Get ready to hear the term “Bidenomics” often for the next 18 months as President Joe Biden attempts to make the case to voters that he deserves a second term in office.
The hope is that this made-up word catches on beyond the president and his top aides. Congressional Democrats and other allies received a memo this week defining the term, but even Georgia lawmakers aren’t saying it yet as they highlight the money and investment the White House is bringing to the state.
Democratic members of Georgia’s delegation have spent the first days of a two-week July Fourth break highlighting federal spending on transportation and infrastructure at a rapid pace. Let us Jolters tell you: our inbox has been flooded with news releases and media advisories.
There was the joint announcement from Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams about $25 million in federal grants going to the expansion of the Atlanta Beltline. Ossoff, Warnock and Congresswoman Lucy McBath touted $20 million in federal grants to build a new Gwinnett Place Transit Center. Then Ossoff and Warnock by themselves celebrated Baldwin County’s $4.9 million for streetscape improvements.
Nathan Posner for the AJC
Nathan Posner for the AJC
To mark the groundbreaking of an electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Bainbridge, made possible in part by federal tax incentives, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop held an in-person event while Ossoff had his own news conference.
That was all just on Tuesday and doesn’t include other major announcements coming directly from the Biden Administration. The White House launched a big effort earlier this week detailing its broadband internet initiative, which includes $1.3 billion coming to Georgia.
Ossoff will host an event in Metter today to brief local leaders from both parties on that investment.
If you haven’t heard the term “Bidenomics” yet, it’s coming later today when Biden takes the stage to deliver a major address in Chicago on his economic agenda. His message will be simple: “Bidenomics is working.” But that will include not-so-subtle digs at his potential 2024 foe Donald Trump’s economic record, which focused on cutting taxes for businesses and wealthy families.
“The president took office determined to move beyond these failed trickle-down policies and fundamentally change the economic direction of our country,” the White House said in a preview of Biden’s speech. “His plan — Bidenomics — is rooted in the recognition that the best way to grow the economy is from the middle out and the bottom up.”
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AJC file photo
AJC file photo
GEORGIA MAP MOVES. The U.S. Supreme Court this week allowed Louisiana’s congressional map to be redrawn to add another Black-majority district when it lifted a hold placed on a lower court’s order for new political boundaries.
James Salzer flags the case as the second ruling this month giving hope to Democrats here that Georgia’s congressional map will also get tossed by the courts.
Earlier, the Supreme Court found that Alabama’s GOP-controlled Legislature likely violated the Voting Rights Act when it drew a map with one majority-Black seat out of seven congressional districts.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones has now set a Sept. 5 trial date for challenges to Georgia’s congressional map, which resulted in Republicans gaining a U.S. House seat in last year’s elections.
The GOP now controls nine of Georgia’s 14 seats in the U.S. House after the Republican-led state legislature reshaped the 6th Congressional District north of Atlanta to include more heavily white areas. That made the 6th likely to flip from the Democrats to the Republicans, which it did when U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick won the seat.
In March 2022, Jones found that Georgia’s map could have violated several aspects of the Voting Rights Act but a trial was needed to decide. He allowed the new maps to remain in place for that year’s May primaries, ruling that it was too close to the election to make court-ordered changes.
If Jones throws out Georgia’s congressional map, he could elect to redraw it or Gov. Brian Kemp could be forced to call a fall special session of the General Assembly to take another shot at it.
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Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Kenny Holston/The New York Times
LISTEN UP. As Georgia continues to benefit from electric vehicle companies expanding in the state, should Democrats or Republicans get the credit? We talk about that, along with Special Counsel Jack Smith’s plans to interview Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger today, and the latest back and forth on the state’s voting machines all in our midweek edition of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Do you want to be on the show? Send us your questions about anything happening in Georgia politics by calling the 24-hour Politically Georgia Podcast Hotline at 404-526-AJCP. That’s 404-526-2527. We’ll play back your question and answer it during the listener mailbag segment on Friday’s episode.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
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RAFFENSPERGER TESTIMONY. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will be interviewed this week as part of U.S. Justice Department’s investigation of former President Donald Trump and his allies’ attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
The Washington Post was the first to report the development, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution confirmed it through a Raffensperger aide.
The Post also reported that the federal investigation has expanded to include scrutiny of various states’ “alternate” elector plots in 2020. It’s unclear if Georgia’s slate of alternate electors is among them, but these fake electors are a key component of a separate yet similar investigation by Fulton County’s top prosecutor.
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HEADS UP. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm is set to be in Atlanta today as part of an ongoing road trip to discuss President Joe Biden’s climate and infrastructure policies.
She’ll participate in a town hall at Georgia Tech moderated by Bluestein and the AJC’s Drew Kann.
On Tuesday, Granholm met with homeowners in Athens to discuss the benefits of weatherizing houses to reduce energy costs.
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WELLSTAR TAKEOVER IN AUGUSTA. Executives with Wellstar Health System promised during a public hearing that they will not shutter any core services of the state-owned Augusta University Medical Center if they are allowed to take it over.
Officials for both Marietta-based Wellstar and the university implied that fears Wellstar might close down the Augusta hospital in the future were unfounded, the AJC’s Ariel Hart and Vanessa McCray reported. Wellstar has been accused of putting profits over its nonprofit mission after it closed two hospitals that served disproportionately lower-income people in Atlanta and East Point.
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Tuesday’s hearing was held by state Attorney General Chris Carr, whose office must accept public comment and evaluate whether the takeover meets legal muster.
The deal garnered “conditional support” from Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who sent a letter to Carr outlining points he felt should be included in any merger agreement.
Warnock called for the deal to include several safeguards, including a commitment from Wellstar to maintain current services at the main Augusta hospital for at least 20 years. He also wanted assurances that Augusta hospital staff would not be transferred to other Wellstar sites.
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Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
CAREGIVING MONEY. Big news for parents with small children and large political ambitions. The state Ethics Commission decided this week that candidates and lawmakers can use money they raise from donors to pay caregiving expenses while they are campaigning or doing work related to their office.
James Salzer has the details about the decision, which also applies to caregiving expenses for a sick or elderly parent while the candidate is on the clock.
It was (no surprise) two moms, Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, and Rep. Beth Camp, R-Concord, who asked the commission to rule on the issue.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden delivers a major speech in Chicago on his economic agenda and how he says the nation has improved during his administration.
- The U.S. House and Senate are out for a two-week recess for the July Fourth holiday.
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OUT AND ABOUT. With Congress in recess this week and next, members of Georgia’s delegation are packing their schedules with events in their districts and beyond. Here is what lawmakers will be up to on Wednesday:
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff will be in Metter to announce a massive federal investment in rural broadband for the state.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath is among the speakers at the high-profile Aspen Ideas festival this morning — joining a panel to discuss her ongoing efforts to limit gun violence.
McBath, D-Marietta, will speak alongside John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety; Jenn Carlson, a prominent gun violence scholar; and Clark Neily, the senior vice president for legal studies at the Cato Institute.
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Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. We always knew Yoda was a wise and clever character, but we didn’t know he was adopted several years ago by David Tatum, the government relations senior adviser to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
A reliable source tells us that Tatum found the five-year-old Boxer through Releash Atlanta after Todd Rehm featured him in his newsletter.
Although he was abused as a puppy, Yoda is now a highly sociable, sweater-vest wearing, backyard patrolling best buddy who only looks for the dark side under a blanket when there’s a storm blowing through town. (Yoda’s foot is pictured below).
Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and cats on a cat-by-cat basis to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
