The Fulton County Republican Party is pleased to announce the appointment of Rob Kaufman as its General Counsel.

“Rob is a top tier attorney, ready to handle all the issues we’re going to send his way,” said Shawn Hanley, Fulton County Republican Party Chairman. “We’re very thankful for his continued support of the Fulton County GOP.”

“I am honored that the Fulton County GOP has selected my firm as its General Counsel,” said Rob Kaufman. “We look forward to serving and stand ready to assist in any way we can.”

About Robert J. Kaufman

Robert J. Kaufman is the founding member of Kaufman, Miller & Sivertsen, P.C. and has practiced extensively in many areas of litigation, having tried business disputes, trusts and estates litigation, securities litigation, employment disputes including non-competes, domestic relations, intellectual property, injunctions, breach of contract, quasi-contract and tort suits. Mr. Kaufman and his law firm also serve as corporate counsel handling a full range of corporate law matters for numerous companies in Georgia and throughout the United States. Mr. Kaufman has tried cases throughout Georgia and in many parts of the U.S. and has appeared at the trial as well as the appellate level. Mr. Kaufman has obtained several verdicts, judgments and settlements in excess of one million dollars, and has successfully defended individuals and corporations against multi-million dollar lawsuits.

Strategic Vision, LLC, a public relations and public affairs agency, announced the results of a three-day poll of 800 likely Georgia voters:

If the Republican primary for Governor were held today, for whom would you vote, Nathan Deal, Karen Handel, Eric Johnson, Ray McBerry, John Oxendine, or Austin Scott? (Republicans Only)

Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine 38%
Congressman Nathan Deal 16%
Secretary of State Karen Handel 9%
State Senator Eric Johnson 5%
Ray McBerry 3%
State Representative Austin Scott 2%
Undecided 27%

“Oxendine continues to lead in this race and saw his support grow over the past month and now hovers right near the 50% mark,” said David E. Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision, LLC. “He is drawing strong support among women aged 45 to 55 and among college educated professionals and is showing strong support in the Atlanta suburbs. Additionally, he is very competitive in the strongholds of his key competitors. Also encouraging for Oxendine is that he appears to be the second choice of Deal, Johnson, and Scott supporters.”

In an email to supporters, Team Oxendine said these numbers speak for themselves:

(1) John has a more than two one lead over his closest opponent.

(2) When you combine the numbers of his two closest opponents, he has more than a 10 point lead over their combined numbers.

(3) John leads all other candidates when you combine their totals.

(4) John is the only candidate to lead the undecided category.
“With Roy Barnes in this campaign, Georgia Republi cans understand we must nominate the strongest candidate to run in the general election,” said Tim Echols, campaign manager for Oxendine. “John Oxendine is that candidate.”

The poll has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. In the poll, 368 (46%) Republican voters were surveyed; with 328 (41%) Democratic voters surveyed; and 104 (13%) Independents and other party affiliation polled.

“John is humbled by these results and he will continue to work very hard to earn the trust and support of Georgia,” said Echols. “We have a lot at stake in this election and Republicans cannot afford to lose.”

Georgia Representative Earl Ehrhart received the American Legislative Exchange Council’s National Leadership Award for Limited Government and Free Enterprise at its Annual Meeting in Atlanta on Thursday, July 16. Rep. Ehrhart was nominated for this prestigious award by fellow state legislators from across the nation for his steadfast support of the principles of limited government and free enterprise.

Former U.S. Senator and Georgia Governor Zell Miller, Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and many other notable policy leaders addressed an audience of nearly 1,600 state legislators and business leaders at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s 36th Annual Meeting held July 15 to 18 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

“The annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council provides a unique opportunity for legislators from all 50 states to come together to discuss policy solutions collectively along with public-policy experts and the private sector,” said Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Bill Howell, ALEC’s 2009 National Chairman. “ALEC’s process of producing principled model legislation is unparalleled among its type,” he added.

Other notable speakers included: Dr. Art Laffer and Stephen Moore, co-authors of ALEC’s Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index; syndicated radio host Herman Cain; and Daniel Hannan (MEP).

Featured workshops included:

Medical Innovation
Higher Education
Energy and Economic Recovery
Virtual Learning
Transparency in the States
E-Discovery
The Politics of Climate Change
Saving America’s Election System

Most of the business conducted at ALEC occurs in one of its nine Task Forces which include; Health and Human Services; Natural Resources; Education; Tax and Fiscal Policy; Public Safety and Elections; Civil Justice; Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development; Telecommunications and Information Technology; and International Relations. These Task Forces have considered, written, and approved hundreds of model bills, offering real policy solutions for states on a wide range of issues. Each year, state legislatures consider close to 1,000 bills that are based, at least in part, on ALEC Model Legislation. Hundreds of these bills are enacted every year.

Bill Named for Georgia Child Who Remains Semi-Comatose After Day Care Accident Eight Years Ago

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., both members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, today introduced legislation that would require child care providers to disclose whether they have liability insurance.


The legislation was prompted by the story of Anthony DeJuan Boatwright, also known as Juan. In 2001, when he was 14 months old, Juan fell into an unattended bucket of mop water at his child care center in Augusta, Ga. As a result of the accident, Juan has remained semi-comatose and dependent on a ventilator for the past eight years. The center where Juan was injured was licensed, but not insured. At the time, there was no provision in place to let parents know the insurance status of child care providers.


“I hope the Senate will quickly pass this straight-forward, bipartisan legislation to simultaneously honor young Juan and provide parents with much-needed information about child care facilities,” Isakson said. “Juan’s mother Jackie deserves considerable credit for her efforts to ensure all parents know whether or not their child care provider is insured.”


“As the father of two young daughters, I understand the need for parents to be well informed when making decisions about child care,” said Dodd. “This bill will help to protect children and give parents peace of mind. I’m proud to support this important legislation, and look forward to future opportunities to improve the quality of and access to child care in this country for children, families, and providers.”

Specfically, the Anthony DeJuan Boatwright Act would require child care providers that receive Child Care and Development Block Grant funds to disclose whether or not they carry liability insurance for the operation of their facility. The bill also would require that states recommend such coverage in their licensure process.

Senators Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Roland Burris, D-Ill., also are co-sponsors of the bill. A companion bill passed in the House of Representatives on June 2, 2009.

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today voted against a flawed health care reform plan that will cost more than $1 trillion, will put the federal government in an unfair competition with private health insurers and managed care providers and will place a massive financial burden on Georgia and other states to pay for a proposed expansion of Medicaid.


The health care reform legislation, which was crafted by Senate Democrats, was approved in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by a 13 to 10 vote.


“I agree we must look for solutions to alleviate the financial burden of health care and find ways to provide affordable health care to individuals who lack access to insurance,” Isakson said. “However, this bill will not do any of those things. It will only drive up the cost of health care and decrease patient choice. I cannot support legislation that will put a government bureaucrat between a patient and his doctor.”

Isakson believes that a government-run plan included in the bill will decrease choice and quality, because it would be difficult for private entities to compete with the government that regulates them and taxes them and that is exempt from having to pay taxes. Isakson also opposes a mandate in the legislation that would require employers with more than 25 workers provide insurance or pay a penalty, because he believes it will force many small businesses to eliminate jobs.

With a likely cost of more than $1 trillion, Isakson voiced disappointment that the Committee rejected several amendments designed to reduce frivolous medical lawsuits, which drive up costs and force doctors to order wasteful tests and treatments to cover liabilities.

Isakson also criticized the proposed expansion of Medicaid, which would allow individuals who earn up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for full Medicaid benefits. Currently, Medicaid is available only to those who earn up to 100 percent of the poverty level, meaning that the Democrats’ plan represents a 50 percent increase in Medicaid. When Medicaid was originally created in 1968, Georgia’s total Medicaid spending was nearly $7.7 million, or 1 percent of all state spending. In 2008, Georgia’s total Medicaid spending was over $2.4 billion, or 12 percent of all state spending. This proposal would cost Georgia and other states billions of additional dollars to meet the 50 percent increase for their required share of Medicaid costs.


Isakson is a co-sponsor of S.1099, Patients’ Choice Act of 2009, which seeks to strengthen the relationship between the patient and the doctor by using choice and competition, rather than rationing and restrictions, to contain costs and ensure affordable health care for all Americans.

By Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine


As State Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner, the safety and protection of our citizens is my job. That is what Georgians elected me to do. That is why I cannot be silent about the government takeover of healthcare that the U.S. House of Representatives is proposing this week. If your mental smoke alarm has batteries, it should be going off now.


First, a government takeover of anything usually results in higher prices and poorer service. Think about what has happened to our schools with the price-per-pupil continuing to rise and test scores staying flat or only inching up. The unions, such as the National Education Association, have resisted educational choice with every fiber in their being. They have used dues from hard-working Georgia teachers to lobby against even the most basic educational choice. Obama’s so called “public-option” is nothing more than the first step of government takeover.


The government acquisition of General Motors may save the Camaro and the Corvette, but may give the new company such an unfair financial advantage that it drives Ford Motor Company to the brink of bankruptcy. This kind of meddling in the private sector was certainly not a mandate from any voter back in November. And if the members of Congress aren’t careful, they are going to allow the president to do the same thing to the healthcare network in America.


Second, destroying the private sector in healthcare would substitute bureaucratic planning and control for competition and consumer choice. I realize that the word “destroying” sounds pretty strong. But when you are able to undercut the private healthcare market, and then add a trillion dollars of new taxes to pay for it, the result will be companies going out of business. And, all the while, workers likely will be forced into the government-sponsored plan simply because it is less costly for employers, even though the care may be inferior. In a word, a monopoly is created. And when that monopoly can decide whether you live or die, it is too powerful.


How did a country built on the entrepreneurial spirit ever get to a point where we take glee in seeing the freemarket punished and forced into bankruptcy? This is not the kind of leadership we need in Washington, Atlanta-or Moscow for that matter.

Third, as the government-run healthcare plan gobbles up business, there would be no incentive to improve quality or increase efficiency, but instead we’ll see eventual efforts to control costs by restricting access and choice-such as happens now in England and Canada. When the good people of Georgia have to wait months or years for surgery or specialized medical care, we’ll know the house is on fire. Access and Choice will decrease-not increase.


The societal engineers who want to tear down the private sector in health insurance don’t want to be honest about the “uninsured” statistics either. They pad the numbers with illegal aliens, with young people who choose not to be insured (because they often think they are invincible), and with people in transition between jobs. So, before we take such drastic action, let’s do more to encourage the non-profit clinics out there providing a medical home to the uninsured-clinics such as the Good Samaritan Health Center in Atlanta and the Athens Neighborhood Health Center.


Fourth, have you ever thought that if government can’t afford to finance existing programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, then providing health care for all our citizens might really be tricky? We must wake up and smell the smoke before it’s too late.


I travel the state frequently and often tout the importance of changing the batteries in smoke detectors and testing the equipment at least once per year. Fellow citizens, the detector in all our brains is beeping incessantly trying to warn us of a disaster that awaits if we allow this takeover. Yet, our smooth talking president and his big-government allies in the U.S. Congress are telling us it is a false alarm and urging everyone to return to business as usual. This is a mistake, and as a statewide-elected official in Georgia, I must urge you to tell your Congressman to vacate this hasty plan and return to sanity.


Finally, let’s think about the future. Do you possibly want to saddle your children, your nieces and nephews, and even your grandchildren with trillions of future tax payments when we can’t pay the debt we already have?


The house is on fire-but the fire can be put out. Call the White House and the U.S. House of Representatives today and tell them to back away from this ill-considered government takeover of healthcare. Urge them to delay this rushed effort to socialize the best medical system in the world.


John Oxendine is the State Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner and can be reached at john@johnoxendine.com

John Albers, a Republican candidate for State Senate District 56, filed his June 30 campaign contribution disclosure today showing $100,989.85 in contributions since entering the race less than 2 months ago.

The campaign also announced it has over 200 grassroots leaders signed up to help with campaign activities.

Said Albers, “The amount of support we have received since entering this race has been overwhelming and truly humbling. Families all across north Fulton County are responding to our message of serving our families and delivering on needed reforms. They’re rejecting the politics of personal agendas and special interests. It shows in our fundraising success so far. It shows in the hundreds of people volunteering for our campaign. It shows in the events and activities we already have scheduled for the fall and beyond.”

“Our grassroots efforts will begin very soon, and I look forward to sharing our message of true public service with every family in north Fulton County. I am personally committed to raising the money needed and devoting the time and effort needed to win this race. What’s at stake for our region and our families is too important.”

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U.S. Rep. Tom Price

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel

Sen. Eric Johnson

Ray McBerry

Georgia Insurance Commission John Oxendine

Rep. Austin Scott, R-153

Brian Kemp, running for Secretary of State

Doug MacGinnitie, running for Secretary of State

Rep. Ralph Hudgens, R-24, running for Insurance Commissioner

Stephen Northington, running for Insurance Commissioner

Gerry Purcell, running for Insurance Commissioner

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Rep. Judy Manning R-32, walking in the Marietta 4th of July Parade

Cobb Republican Party float

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel

Sen. Eric Johnson, R-1

Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens

Wouldn’t it be great if Israel just kept her, ridding the U.S. of Cynthia McKinney’s insanity?

Cynthia McKinney Remains Imprisoned in Israel After Gaza-Bound Boat Is Seized