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REPUBLICANS DENY FAIR FLAG VOTE |
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EDITOR, Journal -Herald: This letter is in response to your constant harping about how "the Democrats did it" and the recent misguided letter from Mr. Greg Morgan. I will try to deal mostly in facts and leave speculation, emotion, and political spin out of it, however difficult that may be. Mr. Morgan states it was Gov. Barnes and the Democrats who took our state flag. That is partially true. It was that party who received the lion's share of the blame for the 2001 outrage. However, without the votes of several Republicans, the flag would never have been changed in 2001. In fact, many Democrats voted against changing it in 2001. Mr. Morgan states it takes two-thirds of the House to pass anything for us on which to vote. This is an incorrect statement. It does take two-thirds in the House and Senate to make Constitutional changes. The previous rigged flag referendum, which was non-binding, required only a majority in the Senate and a little over a majority in the House. That is not anywhere near two-thirds. Mr. Morgan really enters Oz when he states getting rid of Democrats in general would be the right thing to do if we voters and heritage -minded citizens feel we were taken advantage of by politicians. Let me give you and your readers some facts to "jaw over" while drinking your coffee and nibbling your eggs down at the Huddle House and such. It is a fact that the Republicans had a majority in the Senate in 2003. It is a fact that Governor George Perdue ran as a Republican and was elected as such. So the Republicans had control of the Senate and the Governorship in 2003. It would be simple to pass anything the governor wanted in the Senate at least, would it not? In the 2003 Legislative Session, the referendum bill (HB 380) passed the Democrat -controlled House by an astonishing 62% (111 -67) and was sent to the Republican- controlled Senate. Immediately, Senator Tom Price submitted a Letter of Intent to engross. Now, some may not know what that means, so let me explain: A bill that has been engrossed can not be changed. It can only be voted up or down. The publicized plan was to engross the referendum bill (HB-380) in the Republican- controlled Senate, which would result in it passing unchanged, and the people would then have the right to vote on their State Flag. Engrossing it would have guaranteed that the bill would not have to go back to the House. Tom Price("mangydog" Republican) was the Senate Majority Leader and after submitting the Letter of Intent, all he had to do was make the motion by the third reading of the bill, but he didn't do it! Read that again with a bit more background. But the Republican Senate Majority Leader, who had submitted a Letter of Intent to engross, did not follow through and left the bill open to change! Calls to his office to find out what was going on were not returned! But wasn't this the same man who withstood King Roy's pressure and voted to keep OUR Georgia State Flag? Wasn't this the same man who made commitments to people when they went to see him? Wasn't this one of Sonny's "right hand men" in the Senate? Senator Tom Price failed to engross HB-380, voted for Amendment 15 with some other RepublicOns to remove YOUR vote on the Georgia State Flag and offered to make a deal with the Atlanta corporations, Black Caucus and politically correct crowd that includes the Chambers of Commerce. This was even publicly printed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. So, by not engrossing the bill, this allowed it to be sent back to the House where the post 1956 state flag was removed as a choice and SHAZAAM , tobacco users got hit with Perdue's tobacco tax increase that previously didn't have a prayer in the House. Not only did our flag choice get removed in the House, the bill passed with our flag choice removed in the Republican -controlled Senate. Sounds grand does it not? These are "our good friends"-- the Republicans. Remember that! The bill then goes to Governor George Perdue who signs it into law. When he put his name on the bill, Governor Perdue became "Perdue the Liar". Sonny boy says he did not lie, but there are many people around here and the State who will tell you differently. He lied to our faces and then took our money! Governor Perdue says he didn't want to be heavy- handed and that the people had spoken through their legislators. That is why he didn't veto the flag bill and chose instead to be a liar. But, ole Sonny managed to veto twenty some odd other bills that "the people" approved "speaking through" their legislators. Sounds like high- handedness to me your highness! Governor Perdue is now preaching ethics. Perhaps Sonny should leave the pulpit and sit in the pews with the rest of the legisTraitors needing "supreme guidance" from the electorate. He is a disgrace to the people he deceived in his ride to power and he alone with some more "mangydog" RepublicOns and dirty "yellerdog" DemoNrats will surely get what they deserve unless they fulfill their promise. That is a vow etched in Southern blood from Georgians across the state. Carl Sears Lt. Commander, Wiregrass Rangers Ga Division SCV Douglas Ga. Note: Carl's Address and Phone number were removed to protect his Privacy |
