April is the national month set aside to recognize Autism Awareness, Sexual Assault Awareness, and National Pecan Month. We are in the middle of National Library Week. April 16th is National Healthcare Decisions Day.
George Washington, recently elected President, left his Mount Vernon home on April 16, 1789 for his inauguration in New York.
“I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express.”
On April 16, 1865, Columbus, Georgia fell to Union forces. The Battle of Columbus is widely considered to be the last battle of the Civil War. Though it is not unanimously held to be, a 1935 Act of the Georgia General Assembly declared it the war’s last battle.
Hall of Famer Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians threw his first no-hitter on April 16, 1940 against the Chicago White Sox in Comiskey Park.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “Letter from the Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1965. On April 16, 2006, a new, larger portrait of Dr. King was unveiled in the Georgia State Capitol.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson visited Augusta, Georgia on a campaign stop this week in 1964.
He came with Gov. Carl Sanders, an Augusta native, as well as U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge, an influential state leader.
Johnson’s national election over Republican Barry Goldwater appeared certain, and a week later he would easily trounce the Arizona Republican.
Lyndon Johnson, however, would not carry Richmond County on Election Day 1964, and he probably got a hint of things to come during his speech before a crowd gathered in front of the Augusta-Richmond County Municipal Building.
He was heckled.
At least four times during a routine stump speech, calls from the crowd interrupted the former vice president who had taken office less than a year before with John Kennedy’s assassination.
“We want Barry!” people would shout.
Johnson didn’t carry The Peach State because he had become unpopular among whites in the Deep South for his civil rights initiatives, according to Merle Black, an Emory University professor who has spoken and written on Southern politics over the years.
Black recalled the Augusta incident in his 1992 book The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected, which he wrote with Earl Black. He also described Johnson gaining the crowd’s support with the anecdote about his earlier abuse by hostile crowds.
“Earl Black and I wrote in The Vital South that, ‘There was no more booing from the young Goldwaterites after he finished his story,’” Merle Black wrote in an e-mail from Atlanta. “President Johnson’s leadership in passage of the civil rights bill was the main reason he lost Georgia that year.”
Twenty-six years ago this month “Say Anything” was released, marking the directorial debut of Cameron Crowe, who wrote “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and later directed “Singles.”
John Cusack, four years past playing a college freshman in The Sure Thing, plays graduating high school senior Lloyd Dobler. Ione Skye, three years after her debut in the very dark dramaRiver’s Edge, plays the brilliant and shy Diane Court. And John Mahoney, four years before he found sitcom immortality as Frasier Crane’s father Martin, plays Diane’s adoring and deeply flawed father, Jim. Writer and first-time director Cameron Crowe was best-known at the time for the screenplay for Fast Times at Ridgemont High — which is fondly remembered now as the launching pad for many respectable careers, but which Roger Ebert had called “a failure of taste, tone and nerve.”
Elections
Congressman Tom Graves (R-Ranger) will face Republican challenger Mickey Tuck from Floyd County.
“Limited government, low taxation, reduced spending, a balanced budget, and adhering to the U.S. Constitution is the
platform I will be standing on,” Mickey Tuck said in a statement Wednesday.
The district covers the 12 counties of Northwest Georgia. Tuck said he’s been meeting with “Republicans and conservatives” across the district and “(t)hey say their strong conservative Republican values are not being represented in Congress.
The Silver Creek resident is a former Lindale Mill employee who works at Gildan Yarns in Cedartown. He is a deacon at Crosspointe Community Church in Aragon. Tuck made an unsuccessful run at a Floyd County Commission seat in 1992.
Qualifying is expected to be in March 2016 for the May 2016 primary.
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Marietta) raised $1.6 million for his 2016 reelection campaign during the first quarter of 2015.
“I am proud that Georgians continue to feel that I effectively represent their interests in Washington,” Isakson said. “I look forward to this campaign and supporting all those conservative candidates across the country who are also dedicated to keeping our Republican majority and taking back the White House.”
Isakson said he again will organize official support operations in all of Georgia’s 159 counties. This is Isakson’s third Senate race. He won with nearly 57.9 percent of the vote in 2004 and was re-elected with 58.3 percent in 2010.
Georgia Politics
At 11 AM today, Governor Nathan Deal will sign House Bill 1, the medical marijuana bill in the North Wing of the Capitol.
Afterwards, political hacks will dissect whatever Deal says for any hints of future actions. Specifically, what Deal says about Allen Peake, the prime mover behind the legislation.
That’s because Peake, who currently serves as Republican Caucus Secretary/Treasurer and may be looking to move up in his chamber’s leadership structure.
Larry O’Neal, who currently serves as Majority Leader in the State House, has let it be known that he may be resigning his seat in the House, and with it, his leadership role.
O’Neal told 13WMAZ’s Randall Savage Wednesday morning that he expects to resign at the end of this month if Governor Nathan Deal appoints him to a judge’s post. He announced that in an email to his Republican House colleagues Wednesday.
He is currently the House majority leader.
O’Neal says he hopes that Deal will appoint him as chief judge of the state’s tax tribunal court. But he says there are other candidates and the appointment is not certain.
The Daily Report notes that Gov. Deal’s office says he hasn’t made a decision on whom to appoint to the Tax Tribunal and that O’Neal wasn’t on the short list sent to Deal by the Judicial Nominating Commission.
A story in the Macon Telegraph makes it appear that O’Neal at least believes he’s likely to be appointed.
Georgia House Majority Leader Larry O’Neal, a Houston County state representative since 2001, will retire from the Legislature at the end of this month to take a judgeship.
“It’s a bucket list opportunity,” said O’Neal, R-Bonaire, ahead of the formal announcement that he will be the first permanent judge in Georgia’s Tax Tribunal, which hears disputes between the state Department of Revenue and taxpayers.
The tax attorney said he is “thrilled” to move to the bench “sort of at the end of my legal career and legislative career.”
His departure will trigger a special election this year for the remaining one year of his House term.
The AJC Political Insider reports that Peake has told some colleagues that he will run in the House caucus internal election for Majority Leader and State Rep. Jon Burns has announced for the leadership position, citing an email from Burns to his House colleagues.
No word on who else will run or who will receive the support of the Chamber’s leadership, but Peake was allowed to preside over the House chamber for a period on Day 40 of the legislature, an infrequently granted honor.
Rep. Allen Peake wields the gavel.
State Rep. Terry England (R-Auburn), Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, reviews the State Budget, with an emphasis on issues of interest to the Agriculture community.
Four finalists have been named for the Executive Secretary of the Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, according to the Associated Press.
Commission Chairwoman Hillary Stringfellow said interviews are planned later this month for the four finalists. The candidates’ names were released Wednesday in response to an open records request. They are:
• Jeffrey Ledford, director of staff support for the Workforce division of the state Department of Economic Development.
• Stefan Ritter, a senior assistant attorney general focused on education, elections, government services and judiciary.
• Cheston Roney, administrator for the city of Sandy Springs Municipal Court.
• Heather Ryfa, senior staff attorney in the Governor’s Office of Consumer Protection.
The Georgia Ports Authority saw a 28% increase in container traffic in March, according to a press release.
For the first time ever, the Port of Savannah moved 333,058 TEUs in a single month, surpassing its previous monthly record set in October 2014 by more than 21,000 TEUs.
“We are moving record volumes while maintaining excellent service levels for our customers,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. “Our March numbers have once again demonstrated the scale, flexibility and efficiency of the Garden City Terminal. Freight handling remained fluid, even with demand well above forecasts.”
“A 28 percent increase in container volume shows the level of trust cargo owners have in our efficient ports, and translates into jobs for Georgia and the U.S. Southeast,” said GPA Board Chairman James Walters. “The ability to quickly move cargo to and from important inland markets via superior road and rail connections is a key reason Georgia is ranked the Number 1 state for business.”
Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler released unemployment numbers for March.
The Georgia Department of Labor announced that the state’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for March was 6.3 percent, unchanged from February, matching its lowest level since July 2008. The rate was 7.3 percent a year ago.
“While the rate held steady in March, we have seen considerable improvement since it began a steady decline from November 2010, when it was 10.5 percent,” said State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “In fact, the jobless rate has either declined or remained steady every month since then.”
Local Politics
Former Peachtree City police chief William McCollom has been charged with reckless conduct in the accidental shooting of his wife on New Year’s Day.
His wife, Margaret McCollom, told authorities she was sleep when she was shot, but thought the shooting was an accident.
Griffin Judicial Court District Attorney Scott Ballard said he would ask a grand jury to charge McCollom with reckless conduct, adding that he wouldn’t seek a stronger charge because there wasn’t enough evidence to show that McCollom intended to shoot his wife.
McCollom resigned in March.
Rose Wing, Chair of the Cobb County Republican Party declined to call for a re-do of the County Convention at which she was elected.
The newly-elected leader of the Cobb Republican Party, Rose Wing, dismissed a complaint Tuesday night alleging the rules of the county’s GOP convention, where members elected officers, were not followed.
The complaint, filed by Neva Lent, Michael Opitz, Bill Hudson, Field Searcy and Sue Stanton, alleged there were people at March’s county convention who were not supposed to be there.
Hudson, a tea party activist from Marietta, said there were several people who shouldn’t have been at the convention because they did not attend February’s mass precinct meeting, a requirement to being a convention delegate.
Wing, who defeated Jason Shepherd to be the chair of the Cobb GOP at the convention with a 169-108 vote, dismissed the complaint at Tuesday night’s meeting because it didn’t include specifics on the individuals who were allegedly not supposed to be at the be at the convention.
“It alleges that delegates were seated from a precinct that had no one attending precinct mass meetings,” Wing said at Tuesday’s meeting. “It doesn’t state who that person was or from what precinct that person came from.”
Cobb County teachers will receive 4% raises under a new budget proposed by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale.
The Southern Center for Human Rights filed a federal lawsuit alleging constitutional violations under the private probation system in Georgia.
The lawsuit contends in Pelham and Bainbridge courts, poor people who cannot make payments on the day of sentencing are held hostage until payments are made, and that private probation firm Red Hills Community Probation uses the threat of incarceration to force people to continue making payments after their sentences have expired.
A state audit noted at least one practice – continuing to charge probationers after their sentences had expired – in a scathing report released in April 2014 by the state’s Department of Audits and Accounts Performance Audits Division. There could be no question the judge knew people were forced to make payments after their sentences had expired because he was provided regular reports listing total payments by people with expired sentences, according to the report.
The lawsuit names Adel Edwards as one plaintiff. Edwards, who is physically and mentally disabled, was sentenced to pay a $500 fine for burning leaves in his yard without a permit. Because he could not pay the fine that day, the judge placed him on 12 months probation. According to the lawsuit, a Red Hills probation officer told him he owed the $500 fine and $528 in probation supervision fees and that he had to make an immediate $250 payment or go to jail. Edwards did not have the money and after the court session ended, he was taken to jail.
The lawsuit accuses Red Hills probation officers of continuously threatening Edwards with jail for nearly a year after his sentence expired, only stopping when attorney Sarah Geraghty of the Southern Center filed a “motion to stop enforcement of expired probation sentence” in Pelham Municipal Court on March 11.
Presidential Politics
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp spoke about progress toward his idea of an SEC Primary.
“Things are coming together fairly well,” Kemp said. “Regardless of what happens, we have gotten some great press about our SEC primary idea. The sole reason I came up with this idea is to try to have more of us go first. That will give us a little more say (in the election). The problem in the past is that the race would already be over when it got to us, or we’re on the same day as New York and California and nobody pays attention to us.”
Kemp said seven southern states have agreed to consider holding the primary election on March 1, 2016 — Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Virginia and Texas. Of those, three have committed to the date: Georgia, Tennessee and Texas.
The SEC primary will force presidential candidates to concentrate their campaign efforts in the South, Kemp said.
“There is a great opportunity. I don’t think the candidates can ignore us,” he said. “They’re going to know that the South marks the first … at least on the Republican side. Regardless, we’ve already seen more candidates, more action in Georgia as of now than we did in any cycle that I can remember. I think that bodes well for us. We’re going to continue to see candidates have to pay attention to the South.”
Don Cole has his third review of a Presidential announcement, this one from Marco Rubio.
Marco Rubio was one of the first who rocked the boat of Republican party establishment. His win in the US Senate race against presumptive nominee Florida Governor Charlie Crist made him the first Tea Party trophy.
All three candidates are viable mainstream candidates. The term mainstream as I use it in this context should not be confused with moderate. Contrary to what you might hear from some pundits, any of these three candidates are able to capture the votes of mainstream America.
Rubio’s speech was the shortest of the three, lasting just under 20 minutes. His speech was more of a statement of his belief about the United States as a nation and her place in the world. He repeatedly used words like, “exceptional”, “special”, “dreams”, “aspiration”, “opportunity,” and “America.”
He made statements that revealed his approach to the Democrat strategy of class warfare. In speaking of his parents and their start of a new life in America, he said:
“My father became a bartender. My mother a cashier, a maid and a Kmart stock clerk. They never made it big. But they were successful. Two immigrants with little money or education found stable jobs, owned a home, retired with security and gave all four of their children a life far better than their own. My parents achieved what came to be known as the American Dream.”
Later in his speech he said:
“I am humbled by the realization that America doesn’t owe me anything; but I have a debt to America I must try to repay. This isn’t just the country where I was born; America is the place that changed my family’s history.”
The two key phrases in this two passages are: (1) “They never made it big. But they were successful.” and (2) America doesn’t owe me anything; but I have a debt to America that I must try to repay.
Washington, DC
Congressman Rob Woodall (R-7) and Senator David Perdue released statements yesterday supporting the FairTax.
“Whether to encourage economic growth and productivity or to rein in the size and scope of the federal government, fundamental tax reform is long overdue,” said Representative Woodall. “The FairTax offers that reform, but is so much more than just another effort to adjust the existing tax code. It does what no other proposal in Congress does – it removes our broken and oppressive system by its roots – replacing it with an approach consistent with the American spirit of innovation, and the American principles of freedom and opportunity. By rejecting the notion that Washington knows best, and returning that power to the American people, we can unleash our economy while protecting individual liberty, and providing taxpayers with a simple and transparent process. Under the FairTax, April 15 would once again be just another spring day.”
“We are in a full-blown fiscal crisis, and we need to take bold steps to get our country back on track,” said Senator Perdue. “We can’t just tax our way out of this crisis, and we can’t just cut our way out. We must grow the economy, and the FairTax is an important step in the right direction. The FairTax will help level the playing field and encourage American innovation and investment to make our economy more competitive. That kind of thriving economic activity is a necessity if we are ever going to pay down this outrageous debt and make life work better for Georgians and American families.”
Congressman Jody Hice (R-10) also released a statement on Tax Day,
“Today is Tax Day, the day that Americans are forced to comply with antiquated, cumbersome, and burdensome system. This system forces the American taxpayer to spend more than $1 billion and 6 billion hours just to comply with the current tax code. Imagine how much more time we could spend with our friends and loved ones, if we weren’t investing our human capitol in a system that only perpetuates the problem.”
“At the current rate the IRC averages one new change per day. Simply put, it is long past time that we simplify our tax code. As an original co-sponsor of the H.R. 25, the Fair Tax Act of 2015, I am committed to furthering legislation that will streamline our tax code and let American’s get back to living their lives, rather than fearing Tax Day.”
Comments ( 0 )