Oh yes, today was International Panda Travel Day, complete with VIP send off and FedEx playing chauffeur!

At the Atlanta Zoo Mei Lan was up two hours earlier than usual to catch her flight to DC to pick up Tai Shan who, I guess, got to sleep in.

Atlanta's new mayor Kasim Reed acknowledged Mei Lan's impact on this community while she was here ...but also expressed hope for her future. He said she would always be remembered. And with a laugh he wished that she would be fruitful and multiple. Then the Panda Express taxied to the runway under a ceremonial water cannon salute...and off she went...first to Washington D.C. to pick up another giant panda cub, Tai Shan.

Both Pandas are headed to the Chengdu panda reserve for breeding. Although born at the Atlanta Zoo, Mei Lan is still the property of the Chinese government.

Bye bye kids, don't forget to write!

In a press release from the Georgia House Democrats:

House and Senate Democrats today announced new transportation legislation that will help ensure Georgia receives its fair share of federal stimulus money and create a mechanism for a regional transportation SPLOST.

The legislation dedicates the fourth penny collected on motor fuel tax to any general transportation purpose. As of FY 2009 the motor fuel tax generated over $137 million.

"House Democrats have been working on this for over three years," said Minority Leader DuBose Porter. "Georgia's Republican leadership refused to act, costing Georgia jobs and federal money. We are losing jobs and money to surrounding states because of their failure to act on transportation. "

The Democrats' proposed legislation allows for the formation of special transportation districts, giving local jurisdictions the power to decide whether or not to levy a local tax. It also constitutionally dedicates the fourth penny of sales tax generated from motor fuel to "any transportation purpose" to leverage federal dollars and help with economic development through state aid and LARP for local communities.

"There is $87 million in federal stimulus money for high speed rail systems up for grabs and all Georgia needs to do is raise $15 million to access the federal money," said Rep. Calvin Smyre. "The fourth penny will ensure leverage for Georgia to enable us to receive some of that money instead of watching as it goes to North Carolina or Florida."

"There is an urgency to act now. Republicans want to create legislation that starts acting in 2012, which means the money won't be on the ground until 2014. Georgia can't wait until 2014 to start fixing our transportation problem. That's why House Democrats are acting now," said Minority Whip Carolyn Hugley.

Georgia's senior senator Saxby Chambliss has always been a special member of the U.S. Senate -- special in the sense of those special education classes offered at most public schools.

Continue reading "Georgia's own special senator" »

Attend the Atlanta Stonewall Democrats 2010 Love Me, Love Me Not Valentine's Day Party and participate in our "Love Poll" for the Democratic Governor's race. Our Love Poll is similar to a straw poll.

For just a small $5 donation to Atlanta Stonewall, you can send a beautiful Valentine Heart, signed by you, to your favorite Democrat or Elected Official.

On the flip-side, for a $5 donation, you can also send a Broken Heart to a public official who is NOT so fair-minded.

Atlanta Stonewall Democrats will hand deliver you hearts to the elected official.

If you send at least 5 hearts ($25) your 2010 membership to Stonewall is included! And you will receive a very special gift.

So join us and meet some great fair-minded folks.

When: Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010

Where: The Phillip Rush Center - 1530 DeKalb Ave, Atlanta, 30307 * next to Radial Café and Georgia Equality

Time: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact Tim Cairl - timcairl(at)gmail.com

If you can't make the event and still want to send a heart, please Contribute here

Well, this goes way beyond the average blog post. If this is what they're rolling out pre-primary on Ken Hodges, what in the world are they saving for the General? I don't want to jump to conclusions, but am completely freaked out by these allegations.

The curious case of Ken Hodges: your Democratic candidate for Attorney General, Part one, Part two, and Part three, from PeachPundit.

Related: Do No Harm, the documentary:

DO NO HARM is a documentary film that tells the story of two reluctant whistle blowers in a small Georgia town who endure relentless attacks as they struggle to draw national attention to hospital corruption and the plight of the uninsured.

At the center of this story is Phoebe Putney, a non-profit hospital in Albany, Georgia whose influence is felt by most residents - everyone knows someone who works at Phoebe, owes Phoebe money, or who has been to the hospital for treatment. In 2003, Dr. John Bagnato and accountant Charles Rehberg stumble upon evidence that the hospital is overcharging uninsured and indigent patients and is using aggressive collections tactics to recover costs. Their subsequent investigation uncovers millions of dollars in offshore bank accounts and lucrative for-profit businesses under the control of the non-profit hospital - not only at Phoebe, but also at non-profit hospitals around the country. And shockingly - this is all entirely legal.

When these discoveries become public, Bagnato and Rehberg become the targets of threats and intimidation, and are eventually prosecuted by local authorities for blowing the whistle on the hospital. With their reputations and livelihoods on the line, Bagnato and Rehberg must confront what they're willing to sacrifice to bring about justice.

Every Wednesday, Blog for Democracy and the Democratic House Caucus will provide views from Georgia's Democrat State Representatives.

This week we hear from State Rep. Debbie Buckner (D-Columbus). She was first elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 2002. House District 130 consists of parts of Talbot, Harris, and the eastern part of Muscogee County.

BILL SUMMARY: HB 1039 provides a state-wide outdoor watering schedule during certain time periods. It bans outdoor irrigation between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. except for commercial agricultural operations, irrigation of personal food gardens or new landscape installed by licensed professionals for a period of 30 days following installation.

REP. DEBBIE BUCKNER COMMENTS: Georgia has enjoyed plentiful rainfall the past several months, but if we have learned anything from the most recent drought, it is that we cannot take our water supply for granted. Taking into consideration the "water wars" with Alabama and Florida and last year's federal court decision restricting metro Atlanta's use of water from Lake Lanier, it is more important than ever that we do a better job of preparing for future dry spells.

This is why I have introduced legislation that encourages all Georgians to conserve our water resources by providing a consistent schedule for outdoor watering on a statewide basis. Under HB 1039, watering would take place only from 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. This is a cost-effective solution because during the heat of the day, as much as half the water used outdoors is lost through evaporation. Horticulture experts also say that daytime watering is more likely to cause problems with fungus, particularly in lawns.

The consistent schedule would be easier for residents to remember than the odd/even day alternation that some communities utilize. Agricultural operations, personal food gardens and new landscaping would be exempt from the restrictions, and local control would be protected as implementation and enforcement would be left up to local governing authorities.

Abiding by a statewide outdoor watering schedule by all Georgians would show our neighboring states we are making a good-faith effort to conserve our resources and have a very positive effect on being prepared for future drought conditions. HB 1039 has strong bipartisan support, and I am hopeful it will be quickly approved.

TAKE ACTION: In addition to encouraging you to conserve water and other resources, I ask you to contact your local representative and voice your support for this bill. We must all do our part to conserve our natural resources.

Dear Atlanta media folks,
Ya'll need to lay off Republican Governor candidate John Oxendine. The continuous spinning of corruption conspiracies is just out of control. The Ox has served brilliantly as our State's Insurance Commissioner and has

championed policies aimed at protecting the interests of Georgia consumers and promoting a competitive market place.

In May 2009, when the AJC wrote about how he used his office as the State Insurance Commissioner to pimp money from those he regulated and the donations were illegal because they came from 2 insurance company executives who set up fake PACS was not very helpful with making sure the Ox wins the Republican nomination.

Everyone thought the Ox would fold up his tent, but instead he responded to the AJC's frivolous attacks by saying:

Oxendine told the AJC that he wasn't sure who gave him the PAC money, but said it was from business people, mostly in Alabama.

"It's not like an oversight or I didn't know what the law was," he said. "We received it from completely different sources, and they are not common."

Oxendine added later, "I don't want you to think we had the intent of doing anything inappropriate."

That my AJC friends is true Republican leadership - Oxendine was victimized by shady campaign contributors. He had zero knowledge that all the money came from the same address.

Continue reading "Please Atlanta Media lay off John Oxendine" »

The trend has been evident for quite some time, but the latest poll should remove any doubts: Charlie Crist is dead meat in the Republican primary for Florida's Senate seat.

Continue reading "Goodbye, Charlie" »

Alas, I did have hope for Atlanta Progressive News when they first arrived on the scene. I believed then (and do still) that editor Matthew Cardinale had good intentions to bring a progressive voice to the Atlanta media scene. I usually read APN releases with a lot of skepticism and a little bit of hope. I'm skeptical because it often seems to me that their reports are a conclusion looking for a hypothesis. I'm hopeful because I would like very much to have a non-biased, respected, influential progressive voice in Atlanta (and across Georgia).

APN's latest antics dash most of my hopes and boost my skepticism. Last night in response to proposed limits for public comments at the Community Development/Human Resources Committee meetings Mr Cardinale presented his comments to the Atlanta City Council in the form of a rap song.

Some will surely disagree with me, but I think five minutes is sufficent to present an articulate and organized comment about anything in front of an Atlanta City Council Committee meeting. Five minutes is a long time... Just try listening to Paul Anka's, "(You're) Having my Baby" twice.

Georgia Democratic Gubernatorial candidates will have their second debate at the University of Georgia tomorrow, February 2.

WHO: Thurbert Baker, Roy Barnes, Carl Camon, Dubose Porter, David Poythress.

WHAT: Moderated debate hosted by WNEG-TV and carried unedited on TV stations WGCL (Atlanta), WALB (Albany), WTVM (Columbus), WRDW (Augusta), WTOC (Savannah) and WMAZ (Macon).

WHEN: Tomorrow, February 2. Seating must be completed by 6:30 pm, with live debate scheduled from 7 pm - 8 pm EST.

WHERE: PJ Auditorium, located in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, Athens.

Due to space limitations, tickets must be acquired through the Clarke County Democratic Party to guarantee seating for the event.

Media credentials must be acquired through Eric Gray of the Democratic Party of Georgia. Traditional and new media are encouraged to request credentials immediately to guarantee access.

Please call 678-278-2108 for information or to request credentials.

He's a little late to the game, but Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has called for the allocation of more money and more independence for the chronically underfunded and legislatively hamstrung State Ethics Commission.

Continue reading "Got to get us some of that ethics" »

Everyone is raving about the President's "Open Discussion" with Republicans yesterday, and for good reason. Related: The White House has partnered with YouTube to give everyone an opportunity to ask President Obama questions here on Citizen Tube.

CBS has refused to grant advertising airtime for the gay dating website mancrunch.com, but will allow an evangelical Christian group to air an anti-abortion ad during this year's Super Bowl.

The ad reportedly will feature the University of Florida's superstar quarterback, Tim Tebow, and his mother, Pam. She will describe how, while working as a missionary in the Philippines and seven months pregnant with Tim, she contracted dysentery and fell into a coma. When she awoke, according to her account, doctors said the drugs they'd used to treat her virtually guaranteed a life-threatening stillbirth. They advised an abortion. She declined out of religious conviction.

[promoted from comments, h/t Bezerko, TPM]

Senator Mary Landrieu's district office was the subject of some type of attempted interference with her telecommunications equipment. Not clear exactly what happened, but the alleged doers of whatever mischief include the below gentleman, Stan Dai. Plotting to disrupt communications, wiretapping etc, are arguably terroristic activities, so let's listen to Stan Dai explain how to prevent the very activities he was involved in. Hint: It involves teaching him to farm:

I pretty much agree with everything he says.

- the author was a former hill staffer of Sen. Landrieu

Mark your calendar! Georgia WAND presents the 8th Annual Real State of the Union featuring AJC editor & author, Jay Bookman and The Reverend Dr Joseph Lowery.

Always sure to stimulate and entertain, Mr Bookman will give us his perspective on the state of our union, and Rev Dr Lowery will respond. A brief Q & A will follow. Be sure to come early for the reception hosted by your friends at Georgia for Democracy!

What: The Real State of the Union
When: Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 7:00 PM (Reception 6:00 PM in Tull Fellowship Hall)
Where: Central Presbyterian Church, 201 Washington Street SW, Atlanta 30303
Admission is free! (A love offering will be taken.)

Continue reading "Now for the "Real" State of the Union!" »