As if he didn’t have enough on his plate already.

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In the past few days, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s office has faced questions about how he happened to get Diamond medallion status from Delta Air Lines – a perquisite including free seat upgrades and bonus frequent-flier miles for him and his wife, valued at $8,000 – after signing into law a fuel tax break that will save the Atlanta-based airline millions of dollars.

Shortly before that, Deal’s office came under criticism for not offering full disclosure – although, in fairness, the law doesn’t require it – as to how he spent $1.6 million in donations from other Georgia corporate heavy-hitters like ATT and Georgia Power in connection with his inauguration and transition into the governor’s office.

And now, the seemingly innocuous task of choosing a new design for Georgia vehicle tags is – or at least, it could – present Deal with either a ticklish political choice, or a tough artistic choice, or both.

On Friday, the Georgia Department of Revenue posted the eight semifinalists in a public contest seeking designs for the new Georgia tags. Three of the eight designs, chosen by a panel of Georgia university and college art professors, include – as was allowed in rules promulgated by the Georgia Department of Revenue – the phrase “In God We Trust.”

And thereby is the governor potentially placed upon the horns of a dilemma. Between now and July 8, the eight designs will be the subject of online voting via the Georgia Department of Revenue’s website at https://etax.dor.ga.gov/TagContest.aspx. The three proposed license plate designs receiving the most votes will, according to the Department of Revenue, “comprise the Finalists to be presented to Governor Nathan Deal, who will announce the winning design on July 15.”

Now, it’s certainly possible the three finalists won’t include any of the plates incorporating “In God We Trust,”

Article source: http://feeds.stateline.org/~r/StatelineorgRss-Transportation/~3/biqmayGX89o/opi_849660474.shtml