Barry Fleming has one more problem.

Rep. Paul Broun and Fleming both filed their second-quarter FEC reports today, 12 days early. Broun out-raised Fleming almost two-to-one, but Fleming has $344,000 on hand compared to Broun’s $202,000. Still, that’s great news for the Team Broun.

It’s bad news for Democrat Bobby Saxon, though, whose report is not online yet. Team Saxon had hoped that, assuming Broun won, he’d be essentially bankrupted by the primary, putting them on more or less even footing. But Broun is learning how to raise money like an incumbent.

Peach Pundit has video of the Atlanta Press Club debate. You’ve probably heard most of it before. Fleming did haul out the bankruptcy/tax lien angle, which I expected him to do Monday in Athens but he did not.

When I saw the list of expenses Athens-Clarke Manager Alan Reddish suggested the commission cut during its May budget talks, there were two I immediately knew would cause a stir: traffic patrols and fireworks.

Commissioners did cut the fireworks, saving $13,000. Talk immediately started about rounding up private donors to put on the Fourth of July show. As is our custom in Athens, we waited until the last second to quit talking and do it.

It’s a widely-held believe around town that the fireworks display was a poison pill cut out of the budget to take revenge on the pesky taxpayers who demanded no millage rate increase. A “See what you’ve made us do!” sort of thing.