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DEL.ICIO.USCasey Cagle on the end of the 2008 session: Blame the House speaker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Monday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle made his first public appearance since the ugly finish of the 2008 Legislature.
According to Cagle, it was all House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s fault.
The lieutenant governor was at Atlanta City Hall with Mayor Shirley Franklin, to help unveil the final leg of the Tour de Georgia on April 27 — a six-circuit race through the streets of downtown.
Cagle is the chairman of the reconstituted, state-created board that owns the bicycle race. On display at the presser was the 20-speed, $2,500 titanium loaner that Cagle — a golfer by habit — will ride from time to time during the event.
For a politician on a bicycle, the only thing more distasteful than an ugly helmet is the prospect of an ungraceful dismount. But for Cagle and 236 state lawmakers, that’s already happened.
“There’s no question at all that the session ended on a very sour note. It began where it left off last year — this session — with a veto override. And the speaker was unwilling to negotiate,” Cagle said.
Below is a brief overview of what Cagle said Monday.
On Richardson declaring that Georgia needed a new lieutenant governor:
“I really don’t have a response to that. The speaker was obviously very frustrated that he spent the summer working on a tax reform proposal, and changed it numerous times to get support and ended up losing on the floor.
“I can understand his frustration. There’s no one more committed to tax reform than I am. We put a very good proposal on the table, late. Obviously he was not interested in that.
“We’re very disappointed that the constitutional amendment to freeze assessments was not done because of his actions. We were very disappointed we did not reach an agreement on trauma.
“The Senate put a proposal before him, he denied that. And so its very unfortunate. We did not get a T-SPLOST proposal because really, the lateness of their willingness to act as well.”
But the idea of regional sales taxes for transportation was killed by Senate Republicans. The House passed it.
“What I’m saying is that the speaker was going back and forth on language. We actually had to suspend the rules, if you’ll recall, in order to get the bill on the desk and read. So it really did catch some people by surprise because of the lateness of it.”
What do you say to those sitting in traffic?
It’s my hope that we’re going to stay at the table and find a [resolution] to the transportation issue… We’ve got to resolve this issue. We understand it. We’re very committed to it. And certainly the restructuring of the department is going to make a big, big difference. But we also have to look at other funding mechanisms.”
[Sorry to interrupt, but read that block of type above very carefully. Especially that last sentence. It could be a hint that next year, transportation enthusiasts may not be able to pick up exactly where they left off. Now, back to our program.]
On the House plan to cut the car tax, which would have required to the state to reimburse local governments for lost revenue:
“At the end of the day, I was not willing to allow a billion dollars of state revenue to go back to county governments in an effort to supplement their income. This does not make sound public policy sense. No economist would validate the proposal. We had the right proposal, which was an income tax reduction, that made sense. It would be immediate, there would be stimulus, and every economist believed that this would be the right thing….”
And on whether the absence of the governor at the close of the session had any impact:
“I don’t know that it had an impact. The details of all of this and the way it ended really had less to do with the governor and more to do with the speaker’s unwillingness to negotiate in good faith. But it is what it is, and we’re going to pick up and move on.”
Comments
By Gary
April 8, 2008 4:32 PM | Link to this
The telltale words, “…the speaker’s unwillingness to negotiate in good faith…” sez it all.
Cagle is alluding to the reason. the reason. The Reason.
Let me interview Cagle and I will tell all of Georgia exactly what we can expect from the assembly in years to come. You just gotta know what questions to ask and how to frame those questions, and how to use the answers to riff new questions on the spot to get to the truth. Only one reporter in a million can do that. I am that cub.
I still think a do nothing assembly is the best for Georgia. It’s hard to destroy the state by doing nothing, not impossible, but hard.
By bubba
April 8, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this
Georgia is now seeing cagle for what he is….a disingenuous, clintonesque, liar.
he’s spinning, but he doesn’t spin well.
Yeah, glenn is a jerk. But he did pass things like the t-splost and tax cuts.
Typical cagle…”No one is more committed to tax cuts than me”…when he killed the tax cuts, never wanted the tax cut and insisted on it being a regular bill instead of a constitutional amendment so Sonny could veto it.
Cagle is a fraud and a liar. And a really, really poor leader.
By tom ga hunter
April 8, 2008 5:34 PM | Link to this
Richardson for Husband of the year
By Liberal Daisy
April 8, 2008 5:49 PM | Link to this
Surprised seeing you repubs attacking each other I would expect at this point you would star blaming the blacks
By Churchil
April 8, 2008 6:11 PM | Link to this
No, only Hillary and other democrats are blaming the blacks, Liberal Daisy. You must have noticed all the race cards being played on your side. Will you guys riot in Denver when Hillary steals the nomination? What a great way for you guys to celebrate the 40 years since you rioted in Chicago. Peace.
By Abomi Nation
April 8, 2008 6:22 PM | Link to this
Governor Perdue should find an open space on his calender. A period of time when he is not in China kissing their butts, when he is not taking a joy ride in a state helicopter, when he is not playing Joe College Coach in a movie or when he is not negotiating a sweetheart land deal and call Pee Wee Cagle and Bozo Richardson back into the Big Top for a special session to do the work of the people.
By Darrell
April 8, 2008 6:44 PM | Link to this
Cagle had his selected Senators agree 3 times in conference with the house on a very good bill. The Speaker was so committed to seeing a tax bill pass that he came to the conference meeting and agreed to almost everything the Senators were asking for. Cagle sat on his gavel and did nothing. The last compromise was one that would have eliminated the car tax, capped property valuations and stipulated how budget surpluses could be spent or rebated and he would not even let it come to the floor for a vote until there was no time for it to have a prayer! HJe can yell it’s the Speakers fault all he wants, but for those of us who were watching and were there we see through his lies! Kiss My Bumper Cagle!
By Grunt
April 8, 2008 6:59 PM | Link to this
I dont’ worship at the alter of mammon, and the dollar is not my golden calf, so it’s hard for me to understand the hysteria over “tax cuts”. In the first place, most of the proposals are tax shifts - from the haves to the4 have nots. But even speaking as a “have”, the car tax cut wouled be around 70 cents a day for me. A starbucks coffee a week. I’m supposed to get all exercised about that?
By Liberal Daisy
April 8, 2008 7:36 PM | Link to this
Churchswill, why so ferocious did I strike a nerve. I’m surprised your not a Edwards supporter for it is obvious you believe in two America’s, white protestant christian do-gooders and liberal evil doers. Impeach Bush save a tree. God Bless
By Churchill
April 8, 2008 7:49 PM | Link to this
Lib Dazy, democrats are racist. Hillary should drop out of the race. If your party is so inclusive and diverse, then Obama’s run at the White House should have united your party. I will not tolerate lectures from liberal racists. Peace.
P.s. The Breck Girl is a socialist. Like the other two in your race. Unacceptable, the lot of them.
By Jesse Ventura
April 8, 2008 7:50 PM | Link to this
I am king of the libertarian castle obey my shaky hand.
By Liberal Daisy
April 8, 2008 8:49 PM | Link to this
Give Peace a Chance, Abort Bush the decider he is a disaster. Bring home the troops, end the war, make love and vote Obama. General P. tell the truth Bush is a idiot.
By Wackolibhack
April 8, 2008 9:09 PM | Link to this
Bush invented war. It is Bush’s fault that there is war in the world. If it were not for Bush, we would all be screwing and voting for Obama. I hate Bush.
By SUBURBAN OVERLORD
April 8, 2008 9:14 PM | Link to this
Georgia doesn’t have a Governor or Lt. Governor. We have a Head Obstructionist and his Lt. Obstructionist.
They don’t support anything and oppose everything, unless it is gouging metro Atlanta to redistribute tax wealth to the rural masses. Like an excitable lap dog, an “atta boy” from their ruler Grover Norquist is worth more to them than the quality of life of Georgians.
But the next question is…does metro Atlanta have any state Senators worth a bucket of warm spit? Think about it.
By paulding girl
April 8, 2008 10:33 PM | Link to this
I’ll gladly pay the taxes I’ve been paying for another year after seeing someone stand up as a man to Glenn Richardson. Not a problem. The man is psycho.
By brad
April 8, 2008 11:19 PM | Link to this
If Casey Cagle wasnt so worried about being Governor then maybe he could effectively do his current job.
By tom ga hunter
April 9, 2008 6:32 AM | Link to this
Let’s hear a thunderous round of applause followed by an ear-splitting rebel yell for House Speaker Glenn Richardson. He is clearly the winner of the 2008 legislative wars.
He also is the runaway victor in the first round of the Main Event for Governor, 2010.
Romeo may look and sound dumb, but he is not dumb. He may be the smartest guy in the state Capitol.
First, consider what he did to prepare for his 2010 bid to succeed Gov. Sonny Perdue. It was a masterpiece of pre-campaign showmanship.
Somehow, Richardson induced the Yale University Law Journal’s online edition to roundly condemn his methods of running the Peach State House. Yale’s online “Pocket Part” slams Romeo’s detested House “Hawks” for exercising “an extraordinary and unjustified amount of legislative power [while inflicting] untold damage to the bargaining process.”
The Hawks, you will remember, comprise a platoon of legislative goons handpicked by Romeo to take charge of any committee the speaker deems to be acting against his best interests. The only thing that might have helped Romeo in a greater way was being bashed by the Harvard Law Review. We’re still trying to figure out how Romeo managed to attract Ivy League attention, even if he had to settle for Yale.
Why would Yale or Harvard or any other Ivy League school have an interest in Georgia’s House rules? Does Romeo have his own private mole lurking in the ivy? Getting rapped in Georgia by New Englanders automatically qualifies a Dixie politician for a coveted Cracker medal.
Second, Richardson maneuvered Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle into the terrible political position of killing nearly every piece of tax-cutting legislation. Richardson challenged Casey “to stand up like a man” and support what was left of Richardson’s GREAT Tax. Meanwhile, Gov. Perdue was romping through the Orient on a trade mission. So Cagle followed the governor’s orders and blocked the “irresponsible” tax reductions.
Perhaps as many as two Republicans will remember Cagle’s courageous stance. Millions of other Georgians will constantly be reminded of Romeo’s seemingly fearless but futile combat to give Georgians tax breaks.
Forget that actually getting the tax breaks passed this year would have been the worst thing that could have happened to Georgia and its present legislature. The state’s economy already is in steep decline because of lower tax receipts. Squeezing more billions out of education, transportation and health care hardly seems prudent at the moment.
However, Richardson can now crow, “Casey and Sonny wouldn’t let the voters and me lower taxes! But I shall win in the end! Vote for lower taxes! Vote for Romeo for governor!”
I can’t figure out which of Romeo’s allies helped him devise the strategy to leave Lt. Gov. Cagle and his Senate to carry on for Perdue. Whoever the master planner was deserves a high place in the Richardson transition team to governor. But wait … .
The speaker’s enemies could derail him before the fireworks for governor even begin. Such would be an Act of Extraordinary Bravery. Richardson’s off-the-field conduct last year should have been enough to send him to the showers, but the ABR (Anybody but Romeo) bunch just didn’t have it in them.
(Whatever happened to the guys who squared off in the broken beer-bottle fight at the last elegant farewell party for the legislature? Let us hope that wonderful tradition - the party, not the cutting - remains on our social calendars.)
Maybe Romeo decides to skip governor and go for senator to replace Sen. Johnny Isakson, who is returning to run for governor. That is not as farfetched as it may sound. If one watches Romeo in action closely, one will plainly see he envisions himself a national kind of guy, too talented for the penny-ante field under the Georgia Gold Dome.
By Righty
April 9, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
The Blame is Casey Cagel for man reasons. 1. The Allowed the Rhino Governor of ours to se him as a puppet. 2. Not being strong enough to stand up to the Governor.Then I blame the Senator that serve with him for not having the Guts to stand for the peoples needs against The Governor and The Lt. Governor. Speaker Richardson and the House did everything they could to get Tax reform passed. Those of who were there saw this. So don’t tell me that Speaker Richardson is to blame. Guess what! I agree with the Speaker we need a new Lt. Governor.
By Paulding Resident
April 9, 2008 10:24 AM | Link to this
Paulding Girl You don’t know the GLenn Richardson I do he is no Psycho.Only someone who cares about the peoplehe serves. I am proud of Glenn Richardson.
By Reverand Donchabelieva
April 10, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this
Bring back give em hell Zell