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Thursday, May 24, 2007
The Politico: Congressman Scott’s finances are a tangle, and he owes taxes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Update at 9 a.m. Friday: The AJC take on this can be found here.
The Politico has put out an article this afternoon claiming that the finances of U.S. Rep. David Scott, an Atlanta Democrat, are in disarray.
The article states that Scott, his wife and a company owned by the couple have generated more than $182,000 in unpaid federal, state and local taxes. That includes $23,000 in property taxes on the couple’s Inman Park home.
The article says that Scott’s campaign has sent $634,000 the way of Scott’s family, the couple’s company, and its employees.
Scott has hired Georgia attorney Mike Williams to sort through the questions. Williams has accused the news web site of pursuing a “politically motivated” story.
And pigs are flying right and left: Barr says hardcores are wrong on immigration reform, but Vernon Jones says they’re right
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former congressman Bob Barr was on WGAU (1340 AM) in Athens this morning, defending the immigration reform deal cut by U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.
Here’s the clip that host Tim Bryant sent us.
Says Barr:
“You have a piece of legislation here that contains pretty much everything Republicans have said over the years that is important in immigration reform.
“And yet they are not only are opposed to it but they treated their own sitting U.S. senators quite shabbily at the convention last week, simply because this legislation also recognizes that it would be a practical impossibility to simply get rid of every illegal alien in this country and ship them back to somewhere else.”
So who’s against immigration reform? Why, Vernon Jones, the CEO of DeKalb County government. A Democrat. Who’s plotting an underfunded campaign against some fellow named Chambliss next year.
Jones says he has issues with three components of the reform package. He says the bill offers “amnesty” for illegal immigrants, that the process for granting citizenship is unworkable, and that the concept of temporary workers “is not realistic.”
“To think that all of the people who are already working in this country will voluntarily go back home, pay a significant fine and jump through all of the bureaucratic hoops required by this legislation is sheer fantasy,” Jones said.
Here’s what Jones says about Chambliss, which should put to rest any rumors that the Republican incumbent is encouraging Jones’ candidacy:
“Even worse, though, is the lack of political courage shown by Senator Chambliss. Although deeply involved in writing the bill, the senator now indicates he could change his mind about voting for it. While I think the bill should be voted down, Senator Chambliss’ waffling does not demonstrate the kind of leadership Georgians deserve.”
Hank Johnson grills the Republican Monica on C-Span
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On peachpundit.com, SpaceyG has put up an ode to U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson and his effective grilling of Monica Goodling, former senior aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Abject fear of C-Span’s copyright lawyers prevents us from linking to the same Youtube.com synopsis she points to.
Instead, we link you to the afternoon session of the Judi Committee hearing on the C-Span web site. Johnson, a former magistrate in DeKalb County, begins his questioning at the 17 minute, 48 second mark.
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House Speaker goes for Giuliani
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite Rudy Giuliani’s lead in the polls, there have been lots of questions about what kind of establishment Republican support he could muster in Georgia. Giuliani’s campaign sought to put that question to rest this morning by announcing that House Speaker Glenn Richardson would serve as Rudy’s Georgia campaign chairman.
In a conference call, Richardson praised Giuliani as a decisive leader “in a very stormy world, at a very difficult time.”
Richardson was joined by House GOP whip Barry Fleming, Reps. Jeff May, David Ralston and Jay Roberts, Sen. Ronnie Chance, former Augusta Mayor Bob Young and former state GOP chairs Bob Shaw and Rusty Paul.
In putting one question to rest, the Giuliani endorsement raised a few more. Giuliani’s campaign manager, Michael DuHaime, denied there was any connection between today’s announcement, which he said had been months in the making, and the appeal by a group of legislators, headed by Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson, to former Sen. Fred Thompson to jump in the GOP ring.
Incident report on Harbin DUI arrest: Cop saw no skidmarks, witnesses saw no pedestrian
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s the key page of the police incident report on the Sunday morning arrest of House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans) by an Atlanta police officer.
Harbin said the accident occurred when he suddenly saw a pedestrian in the roadway, swerved and slammed on the brakes.
According to this report, which the time stamp indicates was completed Wednesday, the officer at the scene observed no skid marks.
And two witnesses who came to the scene after hearing the crash said they saw no pedestrian.
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