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Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Complex in a very simple way
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawmakers were migrating back to Washington Tuesday after a month off and at least three Georgia congressmen - Reps. Jim Marshall (D-Macon), David Scott (D-Atlanta) and Tom Price (R-Roswell) - are already busy.
The trio is on the House Financial Services Committee, which is investigating - starting with a hearing on Wednesday - why the subprime mortgage industry imploded, creating thousands of home foreclosures across the country. The Atlanta market ranks second nationally in such foreclosures.
In interviews, the three congressmen made clear that the problem is complex and that identifying a chief culprit will be problematic. Democrats say Congress has a lot to do to fix the problem. Republicans say the only way to ensure the lending market recovers is for Congress to stay out of it.
After exchanging all the esoteric jabber we could stand about “exotic financial instruments” and such, we finally just asked Price what’s going to happen with it all.
“Well,” he said, “I think the Democrats will take about 10 days to take the pulse (on the Hill) to see if they can rush something through.”
Hmmm. Maybe it’s not so complicated after all.
With Doraville settling down, senator thinks it’s better not to stir things up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Friday resignation of a Doraville councilman took the air out of a state Senate hearing on the firing of that city’s police chief.
State Sen. John Douglas (R-Social Circle), chairman of the Senate veterans affairs committee, was to hold the hearing today, but instead announced the meeting’s cancellation — with no plan to take up the issue again.
King was fired Aug. 7 in a 2:30 a.m. vote by a council majority, after Councilman Tom Hart criticized King — a National Guard officer — for being out of the loop during the 18 months he served in Iraq.
King was reinstated the next day by Mayor Ray Jenkins, who called the firing “illegal.”
The departure of Hart, who wants to run for mayor, eliminates the council majority that had been pushing for King’s removal.
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Blogwatch: The Carter-Edwards gig on Youtube
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The blog a la gauche has a 33-minute YouTube clip of former President Jimmy Carter and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards in Americus, Ga., last week.
See it here.
ICYMI: A Sam Nunn presidential update
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The question below was at the tag end of a telephone interview with Sam Nunn published over the weekend.
The news is in who he’s talking to. To wit:
Q. Are you weighing in with any of the presidential candidates, advising any of them on this, and are you considering throwing your own hat in the ring?
A. I’ve made it clear to any presidential candidate I’m available for advising them on this - whether they’re Democrats or Republicans.”
(Nunn said he has discussed the issue with former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.; Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.; Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del.; and Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn, and that he is scheduled to meet on the subject with former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.)
“As far as throwing my own hat in the ring, as I’ve said, it’s possible but not probable. At this stage I am completely consumed with my present activities and not making presidential moves.
Charlie Bailey, who made the GOP ballot his second home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Republican strategist Mark Rountree tells us that Charlie Bailey, a perennial presence on ballots in Georgia, died Monday morning of “heart-related issues.”
Bailey ran for secretary of state in 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2006.
He won the Republican nomination in 2002, but lost in the general election to Democratic incumbent Cathy Cox. He placed third in the ’06 primary, finishing behind Karen Handel — the eventual winner — and Bill Stephens.
“Charlie was truly and uniquely a decent and honorable man,” Rountree said.
The man may be gone, but his web site continues. It says he was once the Georgia president of Pop Warner football, was a member of Roswell United Methodist Church, and has three adult children: Charles Jr., Anne, and Kevin — all of whom live in metro Atlanta.
