ATLANTA – On Saturday, March 13, the Georgia Tech Chapter of the College Republicans will hold an exciting and interactive forum in Atlanta that allows Georgia students and residents the chance to get up close and personal with the 2010 Republican candidates for governor. The debate will host six of the seven GOP candidates and allow attendees the chance to meet with the candidates themselves before the debate begins. Congressman Nathan Deal, former Secretary of State Karen Handel, former state Senator Eric Johnson, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, state Representative Austin Scott, and state Senator Jeff Chapman will all be in attendance. This groundbreaking, student-led event will be hosted at the spacious Academy of Medicine in downtown Atlanta at a cost of only $5 a ticket and is open to the general public. [click to continue…]
Carter is running her campaign on jobs and the economy and national security, an area where she feels Johnson has been especially disappointing . We also discuss health care, her support of the FairTax and briefly discuss free trade.
You can download the podcast here (just under 21 minutes/19MB, right click, “Save File As” to download).
In the next podcast, I’ll be chatting with John Monds, a Libertarian candidate Governor.
If you have a candidate, no matter what party, that you would like for me to interview or questions that you would like for me to ask an upcoming guest, please drop me a line on Facebook or send an e-mail.
You may remember HB 614, Prescription Drug Monitoring Act, from the 2009 session of the state legislature. This bill would have set up a state surveillance system for the monitoring of prescribing and dispensing of certain medications. The database would have included most pain relievers, anxiety medications, sleep aids, anti-diarrheals and anything containing codeine.
As former Congressman and US Attorney Bob Barr noted, HB 614 was intended “to make it easier for law enforcement and regulatory agencies to discover alleged ‘pill pushers’ and prescription drug abusers without having to go through the normal – and constitutionally appropriate – process of obtaining subpoenas and warrants (in other words, without having to first develop some evidence that a person may be violating the law before invading their privacy).”
The legislation was a clear violation of the right to privacy and protections against searches without a warrant protected in both the state and federal constitutions, as well as already established court precedent.
Under Georgia law, no law enforcement official can lawfully obtain any part of a Georgia citizen’s medical record without first obtaining the patient’s consent or a court order, such as a search warrant or a subpoena. In Johnson v. State, the Georgia Court of Appeals held that “the State is not entitled to exercise indiscriminate subpoena power as an investigative substitute for procedural devices otherwise available to it in the criminal context, such as a search warrant.”
In King v. State, the Georgia Supreme Court reiterated that “In this state, privacy is considered a fundamental constitutional right and is ‘recognized as having a value so essential to individual liberty in our society that [its] infringement merits careful scrutiny by the courts.’” It also noted that “[p]ermitting the State unlimited access to medical records for the purposes of prosecuting the patient would have the highly oppressive effect of chilling the decision of any and all Georgians to seek medical treatment.”
HB 614 was passed in the House by a vote of 161 to 9 on Crossover Day, but was defeated in the Senate just days later by a vote of 25 to 29. As you can see in the video below, Sen. Preston Smith was key in killing HB 614:
On Sine Die, supporters of the bill attempted to sneak it through in an amendment to SB 56. This was picked up by talk show host Neal Boortz, who alerted his Georgia listeners to what was going. SB 56 faced tough questioning from House members, including many privacy advocates that missed HB 614 the first time around, and was eventually tabled.
Unfortunately, the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act is back, although the sponsors aren’t using that name this time around. SB 418 was filed on February 16th and is sitting in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. A hearing has not been scheduled at this time.
I cannot say that it will receive consideration this year because of everything else going on, but it appears that some noise is being made by supporters of the bill. SB 418 would have to clear the Senate by the end of business on Thursday, March 25th, to be considered this session.
It’s official, Sally Yates is now the US Attorney for North Georgia.
Yates has a record of prosecuting corruption cases involving federal officials. As noted in the AJC article linked above, she was instrumental in obtaining convictions in both airport corruption cases and that of former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell.
I’m guessing that any public official who has been walking a fine line with legal issues in the course of their political career will not be sleeping as well with Ms. Yates sitting in her new chair.
Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition and former Mayor of Atlanta, has decided to weigh in on the proposed split of Milton County from Fulton with a “No” vote.
After Massell was defeated for re-election in 1973, he became the defacto voice of the Buckhead and North Atlanta areas, and is still affectionately known as Buckhead’s mayor.
His position, issued via the following press release, is significant because it represents somewhat of a shift in the coalitions that make up Fulton County Politics. Massell could often be counted on by those who felt their interests were not being represented at City Hall to be their point man, and he could often be counted to raise (and resolve) issues on their behalf.
But with Massell favoring the status quo for Fulton, he now finds himself squarely aligned with those at both City Hall as well as those in the Fulton County Government complex.
Time will allow a proper measure of the seismic nature of this shift, but as of now, Buckhead’s power center is aligned with Fulton, and not the folks North of the Chattahoochee.
Dem Rep Jim Marshall, a prominent Blue Dog who voted No last time but was believed to be open to backing the Senate bill, is now a definite No, his spokesperson confirms.
“Marshall is a no,” Marshall spokesperson Doug Moore tells our reporter, Ryan Derousseau.
Marshall is one of 39 Dems who voted No last time that reform proponents were hoping to flip to Yes, in order to make up ground and get to 216 votes. The confirmation that Marshall will vote No reduces that pool a bit.
I hear Rep. John Barrow is against it as well, but there is nothing concrete on that at this time.
Eric Johnson has today issued a press release announcing his plans to reform the state’s (apparently broken) budget process, and pledges to implement Zero Based Budgeting. The press release is as follows:
Macon, GA—Former Senator Eric Johnson, Republican candidate for Governor, today announced his plans to reform the state budget process. As Governor, Johnson will instruct agency heads to implement zero based budgeting and partner with the private sector to ensure that state government focuses on the most essential core functions.
“As Governor, I will direct all state agency heads to implement zero based budgeting so that I, the legislature, and Georgia taxpayers will know exactly what services government is providing and what it costs to provide these services,” said Johnson. “Like the private sector, government should be in a position to make informed decisions based on the total actual costs of different programs, not just changes in expenditures.”
In the Senate, Johnson voted repeatedly to implement zero based budgeting—most recently in 2009.
Additionally, Johnson will create and ask respected business leaders to join him and other public sector representatives on the “Back to Basics Commission”, which will be tasked with setting priorities for the state budget. The Commission will be able to use the information provided by the use of zero based budgeting when reviewing the budget.
“Especially in these difficult economic times and given the tough choices state government is facing, many of us are asking what the core functions of government are,” said Johnson. “With input from private sector experts, public sector representatives, and our citizen consumers, we will ask the tough questions and look for programs that might be unnecessary and opportunities to trim the state budget while protecting vital government services.”
An architect and a respected conservative leader, Eric Johnson served as President Pro Tempore of the Georgia State Senate. In that role, he passed legislation that cut taxes and spending, empowered small businesses, and protected doctors and businesses from frivolous lawsuits. He and his wife Kathryn have two grown children and live in Savannah. For more information please visit www.JohnsonForGeorgians.com.
SpaceyG posted this tweet a short time ago. She and I have corresponded about it and I’m convinced her information is accurate and Reed will indeed run.
Seems @RalphReed told a certain Fox News reporter he WAS going to run for US House in Georgia’s 7th, a now-vacated seat.
I just received this via email from the Faith And Freedom Coalition:
“After much thought and prayer, I have decided not to be a
candidate for Congress in Georgia’s Seventh district in 2010. I
believe I can best advance conservative principles by continuing
to serve as CEO of Century Strategies, LLC, and founding chairman
of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Century’s voter contact
subsidiary and grassroots team will be involved in a number of
races in 2010. FFC is growing rapidly, with over 150,000 members
and supporters already, currently adding one new state chapter a
week and 1,000 new members a day.
In 2010 and 2012, FFC will register an estimated one million new
faith-based voters and make tens of millions of voter contacts in
what may be the largest conservative get-out-the-vote effort in
modern political history. These nationwide efforts offer a much
better prospect for changing the direction of the country than
winning a Congressional race myself. In the end, I concluded I
cannot run for Congress and carry out the plans I have for
Century Strategies and Faith and Freedom Coalition at the same
time. I had to make a choice. I believe electing 50 to 100 men
and women of character and conservative beliefs to Congress and
statewide office over the next two election cycles is a more
efficacious way to advance the conservative agenda than seeking
public office myself in 2010.
Should that door open in the future, perhaps I will arrive at a
different decision, but I know this is the right decision at this
time for me and the Reed family. Jo Anne and I have been deeply
moved and encouraged by the expressions of support we have
received from so many. We are proud to call Georgia our home and
we look forward to continuing to be involved in the civic life of
our state and the nation. God bless you as we work together for
an historic victory in 2010.”
Since some folks want to discuss bills pending before the General Assembly, this is your Open Thread (limited to legislation before the Georgia General Assembly ONLY).
Among the issues discussed was the latest on ObamaCare, stimulus spending and jobs and the long term fiscal health of the country. We also touched on his recent comments on about President Barack Obama’s citizenship status.
You can download the podcast here (over 26 minutes/24.3MB, right click, “Save File As” to download).
In the next podcast, I’ll be chatting with Liz Carter, a Republican candidate in Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District. That may be posted as soon as tomorrow.
If you have a candidate, no matter what party, that you would like for me to interview or questions that you would like for me to ask an upcoming guest, please drop me a line on Facebook or send an e-mail.
I’m being told from people in Georgia tonight that Ralph Reed is not running for Congress in the 7th Congressional District. But I’m being told by several conservative activist and pro-life leaders in Washington, D.C. that Ralph is most assuredly in the race.
If the D.C. gang is right, I find it fascinating that Ralph would reach out to them first.
In any event, I have obtained an advanced copy of the press release that will be sent out tomorrow and it seems the Georgia guys are right.
It goes without saying that Larry Flynt is a vile piece of human excrement, but this is a new low even for Hustler. Thankfully the GBI denied the open record request, filed by Hustler, seeking crime scene photos of Meredith Emerson, who was brutally murdered in January of 2008.
Hopefully Hustler will drop it and leave the victim’s family alone but they probably won’t.
Ralph Reed, once left for dead politically, is trying to stage a comeback.
Reed, the 49-year-old former executive director of the Christian coalition, saw his meteoric rise take an even harder fall in 2006 after the extent of his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff were revealed. He saw sizable, early leads in the polls disintegrate in his bid for Georgia lieutenant governor, and he wound up losing in the GOP primary.
But in a changed environment, the first one favoring Republicans since 2006, Reed is plotting a bid for Congress. The Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody reports Reed will declare his candidacy tomorrow morning for retiring Georgia Congressman John Linder’s seat. (Linder announced his retirement on Feb. 27. The seventh congressional district is a solidly Republican one. McCain won it with 60% of the vote; Bush did so with 70%.)
However, the Christian Broadcasting Network’s article doesn’t say Reed is running but rather that Reed will make his decision known tomorrow.
The Brody File has learned that Ralph Reed will announce whether or not he is running for Congress at 11am Wednesday.
The former Executive Director of the Christian Coalition will make the announcement via twitter, Facebook and his websites (Faith and Freedom Coalition and Ralph Reed’s personal website)
No word on what he will decide but it sure is an enticing opportunity.
We’ll find out tomorrow who’s right and who’s wrong.
The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to authorize the DOT to award multi-year contracts for highway projects and a variety of other activities, a system of “accrual” accounting the agency used before a 2008 state audit concluded that it violated Georgia’s Constitution.
Swell. Meanwhile, consumers remain concerned about the economy and are likely to pull back spending over the next 30 days, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, which cites the Consumer Reports Index. Even tougher times may be ahead for state coffers, it would seem.
