Chicken

What does Nathan Deal say would be his toughest job as governor?  Creating jobs in a tough economy? Nope. Fixing transportation? No. Improving our schools? Not a chance.

In August, in a moment of rare candor, Nathan Deal told the crowd at the Georgia Forward Forum in Macon:

the toughest thing about being governor would be to turn down the requests of his friends… (The Macon Telegraph. (8/28/2010) Political Notebook: Gubernatorial candidates phone it in at Macon conference.)

No kidding. Deal’s long-established pattern of scratching the backs of his friends and political allies is not just about airplanes and poor business investments. Sometimes, it’s about you and me.

Take the story of The Chicken and the Congressman Who Crossed the Line.

When you pay extra at the grocery store for organic milk, eggs or poultry, you want to be able to trust that the product actually is organic, right? Well, if Nathan Deal had his way, those labels would be meaningless.

In 2003, then-Congressman Nathan Deal  slipped a paragraph into a $397 spending bill that could have single-handedly gutted the organic farming industry by allowing  livestock producers to:

certify and label meat as ”organic” even if the animals had been fed partly or entirely on conventional rather than organic grain.

Consumers be damned, Deal slipped in this provision to benefit his buddies and campaign contributors over at Fieldale Farms Corporation in Baldwin, Georgia. Fieldale employees had contributed $4,000 to Deal’s last campaign for congress. So far,  Fieldale Farms Corporation and it’s employees have contributed $16,400.00 to Nathan Deal’s campaign for Govenor.

Not your grandmother’s farm, this giant corporation grossed $750 million in sales in 2008 and is no stranger to political controversy, having drawn the attention of the press in 1993 after financing a trip to the Daytona 500 for elected officials and taking advantage of a loophole in the ethics laws to not disclose the expenditure. So egregious was this episode that during the next legislative session, there was legislation sponsored to close “The Fieldale Farms Loophole.”

In 2003, when his congressional colleagues got wind of Deal’s scheme to help out Fieldale,  a bi-partisan coalition, with the support of the Bush Agriculture Department quickly formed to introduce legislation to repeal the provision, but not before Deal got national attention for his willingness to help out his friends and contributors despite the impact on consumers.

Now, we need a bi-partisan coalition of voters to say NO to Nathan Deal so he won’t have to worry about saying NO to his friends.


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12 responses to “Chicken”

  1. Amy Morton Avatar

    Yes, An8, I get indignant when anyone uses their elected office to benefit themselves and their friends rather than focusing on what is best for everybody. Deal has a history of putting himself, his family and his friends first. That’s not who we need in the Governor’s mansion.

  2. Ed Avatar
    Ed

    So wait a second…an eight year old story about REFUNDING money to the amount that is several degrees of magnitude less than everything CURRENTLY surrounding Deal is the same thing?

    Got it, soldier.

  3. JaneB Avatar

    I have the chicken suit!!! Anybody who wants can borrow it anytime!

  4. Delicate Flower Avatar

    The trolls are getting dumber by the day…SMH.

    Anyway, that chicken suit has never been more needed.

  5. JerryT Avatar
    JerryT

    You know, you may be right. I don’t think there is anyone out there criticizing Roy Barnes, or the Dems, or liberalism in general. We should do THAT here too!

  6. An80sreaganite Avatar

    Somehow, all you libs seem to believe that your candidate is squeaky clean and has no tarnished relationships (Rev Eddie Long). I get a kick out of you acting all indignant that a congressman might actually pass a law that would benefit a contributor to his campaign. I am sure Roy would like a second shot at living in the governor’s mansion. And with a net worth of $16,000,000, who wouldn’t want to live in the nicest public housing in the state.

    You limousine liberals are all the same. Keep on taxing & spending on the back of those of us who actually make more than the $50,000 it takes to actually pay taxes. Somehow you expect us to believe King Roy is in touch with the average ‘Joe the Plumber’ guy and Nathan Deal, who is the same shoes as many of us, is the one who is out of touch. Get real……

  7. JMPrince Avatar

    And I for one remain thankful for that. This corrupt double dealing so & so is All theirs! JMP

  8. JerryT Avatar
    JerryT

    Thank you Amy.

    I don’t think Deal ever changed his name, but he did change his party when the wind shifted in Georgia.

  9. Amy Morton Avatar

    Oh, yes, and there is so much more that just wouldn’t fit in a blog post. Airplanes, banks, chickens…what’s next?

  10. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    Someone better run this in an ad.

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