Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > April > 23
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
‘The Ox’ files his paperwork for a 2010 run for governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine filed his paperwork Wednesday to begin raising money to run for governor in 2010. The Republican made clear he plans to campaign on tax cuts.
“As a Georgia taxpayer, I am disappointed the tax breaks we were all promised were not passed by the General Assembly,” Oxendine said in a press release. “On April 30, I, as so many of my fellow Georgians do year after year, will be paying the annual birthday ad-valorem tax on my automobile.
“I would hope the governor and the Legislature could also help the taxpayer by agreeing on the tax breaks which have been proposed.”
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment |
As if you needed more evidence, financial and otherwise, that Martin’s the handpicked Democrat in the Senate race
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m waiting for all the financial disclosure reports for the U.S. Senate report to be posted before taking them apart.
The March 31 disclosures from Democrats Vernon Jones and Rand Knight have yet to appear. No conspiracy theories, please. Senate reports always lag behind, due to the chamber’s failure to digitalize.
Meanwhile, Jon Flack at Tondee’s Tavern has poked through Democrat Jim Martin’s return, and found unimpeachable evidence that the Atlanta attorney has become the pick of national party regulars.
On the last day of the quarter, Flack reports, Martin took in $25,000 from political action committees run by members of the Democratic Senate leadership, including Majority Leader Harry Reid.
One tidbit that Flack didn’t have: Shortly after he announced for the U.S. Senate, Martin summoned his core of supporters to the law offices of Kilpatrick Stockton in downtown Atlanta.
One of the speakers was Martha McKenna, political director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington — which oversees the recruitment of candidates.
We’ve heard that not all five Democrats left in the race will qualify next week. Don’t look for Jones, the DeKalb County CEO, to be a drop-out. He’s just scheduled a rally for next week at this Peachtree Road headquarters.
Permalink | Comments (21) | Post your comment |
Rising oil prices are one thing — food shortages are another
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The political impact of rising gasoline prices is well known. But rising food prices — and shortages — are a new experience for most Americans, and probably more frightening.
Set your stopwatches to see how quickly this report from Reuters becomes an issue in the presidential race:
Sam’s Club warehouse division said on Wednesday it is limiting sales of Jasmine, Basmati and long grain white rice “due to recent supply and demand trends.” The news came as rice prices surged, with U.S. rice futures hitting an all-time high Wednesday on worries about supply shortages
Hoarding has become an issue, Reuters reports:
Sam’s Club, the No. 2 U.S. warehouse club operator, is limiting sales of rice to four bags per customer per visit, and is working with suppliers to ensure the products remain in stock.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment |
A list of who’s going to Denver
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The state party has published the list of delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Colorado this summer. Most were elected over the weekend. See it here.
Republicans are to put out their list of delegates who were elected on Saturday later this week.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Post your comment |
Or, to quote Woody Allen, ‘The heart wants what the heart wants’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just in case any bond underwriters up north had missed the debacle, the New York Times today weighs in with its take on the sexual drama now associated with the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Not much new, except for a comment from department spokesman David Spear, who has a future in romance novels.
Said Spear:
“It’s a little surreal, obviously. But I’ve been around for a long time, and affairs of the heart have their own agenda.”
Meanwhile, in a meeting of the House Budget and Fiscal Affairs Oversight Committee on Tuesday, Abraham told lawmakers that there’s no evidence of wrongdoing associated with a $1 billion overextension of transportation projects.
Writes Brandon Larabee of Morris News Service:
Abraham told lawmakers that the decision to call in outside auditors to look at the agency’s books was meant only to add more manpower to an effort to uncover the department’s true financial standing — not to suggest that the shortfall was caused by criminal acts.
“That’s not what this is about,” she said. “I’m trying to get numbers that I can count on and that stay the same. … There’s no malfeasance whatsoever, and I’ve never mentioned that.”
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment |
Marshall helps a Republican accused of revealing troop positions in Iraq
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, a Democrat, has come to the defense of a fellow congressman.
Specifically, Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina.
The pair were members of a delegation that made a trip to Iraq over Easter weekend. Shortly thereafter, McHenry briefly posted a video on his campaign web site that showed McHenry standing in the Green Zone, pointing to a building behind him.
The North Carolina congressman, the youngest member of Congress and one of the most conservative, said one of 11 rockets “hit just over my head.”
That has led McHenry’s primary opponent, Larry Sigmon, to launch a TV ad with the following script noted by the Charlotte Observer:
Announcer: “McHenry then put a video on the Internet revealing troop positions, and just two days later two Americans died. McHenry could face 10 years in prison but he won’t resign.”
McHenry has threatened a lawsuit. But he’s also been helped by Marshall, who was contacted by the Hickory, N.C., Daily Record.
Marshall, a former decorated Army Ranger, described any relationship between the video and the deaths to be “utterly implausible.”
“What’s the likelihood that insurgents would see this video? Virtually nil,” the Macon Democrat told the paper. “These guys are sort of crude thugs using weaponry that is crude.”
