Last Tuesday the Georgia electorate came out and selected the Republican nominee to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Saxby Chambliss and chose political newcomer David Perdue over long-time Congressman Jack Kingston.
As we all feared the turn-out was dismal and a very small portion of the voters made the gigantic decision on who would spend the next four months battling the Democrat of choice Michelle Nunn. Some ask the question of “does it really matter who we send to DC” and follow that up with “they all seem to change when they get there.” Let’s put this seat in perspective as to its importance on the national scale.
A few years ago former Democrat Governor Zell Miller was appointed by then Governor Roy Barnes to fill the seat of Paul Coverdell who had tragically died while in office. Barnes thinking he had turned the seat from and “R” to a “D” quickly found out that now Senator Zell Miller had a mind of his own. Miller recalled that Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) had told him upon his arrival “You’re going to hate it hear” to which Miller replied “Why?” The New York Senator quickly answered the new Georgia Senator with “because nothing happens here without a deal being made.” Moynihan new that Miller had been used to having control first as Lt. Governor and then Governor with both the State Senate and the House being run by Democrats. In DC Miller was the new kid with no power or seniority and the ability to make changes to things like Social Security or Medicare were far from his ability to change or improve. Leap forward a few months and Miller became the best Republican the Republicans never voted for. He became vocal and combative about the ways of Washington and even challenged liberal TV host Chris Mathews to a duel on national TV as his contempt for the deal making and arm-twisting became too much. Progress was not being made and Miller knew it.
That was then and this is now. A senator is once again going to Washington to become part of a decision making body with no seniority or power and that person had better be strong enough to fight every day. Our country is at a crossroads facing the same issues that Miller faced and fought for when he was in the senate. Social Security (over $10 trillion) and Medicare (over $9 trillion) will both run sustained deficits over the next 75 years of each program. Social security ($70 billion) and Medicare ($290 billion) are running cash deficits RIGHT NOW! The “trust funds” or whimsical accounting mechanisms, certainly not real money, will turn negative in the next twenty years and seniors will face a chain-saw slashing of their benefits unless Washington implements reforms soon. But wait! Medicare is projected to last another four years compared to last year’s numbers! Hallelujah! Life support for the terminally ill program. And Obamacare’snew surtaxes on high-income individuals are already in the system and spent so the effects came and went without even making a blip on the radar.
I could write another few hundred words on this and not come close to the answer because right now the answer doesn’t exist. Only a House and Senate with the backbone to make changes and yes even cuts to these two systems will ensure that seniors now and seniors in the future get the benefits they were promised and paid for.
Democrat or Republican? Does it matter? Yes it matters, Georgians should send someone with the fiscal sense to be the voice in the wind on these and all issues because the time to act is now! Do your homework on the candidates and remember that your future, our future, the country’s future is at stake. Zell Miller put principle ahead of deal making and we should send someone back up there with the same “fire in the belly” that Zell had. Now’s your chance Georgia! You may not get another one…
