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Political News |
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Feb 23, 2010 – Dalton Daily Citizen
Deal lauds local activists
Charles Oliver reports that the atmosphere has changed in Washington, D.C., and U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal says Tea Party groups deserve much of the credit. Deal, a Republican from Gainesville who is running for governor this year, spoke on Monday to a group of Whitfield County Tea Party members. “You’ve got folks steamed up, and they are beginning to shout,” he said.
Feb 23, 2010 – Atlanta Journal Constitution
Lines blur as pollster tries to heal Oxendine-Westmoreland feud
Aaron Gould Sheinin and Cameron McWhirter report that it's a bizarre story where commerce, regulatory oversight and politics intersect. It involves Matt Towery, an Atlanta-based pollster and attorney; John Oxendine, the state's insurance commissioner and a candidate for governor; and a failed insurance company under criminal investigation by Oxendine. All the details aren't clear, but a recent attempt by Towery to end a political feud between Oxendine and U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) has devolved into a baffling situation.
Feb 23, 2010 – Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
Political Insider: Rasmussen poll: Could Roy Barnes be fading in race for governor?
The Political Insider, Jim Galloway, writes that a new poll by Rasmussen Reports may be suggesting that Roy Barnes is losing ground in the race for governor. Three out of the four top Republican candidates are now slightly ahead of Barnes.
Feb 23, 2010 – Athens Banner-Herald - EDITORIAL
College tuition hike would be tax increase
The editorial board writes, Well, it looks as if all the talk in the state legislature - mostly from the conservative side of the Republican-dominated Georgia General Assembly - about avoiding tax increases as the state continues to face a daunting budgetary picture is, in fact, just talk. Even as legislative appropriations committee members and other leaders have barely begun a two-week review of the governor's proposed $18 billion budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 - a budget predicated on an unlikely 4 percent increase in state revenues - they've already started talking about levying a new tax.
Feb 23, 2010 – Marietta Daily Journal - OP-ED
Hines: Perdue's pay plan will intensify 'teaching to test'
Roger Hines of Kennesaw, a candidate for state School Superintendent, write that performance pay for teachers sounds like a sensible idea. Most Americans believe in "performing" well and then getting paid for it. Whether dealing with products or services, employers rightly expect employees to perform. When teaching children or teenagers, however, the game changes. Students are not products, and teachers are not assembly line workers. Products are inanimate objects. They have no part in the work of their own formation.
Feb 23, 2010 – Atlanta Journal Constitution - OP-EDs
Pro & Con: Should taxpayers subsidize loan guarantees for nuclear power?
YES: Loans will spur reliable clean energy and thousands of new jobs by Nolan E. Hertel, professor of nuclear and radiological engineering at Georgia Tech; NO: Loans waste money on unsafe industry rife with cost overruns by Joan King, board member of Nuclear Watch South.
Feb 23, 2010 – Atlanta Journal Constitution - OP-ED
Analytical learning is the big loser in test score obsession
Shannon Howrey, assistant professor of education at North Georgia College & State University, writes, The House and Senate bills that reward pay for teacher performance (i.e. student standardized test performance) are meant to improve schools, resulting in a higher level of preparation of Georgia’s children. This is meant to ensure a well-educated, successful work force resulting in a strong economy. However, the passing of these bills may actually result in the opposite.
Feb 23, 2010 – Atlanta Journal Constitution - OP-ED
A transit solution: Raise the gas tax
Chuck Shiflett, former chairman of the Bartow County Board of Education and former communications director of the Georgia Republican Party, writes, There’s a dirty little secret about Georgia’s needed transportation improvements. A new mile of roadway costs the same whether paid for by tolls, sales taxes or the gasoline tax. Instead of creating new layers of government to handle collections from additional tollways or confusing regional sales tax plans, the simplest answer would be to raise Georgia’s gasoline tax.
Feb 23, 2010 – Atlanta Journal Constitution - COLUMN/BLOG
How convenient: New ObamaCare plan too vague to score
Kyle Wingfield writes, President Obama plans to hold a “bipartisan” health-care summit Thursday, and yesterday the White House rolled out a new health proposal for the occasion. The administration says the compromise between the House and Senate bills will cost $950 billion over 10 years but will somehow reduce the deficit by $100 billion over that time and by $1 trillion in its second decade. That’s right: a $1 trillion deficit reduction over 10 years, a 10-fold increase from the first 10 years.
Feb 23, 2010 – Augusta Chronicle
Bill would transfer Golf Hall of Fame land to city
Johnny Edwards reports that State Sen. Hardie Davis has introduced a bill that would transfer the 17-acre riverfront property controlled by the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, as well as the six bronze golfer statues locked up in a maintenance building there, to the city government.
Feb 23, 2010 – Marietta Daily Journal
Wiles on party: I did not use my position for influence
Kim Isaza reports that Sen. John Wiles issued a statement Monday defending his conduct at the home of his neighbor and law partner, Diane Busch, after Cobb Police busted a party there in the early morning hours of Dec. 22 during which 10 teenagers were given cititions for underage drinking. Wiles' statement Monday contradicts a police report that says he identified himself as a "Georgia state senator" and that he asked that one teen not be given a citation because it could jeopardize his college baseball scholarship.
Feb 23, 2010 – Rome News-Tribune
House bill seeks to delay first day of school
Daniel Bell reports that a bill in the Georgia House would prevent public schools from starting the school year before the third full week of August and make Veterans Day a school holiday when it doesn’t fall on a weekend. Rep. Matt Dollar, R-Marietta, is the primary sponsor of HB 1097, which states: “Local boards of education shall adopt a school year calendar that in no event shall commence the first day of instruction of a school year prior to the third full week of August.”
Feb 23, 2010 – Savannah Morning News
Legislation could bring $4 million to Chatham coffers
Eric Curl reports that there is about $4 million going to Georgia's cities that should be going to Chatham County, local officials say. That is the impetus behind a new bill recently introduced by state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah. House Bill 1203 would allow Chatham County and other county governments to receive revenue derived from so-called franchise fees.
Feb 23, 2010 – Savannah Morning News
Thurmond to keynote Savannah Dems fundraiser
Larry Peterson reports that State Labor Commissioner Mike Thurmond will be the keynote speaker at the local Democrats' major annual fundraiser on March 4. He has not said whether he will run for re-election or - as many think he might - for lieutenant governor. Meanwhile, Attorney General Thurbert Baker has said he will attend the event, set for 6 p.m. at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center. Now all five announced Democratic candidates for governor have accepted invitations, Center said.
Feb 23, 2010 – Macon Telegraph, McClatchy Newspapers
Ga. lawmakers discuss Obama health-care plan
Halimah Abdullah reports that Georgia’s largely Republican congressional delegation is unimpressed with President Obama’s attempts to resuscitate his ailing health-care reform agenda by using as a blueprint hotly contested proposals that narrowly passed in the House and Senate last year. “In order to move forward on health care, the White House must ensure that the Democratic health-care bills currently in the House and Senate will not be the basis for moving forward. It’s clear that’s not the case,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.
Feb 23, 2010 – Athens Banner-Herald
Securing water supplies
Merritt Melancon reports that more than half a dozen water departments across Northeast Georgia requested grant money this year to protect their water lines from terrorists who might use fire hydrants to contaminate an entire town's water supply. The chance of landing a Homeland Security grant for the projects is slim to none, but in applying for the money, utility directors brought to light what experts call the greatest risk to any water system - the fire hydrant.
Feb 23, 2010 – Augusta Chronicle - EDITORIAL
Sitting mayor needs to stand up
The editorial board writes, We've never doubted that Augustans -- all of them -- have a friend in the mayor's office. It would be nice to have an advocate too, though. It must be said that even after some four years in office, Mayor Deke Copenhaver is one of the most popular elected officials this town has ever seen. While most of us have been tossed about by waves of racial tension, financial difficulties, petty squabbles and more down at City Hall, the mayor has been a sea of calm, patiently and faithfully staying the course to a brighter future. Quite simply, his way has worked. As a result, he has rarely been the subject of public criticism.
Feb 23, 2010 – Rome News-Tribune - EDITORIAL
Appreciating Rome
The editorial board writes, whether it is by neighbors or strangers, it is always good to have the nice things about our community noticed and appreciated. When the comments come during a time of economic thunderstorms and focus on Greater Rome’s belief that sunshine always follows rain they are all the more welcome. Sometimes those of us hunkered beneath umbrellas tend to forget what rainbows look like. The neighbor was Floyd County Chief Judge Walter J. Matthews who, speaking at the dedication of the new, 100-bed, SPLOST-funded Floyd County Work Release Center. As Matthews explained, the state used to do this sort of thing as well but has now bailed out by closing its diversion centers to purportedly save money.
Feb 23, 2010 – Savannah Morning News - COLUMN
City Talk: Deadline for assessment returns looms
Bill Dawers writes, Lots of property owners in Chatham County did not see their assessed values increase last year. Some actually saw the board of assessors lower values, while some saw the value stay the same as the previous year. Last year's trend, driven in part by the state legislature's mandate that foreclosures be considered when determining values, dissipated some of the citizen anger that I have heard about property values over the years. But only some of it.
Feb 23, 2010 – Athens Banner-Herald
Census, crime to be discussed at meeting
Ryan Blackburn reports that the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials will host a weekend of activities to cap Black History Month, as civil rights leader the Rev. Joseph Lowery delivers the keynote address at the group's annual winter conference in Athens. Organizers expect several hundred people to turn out for the association's first meeting in Athens since 2004.
