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BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2011
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”
- Henry Ward Beecher ~
Chris Bridges, editor • Email: cbridges@barrowjoumal.com
our views
investment’ a
code word for
spending
I N his State of the Union
speech, President Obama
talked a lot about “invest
ing” in the future.
But what he was really saying is
the government needs to spend
more money.
This trend to mislead the pub
lic by saying government should
“invest” in certain projects is not
just limited to Mr. Obama’s dou
blespeak. Both local and state
governments as well try to hide
their spending by saying they are
“investing” in the future.
But spending money is spend
ing money and when money
is tight, “investing” just creates
more debt.
The main problem in govern
ment is employee expenses.
Government expense is mostly
payroll, both in salaries and ben
efits. And compared to the pri
vate sector, government salaries
and benefits generally are much
higher except for public safety
workers who are often very under
paid.
For example, if a local gov
ernment says they are going to
build a road, it isn’t just tar and
gravel being paid for; mostly, it’s
the salaries and benefit costs of
those who are driving the trucks
that pave the road.
Nowhere does this idea of
“investing” get more talk than in
education. Those wanting more
money for education talk about
“investing in children” because
“children are our future.”
But this nation has across the
board spent more and more
money on education for the
last 40 years. Over 60 percent
of Georgia’s budget is for educa
tion. Our local property taxes are
mostly for education.
The problems in education
aren’t due to a lack of money;
they’re due to many other fac
tors, from broken homes to bad
curriculum to some ineffective
teachers.
Governments at all levels love
to spend money. That’s what
they exist for. And most govern
ment bureaucrats are terrible at
managing tax dollars; its not their
money, so throwing it around
doesn’t really matter to them.
So let’s don’t let the talk of
“investing” fool us. While some
times spending money now for
the future good is wise, that con
cept is now being exploited by
Mr. Obama and others to hide
what they really want — more of
our money via higher taxes.
The Barrow Journal
Winder, Barrow County, Ga.
www.BarrowJoumal.com
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher
Chris Bridges Editor
Susan Norman Government News Editor
Lorin Sinn-Clark Features Editorr
Susan Treadwell Advertising Manager
Susan Mobley Office Manager
Jeremy Ginn Marketing Manager
Jessica Brown Photographer
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The ‘pack rat’ starts cleaning out old memories
“Compulsive hoarding is the acquisition of and
failure to discard a large number of possessions that
appear to be useless or of limited value... ”- Wikipedia
MY MOM called it being a
“pack rat” - having stuff all over
and being unable or unwilling to
discard any of it. But, thanks to
reality TV, in particular Hoarders
and Hoarding: Buried Alive, we
now know that being a “pack rat”
is just the tip of the iceberg. True
compulsive hoarders can end
up with sad, clutter-filled lives
that become physically danger
ous and emotionally lethal...just
watch the shows.
Rather than identifying myself as a hoarder, I like
to think hoarding, like autism, has a spectrum; I’m
definitely on it, but at the “high functioning” end. I
don’t clutter my living spaces to the point we can’t walk
through. 1 keep a tidy kitchen and am known to throw
away leftovers prematurely. As far as I know, I’m not in
danger of losing anyone I love over my inability to get
rid of things; but, 1 do have a really hard time getting rid
of things.
Wikipedia states, “The hoarder may mistakenly
believe the hoarded items are very valuable, or the
hoarder may know the accumulated items are useless,
or may attach a strong personal value to items they rec
ognize would have little or no value to others.” Bingo!
That last phrase is me. For me, hoarding isn’t about the
stuff — it’s about the memories attached to the stuff.
Mr. Clark has been cracking down on me over the
past year. He helps me clean, sort, discard and orga
nize. And, he’s instituted a new rule — one item in, at
least two items out — four or five out would be better.
This applies to everything: furniture, clothes, house
hold decor, books, shoes, handbags, even pets.
“Now that the kids are gone, we have to get a grip on
this,” is his battle cry and I agree. Turning that convic
tion into a reality can be difficult at times...so many
memories.
Last week, I found a pretty, Spring-weight wool coat
on sale so I bought it. The first thing out of Mr. Clark’s
mouth was, “So, how many coats are you going to get
rid of?”
That didn’t sit well with me since he didn’t even
ask me to show him how good it looked on me, so 1
decided to show him!
I went through our coat racks and closets like a tor
nado, filling a huge bag to take to the Goodwill, it turned
out it wasn’t that hard to turn lose of the coats once I
realized all they represented were memories I could
still hold onto. That pale green coat with the big moth
hole in the back — the one I haven’t worn for six years
- was from our family’s trip to Italy. That trip turned
out to be our last one as a little nuclear family because
after it, the kids got married - hence the importance of
that coat.
The coarsely woven Indian serape on the same
rack had retained its place of honor next to Italy coat
because I got it during a trip to the Grand Canyon with
my extended family - a trip that happened 12 years ago,
but had such happy memories.
On and on it went; by the time I was done, I had three
huge bags of clothing, all rich in memories, but poor in
actual use potential.
There were the flirty skirts and dresses I wore 15 years
ago when I was a still-young-enough-to-flirt reporter
for a different newspaper and the black “power suit” I
bought in 2000, when I ran for commission chairman.
There was the dress I wore to both of my kids’ high
school graduations, 2000, 2001; and, the dress I wore to
both kids’ engagement parties a few years later. I even
found a dress, tucked safely away in a dry cleaning bag,
that my Dad bought me after my son was born - in 1981
- because he “thought I might need something to wear
that would make me feel good about how I look again.”
A sweet sentiment, but I’m 100 percent sure I’ll never
wear that dress again.
I threw away my old cross-country ski boots and
some really big snow boots kept at the back of my
closet for the past 22 years — after all, I might move
back to Colorado someday...If that happens, I’ll buy
new boots.
The things I didn’t throw away or donate were my
mother’s wedding dress (from 1956), my wedding dress
(from 1979), the dresses I wore to both of my kids’ wed
dings (2005,2007) and my old EMS uniform, circa 2002.
I figured even a hoarder was entitled to keep wedding
wear and the EMS uniform had my name embroidered
all over it, so who would want that?
I’m in the process of learning to cherish memories
without keeping the stuff that was part of making them.
It’s an ongoing process...wish me luck.
Lorin Sinn-Clark is a reporter for the Barrow Journal.
She can be reached at lorin@barrowjournal.com.
The drinks will soon be flowing
VISITORS to room 450 of the state capitol could see
history being made last week.
That was the room where a Senate committee
chaired by Sen. Butch Miller (R-Gainesville) held a
hearing on legislation to pave
the way for grocery and conve
nience stores to sell beer and
wine on Sundays.
This has long been an issue
of Georgia politics where the
Christian conservatives have
been firmly in command. While
they have had to give ground
on most other alcohol-related
issues, the church people have
always been able to stop legisla
tion that would legalize Sunday
package sales.
That may not be the case much
longer. As they considered the
fate of SB 10, Miller’s committee heard testimony from
the folks who always show up to support Sunday sales:
Jim Tudor for the convenience store owners, Kathy
Kuzava for the grocery store interests, Horace Hamilton
of Kroger’s Georgia division.
What was interesting about the hearing was the fact
that not a single person spoke in opposition to the bill
- no one from the Christian Coalition or the Georgia
Baptist Convention or any similar group.
SB 10 won easy approval from the Senate commit
tee - the only no vote came from Sen. Jim Butterworth
(R-Cornelia). Jerry Luquire of the Georgia Christian
Coalition later conceded that the bill will be passed
by the full Senate and soon after by the House of
Representatives.
Luquire said in a Friday email: “The Georgia Christian
Coalition today said it was ending its three-year legisla
tive battle to prevent retail beer, wine and whiskey sales
on Sunday, but did express appreciation that Senate
Bill 10 would forbid Sunday sales until after church on
Sunday . . . The Senate will vote next week and the
GCC expects fewer than 12 Senators to support their
position.”
Just like that, an interest group that had traditionally
been very influential in Georgia politics found that it no
longer had very much power.
It was a process that took a long time to develop.
Almost every other state has long since legalized
Sunday package sales (we are one of three remaining
holdouts).
Georgia for years has been bleeding retail business in
border cities like Columbus, Valdosta and Augusta as
people who want beer or wine on Sunday drive across
the state line to purchase it. The new law would put a
stop to that.
There will also be some tax benefit to the state. Jay
Hibbard of the national Distilled Spirits Council esti
mated that Sunday sales of spirits alone would generate
between $3.4 and $4.8 million in new tax revenue for
Georgia.
When you’re a legislator worrying about how you’ll
make up for the loss of more than $1 billion in federal
stimulus funds, every little bit of extra revenue helps.
A change in the governor’s office helped push the
legislation along. Unlike his predecessor, the new
governor has already said that if the General Assembly
passes a Sunday sales bill, he will not veto it.
It’s also a matter of local government control. SB 10
merely authorizes cities and counties that already allow
the sale of beer, wine or liquor to hold referendums in
which citizens would decide whether they want to allow
those sales on Sundays as well. Every community can
decide for itself what it wants to do on this issue.
In the end, this is a simple matter of fairness.
I don’t attend Baptist Church services on Sunday, but
I have many friends and colleagues who do. I respect
their right to practice their faith and I would vigorously
oppose any suggestion that there should be a law pre
venting them from going to church on Sundays.
That same consideration should be extended to those
who choose other activities. If I should be in a grocery
store on a Sunday afternoon and want to purchase a
bottle of wine or a six-pack of beer, it’s silly to have a
law that says I can’t do it or that prevents my local gov
ernment from allowing me to vote on the question.
In a radio interview last week, Gov. Nathan Deal
explained why he wouldn’t veto a bill that would allow
referendums on Sunday package sales: “Well, I don’t
drink. I simply believe in democracy.”
I think that sums it up very well.
Tom Crawford is the editor of The Georgia Report.
He can be reached at tcrawford@sareDort. com.
Enjoying the
simple pleasures
IS IT true that you enjoy the smaller
things in life more the older you get?
It seems that is the case.
This past Sunday I found myself
enjoying the simple joy of having a
blue sky above with plenty of sun
shine. The previous week was filled
with rain and
the combina
tion of that
and the calen
dar still read
ing February,
has many of
us longing for
warmer times.
As a child,
we really don’t
notice things
like the rain or
the sun. If it’s
raining so be
it. If it’s a clear day, that’s great too.
It isn’t until we get older that we
begin to appreciate little things that as
children we so often took for granted.
It probably has something to do with
the fact that as adults our lives are filled
with more stress. From work to bills to
countless other responsibilities, we
can’t help but feel bothered when the
small things we take pleasure in are
taken away, even for a little while.
It’s those things which help us get
through the winter blues and sprint
full-speed into spring.
Some of the things which are no
longer taken for granted from my per
spective include:
• birds singing in the backyard after
we take more food and water to them.
Their bright colors help cut through
the grayness of winter and remind us
that spring truly is not far away.
• a peaceful weekend after a hectic
week at work.
• talks with an old friend and how
you realize that even though your
childhoods were years — decades —
ago, that those events of yesterday are
only a conversation away.
•the first signs of new flowers for
the year, signifying how much closer
spring is and how much closer winter
is to being over for another time.
• the closeness of your co-workers
and realizing your life wouldn’t be the
same without them on a daily basis.
•the times when the power bill is
opened and my heart doesn’t stop for
a moment.
• an afternoon nap.
• the fact that there are a few people
left who know the difference between
a television news anchor or reporter
and a slanted talk show host.
•memories of columns by Lewis
Grizzard and Celestine Sibley and for
the fact I can still read new ones from
Furman Bisher from time to time.
• when the auto repair shop tells me
that nothing needs working on under
the hood.
•the enjoyment of holding a new
book in your hands and beginning the
process once again of discovering the
contents within.
• a time when it was not necessary
for 90 percent of drivers you see to
be talking on a cell phone. Are those
conversations really that important?
• how an old movie or an old song
can take you back to the year they
were released.
•the site of an old barn in a field
that can still be seen from time to time
off the highway. There’s one not far
from where I live and I always make a
note to glance over at it.
•memories of the Steelers and
Cowboys meeting in the Super Bowl
back during the 70s. More focus was
on the game then and not all the hype
and hoopla.
•those friends who check in on
you daily. Yes, it’s easier to do with
e-mail, texting and such, but knowing
someone thinks enough of you to do
so does mean a great deal.
•for the times when the phone
doesn’t ring in the middle of the night
or very early in the morning. We all
know it usually is not good news at
those hours.
• those who have guided us, influ
enced us and encouraged us during
our adventures in life. From family
members to friends, we should never
take anyone we care about for grant
ed. Nothing is guaranteed in life from
one week to the next or one day to the
next. It’s why we should all be thank
ful for those little things which make
life more enjoyable.
Chris Bridges is editor of the Barrow Journal.
You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjour-
nal.com.
