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Friday, September 8, 2006
Taylor’s ‘tough on crime’ ad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sponsor: Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor for governor
The ads: The first of two new ads begins with Taylor walking down the aisle of the state Senate, talking about his record on crime. “I’m Mark Taylor, and for me, fighting crime has always been a big priority,� he says. He then stops near the front of the Senate chambers and says he created a DNA database for convicted felons and passed Georgia’s Two Strikes law keeping violent criminals in prison longer.
“But now, Georgia has started releasing violent criminals before they’ve even come close to serving their full sentence.� As governor, he said, he’d pass a constitutional amendment abolishing parole for violent criminals.
In the second ad, the campaign shows Taylor talking to average folks and cops, and weaves in shots of college kids, families and babies while listing his accomplishments and plans.
“It was Mark Taylor who passed America’s toughest law against violent criminals,� the ad says. It also says he passed the biggest tax cut in Georgia history and sponsored the law that created the HOPE scholarship.
The reality: In regards to the first ad, the DNA database was a big part of Taylor’s agenda during the 2000 session, and it passed unanimously that year, when his fellow Democrats still ran the General Assembly. He didn’t “pass� the two-strikes law, which mandates that criminals convicted of one of seven major crimes serve a minimum of 10 years without parole on the first offense and life on the second. It was a proposal of Gov. Zell Miller. However, Taylor led the fight to get the measure passed as one of Miller’s floor leaders in the Senate.
Since Taylor’s opponent, Gov. Sonny Perdue, took office, the percentage of a violent criminal’s sentence served in prison before parole has increased, according to the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. However, the courts struck down a 1997 board policy requiring that inmates serve at least 90 percent of their sentences for 20 violent crimes.
Taylor is proposing a new constitutional amendment increasing the number of violent crimes for which there would be no parole from prison. Perdue sponsored a bill in 1998 to eliminate parole, and other lawmakers have advocated similar pieces of legislation. Any such change would be extremely expensive for the state, since it now costs taxpayers almost $19,000 a year to keep a violent criminal in prison.
On the second ad, as in previous commercials, Taylor takes credit for some of Miller’s major accomplishments. While he says he “passed America’s toughest law against violent criminals,� he actually helped get Miller’s “two strikes� law approved by lawmakers. It was then approved by voters.
When he says he passed the largest tax cut in Georgia history, again, he helped Miller win passage for a measure to eliminate the sales tax on many groceries.
When he said he sponsored the law creating the HOPE scholarship, he helped get a House-sponsored bill through the Senate to create Miller’s college scholarship program. Miller, who has endorsed several Republicans in recent years, is backing Perdue over Taylor.
Watch the ads: www.marktaylor.com
