Newspaper Page Text
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ForsythOpinion
rhursday, May 31,2012
A little help
on image
"Mr Speaker, may I
come in?"
"Well, if it isn't Spiro
Amhuni. mv favorite chief
of staff."
“Doggone it, Mr
Speaker, you say that every
time 1 come in the door. 1
am staff” your only chief of
"Did somebody get up on
the wrong side of the bed
this morning? Looks like
I’ve got to turn that pookie
puss into a smiley face.
W ho's taking us to lunch
today? "
"That's what 1 want to
talk to you about, sir We’ve
got a problem."
"What kind of problem?
And what’s this we' busi¬
ness. You are supposed to
solve my problems, Spiro."
"Mr Speaker, you’ve got
to get aw ay from your hard
line on no spending limits
for lobbyists."
"Ha ha ha ha wait a
minute You aren't kidding,
aren't you 's
"No sir. Voters all over
the state are up in arms
about limiting lobbyist
expenditures and a number
of legislators are feeling the
heat."
"What do the voters have
to do w ith this? This is
none of their beeswax, i run
the House of
Representatives, in case
you have forgotten "
“No question, sir, but if
the voters throw out the leg¬
islators who won t sign the
pledge to limit lobbying
expenditures to $100. you
may not run the House any¬
more."
“Are you serious ’"
"Dead serious, Mr.
Speaker. And frankly, you
didn't help things at the
Republican convention in
Columbus when you said the
effort to limit expenditures
w as being pushed by 'media
elites and liberal special
interest groups' The tea
party is one of the driving
forces behind this effort and
by no stretch do its members
consider themselves liberal
Frankly, they thought your
comments were an insult ”
“Well, that's not my fault.
They oughta take me to din¬
ner every once in a while or
to a bail game and then I
would know these things."
"What are we going to do
about the media, sir’’"
“Forget them Most of the
media 1 sec around the
Capitol have gravy stains on
their ties and eat (heir peas
with a butter knife I will
take my chances w ith them "
"Sir. do you understand
how mad the people arc ’"
“Spiro, do you know how
much I don't care 7 I've said
a million times they can
look up my expenditures on
YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor H Ford Gravitt, PO. Box
3177. Cumming, GA 30028; (770) 887-
4342
Ralph Perry, 1420 Pilgrim Road,
Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 887-7474
Rupert Sexton, 211 Hickory Oak
Hollow, Cumming, GA 30040; (770)
844-7929
Mayor Pro-Tern Quincy Holton, 103
Hickory Ridge Drive, Cumming, GA
30040; (770) 887 5279
Lewis Ledbetter, 205 Mountain
Brook Drive, Cumming, GA 30040;
(770) 887-3019
John Pugh, 108 13th St., Cumming,
GA 30040; (770) 887 3342
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
R.J. (Pete) Amos, Post 1, 110 E. Main
St., Cumming, GA 30040; (678) 513
5881; rjamos Wforsythco.com
Brian Tam, Post 2, 4410 Dorset
Lane, Suwanee, GA 30024; (404)
392-6983; office, (678) 513-5882;
brtamW forsythco. com
S«td a letter to the editor to P.O. Box 2K) Cumming, GA 30028; tax it to (770) 889-6017; or e-mail it to editorCltfonythnews.com.
V* 1
DICK YARBROUGH
Columnist
the whatever-you call it
commission. I think
Georgians should be
impressed that I’ve blown
through $3,000 of lobbying
money doing their business
iwink' wink!) and we aren’t
even at the half-way point of
the year. W'uh a little luck, 1
could hit five figures by
Christmas Which brings up
a point I am a little disap¬
pointed that 1 only had one
dinner in May for a lousy
$135. You need to get the
word around to our lobbyist
friends that Mr Speaker
knows they can do better
than that."
"With ail due respect, sir,
1 don't think that is some¬
thing you need to flaunt
Besides, there is one colum¬
nist who says he intends to
report your expenditures
every month to his readers
across the state He says
since you seem so anxious
to have people know who is
w ining and dining you. he
considers this a public ser¬
vice like saving the snail
darter By the way, he used
to be a member of the State
Ethics Commission, so the
relationship between lobby
ists and legislators is of spe¬
cial interest to him "
“Well, la-di-dah Just
ignore the guy or better yet,
sic Speaker Pro Tern Jan
Jones on him She'll take
care of that bozo”
"1 don't think lhal is a
good idea. Mr Speaker He
has discovered that Rep
Jones had 6? meals in 40
days with lobbyists, includ¬
ing 15 with the same guy
I’m not sure she would be
our most effective advocate
in this instance "
"Well, Spiro. I'm not sure
what wc should do al this
point, but I do know one
thing”
"And whal is lhal. sir .’"
“All this talk about lobby ¬
ing limits has given me a
powerful appetite Go fetch
one of them lobbyists lurk
mg out in the hall and tell
'em the Speaker is mighty
hungry."
"Mr Speaker, do you real¬
ly want to do this ’"
“Spiro, does a butterfly
have wings? Son, 1 know
you are try ing your best to
be of help here but some¬
times I think you just don't
understand politics."
You can reach Dick
Yarbrough at yarb2400@bell
south net or PO Box 725373,
Atlanta. GA 31139
Secretary Todd Levent, Post 3,
110 E. Main St., Cumming, GA
30040; (678) 513-5883; tlevent *
forsythco.com
Vice Chairman Patrick Bell, Post
4, 110 E. Main St., Cumming, GA
30040; (678) 513-5884; home, (678)
648 6130; pbbell ° forsythco.com
Chairman Jim Boff, Post 5, 110 E
Main St., Cumming, GA 30040;
(678) 513-5885; jjboff A forsythco,
com
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Ann Crow, District 1, 320
Dahlonega St., Cumming, GA
30040; (770) 490-6316; acrow -
forsyth.k12.ga.us
Kristin Morrissey, District 2,
3310 Cany Creek Lane, Cumming,
GA 30041; (404) 550-3083; kmor
rissey'«forsyth.k12.ga.us
Chairman Tom Cleveland,
District 3, 5225 Millsford Court,
Cumming, GA 30040; (770) 844
9901; tcleveland ° forsyth. k 12.
ga.us
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.. So, I figured there had to be some use for all that hot air.
Jim Powall tor the Foriyth Countv New*
not so fast on FISA
The following editorial appeared in
the Los Angeles Times on May 25
Four y ears ago. Congress
authorized the electronic surveil¬
lance of suspected terrorists and
foreign agents located outside the
United States, with provisions
that supporters said would ade¬
quately protect the privacy of
Americans On Tuesday, the
Senate Intelligence Committee
voted to extend those provisions,
w hich expire at the end of the
year, until 2017, and the chair¬
man and vice chairman of the
committee urged "quick action
by the Senate and House to enact
this extension "
Not so fast Congress is still
owed more information from the
Obama administration about the
way the 2008 amendments to
the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act have been
implemented
The basic bargain reflected in
the law was this fti exchange
for relatively lenient court
approval of surveillance of the
phone conversations and e-mails
of suspected terrorists abroad,
the government would he
restricted in its targeting of U.S.
citizens and permanent resi¬
dents The government also
would take care to “minimize"
or delete communications from
innocent Americans caught in
ibe National Security Agency's
electronic dragnet
This arrangement w as a signif¬
icant improvement over the war¬
Letter policy
The Forsyth County News welcomes your
opinions on issues of public concern. Letters
must be signed and include full address and a
daytime and evening phone number for verifi¬
cation. Names and hometowns of letter writ¬
ers will be included for publication without
exception.Telephone numbers will not be pub¬
lished.
Letters should be limited to 350 words and
may be edited or condensed The same writer
or group may only submit one letter per month
Vice Chairwoman Darla Sexton
Light, District 4, 50080 Hopewell
Road, Cumming, GA 30028; (770)
887 0678; dlight " forsyth.k12.ga.us
Nancy Roche, District 5, 7840
Chestnut Hill Road, Cumming, GA
30041;(770) 889-0229; nroche*
forsyth.k12.ga.us
NATIONAL LEGISLATORS
U.S. Sen Johnny Isakson, 120
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, D C. 20510; (202) 224
3643 or (770)661 0999
U S. Sen Saxby Chambliss, 416
Russell Senate Office Building,
Washington, D C. 20510; (202)
224 3521 or(770) 763-9090
U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, 9th
District; 2133 Rayburn House
Office Building, Washington, D C.,
20515;(202) 225 5211; fax: (202)
225 8272
U S. Rep. Rob Woodall, 7th
District; 1725 Longworth House
Office Building, Washington, D C.,
20515; (770) 232 3005
This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and
others. Signed columns and cartoons are the
opinions of the writers and artists, and they
may not reflect our views.
The more compelling
complaint is that the
intelligence communi¬
ty might be inadver¬
tently or intentionally
overcollecting infor¬
mation from
Americans despite the
law's protections.'
rantiess wiretapping engaged in
by the George W Bush adminis¬
tration in its oncc-secret Terrorist
Surveillance Program. Under the
2008 amendments, to obtain
court approval for surveillance of
a U S citizen or resident abroad,
the gov emment would have to
convince a special court that
there w as probable cause to sus¬
pect that individual of being an
agent of a foreign power or ter¬
rorist group But surveillance not
targeted at Americans could be
authorized in much more general
terms hy the attorney general and
the director of national intelli¬
gence. subject to review by the
spcvial federal court that was
created under FISA.
Wc recognize that broad
authority to conduct surveillance
of foreign targets was the politi¬
cal price for restrictions on the
targeting of Americans, though
we re troubled that the law
for consideration.
tetters must be submitted by noon
Wednesday for Sunday publication. We do not
publish poetry or blanket letters and generally
do not publish letters concerning consumer
complaints. Unsigned or incorrectly identified
letters will be withheld.
Mail letters to the Forsyth County News, P0.
Box 210, Cumming, GA 30028, hand deliver to
302 Veterans Memorial Blvd., fax to (770) 889
6017 or e-mail to editorWforsythnews.com,
STATE LEGISLATORS
Sen. Steve Gooch, 51st District,
Coverdell Legislative Office
Building, Room 321 B, 18 Capitol
Square, Atlanta, GA 30334; (404)
656-9221
Sen. Jack Murphy, 27th District,
Coverdell Legislative Office
Building, Room 325 A, 18 Capitol
Square, Atlanta, GA 30334; (404)
656-7127
Rep Mike Dudgeon, 24th
District; Coverdell Legislative
Office Building, Room 608 C, 18
Capitol Square, Atlanta, GA
30334;(404)656-0298
Rep. Amos Amerson, 9th
District,
Suite 401 G, State Capitol,
Atlanta, GA 30334; (404) 657-
8443 or (706) 864 6589
Rep. Mark Hamilton, 23rd
District
Suite 218, State Capitol, Atlanta
GA 30334; (404) 656 5132; local
(770) 844 6768
allow s the government to
describe its surveillance opera¬
tions to the FISA court in
extremely general terms (possi¬
bly as broad as "all phone calls,
text messages and e-mails origi¬
nating in Yemen”).
The more compelling com¬
plaint is that the intelligence
community might be ioadver
lently or intentionally ovcrcol
lecting information from
Americans despite the law’s
protections In 2009, the New
York Times reported that the
NSA intercepted phone calls
and e-mails of Americans in sit¬
uations not permitted by the law.
(Government officials said the
problems were resolved.)
More recently, the office of the
director of national intelligence
told two senators that it was not
"reasonably possible" to deter¬
mine how many people in the
U.S. have had their private com¬
munications reviewed under the
FISA law. Know ledge of that
number would help to determine
whether Americans are being
“reverse-targeted" in operations
purportedly aimed at foreigners
abroad but actually designed to
focus on someone in the U.S.
The Obama administration has
requested renewal of the 2008
amendments without responding
effectively — and in public to
concerns about collateral damage
to the privacy of Americans. It
can, and should, do so without
compromising specific opera¬
tions Then Congress can act.