More on this later, but U.S. Reps. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., were at the federal pen in Atlanta on Tuesday for tour of the facility.
As caucus chairman, Rodgers is the highest-ranking woman on the House Republican leadership team, and budget talks loom as soon as Congress returns from its summer break next week.
So after the pen inspection, the obvious question presented itself: Are we headed for another federal shutdown, this time over funding for Planned Parenthood? U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose presidential push has a large focus on the South, said last week that a "show vote" against Planned Parenthood won't do.
Rodgers wouldn’t endorse yet another federal shutdown. Said she:
"I don't think any of us believe that that's the best way to govern. It is our goal to get a budget deal through the House and Senate and to the president's desk."
And what about Planned Parenthood? Said Rogers:
The operative phrase being “in the appropriate way.”
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CORRECTION: We came by some bad information on Tuesday. It is the Boyd Gaming Co. that has hired the lobbying firm of Massey, Watson and Hembree at the state Capitol this January.
Founded in 1975, Boyd Gaming Corporation is one of the largest and most successful casino entertainment companies in the United States. We currently own and operate 22 gaming properties in eight states – Nevada, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
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The intrepid Walter Jones of Morris News Service has former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina's presidential campaign rolling out a 15-member Georgia roster of supporters:
It also includes Donna Sheldon of Dacula, who chaired the House Republican Caucus before she resigned her House seat to run unsuccessfully for Congress in the 10th District.
The name of Ehrhart was notable, because we had previously placed him in the Scott Walker camp. The Cobb County legislator confirmed the switch this morning. “Fiorina is the reasonable person’s Trump,” he said.
There’s a personal connection, too. Ehrhart said his son-in-law is working in the Fiorina war room.
Here's the full list, via the pro-Fiorina Super PAC:
Kathleen Ruth, Georgia State Co-Chair
Jeanne Billa, Georgia Republican Activist
Rep. Earl Ehrhart, Georgia House of Representatives
Jef Fincher, Republican Grassroots Activist
Lavin Gartland, Georgia Republican Activist
Ron Goodbub, Republican Grassroots Activist
Lelia Hagood, Human Resources Manager
Liz Hausmann, Fulton County Commission
Jennifer Hazelton, Owner, CROCUS
Rep. Penny Houston, Georgia House of Representatives
Mere Jones, Georgia Young Republican
Kathleen Kennedy, Music Talent Manager and Former CNN Headline News Anchor
Patrick Moore, Managing Partner, Set Consulting
Katie Reeves, Fulton County School Board
Cory Ruth, Managing Partner, Mergence Global and Former Candidate Fulton County Commission
Donna Sheldon, Former Congressional Candidate and Former Chair, Georgia House Majority Caucus
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Speaking of Carly Fiorina, CNN has revised its rules for the next Republican presidential debate, leading to the likely inclusion of the businesswoman, who had waged an aggressive campaign to gain a spot on the big stage. From Politico:
The new approach allows the network to avoid looking like it's favoring Fiorina at the expense of candidates such as Chris Christie and Rand Paul who would have been at risk of getting bumped to the earlier debate if CNN had more heavily weighted later polls, as Fiorina had suggested.
Still, CNN warned in an announcement that final podium placements won't be known until Sept. 10, after all national polls have come in.
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This could make the Georgia GOP's split over the Export-Import Bank a little more interesting.
Bloomberg reported over the weekend that General Electric took Dallas off its corporate relocation list over concerns that some Texas legislators are opposed to the controversial government-backed bank, which helps finance foreign countries to buy American exports.
Recall that Sen. Johnny Isakson favored bringing back the bank after its charter expired in June, while Sen. David Perdue was opposed. Also recall that Georgia began lobbying for the company's headquarters three months ago, after GE chief executive Jeffrey Immelt made public his desire to leave Connecticut over a new tax increase.
The relocation talk has (largely) gone underground since, and some recruiters fear another Boeing scenario. Georgia and a flock of other states offered the company incentives for its 777X plant in late 2013, entering a bidding war that the aircraft giant used to leverage a more enticing offer from its home state of Washington.
In the meantime, local developers are salivating over what landing the mega-corporation would mean for the city. Witness:
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Newly passed legislation that allows customers to take home more beer from Georgia's craft breweries has hit a rough spot in Athens. From Hilary Butschek at the Athens Banner-Herald:
However, most of those visitors didn't want to buy beer to take home. In fact, they didn't even know they could, said Carmen Miranda, brewery tour and events manager at Terrapin.
"It's something that we were so excited for and something that we really pushed, but then we realized that outside of the brewery no one knew about it. It took a little explaining to people that you could buy beer at the brewery now," Miranda said.
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The AFL-CIO union coalition released its 2014 congressional scorecard on Tuesday, and you can see how Georgia's members fared here.
Democratic Reps. John Lewis, David Scott and Hank Johnson got perfect scores on 10 key votes, while Sanford Bishop notched a 70 percent. Among Republicans, Sen. Johnny Isakson scored a 10 percent and Reps. Tom Price, Rob Woodall and Tom Graves rolled perfect zeros.
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