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The Forsyth County News
Opinion
This is a page of opinions ours, yours and others.
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writers and artists and may not reflect our views.
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CITY COUNCIL
Mayor, H. Ford Gravitt
RO. Box 3177. Cumming, GA 30028; (770) 8874342
Mayor Pro-Tern, Lewis Ledbetter
205 Mountain Brook Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3019
Ralph Perry
1420 Pilgrim Rd., Cumming, GA 30040: (770) 887-7474
Quincy Holton
103 Hickory Ridge Dr., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-5279
Rupert Sexton
705 Pine Lake Dr.. Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-4332
John Pugh
108 13th St., Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-3342
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Charles Laughinghouse. Post 1
3550 Rosewicke Dr., Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 886-7937; office, (770) 886-2810
David "A.J.” Pritchett, Post 2
4840 Chesterfield Court. Suwanee. GA 30024
(404) 392-6983; office, (770) 886-2809
John A. “Jack” Conway, Post 3
6130 Polo Club Dr.. Cumming. GA 30040
(770) 886-9226: (770) 886-2807
Marcie Kreager. Post 4
9810 Kings Rd.. Gainesville. GA 30506
office. (770) 886-2806
Eddie Taylor, Post 5
4195 Morningside Dr., Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 886-2802
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Ann Crow
96 Barker Rd.. Cumming, GA 30040
(770) 887-9640: acrow@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Paul Kreager
9810 Kings Rd.. Gainesville. GA 30506
(770) 889-9971: pkreager@fbrsyth.kl2.ga.us
Nancy Roche
7840 Chestnut Hill Rd.. Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 889-0229: nroche@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
Rebecca K. Dowell
2030 Commonwealth Place. Cumming, GA 30041
(770) 844-0830: rdowell@focsyth.kl2.ga.us
Chairman Jeffrey Stephens
PO. Box 169. Cumming, GA 30028
(770) 889-1470: jstephens@forsyth.kl2.ga.us
NATIONAL LEGISLATORS
€ U.S. Sen. Zell Miller
Russell Senate Office Building. Room C-3
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-3643: Fax: (202) 228-2090
U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss |
1019 Longworth House Office Building L - - ,1
Washington, D.C. 20515 1 M
(202) 224-3521 ’ 1
U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, 10th District
2437 Raybum House Office Building,
r -* Washington, D.C. 20515
I Gainesville: PO. Box 1015, Gainesville. GA 30503
| Gainesville. (770) 535-2592
1 Washington: (202) 225-5211; Fax: (202) 225-8272
U.S. Rep. John Linder, 7th District
1727 Longworth House Office Building, I .
Washington, D.C. 20515-1011 I fl
Washington: (202) 22M272; Fax: (202) 2254696 FL
STATE LEGISLATORS
a Sen. David Shafer, 48th District
109 State Capitol
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404)651-7738
Sen. Casey Cagle, 49th District W JE
421 State Capitol, Atlanta, GA 30334 I
(404)656-6578; (fax) (404) 651-6768
BSen. Dan Moody, 27th District
(770) 695-3127;
Office (404) 463-8055
Sen. Renee Unterman, 45th District M
(770) 466-1507;
Office (404) 463-1368 Q ™ jj
” Rep. Tom Knox, 14th District
Legislative Office Building, Room 504
■ ,*“ * . 18 Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA 30334
Vr. A (404) 656-0188, (770) 887-0400, law office
■ Rep. Jan Jones, 38th District
412 Legislative Office Building, Atlanta GA 30334
(404) 656-0137
Rep. Jack Murphy, 14th District rjjflKTl
Legislative Office Building, I,
Room 612, Atlanta GA 30334
(404) 656-0325 JOF
(770) 781 -9319, home KSBI
Mi- - a ... _
(fe'cb =4’ ;
\ O’-
"I can’t tell if it’s maintenance getting set for Daylight Savings
time or taxpayers trying to get us out as soon as possible!’’
Government not building trust
By Sheldon Richman
For the Forsyth County News
In a recent poll of cable
television viewers, only 20
percent said the general public
has much say in what the gov
ernment does. Maybe people
are finally catching on. It’s
about time.
The poll by Peter D Hart
can’t be pleasing to those who
make a holy shrine of the bal
lot box. "Our key finding was
that people are really unhappy
about their role, or lack of it.
in the democratic process."
Hart told the Washington Post.
Recent events could hardly
be expected to build confi
dence. It may be starting to
dawn on people that govern
ment has been largely inept at
what they would regard as its
most important task: keeping
them safe from foreign attack.
The revelations after 9/11
demonstrate what some peo
ple have long known: govern
ment is like the Wizard of Oz.
Behind the imposing fayade
are a bunch of clueless
bureaucrats and politicians
who are more interested in
extending their tenures in
office than anything else.
This is a bipartisan phe
nomenon. The cunent debate
over who was more incompe
tent, the Clintonites or the
Outsource backlash will backfire on Georgia
By Benita M. Dodd
For the Forsyth County News
Efforts to thwart outsourcing
of jobs and services abroad
have reached at least 14 states,
including Georgia, according to
the National Conference of
State Legislatures. While well
intended, legislation that forces
jobs to remain in the United
States will prove a shortsighted
attempt at micromanagement
that backfires on government,
policymakers and ordinary
Georgians.
It’s difficult to spot the silver
lining when blinded by outrage
over American jobs “lost" off
shore. but greater harm is done
at home when we hinder busi
ness frbm seeking cost-effective
options abroad. When U.S.
companies site jobs abroad,
they do so to save money and
improve profits. Such cost effi
ciency leads to American jobs
saved, not lost. The lower cost
of doing business is a catalyst
for economic opportunity:
Better profits encourage compa
nies to diversify and grow, and
more jobs are retained at home
instead of companies moving
abroad wholesale.
The nation's slowing popu
lation growth, along with an
aging population, is expected to
produce worker shortages in the
near future. One research firm,
Evaluserve, in a report prepared
for India's National Association
of Software and Services
Companies, predicts a shortage
of 5.6 million U.S. workers by
I
Bushies. is just a distraction.
When it comes to the fraud
known as "national security."
it’s strictly a one-party sys
tem. (h’s really not that much
different in domestic affairs.)
Bill Kristol, editor of neo
conservative magazine The
Weekly Standard and a lead
ing advocate of replacing the
old American republic with an
empire, gave the game away
the other day. On Fox News's
Special Report with Brit
Hume, Kristol had harsh
words for former Clinton and
Bush anti-terrorism specialist
Richard Clarke, whose new
book indicts the Bush admin
istration for not taking al-
Qaeda seriously enough
before 9/11. Kristol criticized
Clarke for breaking a tacit
agreement between Dem
ocrats and Republicans.
What was the agreement?
Not to score political points
by pointing out each other's
failings in guarding the
American people against ter
rorism.
Close observers wouldn't
have been surprised by
Kristol's point. But I wonder
what the average American
would think about this agree
ment. Perhaps "conspiracy" is
a more precise word for what
Kristol was talking about.
Several hundreds of bil-
2010. Offshore outsourcing.
Evaluserve told the association,
is essential to U.S. economic
grow th. Additionally, for every
SIOO worth of work sent abroad
by U.S. companies, it predicted
that $l3O to $145 will be rein
vested in the U.S. economy.
The process can help gov
ernment. too. by cutting costs
as long as cost doesn't take
precedence over quality of serv
ices.
Globalization and free trade
were never intended to be a one
way street or confined to our
comer of the globe. Government
is doing taxpayers a disservice
when it does not enable out
sourcing whenever and wherev
er it can save taxpayer dollars,
promote a competitive market
place for agency services or
enhance government services.
Consider the benefits of a
round-the-clock government
helpline without having to pay
overtime, cost taxpayers more or
disrupt Georgia government
workers’ social and family lives.
The potential is high for
unintended consequences when
policymakers interfere with the
ability of state agencies to pur
chase lower-cost services, pur
portedly to protect jobs in
Georgia. For example, in an era
of rising health care costs, a
cash-strapped Grady Memorial
Hospital would be prohibited
from such logical cost-saving
measures as allowing lab results
or X-rays to be read by quali
fied technicians or
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Friday, April 2, 2004
lions of dollars are extracted
from the earnings of the
American people every year,
ostensibly to keep them safe.
But they were not kept safe,
beginning with the 1993
bombing of the World Trade
Center.
Then they were lied to
by Democrats and Repub
licans. After 9/11 administra
tion officials, such as National
Security Adviser Condoleezza
Rice, said they never dreamed
anyone would hijack airplanes
and crash them into buildings.
But we know there were intel
ligence warnings about just
this tactic before the attacks.
Why do they lie to us. except
to save their own skins?
Then there are those phan
tom w eapons of mass destruc
tion. Need anything more be
said? Since U.S. forces took
over Iraq, the administration
has been spreading money
around like melted butter. No
scientist or other informed per
son in that country could fail
to realize that providing evi
dence of such weapons would
bring a small fortune. That's a
sure sign that there is no evi
dence. It also refutes any
administration official, such as
Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, who insists that
weapons might still be found.
Given all this, w hy should-
in India at a lower cost. The
hospital's inability to tweak its
budget amid rising costs could
further reduce its ability to treat
indigent patients.
It could prevent a struggling
MARTA from inviting bids
from France or Canada on. say,
refurbishing of rail cars, restrict
ing competition and inviting
higher prices from a shrinking
pool of bidders. It could reduce
competition and raise the cost
of government by eliminating
scores of companies from bid
ding on contracts or renew ing
current contracts. Georgia gov
ernment's current business ven
dors include Office Depot,
American Express. Delta Air
Lines, Discover and Citicorp,
and they all are involved in off
shore outsourcing, according to
www.whosoutsourcing.com.
Charities plead daily for
Georgians to help Third World
countries. Why hinder an
opportunity for those countries
to help themselves by advanc
ing their workers and growing
their economies? Accra, in
Ghana one of the world’s
poorest nations is where
New York City’s handwritten
parking tickets are digitized.
Overreacting to this
inevitable process in a global
economy sells Americans short,
revealing an insecurity that over
looks our proven potential for
innovation and resourcefulness.
The focus for the few Georgians
who may lose their jobs should
be on education: increasing the
n't people believe that the
government is something sep
arate from them and out of
their control?
In the presidential season
one might expect people to
feel that this is their chance to
make a difference until one
looks at the "choice" facing
them. Who is set to oppose the
incumbent who ignored warn
ings about terrorism and then
misled the American people
into war against a country that
had nothing to do with that ter
rorism? John Kerry, a senator
who voted to give President
Bush a blank check to go to
war (in violation of the
Constitution); who voted to
give Attorney John Ashcroft
astoundingly un-American
powers to curtail civil liberties
(including habeas corpus); and
who now says his votes don't
mean what they clearly do
mean. Or as Groucho Marx
said once. "Who are you going
to believe, me or your eyes?"
Two hundred and eighty
five million people cannot rule
a country. But a small clique
can rule and say it's on behalf
of the people. The last few
years have been a valuable
civics lesson.
Sheldon Richman is senior
fellow at The Future of
Freedom Foundation in
Failfax. Va.
jxMil of creative, knowledgeable
workers who can fill high-pay
ing jobs so that we reduce the
number of lower-skilled workers
whose repetitious jobs can be
done elsew here.
From a foreign policy per
spective, allowing other coun
tries to become wealthier can
reduce the chance of conflict,
improve their environment and
is the right thing to do in a glob
ally competitive world. The
United States has earned notori
ety for selective support of free
trade, reflected in our penchant
for imposing tariffs abroad and
subsidies stateside. State efforts
to impose more barriers on free
trade could harm Georgia by
inviting retaliatory protection
ism from abroad. In fact,
“American companies sell three
times more IT services to the
rest of the world more than
$lO billion than they buy,"
notes Dan Griswold, assistant
director to the Cato Institute's
Center for Trade Policy Studies.
Take it from www.out
sourcingsurvival.com, a Web
based outsourcing resource:
“The biggest danger to U.S.
workers isn’t overseas competi
tion. It’s that we worry too
much about other countries
climbing up the ladder and not
enough about finding the next
higher rung for ourselves."
Benita M. Dodd is vice
president of the Georgia Public
Policy Foundation, an inde
pendent think tank that propos
es practical, market-oriented
approaches to public policy.
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