Democratic Party of Georgia

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Nathan Deal’s Georgia: Where “Swing and a Miss” Becomes the Status Quo

Release:  Thursday, February 13, 2014     

 

Nathan Deal’s Georgia:  Where “Swing and a Miss” Becomes the Status Quo 

Chairman Porter asks “What has Nathan Deal been doing for the last three years?”

 

Atlanta, GA – Today, Democratic Party of Georgia Chair DuBose Porter expressed concerns that under the leadership of Gov. Nathan Deal, Georgia has set its bar of expectations too low.

 

“What has our state come to when we’re thankful when the governor actually did his job,” asked Chairman Porter. “When you have a leader who gets it right the first time, your state doesn’t end up in the bottom percentile of every ranking that matters.”

 

Chairman Porter also questioned why Governor Nathan Deal failed to use an emergency weather alert system during last month’s severe winter storm that was approved for use in 2012.

 

“What has Nathan Deal been doing for the last three years—because it sure hasn’t been governing,” said Chairman Porter. “This technology was given the green light two years ago, yet reports say the system hasn’t even been configured or tested. Imagine how many families could have avoided being stranded on the roads if we had a governor capable enough to use the scientific advances the 21st century has afforded us.”

 

Similar to an Amber Alert, the emergency weather alert system sends push notifications to cellphones using GPS technology. The system was successfully used in the Northeast during 2012’s Hurricane Sandy and last year in Colorado to send flood warnings.

 

“Deal’s handling of last month’s winter storm was a national disgrace and every day brings another reason why,” continued Chairman Porter. “Georgia needs a governor who realizes that emergency management is about action, not press conferences or photo ops. We need a decisive leader who can tackle the real problems we face, not a politician who pretends to be a leader on TV.”

 

The Chairman concluded by pointing to the running theme of Nathan Deal’s term as governor—bad judgment, followed by apologies, followed by being dragged kicking and screaming to do what was right all along.

 

“Deal got it wrong on HOPE, state employee benefits, funding for education, support for rural hospitals—the list goes on,” said the Chairman. “When the failures of his policies are pointed out, he does a flip-flop and pretends the right call was his idea the whole time.”

 

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Background

 

AJC 2/9/2014:  Snowjam? There’s an App for that

Georgia received federal approval to use the technology, which resembles the “Amber alert” system for missing children, in 2012. It puts a big, type message on the phone’s home screen, accompanied by a distinctive sound and a vibration. The alert goes to cell phones within a given geographic area automatically, without the users having signed up for the service.

 

GPB 1/31/2014:  State Leaders Demand Better Emergency Planning, But At What Price Tag?

 

WABE 2/3/2014:  Senate Democrats Call for More ‘Independent’ Storm Response Task Force

 

AJC 1/31/2014:  Democratic poll: 63% of metro Atlanta voters say Nathan Deal flunked his own ice storm test

73 percent of voters in the snow-affected areas of metro Atlanta rated the performance of Deal, the state Department of Transportation and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency as fair or poor. Statewide, 63 percent disapproved.

 

AJC 1/30/2014:  Governor’s staff began raising questions about storm Monday

 

GA Health News 1/27/2014:  State moves swiftly to adjust employee plan

 

GBPI November 2013:  Cutting Class to Make Ends Meet

 

GBPI September 2013:  The Schoolhouse Squeeze

 

AJC 6/8/13:  Amid budget cuts, teachers struggle with larger classes

 

Athens Banner-Herald 10/27/13:  About half students who lost HOPE grants did not return to school

Georgia Sheds Jobs; State Unemployment Rises Again

Georgia – Despite Governor Nathan Deal’s campaign promises that creating jobs would be his top priority, latest figures show Georgia’s unemployment rate has risen to 10.3%, the highest since Deal’s inauguration in January.

Georgia lost over 15,000 jobs last month alone. This job loss stands in direct contrast to the pledges of then-candidate Deal, who pledged to “kick-start the economy” while making job creation the theme of his campaign bus tour.

In October of 2010, Deal spokesman Brian Robinson stated that the future governor would “serve as Georgia’s top ambassador and salesman to bring new jobs here.” Yet, more than 470,000 Georgia citizens remain out of work, comparable to the combined populations of Athens, Augusta, Macon and Warner Robins.

Instead of addressing this issue, the Deal administration continues to blame Democrats at the national level. When asked if federal politics were inhibiting job creation in Georgia, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler stated that a “lack of leadership in Washington is a contributing factor to the overall lack of confidence in the (Georgia) economy.” Yet Butler’s explanation doesn’t address why Georgia has had higher unemployment than the rest of the nation for over four years running.

“These losses have all occurred under a Republican Administration that promised job creation. Georgians deserve better,” said Mike Berlon, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

“Instead of avoiding responsibility for the lack of job creation and criticizing any plans that aren’t their own to jump start the economy, we challenge republicans to put together a plan for job creation that makes sense and puts Georgians back to work.”

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Georgia Nearly Last in Job Creation under Nathan Deal

Georgia – Despite Governor Nathan Deal’s repeated campaign promises that creating jobs would be a top priority for his administration, Georgia ranked #49 out of 50 states in job creation for the month of July and is ranked #47 in the nation over the past five year period.

In the past year, Georgia has had nine months of job loss, including a four year streak of unemployment higher than the national average. This job loss stands in direct contrast to the pledges of then-candidate Deal, who pledged to “kick-start the economy” while making job creation the theme of his campaign bus tour.

In October, Deal spokesman Brian Robinson stated that the future governor would “serve as Georgia’s top ambassador and salesman to bring new jobs here.” Yet, more than 470,000 Georgia citizens remain out of work.

“Republicans remain silent about their job record because they don’t have one,” said State Representative Virgil Fludd (D -Tyrone). “Georgia needs effective state leadership to produce a job-friendly environment.”

When asked if federal politics were inhibiting job creation in Georgia, Labor Commissioner Mark Butler stated that a “lack of leadership in Washington is a contributing factor to the overall lack of confidence in the (Georgia) economy.” Yet this explanation doesn’t address why 48 other states operating under the same federal leadership created more jobs than Georgia.

“Governor Deal and Commissioner Butler need to stop playing politics and start introducing solutions,” concluded party chairman Mike Berlon. “Georgians are hurting. We need our leaders to take their campaign promises seriously and fix our broken economy.”

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Sources:
Atlanta Business Chronicle “Georgia 50th in job creation in July”; August 22, 2011.

Atlanta Business Chronicle “Georgia 47th for recent job creation”; July 25, 2011.