As has been talked about on BfD both here and here, Georgia House Bill 401, which I will forever refer to as the “Birther Bill” has manged to bring together all sides of the AJC’s staff.
AJC: April Hunt, Jim Galloway, Jay Bookman and Kyle Wingfield. And here’s the part where I link to the Huffington Post article.
We all know what this bill is, it’s another Republican ploy to distract people from Georgia’s still rising unemployment rate, and I don’t even want to know what our under-employment rate is. Not to mention the housing market, which isn’t expected to recover for quite some time, if it ever does “recover.”
I mean, why would Republicans, with super majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, and every constitutional office in the state… ever think about working on the real problems facing Georgia when they can attack the President’s legitimacy as an American citizen? Surely if we call him a Kenyan born Muslim he’ll help us out with that $100 million for the Savannah harbor that Congressman Jack Kingston says would create jobs and give a return of $4.50 per every $1.00 spent… right? Oh wait… you mean we got that whole honey and vinegar saying backwards… what with the bees and all? Well shoot.
Hopefully the Republican leadership in the house can reign the birther caucus in and give Georgia a break from the national news cycle for just a day or two. (I’m looking at you, Paul Broun.)
From the Democratic Party of Georgia:
GA Republicans “Wildly Chasing False Conspiracies”
HB 401 demonstrates a failure to lead; waste of valuable time
Atlanta –Georgia House Bill 401, the “Presidential Eligibility Assurance Act,” is further proof that Republicans in Georgia are not focusing on the economic issues affecting our state. The proposed legislation wastes the time of the Georgia General Assembly during a year when record unemployment, a billion dollar budget deficit, and drastic changes to the HOPE scholarship program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program should be on the mind of state legislators.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Mark Hatfield of Waycross, justifies the legislation as necessary. “I think the issue with our sitting president has been left unresolved for a significant length of time that people have concerns,” said Hatfield. However, irrefutable proof of President Obama’s citizenship status has been tendered by the state of Hawaii, creating a division within the Republican Party: those a part of the fact-based community, and those with conspiracy-addled minds.
“With the overwhelming Republican support of this legislation, the Georgia Republican Party has further alienated our state,” said Eric Gray, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “It has been shown that Georgia Republicans in power already have caused our state to be denied federal funding to expand the Savannah Harbor due to the widespread belief that they cannot effectively govern. Instead of wildly chasing down the answers to false conspiracies, they would better serve the people by concerning themselves with Georgia’s still rising unemployment rate, which despite having strong majorities in both houses of the state legislature and the Governor’s office, the Republican Party has yet to make any significant improvement on.”
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