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June 24, 2005
Over the past few years I have been interested in observing the careful amassing of his career that
Ralph Reed has accomplished. He was President
George Bush’s man in the Southeast and humbly claims credit for helping Georgia vote Republican in that election. Now Reed is stepping out on his own with his first campaign for elected office: He is running for Lieutenant Governor of the state of Georgia. Friends, just because somebody has name recognition does not automatically mean they are the best person for the job. We Americans sometimes equate name recognition with a vote on our ballot, without having had the time or the inclination to properly research the situation. Just look at those voters in Augusta who returned that crook
Charles Walker to our state senate. We finally got him out of there with a boatload of federal indictments and good riddance!
I have no more information than the rest of you do. I have access to the same news media that you do, from whence I develop my opinions for discussion in “Over Coffee.” I have had only one face-to-face conversation with Mr. Reed and that was a couple of years ago in the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce parking lot
after some large meeting or other. He is very smart and very, very smooth, but my you-know-what detector kept bleeping and I could not make it quit. Now he is running for high elected office in my state, but I believe he really has his eye on Governor and then on the top job in Washington, D.C., which is somewhat scary for a moderate Republican to contemplate. Even before this Alabama gambling mess involving the Choctaw Indians and their highly profitable casinos, I did not think that Ralph Reed was the face I wanted to see for Georgia. No.
Questions about Ralph Reed’s connection to the Indian casino dealings have been repeatedly in the popular press these days. Personally, I cannot tell from the news stories whether Reed is squeaky clean or whether he isn’t. I keep remembering that old bromide about ducks that goes something like this: If you walk like a duck and you talk like a duck and you are seen in the company of ducks, one can reasonably assume that you are a duck. My mother used to tell me that one when she was warning me about associating with people she considered disreputable.
Former Georgia legislator Bob Irvin wrote a dynamite editorial piece that was published in
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this month and which we have reprinted with Mr. Irvin’s permission in our Editorials section,
http://theweekly.com/news/2005/June/14/Bob_Irvin.html
If you haven’t yet read it, please take a moment and do so. Bob Irvin has perfectly articulated my discomfort with Ralph Reed, the candidate.
This would have been the end of my piece on this subject but for a sentence from
Lisa Baron, a spokeswoman for Reed, which appeared in today’s AJC on page D3. Baron was objecting to a news release issued by Reed’s opponent in the 2006 Republican Primary,
State Sen. Casey Cagle. Baron said, “Sadly, this is just another personal, negative attack by Casey Cagle—a candidate who has nothing to offer Georgia voters.”
Well, that isn’t strictly true, Lisa. In all fairness to Sen. Cagle, I would like you all to see Cagle’s legislative record for his 11 years spent so far in the Georgia State Senate so you can make up your own mind if Baron knows what she is talking about or not. I went to the Georgia General Assembly’s Web site,
www.legis.state.ga.us,
and searched for legislation and resolutions with the name Casey Cagle (49th) attached to them. I printed out 15 pages, my friends. Please go and see for yourself. The highlights are listed below for a quick read:
Saving Lives: Was instrumental in the passage of “Heidi’s Law” which creates a range of tough new penalties cracking down on repeat DUI offenders. This legislation is widely credited with preventing the worst DUI offenders from continuing to endanger lives on Georgia roads (SB 164).
Creating Jobs: Replaced Georgia’s antiquated business tax system that punished companies for building facilities and hiring workers. Under the new “single factor system,” businesses are taxed on their revenues rather than on how much property they own or how many Georgians they employ. The new system is expected to significantly boost economic growth and job creation (HB 191).
Expanding Educational Opportunity: Spearheaded legislation to allow local school boards to request a limited 1% local option sales tax for the purpose of building new schools. The new funding source can be used only if the local electorate approves it through a ballot referendum (SR 20).
Lowering Taxes: Led the way in significantly increasing the state personal property tax exemption, reducing the level of tax on middle class families (SB 150). Furthermore, in his entire public service career, Casey has never voted for a single tax increase.
Protecting Life: Joined in supporting the “Woman’s Right to Know” Act (SB 77), the creation of a “Choose Life” license plate (SB 69), and continues to strongly support his local crisis pregnancy center.
Honoring Our Veterans: Sponsored legislation making it a criminal offense to vandalize any monument in Georgia honoring our veterans (SB 588).
Fighting Drug Abuse: Backed strong legislation to set up a comprehensive approach to stopping the scourge of methamphetamine manufacture, trafficking, and abuse in Georgia (SB 116).
Making Schools Safer: Sponsored a new law to make it easier for school officials to obtain criminal information from juvenile arrests. By giving school officials better knowledge of individuals who may be a threat to other students, their ability prevent crimes on campus is enhanced (SB 156).
Protecting our Freedoms: An avid sportsman and gunowner, Casey has supported numerous measures to protect private ownership of firearms. He has an A rating from the National Rifle Association and a perfect voting record on firearms issues.
Expanding Recreational Opportunity: Helped created the Lake Lanier Islands Development Authority, which opened new recreational opportunities for Georgians as well as significantly boosting the economies of Gwinnett, Hall, and Forsyth counties (SB 99).
Protecting Personal Privacy: Supported a bill restricting the use of state-owned traffic monitoring systems to photograph motorists (SB 603) and supported allowing consumers to decide for themselves whether or not to include their cell phone numbers in a national directory (SB 46).
Supporting Faith-Based Services: Backed an amendment to the Georgia constitution to allow faith-based organizations to receive state funds to perform public services, as President Bush has urged at the national level (SR 49).
So, I wouldn’t exactly say that Casey Cagle has nothing to offer Georgia voters, would you? It appears from the public record that he has indeed served the state of Georgia very well. Ralph Reed doesn’t have a legislative record, as he hasn’t been elected to public office before. It is worth mentioning also that for the last thirty years the Georgia Lieutenant Governor has been elected from the Georgia Senate. This is no doubt an obvious choice since the Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate.
Actually, I believe that good numbers of folks think Cagle has a lot to offer the citizens of Georgia. For instance, I noticed that the following Georgia law enforcement officials are scheduled to lead the “Law Enforcement for Cagle” campaign, which will organize law enforcement personnel and their families across the state of Georgia. You will recognize these names:
- Former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers
- Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren
- Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway
- Dawson County Sheriff Billy Carlisle
- Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic
- Carroll County Sheriff Terry Langley
- Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller
- Forsyth County Sheriff Ted Paxton
Best to keep a weather eye on this race for Lieutenant Governor, my friends, even in these very early days. It carries important implications for the future of whoever wins the Republican Primary and will certainly affect us poor sots, the voters and taxpayers of this great state of Georgia. We must pay attention!
Hope all is well and thanks for reading.
062405
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