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Uity Region 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 AUGUSTA FOCUS e, e T sA y e ? 4,' ST 5 % '” . ] s, £ 00l L .Wy oW | % % .’“‘ <8 e g s Ao . A v G e g 4 '7?, i . 7 '.., Ve Ty ' ¢ eo B E Y N & ¥ \; L T Yl| v & Y | F & *’fiéw% F o 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