Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2007 > October > 03
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Jimmy Carter: I’ll tell President Bashir about this
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former President Jimmy Carter seems to be having problems with people all over the place. First it was a feud with the Bush administration over the 2000 election results. Then with the entire Middle East because of a book he wrote that offended Israel.
And now the Associated Press is reporting from Sudan Wednesday night that Carter had a run-in with security officials who blocked him from entering a town in Darfur where he was going to meet with African refugees.
Carter went to Kabkabiya, which the AP described as a “highly volatile pro-Sudanese government” burg. But the tribal leaders, many of whom were forced out of their homes by pro-government forces, were too frightened to see him. The former president met with just one representative then started walking into the town to find the others.
That’s when the camel fur hit the fan.
Here’s how AP put it:
“You can’t go. It’s not on the program!” the local national security chief, who only gave his first name as Omar, yelled at Carter, who is in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected international figures known as “The Elders.”
“We’re going to anyway!” an angry Carter retorted, telling security officers they didn’t have the authority to stop him.
As a growing crowd gathered around the former president, Carter’s U.S. security detail and his African Union escort tried to ease tensions. Carter later agreed to a compromise by which tribal representatives would be brought to him at another location later Wednesday.
“I’ll tell President Bashir about this,” Carter said, referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Hmmmm. That didn’t sound pleasant.
The Elders, led by Carter and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, were in Darfur to talk about ensuring the fairness of upcoming elections. Oh, and to press for one other thing in the ravaged region: Peace.
Vernon Jones on ice: He meant he was tightening his belt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Neither newspapers nor talk radio like to admit it, but the pair are often highly dependent upon each other.
No doubt you saw the AJC story of today that described the mountain of ice that officials at Stone Mountain Park were attempting to build — with more than a million gallons of DeKalb County water during a historic drought.
The article hit the streets Wednesday morning. Neal Boortz, the talk show guru on WSB (750AM), immediately made it part of his wake-up diatribe. Let’s interrupt the flow of this tale right now, to confess that this newspaper and that radio station are both Cox properties.
Anyway, early in the 9 a.m. hour, DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones — who happens to be running for the U.S. Senate — placed a call to Boortz’ program.
“We will find out today if they are getting county water, or they are getting well water, and how they got it, how many gallons of water they’re using a day. We’re going to find out in detail,” Jones said. ”I can tell you on the surface it doesn’t make sense.”
Within the hour, the concept of an ice mountain was a-melting away like sherbet on a hot sidewalk.
Jones displayed good instincts by quickly shutting down a potential embarrassment. But that was slightly offset by the bizarre opening of the Boortz-Jones interview.
The host offered the DeKalb CEO a greeting, and asked him why he was already chuckling.
“I’ve just been keeping my pants on. I’ve just been keeping my pants on,” Jones said.
“Well, that’s — good for you,” a flustered Boortz replied.
Ladies and gentlemen, we’re in for a strange election year in 2008.
Now, the good gentleman from DeKalb County often accuses this institution of being factually challenged. So click here to listen to a significant chunk of the interview.
Blogwatch: Another Democratic name in the U.S. Senate race?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
James Williams, a.k.a. Griftdrift, one of Atlanta’s top political bloggers, has come up with another possible Democratic contender in the contest to unseat Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
His name is Josh Lanier, 55, a native of Statesboro.
“A Vietnam veteran, Lanier worked on the personal staff of Georgia Sen. Herman Talmadge, assisting the front line aides on the hottest issues of the day — including Watergate and Vietnam. He returned to his native state one year ago, and his name keeps popping up in interesting places,” Williams writes.
“Democratic Party of Georgia officials confirm that Lanier contacted the Atlanta headquarters expressing an interest in the contest but would comment no further, stating it was one of many calls speculating on candidates.”
SCHIP and the tobacco tax: How real life is better than the movie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Tuesday, before President Bush vetoed the SCHIP bill, his spokeswoman said this about the Democratic plan to finance the expansion of the children’s health insurance program with an increase in the cigarette tax:
“In a time when [Democrats] think that they want to increase funding for children’s health care, they’re actually wanting to pay for it with a cigarette tax, which includes — people who smoke are usually — the majority are in the low-income bracket. And so they’re raising taxes on something to pay for a middle-class entitlement.”
Little in Washington is spontaneous. As proof, let us remind you of a pair of Georgia polls that the Phillip Morris Legislative Action Center put out in July. The surveys were conducted in the 8th Congressional District, represented by Democrat Jim Marshall, and the 12th District, represented by Democrat John Barrow.
(Marshall voted against the SCHIP expansion. Barrow voted for it.)
The main purpose of the surveys — a total of 11 districts were polled nationwide — was to test arguments for opposition to the SCHIP plan. Real-life “Thank You for Smoking” stuff.
Just one example:
“The U.S. Congress, in Washington, is considering raising the federal government’s tax on a pack of cigarettes by 156 percent to $1 per pack. That would be an increase of 61 cents per pack over the current rate of 39 cents per pack to help pay for expansions of a federal program. Would you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, or strongly oppose this tax?”
In Barrow’s district, 53 percent said they would support it.
Here’s another question from the survey:
“The money raised from this increase in the federal cigarette tax is supposed to pay for an expansion in a national health care program that provides health care to uninsured children whose families qualify based on their income level. First of all, do you believe that IF Congress raises the federal cigarette tax up to one dollar per pack that this money will actually be spent as promised to provide health care to uninsured children?”
In Barrow’s district, 72 percent said no. Which was the answer the question demanded.
Click on either of the two links above to read the entire poll. It’s fascinating.
Lost: One governor with GOP markings. Answers to the name of Sonny.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just finished an odd swap of e-mails with Heather Teilhet, the spokeswoman for Gov. Sonny Perdue.
We were checking out a rumor that the governor had quietly slipped overseas. There’s good hunting in Argentina, so we’re told. Teilhet says Perdue, in fact, is “on personal leave” and will be back tomorrow.
But she didn’t know where the governor was. Didn’t ask him as he walked out the door.
It is difficult to misplace something that big. Governors are usually bulky, hard to overlook, and often loud. Some people have said that, during legislative sessions, they can occasionally be mistaken for furniture. But that is an exaggeration, we think.
In any case, this is a prime example why we need an Amber Alert for chief executives. Whether you’re in Georgia or in a foreign land, if you see a governor wandering around today without a state, please secure him — a plate of barbecue will often hold such creatures in place — and call the state Capitol.
No doubt they’re worried.
Keep moving, people. No SCHIP news here. Nothing to look at.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
To the surprise of no one, President Bush on Wednesday morning vetoed congressional Democrats’ plans to add $35 billion to a program — known in Georgia as PeachCare — designed to provide health insurance to the children of the working poor.
Bush killed the measure without fanfare, inside a closed room with no media in attendance. Bush wanted to add only $5 billion to the program over the next five years.
The president had repeatedly vowed over the past few months to veto the Democratic funding bill for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP. But Democrats rammed the measure through Congress any way, hoping to score political points in next year’s election against Republicans who opposed the measure.
Democrats say the expanded funding would help provide insurance to millions of children from low-income families who make too much to enroll in Medicaid and too little to afford private insurance.
Bush and congressional Republicans who backed him — including all Georgia Republicans — say the expansion is a first step toward socialized medicine and would prompt people to drop private insurance they already have to enroll in the government program. U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, a Macon Democrat, also voted against it.
Democrats have enough Republican votes in the Senate to override Bush’s veto, but not in the House. Democratic leaders said they’ll delay taking an override vote, possibly for weeks, hoping enough House Republicans feel pressured by constituents and governors to vote for the expansion of a widely popular, largely successful program.
Johnny will come marchin’ home?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Southern Political Report is reporting here that Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Marietta Republican, will run for governor rather than another U.S. Senate term in 2010.
Isakson enflamed speculation about his plans on Monday, when he announced that his chief of staff, Heath Garrett, was leaving to begin work on Isakson’s campaign — omitting the tiny bit about what office Isakson will seek.
The political web site pushes the story along a tad.
It quotes “a source extremely close to Isakson” as saying, “Basically, the entire leadership of state government and business has been bombarding Johnny to come home to Georgia and take the reins of state government. Johnny will continue to say that the gubernatorial race is not on his immediate radar screen, but Garrett would not be moving to Georgia three years out were it not for the fact that we’ve basically drafted Johnny and he can hardly say no.”
Small correction to the above quote — as chief of staff, Garrett has always worked out of the Isakson office off I-75 in Vinings. But the larger point remains.
Three years out, let the tea-leaf readings begin.
Required reading: Business class is drifting away from the GOP
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Wall Street Journal has a must-read piece on the declining enthusiasm among fiscal conservatives for the national Republican party.
The gist:
New evidence suggests a potentially historic shift in the Republican Party’s identity — what strategists call its “brand.” The votes of many disgruntled fiscal conservatives and other lapsed Republicans are now up for grabs, which could alter U.S. politics in the 2008 elections and beyond….
Some well-known business leaders have openly changed allegiances. Morgan Stanley Chairman and Chief Executive John Mack, formerly a big Bush backer, now supports Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. John Canning Jr., chairman and chief executive of Madison Dearborn Partners, a large private-equity firm, now donates to Democrats after a lifetime as a Republican. Recently, he told one Democratic Party leader: “The Republican Party left me” — a twist on a line Ronald Reagan and his followers used when they abandoned the Democratic Party decades ago to protest its ’60s and ’70s-era liberalism.
…Polling data confirm business support for Republicans is eroding. In the Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in September, 37% of professionals and managers identify themselves as Republican or leaning Republican, down from 44% three years ago.”
