Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A, The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, July 28,2021
Our Young Shall Inherit The National Debt
Special to the Ledger
By Kate Scarmalis
The little man sits
behind the screen, his
hands tugging and pull
ing levers in total secre
cy. Inner workings only
fathomed through dusky
mirrors, his miracles are
performed. The Munch-
kins in this Land of Oz,
staunch in their belief in
their Wizard’s awesome
power, remain aloof and
unquestioning.
How disquieting it
must have been to learn
that he was just a man,
an ordinary man with
no particular power to
evoke even the smallest
of miracles.
Such men and women
as this reign untouched
in the bowels of our
governmental agencies.
Ours is a world run by
our betters. At least that
is the unshakeable belief
of the leftist elitists.
Just as the Wizard of
Oz was able to continue
to perform his fraud
behind a fragile curtain,
so our government reg
ulators continue to forge
their crafty sham in near
secrecy.
Except. .. these mis
creants perform their
deeds, hiding in plain
sight.
The game is econom
ics, a messy gordian
knot of an unknowable
world. The shroud of
bureaucracy remains
secure in the knowledge
that the very compli
cated nature of their
enterprise will ward off
all but the most rabid
investigator.
There is a game afoot.
Don’t ask to play along.
The rules are so obscure
that hours spent with
the playbook will not
shed light on the rules.
The faint-hearted will
wisely keep his distance,
preferring to trust in our
Fruit on a black cherry tree.
Black Cherry Trees
The University of Georgia • Cooperative Extension Service
Black Cherry Trees
Doug Collins, Lee County
Extension Coordinator 6D
Putting Knowledge toWorLl ^
Black cherry trees
are now in bloom.
These trees have pretty
clusters of small white
flowers. These trees
grow easily in our area.
They are often seen in
the yards of houses built
in wooded areas. They
are fairly abundant in
woods in our area.
Just because they
grow well in our area
doesn’t mean that I
recommend them as
landscape trees. Black
cherry trees are suscep
tible to a disease called
black knot that, as the
name suggests, produc
es knots or cankers on
the trunk and branches.
In addition to being
unsightly, these cankers
weaken the affected
trunk or branch.
Black cherry trees
grow to fifty or sixty
feet tall and sometimes
much taller. They do
best on deep fertile soils
with adequate moisture.
This tree is valuable
for its wood. My broth
er cut black cherry trees
and had them sawed for
flooring in his house.
For more information,
call the Lee County
Extension Office at
759-6025 or email me at
collinsd@uga.edu
The Lee County Ledger
Established August 24,1978
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appointed experts to that
inevitable migraine.
The reality is that we
live today at the expense
of tomorrow. Simply
put, the powers that be
are leveraging our fu
ture to stimulate today’s
economy. The United
States has become a
creditor nation, owing
debts that can never be
repaid.
The unwitting taxpay
er is akin to the parent
who hands a platinum
card to a teenager. The
average teen will contin
ue to spend until some
agreed-upon credit limit
has been met. Or, when
the credit card company
cuts them off.
The predicament in
which we find ourselves
now is that our govern
ment, like an out-of-
control teenager, refuses
to recognize any limit
on spending, especially
when it meets a party’s
political needs.
When a cutoff point is
finally reached, the un
bearably spoiled teenag
er and our liberal/leftist
lawmakers simply throw
a tantrum to get the debt
limit raised.
In the same way
that the profligate teen
“needs” a new sweater
to match her new socks,
wanton congressmen/
women continue to justi
fy out-of-control spend
ing as essential national
expenditures.
With hands on their
hearts, both parties
promise to curb their
spending in the future.
Mark your calendars for
Saint Nevers Day.
What if Magic Money
Fairy came by and sus
pended the debt limit?
With a glint in her eye,
Little Girl would pester
her spineless
parents for
a shiny new
red car to set
off her new
sweater and
sock set.
Let’s
not have
Congress
hear about
something
like doing
away with a
limit on the
amount that they can
allocate to . . . anything
they want. Too late.
America has crossed a
fiscal red line. Congress
has begun spending
money like a drunken
sailor.
In theory, there is a
mechanism to put the
brakes on governmental
expenditures. The debt
ceiling is the maximum
amount of debt that the
Department of Treasury
is allowed to issue to
the public or to other
agencies. It is a firm
amount that is set by
law. Across the years,
the debt ceiling has been
allowed to increase to fi
nance the government’s
operations.
However, as of August
2019, there has been no
statutory limit on the
new federal debt, with
the passage of the Bipar
tisan Budget Act (Public
Law 116-37).
This statute has its
good side as well as its
bad. When the pan
demic hit our people,
shutdowns
killed em
ployment.
Unemploy
ment pay
ments went
through the
roof.
Naturally,
our govern
ment took
things too
far. Paying
people not
to work
has and will continue to
result in the bankrupt
cies of multiple small
business concerns.
“No problem,” says
Joe Biden blithely. He
wants to force business
es to increase employ
ees’ salaries.
Biden’s idea is that
employees will return if
these greedy capitalists
would only pay them a
whole lot more. It saves
the Biden administration
from the trouble to force
a federal minimum pay
scale of $15/hr on the
small business person.
The problem is that
many businesses can’t
meet this expense and
will be forced to close
their doors.
No skin off Biden’s
posterior.
Much to the dismay
of the Green New Deal
Big Spenders Club in
Congress, the statutory
suspension of the debt
limit will come to an
end, as of July 31, 2021.
On August 1 (this com
ing Sunday), the debt
limit will be reset to the
previous debt limit of
$22.0 trillion, plus the
cumulative borrowing
that occurred during the
period of suspension.
While the media sleeps
through this debt deba
cle, the national debt has
risen to $28.5 + trillion
dollars. (Check it out.
Go to “U.S. national
debt clock” on a Google
search to see the debt
increase in real-time.)
Expect that the issue of
the debt limit will rear
its ugly head in Con
gress this week. How
can our country reset a
statutory debt limit back
to $22 trillion, when we
already owe much more
than that figure?
Is it any wonder that
the Democrats want to
ram their new spending
package through? This
is insane.
Will the debt ceiling
issue give Republicans
enough leverage to keep
the Democrats in check?
Likely not - they are as
spineless as Little Girl’s
dad.
Kate Scarmalis, retired
and loving life, is cur
rently working on her
novel, “TellNo Tales”.
Kate Scarmalis
Sharing the Word
By Harry R. Martinez,
Ph.D
Little Words
The importance of
words containing just
a few letters must be
considered when study
ing the Scriptures. They
appear as conjunctions
or prepositions. For ex
ample, Dr. Luke records
the arrest of Paul and
Silas. “Once when we
were going to the place
of prayer, we were met
by a slave girl who had
a spirit by which she
predicted the future. She
earned a great deal of
money for her owners by
fortune-telling.
This girl followed
Paul and the rest of us,
shouting, “These men
are servants of the Most
High God, who are
telling you the way to be
saved.” She kept this up
for many days. Finally,
Paul became so troubled
that he turned around
and said to the spirit,
“In the name of Jesus
Christ I command you
to come out of her!” At
that moment the spirit
left her” (Acts 16:16-18
NIV). However, those
merchants who were
using this young for
tune-teller possessed of
a demon had no concern
for her well-being. They
were involved in evil,
motivated by Satan.
How different that is
from God’s thinking and
love toward mankind.
Nahum wrote ... “The
LORD is good, a refuge
in times of trouble. He
cares for those who
trust in him” (Nah 1:7
NIV). The Apostle Peter
expressed a similar
thought ... “Cast all
your anxiety on him be
cause he cares for you”
(1 Pe 5:7b NIV). Luke
continues the narrative
of Paul and Silas in
prison.
God would honor the
witness of these two
men in a dramatic way.
“But about
midnight
Paul and
Silas were
praying
and singing
hymns of
praise to
God, and the
prisoners
were listen
ing to them;
and sud
denly there
came a great earthquake,
so that the foundations
of the prison house were
shaken; and immedi
ately all the doors were
opened, and everyone’s
chains were unfastened.
And when the jailer had
been roused out of sleep
and had seen the prison
doors opened, he drew
his sword and was about
to kill himself, suppos
ing that the prisoners
had escaped.
But Paul cried out with
a loud voice, saying,
“Do yourself no harm,
for we are all here!” And
he called for lights and
rushed in and, trembling
with fear, he fell down
before Paul and Silas,
and after he brought
them out, he said, “Sirs,
what must I do to be
saved?” Their reply was
short... “So they said,
“Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you
will be saved, you and
your household” (Acts
16:31 NKJV). The jailer
had to cast his faith on
the fact that Christ was
the Savior, the One who
died, was buried and
resurrected.
It is noteworthy that
Paul and Silas used the
word “on” instead of
“about.” Many in that
day and even now, know
about Christ
as a histor
ical figure.
There is the
observance
of His birth
and of His
crucifixion.
The resur
rection of
Christ is
celebrated at
Eastertime.
In fact,
Christendom has a year
long liturgical calendar
that relates to the life of
Christ. It is good to have
knowledge “about” Him.
However, it is believing
by faith that His work
on the Cross paid one’s
debt for sin that brings
salvation. When that
fact is embraced person
ally by faith, the result is
the gift of eternal life. It
is not a matter of human
effort but of faith. Paul
wrote ... “he saved us,
not because of righteous
things we had done, but
because of his mercy...”
(Titus 3:5 NIV). “For
it is by grace you have
been saved, through
faith — and this not
from yourselves, it is
the gift of God—not by
works, so that no one
can boast” (Eph 2:8-9
NIV).
One’s faith must be
directed to an object
that has worth. There is
only One who is worthy.
John records the lyrics
of one of the songs sung
in heaven ... “Worthy
is the Lamb, who was
slain, to receive power
and wealth and wisdom
and strength and honor
and glory and praise”
(Rev 5:12 NIV). Words
like “and,” “in,” or
“on” contain few letters
but have great eternal
benefit.
Editor’s note: Dr.
Martinez is an ordained
minister and was a
professor and head of
the music department at
Florida State University
School from 1975 to
2003. He is the father of
five adult children and
resides in Lee County
with his wife, Sara.
Letters Policy
The Lee County Ledger welcomes - indeed en
courages - letters from our readers on matters of
interest for the community. Have a complaint? See
a problem that needs correcting? Have the solution
to a problem that others haven’t seen yet? Feel some
person or group deserves praise and isn’t getting
it? Please write us and let everyone share in your
viewpoint. We do request that all letters be signed
and accompanied by the writer’s street address and
telephone number. We reserve the right not to print
any letter. Letters not signed will not be printed.
Letters may be edited for space. Address your
letter to Editor, The Lee County Ledger, P.O. Box
715, Leesburg, Georgia 31763 or bring them by our
office.
Harry R. Martinez