On the eve of Senate Democrats finally passing health care reform, Georgia Republicans are calling for an investigation into the deal that made it happen.

States are required to match federal funding for Medicaid, the health-care program for the poor and disabled. The health care bill would make people who earn up to 133 percent of the (very low) federal poverty line, costing states millions of dollars (federal officials have pledged to make up the difference, although that’s not part of the current legislation).

Sen. Ben Nelson ripped open his Christmas card Saturday and found millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements for his home state of Nebraska. In Majority Leader Harry Reid's envelope was a 60th vote for health care reform.

But when Democratic leaders played Santa for Nelson, they also handed Republicans a gift-wrapped issue to use in the health care debate.

Sen. Johnny Isakson: “Isakson also criticized the lack of transparency as the legislation was drafted and the backroom deals that Democratic Leader Reid, D-Nev., made with certain Senate Democrats in order to secure their votes on his health care proposal.

Sens. Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss voted against supporting the troops before they voted for it.

Georgia’s two Republican senators issued a news release over the weekend about a $636 billion defense spending bill the Senate passed Friday night.

“(W)e have the best trained, most professional, most effective, and best led military in the world and they deserve our unfailing support,” Chambliss said. “That is why I voted in favor of this bill.”

“While I do not agree with everything in this bill, this funding is critical to ensuring that our men and women in uniform have the resources they need to protect our homeland and continue the fight for freedom around the world,” Isakson said.

Sen. Johnny Isakson is making two stops in Athens today. He’ll be talking to Dawgs for Israel at 2 p.m. at the Miller Learning Center, then to the Athens Area Association of Realtors at 3:30 p.m. at its Meriweather Drive office. Presumably, he’ll address foreign policy and the housing market.

Saturday, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, is tailgating at the law school quad beginning at 9:30 a.m. Democratic gubernatorial candidate DuBose Porter will be out there, too, in front of the library.

At 11 a.m., former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee – now a Fox News commentator – will be signing books at the Alps Road Border’s.

So have a couple of drinks with Jack and DuBose, get your copy of Huckabee’s Christmas book signed, then head over to the game.

Republican senators want to wrap up TARP.

The Troubled Assets Relief Program – AKA the bailout – has served its purpose and should be ended, say 39 senators, including Georgia’s Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson. They wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to that effect. Isakson’s office released it today.

“As we approach the termination date for authority to spend federal funds allocated to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA) (PL 110-343), we ask you to allow the authority to expire on December 31, 2009. As you know, the latest TARP report shows a significant amount of unobligated funds. Ending the authority for TARP would help improve the Federal debt going forward and reduce the need to increase the debt limit, which Congress has raised three times in the last 14 months.

Barney Frank, the colorful Democratic congressman, went off on someone at a town hall meeting recently who compared President Obama’s health care proposal to the Nazis, a claim that may sound familiar to Northeast Georgia residents.

Frank’s response was priceless: “On what planet do you spend most of your time? … Arguing with you would be like arguing with the dining room table. I have no interest in doing it.”

If Sen. Johnny Isakson gets his way, you might want to bookmark this Web site.

That’s the MarketWatch page for General Motors. As of this writing, it’s up to $1.48 per share.

Isakson said today that he is signing onto a bill sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., that would require the federal government to distribute its GM and Chrysler stock to taxpayers within a year. Huzzah! My retirement is secure!

More to the point, the bill would ban the Treasury Department from using any more TARP funds to bail out the automakers.

Blake.aued@onlineathens.com

Georgia’s two Republican U.S. senators reacted to President Barack Obama’s nomination of federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court with shrugs in nearly identical statements issued this morning.

“I have consistently stated that Supreme Court nominees must not engage in legislating from the bench, but must interpret the laws as they have been passed,” Saxby Chambliss said. “The Senate deserves an appropriate amount of time to review this nominee. I look forward to a dignified and thorough confirmation process.”

Georgia politicians are showing true political courage and leadership by standing up against the massively popular AIG bonuses.

Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., is the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, of which Rep. Paul Broun is a member. Price issued this statement after AIG CEO Edward Liddy’s testimony before Congress Wednesday:

In an article detailing potential primary challenges in 2010, the D.C. newspaper The Hill mentions yet again the rumor that Rep. Paul Broun will take on Sen. Johnny Isakson in the Republican primary.

“Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), no stranger to beating candidates who were supposed to dispatch him easily, could have his own designs on Sen. Johnny Isakson’s (R-Ga.) seat. Rumors are swirling in Georgia that the junior lawmaker is contemplating challenging the largely popular Isakson, and Broun has not ruled out his own bid.”