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Jason Carter on Government Reform

 

 


Caps on gifts from lobbyists & more ethics reforms

Georgia's inadequate ethics laws and lax enforcement remain major problems. Jason Carter says, "Our state is at its best when it has an honest government that works for everyone, not just campaign donors or well placed friends."

Jason has championed a number of proposals that would bring transparency, accountability, and integrity to state government, including caps on gifts from lobbyists, the establishment of an independent (and fully funded) ethics commission, and redistricting reform.

Jason has been awarded Common Cause's prestigious Democracy Award for promoting ethics reform, and he will continue to fight for increased enforcement of the ethics laws that are on the books to increase transparency and restore public faith.

Source: 2014 Gubernatorial campaign website, CarterForGovernor.com , Mar 3, 2014

Verifiable paper trail important for credibility in voting

Q: Do you support a voter verified paper audit trail in electronic voting?

A: I would rather see a paper trail. I have personally monitored elections in other countries. One of the most important aspect and credibility of those elections is a verifiable paper trail that people can look at and see that their votes have been counted. In order to achieve it, we have to figure out how much it costs. We have to do all the things that are required to make a real policy out of it. As a concept, I wish we had a paper trail. I would certainly call for it. I think it's important for credibility of that system. People need to know that their votes are counted.

Source: Atlanta Progressive News Q&A: 2014 Georgia Governor's race , Feb 13, 2014

Americans don't vote because we take democracy for granted

Teachers, like everyone else in South Africa, constantly asked me about US. "I read that people in US don't vote. Why?" A good question. I would say, "Because we take our democracy for granted in America."

Most people wanted to know how we did things in the greatest country on Earth. "Is there apartheid in America?" "No," I said quickly. "There is no apartheid." "So, then black people and white people just live together?" "Well, not exactly." "Do black people live in locations?" "No," I answered. "They live right in the center of town." I marveled at my answer and wondered if that makes some sort of difference. "Do black Americans speak many, many languages?" "No," I said, "not like South Africa. Most speak only English." "It must be so easy for black people and white people to communicate!"

Source: Power Lines, by Jason Carter, p.114-5 , Jun 1, 2003

Young don't vote because those issues don't affect them

I had been invited to appear with my grandfather at the Global meeting of Generations, and the Peace Corps had encouraged me to go. My grandfather and I were to have a moderated conversation, on stage, to demonstrate the value of intergenerational dialogue. As one of my 1st public speaking engagements, it was an overwhelming experience.

We discussed what we might say onstage. I knew that he was going to speak about the widening global gap between the rich and poor, how stingy America is in giving foreign aid, [especially to] Africa. I would talk about being young, a member of my generation. I tried to explain why we often don't vote or seem to care about world issues. I told him we were alienated from the world's debate over "major issues" because we did not see how those issues affected us. We could not muster the energy to march for small changes in the tax laws on international capital mobility. We needed some new rallying cries, something to latch onto as a cause.

Source: Power Lines, by Jason Carter, p.217-8 , Jun 1, 2003

Make election day a national holiday to celebrate democracy

Election Day in RSA was inspiring. All but 34 of the 1,375 people registered at Lochiel voted [and perhaps those 34 had died before the election. When the polls opened at 7 AM, more than 500 people stood in the line. Frost still covered the ground. A long line of people (some shivering) stretched out of the schoolyard throughout the day. Almost everyone I talked to waited for more than an hour to cast a vote. The atmosphere on Election Day, a national holiday in South Africa, was exuberant.

I had seen elections in 5 countries. Without a doubt, the ones in the US are the least joyous. I talked to one girl my age who was voting for the first time. She said she had practiced making X's all morning so that her first ballot would be perfect. The community was jubilant, and I went home at the end of the day excited and full of hope. I wrote an e-mail to everyone I knew saying that Election Day should be a national holiday and a celebration of democracy at home in the US.

Source: Power Lines, by Jason Carter, p.245-6 , Jun 1, 2003

Other governors on Government Reform: Jason Carter on other issues:
GA Gubernatorial:
Andrew Hunt
Brian Kemp
Casey Cagle
Hunter Hill
Nathan Deal
Sonny Perdue
Stacey Abrams
Tom Price
GA Senatorial:
Amanda Swafford
David Perdue
Jack Kingston
Karen Handel
Michelle Nunn
Paul Broun
Phil Gingrey

Gubernatorial Debates 2017:
NJ: Guadagno(R) vs.Phil Murphy(D, won 2017 primary) vs.Ray Lesniak(D, lost 2017 primary) vs.Mayor Steve Fulop(declined Dem. primary, Sept. 2016) vs.Lesniak(D) vs.Wisniewski(D) vs.Ciattarelli(R) vs.Rullo(R)
VA: Gillespie(R) vs.Perriello(D) vs.Wittman(R) vs.Wagner(R) vs.Northam(D)
Gubernatorial Debates 2018:
AK: Walker(i) vs.(no opponent yet)
AL: Kay Ivey(R) vs.Countryman(D) vs.David Carrington (R) vs.Tommy Battle (R)
AR: Hutchinson(R) vs.(no opponent yet)
AZ: Ducey(R) vs.David Garcia (D)
CA: Newsom(D) vs.Chiang(D) vs.Villaraigosa(D) vs.Delaine Eastin (D) vs.David Hadley (R) vs.John Cox (R) vs.Zoltan Istvan (I)
CO: Ed Perlmutter (D) vs.Johnston(D) vs.Mitchell(R) vs.Cary Kennedy (D) vs.George Brauchler (R) vs.Doug Robinson (R)
CT: Malloy(D) vs.Drew(D) vs.Srinivasan(R) vs.David Walker (R)
FL: Gillum(D) vs.Graham(D) vs.Mike Huckabee (R) vs.Adam Putnam (R)
GA: Kemp(R) vs.Casey Cagle (R) vs.Hunter Hill (R) vs.Stacey Abrams (R)
HI: Ige(D) vs.(no opponent yet)
IA: Kim_Reynolds(R) vs.Leopold(D) vs.Andy McGuire (D) vs.Nate Boulton (D)
ID: Little(R) vs.Fulcher(R)
IL: Rauner(R) vs.Kennedy(D) vs.Pawar(D) vs.Daniel Biss (D) vs.J.B. Pritzker (D)
KS: Brewer(D) vs.Wink Hartman (R)
MA: Baker(R) vs.Gonzalez(D) vs.Setti Warren (D) vs.Bob Massie (R)
MD: Hogan(R) vs.Alec Ross (D) vs.Richard Madaleno (D)
ME: (no candidate yet)
MI: Whitmer(R) vs.El-Sayed(D) vs.Tim Walz (D)
MN: Coleman(D) vs.Murphy(D) vs.Otto(D) vs.Tina Liebling (DFL) vs.Tim Walz (DFL) vs.Matt Dean (R)
NE: Ricketts(R) vs.(no opponent yet)
NH: Sununu(R) vs.Steve Marchand (D, Portsmouth Mayor)
NM: Grisham(D) vs.(no opponent yet)
NV: Jared Fisher (R) vs.(no opponent yet)
NY: Cuomo(R) vs.(no opponent yet)
OH: DeWine(R) vs.Schiavoni(D) vs.Sutton(D) vs.Taylor(R) vs.Jim Renacci (R) vs.Jon Husted (R) vs.Connie Pillich (D)
OK: Gary Richardson (R) vs.Connie Johnson (D)
OR: Brown(D) vs.Scott Inman (D)
PA: Wolf(D) vs.Wagner(R)
RI: Raimondo(D) vs.(no opponent yet)
SC: McMaster(R) vs.McGill(R) vs.Pope(R)
SD: Noem(R) vs.Jackley(R)
TN: Green(R) vs.Dean(D)
TX: Abbott(R) vs.(no opponent yet)
VT: Scott(R) vs.(no opponent yet)
WI: Walker(R) vs.Harlow(D)
WY: (no candidate yet)
Newly-elected governors (first seated in Jan. 2017):
DE-D: Carney
IN-R: Holcomb
MO-R: Greitens
NH-R: Sununu
NC-D: Cooper
ND-R: Burgum
VT-R: Scott
WV-D: Justice

Retiring 2017-18:
AL-R: Robert Bentley(R)
(term-limited 2018)
CA-D: Jerry Brown
(term-limited 2018)
CO-D: John Hickenlooper
(term-limited 2018)
FL-R: Rick Scott
(term-limited 2018)
GA-R: Nathan Deal
(term-limited 2018)
IA-R: Terry Branstad
(appointed ambassador, 2017)
ID-R: Butch Otter
(retiring 2018)
KS-R: Sam Brownback
(term-limited 2018)
ME-R: Paul LePage
(term-limited 2018)
MI-R: Rick Snyder
(term-limited 2018)
MN-D: Mark Dayton
(retiring 2018)
NM-R: Susana Martinez
(term-limited 2018)
OH-R: John Kasich
(term-limited 2018)
OK-R: Mary Fallin
(term-limited 2018)
SC-R: Nikki Haley
(appointed ambassador, 2017)
SD-R: Dennis Daugaard
(term-limited 2018)
TN-R: Bill Haslam
(term-limited 2018)
WY-R: Matt Mead
(term-limited 2018)
Abortion
Budget/Economy
Civil Rights
Corporations
Crime
Drugs
Education
Energy/Oil
Environment
Families/Children
Foreign Policy
Free Trade
Govt. Reform
Gun Control
Health Care
Homeland Security
Immigration
Infrastructure/Technology
Jobs
Local Issues
Principles/Values
Social Security
Tax Reform
War/Iraq/Mideast
Welfare/Poverty

 





Page last updated: Jul 14, 2017