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"I think we should welcome all peaceful people to our country. They get to the pursue the 'American Dream' and we get to benefit from all the wonderful things that immigrants bring to our country—like good old fashioned soccer. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me." - Drew Carey
Drew Carey tackles immigration in the latest episode of The Drew Carey Project:
Jayson Stark says the Braves could go all the way:
We take you back in time to the first week of March. The 2008 Grapefruit League was only a few days old. But a National League scout already had caught on to something that hadn't yet dawned on the rest of the hemisphere.Tonight is the Braves home opener against the Pirates. Tom Glavine is on the mound. I'm excited about this season. It'll be good times.He'd just returned from watching the new, improved Atlanta Braves. It didn't take him long to make this important announcement:
"They're back."
[...]
Go ahead. Call us nuts. Start typing those e-mails lecturing us on why the Red Sox, Yankees, Indians, Tigers, Mets, Phillies, Cubs, Rockies, yada yada yada are better than this team. Maybe they are. All we know is, while 98 percent of the planet was busy obsessing on those clubs, the Atlanta Braves built themselves a tremendous team.Everywhere we went this spring, we asked the same question: What team has opened your eyes? Everywhere we went, we heard the same answer: The Braves. Take a listen:
"People are wayyyy underestimating that club," said one NL executive. "It's amazing how far under the radar they've been. But you might think that till you see them play. Then you say, 'Shoot, this team's dangerous.'"
The Tax Foundation says that Obama is taking the populist road in this new ad where he pitches a windfall profits tax on evil oil companies:
Obama seeks to impose a tax on the windfall profits of oil companies, which he implies in the advertisement is the cause of the high prices at the pump. The fact of the matter is that it doesn't work that way. The CEO of Shell doesn't get up one morning wanting to raise gas prices and say "I'm going to screw the American consumer today so my company's shareholders will get a greater return." And then the next morning when he wants to lower prices say, "I slept well last night and feel good this morning so I'm going to lower prices for the American people even if it cost my shareholders."Welcome to Obama's America. A nation where it's bad to make a profit.The oil companies have reaped a lot of gain from the recent rise in oil prices. There is no disputing that. And a windfall profits tax in the short-run would do little to change the price of gasoline, and would push money into government's coffers. However, in the long-run, by telling the oil companies that if they have higher than average profits in any given period they will be taxed extra on those profits, then that tax affects business investment for the future. That, in turn, lowers investment in oil, raising the price at the pump, lowering wages, and lowering returns to investors.
The fact of the matter is that Obama would be more accurate if he said that his foreign policy would help lower gas prices given that recent tensions in the Middle East have played a larger role in raising the price. Unfortunately, Obama is merely engaging in nonsensical political rhetoric by targeting the current outcomes of the energy markets instead of the underlying causes.
[UPDATE] This is funny. Obama claims that he doesn't take contributions from oil companies. FactCheck claims that he has taken $213,000 from employees of oil companies and their spouses and that two individuals that work for him are executives at oil companies that have raised some where between "$50,000 and $100,000" for Obama.
I'm sure John Linder will dispense of his primary challenger with relative ease, but he will face opposition in the general election:
Democrat Doug Heckman is using a 2 p.m. conference call with reporters today, to announce his candidacy for the Seventh District congressional seat now held by John Linder, the Republican incumbent.In reading through his platform, Heckman criticizes the budget, says "abolish earmarks" and supports a balanced budget amendment. He also attacks the Fair Tax proposal.Heckman, who describes himself as a conservative, is a graduate of West Point, and recently served as a senior advisor to the Iraqi army. So he fits the pro-military, Jim Marshall-style profile that Democrats have attempted to develop among their candidates.
You can view his website here.
Over at Reason, Jacob Sullum writes that of the three candidates seeking the presidency, only one has a record of abstaining from the practice and seeking to reform it:
On the face of it, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, and the two remaining contenders for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, take a different view: All three supported a one-year moratorium on earmarks that the Senate recently rejected by a wide margin. But only McCain has taken a principled stand against the pet projects that legislators love to slip into spending bills.McCain would be the first Porkbuster-and-chief."We Republicans came to power in 1994 to change government," McCain told the Riverside, California, Press Enterprise last year, "and the government changed us. That's why we lost the election: We began to value power over principle."
[...]
"Pork barrel spending," McCain says, "is an insult to taxpayers, a waste of public resources, and an abdication of our leaders' responsibility to be good and honorable stewards of the public treasury, for the benefit of all Americans, not just a few." He says he wants to end, not mend, earmarks, and in the meantime he declines to seek them for his own state.
Sullum also mentions Barack Obama's earmark for the University of Chicago, where Michelle Obama happens to work. I wonder why that hasn't been investigated.
There is a new podcast over at EconTalk. This one deals with the moral defense of capitalism and whether less government intervention in the market makes people less ethical.
Take a listen here.
The 2008 baseball season kicks off tonight when the Braves play the Washington Nationals. Tim Hudson will get the first start of the season.
You can view the 2008 Braves roster here.
I'm picking the Braves to finish second in the division this year and get the wild card. Most magazines and writers are picking them to finish third, behind the Mets or Phillies. One of those teams almost always implodes at some point during the season. I don't think it's too far fetched that the Braves could finish first, but unlikely.
If you are looking for Braves blogs to read during the season, I recommend Braves Journal and Talking Chop.
[8:04pm] I'm digging the Braves alternate road jerseys. It's not that they are a big deal, it is just new. They are navy with Atlanta and the tomahawk with a solid navy cap.
[8:10pm] Apparently, the team was surprised with them.
To fight against the hysteria surrounding the issue of "man-made" global warming, turn all the lights on in your home tonight at 8pm and buy a copy of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and read more about the other side of the issue here.
H/T: Club for Growth
In this video, State Sen. Eric Johnson tries to clear up the misinformation being spread about SB 458.
H/T: Chris @ Peach Pundit
Why is Sonny Perdue using neo-prohibitionist talking points for his opposition to Sunday sales? Rusty has the story, but you can read some background here.
The State Senate has passed an income tax cut:
The Georgia Senate on Friday overwhelmingly backed a 10 percent cut in the state income tax over the next five years.The bill had the backing of the Americans for Tax Reform. ATR supported the income tax cut over the repeal of the car tax because it did not "go as far as" Cagle's plan.The income tax cut, which passed 49-6, was the chamber's counter to a bill the House passed to eliminate the tax Georgians pay on their cars.
Now the two chambers will have to decide which tax cut, if any, to give final approval by the time the 2008 session ends. The session is supposed to close next Friday.
The Senate also passed another measure that would eliminate the .25 mill tax Georgians pay on their property, a savings of $90 million.
The income tax cut measure, when fully implemented, would save Georgians $1.2 billion. However, it would have minimal impact on Georgians this year. It would take effect July 1, and Georgians would see a small reduction in the amount of money the state takes out of their paycheck.
According the Political Insider, the cut also has the support of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG), Georgian Municipal Association (GMA) and the National Taxpayers Union.
Richardson's plan left too many holes, such as the state having to subsidize car ad valorem payments to counties, that would have required some sort of funding, which could have resulted in a separate tax increase.
Both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly passed an adjournment resolution yesterday. Sine Die is next Friday, April 4th. This based on the assumption hat Governor Perdue does not revise revenue estimates, which would send budget writers scrambling.
"Four Congressmen from Georgia - Paul Broun, Nathan Deal, Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland - have publicly taken a pledge not to seek nor sponsor an earmark for one year. Some Republicans believe the party lost control of Congress in 2006 because of the abandonment of fiscally conservative principles and the record level of pork spending by a GOP controlled Congress. I will submit to you that this is very true to an extent. Republicans, despite their best efforts, cannot completely dismiss an unpopular war in Iraq as a part of their electoral struggles..."
Here is my column for this week. I wrote about earmarks, the "currency of corruption," according to Jeff Flake.
You can also add John Linder to the list of Georgia Congressman abstaining from earmarks for a year. He hasn't issued a press release showing it, but his office confirmed that when I called to get information for the article.
You can get links to previous columns here.
BB&T CEO John Allison gave the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill $1 million in 2005 on the condition that the school had to create an Ayn Rand reading room and Atlas Shrugged had to be included in a course. The school accepted the donation, but now that the reading room has opened, some school officials are having second thoughts:
The schools' agreements have drawn criticism from some faculty, who say it compromises academic integrity. In higher education, the power to decide course content is supposed to rest with professors, not donors. Debate about the gifts, which arose at UNCC this month, illustrates tensions that exist over corporate influence on college campuses.If they don't like it, then give the money back.UNCC received its $1 million gift pledge in 2005, but details about the "Atlas Shrugged" requirement came to light as the school dedicated an Ayn Rand reading room March 12.
"It's going to make us look like a rinky-dink university," UNCC religious studies professor Richard Cohen said Thursday after UNCC Chancellor Phil Dubois told the faculty council about the gift. "It's like teaching the Bible as a requirement."
Dubois, who learned of the book requirement this month, says it was ill-advised. He may ask Allison to reconsider it, he told faculty.
I have great respect for Allison and BB&T. I've written about their activities before, when the bank made it public that they wouldn't lend to developers that used Kelo-style takings and when they made a $1 million donation to UNC-Greensboro to advance the teaching of capitalism.
Republicans are responsible for $7.9 trillion of the $36.3 trillion in unfunded liabilities that face Medicare due to the passage of the prescription drug benefit in 2003 (Medicare Part D).
H/T: Club for Growth
Matt Welch, editor of Reason, writes that John McCain's policies and rhetoric are a direct attack on the Individual:
The presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party has seduced the press and the public with frank confessions of his failings, from his hard-living flyboy days to his adulterous first marriage to the Keating Five scandal. But in both legislation and rhetoric, Mr. McCain has consistently sought to restrict the very freedoms he once exercised, in the common national enterprise of “serving a cause greater than self-interest.”Welch brings up McCain anti-First Amendment leanings as well. And I have to admit that the "patriotism over profit" line that he hit Romney with during the campaign rubbed me the wrong way.Such sentiment can sound stirring coming from a lone citizen freely choosing public service. But from a potential president, Mr. McCain’s exaltation of sacrifice over the private pursuit of happiness — “I did it out of patriotism, not for profit,” he snarled to Mitt Romney during the final Republican presidential debate — reflects a worryingly militaristic view of citizenship.
[...]
The senator’s ideas for “reform” — taxing cigarettes, banning ultimate fighting, giving the president a line-item veto — typically empower the executive branch at the expense of American citizens and their representatives. Even his efforts to prohibit torture and overhaul immigration proved hostile to individual rights. His ban on the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees was packaged with provisions that jeopardized habeas corpus. And his immigration bill would have required American workers to prove their citizenship.
Commissioner Elizabeth “BJ” Mathis relies on ignorance and subterfuge. She misrepresents truth and uses emotional appeals to dupe her supporters. In spite of numerous requests for her to address documented historical facts, or the proven financial losses at Nash Farm, her supporters attack me in the press.
A recent letter to the Times said I should “not toss Nash Farm aside.” By following the Golden Rule and saying good things I “will surely be blessed.” In fact, Mathis found a way to use tax money and a county park as a platform for her political ambitions. She is dragging down the integrity of our board of commissioners. Now she must atone for her sins against the county.
There is no point in posing intelligent arguments or trying to present facts. None of Mathis’ so-called experts denied or refuted anything I have written. The Official Civil War Historian remained silent and eventually vacated his tax-paid house at Nash. Her tears of self pity are just feigned dignity when she pleads for Nash to be left alone.
Nash Farm is not a place for Battlefield Committee members to take nighttime ATV rides. And they should not profit by selling goods or services to the county. Mathis and her appointees told lies about battlefields, museums and increased tourism. It is not Mathis’ personal playground. No, this park belongs to all the people of Henry County.
Eminent domain stopped a developer from using his land. The county was roped into spending over $8 million. In two years the park has lost over $300,000 in tax money. But special interests that benefited have flocked to Mathis’ support. She does not care about good government, just getting elected.
Commissioner Mathis, for the sake of honesty and integrity, please stop shoveling the manure. This county does not need another politician who cannot support her own positions openly and truthfully.
The Georgia House voted to give Regional Development Centers taxing authority today when it approve a transportation sales tax, HB 845 by a vote of 136-35, well past the majority needed for a constitutional amendment.
The Americans for Tax Reform opposed the amendment and sent this letter to legislators urging them to vote against it. ATR's position is basically that a vote for the amendment was a vote to raise taxes, despite the fact that voters have to approve it, something I completely agree with. Our Founders warned us against the problem of faction.
There is good news. The Governor says he will campaign against the amendment should it pass the legislature (the Senate has to agree to the changes) and Casey Cagle is skeptical about RDCs.
As an aside, ATR has a pledge they send to candidates that asks the to oppose "any and all efforts to increase taxes."
Here is a list of members that broke that commitment today:
Amos Amerson (R-9)
Ben Bridges (R-10)
Mark Butler (R-18)
Buddy Carter (R-159)
Jill Chambers (R-81)
Mike Coan (R-101)
Brooks Coleman (R-97)
Sharon Cooper (R-41)
Clay Cox (R-102)
Katie Dempsey (R-13)
Melvin Everson (R-106)
Ron Forester (R-3)
Allen Freeman (R-140)
Mark Hamilton (R-23)
Ben Harbin (R-118)
Bill Hembree (R-67)
Penny Houston (R-170)
Sheila Jones (R-44)
Sean Jerguson (R-22)
Jerry Kean (R-179)
John Lunsford (R-110)
Gene Maddox (R-172)
Fran Millar (R-79)
Billy Mitchell (R-88)
Larry O'Neal (R-146)
Allen Peake (R-137)
Tom Rice (R-51)
Donna Sheldon (R-105)
Barbara Sims (R-119)
Bob Smith (R-113)
Len Walker (R-107)
Mark Williams (R-178)
John Yates (R-73)
Some of you may have seen this e-mail:
With Clayton County on the verge of losing their accreditation and Henry County schools already being overloaded, House Bill 458 will have a negative impact on the future of Henry County if the bill is passed. PLEASE pass this on to all of your friends and family and have them call the Governors office (number listed below) and oppose it! Taxpayers for Henry County should not have to pay for non-residential students to attend Henry County schools.The bill number is Senate Bill 458, not House Bill 458, and thanks to an amendment yesterday in the House Science and Technology Committee, the language requiring school systems to take the voucher was removed due to objections from some local school boards. Acceptance of the voucher is voluntary. If a school system doesn't want to honor the voucher, they won't have to.
It took 5 seconds for me to complete a call to the Governor's office. Please read below.
-------------------------------------------------------------
This is an important announcement directly affecting our school and our school system.The GA Senate has passed a bill today allowing students from any non-accredited system to attend any school of their choice in any district without changing residences. The bill is now on its way to the House Science and Technology Dept. for review and then for a vote. The final step would be to go the Governor for his signature into law.
Should this bill pass, our school and our system would feel a tremendous strain on facilities, supplies, class sizes, instruction and sports eligibility. We urge you to call the governor's office as quickly as possible at 404-656-1776 and simply give your name and state you oppose House Bill 458.
Please contact our state representatives and voice your opposition to this bill quickly as time is critical.
Governor Sonny Perdue
404-656-1776
This has not stopped teacher's unions and opponents of school choice from demagoguing the issue through e-mail blasts to members and supporters. It is equally unfortunate that the Governor's office is not informing callers of the change in the legislation.
"A virtuous and laborious people may be cheaply governed." - Benjamin Franklin
Tax Freedom Day is April 23rd:
Tax Freedom Day, the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay all their federal, state and local taxes for the year, will fall on April 23 this year, according to the Tax Foundation's annual calculation using the latest government data on income and taxes.Tax Freedom Day is calculated by dividing the official government tally of all taxes collected in each year by the official government tally of all income earned in each year. Governments—federal, state and local—took 29.6% of income in 1970, 30.4% of income in 1980, 33.6% in 2000, and so on. This percentage is the nation's total tax burden. We then use the historical trend and the most recent economic data to make a projection of what the tax burden will be in the current year and we convert that burden into a date—a percentage of the year—on which Americans will have earned enough income to pay their total tax bill for the year.
This year’s Tax Freedom Day falls three days earlier than in 2007. Fiscal stimulus rebates and a projection of slow growth in 2008 are the principal reasons for the earlier celebration. However, if the large projected deficit for 2008 were counted as a tax in the current year, Tax Freedom Day would fall on May 3.
Vietnam got brought up on a thread the other day about the Iraq War, so when I saw this over at Rusty's place, I thought it would go well here. It is an interactive Vietnam Memorial. You can search the name of soldier listed on the wall and find information about them.
Bob Barr made an appearance today on Antiwar Radio and discussed American foreign policy and torture. He did confirm that he is considering a run for President, presumably under the Libertarian Party banner.
H/T: Third Party Watch
A teacher's union in Florida is considering a lawsuit over tax credits available to businesses that donate to scholarship funds. This presents a problem here is Georgia because a similar measure (HB 1133) is being considered in the legislature and there is already opposition to it from the GAE:
House Bill 1133, sponsored by Rep. David Casas (R-Lilburn), creates an income tax credit for individuals and corporations who donate to organizations that give scholarships for students to switch to a private school.That could mean trouble ahead for Georgia if the union in Florida is successful with their lawsuit.The Senate Finance Committee will take up Casas' bill at 3:30 p.m. today.
Both bills have already passed their own home chambers but must get through the other.
"There's a long way to go to final passage, but there continues to be a desire to provide more options for education," Johnson said. "Public education is really the only monopoly left in government."
Jeff Hubbard, president of the Georgia Association of Educators, opposes the bills. He said neither would benefit many students and both would further weaken an education system already hurt by funding cuts.
"We believe public funds should be used for education of students in public schools," Hubbard said.
H/T: Cato @ Liberty
William Niskanen highlights the threats facing limited government:
An administration and Congress of either party is likely to approve a federal program of universal health insurance. Such a program was endorsed by most of the presidential candidates in both parties, was implemented by former Gov. Mitt Romney in Massachusetts, and has been promoted even by our friends at the Heritage Foundation — despite the prospect that it would substantially increase federal spending, the relative price of medical care, and both price controls and nonprice rationing of medical care.H/T: Club for GrowthThe failure of any presidential candidate or more than a few members of Congress to criticize the $150 billion debt-financed “stimulus” package as ineffective or possibly counterproductive suggests that there is a broad bipartisan indifference to responsible fiscal policy. Another major threat to limited government that will probably be approved next year, whatever the outcome of the November election, is a first-stage national commitment to reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases; this ineffective but potentially very expensive policy is being promoted as a moral obligation, rather than the best of the alternative feasible responses to global warming.
The huge implicit debts for Social Security and Medicare, of course, are the largest threats to the federal budget. This is where the outcome of the November election might make a difference. In his recent State of the Union address, President Bush reminded us that these two programs should be reformed soon to avoid a large annual increase in their implicit debts, a warning that both Congress and the media ignored.
The Tax Foundation has blasted Johnny Isakson's tax credit for new home buyers:
Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, a former real estate agent, has come forth in support of yet another tax handout for housing. The bill is co-sponsored by many other Republicans in the Senate, including Senators Gregg, Craig, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. This time they want to give a $15,000 per year tax credit spread out over three years to anyone who purchases a new home, a foreclosed home, or a home that is pending foreclosing.Amen!!!These same Republicans who claim to want to rein in government spending as part of being "fiscally conservative" are themselves proposing a massive new hidden spending program, though they disguise it as a tax credit.
If there is anything the tax code needs, it is fewer handouts for the housing industry, not more. Members of Congress need to start listening to the consensus of economists on both the left and right who believe that housing receives too many favors in the tax code. And they need to stop listening to the paid lobbyists of the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders.
This kind of leaves me scratching my head. It seems that Mike Gravel has joined the Libertarian Party according to Stephen over at Third Party Watch.
Gravel is a civil libertarian, but he does not remotely share the economic beliefs that the party pushes. Maybe he'll come along on that as well.
[UPDATE] There is a discussion about this over at Reason.
Obama's tax returns are out. He hasn't been as altruistic with his own money as he wants to be with taxpayer dollars.
The long term financial woes of Medicare and Social Security are in the news today:
Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges" with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe.The trustees, issuing a once-a-year analysis of the government's two biggest benefit programs, said the resources in the Social Security trust fund will be depleted by 2041. The reserves in the Medicare trust fund that pays hospital benefits were projected to be wiped out by 2019.
Both those dates were the same as in last year's report. But the trustees warned that financial pressures will begin much sooner when the programs begin paying out more in benefits each year than they collect in payroll taxes. For Medicare, that threshhold is projected to be reached this year and for Social Security it is projected to occur in 2017.
State Sen. Eric Johnson believes that a tax cut will be passed:
The odds may look long for tax relief right now with no consensus in sight and just six lawmaking days left, but Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson said Tuesday he remains confident some aspect of the measures currently under debate will win final approval from the Georgia Legislature.Johnson also said that the transportation tax is in trouble due to differences between the House and Senate. The original proposal that came from the Senate is definitely the lesser of the two evils.
[...]
The House has passed a tax reform bill that would ax the tag tax, eliminate the state’s quarter-mill property tax (a proposal by Gov. Sonny Perdue) and cap property assessments at 2008 rates except for modest annual increases.Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and top Republican Senate leaders have proposed, instead, reducing the income tax rates by 10 percent, while also eliminating the quarter-mill tax and capping property assessments.
House leaders called the counter-proposal a “poison pill,” but it has cleared a Senate committee and likely will be on the Senate floor Friday for debate.
“So far, we’re in agreement on the quarter-mill property tax cut that the governor has proposed, we’re in agreement on an assessment cap and and we’re in agreement that there should be some sort of significant tax cut,” Johnson said.
“So we agree on a good portion of that tax reform. I believe we can find a final solution to a tax cut that can pass at least by the last day of the General Assembly. You know, elections are marvelous things and we’re headed into one, so there’s an incentive to deliver a tax cut - at least by the Republicans - to the people,” he said.
[UPDATE] There is more on the tax cuts over at the AJC.
GDOT is may be cutting some transportation projects:
Georgia is about to undertake some painful project-cutting to fit its transportation program to its budget, state Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Abraham told her board Monday as they met at a retreat in Macon.Just about everyone I've talked to believes Gena Abraham is doing an excellent job and needs more time to review and prioritize, and that means cost/benefit analysis of projects, before more funding is thrown towards GDOT.A department that in reality has the money to work on about 270 projects a year has 1,470 active ones on its books and more than 9,000 planned, she said.
"We're going to have to talk about projects coming off our books," she said. "There's no other way around it."
Also, Mark Rountree from Landmark Communications backed up a recent poll by Insider Advantage that showed that Georgians are opposed to a tax increase for transportation:
We found 40% support to 49% opposition, very similar to the Insider Advantage poll.Meanwhile, State Rep. Vance Smith and House leadership seem determined to shove a tax increase down the throats of Georgians.
[...]
Inside Metro Atlanta area: 42% support vs. 50% opposedOUTSIDE Metro Atlanta area: 38% support vs. 49% opposed.
It’s 8 point difference within metro Atlanta, and an 11% difference outside.
The poll sample was of 750.
Why even bother with this?:
D.C. police are going door-to-door Monday in one of the city's crime-plagued neighborhoods, asking residents for permission to search their homes for guns and other illegal contraband.Allahpundit at Hot Air, where I saw this story, summed it up well:The program, called the Safe Homes Initiative, will offer homeowners and renters limited amnesty for possessing any contraband found by police.
The program is aimed at removing guns and drugs kept by children and young adults in their parents' homes. The homeowners will be asked to sign a form, consenting to the search.
"I think that's good," said parent Brenda Freeman Jones, who worries that many parents aren't aware of what their kids are up to. "Look for the gun and drugs, sign the papers. Get stuff off the street."
Police plan to test any firearm that is recovered to see if it used in a crime. Weapons linked to shootings or murders will require an investigation, according to police, and could lead to charges.
I trust, with blind faith, that this has nothing to do with the minor matter that handgun ownership may be a full-fledged constitutional right in the District within three months.And...God bless Marion "Bitch set me up" Berry (yes, that Marion Berry), who said of the initiative:
[...]
Why, with the Supremes leaning towards blessing firearm possession, would anyone aware of his rights be intimidated by a gun grab now? Like the lady says, albeit on a different note, “Ain’t nobody in their right mind going to let them in to the house for guns, drugs, nothing.”
"I don't understand it. In fact we will fight against it until we find out what will be the end point," says Barry. "That's a parental responsibility. Not the government's responsibility to know what kids are doing, when they come home, who their friends are and what they have in the house."I have this odd feeling that DC police will be met with some hostility as they meet a citizenry that is likely to be skeptical of law enforcement.
Paul Broun and Nathan Deal have joined Tom Price and Lynn Westmoreland (I previously wrote about Price and Westmoreland) in taking a stand against earmarks by individually imposing a one-year moratorium against the practice:
More than half of Georgia's Republicans in the U.S. House have joined an anti-earmark crusade and pledged to give up pet spending requests for their districts.Jack Kingston is noticeably absent from the list, despite his recent remarks and actions on the issue.They say quitting cold turkey will help shake up a free-spending culture in Washington, but others argue the move is a political stunt that will only deprive Georgia of federal cash for road improvements, university grants and other projects.
Republican Reps. Paul Broun of Athens, Nathan Deal of Gainesville, Tom Price of Roswell and Lynn Westmoreland of Grantville say they will forgo earmarks for at least one year.
[T]he four Georgia Republicans say it was runaway spending - with egregious examples such as Alaska's so-called "bridge to nowhere" - that helped spark the party's losses in 2006. To rebuild trust, they say, they're ready to sacrifice a perk that lawmakers traditionally have used to shore up support back home.
Perhaps he doesn't trust himself to stick to a self-imposed ban. Maybe he only wants to go along with a ban if it is a rule of the House. Who knows? It just makes it very difficult to take him seriously on the issue.
Politicians like Mike Huckabee, John Edwards and Barack Obama use protectionist talking points and populist rhetoric about jobs going overseas (or as Obama says the North American Free Trade Agreement has caused jobs to go to China). But when you look at the corporate income tax rates in the United States, it's hard to put the blame on businesses, especially when twenty-four states have a combined federal and state corporate tax rate higher than the highest ranked country.
To paraphrase Milton Friedman, the corporate tax is just another tax on the individual.
H/T: TaxProf via Instapundit
In case you're wondering, here are the dates that cash advance on a future tax increase economic stimulus checks are going out.
Bob Barr has some thoughts on the Heller case:
The lower, federal appeals court found the Amendment does guarantee the right of an individual person to possess a firearm, and that the Washington, D.C. ban on handguns amounted to an impermissibly restrictive limitation of that right. While most Members of the U.S. House and Senate joined in briefs to the Supreme Court asking it to agree with the appeals court on both findings, the Bush Administration strangely asked the Supreme Court justices to send the decision back to the lower court to reconsider precisely how the D. C. ban should be interpreted. The Bush Justice Department took this disappointing stance because it feared a precedent that might make it more difficult for it and future administrations to enforce the wide range of existing federal gun laws.I wish I could say with confidence that the Supreme Court will find an individual right and overturn the DC gun ban. A majority for the individual right seems very likely and from looking at the transcript there could be as many as six or seven Justices in favor of that view.Despite this waffling by the Administration (with which even Vice President Cheney disagreed on the record), it appears the Court will likely find D.C.gun ban, which disarms the citizenry in one of the country’s most violence-prone cities, unconstitutional because it effectively abrogates an individual’s right to own a firearm for self-defense. If the Court does not do so, we’ll have the Bush Administration to thank.
I don't, however, have the same confidence that a majority of the court will find that the DC gun ban is unreasonable regulation.
The number of US military deaths in Iraq has hit 4,000.
I don't like making statements that can be construed as "anti-war," because I'm not a pacifist and I believe that if there is reason enough for us to go to war then we should. Going into Iraq was a terrible mistake and our leaders need to start looking for a way to get us out of Iraq.
Rasmussen shows Saxby Chambliss with large leads over possible Democratic challengers, including Jim Martin:
Chambliss leads Dale Cardwell 52% to 36%, Vernon Jones 56% to 30% and Jim Martin 51% to 33%.Dale Cardwell does the best, but it seems like Democrats don't take him seriously. The unfavorable ratings for Vernon Jones (aka: "Snuggles") is a red flag.
[...]
Chambliss is viewed favorably by 57% of Georgia voters and unfavorably by 29%. Jones, the CEO of Dekalb County, earns favorable ratings from just 25% and unfavorable ratings from 58%. Former congressman Jim Martin is viewed favorably by 35% and unfavorably by 36%, while 28% are not sure.
The Wall Street Journal has an interview up with Georgia native and current Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas.
It makes for a good read.
Here is a legislative update from State Sen. John Douglas:
The 2008 session of the Georgia legislature is nearing the home stretch as our next meeting on March 27th will be Day 35 of the 40 legislative days allowed by law. The pace is increasing dramatically as Senators and Representatives work to finish the 2008 session.The biggest tax cut in Georgia history was recently proposed by Lt. Gov. Cagle and members of the Senate. The Senate tax reform plan calls for a reduction in income taxes by 10 percent across the board for every state income tax taxpaying citizen. If passed, this plan will deliver over $3.5 billion in tax cuts. The cuts will be phased in over five years in equal, annual installments, beginning July 1, 2008. Because the same percentage cut is applied to all rates, the taxpayers who need the cut the most will receive a proportionately larger tax cut. This measure puts money back in the pockets of Georgia taxpayers. I have long been a strong foe of both Federal and state income taxes and hope this is the first step to eliminating the state income tax. Additionally, I hope it can become an example to the federal government that income taxes have to go.
The impending loss of the accreditation of the Clayton County schools continues to be a hot topic at the capitol. SB 458 provides that students can leave any school or system that loses its accreditation. If the students stays within the system but changes schools, transportation must be provided by the system. If he/she chooses to leave the system, they provide their own transportation. Of critical importance, no other system is required to accept those students if space is not available. To me, that was a key amendment because of the crowding in the Newton, Rockdale, Henry and Spalding schools, all counties I represent and geographically close to Clayton County. I have no intention of allowing those systems to be flooded with former Clayton County students when we are hard pressed to educate those who already live in these counties. The taxpayers of those counties will not be asked to pay for the incompetence of the Clayton County school system.In other news this week, Senate Bill (SB) 544, which I sponsored, saw final passage on Thursday and will become law with the Governor's signature. SB 544 will begin to provide property tax relief for Newton County senior citizens. The legislation allows each resident of Newton County who is over the age of 65 and with an adjusted gross income of $25,000 or less to be granted a homestead exemption from all Newton County ad valorem taxes in the amount of $30,000. In order to be eligible for the benefit, a homeowner would have to file an application with the tax commissioner.
I was on the radio with Wilson Smith, Georgia's best political talk show, yesterday discussing the Heller case and some Georgia politics.
Wilson made his prediction on the outcome of Heller:
The now conservative Supreme Court that loves to uphold the power of the government to do just about anything (like tap our phones) has to choose between its love of federal power and its love of guns, or should I say conservatives’ love of guns. I predict the guns win, the law is declared unconstitutional and the Supreme Court does some fancy dancing to preserve both guns and power. When you are the Supreme Court you can have the best of both worlds!I apologize for coughing a lot during the interview. I caught that bug that has been going around again.
Thanks to Wilson for having me on!
Take care, Javy. Thanks for the memories.
It was indeed the so-called PATRIOT Act that brought Elliot Spitzer down:
When Congress passed the Patriot Act in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, law-enforcement agencies hailed it as a powerful tool to help track down the confederates of Osama bin Laden. No one expected it would end up helping to snag the likes of Eliot Spitzer. The odd connection between the antiterror law and Spitzer's trysts with call girls illustrates how laws enacted for one purpose often end up being used very differently once they're on the books.I'm glad to see that the PATRIOT Act is being used to stop such crimes so detrimental to the national security interests of the United States.The Patriot Act gave the FBI new powers to snoop on suspected terrorists. In the fine print were provisions that gave the Treasury Department authority to demand more information from banks about their customers' financial transactions. Congress wanted to help the Feds identify terrorist money launderers. But Treasury went further. It issued stringent new regulations that required banks themselves to look for unusual transactions (such as odd patterns of cash withdrawals or wire transfers) and submit SARs—Suspicious Activity Reports—to the government. Facing potentially stiff penalties if they didn't comply, banks and other financial institutions installed sophisticated software to detect anomalies among millions of daily transactions. They began ranking the risk levels of their customers—on a scale of zero to 100—based on complex formulas that included the credit rating, assets and profession of the account holder.
[...]
The new scrutiny resulted in an explosion of SARs, from 204,915 in 2001 to 1.23 million last year. The data, stored in an IRS computer in Detroit, are accessible by law-enforcement agencies nationwide. "Terrorism has virtually nothing to do with it," says Peter Djinis, a former top Treasury lawyer. "The vast majority of SARs filed today involve garden-variety forms of white-collar crime." Federal prosecutors around the country routinely scour the SARs for potential leads.One of those leads led to Spitzer. Last summer New York's North Fork Bank, where Spitzer had an account, filed a SAR about unusual money transfers he had made, say law-enforcement and industry sources who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the probe. One of the sources tells NEWSWEEK that Spitzer wasn't flagged because of his public position. Instead, the governor called attention to himself by asking the bank to transfer money in someone else's name. (A North Fork spokesperson says the bank does not discuss its customers.) The SAR was not itself evidence that Spitzer had committed a crime. But it made the Feds curious enough to follow the money.
Huge Community Yard Sale to benefit Jim Cox for Sheriff.
Friday and Saturday, March 28th and 29th, 9am until 5pm.
Food Depot parking lot, Corner of Highway 138 and Highway 155, Stockbridge.
Appliances, TV's, exercise equipment, furniture, costume jewelry, electronics, toys, etc.
Come by and meet Jim Cox, have some food, and purchase some merchandise.
A new poll by Insider Advantage indicates that a plurality of voters oppose a new tax for transportation:
We asked, “Do you favor or oppose an amendment that would allow regions of the state to hold votes in those regions to increase the sales tax in those areas for transportation needs?I wonder if State Rep. Vance Smith (R-Tax Mountain) is paying attention.
Favor (38%)Oppose (48%)No opinion (14%)The poll was conducted March 18 by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion. It sampled 407 Georgia voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5%. The data have been weighted for age, race, gender and partisan affiliation.
It can’t be counted as much of a shock that sentiment about transportation tax votes across the state fall roughly along party lines. Democratic respondents favor such votes 48% to 40%, and Republicans oppose them 53% to 31%. Worst for proponents of new transportation infrastructure funding, independent voters oppose these referenda by 53% to 30%.
"He got out of bed, got the gun out of the closet and went into the kitchen...[t]he next thing I knew, there was a struggle and I heard two shots. I knew someone was dead." - Peggy Jenkins on her eighty-one year old husband's altercation with a twenty-five year old intruder.
Stephen over at Third Party Watch has a statement from Bob Barr's office on a possible run for President:
Former Congressman Barr has been receiving numerous calls for him to consider seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party for the presidency of the United States. He understands this reflects in part the deep dissatisfaction prevalent among voters with the candidates of the two major parties. Congressman Barr is grateful for the many and continuing expressions of support for his potential candidacy. He has, however, made no decision in that regard.They aren't denying it outright like they've done in the past.
The legislature approved the FY 2008 amended budget and House approved the FY 2009 budget yesterday, that will now go to the Senate for consideration:
The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved a $332 million spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends June 30. The mid-year budget adds money for schools, provides more than $50 million for trauma health care at hospitals such as Grady Memorial, and includes $40 million for reservoirs.That is some clever maneuvering by budget writers and I'm sure it pissed of Gov. Perdue.After approving the spending plan, both chambers voted to immediately "transmit" it to Perdue. Under the state Constitution, that gives the governor six days to sign or veto the budget. The General Assembly will still be in session in six days.
The aim is to give lawmakers the chance to respond to any spending vetoes by Perdue. They could attempt to override the vetoes, or make other budget changes before ending the 2008 session next month.
The negatives of the budget are that there are absolutely no cuts in spending. The first full spending plan that the General Assembly passed under full Republican control was the FY 2006 budget, which was $17.4 billion. The legislature just passed the FY 2009 budget, which is $21.2 billion. That doesn't include bonds or other amended budgets.
No tax cuts, no restraint in state spending...just growth in government under Republican control.
"The State of Georgia has no legitimate reason to block sales of alcohol on Sunday. Perdue says that six days are enough to buy alcohol. What exactly does that mean in a free society?"
Here is my column for this week. I wrote in favor of Sunday alcohol sales this week, an issue the legislature will be taking up soon.
The rumor has been out there for a while. He has denied it in the past. However, there is a story out that Bob Barr has publicly expressed interest in running for President:
Bob Barr for president?You can read the Washington Times article here.According to the Washington Times, the former Republican congressman from Cherokee County confirms he is considering a run for president as a Libertarian.
"There is great deal [of] dissatisfaction with the candidates for the two major parties, particularly among conservatives, but also a great deal of Internet and other support for a candidate like Ron Paul who advocates libertarian and true conservative principles," Barr, who is now a Libertarian, told the newspaper.
Paul, a Republican candidate this year, was the Libertarian presidential candidate in 1988. The Times said Barr declined to say whether he had been approached by Paul about a presidential bid.
If Bob Barr were to run he would have my vote.
I received a couple of e-mails about the apparent rift between Bush and Cheney on the Heller case. Bob Novak addressed this in a column last week:
The government position filed with the Supreme Court by U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement stunned gun advocates by opposing the breadth of an appellate court affirmation of individual ownership rights. The Justice Department, not the vice president, is out of order. But if Bush agrees with Cheney, why did the president not simply order Clement to revise his brief? The answers: disorganization and weakness in the eighth year of his presidency.That shows a considerable breakdown inside the Bush Administration when his own Solicitor General goes against the official position of the President.The president and his senior staff were stunned to learn, on the day it was issued, that Clement's petition called on the high court to return the case to the appeals court. The solicitor general argued that Silberman's opinion supporting individual gun rights was so broad that it would endanger existing federal gun control laws such as the bar on owning machine guns. The president could have ordered a revised brief by Clement. But under congressional Democratic pressure to keep hands off the Justice Department, Bush did not act.
Cheney did join 55 senators and 250 House members in signing a brief supporting the Silberman ruling. While this unprecedented vice presidential intervention was widely interpreted as a dramatic breakaway from the White House, longtime associates could not believe Cheney would defy the president. In fact, he did not. Bush approved what Cheney did in his constitutional legislative branch role as president of the Senate.
Jacob Sullum went through the transcript of District of Columbia v. Heller and pulled comments from four members of the court that laid out their support of the individual rights view of the Second Amendment.
I suppose a majority of members could vote to support the individual rights view but uphold the DC gun ban as constitutional. I believe that it is unlikely given some of the exchanges between members of the court and Walter Dellinger, who argued for the District.
David Hardy writes that he is expecting a 5-4 decision in favor of overturning the ban and the individual rights view:
My guess is a 5-4 for us, possible a bit better but I wouldn't bet on it, and a narrow opinion by Roberts: a total ban on a class of arms violates the 2nd Amendment. The lower courts can figure out any additional implications, and after a few years we may take another case to flesh it out some more. As Roberts pointed out, first amendment standard of review is a creation of the courts, and they took years on it.I have an mp3 of arguments here. It is just under 100 MB, so it may take some time to download depending on your connection.
Gov. Sonny Perdue is opposed to tax cuts proposed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Speaker Glenn Richardson:
The House last week passed legislation to eliminate the car tag tax and the state's .25 mill property tax on homes. That would reduce taxes, and state revenue, about $760 million a year.Perdue has had no problem pushing tax increases in the past. Georgians deserve a break, it's a shame that he doesn't see that.Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Senate leaders Tuesday proposed a 10 percent reduction in the state's income tax rate over five years. That would eventually reduce taxes, and state revenue, about $1.2 billion a year.
Perdue said from a policy standpoint, he preferred the Senate plan. But he said both would create a huge hole in the state budget.
"We're setting up an organic imbalance going forward that will make this state out of balance," Perdue said. "And we've got to have some draconian cuts coming on things we don't want to cut, like education, health care, transportation. This is not where I want to go.
"It's time to stop playing politics with the financial future of this state."
Perdue said lawmakers from both chambers seem to be playing an election-year game of trying to one-up each other.
But I will give Perdue some credit, he is opposed to raising taxes for transportation, at least for now. Perdue told Insider Advantage, “The ironic thing is, more than likely the House will deal with a tax increase for transportation this week, and that is the silliest thing I can hear about is a tax cut and then a tax increase for transportation."
You’re Invited to HearHenry County Board of Commissioners Chairman Jason Harper
3DCC, General Meeting, Monday, March 24, 2008, 7:00 p.m. at the McDonough Presbyterian Church
Chairman Harper will be speaking on the State of the County.Directions:
The Presbyterian Church is located at 427 McGarity Road. There are entrances off of McGarity Road and Highway 20 East (Conyers Road near the intersection with McGarity Road. Enter the church on the Highway 20 side near the flag pole. Go through the double glass doors and turn right down the first hallway. 3DCC will be meeting in a room on this hallway depending on the availability of a room.
Bring a friend!!
[[Third District Community Coalition, Inc. is a Georgia non-partisan, not for profit corporation which may also be recognized as 3rd District Community Coalition, Inc. or 3DCC, Inc.]]
Here is a great example of why we have the Second Amendment. It is unfortunate that law-abiding citizens of Washington, DC are denied the right to protect their homes:
If a DeKalb County home invasion suspect thought an elderly Tucker couple would make an easy target Tuesday night, he thought wrong.Now the suspect is now dead, and DeKalb police say the 81-year-old homeowner will not fa
DeKalb police spokesman J.T. Ware said that about 11 p.m., the unidentified suspect, who appeared to be in his 20s, broke into the home on Zemory Drive, in a neighborhood off Lawrenceville Highway.
"The suspect, as he was entering the location, made enough noise to arouse the suspicions of the homeowner, and he was able to locate his weapon and load it," Ware said.
The homeowner, Robert Jenkins, confronted the suspect, and after a brief struggle, shot and killed the man, Ware said.
He said Jenkins was hospitalized for treatment of wounds suffered during the struggle, but is expected to be okay. His 78-year-old wife was not injured.
Ware said police do not plan to charge Jenkins.
It looks like it's official...Jim Martin is running for US Senate.
You can view his website here.
Open-ended, no accountability... sounds like Henry County SPLOST
Report for the House Substitute to SR 845Without specified projects and budgets the elctorate cannot know how the increased tax revenue will be used. It is wide open for abuse. This state-level shell game is the biggest argument posed by Warren Holder and me during our SPLOST III deliberations.Governor Perdue as the CEO of Georgia has clearly stated that the Department of Transportation is not yet ready to properly utilize additional funding. The Governor instituted a Congestion Mitigation Task Force that has proposed a formula based approach to prioritizing transportation projects in Georgia that has not been followed to date. This formula requires a cost benefit analysis that is routed in congestion relief and this legislation makes no mention of any such standards or requirements. In addition the language of the legislation suggests that there need not even be a specific project list for the referendum. It only requires the RDC Board to state the “transportation purpose” and the specific cost of the projects for the transportation purposes.
. The numbers and statistics are being produced and distributed by the very organizations that are lobbying for the passage of the legislation and therefore we are being manipulated by biased information.Again, just like Henry County's SPLOST promotions.
Should voters accept this tax referendum, it will be time for new voter qualification testing!
Casey Cagle can cut taxes too:
Senate leaders announced they will push legislation to lower the state's income tax rate by 10 percent over the next five years.If fully implemented, it would eventually cut state income taxes more than $1.2 billion a year.
The proposal is in response to a plan passed last week by the House to eliminate the property taxes Georgians pay on cars. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to reject that tax cut Wednesday.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the Senate's president, had criticized the House plan because its benefits wouldn't be felt for more than a year. The proposal called for the phasing out of the car tax beginning July 2009.
Cagle said the Senate plan would bring immediate relief in the middle of an economic downturn. If approved, starting July 1, Georgian workers could see a little less money taken out of their paychecks for state income taxes.
Insider Advantage has more details about Cagle's proposal:
New to the package under the Senate proposal - a “TABOR”-like proposal that would rein-in state government spending and direct money in excess of a formula (based on the inflation rate and population growth rate) to education, the rainy day fund and then to taxpayer refunds.Truth be told, I like the car tag cut more than the income tax cut. That is just one thing that I dread doing every year. However, Cagle's proposal has restraints on spending by the state and that is something we can't pass up.The package was rolled out in two parts: in the Senate Finance Committee, where the major changes were made to Richardson’s House-passed constitutional amendment, and in a news conference later by Cagle and more than 20 members of the Senate, where he announced the separate income tax plan, which would be a statutory change needing 91 votes and veto-able by the governor.
[...]
Under the proposal, the state would reduce the income tax rates by 10 percent over five years beginning July 1, 2008. Under that plan, the maximum 6 percent tax rate would drop the first year to 5.88 percent and so on until it reach 5.4 percent.
State Rep. Ron Sailor is out of the legislature and likely headed to jail:
State Rep. Ron Sailor on Tuesday pleaded guilty to laundering what he believed to be $375,000 in drug money for an undercover officer posing as a drug dealer.Whether Sailor resigned or not, you can make the argument that the 93rd District wouldn't be represented anyway.Sailor, 33, a Democrat who represents parts of DeKalb and Rockdale counties, agreed to resign his position in the legislature. Shortly after his arrest three months ago, Sailor admitted his wrongdoing and began providing information for a public corruption investigation.
[5:59pm] From IA: "InsiderAdvantageGeorgia has learned from a highly placed source in the legal community that at least one state legislator has“been wearing a wire for the past year” in an on-going and potentially widespread investigation of public corruption in Georgia."
Much is being written about the oral arguments, which you can read here, in the Heller case. I listened to most of the arguments and it seems like a majority of Justices will side with the individual rights view of the Second Amendment. Support for that view clearly came from Scalia, Roberts, Alito and Kennedy. You almost have to put Thomas on that side as well because of his originalist views on the Constitution, despite the fact that he said nothing during the hearing.
My friends at Georgia Carry, who filed an Amicus brief in the case, came to almost the same conclusion on the five that seemed to favor the individual rights view.
Ginsburg, Souter and Stevens were definitely opposed to an individual rights view. I would not say they overwhelming endorsed a collective rights view either. It seems that they will base their case around judicial deference and the rational basis test. I'm not sure about Breyer. It seemed he was searching for something during the hearing. I don't know which side he'll come down on.
The Washington Post has already weighed in:
A majority of the Supreme Court today seemed to clearly indicate that the Second Amendment provides an individual right to possess a firearm and several justices appeared skeptical about whether the District of Columbia's handgun ban could be considered a reasonable restriction on that right.Clement's arguments were met with some skepticism by Scalia and Roberts. I don't know what kind of review the majority will call for in their opinion. Judging from their comments during the hearing, I don't believe they will side 100% with the Bush Administration, which seemed to be arguing the rational basis test but affirmed that the Second Amendment is an individual right. In fact, those were the first words out of Clement's mouth.
[...]
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, often seen as the deciding vote on the divided court, immediately made it clear he did not accept the District's arguments -- and the views of a vast majority of federal appeals courts -- that the Second Amendment provided only a collective right to gun possession in furtherance of military purpose.The amendment states: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Kennedy said he thought the much-debated first clause was simply "reaffirming" the importance of the Constitution's militia clause and that it clearly stated "there is a right to bear arms'' that is separate.
[...]
Solicitor General Paul D. Clement told the justices that too strict a standard would imperil the federal government's efforts to restrict machine guns or "plastic" guns meant to avoid metal detector screening.The right to bear arms, Clement argued, "always coexisted with reasonable regulations of firearms.''
Concurring Opinions has an idea of what the opinions will look like in June, when the court is expected to issue a decision in the case.
SCOTUSblog has a post-hearing roundup, as does The Liberty Papers.
You can listen to the hearing here (RealPlayer required).
The Drudge Report has the text of Obama's speech from today. I'm posting it here. Video is also available online here.
I'm sure you'll hear a lot about this over the next day or two, so I'm not going to add anything to it other than it was a well done speech from a great politician, and I don't have to agree with his policies to say that.
“We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution – a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part – through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.
This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign – to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country – a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.
Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth – by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
“People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note – hope! – I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish – and with which we could start to rebuild.”
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety – the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions – the good and the bad – of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.
Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.
A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families – a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods – parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement – all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.
But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it – those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations – those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.
And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience – as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze – a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns – this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy – particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction – a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people – that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans -- the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives – by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
Ironically, this quintessentially American – and yes, conservative – notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country – a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen – is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope – the audacity to hope – for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds – by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand – that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation – the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.
There is one story in particularly that I’d like to leave you with today – a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King’s birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn’t. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”
“I’m here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.
On Monday the issue of a caretaker for Nash Farm came before the board of commissioners. For some it was the first knowledge that Mr. Mark Pollard had moved from the property, or that he had moved two or three weeks ago.
As the county's newest passive park opens daily, from sunrise to sunset, it would appear there remains a need to protect the property and the artifacts that may remain there.
Your government at workDelving into the finances of any county park may open more questions than answers. It is often the case that work at county parks supersedes other projects like intersection improvements or dirt road paving. Moseley Park on Miller's Mill Road, for example, required all the staff and equipment available to the county department of transportation - for the new football fields. Then there was grading at Heritage Park. And let's not forget the work performed at Nash Farm.
Determining exactly which commissioner prioritized specific tasks is another set of issues. Taxpayers may believe that Department of Transportation means roads and such. Not so. When gravel, mulch or grading is needed for a county park, the typical phone call is placed to the Director of Public Works, who assigns - you guessed it - the DOT to fulfill the request. Although the funding may not be specifically allocated to that park or even the Park & Rec Department, the county general fund budget covers all departments including DOT and Parks & Recreation. Nobody really asks for line item accounting so long as the jobs get done.... eventually. Cohesive planning and budgetary responsibility too often eludes the board we elected to serve as our representatives.
Here we see a perfect example of Government Efficiency. Transportation Department funds, equipment and staff are whimsically assigned to politically sensistive parks while roadwork suffers. For one example, our First District has had no (zip, zero, nada) road projects completed since January 2007. Fifteen months later and at least three projects that could have been completed toot sweet remain idle.
Herein is the picture of exploring the finances at Nash Farm. It is clear why folks have chided, "You have only seen the tip of the iceberg." In our highly professional and fiscally responsible government, nobody really knows how the funds are actually spent, when or on whose authorization. These statements are not a specific indictment of poor project management, although that problem certainly exists. Rather, it is just too easy for dueling commissioners to lose sight of their job: doing the people's business in a sound and responsible manner.
Historical Significance?Henry County's Historian admitted knowing nothing about any significance to Nash Farm. But they found some artifacts, and that is the needed proof. Who is to say that although nobody heard of it, and no historical record depicts it, that something did not happen there. At least one commissioner is absolutely convinced that Pollard's Relics tell the whole story.
Folks, the embarrassment is too much. Without a major public outcry our board of commissioners will not address the wrongful use of eminent domain, waste of taxpayer's money or the fictions now associated with our newest passive park.
Don't forget, oral arguments in District of Columbia v. Heller begin at 11:30am. You'll be able to watch them live on C-SPAN. Audio of the hearing will be made available after arguments are heard.
SCOTUSblog will be live-blogging as the morning progresses. They also have a roundup of articles on the case.
[12:32pm] SCOTUSblog is live-blogging here. Judging from comments I've heard and read by members of the court, it seems like the individual rights side may win this.
Over at Peach Pundit, Buzz has the results of the first poll for GA-10 and its good news for Rep. Paul Broun:
Congressman Broun received the support of 71% of likely Republican voters. His announced opponents, Barry Fleming and Nancy Schaefer, each garnered only 11%. Just 7% of the respondents were undecided.It is far too early to say that Broun will coast to re-election, but given the media attention to State Rep. Barry Fleming, an establishment Republican, it's good sign.
[...]
The poll conducted March 11-12, 2008, surveyed 400 likely Republican voters in the 10th District.
The Washington Post previewed the Heller case yesterday:
The nine justices, none of whom has ever ruled directly on the amendment's meaning, will consider a part of the Bill of Rights that has existed without a definitive interpretation for more than 200 years.Doug Mataconis offers a preview of the case over at The Liberty Papers:"This may be one of the only cases in our lifetime when the Supreme Court is going to be interpreting the meaning of an important provision of the Constitution unencumbered by precedent,'' said Randy E. Barnett, a constitutional scholar at the Georgetown University Law Center. "And that's why there's so much discussion on the original meaning of the Second Amendment.''
The most likely outcome of the Court’s decision in Heller, whatever it might be, is that it will merely be the beginning of an entirely new area of Constitutional jurisprudence. Ten years from now, Second Amendment cases may be as common in the Supreme Court as First Amendment cases once were, and that will continue until the Court hammers out a coherent Second Amendment case law.Jacob Sullum has a short roundup of articles concerning Heller, including a summary of the arguments of the case from Alan Gura and Bob Levy, the lawyers for Dick Heller.
Brian Doherty of Reason shares some thoughts on the case at reason.tv:
SCOTUSblog will be live-blogging the oral arguments as they happen.
C-SPAN will be carrying the oral arguments live, beginning at 11:30am. I'm recording it and I hope to have it up sometime tomorrow.
McQ stole my headline for this, but Barack Obama will be giving a speech on race tomorrow due to the recent reaction due controversial comments by his pastor:
"I am going to be talking about not just Reverend Wright, but the larger issue of race in this campaign," he said.Wright is no longer serving on Obama's campaign.He added that he would "talk about how some of these issues are perceived from within the black church issue for example," he said.
He also briefly defended Wright from the image that has come through in a handful of repeatedly televised clips from recent Wright sermons.
"The caricature that’s being painted of him is not accurate," he said.
The speech could offer Obama an opportunity to move past the controversy over his pastor, and to turn the conversation to a topic he'd rather focus on: his Christian faith. But the speech also guarantees that the Wright story will continue to dominate political headlines.
If Obama defends his pastor's comments, it's going to hurt him. You simply cannot defend someone who says "God Damn America" in this political climate, especially when you are already being accused of anti-Americanism.
In the previous post the article I linked to mentioned the brief filed by Vice President Dick Cheney and members of Congress in the Heller case, I wanted to make note of the members from the Georgia delegation that signed it.
They are: Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R), Sen. Johnny Isakson (R), Rep. John Barrow (D), Rep. Sanford Bishop (D), Rep. Paul Broun (R), Rep. Nathan Deal (R), Rep. Phil Gingrey (R), Rep. Jack Kingston (R), Rep. John Linder (R), Rep. Jim Marshall (D), Rep. Tom Price (R) and Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R).
You can view the brief here.
There is some tension in the Bush Administration over the Heller case. In case you don't know, Solicitor General Paul Clement filed a brief on behalf of the District of Columbia in the case:
The brief argues that in striking down the District of Columbia’s law, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit took too “categorical” an approach, one that threatens the constitutionality of federal gun laws, like the current ban on machine guns. Mr. Clement asks the justices to vacate the decision and send the case back to the appeals court for a more nuanced appraisal of the issue.Fair warning, I'll be posting a lot about Heller over the next few days.
[...]
But Vice President Dick Cheney was nonetheless so provoked by Mr. Clement’s approach that last month he took the highly unusual step for a vice president of signing on to a brief filed by more than 300 members of Congress that asks the Supreme Court to declare the District of Columbia law “unconstitutional per se.” (Mr. Clement’s brief, by contrast, says that “a per se rule is clearly out of place in the Second Amendment context” because at the time the amendment itself coexisted with the “reasonable restrictions on firearms” that were in place at the time.)The Congressional brief, circulated by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, asserts that “no purpose would be served by remanding this case for further fact finding or other proceedings.” The case “involves nothing more than the right of law-abiding persons to keep common handguns and usable firearms for lawful self-defense in the home,” the brief says.
I was going to go to the new Irish Bred Pub tonight, but I have too much to do at home this evening. I'll swing by the store and grab a six pack of Guinness on my way home and get what I need to do done.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Georgia beat Arkansas to win the SEC championship. By winning the conference championship, Georgia will get a bid to the NCAA tournament.
The HBO mini-series on John Adams starts tonight. The series is based on David McCullough's book about Adams.
There is no denying that Adams played an essential part in American independence. He is, however, one of my least favorite Founding Fathers (second only to Alexander Hamilton). This is because of some of his actions during his presidency, such as the Alien and Sedition Acts.
I don't have HBO, so I guess I'll be searching torrent sites afterwards.
H/T: Doug Mataconis
The Clayton County School System has lost its accreditation:
The Clayton County school system will lose its accreditation in the next school year, the National Accreditation Commission decided today.The commission, meeting in Chicago, voted unanimously to revoke the 52,800-student district's accreditation on Sept. 1.
The only chance the district has to hold on to accreditation is to meet nine mandates by September, but that is highly unlikely, said Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
"I do believe unless outside significant intervention is provided and support is provided, the system does not have the ability to meet nine requirements," said Elgart, whose Southern Association is a member of the accreditation group.
So last night was crazy. In case you haven't heard, a tornado hit downtown Atlanta. It devastated some residential areas and ripped a hole in the roof of the Georgia Dome.The AJC has pictures here, here, here, and here. Andisheh from Creative Loafing has some pics as well.
Rusty has a roundup of blog coverage of the storm, including video from Grayson reporting at the CNN Center.
I was fortunate. No power outages, despite the tornado warning that we were under. I took a short drive this morning and saw a few trees down. I know the major part of the system hit about five miles to the north of us. I woke up this morning and had about ten severe weather alerts in my inbox. And I read that there are more storms on the way.
I hope everyone is ok out there.
[UPDATE] We got hit hard today. No damage though. I was on the phone with Larry when Amanda said, "Jason!!! What the hell is that sound?!" We thought we were about to get hit by a tornado. It was golf ball sized hail and a lot of wind and rain.
There are a lot of families that may need help. I encourage you, as I will be doing, to find a local charity and see what you can do to help any one in need.
[6:10pm] More pics from the AP via Yahoo.
Despite my giddiness in watching Elliot Spitzer's fall, I'm concerned in how he was brought down. I hadn't heard about how they caught him until reading Bob Barr's blog at the AJC:
As the Spitzer story has unfolded, it appears that because he transferred his own monies in his own bank accounts for his own purposes, but in a manner that raised suspicions of bank employees and might have run afoul of the complex web of reporting requirements that now overlay and enwrap all banks and financial transactions, his personal money transfers were reported to the IRS, and his phone conversations then surreptitiously monitored by government agents.But remember, the government doesn't monitor calls of anyone but terrorists, individuals suspected of terrorism or calls originating overseas, so there is no reason for any American to oppose wiretapping, right?One day you’re simply transferring some funds from one account to another, or wiring some money to someone overseas; the next day, you’re being investigated and your calls monitored.
Also, McQ at QandO writes that Spitzer's call girl has been granted immunity.
I saw this just after Christmas and meant to post it then. Then it didn't seem appropriate so soon after Heath Ledger died, but here is the trailer for The Dark Knight. Ledger plays the part of the Joker in this film:
A decisions regarding accreditation could come tomorrow:
The National Accreditation Commission is expected to ratify a recommendation Saturday that Clayton County's accreditation be revoked Sept. 1.You can read the SACS report on the Clayton County School System here."It's a checks-and-balance in our system," said Jennifer Oliver, spokeswoman for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. "We anticipate the commission will support the recommendation to revoke the school system's accreditation."
To keep its accreditation, Clayton must meet nine mandates to overhaul the district before September.
"We're going to do everything we possibly can to protect the accreditation of the school district," schools spokesman Charles White said.
But many parents of the district's 52,800 students aren't so confident. Many are reviewing their finances and looking at their options: move, pay for private school or home-school.
Johnny Iskason is pushing for a $15k tax rebate for new home buyers:
Isakson is pitching an idea to his colleagues in Congress: a $15,000 tax rebate check to anyone who agrees to buy a home. Congressional budget analysts project the program would cost $14 billion over the next few years. But Isakson said the rebate checks are well worth the hefty price tag. "If we can convince buyers to come back to the marketplace and buy these houses, then the houses aren't vacant. It's replaced by an owner-occupant, who is there making payments on a loan and helping all of the other houses around."Thoughts?Senate Republican leaders have signed on to the rebate check idea. But they have to corral support from Democrats. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid is instead pushing a foreclosure relief proposal called The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, which would offer $4 billion to cities to rehab or knock down foreclosed properties. Reid's Democratic colleague Sen. Bob Casey said, "It's important that we have as much money as possible in the hands of local communities, to get it into communities, where they know how to spend those dollars and help families through this crisis."
Amanda has been teaching Reagan some new tricks:
“They can talk about tax reform just like the Democrats and never do it, or they can do like Ronald Reagan and the Georgia House and actually do it. They’re very Obama-like. Hear me roar, but don’t look and see if I actually did anything.” - State Rep. Earl Ehrhart on Casey Cagle and the State Senate
H/T: Peach Pundit
"The true purpose of the Second Amendment, as noted by Judge Silberman in his opinion in the appellate court, is to ensure that we the people would have the means to protect our inalienable rights, among those rights are life, liberty and our individual pursuit of happiness, against an oppressive government. And if our government were to violate our social contract, the people would have a moral obligation "to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."
Here is my column for this week. This week I looked at the Heller case that will be argued before the Supreme Court next week.
This guy is going to hurt Obama:
Barack Obama requested and received an earmark for the hospital at the University Of Chicago. The NRO points out something strange about that:
You know who works for the University of Chicago Hospital?Is this change, because this is an example of the same antics we've seen from Democrats and Republicans for years.Michelle Obama. She's vice president of community affairs.
As Byron noted, "In 2006, the Chicago Tribune reported that Mrs. Obama’s compensation at the University of Chicago Hospital, where she is a vice president for community affairs, jumped from $121,910 in 2004, just before her husband was elected to the Senate, to $316,962 in 2005, just after he took office."
US Rep. Jeff Flake recently spoke to Reason about trade policy with Cuba and expressed his desire to see capitalism and freedom introduced via trade:
Flake also gave a short list of some bad bills recently passed by Congress.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has weighed in on the tax cut passed in the State House on Tuesday:
Gov. Sonny Perdue on Thursday called the $672 million plan to eliminate the tax an "irresponsible" proposal and compared its hasty creation to the "Wright brothers jumping off of Kitty Hawk and designing an airplane on the way down."Perdue has ostensibly taken the position of the left-leaning Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, who have never met a tax cut they liked:But Perdue won't have the chance to veto the plan. As a constitutional amendment, it would go directly on the ballot if it earns two-thirds of support in the Senate. But his opposition could encourage critics in that chamber, where leaders have not exactly laid out the welcome mat.
"It's irresponsible to plan on using reserves to fill a tax cut," Essig said. "They are for one-time cuts. But even if we use the reserves for the first year or two, we still have a hole in the tax base."The tax cut is only irresponsible if spending cuts are not proposed...that is up to the Governor.
If Perdue does actively campaign against the cuts, perhaps we should take the advice of Stephen Moore.
The AJC reports that 1,240 different pieces of legislation died on Crossover Day:
That means legislation that would outlaw abortion, change the Georgia constitution to make English the official language of Georgia allow for election day voter registration and even ban the forced implantation of microchips in people, among many other proposals, bit the dust.Some legislators are, however, still looking for ways to increase your taxes.It's possible some of them could be resurrected by sneaky lawmakers who graft their bills onto some other unsuspecting colleague's legislation. But for now, they've gone to the trash cans of their makers.
The Americans for Tax Reform has a list of members of the Georgia General Assembly who have signed the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge." I wonder how many members from that list are going to break their promise to "vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes."
Jim Martin may be announcing his candidacy for the US Senate in a few days:
Martin has been up to D.C. to chat with Chuck Schumer, senator from New York, and Harry Reid of Nevada, the senate majority leader. They’re the two top recruiters for the chamber’s 2008 Democratic field.The Political Insider guys mention that internal party politics may be a factor here.There have been negotiations over what how much funding the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee would be willing to provide Martin, should he make it out of a Democratic primary that already features five candidates.
Martin, a former state representative, lost his bid for Lt. Governor in the 2006 general election to Casey Cagle.
The fight over Sunday alcohol sales just took another turn:
During a committee meeting that featured a stunning confrontation between several lawmakers, the House Regulated Industries Committee used a bill allowing beer and wine sales in Gwinnett County’s new baseball stadium as the vehicle for allowing cities and counties that already allow the sales of beer, wine or liquor to ask voters in a referendum if they wish to allow Sunday sales in grocery and package stores.Unterman claims that the Governor will veto any legislation that containing a provision that would allow counties to vote on local alcohol sales. There is no doubt that this is true.Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, sponsor of the original version of SB 454, fought the amendment and charged she had been “betrayed” by industry lobbyists.
“I guess I must be the stupidest person in the room. I did not know there would be an amendment,” she said.
“I’m really surprised you didn’t know there was an amendment coming,” Rep. Allen Freeman, R-Macon, told her. “I think everybody in the Capitol knew.”
It'll be interesting to see how the State Senate handles the issue with the promise of the veto. There is considerable support for Sunday sales. Many members of the General Assembly are starting to see that, but I don't know that it is enough to get it through this year.
I received this via e-mail earlier this afternoon. Supporters of Ron Paul are attempting to hijack the GOP convention:
Many Ron Paul supporters across Georgia have been working hard to elect Ron Paul supporters as delegates to the Republican National Convention. We have had success in most of the large counties (over 80,000 population) that selected their precinct delegates on February 16. It appears that we have the majority of the precinct delegates in several of the large counties. With your help, we will be successful in electing Ron Paul supporters to the Republican National Convention. Please commit to attending the following:I know Ron Paul supporters believe every primary was stolen but...Ron Paul lost. Get it over it. I voted for him in the primary, but I was embarrassed with the campaign he ran. I also found out a lot about the man (or at least things that were done in his name) that I wasn't previously aware of.Precinct Mass Meeting and County Convention
this Saturday, March 15 at 9 am sharp8th Congressional District Convention
April 19 at 10 am sharp in Warner Robins, GAFrom our February experience in Houston and Bibb counties, all we have to do is SHOW UP! If we are successful at the congressional district level, we will ask for your help in electing even more delegates at the state convention in May. But for now, please commit to attending the meetings listed above.
Ron Paul supporters across the country have been very successful in the delegate process. Ron Paul has the majority of delegates in many states, and in one state we have 70% of the delegates! If the majority of delegates at the Republican National Convention are Ron Paul supporters – we will control the convention!
How does the convention process work? Counties with less than 80,000 population will hold mass precinct meetings at 9 am this Saturday, March 15. Don’t be late because those arriving at 9:01 am are not allowed to participate. I recommend arriving by 8:30. Delegates will be selected to represent each precinct. Usually there are more available slots than there are delegates, so if you just show up you can become a precinct delegate. Following the mass precinct meeting at precisely 10 am (again – don’t be late), all counties large and small will conduct their county convention where county delegates are selected. County delegates will represent your county at the 8th Congressional District Convention and the State Convention. Also, bring friends and vote for each other! The more Ron Paul supporters who show up, the better our chances will be. Strategically, it works better if we don’t advertise our goals or advertise that we are Ron Paul supporters at the county conventions.
The Macon Music is having fun with the Elliot Spitzer scandal:
The Macon Music are hoping to capitalize on their latest.It would be funnier if the Macon Whoopee were still around and they were doing this. It is funny nonetheless.The team announced Wednesday that Luther Williams Field will play host to Eliot Spitzer night on June 13 in honor of the disgraced New York governor who announced his resignation Wednesday after allegations surfaced about his involvement in a prostitution ring.
[...]
The plans call for an invitation extended to Spitzer to attend the game and throw out the first pitch. Other elements for the promotion include
:
- The Music will give away a trip to New York and a one-night stay at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C.- The ninth fan – or Client No. 9, as Spitzer was known in the prostitution ring – into the ballpark will receive a free Music prize pack.
- Fans with the name Eliot, Spitzer or Kristen, along with any fan from New York, will receive $1 off admission. Any fan who has ever resigned a position will also receive $1 off admission.
- The Music will play Frank Sinatra songs throughout the night.
- Wire taps will be placed around the stadium.
- Fans will be able to use ATMs in the ballpark available for cash withdrawals not to exceed $5,000 per hour.
- The 871st fan through the gates will receive a gift certificate for the team store.
H/T: Peach Pundit
Elliot Spitzer has resigned:
"I look at my time as governor with a sense of what might have been," Spitzer said, with his expressionless wife Silda standing at his side. "There is much more to be done, and I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work."I have to imagine that somewhere Atlas is smiling.Spitzer says his resignation is effective Monday. He will be replaced by Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who will become New York's first black governor.
[UPDATE] Doug Mataconis has the Top Ten Elliot Spitzer excuses.
Happy Birthday to Larry Stanley. Larry is 29 years young today and holding.
Barack Obama is the projected winner in Mississippi.
The next primary isn't until April 22nd when Pennsylvania voters will go to the polls. Clinton has a lead in polling but who knows how that will end up.
Some of you may be wondering about Chris Perkins. In case you didn't know, Chris is working on a congressional campaign in Mississippi. I believe the candidate is Greg Davis, but I can't remember for sure. If you're interested, you can track his race here.
[UPDATE] It's looks like the race Chris Perkins has been working in will last a little longer. Greg Davis, the candidate Chris works for, is behind Glenn McCullough. It doesn't appear that either candidate get the majority vote needed to avoid the runoff.
[UPDATED 3/11/2008] Mr. Elliott Responds. PLEASE READ Mr. Elliott's long-awaited reply to my query. Now we have County Historian Gene Morris and LAMAR president Dan Elliott saying We have [Pollard's] artifacts and that is all the evidence or historical documentation we need to write our own version of history!
Not once did Mr. Elliott acknowledge the location of Schofield's brief advance on September 2nd. Nor did he address my specific query about location or Confederate entrenchments. Instead, we are to wait for his next publication for further information. Perhaps he can sell his book at the Nash Civil War Museum.
A personal email to Mr. Elliott asked for comments concerning apparent inconsistencies between (1) Mark Pollard's tale about the engagement on September 2, 1864 and (2) Mr. Elliott's comments (at this post) stating, "NO entrenchments from the September or November battles have been identified on the Nash Farm property."
This point is key to the truth of that day's events. Excerpts from War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 38, Part 5 (The Atlanta Campaign) and Autobiography of Oliver Otis Howard, Major General, US:
The Confederate line entrenchments were decribed as immediately in front of McDonough road and behind Walnut Creek. That is north of McDonough Road and west of Nash property.The full text is posted here.General Howard said, "Confederate works, which, strange to say, were as well constructed and as strong as if the Confederates had had a week to prepare them." Like the ones located, charted and documented on the Dorsey property.
Surely there were Confederates camped on, or crossing, the property between July and November and they may have left some relics - or maybe someone else did. But no record says there was a battle on Nash property. Skirmishes stretching along McDonogh Road to the east, orders not to engage.... Even General Hardee said there was “lively cannonading and sharpshooting along the lines, but with no important results.”
Do Henry County's historians even read history books before writing their own version? As one commissioner told me today, "They are closing doors on you." I call it circling the wagons.
[Original post 2/22/08]
Among the stories published at the Henry County website readers will find Mr. Pollard's tale about the "massive battle" that occurred at Nash Farm on September 2 - 5, 1864. See the analysis of Mr.Pollard's claims. The county's published work is also refuted by the county-funded Lamar Institute report.
The Henry County Board of Commissioners held a Public Meeting at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, August 20, 2007The analysis of claims and published 'history' concerning the Nash property is posted at this website and is also available in written form. The complete Lamar Institute report is available from Henry County.Mr. Dan Elliott, President of LAMAR Institute, stated August 20th is the anniversary of one of the most famous Calvary Battles in the Civil War at Nash Farms. Henry County has done a great justice to history and heritage by saving the property at Nash Farm. The archeological work was performed in the winter and the results have been reported and the artifacts are ready for permanent curation; the artifacts will be turned over to Henry County. In the research it was discovered there were four (4) battles in Lovejoy. The first battle was July 29th a Calvary action near the railroad and it may or may not have involved the Nash Farm property. The main battle was the August 20th battle; Mark Pollard has also done research on this battle. Most of the relics found pertained to the August 20th battle. The third battle was a major battle that is hardly known called “The Battle of Lovejoy” that took place September 2nd to the 5th. Tens of thousands of soldiers were at this battle. There are no physical traces of this battle on the Nash Farm property. The fourth battle is another little unknown battle. There was a lot of research to find out who was involved in the battles on the different sides so that personalities can be developed for the future museum.
Reference Equal Time for Nash Believers for recent developments in this matter.
Today is the day for legislation to clear at least one house of the Georgia General Assembly. Any bills that do not are effectively dead.
State Rep. Steve Davis writes that there are "36 bills on the Calendar but we will also have a supplemental calendar we anywhere from 20-40 more bills to consider today."
I'll be live-blogging when I get home at around 5pm.
[4:01pm] The Property Tax Reform Amendment, the latest version of the Speaker's tax plan, passed the House overwhelmingly passed the House this afternoon by a vote of 166 to 5. HR 1246 would completely eliminate the car tax by 2010, freeze property assessments at 2008 levels and allow for a 2% (residential) or 3% (commercial) increase each year. After the vote was announced the Speaker received a standing ovation. The measure now heads to the State Senate.
[4:09pm] Before we get our hopes up about the elimination of the car tax, it should be noted that Gov. Sonny Perdue is cool to the idea. Perdue has previously demonstrated that he has no regard for the taxpayers of Georgia. I would not be surprised if he vetoed it.
[4:17pm] The State Senate is dabbling in foreign policy.
[5:15pm] Rep. Davis reminds me that HR 1246 is a constitutional amendment and cannot be vetoed by the Governor.
[5:19pm] Chris Farris sent me an IM saying that the Senate is debating SB 259, the no-knock warrant bill. The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia endorsed that bill over the weekend.
[5:24pm] Farris tells me that SB 259 passed by an overwhelming margin.
[5:28pm] DuBose Porter looks like a pimp with his hat on.
[5:51pm] There is a lot of discussion over HB 1216, a bill sponsored by State Rep. Ron Stephens that would change regional development centers into regional commissions. The bill does seems to add another layer of government and bureaucracy. A few members are speaking against it. I don't know where this one is going. Everyone I've heard speak is against it.
[5:58pm] State Rep. Mark Hatfield on HB 1216: "This bill looks to me look 33 pages of bigger government." He also says that voting against bill would help to stave off the regional transportation tax increase that will be debated in the few days.
[5:59pm] State Rep. Davis is speaking against the bill saying that it is more government and more taxation.
[6:00pm] Davis: "We elect local officials for local problems." He also added, "if you believe in less government, you'll vote against this bill."
[6:11pm] State Rep. David Ralston moved to table HB 1216. That failed 39 to 119.
[6:12pm] HB 1216 passed 134 to 30.
[6:16pm] SB 259, which I mentioned earlier, passed 44-8. One of the votes against it was State Sen. John Douglas.
[6:20pm] Legislation that would make it easier to vote out school board members of a failing district passed the State Senate earlier today.
[6:35pm] HB 1158, legislation that would set up the $10 fee for the statewide trauma network, also passed earlier today by a vote of 164-7.
[6:37pm] The House is about to debate HB 977, a bill that would exempt high deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts from fees and exemptions. The Speaker said that there are several members ready to speak on the bill.
[7:43pm] After more than an hour of debate, HB 977 passed by a vote of 122 to 39.
[8:00pm] The House has adjourned. They'll be back after dinner.
[9:12pm] The House has been back in session for a while now. I have a column to write for Friday, so I'm done for the evening.
The AJC list the members of the Georgia General Assembly who have missed the most votes. Who takes top honors? State Rep. Ron Sailor.
You can view the full list here.
I'm sure a few Georgia lawmakers just got an idea:
Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal.Unconstitutional much?The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site.
[...]
If the bill becomes law, the website operator would have to pay if someone was allowed to post anonymously on their site. The fine would be five-hundred dollars for a first offense and one-thousand dollars for each offense after that.
Below you will find a report by Gene Morris, Henry County Historian, which supports and defends the choice of Mark Pollard as Civil War Historian, the historical marker placed at Nash Farm, and the archaeological evidence as support that was it in fact a battlefield.
Read Mr. Morris's official report to the Henry Board of Commissioners. here.
Initial response to Mr. Morris:
Mr. Morris,As stated, I assume the county will adopt your findings as official rebuttal of the evidence and conclusions drawn in my analysis. However the specific references and specific details have not been challenged. This statement by Mr. Morris leaves a wide margin for interpretation:
Thank you for this report and your considered opinions regarding Nash Farm. I assume the county will adopt your findings as official rebuttal of the evidence and conclusions drawn in my analysis.
I am curious, in fact in awe at your conclusions, since no historical record including the Official Records of the Civil War or firsthand veterans accounts, nor physical distance from the Dorsey house to Nash Farm placed the engagement of Minty's Union forces with Sul Ross's Confederates so far to the east. Further the descriptions of locations provided by Mr. Pollard concerning the September 2nd engagement are in opposition to first hand accounts, the Atlas to Accompany the Official Records and the physical land features described therein.
It remains a quandary for me that no historical record, except those commissioned by Henry County, ever mentioned or documented any action a the Nash property. In fact the many sources cited in my analysis specifically identified the locations of engagements with no mention of the Nash property.
Your opinions are respected, and I offer my sincere gratitude for your report although the archaeological evidence, derived at the direction of county appointees stands alone as evidence of a battlefield.
Larry Stanley
The documentation presented by Mr. Stanley and Mr. Pollard is almost identical, as you might expect; however, the conclusions were different, the interpretations were different and the importance assigned to map notations and such were different. Several things led to these different conclusions. When reviewing the maps presented, it is obvious they were not drawn to scale, they can not stand alone and require corroboration by the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies and other original source materials. More importantly, on the ground, on site, confirmation can only be achieved from archeological work and reports from “relic hunters” or “battlefield detectives” or whatever you want to call these individuals. The items unearthed at a site provide critical and necessary confirmations of the events which occurred there. These archeological finds are the only tangible proofs of the events being researched.
Congrats to Georgia Carry:
As of this morning, there are one thousand (1,000) of you! It was only December when we sent out the six hunded (600) email, and August when we broke a mere two hundred (200)! GCO is officially into four figures! About a year and a half ago, there were only six (6) of us. GCO's amazingly rapid growth shows that the public in Georgia is interested in the right to bear ("carry") arms. Thank you to each and every one of you who has taken the time and made the effort to tell somebody about GCO and what it is doing in Georgia.I am proud to say that I am a card carrying member.
Insider Advantage has a preview of what to expect on Crossover Day, the 30th day of the session. It's going to be a fun day.
You can view my live-blogging of last year's Crossover Day here.
I do not care about what Elliot Spitzer does in his private life. He committed a victimless crime. What I care about is that he has spent his entire political career going after people who he deemed as immoral when he is just as corrupt:
Gov. Eliot Spitzer, accused in news reports of being involved in a prostitution ring, apologized to his family and the public on Monday at a hastily called news conference. He did not elaborate on the story.You can view the affidavit against Spitzer here.With his wife at his side, Spitzer told reporters that he "acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family."
"I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself," he said. "I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family."
The New York Times reported earlier in the day that Spitzer told senior administration officials that he was linked to a prostitiution ring. The report cited an anonymous administration official.
All signs indicate that he will resign this evening.
Governor Sonny Perdue is proposing spending cuts:
Perdue is urging state legislators to trim $65 million from the current year's budget projections by cutting funding for school technology upgrades and buses.That's it? $310 million.That all the Governor can come up with? I guess it's a start, but it took uncertain economic times to cut a budget that has increased by more than $5 billion since the GOP took full control of the legislature.The cuts would be deeper in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Perdue wants to slash $245 million from that spending plan.
The governor is also calling on state officials to avoid unnecessary travel and restrict hiring for non-critical positions.
Over the weekend, Republicans failed to hold the Congressional seat held by former Speaker Dennis Hastert. The GOP candidate in that race, Jim Oberweis, attempted to play voters on the immigration issue. He failed.
Immigration is just not the hot issue that most Republicans think it is. Need more evidence? Who is the GOP nominee for President this year?
The Directors at Red State have endorsed Paul Broun:
In the battle between left v. right, squishes v. conservatives, status quo vs. trench fighter of the right, establishment Republican vs. grassroots leader, we have two candidates in the GOP challenging Paul Broun for his district -- and only Broun is the right conservative trench fighter who is also a grassroots leader. All the others are out to get him simply because he is not part of the status quo, out of touch establishment. In an age of GOP despondency caused by fiscal recklessness and the selling out of conservative values, you would think the Republican Party would line up behind a guy like Paul Broun — a die hard social and fiscal conservative. You would be wrong. The establishment wants a party man, not a conservative.Barry Fleming represents everything that is wrong with the Republican Party in the Georgia General Assembly. He is the establishment's candidate (this is evident by his receiving more than $50,000 from current and former legislators), more concerned with politics than reducing the size of government or cutting spending.
[...]
Broun has two primary opponents -- Barry Fleming and Nancy Schaefer. They are both good people, but Fleming is a party man through and through. He craves leadership and will not be a conservative fighter against a drifting GOP establishment. Nancy Schaefer is a social conservative, but, in her years in the Georgia General Assembly, has done little to lead and has been an ineffective campaigner. And frankly, we give credence to the rumors that Schaefer is in the race to hurt Broun -- putting her party ties ahead of conservative conviction.In past years we have not been so bold as to say this, but we will do so now: if you can only give to one issue, cause, or campaign this year, Paul Broun's re-election effort should be it. He needs all the help he can get. And make no mistake, he is one of us through and through.
If you have a few extra dollars, please consider making a donation to Dr. Broun.
Despite the Speaker's failed GREAT Plan, there is still a push to eliminate the car ad valorem tax before Crossover Day, the 30th day of the session and the last day to clear legislation through one house of the legislature to be considered by the other:
Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Alpharetta), who has pushed legislation to end the car tax, said, "The Republicans in the House are committed to tax relief and tax reform, and the session is not over until it's over."Republicans must ensure that this is a true tax cut and cut spending as well.Republican leaders went into the 2008 session promising tax reform. It is an election year, and members of both parties love to run for re-election by touting tax cuts.
House Majority Leader Jerry Keen is continuing to make the vote on the Property Tax Reform Amendment an issue. He says that it'll be an issue in the fall. I don't necessarily agree with that. The clusterf**k that is the leadership of House Republican Caucus has been an embarrassment to most Republicans and local officials will get the word out to voters about how bad the Speaker's initial proposal was (granted the one that was voted on was good plan).
In other words, Keen is full of it and he knows it.
Today is Amanda's birthday so I'm hanging out all day. Consider this an open thread.
In reference to the financial information posted earlier, a new question arises. At the bottom of page 14 of The Daily Herald today, you will find a very large ad for the Simply Southern Jubilee slated for April 18-20 at the Battlefield.
What's interesting is the fact that this benefit will garner proceeds for the Haven House and Nash Farm. Simply Southern Jubilee LOST MONEY to the tune of $14,877. How does one decide what percentage or portion goes to each entity? Look at all of the businesses and organizations involved. If a profit can be made, it should go to the county (meaning taxpayers) to offset the heavy losses!
All income derived at Nash Farm must be deposited to the county's general fund budget. After all, the $8 million was a direct hit borrowed from the general fund. So, the profit sharing deal means that Haven House will receive contributions from the general fund. That's you and me, courtesy of our fiscally responsible county government.
Does this smack of politics, public relations, or just commingling funds?
Someone is CLEVER indeed. We combine charities with the Nash Farm to create a new public relations spin. Does anyone else smell a rat?
Remember when Commissioner Mathis was quoted in the Daily Herald saying,
"This is a society that likes to get caught up in government conspiracy theories. This park provides good quality recreation, the historical value only adds to it.Apparently she was making the point that a County Park is supposed to provide fun and frivolity on the taxpayer's dime, and the original premise of acquiring the property (historic significance) is just gravy. She seems to have lost sight of the Civil War Museum and great benefit to tourism this so-called battlefield was supposed to provide.
The cost of Commissioner Mathis' fun has been $267,540.48. That's right, a net operating loss over a quarter million dollars. That's real money to you and me, but apparently the pinnacle, legacy and top priority of her term in office.
Through a FOIA request the county provided a Frequently Asked Questions as well as the financial information. You must piece it together because the real numbers are not presented completely in either document. Read the amended Financial Summary here.
Let's review. The county spent $8,077,000 because Commissioner Mathis insisted on using eminent domain. She would not even consider the FREE 100-acres offer ed by Mr. Price! Add to that additional legal fees associated with the 'taking' of $27,752.93. The front-end cost for saving the property from development was really $8,104,752.93.
In 2006 and 2007 the events have produced some big losses:
July 4th Festival: $50,505.22It seems the only truly profitable program has been the Day Camps, netting $27,469.80.
The Cotillion Ball (remember Scarlett & Rhett, y'all?): $3,252.77
Moonlight & Folktales: $3,232.80
Starry Night Drive-in: $2,365.95
Simply Southern Jubilee: $14,877.71
Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt (2006): $6,710.21
Of course, these figures do not include whatever costs are associated with providing Mr. Pollard a house, utilities, storage space and a county car for the last two years. What do your mortgage, utilities and vehicle cost?
It's curious where the Herald got the following quotation, "Revenue from events held at the site from Jan. 2007 to Feb. 2008 has totaled more than $100,000 for the county." Surely Commissioner Mathis would not mislead anyone about the true losses at her passive park!
With no historic significance, and only lies from elected and appointed officials, the taxpayers of Henry County have been soaked for over $8,372,292! This travesty reveals a series of egregious violations of public trust, and certainly a misuse of county funds.
Say what you want about George McGovern, but he is so right here:
Under the guise of protecting us from ourselves, the right and the left are becoming ever more aggressive in regulating behavior. Much paternalist scrutiny has recently centered on personal economics, including calls to regulate subprime mortgages.McGovern also promotes lifting restrictions on healthcare by opening up the market place where individuals can purchase a policy across state-lines.With liberalized credit rules, many people with limited income could access a mortgage and choose, for the first time, if they wanted to own a home. And most of those who chose to do so are hanging on to their mortgages. According to the national delinquency survey released yesterday, the vast majority of subprime, adjustable-rate mortgages are in good condition,their holders neither delinquent nor in default.
There's no question, however, that delinquency and default rates are far too high. But some of this is due to bad investment decisions by real-estate speculators. These losses are not unlike the risks taken every day in the stock market.
The real question for policy makers is how to protect those worthy borrowers who are struggling, without throwing out a system that works fine for the majority of its users (all of whom have freely chosen to use it). If the tub is more baby than bathwater, we should think twice about dumping everything out.
He also promotes pay-day lending, saying that it isn't perfect, but reasonable "when all your other options, such as bounced checks or skipped credit-card payments, are obviously more expensive and play havoc with your credit rating."
And he closes with this:
Since leaving office I've written about public policy from a new perspective: outside looking in. I've come to realize that protecting freedom of choice in our everyday lives is essential to maintaining a healthy civil society.George McGovern...the libertarian? I'd never thought I'd see the day.Why do we think we are helping adult consumers by taking away their options? We don't take away cars because we don't like some people speeding. We allow state lotteries despite knowing some people are betting their grocery money. Everyone is exposed to economic risks of some kind. But we don't operate mindlessly in trying to smooth out every theoretical wrinkle in life.
The nature of freedom of choice is that some people will misuse their responsibility and hurt themselves in the process. We should do our best to educate them, but without diminishing choice for everyone else.
H/T: Volokh Conspiracy
The cash advance on a future tax increase rebate checks are just a couple of months from being mailed out, and the federal government is spending $42 million to tell you:
At a cost of nearly $42 million, the IRS wants you to know: Your check is almost in the mail.This is just another example of government waste.The Internal Revenue Service is spending the money on letters to alert taxpayers to expect rebate checks as part of the economic stimulus plan.
The notices are going out this month to an estimated 130 million households who filed returns for the 2006 tax year, at a cost $41.8 million, IRS spokesman John Lipold confirmed.
That works out to about 32 cents to print, process and mail each letter. It doesn't include the tab for another round of mailings planned for those who didn't file tax returns last year but may still qualify for a rebate.
Via the Senate Press Office, here are Sen. Eric Johnson comments on SB 458:
Things are not well in Blueland:
You don't trade away (a guy who saw serious issues with the organization of the club) your best all-around player and not address your weakest area, which is defense in the Thrashers case, and still tell your season ticket holders and fans that you still expect to make a run at the playoffs.
The Thrashers have not won a game since February 15th. Their record since then is 0-5-3 (no wins, five losses and three overtime losses) and they are now next to last in points in the Eastern Conference.
No wonder fans are pissed.
The National Journal has released its vote rankings from the 2007 session of Congress. I've received a couple of press releases from Georgia Congressmen on who claim the top prize of "Most Conservative Members in the House."
Westmoreland, Gingrey and Linder scored the highest overall. I don't care much about the social stuff. I always sort the economic scores. And on the economic side, six of Georgia's Congressmen scored very high, nothing below a 93. Paul Broun was not ranked.
The Political Insider notes that Jim Marshall was ranked as the most conservative Democrat.
You can read the press releases I received below the cut.
From Lynn Westmoreland's office:
National Journal magazine ranked U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland in a tie for first place as the “most conservative” member of the House of Representatives based on 2007 voting. Under National Journal’s formula, first place went to eight members with a composite conservative score of 93.3 percent.From Phil Gingrey's office:“In previous years, when I’ve finished in the top 10 most conservative, I’ve assumed there must be some ‘hanging chad’ problem that messed up the vote tallies,” Westmoreland said. “I think this year’s ranking is most accurate. I represent one of the most conservative districts in one of the most conservative states in the country. I’ve always promised my constituents that I won’t forget where I come from. Georgians in the 3rd District want a congressman who’ll fight for their conservative principles of smaller government, less spending, a strong defense, low taxes and family values. This year’s ranking shows I’ve kept my promises and that I’m on the front lines of the fight for conservatism.”
Westmoreland shares the top spot with seven other Republican members, including two Georgians: Phil Gingrey (11th District) and John Linder (7th District). Even when categorized into economic, social and foreign policy votes, Westmoreland tied for most conservative.
The Georgia Republican delegation, known as the G-7, ranked as the most conservative in the Congress, with a combined conservative score of 90 percent.
“I have long said that the G-7 is the most conservative Republican delegation in the House,” Westmoreland said. “We are a tight-knit group. We meet every single week that we’re in session to talk and coordinate on issues important to Georgia , but we also discuss votes. It serves as a form of accountability to each other. We weigh the pros and cons together and more so than any other delegation we come down on the side of conservatism. The record shows that we don’t always take the most politically easy route. I’m proud that we stand together for fiscal responsibility even on very tough votes, such as when all seven of us opposed the stimulus package last month that was funded purely with more deficit spending. I think most Georgians would agree that the nation would be in much better shape financially if the Congress ran the United States the way that we run Georgia . We may be a lone voice in the wilderness sometimes, but we’re fighting tooth and nail to bring ‘The Georgia Way’ to Washington .”
The National Journal explains it’s tabulations as follows:
The vote ratings were calculated by a panel of National Journal editors and reporters, who compiled a list of 109 key House of Representatives roll-call votes for 2007, and classified them as relating to economic, social, or foreign policy. The votes in each issue area were then subjected to a principal-components analysis, a statistical procedure designed to determine the degree to which each vote resembled other votes in the same category. The yea and nay positions on each roll call were then identified as conservative or liberal.
Each roll-call vote was assigned a weight from 1 (lowest) to 3 (highest), based on the degree to which it correlated with other votes in the same issue area. A higher weight means that a vote was more strongly correlated with other votes and was therefore a better test of economic, social, or foreign-policy ideology. Members were then ranked from the most liberal to the most conservative in each issue area. These rankings were used to assign liberal and conservative percentile ratings to all members of Congress. The conservative figure means that the member voted more conservative than that percentage of his or her colleagues.
National Journal, a leading political publication, today released its list of the most conservative Members of Congress. Topping that list, tied for most conservative Member of the House of Representatives, was U.S. Congressman Phil Gingrey. In tabulating its list of most conservative Members of the House, National Journal looked at a variety of votes on economic, social, and foreign policy issues important to conservatives.“I am proud that National Journal has rated me as one of the most conservative Members of the House, but I do not vote to please or impress the media – I vote to reflect the values and the will of the citizens of Northwest Georgia. When I come home to the 11th District, I listen carefully to my constituents, and I believe that they support the way I have voted on the issues that are important to them. After all, I was to sent to Washington to fight for them and to defend our traditional Georgia values of less government, lower taxes, a strong national defense, and protecting our families—especially the lives of the unborn. As long as I am in the Congress, I will continue the fight for these sacred values.”
State Rep. David Casas defends education policy in this op-ed:
Critics denounce the governor and the Georgia legislature if lots of new money isn't poured into public schools each budget cycle, let alone if we make cuts during lean budget years. Yet between 2002 and 2007, per-pupil expenditures increased 21 percent in Georgia, more than the rate of inflation and despite a recession.He lists a few of the proposed changes in education policy and defends inserting competition into education, something has been sorely lacking in public schools in Georgia.With Republicans in charge under the Gold Dome, we have brought a new philosophy to the table. You can't just throw money at a problem. Our state has poured billions of dollars into public schools in the past two decades, yet we remain 49th in SAT scores, near the bottom in other standardized tests and have an abysmal dropout rate.
He closes the article with this:
Instead of charging us with attempting to disassemble public education, advocates of public school systems should congratulate the legislature for seeking a new approach to improving our state's public schools. As Albert Einstein said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.Georgia has become the poster child for increasing spending in education, but not much of the return on the investment.If we want new results when it comes to educating our kids, new delivery models will make a world of difference for children and public schools.
A new directions, as Casas writes, is needed and the legislature should continue to seek that course gradually until school vouchers for every child in the state of Georgia are available.
John McCain paid a visit to Chick-fil-a today:
Making a swing through Georgia just days after locking up the GOP nomination, the Arizona senator warned that the state's rapid growth and shifting demographics - drawing new residents from all over the country - place the state in play come November."I will be coming back to this great state. It's going to be competitive in the general election," McCain said at the sprawling suburban Atlanta headquarters of the Georgia-based restaurant chain Chick-fil-A.
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, who only endorsed McCain on Monday, introduced him to an audience of Chick-Fil-A employees, saying that McCain's straight talk and conviction are appealing in the state. The appearance with Dan Cathy, son of Chick-Fil-A founder Truett Cathy, could also help. The Cathys have been outspoken in their support of Republican social conservatives. Chick-fil-A has won praise from religious conservative for keeping its doors shut on Sundays.
"Make no mistake about it, this was Speaker Glenn Richardson's attempt at saving face. Taxpayers would have only benefited from this latest proposal as a by-product of the Speaker attempting to salvage his ego. Richardson has spent so much political capital in the last year only to be met with defeat at every turn, and it is not limited to the GREAT Plan and the Property Tax Reform Amendment."
Here is my column for this week. I had to wait until Wednesday to finish it because of the vote on the Speaker's tax reform amendment.
Next week I'm tackling the Hellercase.
With all the commotion over the debate and vote on the Property Tax Reform Amendment (the plan formerly known as GREAT), I completely overlooked the passage of SB 458, legislation that would provide vouchers for failing schools:
A bill that would grant vouchers to children who are in schools that consistently underperform or lose their accreditation — which could happen to Clayton County schools this year — narrowly passed the Senate after hours of debate Wednesday.You can view the roll call vote here.The bill, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson (R-Savannah), allows students in chronically failing schools to transfer to public or private schools. In a system like Clayton, parents would receive vouchers for $4,100, the state's portion of education funding per child, if they chose a private school.
Johnson said the bill gives parents a "life line" to get out.
"If we're on the Titanic, let's put the children in the lifeboats and worry about who hit the iceberg later," he said.
The bill passed 32-21.
A debt of gratitude is owed to Sen. Eric Johnson for continuing to take up the fight for school choice.
24 is coming back in September:
Fox's "24" will be returning in the fall, after all.The bad news is that Joel Surnow is gone.The producers of the Emmy-winning series are developing a two-hour "prequel" to the upcoming seventh season.
The movie, designed to bridge the two-year gap between Seasons 6 and 7, is targeted to air in the fall, leading to the January return of the real-time drama. On Wednesday, "24" producers began securing the show's core cast members for the film.
H/T: Doug Mataconis
Congrat to Kyle King on the birth of Elizabeth Rose King!
The Speaker's tax reform package is dead. The House voted 110-62 on SR 796, ten votes shy of the needed majority for a constitutional amendment. There was no motion to reconsider.
Insider Advantage covered every step of the debate, as did Andre over a Peach Pundit.
I'm saving my comments for my column on Friday, but at this point all you can say is that had this package been presented from the very beginning, the chance of passage would have increased. Questions about the plan could have been answered to settle the nerves of local governments and school boards. You cannot blame this one on Democrats. The blame ultimately falls on the Speaker.
The school board isn't the only problem in Clayton County:
[T]he Clayton Board of Commissioners Tuesday night voted unanimously to ask to the state attorney general's office to investigate the Clayton district attorney's office.Every level of government is completely screwed up in Clayton County from the Sheriff to the District Attorney to the Board of Commissioners to the School Board.A resolution adopted Tuesday night accuses Clayton District Attorney Jewel Scott of "inappropriately" using her position to investigate people on behalf of her political supporters.
The board has criticized Scott's investigation into the alleged January 2006 theft of an American flag from a police memorial by Donnie Ray Hood. Hood worked for Clayton County for almost 20 years before retiring in October. Two days after Scott filed notice to seize Hood's retirement benefits if he was convicted, Hood shot himself at his Hampton home, police said. Hood was due in court March 31 for a trial on the charge.
"This is the final straw," board chairman Eldrin Bell said. "This board will not sit idly by and watch employees drug from their houses for the sake of someone's personal agenda. It's just not going to happen."
You reap what you sow, Clayton County.
For discussion on the continuing joke that is all levels of Clayton County government, please visit Give 'Em the Boot.
A Sheriff's vehicle has been present at the Nash property for over two years. Mr. Pollard has been given domicile for the same period, obstensibly to protect the property and maintain the integrity of artifacts that may be found there.
This photo of a Henry County Sheriff's vehicle parked at Nash Farm points to more and more expense to the taxpayers of the county. Has the vehicle provided a visual deterent to crime? The gates have been locked for over two years.
Is it a personal use vehicle for Mr. Pollard, who resides at the Nash property?
The photo indicates the Sheriff's vehicle parked beside Mr. Pollard's residence, but inside a fenced area, and virtually out of sight. One may deduce that stealth and stake-out provide ultimate protection for county assets.
Methinks the County doth protest too much....
Jim Joyner, former chairman of the Henry County commission, has announced his candidacy for Chairman in the 2008 race.
Mr. Joyner was unseated by Leland Maddox in 2002, and has not held public office since that time.
The voter on the Speaker's Property Tax Reform Amendment is supposed to take place sometime today. As much as it pains me to say it, because I know this is nothing more than the Speaker saving face and I don't believe the Speaker has the best interest of the taxpayers of Georgia at heart, this seems like a good bill and we should encourage our legislators to vote for it. However, House leadership must address spending at the state level. Without spending reform or guaranteed spending cuts, this tax reform is only a tax shift.
The Republican Liberty Caucus of Georgia is now taking this position on part of the plan:
One component of property tax reform the Georgia RLC has endorsed SR 796, which would limit the rate at which property value assessments can be raised. No longer will local counties and municipalities be able to increase taxes through back door re-assesments. If this constitutional amendment were passed by voters in November, local county and city leaders would be forced to vote to increase taxes.This is not an endorsement of the Speaker's proposal, though that may be forthcoming.The Georgia RLC strongly encourages our members to contact their representatives today and urge them for support SR 796.
Tonight voters in Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont will go to the polls to cast a vote in their respective primary.
Tonight is mostly about the Democrats, which is why I linked to Democratic nomination polls in the states above. We know that John McCain will be the Republican Party's nominee, despite Tax Hike Mike's continued (and pointless) presence. However, I will be following Ron Paul's race in Texas this evening.
Will Hillary Clinton win Ohio and Texas? If she doesn't, is her campaign over? Tonight will answer a few questions, but I see this thing going to the convention.
[4:108pm] Florida Governor Charlie Crist may be up to something: "[Crist] said another primary should be held, this time with both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama being allowed to openly campaign here."
[8:58pm] Amanda wanted to go out tonight, so I obliged.
[9:00pm] McCain and Obama take Vermont. McCain is projected to win in Ohio, where it is too close to call on the Democratic side.
[9:01pm] McCain is projected to win Rhode Island and Texas...those two wins puts McCain over the 1,191 needed delegates to win the GOP nomination.
[9:03pm] True to form as the Hucktard, Tax Hike Mike has no plans to drop out of the GOP race, even though there isn't really a race any longer.
[9:06pm] Ron Paul leads Chris Peden by a little less than 6,000 votes in TX-14 with three precincts reporting. You can track that race here.
[9:11pm] Ok, Fox News is reporting that Huckabee will drop out of the race.
[9:24pm] Hillary Clinton is the projected winner in Rhode Island.
[9:37pm] Many bloggers and political commentators thought Tax Hike Mike was staying in the race in hope that he would surpass Mitt Romney in total delegates. Well...he won't. He'll fall short by right delegates.
[9:38pm] Clinton leads Obama in Ohio by a good sized margin (60% to 38% with 14% reporting). However, Obama leads Clinton in Texas (53% to 46% with 4% reporting).
[10:35pm] Clinton's lead in Ohio has remained strong. She is ahead 56% to 42% with 47% reporting. Clinton has also caught up with Obama in Texas. Both candidates are tied with 49% with 20% reporting.
[10:37pm] Ron Paul continues to lead Chris Peden by a large margin in TX-14.
[10:56pm] Hillary Clinton is the projected winner in Ohio. Folks, she's back in this thing.
[11:00pm] Early voters supported Ron Paul nearly two-to-one over Chris Peden.
[11:03pm] Here is a better link for those of you following Ron Paul's race. He is project to easily win re-election to Congress because he faces no Democratic challenger in November.
[11:39pm] Clinton is now in the lead in Texas, 50% to 48% with 52% reporting.
[7:02am] Clinton ended up taking Texas as well, although it was a very close race.
[7:04am] Ron Paul ended up winning his race, 70% to Chris Peden's 30%.
This guy needs his head checked:
I am offering Senator Clinton $750,000 (now increased to $1,000,000) to pose for a series of tasteful, artistic nude photos. I am NOT talking about pornography; these would be tasteful photos which would show Senator Clinton as an older woman who is fully in control of her body and her sexuality.H/T: Radley Balko
Surprise, surprise...another version of the Speaker's tax proposal, now called the Property Tax Reform Amendment (SR 796 and HB 979), was presented to members of the State House this morning. You can view the details of it here.
This proposal seems decent at first glance, though there is nothing here that limits state spending which as much of a concern as local spending. Also, there is no guarantee that the legislature won't raise taxes in another area to make up for the billion dollar tax cut with the elimination of the car ad valorem tax, and they have given us no indication that they are serious about cutting spending.
Anyway, here is what the amendment does, and I'm pulling most of this straight from the fact sheet:
[UPDATE] The proposal has gained the approval of Grover Norquist and Americans for Tax Reform and the Americans for Prosperity, who sent out an action alert this afternoon urging their members to contact their representative to support the bill.
Fact Check analyzes Obama claims about NAFTA:
[I]n 2004, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service evaluated four studies on the subject, including the Carnegie Endowment's, and said that "NAFTA had little or no impact on aggregate employment." It also concluded, contrary to Scott's report, that "NAFTA did not cause the widening U.S. trade deficit with Mexico."They also wrote that the study by the Carnegie Endowment stated a loss of 525,000 jobs as a result of NAFTA:NAFTA critics often point to the loss of manufacturing jobs, which have declined by 3.1 million between Jan. 1994, when NAFTA was implemented, and January of this year. But total nonfarm employment, meanwhile, has increased by 25.6 million in the same time period. Whatever effect NAFTA may have had on U.S. jobs, however, Obama is relying on a statistic that has been criticized, questioned and contradicted by other researchers.
The report said those jobs "were likely offset by other jobs gained," while noting that "the impact on losers is an economic and political concern." The report also said that there had been "widely diverging estimates" on job loss by both proponents and critics of the trade agreement, adding that such estimates "have been unpersuasive." It concluded that the impact from NAFTA on U.S. employment had been minorI really wish someone would challenged Obama's claim that we are losing jobs to China because of NAFTA...the North American Free Trade Agreement.
There is new tax data out over at the Tax Foundation:
[T]he top-earning 25 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $62,068) earned 67.5 percent of nation's income, but they paid more than four out of every five dollars collected by the federal income tax (86 percent). The top 1 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2 percent of the nation's income (as defined by AGI), yet paid 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes. That means the top 1 percent of tax returns paid about the same amount of federal individual income taxes as the bottom 95 percent of tax returns.The National Taxpayers Union has this same data, but also includes the dollar amount of income that defines each group. You are in the top 25% of income earners if your bring in more than $62,068 a year.The IRS data also shows increases in individual incomes across all income groups. Just as the highest earners lost the biggest percentage of their incomes during the recession of 2001, so they have prospered the most as the economy has continued to rebound. In sum, between 2000 and 2005, pre-tax income for the top 1 percent group grew by 19.1 percent. In the same time period, pre-tax income for the bottom 50 percent increased by 15.5 percent.
You see these numbers and you can't help but laugh when leftist say that the evil and hated "rich" aren't paying their fair share of taxes.
One member of the embattled Clayton County school board has resigned hours before a meeting to discuss how to keep the district's accreditation.The AJC is reporting that Rod Johnson had a conflict of interest according to the SACS report.Rev. Rod Johnson resigned effective the end of this week.
The district is set to lose its accreditation September 1st after a scathing report released last month by the regional accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The report led to a long list of groups calling for either some or all members of the school board to resign.
So far, groups ranging from the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce to the Georgia NAACP have joined the chorus of voices calling for resignations.
The AJC is also reporting that a crowd of 2,500 people gathered at tonight Clayton County School Board meeting:
Anticipating a large crowd, the board decided to hold the meeting at the 1,500-seat auditorium. By 6 p.m, the majority of the seats were filled and the lines of people still stretched along Mount Zion Parkway.I think it's "great" and "awesome" that these parents get involved in what is going on in school system months before it could lose accreditation. Give me a break. You reap what you sow and that exactly what Clayton County is proving right now."This is great. This is awesome," Marsha Seals, PTApresident at R.T. Smith Elementary School, said about the overflow crowd.
[UPDATE] The Clayton County School Board has removed Norreese Haynes due to a recent police investigation that proved he didn't live in the county.
Two down.
Brian Riedl from the Heritage Foundation tries to make sense of federal budget numbers, trends where the money is going and the future of entitlement spending.
A couple of things that I noticed immediately is the fact that spending on earmarks is down, the number of earmarks was reduced in 2007, but back up in 2008. Also, look at the future budget outlook for entitlements. The prediction is that entitlement spending will be over 18% of GDP in the next 40 years. The level of all government expenditures over the last 20 years or so has been between 18% and 21% of GDP. That doesn't paint a great picture of things to come.
The Economist ran a feature on Obama's populist economic proposals:
For a man who has placed “hope” at the centre of his campaign, Barack Obama can sound pretty darned depressing. As the battle for the Democratic nomination reaches a climax in Texas and Ohio, the front-runner's speeches have begun to paint a world in which laid-off parents compete with their children for minimum-wage jobs while corporate fat-cats mis-sell dodgy mortgages and ship jobs off to Mexico. The man who claims to be a “post-partisan” centrist seems to be channelling the spirit of William Jennings Bryan, the original American populist, who thunderously demanded to know “Upon which side shall the Democratic Party fight—upon the side of ‘the idle holders of idle capital’ or upon the side of ‘the struggling masses’?”
[...]
How worrying is their populism? The sanguine—and conventional—argument is that none of it matters much. Democratic candidates always veer to the left during primaries, because that is where the votes are. But come the general election, the winner will tack back towards the centre, where the crucial independent voter resides.
[...]
Yet there are reasons to worry. The longer the Democratic race grinds on, the more entrenched the candidates may become in their populism. As America moves into the election proper, there is every likelihood that it will do so against a backdrop of worsening macroeconomic figures and rising numbers of house repossessions. Both John McCain and the Democratic nominee will then be chasing swing voters who are, typically, white working men—the type already prone to pessimism about their prospects. This group is not a natural part of Mr Obama's constituency and, if he were the nominee, he might well be tempted to keep the populism turned up high. If he were elected president, backed by a Democratic Congress with enhanced majorities, Mr Obama might well feel obliged to deliver on some of his promises. At the very least, the prospects for freer trade would then be dim.The sad thing is that one might reasonably have expected better from Mr Obama. He wants to improve America's international reputation yet campaigns against NAFTA. He trumpets “the audacity of hope” yet proposes more government intervention. He might have chosen to use his silver tongue to address America's problems in imaginative ways—for example, by making the case for reforming the distorting tax code. Instead, he wants to throw money at social problems and slap more taxes on the rich, and he is using his oratorical powers to prey on people's fears.
I don't know if I've ever posted this before, but you can add me on Facebook here.
Doug Craig has the details of yesterday's Georgia Libertarian convention:
Allen Buckley will be our US Senate candidate. John Monds and Brandons Givens will be our PSC candidates. Last night was the first time I had meet John Monds. I was impressed. That might be the race I am most excited about because he lives in Grady County (very far south) we will have a chance to reach people that have had very little chance to meet a Libertarian candidate in that part of the state.Congrats to Daniel Adams! Daniel has been a frequent commenter here for sometime now. He brings professionalism and a business approach that is sorely needed in the party.We also elected a new chairman, Daniel Adams. I have known Daniel Adams. I am looking forward to his next two years in the party.He is one of the guys who could cause me to get more active than I have been in the state again. BTW for you Ron Paul guys he was one of the players in the Athens area so if you are looking for a party where your views are respected Daniel Adams would be a great guy to get behind and support.
Doug also made some remarks about the debate between two of the contenders for the LP's presidential nomination:
We had a debate between Wayne Allyn Root and Daniel Imperato. Daniel was our stand up comic relief because he was such a joke.Wayne Root did very well. The guy beside me started asking me question about him during his speech, He said this is the kind of guy we need . He was impressed with he speaking talents and came across very friendly. I would say Wayne Allyn Root won over a lot of Georgia people last night. I would also add Daniel Imperato won nobody over. I did not hear one person talk well about him.The big joke was when he ask Bob Barr to be his VP candidate.I've been hearing and reading that Imperato was a bit crazy.
It is good to see that the LPGA is reaching out some to outside groups like the Americans for Prosperity. When I was chairman of the party, I received a few nasty e-mails about my enthusiasm for that organization.
Overall, it looks like the party took a step-forward.
Bob Barr made some news today:
Former Georgia congressman Bob Barr, a one-time Republican turned Libertarian, lamented Saturday the loss of privacy because the federal government considers it necessary in the fight against terrorism.I could not agree more.Speaking to the Georgia Libertarian Party's state convention, Barr said Republican and Democratic national leaders were trying to erase the protections of the Bill of Rights, and some citizens seem willing to let that happen because they believe claims that is necessary for national security.
[...]
"What this document has come to be in 2008 is different from what was adopted [originally]," Barr said.He tried to make his point by holding up a copy of the Bill of Rights with almost all the words erased.
Left was a passage from the 4th Amendment— "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects ... shall ... be" — followed by five words in the 10th Amendment — "delegated to the United States."
One of the biggest threats now, Barr said, is pending legislation to replace an expired temporary law authorizing warrantless surveillance of electronic communications by suspect terrorists.
The statewide transportation sales tax legislation appears to be dead:
A plan that would create a statewide transportation sales tax appears to be short on votes in the House of Representatives said Smith, R-Pine Mountain. As a result, he and others have started work on a second plan which would allow regional development commissions the chance to put particular projects up to a funding vote.That is some semi-good news, but legislators are still attempting to create a crisis out of something that isn't. There is a shortfall in funding, but legislators should be spending the money they already have in a wiser fashion instead of supporting a tax increase.
State Rep. Donna Sheldon has the right idea. In the article, she is quoted as saying that the state should look to public-private partnerships, toll roads and managed lanes. GDOT should also reexamine projects and kill useless rail projects that benefit only a small fraction of commuters.
At least one Clayton County School Board member doesn't live in the county:
Clayton County school board member Norreese Haynes has not lived in the county for at least two years, according to his Marietta landlord and police records.Governor Perdue is pushing a bill that would immediately allow voters recall school board members if the system loses accreditation.Haynes has lived at the Autumn View Apartments in Marietta with another man for approximately two years, the apartment manager told Clayton County police Feb. 21.
[...]
Clayton police learned about Haynes' apparent Cobb County residence after discovering the board member was arrested Dec. 2 in a domestic dispute in Marietta.Juan Green, who described himself as Haynes' live-in boyfriend for five years, told Marietta police Haynes assaulted him.
Haynes, 37, returned to the couple's Marietta apartment about 4 a.m. and started a fight over missing condoms, Green told police.
During the dispute, Haynes slapped Green, 31, on the face, pushed him to the floor and strangled him, according to a police report.
Bob Barr is now blogging at the AJC.
