Repeating a grade needs to be the last resort, not an automatic response to a child who is struggling to learn.

We made a good start toward preserving recreational areas like the Chattahoochee River.

By creating a Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, we will give local governments a framework for working together on an issue that affects our whole state.

There is no country on earth with a stronger tradition of protecting the public's right to know.

I want business to prosper and make a profit caused by business expansion and prosperity.

The time has come to end social promotion in our schools.

I am committed to making Georgia a model for open and honest government.

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

As the leaders and decision-makers of this great state, it is our responsibility to strive for perfection.

Business and the state have a common interest; not an adversarial interest.

No one in government should ever think that the citizens they work for can't or won't scrutinize their actions.

So today I say, the outlook in Georgia has never been brighter.

We will never forget those like my great-grandfather who fought at Vicksburg.

And one of the things I've tried to do in my first months in office is to give more Georgians - reporters and members of the general public alike - a closer look at how their government works.

We live in a state with a wonderful climate and plenty of natural beauty, from the shores of Cumberland Island to the Chattahoochee River to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

As the population of Georgia increased dramatically, so did development.

And this week, I am proposing legislation to strengthen our Open Records laws to make public access to our public records surer, faster, and more comprehensive.

Georgia is in an enviable position today, but we can't rest on our laurels.

But the fact is, no matter how good the teacher, how small the class, how focused on quality education the school may be none of this matters if we ignore the individual needs of our students.

Repeating a grade needs to be the last resort, not an automatic response to a child who is struggling to learn.

Enhancing revenues will help us improve education and solve our infrastructure problems.

Traffic is only one of the side effects of growth.

Neither political party is clean when it comes to tactics that divide our people.

One thing I learned a long time ago as a prosecutor is that it's tough to get people to obey a law if there is not penalty for breaking it.

What I am proposing this year are not lofty concepts far removed form the daily struggle so of ordinary Georgians. They are proposals that directly effect the lives of the people we serve.

The First Amendment rejects red tape, cover-up and double-speak.

In my first year as governor, we solved some of the problems that had begun to undermine the Open Records Act. We gave the act teeth by providing criminal penalties for knowing violations.

We are all one - or at least we should be - and it is our job, our duty, and our great challenge to fight the voices of division and seek the salve of reconciliation.

We changed the names of our technical schools to colleges, we expanded the eligibility for HOPE scholarships for technical training, and we added some formula funding.

The First Amendment rejects red tape cover up and double speak.

Georgia is in an enviable position today but we cant rest on our laurels.

A quiet worker but a very productive one and a great one for the state of Georgia.

As the population of Georgia increased dramatically so did development.

In common use almost every word has many shades of meaning, and therefore needs to be interpreted by the context.

The fact is I've been in Massachusetts for the last two weeks, and it seems over the last few days that the price is increasing by the hour at the pump, so there needs to be an aggressive investigation.

I feel that education needs an overhaul - courses are obsolete and grades are on the way out.

Today's interpretations of religion are often backward and contradict the needs of civilization.

We are a communicating nation which needs access to space, access to the seas.

Every kid needs a mentor. Everybody needs a mentor.

One needs a Seer's Vision and an Angel's voice to be of any avail. I do not know of any Indian man or woman today who has those gifts in their most complete measure.

So the old Copenhagen interpretation needs to be generalized, needs to be replaced by something that can be used for the whole universe, and can be used also in cases where there is plenty of individuality and history.

All of us who are convinced that our military needs all the support the government and public will provide are pleased that he will have his chance to do just that.

It's depressing and scary, but he needs to know the world around him because he's fourteen now and in two years he's going to drive. He needs to know what goes on out in the world. I'm not going to always be there.

You feel the music needs something but you don't know what. So you start searching, fitting, measuring, trying. Every time you try another angle. And sometimes that's frustrating, especially if you don't come up with something for three days.

Remember, man does not live on bread alone: sometimes he needs a little buttering up.

But clearly at the same time you've got to get out there and connect with voters and actually respond to the needs, the frustrations, whatever problems their now saying are not being adequately solved.

From a reality perspective, I'm sure part of that is true, but this is the largest blackout in U.S. history. If that is not a signal that we have got a problem that needs to be fixed, I don't know what is.

One of the things about leadership is that you've got to show up. And if you want to be president of the United States you've got to make a case to the American people that Barack Obama needs to be dismissed from his position.

So many gods, so many creeds, so many paths that wind and wind while just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs.