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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 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
Courts can’t
stop science
A FEDERAL judge’s
ruling this week
that appears to have
derailed federal funding of
embryonic stem cell research
will, in the long run, be just
another bump in the road.
No matter what the legal and
political climate is today, the
march of science will move
forward. Most Americans
support embryonic stem cell
research, but a vocal minor
ity has long opposed the
practice. Opposition comes
mostly from religious groups
who believe the destruction
of embryonic stem cells is
akin to destroying life. Many
of those groups say working
with adult stem cell is just as
effective, a point on which
the medical community is
divided.
Nevertheless, the march
of science and scientific
research will move forward.
It’s inevitable, a fact proven
over and over again across
the centuries. Opposition
from the Catholic Church
in the 1500s didn’t stop sci
ence; nor did opposition to
Darwin’s theory of evolution
stop research; nor did moral
objections to the atom bomb
stop nuclear development.
Science and the human
imperative for research and
greater knowledge will always
trump objections; it cannot be
stopped.
No one really knows where
embryonic stem cell research
will lead. Those engaged in
that science may find all kinds
of cures, or they may not.
But just because the federal
government refuses to fund
that research doesn’t mean
it will stop. Private money in
this country will continue and
other nations will, on their
own, pursue it.
One judge’s ruling here
won’t stop it.
The Jackson Herald
Founded 1875 • The Official Legal
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Mike Buffington Co-Publisher & Editor
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Let’s focus on the important issues
AS THEY moved through the first week of their
general election campaign for
governor, Nathan Deal and
Roy Barnes focused their atten
tion on this burning issue: the
proposed construction of a
mosque two blocks from the
site of the 2001 terrorist attacks
in New York City.
Barnes came down four
square against the structure: “It
is too painful and divisive to
build a mosque there.”
Deal assured voters that he
also was “absolutely opposed”
to the proposed mosque, which
he said would be “an insult.”
At the risk of spoiling the party, I feel compelled to
point out that the building of a mosque in New York
will have no impact, positive or negative, on any of
the major problems that Georgia’s next governor will
confront, whether it’s overcrowded highways, massive
budget deficits, or a lack of clean drinking water.
Perhaps we should be paying attention instead to
issues that hit a little closer to home, such as the condi
tion of our public education system.
One of the most significant achievements of Gov.
Sonny Perdue during his two terms as Georgia’s chief
executive has been an unprecedented cutoff in state
funding for local school systems.
From the time of Carl Sanders until now, a top prior
ity of every governor had been to upgrade the state’s
public schools by devoting more financial resources
to education. Every governor, it seemed, wanted to be
known as an “education governor.”
That trend came to a dead stop under Perdue. He
apparently felt state government was spending too
much money, rather than too little, on public schools.
Because he was governor, he was in a position to do
something about that - and he did.
The state budget provides money to local school sys
tems through a funding formula developed under Gov.
Joe Frank Harris that is known as QBE.
Starting with the first budget he signed in 2003, Perdue
recommended and the Legislature agreed each year
to cut hundreds of millions in QBE funding to local
systems. By the time we reach the end of the current
fiscal year, the combined amount of those QBE funding
reductions will total more than $4.3 billion.
In other words, during every year of the Perdue
administration the state cut an average of half a billion
dollars in formula funding to local school systems.
To be fair, some of those austerity cuts were made
during bad economic times for the state. When Perdue
first took office, Georgia was still coming out of the
recession that was aggravated by the September 2001
terrorist attacks. The last two years of Perdue’s second
term have coincided with the recession triggered by the
collapse of the housing and real estate industry.
But even during the interlude when the economy was
in better shape, Perdue and the Legislature continued
to slash formula funding for schools. These reductions
amounted to $169.7 million in the fiscal year 2007 bud
get and $142.9 million in the fiscal year 2008 budget.
What have these funding reductions done for our
students? Georgia still ranks in the bottom 10 percent of
states in average SAT scores. We have one of the worst
dropout rates in the nation. Shortly before she stepped
down as state school superintendent, Kathy Cox noted
that we now provide state funding for only 147 of the 180
days that make up a school year.
It would be nice if voters knew whether the candi
dates for governor want to continue these spending
reductions or reverse that trend.
Deal has said he wants to get rid of the state income
tax, a move that would eliminate more than half of the
revenue that goes into the state budget. Does he intend
to continue cutting funds for education so that he can
axe the tax?
Barnes has indicated he wants to spend more on
public education. How does he intend to get the money
to do that in a budget that has already shrunk by more
than $3 billion in two years because of the recession?
We would be better served if the candidates would
begin discussing the real issue of education rather
than waste time with bogus issues such as a proposal
to build a mosque in a faraway city. Is that too much to
hope for?
Tom Crawford is the editor of The Georgia Report. He
can be reached at tcrawford@gareport.com.
It’s the
uncertainty,
stupid
T HE effort by the feds to
extort money from the
Jackson County School
System to help pay for the clean
up at the old Sikes Oil Company
site is a lesson in what’s wrong
with
the U.S.
today.
Just
about
every
one,
except
the
extreme
left,
agrees
that it’s
crazy to
hold the
school
system accountable for the
events at Sikes. The school sys
tem didn’t have anything to do
with the problems at the firm nor
its eventual cleanup.
Yet under federal-thinking, it’s
somehow logical that the school
system should be held account
able.
This is what the nation has
come to. The overbearing reach
of government is killing the
nation’s economy. In this case,
it’s one government going after
another government. But most of
the time, it a government — local,
state or national — going after
private businesses.
That’s always been the case,
but over the last 18 months
under President Obama, it’s got
ten much worse. Businesses are
not hiring because the president
has destabilized the playing
field with his inane policies. He
wants to put additional health
care burdens on businesses with
ObamaCare; he wants to raise
taxes on small businesses; and
he wants all kinds of new envi
ronmental rules and regulations
that will cost millions of dollars
for the business community.
As a business owner, there’s
no way I want to create new jobs
with all of that hanging over my
head.
It’s the uncertainty stupid.
No wonder home sales are
now at a 15-year low. Even with
low interest rates, nobody is sure
they’ll have a job in six months,
so why borrow?
The volatile atmosphere that
pervades the U.S. economy is
the result of a lot of bad deci
sions, some by Democrats and
some by Republicans. Both par
ties made mistakes that led to the
recession.
Now those problems are
being magnified by the Obama
Administration with careless
comments and policies that hurt
small businesses, which are the
main generator of new jobs.
You want to see an economic
recovery? Then tell government
to get off the backs of busi
nesses.
That includes local and state
governments which burden
businesses with inconsistent
rules and regulations and high
taxes. And it includes the federal
government which has its own
regulations that pound small
businesses in the head.
It’s nuts that the feds want the
county school system to pay for
the Sikes site clean up. But that’s
often the kind of logic businesses
face when dealing with govern
ment.
No wonder the economy can’t
recover.
Mike Buffington is editor of The
Jackson Herald. He can be reached
at mike@mainstreetnews.com.
mike
buffington