Nearly 60 concerned citizens from 10 counties gathered in Screven Friday for the Organizing for America Listening Tour.
In recent months, leaders of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign decided to transform their organization into an ongoing advocacy movement, Organizing for America.
OFA’s goals are to support the president’s agenda and “[empower] people to have an impact in their own communities.”
Lee Goodall, OFA’s Georgia director, and Jeff Ingram, the state field director, spoke to the assembled activists about the organization.
“I wanted to work with Organizing for America … because it is a continuation of what we all began last year,” Goodall said.
“We have … a president that’s going to listen to the concerns and the issues that affect people like us.”
Local volunteer Jeana Brown said that the participants in the meeting at Grace Community Center included city and county commissioners from several counties, business owners, campaign committee members, and many newcomers to the movement.
“There were some independents there—that was very nice,” Brown said.
“The only thing I do regret is there just weren’t many young people there.”
Goodall asked audience members why they had come. One man said that he felt that Georgia Democrats lose elections because they are insufficiently organized.
Another expressed dismay at the concentrated opposition Obama has faced since the election, and he suggested that issues such as which international leaders the president greets and abortion concerns are being used to distract the electorate from the economic meltdown.
“We have two priorities: … organizing support for President Obama’s priorities,” Goodall said, “and No. 2 is building grassroots support, … making sure our methods of advocacy are much more fine-tuned than they have been.”
OFA is a project of the Democratic National Committee, but Ingram said the organization is not designed to be merely an arm of the party but to appeal to voters of all political affiliations who supported and currently support Obama.
“We’re looking to set up support and advocacy for the president’s policies and agenda,” Ingram said.
“It’s very [necessary] that we leave the door open to support from people from all backgrounds, whether you categorize that by race, gender or party background.”
Brown said the Community Center turned out to be a very good location for the regional meeting.
“We’re very appreciative to Screven for allowing us to hold the meeting out there,” she said.
“Screven had the best turnout, alongside Savannah. They had five stops, but Savannah and Screven have had the biggest turnout on the [Georgia] coast.”
Monday, May 4, 2009
Organizing for America Listening Tour visits Screven (Wayne County)
Alan Powell (D) Hartwell of HD 23. In his own words.
The 2009 legislative session will go down as one of missed opportunities, lack of leadership and failure to deal with the real problems that affect every life in our State. Correcting the systemic budget problems and effects of the recession on the state budget and proper funding for transportation met a dismal ending. What the good people of Georgia got was a state budget patched like a quilt with more tax shifts to local property owners, no Homeowner Tax Relief Grants, 1.2 Billion more bonded debt, Federal stimulus converted to bailout funds, cuts to public safety and the list goes on and on
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As in all sessions there were some positive and negative laws passed. I will report on these in the coming weeks thanks to our local newspapers, for you to become informed.
2009 will be remembered as the session when the legislative leadership failed to effectively deal with Georgia’s budget problems. Despite a shortfall of $3 billion in state revenues because of bad spending policies of the past six years and the economic downturn, the leadership was unwilling to seize the opportunity to implement zero-based budgeting. Instead, they used a Band-Aid in the form of federal stimulus/bailout money to heal a gunshot wound caused by years of excessive spending, bonded debt and school tax shifts to local property owners.
The state’s disastrous budget policies are nothing new. But at least more rank-and-file legislators are starting to take notice. More than 40 of my House of Representatives colleagues joined me this year in voting against the budget, but it was not enough to cut into the fiscal irresponsible culture developed during the past seven years.
Because this budget fails to fund the Homeowner Tax Relief Grants, Georgians will suffer a $400 million-plus property tax increase, the largest in history. The elimination of these grants will cause an estimated $200 to $300 increase for the average Georgia homeowner on the property tax bills sent out by local governments later this year.
Immediately after final adjournment, the Department of Revenue announced a 14.5 percent decrease in March proceeds from the same month last year. This is another $167 million addition to the state deficit. If this trend continues, the General Assembly could very well be called back into session later this year to rewrite the budget
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2009 will be remembered as the session when the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker gained more political power but failed to deliver a solution to Georgia’s transportation problems. SB 200 creates a new position of Director of Planning at the Department of Transportation, who is appointed by the Governor and responsible only to the Governor. This planning Czar operates outside the control of the DOT Board and Commissioner. This appointed person is charged with developing a long term plan for DOT projects which is submitted by the Governor to the General Assembly for approval. But DOT board members, Senators and House members, who have a say in what projects are funded now, would have their voices limited under the bill. Members of the General Assembly currently elect DOT board members from the state's 13 congressional districts. This plan was adopted in 1966 to stop the political corruption of ‘road politics’ and political power being controlled from the Governors office.
Top Senate and House leaders and the Governor will now have greater power over the DOT appropriations process than they have since the 1950s. As the old saying goes, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
For the second year in a row, however, the legislative leadership failed to agree on a method to allow voters to decide on a proposed transportation funding solution. Georgia is at least 10 years behind on dealing with Atlanta traffic as well as developmental highway systems in rural areas. Despite this issue being a top priority coming into the 2009 session, the Senate rejected a House proposal a for a statewide sales tax referendum for transportation. Likewise, the House gave thumbs-down to the Senate’s regional sales tax plan.
2009 will be remembered as the session when Georgia taxpayers and utility rate payers had to foot the bill for misplaced priorities and fiscal irresponsibility. If shifting more of the school tax burden to local property owners and ending the homeowner relief grants was not enough, the legislative majority found it necessary to allow Georgia Power to raise its customers’ rates to finance the construction of two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, six years ahead of when they are scheduled to be up and running. The expansion is expected to cost $14 billion. I question the philosophy of paying for services not yet received to build plants that may not get built.
This action is of special concern to those of us who live in the Lake Hartwell area, because company officials have acknowledged this power plant expansion could actually double the consumption of water flow from the Savannah River, threatening Lake Hartwell’s water levels for years to come.
I like Powell. He is a democrat who's going to tell it like it is. Unlike some other dems who just roll over for the GOP & go along with them, Powell is the type who is going to fight for the little guy & is going to fight what he believes is right. Powell who is 58 needs to take that kind of attitude & run for statewide office or for congress. One of the few bright spots demcorats have in Georgia.
Barrow Announces $84.7 Million for 65-bed Hospital, Vidalia. Barrow Announces $40.4 Million in Recovery Act FuBnding for Savannah Harbor Construction
Congressman John Barrow (GA-12) announced today that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has committed to insure an $84.7 million loan to Meadows Regional Medical Center for the construction of a new 65-bed hospital in Vidalia to replace the existing 45-year old facility. The loan is made possible through the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance Program and is the first FHA-insured hospital loan in the state of Georgia.
The project will construct a 195,000-square foot replacement facility that will include 16 examination and trauma rooms, as well as 65 new beds. By insuring the mortgage loan, FHA is enabling Meadows Regional to obtain lower cost financing, saving the hospital an estimated $14 million in interest payments throughout the life of the loan. When finished, the new medical center will be the largest construction project completed in Vidalia in over 20 years.
"This is great news for folks in Vidalia and the surrounding area," said Barrow. "I spent last week traveling all over the district to talk with folks about their health care concerns, and everywhere I went I heard the same thing - we need new facilities with the most up-to-date medical equipment. The folks in Toombs County are lucky to have one of America's 100 Top Hospitals, and this loan will help them continue to provide firstrate care."
The construction project will create more than 900 full-time jobs and provide an economic stimulus of almost $207 million during the construction period. Once completed, the new Meadows Regional Medical Center will support more than 340 jobs in the area and provide an annual economic benefit of approximately $50 million.
Also: Congressman John Barrow (GA-12) announced today that the Savannah Harbor will receive $39.7 million in operations and maintenance funds, and $700,000 in construction funds, from the Army Corps of Engineers under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
"This is great news for our community," said Barrow. "These funds will put folks to work, and it'll take care of some of the upkeep that has been unfunded for too long. The construction money will help the Port to build and maintain the economic engine that drives not only the local economy but the rest of the State of Georgia as well."
"The announcement by the Army Corps of Engineers for funding for our port at Savannah is very good news," said Steve Green, Chairman of the Georgia Ports Authority. "The $39.7 million for Savannah will, when completed, compensate for years of neglect in maintaining the channel at its authorized project depth of 42 feet. We are also very pleased that $700,000 is provided for the Fiscal Year 2009 studies for the Savannah Harbor Deepening studies so that the environmental and benefit cost analysis for that important work can continue to move forward."
The Recovery Act appropriated $4.6 billion to the Corps for its Civil Works program and about $1.676 billion in military construction funding. The Act provides more than $3 billion in restoration and modernization funds for Army, Air Force, and Department of Defense health facilities.
These projects are part of a list of civil works projects that qualify for Recovery Act funding, including 178 construction projects and 892 Operation and Maintenance projects. All projects on the lists have received appropriated funds in prior years' Energy and Water Development Appropriations acts.
Isakson may be vulnerable.
In hypothetical match ups, Isakson barely leads Roy Barnes (D), 47% to 43%, and beats Jim Marshall (D), 48% to 40%.
The bad news for Democrats: Neither Barnes or Marshall are expected to run.
Schafer a no-go for Lt. Governor.
Black vote won’t be automatic for Baker
By every number, Attorney General Thurbert Baker should already have the edge in the 2010 Democratic race for governor.
He’s put 12 years into his current job as the state’s top lawyer. He’s survived three statewide elections. Nearly 50 percent of the voters in Democratic primaries are now African-American, as is Baker. A centrist philosophy that emphasizes opposition to both crime and taxes should —- at least on paper —- allow Baker to build biracial and bipartisan support.
There is, of course, the shadow of former Gov. Roy Barnes, who may or may not attempt a comeback. But the coolness that should worry Baker comes from within the African-American community. Some black leaders have balked at the causes Baker has defended. They include Republican-generated legislation to require photo ID at the ballot box —- which many African-Americans regarded as a voter-suppression effort.
More volatile was the case of Genarlow Wilson, who was sentenced to a mandatory 10 years in prison for consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl —- an act that occurred when the young black man was 17. At one point, Baker’s office appealed a judge’s ruling that ordered Wilson’s release.
“My job is to enforce the laws of the state of Georgia, as passed by the General Assembly,” Baker said. The vast majority of Georgians —- whether black or white —- understand that he’s not allowed to pick and choose his agenda, the attorney general said.
Baker acknowledges the need to improve both education and the economy. The startling increase in home mortgage foreclosures has yet to be addressed in Georgia, the attorney general pointed out in an interview.
As a commuter from Stone Mountain, Baker said he shares the cost that families pay for metro Atlanta’s traffic congestion. But when asked whether he would support a sales tax to raise more cash for rail and road-building, as has been discussed in the past two sessions of the Legislature, the attorney general said no.
Yet when Baker first announced for governor, the issue at the top of his agenda was not education, the economy or transportation. It was crime.
Baker is a strong defender of capital punishment, though he thinks the state has been only penny-wise in its refusal to fund a system that offers defendants an adequate legal defense.
The attorney general also lists on his resume the role he played —- as Gov. Zell Miller’s floor leader in the House —- in passage of the state’s tough “two strikes and you’re out” law, which hands out life sentences to repeat criminals.
It is fair to say that, within certain segments of the African-American community, neither the death penalty nor mandatory sentences generate great popularity.
On Thursday, Baker made time for lunch with state Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. This week, Baker is scheduled to break bread with the Rev. Joseph Lowery, the venerated civil rights leader.
In last year’s Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, Jones and Lowery helped steer black votes away from DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, who is African-American, and toward Jim Martin, a white Atlanta attorney. Vernon Jones lost the primary in a runoff.
Emanuel Jones, who was deeply involved in the Wilson case, said he left his lunch with Baker “with mixed feelings.”
“I think the attorney general is banking on the African-American community supporting him because he’s an African-American. And I told him, don’t take that for granted,” the senator said. “You have to think of the civil rights community as a big part of our constituency, and I think there’s a big concern in the civil rights community.”
Baker has agreed to a discussion session with African-American state lawmakers later this month. The same courtesy will be offered to two other Democratic candidates currently in the race, House Minority Leader DuBose Porter and former state Labor Commissioner David Poythress.
- My analysis is that Baker cannot count on African-American voters to get over in the election. His background is in Law Enforcement, but no one has any idea what his economic platform will be. How will he solve Georgia Schools, impove economic conditions in rural Georgia? I have been harsh of Baker since his announcement because of the inaction of his campaign, but he can win statewide, I know that, but does he have the fire say like David Poythress, or DuBose Porter? I have not seen that yet.
GA-Sen, GA-Gov: Isakson Surprisingly Weak, Gov Race A Tossup
Research 2000's latest poll takes us to the great state of Georgia, and tests several possible matchups for the United States Senate race (featuring incumbent Republican Johnny Isakson) and the gubernatorial race (featuring a cast of thousands).
Johnny Isakson (R-inc) 47
Roy Barnes (D) 43
Johnny Isakson (R-inc) 48
Jim Marshall (D) 40
Speaking of the Governor's race, they polled that, too. We pitted Republicans John Oxendine (state Insurance Commissioner) and Karen Handel (Secretary of State) against Democrats Barnes, Thurbert Baker (Attorney General), and David Poythress (former Secretary of State and Labor Commissioner).
John Oxendine (R) 46
Roy Barnes (D) 44
John Oxendine (R) 47
Thurbert Baker (D) 42
John Oxendine (R) 47
David Poythress (D) 43
Roy Barnes (D) 45
Karen Handel (R) 39
Thurbert Baker (D) 42
Karen Handel (R) 40
David Poythress (D) 43
Karen Handel (R) 39
All three Democrats trail Oxendine by a little bit, and lead Handel by a little bit. It looks like all of the non-stop campaigning by David Poythress is starting to pay off. Poythress name I.D. was his biggest hurdle, but now with polls showing him leading Karen Handel & trailing John Oxendine by 4%, Poythress is now the darkhorse candidate in the democratic field.
Public Policy Poll back in November had Thurbert Baker with 39% to Isakson 45% & Jim Marshall with 38% to Isakson 47%.-
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