I love it when someone agrees with me; is it great minds thinking alike or the answer being so obvious? -- Time for Kerry to say I'm sorry.

On Sunday, August 29, I entitled a post "Sen. Kerry, the Olympics bring to mind the Greek Tragedies and the word catharsis -- And we Americans are a forgiving people."

I know what Kerry needs to do, and when I post it I hope someone can get it to Kerry. I am going to send it to the group Veterans for Kerry of which I am a member, but all are afraid to tell the Emperor he is naked. He needs to get his mess straight. Time is our enemy. Bush should not be a factor now, and he is more than ever. Kerry must do something and do it now.

What must Kerry do?

My Sunday post continues:

Because of something Kerry said over 30 years ago, he has picked a fight he cannot completely win, in my opinion, because of something he said during his Congressional testimony in 1972.

Any thoughts over the next day or so before writing my own will be duly noted, but the title of this post is a hint to my suggestion of the only thing Kerry can do at this point to put Vietnam behind him and move on.

Kerry needs to eat some crow and apologize about saying, years ago (1972) as a youth, something he didn't really mean and he knows now and knew then was and is not true.

Saying it was a disservice to all who have served this great country, and with this said, Kerry stands behind his record, and is moving on. With this behind him, Bush will attack Kerry's volunteering for duty and his service in Vietnam at his peril.
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Well, for starters I threw you off. I said 1972. The year Kerry -- as a youth said things I do not believe he meant then or now -- was 1971. The setting was the photo you see of the Senator in his fatigues with his long hair, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

At that hearing he said that all American soldiers had committed war crimes as a matter of official policy. "Crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command" were his words.

The words were incendiary. They were viewed as the words of an anti-war activist accusing his fellow veterans of committing atrocities on a daily basis with the full knowledge of their officers. That is, atrocities of the type represented by what was known as the My Lai Massacre were commonplace and condoned.

The My Lai Massacre occurred in 1986 in Viet Nam. It involved the massacre by United States soldiers of as many as 500 unarmed civilians -- old men, women, children.

For those of you who have not heard of it, ask someone older who was Lt. William Calley. He or she will remember this is the officer who was court-martialed for the incident.

I was an Army officer at the time Kerry made this remark. All of my training was for going to Vietnam as a 1st Lieutenant and a platoon leader. Such training was under the tutelage of officers and soldiers who had served in Vietnam, and the war, Charlie (the Viet Cong soldiers), and war stories were very much an important part of our unofficial training.

When I heard his words, I was incensed. If this were my reaction sitting in front of a TV in America, imagine the reaction of those that were and had been there and knew knew he was lying, and in the process helping to turn the country against them. "Baby-killers" guilty of committing war crime were what some called our soldiers.

There were other post-war activities by Kerry, but none of this magnitude.

Does Sen. Kerry still holds this view today? He has not told us otherwise.

A wsj editorial I read said: "Mr. Kerry has never offered proof of those charges, yet he has never retracted them either. At his recent coronation in Boston he managed the oxymoronic feat of celebrating both his own war-fighting valor and his antiwar activities when he returned home. This is why the Swifties are so incensed, and this is why no less than World War II veteran Bob Dole joined the fray on the weekend to ask that Mr. Kerry apologize for his unproven accusations."

Since the Abu Ghraib prison incident, much of the public has perceived the Bush administration of arrogance. Is Kerry guilty of the same by not sucking it up and saying hey, I'm made a mistake. Catharsis is good for the soul, and Americans are a forgiving people.

Why did I decide to do this post today? Because today there is a column in the Washington Post by Richard Cohen that has the same advice for Kerry and says it a hell of a lot better than I can.

It is a must read, and excerpts will leave something important out. Thus the whole column follows below.
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Today in the Washington Post is the following column entitled:

Needed: Straight Talk From Kerry, by
By Richard CohenTuesday, August 31, 2004

John Kerry, the Democratic Party's not-so-happy warrior, is breaking with tradition this week and making at least one campaign appearance while the Republicans dominate the news and hold their nominating convention (a real cliffhanger). In a sense, I applaud this aggressiveness, because Kerry could use every day he's got left until the election. On the other hand, now would be the time to pause and wonder what has gone wrong and what can be done about it. Kerry could start by clearing his throat.

At the moment, the Democratic nominee seems to be speaking from under water, making glub, glub sounds as he tries to explain his original vote in support of the Iraq war resolution, his subsequent vote against funding the war and now his conduct in Vietnam lo these many years ago and what he said afterward. The man carries a heavy burden -- a long and complicated public record that can be mined for the occasional negative nugget. It does not help any that as a public speaker he is no public speaker.

It just so happens that a man has appeared among us here who can show Kerry what to do. Sen. John McCain has been the toast of the town in New York this week, his birthday (68) being celebrated like the 12 nights of Christmas, only maybe a bit longer. On Sunday, though, McCain was all business when he appeared on "Face the Nation" and was asked right off the bat whether Kerry's recent dip in the polls was attributable to those wretched TV ads attacking his war record. McCain did not launch into praise of George Bush as almost any other politician would have done, but instead ripped the muggy air with candor. "I can think of no other reason," he said. Maybe you heard the thunder.

The irrepressible blurting out of the obvious, a McCain trait for many years, not only stood in marked contrast to what I had been watching before he came on -- George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani in full insincerity about the marvels of the Bush presidency -- but to politicians in general. It is a magical thing McCain does: Tell the truth, tell it simply and get on with life. The formula is so obvious, you'd think more politicians would adopt it, if only because it works -- never mind any silliness about truth being its own reward. Bluntness is, bluntly speaking, what Kerry could use in abundance.

At the moment the issue is Kerry's Vietnam service. He was first attacked for being a hot dog and a phony who did not really earn his medals. George Bush himself has now sort of put that matter to rest by conceding that Kerry is a hero -- although apparently not enough of one for Bush to denounce the ads. Now a second front has been opened. New ads attack Kerry for what he said after returning from Vietnam and becoming a leader of the antiwar movement.

This is a moment for Kerry to speak plainly, to embrace all Vietnam veterans and say that any suggestion that they were war criminals does not represent how he feels now and how he felt then -- and if he gave the opposite impression, he's sorry. If it takes an apology -- if it takes saying he was once an angry young man who saw blood spilled in a dubious cause -- then that's what he should say. Otherwise Vietnam and its immediate aftermath will stick to him as has his complicated and too-nuanced position on the Iraq war.

Kerry's inability or refusal to walk his cats back to the origin of his problems -- a wrong vote on Iraq and some incautious words on Vietnam -- has trapped him in a kind of rhetorical molasses. He's always trimming weeds that need to be yanked out by the roots.

Either by happenstance or design, I've been with John McCain for three nights in a row and have watched the magic he works on people. At a dinner one evening, someone asked the secret of his appeal. A colleague and I looked at each other in disbelief. It's his honesty, his willingness to (mostly) say what's on his mind. He just clears his throat and says what has to be said. John Kerry ought to try it. It could make him president.

Don't leave home without enough of it -- Homeowners Come Up Short on Insurance

My wife Sally doesn't read my blog. Heck, I don't blame her. But since she handles the finances (and lack thereof), etc., at our house, I hope she will review an 8-31-04 N.Y. Times article on home insurance. Excerpts:

[A burned-out California couple's] woeful shortfall in insurance coverage, experts say, is a plight shared unknowingly by millions of American homeowners. It has been fed largely by a shift in the way property insurance has been sold in recent years.

In a move to cut costs from claims, insurance companies began in the late 1990's to phase out coverage that guaranteed the replacement of a destroyed home, regardless of the expense to the insurer. In place of that unlimited coverage, which had become nearly universal, insurers substituted a similar-sounding policy with a crucial difference: it pays only the amount stated on the policy plus, typically, an additional 20 percent to 25 percent.

For their part, insurers insist that it is the consumer's responsibility to acquire adequate coverage.

The old policy was called a guaranteed replacement policy. The new one, which most Americans now have, is called an extended replacement policy.
"People look at this and it says 'replacement' and they think, 'That's good, I get my house replaced,' " said John Garamendi, the insurance commissioner in California. "But they don't get their house replaced. They get money up to the set limits plus the extended 20 percent or 25 percent."

While most insurance policies include a built-in escalator to keep pace with general inflation, the costs of building supplies and paying for construction crews have been rising at a faster pace, in many cases widening the gap between the amount a house is insured for and what it will cost to rebuild it.

A residue of racism and classism still taints some of Georgia's rural counties -- Did I hear it takes one to know one?

An 8-28-04 ajc editorial discusses underperforming schools in rural Georgia suffer in the context of the Gov. Perdue's recently assembled task force to re-examine school finance and come up with a more equitable way to fund public education in Georgia. The 23-member task force will focus on reforming the school funding formula established in 1985 as part of then-Gov. Joe Frank Harris' Quality Basic Education (QBE) Act.

We will all be hearing more about this as time moves on.

An 8-25-04 ajc article discusses this task force, and also how about 50 of the state's 180 school systems have organized as the Consortium for Adequate School Funding to contest the way state dollars are distributed (generally, on a formula based on student count). A lawsuit has been in the planning stage for at least two years and should be filed next month, the ajc article says.

For me the lawsuit isn't news. My school system (the Coffee County School District) is the largest school system in the suit. Most of the systems are small, real small.

The purpose of this post. To fuss at the writer of the ajc editorial. I know you can't write an editorial to please all of the people all of the time, and the editorial is a fine piece of work.

That said, let me observe that when someone tells me he or she is not prejudiced but . . ., most of the time you are looking at a bigot.

Me? Just as Zell claims he was born a Democrat and will die a Democrat, I was born colorblind and will die color-blind.

The editorial notes that "[a] residue of racism and classism still taints some rural counties." If this means that this is the case in rural Georgia, but most certainly not in the metro areas, I say baloney and hogwash.

Bush's Big Priority: Energize Conservative Christian Base

A fascinating wsj article discusses Bus's unusual strategy of playing down the importance of the swing vote as demographics shift since 2004. This stuff is fascinating. Excerpts:

In the tight 2004 race, no group is more important to Mr. Bush than evangelicals and Christian conservatives. As Republicans gather for their national convention in New York, these religious conservatives are at the heart of a Bush campaign that is turning traditional general-election strategy on its head. Instead of focusing on undecided swing voters, Bush advisers are putting top priority on maximizing voter turnout among conservative constituencies already disposed to back the president.

Behind the new strategy lies the story of a changing America, and of a campaign scrambling to keep up.

The nation's face is being reshaped in ways that aren't helpful to the Bush effort. The Hispanic population is exploding in size, and Hispanic voters are heavily Democratic. Other nonwhite ethnic groups are also growing. If all demographic groups split their votes this fall as they did in 2000, the Bush team estimates that Mr. Bush would finish with three million fewer votes than Democratic candidate John Kerry. In 2000, Mr. Bush lost to Al Gore by 500,000 votes in the popular vote. The growth in Hispanics largely accounts for the bigger gap.

Other trends also put bumps in Mr. Bush's road. Younger voters who grew up in the era of Bill Clinton rather than Ronald Reagan seem harder for Republicans to reach. Also, Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg notes that birth and demographic trends make them the most diverse generation yet: Just 65% of them are white, compared to 90% of seniors 65 and older. Early on, these youngest voters were the most supportive of the war in Iraq of any age group. Now they are the least.

Among women in 2000, Mr. Bush was 12 points behind Mr. Gore, but as president he seemed to narrow the gender gap after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Republicans spoke hopefully of "security moms." Yet polls show the gap has widened again. Meanwhile, Democrats are mounting an unprecedented effort to register unmarried women -- an estimated 20% of the electorate that tends to be less educated, less affluent and Democrat-leaning.

Many Arab-Americans and Muslims, who once seemed an emerging Republican constituency, are upset over Iraq. Among senior citizens, Mr. Bush had hoped that with the new Medicare prescription drug law, he'd more than make up the four percentage points by which he trailed Mr. Gore among voters 60 and older. Instead, polls show roughly half of seniors oppose the law, and a majority oppose him.

These are the headwinds that help explain Mr. Bush's unconventional strategy. Since the advent of television brought presidential candidates into voters' living rooms, the general-election campaigns of both major parties have been targeted toward winning swing voters at the political center. Now, more than any modern campaign, the Bush effort, led by White House adviser Karl Rove, has downplayed that goal in favor of a drive to wring more votes from the president's committed core of supporters. Mr. Rove calls it a "mobilization election."

Viewers of this week's Republican convention won't hear much about the strategy. For the broad national television audience, the party is showcasing moderates such as former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Some party strategists, accustomed to the more traditional courtship of suburban swing voters, consider Mr. Rove's approach risky. Playing to conservative Christians and other elements of the Republican base could alienate wavering voters such as Jews who are attracted by the president's strong support for Israel. One of Mr. Bush's initiatives that might turn away moderates is his embrace of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

Yet the math behind the strategy is powerful. Some 195 million Americans were eligible to vote in 2000. Only 105 million actually did, splitting virtually evenly between Mr. Bush and Mr. Gore. If the views of nonvoters resembled those of voters, as opinion surveys suggest they did, there were as many as 45 million potential voters for both Messrs. Bush and Gore who stayed home.

Among the group of latent Bush supporters, the president's strategists have focused particularly on white Christian conservatives. Exit polls of actual 2000 voters show conservative Christians making up 14% of the electorate, but Republican Party surveys suggest that the same group is typically closer to 19% of voters.

From that, Mr. Rove concludes that some five million conservative Christians failed to turn out four years ago. Because 82% of those who voted backed Mr. Bush, the nonvoters represented a missed opportunity in the range of four million votes.

Moreover, Christian conservatives are part of one big demographic trend that is working in Republicans' favor -- the rapid development of "exurbs" beyond the suburbs of big cities. Married families with children, many of them conservative Christians, are flocking to these exurbs but are often slow to register and vote.

"It takes them time to get settled, pick the right grocery store, the right church, and then get registered to vote," says Mr. Rove. "These are places we've got a lot of natural support that we've got to energize and turn out."

Mr. Kerry isn't seriously contesting Mr. Bush for the votes of white evangelicals or other conservatives, since his chances of winning significant support are slim. Instead, his campaign is seeking to win Ohio and other battleground states by exploiting anxieties over Iraq and the economy to rally blacks, union members and suburban moderates to the Democratic ticket.

Christian conservative churches have become prominent features of many exurban areas, and their members tend to like Mr. Bush's positions such as his support of a gay-marriage ban.

(wsj. Email for whole article.)
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I watched some of the convention on PBS last night. One person interviewed indicated (I believe) that in 2000, 42% of the GOP delegates considered themselves born-again evangelists. This year, the figure is up to 50.5%.

People vote color, right? Not necessarily. Macon's Mayor Ellis says: "What you do is don't play race politics," -- Who said that? Mayor Ellis????

An article in the 8-30-04 edition of The Macon Telegraph by Travis Fain and Don Schanche Jr. is entitled "Georgia slowly becoming less likely to vote by race." Someone elseother than Merrs. Fain and Schanche must have written the headline.

The article quotes my friend Laughlin McDonald of the American Civil Liberties Union who has spent his career fighting to ensure full political participation for black voters throughout the South. He said he would like to believe things are changing, but he is skeptical.

"I would like to think voters are voting in a less polarized way, but that's not always the case," Mr. McDonald says.

We all recognize that race remains a significant factor in political races, but I do not think you can find the proof in the puddin from state races inGeorgia this year and some of the races discussed in this article.

Stem Cells Research is a Hurdle for GOP Campaign

Three years ago, President Bush used his first televised presidential address to put the emotional issue of embryonic stem-cell research behind him.

He unveiled a compromise: The federal government would, for the first time, provide funding for the research, but wouldn't pay for work that required new embryos to be destroyed. Scientists and patients advocates, who wanted the funding spigot fully opened, grumbled but accepted the decision -- as did abortion foes who wanted the work banned.

But as Republicans gather in New York this week for their convention, the stem-cell controversy has grown more divisive. A number of conservative Republican Party stalwarts, including Sens. Trent Lott and Orrin Hatch, have joined Nancy Reagan and party moderates in breaking with the president on the issue.

With polls on stem cells running strongly against the president, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry senses a big opening on the issue.

Embryonic stem cells are present in the first few days after conception and eventually develop into eyes, muscle, organs and all the other tissue in the body. Scientists hope one day to be able to use stem cells to create specialized cells that can treat spinal-cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, diabetes and other illnesses. But harvesting stem cells destroys the embryos that produce them, a process that has plunged the work into controversy since 1998, when University of Wisconsin researchers first drew stem cells from human embryos.

Researchers would also like to create stem cells that are a genetic match of an individual patient, through a procedure known as "therapeutic cloning." In that process, a cell is taken from the patient, inserted into an egg emptied of genetic material and coaxed to grow by electric or chemical stimulation. In 1996, a similar process was used to create the world's first clone of an adult mammal, Dolly the sheep. Cloning is even more controversial because embryos are created specifically for research.

Pummeled by abortion foes on one side and scientists on the other, President Bush tried to split the difference in his Aug. 9, 2001, address. He said the federal government would back research on stem-cell lines developed by that date, but wouldn't put money into work that required new embryos to be destroyed. With the existing stem cells, "the life and death decision has already been made," he said.

After the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington a month later, the stem-cell issue faded. But advocates continued to work to block a ban on cloning, which had passed the House of Representatives, from becoming law.

The Senate never voted on the bill.

So far, while stem cells are rising as a campaign issue, cloning hasn't really registered. If it does, the Kerry campaign says it will point to Sen. Hatch's support for the procedure, which mirrors Sen. Kerry's. Says Sarah Bianch, the Kerry campaign's policy director: "Standing with Orrin Hatch is a safe place to be."

(wsj. Email for article.)

What did Zell know and when did he know it? -- Inspector Clouseau checks behind Political Insider’s Sherlock J. Galloway and Dr. Tom Baxter Watson

An earlier 8-07 post entitled "Mama said they'd be days like this -- the Zell Miller conundrum" quotes the following from an ajc article entitled "State Democrats let Miller be; Some hold out hope for backing in future:"

Democrats across the country have had no qualms about attacking Sen. Zell Miller, the highest-ranking member of their party to oppose John Kerry's election.

But one group of Democrats has been conspicuously low-key in its criticism: Miller's fellow Georgians.
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An 8-30 article from the AP says "[t]he toughest question isn't why he made the leap, but when?" Continuing trying to come up with an answer to this question, the article quotes Rep. John Lewis:

"I don't understand what happened and how it happened," said U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a longtime Miller friend and the dean of Georgia's congressional delegation. "It's not like Zell Miller. This man is a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat."

The AP notes that "[t]wo years ago it was practically impossible to turn on a television in Georgia without seeing a commercial showing Miller strongly endorsing one of the state's Democratic candidates."

The AP article's conclusion on the when question? It doesn't give one.
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Is there an answer? Well, in reading the Political Insider today I thought that maybe Messrs. Galloway and Baxter were onto something that might shed some light on the when question.

The 8-30 Political Insider reports that in doing some investigative reporting, it came upon a link on the website of Republican state Senate candidate Nancy Schaefer. Ms. Schaefer was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor against Pierre Howard in 1994, when Miller was seeking his second term as governor, and the PI reports that such link has a page devoted to Miller's keynote speech at a dinner for Family Concerns, the conservative organization that Schaefer founded and heads.

1994 I thought, that was way back there, we might be onto something here.

The Pl quotes the following from Miller's speech for Family Concerns:

"I want you to know my Lord and Savior has forgiven me. And I hope you and Family Concerns can forgive me for my neglect and lack of understanding on the issues that were important to you and should have been to me."

I searched in vain in the PI article for the date of such speech (other than the obvious, that Ms. Shaefer is presently a candidate), knowing this might be our best lead to date on the when issue.

The next step? You guessed it. Google Nancy Schaefer to find her website. I did, and on her website is a link to Zell Miller. Voila! Eureka I exclaim.

A date is there, but dernit, no real help. Sen. Miller gave his speech containing the above quotes from the PI on May 3, 2004. Heck, we all knew it had to be before then.
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Not being able to find an answer to the when question raised by the AP article noted above, I thought to myself. Asking the when question assumes there is an answer.

Sen. Miller in his book would object to this quesation, insisting that any such question be rephrased from when, to when if ever? To this he responds, it wasn't me folks, the Democratic Party left me, I didn't leave it.

This response by the Senator is beyond the scope of this post. But already the State Democratic Party and the talking heads are having fun this week with flashbacks and replays from days gone.
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What isn't beyond the scope of this post are my thoughts on why most Georgia politicians, unlike many Democrats, do not criticize him.

As noted in the above-noted ajc article, many state party members believe attacking Zell would not help — and might actually undercut — their efforts to elect Democrats to state offices in November and beyond. I must add to this that Bobby Kahn, David Worley and Keith Mason must be excepted from such generalization.

The same folks, with my same exceptions, believe that with today's polarized electorate, Miller may be energizing Republicans, but he is not attracting a lot of Democratic defectors.

And also these folks, they recognize something that many Democratic voters do not care to recognize -- Zell remains one of Georgia's most popular politicians a potent political force in the state.

Is there anything to the headline in the above-noted ajc headline that some may hold our hope for future help by Zell? Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political scientist, this so, and notes in this article that leading Democrats in Georgia may already be focused on their own races in 2006, when they may turn to Miller for an endorsement.

I ask, is there anything else? And I say yes, a big yes.

A lot of them just like Zell personally, the same thing I have said before about myself on this blog. Forget the politics part.

Forget the politics and GOP versus Democrats stuff. I have known him forever, and he is just a likeable type guy.

For much of the public who do not know him personally, a reason they like him is summed up in the following comment about Sen. Miller from Dick Yarbrough:

"He says what is on his mind. He always has. The media have a major case of the tut-tuts because he isn't saying what they want to hear. As if Zell Miller gives a quart of mule spit what the media thinks. I like that."

And I am not saying the following is true, but the following thing that Dick Yarbrough says about Max Cleland is not the sort of thing you will hear said about Sen. Miller:

"Democrat Max Cleland had an unfortunate accident in Vietnam when somebody dropped a grenade and he lost both legs and an arm. He has put his life back together and I greatly admire him for that. I didn't admire him as a senator. He spent more time cuddling up to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party than he did representing the people of Georgia. When Cleland was Georgia's secretary of state, he always spoke to me. When he was elected senator, he acted as if he didn't know who I was. I didn't like that."

As far is did Zell ever change, this is what Mr. Yarbrough says in an open letter to the Senator:

"In this day of sound bites and polling data and political consultants, you tell it like it is."

"Some people say to me, 'What in the world has happened to Zell Miller?' I reply, 'Nothing. The governor who bailed out Bill Clinton's floundering campaign for president and made the keynote address at the 1992 Democratic Convention is no different than the senator who is pushing for the re-election of Republican President George W. Bush. He is acting on his convictions.'"
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It is hard not to like someone who can laugh at himself. In early April the Political Insider printed the following letter that Zell had sent to the Washington Post:

"It was a clever little article on Sunday ('Miller Accused of Flip-Flopping Over Kerry'), but incorrect. The Kerry campaign had no more to do with coining the nickname Zig-Zag Zell than Al Gore did with inventing the Internet.

"The nickname was first hung on me nearly a quarter of a century ago in a 1980 race for the U.S. Senate by my then-opponent and now-close friend Norman Underwood. Since then, by the way, I've won five statewide races in Georgia and carried that nickname along with me on every one.

"I also take exception to the comment by Kerry aide Stephanie Cutter that it's going to be lonely out there for me. I believe that in the South, fully one-third of Democratic voters will support George Bush for president -- maybe more.

"And by the way, that same night that I introduced John Kerry so pleasantly, he spoke of how happy he was that Zell Miller was back in politics and in Washington. I wonder if Jumpin' John has flip-flopped on that?"
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And regardless of how one might feel about Zell, who will say the man can't make a speech. We will be exposed to a current and some former ones this week.

The following is part of one you no doubt saw some sound bites from and maybe the whole thing. It is part of what he had to say on the Senate floor about this year's Superbowl halftime show (he called the speech the Deficit of Decency' in America):

"The Old Testament prophet Amos was a sheep herder who lived back in the Judean hills, away from the larger cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Compared to the intellectual urbanites like Isaiah and Jeremiah, he was just an unsophisticated country hick.

"But Amos had a unique grasp of political and social issues and his poetic literary skill was among the best of all the prophets. That familiar quote of Martin Luther King, Jr. about 'Justice will rush down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream' are Amos's words.

"Amos was the first to propose the concept of a universal God and not just some tribal deity. He also wrote that God demanded moral purity, not rituals and sacrifices. This blunt speaking moral conscience of his time warns in Chapter 8, verse 11 of The Book of Amos, as if he were speaking to us today:

That 'the days will come, sayeth the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.

'And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.'

"'A famine in the land'. Has anyone more accurately described the situation we face in America today? 'A famine of hearing the words of the Lord.'

"But some will say, Amos was just an Old Testament prophet - a minor one at that - who lived 700 years before Christ. That is true, so how about one of the most influential historians of modern times?

"Arnold Toynbee who wrote the acclaimed 12 volume A Study of History, once declared, 'Of the 22 civilizations that have appeared in history, 19 of them collapsed when they reached the moral state America is in today.'

"Toynbee died in 1975, before seeing the worst that was yet to come. Yes, Arnold Toynbee saw the famine. The 'famine of hearing the words of the Lord.' Whether it is removing a display of the Ten Commandments from a Courthouse or the Nativity Scene from a city square. Whether it is eliminating prayer in schools or eliminating 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Whether it is making a mockery of the sacred institution of marriage between a man and woman or, yes, telecasting around the world made-in-the-USA filth masquerading as entertainment.

"The Culture of Far Left America was displayed in a startling way during the Super Bowl's now infamous half-time show. A show brought to us courtesy of Value-Les Moonves and the pagan temple of Viacom-Babylon.

"I asked the question yesterday, how many of you have ever run over a skunk with your car? I have many times and I can tell you, the stink stays around for a long time. You can take the car through a car wash and it's still there. So the scent of this event will long linger in the nostrils of America.

"I'm not talking just about an exposed mammary gland with a pull-tab attached to it. Really no one should have been too surprised at that. Wouldn't one expect a bumping, humping, trashy routine entitled 'I'm going to get you naked' to end that way.

"Does any responsible adult ever listen to the words of this rap-crap? I'd quote you some of it, but the Sergeant of Arms would throw me out of here, as well he should. And then there was that prancing, dancing, strutting, rutting guy evidently suffering from jock itch because he kept yelling and grabbing his crotch. But then, maybe there's a crotch grabbing culture I've unaware of."

But as bad as all this was, the thing that yanked my chain the hardest was seeing that ignoramus with his pointed head stuck up through a hole he had cut in the flag of the United States of America, screaming about having 'a bottle of scotch and watching lots of crotch.' Think about that.

"This is the same flag that we pledge allegiance to. This is the flag that is draped over coffins of dead young uniformed warriors killed while protecting Kid Crock's bony butt. He should be tarred and feathered, and ridden out of this country on a rail. Talk about a good reality show, there's one for you.

"The desire and will of this Congress to meaningfully do anything about any of these so-called social issues is non existent and embarrassingly disgraceful. The American people are waiting and growing impatient with us. They want something done.

"I am pleased to be a co-sponsor of S.J. Res. 26 along with Senator Allard and others, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. And S.1558, the Liberties Restoration Act, which declares religious liberty rights in several ways, including the Pledge of Allegiance and the display of the Ten Commandments. And today I join Senator Shelby and others with the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 that limits the jurisdiction of federal courts in certain ways.

"In doing so, I stand shoulder to shoulder not only with my Senate co-sponsors and Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama but, more importantly, with our Founding Fathers in the conception of religious liberty and the terribly wrong direction our modern judiciary has taken us in.

Everyone today seems to think that the U.S. Constitution expressly provides for separation of church and state. Ask any ten people if that's not so. And I'll bet you most of them will say 'Well, sure.' And some will point out, 'it's in the First Amendment.'

"Wrong! Read it! It says, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Where is the word 'separate'? Where are the words 'church' or 'state.'

"They are not there. Never have been. Never intended to be. Read the Congressional Records during that four-month period in 1789 when the amendment was being framed in Congress. Clearly their intent was to prohibit a single denomination in exclusion of all others, whether it was Anglican or Catholic or some other.

"I highly recommend a great book entitled Original Intent by David Barton. It really gets into how the actual members of Congress, who drafted the First Amendment, expected basic Biblical principles and values to be present throughout public life and society, not separate from it.

"It was Alexander Hamilton who pointed out that 'judges should be bound down by strict rules and precedents, which serve to define and point out their duty.' Bound down! That is exactly what is needed to be done. There was not a single precedent cited when school prayer was struck down in 1962.

"These judges who legislate instead of adjudicate, do it without being responsible to one single solitary voter for their actions. Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence was a brilliant young physician from Pennsylvania named Benjamin Rush.

"When Rush was elected to that First Continental Congress, his close friend Benjamin Franklin told him 'We need you. . . we have a great task before us, assigned to us by Providence.' Today, 228 years later there is still a great task before us assigned to us by Providence. Our Founding Fathers did not shirk their duty and we can do no less.

"By the way, Benjamin Rush was once asked a question that has long interested this Senator from Georgia in particular. Dr. Rush was asked, are you a democrat or an aristocrat? And the good doctor answered, 'I am neither'. 'I am a Christocrat. I believe He, alone, who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.' That reply of Benjamin Rush is just as true today in the year of our Lord 2004 as it was in the year of our Lord 1776.

"So, if I am asked why - with all the pressing problems this nation faces today - why am I pushing these social issues and taking the Senate's valuable time? I will answer: Because, it is of the highest importance. Yes, there's a deficit to be concerned about in this country, a deficit of decency.

"So, as the sand empties through my hourglass at warp speed - and with my time running out in this Senate and on this earth, I feel compelled to speak out. For I truly believe that at times like this, silence is not golden. It is yellow."
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One of my yellow dog Democrat friends had the following response to Miller's comments: "Zell Miller is an idiot. He's lost it."

And this friend was worked up and mad. Me, I was laughing so hard about Zell talking about the following stuff that my stomach hurt too much to let all of his carrying on about his social and political views faze me at all:

Compared to Isaiah and Jeremiah, Amos was just an unsophisticated country hick; made-in-the-USA filth masquerading as entertainment; the pagan temple of Viacom-Babylon; the scent of this event will long linger in the nostrils of America; I'm not talking just about an exposed mammary gland with a pull-tab attached to it; Wouldn't one expect a bumping, humping, trashy routine entitled 'I'm going to get you naked' to end that way; Does any responsible adult ever listen to the words of this rap-crap; And then there was that prancing, dancing, strutting, rutting guy evidently suffering from jock itch because he kept yelling and grabbing his crotch. But then, maybe there's a crotch grabbing culture I've unaware of; the thing that yanked my chain the hardest; etc.

Liking Zell personally as I do, do I think he should switch parties? Hell, who am I to say. If he told me what to do and I did not agree with it, you can imagine what I would tell him in a respectful manner.

Liking Zell personally as I do, do I think he should be giving the keynote address at the Republican National Convention?

No, but Zell will be Zell. Always has been, always will be.

Do I have anything else to add? Yes, folks in the other Georgia sometimes have good ideas, believe it or not.

A case in point. My neighbor in Laurens County (yes, the county that had the messed up ballots in the Court of Appeals' election) Rep. DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) has some thoughts that in fairness to the Democratic Party ought to have gone through Sen. Miller's mind.

Rep. Porter questions why Miller didn't work within our Party to move it closer to the political middle. As Rep. Porter so eloquently puts it:

"I wish he was working more on ways to correct the Democratic Party rather than going and giving a speech at the Republican Convention," said Porter, House speaker pro tempore. "I wish he was giving that speech at the Democratic Convention."

(see 8-29-04 article in ajc.)

And the winner is . . . Jay Bookman -- A very timely column entitled "I, too, was abandoned by my party"

Hands down, no question about it. One of the best columns from this week and maybe the entire month came on Monday, 8-30-04, by Jay Bookman, deputy editorial page editor for the ajc. It is must reading. Posting excerpts will not do it justice. To wet your appetite, I'll give you one:

"The [Republican] party that had embraced Milton Friedman's common-sense warning that there's no such thing as a free lunch was telling taxpayers they could have a free lunch, dinner, dessert and after-dinner cigar as well."

You want more? The only way is to give it all to you. It follows:

I, too, was abandoned by my party

U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, a lifelong Democrat, says he feels abandoned by his party, which is why he'll be delivering the keynote address for the Republicans at their convention this week in New York City.

I have some sympathy for the senator. In fact, looking down the list of GOP speakers scheduled for primetime TV makes me downright nostalgic for the Republican Party of my youth and early adulthood, the party that might still draw my vote today had things gone differently. Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York Gov. George Pataki . . . almost every prominent remnant of the party's moderate wing will be up on stage for the national viewing audience, providing an image of reason for a party that otherwise treats them as illegitimate cousins.

If only that image were still real . . .

Growing up in a military family during Vietnam, I had little natural sympathy for the anti-war protests of that era; through my teenage years, it seemed to me that President Nixon was handling difficult times pretty well, at least until Watergate exposed his true character. But that was just one man's corruption, and in 1976 I proudly cast my first vote for Republican Jerry Ford over Democrat Jimmy Carter.

The GOP back then was still friendly to the environment; Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency and signed many of our landmark environmental laws. It still basked in its legacy of support for civil rights, and its strategy of wooing white Southern Democrats made bitter by their own party's role in ending segregation had not yet become evident. Its fiscal conservatism appealed to me as well. In my eyes, the Republican Party stood for competence and reason in a raucous era when neither was much evident.

But then came Ronald Reagan, who led the party to places I could not follow.

In the '80 campaign, I was startled by Reagan's contention that we could slash taxes and raise defense spending while still balancing the budget. It was an insult to basic intelligence. The party that had embraced Milton Friedman's common-sense warning that there's no such thing as a free lunch was telling taxpayers they could have a free lunch, dinner, dessert and after-dinner cigar as well. And from there it got worse.

Today, the modern Republican Party no longer has a plausible claim as the party of fiscal responsibility. That legacy began to crumble under the massive deficits created by Reagan, and it suffered another hit when it took Bill Clinton, a Democrat, to bring the budget under control and produce a surplus. But the truly fatal blow to that reputation -- the blow that has put it in the grave and tossed dirt on it -- came just in the last few years, as a Republican Congress and a Republican president approved the largest expansion of nondefense spending in the last 40 years, blithely dismissing the exploding deficit as somebody else's problem.

Well, I have two children, and they're that "somebody else."

Under Reagan, the party also began to woo conservative Christians with suggestions that by seizing political power, they could help save the soul of the American nation. Party leaders cynically calculated that they could milk the Christian movement for votes without ever really letting them have real power, but they were wrong. Today, the one-time party of limited government has mutated into a party that treats government as a legitimate tool for the cultural, moral and religious re-engineering of our nation.

Most of all, though, the Republican Party seems to have lost interest in competence. In economics, in foreign policy, on environmental and scientific issues, the voices of the competent have been silenced so the trumpets of the true believer can be heard. When practicality clashes with ideology or theology, practicality loses, particularly under the current administration.

In fact, "moderate" is about the worst thing that one Republican can call another Republican these days, which tells you a lot. The few moderates who remain have to fight for survival every day, until that magic moment once every four years when they are invited up to the podium, tokens of another, better time.

A fair economic litmus test question -- Are you better off now than 4 years ago?

Since Ronald Reagan posed the question with devastating effect in his 1980 bid to unseat President Carter, it has become an economic litmus test for incumbent presidents: Are you better off than you were four years ago?

An 8-30-04 article in the L.A. Times reviews how our nation is split on this issue, and has a line I need to add to my repertoire of one-liners:

"Just as all politics is local, perhaps most economics is personal."

The "perhaps" can be dropped.

The Philistines are after our friend 3rd District Congressman Jim Marshall -- Send him some stones and your dollars

On 8-30-04 Don Schanche Jr.of The Macon Telegraph Staff Writer reports:

Middle Georgia is likely to take a mud-bath during the next 10 weeks, as U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., and challenger Calder Clay slug it out in a re-match.

Two years ago, Marshall beat Clay by a mere 1 percent.

The 3rd Congressional District, which occupies most of central Georgia, is generally considered one of the few in the nation not already locked up by one party or the other.

Political scientist Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, lists it among his "dirty thirty" competitive House races, "guaranteed to see the lion's share of money and mudslinging."
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The good Lord doesn't make 'em better than Jim Marshall. He and Buddy Darden are two class acts.

Visit Congressman Marshall's website, and if you can, he sure needs our financial support (682 Cherry Street, Suite 300Macon, GA 31201).

Bush vs. Kerry On Your Tax Bill -- We report, you decide

Under President Bush we have had two tax bills that lowered income taxes, one in 2001 and the second in 2003.

For married couple filing jointly with adjusted gross incomes of about $225,000 or higher, and for single taxpayers with an income of $185,000 or higher (assuming typical itemized deductions), Kerry proposes to restore the following rates to what they were under President Clinton (that is, before the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts):

• Raising the top marginal income-tax rate of 35% back up to 39.6% and raising the 33% rate to 36%.
• Raising the 15% top rate on dividends to as high as 39.6%.
• Raising the top rate on capital gains from selling securities held more than one year from 15% to as high as 20%.

(We recall that prior to the 2003 tax cut, dividends were taxed at the same rate as ordinary income rather than at the favorable rates that apply to net capital gain. Now, after the 2003 tax cut, dividends are taxed at the favorable rates that apply to net capital gain, that is, 15% and 5%. This explains why the tax rates on dividends, under Kerry's proposal, would be higher than the tax rates on net capital gain.)

(As a tax practitioner for some 30 years, my platform contained some proposals for tax changes from someone who has been there and done that. These are on my website. Not having seen the light of day, maybe they will someday.)

Sen. Kerry, the Olympics bring to mind the Greek Tragedies and the word catharsis -- And we Americans are a forgiving people

On Friday, August 27, there is a post entitled "Kerry's Attempt to Finesse Iraq Issue May Backfire -- More on Kerry's dumb "Yes" answer " that features a Washington Post article on Kerry's misstep that "all" consider a blunder other than Kerry himself.

The comments to this post were as follows:

Rusty observed: "The Kerry campaign has been stumbling around like a drunken teenage girl on prom night, and not just on this issue, The response the Swift Boat Fibbers has been sad to watch. Those spokespeople need to get together and coordinate and get some message discipline. Bush is creeping back up in the polls, and will likely get a bigger bounce from his convention than Kerry did, despite what conventional wisdom would dictate. How Bush is even still in this election is beyond me..."

Mae commented: "Lets just let Edwards answer policy questions on everything."

I commented to the comments: "Calling it sad is being kind. I think I know what Kerry needs to do, and I have been debating whether to post it for several days. Your comment has given me the resolve to say yes, do it. I hope someone can get it to Kerry. I am going to send it to the group Veterans for Kerry of which I am a member, but all are afraid to tell the Emperor he is naked. He needs to get his mess straight. Time is our enemy. Bush should not be a factor now, and he is more than ever. My post will be tomorrow, and it will address your very point. Kerry must do something and now."
_______________

Well, I didn't do the post yesterday, and the rain continued over the weekend. Today there is a N.Y. Times article that discusses Bush's direct role in shaping election tactics and his unusual level of involvement in the campaign and campaign decisions. One quote from the article concerns Kelly's dumb "Yes" answer:

"Two weeks ago, after learning that Mr. Kerry said he would have voted to authorize the president to invade Iraq even if he had known that Saddam Hussein was not armed with unconventional weapons, the president jumped at what he described as a political opening, aides said.

"That was a mistake - we need to seize on it," Mr. Bush said, according to aides. The next day, he began hammering Mr. Kerry on the issue, and has not stopped."
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Today on The Georgia Gang Bill Shipp questioned the sanity of those running Kerry's campaign, noting that Bush must have a spy within the campaign's ranks suggesting moves guaranteed to fail (this is a lot of paraphrasing other than the "spy" bit).

In particular, Mr. Shipp wondered why in the world would the campaign have sent former Sen. Max Cleland to Crawford, Texas in the recent campaign stunt, something that further focuses on Vietnam, an issue that is killing Kerry. (We discussed the stunt in an earlier post entitled "I hope Cleland and the press corps flew Delta -- Otherwise what a waste of our Kerry political contributions.")
_______________

Folks, the Okefenokee Swamp (and no damnit, I didn't say anything about Route 3 Swamp Road) is about 45 minutes from Douglas. Some of us old-timers remember a comic strip entitled Pogo. A likeness of Pogo is on the water tower in downtown Waycross. Pogo and his friends lived in the Okefenokee Swamp, and one of Pogo's most famous lines was "We have met the enemy . . . and he is us." (Pogo's creator was Walt Kelly, an animator who worked with Walt Disney, and yes, this is another story.)

You know where this is leading, and thus I won't say it.
_______________

The weekend The Macon Telegraph had an editorial entitled "Candidates shortchanging electorate with side issues." The well-reasoned editorial reads as follows:

All right, presidential candidates, you've had your fun. It's time now to cut short the dog-and-pony show and concentrate on dealing with real issues facing this country.

While they may think it's accomplishing their goals when they blindside the American public with antics that mean next to nothing - refighting the 30-year-old Vietnam War or doing something tacky like sending a disabled veteran to the president's home in Texas to deliver a message he got got days ago, really suggests that they think the voters must be idiots who can't cope with real issues.

But let's assume that this is not what they think.

Whether or not John Kerry got a Purple Heart for a minor wound, or whether or not George W. Bush went into the Air National Guard to avoid combat in Vietnam, has little if any relevance now. What the candidates should be doing now is to tell us what they think the major issues are, in their order of priorities, and how they intend to address these concerns.

Once they do that, then the voters can reasonably choose the candidate they believe is best for the job.

But time is growing short. Bush and Kerry must attend to those issues confronting us now. Some of the more pressing issues include:

• What is the best outcome we can expect in the Iraq war, and how can the United States most effectively achieve that end and then get out with the fewest possible losses? We've lost about a thousand soldiers so far. Is it time to have an exit strategy worked out?

• Is the U.S. role to be the world's policeman? Or, would it be a wise move to re-establish ties with countries that apparently think we've developed a John Wayne complex? Is there a reasonable middle ground we on which we should be standing - providing strength when necessary while taking into consideration how we can respond to crises without tromping on our allies' toes?

• How can we best address the problem of Islamic terrorism? What is the fastest and most efficient way we can devise to analyze intelligence data to detect and stop attacks? (Hint: the 9/11 Commission's recommendations are a good place to start.)

• How can we best address the problem of immigration? How and to what degree should the United States restrict entry to potential new citizens, students or visitors?

The list goes on and on. Improving public education. Addressing problems of health care. Tax code changes. Social Security issues Entitlement programs, prison system woes, church and state questions. Jobs and the economy. A huge growing national debt. All are important, and all cry out for attention.

These are the problems facing America. To avoid them by substituting smoke-and- mirror issues shortchanges the electorate.
_______________

Amen, everyone was heard to say, and hear hear to the message and the messenger. The problem is, Bush has been gaining on the battle that some would argue Kerry began, and thus Bush will would ask, why should he cease and desist going with a winning strategy.

How did Kerry begin it? It could be argued he did so in a two-step maneuver. First, on February 8 of this year he questioned President's Bush's military-service record by saying:

"The issue here, as I have heard it raised, is was he present and active on duty in Alabama at the times he was supposed to be. . . . Just because you get an honorable discharge does not in fact answer that question."

And then after having first questioned Bush's war service, at the convention Kerry made his Vietnam service an important part of his campaign.

Will Bush cease and desist? Of course he won't. This week will get him going even stronger, as it is time for him and the GOP to be front and center rather than Kerry and the Demo's.

Any solution? The big bucks Kerry is spending ought to produce something, and such big bucks should have produced someone who was not afraid to tell the emperor he would be exposed as naked if he fell into Bush's trap and said "Yes" after having had an extended period of time to formulate an answer (if he even wanted to answer at all, that is, why let Bush set the election's agenda).

Someone ought to have been willing to say, fire me if you want to Senator, but if you say what you say you are going to say, you risk losing this election. You risk exposing America to four more years of Bush and Cheney. You Sir, are wrong, and a damn fool if you say "Yes," no disrespect intended Sir.

Well, it didn't happen, and thus we must make the best of what we have.

The solution: A rule in politics is that anyone who picks a fight ought to be prepared to finish it. Because of something Kerry said over 30 years ago, he has picked a fight he cannot completely win, in my opinion, because of something he said during his Congressional testimony in 1972.

Any thoughts over the next day or so before writing my own will be duly noted, but the title of this post is a hint to my suggestion of the only thing Kerry can do at this point to put Vietnam behind him and move on.

Kerry needs to eat some crow and apologize about saying, years ago (1972) as a youth, something he didn't really mean and he knows now and knew then was and is not true.

Saying it was a disservice to all who have served this great country, and with this said, Kerry stands behind his record, and is moving on. With this behind him, Bush will attack Kerry's volunteering for duty and his service in Vietnam at his peril.

Attempt to Track Malpractice Cases Is Often Thwarted – How: Delete Physician's Name From Suit Before Settling -- We report, you decide

On a summer day six years ago, Elizabeth Riley entered Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She was vomiting and complaining of the worst headache of her life.

The 33-year-old cosmetics saleswoman was diagnosed with a neck sprain and sent home. Ten days later, Ms. Riley suffered a massive stroke. Part of her brain had to be removed and she was left a paraplegic.

Ms. Riley's father, Gerard, acting on her behalf, sued Northwestern and the doctor who treated her, contending they should have detected a bulging and leaking blood vessel inside her skull. The doctor responded that Ms. Riley hadn't followed his advice to see her own doctor in two or three days and to come back if her symptoms worsened. In 2002, after nearly three years of litigation, the lawsuit took a strange turn. Just before the case went to the jury, Mr. Riley agreed to dismiss the doctor as a defendant in the suit. The following day, the doctor's employer settled the case for $17.5 million.

It was one of the largest medical malpractice awards ever in Illinois. But it was never reported to the nation's only central repository for malpractice information, a government-run facility known as the National Practitioner Data Bank. That's because such cases are allowed to go unreported under a widely used but little-known clause in the rules governing the Data Bank's operation.

The clause is known in the medical and insurance worlds as the "corporate shield." It comes into play when individuals filing malpractice claims remove a doctor's name from the claim, leaving only the hospital or another corporate entity identified as the responsible party. The Data Bank's rules require the reporting only of doctors named in final malpractice settlements, so a payment doesn't have to be reported when a doctor's name is removed from the claim.

Such an omission appears to undermine the main purpose of the Data Bank. It was created by Congress nearly 20 years ago to improve patient safety, after a number of cases surfaced showing that states and individual organizations had failed to restrict the practices of possibly incompetent physicians. The Data Bank was designed to make it easier for hospitals and state licensing boards to check on doctors' qualifications before hiring or licensing them.

Instead, the Data Bank could be missing information on as many as half of malpractice payments. Without the corporate shield, the number of malpractice payments reported to the Data Bank each year could double to 38,000, according to an estimate prepared in 1998 by the federal government agency charged with administering the Data Bank.

In Ms. Riley's case, the doctor was employed by Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that employs doctors who work at Northwestern hospital. A spokesman for the foundation, which settled the case, confirmed that the case wasn't reported to the Data Bank. "We'd prefer not to get into" whether the foundation asked Ms. Riley's attorneys to dismiss the doctor from the suit prior to settlement, the spokesman said.

Northwestern hospital conducted an internal review of the case, a hospital spokeswoman said, but she declined to comment on the results.
The federal agency that administers the Data Bank, the Health Resources and Services Administration, has known of the impact of the corporate shield for more than a decade. It has tried twice to change the rules governing the Data Bank, in 1998 and 2000. But its efforts were stymied by medical groups and malpractice-insurance companies, many of which are represented on a 30-member executive committee that advises the HRSA on the Data Bank.

At least one of those groups on the committee, the American Medical Association, wants the Data Bank abolished. The AMA argues that malpractice claims data are not a good indicator of a doctor's skills. Doctors also worry that a listing in the Data Bank could hurt their prospects for employment. However, some hospital executives say malpractice suits are so common that a notation in the Data Bank wouldn't necessarily hurt a doctor's chances of getting hospital privileges.

(wsj. Email me to request whole article.)

I confess that the man is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't as far as I am concerned -- Commissioner of Insurance John Oxendine

You know the type -- it matters not what he or she does, you always suspect a rat, an ulterior motive, etc.

Well, I readily confess that this is my immediate thought and reaction to anything I read or head about what John Oxendine has said or done.

Friday I read in an insurance industry publication Insurance Journal: "Ga. Commissioner Fines Loan Company $400,000." Then in the weekend edition of one of our local papers I find the same article.

Just another press release from the Commissioner's office -- hardly? In this one the Commissioner is claiming to have actually done something that his job description requires him to do.

My cynical reaction -- what a dumb loan company. Doesn't it know that even though "cuff link Carl" Sanders beat "they ate my bar-b-que Marvin Griffin" decades ago, the same rules still prevail in certain departments in state government?

And even if that Georgia gubernatorial race -- being in 1962 and that represented good's triumph over evil for me when I was 13 -- was before this loan company's time, didn't it's officers see The Godfather? You pay up one way or the other.

(As an aside, 1962 was an important year in Georgia history. That year in Westberry v. Sanders a federal court invalidated our state's county-unit system, and thus was born the one man one vote concept. And Gov. Sanders became Georgia's first governor elected by popular vote rather than under the county-unit system. The county-unit system was somewhat akin to the electoral college on the federal scene, but with significant differences.)

(For the what it's worth department, while I generally agree with doing away with the county unit system -- there is some logic to having our state senate comprised differently than the state house just as it is with the U.S. Senate, not necessarily by county, but on some other basis than just one man one vote -- currently I am not in favor of doing away with the electoral college. It might need some revising, I really don't know; all I know about it is what I learned in college while minoring in political science and watching it every four years. Thus I am not an expert in the subject to say the least. But I do know that I don't want New York, California, Florida and Pennsylvania being the only states that determine who our president will be. But I digress big-time, and back to Commissioner Oxendine and unsolving the mystery: did he actually fine a company that had contributed to his campaign.)

Well, I checked out the poor company, and you are not going to believe what I found out. According to Cathy with a "C" Cox's records, the company -- Covington Credit of Georgia Inc. -- has made no contributions to his majesty. Not directly; not toward his state car with its leather seats and upgraded CD player and a premium cassette player and police package; nothing. What was the company thinking.

Now if the company was overcharging, put it to 'em, shut it down, make it hurt, whatever it takes. $400,000, if that won't do it, make it $4,000.000. If you are regulated under the Georgia Industrial Loan Act, you are already loaning funds to those least likely to be able to repay.

Well, although it was no surprise to learn that Covington Credit of Georgia, Inc. -- being a company that the Commissioner regulates and one that he fined -- had made no contribution to his majesty, I did find a couple of items of interest.

The first item of interest: Even though we are two years away from the Commissioner's re-election or his trying to move up the ladder to Lt. Gov. or some other office, he still needs the assistance of some heavy duty "campaign" advice, to the tune of paying $17,000 in January of 2004 to McLaughlin & Associates of New York for "campaign consulting."

Maybe Oxedine was paying this New York outfit to advise him that under Georgia law his office is not bound by the opinion of the Office of Inspector General (yes, this is one of the Governor's arms).

You remember the opinion and report: Georgia Insurance Commissioner Oxendine blatantly disregarded a state ban on automobile purchases and should repay taxpayers for the car with luxury upgrades that he bought, according to this report by the state's Inspector General.

Continuing, it said that if Oxendine does not repay the state the $25,689 he spent to purchase a 2003 Ford Crown Victoria with leather seats and six-disc CD player, the state Attorney General's office should consider forcing him to comply, Inspector General James Sehorn wrote in this report.

"Commissioner Oxendine's actions were in blatant disregard for established authority," this report stated. "When informed that he would not be allowed to purchase his automobile, his response was, in general, 'Try and stop me.' "

The second item of interest: What or who is "Oxendine Working for Georgia" at 1498 Buford Hwy, Sugar Hill, GA 30518-0000, which was good for a $5,000 expenditure in May 2004 as a "contribution" from Oxendine's campaign fund?

Were these payments indirectly relieving some of the Commissioner's financial pain for getting right when he succumbed to public pressure and undid what he would not even then concede was wrong anyway? Probably not; both probably as legitimate as they can be.

But this guy needs to clean up his public perception so that people who by nature are not cynical and who are trusting -- yes, I am talking about myself -- will not doubt what he says because he is the one saying it. Maybe the $17,000 campaign expenditure was for a course on being diplomatic and making a good public impression, and I just haven't been able to notice the results.

Oxendine's press release in my hard copy of The Douglas Enterprise reports that as Insurance Commissioner, Oxendine is responsible for regulating companies that make consumer loans of $3,000 or less under the Georgia Industrial Loan Act., and concludes: "Such companies . . . are regularly examined by Oxendine's office."

Maybe they are, but his saying it does not convince me that they are. As I noted early in this post, I just don't have a good comfort level with this guy, whether I should or shouldn't.

Based on my 25 to 30 years of working with local governments, I know that they do go through thorough annual audits, and that such audits by state agencies ought to be routine, just as routine as the State Department of Education's annual auditing of the finances of each and and every school district in the state of Georgia.

Well, it's almost 9:30 on Sunday morning. Time for my workout and watching The Georgia Gang on Fox 5 at 9:30. Then to church.

I'm with the flaggers on this one -- Mock hanging of Confederate flag; I say hang the carpetbagger

The Gwinnett Daily Post has an article entitled "Plan for mock lynching of a Confederate flag stirs controversy." And damn well it should.

It seems as though this guy from Florida – a no-good Yankee carpetbagger no doubt – has got it in his mind to hold a mock lynching of a Confederate flag as part of an art exhibition at a Gettysburg College art gallery early next month.

There is a minor movement afoot to cancel the show. Count me in.

Of all places, Gettysburg, a sacred place where both sides fought valiantly and lost thousands and thousands of lives. I took my three girls there, and hope to take my grandkids there one day just as I look forward to taking them to the Statute of Liberty.

I voted with the majority (the vote was 3-to-1) in the nonbinding referendum that approved our present flag, almost a replica of the Confederate national flag, the Stars and Bars. And I am proud of our present flag, not just because it is a part of our heritage and disguishes us from say Nevada, but because it is one good-looking flag.

I also liked the looks of the flag the legislature adopted in 1956 that contained the St. Andrew’s cross. I also like the looks of the flag the legislature replaced in 1956, but not as much as I did the looks of the 1956 flag.

(Andrews was the brother of Simon Peter, was supposedly the first-called disciple, and was reportedly crucified by the Romans on an x-shaped cross, claiming he did not feel worthy to be crucified on a regular cross as Jesus was.)

Am I glad we changed flags? You dern right I am. We had no choice.

Congress could outlaw "white only" signs, but not what the Confederate battle flag based on the St. Andrews cross had come to be – a symbol of rascism and hatred. Unfortunately, to many Americans it conjured up memories of lynchings, the KKK and nightriders, Jim Crowism, etc.

It had to go and I am glad it is behind us. Changing it took courage. We won’t hear about it next week, but Sen. Miller almost lost re-election in 1994 as governor for trying to change the flag during his first term.

And we all know it contributed to Roy Barnes’ defeat. Barnes has said: "Of course, I knew there was a chance [that changing the flag] would affect my re-election, but I also knew that the time had come to do it. We had watched what was happening in South Carolina and Mississippi. I didn't want the flag to divide Georgia more than it already had. It was the state government that changed the flag in 1956, and it was our responsibility to correct that mistake.''

I am happy the Stars and Bars has no such connotation. To try to give it such would be a mistake and injustice to the South’s history and heritage. As the Confederate national flag, Stars and Bars is part of our history as are our ancestors who fought with valor to the end, regardless for which side.

Just as the we now sing that great anthem The Battle Hymn of Republic which was the Union's marching song, we should not forget what the colors blue and grey represent, or let the song Dixie go the way of the Edsel and Oldsmobile, and not appreciate the book and movie Gone with the Wind.

And as far as I am concerned, neither should our Confederate Monuments in counties such as my own and so many others in Georgia and the South; the statutes that line the streets in Richmond, Virginia; and those on state capitols throughout the South, be regarded as other than part of our region's history.

The Civil War, the War Between the States, the War of Northern Aggression -- call it what suits you -- is part of our history. The Confederate flag is part of that history. The carpetbagger and not our history is who needs to be lynched.

On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country . . . . -- But to recite such at Rotary, come on Rep. Isakson, spare us please

Many of you no doubt know the Boy Scouts oath that begins "On my honor I will . . . ." .

Well, in Rotary we have something known as the four-way test. It consists of four questions:

Is it the truth?

Is it fair to all concerned?

Will it build good will and better relationships?

Will it be beneficial to all involved?

Laugh if you like, but I like the four-way test.

But do I like what I read today in Albany Herald? Let's just say that I am glad I wasn't there "making up" (attending another club's meeting to make up for missing one in our home club, for me, the Douglas Rotary Club).

I would have thought, Johnny, Johnny, spare us please.

Thursday in Albany Isakson talked with the Albany Rotary Club about the war in Iraq, and used Rotary's four-way test to justify it. Excerpts from the Albany Herald article:

Isakson said "yes" can be the answer to all of the [Rotary four-way test] questions concerning the war.

"We have found 400,000 Iraqi bodies in eight graves in Iraq. We have found canisters redesigned to carry ... chemical weapons. In the Euphrates River we have found the precursors to sarin gas. We have found buried Scud missiles. We have found the engines to those Scuds in Jordan," he said, supporting the argument that the war was to protect the United States and Iraq's neighbors and citizens.

In the long run, he said, the war will build goodwill and better relationships.

"Right now, no, it's not. But did the dropping of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki immediately build good relations? Now (Japan) is one of our strongest partners," he said.

And, he said, ridding the world of dictators and extremists and their weapons will benefit the world.

Oh ye of little faith -- Georgians can always count on the Dean to tell it like it is -- Cong. Jack Kingston and Mayor Franklin

In an earlier post entitled "Does the Congressman think it is Republican money -- Hang tough Mayor Franklin," I said I must have been asleep at the wheel in missing an article on Mayor Franklin and a sitting Congressman and a Congressional candidate.

I wrote: "I can't believe I missed it and haven't seen anything about it anywhere else."

Well, even as I was pecking away, the good Dean had already penned and distributed another one of his classics on the subject. I should have known. I do have the faith.

Anybody can read and report. The Dean -- in a way that only the Dean can do and that makes him Georgia's Dean -- can tell like it is. Excerpts from one of Bill Shipp's weekly columns:

The latest news reports on 1st District Rep. Jack Kingston can't be true. He's too smart to make such a dumb move.

Kingston's aides say the Savannah congressman is having second thoughts about supporting federal funds for Atlanta's multibillion-dollar sewer makeover.

If Kingston says "no" to federal funds for Atlanta, then "no" it is. Kingston is the state's sole chairman of an appropriations subcommittee, chairman of the House GOP caucus and the closest thing Georgia has to congressional muscle in D.C.

He is angry at Democratic Mayor Franklin because she is supporting Democratic challenger John Barrow of Athens against incumbent 12th District Rep. Max Burns, R-Sylvania.

In this era of personalized, give-no-quarter partisanship, opposing funds for fixing Atlanta's sewers to exact revenge on a Democrat-controlled City Hall may make perfect sense to obtuse partisan zealots.

Never mind that Atlanta's untreated and unchanneled wastewater is defiling half the state, including the property of thousands of Kingston's constituents.

Never mind that when a new school is built or a road paved in rural Georgia (even in parts of Kingston's and Burns' districts), much of the tax-supported funding for the project can be traced back to metro Atlanta.

Downstate politicians may hate the idea, but Atlanta and environs are the economic engine of the state. What rational public official could possibly entertain undermining Atlanta's economy - no matter how badly he wishes to take a swipe at Her Honor?

For Georgia's ranking congressman - and a co-chief of the Republican National Convention - to move against Atlanta to satisfy a petty partisan grievance defies comprehension.

Most of Georgia's congressional delegation, including Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Moultrie, favors helping Atlanta. But Kingston holds the trump card and the power to trash the clean water project.

Say it ain't so, Jack. Say you were just fooling when your staff threatened to hit Atlanta where it hurts, in the federal pocketbook.

Say you didn't mean it when you sent word to career Democratic activist Franklin to keep her mouth shut in "a faraway from Atlanta" congressional contest against a GOP incumbent. That is not the democratic way, Jack, or the Republican one either.

We're sure the reports of such lunacy are way off base.

Get right, Jack. The elections will shortly be over. Governance goes on. You may return to Georgia one day. You don't want to find a state whose main rivers have turned into open sewers because a Savannah congressman split with an Atlanta mayor over a House election that has little to do with either of them.

GOP Congressman Max Burns has a firm grasp on the obvious -- No Child Left Behind

If you are a teacher or school administrator, you will enjoy reading this article from the Athens Banner-Herald. I did as a school board attorney whose wife Sally teaches.

The federal No Child Left Behind law, which mandates academic achievement goals for schoolchildren locally and across the country, may need to be changed so that it's more practical, Republican Congressman Max Burns told Clarke County educators Friday after listening to them detail problems they've had with the law's implementation.

The above is the good news. The bad -- Burns made the comment in Athens (Georgia that is); when he gets back to Washington, he will no doubt toe the party line.

Dumb and dumber -- No more Tide at my house

P&G more than tripled A.G. Lafley's long-term incentive pay to $9.86 million, citing its chief executive's stewardship of the company's turnaround.

Mr. Lafley's total compensation was $15.06 million last year. In the previous fiscal year, his compensation was $11.84 million. He did not exercise any options during either year.

I don't have any grandchildren yet; but since I will, I am going to be pushing diapers. At least not Pampers.

I follow Procter & Gamble Co. The guy has been there four years. This is more insanity from corporate America.

Kerry's Attempt to Finesse Iraq Issue May Backfire -- More on Kerry's dumb "Yes" answer

The 8-27-04 Washington Post discusses Kerry's predicament with his dumb "Yes" answer that we covered in an earlier post with the title "Talk about cringing -- Fallout from the ill-fated "Yes" answer."

On the 8-10-04 post below appears: "Kerry said what about Iraq? -- Be careful here Senator" concerning the headline "Kerry says Bush was right to invade Iraq." The post predicts that "We will hear more about this Kerry "yes" between now and November than his earlier I did but I didn't."

Frankly, I was then and remain in shock that this was the response. Maybe there was some purpose in the response that was going over my head, that I was missing. I mean after all, it wasn't like the Senator responded to a question at a news conference that he had no clue was coming.

[The post goes onto to quote a New York Times article that says the call on his answer was made by Kerry himself. I conclude the post with the following:]

I once heard a joke about a guy praying to the good Lord that he win the lottery. After much prayer, he heard a deep voice from above saying "Help me here, buy a ticket."

Senator Kerry, help us here. Buy some advice; listen to some advice; do something.
_______________

Back to the Washington Post article. It notes:

President Bush's rationale for war in Iraq continues to crumble, but it seems that Sen. John F. Kerry has his own war problem.

While the effort to tar Kerry's Vietnam record has not been a positive development for the Democrat, it has obscured media coverage over a more current subject -- Kerry's position on the conflict in Iraq.

In case you missed it, Bush forced Kerry into a corner earlier this month by demanding he answer a simple yes-or-no question: "Knowing what we know now [would Kerry] have supported going into Iraq?"

If Kerry answered no, then the Bush campaign would take the sound bite and make the argument that Saddam Hussein would still be in power if Kerry had been president. If Kerry answered yes, they would argue that his position was essentially the same as Bush's position and that his criticism of the president's Iraq policy was hypocritical.

[Well, it was not that limited. The prior post notes:

Mr. Kerry's answer is being second-guessed among his supporters, some of whom argued that he should have been more wary of the trap.

"I wish he had simply said no president in his right mind would ask the Senate to go to war against a country that didn't have weapons that pose an imminent threat," said one of Mr. Kerry's Congressional colleagues and occasional advisers.

Oh, well, that's behind us. The Washington Post writer continues:]

"After months of attacking President Bush's motives and credibility during the Democrat presidential primary, going so far as to declare himself the anti-war candidate, John Kerry now says knowing what he knows now he would still have voted for the Iraq war," said Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie at a news conference this week. "Senator Kerry's ever changing positions on Iraq are not the kind of steady leadership we need in these times of challenge and change. And we're going to continue to make that point between now and November 2."

Whatever the case, Kerry's position on Iraq is similar enough to Bush's to make the most important issue for most voters a non-issue. This might help Kerry with some independent voters in key battleground states, but a question remains over just how fired up the party's base will be able to get for a candidate who has an almost indistinguishable foreign policy from that of a president they strongly dislike.

Kerry's unwillingness to disavow his vote for the war has meant that he also hasn't been able to take advantage of dissent from some in the president's party. More and more members of Congress -- including conservative Rep. Doug Bereuter, a Republican from Nebraska -- say that they wouldn't have voted for the war if they knew then what they know now.

More Americans Were Uninsured and Poor in 2003

Here is an article (unlike wsj unless I email it to you) that you can read for yourself. New York Times on the subject as reported by the United States Census Bureau. (Details were summarized in a post below from the wsj.)

We report, you decide -- A viewpoint on Medicaid

The Macon Telegraph gives its take on the current fiscal situation with Medicaid in today's editorials. Take a minute now and read this; we are going to be hearing a whole lot more rather than less about this topic in the future. The tenor of the editorial is found in its headline "Medicaid expenses place state in no-win situation" and first paragraph:

Gov. Sonny Perdue is faced with a conundrum. The dictionary defines "conundrum" as a "problem admitting of no satisfactory solution." The state has many problems, but the one fleeing solutions the fastest is Medicaid. The program is running a $172 million deficit, and none of the ideas to cut back on services or eligibility are palatable.

Number of uninsured Georgians continues to rise

The 8-27 -04 Macon Telegraph reports:

The number of Georgians without health insurance has risen for the third straight year to 16.4 percent of the state's population, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

The bureau also reported a marginal increase in the median household income, when adjusted for inflation, and a slight decrease in the number of Georgians living below the poverty level.

The numbers may worsen an already bleak position for the department, which is considering cutting at least $172.6 million and perhaps as much as $327.6 million from Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids in next year's budget. The cuts could deny, reduce or eliminate benefits to thousands of low-income women and children as well as to the blind, aged, disabled and those in hospices.

Small businesses are facing increasing economic pressure to discontinue - or not start - insurance programs. And rising health care rates are eating up more of the state budget, as Medicaid is expected to consume 60 percent of new state revenue by 2011 - a level that the governor's office says is unsustainable.

All quiet on the economic front

Economists slashed their forecasts for third-quarter growth, but they see the weakness as short-lived and anticipate job growth ahead.

(wsj)

Health-care costs going up "only" 9.6% next year -- Get ready for less spendable income

Employers believe that they can slow the rate of increase in health-care costs to 9.6% in 2005, but only after shifting more of the expense to their employees.

In the survey's final results last year, employers said they expected health-care costs to increase 13% going into 2004.

Still, at more than three times the current rate of general inflation, the more moderate increase leaves little room for companies to cheer.

What's more, many employers will manage to whittle their health-care spending only after raising workers' deductibles and copayments, cutting back some health benefits and limiting the number of plans they offer, said Blaine Bos, a senior health-care consultant at Mercer and the survey's chief analyst.

(wsj)

Influx of Hispanics, Asians marks metro area's growth

The 8-27-04 ajc reports:

Metro Atlanta's population boom keeps booming along — adding about 320 people a day since 2000 — with the fastest growth among Hispanics and Asians.

The 20-county metro area's population increased by 9 percent between 2000 and 2003 and now is about 4.4 million, according to estimates released Thursday by the Census Bureau.

The percentage of whites in the overall metro population has decreased from 60 percent to 58 percent in the last three years. Black population growth, at 11 percent, barely outpaces the overall rate. Blacks make up 29 percent of the total metro Atlanta population.

Within the five core counties, Hispanic and Asian populations are growing the fastest in Cobb and Gwinnett. Cobb's Hispanic population has grown 22 percent and its Asian population 20 percent over the last three years. Gwinnett experienced a 31 percent increase in Hispanic population and a 26 percent jump in Asians.

Metro Atlanta's soaring Hispanic population — now almost 350,000, nearly double the population of Columbus — may be even larger than the census numbers indicate, said demographer [Doug] Bachtel [, a demographer at the University of Georgia.]

"Nobody is certain how many Hispanics there are here because some of them are here illegally," Bachtel said. "There are various guesstimates. It could be one-and-a-half or two times the official number."

No more special sessions please -- Budget cuts to close state parks

Dave Williams of The Albany Herald and GDP reports that several state parks and historic sites will be shut down next year by budget cuts, but the Department of Natural Resources hasn't decided which, according to Department of Natural Resources Noel Holcomb said.

Closing parks and historic sites would save $316,500, while a separate proposal to close some of the state's wildlife-management areas would save about $304,000.

Now they are coming out of the woodwork; where were they when I needed them -- Majette gets more help

Ajc's 8-27-04 PI reports another Miller veteran is joining Rep. Denise Majette's campaign for U.S. Senate. Chicago-based consultant Jim Andrews, who was Miller's chief strategist in his 1994, will serve as general consultant for Majette.

Most recently, Andrews worked on Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards' primary campaign for president.

He also has worked for the former North Carolina U.S. Senate nominee Harvey Gantt.

Political consultant and former Miller press secretary Rick Dent, who also signed on with Majette this week, said Andrews brings "a solid strategic
mind and a lot of experience in Georgia" to the campaign.
_______________

Harvey Gantt was the first black elected to the office of Mayor in Charlotte, my old stomping grounds when I attended Davidson College and where I met my wife Sally at Queens College. He was the first black to enter the previously all-white Clemson University.

And he lost to Jesse Helms not once but twice in races for the U.S. Senate.

And yes your are right. He was the victim of the Hands Ad (an ad up there in the ranks with the Willie Horton ad). In the 1990 U.S. Senate race, Gantt was running strong. Helms ran the hands ad, a/k/a the White Hands ad.

The ad shows a pair of white hands crumpling a job rejection notice as a voiceover says that Helms opposes racial quotas in hiring. Helms recovered the lead and won.

Lunch at midtown -- A send-off party for Sen. Miller

Why don't we meet at, say, Sen. Miller's Colony Square office at noon.

The 8-27-04 ajc's PI reports that a little meeting is planned by a coalition of Atlanta groups outraged at Miller's endorsement of George W. Bush has gathered outside his office.

I don't know the menu, but hopefully at the next post-November 2 rally we can say and serve "let them eat crow."

Report that Shows Poverty Rise Also Comes Under Political Fire

Poverty is escalating and health-care coverage is slipping, the latest Census Bureau report said, in what some are calling a politically timed news release.

The bureau reported today that the number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million last year -- a 3.8% rise -- while the ranks of the uninsured swelled by 1.4 million -- a 3.4% rise -- in the third straight annual increase for both categories. Median household income, adjusted for inflation, remained basically flat last year at $43,318. Whites, blacks and Asians saw no noticeable change, but income fell 2.6% for Hispanics to $32,997. Whites had the highest income at $47,777. The figures represent economic changes that have already occurred, Anirvan Banerji, director of research for the Economic Cycle Research Institute, said. "Once you are well into a expansion, you are still waiting for trickle down to the weaker and more vulnerable sectors of society," he said.

The news itself surprised no one, but the timing of the news raised many eyebrows. Some Democrats questioned why the reports were released together in August, rather than separately in September as had been done in the past. Many accused the White House of trying to downplay the bad news. Releasing the figures at the same time and not so close to Election Day, "invites charges of spinning the data for political purposes," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D., N.Y.) Census Director Louis Kincannon -- a Bush appointee -- denied politics played any role in moving up the release date. "There has been no influence or pressure from the [Bush] campaign," Mr. Kincannon said Wednesday.

(wsj online)

Stay the course in Iraq, 3rd District Congressman Jim Marshall says

An 8-26-04 article in the Macon Telegraph reports:

Congressman Jim Marshall returned this week from the Middle East more convinced than ever that the United States must stand firm in Iraq until the Iraqis are able to secure their own country.

"It's easy to go back and second guess a lot of decisions that we've made. I don't think there's a lot of value in that," said Marshall. "It would be a major mistake for us not to hang in there long enough to give it a good shot at Iraq becoming a peaceful, anti-terrorist country."

Although no one has found the weapons of mass destruction which were key to the Bush administration's rationale for war, Marshall said leaving Iraq now would create another failed state - a vacuum to be filled by jihadist militants, bent on violence against the United States and its allies.
But Marshall said success in Iraq is by no means assured. It depends on Iraqis taking charge, despite the attacks on Iraqis who cooperate with Americans.

"We may or may not be able to do this. It's going to be a tough go. The American people need to stay resolved."

Marshall was more sanguine about the outlook for Afghanistan.

He said efforts to register voters and build schools there are taking hold. And he said Afghanis in general dislike the Taliban more than they dislike Americans.

Marshall remains deeply concerned that the United States will feel another major terrorist strike within the next couple of years.

Marshall, a Democrat, represents Georgia's 3rd District. He faces a challenge in the November general election from Republican candidate Calder Clay III.

This must be April fool's day -- White House Shifts Its Focus on Climate

Just because the convention is around the corner and its election season has never seemed to matter. But its good news, and so let's enjoy it.

According to the 8-26-04 N.Y. Times, the administration has issued a report indicating that emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases were the only likely explanation for global warming. The article notes:

In a striking shift in the way the Bush administration has portrayed the science of climate change, a new report to Congress focuses on federal research indicating that emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases are the only likely explanation for global warming over the last three decades.

Previously, President Bush and other officials had emphasized uncertainties in understanding the causes and consequences of warming as a reason for rejecting binding restrictions on heat-trapping gases.

[The report] also says the accumulating emissions pose newly identified risks to farmers, citing studies showing that carbon dioxide promotes the growth of invasive weeds far more than it stimulates crops and that it reduces the nutritional value of some rangeland grasses.

American and international panels of experts concluded as early as 2001 that smokestack and tailpipe discharges of heat-trapping gases were the most likely cause of recent global warming. But the White House had disputed those conclusions.

[T] report was disputed by some groups, aligned with industry, that oppose restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions and have attacked science pointing to dangerous human-caused warming as flawed.

At the same time, the report did not please environmental groups, which have repeatedly criticized Mr. Bush for opposing efforts to require restrictions on the gases linked to global warming, though he has gradually come around to the position that warming is at least partly caused by emissions.

"The Bush administration on the one hand isn't doing anything about the problem, but on the other hand can't deny the growing science behind global warming," said Jeremy Symons of the National Wildlife Federation.

The latest analysis, done at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., found that natural shifts in the output of the sun and other factors were responsible for the warming from 1900 to 1950, but could not explain the sharp and continuing rise since 1970.

I won't participate -- A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still -- Cyber messing with Sen. Miller's website

An article in the 8-25-04 Athens Observer is advocating cyber messing with Sen. Miller's website. There is a right way, and there is a wrong way to express one's feelings.

Such cyber messing is sabotage. I will not participate.

I hope Cleland and the press corps flew Delta -- Otherwise what a waste of our Kerry political contributions

Veni, vidi, vici.

Well, not exactly. I, Max Cleland, came to Crawford, Texas; I saw no one but Secret Service Agents; I might not have conquered, but I tried to kick a little tail when I said:

"The question is where is George Bush's honor, the question is where is his shame to attack a fellow veteran who has distinguished himself in combat? Regardless of the political combat involved, it's disgraceful."

In truth, I didn't conquer a damn thing other than a campaign stunt, but this is all it was supposed to be anyway. But I will not give up easily: "I am just going to return the letter and make sure it gets in the mail," Cleland said.

The headline reads "Cleland tries vainly to deliver Democrats' letter to Bush ranch" and the article notes that "[f]ormer Democratic Sen. Max Cleland tried to deliver a letter protesting ads challenging John Kerry's Vietnam service to President Bush at his Texas ranch Wednesday, but the Secret Service stopped Cleland short of his goal."

Max, Delta is ready when you are. You did take Delta, didn't you? (8-25-04 AP article in ajc.)

So what else is new? -- Let's balance the budget on the backs of the poor -- More Medicaid cuts in store

Before we had tapes and CD's, sometimes the needle on a phonograph record would get "stuck" and the same thing would play over and over. That was my reaction when I read the following headline in the 8-25-05 ajc: "Medicaid board considering deep spending cuts."

The article notes:

The board that manages government health programs in Georgia is considering massive spending cuts that could deny, reduce or eliminate benefits to thousands of low-income women and children as well as to the blind, aged, disabled and those in hospices.

Options for cutting at least $172.6 million and perhaps as much as $327.6 million from Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids in next year's budget were outlined for the first time Wednesday for the Board of Community Health.

Commissioner Tim Burgess said he will ask board members to act on the proposal at a later meeting, but added that the agency has little choice because the cuts are required under new budget orders given department heads this month by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

[And for the doctor-types who think all Democrats are bad, the administration has something for you:]

The department also would adjust the formulas by which it reimburses Medicaid providers, including a 3 percent reduction for all but hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies.
_______________

Somebody needs to tell the Governor that President Bush is not going to drop Dick Cheney from the ticket, and that he needs to cease and desist positioning himself for being named as Bush's replacement running mate.

You saw the Cheney headline: "[F]reedom means freedom for everyone." -- But there is more here . . . .

Vice President's Cheney says that he sees gay marriage as a state issue, stating that he and his wife "Lynne . . . have a gay daughter, so it's an issue that our family is very familiar with. . . . With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People . . . ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to."

It is being reported that this revelation during a town hall meeting in Iowa took leaders of the GOP conservative base by surprise. This is either baloney or such leaders should not have been; the timing of his response may have been a surprise, but not the response itself.

While Cheney's remark was the first time the Vice President has taken note of his daughter's sexual orientation in public, it has been public knowledge for some time.

We all know that blood is thicker than water. I have three daughters I love dearly just as you love your children. Who among us would not stand up for our kids.

Thus while his remarks may subject him to political criticism, I for one appreciate his saying my job be damned, when the roll is called, don't count me in on wanting to put discrimination of fellow human beings, including my daughter, in the Constitution.

The question came from what was supposed to be a Republican "friendly" audience; obviously it was not a staged question. It was a direct and to the point what do you think in your "heart" about same-sex marriage.

We've all knew the question had to come at some time, just as it did four years ago, but this time it is a more volatile issue courtesy of his running mate having endorsed a constitutional amendment preventing the states from recognizing such marriages.

Now the matter is behind him, and I feel certain he is relieved it is.

Kerry also should be happy, not because it confirms a difference with Bush on a high profile issue, but because it gave the press some fodder for reporting on something other than his service record.

If Kerry is smart, he will not comment on this matter in the context of the Vice President. If he does so, it will be at his peril, and anything he says most likely will backfire or at least help the Vice President (I am reluctant to use the word sympathy, but you get my drift).

Like the guy or not, he was very diplomatic in stating "my own preference is as I've stated, [b]ut the president makes basic policy for the administration. And he's made it."

The title of this post also says "But there is more here . . . ." The more follows.

An 8-25-04 Washington Post article reporting the story states:

"Although Bush has rarely discussed his support for the amendment, conservatives viewed his stance as one of the most important social statements of his term. Republican strategists said it would motivate Christian voters to the polls even though it risks alienating swing voters."

Someone please give these guys a life.

There were some 450 people at the town hall meeting. Most of the questions other than about same-sex marriage from the crowd were supportive and respectful, but there was one more who also strayed from the planned text.

But unlike the lady who got a straight answer to her question on same-sex marriage, I don't think Cheney's answer was what the second lady had in mind. Quoting from the Washington Post:

"[O]ne woman sobbed as she told the vice president that her husband had been unemployed for several years after the pump factory where he worked closed with most of its jobs going abroad.

Cheney responded that U.S. companies would become more competitive if Congress made the last three Bush tax cuts permanent and passed legislation to limit lawsuits against manufacturers and doctors."

Oh well, Cheney probably thought after reflecting on his response, she was going to vote Democratic anyway.

Final thought: Kerry needs to quit letting W lay out the agenda for this election. Next week this will be a given. But it should not have been up to now, and hopefully will change no later than mid-September, or however long it takes for any GOP convention boost to dissipate.

Please, pretty please: We know you feel compelled to talk the talk, but please Sen. Kerry, when elected, walk the walk -- the deficit; Part II

On 8-16-04 we had a post entitled "We know you feel compelled to talk the talk, but please Sen. Kerry, when elected, walk the walk -- the deficit." The post noted that while Kerry has accused Bush of pushing through tax cuts and big spending that have added trillions of dollars to the federal debt, Kerry's proposals on reducing the deficit don't add up, and in fact, could add to the deficit.

The Washington Post on 8-25-04 says:

For all of the criticism that Kerry has leveled at President Bush over his fiscal policy and deficit spending, Kerry's spending plans might actually grow the deficit.

A Washington Post review of Kerry's tax cuts and spending plans, in addition to interviews with campaign staff members and analyses by conservative and liberal experts, suggests that they could worsen the federal budget deficit by nearly as much as President Bush's agenda. If projected savings from unspecified cuts do not materialize, Kerry's pledges could outstrip those of the president, whom the Democrat has repeatedly accused of unprecedented fiscal recklessness.

"I wish Senator Kerry was providing a starker contrast," lamented Leonard E. Burman, a tax policy analyst at the Urban Institute, who was a Treasury Department official in the Clinton administration. "The [Bush] policies with respect to the deficit are insane. They have to be reversed. But it will take presidential leadership to do it."

"You have to begin with the premise that the steps you need to take to reduce deficits are almost diametrically opposed to the steps you need to take to win elections," said Leon E. Panetta, Bill Clinton's first budget director. "You can cut spending and raise taxes or you can cut taxes and raise spending."

Bush and Kerry have chosen to do the latter, and would leave in place all or some of the tax reductions enacted early in the Bush administration.

"We're faced with a choice between a president who has heavily mortgaged the country and who has no plan to deal with deficits except economic growth, versus an opponent who says he wants to do something about the deficit but whose numbers may not add up," Panetta said.

Attorney General Baker rules that law requiring that a vote must be taken in public means that a vote must be taken in public

The 8-25-04 Macon Telegraph reports that it has obtained an opinion from Attorney General Thurbert Baker saying that secret ballots violate open meetings laws.

The Houston County Board of Education acknowledged that votes taken on issues and policies should be open, but argued that leadership votes (chairperson and vice chairperson) should not because it was tradition to vote in secret.

It is never too late to get right with the Lord -- Sen. Miller's voting record

The AP has an 8-25-04 story in which Sen. Miller says his upcoming vote for President Bush in November will be his first ever for a Republican.

"I have never voted for a Republican in my life," the former Georgia governor said. "I have supported every Democratic campaign since 1952. I have voted for hundreds of local and state Democratic candidates. There is no one that has worked harder or longer in the vineyards of the Democratic Party."

"If these folks want to call me a traitor, do they have that kind of record in the Democratic Party?" Miller said. "I am voting for a man I have tremendous confidence in as our commander in chief. Give me a break about this business about calling somebody 'an elephant in donkey's clothing."'

Although he says he voted for Clinton in 1996 and Al Gore in 2000 against Bush, he resisted talking publicly about those races, stirring speculation about whom he chose in the privacy of the voting booth.

He said he supported Gore four years ago "because I was a loyal Democrat." He said he had a change of heart because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Even after that, in the 2002 election, Miller gave television endorsement ads for various Georgia Democratic candidates, including Sen. Max Cleland and Gov. Roy Barnes, both of whom lost their re-election campaigns. He said he did it because they were good friends. Miller is refusing to do any television ads for any candidates in Georgia this year.

Majette adds credibility to her campaign staff

Ajc's 8-25-04 Political Insider reports that political consultant Rick Dent has joined Denise Majette's campaign staff. Dent is a former press secretary to then-Gov. Zell Miller, and also worked on Miller's U.S. Senate campaign and with Republican former state School Superintendent Linda Schrenko.

It appears as if Denise will be making a run for it after all and passed on the suggestion that she take a cruise to Antarctica (earlier post).

Put a positive spin on it Mr. Speaker. Not "We aren't giving up," but "To hell they will."

An 8-24-04 ajc headline reads: "GOP sees state House as ripe for the taking."

Some Republicans are so confident of completing their takeover of the Legislature that they already are looking ahead to an inside-the-party fight for House speaker.

The GOP, which took control of the state Senate two years ago, now is hoping the November elections will give it a majority in the 180-member state House.

Speaker Terry Coleman (D-Eastman) said Democrats are working hard to retain their power and a majority of 96 to 100 members. "We aren't giving up," he said this week.

The prize is even bigger this year. A Republican majority in the House would complete what Perdue started when he won election and then persuaded four Senate Democrats to switch parties. Those changes gave Republicans a 30-26 Senate majority.

Heading to November, 56 House Republicans and 51 House Democrats have no opposition, which means that majority control hinges on 73 contested races. Republicans need to win 35 of those 73 to gain a majority. Democrats need 40 wins.

"I don't believe there are going to be any coattails on the national level this year, which helps our elections," said Coleman.
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An 9-21-04 post discusses a study on the House races by Andy Peters of the Macon Telegraph and has a comment on the outlook by yours blogly.

Does the Congressman think it is Republican money -- Hang tough Mayor Franklin

In the previous post I noted that I've been asleep at the wheel. Somehow I missed reading Saturday's ajc, and found my unread hard copy tonight.

A most interesting article on Mayor Franklin and a Congressman and a Congressional candidate. I can't believe I missed it and haven't seen anything about it anywhere else.

Anyway, the headline in the 8-21-04 ajc reads "Mayor toes party line --- will city foot the bill?"

It seems that Mayor Franklin, during the primary, endorsed John Barrow of Athens for Congress who is running against Republican Congressman Max Burns. She says "she saw it as nothing more than one Democrat helping another."

"But the mayor's involvement in the 12th District congressional race set off a political storm in Washington and around Georgia that now threatens Atlanta's efforts to win tens of millions of dollars in federal aid to repair the city's crumbling sewer system."

Burns "is among the most vulnerable incumbent lawmakers in the country this fall. Burns' re-election is a top priority for the national party."

"It is also a personal cause for Rep. Jack Kingston of Savannah, chairman of the House Republican Caucus. Kingston is the only Georgia lawmaker chairing an appropriations subcommittee, and his support for the Atlanta funding has been crucial."

"But Franklin's endorsement of Burns' opponent so angered Kingston that he warned other lawmakers this summer he was withdrawing his support for Atlanta's sewer project, according to interviews with more than a dozen people directly involved in the funding effort."

I know Rep. Jack Kingston. He has been my Congressman ever since the Democrats redistricted Sen. Chambliss out of his district and this led to his runing for the U.S. Senate. I know him to be a fair and reasonable man. This does not appear either fair or reasonable.

Thankfully, all Republicans don't wear red glasses. At least a couple recognize that federal funds do not belong to the Republicans or Democrats who agree to toe the line and not campaign for fellow Democrats.

"Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican, has gone to Senate appropriations committee members to assure them that the Atlanta project remains a priority for the delegation despite Kingston's lack of support."

"Rep. Johnny Isakson, a Republican now running for Georgia's other Senate seat to succeed retiring Democrat Zell Miller, took the same message to House appropriations committee members. Two weeks ago, Isakson brought top staff from the House appropriations committee to Atlanta to view the sewer project and dine with Franklin."

The article reports that there is an open question of whether Franklin will campaign for Barrow this fall in the general election.

Here's to hoping that the Mayor will allow her conscience, and not what is alleged to be a quid pro quo trade-off, to be her guide. We recognize that in politics to get along sometimes one must go along. But in matters that involve fair play and right and wrong, doing what is right will probably best serve her and Atlanta, including its dilapidated sewer system, in both the short and long run.

Delta drops Atlanta ad firm -- You scratch my back . . .

I've been asleep at the wheel. I found an unread ajc (Sat. paper) tonight that I thought I had read. It has two articles of interest. The first one would not be but for a post I may a hour or so ago about Delta.

In my previous post I said I would buy my next airline ticket from Delta since it is a Georgia company, is in trouble, and thus I assume needs the business.

A year ago Delta moved its $40 million advertising account from a biggie in Chicago to an Atlanta firm; it was big news at the time. But tonight I read that Delta is in the process of moving its account from the Atlanta firm to Madison Avenue, that is, New York.

I am having serious second thoughts about my next airline ticket purchase.

Delta stock -- Iny meeny miny moe, catch a monkey by the toe -- Hold, sell, hold . . .

The headline in the 8-24-04 Atlanta Business Chronicle (abc) is not good: "Delta fund manager warned employees about stock."

Independent financial advisor U.S. Trust Corp., which was recently appointed to manage both the Delta Stock Fund and its ESOP fund, sent a letter to Delta employees on Aug. 9 saying it was freezing the Stock Fund and would consider terminating it entirely.

The article notes: "Shares of Delta stock (NYSE: DAL) have been trading in the $4.25 to $4.50 range recently, down about 60 percent over the past year."

True, but this is only part of the pain. Around 5 years ago the stock was selling in the 70 day range.

Delta continues to lose about $4.1 million each day.
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I am a big eBayer, and also get all of my airline tickets online, and have for years. But with Delta in such trouble, I think next time I will do one for the Gripper and buy Delta.

And maybe with the corporate changes announced last week, Delta won't be too much more.

But heck. I had planned on using some new online tools I have not tried before.

In the past I have relied primarily on Orbitz.com (I check Expedia.com, and used to get most of tickets from Travelocity.com). I play with Priceline, but usually cannot leave at just anytime.

But a recent article reports that these established players lack some of the best prices -- and are being challenged by a new generation of price-searching sites.

Rather than serving as online travel agents, the new sites are search engines that scan as many as 150 other travel sites, including the majors, for prices. That lets travelers do side-by-side comparisons rather than having to check lots of different sites.

"For example, a search might provide the price of a plane ticket on Delta Air Lines through Expedia, as well as the price available by booking directly through Delta. That's important because, as the travel industry gets squeezed, many companies are keeping some of their best prices on their own sites. Airlines, for instance, can save up to $17 in various costs per ticket by selling directly to the public."

"The new sites aim to address what they see as shortcomings of the major online travel agents. For example, most of the fast-growing discount airlines like JetBlue and Southwest Airlines don't show up on the big travel sites at all. Other discount carriers like Spirit Airlines sometimes offer promotional fares only via their own sites. And just this week, InterContinental Hotels Group said it intends to remove its 3,500 hotels from Expedia and Hotels.com in its continuing effort to wrest control of its room inventory from third-party Web sites."

I read about this in, you guessed it, the wsj, and will email the article to you if you want it. But the 4 big new players and websites are as follows (one of the newest entrants: A group of former executives from three major online travel agencies -- Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity -- have launched a 5th company, Kayak Software Corp., that next month plans to offer a test version of a new search engine at Kayak.com.):

FareChaser http://www.farechase.com/website/index1.html
Looks at 150 or so travel Web sites for air, hotel and car rental prices.
Found fare of $148 from Atlanta to Chicago's Midway airport. Lowest price on Orbitz for the same dates and to the same airport was $172 on Delta Air Lines.
Yahoo Inc. recently bought it.

Mobissimohttp://travel.mobissimo.com/travel/search_airfare.php
Currently only air fares, but company will add hotel and car-rental capability later this year.
Search for inexpensive flight to New Orleans from New York City, turned up JetBlue flight for $166.70. Lowest price on CheapTickets.com was $239 on American Airlines.
Searches non-U.S. travel sites, and plans to allow searches based on activity. (Example: New York to the beach, instead of New York to Jamaica.)

SideStep http://www.sidestep.com/?redir=B
Company says it searches "dozens" of travel Web sites.
A search on www.sidestep-hotels.com for a room in Beverly Hills spotted a $98.47 nightly rate at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Beverly Hills. On Travelocity the price for the same class of room and same date was $129.94 a night.
For hotels and car rentals, consumers can search Sidestep via any Web browser. For airfare, currently SideStep is software that you must download and install.

Qixohttp://www.qixo.com/index.html?QIXO_Session=212eb57b6ab7df8dbff4496224554e9e
Searches more than 28 airfare sites, and also has limited hotel and car-rental search tools.
Looking for a Miami to Las Vegas flight, we found a $201 flight on American Airlines. The price on Expedia for the same flight was $200.
This search engine acts like a travel agent because it makes the reservation for consumers, unlike the other engines. Qixo charges a $20-a-ticket fee.

Troop realignment may help Fort Gordon

An article by Jeremy Craig in the Augusta Chronicle notes that Fort Gordon could stand to gain troops if all goes well with the President's plan to pull some troops out of Europe and Asia.

But the area won't know for sure until after the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round.

Fort Stewart and Fort Benning, the largest of Georgia's Army posts, could see more troops as part of the shift, said Philip Y. Browning Jr., the executive director of the Georgia Military Affairs Coordinating Committee.
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I hope this is correct for Fort Gordon. Some say President Bush's announced plans last week to pull about 70,000 troops from bases in Europe and Asia as part of a shift of troops from their Cold War-era stationing is separate from the BRAC process, which affects only domestic bases.

But in truth, I have been convinced that part of BRAC would involve the recognition that many NATO troops would be moved, and I knew Fort Stewart would benefit from this. I hope Fort Gordon does as well.

This is important to many civilian jobs in Georgia, not to mention the state's economy. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Could young voters swing November's election? One thing is certain: Plenty of people would like to think so.

The headline reads: "Web sites, stars fight to reach disengaged voter."

"To a large extent, both parties are afraid of that resource [18-to-25 set] because they don't know how they'll vote once you get them to the polls."

About 24 million Americans are aged 18 to 24, according to the nonpartisan New Voters Project.

But for the past three decades, ever since the voting age fell from 21 to 18, turnout among this group has been low. In the last presidential election, it dipped to 42 percent of those eligible (or 37 percent of all those in the age bracket).

Young people themselves give varying explanations for the lackluster participation. Some blame widespread cynicism and disillusionment; others cite the transience of early adulthood or the uninspiring nature of the candidates.

[Y]oung people are turned off by politics today.

"And yet I really sense that ... if somebody is smart enough to be able to find a way to appeal to that group of voters, it could become a very important force in an election."

[The article has a list of "reachout" to youth websites listed.]

8-23--04 Knight Ridders Newspapers.

Downturn Made States and Cities More Dependent on Property Taxes

A new analysis shows that cash-strapped state and local governments have increasingly come to depend on property taxes to fill revenue shortfalls as other sources of income soured.

"The local property tax is one tax the local [authorities] can use to offset declines in state money," says William Fischel, a professor of economics at Dartmouth College. "To some extent, if the state is sending municipalities or even school districts less money because they're in fiscally difficult times, the one tax the local [authorities] have some discretion over raising is the property tax."

Meanwhile, states have grown more reluctant to lift income or sales taxes in recent years for fear of political retribution, economists say. In some cases, they are even prevented from doing so by laws passed during the 1990s boom.

The increased state and local reliance on property taxes over the past few years marked a reversal from the trend of the mid to late 1990s. "Over time, there had been a trend for property taxes to play a smaller role in overall tax collections than income or sales taxes," says Judy Zelio, principal at the National Conference of State Legislatures' fiscal affairs program. But in recessions, property taxes tend to creep back up as a percentage, as happened during the recession of the early 1990s.

(8-24-04 wsj; email me for full article)

Hysterectomy Alternative Goes Unmentioned to Many Women

Gynecologists Often Don't Cite Less-Invasive ProcedureTo Treat Fibroid Tumors.

"If gynecologists did UAE [uterine artery embolization], the procedure would be done 100,000 times a year," rather than 15,000, asserts Robert Vogelzang, chief of interventional radiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

(8-24-04 wsj; email me if you want the article. And no, I am not a doctor, although my wife thinks I think I am because I am a J.D., as in doctor of jurisprudence. But I do enjoy health related articles, and the wsj has its share. So much is going on in health care and stem-cell research that truly, tomorrow will be different.)

Faith-based prisons one day; Medicaid overhaul pushed the next -- Sonny must be jealous of the attention Zell is getting

The 8-23-04 ajc headline reads: "Medicaid overhaul pushed." And also see the 8-23-04 Morris News Service.

"We're not aware of another state that has gone this far all at once," said Tim Burgess, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Community Health, which operates Medicaid. "We want to create a very Georgia approach to this and a very Georgia solution."
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Well, let's see. Kathy with a "K" Cox recently got Georgia in the national news with her beef with evolution. She didn't think our low rank with SAT scores made us stand out quite enough.

Then it was Corrections Commissioner James Donald introducing us to faith-based prisons (we are assuming this is not Muslim faith based Commissioner).

Already this year we have had (1) higher premiums for PeachCare -- Governor Barnes' baby; (2) a plan to recover long-term care costs from Medicaid beneficiaries' estates -- Estate Recovery rules that go much further than federal law requires; and (3) and a halt to a "medically needy" program for nursing home residents who earn too much for Medicaid but not enough to afford private care -- something federal law does not require at all.

And then there Perdue’s new conservation plan to let every city and county in Georgia compete for state preservation grants under fire. gdp

Like Little Orphan Annie, I must be dreaming. and then the gall to say listen, we are from the government and we are hear to help you. Witness:

"Burgess, the state Community Health commissioner, said that besides cutting costs, the HMO setup would aim to improve the health of affected patients through such measures as increased child immunizations and well-child visits."

As with the prisons, expect more on this from the politicos.

Confession is good for the soul -- We'll just call it that anyway.

Yesterday I did a post that I entitled "The rich and not so famous -- A losing season in Georgia for a wealthy aspiring politician." It was based on an article by Dick Pettys (to which there is a link in the earlier post) that was about Brother Herman Cain and some guy named Cliff something.

After posting it for reasons other than it's subject, I decided to "unpost" it since it might look as if I was dwelling on something that is in the past as far as I am concerned.

But the post received a well-reasoned and thought-provoking comment that is worth your reading.

(For the record, there have only been two posts that I posted and then "unposted," and both represented hot news type items that soon we all knew -- the first being the Court of Appeals race being on and the second then off again. Such posts, though important for any of our readers who did not know it at the time, as one-liners are not archive type posts.)

But will you love me tomorrow? -- GOP Centrists to Speak at Convention, but Will They Be Heard?

Excerpts from 8-23-04 N.Y. Times article:

Those who once might have been called Rockefeller Republicans say the prime-time slots set aside to present a centrist image show that the leadership knows the party must broaden its appeal to retain the White House. But they worry about their real influence in a party dominated by conservatives at a time when the ranks of House moderates are thinning and an activist group zeros in on candidates it brands RINO's, Republican in Name Only.

[Former New Jersey governor, head of the E.P.A. under Bush, and GOP moderate [and Sid notes a former but wonders if still a GOP heroine] Christie Whitman says]: "If [Bush] loses, it is an absolute validation of the fact that you cannot be a national party if you are excluding people.''

[Ms. Whitman] is not alone in urging party leaders to consider the contributions of moderates at moments other than when it makes strategic sense.

"There is no doubt that [GOP] moderates feel squeezed to the same degree that some of our conservatives did in the 1980's in the Democratic caucus,'' said Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House.

"This is where the party started,'' Mrs. Whitman said of the wing that likes to be known for fiscal conservatism and social pragmatism. "We need to start flexing our muscle a little more to remind people of that.''
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Ms. Whitman is writing a book titled "It's My Party Too."

Sen. Miller's "A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat," says the Demo's have veered too far to the left.

Ms. Whitman's will say the GOP has veered too far to the right.

Maybe these two former governors can get together and figure this stuff out for us.

I am reluctant to ask Mr. Warden, but it might be a factor you understand -- Is the dorm air conditioned? -- Faith-based prison dormitories in Georgia

This is going to be interesting. The Macon Telegraph enlightens us about one of the newest initiatives of Georgia's new prison chief Commissioner James Donald.

Inspired by President Bush's call for more faith-based involvement in the work of government, the dormitory is supposed to allow prisoners to work on their own faith and character while developing skills to help them turn their lives around and make it in the outside world.

Heck, let's save money and let the church be the house of government -- the Southern Party of Georgia

Kristen Wyatt, a young reporter with the AP who knows her Georgia politics, updates us on the Southern Party as it struggles to gain a foothold in Georgia. Wyatt writes:

Founded four years ago, the Southern Party didn't really get going until the Legislature, at the direction of then-Gov. Roy Barnes, changed the state flag in 2001 to significantly shrink the Rebel battle cross.

The Southern Party was hoping the high-profile flag debate would boost their platform of smaller government guided by Christian principles.

Among their top ideas are tighter immigration laws, more freedom to display religious documents in state buildings and property tax reform.

But now, the party has only about a thousand members. Many voters haven't even heard of them.
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Do you want to know more about this fledging third party? I feel certain it would love for you to visit its website.

Some political contributions come from unexpected sources

Brandon Larrabee of Morris News Service has written an interesting story and report on where some political donors live in Georgia. The title of his article: "Some contributions come from unexpected sources."

The rich and not so famous -- A losing season in Georgia for a wealthy aspiring politician.

AP's Dick Pettys, who has covered Georgia government and politics since 1970, has a recent story on some of Georgia's wealthy seeking high office. An 8-15-04 AP article notes:

With enough money, it's possible to start a political career at the top, skipping the usual career path of steppingstone offices.

But Georgia voters haven't been so obliging to businessmen who make a wad in the private sector and then dive into politics.

Cliff Oxford, founder of the technology support company, Atlanta-based STI Knowledge, finished second in the primary for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination and made it to a runoff, but couldn't close the deal in the Aug. 10 rematch with Rep. Denise Majette.

"I don't think Oxford lost because he was a millionaire. He lost because he wasn't a very good candidate," said Merle Black, an Emory University political science professor.

"Money is not a barrier, but it is difficult when you have no campaign experience or you're lacking in political skills to transfer what may be a very successful personal style in the private realm to the political realm," University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock said.

"As CEO of a company, you're used to issuing orders. As a political figure, you're often asking people to help you, you're asking for their votes. The persona you put on as CEO may make it difficult to get into that position of asking for help," he said.

There's a real allure to politics for some successful businessmen, said Patricia Farrell, a New Jersey psychologist, medical consultant and author. "In America, being a governor or senator is American royalty and forevermore you are going to be called 'senator' or 'governor.' And they want that," she said.

Something for all both of us Parties -- Job Picture Is Mixed in Swing States; Most Saw Gains in July, But 75% Retreated Overall Since Bush Took Office

New employment data shows most election "battleground" states gained jobs in July, but three-quarters have fewer jobs than they did when Bush took office. In all, nonagricultural employers in 28 states and Washington, D.C., added jobs in July. The U.S. as a whole added only 32,000 nonfarm jobs.

(8-23-04 wsj)

Before you even think it, I'm going to pull rank and say: "Enough from the peanut gallery" -- Going Negative: When It [Does and Doesn't] Work[s].

In an earlier post entitled "I'm with the President on troop realignment," I noted:

"Despite ongoing political criticism of the President's plan to withdraw up to 70,000 U.S. soldiers from Europe and Asia, in my nonexpert opinion, it seems that this decision has been long overdue. Russia lost the cold war didn't it?" (emphasis added)

Well, after reading the excerpts that follow from an 8-22-04 N.Y. Times article entitled "Going Negative: When It Works," I would respectfully request those of you in the peanut gallery (whether of the Howdy Doody era or who are just plain irreverent hecklers) to please refrain and spare me such slurs as "Now he's talking about something about which he might be an expert from having attended the school of hard knocks."

Of well, never mind. The excerpts:

This was supposed to be the positive campaign. Late last fall, Democrats and Republicans alike predicted that a new campaign rule requiring candidates to appear in their own advertisements and take credit for them would discourage them from making negative ads.

Every campaign cycle, in fact, seems to begin with the promise of an uplifting, mutually respectful debate of the issues, only to devolve into character attacks and distortions, and for good reason: negative ads work. Voters may say they want candidates to stay positive, but in truth, they respond more readily, more viscerally, to attack ads.

"People like a fight," said Roger Stone, a Republican strategist. "Put up an ad about the intricacies of the federal budget and people will turn the channel. Put up an ad like the Swift boat one, that creates an indelible image in the voter's mind."

Mr. Kerry and Senator John Edwards did not run television advertisements against fellow Democrats and did better than expected.

But seasoned political professionals warned against taking that to mean negative ads would not work in the general election. When there is a crowded field of viable candidates, as in the primary, voters will often punish not only the one on the receiving end of a negative ad, but also the candidate who dealt it. With other viable options, voters are apt to take their support elsewhere.

In the general election, when two candidates go negative, there's no viable alternative.

Political consultants cite a strikingly consistent pattern when it comes to darker, more confrontational commercials. "Focus groups will tell you they hate negative ads and love positive ads," said Steve McMahon, a Democratic strategist. "But call them back four days later and the only thing they can remember are the negative ones."

And studies have shown that not only are people more likely to remember attacks, it also takes fewer airings to remember them.

Negative ads also pay dividends beyond what campaigns actually spend on them by getting more attention in the news media. The debate about the Swift boat ad, which accused Mr. Kerry of lying to get his war medals, has played out for weeks on talk radio and cable news, meaning it was played over and over at no cost to the group running it.

Studies and focus groups have shown that people like ads that are based on policy, factually accurate and that forecast how a candidate would govern, giving them a reason to vote for a candidate - as well as a reason to vote against the opponent.

"Unless people think it's untruthful, you're not going to get a backlash out of it," Ms. Jamieson said. "If people think the source is credible, that the source is speaking out of a deep conviction, you don't get a sense of attack."

The infamous Willie Horton ad, for example, which portrayed Michael Dukakis as weak on crime in 1988, was based in fact and policy - namely, that, while Mr. Dukakis was governor of Massachusetts, felons were let out of prison on weekend furloughs.

In days of the Talmadges (Dem. type) we could vote 'em only if they were dead, not if they were just too dern lazy, apathetic or busy to go vote.

The actual title of this post should be: "Bigger (and more) is not always better -- Part II -- Early Voting."

An earlier post entitled "Bigger (and more) is not always better -- Early Voting" is not labeled Part I because I did not think there would be a Part II. But we'll call this one Part II.

Part I featured an article by Dick Pettys of the AP discussing the change in Georgia law this year that allowed voters to cast a ballot the week before an election, and included comments about the change from Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Kahn and Bobby Klein, communications director for the Georgia Republican Party.

Well, an article in the 8-22-04 N.Y. Times (link is below) makes me feel a bit better about my rather caustic comments about the whole mess.
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In my earlier post -- and knowing I was swimming against the current in my thinking -- I opined:

Early voting -- sounds like a great idea doesn't it? It is in theory, but in practice it has the real possibility of becoming the bane of the election process.

As a kid growing up -- and with the rest of my Boy Scout troop -- during each election season I would work on Get Out the Vote campaigns with my mother who was a very active member of the League of Women Voters.

But having been involved in campaigns for years -- and what I am going to say is especially the case on local races -- absentee voting in Georgia has the potential and in many places is greatly abused. Twenty years ago I tried to no avail to get the ajc and former Attorney General Mike Bowers to review what was happening in Coffee County in the 1980's and take up the fight for me.

I know, it sounds a bit undemocratic; but in practice, 95% of it is legalized vote buying. By working absentee ballots, you can go into a primary or general election with a significant percentage of the vote already determined, and being that only some 30% vote anyway, the number that you need to turn out on election day becomes smaller. Again, this is mostly on the local level.

But now this ability to vote early is subject to the same abuse. I know many who voted during the week before the presidential preference primary and the week before July 20 did so for convenience and because they could, and this is what it was designed for. Absentee voting is for those who cannot vote on the applicable Tuesday.

But the Cynthia McKinney turnout in the week before July 20, as also happened in many local races this year, shows how the process can be abused. I hate to say it, but I predict that in large part this new way to cast our vote is going to come to reak of the same abuse as absentee voting in local elections.

But now the problem, or abuse, has gone from just being local to at least the congressional district (and hey, I know Ms. McKinney would have won anyway; she ran a controlled and effective campaign; her victory is not the issue).

(Lewis Massey and I are good friends, and when he was Secretary of State years ago, privately I used to give him hell for pushing the motor voter registration, etc. This is an entirely different issue, but if you don't care enough to go register, should you be allowed to register. Maybe so, maybe no, and another issue I admit.)

Bottom line -- as a Georgian I am not as interested in a high voter turnout as I am in an informed voter turnout.

When people read my website and see my platform and where I stand on the issues, many conclude hey, he is a just a regular ole Democrat. Now you may see the moderate-conservative part.
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Does the 8-22-04 N.Y. Times article vindicate my saying early voting has the real possibility of becoming the bane of the election process? Your call, but one thing is for sure, it is going to change things, and as suggested in the following excerpts from the article, probably not always for the best:

Between work and his seven children, Felipe Lundin was sometimes just too busy to get to his polling place in Tucson and vote. Then a local Democratic official knocked on his door one day to tell him about voting by mail with an absentee ballot.

"You can't stand over their shoulder and move their hand for them," said Bob Rosenberg, a door knocker in Phoenix. "But you can certainly suggest to them that this is the candidate that deserves their vote."

Up for grabs this year are not just the traditional absentee voters who mail in their votes because they are infirm, away at college or otherwise unable to get to the polls. Since 2000, when the absentee vote became crucial to Mr. Bush's narrow victory in Florida, a half-dozen states have joined 19 others in loosening their rules so that any registered voter can mail in a ballot without being required to give a reason. Most of these states also allow early voting in person at special polling places.

In all, whether by mail or in person, 19 percent of Americans already plan to vote early this fall, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. That number could reach 25 percent or even higher with the push in coming weeks, experts say.

And early it is. North Carolina's absentee voters will begin casting ballots on Sept. 13, a full 50 days before the election, followed soon after by voters in Maine, then Arizona and other swing states. The effect is an expanded voting season that has begun to erode the concept of Americans' coming together as one on Election Day.

"It's election month and a half," [someone observed].

The state parties, furthering a trend already in evidence in 2002, are accelerating their schedules, gearing up activities like rounding up volunteers and releasing advertisements to reach the early voter. But the get-out-the-early-vote phenomenon has further potential implications for how the nation chooses its leaders. Political parties may be able to bank votes when their candidate is up in the polls. They may also be able to soften the blow of hit mail, televised debates or any late-season event that could sway large numbers of voters.

Early voting is also letting political parties get around one Election Day hallmark: the century-old anticorruption laws that force partisans to keep their distance from polling places. The laws do not apply to catching people at home with their ballots, and that has freed party tacticians to devise plans to court the early vote. The plans include helping to register voters expressly to vote absentee, mailing out tip sheets on avoiding errors that could disqualify absentee votes, and collecting completed ballots.

In most states, political parties can find out who is voting from home and when by buying lists from counties showing the voters' addresses, phone numbers and birth dates. In exchange, the parties have to promise that they will not sell the lists to commercial enterprises.

"I have mixed feelings about early voting,'' said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. "It's a benefit for voters," she said, but it is happening this year "in an environment where campaigns are becoming much more precise and aggressive in their attempts to turn out their voters."

Karen Hicks, national field director for the Democratic National Committee, acknowledged as much in describing her party's early voting campaigns. "This is all going to be hand-to-hand combat," she said.

[In 2000 in Arizona, o]nce early voting began, 33 days before the election, party representatives visited each county every day to get the latest names of people who had received absentee ballots. Then, once a week, they got the names of those who had cast their ballots, and that information was loaded into the party's secure Internet site.

The growing body of data let the party focus on people who had not yet cast their votes.

Georgia prepares to elect only its 3rd member of Congress to the U.S. Senate in almost a century

An 8-21-04 AP article notes that "Georgia has rarely relied on the congressional ranks as a farm system for a job in the upper chamber."

In November, when Georgia voters pick between Republican Rep. Johnny Isakson and Democratic Rep. Denise Majette, the state will elect its second senator from the House in two years. Republican Saxby Chambliss defeated incumbent Sen. Max Cleland in 2002.

Republicans rallied around the candidacy of Chambliss, from Moultrie in south Georgia, after Democrats in the state Legislature redrew his congressional district to make it more competitive.

Chambliss says he was fortunate to represent a district with a lot of military and agricultural interests, topics that are important statewide. When he decided to run, he rented an apartment in Atlanta and spent almost all his time there to boost his name recognition.

In the previous 89 years, only one Georgia senator came from the House. Wyche Fowler was elected in 1986, then was defeated in his first re-election bid six years later.

Frank Greer, a partner in the media consulting firm Greer Margolis Mitchell Burns, which handled Fowler's television ads, said even today it's almost impossible to run for Senate by touting only a House resume.

"People who run as a congressman, 'therefore I am qualified to be a senator,' are unsuccessful," Greer said. "Then you're running based on your voting record in Congress rather than your vision for the state."

Ensuring a large GOP turnout more important than winning swing voters for GOP. Kerry's focus remains the undecided.

Typically, Democrats outnumber Republicans in presidential elections.

The Bush campaign strategy fits with a presidency that often has appeared more intent on deepening than broadening support.

On most major issues — from tax cuts and environmental protection to the decision to invade Iraq without explicit U.N. authorization — Bush has embraced policies that draw much better marks from his base than swing voters.

Like the GOP, Democrats are mounting a major effort to identify and turn out base voters. But most top Democratic strategists still expect swing voters to decide the election.

One senior Democratic strategist said the party was anticipating a large increase in participation this year that could swell turnout to as much as 118 million — more than 10% higher than the 105 million in 2000. The strategist said the party expected that much of the increase would come from independent and less partisan voters.

That assumption helps explain Kerry's tone in the campaign. For several months, he has focused more on reassurance than persuasion — more on trying to establish his credentials as a centrist (especially on national security) than on articulating an aggressive case against Bush.

This approach has stirred some quiet dissent among liberals. Some worry Kerry is allowing Bush to maintain the offensive in much of the campaign debate, and that the Massachusetts senator is not providing a contrast sharp enough to fully motivate the Democratic base.

But the Kerry camp, and many independent Democratic strategists, defend the emphasis on swing voters, arguing that antipathy to Bush alone guarantees a large Democratic turnout.

It is an article of faith among political consultants in both parties that voters undecided late in a race trend against the incumbent.

But given the conflicting impulses the polls find among these voters this year, [Matthew Dowd, the Bush campaign's chief strategist,] predicted they would not break decisively for either Bush or Kerry. And many, he predicted, might not vote at all. In such a scenario, he said, turning out the party base would grow in importance.

With that emphasis, the Bush campaign appears to hope it can replicate the experience of 2002. In states such as Minnesota, Missouri and Georgia, Republicans made unexpected gains in the Senate and House mid-term elections largely by swelling their margins in GOP-leaning areas.

Post-election surveys in 2002 showed that Republicans outnumbered Democrats among voters, 38% to 35%. In 2000, self-identified Democrats outnumbered Republicans, 39% to 35%, according to exit polls.

"My hope is that [turnout this year] is even," Dowd said.

Other GOP strategists warn it may be difficult to achieve that goal, with surveys this year showing Democrats holding a small but steady advantage over Republicans in party identification by voters. But even skeptics acknowledge the Bush campaign is showing impressive discipline — through get-out-the-vote programs and a message emphasizing tax cuts, traditional values, military strength and other core Republican themes — in attempting to hit its goal of turnout parity.

Bush has spent much more than Kerry on cable television buys targeted at sympathetic constituencies, like those watching networks emphasizing country music, fishing and hunting, and NASCAR racing, according to data from TNSMI/Campaign Media Analysis Group.

Some Bush supporters worry that focusing on Republican areas, the approach that worked in 2002, may be less applicable in 2004 because so many more people — including swing voters — cast ballots in a presidential election than a mid-term election.

"I admire their ruthless execution," said the veteran Republican independent of the campaign, "but it's a scary way to win an election."

(8-22-04 L.A. Times)
_______________

Interesting article. I do wish Kerry would quit letting Bush set the agenda for the election. Also, I do not think Georgia should have been included in the above list with Minnessota and Missouri. We lost in 2002 for reasons other than a large GOP turnout.

A good time was had by all -- GADCC Richard B. Russell Dinner

On this week's edition of The Georgia Gang someone said a poll showed Bush 14% ahead of Kerry in Georgia. Bah, Humbug!!

And you surely wouldn't believe it if you had been at the Ga. Ass'n of Democratic County Chairs (GADCC) meeting in Macon Saturday night.

What a crowd! What enthusiam! The group's theme this year, "Taking It To The Streets." Don't tell this group it is not going to be a blue November!

The GADCC is comprised of the workhorses of our Party (which does not include me; I was there as a guest of my County Chairperson and GADCC Secretary Danita Knowles). Thank these people for what they do for us and Georgia the next time you see one of them.

Some one-liners from the evening:

Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond (attired in a white dinner jacket): "It's been a thrill getting to see so many of my friends and acquaintances tonight. And it's been fun meeting some of you I haven't met before, including that guy who looked me right in the eye and said 'Hey waiter, how about bringing me another drink.'"

State Chairman Bobby Kahn (with his "Go Majette" button on his lapel) was quick to pick up on the Commissioner Thurmond's waiter remark and have some good fun with the good Commissioner by saying: "Commissioner, if you need to leave early tonight, we'll understand. We know you've got to get that rented tux back to Wal-Mart."

And Secretary of State Cathy Cox, the recipient of the 2004 Richard B. Russell Award -- in addition to rallying the troops with a powerful stump speech -- noted that Michael Thurmond had endeared himself to her a couple of years ago when he said, "I'm talking about 'the' Cathy Cox, you know, the pretty one."

In the huge crowd at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Macon I saw (and I probably missed some; it was a crowd) Congresswoman Denise Majette, Rep. Calvin Smyre, 9th Congressional District candidate Bob Ellis and 11th Congressional District candidate Rick Crawford.

Aw, shucks, it sounded like a good idea anyway -- But Let's [keep trying to] Get Both Georgia's on the Move . . . .

Let's Get Both Georgia's on the Move . . . .

So reads the caption on two of the three pages of my website. Well, it seems that our fellow South Georgia brethren in Valdosta thought they may have found a simple and inexpensive way to get the other Georgia on the move -- Sunday alcohol sales.

"In 1999 , we had major discussions on the issue," [City Councilman David] Sumner said. "People on Council at the time felt Sunday sales would further help us in becoming a metro community. But when it went to the polls, it failed miserably."

[In 2004] Sumner said he had talked to many people -- colleagues, constituents and businessmen -- and few were in favor of the referendum. When he talked to developers, asking them if business would improve with Sunday sales, they told him it was things like proximity to the interstate and infrastructure that made people want to put businesses in Valdosta."

A vast majority of the people I talked to were not in favor of the ordinance, and would feel uncomfortable drinking on Sunday anyway," he said [unless you are a Episcopalian taking communion, he could have added].

[A] 5-2 vote [in 2004 by the Valdosta Council] kept a referendum from voters. (Michelle Taylor's story entitled "The alcohol referendum that wasn't" is in the Valdosta Daily Times.)
_______________

Oh well, once again we find out there's no such thing as free lunch. It's back to the tried and true and, yes, expensive way: transportation, transportation, transportation.

For Macon Telegraph Staff Writer Andy Peters, its 2 home run articles in 1 week; but for Bobby Kahn, Mr. Peter questions if we will even get a single.

The 8-16-04 post below entitled "In the world of at least one Bobby I know it's 3 strikes and you're out -- Here's to hoping for a double," starts out as follows:

"I am hopeful that by July 20 certain members of our Party’s leadership -- who long ago conceded the U.S. Senate race in November to the Republicans and decided to emphasize the important task of retaking the state Senate and gaining seats in the state House -- will see the light and recognize that if we elect the right U.S. Senate candidate on July 20, not only will this help our Party attain these important state objectives in November, but also will greatly enhance our Party’s chances of retaking the Governor’s Office in 2006. (A slanted, biased and most unreliable source for an opinion.)

An article in the 8-16-04 Macon Telegraph by Andy Peters entitled 'Georgia Democrats face steep climb to reclaim Senate majority' is as good of play by play that you are going to get on the state Senate races. The headline sort of tells it all."
_______________

Well, on 8-27-04, Mr. Peters writes another home run articles that this time is about the state House. Again, his headline doesn't make us want us to rush out and place our orders for champagne for our election returns parties on the evening of November 2.

The headline says that "Democrats' control of House on thin ice," and the article cautions:

Terry Coleman better not get too comfortable in the House Speaker's office on the third floor of the state Capitol.

There are so many closely contested races this year, that House control could easily swing Republican or Democrat, the Telegraph's analysis showed. It's even possible that the House could be deadlocked in a 90-90 tie, setting the stage for House leadership by coalition.

Republicans already have a 10-seat head start. In the July primary and August runoff elections, Republicans won 56 races where there will be no opposing Democrat in November. Democrats won only 46 such races.

"We feel like we have certainly the best chance and most realistic chance in the history of our party" of winning a House majority, said Marty Klein, a spokesman for the state Republican Party. "Our number-one goal is to have a Republican speaker in January."

At least one Democrat doesn't think the tendency of rural areas to vote Republican nationally is a good indicator of this year's elections.

"In much of middle and south Georgia, many folks are actually mad at Bush, and by and large they voted for him in 2000," said Coffee County attorney Sid Cottingham, who ran for the U.S. Senate this year. "We are back to the way state races are usually determined, candidate by candidate, regardless of party affiliation."

If the strength of the candidate is the key factor, rather than party, then most incumbent Democrats should win, since many hold committee chairman positions because of their seniority.
_______________

My take for this November as far as our state races go -- I do not see either the Democrats or Republicans having an advantage in the upcoming races.

This time, pretty much without exception, any district's 2002 vote for Perdue and Chambliss can be completely disregarded.

Normally the past presidential race might be somewhat of a factor to consider in trying to forecast outcomes, especially the federal elections for Congress and the U.S. Senate, but I do not even think this will be a factor this year. And, in my opionion, definitely will not be for our state Senate and House races.

As far as Presidential coattails go this year in Georgia, it is going to be a wash.

Bush will not doing nearly as well as he did in 2000. And Kerry, Kerry is just not a coattails-type candidate.

In the candidate to candidate matchup, may the best man win, assuming he is a Democrat. And for the party switchers, may history be with you.

Would you be willing to start at say, a $1,000 deductible? -- Health care

Excerpts from Cynthia Tucker's "No hope with no health care:"

A health insurance card is not quite as hard to come by as membership in an exclusive country club, but it has become a symbol of the divide between the comfortable and the struggling. If you have insurance, you don't hesitate to see a doctor for routine complaints -- the recurring sinus infections, the high blood pressure, the arthritic knee. And you certainly take your children for regular checkups.

If you don't have insurance, you occupy a dangerous netherworld where you might pay a stiff fee at a drop-in clinic if your kid gets a nasty ear infection. But you ignore your own complaints until they are serious enough to merit a visit to the emergency room. By then, your health -- if not your life -- might be in jeopardy.

And that health insurance card is getting harder to come by. At least 15 percent of the population, nearly 44 million people, have no insurance.

The July labor report showed not only that fewer jobs were created than experts had expected. Many of the new jobs are in the retail or service industries and don't provide health insurance. Indeed, employers are increasingly reluctant to hire if they have to provide health insurance, which costs companies an estimated $3,000 a year per worker. That's one of the reasons so many jobs have migrated overseas: In much of the developing world, laborers don't even expect health insurance as part of their compensation.

"Health care is a major reason why employment growth has been so sluggish," Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo, told The New York Times.

These days, savvy workers consider their health care benefits as carefully as base pay. If you're lucky enough to have insurance in this era of stagnant wages, you've probably found your take-home pay steadily declining as your employer pays a smaller percentage of the cost of your premiums. But you're reluctant to start your own business because you can't afford your own insurance.

You don't change jobs if your new insurance won't cover a "pre-existing condition." As many middle-aged workers know, some companies simply refuse to hire older employees who may bring to the job a history of hypertension or high cholesterol.

There isn't much any sitting president can do about the dramatic transformation taking place in the economy, in which U.S. workers are having to compete with laborers in Mexico, China and India. That shift will continue no matter what laws are passed, tax loopholes are closed or trade barriers built.

But a capable president would certainly tackle the health care crisis. Any solution would be complex and politically costly, but failure to act would be worse. The surging cost of health care is now a huge drag on economic expansion.

Whatever President Bush and his opponent, John Kerry, promise about an improving economy, not much will change without a major overhaul of health care.

Sen. Kennedy: "I've been getting on this plane, you know, for 42 years. Why can't I get on the plane?"

Ted, we don't want to hurt your feelings friend, but the reason is that this plane is going all the way to the White House.

You remember now that we let you make a speech at the convention. And you dern right you and yours are going to be special guests of mine at the inauguration, the inauguration ball and all other ceremonies in January.

Surely Ted you must have noticed that I began veering a bit to the middle in the process of going for the nomination, and as we go forward, I might need to veer a tad more to the middle as we position ourselves for the general election.

It is for this same reason that I have decided to follow the advice that that Shipp fellow down in Georgia gave me back in early May of this year about avoiding being photographed with you anymore for the time being.

What, Ted, who is Shipp? Oh, never mind, actually, I don't know for certain, but I suspect you two might not see eye to eye on a good many things, although I would also guess that he was a fan of and had a lot of respect for your brother Jack.

Anyway, back in May this Shipp fellow had the following in his weekly column that appears in many Georgia newspapers:

Question. What could Sen. John F. Kerry do to have any chance of winning Georgia in the November election?

Answer. Not much. But he might try flattening his broad New England ''a,'' avoid being photographed ever again with Ted Kennedy, shush his wife or select Sam Nunn as his running mate.

(For story behind title, see N.Y. Times.)

Sorry Gov. But we still don't have a clue how many cells are out there. Don't worry son, we can just cut Medicaid benefits some more to make up for it

Now just how much does all of this mobile phone stuff cost us? Don't ask us, we just work here. But yes, we all have one.

A newswire headline reads "State reforms way of tracking wireless use," but where's the beef, I mean reform?

"A year after an audit revealed sloppy tracking of state government cell phone use, the government is just starting to reform the way it keeps track of wireless phones, a state legislative committee was told Thursday.

The government still does not know exactly how much it spends on phones, cell phones, pagers and blackberries. A state audit last August criticized the hodgepodge of cell phone policies at different state agencies, and said the state should rein in cell phone use."

Watch it Ms. Rice . . .

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said so far "Iraq's postwar leaders have not made a compromise comparable to the one by the framers of the U.S. Constitution, who 'made my ancestors three-fifths of a man.'

She was referring to the provision in the Constitution that designated slaves as three-fifths of a person in calculating the population of states for elections to Congress. The slaves also were denied the vote."

Watch it Ms. Rice. 'Nough said.

AP news release.

I don't think I know you Rep. Burkhalter, but I appreciate your efforts & if I lived up your way, I would be out there helping you -- Ga. 400's trees

I have been following this for awhile. I know Ga. 400 thank you very much, but I do admit that I have never seen a tree I did not like (truthfully, I love trees, but not all trees are good trees. And if you are curious, I do know my trees.).

Alpharetta State Rep. Mark Burkhalter. I want to do what I can do to help you; I hope you will let me know. Good luck fighting City Hall.

Also, I want the Battle of Atlanta marked. Not to do so is criminal. I know Lonice Barrett, the former commissioner of the state Department of Natural Resources. But the Gov. recently moved him to greener pastures. I don't know the new Commissioner of DNR.

Col. Brinsfield wrote the article on the Battle of Atlanta in yesterday's ajc. Guys, we need to step up to the plate. This is Georgia history, our heritage.

I have three daughters. As each would reach the age of "understanding and would remember," a trip to Grant Park to see the Battle of Atlanta in the Cyclorama was duly scheduled and taken. The zoo was icing on the cake. To our family -- OK, primarily to me -- this was just as important as taking them to see the Statute of Liberty and the National Archives.

If you live in Georgia, and have not taken your family to see the Cyclorama and seen this great painting that toured Europe and America and almost was lost to neglect, it is your loss. It is something the rest of the South can only envy.

I've got some good news and . . . (A new poll on Iraq)

I've got some bad news.

In our August 15 post below we noted: "One score and four years ago an election was influenced by a four letter word -- Iran. One score and four years later an election will be determined by a four letter word -- Iraq."

The headline in a Washington Post article today discussing the results of a new poll confirms this and says it all: "How U.S. Fares in Iraq May Sway Swing Voters."

Summary: Foreign policy and national security concerns are considered more important by Americans this campaign year than at any time since the Vietnam War, and perceptions of success or failure in Iraq could be dominant in swaying swing voters in November

The good news: On Iraq, more than a month after the transfer of political power to an interim government, the survey found that about half of Americans surveyed -- 52 percent -- disapproved of the president's management of Iraq policy. Overall, 58 percent said the Bush administration did not have a "clear plan" for bringing Iraq to a "successful conclusion" -- a proportion that grew among swing voters, to 62 percent.

The bad news: Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) is not yet succeeding in convincing swing voters that he provides a viable alternative vision, the pollsters found.

"Iraq could be the tipping point," said Pew Director Andrew Kohut in an interview. "But even though things are bad in Iraq . . . Kerry hasn't made the sale on Iraq either. People are not more likely to say they have confidence in him than they have confidence in Bush, whom they disapprove of."

Macon Judge sentences man to 10 years for sexual assault of a female jogger -- Thanks Your Honor!!

Bibb County Superior Court Judge Phillip Brown sentenced [Randy Keith Coleman, 23] to 13 years in prison, of which 10 must be served.

Macon Judicial Circuit assistant district attorney Nancy Scott Moskaly said Coleman will not be eligible for parole until 2014.

(Macon Telegraph)

Keep shopping they say -- But is this why sales tax collections are up?

Are your county's local special sales tax revenue up significantly?

They are, and this morning I saw a headline saying "Special sales tax revenue expands," and the article noting that "[s]ome might question whether the nation's economy is headed up or down, but in Columbia County there's no doubt that sales tax revenue is skyrocketing."

"Keep shopping!'' a county commissioner said upon seeing the report.

But is this behind the increase? No, and while we all enjoy the increased sales tax revenues for our local SPLOST projects, what America really needs is perceived stability in the Middle East, less speculation in the oil market, and a resolution of the Yukos situation in Russia.

The extra sales taxes are coming from the escalation in gas prices, not that much more shopping at Wal-Mart, according to Bill Shipp on this past week's The Georgia Gang.

N.C. looking blue, and we're not talking basketball -- May go Democratic for the first time since 1976

The AP reports that Democrats believe they may carry the state in a presidential election for the first time since 1976.

George W. Bush carried [North Carolina with] more than 62 percent of the vote in the 2000 presidential election.

Though Republican Elizabeth Dole took over Jesse Helms' longtime Senate seat last year, Democrat Erskine Bowles is the favorite to succeed Edwards.

[A]s is true across the South, Democrats here tend to be more conservative than their counterparts in other regions, resulting in a heavy crossover vote in presidential elections. Southerners Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are the only Democratic presidential candidates to put up any kind of fight in the state over the past 40 years.

Florida and Nevada Votes on Wages Could Boost Kerry -- We'll take it

Proponents of a higher minimum wage, frustrated by federal inaction, are turning their attention to the state level, and their efforts to tap voters' angst over the quality of new jobs could affect the presidential race.

In November, voters in two key battlegrounds, Nevada and Florida, will be asked to raise the minimum wage in their states. Those on both sides of the initiatives believe the measures could increase voter turnout among Democratic-leaning African-Americans, Hispanics and low-income workers -- and possibly boost Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry's showing against President Bush.

The initiative drives have no formal connection to Mr. Kerry or the Democrats, and they come after 12 other states and Washington, D.C., already have established minimum wages higher than the federal rate.

(wsj; subscription -- email for article)

Dear DNC: Make a note of Monday, August 16, Atlanta. It might change your southern strategy

The Edwards fund-raiser held this past Monday had been planned for weeks. It was not for us proletariats (as in General reception: $2,000 per person; Private reception: $15,000 per person; and Dinner: $25,000 per person). (I was a Captain in the United States Army. Things must have changed; a general used to outrank a private.)

The public rally was added to the schedule only on Friday. A last minute but prescient call.

In the words of my buddy Mae, this eleventh hour decision was made that "Sen. John Edwards will grace the unwashed masses with a brief appearance on Monday at the Georgia International Convention Center before heading over to a $2000 a person fundraiser, the proceeds of which will leave GA before the ice melts in the Steuben glasses." (We love you Mae.)

Only 3,500 enthusiastic fans showed up; heck, what if there had been more than two days' notice.

Democratic National Committee, nationally the Democrats have been able to raise money this go round unlike anything we have ever witnessed. Thus we don't really care if the DNC got the $1 million you were hoping to raise.

What we do care about is that you were paying attention, and that you got the message. It was a big one!!!

Kudos to Cynthia Tucker on this keeper about Campbell (Mayor Sir, was there nothing involved, even something minor like Checkers?)

Checkers: Tricky Dick, 1952: "...the kids, like all kids, love the dog, and...regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it." [it being the cocker spaniel dog Checkers someone had given him. OK, I might have only been 3 at the time, but I will assure you I have read the speech many times.]

Today in the 8-18-04 ajc Cynthia Tucker has another keeper on former Mayor Bill Campbell.

I usually give excerpts to give you a feel, but if I did this, I "should [be] on [my] knees begging for forgiveness" from Ms. Tucker for not pasting the whole thing. This is a must read. Thanks Ms. Tucker for a frank assessment, and also our appreciation to Mayor Franklin.

Some Children Left Behind

8-18-04 N.Y. Times:

Four years ago, No Child Left Behind served as candidate George W. Bush's banner domestic issue, showcasing his claim to "compassionate conservatism." At campaign stops, Mr. Bush attacked the "soft bigotry of low expectations" in public schools, and once in office, No Child Left Behind became his legislative initiative. It aimed for nothing less than ending the achievement gap between whites and minorities, by threatening public schools with dire punishments unless they improved the academic performance of all students. The law is intended to ratchet up the quality of teachers at high-poverty schools, steadily raise student achievement in reading, math and science, and use student test scores to dictate whether a school should survive. It also promises students in underperforming schools a way out, through transfer to better schools or private tutoring.

[E]vents in many states suggest [that] all is not going as planned with the administration's goal.

Faced with the challenge of raising all students to academic proficiency by 2014, however, some states simply lowered their standards, while many others came up with statistical devices to exclude whole groups of children from the law's umbrella.

Many states have also found ways to transform No Child Left Behind into something closer to Some Children Left Behind, particularly for disabled children and immigrants. More than a dozen states have adopted higher threshold numbers for counting these students in school ratings, so that they are frequently excluded from accountability systems.

[I wish there were some realistic factoring or adjustment on this latter point in Georgia. My wife who teaches 2nd grade says one disabled student's test scores has a tremendous downward impact on the class's, but all that is reported is the class's average. The prior year her class may or may not have had a disabled student; thus comparing apples and oranges.]

Give me those numbers one more time -- U.S. Senate

Republicans currently hold 51 slots in the 100-seat chamber. Democrats hold 48 seats, and they can usually count on the vote of Sen. Jim Jeffords, a Vermont independent who briefly swung control of the Senate to Democrats when he left the Republican Party in 2001.

Democrats [are] eager to recapture the upper chamber they have held for just 18 months out of the past 10 years.

Morris News Service

I'm with the President on troop realignment

Despite ongoing political criticism of the President's plan to withdraw up to 70,000 U.S. soldiers from Europe and Asia, in my nonexpert opinion, it seems that this decision has been long overdue. Russia lost the cold war didn't it?

Early ballots could weigh heavily this year

Early voting has emerged as a major force in the tight 2004 presidential race. The winner could be the candidate who draws more votes in September and October, forcing both parties to accelerate their efforts to mobilize targeted constituencies.

(wsj)

Mr. Bush says cannot believe what he just heard. Anybody got any Q-tips? Thanks, now say it one more time, very slowly.

President Bush's full-term effort to court Jewish Americans has failed, according to a new poll that shows him trailing Sen. John Kerry among those voters in the race for president by 53 percentage points [as in 75 percent to 22 percent].

This also could set up an ironic double win, because polls show Mr. Kerry leading among Arab-Americans as well — a switch from Mr. Bush's overwhelming success with that bloc in 2000.

The Washington Times.

What do I know; I just work here -- The same-sex marriage vote

I read that the ACLU plans to file a lawsuit challenging the language used to describe the proposed same-sex marriage Constitutional amendment that is to be on the November 2 ballot. As I understand it (and not having reviewed the legislation, etc.), the ballot will only have sentence stating that marriage will be between a man and a woman. Yes or no.

I am not a member (card-carrying or otherwise) of the ACLU, and thus do not have do not have its telephone nos. in my Outlook. But I would suggest that the ACLU attorneys review -- if they have not already -- the successful challenge 10 years or so ago in federal court in the Northern District of Georgia of the Constitutional amendment pertaining to allowing suits against a state department or agency (I think this is the language. Anyway, it dealt with sovereign immunity.)

(One ACLU attorney whom I do know is Laughlin McDonald. We have litigated on opposite sides in voting rights and redistricting cases. In the Army, out of respect, I would call him an officer and a gentleman. And I must add, a damn good man to boot.)

What! Gave up your Congressional seat, you naughty kitten! Then you shall have no pie.

The Washington Times has reported the following shocking news:

Democratic Party leaders are paying little attention and giving little support to the Georgia Senate campaign of Rep. Denise L. Majette, despite pumping money into campaigns in five other Southern states.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) for months has been touting their candidates' chances for victory in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Louisiana — but not Georgia.

The DSCC has given Mrs. Majette no money.

"I think everyone she talked to advised her not to run, and she has complained throughout the campaign about the lack of help," [Merle Black, government professor at Emory University in Atlanta,] said. "No one who has looked at this seriously sees her having a chance of winning."

Mrs. Majette chose to forgo running for a second term in the House to seek the Senate seat against the wishes of Democratic supporters in her state and in the national party, [Jennifer Duffy, managing editor of the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan analysis of electoral politics,] said.

Mr. Black and Mrs. Duffy said the odds are slim that Mrs. Majette will receive any help at all.

[Why is this news "shocking?" See 8-05-04 post below entitled: "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about Oxford and Corzine."]

W -- Reprising a War With Words; But I still miss his Daddy's Veep

8-17-04 Washington Post. The malapropisms that adorned George W. Bush's 2000 campaign before going into remission during much of his presidency have reemerged to garnish his reelection bid.

"I hope you leave here and walk out and say, What did he say? " Rest is required reading.
_______________

But all this does is make me miss Dan Quayle:

It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.

I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change.

This election is about who's going to be the next President of the United States!

One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is `to be prepared'.

If we do not succeed, then we run the risk of failure.

Let me just tell you how thrilling it really is, and how, what a challenge it is, because in 1988 the question is whether we're going forward to tomorrow or whether we're going to go past to the -- to the back!

What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.

Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.

The loss of life will be irreplaceable.

If you think Bush enjoyed Cold Mountain, wait until you learn how he likes Flat Mountain. He's yet to meet one he doesn't like.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
President Bush please shed your grace on God's beauty
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The purple mountain majesties!

_______________

8-17-04 Washington Post. "The Fine Print: A Word Accelerates Mountaintop Mining. Appalachia Is Paying Price for White House Rule Change:"

Mountaintop mining is booming again thanks to a small wording change to federal environmental regulations. It is a case study of how Bush administration officials have taken existing regulations and made subtle tweaks that carry large consequences.

The coal industry chafes at the name -- "mountaintop removal" -- but it aptly describes the novel mining method that became popular in this part of Appalachia in the late 1980s. Miners target a green peak, scrape it bare of trees and topsoil, and then blast away layer after layer of rock until the mountaintop is gone.

In just over a decade, coal miners used the technique to flatten hundreds of peaks across a region spanning West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and Tennessee. Thousands of tons of rocky debris were dumped into valleys, permanently burying more than 700 miles of mountain streams. By 1999, concerns over the damage to waterways triggered a backlash of lawsuits and court rulings that slowed the industry's growth to a trickle.

Today, mountaintop removal is booming again, and the practice of dumping mining debris into streambeds is explicitly protected, thanks to a small wording change to federal environmental regulations.

[For you old codgers, the title was going to be "To Dick Tracy's chagrin, our President likes Flattop Jones." Those were the days . . . .]

I'm from the government, and I am here to help you 2nd and 3rd grade teachers -- The blind leading those with 20-20

8-16 ajc headline "State wants third-grade goals revised:"

[S]tate education officials [have a] plan which introduces subtle changes in the way children in the earliest grades are taught, and say "I think we've finally got it right."

The proposed public school curriculum for English and the language arts says that students need to know how to read by the end of third grade, so they can begin reading to learn. [OK, I agree this makes sense. What else?]

In kindergarten, for example, students will still learn the basics like naming and writing the letters of the alphabet and learning to identify simple words.

But they also will be expected to know specific skills. By the end of that year, they should be writing daily and beginning to distinguish fact from fiction in books that are read aloud. [Heck, Bush can't do this (I assume his CIA reports are read aloud to him). Kindergarten kids?]

In second grade, the old writing standards said a student should be able to write "a minimum of three sentences about a topic." The new expectations say a student should "begin to write a persuasive piece that states and supports an opinion." [I quit here -- I find that many lawyers, much less high school graduates, have trouble doing this. I'm not even going to that part of the article about the third grade. But I can't resist sharing the last sentence of the article.]:

"What we're seeing is a movement to help teachers in the classroom understand what it looks like when a child masters a standard," [someone] said.

[Spare me. Has anyone got a shovel. Thank goodness I am seeing Cathy Cox Saturday night. That's right, the one with the "C." The one with the "K" . . . Um, I don't know. And on this article, one thing I can say for sure is that I hope my wife Sally doesn't find my hard copy of the ajc and read this article. I will never hear the end of it.]

P.S.: I almost forgot a most important detail. The opinions expressed herein are those of the Cracker Squire, and do not [necessarily] reflect the views of the Coffee County School District. [Just covering my rear since I am school board attorney you understand.]

[Our district can't stand to get hit anymore than it already has. Although more pain from Atlanta is expected, so far state education funding cuts have hit us up by some $725,000 in FY 2003; $1,500,000 in FY 2004; and already $1.800,000 in FY 2005, with more state passing of the expense of funding education onto this and all local school systems expected during the current FY 2005 year. That's $4,000,000 and rising for a non-metropolitan school system. Ouch!!]

Two bits, four bits . . . All for Ga.'s nurses, stand up and do nothing -- The nursing shortage and it's only money

"Federal funds bypass Georgia" (from8-16-04 Chronicle):

A severe shortfall in the number of nurses in Georgia, expected to grow worse in coming years, wasn't enough to get the state some of the $15.5 million the federal government doled out last month to help solve a national problem.

Though it got none of the federal funding, few would dispute that Georgia is a case study in what is becoming a nationwide epidemic as a growing and aging population leaves state nursing schools scrambling to crank out enough nurses.

Forty-seven of Georgia's 159 counties are designated as "nursing shortage counties" by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
_______________

Someone needs to step up to the plate here Governor. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations projects the vacant nursing positions in Georgia will soon grow to 30,000 in Georgia.

To win a drawing, you must have a ticket; to be successful in being awarded a grant, you must have applied for the grant. It appears Georgia dropped the ball here.

Ask your local college with a nursing program: Did we apply?

Slowing Growth Stirs Doubts Over Global Recovery

An economic slowdown is spreading around the world as record oil prices, falling stocks and weak technology spending ripple from South Korea and Japan to the U.S. and Germany, casting doubt on a global recovery taken for granted just a few months ago.

Global weaknesses are an added worry for the U.S. because a three-year spending spree by American consumers is winding down, and economists had been counting on higher exports to help keep the U.S. expansion on track in the coming year.

8-16-04 wsj.

Stagflation -- stagnant growth and inflation -- not good

"A Central Banker's Nightmare:Inflation and Slow Growth Together:"

One of the dirtiest words in the economic lexicon is making the rounds again: stagflation.

Defined as a noxious blend of stagnant growth and rising prices, stagflation last appeared in force in the 1970s, when it bedeviled U.S. policy makers and gradually degraded the standard of living of average Americans. Economists long thought a repeat to be extremely unlikely.

But now, they are starting to worry again. The fundamental problem: Oil prices are kicking up inflation across the world, at precisely the same time that economic growth appears to be slowing. If oil prices keep climbing, and inflation rates exceed growth rates, some economists say the U.S., Asia and other regions could face a troubling scenario in which policy makers have to fight some of the same demons that plagued the U.S. back in the days of disco.

"Oil at $45 a barrel is a stagflation problem."

8-16-04 wsj.

In the world of at least one Bobby I know it's 3 strikes and you're out -- Here's to hoping for a double

I made the following comment on my website during the campaign, a slanted and biased source for an opinion, but the gospel truth nonetheless:

I am hopeful that by July 20 certain members of our Party’s leadership -- who long ago conceded the U.S. Senate race in November to the Republicans and decided to emphasize the important task of retaking the state Senate and gaining seats in the state House -- will see the light and recognize that if we elect the right U.S. Senate candidate on July 20, not only will this help our Party attain these important state objectives in November, but also will greatly enhance our Party’s chances of retaking the Governor’s Office in 2006.

An article in the 8-16-04 Macon Telegraph by Andy Peters entitled "Georgia Democrats face steep climb to reclaim Senate majority" is as good of play by play that you are going to get on the state Senate races. The headline sort of tells it all.

For the Democrats to reclaim the majority they lost in 2002, when four Republicans switched parties, they'll have to sweep all nine Senate races that appear to be toss-ups, plus upset three more Republicans where the GOP appears to have an edge, as well as win two more close races where Democrats appear strongest, according to a Telegraph analysis.

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock [says] most likely the Republicans will retain Senate control.

"It's awfully difficult for the Democrats to come up with a winning strategy in the Senate," Bullock said. "If I were a Democratic strategist, I'd concentrate on trying to hold on to the majority in the House."

Democrats hope to see a continuation of the long-standing tendency of rural conservatives who vote Republican in national elections but who cast Democratic ballots in local elections.

In the state Senate, 22 races already have been decided in the primaries. The primaries have given the Republicans a head start, as they already have won 13 seats to the Democrats' nine seats.

That leaves 34 seats to be determined.

In six of those 34 races, a Democrat is the clear favorite, according to the Telegraph analysis. In 14 races, a Republican is the clear favorite.

Five races appear to favor either the Democrat or Republican, but there's enough uncertainty to give the other side at least a glimmer of hope. Three of the races seem to favor the Republican, and two appear to lean Democratic.

Nine races are too close to call.

With friends like the Governor, who needs enemies -- Endorsements

[The Leah Sears and Hill] results bolster a widespread belief among political observers that endorsements don’t tend to have much influence on elections.

“Voters don’t pay much attention to them,’’ said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University. “Some voters even resent people coming in from outside and telling them how to vote.’’

Though voters apparently weren't swayed by Perdue's endorsements, politicians are likely to make note of the results, said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia.

The governor's mixed record in the primaries could hurt his ability to steer his legislative priorities through the General Assembly, Bullock said.

"The message it sends is that a legislator need not worry that bucking the governor will hurt his chances for reelection," said Bullock. "[Perdue] will have to cajole, bargain and plead, but not threaten."

But Black expects any political damage to the governor to be short-lived and not affect his anticipated re-election bid in 2006.

As for coattails, Black said Perdue can't lose what he has never had.

"It's not clear from previous elections that he's had any coattails," said Black. "Generally, you have to run somewhere above the low 50s to have that effect."

When Perdue defeated incumbent Democrat Roy Barnes two years ago to win the governor's race, he captured only 51.4 percent of the vote.

8-16-04 GDP.

Taming the deficit

The federal deficit, which measures the difference between how much money the government takes in and how much it spends, hit a record $375 billion in 2003. The White House sees it soaring to $521 billion this year, when it is certain to be an issue in the presidential campaign.

Most economists say deficits aren't necessarily a bad thing. "When the economy is underemployed, government deficit spending helps put people back to work to get businesses profitable and get the economy back where it's supposed to be," said Benjamin Friedman, a professor of economics at Harvard University. At times deficits are unavoidable, notably during war.

The fear in the years ahead is that Washington's enormous funding needs will drive up interest rates, making it harder for businesses to finance their own growth and eventually putting the brakes on economic expansion. Critics of today's tax cuts say President Bush is inviting such a fate.

[The following is about one of the "rogues' gallery" of years when the deficit spiked, especially relative to the size of the economy, 2004, and what created the problem, how Bush reacted.]

2004: "Guns and Tax Cuts" - After a 27-year absence, federal surpluses returned during the Clinton presidency, but the red-hot economy cooled just as President Bush was taking the reins and now deficits are back with a vengeance and will likely stick around.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the wars on terror and in Iraq, and three tax cuts haven't helped. The Bush administration argues that the tax cuts are necessary to stimulate growth and says deficits will fall by half in the next five years as the economy recovers. White House economists also claim that current deficits aren't that alarming when measured against GDP.

Others are less sanguine. Goldman Sachs' Mr. McKelvey said the deficit this year is at about 4.2% of GDP: "It's not a record. It's not outrageous. But the problem is that it's very hard to see how we're going to get that percentage down." Economists say it will be near impossible to wring savings from the Pentagon or curb so-called mandatory spending on programs like Medicare and interest paid on the national debt. That leaves hacking away at the other 20% of the budget or reversing the Bush tax cuts -- both huge political challenges.

And as to growing out of the deficits? "This is an economy," said Harvard's Mr. Friedman, "that is getting itself back to full employment. And yet the deficit is getting bigger not smaller. We're moving in the wrong direction."

The wsj.

Bashing the "Yes" answer continues

President Bush has formidable obstacles to reelection, but he served a reminder last week that he is a politician with formidable strengths. Anyone who doubts it should spend some time watching the shirtsleeves campaign.

8-16-04 Washington Post.

'Data Quality' Law Is Nemesis Of Regulation

The 8-16-04 Washington Post reports that the Data Quality Act -- written by an industry lobbyist and slipped into a giant appropriations bill in 2000 without congressional discussion or debate -- is used as a cudgel to beat back regulation.

Things were not looking good a few years ago for the makers of atrazine, America's second-leading weedkiller. The company was seeking approval from the Environmental Protection Agency to keep the highly profitable product on the market. But scientists were finding it was disrupting hormones in wildlife -- in some cases turning frogs into bizarre creatures bearing both male and female sex organs.

Last October, concerns about the herbicide led the European Union to ban atrazine, starting in 2005. Yet that same month, after 10 years of contentious scientific review, the EPA decided to permit ongoing use in the United States with no new restrictions.

On this day

On Aug. 16, 1977, The King died at Graceland Mansion at age 42.

We know you feel compelled to talk the talk, but please Sen. Kerry, when elected, walk the walk -- the deficit

For months, Sen. John Kerry and his top advisers have accused President Bush of pushing through tax cuts and big spending that have added trillions of dollars to the federal debt.

Then early last week, Mr. Kerry's campaign boasted that he would offer "more than twice as much in new tax cuts" as the president and still follow through on his promise of a $653 billion health care plan.

The campaign trumpeted its proposal for "more than $400 billion of new tax cuts" in a news release that declared "these tax cuts are fully paid for without increasing the deficit by one dime," before going on to list a variety of tax breaks for college tuition costs, health care and investment in new technology.

While Mr. Kerry carefully listed ways he would pay for the new tax cuts, totaling $419 billion over 10 years, he has also called for permanently extending Mr. Bush's tax cuts for middle-income families. Because those tax cuts are set to expire under current law, making them permanent would cost the Treasury about $425 billion over 10 years.

Budget analysts see striking similarities in the ways Mr. Kerry and Mr. Bush have glossed over major omissions in their goals to reduce the deficit.

In a tacit admission that the numbers are hard to reconcile, Mr. Kerry's supporters argue that the crucial issue is not so much the numbers as the commitment of the candidate to reduce the deficit.

"It is imperative that the next president has an internalized sense of how important this is," said Robert E. Rubin, who was Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and is an informal Kerry adviser. "The only way you are going to deal with it is if you have a very committed president."

8-15-04 N.Y. Times.

Jobs? Oil? Iraq? On Second Thought, Let's Talk Taxes

The economy is slowing, prices are rising and the lift that came from last year's tax cuts has faded into memory. What is the White House to do?

With the Republican National Convention just two weeks away, top advisers to President Bush are looking for a few big ideas to add some sizzle to the economic platform.

Don't expect Mr. Bush to advocate a national sales tax to replace the income tax, even though he flirted with the idea at a campaign stop in Florida last week.

Bush campaign officials quickly denied that any such plan was in the works.

Still, Mr. Bush's advisers said the president wants to make tax reform a cornerstone of his second term, and campaign officials see the potential to win over voters by pledging to fix a system that is widely seen as complex and unfair.

8-15-04 N.Y. Times.

Let's not get carried away Gang.

In the 8-10 post below entitled "The Devil -- I don't find him in the details of the Court of Appeals race," I noted that Mead had 382-votes fewer than Sheffield.

While he argued he was entitled to a new election because the number of flawed ballots -- 481 -- is greater than the margin by which he lost the second-place slot to Sheffield, 382, lawyers for Bernes, Sheffield and state elections officials argued that only 314 of the 481 flawed ballots were cast with votes for the Appeals Court race in Laurens County, meaning Sheffield's statewide margin of victory would still hold without those votes.

I concluded that since the opinion was unanimous, there must be something here more than was unreported. Otherwise, assuming these numbers are correct, I am missing what puts the results of the election in doubt.

I think you laymen on The Gang got a tad carried away this week in bashing the Supreme Court. To suggest the Court would postpone an election to avoid getting a prosecutor is ludicrous, in my lawyerly opinion. To suggest it was playing favorites is likewise ludicrous, again in my lawyerly opinion.

As I understand things, the Court of Appeals and not the Supreme Court will be hearing the case prior to November 2. Regardless of how it comes out, I have confidence that the Court's reasoning for postponing the election -- something I assure you the Court also considers drastic -- will be persuasive.

That high-pitched whine is the sound of Martin Luther King, Jr. twirling in his grave

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

"[L]et freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! . . . When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

It's been almost 41 years to the day since Dr. King delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial.

In little more than 41 hours after Denise Majette was declared the victor of the Democratic Primary runoff election for the U.S. Senate, and not too far from Stone Mountain, Alexis Scott of The Georgia Gang this week declared with glee: "The Democratic Party is the party of the blacks."

I don't think this was included in Dr. King's dream. Further, I even suspect Dr. King may have rolled over in his grave when he heard this pronouncement that sounded a bit like a victory speech.

I recognize that in my saying this, some will say that I must be an ostrich with his head in the sand; or that I am a white Democrat in a state of denial.

I respond to this by saying that I consider myself a Democrat, not a white Democrat. That ours is the party of the people, the party of inclusion.

That if we are to be labeled as a racially identifiable party, let it by someone other than those among us who still consider us to be the party of inclusion.

Fellow panelist Bill Shipp was quick on the draw in coming to Ms. Scott's rescue by not missing the opportunity to note that the late Manuel Maloof epitomized everything good about the Democratic Party.

And it was natural that Bill Shipp would be the one who would do this. Not too long ago he reminded his column readers that my favorite low profile political trio – Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond, Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former state Democratic Party Chairman Calvin Smyre – remain most vigilant in rebuilding our state's white-black Democratic coalition as we all work together in reviving the crumbled Democratic power and putting back together again our Humpty-Dumpty Democratic Party of Georgia following our November 2002 whipping.

In law we often say bad facts make bad law. I am not going to address the specifics behind Ms. Scott's statement other than observe that many factors were involved in Majette becoming our Party's nominee for the U.S. Senate.

And regardless, I do not believe the great majority of Democrats -- white and black -- believe the candidate herself merited Ms. Scott's conclusion. To paraphrase Secretary of Treasury Lloyd Bentsen, Congresswoman, you're no Barack Obama.

(Credit for the title of this post goes to one of two employees of the ajc.)

One score and four years ago an election was influenced by a four letter word -- Iran

One score and four years later an election will be determined by a four letter word -- Iraq.

From the 8-15-04 N.Y. Times articles entitled "Events in Iraq Prove a Distraction and a Guide for Wisconsin Voters:"

Mirna Zavala, a 53-year-old medical technician, is just the kind of voter, her thoughts still shifting and swerving, who could tip the presidential election in Wisconsin. Ask whom she favors and she instantly pours out all her uncertainties about what is happening in Iraq, doubts that she expects will last all the way to November.

"Honestly, I don't know what to do," Ms. Zavala said as she wandered near Lake Michigan clutching the hand of her young granddaughter. Ms. Zavala voted for President Bush in 2000 and says her relatives still adore him. Never far from her thoughts, though, is that her son-in-law is a soldier, and so her uncertainty keeps growing.

"Now, when I look at it, I think Bush misled the people about Iraq, and I feel sad for all the families, for all these soldiers that had to die," she said. "But then I don't really know what Kerry would do about it either." Ms. Zavala stopped, then finally said, "I guess I can only wait and see what happens."

There lies a central complication for the campaigns as they fight for a state that gave Al Gore just an ounce more support than George W. Bush four years ago. From working-class neighborhoods in Racine in the southeast to the pine- and fern-covered hills near Lake Superior, voters speak of factories that have closed, schools short on money and health insurance beyond reach.

But many seem focused on the United States' role in Iraq, and the issue divides the state.

And unlike so many other political issues, where the parties can control the terms of the debate, the conflict in Iraq is ever changing, and it will likely go right on changing until Election Day, and beyond.

"That is what is so difficult about this whole issue for both sides: So much depends on events that haven't happened yet," [said so and so], "And each side is caught in exactly that mess."

The citizen-politician -- Gone the way of the Oldsmobile?

One of the most popular American films of all-time and a perennial holiday favorite, "It's a Wonderful Life," was not a huge hit with either critics or audiences when it debuted in December 1946. But it was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Jimmy Stewart), and Best Director (Frank Capra). After slipping quickly into obscurity, it began appearing on television occasionally in the late 1950s. But when the film's copyright lapsed in 1973, "It's a Wonderful Life" quickly became a staple of American TV programming between Thanksgiving and Christmas and belatedly earned its rightful place in the lexicon of American popular culture.

And a staple it has been at our family and probably yours over the holidays for years. I know you know of other movies starring Jimmy Stewart, but what about ones directed by Frank Capra. And even better than that, starring Stewart and directed by Capra.

I knew you knew. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." This classic argues that the average man, decent of heart and pure in his intentions, was the best sort of public servant. It is a logical myth for a democracy to cling to: The Republic's salvation can be found in the people's wisdom.

Tales of ordinary men bravely venturing into the public arena are always tales of naiveté. And they always involve an encounter with corruption. Stewart faced off with a dastardly senator in "Mr. Smith." As with the encounter with the banker in "a Wonderful Life," decency triumphs.

And what of the great democratic myth that high office should be accessible? By the time "Mr. Smith" premiered in 1939, it was already an exercise in nostalgia. More than 10 years earlier Walter Lippmann had observed that mass media and increasingly complex social relations had made any expression of the people's "common will" impossible. By necessity, he argued, government should be a partnership of scientific experts and professional politicians. Only such elites could grasp the issues and make informed decisions, checked by voters who rallied behind one party or another.

Yes, elites can get things wrong, sometimes badly wrong. But most of the time they couldn't possibly do worse than the citizen-innocent. We love to hate "professional politicians," but like it or not, politics is a profession. Even the attributes of the political class that we claim to despise are, more often than not, virtues. We sometimes recoil at Bill Clinton's cool and LBJ's cunning, but how else are competing interests brought to consensus?

Most of the above concerning "Mr. Smith" is from the 8-13-04 wsj by a Noah, "a television producer in Los Angeles." I threw in the "Wonderful Life" stuff. (The article is about the "American Candidate," "an election-season reality show [that] revises the unreal idea that average citizens should rescue politics.")

I still like the idea of the citizen-politician, the idea that the average man or woman, decent of heart and pure in his or her intentions, was the best sort of public servant. I know, I know -- I'm old-fashioned.

Reading this I learned that on Dec. 31 there will be some celebrating other than just at Times Square

[There is a] major transformation in clothing production now under way as the industry prepares for the end of international apparel quotas on Dec. 31. The 30-year-old quota system was designed to put limits on the amount of textiles developing nations could export to industrialized countries. Because it prevented any one country from dominating the textile trade, it allowed fledgling apparel industries in nations such as Bangladesh and Saipan to flourish. When the agreement expires on Jan. 1, textile production is expected to consolidate into the few countries that can produce the best quality at the lowest cost.

No longer restricted in where they manufacture clothes, many big apparel companies are now preparing to consolidate operations, cutting down the time and expense of producing in various parts of the world. The liberalization of trade is expected to shutter small textile industries in countries like Mauritius, and result in a massive migration of jobs to low-cost, high-efficiency centers like China. It is also expected to lead to accelerated deflation in the industry, and cheaper garment prices.

Over the past year, apparel companies have been trying to figure out just how to prepare for the new post-quota landscape. Many in the industry are watching the progress of Liz Claiborne and Luen Thai to see whether supply chain cities will become a model in the future.

Liz Claiborne, for example, currently has 250 suppliers in 35 countries as diverse as Saipan, Mexico and Cambodia. Currently, its designers in New York come up with a concept for a clothing line, which they then ship to their sourcing team in Hong Kong.

The teams confer with Luen Thai employees in Dongguan on what modifications need to be made in order to produce the line at the right cost. Luen Thai then goes looking for the right fabric. Any modifications that are made need to be checked all the way back up the line.

"Right now, there is a lot of duplication," says Chris Chan, Liz Claiborne's vice president for Asia. When prototypes come out of the factory they are sent back to New York to be inspected and possibly modified, then shipped back again to the factory in China. "When it's all finished, it gets checked again," Mr. Chan says. The process sucks up precious time and requires additional staff.

Instead of having 100 people spread between New York and Asia doing the same job, the new supply-chain city will enable the two companies to reduce staff to 60 people in China, concentrating all functions closer to the factory floor, Mr. Chan said. By moving all but the most critical designers and trend spotters to Asia, the company can dispense with the tedious back and forth, slashing precious weeks off production times and getting up-to-minute fashions into stores sooner.

After quotas are removed, Liz Claiborne expects to eventually consolidate sourcing in just a few countries from 35 now, says Mr. Chan. Its 250 suppliers will be reduced to about half that number within five years, vastly streamlining its supply chain.

This means convincing a lot of New York-based designers and product development staff to move to China. Of course, many of the core fashion functions will always stay in New York, close to the end market. But many other jobs, especially on the technical level, don't have to be.

The more production a company like Liz Claiborne moves to China, the more it can reap economies of scale. Under the current quota system, Liz Claiborne clothes arrive in the U.S. from factories all over the world. But in its stores, Liz Claiborne doesn't just tout a single skirt, it tries to sell customers an entire outfit -- a skirt, a top and maybe a matching handbag.

The only way to get all those different pieces to the right stores in the right quantities is to have them shipped to three distribution centers it maintains in Ohio, New York and New Jersey. There the garments are repacked and sent off to individual stores -- at a cost between 80 cents and $1.20 a garment.

In the new supply-chain city, everyone from the fabric mill to the store will use the same scan-and-track inventory system. Goods can roll off the factory floor and go straight to a store in Seattle, reducing the unit cost to as little as 20 cents, Mr. Tan says.

(8-13-04 wsj; email if want full.)

Bob Barr and the ACLU would think they had died and gone to heaven here

"Fighting Words -- France Moves Fast To Expel Muslims Preaching Hatred" (from the wsj; email if want full article):

France has taken one of the hardest lines of any Western country in fighting Islamic extremism. Other democracies, including the U.S., have been criticized for excessive methods, such as holding prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But few have been as systematic and zealous as France in attempting to stamp out Islamic militancy.

"Today, one can no longer separate terrorist acts from the words that feed them," Interior Minister Dominique [says].

Earlier this year, France passed a law that bars Muslim girls from wearing head scarves at public schools. Its counterterrorism magistrates often round up suspects in broad sweeps and detain them for years without trial. With its new practice of expelling Muslim preachers, France is taking its campaign against extremism one step farther.

France's hardball approach comes as Europe faces stark questions about how to integrate its surging Muslim population. Once tiny, it has grown exponentially, fueled by immigration from North Africa and the Middle East and from countries such as Turkey and Pakistan, as well as by higher birth rates in Muslim families. France, with a population of about 60 million, is now home to an estimated five million to seven million Muslims, the most in Western Europe.

Other Western European countries with large Muslim communities, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, haven't gone as far as France for fear of undermining basic civil liberties. But the U.K. has recently begun threatening to hold Islamic preachers accountable for their words. In Germany, expulsions require court orders, and courts have been unwilling to send radicals back to countries with questionable human-rights records.

France argues that its tough stance pays off: There has been no terrorism on French soil since Algeria's Armed Islamic Group conducted a wave of bombings in Paris in 1995. And France harbored none of the cells that plotted the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. or the March 11 train bombings in Spain.

The first contingent of Muslims arrived in France in the 1950s and 1960s from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. They helped fill France's demand for cheap factory labor amid the country's post-World War II economic boom.

A turning point came in the late 1970s when the government of President Valery Giscard d'Estaing allowed those workers to bring their families to France. That took away an incentive for them to return to their impoverished home countries. Many settled in France for good, sending the number of Muslims soaring.

France became aware it had an integration problem in the late 1980s when Muslim girls started coming to school wearing head scarves. That sparked a 15-year debate about whether the country's secular society should tolerate obvious signs of religious affiliation at its public schools, culminating in this year's ban. The new law also prohibits wearing large Christian crosses, Jewish skullcaps and other visible religious symbols.

With hundreds of mosques springing up across the country, the government took to promoting the notion of a "French Islam," in harmony with France's republican ideals and devoid of foreign theological influences. As a rule, France wants its immigrants to leave their languages and cultural origins behind and become primarily French.

The Madrid train bombings, the first massive Islamist attack in the heart of Europe, convinced Mr. de Villepin, the interior minister, that drastic measures were needed to root out preachings that could spark terrorism, aides say. He ordered a crackdown, building on a few expulsions already carried out by his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Expulsion has been legal in France since 1945. But the procedure is usually used against illegal immigrants. Last year, France sent home more than 11,000 illegal aliens. Since the Muslim men it was now targeting were mostly legal residents, the Interior Ministry invoked another part of the 1945 legislation.

That clause allows the state to expel "in absolute emergency" any foreigner deemed a threat "to the security of the state or public safety." In the past, the clause was mainly used to expel foreigners convicted of violent crimes such as rape or murder who had finished serving their prison terms.

In April, the Interior Ministry expelled Abdelkader Yahia Cherif, a 35-year-old Algerian who preached at a prayer room in Brest, a port city on France's northwestern coast. France alleged that Mr. Cherif was recruiting young Arab men to a radical brand of Islam known as Salafism, which advocates a literal, inflexible interpretation of the Quran. The government contended Mr. Cherif had incited violence in his neighborhood since arriving four years earlier, including a fire at a town hall.

The order justifying his expulsion said Mr. Cherif had rejoiced over the Madrid bombings in sermons, and cited an interview he gave to a newspaper in which he said there was "no absolute proof" Islamists had been involved in either the Sept. 11 or the Madrid attacks.

On May 19, Mr. Guler appeared before a judge in an administrative court. There, the Interior Ministry laid out its case. It rested on a 10-page memo by the Renseignements Generaux, a domestic intelligence service. There were no wiretaps, pictures, witness testimony or other evidence in the case file. Such memos are called note blanches, or white notes, because they aren't signed or dated and don't cite their sources.

At the hearing, the judge asked Mr. Guler whether French law took precedence over Islamic law. Mr. Guler gave an ambiguous answer, according to people present. "There's a polemic there, Your Honor," he said. "In Quranic law, God is higher than French law but, if I say that, I know I'll be punished by French law."

The judge ruled in the government's favor. Mr. Guler made plans to return to Turkey on his own, but the Interior Ministry moved faster. Three days after the hearing, policemen seized him at his house and put him on a flight to Istanbul.

Mr. Guler's wife and children remain in France and hope he will be able to return. [His lawyer] has gathered 50 affidavits from friends, neighbors and customers and plans to fight the government's decision. The appeal process could take years.

Tell it all brother, I mean sister, tell it all

Ajc's Cynthia Tucker tells it like it is on stem cell research ("I'm glad Salk wasn't a Bush"):

And I certainly don't understand a 21st-century superpower that devotes billions to building smart bombs to destroy life efficiently but refuses to fund the research that could save or enhance the lives of millions of its citizens.

If he had been named Jr., the H could have stood for Hoover rather than Herbert

Bush Overhauls U.S. Regulations:

April 21 was an unusually violent day in Iraq; 68 people died in a car bombing in Basra, among them 23 children. As the news went from bad to worse, President Bush took a tough line, vowing to a group of journalists, "We're not going to cut and run while I'm in the Oval Office."

On the same day, deep within the turgid pages of the Federal Register, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a regulation that would forbid the public release of some data relating to unsafe motor vehicles, saying that publicizing the information would cause "substantial competitive harm" to manufacturers.

Allies and critics of the Bush administration agree that the Sept. 11 attacks, the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq have preoccupied the public, overshadowing an important element of the president's agenda: new regulatory initiatives. Health rules, environmental regulations, energy initiatives, worker-safety standards and product-safety disclosure policies have been modified in ways that often please business and industry leaders while dismaying interest groups representing consumers, workers, drivers, medical patients, the elderly and many others.

And most of it was done through regulation, not law - lowering the profile of the actions. The administration can write or revise regulations largely on its own, while Congress must pass laws. For that reason, most modern-day presidents have pursued much of their agendas through regulation. But administration officials acknowledge that Mr. Bush has been particularly aggressive in using this strategy.

Some leaders of advocacy groups argue that the public preoccupation with war and terrorism has allowed the administration to push through changes that otherwise would have provoked an outcry. Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, says he does not think the administration could have succeeded in rewriting so many environmental rules, for example, if the public's attention had not been focused on national security issues.

"The effect of the administration's concentration on war and terror has been to prevent the public from focusing on these issues," Mr. Pope said. "Now, when I hold focus groups with the general public and tell them what has been done, they exclaim, 'How could this have happened without me knowing about it?' "

The administration has often been stymied in its efforts to pass major domestic initiatives in Congress. Even when both houses have been under Republican control, Senate Democrats, using parliamentary rules, have been able to block legislation eagerly sought by the White House and business groups, including bills on energy, bankruptcy and medical malpractice. So officials have turned to regulatory change.

The overall regulatory record shows that the Bush administration has heeded the interests of business and industry. Like the Reagan administration, which made regulatory reform a priority, officials under Mr. Bush have introduced new rules to ease or dismantle existing regulations they see as cumbersome. Some analysts argue that the Bush administration has introduced rules favoring industry with a dedication unmatched in modern times.

"My thoughts go back to Herbert Hoover," said Robert Dallek, the presidential historian. "No president could have been more friendly to business than Hoover" until the Bush administration.

8-14-04 N.Y. Times

Lest we forget -- 8-13-1961

From the N.Y. Times:

On this day, Aug. 13, 1961, Berlin was divided as East Germany sealed off the border between the city's eastern and western sectors in order to halt the flight of refugees. Two days later, work began on the Berlin Wall.

God Bless America.

Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills -- Does he know something we don't?

A year or so ago our local newspaper went two weeks in a row without running the weekly Bill Shipp column. I e-mailed the following to my good friends who run the paper:

"This is the second week running without Bill Shipp. I have the shakes as if I had been cut off caffine. I thought he must be on vacation when I did not see him in last week's edition, but then saw him Sunday morning on Georgia's leading talk show The Georgia Gang [and for you readers of this blog who reside in the Other Georgia, trust me, we also have TV's down here in South Georgia] .

I got a friend to send me the column and she also was kind enough to cut and paste it today when I had to go without it last night. Our readers have missed two Shipp classics, ones that I hope you can arrange to still publish if such is allowed in the publishing world.

About 25 years ago the ajc cut from the comics Little Orphan Annie; it took me a year to get over this, and the movie coming out years later did not solve the problem. Last week the ajc apparently killed Mark Trail, the only comic I read other than Doonesbury and Peanuts.

But this -- which I hope is not permanent -- is the unkindest cut of all, one from which I cannot recover. The Coffee County News without the Dean of Georgia Politics is worst than a day without sunshine -- my whole week is ruined."

Suffice it to say I enjoy reading Mr. Shipp's weekly columns. His columns are filled with golden nuggets week after week.

But this week the good Dean has me stumped. I don't know whether he is being a speculatator or a prognosticator. He is writing about the year 2010; the Governor in 2010 -- "Gov. Mac Collins."

We have seen the prediction (not from Dean Shipp but another) that the GOP may want to run Brother Cain for Lt. Gov. in 2006 (I have asked such predictor: Where does this leave Gov. Perdue's confidant Sen. Tommie Williams?), but not anything like this on Rep. Collins. Interesting, very interesting Dean.

Help, help me Rhonda

She has. She did the math, you do the reading. See Rhonda Cook's "GOP leads in sure seats after legislative primaries" in today's ajc. Good job Rhonda. We know you are just the messenger.

Recall in the State of Georgia 101

Today Gray Beverly in the Macon Telegraph reviews "the law" for recalling a public official in Georgia.

A group of Macon residents wanting to recall Mayor Jack Ellis will need to convince a judge that its complaints against the mayor fit one of the five categories set out under state law.

But it's up to voters to decide if the complaints are true.

Under the state's recall law, there are five grounds for removing a public official from office:

• committing an act of misconduct;

• malfeasance - generally defined in law simply as a "wrongful" act;

• failing to perform his or her legal duties;

• violating oath of office;

• willfully misusing public property or funds without authority.

The recall law does not define those terms in detail; it would be up to a Superior Court judge to decide whether the allegations, if true, would fit one of those categories, then up to voters to judge whether the complaints are valid.

The process involves an intricate list of tasks, including validating thousands of signatures and, in many cases, approval from a Superior Court judge.

[T]he judge likely would assume that the allegations in the petition application are true. He or she must decide whether they are clear, specific and, if true, would constitute grounds for removal.

The recall would then require a petition signed by 30 percent of the registered voters from the previous mayoral election - roughly 14,700.

Finally, a majority of voters would have to agree to remove Ellis from office.

In 1978, Georgia voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing recalls; state law overrides any local recall measures.

Wisdom, Justice and Coca-Cola

When in Georgia, do as Georgians. Be patriotic and drink Coke. There is something for everyone.

ORIGINAL: Coca-Cola Classic; 140 calories and 39 grams of sugar per 12-ounce can

DIET: Diet Coke; no calories and no sugar per 12-ounce can

IN BETWEEN: Coca-Cola C2; 70 calories and 18 grams of sugar per 12-ounce can

[I am a cheapskate. Before my daughter started working at Coke, I would drink the Wal-Mart knockoffs at home (OK, we had to put on the airs at the office, and there had the real thing). Having gotten on the real thing -- Diet Coke is my drink -- I couldn't go back.]

That swamp is not in Georgia

Senator Kerry, with Mr. Maloof's recent passing, the traditional Presidential hopeful visit to Manuel's Tavern is no doubt a no go (but even with the changed circumstances, it would be one hella good idea and would get you some good press, some very good press. Bring Sen. Edwards, and I assure you a bunch of Democrats will be there, cross my heart.)

If you do come to Georgia and begin talking about swamps, for dern sure make sure the one you are talking about is the Okefenokee, and not the other one.

FOOTBALL FUMBLE: With less than a month until the start of the college football season, you'd expect online football message boards to be full of talk about injuries, Heisman hopefuls or championship prospects. But some fans at Ohio State and Michigan universities are talking politics.

During a campaign speech in Bowling Green, Ohio, Mr. Kerry played it safe and decided not to take sides in the local college rivalry between the Bowling Green Falcons and Toledo Rockets. Instead, he endorsed Ohio State, a unifying force in the Buckeye State. But then, Mr. Kerry repeated this joke at a speech in Michigan.

Minor election observations

-- Who would have thunk it (from ajc):

''[I]n Gwinnett County, where Commission Chairman Wayne Hill was in a tight race for an unprecedented fourth term, large crowds weren't racing to the polls. Gwinnett's elections supervisor said the county turnout would be about 32,000, or 10 percent of its 322,000 registered voters."

-- This we anticipated (from same ajc):

"Monday's Supreme Court ruling, suspending a runoff for the Georgia Court of Appeals, also could have been a factor, [Secretary of State Cathy] Cox said."

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?

8-12-04 wsj headline: "Swooping In. How Discount Airlines Profited From Their Bigger Rivals' Woes; Amid Crisis, Smaller PlayersPicked Up Pilots, Planes From Struggling Giants." Excepts from the wsj article:

"In 1999, AirTran Airways had 46 planes, with an average age of 26 years. Today, it has 76 planes, and their average age is less than three years.

The discount airline has an industrywide depression to thank for that."

"When the big carriers furloughed workers, discounters hired. As struggling airlines abandoned gates, upstarts grabbed the chance for a beachhead at airports never open to them before. And as the biggest airlines canceled aircraft purchases, the discount carriers cut sweet deals to take new planes."

"''We've got cash. We've got liquidity,' says JetBlue's chief financial officer."

"'Conventional wisdom used to be that high oil prices hurt discounters more' because of their low fares, says Dan Kasper, an aviation economist at consulting firm LECG Corp. 'In a perverse twist of fate, the low-cost carriers are doing so much better because they are better hedged.'"

"Now, AirTran isn't shying away from even bigger, and riskier, opportunities. The carrier has staked out some turf in Philadelphia, waiting to see what happens with struggling US Airways. And it has expanded into Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, creating a mini-hub with flights to six cities. American dominates in Dallas, but Delta also has a hub there it is currently reviewing for possible cuts. AirTran says it went into Dallas independent of Delta's actions but is watching very closely what Delta does.

'We're not counting on something bad happening to someone else,' [AirTran's chairman and chief executive Joe] Leonard says. 'But if something bad happens to someone else, that's all the better.' Mr. Leonard says. 'But if something bad happens to someone else, that's all the better.'" Page two.
_______________

I assume such recent articles in the wsj and the ajc's recent articles concerning Delta and other airlines has caused the Dean of Journalism to try to scare us a bit by writing about a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Delta.

The following are excepts of Bill Shipp's column that will appear next week in many newspapers across the state entitled:

If Delta falters, Georgia's economy would take a nose dive

The possible demise or even drastic downsizing of Delta Air Lines . . . would shatter Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and create an economic earthquake that would ripple in every corner of the state.

Georgians, especially metro Atlanta residents, take for granted Delta's nearly 1,000 non-stop flights launched from Atlanta each day to every market in the country. We don't stop to think Delta's use of Atlanta as a hub creates two-thirds of that Atlanta traffic. Hartsfield-Jackson's hustle and bustle are not generated by a huge local demand for air passenger service.

Atlanta's availability of air transport to any place at any time has been marketed skillfully for years. To this day, convenient air travel is most often mentioned as a reason for a company's decision to relocate to the Atlanta region. Our continuing economic progress, not only as a city but as a state, owes much of its economic progress to the aging Atlanta hub.

The prosperity created by Hartsfield airport and its big airline clients has lifted more Georgians out of poverty than all the combined governmental programs in the state's history.

Trace Atlanta's development. At all stages, you will find one constant: We are a transportation center. We have built a brave and beautiful capital city around this bedrock strength, a foundation block that is now at risk.

If the Hartsfield hub falls flat , Georgia's once high-flying economy will be languishing on the tarmac - and the draft to get it airborne again will be a long time in coming.
______________

OK, so I fibbed a few days, actually several months' worth. This is not Bill Shipp's column for next week. He wrote these words months ago, along with the following:

Georgia faces tough economic times in the immediate future. Too bad some of our elected leaders and even our top commercial execs are too busy studying other matters (indigent defense, gay weddings, futuristic streetcars, etc.) to warn us - or to help construct safety nets to break our fall when one or both of the following economic catastrophes strike.

''Delta is going through some tough times, but it will be OK,'' some business leaders tell us. ''And Hartsfield is growing by leaps and bounds. Just look at that new $1.3 billion fifth runway and all the traffic it will be able to handle.''

Dream on.

Not one of our supposedly all-knowing leaders dares list publicly the collapse of Delta as a shattering possibility that would drive a stake into the heart of Atlanta's economy. A barely used fifth runway could become a billion-dollar reminder of what might have been.

Delta's long-term prospects for avoiding bankruptcy reorganization are not encouraging.

Trace Atlanta's development. At all stages, you will find one constant: We are a transportation center. We have built a brave and beautiful capital city around this bedrock strength, a foundation block that is now at risk. No responsible public official seems to understand or dare move to preserve the most essential element in metro Atlanta's economic vitality.
______________

Bill Shipp has, among other traits, two unique abilities that make him the Dean of Georgia Politics. One is to be able to put the present into its proper historical perspective.

The other, as a student of Georgia history, is to be able gaze into the future and pontificate of what might be. When Bill Shipp speaks, Georgia damn better listen.

OK, a tit for a tat with respect to JFK

Surveys suggest that Bush's popularity has plummeted among 18- to 29-year-olds in the past four months, posing a new obstacle to the president's bid to win reelection and an immediate challenge to Republicans seeking to win over impressionable and lightly committed young people during their upcoming convention. (The 8-12-04 Washington Post.)

Talk about cringing -- Fallout from the ill-fated "Yes" answer

On the 8-10-04 post below appears: "Kerry said what about Iraq? -- Be careful here Senator" concerning the headline "Kerry says Bush was right to invade Iraq." The post predicts that "We will hear more about this Kerry "yes" between now and November than his earlier I did but I didn't."

Frankly, I was then and remain in shock that this was the response. Maybe there was some purpose in the response that was going over my head, that I was missing. I mean after all, it wasn't like the Senator responded to a question at a news conference that he had no clue was coming.

I e-mailed someone much wiser than myself seeking answers: "I must be missing something, his advisors can't be wishing defeat so early. What am I missing?" I asked.

Today we learn more about how the Kerry answer in the New York Times:

-- Mr. Kerry's problems began last week when President Bush challenged him for a yes-or-no answer on a critical campaign issue: If Mr. Kerry knew more than a year ago what he knows today about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, would he still have voted to authorize the use of military force to oust Saddam Hussein?

As Mr. Bush surely knew, it is a question that can upset the difficult balance Mr. Kerry must strike. He has to portray himself as tough and competent enough to be commander in chief, yet appeal to the faction of Democrats that hates the war and eggs him on to call Mr. Bush a liar.

[T]he Kerry campaign debated how Mr. Kerry should respond. "There were a lot of ideas," said one official, "from silence, to throwing the question back in the president's face."

. . . .

Across the weekend, the Kerry campaign debated how Mr. Kerry should respond. "There were a lot of ideas," said one official, "from silence, to throwing the question back in the president's face."

But the decision, in the end, was Mr. Kerry's. He chose to take the bait on Monday at the edge of the Grand Canyon. Asked by a reporter, he said he would have voted for the resolution - even in the absence of evidence of weapons of mass destruction - before adding his usual explanation that he would have subsequently handled everything leading up to the war differently.

Mr. Bush, sensing he had ensnared Mr. Kerry, stuck in the knife on Tuesday, telling a rally in Panama City, Fla., that "he now agrees it was the right decision to go into Iraq." The Kerry camp says that interpretation of Mr. Kerry's words completely distorted the difference between a vote to authorize war and a decision to commit troops to the battlefield.

Mr. Kerry's answer is being second-guessed among his supporters, some of whom argued that he should have been more wary of the trap.

"I wish he had simply said no president in his right mind would ask the Senate to go to war against a country that didn't have weapons that pose an imminent threat," said one of Mr. Kerry's Congressional colleagues and occasional advisers.

-- I once heard a joke about a guy praying to the good Lord that he win the lottery. After much prayer, he heard a deep voice from above saying "Help me here, buy a ticket."

Senator Kerry, help us here. Buy some advice; listen to some advice; do something.

This morning I cringed -- Education and politics

While reading my hard copy of the 8-12-04 ajc, I came across a guest column on Education Reform written by former Governor Roy Barnes. The headline: "Improvement must start with teachers."

Gosh, I thought, I hope Sally doesn't see this. See and her fellow teachers have never forgiven Roy from what they perceived as teacher bashing during his term as governor.

Having been an observer as a school board attorney and married to a teacher during the time Barnes put forward his education reform measures, I have always been convinced it was the way Barnes conveyed his message rather than the message itself that turned his legislation of measuring the accountability of teachers into being more of King Roy being arrogant.

Much of his education reform -- which included much more than just this -- was needed and appreciated by teachers and administrators alike. But either Roy or his advisor Bobby Kahn -- I have never been able to decide who should get the blame -- clearly dropped the ball bigtime in delivering the message.

My dear Sally knows Roy is my friend and that I consider him among the state's two or three best chief executives (as an aside, on my website under our state flag I have "Lest we forget, Gov. Roy Barnes made this possible. ('A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.' 'The first step is the hardest.')").

But Sally still has that perception of his message being that all the problems with education and with kids not learning rested with the teachers.

The 7-06-04 ajc noted that "Democrats across the state were puzzled by the appearance of former Gov. Roy Barnes at an Augusta fund-raiser for Charles Walker, one day after the former state senator was indicted on 142 counts of corruption-related charges.

Walker . . . is the former Senate majority leader, was once the most influential African-American politician in the state, and was crucial to Barnes' election in 1998.

That said, countless Democrats told us Barnes' presence at the Walker bash has finally convinced them that the former governor has no further political ambitions. . . .

Barnes [told the ajc] that Walker called him the day of the indictments and offered him and out. Obviously, he didn't take it.

'Charles Walker was very helpful to my administration,' Barnes said. 'I stick with people who stick with me. I know it's one of my faults, but I don't run from folks who support me,' Barnes said."

I was talking with the ajc author of the above story prior to his interview with Gov. Barnes, and knowing that I had attended, he asked if I knew why Barnes went to Walker's event. My response: what's the issue; if Roy said he would be there, he was going.

I was glad Roy put it so bluntly in his interview with the reporter. Roy and I got to chat at Charles Walker's event. I had signed up for the event, and unlike three other Democratic candidates who had also signed up and found reasons not to come, if I had said I would be there, like Roy, you could take it to the bank.

Because of this admirable part of Barnes' character, suffice it to say I disagreed with the assessment noted above that "Barnes' presence at the Walker bash [meant] the former governor has no further political ambitions."

Almost to the day a year ago, and after having all but disappeared from public view since his defeat, Barnes suddenly began making public appearances, attending political functions, making speeches, and then subsequently getting very involved in Sen. John Edwards push for the White House.

I loved it, having been one of those who wished Gov. Barnes had made a run for the U.S. Senate.

Yes, I do like, respect and admire Roy Barnes. But I must confess that this morning when I read the headline entitled "Improvement must start with teachers" and saw that its author was Roy Barnes, I cringed.

Maybe the former governor doesn't have any further political ambitions. I still hope he does. I sure wish the headline had read a little differently.

One Good Deed Deserves Another -- Cynthia Tucker's turn at the plate on Manuel Maloof

Below is an 8-7-04 post entitled: "Lower the flag to half-mast -- A Great American has left this life," Ben Smith and Tom Bennett pen a keeper: "Manuel Maloof dies at age 80"

Today it's Cynthia Tucker turn to bat, and she produces yet another keeper. Some quotes from her column:

-- It was vintage Maloof -- opinionated, abrupt, unfiltered. Of course, that was what was so endearing: In an age of blow-dried, packaged politicians whose every utterance has been pretested and polled, Manuel was among the last of the old-fashioned, instinctive political leaders. He said what he believed, and he believed what he said. He tried to do the right thing for his constituents, but he didn't care for sugar-coating the truth.

Manuel was a political leader for grown-ups -- constituents who understood that sometimes their taxes would go up, that sometimes a beloved old building would come down, that government wasn't the enemy but that it couldn't solve every problem.

He pushed controversial proposals if he believed they were for the greater good of DeKalb County. And he didn't back down from a fight, even if he thought he might lose.

As chairman of the County Commission during the deep recession of 1982, he was the target of an unsuccessful recall after he refused to scale back a budget supported by higher property tax reassessments. He believed there was a more acute need for government services when times were bad.

"People out of work use county health centers," he told a reporter at the time. "Crime goes up, jails fill. . . .

"I knew the attitude of the Reagan administration would put a tremendous burden on local government. Anything that produces unemployment and more poverty, which Reagan's policies apparently are, impacts on the cost of local government tremendously."

A Roosevelt Democrat, Manuel believed deeply in the power of government to work for the common good.

Not that he was ever anything but frugal. He ruled the county as a working man -- without bodyguards, limousines or any of the trappings of power. He never lost the common man's skepticism of the pampered and well-heeled. If Democrats were supposed to be profligate, nobody ever told Manuel.

There was nothing about Manuel that suggested he ought to be a central figure in DeKalb County politics for nearly two decades. In the conspicuously WASPish South, he was the descendant of Lebanese Catholics. In the buckle of the Bible Belt, he was a barkeep. In an era of white flight to the suburbs, he kept his primary bar -- the "store," he always called it -- in the city of Atlanta.

He was an original. And I miss him already.

-- Thanks Ms. Tucker, we needed that. And we also miss your friend.

Democrats Give Republicans a Fight for the Elderly

N.Y.Times headline: "Democrats Give Republicans a Fight for the Elderly"

When President Bush signed a Medicare bill into law in December, Republicans thought it would allow them to make sharp inroads into elderly voters.

But Democrats say the elderly are proving an unexpectedly fertile voting bloc for their party this year because of dissatisfaction with the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, disproportionate opposition to the war in Iraq, worries about mounting deficits and wariness over talk ofaltering Social Security.

Aides said that within several weeks, Mr. Kerry would roll out plans to help the elderly with Election Day transportation, as well as with signing up for absentee ballots, at which Republicans have long excelled.

"Suffice it to say that we will have a major, concerted effort to ensure that seniors across the country cast their votes, whether by absentee ballot or on Election Day," said Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Kerry's spokeswoman.

In 2000, voters older than 60 supported Al Gore over George Bush 51 percent to 47 percent, but among whites, the largest component of that group, the breakdown was 52 percent for Mr. Bush and 46 percent for Mr. Gore. Kerry aides say they are confident they can do better this year.

Perhaps the biggest single reason Democrats are sanguine about their chances with elderly white voters - a factor that is causing considerable consternation among Republicans - is public sentiment against the Medicare prescription drug legislation.

Truth in Reporting -- And a handy source in the computer age

-- A news service's headline this morning is entitled: "Majette holds off late charge by Oxford"

The article, while declaring Majette a winner, noted:

With 90 percent of the precincts counted, the first-term congresswoman led the statewide contest by 15,000 votes.

Unofficial returns showed Majette had 54 percent of the statewide vote, or 100,788 votes, to Oxford's 46 percent, or 85,177.

-- I understand that with a baseball game still going on, one cannot report the final score when a press deadline must be met.

But when the above results appeared on Cathy Cox's returns, the Secretary of State's website also showed two significant counties had not reported: Fulton and Clarke. In light of this, I can't understand the late charge by Oxford aspect of the headline. The only late charge was 54 rising to 60 and 46 falling to 40.

Physics 101 prevails -- Calories do count

Wsj article entitled" "Fat Bounces Back; The FDA Eases Its Stance On Old Nutritional Nemesis;' It Didn't Seem to Work'"

Government nutrition advisers since the early 1990s have conveyed a simple message: Eat less fat. But Americans have steadily gained weight -- lots of it -- making obesity one of the nation's top health concerns.

Now, the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food labels and health claims on them, is easing its decade-long war on fat, and increasingly taking aim at calories. In an effort to draw attention to foods' overall caloric content, the agency may even change the "Nutrition Facts" box, eliminating the line giving the number of calories from fat, and increasing the type size for overall calories.

"When we emphasized fat in the early '90s, it didn't seem to work," says Lester Crawford, acting commissioner of the FDA. "We've concluded that the emphasis on low fat and no fat obscured the central message that calories are the main thing."

Fat's return to respectability began when researchers started looking into the differences between "bad" fats, such as saturated fats and trans fats, which can raise cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease, and "good" fats, such as monounsaturated fats, which can help lower "bad" LDL cholesterol. Fat got another boost with the popularity of the Atkins diet and other low-carbohydrate regimens, which advise shedding pounds by sharply limiting starches, not fat.

(Email me if you want full article.)

Stem-cell research and Presidential politics

Wsj article entitled: "Kerry Treads Cloning Tightrope; Support for Stem-Cell Research Isn't a Sure Bet With Voters"

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry supports creating cloned human embryos for research, a position that could complicate his efforts to woo undecided voters with the issue of stem-cell research.

Such cloning raises a variety of vexing ethical issues, including whether it is proper to create human life knowing it will be destroyed, and whether research cloning could become a step toward full cloning of human beings, known as reproductive cloning. Mr. Kerry says he would prohibit reproductive cloning; rather he would back a limited form of cloning to treat certain diseases.

Mr. Kerry's position on cloning could become a focus of voter concern. That is because the Democratic ticket has been using the stem-cell issue as a way to attack President Bush on his handling of science and health issues.

Mr. Bush has said he opposes all forms of cloning. Mr. Kerry would back the creation of cloned embryos, as one way to obtain stem cells from patients themselves that then could be used for treatments. Stem cells are the precursor cells that turn into muscle, organs and all other forms of tissue and which researchers hope eventually can be used to treat Parkinson's disease, diabetes and other diseases.

(email me for full article; wsj online is a subscription service.)

Medicare recipients to Bush -- Thanks for nothing

Wsj article entitled "Changes in Medicare Fail to Impress
Of Beneficiaries Surveyed, Many Find the Drug CardConfusing or of Little Value"

Nearly half of Medicare beneficiaries have an unfavorable impression of the new Medicare law, and many of them plan to take their concerns to the voting booth, according to a new poll.

In a sign that Democrats' criticism of the White House-backed law is getting traction among older voters, 47% of beneficiaries said they hold a negative view of the measure.

The poll was the latest sign that President Bush, despite backing the largest expansion of Medicare since its creation nearly 40 years ago, isn't reaping a political benefit as a result. The law, which sets up prescription-drug coverage through private insurers for beneficiaries of the program for the elderly and disabled, might even end up being a political negative.

Seniors with a negative view also complained that the law is too complicated or that it will benefit private health plans and pharmaceutical companies too much.

The poll showed strong support among Medicare beneficiaries for two proposals backed by Mr. Kerry, with 79% in favor of legalizing the importation of medications from Canada and 80% in favor of allowing the government to negotiate with drug makers for lower prices.

(Email me if you want full article. The wsj online is a subscription service.)

Another day, another -- What, out of my pocket!!

N.Y. Times headline: "Health Plan That Cuts Costs Raises Doctors' Ire"

-- When, as with the Whatcom County program, medical care is improved, and money saved, there are winners: in this case, insurers, including Medicare, which could save millions, and pharmaceutical companies. And there are losers: general practitioners and hospitals, with each doctor standing to lose at least $2,000 a year . . . .

The [Washington state] program, which is considered a model for how health care can be improved . . . , so far involves patients with just two diseases: diabetes and congestive heart failure. And though the organizers hoped to get doctors excited enough to make financial sacrifices to join, they were not entirely successful.

What!! A 10% voter turnout, sounds great. We'll take it!!

Everything in politics, as in life, is relative.

The executive director of Columbia County's Board of Elections, before Monday's Supreme Court ruling, was expecting less than a 5 percent turnout of registered voters in Columbia County. Now, she says, she expects less than 3 percent.

(I note that the majority of the people who voted in Columbia County in the primary were Republicans. On this, boy, wouldn't Roy Harris be proud.)

The Chronicle

The Devil -- I don't find him in the details of the Court of Appeals race

The devil is usually in the details. Not addressing candidates, just details:

Mead, a former aide to both Govs. Zell Miller and Roy Barnes, had 382-votes fewer than Sheffield. He argued he was entitled to a new election because the number of flawed ballots -- 481 -- is greater than the margin by which he lost the second-place slot to Sheffield, 382.

However, lawyers for Bernes, Sheffield and state elections officials argue that only 314 of the 481 flawed ballots were cast with votes for the Appeals Court race in Laurens County, meaning Sheffield's statewide margin of victory would still hold without those votes. (Brian Basinger of Morris News Service)

P.S. Since the opinion was unanimous, there must be something here more than was is unreported above. Otherwise, assuming these numbers are correct, I am missing what puts the results of the election in doubt.

Kerry said what about Iraq? -- Be careful here Senator

The headline in the AJC reads: "Kerry says Bush was right to invade Iraq."

The headline in The Washington Post reads: "In Hindsight, Kerry Says He'd Still Vote for War."

Responding to President Bush's challenge to clarify his position, Sen. John F. Kerry said Monday that he still would have voted to authorize the war in Iraq even if he had known then that U.S. and allied forces would not find weapons of mass destruction.

Since last month's Democratic National Convention, Kerry has been under mounting pressure to provide a clearer explanation of his views on the war, including why he voted for the congressional resolution authorizing the invasion yet opposing funding for the war.

Last Friday, Bush challenged Kerry to answer yes or no to the question of whether he would support the war "knowing what we know now" about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction that U.S. and British officials were certain were there.

Is Kerry going to continue allowing the President to set the agenda? The article goes on to list a series of questions Kerry asked Bush following his saying "yes" (it was not an unqualified yes, but for political and practical purposes, it might as well have been). Bush, of course, will not answer a one. He will not let Kerry set his agenda.

We will hear more about this Kerry "yes" answer between now and November -- especially during the debates -- than his earlier I did but I didn't.

Sonny-speak to Voters: Don't do as I say, do as I do -- Brantley must wonder if the Gov. had a chat with Leah Sears

The ajc's Political Insider for 8-10-04 (in addition to reporting that Vernon Jones has lined up with Westmoreland -- strange bedfellows here folks), says about the Price-Lamutt contest:

No guarantees, but if you want to know which way this race might go, take a cue from Gov. Sonny Perdue.

[Despite publicly backing Glenn,] in a private call the governor made to Westmoreland late last week, Perdue reiterated his neutrality in the contest. When asked, the Westmoreland campaign confirmed the call, and said they're happily taking the governor at his word.

Will the tail wage the dog Tuesday? -- Effect of postponed Court of Appeals race on the Lamutt-Price runoff

Could the Court of Appeals postponement affect the Lamutt-Price runoff?

As a gut reaction I would say that it could mean fewer Cobb County folks go and vote since Bernes is from Cobb, but not that many since the dog (the smoking vs. nonsmoking dog race so to speak) is the Lamutt-Price race, and the tail the judicial one.

But from having looked at the numbers in the judicial race a couple of weeks ago, I am going to get out on a limb and say it is going to have an impact, possibly enough to swing the race Price's way.

There is another factor here also. Price's support in Cobb are ones who I think are highly likely to vote in a runoff.

Earlier today I posted: "The Lamutt-Price race is too close to call." I change my call to Price, in a tight one.

It's not just the Baptists -- NY Times headline "Churches See an Election Role and Spread the Word on Bush"

The following will give you a feel for the 8-9-04 New York Times article:

-- The church's pastor, John A. Wilson, has led a prayer for the president every Sunday for 10 years. His sermons often extol the importance of opposing abortion, stem cell research and same-sex marriage, and he says he supports Mr. Bush's decision