This arrived in my inbox today:Caucus elections for the positions of Speaker, Speaker Pro Tem and Majority Whip for the House of Representatives will be held on Thursday, December 17, 2009, at 11:00 a.m. in the House Chamber of the State Capitol.This could mean that we may be able to [...]
The Los Angeles Times repeats what most of the opponents of ObamaCare have been saying for quite some time now, that the health care proposal working through Congress will cost more than doing nothing:Analysts in the Obama administration's Health and Human Services Department reported Friday that [...]
CNN has released a new poll that shows a significant jump in opposition to ObamaCare, from a plurality of 49% opposing it in mid-November to 61% opposing it today. The poll also shows that 79% of Americans believe that the bill would cause budget deficits to increase, and they [...]
If you have a Facebook profile or Twitter account and are politically active or value your privacy, you may want to read this:The government is increasingly monitoring Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites for tax delinquents, copyright infringers and political protesters. A public interest group has [...]
I finally got around to posting a list of the legislators running for the three vacant spots in the House Republican Caucus leadership (Speaker, Speaker Pro-Tem and Majority Whip) over at Georgia Legislative Watch. You can view the lists here.
[...]I've got to hand it to Karen Handel, Georgia's current Secretary of State and candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor. She has proposed some very strong ethics reform, including subjecting the Georgia General Assembly to open records requests.
The planks of her proposal are:Ban gifts of more than $25' [...]
Whatever happens with Republican leadership in the House, and if they were wise they get rid of everyone and hold new elections, the Legislative Hawks system needs to get the axe.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Hawks system, as part of his leadership team, the Speaker appoints [...]
11 Alive put out this report on the House Republican Caucus meeting that took place yesterday at Georgia Tech, which was closed off to the media (only 22 out of 105 members voted to keep the meeting open). They got some comments from State Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-Marietta), [...]
The folks over at Campaign for Liberty show us the explosion in government spending in the last two years, from spending just over 30% of gross domestic product (GDP) at all level of government combined to 40%.
With that, 19% of federal government employees make $100,000 a [...]
It looks like the House will hold an election for Speaker on December 15th, earlier than expected. From what I've been told, John Lunsford's petition was unsuccessful, meaning that the rest of leadership, the status quo, will stay in place.
The candidates for Speaker will be (subject to change):
Congrats to Georgia punter Drew Butler on winning the Ray Guy Award, as well as being named a first-team All-American.
[...]The editorial board over at the Washington Post is concerned about the latest ObamaCare compromise (emphasis mine):
The only thing more unsettling than watching legislative sausage being made is watching it being made on the fly. The 11th-hour "compromise" on health-care reform and the public option supposedly includes [...]
Today is a big for the House Republican Caucus. As was reported on Peach Pundit last night and earlier this week here, a petition will be presented at the caucus meeting today at Georgia Tech that will give members the opportunity to take action and set December 21st [...]
Democrats are planning to raise the debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion at some point this month, which is apparently double what was expected:
“We’ve incurred this debt. We have to pay our bills,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Politico Wednesday. And the Maryland Democrat confirmed that the anticipated [...]
For those of you that may be interested, a friend and I did a podcast with Ray McBerry last night for United Liberty. We talked with Ray about his campaign, why he is running and some of the issues he is running on.
You can listen to the [...]
I tend to agree with Erick over at Peach Pundit about Larry O'Neal, who is now a candidate for Speaker of the Georgia House. If this is your opinion about the state of things in the House, maybe you shouldn't hold a position in leadership:O’Neal promised a different [...]
Check out Johnathan McGinty's blog, Beyond the Trestle. If you're a Democrat or just generally interested in Georgia politics, it's a good read.
Also, Mike Hammer, a friend from Atlanta, has started a new blog.
' [...]Did you know that the federal, state and local governments are responsible for 60% of health care spending in the United States? That's the word according to the Congressional Research Service, as noted by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK):
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement [...]
Rep. John Lunsford (R-McDonough) confirmed with me this morning that he is “all in” for Majority Whip, despite previous rumors that he would run for higher leadership post.
[...]I've spent much of the morning trying to confirm rumors about the unrest in the House Republican Caucus. From what I've got so far, the caucus wants leadership replaced before the start of the session.
A motion could be made on Friday to hold a vote as soon as December [...]
Just after a budget deficit of $1.4 billion and starting off the new fiscal year $292 billion in the red, President Barack Obama is planning to spend more money with the false hope of pulling us out of the recession:President Barack Obama outlined new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals [...]
Cheryl Baxter tells her story: [...]
John Oxendine, an avid Peach Pundit reader and Republican candidate for Governor, has Republican Party that he will not participate in a debate with other candidates polling under 5 percent.
Depending on which polls you count (polls available here), that would only include Oxendine, Nathan Deal and [...]
How do you know the Republican Party still has a lot of problems to solve before they can regain a majority in Congress?Rasmussen has the answer:In a three-way Generic Ballot test, the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Democrats attracting 36% of the vote. The Tea Party candidate [...]
How do you know Democrats are losing the health care debate? Because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid compared opponents of ObamaCare to supporters of slavery:Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday, comparing Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung [...]
My Congressman, Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA), opposes a war tax to fund a surge in troops for Aghanistan:Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., will not support a proposal by several of his House Democratic colleagues to fund President Obama’s troop increase in Afghanistan with a 1 percent income tax increase.
Marshall spokesman [...]
Someone over at Peach Pundit beat me to it, but it looks like an election will be held for Speaker of the Georgia House and Mark Burkhalter is out of the running.
In addition, I've been told to watch over the next 24 hours as leadership spots will be' [...]
Jim Galloway is reporting that the House Republican Caucus will likely meet on Friday at Mercer University. Rank-and-file members of the caucus have not really had a chance to voice concerns about the events of last week. From what I've told, it was pretty much Majority Leader Jerry Keen,' [...]
The Georgia Bulldogs (7-5) will take on the Texas A&M Aggies (6-6) in the Independence Bowl on December 28th in Shreveport, Louisiana.
You can take a look at the rest of the bowl picture here.
[...]Got word that several legislators have approached Rep. John Lunsford about running for Majority Leader or Speaker Pro-Tem. Word is that Lunsford was flattered by any consideration by his colleagues, but has not decided if he will pursue either position.
As far as everything that happened last week goes, if even [...]
Sorry for the lack of updates, there are somethings that I wanted to post about today but we stayed out late last night and I slept in and took a nap in the afternoon. We also caught some football, including the Cincinnati/Pittsburgh game (what a finish) and the Alabama/Florida (Roll [...]
The Washington Times picked up on the drama that unfolded yesterday in Georgia politics and linked some of us local bloggers (including two of my posts). Many thanks!
[...]"As one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, accurately observed more than two centuries ago, '[i]f a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.' This vital link between freedom and education is fast fading in the" [...]
We’ve touched on the cost of debt service on the United Liberty podcasts, but only in context of the next 10 years. As CNBC recently reported, the cost of debt service in 2019 will be $700 billion. That’s significant.
Want to have your eyes opened up? In [...]
NFL Films had Matthew Stafford miked up during the epic comeback by the Detriot Lions against the Cleveland Brown. The president of NFL Films called it "the most dramatic player wiring ever."
The best part is the last two minutes or so:After seeing the video, Stafford's mother said, [...]
Expect some snow tomorrow in Metro Atlanta:Forecasters said an inch or two of snow accumulation is possible at the higher elevations of the mountain counties.
The snow will end Saturday morning in most areas, but could continue into the afternoon in northeast Georgia.
The forecast for metro Atlanta calls for a [...]
Sarah Palin has taken a dive into "birtherism":"Do you think [Obama's birth certificate is] a fair question to be looking at?" Humphries persisted.
"I think it's a fair question, just like I think past association and past voting records -- all of that is fair game," Palin said. "The McCain-Palin" [...]
In case you missed it, I posted this over at Peach Pundit earlier today after spending an hour confirming various rumors with different credible sources about aspects of ex-Speaker Glenn Richardson's resignation and what may take place in its aftermath.
Today was one of the craziest days that I [...]
"Not even a nod toward an apology. And, of course, the media has done harm to people with mental illnesses. The man just doesn't get it." - Travis Fain
' [...]Glenn Richardson released this statement on his resignation:Effective January 1, 2010, I will resign my position as Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives and as state Representative for the 19th District in Paulding County.
It has been an honor to serve the citizens of Paulding County as their Representative [...]
On a conference call taking place right now with the House Republican Caucus, Glenn Richardson is resigning as Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives.
[...]Mark Richt has fired Willie Martinez and two other defensive coaches: Following a 7-5 season, Georgia coach Mark Richt on Wednesday fired three members of his defensive coaching staff, including embattled coordinator Willie Martinez.
ESPN's Joe Schad earlier reported that Georgia wouldn't retain Martinez, who spent the past five seasons' [...]
"The problem isn’t that [House Speaker Glenn Richardson] had a mistress, it’s that his alleged (for now) mistress worked for a major utility that would’ve benefited from legislation the Speaker co-sponsored." - Scott Henry, Creative Loafing
What someone may have done in their private life should not be the issue [...]
Despite what WSB-TV and Insider Advantage reported yesterday, Glenn Richardson has not stepped down as Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives. Everyone I've talked to is expecting it, likely in the next couple days.
You can read background on this drama here.
' [...]Given the close outcome of the Atlanta mayoral race, Mary Norwood has asked for a recount despite the odds being against her:[A]ll but about 700 provisional ballots had been counted. Those ballots cannot be tabulated until Thursday, the deadline for those voters to provide verification they were eligible. According [...]
Kasim Reed has defeated Mary Norwood by less than 800 votes to become the next Mayor of Atlanta. Turn out was key for Reed, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes, "nearly 11,000 more voters turned out for the runoff than for the general election in November."
[...]
