Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Opinion
“Difference of opinion leads
to enquiry, and enquiry to
truth. ” -Thomas Jefferson
our views
Would state action
hurt industrial
development?
IF STATE leaders succeed in doing away with
property taxes in favor of some form of higher
sales taxes, will local governments still seek busi
ness growth?
That is one of the unspoken questions that’s got
ten little discussion so far in the debate over chang
ing the state’s local tax structure.
Historically, local communities have sought out
industrial development as a means of helping pay
for public services. Most businesses, especially
large industries, pay more in property taxes than
they consume in services. That helps offset the
tax burden on homeowners, who would otherwise
bear higher taxes.
Because of this dynamic, local towns and coun
ties have been willing to invest in infrastructure
— roads, water, sewer — to lure industrial growth.
The property tax system has, in effect, worked as
an incentive for this local investment.
But if that incentive is done away with, will local
governments still be willing to invest money in busi
ness growth?
Probably not. Why should they? If the state takes
over all taxation and does away with property tax
es, then why would any local government spend
money to lure businesses to the state?
In fact, the plans being discussed by state lead
ers would work as a double incentive NOT to build
an industry in Georgia.
First, local communities would no longer be will
ing to build the infrastructure necessary to handle
those businesses. The incentive to do so would be
gone.
Second, higher sales taxes would hit those busi
nesses hard, charging them for all kinds of goods
and services they do not now pay a sales tax on.
State officials need to consider all the conse
quences of the proposed plans they are discuss
ing before upending the current tax system. As
flawed as it is, the current system does have many
benefits that would disappear and perhaps, in the
process, do great harm to business development
in Georgia.
The Braselton News
A Publication of The Jackson Herald &
Mainstreet Newspapers, Inc.
Mike Buffington Editor & Co-Publisher
mike@mainstreetnews. com
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Advertising Manager
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Angela Gary Managing Editor
angie@mainstreetnews. com
Kerri Testement News Editor
kerri@mainstreetnews. com
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PO Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549
General Phone: 706-367-5233
Braseltoons
by John Sheppard
letters
Responds to
parade letter
Dear Editor:
Last week, a letter was printed titled, “Why no
parade in Braselton?”
Mr. Jeff Rodes said that he had to tell his 7-year-
old that “there will be no parade this year.”
While Mr. Rodes was correct in stating there
was no parade this year, what needs to be known
is that there was no parade due to circumstances
beyond Mayor Pat Graham’s control and had noth
ing to do with any specific community.
The Braselton Business Association co-spon
sors the annual “Christmas in Braselton” festivities,
which include lighting of the town tree, a movie
in the park and a parade, all to begin the holiday
season each year.
Even though we could not have a parade this
year, we did hold the traditional “Christmas in
Braselton.” This year’s festivities were held on
Saturday, November 3, and as always, all activi
ties were free, well-attended, and enjoyed by
hundreds.
We are sorry Mr. Rodes missed this annual,
family event. Hopefully, he will be able to make it
next year.
Sincerely,
Carlos Llorens
President
Braselton Business Association
Georgia leaders aren’t warming
IN THE rational part of our world, there is widespread agreement among scien
tists that temperatures are getting warmer and that humans have contributed to this
warming by producing large amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued several
reports this year, based on input from more than 2,000 climate scientists from 130
countries, that support the theory that human activities are a major cause of global
warming.
During a recent conference in Indonesia, more than 200 of
the world’s leading climate scientists urged government lead
ers to act quickly to slow global warming because “there is no
time to lose.”
Even Republican governors from southern states such as
Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Charlie Crist of Florida are
taking positive steps to assess the effects of global warming
and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
We are seeing the effects of this climate change in Georgia.
Global warming is thought to be a major contributing factor
to the droughts that are drying up water sources not just here
but around the world (Australia is now in the 10th year of a
drought). Our state was baked by record-breaking tempera
tures in excess of 100 degrees for much of last summer.
Even President George W. Bush, whose administration spent more than six years
denying the existence of global warming, has reluctantly conceded that the prob
lem is real.
Given that preponderance of evidence, what are our political leaders in Georgia
doing to address this issue? Well . . . nothing.
Gov. Sonny Perdue, unlike his Republican colleagues, has appointed no commit
tees to study it and doesn’t mention the issue in his public utterances. His major
environmental thrust this year was to promote a series of bass fishing tournaments
- which, ironically, were cancelled because of the drought that global warning has
helped induce.
As for the leadership in the General Assembly, they have generally said that
global warming is either an unproved concept or a phony issue amped up by the
“hysteria” of environmentalists.
Legislators in the House and Senate have held committee hearings this year that
were dominated by global warming deniers from right-wing think tanks who receive
up to the idea of global warming
funding from oil and energy companies.
The most recent of these hearings was held on the Senate side last week and fea
tured a full-bore attack on people who believe all that so-called scientific evidence
from Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg).
“I would not say that there’s an overwhelming consensus in the area of global
warming,” said Seabaugh, possibly the most untrue comment uttered by a lawmak
er this year. This is the same Seabaugh who several months ago remarked, “I will
venture a guess that in 10 years we won’t be talking about global warming, but we’ll
still be talking about how we produce electricity in a cost-efficient, environmentally
friendly way.”
Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry), the chairman of the natural resources committee,
opined that global warming could really be a good thing for Georgia because it was
preventing the onslaught of another ice age.
“Would you agree that we’re at a better stage today than we would be in an ice
age?” Tolleson asked one of the hearing witnesses. The answer, from another global
warming denier, was affirmative.
It’s not hard to figure out the origin of a lot of this opposition. The Southern Co.,
which owns Georgia Power, has been a dominant force in state politics for decades.
Georgia Power operates coal-burning generation plants that are among the biggest
producers of carbon gases in America.
Lawmakers like Sen. David Adelman (D-Decatur) plan to introduce legislation that
would require 15 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable resources
by 2020 - a concept known as a renewable portfolio standard. Requiring Southern
Co. to switch to these less-noxious forms of power generation would be costly and
put a dent in corporate profits.
The current generation of legislative leadership, needless to say, is not about to
stand in the way of corporate profits. Thus, we see them pushing back against the
consensus of the mainstream scientific community.
This should not be a surprise to anyone who’s followed Georgia politics. After all,
we have an elected state school superintendent who tried to remove all references
to evolution from the high school science curriculum a few years ago.
In years to come, as you’re baking in 105-degree temperatures and hoping that
the drought lets up enough so they can stop rationing water, you can take comfort
in knowing that at least it’s good for business.
Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report, an Internet news
site at www.gareport.com that covers government and politics in Georgia.
Kerri
Testement
kerri@mainstreet-
news.com
No such thing
as ‘perfect’
Christmas
MY FAVORITE holiday movie is
“National Lampoon’s Christmas
Vacation.”
Perhaps it’s one of the funniest
movies of all time because of its
simple premise — a father’s deter
mination to make
his family have a
“traditional,” all-
American Christ
mas celebration.
But the truth
is that few of us
have “traditional”
Christmas ex
periences. Try
as we may, like
Clark Griswold,
it just ain’t gonna
happen.
As a child, our home in Texas
was that “Christmas freakazoid”
house that went overboard with
holiday decorations. There was a
Santa in our yard, Smurfs singing
carols, more Smurfs decorating a
tree, decorations around the front
door, and plenty of lights covering
most of the house. We were the
Griswolds of the neighborhood.
As an adult, I’ve opted to skip
many of the excessive outdoor
decorations.
And when I did try putting up
holiday lights at my house this
year, most of them were no longer
working. Oh, the frustration (and
cursing) that followed. That, too, is
a great scene in the movie — the
frustration, turned to obsession, to
get those stupid lights to work.
Inside the house, our Christmas
tree this year is one that Charlie
Brown would adore. It’s lean
ing a good bit, but my husband
refuses to touch it again until the
thing actually falls over. In years to
come, we’ll probably laugh at how
pathetic it looks in family photos.
Our cat is also determined to ei
ther play with the lights on the tree
or drink all of its water. That’s one
scene from “Christmas Vacation” I
don't want to see with my cat.
Shopping for that matter, isn’t as
“fun" as it used to be. Too many
people during the holidays are
either too rude or too rushed to be
kind to others at the mall.
That’s one reason why I hate
shopping during the holidays. So,
instead, I resort to giving people
gift cards — the recipient gets
what they want, even if it’s not an
actual gift or money. I also haven’t
found any “forgotten” Christmas
gifts hidden in my house — just
gift cards that I have forgotten to
use.
Christmas also means that few
us attend just one, big family
gathering. Divorce, separations
and other family situations have
resulted in the “Christmas fam
ily spree.” That involves visita
tions among numerous locations
— sometimes over a two-week
period around Christmas — with
family members.
While you may get more than
one Christmas dinner at these
gatherings, it also means shuffling
a complex schedule to attend ev
ery family event. And don’t forget
all of the other Christmas-related
special events at church, school
and work.
Christmas isn’t perfect for any of
us, but it’s still a time to enjoy with
family.
Kerri Testement is the news edi
tor for The Braselton News. Her
e-mail address is kerri@main-
streetnews.com.