Oh, Good Lord

I hear things. Yesterday I heard that Mayor Ellis is having a luncheon at the City Club on Monday-his last day as Mayor. Some of the leaders in the local business community are invited, including folks from New Town, the Chamber and others. The purpose? To make sure his initiatives continue after he leaves office.

Speaking of his initiatives, how much is it going to cost to take his name off all the city limits signs?

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Come Party With Bibb County Democrats!

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The DPG Will Have Some Competition on JJ Night

While Georgia Democrats are welcoming our presidential candidates to the annual JJ Dinner, an estimated 20,000 Baptists will also descend on the World Congress Center for the opening session of the New Baptist Covenant Celebration. (Southern Baptists are not part of this group.) According to Robert Parham, at Ethics Daily, President Jimmy Carter is on the program-not for the DPG, but instead for the Baptists. I noticed on their website that there's an "Al Gore" luncheon the next day. Does that mean Gore will be in town, too? And here's the kicker, Mike Huckabee was initially also confirmed for the evening of the 3oth, but withdrew after Carter said that Bush would go down as one of the worst presidents in history. Now, Parham is advocating re-inviting Huckabee. Wouldn't that be a kick? 20,000 Baptists, a whole bunch of democrats, Carter, Huckabee, most of the democratic presidential candidates, Cleland and Lewis-all at the World Congress Center on Jan. 30th.

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No Surprise

Part of the Speaker's tax plan will first be introduced in the senate. By targeting schools, Richardson has created and ally in Eric Johnson. We have our work cut out for us, but since this is a constitutional amendment, if senate democrats will hang together Richardson will not be able to get the numbers he needs to pass the bill. It's up to us.

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Clinton Jumps the Curb

Somebody call Homeland Security. The Body Snatchers have invaded Hillary Clinton's crack political staff. The real folks would've never let her to do what she did today. Apparently, in Clinton-land, John Edwards' questions about her vote on the Iran resolution are "outlandish political charges" but Obama's kindergarten ambition to become President is fair game. Is there someone who didn't want to be President in kindergarten? Is that really the most substantive thing she has to say about Obama?

Here's what she had to say about Edwards' comments on her Iran vote:


I understand politics, and I understand making outlandish political charges, but this really goes way too far," she said. "In fact, having designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, we've actually seen some changes in their behavior.

This statement, on the day after the NIE report was released telling us that Iran is not, in fact developing nuclear weapons, and has not been for years, is eerily similar to what President Bush had to say in his news conference. But, if her opponents, bring up her controversial vote, that's "outlandish."

It seems like Sen. Clinton has two sets of rules: rules for her, and then the rules for everybody else. These tactics are not going to help her in Iowa where democratic voters care very much about whether we end up at war with Iran, and care very little about what the candidates said in kindergarten. Here's an example of the backlash:

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Tossing Out Tiny Tim

Since we're in the holiday spirit around here... Congressman Jim Marshall has the opportunity to do something that will substantially help families in his district. Given, it's not quite as dramatic as flying over to Iraq for Thanksgiving, but about fourteen hundred families in the district who are facing foreclosure would be awfully grateful. All Marshall has to do is support HR 3609 (which you can find out about here). This bill would improve the 2005 Bankruptcy Bill by simply giving regular homeowners some of the same protections now reserved for the super-rich. That's only fair, right?

According to the Kos, the financial industry, that has dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign coffers of a few "Blue Dog" democrats, knew just who to call to lead the opposition to this legislation. Twenty Blue Dog Democrats, including Marshall, signed a letter in 2005 demanding the passage of the original Bankruptcy Bill. In Conservative or Just Plain Corrupt, David Seriota says:

Apparently, the Blue Dogs would have us believe conservative, working-class constituents are insisting their congressional representatives not only support bank foreclosures, but also help Wall Street barons rob the federal treasury.
Nonetheless, over the long term, those like the Blue Dogs will have an increasingly difficult time succeeding - both legislatively and electorally. The more they attach their "conservative" label to such obscene corruption, the more that label will be indelibly tarnished. Aiding loan sharks and tax cheats may elicit campaign donations and smiles in Washington, but it is no way to win hearts and minds in the rest of America.

Ouch.

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Buy Georgia for the Holidays

I'd been thinking about doing a "buy Georgia" post for the holidays, and tonight, twice, I heard this television commercial advertising "California Milk." No offense to the West Coasters in the room, but that seems a little far away to get your milk. I'd just as soon buy Georgia. When I was a child, milk came from Aunt Ellie's, and we stopped there and picked it up on the way home from school. It came from her cows-not California cows-and was packed in mason jars, pasteurized but not homogenized, and tasted nothing at all like that stuff you buy at the grocery these days, and I'd bet it was better for me. California milk-pshaw!

So, it seems like the right day for a Buy Georgia post.

Buying close to home is a win-win. We get to help Georgia's economy and enjoy great products. We have some great Georgia companies that offer good options for the holidays. The ones I'm about to list are some of my personal favorites, and they don't know I'm listing them. (As in, there are no advertising dollars involved here.)

Check these out, and send information about your favorite Georgia options for the holidays.

1. Sweetgrass Dairy: Fine, award winning, handcrafted cheeses from Thomasville, Georgia. You must try the Georgia Gouda. Gift boxes available.

2. River Street Sweets: Southern gourmet candy based in Savannah, Georgia. Those bear claws are wonderful! Gift boxes are available.

3. We're Nuts: Ellis Nuts in Vienna, Georgia is open 365 days a year. This is the place to get your pecans, peanuts and just about every other kind of nut!

4. White Oak Pastures: All natural, grass fed Georgia beef from Bluffton, Georgia. You can't order this, but you can buy it at Whole Foods and some Publix markets. Taste it one time, and you will not go back.

5. Crane Creek Vineyards: Excellent wines, from Young Harris, Georgia.

Those are just a few of my Georgia favorites. What about you?

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If You Wondered What Saxby's Smokin'...

After looking at the FEC letter to Chambliss about possible excess contributions, and noticing the timely tobacco contribution in September, I wondered how much he takes from Big Tobacco. According to http://www.tobaccofreeaction.org/ , from 1997 through August 7, 2007, $80,500.00, and that would not have included the $5,000 September contribution from Swisher. That's WAY more than anyone else in the Georgia delegation, about three times more than Johnny Isakson. In fact, it's one of the biggest hauls in the entire U.S. Senate. View the statistics, here.

GA (Georgia)
Senator
Chambliss, Saxby (R )
$80,500

Isakson, Johnny (R )
$24,500

Representatives

Kingston, Jack (R )
$25,500

Bishop, Sanford (D)
$36,000

Westmoreland, Lynn (R )
$27,500

Johnson, Henry (D)
$1,000

Lewis, John (D)

Price, Tom (R)
$2,000

Linder, John (R)
$22,000

Marshall, Jim (D)
$1,000

Deal, Nathan (R)
$11,000

Broun, Paul (R )
$0

Gingrey, Phil (R)
$15,000

Barrow, John (D)
$14,500

Scott, David (D)
$29,500

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Saxby's Tobacco Money

No wonder Saxby voted "no" on SCHIP. He's deep in the pocket of the tobacco industry- perhaps a little too deep-and the FEC has asked for an explanation.

According the an FEC review of Chambliss' own filings, the Georgia Senator appears to have received a total of $9,500 from Swisher PAC, a tobacco product political action committee, including a contribution of $5,000 on September 13, 2007-squarely in the middle of the SCHIP fight. Coincidental, I'm sure. You will recall that the funding mechanism for the SCHIP bill was a tax on tobacco products.

(H.R. 976: Chambliss voted 'no' as the Senate passed the bill on August 2, 2007 and on September 27, 2007, he also voted 'no' twice more on related motions in the run up to the House attempt to override the President's veto. Click here for the full history of the bill.)

Chambliss has until December 17th to respond. His campaign denies receiving excess contributions.

According to Tom Crawford of Capitol Impact's Georgia Report, the excess contribution by Swisher is just one of eighteen contributions flagged by the FEC in Chambliss's 9/30/2007 disclosure report. The Chambliss campaign denies wrong doing, and told the Telegraph:

The Chambliss campaign says that's not the case, that it's a
routine matter of different people with the same names giving donations, and
donations needing to be "reattributed" to the general or primary election.

I'd like to know how may different people are named Swisher PAC, Pork PAC, and Employees of Northrop Grumman PAC. From Crawford, here's a summary of some of alleged excess contributions:

Gingrey for Congress: $4,000
Sen. Orrin Hatch election committee: $4,000
State Sen. Ross Tolleson: $3,000
Northrop Grumman PAC: $9,000
National Pork Producers Council, Pork PAC: $5,500
Swisher PAC (tobacco products company): $9,500
Paul Amos, AFLAC insurance executive: $4,600

You can read the FEC full letter to Sen. Chambliss' treasurer here. (PDF alert: click on the link, and then click "continue" on the page that appears. The seven page letter will load.)

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Hide Your Children and Your Silver: Richardson is at it Again

Glenn Richardson is perfectly happy to make your child into a lab rat. If the experiment doesn't work out so well, not to worry, he promises not to make your city and county follow suit. He won't be able to fix things for your child, but it's all for a good cause-shifting more of the tax burden to the middle class and giving Atlanta politicians control of funding for our neighborhood schools while creating a statewide voucher system for private schools. It's really a cool idea. Rich kids in private schools will get vouchers, and middle class families will pay for it.

Almost exactly as predicted, Glenn Richardson has narrowed his tax plan to target public funding of education, letting municipalities and counties off the hook-for now. He is also leaving medical services off the list of newly taxable items, thus possibly gutting well-funded opposition to the Glenntax. He is still imposing a sales tax on food and other services. Including private school tuition, Glenn?

Here's my favorite line from Galloway's article in today's AJC: "If there's not enough money we won't go on to the next level." Uhm, Glenn, how will you fix the mess you're about to create for schools? This is a constitutional amendment, actually, two constitutional amendments. You can't just twitter your little rat nose and change it back to the way it was.

This republican-led legislature has zero credibility on school funding. Why should we in Macon, for example, send our school tax money up the road to Atlanta and trust them to send it back? Where is the cost savings in that formula? I thought republicans were supposed to be all about local control, yet they now want to centralize education funding for all of Georgia in Atlanta. I don't know about you, but personally, I like the idea that the people who set the school budget live in my community and their children attend the public schools. There's a different kind of accountability that comes along with running into your constituents at the grocery or at the Little League game. I like the fact that they have to deal with all of us directly. They have to look us in the eye. Atlanta politicians, not so much.

I'm hearing that the cities and the counties are not yet abandoning the schools systems, but that the Georgia Chamber has gone quiet. This is going to be an expensive, difficult, high stakes fight, and I question whether the education lobby is up to the challenge. The agenda is to centralize education funding in Atlanta, so that a statewide voucher system is possible, and simultaneously reduce the tax burden for the richest Georgians.

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Only One Pie in California

Do you recall the initiative by some California Republicans to change the electoral process by splitting up the state's presidential delegates proportionally by congressional districts? The initiative has been withdrawn and will not be on the ballot next year. (Scroll down when you get to 1250. (07-0016. Amdt. #1NS) This is good news for Democrats, who are likely to win California in the general election. (H/T to Tom Crawford)

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Kudos to Some New Macon Council Members

Macon's new city council, including some certified newbies, will be sworn in on December 11th. Long before the swearing in-and well before the inevitable swearing at-a number of the newly elected members have made it their business to attend committee meetings, council work sessions and regular council meetings. Lauren Benedict, Larry Schlesinger, Virgil Watkins and Tom Ellington have attended often, and Lonnie Miley has attended occasionally. Of course, Miley has been on council before. Two work session-orientation session have been held, one Nov. 29th and one on Nov. 15th. Benedict, Schlesinger, Watkins and Ellington all attended both sessions. Outgoing council member Cole Thomason even came to the first orientation session to offer helpful advice. I hear that Erick Erickson may have missed these work sessions, and I find that surprising, though I know it does take a lot of time to be, what was it, the 69th most influential conservative...

While there's no requirement that newly elected members of council start attending meeting prior to taking office, it certainly seems like it would make the transition easier for the city and for the new members. So, big props to those who have chosen to begin serving even before they are "official." I think this bodes well for the council's future work.

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A Suggestion from a Soldier

A soldier friend had a great suggestion: phone cards are the very best holiday card for our thousands of soldiers deployed. A phone card can help a soldier connect with his or her family back in the states, and that's priceless.

What if we in the progressive blogosphere collected phone cards for soldiers this holiday season and then sent them to some of our brave men and women deployed in Iraq?

What do you think?

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Tell Emily to Take a Hike: A Verse for Bill Shipp

A Verse for Bill Shipp

Don't call 911

Just yet.

And tell Emily

To take a hike.

I assure you there's

A Great

Deal happening, not

All of it polite!

Holy cow. Based on Bill Shipp's last two columns, I'm shocked that I found neither paramedics nor Emily Post on hand when I arrived at the DPG headquarters on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for a Platform Committee meeting. Shocked, that despite the holiday weekend and Georgia/Georgia Tech game that afternoon, the majority of the committee managed to join the meeting either on the phone or in person. Stunned that on that Saturday, there were canvassers in the DPG office, part of the new Grassroots Georgia effort that has already garnered nearly fifty grand for the Party from critical low-dollar donors-a source we have rarely tapped. Flabbergasted that when I returned to on Tuesday at 5 p.m. there were people with clipboards, scripts and maps headed out to metro neighborhoods. They were probably just going out to give lessons on manners. It's not possible that they were actually going out to update our brand new voter file system or invite people to volunteer and give to the Party. And, then, surely the AJC was mistaken when they reported that, yesterday, fifty-five of our seventy-three democratic lawmakers bothered to attend a work session on the Speaker's hugely unpopular tax plan. They were even accused of doling out "rough treatment." Georgia democrats, the original alley fighters of politics, could not possibly be preparing to kick some GOP behind, could we?

After all, on Sunday, Shipp said the Party appears "about to flatline," and yesterday he declared us "perpetually polite losers." And, Dr. Green had some questions, and since she asked so nicely, I thought I'd take a crack at the quiz. Just remember, I'm answering for myself here, not on behalf of the Party.

1. Who constitutes Georgia's slate of Democratic leaders?

There are too many to list, but I'd start with folks like President Jimmy Carter, Gov. Roy Barnes, Sen. Sam Nunn and the list of Statesmen and women could go on, and move to some of our currently elected like Commissioner Mike Thurmond, General Thurbert Baker, Rep. DuBose Porter, Rep. Kathy Ashe, Sen. Valenica Seay, Sen. Robert Brown, Sen. David Adleman, Rep. Nikki Randall and the list goes on and on.

And then there are locally elected democrats like our school board president in Bibb County, Lynn Farmer, our newly elected Mayor Robert Reichert, our newly elected Macon City Councilwomen, Lauren Benedict, and, let me not forget to add incumbent City Councilman Mike Cranford-who actually switched back to the democratic party in the last election. Yes, some of them are actually switching back to us...

And folks like Sheriff John Cary Bittick and Sheriff Jerry Modena. Did you know that the majority of Georgia sheriffs are democrats? They are.

And, then there are the people whose names you may not know, volunteers like Steve Leeds, who works tirelessly to help the Party and democratic causes in general, Sally Rosser, who has sweated blood working to birth brand new county parties and support congressional district chairs, Jason Carter, who help launch Democrats Work, a national initiative, Melita Easters, who co-founded Georgia's WIN List, Shyam Reddy, who ran for SOS and helped found Red Clay Democrats, Kyle Bailey, who is active with Stonewall Dems and seemingly everything else, and I should not leave out Jane Kidd, our chair who has already burned a set of tires traveling the state, speaking to groups-like the Georgia Chamber-where democrats have feared to tread. I could go on and on and on. You can access a list of the "official party leadership" here.

And don't forget to add yourself, Dr. Green. The DPG is a "we" not a "they." If you're a Georgia democrat, then it's your party, too, and you are part of the leadership.

Surfice to say, I'd stand our leaders up beside Glenn Richardson, Sonny Perdue and crew any day of the week.

2. What are they doing except saying 'DONATE'?

There's actually a whole lot going on, but even I know that all political strategy does not belong on a blog. But, here are a few examples: the Grassroots Georgia Program (the canvassers I mentioned above) is but one example of a new initiative. You can learn some more on the brand new website. We have been busy planning for he JJ Dinner and have invited all of the presidential candidates to joins us on Jan. 30th, right before our primary. You should come; it will be a blast and it's a deal until Dec. 1. Speaking of leaders, we'll also be honoring Sen. Max Cleland and Sen. John Lewis at this special event.

Committees are meeting, planning is taking place, candidates are being recruited, money is being raised, county parties are forming, formed and functioning-though we need more. The Party has taken a very active roll in the two special elections that happened this year in Georgia, most recently helping Bonnie Byrd Gardner with her race. I'm talking substantive help with mail, canvassing etc. And, while she did not win, if we are going to gain ground in Georgia those are precisely the kinds of races we need to invest in. Jane Kidd went herself to knock on doors with Bonnie, along with teams of canvassers from the Party. YD's helped, too, as did the unions.

And, I could go on, but again, the Party is not a "they," it's a "we." So, if you're a Georgia democrat, it's your party. I challenge you to get involved, if you're not, and help make a difference.

3. Why is there seemingly nobody with credibility opposing Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-GA?

There's no question that this race is a problem for us. I posted about it earlier this week. It's not easy to convince someone to run against a sitting senator. Political races are expensive both in terms of cash and personal time commitment. So, if you know someone who is credible, has great name id, could partially self-fund and can take the next year off to run-please send them over. Perhaps you?

4. Why do we hear nothing from the Democratic Party of Georgia on the rubber-stamp Republican government we have?

I personally support the shift to positive messaging for Georgia Democrats. We cannot win elections-and should not win elections-unless we make a compelling argument for why we should be allowed to lead. That means telling folks what we will do, not just why they're bad. I think people get tired of just hearing us beat on the r's.

5. Why was there no uproar among Democrats when SR 3033 (2005) was passed by the General Assembly to urge Georgia lawmakers to support blindly all Bush nominees?

Here's where you find out that I'm honest-I don't know what this is, but I promise I will find out. But, I do think "blind" and "Bush" should always be in the same sentance.

6. Why is there seemingly no statewide Democratic organization even though Democrats have a good chance to elect the new president?

There are actually at least two statewide democratic organizations-the DPG with our affiliate county parties and congressional district organizations and the Georgia Association of Democratic County Party Chairs. Expanding and strengthening this network is part of the 159 County Strategy. We are working to grow where there are no local groups and deepen our roots where there are such groups. The DNC helps fund grassroots development through the 50 State Strategy, and that means meeting measurable goals.

Even though I'm ever the optimist, unless hell freezes over, the outcome of the presidential election will not hinge on Georgia, but we have critical down-ballot races that it will impact and that we must work hard to win. We need your help.

7. Why was there no Democratic outcry regarding Sonny Perdue's land deals?

This was all over all the papers, in ads, on the radio, messaged every thirty seconds, practically, during the 2006 election cycle. I thought if I heard the word Oakey Woods once more I would scream. We were swimming in ink on this. You're right, what he did and is doing is horrible. We all but served warrants. But I don't know how you missed the messaging on this one.

"I could not find a dazzling e-mail address for the Georgia Democratic Party, so I am sending this to others who may know how to get through.
"The Democrats of Georgia have tucked their heads for too long. Those of us who care can do very little without a very strong state party.
"People are waiting. People are tired of DONATE, DONATE! There's nothing happening. - E. Ruth Green, Ph.D."

Here's the link for the email addresses and other contact information for the Party. Perhaps not dazzling, but functional, all the same.

There are a whole lot of us who are not "tucking our heads," but instead are doing all we can do to make our Party stronger. Is it perfect? Far, far from it. Is it frustrating? Often. We have a huge task in front of us, and need every single shoulder at the wheel, including yours. We are making progress, building a foundation for growth and success in elections. So, Bill, don't call 911 just yet, and tell Emily to take a hike. I assure you, there's a great deal happening, not all of it polite.

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Buzz!

Buzz Brockway made the YouTube cut.

And he wants the republicans to pledge to stay in Iraq for the long term.

Forever?

This is why I am a democrat.

Let's see what they say. Thompson didn't give it to him. (We're going to win) Paul didn't give it to him. McCain says we never lost a battle in Vietnam. I'm not sure whether McCain did or didn't. Tancredo says we are threatened by radical Islam. I don't think he answered either.

Sorry, Buzz, I'm not sure you got a taker.

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