Archive for the ‘georgia power’ Category

As the country’s tryptophan high wears off, the sobering debate over the fiscal cliff begins. From the Associated Press:

White House economists warned Monday that the uncertainty of a potential hike in taxes next year for middle class taxpayers under the looming fiscal cliff could hurt consumer confidence during the crucial holiday shopping season.

In a new report that coincides with Congress’ return after the Thanksgiving holiday, the White House says that if lawmakers don’t halt the automatic increase in taxes for households earning less than $250,000, consumers might even curtail their shopping during the current holiday season.

“As we approach the holiday season, which accounts for close to one-fifth of industry sales, retailers can’t afford the threat of tax increases on middle-class families,” the report says.

The study by President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council and his Council of Economic Advisers also says a sudden increase in taxes for middle-income …

Continue reading Your daily jolt: White House warns that ‘fiscal cliff’ fears could freeze Christmas spending »

The re-election campaign of state Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise on Monday made public a robo-call that former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich has recorded on Wise’s behalf. The two are old Cobb County friends.

And for his friend, Gingrich describes Wise’s Republican opponent, Pam Davidson, as a West Coast flower child:

”Hello, this is Newt Gingrich. I’m still humbled to have won Georgia on Super Tuesday, and today I’m asking you to vote for my good friend Stan Wise, who’s seeking another term on the Georgia Public Service Commission. His steady hand at the PSC has helped build a reliable energy system without shifting costs to future generations. The last thing we need in Georgia are the failed, liberal California energy programs of his opponent that lead to blackouts, Solyndra, and skyrocketing rates. Please vote for Stan Wise in the Republican primary.”

Presumably, “without shifting costs to future generations” is the tested phraseology for the advance payments that …

Continue reading Newt Gingrich speaks up for Stan Wise in PSC race »

In Room 5F of the Fulton County Superior Court building this morning, two men who separately dominated the state Capitol for a half-dozen years sat side-by-side before Judge Ural D. Glanville, preparing to run a tag-team assault on Georgia Power.

At the outset, Glenn Richardson, the former, fiery Republican House speaker did the talking. Former Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, sat at Richardson’s left hand.

“The case is about Georgia Power charging sales tax on your bill for a couple things we don’t think they should be charging it on – the nuclear costs,” Richardson said during an early break. “I had a client asked me to look at it. She said it seemed unfair, and I started looking at it, and said, ‘You know, you’re right.’ I’d never heard of charging sales tax on a nuclear financing cost. It was never discussed when it came to us.”

The gentleman knows of what he speaks, and that is only one of the ironies here. The legislation that has allowed Georgia Power, for the last 15 …

Continue reading Glenn Richardson, Roy Barnes tag-team Georgia Power »

Former Gov. Roy Barnes, the ultimate Democrat, just confirmed that he has joined former House speaker Glenn Richardson, once the ultimate Republican, in a case against Georgia Power that will have a hearing in Fulton County Superior Court next Monday morning.

The lawsuit involves that surcharge approved in 2009 by the General Assembly, allowing Georgia Power to charge ratepayers in advance for some financing expenses related to the construction of two nuclear power plants.

“[Georgia Power] is charging sales tax on the finance surcharge and charging sales tax on the franchise tax paid to cities. You can’t charge sales tax on finance charges or on another tax. Looks to me there has been a $100 million overcharge,” Barnes wrote in a note this afternoon.

Politically, the two attorneys may be polar opposites. But they share geography. Richardson — who left the Legislature after passage of the Georgia Power surcharge in 2009 — still lives in Hiram. And Barnes, while he has a …

Continue reading The ultimate odd couple: Roy Barnes, Glenn Richardson vs. Georgia Power »

Updated at 8:15 p.m. to correct numbers offered today by the secretary of state’s office:

If early voting is any clue, the GOP presidential contest is setting Georgia ablaze — like a wet matchstick.

According to Secretary of State Brian Kemp, 86,426 advance and absentee votes have been cast thus far.

In 2008, there were 247,897 early ballots cast. Now, assume that 50 percent of those votes four years ago were cast in the Democratic party, which had a contested nomination.
And assume that all of the early votes this year are Republican in nature.

Even so, this would be a 30 percent decline in Georgia early voting over ’08. Last year, the Legislature curtailed the advanced voting period. Even so, the difference is startling.
If nothing else, the current number is evidence that none of the four GOP candidates has an extensive ground game in Georgia.

***
A new Georgia poll of the GOP presidential primary was rolled out by 11Alive/Survey USA on Monday, showing Newt Gingrich with a …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: GOP contest prompts an unexciting stream of early votes »

A Vanderbilt University poll this morning shows Rick Santorum with a commanding 38 percent lead in the GOP presidential contest in neighboring Tennessee, with Newt Gingrich in a statistical tie for fourth place with Ron Paul.

Gingrich will spend all of today at events in Nashville. Tennessee voters, like those in Georgia, will cast their primary ballots in the 10-state, Super Tuesday vote on March 6.

The top line in Tennessee:

– Santorum, 38 percent;

– Mitt Romney, 20 percent;

– Ron Paul, 15 percent;

– Newt Gingrich, 13 percent;

– Undecided, 13 percent;

That’s based on telephone interviews with 815 likely GOP voters with an MOE of +/-4.1 percent. A larger aspect of the poll, also conducted Feb. 16 to 22 by the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Vanderbilt, indicates that both Santorum and Mitt Romney would narrowly defeat President Barrack Obama in November.

The Vanderbilt poll measured antipathy toward the current occupant of the White House this …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Rick Santorum leads, Newt Gingrich trails in Tennessee poll »

Clearly, a bill to encourage the use of solar power is now the hottest item in the state Capitol.

SB 401, sponsored by state Sen. Buddy Carter, R-Pooler, originally had been shunted by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle to the Senate Natural Resources Committee, where it was to be studied to death.

So on Thursday, an impatient Carter — opposed by Georgia Power, electrical membership corporations, and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce — brought SB 401 to the Senate committee that oversees utility legislation, where many think the measure ought to have been brought in the first place. Carter attempted to attach his bill to another piece of legislation intended to allow paranoid homeowners to opt out of wireless metering systems.

The concept offered by Carter is complicated, but my AJC colleague Kristina Torres has this explanation:

The most controversial aspect of Senate Bill 401 would allow outside companies to install, own and maintain alternative energy systems, in return for customers …

Continue reading The heated debate over solar power »

Below is official evidence of the rift between Tim Echols, chairman of the state Public Service Commission, and Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, who also sits on the panel.

The PSC has five members. You’ll see that, on the commission’s newly printed, taxpayer-funded letterhead, only four commissioners are listed on the left. That’s because McDonald refuses to allow his name to appear anywhere near that of Echols:

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.

Continue reading Of PSC loggerheads and letterheads »

Following up her debut on local Atlanta television, Ginger White went national today with an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” — where she declared herself disappointed that Herman Cain, with whom White says she had a 13-year affair, is calling her “troubled.”

From the Associated Press summary:

She told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that her relationship with Cain was “a very casual affair. Am I proud to admit that? No, I am not.”

White also said she took several trips with Cain, including a flight to Las Vegas to see a Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield boxing match.

She also said that she had “consistently” received gifts and money from Cain over the past two and a half years, but added that this was “not sex for cash.”

***
The alleged relationship with Ginger White cost Herman Cain a key supporter in New Hampshire on Tuesday. From the Associated Press:

New Hampshire state Rep. William Panek endorsed Cain at a news conference earlier this year. But he changed his mind …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Ginger White says Herman Cain took her to Tyson-Holyfield match »

Campaign checks and the records they generate can be inconvenient things.
Earlier this week, Bill Simon of Marietta, a Republican activist who operates the Political Vine blog, sent out word that the newest GOP candidate in the race to oust U.S. Rep. John Barrow, R-Savannah, had committed a grievous sin.

Ten years ago, Augusta contractor Rick Allen wrote a $1,000 check to the congressional campaign Democrat Charles “Champ” Walker Jr., who was running against Burns, a Republican and a professor at Georgia Southern University. Burns won the ‘02 contest.

“It was a mistake. If he had it to do over again, he wouldn’t have done it,” conceded Allen’s political strategist, Chip Lake, on Tuesday night.

Lake said would prove his conservative credentials in meetings with voters over the next nine months.

But that check is likely to reverberate. Champ Walker is the son of former Senate majority leader Charles Walker, who was a force in Augusta much disliked by Republicans, until he was …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: For John Barrow opponent, an inconvenient check »