[Posted by Request]

What Are Stockbridge Candidates Afraid of?

Incumbent Fred Evans and candidates Shirley Dabney and Melonie Mosley chose not to take the opportunity to face the voters present at the forum to address their concerns and questions. One can only wonder why?

Kathy Gilbert
Candidate, Stockbridge City Council
SCSO,WPPOA
Gilkay@juno.com
770-506-0785

Posted by Larry Stanley at 05:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Iowa bureaucrats are now taxing pumpkins:

The Iowa Department of Revenue is taxing jack-o'-lanterns this Halloween. The new department policy was implemented after officials decided that pumpkins are used primarily for Halloween decorations, not food, and should be taxed, said Renee Mulvey, the department's spokeswoman.

"We made the change because we wanted the sales tax law to match what we thought the predominant use was," Mulvey said. "We thought the predominant use was for decorations or jack-o'-lanterns."

Previously, pumpkins had been considered an edible squash and exempted from the tax. The department ruled this year that pumpkins are taxable — with some exceptions — if they are advertised for use as jack-'o-lanterns or decorations.

Iowans planning to eat pumpkins can still get a tax exemption if they fill out a form.

The new policy, published in the department's September newsletter, has some pumpkin farmers feeling tricked this Halloween.

Posted by Jason at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Politico has a report from last night's Democratic debate:

We now know something that we did not know before: When Hillary Clinton has a bad night, she really has a bad night.

In a debate against six Democratic opponents at Drexel University here Tuesday, Clinton gave the worst performance of her entire campaign.

It was not just that her answer about whether illegal immigrants should be issued drivers’ licenses was at best incomprehensible and at worst misleading.

It was that for two hours she dodged and weaved, parsed and stonewalled.

And when it was over, both the Barack Obama and John Edwards campaigns signaled that in the weeks ahead they intend to hammer home a simple message: Hillary Clinton does not say what she means or mean what she says.

Posted by Jason at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Scare some neighborhood kids tonight.

Posted by Jason at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mike Huckabee would hate this...

Speaking of Milton Friedman...on November 2nd, PBS will be showing The Ultimate Resource, which focuses on individuals in five countries (Ghana, Peru, Bangladesh, Estonia and China) and how the ideals of individual choice, freedom, free trade and private property are successfully being spread throughout the world and improving quality of life and self-worth.

It's not showing in Georgia, but there are some stations around the nation that are carrying it. If you live in one of these places please check it out.

Just to give you an idea of what the program is about...here is the story of Victoria and school choice in Ghana...

Posted by Jason at 08:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Erick Erickson (the 69th most influential conservative in the US) has another good post up about Mike Huckabee over at RedState:

Mike Huckabee is a Southern conservative Democrat in his views, when you combine the fiscal and social sides of the candidate coin. That's going to leave the entrepreneurial class looking elsewhere. Couple that with Mike's Willie Horton issue that Hillary will no doubt throw at him that's going to leave the GOP out of the White House, if Huckabee is the nominee.

The irony here is that I've started calling Mike Huckabee the "C. S. Lewis candidate." In Mere Christianity, Lewis writes

If there were such a [Christian] society in existence and you or I visited it, I think we should come away with a curious impression. We should feel that its economic life were very socialistic and, in that sense, 'advanced', but that its family life and its code of manners were rather old fashioned — perhaps even ceremonious and aristocratic. Each of us would like some bits of it, but I am afraid very few of us would like the whole thing.

Couple Huckabee's economic populist rhetoric with his socially conservative values and that's what you'd get. Of course, with so few real Christians running the show with him, I suspect we'd get economically unsound policies, not just charity and fairness to all mankind, as Lewis is describing.

Posted by Jason at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I found this video embedded on RedState a little while ago. I wanted to pass it along to you. Although he really doesn't have much room to talk about skyrocketing spending, I can't say he's wrong in his criticisms of the "do-absolutely-nothing" 110th Congress that wants to raise taxes every time they turn around. This may be the most I have ever agreed with George W. Bush.

H/T Kooks at RedState

Posted by Jace Walden at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It isn't just a Halloween thing anymore:

Ghost tourism has boomed over the past decade, propelled by the public's interest in the mysterious and supernatural. There are hundreds of ghost tours offered across the country, from Hollywood ("Come see Haunted Hollywood and ghosts of the stars!") to New England ("Visit Boston's infamous haunted locales!").

Some places have more historical lore to draw upon than others. Salem, Massachusetts, for example, exploits its infamous witch trials of the 1690s, while tourists, goths, wannabe vampires, and Anne Rice fans flock to New Orleans, Louisiana, with its reputation for mysticism and voodoo.
[...]
Ghost tours can be a very lucrative business: It is a service with little overhead and start-up costs. Anyone can offer a ghost tour, and tickets often cost $10 to $30 or more per person. With a large group, a good storyteller can make $500 in one evening for guiding a walking tour and telling ghost stories. Everyone likes a good ghost story, and the tours can be fun. The best ones tell their audiences about fascinating local history, throwing in some spooky lore as well.

Posted by Jason at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think this may be the first time I've agreed with the UN:

The 192-member world body approved a resolution calling for the 46-year-old U.S. economic and commercial embargo against Cuba to be repealed as soon as possible.

"The blockade had never been enforced with such viciousness as over the last year," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told the assembly, accusing President Bush's administration of adopting "new measures bordering on madness and fanaticism" that have hurt Cuba and interfered in its relations with at least 30 countries.
[...]
Delegates in the General Assembly chamber burst into applause when the vote in favor of the resolution flashed on the screen — 184 to four with one abstention. That was a one-vote improvement over last year.

The vote came less than a week after Bush delivered his first major address on Cuban policy in four years, attacking the communist government and challenging the international community to help the island shed Fidel Castro's rule.

The United States has no diplomatic relations with Cuba, lists the country as a state sponsor of terror and has long sought to isolate it through travel restrictions and a trade embargo. This year, it stepped up enforcement of financial sanctions.

The best way to bring freedom to the world is through trade. The economic boom that we are witnessing in China is what will ultimately bring that country political freedom. The same could happen in Cuba, if the United States would lift the trade embargo.

Posted by Jason at 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I've been going through YouTube trying to find some of my favorite scenes from my favorite zombie and horror movies. I think I've complied a decent list.

CONTENT & LANGUAGE WARNING...there are some gory scenes and some language that some readers may find offensive.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) - This is one of the first scenes in the movie. The little zombie girl coming in the bedroom is just great. Just before this scene you see the main character driving home after work and stopping to see the little girl (not a zombie at that point) while pulling into her driveway...the just a minute or two later, you see this...

Dawn of the Dead (2004) - This is the title sequence, I guess that's what you'd call it. The song is "When the Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash. The actually comes after the scene with the zombie girl. The song sets up the movie, if you ask me.

Evil Dead II - Bruce Campbell is one of the most underrated actors around. He is the King of B-list actors. This movie was directed by Sam Raimi (who directed the Spiderman trilogy, which Bruce Campbell has cameos in).

Night of the Living Dead (1968) - This movie is now in public domain. So...rather than pull a couple scenes...here is the whole movie.

Shaun of the Dead - SOTD parodies many zombie and horror flicks. This scene comes after Shaun and his friends have made there way through their neighborhood and to the local pub, the Winchester.

The Exorcist - I confess...I didn't see The Exorcist until it was re-released when was 20. This scene did not appear in the original version of the film, but it freaked me out.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) - This clip is from the original Dawn of the Dead. A biker gang had stormed a mall where the four main characters had been living during the crisis. The zombies have their revenge.

Posted by Jason at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Vinyl is making a comeback:

As counterintuitive as it may seem in this age of iPods and digital downloads, vinyl -- the favorite physical format of indie music collectors and audiophiles -- is poised to re-enter the mainstream, or at least become a major tributary.

Talk to almost anyone in the music business' vital indie and DJ scenes and you'll encounter a uniformly optimistic picture of the vinyl market.

"I'm hearing from labels and distributors that vinyl is way up," said Ian Connelly, client relations manager of independent distributor alliance IODA, in an e-mail interview. "And not just the boutique, limited-edition colored vinyl that Jesu/Isis-style fans are hot for right now."

Pressing plants are ramping up production, but where is the demand coming from? Why do so many people still love vinyl, even though its bulky, analog nature is anathema to everything music is supposed to be these days? Records, the vinyl evangelists will tell you, provide more of a connection between fans and artists. And many of today's music fans buy 180-gram vinyl LPs for home listening and MP3s for their portable devices.

Posted by Jason at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Tax Hike Mike responds to John Fund:

As governor, I pushed through the Arkansas Legislature the first major, broad-based tax cuts in state history--a $90 million tax relief package for Arkansas families; led efforts to establish a Property Taxpayers' Bill of Rights; and created a welfare reform program that reduced the welfare rolls in the state by almost 50%. We also doubled the standard deduction to $2,000 for single taxpayers and $4,000 for those who are married. In total, I led the fight to cut taxes and fees over 90 times during my 10 1/2 years as governor, saving the people of Arkansas almost $380 million. When I left office, Arkansas had over $800 million in state surplus.

I lost even more respect for Neal Boortz today when he wrote, "[Huckabee] is the guy I would vote for if the election were held today." The Fair Tax isn't worth putting another "compassionate conservative" into office.

Posted by Jason at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The NY Times reports that in the hot rental market of NYC, many landlords are refusing Section 8 renters:

With many voucher holders in the city having difficulty finding an apartment, housing activists are debating the program’s effectiveness and are raising questions about what role, if any, race and class play in some landlords’ refusal to rent to voucher holders, the majority of whom are black or Hispanic.

Unlike many cities, including Chicago and Washington, New York City — home of the largest Section 8 program in the country — has never had a law prohibiting discrimination against voucher holders.

But with the city’s supply of subsidized housing shrinking, housing activists and some City Council members say such a law is needed more now than ever.

Posted by Joshua Patterson at 08:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mark Richt has apologized for Saturday's excessive celebration:

Calling his direction "inappropriate," Georgia coach Mark Richt on Monday apologized in writing to SEC commissioner Mike Slive for the Bulldogs' bench-clearing excessive-celebration penalty against Florida .

"As a followup to our telephone discussion earlier today, I do want to apologize in writing for what transpired after the first score of the Georgia/Florida game this past Saturday when our entire team left the bench area to celebrate the score," Richt wrote to Slive.
[...]
"Again, I was expecting the eleven players on the field to be doing the celebrating, not for the bench to clear as it did," Richt wrote in his letter to Slive. "I understand that the entire team running on the field created the potential for an altercation and that excessive celebration is not in compliance with the Southeastern Conference sportsmanship policies and expected standards. My only intention was to create enthusiasm."
[...]
"I apologize that I put everyone in that situation and specifically apologize to you, the Southeastern Conference, and the University of Florida," Richt wrote in conclusion. "You can be assured I will not ask our team to do this type of thing again."

Posted by Jason at 06:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (30)

State Rep. Jill Chambers is looking to introduce legislation to overhaul the Open Records Act:

State Rep. Jill Chambers, R-Atlanta, said last week she plans to introduce legislation to rewrite the entire Open Records Act, O.C.G.A § 50-18-70, to make it easier to understand, impose felony penalties on violators and possibly eliminate some exemptions. Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, will carry the bill in the state Senate, Chambers said.

Chambers said she wants to make “willfully and knowingly violating” the Open Records Act a felony subject to a fine of up to $5,000. Current penalties are typically a misdemeanor subject to a $100 fine and the option of filing a suit. She also said she wants the law to retain its exceptions for Social Security numbers and credit card information.
[...]
Chambers cited several reasons for her effort to rewrite the law. The primary reason is that she believes the law is confusingly written and that many violations of the law are a result of misunderstanding it.

“Just trying to read it and understand it would be a major accomplishment,” she said. “It’s so hard to find what you need in the law, and then once you do find it, it’s so hard to understand.

“There will always be people who flagrantly violate the Open Records Act. But there are also people who violate it because they don’t understand it.”

And...I'd like to add that Rep. Chambers is one of my heroes at the capitol.

Posted by Jason at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Commissioner Johnny Basler will host a town hall meeting November 13th at 7:00pm at Woodland Elementary School.

Click to view the announcement

Posted by Larry Stanley at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is sad news:

Veteran Fayette County state Rep. Dan Lakly died this morning of a massive heart attack, state officials said.

Lakly, 65, a Peachtree City Republican, was chairman of the House Information and Audits Committee. He was known as a fiscal conservative who frequently questioned state spending practices. He was also willing to be on the losing side of one-sided votes, such as in 2005 when he opposed popular legislation outlawing smoking in most enclosed work sites and public places. He compared the banning to Nazi Germany.

Lakly, a Yugoslavian immigrant's son, served on the Peachtree City council in the 1980s, then from 1989 to 1992 on the Fayette County Board of Commissioners.

He was elected to a seat in the General Assembly in 1992 when Republicans were a minority in the House. He was beaten in the Republican primary in 1998 by Kathy Cox, now the state's school superintendent, when he sought re-election that year. Six years later he made a comeback, winning a Fayette County seat in the House just in time for his GOP to take over the chamber.

Legislative staffers said he apparently fell and hurt his wrist over the weekend and had surgery. They said he was expected to be released from the hospital this morning.

Keep Rep. Lakly's family in your thoughts and prayers.

[UPDATE] I got this from William Woodall this morning:

I have had the good fortune of getting to know Dan and consider him a friend. His wit and concern for true conservative principles will be missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family. Thanks Dan for all your hard work and concern for the people of Georgia.

Posted by Jason at 06:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Club for Growth has analyzed Ron Paul's economic record. Their main issues with Paul are on trade, school choice and his refusal to vote to strip pork from appropriations bill. I understand and agree with Paul's philosophical position on all three issues, but the Club for Growth makes convincing arguments. They give him high marks on free speech and taxes.

You can read the full report here.

[UPDATE] Reason gives their take on the report:

It's possibly the first treatment of Paul's ideas and record that puts him on the same platform as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. When they praise him, they praise him: Paul's tax and spending vote record is basically buffed and glowing. When they knock him, they do so just as energetically.

Posted by Jason at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

John Edwards wants to repeat an economic disaster:

John Edwards says if he's elected president, he'll institute a New Deal-like suite of programs to fight poverty and stem growing wealth disparity. To do it, he said, he'll ask many Americans to make sacrifices, like paying higher taxes.

Edwards, a former Democratic senator from North Carolina, says the federal government should underwrite universal pre-kindergarten, create matching savings accounts for low-income people, mandate a minimum wage of $9.50 and provide a million new Section 8 housing vouchers for the poor. He also pledged to start a government-funded public higher education program called "College for Everyone."

"It is central to what I want to do as president to do something about economic inequality. I do not believe it is okay for the United States of America to have 37 million people living in poverty," he said in a meeting with Monitor reporters and editors this week. "And I think we need, desperately need, a president who will say that to America and call on Americans to show their character."

At every stop, Edwards said, he tells voters he'll ask them to sacrifice. Asked to describe what he means, he described his plan for increases in capital gains taxes, saying taxes on "wealth income" should be in line with those on work income.

Posted by Jason at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

According to a recent poll by the University of Iowa:

THE NUMBERS — REPUBLICANS

Mitt Romney, 36 percent

Rudy Giuliani, 13 percent

Mike Huckabee, 13 percent

Fred Thompson, 11 percent

John McCain, 6 percent

Mitt Romney continues to hold a strong lead in Iowa among candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination. But Mike Huckabee's Iowa numbers -- buoyed, perhaps, by growing support among Evangelical Christians -- have jumped significantly since August, putting him in a near-tie with Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson, according to a new University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll of likely GOP caucus-goers released today, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007.

Despite Giuliani's lead in most national polls, Romney holds a strong lead in Iowa at 36.2 percent, with Giuliani second at 13.1 percent, Huckabee third with 12.8 percent and Thompson fourth at 11.4 percent. John McCain has 6.0 percent.

With all of the buildup surrounding what was a "potential candidacy". Fred Thompson's actual candidacy has been rather uninspiring. His debate performances haven't been terrible...but they haven't been great either. If you enter the race late, and are polling between 3rd and 4th place, a series of so-so debate performances isn't going to help you out. I know the Fred!heads will probably make excuses for him, saying things like, "Well that's just his style."

Fred's "style" seems boring, uninspiring, and lazy. In such a sub-par field of candidates, Fred should be winning this nomination walking away. But being so-so hasn't worked so well.

Posted by Jace Walden at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'll bet that Tom Tancredo is glad that Mitt Romney didn't take his bet:

What a tale to tell. Those decades of frustration that left their faithful doubting if their day would ever come are distant memories, stored up in the attic with sepia-toned photos from the original Red Sox dynasty, which won five World Series titles from 1903-18.

On another night to remember back at Fenway Park, Faneuil Hall and all over New England, Boston became World Series champions for the second time in four years by beating the Colorado Rockies — flattening them — in a sweep that ended with a 4-3 victory Sunday night.

"Pretty darn heavy," Jon Lester said after lifting the trophy that all of baseball had sought since pitchers and catchers reported to Florida and Arizona last February.

Lester was one of the stars, a 23-year-old who overcame cancer, returned to the Red Sox and won the World Series finale by pitching 5 2-3 scoreless innings in his first start since Sept. 26.

There was Mike Lowell, the World Series MVP, who hit .400 with four RBIs, including a solo homer in the finale that pushed the lead to 3-0. There was baby-faced Jacoby Ellsbury, who led off the game with a double and scored the first run.

Posted by Jason at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is some interesting news concerning Ron Paul and Alex Jones. It seems that Ron Paul made a $1,300 payment to Alex Jones. For those of you who do not know who Alex Jones is...please see here. Jones also contributed $2,300 to the campaign.

I called the campaign and asked them. Andrew, from the campaign, took my information, did some research and called me back. He said he wasn't sure what the expense was for and wasn't sure it was for the same Alex Jones, but he also said he had no reason to believe it wasn't. He did say that if he contributed over the allowed amount ($2,300), that the campaign would have had to return the overage, as per FEC regulations.

I am pretty much through with Ron Paul. He should do the respectable thing and return the contribution from Alex Jones and repudiate the "9/11 Truth" movement.

By the way...the crazies are coming out in the comments over at The Liberty Papers. I'm surprised no one has said that we are a Zionist plot yet.

Posted by Jason at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Its been a good game so far. Georgia is playing with a lot of emotion on both offense and defense. Tebow can't run much because of a bad shoulder. Georgia sacked him three times in the first quarter.

You can follow the game here.

[UPDATE] Georgia wins!!! That was a GOOD game. Kyle...I owe you dinner.

Knowshon Moreno is a hoss (33 carries, 188 yards and three touchdowns).

Posted by Jason at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Bill Clinton takes on a 9/11 truther:

Early in his speech, Clinton was sporadically heckled. One heckler shouted that 9/11 was a fraud, and Clinton bristled. "No, it wasn't a fraud. I'll be glad to talk about it if you'll shut up and let me talk." The heckling continued, and he told another heckler "these people did not come here to hear you speak. If you don't have any self-control, we can deal with that."

When a third called 9/11 an "inside job," Clinton snapped back "How dare you? I live in New York, and I know who did that. You guys have got to be careful, or you're going to give Minnesota a bad reputation."

H/T: Newsbusters

Posted by Jason at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I bought a desktop last Thanksgiving and promised myself that I was set for a while. I had a laptop to take with me to the state capitol or if I needed to podcasts away from home. About three weeks ago Reagan got caught in the power cord for the laptop and pulled it off the coffee table and cracked the screen and broke the wireless card...Amanda didn't put it up after she'd used it. Yeah...I blame her, not the dog.

So...I need some suggestions on a new laptop. I've been browsing around Tiger Direct this morning, but I can't really find anything I like. If any of you computer nerds out there have any advice on what I should buy...I'm listening.

Back to listening to Thrice and cleaning.

Posted by Jason at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

We acknowledge needed infrastructure improvements. Some support SPLOST because it is a funding source for needed transportation projects. Everyday we read that traffic is Henry’s biggest headache, yet officials will not put money where it's needed.

From their 25% share of SPLOST III revenues the cities have dedicated only $9.7 million or 13% to transportation projects. The county’s published transportation projects amount to $126 million – not the advertised $167 million - for 56%.

There is an attitude that we need all the niceties big cities have. Therefore, I do not support some of the decisions and attendant public policy that ensues. For example, the county allocated $24.9 million to social and recreational projects, almost half of the capital budget.

Examine Heritage Park where the county has spent an aggregate $12 million. The locomotive train included design services for a "covered platform and depot" by Innovo Architecture for $2,625.

The BoC dedicated space for the Veterans Wall and design services by Innovo Architecture and Design were approved in an amount not to exceed $9,375.

Design and architectural services for an “Arena/Activity/Office Building and Walking Trail w/Bridge” were awarded, through SPLOST, to Innovo Architecture for $122,600.

This Activity Building was presented in 2003 at a cost of $2.5 million. In October 2006 SPLOST II funding exceeded $3.8 million.

Innovo’s CEO is Mr. Todd Ernst. Chairman Harper appointed Mr. Ernst to the ARC to represent Henry County and Stormwater Stakeholder Committee that set the stormwater fees. He has also accompanied the chairman on lobbying trips to Washington.

Many do not know Mr. Harper and Mr. Ernst are partners in the real estate investment company Cedar Pointe Holdings LLC. There is no reason to suspect illegality. Yet Georgia’s ethics code admonishes officials to “Never engage in conduct which is unbecoming or which constitutes a breach of public trust.”

There must be a way to operate a county budget and a separate SPLOST program with true dedication to our transportation needs, and without granting contracts to the chairman’s private business partner.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 12:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)

Dawg Sports is arguably the best blog out there for Georgia sports...but, Kyle...if Georgia beats Florida by two touchdowns or more (and I sincerely hope your right)...I'll buy you dinner.

My Prediction: Georgia 10, Florida 30

Posted by Jason at 05:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

John Fund on Mike Huckabee:

Mr. Huckabee attributes his support to the fact he is a "hardworking, consistent conservative with some authenticity about those convictions." He is certainly qualified for national office, having served nearly 11 years as a chief executive. I have known and liked him for years; on the stump he often tells the story of how we first met outside his boarded-up office in the state Capitol, which had been sealed by Arkansas Democrats who refused to accept he had won an upset election for lieutenant governor in 1993. But I also know he is not the "consistent conservative" he now claims to be.

Nor am I alone. Betsy Hagan, Arkansas director of the conservative Eagle Forum and a key backer of his early runs for office, was once "his No. 1 fan." She was bitterly disappointed with his record. "He was pro-life and pro-gun, but otherwise a liberal," she says. "Just like Bill Clinton he will charm you, but don't be surprised if he takes a completely different turn in office."

Phyllis Schlafly, president of the national Eagle Forum, is even more blunt. "He destroyed the conservative movement in Arkansas, and left the Republican Party a shambles," she says. "Yet some of the same evangelicals who sold us on George W. Bush as a 'compassionate conservative' are now trying to sell us on Mike Huckabee."

The business community in Arkansas is split. Some praise Mr. Huckabee's efforts to raise taxes to repair roads and work with an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature. Free-market advocates are skeptical. "He has zero intellectual underpinnings in the conservative movement," says Blant Hurt, a former part owner of, and columnist for, Arkansas Business magazine. "He's hostile to free trade, hiked sales and grocery taxes, backed sales taxes on Internet purchases, and presided over state spending going up more than twice the inflation rate."
[...]
Many Huckabee supporters have told me their man should be judged by what he's saying on the campaign trail today. Fair enough. Mr. Huckabee was the only GOP candidate to refuse to endorse President Bush's veto of the Democrats' bill to vastly expand the Schip health-care program. Only he and John McCain have endorsed the discredited cap-and-trade system to limit global-warming emissions that has proved a fiasco in Europe.

Posted by Jason at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 21st edition of the Georgia Blog Carnival is up over at Radical Georgia Moderate (aka. Rusty Tanton, who did a great job with this). There is a wide range of topics (politics, sports, tv, music...and so on) and posts from Larry and I are included.

Posted by Jason at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

You may need this on Halloween...

Posted by Jason at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Georgia Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision upheld a lower court ruling that a 10 year sentence for consensual oral sex constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" (8th Amendment):

The majority opinion said the sentence appeared to be "grossly disproportionate" to the teenager's crime and noted that it was out of step with current law.
[...]
At the time the crime carried a mandatory 10-year sentence with no parole. However, the law was changed in 2006 to make Wilson's crime a misdemeanor with a maximum 1-year sentence.

"Although society has a significant interest in protecting children from premature sexual activity, we must acknowledge that Wilson's crime does not rise to the level of culpability of adults who prey on children ..." wrote Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears in the majority opinion.

She said that "for the law to punish Wilson as it would an adult, with the extraordinarily harsh punishment of 10 years in prison without the possibility of probation or parole, appears to be grossly disporportionate to his crime."

Finally, this kid can get on with his life.

Posted by Jason at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Ladies and gentlemen, it is that time of the week again. Time for our weekly pick 'em challenge for bragging rights. First, I'd like to say that I was totally wrong about Boston College. I didn't think they had a shot going in to Blacksburg. They proved me and a lot of professional analysts wrong last night. Good on them. I'm still not convinced that they are the number two team in the country, mostly due to the strength of schedule, but they are definitely worthy of further consideration.

Now on to last weeks final scores:

Jace Walden--15 Points
Jason Pye--15 Points
Marshall--12 Points
Doug--9 Points
Joe--7 Points

Without further ado, here are this weeks matchups, lines and predictions:

West Virginia (7) @ Rutgers
Line: West Virginia -6
My Prediction: West Virginia will win and cover the spread.

USC (12) @ Oregon (5)
Line: Oregon -3
My Prediction: Oregon will win and cover the spread.

Florida (11) @ Georgia (18) (Neutral Field)
Line: Florida -8.5
My Prediction: Florida will win but will not cover the spread. (I hope Georgia wins though...)

California (21) @ Arizona State(4)
Line: Arizona State -3
My Prediction: California will win and will reverse Arizona State's spread.

Ohio State (1) @ Penn State (25)
Line: Ohio State -3.5
My Prediction: Ohio State will win and cover the spread. (I hope they lose though...)

South Carolina (15) @ Tennessee
Line: Tennessee -3
My Prediction: South Carolina will win and will reverse Tennessee's spread.

BONUS WORTH 3 POINTS:
Correctly predict the combined total points scored in the UGA vs. UF game.
My Prediction: 60 Points

Once again, let's recap the rules:

(1) One point is awarded for picking the winner.
(2) Three additional points are awarded for picking the upset winner.
(3) Two additional points are awarded for correctly predicting spread coverage/non-coverage.
(4) Three points are awarded to the person correctly predicting the bonus.
(5) This is for bragging rights only.

One a side note, both Jason and Doug got the bonus right last week...I was kind of torn on whether I should award both of them 3 points, or split the 3 bonus points between them...in the end, I awarded them both 3 points. That's what will happen from now now.

Go Dawgs!

Posted by Jace Walden at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Some of my thoughts on Ron Paul, RedState and Republican fusionism:

Some of his supporters have taken some incredibly stupid actions…the constant spamming of polls, their excessive comments on blogs, the near mugging of Rudy Giuliani at a campaign stop and the need to spout off every 9/11 conspiracy theory that Alex Jones can dream up.

Red State is well within their rights to ban or delete comments. It is private property, something that I thought a Ron Paul supporter would respect and believe in.

Ron Paul is likely the only candidate in either party that has a true understanding of the principles of personal and economic liberty. With that said, he is probably the least effective spokesperson for those ideals.
[...]
Fiscal conservatives and libertarians have no real home. The fusionism or coalition, whatever you want to call it, that gave made the Republican majority could very well be broken beyond repair. According to a Cato Institute study, “Libertarians preferred George W. Bush over Al Gore by 72 to 20 percent, but Bush's margin dropped in 2004 to 59-38 over John Kerry. Congressional voting showed a similar swing from 2002 to 2004. Libertarians apparently became disillusioned with Republican overspending, social intolerance, civil liberties infringements, and the floundering war in Iraq.”

The Republican Party has chosen to advance the cause of social conservatives who, as Andrew Sullivan says, believe the purpose of government is to save souls and make people more moral. Compassionate conservatism, which is really religious collectivism, has overtaken the message of individual and economic liberty of Goldwater and Reagan. Fiscal conservatives and libertarians have been cast to the wayside. These two groups had been able to tolerate social conservatives as long as the GOP fought for smaller government, less regulation and so on.

Republican fusionism is on life support.

Posted by Jason at 06:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Here is trailer for the next season of 24:

H/T: Hot Air

Posted by Jason at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The House of Representatives has passed SCHIP...again:

The House passed a revised children's health proposal Thursday, but not by the two-thirds margin that supporters will need if President Bush vetoes the measure as promised.

The 265-142 vote was a victory for Bush and his allies, who urged House Republicans to reject Democrats' claims that changes to the legislation had met their chief concerns. If the same vote occurs on a veto override attempt, Bush will prevail, as he did earlier this month when he vetoed a similar bill.
[...]
Democratic leaders said changes to the bill, which would add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program, had addressed critics' concerns about participation by adults, illegal immigrants and families able to afford health insurance. But GOP leaders called the changes insignificant and politically motivated.

It should be noted that the only Democrat to vote against the bill was Jim Marshall. The Democrats managed 265 votes, which is the same number as the first vote for SCHIP on September 25.

Reason's Ronald Bailey pointed out the obvious during the debate the first time around:

If President George W. Bush fails to keep his promise to veto this legislation, SCHIP would be well on the way to becoming another middle class entitlement. That is just what advocates of government-funded health care want. Rep. Steven Rothman (D-NJ) made this goal explicit when he called the House SCHIP bill "the next step toward universal health care for all Americans." Expanding SCHIP is what Kathleen Stoll, director of health care policy at the left-leaning lobby group, Families USA, happily identified as sneaky sequentialism.

In fact, this kind of crowding out is already taking place. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a report in May that found, "For every 100 children who gain coverage as a result of SCHIP, there is a corresponding reduction in private coverage of between 25 and 50 children." In January, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber and Cornell University economist Kosali Simon published a study that estimated "for every 100 children who are enrolled in public insurance, 60 children lose private insurance." And why not? From the point of view of parents, the government is giving their kids free health insurance, so they can pocket the money they were otherwise spending on private insurance.

Altruism is a dish best served without taxpayer dollars.

Posted by Jason at 07:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last month the Henry Elections Board heard arguments whether Monta Brown should be disqualified from candidacy for re-election to his McDonough council seat.

More recently Fox5 News reported on Monte's ethical lapses while in office.

On Monday the Elections Board will have a called meeting to determine Brown's eligibility to seek office. The meeting will be at 3:30pm at the elections board office in McDonough. The board determined to call this meeting upon receipt of a letter from McDonough resident Scott Reeves. Read excerpts of that letter here.

Neither I nor the board could have known that any of the evidence or testimony given by Councilman Brown was anything other than true and correct in accordance with the oath of which he swore at the hearing.

Councilman Brown's attorney brought up a valid point in that perhaps more investigation could have been done into the councilman's affairs as they relate to public records and or personal interviews, additionally a news cast by an investigative reporter for Fox 5 news which aired after the hearing caused me to look deeper and thus beyond the evidence and testimony given before your board. Several issues now concern me in regards to the information with which you were expected and in fact demanded by Councilman Brown's attorney to disseminate and thus make your decision regarding the validity of his candidacy.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Henry County has been covered by so many different AJC reporters it is hard to keep track. We have had some very good people on this beat, and some whose stories never went deeply enough. John Hollis is our man on the street, and he seems to be in six places at once! It now appears we can resume reading the AJC - at least the Metro Section.

Today's AJC article: Builders sue McDonough to recover fees

The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and more than 50 individual builders have filed a class-action suit against the city of McDonough to recover more than $300,000 they say was collected illegally.

In papers filed Wednesday in Henry County Superior Court, the Southeastern Legal Foundation asserted that city officials overreached in 2002 when they began charging individual developers impact fees of $1,200 per project. The city dropped the fee in 2003.

While in effect, the fee exempted builders from the building moratorium enacted by the city in 2002.

"It's a revenue enhancer," Shannon Goessling, executive director of the conservative Legal Foundation, said late Thursday afternoon. "We see this as a growing trend, where local government gets to do this as a way to get more revenue."

McDonough officials could not be reached for comment.

Georgia law allows local governments to collect impact fees to offset the effect of new construction on public services like roads, water and sewer lines and emergency services.

Before imposing such fees, though, the law requires localities to conduct a comprehensive study and to establish a formula for determining the impact of a specific project and the amount of fees to be paid. The funds raised are supposed to be segregated and allocated for that project.

None of that happened in McDonough, the Legal Foundation alleged in its lawsuit.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

House Way & Means Chairman Charlie Rangel has proposed a very ambitious tax overhaul:

Corporations would see their top tax rate cut to 30.5% from 35% under a tax plan unveiled Wednesday by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., to fellow committee members.
[...]
To offset the cost of the lower tax rate, the plan would alter a number of business tax provisions, according to lawmakers, congressional staff and lobbyists familiar with the plan as outlined Wednesday night.

The plan will repeal a tax deduction for domestic manufacturers. It will prevent companies from using an accounting method known as last-in, first-out, or LIFO, that can cut their taxes during times of rising prices. Repealing LIFO could result in a substantial tax for companies currently using the method, but aides briefed on the plan say the change would be phased in over eight years, thereby blunting the initial impact.

The plan would also require companies to defer deductions for certain expenses of foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies until the money is repatriated to the U.S.
[...]
Middle and upper-middle income families would benefit under the plan by a repeal of the alternative minimum tax starting Jan. 1, 2008.

Upper-income families, however, would pay for that repeal with a 4% surtax on incomes above $150,000 for a single earner or incomes above $200,000 for a married couple. That surtax would grow to 4.6% for incomes above $500,000.

The surtax will also make possible an expansion of the earned income tax credit, an increase in the standard deduction, and an increase in the value of the child tax credit for those earning too little to owe federal income taxes.

A third section of the plan would address a number of pressing tax issues, including a temporary patch of the alternative minimum tax prior to Jan. 1, 2008, and the extension of a number of expiring tax provisions.

Absent a patch, the alternative minimum tax will expand to hit roughly 25 million taxpayers, up from 4.4 million in 2006, increasing their taxes by a total of nearly $50 billion, according to congressional estimates.

The National Taxpayers Union put the tax increase at $1.3 trillion. Andy Roth at the Club for Growth calls it The Mother of All Tax Hikes.

Posted by Jason at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Tom Tancredo has basically setup his exit from the race for the GOP nomination:

Tancredo of Colorado, also a Republican presidential hopeful, said several weeks ago that he would decide whether he would run again for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives when the Colorado Rockies finished their run.

Now the baseball team has stunned everyone and is playing the Red Sox in the World Series.

So Tancredo has another proposal, this time including the former Massachusetts governor. He told FOX News that he challenged Romney that if the Red Sox win the series, Tancredo will drop out of the presidential stakes, but if the Rockies win, Romney has to quit.

Posted by Jason at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are this week's College Football Top 25 as voted on by the readers and writers of JasonPye.Com:

(1) LSU--155 Points, 3 First Place Votes
(2) Boston College--135 Points, 1 First Place Vote
(3) Oregon--131 Points
(4) Oklahoma--130 Points
(5) Arizona State--123 Points
(6) West Virginia--122 Points
(7) Virginia Tech--112 Points
(8) Florida--102 Points
(9) Kansas--94 Points
(10) USC--92 Points
(11) Ohio State--88 Points, 2 First Place Votes
(12) South Florida--87 Points
(13) Missouri--83 Points
(14) Kentucky--81 Points
(15) South Carolina--69 Points
(16) Hawaii--50 Points
(17) Texas-47 Points
(18) Georgia--46 Points
(19) Virginia--45 Points
(20) California--40 Points
(21) Auburn--33 Points
(22) Alabama--27 Points
(23) Michigan--22 Points
(24) Penn State--19 Points
(25) Connecticut--14 Points

Also receiving votes: Rutgers (8), Wisconsin (1)

Based on the current JasonPye.Com Top 25 Rankings, here our our BSC Bowl Projections:

Rose Bowl
Projection: Oregon vs. Ohio State

Allstate Sugar Bowl
Projection: Florida vs. Kansas

Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Projection: Oklahoma vs. Arizona State

FedEx Orange Bowl
Projection: Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia

Allstate BCS National Championship
Projection: LSU vs. Boston College

Posted by Jace Walden at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Despite my issues with some of the alarmist, xenophobic and nationalist rhetoric coming from the Right over the immigration debate, I am glad to see that the Senate has blocked the DREAM Act:

The US Senate on Wednesday blocked a bid to give children of illegal immigrants a path to legal status, again dashing hopes for any meaningful action on immigration reform before 2008 elections.

The bill, dubbed the Dream Act, would have offered the children a chance to move towards legal US residency, provided they attend college or served in the military.

It fell eight votes short of the 60 required to move towards a final vote in the Senate, in a key test of the chamber's appetite for the divisive issue after the failure of a sweeping comprehensive immigration reform bill earlier this year.

Posted by Jason at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

George W. Bush, with his brand of religious collectivism "compassionate conservativism," has outpaced Lyndon Johnson in spending:

When adjusted for inflation, discretionary spending — or budget items that Congress and the president can control, including defense and domestic programs, but not entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare — shot up at an average annual rate of 5.3 percent during Bush’s first six years, Slivinski calculates.

That tops the 4.6 percent annual rate Johnson logged during his 1963-69 presidency. By these standards, Ronald Reagan was a tightwad; discretionary spending grew by only 1.9 percent a year on his watch.

Discretionary spending went up in Bush's first term by 48.5 percent, not adjusted for inflation, more than twice as much as Bill Clinton did (21.6 percent) in two full terms, Slivinski reports.

Defense spending is the big driver — but hardly the only one.

Under Bush it's grown on average by 5.7 percent a year. Under LBJ — who had a war to fund, too — it rose by 4.9 percent a year. Both numbers are adjusted for inflation.

• No Child Left Behind
• the 2002 farm bill
• the 2003 Medicare expansion
• the 2005 highway bill

The Republican Party has lost its way. Some blame has fallen on Congress. Iraq was the main issue that voters rejected the Republican Party, the other issue was runaway spending. Republicans, including Bush, are talking a good game now, but I don't trust them. Do you?

Posted by Jason at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

[UPDATE] Mark Meeks has given me permission to post the judgment. You can read it here. You can find a copy of Judge McGarity's original ruling in the case here....and the Georgia Court of Appeals decision can be found here.

The AJC has a piece on the appeal of McGarity's ruling:

It's unclear what grounds the city would have for its latest appeal should the court decide to hear it. McGarity was anything but vague in his most recent ruling, characterizing the city's public facilities allegation as "substantially frivolous" and "substantially groundless."

Council member Fred Evans, who introduced the motion to appeal, declined to comment Wednesday. He referred all questions to city attorney Buddy Welch, who did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

When asked Wednesday why the city would appeal, council member Leila Turner said, "I really don't know" before hanging up her cellphone.

The decision of Judge McGarity was one of the most complete and thoroughly explained decisions that this lawyer has ever seen. It is unusual for a Superior Court Judge to render a decision that is as detailed as Judge McGarity’s decision was. He took the time to analyze the cases on both sides of the debate. Rather than dismiss cases cited by the City of Stockbridge as being inapplicable or not on point, Judge McGarity’s decision dissects the law on which the City relied and distinguishes the cited cases from the facts in the Meeks case. It is atypical for a trial court judge to take the time and effort obviously expended by Judge McGarity in this case.

O.C.G.A. §9-15-14 (the law Judge McGarity relied upon to make the award of fees and expenses) requires that before fees and expenses can be awarded that the Movant (usually a defendant in a lawsuit – in this case the Meeks) show either that the suit “lacked substantial justification” or that “there existed such a complete absence of any justiciable issue of law or fact that it could not be reasonably believed that a court would accept the asserted claim, defense, or other position”. Judge McGarity found both to be true in the Meeks case. That code section goes on to define the term “lacked substantial justification” as meaning “substantially frivolous, substantially groundless, or substantially vexatious “.

While to the casual viewer or reader of this blog, it may appear obvious that all of that was true in the Meeks case, in the legal world these are high thresholds to get over. Judges do not find that a party acted without “substantial justification” lightly. Don’t forget that as Meeks was winding its way through the Georgia Courts the Supreme Court of the United States was handing down Kelo.

While I do not pretend to be able to read Judge McGarity’s mind (if I could I would already be so rich that I would be sitting in a pool side bar in the Bahamas drinking out of a glass with a little umbrella in it rather than sitting on my sofa eating Halloween candy and watching Family Guy reruns – but I digress), it is apparent to me that Judge McGarity wrote the decision in anticipation of an appeal by the City of Stockbridge. O.C.G.A. §9-15-14 provides for two independent theories for an award of fees and expenses. Judge McGarity found that the Meeks were entitled to recover under both theories. As I mentioned he wrote a very detailed order – which will make it difficult for the Court of Appeals to overturn the order. A favorite tactic of the Court of Appeals (and Georgia Supreme Court) is to remand cases back to the trial court level for further consideration of law or fact that the appellate court finds the trial court overlooked the first time. The appellate courts in this case will find it difficult to take that tact. Judge McGarity’s order is so complete and so exhaustive in its analysis that the appellate courts will likely affirm his ruling – perhaps even without comment or further analysis.

A word of caution – before folks jump on Buddy Welch or other members of the City of Stockbridge legal team – Judge McGarity could have found that the lawyers for the City of Stockbridge acted improperly. He did not do so. From my observations (I was present for most of the hearing on the Meeks motion for attorney fees) and what I have read, Buddy Welch did a fine job in a difficult situation. Often a lawyer is only as good as the hand he is dealt. Time and time again the City of Stockbridge could have in any number of ways ended this dispute quietly and without further cost. The City (through the City Council) chose not to do so. To lay any of the blame for that at the feet of Buddy Welch is unwise and unfounded.

Posted by Jason at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Alexham, a contributor to RedState, has posted an article discussing how to "reunite" the different factions of the Republican Party. As is the case with most of the other authors on RedState, Alexham is completely clueless.

His contention is that in order to bring together the fiscal conservatives and the social conservatives, the GOP needs to focus on one thing:

So, let's get down to brass tacks, and begin to address this family dispute before we pass the point of no return and hand the presidential election to the dems [...] In my view, it is crucial that the Republican Party remain unambiguously prolife. As others here at RedState have noted, there are three major principles that the GOP has stood for during its ascendancy: (1) promoting family values and protecting innocent life; (2) personal and national defense; and (3) fiscal responsibility. If one of these core beliefs is compromised or denigrated from within, then the coalition of Americans who comprise the Republican Party will almost certainly come undone.

Yeah, Alex is right about one thing...if one of the core beliefs is compromised, the party will come undone (cough...2006 congressional election...cough) But, like most of the buffoons at RedState, he is completely missing the point on which core belief has been compromised.

There is nothing wrong with being pro-life. In fact, I would consider myself mostly pro-life as far as abortion in concerned. I do believe there are exceptions, and that every case needs to be judged individually. But this ideological single-mindedness on social issues, like abortion, is what is causing the dissent from within and the exodus from the party as a whole.

What the neocons at RedState and other Bush loyalists fail to realize is that it is the principle of fiscal responsibility (which ironically, Alex lists as the third most important principle) which has been completely compromised and denigrated from within--not abortion, not gay marriage, not stem cell research.

Until social conservatives are ready to quit whining about the Republican Party not officially becoming a religious organization and are ready to discuss the real issues that are dividing the GOP, then I'll be laughing for the next four years while they whine and moan under President Clinton. News Flash Guys: President Clinton wouldn't be any more of an fiscal train wreck than President Bush, so for us fiscal conservatives, not much would change. But she'd wreak havoc on your precious little social pet projects. So, if you want to avoid losing everything you've worked so hard to achieve, I suggest you reach out to fiscal conservatives on this one. You can't win without us.

Posted by Jace Walden at 03:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Crooks and Liars fact checks Mike Huckabee:

At the GOP debate the other night, Mike Huckabee made an odd claim.

“When our founding fathers put their signatures on the Declaration of Independence, those 56 brave people, most of whom, by the way, were clergymen, they said that we have certain inalienable rights given to us by our creator.”

“Most” of the signers were clergy? Is that true? Actually, no.

Only one of the 56 was an active clergyman, and that was John Witherspoon. Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

A few more of the signers were former clergymen, though it’s a little unclear just how many…. We’d like to give Huckabee every benefit of the doubt, but even if you consider former clergymen among the signers the best you could come up with is four. Out of 56. That’s not “most,” that’s Pants-on-Fire wrong.

A few more of the signers were former clergymen, though it's a little unclear just how many. The conservative Heritage Foundation said two other signers were former clergymen. The religion web site Adherents.com said four signers of the declaration were current or former full-time preachers. But everyone agrees only Witherspoon was an active minister when he signed the Declaration of Independence.

Posted by Jason at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let's see...we have issues concerning Grady Hospital, a $7.7 billion transportation funding shortfall, an extreme drought and a potential water shortage. As if all that weren't enough, let's throw in a $16 billion shortfall in the state's retirement system:

The state's employee retirement system is facing a potential $16 billion shortfall in coming years as baby boomers continue to retire and may have to scale back the program for future state employees, the program's director told lawmakers Tuesday.

Officials say they may have to change the program so it can continue paying full benefits in the future for the 70,000 state employees in the system and the 32,000 retirees already receiving benefits. The retirement system board approved a reduced cost-of-living increase last week.

The talk of any cutbacks has retirees up in arms. Some fear the benefit will be eliminated or slashed for future employees. They also worry their annual cost-of-living increases will be cut further.

"This is going to be a fight," said Bill Tomlinson, a retired former state budget director who has worked to organize retirees.

The problem is similar to what's ahead for Social Security at the federal level. The ratio of workers paying into the system to retirees receiving benefits will be shrinking, officials said.

"Our liabilities are growing faster than our assets," said Michael Nehf, executive director of the state's Employees Retirement System, in a presentation to a House-Senate panel studying the issue Tuesday.

The tax burden has increased for Georgia citizens, property taxes continue to rise and there is no end in sight. You know the first answer to the question will be to raise taxes, but let's hope lawmakers look for other answers before they react.

Posted by Jason at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here is the latest polling for Georgia from Strategic Vision, a Republican-leaning polling firm.

Saxby Chambliss has an approval rating of 52% and has very large leads over any prospective Democratic opponents. None of them break 30%. Chambliss is either at 57% or 58% against any of the four candidates.

Fred Thompson is still leading the pack in the GOP Presidential race. He is at 39%. Giuliani is behind him at 20%. McCain is at 9%. Of the voters polled 80% say that it is "very important" or "somewhat important" that the candidate be a "conservative Republican in the mode of Ronald Reagan."

Hillary Clinton leads the Democrats at 40%. Obama trails behind her at 27%. Edwards is third at 11%. Democrats were asked what they wanted in their candidate. Democrats want experience (37%) over ideology (29%) or charisma (10%).

Posted by Jason at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Jacob Sullum drives home a couple points on SCHIP:

As "a conservative who wants to help restore the limited federal government envisioned in the Constitution," Rep. Roscoe Bartlett said, he could not in good conscience vote to override President Bush's veto of a bill boosting federal spending on children's health insurance. But the Maryland Republican also said he was "proud" to have supported the creation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and promised he would "work to ensure a safety net of health insurance for the children of the working poor."

The Framers would have insisted on nothing less, as reflected in the Constitution's Health Care Clause. Oh, wait. The Constitution has no Health Care Clause. Nor does it include any other provision that authorizes Congress to spend taxpayers' money on health insurance for the children of the working poor, the grandparents of the middle class, the nephews of the super-rich, or the kin of any other socioeconomic group.
[...]
Instead of trying to resolve such issues at the national level, why not let each state go its own way, with results that vary depending on local values, the local cost of living, and the local health care situation? No federal money would mean that one state's legislators could no longer force another state's taxpayers to subsidize their generous impulses, but it would also mean no federal restrictions.

Permitting a wide range of policy experiments in areas where the federal government has no license to act is not just the law. It's a good idea.

Posted by Jason at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Erick Erickson tells me that I was his example of a sane Ron Paul supporter while being interviewed on XM radio this afternoon. Erick tells me this after I ranted about Red State's treatment of Ron Paul supporters.

Posted by Jason at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today the Stockbridge City Council took another step toward harassing the Meeks family. In a special session called for 5:00pm the council met briefly before adjourning into executive session for about 15 minutes.

The council reconvened. First to speak was city attorney Buddy Welch. He told the council they had two choices regarding the Meeks judgement: pay or appeal. Fred Evans made the motion. Leila Turner seconded. There was no discussion.

The council voted unanimously to appeal the decision of the Henry Superior Court on October 11th. It appears now the case will go to the Georgia Court of Appeals.

The Henry Superior Court found

The city's "public facilities" allegation was "substantially frivolous," was "substantially groundless," and therefore "lacked substantial justifaction." Therefore, the Court finds that an award of attorneys' fees and litigation expenses to the Meeks is justified and appropriate under section 9-15-14(b).

The feeling of disgust with the city council in Stockbridge cannot be described. Their actions have been, and continue to be vile and deliberately harmful. It is my prayer that Fred Evans shall be removed from office. He and the others should resign in shame for their lack of human decency and personal integrity.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 05:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I know the folks who post at this blog are largely Libertarians. I also know a lot of you are concerned about how our tax dollars are spent.

Guess who made this statement:

Many liberals try masking these special interest projects (transit, rail, and options) as tools for economic development to attract people, but in reality these individuals are already attracted to come here. I contend that we should not use our transportation dollars for economic development but rather strictly for congestion relief. The economic development that we should be focused on is bringing high end jobs through both corporate and personal tax relief. Less government and less taxes, I have heard this somewhere before.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Hillary Clinton said she give up some expanded executive powers:

If elected president in 2008, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton would consider giving up some of the executive powers President Bush and Vice President Cheney have assumed since taking office.

In an interview published Tuesday in Guardian America, a Web site run by the London-based Guardian newspaper, Clinton denounced the Bush Administration's push to concentrate more power in the White House as a "power grab" not supported by the Constitution.

Asked if she would consider giving up some of those powers if she were president, Clinton replied, "Oh, absolutely ... I mean, that has to be part of the review that I undertake when I get to the White House, and I intend to do that."
[...]
"There were a lot of actions which they took that were clearly beyond any power the Congress would have granted, or that in my view was inherent in the Constitution," Clinton said. "There were other actions they've taken which could have obtained Congressional authorization but they deliberately chose not to pursue it as a matter of principle."

I've already posted this article, but Radley Balko makes the case that Hillary Clinton will continue the same course that Bush has taken with regard to expanded executive powers, and argues that she will continue to seek expansion

:What about secrecy and executive power? It's difficult to see Hillary Clinton voluntarily handing back all of those extra-constitutional executive powers claimed by President Bush. Her husband's administration, for example, copiously invoked dubious "executive privilege" claims to keep from complying with congressional subpoenas and open records requests—claims the left now (correctly, in my view) regularly criticizes the Bush administration for invoking.

Hillary Clinton herself went to court to keep meetings of her Health Care Task Force secret from the public, something conservatives were quick to point out when leftists criticize Vice President Cheney's similar efforts to keep meetings of his Energy Task Force secret.

"I'm a strong believer in executive authority," Clinton said in a 2003 speech, recently quoted in The New Republic. "I wish that, when my husband was president, people in Congress had been more willing to recognize presidential authority."

That jibes with a February 2007 New York Times article on Clinton explaining her refusal to back down from her vote for the Iraq war: "Mrs. Clinton's belief in executive power and authority is another factor weighing against an apology, advisers said... she believes that a president usually deserves the benefit of the doubt from Congress on matters of executive authority."

Such is why President Bush has recently had some nice things to say about Hillary Clinton, leading some to speculate that Bush sees her as the Eisenhower to his Truman—a candidate from the opposing party who criticizes his foreign policy during the campaign, but will likely pursue a very similar policy should she be elected.

Posted by Jason at 04:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Many cities and counties hire lobbyists. It is a job many see as critical toward influencing state and federal officials. Of course that influence is intended to net pork barrel spending for Henry County. Read the February 2007 post Mr. Harper Goes to Washington. Reports showed the county initially sought funding for Nash Farm, Heritage Park's Veterans Wall and improvements to Bruton Smith Parkway.

I was prompted to check out Holland & Knight, specifically to determine how much money Henry County had paid them. Here is what I found in a ten minute internet search:

Henry County paid Holland & Knight $100,000 in 2006, and $60,000 in 2007.

Holland & Knight represents the Shailendra Group (Google "Holland & Knight"+Shailendra). This may be coincidence, but Shi Shailendra is among the most influential players in Georgia's financial and political arenas. He is also behind the proposed shopping mall on Jodeco Road.

In July 2006 The Hill reported "Henry County, Ga., turned to Holland & Knight to “secure federal appropriations for infrastructure projects,” according to the registration. You can't help but question the county's requests considering that we have the blessing to be represented by one of the most fiscally conservative members of Congress. It shows a serious lack of priorities on the part of our leadership to ask for extremely questionable pork projects.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported in March 2007:

Henry County lands an open-air retail center

The shopping center, being developed by Shailendra Group LLC in Atlanta and Bayer Properties LLC in Birmingham, is at Jodeco Road and Interstate 75 in McDonough. The 165-acre site on the southwest corner of Jodeco Road and I-75 is under contract, said Paul Shailendra, senior development manager for Shailendra Group, and the company expects to close on the land in 2008.

A conceptual plan shows two major anchor tenant pads with smaller retail space throughout, but Silverstein said the project will also include hundreds of residential units and an undetermined amount of office space. The retail space will be somewhere between 500,000 and 850,000 square feet, he said.

"Our big hurdle is getting DOT (the Georgia Department of Transportation) improvements on Jodeco Road," Shailendra said.

Phase I of The Summit Henry County will cost about $150 million to build, Silverstein said. He expects the retail portion should open in late 2010 or mid-2011.

Shailendra and Bayer's project will compete for retailers against other major shopping centers being built in Henry County, including South Point and Henry Marketplace. All three developments tout great improvements for Henry County.

What we cannot yet appreciate is the impact of hundreds of residential units, an eleven lane bridge to nowhere, and at least three SPLOST transportation projects surrounding the mall. Economic development is a function of local government. But at what cost?

While we watch major interstate improvements in Cobb, Gwinnett and Coweta counties, we must ask whether the lobbyist's efforts could have been better applied.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[As published in the Daily Herald]

The mussels in Florida waters are like mine canaries. Their role in the 'water for humans' debate provides proof and confirmation that governments are not good stewards of our natural resources.

The profit-minded drive for unmanaged development has placed North Georgia in a precarious situation. A majority of people saw it coming years ago. We have known about the 17-year lawsuit between Georgia, Florida and Alabama. We have watched clear cutting. We have seen population grow and congestion multiply. Every school system in the Metro area is hosting trailer parks.

We have heard our fearless leaders proclaim, "It's just growing pains." What will their spin be when statewide or region-wide sanctions and redistribution of water rolls over us? Will Henry County's water supply continue to be reported as 'healthy?' Other than blaming some outside force and bemoaning the situation, will any of them accept responsibility for their own role in creating the problem?

The anti-everything crowd, to which county commissioners have accused me of belonging, are dismissed by state and local authorities. But the calls for prudence are now making sense. State & local governments have never wanted to manage so-called economic development. However, they have never had a plan for both short-term profit as well as protecting natural resources.

We have regarded water resources in the same way some view the threat of terrorism. So long as I am not affected today, so long as "staff" tells me we are ok, so long as I can get a press release (or a campaign contribution) from a new development I will go along with anything, praying I am out of office before calamity strikes.

[Update] Governor Perdue's Drought Proclamation

Posted by Larry Stanley at 07:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The 3rd District Community Coalition, Inc. (3DCC, Inc.) was founded in July 2005. The membership of 3DCC is made up of citizens of Henry County’s third district, including the city of McDonough and unincorporated area of the county. 3DCC is a non-profit and non-partisan organization of concerned citizens joining together to work toward a better city and county. ”We have realized that together we can do more to effect positive change in our communities than is possible as an individual citizen.”

Many political and social forces fostered 3DCC, like an undesirable Parker Road rezoning and development. Several former N.O.P.E. participants joined the 3DCC movement. The first Wade Farm rezoning/annexation is what kicked it off about 3 years ago. The group became "official" just over 2 years ago in July 2005. There are two recent issues in which the organization was very active: Wade Farm (again) which brought scrutiny onto McDonough officials who banned recording of public meetings, and a Campground Road request for R3 zoning, wherein the developer finally withdrew his application.

What is most impressive about 3DCC is that normal folks are drawn together by their sense of community and the dangers to quality of life that fast paced development have brought. Topping the types of frustrations indicative of poor planning and growth management are:

Overcrowded schools

Required travel times due to poor roads and congestion

Developers having undue influence over city and county governments

Government’s official actions that do not represent the voters

Government decisions for spending money

Government that does not adhere to the Land Use Plan

Government that does not enforce zoning ordinances and building codes

3DCC exists to provide for the mutual association of individuals and community groups which are committed to balanced community development and to create a forum for the discussion of common issues.

The website is new and growing. Visit the site at http://www.3dcchenry.com/. Send an email to any of the officers or Ad Hoc Committee chairpersons to receive a brochure outlining specific projects and how you may get involved.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)

How awesome is this?

Alabama Governor Bob Riley has sent a letter to President Bush urging him to deny a request by Georgia's governor for a disaster declaration. The Alabama governor said such a declaration would put people and jobs in Alabama at risk.

Riley said in the letter that Georgia's request that the president order less water be released from Lake Lanier, "would be a radical step that would ignore the vital downstream interests of Alabama."

In the letter, Riley said he understands the needs of Atlanta residents, but said the state can not stand by and let Georgia to take control of the reservoir's water to the detriment of Alabamians who live and work downstream.

Posted by Jason at 06:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In two days we have gotten two mailers from the Henry County SPLOST Committee. I know some of the members and believe they truly want the best for our county.

Like all political mailers I have read and re-read this one. It is multi-color, has great graphics and has a very professional look and feel. Campaign rhetoric is mostly bovine scatology, but this mailer actually presents an accurate list of proposed projects.

It is the improvised and extemporaneously worded passages that caught my eye. For example

Let’s keep the penny working to meet the infrastructure needs of Henry County.

The mailer lists only six of the transportation projects adopted by the board of commissioners. These are the ones with highest visibility. Many millions of dollars could have been allocated to traffic mitigation. But there will NOT be ”more than 70% of revenues going toward solving our transportation problems.”

The mailer also includes eight (8) examples of ”facilities to improve our quality of life.” There will be two new senior centers, for Locust Grove and Hampton. We will have a grossly underfunded Civic Center and three new Recreation Centers so each point of Henry’s compass will have a ‘local’ venue.

And a new Soccer Complex to replace the existing soccer complex already funded and maintained by county funds. Let’s not forget the improved quality of life for all Henry Countians that a proposed multi-million dollar facility for soccer moms will bring us. Don’t be bothered by the fact the project was proposed by a contributor to a certain commissioner, or that there is nothing wrong with the current soccer venue.

A road-weary but ever present claim is

A majority of SPLOST III revenues will come from non-residents visiting our community.

Let’s keep the penny (the out-of-towner’s penny) working “to keep Henry County serving its people.”

Posted by Larry Stanley at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

In May 2006 this website featured a post about the county’s arrogant class who believe they alone are endowed by our Creator to determine best policies and the best people to represent those policies.

Over a year later we are still choosing to ignore the Chosen Ones and elect representatives of our choosing. We are still making best use of the intellect granted us by our Creator. We cannot imagine doing things any other way.

Shame on us! Somehow the majority of Henry Countians have missed the lecture series and did not get the memo.

In today’s Daily Herald we read about an ethics complaint against the City of Stockbridge. That is not so much unexpected as it is a slap against folks who are above following the rules. The Chosen Ones see any such search for honesty and integrity as a blatant personal attack – usually because such complaints are lodged against one of their own.

For example, read this quotation by Ann Almond:

Ann Almond, publisher of Stockbridge Link, said the newsletter began at the beginning of this year profiling council members and the mayor. "The newsletter comes out quarterly, and he [Evans] happened to be the last one profiled," said Almond. "This happened in random order, and it has nothing to do with the upcoming election."

Fred Evans is a candidate. And he is NOT the last councilman to be profiled. They could have chosen to profile Moon or Cochran.

The county is rife with people in office, in government jobs, or 'right' business and trade organizations who truly believe they are 'Chosen.' Stockbridge is not unique, but the city got its share! They can do no wrong - but when they do, how dare anyone call them on it. If truth seekers would just shut up, stop thinking and accept whatever we are told, then Henry really could become Stepford County!

With this personal attack I will never be re-elected to office in this state again. Of course, I have never been elected. And I have filed ethics complaints in the past. I experienced personal calls, hushed conversations and rebuttals from some Chosen Ones. Yet I remain and folks are still reading!

The truth is out there. We cannot quietly assent to rule-breaking just because the offending party is among the Chosen Ones.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

State Rep. Steve Davis gives us an update on his fundraiser, which by the way is tomorrow:

I first want to thank all of the people that have been so generous in their support for my re-election campaign! We have 20 teams set for tomorrow’s event however it is going to be hit or miss with the rain (thank God), and I just wanted to touch base with everyone.

We will have this event rain or shine!

We will play golf unless it is just a downpour, the Pro has said the course is in great shape and we can even play in a light drizzle. Registration will start at 4pm and if your ready to play before 5pm we will let you out early. We have Orthopaedic South Surgical Center as a Title Sponsor and they will be offering free Blood Pressure and Diabetes screenings, we will have a raffle and silent auction, we still have Shane’s Rib Shack catering dinner (Ribs included), and we still have the band coming out to play! Eagle’s Brooke Country Club has been generous enough to allow us to use their facility in case of bad weather! Even if we can’t play golf please come out for a nice dinner some music and some fellowship with Representative Steve Davis.

There is an impressive list of sponsorships..and I hear Glenn Richardson is going to make an appearance tomorrow.

Posted by Jason at 04:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In case you missed it...here is the transcript from last night's debate.

Posted by Jason at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A co-worker showed me this video he captured of the Union Grove High School marching band performing "The Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance:

Here is the actual song just so you can compare it...

Posted by Jason at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is another Republican debate tonight on Fox News (8pm EST). I've missed the last two or three, so I may sit down and live-blog this one.

The candidates that will be participating are: Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo and Fred Thompson.

WINNERS & LOSERS:
Winners - Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee and McCain
Giuliani, in my opinion, won the debate. He managed to hit Clinton pretty hard and he managed to voice his support for some issues that conservatives care about, such as school choice and private Social Security accounts. Romney is still managing to spin his position changes well and took his shots at Clinton as well. Huckabee is managing to hide his past record and getting along by being humorous. I'll give the guy this, he is good at communicating a message, but that message belongs to someone else and is far different from the populist crap he espouses on talk shows and what his past record is...but the crowd responded to him. McCain had one of the best reactions from the audience this evening. He managed to stay on point and took some shots at Romney and Cinton.

Losers - Paul, Tancredo, Hunter and Thompson
I'm a Ron Paul supporter, but every time he speaks...I cringe. He manages to turn every question, not matter what subject into a rant about our foreign policy. I don't disagree with him at all, but he is preaching to an audience that doesn't want to hear him. Tancredo just isn't clear. We know he is anti-immigration, but he has trouble communicating his opinion that or any other topic. Hunter needs to get out of the race. The guy is either intellectually dishonest or just doesn't understand economics. Thompson is simply not the savior that conservatives wanted. The more they find out about him, the less they support him.

DEBATE LIVE-BLOGGING:
[7:56pm] Fox News is going through the pre-debate focus group, all of whom are saying that they want another Ronald Reagan.

[7:58pm] They just gave out the text voting information. I'm going to go ahead and declare Ron Paul the winner of that. It's just a hunch I have.

[8:02pm] Brit Hume is getting it started along with Carl Cameron, Chris Wallace and Wendell Goler, as well as a welcome message from the Republican Party of Florida and Gov. Charlie Crist.

[8:04pm] The candidates are lined up like this: Tancredo, Paul, Huckabee, Giuliani, Romney, Thompson, McCain and Hunter.

[8:06pm] First question goes to Giuliani, basically asking him if he is a conservative. Giuliani answered the question very well, but avoided the questions about gun control.

[8:08pm] Romney defends his past stances on abortion and other issues.

[8:09pm] Fred Thompson is basically saying he is more conservative than Giuliani and attacks him on immigration and his past support of Mario Cuomo, a liberal Democrat.

[8:10pm] Giuliani: "Fred was the single biggest obstacle to tort reform."

[8:12pm] Thompson in defending his record on tort reform: "Local issues belong at the state level."

[8:12pm] Giuliani defends his record on immigration and his record on crime.

[8:13pm] Glad to see they are bring other candidates into the debate, but they are still playing the "who's more conservative" game.

[8:13pm] McCain had the chance to take a shot at Romney, but touted his experience and said he is running on his record.

[8:14pm] Romney: "Senator McCain is an American hero."

[8:16pm] McCain: "Governor Romney you've been spending the last year trying to fool people about you record."

[8:17pm] Tancredo, Paul, Huckabee and Hunter have still have not been asked a question.

[8:18pm] Carl Cameron asks Ron Paul about gay marriage and a proposed Constitutional amendment banning it. Dr. Paul has voted against the amending it, saying that marriage is a religious ceremony and that the states should be handling the issue and the federal government should stay out of it.

[8:20pm] Romney: "We need to have a national standard for marriage."

[8:22pm] Giuliani said that if several states, maybe five or six, begin to allow gay marriage then he would support a Constitutional amendment.

[8:24pm] Huckabee is pushing hard for the social conservative vote.

[8:26pm] Cameron asks about Thompson's past lobbying for Planned Parenthood. He said that it was part of his private law practice and wasn't an issue. He says that he went to the Senate and has a pro-life voting record.

[8:27pm] McCain urges all factions of the part to come together and support the nominee, a clear message to James Dobson and his ilk.

[8:28pm] Tancredo is citing his ratings from various organizations like the American Right to Life and the American Taxpayers Union.

[8:29pm] Goler asks McCain about his healthcare plan. He spent the first twenty seconds pointing out very valid concerns about the Democrats plans for a government takeover of the industry. McCain says, "Give the individual a $2,500 tax credit."

[8:33pm] Ron Paul says that doctors aren't happy with with the government imposed managed care. He manages to turn an answer healthcare into an attack on our foreign policy, which took away from some very good points he was making.

[8:356pm] Hunter takes on RomneyCare by pointing out the mandates involved and gets a very good point by says that one of the mandates in Massachusetts was for fertility coverage. Hunter says, "what if you're a 90 year old woman." Hunter says that mandates are driving up the cost of healthcare by 35% and voices his support for interstate health insurance plans. This marks the first time that I've agree with Duncan Hunter on anything said in anyone of of these debates.

[8:38pm] Huckabee: "When all the old hippies find out that they get free drugs, just wait to find out what that's going to cost."

[8:40pm] Tancredo took a swipe at Michael Moore. He also added, "What is the constitutional right of the federal government to get involved in the healthcare issue."

[8:40pm] I take note that there was no mention of SCHIP during the debate on healthcare.

[8:42pm] Thompson on education: "I think we need to realize the proper role of the federal govenment [in education]." He voices his support for competition...vouchers and charter schools.

[8:43pm] Giuliani is voicing his support for choice. Giuliani said, "The enforcer of standards should not be the bureaucrat in Washington. It should be the parent." He also said that education choice is the "single biggest civil rights issue that we face in America."

[8:45pm] A commercial...we've hit the halfway point.

[8:48pm] Mike Wallace brings up some of Romney's remarks about Hillary Clinton. He has compared her to Karl Marx, which I would argue isn't too far from the truth. Wallace also points out that Romney trails Clinton in the polls. Romney points out her business administrative experience, or lack thereof, and does a good job of promoting his and his business credentials. Wallace asks him if she should be commander-in-chief, the crowd emphatically replied, "No!"

[8:53pm] Giuliani says there are two things he agrees with Hillary Clinton. The first is being a Yankee fan and the second is that she has a "million ideas and the country can't afford them all." To that Giuliani said, "No kidding, Hillary. America can't afford you."

[8:54pm] McCain said, "I would much rather lose a campaign than the war." He also said, "I've have saved the American people as much as $2 billion." McCain is also taking his shots at the Woodstock Museum earmark and is getting a standing ovation from the crowd.

[8:56pm] Huckabee: "I like to be funny, but there is nothing funny about Hillary Clinton being President." The same could be said about Huckabee.

[8:57pm] Thompson brings up good points about Democrats plans to increase taxes. Thompson says, "Our basic rights come from God, not from government." He also urges the GOP not to focus on one single individual.

[8:59pm] Ron Paul points out the public disapproval on the war and points out that Hillary Clinton says the troops could be there another five years. Paul points out the loss of civil liberties and says, "Hillary Clinton offers no solution on that."

[9:02pm] Thompson: Our present spending cycle leaves us in an unsustainable position."

[9:05pm] On Social Security, Giuliani says, "I think the reality is we have to deal with Social Security." He also points out that the liability of Medicare and Medicare will be exceed the liability of Social Security within the next two decades (I believe that's what he said). Giuliani also endorsed private accounts for Social Security.

[9:07pm] The more Romney mentions his healthcare plan (the one passed in Massachusetts) the more I think he is going to try to get it passed if elected. It is ostensibly the same thing Clinton has proposed.

[9:09pm] Paul says, "The government is not good at central economic planning." He also added, "We need to allow the young people to get out of [Social Security]." Paul finished by saying that the "The Constitution does advise that we do any of that anyway." He was referring to education, Social Security and Medicare.

[9:12pm] Here goes Duncan Hunter with his protectionist rhetoric. Including matching tariffs with trading partners, something that will result in a trade war, higher prices and job loss.

[9:13pm] After listening to the ridiculous rant from Duncan Hunter on trade, Brit Hume ask him, ""Do you really believe you can solve Social Security with trade policy." Priceless.

[9:14pm] Another commercial break.

[9:17pm] McCain took a shot at Vladimir Putin, "When I looked into his eyes I saw three letters...a K-G-B." McCain said that Putin wants to rebuild the Russian empire.

[9:21pm] Giuliani says that we should expand NATO. Good God...it sounds like we're in another Cold War already.

[9:24pm] Thompson keeps looking down at his notes. I've noticed him doing it several times. I've seen no other candidate doing it.

[9:25pm] Tancredo on Nancy Pelosi: "Nancy Pelosi is a lousy Speaker of the House and an ever lousier Secretary of State." This was in response to the Armenian resolution that was introduced into the House of Representatives last week, which could have potentially strained our relationship with Turkey.

[9:26pm] Ron Paul on our foreign policy: "We don't need to go looking for trouble. We don't need another Cold War." His comments on Iraq and foreign policy this evening have not been received well.

[9:28pm] A question to Ron Paul, "Has the Republican Party left you?" Ron Paul replied by saying that Republicans have become big government conservatives. He added, "We have accepted the Democrats position on foreign policy, on entitlements..." In closing he said, "We can't even defend our own cities while prancing around the world." That got a mixed reaction.

[9:32pm] There have been a ton of references to Ronald Reagan tonight, more than any debate I've seen but the first one (which was held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library).

[9:34pm] Thompson responded to accusations that he is lazy. He went through a long list of his past jobs and accomplishments and managed to spin it very well.

[9:34pm] And...that's the end of the debate.

Posted by Jason at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Erick Erickson tells us why Mike Huckabee is a threat to the Republican Party's coalition than Rudy Giuliani:

The leaders of the social conservative movement who were present, the Arlington Group members you hear so much about, were ready and willing to get on board Romney's campaign on Saturday morning. Then Huckabee spoke. Then the straw vote was tabulated. Then they realized that were they to do so, it would put them completely out of step with their members.

The social conservatives do not want to rally around Huckabee because he is as distasteful to fiscalcons as Rudy is to socons. Even Tony Perkins, the head of FRC, said he hoped the social conservative candidate would be palatable to the fiscal conservatives out there. Huckabee is not.
[...]
The fiscal guys see the writing on the wall. They see Hillary's position. And they are just about ready to cut a deal. And then you have the Republican libertarians who are just about ready to really vote for Ron Paul, doing to the GOP in 2008 what Ralph Nader voters did for the Democrats in 2000.

Huckabee breaks the coalition more than Giuliani because the socons fear Hillary more than the fiscalcons do. And that is why we won't see too many of the socon leaders rallying to the clear favorite of the socon base.

[UPDATE] I've cross posted this at The Liberty Papers. Ironically, the post before this one over at TLP shows the results of a recent Zogby poll of who voters would never vote for. Damn you, Doug Mataconis!!!

Posted by Jason at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mortgage foreclosures are hitting Clayton County hard:

About 8 percent of Clayton's homes with mortgages were hit with a foreclosure action between the beginning of 2006 and mid-2007, according to a Journal-Constitution analysis of foreclosure statistics compiled by Equity Depot.

The problem was even more severe in the portion of Clayton County that includes Enchanted Forest [the main subdivision feature in the article]. In those neighborhoods, about 11 percent of homes with mortgages have faced a foreclosure sale, according to the newspaper's study.

These neighborhoods and Clayton County as a whole are vulnerable because high-risk, "subprime" mortgages blanket these communities on Atlanta's southside. More than half of Clayton County residents who used a conventional mortgage lender to buy a house in 2005 or 2006 ended up with a subprime loan, according to federal mortgage lending statistics reviewed by the newspaper.

Posted by Jason at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

In case you missed it...here is the 20/20 report on global warming:

[UPDATE] Added complete segment.

Posted by Jason at 11:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

9/11 Truthers invade Real Time with Bill Maher (language warning)...

Posted by Jason at 06:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sonny Perdue declares a state of emergency in Georgia:

Gov. Sonny Perdue on Saturday declared the drought-stricken northern part of Georgia a natural disaster, then asked President Bush to do the same.

Perdue, standing at the top of three closed boat ramps at a news conference at Lake Lanier, publicly requested a federal disaster declaration to help 85 Georgia counties combat the worst drought in state history.

His remarks came a day after Perdue lawyers asked a federal judge to force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the release of Lake Lanier waters to Florida until March 1.

As part of Perdue's request to Bush, the governor is seeking for a statewide exemption from federal guidelines that dictate the amount of water sent downstream from Georgia's reservoirs.

The governor claims the amount of water the corps sends downstream is about double what Mother Nature would provide to federally protected mussels living in Florida's Apalachicola River.

"The actions of the Army Corps of Engineers and the Fish and Wildlife Service are not only irresponsible, they are downright dangerous," Perdue said Saturday. "And I will not stand for this negligence."

The state's disaster declaration covers 85 counties, most of them in northern Georgia.

Posted by Jason at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Your vote is your voice in the governance of your city, county, state and country. As a citizen, you declare your rights and privileges with your vote. Contrary to popular belief, one vote - your vote - does make a difference.

Henry County will hold a Special Election on November 6, 2007 for the continuation of the County SPLOST. Read the SPLOST Ballot here.

The 2007 Municipal Elections for all four cities will be on November 6. The County Board of Elections and Registration will manage the Cities of Stockbridge, McDonough and Hampton. Locust Grove will be handling its own Municipal Election, but will have County voting units available during early voting for the SPLOST.

Read Election Ballots for

Hampton & SPLOST Revision
Henry County SPLOST
McDonough (Rev. at large)
McDonough (Dist. III & Rev. at large)
McDonough (Dist. IV & Rev. at large)
Stockbridge

Absentee Voting: A voter who requests an absentee ballot by mail is not required to provide a reason why he or she is voting absentee. There are conditions for Absentee Voting in person. Get more details.

Early voting will be held from Monday, October 28 through Friday, November 2 at the following times and locations:

City of McDonough
Elections and Registration Office
66 Veterans Drive
McDonough, GA 7am - 7pm

City of Stockbridge
City Hall
4545 North Henry Blvd
Stockbridge, GA 8am - 5pm

City of Hampton
City Hall
17 East Main Street
Hampton, GA 9am - 5pm

City of Locust Grove
City Hall
3644 Highway 42
Locust Grove, GA 8am - 5pm

Posted by Larry Stanley at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bennett will begin a new job in Fayette County in November. As reported by FayetteFrontPage.com, Fayette County Votes 5-0 to Hire Attorney

By unanimous vote, the Board authorized the appointment of Scott Bennett to the newly created position of fulltime staff attorney. Mr. Bennett, currently a resident of Henry County, will leave his position as Attorney for the City of McDonough to begin his job with Fayette County on November 12.

Citizens called for removal of McDonough City Attorney Scott Bennett after he made a mistake and gave the council incorrect advice about recording public meetings. As previously reported:

The city of McDonough has decided to kill its resolution, dated July 16, banning video-recording equipment at city council, board of zoning appeals, planning commission and historic preservation meetings.

“We can’t do it by state law,” said McDonough City Attorney Scott Bennett. “This was my mistake, the council was acting on what I told them,” he said.

Others maintain the problem resides with city council members, and that Bennett simply "fell on his sword" for them as an attorney a loyal employee should. Let's look very closely at the McDonough City Council. Recall the council vote was 4 - 2 in favor banning the recordings. The departure of Bennett is a good first step.

From an earlier post:

From the start I doubted whether Mr. Bennett actually provided advice and approval to violate the OCGA. If, in fact, he did so it would prove his lack of competence to represent a municipality in this state.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 06:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This is kind of old, but reason.tv has video of reason magazine editor, Nick Gillespie, talking about the religious right and other topics...

Posted by Jason at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

I'm glad to see that someone destroyed this monument to a murderer:

A glass monument to revolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara was shot up and destroyed less than two weeks after it was unveiled by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's government.

Images of the 8-foot-tall glass plate bearing Guevara's image, now toppled and shattered, were shown Friday on state television, which said the entire country "repudiated" the vandalism.[...]
Police said they had yet to identify those responsible. The Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional published a copy of what it said was a flier found by the monument signed by the previously unknown "Paramo Patriotic Front."

"We don't want any monument to Che, he isn't an example for our children," the flier read. It called Guevara a "cold-blooded killer" and said the government should raise a monument in Chavez's hometown of Sabaneta, in the nearby lowland plains, if it wants to commemorate the Argentine-born revolutionary.

I'll stop before I say something that'll get me in trouble.

H/T: Instapundit

Posted by Jason at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Senator David Shafer gives us some good news...sort of:

The AJC today reported the good news that Lake Lanier holds more water than originally believed. But before you relax with a long shower, read beyond the headline. The operations manager for the Army Corps of Engineers has clarified that instead of running out of water in 81 days, “we can can still supply enough water for us to live on for at least several months.”

Earlier in the week, an AJC guest columnist urged that Corps continue pumping water down the Chattahoochee River, arguing that the “mussels should not be sacrificied” because of poor planning by humans. He makes worthwhile points about the importance of conservation and managing growth, but misses the larger point that the both humans and mussel are facing the same immediate danger — drought. Lake Lanier is an artificial reservoir, constructed by the humans. That reservoir is now being drained by the Corps of Engineers for the benefit of the mussels. It is human planning that is saving the mussel, not endangering it. And frankly, that makes little sense, if done to the detriment of the humans.

Posted by Jason at 08:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

[Note: This post was not requested by the candidate - it's just the right thing to do]

As the campaign season heats up all the blogs and email lists are burning with messages saying Vote For Somebody. This post is about our own Joshua Patterson, candidate for Hampton City Council.

Josh sent an email message a few days ago that proves his dedication. During the years I have worked on and around city campaigns in Henry, a commonly overlooked fact remains: A city council member cannot work in a vacuum, and countywide support builds a needed network.

Whether you reside in Hampton is not the question. If you want to see good government throughout the county, you should help good people get elected!

Posted by Larry Stanley at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

[Posted by request]

I find it interesting that in its mission statement, the City talks about communication and yet the very vehicle that is designed to communicate, The Stockbridge Link. There is no mention of when the city council meets. There is also no mention of the Urban Redevelopment Agency which meets in public session on the Thursday prior to the Council meeting on the 2nd Monday of the month.

This is the agency that condemned the Meeks flower shop under eminent domain and is responsible for overseeing the city hall - city center project........... Rather uncommunicative in my book. The Urban Redevelopment Authority will be discussing 2007 budget amendments and the 2008 budget at its next public session. I hope some citizens will be there. They are spending $36,000,000 of our money in 2007. This is probably the only notice you will see.

The statement also talks about "Quality, visible state-of-the-art services..." If you've been to the city's website www.cityofstockbridge.com you know that it is anything but state of the art. The web administrator is a part-time computer instructor and while I'm sure he knows his business, the city doesn't understand how to use what he can create. A recent visit to the site revealed that the LPGA tournament was still on the calendar and Terrell Starr was still our state senator (Gail Davenport was elected in 2006).

It's time for a change ... It Time for New Directions

Vote early 10/29/07 to 11/2/07 at Stockbridge City Hall. It's one stop voting for City elections and County SPLOST

Kathy Gilbert
Candidate, Stockbridge City Council

Posted by Larry Stanley at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As posted on www.steve-davis.org/blog:

The Georgia Christian Alliance (GCA) has released its 2007 legislative scorecard on "issues critical to the family."

"I am proud of my voting record and delighted to have this rating. These are some of the most important issues that face Georgia and its families," Rep. Davis said.

The scores featured in the document were based on how Georgia's 236 state legislators voted on eleven bills that were either supported or opposed by the GCA. Those eleven bills were (all were supported by the Georgia Christian Alliance):

• HB 67 (2005) Benefits to Unmarried Persons
• HB 197 (2005) Woman's Right to Know)
• SB 429 (2006) Ultrasound 1
• SB 529 (2006) Georgia Security/Immigration Compliance Act
• SB 10 (2007) Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act
• SB 15 (2007) Driver's License Requirements
• SB 23 (2007) Legality of Prisoners’ Status in US
• SB 38 (2007) Legal Driver's License in order to Purchase License Plate
• SB 148 (2007) Saving the Cure Act
• HB 147 (2007) Woman's Ultrasound Right to Know Act 2
• HB 185 (2007) Death Penalty; Jury Findings

Posted by Larry Stanley at 05:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

John Stossel will tackle the topic of global warming tonight on 20/20 (ABC - 8pm EST):

The globe is warming, it's our fault and the consequences are going to be terrible. So goes the rhetoric spouted by politicians, celebrities and the media.

It's hard to turn on the TV or open a newspaper these days without hearing about the horrors caused by our warming climate. We can expect more floods, droughts, hurricanes and tornadoes as global warming continues, and pretty soon we'll have to flee from the coasts as the polar ice caps melt and our shorelines flood.
[...]
In all the confusion surrounding the global warming debate, one thing is clear: Global warming activists don't welcome the skepticism.

Those who call their extreme projections into question are compared with Holocaust deniers and accused of being paid off by big business. I've questioned the extreme global warming predictions in the past, and for that I've been branded a "corporate toadie" and a "flat-earther." I don't mind being called names, but is this what the global warming debate has come to? One side saying, "Shut up. Dissent should not be heard?"

The truth is, that while everyone agrees that the earth has warmed, lots of good scientists don't agree that it's mostly our fault, and don't agree that it's going to be a catastrophe. So when Gore says, "The debate is over," I say, "Give Me a Break!"

Posted by Jason at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Mel Martinez is out as RNC chairman:

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) resigned Friday as general chairman of the Republican National Committee, leaving all top-level leader duties for the embattled GOP to Mike Duncan, the current chairman.

Martinez, who took the job nine months ago as the public face of the national GOP, stepped down during a tough time for the Republican Party, out of power on Capitol Hill and trying to gain traction in the national campaign under the shadow of an unpopular, lame-duck president. Martinez, who publicly parted ways with GOP congressional leaders earlier this year on immigration issues, will not be replaced as general chairman.

Republican sources say there were two key factors in Martinez's departure. First, he's facing a much tougher than expected re-election race for his Senate seat in 2010 and believes he needs to focus more on taking care of his political and policy priorities in Florida. According to a Quinnipiac University poll released in July, Martinez had an approval rating of 37 percent in Florida, the lowest since he was elected.

Posted by Jason at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You know, the "What, me worry?" kid** from Mad magazine. In late 1956, Neuman's identity became fixed, when he appeared on the cover of Mad #30 as a write-in candidate for the Presidency. Since his unsuccessful run in 1956, he has periodically been re-offered as a candidate for President with the slogan, "You could do worse... and always have!"

Considering Neuman's ubiquity as a cover boy, his persona may remind folks of Mr. Harper's refusal to be fazed by objections to his advertising SPLOST III.

The county-produced and published video gained attention earlier at this blog and in the Daily Herald . Interpretation of the law provided plausible deniability and Mr. Harper replied, "Neither the video nor its content violate any state law." Isn't that just like a lawyer to skirt the intent and find wiggle room?

The Association of County Commissioners publishes a Guide (with cited legal precedents) and specifically covered this topic:

Local officials may use county or municipal funds to prepare descriptions of the SPLOST proposal and the impact of the SPLOST projects on the county and its citizens. It is critical, however, that such descriptions not express an opinion regarding the SPLOST proposal or advocate which way a person should vote.

Today's Daily Herald headline reads, County chairman urges support for SPLOST III. Jason Harper, chairman of the Henry County Board of Commissioners urged citizens to get out and vote for the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum at a Henry County Chamber of Commerce business booster's luncheon.

"It is imperative that we pass SPLOST III. If it fails because we don't turn out and vote, potentially $50 million will be lost each year that it is not in place," said Harper.

Mr. Harper did not appear before the Chamber as a private citizen. He was not exercising his right as a private citizen to express a viewpoint. No, he appeared at a public gathering as Chairman of the Board of Commissioners. In a strict sense, county funds were used because he was on the payroll and represented himself as the Chairman.

What, me worry? ......... It's not illegal.

** Thanks to Wikipedia for background information, and to Chairman Harper for keeping Alfred's persona alive.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

This is hilarious:

Nearly one whole week has passed and I have yet to hear a single candidate from any party say word one about the pressing, clawing, biting issue of the Undead.

Thirty-four billion dollars, in tax cuts Prime Minister?

I call that bull talk from a one-eyed fat man! That's money could-a been much better spent on bite resistant Kevlar body armour for our brave troops on the front line of the undeclared war against the walking dead.
[...]
Their official response to the zombiepocalypse is to dab a jasmine scented hemp tissue at their big teary eyes ask what have we done to make the Undead hate us so much.

I got some sour news for you, Saint Bob. They don't hate us. They love us, but only because we're so tasty, especially our heads, which are like big meaty bons bons, all hard and chewy on the outside but with such delicious gooey centres.

At least George Bush understands the threat:

Posted by Jason at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some Congressmen are objecting the use of Chinese steel for the fence along our Southern border (which I object to):

“By allowing the use of Chinese pipe, DHS is allowing the U.S. taxpayer to subsidize Chinese production at the expense of the American workers,” Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.) said at a press conference. “This is completely unacceptable.”

“This is outrageous, it’s offensive and it’s unacceptable,” charged Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.).

“It is beyond outrageous that we’re using Chinese steel to build a border fence to protect us against illegal immigration,” said Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), who also joined the press conference.

GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Duncan Hunter (Calif.), who authored a bill signed into law last year mandating 850 miles of fence along the border, said DHS should have gone to U.S. producers to procure any necessary steel or pipe.

“The Department of Homeland Security has, the last time I checked, $800 million cash on hand available to build the border fence. So they don’t have to go and get cut-rate deals to build the border fence,” Hunter said. U.S. pipe-makers can “easily” supply the products necessary for the fence, he insisted.

Does the American steel industry need the help? It's enjoyed an unprecedented run of success since 2004 -- partly because the federal government helped bail the industry out of its overly generous pensions. US steel companies enjoyed record revenues and profits in 2006. Why aren't we treating steel like oil -- and imposing windfall profit taxes on the industry, to punish it for taking advantage of a highly-regulated market to gouge domestic consumers? After all, high steel prices damage the competitiveness of American industries that depend on steel -- such as autos. Aren't we trying to help the American auto industry?

More importantly, isn't there a strong public interest in ensuring that American taxpayers get the most 'bang for the buck' when it comes to spending their hard-earned tax dollars? Don't we want to buy the most border fence we can with limited revenues? Democrats are livid about deficit spending to fund the war in Iraq; why do they want us to add to the federal deficit to purchase more expensive steel from producers enjoying record profits?

I better not see any of these Members of Congress issuing press releases complaining that federal agencies are wasting taxpayer dollars, given that they favor wasting it here.

Posted by Jason at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alright readers, it's that time of the week again. Time for this week's picks. But before I give you the games, here are last week's standings:

Jason--13 Points
Jace--9 Points
Doug--7 points

Without further ado, here are this weeks lines and picks:

Florida (14) @ Kentucky (8)
Line: Florida -7
My Pick: Florida will win and will cover the spread.

Michigan (24) @ Illinois
Line: Michigan -3
My Pick: Illinois will win and will reverse the spread.

Tennessee (20) @ Alabama
Line: Alabama -1
My Pick: Tennessee will win and will reverse the spread.

Texas Tech (22) @ Missouri (15)
Line: Missouri -3.5
My Pick: Missouri will win and will cover the spread.

Auburn (18) @ LSU (5)
Line: LSU -11
My Pick: LSU will win but will not cover the spread.

BONUS WORTH (3) POINTS:
Correctly predict the number of points USC will score against Notre Dame.
My Prediction: 28

Once more, let's recap the scoring rules:

(1) One point is awarded for correctly picking the winner
(2) Three additional points are awarded for correctly picking an upset winner
(3) Two points are awarded for correctly predicting the spread coverage
(4) Three points are awarded to whoever comes closest to predicting the number of points USC will score against Notre Dame
(5) This is for bragging rights only

Have a good weekend. Go Dawgs! Oh wait, we're idle.

Posted by Jace Walden at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Josh Lanier is exploring a run for the Democratic nomination for US Senate:

Vietnam vet and business executive Josh Lanier of Statesboro, a former staffer for Herman Talmadge, has announced the formation of an exploratory committee as a prelude to a run for the U.S. Senate.

Lanier put out the press release late Wednesday. He’s promising a “clean campaign,” and so is restricting donations to $100.

Posted by Jason at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is a list of candidate for President of the United States. I've listed the two major parties and the Libertarian candidates. These three parties will appear on the ballot in Georgia next November. The Green Party is not listed because they do not have ballot access in the state, nor does any other third party out side the LP. If an independent jumps in I'll come back and add them.

Don't forget the primary is February 5th. Pick your candidate wisely and please do your research before you cast your vote.

Republican:

• Sam Brownback
• Jim Gilmore
• Rudy Giuliani
• Mike Huckabee
• Duncan Hunter
• John McCain
• Ron Paul
• Mitt Romney
• Tom Tancredo
• Fred Thompson
• Tommy Thompson

Democratic:

• Joe Biden
• Hillary Clinton
• Chris Dodd
• John Edwards
• Mike Gravel
• Dennis Kucinich
• Barack Obama
• Bill Richardson

Libertarian:

• Bob Barr

Posted by Jason at 08:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The United States Senate has defunded the Woodstock (NY) Museum:

Hippies used to say if you remember Woodstock, you weren't really there. Republicans say presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton can forget about getting $1 million in taxpayer funds for a Woodstock museum.

Clinton and Charles Schumer, Democratic senators from New York, want to earmark the federal money for a museum that would commemorate the 1969 music festival in their state.

"Woodstock Museum is a shining example of what's wrong with Washington on pork-barrel, out-of-control spending," said John McCain, Arizona senator and Republican presidential hopeful. An example, he said, of "the earmark pork-barrel spending which has made the American people disenchanted and angry."

Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., were trying Thursday to strip the Woodstock earmark from a massive health and education spending bill on the Senate floor. Democrats moved to kill their effort, but Republicans won a key 52-42 vote — seeping with presidential politics — signaling the Clinton-Schumer earmark would soon be gone.

Five Democrats voted against the Woodstock provision. So did old-school GOP members of the Appropriations Committee who had on prior occasions voted against conservative criticism of senators' earmarks.
[...]
Billionaire Alan Gerry is the force behind the project. He and his family have contributed almost $30,000 to Clinton and a committee headed by Schumer dedicated to electing Democrats to the Senate.

Gerry is a longtime major political donor. The contributions — $20,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $9,200 to Clinton's presidential campaign — came just days after the earmark was inserted into the legislation.

By the way, the title of the Fox News article is hilarious...Hippie Museum Funding Proposed by Hillary Clinton Shot Down in Senate. Relax...the CNN article called it a "Hippie Museum" too (both articles are from the AP).

H/T: Club for Growth

Posted by Jason at 06:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

As seen at the AJC:

The following AJC listings do not include Locust Grove. The hot race down South is for mayor, pitting 85-year old incumbent Lorene Lindsey against 17-year veteran councilman Keith Boone. CV says unplanned annexation and high density development will send Lindsey packing. Pundit's Pick: Keith Boone will win.

Hampton City Council At-large

In Hampton seven (7) people are running for only three seats. If you believe some blogs Arley Lowe wins the "Most Attacked for Being Conservative" award. So Pundit's Pick says Arley will win one of those seats. Newcomer Joshua Patterson looks good for a new face & new ideas that Hampton needs.

Pundit's Pick says former Councilman Roger Pruitt will stage a comeback. If you read/see the news about taping public meetings, annexation and crazy zoning it's a good bet incumbent Smith will say bye-bye. It's time Smith returned to contracting for developers instead of voting for them.

Pundit's Pick says Mike Warren will win. Warren is a man of sincerity, modesty and openness with conservative ideas. If you read/see the news about taping meetings, cronyism or conflict of interest it's a good bet incumbent Brown will say bye-bye.

Pundit's Pick is scratching his head. Three people in the race. The Butterfly House Lady Gail Notti may win re-election.

Five people running for three seats. Pundit's Pick says Kathryn R. "Kathy" Gilbert is sure to win a seat. Incumbent Evans getting a little campaign help from a City publication (and an ethics complaint for his trouble) may send him packing. (This Pundit hopes all Stockbridge incumbents and their 'chosen heirs' are sent packing!)

Pundit's Pick says it will pass. How could it fail with so much County and Private advertising?

Posted by Larry Stanley at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Wait times for medical services grow longer in Canada:

Canadians waited longer than they have in more a decade for non-emergency surgery this year, despite a multi-billion-dollar effort by governments to speed up medical care, according to a controversial think-tank report released yesterday.

The average wait between being referred to a specialist and receiving an elective operation was 18.3 weeks in 2006, up from 17.8 the year previous, concluded the conservative Fraser Institute in its annual look at medical backlogs. That is the longest delay recorded since the institute began studying the issue 17 years ago.
[...]
[The survery] found that the time between being referred by a general practitioner and seeing a specialist grew to 9.2 weeks from 8.8 weeks in 2006, while the second stage of waiting -- between seeing the specialist and getting the operation -- edged up from nine to 9.1 weeks.

Waits in the internal medicine specialty, gynecology, urology and radiation oncology were all up by varying amounts, the institute concluded.

Posted by Jason at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The House could not override a presidential veto of the SCHIP program:

The bill had bipartisan support but the 273-156 roll call was 13 votes short of the two-thirds that majority supporters needed to enact the bill into law over Bush's objections. The bill had passed the Senate with a veto-proof margin.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program now subsidizes health care insurance coverage for about 6 million children at a cost of about $5 billion a year. The vetoed bill would have added 4 million more children, most of them from low-income families, to the program at an added cost of $7 billion annually.

Two Georgia Congressman, Tom Price and Phil Gingrey, are proposing reauthorization, not expansion, but with some new ideas. The following is part of a press release from Gingrey's office:

“I have joined my good friend and fellow Georgia physician, Congressman Tom Price, to introduce the More Children, More Choices Act of 2007. This plan will uphold SCHIP’s promise to cover children living under 200% of the poverty level, while offering tax credits to families falling between 200%-300% of the federal poverty level to assist with purchasing private health coverage that best meets their needs. Through this legislation, we can ensure that poor children have the health care they need, and offer more choices for working families throughout the nation. It’s time for the Democratic leadership in Congress to stop hiding behind our children, and to start acting like the legislators the American people expect them to be.”

The bill would reauthorizes SCHIP to cover children at 200% from the poverty level, the original intent of the legislation.

More information on this can be found at RedState.

Posted by Jason at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The State of Texas is making open government a priority:

Texas this month joined a handful of states and the federal government in posting detailed financial information on the Internet. Anyone with strong eyeballs and an investigative spirit now can search for pork or find out if their neighbor's business sells widgets to the state.

The "Where The Money Goes" feature on the comptroller's Web site — at www.window.state.tx.us — is the result of legislation by a group of thirtysomething, tech-savvy lawmakers.

Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, a technology consultant who founded the first company to register voters online, wrote the bill that required the online database.

He modeled it after federal legislation passed last year. Texas joins Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Hawaii and Missouri in setting up searchable spending sites.

And...despite the hard time we give Glenn Richardson, he is promising to implement zero-based budgeting next year and he should be given credit for that.

If you ever get a chance to read the state budget in each section you will see one word..."continuation." The legislature renews a budget each year with really knowing what they are spending it on. Even the Speaker acknowledges that "[he doesn't] know what we’re going to find."

Another thing the legislature should do is require the legislator asking for a Local Assistance Grant to put his name next to the earmark in order to provide some sort of transparency and open government to the citizens of this state.

Posted by Jason at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Sam Brownback (I like to refer to him as "Brownback Mountain" because of his obsession with homosexuality) is about to drop out of the presidential race:

Trouble raising money was a main reason for his decision, said one person close to Brownback, who requested anonymity because the candidate had not yet announced his plans.

Brownback, a lesser-known conservative contender, is expected announce his withdrawal in Topeka, Kan.
[...]
Brownback had raised a little more than $800,000 from July through September and around $4 million overall. He is eligible for $2 million in federal matching funds.

Posted by Jason at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Here are this week's Top 25 as voted on by the readers and writers at JasonPye.com:

(1) South Florida--147 Points, 2 First Place Votes
(2) LSU--139 Points, 2 First Place Votes
(3) Boston College--133 Points
(4) Oklahoma--129 Points
(5) South Carolina--119 Points
(6) Kentucky--118 Points
(7) Ohio State--117 Points, 2 First Place Votes
(8) West Virginia--107 Points
(9) Oregon--97 Points
(10) California--94 Points
(11) Virginia Tech-92 Points
(12) Arizona State--89 Points
(13) Florida--83 Points
(14) USC--80 Points
(15) Hawaii--61 Points
(16) Missouri--53 Points
(17) Auburn--52 Points
(18) Kansas--51 Points
(19) Tennessee--43 Points
(20) Texas--36 Points
(21) Georgia--26 Points
(22) Cincinnati--22 Points
(23) Texas Tech--21 Points
(24) Virginia--17 Points
(25) Michigan--10 Points

Also Receiving Votes: Illinois (8), Penn State (6), Wisconsin (6), Boise State (4), Rutgers (3)

Posted by Jace Walden at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Michael Cannon provides a list of problems with SCHIP:

SCHIP does a bad job of targeting assistance. About 60 percent of children currently eligible for SCHIP already have private health insurance, while 77 percent of those targeted by this expansion (i.e., children between 200-300 percent of the federal poverty level) already have private health insurance.

SCHIP covers four uninsured children for the price of ten. Economists Jonathan Gruber and Kosali Simon estimate that, in effect, 60 percent of children covered by SCHIP expansions already had private coverage.
[...]
Like Medicaid, SCHIP makes private coverage less affordable for people outside the program. Under Medicaid (and therefore SCHIP) rules, the government agrees to pay a percentage of what drug makers charge private payers. Economists have found that manufacturers respond by raising prices for private purchasers an estimated 15 percent.
[...]
Eliminating SCHIP and letting people purchase coverage from out-of-state is a better alternative. The latter would enable families to avoid unnecessary regulatory costs, which the Congressional Budget Office puts at about 15 percent of health premiums. That would benefit SCHIP-targeted families most of all. And it would do so without raising anyone’s taxes, showering subsidies on non-needy families, pulling families into a low-wage trap, or increasing the cost of private insurance. As for eliminating SCHIP, when Congress cut non-citizen immigrants from the Medicaid rolls, contrary to all predictions the number of uninsured non-citizen immigrants actually fell. Why wouldn’t SCHIP families, who are more affluent, fare even better?

Posted by Jason at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

With Johnny Isakson expected to run for Governor in 2010, rumors are already circulating around about his replacement...Lynn Westmoreland, Sonny Perdue and now...Jack Kingston:

The Savannah Morning News is quoting a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston as saying the coastal congressman would “certainly take a serious look’ at running for the U.S. Senate in 2010 if Republican incumbent Johnny Isakson decided to run for governor.

Kingston has passed on a Senate contest before. But spokesman Rob Asbell said that the fact that the Republican congressman’s four kids are nearly grown has changed Kingston’s domestic calculations. Kingston’s youngest is now a junior in high school.

“By 2010, there won’t be any kids in the house,” Asbell said.

Posted by Jason at 08:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gena Abraham edged out State Rep. Vance Smith to become the newest GDOT commissioner:

Gena Lester Abraham was named Wednesday as Georgia commissioner of transportation, making her the first woman ever to hold the state's top transportation post, officials said.

Abraham will become DOT's 14th commissioner, overseeing 5,800 employees statewide and over $2 billion annual agency budget, the department said in a news release.

"There were several great candidates and it was a tough decision but Gena's experience and management discipline are extraordinary,'' board chairman Mike Evans said in a statement. "The Department faces many challenges and I know Gena has the ability to face them head on. I have every confidence that she will be able to shape a bright future for transportation in this state.''
[...]
Abraham was appointed by Perdue in February 2006 as state property officer and has served as the executive secretary and the director of the Construction Division of the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission since June 2003.

Before that she was an assistant professor of construction engineering and management in the Civil Engineering Department at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Posted by Jason at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Kathy Gilbert has filed an ethics complaint against the City of Stockbridge:

This complaint is filed in compliance with State Ethics Commission Rule 189-2-.03 and alleges that the City of Stockbridge and Fred Evans have violated state law OCGA 21-5-30.2, Ethics in Government Act, by financing, producing and publishing through use of city funds, personnel and resources a publication that promotes an incumbent city councilman’s campaign for re-election.

Fred Evans, Councilman and candidate is profiled on page 3 of The Stockbridge Link, a publication of the City of Stockbridge, Georgia that is distributed via U.S. Mail to city residents. Mr. Evans is an incumbent and a candidate in the municipal election that will be held on November 6, 2007 at Stockbridge City Hall. No other candidates are mentioned in this publication that is published by the City. This is a clear violation of the above referenced Ethics in Government Act provision and affords Mr. Evans preferential treatment detrimental to the other candidates in this election.

Posted by Jason at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

According to a Gallup poll the public supports the veto of SCHIP:

Slim majorities back two positions at the core of the president's opposition to the expansion:

•52% agree with Bush that most benefits should go to children in families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level — about $41,000 for a family of four. Only 40% say benefits should go to such families earning up to $62,000, as the bill written by Democrats and some Republicans would allow.

•55% are very or somewhat concerned that the program would create an incentive for families to drop private insurance. Bush and Republican opponents have called that a step toward government-run health care.
[...]
"For most Americans, there's a recognition that people at moderate income levels are struggling to afford health insurance," said Mark McClellan, former administrator of the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs. "They're just not sure that having the government pay almost all of the cost is the way to solve the problem."

Democrats, labor unions and liberal advocacy groups have been running TV and radio ads in more than 20 congressional districts in an effort to sway Republicans' votes. So far, the campaign has not made a difference.

H/T: Free Market Cure

Posted by Jason at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I love campaigns. It's always a good time of the year to find little gems like this scattered all over the internet. Here's Rudy "9/11" Giuliani, explaining what it took to be elected "America's Mayor".

For the record, Rudy is a gun-banning fraud who milks 9/11 for political gain, when all he did was pose for photo ops and take credit for the bravery of other people.

Posted by Jace Walden at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Army Corps of Engineers will not stop releasing water from Lake Lanier:

Despite the threat of legal action by Gov. Sonny Perdue, the Army Corps of Engineers says it has no plans to reduce the release of water from Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona.

Army Major Darren Payne tells WSB's Pete Combs the Corps is required by law to send water down the Chattahoochee River to protect endangered wildlife, power plants and water needs along the river.

"At the moment there's not a whole lot we can do," said Payne. Gov. Perdue has given the Corps a deadline of today to respond to the state's demand to reduce the amount of water, under the threat of legal action.

Payne says the Corps will continue to release 2 billion gallons of water a day.

"We cannot deviate without some action being taken on the endangered species act or special legislation," said Payne.

The bill would apply nationally, but Georgia lawmakers particularly hoped to stop the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' practice of releasing water from Georgia lakes to protect threatened mussels and sturgeon downstream in Florida.

The bill will probably face strong resistance if it advances. But in a rare show of bipartisan unity, Georgia's lawmakers rallied around it as a "common sense" solution to the state's persistent drought.

Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Moultrie said Georgia's water is being restricted to "protect a handful of mussels and sturgeon," leading people to wonder whether Congress cares more about animals than human beings.

"This is a crisis," added Rep. John Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat.

Posted by Jason at 07:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The House of Representatives has approved the internet tax moratorium:

The House on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a four-year extension of a moratorium on state and local taxes on Internet access, despite widespread support in both parties for a permanent ban.

The tax ban, first passed in 1998, is set to expire on Nov. 1. The extension exempts some states that approved taxes prior to the original enactment.

The vote was 405-2.
[...]
The Senate, which must act next on the legislation, has "in many ways made it clear that a permanent moratorium would be dead on arrival," [Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC)] said. Without quick action, the ban was in danger of expiring before new legislation could pass, he said.

Watt said the bill also will allow lawmakers to make changes as needed, as has occurred the two times the moratorium has been extended since 1998.

Action is uncertain in the Senate, where there is also considerable support for a permanent tax ban.

Posted by Jason at 06:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been working on list of candidates for next year's Congressional elections, this is what I've been able to find so far. Most of it came from Politics1.

There are no changes in Congressional districts this year. You can view last year's results here or here. My initial impression is that Democrats will have a tough time unseating any Republicans considering the fact that no Republican member of the Congressional delegation received less than 67% of the vote in 2006 and Democrats in the special election in the 10th District collectively pulled in just over 28% just a few months ago and failed to get a candidate in the runoff, which is worse than they did in the district in 2006. Perhaps beating Jim Whitehead was their victory.

I'm not saying that Democrats can't win in any Republican controlled district, anything is possible, but you have to be realistic about their chances. It doesn't look good.

Paul Broun may lose his bid for re-election in the primary as he goes up against the establishment candidate. I hate for the guy but the odds are against him, but on the other hand the odd were against him this year too.

Jim Marshall and John Barrow are probably going to be safe simply because the NRCC is going to be defending seat of retiring Republicans and the quality of the candidates going up against them is poor at best.

Speaking of Jim Marshall...he should win any challenge from a candidate to the left of him. If he should lose, and this is only a hypothetical because I just don't see it happening, the district will be a Republican pick-up. Democrats should hold their nose and support Marshall if they want the seat to stay out of Republican hands.

Incumbents are listed in italics and potential candidates have this * next to their names. This is by no means a final list. I'll be adding to it until the primaries in July.


United States Senate (Class II)
- Saxby Chambliss (R)
- Jim Martin (D)
- Allen Buckley (L)


United States House of Representatives
First District...
- Jack Kingston (R)
- Bill Gillespie


Second District...
- Sanford Bishop (D)
- Lee Ferrell (R)


Third District...
- Lynn Westmoreland (R)
- Stephen Camp (D)


Fourth District...
- Hank Johnson (D)


Fifth District...
- John Lewis (D)


Sixth District...
- Tom Price (R)
- Bill Jones (D)


Seventh District...
- John Linder (R)
Doug Heckman (D)


Eighth District...
- Jim Marshall (D)
- Rick Goddard (R)


Ninth District...
- Nathan Deal (R)
- Jeff Scott (D)


Tenth District...
- Paul Broun (R)
- Bobby Saxon (D)


Eleventh District...
- Phil Gingrey (R)
- Bud Gammon (D)


Twelfth District...
- John Barrow (D)
- John Stone (R)



Thirteenth District...
- David Scott (R)
- Deborah Honeycutt (D)

Posted by Jason at 06:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If you are a NASCAR fan then you should take offense to this:

It started last month, when an official with the House Committee on Homeland Security suggested that staff aides get immunizations before visiting health facilities at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway and North Carolina's Lowe's Motor Speedway, where the Bank of America 500 was run Saturday.

In an e-mail, a Democratic staffer who works for committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson noted an "unusual need for whomever attending to be vaccinated against hepatitis A and B," as well as "the more normal things — tetanus, diphtheria, and of course, seasonal influenza."

The note didn't explain why the committee saw such concern. It didn't mention NASCAR or the races at the tracks at all. But the implication was enough to draw a snarky complaint from Republican Rep. Robin Hayes, whose district includes Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"I have never heard of immunizations for domestic travel, and ... I feel compelled to ask why the heck the committee feels that immunizations are needed to travel to my hometown," wrote Hayes.

This one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

The NRCC is having some fun with it though...as is Rep. Jack Kingston:

Posted by Jason at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a brilliant strategy by the Log Cabin Republicans...come out with an ad in support of Romney that does nothing but paint Romney for the flip-flopping faker that he is. I wish someone would do the same thing for Rudy. Personally, I could care less what Romney's stance on abortion is, but the abortion issue isn't the only issue that Romney has suddenly "seen the light" about. What an obvious phony.

Posted by Jace Walden at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Willow Lane, Heritage Way, or whatever it is called now, is open from Jonesboro Road through Kelly Plantation to Bridges Road. It is a sight to behold - and it only cost Henry taxpayers $1 million paid to the developer. Normally a developer creates his own roads, then deeds them to the county for maintenance. But this time the public good was worth $1 million to defray development costs and provide a winding passage through New City Square.

If you recall Kelly Plantation was a hotly contested zoning for about 1,200 houses and apartments with some commercial. The board of commissioners were held hostage on this one. Had they not approved the zoning, surely the City of McDonough would annex the property. Approval was the only way to keep those property taxes in county coffers. Of course there was a lot of talk at the time about a commissioner's campaign fund being enriched by about $5,000 but that is not the point, is it?

If you recall this development required clear cutting over 300 acres. What tree ordinance could be enforced when we are getting such a "good development" for the county? Of course, there can be no trees because the cracker box, shotgun houses are packed too closely together for natural flora.

Yes sir, folks, we now have another City Square between Jonesboro Road and Wal-Mart. I once overheard a county employee remark about duplexes and Audubon mobile home park on WIllow... "For my part, the trailer park improves the neighborhood."

I am forced to repeat aloud, "Where are all the trees, Daddy? "

Posted by Larry Stanley at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Britain's National Health Service is doing such a poor job in providing dental services, some Britons are turning to pulling their own teeth because they can't be seen by their nation's dentists.

LONDON (Reuters) - Some Britons have been using pliers to pull their own teeth out and superglue to keep the fillings in because of poor access to state dental care.

A survey of 5,200 patients showed that some six percent of patients have begun doing a spot of home dentistry, a quarter had chosen to pay a private dentist and that 10 percent of patients had no dentist at all because they could not find one on the National Health Service (NHS).

[...]

The survey, conducted between July and September, also questioned 750 dentists, of whom 45 percent said they were not accepting any more NHS patients.

One in 10 – 500 people – said they did not have a dentist at all and almost one in five said they had gone without treatment because of the cost

Why are Britain's dentists not accepting patients? Price controls.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said the survey highlighted significant problems caused by a new system which offers dentists a guaranteed income rather than being paid for each treatment they perform.

And the problem occurs here at home, too.

But many poor and lower-middle-class families do not receive adequate care, in part because most dentists want customers who can pay cash or have private insurance, and they do not accept Medicaid patients. As a result, publicly supported dental clinics have months-long waiting lists even for people who need major surgery for decayed teeth. At the pediatric clinic managed by the state-supported University of Florida dental school, for example, low-income children must wait six months for surgery.

The problem in America seems to be collusion between dentists and government to keep the number of dentists in short supply:

But despite the allure of rising salaries, the shortage of dentists will almost certainly worsen, because the nation has fewer dental schools and fewer dentists in training than a generation ago. After peaking at 5,750 in 1982, the number of dental school graduates fell to 4,440 in 2003, as several big dental schools closed their doors. The average dentist is now 49 years old, according to the American Dental Association, and for at least the next decade retiring dentists will probably outnumber new ones.

Even if more students wanted to enter the profession, states are not moving aggressively to expand dental schools or open new ones.

[...]

Meanwhile, the A.D.A. does not support opening new dental schools or otherwise increasing the number of dentists. The association says it sees no nationwide shortage of dentists, though it acknowledges a shortage in rural areas. Dentists note that in the early 1980s, when schools were graduating nearly twice as many dentists relative to the overall size of the population as they are now, some dentists struggled to keep their practices afloat..

Dentists also are asking for state governments to keep their profession a closed shop by not allowing lesser skilled, but adequate workers do basic dental work.

Outside the United States, more than 50 countries, including some western European nations, now allow technicians called dental therapists to drill and fill cavities, usually in children.

Proponents of the therapists say their training is comparable to the practical training that dentists receive, but without the general medical training dentists get. Studies of the work performed by the therapists have concluded that it is comparable to, and in some cases better than, that of fully trained dentists.

Dr. Frank Catalanotto, a professor of community dentistry at the University of Florida, said dental therapists would be a cost-effective way to provide basic care to children and some adults who could not otherwise afford treatment.

But state boards of dentistry have blocked dental therapists from working, arguing that only dentists should be allowed to drill teeth, because it is an “irreversible surgical procedure” and can lead to serious complications like infections or nerve damage.

Posted by Doug at 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Henry County Superior Court Judge Arch McGarity made a ruling on what the City of Stockbridge owes the Meeks'. I was asked not to post the amount, but the Meeks won. Congrats to them. Stockbridge played with fire on this and got burned and put a good family through hell in the process.

Posted by Jason at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I'm posting this so everyone opposed to it can stop losing their minds:

This issue regarding alcoholic sales at the parks was defeated today at the BOC meeting. It was unanimously voted down.

Reid Bowman, District IV Commissioner

Posted by Jason at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is a must read:

The American Health Choices Plan [proposed by Hillary Clinton], based on mandates -- including community rating and guaranteed issue for insurance companies -- more regulation and increased taxes, is not a recipe for cost control but for disaster. For proof, you need look no further than Massachusetts.

Last year, then Republican Gov. Mitt Romney and a Democratic legislature enacted a health-care plan with very similar elements to the one proposed by Sen. Clinton. Everyone has to purchase insurance. The government regulates the product design. Companies cannot deny a policy to anyone (guaranteed issue) or charge rates based on health or lifestyle (except for smokers). Businesses must offer insurance to employees or pay a fine. Low-income residents receive completely free or highly subsidized plans.

While Mr. Romney has moved on, Bay state residents are still feeling the aftershocks. Of the 115,418 people who have enrolled in the new plans, more than 90,000 have signed up for the 100% free option -- free to the enrollee, if not to taxpayers. The plans for which people must pay close to full freight have been about as popular as wool sweaters in August. As of Sept. 1, only 7,164 people had signed up for these new plans, despite the July 1 mandate; that's a mere 4% of the estimated eligible uninsured population.
[...]
Sen. Clinton claims that her plan would not require a new bureaucracy. That is hard to square with the fact that it offers a new government health plan as one option. More to the point, consider the Massachusetts Health Connector, an entity that was supposed to be merely a clearinghouse of private plans, but in reality sets the standards for what health plans do and do not pass the state mandate muster. Necessarily, this function would have to be performed by government at the state or national level if Ms. Clinton's plan is adopted.

In Massachusetts, more than 200,000 people have been told that their existing health plans aren't good enough to pass muster. They had until July 1 of this year to buy up or face fines commencing next year.

We found that health insurance status was largely unrelated to the quality of care among those with at least minimal access to care.
[...]
Although having insurance increases the ease of access to the health care system, it is not sufficient to ensure appropriate use of services or content of care.

Posted by Jason at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not a right-winger (member of the Libertarian Party, not a nationalist, not a social conservative) and Drifting Through the Grift is one of the most under-rated blogs in the state.

If this guys considers himself to be a moderate, then I'm the Easter Bunny.

Posted by Jason at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The newest episode of The Drew Cary Project tackles transportation and gridlock.

Posted by Jason at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A friend forwarded this along to me this morning, it was previously posted by Neal Boortz at his website:

A little history lesson: If you don't know the answer make your best guess. Answer all the questions before looking at the answers. Who said it ?
1) "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

A. Karl Marx
B. Adolph Hitler
C. Joseph Stalin
D. None of the above

2) "It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few, and for the few and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity."

A. Lenin
B. Mussolini
C. Idi Amin
D. None of the above

3) "(We)...can't just let business as usual go on, and that means something has to be taken away from some people."

A. Nikita Khrushev
B. Josef Goebbels
C. Boris Yeltsin
D. None of the above

4) "We have to build a political consensus and that requires people to give up a little bit of their own...in order to create this common ground."

A. Mao Tse Dung
B. Hugo Chavez
C. Kim Jong Il
D. None of the above

5) "I certainly think the free-market has failed."

A. Karl Marx
B. Lenin
C. Molotov
D. None of the above

6) "I think it's time to send a clear message to what has become the most profitable sector in (the) entire economy that they are being watched."

A. Pinochet
B. Milosevic
C. Saddam Hussein
D. None of the above

Answers:

(1) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/29/2004
(2) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 5/29/2007
(3) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(4) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(5) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 6/4/2007
(6) D. None of the above. Statement was made by Hillary Clinton 9/2/2005

Posted by Jason at 07:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I picked up a new toy this week. It's a Hauppauge personal video recorder. It's basically a DVR for your computer. I'm able to run my cable through and record it. I managed to install it without any problems.

I also picked up some new books:
- The Compleated Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin by Mark Skousen
- The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians and the Battle to Control the Republican Party by Ryan Sager
- Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity by John Stossel

I got those three books for under $15 by buying them used off Amazon. The are in near perfect condition. If you are ever looking for a book, make sure you check Amazon first and try to buy it used.

Posted by Jason at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez has some harsh words for policymakers on Iraq:

Retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, who commanded coalition troops for a year beginning June 2003, cast a wide net of blame for both political and military shortcomings in Iraq that helped open the way for the insurgency - such as disbanding the Saddam-era military and failing to cement ties with tribal leaders and quickly establish civilian government after Saddam was toppled.

He called current strategies - including the deployment of 30,000 additional forces earlier this year - a "desperate attempt" to make up for years of misguided policies in Iraq.

"There is no question that America is living a nightmare with no end in sight," Sanchez told a group of journalists covering military affairs.
[...]
When asked when he saw that the mission was going awry, he responded: "About the 15th of June 2003" - the day he took command.

"There is nothing going on today in Washington that would give us hope" that things are going to change, he said.

Posted by Jason at 09:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Georgia's support of golf doesn't stop at the Golf Hall of Fame:

Golfers pay about $40 to play at Hard Labor Creek, a state park about an hour east of Atlanta. Taxpayers chip in another $5 per round at the money-losing golf course.

That's a bargain compared with a round of golf at Brazzell's Creek in Reidsville. Taxpayers subsidize players at the South Georgia course to the tune of $29 per round. And the little-used golf course is undergoing a $3 million upgrade, trading nine holes for 18, paid for by, yup, taxpayers.

Georgia's seven state-run golf courses lost $1 million in fiscal year 2006. Since 2002, losses have averaged $941,000 a year.

"It's pretty ridiculous, isn't it?" said former state Sen. Robert Lamutt, an east Cobb Republican who railed against golf course spending while serving in the General Assembly. "Is that government's job? To take [tax money] from me, by force of law, to give to somebody down in South Georgia so they can have a golf course?"

Supporters say the links serve as economic development tools that attract duffers to rural, economically stunted areas of the state. They note that state parks and historic sites are also subsidized by taxpayers. And, they add, all Georgians deserve the same quality-of-life amenities available to their more urbanized brethren.

"A decision has been made that recreation is a thing of merit for tax dollars," said Sen. Jack Hill, the Reidsville Republican whose district includes Brazzell's Creek. Or "we can let the marketplace provide all recreation and we can have private state parks. You can't separate state parks and golf courses, in my mind."

Why are taxpayers subsiding golf courses? The private sector can likely run it more efficiently and for a profit and if the course goes under, there wasn't a market for it. That doesn't give the state an excuse to step in. It means that the golf lovers of that area will have to find somewhere else to play.

And...Alan Essig, a left-leaning economist with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (of course they are labeled as "nonpartisan" article, nothing could be further from the truth), who seems to believe that Georgians aren't already overtaxed and that our government doesn't spend enough money as it is, believes that there is "nothing fundamentally wrong with having publicly funded parks or golf courses." Alan Essig has never seen a spending program that he didn't believe was "fundamentally wrong." Essig represents everything that is wrong with the current view of government.

Posted by Jason at 07:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

There is some good news, water usage has dropped in the Metro Atlanta area:

Water consumption has dropped about 15 to 20 percent since the state banned outdoor water use Sept. 28. Also, counties have issued more than 1,000 warnings for violations of the ban, which excludes personal food gardens and new landscaping.

Water officials say the reduction is a start, but not enough. "Sixteen percent is nice, but we need to come down another 15 percent," said Glenn Page, general manager of the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority. Here's how water consumption, measured in millions of gallons per day, has dropped in metro Atlanta communities and how many warnings and citations have been issued.

Fulton and DeKalb didn't seem to get the memo on water conservation. Fulton's usage only dropped by 0.7%.

Posted by Jason at 07:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sonny Perdue is making threats over Lake Lanier:

Gov. Sonny Perdue issued an ultimatum Friday to the federal agency that owns and operates Lake Lanier, metro Atlanta's main water source: Reduce the amount of water being released to Florida, or face another lawsuit.

Georgia issued a similar ultimatum last year and wound up in court.
[...]
Georgia Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch said the Corps' plan for operating the river system "has a serious problem with it when it basically says pass all your water out and don't store any of it in a drought. That's crazy." For months, the Corps has been releasing more water from Lanier than has been entering by its feeder streams to meet a minimum flow at the Florida line determined by a small coal-fired power plant and two mussel species protected by the Endangered Species Act.

On Thursday, for example, the Corps released more than nine times as much water downstream as entered the lake that day.

Georgia's plan would mean immediately reducing the flows to Florida's Apalachicola River by more than half. Georgia wants its plan to stay in place through March 1.

The General Assembly is set to consider a statewide water plan in the upcoming session. I would like to see regional reservoirs as part of that plan. I would also like us to aggressively explore desalination and other emerging technologies.

Responsible use and conservation are important, but we cannot rely on a strategy that puts us entirely at the mercy of the weather. We need to increase the supply of fresh water and figure out the best way to store it for the times when Nature does not provide enough.

Posted by Jason at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Former presidential candidate Tommy Thompson endorses Rudy Giuliani:

"I want a candidate that's going to be able to stand up and be able to win the Republican primary and take on Hillary Clinton and win," added Thompson, the first former 2008 Republican candidate to make an endorsement.

Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor, served as secretary of Health and Human Services during President Bush's first term. In his presidential race, he struggled to raise money and gain support.

Posted by Jason at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Club for Growth shares their list of the ten dumbest votes in the House of Representatives:

MOHAIR SUBSIDIES (Roll Call 383, 2000) - Offered by then-Rep. Mark Sanford, this vote sought to defund all mohair subsidies. Pray tell, what exactly is mohair? Webster's dictionary says it's, "a fabric or yarn made wholly or in part of the long silky hair of the Angora goat." From 1995 to 2005, taxpayers have been on the hook for $40 million on mohair subsidies. For more information, don't ask the Mohair Council of America, the leading special interest group defending and receiving the subsidies. Their website has all the friendliness of a tumor. But the House still sided with them. The vote failed, 166-255.
[...]
VIAGRA SUBSIDIES (Roll Call 312, 2005) - Did you know that Viagra used to be subsidized through Medicaid and Medicare? Rep. Steve King (R-IA) offered an amendment to remove the subsidy in 2005. According to the New York Times, "Mr. King said it was wrong to tell taxpayers that "we're going to take the money you earned on overtime to pay for Grandpa's Viagra." Thankfully, the House sided with King, but 121 members still wanted to keep it up (the subsidies, that is).

Posted by Jason at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The House Judiciary Committee has voted to extend the ban on taxing internet sales for four more years:

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve an amendment to the Internet Tax Freedom Act. The amendment, offered by committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat, would extend the ban on Internet access taxes until Nov. 1, 2011.

Similar legislation has stalled in the Senate.

The current ban on access and other taxes unique to the Internet expires this November. Congress first passed the Internet tax moratorium in 1998.

A group of lawmakers, many of them Republicans, have called for a permanent ban on Internet taxes. The ban is needed to preserve the growth of the Internet, they argue.

By the way, Presidential candidate Tax Hike Mike supports taxing internet sales.

Posted by Jason at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is one of the positives of the GlennTax proposal:

A new independent study suggests House Speaker Glenn Richardson's plan to eliminate property taxes could tear a multibillion-dollar hole in the state budget.

The analysis by members of Georgia State University's Fiscal Research Center found that it would be difficult for the state to take in enough money to make up for lost property tax revenue solely by eliminating most current sales tax exemptions and taxing services, such as lawn care, haircuts and child care.

"Our take on it would be that unless the state becomes extremely aggressive in taxing [all goods and services] ... it's hard to see how the money can be generated," said Georgia State economist David Sjoquist, who worked on the analysis.

The Speaker didn't take the criticism very well:

"This is the same Georgia State economics department that only a few weeks ago said sales tax exemptions alone cost the state $9 billion to $10 billion a year," he said. "Perhaps they should sharpen their pencils."

While the $9 billion to $10 billion figure is technically correct, it includes some exemptions that would not be eliminated by Richardson's plan.

Posted by Jason at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)

An open letter to Ron Paul supporters from CNBC:

You guys are good. Real good. You are truly a force on World Wide Web and I tip my hat to you.

That's based on my first hand experience of your work regarding our CNBC Republican candidate debate. After the debate, we put up a poll on our Web site asking who readers thought won the debate. You guys flooded it.
[...]
So there was our after-debate poll. The numbers grew ... 7,000-plus votes after a couple of hours ... and Ron Paul was at 75%.

Now Paul is a fine gentleman with some substantial backing and, by the way, was a dynamic presence throughout the debate , but I haven't seen him pull those kind of numbers in any "legit" poll. Our poll was either hacked or the target of a campaign. So we took the poll down.

The next day, our email basket was flooded with Ron Paul support messages. And the computer logs showed the poll had been hit with traffic from Ron Paul chat sites. I learned other Internet polls that night had been hit in similar fashion. Congratulations. You folks are obviously well-organized and feel strongly about your candidate and I can't help but admire that.

But you also ruined the purpose of the poll. It was no longer an honest "show of hands" -- it suddenly was a platform for beating the Ron Paul drum. That certainly wasn't our intention and certainly doesn't serve our readers ... at least those who aren't already in the Ron Paul camp.

Posted by Jason at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Dennis Kucinich, the communist troll from Ohio, may retire from Congress. But...it turns out that Cynthia McKinney may run for President after all. It looks like Hank Johnson is safe for another term.

Posted by Jason at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Editorials in two different papers today praise Bush's veto of SCHIP.

Here is an excerpt from the Macon Telegraph, which I believe to be the best paper in the state:

The most obvious reason to oppose the SCHIP expansion is that a government already drowning in red ink has no business expanding one of its many generous entitlement plans to such an extreme degree. If they want to raise taxes on cigarettes, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to apply that new revenue towards dealing with our already-massive debt rather than generating another new wealth redistribution scheme?
[...]
If we are going to have a program like this, it should remain what it was intended to be originally - a lifeline to the poorest of the poor. What Congress has proposed instead is a good first step in a not-so-subtle campaign to gradually federalize our health=care system. And if that comes to pass, the long-term consequences will be devastating and long-lasting for people at all economic levels.

But for now, kudos to President Bush and Rep. Marshall for helping to throw this little speed bump in the path of our headlong rush towards socialism. If only it could become more of a habit than an aberration.

Posted by Jason at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alright, time for a little friendly competition for bragging rights. But first, here are last weeks results:

Jace Walden--10 Points
Marshall McCart--6 Points
Jason Pye--5 Points
Doug Craig--5 Points

Now, here are this week's games:

Missouri (11) @ Oklahoma (6)
Line: Oklahoma -10.5
My Pick: Missouri will win but will not reverse spread.

LSU (1) @ Kentucky (17)
Line: LSU -9.5
My Pick: LSU will win but will not cover the spread.

Louisville @ Cincinnati (15)
Line: Cincinnati -10.5
My Pick: Cincinnati will win but will not cover the spread.

Georgia (24) @ Vanderbilt
Line: Georgia -7.0
My Pick: Georgia will win and cover the spread.

Auburn (22) @ Arkansas
Line: Arkansas -3.0
My Pick: Auburn will win and will reverse the spread.

BONUS: How many yards rushing will the Georgia defense allow against Vanderbilt?
My Predicition: 85

One more time, here are the rules:

(1) One point is awarded for picking the winner
(2) Three additional points are awarded for picking an upset winner
(3) Two additional points are awarded for correctly predicting the spread
(4) Three points are awarded to whoever comes closest to correctly predicting the number of rushing yards Georgia will allow against Vanderbilt
(5) Anyone can play, make your picks in the comment section
(6) This is for bragging rights only.

Posted by Jace Walden at 08:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

[UPDATED 10/15/07] As Commissioner Bowman said

This issue regarding alcoholic sales at the [county] parks was defeated today at the BOC meeting. It was unaminously voted down.
Reid Bowman, District IV Commissioner

[UPDATED 10/14/07:] A survey of county commissioners netted three who oppose any alcoholic beverages in the county parks. If all three vote their stated convictions, any motion would die in a 3 - 3 vote.

It would appear the actions by some commissioners to covertly sanction an ordinance change, authorize the director of the park & rec department to approach the city, and jeopardize public trust is not condoned by the entire commission. Changing a county ordinance is not the issue here. Changing ordinances governing uses of county parks without notification and public input, and doing so in a rushed closed door environment is partisan politics at its worst. Regardless of the spin we will hear about this topic, we cannot escape the arrogance portrayed by these actions.

[Orignal Post]
The City of McDonough has passed an ordinance allowing beer and wine at Heritage and Avalon Parks. The updated city ordinance 12-12-020 changed the prohibition against alcoholic beverages and other intoxicants to place conditions on them.

Whereas the health, safety, welfare and morals of the citizens of the City of McDonough Georgia shall be improved and protected by the adoption of this Ordinance

The event must be for a non-profit organization; no youth events may be scheduled simultaneously; the event must be catered; and Henry County must provide police services.

Formerly the City and County shared common language in ordinances prohibiting possession or use of alcoholic beverages and other intoxicants. County ordinance 3-13-4 still contains that prohibition.

If the fund raising concert on October 20th, to benefit the Veterans Wall of Honor, is to allow alcoholic beverages the County must quickly change its ordinance. It seems this particular event sparked a request for changing the ordinance.

A citizen's inquiry to City of McDonough employees confirmed the ordinance change. Janice Price in Code Enforcement confirmed the ordinance change, but added that the vendor must have a catering license. Leslie Balog also confirmed the ordinance. She said Tim Coley, Director of County Park & Recreation Department, brought the request to the City.

After the County has spent about $14 million from general fund and SPLOST revenues at Heritage Park, the park will house County offices, and the park is maintained at County expense, it is not clear how the park is under control of the City of McDonough.

We cannot smoke a cigarette in a county park, but we can be served alcoholic beverages? It appears the politically correct position is very inconsistent. But then smokers may not be a good source of charitable contributions.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Ha! Here is some Friday fun...the top ten rap songs that white people listen to. I'm guilty of liking "Jump Around" by House of Pain. And I'll admit that I don't mind Dr. Dre, Busta Rhymes and the Beastie Boys...and I've had the awkward experience of meeting Lil’ Jon.

Posted by Jason at 06:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." - John Galt

Happy Atlas Shrugged Day! Today marks the 50th anniversary (originally published October 12, 1957) of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.

The Wall Street Journal pays tribute:

Fifty years ago today Ayn Rand published her magnum opus, "Atlas Shrugged." It's an enduringly popular novel -- all 1,168 pages of it -- with some 150,000 new copies still sold each year in bookstores alone. And it's always had a special appeal for people in business. The reasons, at least on the surface, are obvious enough.
[...]
Hank Rearden, the innovator resented and opposed by the others in his field, has not created a new type of music, like Mozart; rather he struggled for 10 years to perfect a revolutionary metal alloy that he hoped would make him a great deal of money. Dagny Taggart is a gifted and courageous woman who leads a campaign -- not to defend France from England on the battlefield, like Joan of Arc -- but to manage a transcontinental railroad and, against impossible odds, to build a new branch line critical for the survival of her corporation. Francisco d'Anconia, the enormously talented heir to an international copper company, poses as an idle, worthless playboy to cover up his secret operations -- not to rescue people from the French Revolution, like the Scarlet Pimpernel -- but to rescue industrialists from exploitation by ruthless Washington kleptocrats.
[...]
The central action of "Atlas" is the strike of the producers, their withdrawal from a society that depends on them to sustain itself and yet denounces them as morally inferior. Very well, says their leader, John Galt, we will not burden you further with what you see as our immoral and exploitative actions. The strike is of course a literary device; Rand herself described it as "a fantastic premise." But it has a real and vital implication.
[...]
This is the lesson that most people in business have yet to learn from "Atlas," no matter how much they may love its portrayal of the passion and the glory possible in business enterprise. At a crucial point in the novel, the industrialist Hank Rearden is on trial for violating an arbitrary economic regulation. Instead of apologizing for his pursuit of profit or seeking mercy on the basis of philanthropy, he says, "I work for nothing but my own profit -- which I make by selling a product they need to men who are willing and able to buy it. I do not produce it for their benefit at the expense of mine, and they do not buy it for my benefit at the expense of theirs; I do not sacrifice my interests to them nor do they sacrifice theirs to me; we deal as equals by mutual consent to mutual advantage -- and I am proud of every penny that I have earned in this manner…"

Trade is mutually beneficial and capitalism is the very definition of individual rights, human dignity and liberty. Ayn Rand delivered the message of capitalism and the moral defense (The Virtue of Selfishness) of it very well.

If you are a businessman or a politician that reads this site please read Atlas Shrugged.

Doug Mataconis also shares his thoughts on Atlas Shrugged here, here and here.

Posted by Jason at 06:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reason has a new project called reason.tv, which is sort of a video blog for pro-market, pro-liberty ideals. I'm looking forward to "The Drew Carey Project." Yes, that Drew Carey.

The Cato Institute has also started a new website dedicated to promoting the ideals of liberty in the classroom. So...teachers, please check that out

Posted by Jason at 09:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you don't want to let your potential general election opponents to pin you as the candidate of the far-left, it's probably not a good idea to make a comment like this, "I have a million ideas. The country can't afford them all."

But here is a question....is Hillary Clinton a neo-conservative?:

For seven years, the left has been up in arms about President Bush's aggressive foreign policy, his secrecy, his partisanship, and his expansive claims on executive power. It's odd, then, that they're prepared to nominate Hillary Clinton to carry the party into the 2008 elections.

The problem with Hillary Clinton is two-fold: First, she's likely to be as bad or worse than Bush on all of those issues, and second, she's the one Democrat the Republicans still have a chance to beat.
[...]
Hillary Clinton voted for both the Patriot Act and its reauthorization. She voted for building a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border. She voted to loosen restrictions limiting the federal government's ability to wiretap cell phones. In the past, she has supported a robust role for the federal government in enforcing "decency" standards in television and music. She teamed up with former Sen. Rick Santorum on a bill calling for the federal government to restrict the sale of violent video games.
[...]
What about secrecy and executive power? It's difficult to see Hillary Clinton voluntarily handing back all of those extra-constitutional executive powers claimed by President Bush. Her husband's administration, for example, copiously invoked dubious "executive privilege" claims to keep from complying with congressional subpoenas and open records requests — claims the left now (correctly, in my view) regularly criticizes the Bush administration for invoking.

Hillary Clinton herself went to court to keep meetings of her Health Care Task Force secret from the public, something conservatives were quick to point out when leftists criticize Vice President Cheney's similar efforts to keep meetings of his Energy Task Force secret.

"I'm a strong believer in executive authority," Clinton said in a 2003 speech, recently quoted in The New Republic. "I wish that, when my husband was president, people in Congress had been more willing to recognize presidential authority."

Posted by Jason at 09:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The brains behind the 1993 WTC attack has converted to Christianity:

Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, claims he converted from Islam to Christianity, Scott Pelley reports in a story that brings viewers inside the secretive "Supermax" prison where he is being held. Pelley also reports that some 900 force feedings were performed on other al-Qaeda terrorists who went on repeated hunger strikes to protest conditions at the Colorado top-security federal prison. The 60 MINUTES segment will be broadcast Sunday Oct. 14 (7:30-9:00 PM, ET/7:00-9:00 PM, PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Posted by Jason at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mike Huckabee (R-Ark) said something stupid the other day during the debate.

The real fact is, unions are going to take a more prominent role in the future for one simple reason: A lot of American workers are finding that their wages continue to get strapped lower and lower while CEO salaries are higher and higher.

And the reality is that when you have the average CEO salary 500 times the average worker, and you have the hedge fund manager making 2,200 times that of the average worker, you're going to create a level of discontent that's going to create a huge appetite for unions.

So unions are the natural result of workers finally saying, "Look, I can't go from a $70,000 year job to a $15,000 a year job and feed my family of four." That's when unions are going to come back in roaring form.(emphasis added).

Can anyone point out a significant number of people who've seen their income permanently drop from $70k a year to $15k a year. Anyone?

H/T: The Campaign Spot

Posted by Doug at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The votes are in, except for one pollster, so I used the Coach's Poll for his votes. Without further ado, here is this week's Top 25 as voted on by readers and writers on JasonPye.com:

(1) LSU--150 Points, 6 First Place Votes
(2) California--144 Points
(3) Boston College--131 Points
(4) South Carolina--118 Points
(5) Ohio State--117 Points
(6) Oklahoma--109 Points
(7) West Virginia--108 Points
(8) South Florida--107 Points
(9) Oregon--100 Points
(10) USC--88 Points
(11) Missouri--82 Points
(12) Virginia Tech--80 Points
(13) Hawaii--72 Points
(14) Illinois--65 Points
(15) Florida--64 Points
(16) Arizona State--63 Points
(17) Cincinnati--61 Points
(18) Kentucky--57 Points
(19) Wisconsin--43 Points
(20) Florida State--32 Points
(21) Auburn--25 Points
(22) Texas--23 Points
(23) Kansas--21 Points
(24) Georgia--15 Points
(25) Tennessee--12 Points

Also receiving votes: Purdue(7), Indiana(6), Michigan(1), Rutgers(1), UConn(1)

If you would like to contribute to the weekly poll, let me know via e-mail: jacewalden@hotmail.com

Posted by Jace Walden at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

From today's Hotline:

"It wasn't government's job to spend millions to save buggy whip factories and haberdashers when cars replaced carriages and men stopped wearing hats."

John McCain, on Michigan's struggling economy, Chicago Tribune, 10/10.

Perhaps McCain isn't the right messenger, but there's not much to disagree with here.

Posted by Doug at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Read the full story at the AJC:

Lake Sidney Lanier, metro Atlanta's main source of water, has about three months of storage left, according to state and federal officials.

That's three months before there's not enough water for more than 3 million metro Atlantans to take showers, flush their toilets and cook. Three months before there's not enough water in parts of the Chattahoochee River for power plants to make the steam necessary to generate electricity. Three months before part of the river runs dry.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 09:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The Supreme Court voted to uphold a lower court's ruling that NYC public schools must pay the private school tuition for severly disabled students:

Mr. Freston’s fight on behalf of his son began a decade ago, when his son, then 8, was found to have learning disabilities.

The city offered the child a coveted spot in the Lower Laboratory School for Gifted Education, on the Upper East Side, but Mr. Freston wanted a smaller setting and put his child in the private Stephen Gaynor School. He won tuition reimbursements through administrative hearings and an appeals board proceeding.

Then the Board of Education sued in federal court, where a district judge ruled that a family could not receive tuition reimbursement unless a child first attended public school. But the Second Circuit court found for Mr. Freston, sending the case to the Supreme Court.

Posted by Joshua Patterson at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

[UPDATED and Bumped] Today the Henry Herald published a response from Chairman Jason Harper: SPLOST II video appropriate as an editorial letter.

This letter is in response to one submitted by Larry Stanley in the Henry Herald on Monday, Oct. 8, regarding a video produced as an Annual Report for the current SPLOST II program.

"Prior to December 31st of each year the county and cities must publish a non-technical reoprt in a local newspaper that includes the following information on each voter approved project: > The original estimated cost > Current estimated cost if different from original estimated cost > The amounts expended in prior years > The amounts expended in the current year

The annual report must also include a statement of what corrective action the local government intends to implement for each project that is underfunded or behind schedule. [OCGA 48-8-122]"

The video is non-technical and details a few of the major projects accomplished in SPLOST II. It is not the legally required annual report referenced by Chairman Harper. It is, as Chairman Harper said, a publicity function of the county communications department.

[UPDATED and Bumped] Investigative reporting has its rewards. Today it was learned that a complaint was filed with the Secretary of State Elections Division. That complaint has been forwarded to Attorney General Thurbert Baker. At this point the AG can proceed much as he likes: do nothing, impose a fine, slap a few wrists. He can delay the referendum. Or he can nullify the referendum all together.

It was also learned that additional complaints have been filed with the Secretary of State Investigative Division and the State Ethics Commission.

The Henry County Elections Board met today. The minutes of that meeting will be available soon. It is believed that the elections board voted unanimously to advise the board of commissioners to (1) remove the media file from the website, and (2) cease airing it on Channel 14.

It was also learned that the Henry Daily Herald staff is conducting interviews with county personnel and others.

More to follow as news develops.

[Original Post]
I hope somebody can fill me in on the financing, production and ownership of this film. The film featured on the BoC website indicates Copyright © Henry County Board of Commissioners. The promotional film touts the benefits and management of the current SPLOST II program.

After a friend emailed to me about the SPLOST show on Charter cable channel 14, I caught the televised show on Saturday, October 6th. It is purely a public relations production. Although nobody says, "VOTE," it uses local dignitaries to tout the benefits of the tax program including BoC Chairman Jason Harper, Judge Ben Studdard, GDOT appointee Dana Lemon and Farm Bureau V.P. Josh White. County employee Roy Clack is also featured. This is apparently not a private enterprise, and cannot be viewed as independent of local government.

By stating transportation projects amounted to 67% of the county's general fund budget, we got a reminder that without SPLOST renewal our other taxes would be affected. With the referendum less than a month away, the board's intention is clearly promotion of SPLOST III.

Posted at the County website and televised on Henry's government access channel, no doubt produced and financed with County funds, this may well be a violation of state law. Such information, published 4 or 5 months ago would be informational. Published within 30 days of the referendum, it is advertising and promotion for re-imposing the program.

OCGA 21-5-32.2 prohibits use of public funds to support any campaign, political action committee, political organization for any purpose.

The BoC and cities are further prohibited from spending public funds for advertisement, flyers, mailings or other direct promotion in support of passage of a SPLOST . Harrison v. Rainey, 227 GA 240 (1971) and McKinney v. Brown, 242 GA 456 (1978) are law suits validating the prohibition.

Local officials may use county or municipal funds to prepare descriptions of the SPLOST proposal and the impact of the SPLOST projects on the county and its citizens. It is critical, however, that such descriptions not express an opinion regarding the SPLOST proposal or advocate which way a person should vote.

This SPLOST Advertisement Video fails the prescribed tests.

The film tells us about the Jonesboro Road widening and the bridge at Eagles Landing. But nobody mentioned the majority of funds for these projects came from the state - GDOT - not our SPLOST tax. I found that a bit misleading, even though the county's smaller share of costs were paid from SPLOST revenues.

We do have an impressive courthouse in McDonough. And so we should. The initially advertised project cost was $7 million, but that grew to $13 million. We got a "much nicer" facility for the extra money, but the film did not mention actual costs. Nor did anyone mention the additional $5 million for a parking deck proposed in SPLOST III.

I am just as curious about the Arena, Extension Service facility and offices for the county Park & Rec department SPLOST is funding at Heritage Park. The film did not tally the $14 million or so that one commissioner told me has been spent at Heritage. While voters did approve "recreation improvements" and "county buildings" categories in capital projects, the project creep could not have been anticipated by voters in 2002.

Chairman Harper admitted the failure to complete every project on the master list. He blamed rising costs of asphalt, concrete and steel. There may be another problem for the board: The Georgia Supreme Court held, in the 1992 Dickey decision, the governing authority is bound by the SPLOST budget to complete ALL PROJECTS listed therein. Diminished support for a project, or a shortfall of SPLOST funds are not sufficient for a project to be deemed infeasible. It would seem that more roadwork (traffic mitigation) could have been completed before allowing project creep at other venues.

Public Relations is a great thing. But not for a tax program; and, not at taxpayer expense. I wonder how the attorney general would rule on this film.

Posted by Larry Stanley at 07:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (49)

Casey Cagle is no fan of the GlennTax:

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle says he fears the tax reform plan being championed by House Speaker Glenn Richardson would put Georgia businesses at a disadvantage with competitors in other states.

He also expressed skepticism about Richardson’s announced plan of moving next to eliminate the Georgia income tax if his plan to eliminate all of the state’s ad valorem taxes clears next year’s Legislature and then wins voter approval.
[...]
Cagle said he sees no way the plan could make up for the loss of property tax revenue without “some measure of business-to-business (tax), and that’s a concern.”

He said businesses he’s talked to believe they would face an increased tax burden of from 25 percent to 62 percent under the plan.

Posted by Jason at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The struggle over the state budget continues:

Legislative aides are working with the attorney general's office to resolve a budget dispute between Gov. Sonny Perdue and lawmakers that broke out after this year's General Assembly session.

House Republican leaders cried foul in late May when the GOP governor not only vetoed 30 line items from the $20.2 billion 2008 budget the legislature had adopted but redirected funds lawmakers had set aside for more than 40 items toward other purposes.
[...]
Perdue acted about a week after Attorney General Thurbert Baker issued an opinion that language in budget bills stating "legislative intent" is for information only and not legally valid.

"As a former legislator, I'm very mindful that there has to be a way for the legislature to express their intent regarding money," the governor said in an interview last month. "(But) some things we will just fundamentally disagree on, and that's when the constitutional process makes its way."

On Tuesday, Charlie Walker, director of the House Budget Office, told lawmakers that he and his staff are working with Baker's office on language that would prohibit governors from redirecting funds from vetoed projects toward other purposes.

Posted by Jason at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here are the latest head-to-head polls from Real Clear Politics.

Things still don't look good for Republicans. While I have no doubt that a Hillary Clinton presidency would be a terrible thing, most voters are probably saying, "can she be worse that what we have now?"

It pains me to say this, but Giuliani may be the only hope Republicans have next year. Let's face it...Romney comes across like a used car salesman and Fred Thompson is just not Ronald Reagan.

The debate yesterday afternoon was painful. Protectionism, populism and a total abandonment of the principles of economic liberty. Hunter and Huckabee seems to hate prosperity, choosing to use the same class warfare and protectionist rhetoric that we'd hear from the left. Ron Paul disappointed by sounding like a protectionist.

McCain and Giuliani sounded like fiscal conservatives.

I have no idea what to do next year. I see disappointment in both major parties and the Libertarian Party's candidates aren't that attractive.

Posted by Jason at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October is one of my favorite months of the year, mainly because of Halloween. I'm a big fan of the television show Ghost Hunters and I've been on a couple of ghost hunts....so I just wanted to share some of Georgia's most haunted location. You can view them here. Some of them are a bit cheesy, some are more interesting.

If you are looking for some manufactured fun, there are plenty of haunted houses to visit in the metro area.

But if you are wanting a scare...check out some of those places.

Posted by Jason at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fox5 News has reported on Stan Cameron and John Rucker as Brown's co-investers in The Bistro - and Brown's voting record in approving zoning or annexation matters before the McDonough City Council. Only once, in 2005, did Brown disclose a relationship with Rucker. On that one occasion Brown abstained from the vote.

Brown is running for re-election to the city council. He says he wants to continue to serve the people of McDonough.

Visit Fox5 to view the video. Be sure to read the Sidebar in-depth reports at Dale Russell's blog:

McDonough - Three Year Story
Financial Disclosure
More Investors

Posted by Larry Stanley at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The AJC reports Henry County School Superintendent Jack Parish will step down July 1, 2008.

Parish, the superintendent since 2000 after 14 years in various administrative jobs within the county, said he made his decision known at Monday evening's Board of Education meeting to ease the transition in finding a successor.

Thank you, Larry, for your kind words and congratulatory remarks. It is very nice to be able to retire from K-12 education and leave a school system of which I have been a part for most of my life on my own terms. Frequently, superintendents are run off by their Boards or are running away from their Boards; neither is the case with me. My retirement is effective July 1, 2008. I plan to be around and assist with the transition of a new superintendent.

I also plan to begin pursuing second career opportunities. I have always had an interest in teaching at the college or university level. With 22 years of experience in educational leadership/administration, hopefully, I have something of value that I can share with current and aspiring educational leaders who are in graduate programs. Reaching the 30-year mark in K12 public education, I will be able to retire, begin drawing my retirement from the Teachers Retirement System, and continue working in a second career.

I have a tremendous amount of pride in and commitment to Henry County Schools. Henry County Schools has earned a very positive reputation throughout the state. Though I certainly will miss this work, I am looking forward to other opportunities that may be a bit less stressful and not require quite the same amount of time.

Thanks again,
Jack

Posted by Larry Stanley at 08:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Reason magazine on Mike Huckabee:

The vision of “compassionate conservatism” promised by George W. Bush was actually practiced by Huckabee, with all the flaws that entailed. He’s the GOP candidate who’d probably get along best with a big-spending Democratic Congress.

[T]he Bush adviser was most enthusiastic about a contender who seems to have even less chance. He called Huckabee the "best candidate," one who seems to most mirror Bush's own vision of compassionate conservatism.

Posted by Jason at 05:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hillary Clinton has another crazy leftist proposal:

Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed tax cuts of up to $1,000 a year on Tuesday to encourage millions of working-age families to open personal 401(k) retirement accounts.

The New York senator said the program would be paid for through higher estate taxes.

At the same time, Clinton said she has given up another idea for a savings incentive — giving every baby born in the United States a $5,000 account to pay for college or a first home.

Instead, she said, her plan for what she called "American Retirement Accounts" will provide "universal access to a generous 401(k) for all Americans."

If Social Security is failing and private retirement accounts are receiving a much higher return than anything the government offers...common sense tells you to keep government out of it.

Posted by Jason at 05:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A British court has found some inaccuracies in Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth:

• The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government's expert was forced to concede that this is not correct.
• The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The Court found that the film was misleading: over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years.
• The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government's expert had to accept that it was "not possible" to attribute one-off events to global warming.
• The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and c