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.

Fed immigration bill set to aid ATL-based Home Depot

Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson has proposed an amendment to the federal immigration bill now being debated in Washington. What the amendment would mean is that big box stores that attract undocumented immigrants looking for work, won’t have to provide shelter or a place for workers to gather. The amendment benefits one of Isakson’s campaign contributors, the Atlanta-based home improvement chain Home Depot. And, because Isakson has tacked the amendment onto a federal law, his proposal would override any existing state or local regulation. A spokesperson says Isakson is traveling and unavailable for comment. In Los Angeles, where Home Depot wants to open 13 stores, the city council is considering a law requiring the company to shelter day workers after residents complained the presence of the largely illegal workers are a nuisance. Home Depot did not return calls by the deadline for this story. The company has given Isakson more than 50-thousand dollars over the past three years.

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.

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.

Isakson sees improvement in Iraq

In a conference call with reporters today, Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson praised the “remarkable progress” he witnessed in Iraq last weekend and said Georgian troops made a “significant investment” towards that success. Isakson confirmed reports by military leaders and President Bush that the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq over recent months is working. He also said the improved conditions are encouraging Iraqi political stability, but he urged Iraqi leaders to act quickly: “They have a window of opportunity. When that window closes if they haven’t moved forward, then everything they’ve got could dissipate very quickly.” Senator Isakson’s six day trip to the region included stops in Djibouti and Equatorial Guinea. He last visited Iraq in March 2006.

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.

Isakson says 'no' to Governor run in '10

Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson says he will not make a run for governor in 2010, instead focusing on a re-election bid to the U.S. Senate.

Isakson has been viewed by many as a top GOP candidate to succeed Republican Sonny Perdue as Georgia's governor in 2010.

Isakson won his Senate seat in 2004.

Isakson not convinced of global warming crisis

Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson says he’s seen global warming first-hand, and thinks the U.S. should gradually move away from using fossil fuels. But Isakson says his trip to Greenland did not convince him more urgent steps are needed. He said he and fellow lawmakers viewed massive, melting glaciers and were briefed by U.S. and Danish scientists. But Isakson said he remains unconvinced that the current warming is a departure from long-term natural cycles.

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.

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.

Bill seeks homebuyer tax credit

Senator Johnny Isakson is proposing a $15,000 tax credit to lure home buyers back into a slumping market. Isakson's bill would spread the $15,000 credit over three years for the home buyer. The Georgia Republican says the incentive would help distressed homeowners and banks that are trying to make the best of bad loans. Isakson said it also would boost the real estate and construction industries, including homebuilders who can't sell newly built houses.

Isakson: "a few bad actors" caused subprime woes

Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson says America’s mortgage and banking industries need to be more strict in lending money. Isakson told the North Fulton Chamber of Congress today that he believes a few bad actors caused the nation’s subprime mortgage crisis. But the Republican from Marietta said Congress is ready to interfere if the industry doesn’t volunteer more transparency.

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)

Ga. lags in scoring water infrastructure earmarks

Rocky shoals signal low water on the Chattahoochee River at the Eagle-Phenix Dam, Columbus. (File photo: Dave Bender)

Atlanta and other drought-stricken Georgia cities miss out on millions of federal dollars to repair leaky water infrastructure because the state's congressional delegation lacks clout on key funding committees in Washington.

In the $555 billion spending bill that President Bush signed last month, Georgia received just $1.6 million in federal "earmarks" from a fund that helps local governments improve sewer systems and replace aging water pipes.

An Associated Press analysis shows that 33 states received more funding, including far smaller ones such as West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky.

The picture was about the same in 2006, when Georgia received $1.9 million from the Environmental Protection Agency fund while North Carolina and Mississippi took in about $9 million each. At least six municipalities in Mississippi alone - including Pontotoc, Biloxi and Pascagoula - received more EPA earmark dollars than Atlanta, which got just $500,000.

The disparities show how "earmarking" - lawmakers steering money toward pet projects - can skew spending priorities toward politically influential districts. They also highlight the Georgia delegation's weakness in the process: The state for years has ranked poorly in drawing earmarks, according to spending watchdog groups.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said state leaders simply did not make water infrastructure a priority until the recent drought. Atlanta and other local water systems estimate that they lose 10 to 20 percent of treated water due to leaky infrastructure.

"What the entire delegation has said to us is that there is not enough money to go around," Franklin said. "We are basically financing our water system on sales taxes and high (water) rates."

Congress for decades has supported local infrastructure projects through an EPA program that helps systems meet federal clean water standards. Most of the money goes to states based on a complex funding formula, to be distributed to municipalities through a loan fund.

But earmarks aimed at specific projects have eaten up a steady chunk of the funding since 1989, accounting for about $7 billion out of the total $42 billion, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report.

Because earmarks are often tucked inside massive bills with little notice, it's difficult to say exactly how much of those earmarks Georgia has received. What is clear is that the state is not faring well.

Neither of Georgia's U.S. senators, Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss, sits on the appropriations committees that write spending bills. Just two of the state's 13 U.S. representatives are members - Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, and Sanford Bishop, D-Albany.

"We're nowhere near where we should be" with earmarks, said Kit Dunlap, chair of the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, which represents a 16-county metro Atlanta region.

"But that's what earmarks are all about. They're not necessarily fair, particularly when we looked at our neighboring states, knowing the longevity of some of their folks in Congress."

Dunlap's organization received a $300,000 EPA earmark this year, which she called "a pittance" compared with dozens of small cities elsewhere that got $1 million or more. Her group projects it will need almost $10 billion over the next three decades to upgrade supply, treatment and distribution infrastructure.

Isakson, a Marietta Republican, and Rep. David Scott, an Atlanta Democrat, both pointed out that Georgia gets infrastructure funding in other areas of the budget. In the most recent round of bills, for example, the delegation secured a $1.5 million earmark for Atlanta sewer improvements from an Army Corps of Engineers account.

Click here for more GPB coverage of the drought.

(The Associated Press)

VA to open new outpatient clinics

The Department of Veteran Affairs plans to open four outpatients clinics in Newnan, Brunswick, Milledgeville and Hinesville.

U.S. Senators (R) Saxby Chambliss, and (R) Johnny Isakson, commented on the step, in a statement released by their offices:

“Our veterans deserve access to the very best medical care and services,” said Chambliss, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “The announcement of these new clinics is great news for veterans in our state who have served our nation with honor.”

“This is outstanding news that Georgia will receive four new VA clinics to deliver to our veterans the level of VA care they deserve,” Isakson said. “As a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, one of my top priorities is to make sure America takes care of the veterans who have dedicated their lives to serving our country.”

VA officials say they expect to open the community-based centers over the next 12 months. There are 10 VA outpatient clinics operating in Georgia.

Click here for more information about Georgia VA facilities.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of veterans affairs.

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.

Immigration bills dies, with help from two GA senators

Today two Georgia senators did an about face on immigration legislation. Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson voted to kill a bill they helped write. Conservative critics argued that some of Chambliss and Isakson’s compromises amounted to amnesty. The two Republicans said opponents didn’t fully understand the bill. Now, they have backed away from the bill. The vote today probably killed any chance for immigration legislation until after next year's presidential election.

Congress to vote on PeachCare expansion

Congress is about to vote on legislation to renew and expand Georgia's PeachCare and similar child health plans nationwide.

The House bill would increase spending on the Children's Health Insurance Program by $50 billion. In Georgia, supporters say, the expansion could provide health care for 210,000 more children who are eligible for PeachCare but are not enrolled. State officials have capped PeachCare's rolls at 295,000 children because of budget concerns.

The Senate bill is less ambitious, but still would increase spending by $35 billion. Higher tobacco taxes would fund the expansions. The House bill also would reduce payments to managed care companies that oversee some states' health plans, including Georgia's PeachCare and Medicare.

Sen. Johnny Isakson says he cannot support the Senate bill. He says expanding PeachCare would be a move towards universal health care.

"I think [universal health care] is problematic," he says. "It has never worked anywhere in the world. I don't know why we'd think it would work here."

Sen. Saxby Chambliss agrees. His spokeswoman adds that Chambliss will not support anything that includes tax increases.

President Bush has threatened to veto the proposals. Without a new law, however, the program will expire on September 30. Isakson predicts the debate will go down to the wire.

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.

Federal money near for Georgia water projects

Over 127-million dollars could be on the way to Georgia for critical infrastructure projects. The U.S. Senate on Monday passed water resources legislation—-it now goes to President Bush for his signature. Georgia Republican Senator Johnny Isakson was a member of the committee that penned the compromise on the bill.

Georgia’s share of the money would include over 80-million dollars for numerous municipal infrastructure projects across the state. Specific projects include 10-million dollars for Savannah Riverfront development.