What is this advertising?

Obviously it’s a billboard, and the check-mark in the box is the international symbol meaning “vote for this person,” so it must be a political billboard for Tom Brown.

The reason I ask is that it’s not clear for what office we’re supposed to vote Tom Brown. The only Tom Brown running for office in Metro Atlanta I can think of is Sheriff Tom Brown, who recently announced that he will run for Congress in the 4th CD against incumbent Democrat Hank Johnson.

But it couldn’t be that Tom Brown, could it? Because while it would be fortuitous timing if this billboard went up as he announced for Congress, it doesn’t say anything about Congress. And it doesn’t have the required disclaimer for election advertising paid for by a Congressional campaign.

But it also couldn’t be for the Sheriff’s election in DeKalb County, because it is located in Rockdale County, towering over Courtesy Ford on Dogwood Drive adjacent to I-20 in Conyers. It’s an enigma. That’s what it is.

Farm Bill next on the agenda

With the Water bill that allows the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project moving through U.S. House passage and into a House-Senate conference with all the parts that are important to Georgia intact, the next big Congressional bill for Georgia’s economy will be the Farm Bill. From GrowingGeorgia.com,

Lawmakers from the U.S. House and Senate will begin on Wednesday to hash out the differences between their two versions of the Farm Bill, which expired on Sept. 30. Leaders announced the first public meeting for the 2013 Farm Bill conference committee will be on Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. in the Ways and Means Committee Room.

The biggest issue facing the committee is how much to spend on nutrition programs, or food stamps, which the House would cut $40 billion over 10 years. The Senate version of the Farm Bill would cut a tenth of that amount, or $4 billion.

Both versions of the bill would mostly do away with direct payments to farmers, but the programs to replace counter-cyclical payments differ. The House version includes the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program, which is based on actual planted acres, while the Senate version has the Adverse Market Payments (AMP) program, which would use base acreage, or a historic norm that wouldn’t change year to year.

Congressman Austin Scott (R-8) sits on the Agriculture Committee and has been named as a House Conferee; Senator Saxby Chambliss (R) also will sit on the conference committee.

While the Farm Bill expired October 1st, the budget showdown/shutdown and the Obama Administraiton’s blundering of the Obamacare rollout stole most of the thunder from legislation that has major effects on Georgia’s largest industry, agriculture. For a timeline, we go to TheHill.com,

On Thursday, President Obama called for Congress to pass a Farm Bill by the end of the year. Conferees may begin meeting as early as next week to hammer out the differences in the House- and Senate-passed versions, and they should seek spending reductions and substantive reforms to food and farm programs.

Obamacare delay? Really?

At least four Democratic Senators are calling for delays in the Obamacare Individual Mandate, according to FoxNews.

Several Democratic senators are calling on the Obama administration to delay enforcement of the health care law’s individual mandate, joining their Republican colleagues in saying it would be unfair to penalize Americans for failing to buy insurance when the primary sign-up website doesn’t work.

The Democratic dominoes began to fall quickly Wednesday, after Sen.  Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., circulated a letter urging President Obama to extend enrollment beyond March 31, 2014.

Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., in a statement released late Wednesday, said: “I believe, given the technical issues, it makes sense to extend the time for people to sign up.”

Shaheen and several moderate Democrats supporting her, including Pryor, are up for re-election in 2014, and no doubt taking note of the widespread discontent with the launch of HealthCare.gov.

But political motivation aside, the sudden support from moderate Democrats for delaying the mandate threatens to force President Obama’s hand.

Meanwhile, back in Georgia, presumed Democratic candidate for Senate Michelle Nunn joined the calls to delay the individual mandate.

Nunn, who faces a competitive race in Georgia to replace Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R), also called for a delay in the tax penalty, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. She attempted to align herself with the state’s other Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), who is working on a one-year delay of the penalty.

“And it is why, I believe that in light of the recent implementation challenges, I agree with bipartisan efforts led by Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson to postpone the insurance penalty for Georgia families,” she said.

Earlier this week, Democratic Congressman John Barrow also urged a delay in implementation, citing the website fiasco.