SPRINGFIELD — Adam Bridges wants politicians to start talking to each other instead of about each other. Bridges, a Pooler businessman, told the Effingham County Democratic Committee and several interested citizens on Thursday that uncivil discourse is a primary reason for his Georgia House District 161 candidacy. "I'm tired of the hate rhetoric that is going on, the division that is going on," Bridges said. "Our job is to get people together." Bridges, who operates Wallace Insurance Agency and BJ's Beverage, said temper tantrums have supplanted statesmanship at government's highest levels. "I think we need to have more politicians come in and listen to you — to find out what it is that you want," he said. Bridges, a former Marine with a husband and four foster children, has a long-standing passion for public service. He has served his community with service to the Big Brothers-Big Sisters program, a Pooler retirement center and the Pooler Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. "I work very hard to provide for my family and now I am being given the opportunity to be blessed to give back to people who live in my district," Bridges said. Bridges focused his early remarks on small business. "Small businesses are the backbone of the Georgia economy," he said. Bridges believes state legislation benefits large corporations to the detriment of small businesses. "I want transparency at the Gold Dome because right now we are losing billions and billions and billions of dollars of tax revenue to tax credits, tax subsidies and so forth," he said. "I want that to be disclosed so that we can see as taxpayers how much money we are losing and, so if the benefits are not in the state of Georgia, we need to remove those tax credits. We also need to put a sunset (provision) on those tax credits so that, in 10 or 15 years, they can be readdressed and not go on year after year after year." Bridges thinks small businesses should receive tax credits. He said, "If you give — let's throw out a number here — $50,000 to small business as a tax credit, do you know what small business owner can do? They can offer health care to their employees. They can offer higher wages and benefits such as vacation, sick time and maternity leave." Bridges called for a hike in the state's minimum wage. "Again, it would help small businesses to pay able to pay more if you give them tax credits," he said. See the Aug. 22 edition of the Effingham Herald for more details.