The AJC has more details about the bank part-owned by Rep. Paul Broun going under.

Not long before it lost its multi-year fight for survival, McIntosh Commercial Bank had lost so much money on such loans that, by one measure, it was financially the weakest of Georgia’s roughly 300 banks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. estimates the closure will cost its deposit insurance fund more than $123 million.

McIntosh had a problem-loan-to-cash-reserve ration of 884 percent, the highest of any bank in the state, and unwinding it will cost taxpayers $123 million. Broun blames the closure on an overzealous Obama Administration. Federal investigators are conducting an audit to determine whether the bank should have been shut down, the AJC reported.

Democratic candidate Russell Edwards is turning the business failure into a campaign issue:

I asked new Athens-Clarke Economic Development Foundation President Matt Forshee to weigh in Wednesday on Thurbert Baker’s plan to invest in biotech startup firms.

Forshee’s reply came too late to include in the story, but he said:

“I think it's great that a candidate for governor is making BioScience a centerpiece of our state's economic recovery. At the least, his proposal will open up discussion between the candidates for ways to enchance the recruitment and development of bioscience compaines in Georgia, which will inevitably help the Athens economy as well.”

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About 30 Georgia lawmakers are reportedly circulating a petition to impeach Attorney General Thurbert Baker for refusing to file a lawsuit against Obamacare. It would require a majority vote in the House and a two-thirds vote in the Senate, so it’s unlikely to succeed, but since crossover day is Friday, the upside is that such an effort could prevent the General Assembly from passing any more bills this year.

Meanwhile, on the other side of aisle, the Democratic Party of Georgia filed an open-records request today asking for any written communications between the governor’s office and various conservative organizations, apparently seeking to discover Perdue’s request is part of a concerted national effort.

Tuesday, Gov. Sonny Perdue urged Thurbert Baker to join the 12 other state attorneys general who are suing to stop Obamacare.

Baker’s response: You don’t have a case.

Based upon my understanding of the current Act, I am unaware of any constitutional infirmities and do not think it would be prudent, legally or fiscally, to pursue such litigation. I must therefore respectfully decline your request.

Attorney General Thurbert Baker didn’t get much ink in my story about the Democratic gubernatorial debate Tuesday. Roy Barnes and DuBose Porter had most of the best lines of the night. But Baker did give a good answer to a question about health care reform that didn’t fit in the article.

A month after dealing a huge blow to the gubernatorial aspirations of Republican frontrunner John Oxendine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution turned its investigative powers on Democrat Thurbert Baker.

The article, written by outstanding veteran reporters James Salzer and Cameron McWhirter, says that the attorney general’s office has paid millions for outside legal work to law firms that contributed to his campaigns.

Sketchy? Yes. Illegal? As the AJC points out, no.

Baker paid $173 million over the past five years to private lawyers to handle state business. Almost $23 million went to eight lawyers who collective gave $200,000 to Baker’s campaigns.