If you’re having a barbecue and car show on any given Saturday in June, you don’t have to be sponsored by the Fulton County Republican Party to get me out there, but it doesn’t hurt.
Tomorrow, Saturday, June 8, 2013, beginning at Noon, I’ll be at the Fulton County Republican Party Barbecue at the Atlanta Shrine Center at 400 Ponce De Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308.
We’ll have a classic car & motorcycle show, as well as clowns, face painting, and rides for the kids. Of course we’ll have mouthwatering BBQ and Stump Speeches by the hottest candidates running for office. We’re counting on beautiful weather but the Shrine Center offers us indoor and outdoor seating. Only $14 in advance ($10 for kids under 10yrs old). We encourage you to purchase your tickets early and have your friends join us!
National Dems Eye Peach State
The Senate race in Georgia is shaping up to host the first test case for Democrats’ push to play in demographically diversifying states currently dominated by Republicans.
A surge in the black and Hispanic populations around Atlanta has altered the political outlook in Georgia’s statewide races for decades to come.
But for Democrats, the future is now. The party is banking on the burgeoning minority-populated and increasingly suburban electorate paying off in 2014, when an open-seat Senate race represents its most promising offensive opportunity of the cycle.
Johnson listed five specific necessities for Nunn to win and show her state as competitive:
• Full engagement from the political operation of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, the most popular Democrat in the state.
• A coordinated voter registration operation that targets African-Americans, Hispanics and young, white progressive voters.
• Significant assistance from national Democratic organizations, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
• A coalition of voters based on the 1998 road map drawn by Michael Thurmond, Thurbert Baker and Roy Barnes — Democrats who all won statewide.
• Avoiding a costly primary.
Erratum: Add Airport to Pillars of Georgia Economy
Georgia Chamber Names Legislators of the Year
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce named its Legislators of the Year, awarding the honor to Senate Majority Leader Ronnie Chance and House Majority Whip Edward Lindsey.
The awards are given annually to lawmakers who demonstrated exemplary support for the state’s business and regulatory environment, helping to ensure its economic competitiveness and growth. Awards are given to one member from the House and the Senate as well as one Freshman from either Chamber.
Senator Hunter Hill received the Freshman of the Year award.
Loudermilk Endorsed by Restore Our Republic SuperPAC
Continuing the trend started by Paul Broun of being endorsed by groups I’ve never heard of, state Senator Barry Loudermilk has been endorsed by the SuperPAC affiliated with former Louisiana Congressman Jeff Landry.
Landry, who lost a member-on-member race to Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.), is staying involved in politics by supporting conservatives in GOP primaries with his new group, Restore Our Republic.
“State Sen. Barry Loudermilk is a strong free-market conservative who has demonstrated unwavering commitment to constitutional principles, and that is exactly the kind of person we need in Washington,” Landry said in a statement from the group. “His willingness to vote against harmful legislation even when his own party was against him is a sign of his conviction and courage. Restore our Republic is proud to endorse Barry Loudermilk for Congress.”
State Test Marketing Common Core Response
The Georgia Department of Education sent a missionary to Senoia to pushback on criticisms of the Common Core curriculum.
Officials responded to complaints made at a town hall meeting in Senoia last week by Common Core opponent Angelia Bean. A story about Bean’s presentation was published in Saturday’s Newnan Times-Herald.
“There were a lot of things attributed to her that are not factual. And I want to be sure the facts are out there,” said Dorie Turner Nolt, assistant director of communications for the Georgia Department of Education.
Bean claimed the Common Core standards are lower standards than what Georgia had previously and that Common Core is “the nail in the coffin for local control and parental control.”
“That is not correct,” said Nolt. “We are a local controlled state.”
Common Core standards were not put out by the federal government, Nolt said. Instead, they were created by two organizations: the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association for Best Practices.
“It’s not a federal standard, it is not the federal government releasing anything,” Nolt said. “The people who released this are not federal employees, they are not Arne Duncan (U.S. education secretary), they are not Barack Obama.”
Muscogee County Clerk Sues over Budget Cut
Linda Pierce serves as Clerk of Muscogee County Court, but now she has a new title, “Plaintiff,” in a lawsuit claiming that the Columbus City Council budget impedes her ability to fulfill her Constitutional responsibilities.
“The proposed 2014 fiscal year budget of the city does not reasonably and adequately provide for the personnel and equipment necessary to enable the Clerk of Courts to perform her duties, as required under the Georgia Constitution,” the letter began.
“The Clerk appreciates the financial situation of the city and her past budgets show her effort to do all that she can, even being understaffed and underfunded,” Lee wrote in closing. “However, she has mandated duties under the law that she has to meet and her request shows a willingness to operate well below necessary funding during this time. We hope this compromise will work.”
Bill Campbell may be back
AtlantaProgressiveNews.com writes that former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell may be eying a political comeback after a 2006 conviction for income tax evasion.
Military News
Even without a Base Realignment and Closure Commission, Georgia bases may not be safe from budget cuts, according to Major General Robert McMahon.
Colonel Michail “Gus” Huerter is slated to take over next week as Garrison Commander for Fort Benning, managing day-to-day operations. Hunter deployed seven times to Iraq and Afghanistan and graduated from West Point.
Immigration Reform
Democratic Congressman John Barrow was one of only three Democrats to vote for an amendment that would prevent the 2012 White House order prohibiting deportation of young illegal immigrants who were brought into the country as children.
Meanwhile, Republican Congressmen Doug Collins, Lynn Westmoreland, and Rob Woodall will co-sponsor the Strengthen and Fortify Act aimed at securing US borders.
According to a summary of the legislation released by [Congressman Bob] Goodlatte’s office, the bill would:
• Grant states and localities authority to help enforce federal immigration laws. It would also allow them to enact their own immigration statutes so long as they are consistent with federal laws.
• Bar illegal immigrants who threaten national security from becoming naturalized U.S. citizens.
• Expedite the deportations of criminal illegal immigrants.
• Authorize the Homeland Security Department and State Department to revoke visas issued to foreign nationals for security and foreign policy reasons.
• Authorize U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to carry firearms. Also provides them with body armor.
• Prohibit the Interior and Agriculture departments from preventing border patrol agents from accessing federal lands within 100 miles of the border.
Ends & Pieces
Republican Jason Downey cast the only vote against the tentative budget for the Bibb County Board of Education.
The move leaves the school system tapping deeper into its financial reserves, bringing them to just below $13 million by the end of next year, projections show. That’s more than $600,000 below the school system’s standards for its financial reserves.
Most of the board members Thursday worried aloud about the system’s financial reserves, but they said little about deep cuts across the school system that have been discussed for weeks.
Downey, who voted alone against efforts to keep the four elementary schools intact, said he wanted to see deeper cuts to central office staffing to help save teaching positions. He’d originally proposed closing some schools next school year, and he expects the board will return to the issue again.
“We’re going to have to revisit that for next year,” he said.
In an uncommon judicial move, Senior U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. has ordered the attorneys and parties involved to attend a hearing in the Augusta Judicial Center and John H. Ruffin Jr. Courthouse on June 17, the anniversary of the filing of Robert L. Acree v. the Richmond County Board of Education.
Each side will present reasons to convince the judge that the desegregation case should remain open – else it will be closed.
“It would hardly be a stretch to say that the current level of integration within the facilities, staffing, elected school board, and student population of the Richmond County school system vastly exceeds any likely expectation of the original plaintiffs and their attorneys at the time of the filing,” Bowen wrote. “While I have no statistics to support such speculation, I cannot but observe that this case must be one of the hoariest of its ilk. No one seems to know quite why it is still pending.
Pro-tip: there’s no anonymity left today
Forest Park Mayor David Lockhart filed suit against two women who allegedly distributed an anonymous letter before a City Council meeting.
Among other things, the document alleges Lockhart used a racial slur during a recent National Day of Prayer breakfast at the National Archives in Morrow.
Presented with the missive during the meeting, Lockhart denounced the accusations as “lies and cowardice” and challenged the author to step forward and be recognized.
No one did.
However, Lockhart later asked the police department to pull the surveillance tapes from cameras posted at the entrance. A review of the tape shows a woman carrying the box to the planter, taping the “take one” sign to it, picking up a copy and walking away. The woman was reportedly identified as Joy Diane Trammel Church.
Two things to take away from this lesson: first, there is no anonymity left in this country, where Big Brother is always watching; second, if you’re a public official who is targeted by anonymous criticism, filing a lawsuit increases the exposure exponentially.
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