SWGA Politics

Thurbert Baker Caught Cheating[ July 8, 2009 – 10:32 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Jason has the story over at PeachPundit, but here’s the basics:

Thurbert Baker reported on his Jan 1, 2009 – June 30, 2009 disclosure report that he had raised $704,331.00.
[OK, so where did he cheat?]

‘Georgia’ First?[ July 8, 2009 – 7:54 pm]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Not according to the itemized contribution sources listed on Ray McBerry’s recent disclosure. For those who don’t know, campaigns have to itemize all single contributions or groups of contributions from a single source that total to $101.00 or more, listing a lot of details about them including name, complete address, date received, amount, and a couple of other details such as occupation and employer if the source is an individual.

As I mentioned yesterday morning, $8,000 of the $18,000 Mr. McBerry has raised so far came from Michael and Stephen Petroutka of Maryland. Now, it turns out these two are very involved with the Constitution Party, which is really what McBerry’s positions line up with much moreso than the GOP.
[But wait! There's more!]

Oh yeah…THIS is a good idea[ July 8, 2009 – 6:45 pm]by Tom Posted in » National

Apparently, GAO investigators were able to construct bombs inside of government controlled buildings, buildings protected by the FPS, or Federal Protective Service. Reviews found a pile of deficiencies, enough that makes me nervous to set foot inside ANY building they protect considering I’m legally prevented from carrying a firearm onto the premises myself. Their response to these criticisms?

They need more money to correct the problems. Read More …

Some Inside Dirt[ July 8, 2009 – 5:31 pm]by Tom Posted in » Albany Dougherty County, Local

Commissioner Bob Langstaff has a presence out there on the internet, for those who didn’t know, and he shares some inside info regarding two of the hottest topics on SWGA Politics lately, namely the sign ordinance and Don Buie. Read More …

How much is enough?[ July 8, 2009 – 12:30 pm]by Tom Posted in » Local

I sit and listen a fair amount. I listen to what people say, particularly about politics. I listen to the comments and concerns about the City of Albany in particular, since that’s kind of my beat, and the truth of it is that it ain’t pretty. People in this town are worried, and they’re disgusted, and frankly even the vote yesterday on the sign ordinance is probably not enough for some of these folks.

At it’s core, there’s questions that lead to accusations. That’s never a good thing for those in power, and now they have to deal with the aftermath of those accusations. Read More …

Just Who Does Bishop Represent?[ July 8, 2009 – 10:41 am]by Bill Waller Posted in » National

If you are concerned with Card Check (HR 1409), don’t bother contacting Sanford Bishop (D-Ga-2). He is a cosponsor of the bill that will effectively end the secret ballot process for employee labor unions. The bill would not only force employees to vote in public about labor unions, but it would also give more government control over private businesses. Bureaucrats would write the collective bargaining agreements for newly unionized businesses which would allow them to set wages, benefits, retirement, etc.
Read More …

Taxpayers of Dougherty County get together[ July 8, 2009 – 8:00 am]by Tom Posted in » Albany Dougherty County

A multi-ethnic crowd of somewhere around 200 Dougherty County residents gathered together for the open meeting of the Dougherty County Taxpayers Association to discuss issues that were on their mind, and there were plenty of them. Read More …

Austin Scott Has Contributions That Smell – But Not As Badly As One Might Think[ July 8, 2009 – 6:47 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

Looking over Austin Scott’s campaign disclosure, the people that have maxed out to his campaign – the very thing that attracted my attention in both Ray McBerry’s and Brian Kemp’s disclosures – are the following:

Georgia Sports Medicine of Tifton
Med Tech of GA, Inc of Tifton
John Raines of Ashburn
Mitch Raines of Ashburn
Austin Scott of Ashburn
Becky Scott of Tifton
Carolyn Scott of Tifton
Jim Scott of Tifton
Vivien Scott of Ashburn

Wells Scott of Ashburn, William Scott of Albany have both donated $5,000 each, Dan Raines of Ashburn donated $6,000, and Ruth Raines of Ashburn donated $1,000.
[Continue Reading]

Governor Rankings by Total Contributions Reported This Cycle[ July 8, 2009 – 6:24 am]by Jeff Posted in » 2010 Campaigns

I’ll be doing various analyses on campaign disclosures over the next couple of weeks, but based solely on total contributions reported this reporting period (line 5 of the Summary Report on the Campaign Disclosure Reports), this is how the Governor’s race stacks up thus far:

Overall:
Nathan Deal ($1,230,290.00) includes loans of $250,000
Eric Johnson ($962,773.40)
Thurbert Baker ($704,331.00)
Karen Handel ($431,178.57)
John Oxendine ($416,580.35)
David Poythress ($304,045.00) includes loans of $185,000
DuBose Porter ($231,250.00)
Austin Scott ($180,620.00) includes loans of $9,225
Ray McBerry ($18,596.44)
John Monds ($11,157.15)
Roy Barnes ($0.00)
[Party Breakdown]