From last night’s opener on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live”:

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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Early last month, during one of an infinite number of committee meetings at the state Capitol, a group of House and Senate members were handed an official estimate of future HOPE scholarship payouts.

It was a breath-taking experience. Literally. Members of the audience could hear the gasps of lawmakers.

Only last year, Gov. Nathan Deal and the Republican-led Legislature, with some Democratic cooperation, revamped the HOPE program in a highly publicized effort to save it, resulting in reduced grants for most students.

The figures handed to lawmakers in January indicated that the program will limp along until the fall semester of 2013 – when HOPE payouts again will have to be reduced to meet the growing number of students who seek and qualify for the scholarships.

But that was only one part of the shock. What really may have knocked the wind out of legislators was the realization that, in coming years, they may be forced to cast vote after vote to reduce the HOPE payout. Not …

Five days out, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has only one campaign appearance scheduled in Atlanta next Wednesday. But it’ll cost you $1,000 to see him – in a 6 p.m. general reception at the W Hotel Midtown in Atlanta. The 5:30 p.m. VIP reception entrance fee is $2,500.

Here’s the invite.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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My AJC colleague Bill Rankin has the details on an administrative judge’s decision today that President Barack Obama deserves a place on Georgia’s Democratic primary ballot on March 6.

But to read the judge’s 10-page decision yourself, click here.

- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider

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Ever since he sacked the head of the Georgia National Guard and his No. 2 last year, Gov. Nathan Deal has been dealing with the intricacies of a system that attempts to mesh – sometimes poorly – aspects of a state militia with a national military machine.

For instance, when the governor replaced Major Gen. William Nesbitt with state Sen. Jim Butterworth, R-Cornelia, there was the matter of rank. Butterworth had left the Air Guard years earlier with the rank of captain — but now wears the uniform of a two-star general.

Now it seems that the governor has been handed a problem from the other side of the fence.

Shortly after he named Butterworth the state’s new adjutant general, Deal appointed a No. 2: Joe Jarrard, a retired lieutenant colonel from Dahlonega with 20 years’ service in the U.S. Army.

Jarrard has a Bronze Star, has served in Iraq, did some advising in Afghanistan – but it turns out that, according to state law, he isn’t qualified to hold the post of …

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey confirmed this afternoon that the Marietta Republican walked out of President Barack Obama’s address at the annual National Prayer Breakfast, offended by what the congressman said was an injection of political rhetoric into an occasion of non-partisan reflection.

“He was glad that the president attended, but he felt that there were 364 days in a year to give a speech on your policies or campaign rhetoric,” said Gingrey spokeswoman Jen Talaber.

She said Gingrey enjoyed the remarks by the event’s keynote speaker, conservative author Eric Metaxes, who was in South Carolina last month campaigning with GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

Here are the opening paragraphs from the Associated Press account of Obama’s remarks:

WASHINGTON — Blending politics and religion, President Barack Obama said his Christian faith is a driving force behind his economic policies, from Wall Street reform to his calls for the wealthy to pay …

The decision by the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the nation’s largest breast cancer advocacy group, to cut most of its ties to Planned Parenthood – made public this week — has roiled the left, cheered the right, and has many wondering why and how the split happened.

Former GOP candidate for governor Karen Handel. Hyosub Shin hshin@ajc.com

From today’s New York Times:

John D. Raffaelli, a Komen board member and Washington lobbyist, said Wednesday that the decision to cut off money to 17 of the 19 Planned Parenthood affiliates it had supported was made because of the fear that an investigation of Planned Parenthood by Representative Cliff Stearns, Republican of Florida, would damage Komen’s credibility with donors….

So the Komen board voted that all of its vendors and grantees must certify that they are not under investigation by federal, state or local authorities. But for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, being the target of partisan …

The bad cops have had their turn. It’s time to bring in the tall, lanky good cop.

For three years, the religious conservative movement has flailed at the state Capitol. Last year, it was rolled, ignominiously, on a measure to empower local communities to decide whether grocery and convenience stores could sell beer, wine and liquor on Sunday.

Jeff Chapman and future governor Nathan Deal at a 2010 Republican debate. Chapman finished a distant fifth in the primary. Curtis Compton ccompton@ajc.com

No major anti-abortion measure has passed the Republican-controlled Legislature in three years. The House has specifically blocked passage of a “personhood” bill championed by Georgia Right to Life, which would bestow the legal title of human being on any fertilized egg.

Efforts to restrict in-vitro fertilization by physicians and embryonic stem cell research at institutions such as the University of Georgia have likewise stalled -– in part the result of quiet pressure from the …

A bit of DeKalb County municipal weirdness, from my AJC colleague April Hunt, who sends this note:

Republicans in Chamblee are angry that state Rep. Mike Jacobs, a fellow GOPer, won’t redraw their proposed municipal lines in a way that lets Chamblee grow in the next few years, as they have long planned.

So, they’ve asked state Rep. Elena Parent, a Democrat who represents the city [and holds Jill Chambers old seat], to propose a bill allowing the city to annex from their current boundary on Clairmont Road at Peachtree-DeKalb airport down the entire east side of Clairmont Road to I-85. (Parent represents the east side of the road, Jacobs the west)

That would take in the homes in Dresden East, who have complained they are being isolated in a Brookhaven scenario that takes the businesses they use on Clairmont but not their homes. It also would grab Century Park offices, which Brookhaven estimate brings in at least $1 million in net revenue each year.

Look for the bill to be …

Remember the thin-skinned Mitt Romney who objected to his “grilling” from Fox News’ Bret Baier back in November? Florida may have brought him back.

In a morning interview with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, the topic was the economy:

A partial transcript:

Romney: This is a time people are worried. They’re frightened. They want someone who they have confidence in. And I believe I will be able to instill that confidence in the American people. And, by the way, I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.

I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling and I’ll continue to take that message across the nation.

O’Brien: All right. So I know I said last question, but I’ve got to ask you. You just said I’m not concerned about the …