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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
New SCHIP bill, same old reaction
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Details were still sketchy by Wednesday evening, but House Democrats and the White House are talking about a compromise on the bill that would add hundreds of millions of dollars to Georgia’s PeachCare, a health insurance program for poor kids. The House may vote on it Thursday.
The few details that have already been leaked to reporters, however, indicate that the compromise won’t be changing the minds of the 10 Georgia congressmen who voted against the original bill - and then voted to uphold President Bush’s veto of it - this month.
The compromise would still expand SCHIP, or State Children’s Health Insurance Program, by $35 billion over five years and raise the money through an increase in tobacco taxes, Republicans complained.
It’s not clear yet whether Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon, one of only two House Democrats to vote against the original SCHIP bill, will change his vote - something the state Democratic Party would love to see him do on the eve of Marshall’s re-election campaign.
Rep. Tom Price, a Roswell Republican, has proposed an alternative bill to fund SCHIP through 2012 and he took Wednesday’s news about the compromise as a sign that Democrats have no intention of negotiating the bill with more than a handful of moderate Republicans.
“They’re not working with those of us who are interested in finding a solution, they’re not dealing with our leaders,” Price, a long-time physician, said. “My understanding of the changes they made in the compromise is that they’re nothing but fig leaves. They do nothing to change the structure of the bill.”
The House is expected to approve the compromise if it votes Thursday, just as it did the original version. What Democrats need to see in the vote, however, is whether their new proposal picked up the support of enough Republicans to override Bush’s predictable veto of the bill. The Senate already has those votes.
Some after-the-fact politicking on the water crisis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This water crisis has every politician in Georgia, in particular Gov. Sonny Perdue, wary of sparking a regional backlash.
Over the weekend, Perdue calls for President Bush to hand metro Atlanta the keys to Buford Dam, the better to preserve water for Georgia’s premier economic engine.
But don’t you know that ticks off downstream Georgia.
So what does the governor do? First, late Tuesday he requires upstream Georgia to reduce its water usage by 10 percent. You can’t ask downstream Georgia (and Alabama) to do with less water — unless you ask upstream Georgia to feel the pain first.
Then he schedules a press conference at 2:45 p.m. today on the shores of West Point Lake, in downstream Georgia. We haven’t been clued in on what Perdue will say.
But we’re guessing that the governor wants to assure locals that he knows human beings and human economies live in downstream Georgia — not just federally protected mollusks.
By the by, Harris Blackwood of the Gainesville Times has an article out today noting that one court case arising out of the three-state water dispute is being overseen in Jacksonville, Fla., by a federal judge from Minnesota.
The judge, Paul A. Magnuson, seems to have the appropriate background. Past cases include a lawsuit filed by Jesse Ventura against the World Wrestling Federation.
Hank Johnson says he wants to examine Charles Walker’s conviction
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson is expressing doubts about the prosecution of former state Senate majority leader Charles Walker of Augusta.
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee, controlled by Democrats, has added Walker to a list of those alleged to have been selectively prosecuted by a Bush-controlled Justice Department.
The most prominent name on the list belongs to former Alabama governor Don Siegelman.
Walker — once the most politically powerful African-American in Georgia — was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of stealing from a charity he set up, bilking his newspaper’s advertisers, forcing Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital into using his personnel services business and misrepresenting ownership in companies doing business with the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
Walker’s son, Champ, called over the weekend to tell us his dad would be placed on the list. It’s all about getting a peek at the personnel file of former U.S. Attorney Rick Thompson of Savannah, who initiated the investigation — but was canned for improperly using his office for partisan purposes. Another federal prosecutor took up the cause.
Johnson, of DeKalb County, is a member of the judiciary committee. He said the Walker case “bears investigation” because of the long litany of charges that Walker faced.
“I wondered about his innocence before I even became a congressman,” Johnson said.
Clinton and Thompson settle into their Georgia leads
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to a new survey by Strategic Vision, a Republican-oriented firm in Atlanta, Hillary Clinton and Fred Thompson are running parallel presidential races in Georgia.
By the numbers, this is a three-day poll of 800 likely Georgia voters, with an overall margin of error of 3 percentage points. But 368 and 328 Democrats were asked their presidential preferences separately, which means the margin of error skyrockets just where it gets most interesting.
So read with caution.
Among Republican candidates, the field remains largely unchanged, according to the SV poll.
Fred Thompson led with 39 percent, followed by: Rudy Giuliani, 20 percent; John McCain, 9 percent; Mike Huckabee, 7 percent; Mitt Romney, 6 percent; Ron Paul, 3 percent; Tom Tancredo, 2 percent; and Duncan Hunter, 1 percent.
Undecided came in a heavy third, with 13 percent.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton widens her summertime lead to 40 percent, followed by Barack Obama with 27 percent. That’s an improvement for Clinton since June, but it’s still tighter than what the New York senator has built nationwide.
A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg Poll out today shows Clinton leading Obama 48 to 17 percent.
Among the rest of the Democratic field in Georgia, John Edwards was at 11 percent; Bill Richardson, 5 percent; Joe Biden, 3 percent; Chris Dodd, 1 percent; and Dennis Kucinich, 1 percent.
And 12 percent can’t make up their minds.
For politicians, the most frightening aspect of the SV survey could be the whether voters favor a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in the next six months. Forty-three percent said yes. But 43 percent also said no. And 14 were undecided.
Strategic Vision also did individual horse-races in the ’08 race for U.S. Senate. Republican incumbent beats all four Democrats (for the first time including Josh Lanier of Statesboro) by similar margins of roughly 58 percent to 26 percent. You can read the details on the jump.
Poll Results
- Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Sonny Perdue’s overall job performance?
Approve - 57%
Disapprove - 32%
Undecided - 11%
- Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Saxby Chambliss’ overall job performance?
Approve - 52%
Disapprove - 36%
Undecided - 12%
- Do you approve or disapprove of Senator Johnny Isakson’s overall job performance?
Approve - 57%
Disapprove - 33%
Undecided - 10%
- If the election for United States Senate were held today, whom would you vote for Saxby Chambliss, the Republican or Vernon Jones, the Democrat?
Saxby Chambliss - 57%
Vernon Jones - 28%
Undecided - 15%
- If the election for United States Senate were held today, whom would you vote for Saxby Chambliss, the Republican or Dale Cardwell, the Democrat?
Saxby Chambliss - 58%
Dale Cardwell - 26%
Undecided - 16%
- If the election for United States Senate were held today, whom would you vote for Saxby Chambliss, the Republican or Rand Knight, the Democrat?
Saxby Chambliss - 58%
Rand Knight - 25%
Undecided - 17%
- If the election for United States Senate were held today, whom would you vote for Saxby Chambliss, the Republican or Josh Lanier the Democrat?
Saxby Chambliss - 58%
Josh Lanier - 24%
Undecided - 18%
- Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush’s overall job performance?
Approve - 36%
Disapprove - 49%
Undecided - 15%
- Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the economy?
Approve - 40%
Disapprove - 43%
Undecided - 17%
- Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq?
Approve - 35%
Disapprove - 49%
Undecided - 16%
- Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the war on terrorism?
Approve - 52%
Disapprove - 39%
Undecided - 9%
- Do you favor an immediate withdrawal of the United States military forces from Iraq, within the six months?
Yes - 43%
No - 43%
Undecided - 14%
- Do you view President Bush as a conservative in the mode of Ronald Reagan? (Republicans Only)
Yes - 9%
No - 79%
Undecided - 12%
- Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is performing its job?
Approve - 18%
Disapprove - 71%
Undecided - 11%
- Do you think Georgia is headed in the right direction or the wrong direction?
Right - 51%
Wrong - 35%
Undecided - 14%
- For the 2008 Republican Presidential Nomination whom would you support? (Republicans Only)
Fred Thompson - 39%
Rudy Giuliani - 20%
John McCain - 9%
Mike Huckabee - 7%
Mitt Romney - 6%
Ron Paul - 3%
Tom Tancredo - 2%
Duncan Hunter - 1%
Undecided - 13%
- How important is it for the Republican presidential candidate to be a conservative Republican in the mode of Ronald Reagan, very important, somewhat important, not very important, not important, or undecided? (Republicans Only)
Very Important - 55%
Somewhat Important - 25%
Not Very Important - 6%
Not Important - 10%
Undecided - 4%
- For the 2008 Democratic Presidential Nomination whom would you support? (Democrats Only)
Hillary Clinton - 40%
Barack Obama - 27%
John Edwards - 11%
Bill Richardson - 5%
Joseph Biden - 3%
Chris Dodd - 1%
Dennis Kucinich - 1%
Undecided - 12%
- When making your selection for a presidential candidate, what are you looking for most in the candidate, charisma, experience, or ideology? (Democrats Only)
Experience - 37%
Ideology - 29%
Charisma - 24%
Undecided - 10%
Strategic Vision, LLC is an Atlanta-headquartered public relations and public affairs agency. Results are based on telephone interviews with 800 likely voters in Georgia, aged 18+, and conducted October 19-21, 2007. The margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. Additional information on Strategic Vision, LLC may be obtained at www.strategicvision.biz.
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