You're Fired...again
Word on the street is that Gerry Adams was fired today by Henry County. If you remember, ex-commissioner Adams was hired by Henry County earlier this year as Special Events Coordinator for the Parks and Recreation Department.
Word on the street is that Gerry Adams was fired today by Henry County. If you remember, ex-commissioner Adams was hired by Henry County earlier this year as Special Events Coordinator for the Parks and Recreation Department.
A teen was shot and killed while breaking into a home in Atlanta, however:
it was too early to say whether the man acted in self-defense.
Drew Carey tells the story of Cory Maye:
The Minnesota legislature has passed measures that would relax alcohol sales during the GOP convention:
The Minnesota legislature has passed HF 3986 and SF 3642, identical bills that say, “During the 2008 Republican National Convention, holders of an on-sale liquor license may remain open and may serve alcohol until 4 a.m. each day.” The Republican National Convention is in Minneapolis and St. Paul this year. The bill only applies to that part of the state, and is repealed effective September 8. The normal bar-closing hour in Minnesota is 2 a.m.That should make Sonny Perdue happy.
Sometimes I wonder this myself, but Is the GOP Still the Party of Economic Growth?:
Upon reaching the Oval Office, the new president’s first economic program meant to reverse an economic slowdown was not marginal tax rate cuts, but $80 billion in tax rebates. Though the latter merely shifted money from one set of hands to another, the president promoted the rebates in a Keynesian light meant to “put more money in peoples’ pockets.”If Bill Clinton had done this, Republicans would have raised holy hell and we would never have heard the end of it and rightly so. It is unfortunate that Republicans did not govern what they campaigned on.When it came to trade, this administration quickly slapped a 30 percent tariff on certain kinds of foreign steel, and followed up with tariffs on soft-wood lumber and shrimp. So bad was the administration’s reputation when it came to trade that Brink Lindsey of the libertarian Cato Institute felt compelled to point out that “U.S. credibility on trade, internationally, is hovering near zero.”
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Not content there, the president signed Sarbanes-Oxley into law, describing it as “the toughest piece of anti-fraud legislation since FDR.” Among other things, Sarbanes-Oxley foisted strict, time-consuming accounting rules on public firms irrespective of size, and it required public-company CEOs to sign off on the veracity of accounting statements with heavy personal liability if they were later proven incorrect. Talking about the impact of the new rules, Xerox’s Anny Mulcahy noted at the time that there is a “drive for averageness” in corporate suites today. And with the markets sensing the likelihood that CEOs would be forced to act more like accountants than entrepreneurs, the S&P 500 fell 175 points in the three weeks surrounding Sarbanes-Oxley’s passage.
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With the wind at his back after signing farm and prescription-drug bills, the president oversaw what Cato Institute scholar David Boaz describes as “the biggest expansion of entitlements since the LBJ years.” Though the president parroted his predecessor (Bill Clinton) in promising to “cut wasteful spending and be wise with the people’s money,” his desire to show “compassion” meant he never vetoed a spending bill of any kind during his first seven years in office.
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Still, if any of us had been secluded for the past seven years, a description of the Bush years without attribution would likely have had most any Republican assuming a Democrat had been in control. Is there an explanation for this? The first one would be that all politicians disappoint. By definition. Beyond that, given the statist direction taken by the Republican party in this decade, it’s fair to ask if it any longer represents laissez-faire growth. Many would point to the even harsher anti-growth views held by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but it seems a lot of their stances at present are pure politics.
Club for Growth President Pat Toomey defends RINO-hunting:
The Club for Growth Political Action Committee has long been attacked for intervening in Republican primaries and targeting the party's most economically liberal incumbents.This is a question that we face in Georgia as well. What good is a Republican majority that doesn't limit the growth of government or keep spending down? The Republican Party being an alternative to Democrats is simply not a good enough excuse to keep voting for them. There are a handful on Congressmen, like most of the Republicans in the Georgia delegation, and state legislators, Steve Davis, Tom Graves and Mark Hatfield, just to name a few, that are the only voices of sanity in Washington or Atlanta.
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And Newt Gingrich, the man who ushered in a conservative Republican majority in 1994, once denounced the Club. "Their strategy is explicitly wrong," he said. "The key is to elect more Republicans and have a bigger majority and be more inclusive."Now comes Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, the man charged with rebuilding the GOP majority in the House. In a New York Times Magazine article, he denounced the Club for Growth's involvement in a special election in Ohio's fifth congressional district.
"The problem I have with the Club is I think they're stupid," Mr. Cole said. "They spend more money beating Republicans than Democrats."
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Winning for the sake of winning is an excellent short-term tactic, but a lousy long-term strategy. Just look at the consequences of the 2006 congressional elections, when the GOP lost control of both houses of Congress.A Republican majority is only as useful as the policies that majority produces. When those policies look a lot like Democratic ones, the base rightly questions why it should keep Republicans in power. As the party gears up for elections in the fall, it ought to look closely at the losses suffered under a political strategy devoid of principle. Otherwise, it can look forward to a bad case of déjà vu.
Eric Johnson may run for Lt. Governor in 2010:
We’re getting that from reliable sources, who point out that Johnson already has “done” the lieutenant governor’s job before. Remember that as Senate President Pro Tem from 2003 through 2007, he was de facto lieutenant governor. (Republicans had gained a majority in the chamber but Democrat Mark Taylor had been re-elected lieutenant governor. Republicans stripped Taylor of most of his power and vested it in Johnson.)The article also throws out some others names of potential candidates, Secretary of State Karen Handel, State Senators Chip Rogers, David Shafer and Mitch Seabaugh, but again...this is all assuming Cagle runs for Governor.Johnson’s interest in the lieutenant governor’s job only applies if Cagle decides to seek the top post. He would not challenge Cagle for the lieutenant governor’s job.
Johnson was neither confirming nor denying our report. He told us:
"2010 is over the horizon. We have a critical election in just 5 months. I am focused on electing John McCain, re-electing Saxby Chambliss, and making sure that an effective conservative majority maintains control of the state Senate and House. Then – and only then – will I consider my future options.”
I don't see four State Senators running all at once for Lt. Governor. Shafer's name has been mentioned out for Insurance Commissioner (Oxendine is running for Governor). Seabaugh could run for Westmoreland's seat in Congress if he runs for Governor.
Of course, it's far too early to tell what will happen.
Sonny Perdue's approval rating has dropped, according to Rasmussen:
Governor Sonny Perdue earns good or excellent ratings from 49% of Georgia voters. That’s down from 55% a month ago. Just 17% give him a poor rating. Up four since March. Nearly a third, 32%, give him a more neutral assessment and say the Governor is doing a fair job.The same poll show Sen. Saxby Chambliss with strong leads over three of his potential November rivals. His approval rating also jumped up to 61%.
Here are the potential matchups:
Chambliss - 54%
Martin - 33%
Chambliss - 58%
Jones - 30%
Chambliss - 51%
Cardwell - 37%
There was no mention of Josh Lanier or Rand Knight in the poll, who are also seeking the Democratic nomination for US Senate.
A windfall profits tax would increase oil imports and discourage domestic production. The National Center for Policy Analysis found that the 1980 Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax, signed into law by then President Jimmy Carter, caused domestic oil production to fall by as much as 6 percent and imports to increase up to 16 percent - so much for independence from foreign oil. It also resulted in higher prices at the pump because of decreased production.
Here is my column for this week. I am expecting hate mail off this one. I wrote about the pandering of Clinton and McCain on a potential gas tax holiday as well as Clinton's plan for a windfall profits tax on gas companies.
You can find links to previous columns here.
The Club for Growth has released its scorecard from the 2007 session on Congress:
Today, the Club for Growth released its 2007 annual scorecard, awarding the Defender of Economic Freedom award to six senators and forty-nine representatives who scored a 90 or above on the Club's scorecard.You can view the results for the House and Senate here and here. At the bottom of each page, the Club lists the votes that were weighted in determining the score."These top-scoring members of Congress are staunch defenders of American taxpayers," said Club for Growth President Pat Toomey. "Their votes are critical to lowering taxes, cutting wasteful spending, and promoting economic growth for all Americans. The Club for Growth scorecard allows taxpayers to see how their senators and representatives are performing in Congress and find out who is truly fighting for pro-growth, limited-government policies. We hope that support for pro-growth principles will continue to grow, allowing more members to earn this award and more Americans to benefit."
Six House members from Georgia won the Defender of Economic Freedom award from the Club. They are Paul Broun (99%), John Linder (98%), Tom Price (98%), Nathan Deal (92%), Lynn Westmoreland (92%) and Jack Kingston (90%). Phil Gingrey didn't quite make the cut on the award, he was at 89%.
Neither of our Senators won awards, however, they were in the top twenty. Chambliss scored an 81%. Isakson scored 79%.
This woman defines crazy (language warning):
I prefer the Travis Barker version of "Soulja Boy," but the song still sucks anyway.
H/T: Peach Pundit
Woah, this really caught me by surprise. It seems that Sen. Johnny Isakson will not run for Governor in 2010. The nomination had been almost conceded to Isakson, but this changes everything:
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson held a meeting with this staff this morning and told them he’s decided to seek another term in the U.S. Senate rather than run for governor in 2010.Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine is already running. Casey Cagle is almost certainly going to run. State House Majority Leader Jerry Keen had thrown out the idea of running for an open Senate seat. You have to think that Lynn Westmoreland would consider it as well.The meeting was confirmed by Joan Kirchner, Isakson’s deputy chief of staff.
“Johnny loves serving in the U.S. Senate, and he thinks this presidential election — know matter who wins — will be one of the most important in the country’s history,” Kirchner said. “And in the next administration, the U.S. Senate will be where all the action is.”
Who else?
This is from Bob Barr's campaign:
Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr will hold a press conference on Monday May 12 to discuss his future plans and the 2008 election. Rep. Barr launched an exploratory committee last month to determine whether he should file as a candidate for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination.Just a note if he does decide to run, the Libertarian Party's national convention is May 22nd to the 26th.Who: Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr
What: press conference
When: 11:00am ET on Monday May 12, 2008
Where: Zenger Room at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC
[UPDATE] Politico reports that Barr is running.
Despite her plans to continue her campaign, some say perhaps it's time that Hillary Clinton concede the Democratic Party nomination to Barack Obama:
Radley Balko talks about Cory Maye, paramilitary police raids and no-knock warrants in this video at reason.tv:
Republicans are bracing for a rough election (emphasis mine):
The dark clouds hovering over House Republicans hold one silver lining for Minority Leader John A. Boehner, GOP Whip Roy Blunt and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole: Expectations for November are now set so low that a loss of fewer than 10 seats could be seen as a sort of victory.H/T: Club for Growth
Here is a list of legislation already signed by Gov. Perdue. It should be noted that Wednesday, May 14th is the last day for legislation to be approved by the Governor.
A couple that I am concerned about are HB 89, the gun bill that I've previously written about, and HB 881, which establishes the Georgia Charter Schools Commission. I'm crossing my fingers that he signs them both.
Speaking of legislative awards, State Rep. Tom Graves, one of the more conservative members of the legislature, will be honored by FreedomWorks:
State Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ranger) will be honored for his tireless efforts to stem the tide of expansive government and to reduce the tax burden on Georgians. Graves will receive an award presented by FreedomWorks, a nationwide grassroots organization, led by former Congressional Majority Leader Dick Armey.Congrats to Rep. Graves.Graves, who founded a conservative policy caucus in the Georgia House, will be given FreedomWorks first Legislative Entrepreneur award at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. tonight. The Republican from Ranger, Georgia, will join four members of Congress and the Florida Speaker of the House who will also be honored by FreedomWorks.
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“Lawmakers such as Graves are a rare breed,” said Armey. “There are so many, who just go along to get along, are the best friend of special interests or the media’s best friend. Tom is thoughtful and measured, yet deliberate and isn’t afraid to draw a line in the sand when it comes to standing for liberty.“We need more of these courageous lawmakers at all levels of government who are willing to stand up for the principles set forth in our Constitution,” Armey added. “It takes bold leaders to act as fiscal watchdogs, that aren’t afraid to ask the tough questions to those who seek to expand government on the backs of hard-working Georgia families”.
Georgia Carry has named State Rep. Tim Bearden and State Sen. John Douglas as its legislators of the year for their work in ensuring the passage of HB 89, which now awaits the Governor's signature.
You can view the press release here.
This is press release from State Sen. John Douglas on Newton County school board candidate Don Gresham. Douglas is also a former member of the Newton County School Board.
State Senator John Douglas (R-Social Circle) who is Chairman of the Newton County legislative delegation today strongly objected to the candidacy of Horace Don Gresham to the Newton County Board of Education, District 2. In 1988, Gresham was convicted of sodomy in DeKalb County involving a boy under the age of 14. In 1999, he was charged with public indecency in Newton County. In the most recent case, Gresham admitted his guilt and voluntarily completed a pretrial diversion program in lieu of prosecution.
"The situation involving Horace Don Gresham qualifying to be a candidate for the Newton County Board of Education is unacceptable and must be reversed. Gersham should immediately withdraw his name from consideration," said Senator John Douglas, (R-Social Circle). The thought of having a person who is a convicted pedophile and who engaged in an act of indecent exposure represent any part of Georgia on a local school board boggles the mind and defies logic.
After pleading guilty to one count of sodomy, Gresham received a 12 year sentence, the first to be served in prison and the other 11 years to be served on probation.
“Gresham has shown himself to be a repeat criminal offender, putting one of things we treasure most at risk," added Sen. Douglas. "He is unfit to hold a position of trust associated with our children."
Looking to the future, Douglas said, "The first bill I introduce in the 2009 session of the Georgia legislature will be to prevent this from happening again. We must move quickly to prevent a recurrence of this episode and to protect the school children of our state." The idea that a member of the local school board who is entitled to visit schools at will being a pedophile is not something we can tolerate. The Newton County legislative delegation will take the lead in January to ensure this never happens again."
State Rep. Judy Manning, resident nanny-stater of the Georgia General Assembly, provides with another fun quote from an elected official:
State Representative Judy Manning said she was shocked to receive death threats over the bill to ban the candy. "Some people think their rights are their rights," she said.Nevermind the fact that this is over the regulation of marijuana flavored candy. But isn't the comment, "Some people think their rights are their rights" indicative of how our elected officials view our liberties. According to Judy Manning, our rights are not inherently given to us through nature, but they are rights granted to us by government.
How dare we question them.
H/T: Peach Pundit
This evening brings us another round of Democratic Party primaries as voters North Carolina and Indiana head to the polls
Obama should take North Carolina with ease. Polls have him with anywhere between a 4% to 16% lead in the last week. I think it'll be somewhere around 8% when it's all said and done.
However, Clinton maintains a lead in Indiana, though recent Zogby polls show Obama with a slight advantage (they are the only polling firm showing that).
You can view results from North Carolina here and Indiana here.
CCTV has failed in Britain:
Massive investment in CCTV cameras to prevent crime in the UK has failed to have a significant impact, despite billions of pounds spent on the new technology, a senior police officer piloting a new database has warned. Only 3% of street robberies in London were solved using CCTV images, despite the fact that Britain has more security cameras than any other country in Europe.Of course, the excuse will be that they aren't spending enough money on surveillance and they'll get more funding for it.
What is the definition of insanity again?
I find this troubling (emphasis mine):
As a Georgian with strong religious beliefs, I oppose Sunday sales of alcohol for individual religious reasons. However, I recognize we live in a democracy where the wishes of the majority must be respected. For this reason, I have not opposed a referendum that will allow voters to choose whether or not to allow Sunday sales.Anyone else have a problem with that?
The AJC has an update on the status of HB 89:
Sonny Perdue apparently intends to sign H.B. 89, the bill that would let permit holders carry concealed weapons on public transportation, in restaurants that serve alcohol and in state parks.I guess that's good news if he did indeed show his cards too early.
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“Actually, we were going line by line over lunch, on that legislation. There are certainly some ambiguities regarding employer and employee rights in the bill, that I’m a little concerned about,” the governor said.But likewise, he declared himself “moved by the fact” that this law would only apply to license holders who have submitted themselves to fingerprinting and criminal background checks.
Then he said this:
“I do think it will be litigated and tested very soon after signing, because of the craftsmanship of some of the semantics in the language that creates some latitude and interpretation.”
[UPDATE] Insider Advantage has the transcript, it's more ambiguous:
“I do think it will be litigated and tested very soon after signing because of the craftsmanship of some of the semantics of the language that creates certainly some latitude in interpretation.”Emphasis above is mine.So, he was asked, does that reference to it being 'litigated' mean he will sign it?
“The courts will sort it out regardless if I sign it. If I sign it, they will sort it out. That’s the way our system works.”
The Wall Street Journal examines Barack Obama's record on healthcare and finds some troubling results in his obsession with mandates:
Laughing gas can be useful during complicated dental procedures, but should every health plan be required to cover it and should health insurance cost more because of it?Barack Obama thinks so. As a state senator in Illinois, he voted to require that dental anesthesia be covered by every health plan for difficult medical cases.
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By my count, during Mr. Obama's tenure in the state Senate, 18 different laws came up for a vote and passed that imposed new mandates on private health insurance. Mr. Obama voted for all of them.As a presidential candidate, Mr. Obama says people lack health insurance because "they can't afford it." He's right. But he is also partly responsible for why health insurance is too expensive. A long list of studies show that mandates like the ones Mr. Obama has championed drive up the cost of insurance for the very people priced out of coverage.
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A 2008 study by an insurance-industry supported research organization, the Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI), estimates that mandates increase the cost of basic health coverage by 20% to 50%, depending on the state. Average policies in high-mandate New Jersey cost about $4,000 according to a 2004 insurance survey, much more than the $1,200 charged in low-mandate Wyoming.
Economists are skeptical of Hillary Clinton and John McCain's plans for a federal gas tax holiday:
More than 200 economists, including four Nobel prize winners, signed a letter rejecting proposals by presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain to offer a summertime gas-tax holiday.McCain dismissed the criticism using class warfare:Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz, former Congressional Budget Office Director Alice Rivlin and 2007 Nobel winner Roger Myerson are among those who signed the letter calling proposals to temporarily lift the tax a bad idea. Another is Richard Schmalensee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was member of President George H.W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers.
The moratorium would mostly benefit oil companies while increasing the federal budget deficit and reducing funding for the government highway maintenance trust fund, the economists said.
"I find people who are the wealthiest who are most dismissive of a plan to give low-income Americans a little holiday'' so they have ``a little more to give to their children and enjoy the summer a little more,'' McCain said today. "Thirty dollars means nothing to a lot of economists -- I understand that. It means a lot to some low-income Americans.''If the government weren't wasting so much money on other programs and worthless earmarks and other pork barrel projects, we wouldn't need a gas tax. We should be looking towards privatization of new road construction and expansion.
Also, if a federal gas tax holiday wouldn't apply in five states:
Even if the federal gas tax holiday was implemented, it would not apply (fully) to gasoline sold in four states. That's because California, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Tennessee each has a provision in the state's tax law which states that if the federal gas tax is lowered, that state's own gas tax will increase by some amount. This is theoretically designed to maintain transportation spending in the state.The idea is just pandering, Clinton and McCain should just let it go.
Chris Farris has slammed the FairTax:
The problem is that the FairTax promoters and supporters jumped onto the Mike “I’m happy to raise taxes in anyway you want” Huckabee bandwagon. How is it that people who want to lower taxes and improve government would vote for someone who increased the tax burden of his state by 50%?Chris also goes through what he thinks would happen if leaders in Washington ever took the FairTax seriously and tried to push it through Congress. He believes, and I think he is right, that it would become mangled and we'd wind up with some kind of two-tier system between an income tax and national sales tax.I began to realize that the FairTax promoters would use any means available to promote their idea and the FairTax supporters would buy it. The FairTax movement stopped being for better public policy and became a cult.
Rick Williams has qualified to run in the Republican primary against State Rep. John Yates in State House District 73. He believes that Yates, who is 86 years young, is too old to keep his seat in the Georgia General Assembly. Fine. If that is his belief, then he is entitled to it.
However, there is one problem facing Williams in his quest for this seat. He is a Democrat, not like the fun we poke at Sonny Perdue, but a Democrat that endorses fellow Democrats in the Fayette Citizen and gives money to other Democrats. A Democrat that recruits other Democrats into the Fayette County Democratic Party. A Democrat that married another Democrat that also gives money to Democrats.
So...why isn't he running as a Democrat?
I have no beef with the guy's personal political beliefs, other than the fact that he seeks to infringe on my personal and economic liberty by using the police power of government to achieve altruist ends, but he at least needs to be honest about it.