Special Interests vs. The
People - case #Nov-2006, court of public opinion - Part 1.
by
Mike Crane
This legislative summary on the
Georgia Flag FAIR Vote bill - HB-15 is not a pleasant one. In
addition to not being a pleasant one it should give all Georgians
some cause for alarm. On the surface the politically correct,
their cronies in the Legislature, the Chamber and the media have
tried to make this a "racial" issue.
But in fact it is not,
it is an issue of the balance of power between the People of
Georgia and Special Interests.
Now do not get us wrong, we are not saying that
this issue is the only example, there are several. Many have been
reported in our
Legislature Watch section and more such reports are coming as
the results of this Legislative Session are analyzed.
But lets review some of the facts on the
Georgia Flag FAIR Vote issue. The bill its self was a very simple
bill, it simply stated that there would be a FAIR vote on the
State Flag.
To put this in perspective, one must look at
the origins of the wording for HB-15. The wording came from
Speaker of the House, Representative Glenn Richardson in the 2003
session of the Legislature(HB-380).
Representative Glenn Richardson created the wording of HB-15 as a
committee substitute with the express purpose of implementing the
campaign promise of newly elected Governor Perdue.
HB-15 was merely the
same wording created by Representative Glenn Richardson with new
dates!
One would expect that a bill that was in effect
written by the new Speaker of the House to implement the campaign
promise of the current Governor would have an easy time making it
through the now Republican controlled House, Senate and easily
gain the Governor's signature.
Then why in the world
would Speaker Glenn Richardson's wording - NOT even rate a
single committee hearing in either 2004 or 2005?
Obviously something happened. Something
happened that changed Speaker Richardson's and Governor Sonny
Perdue's position.
Sonny Perdue's campaign promise did not
change! That is recorded for eternity. Everybody in Georgia
knows that he campaigned against Roy Barnes by promising to give
the People a FAIR Vote!
Representative Richardson's statements on how
a FAIR Vote was good for Georgia when submitting his bill have
not changed - they are part of our history now.
But something has changed, for in both the 2004
and 2005 Legislative Sessions, they have opposed passage of their
own FAIR Vote. They now work against the very bill they proposed
in the early parts of the 2003 Legislative Session.
It is obvious that
something changed and now they want you to believe that they did
not say what they said. In fact they claim that they did not say
what they said.
The only thing that we can find that explains
the sudden memory loss of both - now speaker Glenn Richardson and
current Governor Sonny Perdue - is the subject of this article
and it is not a pleasant subject. In fact it borders on the edge,
or in some people's opinion over the edge - of corruption in
government. The following is the only explanation that we can
find:
From the Atlanta Chamber, in their own words:
The Metro Atlanta Chamber won about
three-fourths of its agenda, most critically the flag. Given a
new Governor and new legislative leadership, this was a great
achievement.
The above statement was immediately displayed
on the Metro Atlanta Chamber web site after the FAIR vote was
removed from HB-380 in 2003. Once this statement was publicized
the sheer arrogance of the statement must have been quickly
recognized and it was replaced with a somewhat more carefully
worded statement.
But it is a statement of fact that this claim
was made by the Metro Atlanta Chamber, and it is one that shows
the ongoing conflict in a struggle between the People of Georgia
and special interests. This struggle covers many issues.
This is the first in a series of articles that
document to the best of our ability not only how special interests
have prevailed in denying the very American concept of letting the
People Vote, but on other issues that have a direct effect on your
family and future generations well being.
We will close this first article with a quote
from Thomas Jefferson:
"The
issue today is the same as it has been throughout all
history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or
be ruled by a small elite."
- Thomas
Jefferson
In our opinion this is precisely the issue we
face in Georgia today and many may be surprised at the extent of
special interest influence.
Since the major media will not present
information of this nature - if you find this interesting - help
us spread the word by forwarding this page and the following
series articles to others.
Wording on Metro Atlanta Chamber web site immediately
following the removal of a FAIR Vote in 2003:
The Metro Atlanta Chamber won about three-fourths of
its agenda, most critically the flag. Given a new
Governor and new legislative leadership, this was a great
achievement.
Current wording still on Metro Atlanta Chamber web site,
note they have removed the reference to gaining influence as
a great achievement and stating that that HB-380 ("the
flag") was the most critical.
Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce 2003
Legislative Wrap Up
In a long and final day spent at the
Capitol on Friday, the General Assembly completed the 2003
session by adopting several important pieces of
legislation and sending them to Gov. Perdue for his
signature or veto. We are very pleased close to 3/4 of our
agenda passed.
The State Flag
One of the most important actions this
session was legislation creating a new state flag, HB 380.
Our position opposing the controversial Confederate battle
flag won out. This means that in a March, 2004 referendum,
Georgians can choose between the current flag or a new
design – the so-called “stars and bars” version of the
pre-’56 flag. Gov. Perdue has indicated he will sign HB
380 into law.
We congratulate our legislative leaders
for reaching this compromise and appreciate the hard work
of our members. Special thanks go to Arthur Blank, John
Rice, Allen Franklin, Mike Eskew, Duane Ackerman and David
Ratcliffe, as well as Georgia Power, Turner Broadcasting
and GE Power Systems for loaning their lobbyists. We can
all be proud of this effort. You all helped play a key
role.
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