GA: Opinion - Legislature's 'new day' full of old hurts

Legislature's 'new day' full of old hurts

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/o...05/033005.html

Published on: 03/30/05
When Republicans took control of the Georgia General Assembly, they promised
a brand new day - an era of change and progress. But as the first session
with a GOP majority winds to a close, it's clear that they've delivered on
only part of their pledge: They've changed things dramatically, but their
policies can hardly be viewed as progressive.

Indeed, there is nothing new about the politics Republicans have brought to
the Legislature. This session has seen a reprise of attitudes and values
supposedly put to rest early in the 20th century - a return to a time when
robber barons ruled, children were property and women were to be kept
barefoot and pregnant.

The Legislature's shameless pandering to business interests suggests a time
when railroad magnates trampled small-property owners to make way for rail
beds and locomotives. (In fact, the Legislature briefly considered a bill
that would have greatly expanded the power of governments to condemn private
property through eminent domain, but the measure died after a public
uproar.) This session saw a spate of bills that stiffed consumers and
shattered democratic principles.

For example, legislators approved a bill that would conceal the names and
addresses of public officials in public documents, so that it may be
impossible to tell whether they had suddenly acquired mansions or lakefront
lots. They also approved legislation keeping secret the names of donors to
public universities, as well as the amounts they give.

While working hard to keep taxpayers in the dark, the Legislature gave a $1
billion tax break to business and industry - a giveaway that cut into money
for education and health care for average Georgians. Perhaps legislators
want to ensure that agribusiness has a steady supply of uneducated, cheap
labor to work the farms.

But they don't seem to want healthy, vigorous farm labor. Gov. Sonny Perdue
has insisted on cutting back access to PeachCare, which provides health
insurance to the children of the working poor. If families are late paying
their premiums, they'll be locked out of PeachCare for 90 days; previous
lockouts affected mostly families earning between $15,000 and $22,500 a
year.

In keeping with a return to bygone days, the General Assembly also launched
a sweeping attack on the right of women to control their bodies. As
expected, social conservatives rolled back reproductive rights in a manner
that was peculiarly condescending. The new law will not only require a woman
to wait 24 hours to have an abortion, but it also stipulates a lecture from
her health-care provider. Call it the "Women Too Stupid To Decide" law.

But legislators saved their most callous - and most surprising - assault for
children who've already endured the pain of divorce. After more than a
decade of relentless pressure from angry, selfish noncustodial fathers (and,
frequently, their second wives), the Legislature created a commission that
is likely to reduce child support awards.

In treating children from first marriages like old shoes to be tossed aside
when they're out of fashion, the GOP-dominated Legislature abandoned its
vaunted principles of family values and personal responsibility. They didn't
hold divorced dads accountable.

They were too busy listening to whining from those noncustodial fathers -
complaints that centered on their needs, their wants, their frayed cuffs,
worn soles and tiny black-and-white TVs. (What parents don't have limited
budgets?) Hardly a word was said about the fathers' decisions to have those
children in the first place. Hardly a reminder was uttered about adults'
responsibility to provide for their minor children.

The Legislature's contempt for children is a throwback to the time when
offspring were viewed as property and a father's decisions about child
rearing viewed as sacrosanct, no matter how severe his attitudes. Perhaps
some of our senators and representatives long for a return to such a time.

Given their outdated outlook, the Georgia flag might need yet another
redesign, something more in keeping with the spirit of the era to which the
General Assembly aspires. How about a banner with King George's coat of
arms?


Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Wednesdays
and Sundays.



--
----------------------------------------------------
Eliminate the impossible and whatever
remains, no matter how improbable, must
be the truth.

---- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ---

"Dusty" wrote in message
...
Legislature's 'new day' full of old hurts

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/o...05/033005.html

Published on: 03/30/05
When Republicans took control of the Georgia General Assembly, they
promised
a brand new day - an era of change and progress. But as the first session
with a GOP majority winds to a close, it's clear that they've delivered on
only part of their pledge: They've changed things dramatically, but their
policies can hardly be viewed as progressive.

Indeed, there is nothing new about the politics Republicans have brought
to
the Legislature. This session has seen a reprise of attitudes and values
supposedly put to rest early in the 20th century - a return to a time when
robber barons ruled, children were property and women were to be kept
barefoot and pregnant.

The Legislature's shameless pandering to business interests suggests a
time
when railroad magnates trampled small-property owners to make way for rail
beds and locomotives. (In fact, the Legislature briefly considered a bill
that would have greatly expanded the power of governments to condemn
private
property through eminent domain, but the measure died after a public
uproar.) This session saw a spate of bills that stiffed consumers and
shattered democratic principles.

For example, legislators approved a bill that would conceal the names and
addresses of public officials in public documents, so that it may be
impossible to tell whether they had suddenly acquired mansions or
lakefront
lots. They also approved legislation keeping secret the names of donors to
public universities, as well as the amounts they give.

While working hard to keep taxpayers in the dark, the Legislature gave a
$1
billion tax break to business and industry - a giveaway that cut into
money
for education and health care for average Georgians. Perhaps legislators
want to ensure that agribusiness has a steady supply of uneducated, cheap
labor to work the farms.

But they don't seem to want healthy, vigorous farm labor. Gov. Sonny
Perdue
has insisted on cutting back access to PeachCare, which provides health
insurance to the children of the working poor. If families are late paying
their premiums, they'll be locked out of PeachCare for 90 days; previous
lockouts affected mostly families earning between $15,000 and $22,500 a
year.

In keeping with a return to bygone days, the General Assembly also
launched
a sweeping attack on the right of women to control their bodies. As
expected, social conservatives rolled back reproductive rights in a manner
that was peculiarly condescending. The new law will not only require a
woman
to wait 24 hours to have an abortion, but it also stipulates a lecture
from
her health-care provider. Call it the "Women Too Stupid To Decide" law.

But legislators saved their most callous - and most surprising - assault
for
children who've already endured the pain of divorce. After more than a
decade of relentless pressure from angry, selfish noncustodial fathers
(and,
frequently, their second wives), the Legislature created a commission that
is likely to reduce child support awards.

In treating children from first marriages like old shoes to be tossed
aside
when they're out of fashion, the GOP-dominated Legislature abandoned its
vaunted principles of family values and personal responsibility. They
didn't
hold divorced dads accountable.

They were too busy listening to whining from those noncustodial fathers -
complaints that centered on their needs, their wants, their frayed cuffs,
worn soles and tiny black-and-white TVs. (What parents don't have limited
budgets?) Hardly a word was said about the fathers' decisions to have
those
children in the first place. Hardly a reminder was uttered about adults'
responsibility to provide for their minor children.

The Legislature's contempt for children is a throwback to the time when
offspring were viewed as property and a father's decisions about child
rearing viewed as sacrosanct, no matter how severe his attitudes. Perhaps
some of our senators and representatives long for a return to such a time.

Given their outdated outlook, the Georgia flag might need yet another
redesign, something more in keeping with the spirit of the era to which
the
General Assembly aspires. How about a banner with King George's coat of
arms?


Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Wednesdays
and Sundays.


What are we NOT told about Mizz Tucker, I wonder. Is it possible that
she is the recipient of what is laughingly called "child" support? Her
column is so grossly biased as to make one wonder whether it was
deliberately intended to provoke controversy.

"Hardly a word was said about the fathers' decisions to have those
children in the first place," she says. That is, of course, complete
nonsense. In the first place, fathers DON'T decide to have children. As a
result of laws promoted by Mizz Tucker and her feminist friends, decisions
about whether children are born are almost entirely in the hands of women,
who have reproductive rights that are denied to men. Secondly, what about
the fathers who decided to have children, but in the context of two-parent
families? Most divorce situations arise because wives decide that's what
they want, and then they force their decisions through over the objections
of their husbands.

Mizz Tucker's comments are so idiotic as to be hardly worth commenting
upon. She deserves a fool's pardon, but nothing more.

This person needs a big one right up her ass then tossed into the
kitchen where she belongs

Google her name, all kinds of insanity comes back.

From what I read she is a gun-control supporting, race card playing,
ignorant feminist liberal. Notice nothing about equity was mentioned in
the article. She just screamed about how Republicans (in Georgia) are
"hurting the kids." If someone bellows something with nothing to back
it up, I usually laugh.

HA HA