By John Fredericks / Staff

Where’d ‘ya go Nathan, we hardly knew ‘ya?

Nathan Deal, a Congressman from Gainesville and a leading Republican contender for governor announced last week he has terminated a business arrangement with the state of Georgia that earned his company, Gainesville Salvage & Disposal, about $300,000 a year for almost twenty years.  Deal’s company was formed to provide equipment and locations for state inspectors to examine salvaged vehicles. But after allegations of political muscling and strong arm tactics to get lucrative contracts from state bureaucrats, Deal and his partner Ken Cronan apparently decided not to apply for new contracts with the Department of Revenue this go-around.

Deal’s campaign spokesman Harris Blackwood then confirmed that Deal and Cronan had not applied to do inspections but said it was “absolutely not’’ a result of any reports or a subsequent ethics complaints filed against Deal.

State Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham complained that his efforts to initiate competitive bidding or privatization were stifled by Deal and his cronies. Graham went on record saying the current system supports regional monopolies.

Deal has been plagued by media reports that he personally influenced state leaders to keep the cozy state no-bid program in place so he could maintain his regional monopoly at taxpayers’ expense. Graham claimed Deal met with him personally three times over the last year and a half to question changes to the program that Graham had proposed.

STAFF INCOMPETENT?

Unbelievably, Deal’s chief of staff used his government e-mail account to communicate with GA. Revenue Department staff to talk about future plans and set meetings between Deal and officials, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (R).

One long-time GOP insider at the national level, who preferred not to be identified, said the Deal for Governor campaign staff is incompetent. “His staff is totally inept,” the operative said. “They couldn’t hit a beach ball off a children’s tee-ball stand with a tennis racket.”

A government watchdog organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed an ethics complaint against him with the U.S. House. That complaint is pending. To add insult to Deal’s injury, they fingered him as one of the top five most corrupt politicians in Washington; right up there with Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and John Murtha (D-PA).

Deal said in August he didn’t do anything wrong and denied using his government position for personal gain. He said he was helping constituents and making sure an important state safety program continued. Since 1982, the state has required any wrecked vehicle that is rebuilt to pass a safety inspection before it can receive a new title.

After Sept. 17, any business wanting to provide a site for state inspectors had to apply through the state Revenue Department. The new rules also capped at $50 the fee to have vehicles inspected by the state. Deal and Cronan had been charging twice that.

A LITTLE STRESSED OUT, NATHAN?

Continuing his political implosion, Deal was then forced to apologize for uttering the phrase “ghetto grandmothers’’ while talking about citizenship verification legislation during a campaign event over the weekend.

In a prepared statement to reporters, Deal says he regretted his “choice of words” and “in no way meant to offend anyone.’’

But the story broke because Deal was caught on videotape, much like when former Va. Sen. George Allen (R) was nailed for referring to a young man as “a Maccaca” in 2008. Allen never lived the racial slur down, blew a sizeable lead in the polls, and lost his re-election bid.

According to the tape, Deal said: “We got all the complaints of ghetto grandmothers who didn’t have birth certificates and all that.’’

When confronted with the video, Deal said “put down the video cameras and stop taking my words out of context.’’

One noted veteran Georgia Republican consultant familiar with the turn of events, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the Deal campaign was headed for the ash heap of Georgia political history. “Turn out the lights on the Deal for governor campaign. He got caught on videotape using a blatant racial epitaph. The guy is now totally unelectable. Roy [Barnes] or Thurbert [Baker] would open him up like a roasted peanut. He’s toast.”