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Monday, November 19, 2007
On the U.S. Senate watch: Attacks on Saxby and his ag bill stand, and middle school teacher jumps in
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss had been walking a thin, middle line with the farm bill that stalled last week.
Early this month, the Republican announced he was “deeply disappointed” with a threat from President Bush to veto the bill, which would authorize the spending of $288 billion over five years.
“Our committee worked for months to craft a strong bipartisan farm bill while remaining fiscally responsible,” said Chambliss, who was once chairman of ag committee and remains the ranking Republican.
Bush was joining critics on the left — as well as the right — who have called for a sharp decrease in crop subsidies. Chambliss has been a resolute defender.
But on Friday, Chambliss was among those who helped prevent a vote on the bill, after his Republican colleagues had loaded it with more than 275 amendments that Senate Majority Harry Reid didn’t want to tackle — like a ban on drivers licenses for illegal immigrants.
[A spokeswoman for Chambliss points out that 150 of the amendments were offered by Democrats, but somehow we think the topics were more problematic than the number.]
You could tell that Chambliss was a bit nervous about being caught in a crossfire. He put out a press release as quickly as possible, and blamed Democrats.
“Let it be known that the Majority Leader shut down the farm bill debate last week, by offering amendments so that no one else can, well before the process even started. I have urged the other side to work with us to come up with a reasonable compromise - the Democrats are choosing which amendments will be offered to this bill by using parliamentary practices, which is simply not agreeable to my Republican colleagues and me,” Chambliss said.
So far, the only Democrat to take Chambliss on over his vote is Josh Lanier of Statesboro — a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge, who himself was a chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Said Lanier: “When leadership was needed, he ducked and sided with those who want to gut the bill with non-farm amendments and voted to leave the bill, and Georgia farmers, in limbo.”
Lanier had been one of three Democrats who have announced against Chambliss, or who have formed exploratory committees.
A fourth declared herself over the weekend. Maggie Martinez is a former state representative from Puerto Rico. She’s now a teacher at Memorial Middle School in Rockdale County, according to the Clayton Daily News.
Perhaps the funniest TV ad of the presidential campaign
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Republican campaign of Mike Huckabee just put this out to tout the candidate’s endorsement by Chuck Norris. It’s getting $60,000 worth of air time in Iowa.
Presidential notebook: Bob Barr is not in the race for the White House; but two candidates who are running share a smooch.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Over the weekend, the blog Third Party Watch floated a breathless, “very reliable” rumor that former Georgia congressman Bob Barr is considering a run for the White House under the banner of the Libertarian party.
We are happy to kill this sucker dead, effective immediately. “Mr. Barr has no intention of running for president,” said Derek Barr, spokesman for Barr’s consulting outfit, Liberty Strategies. “No exploratory committee, nothing.”
Derek Barr has also served as Bob Barr’s son for a number of years, and so would be in a position to know.
This weekend also saw two presidential candidate engage in a quick, public buss. Insert your own Larry Craig joke here.
In fact, the participants were Democrat Dennis Kuncinich and no-I’m-not-yes-I-am Green party candidate Cynthia McKinney. The locale was the 10,000-person march in Columbus, protesting the Fort Benning institution that was once known as the School for the Americas.
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