Sonny Perdue, Governor of Georgia, has conned the voters of Georgia and particularly the voters of Houston county one more time. Every person who thought they were voting for a man who would be loyal to the people and had their best interests at heart and truly wanted the people to participate in their government have been conned big time. The real Sonny Perdue’s loyalty has always been given first,last, and only to his political party so that they could maintain control over the people they were supposed to represent. Perdue was a loyal storm trooper for the Democrats for many years and was one of their leaders who made sure that the people never got to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment that would have given the people the right to Voter Initative and Referendum if it passed.

Voter Initiative is the process of citizens proposing laws or constitutional amendments, by petition, for a statewide vote. Voter Referendum is a similar process which allows voters to change or repeal legislation passed by the General Assembly. We want it and we need it because true political reform and the much needed citizen participation in our government will not be possible without it. Twenty eight states have Voter Initiative and/or Voter Referendum now. Polls have shown that the people overwhelmingly support Voter Initiative legislation. If that is true, why don’t Georgians have Voter Initiative?

Here is the answer. For Voter Initiative to become law, it must first be put on the ballot as a proposed Constitutional Amendment and the citizens must pass it by a majority vote. However, before it can be put on the ballot for people to vote on, a Voter Initiative Resolution must pass the Georgia House and Senate by a two-thirds majority vote. There is the problem. Over the past few years, many Voter Initiative Resolutions have been bottled up in committees in the House and Senate that were controlled by the Democrats. This made sure that the people of Georgia would never have the right to Voter Initiative, State Senator Sonny Perdue and Houston County Representatives Larry Walker and Sonny Watson and others helped make sure that the people of Houston County and the state of Georgia would never have the right to participate in our state government.

Sonny Perdue campaigned on the idea that he wanted to make it possible for the people to be” more involved “ in their government. That was an out and out deliberate LIE from the beginning. All of these people were dedicated to making sure that they always had their feet on the necks of the people they were supposed to represent. They consider themselves your masters, not your representatives. As long as we elect people of this kind, we will never have a government we can trust and respect. Roy “The Rat” Barnes is one of this kind. In a later edition of The Houston County Truth, we will discuss how Sonny and Roy worked together to stick it to the people of Georgia by scheming to invade the privacy of the people by passing a law to require the people to give their fingerprints when they apply for a driver’s license. Can anyone see a national ID card coming? Stay tuned for the actions of the “bottom feeders” in the fingerprint scam. If the voters of Georgia had been given the chance to vote on acquiring the right of Voter Initiative and Referendum in 1996, I am convinced that we would have the right to Voter Initiative today. If we had Voter initiative and Referendum, the citizens could write laws to be put on the ballot for a vote by circulating a petition and getting the required amount of signatures of registered voters. The laws would have to be constitutional and would be submitted to the legislative research and drafting offices of the general assembly for review and comment.

A Referendum could be put on the ballot pertaining to any act or item, section or part of any act of the general assembly by a petition signed by the required amount of voters. A binding referendum could be held to settle the flag dispute by a vote of the people. A referendum could also be held to remove the insulting requirement for people to give their fingerprints to get a driver’s license. These are just two examples of what the people could get to vote on if we had Voter Initiative and Referendum. I know that Perdue was determined that the people would never have any say in our government.

Can we expect our most recently elected Houston County legislators to conduct themselves with honor and integrity or will they jump right in the pool of corruption and dishonesty that awaited them in the General Assembly and be overcome by the stench? Will they start to lie and make excuses for their lies when they are caught? Will they work to open up our government so that it will be easier for citizens to have access to public records? It doesn’t look good for the citizens.

Houston County Representative Larry O’neal has already broken his pledge that he would not support a tax increase. He didn’t last long. He said that he didn’t make the pledge until after the election. I don’t know what that has to do with breaking your word. Larry is Sonny’s floor leader in the House. That means you do what Sonny tells you instead of having integrity and honoring your word and working for the people. Larry is also a lawyer so he thinks he has a right to lie. Now you understand what has happened. Larry has gone skinny dipping in the pool of corruption in the General Assembly.

Newly elected State Senator Ross Tolleson has gone with Larry. Tolleson is a Republican from Perry and represents the 18th District. Tolleson says that he and Senator Brian Kemp of Athens have authored a bill that deals with homeland security. What Tolleson doesn’t tell you is that the real purpose of the bill is to deny citizens access to public documents that they have a right to see. He tries to coverup his deceit by saying that he is trying to do something for the security of our country. That is insulting to our military people stationed around the world and fighting in Iraq. They are the ones defending us while Tolleson and his ilk are scheming to remove some rights from them while they are gone. These people are really “bottom feeders”. We can’t let them get away with it. This bill number is Senate Bill 113. Yes, I have read it. I got it off the internet at the Georgia Legislature web site: http://www.legis.state.ga.us/. Click on “Legislation” under 2003-2004 Legislative Session. Will Sonny sign Senate Bill 113 into law if it passes? Probably.

Go to my web site at: http://www.houstoncountytruth.org to read about Sonny and his gang committing election fraud and covering it up in 1996. His gang includes “Judges”, County Commissioners, Board of Education, District Attorney, etc.. Send comments to:PO Box 9035, Warner Robins, Ga. 31095 or email<editor@houstoncountytruth.org> Fax:478-328-1913