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Page 4 - The Wiregrass Farmer, February 2,2011
Editorial & Opinion
The WIREGRASS FARMER - Established 1902
Official Legal Organ of Turner County
109 Gordon Street • P.O. Box 309 • Ashburn, GA 31714
Telephone 229-567-3655
email wiregrassfarmer@yahoo.com
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St, Ashburn, Georgia. Periodicals Postage Paid at Ashburn, Geor
gia.
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LEGAL NOTICES is Monday NOON before Wednesday’s publication.
Holiday deadlines will be announced at least one week in advance.
Our tax dollars will pay for abortions
About 911
Recently your hometown newspaper published
two letters to the editor which were critical of the
way the 911 emergency call department is being
run.
These letters came from people who are directly
involved with the 911 department.
The people saying there is a problem and asking
for help are not private citizens making emergency
calls to 911. Private citizen complaints about 911
must be considered in the light of their call to 911:
“Invariably what people think they say when they
call 911 is not what they say,” County Commis
sioner Mike Geoghagan said.
The people speaking out in the letters to the edi
tor are not private citizens. They are trained profes
sionals. They are able to keep their cool under
pressure. Besides which, the complaints they level
about 911 are not all about emergency calls. The
complaints cover routine matters.
Some time back a group of public safety em
ployees, representing law enforcement, fire depart
ments and EMS petitioned the County
Commission to seriously look at the 911 depart
ment and the problems this group saw at the depart
ment. According to the group spokesman, County
Coroner Edgar Perry, these issues have not been ad
equately addressed by the County Commission.
We are not saying the 911 department is being
badly run. We are certainly not saying dispatchers
are not doing their job. The Turner County 911 de
partment has some very good dispatchers. They
were also, until as late as last week, working with
antiquated equipment.
We are saying if so many in local law enforce
ment, fire departments and EMS say there is a
problem at 911, then these complaints need to be
taken seriously. These complaints need to be ad
dressed.
House Republicans have
begun debate on the portion
of the Obama Administra
tion’s Health Care Law that
forces taxpayers to foot the
bill for abortions. This action
began a day after the House
voted to repeal the Health
Care Law.
The latest attack on the
new health care law could
drive a wedge between the
majority of Democratic law
makers who support abortion
rights and those who oppose
abortions, but last year signed
on to a compromise that pro
vided a critical margin to pass
the overhaul.
GOP lawmakers intro
duced two separate bills to
toughen restrictions on tax
payers funding of abortions
arguing that the language now
in the law is weak. House
Speaker John Bochner called
the abortion legislation one of
his top priorities and vowed
to fight the portion of the bill
that allowed taxpayer funds to
be spent on elective abor
tions.
Among other health care
issues brought up by the Re
publicans were curbs on jury
awards in medical malprac
tice cases, rescinding a re
quirement that businesses
report purchases of $600 or
more to the IRS and a roll
back of cuts to private
Medicare Advantage plans.
Present federal law pro
hibits federal funding for
abortion except in cases of
rape, incest or to save the life
of the mother. Known as the
From Where
I Sit
Hyde amendment that basic
prohibition is incorporated in
many laws and generally has
to be renewed annually in
spending bills. Abortion op
ponents sought to impose the
Hyde amendment on medical
insurance plans that offer
abortion coverage.
The law struck a compro
mise that divided abortion op
ponents and displeased most
abortion rights supporters. It
allowed plans to cover abor
tions provided they collect a
separate premium from poli
cyholders and that money is
kept apart from federal subsi
dies received by the plans.
It also allowed individual
states to ban abortion cover
age and provided that there
would be at least one plan in
every state that does not
cover abortions. President
Obama issued an executive
order reaffirming long stand
ing restrictions on abortion
coverage.
Foes of abortions gained
strength in the House and
Congress this past election,
and among state governors
and legislatures, raising
hopes among social conserva
tives for a broad surge of
anti-abortion bills. Abortion
foes feel there is a shift to
wards protecting life and
stopping the tide of unre
stricted abortions.
Those in the know told
Congress they feel that two of
the central promises of Presi
dent Obama’s health care
overhaul law are unlikely to
be fulfilled. The landmark
legislation probably will not
hold cost down and it will not
let everyone keep their cur
rent health insurance if they
like it.
The experts assessment
came a day after Obama in
his State of the Union mes
sage told lawmakers he is
open to improvements in the
law, but unwilling to rehash
the health care debate of the
past two years.
In conclusion, a law that
does harm to businesses
harms the entire nation. It will
cause the loss of jobs and
force some businesses to
close. Tack on the fact that we
Americans who oppose abor
tion, with exception of rea
sons given under the Hyde
amendment, must do ah we
can to keep our tax dollars
from funding something that
takes the life of an unborn
child.
Call your Congressman
and Senator today.
In our opinion, the County Commission is not
doing much so far to address these complaints.
The County Commission likes the idea of bring
ing in outsiders to audit and consult and review the
way the County is doing things: to wit the recent in
dependent survey of the EMS, a discussed survey
of the County’s building and space needs, the air
port project, a decision to ask the Regional Devel
opment Commission to apply for a Community
Development Block Grant. There are other exam
ples.
In the light of such widespread complaints by
every public safety department in the County, we
are saying it is time to bring in an outside agency to
review the 911 center and offer suggestions on how
to improve it. Get some facts, put the facts on the
table and work with that.
A 911 advisory board meeting was planned for
last week but was postponed by County Commis
sion Chairman Daryl Hall. The meeting, as of this
writing, has not been rescheduled. Unless the
County Commission has solid facts to deal with and
is willing to act responsibly on those facts, an advi
sory board meeting is a waste of time.
If the Commission has facts and has dealt with
them responsibly, then Commissioners need to
come forward with that information
•••
This is the opinion of the newspaper . We’d like to
hear yours. Letters to the editor welcome.
k J
Letters to the editor welcome!
Your opinion is important! Write: Editor, P.O. Box 309,
Ashburn GA 31714 or email <wiregrass
farmer@yahoo.com> We do not charge to publish letters to
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quirements. Letters must be signed. We must have a phone
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lishing requirements won’t be printed. Call 567-3655 for
more information.
Wishbone, Backbone, & Funny bone ... by Charles B. Perry
I listened intently to Presi
dent Obama’s State of the
Union address to Congress.
What did I hear? President
Obama said Americans must
“understand that if we don’t
take meaningful steps to rein
in our debt, it could damage
our markets, increase the cost
of borrowing, and jeopardize
our recovery...all of which
would have an even worse ef
fect on our job growth and
family incomes.” I agree with
him 110%! However, then in
a total failure of leadership,
President Obama went on to
completely abandon his own
deficit commission’s spending
cut proposals! This is truly
very sad, because it shows that
the President is still com
pletely out of touch with real
ity!
Did you...like me...feel
Obama was talking out of both
sides of his mouth? For exam
ple, early on in his address, he
said.” None of us can predict
with certainty what the next
big industry will be or where
the new jobs will come from.”
A few minutes later he said
“We’ll invest (spend) in bio
medical research, information
technology, and especially
clean energy technology and
create countless new jobs for
our people”. How does he
know that’s where the new
jobs will come from?
He did not outline what
budget cuts would take place
nor how deeply these cuts
would be. He could only talk
about spending... oops I’m
sorry...’investments’ that he
planned to implement in the
coming months. From bio
medical to fast choo choo
trains, education and green en
ergy... these investments
(spending) will only add to an
already horrendous deficit! He
identified more government
‘investment’ (spending) as the
key to “winning the future”.
Hogwash! If centrally planned
government spending is the
key to America’s future suc
cess, then we are in BIG trou
ble!
His call for a reduction in
some corporate taxes is a step
in the right direction, but it
doesn’t go far enough! If the
President wants to encourage
the private sector investment,
he should focus on reducing
the budget deficit by eliminat
ing runaway federal spending
which is crowding out private
investment and reduce barriers
to productive private sector in
vestment.
Was he sincere when he
said he would veto any bill that
was sent to his desk with ear
marks. I pray that he was!
Shortly after his address, Sen.
Harry Reid basically told the
President to ‘buzz off’. The
Senate Majority leader... a
member of the President’s own
party.. .basically told the Pres
ident that Congress would do
what they wanted to do about
earmarks! Sen. Reid does not
seem to remember the last
election when the American
people sent a strong message
that we wanted this asinine
spending to cease!
Our liberty is best pro
tected when the federal gov
ernment has clear limits! Our
country does desperately need
to change course to “win the
future”. But President
Obama’s Progressive (Liberal)
big big government plans will
only make us losers! Until
next time...
Baker’s Dozen
Mornings
With limited bathroom fa
cilities and two teenagers in
the house, weekday mornings
at Casa d’Baker can be
enough to make the Pope
swear loud enough to curdle
powdered milk.
Being a genius, I have
solved at least part of the
Morning Rush Hour accord
ing to a normal person. Being
an abnormal person, I have
found this does not work. To
explain: I stay in bed until
everyone is gone or I get up
before everyone else and
leave before they get out of
bed. I’ll let you figure out
which one happens most of
the time.
A normal person, i.e. an
adult with no children, says
“Hey. You get to sleep in.”
Being an abnormal person,
i.e. a parent with two
teenagers in the house, I look
at the normal person and
laugh maniacally and then fall
face down on the ground,
asleep before I’ve even
reached the 45 degree slant
position.
A typical weekday morn
ing:
The alarm clock goes off
between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.
with a buzz that sounds like a
queen bee with PMS and a
chain saw. No, the alarm can
not be set for a specific time
thanks to the Random Alarm
Setting installed by the cre
ative Chinese sweat shop
workers who believe that
being a slave to a clock is far
inferior to being a slave to a
dictatorial communist state.
Eventually someone gets
up complaining about having
to get up and turn the alarm
clock off. I have suggested
turning off the clock with a 12
gauge, but this is met with
hostility by the very people
who are so upset about having
to get up to turn the buzzer
off. Some mornings the clock
is never turned off and buzzes
ah day long, I suppose in case
some homeless person is
sleeping in the crawl space
under the house and has to be
at his intersection with his
“Will Pose for PICHURS for
mOnee” sign by a certain
time.
Meanwhile, I try to grab a
bit more sleep and quell
thoughts of blowing electron
ics into the stratosphere with
high explosives.
This of course does not
work because the morning
vocal exercises have begun.
By vocal exercises I mean
they yell at each other about
not being able to find shoes,
shirts, pants, glasses, saxo
phone, book bags, homework,
the cat, their bedroom, not
being able to get into the
bathroom, being in the bath
room and being rushed, being
rushed in general, it’s now
7:30 and everyone is going to
be late and “I’m leaving
NOW” when in fact the per
son who claims to be leaving
won’t actually reach the door
to leave until at least 15 min
utes later.
At this point I seriously
consider getting between the
mattresses in hopes it will
create a soundproof barrier.
The “I’m leaving NOW”
announcement is the cue for
the child who is running be
hind that morning to suddenly
remember band homework.
Band homework, as you may
not know, involves finding
some adults and torturing
them with what is supposed to
be a musical instrument but is
actually something banned by
the Geneva Conventions on
Humane Treatment of Prison
ers of War. The child or chil
dren, depending, manage to
squeeze in several minutes of
rushed practice on their re-
(See Baker Page 5)