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May 2007
A veto liked — by some
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We don’t recall seeing many statements praising Gov. Sonny Perdue from the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. But GALEO liked Perdue’s veto of Senate Bill 15, which would have increased the penalties for driving without a valid license in Georgia.
“We agree with the Governor that SB15 would have had many unintended consequences, similar to the arrest and detention of the Canadian tourist recently in Brunswick, Georgia,” said GALEO executive director Jerry Gonzalez.
Perdue, in his veto statement, said he feared “an unintended consequence” of the bill would be to subject some with valid out-of-state licenses to “stout criminal penalties even absent the commission of a willful act.”
But Republican state Sen. John Wiles, who sponsored the bill, didn’t see it that way.
“I am disappointed that the governor found it necessary to veto this legislation,” Wiles said in a release. “The law would make our roads and highways safer, more secure, and send a clear message to those who choose to repeatedly drive without a license.”
Jim Galloway
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Galloway is in his 29th year with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and is an unrepentant child of the Atlanta suburbs.
He played Little League ball (badly) on what is now the fourth runway at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Galloway has witnessed every kind of political contest, from county commission to presidential. But the meanest, nastiest, most low-down election he’s ever witnessed a race for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention.
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Bob Kemper
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bob Kemper works in the AJC’s Washington Bureau, covering Georgia’s congressional delegation and other issues affecting the Peach State.
Having no marketable skills, he’s been working in journalism for 25 years, covering politics on every level, from school board races to presidential campaigns. Before coming to the AJC a couple of years ago, he covered the White House for The Chicago Tribune.
Casualties as a hometown issue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State Sen. Jim Whitehead has caught a lot of flack from Democrats since he said that the war in Iraq was “not a big thing” in Georgia’s 10th District race to fill the seat of the late Charlie Norwood.
Now, interestingly enough, both Whitehead and Democrat James Marlow have advanced ideas for bringing federal money to the district for what Whitehead’s campaign calls “warrior care” in a press release.
Whitehead embraced an idea proposed by former U.S. Rep. Doug Barnard proposed in an Augusta Chronicle op-ed piece. Barnard - a former Democratic congressman very cordial to his Republican successors - said Congress should be urged to make Augusta, with its considerable medical and military facilities, a “center of excellence” for the treatment of those wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Our wounded in this war have not all received the quality of care they deserve or were promised, and that is inexcusable,” Whitehead said in the release. “But rather than just complain, we have the unique ability to do something about it with our incredible medical infrastructure resources here in Augusta, and I intend to move forward on this with all possible vigor if elected.”
Marlow called for increased funding for the Augusta VA Medical Center and the Outpatient Clinic in Athens, and pledged to work with community leaders in Augusta “to insure our troops get the first-class care they deserve.” He also called for a $1 billion “new GI bill” for the education of returning veterans.
Gov keeps speaker hanging to the end
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You knew that this year’s wrasslin’ match had at last come to an end when Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office announced the signing - in the very last batch of bills Perdue signed before Wednesday’s cutoff - HB 772, co-sponsored by House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Rep. Howard Maxwell, creating a Paulding County Facilities and Technology Authority, and HB 773, a bill creating a Paulding County election board, sponsored by the same pair.
Next year’s going to be fun.
House Appropriations is a mighty fine place to stay
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Responding to some buzz back in his Southwest Georgia district, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop has taken himself out of a statewide race next year with this release:
“It has come to my attention that rumors are circulating that I am considering a run for the U.S. Senate in 2008 against Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). This suggestion is absolutely false.
“While I am pleased that my work on behalf of my constituents as an advocate for their needs, values, and concerns has resulted in positive reaction and comment, I believe firmly that as a Member of the House Appropriations Committee, I am now in an even better position to serve the people of the Second Congressional District of Georgia and our nation.
“It is therefore my intention to continue my service as U.S. Representative for the Second District of Georgia, as long as God gives me strength and the people of the Second District deem me worthy of their trust.”
Bush at Glynco: The strain starts to show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Elsewhere you can read about President Bush speech at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco. This is just a passing note of how he gave it.
He seemed tired.
Granted, even presidents have the right to come off that way every now and then. But we couldn’t help thinking back to the big rally Bush attended not far from here in the closing days of the 2002 congressional campaign, when everything appeared to be going the Republicans’ way and the future, though threatened by terrorism, seemed bright for this president.
It could just have been the rigors of an early-morning flight that caused Bush to speak more slowly than usual, as he tried to gin up support for the newly minted compromise on immigration. But thinking back over the trials the administration has faced since that triumphant 2002 rally, it was easy to read more into it.
A lights-out, Georgia cage match: Immigration versus Iraq
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When they were kids, the debate was whether Superman could whup the Hulk in a fair fight.
Now that they’re grown, political strategists are obsessed with another fantasy match-up. They ponder over whether Iraq can trounce immigration. Or vice-versa.
Within the next seven weeks, Georgia could supply the answer.
The two issues that have whipped and split the nation will converge on conservative east Georgia, where 10 candidates are engaged in a special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Augusta).
The immigration issue is already stirring the pot.
One of the six Republicans in the race, former state senator Jim Whitehead of Evans was riding comfortably at the head of the pack as the choice of Georgia’s Republican establishment.
He leads in fund-raising, and - at least initially - there was talk of Whitehead taking the June 19 contest without a run-off. Mathematically improbable to begin with, that goal was rendered politically impossible two weeks ago.
That’s when U.S. senators in Washington unveiled their bipartisan proposal for immigration reform. In Georgia, the Republican base reacted by booing Saxby Chambliss, one of its authors, at the state convention.
Whitehead, who has made illegal immigration his signature issue, quickly condemned the bill. But that’s not his problem.
Suddenly, running as the establishment Republican candidate, while still packed with financial benefits, doesn’t have all the shine that it had two months ago.
Republican rival Bill Greene of Braselton, trying to run to the right of Whitehead on immigration, has accused Whitehead of saying nice things about Chambliss’ work on immigration.
Another GOP candidate, Paul Brown of Athens, last week condemned Whitehead of belonging to the “politics-as-usual, good ol’ boys club.”
Our efforts to track Whitehead down on his cell phone last week were unsuccessful. But his chief campaign consultant, Joel McElhannon, said: “These guys are in some sick contest to see who could possibly be the most ineffective member of Congress. People see through their demagoguery and silliness.”
Even so, in a contest that’s likely to attract a minimum of voters, both Greene and Broun could peel off enough disaffected Republicans to push Whitehead into a July 17 run-off.
Which brings us to James Marlow of Lincolnton, one of three Democratic candidates in the race. Contrary to many expectations, Marlow has been able to consolidate most Democrats around his candidacy by focusing on one issue: Iraq.
Even key Republicans say they expect a significant anti-Iraq vote out of Athens to hand Marlow the second run-off spot. Despite the fact that the 10th District lists heavily Republican, Marlow hopes a strong showing could persuade Democrats in Washington make a four-week investment in a two-man contest.
This is, after all, the first federal election in the nation since the Democratic takeover of Congress in November 2006.
Listening in on the sales pitch for immigration reform
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Thursday, U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson invited Republican state lawmakers in Georgia to participate in a conference call, to allow them to ask questions on the most volatile topic of the day — the immigration reform package.
About 33 or 34 participated, we’re told. The number is uncertain, because it included at least one extra ear — belonging to illegal immigration opponent D.A. King of Marietta.
At least a pair of somebodies — King won’t say who, but says the information came from more than one person — slipped him the password that allowed him to listen in.
We’re told that Chambliss and Isakson are furious about the breach.
But a brief joint statement put out by the pair on Saturday declined to address it: “Illegal immigration is a difficult, emotional issue. We are working with all Georgians to secure the border first, prohibit a new pathway to citizenship and end illegal immigration.”
We weren’t there, and can’t speak to the specifics. But this conference call — and President Bush’s trip to coastal Georgia on Tuesday — shows you the ferocity with which this issue is being debated among Republicans.
King was kind enough to type up a few notes from the group call. Much of it sounds like what Chambliss and Isakson — the two are in tight coordination — have said before similar audiences.
Perhaps the most important news that King relates is that several of the lawmakers who participated spoke of the intense public opposition to the bill that they’ve encountered.
In response, King said, the senators said there would be further discussion of a “touchback provision” that would require illegal immigrants to leave the United States before coming back under any legal status.
In addition, says King:
— “Chambliss led off by saying that the bill needed to be explained and that because they had both voted no last year [on the previous immigration bill] the White House had initiated an effort to get them involved with the new bill.
— “[Chambliss] adamantly stated that last year’s bill was the worst piece of legislation he had ever seen since going to Washington.”
— “Chambliss said that they were part of an initial group involved that included [U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez] in many long meetings to work on ‘amnesty or whatever’ but that they were not involved in every conversation and that there were ‘no back room deals.’”
— King says Chambliss then went on to explain that the three driving points for conservatives were border security, an end to chain migration, and workplace verification of employee identities. Chambliss also mentioned that illegal immigrants would have to learn English to obtain a “Z” visa.
— Isakson, King said, “went on to outline that the bill calls for 18,000 Border Patrol Agents to be hired and on duty and 370 miles of fence and border security.”
— King quoted Isakson as saying that no federal law currently demands enforcement of U.S. borders, and that the immigration reform package would change that.
Afterwards, the anti-illegal immigration activist said he got into it with aides to the senators over that statement. The U.S. Constitution demands border security, King said.
Yes, it does, one senate aide told us. But sometimes laws are needed as mechanisms to implement what the Constitution demands.
Hard to know which stings worst
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We got a call from Gail Gitcho, the Mitt Romney campaign’s deputy press secretary for regional media, about that item we ran last weekend which said Romney had confused Ralph Reed with another Republican associated with the religious right, Gary Bauer, at his recent Atlanta fundraiser.
Romney’s campaign doesn’t dispute that the former Massachusetts governor had trouble identifying Reed. But according to Gitcho, Romney mistook Reed for South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, with whom he’d just met, and not Gary Bauer, as our sources recalled.
Gary Bauer is a friend of Romney and has been a guest in his home, so he wouldn’t mistake him for Reed, Gitcho said.
Like Reed, by the way, Andre Bauer has stirred some controversy in South Carolina, such as getting arrested for speeding on his way to a Senate session. But unlike Reed, he was just elected to his second term as lieutenant governor.
The governor is ready to put his signature to the Feb. 5 presidential primary
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We just got word that Gov. Sonny Perdue will hold a Tuesday ceremony to celebrate his signing of S.B. 194, a bill that will move Georgia’s presidential primary next year from March to Feb. 5.
Georgia will be joining 20 other states, including New York and California, that have moved their dates to create something like a national primary. Florida has sparked a national controversy by shifting its primary to Jan. 29.
Because Bible-based conservatives need to rock, too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Never let it be said that home-schooled kids are immune from teen-aged angst.
Peachpundit.com found it first, but here’s a link to a Youtube video put together by Jordan Greene, the 15-year-old son of 10th District congressional candidate Bill Greene.
The video opens with Greene the father, a conservative Republican, at a family Bible study, reading Jesus’ command to love your enemies. Then it shifts to a daydream in which young Jordan Greene mouths the words to the Right Brothers’ “The List” — i.e, “liberals that we can’t stand.”
An IA dream match: Chambliss at 42 percent, Barnes at 40 percent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We know, we know. Former Democratic governor Roy Barnes isn’t getting back into politics.
But apparently Matt Towery of InsiderAdvantage wanted to have a little fun.
His monthly opinion survey (conducted May 22-23, MOE 4 percent) says first-term Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss would have a tough time in a race against Barnes.
IA polling put Chambliss at 42 percent, Barnes at 40 percent, and undecided at 18 percent. That’s a horse race.
Barnes was John Edwards’ escort at last week’s Democratic fund-raiser, making for a wonderful contrast in hair.
But Bobby Kahn, Barnes’ old chief of staff, was eloquent when he expressed the negative likelihood that the ex-governor would re-enter the game on his own behalf. We learned several new words, and will study them for future use.
In race that’s currently more probable, IA also put Chambliss up against Vernon Jones, the Democratic CEO of DeKalb County. In that race, Chambliss drew 48 percent, compared to 31 percent for Jones.
Perhaps the only important fact to carry away from this poll is that in both hypotheticals, Chambliss was under the magical 50 percent mark.
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.
The dark side of ‘Go Fish Georgia’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This from today’s Associated Press:
GREENSBORO — An 86-year-old man didn’t want anyone getting too close to his fishing lines, so he took a few shots at a pair of fishermen who did, authorities said.
Read the rest of the story here. Apparently the alleged shootees were in a fishing tournament. The alleged shooter was not.
After a ‘bumpy weekend,’ Harbin gives awards dinner a pass
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Matt Towery and InsiderAdvantage hosted a dinner Tuesday night to honor the two people that Towery’s magazine, James, named the two most influential Georgians of the year — Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter.
The magazine also named House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans) as its Legislator of the Year. Harbin, who was charged with a DUI by Atlanta police over the weekend, wasn’t there to pick up his award.
State Rep. Bob Smith (R-Watkinsville) subbed for his missing colleague.
InsiderAdvantage quoted Smith as saying Harbin ‘is a great legislator. He is a calm individual. He is an individual who is extraordinarily thoughtful. He doesn’t offend people. He listens to people and he tries to work things out … He’s had sort of a bumpy weekend but he’s got a long road of great things ahead of him.”
About that University of Georgia quip: Larry Munson sides with Jim Whitehead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Whitehead, a former Georgia offensive lineman and the leading Republican candidate in the 10th District congressional race, has taken a good bit of heat for cracking a particular joke, in which he says he wouldn’t mind seeing the entire University of Georgia, save for Sanford Stadium, erased.
He gets a bit of payback in Athens today, with a radio ad that features a rare endorsement by Bulldog voice Larry Munson.
Listen to it here.
Says Munson: “Hello, Dog fans. This is Larry Munson We’re down to the wire in this election for Congress. Conservative Republican state senator Jim Whitehead… is looking doggone good.”
Whitehead again emphasizes the economy, immigration and the late U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood: “I’ll fight just as hard as Charlie did for a lower taxes, a stronger economy, and to control our bordres, so our country is more secure.”
New blogger. He’ll surprise you.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We won’t tell you who it is, but we will note that his bio for some reason doesn’t include his vast courtroom experience. Click here to solve the mystery.
And a hat tip to Jason Pye.
Bob Barr also comes out in defense of Chamblis, Isakson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On today’s editorial pages of the AJC, Bob Barr joins the ranks of those who think there’s something worthwhile in that immigration reform package.
“If, however, those who so discourteously booed a sitting senator of their own party on Saturday took the time to actually read and understand the legislation to which not only [Saxby] Chambliss, but also his colleague, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), have tentatively lent their support, they might discover the bill contains a number of other measures that used to enjoy GOP support.”
Georgia agri-business lines up behind Chambliss, Isakson on immigration reform
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just got off the phone with Wayne Lord, a vice president for governmental affairs with Pilgrim’s Pride, the largest chicken company in Georgia, and the United States as well.
He’s up in Washington, trying to build support for the immigration reform package now being debated in the U.S. Senate.
Lord is also chairman of Georgia Employers for Immigration Reform, a group of 25 or so major businesses that are backing the play of U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, who helped negotiate the bipartisan compromise.
The group is one of the reasons the two Georgia feel comfortable sticking their necks out on this highly volatile issue.
“All of us as business leaders are very grateful for the leadership of senators Chambliss and Isakson,” Lord said.
GEIR is new. So new, that the group isn’t ready to publish its entire list of members. But Lord says GEIR represents a major slice of the state’s payroll.
Lord says his group has three priorities — border security, a workable verification program to ascertain the work status of employees, and a flow of temporary workers — “when the economy demands it.”
Lord and GEIR aren’t the only ones pushing this legislation in Georgia. On Tuesday, state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin made public letters of support he’s sent to both U.S. senators.
“Just because we cannot solve every problem or please every person does not mean we should shrug our shoulders and do nothing,” Irvin wrote. “Despite all the changes in society, farming and food processing remain the foundation of Georgia’s economic well being, and our agricultural guest workers play an important role.”
You can see one of the letters in its entirety on the jump.
Honorable Johnny Isakson
United States Senate
4 Russell Courtyard
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Isakson:
As Commissioner of Agriculture, I want to personally thank you for your leadership role in drafting the upcoming Immigration Reform Legislation.Immigration is a very complex issue, and there is no one solution that will satisfy all parties. However, just because we cannot solve every problem or please every person does not mean we should shrug our shoulders and do nothing. This legislation is a step forward in addressing immigration issues, especially as they concern agriculture.
Despite all the changes in society, farming and food processing remain the foundation of Georgia’s economic well being, and our agricultural guest workers play an important role. Agriculture generates more than $5.1 billion per year in cash receipts to the state’s economy, and I applaud your efforts as you work to find solutions for the benefit of our state’s largest industry.
I believe this legislation is a positive step for agriculture and I want to join with you in supporting this vital piece of legislation.
Sincerely,
Tommy IrvinFulton County GOP convention fracas moves ahead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re told that, in a sidebar meeting to the state Republican convention last week, the state GOP executive committee decided to permit a challenge to the March 24 Fulton County Republican convention proceed apace.
The challenge alleges chaos and possible voter fraud in the convention that resulted in the re-election of county chairman Mike Dvorscak.
We understand that June 11 is the deadline for the filing of affidavits. A hearing would come within the next 60 days.
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The Air Force general from Perry decides to run against the Army ranger from Macon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a state Republican convention that was chockfull of contentiousness last weekend, it was easy to overlook one potential conflict that was successfully resolved.
In his address to delegates, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland all but endorsed retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard as the GOP pick to challenge U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Macon) for the 8th District congressional seat.
As it turned out, Goddard on Monday announced his entry into race. Here’s the Macon Telegraph piece on the topic.
Goddard is seen by Republicans as someone whose military credentials might compare favorably with those of Marshall. “Gen. Goddard is a patriot with a resume that cannot be matched,” said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told the Telegraph.
The puzzle, of course, was the fact that state Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry) had made a trip up to Washington some weeks ago to persuade GOP strategists that he was the right man to challenge Marshall.
But Tolleson, we’re told, has quietly decided to pass on the congressional race.
Next: Bill Clinton, husband of Hillary, comes to town for a tea with the Sons of Confederate Veterans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It looks like we’ve got a Democratic battle of the presidential spouses shaping up.
Amy Morton of GeorgiaWomenVote says Elizabeth Edwards, wife of John, will be in Macon for a fund-raiser on June 5. Details can be found here.
She’ll beat Michelle Obama, wife of Barack, to Georgia by 24 hours.
What Jimmy Carter really said about Bush
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jimmy Carter has said his remarks about President Bush were either “careless” or “misinterpreted.”
We’re leaning toward careless, based on the audio clip posted by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Listen to it here.
But all in all, the conversation centers on material Carter put in his recent book on politics and religion — and other than the “worst” remark, there wasn’t much news there.
Pearson: Send 12 million back, but a few at a time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since last Wednesday, members of the Republican right has been rather forceful about what it doesn’t like about the immigration reform package now before the U.S. Senate.
But details about what it would take to make them happy have been rather scarce.
State Sen. Chip Pearson (R-Dawsonville) sent out a letter today, laying out what he wants. He’s trying to point Georgia’s congressional delegation to a tougher approach, one that would actually require illegal immigrants to step foot off U.S. soil before they’re granted job permits.
Pearson was the sponsor of S.R. 646, a resolution adopted by the state Senate this spring on illegal immigration. The measure was also the basis of the resolution adopted by the state Republican convention this weekend.
Pearson concedes that foreign workers are essential to the nation’s economy. For that reason, he would see them deported in shifts.
“Not all illegal immigrants shall be deported at the same time but instead groups of immigrants shall be deported in phases as determined by the agency having jurisdiction over such proceedings and in such a manner as will be just and which shall not adversely impact the nation’s economy,” he writes.
How to do that? Perhaps the military or by private contract, Pearson said.
If he can’t interest U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson in his ideas, Pearson said he hoped members of Georgia’s House delegation would take up his fight.
Click on the jump to see a complete copy of the letter he’s passing around.
May 21, 2007
Dear,
It is long past time for this country to adopt a comprehensive immigration and border security plan. Left unchecked or left to mere piecemeal responses, the illegal immigration crisis is likely to cause irreversible and devastating effects on this nation. Motivated by the grave concerns many members of the Georgia General Assembly have regarding the illegal immigration crisis, I send this letter in hope that you might give our proposed plan serious consideration. This letter sets forth a brief summary our idea for a comprehensive federal plan for combating illegal immigration.
The plan has been referred to as the Federal Immigrant Registration and Employment plan. The plan began with three primary components or guiding principles which we strongly believe any such plan should adhere to. First and foremost, the nation’s borders must be secured. Little may be accomplished until adequate resources are provided for the security of our borders. Increased efforts, including increased resources, personnel, and funding, are paramount to controlling the borders of the United States. Greater deterrents at the borders are the only means by which the tremendous influx of persons illegally entering this country may be lowered.
The second key component is the acknowledgment that legal immigration is essential to the nation’s economy. Legitimate needs of businesses and industries must be recognized, evaluated, and met. At the same time, employers who flagrantly break immigration laws or mistreat illegal foreign workers should not be rewarded.
Finally, amnesty provisions or expedited citizenship should be avoided as these only promote a culture of disrespect for U.S. immigration laws and the basic principles of this great nation. While a pledge to deny amnesty is important, it is equally important that any immigration plan treat people fairly and equitably. Some positive benefit may be warranted for those illegal aliens who are willing to come forward now in an effort to comply with legal immigration requirements.
In keeping with these three major components, the Federal Immigrant Registration and Employment Plan would include the following specific actions:
Increase personnel, funding, and equipment for the purpose of securing the borders of the United States of America.
Establish a date certain upon which anyone over 18 years of age currently residing in the United States illegally shall register as an illegal alien with designated federal authorities. The time allowed for illegal immigrants currently residing in this country to register shall be open for a period of time not to exceed 90 days.
The registration form shall require such information as is determined necessary by the designated federal agency or department but shall include information regarding the illegal alien’s current residence, years of residence, country of origin, and current employer, if any.
Following the period of time allowed for registration, the designated government agency shall commence deportation proceedings against illegal immigrants who properly registered. The deportation process shall require such persons to return to their country of origin; provided, however, if such illegal immigrant wishes to reside in the United States, they may apply for a work visa, work permit, or similar authorization for temporary lawful entry into the country for purposes of employment. If such applicant provides a written statement from an employer that such person is or will be employed with such employer and the services of the nonresident immigrant are needed for the operation of the employer’s business, then the applicant shall be given priority consideration for authorized re-entry into the country. Upon the submission of an approved application and employer statement, such person seeking lawful admission into this country shall be given first priority for any work visa, work permit, or similar authorization for temporary lawful entry into the United States. First priority shall mean that the applicant will be given priority status over any other similar application for admission. In addition, the priority ranking shall be based on the time of registration, with the person who first registered having priority over anyone who shall have registered later.
Deportation proceedings of registered illegal immigrants shall be implemented in a fair and equitable manner as prescribed by the appropriate federal agency, and such proceedings shall be conducted over an extended period of time, not to exceed two years. Not all illegal immigrants shall be deported at the same time but instead groups of immigrants shall be deported in phases as determined by the agency having jurisdiction over such proceedings and in such a manner as will be just and which shall not adversely impact the nation’s economy.
Where any registrant is granted a work visa, work permit, or similar authorization for temporary entry into the United States, the authorization shall be for a two-year period as long as the authorized immigrant remains employed. Such temporary authorized entry shall be automatically extended for an additional two years where the registrant submits an updated application accompanied by a letter from his or her employer certifying that his or her services continue to be needed for the successful operation of the employer’s business. If at any time during the four years that admission is authorized under this specially authorized work visa the registered immigrant becomes unemployed for more than 60 days, the authorization shall be withdrawn automatically and the immigrant shall be deemed an illegal immigrant.
Following the expiration of the four-year temporary authorized legal entry, the registered immigrant shall be required to apply for admission into the country in the same manner and under the same conditions as any other immigrant seeking lawful admission.
Anyone 18 years of age or younger currently residing in this country illegally shall be required to register and provide such information as shall be required by the designated federal agency or department; provided, however, that persons 18 years of age or younger shall also be granted a waiver from any deportation so long as there is a lawful resident guardian with whom they may reside in this country.
Nothing contained in the Federal Immigrant Registration and Employment Plan shall be construed so as to prohibit any immigrant from lawfully entering or residing in the country in accordance with other available authorized means for lawful entry, nor shall such plan prohibit any immigrant from seeking or applying for citizenship in any manner authorized by law.
This letter provides only a basic framework of ideas upon which the working details of an effective plan might be built. Nevertheless, I believe that it is essential to the security of this nation that our leaders commit and strive towards implementation of such a plan. This is a plan of equity, not amnesty — a plan of employment, not citizenship.
I thank you for your time and consideration and will continue to hope and pray that this country will adopt and enforce a meaningful comprehensive immigration and border security plan.
Sincerely,
Sen. Chip Pearson
State Senate, District 51
Sonny Perdue and the prodigal son
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This interview of state Rep. Larry O’Neal (R-Bonaire), conducted by Travis Fain, appears today in the Macon Telegraph.
The article includes a curious exchange with O’Neal, who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a resident of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s home town — but also, so far as we know, several years older than the governor.
In politics, relationships are shaped by power — not age.
TELEGRAPH: Take us to that last day. You voted against the governor on the budget veto override. What was that like?
O’NEAL: Speaking just for me, that’s one of the toughest votes I’ve ever made in my entire life. I have, almost, unconditional respect for Sonny Perdue and have since he’s been in office. And he’s a great friend and, I think, an outstanding governor. … But I thought that the House version was a responsible budget. I think the separation of powers is important.
TELEGRAPH: Have you talked with the governor since?
O’NEAL: Yes. … It went well. Again, he has not looked at this as a personal vendetta at all with me. He’s a very forgiving individual. But he let me know in no uncertain terms he was disappointed. … It was almost like a good father would say, “I don’t expect you to be perfect, son. I’ll forgive you, but I want you to know I’m not happy with it.”
Blogwatch: A talkie from last week’s Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Video blogger Grayson Hurst Daughters has posted moving (and talking, too!) pictures from Thursday night’s Democratic fund-raiser featuring John Edwards. See her work here.
Best shot: A group pan of Atlanta’s ancient — er, old — media, as recorded by new media. Best observation: Bloggers peopled the event in numbers rivaling those of lobbyists.
While we’re at it, we’ll also note that we didn’t see any blogging effort at the state Republican convention that matched Daughters in ambition. And we thought Republicans were supposed to have all the tekkies in their camp.
It wasn’t the passions, but the lack of them, at GOP confab
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia wasn’t the only place where a Republican senator drew boos from a hometown crowd over the past weekend.
Like U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss at the Georgia Republican Party’s state convention, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham was booed at the South Carolina GOP convention when he defended the Senate immigration proposal. Immigration is a vexing issue for Republicans, and we can expect this won’t be the last time the base voices its displeasure over the subject.
But the smattering of boos from the back of the room as Chambliss spoke Saturday didn’t capture the atmosphere of this year’s convention as much as the silence which was the more common response.
Most of those in the audience of some 1,200 GOP faithful were willing to give Chambliss and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson a fair hearing when they talked about the immigration compromise, but they seemed far from sold. A similar, non-committal mood greeted much of the speechifying at this, the first gathering of the Republican grassroots since the triumphant 2006 election.
State GOP conventions used to be boisterous affairs where Republicans came to argue with each other, while their leaders vainly appealed to the quarrelsome throng to put up a united front against the Democrats.
Success has changed that. Nowadays as often as not it’s the elected officials who argue with each other from the podium, leaving many in the audience feeling uncomfortably more like referees than combatants.
The Republicans listened politely to Gov. Sonny Perdue as he compared the rift between Republicans over the state budget to a good Republican family which has been successful in an insurance business with 159 agents, symbolic of the counties that would be doling out money under the House property tax refund plan.
“You may know of some marriages, frankly, that have had problems over finances,” Perdue said.
Perdue got applauded for upholding fiscal responsibility a few times, and a few minutes later House Speaker Glenn Richardson got applauded - whether by the same hands or not, we don’t know - for what he called his GREAT Plan for Georgia - “Georgia’s Repeal of Every Ad Valorem Tax.” Forget about the V.
“We’re not supposed to get along. We’re trying to get a job done, and disagreement is going to occur when you’re trying to affect change,” Richardson said.
But in both cases, the response seemed pretty tame by comparison with years past, when the Republicans looked at themselves as the insurgents milling around the castle, and not a family trying to run an insurance business. Nobody was standing up on their chairs and hollering about what anybody said.
Georgia’s Republicans “don’t need to pay our penance in the political wilderness” like the Washington Republicans, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland warned, but they had better remember their promise to protect “the wallets of our state’s taxpayers.”
It was a stauch Calvinist message, for a congregation not very prone to do much shouting about anything.
We won’t give any scientific standing to the presidential straw poll which was announced at the close of the convention Saturday, but it says volumes about the spirit of this affair that the two top voter-getters, former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, were the two Republicans on the list who aren’t actually in the race.
Hillary wins the weekend, fundraising-wise
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Early word from the Hillary Clinton camp is that she raised something like $300,000 in her two Atlanta fundraising events Saturday. That doesn’t match Barack Obama’s big fundraiser in March, but it took top honors for a busy weekend.
Republican Mitt Romney took in $250,000 Friday - that’s a lot more $2,300 checks than the 40 votes he got in the straw poll at the state GOP convention. We haven’t heard any numbers, but we understand John Edwards stuck around after his Jefferson-Jackson dinner speech Thursday night for a couple of fundraisers Friday.
The second of the Clinton fundraisers, at the home of Caribou Coffee CEO Michael Coles, drew about 200 contributors, including several notable African-American Democrats: Attorney General Thurbert Baker, Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, Valerie Jackson, Hank Aaron, Rep. Calvin Smyre, Vernon Jordan and Herman Russell.
Straw poll: Fred Thompson is the candidate of their discontent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As the state Republican convention de-camped, the sponsors of a presidential straw poll in which 429 delegates participated declared unannounced candidate Fred Thompson by 44 percent.
Consider it yet another sign — like fights over a budget veto and immigration — of restlessness among the base.
Thompson came within three votes of matching all those gathered by Mitt Romney, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich put together.
The poll was jointly conducted by the Young Republicans and the Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia.
The results were as follows:
Fred Thompson — 188 votes, or 44 percent
Newt Gingrich — 77, or 18 percent
Rudy Giuliani — 64, or 15 percent
Mitt Romney — 40, or 9 percent
Mike Huckabee — 18, or 4 percent
Duncan Hunter — 10, or 2.3 percent
John McCain — 10, or 2.3 percent
Ron Paul — 8, or 1.9 percent
Tommy Thompson — 6, or 1.4 percent
Tom Tancredo — 4, or .9 percent
Sam Brownback — 2, or .5 percent
John Cox — 2, or .5 percent
Jim Gilmore — 0, or 0 percent
Thanks for coming, Mr. Bauer. Or whoever you are.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stray stories from the state Republican convention:
— The following comes from author and political commentator Phil Kent:
At the fund-raiser for Mitt Romney at the posh 1818 Club on Friday, the candidate was making the introductions to the room.
Romney gestured to Ralph Reed and said, “Why it’s good to see Gary Bauer here.” (For the detached, Bauer is a former presidential candidate with ties, like Reed, to the Religious Right.)
Romney then caught himself. “Oh, I’m a little mixed up here,” he said. But Romney still couldn’t place Reed’s face — and had to move on.
After the event, Romney approached Reed and apologized for misremembering him.
— A particular person was passing out copies of the 2002 “Declaration of a New Georgia” on Saturday. This was the platform that Republican candidates, including Sonny Perdue, embraced during their campaigns of 2002.
One section of the document was devoted to a condemnation of “billions [spent] on pork barrel programs” included in the mid-year budget “for partisan political purposes.”
Reporters were directed to a particular line item: “$250,000 to construct a fishing area in Burke County.”
Thank goodness we don’t do anything like that anymore.
— We’re told that convention volunteers went into a panic on Friday night when, in the dining hall where Newt Gingrich was to be the keynote speaker, a blue brochure was discovered on every seat.
The title? “Why Newt Gingrich Should Not Be President.”
Aides scurried from seat to seat, scooping up the folded flyers. But ultimately, someone actually opened the literature up.
The inside was blank.
Get it? There’s no reason why Gingrich shouldn’t be president. Oops.
This is what we call too smart by half.
Boos, hisses greet defense of immigration reform bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Delegates to the state Republican convention unleashed a rare chorus of boos and hisses at U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss on Saturday, as he spoke up for a bipartisan immigration reform package unveiled in Washington this week.
Hear it for yourself by clicking here.
Chambliss had just finished emphasizing his devotion to border security provisions contained in the measure, and brought up agriculture’s need for temporary, foreign workers.
“We’ve got to face the fact that we’ve got to create a new, truly temporary worker program” — the boos started here, but Chambliss plowed on — “for that segment of our economy that need temporary workers.
“If we don’t have a meaningful, workable program, we’ll simply be dependent on foreign imports for food products, the way we’re dependent on foreign imports for oil products,” Chambliss said, finishing his thought.
After the speech, Chambliss said he took the crowd’s reaction as a lack of popular understanding of the shape of the current immigration system.
Both Chambliss and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson spoke at a breakfast meeting, then before 1,200 or so delegates who gathered in the Gwinnett County Civic Center.
Isakson was first. He laid out the enforcement and border security aspects of the immigration bill, due to come up before the Senate this week.
His speech was short, and received polite applause. “We have the opportunity and a narrow window to change what has plagued our society for 21 years,” Isakson said.
The current bill does just that, he said, endorsing “citizenship the right way, the naturalized way, the speaking-English way.”
Chambliss, the state’s senior senator who is up for re-election next year, did most of the talking.
He explained that he and Isakson engaged with Democrats — after their attempts to change immigration last year were blocked, in a Republican-controlled Congress.
“Today is a different day in Washington. Republicans are not in control. The Democrats have decided that an immigration bill is coming to the floor.
“We could either sit on the sidelines and we could throw rocks, or we could become engaged and make what we knew was a bad bill, better,” Chambliss said.
But he promised that both he and Isakson were not inalterably committed. “You need to know, you did not elect two potted plants to the Senate,” Chambliss said.
But he also had a word for critics.
“We either come up with a comprehensive immigration package or we have the status quo,” he said.
“Please don’t believe what you hear or see on radio and TV,” Chambliss said. “We’re not asking you to trust us. But give us an opportunity to explain it to you.”
Ritch McCutchen, a delegate from Crisp County, sat in one of the areas that produced the boos for Chambliss, but said he didn’t join in.
McCutchen, who recycles used machinery for a living, said he’s willing to give Isakson and Chambliss the benefit of the doubt, for now. “I have a question about whether it will work,” he said.
The issue of illegal immigration has the potential to create a serious split in the party, on a state and national level.
“If this gets categorized as amnesty, it could cause the party to split next year, particularly if the top of the ticket is viewed as too liberal,” said Mark Rountree, a political strategist who works with Republican candidates.
By liberal, he meant former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. Rountree wants former Tennessee senator and actor Fred Thompson in the ’08 presidential race.
Immigration is yet another of those issues that where the fault line separates the business community from the ideological base of the party.
Supporters of the immigration bill backed by Chambliss and Isakson include Gary Black, a former candidate for state agriculture commissioner.
“We just can’t turn our heads anymore. We’ve got to find some resolution,” Black said.
He’s a member of a group formed only in the last few weeks, called Georgia Employers for Immigration Reform.
Chambliss: ‘Let us educate you’ about immigration bill
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Both Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss spoke at a morning breakfast to start the second day of today’s state Republican convention.
Of the pair of U.S. senators, Chambliss gave the most extensive defense of their involvement in the immigration reform bill, which has become the topic of the convention. Both were involved in the negotiations, and have given it their cautious, and probationary endorsements.
Both senators will address delegates this morning. Later, the convention will vote on a resolution declaring the Republican party against amnesty. It’s based on S.R. 646, which was adopted by the Senate this spring.
At the breakfast, Chambliss gave a short history of his and Isakson’s opposition to immigration legislation last year, and explained why they got involved this year.
We spotted U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta, who has come out against the bill, in the audience.
Said Chambliss, who’s up for re-election next year:
“We felt like it was critically important to our state for any number of reasons, but particularly for this reason. Georgia is the fourth fastest-growing state in the nation today. But we are No. 1 when it comes to being the destination point for those folks who cross the border to the South illegally,” Chambliss said.
“We have a growing problem in this state, and if we don’t solve it now, folks, it’s going to be left to our children and grandchildren. And we all know that every day that goes by, this problem gets worse.
“So we either stand on the sidelines, and we vote against everything, and we throw rocks, or we engage in the process. And we try to make what we think may be a bad bill a better bill. And that’s the route that Johnny and I decided to take,” Chambliss said.
“This is the most sensitive, most politically charged, emotional issue I’ve seen. But it’s probably the most important issue that we’ve dealt with, other than the war on terror,” he said.
“The end result is not something I’m totally happy with. I probably like about 70 to 75 percent of what’s in this bill. The rest of it I don’t like.
“But we have a choice. We have a new majority in Congress. Us not setting the schedule, us not committee chairmen, us not determining what legislation comes to the floor.
“We had the opportunity to stay back and let them write what we knew was going to be a bad bill, or be engaged. And I am very pleased that we were able to get 70 to 75 percent of what we wanted.
“Before we just throw cold water on this bill, give it a chance. Let us educate you about it.
“There’s some folks we’re never going to totally satisfy. There are a lot of people who think we ought to take everybody here illegally today, arrest them, throw them in jail, and send them back to where they came from” Chambliss.
At this point he was interrupted by a loud round of applause.
“If it were possible to do that, if it were practical to do that, I’d say you’re right.
The problem is that we all know that can’t be done. It’s not going to be done. So we have to play the cards we’re dealt. And the cards we were dealt meant we needed to engage,” he said.
So when will you announce, Newt? And where?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Earlier this week, on national TV, Newt Gingrich said there was “a great possibility” he would run for president in ‘08.
At the state Republican convention in Gwinnett County, he dropped what may be another hint. “If I ever do announce for president, it will be back here — it’ll be here at home,” Gingrich told reporters.
The former Georgia congressman and U.S. House speaker has been a resident of Virginia the last seven years or so.
Exactly when might he announce? Sounds like the end of September.
“We’re going to have a workshop here actually in Georgia, probably in Cobb County, on Sept. 27 — a nationwide workshop, that’s the anniversary of the Contract with America,” Gingrich said. “It’s called ‘American Solutions.’ And we’ll repeat that on Saturday, the 29th, probably in Carrollton, back where I taught originally [at West Georgia College].”
Mark the date. But in pencil.
Convention notebook: Immigration, taxes, and Fred Thompson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some stray observations tied together:
— The immigration bill is already resonating here at the state GOP convention. Not favorably, either.
Mitt Romney’s comments are below. A lime-green flyer is being passed out by NumbersUSA, declaring that “Sen. Isakson and Sen. Chambliss stand with Kennedy for largest amnesty in history.”
James Herchek of Gwinnett County stood in front of the convention hall with a placard reading, “No Amnesty: Deport pro-invastion politicians.” He pronounced himself “extremely disappointed” with the bill, which will be debated in the Senate on Monday.
— The fight over the governor’s veto of a tax rebate is playing second fiddle. State Rep. Jill Chambers (R-Atlanta) was spotted passing out a sticker that said “Real Republicans cut taxes.” She tried to stick one on the lapel of state Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth), who blanched.
— Mitt Romney, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani have booths here. But the most active is the one belonging to supporters of Fred Thompson, the actor and former Tennessee senator.
That booth features a petition delegates can sign, urging Thompson to jump into the race. House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart and Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson are active in the effort.
Here’s where the draft-Thompson movement at this convention gets interesting: Thompson was once a big backer of McCain for president. And McCain’s main man in Georgia is Alec Poitevint, the exiting chairman of the state party.
The group e-mailed us a list of 41 Republican leaders who have joined the pro-Thompson movement. See them here on the jump.
Georgia Republican Leaders for Fred Thompson
Former US Senator Mack & Leslie Mattingly
Sen. Eric Johnson, President Pro Tempore
Sen. Tommie Williams, Majority Leader
Sen. Chip Rogers
Sen. David Shafer
Sen. Don Thomas
Sen. Jack Murphy
Sen. John Douglas
Sen. Cecil Staton
Sen. Preston Smith
Sen. Greg Goggans
Sen. Lee Hawkins
Sen. Bill Heath
Sen. Bill Hamrick
Sen. Don Thomas
Rep. Earl Ehrhart
Rep. Ron Stephens
Rep. Ron Forster
Rep. Buddy Carter
Rep. Burke Day
Rep. Jim Cole
Rep. Doug Collins
Rep. Mark Butler
Rep. Clay Cox
Rep. Jay Neal
Rep. Sean Jerguson
Rep. Tom Dickson
Rep. Calvin Hill
Rep. James Mills
Rep. Doug Holt
Rep. John Meadows
Rep. Tom Knox
Rep. John Heard
Rep. Tom Graves
Commissioner Esther Fleming (Newton)
Commissioner Pat Farrell (Chatham)
Commissioner Jerry Brigham (Augusta-Richmond)
Councilwoman Liz Hausmann (Johns Creek)
Fmr. Sen. Brian Kemp
Fmr. Rep. Chuck Harper
Fmr. Rep. Barbara Bunn
Romney’s message to Southern evangelicals: ‘My wife and I and our five sons won’t embarrass them.’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney breezed through the state GOP convention in Duluth this afternoon with two messages for the base.
He’s suspicious of the immigration deal under discussion in Washington, and even said it endorsed “amnesty.” And, the former Massachusetts governor said, evangelicals needn’t worry about his religion.
Romney, who admitted he hadn’t read the bill, said he endorsed some facets of the bipartisan immigration bill — in particular its emphasis on border security and an employment verification system.
“On the other hand, there is a visa provision known as the ‘Z’ visa, which would say those people who are here illegally today could apply,” Romney told reporters during a brief news conference. “ It would last four years, but they could be renewed indefinitely. And there would be no end to a person being able to stay here even though they’re not here legally.”
“That in my opinion is a form of amnesty,” Romney said, to the applause of Republican delegates gathered around.
(We caught up later with U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, one of the prime movers behind the immigration negotiations. Isakson disputed Romney’s take on the “Z” visas. “It can’t be. And as he said, he hasn’t read the bill.)
Romney was escorted by House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta), who hosted a fund-raiser for Romney earlier in the day. It raised $250,000, Burkhalter said.
While he leads in polls in the early primary states of both New Hampshire and Iowa, Romney’s campaign has had a slower start in the South. Among many evangelicals — Southern Baptists in particular — his Mormon background has caused significant concern.
Asked if he had any message for evangelicals, Romney said this:
“The message is probably the same as for my Catholic friends in Massachusetts — my home state is 55 percent Catholic.
“People came to recognize that I’m not running for pastor-in-chief. That the reason I’m in this race is to win a secular position, that the values that I have are as American as any in the nation.
“My wife and I and our five sons will not embarrass them. The kinds of values which we share, people in the South will warm to. I don’t think Americans anywhere choose their candidate based on what church they go to. That’s what people in other parts of the world do.”
Suddenly, this GOP convention is about immigration
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The weekend, statewide gathering of Republican activists here in Gwinnett County has taken a sharp turn — away from chatter over Gov. Sonny Perdue’s veto of a property tax rebate.
We’ve been told that U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss both will devote their speeches and time at the convention to selling the immigration compromise that both men have signed onto.
You saw below that U.S. Reps. Tom Price and Phil Gingrey, both Republican, have come out against the deal. In another sign of trepidation over the deal, 10th District congressional candidate — who has based nearly his entire campaign around opposition to illegal immigration — has done the same.
Whitehead, also a Republican, is calling it “amnesty, pure and simple.”
“With passage of this bill, America would be a nation of laws no more”, says Whitehead in a statement he put out this morning. “If we don’t enforce immigration law, what other law will we not enforce because some people don’t like it or think it’s fair? The people of my district don’t like income tax, and don’t think it’s fair. If this amnesty bill passes, how can I, as their federal representative, tell them in good conscience to continue to pay income tax?”
Barack Obama’s list of supporters in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Barack Obama’s campaign in Georgia has released its list of supporters. Possibly this is an overstatement, but it looks like they trend toward the more youthful middle of the Democratic party — with notable exceptions like Joe Lowery.
See the entire list on the jump.
Georgia General Assembly
Stacey Abrams: State Representative, DeKalb
David Adelman: State Senator, DeKalb
Roger Bruce: State Representative, Douglas, Fulton
Gloria Butler: State Senator, DeKalb, Gwinnett
Gail Davenport: State Senator, Clayton, Henry
Karla Drenner: State Representative, DeKalb
Virgil Fludd: State Representative, Fayette, Fulton
Gloria Frazier: State Representative, Burke, Richmond
Craig J. Gordon: State Representative, Chatham
Lynmore James: State Representative, Macon
Emanuel Jones: State Senator, DeKalb, Henry
Sheila Jones: State Representative, Cobb, Fulton
Darryl Jordan: State Representative, Clayton, Fayette
Randal Mangahm: State Representative, DeKalb, Rockdale
Alisha Thomas Morgan: State Representative, Cobb
Howard Mosby: State Representative, DeKalb, Henry
Ronald Ramsey: State Senator, DeKalb, Rockdale
Robbin Shipp: State Representative, DeKalb, Fulton
Pam Stephenson: State Representative, Dekalb, Rockdale
Doug Stoner: State Senator, Cobb
Ed Tarver: State Senator, Richmond
Brian Thomas, State Representative, Gwinnett
Curt Thompson: State Senator, DeKalb, Gwinnett
Stan Watson: State Representative, DeKalb, Henry
Local Officials
Joseph Bacon: Mayor, East Point
Lisa Borders: City Council President, Atlanta
C. Jack Ellis: Mayor, Macon
Gwen Keyes Fleming: District Attorney, DeKalb
Paul Howard: District Attorney, Fulton
Larry Johnson: Councilmember, Atlanta
C.T. Martin: Councilmember, Atlanta
Lee May: County Commissioner, DeKalb
Ceasar Mitchell: Councilmember, Atlanta
Clyde K. Mitchell: Councilmember, East Point City
Mary Osborne: Alderman, Savannah
Ivory Young: Councilmember, Atlanta
Religious Leaders
Dr. Michael A. Battle: President of the Interdenominational Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr.: Dean, Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, Morehouse College
Rev. Dr. Gerald L. Durley: Senior Pastor, Progressive Baptist Church
Dr. Robert Michael Franklin, Jr.: Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics, Emory University
Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale: Senior Pastor, Ray of Hope Christian Church
Rev. Dr. Matthew Vaughn Johnson: Senior Pastor, Christian Fellowship Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery: Civil Rights Leader
Bishop E. Earl McCloud, Jr.: Ecumenical Bishop, African Methodist Episcopal Church
Rev. Lester A. McCorn: Senior Pastor, Faith A.M.E. Zion Church
Rev. George Moore: Senior Pastor, Saint Philip African Methodist Episcopal Church
Rev. Anthony Motley: Senior Pastor, Lindsay Street Baptist Church
Rev. Craig L. Oliver, Sr.: Senior Pastor, Elizabeth Baptist Church
Dr. Kenneth L. Samuels: Senior Pastor, Victory Baptist Church
Rev. E. Dewey Smith, Jr.: Senior Pastor, Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church
Dr. T. DeWitt Smith, Jr.: President, Progressive National Baptist Convention
Dr. C.T. Vivian: Civil Rights Leader
U.S. attorney in Macon landed on list of those to be sacked?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
McClatchy Newspapers is reporting that the federal prosecutor in Macon “landed on a proposed firing list weeks after the White House and Justice Department traded notes about the potential for voter-fraud cases in central Georgia and Appalachia.”
Maxwell Wood, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, declined comment. Read the story here.
The difference between Democrats and Republicans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Edwards just finished his speech at the Democratic fund-raiser in Atlanta.
See two other posts below.
You’ll never hear a Republican close his speech by quoting Mahatma Gandhi. “You have to be the change that you believe in,” Edwards said.
Good night, and Godspeed.
Edwards on the ‘bleeding sore of Iraq,’ and health care
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin just gave an unusually effusive introduction to John Edwards at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Not an endorsement, but it was darn close. “It takes guts and courage and vision to be John Edwards,” she said.
Edwards immediately compared himself to two other sons of the South, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. He mentioned his wife Elizabeth, whom he said was backstage. “By the way, she’s doing great,” Edwards said.
His first topic was “the bleeding sore that’s Iraq.”
And he repeated his line that Congress should send bill after bill after bill to President Bush, putting a timeline on troop withdrawal with each one.
“The Congress should stand it’s ground,” he said. “This is not about politics.”
U.S. troops, he said, “deserve leadership that stands with them.”
Most of this, we’ve heard before. Ditto his lines about the environment, and his college-for-everyone program.
But the audience’s ears pricked up at something we hadn’t heard him say before, about health insurance.
Edwards called for a national health insurance policy that would “outlaw pre-existing conditions.” That line struck home.
Mental health care would be insured just like physical health care. “Paid for by rolling back George Bush’s tax cuts,” he said.
Live, from the Democratic ballroom, it’s not James Brown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re here in the farthest, farthest reaches — the basement of the basement — of the Georgia World Congress Center, the site of the Democratic fund-raiser, the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner.
Cathy Cox and her entourage are sitting around the table next to us. Mark Taylor was more to the center of the room.
Bobby Kahn just walked up. Showed us the bruise on his right arm where he got nailed by a foul ball at a Braves game.
Did he catch the ball? No, he did not.
The room, despite its location, is remarkably full. Lobbyists in plenty of numbers, at $200 a pop. We’re to have a head count by the end of the evening.
As of 7:41 p.m., the highlight has been the sight of state Labor Commissioner gyrating and singing — singing! — “I Feel Good” a la James Brown, backed by a six-piece band.
He was followed to the stage by state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, who did not dance or sing. There was a prayer of thanksgiving afterwards.
Isakson on immigration deal: So far, so good.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Update at 10:18 a.m. Friday: We could have a significant split within Georgia GOP ranks developing on this issue. Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss are cautiously on-board this immigration deal. U.S. Reps. Tom Price (R-Roswell) and Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) are not. We’ve tacked on Price and Gingrey comments below.
Over the last few weeks, Georgia’s junior senator had become a key ingredient in the negotiations over immigration, the man who could bring conservative Republicans to the table.
So the e-mail to U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s office was short and to the point: Was he on board with today’s immigration deal, or not?
Isakson himself picked up the phone and called. His short answer: So far, so good. Listen to a sound clip here.
First, Isakson said he was pleased that his “border security first” provision is what he calls the foundation of the bill.
“No. 2,” he said, “I opposed the bill last year, because it had an expedited pathway to citizenship. That is now out. Anybody that wants a green card or citizenship has to go home — get in the back of the line, behind the people that are doing it right.
“Anybody that’s here illegally goes on probation, first-offender status, pays fines, has to learn English,” Isakson said.
At this point, he called the legislation “a good, sound, strong bill.”
But that provisional endorsement comes with a warning. “If it gets changed, or people start backing away from the deal, they don’t have me in bed with them,” he said.
“Though the border security measures would be potentially helpful, this bill is one step forward and two steps backward,” said Price, who helps draft the Republican message strategy for the House. “All that is compromised with this proposal is America’s rule of law.”
Gingrey said the compromise bill would only encourage more people to cross illegally into the United States, putting further strain on public schools and medical facilities.
“I fear this new compromise may simply be amnesty by another name,” Gingrey said. “We can’t bankrupt our government services by granting the biggest handout of all: amnesty.”
Don’t look for any protests at state convention, says Klein
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t look for any Republican uprising over Gov. Sonny Perdue’s veto of a tax rebate at this weekend’s state party convention — or so says executive director Marty Klein, who’s in charge of the details of the meeting.
“I don’t expect one. Quite to the contrary, I think you’re going to see a sign of unity and a discussion of a common set of principles,” Klein said this morning on WGAU (1340 AM) in Athens.
Here’s a link to the sound that host Tim Bryant just passed us, which includes a fairly extensive defense of the governor’s decision.
Two UGA researchers: Democrats had cause to worry about the voter ID law
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two University of Georgia political scientists say that many of the objections voiced by Democrats in a two-year fight over voter ID are grounded in fact.
“The evidence suggests that it is indeed Democrats who are less likely to be in possession of a valid driver’s license,” write M.V. “Trey” Hood and the oft-quoted Charles Bullock in a paper presented this spring.
In 2005, the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a statute requiring voters to present a picture of themselves — most often a driver’s license — when they go to the polls, as an anti-fraud measure.
Democrats, particularly African-Americans, declared the law was intended to dampen turnout. Enforcement of the measure has been blocked.
Hood and Bullock examined the demographics and voting habits of roughly 300,000 voters who were determined by state government to be registered - but were not on its data base of motorists.
While they warned that their findings weren’t conclusive, the two noted that:
Suburban counties, which historically vote Republican, “did see significantly lower rates” of registered voters without ID than rural and urban counties.
Non-white voters were less likely than white voters to possess a driver’s license. For instance, a black voter was nearly twice as likely to lack a license as a white voter. “Women and older Georgians were also significantly more likely to be without a license or identification card,” the paper said.
Voters without driver’s licenses are significantly more likely to vote in Democratic, as opposed to Republican, primaries.
Voters who lack a driver’s license as ID are less likely to vote, particularly in general elections. “Given that registrants without a driver’s license are already less likely to vote, requiring certain forms of photo identification to vote would most likely diminish turnout among this group even further,” Hood and Bullock write.
Their paper, “Worth a Thousand Words?: An Analysis of Georgia’s Voter Identification Statute,” was presented in March at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Political Science Association in New Mexico.
Giuliani and abortion: Perhaps not the defining issue that many think, he says. Even so, the ex-NYC mayor says there’s common ground to be had
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rudy Giuliani finished his “town hall” meeting at Oglethorpe U. about an hour ago.
The majority of questions dealt with terrorism and immigration. One dealt with the fair tax. Another focused on the killing of dogs and cats. Seriously.
None touched on abortion. During his quick session with the press gaggle, we asked Giuliani whether he took the lack of questions on this topic as a sign that some issues — like terrorism and immigration — trump traditional GOP concerns.
“For certain people, they do, sure. That’s what elections are all about,” Giuliani said. (Click here for a sound clip)
“That’s why I take a lot of questions. Questions more than polls tell me what people feel strongly about. Think about a poll. Somebody calls you up, you’re at home, they impose 30 questions on you. They create the agenda and then you give the yes-no answer. Questions are about what people are passionate about, what’s on their minds.
“I think there are many, many people who see the defining issues in this election are about how we deal with terrorism, how we create a safer America, from that point of view and other points of view, how we deal with our economy,” he said.
But he held out the possibility of finding common ground with abortion opponents.
“For example, I would do everything I could do to reduce abortion, consistent with — in my case — I think there should be respect for a woman’s choice here, and government [should] not coerce in that area,” he said. “But as a constructive thing, I would look for ways in which we could reduce abortions. I think all Republicans and all Democrats just about agree on that — that we should reduce abortions through free choice, through making information available, through making adoptions available. Through making the decision more of a complete choice.
“So maybe there’s room for common ground there.”
Penultimate question for Rudy Giulini: Are too many dogs and cats being killed?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rudy Giuliani is now shaking hands with the participants of his “town hall” meeting at Oglethorpe U.
Escapes with the word “abortion” never mentioned, by him or by participants.
The next-to-the-last question was this, from a woman we couldn’t see: More than 100,000 dogs and cats are killed in Atlanta each year, and millions more across the U.S. What’s your position?
Giuliani says he favors adoption. “I think it’s a local and state issue,” he said.
Rudy’s here, and talks about terrorism and the economy, but not abortion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t have his name yet, but Rudy Giuliani’s warm-up guy at Oglethorpe U. stressed out his candidate as a guy who breaks the mold. “One of his defining characteristics is his refusal to be classified and labeled,” he said. (Turns out this fellow was Lawrence Schall, president of Oglethorpe. Our apologies for not recognizing him on sight.)
He also noted that Oglethorpe welcomed a president-to-be about 75 years ago this month. It was FDR.
Giuliani walked in, got a standing ovation, and quickly stripped off both his jacket and his glasses. Only a few seconds passed before the former New York mayor mentioned the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
His most inflammatory statement yet came when he drew the difference between Republicans and Democrats.
“Republicans are much more willing to be on offense against terrorism,” Giuliani said.
First question for him was about the fair tax. Giuliani said the time wasn’t right for it.
His second question came from an elderly woman who didn’t like current approach to the war in Iraq, and thought it might be breeding more terrorists.
“I respectfully disagree,” Giuliani said, and questioned whether the woman understood the problem.
No questions about abortion so far.
Waiting for Rudy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re both here at the Rudy Giuliani event at Oglethorpe U.
Rudy’s running about 30 minutes behind. He’s on the ground, we’re told, and on his way. He had a previous “town hall” event in Charleston. The relatively small, now stifling room in the student center is packed — we’re guessing close to 200. Impressive for an event thrown together at the last minute. Five TV sticks, and more than a half-dozen print and Internet reporters.
It’s not Barack Obama territory, but still — this is May, 2007.
This is largely a non-traditional crowd. Not many faces that we recognize from previous GOP events. Oglethorpe administrators tell us they worked their student and alumni e-mail lists. For many, it’ll be their first look at the guy.
We’ve talked to a handful of supporters. They’re pleased with the results of the Tuesday debate in South Carolina, and readily admit that Rudy skated past any hard questioning on social issues — thanks in large part to Ron Paul, who lobbed Giuliani the statement that 9/11 was in part caused by the United States sticking its nose into places it had no business.
We’re guessing Rudy slipped him a twenty after it was over.
An Iraq video enters the 10th District race against Jim Whitehead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Youtube video has just made the race for the 10th District congressional seat, the first federal election since November, a tad more interesting.
The northeast Georgia district is overwhelmingly conservative. And the money leader in the 10-candidate, officially non-partisan race is former Republican state senator Jim Whitehead of Evans.
Whitehead’s topic of choice has been illegal immigration. In interviews and a first radio ad, he’s avoided the issue of Iraq. Early this month, Tom Crawford of capitolimpact.com quoted Whitehead as saying “Iraq has not been a big thing in our district.”
Someone, in some Democratic camp, wants to change that — and perhaps also wants to test the resonance of an ant-Iraq message in a Republican-dominated district.
This video link to youtube.com, labeled “Stop Whitehead,” came over the transom last night, just as the GOP debate in South Carolina kicked off.
It takes on Whitehead’s quote about the lack of interest among voters in Iraq. We don’t know who’s behind it. But the ready-for-TV production values, while nothing fancy, are excellent — which indicates there could be significant money and strategizing involved.
The ad would fit with the platform espoused by candidate Jim Marlow of Lincolnton, around whom many Democrats are rallying. We called the Marlow campaign. A spokesman said it ain’t them.
Andy Young, Wolfowitz, and the Dutch conspiracy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The best political TV on Tuesday night wasn’t the Republican debate in South Carolina. It was former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, defending World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz on “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” on PBS.
Young, who just turned 75, sat in front of the camera with his eyes half shut, looking like a sleepy king frog, until his turn to speak. Then he sprang to life and denounced the entire controversy as a load of “bureaucratic crap.”
The former U.N. ambassador blamed Dutch members of the World Bank board for allowing their resentment over U.S. involvement in Iraq to lead them into what he called a proxy war against Wolfowitz.
And he says that the time may be coming when the World Bank, which addresses poverty, is irrelevant.
Wolfowitz is accused of doing favors for his girlfriend, who was an employee of the World Bank when he arrived at his post. Here’s the link to the transcript, but the juicy parts are below:
YOUNG: This is a professional woman who was at the World Bank six or eight years before Wolfowitz got there. She was a ranking member. She’s a British woman, who’s a Muslim, who’s fluent in Arabic, and in almost any corporation in the world she could make a half-a-million dollars. She’s at the bank because of her competence.
Paul Wolfowitz coming created a conflict, which he went to the ethics committee to try to solve. The ethics committee would not let him recuse himself, so they put him in this trick. And now they want to use this trick to undermine his leadership.
I think what they’re doing is undermining the credibility, and particularly the Dutch. They have a reputation for tolerance, for generosity, for forgiveness, and an expansive view of the world that I’ve always admired. They were very helpful to us in Atlanta. They were very helpful in the Holocaust, and now, for them to be caught in this bureaucratic crap, is embarrassing to me.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Clarify what you….
YOUNG: I think who’s on trial here is not Paul Wolfowitz, but that board. In a world where tolerance is required, where women in the Islamic world are the hope of the entire planet, for them to take their prejudices — which I agree with — against him on the war in Iraq and resurrect it to try to put it into the World Bank political scene is, in many ways, obscene.
It’s sort of like Imus referring to these young women on the basketball team and ignoring all of the professional competence and all of the skills and talents that are at stake here. Paul Wolfowitz and Riza Shaha have tremendous things to offer the world. And I think, right now, staid bureaucrats who’ve been there 25 years bungling in the bank are trying to make him a scapegoat.
And more:
ANDREW YOUNG: Yes. For me, this is more like the scandal in the United Nations, where when Europe began to feel the influence of new coalitions in the third world threatening their dominance, they sought to get rid of the people who were pulling together these new coalitions.
I think the threat is that Paul Wolfowitz is pulling together a third world coalition that, while it doesn’t have the money, it controls the markets of the future. And the old colonial routines of running Africa from Europe will no longer apply under Wolfowitz.
At last, a topic for dinner-table conversation when Newt, the other non-candidate, comes to town
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican state senators Chip Rogers of Woodstock and Eric Johnson of Savannah sent a joint e-mail to their colleagues in the Legislature on Tuesday, urging them to jump on the Fred Thompson for president bandwagon.
Just another sign of internal discontent with the current crop of GOP candidates.
“Officially, Senator Thompson has not made his final decision, but we believe an announcement is imminent. Once he announces, support will surge in like a tidal wave. We believe we have a small window of opportunity to really stand out in the eyes of the country and the mind of our future president if we stand tall for him now,” the message says.
Johnson and Rogers aim to build a list of interested Georgia legislators they can hand Thompson, and help move him off the dime. The pair point out that a majority of the state House Republicans in Texas have done something similar.
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Speak not but good of the dead. Sort of.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Like any other profession, politics has its generational shifts. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, the Rev. Jerry Falwell represented the opening charge of conservative Christians into Republican politics.
Some among the next generation of evangelical leaders have questioned what they see as both the narrowness of the conservative moral agenda, and the excessive loyalty to a single political party.
On the day of Falwell’s death, not a lot of this is being voiced. But you can see a hint of it in the statement below from Jim Beck, leader of the Georgia Christian Coalition:
“At the recent passing of Rev. Jerry Falwell, many of us in the conservative movement are given pause to consider his life.
“The Rev. Falwell was like any person, with faults and talents, virtues and vices. You could never doubt his passion and love of the Lord, and the Christian Coalition is unforgettably grateful to him for his legacy of perseverance in encouraging Christians to have a voice in their government and an active interest in promoting sound leaders and legislation.
“Although there were times when we questioned his approach, nevertheless he has had a powerful impact on America that will not be forgotten. (Emphasis ours.)
“We will continue to be in prayer for Rev. Falwell’s family.”
Minutes later we caught up with Beck by phone, and he went into a little more detail.
“Like all of us he was imperfect, but he held a mirror up to our society and made us take a good, hard look at it,” Beck said.
When Falwell came on the scene, Beck said, Christians had the sense that “For the first time, you could say some of the things you’d been thinking.”
Some of the comments Falwell made later in life, such as his ascribing the blame for 9/11 to feminists and other liberal groups, “we could have done without,” Beck said.
But in an interesting comparison, Beck said he saw little difference between those comments and some recent statements by former President Jimmy Carter. Aging leaders, he noted, have a tendency to “say something a lot more outrageous in order to remain relevant.”
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Rudy comes to town tomorrow, to steal thunder from Gingrich and Romney
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has made a last-minute decision to hold a Wednesday “town hall” meeting in Atlanta, to capitalize on any gains made during tonight’s GOP debate in South Carolina.
It’s a noon event at Oglethorpe University on Peachtree Road, in the Talmadge Room of the Emerson Student Center.
Both Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are already scheduled to be here this week, at events surrounding the state GOP convention. See this post below.
First thoughts on Jerry Falwell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the man who helped doom Jimmy Carter’s second term, had been on the political scene so long that he seemed permanent, like a living room sofa.
We first ran into him better than 20 years ago, when he was in full swing as the leader of the Moral Majority — forerunner to Pat Robertson’s Christian Coalition and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family.
The fellow behind Falwell was a guy named Ed McAteer, a former Colgate-Palmolive salesman — from Memphis, if memory serves.
In 1978, McAteer, a Southern Baptist, linked up Howard Phillips, head of a then-prominent Washington lobby group called Conservative Caucus, and this relatively unknown television preacher named Falwell.
The meeting led to the founding of Moral Majority a year later.
“I remember the exact words that Jerry said to me, ” McAteer said. “He said, ‘Ed, I can’t get on TV and talk about SALT II.’
A few years later, McAteer said, “I hear these people talk now, and you’d think they all had political science degrees.”
In ’85, we talked to Falwell about the upcoming presidential campaign, and conservative suspicions of then Vice President George H.W. Bush.
The Moral Majority leader used the occasion to illustrate the mellowing of the Religious Right. And it sounds much like what’s being said in GOP circles today.
“Many of us already have determined that George Bush should be the next president,” Falwell said. “To think that conservative Christians would be walking toward and behind George Bush five years ago was unthinkable.”
“We all like Jack Kemp. But most of us are realists, and we believe that unless something of a spectacular nature occurs in the next four years, George Bush is the heir apparent, ” Falwell said.
Robert Brown for mayor of Macon: A clue to Jim Marshall’s intentions?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We told you yesterday that Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown was leaving the Legislature to run for mayor.
But we can be a bit slow sometimes, and the larger implication didn’t really sink in until this morning. This could very well mean that U.S. Jim Marshall has decided to give a race against U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss a pass.
Brown is a close ally of Marshall. Brown ran the Marshall campaign in 2002, and was part of Marshall’s inner circle in ‘04 and ‘06.
Macon is the largest population center in the 8th District. As mayor, Brown would be of little help to Marshall in a statewide race. But he would be an immense help to Marshall if the congressman should decide to stay put and weather the next several Republican storms.
Likewise, Marshall would be of great help to Brown. The synergy is already there.
Falwell unconscious, taken to hospital
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This just rolled out of the Associated Press:
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell was found unconscious in his office Tuesday and taken to the hospital, a Liberty University executive told a newspaper.
Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of the school, told The News & Advance of Lynchburg that Falwell was found unconscious after missing an appointment Tuesday morning. Falwell arrived at Lynchburg General Hospital around noon, the newspaper reported on its Web site.
When contacted by The Associated Press, Godwin said he couldn’t talk at that time.
This week’s consumer guide to candidate spotting
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, this may be the optimum season for spotting presidential candidates in Georgia — perhaps the best this year.
We’re talking five White House wannabes — three Republican and two Democrat — in metro Atlanta on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, circling around a Democratic fund-raiser and a state GOP convention.
Plus one surprise appearance by a candidate’s spouse early next month.
The question is how much money you’re willing to spend in order to get the autograph on your program, or even stand in the same room.
Politician-spotting is much like collecting baseballs. Minor league signatures can be had for cheap. Established names demand big cash.
Consider this your consumer guide.
State GOP chairman Alec Poitevint has caused some rumbling in the ranks with his decision to bar all presidential candidates from addressing 1,500 or so delegates who will gather in Gwinnett County on Friday and Saturday.
Presumably, the decision was made to put more focus on local party unity, and the election of Sue Everhart as the party’s first female chairman. (Instead, the decision has pretty much guaranteed media emphasis on the party’s fight over the budget. Ah, well.)
Because of this rule, Newt Gingrich, the non-presidential candidate, will address the GOP convention delegates at the opening event. Yes, that’s the same Gingrich who on Monday declared that his candidacy was “a great possibility.”
Consumer rating: Two-and-a-half stars. Tickets for the 7 p.m. dinner are $75, with seats still available. But you have to brave rush-hour traffic in Gwinnett to get there on time, and it’s a massive room. Bring your binoculars.
Two other presidential hopefuls will be at the fringes on Friday. John Cox, a little-known GOP candidate with Chicago roots, will be hanging around the convention much of the day.
Consumer rating: One star. Personal contact with the “fair tax” advocate is almost a guarantee, but Cox’s fortunes are so dim that Fox News and the GOP in South Carolina haven’t included him in tonight’s debate.
Mitt Romney, the final presidential wannabe in the Republican camp, has three events Friday around the GOP convention. We have details on two.
At noonish, the former Massachusetts governor has a luncheon at the 1818 Club on Sugarloaf Parkway — $2,300 for the VIP reception, and $1,000 for just the lunch.
Then at 3 p.m., Romney has scheduled a 30-minute, free hand-shaking session with GOP delegates in the convention hall.
Consumer rating: Five stars, if you’ve got the cash. Or delegate credentials.
On the Democratic side, John Edwards is the keynote speaker at the state party’s Jefferson-Jackson Day fund-raising dinner on Thursday. Tickets are $200.
A same-day luncheon featuring Elizabeth Edwards has been cancelled — due to a scheduling conflict, we’re told.
Consumer rating: Three stars. Yes, we know Democrats are charging more than Republicans for dinner. But the room is likely to be much less crowded, which enhances the possibility of a personal brush with greatness.
On Saturday, Hillary Rodham Clinton is in town for what we’re told is a pair of fund-raisers. We have details on one. It’s at the Atlanta home of Caribou Coffee CEO Michael Coles. As with the Romney fund-raiser, the price is $2,300 for close contact, and $1,000 for watching from a short distance.
Consumer rating: Five stars, if you can afford it.
Note the names on the Clinton invitation detailing a “host committee in formation.” They include Attorney General Thurbert Baker; Columbus attorney Jim Butler; Jimmy Carter associate Stu Eizenstat; Clinton intimate Vernon Jordan; Valerie Jackson; former state Democratic party chairman Calvin Smyre; former Coke executive Carl Ware; and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young.
We don’t know whether an appearance on that list constitutes an endorsement. Well let them explain themselves to Michelle Obama next month.
The wife of Barack Obama has a fund-raiser in Atlanta on June 6. Here are what specifics we have. Tickets are $1,000 for a VIP reception, and $250 for the cheap seats.
Robert Brown to leave Legislature to run for mayor of Macon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ve just been told that Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon) will leave his seat in the Legislature to run for mayor of Macon. Qualifying is next month, and the primary for the partisan race is July 17.
Brown, whose taciturn nature makes him an unusually quiet politician, is nonetheless one of the most influential figures in middle Georgia, and a tight ally of U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, who himself is a former mayor of Macon.
As leader of the Senate caucus, Brown has been responsible for quickly helping Democrats in the chamber come to grips with their status — and responsibilities — as a minority party.
The race to replace him could be intriguing. Tim Golden of Valdosta, Doug Stoner of Smyrna, David Adelman of Decatur and Kasim Reed of Atlanta immediately come to mind as potential replacements.
Says Reed: I’m on the sidelines now, but wait til next year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since last July, one of the more constant questions in Republican circles has been about Ralph Reed. What’s the former candidate for lieutenant governor doing? And what’s he going to do?
David Brody, the correspondent for Christian Broadcasting Network who’s been getting terrific reviews for his political blog, popped the question last week during a 12-minute segment with Reed that can be seen here.
“You’re a top Republican strategist,” Brody said. “I’m sure your phone is ringing off the hook, is it not?”
“You know, not really,” Reed replied. “I have friends who are running for president, and I talk to my friends. And I have a lot of friends who are involved in those campaigns, and I stay in touch with them.
“But for the moment I haven’t formally signed on with any campaign, but I may do so in the future. I do want to help the ultimate nominee win in November 2008. I feel very strongly that this is a really critical election,” Reed said. “I expect to be involved at some point, and I’m not going to sit on the sidelines.”
Whitehead’s up on radio: His topics are taxes, jobs and the border — but not Iraq
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former state senator Jim Whitehead, one of 10 candidates for the 10th District congressional race, has become the first to go up with a 30-second radio spot.
Listen to it here.
Whitehead, a Republican, tries to press all the buttons likely to motivate the GOP base in east Georgia: lower taxes, a stronger economy, and illegal immigration. Not a word about Iraq, though the ad mentions his chairmanship of a Senate committee on homeland security.
Whitehead also seeks to portray himself as the natural successor to the late U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood. “Georgia’s lost a great congressman, and I’ve lost a great friend,” Whitehead says.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the ad is the fact that it’s narrated by a woman. Which perhaps indicates the crucial role that the Whitehead campaign thinks female voters could play in the June 19, formally non-partisan race.
About that override vote: Another message from the governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shortly before noon today, Gov. Sonny Perdue released a list of another six bills he’s signed into law.
Four of the six were sponsored by House members who voted against overriding the governor’s veto of the mid-year budget last month. On Friday, Perdue released a list of 21 bills he’d signed, all sponsored by senators.
H.B. 211 and H.B. 212, which ease the way for Tifton to raise money for redevelopment, were sponsored by state Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton), one of five House members who voted with the governor.
H.B. 666, which establishes a board of elections for Lamar County, was sponsored by state Rep. Mack Crawford (R-Concord), who also voted against the override.
H.B. 762, which helps Upson County raise money for redevelopment, was also sponsored by Crawford.
H.B.132 was the only measure signed by the governor that was backed by House members who voted for the override. The top two sponsors were Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) and Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island).
The bill sets the number of pilots for the ports of Savannah, Brunswick, St. Mary’s and other coastal inlets. More importantly, the bill served as a vehicle for another measure sponsored by Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) requiring the removal of abandoned boats from the Georgia shoreline.
Blogwatch: Redstate, Peachpundit go after House Republicans in D.C.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Conservative blogger Erick Erickson of Macon draws attention today on The Politico for protesting a decision by U.S. House Republican leaders to tap Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) for the seat on the appropriations committee vacated by John Doolittle (R-Calif.) after the FBI raided his Virginia home.
Erickson, on his national blog, redstate.com, has “declared war” against the Republican steering committee of the House, which named Calvert to the position on the all-powerful committee.
Erickson argues that, in terms of corruption, Calvert is little better than Doolittle.
“The House Republican leadership just does not get it, and they will not take us seriously until we flex our muscles against them,” wrote Erickson. “We must fight the House GOP, and we must fight today.”
Erickson lists the office numbers of every member of the Republicans’ 27-member Steering Committee, and urges readers to call in their protests. On peachpundit.com, he’s posted a local version, called “Let’s screw with John Linder.”
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Cagle wants to be the transportation guy, but not the rail guy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While the House debates tax reform next year, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle says he plans to deliver a comprehensive plan for transportation in Georgia and metro Atlanta by next year’s session of the Legislature.
You’ll recall that this year, Gov. Sonny Perdue was subject to criticism for not addressing the topic of moving people around in his State of the State address.
In today’s Marietta Daily Journal, Cagle says he wants to change lane designations to improve traffic flow. “Statistics have shown you can manage free lanes with toll lanes,” he said.
Unlike Sam Olens, chairman of the Cobb County Commission, Cagle says there isn’t room in his portfolio for light rail. “The jury is still out on light rail,” he said. “We don’t have the density that can substantiate light rail.”
The coming battle over tax cuts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s top two Republican leaders clashed last week, and no one noticed. Perhaps not even the participants.
Obviously, we’re not talking about the deeply personal feud between Gov. Sonny Perdue and House Speaker Glenn Richardson.
Last Tuesday, the governor clearly identified Richardson as the uncooperative villain who caused him to “un-veto” the $700 million budget bill, kill the $142 million property tax rebate, and abandon plans for a special session of the Legislature.
We’re talking about the other confrontation. Between the governor and his now-indispensable ally, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.
Hours after Perdue withdrew his veto, Cagle had this to say to reporters: “We’ll come back next year and be talking about how we can pass meaningful tax cuts for the citizens of Georgia. I’ve never seen a tax cut I didn’t like, including this one. But under the financial circumstances that exist, it was difficult for the governor to agree to it.”
Cagle was giving voice to a Republican politician’s natural instinct. Having backed Perdue’s decision to extinguish one tax break, the lieutenant governor must now prove to the base that he’ll support another, perhaps larger one. We’ve heard GOP senators and House members say the same thing. They’re not allowed to forget that, for them if not for Cagle or the governor, ’08 is an election year.
The problem is that Cagle’s remarks contradicted, at least in spirit, the man he was defending.
In announcing his decision to apply a line-item veto to the property tax rebate, Perdue said he was motivated in part by a slight dip in the latest revenue figures. But the weight of the governor’s argument was this: the state of Georgia has underfunded its pensions and other benefits for retired workers by $17 billion.
To pay it down, like a house mortgage, will require an additional $1 billion a year in state revenues for the next 30 years. Each payment would amount to 5 percent of the current state annual budget.
“When we shirk that responsibility, we simply are enjoying a so-called tax cut for ourselves — to consume it upon ourselves and put the obligation onto our children and grandchildren,” Perdue said. “That’s essentially what we’re saying — ‘We want it now and let them pay for it.’”
This doesn’t sound like a man who’ll be ready to participate in an orgy of tax-cutting in January. The same financial pressures that Perdue cited last Tuesday will still be there next year.
This news will no doubt make the governor uncomfortable, but one of Perdue’s biggest defenders last week was Alan Essig, executive director of the Georgia Budget and Police Institute. Essig has ties to the past administration of Roy Barnes, the Democratic governor unseated by Perdue in 2002.
Essig sees a divide building between Republicans who have accepted their new roles as stewards of a $20 billion-a-year operation, and those who cling to the rhetoric that got them there.
“That’s the clash. There are those who ideologically think tax cuts are the answer for everything, and are ignoring what state government’s needs are,” Essig said. “And then there are the responsible conservative Republicans who say, ‘We have to govern this state. How do we develop a tax structure that allows us to govern?’
“And I think the governor is in the responsible governing camp,” Essig said.
No conversion has taken place. Essig doesn’t think the governor perfect. Perdue’s proposed income tax cut for wealthier retirees is poor policy “and utterly political,” the budget analyst said. But Essig also called it an anomaly.
Even the corporate tax cut backed by Perdue in 2005 - $1 billion over 10 years - closed several huge loopholes for business, Essig said.
Next year’s session of the Legislature could be a defining one for Republicans, he said.
“Obviously, there’s going to be lots of pressure on [Perdue]. But if the Republican base - the bloggers and all that - force the Republican leadership into tax-cut fever, and if the governor and the lieutenant governor and the Speaker all get caught up in that, in the next six, 12, or 18 months, they’re going to drive the state into a brick wall,” Essig said.
“Because we don’t have the money to do that.
Consequences, consequences, consequences
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After we’d walked out of the office on Friday evening, we received a note from the office of Gov. Sonny Perdue, announcing that he’d put his signature to the following measures:
SB 5, SB 19, SB 23, SB 60, SB 61, SB 62, SB 87, SB 103. SB 104, SB 116, SB 124, SB 139, SB 156, SB 162, SB 165, SB 172, SB 176, SB 210, SB 212, SB 280, and SR 246.
Not a House bill in the bunch. Imagine that.
The next gunfight: Order N.Y. undercover cops out of Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Possibly, he’s pointing the National Rifle Association to legislation that won’t rile up the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) just put out a statement saying he likes a new Virginia law, which goes into effect this summer, that bans agents of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg from targeting gun buyers with undercover sting operations.
Here is the Washington Post article on the topic.
Said Johnson: “New York shouldn’t be sending undercover agents into any other state. If our state or any other state is violating federal gun laws, then ATF should be enforcing the law and prosecuting the violators.
“If we think illegal drugs, organized crime or prostitution is being exported to our state from New York, we should notify New York’s law enforcement community or catch them within our state’s jursidiction.
“Anybody want to bet whether Georgia contributes to more crime in New York or whether New York exports more crime to Georgia? I didn’t think so. I like Virginia’s new law and think Georgia should adopt one like it.”
In December, the AJC reported on New York City’s announcement that it was suing 11 gun dealers in five states for illegal sales of firearms. Three of shops were in Georgia — one in Marietta, one in Toccoa, and another in Norcross.
Here are excerpts from the article:
“New York says the shops each sold a gun to a team of undercover investigators who wore hidden cameras during a sting. Teams of two investigators entered the stores and tried to make so-called ‘straw purchases.’
“In such transactions, one investigator asked all the questions about the gun, and then the other, who had not been involved in the process, came forward to fill out forms for the mandatory federal background check.
“Federal law prohibits licensed dealers from selling guns to persons if they reasonably believe the gun is not being sold to the person who purports to be the buyer.
“In May, New York filed a similar lawsuit against 15 other dealers, including two in metro Atlanta.
“New York said some of the illegally purchased guns end up being used in crimes committed in the city. It has been seeking settlements with those dealers, calling for more supervision of their operations. City officials said six of the 15 have agreed to terms so far.
“One that has not is Adventure Outdoors of Smyrna. In July, the store responded by filing a $400 million libel suit against New York. Former Rep. Bob Barr, an attorney representing Adventure Outdoors, said that case has not been resolved.”
Perdue on Iraq: Solve the problem yourself, or ‘keep your mouth shut’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue just finished up his talk-radio session with former U.S. secretary of education Bill Bennett on WGKA (920AM), held at the state Capitol.
On his “Morning in America” show, Bennett mentioned that Perdue has been talked about as vice-presidential fodder in ‘08, and asked if the governor agreed with other Republicans who think it might be time to put some air between themselves and President Bush — specifically on the topic of Iraq.
Perdue said he did not. In fact, in Spiro Agnew-like fashion, the governor encouraged nattering nabobs of negatism to put a lid on the loose talk.
Perdue acknowledged that the going in Iraq has been tough. But, he said, “until you’ve got a better idea, keep your mouth shut.”
“This president did not choose war. He chose to protect the United States of America, and I’m thankful that he did,” Perdue said.
Here’s some rough audio from the interview.
Reading other people’s mail: The Speaker’s apology to the governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the face of a formal request made under the state’s Open Record Act, Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office has reluctantly surrendered a copy of the written apology that accompanied the verbal version offered by House Speaker Glenn Richardson on Monday.
Remember that you read it here first.
In the letter, Richardson took responsibility for his “poor choice” of words, but said they erupted from him while he was under great stress. The word “backside” does not appear.
Wrote Richardson: “When I spoke, I was upset, defensive of the House and quite exhausted by the lengthy session and final adoption by us of the ’07 and ’08 budgets in the preceding 36 hours. While I feel some of my response was initiated by the actions and remarks of others, this is not the time to make excuses or lay blame on others.”
Aside from the crow consumed, the document is important on two points:
— First, as we suspected, the apology was prelude to Richardson’s urging of the governor to abandon his plans for a special session. One reversal for another.
“I believe it is not only possible to avoid a costly special session, I believe it is imperative that we act quickly to fund those necessary items which need immediate attention such as the mid-year adjustment for local school systems, PeachCare and tornado relief for Sumter County,” Richardson wrote.
— Secondly, the House speaker offered Perdue cover on the “unveto.” You’ll remember that the governor, as well as Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, declared the House override of Perdue’s April 19 veto of the $700 million budget bill — and its $142 million tax rebate — to be invalid.
The veto wouldn’t become official until it was formally transmitted to the House, Perdue and Cagle maintained. Richardson and House leaders scoffed at such hair-splitting.
But in his note to Perdue, Richardson said he was willing to concede the point, if it meant avoiding a special session.
Wrote the Speaker: “If you will simply strike through the word ‘vetoed,’ which was written by you on April 18, 2007, and sign the bill again, I believe the supplemental appropriations bill will become law.
“Moreover, I believe that the only entity who could thereafter question whether there had been a transmittal would be the House. And, by this letter and my signature, I am agreeing on this resolution. Thus, the action would not again be raised and would be final.”
To Saxby, Iraq progress “truly amazing.” To another Republican eyewitness — well, not so much.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democrats, via Daily Kos, are marveling at U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ view of the Iraq war, expressed on Tuesday in a telephone conference talk with reporters, following a just-completed jaunt to the Middle East.
“Every time I go over there the improvements in the conditions are truly amazing,” said the Republican senator.
Kos notes that U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican from Maine, was on the same trip. “The good news is mixed; the bad news is downright troubling,” Snowe said.
Both are members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Other than geography — Maine isn’t known for its large military population — part of the difference in eyesight may be the fact that Snowe isn’t up for re-election in ’08.
She’s joined with U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat from Indiana, in a bipartisan attempt to create a series of benchmarks for progress in Iraq.
An invitation to a lawsuit: Does the governor have the power to play Lazarus with legislation?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tom Stubbs is a Decatur attorney who is also chairman of the State Bar’s advisory committee on legislation. Which means he spends a deal of time reading laws-to-be, and presumably, the state Constitution.
He sent the note below out to members of his committee — and copied us, with the caveat that his observations were personal, and not official.
Stubbs admits the following may not be the Pelican Brief, but he questions whether Gov. Sonny Perdue has the constitutional authority to resurrect a bill he has already vetoed. And he predicts that some anti-tax group might think it has sufficient grounds to test the issue.
Here’s the note:
I have to admit that I am mystified by the governor’s sleight-of-hand with respect to his rescission of the veto.
Under what authority may the Governor “un-veto” a bill? The governor vetoed the legislation on April 19. There is no question that he vetoed the bill.
Article 3, Section 5, Paragraph 13, and Article 5, Section 2, Paragraph 4, of the Georgia Constitution outline the procedures for a veto. The latter section succinctly states that the “governor may veto, approve or take no action on any such bill or resolution.”
Nowhere in either section (or anywhere else I can find) does it say the governor can “un-veto” a bill. The former section explains the procedures that are to be followed once a veto is made, and none of those procedures include an option for the governor to “take it back.”
Moreover, the impropriety of the “un-veto” is shown by how it has no parameters in the Constitution or statute.
When is the latest he can un-veto? Can he do it while the Legislature is trying to override the veto? Afterwards? Two years later?
If the governor can pluck this power from thin air, then there are no limits to how it can be applied.
I presume the governor is hanging his hat on the issue that was obliquely mentioned at the end of the last session when the House voted to override the veto.
The governor indicated that he had not transmitted his veto to the House, while the House stated, as I recall, that whether a message, bill or other such thing has been received is determined by the House receiving it.
Thus, the House went forward with its vote. In that regard, the governor is required under Article 3, Section 5, Paragraph 13, to transmit the reasons for his veto to the house originating the bill within 60 days of an adjournment (if the Legislature adjourns sooner than three days after the veto).
The Constitution does not say what happens if the governor fails to transmit his reasons. It certainly does not say that the veto is undone. Presumably, the provision simply would give the Legislature the right to compel transmission of the vetoed bill to the Legislature so they could attempt to override it.
The closest case I can find relates to [state Supreme Court] Justice [Robert] Benham’s hometown, Solomon v Commissioners of Cartersville, 41 Ga. 157 (1870).
In that case, the governor signed a bill after the deadline for signing a bill into law (after the General Assembly adjourned).
The Court held that the bill did not become law even though the governor signed it.
The signature was ineffective because it was too late and the governor had no authority to sign the legislation into law once the deadline passed.
By reverse implication, once a bill is vetoed, it is dead and I do not see where the Constitution gives the governor authority to bring the bill back to life.
If the Governor has no authority to “un-veto” a bill, then none of the bill should become law.
A taxpayer or other person may have a claim to prevent any of the other provisions of the supplemental appropriations — such as the funds for indigent defense — from being implemented.
I would not put it past a number of the taxpayer groups who supported the property tax provision to bring an action along these lines. I am probably crazy, but I think this is fishy and I don’t think the last shoe has necessarily dropped.
Israel: Business bears some of the blame for gunfight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Anyone who keeps track of politics via the Internet in Georgia knows that some of the best political theater in the state can be found in Vidalia, on 100.9 FM.
Each morning, soft-spoken local attorney Wilson Smith conducts top-notch interviews with figures across Georgia. Better yet, he posts his interviews on the Web.
The key to Smith’s success is his patience. Smith lets his guests ramble until they feel comfortable and actually say something important.
On Wednesday, Smith interviewed George Israel, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. The topic was the chamber’s recent fight at the state Capitol against the National Rifle Assocation and its guns-in-parking-lots bill.
The bill would have permitted employees to keep guns in their cars parked on company lots. The measure was defeated, but only after much blood was spilled in the state Senate.
For the first time that we’ve heard, Israel admitted that business bore some of the blame for the fight, by over-reacting in a specific case in 2002.
Said Israel:
“This case started out in Oklahoma, involving a Weyerhauser [forest products] plant of some 1,100 employees. Dogs were brought to do a drug shakedown, and as part of the shakedown — the dogs had been cross-trained for ATF use, so they would hit on explosives and gunpowder or guns.
“And I think there were seven employees that had guns in their trucks or cars. They were terminated.
“I think that was the first mistake Weyerhauser made. I would certainly advise an employer — preserve your policy by some sort of reprimand, but you don’t have to fire somebody.
“They went a little too far in the Oklahoma case. It started there, it spread to the Oklahoma General Assembly. [An Okalahoma chamber official] advised us of this three years ago, and actually predicted it would be spreading to other states.
“Sure enough, it was introduced last year, and we’ve had our hands full both session.”
After vetoing tax rebate, the least Perdue can do is help anti-tax groups with their fund-raising
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue’s line-item veto of a $142 million property tax rebate has become immediate fodder for two national anti-tax groups.
The governor’s weathered this kind of heat before. In 2003, you’ll recall, Grover Norquist and his D.C. group, Americans for Tax Reform, came down to oppose tax increases pitched by Perdue to meet a downturn in state revenue.
Here’s a statement put out late Tuesday by the National Taxpayers Union, which boasts “nearly 8,300 members in Georgia.”
“Unfortunately, the governor got it wrong when he used the line-item veto pen to cross out a $142 million property tax cut instead of the pork spending contained within the budget.
“From the beginning, NTU and our members were critical of the estimated $50 million for pet project spending that weighed down the $700 million supplemental budget bill.
“The governor could have helped to finance the much-deserved property tax cut by eliminating these wasteful sops to special interests [Columnist note: Many of those items were removed, and shifted to the ‘08 budget], but instead he let Georgians down by choosing bigger government over tax cuts. A year that began with such promise for taxpayers has become a debacle.
“Governor Perdue and the Assembly can and should do better for the people who pay government’s bills.”
Perdue was also the target of an “action alert” by FreedomWorks, the group led by former U.S. House majority leader Dick Armey of Texas:
“Governor Sonny Perdue is blocking long-overdue property tax cuts in the Georgia state budget.
“First, he vetoed the entire budget, and now he’s attempting to rescind this veto in favor of a line-item veto that targets $142 million in property tax cuts.
“Why is Governor Perdue going out of his way to deprive hardworking Georgia families of much needed tax relief?”
Reed, Republicans and evolution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican strategist Ralph Reed may not be plotting the moves of any specific GOP presidential candidate this year — at least, none that we know of — but he is back on the TV circuit, defending the party’s White House 10 (or 12) as a group.
The former candidate for lieutenant governor was on Anderson Cooper’s “360 Degrees” on CNN last night. Below is a bit of Reed’s exchange with Democratic strategist James Carville.
The topic was evolution, and the fact that three GOP presidential candidates in the recent national debate said they didn’t believe in it.
COOPER: Ralph, to conservatives, how important is this issue of evolutionism vs. creationism and/or intelligent design?
REED: If you really look at all the polling, Anderson, a majority say they believe in the theory of creationism, that God created the heavens, the Earth and mankind.
So, I don’t know that it’s an issue that’s really determinative of voting behavior, but it certainly becomes derivative of or part of a broader tapestry of a candidate being able to convey to voters that they share their values.
And I think this has been an advantage for Republicans. I think it will continue to be an advantage in 2008.
COOPER: That’s — I mean, James, he raised a good point. Democrats have long been criticized for not being able to speak to Americans about religion or moral values, perhaps since Jimmy Carter did.
Does the evolution debate present Democrats with particular problems?
CARVILLE: No.
Every Democratic candidate believes in evolution, as does every scientist. When people pray, they pray that the war on science is going to stop. And, if people want to teach creationism, they perfectly well can do that in Sunday school, or people want to teach the parting of the Red Sea, but you don’t do that in nautical history.
The Mormons believe that the lost tribes of Israel came over here after the death of Christ. Well, if they want to teach that in a Mormon Church, that’s perfectly acceptable, but they don’t teach that in the Utah public schools, nor should they.
And I think that’s what — what people are saying. And, obviously, every Democratic candidate believes in evolution. Every Democratic candidate thinks it’s based on — it ought to be taught in schools. It’s a theory like — and every Democratic candidate, by the way, believes in gravity.
Cagle on Perdue: ‘He showed a lot of character and a lot of courage’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle this afternoon declared himself squarely behind the decision by Gov. Sonny Perdue to put an end to the ‘07 legislative session, 18 days after lawmakers departed.
Said Cagle: “The governor has done the only thing that I think he could do, and that is take back the veto, and act responsibly for the state. Clearly with the revenue numbers that we’re looking at, and the circumstances around that, not being able to get a deal done with the House, it was very clear that this was the only option the governor had. He showed a lot of character and a lot of courage in what he did, and I’m very supportive of his action.”
Of the House, Cagle said, “You can’t be just an obstructionist. You’ve got to come to the table in good faith and work something out.”
The lieutenant governor acknowledged that he got some of what he had given up to the House in the budget fight — $100 million to be sent into state reserves. “We’ve constantly seen the budget used to fund pork-barrel projects,” Cagle said.
“We’ll come back next year and be talking about how we can pass meaningful tax cuts for the citizens of Georgia. I’ve never seen a tax cut I didn’t like, including this one,” Cagle said. “But under the financial circumstances that exist, it was difficult for the governor to agree to it. Now it’s time to move on, and not start the political posturing.”
Next up: A massacre, a convention — and reactions that roll in
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two quick observations, and then we’ll offer some of the reaction that’s pouring in on this:
— First, the state GOP convention on May 19 in Gwinnett County just got something to talk about. Gov. Sonny Perdue will have to work hard to keep his line-item veto of a $142 million property tax rebate from becoming the topic of a resolution and floor debate.
— Secondly, the next shoe to drop in this drama is likely to be a massacre of House projects in the $20 billion budget for ‘08. GOP soldiers under Speaker Glenn Richardson should forewarn local leaders of the knife that the governor is likely to be swinging in Atlanta.
Now, here’s the pro-Perdue reaction from Eric Johnson, the No. 2 leader in the Senate:
“With a slowing economy, it is fiscally responsible to change directions and allow whatever excess revenues come into the state’s coffers in the next few months to be used to build up our reserves. Governor Perdue has the right and the responsibility to put this matter to rest in a manner that he believes best serves the interest of all of Georgia. The General Assembly is preparing to consider dramatic tax reforms next session and a healthier reserve account will help us be in a position to permanently cut taxes.
Jared Thomas, executive director of the Georgia chapter of Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax group, was on the other side. Vehemently on the other side. He said:
“It was an extremely disappointing decision. You have every single legislator in each body who had approved this historic rebate to taxpayers, then he vetoes it, does not allow the House or the Senate to have their legal opportunity during the regular session to address it, announces they will have the opportunity during a special session, breaks his word there, and the excuse that he gives is ‘They weren’t going to do what I wanted them to do, so there’s no point in having a special session, anyway.’
“This is obviously not a governor who’s opposed to tax cuts. It just seems that he’s opposed to tax cuts that are not his.”
Wow.
No special session, but a line-item veto for the property tax rebate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Citing the futility of working with Republican House leaders in a special session, Gov. Sonny Perdue on Tuesday withdrew his veto of a $700 million mid-year budget bill, but said he would give a line-item veto to the $142 million property tax rebate it contained. That money, he said, would go into reserves instead.
Perdue blamed the unwillingness of Republican House leaders to drop their desire to override his veto, and engage in discussions of a compromise, if the General Assembly were to gather again. “I began to see the futility of a special session,” the governor said. “Leaders, in my opinion, don’t act in such a way.”
To meet or not to meet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue has scheduled a press conference for noon. Stay tuned.
Blogwatch: Dear God in heaven, what hath the Internet wrought?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On peachpundit.com today, two bloggers separately announce that they’re considering a run at public office. Must be a virus in the hyperlinks.
Says Erick Erickson, sponsor of Republican-oriented peachpundit:
“After a week of deciding not to run for City Council in Macon, I have decided I will be running for Ward V, Post 3 in Macon. The caveat is that my employer needs to sign off it. If they do, I’m in.”
Then there’s Andre Walker, a Democrat who maintains Georgia Politics Unfiltered:
“Well, I’d be lying to you if I sat here and said that I haven’t given any thought whatsoever to running for a seat on the new South Fulton City Council if the referendum passes next month.”
He’s not technically a blogger, but Creative Loafing says WSB radio consumer guru Clark Howard has confirmed he’s giving serious thought to a run for mayor after Shirley Franklin is through with the job.
Sonny’s advice: “Do as I say….”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We got a press release from the campaign of Joe Trippon, a candidate for city council in the Houston suburb of Hunter’s Creek Village, about how he’d written over 100 politicians around the country asking for their advice.
Why, you ask, would someone who has so many doors to knock spend their time on such a project? We have no idea, and to tell you the truth we were about to hit the “delete” button when we noticed that Gov. Sonny Perdue was one of 35 who responded to Trippon’s inquiry.
Here’s his advice, which we’re told came in a typed note with a photo:
“Always remember that the reason any person is elected to office is not to better themselves, but rather to better their community. Whether running for governor, mayor or a seat on a city council, the primary objective of any candidate should be to serve others through principle-centered and results-driven leadership.
“Regardless of whether you win or lose your upcoming election, it is your desire to serve others that is of paramount importance and it is that desire that will soundly guide you, now or in the future.”
But if not a special session of the Legislature, maybe an extra special one
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So House Speaker Glenn Richardson has apologized to Sonny Perdue for declaring that, by vetoing a $700 million budget bill, the governor had exposed his own rear end in a flagrant and unflattering manner.
The apology came in a private meeting between the two. It was also made in writing.
We suspect two motives here.
First, the apology was necessary to lower the temperature, so that some semblance of diplomacy could begin. We are 17 days into this episode, and Monday was the first time Richardson and Perdue had spoken to each other since before the end of the session.
Secondly, the apology was preparatory. It was intended to make it easier for Governor Perdue to withdraw his veto of the $700 million budget bill (and $142 million property tax rebate) that started us down this road. One reversal for another.
We have not heard from Perdue today. We don’t even know if he accepted Richardson’s apology.
But we do know that the weight of today’s verbiage was focused on finding a way to shuffle money hither and yon to fill the most blatant gaps left by the budget bill — and avoid bringing 235 lawmakers to Atlanta for a special session.
After his mea culpa Richardson laid out a strategy for moving the cash. We failed to extract any public comment out of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle today, but we know he has told Republican senators that he’d like to duck a special session if at all possible.
The chief hurdle is that it would require the governor to “unveto” the budget bill.
“The first thing would involve the governor changing his mind on the veto,” said Barry Fleming of Harlem, the House majority whip, who made the public case for no special session on Monday.
A governor can change his mind?
“Sure you can,” Fleming said. Perdue declared that the House’s April override of his veto was invalid be he hadn’t transmitted it. That can be turned into an advantage, Fleming said.
“The analogy would be me sitting on the floor of the House, deciding to vote yes or no on something. Until the speaker closes the machine, I can change my mind as many times as I want to.
“If you take the governor’s argument, which is ‘I have not transmitted this to the Legislature,’ then he still has it in his purview. There is case law — not in Georgia, but in other states — where situations similar to this have occurred,” said Fleming, an attorney.
The question is whether Perdue could find it within himself to backtrack.
After a brightly lit session with TV cameras, which recorded the flourish of his pen, saying “never mind” would be slightly embarrassing.
But moving forward brings its own uncertainties.
If Perdue calls a special session, the House would certainly make another attempt at an override of his veto. The governor has received assurances from Cagle that the votes are in the Senate to sustain the veto. But there’s no guarantee.
Liberals signing up a terrorist to vote? Nah, it was the BMV.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Whitehead of Evans, considered the leading Republican candidate in the race to fill 10th District congressional seat, continued to have problems over the weekend explaining a quote in which he accused liberals of registering al-Qaida terrorists to vote in the United States.
In a piece published Saturday, Jason Winders, executive editor of the Athens Banner-Herald, did a fine job of dissecting the comment, and its origin. But apparently Winders is no fan of Whitehead, so take that into account.
Winders quoted Joel McElhannon, Whitehead’s campaign manager, as saying the following: “That quote does not accurately represent [Whitehead’s] views on that matter,” McElhannon said. “He has no proof. He has seen no proof that al-Qaida has been registered to vote. He just thinks that was a misunderstanding on that quote.”
Continuing, from McElhannon: “Jim got the quote and said, ‘What? I never said that. Maybe I was sputtering that out. … No, I don’t think al-Qaida members are being registered to vote by anybody.’”
But then Winders showed that the comment was more than accidental, by taking a trip to Whitehead’s web site, which had this letter of response to a column by AJC editor Cynthia Tucker:
“… A very good place to start would be with the outstanding investigative journalism of the Columbus Dispatch, revealing left-wing political activists intentionally registering illegal aliens to vote, including known al-Qaida terrorists. Ms. Tucker really should try reading the papers sometimes.”
Winders traces the source of Whitehead’s information to a 2004 column by conservative Michelle Malkin, who wrote:
“Last week, the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch reported that illegal alien Nuradin Abdi - the suspected shopping mall bomb plotter from Somalia - was registered to vote in the battleground state of Ohio by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a left-wing activist group. ….”
We checked with Lexis-Nexis. On Oct. 26, 2004, the Dispatch reported that Abdi had in fact registered to vote — illegally — in Ohio in 1999, but he apparently did it on his own, through that state’s bureau of motor vehicles. No group, liberal or otherwise, was responsible for signing him up.
Georgia pair carries the word about Romney to evangelicals
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In today’s edition of the Los Angeles Times is an article that details GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s growing reliance on two members of Georgia’s religious conservative community.
Says the article: “In the next few weeks, the campaign will take a more direct approach, sending two of its evangelical supporters for meetings with pastors and others in key primary states.”
Mark DeMoss, a public relations executive from Gwinnett County whose clients include Franklin Graham, has volunteered to stand up for Romney, a Mormon, in South Carolina and Alabama.
Jay Sekulow, a Washington insider and chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, an Christian advocacy group based in Alpharetta, is heading to Iowa and Florida. The Sekulow family were big supporters of Ralph Reed’s candidacy in the ‘06 primary race for lieutenant governor.
Polls have made clear Romney has a problem with Christian conservatives who view the Church of Latter Day Saints as something cultish. In the Times piece, DeMoss takes an optimistic view:
“I’m not going to suggest that evangelicals are running to the microphone endorsing Mitt Romney,” DeMoss said, “but neither are they running to microphones rejecting him, which I think is pretty positive.”
The constitutional confrontation behind the current teapot tempest
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The temptation is to dismiss the Republican debacle at the state Capitol as an ego-driven temper tantrum in three parts, played out among a governor, a lieutenant governor, and a House speaker.
But it is larger than that.
Republicans have ginned up a philosophical crisis, verging on a constitutional one, with election-year implications for a state party that - only six months ago - thought itself a giddy exception to the directionless GOP in Washington.
And to make sure depression and confusion is complete and widespread, GOP officialdom has apparently decided to delay a special session to address the situation until the debate can be played out before thousands of true-believers at the state Republican convention a dozen days hence.
If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you know the basics. The House and Senate agreed on a $700 million mid-year budget bill. The root of the compromise was a $142 million property tax rebate to homeowners.
On the penultimate day of the winter session of the Legislature, Gov. Sonny Perdue vetoed the measure. He had problems with both the logistics of the rebate, and its cost to other state programs.
Time ran out, and the Republican leadership that in early years declared efficiency to be its middle name couldn’t pass a budget that kept schools funded, addressed tornado damage, or maintained health insurance for lower middle-class kids.
And so the special session, to the frustration of many in the rank-and-file who had long dreamed of what marvels could be done with the GOP in charge of state government.
“We wanted it. We got it. Now we don’t know what to do with it,” said Dave Barbee, former chairman of the Richmond County GOP. The troops, he said, are disappointed and demoralized.
For Republicans, the philosophical question is simple: Give the money back, or don’t.
But beneath that debate is a building confrontation over constitutional powers that could peak next year - meaning even more showdowns and dysfunction among the Republican upper-crust.
Over five years, the governor’s style of management has been largely hands-off, especially during legislative gatherings. In the session just completed, lawmakers have said publicly and privately that Perdue was even less visible than normal.
Speaker Glenn Richardson and his House have stepped into this vacuum, asserting themselves specifically on the issue of tax reform. Richardson and the House leadership want a shift away from property taxes, toward a combination of sales and income taxes.
It’s an ambitious policy matter that Democrats would have reserved, from start to finish, for a governor.
But this session, the Republican-controlled House killed Perdue’s proposed tax break for upper-income retirees, along with most of the rest of the governor’s agenda. A Senate call for a constitutional cap on spending was rejected, as an infringement on the House’s control over the budget.
The push-back has already begun.
On Friday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle had a conference call with his Republican senators. He passed on a message from the governor. Any bill sponsored by a House member would need a senator to vouch for it before the governor would sign it, the lieutenant governor said.
In other words, Perdue has designated the Senate the gatekeeper of the Legislature.
We could be witnessing the most significant confrontation over power in state government since Gov. Lester Maddox allowed the Legislature its independence. The House is engaging in a fight for “institutional equality with the governor,” in the words of Charles Bullock, the political scientist at the University of Georgia.
“You could call this another step in a march that began in 1966 and 1967,” said Bullock. “If you’re looking for influence, you have to take it away from the governor. Even four years ago, he had all of it.”
To get his way on tax policy next year, Richardson must beat back a now-hostile governor and a Senate that won’t want to become a mere third wheel when it comes to who rules Georgia.
Win or lose, that means a messy fight in an election year, and a legislative session that could become even more fractious and unproductive.
That worries GOP staff sergeants like Barbee, who pull the levers on the Republican grassroots machinery in Georgia. With little in Washington to stir confidence in the ‘08 elections, a meltdown in Atlanta would only add to the difficulty of moving enthusiastic voters to the polls.
A general thinks about a general election race against Marshall
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re late on this, but Roll Call, the newspaper that concentrates on Capitol Hill in Washington, has reported that another Republican from middle Georgia is weighing a challenge to U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Macon) for his seat in ’08.
The newspaper said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard conferred with Republicans in D.C. on Wednesday.
Goddard, who Republicans have attempted to recruit before, met with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who is chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.).
Marshall has fended off, just barely, past GOP attempts to oust him. To conservatives, his military service is a large part of his appeal. A Vietnam veteran, Marshall can boast that he’s the son and grandson of army generals, and a member of the U.S. Army Ranger hall of fame.
Some Republicans are clearly thinking that Goddard might be able to undercut that. He served as commander of the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center at Robins Air Force Base. “The center, which is in Marshall’s 8th District, is the largest industrial complex in the state,” the newspaper reported.
“He is considering running,” said NRCC spokesman Ken Spain. “He would make an incredibly strong candidate.”
Goddard isn’t the only Republican with an eye on the seat. State Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry) made a similar trip up to Washington in March, for the same purpose.
And don’t ignore our post below, about Democrats eager to see Marshall in the ’08 race against U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
An attempt to make a vetoed property tax cut more visible
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Earlier this week, we told you about a poll that showed Gov. Sonny Perdue largely undamaged by, and the Legislature taking a beating for, the budget squabble that has forced a special session.
While House Republicans have raised hell about Perdue’s veto of a $700 million budget bill, and the $142 million property tax rebate contained within, the issue hasn’t drifted much beyond the confines of the state Capitol. The public doesn’t know about it.
Jared Thomas and the Georgia chapter of Americans for Prosperity are out to change that. The anti-tax group has dropped a mailer that urges voters, in selected Republican-dominated districts across the state, to demand that their senators join House Speaker Glenn Richardson in attempting to override the governor’s veto.
The lead headline on the mailer: “When Georgia takes in more money than it needs, send it back to the taxpayers.”
How many flyers are being sent out, and their targets, are facts that Thomas, the AFP executive director, wants to keep secret through the weekend. To give nervous fits to as many Republican senators as possible.
This move could be important. At least one reason why the governor has been hesitant to name the date for the special session is that he’s been unable to extract a promise from Richardson, leader of the House, that his body won’t attempt another override vote.
But the Senate may not be a sure thing, either. Last week, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said he didn’t think two-thirds of his Senate were willing to rebuff Perdue’s veto.
And yet — only a day or so earlier, the governor called five conservative Republican senators into his office to find out what they were thinking. We hear that two told the Perdue they’d support the override. The remaining three made no commitment.
We’ll soon see if the AFP mailer stirs the pot.
So far, Mitt Romney the only presidential candidate* to take advantage of state GOP convention
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just got off the phone with Eric Tanenblatt, the Republican political operative who has become Mitt Romney’s lead guy in Georgia.
As of now, Romney will be the only GOP presidential candidate with a presence at the state convention on May 18 and 19. But that statement carries a large asterix.
State Republican officials have confirmed that no presidential candidates will be given an opportunity to address the thousands of delegates who gather in Gwinnett County. They want the attention inside the hall on local and state candidates and office-holders.
Why, yes. You’re correct. Newt Gingrich is addressing the kick-off dinner on May 18. But he’s the leading non-candidate on the Republican side of the ’08 race for the White House. So it’s different.
Any how, says Tanenblatt, the no-presidents policy has caused Romney to schedule three events around — but not in — the Republican convention, all on Friday, May 18.
House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta) is spear-heading a fund-raising lunch at the 1818 Club in Gwinnett. An evening fund-raising event is scheduled for a private home in Cumming.
In the mid-afternoon, Romney has scheduled a larger meet-and-greet for convention delegates — a rich vein of potential soldiers for any statewide campaign organization. But the where and when of the event hasn’t quite been worked out.
Showing the love for Jim Marshall
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Shailendra family is very well known in Democratic fund-raising circles, but the invitation to the luncheon they’re sponsoring for U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall Monday makes it clear no checks will be requested.
Instead, according to an e-mail that went out to potential attendees, this gathering is just a way to meet the Democrat from Macon and “let him know dthat many in this city and state would love to see him set his sights a bit higher.”
In other words, as the note makes clear, the purpose of the luncheon is to encourage Marshall to consider the 2008 U.S. Senate race against Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
Not that anybody’s saying anything disparaging about the only Democrat to make any public expression of interest in the Senate race, DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones. But, as one of the organizers put it to us, “We’re just trying to get enough tree-shakers in the room to say (to Marshall), ‘If you want to run, we’re with you.’”
House to Sonny: Why meet at all?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Politeness was breaking out all over today. Kind of like the flu.
Here’s the official, courtly response from the Republican leadership of the House to Gov. Sonny Perdue’s afternoon solicitation to 180 House members, asking them for the most convenient date to begin a special session.
The reply from the House can be translated thusly: If you’ll tell us what the session is about, we’ll give you a few dates. And really, why don’t we just move the money around and forget about the whole thing?
Below is the reply, officially from House Majority Whip Barry Fleming, but with the names of all House leaders attached:
From: Barry Fleming
To: Ed Holcomb
CC: Cathy Holtzclaw
Sent: Thu May 03 15:54:45 2007
Subject: RE: Input on Special Session
Dear Ed,
Thank you for your email regarding the best date for the special session to begin.
While we would hope we could avoid a costly special session by discussing how any budget problems could be resolved without one, if we are to meet in special session the best starting date would likely depend on what was contained in the call.
If you would share with us the specific subject matters with which we will be dealing, we can provide you the requested input on the best starting date.
If you would like to discuss how we might avoid a special session and attempt to resolve any budget concerns by other means, we would be very willing to speak with you also about that.
Thank you. We look forward to working together to do what is best for the citizens of Georgia.
Glenn Richardson
Mark Burkhalter
Jerry Keen
Barry Fleming
Sonny to House: Pick a date, any date
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue put out an e-mail to 180 House members this afternoon, asking for their choice of dates for the special session. The governor offers three consecutive Mondays — May 7, 14, and 21, but indicates he’s not wedded to any of them.
This is an interesting move. If this weren’t politics, the cigar might only be a cigar, a sincere attempt to exhibit grace in a confrontation that has, up until now, lacked any sense of politeness.
But this is politics, and the cigar is never just that. Here we have an attempt to reach past a particular House speaker, to initiate a conversation with rank-and-file Republican members. Perdue and Glenn Richardson aren’t speaking at the moment.
It’s not bad strategy. First you ask your intended for a date — and who knows whether first base is right around the corner?
Richardson, you’ll remember, sent his own note (three or four posts down) to House members on Wednesday.
Here’s the note from Perdue, shipped by Chief of Staff Ed Holcombe:
From: Holcombe, Ed
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 2:35 PM
Cc: Holtzclaw, Cathy
Subject: Input on Special Session
Good afternoon,
The Governor has asked that I poll your preference for timing of the Special Session. Would you prefer the Session to begin on Monday, May 7th; Monday, May 14th; Monday, May 21st or otherwise? Please send your email response to Cathy Holtzclaw at [e-mail address deleted, to prevent American Idol-style balloting].
Thank you.
Ed Holcombe
Chief of Staff
Eggs over easy with a side of Democrats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A hot new trend in Democratic circles is what is being called “service politics.” If you want to get a feel for it, you can drop by Samaritan House of Atlanta’s Café 458 on Edgewood Avenue for brunch Saturday and Sunday. About 50 volunteers will be doing everything from cooking to bussing tables, and contributing all the proceeds to the local group which works with the homeless.
The volunteers are being coordinated by Democrats Work, co-founded by Jason Carter, Atlanta lawyer and grandson of former President Jimmy Carter. Like OneCorps, former Sen. John Edwards’ group, Democrats Work is based on the idea that public service projects are a good way “to show our neighbors that Democrats get things done,” as well as to stay organized when there are no campaigns to obsess over.
Democrats Work already claims to have removed over 3.5 tons of trash from vacant lots and roadsides in previous weekend projects. If every political organization did the same, it would at least be a neater country, if not better run.
Fulton Republicans want a review of their convention — and say they have the evidence on video
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A group of Fulton Republicans asked Wednesday for the state GOP to intervene in the March 24 re-election of county chairman Mike Dvorscak, citing chaos and possible voter fraud in the local convention that resulted in his victory.
We’re hearing that critics of the way the meeting was handled have located a DVD recording of the proceedings that will be submitted as evidence. And that the video appears to back up some of the charges.
Marty Klein, executive director of the state party, said the appeal would have to be vetted by a small panel of GOP officials before it is passed on to the state committee. The process could take two to three months.
Some within the Fulton County GOP contend the fight is over who controls the $2 million endowment the organization received nearly two years ago, making it one of the most wealthy county parties in the nation.
Dear Legislator: About that summer vacation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue wants a special session, but won’t call one until he’s assured that House Speaker Glenn Richardson won’t override his veto of the $700 million budget bill for 2007.
Richardson won’t negotiate on the override until the governor names the date and sets the boundaries for the session to come.
That, friends, is an impasse.
Richardson, of course, has 179 House members who want to know if or when they must show up in Atlanta. Here’s the content of the letter he sent them on Wednesday:
Dear Representative [NAME HERE],
Less than two weeks ago, the 2007 Legislative Session came to a close. I believe we can all be proud of the things that were accomplished, including the unanimous adoption by the House and Senate of a 2007 Amended Budget and a 2008 Budget that passed by an overwhelming majority of both chambers.
As you all know, shortly after we pronounced Sine Die, Governor Perdue announced that he would call a special session. His stated reason was to address the 07 Amended Budget which he reportedly vetoed. In his press release that night, the Governor said that he would announce the dates of that session some time the week of April 23rd. However, despite the passage of almost two weeks, those dates have still not been released. Unfortunately, I do not have any additional information as to when or if we will be asked to reconvene.
As a part-time legislator, I know that you have significant time restraints on your service. You have a family and a business to get back to, and you have put your life on hold while we wait to see when or if the Governor will call us back to Atlanta. While we do not have control over the starting date of the special session, if one is called, we will have control of the schedule. And, in such an event, I will do everything in my power to make sure that if a special session is called, we act quickly, and that the schedule is supportive of you, your family, and your business pursuits.
Thank you for all the hard work you have already done this year, both for your district and for the entire state of Georgia. I will let you know as soon as the Governor decides if he will ask us to come back to Atlanta. In the meantime, I hope that you and your family are well.
Glenn Richardson
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Towery: If this were World War II, Perdue would be Britain, and the Legislature would be Dresden
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A legislative session book-ended by scandal, with noisy but obscure power plays by House and Senate leaders in between, has given Gov. Sonny Perdue a heavy advantage when lawmakers reassemble for an encore this month.
Voters didn’t like the way lawmakers conducted themselves. Republican voters were especially displeased.
So says a statewide poll about to be released by Matt Towery of Insider Advantage. We’ve been given an early look at it.
The survey underscores the political benefit of Perdue’s decision to disappear during most of the spring, while the General Assembly produced little of note — then reappear just in time to veto a $700 million spending bill that included a $142 million property tax rebate.
The veto is the reason for the upcoming, but still unscheduled, special session.
Perdue’s approval rating stands at 53 percent — 83 percent among Republicans voters. But House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle can hardly say the same thing.
Asked if they approve of the job performance of the state House of Representatives, 53 percent of voters said no. The judgment was even harsher among Republicans — 77 percent of GOP voters disapproved.
Statistically, but not politically, the Senate faired better. Overall, 54 percent disapproved. The number jumped to 63 percent among Republican voters.
Lumped together, “the leadership of the state Legislature” was well thought of by only 17 percent of voters. Voters were not asked what they thought of Richardson and Cagle individually.
“The Legislature has made the governor look good. By staying in his hole, sort of like the groundhog, the governor has remained much more popular, particularly with Republicans,” Towery said.
The poll of 500 registered voters was conducted April 30 and May 1, and has a margin of error of 4 percentage points. Cross-tabs can be downloaded here.
For 236 lawmakers in the House and Senate, the problem with public perception lies in the details. Policy is a complicated thing. Tax policy is doubly so.
The $700 million spending bill for 2007 began with a demand by Cagle, the leader of the Senate, that pork-barrel spending be stripped away. He was trumped by House leaders, Richardson included, who wanted the money be given back to homeowners.
Perdue questioned the wisdom of the rebate in his veto — which the House quickly voted to override. Cagle sided with Perdue and refused to entertain a veto vote. Whether a second attempt at overriding the veto will be made is open to question.
Here’s the point: the InsiderAdvantage poll says voters don’t know enough about the dead budget package to care about this. Only 24 percent said they were aware of any benefits contained in the budget proposals made by the House, the Senate — or the governor.
“Republicans in the House say we can’t possibly go back on a tax cut. Well, the public doesn’t even know there’s a tax cut,” Towery said.
Towery did say it was significant that the January start of the Legislature was overshadowed by ethics charges (later dismissed) alleging that the House speaker engaged in an improper relationship with an AGL lobbyist. And that the coda for the session was a bloody, 2 a.m. brawl between two lobbyists at a Sine Die party in downtown Atlanta.
“All [voters] know is that everything they’re reading and hearing is negative,” Towery said. “If things were to stay as they are, Republican senators and representatives would be in severe danger of being defeated in primaries.”
Based on these same numbers, we’ll offer two predictions of our own. First, this special session of the Georgia General Assembly will be over long before voters even know lawmakers are in town.
And secondly, nothing but lemonade and cookies will be served at the Sine Die party.
Such a lovely day for a protest, then say a prayer on Thursday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MoveOn.org and Georgians Against Escalation in Iraq have scheduled a protest against President Bush’s veto — just in time for today’s six o’clock news. It’s to be at Freedom Park at Moreland Avenue and Freedom Parkway in Atlanta. Bring your Frisbees.
No presumptions, but the other side of the ideological spectrum might be more interested in National Day of Prayer ceremonies at the state Capitol at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Sadie Fields, chairman of the Georgia Christian Alliance, is distributing invitations on behalf of Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Giuliani cancels in Savannah
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republicans and business types from here to the coast have been quietly touting a Saturday, invitation-only appearance in Savannah by Rudy Giuliani, the front-running Republican in the ‘08 presidential race.
But this morning, Larry Peterson with the Savannah Morning News reports that Rudy has pulled the plug, citing a scheduling conflict.
The occasion was an opening gala for the $800 million Savannah River Landing project.
Blogwatch: Illegal immigration, terrorism, and the Al Qaeda voting bloc in Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The language used in the debate over illegal immigration is getting pretty rough out there.
Tom Crawford of capitolimpact.com has a piece, available at Atlanta Magazine, in which 10th District congressional candidate Jim Whitehead of Evans, a Republican, explains why he’s leaning on illegal immigration as an issue, rather than the war in the Middle East.
Writes Crawford:
“Iraq has not been a big thing in our district,” said Whitehead, a former University of Georgia offensive lineman. “Immigration is the No. 1 issue, pure and simple.” Whitehead contends that “left-wing political activists [are] intentionally registering illegal aliens to vote, including known Al Qaeda terrorists…. This is a pivotal issue for the future of America. We have to have the intestinal fortitude to protect all Americans.”
Don’t dismiss this as a stray stab of hyperbole. D.A. King, the illegal immigration activist who supports Whitehead, allegedly said much the same thing at an April 28 meeting of the Newton County Republican party.
“They’re not here to mow your lawn - they’re here to blow up your buildings and kill your children, and you, and me,” King was quoted as saying.
Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, has been berating GOP officials in attendance, urging them to put distance between themselves and King’s remarks. Without much luck.
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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