Bush, Fed Chairman Both Back Lift for Economy

A consensus that the struggling U.S. economy needs rescue emerged on Thursday as the powerful Federal Reserve chairman backed the idea and President George W. Bush urged a quick and temporary fiscal package.
Amid worries that the United States may already be in a recession, Bush held a conference call with Democratic and Republican lawmakers in which he discussed the principles of what he would like to see in a stimulus plan.

Tax rebates, credits for business investment and extensions of unemployment insurance are among ideas being discussed.

"The most important thing is that they should be temporary, they need to be effective, they need to be things that we can get done quickly," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Bush will make remarks about his ideas for boosting the economy on Friday, said Fratto, who added that the president would discuss what types of approaches he favors but not give any dollar figures or other specifics.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told a congressional committee he supported the idea of a short-term fiscal stimulus measure.

A proposal in the range of $100-150 billion would help, Bernanke said, stressing that it was "critically important" any legislation be designed to kick in quickly.

The sentiment toward rapid action was echoed by legislators.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said she hoped a package could be hammered out and agreed upon by mid-February. "We have every reason to think, to be hopeful ... that we can get this job done," Pelosi said.

Before the call between Bush and the lawmakers, the White House made clear Bush had shifted from weighing the possibility of an economic package to deciding such action was warranted.

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said the White House and Congress were talking about a package in the $100-150 billion range.

RARE COOPERATION

Just a few weeks ago, the prospect of an agreement between Bush and the Democratic-led Congress seemed slim. The two sides engaged in fierce battles last year over issues from health care and the budget to the Iraq war.

Bush, who just returned from a nine-day Middle East tour, had indicated before the trip that he was looking at economic options but also signaled he might include in any proposal the idea of making permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

Such a proposal would be a non-starter with Democrats.

In a sign that reaching an agreement on specifics may still be hard to achieve, one congressional aide described the president as having taken a "hard line" in the call.

But other Democrats described the conversation in more favorable terms.

"I was encouraged by the conversation with President Bush today that there is broad agreement to act quickly and in a bipartisan manner on an economic stimulus package," said House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer.

Pelosi said Bush's acknowledgment that a package was needed was "significant progress." She reiterated her view that the plan should focus on financial help for the middle class.

As the discussion in Washington has evolved since the beginning of the year, the economic news has grown bleak, with gloomy reports this week on retail sales and housing.

There have been loud calls for a measure to boost the economy from the campaign trail, where candidates are vying to succeed Bush in the Nov. 4 election.

All three major Democratic candidates -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards -- have offered plans containing spending and tax-cut ideas.

Republican Sen. John McCain on Thursday laid out a proposal for cuts in corporate tax rates and incentives for companies to invest in new equipment and research. One of his main Republican rivals, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is also getting ready to unveil a plan.

Deal Watch: Gwinnett firm scores another sports deal

The emergence of Gwinnett County as a home for professional sports teams—the latest being the Atlanta Braves' top minor-league affiliate—has been a boon for the Lawrenceville law firm Mahaffey Pickens Tucker.

Co-founding partner R. Lee Tucker Jr. and associate Christopher T. Wilson were lead counsel to the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau on its negotiations with the Braves on moving the team's AAA International League franchise to Gwinnett from Richmond, Va.

Tucker and Wilson said they've been in talks with the Braves on behalf of their client since October and there is much more legal work left to be completed, such as finalizing a long-term agreement between the Braves and Gwinnett and hammering out the details of a lease agreement on a new stadium. The Gwinnett Braves are slated to play their first game in Georgia in 2009.

It's the latest sports deal that Mahaffey Pickens Tucker has handled for the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau. The 10-attorney firm, which Tucker founded with two partners in May 2006, also worked on two relocations of the Georgia Force franchise of the Arena Football League—the first from Nashville, Tenn., to Gwinnett and the second from Philips Arena to the Arena at Gwinnett Center— and the deal that brought the Gwinnett Gladiators minor-league hockey team to Gwinnett from Mobile, Ala.

“It's exciting that we've been in a position to work on these kinds of deals,” Tucker said. “We think it's somewhat unique that a firm of our size has done this many sports deals.”

Now that the Braves have signed a letter of intent with Gwinnett, Tucker and Wilson said they will turn their attention to working on the financing of the Braves' new stadium that will be located on state Highway 20, a few miles south of the Mall of Georgia near Buford. The $45 million stadium will be financed through a $12 million commitment from Gwinnett's recreation fund and $33 million in bonds that will be backed by Braves ticket sales, parking revenue, and naming rights for the stadium, Tucker said.

As is the case with the Arena at Gwinnett Center, the county will own the Braves' new stadium and the land where the stadium will be located, Tucker said. The Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau will operate the stadium on behalf of the county. Initial plans for the stadium call for a hotel and retail to be located at the stadium.

The Braves were represented in the talks by in-house counsel Gregory J. Heller, Tucker said. Liberty Media, the Braves' parent company, did not have legal counsel on the Richmond Braves' move, he said. Gwinnett County Attorney Karen G. Thomas represented the county's interests.

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Arnall Golden Gregory partner Scott A. Fisher was counsel to Pollack Partners on the formation of a $56 million real estate investment fund with affiliates of Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Fisher said the venture, a limited partnership called Pollack Real Estate Fund I, will focus on funding condominium and apartment buildings, including some of Pollack Partners' ongoing projects in Atlanta and Florida. The fund will combine its assets with other investors to pool about $1 billion available for investments in real estate.

Arnall Golden partner Cleburne E. Gregory III and associate Heather L. Preston advised Pollack Partners on tax matters related to the venture. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson advised Goldman Sachs.

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Rogers & Hardin partner Alan C. Leet was an adviser to Rock-Tenn Co. on its $993 million acquisition of Southern Container Corp., according to a regulatory filing.

Rock-Tenn General Counsel Robert B. McIntosh worked with Leet on the transaction. Latham & Watkins partner Howard A. Sobel in New York advised Southern Container.

Rock-Tenn, of Norcross, manufactures paper cartons and other types of packaging. Southern Container, of Hauppauge, N.Y., makes corrugated boxes.

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Morris, Manning & Martin partner Heath D. Linsky advised Beecher Carlson on its purchase of Alliance Insurance Group, the company said.

Morris Manning associates Mark Zisholtz, Christopher E. Maxwell and Lisa L. Scheid also worked on the deal, as did Beecher Carlson general counsel Adam S. Meyerowitz and corporate paralegal Christine Alligood, the law firm said.

Both Beecher Carlson and Alliance are commercial insurance brokers. Atlanta-based Beecher Carlson said the purchase of Phoenix-based Alliance will allow it to expand in the Southwest.

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Miller & Martin partner Carlos C. Smith in Chattanooga advised the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association on the creation of a new company to finance power plants with the Tennessee Valley Authority, the association said.

The new venture, called Seven States Power Corp., will partner with TVA to provide financing for natural gas-fired plants. The Tennessee Valley Public Power Association is comprised of electricity distributors who purchase power from TVA, including North Georgia Electric Membership Corp. in Dalton.

Beyond the Values of the Dolls

The Cabbage Patch dolls drooled all over the ballots and ate the hanging chads, the Bratz have criminal records and are ineligible to vote, but the American Girl dolls are taking the upcoming presidential elections ultra-seriously. After all, just because someone is 18 inches tall and has a head made of vinyl doesn't mean she's given up her right to the franchise. When your very name is "American Girl," doesn't that guarantee your right to be as excited about the primaries as the next inanimate object?
These dolls may all have exactly the same face, but their political opinions are all over the map. Their views are as varied as their extensive backstories, all of which are provided in excruciating detail by the American Girl company, backed up by a merchandise line that includes books, movies, and accessories ranging from weaving looms to school lockers, velvet theater seats to desktop computers, wooden sleds to canopy beds.

Though the company declines to reveal which doll is leaning toward which candidate, pollsters deep inside the flagship store on Fifth Avenue have leaked this information to the Voice, and, as with all campaigns, there are some surprises.

For instance, according to americangirl.com, the doll named Julie Albright is "a fun-loving San Francisco girl who faces big changes." Julie, who grew up in Sodom-by-the-Sea in the '70s, is shown wearing bell-bottoms, a peasant blouse, and a macramé skullcap. So who is she voting for? After spending her childhood under a cloud of marijuana smoke and being forced to sit through interminable underground films, eat tofu, and chant "om" in an orgone box, Julie has become a born-again Christian, throwing away her belief in evolution along with her mood ring, and is now busy picketing abortion clinics with Mike Huckabee.

Addy Walker, the doll with by far the most harrowing history, is facing her own endorsement dilemma. According to the AG website, Addy's family, enslaved on a plantation in 1864, endures horrible hardships: "Addy's family must run away if they hope to be free. When Poppa and her brother, Sam, are sold away, Addy and her mother make the wrenching decision to escape to Philadelphia—to freedom—on their own. But that means leaving Addy's baby sister behind—her cries could cost them their lives." You might assume that with these tribulations, Addy is a solid Obama fan, but Addy, an early supporter of tough-through-her tears Senator Clinton, now wonders whether she should switch to Barack or stick with the Hill.

Which is not to say that no dolls are solidly for Barack. (In fact, all the American Girls—who have a surprisingly trashy side their website doesn't begin to acknowledge—got a little thrill when Obama acknowledged that in his early years: "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it." The AGs, too, have been known to indulge in a bit of recreational drug use, to dull the long hours spent languishing on toy-store shelves.)

Felicity Merriman, who is described as "a girl who's as spirited and independent as the American colonies she lives in [and who] believes the colonies should be free, not ruled by a king who lives far away," is a fervent Obama supporter, though "her grandfather and her best friend, Elizabeth, support the king's rule." Grandpa and Liz, with their weakness for royalty and other guys who are full of themselves for no apparent reason, are rooting for Rudolph Giuliani.

And then there is Kirsten Larson, who "must leave all she's ever known to come with her family to the New World. They settle on the Minnesota frontier, where people don't speak her language or understand her traditions. Yet in time, Kirsten discovers the richness of her new land—and the true meaning of home." What the website doesn't tell you is that the adults in Kirsten's family become founding members of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party, a left-wing institution that fought for the rights of farmers and labor unions in the early 20th century. Kirsten has inherited this progressive bent and has jumped aboard a UFO with Dennis Kucinich.

So many dolls, so many primaries! Mia St. Clair—the company's "Girl of the Year 2008" and a figure skater who purportedly "loves skating . . . but with three hockey-obsessed older brothers, she usually has to enjoy the kind that requires a puck"—is twirling on a frozen pond in Utah, and she's that rare thing, a groovy Romney voter. (In this enthusiasm she is joined by the stalwart Barbie, who thinks the candidate looks exactly like Ken.) Josefina Montoya, worrying about learning to read and starting a weaving business in New Mexico circa 1824, is planning to write in the name of state-mate Bill Richardson; Molly McIntire, saving scrap metal during World War II, says she's thrilled that Mac is back; Kit Kittredge, struggling in the depths of the Great Depression, is a sucker for the militant health-insurance rap falling from the pretty lips of John Edwards. (In case any of the dolls are under the weather, American Girl offers a miniature wheelchair for $30 and a pair of tiny crutches for $20.)

But it is Samantha Parkington—an orphan being raised by her wealthy grandmother in 1904 who is "excited by the new ideas and inventions that are changing everyone's lives"—and her friend the servant Nellie ("while some think wealth matters most, Samantha befriends Nellie, knowing that true friendship is worth even more . . . "), who has perhaps the most intriguing backstory. Here's what the website leaves out: Samantha Parkington was born Sadie Parkowitz, and despite her family's protestations that they are members of the Society for Ethical Culture, she and Granny are crossing their fingers for Bloomberg.

And what of Nellie, the loyal servant girl? As it turns out, Samantha only thinks they're BFFs. When Nellie is holed up in her garret, she's poring over this week's issues of Workers World, The Militant, and Challenge-Desafío—and wondering whether Lenora Fulani is on the ballot.