Political News & Policy News for Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
Sep 2, 2010 - Valdosta Daily TimesCitizens, council talk tax reform
Kara Ramos reports that the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians visited Wiregrass Georgia Technical College Wednesday to hear citizens' ideas and concerns for improving Georgia’s tax code. With Georgia’s biggest taxes being state, sales and corporate, the state needs to review its collection method to be more “efficient” and “effective,” A.D. Frazier, council chairman, said.
Sep 2, 2010 - Macon Telegraph
Tax reform session being held at Macon State
Staff reports that the Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians will host a fact-finding session at Macon State College on Thursday so that Middle Georgia residents can voice their opinions on the state’s tax system. The session is scheduled from 4-7 p.m. in the Professional Sciences Conference Center. The college is located at 100 College Station Drive.
Sep 2, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution
John Linder, Tom Price, Johnny Isakson among richest in Congress
Chris Seward reports that The Hill is out with its list of the 50 richest politicians on Capitol Hill, and it includes three Georgia Republicans: Rep. Tom Price, Rep. John Linder and Sen. Johnny Isakson. No Georgia Democrats are among the group, although seven of the top 10 are Democrats.
Sep 2, 2010 - Augusta Chronicle, Savannah Morning News
No grand jury probe of Deal, lawyer says
Larry Peterson reports that no federal grand jury is investigating former congressman Nathan Deal, the lawyer for the Republican governor candidate said Wednesday. On a Monday television news show, Randy Evans rebutted claims that there is such a probe and elaborated Wednesday in an interview.
Sep 2, 2010 - Athens Banner-Herald, Augusta Chronicle, Georgia Times Union
Deal reveals a portion of education platform, wants to give Georgia teachers more control
Walter C. Jones reports that gubernatorial candidate Nathan Deal wants to let teachers decide when to give required standardized tests in their classrooms and let schools promote students midyear if they're ready to move up. Speaking Wednesday to State Farm insurance agents and executives, the Gainesville Republican also said he favors greater efforts by schools to tackle childhood obesity by serving locally grown vegetables and requiring more daily exercise.
Sep 2, 2010 - Augusta Chronicle
Poll: Link to Obama is Barnes' liability
Morris News Service reports that President Obama is a liability for former Gov. Roy Barnes, according to a poll released Wednesday. The survey was conducted by InsiderAdvantage for WSB-TV of Atlanta. Some 718 registered, likely voters were asked if they would base their vote for governor on whether they believed Obama and the national Democratic Party were doing a fair or a poor job. Sixty-seven percent said "yes" while 24 percent said "no."
Sep 2, 2010 - Gainesville Times
Negative campaign websites are new platform, ‘the next frontier’
Melissa Weinman reports that negative campaigning has already begun, and Georgia's gubernatorial race has taken the tactic to a new platform. There are now entire websites devoted to attacking candidates. One, hosted by the Republican Governors Association called "RoyBama," seeks to unfavorably compare Democratic candidate Roy Barnes with President Barack Obama.
Sep 2, 2010 - Moultrie Observer
Candidates for ag chief will debate tonight
Staff reports that Georgians can watch a debate online tonight between the three candidates vying to replace long-time Secretary of Agriculture Tommy Irvin. The debate, billed as the first sustainable agriculture debate in the state’s history, will include Republican nominee Gary Black, Libertarian Party nominee Kevin Cherry, and Democratic nominee J.B. Powell.
Sep 2, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
Political Insider: Foreclosing on the American Dream of home ownership
The Political Insider, Jim Galloway, writes, To be sure, gated communities and high-end condos have been swept into the maelstrom. But it is the people on the lower rungs of the economy who have become the subject of a renewed debate over whether America should be a nation of homeowners or renters. We have been here before. In fact, the current housing crisis has déjà vu written all over it, said A. Scott Henderson, an academic at Furman University whose specialty is the history of U.S. housing policy.
Sep 2, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
Broad base, flat rate equal tax fairness
Kyle Wingfield writes, There’s a four-letter word that starts with “F” and is used by just about any elected official you’ll ever meet — even though each usage is bound to make someone mad. Say it with me: “fair.” What, you thought I was going to say “free”? Fair’s fair, except when it isn’t. There may not be a more disagreed-upon word in politics. Yet, there it is, in the name of a group tasked with recommending ways for legislators to revamp Georgia’s tax code.
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Sep 2, 2010 - Athens Banner-Herald - EDITORIAL
Grad rate change isn't reforming anything
The editorial board writes, OK, so maybe it makes sense for the federal government to institute a standard nationwide formula for states to use in calculating high-school graduation rates. But if this is what the No Child Left Behind initiative has come to, in terms of federal guidance for much-needed educational reform across the United States, it may be time to wonder whether the educational accountability effort has become too weighed down by bureaucracy.
Sep 2, 2010 - Augusta Chronicle - EDITORIAL
His heart wasn't in it
The editorial board writes, Ambivalence shone on his face and wove through his words as President Obama marked the end of the Iraq War Tuesday night in a flat-screen Oval Office speech. So ambiguous is the end of this war that it's not even being called the end of the war; it's the end of "combat operations."
Sep 2, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
Fewer illegal immigrants, but more anti-immigrant fury
Cynthia Tucker writes, Many opponents of a comprehensive immigration reform bill — a plan that would give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship — base their opposition on the alleged failure of border security. When the federal government does a better job of patrolling the borders, they say, they will consider immigration reform. Well, it’s time to consider immigration reform. Between the drop in jobs — the lure for illegal immigrants — and tightened border patrols, illegal immigration has plunged in the last four or five years, according to a new report from the Pew Hispanic Center.
Sep 2, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution - OP-ED
Costly federal regulations escape congressional approval
Jeff Rosen and Susan Dudley write, Every year more than 60 federal agencies issue thousands of new regulations covering every sector of the American economy. The Small Business Administration estimates the cumulative costs of these regulations at more than $1 trillion annually, or more than $10,000 per household per year. These regulations are legally binding, yet they emerge from unelected officials in regulatory agencies; and, under current law, Congress never has to vote to approve them.
Sep 2, 2010 - Marietta Daily Journal - EDITORIAL
A Hurried Exit
The editorial board writes that The Obama administration has declared the war in Iraq is all but over. "It is time to turn the page," the president declared in his nationwide address, renewing his pledge to have all U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. Yet, in a speech ostensibly about Iraq and national security, Obama rambled on for paragraph after paragraph after paragraph about the importance of passing his economic agenda. In short, it was a graceless performance.
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Sep 2, 2010 - Macon Telegraph - OP/ED
Don’t mess with the Constitution’s 14th Amendment
Steven Harrell writes, a group of so-called conservative U.S. senators, including Jon Kyl of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have joined with some U.S. congressmen, including John Boehner, to call for a repeal of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As a student of constitutional law, I am appalled by this suggestion and believe that such talk should be squashed at once.
Sep 2, 2010 - Rome News-Tribune - EDITORIAL
Prisoners of state policy
The editorial board writes, compared to Georgia as a whole, Floyd Countians dwell in an absolutely enlightened place when it comes to penal policy. Indeed, the state’s taxpayers would likely save a wad of money if the General Assembly just imitated, in all 159 counties, what has been done here regarding the prison population (not to be confused with the County Jail population).
Sep 2, 2010 - Atlanta Journal Constitution
Hartwell Democratic Rep. Alan Powell ponders switching parties if Barnes loses
Jim Galloway reports that Republicans have spent tens of thousands of dollars to rid themselves of state Rep. Alan Powell, D-Hartwell, to no avail. But Blake Aued of the Athens Banner-Herald says a new path has opened up: "One of Georgia’s last remaining rural Democrats says he might switch parties if Republican Nathan Deal becomes governor. It’s not because state Rep. Alan Powell, D-Hartwell, is facing stiff opposition and might pull a reverse Arlen Spector."
Sep 2, 2010 - Macon Telegraph
Midstate lawmakers weigh in on Iraq troop drawdown
Shelby G. Spires reports that removing the bulk of American forces from Iraq doesn’t necessarily mean the violence in the war-torn nation will cease, Georgia lawmakers in Washington say, but it is the right step to making Iraq stand on its own. The United States has steadily been decreasing troop levels in Iraq for the past 18 months.
Sep 2, 2010 - Augusta Chronicle, Savannah Morning News
Let 18-year-old soldiers drink on post, Ga. congressman says
Larry Peterson reports, If 18 is old enough to lift a weapon in defense of your country, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston says, it's old enough to lift a cold beer on base. The Savannah Republican has introduced legislation that would let service members younger than 21 drink beer and wine at post restaurants and clubs.
