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Phil Gingrey on guns at healthcare town halls: Hey, why not?

Monday, August 17th, 2009

U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, appeared on Monday night’s episode of Hardball with Chris Matthews, a popular televised experiment in which a flaxen-haired jester yells questions at political guests. When asked why he thought a growing number of healthcare reform protesters were showing up to the politically charged events wearing firearms, Gingrey basically said, “They’re exercising their rights under the Second Amendment.” Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. (Galloway’s posted a rough transcript.)

(H/T to Talking Points Memo)

Rep. Paul Broun on health-care reform = craziness

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

The AJC calls attention today to Georgia’s boast that its Congressional delegation includes more doctors (four of the 16 currently in office) than any other state — which would seem to be a positive, considering the debates over health-care reform being waged at this very moment in Congress.

So just who are these MD’s who make Georgia so proud?

Well, there’s Rep. Phil Gingrey, of “Better Know a District” fame; there’s Rep. Tom Price, chairman of the Republican Study Committee; Rep. John Linder, who apparently counts even though he’s a dentist; and Rep. Paul Broun.

Yes, that Paul Broun, who once compared Pres. Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler and accused him of trying to establish a Marxist dictatorship. Broun also happens to be a licensed doctor. And who better to represent Georgia’s medical community on the national stage? After all, Broun has already demonstrated his scientific acumen by declaring on the floor of the U.S. House that all the suggested evidence in support of human-induced global warming — the academic reports, temperature records dating back for thousands of years, the bewildered polar bears frequently photographed swimming in vain for a block of ice — are all just part of a “one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated out of the scientific community.”

I would request that Rep. Broun do his best not to embarrass Georgia anymore, but it may already be too late:

Under Broun’s [health care] plans, doctors and pharmacies would be encouraged to post prices for their services just as a restaurant might post a dinner menu. Doing so, Broun said, would spur competition and therefore help bring down costs.

Because who hasn’t wished their health care operated with the same level of efficiency and quality of service as a middle-tier chain restaurant?

Eric Johnson tweets for governor

Monday, April 27th, 2009
EJ and a pretty lady

EJ and a pretty lady

Proving himself to be a man of character — 136 of them, to be precise — state Sen. Eric Johnson, R-Savannah, announced his candidacy for governor moments ago by way of Twitter. Johnson had been running for guv lite, but those plans were upended when that job’s current occupant, Casey Cagle, abandoned his own campaign for governor a couple of weeks back.

Here’s Eric’s full text:

I have decided to run for Governor. Leadership is about trust. I hope to earn the trust of the people of Georgia. Keep me in your prayers.

He came in four under par and still managed to get in a religious reference. Nice.

Anyway, the senator’s news isn’t a big surprise. He’d put himself in a bit of an awkward place by resigning his position of Senate President Pro Tem before the beginning of the 2009 General Assembly, saying he wanted to devote his time to running for lieutenant governor.

From all appearances, the move backfired: Johnson’s visibility dropped and potential rivals found it easier to undercut his effectiveness. His school voucher bill — the vehicle on which he hoped to ride into the Governor’s Mansion — went nowhere.

(more…)

McCain rally Saturday

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Some of the state’s top Republicans are getting together at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, September 13 at the Renaissance Waverly in Cobb County for a McCain-Palin “Countdown To Victory Rally.”

Neither Sen. John McCain nor Gov. Sarah Palin will be there, but state GOP stalwarts Gov. Sonny Perdue, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Sen. Johnny Isakson, Secretary of State Karen Handel, School Superintendent Kathy “Smarter than a 5th Grader” Cox, Rep. Tom Price, Rep. Phil Gingrey and state GOP chairwoman Sue Everhart are scheduled to appear.

Conspicuously absent from the bill is Rep. Lynn Westmoreland. Perhaps the Renaissance Waverly is too uppity for him.

Contact georgia@johnmccain.com for details.