From Brent’s campaign PR:

Brent Brown raised $115,000 through April 12, 2006! With these funds combined with 25 endorsements from Georgia Senators, the Brown for Labor Commissioner campaign has gained tremendous momentum.

With fundraising events being held in all parts of Georgia, Brown is well on his way to securing the nomination in the July 18, 2006 primary and then working to become Georgia’s first Republican Labor Commissioner.

“I am humbled by the generosity of so many friends to my campaign and will work diligently to win the nomination and then the office in November,” said Brent Brown.

Brent Brown for Labor Commissioner

I’ve received a phone call from Matthew Kramer of Politech.org whereby he informed me that not only was he (nor his company, nor anyone who works for him) not involved in the e-mail complaint scheme to shut-down the Kemp site, but he would never be involved, either directly or indirectly, in such an act.

My apology to Mr. Kramer for not thinking to call for his comments on the story before I released it.

Rumors have it that the Gary Black Campaign for Agriculture Commissioner has launched an attack on the website account for the Brian Kemp Campaign for Agriculture Commissioner, and successfully shut it down for the time being.

The attack was in the form of e-mails to Kemp’s Web hosting company claiming that Kemp was sending out tons of “spam.” Kemp’s Web hosting company shut Kemp’s site down and suspended the account.

According to our source in the Kemp campaign, the e-mail addresses of the complainers were not even on the Kemp e-mail distribution lists. So, for them to claim that they were “spammed” is a falsehood in and of itself.

The fact is, e-mails sent out by a political campaign are specifically not considered “spam” in either the federal law or in Georgia state law.

However, not all Web hosting/ISP companies are aware of that specific part of the law, having usually created rules of their own for people to abide by. Most Web hosting/ISP companies are deathly afraid of being accused of allowing spamming to occur, so, their tendency it to act immediately on complaints, whether valid or not, and shut down the accused Website owner.

Currently, we know the Kemp campaign is trying to get their site back-up via negotiations with their Web host. So, contrary to the Black supporters’ claims on another Website, Kemp’s account has not been “suspended” due to non-payment.

Technorati Tags: Gary Black, Agriculture Commissioner, Brian Kemp

(The article below was sent to the Vine anonymously)

In Congress, the name on the bill rarely has anything to do with its content. The Deficit Reduction Act is a perfect case in point. While the title makes you think Congress is reducing the deficit, the bill is full of things that actually drive up federal spending.

Take Medicare, for example. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 supposedly shrinks the deficit in Medicare eliminating wasteful practices like unnecessary x-rays, CAT-Scans and MRIs – a good thing.

Unfortunately, the bill cuts the amount the feds pay for these tests at lower-cost independent-imaging centers and force people who really need them go to a hospital, which is three or four times the cost – a bad thing.

For example, Life Test in Sandy Springs charges about $250 for an MRI to see if your heart is clogged and you need a by-pass. In any hospital on Pill Hill, the cost is significantly more. By making more people go to hospitals for these tests, the feds end up spending more tax dollars – not less.

Truth-in-advertising requires Congress to change the name of the bill to the Deficit Inflation Act. With two doctors – Tom Price and Phil Gingery – in the Georgia delegation, you’d think they’d know this stuff. Did they vote against the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005? Of course not!

Who can vote against something so noble as deficit reduction?

From today’s press release:

Dear Friends,

In a few hours I will unveil my extensive plan for elections reform in Georgia . My plan is the first and only comprehensive vision to make our elections more secure and increase confidence. As a valued supporter of my campaign for Secretary of State, I wanted you to be one of the first to see it.

Reforming elections in Georgia is all about the BASICs. That is Ballot Accountability, System Integrity, and citizen Confidence. My entire plan is attached for your review. Several of the key components are:
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What’s on your mind about politics in Georgia or in the world…

In today’s edition of the AJC (April 10, 2006), there is an article in the METRO Section covering the pork that was doled-out from this year’s legislative session. The article is titled “Suburbs take a bigger bite of pork spending.”

On Page B3, there is a quote by Senator Bill Stephens on the pork handouts by the Republican-led Georgia Legislature: “The way the decisions get made [on pork] are totally different [than what happened when Democrats were in charge]. The difference is you can see all of them now and nothing is hidden. I think that’s the difference between doing things in the light of day and hiding them.”

Oh, really, Senator? You mean the problem with all the pork shoved through by the Dems wasn’t the pork itself, but the way it was hidden from view?

Ah, so, in Stephens’ mind, the legislature can give away ALL the pork it wants to as long as the disclosure of the pork is much more “open” during the process of voting for the pork…?

Yeahhhhhhhhh…sure….that works! (NOT!)

Yeah, Boy, Howdee…the only higher office this guy is qualified for is managing the supply and distribution of dunce caps, starting with the one that has to be specially fitted for his head.

Technorati Tags: Senator Bill Stephens, pork

Rumors have it that the first quarter’s disclosures from the two leading candidates, Karen Handel and Bill Stephens, will show the following:

Bill Stephens raised $33,000 and has $142,000 Cash on Hand.

Karen Handel raised $177,000 and has $310,000 Cash on Hand.

Because this first quarter of 2006 was a legislative quarter, Stephens was hampered in what he could raise. However, Handel’s impressive amount of $310,000 on hand may be a clear sign of careful money management. The June 30 quarter should be very revealing as to who will be on top of their game and be able to defeat the other.

These are the responsibilities of Georgia’s Secretary of State’s office: This is a multi-department agency charged with maintaining corporation filings, securities registration, professional licensure of a wide range of disciplines, elections and voter files, and archives of the State of Georgia.

Let’s look at the qualifications of the two leading Republicans for Secretary of State, Bill Stephens and Karen Handel:

Bill Stephens (from www.BillStephens.com)

Bill served as Director of Communications and spokesperson for Governor Zell Miller from 1989 to 1991. He was first elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1998 in an election for an open seat against two other Republicans and one Democrat. He went right to work in the Senate. In his freshman term he took on the status quo by creating the “Georgia Stuck Pig Award,” given annually to highlight wasteful government spending. He also earned former Governor Roy Barnes’ designation as “number 56 of 56″ in the Senate on the Barnes loyalty scale.
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