Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > March > 26
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Bob Barr thinking ‘very serious’ thoughts about a presidential race, Iraq, and torture
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On an Internet site called Anti-War Radio, former Georgia congressman Bob Barr confirmed on Wednesday that he’s “very seriously” looking at joining the race for the White House as a Libertarian — and had harsh words for both the Iraq war and for the Bush Administration’s defense of “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
Many thanks to blogger Jason Pye for passing on word of the interview.
On a presidential run, Barr said:
“There’s been a tremendous expressed to me both directly and indirectly on the Internet. I take that support very seriously, and I think it also reflects a great deal of dissatisfaction with the current candidates and the current two-party system. So it is something, to be honest with you, that I’m looking very seriously at.”
Barr said a Libertarian candidacy would essentially be an extension of the Ron Paul campaign.
“Ron Paul tapped into a great deal of that dissatisfaction and that awareness. Unfortunately, working through the Republican party structure, it became impossible for him to really move forward with his movement. But we have to have ….a rallying point out there to harness that energy, that freedom in this election cycle,” Barr said.
On Iraq:
“What we’ve fallen into in recent years — not just since 9/11, but particularly since 9/11 — is this notion that, in order to protect ourselves, we have to preemptively go into and — in the case of Iraq — occupy another sovereign nation,” Barr said. “Simply saying, ‘Gee, it’s better to fight over in this other nation and destroy another nation, so we’re not potentially attacked here, is the height of arrogance.”
As for the Bush administration’s refusal to define waterboarding as torture, Barr referred to the practice as “sophistry of the worst and rankest order.”
Permalink | Comments (85) | Post your comment |
Perdue and his economists meet with senators to talk tax cuts and the economy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sonny Perdue and his team of economists went up to the fourth floor of the state Capitol on Wednesday afternoon to meet with members of the Senate. If the governor intended to talk that chamber out of pursuing a tax cut in the last six days of this session, it didn’t work.
The governor said he didn’t push the case himself. “Although the economists did indicate to them that they didn’t think — in a balanced-budget state environment — this was a good time to be cutting revenue when revenue was already on a downward trend,” Perdue said.
The governor said the economy continues to contract, but maintained that whether the word “recession” should be used is purely a matter for academics to debate.
The economy was the chief topic of discussion, but the governor’s revenue estimates were another. On Tuesday, Perdue sent this letter to House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, accusing the House of passing a 2009 budget that was $17 million out of balance — and threatening to lower his revenue estimate even further. He’s already done it once.
“Oftentimes, conspiracy theories develop around here,” Perdue said. “That the governor’s trying to play games with the revenue estimate, to give us heartburn during the appropriations — and really I just wanted to share the facts as I get them.
“I don’t make up the revenue estimate,” the governor said. “I rely on trusted professionals to look at all the factors — of employment and housing and all those things — and come to a point.”
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle invited the governor to speak with members of the Senate. Cagle said nice things about Perdue — but made it clear that he was still committed to a 10 percent cut in the state income tax.
“We still believe that that is good sound public policy. We need to make sure that we are able to put more money in each individual’s pocket,” Cagle said. “Whether we can get to an agreement with the house still has yet to be determined.”
Oh, and Cagle agreed with the governor on one thing. The alleged out-of-balance budget passed by the House.
“I firmly agree with the governor. The House obviously did not pass a balanced budget. It’s very unprecedented. For them to say contrary is somewhat perplexing,” Cagle said.
That ought to do wonders for House-Senate negotiations.
Majority Leader Jerry Keen of St. Simons Island spoke for the House leadership. “We sent over there a very fiscally conservative budget,” he said.
As for a tax cut, Keen said, “We could argue that the best time to give tax relief is in fact when the economy is slowing. Even the Democrats in Washington get that.”
Obviously, Keen doesn’t expect any support from the governor’s office. “The only way that Georgians are going to see a tax cut out of this legislative session is if its voted on in a constitutional amendment,” he said. That way, no gubernatorial approval is needed.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment |
Head of Facility Group indicted by feds for ‘trying to influence’ Mississippi official
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is in today’s Jackson, Miss., Clarion-Ledger:
Three Georgia businessmen face a 16-count federal indictment involving the defunct Mississippi Beef Processors Plant, including allegations that their company tried to influence a Mississippi public official through campaign contributions.
The indictment charges Robert Moultrie, 67, of Smyrna; Charles Morehead, 57, of Lilburn and Nixon Cawood, 58, of Woodstock with one count of conspiracy to corruptly influence a public official and 15 counts of mail fraud….
The processing plant opened in August 2004 but shut down three months later, costing the state about $55 million.
Robert Moultrie is chairman of The Facility Group of Smyrna, an architectural and engineering firm with deep political ties in Georgia. House Rules Chairman Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) is a senior vice president for the company.
The Associated Press had this:
Ehrhart said he was not involved in the federal probe.
“I’ve never been interviewed by any law enforcement about anything,” said the Republican from Powder Springs. “I haven’t done anything.”
Ehrhart referred additional questions to a company spokesman, Flip Spiceland, who said Ehrhart was not involved. Spiceland said he could not talk about the facts of the case, but he said business was proceeding as usual at the company.
Says the Clarion-Ledger:
The indictment said Moultrie and Cawood carried out a scheme to give more than the allowable $5,000 in campaign contributions to the re-election campaign of the unnamed public official, who is not indicted, intending to influence and reward him for the state selecting The Facility Group to manage the design and construction of the beef plant.
Federal officials would not identify the “public official,” but former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove’s 2003 re-election campaign finance records match the contributions listed in the indictment. Musgrove is now a candidate for U.S. Senate.
Permalink | Comments (227) | Post your comment |
Coastal bill supporters may let measure die rather than permit restriction to Jekyll Island development
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An amendment that challenges development plans for Jekyll Island could kill S.B. 367, a bill to avoid the automatic repeal of the Georgia Coastal Management Act.
Backers of the bill, who include state Sens. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry) and Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), are spreading the word that they’ll let the measure die rather than accept the provision a House committee attached last week, which would bar development of a huge parking lot on Jekyll that provides direct access to the beach.
The amendment was approved on a narrow 9-8 vote last Thursday. The House Natural Resources committee has yet to report the bill out to the House Rules committee, which in itself is unusual. Click here for the amendment offered by Debbie Buckner (D-Junction City). It’s not on the legislative web site yet.
As originally written, S.B. 367 is intended to extend the Georgia Coastal Management Act, which is set to expire July 1, 2009. The plan gives Georgia access to federal funds for coastal repair.
Supporters of S.B. 367 — and the Jekyll development plan currently in the works — say environmentalists and island enthusiasts are jeopardizing the $2.3 million in annual federal funding, all for the sake of a parking lot.
On the right is the photograph that’s being e-mailed around the state Capitol by those in favor of the current Jekyll plan, featuring the territory in dispute.
Environmentalists we’ve spoken to say that, with expiration of the coastal plan more than a year away, the Legislature would have another crack at extension next year.
And the parking lot, they say, is more than a parking lot. “Where else can you drive up to the edge of the dunes and go to the beach?” asked House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin).
Well, there’s Tybee Island, isn’t there?
But that’s built up, Porter said.
This may be the most significant development in regard to Jekyll politics. In the Senate, state Sen. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick) has been the champion of the less-is-more side of remaking the island.
But in the House, Democrats are the ones who have taken the lead, with a significant slice of the Republican caucus.
Permalink | Comments (58) | Post your comment |
The cat’s not away yet, but the mice are already breaking out the croquet mallets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The plan is for the Republican-controlled Legislature to conceive and execute a tax cut next week — by a two-thirds vote in each chamber — after Gov. Sonny Perdue takes a fast plane to China.
He’s not scheduled to return until April 5. Perhaps, legislators say, they’ll be gone by then.
The governor has opposed initiatives both in the House, which wants to eliminate the car-tag tax, and the Senate, which has proposed a slice in the state income tax. But Perdue has no say-so over proposed ballot initiatives, which is the form any tax cut would take.
One suspects that this is, at least in part, why governor on Tuesday threatened another reduction in state revenue predictions for ’09, to make it harder for the two chambers to come to terms. Here’s a copy of the letter Perdue sent to House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle.
But the Legislature’s serious about this one. How serious? Without waiting for the nicety of a measure to pass both chambers, the House and Senate have already named six conferees to negotiate a deal. Both sides have confirmed this.
Negotiators for the House are House Ways and Means Chairman Larry O’Neal (R-Perry), and state Reps. James Mills (R-Gainesville) and Greg Morris (R-Vidalia). On the Senate side, the trio consists of Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons), and state Sens. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) and David Shafer (R-Duluth).
