12 JAN 09: Ed Across the Aisle

If you don't read it carefully, it looks like simply another political list. Georgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle announced the State Senate committee chairs for the 2009 session, which begins today. Cagle's a Republican, most state senators are Republican again - so the list could be rated "R" for rerun.

But wait, one name on the Senate committee list doesn't seem to belong here. The chair of the Interstate Cooperation Committee is -- Ed Harbison?! The Columbus Ed Harbison?!? The man the Muscogee County Republican Chairman wants removed with a passion? Does this mean Josh McKoon already has endorsed John Oxendine for Governor?

Lieutenant Governor Cagle's list of Senate committee chairs expresses confidence in all of them. Didn't Josh McKoon tell him Ed Harbison hasn't filed a few required affidavits for his finance reports? Doesn't Cagle know an ethics complaint is pending? Doesn't he.... well, maybe Cagle already is writing off Muscogee County in 2010.

But maybe Casey Cagle noticed something else from Ed Harbison's 2008 campaign reports. The Democratic State Senator received a $2,300 donation during last year's primary fight from the "Committee to Elect Seth Harp." We noted that donation from Republican State Senator Seth Harp last summer [17 Jul 08]. Yet Harbison went ahead, and bought a ticket to the Democrats' "Jefferson Jackson Gala" anyway.

Maybe Casey Cagle noticed all the big-name corporate donors Ed Harbison's campaign has. His 2008 contributions included the political action committee for Wal-Mart and Publix. They included Aflac and CitiGroup. But maybe we shouldn't bring up that $500 donation in June from "W.T. Heard."

Perhaps the lieutenant governor decided a committee on "Interstate Cooperation" needed a chair who could cooperate inter-party. It couldn't possibly be a matter of Casey Cagle running out of Republicans to chair committees. He'd put people over two committees first, and schedule meetings on alternate days.

Republican State Senator Seth Harp has his own group to oversee. He'll direct the Higher Education Committee - which means he can promote his controversial idea of merging "historically black" state colleges with other ones nearby. But if Armstrong Atlantic State combines with Savannah State, won't some people think the "Armstrong" was a jazz singer years ago?

To be fair, we also checked Seth Harp's financial documents. His campaign already has given $5,900 to "Georgians for Cagle." For sone reason, Ed Harbison didn't have to do that to become a committee chair....

And oh yes: Seth Harp's campaign paid Josh McKoon $2,000 shortly before the November election for "yard sign installation." It's nice to see Republicans promoting job creation - at least among their children, earning minimum wage.

Amidst all these donations and expenditures, the Georgia General Assembly faces some serious financial issues this year. The state has a large budget deficit to fill. In fact, December revenues were down more than $145 million from the year before. You know things are bad when not even a Mega Millions jackpot will save the state.

Some members of the Georgia House say it's time to increase the state sales tax, to balance the budget. There's even talk of bringing back a state sales tax on groceries. As long as there's an exemption for items used in developing a vegetable garden....

Other Georgia lawmakers say the state could gain frozen federal transportation money, if it finally required adult pickup truck drivers to wear seat belts. Senator Jeff Chapman opposes this idea, saying adults "ought to be smart enough" to buckle up without a state law. I'm waiting for Chapman's bill to revoke all state laws concerning murder.

By the way, the Ledger-Enquirer promises to have three reporters in Atlanta for today's opening day of the Georgia General Assembly. Wow - this leaves only about three to cover events here in Columbus.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Did the former Muscogee County Sheriff miss the trend? We wondered Sunday -- but one reader says he actually was ahead of it....

Au contraire, Dear Richard! Former Sheriff Ralph Johnson put the employees of the Sheriff's Office under the City's Merit System when he first took office about 12 years ago! That may be why you haven't seen the wholesale firings people predicted from the new Sheriff.

Wholesale firings, no. But so far there aren't any wholesale resignations at the Muscogee County Jail, either. Maybe it's a matter of timing -- as the staff waits for those 100 new police officers to be trained.

Let's see what else made news on a dismal-looking Sunday:

+ Miss Georgia Chasity Hardman qualified for the top 15 at the Miss America pageant. Hardman knew she had advanced when she received a golden sash. Professional hockey could learn from this - and give the player with the most penalty minutes a golden slash.

+ Weddings of Georgia held its twice-a-year "extravaganza" at the Columbus Trade Center. A spokesperson for the show said the average wedding in Columbus costs $26,000. I knew churches were having trouble making their budgets, but these rental fees are getting ridiculous....

+ WRBL found a sports program to replace its Sunday night late news -- the "Auburn Basketball Review." But if women's coach Nell Fortner isn't there, isn't something missing? She has an undefeated, nationally-ranked team -- one that actually could fill that new arena.

+ Alabama lashed Louisiana State in men's play 65-59. But did you notice how many seats in Tuscaloosa were empty? If this keeps up, coach Mike Gottfried might threaten to move the franchise to Huntsville.

(Alabama's Ronald Steele had an embarrassing moment during the game, when he missed two free throws after a technical foul. Steele turned to the bench, and the broadcasters said he "blamed himself." Well, yeah - when you're at home and no one's standing near you in the foul lane, you can't exactly blame distracting cheerleaders.)

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