Team DuBose Blog

91. Election Night With DuBose

2010-07-19T16:35:00.000-07:00

Please Join

DuBose Porter

On Election Night

Tuesday, July 20th

At One Of The Following Locations

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Election Watch Party

With DuBose

Hometown Headquarters

(Next to The Courier Herald in Dublin)

9:30 PM

Election Watch Party

With DuBose

Manuel’s

(602 N Highland Ave NE; Atlanta)

Everyone Welcome!

Please call (478) 304-1111 if you have questions.

90. I Know Georgia

2010-07-19T12:22:00.001-07:00

I know Georgia has a lot of counties because I have personally visited all 159.

It's not enough for a candidate to say they've called a county. It's not enough for a candidate to say they have a supporter in a county. It's not enough for a candidate to say they know someone in a county.

I have visited every Georgia county in person, at beauty shops, hardware stores, diners, strip malls, and barber shops. I've been out and seen Georgia during this campaign. No other candidate has done that. In fact, people repeatedly tell us they haven't had a visit in 40 years from a Candidate for Governor.

I've been asked why I work this hard to get elected. The answer is simple. Because every county, every voter, every citizen, in every corner, in every inch of this great state, matters to me. That is why I am running for Governor.

I only know how to campaign one way -- with a handshake or a hug.

I'm not running on an apology.

I don't have to tell Georgians I have learned how to listen. Georgians know I have listened for the last 28 years of my public service and will continue to listen as Georgia's next Governor.

Together we can do great things and make our state prosperous. We don't need to go back. We must move forward.

To move forward, I need your help and support. Please vote for me on Tuesday, July 20, in the Democratic Primary for Governor. Thank you.

Kind Regards,

DuBose Porter

To see 2,000 pictures from DuBose Porter's Tour of Georgia click here:

http://www.porterforgeorgia.com/pages/tour

89. Jobs, Education and Rivers

2010-07-16T08:52:00.001-07:00

Please take the time to listen to the following audio files. Click the word to hear the clip.

Jobs

Education

Rivers

Please pass this email to your friends and family.

I need your vote on July 20 in the Democratic Primary.

Thank you --

DuBose Porter

88. DuBose on CBS-46

2010-07-15T07:18:00.001-07:00

DuBose appeared on CBS-46 yesterday. Click the link below to watch the segment.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/24261010/index.html

87. Middle Georgia Endorsements

2010-07-15T07:17:00.001-07:00

Dublin - DuBose Porter, candidate for Governor in 2010, received endorsements from Macon area public officials and other community leaders this week. They Include:

Senate Democratic Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon)
State Representative Nikki Randall (D-Macon)
State Representative David Lucas (D-Macon)
State Representative Bubber Epps (D-Twiggs Co.)
Rick Hutto, Macon City Council

Larry Schlesinger, Macon City Council

Joe Allen, Bibb County Commissioner
Lonzy Edwards, Bibb County Commission

Kathryn Epps, Twiggs County Commission

James Vaughn, Monroe County Commission Chairman
Jim Ham, Monroe County Commissioner
John Wilson, Middle Georgia Environmentalist
Dr. Ty Ivey, dentist and conservationist

Jim Crisp, Theatre Macon

The following statements were issued on why DuBose Porter is the best candidate for Governor:

Senate Democratic Leader Robert Brown said, "DuBose can carry our state forward, black and white, rural and urban, and is the best candidate for Governor of the state of Georgia."

State Representative David Lucas said, "DuBose knows the issues and he knows how to fight for middle Georgia."

Rick Hutto, Macon City Council member, said, "I can't imagine anyone in middle Georgia who would vote for anyone else other than DuBose Porter. I am proud to support DuBose Porter for Governor."

Larry Schlesinger, Macon City Council member, said, "I like his positions on passenger rail. I support his position on education and applaud his concern for economic development. But most importantly, he is a true human being because he talks to you and not at you."

Joe Allen, Bibb County Commissioner, said, "We have not had a Governor south of the gnat-line take up for Macon in a long time. DuBose will do that and I encourage everyone who voted for me to vote for DuBose Porter for Governor."

Lonzy Edwards, Bibb County Commission member, said, "This election is about the future of the state. DuBose is a leader and a visionary. Support him for three reasons, Jobs, jobs and jobs."

Kathryn Epps, Twiggs County Commission member, said, "He walks the walk and talks the talk."

James Vaughn, Monroe County Commissioner, said, "As a county commissioner the challenge has been on how to deal with local government with an adversarial relationship with the state. That will change with DuBose Porter as Governor."

Jim Hamm, Monroe County Commission member, said, "I believe he will work for the entire state of Georgia and would be a great Governor."

John Wilson, Middle Georgia Environmentalist, said, "DuBose Porter has been working on protecting land along the Ocmulgee River for years and no one will be better on the environment than DuBose Porter as Governor."

Dr. Ty Ivey, dentist and conservationist, said, "DuBose is a former board member of the Nature Conservancy which I strongly support. Not only are his credentials on the environment unprecedented but we need his talents to get our state through this tough time."

Jim Crisp, head of the Theatre Macon, said, "DuBose understands the arts and how it impacts economic development. He has sincerity and vision which is why he has my vote."

Editor's Note: State Representative Nikki Randall has come down with the flu and will issue a statement later.

Click the link below to see pictures from the event.

http://www.macon.com/2010/07/13/1194144_a1194105/community-leaders-endorse-porter.html

86. New Poll

2010-07-14T14:15:00.001-07:00

A new poll is out, and just what the DuBose Porter campaign knew would happen is happening. Our grassroots campaign is showing up in the numbers at the polls. We have seen this race happen in Georgia before. No one thought Sonny Perdue would win until the day after the election, and that is what will happen with DuBose Porter. Vote your conscience. Vote DuBose! Money does not have to decide this race. Your vote counts. Vote!

Among people who have already voted, DuBose Porter and Thurbert Baker are tied for second place. Both candidates have 16%, while Barnes has 41%. This means DuBose will get into the runoff with Barnes and then go on to victory, but he needs your help. Please forward this email to as many of your friends as possible, and help us make the final push to victory.

To see the poll click here: http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollTrack.aspx?g=9324e281-f4b2-46ab-8e9c-4ce5e0baf34f&x=97348,1

To donate now, click here.

85. The Saxon Heights Story

2010-07-09T07:53:00.001-07:00

Saxon Heights Elementary School in
Dublin. Click the link to watch a video from Marie Hooks, Principal of Saxon Heights
Elementary School:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msh99piWl5Y>http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=Msh99piWl5Y

84. 12 Days

2010-07-08T12:08:00.001-07:00

Dear Supporter,
We are 12 days away from the Democratic Primary. This is your chance to help elect a Governor who will make jobs, education, water and transportation a priority. Help me get my message out by making a contribution the campaign today. To donate now, click here.
Below is an article from the Thomasville Times Enterprise. Please pass this article along.
Thanks for your support!
DuBose Porter

July 3, 2010

Power of persuasion (Thomasville Times Enterprise)

http://timesenterprise.com/homepage/x657354259/Power-of-persuasion

Porter says he will ensure entire state has a voice

Mark Lastinger CNHI

THOMASVILLE — House Minority Leader DuBose Porter believes he is a gubernatorial linchpin, a candidate who can hold Georgia’s divergent interests together so the entire state can prosper.

The veteran Democrat lawmaker from Dublin touted his record as consensus builder during a Wednesday Times-Enterprise visit.

“The issues that are facing Georgia in the next decade, really, even now — with regards to water, transportation funding, education funding and public safety, it will matter who is governor and whether the whole state is at the table,” Porter said. “With reapportionment coming up next year, for the first time in Georgia history metro Atlanta will have the majority in the House and Senate. The rest of Georgia needs a governor to balance all the interests out.”

Porter is especially concerned about how metro Atlanta’s growing influence will impact schools across the state. He helped developed the Quality Basic Education (QBE) funding formula for Georgia’s public schools.

“In education funding, for the first time last year, those in the metro area started affecting what is called equalization,” Porter explained. “Equalization was put into the Quality Basic Education funding to balance rural, urban, metro and other parts of the state. When you take away equalization, you start shifting the per-capita money per student away from any student outside of Atlanta.

“For it to be even, we need someone with the 28 years of experience that I have in those areas that are important.”

Porter’s public education include:

l Former chairman of the Georgia House Education and Higher Education committees

l Sponsored HB 1397, The Salary Protection Act, during the 2010 legislative session to stop teacher furloughs and put a firewall around teacher salaries

l Sponsored HB 1136 during the 2010 session to restore National Board Certification for teachers

l Sponsored post-secondary options legislation to students can learn valuable skills at technical colleges while still in high school

l Voted against increasing class sizes

l Fought against $3 billion in cuts to public education since 2003

l Voted against private school vouchers

l Sponsored legislation creating the HOPE Scholarship, the HOPE Grant and Georgia’s pre-kindergarten program

l Spoke out against the elimination of school nurses

“It all comes down to education,” Porter said. “I know the funding needs to be the same amount per student for everybody to have access to education in Georgia.”

Porter’s plans to end teacher furloughs and other education cuts by getting the Department of Revenue to do a better job of collecting the state sales tax.

“The Department of Revenue is so inept that it’s hard to be sure how much we’re talking about, but it’s somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion,” Porter said. “I introduced legislation during the past two sessions to solve that, but it was buried. It’s going to take a new governor with a new revenue commissioner to fix that.”

Porter said improving Georgia’s educational standing will also impact public safety.

“Budget cuts are reducing the number of law enforcement officers to unsafe levels,” he said. “The growing prison population is becoming financially unsustainable. Our citizens are less safe. Our law enforcement officers are less safe.

“It is much less expensive to educate a child now than to imprison one later.”

Porter’s state water conservation plan is designed to help high-growth areas while preventing interbasin transfers that could adversely affect south Georgia.

“One of the quickest solutions for water is to raise Lake Lanier by two feet, which is basically where it is right now after the recent rains,” he said. “You would impound 25 billion gallons of water.”

Porter has also called for the use of low-flow toilets and other conservation fixtures. One of his primary aim is to fix Atlanta’s crumbling water pipes, which allow up to 25 of the city’s treated water from making it to the Chattahoochee River.

“That would gives us credibility in court (in Georgia’s water rights battle with Alabama and Florida),” Porter said.

Porter said his transportation plan would also benefit the entire state.

“My transportation plan consists of three things,” he said. “First, dedicate the fourth penny of motor fuel sales tax to ‘any transportation purpose.’ This would allow a dedicated revenue stream to leverage federal resources for passenger rail, the money for Local Assistance for Road Paving, and state aid for local governments to use in economic development. Second, we will create regional Transportation-SPLOSTs where counties can join together to meet regional transportation needs. Third, I will put both measures on the ballot in 2011.

“I will bring passenger rail to Georgia. I will provide resources for partnerships to complete the beltline.”

Porter, whose wife Carol is running for lieutenant governor, remains confident about his chances for getting into a primary runoff. Some polls show him running second — although a distant second — to former Gov. Roy Barnes.

“I hope people realize what is at stake and that there is an alternative. That is how and why DuBose Porter wins,” he said.

83. DuBose Porter, Family Cast Early Ballots

2010-07-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

DuBose, Carol and their four sons, Stephen, Guyton, Inman and Asa early voted yesterday in Dublin. WSB-TV Channel 2 Atlanta, along with several other news stations, covered the event as the Porter family and supporters walked from the campaign headquarters to the courthouse to cast their ballots for the July 20th Democratic Primary. Please pass this story along and remember to vote for DuBose and Carol in the Democratic Primary on July 20th. Click on the link below to watch the story.

http://www.wsbtv.com/video/24161687/index.html

82. DuBose Porter brings campaign to Columbus

2010-07-07T07:53:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July. Below is an article from the Columbus Ledger newspaper that shows our momentum growing. Thanks for your support. Please pass this article along. Elect DuBose Porter. Vote in the Democratic Primary on July 20.

DuBose Porter brings campaign to Columbus (Columbus Ledger)

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/07/03/1182926/dubose-porter-brings-campaign.html

By LILY GORDON

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate DuBose Porter visited a Columbus barbecue restaurant Friday to drum up support for his campaign and talk about what he called “the defining issue in this race” — education.

Moving among a packed room of lunchtime diners at Country’s Barbecue on Mercury Drive, the House minority leader shook hands and answered questions in an effort to set himself apart from former Gov. Roy Barnes and Attorney General Thurbert Baker.

“We need to let voters know there’s a clear choice in the primary between me and Roy Barnes,” Porter said. “I support public education, I’ve turned a school around, I’ve given tools to the teachers in the classroom. I didn’t blame them for the problems. So teachers, educators have a very clear choice this election. Parents have a very clear choice.”

The primary is July 20. Since he announced his candidacy for governor in April 2009, the former member of the House Education Committee and member of the Georgia State House of Representatives has traveled across the state in what he has called a grassroots effort to win over the “real Georgia.”

“I believe in grassroots,” Porter said. “We have been to every county, all 159 counties in this state. ... We’ve been in beauty parlors and barbershops and feed and seed stores, where the real Georgia is.”

Porter gets company

Former state Reps. Jed Harris and Mary Jane Galer as well as current State Rep. Debbie Buckner joined Porter around noon on his Columbus stop-over to show their support for the Dublin, Ga., native.

While at Country’s, Porter addressed other issues including economic development, water, public safety and transportation.

According to his official website, Porter wants to dedicate the fourth penny of the state fuel tax to “any transportation purpose,” create regional transportation SPLOSTs and put both measures on the ballot in 2011.

If elected governor, he said he also plans to seek reauthorization to raise the level of the Buford Dam at Lake Lanier an additional 2 feet, install efficient water fixtures to better conserve water resources and repair leaking pipes carrying treated water to the Chattahoochee River.

Porter’s main goal — and his reason for running for governor — is to improve Georgia’s public education system, he said.

“I have been fighting for education. I fought for national board certified teachers,” Porter said. “I fought for school nurses in the classroom. I fought for small class sizes so teachers can do their job. And that’s the defining issue in this race.”

81. Candidate touts record on education cuts

2010-06-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

From the PolitiFact article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on June 28, 2010 titled, "Gubernatorial candidate touts record on education cuts:"

"State education advocacy groups think Porter fought for them. Herb Garrett, executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, was effusive in a recent e-mail.

''I can say without fear of contradiction that Representative Porter has, in fact, raised numerous objections to the cuts to education,' Garrett said. 'He is among the most knowledgeable candidates on education funding [due to his many years of experience in the General Assembly and on education committees in particular], so he has a keen eye for how the education portion of the budget operates and when those in positions of power are playing games with it. He has called their hand publicly on a number of occasions.''

To read the entire article click here:
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2010/jun/28/dubose-porter/gubernatorial-candidate-touts-record-education-cut

80. Rally at the State Capitol

2010-06-28T14:17:00.002-07:00

Join Us For A Rally

At The State Capitol

For Georgia’s Next Governor

DuBose Porter

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

At 1:00 P.M.

Statewide supporters will meet

in the rotunda

on the second floor of the State

Capitol in Atlanta

at 12:30 P.M.

Everyone welcome.

Hometown supporters will depart

Dublin headquarters at 9:00 A.M.

Please call (478) 290-3039 if you need a ride.

DuBose needs you now.

79. "It all comes down to Education."

2010-06-10T06:02:00.000-07:00

DuBose Porter believes you agree.

Teachers need DuBose Porter as their Governor.
* Former Chairman of the GA House Education and Higher Education Committees
* Sponsored HB1397, The Salary Protection Act, in 2010 session to stop teacher furloughs and put a firewall around teacher salaries
* Sponsored HB1136 in 2010 session to restore National Board Certification for teachers
* Sponsored post-secondary options legislation so students can learn valuable skills at technical colleges while still in high school
* Voted against increasing class sizes
* Fought against $3 billion in cuts to public education since 2003
* Voted against private school vouchers
* Sponsored the legislation creating the HOPE Scholarship, the HOPE Grant, and the Pre-Kindergarten Program in Georgia
* Spoke out against elimination of school nurses
* Hails from Dublin, GA. Graduated from Dublin High School.
* Married to Carol Porter and father of 4 boys, one graduated and the rest attending The University of Georgia.

Turn Education Around.
Elect DuBose Porter.
Democratic Primary July 20.

Click here to donate.

78. Porter: Strong Record on Public Education

2010-05-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

May 25, 2010 by Dustin
Filed under: Election 2010, State News

Twelve years ago, Saxon Heights Elementary School in Dublin, Georgia, had some of the lowest reading scores in the state.

Marie Hooks, the principal, asked me if I could help.

Rather than telling Marie what her teachers should be doing in their classrooms, I asked Marie what her teachers needed. Marie needed assistance in securing technology in the classroom, lowering class sizes, and increasing parental participation to 100 percent. I was able to help her achieve those goals.

The next year, Saxon Heights made Adequate Yearly Progress for the first time. Because we worked together, Saxon Heights is now one of the top Title I elementary schools in Georgia.

Our teachers are expected to produce miracles. Instead of blaming them, I will give our valuable educators the tools to succeed in the classroom.

Public education is at stake in this election.

We can do what Saxon Heights did with every school in this state. This will be my priority as your next Governor.

Share on Facebook

http://galiberal.com/

77. DuBose Porter on Public Education

2010-05-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

Twelve years ago Saxon Heights Elementary School in Dublin, Georgia had some of the lowest reading scores in the state.

Marie Hooks, the principal, asked me if I could help.

Marie needed assistance in securing technology in the classroom, lowering class sizes and increasing parental participation to 100 percent. I was able to help her achieve those goals.

The next year Saxon Heights made Adequate Yearly Progress for the first time. Because we worked together, Saxon Heights is now one of the top Title I elementary schools in Georgia.

Our teachers are expected to produce miracles. Instead of blaming them, I will give our valuable educators the tools to succeed in the classroom.

Public education is at stake in this election.

We can do what Saxon Heights did with every school in this state. This will be my priority as your next Governor. But I need help and financial support. Please contribute to my campaign by going to www.porterforgeorgia.com. Click on the donate button and follow the steps.

Thank you.

76. How 28 Can Become 82

2010-05-02T06:58:00.000-07:00

Your 28 can make
DuBose Porter
Georgia's 82nd Governor.

In honor of DuBose's 28 years in the Georgia House of Representatives, we ask that you contribute $2,800, $280, or $28 today.

To donate, click here.

Thank you!
Team DuBose

75. Qualifying at the Capitol

2010-04-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

I will be officially qualifying to run for Governor at 11:00 am on Monday, April 26^th at the State Capitol. Joining me will be my wife of 26 years, Carol Porter, who will be qualifying for Lt. Governor.
Since I announced in April of 2009, I have been traveling this state, meeting you and listening to your concerns. This experience has truly been a blessing. Thank you for all your prayers and support along the way.

As we enter the election season I need your continued help more than ever. I am the only candidate with the experience and background who can unite this state.
We must make education, transportation, water and public safety a priority.

As Governor, I will bring leadership to the State Capitol. We can make Georgia a prosperous state again.
I need your vote on July 20^th in the Democratic Primary. Thank you.

74. The next step in Georgia's water policy.

2010-03-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

Time to Take the Next Step to Secure Georgia’s Water Future (LaGrange Daily News)

By Sen. Jeff Chapman, (R- Brunswick) and Rep. Dubose Porter, (D-Dublin), candidates for Governor of Georgia.

March 20, 2010

We offer our joint congratulations to Gov. Sonny Perdue for his successfully starting a new Culture of Conservation in Georgia with passage of the Water Stewardship Act.

This bill contains a number of important water conservation ideas that have been proposed by the Georgia Water Coalition since its founding, eight years ago. Despite support from us, and many other legislators, these ideas have been routinely rejected until the recent court decision by federal Judge Paul Magnuson limiting the volume of water that can be taken from Lake Lanier without new federal legislation. That decision forced Georgia to action that should have been state policy for years.

We are proud to thank the Georgia Water Coalition, a broad-based coalition of 175 statewide and local organizations, churches and businesses that has steadily worked for these much-needed measures. As candidates for governor and as working members of the Georgia General Assembly, we are glad to offer our bipartisan support to their important work for our state’s future.

We also have each co-sponsored legislation that is the critical next step in creating the Culture of Conservation, necessary for our future prosperity in Georgia. Following the governor’s excellent example, we have joined many other legislators to introduce identical bills in both the House (HB1301) and Senate (SB462). This legislation, the River Basin Protection Act, establishes a needed and reasonable system to strengthen existing regulations on the transfer of water from one river basin to another. This regulation is vital to the integrity of local and regional water supplies, to serve industry and development all across our great state, and to protect the water quality and the good fishing in our rivers.

We particularly wish to commend Rep. Tom McCall and Sen. Jim Butterworth, both from the Upper Savannah River basin, for their initiative in leading as sponsors of these bills. Each bill now has many additional co-sponsors, and we look forward to seeing the governor put his power behind these bills to get them passed so he can also sign them into law.

The passage of the Water Stewardship Act and the River Basin Protection Act send unmistakable messages to all people who live downstream, in Georgia as well as those in Alabama and Florida, that Georgia is dead serious about protecting and fairly sharing its abundant water resources. When this happens, Georgians will have truly accomplished a solid step forward this year for the conservation and the future of our state water resources.

State Sen. Jeff Chapman, R- Brunswick, and State Rep. Dubose Porter, D-Dublin, are candidates for governor of Georgia.

To read the online story, click here.

73. Get on the bus with DuBose.

2010-03-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Dublin St. Patrick's Parade 2010.

72. DuBose supports the rally for higher education.

2010-03-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

To view the video from the rally, click here.

71. UGA Chapel Debate

2010-03-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

Correction: The Democrats will debate at 6 p.m. and the Republicans will debate at 8 p.m.

70. DuBose Porter: Firewall around education.

2010-03-16T22:47:00.000-07:00

From the GAE Legislative Hotline 2010:

Day 25

HB 1397- Quality Basic Education Act—“Salary Protection Act”

Sponsored by Rep. DuBose Porter (D- Dublin) and others

This bill adds a new Code section to the existing Quality Basic Education Act. The new section provides the following:

- No state funds provided for salaries for school personnel shall be transferred by any local board of education for any other purposes; and

- In the event of a budget shortfall, SALARIES for SCHOOL SYSTEM PERSONNEL SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO PRORATION AND SCHOOL SYSTEM PERSONNEL SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO FURLOUGHS.

Several members of the Georgia Legislature understand the importance of our public school personnel. In one way or another, several members of the Georgia Legislature have demonstrated their willingness to work with our organization to protect the interests of Georgia’s children by taking care of Georgia educators.

This bill takes care of Georgia’s educators!

The intent of this legislation is to protect public school personnel from further cuts. The revenue numbers have not been good for over a year now, however, this bill prioritizes educators and the extra sacrifices that they make. From assisting a child who has forgotten their lunch/lunch money to providing paper and extra pens/pencils so Georgia’s children are prepared in class. We applaud Rep. Porter and others for working with GAE and offering to carry this legislation to help support public school educators across Georgia. Take the time to thank Rep. Porter for sponsoring such a strong advocacy bill for educators.

69. DuBose and Carol Porter on CNN.

2010-03-15T16:09:00.000-07:00

A few photos from the trip to CNN.

DuBose and Carol with Mykal Kristopher-Frierson.

Carol and DuBose are interviewed by Don Lemon on "Weekend Primetime."

A behind-the-scenes look just before the show!

Carol and DuBose pose for a quick photo in front of the iconic CNN sign in Atlanta.

Watch the video below from CNN on Saturday, March 13, 2010

68. DuBose Porter: Revenue Department still not ready to give you your money.

2010-03-11T04:27:00.000-08:00

Tom Crawford wrote an article explaining the problem with the cheaters who take your paid sales tax money and keep it for themselves instead of returning it to you (we used that article in blog #62). An excerpt follows:

CRAWFORD / Lawmakers should go where the money is http://www.charltoncountyherald.com/articles/2010/02/16/opinion/editorials/doc4b7abcc8cfbbe844297319.txtBy Tom Crawford

Georgia loses buckets of tax dollars every year because of retailers who charge the sales tax on their customers but keep the money rather than send it to the revenue department. This problem is well known to lawmakers and revenue officials, but they haven’t done much to deal with it.

A pilot program in Hall County uncovered the fact that nearly 1,000 businesses in that county do not have sales tax numbers, which means they are not reporting their sales tax collections to the state. There are several hundred businesses that do not have a business license from their local government.

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) and his Democratic colleagues have been trying in vain for more than a year to pass legislation that would crack down on these renegade businesses who are cheating the state of sales tax proceeds.

Now another reporter, Jay Jones of the Rockdale Citizen, has published another story that shows the the reality that Georgia's elected Republican leadership and Georgia's Republican appointed Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham are refusing to give you back your money:

Excerpts follow from:

Porter says collect taxes in a new way (Rockdale Citizen)
CONYERS — Democratic candidate for Georgia governor DuBose Porter said his proposal to collect sales taxes from “cheaters” could reap millions for the strapped state budget and questioned why current state leaders have failed to act on it rather than offer new cuts.
Reporter: Jay Jones Email Address: jay.jones@rockdalecitizen.com

State Rep. DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, speaks to the Bar Association of Rockdale County on Friday. The 28-year legislator is running for governor in the Democratic primary.

CONYERS — Democratic candidate for Georgia governor DuBose Porter said his proposal to collect sales taxes from “cheaters” could reap millions for the strapped state budget and questioned why current state leaders have failed to act on it rather than offer new cuts...
“I say before we start cutting education and raising taxes, let’s get what we should get from the cheaters,” Porter said. “This would be a GPS system telling you who’s cheating.”
As the state minority leader in the Georgia House, Porter, D-Dublin, got a pilot project done in Hall and Lowndes counties last year that showed that a quarter of all business license-holders had not paid sales taxes. The proposal is now in the General Assembly as House Bill 1137.
Porter added the state’s Department of Revenue had been against the proposal. “Either they are incompetent, hiding something or protecting somebody. I don’t know,” he said.  Porter said the proposal could also help counties in finding businesses that have a sales tax certificate but not a business license.
In an editorial to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Department of Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham discounted Porter’s amount of $1 billion lost from cheaters. Also, Graham countered that part of Porter’s proposal that would allow counties to privatize tax collections would expose a businesses’ tax records.
Porter said during Friday’s luncheon that the Department of Revenue under its current system is unable to account for sales tax collections that exceed what was designated for the counties in local sales tax revenue receipts. Now, any unaccounted sales tax received is put into the state’s treasury. Porter said that while the state gets its 4 percent of sales tax, the counties with their 1 percent sales taxes are the ones that suffer from the loss of unaccounted tax revenue...

To read the whole story click here:

http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/newtonhome/headlines/86734157.html

_______________________

DuBose Porter, Governor 2010

Getting your money back for you.

67. DuBose and Carol Porter on Fox and Friends

2010-03-09T18:48:00.000-08:00

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4083387/couple-campaigns-together?playlist_id=87249

66. Cuts to education short sighted.

2010-03-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

As a past Chairman of Education and past Chairman of Higher Education DuBose Porter knows that to take education where it needs to be it will take the power and the will of the governor’s office. It is also possible to do the opposite with education with the power and will of the Governor's office and that is what Georgia is now experiencing. Perdue’s recommended cuts to education will continue to decrease the earning power of Georgia’s future citizens. United States jobs of the future will only go to those well educated enough to take them. Many of those jobs will be created by those whose minds where enriched and nurtured in academic settings provided in colleges and universities. Cutting education will result in lost wages and earning power for our state's citizens for decades to come. It is extremely short sighted to cut Georgia’s future income potential by such draconian measures.

A list of proposed cuts from the article Colleges outline massive cuts to help balance state budget By Aaron Gould Sheinin The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 5:42 p.m. Monday, March 1, 2010:

University of Georgia
Cut: $58.9 million
Positions eliminated: 1,418
Other: Reduce incoming freshman body by about a third; eliminate 4-H; reduce support for Veterinarian Medical Teaching Hospital by 66 percent
Georgia Institute of Technology
Cut: $38.07 million
Positions eliminated: 452
Other: Decrease admissions by 20 percent; eliminate 150-200 research positions; increase student-faculty ratio to 24-1
Georgia State University
Cut: $34.12 million
Positions eliminated: 622
Other: Reduce freshmen and transfers by 1,000; close Brookhaven campus; eliminate 396 course sections; close Fiscal Research Center and Capitol Hill Child Enrichment Center; eliminate Georgia Health Policy Center
Medical College of Georgia
Cut: $25.57 million
Positions eliminated: 63
Other: Accept 155 fewer students
Kennesaw State University
Cut: $14.12 million
Positions eliminated: 224
Other: Reduce freshmen and transfers by 10 percent; eliminate Center for Excellence in Teaching and select degree programs in education, business, humanities and social studies
Clayton State University
Cut: $4.19 million
Positions eliminated: 24
Other: Reduce 168 course sections
Georgia Gwinnett College
Cut: $2.66 million
Positions eliminated: 32
Other: Cap enrollment at 3,000, affecting 2,000 students; delay nursing program
Atlanta Metropolitan College
Cut: $1.37 million
Positions eliminated: 5
Other: Eliminate 38 course offerings; eliminate local match for transportation project
Georgia Perimeter College
Cut $9.92 million
Positions eliminated: 50
Other: Eliminate programs affecting 4,748 students

(Other colleges are to receive cuts but are not included in the list.)

To read the entire article http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/colleges-outline-massive-cuts-339971.html

To join college students protesting the cuts

http://www.petitiononline.com/georgia1/petition.html

65. Carol Porter announces for Lt. Governor.

2010-02-25T14:46:00.001-08:00

"My wife, Carol, announced she is running for Lt. Governor of the state of Georgia today. Over the last several weeks, there has been a viral movement to draft Carol for Lt. Governor that has taken on a life of its own. There truly is no one more qualified or who knows the issues better. Carol is an awesome person and would make an awesome Lt. Governor. She announced this morning at 11a.m. and as of 6:00p.m. today, google shows there have been 123 stories generated on her announcement. It seems Georgia is finding out what I have already known, Carol is a wonderful person to have on your side. While we are running as a team with the same message, we are going to be running separate campaigns. Carol is just getting up her campaign, but to see her campaign blogsite go to www.carolporter4ga.com"- DuBose Porter

64. DuBose Porter: Faith welcome in governor's race.

2010-02-21T17:53:00.000-08:00

Editorial: Talk of faith welcome in governor's race (Athens Banner Herald)
http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/021910/opi_564750365.shtml

Athens Banner-Herald
Published Friday, February 19, 2010
Buzz up!

Certainly, there's a healthy amount of political calculation behind state Rep. DuBose Porter's recent prominent mention of his Christian faith on the gubernatorial campaign trail. Porter, a statehouse veteran vying with a raft of fellow Democrats looking to carry their party's banner into this year's governor's race, undoubtedly understands that conservative Christian voters played a major role in bringing the Republican Party to dominance in the state legislature.
Before proceeding further, it's important to note that this editorial should in no way be construed as an endorsement of Porter's candidacy. If or when this newspaper makes an endorsement in the governor's race, that endorsement will be based on a wide range of information about candidates' positions on issues, and on other factors.
It is, though, worth noting the possible implications of Porter's strategy of making religion an issue in a statewide political contest. On a personal level, a candidate's views on religion can provide some real insight into the moral and ethical framework he or she purports to bring into the public arena. On a political level, Porter's strategy of talking about his faith brings home the important message that a spiritual point of reference on the issues of the day need not necessarily be ceded as the exclusive province of a single political party.
Porter made that point bluntly at a gathering of the Georgia Christian Alliance earlier this month, which he attended along with most of the Republican field in the gubernatorial race. "I am tired of people saying that you can't be a Christian and a Democrat," he said. "Because I am. My faith is important to me, it's important to my family. ... Pray for me. And pray that God's will be done in this election. I believe that to my very core."
More recently, in an interview with local political blogger and regular Banner-Herald columnist Johnathan McGinty, Porter said, "Democrats have been portrayed in the national media as Godless. Democrats are not Godless. I have yet to go to a Democratic meeting that has not opened with a prayer. ... We as Democrats believe economic justice and civil rights will be helped by a strong education system and through job creation. Is this because we believe 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'? I think so. Is that a religious influence? It probably is."
Again not discounting the political calculation in Porter's profession of faith, the statements outlined here portray him as a man seriously committed to that faith. Given that apparent commitment, Porter's approach to the governor's race might serve as a template, both now and into the future, for other Democratic candidates who are also seriously committed to their faith.
In a political environment where Republican and Democratic candidates talk freely about their faith and its role in their lives, it's possible that, over time, that faith will become a yardstick by which voters can judge a candidate's personal fitness for office, rather than his or her political fitness to hold a position of public trust.
Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Friday, February 19, 2010

63. DuBose Porter and Carol Porter?

2010-02-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

Reporter for the AJC, Jim Galloway was the first one to put the story of Carol's video and the buzz it was creating on the internet. Yesterday the story made it into the print edition. The story line is the same, but the print version includes new comments from DuBose and Carol.

The possibilities of a husband-and-wife ticket in Georgia
February 17, 2010, by Jim Galloway
Somebody pick up the phone and call Fox. We’ve got a reality show brewing.
Late last month, DuBose Porter, a Dublin newspaper publisher and Democratic candidate for governor, couldn’t make it to a small-business forum in Atlanta. So his wife of 26 years subbed for him.
Carol Porter did well, as anyone who has watched the YouTube video will attest. So well that the couple is considering whether she should enter the 2010 campaign as a candidate for lieutenant governor. The husband and wife would run as a ticket.
“Over the last several weeks, there’s been a viral movement that has taken on a life of its own,” said DuBose Porter, the House minority leader. “There truly is no one more qualified or who knows the issues better. She’s an awesome person. She’d make an awesome candidate.”
With a general election only nine months away, Democrats have yet to field a single candidate for lieutenant governor. (State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond is often mentioned as a possibility, but has yet to make a decision.) Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the Republican incumbent, has no primary opposition.
“Thoughtful consideration is going into it,” said Carol Porter, general manager of the family’s small newspaper chain. “Quite frankly, I’m just not sure that Casey needs a cakewalk.”
The Porter campaign — the gubernatorial one — is asking supporters if they’re open to the idea.
The partnership would be unique in Georgia politics. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, regardless of party, do not endorse each other, much less share the same bed. Or, for that matter, the same children — four grown sons, in this case. Media attention would be significant.
The public is familiar with spouses acting as behind-the-scenes strategists. Witness the recently dissolved partnership between Mark and Jenny Sanford in South Carolina. But a candidate’s spouse in search of her own votes is a plot line that many voters might judge worth following.
The only Southern precedent even slightly comparable might be Lurleen Wallace’s decision to run for governor of Alabama in 1966 — as a surrogate for her term-limited husband, George Wallace.
But Carol Porter can’t be termed a sock puppet. “I don’t believe that would fit,” she said. “I feel very comfortable with the issues. I have a fairly clear vision, as does DuBose, about what the problems are and what the solutions are.”
With her husband in the state Capitol much of the time, Carol Porter is the business side of the family equation. She’s the one on the board of the local Chamber of Commerce.
Her husband was born in Dublin, but her background is slightly more eclectic. The daughter of a Wrightsville, Ga., doctor, she went to boarding school at Woodward Academy in College Park. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in psychology. She dabbles in folk art.
Many Democrats are baffled by the possibility of a husband-and-wife strategy. Others dismiss it as a publicity stunt that smacks of desperation.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes has dominated every statewide poll among Georgia Democrats, and DuBose Porter ranked fourth among five Democrats in fund-raising last year — behind Barnes, Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former National Guard commander David Poythress.
Both Porters argue that, in a one-two campaign, they would complement each other’s fund-raising efforts, not dilute them.
But the advantage may be this: With or without money, Carol Porter’s entry into the lieutenant governor’s contest would immediately raise her profile — and, through a shared story line, that of her husband.
In essence, the Porters could double their message at a very low cost. Those who know her would agree that Carol Porter’s speeches often have more edge than those of her husband. She would be the voice that says the things that he can’t.
“I’m a fiery, passionate person who truly cares, and I would like to see the children of this state get a great education. Because I think corruption is what’s holding us back,” Carol Porter said. “If we could just not run it on campaign donors — for once. If we could just do what’s right, just one good time, and get it all running and turn the economy around and educate the children. Georgia’s such a great spot. It has everything — except leadership.”
There is, of course, the matter of what would happen should they both win — first in July, then in November. But that’s an entirely different story line.

________________________________

Actual Family Values
DuBose Porter
Putting your voice
in your government.

62. DuBose Porter: Fights the Revenue Department for your money.

2010-02-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

CRAWFORD / Lawmakers should go where the money is

http://www.charltoncountyherald.com/articles/2010/02/16/opinion/editorials/doc4b7abcc8cfbbe844297319.txtBy Tom Crawford

Published:

Tuesday, February 16, 2010 11:40 AM EST

Little by little, the money keeps disappearing from the state budget.

Georgia legislators have had to delete $1.2 billion from the current year’s budget because the recession has killed tax revenues. Lawmakers will have to reduce the budget for next fiscal year by a similar amount because the recession still shows few signs of ending anytime soon.

Who suffers the most when state spending is cut by such large amounts? Public education has consistently taken the biggest hit. At the urging of Gov. Sonny Perdue, the Legislature has cut more than $2 billion in state funding to local school systems for grades K-12 since 2003.

Those reductions continued in the revised state budget that the House approved last week. The amended budget cuts another $281 million in Quality Basic Education (QBE) funds that the state would normally send to local schools.

If the state’s public school system is to be kept intact, this cutting cannot go on much longer. Is there a way, short of passing a tax increase, to raise the money needed for education?

As it turns out, there is a solution staring legislators right in the face.

Georgia loses buckets of tax dollars every year because of retailers who charge the sales tax on their customers but keep the money rather than send it to the revenue department. This problem is well known to lawmakers and revenue officials, but they haven’t done much to deal with it.

A pilot program in Hall County uncovered the fact that nearly 1,000 businesses in that county do not have sales tax numbers, which means they are not reporting their sales tax collections to the state. There are several hundred businesses that do not have a business license from their local government.

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) and his Democratic colleagues have been trying in vain for more than a year to pass legislation that would crack down on these renegade businesses who are cheating the state of sales tax proceeds.

“Our bill will stop the tax cheaters and get the money where it ought to go,” Porter said.

Based on the results of the Hall County program, Porter estimates that unreported sales taxes for the whole state could amount to as much as $1 billion. This is not a tax increase: this is money that the businesses are already required to collect and send to the state.

Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham gets irritated whenever his agency is criticized and claims that the estimate of $1 billion in uncollected taxes is much too high. But even Graham concedes that somewhere between 5 percent and 10 percent of Georgia’s sales tax proceeds are being evaded. That conservative estimate would still amount to $250 million to $500 million a year.

That amount of money could make up for the major cuts in state funding to local school systems, and then some.

There have been indications in recent weeks that legislative Republicans could be ready to join their Democratic colleagues and take action to collect these delinquent taxes. Bills have been introduced by lawmakers from both parties to set up a system that would cross-check sales tax and business license data to identify retailers who are not turning over tax proceeds as the law requires.

Legislators have also come to the realization that you have to have tax collectors before you can actually collect taxes. The revised state budget includes money for the revenue department to hire six investigative agents and four financial analysts for its fraud detection group, which means there will be more people to go after tax cheats.

That’s a good start. The next step is for lawmakers to get moving and adopt this legislation so that Georgia can start collecting taxes that are long past due.

The General Assembly can move fast when it comes to legislation that has no relevance for its constituents. The Senate has already adopted a bill that would make it illegal to implant microchips in people, even though the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville), could not cite a single instance where any person in Georgia was ever forced to undergo such an implantation.

If legislators would only move that quickly to go after tax cheats, the state and its school systems would be in much better shape.

• Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news service at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia. He can be reached at tcrawford@capitolimpact.net.

DuBose Porter
Fighting for you to get your money.
Vote in the Democratic Primary July 2010

61. What do you think?

2010-02-16T19:03:00.000-08:00

A husband-and-wife team for governor and lieutenant governor?

11:57 am February 16, 2010, by Jim Galloway (published at ajc.com)

Late last month, Carol Porter subbed for her husband at a forum hosted by a small-business organization that featured Republican and Democratic candidates for governor.

DuBose Porter, a newspaper publisher from Dublin, is the House Democratic leader. Carol Porter, who is general manager for the family’s small newspaper chain, did well. See for yourself here:

In fact, Carol Porter did so well that some Democrats are urging her into the race for lieutenant governor, which still lacks a Democratic candidate. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the Republican incumbent, is unopposed.

In other words, we would have a husband-and-wife team running for governor and lieutenant governor.

“She’s been approached about that. It’s true,” said Matt Caseman, spokesman for the DuBose Porter campaign. “She hasn’t made a decision. But yes, she’s considering it.”

And what does her husband of 26 years think? “He’s very supportive of anything Carol wants to do,” Caseman said.

Now, maybe this is a publicity stunt. If so, it’s one worth pondering.

Media outlets would be all over it. And his spouse’s candidacy would end attempts to talk DuBose Porter out of the governor’s race and into the lieutenant governor’s race. But there’s also the chance that Carol Porter would siphon off campaign contributions.

As of January, DuBose Porter’s campaign lagged behind three other Democrats in contributions: Roy Barnes, Thurbert Baker and David Poythress. (Porter was third in terms of cash on hand.)

One other Democrat, state Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, is also thinking about the race for lieutenant governor – but has yet to make a decision.- The End

_____________________________________

What do you think? email Team DuBose

info@porterforgeorgia.com

60. DuBose Porter: Your Voice and Your Heart

2010-02-15T20:14:00.000-08:00

Recently I was asked, "Why do you want to be the next governor of the state of Georgia?"
Here is the answer:
"When I was Chairman of the Education Committee and then later Chairman of Higher Education, I saw that to take education to where it needed to be you have to have the power and the will of the governor's office. I had thought when the children graduated, if the time was right, I would run for Governor. When the transportation plan failed again last year for the second time as our major city sat in gridlock, when public safety was reduced to unsafe numbers, when water was threaten for Georgians and corruption only grew more intrenched, I realized it was time to get in, and work to take out, the policies and the corruption that were holding this state down.
For one example, when I was Chairman of Education, I saw that the jobs of the future were going to go to the states that had the highest level of education. I started pushing for post secondary options to partner with high schools and technical and community colleges back when Zell Miller was Governor and it was vetoed. Then the next Governor vetoed it. I finally got it through and Governor Perdue ended the program. Industry will not locate in a state without a well-trained workforce and that is what is happening now. Had I had the power of the Governor's office back then, we would now have that well trained workforce and we would be the ones attracting industry instead of North Carolina and the other states which invested in education and job training.
Instead we have had governors the last decade who have consistently damaged our schools and not supported our teachers. I have fought for improvements in education, from smaller classrooms to rewards for teachers’ earning National Board Certification. I was the first signer on the HOPE Scholarship and I have never made one vote that would not improve our education system in a way that would attract industry and jobs to Georgia.
In 1965, eighty percent of the jobs could go to high school drop-outs (20% to higher degrees.) That 80% of the jobs, like in farming and textile have gone. Once the Pacific Rim opened up and businesses found people who would work for 25 cents an hour, the jobs for the uneducated have been leaving the United States. Those jobs are not coming back. The jobs of the future are going to go to those who are well-educated enough to be able to adapt to a changing job market and who can easily retrain.
We have to get our children reading at the grade level at which they should be reading in early grades. We have to hold onto them in the middle grades where we start to lose them. And then in high school, if we know 80% of the jobs require a post secondary degree, like a technical or community college provides, we need to start allowing our students to get these degrees. We must implement post secondary options that don't financially punish our public schools.

Corruption also must be removed from education policy. The size of future prisons can be projected based on third grade reading scores. There are many well-connected donors who stand to gain financially building prisons and even more by managing privately owned prisons. Every time you reduce your educational levels you increase the money made on prisons. It will take a Governor willing to ignore the campaign donors who are influencing every department and put the needs of Georgians first.
Corruption is really the number one problem in Georgia. If we can put the needs of the people ahead of the interests of the campaign donors, we can solve our education, transportation, and our water issues and get public safety to a point where our citizens are safe. It will take revenue to give Georgians these basic needs, basic needs that must be met to attract industry and jobs. There are ways to increase revenue by innovative thinking like the point of sale bill; and with priority budgeting; better marketing for our state; and by leveraging more of our share of federal funds (funds we will have to pay back even if they go to another state.)
We can come out of this current economic crisis a better state. Georgia is a beautiful state with natural resources for every person's tastes, from the mountains, to the valleys, to the midlands, to the coast. If we put the needs of Georgians ahead of the special interests, we can make it so industry and jobs and the families that come with them, are attracted to what we know, can be the best place on earth. I will be the Governor who puts your voice and your heart back in your government.

Vote DuBose Porter
Put your voice and your heart
back in your government.

59. DuBose Porter: Rail. Yes. Now.

2010-02-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

We just can't say it enough. We need rail. We need the boost it will bring to the economy by attracting industry and creating jobs. We need to put people to work now and to keep our future on par with our neighboring states. As the article states below, ' This is how Birmingham felt in the 1960s, when it realized that airlines were indeed serious about big jets and big airports.'
If we don't act now, federal money for rail will, I repeat, will be going to other states and not just this year, but in the future. We will, I repeat, will be having to help pay for it anyway.
All of us are not just realizing we need rail. We had the chance to start our rail project in the mid-nineties. I worked on the route to Macon and another to Athens. Several of us did, but until you have someone in the Governor's office who is willing to set a course and put up the effort and do the work to bring a vision in, it just can't take off. As your Governor I will make sure that happens.

Another article you may have missed on rail:
Welcome to Georkansas: Suddenly, we have a rail gap
Excerpts from AJC, 11:27 am January 29, 2010, by Jim Galloway
...North Carolina has spent more than $300 million since 1992 to bolster its passenger rail service. On Thursday, it saw a return on that investment: a $545 million slice of President Barack Obama’s $8 billion high-speed rail stimulus.
Florida got an even bigger piece of that pie — $1.25 billion. The Sunshine State may have helped its case by boosting funding for mass transit after U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned that it needed to get its act together to compete for high-speed rail funds.
Georgia got a similar warning but didn’t jump to action. It got a $750,000 sliver.
Welcome to Georkansas.
This is how Birmingham felt in the 1960s, when it realized that airlines were indeed serious about big jets and big airports. Rail is the next big thing, and we have dug ourselves a large philosophic hole. Sam Williams, head of the Metro Chamber of Commerce and a longtime advocate of rail, said this morning that it will be years before we can crawl out:
“The first criteria that we’ve heard from the feds is that you have to have a state rail plan thoroughly written and presented. And you have to also have congressional support, and you have to have state government support. We’re so underfunded on infrastructure that, at this stage of the game, I don’t see them diverting any other funds to do the upfront work that North Carolina and Florida have done.
“Those states have spent hundreds and millions of dollars of their own money in the last decade. There may be specific projects – certainly there’s a lot of hope right now over the Peachtree-Auburn trolley project coming out of stimulus money. But stimulus money? We’ve gotten all the money we’re going to get.”
Renay Blumenthal, senior vice president at the Chamber, added this:
“We’ve got to put skin in the game. Which really comes back to why this regional T-SPLOST is so important. The only entity that’s got money to put into transportation right now is the federal government. We need to align our state transportation priorities with the federal transportation authorities to get access to that money. “
Which means that Gov. Sonny Perdue’s proposal for regional transportation districts will have to include language that permits expenditures on rail, or there isn’t likely to be a deal.
The End

We have yet to see Gov. Perdue's bill. For the future of Georgia, let's hope he puts rail in it.

Before the train leaves the station,
vote for DuBose Porter, July 2010.

58. DuBose in the Georgia snow.

2010-02-12T18:29:00.000-08:00

A beautiful day in Georgia!
Hope you are all in safe and sound.
Have a great weekend.

And thank you Carol Evans
for sending Team DuBose such a fantastic photo.
ANd to Warren Mullis who sent us the one at the top!

57. Smaller government that costs more--the midterm budget.

2010-02-11T19:54:00.000-08:00

(The list of who voted you in the largest property tax increase in Georgia history is at the end of this blog.)

House OKs Midyear Budget (by Insider Advantage)
(2/11/10) The Georgia House approved a midyear budget Thursday that cuts state spending in the current fiscal year by more than $1 billion in response to the mired economy.  Majority Republicans acknowledged it will cause pain but said it is spread across state government, not restricted to just a few agencies.   They touted their restoration of $17 million in funds which Gov. Sonny Perdue had proposed to cut from the QBE equalization grant that aids 134 school systems, and said they had protected the HOPE scholarship but foisting off his attempt to shift $33 million in costs for non-HOPE scholarships to the lottery.  Democrats, led by Minority Leader (and gubernatorial candidate) DuBose Porter, lauded both moves but said that in the case of K-12 education, it wasn’t enough. Adding back $17 million still leaves education with an overall cut of $72 million, he said, boosting the cumulative cut to education during the Perdue years to about $2.5 billion...
  “No, it’s not okay,” Porter said of the budget. “When we cut our teachers and cut our schools, we are shortchanging our kids.” He said the cuts to schools will force further property tax increases.  

Rep. James Mill, R-Gainesville, the designated rebuttal man for Republicans, said Georgia voters want the state to be more like them and manage to make do with less. “This is less government; it is less spending,” he said.
________________________________

That would be the opposite of the truth.
In the short term, local governments will be forced to raise your property taxes because they are obligated to continue to pay for the classrooms that they currently have. This midterm budget passes the responsibility of finding that money down to local governments whose only choice will be to raise property taxes.
For the long term it is even more devastating to the tax payer.
A government so small it does not educate its public is an extremely expensive government to maintain. Prisons populations are predicted based on third grade reading scores. It costs $8,000 to educate a child and up to $50,000 to imprison one. Who will be paying for that difference? You will, and those numbers do not account for the lost contributions to the tax base for each prisoner, nor the financial harm caused to the victims. The only ones who will profit from the massive cuts in education are the people who build prisons, the people who will manage privatized prisons and the companies that will be able to use the prison workforce in their companies as a cheap source of labor. Your legislators know all this. They know when they reduce education now, they increase prison populations later, but smaller government makes a great soundbite. The real question on smaller government should be, "If smaller government creates a $50,000 cost where there should be an $8,000 one, do you still want it that small?" Somewhere along the line, the smaller government movement has gone astray and turned into smaller government at all costs. One of the biggest losers is the taxpayers, who will continue to see their property taxes go up, to try to sustain a financially unsustainable prison population.
But the elected Republicans ran on not raising taxes; surely if they knew this midterm budget would indirectly raise your property taxes they would not have passed it? Why not? They have already directly raised property taxes by repealing the Homeowner’s Tax Relief Grant in last year’s 2009 session, when they gave taxpayers the largest single property tax increase in Georgia history:

HB 143 - Local government; homeowner tax relief grants; change certain provisions (...as in repealed it.)

N = No, don't repeal it and don't raise property taxes.
Y = Yes, repeal it and raise property taxes.

Senators:

PASSAGEFebruary 6, 2009 12:09PM
Yea (Y):29Nay (N):24Not Voting (-):0Excused (E):3

• NADELMAN, 42ND
• YBALFOUR, 9TH
• NBROWN, 26TH
• NBUCKNER, 44TH
• YBULLOCH, 11TH
• NBUTLER, 55TH
• YBUTTERWORTH, 50TH
• YCHANCE, 16TH
• NCHAPMAN, 3RD
• YCOWSERT, 46TH
• YCROSBY, 13TH
• YDOUGLAS, 17TH
• NFORT, 39TH
• YGOGGANS, 7TH
• NGOLDEN, 8TH
• YGRANT, 25TH
• YHAMRICK, 30TH
• NHARBISON, 15TH
• YHARP, 29TH
• YHAWKINS, 49TH
• YHEATH, 31ST
• NHENSON, 41ST
• YHILL, 32ND
• YHILL, 4TH
• NHOOKS, 14TH
• YHUDGENS, 47TH
• YJACKSON, 24TH
• NJACKSON, 2ND
• NJOHNSON, 1ST
• NJONES, 10TH
• YMOODY, 56TH
• YMULLIS, 53RD
• YMURPHY, 27TH
• NORROCK, 36TH
• YPEARSON, 51ST
• NPOWELL, 23RD
• NRAMSEY, SR., 43RD
• EREED, 35TH
• YROGERS, 21ST
• NSEABAUGH, 28TH
• NSEAY, 34TH
• YSHAFER, 48TH
• NSIMS, 12TH
• NSMITH, 52ND
• YSTATON, 18TH
• ESTONER, 6TH
• NTARVER, 22ND
• ETATE, 38TH
• YTHOMAS, 54TH
• NTHOMPSON, 33RD
• NTHOMPSON, 5TH
• YTOLLESON, 20TH
• YUNTERMAN, 45TH
• NWEBER, 40TH
• YWILES, 37TH
• YWILLIAMS, 19TH

HB 143PASSJanuary 30, 2009 11:14AM

Yea (Y):117Nay (N):55Not Voting (-):2Excused (E):6

Representatives:

NABDUL-SALAAM, 74TH
NABRAMS, 84TH
YALLISON, 8TH
YAMERSON, 9TH
YANDERSON, 117TH
NASHE, 56TH
YAUSTIN, 10TH
NBAKER, 78TH
YBARNARD, 166TH
YBATTLES, 15TH
YBEARDEN, 68TH
NBEASLEY-TEAGUE, 65TH
NBENFIELD, 85TH
YBENTON, 31ST
YBLACK, 174TH
NBROOKS, 63RD
NBRUCE, 64TH
YBRYANT, 160TH
NBUCKNER, 130TH
YBURKHALTER, 50TH
YBURNS, 157TH
YBUTLER, 18TH
YBYRD, 20TH
YCARTER, 159TH
YCARTER, 175TH
YCASAS, 103RD
YCHAMBERS, 81ST
YCHANNELL, 116TH
YCHEOKAS, 134TH
YCOAN, 101ST
YCOLE, 125TH
ECOLEMAN, 97TH
YCOLLINS, 27TH
YCOLLINS, 95TH
YCOOPER, 41ST
YCOX, 102ND
YCRAWFORD, 16TH
YDAVIS, 109TH
YDAVIS, 122ND
NDAWKINS-HAIGLER, 93RD
YDAY, 163RD
YDEMPSEY, 13TH
YDICKSON, 6TH
YDOBBS, 53RD
YDOLLAR, 45TH
NDOOLEY, 38TH
EDRENNER, 86TH
NDUKES, 150TH
YEHRHART, 36TH
YENGLAND, 108TH
NEPPS, 128TH
NEPPS, 140TH
YEVERSON, 106TH
NFLOYD, 99TH
NFLUDD, 66TH
NFRANKLIN, 43RD
NFRAZIER, 123RD
NFULLERTON, 151ST
NGARDNER, 57TH
-GEISINGER, 48TH

YGLANTON, 76TH
YGOLICK, 34TH
NGORDON, 162ND
YGRAVES, 12TH
YGREENE, 149TH
YHAMILTON, 23RD
YHANNER, 148TH
YHARBIN, 118TH
YHARDEN, 147TH
YHARDEN, 28TH
NHATFIELD, 177TH
NHEARD, 114TH
NHECKSTALL, 62ND
YHEMBREE, 67TH
EHENSON, 87TH
YHILL, 180TH
YHILL, 21ST
YHOLT, 112TH
YHORNE, 71ST
YHOUSTON, 170TH
NHOWARD, 121ST
NHUDSON, 124TH
NHUGLEY, 133RD
NJACKSON, 142ND
YJACOBS, 80TH
NJAMES, 135TH
YJERGUSON, 22ND
YJOHNSON, 37TH
EJOHNSON, 75TH
NJONES, 44TH
YJONES, 46TH
NJORDAN, 77TH
NKAISER, 59TH
YKEEN, 179TH
YKEOWN, 173RD
YKNIGHT, 126TH
YKNOX, 24TH
YLANE, 158TH
YLANE, 167TH
YLEVITAS, 82ND
YLINDSEY, 54TH
NLONG, 61ST
YLOUDERMILK, 14TH
NLUCAS, 139TH
ELUNSFORD, 110TH
YMADDOX, 127TH
YMADDOX, 172ND
NMANGHAM, 94TH
YMANNING, 32ND
NMARIN, 96TH
YMARTIN, 47TH
YMAXWELL, 17TH
YMAY, 111TH
NMAYO, 91ST
YMCCALL, 30TH
NMCKILLIP, 115TH
YMEADOWS, 5TH
YMILLAR, 79TH
YMILLS, 25TH
NMITCHELL, 88TH

NMORGAN, 39TH
YMORRIS, 155TH
NMOSBY, 90TH
NMURPHY, 120TH
YNEAL, 1ST
YNIX, 69TH
YO`NEAL, 146TH
YOLIVER, 83RD
YPARHAM, 141ST
YPARRISH, 156TH
YPARSONS, 42ND
YPEAKE, 137TH
NPORTER, 143RD
YPOWELL, 171ST
YPOWELL, 29TH
YPRUETT, 144TH
YRALSTON, 7TH
YRAMSEY, 72ND
NRANDALL, 138TH
YREECE, 11TH
YREESE, 98TH
YRICE, 51ST
-RICHARDSON, 19TH
YROBERTS, 154TH
YROGERS, 26TH
YRYNDERS, 152ND
YSCOTT, 153RD
YSCOTT, 2ND
YSELLIER, 136TH
YSETZLER, 35TH
YSHAW, 176TH
YSHELDON, 105TH
NSHIPP, 58TH
YSIMS, 119TH
YSIMS, 169TH
NSINKFIELD, 60TH
YSMITH, 113TH
YSMITH, 129TH
YSMITH, 131ST
YSMITH, 168TH
YSMITH, 70TH
NSMYRE, 132ND
NSTEPHENS, 161ST
YSTEPHENS, 164TH
NSTEPHENSON, 92ND
YTALTON, 145TH
NTAYLOR, 55TH
ETEILHET, 40TH
NTHOMAS, 100TH
NTHOMPSON, 104TH
YWALKER, 107TH
YWELDON, 3RD
YWILKINSON, 52ND
YWILLARD, 49TH
NWILLIAMS, 165TH
YWILLIAMS, 178TH
YWILLIAMS, 4TH
NWILLIAMS, 89TH
NWIX, 33RD
YYATES, 73RD

verify for yourself
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10/sum/hb143.htm

Yesterday’s midterm budget was devastating to the educational system in Georgia and to the taxpayer. Where we should be focusing on attracting industry and jobs through a well educated workforce, we have instead made prisons our newest growth industry.

Vote for common sense, cost-effective government.

Vote for DuBose Porter
in the Democratic Primary, July 2010.

56. More DuBose Porter is a Christian.

2010-02-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

Recently DuBose Porter raised a few eyebrows by accepting an invitation to speak at a Governor's candidate forum hosted by the Georgia Christian Alliance. Eyebrows were not raised because Democrats are not Christians, but because in the past Democrats have not reached out to organizations of faith, as they have been branded as Republican. DuBose felt he should go speak before this group to share his message. DuBose is strong in his Christian beliefs. He and his wife, Carol, were reared in the church and they have reared their children in the church. DuBose has served on the Administrative Board at First United Methodist Church and Carol has served as Bible School Director, is on the Worship Committee and teaches an adult Sunday School class. DuBose's faith has been a large part of his life. To accept an invitation to speak before this group was an opportunity to spread DuBose's message of educating instead of incarcerating; of managing Georgia's transportation and water based on the need instead of the wishes of campaign donors; and of keeping taxes low, while maximizing existing revenue sources, like DuBose's point of sales bill, that will enable Georgia to attract jobs and industry, instead of waving them away. (Read, the blog #55, below for a great example of waving industry and jobs away.) Johnathan McGinty, who writes for Beyond the Trestle in Athens, sent in a request for an interview with DuBose about his going to speak to the Christian Alliance. The following questions and answers below are the results:

Q-and-A with Rep. DuBose Porter

Wed, 02/10/2010 - 09:15 | johnathan

Rep. DuBose Porter was the only Democrat to accept an invitation to participate in a forum hosted by the Georgia Christian Alliance. The conservative religious organization has a habit of supporting Republican candidates, but Porter - in a move I initially disagreed with - opted to share the stage with his opponents from the other side of aisle in, arguably, a rather hostile environment. Porter used the opportunity to defend his faith and his political beliefs, earning widespread praise from many conservatives there.

In a recent exchange with me, Porter elaborated on some of his thoughts regarding the role faith and politics play in the public sector ...

1. There aren't many Democrats who would venture over and address a gathering of individuals under the umbrella of an organization headed up by Sadie Fields. Politically, that's a tough road to hoe. What made you decide to address this group, and what were you hoping to accomplish?

The branding of Republicans with the Christian religion has cut off many Georgians from hearing the truth about what is going on in their government. Do you think they know the point of sale bill (HB 356), which I cosponsored last session (2009) would have found up to $1 billion in unreturned sales tax, was killed in committee by elected Republican leadership? Do you think they realize the largest property tax increase in Georgia history (HB 143) was passed by the elected Republicans in the 2009 session? Do you think they knew that for six years the Hawk System, another brain child of elected Republican leadership, took away representative government in Georgia? Do you think they knew that the speaker and his enforcers could go into any committee at any time and change the vote without having read one word of the bill?...

2. Speaking as a politically progressive Christian, I was impressed to see you open your comments with, quite frankly, some frustration. You said that you were tired of people not accepting that you could be both. I was hoping you could expand on that sentiment somewhat.

I feel because of some of the national branding by the Republican operatives, Democrats have been portrayed in the national media as Godless. Democrats are not Godless. I have yet to go to a Democratic meeting that has not opened with a prayer. It is time the Democrats enlarge their tent to welcome more people of faith, and I am ready to be the one to do it. My goal in speaking before the Christian Alliance was to open up a previously closed off, large group of the population of Georgia. Democrats have a strong faith too and I believe our message is often more closely aligned with the parables of Jesus. Quite frankly, I am a Democrat because I am a Christian.

3. Much of the discussion, it seems, always seems to trickle back to issues connected with social conservatism (i.e. abortion, gay rights, etc.). There are broader themes involved in Christianity, however, that aren't neatly limited to that realm. There's economic justice. There's civil rights. I remember reading that President Franklin D. Roosevelt liked to call the New Deal 'applied Christianity.' With that in mind, how does your faith guide you in areas like budgeting, education and all the other areas of policy?

I could not agree with you more. Take No. 7 in the Ten Commandments, "Thou shall not commit adultery." The Republicans are never seen in the streets getting people to the polls against adultery, yet adultery has probably done more to undermine family values (and political careers) than any of the Ten Commandments. I believe, many of the Republicans who would not think of campaigning on policies to stop adultery, are still Christians. Life is complicated. We as Democrats believe economic justice and civil rights will be helped by a strong education system and through job creation. Is this because we believe “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”? I think so. Is that a religious influence? It probably is.

4. All of that said, given the existing political climate, it is difficult to escape those hot-button issues. What would you tell social conservatives who have concerns over your positions on those issues?

I think they need to look at what the Republicans gave them when they controlled all branches of government in Washington and Georgia at the same time for more than a year. A lot of what they go to the polls on cannot be legislated in Georgia. It is time for them to realize the difference between a state and a national issue and quit allowing our transportation, our water, and our educational systems to be run into the ground while we continue to have the highest percentage of our population in the correctional system in the entire United States. Should prisons be Georgia’s number one growth industry? It is time for Georgians to face reality and quit voting rich and living poor.

5. You closed your comments asking that if those in the crowd couldn't vote for you, you hoped they would pray for you. Speaking in a more theological sense, I suppose, how does the Christian community move past what is, in some ways, the same partisanship and distrust that plagues our political process?

Get more information. Become deeply informed on the issues. People must get more engaged in their government. Corruption is rampant and corruption often has the most money to publicize their side of the issue. With the internet it is often possible to find the primary source of information and make informed decisions for one’s self. Individuals have to start taking on an active role in understanding the real issues behind the rhetoric.

DuBose Porter
Faith, Family, and The Economy.
Put your voice back in your government.

55. DuBose Porter: Transportation will feed education.

2010-02-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

Transportation, or rather lack of it, is one of the reasons Georgia's economy has been slower to recoverthan surrounding states. For two years we have not had a transportation plan while our major city sits in gridlock and LARP has been cut to rural areas. Georgia's inaction on a viable transportation plan, over the past decade or more, has cost us far too much already in jobs, money and economic growth. We cannot continue to let our lack of leadership on transportation cripple our state. If we do not improve our transportation system we will be cutting off our nose to spite our face in many other areas necessary for growth as well, including education. If a well educated public is the key to Georgia's future prosperity, and I know it is, we must improve our transportation system. That is why I am supporting the fourth penny that is generated from motor fuel tax to be designated for transportation. The following article is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the importance of transportation planning to Georgia's economy: (Please feel free to cut, paste and email it to your friends.)

We’re Waving Goodbye to the Future
from CapitolImpact, by Tom Crawford tcrawford@capitolimpact.net

When Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stopped in Atlanta last September, he was asked about Georgia’s prospects for getting some of the $8 billion in federal stimulus funds being allocated for a network of high-speed passenger rail lines. Like other states in the region, Georgia wanted to be part of this important project and applied for $472 million that would pay for building the link between Atlanta and Macon. But LaHood’s response to reporters’ questions about the federal money was not very encouraging.“It’ll come to Atlanta if Georgia gets its act together,” LaHood said. “There has to be a commitment by state government that transit is important.” Unfortunately for Georgia, we are still looking for that commitment from the state’s leadership.
We paid the price last week when the announcement of the rail grants was finally made. Florida and North Carolina, which are serious about investing in passenger rail, will get nearly $1.8 billion combined. That money will be spent for infrastructure projects that employ thousands of people. Georgia will get the piddling amount of $750,000 to conduct yet another study of passenger rail. The only jobs created will be for whichever consultants do the study.
This is bad news for the state, but it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. For a project of this scope and importance, the federal money is only going to states that are serious about investing for future transportation needs. Georgia has been much less than serious about this issue. We already have $87 million in federal funds that have sat unused for the last 10 years because the state still has not agreed to provide $20 million in matching funds. That money would have paid for the first part of the Atlanta-Macon line, a commuter rail link from downtown Atlanta to Clayton County.
Here’s what our leadership thought was more important to the state’s future. Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed, and the Legislature approved, $19 million a few years ago to build a bunch of boat docks and a tourist center for the “Go Fish” initiative that was supposed to attract bass fishing tournaments to Georgia. In his budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Perdue proposed that the state spend $10 million on a College Football Hall of Fame that will relocate to Atlanta and $9.1 million on a horse park at the National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry.
Passenger rail service? We can’t afford any of that. Commuter rail links to Macon and Athens remain just concepts in a bureaucrat’s report, as does a high-speed rail line from Atlanta to Chattanooga.
To sum it up: our neighboring states are making a major investment to become part of a transportation network that could reshape the future of this region. We’re building boat docks and horse parks. We can’t even agree on a sales tax to repave a few highways.
This is not a partisan issue—both parties have been asleep at the wheel. Democratic governors Roy Barnes and Zell Miller also passed up opportunities to get into the rail game. Sam Williams of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce recalls how business leaders tried in vain to sell Miller’s transportation commissioner, the late Wayne Shackelford, on the value of upgrading rail service.
“We argued with Wayne Shackelford for years to try to get money for rail,” Williams said, but he wouldn’t budge. That indifference to any mode of transportation other than highways has also been a feature of the Republicans who have controlled state government in recent years. Former House Speaker Glenn Richardson was especially contemptuous of rail service, once dismissing it as “19th century technology for a 21st century problem.”
“We’re the caboose on this train,” Williams said. “If we’re cut out of this, if the rail line goes down the coast (and not through Atlanta), then shame on us.”
North Carolina and Florida are willing to make major investments that should result in benefits down the line for all of their citizens. They’re getting big money from the federal government to start putting people to work and make it a reality.
Georgia could have been part of that, too, but we have decided not to get on board. The train is leaving the station without us. We’re waving goodbye to the future.

_______________________________

"Those of you who have heard me campaigning around the state know I have been the biggest proponent of passenger rail, fourth penny dedication and for passing a statewide transportation plan, for many of the facts mentioned above. We can not continue to be left behind."- DuBose Porter

Follows is an article that just was published online in the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Thursday, February 4, 2010
Democrats ante up transportation plan

Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Dave Williams Staff Writer
Democratic leaders in the General Assembly introduced legislation Thursday that would let Georgians vote on transportation funding this fall and possibly next year, earlier than a timetable proposed by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Identical constitutional amendments submitted in the House and Senate call for a statewide referendum in November on whether Georgians should be allowed to vote by region on raising sales taxes to pay for needed highway and transit projects in their communities.
If the statewide referendum is approved, it would authorize groups of counties to develop regional plans to fund transportation improvements with a penny sales tax. One or more regional votes then would be held in 2011.
Metro Atlanta, with its traffic congestion, likely would be the first to organize a regional transportation sales tax to put before voters.
Perdue’s transportation funding plan, which the governor unveiled last month, wouldn’t come to a vote until 2012.
“We can’t wait,” said House Minority Leader DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, during a news conference held by legislative Democrats. “We have to do this now.”
Democrats repeatedly cited last week’s decision by the Obama administration to bypass Georgia for a significant piece of $8 billion in high-speed rail funding. Other Southeastern states, including Florida and North Carolina, were awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds, while Georgia received just $750,000 for three feasibility studies.
Federal officials, including Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, have warned Georgia leaders to get moving on transportation funding or risk being put at the end of the line for federal assistance.
“We’re losing money and jobs to surrounding states,” said Sen. Tim Golden, D-Valdosta, chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. “We can’t stand idly by and watch Georgia lose its position as a Southern business leader.”
The Democrats’ proposal is similar to the regional approach to transportation funding lawmakers have taken during the last two years. However, both efforts failed on the final day of the last two legislative sessions.
The new constitutional amendment also would dedicate the fourth cent of the state’s 4-cent gasoline tax, which currently goes to the general fund, to transportation, a proposal Democrats have pushed unsuccessfully in past sessions.
That provision, too, would be subject to ratification in a statewide referendum.
As a constitutional amendment, the legislation would not require Perdue’s signature. However, it does need a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to get through the General Assembly and on to the voters, a dubious proposition with Republicans holding solid majorities in both chambers.

Vote for Leadership for Georgia.
Vote for DuBose Porter Governor, 2010

54. DuBose Porter says: "Stop protecting the Cheaters."

2010-02-08T04:31:00.000-08:00

DuBose Porter’s battles to stop corruption and give the people back their government are getting statewide coverage as he runs for Governor and changes are beginning to happen.
Just like DuBose’s six year battle to defeat the Hawk system (To read more on the Hawks scroll down to blog#19), campaigning state wide is bringing DuBose’s message of anti-corruption and efficient government to light. Imagine how much of your government he could clean up and make efficient if he were your governor.
DuBose is still advocating for the "point of sale" bill. The coming inevitability that some version of HB356, the "point of sale" bill, will make it through this year, is the perfect example of what true leadership, combined with the people’s voices can do. By adding your voices to DuBose’s, and those who are working with him to stop the corruption, the truth about Georgia’s government is coming out of the darkness.

"It has shown that about 25% of the businesses that have business licenses do not have sales tax certificates," Rep. Porter says, "That's how much cheating is happening." *

Are Millions In Georgia
Sales Taxes Missing?*

Yes, Georgia.
That’s what DuBose Porter has been saying for years.

Also as reported in the AJC by Aaron Gould Sheinin:

‘House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), who has said for years that the state loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year in uncollected sales taxes...’

And now that DuBose is getting a statewide audience others are being forced to honor the obvious truth: As reported this morning by Paul Crawley:

‘Rep. Porter is being joined by a growing number of Republican lawmakers interested in his bill that would share state sales tax records with local governments to compare with their business licenses.’

If Crawley had been reporting on the debates, he might have added Democratic candidates are jumping on to DuBose’s bill as Sheinin added in his report later:

‘...That proposal also was seconded by Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former Gov. Roy Barnes.’

DuBose has kept the battle going for you to get your paid sales tax back as emphasized by this report from Tom Baxter of Insider Advantage:

‘...But as was evidenced again Tuesday night in the first televised debate of the Democratic candidates, he has given his party what is so far its defining issue. Porter’s rivals have endorsed... (HB356).’

This video from 11Alive explains
DuBose’s “point of sale” bill further:

With your support there is no way they can choose to furlough teachers and state employees, instead of passing this bill, this year.
Stay Informed. Get engaged. Georgia cannot financially afford to continue its corrupt policies. The results, that Georgia and our entire country are now experiencing, are self-evident.
Last year the Republican leadership killed HB356 in committee because they are operating under some misguided idea that when you vote for smaller government you mean “phase out” public schools and furlough teachers. ( As you know Georgia is already #1 in its population in the correctional system. You can predict that number on 3rd grade reading scores. You can’t afford to phase out public education. Don’t let blind allegiance to any one party keep you voting rich and living poor. Staying at the bottom of education and at the top of the correctional system percentages will keep jobs and industry away from Georgia. All the U.S./Ga. jobs of the future will go to the well-educated. DuBose Porter wants Georgians in the front of the well educated line, not the unemployment line.)
DuBose Porter knows when you voted for smaller government, you were voting for efficient government, government that maximizes your hard-earned money and puts it to work for you, not against you. Corruption in your elected politicians has allowed up to 25% of your already paid sales tax to stay in the hands of unscrupulous business owners, as discovered in the new pilot study. It is time to put your voice back in your government.

*Are Millions In Georgia Sales Taxes Missing?

COLUMBUS, GA - This is a tale of two cities, separated by the Chattahoochee River: Phenix City, Alabama and Columbus, Georgia.
It's a story of how these two cities collect their sales taxes, or as the case may be here in Georgia, don't collect a big chunk of them.
Georgia's legislature is wrestling with more than one-billion dollars in budget cuts again this year, but some argue millions of dollars of uncollected sales taxes are falling through the cracks.
Like other Georgia cities, Columbus has no idea how many of its businesses are actually paying their sales taxes.
That's because the money goes directly to the State Department of Revenue in Atlanta, who then sends back a single check to Columbus each month.
"We just want to know where it's coming from and that we're getting all that's due us," Columbus City Manager Isaiah Hugley tells 11 Alive News.
"We don't know where that money comes from, what area of town, what sectors it came from; we don't know anything," he adds, "All we know is that we're on an honor system where the State of Georgia puts $3.3-million into an account (each month)."
Across the Chattahoochee River sales taxes flow more smoothly and accurately.
That's because Phenix City's businesses pay them to a private company that cross checks those tax records against local business licenses to make sure there's no cheating.
Some estimates say Alabama cities have increased collections more than 10% under their system.
"They pick up several dozen every year where they found people that weren't paying sales taxes here...and they collect that," Phenix City Finance Director Stephen Smith tells 11 Alive News.
State Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham has admitted to state lawmakers that Georgia may be missing out on as much as 5% of sales tax collections, perhaps more.
Georgia State Representative DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), the House Minority Leader, claims collecting the missing taxes could mean an extra $250-500-million right away, enough to eliminate more furloughs for teachers and state employees.
The gubernatorial candidate also points to a pilot program in Georgia that indicates a lot is missing.
"It has shown that about 25% of the businesses that have business licenses do not have sales tax certificates," Rep. Porter says, "That's how much cheating is happening."
Rep. Porter is being joined by a growing number of Republican lawmakers interested in his bill that would share state sales tax records with local governments to compare with their business licenses.
"We need to do everything we can to perfect the sales tax system," admits Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock).
"Some of the things Alabama has done have been very beneficial to them," he adds.
Some, including Revenue Commissioner Graham, fear a change might mean far more local audits for companies with stores in several counties, instead of one statewide audit.
But others are talking about a system where several local governments could combine those audits to make it easier on large companies.

Because DuBose now has the opportunity to run a statewide campaign his fight against corruption in Georgia’s government is reaching a larger audience. You are hearing, you are listening, and your voices are having an impact. Get your money back from the cheaters.

With the Internet it is possible for the people to win the war against the big donors who do better when the middle class lives poor. Join DuBose Porter and help stop those who want to keep Georgia’s financially unsustainable status quo. Click here to volunteer to help us spread your word.

Put your voice back in your government
and your money back in your pocket.
Vote for DuBose Porter: an Independent Mind
in the Democratic Primary, July 2010.

53. Watch DuBose Porter at the Debate.

2010-02-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

Watch the whole Democratic Debate
held in Athens Tuesday night on the link below:

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/22417918/

DuBose. Experience, Character, Solutions.
Vote July 20, 2010

52. DuBose Porter: Won the DUBATE!

2010-02-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

A young student was at the Democratic Debate typing furiously away throughout the debate. We found out later he was live blogging. This same student, Dustin Baker, posted his opinion on a blog at Georgia Liberal today at lunch and it did not take long before our, "Dawgs for DuBose" members where emailing us with the link. Needless to say we all agreed Dustin got it right.

(And then this came in so we are adding it before Dustin's recaps:)

The Du-Bate: More Proof
that Porter takes the Win

February 3, 2010 by Dustin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Election 2010, State News

I just wanted to point out that I am not the only person that thinks Porter lead the debate last night:

By Tom Baxter, InsiderAdvantage Georgia

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter isn’t the front-running Democrat in polls of the governor’s race, nor is he the top fundraiser. But as was evidenced again Tuesday night in the first televised debate of the Democratic candidates, he has given his party what is so far its defining issue.

Porter’s rivals have endorsed House Bill 356 the measure he authored which would let local governments collect sales taxes at the point of sale. But the lawmaker and newspaper publisher from Dublin can claim first dibs on the issue of uncollected taxes….

————————

By Aaron Gould Sheinin The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), who has said for years that the state loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year in uncollected sales taxes, repeated that mantra Tuesday and said it could be a source of education funding. That proposal also was seconded by Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former Gov. Roy Barnes….

Democratic debates by Dustin Baker:

Debate Recap: DuBose Porter #1
By Dustin Baker
February 3, 2010 by Dustin

Filed under: Election 2010, State News

The star of the night was Dubose Porter#1. As some of his supporters said at the after-party, it was a Du-bate, and I have to agree with them. Porter showed up and he showed up strong. He had the most shirts and supporters there. I would say there were easily 15-20 people there with Porter shirts on.

Porter said education needs to be our number one priority. He said we need to collect money that is owed from sales taxes that are unpaid. He also noted his work on the education committee.

Porter also talked about a high-speed train system. He says we need to get one to deal with our traffic problems. Better transportation, he argued, would attract more businesses. The federal government would be footing the bill for most of it. He said he would support such efforts if he were governor.

Porter also took a well-deserved shot at Barnes. Porter said, as governor, he would expand the PSO program. He said he would not veto it as Governor Barnes did. I can say I am disappointed with Barnes for this. PSO is an excellent program.

Porter also said we need a zero-tolerance ethics policy. I could not agree more. Porter has fought for six years against the Hawk system, so he is no Johnny Come Lately on Ethics Reform. I feel very comfortable with his history on Ethics.

Porter brought up a Constitutional Amendment he is sponsoring, which would ban individuals from serving the Legislature if they have not filed and paid their taxes. This is the type of ethics reform we need.

Porter laid out his priorities in relation to health care:

Cover children in GA “needs to be a priority.” Do not reduce Peachcare
Put in a electronic health care system. (I believe this is correct, but if I misheard this, please correct me).
Reorganize reimbursement system.

Porter was also asked about Sunday Sales in Georgia. I thought this question was basically a politically divisive question that I doubt would have much impact on the state economy. He said he would leave it up to the people by a referendum or the legislature to take the initiative. He seemed to indicate that he would support a referendum to allow the people of Georgia to decide.

Barnes tried to say that he had the experience that other candidates did not have, but Porter did a great job answering it, saying: I have been in the legislature for 28 years, I have the experience. I am running for education. (paraphrase).

Overall, I say Porter gets first place. He showed up, presented himself well, and talked about the issues.

General David Poythress #2 was great at the debate. Though the poor guy had to go last almost every time, but what he said was good.

Poythress advocated closing tax loopholes to help pay for education. He said we did not need new taxes, we just need to close these loopholes and collect the taxes already on the books. He wants to overhaul the Revenue Department to make it more efficient.

Poythress is making a commitment to getting people back to work… and he is willing to put his salary on the line. He said he would not take a salary as governor until unemployment was under 7%. This got a shock across the room and everyone sat up just a little bit higher. Whether or not you feel this is a gimmick, it will resonate with voter, especially those who are furloughed or getting laid off.

Poythress also said his military background help him understand that Georgia needs a strategic plan. He said “Our state does not have a strategic plan about anything that makes any sense.”

When asked about the Water issue, Poythress said we need Congressional reauthorization. Politically, that is not likely to happen. Perdue and administration are going the legal route, but that is not a sure route, as the court could decide either way. He said the least successful attempt would be to negotiate a resolution with FL and AL.

Poythress also said he would put initiatives into place that would get doctors into south Georgia. I think this is a great idea, as south Georgia has a shortage of doctors.

Sadly, I have to give Poythress his demerit for mentioning 9/11. Again, that noun+verb+9/11 thing just is not going to cut it here. However, overall I have to say Poythress gets 2nd place. Good job guys.

Thurbert Baker #3 did a good job at the debate last night. Baker did a great job of hitting on education issues. Many of his family members are involved in education, and I think that helps him prioritize as the top issue for a potential Baker administration.

Baker was also asked a question on property taxes. He answered that property owners should have their properties assessed each year and also have the right and ability to appeal any rulings on their property values.

I did feel like Baker dodged the question on the JOBS bill. He was asked if he philosophically supported it, but he did not answer that and instead diverted to saying he supports getting Georgians back to work with specifically addressing the JOBS bill.

Baker said he would also be willing to consider making Georgia Sunshine Law violations a felony.

Baker also expressed his support for the second amendment. I am concerned about this, as he was asked if he supported allowing people to carry guns in church and on public transportation. While he said it would be handled in court, he did not give a specific answer. I support gun rights as much as the next Georgia, and probably more than many of my fellow Democrats, but I do not support people carrying guns on public transportation.

Baker also shared a personal story during the debate about his daughter having diabetes and how it helps him understand how the average Georgian deals with the health care issues.

I give Baker third place in the debate.

Carl Camon #4 would be what VH1 calls the “Jump of the Week.” Many who I talked to were very impressed with Camon’s performance. While it may not have persuaded them to vote for him, they say he was the unknown candidate that really “hung in with the big boys” at the debate.

Camon is a small town mayor of Ray, GA. One of the moderators called it “similar to the size of Wasilla.” This got a few laughs from the audience. Camon spent a good bit of time talking about how it helps him relate to the people.

One of Camon’s promises was that he would go to a different school in each county of the state and teach a course. He wanted to see first hand our school system is and how he could improve it. I thought this was a good proposal.

He also talked about Quality Basic Education. He said, for example, that we should keep children from repeating grades by doing a better job the first time. In the end, he argues, this will save money.

Camon also said ”Some believe you have to have money, ‘look a certain way’ to be governor…” I am not saying that Camon played the race card here, but some people got that impression. I think he was simply referring to the fact that he was from a small town and a mayor, not on the state level. However, the word choice could have been better.

I give Camon fourth place.

I was very unimpressed with Roy Barnes #5. I am not on the “hate-Roy-because-he-is-too-moderate” bandwagon. And, I am going to try to be fair in my analysis here:

First, Barnes did not seem too excited to be there. Being a former governor, I might have had higher expectations of him than some of the other candidates. Perhaps my expectations are informing my judgement. He seemed to be uncomfortable on the stage and also seemed to be moving from side to side frequently. He looked the least-professional on the stage.

That being said, Barnes wanted to help recoup some sales tax to help fund education. He also was against some ear-mark projects in the state budget, such as an equestrian park. He said education should take priority over these projects, and I whole-heartedly agree.

He also said we should not be furloughing teachers. I think this may be an attempt to reach out to the teachers he alienated. He also said he supported his unpopular educational reform from his past term in office. He seemed to imply that No Child Left Behind had co-opted his idea. However, NCLB has been an epic failure, so equating the two projects was probably a bad idea.

Barnes said he had no intentions of running for governor, but his grandchildren inspired him to run again so that he could help strengthen the education system. I felt this was noble. He said he was not doing it to get another a line on his resume.

He also said we could cut the state government but that we should not cut direct (teacher) education.

He said Young Georgians should stay in Georgia, because there are better days to come!

Also, how many time can you mention 9/11. You are both a Democrat and NOT Rudy G. That noun+verb+9/11 stuff just is not going to cut it, at least not in my blogs domain.

Overall, maybe due to my high expectations of him, I have to give Barnes fifth place. Sorry Roy, Nothing personal! You did not do a BAD job at the debate; but, you did not really stand out either. There was something about all the other candidates that I walked away saying “oh candidate X said this/stood for that.” I did not have that with you.

The 9/11 references were a little weak, but you seem to think you are going to walk-in and win the primary.

I caution you to look at Martha Coakley, the MA Democrat that lost Kennedy’s senate seat. She lost because she took her popularity for granted. She thought she was a sure-win, and the people assured her that she was not.

You decide 1 to 5,
DuBose Porter will put your voice,
back in your government.

51. DuBose Porter and Dawgs for DuBose

2010-02-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

Above are photos of Dawgs for DuBose after the debate. We did not have free food, but we did manage to pack the House. Many thanks to Warren Mullis and all the members of Dawgs for DuBose.
The Debate was a huge success for DuBose Porter and Team DuBose and Dawgs for DuBose! Cameras were not allowed in the debate, but Team Porter had the most supporters there by far. We were the only group that had a large number of college students and all of our supporters wore their DuBose Porter "Works for Me" shirts. DuBose clearly won on the issues, the number of supporters in the crowd and two newspapers have already said he defined the issue of the night!

Porter leads, Barnes and Baker agree.

Excerpts from Last night’s debate
Collecting Unpaid Sales Taxes The Defining Issue For Democrats So Far
By Tom Baxter, InsiderAdvantage Georgia
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter isn’t the front-running Democrat in polls of the governor’s race, nor is he the top fundraiser. But as was evidenced again Tuesday night in the first televised debate of the Democratic candidates, he has given his party what is so far its defining issue.
Porter’s rivals have endorsed House Bill 356* the measure he authored which would let local governments collect sales taxes at the point of sale. But the lawmaker and newspaper publisher from Dublin can claim first dibs on the issue of uncollected taxes....
(This Blog corrected bill # to 356 the number had been printed incorrectly)
------------------------
By Aaron Gould Sheinin The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), who has said for years that the state loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year in uncollected sales taxes, repeated that mantra Tuesday and said it could be a source of education funding. That proposal also was seconded by Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former Gov. Roy Barnes....

If you want to know more on the "point of sale" bill scroll down to Blogs#32, 18,17, and 15. DuBose also spoke on many of the other issues that you will see as you scroll on down.

Vote for DuBose Porter.
An Independent mind in the Democratic primary.

50. DuBose Porter on National Board Certification for Teachers

2010-02-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

Several teacher's have asked DuBose where he stands on National Board Certification. Here is his statement from a press release from September 28, 2009:

DuBose Porter speaks out again

against elimination of

National Board Certification for Teachers

Atlanta – DuBose Porter, candidate for Governor in 2010, again voiced his opposition to the elimination of the year long rigorous program of becoming Nationally Board Certified, and the 10 percent salary increase that comes along with it, for teachers.

“We should not eliminate Nationally Board Certification for our teachers,” said Representative Porter. “Teachers throughout Georgia have gone through this rigorous program because they know it will improve their skills in the classroom. This is another step backwards for our future citizens. This Legislature has once again damaged Georgia's prosperity in the future by cutting education today. "

To view DuBose Porter’s remarks during the session against the passage of HB 243 which took Georgia another step back in education click below:

http://media.legis.ga.gov/hav/09_10/reps/dubose.wmv

DuBose Porter believes in Education.
When it comes to our children, we can invest now or pay later.

Georgia is number one in the percentage of our population in the correctional system.
It cost $8,000 to educate a child and up to $50,000 to imprison one.
You can't afford those statistics.

Vote for DuBose Porter.
Put your voice back in your government.
Democratic Primary July 2010

49. Carol Porter speaks to NFIB/GA.

2010-01-28T03:50:00.001-08:00

Carol Porter, wife of DuBose Porter, filled in for him yesterday at the National Federation of Independent Business Governor's Forum in Atlanta. DuBose was at a ceremony where he was being recognized by Georgia Trend for being one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians. Carol was on the news, but we also have a video of Carol telling the group of small business owners why Georgia needs to elect a Governor who will, unlike the Governors of the past decade, manage the state for the good of the people over the good of their campaign donors. If you provide quality eduction, train for jobs and attract the industry that will bring the jobs, then small businesses will thrive.

Carol, along with the candidates running for Governor, was asked three questions concerning the economy and how small business, which creates most of the jobs in Georgia, would be enhanced under their governorship. (And even though the room was heavily Republican, Carol called for them to look at which party is truly pro-business. Saying does not mean doing. Tax incentives for small businesses are only one part of the picture. If you have gridlock, water issues, are number one in the percentage of your population in the correctional system AND are in the bottom in education, is that going to attract jobs and industry to Georgia? Doesn't sound pro-business to us. )

To share Team DuBose blogs click on the envelope at the bottom right. Help us spread the word, it is not too late to take corruption out of your government and put your voice back in. Vote for DuBose Porter, in the Democratic Primary, July 2010

48. DuBose Porter: Victory over the Hawk System.

2010-01-28T03:50:00.000-08:00

Today is a great day for Georgia.

A dark period of Georgia history will end today when the new Speaker, David Ralston, pushes a vote for a rules change that will end the Hawk system in the Georgia House of Representatives; the system that has taken your voice out of your government, for the past six years.

You can scroll down to blog # 19, published Nov. 23,2009, or use the archives on the right, to verify for yourself this actually happened in your state. Here is an excerpt (after today it will be written in the past tense:)

'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.

The actual rule:
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.'

______________

DuBose has been fighting for your right to representative democracy against the Hawk System for six years. Now that he has been campaigning all across Georgia, the truth is getting out to all Georgians, and you are making your voices heard.

You have spoken
and the Hawks power to fly
will end today.

Thank you to our supporters and to the many Georgians who have become engaged in their government and have said, "enough." Thank you also to the new Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, David Ralston, for joining us and all Georgians who want their voice back in their government, and for having the leadership to stop what was once the largest threat to democracy in the United States.

47. DuBose Porter: Who raised your property taxes? Not me.

2010-01-27T07:55:00.000-08:00

People have had such a hard time believing that the political brand (in this case the elected Republicans in Georgia) that they have voted for, for the express reason of keeping their taxes low, actually voted to raise their property taxes.

See for yourself who voted to give you

the largest property tax increase

in Georgia history,

last year, in the 2009 session.

DuBose Porter went to the well of the House to speak against raising your property taxes. DuBose Porter knows our citizens cannot afford to have their property taxes increased during one of the worst economic downturns in state history. Many homeowners and small businesses are having trouble staying in their homes and businesses as it is.

Blind allegiance to any one party, and especially to any party that runs on one thing and gets to Atlanta and does another, is what is damaging this economy and the future prosperity of our state. It is time to step back, take the R and the D off of the name and look at what each politician actually does.

Get engaged in your government. Find out the truth.

Who actually voted to raise your taxes? See for yourself.

HB 143 - Local government; homeowner tax relief grants; change certain provisions

(...as in repealed it. N = No, don't repeal it and don't raise property taxes. Y = Yes, repeal it and raise property taxes.)

HB 143PASSJanuary 30, 2009 11:14AM

Yea (Y):117Nay (N):55Not Voting (-):2Excused (E):6

NABDUL-SALAAM, 74TH
NABRAMS, 84TH
YALLISON, 8TH
YAMERSON, 9TH
YANDERSON, 117TH
NASHE, 56TH
YAUSTIN, 10TH
NBAKER, 78TH
YBARNARD, 166TH
YBATTLES, 15TH
YBEARDEN, 68TH
NBEASLEY-TEAGUE, 65TH
NBENFIELD, 85TH
YBENTON, 31ST
YBLACK, 174TH
NBROOKS, 63RD
NBRUCE, 64TH
YBRYANT, 160TH
NBUCKNER, 130TH
YBURKHALTER, 50TH
YBURNS, 157TH
YBUTLER, 18TH
YBYRD, 20TH
YCARTER, 159TH
YCARTER, 175TH
YCASAS, 103RD
YCHAMBERS, 81ST
YCHANNELL, 116TH
YCHEOKAS, 134TH
YCOAN, 101ST
YCOLE, 125TH
ECOLEMAN, 97TH
YCOLLINS, 27TH
YCOLLINS, 95TH
YCOOPER, 41ST
YCOX, 102ND
YCRAWFORD, 16TH
YDAVIS, 109TH
YDAVIS, 122ND
NDAWKINS-HAIGLER, 93RD
YDAY, 163RD
YDEMPSEY, 13TH
YDICKSON, 6TH
YDOBBS, 53RD
YDOLLAR, 45TH
NDOOLEY, 38TH
EDRENNER, 86TH
NDUKES, 150TH
YEHRHART, 36TH
YENGLAND, 108TH
NEPPS, 128TH
NEPPS, 140TH
YEVERSON, 106TH
NFLOYD, 99TH
NFLUDD, 66TH
NFRANKLIN, 43RD
NFRAZIER, 123RD
NFULLERTON, 151ST
NGARDNER, 57TH
-GEISINGER, 48TH

YGLANTON, 76TH
YGOLICK, 34TH
NGORDON, 162ND
YGRAVES, 12TH
YGREENE, 149TH
YHAMILTON, 23RD
YHANNER, 148TH
YHARBIN, 118TH
YHARDEN, 147TH
YHARDEN, 28TH
NHATFIELD, 177TH
NHEARD, 114TH
NHECKSTALL, 62ND
YHEMBREE, 67TH
EHENSON, 87TH
YHILL, 180TH
YHILL, 21ST
YHOLT, 112TH
YHORNE, 71ST
YHOUSTON, 170TH
NHOWARD, 121ST
NHUDSON, 124TH
NHUGLEY, 133RD
NJACKSON, 142ND
YJACOBS, 80TH
NJAMES, 135TH
YJERGUSON, 22ND
YJOHNSON, 37TH
EJOHNSON, 75TH
NJONES, 44TH
YJONES, 46TH
NJORDAN, 77TH
NKAISER, 59TH
YKEEN, 179TH
YKEOWN, 173RD
YKNIGHT, 126TH
YKNOX, 24TH
YLANE, 158TH
YLANE, 167TH
YLEVITAS, 82ND
YLINDSEY, 54TH
NLONG, 61ST
YLOUDERMILK, 14TH
NLUCAS, 139TH
ELUNSFORD, 110TH
YMADDOX, 127TH
YMADDOX, 172ND
NMANGHAM, 94TH
YMANNING, 32ND
NMARIN, 96TH
YMARTIN, 47TH
YMAXWELL, 17TH
YMAY, 111TH
NMAYO, 91ST
YMCCALL, 30TH
NMCKILLIP, 115TH
YMEADOWS, 5TH
YMILLAR, 79TH
YMILLS, 25TH
NMITCHELL, 88TH

NMORGAN, 39TH
YMORRIS, 155TH
NMOSBY, 90TH
NMURPHY, 120TH
YNEAL, 1ST
YNIX, 69TH
YO`NEAL, 146TH
YOLIVER, 83RD
YPARHAM, 141ST
YPARRISH, 156TH
YPARSONS, 42ND
YPEAKE, 137TH
NPORTER, 143RD
YPOWELL, 171ST
YPOWELL, 29TH
YPRUETT, 144TH
YRALSTON, 7TH
YRAMSEY, 72ND
NRANDALL, 138TH
YREECE, 11TH
YREESE, 98TH
YRICE, 51ST
-RICHARDSON, 19TH
YROBERTS, 154TH
YROGERS, 26TH
YRYNDERS, 152ND
YSCOTT, 153RD
YSCOTT, 2ND
YSELLIER, 136TH
YSETZLER, 35TH
YSHAW, 176TH
YSHELDON, 105TH
NSHIPP, 58TH
YSIMS, 119TH
YSIMS, 169TH
NSINKFIELD, 60TH
YSMITH, 113TH
YSMITH, 129TH
YSMITH, 131ST
YSMITH, 168TH
YSMITH, 70TH
NSMYRE, 132ND
NSTEPHENS, 161ST
YSTEPHENS, 164TH
NSTEPHENSON, 92ND
YTALTON, 145TH
NTAYLOR, 55TH
ETEILHET, 40TH
NTHOMAS, 100TH
NTHOMPSON, 104TH
YWALKER, 107TH
YWELDON, 3RD
YWILKINSON, 52ND
YWILLARD, 49TH
NWILLIAMS, 165TH
YWILLIAMS, 178TH
YWILLIAMS, 4TH
NWILLIAMS, 89TH
NWIX, 33RD
YYATES, 73RD

See for yourself
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10/sum/hb143.htm

Put your voice back in your government.

Vote for DuBose Porter Governor, July 2010

DuBose Porter Works for YOU

46. DuBose Porter: Bandwagon 101 with HB356

2010-01-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

Leadership is sticking up for what you know is right even in the face of overwhelming odds.
In the 2009 session, when DuBose Porter cosponsored HB356, the "point of sale" bill, the elected Republican leadership killed the bill in committee and chose instead to furlough teachers and state employees and raise your property taxes under some misguided understanding of small government. Smaller government should mean right-sized, efficient government at a price the people can afford to pay. Choosing to furlough teachers and state employees, and raising property taxes, when you know there is another way to find the revenue to prevent it without costing the tax payer one additional penny, is not good, small government. In addition, furloughs and property tax hikes will only further damage Georgia by sending a marketing message that will continue to turn away industry and jobs.

“Campaigning for governor has been a humbling experience and it has shown me just how much you can do once the people of an entire state begin to hear the truth about their government. The demise of the Hawks is a great example. For six years I have been a relentless adversary to the Hawks system, the largest threat to democracy in America. These few legislators called themselves Hawks; it is the name they used on their name tags, because it tells of their ability to swoop into committees and take prey. The Republican ex-Speaker of the Georgia House and this small band of enforcers, the Hawks, had for six years, the power to personally change every vote, on every bill, in every committee before the Georgia House of Representatives. In doing so, they took away your right to representative government. In just one year of my campaigning statewide against the Hawks, bringing the arrogance and injustice of the Hawks before the people, we now have a new Speaker who has rescinded the appointment of the Hawks. By my campaigning statewide, the truth of HB356 is also being revealed. Where I was once the sole promoter of HB356 among candidates for governor, now the others are finally starting to follow.” - DuBose Porter

With true leadership, and with the people's best interest in mind, it is possible to get others to jump onto the best bandwagon for Georgia. Here is the article where the jumping began.
Revenue dept. in gov candidates' crosshairs
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/revenue-dept-in-gov-283176.html
By Aaron Gould Sheinin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
6:26 p.m. Monday, January 25, 2010

Candidates for governor, both Democrats and Republicans, found common ground on Monday: Changes are needed at the state Department of Revenue.
Speaking at a forum sponsored by the Georgia Municipal Association, several of the 10 candidates taking part zeroed in on the department as a source of ire as well as a potential source of additional tax revenue.
Some of the suggestions were based on policy and equipment. For example, Republican Karen Handel, the former secretary of state, said the department needs a technology overhaul that would help auditors better track and collect state sales tax.
But some recommendations were aimed squarely at Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue.
"We need a new Revenue commissioner," former Adjutant Gen. David Poythress, a Democrat, said.
The Department of Revenue is responsible for tracking and collecting income and sales taxes, as well as auditing tax returns and catching scofflaws who don't file as the law requires. Democrats, and some Republicans, have argued for years that the department is unable to accurately track whether businesses in the state are properly collecting and forwarding sales tax collections to local governments.
House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin), a candidate for governor, has made it a top issue in his campaign. Porter claims the state loses out on up to $1 billion in uncollected sales taxes and has been openly critical of Graham's handling of the issue.
"The Revenue department cannot account to you unreported and unpaid sales tax," Porter told the gathering of the state's mayors.
The concern was bipartisan. Republican Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, now running for governor, said he has plans to "start a massive overhaul" at the Revenue department once he's elected.
"It is embarrassing how that Revenue department is run," Oxendine said.
Graham and his department are easy targets as tax collectors are rarely popular. Graham has argued that budget cuts have seriously wounded the department.
It no longer has three shifts of workers processing paper-filed income tax returns, for example, and a computer overhaul is being implemented in stages due to budget shortfalls...

_______________________________________________
Now, a year later than it should have passed, it seems there will be enough support to pass HB356 and to force the elected Republican majority to bring in this unreturned revenue. It is past time to quit choosing to furlough our teachers and state employees, raising our property taxes, and hampering our state's ability to attract industry and jobs.

For those of you just finding out about HB356 here is an excerpt from an older blog:
 Example:
You go into a store.
You buy something.
You pay sales tax.  At that point, in Georgia, two things may happen to the sales tax money you just paid. One, the business that received the sales tax money from you will send it to the state.
Or two, the business owner will keep the sales tax money for his own personal use. You see the problem.  Alabama has already implemented a point of sale bill and they found 1 billion extra dollars in unreturned sales tax to help them through their economic downturn.  With 1 billion extra dollars, Georgia could have chosen to not furlough teachers and state employees and not raise property taxes. However, in Georgia, your Governor and the elected Republican leadership chose to let the bill DuBose cosponsored last session, HB356, die in committee. They chose instead to furlough and to repeal the Homeowner’s Tax Relief Grant under some misguided idea of smaller government. People want efficient low-cost government, but not government that cost them money and allows some citizens to cheat the system. (DuBose Porter also went to the well to keep the HTR Grant and voted to keep your property taxes from going up. However, they repealed the Grant anyway. Your taxes will be going up, thanks to the elected Republican leadership.)

  Although it has not been passed yet, DuBose wants to thank the many people that have helped him in his struggle to bring HB356 into reality.
First, our many supporters, who have allowed DuBose to come speak around the state and have become informed on HB356 and have shared that message with others. Second, the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, two organizations that first brought the problem to our attention and stayed the course with us, and forced the revenue department to do the joint studies on Hall County. This study produced results we knew were there all the time. Almost 25% of the businesses in Hall County did not return your sales taxes to you. Just imagine what it will be across the entire state. Third, the other cosponsors of the bill, Virgil Fludd, who was the first to bring the bill to our caucus, and to Calvin Smyre, Margaret Kaiser, Stacy Abrams, and Nikki Randall, who had the judgment and leadership to take on an unpopular cause and push it forward for the people. They did not relent even when the Revenue Department went on a publicity campaign to discredit HB356. Our supporters, these organizations and legislators stood firm and we thank them all.

We cannot stop yet.

HB356 still has to pass the legislature

to become a reality.

Continue to make your voice heard. Our message is spreading and there are still many more battles to be won and things to do including rebuilding and reshaping our educational system; making your government use your money where they tell you it will be used; designing water and transportation plans around water ways and transportation corridors instead of campaign donor lists; stopping the job blocking; and marketing the state to attract industry instead of the ineffective and damaging strategy we now employ.
Join us as we continue to bring the truth about your government to you. Volunteer to help us spread the word about what is truly going on behind closed doors in your government. Representing the people’s interest first is what DuBose Porter has always done as a Legislator and what he will continue to do as your next governor. In this economy, Georgians cannot afford to be apathetic about their government. Get engaged in the system. It is yours. Vote for real independent leadership. DuBose Porter works for you.

Put your voice back in your government,
your money back in your pocket,
AND let’s work together
to attract industry and jobs for all Georgians.

Vote for DuBose Porter, Governor 2010.

45. DuBose Porter on Fox 5 pushing HB356.

2010-01-26T08:49:00.000-08:00

...as other candidates begin to join him.

Forum Held for Ga. Governor Candidates

Updated: Monday, 25 Jan 2010, 7:03 PM EST
Published : Monday, 25 Jan 2010, 7:03 PM EST

Edited By: Leigha Baugham | myfoxatlanta.com

Georgia gubernatorial candidates made their case to the state's local leaders at a mayors' day conference Monday afternoon. The Georgia Municipal Association hosted the candidates' forum in downtown Atlanta.The Georgia Municipal Association hosted the forum as a part of its annual Mayors' Day Conference.The Democratic candidates for governor debated first, followed by the Republicans.
Insider Advantage's Matt Towery served as moderator and panelists included Tom Crawford of Capitol Impact, Susan Hoffman, co-host of Georgia Public Broadcasting's "Lawmakers" and Charles Richardson, of the Macon Telegraph.

DuBose Porter continues to put your interests first.

Put your voice back in your government,

vote for an independent mind in the Democratic primary, July 2010.

Vote for DuBose Porter

44. DuBose Porter supports GAE protest.

2010-01-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

DuBose Porter had committed many weeks ago, to attend the inauguration of Edward DuBose as President of the state N.A.A.C.P. in Columbus, and was unable to attend the rally to protect education in Georgia at the state Capitol on Saturday, January 23, 2010. Carol Porter, DuBose's wife, three Georgia Association of Educators (past and present members), and five members of Team DuBose went on his behalf to help lend support for education in Georgia.

Past and present Georgia Association of Educators, ( l. to r. ) Effie Carr, Jerri Alligood and Lillie Hobbs rode up to Atlanta with Carol to join in the protest against the destructive policies of Governor Perdue and his friends. Educators, and all friends of education, know DuBose Porter has always been there for them, defending education at every turn. DuBose knows without a well-educated citizenry Georgia will not be able to attract the jobs we need to get our economy back on track nor will we be able to prosper in the future. Strong public schools are and must continue to be the bedrock of a strong economy for Georgia's future.

There were hundreds of pro-education supporters at the GAE rally. Many speakers gave lists of reasons why education is not a luxury but a necessity for Georgia. One speaker did say that friends of education needed to make the right vote for education in the upcoming elections. He said, "We couldn't keep what we had, and we couldn't go back to the politician we know did not work before. We needed to move forward."

We could not agree more. Vote for education. Vote for DuBose.

This young man's poster says it all. Last year Gov. Perdue and his friends kicked our veterans out of their War Veterans Home in Milledgeville and built a fish pond in Perry instead. This year they are slashing education to unsustainable levels and building a horse barn in Perry instead. Does that represent your values? What message does this send to industry looking to come to Georgia? One of the first things an industry asks is, "Show us your demographics on education." Georgia must be able to show we have a well-educated workforce, one that is easily trainable, to compete in the high tech job market.

Nine Team DuBose members attended the GAE protest rally and we all met lots of new friends who already know DuBose Porter is the politician who has always worked for them to put education first. Carol Porter (right) poses with two educators who promise to send their names for the blog via facebook.

Small government is a good thing when it works. To reduce government down to the size where it does not educate our public is a plan for disaster. Georgia is already number one in the percentage of our population in the prison system. Roy Barnes wants to increase prison beds. The current Governor, along with the elected Republican leadership, hopes to privatize prisons (they have already started this process by closing some state prisons, which is resulting in packing prisoners into local jails. More on this in a future blog.) There is a lot of money to be made in donations for those politicians at the top who choose to cater to the developers who build prisons and to those who hope to run them when they are privatized. Not so much for politicians, like DuBose, who do not want to build more prisons, but to prevent the need for more prisons, by educating our children instead. If Georgia will elect DuBose Porter governor, Georgia will be safer and more competitive in the job market. Instead of imprisoning entire segments of the population at a rate that is financially unsustainable to the tax payer, we will be employing entire segments of the population who will help our citizens pay taxes instead of taking taxes. DuBose has a working plan to prevent the need for more prisons.
When DuBose was Chairman of Education and Chairman of Higher Education he saw that it was the Governor's office that drove policy and made the difference in education in Georgia. It will take the will and power of the Governor's office to drive the correct educational policy that will create taxpayers instead of prisoners. Prison populations are predicted using third grade reading scores. It costs $8,000 to educate a child and up to $50,000 to imprison one, not to mention the cost to the victims of crime, the loss of a bread winner to the prisoners' families and the financial cost of the displaced prisoner to our society. You do the math. The citizens of Georgia are the ones that are paying for our undervalued education system in lives and money.
Education works. It is in Georgia's Constitution that our primary goal is to educate our public. The United States is now 27th in the world in educational rankings and Georgia is in the bottom 40s among states. Add those numbers up and you can see Georgia is not positioning our students to take their rightful places in the global economy. China has more honor students than the United States has students. We cannot afford to lose another generation. We also cannot afford to elect another Governor who uses teachers as the scapegoats when it is the system that needs help. Quite simply, Georgia cannot afford another Governor who runs the state on the interests of wealthy campaign donors instead of on the interest of the people.
If we are to compete for the jobs of the future, if we are to keep our state and this nation great, we must make education our top priority. Our children deserve no less. Our taxpayers cannot afford to keep incarcerating instead of educating, just because politicians make more money building prisons than they do educating children. DuBose Porter knows that a good education, combined with job training, will prevent the financial drain caused by continuing to be number one in the percentage of our population in the correctional system.

Education increases the number of taxpayers, easing the tax burden on us all, and it also attracts industry and jobs. Education is a much better plan for Georgia's citizens than using prisons as our number one growth industry. A well-educated citizenry reduces taxes on us all. It is time to elect a politician who will not run Georgia based on the money he receives from wealthy donors, but on the money he saves the taxpayer. DuBose Porter works for you.

Put your voice back in your government
and your money back in your pocket. 

Vote for DuBose Porter,

an independent mind

in the Democratic primary, July 2010.

43. DuBose Porter: Polititians must pay taxes.

2010-01-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

DuBose Porter has always been the voice of the people.

His support of ethics is not new. It just seems new to a lot of people because DuBose is new to them.

DuBose has always been on the front lines in the war against corruption in government. His 6 year battle against the Hawks, the greatest threat to democracy in the United States, ( Read Blog#19) was not because it was a rule of the elected Republican leadership, but because it was bad for Georgia. In 1991, DuBose ran against Tom Murphy, the Speaker of his own party, to protest the "slush fund" and although he lost the race, DuBose was able to end the slush fund, pass the Fair and Open Grants Acts and gained for legislators the right to know which bills would be voted on before the day of the vote. DuBose has been, and will continue to be, the strongest supporter of ethics legislation. (Read blog #37.)

He is again addressing the concerns of the people by cosponsoring HB911, which will make it so legislators and other politicians have to pay their taxes before they can serve.
HB911 is the enabling legislation for HR 1087 which is the Constitutional Amendment to be voted on by you. The video clip below explains it further:

Now that DuBose is running for Governor people are starting to see what the people of Laurens County have always known, DuBose Porter works for you. Get to know DuBose and Help us spread the word.

Put your voice back in your government.

Vote for DuBose Porter, July 2010

42. DuBose Porter: Governor Perdue Misguided on Education and the Meaning of Smaller Government.

2010-01-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Voter,
Is phasing out the public school system in Georgia what you had in mind when you voted for smaller government? How about staying number one, in the entire United States, in the percentage of our population in the correctional system? Does that sound like what you had in mind when you voted for smaller government? That is what you will continue to get with Governor Perdue's unrelenting cuts to education.
It is true, you can predict prison populations based on third grade reading scores. It cost around $8,000 to educate a child and up to $50,000 to imprison one. Who do you think is paying for that difference? You are. Is that the smaller government you meant?
Even if it were morally correct to lock up entire segments of our population, when we know a quality education will prevent it, Georgia can not afford to keep doing so financially. Civilized society requires an educated public. What people want and deserve is not, no government, but efficient, cost effective government at a price they can afford to pay. (If you will remember DuBose voted against the largest property tax increase in Georgia history, which the elected Republican leadership voted in for you last session. Georgians can not afford higher property taxes. At a time when Georgia has more people unemployed than the population of the city of Atlanta, how on earth could politicians have voted to raise the citizens' property taxes? Many of these citizens are barely holding on to their homes as it is.)

Education is good for Georgia and it is possible to educate our students in a way that produces law abiding, job holding citizens. Not only is it possible to have an affordable public education system that graduates every student at the peak of their potential, with "the point of sale" bill, HB356, that DuBose cosponsored last session and will again this session, it is also possible to find the money to prevent teacher furloughs (for all state employees as well) without raising taxes. It was a long sentence, but a correct one. Georgia could have prevented furloughs. The Governor has chosen to furlough teachers under some misguided interpretation he has of smaller government. To him smaller government includes not giving an adequate education to “the general” public. What he does not seem to accept is that dismantling education will only increase Georgia's budget shortfalls by turning away industry and jobs at the same time as it continues to create a burgeoning prison population that is financially unsustainable in any economy. Not only would the passage of HB356 have prevented furloughs, it is possible through priority budgeting, innovative thinking and new technology usage to stop the cuts to education even in this economy.
Watch the video clip below to see Governor Perdue's comments and those of DuBose Porter and then scroll down to read blogs on how the point of sale bill would work for you.
Lori Geary reports for WSB Channel 2 in a segment entitled: “Governor Looks To Furloughs To Save Money” (use your back button to return.)
http://www.wsbtv.com/video/22250537/

Stop Furloughs.

Help DuBose Porter pass House Bill 356.

Save Education.

Vote DuBose Porter Governor, July 2010

Feel free to cut, paste and email this blog to as many friends of education as possible.

41. DuBose Porter: Constitution says Educate!

2010-01-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

Just in case anyone has forgotten.

Not only does a strong education system attract industry, improve the quality of life, and save the tax payers money by decreasing the percentage of our population in the correction system (of which Georgia is number one in the entire United States)...it is in Georgia's constitution.

Georgia State Constitution
ARTICLE VIII.
EDUCATION
SECTION I.
The provision of an adequate public education for the citizens shall be a primary obligation of the State of Georgia.

adequate |ˈadikwit|
adjective
satisfactory or acceptable in quality or quantity

primary |ˈprīˌmerē; ˈprīm(ə)rē|
adjective
1 of chief importance; principal

Honor the Constitution: Educate.

DuBose Porter works for you.

Vote July 20, 2010

40. DuBose Porter to Attend Several MLK Events

2010-01-16T05:38:00.000-08:00

DuBose and Carol Porter will begin the celebration for Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Dublin, Georgia.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

delivered his first speech

in Dublin, Georgia

at the First African Baptist Church in 1944.

Here is an excerpt from that speech:

"We cannot have an enlightened democracy with one great group living in ignorance. We cannot have a healthy nation with one-tenth of the people ill-nourished, sick, harboring germs of disease which recognize no color lines-obey no Jim Crow laws. We cannot have a nation orderly and sound with one group so ground down and thwarted that it is almost forced into unsocial attitudes and crime. We cannot be truly Christian people so long as we flout the central teachings of Jesus: brotherly love and the Golden Rule. We cannot come to full prosperity with one great group so ill-delayed that it cannot buy goods. So as we gird ourselves to defend democracy from foreign attack, let us see to it that increasingly at home we give fair play and free opportunity for all people."- MLK as a young man

Here is another speech of which you may be more familiar:

All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

39. DuBose Porter, "No Furloughs for Teachers or State Employees Needed"

2010-01-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

DuBose Porter was in the news today. Governor Perdue has decided to cut education and add three more furlough days for teachers. The video below shows the Governor cutting education and DuBose continuing to push HB356 which would add revenue to our budget by collecting unreturned sales tax. Many businesses in Georgia (sometimes as high as 25% per county) operate without a sales tax certificate. Here is a the example from Team DuBose Blog 32:
Example: You go into a store. You buy something. You pay sales tax.
At that point, in Georgia, two things may happen to the sales tax money you just paid. One, the business that received the sales tax money from you will send it to the state. Or two, the business owner will keep the sales tax money for his own personal use. You see the problem.
Alabama has already implemented a point of sale bill and they found 1 billion extra dollars in unreturned sales tax to help them through their economic downturn.
With 1 billion extra dollars, Georgia could have chosen to not furlough state employees (and not raise property taxes.)
The Governor does not support HB356 and the elected Republican Leadership last year let HB356 die in committee. DuBose will be bringing a new HB356 again this session.

DuBose Porter will continue to fight to get your money back for you.

Join us and let's give our state strong public schools.

A well educated workforce will attract industry and help grow jobs.

DuBose Porter

will put your voice back in your government.

38. DuBose Porter's Transparent Fee Legislation.

2010-01-14T04:58:00.000-08:00

The Greenest of the Blue candidates, the anti-corruption candidate, the most pro-education candidate in the race, DuBose Porter, got two thumbs up on his resolution, HR293, from the Georgia Municipal Association. This bill will give a designated source of funds for Natural Resources. That is supposed to be happening now, but your government has been taking your fees for one thing and using them for another.

DuBose has long campaigned for open and transparent government and against a government that tells its people one thing and then quietly does another. In Georgia, saying one thing and doing another has reached an art form. This legislation, HR293, would give voter's the chance to vote for themselves if they want the truth or not. With this legislation it would be constitutionally wrong to lie about where your fee money is going. From the GMA website,'This legislation would place a Constitutional question on the 2010 general election ballot which would authorize the creation of a dedicated fund for the preservation and protection of natural resources.'

(You would think
you would not need an amendment like this,
but you do.)

In a nutshell:

You(Government) either use the money for what

you(government) said it was for when

they(government) made

you(Citizens) pay it,

or you(government)cannot use it at all.

It is a little complicated, that is why
they (the politicians and bureaucrats ) have been able to get around it.

This is the truth in fees legislation (blog #16) click here to read more. Or just read it here:
"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 every time. 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."-Democratic Leader DuBose Porter

Click on " bill text " in the box below to read the actual legislation from the GMA website.

HR 293
Dedicated Fund for Natural Resources Preservation and Protection

Municipal Impact

Author:	Representative DuBose Porter
GMA Position:	support
Last Updated:	03/13/2009
GMA Contact:	Tom Gehl, (678) 686-6247
Related Bills:
Subject Area:	Environment
Resources:	bill text \| legislative status \| add to "My Bills" \| printer friendly format

Pending in the House Ways & Means Committee.

If you want a Governor who will

put accountability back in your government

Vote for DuBose Porter July 20, 2010.

37. Not as strong as DuBose Porter's ethics bill, but...

2010-01-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

it is a step in the right direction.

story may be found at http://www.times-herald.com/local/House-ethics-bill-gains-support

House ethics bill gains support By Tom Baxter,

Morris News Service Published Wenesday January 13, 2010

ATLANTA – A Republican bill to strengthen ethics laws is gaining bi-partisan strength in the House since its introduction Monday, the first day of the current legislative session.

House Judiciary Chairman Wendell Willard said Tuesday he has more than 40 co-signers for an ethics bill which will limit the value of gifts lobbyists can give legislators to a value of $100 or less, and crack down on transfers of campaign money from one legislator to another.

The bill would also reduce the contribution limit for candidates for statewide office, and set a hard limit for legislative candidates, rather than the current guidelines pegged to the cost of living.
It would also prohibit members of the governor's staff from registering as lobbyists for a year after leaving their jobs – the same standard which the law currently sets for legislators.
After a similar bill was "dead on arrival" when it was introduced last year, Willard said, he worked with representatives of public-interest groups to craft a new bill and began to circulate it among legislators last fall, before the scandal which brought down former House Speaker Glenn Richardson. He said his bill was "not motivated by those problems."
"I see some things we do that need to have better guidelines, and that's what we're trying to address," the Atlanta Republican said.
Willard's co-sponsors include Minority Leader DuBose Porter and Democratic Caucus Chairman Calvin Smyre. Willard said the co-signers include a "good mixture" of Democrats and Republicans.
The $100 limit on gifts is less than the $25 limit proposed by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, * and the limits imposed by some states, which ban even the purchase of a cup of coffee for a legislator. But it would be a significant tightening, and would eliminate "the recourse of airplane tickets or tickets to big sporting events," Willard said.
Willard said his bill was "one of what will probably be several" pieces devoted to tightening ethics standards. He said he anticipated a joint House-Senate committee could be convened to reach a consensus bill.
* It is often hard to mention every legislator on every bill, but DuBose was also a cosponsor with Rep. Oliver. As mentioned here at Team DuBose in blog 22 and 21. Here is an excerpt from blog 21:

'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.

To read 21. Hawks are more than Ethics Violations. click here

Also here is a copy of the joint press release from Oliver and Porter issued December 11, 2009

Oliver, Porter introduce Anti-Corruption Ethics Legislation

Atlanta – With substantial ethics reform needed more than ever at the state capitol, State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, and House Democratic Leader and candidate for Governor in 2010, DuBose Porter, D-Dublin, are co-sponsoring anti-corruption ethics legislation for the upcoming session of the General Assembly. In 2005, Rep. Oliver and Rep. Porter offered amendments to the Governor’s Ethics Package that were voted down by the Republican members of the committee. Together they 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 owe the people of Georgia more than the old Republican leadership has delivered on ethics reform. I sense a strong frustration by the rank and file of both parties, and we need and I expect a bi-partisan effort to restore faith in Georgia’s state government,” said Mary Margaret Oliver.

HB 890 lowers campaign contribution limits from $5,000 to $2,000 for a primary election, $3,000 to $1,000 for a primary run-off election, $5,000 to $3,000 for a general election, and $3,000 to $2,000 for a general election runoff. The bill will also limit contributions to political parties to $5,000. To curb the influence of special interest money, HB 891 sets a ban on gifts over $25 for state lawmakers. And lastly, HB 892 would establish public funding for judicial elections, which have seen an influx of partisan activity in recent years, threatening an impartial bench in Georgia.

“Georgia needs a bipartisan reform of the ethics law in our state. Had the contents of our earlier legislation been considered and adopted, the circumstances that evolved from the Republican House leadership, concerning the excessive amounts of lobbyist spending, could not have occurred. Passing anti-corruption ethics legislation will send a strong message to the citizens that lawmakers at the state capitol are serious about getting Georgia back on track and moving forward,” said DuBose Porter.

Representative Mary Margaret Oliver is a member of the Judiciary, Appropriations, Science and Technology and Governmental Affairs committees, and past Chairman of the Judiciary committees in both the House and the Senate.

House Democratic Leader DuBose Porter, a candidate for Governor in 2010, serves on the Ethics, Rules, Appropriations, and Agriculture and Consumer Affairs committees.

###

Stay tuned for more news updates as we blog you through the 2010 session.

Put your voice back in your government.

Vote for DuBose Porter July 2010

36.Team DuBose Porter brings you the Legislature Live

2010-01-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

It only works when they are live in session, but
Click here to watch the Legislature Live and catch Governor Purdue's State of the State address today at 11a.m. We will also try to link up the response from Commissioner Michael L. Thurmond (GA) afterwards.

Click on House of Representatives - Live Session and then wait about 20 seconds for it to start. It will show.

35 plus one. DuBose Porter Speech on First Day of Session.

2010-01-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today in the session was a low key day mainly used for first readers (the first time you read a bill and assign it to a committee.) So today at Team DuBose we will give you the audio file of DuBose on the first day of the session.

DuBose Porter, Democratic Leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, nominated Representative Calvin Smyre for Speaker on the first day of the session. Rep. Smyre is Chairman of the Democratic Caucus. As Calvin says in his speech, we knew the majority party had the votes and that he would not win, but it gave the minority party a chance to voice their issues and DuBose certainly did. Along with listing the great contributions Calvin has made to Georgia, DuBose also pointed out that Georgia needs more of the equation before they can truly say they are pro-business. Incentives are just a part of a larger whole of the things that attract industry and help existing industry grow in Georgia and create jobs. We also have to strengthen schools and public safety and have water and transportation plans that work.
DuBose continued to fight against corruption in your government by pointing out the largest threat to Democracy in the United States, the Hawk system, where for the past 6 years, in Georgia only, the Speaker and a small group of his friends created and have used a rule that allows them to go into every committee and change the vote - on any bill. You read that right, on any bill, the Hawks can change the vote. They even put the name Hawk on their name tags. They called themselves that because they said they can swoop into committees and take prey. You read that right too. Read Blog#19 ( you can use the archives on the right to quickly navigate) to read more on the Hawks and read the actual rule that created them.
You can also hear the speech for yourself, thanks to the savvy social media skills of Bernita Smith. Bernita posted an audio file of DuBose's speech which you can hear by clicking on "track detail"on the widget below. (Use your back button to return to this page.)

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

Thank you to
Bernita Smith

at blog for Democracy where Team DuBose found the audio file above. In addition, Bernita has posted audio files for Rep. Kathy Ashe accepting the pro Tem nomination and you can hear Rep. Calvin Smyre's acceptance speech. Bernita also conducted and posted interviews which she made into a great short video with comments from the new Speaker David Ralston and a few Democratic lawmakers as they gave their take on the future of the House with new leadership.
Tomorrow is the Governor's State of the State address at 11a.m. in a joint session of the House and the Senate. You can watch it and all of the action during the general assembly live online at this link
http://www.georgia.gov/00/channel/0,2141,4802_6107101,00.html

Stay tuned to Team DuBose
as we keep you posted during the 2010 session.
Put your voice back in your government.
Vote DuBose Porter for Governor July 20, 2010.

35. DuBose Porter Starts 2010 Session Today.

2010-01-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2010 Atlanta, Georgia

As you know DuBose has chosen to honor his pledge to the people to serve as their State Representative for the rest of his term. He will continue to run for the Governor's office, however he will not be stepping down to raise money for his race for the governor's office. As stated in Team DuBose's last blog DuBose said, "To break a pledge I took with my hand on the Bible would not be something I would do. I am asking Georgians to put their trust in me. Honoring my commitments is part of who I am." As did all General Assembly members and Constitutional Officers, DuBose took an oath to serve at the beginning of the 2009 session for a two year term, therefore today's session will not need an oath.
DuBose will continue to run in the governor's race. DuBose will not be able to accept donations until the session ends. He will continue to serve as a State Representative until the start of the next session, when the new Representative (whoever wins his House District 143) is sworn in and DuBose, God willing and with your support, takes another oath he will honor, as Governor of Georgia.
Several people at the 48th Annual Wild Hog BBQ kick-off supper last night, sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, asked how DuBose could make that choice knowing some of the other candidates would be able to keep raising money during the three months or longer session. DuBose's answer, "One, it is the right thing to do" and "Two, there is this thing called the Internet."
The Internet has changed the playing field in politics. With the Internet, having the most money is not the “end all” advantage it used to be. 56% of the people who vote, say they get their information about the candidates from the candidates’ website. Combine the Internet with a terrific group of volunteers helping you spread your word like wild fire across a grassroots network and you can see why, even though the old dogs keep talking money, Team DuBose keeps right on working. In Georgia we have already seen this happen before and it will happen again on July 20, 2010.
So stay with us as DuBose and Team DuBose work to put the people’s voice back in their government. Join us and stay tuned to Team DuBose as we blog you through the 2010 Legislative session.

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.

34. Last Day to donate to DuBose Porter Monday 10a.m.

2010-01-09T19:53:00.000-08:00

Between now and Monday at 10 a.m.

Your last chance to donate to DuBose

until after the session.

When the gavel hits the podium Monday, January 11, 2010 it will signify the start of the legislative session. It will also begin the period during the session when DuBose will not be able to raise money. It is against Georgia law for members of the General Assembly or State Constitutional Officers to accept contributions when the Legislature is in session. There has been much discussion for DuBose to step down so that he could continue to raise money for the governor's race, however DuBose felt strongly that it was his duty and obligation to honor his oath of office. "To break a pledge I took with my hand on the Bible would not be something I would do," Porter said. " I am asking Georgians to put their trust in me. Honoring my commitments is part of who I am."

While you can not donate to DuBose after Monday morning at 10 a.m. and until the session ends you can donate now. Help us pass the word and volunteer to join us as DuBose Porter works to bring the people's voice to their government.

Stay tuned to Team DuBose as we follow DuBose through the 2010 legislative session.

33. DuBose Porter has Money and Grassroots.

2010-01-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

The financial disclosures were due for candidates in the 2010 Governor's race at midnight last night, for the December 31, 2009 reporting period. DuBose filed his in plenty of time with the aid of assistant campaign manager Jenny Evans and Treasurer Beth Vaughn. Team DuBose offers a big thank you to them and to the many supporters who are helping DuBose in his efforts to bring jobs to Georgia by strengthening public safety and our education systems, and implementing plans for transportation and water that will work. Below is the release DuBose sent to the press.

Dublin – DuBose Porter’s Campaign for Governor announced today that it has raised $373,437 since April with in-kind contributions of $13,396.39 and cash on hand of $303,807.74. The Porter campaign has spent $69,630 since April.

“I am very pleased with our fundraising efforts. There are two types of campaigns. One is a big money campaign where the candidate sits in a room and dials for dollars. The second is a grassroots campaign where the candidate gets out and creates a dialogue with the people. When I look at past campaigns where grassroots candidates defeated big money candidates, we are actually a little ahead in the ratio of money to our largest competitor. In Georgia, history proves that grassroots beats big money. I have chosen to run a grassroots campaign. I never expected to have the most money. What I do have are the best volunteers and supporters, and I thank them for their hard work and dedication. It will be people, not dollars, that cast the votes, and I believe the people want a candidate who will not only hear their voices, but be their voice,” said DuBose Porter.

32. DuBose Porter on Georgia Trend's Top 100

2010-01-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

DuBose Porter continued to find his name again on Georgia Trend's list of the 100 Most Influential People in Georgia, in their January 2010 edition. The caption about DuBose from the print version does need a correction concerning HB356.

The bill does not involve Internet sales.

The bill in question, HB356, the "point of sale" bill, cosponsored by DuBose Porter in the 2009 session, has been written about extensively in several newspapers and here on the Team DuBose blog. It has nothing to do with Internet sales. It involves unreturned sales tax.

Example: You go into a store. You buy something. You pay sales tax.
At that point, in Georgia, two things may happen to the sales tax money you just paid. One, the business that received the sales tax money from you will send it to the state. Or two, the business owner will keep the sales tax money for his own personal use. You see the problem.
Alabama has already implemented a point of sale bill and they found 1 billion extra dollars in unreturned sales tax to help them through their economic downturn.
With 1 billion extra dollars, Georgia could have chosen to not furlough state employees and not raise property taxes. However, in Georgia, your elected Republican leadership chose to let the bill DuBose cosponsored, HB356, die in committee. They in effect chose instead to furlough state employees and repeal the Homestead Property Tax Relief Grant. ( DuBose Porter went to the well to keep the Grant and keep your property taxes from going up. However, they repealed the grant anyway. Your taxes will be going up thanks to the elected Republican leadership.)
Do not be disheartened, now that DuBose is running for governor he has had the opportunity to speak around the state and has been championing HB356. The same elected Republican leadership that killed the bill last year is now being encouraged to pass it in the next session.
For more on HB356, the point of sale bill, you may scroll down to blogs # 28, #24, #18, #17 and #15.

Here is the blurb on DuBose in Georgia Trend with the word Internet crossed out and the correct wording in bold. For clarity, DuBose is co-owner and C.E.O. of Courier Publishing which owns nine newspapers, is an attorney, manages several real estate holdings and serves as a Director of The Bank of Dudley.

_________________

DuBose Porter
Georgia House of Representatives
Newspaper owner
Dublin
Age: 56
Porter, one of the state’s top ranking Democrats as minority leader in the Georgia House and a state representative since 1982, threw his hat into the ring last April for the governor’s race. In 2009, Porter co-sponsored – and continues to fight for – a point of sale bill, which he argues would help Georgia claim more than $1 billion of lost revenue from ~~Internet~~ unreturned sales tax without raising taxes. He has also been a proponent of ethics reform.

_________________

It is an honor to be mentioned in Georgia Trend's list. We thank them for the mention.

31. DuBose Porter says Georgia is on my Mind

2010-01-01T07:24:00.000-08:00

We hope you all had a safe and happy New Year's Eve. We are thinking many of you are taking the day off to relax. What better way to begin the day, than with one of the best songs ever, sung by one of best ever, famous Georgian, Ray Charles. Have a great day, enjoy your family and friends, say a prayer for the new year and join us as we continue to work to become your voice in Georgia's government.

Have a Happy New Year

Georgia on my Mind
the lyrics and a short history

Georgia, Georgia, the whole day through
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

Talkin' 'bout Georgia
I'm in Georgia
A song of you
Comes as sweet and clear as moonlight through the pines

Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you

Georgia, sweet Georgia, no peace I find
Just an old sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back
It always leads back to you

From Wikipedia

On March 7, 1979, in a mutual symbol of reconciliation after conflict over civil rights issues, Ray Charles performed Georgia on my Mind before the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature). After this performance, the connection to the state was firmly made, and then the Assembly adopted it as the state song on April 24.

More From the Charles Sheffield novelette, see Georgia on My Mind (novelette).

"Georgia on My Mind"

Single by Ray Charles
from the album The Genius Hits the Road
B-side	"What'd I Say"
Released	1960 (1960)
Recorded	1960
Genre	Blues
Writer(s)	Hoagy Carmichael (music) Stuart Gorrell (lyrics)

"Georgia on My Mind" is a song written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Stuart Gorrell (lyrics). It is the official state song of the U.S. state of Georgia. Gorrell wrote the lyrics for Hoagy's sister, Georgia Carmichael ^[1]. However, the lyrics of the song are ambiguous enough to refer either to the state or to a woman named "Georgia". Carmichael's 1965 autobiography, Sometimes I Wonder, records the origin: a friend, saxophonist and bandleader Frankie Trumbauer, suggested: "Why don't you write a song called 'Georgia?' Nobody lost much writing about the South." Thus, the song is universally believed to have been written about the state.
The song was first recorded on September 15, 1930 in New York by Hoagy Carmichael and His Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke on muted cornet and Hoagy Carmichael on vocals. The recording was part of Bix Beiderbecke's last recording session. The recording was released as Victor 23013 with "One Night in Havana".
Frankie Trumbauer had the first major hit recording in 1931 when his recording made the top ten on the charts. Trumbauer had suggested that Carmichael compose the song.
The song is perhaps best known as sung by Ray Charles, who recorded it in 1960 on the album The Genius Hits the Road. It became Georgia's state song in 1979. Inspired by this blues version, Willie Nelson formally introduced the song to country audiences in 1978 as a #1 Country/Western hit.

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

2009-12-24T05:38:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

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.

27. Help Georgians get their voice back.

2009-12-17T05:39:00.000-08:00

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.

26. Tonight's DuBose Porter BBQ Details

2009-12-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-13T16:36:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-12-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-11T04:37:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-12-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-25T09:57:00.000-08:00

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

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.