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Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Special session? We’re betting on Monday, May 7
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And we can’t say specifically why, without giving the game away.
But keep in mind several timing concerns:
— Any special session lasting longer than five days will prompt a revolt by more than 200 thumb-twiddling legislators who sit in Atlanta, watching their real-world livelihoods drain away, while six lawmakers and the governor’s people dicker over the budget.
— Mother’s Day follows that weekend, on May 13. Legislators will need the Saturday to shop. At home. If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.
— The state Republican convention is the next weekend, on May 19. Better to have the rift among the House, Senate and governor solved the week before. Otherwise, every TV camera in Georgia will be at the Gwinnett County event, using the GOP meeting as a backdrop to discuss Republican management of state government — and to conduct clean-up interviews.
A session that starts May 14 and ends May 18 would also leave too much to chance, and no time for spin. Who knows how the Republican base would react?
— Gov. Sonny Perdue has 40 days after the last session, or until May 30, to wield the biggest hammer in his arsenal — the $20 billion budget for 2008, which begins July 1. With a line item veto, he can single out specific legislators for special attention, by threatening to sink specific projects in their districts.
By the way, we’re hearing that House negotiators assigned to find a solution to the impasse over a $142 million tax rebate will be Earl Ehrhart of Powder Springs, Barry Fleming of Harlem, and Jan Jones of Alpharetta.
Fleming’s inclusion indicates a general calming of the hot tempers within the House — and a willingness by Speaker Glenn Richardson to do some serious bargaining.
Senate negotiators will be Eric Johnson of Savannah, Don Balfour of Snellville and Chip Rogers of Woodstock.
The paperwork on the beer-bottle brawl surfaces
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(UPDATE: We spoke with Chandler Haydon, who was listed as a witness on the police report.
She said that while listed as a witness because she was the next person to enter the room, she didn’t actually see the blow which led to the charge against Peter Stokes. But she did correct the record on one point. Haydon said when she came into the room she saw shattered glass from a drinking glass, not a bottle, on the floor.)
We’ve been given a first look at the incident report an Atlanta police officer filed following the brawl at the Sine Die party last month.
You can have the second peek.
The report leaves out any mention of politicians or lawmakers or lobbyists, many of whom fled the scene en masse after the first drop of spilled blood, and merely states that the two lobbyist-combatants “were arguing about a work-related matter.”
The only witness listed is a third lobbyist, Chandler Haydon.
The document also gives official indentification, for the first time, to lobbyist John Clayton, as the alleged victim.
The report, filed by a T.E. Sicheneder, states:
“On April 21, 2007, at approximately 0200, Mr. John Clayton and Mr. Peter Stokes were involved in a verbal dispute. Both parties had been consuming alcohol.
According to witness testimony, Mr. Clayton and Mr. Stokes were arguing about a work-related matter when Mr. Stokes took a bottle of beer that he was already holding and struck Mr. Clayton in the right side of this head, causing a laceration on his ear.
Mr. Stokes then fled the scene on foot. He flagged down a cab and had the driver take him to Grady Hospital to have his hand, apparently cut from the bottle he was holding, examined.
As he exited the cab, Unit 1509 noticed him and detained him until I arrived to confirm that he was indeed the suspected perpetrator.
Grady EMS Unit 7228 arrived on scene at 30 North Avenue and transported Mr. Clayton to Grady Hospital. Mr. Stokes was transported to Grady Hospital Detention.”
You can’t make this stuff up: Why run, if running means you might stand still?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Non-presidential candidate Newt Gingrich wandered through Wonderland on Monday, where he ran into an Associated Press reporter, whose name was not Lewis Carroll.
The journalist remarked on Gingrich’s high standing in current polls of Republican voters, and asked the former Georgian and U.S. House speaker when he might make a formal announcement of his intentions.
Gingrich, who we suspect was grinning like some feline from Derbyshire, if not Cheshire, declared that he had no real incentive.
“It’s sort of frightening sometimes,” Gingrich said. “Sometimes the guys who aren’t running are doing better than the guys who are running. Why would you want to start running if you’re doing better by not running than you would if you were running? I can’t explain it.”
The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer has the details.
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