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Friday, September 28, 2007
Bad mood at Moody
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Moody Air Force in Valdosta, Ga., is getting 1,000 new troops in 2009. So far, it has a total of two houses to put them in. And neither house has 500 bedrooms.
Work stopped months ago on the base’s Magnolia Grove housing project in which a private developer, American Eagle Communities of Connecticut, was supposed to build more than 600 new, private homes. But only two homes have been finished, construction is already $25 million over budget and the project is now in receivership. The lawsuits have begun.
So what went wrong? That’s what Georgia’s Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, want to know. The two won Senate approval Friday for a federal investigation into what happened at Moody and at least three other bases around the country.
“We need to take a good look at this situation and get to the bottom of the factors and decisions that contributed to the Air Force awarding this contract to ensure it does not happen again,” Chambliss said.
“The delays in the completion of these housing projects … are unacceptable,” Isakson said, “and have a significant impact on our airmen and their families as well as the local community.”
Price, a speech but what about respect
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rep. Tom Price, a Roswell Republican and former physician, was an obvious choice for House Republicans to deliver the party’s weekly radio address this weekend. (Listen here.)
After all, the topic was health insurance for kids.
And while there’s no doubt Price is an up-and-comer in the House, we have to wonder how well those GOPers really know the guy deep-down.
For instance, Price is from Georgia. But the press statement the party issued Friday to advance the speech listed him as a North Carolina Republican. Stuff just happens at the end of a busy week, we guess. Still, Price mentions in the first line of the speech where he’s from. Maybe, they didn’t read it.
In the speech, Price tries to explain why so many House Republicans voted against a popular bill that would expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP nationally and PeachCare in Georgia. It’s part of an on-going GOP PR campaign to blunt the election-year advantage Democrats believe they won because they can now claim Republicans are against poor kids.
