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FAYETTE VIEWS
A4 Fayette County News
Wednesday, May 31,2023
What Are You Going to
Be When You Grow Up?
CHARLIE HARPER
What are you going to be
when you grow up?
That’s the question the
high school class of 2023 has
been asked since their young
est days. Toddlers seem
much more confident in their
answers of fireman, astro
naut, or ballerina than those
in high school.
That’s quite understand
able, as they’re much closer
to making that decision while
also holding more real-world
understanding of the options
available and the difficulties
in the journey after choosing
a professional path.
For those still struggling
with this question, some
comfort should be taken that
most adults don’t have a good
answer. You can decide if it’s
additional relief or another
pitfall in that no one ever
rings a bell and says, “Time’s
up. You’re an adult now. We
need your final decision.”
Everyone must make
these decisions in their own
time. The point of today’s col
umn isn’t to say we should
quit asking the question, but
by the time a student is in
middle school, this question
should be more focused, with
the answer more intentional.
We currently spend just
left than half of the state’s
budget on K-12 education.
When we add in our univer
sity system and technical col
leges, it’s well more than half.
Add to that that roughly two-
thirds of local property taxes,
plus a quarter or a third of
local option sales taxes going
to local boards of education,
and there’s a significant share
of state and local investment
going into education.
We accept that these ex
penditures are necessary and
are the custom. No matter
what is spent, the need is al
ways greater. Perhaps gradu
ation is a decent time to
refocus on why we do this
and ask if we’re doing it cor
rectly.
At the core of our public
education system is the un
derstanding that we must
have a literate society in order
to function. The functioning
part of this society means
preparing the students of
today for the workforce of to
morrow. The most funda
mental purpose of public
education is preparing
today’s students with the
skills needed to be tomor
row’s workers.
That may sound crass,
and some will quibble with
the wording, but all the other
purposes piled onto the re
sponsibilities of our class
room teachers have this
overriding need at the foun
dation of public education.
Education is about adding
value so that the students in
some form add a greater
value back to society as
adults.
We have a student loan
repayment problem, because
too many have lost focus on
See Haper, A5
The House GOP - Living in a Bubble
JACK BERNARD
“We are also holding the
Biden administration ac
countable through more than
235 hearings.”
An April email from a
prominent GOP representa
tive (Rep. Richard Hudson of
North Carolina) stated the
above as a positive. Most
Americans who are aware of
the nature of these hearings
find them counter-productive
and a waste of taxpayer re
sources (see Navigator/Pew
surveys, below).
Certainly, the main
stream press found them
laughable, saying the GOP
approach is to “make accusa
tions first, get the facts
never.”
McCarthy and the House
GOP leadership states that
the GOP-controlled House
was “more productive” than
when Democrats were in
control. They give as exam
ples - defunding the IRS
staffing increase, ending vac
cine mandates, reversing
Biden energy policies, stop
ping Democrats’ crime pro
posals, and preventing
transgendered people from
being in sports.
The problem is not one of
these ill-informed policies
ever became law. And for
good reason - they were to
tally partisan and based on
emotion versus logic. Just
like the GOP House’s refusal
to pay our bills (i.e., raise the
debt limit, addressed below).
GOP House leadership
knew their bills would never
be approved by the Senate
and just passed them as red
meat for their increasingly
right-wing base. Plus, these
were not important issues for
the public, per several polls.
According to a recent
Navigator survey, inflation
(56 percent), the
economy/jobs (47 percent),
entitlements (30 percent),
and healthcare (29 percent)
are the public’s top priorities.
According to the same sur
vey, the public does not be
lieve that Republicans in
Congress are prioritizing any
of these areas.
Instead, the majority of
the U.S. public believes, cor
rectly in my opinion, that the
GOP is obsessed on counter
productive “oversight of the
Biden administration.” Ho
wever, only 16 percent of
voters believe that this “over
sight” is one of their own pri
orities.
A Pew Research poll
found much the same thing,
with 65 percent of voters
worried that House Repub
licans would be overly fo
cused on their Biden
investigations.
So, House leadership de
ceives their constituents
when they state that the GOP
House was highly productive
and that it “followed through
on the commitments we
made to the American
people.”
In fact, it is the least pro
ductive and effective House
in recent memory, based on
House Speaker McCarthy’s
own written plan - the GOP’s
“Commitment to America.”
In fact, there are specific
goals set out in the “Commit
ment to America” plan to
fight inflation, secure the bor
der and reduce illegal im
migration, give parents more
control over education, pre
serve our freedom, and sup
port Medicare and Social
Security. But McCarthy and
the GOP-controlled House
have failed to address any of
these priorities.
And, then we have the
House refusal to pay our
debts. There is no doubt that
we should have a balanced
budget. But the GOP refuses
to raise taxes to do so. And
the Democrats do not want to
cut popular programs, a posi
tion consistent with their
voters.
For their part, the GOP
refuses to identity specific
programs to be cut, saying
that reductions must be
made. As one source indi
cated, the potential areas to
be cut include “weapons pro
grams, servicemember pay,
grants for schools that serve
large shares of low-income
students, rental assistance to
house millions of poor and
disabled, and money to fund
research on cancer and other
life-threatening diseases,”
plus cutting or eliminating
popular programs like Medi
caid, renewable energy initia
tives, and student loan
forgiveness. These actions
would have major con
sequences, such as 1.5 million
needy people losing Medicaid
and increasing pollution.
In conclusion, the House
GOP is purposefully mislead
ing its constituents. They
know that the only way for
our nation to progress is to
have reasonable, bi-partisan
solutions enacted by Con
gress and signed by the Pres
ident. That is the exact
opposite of what McCarthy
and GOP congressional
leaders are doing, regarding
the debt ceiling and in gen
eral.
HOLY TRINITY
CATHOLIC CHURCH
welcome konw.
Holy Trinity a vibrant
Catholic community
in Peachtree City, GA
invites and welcomes
you to our parish.
Thank you for being with
us this weekend as we
gather together at the
table of the Eucharist.
Saturday- 4:00p.m. and 5:30p.m.
Sunday- 7:15a.m., 10:30a.m.
12:15p.m., 1:45p.m. (Spanish)
and 4:30p.m. (Lifeteen)
HOLYTRINITYPTC.ORG
770-487-7672
101 WALT BANKS RD.
PEACHTREE CITY, GA 30269
Saint tya&Uel
152 Antioch Rd • Fayetteville • Parish Office: 770-461-0492
^Religiou^ducation^7^6^49^Tax^7^6^374
Weekend Mass Schedule
Saturday. 5 pm
Sunday. 8 am and 1030 am
Seating on a first come, first served basis.
Weekday Mass Schedule
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday. 9 am
Confessions Saturdays, 4 pm - 430 pm
All weekend Masses will livestream outside (weather permitting)
in the courtyard. Please bring your own chair. No reservations needed.
Holy Days of Obligation contact Parish Office - www.stgabrielga.com
AUTOMOIIVC
Car Care Center
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By Earning Your Trust.
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ENGINES ^TRANSMISSIONS
Want a Southside Traffic Report?
Listen to the Craig Automotive
Traffic Center on 92.5 The Bear!
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Hwy. 54 West
A
Go west on Highway 54. Cross over
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Highway 74. Turn left on Huddleston
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CRAIG AUTOMOTIVE \
right.
We’ re proud of the quick service we give our customers. If you
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No repairs will be performed without your informed, written
consent, and we will perform only the repairs the vehicle requires. We
will always advise you of any areas of concern, especially safety issues
that warrant re-inspection in the near future. At any time, if there’s
anything you want to know about your vehicle or the repairs we pro
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Our professionally trained technicians install only quality,
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Remember, you have my pledge on fast service at fair prices. By
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Visit us at
122 Huddleston Road in Peachtree City
770-632-6685
OPEN: Monday-Friday 8 a.m. - 5:30
V/SA