October 3, 2010 

Former Congressman Nathan Deal, the Republican candidate for Georgia governor, has agreed to an exclusive interview on the Beacon Broadcast Network's television show, "Political InSighter," regarding his personal finances.

The interview will be aired exclusively on Comcast channel 25 in North Fulton, South Fulton, Dekalb, Fayette and Clayton Counties and will run at 10:00 a.m., 6:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. from Thursday, October 7 through Wednesday, October 13. Panelists include the shows' co-hosts Vernon Jones and John Keim, BBN Political analyst Vicki Willard, and me. 

"Political InSighter" has reached out to Democrat gubernatorial candidate Roy Barnes and has offered him equal time in the month of October. To date, Barnes has not responded to our invitation.

DEAL SOARS…DESPITE THE AJC AND COMPANY

Deal has actually risen in the polls of late despite being hammered every day over his personal financial troubles by the ultra-liberal agenda driven AJC and Cox Media. Overcoming the relentless barrage of daily negative reports coming out of the downtown drive-by liberal media establishment, Deal's lead in the polls over Barnes increased by six points in the last several weeks.

Are these poll numbers a true reflection of Deal's appeal, or are they just part of the GOP- Tea Party -Tsunami about to roll through the nation in about a month? Both. The fact that Deal co-signed several loans for his daughter's new business venture -- a retail sporting goods and camping gear store -- that failed is actually helping his appeal to "average folks." Deal guaranteed the loans prior to the "Great Recession" that crippled the national economy in the last two years. I'm sure his daughter and son-in-law had a great business plan at the time, but didn't take the coming country's near financial collapse into consideration. No one did. Most likely, Ms. Deal sat around the kitchen table with her mom and dad and impassioned her parents to support her "dream." Then, as the business worsened and the U.S. financial debacle deepened, she needed more loans to save her company. She and her husband were most likely working 18 hours a day, seven days a week to make it work. If you own a small business, you get it.

Perhaps one of their conversations around the kitchen table went like this: "Dad, Mom, I know we can turn this around...here is my plan…can you help us? I know we can do this, Dad…Mom, you know I can do it. We just need to get through this quarter…we can do this…Mom…Dad…we've created 20 jobs at the foot of the Appalachian Mountains (where their new business was located), and they all have families, too. They are depending on us. What will happen to them, Dad? Please help us, we'll turn it around, I know we can…I promise…please…"

Here is the question. Do you know anyone whose business has collapsed in the last two years? Or lost their job? Or borrowed funds they can't now pay back? If it were your daughter, in her time of financial distress over a struggling business she poured her heart and soul into, what would you do? Evidently, the young Ms. Deal and her husband didn't get bailed out by the Federal government, like AIG, the big banks, Wall Street fat cats and the automakers did. Nope, they're just average folks, like you and me. Their company failed in the teeth of the "Great Recession" and they were forced to file for bankruptcy protection -- their dreams dashed and their hopes crushed -- like so many others. So what did "Dad" do? He co-signed their loans. He believed in his little girl and his son-in-law. He cared about their employees. And he put his net worth on the line for his kids.

Deal is not a venture capitalist. But he is a father. And by his decisions, obviously a caring one.

The AJC lost over $80 million dollars last year. Maybe the Cox sisters should fund Ms. Deal's company, too.

Apparently, they prefer to bash her father on their front page everyday, instead.

BARNES SPENDS MILLIONS ON NEGATIVE ADS AND LOSES GROUND

Meanwhile, former governor "Money Bags" Barnes keeps raking in the dough. He's now making millions for his law firm, getting big court judgments against financially strapped and beleaguered businesses who can't pay their debts, either. Many of these judgments come from judges who Barnes appointed – surely coincidental, I'm sure.

So Barnes spends a few million of his trial-lawyer generated campaign funds and runs a plethora of attack ads on Deal -- and goes backwards in the polls. I suppose he'll apologize for those ads, too. Might as well, he's apologizing for everything else. Except for his income, of course.

THE SPIN DOCTOR OF THE WEEK – JOHNNY MONSON

This week's "Spin Doctor" of the week award goes to none other than Alpharetta city council candidate Johnny Monson. Monson, a former councilman, has put "Republican" and "Re-Elect" on his yard signs and campaign literature. Problem is, the council race is non-partisan, and Monson has been out of office for nine months. So his claims are not only bogus, they're a blatant intentional attempt to mislead Alpharetta voters in his longshot bid to defeat Jim Paine.

Monson's shenanigans take a page right out of R.J. Kurey's book, the former Alpharetta Councilman who was kicked out of office and is now under Federal Indictment while hiding out somewhere in Las Vegas. Monson apparently thinks its just politics as usual. We call it unsavory voter misinformation, and for that, Johnny Monson is our spin-doctor of the week.

PREDICTION: Look for Alpharetta Councilman D.C. Aiken to get off the fence and endorse Paine in the next two weeks.

BOXILL'S BODACIOUS FAREWELL BID

Retiring Fulton County Commissioner Nancy Boxill's (D) bodacious farewell bid to Fulton County's beleaguered taxpayers goes something like this: Thanks for the memories…and the free trip…suckers.

Boxill, a lame duck that is not seeking re-election in November took four of her county workers on an all-taxpayer funded junket to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The purpose: they attended an international conference on "Gender Neutral Budgeting." Boxill won't be around to implement what she learned, but who cares? She deserves a little fun in the sun, right? And how about her staff? Sure, why not? Come one, come all. The county is only a few hundred million in debt, so what's another $150,000, right?

BTW, that's what the trip cost: a tab of $30,000 per person. That's more than double what a minimum wage worker earns in an entire year. But now county manager Zachary Williams says well, not really, some of the tab was apparently picked up by the U.N.  I guess Fulton County is waiting for the check. Accompanying Boxill was county program manager Cheryl Estes -- who was under an internal fraud investigation for allegedly diverting $183,000 of taxpayer money to her shell company in the form of Wal-Mart gift cards and bogus invoices -- before Williams cancelled the investigation. Boxill's response to all this? She says the Commissioners don’t investigate themselves, so get over it.

BROADBENT'S BROADSIDE

Now GOP Fulton County Commission Chairman candidate Steve Broadbent, a retired Naval commander who worked in G.W. Bush's Treasury Department has had enough.

Broadbent, who is attempting to strip incumbent Democrat John Eaves from his chairmanship in November, is holding a press conference on Wednesday, October 6 on the Fulton County government (an oxymoron if there ever was one) steps to demand a Federal investigation of the whole mess. Will he get it? Of course not. Eaves will likely dispatch his $500 per hour lawyers to find a way to get Broadbent off the ballot, like he did to Mary Norwood.

LIKE WHERE'S WALDO—WHERE'S LYNNE?

Where is outgoing Fulton County Commissioner Lynne Riley (R-Johns Creek) in all this?

I guess she has other fish to fry, now that she is replacing GOP icon Mark Burkhalter in the state house in D-50 in January. Broadbent, who appeared on our TV show "Political InSighter" this week (Comcast Channel 25) asked Riley to appear with him on the show, as we did. But Riley took the "fifth" and begged out, claiming to Broadbent that she couldn’t comment on an ongoing investigation. Uh, sorry Lynne, there is no investigation, that's the point. Even D-2 at large Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts (D) weighed in, and called for an independent investigation. And Pitts has promised to appear on our show to talk about it in October. Lori Henry (R) is challenging Pitts in November. What about the other Republican on the County Commission, Tom Lowe? Nothing. Nada. Is he asleep? Incidentally, neither Riley nor Lowe have challengers in November. Get the picture? They don’t need your votes anymore, so why go out on a limb for Broadbent?

Instead, Riley convenienlty hides behind the curtain facade that the Fulton County cops are taking over the "investigation." The cops? The same cops who report up to Williams, who fired his real investigator in the first place? When have any cops ever investigated their own house and come up with anything? It's like putting the wolves in charge of hen-house investigation of the foxes. At the end of the day, they both eat the chickens. And the farmer -- like the taxpayer -- loses.

To coin a famous phrase from former Texas Senator Lloyd Bensten: "Commissioner, I've worked with Mark Burkhalter. I know Mark Burkhalter. Mark Burkhalter is a friend of mine. Commissioner, you're no Mark Burkhalter."

Our public message to Broadbent: With GOP friends like these, who needs enemies?

KUDOOS TO HAUSMANN

Here is one elected official who did step up to the plate: Former Johns Creek Councilwoman Liz Hausmann (R), who is taking over for Riley on the Commission in January. Hausmann has no Fall opponent either, but she has been all over this investigation mess. Hausmann called on Ga. Gov. Sonny Perdue to appoint a special prosecutor or investigator to look into the County Government Credit Card Corruption scandal referenced above. Hausmann says she is attending the press conference and she plans on pubically call on each Fulton County Commissioner to join her call for a an indpendent investigation. Bravo Liz. At least somebody has Broadbent's back, and acts with political courage, in lieu of myopic self-interest. We need more Liz Hausmann's in North Fulton.

PREDICTION: Broadbent is going to win this race in November in the second biggest upset in the county. What's the first? Republican D-38 state senate candidate Beth Beskin upsets 12-year Democrat incumbent Horacena Tate. Let the Tsunami begin…

BODKER MIFFED AT BEACON – CANCELS SUBSCRIPTION

After we poked fun at Johns Creek's burgeoning government in this column several weeks ago:

http://www.beaconcastmedia.com/insighter/US-Congressman-Tom-Price-2502 )

Johns Creek "Mayor For Life" Mike Bodker took exception. He called and chided me for writing that the city offers health insurance and a 401K plan to elected officials, which they do not, so this serves as my official retraction. But in fairness, I said Johns Creek grew from four cops to 69. After checking, they previously had two cops, not four. My bad.

Bodker then told me to cancel his subscription to this newspaper, in protest for my two-paragraph snippet. However, showing amazing grace, he said we could keep the rest of his subscription money, which came out to $17.87. As important as Bodker is, I ran this by my Beacon Media Board of Directors (Editor John Breech and CFO Anne Fredericks). After a 90-second closed-door emergency meeting, they emerged with their verdict and rendered their decision: REQUEST DENIED.

So by the board's directive, The Beacon will keep coming to Bodker. And in a selfless show of good faith, they also sanctioned six-month gift subscriptions to all Bodker's neighbors. So if you live by Mayor Bodker, you just got The Beacon free for six months!

See, we really do have a heart.