Rumors have it from Andre Walker’s blog that the Georgia Dems are going to be putting-up some pretty serious contenders against some sitting GOP members of Congress.

MOST notable names (from my perspective) are Former Governor of Georgia Roy Barnes challenging Phil Gingrey, and Charles Brewer (founder of Mindspring ISP and now a real estate developer) challenging Tom Price.

I’m opening-up the pod bay doors here for your blogging pleasure….

My mailbox is being flooded with mail concerning gas prices and illegal immigrants. To boycott oil companies or not; to provide amnesty to illegal
immigrants or not, etc.

Since I have become jaded to the various solutions proposed by the Republicans, Democrats, Sierra Club, ACLU, etc. I have elected to solve the problems as they affect me. It solves both my gas and illegal immigrant problems.

I have hired illegal immigrants to push my car. They’re plentiful and cheaper than buying gas. Then I pay them in Pesos so they have to go home to spend it.

I love it when a plan comes together.

I’ve received the following information sent out by Senator Johnny Isakson’s D.C. office:

Why did Senate conservatives have to negotiate with Ted Kennedy, the Democrats and the White House on any immigration proposal?

– The Democrats control both the House and Senate and have the votes to pass last year’s Kennedy bill or something worse that will grant amnesty and will not secure our borders.

– In the legislative process, no one gets 100 percent of what they want. This legislation represents the best opportunity that we have to secure our borders and address this problem.

– Some say we can not trust this White House or the Democrats to actually enforce the new bill. That will be true of any legislation, and that is why the Isakson border-security-first triggers are so important.

– We also have to consider what kind of bill we might get with a Democratic President (no border security, blanket amnesty, no enforcement and rights to all welfare benefits).

Will this proposal secure our borders and does it include the Isakson border-security-first trigger? Yes.

– This proposal would result in our borders being secure for the first time in our history.

– This proposal contains the Isakson border-security-first trigger exactly as Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia drafted it. It says that no temporary worker program can begin until the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies to the President and to the Congress that specific key border security measures are funded, in place and operational.

– The border security measures that must be funded, in place and operational are:
* Manpower – A total of 18,000 full-time Border Patrol Agents.

* Detention beds – Detention facilities with a total capacity of 27,500 detention beds to end the practice of “catch and release.”
*Barriers – Additional barriers such as 370 miles of fences and 70 underground sensor systems along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.
* Unmanned Aerial Vehicles — A squadron of at least four unmanned aerial vehicles with high-tech sensors and satellite communication to allow coverage on the border by an unmanned vehicle 24 hours a day.

*Biometrically secure ID – A biometrically secure identification card program so employers can instantly verify whether an immigrant is legal or illegal.

Does this proposal offer a new, special pathway for illegal immigrants to obtain U.S. citizenship or permanent residency? No.

– There is no new automatic pathway to citizenship, nor is there a new automatic path to establish permanent residency with a green card.
– Illegals must leave the country and must apply for a green card through a U.S. Embassy or Consulate outside the United States, just like everyone else, and they are placed at the back of the line. Everyone who has been waiting patiently on line will be ahead of them.

Does this proposal give amnesty to those who are here illegally? No.

– According to Black’s Law Dictionary, amnesty is the blanket pardon of an offense without penalty. This proposal is not amnesty because illegal workers must complete the following steps in order to obtain a probationary Z visa granting temporary, probationary legal status:
o Come forward within 18 months of the bill’s enactment
o Plead guilty to breaking the law and be placed on probation
o Pay an extensive fine and processing fee
o Undergo criminal background checks
o Prove they are employed
o Become proficient in English

Read the rest of this entry »

What happens when you combine an ever- strengthening grassroots army with a phalanx of elected leaders…and both sets of individuals armed to the teeth in basic, conservative Republican principles?

Well, before you ponder the answer to that question for too long, consider this one more piece of the puzzle: both armies are combined into one team to move the football down the field to the goal line. The only person missing is the quarterback for this team. That quarterback’s name? Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson.

One of the primary grassroots members to initiate the “Team Georgia for Fred” is Chris Farris, a resident of Gwinnett County and Chairman of the Georgia Republican Liberty Caucus.

Farris, like many others who are on Fred’s Georgia team, recognized early on that the announced field of Republican candidates for the 2008 presidential election left him feeling…uninspired, for lack of a better term at the moment.

So, what does Farris do? He starts an online registration list for people just like him to sign-up for a “Draft Fred Thompson for President” campaign.

This one act was the genesis of the grassroots effort in Georgia to get others who were as uninspired (and, unexcited…and, uneasy…and…) about ANY of the announced (or other unannounced candidates…See Gingrich, Newt) for president.

Julianne Thompson, another Gwinnett county Republican activist has also become an integral part of the Georgians for Fred Team. At this weekend’s Georgia Republican Party Convention, she is in charge of the booth for the Draft Fred initiative in Georgia. Make sure you come by for stickers and other info on joining the team.

Now, I mentioned a “phalanx of elected leaders” in my opening paragraph. That phalanx is made-up of a bunch of independent-minded Georgia elected officials who also made their intentions known by signing-up on Farris’s website. That list (to this day) is as follows:

Former US Senator Mack & Leslie Mattingly
Sen. Eric Johnson, President Pro Tempore
Sen. Tommie Williams, Majority Leader
Sen. Chip Rogers
Sen. David Shafer
Sen. Don Thomas
Sen. Jack Murphy
Sen. John Douglas
Sen. Cecil Staton
Sen. Preston Smith
Sen. Greg Goggans
Sen. Lee Hawkins
Sen. Bill Heath
Sen. Bill Hamrick
Sen. Don Thomas
Rep. Earl Ehrhart
Rep. Ron Stephens
Rep. Ron Forster
Rep. Buddy Carter
Rep. Burke Day
Rep. Jim Cole
Rep. Doug Collins
Rep. Mark Butler
Rep. Clay Cox
Rep. Jay Neal
Rep. Sean Jerguson
Rep. Tom Dickson
Rep. Calvin Hill
Rep. James Mills
Rep. Doug Holt
Rep. John Meadows
Rep. Tom Knox
Rep. John Heard
Rep. Tom Graves
Commissioner Esther Fleming (Newton)
Commissioner Pat Farrell (Chatham)
Commissioner Jerry Brigham (Augusta-Richmond)
Councilwoman Liz Hausmann (Johns Creek)
Fmr. Sen. Brian Kemp
Fmr. Rep. Chuck Harper
Fmr. Rep. Barbara Bunn

What will be most interesting is what will Georgia’s “hometown boy” Newt Gingrich think about this growing army of supporters for a guy who, like him, is unannounced for President, and who doesn’t actually live in this state?

Speaking as a longtime political activist myself (and, for full disclosure purposes, a signed-on member of the Draft Fred Thompson Georgia Team), Newt Gingrich might have to go to Tennessee to find stronger support for his candidacy…’cause it’s looking like he sure isn’t going to find too much support for his candidacy in THIS state.

– Bill Simon
PoliticalVine.com

Open commenting on the new book by ex-CIA Director/Clinton appointee/Why-the-hell-did-Bush-not-replace-him-when-he-came-into-office-in-2001 George Tenet.

By the way, I have not read his book…and won’t be. Just watched a whole lot of drill-down reporting on the talking head shows. I think he’s just as two-faced as Dubya himself.

Will Congress have the courage to revise or just rewrite Bush’s 5-year old idiocy?

States unhappy with No Child requirements…

I have not been posting on the blog all of what I send out via e-mail, and I have not covered all I have posted on the blog in e-mail. The differences between the two have to do with differences in what kind of HTML code and PHP code I have to deal with in order to translate between the two.

So, IF you wish to read what I’ve been covering via e-mail, and have not subscribed, or subscribed late in the game, you can go to this year’s Newsletter Archives to see what I’ve been covering.

2007 E-Newsletter Archives

Okay, Folks…I haven’t had the time to fully research the “Cable Choice Bill” being shoved down our throats, but I do believe the sponsors behind it are full of it when they offer the prospect of our “cable rates going down.”

Something stinks…and, someone else has done a whole lot of research on the thing and sent me links…help yourself to these links for info and let me know what you think (I do not have time to research all of the links):

http://www.riedelcommunications.blogspot.com/

More links on efforts in different states to gut local control of franchising, and it looks like it’s almost always called “Cable Choice and Competition Now.” And, they’re all on the same page with this, and after it’s passed rates go UP, not down, and so do local taxes:

http://www.freepress.net/news/20796

http://www.wetmachine.com/item/327

http://www.wetmachine.com/item/406

http://saveaccess.org/node/875

http://ga3.org/matv/cable_choice_act.html

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070214005674&newsLang=en

http://kickasswebdesign.com/wordpress/2006/09/cable-customer-choice-and-competition-act-in-pa-is-quite-the-opposite/

http://www.indyaccess.org/telecommunications-and-media-reform/2006-issues/war-on-local-cable-franchises/

http://www.mediageek.net/?p=1521

And at the FCC level:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20061221/080344.shtml

Let’s see how many ways I can come up with to describe Newt:

– Putz
– Someone who thinks the rest of the country is REALLY stupid enough to believe he is sincere.
– Out to lunch
– The worst con-artist since Ralph Reed…whom, I suspect, will be on his campaign team.

Lawrenceville, Georgia, March 13, 2007 – Seth Weathers, President of WeathersDesign.com, announced today that he will run as a candidate for Chairman of the Gwinnett County Republican Party.

“I feel that the Gwinnett GOP is in need of revitalization,” said Weathers. “Our local party needs fresh, new energy going into the 2008 elections. He added, “A better job also needs to be done to raise money and build membership as was done in the past.”

Weathers’ candidacy has been endorsed by many of Gwinnett’s Republican elected officials, such as: Sen. Renee Unterman, Rep. David Casas, Rep. Brooks Coleman, Rep. Melvin Everson, Rep. John Heard, Rep. Len Walker, Gwinnett County Commission Chairman Charles Bannister, Commissioner Lorraine Green, Commissioner Mike Beaudreau, Sheriff Butch Conway and Tax Commissioner Katherine Sherrington.

These elected officials and other party leaders will host a Pre-Convention Reception on Thursday, March 22th at 6:00 p.m. at The Historic Courthouse in Lawrenceville to give all Gwinnett County Republican Convention delegates an opportunity to meet Seth Weathers.

Other significant endorsements for Weathers include: Brett Harrell, Former Mayor of Snellville, Former Gwinnett GOP Chairmen Buzz Brockway, Mike Royal and BJ Van Gundy (the current 7th District Chairman) and Tegwen Beaudreau, President of the Greater Gwinnett Republican Women.

Elections will take place on March 24, 2007 at the Gwinnett County Republican Convention.

Follow-up article in the Gwinnett Daily Post may be seen here

Here’s the link to the latest scoop on the FUBAR known as the Cobb County Republican Party.