Home > Political Insider > Archives > 2008 > May > 15
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Isakson, Chambliss on the farm bill: There could be a agro-terror facility in it for Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hours after they cast their votes for the farm bill, U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss began making their case for it.
Their first argument for the bill, which President Bush says he’ll veto: It contains a demand for a new agro-terrorism facility that the two senators say would be perfect for Georgia.
Right now, research on hoof-and-mouth disease is confined to Plum Island, off the northern tip of Long Island, N.Y. Created in the mid-1950s, the place is aging, and a new facility — called the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility — has been proposed.
Six sites are in the running, and the University of Georgia is one of them.
The new NBAF facility, overseen by the Department of Homeland Security, will develop vaccines and containment strategies for diseases, such as avian influenza virus, that can incubate in animals and jump to humans.
“With its world-class [U.S. Department of Agriculture] research facilities, Georgia is the logical choice to conduct such important research and Senator Chambliss and I are working hard to promote our state’s bid to have NBAF located in Georgia,” Isakson is quoted as saying in a press release issued by the two senators.
The release tosses in support from a top UGA official.
“The new and modern technology of the NBAF must be utilized to protect our food animals,” said David Lee, vice president for research at the University of Georgia. “Safe research and the development of effective counter-measures for this disease are critical to the health and welfare of the domestic herds of cattle, sheep, and swine, and to our agricultural industry, not just in Georgia, but across the country.”
No immediate word on how large such a facility would be. The target date for opening appears to be 2013. But we’re likely to hear more about this at the state GOP convention on Friday afternoon, when both Isakson and Chambliss are scheduled to speak.
Permalink | Comments (14) | Post your comment |
Farm bill vote splits Georgia Republicans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Look for the farm bill to be a topic of much conversation at the state Republican convention in Columbus on Friday and Saturday.
The bill, which President Bush has threatened to veto, has clearly split Republican members of the Georgia congressional delegation. In the House on Wednesday, U.S. Reps. Paul Broun, Nathan Deal, John Linder, Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland voted against it.
Reps. Phil Gingrey and Jack Kingston voted in favor.
In the Senate today, Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss voted yes. And Isakson has just put out a notice saying he “will vote to override the veto” by President Bush. We’re presuming Chambliss will do the same.
John McCain did not vote, according to the Senate roll call.
On a somewhat related note, CQPolitics has obtained a copy of that 20-page memo floating around Washington, written by U.S. Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, which outlines the looming debacle Republicans could be facing in November. See it here.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Post your comment |
Two different polls, two different stories
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Make your choice and take your chance.
Strategic Vision, the Atlanta-based, Republican-oriented public affairs firm, has a U.S. Senate poll out that shows the Democratic race is further along than a Matt Towery survey released earlier this week.
Strategic Vision had this breakdown:
— Vernon Jones, 28%
— Dale Cardwell, 20%
— Jim Martin, 15%
— Rand Knight, 11%
— Josh Lanier, 5%
— Undecided, 21%
On Monday, Towery’s InsiderAdvantage cast the race like this:
— Vernon Jones, 21%
— Dale Cardwell, 14%
— Josh Lanier, 5%
— Jim Martin, 3%
— Rand Knight, 1%
— Undecided, 56%
Obviously the two significant differences between these polls are the standing of Jim Martin and the percentage of undecided voters.
Strategic Vision and InsiderAdvantage also duplicated polling on the Republican side of the 2010 race for governor — just in time for tomorrow’s state GOP convention in Columbus. But this time, results of the two surveys are much closer. The standings of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine are the only major differences.
According to Strategic Vision:
— Casey Cagle, 19%
— John Oxendine, 12%
— Jack Kingston, 11%
— Glenn Richardson, 9%
— Karen Handel, 7%
— Lynn Westmoreland, 5%
— Undecided, 37%
According to InsiderAdvantage:
— John Oxendine, 17%
— Casey Cagle, 17%
— Jack Kingston, 10%
— Karen Handel, 7%
— Lynn Westmoreland, 6%
— Jerry Keen, 2%
— Undecided, 41%
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment |
Tommy Lewis leaves as GSU lobbyist
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tommy Lewis has been a fixture at the Capitol for close to 30 years.
He served as chief of staff for Gov. Joe Frank Harris in the 1980s, and for the past 18 years, he’s been Georgia State University’s man at the Capitol, lobbying for the school’s interests.
His boss, GSU President Carl Patton, announced late last year that he was retiring from the school. Lewis, senior vice president for external affairs at GSU, is to announce Friday that he’s doing the same.
Lewis, 56, said he will be retiring from GSU Nov. 30, but he may be back at the Capitol for the 2009 session. Lewis said he plans to try his hand at consulting.
Considering the tens of millions of dollars he’s been able to wrest from lawmakers for GSU over the years, he probably won’t have a hard time finding clients.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment |
Republican with child sex conviction withdraws, but promises he’ll be back in 2010
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to the Newton County Citizen, that Republican school board candidate with the child sex issues has withdrawn from the race.
But Horace Don Gresham says he’ll try for the Newton County commission in 2010.
“These actions that I have taken was just a test run for me in running for the school board,” Gresham wrote in his letter of withdrawal. “In other words, I have also used the newspapers to see what the voters thought about someone that had a record.”
Gresham was convicted of sodomy with a child under the age of 14 in DeKalb County in 1988, the newspaper reports.
Permalink | Comments (40) | Post your comment |
Fetch your buckets! Perdue signs up for a border war with Tennessee
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Among the mass of bills signed by Gov. Sonny Perdue on Wednesday was a directive from the Legislature, urging him to pursue negotiations with Tennessee over the 35th parallel.
S.R. 822 originally called for a two-state commission to look into the border dispute, but the Tennessee legislature rejected that approach and the language was dropped.
Instead, the resolution simply directs Perdue to pursue talks with Tennessee — and authorizes the governor to take the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, if he chooses to do so.
The entire matter is now up to him, though funding for a lawsuit would probably require additional legislative approval. But by signing the measure, Perdue has — in effect — endorsed the border war.
Georgia has long argued that its northern border with Tennessee lies a tad too far to the south — the result of an inaccurate, 19th century survey. As a result, the state claims that it is wrongfully denied access to the Tennessee River, which carries roughly 15 times as much water as the Chattahoochee River that supplies nearly all of Atlanta’s water.
“The resolution directs the Governor to commence direct negotiations and contemplates litigation if those negotiations fail. Georgia has passed at least nine resolutions over the last 190 years objecting to the 1818 survey line and seeking to correct it. It is time that this issue is resolved, once and for all,” said state Sen. David Shafer, sponsor of the resolution.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press has already checked with Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen. No call from Perdue yet.
The governor signed the measure in a private ceremony — the better to avoid pesky questions about a gun bill and line item vetoes of Paulding County construction projects.
Attending were Shafer, state Rep. Harry Geisinger (R-Sandy Springs) and Dade County Commission Chairman Ben Brandon.
Why a Dade County commission chairman? Because if this tactic is successful and Georgia is allowed to slip a straw into the Tennessee River, that’s the county through which the “Shafer pipeline” — the “Shafer-Geisinger pipeline”? the “Shafer-Geisinger-Perdue pipeline”? — would pass.
Photo credit: Associated Press
Services »
