Newspaper Page Text
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♦ THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2007
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Group Marketing
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Winning the war in Iraq
On Tuesday morning, televisions
around the world were broadcasting
images of U.S. fighter aircraft streak
ing across the Iraqi sky.
, In addition to that, they were panning
to images of Apache helicopters weaving
back and forth, back and forth over the city
in constant vigilance and in search of the
enemy.
■ They, the two delivery platforms - intent
on delivering death to insurgents - were
reportedly engaged in a major battle that
had been, at that point in the morning,
going on for seven hours.
' Isn’t it inter
esting to note?
For months
dHave we got
ten into years
now?) we have
had this con
stant debate
raging over
whether or
not we’re win
ning the war
in Iraq.
Individually,
it’s a monu
mental issue
because it
doesn’t matter
which war we’re engaged in even the loss of
one U.S. soldier, sailor airman or Marine is
■ too many.
‘ And then there are politicians. They have
made it their centerpiece, many arguing for,
plenty of others against.
Some have said nothing but withdrawal
will do. Others have said: “No. We must
. stay the course.”
Yet many more take a middle-of-the-road
approach. President Bush some weeks ago
remained somewhat silent in the midst of
some heavy Democratic threats (promises
if you please) leading to media speculation
even he was hedging on the subject.
Now, however, he’s come on strong with
reports he plans on increasing troop strength
by 20,000 and announcing a new program
that will speed up reconstruction efforts
and provide jobs for Iraqis.
All the while that’s being reported, howev
er, Democrats are reportedly making prepa
rations to cut off funding.
The bottom line is: Given the barrage
from every conceivable angle, sometimes we
really don’t know what to think.
To that end, we would encourage you to
look again at those images. In them may be
some very critical clues.
Look again at those fighter aircraft. Look
again at those Apache helicopters. Do you
see anything missing?
That’s right. Opposition.
Our U.S. forces are patrolling the skies
pretty much at will, accomplishing their
mission with what appears to be no resis
tance. In other words, they are in control.
Are we winning the war in Iraq?
Those images send the signal we already
have.
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Audrey Evans
Vice President
Marketing!Advertising
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Yet many more take
a middle-of-the-road
approach. President
Bush a couple some
weeks ago remained
silent in the midst of
some heavy Democratic
threats (promises if you
please) leading to media
speculation even he was
hedging on the subject.
Will tax cuts become reality?
Usually when the Georgia
Legislature convenes we
taxpayers have good rea
son to watch our pockethooks.
This time it appears to be a different
story.
Gov. Sonny Perdue and members in
both the House and Senate are talking
tax cuts and, this time, I really believe
it will happen.
Sonny’s tenure as governor has been
interesting. When he took office the
state was hurting financially. This has
turned around dramatically and the
governor, as well as leaders in the
Legislature, agree that the state now
is awash in money. And they want to
let taxpayers benefit, instead of look
ing for new ways to spend money on
new and, usually, wasteful and useless
programs.
Sonny is on record wanting to elimi
nate the state income tax burden on
retirees. He has not clearly defined
what he means by “retirees” because
there are at least two kinds of retir
ees.
First, there are retirees receiving
retirement checks from their previous
jobs, such as the base or private busi
nesses. There also are retirees who did
not work for the government or a busi
ness that provided retirement benefits
and had to set aside money from which
they now receive interest or dividends.
They are not part of any approved
retirement program, but they deserve
the same treatment as those who are.
Some members of the Legislature
have their own tax cutting proposals.
There is the suggestion that ad valor-
n i a ( i , oft '<’■«
" ...Second terms always take a lot of pluck!"
DVDs, lony and the uselessness of ah* hand dryers
I have come to some conclusions.
They are as follows:
Di I don’t like DVDs.
I have come to this verdict not out of
some anti-technological mindset, but
rather out of an aversion to inconve
nience.
For instance, with a VHS (which
stands for “Very Helpful Stuff”), when
you stop a tape, you can come back
later and start your movie at your
exact previous stopping point. Not so
with a DVD (which stands for “Dang
Vexing Dooflunky”). You have to skip
ahead, then you go past where you
wanted to stop, then you reverse back
farther than you were supposed to.
The fact that you have to press play
again after the previews is also bother
some. All that button-pressing makes
my fingers hurt.
In addition, the notion that the DVD
is indestructible is flatly false. A DVD,
I have found, does not function prop
erly after being handled by children
who were eating caramel popcorn.
A DVD is also too petite, and thus
able to be hidden in small, thin places
where I can’t find it, resulting in exces
sive fines from the movie store.
■ I no longer think that little boys
are made of snips and snails and puppy
O PINION
em (property) taxes on automobiles be
dropped. At least, on part of the value
of the automobile. The legislator mak
ing this proposal points out that almost
every Georgian has at least one auto
mobile, often more than one.
Local governments rely heavily on
property taxes on automobiles. Unless
local governments are going to be reim
bursed for the revenue they would lose
there will be a groundswell of opposi
tion from city and county officials all
over the state.
The legislator has suggested that
the local governments collect property
taxes on automobiles as in the past
with the state reimbursing individual
owners of cars.
Another suggestion is to go to a flat
income tax on everyone. I thought we
already had a flat 6 percent income tax,
but perhaps the legislator wants to do
away with exemptions.
And there is the proposal to elimi
nate the state income tax and replace
it with a higher sales tax.
The ideas keep coming.
The good thing for taxpayers is that
one of the tax cutting plans, or a com
bination of some, eventually will be
passed by the Legislature and signed
into law by the governor.
dog tails, as the nursery rhymes and
the medical profession would lead us
to believe.
As the father of two boys, ages 5 and
2, I think that little boys are made pri
marily of snot - which, in all fairness,
is quite similar to snails.
■ I don’t like air hand dryers.
I’m no hand dryer scientist, but I
always thought the purpose of dry
ing your hands was to get them dry
- meaning, no water on them. The air
hand dryer fails on this simple task,
unless you have a couple of hours,
and drops of water, on your hands. I
much prefer the always-empty, quick
ly-becoming-extinct, paper towel dis
penser. It’s much quicker and more
effective.
And why on earth do some public
restrooms still have that cloth rolling
towel thing. That’s a germ incubator.
Hp,
" i'IPP. jHppi
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
**■ jL
1 1
1... -
Len
Robbins
Columnist
airpub@planttel.net
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
It sounds almost like hallucinations
to be talking about tax cuts. Most
politicians don’t know what the words
mean. Their idea of good government
is to collect as many tax dollars as
possible and then distribute them on
programs that will get them votes in
the next election.
Good news of this kind is hard to
come by.
All of us should be thrilled and appre
ciative ... of course, once a tax cut
becomes law.
No such good news from the nation’s
capital.
The newly constituted Congress
began talking about raising taxes
before they ever were sworn in.
The claim they will increase taxes
only on the “top one and a half per
cent” of taxpayers so that they can give
it to the middle class.
If they really are interested in Help
ing the middle class all they have to do
is eliminate the odorous Alternative
Minimum Tax. This is a tax that
originally was adopted to punish high
income taxpayers and now it is hurt
ing the middle class. Eliminate this tax
and help the middle income taxpayers
immediately.
For the record, though they talked
about eliminating the AMT during
the political races last fall Senate and
House leaders already have disavowed
such tax reform now that they are in
charge.
Help for taxpayers from Atlanta. No
help and probably higher taxes from
Washington.
That’s how it looks from here.
That contraption should have been
banned years ago by the CDC (which
stands for “Center for Dangerous
Contraptions”). Judging by the qual
ity of bathrooms I see them in, they
probably did.
If there aren’t paper towels avail
able, I’m better off drying my hands
the old-fashioned way - by putting
them in my pockets.
■ Greed is the most prevalent and
destructive sin in the world today, but
nobody wants to talk about it because
it’s the sin that tempts us most.
■ The other day, my son told me that
when he plays college football for the
Georgia Bulldogs, he wanted to have a
nickname.
Thrilled by his interest in sports, I
asked him what he wanted his nick
name to be, thinking he would say “The
Mauler” or “The Homerville Flash” or
“Senor Smoke.” He told me he wanted
his football-playing nickname to be
“Tony.”
I have determined that I should
always expect the unexpected in
regards to my children.
■ I have come to the conclusion that
the United States will no longer be
addicted to oil - by 3790.
That is all.