Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2006
Mmiatan journal
OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Some relief for teachers
Georgians will enjoy another tax
free holiday within a couple of
weeks and cash registers should
ring merrily as a result.
The period, during which exempts qual
ified items from all state and local sales
taxes, runs from Aug. 3 to midnight Aug.
6.
School supplies costing less than S2O
will be tax exempt. Clothing and foot
wear will be exempt from sales taxes
up to SIOO per item. Personal comput
ers and accessories, including printers
and other peripherals, are exempt up to
$1,500.
It’s a great
time to make
some com
puter pur
chases that
have been
put off.
This tax
free holiday
is scheduled
just in time
for parents
to purchase
back-to
school sup
plies and
clothing.
It has been
pointed out
that this will
be a good
time for teachers to use their SIOO gift
cards from the state to purchase school
supplies.
In our opinion, Gov. Sonny Perdue’s
action that gives teachers SIOO each to
purchase school supplies is a good one.
As a matter of fact, we believe that it is
a terrible thing that teachers in the past
have had to dig into their own pocket
books to purchase supplies for their stu
dents to use in the classrooms.
The SIOO gift cards probably will fall
short of the amount of money that most
teachers will spend during the school
year. But it is a start.
You would imagine that supplies would
be part of the cost of educating our chil
dren and should come from taxpayers.
Apparently they don’t come under the
umbrella of things the school board can
support.
It is ironic that while we bemoan the
low salaries that are paid to educators
we ask them to use their own money for
such purposes.
Of course, most schools have money
raising projects throughout the school
year, ranging from magazine subscrip
tions, sales of candy and refunds from
restaurants where parents identify
themselves as being associated with a
particular school.
We are yet to find parents who are
thrilled about these money-making proj
ects. Some parents send their children
around the neighborhood or to relatives
to purchase items that are on sale. Other
parents just buy the items themselves.
Schools do need supplies. If they are
not provided as part of the cost of oper
ating a school, money must come from
somewhere to supply them.
At least, we should not continue to call
on teachers to foot the bill. The SIOO
card provides some relief.
WORTH REPEATING
“No one seems to care for anything but about money
today. Nothing is held of account except the bank
accounts. Quality, education, civic distinction, public vir
tue seem each year to be valued less and less.”
- Winston Churchill, 1874-1965
British Prime Minister
Speech, Glasgow, Scotland, 1904
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
In oup opinion, Gov.
Sonny Perdue’s action
that gives teachers
SIOO each to purchase
school supplies is a
good one. As a matter
ol fact, we believe that
It is a terrible thing that
teachers in the past
have had to dig into
their own pocketbooks
to purchase supplies
for their students to
use in the classrooms.
Group organizing for White House ran
Some of the men who
helped steer Jimmy
Carter’s campaign and
upset victory for President
in 1976 have their eyes set
on another political upset
in 2008.
They are going to use the
Internet, they hope, to orga
nize a third political party
to challenge the Republicans
and Democrats.
Their organization is
called Unityoß.
Brains behind the pro
posed third party are former
Carter loyalists and strate
gists Hamilton Jordan and
Gerald Rafshoon, with Doug
Bailey, a former Republican
operative, joining hands to
create a political party that
will defy the extremists in
both major political parties.
They actually believe that
they can put together a
party that can win the 2008
Presidential election.
They have pointed out that
Ross Perot received about 20
percent of the vote in 1992.
Though he did not win the
election his presence on the
ballot siphoned off enough
Republican votes to give the
election to Bill Clinton.
Peggy Noonan, renowned
as the brilliant speech
writer for President Ronald
Reagan, has been quoted
as saying “we’re at a new
I VICTIMS OF KATRIMA. AMD RITAf 02006 CREATORS SYNDICATE. INC. * (
Republican leadeps need a reality check
Ronald Reagan
Republican voters
are speaking, and the
GOP needs to start listen
ing.
On July 18, former
Christian Coalition execu
tive director Ralph Reed
was blown away by his more
moderate opponent in the
Georgia Republican primary
race for lieutenant governor.
Reed had hung his hat on a
theme of “faith and family
values.”
Earlier this year, former
Alabama Supreme Court
Justice Roy Moore banked
on his reputation as the self
proclaimed “keeper of the
Ten Commandments” to get
elected governor. He was
pummeled in the GOP pri
mary.
In Florida, the man I call
the South’s most charismat
ic “movie-star metrosexual,”
Attorney General Charlie
Crist, will likely defeat long
time GOP officeholder Tom
Gallagher in their primary
race to replace Jeb Bush as
governor. (“Metrosexual”
isn’t a slur, or even a ref
erence to sexuality. It’s a
trendy new fashion term.)
The able and likable
Gallagher reportedly plans
to intensify his own Ralph
Reed-style campaign theme
in an effort to overtake Crist,
whom he trails in the polls.
That will signal the begin
ning of the end of Gallagher’s
ultimate chances as well.
The list goes on.
All of this reflects a shift
in sentiment among conser
vative voters.
Remember the “Reagan
Democrats”?
They threw Jimmy Carter
out of the White House.
It wasn’t that they didn’t
believe he was a sincere
Christian, or that he didn’t
OPINION
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
beginning, something big is
about to happen.”
Organizers of Unityoß
point out that both parties
pander to extremists. They
say that 64 percent of the
people have shown some
interest in another political
party because they are sick
of what they have been get
ting.
I’m interested in fol
lowing this movement.
Defeated Presidential can
didate Howard Dean used
the Internet in 2004 with
great success, both in raising
money and putting together
an organization. Joe Twitty,
the brains behind Dean’s
Internet success, is said to
be signing on with Unityoß.
The triumvirate behind
Unity 08 believes that the
road to the White House can
be through the Internet with
an agenda aimed at middle
Matthew Towery
Columnist
Morris News Service
have high moral character,
as he often implied (when
he wasn’t openly proclaim
ing it). It was because they
saw him as unwilling to face
reality.
Carter had responded
to the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan by expressing
shock and disappointment.
But that’s pretty much all he
did. His response to an ener
. gy crisis was to ask everyone
to don sweaters and turn
down their thermostats.
As interest rates rose and
the economy sank, Carter
offered little in the way of
concrete policy to counter
vail these trends.
In response to his collec
tive nonresponse, practical
minded Democrats aban
doned Carter and helped
propel Republican Reagan
into the office.
Switch to the present.
With less than four months
until the general election,
the GOP-led Congress has
been “holding hearings” on
illegal immigration; “look
ing at” tax reform. As far as
actual votes on actual bills
- or constitutional amend
ments - they have reserved
that for measures to pro
tect the American flag and
ban gay marriage, which is
already illegal most every
where.
As well-intended as all this
SBXjff InH
of the road Americans.
Is it possible that we are
entering a new era of nation
al politics? Can these for
mer Democratic operatives,
with help from a Republican
operative, put together a
grassroots organization as
successful as the one that
put Jimmy Carter in the
White House?
■ ■■
The House of
Representatives has passed
a bill which would give pres
idents line item veto power
over federal spending.
The bill is before the
Senate, where is it getting a
chilly reception.
Some senators are claiming
that by giving the President
veto power over the nation’s
spending it would erode the
power of congress.
I ; B
may be, most of it appears
to most of the public as so
much fiddling while Rome
burns.
Every national poll shows
that Americans by wide mar
gins hold the Republican
controlled Congress in very
low esteem. Even in the
conservative Deep South,
more poll respondents pre
fer that Democrats control
the Congress than they do
Republicans.
Conservatives, don’t
shoot the messenger - me!
- because of these numbers.
Instead, take to your
phones and computers, and
into the streets if necessary.
Demand that Republican
leaders find the resolve to
act tangibly about tangi
ble issues that people care
about.
Real conservatives don’t
want amnesty for illegal
aliens. And they don’t want
to wait for this crucial leg
islation while congressional
incumbents stall past the
elections.
Most conservatives want a
drastic change in the federal
tax system - not promises to
study the issue until death
do us part.
Bluntly, the Republican
Party appears divorced from
the real world and deter
mined to try to win the game
with trick plays.
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
What they really mean is
the President would be able
to veto all those pork barrel
items that are slipped into
bills in the dark of night
without any debate or public
knowledge.
A line item veto for the
President is something
sorely needed. It could save
taxpayers billions of dollars
every year.
Members of the House
of Representatives, where
money bills originate, were
willing to give the President
this power. It is a shame that
greedy, self-serving senators
probably will stand in the
way of this reform.
■ ■■
A friend took note of my
column last week, in which
I pointed out the disparity
between gasoline prices here
and in Albany. He reported
to me that when he was in
Macon last weekend gaso
line was 10 cents a gallon
more than in Warner Robins
at stations with the same
name.
They receive gasoline sold
in Warner Robins from the
same pipeline at the same
terminal in Bibb County as
gasoline sold in Macon.
Because of the price of a
barrel of oil? You tell me.
I respect President
Bush’s personal convic
tion on embryonic stem-cell
research.
And I know that we proba
bly get one-sided media cov
erage of the merits of this
research from its advocates.
But politically, it seems
nuts to me that Congress
would reverse course and
suddenly support additional
research, knowing full well
that President Bush would
bring the lot of them nega
tive headlines by vetoing
their bill.
It was the first veto of his
six years in office, and he
exercised it against a posi
tion that 60-plus percent
of Americans support! Talk
about bad press.
Take it from me - I’ve
seen election years when
flags, faith and “they are
too liberal” can win races
for Republicans. And these
issues will always sell books
and draw radio callers.
But I’ve also seen years
when too much apple pie
gave the public a stomach
ache. I know the Democrats
have poor policy alterna
tives, when they have them
at all.
But much of the public
doesn’t necessarily know
that - or even care.
We’re getting down to the
nitty-gritty in electoral poli
tics. The Republicans are try
ing to hold on to Congress. If
they want a lesson in how to
blow it, they need only look
at recent primary election
results in key spots across
the nation.
To find out more about
Matthew Towery and read
features by other Creators
Syndicate writers and car
toonists, visit the Creators
Syndicate Web page at www.
creators.com.