The AP loves a slanted "report". The point remains that if Deal were running as as Dem, the AP would find no ethics violations. The "ghetto grandmothers" comment fails to mention that most of them are grandmothers at 30.
ATLANTA --- Nathan Deal, a Republican congressman and candidate for governor, has ended a business arrangement with the state of Georgia that earned his company about $300,000 a year.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that state records show Mr. Deal and his business partner Ken Cronan have chosen not to apply to inspect rebuilt salvaged vehicles for the Department of Revenue. The two run Recovery Services Inc., also known as Gainesville Salvage Disposal. The company has provided equipment and locations for state inspectors to examine salvaged vehicles.
The Journal-Constitution reported that Mr. Deal's company earned about $300,000 a year from the agreement that lasted nearly 20 years.
Deal campaign spokesman Harris Blackwood confirmed Wednesday that the company had not applied to do inspections but said it was "absolutely not" a result of the newspaper's reports or a subsequent ethics complaint filed against Mr. Deal. Mr. Blackwood referred additional questions to Mr. Cronan, the company president, who said Wednesday the company decided not to apply because it was concerned about safety standards under new rules that entered into effect last month.
"This was more than a business decision, it was a moral decision," Mr. Cronan said in a statement.
State Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham has for years tried to expand the system by implementing competitive bidding or privatization. He has said the current system supports what are essentially regional monopolies.
The Journal-Constitution had reported in August that Mr. Deal personally influenced state leaders to save the state program that essentially gave his company a regional monopoly. Mr. Deal met with Mr. Graham three times over the last year-and-a-half to question changes to the program that Mr. Graham had proposed, the newspaper reported.
Mr. Deal's chief of staff used his government e-mail account to contact Revenue Department staff to talk about the plans and set meetings between Mr. Deal and officials, including Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the newspaper reported.
A government watchdog organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed an ethics complaint against him with the U.S. House. That complaint is pending.
APOLOGY ISSUED FOR 'GHETTO GRANDMOTHERS' COMMENT
ATLANTA --- U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal has apologized for using the term "ghetto grandmothers" during a campaign stop.
The GOP candidate for governor apologized Tuesday for using the phrase during a speech to the Cherokee County Republican Party on Saturday. He said he regretted his choice of words and "in no way meant to offend anyone."
Mr. Deal was talking about his attempts to pass legislation requiring citizenship verification. According to the recording, he said: "We got all the complaints of ghetto grandmothers who didn't have birth certificates and all that."
Videotapes of the speech were shared with reporters by two of his Republican opponents. Mr. Deal urged his opponents "to put down their video cameras and stop taking my words out of context."
Comments
The AP loves a slanted "report". The point remains that if Deal were running as as Dem, the AP would find no ethics violations. The "ghetto grandmothers" comment fails to mention that most of them are grandmothers at 30.
How many 30 yr old grandmothers do you know about whipping post?
dozens, concernednative. Never been to the projects?
truth hurts......
True enough, justus. This slanted article aside, it seems most politicians get into politics to aid their personal income. I wonder how long this attitude has existed.
Whippimgpost will find no problem with this felon receiving a sweet deal of getting 300K a year for esentially no effort, but lord help us if a woman with 3 kids is getting 4 - 5 hundred a month to live on. That is the Compasionate CONservative in him oozing forth.
His first mistake was making such a racial statement. The second mistake was the AJC geeting their paws on it. Howevedr, I really do not see where any amount of apologizing will help him in this situation. He should withdraw from the governor's race and fade back into the woodworks. That is the only way he will recover from this. And, yes, I am a Republican, but I prefer to be represented by someone who has a little moral integrity and does not make vague racial slurs. I am also white.
True enough, justus. This slanted article aside, it seems most politicians get into politics to aid their personal income. I wonder how long this attitude has existed.
Posted by WhippingPost on Thu Oct 8, 2009 8:14 AM....I'm still trying to figure out how Charlie Rangel can afford resort type property in the Bahamas as well as D.C. and N.Y properties on a Congressman's salary. Oh, I forgot, his wife supplements his income with her bribes on the city council.
Whippimgpost will find no problem with this felon receiving a sweet deal of getting 300K a year for esentially no effort, but lord help us if a woman with 3 kids is getting 4 - 5 hundred a month to live on. That is the Compasionate CONservative in him oozing forth.
Posted by disssman on Thu Oct 8, 2009 11:08 AM....This guy runs a legit business. The woman with five kids should have known better if she couldn't afford them.
Whipping post you are a liar. I would love to see these dozens of 30year old Grandmothers.You must be confusing the projects with the trailer parks?
Many poor foreign-born people don't have birth certificates. And yes, it is not unusual for those women to become grandmothers in their 30's. Have a baby as a teen, your child becomes a parent as a teen= grandparents in their 30's. My youngest grandmother that I ever met was 29.
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