In four weeks from today, voters will go to the polls for the 2013 General Election. Make the most of your time between now and then.

New $100 bill debuts; Kingston has them all

The new design for the $100 bill debuts today, but you’re unlikely to see any of them, as Congressman Jack Kingston requisitioned the first 8000 off the printing press to swim, Scrooge McDuck-style, through the $800k he raised this quarter for his Senate campaign.

Congratulations to Brandon Hembree

Brandon Hembree became the newest member of the Sugar Hill City Council, having been sworn in after being unopposed in a special election to fill a vacancy. Brandon was in the 2013 Class of Republican Leadership for Georgia and is the first of his classmates to be elected to office. A dozen Krispy Kreme donuts are on the way to your office.

Bruce Thompson seeks to join Brandon Hembree as RLG 2014 Alumni who won elective office. Bruce is the leading candidate in the November 5, 2013 Special Election for Senate District 14, which includes parts of Barrow, Cherokee and Cobb Counties.

Jack Murphy fundraiser tonight

Tonight, Senator Jack Murphy (R), the Chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, will hold a fundraiser with Governor Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Senate President Pro Tem David Shafer and other members of the Senate Republican Caucus. The event is from 5:30 to 7 PM at Danny Reid’s Barn, 6844 Majors Road in Cumming.

Carter to join Nunn on 2014 Ballot?

Jim Galloway writes that Senator Jason Carter (D-Dekalb) is considering joining the 2014 Democratic ticket as a candidate for Governor against incumbent Republican Nathan Deal. From the Political Insider:

We’re told that state Sen. Jason Carter, a Decatur Democrat and grandson of the former president, has commissioned a poll to “test the political environment, given recent events,” for a 2014 run for governor.

[A] Carter candidacy – not unlike the current U.S. Senate run by Michelle Nunn — would instantly offer statewide name recognition and national fundraising ability to the once-sleepy gubernatorial contest.

Carter could also short-circuit what’s likely to be a more crowded Democratic race for governor in 2018 that could feature Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and several other next-generation candidates.

Organizing for Obama in Georgia

Walter Jones writes that BarackObama.com Organizing for America Action, under the name Trust 2014, hopes to raise $150,000 and influence 5-7% of Georgia votes toward the Democratic candidates in the General Election.

A few former volunteers from Organizing For Action, the successor to the Obama re-election organization, are launching a campaign to counter the campaigns of Republican Senate hopefuls.

The Athens-based group, taking the name Trust 2014, seeks to steer independents toward a candidate less conservative. In fact, they wouldn’t mind if Democrat Michelle Nunn won, but the organization is trying to appear non-partisan.

According to Michael Smith, one of the organizers, Congressmen Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey and Jack Kingston are so eager for conservative votes and campaign contributions that they are duping supporters with unachievable promises. Topping the list, Smith said, is the promise to halt Obamacare.

Trust 2014 isn’t trying to sway the votes of Republicans or even all of the independents, just enough swing voters to tip an election.

“We’re trying to influence 5, 6, 7 percent of the vote,” Smith said.

Portia Scott, retired Publisher of Atlanta Daily World

Portia Scott, retired newspaperwoman and longtime Republican activist who was the GOP nominee United States Congress against John Lewis in 1986 and for a seat in the State Senate in 1998, died last week and will be memorialized tomorrow at 11 AM at Warren Memorial United Methodist Church.

Ms. Scott served on a Presidential Task Force and committees under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. She was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, Howard University, and American University.

Is this thing recording? Yes, it is.

The prosecution of suspended DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis for allegedly shaking down county vendors is based in part on more than 1400 recordings of the CEO.

Judicial Comings and Goings

Former Crawford County Chief Magistrate Andrea Peterman has resigned and agreed never to seek judicial office in order to settle charges by the Judicial Qualifications Commission after she was arrested for theft of fiduciary funds and violating her oath of office.

Cobb County State Court Judge David Darden begins a two-year term as Chief Judge. The position, elected by the county state court bench, consists of additional ceremonial and administrative duties but does not affect his trial workload.

The Judicial Nominating Commission (different from the Judicial Qualifications Commission) received 23 nominations for two seats on the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit and eight nominations for three seats on the Oconee Judicial Circuit.

Notable among the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit nominees are Mark Wortham, of counsel to Hall Booth Smith and Rebecca Crowley, who is the wife of Sen. Josh McKoon’s law partner Scott Crowley.

It’s not exactly judicial in nature, but it does represent a going: Atlanta City Council member H. Lamar Willis was disbarred after allegations that he attempted to appropriate $30,000 from a settlement that was to be paid to a client. AtlantaProgressiveNews.com brings us more on the politics of the issue:

Former State Rep. Ralph Long (D-Atlanta) called on Willis to resign from office immediately.

Long pointed to Mayor Kasim Reed’s blatant hypocrisy in his continued support for Willis, who was Reed’s floo[r] leader.

“Earlier this year, when the former Chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia [Mike Berlon] was voluntarily suspended from the State Bar, Mayor Kasim Reed said that the party Chairman should ‘move on’ from office because Reed was concerned with ‘insuring that the Chair is focused on the campaign and not personal distractions,’” Long noted in a statement.

“Well, if Mike Berlon’s SUSPENSION from the Bar is a distraction from his former job, then it’s not a stretch of logic to conclude that City Councilman Lamar Willis’s DISBARMENT will interfere with his work for the people of Atlanta,” Long said.

“It is past time for Lamar Willis to leave office. I… call on Mayor Reed to hold Lamar Willis to the same standard he held Mike Berlon – Lamar Willis should MOVE ON from the Atlanta City Council and RESIGN from office immediately. Our world-class city deserves better, and can do better, than a disbarred and dishonorable City Councilman,” Long wrote.

Georgia Supreme Court allows Brookhaven annexation vote

The City of Brookhaven is set to vote on annexing 100 acres of Century Center, after the Georgia Supreme Court lifted a stay by the Superior Court that prevented a vote by the City Council. The Supreme Court left the door open to lower court stays on further action. From the Dunwoody Crier:

Earlier this year the General Assembly passed a bit that included Century Center in the territory for a Nov. 5 Chamblee annexation referendum. Since Governor Nathan Deal signed the act into law on May 6, Chamblee claimed the General Assembly “encumbered” this office park, located off of Clairmont Road near I-85, until the referendum is over.

On July 1, Highwoods Properties Inc. applied for annexation to Brookhaven under a state law that allows a city to annex property if 100 percent of the owners ask for it. On July 22, before Brookhaven could vote on annexing and rezoning the property, Chamblee filed a lawsuit to enjoin Brookhaven from voting on the annexation.

Brookhaven and Highwoods claimed the General Assembly had delegated the annexation power to Brookhaven and other cities when 100 percent of the owners apply for annexation. They argued the injunction violated the separation of powers doctrine and the court may not enjoin Brookhaven from exercising a legislative power delegated to it by the state. The Supreme Court’s order seemed to agree with this argument.

There’s only one reason Chamblee would want to annex Century Center when the owner of 100% of the property prefers to join the City of Brookhaven: Chamblee wants to use the parcel as a cash cow.

Also notable for politicos: representing the City of Brookhaven before the Georgia Supreme Court was former Governor Roy Barnes.

John Barrow’s math problem

When Democratic Congressman John Barrow says there are enough Republican votes to pass a Continuing Resolution that does not defund Obamacare, his math may be a weak point. At the same time he makes that claim, he also says,

“We don’t have to shut down 99 percent of the government because we don’t agree on one percent,” he said.

FoxNews.com reports that the “federal government shutdown” actually affects roughly 17% of the government.

The calculation that 83 percent of the government is still running shows how some parts of the government — unless the country loses its ability to borrow — simply cannot be shut down, even if Congress is unable to agree on a spending bill as happened last week.

The bulk of the federal budget goes toward what is known as “mandatory” programs — entitlements like Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. These payments cannot be interrupted in the case of a partial government shutdown.

The government really only has about 35 percent of the federal budget to play with, and most of that is defense spending.

In fact, the “shutdown” looks less and less like a shutdown every day.

Most of the furloughed civilian employees at the Fort Gordon Garrison and Army Signal Center of Excellence have returned to work after Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called many of the 400,000 furloughed employees back.

Most of the furloughed workers at Robins Air Force Base have also returned and Fort Benning recalled nearly 1000 furloughed employees.

The New York Times ran an article linking the conservative nature of Georgia’s 14th District to Congressman Tom Graves and his position on the continuing “shutdown” and insistence on defunding Obamacare.

“If he backs off, then I would say absolutely I’d be inclined to look for someone else,” said Mr. Epperson, whose store flew a Don’t Tread on Me flag.

The Republican insistence in the House on tying financing of the federal government to dismantling the Affordable Care Act is being driven by a deeply conservative caucus from places like Mr. Graves’s 14th Congressional District, newly created by Georgia’s Republican-controlled Legislature.

Even as Republican elders warn that the party is risking a voter backlash that could cost it in future elections, interviews here indicate that hard-liners like Mr. Graves have more to fear, if they waver, from a potential challenger to their right.

Mr. Graves, 43, won 73 percent of the vote in November in a district that is 85 percent white and has a 16.6 percent college graduation rate.

Pooler to legalize escort services?

The City of Pooler wants to stop illegal escort services by enacting an ordinance that would allow someone to attend social functions for money as long as they are licensed and also pay a business tax.

The ordinance is a regulatory ordinance, rather than one to eliminate escort services as businesses. Similar to the city of Savannah, an individual could obtain an escort permit to be paid to attend social events. But the ordinance would prohibit sexual relations.

If approved, the city would collect occupational taxes for businesses. The measure would also give the city the power to obtain various background documentation for legitimate escort services, said Michelle McNeely, assistant city manager.

A company would pay a $250 fee each year plus $90 per escort employed. An individual operating independent of a company would pay a $90 fee annually.

Escort is defined in the proposal as a “person who for pecuniary compensation or any consideration accompanies others to, from or about social affairs, entertainment, places of public assembly or places of amusement, or who agrees to or does consort socially with others for hire or reward to, in or about any place of public or private resort or any private quarters or business premises.”