Libertarian Candidate for Insurance Commissioner Shane Bruce on the Joys of Alternative Transportation

Another Bright Side to Karen Handel and Gail Buckner's Failed Campaigns

Always look on the Bright Side!

Here's the latest missive from Georgia's hardest working single issue activist, Garland Favorito, on one of the many bright sides of the recent defeat of Karen Handel and Gail Buckner.

Take it away Garland!

VoterGa Supporters,

Two major verifiable voting opponents suffered dramatically different defeats in the Tuesday, August 10 Georgia run-off elections. Georganna Sinkfield routed two-time Secretary of State candidate, Gail Buckner, in the Democratic run-off for Secretary of State by a margin of 62-38%. At the same time Nathan Deal edged former Secretary of State candidate, Karen Handel, in the Republican gubernatorial primary by a scant .4% or less than 2500 votes out of nearly 580,000 votes cast.

While Sinkfield is not a vocal proponent of verifiable voting, Buckner was the only legislator in the entire Georgia General Assembly on public record as opposing all four 2006 statewide verifiable voting and precinct level audit legislation initiatives. Specifically, as a representative:
n She opposed the HB 790 audit procedure bill in the House Government Affairs committee; She opposed SB 500 precinct audit provisions in the House Government Affairs committee; She voted on the House floor against Karla Drenner’s SB500 amendment that would have required audit trails on voting machines used throughout the state; She ridiculed opponent, Angela Moore, in the 2006 Democratic primary for supporting the SB591 vote count bill.

No other legislator opposed more than one of these initiatives but Rep. Buckner opposed all of them, even taking on her on fellow Democrats in doing so.

Buckner was defeated for the office of Secretary of State in 2006 by Karen Handel, who was then a strong advocate of restoring auditable voting in Georgia. After her election, Handel completely reversed her position and now claims that Georgia has the most secure elections in the country. Handel changed her position while accepting roughly $25,000 in direct contributions from the voting machine vendor lobbyist. Handel also received untold hundreds of thousands of dollars in indirect contributions raised by a former partner in the lobbying firm, Rob Simms, who was also one of her gubernatorial campaign finance managers.

Although the miniscule .4% margin qualifies the race for an automatic recount, Handel declined the recount and conceded. Ironically, the voting machines that she now advocates cannot recount a race but can only reprint previous unverifiable results. Handel was more aware than anyone that the machines will always produce the same as the original results during a so-called recount. In addition, absentee ballots are typically rescanned and not manually recounted so if there was an error in the tabulator on Election Day that same error would be present in a recount.

Handel’s loss, despite an endorsement by Sarah Palin, is attributed to several factors including her “scorched earth” tactics where she accused four of her opponents of ethical or moral failures and alienated fellow Republicans including some of her county chairmen. Ironically, it was her own ethics issues, several of which were described by the Political Vine, a Republican oriented electronic newsletter, that ultimately led to her defeat. VoterGA also documented the undue influence of the voting machine vendor lobbyist on the Secretary of State’s office during her tenure as well as several instances of improperly conducted investigations in cases that involved Georgia’s unverifiable voting machines. These cases eventually led to Articles of Impeachment filed in the Georgia General Assembly against Handel’s Inspector General, Shawn LaGrua. Links to that research and documents were widely distributed through the internet to local Democrat and Republican voters even though most state and local news outlets suppressed them. Exposure of this material and the ability to circumvent media suppression were likely key deciding factors in the miniscule margin between victory and defeat for this gubernatorial run-off.

Garland
www.voterga.org
404 664-4044

Libertarian John Monds is Conducting a FaceBook Fan Drive

1000 Friends, baby, 1000 friends.

Libertarian Candidate for Governor of Georgia, John Monds, is conducting a FaceBook friend drive this week as he begins the long march to November. John's historic run for the Governorship needs your votes and support and you can begin your journey with him by visiting his FaceBook page.

It's a pretty simple choice this fall, republican Nathan Deal or democrat Roy Barnes will do nicely if you insist on more or the same old, same old. If you want to bring change to Georgia, if you insist that future must be better than the present, if you value Liberty and all it's blessings, then Vote for John Monds!

Libertarian Taylor Bryant Picks Up Two Major Endorsements

Augusta's own, Libertarian Taylor Bryant, picked up two major endorsements in his quest for election to the Augusta School Board. From Taylors campaign:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Taylor Bryant for District Six School Board

Augusta, GA, August 11, 2010

Taylor Bryant has received endorsements for his campaign for School Board Representative for District Six.

Taylor Bryant received endorsements this week from Joe Jackson, Commissioner for District Six and from Joe Bowles, Commissioner for District Three.

The following statements were received from these commissioners:

To Whom It May Concern,
With two children in the school system, Taylor Bryant is more apt to work harder to make the system better. He is a family man that knows how hard it is to make ends meet and push to make sure the kids get the education they deserve. With that being said, I, Joe Jackson, endorse Taylor Bryant for District 6 School Board.

To Whom It May Concern,
Taylor will bring financial discipline to the school board and common sense governing. He will increase funding to the classroom and away from the bureaucracy, therefore I endorse Taylor Bryant for District 6 School Board. - Joe Bowles


For any questions concerning this matter, please contact Amanda Bryant at (706)306-6356 or you can email amabryant@gmail.com.

It's Settled, the Race for Insurance Commissioner is On!

Hot today, ain't it?

The race for Commissioner of Insurance is finally on. The players have been selected and we now all know who's on first. All of us have our responses up over at the League of Women Voters website and Ralph's got a very solid lead in the fundraising department. It was nice to see the fair Maria issue her statement and dutifully line up with all the other republicans behind their finalized ticket. I voted for her!

I guess I better spend some time and effort to look into Mary Squires as an opponent and see if I can predict where her and Ralph are gonna be at odds. I figure the high risk pool issue and insurance companies using credit scores to quote car insurance are certain flash points for those two. I know they're flash points for me.

I also think that the captive insurance exclusion from the premium tax is a solid issue for this campaign. Why are company owned insurance operations excluded from the hidden tax that every regular Joe in Georgia has to pay? If captive insurance companies don't have to shell out 4.5% in taxes, why do we have to? Since Ralph's been sitting on the Insurance Committee all these years, I figure he ought to know who wrote the bill that gave the captive insurance industry such sweet perk. I wonder if he voted for it?

Looks Like Direct Action Works

It took about 7 hours start to finish.

Update time Folks. The Georgia Public Policy Partnership forum has had an event scheduled to provide the citizens of Georgia with an opportunity to hear from candidates for the post of Superintendent of Schools. No biggie, the only problem was that they did not invite Libertarian Kira Willis to attend. That was this morning, this afternoon the story is different because of the actions of concerned individuals that helped the Policy Partnership change their plans. With a gentle nudge.

Congratulations to Kira Willis for being un-excluded from tomorrows Georgia Public Partnership Forum down at Georgia tech.

A snappy salute to Libertarian Operations Director Brett Bittner for mobilizing said Direct Action effort that resulted in justice being done. I received two text alerts today that included phone numbers, names and topics for discussion. It was like a social media flash mob and just plain fun. This is the kind of politics we need to employ this year in Georgia.

While we're talking about effective direct action let's be sure to include the Athens Libertarian AM radio effort to make sure that local talk shows hear from Libertarians every time the topic is politics. That sort of individual action and initiative will make the difference for Libertarians this year.

The readership is encouraged to attend the event and show your support for Kira Willis at the forum.

Holy Crap! Ralph "Huggy Bear" Hudgens has a 41% to 23% Lead Over The Fair Maria!

So much for being the only guy in the Insurance Commissioner race.

Big news folks via the motley crew over at Peach Pundit, the latest Landmark Communications Poll has republican Ralph "Huggy Bear" Hudgens leading republican Maria Sheffield by 19% in its latest poll.

Damn, just damn.

Granted, with Ralph at 41% and the fair Maria at 23% there's still about 38% of poll respondents who haven't decided yet or just don't have a clue as to who Ralph or Maria are. Remember its a down ballot race folks. Important? Yes. Exciting ? No.

In spite of the dire predictions by Landmark, I'm going to the polls tomorrow and proudly cast my vote for Maria Sheffield and I'm urging all liberty minded types to do like wise. Please remember my dream ballot for this fall:

Shane Bruce (L)
Maria Sheffield (R)
Mary Squires (D)

Now do your part and VOTE!

Libertarian Kira Willis Gets Major Facetime at the AJC

Major Earned Media Time Folks.

Libertarian candidate for State Superintendent of Schools, Kira Willis was featured today on Maureen Downey's Get Schooled blog over at the mighty, mighty AJC. Way to go Kira!

The topic du jour was the RTC program that every other candidate has been drooling over for the last couple of weeks. Nothing like the concept of "free money" to get the salivary glands of republican and democrat politicians going into overdrive. Kira's position on RTC is a breath of fresh air here in Georgia on funding and education. Head over and give it a read and then head over to Kira's facebook page and share your thoughts on the matter.

Vote for Smaller Government, Lower Taxes and More Freedom! Vote Kira Willis for State Superintendent of Schools!

Score: Libertarian Shane Bruce 1, Republican Maria Sheffield 0

The phonebooks are here! The phonebooks are here!

Not really, but the League of Women Voters have posted my responses to thier candidate survey and it's up for your perusal. I urge the readership to drop by and kick up the hit rate, review my responses and share your thoughts on the questions of the day.

I find it interesting that Maria Sheffield is complaining about censorship by the League because they did not print her responses to their questionnaire. I do recall that there was a character limit you weren't supposed to exceed and some of Maria's responses look a bit long. That's assuming she actually wrote them herself.

In the interests of fairness and since she already put it up on her campaign website, I'll repost it here for comparison purposes.

From Team Sheffield HQ:

Why are you running for office?

I care about Georgia. Taxpayers need the best insurance options, at reasonable prices, and deserve to be treated fairly and promptly. I care about firefighters, they need a Commissioner who will work with them to investigate arsons and provide service from the state. I care about law enforcement personnel; they need a Commissioner who will work with them on both fraud and arson investigations to resolve cases in an expeditious manner. I care about the victims of natural disasters such as fires, floods, and hurricanes and will get them the relief they need.

From my $19.95 Campaign:

Why are you running for office?

As the Libertarian Candidate for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner I am the only candidate to stand firmly for the rights of the individual Georgian. Libertarians are not just another choice, but a principled solution to many problems presented by organized society. Insurance is definitely one area that can be enhanced by free choice and free markets. As your Libertarian Commissioner, I will do everything in my power to increase competition and lower your insurance rates.

From Team Sheffield HQ:

How can the commissioner better protect Georgia consumers?

I support expanded resources for our local firefighters so they have the equipment to fight fires and pursue arsonists. I also support giving Sheriffs the resources they need to effectively investigate insurance fraud and arsons. Insurance fraud affects all taxpayers and I will enhance our fraud investigation division to fight this serious crime. I will reduce the size of state government: review all aspects of state government; cut those programs or expenses that are not constitutional and streamline all others - government is not a jobs program. I support free enterprise and small businesses: we don't need unnecessary rules and regulations. I oppose new taxes. I will implement Zero Based budgeting, for too long state agencies have been allowed to use accounting practices that run counter to the best interest of tax-payers. I will oppose all policies that are unconstitutional and seek to take away the ability of Georgian’s to make insurance decisions for themselves.

From the Bruce for Insurance Cabal:

How can the commissioner better protect Georgia consumers?

If elected, I will conduct a top to bottom, stem to stern review of all of the departments under the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. I will trash outdated regulations that inhibit insurance companies from doing business in Georgia and ensure that those who are doing business here comply with our laws. I will beef up our Arson Investigation unit and our Fraud Division Unit to make sure that Georgian's are not paying for criminal activity that increases everyones premiums.

From Team Sheffield HQ:

Should the insurance commissioner take contributions from insurance agents and insurance companies?

Georgia law prevents the Insurance Commissioner from accepting contributions from any entity he or she regulates – I strongly support this law. I support the right of individuals to participate in the process and support the candidate of their choice. I was the first and only candidate to introduce a full ethics statement to better govern the Department of Insurance. I will ban all lobbyist and industry paid meals – we must have transparent government that answers to the taxpayers not the insider lobbyists.

From the Secret Underground Libertarian Command Center (LCC):

Should the insurance commissioner take contributions from insurance agents and insurance companies?

My opponents make much of the fact that is is illegal in Georgia to accept donations from industries the Insurance Commissioner regulates and then gladly accept personal donations from people that work in those same industries. I have not and will not accept any donation from any individual that works for any of the industries regulated by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner and call on my opponents to return all the donations they have received from supporters that do.

From Team Sheffield HQ:

Georgia ranks 8th in the nation in auto insurance premium costs. Why are we ranked that high and what can be done to lower premiums?

Excess government regulation is one factor. I intend to cut unnecessary government regulations and improve filing processes and procedures so new products can be brought to market quicker. I will work with the industry to encourage more companies to become licensed to do business in Georgia, thereby increasing competition. Other factors are the premium tax and uninsured drivers. I will encourage the Georgia Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement to focus on reducing the number of uninsured drivers in Georgia. I will review all administrative regulations and fees with the intent to eliminate all outdated costs.

From the Friends of Shane Bruce (both of 'em)

Georgia ranks 8th in the nation in auto insurance premium costs. Why are we ranked that high and what can be done to lower premiums?

Georgian's are getting skinned on insurance due to the lack of leadership and good judgement at the statehouse that has not solved Georgia's huge transportation problem. Long commutes and crowded roadways equal high premiums. If elected, I will work vigorously to ensure that vehicle insurance fraud is dramatically reduced, that the currently high level of uninsured motorists driving in Georgia is eliminated and that all Georgian drivers benefit from lowered auto premiums.

From Team Sheffield HQ:

Do you think Georgia should comply with a federal request to create a state pool for high-risk insurance plans?

The federal government failed to appropriate enough money to cover the actual costs associated with a high risk pool in Georgia. This means that Georgia taxpayers would be left with a huge unfunded liability. The high risk pools are nothing but a trapdoor by the Obama Administration to raise taxes and sneak socialized medicine and healthcare into Georgia. I will oppose these and I will use all of the constitutionally authority I have to continue to keep insurance regulated at the state level.

From Bruce for Insurance HQ:

Do you think Georgia should comply with a federal request to create a state pool for high-risk insurance plans?

Georgia created a high risk pool and failed to fund it several years ago. My opponents have seized this issue as a means of stirring up their base supporters by declaring High Risk Pools to be the work of the devil, or worse yet, President Obama. They have completely ignored the fact that there are as many as 1 million Georgians that cannot obtain health care coverage at any price due to pre-existing conditions. Since the federal initiative kicked in on 1 JUL 10, this is a non-issue.

From Maria's website:

What is your recommendation to deal with the uninsured consumers of health facilities?

The appropriate role for this solution is for the free market and Faith charities to take the lead with government supporting them by removing rules and regulations that might hinder their efforts. We should encourage doctors and other health care professionals to donate their time by exploring tax cuts and tax credits based on volunteer time. Georgia must work to create more alternatives to the emergency rooms – the invasion of emergency rooms by people seeking non-emergency care causes costs to skyrocket.

From the unbought and unpaid for Bruce for Insurance Campaign:

What is your recommendation to deal with the uninsured consumers of health facilities?

Cash and Carry health clinics that specialize in under insured and plain old uninsured folks. The majority of the patients that crowd our existing emergency rooms are there because they have no other options. With reduced regulation and elimination of the Certificate of Need system, the free market can develop solutions to this problem that will turn a profit and provide needed care at affordable prices. Big government got us into this problem and just is not capable of getting us out of it.

From Maria's website:

Do you think newly constructed homes should meet minimum safety requirements developed at the state or the county level?

I support the state setting minimum requirements and allowing counties to increase requirements if needed based on local conditions. I support giving authority to local governments when possible and practical. I am concerned about regulations that might add unnecessary costs to consumer purchases and builders without offering tangible benefits. New requirements must have input from local fire enforcement officials.


From a Libertarian perspective:

Do you think newly constructed homes should meet minimum safety requirements developed at the state or the county level?

As a Libertarian, local control is always the best. Each community should be in charge of the standards that govern them.

How Low Can the Run Off Turnout Go?

10? 20? 30? 40? 50 or more?

The big question for next Tuesday's run off is how many Georgians will actually go to the polls to decide on 4 republican and 1 democrat run off contests that resulted from the primaries last month. About 20% of the registered voters showed up for that little shindig and historically the turn out for run offs is substantially less than turnouts for primaries. So whats the number gonna be?

If 20% of the people that voted last month bother to return on Tuesday, that means about 200,000 Georgians will pick the republican candidates for Governor, Insurance Commissioner, PSC District 2 and Attorney General while the democrats sort out their SecState candidate. About 120,000 hardcore, motivated republicans out of around 2.4 million here in Georgia get to pick out the lead dogs for the republican effort this fall.

We could not be happier.

It guarantees Libertarian John Monds will be facing a polarizing republican this fall in the Governors race, it makes sure that Libertarian Shane Bruce will be the only guy on the ballot for Insurance Commissioner and gives Libertarian's Jim Sendlebach and Don Smart the luxury of facing some pretty radical righties in the contests for PSC District 2 and Attorney General.

5% of the republican and democrat base gets to call the shot and that's a good thing for Liberty.