Archive for August 9th, 2011

Fitzgerald, Ga. – U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson just finished the first of six joint town-hall meetings that they intend to conduct during the August recess, to discuss the economy and attempts to rein in the federal deficit.

More on this in a few minutes, but suffice it to say that the 60-minute session was a sober affair with none of the raucous language seen during the ’09 debates over the health care overhaul legislation.

Hanging over the debate is the matter of a “super committee” required by last week’s agreement. Six members of the House, six members of the Senate are to cut a larger deficit-reduction deal by Thanksgiving – or draconian cuts to Medicare and defense will automatically take place

Up in Washington, word is spreading that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reed, D-Nev., will name three Democratic hard-liners to represent their position: Patty Murray of Washington, as co-chair; Max Baucus of Montana and John Kerry of Massachusetts.

Last …

Continue reading Johnny Isakson on super committee appointment: ‘I’d want to be my own man’ »

Perry, Ga. — The annual gathering of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce has begun, several thousand strong.

The featured entertainment is a discussion of Washingtonian economics – a field that requires its own designation – between U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell, and U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson.

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss is speaking now on the fight over the federal deficit, calling it “the most predictable crisis that ever faced America.”

But politically, the most aggressive sight we’ve seen here is former Fulton County Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson, next year’s Democratic primary challenger to U.S. Rep. John Lewis – who is not present.

Johnson is being squired – introduced to the state’s business leader – by Ken Hodges, the former Democratic nominee for attorney general.

Johnson is pitching his message toward Georgia’s middle, saying that the Standard & Poor’s downgrading was a referendum on Washington’s inability to compromise.

- By Jim Galloway, …

Continue reading Michael Johnson takes his race against John Lewis to Perry »

The first casualty of this month’s special legislative session on redistricting may have already fallen – a cordial relationship that had developed between House Speaker David Ralston and Stacey Abrams, the Atlanta leader of the Democratic opposition.

Last night, Abrams told more than 300 people at a discussion of voting rights that Republicans are systematically trying to purge the General Assembly of white Democrats. From my AJC colleague Aaron Gould Sheinin:

….Abrams said Republicans are using the Voting Rights Act as a weapon because the landmark law generally prevents the dilution of minority voting strength. That means any proposed map must not feature fewer majority-minority districts than are currently featured.

“What they’ve said to every member who questioned [why] they were going to get competition … they said the Voting Rights Act made me do it,” she said. “When you use suppression by inclusion it is a violation of the Voting Rights spirit. It is a …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Warm, fuzzy feelings are first casualties of redistricting session »