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Monday, January 29, 2007
The good news: No argument over Sunday sales of alcohol
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some of you around the state Capitol know Tom Mishou, who served as the sole staff member for the state boxing commission — making sure fighters pass their hepatitis tests and such — under Secretary of State Cathy Cox.
With Cox’s departure, Mishou has sought out a more peaceful clime than can be often found in the halls of state government. He went to Iraq.
“In the general area of Mosul,” is what he reports. “Other than that I really can’t say much.”
He describes himself as a “combat bureaucrat.”
“War creates a lot of paper work and I’m currently working in ‘document control.’ I expect to move through a few bases while I stay in-country, so I don’t want to get too settled in,” Mishou writes.
“We take in-coming mortar fire virtually every night. The nearest bunker is 12 paces away. I can make it in three.”
See? Not every Democrat is part of a draw-down.
The first of many to pick: Gingrey lines up behind Romney
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So far as we know, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) has become the first member of the Georgia congressional delegation to make a pick in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes.
He lined up this afternoon behind former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, citing the Republican candidate’s commitment to health care and “conservative values.”
So who’s next? Anybody hear where any of the Democrats are headed?
Let’s you and him fight: Phil Kent and Ed Lindsey on publicly funded judicial races
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We don’t have TIVO, and don’t have Phil Kent’s remarks from Sunday morning’s “Georgia Gang” on WAGA-TV on record.
But the topic was the proposal by state Rep. Edward Lindsey, a Republican from north Atlanta and Sandy Springs, to fund judicial campaigns with public money. Things apparently didn’t go well for Lindsay, who sent out a response Sunday afternoon.
Here’s a portion of Lindsey’s missive:
“We’ve seen tens of thousands and even millions of dollars (sometimes anonymously) from one interest group or the other flood money into judicial campaigns. Both major political parties have also weighed into these nonpartisan races. These actions have circumvented our existing campaign contribution limitations and threaten the appearance if not the reality of an unbiased judiciary.”
You can read the entire piece on the jump. Perhaps Mr. Kent, if he’s out there, can blog us a summary of his remarks, as best he can recall.
Incidently, House Speaker Glenn Richardson said something interesting on this at last week’s session with reporters. Richardson wasn’t wholly keen about Lindsey’s bill. But the speaker did say that if judicial races are to be truly non-partisan, he’d entertain legislation to bar state parties from becoming involved in them.
The final hurdle for Milton is a doozy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, we filed a post about the back-door tactic available for creating a Milton County.
Briefly, a constitutional amendment would be required if a 160th county were created, which requires two-thirds passage by the Legislature and a statewide referendum.
But if two counties in south Georgia could be persuaded (through financial incentives or otherwise) to merge, then Milton County could be created (or recreated) by a majority legislative vote.
We received two near-identical responses. One from a Republican, the other from a Democrat. Both with lawyerly connections, and both pointed out the same passage in the state constitution: Article IX, Section I, Paragraph II.
It reads: “But no such consolidation, division, or merger shall become effective unless approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon in each of the counties proposed to be consolidated, divided, or merged.”
In other words, regardless of whether two-thirds of the Legislature is necessary, or whether it’s done by majority vote, Fulton County can’t be split unless a majority of Fulton County residents decide it should be split.
Does anybody need to be reminded of the pretty substantial vote that Democrat John Eaves got in the November race for the chairmanship of the Fulton County Commission?
