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DEL.ICIO.USOh, those Democrats and their bathroom humor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve told you that Republicans are leaning on illegal immigration as an issue to preserve their margins in state House and Senate races.
And the Democrats? They’re using breast cancer and, well, poop.
One issue is aimed at women, and the other’s aimed at - oh, heck. Suffice it to say we’re not kidding. There is a flier going to mail boxes in Georgia accusing certain Republican legislators of “letting people poop in our water.”
Let’s deal with the pink ribbon issue first.
In 2005, state Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon) introduced a bill to create stripped-down, affordable health insurance coverage. Two important points about the legislation:
First, it was “engrossed” - no changes were permitted during debate on the Senate floor. It was either pass or fail. Secondly, the bill permitted insurance companies to offer consumers policies that excluded a host of ailments - many affecting women — for a lower price.
The bill passed the Senate, but most Democrats and all but one female member of the chamber - Nancy Schaefer of Turnerville - opposed it. Women lawmakers had fought for years to force insurance companies to address their health issues. “It’s a shame for Republican men to be in here doing this,” said state Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford) said at the time. She warned of retribution to come.
House Republicans repaired the damage, and the bill was returned to the Senate with much of the missing coverage restored. The Senate approved it, and everyone went home happy.
But that first vote is still out there.
Democrats are using it in two state Senate races. In one, Democrat Bruce Gilbert of Madison is challenging state Sen. Johnny Grant of Milledgeville. In the other, Democrat Carol Jackson is attempting to oust Schaefer and take her northeast Georgia seat.
It’s even made an appearance in the DeKalb County race for an open House seat that pits Democrat Kevin Levitas against Republican Steve Schultz.
In each case, Democrats say Republicans opposed “breast cancer screenings,” a phrase that has the GOP calling foul. Here’s the Gilbert flier.
Democrats defend the accuracy of the charge. Yes, they admit, mammograms were never struck from coverage. What was struck, then restored, was coverage for the biopsies of any lumps found by the X-rays.
Most people would interpret mammograms to be “breast cancer screening,” said Clelia Davis, spokeswoman for the state GOP. She referred us to Sam Choate, attorney for the House speaker’s office. Choate said that it was possible to interpret the definition of a mammogram in state law to include biopsies.
But the repairs that Republicans insisted on making to the bill argue against that thinking.
Now for the poop issue.
Introduced in 2006, Senate Bill 510 would have allowed developers and other landowners outside metro Atlanta to install septic tanks much closer to drinking-water reservoirs and the streams that feed them. It passed the Senate, but died in the House.
Democrats are being selective on this one, targeting districts where environmentalists are strong, or where water is scare and a defining issue.
A prime target is state Rep. Gene Maddox of Cairo, who holds Secretary of State Cathy Cox’s old seat in Georgia’s southwest corner. Here’s the flier. Print it out and read it on your next trip to the, uh, facility.
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By Melissa
November 3, 2006 10:54 AM | Link to this
THAT’S the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.
I never look up these votes, and I actually looked up this bill. Took me awhile to understand it, but the more I read the angrier I got.
Those jerks voted to cut biopsies out of the health insurance programs women get in Georgia!!!
I hope every woman out there votes Democrat this time whether they’ve ever voted for a Democrat or not. There’s apparently been a large amount of lying by GOP leaders about the value they place on female voters.
If you value me, stop trying to take away my health benefits, you big bullies.
By Cindy Johnson
November 5, 2006 9:26 PM | Link to this
Re: The poop issue. The flier that the AJC posted is not the same one that was mailed to voters in Dist. 172; it has been altered. Who altered it? There is a bigger story here - the flier was not approved by the candidate who it was purportedly sent out to support. Why was it sent? Either Baxter & Galloway did not do their homework or they were duped. Heads should roll & questions be answered.