News from Sen. Johnny Isakson
These past two weeks, my staff and I have enjoyed traveling across our beautiful state and meeting so many great Georgians. Our travels included Kennesaw, Gainesville, Valdosta, Thomasville, Quitman and Savannah, Ga. Here are a few highlights:
While in Savannah, my staff and I met with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation officials and toured the Gulfstream facilities. During our meeting, we discussed Gulfstream's bid to replace the aging Joint Surveillance/Target Attack Radar System, known as the JSTARS fleet, a surveillance aircraft that flies out of Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, Ga.
I participated in several editorial board meetings with some of our local papers to discuss the top issues on Georgians' minds right now. You can read more from these visits and about my travels across our great state here:
What's on Tap?
This week we celebrated Vietnam Veterans Day. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am working hard to make sure that veterans receive the care and support they deserve. I am currently working on comprehensive legislation to reform the VA, improve accountability and make great strides to ensure quality health care and benefits for our nation's veterans.
Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson
Sen. Isakson Offers Support for Religious Liberty Bill Veto
Governor Nathan Deal has found strong support from Senator Johnny Isakson following the veto of House Bill 757, the legislature's religious liberty bill. During a visit to Gulfstream on Wednesday, Isakson offered a comment backing the decision. "Religious liberty is a constitutional guarantee, the State writing or carrying out the individual legislation is to define what it is," Senator Isakson said. "If you have 50 different bills, you have a lot of confusion. I think the governor did the right thing." Senator Isakson had said before that he believes the issue of religious freedom needed to be decided on the federal level.
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News from Sen. David Perdue
A Focus On The Federal Budget
By Susan Percy/Georgia Trend
Republican Sen. David Perdue talks fiscal responsibility, the economy and being an outsider in Washington.
Sen. David Perdue, a conservative Republican and political newcomer, came from a strong business background to win the first office he ever ran for, that of U.S. senator. He approached his 2014 campaign as an outsider, promising to bring his executive suite experience - as CEO of Dollar General and Reebok - to Washington.
Perdue, a Georgia Tech alum who lives in Glynn County, sits on the Senate's budget, judiciary, agriculture and foreign relations committees as well as a Special Committee on Aging. As he settled into the second year of his term, the senator talked to Georgia Trend's Susan Percy from his office in Washington, D.C. Following are edited highlights from the interview.
Senator David Perdue Releases Video: "Guiding Budget Principles"
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator David Perdue (R-GA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today released a video entitled "Guiding Budget Principles," where he talks directly to Georgians about Washington's broken budget process and highlights potential guiding principles Congress should consider going forward. This is the second installment in Senator Perdue's budget video series on the national debt. View the first video "Four Words Rarely Heard In Washington"
here.
Click here to watch the video.
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News from Rep. Tom Price  A Regulatory Budget
For the past several weeks, we have provided a lot of information about the House Budget Committee's Fiscal Year 2017 budget resolution - A Balanced Budget for a Stronger America. We have highlighted how the budget is more than just a set of numbers; that there are detailed policy solutions included in the proposal that would help improve the nation's fiscal outlook while also making your government more efficient, effective, and accountable.
This past week, a coalition of free market advocacy organizations - led by the Competitive Enterprise Institute - highlighted one such policy that would go a long way to providing individuals, families, and, in particular, American entrepreneurs and job creators some much needed relief. In an open letter, they encourage Congress to "implement a regulatory budget to address the cost of federal regulations, which frequently have an effect similar to tax increases. Like federal spending, regulations and their costs should be capped, tracked and disclosed annually." Thankfully, our budget calls for just such an idea. As the letter goes on to say:
Congress should act now to require better reporting, more accountability and cost reductions. Specifically, Congress should pass a budget that includes the regulatory budget put forward by House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) in the new House Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year 2017. The chairman's budget is remarkable for including a section on "Policy on Federal Regulatory Budgeting and Reform."
Meanwhile, over at Medium.com we have posted our entire budget blueprint in a format that makes it easier to read and share content. You can jump from section to section and get a better look at the charts and graphics we use to explain the how and why of our balanced budget proposal. Click here to view our blueprint on Medium. |
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How Democrats could force a Supreme Court vote
By: Seung Min Kim/Politicol
Sen. Grassley expects them to use a rare procedural maneuver to press the issue.
ORANGE CITY, Iowa - Chuck Grassley isn't changing his mind on whether Merrick Garland should be confirmed to the Supreme Court this year. But he's convinced he will have to vote on Garland anyway.
In a series of town halls in northwest Iowa this week, the Judiciary Committee chairman predicted that Senate Democrats ultimately will use a parliamentary maneuver to force a vote on Garland - a rare move that would amount to a major affront to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who controls the Senate floor.
"There's nothing we can do about it. Under the rules of the United States Senate, that resolution can be offered anytime," Grassley told reporters after a Tuesday town hall here, referring to a procedural maneuver called a motion to discharge. "A Republican could offer it."
The Judiciary Committee chairman candidly acknowledged that the maneuver would put Republicans in a difficult position politically.
"Whenever they take this vote - whether it would be based on confirming the nomination or whether it's based on a discharge - it's still going to be a tough vote," Grassley added.
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| Backstage maneuvering begins in wide-open GOP chairman's race
By: Scott Wong/The Hill
There's a race in the Republican Party happening far away from the hot media glare, one that doesn't involve a candidate named Trump or Twitter fights or violent protests.
In fact, you've probably never heard of most of the possible leading contenders.
It's the race to succeed Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who's expected to step down in January 2017 after a record six years.
If
Donald Trump or another Republican is elected president this fall, the chairman's contest will probably be a moot point. It's tradition for the president to handpick the chairman of his own party.
But if Democrats win four more years in the White House, it will trigger an all-out scramble in the race for RNC chairman - a role that involves raising loads of cash and communicating the party's message.
To win, a candidate needs support from a simple majority of the 168 GOP national committee members, who represent all 50 states, D.C. and some territories.
At the moment, the race is wide open. No one has formally declared their candidacy, but RNC and state GOP officials floated a number of names to The Hill. They include a pair of failed presidential hopefuls, a member of the Romney clan, some state GOP chairmen and several RNC insiders.
What's certain is that the next RNC chairman will have his or her hands full after an election cycle that saw Doanld Trump turn the Grand Old Party on its head.
"I haven't a clue" who might run, said former RNC Chairman Michael Steele. "God bless whoever gets the job."
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How the Virgin Islands could decide the GOP presidential nomination
By: Paul Singer and Fredricka Schouten/USA Today
WASHINGTON - The path to the
Republican nomination
this year could run through the
Virgin Islands
.
The tiny U.S. territory is one of a handful of places where Republicans can select "unbound" delegates who have the ability to cast a vote on the first ballot at the national convention for any candidate they choose. These hundred or so delegates nationwide - the Virgin Islands has nine - could emerge as critical power brokers at the party's convention in Cleveland if GOP front-runner
Donald Trump
fails to amass the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination beforehand.
This is not just hypothetical: "That is how the 1976 Republican convention was decided as
President Ford
had less than a majority of delegates pledged to him but won the lion's share of uncommitted delegates in states such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York," said
Frank Donatelli
, a former
Republican National Committee
official. These uncommitted delegates are "where the leading candidate will look to get delegates to go over the top."
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| Palmetto Pipeline project runs out of gas - for now
By: Greg Bluestein/AJC.com
Pipeline giant Kinder Morgan indefinitely suspended its plan to lay 210 miles of petroleum pipes across east Georgia, days after state lawmakers passed legislation that would temporarily halt the Texas-based company from getting permits for the project.
The company said it was forced to halt its plans to build a $1 billion pipeline that would carry fuel and gasoline from South Carolina to Jacksonville, Fla. after the "unfavorable" action by Georgia lawmakers, which has not yet been signed into law. The firm would not say whether the project would be revived.
It's a victory for the
powerful trifecta of business forces, environmental groups and political leaders that has united to fight the proposal. Some of the landowners have already given up swaths of their property for towering transmission cables and roadways, but they draw the line at a pipeline for an area with no shortage of fuel.
Kinder Morgan billed it as a cost-saving measure that would increase competition and could lower fuel prices along Georgia's eastern reaches. The line will take 30,000 tractor-trailer round trips off Georgia highways, it said, and will add 1 million gallons a day to the "pipeline-constrained" Savannah market. Friendly landowners vouched for the project at town hall meetings and in TV campaigns.
But the company couldn't overcome sustained political resistance that included the fierce opposition of Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. Still, opponents of the measure warned their fight is not yet over. Tonya Bonitatibus of the Savannah Riverkeeper said she's now focused on tightening pipeline approval regulations in both Georgia and South Carolina.
"We've succeeded In stopping a bad project and need to continue to make sure that we close the discovered loopholes in both states' laws to protect our citizens and their rights," she said.
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| GOP nears the breaking point
By: Jesse Byrnes/The Hill
The presidential primary has been a wrenching experience for the GOP so far - and it's about to get even worse.
Donald Trump,
Ted Cruz and John Kasich have all backed away from their pledge to support the party's eventual nominee, foreshadowing a fight at the convention and beyond that could cleave the GOP into warring factions.
"This race is kind of at its boiling point," said Matt Mackowiak, a GOP strategist and contributor to The Hill. "As ugly as it is now, the two losing candidates at the convention are going to feel even worse."
Instead of helping to unify the GOP behind a candidate, as the primary process typically does, the race has instead created deep wounds between the candidates that are unlikely to heal.
The antagonism has been heightened by a particularly vicious stretch of campaigning involving allegations of adultery and pictures of the candidates' wives.
....read more....
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ObamaCare may force employers to pull the plug on millions of health plans, CBO report finds
In the latest report to undercut President Obama's "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it" promise, the Congressional Budget Office projects millions of workers will leave employer-sponsored health plans over the next decade because of ObamaCare.
Some will opt to go on Medicaid, but others will be kicked off their company plans by employers who decide not to offer coverage anymore, according to a new
CBO report titled, "Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance Coverage for People Under Age 65: 2016 to 2026."
"As a result of the ACA, between 4 million and 9 million fewer people are projected to have employment-based coverage each year from 2017 through 2026 than would have had such coverage if the ACA had never been enacted," the report, released Thursday, said.
Employers now cover some 155 million people, about 57 percent of those under 65. That's expected to decline to 152 million people in 2019. Ten years from now, employers will be covering about 54 percent of those under 65.
CBO said part of the shrinkage is attributable to the health care law: some workers may qualify for Medicaid, which is virtually free to them, and certain employers may decide not to offer coverage because a government-subsidized alternative is available.
Larger employers would face fines if they take that route.
But the agency also noted that employer coverage had been declining due to rising medical costs well before the health care law was passed, and that the trend continues.
The CBO also found that more people will enroll in Medicaid than previously predicted, though fewer will be covered through the public insurance marketplaces mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
The analysis underscores the view that the health care law is driving the nation's gains in insurance coverage, which raises political risks for Republicans who would repeal it.
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Georgia's Congressional races resemble the presidential election
By: Randy Evans
There was a time when Republicans could not scare up enough candidates to even fill up a slate for all of the Congressional seats in Georgia. Those days are long gone. When qualifying ended this year, 37 Republicans had signed up to run for one of Georgia's 14 Congressional seats and its U.S. Senate seat.
Even Georgia's senior U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson drew opposition from two fellow Republicans - Derrick Grayson from Redan and Dr. Mary Kay Bacallao from Fayetteville. Should Isakson win, he would then still have to face Democratic opposition in the general election on Nov. 8.
Some of the candidates do not appear to have much of a chance (although in this election cycle it seems as though almost anything can happen). Admittedly, Third District Congressman Lynn Westmoreland's decision to retire did leave an enticing opportunity that attracted seven Republicans (and two Democrats) to the field of Congressional candidates.
Congressman Westmoreland was first elected to the Congress in 2004. Since then, he has been a steady, solid conservative voice for six terms. Most pundits consider the Third Congressional District to be safely Republican. But, so much of these predictions depend strongly on who the actual candidates are as opposed to just how a Congressional district is drawn.
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GFRW Editorial 
It's Time to Call Rosie!
In today's
Wall Street Journal
(Thursday, March 31, 2016, A11), Daniel Henninger*
posted an Op-Ed entitled, "Obama's Greatest Triumph."
[ICYMI, see
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obamas-greatest-triumph-1459379804
- copy and paste this into your browser.]
Henninger opens his piece with, "Barack Obama will retire a happy man. He is now close to destroying his political enemies-the Republican Party, the American conservative movement, and the public-policy legacy of Ronald Reagan."
Henninger goes on to write that Obama is a mere six months away from accomplishing his goal. Barring a miracle in Cleveland, the Republicans are headed to losing the House and Senate-and-the Supreme Court.
If this article doesn't make you mad, well I guess we deserve the consequences. If this article
does
make you mad, do something! Republican women have played a major role in shaping the political environment for decades. It's time we put on our Rosie the Riveter work shirts and bandanas and get to work!
[Source: Wikipedia *Daniel Henninger is an American journalist. He serves as the Deputy Editorial Page Director of The Wall Street Journal and a Fox News contributor. Education: Georgetown University, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Nominations: Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing]
Sherry Roedl, Editor
VOICES Magazine
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New food stamp requirements could shock many on April 1
(click image for video)
By: Jeremy Campbell/WXIA
There is growing concern that some people may not be aware of a new state requirement that demands you get a job to receive food stamps.
11Alive has been looking into the fast-approaching deadline that could leave some people hungry.
Beginning on April 1, a deadline could potentially leave thousands of people without a means to buy food.
That deadline is for food stamp recipients to prove they have a job or they lose their benefits.
Right now, the rule only applies to three counties - Cobb, Gwinnett and Hall.
People who are able-bodied without children and not working nor in an educational program will lose benefits.
Now there is quite a debate. In fact, there's already talk of a push in next year's legislature to expand the plan across all of Georgia.
The deadline requires proof of working 20 hours per week or enrollment in an education or training program for the same amount of time. Volunteering with a nonprofit counts, as well.
There are exemptions such as if you're receiving unemployment benefits or are pregnant. But the bottom line is that if people in those three counties are able-bodied, they can only get food stamps for three months during a three-year period without meeting those requirements.
The idea behind the new rule is that it will offer an incentive for people to find a job rather than rely on the state for assistance for a long period of time.
However, opponents say it's just not that simple and many people receiving assistance may not even realize April 1 is the first deadline to report a job.
As for where those recipients may have to turn next, some food banks in the three counties are wondering if they could see a higher demand because of this.
Of course, food stamps will be reinstated once those criteria are met so this could all be turned around. But it's important people know that first deadline is upon them.
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Georgia-based Coca-Cola Downsizing Sponsorship of GOP Convention
By: The Staff/zPolitics
Georgia-based mega-corporation Coca-Cola is reportedly downsizing their sponsorship of the 2016 Republican Convention. The reason? Donald Trump.
The
New York Times first reported that Coke declined to match the $660,000 it gave in the 2012 election, and will instead give $75,000 to this year's convention.
While the beverage company has not publicly identified Trump as the reason for the downsized donation, Coke has recently faced pressure from activist organizations who have equated any association with Trump to an endorsement of "hate and "racism". One such group, ColorofChange, based in New York, has
launched a campaign against Coke and other sponsors of the GOP convention.
"We are glad that Coca-Cola is choosing to do the right thing, by rethinking what will surely be a international platform for more hate and intolerance," said Rashad Robinson ColorofChange's Executive Director. "We demand that Coca-Cola and other current sponsors stop the promotion of their products and airing of commercials during the convention, that they agree that they will not make in-kind donations and that they withdraw any initial pledges."To be fair, it appears that Coca-Cola has never quite loved The Donald anyway.
The Republican Convention is set to be held on July 18 in Cleveland, Ohio. |
Priebus: Candidates backing away from GOP pledge are 'posturing'
By: Jesse Byrnes/The Hill
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus on Thursday night brushed off news of all three GOP presidential candidates backing away from their pledge to support the eventual nominee.
"We're going into potentially - we don't know for sure - but potentially an open convention. So the candidates, I think, are going to posture a little bit as far as what they're willing to do and who they're willing to support, who they're not," Priebus said during an interview on Fox News's "On the Record."
"What candidates are now portraying out for the public to listen to is, you know, I think a bit of posturing," Priebus said. "I'm not really worried about in regards to supporting the eventual nominee or the party."
Donald Trump was the most outspoken in backing away from the pledge this week, saying in a CNN town hall Tuesday, "No, I don't anymore." He maintained that position on Wednesday in follow-up interviews, saying it depended on who wins the nomination.
Ted Cruz and John Kasich also stepped away from the pledge, with Cruz saying he's "not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family" and Kasich expressing regret for ever making the pledge.
"All of us shouldn't even have answered that question," he said Tuesday.
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 5 Things to Watch in the March Jobs Report
By: Anna Louis Sussman/The Wall Street Journal
1. Slower But Steady
Economists expect a rise in nonfarm payrolls of 213,000 in March, and the unemployment rate to hold at 4.9%. That pace would be slower than
February's 242,000 and 2015's average of 229,000, but still a healthy figure. Payroll processing firm ADP reported a pickup of
200,000 private-sector jobs in March, a sign that job growth was likely solid over the month. Keep in mind, it's also not uncommon for job creation to slow this many years into a recovery. Nearly 14 million jobs have been added since the end of the recession.
2. Off the Sidelines
The steady demand for workers is drawing more people back into the labor force. In February, the share of Americans participating in the workforce rose to 62.9%, off its near-40-year low of 62.4% reached last fall. More workers coming out of unemployment or entering the workforce for the first time are signs of optimism around job prospects.
3. Wage Hike
As more people join the labor force, employers' incentives to raise wages fall, especially in fields that don't require specialized or scarce skills. Economists nonetheless expect wages to rise 0.3% in March, erasing February's 0.1% drop. A larger worker pool means means "less pressure to raise wages," said
Tara Sinclair, chief economist at job website
Indeed.com. Wages rose year over year in February, up
4. Sector-Specific
Several manufacturing surveys
showed improvement in February and March, potentially signaling that the U.S. is "moving past the weakest period" for the sector, according to J.P. Morgan Chase economist Daniel Silver. That could stabilize employment in the sector, which shed 16,000 jobs in February. Domestically-oriented sectors like health care, retail and food service all added jobs in February. Look for whether that trend continues despite only
modest growth in consumer spending in recent months.
5. Ups and Downs
January and February's numbers reflect seasonal differences in employment, such as weather's effect on industries like construction. Even though the employment report adjusts for seasonality, the March report can sometimes bring substantial revisions to January and February figures. Last month's report revised December and January's payrolls upward by 30,000.
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Social studies teachers: Politicians influencing new standards more than educators
By: Maureen Downey/AJC
Georgia teachers asked to review and rewrite the k-12 social studies standards are expressing dismay over the
draft released by the state Board of Education. Despite their hundreds of hours of work, teachers say they don't recognize much of what has been put forth by the board.
They say the draft now speaks to a political agenda rather than an educational one.
Among the politicians seeking to shape the standards is state State Sen. William Ligon, R-Brunswick, who sent State School Superintendent Richard Woods and the state school board a detailed critique.
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Georgia Federation of Republican Women
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With ambitions tapered, Obama opens his last nuclear summit
By: David Nakamura and Steven Mufson/Washington Post
President Obama welcomes world leaders to Washington on Thursday for a two-day summit on nuclear security that aims to refocus global attention on an issue he has called a top priority but on which his administration has
had limited success.
Seven years after he envisioned "a world without nuclear weapons" during a high-profile speech in Prague, Obama enters the last of four nuclear summits having proposed deep budget cuts next year on programs to stop nuclear proliferation while leaving intact military spending on a new generation of weapons.
Countries that have not given up stockpiles of nuclear material include the riskiest ones, such as Pakistan and India, which have fought four wars. And this week's summit will have a glaringly empty chair: Russia, the world's other nuclear superpower, has chosen not to attend amid tensions with the United States.
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