Paul_Yates's Blog

After a heated round of rhetoric, Georgia's three top Republicans offered diplomatic language under the Gold Dome. Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson appeared together in the governor's office. They were polite. But their body language spoke volumes. There was no back slapping. They stood as far apart as possible while remaining in camera range. One did not gaze upon the other.

The 2008 legislative session ended days earlier with Messrs. Cagle and Richardson trading harsh words over the failure of tax cut legislation. Richardson urged Cagle to "be a man" and called for his ouster. The lieutenant governor suggested the speaker had been "blinded by ego."

Gov. Perdue, who was in China when the session ended bitterly, urged all concerned to carry themselves "with dignity." The governor contended that media reporting on differences among the big three had eclipsed tangible legislative accomplishments. He signed three bills dealing with hospital rules and education and transportation funding.

He noted that the approved legislation had been in the work for years, and characterized the tax cut proposals as hastily assembled. And with fresh indications of big financial disarray at the state transportation department, the governor said the failure of a measure allowing local sales tax increases for transportation improvements was a good thing. "I think the best outcome happened for Georgia," he said.

All acknowledge that two big issues remain among others. Election-year traffic gridlock is chewing up an increasing amount of voters' time. And the state's struggling trauma care network still has no permanent source of funding.