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Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Libertarian idol Ron Paul endorses someone who’s not Bob Barr
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark down Tuesday as a tough day for Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr.
First, the Texas Supreme Court refused to play along with Barr’s contention that neither Barack Obama nor John McCain deserved a spot on that state’s ballot.
Then, this afternoon, Barr found out exactly how badly he ticked off Ron Paul when the former Georgia congressman boycotted a kumbaya-minded press conference in Washington, called by the former Republican presidential candidate, that featured other third-party candidates.
Today, on his blog, Paul — whose devoted followers have been seen as a force that could be transferred to Barr in November — endorsed another candidate: Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party.
Wrote Paul, with a great deal of acid:
The Libertarian Party Candidate admonished me for “remaining neutral” in the presidential race and not stating whom I will vote for in November.
It’s true; I have done exactly that due to my respect and friendship and support from both the Constitution and Libertarian Party members. I remain a lifetime member of the Libertarian Party and I’m a ten-term Republican Congressman.
It is not against the law to participate in more then one political party. Chuck Baldwin has been a friend and was an active supporter in the presidential campaign….
I’ve thought about the unsolicited advice from the Libertarian Party candidate, and he has convinced me to reject my neutral stance in the November election. I’m supporting Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate.
Some of you are asking why all this fuss about a third-party presidential bid. Who cares? you ask.
Barack Obama cares.
The Insider had occasion to talk to one of his supporters today about the Democratic presidential candidate’s diminished — at least for the moment — prospects in Georgia.
When the Obama campaign went into Georgia this spring, three ingredients were eyed, this supporter reminded the Insider: Money, volunteers and Barr.
Obama found cash enough in Georgia. Volunteers were no problem. But what’s been missing is a Barr campaign capable of wheedling from Republican John McCain enough votes of protest to put the state in play.
That was never in Obama’s control. In large part, Barr’s fate has been in Paul’s hands.
In Georgia and elsewhere, the economy could yet give Obama an edge that Barr hasn’t been able to. But it would be a much easier road for Obama were Barr the candidate that Paul might have made him.
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House Republicans from Georgia voicing qualms about bail-out plan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta was the voice of doubt this morning, after Republican congressmen heard a sales pitch from Vice President Dick Cheney on the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.
Cheney met behind closed doors with all House Republicans today to urge support for the administration’s plan to buy troubled investments from financial institutions to prevent a lending freeze. Some Republican lawmakers said the caucus wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Hardly anyone in that room has decided yet how they’re going to vote on this,” said Representative Phil Gingrey, a Georgia Republican, after meeting with Cheney in the House Cannon Office Building.
This issue, like others, has highlighted a division between Georgia’s two senators and House Republicans.
“I believe congressional action is not only necessary but essential,” Isakson said Monday. Saxby Chambliss said something similar.
But here’s U.S. Rep. Paul Broun of Athens: “I am extremely skeptical about the federal government nationalizing a huge section of our financial services. … Socialism has never worked and will not work.”
And Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County: “If this is rushed through without scrutiny, I will oppose this bill.”
And Jack Kingston of Savannah: “I’m leaning against it.”
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Let’s you and him fight over school vouchers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
David Poythress called. The only announced Democratic candidate for governor wanted to pick a fight with Eric Johnson over school vouchers.
“To re-direct public money from public education into unregulated private entities with the magical expectation that somehow the private sector was going to remedy all the education problems in the state — that’s just wrong. It’s not going to happen,” Poythress said.
Johnson, currently the Senate president pro tem, has seized on the voucher issue as a likely ticket to the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2010.
To set the stage:
Johnson is to propose legislation in January that would put Georgia in the forefront of the school-choice movement. The current budget shortfall forcing a sharp contraction of state services won’t deter him, a staffer said this afternoon — since there would be no increase in funding.
How much parents would receive to send their darlings to the school of their choice is a bit fuzzy. Figures have ranged from $4,000 to $10,500. The latter figure is the averaged total invested in each Georgia student — a combination of federal, state and local dollars.
In a July speech, Johnson said this:
”We must maximize school choice and allow tax dollars spent on education to follow the child.
“Imagine this - What if every child’s parents were given a debit card (an “E-card” like the health care card that many have) with $10,500 on it for a year’s worth of education?
“Most of it would go to the school selected by the parent, but some could go to tutoring, books and computers. We can assign a personalized budget to each child and then let the parent use it to buy the best school and resources available for their child.
“That’s not how we do it now. Today, the state funds the local systems and the systems fund programs. We do not fund children. ….
Poythress uses somewhat different dollar figures, but nonetheless calls hogwash:
“I wouldn’t say that there’s absolutely no voucher system that would ever work. I would say that the one he is proposing is very, very unworkable. And in my judgment, extremely counterproductive.
“For one thing, it would produce two classes of schools. There would be private and wealthy schools, and there would be under-funded public schools. I think that is extremely bad as a matter of strategic public policy.
“See, the trap in this thing is, the $5,000 that is being proposed is not enough to cover private education. I don’t know of any private school that costs [only] $5,000. So the only people who would be in a position to take the $5,000 are people who are already well-off enough to pay the difference….
“The result is you’d have taxpayer money falling into the hands of the more well-to-do population, so they could send their children to private schools. And everybody else would end up sending their children to public schools, which would be correspondingly under-funded.
“It is plainly a recipe for failure.”
Poythress, of course, is a retired adjutant general and will have no say-so in the matter within the confines of the Legislature.
Other Democrats — who also have 2010 ambitions — will have a better view. House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin, for instance.
Which makes Poythress’ entry into this particular fray, from the outside, an interesting development.
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Texas says Barr can’t appear alone on its ballot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Texas Supreme Court has just thrown cold water on Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr’s dream of shoving Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain off that state’s ballot.
Here’s the first report from our sister paper in the state capital, the Austin American-Statesman:
The Texas Supreme Court this morning rejected Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr’s request that the court toss the major-party nominees off the Nov. 4 ballot in Texas. Barr argued that the candidates weren’t yet nominees before a state deadline for submitting the names of nominees to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
The court’s ruling came without an opinion….
The action came less than a day after parties to the challenge, including political parties and the state, filed briefs objecting to the removal of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain from the ballot.
Click here to see the very brief decision for yourself.
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Guns in churches: Penalties would drop from a felony to a fine for trespassing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Testimony from members of the clergy should dominate a Senate hearing today on proposed changes to state laws that now limit where concealed weapons can be carried by permitted owners.
Firearms are currently prohibited at most public assemblies, a situation some Republicans would like to change.
Gun groups and many GOP lawmakers would like to see gunowners (again, we’re talking only licensed) carry concealed in churches and universities — citing recent massacres in those locales.
In fact, one of those expected to speak is Peter Berg, senior rabbi of The Temple in Atlanta — which was bombed in 1958 by white supremacists. But Berg will speak against permitting concealed weapons in houses of worship.
The committee appears headed toward a legislation that would include an “opt out” clause that would still permit owners of private property — including churches — to bar firearms. Otherwise concealed firearms would be permitted.
“Personally, I feel we ought to be able to give churches the option, if that’s what they want to do,” said Senate committee chairman Mitch Seabaugh of Sharpsburg in an interview before the hearing began.
This would be a significant legal shift. Walking into a church with any weapon, for instance, is currently a felony. The state carries the burden of enforcement.
Under the legislation now being contemplated, if a church bars weaponry, and a gun is carried onto its property, the gunowner would be open to a charge of trespassing, and a fine, if he/she refuses to leave. The burden of enforcement would fall on the church, Seabaugh said.
The committee chairman said he didn’t know if the same scenario would apply to other properties — such as university campuses. Georgia’s university currently have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to weapons. The Board of Regents opposes any changes to the current law.
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Jim Martin gets lively on the topic of Chambliss and economy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The video below was posted on YouTube about five hours ago, presumably by the Democratic campaign of Jim Martin for U.S. Senate.
This is Martin’s first attempt to tie Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss to last week’s Wall Street meltdown. Don’t know — yet — how much airtime Martin can afford to give it:
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