Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2007 > March > 28
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Gunfight at the Gold Dome corral
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First, let’s make this clear: Every side in the fight says that, despite what happened last night, it ain’t over.
Before this session of the Legislature, Republicans admit, the National Rifle Association will get its vote on a measure that would permit employees to keep guns in cars parked on corporate lots.
After nearly four hours of negotiations that involved Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, other top Senate leaders, and lobbyists and representatives for the NRA, the Senate adjourned late Tuesday without taking up S.B. 43.
Very rarely do you see the NRA rebuked in such fashion — not by Republican institutions. The gun group’s representatives left the state Capitol tight-lipped and livid.
When the sun came up, they put out the following statement:
“The facts surrounding this legislation were polluted by half-truths and bold-faced lies by opponents during the 11th hour,” the NRA said. “While we are concerned that some referred to our effort to defend the merits of S.B. 43 as heavy-handed, we are unrepentant as our objective was to counter a blatant campaign of misinformation.”
The reason that the Senate backed away from the bill may have been the story of Crossover Day.
S.B. 43 was opposed by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Association of Realtors — organizations that believe he who owns the land should make the gun-packing rules.
The bill forced a deep philosophical breach in the Senate caucus between “property right” Republicans and “gun right” Republicans. “It had us fighting amongst ourselves,” said state Sen. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick).
Then there was the fact that the NRA had declared the bill would be the only issue legislators are graded on this year. Any lawmaker who blocked it, or voted against it, would be given an ‘F’ that would be featured on thousands of postcards sent to his district.
To many Republicans that meant a lifetime of support for NRA issues could be wiped out with a single vote, on what many GOP lawmakers considered a matter of true principle.
Others doubted the legislation even necessary. “I think this bill deals with a problem that doesn’t exist,” said state Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon). Most companies have a don’t-ask-don’t-tell arrangement with employees, he said.
Last week, Cagle gave a green-light to a floor debate on the bill.
But on Tuesday morning, a female employee was shot by a co-worker at a furniture store in northwest Atlanta. Democrats — who were mostly against the bill — put Republicans on notice that they would highlight the event during any debate that took place.
That gave Cagle and other Republicans pause. The GOP caucus was split, and Democrats were against the bill. Not only would the measure lose, but gruesome video would serve as a file footage for every TV station in Atlanta.
After a brief dinner debate, the conclave of Cagle, legislators and NRA designees began their meeting. Amendments to satisfy property-right Republicans were batted back and forth.
But the final straw of the evening came when Senate Republican leaders found they had been out-maneuvered. NRA lobbyists revealed they had extended their efforts beyond the GOP family, and had begun approaching Democrats. They’d made enough progress to assure passage of the bill.
(Democrats we talked to Wednesday said, yes, NRA overtures had been made, but not enough to snatch the bill from the jaws of defeat. But remember that on Tuesday, the chamber had just finished a highly partisan battle over private cities, and some Democrats may have been smelling payback.)
The bottom line was that Senate GOP leaders believed that, if the bill came out, not only would it pass, but several prominent Republicans would be caught on the wrong side. And some Democrats who might be vulnerable in ‘08 would receive important cover from the NRA.
So Cagle took the bullet and ordered the bill held.
H.B. 89, a measure sponsored by state Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica) would allow many motorists to tuck handguns under the seat of their cars, or under cushions.
It has passed the House, and now resides in the Senate. This bill, the NRA said, will undergo a transplant. The innards of the parking-lot bill will be attached to it.
Senate Republican leaders tell us the NRA will have to accede to more protections for land-owners if they want their floor vote.
In the first years of the Republican takeover, GOP lawmakers and the Christian conservatives that helped elect them engaged in many closed-door confrontations — until it became clear who was the tail, who was the dog, and which entity would wag what.
The confrontation over S.B. 43 is a similar conversation between Republican lawmakers and yet another, essential member of their base. But this one has money — lots of it — and doesn’t like to lose.
A spell in the brig would no longer be considered a qualification for serving in the Legislature
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You may not have noticed, but state Sen. John Wiles (R-Kennesaw) got a little ol’ bill passed out on Tuesday.
S.B. 264 would bar members of the military who misbehave from public office — in particular, those jailed “for more than 30 days in a proceeding resulting in a dishonorable or bad conduct military discharge.”
We do not know if Wiles has anyone specific in mind.
Permalink | |
Blogwatch: Two Democrats joined Republican effort to trim PeachCare
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Blogger Amy Morton at Georgia Women Vote is going after two Democrats in the House who voted for House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s bill to pare down the number of families eligible to enroll in PeachCare, the state’s health insurance program for the children of the working poor.
“I get that Richardson is fine with that, but what about the Democrats who voted for the bill? Did their finger slip?” she asks. Morton identifies Ellis Black of Valdosta and Mike Jacobs of Atlanta as the pair who went with the speaker.
She also had harsh words for three Democrats who walked on H.B. 340.
Because when a budget fight swamps the Legislature, everything else sinks into the bog
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Many reasons stand behind Tuesday’s failure by the House to pass a bill with changes to the way the state licenses hospitals and other, competing institutions, as demanded by private-care interests.
The most simplistic is that all parties involved — doctors, private hospital chains, public hospital chains, even nursing homes — have deep pockets and are worth shaking down for another years’ worth of campaign donations.
Another theory is that the issue of health services across the state is so complicated that — like transportation — it needs a whip hand to guide it through the process. Without Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead the discussion, the effort never stood a chance.
Here’s another thought: The so-called certificate of need bill (there were several versions, including the governor’s, but only one was to pass) was floundering just as House Republican leaders were battening down hatches for their biggest budget confrontation with the Senate in years — perhaps decades.
The fight is likely to sour everything around it. And probably would have doomed any consensus on a certificate of need bill. It became just another deck chair to be thrown overboard when the call to battle stations came.
Permalink | |
Handicapping ‘08: The twins like Giuliani-Thompson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Black brothers, Earl and Merle, have become the chroniclers of the South’s rising political importance and its shift toward Republicanism. In their latest book, “Divided America: The Ferocious Power Struggle in American Politics,” they take a broader view of how regions figure in the razor-thin balance between the two parties.
The politically scientific brothers gave a summary of their latest research at an Emory-sponsored breakfast Wednesday.
Earl, who teaches at Rice, and Merle, who teaches at Emory, still see the South as the most significant region in terms of its growing size and importance to the elctoral fate of the GOP. But since the Northeast and Coastal West have swung to the Democrats, they argue in this book, the swing region - the one most critical to the outcome of the next presidential election - has become the Midwest.
One of the features of this hair-trigger politics, Earl noted, is that practically everybody is frustrated with the results. And that brings the subject to the next election.
The Blacks didn’t attempt to predict the outcome of next year’s presidential election, but there is one potential ticket that makes sense to them. Rudy Giuliani, they note, would be the first Italian Catholic Republican presidential candidate, and as such would have appeal to a crucial Midwestern and Northeastern demographic. But they think he would need an acceptable running mate to keep evangelical Protestants and/or Southerners in the fold, and former U.S. senator and actor Fred Thompson - who has polled big since dangling the possibility of a hat-throw - would be just the ticket.
Now let the debate begin on which Democratic ticket would best offset that one.
The kind of environment Obama’s got to like
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We haven’t received the official details about U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s trip to Atlanta next month, which is being billed as a public appearance to follow up on his wildly successful Monday night fund-raiser. But we have seen a press release for the upcoming National African American Earth Day Summit, to be held at Morehouse on April 19.
According to the release, Obama and U.S. Rep. John Lewis will be appearing at an evening reception before the summit, which will bring together black environmental leaders from around the country. We’re still trying to find out whether that’s the event we’ve heard about, or an add-on.
But we have heard more about the fund-raiser. According to co-chair Kirk Dornbush, the campaign received pledges of $573,000 — more than double what the Obama campaign originally estimated for this visit, and enough to leave the candidate “blown away” in a telephone conversation Tuesday, Dornbush said. That total doesn’t include a number of contributors who showed up unannounced Monday and wrote checks to get in the event, by the way.
This represents a milestone in terms of African-American fund-raising clout in Atlanta. It was by no means an exclusively black event, but by the accounts we’ve heard and what was apparent from standing outside the VIP reception Monday night, at least 60 percent of the money came from African-American contributors, many of them new to political fund-raising.
Something tells us the April event won’t be the last time we’ll see Obama in the ATL.
Permalink | |
