ATLANTA --- Democratic nominee Darryl Hicks cites his 20 years experience working for a large corporation as among his qualifications for labor commissioner, and part of that experience included laying off hundreds of workers.
As he recounts the discomfort of having to deliver the bad news, he uses it as an example of how the Department of Labor can do things better. He promises to improve the coordination between companies about to let workers go and those needing to hire by asking for more detailed information about where skills overlap before layoffs take effect.
"What I'm trying to do is create a conduit for relationships," he said. "I'm not trying to force (employers) into anything."
Republican Mark Butler also wants closer cooperation with employers.
"We're going to have start working with our educational system, working with the private sector ... that says 'We've got jobs, but we're not getting qualified employees to come in that were being sent by the Department of Labor,'" he said in a debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club Oct. 17.
The two are joined on the ballot by Libertarian Will Costa.
The trio is competing to replace Mike Thurmond, who is leaving after 12 years to run for the U.S. Senate. The winner becomes the next labor commissioner and will deal with a state unemployment rate stuck for months at 10 percent, higher than the U.S. average, and a depleted fund for unemployment-insurance benefits that is surviving on loans from the federal government.
None of the candidates is proposing costly initiatives, vowing instead to find ways to improve in the department's existing budget of state and federal funds.
"I just fundamentally believe as an accountant, if you have a half-billion-dollar program, you can find the money," Hicks said.
Butler makes the same claim. He points to his experience writing the department's budget as a vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
Besides general promises of closer cooperation with the schools and technical colleges, Butler's most specific proposal is to institute drug test for anyone seeking benefits and to use government databases to find and purge illegal aliens from private payrolls.
Hicks ventures out with a few more programs, such as job fairs for small companies and regional advisory panels.
One idea would create unpaid apprenticeships for high school students to get on-the-job training with local employers. He doesn't know if the federal wage-and-hour laws would prohibit it, saying "that's a question for the legal system."
During their debate, Butler and Hicks took turns tossing accusations at one another.
Hicks alleged that Butler threatened to use his position on the Appropriations Committee to strip funding from a college that fired his girlfriend who had been a lobbyist. Butler denied it.
For his part, Butler said Hicks failed to file required campaign-finance documents with the State Ethics Commission seven times and still hadn't paid some fines going back to his failed run for secretary of state in 2006. Hicks said it's not that simple.
In the end, the candidates focus mostly on their professional experience.
After Hicks gave up lobbying for ALG Resources to run in 2006, he became the chief of staff to the chairman of the Fulton County Commission. So, he argues he has the corporate and government experience needed to run a department of 4,000 employees.
Butler says he'll draw from his career in his family's Carrollton real-estate appraisal business to understand the concerns of small businesses.
Government doesn't create jobs. All they can do it create an environment conducive to creating jobs - low taxes, minimal regulations, fiscally responsible spending, etc.
Chillen, vote Will Costa, who owns a pasta factory in GA and actually creates jobs.
A warning of what Senator Harry Reid has in store for us, if he is reelected? An AMNESTY--for 13 to 20 million illegal aliens, with a price tag of 2.6 Trillion dollars to process each individual and subsidize their welfare programs, according to the Heritage Foundation. They send approximately $60 billion annually out of the country to their families, plus an estimate $113 billion dollars at the local level of government for public benefits. Harry Reid voted to continuously fund Sanctuary cities and States, so did Senator Barbara Boxer of California. Harry Reid and the majority of democrats crashed American-English as the recognized language of this country, and voted for illegal aliens to participate in our wilting Social Security System. Senator Reid, Boxer and the largest proportion of Lib-Democrats voted equally, to what top Democrats wanted every time. This is sheer madness when his Nevada has the largest proportion of jobless Americans, the highest rate of bankruptcies and home foreclosures. Another fact is that Reid voted yes, to continue public entitlements, including unemployment benefits to foreign nationals.
He must have turned senile when he states that there are no illegal aliens in Nevada, which is currently slipping into insolvency. In the last ten years Dem-Libs have failed to complete the real paired fence along the length of the border with Mexico, but sued Arizona for trying to defend its citizens from overflow of monetary illegal aliens, criminals and even foreign grown terrorists. Senator Reid, along with Barbara Boxer challenged E-Verify, the local policing law 287 (G) yet pushing to award tuition to children of illegal aliens for a college and state universities education, when American students cannot even afford the escalating fees. GOOGLE--"On the issues" website, and then decide your voting preference. In addition GOOGLE—illegal alien costs. I'm a Tea Party Blogger, Independent voter and will be watchful of organizations canvassers’ similar to ACORN, which registered illegal aliens to vote, as well as deceased people and even fictitious people living in vacant lots. GOOGLE--Voter fraud, it's a crime against US citizens and naturalized Americans and as a federal offense is a prison conviction. Incidentally Tea Party people do not genuflect to either party and are strongly opposed to either ideologies.
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