In many cases elections are about picking a candidate who is “not as bad” or the “least worst” among the group that we choose from.  This years House District 14 seat is not like that at all. There are 3 very good candidates and more importantly even better men in this race.  I know and respect each of the guys for all of the things that they do and have accomplished in their lives.

Having said all of that….. elections are about picking one person and I have done that in this race. I am supporting and fully endorse Greg Bowen for this State House seat. He has the most extensive business credentials of any of the candidates in this race and that is what we need in Atlanta right now.  He is the business and fiscal conservative choice in this race. His record on the school board was one of cutting taxes and helping to shape a more streamlined budget.  He will bring those same leadership skills to Atlanta!

Greg Bowen is a proven leader who has the executive experience required to move Georgia forward during this difficult time. As Chairman of the Bartow County Board of Education he fought for lower taxes while ensuring that our students continued to achieve.  It was an honor serving with him and I can’t wait to work with him as our next State Representative!

Go check out Greg Bowen’s website and find out why we need his leadership to help pull Georgia out of this economic downturn.

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Recently the organization Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) released its endorsements in the years gubernatorial election. The lone Republican candidate not to receive an endorsement was Karen Handel who is also the only women in this years contest. This group did however endorse at least one candidate with questionable integrity and documented morality issues.  How does it make sense to do this but not support someone else on such narrow differences?  Not only did she not get the organizations nod but the groups President Dan Becker made some pretty insensitive remarks in the process.

Karen and her husband have been unable to have children and support the use of invitro fertilization for couples wanting to be parents.  She also believes that in addition to the life of the mother, rape and incest should be exceptions allowed under any abortion restrictions.  As a result she is deemed unworthy by GRTL.

Let me just drop a little news flash on everyone…..I AGREE with Karen Handel. I think that abortions should be illegal except for rape, incest and the life of the mother. I would have also consider invitro if my wife and I would have had trouble conceiving.  Here are the remarks from the GRTL president:

GRTL President Dan Becker said, “Someone’s desperate right to parenthood – because they’re infertile, they’re barren, whatever term you want to use – is an emotionally fraught subject that has our highest sympathy.  But it should never be attempted to be addressed where a life is taken in the process.”

I am getting more and more convinced that this no longer even needs to be a political fight among Christians and conservatives.  Finding a candidate who supports the elimination of abortion except for those 3 exceptions is a win across the board.  When are we going to stop ripping each other apart politically on such a narrow difference of opinion? Rape, incest, life of the mother and invitro do not represent the problem area with abortions in this country anyway.  The area where there in universal agreement among all groups is that abortions should not be used primarily for birth control. There is no debate on this between Christians and conservatives across this country. We should unite on this point and see if real change is possible. The left loves the fact that we are so busy trying to validate each others beliefs that we get NOTHING accomplished.

Groups like GRTL and others have been fighting the abortion issue for to long on the wrong side of the problem.  Putting all of our money and efforts into curtailing abortions legally once someone is already pregnant has produced mixed results at best.  I would like to see these groups do much more to support the re-emergence of the family unit.  If we work more with young girls prior to them getting pregnant then maybe we can see the number of abortions drop without the fruitless political circus that this issue has become.

The time has come to reevaluate this issue as a litmus test for being a conservative.  We are doing much more damage to the movement and seeing very little change take place.  We should all be following President Reagan’s 80% rule on this and give our country the opportunity to see the conservative movement for the diversity that it truly offers this country.

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This morning I announced on WBHF 1450am that I would not be seeking another term on the Bartow County school board.  I am making this announcement now to give those interested in succeeding me plenty of time to prayerfully consider stepping into public service.  I began my political journey volunteering for former Congressman Bob Barr as part of his campaign in 1994.  That year we saw a conservative revolution sweep Washington, D.C.  The climate was very much like the one we see captivating this country right now. Later, I would have the opportunity to intern for Congressman Barr and work with Catherine Brock who really taught me what legislative and constituent service was all about.

After completing college, I served in various leadership positions within the Bartow County Republican party and had a great experience running for the state legislature in 2002. Through all of these roles my belief has not wavered that government should be limited and accountable to the people.

I was first elected to the school board in 2004 to fill the unexpired term of Paul Bennett. I was later elected to a full four year term in 2006.  I am proudest of the strides that this system has made in our graduation rate during my time on the board. Since 2004 we have seen about a 20% improvement in moving our students towards graduation.  During my time on the board we have never raised the milage rate and have done our best to lower it every year that we could. The current rate dates back to the mid-1990′s. We built the best fund balance that this county has ever had and we have been using it to deal with this crisis (with minimal impact to employees to date). We also have the best bond rating that this school system has ever been able to achieve due to fiscally sound decisions.  I am also very proud that I have stayed true to my convictions. Even when I had to stand alone or vote on something I knew would be unpopular I always did what I thought was right.

Public service no matter what form it takes should be about being part of something larger than yourself. I begin this final chapter in my school board service knowing that I have made a difference. I am also proud that I can say that I never used this position to benefit me or my family personally. For me, this has been and will continue to be about helping our children reach their full God given potential and purpose.

I would like to thank my wife Stephanie for her patience and love. The wife of an elected official is not always an ideal position. Stephanie you always handled my political life with grace and class. I love you very much! Thank you for allowing me to be away and serve for all of these years.

I am so excited about being able to spend more time with my 3 wonderful children Sydney, Austin & Anniston.  They have always been my biggest fans and now I have more time to be theirs for a while.

Too often we look to our elected officials for answers to problems that they are incapable of giving. I know that many people are hurting right now and have serious questions about the future.  I hope you find some comfort in knowing that Jesus Christ has a plan for your life. God sent him so that you could have a bright future free from the guilt that past sin often consumes in our life.  If you need a church home to learn more about Jesus please stop by Oak Leaf Church and let us minister to you!

This bible verse has been a guiding force in my life for years and I hope you find strength and peace in it too.

Proverbs 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.

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Here are some of the things that I have been thinking about after hearing what President Obama had to say last night:

1. Small businesses do not pay much in the way of Capital Gains Taxes. This was basically an empty promise designed to make an attractive sound bite.
2. While we are on small businesses….They employ around 70% of Americans. Many of these people file their business taxes as personal income taxes.  President Obama said that he was going to raise taxes on those making over $250,000.  This will impact many small business people and is the complete wrong way to add jobs to our struggling economy.
3. 2 sentences on health reform…Basically status quo. He does not get that America does not want his plan.
4. Real health reform would allow for the buying of insurance across state lines, tort reform, letting like groups pool together to reduce premium costs and an end to ridiculous mandates.
5. We cannot tax our way into prosperity.
6. There was more comedy than substance in the speech last night. Seemed more like an SNL speech. Repeat of last years speech almost.
7. Was this President really lecturing the Congress on budgeting?
8. The laundry list of things that will never happen gets boring really fast.
9. Letting gays serve openly in the military is a bad idea. Find some other forum for your social experiments.
10. President Obama is completely out of touch with mainstream America.  Real people do not live is his egalitarian world.

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Almost a year ago today, I wrote that the stimulus money that Bartow County was receiving would ultimately cost the taxpayers of this county.  First we all need to remember that this money was taken from us in the form of taxes to begin with.  The Obama administrations answer to our economic downturn has been to throw money at the problem which has been an absolute failure.

The unemployment rate at the time which the stimulus money was enacted was 7% and we currently have a rate of over 10%. Many experts put the real rate of unemployment at 17% if you factor in those who are underemployed or who have given up looking for work at all.  Most of the money that has been spent to date went to pet projects that the Democrats have been trying to fund for years. Only a small fraction of the stimulus dollars went to those “shovel ready” projects.  We are now finding that many of those projects were not ready to begin or have not been fully funded  in the first place.

Today an article was written in The Daily Tribune about how these stimulus dollars have cost the taxpayers of Bartow County $186,000. These funds created a situation where the Water Department spent money that they may not have budgeted for projects that have not been funded to date by the state or federal government.

Local officials publicly say they are not upset with the money spent on projects that have yet to materialize.  They indicate that work done will be ready when the projects are finally funded.  The problem is that we have seen these projects never be re-funded which results in local taxpayers being left holding the bag.

Nothing is ever FREE! We must be careful rushing to accept all of this federal money because of the miles of strings that are associated with taking it.  In the end this free money may actually cost us more than just dealing with our current situation locally.

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Last nights election of Scott Brown is a major repudiation of the policies of President Barrack Obama. Almost a year to the day of his historic inauguration the people of one of our most liberal states said NO to his far left agenda.  The Democratic party needs to understand that this is a center right country and people are not going to simply sit back and allow them to socialize this nation.

The key moving forward for Republicans is going to be the agenda that we propose. With Brown securing the 41st vote for the GOP we will be able to stop or delay much of Obama’s agenda.  We cannot simply be the party of NO. We must begin to present a different picture of what this country would look like governed under a conservative set of principles.

In the NFL after an important win teams institute the 24hr rule. They celebrate and enjoy the win for 24 hours and then quickly turn their attention to the next opponent.  We MUST do the same thing with this historic win in Massachusetts.  November is coming quickly and we need to be able to offer a real alternative so that people can really chose the path that they want to see this country take.

Thank You Scott Brown for stopping the Change…….No He Can’t!

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The Georgia Legislature has been a hot bed for corruption for years with very little reform to truly address any of the systemic problems that have plagued this institution.  Instead of cleaning up there own mess they have opted in concert with Governor Perdue to do the more politically expedient and go after local school boards.

As a result of the loss of accreditation for Clayton County schools the legislature is considering sweeping changes to school board service.   Here are some of the details of SB 84:

SB 84 contains provisions by which local board members can be removed from office for certain ethical or conflict of interest violations or if the system looses accreditation; sets training requirements for board members, and attempts to define the role of board members and superintendents.

As a school board member, I can tell you that all of these things are already in place. When schools systems  fail there is shared responsibility between the central office, the board and the voters. Clayton County was the first to lose its accreditation and there are only a couple at risk this year.  The vast majority of systems perform well and do not need this intervention from the state.

This change is more about politicians wanting to stand up in front of crowds and brag about “change” with no real impact to how the legislators do their job. Every year we are forced to listen to these people bloviate  about that which they really do not understand.

Maybe our legislators should actually try and start representing the people who elected them instead of grandstanding in a quest for more political power.  Local control and smaller government is not always pretty but it is supposed to be what the Republican party stands for.

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A suit was filed in Federal court this week challenging the constitutionality of a new clause that was added to HB 251 in the Georgia Legislature last year.  This clause prohibits people to serve on the school board if they have relatives serving in various capacities within the school system.

Why is the Ga. Legislature inserting itself into local government? They pass ridiculous laws and the local community has to step in to try and fix it.  This is a free speech issue and in my view another example of the boys in Atlanta reaching to far. People should not be prohibited from serving on the school board based on the career choices of their family.

When is the Republican party going to understand that they cannot have it both ways? We either are the party of freedom and local control or we are not.  The board is the elected leadership of the school system. This law impacts the governance of this institution.  Any board public or private would fight to ensure that we (the board) in concert with the voters determine how to lead this community.

I have received some concerns about the fact that this suit is being funded by the Bartow County Board of Education. Concerns over the cost should be addressed to the legislators who use petty arguments in their community to impact an entire state.  They forced this action.

Where does it stop? It you have a son who is a police Lt. should you be ruled unfit to serve on a city council? Everything about this is wrong. My family experience in education and my own service as a teacher have made me a better public servant.  Part of my job in protecting this community and our students is to ensure that good people can serve on this board. This is a worthy fight and an important issue for the future of this school system. That makes this fight financially sound.

Those in favor of this change would argue that the corruption that has been uncovered in a small percentage of school systems warrant this restriction on who can legally serve.  We have a process for dealing with elected officials who under-perform. That process is elections. We cannot replace occasional voter apathy and lack of due diligence with the heavy handedness of government. Why just school boards? Why not county commissions, or city councils? Does inappropriate hiring not occur at all levels of government? Why not amend the constitution so that you can’t be elected federally if you have a spouse in state government?

All of these issues occur in the private sector as well, by the way.

It will never be a perfect system but the voters of OUR community should decide this issue not the Georgia Legislature

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Last year around this time we celebrated a milestone with the election of President Barrack Obama. I have stated many times that I did not vote for President Obama but that I was willing to give him a chance in respect to the importance of the office that he holds.  I was hopeful like many other Americans that the election of President Obama would finally end the debate over racism in our country.

Sadly this has been anything but the case as this country has been embroiled in some of the most important decisions of the last 50 years.  A new political paradigm has been forming since the election of President Obama. Critics of the President are labeled as racists or anti-poor because it must be “inconceivable” that people could want a future for this country in contrast to the Democratic establishment.

I would remind my Democrat friends that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Over the past year, a full picture has emerged on how President Obama intends to govern this country.  We have seen an unprecedented effort to socialize many aspects of our society and extend government control into the private sector.  This news has been met with a lot of criticism and it is in this area that the “Race Card” continues to be played.

We have finally reached that plateau that Dr. King spoke so eloquently about and yet now we find that many on the Democratic side do not what to be judged on the merits of President Obama’s ideas.  We are not allowed to raise questions for  fear that we would be labeled as racists or elitists.

I have had a number of people from all races and genders who have impacted my life on a profound level. These relationships were important to me because I did NOT have to worry about what I said. I did not have to think about the fact that I was speaking to a WOMAN , MINORITY, or person of another FAITH.  I valued these people because of the mutual respect we had for each other based on the strength of our friendship and the content of our discussions.

Racism in my opinion is being perpetuated in many ways by the groups who were established to end it in the first place.  Time and success have made these people’s function in our society obsolete.  Like the politician who will do anything to hold on to political power these groups need “racism” to exist to stay employed.  There will always be people who are evil in our society but we need to acknowledge that the racism of the 1950′s  is essentially dead in 2010.

I am fundamentally opposed to just about everything that President Obama stands for and oh by the way I am not a racist.  I oppose him not because of his race but on the content of his ideas.  In fact I would argue that I have embraced the teachings of Dr. King  far more than many leaders in the African-American and Democratic political establishment.  Any person I oppose is always based on the strength of their ideas and their character. Isn’t this the lesson of Dr. King?

Racism in America will continue to exist politically until these leaders stop using the “race card” every time white people disagree with a minority candidate.  The debate and the candidates lose because we never get to the real issues that divide this country.

Real change comes in never having to say this ______American or that ______American and just finally understanding that we are all AMERICANS. I promise to continue to stand against the policies of President Obama because I owe him the respect of disagreeing with him of the merits of his ideas.

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