German launches long-shot bid for lieutenant governor

HARLYNE, Harvannah--A young Conservative pastor has announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor of Harvannah.

Dackery German, who goes by the shorter name "Dack," has announced he will challenge incumbent Nationalist Mia Xhi in the 2012 election.

German is a long-shot to beat the highly-favored Xhi, who easily defeated Conservative incumbent Robert Faller Jr. in the 2008 election. Xhi has rolled in campaign cash, and has high state-wide name recognition, both of which German, a political new-comer, lacks.

But in a video released on his campaign website, www.dackgerman.com, the 37-year-old minister says he wants to "transform the way elected officials interact with their constituents." He criticizes Xhi, saying she is too stand-offish and does not attentively listen to citizen complaints and concerns. "We need a lieutenant governor who is not apart of a political machine or a political agenda, but just genuinely wants to help the people they serve," German says in the video.

German works as a youth minister at Harbourview Church in southeast Harlyne. Before he can compete against Xhi, however, he will have to make it through the primary election, where he will face Clevey Springs Mayor Todd Kren, who announced his candidacy last month. Kren is viewed by many party insiders to be a more viable candidate.

German had been exploring running for office for months, but made his candidacy official yesterday, December 26. He will be temporarily stepping down from his position at Harbourview until the race is over.

The Kren and Xhi campaigns had no comment.

Boden won't decide until January

COREEGA, Harvannah--Wealthy businessman, attorney, and anti-tax activist Craig Boden will not decide until after the new year if he will run for governor, he told GBC radio today.

Boden, a Conservative, has been toying with joining the crowded field of CNS gubernatorial candidates. However, on Wednesday, he told Harvannah's GBC Local 1390 AM he won't make a decision until January.

Already in the race are state Attorney General Julia Giorchani, Harrisport Mayor George Garesby, H-Tel CEO Rich Tuller and Goldchrist businessman Tom Marelo.

Boden has criticized the current CNS field of candidates for not being conservative enough. The far-right of the Conservative party are attempting to draft him into running, sources say.

The primary election is slated for March 24, 2012.

Fulbright: concessions from state unions needed to save jobs

NEW SALEM, Armana--State unions must make concessions in order to save government jobs, Armana Gov. Dale Fulbright said Tuesday.

Fulbright and the state legislature are attempting to reach an agreement on how to climb out of a $763 million budget shortfall. Cuts have already been made, but the governor insists concessions from various state employees' unions are necessary to help avoid lay-offs.

"In lean times, we have two choices: either make concessions and share the burden collectively, or decline to make concessions and write out lay-off slips. I would really rather avoid the latter," he said at a Tuesday press conference.

Specifically, Fulbright is calling on the state teachers' union, the Armana Teachers Association (ATA), to make concessions on yearly pay increases and holiday reimbursement. The governor has also asked the Armana State General Employees' Union (ASGEU) to make concessions on holiday pay and retirement benefits.

"It's unfortunate, but we have to close this budget gap, and in order to do that, we need the unions to stop holding out and to sacrifice a little here and there," Fulbright said. "No one wants to make these concessions, but we've tried to make them as painless as we can given the situation, and we see the alternative of laying people off as not a good solution."

ATA President Brenda Siemen jumped on the governor's "sacrifice" comments, telling the Maine City Overseer that "teachers make huge sacrifices every day to supplement their classrooms and educate children."

"I don't think most people would consider cuts in pay and benefits for our hard-working teachers minor sacrifices like the governor does. I think he really stands alone on that," Siemen said.

Brett Stewart, who heads the ASGEU, told the GBC the governor is being dishonest, because cuts could be made in other areas instead of cutting pay and benefits for state workers.

"This is a classic strategy of this Conservative government: blame the unions for our budget problems. The fact is, if the governor would look harder at the budget, he could find other, less painful places to cut money without impacting the pay and retirement plans of state employees," Stewart said.

Grace Solomon, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, told the National Press Federation (NPF) that other parts of the budget are being impacted.

"We are seeing the budget impacted at many different levels. Agencies across the state are seeing their budgets slashed, less services being offered to the citizens, and that's because the governor is trying to make cuts in several different areas so we don't have just one area where we're feeling the pinch," Solomon said.

The budget showdown comes as Armana tries to fix its worst budget deficit in 12 years. The state's budget is better off than other states, but the 2011-2012 fiscal year has seen the first deficit since 2005.

Manning, DeBoor face off over economy

MAVOCKE--Two leading senators went head-to-head on a Sunday morning news program today, arguing their party is better prepared to address the economic challenges facing the country.

Stephanie Manning, a Nationalist from Lial, told Weekend Glance host Ed McCulvie the NAT party needs a majority in both houses of Congress before it can "lead the country out of an economic drought."

"The only way we can bring this country out of this economic dry spell is to elect an NAT majority in the Senate and the National Assembly," Manning said on the morning political news program.

She was rebutted by Remmington's freshman Conservative senator, Pete DeBoor, a former oil executive.

"Electing an NAT majority in Congress is the last thing this country needs," DeBoor said. "We already have a Nationalist president who doesn't know how to handle the economy. If we give him an NAT-controlled Senate and Assembly, we're just asking for more stimuluses and bail-outs and tax increases."

McCulvie pointed out that the bail-out and stimulus packages of 2009 were passed with Conservative support, including DeBoor's fellow Remmington senator, Curt Blaisek, who helped reach an agreement on the $315 billion stimulus.

"Well I like Curt, and I think he meant well when he voted for the stimulus. He was trying to reach a compromise and trying to reach across party lines to make an agreement that all sides could be happy with. But I disagree that spending money is going to get us out of this economic rut," DeBoor said, of the stimulus and bail-out.

DeBoor ridiculed a proposal from some Nationalists for a second stimulus, telling McCulvie the NAT's only strategy is tax-and-spend.

"That's all they've got. That's their only idea, to just keep taxing the people of this country and spending and hoping that if they spend enough money, they'll finally start earning some back. That is not a real solution."

Manning declined to support the proposal for a second stimulus, but did say the NAT will cut spending, something DeBoor laughed at.

"I'm very serious when I say that [Senate Majority Leader] John Morandi and [Assembly Minority Leader] Allison McGint and Brenton Menuhaeo are going to go through the budget and find areas where we can cut back. But what they will not do is make cuts to services and programs that are vital to working-class Grassadellians in exchange for tax breaks and pay-offs for the super rich. And they will not burden our children and seniors and low-income citizens while cutting deals with corporations and the big oil companies," Manning said, a clear slight at DeBoor.

DeBoor ended the segment by telling McCulvie that jobs, not rhetoric, is what the people want.

"The best thing you can do for the working class people of this country is to get them jobs again. No more broken promises, just a paycheck. That's what the people of this country want."