Democratic state Sen. Jason Carter intensified his criticism of Gov. Nathan Deal’s stewardship of the state’s economy on Thursday during a campaign visit with laid-off workers in Atlanta.
Deal’s campaign shot back, blasting Carter for his stated willingness to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. A spokesman for Deal called the federal health care law “one of the biggest tax hikes on Georgians in recent history.”
Carter’s visit to the Silver Skillet restaurant – a favorite campaign stop for politicians – came after Georgians got a dose of economic bad news: Metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate rose to 8 percent in August from 7.9 percent in July. Deal has questioned the data and pointed to reports that showed Georgia is among the nation’s leaders in adding jobs.
Last week, Carter blasted Deal’s economic policies after learning the state’s jobless rate had jumped to 8.1 percent in August, the highest rate in the nation.
Carter has been pivoting away from an education-first election message this month to attack Deal on the economy, hoping to attract independent voters as the Nov. 4 election fast approaches. His campaign recently began airing a new TV ad that says middle-class income has dropped while corporations are getting tax breaks in Georgia.
On Thursday, Carter called metro Atlanta’s unemployment rate “embarrassing.”
“What you see now is an economic development policy that is based on cutting the ribbon at giant, one-off deals,” Carter said. He also said: “The governor wants to argue about data. He wants to make excuses.”
That was a reference to how Deal has faulted the reliability of the federal government’s jobless figures — which are released each month. Deal has also pointed to more encouraging news about the state’s economy. Last month, for example, 24,700 new jobs were added to Georgia payrolls. Initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped 27 percent. And the state tallied more than 4.1 million jobs — the most since June 2008.
On Thursday, Deal’s campaign slammed Carter for missing a vote in the state Senate on permitting a ballot question on a constitutional amendment that would cap Georgia’s income tax rate at 6 percent. He was the sole member of the Senate to miss that vote. The measure ultimately passed despite a Democratic rift. Carter voted in favor of an earlier version.
“Under Gov. Deal, we’ll continue to see strong job growth and stay the No. 1 place in the nation in which to do business,” Deal spokesman Brian Robinson said in an email. “Jason’s plan — what little of it there is — is bad for jobs.”
LaMont Hawthorne of Alpharetta was among the jobless Georgians who Carter met Thursday at the Silver Skillet. A married father of two grown children, the former consultant said the same building efficiency firm laid him off three times in three years. Hawthorne, who is supporting Carter for governor, continues to search for work.
“We are living just one incident away from catastrophe,” Hawthorne said of his family’s financial situation.
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