A Message from Lt. Governor Casey Cagle:
Unlike the federal government, Georgia is required to constitutionally balance its budget. This means when the economy slows, we can't borrow money to avoid cuts like the federal government can. This is a great feature of our state constitution because it forces state elected officials to make hard decisions when tax collections drop in a slow economy.
However, as you might imagine, cutting millions in state spending is never an easy process. Many things we spend money on -- such as prisons, roads, colleges, schools, and law enforcement -- are absolutely critical to public safety and our future, and can't be cut too deeply. This means we critically need to find specific ways to do more for less with taxpayer dollars.
This may mean finding a more efficient way to perform the basic functions that government must accomplish. Governor Sonny Perdue has done a great job in this area, particularly through his Commission for New Georgia, which uses leading citizens to make government agencies find private-sector style efficiencies to save money.
In other cases, government may simply be wasting funds on programs that have no purpose or on activities that aren't tied to any useful program at all. This kind of waste should be located, spotlighted, and slashed from the budget as quickly as possible.
What I want to ask you to do is play a role in achieving one or both of these goals. Georgia's citizens are our best assets for spotlighting government waste at the federal, state, and local level. Please join the fight.
3 Comments:
You said: "What I want to ask you to do is play a role in achieving one or both of these goals. Georgia's citizens are our best assets for spotlighting government waste at the federal, state, and local level. Please join the fight."
You're joking, right?
Governor Perdue can't cut out the waste I told him about because he gets campaign funding from those who waste funding in the first place.
I saved his email to me. I followed the money, and the very ones I complained about to him are the very ones who help fund his campaign (along with their lawyers).
If you want Georgians to get involved, then hear our voices when we point out the problems. I don't expect that will happen when the politicians take PAC money and corporate "donations". Do you?
SharkGirl
www.facingthesharks.com
A Non-lawyer vs. Robins AFB
By 
Shark Girl, at
September 25, 2008 5:59 PM
Thanks for taking on this challenge, I hope you can make a difference. Your work environment, along with our friends in Washington, is worse than the folks who work in our sewers. I hope you can shower often enough to keep the filth off of you.
By 
, at
November 19, 2008 1:32 PM
I am thrilled to hear that Georgians are taking action for our State's money usage! As a public school teacher and having a husband in law enforcement-our family really knows that some things must be provided. When your child comes to my class- you should know that I am drug free, of good moral values and am responsible for the most important treasures we have-our children-our future. My husband should also met those standards- I think that random drug testing- continued background checks, etc. are not only a must but when you call 911- you should know that all levels of our public safety groups are above reproach. To have quality people in jobs like ours- we must demand quality personal-that means we also must pay them a realistic wages. Do you know that my children don't qualify for Peach Care because we are considered Government Employees- do you know that we can't get a Government discount when staying at a hotel? The system is not working. There has to be a way to unite and bring Georgia to the front of the economic states. We don't want it for free- we just want it to be realistic. Hold us to a higher standard- we should be-but don't leave us out of the loop. My class can't take field trips this year because gas costs too much...
Public safety personal take life threatening situations on many times in a day to weekly basis and we pay them about half of the price of other professions in the community that demand protection but don't want to spend the tax money for their salary.
This is just my 2 cents worth on the topic- I don't just teach students- I teach future doctors, lawyers, political officials and so many other work force personel... does that make my job more important? Every child should be the most important- that is not the norm- that is the exception. Next time you call 911 and get someone who has look through a manual to find out how to help you because the really expert personal have had to take other jobs to pay for the daily needs of their families. Think about it. What is important to you?
Let's get it together Georgia.
By , at
January 12, 2009 4:06 PM