Power Trip

Georgia magazine, published by the Georgia Electric Membership Corp., the trade association for member-owned electric utlitities, has an article on a letter received by Jackson EMC from Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Land of Fruits and Nuts) about how the federal government can better fight climate change. The EMC’s response includes this:

There are new EPA mandates under implementation and proposed mandates for the future to further reduce these emissions. Along with existing rules, these new mandates will significantly increase consumers’ power bills with no guarantee of additional benefits. Not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperatives will have no alternative other than to pass these costs on to their members, forcing manufacturers to make hard choices that could lead to plant slowdowns, reductions in jobs, or postponing planned expansions.

Consumers served by EMCs in Georgia are among the least able to pay for higher power bills caused by ever-increasing EPA regulations.

This echoes a point made in an op-ed written by Republican Doug Everett of the Georgia Public Service Commission that ran in the Gwinnett Daily Post and Marietta Daily Journal.

Today, the greatest cause of upward pressure on electric rates is the Obama Administration’s EPA, with its war on coal and unpredictable environmental standards which exert an unprecedented upward pressure on energy costs.

The decisions we make on how power is generated will affect our economy, jobs and pocketbooks for a generation.

Our challenge on the Public Service Commission is providing oversight that balances low rates today and in the future. A recent Politifact article finding that Georgia ratepayers have paid electric rates 10 to 15 percent lower than the national average in eight of the last nine years indicates that the Georgia Public Service Commission’s oversight benefits families and businesses.

Yesterday, Benita Dodd, with the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, wrote on her personal Facebook page that she’s concerned by the idea of Tea Party activists allying with groups that are dedicated to using government to promote their green agenda. She wrote:

I am going out on a limb and saying this: The Tea Party allying with environmental activists is a recipe for disaster. Green Tea Coalition? You are going to regret this alliance, Tea Party. You do not establish a coalition with a group that believes that government is the solution when you support limited government. This is going to bite you. Believe me: This is going to bite you.

Meanwhile, some folks have noted that contrary to Al Gore’s dire predicitons, the Arctic ice cap has grown by 60% over the past year. Does that throw cold water on global warming?

The rebound from 2012’s record low comes six years after the BBC reported that global warming would leave the Arctic ice-free in summer by 2013.

Instead, days before the annual autumn re-freeze is due to begin, an unbroken ice sheet more than half the size of Europe already stretches from the Canadian islands to Russia’s northern shores.

Some eminent scientists now believe the world is heading for a period of cooling that will not end until the middle of this century – a process that would expose computer forecasts of imminent catastrophic warming as dangerously misleading.

The disclosure comes 11 months after The Mail on Sunday triggered intense political and scientific debate by revealing that global warming has ‘paused’ since the beginning of 1997 – an event that the computer models used by climate experts failed to predict.

Finally, kudos to Georgia Power and Chief Executive Officer Montgomery Burns, whose crews helped install a new Eagle Cam at Berry College.

Georgia Power crews rose above the eagle nest at Berry College on Thursday to install a new camera that will allow viewers to peer into the nest itself during the upcoming breeding season.

Georgia Power contributed the truck and lift after Berry was unable to find equipment that could get a staff member up high enough to make the installation.

Jim Ozier, Georgia Department of Natural Resources non-game division chief, was on hand to help oversee the project from a biological perspective.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service does have some guidelines, but they’re pretty flexible,” Ozier said. “You don’t want to put something up there that’s going to jeopardize the eagles or keep them from returning, so you don’t want any cables or anything hanging out or any obstacles or sharp edges.”

This is a good time of year to do it, he added.

Berry College’s Eddie Elsberry said Sony donated the new camera. Data lines and computer feeds to the site were run by the IT department at Berry. The pictures will be available at www.berry.edu/eaglecam.

The Rome News-Tribune has some fantastic photos from the Eagle Cam, taken at night with the infrared equipment.

House Republicans Elect Leadership

The Georgia State House Republican Caucus met Friday and elected new members of leadership.

State Rep. Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City) replaces Ed Lindsey as Majority Whip as Lindsey vacated the seat for his Congressional run. State Rep. Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin) will serve as Chair of the Caucus, filling the role vacated by Donna Sheldon for her Congressional campaign. Finally, State Rep. Sam Teasley (R-Marietta) took the runoff election for Vice Chair, previously held by Ramsey.

Congratulations to all who ran. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that single-syllable first names, preferably “Matt” win internal house elections these days.

Campaigns & Elections

Residents of Macon-Bibb County will go to the polls tomorrow in the first-ever elections for Mayor and Commission of the new consolidated governments. From the Macon Telegraph:

Voting will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Every registered voter across Bibb County — there are about 93,000 of them — can vote for mayor, and current residents of Macon and unincorporated Bibb County will elect a slate of nine county commissioners.

Only residents of Payne City, which voted against joining a consolidated government, won’t cast ballots for the commissioners, but they can vote for mayor.

Exactly 8,210 people voted early in the elections. Now, only Tuesday voting remains for precincts across the county.

Candidates aren’t identified by political party, and voters of any political persuasion are free to vote for a mayor who is a member of one party and a commissioner who is a member of the other.

The new government won’t be completely new. All nine commission seats and the mayor’s race include people who have run for office before. Some of them have held office before, and more than a dozen of the candidates are serving now with the current Macon or Bibb County governments.

The first candidates elected will serve three-year terms.

Unfortunately, not every one of those early votes will be valid, as problems with the voter list resulted in some number of voters receiving ballots with the wrong district commission elections.

During 17 days of the past three weeks, dozens of voters cast ballots in the wrong districts, forcing election officials to take extra steps to assure voting integrity and drawing the attention of state election investigators.

The number of people who voted in the wrong city-county commission races had swelled by Friday afternoon to 90, more than twice the number of miscast ballots previously acknowledged by the Board of Elections.

“I hope they put me in the right district,” said early voter Juanita Booker, who lives in District 3. “I’m worried the problems haven’t been corrected.”

The beleaguered local elections office has been under scrutiny since voting problems first surfaced in late August. During the final week of early voting, people stood in line for up to two hours as voting office workers checked each voter’s address against district maps.

Perhaps this is a good time to recite the Election Administrator’s Prayer:

“Please, please, please let the winners win big.” or “Lord, let this election not be close.”

Doug Lewis, Executive Director of the National Association of Election Officials, was quoted by USA Today using another variation in November 2000: “God, please let the winner win in a landslide.”

 

Warner-Robins mayoral candidate Chuck Chalk printed a disclaimer on his yard signs noting that they are to be placed on private property only and writes about it on his campaign website.

Why do Chuck Chalk yard signs have a disclaimer “for display only on private property?” Answer: Because it’s illegal to display yard signs anywhere else.

 

Several things to note here. First, Georgia law does not require a “Paid for by” disclaimer on campaign materials, contrary to what many folks believe. If you’re running for federal office, judicial office, or using robocalls, television or radio advertising, a disclaimer may be required by rules specific to certain types of campaign or certain advertising media, but no such rule exists at the state level for campaigns in general.

Second, I like the logo, and the airplane references Chalk’s experience in the Air Force and as a civilian employee of DOD. But for yardsigns and other outdoor signage, I prefer to make legibility of the name and office the first priority. A sideways first name, and less than 50% of the sign area devoted to the name detract from its utility in my not-so-humble opinion.

Third, the website URL is missing.

Finally, it seems like I’m seeing more signs using colored core-plast, as Chalk uses an orange corrugated plastic sign, printing in white, rather than the more-common white coreplast with orange printing. This might cost slightly more for the colored plastic, but gives you more space to work with and no border.

It looks to me like Chuck Efstration’s signs use a royal blue coreplast, printing white and red over the base.

It’s a good look and for me would come down to the cost of using the colored plastic and whether I thought it was justified.

 

 

Speaking on House District 104’s Special Election

Teresa Cantrell has joined the special election field for House District 104. From her press release and the Gwinnett Daily Press story:

“I am a pro-life conservative dedicated to defending traditional marriage, preserving the sanctity of life and am passionate about listening to people and interceding on their behalf,” Cantrell said in a press release. “I have spent years serving and being actively involved in many important areas and believe the state of Georgia will face serious moral and economic decisions in the coming year. It would be an honor to be the voice for house District 104, which includes Dacula, Harbins, and Hamilton Mill.”

Cantrell, a former planning commissioner, has been a community volunteer on issues from green space to education.

The owner of an equine farm with her husband Mike, Cantrell was a founding member of the Gwinnett Open Land Trust, and she founded the Dacula Academic Community Foundation and served on the Superintendents Council.

She also owns Cafe 313 in Dacula, which she pointed out gives her experience as a business owner in dealing with government regulations and meeting a budget.

Fayette Voting Districts still undecided

The federal judge overseeing a lawsuit to overturn at-large voting for Fayette County Commission districts may resort to drawing his own map to create a majority-black district.

A federal judge has selected the state’s reapportionment office and staff to serve as the court’s technical advisor as he mulls over several proposed new district maps to be used in future elections for members of the Fayette County Commission and the county Board of Education.

The maps are necessary to create five voting districts in the county, with one specifically containing a majority of minority voters as required by the ruling from U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten Sr. His ruling in May determined that the county’s at-large voting system was discriminatory toward black voters in large part because it keeps them from electing a black candidate to either governing body.

The ruling is part of a lawsuit brought by the Fayette County and national branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which contended that the at-large voting was discriminatory.

In his order appointing the state reapportionment office as an expert in the case, Batten notes that he will use the assistance to determine whether to adopt either of the proposed district maps or instead to adopt a different map of his choosing.

Tom Price: Like a Boss

Congressman Tom Price tops the Georgia delegation for net worth and comes in 42d overall among all members. The most interesting thing here is that he shows zero personal debt. How’s that for fiscally-conservative?

Poll Position

A national poll finds that 39 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Obamacare.

The CNN poll released this week found only 39 percent of voters hold favorable views of the healthcare law.

Critically, it also found falling support among two groups critical to the success of health insurance exchanges that this fall will begin enrollment: women and people who make less than $50,000 per year.

Heritage Action Communications Director Dan Holler said the poll highlights momentum is on the side of those arguing the healthcare law is not ready for primetime and should be delayed.

Conservatives are pushing to defund or delay ObamaCare, he said, because “[Republican] constituents want this. Folks outside of Washington are clamoring for this.”

In Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe has built a five-point lead in the gubernatorial campaign by attracting 18% more women than his opponent Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

A new poll by the bipartisan firm Purple Strategies shows Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe has built up an 18-point lead among women, a margin that’s helped him to a five point lead in the race overall. Cuccinelli has a 10-point lead among men, but the poll finds he “has room to grow” when it comes to consolidating Republican voters behind him.

Keep an eye on that race and others in the Commonwealth for lesson on what Democrats and Republicans will attempt in next year’s Georgia race for US Senate.

Gingrich: Obama following from behind on Syria

Former Georgian and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said that on Syria policy, President Obama’s strategy appears to be of following Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

“You have Putin playing chess and Obama playing, frankly, a very lucky game of tic-tac-toe,” Gingrich said on CNN’s “State of the Union.’ ”

“Putin stepped in to maximize Russian influence in the Middle East. That is a strategic defeat for the United States.”

“We are now relying on the Russians,” said Gingrich, now a host of CNN’s ‘Crossfire.’ We’re now following from behind — not leading from behind. This is not a good long-term position.”