Political Insider

If there is a sliver of good to be found in what happened at Fort Hood, it may be the fact that the 13 casualties reflect the great melting pot of the American military.

Following are descriptions of those killed, from President Barack Obama’s address this afternoon:

Chief Warrant Officer Michael Cahill had served in the National Guard and worked as a physician’s assistant for decades. A husband and father of three, he was so committed to his patients that on the day he died, he was back at work just weeks after having had a heart attack.

Major Libardo Eduardo Caraveo spoke little English when he came to America as a teenager. But he put himself through college, earned a PhD, and was helping combat units cope with the stress of deployment. He’s survived by his wife, sons and step-daughters.

Staff Sergeant Justin DeCrow joined the Army right after high school, married his high school sweetheart, and had served as a light wheeled mechanic and satellite communications …

Continue reading From Fort Hood: Thirteen glimpses of who we are »

A pollster called the East Lake home of one of my AJC colleagues, Aaron Gould Sheinin, last night. The topic was the mayoral runoff.

The first screen was whether anyone in the household worked in television or radio. No mention of newspapers.

While his wife answered the questions, Sheinin hopped on the other line and took notes. It was a long questionnaire – so long that the telemarketer fell asleep in the middle. Really.

The questions were equally tough on both Mary Norwood, the front-runner in last week’s voting, and Kasim Reed, who finished a surprisingly strong second. So it sounds more like a legitimate, theme-testing effort rather than a push poll.

Among the questions:

Q: What should be the top priority for the next mayor?

Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the current City Council and how its members are handling their jobs?

Q: Would the endorsement of someone like Lisa Borders make you more or less likely to support one of the candidates?

Q: Which is more important …

Continue reading A sleepy little poll about Atlanta’s runoff for mayor »

U.S. Reps. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Sharpsburg) and Paul Broun (R-Athens) are part of this effort. From Friday Morning Quarterback, which follows the radio industry:

“A bipartisan group of 60 House lawmakers [have] sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski encouraging the adoption of FM radio tuners in mobile phones.

In the letter, they outlined why radio’s emergency alert system (EAS) is “a proven, reliable service,” which is why the FCC and DHS should “consider extending American’s access to radio EAS information via mobile phone handsets.”

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter.

Continue reading Lawmakers: Cell phones need an FM app for emergencies »

Time to sharpen up those lottery skills you’ve let languish. This from Government Executive:

The all-volunteer military that took over from the draft in 1973 has become so expensive it will either have to get smaller, not bigger as Congress desires, or declare the civilian equivalent of bankruptcy and resume the unpopular draft calls of the Vietnam era.

This is the prediction of retired Marine Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro, a fully certified expert on military manpower. He was the longtime aide for former Senate Armed Services Chairman Sam Nunn, D-Ga. Punaro himself chaired the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, which issued a report last year on how those forces should be transformed. He was also on President Obama’s short list for Army secretary.

Our all-volunteer military “has priced itself out of the market” under the flat or reduced Pentagon budgets Punaro sees in our future, he said.

But nobody in Congress or the administration wants to look hard how we’re riding …

Continue reading The next new fight: A smaller military, or back to the draft »

Updated at 5:55 p.m.:

Look for the next stage of debate over health care reform to be detailed, robust – and very, very long, Georgia’s two U.S. senators said last night.

“You’re looking at six to eight weeks of debate in the U.S. Senate,” Johnny Isakson said.
“You’re going to see a dramatically different procedure. It’s going to be protracted.”

After reaching a compromise with anti-abortion Democrats, the House pushed through its version of the bill over the weekend, a major victory for the Obama administration.

But Isakson said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has much less control over the situation in his chamber. “He doesn’t have enough votes to get on the bill with a motion to proceed. And he doesn’t have enough votes to get off the bill with a motion for cloture,” Isakson said. “So he’s got a big problem.”

Isakson predicted debate will “certainly” extend into January.

Denis O’Hayer of WABE (90.1FM) has posted a six-minute interview with Isakson here, in which the …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Health care debate will slow to a crawl, Johnny Isakson promises »

You’ve probably heard the cries of outrage from Democrats – particularly women – arising out of the inclusion of abortion-funding restrictions in the health care reform bill voted out of the House on Saturday.

Planned Parenthood condemned the Stupak/Pitts amendment as “unacceptable.” NARAL has called it “unconscionable.”

What’s been unexpected is the public worrying from Republicans that they may have just blundered in a major fashion.

I was monitoring my Tweet Deck on Monday afternoon when a logic-defying message rolled in from Erick Erickson of RedState.com.

Translated out of abbreviated, 140-character form into English, the message went something like this: “I’m really tired of debating the Stupak Amendment. It is what it is. The larger point is that we fail if we make the health care debate about abortion.”

Erickson is building an Internet-based activist site for conservatives, based in Macon. So the Twitter was significant. I picked up the telephone – which, …

Continue reading Worries about abortion and health care reform — but from the right, not the left »

Jim Martin, who headed the Democratic ticket last year as a challenger to U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, will endorse Kasim Reed this afternoon in the runoff for mayor of Atlanta.

The announcement is scheduled for 3 p.m.

I’m looking, but seeing no evidence that Reed, then a state senator, endorsed Martin in his Senate race last year.

But Martin knows first hand how hard it is to get Democratic voters back to the polls five days after Thanksgiving – he got only 43 percent of the vote.

But the former state representative has a significant following in Atlanta. In that ‘08 runoff, Martin took three-quarters of the DeKalb County vote and 60 percent of the Fulton County vote.

So it’s an endorsement that can’t be dismissed as insignificant.

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Continue reading Jim Martin to endorse Kasim Reed in ATL mayoral runoff »

With the battle for the New York 23rd over, the Republican argument over who’s a real conservative now shifts to Florida. This just posted by USA Today:

The Club for Growth’s Political Action Committee made it official this morning, endorsing former state lawmaker Mario Rubio in next year’s Senate race. That’s a diss to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who has the backing of top national Republican party leaders as well as the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee in his bid for the seat.

In a statement released this morning, Club for Growth President Chris Chocola said he believes that either Crist or Rubio can beat Rep. Kendrick Meek, a Democratic congressman who’s running for the Senate seat.

“The only question now is what kind of Republican will Florida send to Washington next year: a pro-growth Republican with a record of fiscal conservatism or a big-government Republican with a record of tax increases?” Chocola said.

For instant updates, follow me on …

Continue reading The Republican schism, Part II: Club for Growth endorses Rubio in Florida »

Over on Lake Jackson down toward middle Georgia, Fonnette Harris saw some machinery on the lot across the water, dredging up dirt from a boat slip, then dumping it deeper into the lake.

She and her husband hopped into their pontoon boat and hailed the fellow on the opposite shore – asking if he had a permit and knew there were state regulations against dredging.

He said no. “We asked, ‘Does the governor know you’re doing this on his property?’ and he said, ‘I am the governor,’” Harris told the Macon Telegraph. Here’s the lead:

Gov. Sonny Perdue recently dredged soil from Lake Jackson without a permit, dumping it into the lake and angering some neighbors and environmental advocates.

Georgia Power officials said the activity at Perdue’s vacation home was not a violation, although a Georgia Power permit should have been obtained first. They said Perdue stopped digging as soon as he was informed that a permit was needed.

State and federal environmental …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Does the governor know what you’re doing? ‘I am the governor’ »

Last week was the first anniversary of the election of Barack Obama to the White House.

More than 100,000 Atlanta voters celebrated on Tuesday by sitting on their hands. Having cast their ballots 12 months ago, they considered the job done.

Other Georgians found more creative ways to mark the ascension of America’s first African-American president.

U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal of Gainesville, for instance, celebrated by announcing that he would lend his voice to those who doubt that Obama was born in the U.S.A.

The venue was an online chat room established by Deal’s Republican campaign for governor.

”Do you believe that Barack Obama is a native-born American citizen who is eligible to serve as president?” asked an Atlanta reporter, Tom Crawford.

Deal tapped out his reply: “I am joining several of my colleagues in the House in writing a letter to the President asking that he release a copy of his birth certificate so we can have an answer to this question.”

On Friday, Deal …

Continue reading On Nathan Deal, birthers, and Georgia’s hunt for water »