He wouldn't exactly say so last night, but former GOP presidential candidate and ex-WSB Radio talk show host Herman Cain is apparently being considered for a seat on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.
The report originated with Bloomberg on Thursday afternoon. Then CNBC confirmed that Cain, 73, met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday in the White House, escorted by Trump's economic adviser and former CNBC personality Larry Kudlow.
It’s well-known that Cain once was CEO of Godfather's Pizza. But he also served as chairman of the Kansas City branch of the Federal Reserve for 10 years, before returning to Georgia to attempt a political career that included his 2012 presidential bid as well as an unsuccessful 2004 bid for U.S. Senate.
Cain was on Fox News' "Hannity" last night, on a segment focused on abortion legislation in Virginia and New York. But at the tail end of the interview, host Sean Hannity raised the topic of the Fed:
“Herman Cain, are you joining the Trump administration?” Hannity asked.
“There are a lot of people being considered for a lot of positions,” Cain replied.
“Nine-Nine-nine,” the Fox News host teased – making a reference to a mnemonic device Cain used during his presidential campaign. “You’re ducking my question.”
“There are a lot of people being considered, and I would be honored to be considered for anything,” Cain said.
Cain had reason to be vague. Trump's previous nominations for two vacancies on the Fed went nowhere in the last Congress.
But over at Bloomberg, Jonathan Bloomberg this morning also makes two valid observations:
-- First, remember that Cain quit the GOP fight to be the presidential nominee (which was eventually won by Mitt Romney) over a pair of sexual harassment accusations. Given the #MeToo movement and the spectacle surrounding Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination hearing to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice, a Republican Senate isn’t likely to pick this fight.
-- Then there’s the matter of actual economic policy. Trump is a debt man. Cain is a hard-money man who, during his presidential run, argued for a return to the gold standard.
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On Thursday, President Donald Trump was asked what he thought about Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia candidate for governor, giving the Democratic rebuttal to his State of the Union address next week. Said Trump:
"I campaigned against Stacey Abrams…Michelle Obama campaigned for her and Oprah campaigned for her, and all Brian had was me and he won fairly easily. So I hope she does a good job."
Clearly, "all Brian had was me" isn't true. But after much thought, we've come up with a way to make the president's remarks more true. Georgia's new governor could name his famous pick-up truck "The Donald."
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Georgia Democrats have laid another marker that could come in play in 2020. State House Minority Leader Bob Trammell of Luthersville has obtained dozens of co-sponsors for legislation that would repeal the state's campus gun law.
That 2017 measure allowed those with permits to carry concealed firearms in many parts of public university campuses. During the race for governor, Democrat Stacey Abrams pledged to nix the measure if she was elected.
The Senate will see a similar push: State Sen. Sally Harrell, newly elected to represent a district that covers northern DeKalb County, Tweeted that she intends to introduce a similar measure.
“Lots of parents and professors told me during my campaign that they feel less safe with more guns on campuses,” she wrote. “Campus carry should never have passed in the first place.”
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Gov. Brian Kemp remains opposed to offshore drilling off Georgia's coast, one of the few areas where he's at odds with President Donald Trump.
In an interview with The Savannah Morning News, Kemp said he's worried that offshore drilling could interfere with the state's military bases and tourism industry and that if the proposal moves forward he'll "fight it."
“Certainly if something changes in that regard I would weigh in,” Kemp said. “I wouldn’t think they [federal government] would do something like that if we don’t want it.”
Many Georgia coastal officials have bristled at the Trump administration’s decision to allow new offshore oil and gas drilling in Georgia and much of the rest of nation’s coastal waters.
Then-Gov. Nathan Deal never formally opposed it, but he expressed concerns about "opening up Georgia's pristine coastlines." And during the campaign, Kemp said he was opposed to the idea.
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There's more fallout from the chaotic meeting this week of the Cobb County legislative delegation, which resulted in a walkout by House Democrats.
State Rep. Teri Anulewicz, a Smyrna Democrat, held out the prospect of a split caucus after what she called the "utter disregard for how things have always proceeded within the delegation." Wrote Anulewicz in GeorgiaPol.com:
For years, Democrats in Cobb County respected that there was a Republican majority in Cobb, and that was reflected in our votes for our delegation's leadership. I do not think it is too great an expectation for our Republican colleagues in the delegation to behave commensurately.
There is talk about dividing the delegation between the House and the Senate (this is the case in several other counties). However, in the spirit of our legacy of bipartisan collaboration in Cobb, is my hope that both the House and Senate will continue to work together to represent Cobb County in the General Assembly as a bicameral delegation.
With a new majority in the county delegation, House Democrats were poised to elect state Rep. David Wilkerson as the chair. But Republicans floated Democratic state Sen. Michael Rhett as a compromise candidate, triggering the walkout. Wilkerson has told us he’ll call for another delegation meeting for Tuesday.
