Fresh Loaf

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.

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It takes an energy crunch for Congress to start using their heads. Jim Galloway, the nicest nattering nabob of negativism over at That Other Paper, reports U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., wants to give rail a chance.

Undeterred, Isakson is about to reach across the aisle again, this time to John Kerry, the Democrat from Boston. The purpose: A revival of this country’s rail system, which — with luck — could give birth to a high-speed passenger train that would careen from Birmingham, through Atlanta, to Washington.

The senators are writing a bill that could be introduced sometime this month, Galloway says. A draft is supposedly being e-mailed back and forth between Atlanta business bigwigs. (Note to bigwigs: Please send it my way as well. I promise I won’t release it on here. Hehehe.)

Isakson said the bill would fundamentally alter our method of capitalizing rail transportation, putting it on a footing similar to the way we fund airports, freeways and seaports. Governments, a combination of state and federal, would acquire the right-of-way and build tracks. User fees would pay for upkeep, levied by private rail corporations that would live or die on their own performance.

By some accounts, the Kerry legislation also permits the raising of $200 billion via bonds to finance a limited number of high-speed rail lines across the country.

(Hat tip to Icarus at Peach Pundit)

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Just as political junkies were busy swapping predictions about the 2010 governor’s race – Is Johnny really getting in? Will Richardson stay out? – our unpredictable state Insurance Commissioner jumps in with both feet. Republican John Oxendine tells Insider Advantage that he’ll make a formal announcement in a few weeks.

Isn’t it a bit early to actually declare one’s candidacy for a race that’s two years off? It would be, unless one’s main goal is to spook Sen. Johnny Isakson into backing off from a run, says one GOP strategist we spoke to. While Isakson would be considered the man to beat in the GOP primary, he’s also a fairly cautious pol. You would be, too, if you had a cushy Senate seat in your back pocket.

Oxendine may be something of a political maverick who hasn’t made a lot of friends within his party, but he’s got a formidable donor base in the insurance industry that can help him bridge the name-recognition gap. And although he began his time in office as something of a buffoon known for wrecking state vehicles, Oxendine has lately earned points by criticizing some of the less consumer-friendly measures coming out of the Statehouse.

What this means for the rumored candidacies of fellow Republicans, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland or Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, remains to be seen.

If Isakson does decide to run for the Governor’s Mansion, then stand back as the political dominoes begin to fall. We’ve heard that GOP Congressmen Jack Kingston of Savannah and Phil Gingrey of Marietta might be interested in moving up to the Senate. Gov. Purdue, too, would be available to run.

And among the Democrats? Too soon to guess, but whoever it is better have the full backing of the party. Says one Dem insider: “The only way for us to get back in the game is to have a unified ticket that everyone can get behind.”

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PROTESTER AT MCCAIN RALLY SATURDAY: She’s looking for a presidential candidate willing to scapegoat foreigners for all of America’s ills.

(All photos by Joeff Davis)

(more…)

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Georgia congressmen flexed some political muscle this morning in Congress in efforts to sway the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to stop releasing water from Lake Lanier. U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss introduced legislation in the Senate that would temporarily suspend the Endangered Species Act with respect to drought-stricken states. Members of Georgia’s delegation introduced the same bill in the House. The proposed legislation comes on the heels of a vocal public lashing of the Corps by politicians and business leaders in the state and metro area. If you think they’re going about it the right way — or the wrong way — get in touch with them through any of links above.

Please note this wouldn’t be a free pass on a dry day to go carpet bombing bald eagles. From the press release:

Specifically, the legislation would amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to allow a state to be exempt from the Act when the Secretary of the Army or a Governor declares that drought conditions are threatening the health, safety and welfare of residents in a region served by a river basin managed by the federal government.

Emphasis added, of course.

If you’re the type who loooves reading proposed legislation, click below for Isakson’s and Chambliss’ document:

U.S. Senate Bill to Freeze Endangered Species Act During Drought

And how’s that water level at Lake Lanier? Take a gander. If the number under “Buford” hits 1035, that means the lake is tapped out. Its average is 1071.

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… Heath Garrett has left Johnny Isakson’s office for a consulting firm. I’m in D.C. and *every* single person has said Heath is headed off to set up shop for Isakson ‘10, the Gubernatorial run.

— Erick at Peach Pundit on speculation that Sen. Johnny Isakson will run for governor in 2010

how can anybody use THE HOLOCAUST as a vehicle to make a point about mexican chicken farmers? …

— The Arc of Time on AJC.com comments comparing an accused Lawrenceville Nazi with Latin Americans working in the U.S. illegally

I’ve often wondered if it would be an interesting social project to create a kind of kink think tank a la the above groups. The kinky version would judge all vanilla people by the ones who commit immoral acts. Following the formulae so cynically employed in the CWA and the CL’s own political propaganda, it would earnestly point out that engaging in missionary position fucking obviously can turn vanillas into sociopaths….

— Dr. Gloria Brame at Inside the Mind of Gloria Brame imagines what would happen if people with conventional sex lives were slandered the same way people with unconventional sex lives regularly are.

Incidentally, the CL she refers to above is the Catholic League.

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The United States’ top officials in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, testified before the Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 11.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who sits on the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, had just eight and seven minutes, respectively, to ask important questions about the war’s progress.

“And let me echo the thanks of everybody else here to you gentlemen, number one, for providing the kind of leadership in a very complex world at a critical point in the history of the world, the kind of leadership that’s really needed right now; and also compliment you on what you’ve had to go through for the last 24 hours.”

— Sen. Chambliss’ opening remarks to Petraeus and Crocker

“General Petraeus, Ambassador Crocker, thank you very much for your service. We all admire you.

“I think it’s instructive to me that the New York Times poll yesterday, General Petraeus, trusted — 60 percent of the people trusted you to make decisions and 20 percent of the people trusted us. So I think we ought to all pay attention to what you’ve got to say.”

— Sen. Isakson’s opening remarks to Petraeus and Crocker

“You’ve been worn down and asked every conceivable question that could have been asked about what’s going on in your part of the world. But there are a couple of things that I want to get to.

“First, General Petraeus, we were very pleased to have you stop by Georgia on your way from Baghdad to Washington and to visit Fort Benning over the weekend and to see the next generation of Petraeus qualify as airborne qualified, as he graduated from jump school.

“I know you’re just as proud of Stephen as he is of his dad. So congratulations to you there.”

— Sen. Chambliss, on Petraeus’ recent stop in Columbus, Ga.

“The president in his speech outlined three specific goals before we went in. One, to depose Hussein and find weapons of mass destruction. Second was to allow the Iraqis [to] have free elections and write a constitution. And third was to train their military sufficient to protect that fledgling country.

“The way I see it, goals one and two have been done.”

— Sen. Isakson’s sunny distillation of the Iraq war thus far

“Ambassador Crocker, you have to dodge verbal bullets, which sometimes are more penetrating than the real ones, I know.”

— Sen. Isakson compares answering questions before the Senate with war. Isakson served in the Georgia Air National Guard during the Vietnam War. He was stationed at Ft. Dobbins.

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Say a prayer for her.

— Jason Pye on state Rep. Karla Drenner (D-Avondale Estates), who was injured when a MARTA bus hit her car on Saturday. Drenner was hospitalized and released.

—–

Asked if he were planning to run for governor in ‘10, the first-term senator said this: “I did that once. I am very happy in the United States Senate.”

— Jim Galloway at AJC.com Political Insider blog, on Sen. Johnny Isakson’s rumored interest in replacing Gov. Sonny Perdue

—–

I spent Friday and Saturday in Atlanta attending the Women of Faith conference. It was a small, intimate group of only 16,000 people.

— Lori Grice attended the Women of Faith conference downtown last weekend.

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Of the 15 senators and representatives representing Georgia in Congress, number who are millionaires: 11

Percentage of Americans in 2005 whose net worth exceeded $1 million: 3

Median family income in Georgia in 2005: $53,744

Annual salary of U.S. senators and representatives: $165,000

Amount Rep. John Linder, worth $23.5 million, says he earned in royalties from the book The Fair Tax, co-authored with talk-show host Neal Boortz: $500,000

Approximate tax owed on $500,000 book income: $147,206

Tax Linder would owe on $500,000 book income if his Fair Tax proposal became law: $0

Combined self-reported net worth of Republican senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss: $12.7 million

Cost over five years of children’s health-care funding that Isakson and Chambliss voted against last week: $35 billion

Cost over next decade of extending Bush-proposed tax cuts, a proposal both senators support: $1 trillion

Sources: Macon Telegraph, U.S. Census Bureau, CNN Money.com, the Center for Responsive Politics, Washington Post, MoneyChimp.com, Congressional Budget Office

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Is it a reflection of Sonny Perdue’s so-far lackluster second term that rumors are already flying in Republican circles about potential candidates for the next governor’s race? To be fair, speculation was kick-started during the recent General Assembly by the game of budgetary one-upmanship undertaken by newly minted rivals House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. Both men are widely assumed to be on a collision course to the Governor’s Mansion.

Even before the calamitous legislative session ground to a thankful close, however, there was talk that GOP strategists were hoping to coax U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson into returning to Georgia to take over the helm of the ship of state. The logic is that Isakson, a longtime state lawmaker and former gubernatorial candidate, would prefer being governor to a junior senator in the minority party. Again, after the mess of the session, was this more wishful thinking?

The latest rumor out of the GOP ranks, and one that circulated freely at last weekend’s state Republican convention in Gwinnett, is that that U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland from west Georgia’s 3rd District is likely to throw his hat into the ring. That speculation, however, is contingent on whether Isakson runs, as the well-liked senator would be expected to scare most other GOP candidates out of the race.

While the next governor’s race is nearly three years away, it’s safe to say Westmoreland would be a blogger’s delight. Even YouTubers who had never heard of the Georgia congressman delighted in the clip of his fumbling interview with Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert, in which Westmoreland couldn’t seem to name more than three of the Ten Commandments he claims to revere. Although the clip has been pulled from the Internet and has even been edited from Colbert’s own site, does anyone really imagine it wouldn’t reappear in time for the 2010 general election?

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Peach Pundit is reporting that U.S. senators Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., have proposed legislation that would fix and fully fund PeachCare. More later.

– Max Pizarro

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