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Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Blogwatch: More from Shafer on the Grady-Emory relationship
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Far from backing away, state Sen. David Shafer (R-Duluth) is delving deeper into the relationship between the Emory University School of Medicine and Grady Memorial Hospital.
Specifically, Shafer is looking at the details of an audit of the contract between the two, made public last week.
Here’s the link to his latest blog entry. Why was the audit conducted? Writes Shafer:
Under the 1984 contract, Grady assumed all liability for malpractice by Emory’s physicians at the hospital.
Because Grady is a public hospital that enjoyed a degree of “sovereign immunity” when the contract was signed, this was not initially a costly undertaking. It simply worked to extend the benefits of immunity to Emory’s physicians when they were working at Grady.
But a 1994 Supreme Court decision significantly eroded that immunity, and Grady found itself paying millions of dollars each year defending and settling lawsuits for alleged malpractice.
According to the report, faced with these mounting bills, the Grady trustees felt it important that they make sure Emory’s physicians were actually at Grady, giving proper supervision and preventing financially costly mistakes.
Obama now up in Iowa
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
See Barack Obama’s first ad in Iowa here. Definitely an “outsider” spot, dubbed “change” on the http slug.
Lewis: His heroes once were Justice Department lawyers, but not anymore
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. John Lewis went before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, tying the disarray in the U.S. Justice Department to Georgia’s voter ID law.
Here’s the gist of his printed remarks:
“During the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, we knew that individuals in the Department of Justice were people who we could call any time of day or night….
“And we felt during those years that the civil rights division of the Department of Justice was more than a sympathetic referee, it was on the side of justice, on the side of fairness.
“During the movement, people looked to Washington for justice, for fairness, but today I’m not so sure that the great majority of individuals in the civil rights community can look to the division for that fairness….
“In the last few years we have lost more career civil rights lawyers than ever before. The new lawyers are being hired, for the first time in the division’s history, by political appointees, rather than career attorneys. It is not surprising that the division is hiring fewer lawyers with civil rights or voting rights backgrounds.
“There is also a clear shift in the types of cases being brought by the division. The division is neglecting traditional civil rights cases, and it appears to have given up on enforcing the Voting Rights Act all together. I am particularly disturbed by the way the civil rights division handled the Georgia voter ID law in 2005.
“It takes special people to enforce Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. There is always the potential for political interference. However, the Voting Rights Section has always been above partisanship and it has resisted attempts by other administrations to influence the outcome of cases.
“However, this was not the case with the Georgia law. The Georgia voter ID law would required voters to show a photo ID at the polls and would have disproportionately prevented minorities from voting in Georgia.
“The career attorneys found that the law violated the Voting Rights Act and recommended that it should be denied pre-clearance, but the career attorneys were overruled by the political appointees. This type of political influence — preventing the enforcement of our civil rights laws — is shameful and unacceptable. Thankfully a federal court saw the law for what it was — a poll tax — and struck it down.
“It is clear that the civil rights division of the Department of Justice has lost its way. The Civil Rights Division, once guardian of civil rights, has been so weakened that I do not recognize it. Congressional oversight could have prevented some of this. Freedom and equality are rights that are not simply achieved; they must be preserved each and every day. But, we have not been focused on protecting our rights, and therefore, we are watching them slip away….
“We must reverse the political hiring process and put the decisions back in the hands of the career professionals, who know what it takes to enforce our civil rights laws.
Cagle: A cut in the state income tax might be a better idea
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Even as House Speaker Glenn Richardson moves around the state, pumping his idea of a shift away from property taxes toward a broader sales tax, certain other figures in state Capitol are showing signs of resistance.
Polite signs, but signs of resistance nonetheless.
Here’s a sound clip of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle talking about Richardson’s proposal with radio host Tim Bryant of WGAU (1340 AM) in Athens.
In it, Cagle says he’s worried about the effect of the Speaker’s plan on old people, and wonders outloud whether a cut in the state income tax might make more sense.
“I’m very concerned, quite candidly, with the senior citizens, because they’re the ones — right now, in most communities — who get a significant reduction in property tax, just because of their age and a public policy decision that local jurisdictions have made
“And now they’re going to be taxed at a much higher level. That’s a huge concern,” Cagle said.
“And I think the other side is, if you’re going to make a tax policy change and have a discussion, then you need to do something really that’s going to spur the economy. I think many of us think that the way you do that is a reduction in the income tax….”
Real estate advice from Isakson: Buy low, sell high
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Marietta Daily Journal has re-vamped it’s on-line offerings — going heavy on video.
Here’s an Aug. 18 interview of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, conducted by MDJ publisher Otis Brumby.
Much of what Isakson says you’ve already read. The senator talks about immigration, No Child Left Behind, and whether he’ll run for governor in 2010.
But Isakson made his millions in Atlanta real estate — though he’s now out of the biz — and Brumby asks him what advice he might have for those who want to be homeowners.
“There has never been a better time to buy a house. It’s a buyer’s market,” Isakson said. On the other hand, the senator said, if you’re a seller, you might want to wait until spring to put your house on the market, after things have settled down.
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Democrats are from hell?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rep. Jack Kingston, a Savannah Republican, has never been at a loss for words when it comes to demonizing Democrats. However, Kingston, a leader on the House Republicans’ message/spin team, may have run out of earthly insults to hurl at the other party.
Congressional Quarterly, a wonkish policy magazine in Washington, reports this morning that Kingston recently issued a press release declaring that Democrats are, in deed, from hell.
“Demoncrats and Republicans Split Over Government Healthcare” was the headline on a release criticizing Da Dems for proposing a tobacco tax increase to pay for children’s health insurance programs, including Georgia’s PeachCare.
Freudian slip or typo?
“Obvious typo,” Kingston’s spokeswoman, Krista Cole, laughingly told the magazine.
“I believe it’s a typo,” an anonymous Democratic aide told CQ. “But I also believe in the Easter Bunny, unicorns and that the (Washington) Nationals will win the pennant this year.”
The magazine noted that Kingston’s office never corrected the typo. Instead, the release was moved to a more prominent position on Kingston’s web site. Read it here.
Larry Craig and Michael Vick: Far fewer than six degrees of separation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This from an Associated Press report today on U.S. Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho reconsidering his resignation:
“Craig has hired a high-powered crisis management team including Billy Martin, the lawyer for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick in his dogfighting case, and Washington attorney Stan Brand, a former general counsel to the U.S. House.
“Martin is looking into the Minnesota guilty plea; Brand, who represented Major League Baseball in the congressional investigation into steroid use, will handle any Senate Ethics Committee probe.”
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