Archive for the ‘Jack Kingston’ Category

Because you just don’t get a chance every day to imagine U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, chugging a beer in his underwear. From Stephen Colbert and Comedy Central:

There there’s this from the Associated Press:

FARMINGTON, Pa. — U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts is joking that he’ll be spending some time in “an impregnable fortress” now that the Supreme Court has ended a session that featured him casting the decisive vote upholding President Barack Obama’s health care law.

Responding to a question about his summer plans, Roberts quipped that he thought his planned trip to Malta to teach a class was a “good idea.”

He delivered the joke Friday at a federal court conference at a posh Pennsylvania resort.

Roberts declined to answer a question about the landmark opinion issued Thursday. But he says he hopes the court will be remembered for “protecting equal …

Continue reading John Roberts looks for an island; Phil Gingrey advertises for another beer buddy »

Atlanta publicist and tea party backer Randy Lewis emailed last night as he was listening to a briefing on the U.S. Supreme Court’s health care ruling by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who argued that the decision has made repeal of the measure a more achievable goal for the GOP:

[Cuccinelli] said that one additional largely unknown issue from the ruling today is that with the court declaring the law constitutional because it is a tax, that the law can now be repealed with 51 votes in the Senate — not 60. Tax votes only require simple majority. All other legislation requires 60 votes. So, Repubs picking up three seats and a VP can repeal Obamacare.

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Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed will be holding onto this CNN video clip for a while – for bar bets if nothing else. It contains the mayor’s prediction on Tuesday, minutes before President Barack Obama’s plane touched down in Atlanta and 48 hours before the actual decision was made public, that the U.S. Supreme Court …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Did John Roberts just make health care an easier GOP target? »

State Rep. Doug McKillip of Athens, author of an aggressive measure to shorten the period during which Georgia women can seek an abortion, last night faced Republican primary challenger Regina Quick in a debate sponsored by the Oconee Chamber of Commerce.

Tim Bryant of WGAU (1340AM), who moderated the confrontation, sent over a clip of the sound this morning – which featured a detailed discussion of HB 954.

At the outset, McKillip – who was briefly chairman of the House Democratic caucus — ascribed his switch to the Republican party and his sponsorship of the anti-abortion measure to a religious conversion.

Quick emphasized her six-years’ service on the executive committee of the Clarke County Republican party, but also mentioned that she grew up in a bipartisan household, with a union-member father and a GOP poll-watching mother – perhaps a nod to Democrats now supporting her.

HB 954 was one of the most contentions bills of the session, and the first major piece of …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: A fierce abortion debate in north Georgia »

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle on Tuesday became the latest figure at the Capitol to declare his support for a $100 gift cap for state lawmakers, vowing to build support for ethics reform in the General Assembly. From the Gainesville Times:

“It’s a process, and the legislature’s got to get comfortable with it,” Cagle said.

Cagle, who spoke to the Kiwanis Club in Gainesville Tuesday, said he supports a measure like the one [Sen]. Josh McKoon proposed last session that died….

The lieutenant governor said a July 31, non-binding ballot question is likely to push GOP lawmakers to embrace stronger ethics rules:

“I think there’s going to be a lot of support — a lot of support,” Cagle said.

Senate President pro tem Tommie Williams, R-Lyons, last week pledged his support for a gift cap. At this month’s state GOP convention, House Speaker David Ralston declared it to be the wrong approach.

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The Associated Press has pinned down a location for President Barack Obama’s visit to Georgia next …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: Casey Cagle joins call for $100 gift cap on lawmakers »

The Republican world – at least the Georgia part of it – is headed down to Columbus today for its two-day state convention.

Former state senator Chip Pearson of Dawsonville

Delegates will be pointed to November and, in at least one case, beyond. Among the many fliers on their seats will be one from former state Sen. Chip Pearson of Dawsonville, announcing his candidacy for state party chairman in 2013.

He’s already got a website that includes this shout-out to the current term-limited chairman, Sue Everhart:

With your help, we will continue Sue Everhart’s proud tradition of grassroots leadership and build on her great successes. I want to hear your ideas on how we can build on the successes of the Georgia GOP and make our Party even stronger…

Pearson, who has spent the last year raising money for the party, will be emphasizing his loyalty to the grassroots rather than officialdom. “People don’t know that there’s a whole lot more of me in the party than there is in the …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: The 2013 campaign season begins — for GOP chairmanship »

The House Appropriations Committee today passed a defense bill that includes $3 billion more than proposed by President Barack Obama.

But thanks to U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, the bill also bars the Pentagon from spending money on sporting events – whether NASCAR, the Braves or the Savannah Sand Gnats — for recruitment purposes. From The Hill newspaper:

The amendment was proposed by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) last year, but this time Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) took up the proposal, which prohibits military funding sponsoring semi-professional and professional sporting events.

Kingston said in committee that cutting sports sponsorship funding — which is used for recruiting efforts by the military — was a “great place to send a signal” as the military cuts its budgets, as well as 100,000 troops.

Defense subcommittee chairman Bill Young (R-Fla.) said he did not support the amendment because the military should be visible in the community, but it was adopted on a …

Continue reading Jack Kingston wants a military ban on NASCAR sponsorships »

No surprise here, but U.S. Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell, just sent out an email announcing that, with their man about the exit the race, House members who had backed former Georgia congressman Newt Gingrich are now lining up behind Mitt Romney.

In addition to Price, they include Jack Kingston of Savannah, Phil Gingrey of Marietta, Austin Scott of Tifton and Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County.

From their statement:

“After a hard fought primary season, Governor Romney has emerged as our nominee for president. We enthusiastically commit our support for Governor Romney. America cannot afford four more years of President Obama’s divisive and failed leadership that continues to punish entrepreneurship, pick winners and losers in our economy, and ignore our fiscal crisis.”

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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

Continue reading Newt Gingrich’s allies in Congress switch to Mitt Romney »

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will visit Fort Stewart on the Georgia coast this Friday, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston’s office confirmed this morning. We’ve got a call into the base for details.

But the Savannah Morning News offers this from Chris Crawford, Kingston’s spokesman:

“The congressman is glad the president’s coming,” Crawford said. “It’s a great chance to show off the facility and its suitability for additional missions.”

A major launch pad for U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army installation had been considered as the site for up to two more Army brigades, Crawford said. But mostly for budgetary reasons, that never happened, Crawford said.

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He may have been cleared by the Secret Service, but Ted Nugent now has a problem with Army commanders at Fort Knox in Kentucky, which has cancelled the aging rocker’s June 23 appearance. From USA Today:

“After learning of opening act Ted Nugent’s recent public comments about the …

Continue reading Your morning jolt: President Obama headed to Fort Stewart »

This just arrived from my AJC colleague Daniel Malloy in Washington:

You could almost hear Tammy Wynette playing in the background as Newt Gingrich’s backers among Georgia’s House Republicans stood by their man and his Lost Cause on Wednesday.

Never mind the endorsement that Speaker John Boehner of Ohio gave Mitt Romney a day earlier.

In interviews off the floor of the House, Marietta’s Phil Gingrey, Coweta County’s Lynn Westmoreland and Tifton’s Austin Scott declined to declare the Republican presidential primary finished in the aftermath of Rick Santorum’s exit from the race last week.

Not that any of them gave Gingrich much chance of success. The backing was more due to the precious notion of loyalty for a man who once represented the state in Congress. Gov. Nathan Deal said much the same thing on Tuesday.

“I’m very enthused about the 99.9 percent likelihood that our nominee will be Mitt Romney,” said Gingrey, whose district covers much of Gingrich’s old territory. “But I …

Continue reading Newt Gingrich’s Georgia backers in Congress say they’ll stick with him »

In metro Atlanta, Robert Highsmith is known as one of the best fixers around.

If you’re a politician just arrested for DUI, perhaps in the company of a woman who is not your wife, this is the barrister who receives your one phone call.

Highsmith runs the Atlanta office of the Holland & Knight law firm. Connections? A steadfast Republican, Highsmith served as Gov. Sonny Perdue’s legal counsel. But he is not exclusive. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, a Democrat, is a former law partner and friend.

We all know that clout usually works on behalf those who already have it. But every now and then, people without such juice are offered a taste. This week, Highsmith announced that he and his law firm would attempt what could be the biggest fix of his career — for free.

Holland & Knight will represent the descendants of a group of black subsistence farmers and fishermen seeking the return of 2,600 coastal acres in McIntosh County taken away 70 years ago by the federal government. An act of …

Continue reading Finding a fix for a 70-year-old wrong on the Georgia coast »