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Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Barr and Boortz on illegal immigration, and what to do with those already here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Georgia congressman Bob Barr, now exploring a Libertarian bid for president, had an interesting exchange with Neal Boortz on WSB (750AM) this morning.
Listen to the sound clip here.
Apparently, among some conservatives, there’s been some dispute over where Libertarians stand on the issue of illegal immigration.
“The Libertarian Party has not exactly been strong on the issue of controlling the Mexican invasion into this country,” Boortz began.
“Actually, they have been,” Barr replied.
The two gentlemen moved to the matter of what to do with the paperless people who are already here.
Said Barr:
“You set a mechanism internally to determine who is here. And if you catch folks that are here unlawfully, and do not submit themselves to a background check that those coming into this country are going to be required to do, then you send them back to their country.”
Said Boortz:
“It sounds to me that you’re saying, if you find an illegal immigrant in this country, and they’re willing to submit to a background check, that that could open the door to them staying here.”
Said Barr:
“I think as a practical matter, that makes a lot of sense. I’m not sure how you would go about rounding up millions of people and trying to deport them. The key here is security….”
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Casey Cagle on the end of the 2008 session: Blame the House speaker
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Monday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle made his first public appearance since the ugly finish of the 2008 Legislature.
According to Cagle, it was all House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s fault.
The lieutenant governor was at Atlanta City Hall with Mayor Shirley Franklin, to help unveil the final leg of the Tour de Georgia on April 27 — a six-circuit race through the streets of downtown.
Cagle is the chairman of the reconstituted, state-created board that owns the bicycle race. On display at the presser was the 20-speed, $2,500 titanium loaner that Cagle — a golfer by habit — will ride from time to time during the event.
For a politician on a bicycle, the only thing more distasteful than an ugly helmet is the prospect of an ungraceful dismount. But for Cagle and 236 state lawmakers, that’s already happened.
“There’s no question at all that the session ended on a very sour note. It began where it left off last year — this session — with a veto override. And the speaker was unwilling to negotiate,” Cagle said.
Below is a brief overview of what Cagle said Monday.
On Richardson declaring that Georgia needed a new lieutenant governor:
“I really don’t have a response to that. The speaker was obviously very frustrated that he spent the summer working on a tax reform proposal, and changed it numerous times to get support and ended up losing on the floor.
“I can understand his frustration. There’s no one more committed to tax reform than I am. We put a very good proposal on the table, late. Obviously he was not interested in that.
“We’re very disappointed that the constitutional amendment to freeze assessments was not done because of his actions. We were very disappointed we did not reach an agreement on trauma.
“The Senate put a proposal before him, he denied that. And so its very unfortunate. We did not get a T-SPLOST proposal because really, the lateness of their willingness to act as well.”
But the idea of regional sales taxes for transportation was killed by Senate Republicans. The House passed it.
“What I’m saying is that the speaker was going back and forth on language. We actually had to suspend the rules, if you’ll recall, in order to get the bill on the desk and read. So it really did catch some people by surprise because of the lateness of it.”
What do you say to those sitting in traffic?
It’s my hope that we’re going to stay at the table and find a [resolution] to the transportation issue… We’ve got to resolve this issue. We understand it. We’re very committed to it. And certainly the restructuring of the department is going to make a big, big difference. But we also have to look at other funding mechanisms.”
[Sorry to interrupt, but read that block of type above very carefully. Especially that last sentence. It could be a hint that next year, transportation enthusiasts may not be able to pick up exactly where they left off. Now, back to our program.]
On the House plan to cut the car tax, which would have required to the state to reimburse local governments for lost revenue:
“At the end of the day, I was not willing to allow a billion dollars of state revenue to go back to county governments in an effort to supplement their income. This does not make sound public policy sense. No economist would validate the proposal. We had the right proposal, which was an income tax reduction, that made sense. It would be immediate, there would be stimulus, and every economist believed that this would be the right thing….”
And on whether the absence of the governor at the close of the session had any impact:
“I don’t know that it had an impact. The details of all of this and the way it ended really had less to do with the governor and more to do with the speaker’s unwillingness to negotiate in good faith. But it is what it is, and we’re going to pick up and move on.”
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A conservative call for Bush to boycott the Olympics
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Macon blogger Erick Erickson, editor and founder of the national conservative web site RedState.com as well as the local PeachPundit, wants President Bush to cancel is trip to Beijing for the Olympics.
In other words, Erickson has joined forces with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic president Hillary Clinton. And he’s passing around an electronic petition calling on Bush to boycott the event.
Says Erickson:
We know some on the right who tend to view the world mostly in economic terms will disagree with us. Yes, we recognize that China is a large trading partner. We recognize how much of our debt they hold.
We also recognize the arguments of some that if the President were to go, the media would be inclined to shed the spotlight on China’s abuses.
None of these arguments contradict the fact that our President, who has spent eight years liberating parts of the world from tyranny, should not give the seal of approval on China’s behavior — approval his presence at the Olympics would most certainly give to the Chinese people.
Other Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, have called for a total boycott of the Games. Here’s his op-ed piece in today’s USA Today.
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Bush opposes Isakson’s tax credit for foreclosure purchases
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s been obvious that U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson has been taking heat from the right wing of his own party for pushing, as part of a means of easing the foreclosure crisis, a $7,000 tax credit to people who buy foreclosed homes — or homes on which foreclosure has been filed.
But it hadn’t been clear that opponents include President Bush. This was part of an Associated Press report filed late Monday:
The Bush administration opposes the foreclosure purchase tax credit, though it’s been circumspect in its public statements. In an unusual step, the White House did not issue an official policy statement as it does with most important legislation.
“Some of the proposals we’ve seen might have the potential to distort the market,” said Treasury Department spokesman Andrew DeSouza.
Isakson defends himself and his idea in the same AP piece.
“All these houses in foreclosure are doing a whole lot more damage to the [house] value of the homeowner who’s making their payments than having a $7,000 tax credit to induce people to absorb those foreclosures,” he countered. “It helps you to fix the bottom of the market so the market can turn around.”
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More sweepings from the session
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a note that’s gone out to members, Joe Fleming of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce has this cogent wrap of departures from the General Assembly:
At least five representatives and two senators will not return to Atlanta for the 2009 legislative session: Reps. Ben Bridges, Bob Holmes, Jimmy Lord (all to retirement), Rep. Johnny Floyd, who becomes the newest member of the Department of Transportation board, and Rep. Barry Fleming, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Congress in Georgia’s 10th Congressional District.
Fleming will be joined in that race by state Sen. Nancy Schaefer. Sen. Michael Meyer von Bremen has announced he will run for the Georgia Court of Appeals seated being vacated by retiring Judge John Ruffin.
Dick Pettys of InsiderAdvantage writes today that state Rep. Bobby Franklin of Cobb County is likely to lose his position as chairman of the House Reapportionment Committee next year.
Last Friday, Franklin tried to attach a “fetal murder” amendment to a dog-collar bill. Franklin appealed to the chamber when House Speaker Glenn Richardson’s decision to rule the amendment out of order. He lost 152-2.
Franklin was joined in his martyrdom by state Rep. Martin Scott, a fellow Republican who — in Pettys’ words — is “beyond punishment.”
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