Georgia Democrats attacked U.S. Rep. Mike Collins last week for saying in a radio interview that he wants people to “get off” Medicaid and Social Security.
Collins, who represents Athens, was defending Republicans’ “one big, beautiful” reconciliation bill, as President Trump put it, and supply-side economics, the widely discredited idea that cutting taxes will actually increase tax revenue.
“You’ve got spending, and you’ve got revenue,” he told the right-wing talk radio station XTRA 106.3 on June 5. “You can set it up to increase your revenue, and you can do that by lowering taxes and making it more advantageous for people to work, and to get off of Medicaid, get off of Social Security, get back in the workforce,” he said.
Other than a $4,000 tax credit for seniors, the bill does not affect Social Security, but it does cut $800 billion from Medicaid, which Democrats say would throw 750,000 Georgians off the health-care rolls. (Medicaid, for low-income families, is not to be confused with Medicare, the program for retirees.)
“The tax cuts Collins wants for the billionaires can’t happen unless the costly government expenditures of Social Security and Medicare are on the chopping block,” said Democrat Lexy Doherty, who is running in the 10th District. “That’s why he works to end Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP as we know them. Those are his marching orders from the billionaires.”
The Democratic Party of Georgia also took aim at Collins as he reportedly mulls a run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
“Mike Collins’ message to Georgia’s retirees is clear: Get off Social Security and get off Medicaid,” said Devon Cruz, senior communications advisor for the DPG. “As Georgia Republicans continue to audition for Trump’s endorsement for Senate, they’re revealing to voters just how damaging and out of touch their agenda is for working families.”
Another candidate with Athens ties could enter the race as well. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week that Derek Dooley, the son of Barbara and the late legendary football coach Vince Dooley, may jump into what is likely to be a crowded GOP primary now that Gov. Brian Kemp has bowed out.
Although they’ve never held office, the Dooleys have long been a politically influential family, mentoring Kemp and state Rep. Houston Gaines (R-Athens), and appearing alongside former Georgia football star and 2022 Senate candidate Herschel Walker on the campaign trail. Both parties tried to recruit Vince to run for governor or Senate in the 1980s and ‘90s, and Barbara ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2002.
Derek, 56, earned a law degree from UGA in 1994 before following his father into coaching. Most prominently, he compiled a 15–21 record as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers from 2010–2012. As the AJC’s Greg Bluestein reported, little is known about his political views. However, as Walker showed in 2022, despite a variety of scandals—when he easily defeated then-agriculture commissioner Gary Black in the GOP primary and forced Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock into a runoff—name recognition can go a long way.
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