Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor did a good job in his Response to the Gov.'s "State of the State" address Wedn. night. - His remarks.
The following is the text of remarks delivered last night by Lt. Governor Mark Taylor in response to the Governor's "State of the State" address.
Good evening.
I think the State of the State Address ought to be about you.
The address should really be about your state, the state of your lives, the state of your families, the state of your communities.
We should focus on what is happening with your families, not what is happening with state government.
That is the difference between Georgia Democrats and the current administration.
Gov. Perdue says state government is doing better . . . there's a lot more money to spend this year. And hopefully, we have seen the worst of the awful recession that has hurt us all.
But what is the state of your family?
The facts are clear: things have been tight for you. The pay days aren't keeping up with the pay bills.
Health care and drug costs are eating away your pocketbook, and even crippling your small businesses.
You're worried about caring for your aging parents.
And what about the kids, their health, their schools?
Higher education costs are soaring and you wonder: can I afford to send my children to college?
And unlike the old days, when our parents worked for the same company their entire lives, you're worried about your jobs . . . there is no such thing as job security anymore, for anyone.
In the last two years, state government hasn't helped much. This administration cut our schools by more than half a billion dollars . . . half a billion dollars . . . cuts that make it harder to raise standards and reduce class size . . . cuts that hurt your kids, their learning, their progress, their opportunities.
Our college and university budgets: slashed.
State government cut health care for our seniors ... nursing homes for our seniors . . . and there is no end in sight.
Law enforcement is under funded and understaffed.
Our teachers go without adequate pay raises.
Now this administration will say it's all about money . . . that the recession hurt tax collections, and there's not enough money to fund everything.
But folks, our problems are not caused by a lack of money, they are caused by a lack of vision, a lack of priorities, a lack of leadership.
It is these times, when we have the least revenues, that we need the most leadership.
Leadership sets priorities and it is time that you and your family became our priority again.
When you prioritize, two things become clear: what you must do, and what you must not do. What is the right thing and what is the wrong thing to do.
It is wrong to cut our schools by half a billion dollars . . . anytime.
It is wrong to cut health care for our kids and for our seniors . . . anytime.
It is wrong to teach children in overcrowded classrooms . . . anytime.
And it is absolutely wrong to fund pork projects for pet politicians while you cut schools, cut seniors, cut health care. It is wrong every time.
Likewise, priorities tell us clearly what we must do.
Provide every family, every child and every senior with access to quality, affordable health care.
Insure that every Georgia family lives in safe neighborhoods and our children go to safe schools.
Create new jobs, with new futures, in every town and city in Georgia.
Insure that our seniors live their lives with the dignity they have earned.
Hold our public officials accountable with tough new ethics laws.
Make education this state's top priority, and that means our teachers, too.
Continue to remove the financial barriers to higher education.
Reduce the number of schoolchildren in each classroom. Study after study tells us what Georgia common sense already knows: learning improves in classrooms with fewer students.
There are those who say we cannot afford to do this. I say that we cannot afford not to.
This is the promise of Georgia and these are the priorities of Georgia Democrats. These are priorities, not for this year, but for a lifetime.
After all, it was Georgia Democrats who created the HOPE Scholarship, 5-year-old kindergarten, Peachcare, welfare reform and the toughest crime laws in the nation.
To our Republican colleagues we say: Let us work together to make these priorities a reality for Georgia families.
And I make a personal pledge to you: I will fight anyone, Republican or Democrat, who tries to cut education, hurt our seniors, raise our taxes, or jeopardize our safety.
Right now Georgia is in limbo, trapped between the Georgia That Was and the Georgia That Should Be.
In the 1990s, the Georgia That Was, we saw the creation of the HOPE Scholarship and Pre-k, our higher education system joined the ranks of the best, our teacher pay jumped to the highest levels in the South.
And while we did all that, we cut taxes by more than $1 billion.
Good evening.
I think the State of the State Address ought to be about you.
The address should really be about your state, the state of your lives, the state of your families, the state of your communities.
We should focus on what is happening with your families, not what is happening with state government.
That is the difference between Georgia Democrats and the current administration.
Gov. Perdue says state government is doing better . . . there's a lot more money to spend this year. And hopefully, we have seen the worst of the awful recession that has hurt us all.
But what is the state of your family?
The facts are clear: things have been tight for you. The pay days aren't keeping up with the pay bills.
Health care and drug costs are eating away your pocketbook, and even crippling your small businesses.
You're worried about caring for your aging parents.
And what about the kids, their health, their schools?
Higher education costs are soaring and you wonder: can I afford to send my children to college?
And unlike the old days, when our parents worked for the same company their entire lives, you're worried about your jobs . . . there is no such thing as job security anymore, for anyone.
In the last two years, state government hasn't helped much. This administration cut our schools by more than half a billion dollars . . . half a billion dollars . . . cuts that make it harder to raise standards and reduce class size . . . cuts that hurt your kids, their learning, their progress, their opportunities.
Our college and university budgets: slashed.
State government cut health care for our seniors ... nursing homes for our seniors . . . and there is no end in sight.
Law enforcement is under funded and understaffed.
Our teachers go without adequate pay raises.
Now this administration will say it's all about money . . . that the recession hurt tax collections, and there's not enough money to fund everything.
But folks, our problems are not caused by a lack of money, they are caused by a lack of vision, a lack of priorities, a lack of leadership.
It is these times, when we have the least revenues, that we need the most leadership.
Leadership sets priorities and it is time that you and your family became our priority again.
When you prioritize, two things become clear: what you must do, and what you must not do. What is the right thing and what is the wrong thing to do.
It is wrong to cut our schools by half a billion dollars . . . anytime.
It is wrong to cut health care for our kids and for our seniors . . . anytime.
It is wrong to teach children in overcrowded classrooms . . . anytime.
And it is absolutely wrong to fund pork projects for pet politicians while you cut schools, cut seniors, cut health care. It is wrong every time.
Likewise, priorities tell us clearly what we must do.
Provide every family, every child and every senior with access to quality, affordable health care.
Insure that every Georgia family lives in safe neighborhoods and our children go to safe schools.
Create new jobs, with new futures, in every town and city in Georgia.
Insure that our seniors live their lives with the dignity they have earned.
Hold our public officials accountable with tough new ethics laws.
Make education this state's top priority, and that means our teachers, too.
Continue to remove the financial barriers to higher education.
Reduce the number of schoolchildren in each classroom. Study after study tells us what Georgia common sense already knows: learning improves in classrooms with fewer students.
There are those who say we cannot afford to do this. I say that we cannot afford not to.
This is the promise of Georgia and these are the priorities of Georgia Democrats. These are priorities, not for this year, but for a lifetime.
After all, it was Georgia Democrats who created the HOPE Scholarship, 5-year-old kindergarten, Peachcare, welfare reform and the toughest crime laws in the nation.
To our Republican colleagues we say: Let us work together to make these priorities a reality for Georgia families.
And I make a personal pledge to you: I will fight anyone, Republican or Democrat, who tries to cut education, hurt our seniors, raise our taxes, or jeopardize our safety.
Right now Georgia is in limbo, trapped between the Georgia That Was and the Georgia That Should Be.
In the 1990s, the Georgia That Was, we saw the creation of the HOPE Scholarship and Pre-k, our higher education system joined the ranks of the best, our teacher pay jumped to the highest levels in the South.
And while we did all that, we cut taxes by more than $1 billion.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 7:49 AM
1 Comments:
He hit a lot of the right points, but it came off a little more negative than I would have liked (at least on paper). I didn't actually watch it, but read the text in the AJC later. Someone said the AJC didn't include an ad-libbed Bible verse Taylor included.
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