Notes About Washington 1/21

Don't think Sonny Perdue of Georgia is the only GOP Governor raising taxes.

And don't let him blame it on Barnes. It is the economy.

Include GOP Governors in Idaho, Arkansas, and Connecticut with the Governor of Georgia. Democratic Governors in California and Illinois are looking at raising taxes.  Many have tried cutting services, but have reached a point where cuts are getting too painful.

This year, facing another 10 percent budget gap, Kempthorne [Governor of Idaho] said these were his only options left: Close the state parks; end state aid to public health clinics; abolish state support for community colleges and student financial aid; cut public education; slash Medicaid and programs for seniors and veterans.

He couldn't do it.

Unlike the federal government, most states have laws against running deficits and demand balanced budgets. Unlike Bush, who can run deficits and call for outrageous tax cuts, these Governors must raise taxes or cut spending.

So while Georgia has a "rainy day fund" of $800 million, Perdue is planning on running a balanced budget. He should. It is good government.

Maybe Bush should follow the lead of some other members of the GOP.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is the Democrats rising star.

But Mrs. Clinton proved her worth to Democrats at the start of the session by battling incoming Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, in his first test of procedural acuity over an emergency bill to extend 13 weeks of federal unemployment benefits by unanimous consent.

Mrs. Clinton insisted on doubling the extension to 26 weeks or Democrats would block quick passage with objections. Mr. Frist consented to a handshake deal with Mrs. Clinton to extend 13 weeks of benefits by unanimous consent in exchange for his promise to consider expanding the scope of the program later.

The scene on the Senate floor raised eyebrows of veteran Washington political reporters.

"You know what's impressive?" asked MSNBC host Chris Matthews on his talk show, "Hardball." "Sitting in the Senate press gallery and looking down and realizing that Hillary Clinton is the leader of the U.S. Senate Democrats. She's the boss. Everybody was circling around her when they were having that big dispute over unemployment benefits. Hillary was calling the shots."

.........

"I've never seen this before, all these senators gathered around Hillary, and she's like the quarterback in the huddle," he said. "Hillary looks to me like the number one Democratic senator right now. She's intellectually and ideologically the center of the Democratic Party."

You know there are some angry white males having fits right now! How I would love to see the faces they are making as one of their eyes begins to twitch.

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Atlanta radio station dropping listeners.

Radio listeners abandoned three longtime favorites in droves last fall, causing soul-searching in corporate offices across Atlanta.

Top 40 Star 94 (WSTR-FM), classic rock Z93 (WZGC-FM) and alternative rock 99X (WNNX-FM) all suffered their worst ratings performances in history, newly released Arbitron ratings show.

Z93 lost one third of its audience since September. Wow! I have noticed a shift in format to even older classics, perhaps to pickup some Fox listeners? They canned morning show host Dave Marino and hired former country DJ Moby in hopes for a boost. Then the morning show went from 14th to 18th. Bad move. Since the summer of 2001, they have gone from a market share of 4.0 to 1.9. Anybody hearing Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'?"A nice station to listen to on a Sunday afternoon, but evidently most people do not feel that way.

Star94 has lost about one fifth of its listeners, including many of their core audience of 25-49 females. They seemed to be getting hammered by stations playing more of an Urban format. Star is starting to add some rap to its playlist, but the pop format seems to be dying out again. I can't even listen to the Steve and Vickie Morning Show for more than a minute without cringing when I surf the dial. The music is bad, as are the personalities.

99X has lost almost one third of it audience. Big wow! However, the station is so stale, that I have no problem believing this. The morning show is living on fumes. Barnes got married, had a kid, and stayed obnoxious. Jimmy Barron finally got engaged and stayed obnoxious. Leslie Fram should have her AARP card by now to save on her shopping sprees, yet still can not pronounce difficult words during news casts. Most of the other DJs have sucked since Shawn and Will left years ago- the Peter Principle in action. The rotation is pathetic. They used to spin some edgy tunes and break new artists. Not anymore. In the past year they have gone from a 5.5 rating to a 2.9. Ouch! The bright spots are Toucher, the afternoon DJ, and Rich, "Associate Producer" of the morning show. Getting rid of the dead weight, and improving the play list would probably jump start their ratings.

Where did the listeners go? 99X's did not go to Clear Channel's 96.7 The Buzz, the newest alternative radio station. They remain in the ratings cellar. Of course with a weak signal way south of Atlanta, that is probably not going to change. Their "hey moron, if you can't receive us, stream us" commercials did not appear to do much good. It is hard to stream a radio station in a car- morons. Z93's did not go to 96 Rock, which plays newer rock but is now pretty much all talk in the morning. They saw no solid gains. They do seem to be trying to replicate their morning show success with a new afternoon ride time show. Two guys who talk a lot- worked in the morning! Although they are down from a year ago, they still hold a solid 3.6 rating, which is about average for them.

Overall the listeners of Atlanta radio just seem to be disappearing. Maybe satellite, maybe CDs. I know I listen to more CDs or NPR now, instead of my old diet of radio. I am also looking into XM Satellite Radio. Anything is better than what is being sent across the airwaves in Atlanta.

In case you are wondering, the big winners for the rating period were '80's stations. 98.5B, which programs a heavy rotation of '80's music, and 105.3 The Max, which spins all '80's, saw good improvements.

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Was running over her husband with her car fatal attraction or a fatal mistake?

"It was an accident," Clara Harris said as she was arrested, but eyewitnesses told police that they watched her run over her husband at least three times.

There goes my "It depends on how many times she backed over him" joke.

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NBC's Dateline to do show on Michael Jackson's face.

Do we need charts and diagrams to illustrate why this is just wrong? No. We do need charts and diagrams to see what has happened to Michael's face however. And the charts and diagrams begin here. Notice how Michael went from being an attractive young man to being a freak in a sideshow. Maybe if he had stopped in the "Tim Curry" phase, it would not be that bad.

The show will air February 17th.

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Bob "Rocky" Russo dead.

The owner of Rocky's Brick Oven Pizzeria died of what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His business he was suffering financial problems, while he battled cancer. Politically outspoken, Rocky frequently posted political messages on the sign in front of his pizzeria. It is not known if the pizzeria will reopen.

I ate at Rocky's a few weeks ago. Rocky was not there, but I did talk with a gentleman who identified himself as Rocky's goomba. While the people were very nice, the place was cold, and business down. They were catering to kids in the warmer part of the restaurant. Hopefully the Buckhead institution can remain open.

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