Tuesday, October 3, 2023
Good morning! We begin this morning with Coastal Georgia’s representative in Congress absent from Saturday’s crucial vote to keep the federal government open. We then move to the region’s shrimpers calling for disaster relief. We conclude with some noteworthy stories, including one about a certain native son celebrating his 99th birthday.
No-show
Coastal Georgia U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter was a no-show in Saturday’s 11th-hour vote to avert a federal government shutdown.
The Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the official source for the chamber’s vote tallies, lists Carter and four other Republicans as “not voting” on a 45-day extension of the current budget.
In his weekly newsletter, emailed to constituents and posted on his congressional website a day after the vote, Carter lauded the passage of the interim spending bill and said he was “proud to support” it. A news release issued by his office the same day also said he endorsed the measure.
“I am thrilled that the House acted in a bipartisan manner to keep the government open and funded,” the news release quoted Carter as saying.
On Monday, asked directly by Fox Business News host Maria Bartiromo how he voted on the spending bill, Coastal Georgia’s five-term congressman again said he “supported” it.
In neither the newsletter nor the news release or in his response to Bartiromo, however, did Carter say that he hadn’t actually cast a vote on the bill, The Current’s Craig Nelson reports.
It isn’t known why Coastal Georgia’s five-term congressman wasn’t present for the vote Saturday afternoon. Nor is it clear how Carter reconciled his failure to vote for the bill with his expressions of support for it a day later — endorsements that at least one Atlanta news organization took to mean he had voted for the bill.
Carter’s office confirmed on Monday that the congressman hadn’t voted. Asked why, Carter’s staff member said, “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him about it.”
Carter’s absence on the House floor for the crucial vote on Saturday followed two days of intense efforts that appeared aimed at minimizing the possible political fallout in Coastal Georgia of a shutdown.
In his statements on Sunday, the five-term congressman and former Pooler mayor blamed last week’s widespread anxiety over a possible government shutdown on “fear mongering from the liberal media.”
Carter also faulted “Washington Democrats” for the legislative turmoil in the Capitol, even though it was more the result of GOP infighting than partisan bickering between Republicans and Democrats.
One House Republican lawmaker said the far-right House Republicans opposed to the interim spending bill were “stuck on stupid.”
‘Disaster’
State Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) has taken up the cause of Coastal Georgia shrimpers.
Last week, Petrea told Get Real America’s Bill Edwards that he was going work with Georgia lawmakers in Washington to press for federal restrictions on foreign-owned companies dumping farm-raised shrimp into the U.S. markets, driving down the price of locally caught wild shrimp.
In a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp last month, seven state representatives and two state senators from Coastal Georgia also requested state help.
How dire is the situation for local shrimpers? The Southern Shrimp Alliance has called on the governors of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas to ask the federal government to declare the U.S. shrimp industry a disaster, The Brunswick News reported last month.
Such a declaration would enable local shrimpers to apply for financial relief through the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the newspaper said. Coastal Resources Division Director Doug Haymans told the Board of Natural Resources last week that he and other officials don’t believe that it’s a fishery failure in the way that the federal law allows it. “It’s not a resource issue. It is purely an economic one.”
Meanwhile, Coastal Georgians should always ask the source of the shrimp on the menu or in the grocery store, since only nine restaurants in Chatham County sell the local variety, Petrea said.
“You’re going to spend more if you buy local shrimp [but] you’re also going to get [better] quality.”
ICYMI
- “Jimmy Carter turns 99 at home with Rosalynn and other family as tributes come from around the world” (Associated Press, October 1, 2023) Jimmy Carter has always been a man of discipline and habit. But the former president broke routine Sunday, putting off his recent practice of quietly watching church services online to instead celebrate his 99th birthday with his wife, Rosalynn, and their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in Plains.”
- “Judge clears Oct. 1 start for new prosecutors oversight panel” (Georgia Recorder, September 29, 2023) A judge ruled Friday that a new prosecutors disciplinary council can begin investigating complaints on Sunday. Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission remains intact after Fulton County Judge Paige Reese Whitaker rejected four district attorneys seeking a temporary injunction on the first ever oversight panel for county prosecutors.”
- “Warnock, Georgia Democrats ‘gravely concerned’ about impact of Medicaid unwinding error on children” (Georgia Recorder, September 29, 2023) “U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has spearheaded a letter to Biden administration officials expressing concern about how Georgia is handling the phasing out of a federal rule that had previously blocked states from dropping a person’s Medicaid coverage during the pandemic.”
- “City Council enacts sweeping update of zoning and development rules” (Statesboro Herald, September 23, 2023) “City Council unanimously approved Statesboro’s Unified Development Code – a rewrite and update of zoning and related ordinances almost two years in the making – on Sept. 19. Among other things, the UDC should make it easier to build new homes on vacant lots in older neighborhoods.”
- “Georgia political group launches ads backing Gov. Brian Kemp’s push to limit lawsuits” (Associated Press, October 2, 2023) “A political group linked to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says it is launching an ad campaign backing the Republican’s efforts to make it harder for people to file lawsuits and win big legal judgments. The group, called Hardworking Georgians, said Monday that limits would cut insurance costs and make it easier for businesses to get insured and to defend against lawsuits in court.”
US House clerk: Carter didn’t vote on shutdown bill
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter didn’t record a vote on the measure to avoid a government shutdown. Press release from his office says he supports the bill.
Housing, recreation, responsive government top Hinesville elections forum
HInesville city candidates took time to speak to the crowd in afternoon “town hall” meeting.
‘Barbie’ and ‘Star Wars’ universes entertain. They also can help us understand why revolutions happen
The film ‘Barbie’ and the TV-series ‘Andor’ showcase the need to understand oppression before it can be resisted. They illustrate the challenges of successful revolt followed by the harder part of governing.
Quick Start students grow skills now to work later
Hyundai’s multi-million dollar investments promise thousands of new jobs – most of which require training. Quick Start, a state-funded program and part of the technical college system, is part of the incentive program that draws these manufacturers to the state.
Media network paid by GOP groups is behind deluge of election records requests
Local election offices across the country are struggling to manage a sharp rise in the number of public records requests, and extensive requests coming from Local Labs in at least five states have stymied election officials, according to a Votebeat review of hundreds of records requests, as well as interviews.
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