Fresh Loaf

By the time Georgia polls close at 7 p.m. tonight, we here at CL will already be snookered on Diet Coke and moonshine, liveblogging in this digital Utopia about all the races up for grabs.

CL Editor Ken Edelstein will hold court at Manuel’s, staff writer Scott Henry will report from Jim Martin’s party at Park Tavern, and senior writers Mara Shalhoup and Andisheh Nouraee will monitor results and send dispatches from undisclosed locations. I’ll be in Stepford — oops, Buckhead — at the Intercontinental Hotel where the Georgia GOP is holding its fete. If you have any questions you’d like me to ask lawmakers, leave ‘em in the comments or send me an e-mail here.

Here’s a good list of key states to watch and what time their polls close. Here’s a neat-o map of the United States that shows where the presidential race stands. Here’s a place where you can win $20 of Andisheh’s money. And here’s a picture of a kitten dressed as a pirate.

Be sure to return and join us in a liveblogging celebration of America and insomnia. And if you haven’t done so already, go vote.

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The following offenses appear on a list of crimes for which Georgians can be imprisoned. The list is available on the state Department of Corrections’ website. Go figure.

Advocating the overthrow of government

Bestiality

Cheating & swindling

Child born out of wedlock

Disrupting the General Assembly

Fornication & adultery

Leave scene had injuries

Machine gun activities

Marry a bigamist

Necrophilia

Offenses against public transit

Sale/possession/etc. model glue

Seduction

Violation of bingo rules

Wife beating

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If you follow state politics in Georgia, you know InsiderAdvantage. The subscription-based news agency powered by Dick Pettys, the state’s leading Kremlinologist, sometimes gives away its stories for free. Other times, you’re confronted with a login screen.

On Sunday, they let slip one of the biggest untold stories of our time and posted a photo of Pettys from his days covering the Gold Dome in the 1970s. (Pettys is on the right.)

I’m just saying.

UPDATE: A closer look at “Pettys’” name tag raises more questions than it answers!

(Photo courtesy of InsiderAdvantage, Blatant photo illustration by Thomas Wheatley)

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With qualifying kicking off next week, we’re hearing plenty of announcements on who’s running for the Statehouse and Congress and who’s not. But Peach Pundit now brings us a double dose of bad news.

We’d blogged earlier that state Sen. Nancy Schaefer, R-Turnerville, was dropping out of the 10th District Congressional race against Paul Broun. At the time, she indicated that her husband’s poor health prevented her from continuing her political career. Well, she’s apparently decided he’s not too sick for her to try to keep her Senate seat. So it appears Georgia may not be rid of its own home-grown version of Phyllis Schlafly any time soon.

The other bummer is that state Rep. Robbie Mumford, R-Conyers, will not be running for reelection. We’ve given Mumford a coveted Arnie Award each of the past three years for bucking the GOP party line to try to preserve a measure of sanity in the House. During that time, Mumford, an attorney, opposed Jerry Keen’s sex-offender bills and argued against death sentences by non-unanimous juries.

Mumford, a Republican who represents an increasingly Democratic district, won reelection in 2006 by a narrow margin. We’d heard that some Democrats had encouraged him to jump the fence over to their side, but we’re not surprised he decided not to go that route. Speaker Glenn Richardson isn’t the sort who forgives that kind of transgression.

So, one of the most retrograde, strident Senators decides to return, and one of the most level-headed, thoughtful House members decides to retire. Depressing as it may sound, our God-awful Legislature may well get worse before it gets better.

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Oh no! I stopped by the Republican state rep from McDonough’s online portal to see if I could contact the gentleman and was greeted by this message:

Does railing on mass transit get you suspended by the Internet sentinels? End censorship now, people!

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A surprise tragedy of the recent General Assembly – one of many such tragedies, we should note – was the failure of the trauma care network funding bill in the waning hours of the session on Friday night. Insiders tell us that, despite his public support for the network, most of the blame can be laid at the feet of the Speaker.

The loss of the bill is especially grievous when you consider that Grady Hospital’s future hangs in the balance. The Grady board was prompted to hand over much of its power to a new governing body on the promise that the ailing hospital would receive support from a state-funded trauma network. Grady held up its end of the bargain, but the state welshed on the deal.

In fairness, the state will provide a $58 million cash infusion to the network from the supplemental budget. But that’s a one-time hand-out. Without a permanent revenue source, the network is going to have trouble attracting a decent director and staff.

In previous years, lawmakers had looked at a rental car surcharge, a cell phone tax and, this year, a $10 fee on car registrations as possible funding sources. But, late in the session, somebody hatched the brilliant idea of using revenue from the state’s .25-mill property tax to pay for the trauma network. Gov. Sonny Perdue made waves at the start of the session by calling for the repeal of the state property tax, but by late last week, it was apparent that the Governor’s proposal was a no-go.

Supposedly, the property tax would’ve generated about $95 million a year to help support trauma care in Georgia – more than any of the other proposed funding schemes. The House/Senate conference committee that dealt with the trauma care bill had a few more details to negotiate before settling on a final version of the bill, but members say everyone was on board with the revenue idea.

When the Senate conferees showed the bill to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, we’re told he praised it as one of the more significant achievements of the session. On the House side, however, Speaker Glenn Richardson stomped that sucker flat, telling his folks to end negotiations.

Now, why would the Speaker have done such a thing – especially since he was one of the biggest promoters of a state trauma network? His office didn’t return my calls. But he had threatened repeatedly from the well throughout the last day to stifle other legislation unless he saw movement on his tax bill.

As one lawmaker explained it: “The conventional wisdom at the Capitol was that Richardson held everything up because his tax bill didn’t pass the Senate.”

What’s the cost of failing to establish a trauma network? Well, look at it this way: The fatality rate from traumatic injury is 10 percent higher in Georgia than the national average. That comes down to about 700 deaths a year that could have been prevented with adequate trauma care.

Until the trauma network is fully funded, that’s a high price to pay to satisfy one man’s ego.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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FEUD FOR THOUGHT: GOP infighting led to major bills such as transportation funding sine dying on the vine Friday. But don’t worry; at least now you can bring your guns on MARTA. Click here to read Thomas’ sine die live blog.

BOB BARR: Forms presidential exploratory committee, indicating he’s seriously considering running against Ralph Nader for general-election spoiler.

WWE AND HGH: Homeowner discovers HGH in his Locust Grove house, which once belonged to a pro wrestler, FOX 5 reports. I’m also amused to see a pro wrestling newsletter covering HGH abuse, which is like a soap opera magazine covering cosmetic surgery.

IMMIGRATION: Gwinnett prisons begin screening inmates for immigration violations, and AccessNorthGa is on the case with an adrenaline-pumping news graphic.

CLAYTON SCHOOLS: Things have been better.

BMW CARAVAN: Two hundred seventy-one bored, rich people drive from Chateau Elan to Atlanta Raceway in Braselton in not only the Guinness world-record longest caravan of BMWs, but cars in general.

CROSS-DRESSING THE LINE? Wisconsin elementary school holds dress-up day for kids to either dress as senior citizens or members of the opposite sex, an idea the kids came up with. Christian talk radio hears about the tiny trannies, though, and goes on an angry mission of talking.

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In my column this week, I make a point midway that’s worth repeating:

You may have heard [Gov. Sonny] Perdue beating his chest, proclaiming he is pushing a constitutional amendment to eliminate a tiny 0.25 mil property tax that goes to the state. Is Perdue doing this, as he boasts, for beleaguered homeowners? Hardly. The real reason is that the small tax empowers the state Department of Revenue to ensure counties assess property at fair market value. Without the tax, the department has no role in assuring fair assessments. Thus, politically powerful industries — my bet is the timber business and/or utilities — pushed the amendment. If passed, these corporations will be able to lean on local officials to get sweetheart assessments — sticking common folks with the taxes the industries dodge.

The mainstream press — especially the AJC — needs to stop treating this as some sort of predictable Republican chop-away-at-taxes plan. It ain’t. The Republicans will certainly use the proposal to bolster their anti-tax mantra. But even some of the dimmer bulbs under the Gold Dome know the score. Perdue’s purpose is to take away state enforcement that property assessments be fair. In rural counties, and some urban ones, where industries can snap their fingers and watch local officials jump, assessments will be manipulated so corporations can avoid taxes. Common citizens — you — will pay.

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PERDUE: Apparently can’t pray away “economic clouds gathering,” calls for millions in budget cuts.

LEGISLATORS: Have better things to do.

NICHOLS TRIAL: Starts July 10, done by Christmas.

CHENEY: Raises $1 million in less than an hour at downtown Hilton, weakly attempts self-parody.

TENNESSEE: Not cool with joining boundary commission.

COMFORTABLY DUMB: Why go to the trouble of smuggling heroin inside your colon if you also just have some in your underwear?

HOUSING VOUCHERS: Not breaking poverty cycle.

WARRICK DUNN: Back with Bucs.

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State Rep. Ron Forster has a sterling idea to alleviate overcrowding in Georgia prisons. Best known for proposing the impeachment of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the Ringgold Republican has now floated a bill to lease inmates to private companies to go work in Iraq.

Now, before all you bleeding hearts out there get your panties in a wad, let us point out that the honorable Mr. Forster isn’t suggesting inmates be forced against their will to go load trucks in a war zone. The program would be strictly voluntary, in exchange for early parole amounting to a sentence reduction of 2-9 years. Now, aren’t you reassured already?

It should be noted that when Forster pitched his idea Wednesday to the House Committee on State Institutions & Property, he didn’t actually mention Iraq, Afghanistan or Halliburton by name. The way he put it was that inmates could “volunteer to go overseas to work in rebuilding other countries.” The convict would get to keep 60 percent of his salary, he explained, while the other 40 percent would go into state coffers.

Originally, he said, he also wanted to give inmates the option of paying the balance of their debt to society by joining the military. But then he found out the Army doesn’t taken convicted felons. Bummer.

Anyway, not everyone was so keen on Forster’s idea. Rep. Al Williams, D-Midway, asked the obligatory let-me-get-this-straight question.

“Are you saying you want to outsource prison labor to private companies?” he asked.

Well, yes, Forster said.

“That idea scares me to death,” Williams replied. “There’s a lot that could go wrong.”

With all due respect, Mr. Williams: Baghdad, Blackwater, Kabul, KBR and Georgia prison inmates – what could possibly go wrong?

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The 2008 legislative session is less than a day old and already feuds have been resumed and scabs picked.

Speaker Glenn Richardson led returning House members in overriding a dozen vetoes Gov. Sonny Perdue had handed down after the end of the raucous 2007 session. The revived bills were mostly of marginal importance, dealing with minor tax breaks and budgeting procedures, but the purpose was to lay down a gauntlet before the governor – telling him, in effect, “You’re not the boss of me!”

The override votes passed by a wide margin, typically 155-16, but there were a handful of holdouts each time, aside from Perdue’s floor leaders. Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, for instance, voted against overturning several of the tax-break vetoes, he says, because he accepted the governor’s position that the state budget couldn’t afford them all.

Although there was little discussion while the votes were being taken, Richardson did take the opportunity to jab at his Senate colleagues, saying he expected them to “shirk their constitutional responsibilities” by not taking immediate action on the overrides.

By not taking a vote on the overrides, the Senate increases its leverage to gain Perdue’s support for some measures it wants. We’ll see what those might be later this week.

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Why wear neckties and wingtips when you can don leather jackets and boots? These two gents lobby for the American Bikers Active Toward Education, or ABATE, and if you dare try to pull some chickenshit closed-door rewrite in committee, they will kick your ass.

(Below screenshots pulled from the State Ethics Commission’s 400-plus page directory of lobbyists.)

First, the inimitable Eddie Andross.

And fellow awesome individual Charles Kriston.

Hell. Yes.

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If you thought this year’s extended, vitriolic, veto-laced General Assembly was sausage-makin’ at its ugliest, you should fasten your seat belts for the grotesquery that will unfold under the Gold Dome come January.

The whining, backbiting and public displays of pique coming from various House members over the election of Gov. Perdue’s hand-picked candidate for DOT commissioner has reminded us what a gruesome melee this next legislative session is likely to be.

Here’s how one longtime lobbyist predicts the session will unfold:
First, the House will immediately become mired in a tantrum over Sonny’s vetoes of several House bills and spending measures. Speaker Glenn Richardson will lead his troops in overturning the gov’s veto, but the Senate will likely try to stay out of the fray for the most part.

Then comes the DOT battle. House leaders, including Democrats, backed Rep. Vance Smith, R-Pine Mountain, for commish, while the gubner wanted Gena Abraham, a former engineering professor who had worked in the Georgia Building Authority. Both Republicans and Dems have called for the resignation of DOT board members who voted for Abraham; hard-liners may even try to oust the new commissioner, thereby weakening an already beleaguered department. Expect more name-calling.

Then there will be the big issues that provide opportunity for grandstanding: the water shortage, Grady Memorial Hospital and Brian Nichols.

Anyone with the slightest thought of running for governor will be proposing some quick fix to the water problem. Expect much political jockeying and little consensus. Ditto for Grady. The state’s largest public hospital and private university, Emory, will be turned into twin punching bags as legislators compete to see who can claim credit for reforming — or destroying — Grady. And the law-and-order folks will be falling all over each other to make sure Nichols’ defense team doesn’t get another dime of public money.

And don’t forget the speaker’s GREAT plan to rid Georgia of property taxes. Here’s betting he manages to crowbar the bill through the House and then pitches a fit when it languishes in the Senate without coming to the floor.

Finally, the budget. Remember that Richardson has already accused Perdue of lying about how much money the state collected last year. So try to imagine the infighting that will erupt now that Georgia’s economy is in an actual downturn. Also, expect another round of tug-of-war between Sonny and Glenn over the speaker’s call for zero-based budgeting for state departments.

Frankly, we don’t believe 40 days will be enough to contain all the feudin’ and fisticuffs that this session has to offer. We can hardly wait.

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Sen. Eric Johnson, the General Assembly’s Senate president pro tem, has a nifty way of looking at things. Be it abortion, health care, or even rape, the architect-cum-politico has a way with words that rivals even the most knuckleheaded of legislators.

“Since it went into effect in May of 2005, the [state Department of Human Resources] reports that between 32,500 and 40,500 women have talked to their doctors about an abortion. After that conversation and the information provided to them by this law, approximately 10,000 chose to carry their babies to term. In addition, 2,300 minors considered terminating their pregnancy and only 500 did so. So we saved about 11,800 babies so far. Pretty neat, huh?”

— Johnson displays subjective mathematic skills on an Oct. 13 PeachPundit.com post about the “success” of a new law that requires women seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours and be informed of the procedure’s “medical risks … and status of the life in their womb” prior to receiving one.

“Just thinking out loud, we ought to look at — what if Grady ceased to exist? Maybe something better would come along. I think the burden’s on them to convince those that they want to receive funding from that the problems are being resolved. Otherwise, we might just test the capacity of other health care providers in the region.”

— Johnson’s comments during a Sept. 25 press conference on the prospect of losing Grady Memorial Hospital, one of the largest public health systems in the country and home to the state’s only poison center.

“It’s a rape in my mind.”

Johnson’s Feb. 16 explanation to CNN anchor Rick Sanchez on why he said Genarlow Wilson raped an unconscious girl at a party when, after viewing a video of the incident, the jury and prosecutors said the girl was conscious and the sex consensual.