Georgia State Senate:

• Senator Jeff Chapman, 3rd District
• Senator Ralph Hudgens, 47th
• Senator Eric Johnson, 1st, President Pro-Tempe
• Senator Chip Rogers, 21st
• Senator Mitch Seabaugh, 28th
• Senator David Shafer, 48th

Georgia State House:

• Representative Steve Davis, 109th
• Representative Tom Graves, 12th
• Representative Mike Jacobs, 80th
• Representative Jill Chambers, 81st
• Representative Martin Scott, 2nd

All of these candidates have signed the RLC’s Liberty Compact.

http://www.gopliberty.org

Jason Shepherd 770-265-5268 shep1975@aol.com

http://www.georgiayr.org

Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia and the Georgia Federation of Young Republicans announce the results of the Presidential Primary Straw Poll at the Georgia GOP State Convention

DULUTH, GA, May 19th, 2007 – The Georgia Federation of Young Republican Clubs (GFYRC) and the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia (RLC-GA) announced the results of the straw poll held at the Georgia GOP State Convention. Former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee won with 44% of the vote. Coming in second with 18% of the vote was native son Newt Gingrich. Rudy Giulani lead the announced candidates with 64 votes or 16%.

“Between Fred and Newt, the unannounced candidates took a majority of the vote. This is clear indication that none of the major candidates resonate with the base of the party” RLC Chairman Chris Farris said, adding “The GOP needs a candidate with credibility in promoting the GOP’s traditional message of limited government, federalism and personal responsibility”.

The final results were:

“Ballot integrity was preserved by requiring voters to surrender their credentials to be marked, ensuring that no one voted twice,” said Cameron Fash, Co-Chairman of the GFYRC.

The Georgia Federation of Young Republicans and the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia conducted the straw poll. 431 delegates, alternates and guests cast their votes at those organizations tables at the convention. The Georgia GOP did not conduct an official straw poll.

ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN LIBERTY CAUCUS OF GEORGIA – Founded in 1990 the Republican Liberty Caucus works to advance the principles of limited government, free markets and individual liberty within the Republican Party. The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia endorsed 29 pro-liberty Republicans in 2006, 25 of which now serve in office.

ABOUT THE GEORGIA FEDERATION OF YOUNG REPUBLICAN CLUBS – The GFYRC is an officially recognized allied organization of the Georgia Republican Party. Made up of 11 federated chapters across Georgia, the GFYRC seeks to increase party participation by individuals aged 18-40 inclusively.

Conservatives Joining Forces in General Assembly

By Representative Steve Davis

In most of Georgia, the ground is starting to thaw, birds have reappeared in places and legislators under the Gold Dome have reached the halfway point of their annual, 40-day winter session.

This year, conservatives have joined together as a group. The 216 Group has been assembled and we are working on reducing taxes, cutting the size of government, promoting personal responsibility and protecting our freedoms.

For example, the Georgia House has appointed a tax reform committee that will look at revising Georgia’s tax code from top to bottom.

This means everything is on the table from abolishing property taxes and the statewide income tax to enacting a flat tax, a fair tax or a statewide sales tax.

Georgians believe our system of taxation is unfair and want real reform that not only brings balance to taxation, but reduces the overall tax burden at the same time.

According to the Tax Foundation and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Georgia ranked 25th in the nation when it comes to states with the highest state and local tax burden. That is up from the late 1970s when Georgia ranked 32nd or the late 1980s when it ranked 30th.

Instead, Georgia’s tax burden should be moving in the other direction as our population has increased and economy exploded in the past 20 years. More jobs and more revenue for state and local governments should have made it easy for efficient governments to operate without large tax increases.

In addition to cutting taxes, lawmakers are attempting to reduce the size of government with initiatives such as legislation introduced to sunset state departments, agencies and commissions every two years.

A House bill introduced this winter would create a legislative sunset commission to determine if these state entities are meeting performance measures, should be consolidated with other departments or should be eliminated.

That is a bold attempt to reduce the size of government.

A similar effort in Texas, enacted in 1977, has saved the state of Texas more almost $800 million and eliminated 47 agencies and caused 11 more to consolidate.

Perhaps no other piece of legislation moving through the General Assembly this session is garnering more attention than a Senate bill that gives parents and students more options in education. The “Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act” empowers parents with more freedom and personal responsibility by issuing children with special needs a scholarship to attend another private or public school of their choice.

Instead of just sending their child to the nearest public school, parents of disabled children will be empowered to be more involved in their child’s education as they will be notified of this option. They will be given the freedom to attend a school that provides the type of education services that better fits their child’s learning style.

And on another front, to protect our liberty and freedom, lawmakers have introduced a variety of bills to protect our Second Amendment Rights. One bill would allow motorists to keep an unlicensed weapon in a vehicle so they might protect themselves.

Another bill would allow employees to keep licensed weapons locked in their car or truck while at work. The premise is that no employer can bar a worker from exercising their Second Amendment rights – such as bearing firearms in their personal, locked vehicle.

Despite what some may say, there is many Republicans at the Georgia State Capitol, striving to promote the principles of less taxes, reducing the size of government, promoting personal responsibility and enhancing liberty and justice for all.

Representative Steve Davis, a Republican, representing Henry County in the Georgia House of Representatives.

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The little black guy and the little white guy would be far better off, and so would the GOP, if the party of limited government, fiscal discipline, strong defense and personal responsibility embraced policies based on core values. Black conservatives and white conservatives alike would be far more inclined to stick around if it came toting principle — four years out of four, not one.
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If they want to extend the Voting Rights Act, they should apply it to the whole country. Otherwise we should do like Congressman Westmoreland suggested and find some “activist judges” to overturn it.