Newspaper Page Text
October 7, 2015
On The Outside Looking In...
Where do we work?
By DON DANIEL
tuUaybear@bellsouth.net
he other morning, having a very early appoint
ment with the eye surgeon, getting on 1-75 south
toward Macon at Hwy. 42, I started looking at
vehicle tags and what county the cars were from.
Just a habit I have when traveling, wondering
where the occupants are going and where they are from.
Almost immediately, I began seeing a lot of Monroe
County tags heading south, splitting off at 1-475 and many
continuing their migration south. I estimated three out of
10 cars were from Monroe County. In a back-up, getting off
1-16, there were a lot of Monroe Countians headed to down
town Macon obviously to their jobs.
On a reverse early morning trip to Atlanta, headed up
1-75 it looked like a mass exodus of Monroe Countians,
again very obviously going to work
somewhere other than Monroe County,
going to other counties and cities
where they have and can find jobs.
Back at the doctor’s office, waiting a
long time to see the physician which I
had prepared for by taking the Macon
paper along to read and do the cross
word puzzle, the front page had a big
headline about the city of Perry being
chosen by a German manufactur
ing company and going to hire 140
workers.
This past Sunday, the Sunday
edition of the daily paper had a
column written by Larry Walker,
a resident of Perry and former state representative for
many years now on the Board of Regents. Larry explained
how Perry got the industry: “Choosing Perry came as a
result of smart, hard work and a good product extolled by
many”. He gave kudos to the Houston County commission
and Development Authority, the Houston County Board of
Education, the cities of Perry, Warner Robins, Centerville,
the state’s Department of Economic Development and Gov.
Nathan Deal. Now that explains how a county and cities
worked together for economic development! Wish we had
that kind of working together.
Perry’s attracting an industry that will put 140 people to
work, created several conversations here in Forsyth and
Monroe County. A former local textile executive recalled
that in 1990 there were approximately 2,200 textile jobs in
Forsyth/Monroe County. Today it is believed there are less
than 10 jobs now located in the former Trio Mfg. Co. plants.
The executive said: “It sure is sad that our community
and its leadership were unable to attract a company of this
stature who would have provided 140 needed jobs to the
residents of this community. We certainly have citizens
with textile experience who could have filled and benefited
from these jobs”. I am sure, those Monroe County textile
workers will be making the exodus down 1-75, leaving
Forsyth and Monroe County in their rear view mirrors.
Until our county commission, city councils and particu
larly the Development Authority work together, we will
continue to be stagnant in attracting industries to our six
industrial parks.
I have been confidentially informed, a company that
would hire 300 workers was looking at Monroe County. Of
course, we will not know until the DAOMC has a hoopla
announcing the company is coming and how hard they
worked in “executive session” to attract the industry.
THE CORRECT answer to last week’s question was The
Brokery which is located in the old Bloom’s Department
Store on the square. Dena Wheeler was the first with
the correct answer. She gets a certificate for t-shirt from
Forsyth Main Street, dessert at Romeo’s in Juliette, Jonah’s
cookie, two egg rolls from Lucky Cafe, fried green tomato
appetizer at Whistle Stop Cafe and a Dairy Queen Blizzard.
Here’s the question for this week: the Mary Persons
Bulldogs are playing what team this Friday night? First
correct answer after twelve noon on Thursday gets the
goodie certificate.
I WAS surprised when I talked with a Department of
Transportation officer the other day and was told between
6,000 and 8,000 eighteen wheelers come through Monroe
County on 1-75 in a 24-hour period.
The weigh station is a revenue producer for us in that
when there are trucking violations and fines are levied, we
get a share of that fine which goes into our county coffer.
OUR BIGGEST employer in Monroe County is our
school system with over 600 employees. Don’t know who
comes in second, third, etc. What would be interesting to
know is how many school employees live in/call Monroe
County home.
Just as interesting would be to know how many correc
tions employees on the Tift College campus and how many
Georgia Public Safety Training Center employees live in/
call Monroe County home.
HERE are some Vent and Facebook comments that
caught my attention:
“Monroe County has some the best politicians money can
buy”.
“Saying “I don’t need newspapers; I get my news from the
internet is the same as saying I don’t need farmers ‘cause I
get my food at the supermarket”.
“No, I’m not joking. I am a Catholic. I can’t sell you con
doms so please try register eight. Oh, and she is Muslim so
take your ham to register nine”.
“According to Bill Murray, so if we lie to the government
it’s a felony. But if government lies to us, it’s politics”.
And finally, this one: “Let the atheist be atheist and the
Christians be Christians.
America is about freedom: Freedom to live your life how
you please. So smoke a bowl, eat a greasy burger, shoot
your guns, praise Jesus and wish those two fellas next door
a happy honeymoon”.
DIDN’T make it all the way to Tennile on the Nancy
Hanks steam train ride a couple of Saturdays ago, only to
Gordon where the train tracks were blocked by a malfunc
tioning train. Had to take a going backwards ride to the
Macon terminal. Regardless, being the steam train rider
aficionado I am, it was still fun. Got some outstanding
photos that will be on display at the Historic Forsyth Train
Festival on November 7.
HOPE you are listening to The Reporter On The Radio on
Sunday mornings at 7 a.m. You will be entertained.
Contact Don Daniel at tullaybear@bellsouth.net with your
comments, opinions and answers to The Question.
m
Reporter
PAGE 5A
Guest Column
Gold Dome: Pay to play
This column originally
appeared in the Oct. 2 Macon
Telegraph.
BY ERICK ERICKSON
Special to The Telegraph
T he first Republican
governor since
Reconstruction got
elected in 2002. The
Legislature flipped
by 2004. By 2008, all statewide
elected officials had become
Republican. The state avoided
the national Democratic wave
in 2006. Despite a lot of blus
ter about
Georgia turn
ing purple,
in 2012 and
2014, the
Republicans
held.
THERE
are, unfortu
nately, a lot of
warning signs
that the days
of the GOP
are coming to
an end. Greed
and corrup
tion have set
in quickly. To
be fair, many
of the present
Republican
officehold
ers were
Democrats
and changed
their party to
stay in office.
Now they view their offices as
get-rich-quick schemes.
THE Legislature, under the
leadership of Lt. Governor
Casey Cagle and Speaker
David Ralston, is nothing more
than a Ponzi scheme of check
writers. Wanting to know
what legislation will pass is as
easy as looking at campaign
contribution disclosure reports.
He who gives the most money
wins.
WSB Radio host and Fox News
contributor Erick Erickson shown
on a visit to Forsyth.
UBER and Lyft, two innova
tive car services taking off in
Atlanta, could not compete
against the taxi monopoly in
the last legislative session.
The taxi monopoly out funded
their upstart competitors and
helped steer both legislation
and regulation against their
competitors.
NOW, short-term rental web
sites, like Airbnb are coming
under fire. Airbnb allows indi
vidual homeowners to rent out
their properties for short dura
tions to oth
ers. The web
site makes
the process
efficient and
painless.
Consequently,
the hotel
and motel
association
in Georgia
wants Airbnb
regulated to
make it more
burdensome
to use. The
check writers
are scram
bling and the
legislators are
waiting with
open arms.
LIKEWISE,
there is a
broad and
rapidly shap
ing consen
sus among conservatives and
liberals in metro Atlanta that
Atlanta does not need a casino.
Mayor Reed pointed out that
Las Vegas is in the desert for a
reason. The left-of-center writ
ers at Creative Loafing wrote,
“Casino gambling is an option
for cities with no options. If
Atlanta is positioning itself as
a world-class city with a high-
tech horizon, we don’t need to
scrape the bottom of the eco
nomic barrel for income.”
BUT the casino lobbyists
have come to town with bar
rels of cash. Billionaire casino
owners have floated in and out
of Casey Cagle’s and David
Ralston’s offices. A casino is
probably coming. The deck will
get stacked in its favor and the
usual political consultants will
be hired to run an “education”
campaign to convince voters
the casino is a good thing and
will pay for HOPE.
THEN there is the craft beer
legislation, Senate Bill 63. The
legislation would have allowed
brewers to sell directly to
those who tour their facilities.
But that was opposed by the
beer wholesalers who heavily
financed Cagle’s run for office
and others. The compromise
plan allowed beer brewers to
give the beer for free to those
who pay for tours.
AS THE Department of
Revenue formulated regula
tions to implement S.B. 63,
the department sought public
input, formulated rules and
beer brewers went off and
set up their tours and sales
around those rules. Now, a few
months later, the Department
of Revenue has modified its
rules without ever having
sought public opinion. Now,
the breweries will not be able
to charge more for tours based
on the beer consumed, but
they will be charged a tax
on the beer consumed even
though they are not selling it.
SOMEWHERE, no doubt,
some check writer exerted
influence. This is happen
ing more and more with
Georgia’s Republican leaders.
Republican leaders are for sale
to the highest bidder and do
not listen to their voters.
Erick Erickson of Macon
is a Fox News contributor
and radio talk show host in
Atlanta.
Unfair and Unbalanced
No use pushing gun control
BY MARILYN LANGFORD
mdlangford@bellsouth.net
ast week, the editor
of this newspaper
placed a disclaimer
on my column stat
ing, “This column
does not represent the views
of this newspaper or its own
ership.” Of course it
doesn’t! Everybody
knows that! There
would be no point to
this column if it did.
Therefore I affirm
the disclaimer made
by the Editor.
I am solely
responsible for
my words and
for that rea
son; I strive to always tell the
truth and not simply please
the editor with my opinions.
I therefore offer my hand to
Will Davis, the Editor, and
say, “Let’s just agree to dis
agree!”
BEFORE THE ink was
dry on John Boehner’s res
ignation, the Republican’s
choice to succeed him as
Speaker of the House, Kevin
McCarthy, took to the podium
for Americans to get to know
him. Mistake. As soon as he
opened his mouth, Republican
leaders everywhere must
have thought, “What have we
done?”
FIRST, ON Fox News
McCarthy bragged that the
Benghazi House Committee’s
mission was to lower Hillary’s
poll numbers. He seemed
very happy it was working.
I couldn’t help but smile
because finally the allegations
and suspicions about this
bogus “truth seeking” com
mittee were confirmed. This
wasn’t just a gaffe; McCarthy
forgot he wasn’t supposed to
tell the truth!
MY FIRST clue that per
haps McCarthy wasn’t ready
for primetime came when he
said, “Hillary is untrustable.”
Huh?
MCCARTHY THEN took
to the floor of the House of
Representatives and made
the most incoherent speech
ever made from the well
of the House. I also point
out that he was reading,
or attempting to read,
from prepared text. For
instance, he said,
“To those who return
home are being dis
respected by the VA,
that can’t keep the
simple promise to all of our
heroes to the need when they
need it most.”
AND THEN among many
other incoherent statements,
McCarthy said, “We must
engage this war of radical
Islam if our life depended on
it.”
I THOUGHT I was watch
ing a parody skit from
Saturday Night Live.
I ADMIT that part of
me thinks it’s funny for
Republicans that they are
about to elect, not only the
least experienced Speaker
in modern history, but one
that is inarticulate in both
the written and spoken
word. This can only help the
Democrats. However, this will
only hurt our country and
our reputation in the world’s
eyes. Remember, The Speaker
of the House is next in line,
after the Vice-President, to be
the President of the United
States. Where do they get
these guys?
NORMALLY I write about
events and issues occurring
in real-time. I just can’t bear
to write about another tragic
shooting. As President Obama
said, “This has become rou
tine.” I was talking to my sis
ter about this latest massacre
and she said, “Now, there’s
no use in you jumping on gun
control again.” My sister and
I rarely agree on issues, but
this time I agree with her.
If the mindset of Americans
about guns has not changed
after so many tragedies, it’s
hard to keep hope.
IF THE National Rifle
Association won’t give an
inch to help remedy this situ
ation, then perhaps it’s time
we “tapped out”. Instead of
sensible gun laws with back
ground checks, we can place
our children in bullet-proof
vests and protective headgear
before we send them off to
school. We can shut down all
movie theaters and we can
outlaw all public gatherings.
We send our children to Pre-K
to prepare them for school.
Maybe we should include
firearms training in that pro
gram. After all, banning weap
ons capable of massacring a
class full of children in sec
onds will violate our Second
Amendment right to bear
arms. I’m not making fun; I’m
making a point.
THAT POINT is it’s time
we admit that our love affair
with guns has gone too far
and is taking the lives of too
many Americans. The truth
is, our forefathers who crafted
the Constitution, did not fath
om any weapon more powerful
than a musket.
Marilyn Langford of High
Falls writes a regular op-ed
column in the Reporter shar
ing the liberal perspective on
events.