THE HEALTH REFORM BILL PASSED by the House on Saturday isn't going anywhere in the Senate anytime soon, predicted U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). And he predicted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) knows better than to try and pass it via the budgetary "reconciliation" process.

The Senate reconciles the numbers in its budget at the end of each budget year, and this year Reid inserted language that for the first time would allow consideration of health care reform as part of the process. But passage via such a route would only consider revenues and expenditures, not the policies behind them, which makes it an imperfect vehicle for addressing the matter, Isakson said.

"I suspect that if he tries to use it, it will be all about a tax increase, not policy. I don't think he will actually use it," Isakson told an overflow crowd of about 60 people at the Madison Forum at the Rib Ranch restaurant in east Cobb on Monday. "It's something that's known affectionately around the Senate as 'the nuclear option.' Yes, you might use it to get it passed, but it would be the last thing he gets because it would blow up the American people."

The Senate is unlikely to vote on health care until after Christmas, now that Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, representing the vital 41st vote against the plan, has said he will join the Republican filibuster.

"A great American like Joe Lieberman is not going to walk the plank for anybody except his own constituents," Isakson said.

Among those attending the luncheon were former state Rep. Roger Hines (R-west Cobb), who's now a candidate for state school superintendent; Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren; Chief Deputy Lynda Coker, who's running for state Senate against incumbent Judson Hill (R-east Cobb); Pat Gartland, former regional director for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and now a member of the Cobb Board of Election; Cobb Planning Commissioner Bob Hovey; immigration activist D.A. King; and unsuccessful Marietta mayoral candidate Bill Bolton.

Isakson touched on other issues as well:

•ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: Isakson lauded Warren and the three other Georgia sheriffs who have begun using the controversial 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement to identify and report to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency illegal aliens who happen to be arrested on other offenses.

"They've done what public officials ought to do - they've stood up for the people that elected them," Isakson declared. "(Warren's) gotten criticized for doing it, which means he's probably doing a damned good job."

•THE WARS: "We've done a miraculous job in Iraq. And I hope we can do in Afghanistan what we've already done in Iraq. If someone had said at the end of the first Gulf War in 1991 that there would be a fledgling democracy in Iraq in 2009, people would have said you were crazy."

He said he has sent word to President Obama by every means he has, and "I hope still to tell him face to face," that we should stay the course in Afghanistan.

"If you turn the treasure of your country and the lives of your young men and women over to a general and tell him to win a war, and then he asks you for help, you've got to give it to him," Isakson said.

•THE ECONOMY: Too much of the president's stimulus spending this year, 72 percent, went to subsidizing state-level salaries, he complained.

"We need to be creating jobs, not subsidizing state jobs," he said. "Government is a consumer of wealth, not a creator of wealth."

And the trend toward big-government solutions on things like health care and cap-and-trade "is a Big Brother situation no matter how you slice it."

•GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY: "Transparency works for everybody. The government should be as transparent as it requires you and me to be."

•THE PRESIDENT: "Obama is superb orator, but he's not doing anything he didn't give us a clue last fall that he was going to do. Many people believe a socialized health system is better than the free market, but I am not one of them. The America I want to leave to my children and grandchildren is as good as the one my father and grandfather left to me."

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MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE IT’S PRESTIGIOUS to be called “reverend,” but apparently not Cobb school board member the Rev. Dr. John Crooks.

Crooks tells the MDJ he wants to be referred to simply as “Dr. Crooks” in the newspaper from now on, instead of as “the Rev. Dr. Crooks,” which is how he has been described for years. It has long been the style of the MDJ, and many other newspapers, to use multiple honorifics in front of the names of those who have earned them, such as “the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” or “the Rev. Dr. Nelson Price.”

Surprised by Crooks’ request, AT asked Crooks if he was still an ordained minister and administrator at Roswell Street Baptist Church, to which he answered yes. But drop “the reverend” from now on, he said without explanation.

Crooks received a Master’s of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He received his pastor’s license in 1979 and coincidentally pastored Crestview Baptist Church in Marietta, located just around the corner from the school district’s administrative offices at 514 Glover St. He was ordained in 1982 at First Baptist Church of Bamberg, S.C.

From 1994 to 1998 he was associate pastor in evangelism and church ministries administration at First Baptist Church in Canton and from 1997 to 1998 he was an associate pastor of administration at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, Texas. Since then, he has served at Roswell Street Baptist.

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JAZZ LEGEND FREDDY COLE will perform at a benefit for the Cobb Library Foundation Nov. 20 at The Strand Theatre on Marietta Square along with the Rev. Dwight Andrews, senior minister at First Congregational Church and associate professor of music theory at Emory University. Cole’s vocal stylings are somewhat similar to those of Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday, although his singing and piano playing also are reminiscent of his brother, the late Nat “King” Cole. VIP admission to the event is $150 and general admission tickets are $85.

For more go to the Foundation’s Web site at www.cobbcat.org, call the Strand Box Office at (770)-293-0080 or go to ww.earlsmithstrand.org

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THE MARIETTA MUSEUM OF HISTORY tonight hosts Joe Kirby and Damien A. Guarnieri, co-authors of the new “Marietta Revisited: Then & Now,” for a signing and talk. Their book uses pairs of “then and now” photos to show how the city has changed, and in some cases not changed, during its 175-year history. The free event will take place at 7 p.m. on the third floor of the museum in the old Kennesaw House in downtown Marietta. Call (770) 794-5710 for info or go to www.MariettaHistory.org.

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EVENTS: BAILEY’S DINER IN POWDER SPRINGS will hold its annual Greek/Fiesta/Sock Hop Party Nov. 17 as a fundraiser for the restaurant’s annual Christmas Party for low-income families, flood survivors, underprivileged children and seniors in Cobb, reports Lauretta Hannon of Powder Springs, author of “The Cracker Queen.”

The Party will feature a four-course dinner incorporating Greek, Mexican and American cuisines. There will be Greek dancing and Macarena lessons as well. A minimum $10 donation per person is required. Donations of canned goods, toiletries, new toys and board games are also appreciated.

Bailey’s Diner is at 4093 Marietta St. in Powder Springs. For more information call (678) 384-1220. ... The Harrison High School Wrestling Team and its “wrestlerettes” will host a Harvest Moon Fall dance for seniors Heritage at Brookstone Assisted Living at 5235 Stilesboro Road in Kennesaw Thursday.

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“COOL MOVES” THEMED DANCE PARTIES provide an evening of dancing, socializing and fun at the Ben Robertson Community Center in Kennesaw. Light hors d’oeuvres and nonalcoholic beverages will be provided. Singles, couples, beginners and experienced dancers are welcome.

The next dance party is scheduled Saturday. Wear something that shows your cultural heritage. Attendees can come together to celebrate and appreciate the diversity of world dances.

And mark your calendar for the “Winter Star Ball” on Dec. 19. Attire is formal or ballroom. The Ben Robertson Community Center is at 2753 Watts Drive. The event is from 7 to 10 p.m.

The fee to attend each dance party is $10 per person. Registration online is at www.kennesaw-ga.gov/pkrec.

For details call the City of Kennesaw Parks & Recreation Department at (770) 422-9714.

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PEOPLE: Pete Charrette, a physical education teacher at Pickett’s Mill Elementary School in the Cobb County School District, has been selected as the Georgia Association for Health and Physical Education’s Physical Education Teacher of the Year.