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Collins: SCOTUS ruling a tragedy for women, states’ rights

Featured June 27, 2016 , by

June 27, 2016

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Supreme Court struck down a state law regarding health and safety standards for Texas abortion clinics. In the case of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the Court voted 5-3 to strike down HB-2, a Texas law requiring abortion clinics to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles, and that abortion clinics must comply with state standards for outpatient surgical centers. The Court stated the law placed an “undue burden” in the way of women seeking an abortion. Congressman Collins, a Baptist pastor who signed an amicus brief in support of Texas earlier this year, issued the following statement in response to the ruling:

 

“The Court’s decision endangers women and removes valuable safety precautions, and is an erosion of states’ rights. The elected representatives of the Texas legislature passed this law to ensure patient safety in their state, and the law was signed by the Governor. The Supreme Court decision inserts the court into patient safety decisions where they don’t belong.”

 

“I have voted to protect the sanctity of life throughout my time in both the Georgia state legislature and the House of Representatives. This ruling will allow abortion clinics to proliferate with little oversight. As we saw with the case of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, whose abortion clinic was a real life house of horrors, these largely unregulated clinics jeopardize the lives of mothers and babies alike through the use of unsafe medical procedures. I stand by my pro-life principles, and will continue to speak out on the negative consequences the abortion industry has on our society.”

 

Fitzpatrick Very Impressive in Town Hall Meeting

News, Politics May 10, 2016 , by

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Roger Fitzpatrick, an ex-Marine and former White County administrator, appears to have established himself as the No. 1 contender for 9th District Congressman Doug Collins’ job with a strong performance during the AccessWDUN/Gainesville Times town hall meeting at Brenau Downtown Center last night.

Fitzpatrick demonstrated confidence, knowledge of the issues and likeability in responding to questions from a near-capacity crowd that showed its appreciation with loud and frequent applause for the Cleveland, Georgia native.

In addition to Fitzpatrick and Collins, the 90-minute event featured Lanier Tea Party Patriots founder Mike Scupin, retired Army and National Guard Brigadier General Bernie Fontaine and former 10th District Congressman Paul Broun. The challengers took turns answering questions from attendees as well as tweets from WDUN Radio’s listening audience.

Fitzpatrick, who served nine years in the Marine Corps Reserves and 32 years as a White County teacher and administrator, said veterans would be better served by getting rid of the Veterans Administration and allowing private industry to fill that role. He also called for an end to the Department of Education, saying, “The federal government has no business in education.”

He borrowed a line from President Bill Clinton when asked what is the most important issue facing the nation. “It’s the economy stupid,” he said. But, he added that getting government out of the way so businesses can thrive was a close second.

An issue that has plagued Collins throughout the campaign and has him in deep trouble with voters in the ultra conservative 9th District has been his support for President Barack Obama’s Omnibus bill. The bill provides funding for Planned Parenthood, the Muslim refugee program, sanctuary cities and a foreign worker program that costs Americans jobs at a time of increasing concerns about terrorist threats against the United States.

When Collins tried to explain his vote, he was shouted down by angry voters and his response was drowned out until Fitzpatrick’s Marine training kicked in and he stepped forward to admonish the audience, saying, “Show some respect, please.” The intervention earned Fitzpatrick the crowd’s admiration.

Collins then continued, saying, “The facts are if you could have gotten Planned Parenthood out of the Omnibus bill you would have done it but you couldn’t. The way you get it done is through the reconciliation act or a bill which I had voted for prior to that.” But that explanation failed to sway his opponents.

Fitzpatrick said, “Anything that would violate the moral conscience of a decent individual or the original intent (of the Constitution), you cannot vote for.” He also pointed out that Planned Parenthood is now paying for transgender operations.

Scupin called Collis’ explanation the “Doug Collins Dog and Pony Show” and said, “It doesn’t just happen with Planned Parenthood. It happens with nearly every vote he makes up there. He’s against the Department of Education because of how it effects his wife when she teaches and yet he votes to fund it. This has got to stop. Either you’re for it or against it.”

Broun said, “I would not have voted for the Omnibus bill. I never have.”

Voters also wanted to know if the candidates would support presumptive Republican nominee for President Donald Trump.

Fontaine said, “Of course I support Donald Trump.”

Scupin said, “Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party and as such I definitely will support him. Donald Trump rose to the top of the Republican Party not because of Donald Trump but because of the Republican Party.Their failure to do the right thing when they had the opportunity is what gave him a path to this victory.”

Broun said, “The people have spoken. We need to have the people’s choice be the nominee of our party. I don’t want to see the establishment try to steal away the people’s choice.”

Collins seemed a bit more hesitant, saying, “If Trump is our nominee, I’ll support the nominee. But what about the values Donald Trump has. The question is where do you stand on conservative values? Will you be the standard bearer of our party’s values? The fact is that nobody in this room would be happy with Hillary Clinton in the White House. Nobody who would be happy with a socialist running the White House.

Fitzpatrick said, “I voted for Ted Cruz and would do so again but Donald Trump won the nomination and I will support the nominee. Whoever gets in there — and I sure do hope it’s Donald Trump — you’ve got to work with and if he stands up and does something I don’t like then he needs to be called out on it even if he is a Republican.”

Union County Republican Party / Union-Towns TEA Party 51st State Senate District, 9th Congressional District, and U.S. Senate Forum

Featured, Featured Stories, Politics May 1, 2016 , by

Union County Republican Party / Union -Towns TEA Party Forum 4/30/2016.

Scroll down to watch video of each forum.

forum moderator

Moderator Brian K. Pritchard

Republican U.S. Senate Candidates Dr. Mary Beth Bacallao and Mr. Derrick Grayson

john steve

51st District State Senate Republican Candidates John Williamson and Steve Gooch

9th group

Republican 9th District Congressional Candidates Roger Fitzpatrick, Paul Broun, Bernie Fontaine and Mike Scupin

 

Early Voting Begins Monday in Lumpkin County

News, Politics May 1, 2016 , by

LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga. — Early Voting for the May 24 General Primary/Nonpartisan General Election starts Monday (May 2) and will continue through May 20.

Early Voting will be open Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.. There will also be one Saturday Voting opportunity on May 14 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Early Voting will be held at the Lumpkin County Elections and Voter Registration Office located at 56 Short Street, Dahlonega, GA.

The key race at the federal level is for 9th District U.S. Congress where the incumbent Doug Collins of Gainesville has come under heavy fire from conservatives as a result of his support for President Obama’s Omnibus bill and House Speaker John Boehner.

His challengers include former 10th District Congressman Paul Broun, Lanier Tea Part Patriots founder Mike Scupin, White County educator Roger Fitzpatrick and retired Army and National Guard Brigadier General Bernie Fontaine.

State Senator Steve Gooch of Dahlonega is running for re-election in the 51st District and has drawn a strong challenge from John Williamson, co-founder of the Gilmer County Tea Party.

Several key races highlight the local elections. Board of Commissioners Chairman Chris Dockery has drawn a challenger in current District 1 Commissioner Doug Sherrill. David Miller and Bill Scott will compete for the seat being vacated by Sherrill. There is a four-way race for District 2 Commissioner where the candidates are incumbent Steve Shaw, Bobby Mayfield, Carlton Smith and D.J. Wight.

In the race for District 1 Board of Education, the candidates are Catherine Ariemma, Jay Sessions and Mera Turner.

Challengers Blast Congressman Collins In Live Debate Broadcast on FYN TV

News, Politics April 25, 2016 , by

ELLIJAY, Ga. — In a fiery hour-long debate broadcast live on FYN TV and moderated by Fetch Your News owner Brian K. Pritchard Friday, four challengers — Paul Broun, Mike Scupin, Roger Fitzpatrick and Bernie Fontaine — took turns attacking Georgia’s 9th District Congressman Doug Collins on issues ranging from his support of President Obama’s Omnibus bill to what they see as his less than conservative voting record.

Fitzpatrick, a long time educator from White County, said Collins’ voting record is not representative of the 9th District, which he called, “the third most conservative district in the entire United States. If you look at the Conservative Review website, which grades everybody according to the original intent of the Constitution, Mr. Collins has a 59 percent voting record,” Fitzpatrick said.

By far the number one issue his opponents used to batter Collins was the Omnibus bill which most conservatives view with contempt because it provides funding for the Dreamer’s Act for children in the U.S. illegally, sanctuary cities, refugee programs, Middle East immigration programs that have been exploited by terrorists and Planned Parenthood.

Former 10th District U.S. Congressman Paul Broun said “The greatest moral issue we face as a nation is the killing of over one million babies every year and it must stop. The Omnibus bill funds Planned Parenthood while they go on butchering babies and selling baby parts.”

Broun added, “I have never voted for an omnibus bill and I never will.”
That gave Collins an opportunity to launch a conter attack. Collins claimed Broun voted for an omnibus bill in December 2007. “Either that’s an incompetence issue or you’re just lying,” Collins shot back.

Broun said his vote was not for the bill at all, but an amendment to the bill and that every Republican but one voted for the same amendment. “This is just more of the lies and distortion we get out of the Congressman,” Broun countered.

Lanier Tea Party Patriot Founder Mike Scupin said he would never have voted for the Omnibus bill and questioned how Collins could “swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States then vote for  it when it had so many unconstitutional things in it.”

Fontaine, a retired Army and National Guard Brigadier General who ran against Collins four years ago, said, “Congress was dysfunctional then and its dysfunctional now. What we have is a systemic problem with two career politicians against three citizen candidates.”

FYN TV Presents – Camera, Candidates, and Issues Debate featuring 9th District Congressional Candidates Paul Broun, Doug Collins, Roger Fitzpatrick, Bernie Fontaine and Mike Scupin.

Politics April 22, 2016 , by

FYN TV “Camera-Candidates-and-Issues”

9th Congressional District Debate. The Omnibus Bill, refugee resettlement, the national debt, Speaker Paul Ryan, sanctuary cities, abortion, and yes even the dog and pony show. 

Scroll down to watch video.

BKP Paul

Moderator FetchYourNews.com CEO BKP Candidate Dr. Paul Broun

Mike Collins

Candidates Mr. Mike Scupin and Congressman Doug Collins

Roger Bernie

Candidates Mr. Roger Fitzpatrick and General Bernie Fontaine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9th District Congressional Forum

News, Politics April 9, 2016 , by

GAINESVILLE, Ga. —  Incumbent 9th District U.S. Congressman Doug Collins faced off against four Republican challengers in a mostly civil, but occasionally heated and even emotional candidate forum hosted by the Hall County Republican Party Saturday morning.

 A standing room only crowd listened as former 10th District Congressman Paul Broun, Lanier Tea Party Patriots Founder Mike Scupin, retired White County educator Roger Fitzpatrick retired U.S. Army and National Guard Brigadier General Bernie Fontaine and Collins fielded questions ranging from taxes to the budget to foreign intervention and illegal immigration.
Some Republicans and many Tea Party members have been angered by Collins’ vote for President Barack Obama’s Omnibus bill, which they point out funds Planned Parenthood, amnesty and the Syrian refugee replacement program. Saturday, he stood alone in defending that vote.
“There were things in it I didn’t like.” he said. But it was preferable to a continuing resolution. “The difference is the continuing resolution maintains spending from the prior year with no changes allowed. The Omnibus bill actually allows for some cuts.”
Broun said, “I have never voted for an Omnibus bill and I never will. There was no reason to vote for that bill.”
Scupin said, “I would never vote for an Omnibus bill either. They are ill-conceived. They allow everyone to put something in there and invariable they are unconstitutional.”
Fitzpatrick said he would not vote for an Omnibus bill. “There is too much in there and they don’t let you vote on the merits of the bill,” he said.
“Get rid of the Omnibus spending bill and get back to reality,” Fontaine added.
Broun drew loud applause from the audience when he said he wants to get rid of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “The EPA has been a tremendous threat to jobs and industry in this country,” he said. “I was disappointed when I read in the Gainesville Times that the EPA would not fund Glades Reservoir, a capital improvement project in Hall County.
A question about sending American troops into harm’s way, drew an emotional response from Fontaine, a Viet Nam veteran with 30 years of military experience. The Suches resident was moved to tears in saying he could not support an authorization for use of military force (AUMF) in Syria.
“Not under the current Commander in Chief,” he said, his voice breaking. “We need a Commander in Chief that will listen to our military leaders. We need to take this a lot more seriously and if we’re going to go to war, we need to go all out. I said that in 1961 in Viet Nam when I went up for my first promotion and I haven’t changed my mind.”
Moderator Joe Shubert spent more than five minutes grilling Broun on the conduct of his former Chief of Staff David G. Bowser, who this week was named in a federal indictment charging him with misappropriation of taxpayer funds during Broun’s 2008 campaign.
“To make any allegation that I misused taxpayer money is absolutely false,” Broun said. “If I was deficient in my budget then I would have had to pay it out of my own pocket which I never did. I actually returned money back to the federal government every single year.”
After the forum, Broun’s campaign manager Ryan Neel said he felt Shubert was badgering Broun by asking him question after question, something he did not do with any other candidate.
Despite that, he was pleased with his candidate’s performance.
“I thought he did really well,” he said. “We were able to shine a light on things that have been overlooked, especially Collins’ vote for the Omnibus bill.”
Collins said he thought the forum went well. “I’m never afraid to get in front of the people and tell the truth.” He also said he gave a good accounting of his vote for the Omnibus bill saying, “11 of 12 Georgians voted for the bill.”
Hank Sullivan, Scupin’s campaign manager declared victory for his candidate. “Mike killed them,” he said. “Look at the applause he got from people that really don’t know him. He did a great job of telling people the truth and being honest with the people.”

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