Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2007 > January > 09
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
A Democratic blogger lands in an anti-abortion hearing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you want to see how blogging might change journalism, check out this blow-by-blow account of state Rep. Bobby Franklin’s hearing on his bill to ban all abortions in Georgia, posted on Blog for Democracy.
Democrats will think it’s hilarious, and Republicans are guaranteed to be offended. We rate it PG-13, due to language and topic.
Cagle names two Democrats to chairmanships: Harbison and Meyer von Bremen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As he hinted, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle on Tuesday named Democrats Ed Harbison, an African-American lawmaker from Columbus, and Michael Meyer von Bremen of Albany to committee chairmanships.
Harbison will chair the committee on interstate cooperation, with newly elected Democrat Nan Orrock as his vice-chair. Meyer von Bremen will head the special judiciary committee, with Democrat David Adelman of Decatur as his vice chair.
See below for other Senate committee assignments.
Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs
Bulloch (Chair) Hudgens (Vice Chair) Hawkins (Secretary) Goggans Orrock Powell Tarver
Committee on Appropriations
Hill Jack (Chair) Goggans (Vice Chair) Golden (Secretary) Balfour Bulloch Cowsert Fort Grant Hamrick Harp Heath Henson Hooks Johnson Moody Mullis Murphy Meyer von Bremen Pearson Schaefer Seabaugh Seay Smith Staton (ex-officio) Tate Thomas Don Thomas Regina Thomspon Steve Tolleson Unterman Williams Wiles (ex-officio)
Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions
Hamrick (Chair) Hudgens (Vice Chair) Tarver (Secretary) Bulloch Harbison Murphy Rogers Schaefer Shafer Thomspon Steve
Committee on Economic Development
Pearson (Chair) Rogers (Vice Chair) Carter (Secretary) Brown Chance Hooks Mullis Murphy Schaefer Tarver Thompson Curt Whitehead
Committee on Education and Youth
Weber (Chair) Carter (Vice Chair) Thomas Don (Secretary) Balfour Douglas Fort Moody Ramsey Tate Thomas Regina
Committee on Ethics
Unterman (Chair) Hooks (Vice Chair) Schaefer (Secretary) Butler Hamrick Hill Jack Johnson Murphy Meyer von Bremen Reed Stoner Thomas Don
Committee on Finance
Rogers (Chair) Williams (Vice) Chance (Secretary) Goggans Golden Heath Johnson Jones (ex officio) Seabaugh Shafer Thomspon Steve
Committee on Higher Education
Harp (Chair) Cowsert (Vice Chair) Staton (Secretary) Chance Davenport Golden Orrock Thompson Curt Wiles
Committee on Health and Human Services
Thomas Don (Chair) Unterman (Vice Chair) Goggans (Secretary) Adelman Balfour Butler Grant Hawkins Henson Hill Judson Smith Tate Wiles
Committee on Interstate Cooperation
Harbison (Chair) Orrock (Vice Chair) Jones (Secretary) Davenport Powell
Committee on Insurance and Labor
Hudgens (Chair) Shafer (Vice Chair) Moody (Secretary) Brown Chapman Golden Harbison Ramsey Rogers
Committee on Judiciary
Smith (Chair) Harp (Vice Chair) Hamrick (Secretary) Adelman Brown Carter Cowsert Fort Hill Judson Meyer von Bremen Reed (ex-officio) Wiles
Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment
Tolleson (Chair) Bulloch (Vice Chair) Hudgens (Secretary) Chapman Hawkins Henson Hill Jack Hooks Meyer von Bremen Weber Whitehead
Committee on Government Oversight
Chance (Chair) Carter (Vice Chair) Henson (Secretary) Goggans Golden Grant Harp Heath Mullis Tarver
Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
Whitehead (Chair) Mullis (Vice Chair) Chapman (Secretary) Butler Carter Davenport Jones Seay
Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting
Hill Judson (Chair) Hawkins (Vice Chair) Seabaugh (Secretary) Brown Chance Cowsert Fort Harbison Hudgens Moody Rogers Shafer Smith Thomas Regina Williams
Committee on Regulated Industries and Utilities
Shafer (Chair) Johnson (Vice Chair) Harbison (Secretary) Butler Henson Hill Jack Seabaugh Stoner Thomas Regina Tolleson (ex officio) Williams
Committee on Retirement
Heath (Chair) Schaefer (Vice Chair) Smith (Secretary) Davenport Murphy Stoner Tate
Committee on Rules
Balfour (Chair) Hamrick (Vice Chair) Seabaugh (Secretary) Adelman Butler Hill Jack Hooks Johnson Moody Pearson Thomas Don Tolleson Unterman Williams
Special Judiciary Committee
Meyer von Bremen (Chair) Adelman (Vice Chair) Hill Judson (Secretary) Cowsert Harp Ramsey Reed Tarver Weber
Committee on Science and Technology
Staton (Chair) Heath (Vice Chair) Douglas (Secretary) Orrock Powell
Committee on State and Local Government Operations
Wiles (Chair) Grant (Vice Chair) Weber (Secretary) Hawkins Jones Ramsey Reed
Committee on State Institutions and Property
Grant (Chair) Thomas Regina (Vice Chair) Seay (Secretary) Fort Powell Stoner Thompson Curt
Committee on Transportation
Mullis (Chair) Whitehead (Vice Chair) Pearson (Secretary) Chapman Douglas Goggans Reed Seay Staton Stoner Thomspon Steve
Committee on Urban Affairs
To be announced.
Veterans and Military Affairs Committee
Douglas (Chair) Staton (Vice Chair) Tolleson (Secretary) Brown Jones Thompson Curt
Committee on Assignments
Williams (Chair) Johnson Mullis Rogers Shafer Hill (ex officio) Moody (ex officio) Pearson (ex officio)
Committee on Administrative Affairs
Johnson (Chair) Brown Moody Pearson Wiles Williams
What you didn’t know about Casey Cagle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lost in this week’s inauguration hoopla is a great piece by Harris Blackwood of the Gainesville Times on Nita Cagle, wife of the new Republican lieutenant governor. Read it here, or let us spoil it for you now.
The article contains two bits of information that would have made any campaign manager wince — had they come out before the election.
First, it seems as if the No. 2 man at the state Capitol, who once owned two bridal and tux shops, has an eye for fashion. Nita Cagle said her husband picked out the suit she wore to Monday’s inauguration ceremony.
“He can dress me better than I can,” she told Blackwood.
Secondly, her husband has a unique way to deal with pressure. Not drugs, not exercise. He goes to Wal-Mart. “He loves to go there and just get lost,” his wife said.
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They also serve who bill by the hour
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Yesterday we noted the presence of former governors Carl Sanders, Joe Frank Harris and Zell Miller at Gov. Sonny Perdue’s inauguration, and wondered where Jimmy Carter and Roy Barnes might be.
We don’t know about Carter, but turns out (thanks for the tip, Marie) that Barnes and his old Republican adversary, former state Attorney General Mike Bowers, were in court trying a case together.
An ‘08 development: Poitevint hops on McCain bus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sen. John McCain’s pre-campaign organization announced today that Alec Poitevint, currently the chairman of the state Republican party, will serve as Southern “co-chair.” No word on how many other co-chairs there might be.
The news isn’t much of a surprise, given that Poitevint has long made his sympathies known. But it is significant, because other important members of the Bush wing in the Georgia have already signed on with Mitt Romney of Massachusetts.
For instance, Eric Tanenblatt, former chief of staff to Gov. Sonny Perdue, is heading up the finance team for Romney in Georgia.
We also hear Romney made a favorable impression last weekend at the Awakening Conference at Sea Island. The Awakening Conference is a conservative Republican version of the Renaissance Weekend, made famous by the Clintons. The list of 400 attendees at last week’s sessions is hush-hush, but it included some serious Georgia money.
Romney is also said to be picking up the support this week of U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
But the fact that Poitevint is chairman of the Georgia party, and will remain so until his term expires in five months, is certainly worth some cachet for McCain. Here’s another thought: If Poitevint is for McCain, does that say anything about Sonny Perdue, the new head of the Republican Governors Association?
How an ethics complaint could tip a balance of power
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Read today’s AJC piece on the ethics complaint against House Speaker Glenn Richardson very carefully.
The executive director of the State Ethics Commission says his agency has no jurisdiction into looking at whether Richardson engaged in an “inappropriate relationship” with an AGL lobbyist, as state Democratic chairman Bobby Kahn has alleged.
But Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) is this year’s chairman of the bipartisan joint House-Senate committee on ethics. He says his panel could very well have jurisdiction.
“We are going to take it very seriously, Johnson told AJC reporter Jeremy Redmon. “The charge on its surface is within the jurisdiction of the committee. Whether it meets the evidentiary requirements, I don’t know yet.”
From what we’ve been told, the Senate is in charge of investigating complaints against House members, and vice versa.
Think about that for a minute. These annual legislative sessions are often driven, especially in the last days, not by partisan divisions, but by institutional rivalries between the House and the Senate.
Legislative ambitions and political resumes can be dashed in a heartbeat.
Throughout this session, a high-ranking member of the Senate leadership could be dangling a sword of Damocles over the House.
No doubt, that such a tool would ever be used in the crass, manipulative fashion that we’re suggesting is completely out of the question. Ridiculous. Beyond the pale.
But it could make those closed-door negotiations awfully interesting.
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