Haley's Deepen Port No Deal

Governor Nikki Haley who has endorsed Republican Mitt Romney said Obama was coming in the way of development in her State. "In South Carolina, we can't even pass our own bills without him getting in the way." "We pass illegal immigration reform, he stops it. We pass voter ID, he stops it. We get Boeing, he stops it. I mean, I'd just like to be a governor and be able to take care of my state. The president's trying to handle the entire country, and he's failing," Haley said.

Santorum Appealing to Women

Republican presidential pre candidate Rick Santorum spent most of his speech repeating the themes he does on the stump, including his mention of the Declaration of Independence, but last evening there was a twist on that. “The men and women who signed that declaration wrote the final phrase, ‘We pledge to each other our lives, our fortune, and our sacred honor,” Santorum said. There were no women who signed the Declaration of Independence. Updated 4/10/2012: Santorum is out of the race.

"Operation Smoke Screen" in Augusta

Good Education is Bad

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Only in our nation’s capital does having a conversation cost a few billion dollars. Two weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan unveiled a $5 billion competitive grant proposal designed to “formally renew this national conversation around the future of teaching.” Project RESPECT – Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching – is part of the Obama administration’s efforts to revamp the way the nation’s public school teachers are trained, evaluated, and compensated. 

Republicans in GA Ready for Secession II

ATLANTA, GA - Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams and Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, the two top leaders in the General Assembly introduced SB 889 seeking to ignore any federal law coming from president Barack Obama that they don't like, such as ACA. "It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to adopt and enact any and all measures that may become necessary to prevent the wrongful enforcement of any federal laws or regulations duly nullified within the boundaries and limits of this state."

Bye Augusta Mail Processing

GA Republicans Crusade for Supermajority

ATLANTA, GA - The House of Representatives voted Friday 24, 2012, to change the date of elections in Augusta. The measure by Rep. Barbara Sims, R-Augusta, shifts the election date for consolidated cities and counties from November to July. She argued that legislation last year that changed the election date for judicial elections was intended to include Augusta as well.

Enabling Failing Schools

Atlanta, Georgia, 2/22/2012 - The Georgia House of Representatives passed legislation that would reinstate the commission charged with authorizing charter schools, the first step in an effort by advocates of educational options to overturn a State Supreme Court decision that struck down the commission last year. Nationwide, though, there is a sentiment of comfort with failing schools.

"Assault on Women Health"

Women voters outnumber men by millions. Maybe Republicans should have thought of that before launching "the most comprehensive and radical assault on women's health in our lifetime," according to House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi.

HB87: Doing Business with Augusta

Augusta, Georgia - Since 2007 (SB 529), Georgia has mandated that counties comply with several state and federal immigration laws. These requirements have been significantly expanded over the years, most recently with the passage of HB 87 during the 2011 legislative session which added new reporting and penalty provisions. The laws impose these mandates without funding. Augusta put an outreach program.

Downtown Augusta Revitalization

Senate Holding Hostage The Judiciary

Half of all Americans—over 160 million of us—live in judicial districts or circuits that have a vacancy that would be filled today if the Republican obstruction of judicial nominations would end. Over the past few months, even consensus nominees who were supported unanimously by the bipartisan Senate Judiciary Committee have been subject to unprecedented delays and, as was the case of Judge Adalberto Jordán and Jesse Furman, filibusters.

Iran to U.S.: Thanks for the Embargo

Peanut Rights. Seriously

In the post-buyout environment, growers had to determine whether peanut or tobacco farming could be profitable in a new, lower priced market and whether they could manage price and production risk. For producers who primarily owned quota, rather than rented, the buyout payments provided a financial cushion. 

Secure Communities Up 287g Down

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials say they will not sign new contracts for 287(g) officers working in the field and will terminate the "least productive" of those agreements — saving an estimated $17 million. All the contracts between Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) and local police agencies run for three years, so that portion of the program could be finished by November when the last contract for field officers expires.

Caterpillar Will Build New Plant in GA

Washington, D.C. - Caterpillar Inc. announced that the company will build a new manufacturing facility in Clarke and Oconee counties. The facility is expected to directly employ 1,400 people once it is fully operational and the total investment for opening the new facility is estimated to be approximately $200 million.

Republicans Power Grabbing Blasted

ATLANTA (February 17, 2012) – "This untimely effort is nothing more than an attempt to dilute the voting strength of the citizens of Augusta by inserting another Republican legislator from Columbia County into its legislative delegation". Senator Hardie Davis (D-Augusta) has offered the following statement regarding the Senate Redistricting Committee’s decision to draw the 24th Senate District into Richmond County.

A Lot of Babies Having Babies in Richmond

A new study by the Guttmacher Institute reports that teen pregnancy rates have reached a 40-year low. Still, teen pregnancy costs Georgia taxpayers more than $465 million annually and intersects with every social issue that burdens our state such as poverty, high school dropout rates, healthcare, unemployment, and fragile families. Richmond County has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state, 22.9 percent higher than the state rate. 

Champagne Ready for brutaliTEE Center

Slavery by Another Name, Justice and Means

One Year of Wisconsin Wave

One year ago, today, Governor Scott Walker unleashed legislation eliminating collective bargaining rights for public workers, cutting funding for education and human services, and giving Wisconsin's public utilities and resources away to his corporate backers. On that day, February 11, 2011, the Wisconsin protest wave began.

Liberty Tax Waver Banned in North Augusta

North Augusta, South Carolina - Don't shoot the messenger! Too late. The North Augusta Department of Public Safety (NADPS) has asked Liberty Tax Service to stop their advertising campaign using employees dressed as Statues of Liberty because their behavior is distracting and a violation of the law. Pictured Lark W. Jones, Mayor of North Augusta.

Constitutionality of Immigration Legislation

Keynote speaker Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.

Code Enforcement Beyond Foreclosure

Miami, FLORIDA, Mike Kane for EVN – The hundred or so families who live at Royal Duke Trailer Park in the Brownsville area of Miami share a tight bond.  Some are extended families living in groups of trailers; many are immigrants — from Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua. Most work hard at low-wage jobs, some are unemployed, others retired. They all struggle financially.

Harrisburg Community Vindicated

As I read with utter disbelief Lori Davis's paranoid ravings in the January 26 Metro Spirit article, I couldn't help thinking about one of history's most important lessons, to wit: Whenever lunacy is combined with overzealousness, excessive ego and the gift of persuasion, you have the perfect recipe for disaster.

What Do Lawyers Do? They Sue

Law schools may be feeling similar to Dr. Frankenstein as their fledgling graduates turn on them, and it may not be long before graduates in other fields turn on their respective universities. The litigation was brought against law schools in California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois and New York, concerning allegations that they engaged in subterfuges such as hiring their own graduates for temporary jobs and counting law grads working in nonlegal jobs as employed.

Not The End of ObamaCare

A majority (55%) of the public believes that parts of the health reform law will still be implemented even if the Supreme Court strikes down the individual mandate, while 30% think a ruling against the mandate effectively will mean the end of the entire law.

Judge Banned a Candidate in Arizona

War on Women Ceased by the Ladies

UPDATE: We have been distressed at the presumption that the changes made to our funding criteria were done for political reasons or to specifically penalize Planned Parenthood.  They were not. Statement from Susan G. Komen Board of Directors and Founder and CEO Nancy G. Brinker.