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This week Georgia has been awarded the Race to the Top grant from the Federal government. Some are very happy with this award and others are not. So let's take a look at just a few of the things we as a state have just signed up for:
- We will receive up to $400,000,000 over the next 4 years. About half of this money will be spent on administrative costs to implement the Georgia plan at the Georgia Department of Education. The other half will be split between 26 systems which include: Atlanta, Ben Hill, Bibb, Burke, Carrolton, Chatham, Cherokee, Clayton, Dade, DeKalb, Dougherty, Gainesville, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Jones, Meriwether, Muscogee, Peach, Pulaski, Rabun, Richmond, Rockdale, Spalding, Valdosta and White. The other 154 systems will not receive a dime, but will have to help implement the plan over the next four years.
- We will now have to implement the National Core Curriculum Standards after just developing the Georgia Performance Standards which won't be fully implemented until the 2011-2012 school year. In other words, we will scrap everything we just spent millions of dollars developing over the past few years for the federal version.
- The state of Georgia will now have to implement a pay for performance for teachers which will be determined at the federal level. This will include developing a national database in which every teacher and student will be linked to the lesson plans and testing instrument which will be based on the National Standards. There are plans already being developed with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CELT and Harvard University to develop this database and link each state so that children can be tracked from pre-k through college.
- In the President Obama educational blue print, amongst the many pages, one will also find that if any state received Race to the Top money, they must then do whatever the federal government says starting in 2015 or lose all of their federal funds. This can be done because the states who received the money did it voluntarily through the grant competition.
So these are just a few of the things Georgia has signed up for. If this all sounds great to you, congratulations and be sure to thank President Obama, Governor Perdue and former State School Superintendent Kathy Cox.
If the above doesn't sound good to you, Texas and Alaska have turned their backs on President Obama's Race to the Top and we embraced it, so what does that say? Hold on and in the great words of Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking about the health care bill, "But we have to pass the [health care ] bill so that you can find out what is in it.". All we have to do is apply that same philosophy to Race to the Top and I am sure we will receive the same type of results. |
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When:
Saturday, August 28, 2010 @ 9:00 AM
Where: Bartow County Republican Party HQ, 162 W. Main Street, Suite 106, Cartersville, GA 30120
Speaker:
Lt. Governor Casey Cagle
 September 25th
FAMILY DAY at Lake Allatoona
Speakers: All State Republican Candidates are invited
DIFFERENT LOCATION: Bartow Carver Park
October 23rd
Speaker: TBD |
Our 2010 Sponsors
John and Terry Bangert
Rep. Paul and Marijon Battles
Steve & Wanda Cagle-Gray
John and Kerry Howard
Douglas and Joan Jones
Angie and Willy Klajbor
Rep. Barry and Desiree Loudermilk
Bruce Poore and Joan Stewart
$75
Angie and Eric Cornett
James Gilreath and Dr. Linda Denham-Gilreath
Fred & Lynn Kittle
Become A 2010 Sponsor TODAY! |
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State & Local
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Congratulations to the Winners or the Primary/run-off races...
U.S. Senate: Johnny Isakson
Governor: Nathan Deal
Lt. Governor: Casey Cagle
Secretary of State: Brian Kemp
Attorney General: Sam Olens
State School Superintendent: John Barge
Insurance Commissioner: Ralph Hudgens
Ag.Commissioner: Gary Black
Labor Commissioner: Mark Butler
PSC District 2: Tim Echols
State Senate District 31: Bill Heath
State Senate District 52: Barry Loudermilk
State House District 12: Rick Jasperse
State House District 14: Christian Coomer
State House District 15: Paul Battles
BOE Post 1: John Howard
BOE Post 2: Davis Nelson
BOE Post 3: Angie Cornett
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We have local grassroots groups here in Bartow that share our desire to see conservative government regain power.
Please support the efforts of the Bartow Patriots as often as possible. For more information visit the Bartow Patriots website, and don't forget to check out upcoming events for the Georgia TEA Party on their website. |
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Become a Bartow GOP Member
¶Individual Membership ($25)
($40 for Two Calendar Year Membership)
~ Email Updates
¶Household Membership ($35)
($60 for Two Calendar Year Membership)
~ Email Updates
¶ Household Membership - Sponsor ($75)
($125 for Two Calendar Year Membership)
~ Email Updates
~ "Sponsor" Status in newsletter and on website
¶ Household Membership - Silver Sponsor ($150)
($250 for Two Calendar Year Membership)
~ Email Updates
~ "Silver Sponsor" Status in newsletter and website
~ Invitations to special events
~ Thank you gift of a Bartow GOP Mug
¶ Household Membership - Gold Sponsor ($300+)
($500 for Two Calendar Year Membership)
~ Email Updates
~ "Gold Sponsor" Status in newsletter and website
~ Link to your website at BartowGOP.com
please email michael@bartowgop.com with your web site address
~ Invitations to special events
~ Thank you gift of a Bartow GOP Mug ~ Thank you gift of a Bartow GOP Hat
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Greetings!
Earlier this month Georgia concluded the primary election portion of this campaign season with the conclusion of the partisan run-off elections on August 10th, for those races in which no candidate received a clear majority. As with each of you, not every candidate I supported won their race, or even made it to the run-offs. Overall though, I am fairly happy with the candidates our party has going into the November general election.
This primary season was my first, and it was quite eye-opening. My active political involvement began in 2008 when I volunteered for the Loudermilk re-election campaign. He had no primary opposition that year, so I remained clueless about the primary process. That changed this year.
I must say that I was unprepared for the primary season, and maybe that can be chalked up to my own naivete. I just assumed that since we are all Republicans that the primary races would be a civil exchange of ideas and preferences for candidates and policies. I was mistaken. These were often full-scale battles waged by candidates and their supporters, not only touting their candidates' bona fides, but expressing vocal criticism for what they perceived as flaws and weaknesses in their opposition.
Many accusations were made and charges leveled. Innuendo was used to make subtle points. Candidates were often called out to justify claims made. Some claims were justified and some refuted. Tempers often flared when people thought their candidate was being treated unfairly, which is understandable.
All of that is now past. The Republican candidates have now been determined, and is time to put any animosity and hurt feelings from the primaries behind us. We now have to unite behind these candidates so that Republicans can sweep the elections in November here in Georgia, and hopefully make massive gains nationally.
There is s tremendous amount at stake. With the completion of the census in 2010, Georgia stands to gain seats in the national legislature in 2011. That means that the majority party in the state legislature, along with the governor, will determine just how those seats will be redistricted. It is imperative that Republicans retain the governorship and expand their majorities in the House and Senate. There was some very good, conservative legislation that did not get signed into law this year, which will almost certainly come back up next session (the JOBS bill for one). With Nathan Deal in the governor's mansion, there is a good chance we can get this legislation passed. With Roy Barnes there, the legislation is most certainly Dead On Arrival.
I've had many people express disappointment to me that not all of the candidates fielded by the Republican Party are strong conservatives, and at times that is true. But they are certainly going to be better than the Democrat. There is another thing to consider as well. We have a tendency of ignoring elected officials once they are in office, which is a mistake. Even when our team wins, we must be diligent in maintaining oversight of our elected officials. They are getting pressured daily by various special interests, and they will be much less likely to stray from core principles if they know that they have an informed and engaged electorate in their district supporting them.
So, my plea to you is this; continue to be energetically engaged. Choose a candidate or candidates that strongly align with your values and get out and work for them. Talk to your friends and family. Go door-to-door for them. Contribute financially if you are able. But for heaven's sake, DO SOMETHING! Only with enthusiastic engagement in the political process will we retake our country. Only with your help will we be able to undo the disaster that is ObamaCare.
Only with your help will we give to our children a country as good or better than we inherited from our parents. It will not be easy, but it can be done. I look forward to working side-by-side with each of you. |
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The more we find out about ObamaCare the more frightening it gets. Obama and the Democrats have given up on their claims that the new law will reduce costs after having had that fraud exposed by the Congressional Budget Office and numerous other organizations that have analyzed the bill.
In more recent news, we may be seeing the beginning of the health care rationing that we all knew was coming. The cancer drug Avastin, which has had success in prolonging the life expectancy of cancer-sufferers, last month had the FDA advisory board recommend that Avastin approval be withdrawn, not because of negative side effects, but because they determined that the length of time patients' lives were extended was not worth the expense. The result is that as many as 40,000 women each year will be denied a potentially life-saving option.
This is just one of the landmines in the new law. Others include a requirement to fill out an IRS form 1099 for any business with which you do more than $600 worth of business in a calender year. Did you have more than $600 worth of work done on your car? You'll need a 1099 from your mechanic. Get your air conditioner fixed when the compressor went out? You'll need one for that too. More than a few visits to the chiropractor? Keep the printer going. It will be a paperwork nightmare. Some analysts are predicting that this is the government's attempt to lay the groundwork for a new VAT (value-added tax). Either way, it means a nightmare for taxpayers. |
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The Economy, Taxes and Deficits
The news on the economy is not getting any better. This week the updated numbers for the housing market (a huge factor in the economic recovery) came out and they were not pretty. New home sales are down 12.4%, and existing home sales plummeted 27.2%, to the lowest level in 15 years.
At the root of this demoralizing economic news is the policies of President Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled legislature. As the Wall Street Journal points out, economists are growing increasingly pessimistic about the Summer of Recovery (Wreckovery?) and the ability to create jobs in the next few years. To summarize, economists believe that this administration should just stop! Stop increasing taxes, stop spending and growing the deficit, stop burdening the small businesses which create nearly 75% of all new jobs in this country with burdensome regulations, stop new entitlements and the growth of existing entitlements which further drive up debt...JUST STOP!
The problem is that we have an administration and Congress that have little private sector experience and who are either ignorant of or openly hostile to the needs of private sector businesses. All the more reason to work hard to regain control of the House in November and possibly the Senate.
In other economic news: Democrat Barney Frank, one of the key people responsible for the economic meltdown due to his protection of the corruption within Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now admits that it was a mistake to push low-income housing for those that can't afford it, and now calls for the phase-out of the two GSE's. Incredible!
The economy lost another 131,000 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate is now at 9.5%. Analysts say that the rate would be higher but that many people have simply stopped looking for work and are no longer counted aganst those numbers.
Humorously (as long as you don't think about it too hard), the Obama administration is now adding the metric "lives touched" to the ridiculous "Jobs SAVED or Created" mantra. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want is Democrats touching me or my life.
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Church and State
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker earlier this month invalidated the votes of millions of Californians who passed a constitutional amendment to define the terms of marriage as being between one man and one woman. In doing so, he claimed that the only rationale for the amendment was bigotry and hatred against gays driven by religious biases and fears.
Theoretically, I have no problem with a judge overturning the will of the people. We are a republic, not a democracy, and the will of the people is only relevant when it does not infringe upon the constitutional rights of others. However, in this case there was no conflict with either the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection clause (as confirmed by the Supreme Court as recently as 1986 in the case of Bowers v. Hardwick), nor precedent. This was the arbitrary ruling of a single judge (who did not recuse himself despite being an open homosexual who has advocated for such policy changes) in defiance of the expressed will of the people.
So egregious was this ruling that the ultra-liberal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on the ruling until it could be reviewed. Regardless of how the 9th Circuit rules, this case will end up before the Supreme Court and will likely be decided in yet another 5-4 ruling, with Justice Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote.
This is a cultural battle in which one side must win and one side lose. There is no peaceful co-existence. In the few places where homosexual marriage has been temporarily approved (by the courts in Massachusetts and the city council in Washington, D.C.), freedom of religion has lost out to political correctness. In those two locations, the Catholic Adoption services were forced to close down operations because they refused to defy their religious beliefs and place children in same sex homes. They were shut down down despite there being other agencies in those jurisdictions that placed children in same-sex homes. This is not about "rights", nor equality. This is about forcing upon American citizens acceptance of behaviors and lifestyles which many people find sinful.
More frightening still is the fact that if the judge's reasoning in the ruling is upheld (that the state has no legitimate claim in proscribing the sexual activites of consenting adults), then that opens the door to the decriminalization of bigamy/polygamy, incest, prostitution and potentially even pedophilia (and if you think I am exaggerating then you should know that organizations like NAMBLA have filed suit in an attempt to rule as arbitrary and capricious the use of age as a factor in individuals choosing to engage in sex). This is a battle that we must win.
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Good News and Comic Relief
The U.S. Postal Service reported a $3 billion loss last quarter. Their figures show that they lost a billion a month. The Post Office is always bragging it's the most profitable branch of government, and now they have the numbers to back it up. (Argus Hamilton).
Black TEA Party leaders and members take on reporters...very encouraging.
Come on, you have to appreciate the irony in this...union leaders hire nonunion help (mostly at minimum wage) to protest...businesses not hiring union workers.
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Reading for Extra Credit
Keeping Up With the World of Politics, Government, and the Social Issues of the Day .
Democrats have continually decried the Iraq War because of the cost and how much it added to the deficit. But did you know that it was less than the cost of the "stimulus package" alone, and far less than ObamaCare is projected to be?
Iran has announced that it will soon begin construction of the first of ten planned uranium enrichment sites. This comes after the revelation that the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is on the cusp of being brought online, thanks to the help of our friends the Russians (the same Russians who promised to help us with sanctions against Iran in exchange for cancelling the missle defense network with our eastern European allies).
The brilliant Thomas Sowell takes an insightful look into "The Dismantling of America" (here, here, here and here). |
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May God Bless You,
Louis DeBroux, Vice Chair of Communications
Bartow County Republican Party
Michael W. Huneke II, Chairman
Bartow County Republican Party |
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