Political Vine: The Insider's Source on Georgia Politics

The Basics of State Tax Dollars Which costs more, a dollar of private money or a dollar of state government tax money? While this question may provoke you to think of an age-old question like “Which weighs more, a pound of gold or a pound of chocolate?”, and subsequently you jump to the conclusion that [...]

Rumors have it that a multi-agent special investigative squad assembled by the FBI in August 2011 is here in Georgia because of a certain straw that was laid on the camel’s back in June 2011 at the Georgia State Ethics Commission, and broke it. First published by Jim Walls over at Atlanta Unfiltered tonight, Walls [...]

Rumors have it that Senator Cecil Staton is growing a bigger pair of cojones (pronounced ka-hon-ees) these days. So much so that he has taken it upon himself to invoke his title “State Senator” when he solicits new business for advertising on his radio station business. One such incident happened several weeks ago when he [...]

Rumors have it that House Speaker David Ralston has officially flown over the Cuckoo’s Nest…and, apparently, is intent on dragging the entire state house with him. PV Provides A Little Background: The oft-discussed T-SPLOST coming-up in 2012 had its beginnings in a vote on HB 277 in April 2010. Bill Evelyn of the State of [...]

HD 43-Brian Laurens vs. Geraldine Wade In a previous PV, we described an incident regarding Brian Laurens of the Robert Lamutt Campaign and Geraldine Wade, who was a candidate for the HD-43 Special Election. That election has come and gone, and Wade, while receiving an impressive 22.2% for her first time out with a pure [...]

Rumors have it that a robo-call phone poll was conducted on September 15, 2011 that resulted in 356 voters responding to questions regarding how they felt about the upcoming September 20 Special Election….and Legend-in-His-Own-Mind Candidate Robert Lamutt is not in first place. The poll was conducted by Insider Advantage/Rosetta Stone Communications and results are due [...]

For the 2012 RATS vote, the misinformation war has begun…and, to no surprise to anyone, the misinformation comes from the “pro” side. What is “RATS?” RATS stands for Regional Atlanta Transportation SPLOST. It’s that 1% sales tax addition to 10 metro-Atlanta counties’ existing total sales tax. (If this “RATS” concept sounds familiar, a few months [...]

From Jim Galloway’s Political Insider column: When newly re-elected state GOP chairman Sue Everhart arrived home from an out-of-town trip on Wednesday, she found a sizeable bouquet of flowers on her porch. There was a card attached, which read: “I couldn’t beat Nathan Deal, but you did.” It was signed, “Your friend, Roy.” Democrat Roy [...]

Rumor has it that though Sue Everhart‘s name was printed on the program of last week’s “Celebrate Georgia/Governor’s Ball” event, Sue was, in fact, not sent an invitation. This is what PV knows: We know Sue was NOT sent an invitation because she told us that she never received the invite. Had she been invited, [...]

Did you know this about Sue Everhart? by longtime Georgia grassroots activist Toria Morgan Part 1: As Chairman of the State Party As GaGOP chairman, Sue Everhart held GRASSROOTS TRAINING. In addition to on-going training for the District Chairmen, State Committee Members and County Chairmen, in May of 2010 she held a weekend Republican Round-Up [...]

So, Again, We Ask, What Does “Grassroots” Mean? In our opinion (an opinion hewed by personally spending nearly 15 years in grassroots politics), the fact that one votes in a Republican primary does not mean that person is a “grassroots activist.” Consistently showing-up at the election polls on primary day, and choosing to vote Republican, [...]

RE: Quid pro quo for your vote for Tricia Pridemore? Dear Delegates & Alternates, According to my sources, some former Sue Everhart supporters have now, under “intense pressure”, switched their vote to supporting Tricia Pridemore. “Intense pressure” is what they are rumored to have described the phone calls they received from the Governor that caused [...]