Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 3:44 a.m.
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Political Insider
A blog about Atlanta, Georgia and national politics from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How to avoid the pain and expense of a hot GOP primary? Nominating conventions
Sandra Deal, wife of the governor, has asked them to play nice. Don’t “destroy” each other, she has begged. But her plea for sandbox rules is unlikely to have any effect. Next year, four or five prominent Republicans will conduct scorched-earth campaigns for the nomination to replace Saxby Chambliss in ...
John McCain promises a Saxby Chambliss "aye" on immigration
WASHINGTON -- The landmark immigration reform bill made it through a Senate committee last night, and its key backers are hard at work wooing their colleagues before it hits the floor, as witnessed today by Georgia Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Chambliss shared a ride on the subterranean train from Russell ...
Your daily jolt: Fulton County heads for federal, state court over GOP bills
Fulton County will go to court to challenge at least two of 14 bills a Republican-dominated Legislature passed this year in its effort to reduce the footprint of the largely Democratic county, according to commission Chairman John Eaves. Eaves made the commitment during an interview with Denis O’Hayer of WABE ...
Johnny Isakson: IRS must restore "confidence of the American people"
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson got his chance to question Internal Revenue Service honchos today about the scandal involving improper targeting of tea party groups, saying the agency has a long way to go before it is credible in the eyes of the country. Isakson was a bit more ...
Nathan Deal translated: ‘Nice atheist book you’ve got, son. Be a shame if anything happened to it’
It wasn’t the typical political rally at the state Capitol. There was the fellow dressed up as a colonial patriot, who asked about 100 tea party faithful, “Why aren’t you at war?” Shortly afterwards, Gov. Nathan Deal was introduced to cheers, according to my AJC colleague Greg Bluestein. Said the ...
Karen Handel: ‘I do not support Common Core’
We’ve got the first sign that the Republican race for U.S. Senate might prove to be a little uncomfortable for Gov. Nathan Deal. In a session with Tim Bryant and Martha Zoller on WGAU (1340AM) in Athens this morning, former secretary of state Karen Handel – Deal’s rival in a ...
Tyrone Brooks and Roy Barnes: Together again
Tyrone Brooks has a lawyer to defend him from those federal charges of tax evasion and misappropriation. The note from the state lawmaker’s office: Governor Roy Barnes will hold a news conference in reference to Rep. Tyrone Brooks: Thursday, May 23, 2013 1 p.m. The Marietta session will negate that ...
About those ditched resolutions at the state GOP convention
As reported earlier, this weekend’s state GOP convention in Athens dissolved for lack of a quorum before it could take up nine resolutions. The policy statements will now be passed on to the state executive committee – which may not be all that enthusiastic about dealing with them. But three ...
Your daily jolt: Water negotiator also involved in pumping project
An interesting piece from Ray Henry at the Associated Press: One of Georgia's negotiators in a tri-state water dispute also is president of a lobbying firm that has sought to commercially develop a technology billed as a partial solution to that feud, a situation that a top state official and ...
Atheist group sending books to Georgia state parks
Everyone understands that this was predestined to happen, right? But you’re forgiven if you can’t bring yourself to believe in the phrase “popular atheist books.” From the press release: American Atheists announced Friday that it will send the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GADNR) enough popular atheist books to place ...
Michelle Nunn attends DSCC fundraiser with President Obama
Michelle Nunn gave the latest indication today that she will be entering the U.S. Senate race by showing up to a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser with President Barack Obama. The fundraiser came after Obama spoke at Morehouse College's rain-soaked commencement. Neither Obama nor U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, ...
Nathan Deal escapes GOP rebuke over Common Core
Gov. Nathan Deal owes Seth Harp a basket of flowers. Or at least a thank-you note. By calling for a quorum in the final minutes of the state GOP convention on Saturday, the former state senator from Columbus saved the governor from a rebuke by from the Republican grassroots over ...
Immigration and the blessings of an IRS scandal
ATHENS -- On Saturday morning, Sarah Robinson gave the breakfast prayer that opened the second day of the state GOP convention. Among many other things, she asked God to protect us from “the wickedness of the IRS.” But in point of fact, many a quiet word of thanks was uttered ...
Your GOP convention jolt: Nathan Deal says feds 'dumping' refugees on Georgia
ATHENS -- Gov. Nathan Deal told a gathering of the state GOP convention –whose delegates are overwhelmingly white – that the Republican party must attract more newcomers if it is to maintain its control of state politics. To a point. Ultimately, the governor’s message was mixed. In his opening remarks ...
Your GOP convention blog: IRS 'must be brought to its knees,' says Johnny Isakson
ATHENS -- When it came to the burgeoning Internal Revenue Service scandal, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson on Friday managed to squeeze 10 minutes of outrage into the four minutes allotted him before a sparsely populated state Republican convention. Isakson told the crowd, in the first hour of its two-day meeting, ...
Your daily jolt: Sheldon Adelson’s super PAC operation comes to Georgia
In the 2012 presidential campaign, casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson pumped millions of dollars into Republican causes – funding Super PACs and propping up Newt Gingrich’s campaign. Roll Call has picked up signs that he’s moving his spending operations to Georgia: During 2011-2012, Adelson and his wife and companies contributed more ...
Karen Handel announces for U.S. Senate
Former secretary of state Karen Handel, who lost the 2010 GOP runoff for governor, just announced her candidacy in the 2014 race for Senate. She made the announcement hours before the first day of a two-day state Republican convention. She becomes the fourth formal GOP candidate for the spot, with ...
A postscript on Tyrone Brooks
In the first years that I worked here, it was the practice to assign the newcomer to the Ku Klux Klan rallies. Cross-burnings were generally on weekends, and we didn’t actually write about those events, in any case. A reporter merely needed to be on hand in case things blew ...
DeKalb County used tax funds to question strippers about a smoking ban
Tip of the hat to Georgia Tipsheet on this one: The website Cause of Action, which calls itself a “nonprofit, nonpartisan government accountability organization that fights to protect economic opportunity” recently posted its investigation of money handed out by a Centers for Disease Control program called Communities Putting Prevention to ...
Your daily jolt: Marco Rubio weighs into water wars – on the side of the oysters
U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss were delighted by Wednesday’s 83-14 passage of the $12 billion Water Resources Development Act of 2013. For two reasons. First, the bill contains a provision that allows the federal cost estimate for dredging the Port of Savannah to be adjusted for inflation. Atlanta ...
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