HB 318 of the 2013 Session: Unconstitutional, but who cares, right?
by Bill Simon
Just an update to the story on Sunday, the Bill# passed that did establish the multi-million dollar, taxpayer funded, unconstitutional “venture capital fund” was HB 318.
Here is a link to the Bill: http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/135871.pdf
Here are the State Representatives who voted for, against, or who were excused or did not vote on this unconstitutional bill: http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/vote.aspx?VoteID=11103
Here are the State Senators who voted for, against, or who were excused or did not vote on this unconstitutional bill:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/vote.aspx?VoteID=11004
One of the most fascinating things to look at for the Senate roll call vote was that both Senator Bill Heath and Senator Vincent Fort voted against this unconstitutional bill.
You could not find any two senators MORE diametrically opposite in political or government policy than those two, and yet, they both voted against this clearly unconstitutional bill.
Well, I am personally inspired, actually, from my review of this legislation, and all the Crapitalists* who voted for it.
‘Cause if the Legislature insists on so blithely ignoring the Georgia Constitution…then there is no need to follow any part of it, is there?
And, as a really odd result of my research of Georgia Supreme Court case law regarding the Braves-Cobb County deal, I now know something that I did not know before. I believe there is case law established by the Supreme Court of Georgia that will allow the following to occur without being in violation of the Georgia Constitution:
As long as the proper, specific steps are taken by a municipality, there is a legal path that relies on established case law for casino gambling enterprises to be built without amending the Georgia Constitution. Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Texas Hold-‘Em…all for real money. And, there won’t be a damn thing the Legislature will be able to do about it.
I resolve to find some time in the New Year to strike-up a conversation with Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts. He wants to bring gambling to Fulton County…I’m going to let him see the case law and the thought process the Georgia Supreme Court followed for cases I’ve read and maybe there will be a simple, direct path to getting casinos built in Fulton County. Won’t that be sweet?
And, if I can find someone on the Atlanta City Council who is interested, I’ll show them the way too. Heck, it can be done in any county or city, as long as the votes are there to do what needs to be done.
Remember, in this state, the Supreme Court can re-write, amend, or nullify the Constitution without either the Legislature putting something on the ballot, or having the people vote to pass an amendment. They not only “can” do it, but, they relish doing it, Boys & Girls.
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* ​A “Crapitalist” is a word I just coined, and it means any legislator (or city council member or county commissioner, or member of Congress, et al.) who says they believe in “free market capitalism,” but they will happily take your tax dollars and shove them into a “loan” to someone that doesn’t really have to pay it back, or shove it into a “VC fund” run by the state (’cause, Georgia would never repeat anything like the idiots in Rhode Island did with ’38 Studios‘), or use your taxpayer dollars for THEIR cronies to piss away on “economic development” activities (like, the Braves-Cobb County crap).
In short, they will treat your money like their money, and produce nothing but CRAP with it. So, they are not a “Cap-italist,” but they are a “Crap-italist.” And, Georgia appears to have far more than a fair share of them.
