Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2007 > September > 11
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
A DeKalb County commissioner wants a look at the Grady-Emory relationship
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Elaine Boyer, the only Republican member of the DeKalb County Commission, has jumped to state Sen. David Shafer’s side by echoing his call for a close look at the contractual relationship between Grady Memorial Hospital and Emory University.
In a letter to the chairman of the House health committee, Boyer plugs Shafer’s call for Grady to be managed by a non-profit corporation — something that others, including Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, have recommended separately.
But Boyer also asks state Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Cobb County) to “dig deeply into the relationship between Grady and Emory University, based in DeKalb County.
“It is obvious to many of us in the community that Emory has had a monopoly relationship with Grady for decades. And as we all know, a monopoly can only lead to waste. In this case, the taxpayers are paying for it,” Boyer writes.
That’s been an argument specifically advanced by Shafer, a Republican from Duluth whose district covers portions of north Fulton County.
We put a call into Cooper, but no luck.
Politically, a letter from a white Republican in DeKalb County doesn’t advance Shafer’s position all that much. When an African-American Democrat starts using his talking points — that’s when you’ll know something’s afoot.
The woes of Max Cleland
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Senator Max Cleland ‘s public image took another hit Tuesday.
Roll Call is reporting here that Cleland has just quit as a director of a Pennsylvania charity created by his friend, U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), following an investigation by the Capitol Hill newspaper that raised serious questions about the charity’s funding and spending habits.
The charity, the Pennsylvania Association of Individuals with Disabilities, or PAID, opened in 2001 and announced last month that Cleland, a Vietnam vet who lost three limbs in the war, would be joining its board of directors.
“I am honored to be joining a first-class organization whose sole mission is to fight for people who deserve the same opportunities as every able-bodied American does,” Cleland was quoted saying in the official announcement.
After learning of the results of the paper’s investigation Monday, Cleland told Roll Call, “I am no longer considering being a member of the board. … I really don’t know much about the organization and really don’t have time to get involved.”
Murtha funded the charity and at least two other affiliated groups with earmarks — protected money for a lawmaker’s pet project — in the federal budget, Roll Call reported.
The report marks the second time in less than a month that Cleland’s high-profile image has taken a beating.
Just weeks ago, it came to light that Cleland’s chief of staff, Michael Duga, had a long police record, including arrests made while working for Cleland, after Duga was involved in a brouhaha during a John Edwards fundraiser at Martha’s Vineyard. Duga was later arrested at a Coast Guard station on charges of breaking and entering, and possession of marijuana.
Cleland has placed Duga on administrative leave.
A 24-hour delay in the race for the 10th District
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By now, you’ve noticed that state Rep. Barry Fleming of Harlem did not — as we said he would — announce his congressional campaign today against his fellow Republican, incumbent Paul Broun of Athens.
Our educated guess is that someone looked at the calendar, and decided that Sept. 11 was the wrong day for that kind of news.
Fleming’s announcement has been re-scheduled for tomorrow.
The RGA and why Nick Ayers isn’t looking for a new job
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to the Rothenberg Political Report, the Republican Governors Association is attempting to match a long-term strategy initiated by Democrats.
Here’s the part about Sonny Perdue and his former campaign manager, Nick Ayers:
In January, Republican governors changed the RGA bylaws to allow a governor to serve more than a one-year term as chairman.
Proponents of the change hope that removing the honorary status will create some healthy competition for the post, motivate the chairmen to invest in the committee and not allow other governors to ignore the committee for the three years they aren’t up for re-election.
Previously, many governors didn’t think much about the Washington-based RGA when they weren’t running for the office.
The current RGA chairman, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, chose not to be the first to seek a second term to avoid it looking like he changed the rules for his own benefit.
But he is hoping to leave his mark at the committee — and current Executive Director Nick Ayers will be part of that legacy.
RGA Vice Chairman Matt Blunt (Mo.) was slated to become chairman in 2008, but because of his tough re-election race next year, Gov. Rick Perry (Texas) is likely to ascend to the top slot, according to knowledgeable GOP sources.
But as part of the move, Perry has agreed to keep Ayers and other staff on through 2008. The Republican governors’ official vote on the move won’t take place until November, but it is expected to be a formality.
It’s unclear, however, whether future RGA chairmen will buy into the staff-continuity concept.
How to save Grady and build roads, all at the same time
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
State Rep. Clay Cox (R-Lilburn) has a plan that he says could generate $24 million a year: sell advertising space on those message boards that span metro Atlanta’s interstates.
“We’ve all seen these signs sitting idle or simply reminding us to buckle up. Why not sell a few seconds per minute of ad space to our business community and help fund our trauma system, or needed road projects- without raising taxes?” Cox said in a press release issued this morning.
According to Cox, the state could lease 100 of the message boards at a cost of $1,000 per month per retailer. As many as 20 messages lasting only a few seconds could be sold for each sign, per month.
And they could be programmed to give way to regular Department of Transportation messages, including emergency alerts.
The only hitch? The state would have to apply to the feds for an exemption to a rule banning commercialization of the signs.
More on the Fair Tax and Scientology
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last month, supporters of the Fair Tax — including John Linder and Neal Boortz — got quite bent out of shape when former U.S. treasury official Bruce Bartlett said its origins lay with Scientologists and their hatred for the Internal Revenue Service.
Reminders can be found here and here.
Bartlett ain’t backing away, but he’s refining his argument some in an article now posted with The New Republic, entitled “Fred Thompson Channels L. Ron Hubbard: Dianetics, the Tax Plan.”
Writes Bartlett: “FairTax supporters don’t know the history of their own proposal. That’s too bad. Perhaps if they understood its origins in Scientology, they might have a greater appreciation for its inherent flaws.”
The hunt for a candidate to challenge John Barrow
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s worth nothing that the Georgia congressional race that, in private conversations, has excited the most attention from Republicans involves a GOP incumbent.
House Majority Whip Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) is to announce his challenge this morning to U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Athens), who won the 10th District seat only two months ago.
In past election seasons, Democrats Jim Marshall in the 8th District and John Barrow in the 12th have been perennial Republican targets. And on paper, they’re still vulnerable.
But the anointed GOP candidate in the middle Georgia race against Marshall, former Air Force major general Rick Goddard, has had a rough start.
Even more indicative of trepidation among Georgia Republicans, and their fear of a poor harvest in ’08, is the party’s failure — thus far — to field any candidate to challenge the Savannah-based Barrow.
We called state Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) on Monday. “I’m still giving it consideration,” he said. “It’s still an option, no question about it.”
Family-wise, the 50-year-old Carter is in good shape. He is nearly an empty-nester, with a son in his senior year of high school. Business-wise, the decision may be tougher. Carter is the sole proprietor of a small pharmacy chain with three locations.
Current events also will play their role, Carter said — he was carefully following Monday’s appearance of Gen. David Petraeus before Congress, and noted that Barrow will be called on to vote on several spending bills in the next few weeks.
While we had him on the phone, we asked Carter about Gov. Sonny Perdue’s comments regarding the mega-development site in his backyard, once earmarked for a Daimler/Chrysler van plant.
Perdue said it might be time to break up the 1,500-acre piece of real estate into smaller plots. It would be a significant shift away from efforts to win an economy-altering, big-ticket manufacturing plant for Georgia.
Carter said he still hasn’t given up on landing a huge buyer for the Pooler site, but driving by a huge vacant lot, day after day after day, has affected his resolve.
“I’m willing to see it split up now,” Carter said. “At one time, I wasn’t.”
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