Fresh Political Pickins From The Peach State

In Washington, while most are on the sidelines waiting for a very few to negotiate a deal, there are a lot of idle hands. That leaves a lot of time for speculation. Still, today’s hot rumor du jour is not one we haven’t heard all the way down here in Georgia before. And if nothing else, Congressman Tom Price is keeping everyone guessing about his intentions and his future. From National Review’s Robert Costa:

Should a debt deal go sour, the buzz is that Tom Price, a 58-year-old physician from Georgia, may challenge John Boehner for the speaker’s gavel.

“Price is the person we’re all watching,” says an aide close to House leadership. “We know he’s frustrated, but we don’t know much else.”

In an interview with National Review Online, Price won’t speculate about his future, but he acknowledges his growing uneasiness. “My concern is that within our conference, conservatives, who are a majority, don’t have a proper platform,” he says. “That’s true at the leadership table and on the steering committee.”

Read the rest here.

{ 8 comments }

Happy Monday!

Georgia Southern continues to win in the playoffs! Next weekend is a semifinal showdown.

World Congress officials to vote on new stadium this morning. Someone figure out how to blame yesterday’s loss on the Georgia Dome.

Voter Fraud in Georgia? What? Never happens. Ever.

The new commissioner for the Department of Juvenile Justice has some big issues to fix and address.

Tech Assistant Basketball Coach arrested for DUI. Team subsequently wins game.

Macon had a Christmas parade . . . . and no one got shot!

Property appraisers? What do they know? Judge in Columbus cuts value of home in half.

John Barrow donates airline miles to troops. He may or may not still be in “campaign mode.”

“The President will win.” Chambliss’ thoughts on fiscal cliff. I’m going to go make a Cliff Bar recipe called “Fiscal Cliff Fruit Cake.”

Atlanta attorney fighting against Senate filibusters. I hope he’s long-winded.

UGA Football awards players, names Jones a permanent Captain.

{ 16 comments }

Enjoy your weekend.

{ 3 comments }

From a press release:

Coolidge, GA., December 7, 2012 – With the resignation of Senator John Bulloch, former Republican Congressional Candidate and State Representative Mike Keown announced his campaign for State Senate. “After prayer and careful consideration, I have decided to run for State Senate,”  Mike said. Senate District 11 includes the counties of Colquitt, Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, Seminole and Thomas. Keown has appeared on the ballot or served in elected office in 7 of these 8 counties and carried these counties with 62% of the vote during his 2010 bid for Congress.

A special election has been called for Tuesday, January 8th, one week prior to the start of the 2013 Legislative Session. Commenting on the surprise announcement from Senator Bulloch, Mike said “John is a good friend and to be running for the seat that was held by him is an honor. My priority will be to maintain the commitment he had to serve the people of South Georgia and to always do what was right. The six years I spent in the Georgia House have provided me with the knowledge and relationships to continue the tradition of effective representation from day one.” [click to continue…]

{ 12 comments }

Via Jim Galloway at the AJC comes this bit from The Economist, a piece on the cooperation between Governor Nathan Deal, leader of our fair state, and Mayor Kasim Reed, leader of the biggest city in that state.

“… anyone who wishes to see what successful bipartisanship looks like in action should look south, to Georgia, where the state’s Republican governor and the Democratic mayor of its biggest city are compiling an impressive record of co-operation.”

The article cites the new Porsche headquarters and the ongoing progress on dredging the port of Savannah as evidence of the success of the partisan partnership. (Hmm, I remember reading about that somewhere a while back.) And, interestingly, this:

“It helps that Messrs Reed and Deal both come from a legislative background, where—elected officials in Washington take note—compromise breeds progress. It helps also that neither is an ideologue: tea-partiers have called Mr Deal a RINO (Republican In Name Only), just as Mr Reed has taken heat from his party’s left wing.”

I was not aware that Mayor Reed had taken any heat from his party’s left wing -but I’m not those mailing lists.

{ 17 comments }

Today’s Courier Herald Column:

Politics has a cruel way of demonstrating that just when you think you have everything figured out, the rules and situations change.  December is usually a time where public politics is relatively quiet.  There are behind the scenes preparations for legislative sessions that begin anew in January, but it is usually the time when the political class attempts somewhat of an armistice to allow for a bit of decompression from an election season and to recharge for battles that are about to begin anew.  Usually.

This week, two from Georgia’s legislature and a national political heavyweight from South Carolina decided they no longer wished to have the title of Senator.  These are, to say the least, unusual events. Each, as best we can tell, are for very different reasons.

On Thursday, State Senator John Bulloch of Ochlocknee in Southwest Georgia surprised most everyone with his departure.  In a body that has spent the last two years locked in an intense war with itself, Bulloch was seen as someone with the trust and respect of those within all sides of the various factions of the chamber.  He did have a lengthy recent hospital stay which may have made him rethink his priorities.  [click to continue…]

{ 16 comments }

Because we’ve been leading the nation:

“Foreclosures made up 38 percent of all home sales in Georgia during the third quarter. That was the highest percentage of any state. Experts say chronic high unemployment and underemployment are keeping many Georgians from staying in their homes.”

More than a third of all SALES were foreclosures? Why do they even count as sales? How about this recent “transaction,” as reported in the AJC: [click to continue…]

{ 8 comments }

Guest post – by Brad Alexander

In November, Georgians resoundingly approved a constitutional amendment allowing the state to authorize charter schools. Given that this was the most hard-fought constitutional campaign ever – or at least since the Lottery debate in the 1990s – it is not surprising that explanations for the outcome abound.

This need to explain the result has been exacerbated by the reality that the strongest support
came from Democratic voters. Yet the most accurate explanation is generally being ignored:
that informed voters made a decision that they believed was good for them. [click to continue…]

{ 3 comments }

Click here if you need a little background on the legal battles over pollution in the Ogeechee River.

From today’s Savannah Morning News, EPD director hard to serve in Ogeechee case:

Georgia’s top environmental regulator, Judson Turner, is proving a tough man on whom to serve legal papers.

More than three weeks after Ogeechee Riverkeeper attorneys filed a legal petition to force the director of the Environmental Protection Division to shut down unpermitted discharges from textile processor King America Finishing, he still has not been served the summons and complaint.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office tried to serve the papers on 11/21, 11/26, and 11/29. Now there’s a request for “special agent” to carry out the task.

Again from the SMN:

“At each attempt, the Sheriff’s Deputy attempting service was informed that Defendant was not present and that none of his agents or representatives would accept service on his behalf.”

EPD spokesman Kevin Chambers said there’s nothing unusual in the situation.

This lawsuit is a serious thing. It’s absurd that so much time of government employees should be wasted simply trying to serve papers to a state official who knows that a summons and complaint are on the way.

Maybe Turner should just go pick the papers up and save everyone this unnecessary time and expense. And then we can get back to the serious substance of the issue.

{ 4 comments }

The hiring rate exceeded expectations in November.

Modest hiring continued in November and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in nearly four years, according to a report released Friday.

The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7% from 7.9% in October, the Labor Department said. That’s the lowest unemployment rate since December 2008.

By linking to a CNN report, I’m keeping it Georgia-centric. Sort of.

Discuss. Update from Mike Hassinger: Please discuss in the context of ratios, using the chart below:

{ 19 comments }