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PAGE 10A
The Forsyth County News
Opinion
This is a page of opinions - ours, yours and others.
Signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the
writers and artists and may not reflect our views.
SPLOST law
needs work
P redictably county SPLOST took negotiations the city their and
to the very end, reaching
agreement a day before a
judge’s deadline for doing
so, but hopefully the long,
heated battle over distribu¬
tion of sales tax funds
between the two entities has
finally ended.
Assuming Judge Hugh
W. Stone OKs the settled
negotiation, officials of both
the city and county can
walk away from the bar¬
gaining table knowing they
did well in serving their
constituents. Commission
Chairman Charles Laugh
inghouse and Cumming
Mayor H. Ford Gravitt
demonstrated the sort of
leadership expected of those
in local office as they
worked over a period of
weeks to forge a settlement
that will allow the SPLOST
collections to continue with¬
out interruption.
In the end, they both saw
that reaching a compromise
in which both parties gave
up something was better
than stubbornly drawing
lines in the political sand at
a considerable financial cost
to residents of both the city
and county.
The often bitter and
acrominous local feud over
revenue allocations drew the
attention of the governor’s
office, the lieutenant gover¬
nor, the department of rev¬
enue and local legislators.
Those are the exact peo¬
ple with the power to make
Letters
When no candidate
deserves your vote,
what do you do?
I readily admit that I voted for
Nader in the 2004 election. Any time
that I do, the most common respons¬
es I get are either that I wasted my
vote or that I took a vote away from
Kerry (or from Gore when voting in
2000). I refuse to accept these argu
ments and argue that anyone who
voted for the formentioned
Democrats took a vote away from
Nader.
I’m not writing here today to
argue votes for Nader but I also can
not see voting for any of the candi¬
dates that are bound to be the two
main options. I insist that we must
get away from the current two-party
system we currently follow like
sheep to the slaughter. When I first
entered the business world some 10
years ago, all the hot talk was about
thinking outside the box, but this still
does not seem to apply to the general
consensus of politics.
I grew up in a Democratic home
that produced one Democratic sib¬
ling and two Republican siblings. I
say this because both my parents and
all of my siblings will always vote
their respective party lines no matter
the candidate or office. For some
strange reason I am the only one that
seems to be willing to look outside
the two party system and open my
mind to other options.
When talking with friends and
colleagues, this seems to be the stan
dard. Most seem willing to vote for a
candidate that throws out vague
promises that are never followed
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS — Sunday, Jun, 1,2008
sure that the litigious battle
that was played out here
doesn’t have to be repeated
in other communities across
Georgia.
Cumming and Forsyth
County are not the only
communities in Georgia
that have fought over how
to distribute SPLOST funds.
But from the lawsuits filed
here in recent months and
the courtroom arguments
and decisions, it is clear
there is room for improve
ment in a law vital to the
financial well-being of
many local governments.
More precise language
about ballot wording, a dis¬
tribution formula that con
siders'factors other than
simply Census data, even
the possibility r of a manda
tory state mediation , process
that avoids the necessity of
taxpayers suing taxpayers, id
could all be elements of
debate in tweaking the
existing law.
When, as happened here
a county has to go to the
courts tor direction on how
to distribute funds from a
tax that already had been in
place for five years, then
something isn’t precise
about the law.
When, as happened here,
a judge rules that the ballot
on which local residents
voted to tax themselves was
flawed, then clearly better
legislation is needed.
Hopefully someone will
champion the cause so that
five years from now we
won’t be doing this again.
through on and we end up with a
president that really makes no promi¬
nent changes or one who makes such
bad decisions as to put the greatest
country in the world on the brink of a
total break down.
Obama promises change, so does
Hillary and McCain. The only
change I foresee if we elect any of
these is that we have our first
African-American, female, or non
mainland born president. I don’t
foresee any real changes in the econ
omy, foreign policy, or environmen
tal impact.
Now is the time for change. A
total change in political thinking for
all American voters. It is time to
finally really think outside the box.
Will I be voting for Nader in
2008? I honestly cannot say, but I
know I cannot vote for the
Democratic or Republican choices,
There has to be a better option,
Jonathan Drummond
Cumming
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both deserving
armlarlpc
On behalf of the State Bar of
Georgia, I would like to commend
the Forsyth County Bar Association
for a very successful Law Day pro
gram and congratulate Forsyth
County Clerk of Court Doug
Sorrells, who received the organiza
tion’s Liberty Bell Award,
The role of law, the theme of this
year’s Law Day activities, is the
foundation on which the principles
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the riddle of
The presidential primary
season ought to end Tuesday,
and 1 finall y fi 8 ured out the
answer to the riddle of the
ages: Why did Hillary run?
Before I share the Hillary
solution with you, dear read¬
ers, a bit of background is in
order.
Hillary Clinton is probably
the most focused and ener
getic government wonk ever
to seek the presidency.
She also may have had
more negative marks against
her than any major presiden¬
tial candidate in modern histo¬
ry, more than even Bob Barr.
A former Georgia con
gressman told me months
before she announced, “She’ll
never run. Sure, she’s dedicat¬
ed and talented. She’ll tell
an yb ot iy who listens how
much she wants to be presi
dent and serve. But she knows
better. She knows her nega¬
tives are so high that she can
never win. Bill knows, and he
will tell her.
Ha! She ran anyway.
Blame it on Bill. He encour
aged her. The notion that Bill
wanted to be a co-president or
something like that is pure
bull.
Bill wanted one thing. He
wanted out of the doghouse
more than he wanted back in
the White House.
Any married man who
wants to stay wed knows the
rule: Do anything, say any¬
thing and promise anything to
of liberty and justice stand, and we
must work to protect it every day.
In earning and presenting this
award, Doug Sorrells and the Forysth
County Bar Association have provid¬
ed a shining tribute to the system that
protects the rights and liberties of all
Americans.
Gerald M. Edenfield, president
State Bar of Georgia
Young musicians
deserve recognition
for roll in program
I would like to take this opportu¬
nity to send a big public “thank you”
to the eighth grade band members of
the Liberty Middle School band for
their participation with the Sounds of
Sawnee Community Band at
Cumming’s 2008 Memorial Day
Ceremony. You were wonderful!
One of the speakers pointed out
how important it was for today’s
young people to be informed as to
past human sacrifices made for the
freedoms that they enjoy today. It
was such a shame that only one small
group of young people were in atten¬
dance to hear this message.
In addition, the really sad part is
that those 18 middle school students
were never even recognized for their
participation in the program. I am
sure that most of the people in the
crowd never even knew they were
there.
It was my observation that only
the members and the families associ¬
ated with the Sounds of Sawnee
Community Band offered their
Bill
Shipp dM
get out of the doghouse. Talk
about appeasement. You don’t
know the meaning until you
have listened to a guy begging
his way back into his wife’s
good graces. We’ve all been
there well, most of us
anyway.
Think about it: Bill
Clinton, probably the most
gifted politician of our time,
must have looked at the num
bers and tested the wind long
ago.
He knew that Hillary
couldn’t win, but he couldn't
bear to tell her.
Instead, he was determined
to help her campaign for presi¬
dent. By golly, if that would
not help Hillary forget Monica
and those other bimbos, noth¬
ing would.
Bill wouldn’t let her down
this time. He would once
again become her shining
knight, just like when they
were young. He would put the
stars back in her eyes. He
would man the ramparts and
tell the media to take a flying
leap.
It was the least he could
do. After all, Hillary stood by
her man when many thought
she should have kicked his
butt.
thanks to these wonderful students.
To see these young musicians per¬
forming with the adults was an “awe¬
some” display of participants that
spanned several generations.
Bringing community together! Their
contribution was very meaningful to
me, especially as I am the widow of
a decorated Vietnam veteran.
Cumming, when you neglected to
recognize this, you missed a wonder¬
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Mail letters to the Forsyth County
News, P.O. Box 210, Cumming, GA
30028, hand deliver to 302 Veterans
Memorial Blvd.. fax to (770) 889- 1 'JeffBucchino Cl 997
6017 or email to
editor@forsythnews.com.
Can you imagine the
embarrassment and chagrin
she must have suffered?
Day after day after day she
listened to details of her hus¬
band’s dalliances. It was all
over TV all the time. He even
tried to argue with a straight
face that oral sex was not real
ly sex.
She must have been livid,
and stayed that way for a long,
long time. Who could blame
her?
Then she suddenly needed
Bill again. She needed him at
her side, trashing her enemies
as the two of them stuck it out
for the White House.
The last thing in the world
she needed from Bill was the
harsh truth: “Run for presi¬
dent? Are you kidding? With
your negatives, you won’t
stand a chance. Even a black
kid from Chicago could beat
you.”
Bill, being the smart politi¬
cian, took a different tack.
“I’m with you, Hillary.
Whatever you want from me,
you've got it. Of course you
can win. Look me straight in
the eye and say after me: ‘I
can do it. I can do it. I can win
the nomination. I can win the
White House.’”
That is precisely what
Hillary wanted to hear her Bill
say. Suddenly, old Bill is out
of the doghouse. Life is pleas¬
ant again. Even if Hillary is
out of the race after Tuesday,
she can run another day, and
ful opportunity!
Perhaps if this ceremony was held
on the designated day set-aside for
this purpose, more working parents
could bring their families to educate
their children as to the true meaning
of this holiday. Once again, thank
you Liberty Middle School students!
Catherine W. McCloy
Cumming
old Bill will jump right in
again before anyone has a
chance to bring up Monica
again.
Footnote: The death of
political wise man Hamilton
Jordan brought back memo¬
ries of a situation kindred to
the present never-say-die
Obama-Clinton primary bat
tie.
In the 1986 Georgia
Democratic primary for the
Senate, Hamilton finished sec¬
ond (32 percent) to Wyche
Fowler Jr. (49 percent) and
thus found himself in a runoff
three weeks later.
However, Jordan saw that
his chance of a runoff victory
was slim. For the good of the
mission to oust a GOP senator,
Hamilton agreed to drop out
of the race, thus allowing
Fowler to avoid the expense
and bloodletting of three more
weeks of campaigning. That is
Fowler’s version of the story.
However Jordan’s folks say
their man barely lost outright,
so they endorsed the frontrun
ner.
Democrat Fowler defeated
GOP incumbent Mack
Mattingly 51 percent to 49
percent. Perhaps someone
should have told Hillary the
Jordan story months ago.
Bill Shipp ’v column is pub
lised each Sunday and
Wednesday. You may write to
him at P.O. Box 2520,
Kennesaw, GA 30156, or via
e-mail: shippl@bellsouth.net.