Georgia Politics As Usual, Republican Style

Georgia has always been run by the Democrats. So you don't worry, a Georgia Democrat is actually a moderate Republican

That changed over the last ten or so years. Our Governor, Sonny Perdue is a Republican. He used to be a Democrat but saw more opportunity with the GOP. He proved to be right. Republican now are the majority in both the Georgia Senate and the House. It seems lately they can't get along on how to divvy up the spoils of power. Read "earmarks" or state level pork.


The Republicans couldn't decide who to pander to this past session. They had calculated that they had an extra $142 million that they didn't need. Perdue wanted to give an income tax break to old folks. The Republican leadership in the Legislature wanted to give it back to property owners by reducing property taxes.


The Legislature passed its version and Perdue vetoed the bill which also included a bunch of other spending measures, collectively, the "mid-year budget." At the last second in the session, they were not able to muster the votes to override the veto.


This kicked the matter into Georgia politics' version of overtime. A special session needed to be held to decide on the spending. The Governor and the Republican leaders sniped at each other in public and private. The rest of the State wondered when the special session would be held.


But Perdue had a trick up his sleeve. He announced he had "rescinded" his veto. He signed the mid-year budget but used a "line item veto" to cross out the $142 million tax break.


There are only a couple of problems with this maneuver. The Georgia Constitution does not provide for "rescinding" a veto and the tax break wasn't a "line item" within the bill so it can't be individually struck. These problems were pointed out in an op-ed piece written by a Georgia lawyer last week. Since then from the Governor and the leaders? Silence.


I guess the leaders don't want to win badly enough to file a suit to declare the Governor's veto's as unconstitutional and further embarrass themselves and the Governor. What's the Governor quietly doing? He's vetoing pork legislation sponsored by the Republican leaders that opposed him on the income tax break.


In the meantime, you still can't buy a six-pack at the convenience store on your way home from church on Sunday in Georgia. Wouldn't be moral you know. A final bit of irony. One of the Republican leaders who opposed the Governor got pinched for DUI when he ran his car into a utility pole at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Wonder when and where he got his booze?