Georgia Governor Nathan Deal Under Fire on Job Creation

Gov. Nathan Deal (R-GA), who was once among the 15 most corrupt members of Congress, didn’t much like it when the progressive group, Better Georgia placed an ad in his hometown paper on Tuesday. And, now, apparently, Gov. Deal (R-GA) thinks he can say “liberal” three times, throw in some funny math and make Georgia’s jobs problem disappear.

On Tuesday, Better Georgia, drew the wrath of the Governor’s office when the organization placed this full page ad in the Governor’s hometown paper, The Gainesville Times. Better Georgia challenged the Governor on his abysmal record on job creation and pointed to the sad statistic that Georgia is 51st in the nation, right behind Washington, D.C. when it comes to job creation. (See page 3 of the PDF State of Working in Georgia 2011.)

In the State of the State address, Gov. Deal seemed to understand that Georgia has a jobs problem. After all, he proposed a huge middle-class financed tax break of more than $157 million for big corporations in order to spur job creation. Everyone expected Gov. Deal to offer up this sort of already-failed top-down strategy that ignores the fact that business most often chooses to expand in states that, unlike Georgia, invest public schools and transportation so there will be a ready, reliable workforce.

No one expected the Governor’s office to go completely off the reservation and claim there isn’t a jobs problem in Georgia, but, after calling the nonpartisan Better Georgia “liberal” three times, that’s exactly argument the Governor’s spokesperson, Brian Robinson chose to make. Don’t believe me? See the 11 Alive clip below:

Gov Deal Responds to Better Georgia from Bryan Long on Vimeo.

Seriously? Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment average for more than fifty straight months. How can we expect the Governor to solve our jobs problem if he doesn’t even acknowledge that it exists?  As one commenter said, soon, he will be rubbing Sonny Perdue’s head and making three wishes. I make light, but Georgia’s job situation is anything but. Georgia’s job creation stats are scary for families and offer little hope for recent college graduates. Governor Deal’s  lack of understanding  is downright dangerous. Just ask folks like this Atlanta couple.

Amy Morton

Amy Morton is Chair of Better Georgia, Inc. and a 20 year veteran of progressive politics in the Peach State. She previously chaired Georgia’s WIN List, was Vice Chair of Victory 2010, the Coordinated Campaign of the Democratic Party of Georgia and has consulted on multiple candidates and independent committees. A North Carolina native, Amy is a licensed marriage and family therapist and has her own practice in Macon, Georgia where she has lived for the last 28 years.