Rep. Tom Graves Honored as “Legislator of the Year” by ALEC

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) today honored state Representative Tom Graves (R-Ranger) as its “Legislator of the Year.”

The “Legislator of the Year” Award is given to state legislators who are ALEC members in good standing and have distinguished themselves by advancing, introducing and/or enacting policies based on the fundamental Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism and individual liberty.

Graves peers honored him with the award for his work on the Jobs, Opportunity and Business Success Act of 2009 (JOBS Act).

“It has been a pleasure to work with the leadership of the Georgia House and ALEC to formulate a true economic stimulus proposal for Georgia,” said Rep. Graves. “We recognize that sustainable job creation only results from the expansion of the private sector and not from the expansion of government. Hats off to ALEC for their tireless effort to advance sound public policy based on Jeffersonian principles.”

Graves received the award for his authorship and passage of The JOBS Act, HB 481 and 482, which received national attention. These bills were focused on helping small businesses and creating, expanding and attracting jobs through a series of tax credits, cuts, and incentives for businesses to hire Georgians.

ALEC’s 36th Annual Meeting, which began this past Wednesday and wraps up July 18, featured former U.S. Senator and Georgia Governor Zell Miller, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich and others who addressed an audience of nearly 1,500 state legislators and business leaders in Atlanta.

Rep Gingrey Steps Into The Limbaugh Brouhaha

Commentary:

A few days ago Mr. Obama told GOP leaders, "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done."

Recently Rush Limbaugh was criticised, out of context, for saying he wanted Obama to fail. Limbaugh actually said he wanted him to fail IF he pursued socialist policies, if he pursued policies that were bad for the country. What freedom loving American wouldn't want someone to fail if they were going to destroy the underpinning of our country? if they were going to move us from a democracy to socialism or worse?

Mr. Obama's showed his ignorance regarding how conservatives think, and he showed his bias, when he made his remarks. I seriously doubt if Mr. Obama has listened to Rush Limbaugh enough to have formed a balanced opinion of the show. I would bet that all he ever hears are the snippets played by the media when there's a controversy. I'd guess some of his staff and friends have reported things second-hand to him, also.

Of course, no one likes having holes poked in their policies. The Democratic caucus would prefer that conservative talk radio die a quick death. Talk show hosts across the country present an opposing view that raises the hackles of some.

I liken talk radio to the two party system. The mainstream media is the Democratic Party, talk radio is the Republican Party. Just like our current situation, the Dems are in the majority.

One of the best, and possibly worst, things about conservatives is our independent thinking process. We can listen to Rush and others, but we're not going to follow like sheep. Gosh, just look at the divergent views expressed by the most popular talk show hosts! They disagree with each other.

On the negative side, it's rather hard to get us all to rally around one candidate or issue simply because we are so independent minded. We'll stick to our principles to the detriment of the overall goal of electing Republicans at times.

I believe Mr. Obama and the Democratic caucus have a long term goal to shut down talk radio. They're very openly trying to enact the un-"Fairness Doctrine" which would do just that.

The so-called Fairness Doctrine is on the near-horizon. Conservatives and proponents of free speech should be concerned. Like Limbaugh or not, once the government successfully shuts down talk radio, they'll go after the next bastion of opposition be it newspapers, television or the Internet. In fact, with the growth of blogradio and similar on-line quasi-radio ventures, one has to wonder if they'll be included.

This is not a Rush Limbaugh issue, this is a free speech issue.

I don't think this is the last time Obama will paint Rush as a wedge that divides. I don't believe he's going to stop until he quiets all those who point out the flaws of his policies.

Yesterday Georgia Rep Phil Gingrey was interviewed by Politico and the current flap was brought up. Here are links to a blog about the interview and to the actual Politico article. I've also included some information on the "Fairness Doctrine" and encourage all everyone to learn more about this issue. - Janet McGregor Dunn

House GOP member to Rush: Back off
Rush Limbaugh may command a large following, but his caustic comments Monday about the GOP’s congressional leadership have at least one Republican House member defending his colleagues and offering an unusually candid critique of the talk radio powerhouse and his fellow commentators.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18049.html

Rep Gingrey Steps Into The Limbaugh Brouhaha
Posted by: Danny Garner 01/28/2009 5:21 AM
In an interview yesterday with Politico Rep Phil Gingrey (GA-11) stepped into the dust up between Rush Limbaugh and Barack Obama. This whole soap opera started a couple of days ago when when Obama warned Republicans not to listen to Limbaugh.
"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package.
http://www.redcounty.com/cobb/2009/01/rep-gingrey-steps-into-the-lim/

Great site that "talks" you through the Fairness Doctrine: http://www.aclj.org/FairnessDoctrine/default.html

Petition to voice your opposition to the Fairness Doctrine: https://www.aclj.org/Petition/Default.aspx?sc=3293&ac=1

Why the Fairness Doctrine is Anything But Fair
Legislation currently is before Congress that would reinstate a federal communications policy known as the "fairness doctrine." The legislation, entitled the "Fairness in Broadcasting Act of 1993," is sponsored in the Senate (S. 333) by Ernest Hollings, the South Carolina Democrat, and in the House (H.R. 1985) by Bill Hefner, the North Carolina Democrat. It would codify a 1949 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation that once required broadcasters to "afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of public importance." The fairness doctrine was overturned by the FCC in 1987. The FCC discarded the rule because, contrary to its purpose, it failed to encourage the discussion of more controversial issues. There were also concerns that it was in violation of First Amendment free speech principles. The legislation now before Congress would enshrine the fairness doctrine into law.

The doctrine's supporters seem not to appreciate just how much the broadcast world has changed since 1949. With the proliferation of informational resources and technology, the number of broadcast outlets available to the public has increased steadily. In such an environment, it is hard to understand why the federal government must police the airwaves to ensure that differing views are heard. The result of a reinstituted fairness doctrine would not be fair at all. In practice, much controversial speech heard today would be stifled as the threat of random investigations and warnings discouraged broadcasters from airing what FCC bureaucrats might refer to as "unbalanced" views....
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Regulation/EM368.cfm

Georgia State Representative Butler Honored September 24 at University of West Georgia

State Representative Mark Butler (R-Carrollton) will be a guest of honor of the Murphy Center for Public Service and the University of West Georgia American Democracy Project on Wednesday, Sept. 24, on the UWG campus.

He will be the guest lecturer at the Distinguished Speaker Series at 3:30 p.m. in the Pafford Building and will be awarded the Distinguished Citizen Award at a reception following the lecture. The lecture and reception are free and the community is invited to attend.

The event is sponsored by the Murphy Center, the American Democracy project, the Political Science Club and the Department of Political Science and Planning, and will begin in Room 112 with the reception and award ceremony following in Room 118.

The award is given by the Murphy Center to citizens who display excellence in public service to the university and the West Georgia community, said Dr. Robert Sanders, professor of political science and coordinator of the program.

“Butler is receiving the award because of his legislative and financial support for the university as a member of the Georgia legislature,” Sanders said. “He is a valued supporter of the university and has shown his commitment by supporting many projects including the new Coliseum, which will open in January 2009.”

Past recipients of the Distinguished Citizen Award include Governor Roy Barnes, Georgia Senator Mitch Seabaugh and state Supreme Court Judge Harris Hines.

Butler was elected into the state House of Representatives in 2002 as a District 18 representative for parts of Carroll and Haralson counties. For more information, call 678-839-6504.

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Westmoreland: ‘Stimulus’ merely explodes deficit

Oops, rec'd this back on 1/29 and overlooked it somehow...

U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland joined all of the House’s Georgia Republicans to oppose the $150 billion economic “stimulus” package. The measure passed 385-35, with one “present,” and now goes to the Senate, where senators have vowed to tack on even more spending.

“This legislation promises tax rebates, but it’s not a tax rebate when we’re borrowing money from China to write checks to ourselves,” Westmoreland said. “It’s difficult to vote against sending money to people, particularly at a time of economic distress, but sending out checks in a couple of months isn’t going to expand the economy, it’s just going to expand the deficit.

“We need to give businesses incentives to expand and create new jobs. We need to focus on long-term economic growth by making the Bush tax cuts permanent and lowering corporate tax rates to keep our employers competitive in the global marketplace.

“These checks aren’t going to stem the housing crisis, which is at the heart of our economic problems. This is simply a national credit card binge, and as many Americans are discovering these days, the bill eventually comes due and the results aren’t pretty. We are putting the future of our country in the hands of foreigners who buy our debt. It’s scary, it’s reckless and it’s got to stop. What happened today is a step backward from fiscal responsibility, sadly, after we’ve taken significant steps toward reducing the deficit in recent years.”