Food Stamps and Mattresses

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, February 10, 2012
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. Freshman Senator Ligon from South Georgia District 3 introduced S.B. 312 to require recipients of food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to participate in personal growth activities. Current law already requires them to attend counseling on abstinence until marriage.

If those receiving food-stamps and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) don’t have a full-time job and don’t have a high school diploma, they could choose from a list of government-recommended ways to improve themselves and work toward self-sufficiency. They could go back to school and get a general educational diploma or they could go to technical school or self-development classes or enroll in adult literacy classes.

If S.B. 312 becomes law, the Department of Health & Human Services would make the rules and regulate implementation. Please call Health and Human Services Chairman Unterman at 404 463-1368 and ask her to pass S.B. 312 out of her committee.

Twin bills were introduced January 23rd to protect consumers who buy articles of bedding, which is defined as any mattress, mattress pad, mattress protector, upholstered spring, comforter, quilted pad, quilt, cushion, or pillow that’s partly or entirely stuffed or filled with concealed material.

If either of these bills passes, manufacturers, renovators and reupholsterers that make, reupholster, or renovate articles of bedding would be required to obtain a numbered certificate of registration from the Department of Agriculture. That certificate would cost manufacturers an annual fee of $1,000 and renovators and reupholsterers would annually pay $250.

Manufacturers of new bedding items, reupholsterers and renovators of used bedding must appropriately tag the product with “Made of New Material” or “Made of Previously Used Material” or “Secondhand.” However, there’s an interesting exception to these requirements. Such standards and annual fees do not apply to bedding made by inmates for use by prisoners, detainees, or other government purposes.

These bills authorize Department of Agriculture inspectors to open a seam, if necessary, to determine whether the tag is accurate and penalize violators as much as a year in prison and $10,000.

You need to call two legislators on these bills. Call Senator Bulloch at 404 656-0040 and ask him to pass S.B. 314 out of his committee. Then, call Representative McCall at 404 656-5114 and ask him to pass H.B. 678 out of his committee. Sanitary bedding sounds good to me. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.

Electoral College Assures Equal Representation

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, January 27, 2012
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. Twice in recent years a bill has been introduced to eliminate the Electoral College and elect the President of the United States by national popular vote. While that may seem like a good idea, the Electoral College was part of the great compromise that made a constitutional republic out of a bunch of rival colonies. It brought together big states and little states through a national Congress based on equal representation of the states in the Senate, regardless of population, and unequal representation in the House of Representatives, based on unequal populations in the states.

If it weren’t for the Electoral College, presidential candidates wouldn’t bother to campaign in sparsely populated areas. They would spend all their time wooing voters in the most densely populated places that could propel them into the White House. They wouldn’t need votes from outlying areas or small towns or rural communities.

Actually, the Electoral College is the only function of national government that’s performed outside of Washington, D.C. This is how it works. No senator, representative or other federal official is permitted to be an elector in the Electoral College, but the president is elected by electors chosen in their states according to their own state election laws. After electors are chosen, they meet and cast their ballots in their own state capitals. Therefore, all states, regardless of size, participate equally in the process of electing our president.

But, the Electoral College has been targeted for extinction. H.B. 667 was introduced January 9th, but was put “in the hopper” the last day of the 2011 session to be handled this year. If/when the cumulative electoral votes reach a majority in states (and D.C.) that pass legislation identical to H.B. 667, a popular vote election for the U.S. President and Vice President could be forced, to totally change the election process for the two most powerful officials in the U.S.

If identical bills were to pass, each member state would conduct a state-wide popular election for President and Vice President of the United States and the most populous states would control the offices of president and vice president. That’s NOT the American way. H.B. 667 must be defeated! Please call the House Governmental Affairs Committee chairman at 404 656-5132* and ask him to hold that bill in his committee. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.

First Senate Bill of 2012: “In God We Trust”

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, January 13, 2012
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. The first Senate bill introduced this session was Senator Heath’s S.B. 293 that requires “In God We Trust” to be printed on every new Georgia license plate where the county name is printed now. A decal would be available to those who prefer to put a county name in that space.

In 1861, a small-town Pennsylvania minister suggested In God We Trust as the national motto. That one suggestion led the Secretary of the Treasury to write this letter to the Philadelphia Mint director: “Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.”

The Treasury Secretary got busy and, in 1864, the two-cent coin was imprinted with “In God We Trust.” Then, on March 3, 1865 Congress passed a law authorizing all gold and silver coins to be imprinted with “In God We Trust.” Those coins were the gold double-eagle ($20), the gold eagle ($10), and the gold half-eagle ($5), the silver dollar, the half-dollar, the quarter-dollar, the nickel and the three-cent coin.

As a result of that one suggestion in 1861 from a minister in a small Pennsylvania town, all U.S. coins were imprinted with “In God We Trust” in five years. But for some reason, the motto was left off U.S. coins in 1907. So, the next year, Congress required all U.S. coins to be imprinted with the motto and on July 11, 1955, it became mandatory for U.S. paper money, as well.

On July 30, 1956, “In God We Trust” became our national motto and was unchallenged for 22 years, until lawsuits were filed against it in 1970 and 1978. But in that situation, the court ruled against Madalyn Murray O’Hair, who had said the motto violated the First Amendment. Too bad the court didn’t rule against her previous lawsuits.

Last year Georgia motorists began displaying “In God We Trust” decals on their license plates in place of the county name. When S.B. 293 passes, “In God We Trust” will be permanently imprinted on Georgia tags as they are manufactured. That’s a wonderful reminder that we are a “nation under God!” Maybe that’s the reason some folks want to destroy U. S. currency. Please call Senate Finance Committee Chairman Heath at 404 656-3943* and ask him to pass S.B. 293 out of committee. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.

This is Someone’s First Christmas in Heaven

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, December 23, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. In October this year, thieves broke into and ransacked the Salvation Army’s locked food storage in Port Angeles, Washington. But churchgoers replaced the stolen inventory with over 11 tons of goods – a hundred times more than the thieves took – and that’s nothing new! American generosity always responds for those in need and it multiplies at Christmas time.

An Indianapolis father of three burst into tears when a woman paid his bill at the layaway counter this year. In Concord, N.C. someone paid layaway bills for four people and in Omaha a woman, who remembered how tough it was for her mom at Christmas, paid five layaway bills. In Missoula, Montana layaways for six customers would have been put back in stock, if a kind-hearted man hadn’t paid $1,200 to cover their bills. As Christmas grew nearer, reports surfaced of needy people in Georgia whose layaway bills were paid by strangers.

As you celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, remember this. He gave His blood so we could have eternal life. If you feel the void left by deceased loved ones, let Him be your comfort. Just pretend the loved one wrote this poem just for you. It’s entitled, “My First Christmas in Heaven.”

I see the countless Christmas trees around the world below, With tiny lights like Heaven’s stars reflecting on the snow, The sight so spectacular, please wipe away that tear, For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year. I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear, But the sound of music cannot compare With the Christmas choir up here.

I send you each a memory of my undying love. After all, love is a gift more precious than pure gold. It is always most important in the stories Jesus told. Please love each other as the Father said to do, For I cannot count the blessings or love He has for you. So have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear. Remember, I am spending Christmas With Jesus Christ this year.

That poem was sent to me when my mother died and it was such a blessing! I trust it ministers to those of you who so keenly feel the loss of loved ones this Christmas. It’s a great poem to save for future use! Merry Christmas from our house to your house! For Georgia Insight, I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.

Natural Birth ’Til Natural Death

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, December 2, 2011
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. Since time began, folks have been expected to live until they die naturally or in war or in a fatal accident. But 30 years ago Dr. Jack Kevorkian raised the question, “If we can aid people into coming into the world, why can’t we aid them in exiting the world?” And in 1990 he was crisscrossing Michigan in a rusty Volkswagen van, hauling a machine to help people inject themselves with a lethal drug.

He became known as “Dr. Death” and was soon charged with first-degree murder for helping an Alzheimer’s patient kill herself. Those charges were dropped but, later, he spent eight years in prison for second-degree murder and was paroled in 2007. He spoke on the lecture circuit for a while and ran for Congress in 2008, but lost.

The actions of Jack Kevorkian prompted states all over the country to outlaw assisted suicide and in 1994 it became a felony in Georgia. Ironically or providentially, Kevorkian’s death last month brought him back into the news, just as the Georgia Supreme Court was scheduled to decide the constitutionality of advertising or offering assisted suicide services, which the Final Exit Network was doing in our state.

Since Georgia law prohibits not only the practice of assisted suicide, it prohibits the “advertising or offering” assisted suicide services, which prompted members of the Final Exit Network to challenge it as an unconstitutional restriction of their freedom of speech. Groups in favor of the law include Not Dead Yet, Georgia ADAPT and Disabled Queers in Action. They hope assisted suicide remains against the law, even if the Court rules that the advertising part is unconstitutional.

The Network is, also, charged with death-scene tampering to make assisted suicides appear to be natural deaths. In addition to that, Network personnel told an undercover GBI agent they would “help” hold his hands down so he could not “inadvertently” rip off the helium-filled bag that would cause his death. Clearly indicating that assisted suicide services would be forcibly completed, even for patients who try to change their mind at the end.

On November 7th, the Georgia Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Atlanta and, in coming months, the justices will decide whether the Final Exit Network should be prosecuted. Could it be that advertising an illegal service is protected by the First Amendment? Meanwhile, Dr. Death’s warped question brings me to a flip-side thought. “Since society has decided it’s unacceptable to help someone commit suicide, why is it all right to kill a person before birth or during birth?” For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.