Another day another story about Oxedine that should give voters pause.
Last May, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that two Rome, Ga. insurance companies – State Mutual Insurance Co. and Admiral Life Insurance Co. – sent checks to the 10 PACS. The insurance companies are both headed by the same CEO, Delos “Dee” Yancey III. The PACs are administered by the son of Donald V. Watkins, the head of the bank who also sits on the board of both insurance companies. The bank also once was co-owned by Yancey’s father.
Most of the PACs had little or no money in their accounts before the infusion of cash.
Once the payments were made from the insurance companies, the PACs each sent $12,000 – a total of $120,000 — to Oxendine’s campaign. The money was all sent in the same amounts and on the same dates from all the PACs.
The banks that handled the accounts have been subpoenaed by the State Ethics Commission, but as they are in Alabama, they are refusing to honor the subpoenas. Now the Attorney General will probably get involved and ask a court in Alabama to have the banks honor the subpoena request.
This will just keep this story alive to keep clubbing the Ox.
I get that Georgia Primary voters know Ox more than most of the other candidates because he’s been kissing their butts since 1994. It’s not them I’m worried about. It’s the non-primary voters who can quickly see through the pandering veneer into what a reckless politician he is.
Hopefully primary voters will be smart enough to see the danger and reject Oxendine. The best thing that could happen to the Georgia GOP is to see the end of Oxendine’s political career.
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Alabama banks, eh? This could make the Water Wars look like a picnic in the park. I just need to know more about these banks and how they’re built. Anybody have a schematic?
Reason #124 to rally behind Eric Johnson. Eric is the only candidate who can handle both Ox and Barnes.
Research how the members of some campaigns get fired for fiscal
irregularities especially those in charge of the books and depositing campaign contributions.
Just proves candidates are never rigorous in researching backgrounds and previous malefeasances. Many times you are sent evil doers thinking someone is doing you a favor.
And that has what to do with this?
I saw a dark gray Ford F-150 today that make me think of you. In the back window, someone had taken golden-orange pinpoint twinkling type lights and wrapped them in the form of your alligator photo. It was really cute and that orange with the dark gray was striking.
Happily, it wasn’t the “Calvin taking a wizz” decal that made you think of me.
I forgot the link on the story I was reading, so the above post doesn’t make much sense.
http://www.cpbn.org/article/michael-sohn-arrested-feds
ex US Rep Shays R-Conn: Feds arrest campaign manager for embezzling 250k from campaign.
For those running for anything researching who did what and how they got caught is a great checklist to keep campaign on up and up.
Since this involves interstate activity, perhaps the Federales should look into the matter. I think they would undoubtedly have jurisdiction.
I bet McBerry would be happy to call the Federales
hahahahahaha
these “stories” keep popping up, it’s like y’all are trying to make ox seem shady by repeating gossip and innuendo…
D’ya think, doc?
I mean, I KNOW you think, but as a manner of speaking, D’ya think?
“Gossip?” It’s not gossip – it’s on the home page of the AJC.
But here’s some “innuendo” for you – Oxendine is a pandering schmuck with no moral compass who thinks paving over half of my city is “thinking outside of the box.”
Sorry to disagree with you drjay, but he provides the fodder.
Don’t think the State Ethics Commission has any “subpoena power” at this stage of the process, so the AG isn’t going to have any play unless, perhaps, the Commission votes to turn this over to the AG for investigation.
Darn those laws! Too bad our legislators never quite make ethics laws strong enough to actually DO anything.
Don’t worry. I have a friend who can get to the records.
http://tectonicforces.blogspot.com/2008/07/juggenaut.html
Blast! The only truly worthwhile part of that clip was the tiniest sliver of time showing Famke Janssen.
Best looking 46-year-old actress out there.
Does not appear that he has any information yet, but the “OX” may be surprised who remembers being shoddily treated as a client. These records are public as soon as someone decides to look!!!!!!!!!! Why the hurry to close a thriving law practice ?
I still think too many people are thinking that Oxendine’s name recognition is related to a few possibly good deeds. I believe if the questions about his name recognition were divided between bad press versus good press, the answer would probably be bad press.
Some feel that Karen doesn’t have the name recognition that Ox does but the hundreds of thousands of people in this state, if not a million, owning a small business or performing a licensed profession, dentists, podiatrists, hair stylists, to name a few, has her name printed at the bottom of the license. While they may not have been as vocal in their knowledge, they do know her name. I feel her name recognition is much larger than 9%.
Then the 9% is truely scarey. If more that that know who she is.
I am somewhat suspicious of these polls. I asked on another blog if any of the contributors have been contacted by poll administrators and as I recall, only ByteMe has been interviewed.
I have never been contacted, so what I am saying is I am sure those hundreds of thousands of others have not been able to give their opinon as to the name recognition question. The poll results leads me to think that only insurance people have been asked.
Near as I can tell, the only place you really need to be suspicious is how they take the raw numbers and massage them to get the final numbers. They need to do this to take things into account like the demographics of random land-line phone calls that might skew more heavily toward older Republicans answering the phone, compared to younger Democrats who more often have cell and VOIP. The better firms do a better job with their statistical adjustments.
massage the numbers? Is that what they do in Macon?
I and the spouse have been repeatedly surveyed. I didn’t answer before because I thought it would look weird for only Byte and me to have been polled. I assumed some others would answer too. But I don’t think you should draw any conclusions from two responses on a blog. I am pretty confident that pollsters do actually make calls, and sometimes they do try to get randomness in the equation. They may vary in accuracy, but I don’t think there is a conspiracy or whatever you are implying.
She’d have a lot more name recognition if she would stay at one elected position for more than 3 years.
Then when she wins, she will have been accused of tampering with the results to ensure she wins. With thinking like that, she is in a no win situation, she is damned if she does and she is damned if she doesn’t.
She could avoid all the criticism and just not run for anything!
I know I’m in the minority, but I would have had no problem with her staying on as SoS while running for Governor.
Gee, I wonder what WSB is going to reveal about Ox and another candidate? The tease said it involves the FBI and the AG. See, more fodder provided courtesy of the Ox and his antics.
I missed the 6 PM news because of traffic. What did it say? Will it be on again at 11 PM?
Fox 5 TV did a nice ambush interview with Sonny, questioning him about quail hunting with Clark Fain, Larry Walker, Jim Cole, Butch Parrish, etc. on the dime of Fain’s failed insurance company. All this courtesy of Oxendine, who was also interviewed about their conduct. The OX is milking this investigation to get free publicity that demonstrates he is not afraid to track crime down, even if it leads to the Governor’s mansion. Hypocritical…yes…Effective….for sure.
He’s as sharp as a bowling ball if he thinks pointing out other pols acceptance of gift hunting trips will distract from his having done so.
Oxendine better enjoy it now while he can. What comes around goes around and Oxendine is setting himself up a real beatdown.
Sharp as a bowling ball . . . maybe sharper.
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/i-team:-gov.-perdue's-free-trips
Erick: Sorry to be late on the post. Let’s add a twist to this story.
Donald Watkins is CEO of Alamerica Bank. Previously, as a practicing attorney, he was the gatekeeper for former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington. There was always “rumored” to be the standard “pay to play” entry fee surronding any issue that the City business, and every city contract added a 10% – 20% “contract management fee” paid for by the recipient of the contract – and Mr. Watkins “help” make the selection of the consultant. Google “Marjorie Peters, Birmingham” for the most famous of the incarcerated. Watkins claimed to have made billions from investing in ethanoyl, but most folks know where the seed capital came from. The only reason the Mayor and his lawyer escaped successful procesecution was that half of the white business leaders in Birmingham would have been caught in the corruption probe, as even simple building permits were subject to the shakedown. The former US Attorney attempted one or more times to procescute Arrington, but had to do so with kid gloves in order to protect his business and social friends.
If anyone really wanted to take down the Ox, this link to Donald Watkins could produce several months of interesting reading, as DW always received something for each investment he made.
Strident, thanks for your post — better late than never.
I plan to spend my day doing as you suggested. This guy needs to be stopped before it’s too late. We don’t need him as Governor PERIOD!!
Sorry for my typos. There is 20 years of Donald Watkins legacy in Birmingham politics, not to mention his tie-in with convicted CEO Richard Scrushy of HealthSouth and former Alabama Governor Don Seigelman. Happy Hunting.
Oh, I will enjoy the hunt. By the way, does the fact that Watkins was once involved with State Mutual Insurance Co. in Rome, GA have anything to do with the Ox?
Also, love finding out how this all ties back to Yancey. What a surprise?!!
Not well versed on SMIC. If DW is on the board, he believes in establishing “useful” relationships with the regulators he will encounter. No telling what may turn up.
This could end up being like a scavenger hunt. Well, he probably did establish a “useful” relationship with the Ox and probably contribute to one of his elections.
PAC and direct contributions to campaigns is one thing – usually DW stays on the lawful side of such matters. The line to explore is employment of consultants, lawyers and others connected to the targeted elected official. Large, no work retainers or fixed monthly fees is a long standing modus operandi.
Or a snipe hunt.
I just spotted a “GA Dems for The Ox” bumper sticker…
Gonna be a fun primary…
If the Ga. GOP manages to lose the governorship in the same year that Ted Kennedy’s seat went Republican, it will be an EPIC FAIL. The Ox can get us into the annals of history… so can Deal. Real. and maybe even Karen Handel…
I can only think that was Paul Zucca, and he printed it himself.
The way these politicians drag their feet this bank may as well be in Bosnia or Zaire.
A Georgia politician
Banks in Alabama
“Kid Gloves”
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k55NuWQCh78
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