Towns Democrats hosting Open House April 15

       Towns County Democrats invite the public to join them for an open house at their new and improved headquarters on Tuesday, April 15.

The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the headquarters office at 355 North Main Street, Suite C, in Hiawassee’s Lakeside Plaza, next to Bachus on the Lake.  

      The open house will be held in conjunction with the Hiawassee Downtown Development Authority. Light refreshments will be served.

“We want this office to be a resource for the community to learn about Democratic Party priorities and policies for making Towns County, Georgia, and the nation a place where people enjoy freedom in a just society with opportunity for everyone to prosper,”  said Towns County Democrats Chair David Plunkett. 

      Visitors to the office will find a number of resources, including voter registration information, copies of the U.S. Constitution,  information on Democratic policies, a lending library, and information on state and federal elections in 2025 and 2026.  In 2025, two seats on the state Public Service Commission will be up for election, and in 2026 elections will be held for the U.S. Senate seat presently held by Jon Ossoff as well as Georgia governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, among others.  

      The office space includes a conference room where community groups can meet, such as the progressive women’s group which uses the facility on the first Thursday of the month, and a local writer’s group which will be holding writing workshops.

Sleczkowski takes Election Board Oath

Following her commissioning by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Charlotte Sleczkowski took the oath of office April 10, 2025, as the newest member of the Towns County Board of Elections and Voter Registration.  Administering the oath is Towns County Probate Judge David Rogers.   Along with John Bennett, Ms. Sleczkowski serves as one of two Democratic members of the five-member board and was chosen for the position by the Towns County Democratic Executive Committee. 

 

Towns Democrats Tell Trump "HANDS OFF"

These Towns County Democrats from Hiawassee and Young Harris joined more than a thousand people who turned out Saturday, April 5, for the “Hands Off!” protest in Gainesville. The nationwide demonstration drew hundreds of thousands of people to highlight negative impacts on healthcare, safety, Social Security, medical research, veterans benefits, public education, voting rights, and environmental quality. 

Trust

April 7, 2025 (Not Published)

Dear Editor,

                With the economy cratering because of actions by Donald Trump, a new mantra is arising among his faithful: “Trust Donald.  He’s a smart businessman.”  Let’s look at that.

                When Donald proposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico, he decried the trade agreement that allowed those two countries to “[take] advantage of the United States on manufacturing, on just about everything” adding, “I look at those agreements and I say who would ever sign a thing like this?”

                Well, the answer is “Donald Trump.”  In 2018 he congratulated himself on signing the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement saying it was, “a historic win for American manufacturers and American autoworkers” and “It’s an amazing deal for a lot of people.”  Did the great negotiator get bamboozled by Canada and Mexico?

                Now the guy who negotiated a deal that let Canada and Mexico take advantage of us and bragged about doing it, wants us to trust him to negotiate a new deal with those countries.  They say insanity is doing the same thing over-and-over again and expecting a different result.  If he gave us a bad deal before, why would we trust him to give us a better one now?

                Think about all the people who have trusted Donald’s business acumen.  The investors who trusted Trump while he drove six casinos and hotels into bankruptcy.  The banks who loaned him money for loans he defaulted on.  The students at Trump University, which was called a “massive scam” by the National Review before being shuttered in the face of numerous lawsuits.  The believers in all his many business ventures which failed, leaving them holding the bag.  All these people trusted Donald’s business acumen and what did it get them?

                Donald’s acolytes want us to trust he knows what he’s doing while our 401ks are being wiped out; trust him after he said he would lower prices on day one of his presidency and then sent them soaring higher; trust his promise to “drain the swamp” as we see him surrounded by the swampiest bunch of billionaires and sycophants imaginable; trust him as he betrays our friends and embraces our enemies.  You think?

                President Reagan once quoted a Russian proverb that we should apply here: “Trust but Verify.”  I can verify that we cannot trust Donald.

David W. Plunkett

Ossoff visits North Georgia, Speaks at Democratic Committee meeting

U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff and Towns County Chair David Plunkett attend the Georgia State Democratic Party Committee meeting March 28, 2025, in Lexington, GA.  Ossoff spoke to state Democrats and local leaders about his work serving Georgians in the Senate.  In addition to serving as Chair of the Towns County Committee, Plunkett is also a representative on the State Committee.

Working Across the Aisle

 Published in the Towns County Herald Feb. 5, 2025

Dear Editor,

            Andrew Clyde, U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 9thCongressional District, continues to use his bully pulpit to sow fear and division among his constituents in the 9th District. In a recent op-ed in this newspaper, he focused on the horrific death of Laken Riley of Athens, Georgia, who was murdered by an illegal alien from Venezuela. He reports that a bipartisan bill, designed to give ICE more authority to detain illegal aliens who commit crimes in this country, is in process of passing Congress. The disturbing part of Clyde’s op-ed is his open attempt to further divide by placing unjustified blame on one political party. To state that “the murderer … accepted Joe Biden’s invitation to illegally cross the southern border” is pure inflammatory rhetoric. Finger-pointing and name-calling does not solve problems.

Our country is at a crossroads, and it will demand that our leaders act from positions of truth and integrity. Illegal immigration must be confronted as well as “kitchen table” issues such as grocery prices, housing costs, childcare costs, medical expenses, utility prices, rising insurance rates, women’s healthcare and climate-caused natural disasters. This is a big agenda that will need bipartisan support and action. We must demand that our representatives work across the aisle. They are in Congress to solve problems, which is far more demanding than pointing fingers.

Jennifer Cordier

RE: Impoundment Control Act (Clyde Lies About Art II Power)

Published in the Towns County Herald Jan. 1, 2025 

Dear Editor,

I read with interest the statement by Trump sycophant Andrew Clyde that presidents have in Article II of the Constitution a power, known as “impoundment authority,” to refuse spending money appropriated by Congress.  (“Rep. Andrew Clyde, Sen. Mike Lee introduce Legislation to Repeal Impoundment Control Act,” Towns Co. Herald, Dec. 25, 2024.)  Of course, if that is true, why introduce legislation when the courts, which are never shy of overturning unconstitutional laws, are available?

Let’s ignore the ludicrous idea that the Impoundment Control Act prevents Trump from getting “America’s fiscal house back in order,” as if he is really going to do that.  This is the same Trump who demanded recently that Congress get rid of the debt ceiling.  Think about that.  If I ask the bank to get rid of my credit limit, do you really believe I would do that if I intended to suddenly become fiscally responsible?

But let’s get back to Clyde’s theory of presidential power.  The argument he makes turns the Constitution’s command that a president “take care that the laws are faithfully executed” on its head by claiming this encompasses the power to refuse to spend money authorized and appropriated by congress.  In Kendall v. United States ex rel. Stokes, the Supreme Court held “To contend that the obligation imposed on the President to see the laws faithfully executed, implies a power to forbid their execution, is a novel construction of the constitution, and entirely inadmissible.”  Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist (later Chief Justice Rehnquist) wrote in 1969 “It is in our view extremely difficult to formulate a constitutional theory to justify a refusal by the President to comply with a congressional directive to spend.”

It is true that presidents in the past exercised what might be considered impoundment authority, but they did so within limited discretionary bounds and not as President Nixon did by abusing his authority and impounding billions in authorized spending simply because he disagreed with the programs Congress enacted.  His abuse showed the danger of free-handed impoundment and set the stage for the Impoundment Control Act, as it led to multiple cases brought against his illegal impoundments, one of which, Train v. the City of New York, is often cited as a clear Supreme Court ruling against presidential impoundment authority.

The truth is the Impoundment Control Act provides authority for a president to cut unnecessary or improper spending authorized by Congress through the processes of recission and deferral.  What the act does is provide for proper oversight by Congress and preserves the separation of powers, which in the words of Justice Brandeis saves “the people from autocracy.”

Bottom line: Clyde knows or should know his constitutional argument is faulty and that he would likely lose in court.  He should tell us the truth about how the Impoundment Control Act works and not use lies to justify his support for the misguided legislation he is now trying to sell.  Instead, we get grandstanding and half-baked arguments from him for a bill designed mainly to let him dodge responsibility for making tough decisions.

What Clyde should do is tell us honestly and frankly where he wants cuts to fall or taxes to be raised and then work (as he is being paid to do) to bring those policies to fruition if he believes they are best for the country.  Otherwise, why is he even there?

Sincerely,

David W. Plunkett