The Political Vine

FULTON COUNTY GOP BBQ

FULTON COUNTY POLITICAL BBQ: The Fulton County GOP BBQ is scheduled for Saturday, September 17th at the Roswell Area Park. Tickets will be $15 per person. Please note that the BuckSprings Breakfast scheduled for this day has been cancelled so people can attend the BBQ. Call 404-851-1444 for details.

There was a story previously placed here about Karl Rove supposedly claiming 2 different homes as his homestead, but, it looks like the story printed in the AJC newspaper was...gasp...wrong. Here's the corrected story that someone sent us:

Karl Rove is only one of a number of Washington D.C. residents to get caught by a change in the city's tax laws. But the the Washington Post couldn't wait to single him out after he was hit with a bill for back property tax he didn't know he owed.

In a story today headlined, "Rove Not Entitled to D.C. Homestead Deduction," the Post wrote that because he votes in Texas he is not legally entitled to the homestead deduction and property tax cap he's been getting on his D.C. home for the past 3 1/2 years.

That was not true, however, until a change in the law in 2002 made the D.C. homestead deduction available only to District property owners who do not vote elsewhere. Karl Rove is registered to vote in Texas, and nobody bothered to tell Rove about the change.

In a letter released by the White House, the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue has accepted blame for the error, which the Post admits also has affected numerous members of Congress, none of whom it bothered to identify.

"OTR failed to rescind the benefit when the law changed. As a result of OTR's error, the property inadvertently received tax deductions for which you no longer qualified," chief assessor Thomas W. Branham wrote Rove. "We regret any inconvenience that this error on the part of OTR may have caused you."

The Post reports that the D.C. tax collector was alerted to the problem this week. As a result Rove agreed to reimburse the District for an estimated $3,400 in back taxes, city officials told the Post.

The Washington paper went on to raise questions about the validity of Rove's Texas residency, stating, "Some Lone Star officials also are wondering about the place Rove calls home."

Those official apparently don't include Art Cory, chief tax appraiser in Travis County, Tex., who told the Post he probably would not bother to investigate the matter of Rove's claiming residence in his state and D.C.

A Grave Matter Indeed...Unless You're A Georgia Legislator...

Rumors have it that the leadership in the House, as well as the Governor, will be solidly behind Republican State Rep David Graves' reelection effort come 2006.

Why is this so startling to us? Because Graves has a bit of a problem, one would say, with following the law regarding Driving Under the Influence of alcohol.

However, as it is written in the Georgia Constitution, legislators are exempt from misdemeanor prosecution while the legislative session and/or any special session is taking place. This means speeding, DUI, etc. are all "okay" crimes for a Georgia state legislator to commit if they do it during a session and get caught by legal authorities

On February 15th of this year, Graves was stopped at a Cobb County police roadblock and the arresting officer observed Graves appearing to be under the influence behind the wheel. When he asked Graves to take a breath test, Graves refused. Graves then told the officer to "check my license plate" and said he was willing to "work" with the officer.

The officer wasn't fazed and handcuffed him and took him to jail, where he was released at the jail before going in front of a judge.

Now, as the court date just passed, Graves' attorney is arguing that his client is exempt in much the same way as "foreign diplomats" are exempt from following the law.

If Graves escapes the law due to the Constitution protections granted him, he pretty much gets a permanent walk from this February charge. One might think that there might be something in the ethics law of the state (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!) that could be brought to bear outside of the criminal code of Georgia OR, perhaps even the State House itself might have some rules on such actions taken by its members that would allow them to issue some kind of punitive action.

Not so, it turns out. According to Ethics Committee Chairman Joe Wilkinson (R-Sandy Springs) the only way an investigation into such violations of the law by the House would be IF a sitting Member of the House were to personally file such a complaint within the hallowed halls of the Capitol.

So, basically, the people of Georgia have to rely on a sitting member to have enough gumption to file a complaint in order for any possible sanctions against the offending Member to be discussed and/or levied. That'd be like gathering a bunch of New Orleans' looters together and asking them "Hey, which one of you were looting for food to survive, and which one of you were looting for bling-gathering purposes?" None of them would step forward and accuse any other of violating a minimum threshhold, would they? (And, yes, there IS something eeriely similar to the looters and politicians...you figure out what you want from that...)

PV's Take On It: Get this: Graves is CHAIRMAN of the committee on Regulated Industries...industries like alcohol and tobacco, etc.

Graves claims that he was having an after-hours meeting with other legislators, though not officially called, at a restaurant where he consumed 4 glasses of wine during a 3-hour period.

Here's another interesting factoid about Graves: He is Mr. Holy Roller in the House and a dues-paid member of probably every religious-zealot organization who has ever called him for money.

You know what we mean by "holy-roller," right? It means the guys who are always interested in passing laws based on their religious beliefs...laws that dictate what YOU must do in your own life but think they don't need to follow. Coincidentally, Graves is also a die-hard supporter of 3-faced, double-talking, lying-hypocrite-to-the-max candidate for Lt. Governor, Ralph Reed.

Yes, yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, birds of a feather DO flock together...especially when it comes to who can top who in hypocrisy.

Speaking of Ralph Reed

A recent poll by the folks over at Insider Advantage (the folks who purchased Bill Shipp's Georgia and BillShipp.com) has found some interesting stats with regards to upcoming Georgia races:

In the primary, Reed has a marginal lead over Cagle, with a majority of voters still undecided: Reed, 27%, Cagle, 19% and undecided, 53%.

More telling, however, are the Favorable/Unfavorable numbers among general election voters. In theory, the ratio of Favorable-to-Unfavorable should be at least 3.0 for a candidate to have a viable shot at overcoming people's perceptions:

Perdue's favorables are 59%. His unfavorables are 24%. The ratio is 2.5 to 1...

Cathy Cox's favorables are 53%. Her unfavorables are 15%. The ratio is 3.5 to 1.

Reed's favorables are 16%. His unfavorables are 19%. His numbers are 1 to 1.1875...quite upside down. In a poll taken earlier this year by then-candidate for Lt. Governor John Oxendine, Reed's ratio was 1-to-1 at 16% Favorable and 16% Unfavorable. Reed is sliding into nowhere land when it comes to improving his image.

By the way, Insider Advantage is run by Matt Towery and Chuck Clay. Coincidentally, Towery lent his home to the Reed campaign for a fundraiser a few months ago, SO, to those Reed supporters who might think to claim "Well, obviously, this poll is biased..." think again...

Survivor - Hurricane Refugee Edition (aka "Everyone Gets $2000...How Are You Going To Spend It?")

Not enough dust has cleared from the blame game of who was responsible for what when, so, we're not going to dip into the too-easy of a debate trap here...not yet, anyway.

However, an interesting thought struck us as we read the stories of the refugees who are getting $2000 debit cards given to them. Well, okay, actually, it is that each household receives a $2000 debit card.

Here's our thought (as whacky as it may be): For years...nay, decades, the Left has declared that all everyone needs is an equal opportunity in this country in order to ensure that everyone can succeed.

Well, these $2000 debit cards are exactly that. An equal opportunity granted to equally hurt people. People who have lost their homes. People who have lost their families. People who have lost their livelihoods. Everyone, in terms of "equal opportunity", is pretty much starting at the same exact point. Whites, Blacks, Cajuns, Men, Women, etc.

So, we have a live experiment in "equal opportunities" unfolding before our very eyes. Will the poor go out and blitz-spend the $2000 on crap that will not help them in the long run? Will the middle- and upper-class recipients spend it more wisely? Or, will a bunch of them end-up shoving the money into Indian casinos that didn't get hit by the hurricane in hopes of multiplying their recently-obtained government money?

We hope some of the news media follows some of these folks to find out how well they fare on government debit cards. No, don't accuse us of being "harsh" or "uncaring" here. This is a real-time opportunity to see what happens when thousands of people, armed with the same amount of financial help from their federal government and their own wits, are required to put their lives back in order.

And, to leave you with a final thought, how would YOU, as head of your current household, spend a credit of $2000 given to you from someone else, if you were in these same circumstances? It could actually be a good thought process to take yourself through...because, now we know, the unthinkable disaster can happen...to any of us.

Earl Has a Definite Affliction for Bulldogs...Though, We Believe Bestiality Is Still Outlawed in Georgia

Rumors have it that Republican State Rep. Earl Ehrhart had an amendment he wanted to attach to the Governor's bill on exempting buyers of Georgia gasoline from the state gas tax for the month of September 2005. Our interns raided the trashcan in Ehrhart's office and obtained a draft of Ehrhart's intended argument he was going to deliver from the well of the House in support of his amendment:

"The alumni and fans of UGA football absolutely LIVE for this time of year when we/they can drive to see our beloved football team play any team anywhere in the United States. Truth be known, we can think of nothing else in the world but the upcoming season of UGA football. We think about it in the winter. We think about it in the spring. We think about it in the summer. While it's going on, we think about nothing else but Woofing with our fellow Dawg supporters before, during and after every Saturday game.

"However, a calamity has hit our state and, dare I say, our country. There is a possibility that there might not be enough gasoline for us to buy to fill-up our SUVs and cars and drive to Sanford-Dooley-Adams stadium or to any game (Ehrhart scribbled off to the side of the text to "hold here for collective gasp from fellow Dawg cult members"...)

"So, I hereby call on the entire body of the House, the Senate, and the Governor to join me in support for this Amendment that will guarantee that for any vehicle sporting a UGA "G" or displaying any of the colors of UGA, or demonstrating any of the usual signs of support...for example, yelling "Go Dawgs!"...or, running down the UP-escalator of an airport terminal to catch a flight...or, sticking a "G" to your cheek...or whatever...the vehicles that display these signs will be allowed to immediately go to the head of ANY gas station line and they shall be allowed to fill-up to tank capacity in order to make sure that all of the season-ticket holders, and any other fan, can arrive at the game."

Rumors further have it that Ehrhart's fellow UGA pals State Rep Joe Wilkinson and State Rep Edward Lindsey were going to be co-sponsors of this amendment as well. It had already been cleared for support from the Governor's office.

A hang-up occured when Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson got wind of the amendment and he told Earl to quash the amendment or he would cut Ehrhart off at the knees. See, it seems that Richardson didn't go to UGA because he had this wild idea that he'd rather earn his degree than practice driving his car real slow while the university President tossed diplomas in the backseats of vehicles as they drove by...