Georgia Patriot Files

Will the new tax cuts raise the federal deficit?  The hand-wringing liberals seem to think so.  And that is the only remaining argument they have against the Trump tax cuts.   That is because virtually all American socio-economic groups benefit financially from the cuts.  All Americans will keep more of their hard-earned dollars for themselves, even the liberals.  So there is really no substantive argument to oppose the tax cut legislation, from anybody…well, except of course for that pesky deficit. Now it is no foregone conclusion that the deficit will rise anyway.  But in the minds of the nay-sayers, life is a zero-sum game, pitting the “haves” against the “have-nots.”  In their world, even if they benefit from a tax cut, if another perhaps wealthier group, benefits as well, that’s bad.  In their world, all tax cut benefits should accrue to them and them only, even if they don’t pay taxes.  Under this plan, the typical family of fo...

Judge Roy Moore is the last senator the establishment wanted, the last senator the left wanted, the last senator the libertarians wanted.  Obviously, Judge Roy Moore is even the last senator many fair-minded, Alabama conservatives wanted, confused by all they heard.  This column is for those fair-minded conservatives among us who have been misinformed, disinformed and confused by the media coverage of Judge Moore.  You should know the truth.  So let’s look at what you were told. Moore’s detractors and the media claim he was thrown off the high bench for refusing to respect the US Constitution by disregarding a federal order to remove a replica of the Ten Commandments from the Alabama Supreme Court Building.  But there is another side to that story.  Judge Moore knows the federal Courts derive powers from Article III of the US Constitution. He also knows those powers only extend to matters of federal law subject to those tendered under the Constitution, ...

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To enact Chapter 25 under Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state government, so as to provide for the restoration and preservation of the people’s interests above all others; to provide for legislative findings and purposes; to provide for limiting the scope and authority of Georgia courts and courts under the jurisdiction of Georgia to those authorized as prescribed under the Constitution of the State of Georgia;  to provide for limiting the scope and authority of United States courts and courts under the jurisdiction of the United States to those authorized as prescribed under the Constitution of the United States; to provide for definitions; to provide for a short title; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia People’s Interests Restoration Act....

After last year’s Georgia General Assembly, Governor Deal vetoed the Religious Freedom Act (RFRA) passed by both Houses. I wrote at the time, “Fine, good for you Mr. Governor.” I wrote that not because I am against the peaceful exercise of religion, but because in the final analysis that bill does nothing to prevent the government from stepping once again where it has no authority, and infringing on religious freedoms already protected under the 1st Amendment. RFRA is not legislation constructed to somehow enforce the 1st Amendment.  RFRA merely seeks to minimize the degree to which the government might assert powers it does not possess and thus continue violating the 1st Amendment.  At the federal level, the 1st Amendment is clear, “Congress shall make no law infringing the free exercise of religion.”  What part of “make no law” do the federal courts not understand? And if Congress “shall make no law,” then what law might the federal courts interpret in order to rest...

Nydia Tisdale During Recent Trial I had never been to a criminal trial before. But because I know Nydia Tisdale and am interested in her case, I attended numerous hours of her trial, spanning five days of testimony which concluded this past Monday in Dawsonville.  Later that evening, after four hours of deliberating, the jury concluded, and justifiably so, that Nydia Tisdale committed no crime for which she deserved to be arrested.  In the same breath, however, they convicted her for misdemeanor obstruction for resisting arrest.  So let’s see if we can wrap our minds around this.  According to the jury, Nydia Tisdale did nothing to deserve being arrested, yet she was arrested anyway.  And during the arrest for which she had done nothing wrong, she resisted the officer in some minor fashion, but enough to earn her a misdemeanor conviction.  Now who among us would not in the very least question why we might be arrested when all we are doing is sitting q...

Trump with WWII Navajo Code Talkers So this week, President Trump honored the Navajo nation, and in particular three Navajo World War II veteran “Code Talkers.”  If you never heard the term, during the War in the Pacific, 400 or so Navajos were assigned to use their extremely indistinguishable language to communicate vital battle information to and from command and control centers of the various island campaigns.  Neither the Japanese nor the American soldiers or Marines understood the language.  American commanders could therefore send radio messages with impunity, understanding that no one, especially the enemy, would be able to decode them and learn the American battle strategies. To commemorate and store knowledge of the Navajo Code Talker accomplishments during World War II, during their time at the White House the surviving Code Talkers expressed a desire to build a Code Talker Museum, a project which during the ceremony President Trump pledged support. But duri...

Nydia Tisdale Regarding the case of Nydia Tisdale presently under trial in Dawson County, the US Constitution protects individuals from governmental arrest under the color of law. IOW, there are no laws that can bypass the freedom of the press protections cited and guaranteed under the 1st Amendment. Any law enacted or invoked to make such an arrest would be null and void on its face. I expect the prosecutor will try to invoke the private property rights of the owner of the facility, who when asked to do so by certain Republicans at the event, instructed Captain Wooten to have Ms. Tisdale removed. As a property owner, the prosecutor will argue, he had that right. I looked into this at the time, and here is my body of research from three years ago: The question is not whether the event is on private property, but whether the event is held at a place of business with an open invitation inducing the public to attend. In this circumstance, because it is a business, normally ope...

Marc Morris (L) Judge Roy Moore (R) This has been a provocative special election season, hasn’t it?  Here in Forsyth County, we had our own special election to replace a Georgia House member who relinquished his seat.  Now the 26th District welcomes a new state Representative, Marc Morris. We wish him Godspeed as he represents the good people of his district. But now we turn to the special election to replace Senator Jeff Sessions in Alabama, who took the job of Attorney General in Trump’s cabinet, an election which affects us all in many ways.   Practically everyone has an opinion on candidate Roy Moore, until fairly recently the odds-on favorite, and perhaps still might be, to win the seat.  Folks either feverishly support Alabama’s former Chief Justice, or vehemently attack him, very few in the middle.   Feeding the attacks on Judge Moore are the obligatory allegations of sexual misconduct against candidates who dare seriously challenge the establis...

Sarah Palin When Sarah Palin resigned her job as Alaska Governor, I lost respect for her. I’m very sorry; but I did. She offered no particular hardship. She ran for a four-year term, accepted it, but one day decided she no longer wanted the job and quit, with very little explanation, to do something else.  Okay, Fine.  But I call a person who does that a “quitter.”  Quitting a public office one campaigned for, elicited contributions for, and indeed swore an oath before God to execute, is not a trait I admire.  Now that does not mean I don't like Sarah Palin or that I don’t agree with her on certain other matters. But on that matter, plainly she violated the public trust and her highest oath. Her supporters and voters were entitled to expect that she would fulfill the term of the public office she sought, her promise to do so she necessarily implied by running. Hunter Hill Now we have both Hunter Hill running for Georgia Governor, and Geoff Duncan running...

Now that the campaigns are over, hearty congratulations are in order for the winners, but also for the voters who equitably decided the elections.  I would like to congratulate the Mayor-elect of Cumming, Troy Brumbalow, who has a vision for the city, which if successfully implemented will upgrade the image of Forsyth’s county seat to one he assures will attract commerce and provide an increasingly pleasing streetscape.  Best of luck with those efforts.  The Cumming voters have chosen change, and they will likely get it. I would also like to credit outgoing Mayor Gravitt for the good things he has done for Cumming for the past decades serving as its leader.  It was Mayor Gravitt, not the Forsyth County Commission, who years ago took the initiative and pursued the rights to draw water from Lake Lanier.  It was Mayor Gravitt who upgraded the City of Cumming water plant capacities to provide water for not only the city, but also the entire county....

In an open letter published on a local Facebook page, Republican candidate for the Georgia House from the 26th District, Tina Trent, wrote of her “disappointment,” accusing people in the Forsyth County Republican Party of “hypothesizing wildly,” and “misrepresenting…[her] record.”  She expressed additional “disappointment in the behavior of several people at the Forsyth GOP meetings.”  She accused the GOP presiding officer of inappropriately permitting her Republican opponent to “blurt out campaign ‘folderol’ (her word) prior to [her] scheduled presentation.”  She accused the people at the Forsyth GOP of a “willful, orchestrated decision to not learn more about [her].”  She accused them of “insincerity” and “whining.”  She accused the GOP Executive Committee of treating her “inhospitably.” Finally, she accused her Republican opponent Marc Morris of trying to take over her time to speak, and in the process chided the GOP president for offering no intervention. ...

Did you hear General Kelly’s remarks during last Thursday’s White House briefing?   That afternoon, Trump’s Chief of Staff took to the podium to address political statements made by US Representative Frederica Wilson, a Democrat from Florida, who by all accounts, sat quietly, listening in on Trump’s call to a Gold Star wife whose husband was recently killed in Niger. General Kelly and Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla) According to Rep. Wilson, President Trump’s efforts to console the grieving wife were “insensitive, unsympathetic and disgraceful.” Since then, two other Gold Star wives have published recordings of calls from President Trump after their husbands were killed in action, however each expressed gratitude that their president would take the time to call, and were comforted by the president’s concern. General Kelly spoke from the unique perspective of a Marine General who has ordered sons of other parents into battle to be killed, but also as one who...