Thursday on Political Rewind: Speaker of the House David Ralston has unveiled a sweeping $75 million proposal to confront escalating crime, especially in metro Atlanta. The plan includes bonuses for local law enforcement officers and an increase in funding for law enforcement agencies — as well as for an expansion of mental health services. Democratic House members said they’ll work with Ralston on his plan even as they recognize it’s part of a GOP effort to use crime-fighting as a wedge issue in the 2022 election cycle.
Meanwhile, the guessing game over the possibility of a big-name Republican emerging to challenge U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock continues this week, and the effect of COVID on U.S. life expectancy is discussed.
Wednesday on Political Rewind: We all know that the pandemic has had a profound impact on our buying habits — from how we shop for groceries to the services we use to stream new movies at home; from the sticker shock that awaits us as we shop for a new (or even used) car to the soaring price of houses.
The travel industry is only now coming back to life. But can you feel safe booking a cruise? Flights are full again, but do you want to fly on an airplane with every seat filled?
Tuesday on Political Rewind: Gov. Brian Kemp says he’ll ask the General Assembly to pass laws to fight crime during a special session of the legislature later this year. The session’s primary mission will be to redraw political maps based on new census data. But Kemp has the power to add measures to combat violent crime, especially in Atlanta, to the agenda.
Plus, we look at the outcome of the U.S. Senate field hearing examining Georgia’s new voting law.
Monday on Political Rewind: Sen. Amy Klobuchar is in Atlanta today to hold a field hearing on the impact of Georgia’s new election law on voters of color. It’s unlikely that any Republicans on the committee will attend the hearing, which Klobuchar hopes will shine a spotlight on the need to pass a federal voting rights act.
Meanwhile, Georgia Republicans are doing a bit of counterprogramming today. At the same time of the Klobuchar event, GOP House leaders are holding a committee hearing to look at rising violent crime in Atlanta. And Gov. Brian Kemp has scheduled a conference call with reporters to defend the new election law.
Friday on Political Rewind: Debates about access to health care have been a dominant theme in politics here in Georgia and across the country for decades. Author Elinor Cleghorn presents us with a new and deeply troubling look at health care and medical treatment. In her new book, Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World, she tells the harrowing story of how medicine has failed women throughout history.
Wednesday on Political Rewind: In a fiery speech in Philadelphia, President Joe Biden reasserted his contention that Republican-backed election bills passed in Georgia and other states amounted to "Jim Crow 2.0." Meanwhile, Texas Democratic legislators have blocked the GOP effort to pass a controversial election bill by fleeing to Washington and denying state House leaders the quorum needed to pass legislation.
Tuesday on Political Rewind: With the first pitch in Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game set to be thrown in Denver tonight — not Cobb County — Republicans have launched a blistering campaign blaming Democrats for the move. MLB moved the game in response to the state's new election law, which league officials insist discriminates against minority voters.
Wednesday on Political Rewind: As Gov. Brian Kemp prepares to formally launch his bid for reelection later this week, his campaign sends a warning signal to those looking to challenge him. Also, a USDA report shows the extent to which black farmers struggle for help to keep their businesses alive.
Tuesday on Political Rewind: Voting rights experts are continuing to assess the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an Arizona voting case. Many believe their decision will further weaken federal laws designed to protect the rights of minority voters. What might that mean for the many challenges to Georgia’s new election law?
Wednesday on Political Rewind: Georgia Republicans have joined the chorus of GOP voices demanding that schools stop teaching so-called critical race theory. But slavery did exist … and so did lynching, Jim Crow laws and often violent measures employed to stop black people from voting. What are the consequences of downplaying or ignoring our past?
Today on Political Rewind: Georgia Republican leaders are attacking the Department of Justice decision to file a lawsuit challenging the state’s new voting laws. Republicans insist the lawsuit is a partisan effort to upend provisions designed to stop voting fraud.
Friday on Political Rewind: Vice President Kamala Harris visits the Mexican border for the first time today. She’s been criticized by Republicans and Democrats for failing to take the leadership role President Joe Biden assigned her to find solutions for dealing with the surge of immigrants looking to enter the United States.
Meanwhile, the New York Appellate Court that suspended Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani’s license to practice law in New York State cited his conduct in challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Thursday on Political Rewind: President Joe Biden laid out a strategy for combatting spiraling gun violence in cities across the country, calling for cities to tailor their own plans for using $350 billion from the federal COVID Relief Fund to fight violent crime. The proposal marks a change from calls by liberals to shift funding from police departments in the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests.
Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court is addressing cases that deal with impactful subjects such as Obamacare and voting laws and procedures. What are the potential implications and repercussions here in Georgia?
Friday on Political Rewind: Deep political and theological divides among leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention are on vivid display during the SBC’s annual meeting in Nashville this week. Also, for the third time the Supreme Court has turned back an effort to end Obamacare in a lawsuit brought by Georgia’s Chris Carr and other GOP state attorneys general. Is the Affordable Care Act finally finished as a wedge political issue?
Thursday on Political Rewind: The bill to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday now awaits President Joe Biden’s signature. After Biden's signature, June 19th will officially become a federally recognized holiday commemorating the emancipation of slaves in the United States.
