Democratic Party of Georgia

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Chairman Mike Berlon: Republicans compare women to ‘caterpillars’

Georgia – Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Mike Berlon released the following statement in response to today’s remarks by RNC Chair Reince Priebus:

“The Republican Party is showing little regard for women’s issues. Just today, RNC Chair Reince Priebus said, ‘if the Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars, and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we’d have problems with caterpillars,’

“In Georgia, a Republican Representative compared women giving birth to his experiences in delivering cows and pigs, and Democratic State Senators were compelled to walk out of the Senate in protest of these damaging policies to women’s health.

“Republicans have been fighting tirelessly to implement policies that are antiquated on women’s health.  Their leading candidate, Mitt Romney, supports the Blunt-Rubio amendment that would give any employer the ability to deny their employees coverage for health care services like contraception based on the employer’s own beliefs.

“Women are aware of these attempts to undermine their health care, and Republicans don’t like the attention. Instead of having a serious debate on these issues, they mock them by comparing women to barnyard animals or insects.

“Chairman Priebus may try and borrow the Romney campaign’s Etch A Sketch to erase the past few months of GOP attacks on women, but women have a clear message for Republicans: they will remember in November.”

 

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.