Newspaper Page Text
October 19, 2022
Page 5A
ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
How do politicians
get so very rich?
T he older I get, the more I realize I am not a
political junkie. But, politics and the actions
of politicians still flabbergast and amaze me.
Some wannabe politicians go to great lengths
to get elected under the
pretense they can better
serve us than those already
elected. This political
season has brought out
some wannabes who think
they can do a better job
of representing us. For
example, Herschel Walker
has no political experience
but neither did Raphael
Warnock two years ago.
Herschel is running for
a seat in the U.S. Senate
against Warnock on one
very simple pretense: he
won the Heisman Trophy. What in the world enticed
Walker to want to become a U.S. Senator? I don’t
know other than “capitalizing” on being a UGA Bull
dog. His personal life is a mark on his reputation.
Here’s a question to ponder: should an elected
politician capitalize on his time in office to become
VERY rich. Since just about everything they do they
get reimbursed even on the local city council and
county commission level with taxpayer monies, great
retirement, medical benefits beyond comprehension,
free world travel. You get the idea. What about just
being paid a reasonable salary, less than $100,000
plus? Sometimes it is not serving, but getting rich on
the taxpayers’ expense.
A REMINDER: early voting began Monday at the
county administration building. I don’t early vote I
just wait until Election Day, this year on Nov. 8. On
the local level, there are no opposing candidates.
There are a couple of local items on the ballot.
Culloden Mayor Lynn Miller has no opposition and
will go back in to office. The most important item
on the ballot is whether or not we will vote to tax
ourselves on a One Percent Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax for Education which if we approve
will amount to.. .get ready.. ..$39,500,000 for a sundry
of items including band instruments.
Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on Nov. 4.
CONTINUING discussion of impact fees was
scheduled on the County Commission meeting agen
da yesterday. Also on the agenda was more discussion
and a possible vote on a Speed Bump Ordinance with
County Attorney Ben Vaughn leading the talking.
YESTERDAY GOV. Kemp Again showed up in
Monroe County to the ribbon cutting and ground
breaking of the new Driver’s License and Commercial
Driver’s License Facility at the comer of Harold G.
Clarke Parkway and Industrial Park Drive. This again
is a great asset for Monroe County which is becoming
recognized as the public safety center for Georgia.
THE FIRST correct answer to The Question was
Forsyth’s new fire chief is Kevin Bunn and Chris Orri-
son submitted the first correct answer. Chis receives a
certificate for a Big Peach carwash, Whistle Stop fried
green tomato appetizer, single dip at Scoops, slice of
Shoney’s strawberry pie, Dairy Queen Blizzard and a
dozen Dunkin donuts.
Here’s The Question for this week: The Reporter is
giving away a subscription for its 50th birthday. How
long will that subscription last? First correct answer
after 12 noon on Thursday gets the certificate.
INCLUDED IN last week’s Reporter was the
“Welcome Home” magazine, an annual publication
of this newspaper and the Forsyth-Monroe County
Chamber of Commerce. Included are listings of all
the members of the Chamber by categories along
with addresses and phone numbers, but no email
addresses.
I have been a member of the chamber for 50-plus
years as a business owner and now as an individual.
Ironically I am the only “individual” listed.. .a solo
individual member.
ONE OF the more interesting magazines I receive is
“Georgia Grown” which is published and sponsored
by the Georgia Department of Agriculture. One
objective of the magazine is promoting “agri-tourism”.
It features farms you can visit catering to tourists,
several Monroe County agritourims members are
listed including Blanche Farms down in Bolingbroke,
EM Farms over in Culloden, Jonah’s Farm also in
Culloden, and Rocking Chair Ranch, Ivy & Willow,
Twin Oaks Farm and even Old Mill Market in down
town Forsyth.
FINAL COMMENT: Hopefully “we” were taught
Christopher Columbus discovered America. We
even have a federal holiday celebrating his discovery.
Surprise! There is controversy over the salute of his
discovery in several cities where they are located. In
Pittsburgh, his statue is wrapped in plastic while other
“city fathers” are struggling as to whether to remove
the statue in their cities.
NOW YOU will know: A tropical storm must have
wind speeds in excess of 39 miles per hour before it
is assigned a name, and it is officially classified as a
hurricane when sustained wind speeds are at least 74
miles per hour.
WHO ARE you going to nominate as the county’s
2022 Business Woman of the Year?
THIS FROM the “Book of Snark”: If you want
people to THINK you’ve got a lot of money, buy
one of them long, shiny Lincoln Towncars and drive
it around town; if you want people to KNOW that
you’ve got a lot of money, buy a Cadillac.
Don Daniel founded the Reporter in 1972. Email him
at mediadr@bellsouth.net.
^Reporter
JUST THE WAY IT IS by Sloan Oliver
A look at statewide races
R ecently I’ve been discuss
ing the upcoming general
election. My first article, I dis
cussed that who we worship
(God or some god such as govern
ment) determines how and for whom
we vote. Last week, I discussed the
U.S. Senate election between Herschel
Walker and Raphael Warnock.
(Did you see their debate last
week? Herschel shredded the
hapless Warnock just like he
shredded football defenses
when he played for UGA. Her
schel opened by giving thanks to
God for allowing him to
live the American dream.
Warnock made it clear
that government is his
god. Walker was spot on with his an
swers while Warnock did everything
he could to NOT answer the questions
as he tried to distance himself from his
own voting on idiotic Biden policies.)
This week I’ll discuss some of our
other statewide elections.
DEMOCRATS HAVE become such
radicals in their views and policies that
they’re a danger to Georgia and to the
nation, as a whole. Policies such as
abortion on demand during the entire
pregnancy, including while the baby is
being delivered; cashless bail is keeping
dangerous criminals on the streets creat
ing mayhem in major cities (Philadel
phia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Saint Louis,
New York, etc.); their critical race non
sense teaches young children to be racist
and to identify victim status based on
race - you’re a perpetual victim (Blacks)
or a perpetual oppressor (Whites); their
non-stop Covid authoritarian policies
(everyone must get vaccinated) is killing
people; grooming young children to be
come a transgender (and teaching such
nonsense without parental consent); a
hatred of fossil fuels and worship of solar
and wind energy that’s destroying the
energy industry; and basing hurricane
relief (for Hurricane Ian) on skin color
are just some of the most recent policies
that Dems are using to destroy America.
OUR SOCIETY and culture are
under nonstop attack by Hollywood, by
the Leftist media, and Dems. Problem
is they (Dems) all think exactly alike.
A Democrat in Georgia is no different
than a Leftist Dem in California. Dems
practice groupthink on steroids. Just
know that when a leftist school board
in California, Indiana or Virginia puts
gay, pom books in school libraries, those
same people occupy school boards in
Texas, Florida and Georgia. And if a
parent protests and speaks out, they are
banned from school property or investi
gated by the FBI as possible terrorists. So,
as you read about each office below, con
sider how an Obama, Stacey Abrams or
Biden type Democrat could (and would)
warp that office to conform to the Dems
authoritarian, America hating
policies and thinking.
Lieutenant Governor -
created in 1945, formal duties
are limited to being President
of Georgia’s Senate and to
assume the powers and
duties (not the title) of
governor should he be
killed, disabled or im
peached. Duties as Presi
dent of the Senate are to cast tie-breaking
votes (if necessary), and appoint senators
to various committees.
Secretary of State - The primary
job of the SoS is to supervise elections,
license businesses, insure investment
security, and maintain public records.
The SoS is an office that Dems and Left
ists try hard to win because, by so doing,
they control who counts the ballots, keep
independent observers from watch
ing, who receives business licenses, and
so on. If you think businesses should
receive licenses based on one’s political
ideology or skin color, then vote for the
Dem.
Attorney General - The AG is the
top legal officer/advisor for the state of
Georgia. The AG acts as the People’s
Lawyer. The office represents the people
of Georgia in civil cases before any court
and in all cases before the Supreme
Court. The AG prosecutes public cor
ruption, insures consumer protection
and reviews contracts and agreements
on behalf of Georgia. (Surprisingly, the
AG does not oversee local district at
torneys’ which helps explain why George
Soros funded DAs can simply refuse to
prosecute violent criminals and nothing
happens to them.) A good Democrat
AG would use every means available to
advocate against the rights of conserva
tives and Republicans.
Superintendent of Schools - The title
of this office identifies its responsibilities
- in charge of schools in Georgia. Think
of the craziness in schools over the last
few years, and the need for a sane con
servative becomes self-evident. Across
the nation we’ve seen schools shut for
years due to Covid fears; forced mask
ing of students despite zero evidence
that masks work; attempted mandatory
vaccines of students despite evidence
that vaccines are a greater danger, to the
young, than is Covid; teaching transgen
der propaganda/ideology (a boy can be a
girl) to children as young as 6-years old;
and teaching critical race theory. All of
this lunacy is at the expense of teaching
the standard reading, writing, science,
and arithmetic and is why the U.S., de
spite spending more on education (per
student) than any other country, ranks
38th in math and 24th in science.
Commissioners of Agriculture,
Insurance, and Labor - Again, the title
of the office defines its responsibilities.
And again, think of the destruction that
a Leftist could (and would) do if elected
- they would base agricultural subsidies
on race, demand that all businesses (re
gardless of size) carry health insurance
that pays for transgender surgery (surgi
cally removing a man’s penis) claiming
it’s necessary health care, and implement
labor practices (employment) based on
gender or political ideology.
YES, SUCH leftist practices sound
crazy but that’s what Dems are doing
nationwide. Not every Dem is a crazy
leftist. The problem is the moderate
Dems never speak up, and if they do,
they’re hounded out of the party as was
Tulsi Gabbard. You don’t hear much
from the mainstream media about the
extreme Leftist ideology and practices
being shoved down our throats because
they (Dems and their media) don’t want
you to know about such practices (It’s
fake news when they selectively omit the
important news.) but such policies are
being implemented in every blue state
(i.e. states that Dems control).
Reminder - To view your individual
sample ballot, go to “My Voter Page”
at the Secretary of State’s website. Fill
out the required information (name,
address, date of birth) which gives your
registration status and voting districts.
Click on the “sample ballot.” That sample
ballot shows the candidates for all offices,
amendments, ad valorem questions, and
ESPLOST. Bottom line, before voting -
check your ballot, know your candidates,
and know the issues.
FINAL THOUGHT: Early voting
started this week It runs until Nov. 4.
Sloan Oliver of Bolingbroke is a retired Army
officer who writes each week in the Reporter.
Email him at sloanoliver@earthlink.com.
GUEST COLUMN by Joe Reed
Reed responds to Sloan on senate race
I appreciate Sloan Oliver
for his commitment to
fitness, picking up litter,
and, most especially
recently, helping monitor the
bike leg for the High Falls tri
athlon. I have to question his
logic, though, when it comes
to picking political
candidates worthy
of his and my
support. I believe
he has overgener
alized the legalese
at the bottom of
his investment
prospectus. You
know the part that
states, “past results
are not indicative
of future perfor
mance.”
But the fact is that past
performances are likely to
foreshadow future results.
This is true for athletics, for
investments over the long
term, and in human behavior,
especially as demonstrated by
too many politicians.
It’s been clearly document
ed that Herschel Walker has
had a very unstable adult life.
Multiple marriages, multiple
children out of wedlock,
multiple threats of deadly
violence, multiple efforts
to avoid responsibility, and
multiple lies he’s told have
made him, and the people
he has hurt, worthy of our
prayers (as so many ministers
recently displayed), but not
our votes.
The truth is that many
Republican officials and the
ministers who prayed for him
value their “team’s” success
over the success of the coun
try or the welfare of Georgia
voters. They trust that Mr.
Walker will be a loyal
(vote/servant/lackey choose
one) for Senator McConnell’s
wishes, when McConnell
becomes the Majority leader,
should voters elect
51 Republican
senators.
When examin
ing the issues I
realize that there
are some differ
ences between my
beliefs and those of
Senator Warnock.
Of course, Em
not sure what Mr.
Walker really believes,
it seems to change on a
daily basis.
On finances, I realize that
every country in the world is
struggling with inflation. We
can’t have our government
spend $24 trillion above tax
revenues over the last 20 years
without inflation kicking in
at some point. Most recently
former President Trump
averaged nearly $ 1.5 trillion
per year in deficits, more than
any other president, (https://
www.thebalancemoney.
com/ deficit-by-president-
what-budget-deficits-
hide-3306151) even during
“the greatest economy in our
country’s history’
I also don’t agree with tax
dollars subsidizing student
loan forgiveness. Of course, I
didn’t agree with the massive
PPP program of which this
newspaper was also a benefi
ciary and received $52,318 of
taxpayer funded forgiveness.
(https://data.savannahnow.
com/paycheck-protection-
program-loans/?state=Georg
ia&searchtext=Monroe+Cou
nty+Reporter)
On energy, I disagree with
cutting state and/ or fed
eral taxes on gasoline and
providing tax incentives for
people who are planning to
buy electric vehicles. Let the
price of gas rise and fall with
demand and the financial
merits of electric vehicles and
solar panels speak for them
selves. While I really want to
buy a Ford F-150 Lightning,
I don’t want other taxpayers
to be forced to subsidize my
purchase.
I also think it was a mistake
not to finish the Keystone
Pipeline. Now oil providers
have to ship the oil around
the gap in the pipeline. It
doesn’t really reduce the sup
ply but it does increase the
costs of shipping.
I would like a secure border.
I think we can accomplish
this by substantially increas
ing the number of immi
grants who are allowed to
enter the country legally each
year. Staffing consulates and
embassies around the world
with people who can process
the immigration applications
in a timely way would reduce
the number of people coming
to the border. It’s foolish to
complain about a shortage
of workers while at the same
time trying to stop those who
want to come to our country
for our employment opportu
nities. If every church would
demonstrate their pro-life
values by adopting an im
migrant family for six months
while they get established,
it would truly speak to our
country’s values.
While I wish that every
child conceived was truly
valued by his parents and
society until natural death,
I realize that’s not happen
ing right now and never has.
While I work individually to
show the value of every life
and the need for responsible
behavior, I will continue to re
spect a woman’s right to make
the decision of whether or
not to give birth without any
intrusion from mostly male
lawmakers.
Issues are important. But
none of us is likely to agree,
nor should we, with every
stance of any candidate. And
every candidate has had
moments that they regret.
What I want is a senator who
will think for himself, who is
respectful, who won’t be an
embarrassment to my state,
and one who can be held up
as an example to our chil
dren. Senator Warnock wins
that vote hands down.
Final thought: Comparing
the past results of Walker and
Warnock, I much prefer the
likely future performance of a
re-elected Senator Warnock.
Joe Reed of High Falls ran an
unsuccessful campaign for the
state legislature from northern
Monroe County as an inde
pendent in 2020.
Joe Reed