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Friday, June 13, 2008
Rosalyn Carter jumps on Sonny Perdue for shifting $8.5 million mental health funding
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former First Lady Rosalyn Carter is taking Gov. Sonny Perdue to task for removing $8.4 million from mental health funding for children in the state budget.
The governor says the money is being moved elsewhere because the state overestimated the amount of children who needed the services.
But Carter, who has made mental health her signature issue, is having none of it. Here’s part of the statement she just issued:
When Governor Perdue announced the creation of the Mental Health Service Delivery Commission in August 2007, the mental health community was hopeful that he would take personal leadership responsibility to rectify the issues that plague the mental health system in Georgia.
“Resources for children’s mental health are being reduced before the Children’s Subcommittee of the commission has released its final recommendation report. The proposed funding cut for children’s mental health services calls into question both the credibility of the commission and the gravity with which the crisis at hand is being addressed by state leadership….
“The current budgets allocated for children’s mental health services clearly are not enough to provide for youth and their families in Georgia. Reducing these meager resources further is unconscionable and can only serve to exacerbate the problem.
“At this point, the mental health community is not even sure what the discrepancy is between the number of children who need services and those who receive them. Full accounting from the responsible agencies about the breadth of these issues is needed before any resources are diverted from the system.
“I call on Governor Perdue to ensure that no mental health resources are re-directed from the mental health system as we face the tremendous challenges before us.”
Photo credit: Mikki K. Harris/AJC
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Lewis: ‘I’m not on any Clinton enemy list’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. John Lewis says he’s been forgiven by the Clintons for abandoning their cause and turning to Barack Obama.
At least that’s what he tells my colleague Julia Malone up in Washington.
While other Democrats may be on the outs in this post-Hillary world, the Atlanta congressman said the former president has left “wonderful” messages, including a birthday greeting, on his home answering machine.
Earlier this week, the New York Times had an article on the karma-based accounting used by Clinton staffers who control access to the couple.
“I’m not on the list,” Lewis said. Not the bad one, anyway.
Photo credit: Associated Press
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Guerrilla tactics on YouTube: Cardwell shows what he could do if he had money, Lanier puts words under Chambliss’ mouth
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s Democratic five candidates for Senate have little time before the July 15 primary and less money — which has them chasing voters in nooks and crannies that are often out of sight.
But former TV journalist Dale Cardwell is back on YouTube today, with 30 seconds of what he’d like to put on TV — if he could afford it. Cardwell says more spots are on the way.
Even Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss is playing on YouTube, committing segments of many of his appearances to online video. Earlier this week, he released a direct-to-voter video that blamed Democrats for $4-a-gallon gas.
Democratic rival Josh Lanier of Statesboro took that video and, in an attempt at guerrilla advertising, added his own counterargument — Colbert-like — beneath Chambliss’ visage. At least it’s a time-saver. You can absorb both messages at once:
