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Burns and Barrow duel over tax
By JESSICA BAPTISTE
Augusta Focus Staff Writer
The so-called “Max Tax” will
increase the cost of goods and
drastically impact the working
family income — that’s accord
ing to the Democratic conges
sional candidate, John Barrow.
This proposed tax is the
brainchild of Republican Con
gressman Max Burns who is
running against Barrow for the
congressional 12th District
seat. Barrow says the tax means
cutting out tax exemptions
like the child tax credit which
many families depend upon.
During a press conference in
front of a downtown Augusta
convenience store, J.R.s Stop
n’ Shop, Barrow demonstrated
the repercussions of the Max
Tax.. With poster boards dis
playing a gallon of milk and a
Ford Taurus, Barrow explained
the average American will not
be able to afford these items
with the new tax Burns plans
to carry out if he is elected. Bar
row stated that the tax will
increase the cost of a gallon of
milk to $3.24 before any local
taxes are added to the total
cost.
“In terms of the cost living,
generally, 80 percent of Ameri
Library group seeks.to preserve
Clark Atlanta’s library program
By DANIEL YEE
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - The
American Library Associ
ation, concerned about
the impending loss of
Georgia’s only accredited
school for librarians, is
joining an attempt by
Atlanta supporters to pre
serve Clark Atlanta Uni
versity’s library school.
The closure of Clark’s
program would mean
library school students in
Georgia would have to
travel out-of-state to get
their degree, said associa
tion president Carol Brey-
Casiano. In an effort to
save money, the university
voted last year to end the
program in May 2005.
Valdosta State Universi
ty has a library program
McKinney poised to return to Congress with unusual campaign style
By KRISTEN WYATT
Associated Press Writer
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -
Imagine running for Con
gress without even running
a radio ad, let alone one on
television. Without talking
to reporters in your area.
Without raising much
money.
Now imagine being heav
ily favored to win.
That’s the campaign of
Cynthia McKinney, who
was elected as Georgia’s first
black congresswoman in
1992 and spent five terms
in the U.S. House before
being defeated by a fellow
Democrat two years ago.
McKinney is back, and
poised to make a tri
can families will have their
taxes go up by over $3,000.”
Barrow explained.
Barrow continued the crit
cism of the proposed national
sales tax saying the price of a
car could increase by as much
as $6,400.
“Folks that want to buy a
new car will have to hold off
on the decision for months or
maybe years because they sim
ply couldnt afford. the ‘Max
Tax.” said Barrow.
The owner of the grocery
store, J.R Riles, agrees that this
tax will affect people on the
smallest scale and especially his
business because it supplies
items to low and middle
income families.
“I dontt think the consumer
can handle anymore taxes,”
Riles replied, “I dont really
think it’s a good idea, especial
ly with food and clothing, Peo
ple who are trying to raise a
family won' able to get any of
those tax breaks. We're in real
serious trouble.” :
And according to Roman
Levit, Barrow’s campaign man
ager, homes will not be safe
from the tax either.
“If you own a home, you're
going to lose your mortgage
but it is not accredited by
the ALA, association offi
cials said.
“The state could be los
ing potential librarians,”
Brey-Casiano said. “With
the shortage nationwide
as it is, to lose additional
opportunities for recruit
ing library students is of
great concern to us.”
In the next 15 years,
nearly 60 percent of the
country’s librarians will
reach retirement age.
Losing Clark’s School of
Library and Information
Science would mean
North Carolina Central
University in Durham,
N.C., would be the only
historically black univer
sity with a library pro
gram accredited by the
association, said Brey-
Casiano, also director of
umphant return to Con
gress with a poorly funded
campaign and scant men
tion in the local news
media.
Surprising? Not when
consigcring her Republican
challenger is little known in
the heavily black and
Democrat suburban neigh
borhoods that make up the
congressional district,
where many believe McK
inney has been unfairly
blasted by the press.
“There is a great mistrust
of the media in her dis
trict,” said William Boone,
a political scientist at Clark
Atlanta University. “The
media has misrepresented
and ignored their commu
nities unless someone’s get
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Photo by Jessica Baptiste
Democratic congressional candidate John Barrow (left) from the
12th district speaks with J.R. Biles at his grocery store about the
government taxing smail businesses.
interest deduction,” Levit said.
Burns on the other hand,
rejects Barrow’s assertion that
the tax hurts the average tax
payer. He says the tax will
increase a family’s income.
“It entirely shuts down the
IRS,” said Burns, “The average
citizen will have no dealings
with the federal government.”
Burns states the dread of
paying income taxes will be
the El Paso Public Library
in El Paso, Texas. i
Many of the school’s
graduates have gone on to |
work as media specialists |
in public schools, helping
children learn about
information technology, |
said Arthur Gunn, a for- |
mer dean of the school |
who retired in 2003. ‘3
“Especially in this tech
nological environment, |
we need to have proses- |
sionally trained people to |
close the gap between the |
information ‘haves’ and |
‘have-nots,” said Gunn, |
who was dean of the|
school from 1996 to]
2003. |
Currently, there are 52
library schools — includ- |
ing Clark Atlanta’s -|
around the country, the
association said. 1
ting busted for drugs. So
Cynthia McKinney’s rela
tionship with the press has
always ieen adversarial, but
so has the district’s.”
McKinney made national
headlines in the months
after the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks as she criti
cized President Bush’s han
dling of the crisis. Stories
about her got particularly
snarky when she denounced
New York Mayor Rudolph
Guiliani for refusing a
donation from a Saudi Ara
bian prince and she told a
radio talk show host that
Bush’s pro-war stance may
be related to his friends in
the defense industry who
would profit from a war.
McKinney’s comments
gone and that there will be no
more federal withholdings. In
short, workers will receive
every penny of what they earn.
Burns claims people will get a
31 to 36 percent increase in
their paychecks and the price
of goods will drop 22 percent.
“No more April 15,7
Burns chuckles, ‘I
becomes just another nice
spring day.”
An SCLC director is
fired then rehired
ATLANTA (AP) - A
high-ranking official with
the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference
was fired and then
rehired this week, raising
more questions about the
leadership of the civil
rights organization.
On Monday,October
11 SCLC President Fred
Shuttlesworth fired a
high-ranking official, the
Revie, E. Randel T.
Osburn, who has worked
for the organization for
four decades. On
Wednesday, October 13
the SCLC board met and
overruled Shuttlesworth’s
decision.
Osburn, who returned
to work at the SCLC
office Thursday, said his
job was in limbo until the
conflict between Shut
tlesworth and the board
was resolved.
“It will be an all-out
war now,” said Osburn,
were repeated in the news
media, and she went on to
lose a bitter primary battle
in 2002 to Denise Majette,
another black woman who
was little-known before
running for Congress.
With Majette vacating
the seat to run for the Sen
ate, McKinney won the six
candidate primary in July,
getting the majority of the
vote needed to avoid a
runoff, -
McKinney’s supporters
believe the media is partly
to blame for her defeat two
years ago.
“She’s been unfairly por
trayed,” said Janice Lowe of
Decatur. “They were sayin
she was talking too mucE
about issues she wasn't
Ethics panel
orders hearing on
Perdue complaints
R{) DICK PETTYS
Political Writer
ATLANTA (AP) —The State
Ethics Commission found rea
son Friday to believe that Gov.
Sonny Perdue may have violat
ed la‘:‘:(liection rules when }}11;
placed a political speech on hi
state-funded Web site.
The commission bound over
the issue for a subsequent meet
ing to hear additional argu
ment and decide whether a vio
lation occurred and the Repub
lican governor should be
admonished. o
Acting on a broad complaint
filed by Democrats, the l;)anel
also found reason to look fur
ther into charges that Perdue
accepted over-the-limit cam
paign contributions and
improperly failed to disclose in
kind contributions from his
wife.
But the panel — dominated
by the Republican governor’s
own appointees — dismissed
(.haerFs that Perdue’s former
chiet of staff used state time and
equipment to raise money for
President Bush and declined to
reopen an investigation into
the third SCLC staffer to
be shown the door in so
many months.
Osburn, 59, has held
several posts, most
recently executive direc
tor of the group’s finan
cial arm. the SCILC
Foundation. Osburn,
who is recovering from
cancer, got word of his
firing on Monday, his
birthday. :
“That doesn’t seem very
Christian, does it?” he
said.
Shuttlesworth, 82, did
not return calls seeking
comment.
Osburn is a cousin of
Corecta = Scott King,
widow of the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr.
“I was stunned and sad
dened,” said the Rev.
Joseph Lowery, a former
SCLC president.
The Atlanta-based
SCLC was co-founded by
King in 1957 and led the
knowledgeable about. But
she was very much knowl
edgeable, and the media
dic%n’t want to talk about
thay” -
McKinney herself appears
to discount the media. Her
schedule is not made pub
lic, and she typically sfiuns
interview requests. McKin
ney’s Web site even sends
visitors to an Internet col
umn about McKinney and
the press called “The
Screwing of Cynthia McK
inney.”
Instead of following the
camdpaign style of most
modern congressional can
didates — lots of TV spots,
lots of aides whose job it is
to prod reporters to write
about the c¢andidate -
October 21, 2004
the governor’s use of state heli
copters. It dismissed a similar
complaint last November.
“Clearly this is partisan mud
slinging. There is nothing to
these charges,” said Perdue
spokesman Dan Mclazan.
“This is just a group of folks
that are mad that they lost, and
they're still whining about it.”
State Democratic Party
Chairman Bobby Kahn, who
filed the complaint, said Perdue
“is the least ethical governor in
modern times, and this is the
first step in demonstrating
i
Perdue is the first Republican
governor of Georgia since
Reconstruction. He defeated
Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes,
Kahn's former boss, in 2002.
In another development,
Senate Majority Lmdir Bill
Stephens, R-Canton, fi&d to
acmcgpt a $14,000 fine from the
commission for sloppy
accounting of campaign funds
from 1997 to 2002.
As part of a negotiated settle
ment, Stephens will forego
See Ethics, page 11A
battle to end segregation.
Last November, then-
SCLC President Martin
Luther King 111 quit after
repeated run-ins with the
SCLC board. The board
appointed Shuttlesworth,
a pastor and longtime
civil rights activist, as
interim president. The
board promised election
of a new president this
summer at the SCLC’s
convention in Jack
sonville.
However, at the con
vention, candidates and
their supporters engaged
in shouting matches.
Police had to be called to
keep the peace.
In the end, none of the
announced candidates
was selected. Instead, del
egates elected Shut
tlesworth to be president
for a one-year term, even
though he wasn’t run
ning.
McKinney takes an old
fashioned approach.
She tours churches and
neighborhoods where she is
most popular. She focuses
on boosting turnout among
people who already like her,
not Faining new recogni
tion from voters who might
not know her.
Ifs a friends-and-neigh
bors style that can work in a
district as compact as Geor
gias 4th, which is almost
entirelly made up of
Atlanta’s suburban DeKalb
County. According to Rita
Kirk, a journalism professor
at Sout.gnem Methodist Uni
versity who has worked as a
media strategist for political
Sec Mckinney, page 11A
3A