Sen. Isakson Promotes Healthcare Competition

U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson says competition is essential to solving the nation’s healthcare problems. His comments came Monday just before President Barack Obama addressed medical experts about national healthcare reform. Senator Isakson said it’s not the quality of American healthcare that’s the problem … it’s the number of uninsured. His solution? -- Improving the current system’s combination of private and public healthcare:

“Having private competition, facilities like Emory that are private, public like Grady competing with one another is a good system. What we have got to guard against is becoming a single-payer government paying system. You take competition out of healthcare and you’ll have less quality and a higher cost.”

Isakson says Medicare Part D is a model of success … where he says thanks to competing providers nearly all seniors now have prescription drug coverage, premium costs are down, and the number of providers is up.

Many Republicans fear the Obama Administration will bring the nation toward a single-payer government system. Several hours after Isakson’s comments President Barack Obama declared to the American Medical Association in Chicago that he does not favor socialized medicine.

BIO Conference Focuses on Diversity

The Biotechnology Industry Organization, or BIO, is holding it's annual conference at the Georgia World Congress Center. And much of Monday mornings focus was on creating diversity in the bio workplace, and also, using bio sciences to help close heath gaps among different ethnic groups. About two hundred people came to the
meeting to see Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson and Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, among other speakers.

Lisa Gibson attended the workshop, she's the President of the Hawaii Technology and Science Council, and she says the lack of diversity means an absence of viewpoints as new medicines and other bio-applications are made.

"We need all people. It's a crisis for the country, and people need to be paying attention."

The national Science Foundation estimates only eight percent of science and engineering degrees are earned by Blacks and Latinos. And only 28 percent of these science graduates are women, according to that same study.

Water Dispute Goes to Court

Lawyers in Alabama, Florida and Georgia argued in federal court Monday about how the water in Lake Lanier should be used, and whether it could be used to supply metro
Atlanta's thirst.

State lawyers for Georgia say the water at man made Lake Lanier can be used to supply metro Atlanta, while attorneys for Florida and Alabama say the law clearly
states the federally operated dam can only serve three functions: flood control, maintaining flow levels and generating power.

Arguments lasted about four hours at the Jacksonville, Florida court house. The judge hearing the case says the ruling will "take time."

Last year, the three states held secret meetings to try and resolve the issue before this court date, those meetings fell apart, and now Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson is calling on the states to get back to the negotiating table.

"It's time for the governor's of the three states, and the leadership in Congress, to sit at the table and honestly do what's right for Georgia, for Alabama, and for Florida. No state should trump the other."

Tri-State Water Fight Now in Florida Courtroom

With the fate of metro-Atlanta's drinking water supply now in the hands of a federal judge, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson says it's time the attorneys stepped aside. And, with no quick decision expected in the case, Isakson says lawyers have argued the case for nearly two decades and nothing's been accomplished. He says it's time cooler heads prevailed.

"We've had far too much litigation and not enough conversation. People with cool heads have got to sit down. We can't start lobbing bombs at one another and trying to gotcha each other politically. It's too important an issue that has hurt this region for far too long."

And, Isakson has volunteered to kick start the dialogue.

"If we get a bad ruling, the first thing that I'm going to do is invite (the senators from) Alabama and Florida, to join Saxby and I at a lunch to sit down and talk about how we cannot afford to play gotcha politics with the drinking water … that [the] basin provides."

This latest case, now being heard in a Florida court, consolidates seven cases into one and centers on metro Atlanta’s share of water from Lake Lanier. Lake Lanier is the area's primary drinking water source.

Florida would like an increase in the amount of water released from the dam to protect endangered shell fish. Alabama wants more water to cool its nuclear power plants.

Isakson: Homeowner Tax Credit 'Still on Life Support'

Governor Sonny Perdue, Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson and Diane Isakson at the podium at the Gold Dome in Atlanta, Ga., as the senator announced his re-election run, on Feb. 17, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender).

Republican Senator Johnny Isakson Tuesday formally announced his candidacy for re-election at the state Capitol.

Isakson says although his $15,000-dollar homeowners tax credit was slashed in President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan, which he opposed, the tax credit was, "still on life support."

"We're going to be back, and we're going to get it done because we need to stabilize housing.”

Isakson took a swing at plummeting peanut sales in the wake of the salmonella outbreak, and called for boosting Georgia commerce:

"We need to eat more peanuts, we need to make sure that Georgia products are sold around the world. And I can promise you this: every day of my life, as long as I have a breath, I'll be working hard to work for you."

Isakson, flanked at the podium by his wife Diane, Governor Sonny Perdue, fellow Senator Saxby Chambliss and other officials, said Georgians need to sacrifice and work together to get through the recession.

Senior Ga. Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss congratulates Republican Senator Johnny Isakson, as Isakson's wife, Diane, applauds. Isakson announced his re-election run at the state Capitol in Atlanta on Feb. 17, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender).

The election for the senate seat will be in November of 2010.

No Democratic challenger has come forward, yet.

The 64-year-old Isakson’s political career has also included serving in the U.S. House, as well as in Georgia’s legislature. Isakson plans to tour the state beginning tomorrow with stops in Augusta, Albany and Columbus. On Thursday, he's scheduled to stop at Macon and Savannah.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of Sen. Isakson.

Isakson Opens Re-Election Bid

Georgia’s Johnny Isakson will address members of the state Senate Tuesday--this to mark the beginning of his re-election campaign for a second 6-year term in the U.S. Senate. The 64-year-old Isakson’s political career has also included serving in the U.S. House, as well as in Georgia’s legislature. Isakson plans to tour the state beginning tomorrow with stops in Augusta, Albany and Columbus. On Thursday, he's drop in on Macon and Savannah.

The Capitol Week Ahead

There will be a handful of committee meetings for House members today at the State Capitol. Tuesday, the full General Assembly reconvenes for another week of work.

Some of what’s ahead for the week--there will be committee meetings in the House and Senate on transportation funding. Subcommittees in the House will tackle Senate Bill 31. This legislation would allow Georgia Power to charge customers early for construction of a pair of new nuclear reactors for Plant Vogtle. Tomorrow, Georgia U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson will speak to the state Senate and launch his re-election campaign.

Dredging for Brunswick Harbor

The Port of Brunswick could soon welcome bigger ships with more cargo thanks to some new federal funds. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is spending $3 million dollars to dredge the entrance of Brunswick Harbor. Senator Saxby Chambliss, who along with Congressman Jack Kingston and Senator Johnny Isakson, helped secure the money, says Georgia's ports are vital to the state's economy and this project comes at a critical time.

State lawmakers push for U.S. military command center

Top Georgia officials are making a pitch to get a major U.S. military command center. They says it could bring hundreds of jobs.

Military officials are considering moving U.S. Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, from its current home in Stuttgart,Germany. The command center is in charge of operations in over 50 African countries.

U.S. Defense officials are considering several locations in the United States, including three base sites in Georgia--Fort McPherson, Fort Gillem, and Dobbins Air Force Base. All are in the metro Atlanta area.

Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson made Georgia’s case in a letter to Defense officials this week. They were joined by three U.S. House Representatives and Governor Sonny Perdue.

Lawmakers tout as selling points the runway network of Dobbins in Marietta, and the rail connection from the three base locations to Savannah’s port.

Officials say the joint command center could bring around 1,300 jobs.

Air Force wants airspace expansion but officials concerned

The U.S. Air Force is wanting to expand its military operating area in eastern Georgia.

But there's concern on how that expansion will affect civil aviation.

Georgia's U.S. senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, say in a letter to Air Force and FAA officials that they're particularly concerned that the expansion would cause air traffic delays and communications problems at the airport in Swainsboro. They're also worried about how the new airspace needs will affect the airport in Millen.

The Air Force uses the operating area's airspace for training. It's current airspace level is set at 11,000 feet, but the proposed expansion would lower that to 500 feet.

Proposed expansion has run into opposition in past years due to concerns over interference with civilian airspace.

Members of the public can comment on the proposal at a meeting in Augusta tonight.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Augusta Regional Airport.

Chambliss: fed bailout crucial for Georgians, country

Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss said his vote for the Wall Street bailout was crucial for Georgians. Chambliss was speaking at a press conference in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Oct 2, 2008. (Carl Zornes)

Chambliss says his Senate vote okaying the 700-billion dollar funding measure is in line with public sentiment:

“The overwhelming majority of the american people, and certainly the majority of Georgians, I know, support the Congress as policymakers, making sure that we don’t slide down into a financial depression.”

While Chambliss voted for the measure, all of Georgia's Republican House members opposed it in a vote on Monday. Chambliss says he hopes they will now throw their support behind the hotly debated bailout.

Sen. Johnny Isakson voted for the bill, as did both presidential candidates, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain.

Chambliss says Georgia's economy could take a hit without it's passage. The House is expected to vote on the measure on Friday.

Talking to reporters at the Senate, Chambliss said:

"We’ve got Georgia banks who are crimped from a credit standpoint and aren’t even able to make automobile loans today,"

"We have major employers who are having their lines of credit cut or in some cases cancelled. And it's going to start costing us jobs.”

Addressing reporters at a press conference at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport the morning after the vote, Chambliss said:

"Taking no action is simply not an option. We simply can't afford for the stock market to have losses of one point two trillion dollars on any kind of regular basis."

Click here for more GPB News political coverage.
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Georgia Senators vote 'yes' to bailout

Georgia’s two Senators voted ‘yes’ to the revised bailout bill Wednesday night in Washington. Republican Johnny Isakson calls the new plan "without question the most important vote and most challenging vote I’ve ever been asked to cast in 30 years as an elected official". Both Isakson and fellow GOP colleague Saxby Chambliss will lobby Republican House colleagues before its vote, possibly tomorrow.

Chambliss released this statement following the vote:

Our country is facing the most serious and critical domestic issue I have dealt with in my 14 years in Congress. We have been betrayed by many people, and greedy Wall Street executives have abused the system, leaving taxpayers to feel the pain.

Today, I had a significant choice to make between two very different courses of action – do nothing at all or do what I truly believe is best for America. I believe to the core of my being that doing nothing will devastate our economy, destroy the financial security of millions of Americans and could possibly force our nation into a depression. I just as strongly believe the bill as it has been negotiated, and that I just voted for, will provide stability during this crisis and will begin to turn our economy around.

Let me be clear – this is not a bailout. This bill has been carefully crafted to arrest our current financial crisis, restore security for the American taxpayer and ensure that our nation is the strongest economic power in the world.

And every citizen can know with confidence that any individual who engaged in illegal activity – whether they are the executive of a financial institution or a member of Congress – if their illegal actions forced our nation in to this crisis - then they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

I know that my vote in favor of this package was not the politically popular thing to do, but this is not a popularity contest. This is about the future of our country and the future that my children and grandchildren will inherit. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind or my heart that my vote tonight in support of this measure was the right thing for our economy, for Georgians and for our country.

Chambliss "surprised" by bailout vote

One of Georgia's Senators says he would have voted YES to the sweeping federal bailout bill defeated by House members Monday.

Chambliss says the plan’s current version contains adequate safeguards and oversight that he--and taxpayers--should feel comfortable with.

Chambliss spoke on Tuesday just back from Washington, where he and fellow GOP Senator Johnny Isakson met with House Republicans. As for GOP House members who voted against the recovery measure, Chambliss offered this:

"We all were opposed to the first two versions...I was hopeful that changes would be made that would convince them they need to support it. They represent different congressional districts...Johnny and I represent nine-and-a-half million people. Sometimes you see things a little bit differently".

As for Chambliss' office getting flooded with calls from Georgians opposed to a massive bailout?

"I can’t worry about politics. This is so important for my constituents and it’s so important for my children and my grandchildren and the economy that they’re going to inherit, that you’ve got to think about what’s in the best interest of the country first".

Democrat Jim Martin is vying for Chambliss’ seat in November. At a candidate forum Monday, Martin blamed the incumbent and the Bush administration for the economy’s condition. Martin says he does not support the current bailout bill.

State fights for gas help

As parts of Georgia still struggle with low supplies of gas, top lawmakers are asking the federal government for help. U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency in support of Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue’s request for help. They want the government to temporarily extend relief from the federally enforceable sulfur gasoline requirements in the 45-county fuel control area. The requirements are for metro Atlanta and they are meant to reduce toxic emissions.

Ga. senators navigate oil drilling fight

Offishore oil drilling platform. (illustrative/AP File Photo)

The last time Georgia Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson tried to find middle ground in an emotional policy battle before Congress, they quickly abandoned a bipartisan immigration package after getting pilloried from the right.

Now the Republicans are in the thick of a debate over oil drilling, and they're again fending off criticism from the likes of Rush Limbaugh over a compromise that would raise taxes on oil companies while paving the way for new drilling off the nation's coasts.

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The issue could come to a head this week as energy takes center stage on Capitol Hill and both parties maneuver to take credit for addressing $4-a-gallon gas prices.

Chambliss and Isakson are so far standing firm behind their proposal, which started with backing from a so-called "Gang of 10" and now has 20 Senate sponsors. But as the package gains bipartisan support, it also is drawing complaints from Republicans that it undercuts GOP momentum on the year's most high-profile political issue weeks before the November elections.

Limbaugh has repeatedly ridiculed the proposal on his conservative radio show, saying House Republicans are pressing for much more ambitious drilling while the Senate proposal "basically cuts (them) off at the knees."

The senators also have taken heat from congressional colleagues, including from fellow Georgia Republicans. Rep. Phil Gingrey of Marietta has said the senators are engaged in "procedural pleasantries" while Rep. Tom Price of Roswell contended their approach "doesn't make any sense to me."

Price said it is "foolhardy" to leave vast coastal areas off limits to drilling and said "tax increases on domestic oil production is counterproductive to bringing new American energy to the market."

Chambliss and Isakson dismiss the criticism, arguing that voters want Congress to set aside differences and agree on something that will make a difference - even if it requires trade-offs.

"Usually if the extremes are raising cain, it means you're doing something right," said Chambliss, who spearheaded the compromise along with Sen. Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat. "We think if anything is going to get 60 votes, it's going to be our proposal."

The plan would allow drilling 50 miles off the coasts of Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, and the Gulf coast of Florida. It would eliminate tax breaks for the oil and gas industry to generate some $30 billion in revenue, with the money used to offset a massive new investment in alternative energy.

Republicans such as Gingrey and Price want an "all of the above" bill that would allow far more new drilling all along the East and West coasts and in restricted areas of Alaska, without the tax increases on domestic producers.

In years past, any new offshore production would have spawned a firestorm of criticism from drilling critics who argue that it could cause irreversible environmental harm and only a marginal impact on global oil prices. But with voters outraged about the price of gas, the critics appear resigned to allowing some new exploration.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has outlined a package that is more in line with the Senate compromise than with Republican proposals.

Last year, Chambliss and Isakson acknowledged that they backed out of the bipartisan coalition on immigration in part because of a strong backlash from conservative constituents.

While there have been calls of protest on their drilling plan, they say they haven't heard anywhere near the level of concern that they had on immigration and that they won't give up on their "gang" unless the package gets altered.

"As long as nobody tries to shift the policies in the proposal, we're not going to do that," Isakson said. "We've got a solid group."

(The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News stories about energy issues.

GOP to hold re-election rally

A "who's who" of the Georgia Republican establishment is expected to gather Saturday at a re-election rally for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Gov. Sonny Perdue and Sen. Johnny Isakson are among the Republican bigwigs scheduled to be on hand. Chambliss is seeking a second term in the Senate. He's running against Democrat Jim Martin, a former state lawmaker and commissioner of human resources.

(Associated Press)

Senators want to mint new coin

U.S. flag in front of the uncompleted National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning near Columbus. (Dave Bender)

U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson want the U.S. Treasury to mint a memorial coin for the Nation Infantry Museum, set to open early next year.

They are calling on the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 350,000 silver coins honoring soldiers and commemorating the creation of the new infantry museum, according to a statement.

Sale of the coins would raise $3.5 million for the museum.

NIF officials say they’ve raised over 80 million of the 100 million dollar project so far.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the museum.

McCain drops in on Georgia

Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain collected over one-and-a-half million dollars from his fundraiser in Georgia Monday. The event lasted about an hour, and drew around 200 people. McCain was joined by U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, who gave praise to Georgia’s two Senators--Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, and Governor Sonny Perdue.

Georgia lawmakers back Bush on drilling

Georgia lawmakers largely support President Bush's call to lift a long-standing ban on offshore oil drilling, including off the state's coast.

All nine of Georgia's Republican congressmen, including both senators, back the proposal. Three of six Democrats also support it, along with Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The new push for drilling is a response to increasingly urgent complaints from constituents about $4-a-gallon gasoline.

Many experts, including Energy Department forecasters, predict that offshore supplies would amount to a drop in the global bucket and would have little effect on gas prices. But drilling supporters say no one really knows how much oil is out there and that Congress can no longer ignore it.

"People all too often want to say ... 'not in my backyard.' But as a nation in a fuel crisis, we simply cannot afford to take any option off the table," said Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta. "We're not talking about setting up an oil rig on the sandbar where you collect seashells. We're talking about responsible exploration."

President Bush on Monday lifted an executive ban that his father put in place in 1990 that prohibits offshore drilling in most parts of the country. He is pressing Congress to lift a similar legislative ban.

Based on studies done 25 years ago, the Interior Department estimates that 18 billion barrels of recoverable oil likely will be found beneath coastal waters now off limits. The U.S. consumes about 8 billion barrels per year.

In a report last year, the Energy Department forecasting arm said it would take until 2030 before offshore production really got going. Even then, the report said, "because oil prices are determined on the international market ... any impact on average wellhead prices is expected to be insignificant."

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, said the benefits are "not worth the risk."

"Every week I advise constituents that there is no easy fix and we will not be returning to the era of cheap gas and oil," he said.

Rep. David Scott, D-Atlanta, said that while he might support limited new coastal drilling — such as what Congress opened recently in the Gulf of Mexico — Republicans are missing the point by focusing on oil.

"We must find substitutes for oil and natural gas so that crises such as this do not occur again," he said.

But Scott and Johnson are in the minority among Georgia lawmakers, along with Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, who has long opposed new drilling.

The rest of the delegation backs offshore development, including Democrats John Barrow of Savannah, Sanford Bishop of Albany and Jim Marshall of Macon.

Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, who have been trying to broker a bipartisan energy compromise recently, said Congress can no longer ignore potential resources. Even if offshore production would play only a bit part in a broad energy portfolio, Isakson said, making it available would influence market forces that are driving up prices.

"Those who speculate on the future prices would understand that the United States has finally had enough," he said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

Supporters also say oil rigs would be so far off the coast that beachgoers wouldn't see them.

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Grantville, said the new production also could become a major revenue source for the state, as it has been in Louisiana and other Gulf states, which get a share of government royalties.

Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, said domestic production is "step one."

"It's just like dieting we need to reduce intake and increase output," he said.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the gas crisis and energy issues.

(The Associated Press)

Obama evokes MLK , seeks 'mandate for change' in Georgia

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Monday he doesn't just want to win the White House -- he wants a mandate. And that includes competing in Georgia, a state that hasn't awarded its delegates to a Democrat in 16 years.

"I intend to win right here in the great state of Georgia," Obama told some 300 donors.

They had paid a minimum of $2,300 apiece and crowded into the upscale Atlanta restaurant 103 West to hear him speak. It was the first of two Atlanta fundraisers the Illinois senator headlined Monday night to stock his campaign warchest for the coming general election battle with Republican John McCain.

Obama evoked the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his hometown, warning Democrats not to forget "the fierce urgency of now."

"We want a mandate for change and we're not just going to run in the same old states and have just everything hinge on Florida," Obama said.

"We're going to try and transform this political map."

He will host a town hall meeting today on the economy in the GOP stronghold of Cobb County.

Georgia Republicans went on the attack against Obama before he'd even arrived in the state. In a conference call with reporters, Georgia's two U.S. senators -- both Republicans -- blasted the Illinois senator on taxes, gas prices and the war in Iraq.

Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson said Georgians need to know about Obama's voting record, which they allege is out of step with many of the state's conservative voters. The Georgia Republican Party also issued a blistering press release taking aim at Obama's decision to forgo public financing for his campaign, among other things.

There's been talk that Georgia could be up for grabs in the November general election. And in South Carolina, two of Obama's top supporters said Monday he would put paid staff on the ground there, in another break with the recent Democratic strategy of bypassing a GOP-dominated state in the general election.

Isakson predicted Monday that Republican candidate John McCain would carry Georgia. He said the Obama camp is touching down in the state in what will be a futile attempt to engineer a win in Dixie.

"I think they would like nothing better than to crack a Southern state," Isakson said.

Chambliss, who's running for re-election this year, praised Obama for bringing new voters into the process.

"I have to commend him for that," Chambliss said. "But we want to make sure that people understand really how this guy has voted and what he stands for."

A spokesman for the Georgia Democratic Party said it was telling that Republicans launched such a coordinated offensive against Obama.

"Don't let our senators fool you -- Georgia is not as red as they would have you believe," Martin Matheny said.

Obama on Monday also received a plug from Georgia Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Vernon Jones on Monday who praised him for battling in the state unlike some previous Democratic presidential candidates "who wrote the South off."

The last Democrat to carry Georgia in a presidential contest was Bill Clinton in 1992.

Jones' comments came a few days after a mailer from his campaign made waves with the Obama camp. The flier featured a composite picture of Jones and Obama under Obama's signature slogan: "Yes We Can!

The Obama campaign issued a statement which said "despite what this mailer inaccurately suggests, Sen. Obama will not endorse a candidate in the U.S. Senate primary in Georgia." Jones brushed aside such criticism on Monday and said the flier merely shows that he's supporting Obama.

Jones volunteered that he can help Obama.

"For Sen. Obama to win Georgia he's going to need conservative Democrats like myself, obviously that's the great need," Jones said.