Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 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
Holding local governments accountable for SPLOST abuse
Y OU can almost hear local officials licking their lips in
anticipation of another SPLOST tax renewal. Local
towns and the county government are currently draw
ing up their plans for how they want to spend some $47 million in
anticipated revenues.
But there’s one problem — voters. For any local government to
get a dime of SPLOST will require voter approval in November.
That’s not a foregone conclusion.
For one thing, voters are in an anti-tax mood. With the private
sector suffering in the recession, people are tired of government
officials who expect to maintain their status quo.
In Jackson County voters do seem somewhat amenable to
the county government using SPLOST to reduce its mountain of
debt. On the other hand, county voters know they were denied
the chance to vote on that debt. Remember how county leaders
refused to allow a vote on the courthouse debt? Remember how
other debt has since been levied by using legal maneuvers to
avoid a citizens’ vote?
So what incentive do citizens have to approve a SPLOST to
pay for huge projects county leaders refused to put before them
on a ballot? (And now county leaders threaten, “either pass the
SPLOST or we’ll hike property taxes.” That has all the makings of
a revolt.)
In addition, some of the county’s debt has apparently been
incurred in such a way that SPLOST can’t directly pay it off. That
will cause even further distortions of the fiscal budget in trying to
find a legal move to do it anyway.
But the big problem is the county’s cities, all of which claim a
part of the SPLOST income. Some towns have openly misspent
past SPLOST dollars on inane projects, or to pay for expenses
unrelated to what SPLOST was intended to do. Abuse of SPLOST
dollars among the towns in Jackson County has been widespread;
why should voters allow that to continue?
The county government could have stopped that this year by
keeping all the SPLOST revenue for county level projects. But
board of commission members are afraid if they don’t give the
towns a cut, the mayors of the municipalities will work against
their reelections, so the county caved to political pressure and
decided to give the towns SPLOST dollars again.
Voters are skeptical about this SPLOST and county leaders will
have to demonstrate three things clearly if they want to rally voters
for a renewal:
1. Accountability. Every dime of SPLOST should be accounted
for and spent only for what voters approve. If there is no built-in
accountability the SPLOST should be voted down.
2. Transparency. The ballot should list only specific projects, not
some vague use like “water infrastructure.” If the ballot is vague,
the SPLOST should be killed.
3. No new spending. Every government on the ballot should be
required to spend a vast majority of SPLOST for debt reduction,
not new projects or new spending. New projects create new costs
that shows up as ongoing expenses in the budget. If debt payment
isn’t the main expense, the SPLOST should be denied by voters
in November.
If local governments would follow the intent of SPLOST—to pay
for major capital projects that are approved by voters — then there
probably wouldn’t be a problem. But local governments have
abused the SPLOST in the past and there is no teeth in state law
to hold them accountable.
Only voters have the power to make certain SPLOST isn’t
abused by demanding greater accountability and, if necessary
voting down the entire proposal.
letters
Says Pit Bulls are
loving dogs
Dear Editor:
I am very upset with the portrayal
of Pit Bulls in the media.
I just want to make a point, so that
in the future some discretion is used
in such stories.
I own an American Pit Bull
(Scrappy) he is almost seven years
old. He is the sweetest, most lov
ing and caring animal I have ever
owned.
My 2 1/2 year old little girl is the
apple of his doggie eye, since the day
we brought her home. He gets along
well with every one and other dogs.
While I was on vacation, my dog
was staying in a friend’s yard. A stray
mutt half the size of my dog attacked
him, and even though his injuries
were not life threatening, they were
pretty bad.
I now have a $500 vet bill and
climbing. Maybe the issue is not the
breed, but irresponsible owners who
do not take care of there animals.
Come on, my dog weighs 80 lbs.,
he is a big boy. So for a mutt half his
size to do this type of damage to him,
that should be proof enough that
other breeds can be just as danger
ous as a “vicious” pit bull.
But yet you do not see this story in
the paper now do you?
Sincerely,
Tina Holguin
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
Postmaster: Send Address Changes To:
MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
PO Box 908
Jefferson, Georgia 30549-0908
Web Site: www.JacksonHeraldTODAY.com
Email: mike@mainstreetnews.com
Voice: 706.367.5233
Fax: 706.367.9355 (news)
Periodical Postage paid at Jefferson,
GA 30549 (SCED 271980)
Yearly Subscriptions: $19.75 in-county; $38.85
in state; $44.50 out-of-state; Sr. Citizens’ and
college students $2 off; Military $42.50
No, kid. I don't care how your father described them
we are NOT gubernatorial candidates!"
Saxby and Johnny could wreck the state budget
In normal times, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny
Isakson would not have anything to do with drafting
the state budget.
They are United State senators who generally stay
in Washington and vote on fed
eral issues. The governor and the
General Assembly pass and imple
ment the budget for state govern
ment.
These are not normal times, how
ever. Chambliss and Isakson are
working with their Republican col
leagues in the Senate to advance a
political strategy that may be good
for their party but could also end
up wrecking the state budget.
Last week, the Senate was con
sidering a bill that would extend
the flow of federal funds to the
states to help pay for such things
as unemployment insurance benefits and Medicaid
treatments.
Senate Democrats have been trying to pass this bill
for several weeks. Senate Republicans, who believe
that blocking the bill will help them in this fall’s elec
tions, mounted a filibuster to prevent a vote on the
measure.
On the final attempt to stop the filibuster, the vote was
57-41 in favor of moving to a vote on the bill. But that
motion needs 60 votes to pass, so Senate Republicans
maintained their filibuster and prevented the bill from
passing. Isakson and Chambliss were among the 41
senators voting for the filibuster.
Isakson and Chambliss effectively stopped the pay
ment of unemployment benefits to Georgians who
have been out of work for so long that they have used
up their eligibility. By blocking the legislation, they also
threatened to blow a $375 million hole in the state bud
get for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
That’s because the bill would have provided state
governments with $16 billion in additional Medicaid
funds - with Georgia in line to get $375 million of that
amount.
Georgia’s $17.9 billion budget for fiscal year 2011, in
fact, assumes that Congress will approve the extension
of Medicaid funding and includes the $375 million in
federal money.
Unless the Senate somehow overcomes the
Republican filibuster and passes the bill, Gov. Sonny
Perdue and the Legislature will have to find $375 million
in new revenues or cut Medicaid benefits by $375 mil
lion in the middle of a difficult fiscal year.
“The cuts necessary to balance the budget without
these federal funds would be devastating for individual
Georgians and for the healthcare sector that depend
on an adequately funded Medicaid program,” said Alan
Essig, a former legislative budget aide who now heads
the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute.
“If Congress does not act promptly and extend fed
eral Medicaid assistance, and Georgia lawmakers cut
the Medicaid program to save $375 million, the state
would also forgo more than $650 million in additional
federal funds that are in the state’s Medicaid base bud
get, resulting in a $1 billion shortfall,” Essig argued.
Without the federal funding extension, Perdue prob
ably will be required to call a special session of a
lame-duck General Assembly to modify the budget.
Lawmakers would then have to make deep cuts in
Medicaid spending, which in turn would mean throw
ing patients off the Medicaid rolls and forcing hospitals
to lay off employees or close their doors.
Isakson and Chambliss contend that their votes to
block the bill were justified because of concerns over
federal spending and the budget.
“The country is running an enormous deficit and we
cannot afford to add another $35 billion in spending to
it,” Isakson said after voting for the filibuster.
“During a time of economic hardship, I don’t believe
we should allow provisions such as the extension
of emergency unemployment benefits to expire,”
Chambliss said. “But I do believe that Congress should
find a way to pay for those extensions.”
There are also political considerations at play here.
It may well be a winning strategy for Republicans to
block spending bills, especially if that keeps the jobless
rate high and hampers any economic recovery. That
would make voters angry at the Democratic majority in
Congress, which could be an advantage for Republican
candidates in November.
On the other hand, if they do not allow a vote on
extended Medicaid funding, Chambliss and Isakson
are going to cause major budget problems for their
Republican friends in the governor’s office and the
Legislature. Is that really what they want to do?
Tom Crawford is the editor of The Georgia Report.
He can be reached at tcrawford@caDitolimDact. net.
Race for
governor lacking
H AVING participated in a recent
gubernatorial debate, I came
away mostly unimpressed
with the pool of
candidates in
both parties.
Several
were obvious
knuckle
heads, un-
serious can
didates who
somehow
managed
to get their
name on a
ballot, but
with no pos
sible chance
of winning.
Among the
more serious candidates in both parties,
there was a lot of pandering rhetoric or
outright arrogance.
As a group, several Democratic can
didates brought more experience to the
table than their Republican counterparts.
Former Gov. Roy Barnes was certainly
the frontrunner on the Democratic side
and was joined at the table by Attorney
General Thurbert Baker and long-time
Representative Dubose Porter. In addi
tion, previous gubernatorial candidate
David Poythress is again running for the
office.
The goal in the pool appears to be to
get into a runoff with Barnes, who cur
rently leads the pack. Baker is perhaps
in second position right now, although
Porter may be a dark horse for the run
off. Poythress is further down the list.
But while that group overall has a
lot of experience in state leadership,
they all have one big problem — they’re
Democrats in a strongly Republican
state. And Barnes’ pandering to teachers,
who unseated him a few years back, is
difficult to understand.
You have to wonder: Which of those
guys is “Superman” and really has a
chance to defeat any Republican?
As for the Republican slate, there’s
a lot of shallow politics going on.
Candidate Karen Handel refused
to attend the debate I participate in
because she objected to candidate Ray
McBerry participating. She is reportedly
“uncomfortable” being on the stage with
McBerry.
But that’s childish. Handel doesn’t get
to pick her opponents. If she can’t deal
with McBerry, how the heck would she
deal with all the whacky people who
would be around her in the governor’s
office? It’s difficult to take her as a serious
candidate if she’s going to pout about
who she has to run against.
Insurance Commissioner John
Oxendine is one of the Republican
frontrunners, but is so arrogant that one
has to wonder if he’s running for God or
governor. One of my media colleagues
asked Oxendine what specifically he
would cut in state spending. Oxendine
gave a vague answer that he knows
where to cut; when pressed to be more
specific, Oxendine replied that he had
the privilege of answering the question
any way he wanted to.
Not a smart move in a room of news
paper editors and publishers. He was
dripping with arrogance.
Candidate Eric Johnson gave what
many people I talked to said was an
impressive performance at the debate.
But while he has name recognition in
Southeast Georgia, Johnson isn’t known
as much above the gnat line. Without
Atlanta’s Republican votes, he’s a long-
shot.
Candidate Nathan Deal, a former
Georgia Congressman, is better known
in this area of Northeast Georgia, but
has taken some hits on ethics allega
tions. His performance at the debate was
solid, but cool and didn’t leave a lasting
impression. Known mostly as a moder
ate Republican, it remains to be seen if
he can survive in an era when the far
right dictates much of the state’s political
agenda.
No matter what party you affiliate with
— or vote as an independent — there’s
no clear picture as to how the upcoming
July 20 Primary will turn out.
It’s a crapshoot among a rather lethar
gic group of candidates who have, so far,
failed to create much public interest.
Mike Buffington is editor and co-pub
lisher of The Jackson Herald. He can be
reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
mike
buffington