Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, February 1,2023
FAYETTE VIEWS
A4 Fayette County News
Nailing the
Middle Class
I was once a GOP local elected official. And the chair of
the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia’s Tax
Committee. I’m no longer a Republican. Here’s one reason
why.
The GOP has become a fiscally irresponsible group. It
does not believe in paying the debts that the federal gov
ernment has already incurred via spending already ap
proved by the House and Senate and signed by this and
past Presidents, like Donald Trump.
That’s what “raising the debt ceiling” means. It has
nothing to do with future obligations. It relates simply to
paying off what the government al
ready owes for military and non-mil
itary expenditures.
The GOP has gone from a fiscally
conservative (cost-benefit based)
party to something quite different.
What, you may ask. Well, a party that
simply does not want the wealthy
and large corporations to pay taxes
and develops its fiscal policies
around that one aspect of budgeting
(https://itep.org/fair-tax-plan-
would-abolish-irs-shift-federal-taxes-from-wealthy).
And that leads them to want to cut programs which
Americans want and love, like Social Security and Medi
care. Of course, GOP political types do not use these words.
They say, “Entitlements are bankrupting the U.S.,” or “En
titlements are why we have a large deficit.”
Per the GAO, “entitlements” means “payments of benefits
to any person that meets the eligibility required,” which “in
clude Social Security, unemployment insurance, and Medi
care,” (https://www.gao.gov/assets/122637.pdf). Say the
words, GOP politicos!
I recently attended a Georgia Budget and Planning In
stitute conference where Democrat Bee Nguyen and Re
publican Brian Robinson debated budget issues. Both are
very sharp but have diametrically opposed budgeting phi
losophies.
Robinson made statements consistent with those above,
avoiding defining “entitlements.” This tactic is consistent
with other GOP figures who have made similar statements.
For example, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga) said, “Our main
focus has got to be on nondiscretionary - it’s got to be on
entitlements,” such as “Social Security and Medicare.”
At least Florida Sen. Rick Scott has said, “We've got to
start being honest with the public that - what's our plan?
Medicare is going bankrupt; Social Security is going bank
rupt," (https://www.salon.com/2022/11/07/rick-scott-
called-out-for-wanting-to-cut-medicare-and-social-securit
y_partner/). But Scott’s stated solution under his plan is to
review those programs for cuts every five years.
I was a top-level planning and budget person in govern
ment and industry for decades. To put it simply, a financial
statement, whether for government, NFP, or a business,
has two key components, revenue and expenses, i.e., not
just spending.
Think about you own household budget. You don’t want
to spend more than you bring in. If you want more things,
you can get a better paying job or a second job to make
more money. Or you can cut your wants and just address
your needs.
The government is the same way. It can reduce expen
ditures and should, when it comes to “pork” (such as planes
the generals say are unneeded or bridges to nowhere in
Alaska).
But when services are valuable, like Social Security and
Medicare, the solution may be to increase taxes on corpo
rations. And reversing the tax cuts that Trump and the GOP
gave the wealthy in its 2017 giveaway law.
JACK BERNARD
Balancing Act
B alance is just one of the many things in our daily
lives that we take for granted. Sort of like breathing:
you rarely give it a second thought when you can do
it, but you’ll definitely notice when you suddenly can’t.
Trust me; I know what I’m talking about.
The last time I remember taking my balance for
granted - and that’s only because I still had some sem
blance of it - George Bush was in the White House. I
can’t remember which Bush and I’m reluctant to guess,
because it’s likely it was the older of the two.
The first time I noticed I was losing my balance was
when I was pulled over by one of
Tyrone’s finest about 15 years ago.
It was 1:30 a.m. after a very long
day that began with a 20-mile run
at 4 a.m. the morning before and
ended with the annual office
Christmas party that I had just left.
Long story short: the police
man asked me to step out of the car
and walk a straight line, 20 paces,
heel-to-toe. I had a better chance of
running 20 more miles.
As it was, I didn’t stand a chance. Speaking of stand,
I could barely do that either, after being on my feet all
day. That being said, I didn’t have a prayer of walking in
a straight line.
Then the policeman asked me to stand on one leg. I’ll
spare you the details, but I will tell you that shortly after
that, I was taking a breathalyzer test. Fortunately, I
passed it with flying colors.
Unfortunately, I realized my balance was long gone.
Now, my balance seems to worsen by the day. Yester-
SCOTT LUDWIG
Falling Short of Perfection
Is Not Due to Lack of Effort
uccess, like most things, is rel
ative.
If a Major League Baseball
player posts a lifetime batting aver
age of .400 (meaning he failed three
out of every five times he stepped to
the plate), it is likely that he will be
inducted into the Hall of Fame.
In last week’s edition, Fayette
County News ran a rather large, dis
play notice announcing the 10th An
nual Groundhog Day Breakfast for
Thursday, Feb.
2, at the fair
grounds. Un
fortunately for
FCN, those
fairgrounds are
in Fayette
County, Ohio.
We own
that error, we
regret it, and
we apologize
for any confusion it caused our
readers. We also apologize for any
inconvenience it created for the Fay
ette County, Georgia Chamber of
Commerce. We can only hope that
some of the calls received by the
chamber resulted in membership
sales.
However, the accuracy of the an
nouncement cannot be denied:
There will be a Groundhog Day
Breakfast Thursday in Fayette
County, Ohio. And for those who
wish to travel, there also will be a
popular celebration in Punxsutaw-
ney, Penn, featuring a furry, little fel-
I have a cardinal rule that I have
obeyed for several decades of practic
ing criminal (defense) law: When I
take on a client, whether the charge
is murder, mayhem, or jaywalking, I
strongly, without exception, tell
them, “Do not talk to anyone except
your counsel about your case. If you
are a high-profile defendant, do not
give interviews, no matter the remu
neration offered for an exclusive.
Just SHUT
UP!”
Well, Alec
Baldwin would
not shut up and
is now charged
with invol
untary man
slaughter.
I digress.
Below is the
law in Georgia
that defines
“involuntary manslaughter.” It is the
same as New Mexico, except the pun
ishment.
The Official Code of Georgia pro
vides the following: “A person com
mits the offense of involuntary
manslaughter in the commission of a
lawful act in an unlawful manner
when he causes the death of another
human being without any intention
to do so... And upon conviction
thereof, shall be punished as for a
misdemeanor,” (Italics are mine)
His actions do not fit that fact pat
tern. But wait, it gets even better for
this SNL Trump impersonator. He
also has the defense of “accident.”
Accident is defined: “No person shall
low named Phil.
Despite his celebrity and per
ceived success, Phil’s weather pre
dictions are accurate less than 50
percent of the time.
Also in last week’s edition, my
business partner, Debbie McClain,
and I announced our recent pur
chase and current management of
Fayette County News. We were less
than pleased that we allowed an
error to appear in print so early in
our ownership.
One would think, with almost 70
years of media experience between
us, we could have achieved perfec
tion by now. We have not, and we
will not. Ohio Groundhog Day was
not our first mistake, and almost cer
tainly will not be our last. But we will
continue to strive for that unattain
able goal.
What we can assure our readers,
however, is this: We and our staff
will work tirelessly to improve FCN.
We believe an attainable goal is to
provide quality, comprehensive,
local news, presented accurately and
objectively, along with features and
opinions relevant to this area.
We intend to regain and build the
trust, confidence, and respect of the
Fayette community, and we wel
come the challenge. We also wel
come feedback - both good and bad
- from residents, readers, and adver
tisers. We are passionate about what
we do, and we take pride in our
See Turner, A5
be found guilty of any crime com
mitted by misfortune or accident in
which there was no criminal scheme,
undertaking, or intention (or crim
inal negligence).”
Determined, as is the wont of lib
eral dotards who are caught with
their Pampers down, Baldwin seeks
a total purgation, an ablution, and re
instatement to his former position of
cinema’s finest. So, he trots over to
Good Morning America and chums
up with George Stephanopoulos, a
fellow traveler, for an explanatory
aperCus, a chat and a chaw, if you
will, about the shooting.
Stephanopoulos is giddy for an
exclusive one-on-one interview with
Baldwin and eggs on the Hollywood
eidolon for a primetime expose from
Baldwin’s perspective. Baldwin is
bubbling with an effervescence of in
nocence that only a trained actor or
seal can muster and asserts (straight
faced and against his lawyer’s advice
of silence), “I never pulled the
trigger.”
Just in case his vast national au
dience did not hear it the first time,
Stephanopoulos asks Baldwin to re
peat the trigger remark. Baldwin,
now in his chevalier mode, repeats,
“I never pulled the trigger.”
Little did Baldwin know that
mere minutes before the oral billet-
doux with Stephanopoulos, the gen
tleman over at the forensic lab
published his findings and conclu
sions that the weapon in question
could not be fired absent a trigger
See Studdard, A6
When is a
Surplus Not
a Surplus?
F or the second year in a row, the
State of Georgia’s fiscal coffers
are overflowing. Literally.
The state’s rainy-day fund is at
its legal limit. Funds from tax reve
nues are still coming in above pro
jection. There is still some federal
covid relief money yet to be spent.
It’s an unusual problem, in so
much as having money in the bank
can be consid
ered a prob
lem. Oddly, if
you’re an
elected official
who must rely
on public opin
ion to remain
in office, man
aging a surplus
can be as diffi
cult as working
through a deficit.
Normally, at this point in a legis
lative session, this space would be
dedicated to explaining the major is
sues beginning to work their way
through the legislature through the
prism of the limited funds available
and the constitutional requirement
to balance a budget. This year, we
need a preamble for that.
When an extra $6 billion shows
up when the state was only expect
ing roughly $30 billion of revenue,
some detail is required.
For this explanation, we’ll look to
a presentation made during the
legislature’s “Budget Week,” which
doesn’t quite have the same viewer-
ship as Shark Week on the Discov
ery Channel but affects more of our
lives than great whites or hammer
heads.
The state’s fiscal economist, Dr.
Jeffrey Dorfman, is responsible for
forecasting the state’s annual reve
nue projection, on which the budget
is set. As such, Dr. Dorfman spent
quite a bit of time explaining why
revenues were significantly higher
than expected, and why legislators
should approach this surplus with
caution rather than glee.
Last year, 22 percent of Geor
gia’s revenues came from capital
gains taxes. That’s beyond an
aberration, at more than one out of
every five dollars of taxes collected.
While most of us were expecting
the economy to begin slowing down
last year with the end of covid sti
mulus programs, including ex
tended unemployment benefits, the
Federal Reserve’s decision to keep
interest rates at zero well after the
economy had rebounded from covid
helped to inflate prices of stocks and
real estate.
When those assets were sold at
profits, the government gets a cut of
those profits as capital gains. Corpo
rations and individuals pay these
taxes.
Now, let’s look at how housing
prices and the stock market have
fared in 2022. While the rest of the
economy has been humming along
in Georgia, generating income and
sales taxes without any anticipated
slowdown, most indexes that repre-
See Haper, A6
Alec, Just Shut Up
JAMES
STUDDARD
CHARLIE HARPER
See Ludwig, A6
