At the federal and state level, lawmakers are often engineers who attempt to mold society through tax policy – discouraging disreputable habits with heavy levies.
Cigarettes and alcohol are often favorite targets. And now, argues Todd Rehm of GaPundit.com, so are Atlanta-centric bohemians. Here's his description of a piece of the House transportation package announced Wednesday:
* A hipster fee on fully-electric vehicles of $200/year for personal vehicles and $300/year for commercial vehicles - it's hard to imagine a fee more narrowly tailored to primarily hit liberals - proceeds dedicated to transit.
Two points: Because the gas tax is the current means of funding, electric vehicles pay no taxes for the roads they use -- a growing concern among transportation experts. Secondly, we know many Republicans who are into EVs, including a certain lieutenant governor.
One of the AJC's number-crunchers, Isaac Sabetai, has quantified the $200 hipster fee in gasoline-burning terms.
Assuming 29.2 cent per gallon tax, you’d have buy nearly 685 gallons of fuel per year to pay $200 annually in the excise tax. That would put EV owners on a tax-paying par with those who buy an average 13.2 gallons of fuel per week. Which is about a tankful on most midsize cars.
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The 2016 presidential race makes a stop in Woodstock on Friday.
After a book signing, Mike Huckabee will speak at First Baptist Church Woodstock during its Johnny Hunt Men's Conference. Tickets for the conference are $60.
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U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., will discuss his education agenda with Morehouse College students Monday at 10:30 a.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel.
Scott, one of only two African-Americans now in the Senate, last fall became the first black senator elected from a Southern state since Reconstruction. He had previously been appointed to the seat by Gov. Nikki Haley to fill a vacancy.
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In his first chance for an Obama nominee grilling, U.S. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., questioned Attorney General pick Loretta Lynch on Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Here's the New York Times takeaway on the full eight-hour hearing:
Ms. Lynch had steeled herself for tough questioning from a new Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee, particularly on her views of President Obama's immigration policy. But the questioning was mostly cordial, and, most important, the Republicans on the committee who hold the key to Ms. Lynch's confirmation — she needs three of their votes to proceed to a vote by the full Senate — showed little opposition.
Perdue questioned Lynch on a case during her U.S. Attorney tenure in New York City, in which she allowed a judge to revisit a 57-year prison sentence in a carjacking. Lynch said the victims in the case supported the decision.
Lynch: Senator, it would not be my place to consent to an early release, nor was it our place in the Eastern District of New York in the Holloway case. Our posture was to consent to allow the judge to revisit the sentence and impose the sentence that as a judicial officer he felt appropriate. So as a U.S. Attorney, I would not be making the decision as to whether someone should literally be released. Should I be confirmed as Attorney General, I would not be making those decisions either, except as people go through the clemency process or the pardon office, and those matters come under review by the Department of Justice. We would then apply our best judgment on the situation, but ultimately the ultimate decision on release would not be made, I believe, by me.
Perdue also asked Lynch about the thorny issue of trying terrorists, in light of her office prosecuting two Yemeni suspects: "Is there any role for military tribunals, or should civilian courts be used exclusively, in your opinion?"
Lynch replied that either one could be used, depending on the case:
"If terrorists threaten Americans here or abroad, they will face American justice. We have done that successfully in the Eastern District of New York and I look forward, should I be confirmed as Attorney General, to continuing the strong practice, utilizing all of the tools in our arsenal, and that includes the military commission process."
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The U.S. Senate is set to vote Monday evening on a veterans suicide bill shepherded by Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the new VA chairman. It's expected to pass easily to head to the White House and likely become the second bill President Barack Obama signs from the Republican-run Congress. (Obama signed a terrorism risk insurance renewal Jan. 12.)
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Georgia's Scott duo in the U.S. House will lead an Agriculture subcommittee.
Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, will be chairman of the Commodity Exchanges, Energy and Credit subcommittee, while Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, will be the top Democrat on the panel, according to an announcement Wednesday. Its jurisdiction includes policies, statutes, and markets relating to commodity exchanges; agricultural credit; rural development; energy; rural electrification.
In other subcommittee news, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., will lead the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions subcommittee on Employee and Workplace Safety.
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Georgia's Democratic establishment is rallying around DuBose Porter for another term as the Democratic Party of Georgia's leader.
Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin endorsed Porter in the election Saturday against Rockdale tax commissioner R.J. Hadley to lead the party for the next four years. And Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson called him the man with the "experience, relationships and ability to do the job." House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, a close Porter ally, has done so, too.
Ex-Senate candidate Michelle Nunn also sent a note to her supporters praising Porter as a "bridge-builder" and a "tireless and devoted leader."
Wrote Nunn:
Change doesn't just happen; it requires the labor and commitment of people of good will. DuBose embodies this truth with a good-natured spirit and a servant's heart. He knows that progress is within reach, as long as we're willing to do our part. Throughout his career, DuBose has been committed to enlivening our democracy, educating our citizenry, and cultivating servant leadership. DuBose has brought people together, rolled up his sleeves, and is committed to rebuilding the grassroots infrastructure of our party. He has demonstrated his commitment.
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Another opponent of this year's religious liberty bills may be surfacing. From the bottom of Maggie Lee's report on yesterday's doings in the Macon Telegraph:
If the bill language is not tightened up, counties might be open to "unending" litigation on the taxpayer's dime, said Todd Edwards of the [Association] County Commissions of Georgia.
"If, for example, a Wiccan believes their religion does not allow them to render any payment to any entity but God, do they have to pay their taxes?" he said.
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The Georgia Voice reports that longtime LGBT activist Jamie Ensley has become the first person from the Deep South to chair the national Log Cabin Republicans:
In his political work in Georgia, he's also campaign treasurer for Atlanta City Councilmember Mary Norwood, state Rep. Mike Jacobs, and Atlanta Board of Education member Cynthia Briscoe.
When we see him next, we need to ask what he thinks about the religious liberty bills .
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It's hard enough to avoid the clashing over "religious liberty" at the statehouse. It's even harder on Twitter.
Here are a few of the sharpest attacks:
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