Mother of child left in car had been denied child care by DFCS.

Aten also said Monday that Burgess went to the DeKalb County Department of Family and Children Services in August seeking help finding child care, but was turned away.

Aten said her client was told no money was left to help pay for child care during that three-month period and that the agency had run out of application forms for the next quarter.

Agency spokeswoman Renee Huie said that scenario was impossible, but acknowledged that Burgess may have been turned away for other reasons.

Revising an earlier statement that Burgess would have been guaranteed day care for a Down syndrome child, Huie said the agency would have turned her away if she wasn't on welfare or didn't have a job. Mothers who are looking for work aren't eligible for the state's assistance even if their children are classified as "special needs'' kids.

Those mothers are typically referred to Quality Care for Children, a nonprofit clearinghouse for child care, which specialized in finding day care for special needs kids. Even had that referral happened, Burgess may have had trouble because of her employment status, agency director Donna Overcash said. With persistence, Burgess could have had Asan'te tested and enrolled in an early intervention program through the DeKalb County schools, she said. But Quality Care for Children would have a difficult time finding any other day care for the girl, she said. Because of the economic downturn, agencies that subsidize child care no longer do so for women looking for work, she said.

True compassionate conservatives would be working to find a way to help find childcare for children with special needs for parents who are trying to work and make a life for themselves and their kids. Anti-abortionists should be helping to insure that children already here have a decent quality of life rather than killing doctors and clinic workers. Our priorities are all screwed up.

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Looking for Info on Shep Slater and the "Girlfriend Wanted" sign?

Click here, and scoll down to the bottom.

Shep Slater searches are turning many hits my way. Not at the pace The Raven and Michel V. got for some interesting search terms, but still a nice number of people. Maybe I could put Brittany Spears, Cindy Crawford, mud wrestling and naked all in the same post and see if I get a great number of hits. I would never do that however!

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Creative Loafing runs a story analyzing Republican Senate candidate Saxby Chambliss.

What type of conservative is Saxby Chambliss? He seems to change from radical right wing to more moderate based upon the group he is speaking to. A nice word for his shifting stances would be strategic positioning. His voting record does not shift. As a member of the House of Representatives for eight years, he has been consistently positioned himself at the extreme right. He has made Bob Barr appear moderate.

Is it common sense to vote against just about every major piece of environmental legislation presented to Congress in the last eight years when children in your state's largest metropolitan area are being told they can't play outside because the air pollution is so bad?

Does voting against birth control pills in health insurance plans exemplify down-home logic when you also stridently oppose abortion rights?

And if you side with your party almost without exception, is that reflective of the deep thinking and political independence Georgians should expect from a representative who wants a job in the country's most deliberative and powerful legislative body?

Most media in Atlanta has refused to cover Saxby's record and stand on issues. Only the AJC has even mentioned his abortion flip flop until this Creative Loafing in depth profile. Saxby is not talking up his record either. His campaign is based upon calling Max Cleland a liberal. In reality, Cleland is a moderate.

The profile of Saxby is in-depth, but it is an honest look at stated positions versus actual voting record.

Who would give what away?

While researching a little on Saxby Chambliss, I ran across an interesting quote. Howard Green, a retired army veteran told the AJC:

"I believe the whole Democratic Party is too weak and too liberal. The Democrats don't have any standards. They would give the whole country away."

Who is giving the whole country away? Republicans who want to give airlines billions upon billions of dollars when they continue to run their companies with business models that have historically failed? Or Democrats who would like to give educational and childcare funds to low income people so that they may one day support themselves?

Which party is giving billions of dollars a year in farm subsidies to major agricultural concerns while the small farmer is driven out of business? Which party wants to shift the burden of superfund cleanups to the taxpayers, while the corporations that profited from the contamination will be released from their responsibilities?

Georgia is the home to a large population of the " bitter white males with no education and no prospects." They think welfare is for minorities, and that all Democrats want to give the country away to "these people." They vote Republican out of racist tendencies, not realizing that with their meager incomes Republican policies do not help them at all. Republicans will give the country away to big business, and break the backs of all middle to low income people, but their eyes are too clouded to see it.

Many of these BWMs now drive around in trucks as couriers or as landscapers. They are mad about not having a cushy job and a nice income. Immigrants have lowered the wage scale and they feel betrayed. However, the policies they so hate could benefit them greatly. Education will increase their income and make their lives better. Work programs can teach them marketable skills. Affordable childcare can allow them and their spouses to work or seek education. It is easier to stay part of the problem instead of finding a solution.

It is a shame they are not smart enough to see beyond their hate and jealousy to see which party can actually help with the quality of their lives.

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