Follow The Money: Why Nathan Deal “Needs” Tricia Pridemore to Be Chair
by PV
SPECIAL MEMORANDUM
To: Georgia GOP Convention Delegates & Alternates
From: Political Vine
RE: Why the Governor is working so hard to elect Tricia Pridemore Chairman
Dear Convention Delegates & Alternates,
Are you curious as to why Governor Nathan Deal and others who support Tricia Pridemore are so strongly supportive of her…a woman Nathan Deal barely knew for about 6 months before he threw his whole weight behind?
Well…since a lot of you are the proverbial “newbies”, we’ll let you in on a little secret we political veterans know, and it’s three little words: Follow. The. Money.
What does this mean? Well, in the case of why the Governor supports Tricia so much, and why other elected officials do as well, all you gotta do is follow the money that went from Tricia Pridemore’s bank account into Nathan Deal’s campaign coffers, as well as the campaign coffers of many other of her supporters.
Here’s a link to all of Tricia’s contributions (as well as those from her husband, Michael Pridemore) to state candidates: How much were the Pridemores responsible for in direct giving to Deal? Looks like…all told, including both cash and contributions in-kind, a total of $10,499.33. Hardly chump change.
This explains a little about why Governor Deal is so much in favor of Tricia Pridemore. She bought his support. But, this isn’t the whole story.
The rest of the story is Governor Deal’s and his always-present Chief of Staff Chris Riley always make sure that somehow, public tax money from others, or contributions from others, always makes its way to a Deal/Riley-related/controlled business entity. There is documented proof of this via the following stories on the Web:
1) As Chief of Staff of Congressman Deal, Chris Riley authorized payments direct from the congressional office’s account (i.e., federal tax money) to his wife’s company: Ex-Rep. Nathan Deal Paid $245.000 to Aide’s Wife
Now, Riley’s logic-defying answers are: 1) “no profit was ever made” and 2) his claim in that story that he “never received income from Chattahoochee Logistics.”
These answers should initiate the following process in any business person’s mind: “Wow! So, if we don’t make a profit, we don’t have to report that we received income? Really? Where’s that IRS Rule?”…..AND….”Okay…but, aren’t they married? Don’t they live in the same house? Wouldn’t the money that flowed through Chattahoochee Logistics find its way into a joint-checking account between a husband and wife?”
Answers: No. No, not really. Nowhere. Yes. Probably. Probably Yes.
2) As a candidate for Governor, Deal directs $135,000 of campaign contributions to his own pocket via a company he is a part owner of: Deal’s aircraft expenditures raise ethics questions
Golly…let’s put aside the “ethics law” questions and just look at the sheer instance of money being directed from a campaign into a candidate’s pocket?
Here’s a better question: Does ANY other Republican statewide candidate engage in this type of activity? How about any Republican Congressman? How about any US Senator in our state? Does Senator Isakson or Senator Chambliss direct campaign money to any private enterprise they have any control over, either direct or indirect? Do they? How about Congressman Gingrey? How about Congressman Westmoreland?
We’d really like to know if they do…and if it is the proverbial “norm?” If it is, hey, awesome. Really. We’ll no longer regard this as something to be shocked about in politics.
Would YOU do it? Would YOU consider it a proper thing to engage in…to be able to use your own campaign funds to enrich your own business…yes, even if you don’t “make a profit” from doing so…?
So…here’s the point with this State Chairman’s race: What if the reason why the Governor was so gung-ho for Tricia Pridemore had more to do with getting his own “choice” in as the State GOP chair so Nathan Deal and Chris Riley and all their other financial-related entities could get direct access to the coffers of the State Republican Party via their own controlled-candidate?
You see…based on those two articles, there is already a documented record of Deal and Riley thinking nothing of using other people’s money for their own business interests. Tricia Pridemore certainly doesn’t know any different. She is ready to do ANYTHING the Governor will want her to do…and that includes writing checks to whomever he asks her to write checks to. How could she refuse anything he requested?
Follow The Money, Ladies & Gentlemen, to figure out why the Governor supports Tricia…follow the evidence, and the bigger picture becomes quite clearer as to what is truly going on here.
This state’s Republican Party is not a kingdom in which we must all bow-down and kiss the rings of our elected leaders. Those of you who go around chanting “The Governor told me to vote this way so I will blindly do exactly what he wants” are setting yourselves up to be a devoted slave to the Governor from here on out, never acquring the ability to think for yourself in politics.
As we recall, that is not the definition of a “conservative.”
