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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 18. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
Letters to the Editor
Kemp signs $26.5B
mid-year state budget
To the Editor:
Mike Lindell (CEO of
MyPillow) does more than
sell the best pillows. He has
a two hour documentary
called Absolute Proof on
MichaelJLindell.com.
He spent $2 million of his
own money to prove beyond
the shadow of a doubt that
the 2020 election was stolen
by the Chinese. This is not
misinformation or a "conspir
acy theory." His computer
forensic experts even pointed
out the exact digital "ad
dresses" in Beijing, China
that the "hacks" came from
and pinpointed the county by
county variations that
switched millions of votes
from President Trump to
Biden. Every American, re
gardless of your political
party should watch this.
Should I ever be blessed
with great-grandkids, I hope
they don't come to me and
ask some pointed questions.
Questions like, "PapPaw if
you knew they first stole the
2020 election, then why did
you not do something then?"
or "When you had freedom
back then, why did you not
stop the one party Marxist
regime that denies us free
dom of speech?” or "Why do
only the politicians, big tech
moguls and corporate CEO's
have enough food to eat"?
And PapPaw "Why do
some of the kids at school
have their parents taken away
from them for daring to
speak out against the govern
ment that hide behind their
walls around the Capitol?'
I suppose I'll hang my head
and reply: "We were too busy
watching ball games and
Netflix to be concerned about
freedom. No, we were just
too cowardly."
May God have mercy on
the USA.
Dave Ray
To the Editor:
In response to the Staff
Editorial of February 11th
which stated that freedom of
the speech is protected under
the 1st Amendment ONLY
when the speech is "correct"
or when you have "solid rea
sons for believing [it] to be
accurate".
This is a 100% inaccurate
and dangerous interpretation
of our right to free speech.
There is NO provision in the
Constitution that says that
one cannot lie and still be
protected by the First
Amendment. If that were the
case, all politicians would be
removed from committees as
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(R-GA) was.
No, the “consequences”
Rep. Greene faced had every
thing to do with what she
stands for, not what she said.
We know this because of the
double standard. Let's take
Eric Swalwell (D-CA) who
touted the Trump/Russia Col
lusion hoax while having in
timate relations with an
"alleged" Chinese spy, yet
still sits on the House Intelli
gence Committee.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
(D-NY) lied about being in
the Capitol during the Janu
ary 6th riots and her subse
quent trauma... she was
actually in a totally separate
building. But she's still on the
Oversight committee.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
repeatedly told the media he
had “seen an abundance of
evidence“ proving the Trump
campaign colluded with Rus
sia to win in 2016 - no proof
ever materialized but Schiff
still chairs the Intelligence
committee.
I can cite example after
example of politicians mak
ing false and threatening
statements, even those claim
ing conspiracy theories as
Rep. Greene did BEFORE
she was even elected.
So, if removing her from
committee was because she
shared what the Progress be
lieves are conspiracy theo
ries, or because she “liked” a
social media post that was
threatening, why are those
Democrats still on commit
tees? If untruths and crazy
beliefs are NOT protected by
the 1 st Amendment,
shouldn’t all of the liars in
Washington be removed?
No, what Congress did to
Rep. Greene was nothing less
than punishment and a warn
ing to conservatives and
Trump supporters. And for
anyone to infer that the Bill
of Rights has "exceptions"
based on speech they don't
like or agree with is irrespon
sible and a very slippery
slope.
Regardless of which side
of the aisle you’re on, we as
Americans need to wake up
and stop this type of behavior
or we’ll lose our rights... be
cause when they're done cen
soring the big guys, they'll
come for the rest of us.
Linda Lullie
To the Editor:
Responding to the staff
editorial dated 11 February
2021, where it suggests free
dom of speech is protected
under the 1st Amendment
only when the speech is
deemed accurate or truthful.
Deemed accurate or truthful
by who? Chuck Schumer,
Nancy Pelosi, Richard Blu-
menthal? The irony a person
in the industry of journalism
believes and according to
Dan Pool: “The First Amend
ment lets you say things that
are correct, or have solid rea
sons for believing to be accu
rate.” Notice here he uses the
word “you,” but later wraps
up with “we and us.”
So Dan is compelled to
share his “his thoughts” fol
lowing recent unjust actions
against one of our elected US
Congressional Representa
tives, Marjorie T. Green.
(14th District). The way I see
it is; a newly elected “peo
ple’s representative” is under
a malicious attack by the
same people who’ve been
lying, screaming, and crying
for the past five years.
Maybe I missed it, but don’t
recall seeing a piece from
Dan suggesting that Adam
Schiff, Gerald Nadler, Nancy
Pelosi, Richard Blumenthal,
Maxine Waters, Kamala Har
ris, A1 Green, Ilham Omar, or
Ms. Drama AOC be removed
from any committees. The
truth of the matter is; Dan
doesn’t like Marjorie, and he
wants to poke her in the eye.
Folks seem to overlook the
thorny branches overhanging
their fence if they reap the
sweet berries produced, but
when the fruit is gone, things
change. You see ole’ Dan
would be singing a different
song if the Powers to Be
were to come to his paper
and deem his thoughts of
opinions to be a ‘not of solid
reasons.”
This isn’t about what Mar
jorie Greene said, but rather
it’s about the liberals are
more empowered today than
ever to shut down free speech
that they deem false. Heck
even ole’ Dan can’t resist it.
Lest we forget Hitler, Lenin,
Stalin, and Mussolini all be
came the judge of what was
true, and it was the Democ
rats in the early 1800s who
murdered abolitionists and
burned a printing press.
I find his editorial as dis
turbing proof that there are
indeed those who believe
they are the juror for free
speech. Consequentially, I
would ask Dan, “who in your
last paragraph is “we” and
who is “us?” I will make no
attempt to cancel culture or to
silence Dan no matter how
wrong he is, but I can cancel
my subscription.
Jerry F. Daniels
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By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Gov. Brian
Kemp signed a $26.5 billion
mid-year budget Monday
that restores $2.2 billion in
spending cuts the General
Assembly imposed on state
agencies last June due to the
economic impact of the
coronavirus pandemic.
During a brief signing
ceremony, Kemp noted the
early reopening of Georgia
businesses forced to shut
down by the virus allowed
the legislature to adopt the
fiscal 2021 mid-year spend
ing plan last week with no
new cuts and no furloughs
or layoffs of state employ
ees.
“Thanks to our measured
reopening and strong fiscal
management, Georgia
weathered the storm,” he
said. “This balanced budget
sets our state on a clear path
to recovery in the coming
months.”
The governor’s original
mid-year budget plan called
for $ 1,000 bonuses to Geor
gia teachers and other
school workers saddled
with the responsibilities of
delivering online instruction
to students stuck at home
during the pandemic.
Later, as the spending
plan went through the Gen
eral Assembly, lawmakers
ordered up the same
bonuses for about 57,000
state workers earning less
than $80,000 per year, and
the University System of
Georgia extended the
bonuses to income-eligible
employees of the state’s
public colleges and univer
sities.
The mid-year budget
also includes $20 million to
extend broadband connec
tivity in rural Georgia, $1
million in marketing funds
to help bring back a state
tourism industry rocked by
COVID-19 and $289,000 to
help the Grady Regional
Coordinating Center con
tinue its vital mission of co
ordinating emergency room
use during the pandemic.
The General Assembly
moved quickly to complete
work on the mid-year
budget in order to have state
spending commitments
through June 30 in place in
case the virus forced a tem
porary shutdown in the leg
islative session, as
happened for three months
last year.
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