. The question is how accurate are the polls this year? It may all depend on voter turnout and the under 30 voters. At least Georgia is not a “red” state. On most maps we are now pink, which doesn’t exactly please any of us.

James thinks Jim Martin has a slightly better chance to beat Saxby Chambliss than Obama has to carry the state. James commented on Martin’s aggressive campaigning this time around, something that he has not been know for. According to Pollster.com, it is dead even. It is just too close to call.

And then there are 3 Congressional races: Jim Marshall (D), the incumbent, went out on a limb when he voted for the baleout. His opponent, Rick Goddard (R), made it a big issue in their debate. James attributes Marshall’s vote on the baleout as a vote of consceince, something he thought was best for the country even though he might suffer for it in the election. I regret that I was not able to get interviews with either Marshall or Goddard.

In the 10th we have Republican incumbent Paul Broun, whom James believes will win against his Democratic challenger, Bobby Saxon. I interviewed both Broun and Saxon. Broun is a sound bite Republican, who does not, in my opinion, understand the function of government.

James did not have much to say about the 12th Congressional District. He believes that John Barrow, the Democratic incumbent (who voted against the baleout), will prevail over challenger John Stone in a “not as close as last time” race.

There is plenty more in the interview, but in an effort to get this posted timely, I will just have to let you listen for yourself.

 
 James Williams, GriftDrift Blogger [30:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (98)

Bubba Mixon, Candidate, Toombs County BOE, District 4

Published
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Wilson
on October 22, 2008
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Call me Bubba is what Lamar Mixon told me at the beginning of this interview. There are a lot of “Bubbas” out there and it is always good to see one getting into politics. According to Bubba the Toombs County Board of Education is populated with members who don’t have kids in the school system. Now, that seems odd.

Bubba is Toombs County born and bred. He married a girl from Vidalia who is a teacher at Robert Toombs Christian Academy. Bubba is the proud father of 3 more Mixons.

Bubba seems to have the most important quality for a politician on a local level: he wants to serve his fellow citizens. He doesn’t have to. He wants to. He doesn’t have time, but he still wants to. It will cause him to change things in his life and his family, but he still wants to.

More power to more Bubbas in this unusual election year of 2008.

If you are from Toombs County, you need to listen to the interview so you can make an informed decision and vote.

 
 Lamar "Bubba" Mixon, Candidate, Toombs County BOE, District 4 [24:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (94)

John Stone, Candidate for Congress, GA 12th

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Wilson
on October 22, 2008
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John Stone is excited about his opportunity to unseat incumbent Democratic Congressman, John Barrow. That is going to be a hard job, since Barrow is one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress.

John is expecting a heavy voter turnout, maybe as high as 80%. According to John, the race is neck and neck. He claims that in a recent poll he is a percentage point ahead of Barrow. He also chastises Barrow for not debating him on several occasions.

John doesn’t appreciate the current trend of blaming the Republicans for the economic woes of America. He thinks the Democrats deserve some (maybe a lot) of the blame as well. While I agree that the current woes go back decades and encompass both Democratic and Republican administrations, I believe the party that has been in power for almost 8 years, that has cut taxes, while spending spiraled out of control has to be responsible for what occurs on their watch.

Having said that, I should say that John Stone is not fan of the Bush administration and acknowledges that it has been disastrous.

Stone accuses Barrow of “gaming” his votes, i.e., voting both ways on the same issue. I am not exactly sure how someone does that, but according to Stone, Barrow tells everyone he voted their way.

Stone is in favor of drilling more domestic oil. However, my understanding is that the oil companies are simply not drilling new wells, whether offshore or on land already approved for drilling. They aren’t drilling because they aren’t going to invest in a new well based on a temporary increas in oil prices. Look how the price has fluctuated in just the last few months. Our problems wanted be solved by drilling for oil offshore or in ANWR.

Stone supports alternative fuels and thinks we need to have a major effort to achieve oil independence in a decade or so. I wholeheartedly agree, but the question is where do we get the money? I asked John how America was ever going to raise the funds for these new programs without raising taxes. He said that he did not think we needed to raise taxes and would not have to raise taxes to do what we need to do. With all due respect to John and other Republicans who “believe” we can do more (develop alternative energy) without raising taxes, I can only say that doesn’t make sense. We have more than doubled our national debt in 7 years of Bush. We have had tax cuts after tax cuts. If tax cuts stimulate the economy, then why haven’t the tax cuts stimulated it enough to balance the budget. Why? Because tax cuts are a lie? You may get a dime of cut, but your kid ends up with a dollar of debt.

Until the Republicans and the Democrats have enough honesty to tell the American people that we have to raise taxes, I do not see much hope of ever doing what we need to do to put America back on the right path.

I must admit that John doesn’t sound like a Republican when it comes to talking about jobs. He thinks NAFTA was bad for American industry. He thinks we need to restrict imports and protect American jobs and products. I agree, but I am afraid that horse is out of the barn and I am not sure we can ever get him back in. The world is now flat! This idea of protecting American industry and jobs, sounds good but it certainly isn’t mainstream Republican policy. Hell, I am not sure it is even Democratic policy. Corporations, like Walmart, don’t want barriers to importing toys from China, even if they kill us.

John is also in favor of a national sales tax and/or a flat tax. This is my biggest disagreement with him. While I agree we need tax reform, I just do not understand how anyone can suggest a national sales tax to replace all other taxes is fair. The sales tax is a regressive tax. The poor and the middle class would pay much more of their income toward the tax than wealthy people. You pay sales tax on everything, including hospital bils, legal bills, etc. That may be fine for people with money, but people that spend 100% of what they earn will pay more because there are no exceptions, no deductions.

I also don’t understand how John can support the elimination of the income tax. It is like there is something inherently wrong with taxing income and inherently right in taxing sales. Both make sense to me and have their place in a broad based tax system. What we need is less loopholes and corporations that move their funds to other companies to avoid paying taxes.

Just remember, VOTE NOVEMBER 4th!!!!!

 
 John Stone, Candidate for Congress, GA 12th [28:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (84)

Anna Bullard, Candidate, Toombs County BOE, District 6

Published
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Wilson
on October 21, 2008
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Anna Bullard is an up and coming politician here in Toombs County. I have interviewed her many times about autism. Her daughter is autistic, which lead to Anna’s first-hand involvement in the benefits and deficiencies of special education in our schools. I am sure that most people who are exposed to the stress of dealing with the special education maze would support change, but Anna is not satisfied with sitting back and supporting someone else. She is an avid proponent of change and wants to bring change to the Toombs County Board of Education.

What you might not know is that Anna is the neice of Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams. She grew up with my kids, same church and church school. Familiarity aside, Anna is full of the excitement of youth, the enthusiasm of a personal calling, the compassion of a person who lives their faith and the passion of a mother and citizen wanting the best for all children.

Anna takes education seriously. She knows it is work. She expects the system to work, but understands that parents need to be vigilant and persevere, if they are to get the full benefit of the programs that our public schools offer. Too often, our public school administrations erect obstacles for parents seeking information and services, particularly when it comes to special education kids.

Anna would be a great asset to any organization, especially the Toombs County Board of Education. If elected, parents will find in Anna an advocate who is not afraid to speak up for what is right.

 
 Anna Bullard, Candidate, Toombs BOE [29:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (116)

Doug Eaves, Toombs County Manager

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Wilson
on October 19, 2008
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Here, in Toombs County, we are starting down a new road. In the 2008 legislature we had our county government changed to a county manager. No longer will we have a Commission Chairman that does what ever he wants to, sometimes not even bothering to tell the other commissioners or obtaining a vote. Finally, we will have someone who adds and subtracts for a living, not when he has to.

Doug Eaves came to us from Johnson County. His wife still lives in Dublin until Doug gets settled. However, Doug has to maintain his residency here, it’s part of the law.

Doug’s job, among many, is to help us navigate the increasingly difficult seas of balanced budgets and property tax rates. He had been on the job for less than 3 days when I interviewed him. It was way to soon to get any substantive proposals from him, but for everyone from Toombs County, you ought to listen to the interview.

 
 Doug Eaves, Toombs County Manager [29:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (94)

Allen Buckley, Candidate for U. S. Senate (GA)

Published
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Wilson
on October 19, 2008
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Allen Buckley is a Libertarian running for U.S. Senate from Georgia. Sometimes Libertarians can go too far with the idea that things work better without government. While this is true in many instances, things work better without corporate greed and influence. That is what makes government necessary because nothing other than government can make the playing field level.

But, for what it is worth, when it comes to our economic woes, social security reform, health care insurance, everyone needs to give Allen a listen. As a CPA and an attorney, I think Allen understands both the law and balancing the books and he offers some interesting proposals to solve some of America’s most difficult problems.

One thing I like about Allen is that he doesn’t deal in soundbites. (How I hate people that answer questions in soundbites.) I have no doubt that Allen has a passionate concern for the economic future of America. When our elected officials have more concern for our economic future than getting re-elected, we might actually get some of these long term problems solved.

Allen took on Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin recently at the debate in Perry, GA. Allen has no hesitation to call Chambliss a liar. According to Allen, Chambliss lies everytime he tells audiences that the Fair Tax is a viable solution to all our tax propblems. The Fair Tax is a sales tax on everything (or virtually everything) at a rate that brings in enough tax revenue to pay for government program. The rate is very much in dispute. Allen points out that the proposal Chambliss supports calls for an unrealistically low tax rate that even the President’s Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform considers to be about half the tax rate that would actually be necessary.

Allen says Chambliss is fiscally irresponsible, having voted for all the deficit spending federal budgets proposed during his time in the Senate. He is especially critical of Chambliss’ support for unrestrained, uncontrolled farm subsidies.

As for the difference between Democrats and Republicans, it is just a question of who gets the tax cuts, the wealthy (Republican) or the middle class (Democrat).

While Allen thinks the baleout of Wall Street and the banks is not a good idea, he makes it clear that $700 or $800 billion is not our biggest problem. He sounds the alarm loud and clear that if we do not resolve the social security and medicare budgetary problems in the next decade or so, we will simply get to the point that our debts bring government to a standstill.

If you think a vote for Allen is a wasted vote because a Libertarian may not win, Allen points out that if you really want change in Washington, a vote him is definitely a vote for change.

 
 Allen Buckley, Candidate, U.S. Senate GA [31:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (96)

Perry McGuire, Candidate, Georgia Court of Appeals

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Wilson
on October 19, 2008
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I had a listener chastise me for having interviewed all the candidates for the Court of Appeals, except Perry McGuire. I plead innocent. I have been trying to interview Perry for months and the only reason it took until October 17th was simply Perry’s choice, not mine.

I am glad that I was able to finally interview Perry, because I think his interview is one of the most revealing of all the candidates. You may note, it lasted the longest, 38 minutes. Perry and I mixed it up a little bit, particularly when he made the statement that I represented injured people to make a fee! I represent people harmed by the negligence of others for the same reason Perry represents corporations. We both get paid, he just gets paid by the hour and I may or may not get paid a dime.

Perry’s qualifications to be a judge on the Court of Appeals are a little difficult to discern. He has never represented an injured person. He doesn’t handle divorce or property transactions. He certainly doesn’t do criminal work. (A lot of what the appellate courts deal with fall into these areas.) He has never tried a case in court in front of a jury. I am not sure he has ever tried a case period, even one in front of a judge. He has never appeared before the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of Georgia to argue a case. Perry does not consider such experience to be of any significant benefit in being a judge on an appellate court. I disagree with Perry on this. Courtroom experience and appellate experience are exactly the kinds of qualifications that we ought to want our judicial candidates to have. Without them, a candidate’s qualifications are essentially indistinguishable from those of anyone who holds a license to practice law.

Perry was a Republican legislator from Carroll and Douglas Counties for two terms, 1993-1996. He left the legislature to become a lawyer for Chic-fil-A from 1996 to 2004. In 2006, Perry was unsuccessful in a bid to become Attorney General of Georgia.

Perry obviously thinks that being a corporate attorney is somehow a special qualification for being a judge. Corporate attorney or not, my biggest concern about Perry is his obvious pro-business attitude. If you listen to all the other interviews, you will detect an appreciation by all the other candidates of the necessity for a judge to be fair and impartial, to apply the law equally, regardless of status. Perry, on the other hand, says the appellate courts need “business sense.” In fact, if you go to the bottom entry on his home page, you will find this statement: “Lawyer says he would bring business sense to court.”

One question: What the hell does that mean? Does it mean the current court and/or past courts have not had “business sense”? Does it mean that “business sense” is something that only a corporate attorney has? Does it mean that “business sense” is more important than being fair and impartial? Does it mean that “business sense” means that business needs some interpretation of the law that no one else needs.

Perry refused to sign the pledge proposed by the Committee for Ethical Judicial Campaigns in Georgia. The pledge says that instead of asking for contributions (money) directly, a candidate for the position of judge will form a campaign committee and let them solicit contributions. Perry says he thinks that is unrealistic. I don’t know why this should be true. I always thought it was a little humiliating to ask for money. Most judges don’t like to do it and most candidates for judge don’t like to do it. I guess Perry doesn’t mind asking for money. To each his own! But, I am still worried about any candidate for the position of judge that thinks it is too much to take a pledge to campaign ethically. It is kind of like your mother telling you to tell the truth and you just walk off, as if she has no business asking you that question. Dude, your mama wants to hear the answer!

While Perry would not sign the pledge on campaign contributions, he did fill out the “judicial questionaire” propounded by Georgia Right to Life. Perry says he has received the endorsement of Georgia Right to Life, but I could not find them listed on his website’s list of endorsements. I have no idea why he would not list such an organization, other than the fact that it would suggest to a lot of us that Perry was anything other than fair and impartial.

What is even more surprising is the fact that you cannot find anywhere on the Georgia Right to Life website any mention of Perry McGuire. He is not listed in their candidate endorsements. You can’t even find any reference to the Georgia Court of Appeals race. Hell, you can’t even find any mention of their judicial questionaire. Why go to all that trouble to send out a judicial questionaire and not reveal the results. Why does Georgia Right to Life tell us who they endorse for politicians seeking legislative positions, but won’t tell anyone who they endorse for judge? I am sure they told their members, whoever they are, but they just didn’t do it on their website. The did it privately. Why? Why? Why? Because it is a secret. A big, fat, Republican secret! Please don’t tell anyone!

I am sorry Perry, but I might as well go ahead and shoot myself if you are elected. Your interview has left me with a firm opinion about your qualification to be an appellate court judge. I should probably keep this opinion to myself, but I have one flaw. I say what I think, particularly when it comes to the courts, the law and our system of civil justice. Mess with that and I take it personally.

Perry, when I look at your list of endorsements, I note you are heavily supported by Republican legislators, most of whom voted for “insurance company liability reform” in 2005. Let me see, why would they so heavily support a corporate attorney who knew nothing about injured people? Could it have something to do with the fact that the appellate courts of Georgia have bravely declared many of their “insurance company free pass” legislation to be unconstitutional?

Perry, I enjoyed the conversation. I appreciate your frankness. I am sure you are a good person. I have no doubt that you are an honest and competent corporate attorney. But, when it comes to being a judge on the Court of Appeals, you have not come close to convincing me that you could be fair and impartial. The people that support you are not known for their sense of fairness or their impartiality. They are known for their “business sense.” They are certainly not accustomed to supporting people that don’t hold the same views they possess. I am concerned that their expectations of you would get in your way. I don’t want to put you in that position and I won’t.

I wish you the best in all your other endeavors.

 
 Perry McGuire, Candidate, Georgia Court of Appeals [38:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (223)

Bill Gillespie, Candidate for Congress GA-1st

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Wilson
on October 11, 2008
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Bill Gillespie is a Democrat seeking to replace Jack Kingston in Congress on behalf of the 1st District.

What might be impossible in normal times (unseating an incumbent), just might be possible this year. Obama has energized a lot of people. There are 45,000 newly registered Democrats in the 1st District. And then there is the economy, which has certainly proven that Republicans must be doing something wrong.

Bill Agrees reluctantly with Congress’ decision to baleout Wall Street.

The 1st District has lost a lot of its manufacturing business. In 19 of the 25 counties in the 1st the county government is the largest employer. Bill is ready to ready bring alternative energy business and jobs to Georgia and the 1st District.

According to Bill, Jack Kingston is more concerned about supporting the agendas of the oil companies, like Chevron, rather than promoting alternative energy businesses.

Bill is dissatisfied with the way the Iraq War has been handled. He points out that America has trained 800,000 Iraqi soldiers and 200,000 Iraqi police, and still they are not able to provide the security Iraq needs. Something is wrong here.

Bill also doesn’t like the prevalence in Iraq of the private security forces, like Blackwater, that operate outside of the normal chains of command and control. Who would have thought that American would have ever used mercenaries!

As a veteran who is 30% disabled himself, Bill thinks we need to do a better job of taking care of our veterans. It seems the spresent ystem tries to make it harder, not easier, for veterans to receive good, available health care. Veterans aren’t like the rest of us. They can’t go to the local doctor. Instead they have to make an appointment at a VA facility which may be hundreds of miles away. Bill supports giving veterans the right to be treated by local doctors and hospitals and the government pick up the tab.

Listen to Bill’s interview and see if he fits your idea of the kind of Congressman the 1st District needs in Washington

 
 Bill Gillespie, Candidate for Congress, GA 1st [30:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (109)

John Barrow, Congressman, GA 12th

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Wilson
on October 11, 2008
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I guess you could call John Barrow a maverick. He was first elected to Congress in 2004 and since that time has voted contrary to the Democratic leadership on things like immigration. Most recently he voted against the baleout of Wall Street. As John explains in this interview, the Bush Administration pushed fast and hard to get a $700 billion baleout for corporate business, but failed to provide adequate consideration and protection for the homeowners. Further, John, and others, were not satisfied with what appeared to be a blank check for the Bush Adminstration. For example, they wanted to approve the baleout in stages, rather than all or nothing. As it is, the Bush Administration could conceivably get control of all $700 billion before they leave office.

Another issue was the “golden parchute” for Wall Street executives. John says the attempts to impose restrictions on executive compensation were so watered down as to be meaningless.

Of course, the economy is the issue that is on everyone’s mind. When Bush took office the national debt was about $4.5 trillion. Today, it is over $10 trillion. When Bush took office I was a Republican, but it took about 2 years to convince me that he wasn’t a Republican. Oh, Bush and his cronies, say they are Republicans but they do not have a clue about the Republicanism of Barry Goldwater.

John believes it is time to start protecting the American economy. While it may be important to open up foreign markets, if doing so destoys the American industry and workers’ jobs, it is not worth it. For that reason, John has voted against several trade bills.

When it comes to energy, John favors an all out effort to achieve energy independence. We should have learned in the 1970s that our energy policy should not be tied to the price of oil. If we only focus on energy issues when the price of oil is high, all the oil producing countries have to do is to lower the price and we forget about it until the next crisis. What we have needed for 30 years and not had, is leadership. Leaders see the future, think about what is coming and steer the country on a safe course. Politicians put tomorrow first, because tomorrow they are up for re-election, tomorrow they have a fundraiserm, and tomorrow they can hide behind something else to cover their sins. Tomorrow is already too late!

Leadership is non-partisan.

 
 John Barrow, Congressman GA 12th [30:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (94)

When is Sarah Palin, Not Sarah Palin?

Published
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Wilson
on October 9, 2008
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One thing is for sure, Sarah Palin has everyone talking. I realize she is a politician, which means she will probably say just about anything to get elected, but I am just not accustomed to a woman with a “smart” mouth. I don’t think it is becoming.

Anyway, I wondered whether she was like that before getting the big head as a Vice Presidential candidate, so I decided to see if I could get someone in Alaska to talk to me about the Sarah they know, the Sarah who is Governor of the state nearest Russia. In this interview with Beth Kertulla I find out that Sarah has undergone a change since being selected as McClain’s running mate. Beth is a Democrat and is the Minority Leader in the Alaska House of Representatives. Her father served in the Alaska legislature and Beth has now served for 10 years or so.

According to Beth, Sarah did reach across the aisle and work with Democrats to work out a new deal on royalties paid by oil companies. Alaska gets money for every barrel of oil pumped out of the ground. They get so much money from oil production that the state has no sales tax, no state property tax or income tax. A few fees and registrations maybe, but that is it. Man, what a state! However, this also means that when Sarah Palin claims credit for cutting taxes in Alaska, she is not talking about much because there ain’t any! Maybe in a city like Wasilla.

However, as Beth points out, the Democrats had led this fight for years. The Republicans in the Alaska legislature were buddied up with the oil companies and so in order to get anything changed, Sarah had to court Democratic support.

The most interesting comment by Beth was her observation that the voice of Sarah Palin to which Tina Fey has become accustomed, is not the voice that Alaskans are familiar with. It seems Sarah has developed an accent she never had before! Now, that is just plain spooky.

Beth also says that a lot of people are horrified at the image Sarah is creating. They even have rallies solely for the purpose of protesting against Sarah. I don’t think I have ever seen such a thing since the Vietnam War.

It also seems that Sarah is taking a lot of credit for things where someone else was the motivating force, like in divesting Alaskan investment in Darfur! Now, who would have thought that a nice Republican like Sarah Palin would claim credit where credit was not due?

Beth also made it clear that when Russia’s Putin does fly over Alaskan air space, no one calls the Governor for permission. Also, Palin did support the Bridge to No Where, but opposed it when she got elected. Not that that should matter since she kep the money the government sent Alaska for the bridge they didn’t build.

According to Beth, if Sarah and McCain don’t win, Sarah may have some things to answer for when she resumes her duties as Governor. Apparently, the people of Alaska think Sarah has changed.

This is really one of the most interesting interviews I have ever had. Thanks Beth and more power to you and the Democrats in the Alaska legislature.

 
 Beth Kertulla, Minority Leader, Alaska House of Representatives [29:55m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (121)