Newspaper Page Text
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2006
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
You can have input, too
Houston Countians interested in the
future development of the county
will have one more chance to view
the Joint Comprehensive plan and make
comments.
The second presentation will be held in
Centerville Thursday.
The Comprehensive Plan is a product of
cooperative input from all four governments
in the county - county commissioners and
city officials in Perry, Warner Robins and
Centerville - as well as volunteers.
It is an interesting and forward-thinking
plan. It includes recommendations that
will determine
how our coun
ty looks in
future years
and, if finally
adopted and
used, will pro
vide for some
interesting
developments.
Most inter
esting to us is
the so-called
“Crossroads
Community
Character
Area.” The
plan calls for
special atten-
tion to Bonaire, Kathleen, Grovania, Elko
and Henderson for special attention and
ordinances that can make them more than
just names on a map.
The plan wants to retain the “uniqueness”
of these communities with planned growth
and ordinances that do not let them become
like other parts of the county where growth
has outpaced considerations of livability.
Widening of Highway 96 through Bonaire,
for instance, can be a blessing or a curse.
The planners want to discourage strip com
mercial development through Bonaire.
Standards for building design, parking
areas and architectural elements can make
Bonaire more than just another unattract
ive crossroads.
The planners have looked ahead to devel
opment of more than 20,000 acres of the
Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area,
which now is privately owned and may
become a city in itself, with commercials
development, homes, apartments, fire sta
tion, schools, recreation area and more.
There is potential for Kathleen to become
“an integrated community where indus
trial, commercial and residential are linked
together into a village concept connected by
an alternative transportation system.”
Haynesville and Grovania could remain
basically what they are today, in the view of
the planners, residential communities with
small businesses to serve them.
There also are recommendations for green
spaces, bike paths and other recreation
areas in the county.
The Comprehensive Plan is ambitious.
In our view, what is being recommended is
doable.
To implement the plan, as proposed, will
call for some strong ordinances and the
willpower on the part of elected officials not
to bow to any kind of pressure from any
source.
We urge any citizens seeking more infor
mation about the Comprehensive Plan or
wanting to review or comment on the
plan to attend the meeting in Centerville
Thursday.
Worth Repeating
“The idea that only a limited number of people can live
in a country is profound illusion. It all depends on their
cooperative and inventive power.”
Winston Churchill, 1874-196$
British Prime Minister (Conservative)
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
The plan wants
tn retain the
"uniqueness" of these
communities with
planned growth and
ordinances that do
not let them become
like other parts of
the county where
growth has outpaced
considerations of
livability.
Politicians keep taxes taxing
The federal government needs
more money. Where can the
money come from? President
Bush and members of Congress know
where to look. They target those who
already pay the most taxes, because
there are not as many of them, and it
is popular with those who pay no taxes
or much less.
Already, the income tax system is
stacked against those who earn the
most and pay the most taxes. Not
only do they pay higher taxes as their
income increases, but they also are
placed into brackets that take a larger
percentage of their earnings.
The popular mantra is that those
who earn the most should pay the
most. Even if they were not targeted
for higher brackets they would pay
more because they earn more.
Means testing is the sneaky way
they get to those who earn the most.
Deductions for state income taxes,
child support and other normal deduc
tions are reduced as income goes up,
until they no longer exist.
This is the backdoor way of increas
ing taxes with the least complaints.
There are not as many people to com
plain, so they are ignored.
The upcoming increase in Medicare
Part B premiums is another way to
make those who earn more pay more ...
again. They are targeted from all direc
tions - higher income taxes, brackets
that take a higher percentage of earn
ings, fewer deductions and higher pre
miums for Medicare.
This is popular because about 5 per
cent of all taxpayers actually pay more
than 50 percent of total income taxes
j p Hcno iv'im/
The Associated (with terrorists) Press
The Associated Press proudly
calls itself the “essential global
news network” and a “bastion
of the people’s right to know around
the world.” But when it comes to
the “people’s right to know” whether
Associated Press employees are coop
erating with terrorists overseas, the
“essential global news network’s”
motto is: Bug off.
On April 12, I learned from mili
tary sources that an Associated Press
photographer in Iraq, Fallujah native
Bilal Hussein, had been captured in
Ramadi in an apartment with insur
gents and a cache of weapons. This
was news. I asked the AP for con
firmation. Corporate spokesman Jack
Stokes informed me that company offi
cials were “looking into reports that
Mr. Hussein was detained by the U.S.
military in Iraq but have no further
details at this time.” After report
ing the alleged detention on my blog
(michellemalkin.com/archives/005941.
htm), I followed up several more times
with the AP over the past five months
for status updates on Hussein. No
reply.
On Sept. 17, the Associated Press
finally acknowledged that Hussein was
being detained. The AP’s overdue rev
elation was likely part of an attempt
to drum up sympathy for Hussein,
who has made critical public state
ments against our troops in Fallujah,
and undermine Bush administration
interrogation efforts involving military
detainees. The AP article not only
confirmed Hussein’s capture, it also
revealed (buried deep in the story)
that it knew of Hussein’s capture from
at least May 7 - when it received an
e-mail from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack
Gardner revealing bombshell details:
“The military said Hussein was cap
tured with two insurgents, including
Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged lead
er of al-Qaida in Iraq. ‘He has close
relationships with persons known to
be responsible for kidnappings, smug
gling, improvised explosive device
OPINION
“Im glad the courts are concerned about my
rights as a voter...even if I can't prove I am one!"
Foy
Evans . ’I"
Columnist
toyevansl9@cox.net HA H
that are collected.
Ninety-five percent of the public can
cheer because it does not affect them.
Congressmen count votes. They can
afford to affront the most productive
because envy on the part of those who
pay no taxes (some even receive money
they never paid as “earned income
credit”) can be turned into votes.
Republicans say they want to cut
taxe& They have done so. But they
are co-conspirators when it comes to
sneaking in the back door to use the
tax code to take back part of it.
Democrats make no bones about
their desire to increase income taxes.
There just aren’t many taxes they
don’t like, as long as they soak the
most productive so they can buy the
loyalty and votes of others. Rep. Nancy
Pelosi will be Speaker of the House
if Democrats take over this fall. Rep.
Charlie Rangel will be chairman of the
House Ways and Means Committee,
which writes tax laws. Both have
promised to eliminate all the tax cuts
made since President Bush has been in
office. This would be a tax increase for
every tax-paying American.
What used to be called rich no longer
is rich. The Alternative Minimum Tax
was devised several years ago to punish
1
Michelle M- M
Malkin
Columnist
malkin@comcast.net L^BBreSSS!
(IED) attacks and other attacks on
coalition forces,’ according to a May 7
e-mail from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack
Gardner, who oversees all coalition
detainees in Iraq.”
In fact, the Pentagon said on
Monday, after three separate indepen
dent reviews, the military had deemed
Hussein a security threat with “strong
ties to known insurgents . . . involved
in activities that were well outside
the scope of what you would expect a
journalist to be doing in that country.”
Hussein “tested positive for traces of
explosives.”
Let me repeat that: An Associated
(with terrorists) Press journalist gets
caught with an alleged al Qaeda leader
and tests positive for bomb-making
materials. That. Is. News. How does
a news organization explain away its
decision to sit on it for five months?
Like this: “The AP has worked quietly
until now, believing that would be the
best approach.”
The best approach to journalism?
No. The best approach to suppressing a
damning connection to terrorists.
The mainstream media enjoys mock
ing bloggers as journalistic wannabes
who don’t do any “real” reporting and
have no concern for the “public inter
est.” But as in the case of the Reuters
photo-faking debacle this summer, it
is bloggers in their little home offices
- not the professionals on the ground
thousands of miles away - who smoked
out a war story with profound national
security implications. Well before I
reported on Hussein’s capture, military
bloggers and media watchdog bloggers
had raised persistent questions over
the past two years about Hussein’s
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
the wealthy. As incomes have gone up
the middle class is being victimized by
this vindictive tax and before long we
can expect something to be done about
it. When taxes begin biting the broad
middle class members of Congress
start hearing from large numbers of
constituents. This tax no longer penal
izes a small group with little clout. It
is becoming an albatross around the
necks of savvy politicians because it
is reaching down to the middle class
taxpayers.
Support for the so-called Fair Tax - a
national sales tax - is mounting, but
is a long way from being accepted by
the politicians in Washington. It would
deprive them of their most important
tool, which is keeping a huge under
class dependent on government money
for survival. This plus class envy adds
up to a powerful political tool. Most
politicians will fight with their last
breaths against anything that does not
translate into votes.
We have just gone through a period
where income taxes were reduced and
the economy has grown rapidly. The
pendulum may not swing after the
mid-term elections, but it certainly
will after the next presidential election
when the high tax breed of politicians
moves into decision making position.
When that happens and the incen
tive to keep more of what you earn
completely disappears many entrepre
neurs and producers will pull back and
forget about earning more to pay even
more. Many people who work two jobs
will decide it is not worth the extra
effort. The incentive for them to create
more wealth will have disappeared.
relationship with terrorists in Iraq and
whether his photos were staged in col
lusion with our enemies.
Hussein’s up-close-and-personal
insurgent propaganda photos include
a Pulitzer Prize-winning image of four
terrorists in Fallujah firing a mor
tar and small arms at our troops in
November 2004, several chilling photos
with terrorists before, during and after
the Iraqi desert execution of kidnapped
Italian civilian hostage Salvatore
Santoro, and repeat images of Sunni
locals in Theater of Jihad poses.
In an investigation of war photo
staging and fakery earlier this spring,
National Journal’s Neil Munro exposed
another dubious Hussein photo taken
in October 2005 of a purported funeral
image outside Ramadi. An accompa
nying article claimed the U.S. had
bombed the crowd including 18 chil
dren. But according to the military,
video footage of the air strike against
terrorist roadside bombers in that inci
dent showed only what appeared to be
grown men where the bomb struck.
Munro reported: “AP officials declined
to make Hussein available for an inter
view.” The Hussein case may be the tip
of the iceberg. In December 2005, AP
television footage was used to spread
bogus reports of a fake “uprising” in
Ramadi. Earlier this spring, indepen
dent milblogger Bill Roggio identified
another suspicious AP/Hussein-photo
graphed scene in Ramadi
And blogger Clarice Feldman at The
American Thinker recently highlight
ed an Iraqi intelligence document that
bragged about “one of our sources
(the degree of trust in him is good)
who works in the American Associated
Press Agency”
I e-mailed the AP yesterday to find
out whether any other AP employees
are currently in military detention.
The people have a “right to know,
don’t they?
Michelle Malkin is author of the new
book “Unhinged: Exposing Liberals
Gone Wild.” Her e-mail address is
malkin@comcast.net.