Greetings!
I hope that you're doing well and enjoying this beautiful fall weather that has finally arrived! I had the opportunity to visit the mountains of east Tennessee this past week while shooting a commercial for a new client, and the leaves were already beginning to turn colours there. This is my favourite season of the year, with the air crisp and cool... and, of course, it's football time of the year and the holidays are right around the corner! My only disappointment is that we don't get to enjoy fall weather in Georgia for very long most years.
In the political world, there are few changes. The Republican establishment seems bent on following the Democrats as closely as possible in leading us into a totalitarian Marxist state where neither God nor liberty are welcome. Do not be misled by any of the promises from either party at the national level -- and more and more at the state level, as well -- they are the enemies of your liberty, having sold their souls to the evils of political correctness for what they perceive as prestige and influence.
I have been reminded recently that while it appears most often that we are engaged in an earthly struggle between good and evil, we are, in fact, engaged in a much more important spiritual battle; and those who do not serve the God of the Bible will not hesitate to take any opportunity to attack anyone who stands for Biblical or constitutional values. Just a couple of months ago, I was personally attacked in my business for requiring the same things of those who apply to be used in our production of television commercials and shows that virtually every other production company in America requires. Many of you already know that I own one of the local television channels in south Atlanta and have been producing radio and television commercials for more than a decade. Among the other things which our company requires, including an application, photo release, and professional standards agreement from our talent is a portfolio which every actor or model must have on file to be used for casting when we have projects to fill. In spite of having a spotless record for more than a decade in a very worldly industry, both I and my company were portrayed as being immoral for requiring our actors and models to have a portfolio on file and for shooting them for those who do not have the money to pay for one. During the attack upon my character and that of my company, though, it finally came to light that I was under attack because I have consistently used my television station to dare to question the establishment -- particularly the federal government. For the record, may I please make it clear that I never accept anything that comes out of Washington, even if they report that the sun is coming up the next morning, without questioning it. It would behoove all Americans to question everything that the federal government says. I hope that you do already. I have publicly questioned Obama's eligibility for office, the Federal Reserve Bank, and the official version of the Sandy Hook incident on television to 250,000 viewers... that's what our enemies do not like. Here are the two specific shows that were mentioned in the recent attack
Show One and
Show Two.
In any event, I hope that you will enjoy the short article below on gas prices. It is really more about WHY our gas prices are the amount they are than the fact of what they are. I shared it online and several friends requested that I share it with everyone on our Georgia First mail list. Please feel free to post or forward it as you see fit; perhaps we can open a few more people's eyes to what's going on and to the remedy of States' Rights.
May God save the sovereign state of Georgia!
For Georgia First,
Ray
My son and I just drove back today from a few days in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge where we shot the footage for a television commercial for a client. The last thing that I did before heading home was stop and get gas in Pigeon Forge, mainly because the price there was $3.13, about $.20 a gallon less than back home in Georgia.
Just a few short years ago, the last thing we always did before LEAVING Georgia was to stop and fill up because Georgia was, on average, about $.20 a gallon cheaper than all the states around us. Not so anymore. So what happened?
Well, Georgia lawmakers decided that one of the ways that they could raise your taxes without taking responsibility for it was to pass along another indirect tax in the form of raising the motor fuel tax. But wait a minute, haven't Republicans been in control of the Georgia General Assembly for the last however long? Yep. Just in case there's anyone who still doesn't know... the GOP establishment is not against tax increases; they're only against the ones that cost them votes at the ballot box. You know, the ones that are obvious, like income tax increases, which is the saving grace for why Georgia's personal income tax rates haven't substantially changed since the 1930's. Can't say the same for fuel taxes, hunting and fishing licenses, drivers licenses, firearms licenses, and on and on the list goes. Indirect taxes that aren't so obvious when it comes time to vote again.
But some say that we MUST have higher motor fuel taxes; after all, everyone knows that's why Georgia's roads are so much prettier and smoother than our neighboring states. While it is true that Georgia roads on average are in much better condition than some of our neighbors, it doesn't mean that Georgia HAS to have higher motor fuel taxes for it to be that way. Why not? Glad you asked. If Georgia just kept the motor fuel taxes that it sends every year to the federal government, there would be a significant increase in Georgia's dollars for highways without having such high prices at the pump. Georgia can't just "keep" its motor fuel taxes, you say; the federal government mandates that we MUST send them in to Washington to be redistributed as Washington, D.C. sees fit... after all, the federal government knows best. At least that's how the Lincoln-esque Republican and Democrat argument in Washington goes. But does Georgia really HAVE to send all of that motor fuel tax to Washington that the feds demand? No.
One of the ten States' Rights bills that I had the privilege to co-author with the late Rep. Bobby Franklin during the 2010 governor's race was one that would have stopped the state of Georgia from sending ANY motor fuel tax to Washington, D.C. Since one of my campaign platform planks during the governor's race was saying "NO" to any federal control over education, the first question that I was always asked by naysayers was, "What are you going to do, then, when Washington threatens to take away our highway funds if you stand up to them?" My answer was always, "Stop sending them the highway funds in the first place. The only reason that the feds have highway funds to use as extortion and blackmail is because WE give them the highway funds. If we stopped sending them highway funds, how would they be able to withhold them? They are using our own money against us (someone should have pointed out the same thing to Scotland before their independence vote from the UK this week).
And did you know that even when Georgia complies with ALL federal mandates, we only get 90% of our federal highway funds back from Washington? That's right, Georgia is what is known as a "donor state." A full ten percent of all of our highway funds are given away to other states like, I don't know, California perhaps, who has already spent all their own money and now needs ours, too. It's called regional communism. It's also one of the reasons that the South seceded in 1860, by the way, when she was forced to pay more than 75% of all federal taxes each year just to see the money spent on internal improvements north of the Mason Dixon line.
So why are Georgia's gas prices higher than they should be? Blame the Democrats in Washington and the Republicans in Atlanta. There's plenty of blame to go around. Unfortunately, Georgians who work hard to provide for their families are the ones footing the bill. Think about it the next time you pump gas and look at the price on the pump... and the next time that there is an incumbent that you have the opportunity to vote out of office.
Ray McBerry is the president of Ray McBerry Enterprises, Inc. which owns KBN Television and serves as a public relations firm for select clients. He is a father, television host of "Georgia First," former Republican candidate for governor, and has been generally recognized as the leading spokesman for the Tenth Amendment and States' Rights in Georgia for more than a decade. He still takes occasional speaking engagements and continues to write and speak out on radio and television for the Cause of liberty. He has appeared on FOX News, CNN, HLN, MSNBC, and many other stations to defend States' Rights.
