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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wednesday, December 17,2003
Opinion
Don’t sneer at
‘McJobs’ they
built our economy
By Jack Faris
For the Forsyth County News
► It came as no surprise
'when the restaurant chain
McDonald’s recently took
umbrage at the unveiling of
the term “McJob,” in the new
■edition of Merriam-Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary. CEO
Jim Cantalupo challenged the
publisher for defining the
word as “a low-paying job
that requires little skill and
provides little opportunity for
advancement.”
!v The incident could lead
one to believe that those who
collect words and phrases
may be spending a little too
much time watching reality
TV or swallowing
Hollywood’s definition of
work hook, line and sinker.
Here’s a suggestion for
lexicographers: take off your
pince-nez and go visit some
of America’s small businesses
to learn what work is all
about. It’s easy to find them.
There are some 24 million of
them, so they won’t be hard to
find.
Chances are very good that
the entrepreneurs you’ll
encounter at a majority of
those up-and-coming little
firms got their start at some
thing you might describe as a
McJob. Sure, the pay was not
great and few skills were
required. But you missed the
mpst important point: those
entry-level positions are
where entrepreneurs, who
now own and operate their
visions of the American
Dream, initially formed their
strong work ethics and busi
ness management skills.
It’s unfortunate that the
overriding implication put
forth by such a highly rep
utable publisher seems to
, assert work isn’t worth any
thing unless it’s a salaried
. position that comes with a
white-collar and a long title.
There’s little doubt that those
who gather such street lingo
are painfully unaware that
American small firms
which, by the way, comprise
99 percent of the nation’s
employers provide work
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(770) 889-6017 or email toeditor@forsythnews.com.
CARTOONISTS' VIEWS ON THE NEWS
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for more than half of the non
farm, private-sector labor
force in this country.
It stands to reason that if
the dictionary compilers don’t
know that, they most certainly
are oblivious to the fact that
small firms provide most ini
tial on-the-job training and
exposure to the labor force for
new entrants. And those Main
Street businesses are also
more likely to employ
younger workers, older work
ers, former welfare recipients
and women.
When it comes to compen
sation, small businesses pay
their employees using the
same means that large
employers do. Some pay by
the hour, others with salaries,
commissions and tips; and
more than half pay periodic
bonuses or profit sharing. Few
have any full-time employees
earning the minimum wage.
When it comes to benefits,
small firms do their best to
compete with their larger
counterparts. Almost two
thirds offer health coverage
and three out of four provide
paid vacations. But the great
est benefit that they provide is
work. Work is a valuable
asset to a nation that honors
free enterprise because it
instructs and inspires future
generations of entrepreneurs
to continue building a great
society.
To demean basic employ
ment defames the visions and
sacrifices of millions of
American employees and
small-business owners who
understand that work is more
than a job. It is a path to a bet
ter life and the key to control
ling one’s economic destiny.
Jack Faris is president of
NFIB (the National
Federation of Independent
Business), the nation’s largest
small-business advocacy
group. A non-profit, non-par
tisan organization founded in
1943, NFIB represents the
consensus views of its
600,000 members in
Washington, D.C., and all 50
state capitals. More informa
tion is available on-line at
www.nfib.com
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Plenty of scandal for the IG
Where is the state inspec
tor general now that we need
him?
The IG ought to put aside
trying to justify Gov. Sonny
Perdue’s state-paid helicopter
trips to Republican fund rais
ers. Such minor abuses of the
public trust amount to
peanuts, $75,000 tops. And
file away trying to prove for
mer Gov. Roy Barnes used
transportation money to pay
for a bus system instead of
tollbooths or was it the
other way around? No matter,
that alleged lapse cost only a
few million, sums hardly
worth mentioning in state
highway circles.
In the past week, the
Office of Inspector General
has been presented with a
platter of far-reaching and, in
some cases, multimillion-dol
lar public scandals that ought
to keep the IG busy until his
next fitness report is due.
As you may remember,
Gov. Perdue said he created
the inspector general’s office
to ferret out waste and uneth
ical conduct. Perdue’s brand
new IG, retired Air Force
Brig. Gen. James E. Sehorn,
immediately set to work dis
pelling notions that Perdue,
the man who just hired him,
might be a laggard in the
ethics department.
OK, General, the guv is
off the hook. The training
exercises are over. Let us get
down to real business:
• Case File No. 1: A
DeKalb County court has
been hearing a corruption
case against former Pardons
and Paroles Board member
Bobby Whitworth that has
given us an astounding peek
inside state government.
Whitworth is accused of
receiving upwards of $70,000
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in fees for lobbying for a pri
vate corporation, while he
was employed full-time as a
$130,000-a-year Pardons and
Paroles member.
The court case against
Whitworth turns on the fine
legal point of whether he lob
bied the Legislature or just
county commissioners.
Trying to twist commission
ers’ arms was OK. Pressuring
the Legislature, on the other
hand, could be a jail offense.
Whitworth’s defense: State
law specifically allows P&P
employees to accept cash for
outside work.
Whitworth landed in trou
ble in the first place because
he tried to dismiss one Lisa
Thompson as a state lobbyist
for the Pardons and Paroles
Board. He apparently felt Ms.
Thompson would have diffi
culty performing her legisla
tive lobbying duties because
she was involved in a high
profile divorce action against
state Sen. Steve Thompson,
D-Powder Springs, who was
Gov. Barnes’ Senate floor
leader.
Ms. Thompson, angered
by Whitworth’s move to oust
her, tipped the media to
Whitworth’s night job.
An energetic inspector
general could devote his
career to delving into the eth
ical questions raised by the
Whitworth case, regardless of
the outcome of the DeKalb
trial.
For instance, what is the
genesis of a law that allows
full-time state workers to per-
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form lobbying duties? Who
sponsored such legislation
and why?
Why did the state paroles
board hire a lobbyist?
Specifically, why did the
board employ a lobbyist who
was wed to an important state
senator? Could such a hire
possibly represent a small
ethical lapse?
By the way, how many
state agencies keep lobbyists
on their payrolls, and why?
Inspector General, sir, you
may want to call the “we
can’t cut any more” budget
cutters in on this episode.
This is not exactly like
finding Saddam Hussein, but
you may have stumbled upon
a large spider hole of public
waste.
• Case File No. 2: The
Board of Regents shielded
from political vicissitudes for
the sake of preserving “aca
demic freedom” has
abused its sacred autonomy
by managing money like a
drunken sailor.
For instance, when
University System Chancellor
Stephen Portch walked off
his $750,000-a-year job a
couple of years ago, the
regents awarded him a
$450,000 going-away gift.
No, they did not consider
Portch unique or even very
special. They hand out such
farewell rewards to all kinds
of folks.
The current chancellor
and all the big-school presi
dents would receive similar
golden parachutes worth hun
dreds of thousands of dollars
if they just up and quit. Our
wonderfully generous Board
of Regents would not have it
any other way.
(Makes you wonder why
UGA President Michael
Adams is still hanging
around.)
However, if a school pres
ident resigns to accept other
gainful employment (as in the
case of former UGA
President Chuck Knapp), he
or she receives nothing.
Such a policy is not only
nuts; it also demonstrates an
incredibly cavalier approach
to preserving the public trust
and protecting the common
wealth. The regents’ bean
counters must be graduates of
the Enron College of
Business Administration.
This same bunch has been
milking dry the HOPE schol
arship fund with repeated
hikes in university tuitions
and other fees. Now they
want millions more to under
write the withering HOPE
program.
Sorry, Inspector General,
sir, we’re running out of
space. However, these two
cases ought to be enough to
get you started. We’ll be back
with more.
One other thing: you may
find, to your embarrassment,
the seeds for these outrages
were planted on the watch of
Georgia’s first GOP governor
in modern times. No! No!
Not Gov. Perdue! Gov. Zell
Whatshisname, the stealth
Republican who became a
GOP mole in the Senate.
If you decide to call in
Sen. Zell for a round of hot
light interrogation on his
administration, neither the
Democratic House nor the
Democrat attorney general
will utter a word of protest. I
guarantee it.
Bill Shipp’s column is
published each Wednesday
and Sunday. His e-mail
address is bshipp@bell
south.net.