Isakson on Obamacare

Yesterday, Senator Johnny Isakson released a statement on defunding ObamaCare via Facebook.

“Since Obamacare became law, I have voted nearly 60 times to kill, repeal, dismantle and defund it. In keeping with my consistent and strong opposition to Obamacare, I will vote tomorrow for cloture on the Motion to Proceed to the House-passed bill that defunds Obamacare. I will also vote against any attempt by Senate Democrats to restore Obamacare funding to this bill.”

“A vote to block the House-passed bill that defunds Obamacare would essentially be a vote in favor of Obamacare. I will not vote in favor of Obamacare. Furthermore, the Democrats designed Obamacare in a way that allows its funding to continue even if the rest of the government shuts down, so the effect of a shutdown would be to allow Obamacare to go forward while hurting seniors, veterans and our military. To that end, I do not support shutting down the entire federal government.”

 

Denis O’Hayer of WABE discussed the issue of defunding Obamacare and a possible government shutdown with Matt Towery, CEO of InsiderAdvantage.com:

O’Hayer “Will there also be losers among the younger Republicans like Tom Graves here in Georgia, for instance, who might be seen as obstructionists and beyond the pale.”

 

Towery, “Well, probably not, these guys are not playing for the next year, they’re playing for the next few years, and the next generation of Republican leadership. And in that sense, given who their audicence is and the fact that it’s not going to change, they will be rewarded for having taken a bold stand.”

As usual, O’Hayer posted both the edited broadcast version, and a longer “reporter’s cut”. For the record, I am employed part-time by InsiderAdvantage.

McKoon Committee on Wrongful Convictions

State Senator Josh McKoon yesterday chaired a committee meeting considering whether to recommend changes to the way Georgia addresses criminal convictions that are later determined to be incorrect.

One of the issues involves compensation for people wrongfully convicted, which currently are handled on a case-by-case basis without a formula for determining whether compensation is appropriate or the amount.

Another issue is handling the records involved in convictions that are later overturned, as a criminal record is an impediment to employment.

Savannah and Atlanta

Today, Congressman Jack Kingston will host House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) in a meeting with Georgia transportation officials and industry representatives to discuss the state’s transportation priorities, including Metro Atlanta traffic, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and the expansion of the Savannah Harbor. A press conference will be held at 3 PM at the Georgia Tech Research Institute Conference Center.

Johns Creek

Yesterday, embattled Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker took to the airwaves to defend himself against charges that he is refusing to comply with an investigation by his City Council.

“For me, I see this as a privacy issue, and I’m just not going to hand over, even to my own government, my private documents, until they can show me the relevance,” Bodker told WSB-TV.

Last week, the City Council voted to subpoena records from Bodker’s private cell phone, rental agreements, and documents pertaining to payments made under the rental agreements.

Here’s how private cell phone records could be relevant. The investigator in the case, former DeKalb County District Attorney Bob Wilson stated that the Mayor uses his cell phone for city business, similar to the way that IRS official Lois Lerner used a private email account for government business. In Lerner’s case, it was alleged that using her private email account for government business might have the effect of shielding government business from record-keeping requirements. In Bodker’s case, it appears that the Mayor believes conducting city business on his private cell phone makes it undisclosable under Open Records Act requirements.

As far as his seeming belief that the recipient of a subpoena simply decides on his own whether to turn over the required records, we would point the Mayor to the 1970s case of United States v. Nixon, in which then-embattled President Richard Nixon sought to shield records from production under a subpoena. If you’re an elected official, any time you start taking plays from the Nixon playbook that don’t involve China, you should rethink your strategy.

Worth County seeks payday loan

In vernacular, a payday loan refers to a short-term loan, typically intended to get the recipient through his next payday, and often involving high interest rates. Worth County, east of Albany, is seeking a different type of loan to allow them to pay employees. County Commissioners voted yesterday to seek a bank loan for $350,000 to use for employee pay; currently the county has about $40k available.

Macon-Bibb early voting

Early voting for the October 15 runoff elections for Mayor and Commission in Macon-Bibb County will begin on October 5. The county also heard from elections workers that the problems that plagued the September 15 election won’t be repeated.

At Tuesday’s meeting, board members were told by IT workers that some of the issues that plagued early voting for the Sept. 17 special election have been fixed, and that voters who show up for early voting this time around won’t have the long waits.

Allen said he attributed many of the voting problems to the new state-mandated software the county is using. Bibb is the first county in Georgia to use the software.

“Bibb is the guinea pig,” he said. “We had the district information correct in our system, but the secretary of state’s (computers) had different addresses. I know (local officials) are working every day on the problem into the night. The IT person felt confident that things were now right, but we’ve received assurances before that things were OK.”

Allen said the board also wants to avoid a repeat of confusion from election night, in which the county’s website reported that all 40 precincts had been tallied, suggesting that the count was over. However, the website didn’t note that more than 8,000 advance and absentee ballots still needed to be counted, which turned out to have an impact on the mayor’s race and the District 6 race.

Allen said election officials now plan to start counting the early votes as soon as the polls close.

Personally, I wouldn’t bet on trouble-free voting in the runoff.

Plainville, Ga, where nobody wants to be elected

After nobody qualified to run for Plainville City Council in August, the city called a special election for November 5th. Now that special election has been cancelled because only one candidate qualified for the open City Council seat, and when that occurs, state law assumes he or she would vote for themselves and declares that sole candidate the winner.

Pro-tip: absentee ballots require application

Apparently, some Carroll County voters thought that once you apply for mail-in absentee voting in an election, you’ll automatically receive mail-in ballots for future elections. In today’s pro-tip, Janice Duff, from the county elections board, reminds us that isn’t the case. From the Times-Georgian,

“Some voters, who applied in previous years, think their applications for mail ballots are perpetual and they don’t need to do anything to get a ballot this year,” said Janice Duff, registration coordinator. “The application is good for only one election. If they want to vote Nov. 5, they must apply again for a mail ballot. Georgia doesn’t have a permanent absentee voter status.”

However, Duff said if the voter marks the box that indicates he or she is disabled or of advanced age (75 and older), the application will be good for both the Nov. 5 general election and the Dec. 3 runoff election, if one is held. Otherwise, a new application must be submitted for each ballot.

Duff said a voter is no longer required to specify a reason for requesting an absentee ballot, although they can indicate the reason, if they like.