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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Chambliss video on a Wall Street rescue: ‘Every single issue that we’ve asked to be address, has been addressed’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t want to get in the habit of posting campaign videos, but given the topic, this one by the Republican campaign of Saxby Chambliss merits an exception.
Below are remarks that the incumbent senator made this morning, at PDK airport, on the failed Wall Street bailout bill. One caveat: The video includes only Chambliss’ statement — not any responses to the questions from reporters that followed.
In his statement, Chambliss began on a partisan tone, putting the blame for Monday’s debacle “on the part of the leadership on the Democratic side, both in the House and in the Senate.”
Chambliss also managed to call the bill a “Democratic proposal,” rather than a measure initiated by the Bush administration.
But other than that, Chambliss more or less prepared Georgians for the fact that he intends to vote in favor of the measure, once it is revived in the House and moves to the Senate.
“Every single issue that we’ve asked to be address, has been addressed,” Chambliss said. “It may not have been exactly the way we liked it.
“For example, one of the things we were insistent on was the mark-to-market issue, so that community banks as well as major institutions could have the benefit of making sure that there homes were not going to be written up and deemed to be toxic loans if they had well performing borrowers,” he said.
“Mark to market” has been addressed somewhat in the bill, Chambliss said. Even so, the senator said, “If there’s a change to be made, on the House side before this bill comes to the senate, that’s an area where we can improve.”
See for yourself.
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WXIA/WMAZ poll: McCain-Obama race tightens in Georgia, Chambliss and Martin separated by 2 points
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WXIA in Atlanta and WMAZ in Macon have just put out a new SurveyUSA poll that indicates the presidential and U.S. Senate races in Georgia have tightened significantly during the economic free-fall.
Bottom line: The two TV stations say Republican John McCain, who had held a 16-point lead two weeks ago, is now polling 52 percent, with Democrat Barack Obama at 44 percent. Only 2 percent are undecided.
Margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percent, with 677 likely voters polled.
The biggest swings in the presidential race are among young voters and those with household incomes of less than $50,000.
Click here to get to some of the cross tabs.
One interesting statistic, simply because it reflects intensity:
Among the 9% of Georgia voters who say they have already voted, Obama leads by 29 points; among those who have not yet voted, McCain leads by 12.
But the real eye-opener may be the race between Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin. SurveyUSA says it’s now a two-point race, 46 percent to 44 percent. Libertarian Allen Buckley is at 5 percent.
That’s not dissimilar to the DSCC poll noted in this space yesterday, which put Chambliss at 37 percent, Martin at 34 percent, and Buckley at 3 percent.
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Chambliss: ‘Some’ Atlanta banks have stopped making car loans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a morning session with reporters, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss said the credit crisis has already forced “some” banks in Atlanta to cut back on routine lending.
My AJC colleague Jim Tharpe filed this:
The first-term senator, who is running for re-election, said he has had confidential conversations with several bankers. Those bankers said the credit crunch and federal lawmakers’ inability to pass a rescue plan is quickly undermining their ability to do business, he said.
“There are some banks in Atlanta not making auto loans today,” Chambliss told reporters.
“Doing nothing is not the answer.”
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Olens: Georgia needs to move to odd-even gas rationing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sam Olens, the chairman of the Cobb County Commission and a prospective candidate for governor in 2010, offers some implied criticism of Gov. Sonny Perdue this morning with a suggestion that the state ration gasoline on an odd-even basis.
The following is today’s Marietta Daily Journal:
Sam Olens… spent 45 minutes on Sunday waiting to fill up the tank in his wife’s car, which was near empty. On Monday morning, Olens said he believed the state was not doing enough to address the gas crisis.
“The state should mandate an odd-even license plate or like system to discourage residents from trying to top off their fuel tank every day,” Olens said.
“What efforts are being made to solve this crisis?” he asked. “It is more than the governor. Where is the Agriculture Commissioner?”
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson said Olens’ idea is a good one, having been used during the gas rationing of the 1970s. Isakson said Perdue has the power to decree an odd-even license plate system under the Emergency Powers Act.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes, of Mableton, went further.
“The governor should order the National Guard to transport whatever fuel is necessary from wherever we have to go to get it,” Barnes said.
With Perdue overseas, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle was left to defend the status quo. This from today’s AJC:
At the Capitol on Monday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle filled in for the governor, holding a news conference to talk about how state leaders are working with suppliers to get more fuel to Georgia.
Cagle, who is running to succeed the two-term governor in 2010, denied that state officials underestimated the magnitude of the gasoline shortage. He declined to comment when asked about the timing of Perdue’s trip to Europe.
“The crisis we are facing is severe. Nobody is more frustrated about this than I am,” Cagle told reporters.
And in the turmoil over the Wall Street bailout, not much attention has been given to this Sunday quote delivered by Newt Gingrich on ABC’s “This Week”:
”I was just in Atlanta yesterday. There is no gasoline — in Atlanta, in Charlotte, in Chattanooga. It’s like a Third World country. For 35 years we have built no new refineries, it’s because we refused to invest in infrastructure.”
To top it all off, Tex Pitfield, the CEO of that Atlanta petroleum company, e-mailed the Insider this morning, wondering if — given the dismal outcome — the governor wishes he had, as Pitfield suggested, canceled the Georgia-Alabama game.
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