Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Georgia Senate Members by Party 3-27-24

There are 34 Republicans and 23 Democrats in the Georgia Senate 

Republicans

John Albers          Roswell

Jason Anavitarte  Dallas

Lee Andersson    Grovetown

Brandon Beach   Alpharetta

Timothy Bearden Carrolton

Matt Brass           Newnan

Max Burns          Sylvania

Bill Cowsert         Athens

Clint Dixon          Gwinnett

Craig Dolezal     Cumming

Mike Dugan       Carrolton

Shelly Echols     Gainesville

Frank Ginn        Danielsville

Steve Gooch     Dahlonega

Russ Goodman Cogdell

Marty Harbin     Tyrone

Bo Hatchett       Cornelia

Billy Hickman   Statesboro

Mike Hodges    Brunswick

Chuck Hufstetler Rome

John F Kennedy Macon

Kay Kirkpatrick   Marietta

Colton Moore    Trenton

Chuck Payne    Dalton

Randy Robertson Cataula

Ed Setzler        Ackworth

Shawn Still       Norcross

Brian Strickland McDonough

Carden Summers  Cordele

Blake Tillery       Vidalia

Larry Walker III  Perry

Ben Watson     Savannah

Sam Watson    Moultrie

Rick Williams   Milledgeville

34

Democrats

Tonya Anderson  Lithonia

Gloria Butler        Stone Mtn

Gail Davenport    Jonesboro

Jason Esteves    Atlanta

Sonya Halpern   Atlanta

Ed Harbison      Colombus

Sally Harrell       Atlanta

Nabilah Islam Parks Duluth

Kim Jackson  Stone Mtn

Donzella James Atlanta

Emanuel Jones Decatur

Harold Jones II  Augusta

David Lucas     Macon

Derek Mallow  Savannah

Josh McLaurin Sandy Springs

Nikke Merritt    Grayson

Nan Orrock     Atlanta

Elena Parent   Atlanta

Sheikh Rahman Lawrenceville

Michael Rhett  Marietta 

Valencia Seay  Riverdale

Freddie Powell Sims Dawson

Horacena Tate  Atlanta

23

https://www.legis.ga.gov/members/senate

Comments

There are 57 Senators in the Georgia Legislature. 34 or 60% are Republicans and 23 or 40% are Democrats.

Like most legislatures, in Georgia, Bills come out of Committees and are voted on by the House or Senate. If they pass, they are sent to the other body. If they pass, the are sent to the Governor for approval.

Like most legislatures, correcting bad laws and improving crime prevention are not priorities. In Georgia, priorities have to do with economic development, like getting a big project passed. The expansion of the Savannah harbor allowed it to increase shipping capacity and the rail lines were added to support the added volume.  Other big projects could include the approval of large companies to move to Georgia.

The fact that Georgia has the worst Income Tax form was not on their radar. It has not prevented Home Title Theft or Squatting Fraud. Georgia needs to ban protest marches from being allowed in residential and commercial areas or obstructing traffic on roads and highways. Protest Marches need to be transformed into Protest Rallies and confined to large Parks. The cost of restoring property from vandalism, theft and damage should be paid by the perpetrators.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Trumps Triumphs A to Z 3-26-24

 By Deroy Murdoch Daily Signal 4/21/24

It is jarring to recall how much brighter things looked just 27 months ago, after four years of President Donald Trump’s triumphs, and before Biden arrived and wrecked everything.

From A to Z, here are 26 things that Trump got right:  

Abraham Accords: Trump brokered four peace agreements among Israel and other countries—Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan.

Border wall: Trump’s 458 miles of concrete and steel fortified the border and curbed illegal immigration before Biden obliterated America’s southern frontier.

Consular offices in Jerusalem were upgraded to a U.S. Embassy, thus enforcing the relevant statute that Presidents Bill Clinton through Barack Obama circumvented.

Deregulation: Trump promised to kill two old regulations for every new one imposed. American Action Forum counts 4.7 existing rules junked per new one implemented.

Energy Independence: Trump achieved the impossible dream of U.S. self-reliance and then made America globally dominant as a net exporter of energy for the first time since 1952.

Freedom-of-speech protection, per Trump’s executive order, became a prerequisite for colleges to receive federal funds.

Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett joined the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, 223 other constitutionalists whom Trump nominated reached the federal bench.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities scored an advocacy office in the White House, a permanent stream of federal funds, and year-round Pell Grants, to aid their summer school students. HBCU presidents begged Obama in vain for these things. Trump invited them to the Oval Office in his fifth week in Washington, listened, and approved their requests.

Iran nuclear deal: Killed.

Javelin anti-tank missiles that Trump provided have helped Ukraine stymie Russian invaders.

Keystone XL pipeline: Approved.

“Little Rocket Man,” Kim Jong Un, met thrice with Trump. While North Korea did not scrap its nuclear weapons program, it conducted zero atomic tests after this odd couple first huddled in Singapore on June 12, 2018. Kim detonated four nukes under Obama-Biden.

Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. signed a new trade deal that replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement.

NATO’s finances soared, as Trump prodded U.S. allies to boost Western collective defense by $400 billion through 2024.

Opportunity Zones incentivized $78 billion in private capital to 8,768 largely low-income, minority communities.

Poverty fell to a rate of 10.5%, the lowest since 1959, when federal figures were first collected. Before COVID-19 unleashed hell on Earth, the strongest economy in 60 years drove black poverty to 18.8%, a record low.

Qassem Soleimani, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps chief, was droned to smithereens on Trump’s order. Tehran’s ayatollahs promptly learned some manners.

Right to Try legislation freed terminally ill patients to use promising treatments that awaited Food and Drug Administration approval.

Space Force: Trump’s out-of-this world promise became reality as the Pentagon’s newest armed service.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: This $1.9 trillion tax reduction unleashed massive economic growth that most benefited lower-income Americans.

Unemployment hit all-time lows for blacks and Hispanics and triggered the lowest female unemployment rate since September 1953.

Veterans secured broader medical freedoms through VA Choice and swift punishment for abusive VA employees.

Washington, D.C.’s school-voucher program was reauthorized with a $45 million appropriation.

Xi Jinping and other Chinese Communist Party members restrained themselves when Trump deployed his peace through strength strategy. Under Biden, Red China does whatever it wants, from an unprecedented mock blockade of Taiwan to spy balloons vacuuming up intelligence over America to U.S.-based CCP “police stations” that terrorize dissidents.

Yes votes for the First Step Act totaled 358 in the House (including 176 Democrats) and 87 in the Senate (among them, 47 Democrats). This overwhelmingly bipartisan criminal justice reform measure let nonviolent prisoners, many of them black, return to their communities.

Zero American wars began under Trump. The dovish consequences of his hawkish command were exactly the opposite of the “Push the nuclear button NOW!” belligerence that his deranged critics forecast.

Wouldn’t four more years of Trump be better than four years of Biden?

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/04/21/trumps-triumphs-from-a-z/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Monday, March 25, 2024

Biden’s Blunders A to Z 3-25-24

 By Deroy Murdoch Daily Signal 5/12/23

America is sinking among the waves of incompetence, impotence, and fiscal incontinence of democratic socialist President Joe Biden.

 

Afghanistan’s humiliating abandonment to the Taliban, amid America’s chaotic and deadly military withdrawal, may be Biden’s biggest failure.

Border security has collapsed. An estimated 6.3 million illegal aliens from at least 172 nations have invaded America under Biden. Hundreds of thousands have received free bus or plane tickets into the homeland. Others have scored free health care, education, and even Times Square hotel rooms.  

Crime is plaguing America’s cities, chiefly those run by thug-hugging Democratoc mayors and left-wing, take-a-hoodlum-to-lunch “prosecutors.” Democrat-in-Chief Biden seems to approve.

Documents marked “classified” surfaced in the garage of Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, mansion (alongside his 1967 Corvette) and at Washington, D.C.’s Penn-Biden Center, an alleged think tank. As senator and veep, Biden lacked presidential declassification authority. Thus, Biden illegally possessed some 20 classified papers.

Energy dominance under Trump has vanished. Biden now begs Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to boost petroleum production to compensate for his war on U.S. oil.

Fentanyl cascades across the US-Mexico “border.” It is killing some 70,000 Americans annually, mainly through unwitting ingestion of counterfeit pharmaceuticals polluted with this deadly drug. Fentanyl poisoning has become the No. 1 cause of death among Americans between ages 18 and 45. 

Gas stoves are in Biden’s crosshairs, with neo-totalitarian federal scolds at the Energy Department and Consumer Product Safety Commission scheming to deprive Americans of the performance, comfort, and life-saving benefits of natural-gas appliances. Unlike electric equipment, gas-fueled gear functions during blackouts.

Hunter Biden, the president’s ne’er-do-well son and a confirmed deadbeat dad, is sinking into an ever-deepening quicksand of misdeeds, influence-peddling, and dodgy deals with foreign scalawags.

Inflation was 1.4% annually when Biden took office and triggered a tsunami of federal spending. The resulting consumer-price spike hit 9.1% before falling back to 4.9% today, still more than double the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Justice follows two tracks: Violent leftists (Antifa, Black Lives Matter) skate, while rightists (Jan. 6, Proud Boys) receive prison sentences or, even worse, rot in D.C.’s jail without charges. 

Keystone XL pipeline: killed, along with 11,000 jobs.

Lynching is something “some people still want to do,” Biden declared on Feb. 17. Really? Where exactly are these white nationalists itching to hang blacks from trees?

Mandated COVID-19 vaccines forced 8,339 young, healthy GIs out of the armed forces for refusing this experimental inoculation, the Military Times reports.

News conferences are rare for Biden. Nov. 11 saw his last solo presser, 180 days ago on Saturday.

One-on-one interviews also are seldom seen under Biden. He granted 58 in his first two years, compared to Trump’s 205, Barack Obama’s 275, and George W. Bush’s 89, per the New York Post.

Pentagon priorities under Biden have devolved from national defense to pronouns to a frantic search for “white nationalists,” whoever they are—and the imposition of the Green New Deal in uniform.

Quotas are key to Biden’s “equity” agenda, including a $3.8 billion debt-relief program, exclusively for nonwhite farmers.

Russian cyberattackers seemingly sabotaged America’s Colonial Pipeline. Biden swiftly exonerated the Kremlin. He then greenlighted completion of the since-detonated Nord Stream II pipeline, which would have pumped Russian natural gas into Germany. Biden also approved a summit with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Those rewards for possible Russian subterfuge against U.S. property transmitted weakness and likely encouraged Putin to invade Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia and Iran now share a Beijing-brokered alliance. Trump’s strategy—to isolate the ayatollahs—is kaput.

Teachers union boss Randi Weingarten colluded with Biden’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lock down schools and trap kids in Zoom classes. Test scores tumbled.

Ukraine has received $76.8 billion in aid from Biden, with neither performance goals nor a timetable for victory or armistice.

Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden’s choice to be one aorta rush from the presidency, epitomizes overpromise and underdelivery.

White House “lids” have been called as early as 9 a.m. (on April 17). When Biden plans no further public appearances, journalists go home without fear of missing out.

Xi Jinping has yet to hear Biden even ask about COVID-19’s origins, according to official readouts. Such weakness surely fueled the Chinese communist dictator’s anti-dollar diplomacy, supremacy, spy balloons above U.S. military facilities, unprecedented harassment of Taiwan, and other efforts to torpedo America as the planet’s leading superpower.

Young Americans with college loans need not repay them, thanks to Biden’s student-debt bailout. Biden wants to squander $400 billion to nationalize up to $20,000 in obligations per borrower earning as much as $125,000 annually. Personal responsibility? Keeping promises? How quaint.

Zinc is a component part of electric vehicles, although graphite and lithium are more common components. Even as Biden mandates that 67% of new cars be electric by 2032, he padlocks mines whose copper and nickel also are essential EV ingredients. Biden’s EV policy is brain-dead.

Biden’s botches defy tabulation (e.g., abortionitis, race obsession, transgender-mania soaring federal spending, swelling national debt, sagging mental acuity, etc.) Too bad English has only 26 letters.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/05/12/bidens-blunders-a-to-z/

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Sunday, March 24, 2024

US Congressional House Districts 3-24-24

Congressional districts in the United States are electoral divisions for the purpose of electing members of the United States House of Representatives. The number of voting seats in the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, with each one representing an average of 761,179 people following the 2020 United States census.[1] 

State          House Reps

Alabama       10

Arizona           9

Arkansas        7

California      53

Colorado        8

Connecticut    6

Delaware        2

Florida          28

Georgia        14

Hawaii            2

Idaho              2

Illinois           26

Indiana         13

Iowa             11

Kansas          8

Kentucky     13

Louisiana      8

Maine            8

Maryland       8

Massachusetts 20

Michigan     19

Minnesota   10

Mississippi    8

Missouri      16

Montana       2

Nebraska     6

Nevada        4

N Hampshire 4

N Jersey    15

N Mexico     3

New York   45

N Carolina  14

N Dakota     3

Ohio           24

Oklahoma    8

Oregon        6

Pennsylvania 36

Rhode Island 3

S Carolina   9

S Dakota     3

Tennessee 13

Texas         38

Utah            4

Vermont      6

Virginia       23

Washington 10

W Virginia    6

Wisconsin   11

Wyoming     1

 

Republicans  218

Democrats    213

 

Resignations          Special Election

Kevin McCarthy R  5/21/24

Bill Johnson       R  6/11/24

Ken Buck           R  6/25/24

Brian Higgins     R  4/30/24 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_congressional_districts

Comments

Republicans are pushing to lower spending and Democrats are pushing to increase spending.

Republicans have a 1 vote majority in the house. Democrats have a 1 vote majority in the Senate.

Democrats vote in a block. Republicans have contrarians on both sides. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to avoid a shutdown and sent a deal to the Senate. Conservatives are not happy with the deal and want more time to read the bill and vote on amendments before it is sent to the Senate. The Senate has ignored all the Bills sent by the House. 

The House approved a $1.2 trillion spending package sent by the Senate to avoid a government shut-down. Republicans are not happy because they didn’t get 72 hours to review the final Bill and didn’t get to remove “earmarks” to lower the cost. Republicans want to lower spending back to $4 trillion. Government is spending $6 trillion.  Biden wants to take it to $8 trillion and keep the border open to count illegals to be included in the population count that determines the number of House members to increase Democrat control. Republicans want to count only US citizens in the population count.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Dunwoody GA 3-23-24

Dunwoody GA is a suburban city that sits on top of Atlanta GA just outside the I-285 perimeter. Dunwoody includes Perimeter Mall, a large commercial mall. that also includes hotels, apartments and office space. It includes strip-malls scattered between subdivisions with grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, shops and doctor’s offices. Many subdivisions have their own Swim and Tennis clubs. Early Dunwoody subdivisions were built in the 1960s. Many more subdivisions were built in the 1970s and 1980s. 

We moved to Dunwoody in 1983 to join the electronics boom. My wife Marlene wanted to go to Dental Hygiene School and it was in Dunwoody on the Dunwoody Community College campus. I worked in Norcross in “Tech Park”, a 15-minute drive. The kids walked to Austin Elementary a block away. The kids worked in Dunwoody Village a block away. We joined the subdivision Swin and Tennis club. Later the kids went to Dunwoody High School 6 blocks away and took the school bus. When Marlene graduated from Hygiene School she worked for a Dentist in Dunwoody Village.

The watchword in Dunwoody was “convenience. It was 5 minutes from I-285 and access to both East and West Metro was easy. It was “location, location, location. The premium for this was that homes were $20,000 higher in price. Dunwoody’s signature architecture was Williamsburg.  Homes and businesses were Williamsburg.

Dunwoody Ga elevation above sea level is 1129 feet. Atlanta Ga elevation above sea level is 1050 feet. We continue to look down on Atlanta. We are above the gnat line and have fewer bugs. We have lots of trees struggling to produce oxygen and anxious to consume carbon dioxide.

Dunwoody had been part of unincorporated DeKalb County, but in 2009 it became a small city of 13.25 square miles with 50,000 residents, most living in subdivisions. Dunwoody had a large 100 acre Park and residents had other parks close-by. Our kids went to Murphy Candler Park in Brookhaven for sports. Nearby Sandy Springs had a hospital complex and Roswell had lots of parks and activities.

When Dunwoody became a city in 2009, UN Agenda 21 was being implemented. Homeowners were ready for better road maintenance, but Agenda 21 wanted “transit villages”. The Dunwoody City Council  members were on the boards of the non-profits who had been squatting on DeKalb park land. The Council protected the non-profits and were anxious to fund them. They were also eager to grow their commercial “citizens” at Perimeter Mall. The City Council pursued development at the Mall and formed a “development” group to concoct tax holidays and incentives to attract businesses. Before Agenda 21, businesses did their own “development” and didn’t receive “bribes” to locate in suburbs. The Council was intent on building their commercial property tax base and placating Marta transit, not fixing the roads. The Council had adopted Agenda 21 planning that included a “master plan” for everything.

Regency Centers owns commercial property in Dunwoody Village. They apparently approve of the “master plan”.  The plan seeks to double the width of Dunwoody Villate Parkway and eliminate parking lot spaces. The businesses that operate in Dunwoody Village are not in agreement. The “master plan” for Dunwoody Village is similar to the failed Atlantic Station model with parking on the street that has failed over and over.

Dunwoody Village was built in 1972, 52 years ago. The businesses that operate in Dunwoody Village have had problems with roof leaks and other problems that have eventually been repaired. They are sensitive to their monthly rent prices. Some businesses have left Dunwoody Village because or high rents.  They certainly know that a newly constructed Dunwoody Village would require substantial rent hikes. They all live in homes built in the 1970s and don’t plan to knock their homes down to build new ones.

The DeKalb County School Board voted to replace Austin Elementary in Dunwoody. We saw Austin Elementary torn down. It was built in 1975 and demolished in 2020.  It functioned for 45 years. The cost to replace it was $20 million, but Bond financing doubled the cost to $40 million. Bond financing costs double. School Boards should use accrual accounts to build new schools, not bonds. We voters were not impressed with the way school boards waste money. Schools can be maintained to function over 100 years. Dunwoody home owners are using maintenance and upgrading to make their homes last over 100 years.

Timing is not good in 2024. We are experiencing 20% stagflation with energy inflation due to low oil and natural gas production. Food costs are up 30% because of high energy prices. Dunwoody taxpayers just turned down a $60 million Bond vote for more parks. Restaurant prices are up 30%. Participation is down in “community recreation” and events. 4-foot sidewalks are not crowded enough to need widening. There are no bikers using the bike lanes. We are not inclined to walk or bike to the grocery stores. We are not inclined to walk to our strip malls to sit on a bench or wander around. We are not inclined to ride a bike to our strip malls.

Traffic in Dunwoody is high on the main roads that serve as entry roads to GA-400 from 7am to 9am and from 5pm to 7pm. This includes main roads like Mt. Vernon Hwy and Roberts Road to enter GA-400.

Apartment rent near Perimeter Mall and MARTA in Dunwoody ranges from $1400/mo to $1700/mo.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader