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Thursday, March 29, 2007
In case of emergency, prison system wouldn’t have broken the glass — it would have pulled out the plastic
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Until a few weeks ago, the state Department of Corrections had four credit cards with monthly limits of $1 million each.
News of the cards, and 1,130 others with lower limits taken out by the department, came to light at a House budget subcommittee meeting this week. The cards have raised eyebrows across the state Capitol. Cumulatively, the corrections department had acquired an $8.4 million credit line via the cards.
The corrections department turned off the million-dollar cards after an inquiry by House lawmakers. In a March 16 memo to the House Budget Office, a corrections official said the million-dollar credit cards were part of the department’s response to 9/11, and were never used.
The memo, written by Scott Poitevint, an assistant division director, said:
“Immediately following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, [the corrections department] began reviewing and modifying existing emergency/contingency plans. Part of that effort focused on our ability to continue operating and procure goods and services in the event the statewide financial system…was unavailable.
“Four emergency cards were activated on Nov. 1, 2001, and were assigned to key, central office purchasing staff. Each of the cards allowed for a single transaction up to $100,000 with a monthly limit of $1 million. Personnel changes over the years have necessitated new card assignments, however, generally we have only maintained four active emergency cards. No transactions have ever been processed against these cards. [Emphasis in the original]”
“I don’t know why any agency would need to have a state-backed credit card with a $1 million limit,” said state Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta), who discovered the cards’ existence while examining the Department of Corrections’ business model.
State Rep. Chuck Martin (R-Alpharetta), who chairs the budget subcommittee looking at spending by corrections and other agencies, said he was disturbed by the practice. “It worries me how we came to that,” Martin said.
Both Martin and Chambers said they would be looking at whether other state agencies had developed similar practices.
By lawmakers’ calculations, the Department of Corrections had taken out 1,130 cards, of which 769 are still active.
Of those:
— Four had the $1 million limit;
— 14 have a $100,000 limit;
— 18 have a $75,000 limit;
— 182 have a $50,000 limit;
— 158 have a $20,000 limit;
— The rest have limits of $5,000 or $10,000.
McCain names his Georgia squad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Heavy-hitters in Georgia Republican circles continue to spread themselves among three camps in the ‘08 race for the White House.
This morning, the campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain named its state advisory committee: state Sen. Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga, state GOP chairman Alec Poitevint; Derrick Dickey, former aide to Gov. Sonny Perdue; Leigh Ann Wood Gillis, in charge of raising money for Perdue; Clint Murphy who headed up campaigns for both U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle in the Savannah area; John Sours, a long-time activist with libertarian leanings and excellent veteran contacts; and Jay Walker, the former chief of staff for House Speaker Glenn Richardson.
A spokesman for the campaign said McCain, who dropped by last month, is likely to make another pass through Georgia soon — though that will be delayed somewhat by a foray into the Middle East tomorrow.
More Blogwatch: Edwards headed to Macon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bloggers are having a field day. Amy Morton of Georgia Women Vote says Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will be in Macon on April 14.
This is as good a time as any to say we’ve heard some quiet worries expressed about the impact of Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer on the cash-starved Democratic party in Georgia.
John Edwards is the key-noter for the party’s major annual fund-raiser, the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, now scheduled for mid-May. Elizabeth Edwards is scheduled to speak at a luncheon that same day.
Blogwatch: Rudy Giuliani has radio ads up in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Libertarian blogger Jason Pye is the first to note that Rudy Giuliani has put up radio ads in Atlanta to boost his Republican bid for the White House.
Pye’s got the sound up here.
Says Rudy: “We need strong leadership to stay on offense in the war against terrorists. We need supply-side policies and reduced government spending…fiscal discipline to keep the economy growing.”
Our guess? This is an effort by the former New York mayor to build a crowd for the mid-April debut of his campaign in Georgia.
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Dobson throws cold water on a hot non-candidate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, says he prefers Newt Gingrich over Fred Thompson for president.
This is the same Thompson who, though he’s just dangled the possibility of running for the White House, scored well in straw votes at GOP conventions in Cherokee and Gwinnett County last weekend.
Here’s a snippet of what was posted Wednesday by U.S. News and World Report:
“Everyone knows he’s conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for,” Dobson said of Thompson. “[But] I don’t think he’s a Christian; at least that’s my impression,” Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party’s conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.
A spokesman for Dobson later said the FOF leader wasn’t calling the former Tennessee senator a heathen. Thompson is a member of the Church of Christ denomination.
“We use that word—Christian—to refer to people who are evangelical Christians,” the spokesman said.
We haven’t checked with the Vatican to see whether its experts agree with the above definition. But this could be the start of a tremendous trademark battle.
