Former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, said 'twas he who sank Sam Nunn's chance of becoming secretary of state under President Bill Clinton.
The 1996 move, Frank said, was a pivotal display of gay-and-lesbian clout on the presidential scene.
Frank made the remarks during an interview with
broadcast over the weekend. The congressman is making the rounds, plugging his autobiography: “Frank: My Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same Sex Marriage.”
During the hour-long, radio set piece, Frank noted his encounters with several Georgia political figures:
-- On Newt Gingrich, who would become House speaker in 1994: "He's a man of no obvious principle. He was a more moderate Republican when he first got here and then he became a super right-winger. He just wanted power."
But Frank reserved particular ire for former Georgia senator Sam Nunn:
Frank said that author Taylor Branch interviewed Clinton years later. Branch, a friend of Nunn, asked the former president why he didn’t bring the Georgia senator into his administration. Clinton showed Branch a copy of Frank’s letter.
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The newspaper publisher and former Board of Regents chair who earned the wrath of Gov. Nathan Deal last week for a column on his meddlesome ways has a final word on their back-and-forth.
Dink NeSmith wrote in a column published Friday that his head-bumping with governors is nothing new, and retraces clashes dating to his attempt to move Georgia Public Broadcasting's headquarters back to Athens under Zell Miller:
Still, Gov. (Sonny) Perdue was livid that the Regents were considering adding engineering at UGA and Georgia Southern. As chairman of the academic affairs committee, I volunteered to listen to his tirade. Sitting under the Gold Dome, I took a 60-minute hammering. But when decision day came, I voted to break the 8-8 tie. Nine Regents risked their relationship with the governor, but engineering programs are now soaring in Athens and Statesboro. Time helps healing. The former governor and I get along just fine.
That may never happen with Gov. Nathan Deal and me. I can accept that. Here's something else I can accept—the advice from my Camilla banker buddy, Jud Vann. Somewhere he read: Holding a grudge is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die. We can't escape death, but I promise my demise won't be from swallowing that poison.
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Gov. Nathan Deal will sign Georgia's most significant tax change in years on Monday when he inks a bill to raise that would eventually raise $1 billion for transportation.
But he quietly approved another important change to Georgia's tax code on Friday when he signed House Bill 339, which extends the income tax credit for video game companies at a cost of about $38 million over the next four years.
Lawmakers pitched it as a key component of the broader film tax credit that's one of the state's most popular incentives. His signature came despite the protests of the anti-tax Americans for Prosperity Georgia launched a campaign to end taxpayer subsidies for film production in Georgia.
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The battle for the House's No. 3 post is getting nasty. We're told that House Speaker David Ralston's lieutenants are twisting arms to try to build support for Jon Burns over fellow Republicans Chuck Martin and Allen Peake in the race to replace House Majority Leader Larry O'Neal, who is stepping down for a judgeship.
Word is that chairmanships and other perks are on the line. This is, after all, the first major leadership scramble since Ralston became speaker.
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Floyd County Sheriff Tim Burkhalter has hired former Gov. Roy Barnes to file a lawsuit against the Floyd County Commission, accusing the local government of underfunding law enforcement in the county. From northwestganews.com:
Floyd County Commission Chairman Larry Maxey said he doesn't feel the sheriff's office is understaffed but didn't want to try to tell Burkhalter where his staff should be allocated.
Burkhalter said he is at least 30 personnel short and only sought nine positions in 2015 budget. The County Commission did not approve any new positions.
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Our AJC colleague Kyle Wingfield has an intriguing story about the shakeup inside Georgia's Common Cause chapter. From his Sunday opinion piece:
"We built a different identity from the national organization," says Bob Irvin, an Atlanta Republican who was kicked off the state chapter's board. "And they let us do it. And I think they let us do it because they realized that was the way it had to be in Georgia."
Last fall, under a new national president, Miles Rapoport, that independent streak came to be viewed as untenable. What's more, Common Cause added "economic, social and environmental justice" to its mission. Those are loaded words politically.
"It is a very left-leaning agenda that national is promoting," says Terry Taylor, a Smyrna Democrat who was also purged from the state board. "If I wanted to find a place to advocate for those things, there are plenty of places to go. I wanted desperately to have a place that was nonpartisan that could talk about good government and holding power accountable and transparency. That's what I wanted Common Cause to do."
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U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., gave the "weekly address" for Republicans on Saturday, pushing a free trade agenda:
Typically the message -- a response to President Barack Obama's Saturday radio address -- is in opposition to the White House, but in this case many Republicans and Obama on the same page. Obama is trying to sell "fast track" Trade Promotion Authority to wary Democrats, as labor unions line up against it.
But now some conservative Republicans are claiming that TPA would allow Obama to pursue additional unilateral immigration policies. Isakson attempted to throw cold water on that rumor:
"Trade promotion authority does not give any president any new authority to expand immigration or change other laws without the approval of the Congress of the United States.
"Trade should not be -- nor is it ever intended to be -- a partisan issue. It is about creating more jobs for the American people and helping hardworking American families."
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Over at the Saporta Report, Maria Saporta takes aim at Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the deal that movie/TV producer Tyler Perry has cut with the city for Fort McPherson in south Atlanta:
Perry then moved his operations to Greenbriar Mall. Once again, there was shoddy construction with all sorts of problems – studios that were too small, spaces built out of concrete that became echo chambers and acoustic nightmares.
People familiar with Tyler Perry said that over time, he became obsessed with security. "He walls off everything he can," one person said, adding that the fear is that Fort Mac will become a prison within a fort.
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Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, spoke Sunday in Atlanta at the annual gala dinner for the Human Rights Campaign, the gay rights group. Among the other speakers was U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, whom Jill Biden referenced in her closing exhortation about the Supreme Court taking up gay marriage.
"It means staying engaged and vigilant, and not taking progress for granted because, if you're not careful, it can be taken away. So do it for our kids and our families; for our service members and Heather's two mommies; for Sarah McBride and Leelah Alcorn. And know that Barack, Michelle, Joe and I will be with you every step of the way."
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The U.S. House is on recess this week and, per the Gwinnett Daily Post, Reps. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia; and Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville, will hold public town halls. Johnson's will be Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Snellville City Hall. Woodall's will be Thursday at 7 p.m. at Suwanee City Hall.
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A trio of Republicans is set to officially join the White House race in the next couple of days: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, neurosurgeon Ben Carson and corporate executive Carly Fiorina.
Huckabee is announcing from Hope, Ark., the hometown he happens to share with a former president-slash-wannabe First Gentleman. From Politico:
For Huckabee, it's a challenge no other 2016 candidate faces: Even though his roots in the town run much deeper than Clinton's, he must avoid looking in any way like a copycat. But by returning to Hope to make his announcement — something he didn't do the last time around — friends of his and watchers of politics in the state say he's adopting a strategy that's much more head-on.
Carson will be in his birthplace of Detroit. The Washington Post had this look over the weekend at how Carson's antagonism toward President Barack Obama has affected his standing in the African-American community:
Posters of Carson hung on bulletin boards in classrooms. Reading "Gifted Hands," his 1992 autobiography, was practically a rite of passage. ...
Carson's personal accomplishments — and the work he has done to help black communities — still garner respect and pride among African Americans. Yet, while he has been a conservative for as long as he has been famous, many worry that he risks eroding his legacy in their community and transforming himself into a fringe political figure.
Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Fiorina announced her bid on the web this morning. She is the only woman in the race on the Republican side. From NBC News:
"Our founders never intended us to have a professional political class," she said after a clip of Hillary Clinton's announcement video. "They believed that citizens and leaders needed to step forward."
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Former President Jimmy Carter is so estranged from the Israeli government that he didn't bother with it on a weekend trip to the Middle East. From the Washington Post:
"It would be a waste of time to ask," Carter said.
Brundtland said, "They don't want to listen to views they don't agree with."
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