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Thursday, November 1, 2007
Eric Johnson says he wants I-16, I-95 interchange named for Clarence Thomas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Senate President pro tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah) says he’ll introduce legislation next year to have the I-16/I-95 interchange in Chatham County named for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the second African-American to sit on the high court bench.
“He is a native son of Savannah,” Johnson said. “Thomas has defended the U. S. Constitution from attack and protected the precious liberties of every American.”
Not that there’s any connection, but you’ll recall that Johnson was also in the news last week — when he issued a fairly incendiary statement condemning the release of Genarlow Wilson from prison.
Laura Bush raises $160,000 for Saxby Chambliss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We weren’t there — something about checkered sports jackets being prohibited at the Piedmont Driving Club — but First Lady Laura Bush’s appearance at a fund-raiser for Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss raised $160,000 for the Georgia senator. Or so we’re told.
Chambliss will be able to add that to the $3 million he had in the bank as of Oct. 1. So breathe easy, Republicans.
Our guess: Perdue will have something to celebrate by the end of the day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In less than an hour, a first round of meetings on water begins in Washington.
Gov. Sonny Perdue, U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson will truck over to the office of U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, to meet their counterparts in that state.
Then comes the more critical meeting at the U.S. Department of the Interior. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will dip into that one.
You’ll noticed that Florida is playing only at the edges of this game. This is primarily a fight between Georgia and Alabama.
Our guess is that Perdue is going to get something like what he wants. At least enough to declare a short-term victory.
For one thing, the U.S. Corps of Engineers has been dropping hints like mad, indicating it’s willing to lessen the amount of water it sends downriver.
The Associated Press has this tidbit this morning:
“What it comes down to is whether we can reduce the flows enough to still save the species and meet all the users’ needs downstream,” said Maj. Daren Payne, deputy commander of the corps’ Mobile, Ala., district. “We’re finding now that the power plants and a lot of the other interests can operate at something less than the current flows.”
It’s the second part of that quote that matters, not the first. These are all Republicans. They don’t care about mollusks.
Last Friday, when the White House team of negotiators hit the state Capitol in Atlanta, the focus was on the Georgia politicians who attended the closed-door meeting: Perdue, Chambliss, Isakson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.
But many people overlooked the fact that one civilian had a seat at the table. He was David Ratcliff, the chairman, president and CEO of the Atlanta-based Southern Company. That tells us that electricity, not mollusks, is the true point of this game.
Southern Company owns the nuclear plant in downstream Alabama, and another coal-fired plant in Florida. Last week, Bob Riley produced a letter from Ratcliff, which the Alabama governor said backed up his point of view.
But if the Corps of Engineers says power plants now agree they can do with less water, then that would indicate that the balance has shifted in Georgia’s favor.
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