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Thursday, January 11, 2007
The fight for Delta hits the Capitols — here and in D.C.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The fight for Delta Air Lines gets more and more interesting, as US Airways ups its bid, and rumors swirl of another merger possibility in the form of Northwest Airlines.
The action has spread, very quietly, to the Capitols — both the one in Atlanta, and the one in Washington.
Associates for McKenna, Long & Aldridge, one of the most powerful lobbying firms in Atlanta, which represents such hometown heroes as Home Depot, Coke, and Lockheed, has been using its clout to help US Airways CEO Doug Parker touch base with top Georgia political figures.
McKenna also represents Air Tran, so US Airways’ choice of a go-between makes a certain amount of sense.
McKenna associate Alex Albert, who served former chief of staff to U.S. senator Zell Miller, escorted Parker to a meeting with U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss.
Aides to House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle have confirmed that their bosses received phone calls from Parker, arranged by the lobbying firm.
All said the conversations occurred last month.
The word we get from politicians who have had conversations with US Airways is that they’ve emphasized their commitment to Delta as a stand-alone airline. “He told them he was very, very cool to the idea,” a staffer for Richardson said.
An advisor to Cagle told us that no politician can forget the lesson of Newt Gingrich and Eastern Airline employees — who nearly booted the future House speaker from Congress for failing to intervene to save the airline in the late 1980s.
The only politician who hasn’t confirmed a contact with US Airways is Gov. Sonny Perdue. But that the airline would neglect the governor hardly makes any diplomatic or business sense.
What does US Airways want? We’re told that Parker simply wanted to establish some relationships that could be tapped should his effort be successful.
But the suspicious types at the state Capitol say it’s more likely that the airline is seeking allies who can help influence Delta’s board of creditors, who have final say over the hometown airline’s future.
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The rules and players in the complaint against the Speaker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just got out of state Sen. Eric Johnson’s news conference on the procedure for handling the ethics complaint against House Speaker Glenn Richardson.
You know the background: State Democratic party chairman Bobby Kahn, who exits his job later this month, filed a complaint with the House-Senate ethics committee, accusing Richardson of an “inappropriate” relationship with an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist while a sponsor of a bill to ease the way for the company to construct a $300 million pipeline.
By statute, Johnson is chairman of the committee this year. He announced that Richardson had reappointed the same House members who sat on the committee last year, when the panel was first formed: House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta), and Reps. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan), Gerald Greene (D-Cuthbert) and Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus).
Johnson named his four appointments as well: Sens. Seth Harp (R-Midland), Jack Hill (r-Reidsville), George Hooks (D-Americus) and Michael Meyer von Bremen (D-Albany). Johnson said the above senators “have demonstrated the courage to deal with awkward situations.”
Two bits of news came out as well:
— First, this complaint may have to run a three-Republican gauntlet before any one can say whether it will go anywhere. By statute, each complaint is subject to a review committee, made up of three committee members: Johnson, a House Republican named by Johnson, and a senator named by Johnson (no party specified).
The review panel can dismiss the complaint if it finds it specious, without it ever reaching the full committee.
— Secondly, Johnson said they can only examine the narrow question of whether Richardson engaged in a conflict of interest. It wouldn’t get into questions of moral turpitude, etc.
Here is the sound from the news conference.
He quits the party, perhaps to become one of us
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Andre the Blogger, the first independent denizen of the Internet to win a Senate press credential at the state Capitol, announced last night that he’s resigned from the state committee of the Democratic party.
“I’ve had fun, but ladies and gentlemen, I’m done and I have no regrets,” he writes. Andre doesn’t say why, but we assume he’s doing so to enhance his journalistic creds. Read the entire thing here.
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