Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Gov. Deal must go . . . two bad news items concerning him in today's paper

My opposition to Georgia's governor, Nathan Deal, is both deeply personal (for his scurrilous, slimey pandering to homophobic voters at the expense of LGBTQ kids in his 2010 campaign), and it is also based on his actions in office (see below).

Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution carried two stories that, in my opinion, reflect very badly on the governor.

1.  Front page, center headline:  "State ethics chief fired."

     This, of course, refers to Holly LaBerge, about whom I have written.  She was Deal's hand-picked replacement for the former ethics chief that he forced out of office when she was getting too nosey investigating ethics claims against the governor.   That replacement has now been fired by the commission after a Superior Court judge called her "dishonest and lacking transparency" in her failing to turn over a memo possibly incriminating the governor's top aides -- and indeed the governor himself.

     I believe this is shaping up to be a politically explosive situation for the governor, who so far has managed to shroud himself in sanctity, claiming to have had nothing to do with this.   But I do not believe that Holly LaBerge is going to keep quiet.   I look for her now to become a whistle-blower herself and expose the whole deal involving Deal.

    Unfortunately, that won't likely happen until after the November election -- unless Holly sings to the press rather than just waiting on a lawsuit and trial.

2.  Inside headline:   "$3.3M to pay for health insurance navigators."

     This stems from Gov. Deal's refusal to take the Affordable Care Act's gift that would allow states to expand Medicaid, with federal money paying 100% of costs for the first three years and up to 97% after that.     

     The current story stems from the fact that the legislature (with Deal's approval if not encouragement) passed a law last spring that made it illegal for any state employee to assist citizens seeking guidance in navigating the federal health insurance market place.    Such a program last year had helped 33,000 Georgians.   Now this would be illegal.

     Today's headline refers to a $3.3 million grant that has been made available by a Macon non-profit group, Community Health Works.   The purpose of the grant is to fund just the sort of navigating assistance that our governor and lawmakers prohibited state workers from doing.

Do we really want this man to have another term as governor?

Vote for Jason Carter for Georgia governor.
Vote for Michelle Nunn for U. S. Senator
Vote for Greg Hecht for Georgia Attorney General
Vote for Valerie Wilson for Georgia State School Superintendent.

Ralph

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