Political Insider

By Former Cagle Guy

April 26, 2006 06:56 PM | Link to this

What a gaffe. Just what Republicans need—a LG who gives into intemidation and makes a campaign contribution to Mark Taylor out of fear!

I’m for a man who has a backbone made of steel and who has the strength not only to follow his conscious, but his convictions.

I thought it would come, but even I am surprised at how fast the Cagle camp is falling apart. The wheels on the bus are falling off. What a weak, whinning guy.

Surely we want someone who will help finish the Republican revolution in Georgia, not someone who is so easily intimidated.

By Terrance

April 26, 2006 07:36 PM | Link to this

Yes, this Cagle guy doesn’t sound too sharp if he is willing to cave in rather than stand up for his party and beliefs. Instead he tries to buy off a slimy Democrat. What a coward.

By Tony

April 26, 2006 07:47 PM | Link to this

Terrance you don’t sound too sharp yourself. Cave in? How did he cave in? And just how did Cagle NOT stand up for his party or his beliefs? Sounds like just the opposite. Sounds like a man with courage and convictions to say disregard the pathetic and sleazy campaign run by a member of my party. He put partisan politics aside to show sleaze was not party-wide. If only more politicians weren’t like that. Funny how Cagle is the bad guy in this but those associated with Skandalakis’ campaign seem to be getting a free pass from Terrance, Howard, Philly, Debbie, and supposed “former Cagle guy”. They don’t like someone like Cagle but are hell-bent to support someone with a history like Reed. Go figure. Hypocrites, liars, and fools.

By Debbie

April 26, 2006 07:58 PM | Link to this

Cagle caved in many, many times in the Barnes regime.

Just ask teachers that attended a town hall meeting in Hall County to discuss the Barnes Education Package. Teachers were expecting Cagle to speak out against the package. As soon as Cagle saw one of Roy’s minions, he clammed up and would not say a word for or against the package.

Cagle’s current campaign consultant was associated with the Skandalakis campaign and even starred as Mark Taylor in the infamous drug rehab ad.

By Terrance

April 26, 2006 08:10 PM | Link to this

I don’t think Skandalakis wrote a check to Mark Taylor’s campaign, Cagle did. Cagle caved. No one has proven that Reed broke any law and all the Democratic liberal media driven probes in DC have proven nothing against Reed or resulted in any charges against Reed. All that was trumped up and it is you Cagle guys who are doing a negative snow job that Republicans are now seeing through.

I trust Zell Miller and Giuliani over Cagle any time.

By Former Cagle Guy

April 27, 2006 07:49 AM | Link to this

Bad, bad, week for the Cagle campaign

What a week for Cagle! I can’t wait to see what gaffes his campaign makes between now and July 18.

The Cagle campaign has lost all credibility this week.

Sign me,

a former Cagle guy

By Sandy

April 27, 2006 10:03 AM | Link to this

I can’t believe Cagle gave Taylor a campaign contribution. Zell maybe, but never Taylor, who represents everything we have tried ever to rid ourselves of in Georgia.

Georgia Republicans should not stand for this. Cagle should withdraw from the campaign. I could never vote for him.

Reed is not an angel, but at least I know his commitment to Republican principles.

By Boo Hoo

April 27, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this

Wheels are falling off the Cagle campaign. A campaign that is run entirely on negative attacks can only stand so long. Casey’s only recourse at this point is to switch directions in mid-stream and try to go head to head with Ralph on the issues that matter to the voters of Georgia, in which case he loses anyway.

By Tony

April 27, 2006 10:27 AM | Link to this

Hey Sandy, if Ralph espouses Republican principles, then the party is truly morally bankrupt. I guess GOP principles are to help casinos, help companies work with COmmunist China, work with companies selling jobs overseas, undermining his own members of his party. Great moral leader. Good to know there are Republicans out there that condone this behavior.

By Tony

April 27, 2006 10:30 AM | Link to this

Hey so called “former Cagle guy”! You are an idiot. Johnson said Cagle lied? When did he say that? Clear and blatant distortions of the facts by Reed’s minions. See people, Reed has his people out here lying and distorting. But we’re to believe he’s the moral and high standing person he claims to be. Look at the people working for and campaigning for him. They lie, the distort, and they call candidates and voters names. Vote for Ralph and DC petty politics comes to your doorstep.

By Tony

April 27, 2006 10:38 AM | Link to this

That’s right Terrence. Cagle did. Cagle didn’t drag his ticket down either. Skandalakis did. Reed led the charge with the most dispicable race in GA political history. And where is Skandalakis now? Where is Cagle now? Frankly I think putting partisanship aside and trying to make the system fair and clean was a noble effort. I guess all of the praise heaped on Majority Leader Johnson needs to be set aside as well. Those two evil men put differences aside to make sure people saw that the GOP was not as sleazy as Reed and Skandalakis. Did Reed or Skandalakis even apologize for that race? Did Reed even refund Skandalakis for that pathetic consulting job he did? Did Reed apologize to the party for dragging down the ticket? Hmmm…Better Man Award goes to Cagle.

Fear and intimidation little ‘former Cagle guy’ says….ahhh it’s good to know that morally bankrupt people fly in the same circles. They’d rather defend a failed, sleazy campaign than trying to put differences aside in governing. Ralph’s all about the body count alright. He’d even sacrifice his own if it meant getting into office. I wonder if his soul has been sold off as well?

By Debbie

April 27, 2006 11:48 AM | Link to this

Cagle press release:”Taylor threatened the Republican Senate leadership, of which I was a member. If we did not make a contribution to him to ‘bury the hatchet,’ then Taylor would strip all Republicans of their committee assignments and kill all Republican legislation.

“The Democrats still controlled all of state government in 1999, and we (the Senate Republican leadership) had a choice to make. Clean up Ralph Reed’s mess or our Republican Senators would pay a very high price. [Johnson] and I decided to do what was best for the Republican Party.”

Johnson’s recollection:“My memory is there were no threats from the Taylor camp,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. But Johnson has said that committee assignments for GOP members of the Senate were a concern.

Johnson did not call Cagle a liar, he just gave a different account than Cagle. Yea, right, Cagle did not lie..Double Standard there Tony.

Distortions have come from the Cagle Camp.

Skandalakis campaign people said Reed was uselss after the primary, Tony. You even quoted that. You can’t have it both ways. Reed did not have anything to do with bringing the party down.

Failed, sleazy campaign describes the Cagle Race Team. They need to call in a new pit crew.

Reed more clearly espouse Republican values than Cagle does. Tort Reform is a Republican value that Cagle helped kill in 2004.

By Debbie

April 27, 2006 11:54 AM | Link to this

http://savannahnow.com/stories/042606/3819004.shtml

How Cagle shook the political money trees

Lieutenant governor candidate’s daylong fund-raising blitz netted more than $100,000 for his campaign

Larry Peterson (912) 652-0367 larry.peterson@savannahnow.com

The e-mail reached Mike Evers at 4:24 a.m.

It was an “urgent message” from State Sen. Casey Cagle, Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.

Cagle said the Legislature had adjourned the night before, giving him just one day to raise money before filing his campaign finance report.

He added that his primary election foe - Ralph Reed - wasn’t bound by a ban on fund-raising during the session because he wasn’t an elected official.

“If there is any way you can help,” he wrote “… CLICK HERE.”

Although Evers likes Cagle, he didn’t respond at first.

A second e-mail arrived at 5:06 p.m., advising the Alpharetta resident that he had just seven hours to act.

Evers sent $200.

“He wanted his campaign to look viable and only had a day to do it,” Evers said. “I wanted to help.”

He received a thank-you e-mail at 5:32 p.m.

That same day - March 31 - the same scenario played out dozens of times.

Using mostly e-mails and phone calls, the Chestnut Mountain lawmaker’s campaign rounded up more than $104,000.

His campaign finance report logged 60 March 31 donations, including two from Savannah, of $101 or more.

It also included one of $4,000, nine of $5,000 and two of $10,000.

Cagle reported receiving about $128,000 for the first three months of the year; he’d received some money before the Legislature convened Jan. 9.

His total take for the campaign - $1.4 million - still trailed Reed’s $2.1 million, but his March 31 bonanza suggested momentum.

More, perhaps, than he deserves credit for under the law. Some money he reported receiving on the 31st wasn’t actually on hand that day.

Moreover, Reed supporters and others have wondered aloud whether some of the donations might have been illegally solicited before March 31.

The timing of the contributions “certainly raises questions,” said Jared Thomas, Reed’s campaign manager.

So far, there is no evidence that anyone jumped the gun. None of the donors contacted for this story said he was asked to give during the session.

Cagle campaign spokesman Brad Alexander conceded that planning for the daylong appeal began days before.

“There’s no reason why you can’t prepare an e-mail (during the session) as long as you don’t hit ‘send,’” Alexander said. “We started putting this thing together as soon as we had a hard date for adjournment.”

He said about half the contributions came in response to thousands of e-mails. The first salvo erupted around 4 a.m.; a second followed at about 5 p.m.

But hundreds of phone calls generated the biggest donations and about two-thirds of the take for the day, Alexander added.

He acknowledged that some contribution checks dated the 3lst arrived later.

“I don’t know exactly how many,” he said. “We didn’t track them that way, but I think we had most of them in hand that day. … We’re allowed to count them as long as they were written on the 31st.”

Not so, said Rick Thompson, interim executive secretary for the State Ethics Commission, which oversees Georgia’s campaign reporting law.

Money must be in hand during a period to be counted as received during that period; checks received later should be reported as received in the next period, Thompson said.

Reed campaign manager Thomas said there has been “a clear violation of the law” intended to inflate Cagle’s first-quarter totals.

“We followed the law as we understood it,” Alexander said. “If the commission wants us to amend our report, we’ll do that. The point is that we raised this money in one day.”

Thompson said it was legal to prepare the solicitation blitz during the session as long as it wasn’t launched until the session’s final gavel.

Savannah political consultant David Simons stopped short of speculating that it was. But Simons said it’s “almost impossible” to round up so much money - especially so many four-figure contributions - so quickly.

But Steve Croy of Richmond Hill, Cagle’s campaign treasurer, said the appeals were “100 percent within the law.”

Croy, who donated $5,000 on the 31st, cited a recent poll indicating that a GOP ticket with Reed on it might sap support from Gov. Sonny Perdue.

“I think it helped,” he said, “that a lot of people know this race is critical for the whole Republican ticket.”

By Tony

April 27, 2006 12:27 PM | Link to this

And Debbie, just what was the intent of you posting this? Did you receive permission to post a full article on another newspaper’s website?

Hmmm. We hear about how evil it is for Cagle to attack Reed. But let’s see. Reed’s people pushing this issue and the Taylor issue. Hypocritical? Where are the issues Reed people? DO we have nothing better to do with our time than insult Cagle and say how bad he and his supporters are? And then say Cagle is wrong for supposedly doing the same? SO it only works one way. Why is it fine and moral for you all to do it but not Cagle? Liars, hypocrites, and low-lifes….

The funny thing is that Debbie is a county party officer being this sleazy. Do you like your party builders to be right in the mud slinging it? I feel sorry for the poor Cobb Republicans. I feel sorry for the other so-called party leaders that Debbie claims are on board with her. The GOP is truly tanking. And who do we have to thank for it? Ralph Reed. Bless your little corrupt heart. Stick to DC and your gated country club.

By Howard

April 27, 2006 01:08 PM | Link to this

Tony, Liars, hypocrites, and low lifes describes Cagle Supporters.

My, you really get angry don’t you? You have finally realized that Reed will win the Primary and are going beserk!

We all post on this site using any name we want to. You don’t know who Debbie is, who I am or anyone else. I do have my suspicions on who you may be. Your writing is awful familiar…

If Debbie is part of a county party, then I praise her. I noticed you don’t have a problem with GOP State Senators rolling in the mud on behalf of Cagle. What a hypocrite you are.

By Mike

April 27, 2006 01:56 PM | Link to this

At what point will Ralph tell his wacky cult to drink the cool-aid? The sooner the better!

By Debbie

April 27, 2006 01:58 PM | Link to this

Mike, you will find that on July 18th, kool-aid will be the preferred beverage in Georgia. So get used to it..

By Tony

April 27, 2006 04:17 PM | Link to this

Howard, once again you have no clue. Send me your address and I’ll cut you a check to buy a clue. I know who Debbie is. I’ve seen and heard all I need to know about her.

Angry? Not at all. Actually I’m laughing my head off. You Reed minions keep me amused on a daily basis.

You have no idea what I have a problem with. I’ve only commented on Reed and types like you because you’re arrogant and pretend to be holy moralists while shouting insults and lies. I have yet to see Cagle people here on this site or anywhere else trying to be like you and the rest of the Reed goons. All I see is Reed people espousing how Christian and moral they are then do everything to bash and degrade even those within their own party. Not very becoming of people who have been and still are members of the CC and numerous other Christian groups out there.

As for who we say we are, Howard, tell us who you really are. And please let us know your suspicions of who I am. I’d love for you to fall flat on your face embarrassed for once again not knowing your rear from a hole in the ground.

By Tony

April 27, 2006 04:20 PM | Link to this

Kool aid might be your preferred drink but I frankly don’t want to find myself dead from the load that’s in it. The preferred drink of GA? You’re killing me….and the kool aid probably would kill me.

By Tony

April 27, 2006 04:50 PM | Link to this

Me thinks Howard is a true Reed follower who is paranoid about people who posts. They would rather focus on something like this than qualities and issues that would make us want to vote for their candidate. They’re more concerned with finding out the “enemies of the state” so they can smear them and blackball them. Howard, I’m flattered that you’re so focused on me like that. I figured you’d be spending your time out there passing out the preferred drink Debbie keeps referring to.

By B.A. Thompson

April 28, 2006 06:57 AM | Link to this

This just shows that Cagle is a hypocrit. He has been criticizing Reed for a year while there was deception in his own house. He is just another typical politician.

Why doesn’t he fire his staffer who changed Reed’s entry in that on-line thing like Cox did?

Why does he blame Reed for a negative commercial his own staffer starred in?

Why did he break Georgia’s ethics laws by not properly accounting for campaign contributions.

And why did he lie and accuse Taylor of intemidation and distortion to cover or excuse his $1,000 campaign contribution to Taylor.

Cagle is just another untrustworthy and hypocritical politician.

He does not deserve, nor will he get my vote.

B.A.

By Gene

April 28, 2006 08:20 AM | Link to this

I could care less what people have to say about either candidate. Listen to what the candidates have to say and then make your choice. Too many people listen to just gossip and not the actual facts.

By Debbie

April 28, 2006 08:29 AM | Link to this

Cagle’s Brad Alexander sent an email to Jared Thomas with the link to file a complaint. He was daring him to and it is a bluff. Cagle is so arrogant he thinks he can get away with violating the ethics law. http://ethics.georgia.gov/ How arrogant of the Cagle Campaign. The law is very clear, Cagle violated the ethics law when he disclosed contributions he did not yet have. Notice the law says date of receipt. How can you list the date of receipt when you don’t yet have the contribution?:

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/glcodesdetail.pl?code=21-5-34

b)(1) All reports shall list the following: (A) As to any contributions of $101.00 or more, its amount and date of receipt, the election for which the contribution has been accepted and allocated, along with the name and mailing address of the contributor, and, if the contributor is an individual, that individuaĺs occupation and the name of his or her employer. Such contributions shall include, but shall not be limited to, the purchase of tickets for events such as dinners, luncheons, rallies, and similar fundraising events coordinated for the purpose of raising campaign contributions for the reporting person;

CASEY CAGLE CAMPAIGN VIOLATED STATE ETHICS LAW Cagle Claimed Contributions on March 31 Report That He Had Not Received—and Violated State Ethics Law

April 27, 2006 Contact: Jared S. Thomas For Immediate Release 678-957-0000

Casey Cagle claims that his “walk matches his talk.” He says he “has set a fairly high standard for himself.” But the Cagle campaign’s admission that it violated Georgia ethics law is just the latest example of him saying one thing and doing another.

Cagle Claimed He Received over $100,000 in a Single Day. Cagle claimed to have received $104,000 in a single day and boasted about it in a news release. The report listed nine $5,000 contributions, two $10,000 contributions, and funds from out of state. An affidavit signed by the campaign stated it was collected within the limits of the law. (Casey Cagle campaign Contribution Report, March 31, 2006)

But the Cagle Campaign Unlawfully Counted Contributions It Had Not Collected. Cagle’s campaign now admits that it listed funds on its contribution report that had not been received as required by law—but won’t say how much. As for how many contributions were unlawfully listed, Cagle’s campaign says it has no idea: “I don’t know how many, we did not track them that way,” said Brad Alexander of the Cagle campaign. (Larry Peterson, “How Cagle Shook the Political Money Trees,” Savannah Morning News, April 26, 2006)

Cagle Campaign Violated the State Ethics in Government Act. According to the State Ethics Commission, the Cagle campaign violated both Commission rules and state ethics law. Official Georgia Code 21-5-34(b)(1)(A) and Ethics Commission Rules 189-3-.01(1)(a)(5) and (1)(b)(5), both say contributions must be counted on the “date of receipt” for disclosure purposes. (Savannah Morning News, April 26, 2006)

“The Cagle ‘race team’ would be best served by observing the legal speed limit and obeying the law,” said Jared Thomas, Reed for Lt. Governor Campaign manager. “When it comes to ethics, Cagle says one thing and does another. Will Casey now amend his March 31 disclosure report so that it complies with the law, and if so, how many contributions for what total amount did he unlawfully claim?”

By Tony

April 28, 2006 09:36 AM | Link to this

Hmmm…I thought Ralph was all about the issues and not attacking his opponent. All I see is his campaign and his minions going constantly after Cagle. Let’s see. They’re hitting hard on Cagle trying to clean up Ralph’s botched Skanalakis campaign and now this.

I’ll hear Debbie and Howard call me a hypocrite for not pouncing on Cagle. Last I heard there has to be a hearing and an examination to see if any wrongdoing was done….you know innocent until proven guilty? But the hypocrite is Reed for not rising above the issues that matter most. He’s hitting his opponent rather than talking about the issues Georgians care about.

You see Ralph wants it both ways. He doesn’t want anyone talking about the whole Abramoff scandal and his own issues. But he really doesn’t mind trying to dig up dirt and attack his own opponent. Why is that?

As for ethics, Reed has a long ways to go before he can preach this to anyone but himself. And to accuse someone of breaking the law I find completely ironic. Hey, Ralph, why don’t we just wait and let the findings determine that? I mean after all, aren’t we waiting for your own findings as well?

By Tony

April 28, 2006 09:55 AM | Link to this

Hey BA, explain this quote to me. How did Cagle lie? No one has yet to prove this to me once I ask them. Instead they ASSUME wrongly that Cagle lied. DO me a favor. Tell Ralph to give back the money to the Christians he lied to on the casino deal. Tell him to give back the gambling money that’s paying for his house, food, and clothing. All the money he’s making is his 30 pieces of silver for selling out Christians to profit on his own agenda. Who’s the liar and hypocrite now? Tell me in this quote of yours how Cagle lied?

“And why did he lie and accuse Taylor of intemidation and distortion to cover or excuse his $1,000 campaign contribution to Taylor.”

By Debbie

April 28, 2006 10:22 AM | Link to this

Cagle said there was a threat from Taylor, Johnson said there was no threat.

Cagle lied on his disclosure form and said the contributions were received and they were not.

Cagle started the attacks. He can get taste of his own medicine now.

By Debbie

April 28, 2006 10:48 AM | Link to this

http://www.georgiapoliticaldigest.com/article_762.shtml

Extortion? We need to stop everything until we get an answer!

By Howard

April 28, 2006 01:49 PM | Link to this

Tony, I think you are Bill Simon of the Political Vine. How did I do?