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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010
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
Another bank
failure signals
hard times
continue
A
LTHOUGH last
Friday’s demise of
Community Bank
& Trust wasn’t a total shock
— those who follow local eco
nomic news knew it was just a
matter of time — it still marks a
sad chapter in Jackson and sur
rounding counties.
The old institutions that have
been a large part of the com
munity are buckling under
the weight of this economic
downturn. Two other area
banks, Freedom Bank and
First Piedmont Bank, failed last
year. Habersham Bank left the
Braselton market in December.
Several other area banks are
stmggling.
Although CB&T was based in
nearby Cornelia, it had a large
and deep presence in Jackson
County with multiple branch
es in the area. While not as
large as the super-regional and
national banks, CB&T was a
major player in the Northeast
Georgia market. And among its
officials, it provided a number
of people in area civic and polit
ical groups that went far beyond
just its economic impact.
Under new ownership, all of
that may stay the same; or it may
not. Reportedly the bank will
continue to operate under the
CB&T name. But who knows
how things might change in the
coming years as those oper
ations are folded into that of
SCBT, its new owner.
This bank failure also shows
that the local economy is still
struggling even while some
economists claim the recession
is over. There is more pain to
come, especially among local
governments that are facing
major shortfalls in their bud
gets.
There are some who believe
the nation’s failing banks have
nobody but themselves to
blame; they overextended and
gambled on real estate in ways
that now look foolish. Fraud
was also a problem at some
banks.
Perhaps that is true. Even so,
when a giant local institution
such as CB&T falls, it is a sad
moment in the community’s
history.
The Jackson Herald
Founded 1875 • The Official Legal
Organ of Jackson County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher & Editor
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher &
Advertising Manager
News Department
Angela Gary Associate Editor
Jana Adams Mitcham Features Editor
Brandon Reed Sports Editor
Kerri Testement Reporter
Sharon Hogan Reporter
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We’re waving goodbye to the future
WHEN Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
stopped in Atlanta last September, he was asked about
Georgia’s prospects for getting some of the $8 billion in
federal stimulus funds being allocated for a network of
high-speed passenger rail lines
Like other states in the region,
Georgia wanted to be part of
this important project and
applied for $472 million that
would pay for building the link
between Atlanta and Macon.
But LaHood’s response to
reporters’ questions about the
federal money was not very
encouraging.
“It’ll come to Atlanta if Georgia
gets its act together,” LaHood
said. “There has to be a com
mitment by state government
that transit is important.”
Unfortunately for Georgia, we
are still looking for that commitment from the state’s
leadership.
We paid the price last week when the announcement
of the rail grants was finally made. Florida and North
Carolina, which are serious about investing in pas
senger rail, will get nearly $1.8 billion combined. That
money will be spent for infrastructure projects that
employ thousands of people.
Georgia will get the piddling amount of $750,000 to
conduct yet another study of passenger rail. The only
jobs created will be for whichever consultants do the
study.
This is bad news for the state, but it shouldn’t be a
surprise to anyone. For a project of this scope and
importance, the federal money is only going to states
that are serious about investing for future transportation
needs.
Georgia has been much less than serious about this
issue. We already have $87 million in federal funds that
have sat unused for the last 10 years because the state
still has not agreed to provide $20 million in matching
funds. That money would have paid for the first part
of the Atlanta-Macon line, a commuter rail link from
downtown Atlanta to Clayton County.
Here’s what our leadership thought was more impor
tant to the state’s future. Gov. Sonny Perdue proposed,
and the Legislature approved, $19 million a few years
ago to build a bunch of boat docks and a tourist center
for the “Go Fish” initiative that was supposed to attract
bass fishing tournaments to Georgia.
In his budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Perdue
proposed that the state spend $10 million on a College
Football Hall of Fame that will relocate to Atlanta and
$9.1 million on a horse park at the National Fairgrounds
and Agricenter in Perry.
Passenger rail service? We can’t afford any of that.
Commuter rail links to Macon and Athens remain just
concepts in a bureaucrat’s report, as does a high-speed
rail line from Atlanta to Chattanooga.
To sum it up: our neighboring states are making a
major investment to become part of a transportation
network that could reshape the future of this region.
We’re building boat docks and horse parks. We can’t
even agree on a sales tax to repave a few highways.
This is not a partisan issue - both parties have been
asleep at the wheel.
Democratic governors Roy Barnes and Zell Miller
also passed up opportunities to get into the rail
game. Sam Williams of the Metro Atlanta Chamber
of Commerce recalls how business leaders tried in
vain to sell Miller’s transportation commissioner, the
late Wayne Shackelford, on the value of upgrading rail
service.
“We argued with Wayne Shackelford for years to try
to get money for rail,” Williams said, but he wouldn’t
budge.
That indifference to any mode of transportation
other than highways has also been a feature of the
Republicans who have controlled state government in
recent years. Former House Speaker Glenn Richardson
was especially contemptuous of rail service, once
dismissing it as “19th century technology for a 21st
century problem.”
“We’re the caboose on this train,” Williams said. “If
we’re cut out of this, if the rail line goes down the coast
(and not through Atlanta), then shame on us.”
North Carolina and Florida are willing to make major
investments that should result in benefits down the line
for all of their citizens. They’re getting big money from
the federal government to start putting people to work
and make it a reality.
Georgia could have been part of that too, but we
have decided not to get on board. The train is leaving
the station without us. We’re waving goodbye to the
future.
Tom Crawford is the editor of The Georgia Report.
He can be reached at tcrawford@capitolimpact. net.
Bailout
undermines
needed reforms
T HE proposed budget by
President Obama for the
next fiscal year reportedly
includes a lot of money for Georgia.
But don’t go stand in line just yet. If
you don’t
work for
govern
ment, you
aren’t like
ly to see a
dime.
That’s
because
the pro
posed
spending
is just
another
round
of one
govern
ment bailing out other governments.
For the average small business and
middle-income family, it won’t mean
very much.
No, this money is “government”
money and once in government
bureaucratic hands, it will never leave.
Some will no doubt cheer the pro
posal. School leaders would love to
have the $1.8 billion proposed in the
federal budget for Georgia schools.
Who could blame them? It’s free
money from God.
But for taxpayers, it’s a bad deal in
the long term. If the federal govern
ment again bails out Georgia’s budget
and schools, nothing will change in
the state. Leaders will just suck off the
tit of this federal welfare for as long as
they can.
Changes, however, need to be
made in Georgia, especially in edu
cation. Despite throwing more and
more money at public schools over
the last two decades, little improve
ment is evident. The state is still drag
ging along the bottom of the educa
tion marketplace.
Part of the problem is that Georgia
has focused too much on education
pay rather than putting money into
students. Too many administrators
are paid far beyond their worth. And
while the state has raised teacher
pay to cultivate higher quality, it still
doesn’t get rid of bad teachers fast
enough and continues to reward the
collection of degrees and tenure over
effectiveness in the classroom.
What really needs to happen in
Georgia is for the money run out;
only then will the stultified educa
tion system try to make fundamental
changes. Nothing short of a financial
drought will push state leaders out of
the ineffective status quo.
Of course, most educators prob
ably won’t see it that way. They want
federal dollars to keep the current
system alive — whether that system
works isn’t really their concern.
But in the long mn, taxpayers will
have to pay for the federal govern
ment’s bailout, either with higher
taxes, or from another recession
caused by a ballooning federal deficit.
The only way to change the state’s
underachieving education system is
to cut off the money and force chang
es to take place. Another federal bail
out undermines that reality.
***
Legislation has been introduced
in the Georgia General Assembly
to overhaul the state’s property tax
system.
Good — the current system is a
train wreck made worse by public
officials who refuse to adjust property
prices in the face of the economic
downturn. They didn’t mind making
upward adjustments in values back
during the boom, but they’ve been
darn slow to lower them now in the
bust.
Anything that can level the playing
field between the abused taxpayers
and their governments would be
welcome. It should be criminal for
governments to stiff taxpayers during
an economic downturn, as has hap
pened in some areas.
Mike Buffington is editor of The
Jackson Herald. He can be reached
at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
mike
buffington