30. DuBose Porter family says Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

A Merry Christmas and holiday season and a Happy New Year to you all. Thank you to all our many friends and supporters who have wished us a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Remember to keep the troops who are away from home this season in your thoughts and prayers. And add those to your list who do not have the support of family and friends. Tonight is the candlelight service at our church and it is always one of the most beautiful and moving services of the year for our family. DuBose, Carol and our sons, Stephen, Guyton, Inman, and Asa, wish you all a Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the new year.

(P.S. If you did not receive an emailed Christmas card like the one above to your email address, it is because you have not yet signed up to get our campaign updates. Please click here and sign up for updates. We want to make sure we reach all of our supporters and those whom we hope will soon be supporters in the new year. Thank you and have a Merry Christmas and holiday season. )

29. New hope with David Ralston expected.

AJC  10:52 am December 17, 2009, by Aaron Gould Sheinin
Update 12:39 p.m: David Ralston wins!

I would like to be the first to say I believe the elected Republican Caucus made the right decision between the two men up for the Speaker position today in their Georgia House caucus. Rep. Ralston has publically stated he would like to see the hawk system abolished and that is a day I have been fighting to see for six years. It may be the beginning of a bipartisian effort to bring Georgia back to the people. We think it was the right one and we offer congratulations to Rep. Ralston. - House Minority Leader DuBose Porter

Letter from David Ralston

by Erick on December 15, 2009

Dear Friends:
  In less than 48 hours, we will meet to choose the Republican candidate for Speaker. We face a challenging decision in a political climate that has changed rapidly in just a few short weeks.
  Reform of our House rules and improvements in our ethics laws have suddenly become very fashionable topics. I am not a “johnny-come-lately” to this discussion. I spoke out loud and clear for change when it wasn’t front page news.
  I do believe we must embrace change at this moment. Ours should be a Caucus of inclusion and openness. Every member should be treated with respect and valued for their input. Strong leaders should not feel threatened by good ideas and must be willing to give credit where it is due.
  Let me remind you, I advocated a year ago for abolishing the “hawk” system. I stood up for changes that would abolish Rules Committee substitutes and curtailing the use of rules that limit the ability to offer amendments and restrict floor debate.
  I know I have the commitment and I hope I have the credibility to enact these and other needed internal reforms.
  There is a growing clamor for ethics reform. We, as Republicans, can and must lead the way on this issue.   Many good and useful ideas have been offered in the past few days. However, this is a serious issue and I, for one, do not think a 6-day caucus campaign is the appropriate way to develop a sensible and solid plan. If you honor me with your nomination on Thursday, we will get to work on putting together a legislative package with input from all of you that we as the Republican caucus can unify around come session.
  We cannot legislate good behavior. However, we can lead by example. I will set specific rules for the Speaker’s office: lobbyists will not be permitted past the reception room without an appointment; the office will not be used as a private dining room; the office will be open to members and their constituents; and, I will meet regularly with the news media.
  As I have said before and will say again and again: we must embrace the newness of the day or be perished to political irrelevance.
  As always, please call me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
David Ralston

28. New Speaker to be named.

The following video speaks of the culture of corruption. Will the elected Republicans nominate someone with a clean slate? Will they stop the hawks (blog 19)? Will they open up your government to you?

Also it mentions harsh budget cuts to come, so remember, if the elected Republican leadership in question had let HB356, a bill DuBose Porter co-sponsored, out of committee during the 2009 session, Georgia could have found an extra $1 billion for our budget without raising taxes. Alabama already did it.
Georgia would have had no state furloughs and would not have needed to raise property taxes, had these elected Republicans not killed HB356, the "point of sale"(see blogs 15, 17, 18.)
DuBose Porter went to the well to fight for you and for HB356 and to keep the Homestead Tax Exemption Grant to help get our middle class through this  financial crisis.  Our people cannot afford another tax. Georgia has more unemployed than the population of Atlanta. Many can barely afford to hold on to their homes now and  in last year's session, Georgia's elected Republicans voted in the largest single property tax increase in Georgia history.
Will this level of doublespeak and corruption continue with the new Speaker?( Who had not been picked when this blog was written. This sentence and the preceding sentence added on 1-5-10 to clarify.))

House GOP Prepares to Nominate Speaker 

Updated: Wednesday, 16 Dec 2009, 5:22 PM EST

Published : Wednesday, 16 Dec 2009, 5:22 PM EST

Edited By: Leigha Baugham | myfoxatlanta.com

reported by Paul Yates

DuBose Porter has been fighting for you

and will continue to do so as Georgia's governor.

Vote for DuBose July 20 , 2010.

Put your voice back in your government.

sign up for updates

27. Help Georgians get their voice back.

 Many people around the state do not receive Atlanta news. They have asked us to post videos regarding their politics here. Of a random sample on the street 8 in 10 had not heard the Speaker of the Georgia House had to step down, nor that their voice had been taken from politics with the Hawk system. (See blog 19 below to learn more on how the hawk system led to the largest threat to representative government in America.)
TeamDuBose asks you to help us engage the voters of Georgia. Tell your friends what is happening to their government.
A side note beware: as these elected Republicans scramble to deflect from the culture of corruption that has taken away representative government in Georgia they have had success in finding writers to list the past sins of the Democrats as well. However, these articles fail to mention that DuBose Porter ran against the Speaker of his own party to give government's voice back to the people. DuBose fights for you. A vote for DuBose is a vote for you. Vote for DuBose July 20, 2010, and take your government back.

The video below, by Fox 5 Dale Russell: i-team: Richardson Cover-up also speaks of the election for the new speaker which will take place today.
 


 House Republicans to Select New Speaker
House republicans will meet under the "Gold Dome" Thursday to select new leadership.




Keep coming back to the TeamDuBose blog for more video and news updates. And share with your neighbors what is happening in Georgia. Pass the word if you want your voice back in your government.

A vote for DuBose is a vote for you.

Vote for DuBose for Georgia's governor July 20, 2010

and take your government back.

Sign up for updates

26. Tonight's DuBose Porter BBQ Details

Kevin Baggett shows off one grill's worth of the boston butts to be later chipped for tonight's event at the Civitan Fairgrounds in Dublin, Georgia

.

Left to right: Chuck Bass, one of the main hosts takes a break from the BBQing inside the civitan building, along with Steve Gresham, Greg Rowland and Kevin Baggett.

The marquee in front of the fairgrounds will show you where you need to be tonight. For more details scroll down to the blog below, and then come on out and join us.

2593 Hwy 257 South, Dublin, Georgia 31021

Take I-16, Get off Exit 49

(you'll see Love's Gas station)

turn left from Atlanta or right from Savannah

and keep on going it is past Fred's and right before Best Buy

25. By the people, for the people.

24. Teacher ( and state employee) Furloughs did not have to happen.

A press release from DuBose Porter that went out July 23, 2009 follows:

Dublin -- Teacher furloughs are bad for Georgia’s students, but with the current economic woes you may think there is no choice. Think again. Last session, DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), and candidate for governor in 2010, co-sponsored HB 356, which allows for the collection of sales tax at the point of sale, thus allowing local governments to collect their own, as well as the state's sales taxes, instead of the Department of Revenue. Had this bill been allowed out of committee by the Republican leadership it would have brought in an additional 1 billion dollars in revenue without raising taxes or fees. It was not like this was an experimental or untried idea. Alabama has already passed a similar bill which, when implemented, brought them an additional 1 billion dollars without raising taxes.

HB 356 enables local control, something Republicans ran on and then promptly ran from. The death of the Point of Sales bill is just the latest in a line of bad economic choices that the Republican leadership has allowed due to its adversarial relationship with local governments and its willingness to cut education. Local communities, not the state, would do a much more efficient job of collecting sales taxes. The Department of Revenue, by their own admission leaves millions of uncollected taxes on the table every year.

Acting as a watchdog, local governments could catch tax cheats in their own communities. Local governments would also get revenue much faster under this plan. Disbursement of sales tax revenue would get to local governments the same month it is collected, giving them and the state not only more funds, but faster access to funds they need to continue providing critical services to our citizens.

So why didn’t the Republican leadership pass HB 356 out of committee? Furloughs and across the board cuts are the status quo. They require no new thinking nor innovation. They take no work to implement, nor complex strategies to fund. There is no real accountability to the politician as responsibility for the cuts gets passed on to the agencies. For lack of a better word, they are easy. Georgia does not deserve, nor can she afford the easy way out. We have had over a year to identify the problem. It is time for politicians to quit bemoaning the obvious, get to work and start offering solutions. HB 356 is a solution.

The Elected Republican Leadership in Georgia cut 1.6 billion dollars to education when we had money. It should come as no surprise that furloughing teachers was one of the first places they would go. When they allowed the Point of Sales bill to die in committee this Republican leadership showed once again- education is not their priority. If it is yours, now is the time to stand up for Georgia’s future by calling for a special session to push for the passage of HB356, allowing for the work necessary to prevent furloughs to teachers and other state employees.

***************************************

The special session did not happen. HB356 did not pass.
State employees were furloughed.

Vote to create the Georgia that will attract jobs and industry.

Vote for DuBose Porter. Ready to work for you.

Donate

23. Why closed doors?

68 to 22 elected Republicans voted to shut you out of your own business. It is time the faith community that supports family values step away from the Republican brand and truly look at the content of the character of each person individually.
State Republican legislators, holding a caucus meeting at Georgia Tech Friday morning, voted in secret ballot to remove and exclude the press from the meeting.

22. Mary Margaret Oliver supports ethics reform and DuBose.

In the video from last night’s Fox 5 report below, State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver, speaks up about anti-corruption ethics reform. Rep. Oliver is supporting my bid for the Governor’s office. She and I have worked on ethics reform our entire careers. She has chaired the Judiciary Committee in both the House and the Senate during her service to our state. She is now serving in the House representing Dekalb County.  Our press release on our anti-corruption ethics bill will come out today. (More info on this subject is in Blog 21)


 

21. Hawks are more than Ethics Violations.

 In 2005, State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, and I offered amendments to the Governor’s Ethics Package that were voted down by the Republican members of the committee. We also introduced a similar comprehensive measure in 2006, HB 47, but House Republican leaders buried it in committee and never gave it a hearing.  

In fact,

the House Ethics Committee, 

where the bill was assigned, 

never even met that year.

     We will try to pass a similar measure again this year, but the lobbyist's expenses are not the only issue at stake in the level of corruption that has taken control of the leadership of the General Assembly.
      The Hawks (Blog 19.) allow the massive corruption that has taken down the Speaker and a continuing list of legislators. With the Hawk system the Speaker and his Hawks can change the vote on any bill in committee. The power that should be evenly distributed to the entire House of 180 members was allowed to exist in a handful of self-appointed legislators controlled by the Speaker. Democracy or Dictatorship? Who would have thought Georgia would produce the greatest threat to democracy in America? Will the true reform needed to give Georgians back their representative government come forth from this latest shake-up? That remains to be seen.


See DuBose in Fox 5 video below
New Ethics Laws Expected for Ga. House
Updated: Wednesday, 09 Dec 2009, 10:53 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 09 Dec 2009, 10:53 PM EST

Edited By: Leigha Baugham | myfoxatlanta.com
Paul Yates reporting

20. Across-the-board cuts. Corruption in practice.

Across-the-board cuts.

Just one more way the culture of corruption in Georgia politics 

continues to steal the people's voice.    

Across-the-board cuts are bad for Georgia.    
They are the easy way out. Requiring little time or effort, they allow legislators to avoid the heavy lifting and leave work early to pursue whatever other interests they deem more important than the people's business. The result is a total abdication of accountability, as legislators pass their responsibility to state agencies. If a constituent tells the politician later that a high-performing program was cut while a low-performing one was kept, the legislator is able to duck responsibility by saying, “I didn’t cut your program. I just said to cut 10%. Some bureaucrat cut your program.” (Or, in other words, “You can’t blame me, and you can’t vote them out.”)

     As DuBose Porter travels around the state,  his common sense ideas for governing and his anti-corruption leadership are gaining popularity. The people of Georgia are finding out that DuBose is the alternative to the corrupt policies that continue to block jobs and keep industry away. As DuBose's message finds larger audiences, others are joining in.
Three recent examples:

•  Republican leadership killed the "Point of Sale" bill  in committee; now they like it (Blog 17, “Steal my bill, please.”).
• The current replacement speaker has said he may end the Hawks system (Blog 19, “The most corrupt state in America? Georgia.”).
• And now, across-the-board cuts, which DuBose has fought against for years, are starting to appear in other candidates’ speeches (see below).

Posted Yesterday: Dec 08, 2009 3:33 PM, by Jennifer Emert (www.walb.com)
"I really don't believe in across the board cuts...to really prioritize our top priorities " said the Secretary of State.*
Given last January: What follows is a speech DuBose gave at a press conference last January (References to across-the-board cuts are in bold.):      

Democratic House Caucus 

Response To the Governor’s State of the State Address 2009

by State Representative DuBose Porter

I am privileged to represent Laurens County in the Georgia House of Representatives and I’m also honored to serve as Leader of the House Democratic Caucus and to represent them here today.
Last year, the Governor presented his state of the state address, and the session began. It was marked by bitter rivalry and what seemed to be partisan politics within the same party. There was no action taken to move forward on transportation, trauma care, or tax reform; additional cuts which amounted to one and a half billion dollars had already been stripped from our schools shifting that financial burden to our local governments and your property taxes; and with no meaningful progress on addressing the coming economic challenges, the session ended just as disjointed as it had begun.

During that session our Democratic House Caucus became the stabilizing factor in Georgia’s state government.

By working together within our party and with others we were able to find a consensus. We in the House came together to pass a transportation bill that would have moved forward on solving one of our state’s most crippling problems. The bill failed in the Senate and when we looked to the Governor for leadership, he was in China.
When gas prices spiraled out of control, we called on the Governor to take bold, dramatic action. To step up to the plate and give Georgians relief by reducing the gas tax. Instead he went to Spain and our families were left here, to take the brunt of higher gas prices from which they still have not recovered.

In September, after seeing August revenue figures, our Democratic House Caucus realized the extent of Georgia’s faltering economy and we called on the Governor to bring us back into session – to give parties on both side of the aisle a chance to roll up our sleeves, fix the problem before it got worse, and do the job the people of this state elected us to do. That call went unheeded.
Because we did not have that session, this week, we began a session that has found our state in an even deeper financial crisis. We would have still had to make some very tough decisions in that special session, but we now find ourselves having to make even tougher decisions in far less time.
To cut an already tight budget while living up to our obligation to keep Georgia safe, healthy, and secure will be a great challenge. We have to make the effort to work together to give Georgians the highest value for every one of their tax dollars.
The Governor has said that he wants to borrow our way out of this crisis, and put our good credit on the line, but we cannot borrow our way out of debt. More debt is not the answer. We must prioritize our budget so that instead of disastrous across-the-board cuts, we make the effort to keep the programs that give the most value and cut the ones that are underperforming.
Georgia’s crisis was created by many factors, but our Democratic House Caucus is ready to bring back the stability by working together to provide the fiscal responsibility our state deserves.
Georgia families knew we were heading for a recession months ago, as did our caucus. Our state government failed to act quickly and efficiently, and now we have a $2 billion hole in this year’s budget.

Our current bleak financial situation points to one thing – a lack of priorities. Parents and teachers are calling for help for our schools, but instead we built boat ramps.

In Georgia today, law enforcement is working overtime to keep us safe, and due to across-the-board cuts our law enforcement officers are stretched almost to the breaking point, but the majority party is building a multi-million dollar horse park in Houston County.
In Perry we are building a fish pond while veterans, who were willing to give their very lives for that land were being evicted from their home. Evicted because in across-the-board cuts, they were not a priority.

The priorities of this administration do not match the values that I know are the values of the Georgia I grew up in and the Georgia I know and love. With across-the-board cuts, there are no priorities.

But we no longer have the time to rehash what led us to this financial crisis, now we must work together to lead our state out of our current economic crisis by using bold new and innovative ideas that will produce a progressive, active legislature, that acts in the best interests of all Georgians.

We did not hear this from the Governor today. There again is no plan for transportation, no funding for education and a new tax on hospitals.
This is a time to work together, across party lines and across the levels of government. To bring our citizens the greatest value for the amount they are able to pay. That will include working with local governments to make sure that our budget crisis doesn’t get passed on them. Our state government cannot continue to shift our obligations to our local governments. An under funded education system with reduced law enforcement is not a state we want to become, just as it will not be a state in which industry wants to locate. We must educate our children and make sure their parents have decent jobs.
In order to enhance our revenue at the state level we must also work with the new Presidential administration and Congress to make sure that Georgia remains on their minds. The incoming Administration in Washington has pledged to do what it can to help families keep their heads above water.
Georgians pay their share to run the federal government, and we must make certain that we get our fair share from our federal government in return.
Currently talk is coming back that, Georgia and Texas are being referred to as the orphan states because our current administration is not playing well with others. The money that comes to our state in the form of a stimulus was our money to begin with and it will keep our state on par with the rest of the county. We too can choose to move forward with America or we can choose to become less prosperous, less educated, less healthy, less safe, and less mobile.

We must not only work with Washington for revenue enhancement, we must manage the cuts we will have to make responsibly.

And, once again I stress that across-the-board budget cuts will not work.

Cutting across-the-board may be the simple answer, but it’s not the right answer.

Some programs can be cut by more than 6%, 8%, or 10%, while some can’t handle a cut that big. This Republican leadership has slashed over one and a half billions from our schools. Education is the one thing we can do that directly puts more people into the workforce. If more people are working, more people are paying taxes and the tax burden becomes less on us all. We simply cannot afford to be this short sighted with our future.

Ask a teacher or a parent – our schools simply cannot handle another across-the-board austerity cut.
We cannot and should not take the easy way out on this complicated issue.
It’s time for our legislature to roll up our sleeves and get to work instead of cutting everything across-the-board and then waiting for the calendar to run out.

There is another way, and this is what this Democratic House Caucus is going to fight for. We know what our Democratic House Caucus priorities
are: creating jobs for our workforce; providing students with a superior education; making sure that every family has a family doctor and access to preventive care; developing long-term plans to manage our natural resources; keeping our families safe from crime and drugs and developing a transportation plan that will take Georgia into the future.
We can determine what our best practices are.
We can budget with these clear priorities in mind.
It is not too late.
Let us come together and reason together, and determine what we must fund and where we must cut back. Let our priorities be the priorities of Georgia’s middle class, not the powerful and politically-connected and let’s give Georgians the most value for their tax dollars.
Like the consensus we reached by coming together in the House to pass a progressive and forward thinking transportation bill, we can provide the stability Georgia needs to move forward.
We need to think like that middle-class family in hard times; look at how much money we have, and figure out what expenditures are most important.
We need to cut what we can, while making sure that we’re keeping our family healthy, safe, and well-educated. It is all a matter of priorities.

We know what our Democratic House Caucus priorities are: jobs, education, transportation, healthcare and conservation of our natural resources. Horse parks, ponds and boat ramps seem to be the current priorities of this disjointed elected Republican leadership.
And as many of you know, I like fishing as well as the next guy, but I like well-educated students and safe neighborhoods even better.
I want to close today with a call to our legislature to focus on Georgia’s economy with vigor and intensity. We must work together, with Georgia’s best interests at heart if we are to move forward.
But we will not: with the budget that was introduced by this Governor today.
This is not a time for politics; this is a time to work together to ensure that we create the Georgia we want our children and grandchildren to inherit. My family has lived in Georgia over 10 generations. I want the next 10 generations to have the same security and prosperity as those who came before and I want a Georgia where we have the opportunity to succeed and a Georgia where the innovation and initiative of our citizens continues to raise the quality of life for us all - that Georgia can still be ours.

Thank you all, and may God bless the state of Georgia.                                                         

Thank you, DuBose Porter

____________________________________________________

Across-the-board cuts.

Just one more way the culture of corruption in Georgia politics continues to steal the people's voice.

True Leadership is about taking a stand

for what you believe in,

before the poll tells you

it is the correct thing to do. 

Vote for DuBose Porter. He works for you.

Put real leadership and your voice back in government.

Donate

20. Peanut Politics Comments on EdinGA

From Keith McCants blog Peanut Politics at http://peanutpolitics-keith.blogspot.com/

Porter has run a terrific campaign thus far & getting lots of traction from voters all over the state. He is a very engaging individual, very likable, has a strong grasp of the issues, especially education, which he is very passionate about. I received an email a couple of weeks ago asking why he (Porter) isn't running for State School Superintendent. I responded that if he becomes governor, he would be able to make a much bigger impact in regards to education. State Sch. Superintendent has it fair share of influence, but not like the governor has. Porter, being from middle georgia has a distinct advantage when it comes to rural voters. That's in my opinion lies his greatest strength. If he can tap that middle Georgia base, he has a good chance of becoming the nominee. Stay Tuned.

_______________________

     Keith's comments where posted in response to the following article found on the Daily Kos.  We met the man who wrote the entry for the first time at my good friend Celia Larson Murray and her husband Walter's home where I gave a speech. Someone forwarded me his article written the next day:

GA’s Next Governor: Dubose Porter (D)

by EdinGA

Share this on Twitter - GA’s Next Governor: Dubose Porter (D)

Fri Nov 20, 2009 at 11:25:29 AM PST

Until last evening, I was unaware of some of the causes of our state’s troubles and how much could be rectified by competent, spirited leadership.
My wife and I were fortunate enough to be invited to a "Meet and Greet" with Georgia House Minority Leader Dubose Porter. He believes he’d make a good governor and I agree.
Here’s what I learned.

Being able to spend an hour or two with someone can give you at least a general feel for a person. After a polite mingling amongst the local dignitaries and possible donors, the hostess then formally introduced Mr. Porter. He spoke for perhaps fifteen minutes, generally stating his positions as reflected on his websites. But sometimes it’s not so much what a man says, but how he says it.
His website doesn’t begin to describe the breadth of this man’s knowledge or his overwhelming passion, especially when discussing education.  It has to be experienced in person. Dubose knows the minutiae, of how things work. I think any truly dedicated person that devotes over a quarter of a century of his life to the betterment of Georgians is going to have a very thorough grasp of discerning need from pork, fairness from greed. He knows all the players, what their positions are and how to move legislation. He just needs a bully pulpit to do it and the governorship will certainly give him the mandate to achieve much needed reforms and relief for our citizenry.
In speaking with his wife and trusted advisor, Carol, I found a person intimately acquainted with legislative history and cause and effect in the state. She understands the motivations of the opposing party extraordinarily well but succeeds in conveying her opinions without sounding partisan.
Mr. and Mrs. Porter are Democrats; however they more emphasize a spirit of commonality of purpose, dedicated to the betterment of all the state’s citizenry.  My impression is that they are VERY genuine people motivated by a true sense of service- something that has been lacking in the top echelons of our state for some time now.
I don’t mean to come across as a shill, far from it. I will point out however that sincerity and integrity are in short supply, especially given the temptations of high office and the powerful demands associated with such service. I also feel that few are qualified for the offices they seek and often their dismal performance bears out this conviction. So pardon me if I get a bit lavish when I do discover the genuine article shaking my hand, listening intently to my questions and giving solid comprehendible answers that make sense.
Dubose Porter is electable. He’s not from Atlanta, and he’s well known and respected by his constituents, 76% of which returned him to office recently. He is popular with his colleagues in the House and having been Zell Miller’s floor leader, (back when Zell was still himself!) knows how to motivate them.  I believe anyone meeting him would have a hard time turning down a vote for Dubose simply because he really does have some hard won answers to the tough and divisive issues plaguing our state.
 
I’m excited about finding someone with the experience this man brings to the table, the passion of his convictions and the steadfast altruism of his motivation. Sam Nunn obviously thought highly of Dubose Porter. I’ve always thought highly of Mr. Nunn, the protégé of Richard B. Russell, a friend of FDR, so it’s not real hard for me to ask my fellow Georgians to pay attention when Mr. Porter speaks, contribute what you can to keep him going and let’s get him through the primaries.
Here’s Dubose Porter’s website. http://www.porterforgeorgia.com/

______________________________

Needless to say we appreciate his comments.

19. The most corrupt state in America? Georgia.

     Have you ever wondered why Georgia, one of the most beautiful states in the world,  is at the bottom of the good lists and at the top of the bad ones?  It is corruption, plain and simple. Corruption blocks jobs, keeps gridlock, designs water plans to fail. Georgia's corrupt government keeps education down and prison populations up.
     As a State Representative I have fought corruption on either side of the aisle, but the number one corruption facing Georgia today, is a corruption that allows other corruption to thrive-  the Hawks in the Georgia House of Representatives.
     The Hawks in the Georgia House of Representatives have taken away representative government in Georgia. Only in Georgia does this threat to the American way of life exist.  
     It is hard for people to believe that the Elected Leadership of the Republican party in the Georgia House of Representatives, a party which has branded itself as lovers of democracy and freedom, has done more to destroy your rights than any other group in America.

      Only in Georgia can a small number, of legislators, called Hawks, appointed by the speaker or a committee he appoints, go into any committee, regardless of having read the bill or heard one word of testimony, and vote to change the outcome of a bill.

     You read that right. Hawks can vote in any committee, at any time, even if they are not members of that committee, even if they have never read the bill being voted on or even if they have never even heard of the bill on which they are voting. These appointees have the power to override the will of the committee and therefore the will of the people.
     In our representative government how can the Hawks be allowed to overthrow the people's will? They made their own rule. Rule 11.8 in  the Rules, Ethics and Decorum of the House of Representatives gives the Hawks the power to usurp the will of the people.
     You may think the Hawks are a secret group. However, the level of corruption in government in Georgia is so accepted by the Elected Republican Leadership that the Hawks proudly have the title “Hawk” emblazoned on their  legislative name badges. They  have publicly announced themselves as Hawks because they say 'they can swoop into any committee at any time and take prey.’ The prey they take is you.
     I have been fighting the Hawk system of corrupt government run amok for 6 years as the minority leader. I have spoken out on national radio shows and have written letters to many newspapers. As a candidate for governor, I will continue to fight the Hawks and corruption in Government. I will continue to alert our citizens to what the rest of the country already is discussing about Georgia:  'the Speaker can now stack the deck of any committee vote with as many voters as he wants in order to kill any bill.' *(The Yale Law Journal)*
     It will take the power of the Governor’s office to stop the Hawks. As your next governor I will stop the Hawks and return representative government to Georgia.  I will continue to fight corruption and speak out against the forces that block jobs from Georgia and keep our citizens poor and under-educated. Join me as I continue be your voice against corruption in Government.


Verify the HAWKS

1. Go to this web site address:
http://w.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10/house/mediaIndex.html


2. Go to the bottom left hand side of the page and click on House Rules:

Publications

  2008 Picture Book
  2008 Lost & Found
  House Rules
  Labels, Databases, Etc.
  The Constitution of Georgia


3. Download the document, “Rules, Ethics and Decorum of the House of Representatives”, open and scroll down to rule 11.8 and there you will find proof that Hawks do exist in the Georgia House:


        11.8     The Speaker, or the Committee on Assignments, may appoint one or more members to the position of Hawk.  The Speaker may designate one of the Hawks as the Senior Hawk.  The Hawks shall serve as ex officio members of all standing committees and subcommittees of the House and shall have a vote on all committees and subcommittees.



*To read on the Hawks from the Yale Law Journal by someone whom I have never met nor contacted, go to :
From:  A Procedural Rule and a Substantive Problem: Legislative Hawks and the Concentration of Power in Georgia’s Speaker of the House. Written by Kamal Ghali,  Tuesday, 01 April 2008  
   

Hawks.

One more Reason for
Georgians to get Engaged in the Political Process.

Vote for and elect DuBose Porter, Governor
Primary July 2010.

DuBose Porter Works for You.

Help stop corruption in Georgia

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18. More on "Steal my bill, please"

     Someone just read the blog below (which you really need to read to get why they sent this) and said the stealing of my bill had already been noted in a Dick Pettys article as well. Read this excerpt from that article, "Hang On, It's Going To Get Worse "(Insider Advantage), By Dick Pettys, InsiderAdvantage Georgia on (11/16/09):

   'Local officials also would like to see a new system for collecting local sales taxes, a function now performed by the State Revenue Department. Many argue that the agency, which like others has been hit with budget cuts, is missing money that was collected from consumers but pocketed by some of the retailers.
    A similar proposal has been championed by Democrats in the House, but in a Republican-controlled Legislature, that’s unlikely to pass. However, alternatives are being suggested that would be less likely to be identified as Democrat proposals in the 2010 elections.'

In other words Dick could have said, "they knew it was a good thing for Georgia last session, but no one really knew about it and they let it die in committee. This coming session, now that DuBose is all over the state pushing it in his campaign for governor,  and the people are finding out about it, this elected Republican leadership knows the people are going to force them to do something about having turned down over $1 billion  in sales tax Georgians paid, but the state failed to collect."

Thank you to the astute reader who is keeping up with HB356 and sent me this clip. The internet is a great thing for good government.- DuBose Porter

17. HB 356 “Steal my bill, please.”

     Key Republican leadership allowed the bill I co-sponsored in last year’s session, HB356, the “point of sale bill,” (Read “The Billion Dollar Crack” below for more details) die in committee. Today they are acting as if it is something they just thought up and are backing it. I say welcome aboard, and ‘steal my bill, please.’ It will be good for Georgia.

    I have been campaigning around Georgia promoting my common sense approach to government. For the first time, you, the people this government is set up to represent, are actually getting to hear about many of the detrimental decisions being made regarding policy in Georgia. Through my campaign for governor, Georgians are learning about HB356,  the "point of sale bill", and they like it. The key Republican leadership can no longer continue to hold it down and have started to try and make it their own. Welcome aboard.
     Read the excerpt from the article below, and see if it leads you to believe they just discovered this great idea- an idea they let die in committee last year.

From 11-17-09, Macon Telegraph, by Travis Fain
:
  ‘State Rep. Larry O’Neal, a Warner Robins Republican who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he sees more cuts and “a far more aggressive tax collection methodology.” O’Neal said he wants the Georgia Department of Revenue to hire more auditors. He also said the department is implementing new technology to better zero in on tax scofflaws.
  That includes a pilot system implemented in Hall, Chatham, Lowndes and Cherokee counties to compare local business license records with state sales tax records. Already a lot of inconsistencies — businesses that pay taxes but don’t have a license or vice versa — have been found, O’Neal said.
  He said he’s looking for the Department of Revenue to make some high-profile busts of retail owners who don’t turn over all the sales taxes they collect to “change the subculture” of fraud and abuse. O’Neal said he thinks there are “hundreds of millions” going uncollected either because of fraud or accidental underpayment.
  The biggest change may have to do with sales tax collection methods. The Department of Revenue collects those now, then sends local governments their share a couple of months later. There’s a push to let local governments hire private companies to handle those collections or at least to routinely audit collections.
  Alabama moved to such a system and drastically increased its collections, supporters of the system in Georgia have said.
 That includes state Rep. DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, who is the minority leader in the House of Representatives and a candidate for governor.
  Porter has been pushing this change hard, and there appears to be bipartisan support for it, though the measure stalled during the last legislative session.’

_____________________________________

Thank you Travis for adding the last two sentences.

    The sections in bold have been in my speeches since last session. The Elected Republican leadership has realized that they can no longer refuse to allow Georgia this added revenue. As a candidate for governor, my common sense approach to government is catching on, and they are having to jump on board and I say come on. It will be good for Georgia if they do.
     Would you like to see good government happen, not because it is forced by a candidate running for governor, but because that candidate is governor and has the chance to put the needs of Georgia before the wants of special interest groups? Then join us and help me bring common sense government to Georgia. Sign up for updates, get involved and donate. Government should work for you, not against you.  - DuBose Porter

16. The Transparent Fee Bill

     Thank you to the many local governmental agencies who contributed to the article (which can be read in our web news feeds) in the AJC, “State uses funds anyplace it wants,” illustrating the deceptive practices in Georgia’s fee disbursement.      Telling Georgians that fees will go one place then using them in another is wrong. It is one of the reasons I voted against last year’s budget. It is the reason why I sponsored HR293, the “transparent fee” bill, which would stop this deceptive practice. Once again, Georgia’s elected Republican leadership let this bill die in committee so they could continue to use the money where they wanted it, not where the people wanted it.       I believe in a simple political philosophy – tell the people the truth. It works everytime.      The fees should be used where the people were told they would be used – end of story. If, and in this economy when, you have a budget shortfall elsewhere, use priority budgeting, copy other states’ successful programs, or even eliminate a fishpond, but never lie to the public about what you are doing with their money. When there is a problem in the budget, tell the people the truth, and the people will tell you what they want.  It is called representative government. People elect you; you represent them.  It has worked for me for 27 years and it is how I will work for you as your next governor.

15. The $1 Billion Dollar Crack

House Bill 356, the “point of sale” bill I co-sponsored in last year’s session, gives local governments the right to collect sales taxes locally at the point of sale.  Alabama made the change and found $1 billion of lost sales tax. Georgia’s elected Republican leadership, on the other hand, chose to let HB356 die in committee. They chose instead to increase property taxes, furlough teachers and state employees, and keep law enforcement at record lows when those are the very things that enhance economic development and attract industry and jobs. Why? Because HB356 actually creates local control, something state politicians love to run on when campaigning but run from when elected. Politicians fear local control, because sharing control also means sharing power. Instead of giving up a little power and reaching out to partner with local governments, Georgia officials decided to keep an outdated system of collecting sales tax and let $1 billion of your money — money you have already paid — just “fall through the crack.”As your governor I will not run from local control or sharing power. I will foster a partnership between state and local governments and end the adversarial relationship that costs Georgians money and jobs. Georgia cannot afford a $1 billion crack. – DuBose Porter

14. Great Days for the Campaign

“ …DuBose will be the best governor Georgia has ever had.”- State Representative Nikki Randall
    We have had two great days for the campaign.  DuBose was in Atlanta to speak at the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast at a Gubernatorial Candidates’ Forum. Cobb County has had cuts of over $100 million to their school systems. DuBose is by far the most pro-education candidate in the race and knows that for industry to come to Georgia we must show companies that we have a well-educated, trainable workforce. Reducing education will only reduce Georgia’s attractiveness to industry. The Cobb Chamber of Commerce members all nodded in agreement as DuBose explained the “point of sale” bill, which would add revenue to Georgia’s budget without raising taxes or fees. (Alabama has already implemented this bill and found $1 billion in uncollected taxes.)     Yesterday morning, DuBose had breakfast with the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, which knows that DuBose will work to foster a partnership between state and local governments. DuBose then visited the new “Green Trailer” produced by The United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters, Sprinklerfitters, and Service Techs that demonstrated how we can train Georgians to be first in line for new jobs created for new green technology.     After that, DuBose headed to Macon and dropped in on a group of teachers for an education summit. DuBose left there to attend a fundraiser at the home of Boone and Amanda Smith. So many people attended that they had to park one street over. Boone’s parents, Boone V and Claire, helped, and together they put out a beautiful spread of food. Thank you to the Smith family and to State Representative Nikki Randall, who announced to the crowd that she had worked side-by-side with DuBose for years and knew that if he were elected Governor he would be the best governor Georgia had ever seen. Thank you to Rep. Randall, the Smiths, and all the many supporters who agree, “DuBose Porter works for you."

13. Welcome to porterforgeorgia.com

Welcome! Thank you for visiting my campaign blog. Throughout the campaign, we’ll be using this space to keep you updated on the work I’m doing to bring Georgia together and move our economy forward. You’ll also learn more about my stance on the issues facing our state. Working together, we can rebuild our economy by putting Georgia’s divisions behind us and the needs of our people before us. We can put Georgians back to work without raising taxes on working families and the middle class. I’ll need your help to get out the message about my campaign for governor. Through the website, you can sign up for e-mail updates, get involved, and donate to the campaign. I appreciate your support, and I look forward to working with you to build a strong economy for Georgia’s future.

12.Team DuBose is on Facebook

Don't forget to friend DuBose
on facebook to
keep up with our daily postings.

www.facebook.com/duboseporter

11. House Bill 356- No Furloughs Needed

Not just Lipservice, DuBose Porter is Offering Solutions

“We have had over a year to identify the problem. It is time for politicians to quit bemoaning the obvious, get to work and start offering solutions.” - DuBose Porter

Teacher furloughs are bad for Georgia’s students, but with the current economic woes you may think there is no choice. Think again. Last session, DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), and candidate for governor in 2010, co-sponsored HB 356, which allows for the collection of sales tax at the point of sale, thus allowing local governments to collect their own, as well as the state's sales taxes, instead of the Department of Revenue. Had this bill been allowed out of committee by the Republican leadership it would have brought in an additional 1 billion dollars in revenue without raising taxes or fees. It was not like this was an experimental or untried idea. Alabama has already passed a similar bill which, when implemented, brought them an additional 1 billion dollars without raising taxes.

HB 356 enables local control, something Republicans ran on and then promptly ran from. The death of the Point of Sales bill is just the latest in a line of bad economic choices that the Republican leadership has allowed due to its adversarial relationship with local governments and its willingness to cut education. Local communities, not the state, would do a much more efficient job of collecting sales taxes. The Department of Revenue, by their own admission leaves millions of uncollected taxes on the table every year.

Acting as a watchdog, local governments could catch tax cheats in their own communities. Local governments would also get revenue much faster under this plan. Disbursement of sales tax revenue would get to local governments the same month it is collected, giving them and the state not only more funds, but faster access to funds they need to continue providing critical services to our citizens.

So why didn’t the Republican leadership pass HB 356 out of committee? Furloughs and across the board cuts are the status quo. They require no new thinking nor innovation. They take no work to implement, nor complex strategies to fund. There is no real accountability to the politician as responsibility for the cuts gets passed on to the agencies. For lack of a better word, they are easy. Georgia does not deserve, nor can she afford the easy way out. We have had over a year to identify the problem. It is time for politicians to quit bemoaning the obvious, get to work and start offering solutions. HB 356 is a solution.

The Republican Leadership in Georgia cut 1.6 billion dollars to education when we had money. It should come as no surprise that furloughing teachers was one of the first places they would go. When they allowed the Point of Sales bill to die in committee this Republican leadership showed once again- education is not their priority. If it is yours, now is the time to stand up for Georgia’s future by calling for a special session to push for the passage of HB356, allowing for the work necessary to prevent furloughs to teachers and other state employees.

Below is the video of Candidate for Georgia's Governor 2010, State Representative DuBose Porter,speaking from the well of the House in the 2009 session.

10. Busy Times Building Grassroots

Grassroots will be important to our win in 2010. 

The past two months Team Porter has been all over the state root building.  In doing so we have found two things- Georgia is just as beautiful as ever and people are ready to elect a candidate that puts them first.  

For too long this state has been crippled by its divisions. This has happened because for too long politicians have been more about their own business, than the people's. It is time to put the people back in control of their business. That is what DuBose Porter has done in his district and that is what DuBose Porter will do in the Governor's office.  He works for you. 

Here is a partial list of what he has been up to in the past two weeks: 

DuBose has spoken to the Farm Bureau, the School Board Convention, the Prince Hall Masons and the Eastern Star,  the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, the Georgia Municipal Association, and before a breakfast with Sen. Curt Thompson and Rep. Pedro Marin for the Gwinnett County Democrats.

DuBose spent Monday and Tuesday in Atlanta visiting with business leaders, meeting with the House Democratic Leadership and having a Meet and Greet in Ansley Park and a fundraiser in Buckhead. Then, DuBose was back to Dublin and back on the phone calling to rally support before the first filing period on July 29th. If you would like to have someone in office who works for you, please send us a donation:)

The consistent response around the state is  - People in Georgia are ready to help DuBose Porter because they know DuBose Porter is ready to help them.

9.Blogging and Facebook R Us

When you read the blog you will see why we posted the photograph. From Left to right, DuBose, Carol, Stephen(24), Guyton(20), Asa(19), and Inman(19.)


Excerpt from
“From face to Facebook”
by Richard Hyatt of the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.com
(But we know it was in the hard copy newspaper as well because several people called us.)

"DuBose Porter knows his way around the two-lane roads of Laurens County, which may make the small-town newspaper publisher the last person you’d expect to run into on Facebook. There he is, though, writing on people’s walls and posting photographs like he knows what he’s doing. When he’s not on Facebook, he’s blogging. Either that or he’s updating his Web site, text messaging on his cell phone, e-mailing or recording a podcast."

DuBose has been texting for years because of his techno savvy four sons. (See photo.) If you haven't checked out our facebook pages yet, friend us. We have one facebook site maintained by the Porter family, mainly DuBose and Carol which is the actual profile that is DuBose Porter. We also have the group which is For Governor 2010 - DuBose Porter Works for Me, and a fan site, DuBose Porter. We blog, we facebook, and Guyton came home this weekend and is setting up a DuBose Porter Family Twitter account at twitter.com/porterforga so you can keep up with the entire family as we start this journey across Georgia.
Thank you Team Porter for supporting DuBose and keep telling your friends- "DuBose Porter works for Me." and keep up with him and his family on the internet.

To read more on the Columbus article go to:
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/168/story/697116.html
To read more on DuBose you are already here:)

8. DuBose Porter speaks to Business Issues

When Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s health prevented him from running in the Governor’s race and speaking at the Macon County Chamber of Commerce they called DuBose Porter to take his place. As a past member of the Board of the Dublin Laurens County Chamber, DuBose realizes the importance of local Chambers to their communities. He understands the challenges and the opportunities of running a business and the importance of bringing and keeping industries in local communities.

Although he has a law degree and actively practiced for several years, DuBose has been a self-employed businessman since 1987. DuBose oversees the daily financial and production operations of a daily newspaper and eight weeklies. Making a company payroll, managing spiraling healthcare costs, along with sharp increases in production expenses, DuBose is uniquely qualified to understand the issues facing today’s business owners. Combining his hands-on experience in business, with his 27 year history in the Legislature, DuBose is able to speak with authority on the concerns of the business community and how government actually works for and often against small business.


“All politics is local and it starts at home with you.”

DuBose spoke on the struggles of running a business in this economy and how governmental decisions are impacting businesses around the state. He highlighted several issues voted on in the 2009 General Assembly session that will affect local communities and explained how important it is for Chamber members to get engaged in the process.


“Georgians need to come together and work on our foundation issues if we are to emerge from the current economic downturn successfully. In this economy we can’t afford to stay focused on the things that separate us. It is time to put the best ideas on the table and work together to move Georgia forward. Urban, rural, business owner, employee, upstream, downstream we all have the common goal of moving Georgia forward. It is time to bring our state together. .”

If your Chamber of Commerce is having a function and needs a speaker to address the economic issues facing local communities call Team Porter at 478-290-2801.
Working together we can get this economy rolling

7. DuBose Porter in CQPolitics

Many Candidates, No Favorite in Georgia Governor’s Race

This title of Greg Vadala's article is really good news. DuBose has never run a state wide race. The ones that have aren't favorites. You can always build name recognition...
DuBose Porter has been in the trenches working 27 years for teachers, law enforcement, on transportation, strengthening our human and natural resources and most importantly for the 2010 race on building our economy. DuBose's record will get him votes inside the doughnut and his life will get them outside the doughnut.

Excerpt from CQpolitics by Greg Vadala:



"(Gridlocked) Road to a Comeback?

Among the issues that could play in both parties’ primaries and the general election, the state’s chronic transportation problems could emerge in a major way. Towery said the handling of transportation by the Republican-controlled legislature has caused “a great deal of irritation among business leaders.”

Longtime Atlanta political columnist Tom Baxter, who is now the editor of the Southern Political Report, said transportation issues could give Democrats an opening to take back the governor’s mansion.

“The legislative session ended without any clarity about transportation funding,” Baxter said. “There’s a lot of widespread discontent in the Atlanta metro area with how the legislature has handled things.”

Gubernatorial candidate Porter, who leads the Democratic opposition in the state House, said Georgia Republicans “don’t have the commitment or political will” to address the transportation problems.

A rural attorney and newspaper publisher, Porter took his critique further, accusing the Republicans of lacking leadership on education, conservation and health care issues. He said his positioning as a Democratic moderate and ties to both rural Georgia and the Atlanta business community give him an advantage over the other Democrats in the field.

“You have to have rural Georgia to win,” Porter said. “I’m the only one that can bring rural Georgia in a way that’s compatible with the needs of Atlanta.”

6. More Work, Less Hobnobbing

Hi Team Porter,


Work is what this state needs. Politicians who will stay in the trenches, address the tough issues and work it out. If Georgia had more politicians interested in working and less in amassing power and hobnobbing, we would find solutions to our problems. Start looking for the patterns.

Excerpts from DuBose Porter's speech in the opening days of the 2009 session:

" Last year, the Governor presented his state of the state address, and the session began. It was marked by bitter rivalry and what seemed to be partisan politics within the same party. There was no action taken to move forward on transportation, trauma care, or tax reform; additional cuts which amounted to one and a half billion dollars had already been stripped from our schools shifting that financial burden to our local governments and your property taxes; and with no meaningful progress on addressing the coming economic challenges, the session ended just as disjointed as it had begun.

"During that session our Democratic House Caucus became the stabilizing factor in Georgia’s state government.

"By working together within our party and with others we were able to find a consensus. We in the House came together to pass a transportation bill that would have moved Georgia forward on solving one of our state’s most crippling problems. The bill failed in the Senate and when we looked to the Governor for leadership, he was in China.

"When gas prices spiraled out of control, we called on the Governor to take bold, dramatic action. To step up to the plate and give Georgians relief by reducing the gas tax. Instead he went to Spain and our families were left here, to take the brunt of higher gas prices from which they still have not recovered.

In September, after seeing August revenue figures, our Democratic House Caucus realized the extent of Georgia’s faltering economy and we called on the Governor to bring us back into session – to give parties on both side of the aisle a chance to roll up our sleeves, fix the problem before it got worse, and do the job the people of this state elected us to do. That call went unheeded."

Did you see the pattern? Not working together, and just not working, is the underlying cause of what happened last session and what happened this session. So spread the word. Let's work for DuBose Porter because he works for us. Together we can move Georgia forward.

5. Controlling Rather Than Fixing

Hi Team Porter,
DuBose has been on radio programs in Atlanta, Athens and Vidalia. Two yesterday and one today. The key issue was "What happened to the transportation plan?"


“It was about controlling rather than fixing transportation. What happened this session was that the grasp at power trumped the citizens needs for adequate transportation. Rather than work to pass a bill that would have actually fixed transportation in our state, the only bill the Republican Leadership chose to pass gave the Governor, the Lt. Governor and the Speaker more control.
The funding bill which would have fixed transportation died in conference committee. We introduced a bill that proposed to dedicate the fourth penny of sales tax generated from motor fuel to transportation projects to help get Georgia moving again. This would not have raised taxes and solved a difficult problem.
What is truly hurting our state is the disconnect this Republican Leadership has with the families that have been hit in this economy. There are things we could do to get people back to work. Some as simple as signing a letter. Our Governor neglected to send the letter to the federal government to accept the stimulus money for construction projects by the deadline. Over 32 million dollars on construction, that could have been bid and let in April, was forced to be moved to May. A 30 day delay in construction in this economy is uncalled for. That delayed many Georgians from getting back to work. That money could have already hit payrolls and made it to the pockets of Georgians. Thirty-two million dollars into our economy was a month late coming, just from lack of sending a letter."

The session may have been a disaster, but we have had another great day.
Thank you for being on Team Porter.

4. Only 28% of Voters Identify as Republicans

This report just in:

Down to only 28%- Republicans are getting Fewer

Among registered voters, 28% call themselves Republicans, a decline of five points since 2004 and only a point above a record low level of Republican self-identification in 16 years of polling by the Pew Research Center, found in March 2008. Nearly four-in-ten voters (38%) identify as Democrats and 34% self-identify as independents. These data are based on more than 28,000 interviews conducted during 2008 prior to the election. Among voters who now identify as Republican or Republican-leaning, roughly two-thirds (68%) identify themselves as conservative, and of the conservatives, three-quarters think the party should turn further to the right. While a majority of moderates and liberals within the party advocate a centrist approach (66%), they make up fewer than a third (31%) of Republican voters overall. As a result, 60% of all Republican voters support a more conservative direction for the party. Read more

This report released today may be found

http://pewresearch.org/databank/dailynumber/?NumberID=757

The numbers are not for Georgia alone, but we are seeing a trend. 2010 is looking better all the time.

3. DuBose Isn't the Only One

From Tim Golden in the Atlanta Journal Constitution::

Since the Republican Party assumed majority control of state government six years ago, Georgia has been sliding backward in almost every area that the governor and Legislature can influence

Our public schools have suffered from $2 billion worth of cuts in state Quality Basic Education funding, causing higher taxes on local property owners to make up the difference.

Manufacturing jobs have been lost by the hundreds of thousands.

Rural health care is on life support because of drastic cuts in Medicaid reimbursement.

Our transportation system’s failure to keep up with a growing population has gone unaddressed.

Seeking to recruit bio-medicine and related technology businesses and retaining academic leaders in the field of science is becoming more difficult.

And fiscally irresponsible policies during better economic times have left Georgia especially vulnerable to the recession, causing an unprecedented $3 billion budget deficit.

But as poorly as the legislative majority has performed since 2003, the 2009 session would have to be considered the worst in recent history. And that’s saying something.

Consider that from the first day of the session back in January, finding a solution for the transportation funding crisis was the state’s No. 1 priority. In metro Atlanta, drivers sit for hours in traffic, causing untold losses in productivity. In rural Georgia, we are at least 10 years behind the curve in making the road improvements needed for economic development.

The Senate voted Feb. 3 on a transportation funding plan, one of the first actions we took this session, calling for a one-cent sales tax to be voted on, collected and invested on a regional basis. The House of Representatives, meanwhile, insisted on a statewide sales tax to finance a predetermined list of transportation projects in selected areas.

But the two houses were unable to work out a compromise plan, primarily because the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker were preoccupied with pushing through separate legislation to give them tighter control over transportation revenues and road-building decisions. For the second year in a row, helping Georgians get from point A to point B more efficiently was doomed by misplaced priorities at the top of the executive and legislative branches of government.

Regarding the new budget passed for fiscal year 2010, there is no question this was a difficult year because of the revenue shortfall, and cuts were inevitable. But the failure to beat back the governor’s insistence to eliminate homeowner tax relief grants will cost the average Georgia homeowner $200 to $300 on our next local property tax bill.

Partisan politics also reared its ugly head in the budget process when the Republican majority decided to withhold needed funding from districts represented by Senate Democrats because we had the audacity to offer a budget amendment that would have kept the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home in operation by reducing spending on a new luxury resort on Jekyll Island.

The lowlights of the 2009 session don’t stop there. The Republican majority couldn’t go without passing a few more unfunded mandates on counties and cities, while still prohibiting them from making their own decisions on Sunday alcohol sales. Thankfully, the House stopped a Senate bill outlawing potentially lifesaving embryonic stem cell research, but this is a battle we now have to fight year after year.

Georgians don’t expect much of the Legislature when we go to Atlanta each year. They do want us pass a budget that meets basic needs such as education and health care while respecting taxpayers. They want us to focus on the major problems, like transportation funding and unemployment. They want us to put public policy over partisan politics.

After the 2009 session, I wouldn’t blame them if they start expecting less and less.

> Sen. Tim Golden (D-Valdosta) is chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

The Democratic Leadership and their members are still listening to Georgians.

Stay tuned for updates on the following: (This was a facebook entry this morning by DuBose)

DuBose Porter Just had interview WGXT Atl. with Randy Cook/ talked on transportation/ how the Republican leadership focus was grabbing power/ not getting us out of gridlock/ I"ll post some notes from it on the blog/ on way to Atlanta to meet with caucus leadership to recap the possible special session since Republican leadership botched this one/ that means wasting more of your $/It is the economy/ more later at porterforga.com