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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2009
Named the best weekly editorial page in the nation for 2007, 2008
Opinions
“Private opinion is weak, but public opinion is almost omnipotent. ”
- Henry Ward Beecher -
Mike Buffington, editor • Email: Mike@mainstreetnews.com
our views
With GM,
U.S. becomes
France
W HAT does it say when
on the same day the
nation’s largest auto
motive company files the country’s
largest bankruptcy in history the
Stock Market shoots up 221 points?
Perhaps this is the future face
of American Capitalism: When in
trouble, sell yourself to the govern
ment.
By embracing General Motors,
the U.S. government has become
like France, but without good food
and wine.
GM, one of the nation’s largest
businesses, is now owned 90 per
cent by the U.S. Government and
unions. Only 10 percent of the firm
is in the hands of private investors.
Viva la Chevrolet?
The government’s entanglement
with GM may become the crux
on which next year’s mid-term
elections are decided. Declaring
GM too big to fail, the Obama
Administration has, in effect,
nationalized one of the country’s
largest firms.
Now what?
The move was little more than
a bow by the administration to
auto unions, which the Democratic
Party hopes to revive as a core part
of the party.
But there are major problems
with the government’s actions.
First, nationalizing GM does little to
ensure the firm’s long-term viability.
To stay in business, GM will have
to sell cars. Does Obama have
some savoir-faire about automotive
design and marketing that decades
of other corporate leaders have
missed?
Now under the control of govern
ment, GM will certainly become
a laboratory for “politically cor
rect” vehicles that fit the vision of
the “save the earth” crowd which
dominates the Democratic Party.
But whether or not those are the
kinds of vehicles Americans will
buy remains to be seen.
The second problem with Obama
Motors is the issue of fairness. How
will Americans react to the shrilling
of their commander-in-chief to buy
GM cars rather than Ford? How will
stockholders and workers tied to all
the other auto firms feel about their
tax money being used to prop up a
failed competitor?
These kinds of issues often prove
the laws of unintended consequenc
es; while trying to save GM, Obama
is likely to create more problems
than he resolves. And this time, he
can’t blame Bush.
Make no mistake, the U.S. tax
payer is now in a menage a trois
with Obama and the union bosses.
GM has been nationalized; the tax
payers own it; Obama is car-dealer-
in-chief.
As the French might say, Holy
merdel
The Jackson Herald
Founded 1875 • The Official Legal
Organ of Jackson County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher & Editor
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher &
Advertising Manager
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letters
On screaming children: Get a babysitter
Dear Editor:
I’d like to personally thank Sara Harris of Jefferson
for having the courage to write about how a screaming
child ruined the Jackson County Comprehensive High
School choral program. Virtually the same thing hap
pened at the May 27 graduation of the Lanier Career
Academy. Kids who shouldn’t have been there in the
first place cried, shrieked, whined and shouted from
the opening prayer to an attempted vocal solo and
awards presentations, all the way to the handing out
of diplomas.
Only one infant got carried out briefly and that was
after most of the damage was done. I have seen more
than one church wedding ruined by this same phe
nomenon, not to mention expensive meals in restau
rants that were anything but fast food.
People, get a baby sitter! And think how you are ruin
ing things for everyone else.
Sincerely,
Michelle Crawford
“Don’t laugh... it's out-performing my 401-K!
from www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
From “Are you kidding” about fire train
ing facility:
“I spoke to some of the firemen and they said
that all this isn't their idea. Just a few of the
volunteer departments want all of those bells
and whistles. I'm lucky; I live in West Jackson
so I already have the full-time firemen! The
county should really look at who REALLY
wants this training center. I heard it is just one
of the volunteer fire chief’s pipe dream that
doesn't even live in Jackson County. My friend
lives in Maysville (if that gives you a hint as to
which fire chief it is) The firemen need a place
to train, however and $440,000.00 parking lot
isn’t the way to get trained. Can’t they do this
on roads and giant empty warehouse parking
lots? Or the schools that we already pay taxes
to for parking lots? I don’t know, maybe I am
just crazy... I’ve heard that the firemen will
be able to practice driving on the new lot, so
maybe we should ask if they do this training
now, and if not why should we expect them to
start later?
Saxby, Johnny must walk a fine line
THE NOMINATION of the first Hispanic to serve
on the U.S. Supreme Court, federal appeals Judge
Sonia Sotomayor, has spawned an ugly political brawl
among some Republicans.
Georgia’s own Newt Gingrich
was one of more notable mud-
flingers, although he was not
alone among his colleagues. In
a Twitter message he transmit
ted in last week, Gingrich called
Sotomayor a “Latina woman
racist” who should withdraw
her name from nomination.
Talk radio host Rush
Limbaugh, considered by many
to be the unofficial head of
the Republican Party, had some
equally strong words for the
New York jurist: “Here you
have a racist. You might want to soften that and you
might want to say a reverse racist. And the libs of
course say, the minorities cannot be racists, because
they don’t have the power to implement their racism.
Well, those days are gone, because reverse racists cer
tainly do have the power to implement their power.”
Pat Buchanan added his two cents worth on a cable
talk show: “She is also an affirmative action pick.”
Fox TV host Glenn Beck offered a similar assess
ment: “Hey, Hispanic chick lady! You’re empathetic
... you’re in!”
Georgia Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny
Isakson are caught in the middle of this controversy
because they will be voting at some point with their
fellow senators on whether to confirm Sotomayor to
that seat on the high court. They will be expected by
many of their Republican supporters to try to filibuster
and prevent the Senate from even coming to a vote on
Sotomayor’s nomination.
Do they join the chorus of Gingrich and Limbaugh
and make racially charged remarks about Sotomayor,
which would please a large segment of their party’s
base? Or do they refrain from making inflammatory
comments, which would upset that same group of
voters?
This is a sensitive issue with implications for
Republicans both nationally and in Georgia. Hispanics
are the fastest-growing ethnic group right now. It is
estimated there are more than 100,000 registered vot
ers of Latino descent in Georgia, a number that could
exceed 150,000 by the time we go to the polls in 2010.
If Chambliss and Isakson join the crowd that’s hurling
insults at the judge, or take part in an attempt to stop
a vote on her, they will stir up the animosity of an
important bloc of voters.
They also could be setting themselves up for charg
es of hypocrisy. Four years ago, when George W. Bush
was president and Republicans controlled the Senate,
the Democratic minority attempted to block votes
by filibustering several of Bush’s judicial nominees.
Angry Senate Republicans like Isakson threatened to
invoke the “nuclear option” and repeal the rule on
filibusters, a move that was avoided when Democrats
and Republicans reached a compromise on nomina
tions.
“This is all about politics and nothing about the
substance of these judges, and that’s wrong,” Isakson
said during that 2005 controversy. He and Chambliss
demanded “up-or-down” votes on the Bush nominees
and opposed the idea that a presidential nomination
might be prevented by a filibuster.
“I cannot envision me not agreeing to allow some
body an up-or-down vote. The way our country’s judi
cial system has always worked is to remove the politics
from the nominee,” Chambliss said at the time.
The Georgia senators so far are keeping a low profile
and doing their best to avoid making statements that
would pour more gasoline on the fire.
“I look forward to a thorough examination and
debate of her credentials and legal views during the
Senate confirmation process.” Isakson said diplomati
cally. “I believe a qualified judge is one who under
stands the value and the strength and the power of the
Constitution of the United States of America, who will
rule based on the law, and who will not legislate based
on the position.”
“I have consistently stated that Supreme Court nomi
nees must not engage in legislating from the bench,
but must interpret the laws as they have been passed,”
Chambliss said. “The Senate deserves an appropriate
amount of time to review this nominee. I look forward
to a dignified and thorough confirmation process.”
It’s a tough situation for the state’s two senators.
They will be under extraordinary political pressure
on this one. No matter what they do, they’re going to
make a lot of voters angry.
Tom Crawford is the editor of Capitol Impact’s
Georgia Report. He can be reached at tcrawford@
caDitoIimDact.net.
Bear Creek
bureaucracy
S TUPID bureaucracy. That’s
about the kindest thing you
can say about the series of
events surrounding the proposed rec
reation use of the Bear Creek Reservoir
in South Jackson.
Ever since the four-county reservoir
was built, fishermen have been angling
to wet a worm in the lake. At first, they
were thwarted by bureaucrats afraid
of a terror
ist attack.
When the
authorities
eventu
ally decided
grandpaw’s
rod-and-reel
was not a
threat to
national
security,
they agreed
to open the
lake for fish
ing and to
allow small
boats for that purpose.
But first, a boat ramp has to be built,
a project which has had endless dis
cussion and engineering and several
years of work. Now it appears the
ramp won’t be completed until August
because of all the rain.
But a boat ramp is in water anyway;
what does the rain have to do with it?
And get this, the cost of said boat
ramp is now approaching $370,000.
They should have given former
Jackson County commission chairman
Pat Bell a backhoe, six prisoners from
the work camp and a couple six-packs
for motivation (for the prisoners, not
Pat) and the darn thing would have
been done five years ago.
Now the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners finds itself on the hot-
seat over some proposed rules regard
ing how neighbors (and others) use
the lake.
First example: “It shall be unlawful
for any person or persons to operate
any non-fishing boat on the Bear Creek
Reservoir waters. ”
In other words, you can only put a
canoe or kayak on the lake if you fish,
not if you just want to paddle around
and look at the shore? Nuts.
Another example: The rules prevent
people who own property along the
lake’s shore from fishing from their
property. It’s OK for them to fish from
a boat, but not their own shoreline.
For the life of me, I cannot fathom
the logic of either of those rules.
About the only sane thing to happen
lately with Bear Creek is the judge’s
ruling last week that Jackson County’s
lawsuit against its partners in the reser
voir can proceed.
Jackson County sued the authority
that oversees Bear Creek in an attempt
to force the group to have an indepen
dent recalculation done of the lake’s
actual water yield. Jackson County
argues that the numbers used initially
were miscalculated and that the lake
actually yields less water than initially
thought.
If Jackson County is correct, that
means that Athens-Clarke County and
Oconee County are using more water
than they have contracted for and are
using some of Jackson’s allotment
for free. Jackson County wants to be
compensated by the other counties for
that use.
With last week’s ruling, the lawsuit
can move forward, as it should. Letting
an independent firm do another cal
culation is the only way to settle the
numbers.
Despite all this bureaucratic and
legalistic wrangling, Bear Creek is a
good thing for Jackson County and the
other counties involved. Having access
to secure water resources during times
of drought is critical to the citizens of
all the counties involved.
Let’s just not muddy that water with
inane rules, regulations and costly proj
ects that, in the big picture, don’t mean
a darn thing.
Mike Buffington is editor of The
Jackson Herald. He can be reached at
mike@mainstreetnews. com.
mike
buffington