Casey Cagle, Always True to His Principles

Last week, supporters of gubernatorial candidate Casey Cagle had the opportunity to learn a hard truth.  That truth is that their candidate for Georgia’s highest elected office readily promotes “bad policy” if it works to his political advantage.  You see, last week was when a concealed recording went viral in which Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor and odds-on favorite for governor, bragged about promoting and passing, “bad policy,” for what he termed, “politics.”  According to the audio, Cagle pushed an education bill, which he admitted was bad “in a thousand different ways,” because in his words, “There’s a group that was getting ready to put $3 million behind Hunter Hill.”  Had fellow candidate Hill received those funds, Cagle reasoned that the eventual 3rd place finisher could have made the recent Republican primary much closer.

Casey Cagle explaining his recorded admissions

Now is anyone really shocked hearing Cagle’s candid remarks?  They shouldn’t be.  Putting politics before public interest is just the way things are done under the Georgia dome.  Thinking back, with the exception of the state income tax-cut practically forced on Georgia legislative powers by Trump’s federal tax-cuts, when is the last time anyone can recall some truly meaningful, public-minded legislation coming out of the Georgia General Assembly?  Thinking…thinking…Well, even if you can think of something you might like, you must admit, most significant legislation that passes into law does so not for Georgians’ benefit.  Most major legislation becoming Georgia law does so because private beneficiaries, with big dollars for campaign donations, push for passage.  Those in positions of power such as committee chairs, House Speaker and Lieutenant Governor, generally occupy those positions because powerful corporate interests put them there.  Again, you should not be shocked.  Remember, we’re talking about a swamp here.

There are two primary corporate gatekeepers who run the Georgia General Assembly.  Any legislation that passes, does so only because those individuals allow it.  Those two officials are the Speaker who runs the House of Representatives and the Lieutenant Governor who runs the Senate.  Casey Cagle has been LG for the past ten years.  Any legislation becoming law over that time, did so because Cagle opened the gate and allowed it through.  And Cagle just bragged to the entire world that he will promote bad legislation for the sake of “politics.”  What other bad legislation might Cagle have let through? Let’s look at three egregious examples.

Remember, Casey Cagle has staked his campaign on improving education in Georgia.  He says education is “his passion.”  But ask yourself, what happened in Georgia, over the decade of Cagle’s tenure as LG, regarding education?  Of course, the answer is Common Core.  So, what does that have to do with Casey Cagle?  That was a decision by the Georgia BOE, right?  Well, no.  Remember, over the last decade, nothing passed the Georgia Senate without Cagle’s approval.  And during that time, Common Core became cemented into law in Georgia.  Oh, you don’t remember that?  That is because Cagle and others pushing Common Core understood that a bill with such a title could never pass.  And so, cleverly, they divided Common Core into bitesize legislative components, each of them proposing various aspects of the Common Core standards, while never using that term, and passed them into law.  And all that happened while unsuspecting Georgians sat scratching their heads wondering how education standards so universally reviled could ever have taken over their schools.  Now ask yourself, with so much public uproar against Common Core, why would Casey Cagle allow Common Core to become law?  The answer is once again, “politics.”  There are corporate beneficiaries behind Common Core.  And they are the interests Casey Cagle listens to, not the people of Georgia.  See a pattern here?

In 2015, Governor Deal’s signature legislation, SB59, which passed gatekeeper Casey Cagle’s scrutiny, was the “Partnership for Public Facilities and Infrastructure Act, legalizing Public-Private Partnerships, or “PPP’s,” in Georgia.  This law opened the door for projects to be built for political purposes and sweetheart contracts, the state partnering with business entities the actual owners of which can never be determined.  Nothing in this law even prevents elected officials themselves from owning private partnering entities selected to participate in no-bid, PPP contracts.  And under this law, each year during the May and June, “private entities” can tender “unsolicited proposals” for the consideration of a “Responsible Public Entity,” perhaps a local government official, or perhaps the governor-appointed and controlled State Properties Commission.  Only the most naïve among us would not immediately recognize the potential conflicts of interest and opportunities for corruption these provisions allow.

And in 2017, SB183 applied the PPP concept, allowing public funds to finance private toll roads and lanes, the private partnering entities, owned anonymously, allowed to receive toll revenues essentially forever.  PPP’s are the brainchild of the United Nations under its Agenda 2030 initiative.  Ostensibly pushed as an alternative method for financing and operating public infrastructure projects, in reality PPP’s are just new ways for politically-connected private parties to receive benefit from the expenditure of public funds.

Now I am not endorsing any candidate here.  I’m merely following up on recent news concerning the public record of the newsmaker, Casey Cagle.  And his list of questionable legislative achievements could go on for quite an article.  But my point is that, Casey Cagle’s record demonstrates that there is always seems to be private beneficiaries to legislation he seeks to pass into law.  In the case last week, the beneficiary was Cagle himself.