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PAGE 4A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. TUNE 25. 2008
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Editorial Views
Civil Campaigns Would
Be Evidence Of ‘Change*
John McCain, the presumptive nominee for presi
dent of the Republicans, has gone on record asking
that the wives of the presidential nominees "be
respected."
While his wife has not received the criticism and
scrutiny given to Michelle Obama, McCain's point
is well taken — but is it likely to be taken well? It
would be refreshing if Barack Obama and McCain
would each require their operatives to treat their
opponents' wives with the dignity and respect they
deserve.
But that would only be a start. In the no-holds-
barred character assassination climate of politics,
even if the principals are principled there's always
someone on the fringes willing to do the dirty work
out of prejudice, anger, lust for power or old-fash
ioned greed.
Not only must the candidates take the high road,
but they must also step forward to condemn such
tactics when employed on their behalf. President
Bush claimed no culpability in the "Swift Boat"
attacks on his rival John Kerry, but he made no great
effort to indicate that he believed the tactic of using
lies to impugn the character of his opponent was
unethical. If McCain and Obama expect the public to
see them as candidates operating above the political
gutter, they must be prepared to rapidly and harshly
condemn such tactics and the individuals or groups
responsible.
In a country with unfettered free speech, citizens
have the right to be cruel, vulgar and deceitful in
their commentary, and partisans friendly to both
political parties will avail themselves of that right.
Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liber
als all have their adherents willing to demonize those
whose politics are at opposition. Still, it is reasonable
to think that the two individuals vying for the high
est office in the land might, for all of their differ
ences, make this election about the crucial issues of
the time — the war in Iraq, the economy, health care,
foreign policy, terrorism, the environment — instead
of a demolition derby of character assassination that
includes the demonizing of the candidates' families.
Both McCain and Obama promise change if they're
elected. They can build some credibility in that
regard by restoring a notion of civility and dignity
to the campaign for the presidency.
Comments Show Johnson
Clueless About Authority
Ron Johnson, candidate for the chairmanship of
the Jackson County Board of Commissioners, dem
onstrated a lack of understanding about the county's
water and sewerage authority in a forum last week.
The candidate insists that the authority should
be making money for the county as an "enterprise
fund" and should be operating like a business.
What Johnson chooses to ignore is that the county
commissioners forced the authority into the money
losing sewerage business.
There is no "profit" in waste treatment in a growing
county, but there is a lot of debt. Under the current
protocol, the authority takes on the debt and the
county takes in the taxes. The added value of land
and development made possible by sewerage goes to
the board of commissioners and the school system,
while the authority is stuck with the debt.
The authority will never make money on its sew
erage system, but the county and county schools
certainly profit from the development it enables.
Someone aspiring to the county's highest elected
office should have a better understanding of how
the county operates before telling the voters he can
make it operate more efficiently.
Editorials, unless otherwise noted, are written by Mark
Beardsley. He can be reached by e-mail at mark@main-
streetnews.com.
The Commerce News
ESTABLISHED IN 1875
USPS 125-320
1672 South Broad Street
Commerce, Georgia 30529
MIKE BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
MARK BEARDSFEY Editor/General Manager
BRANDON REED Sports Editor
TERESA MARSHALL Office Manager
MERRILL BAGWELL Cartoonist
THE COMMERCE NEWS is the legal organ of the city
of Commerce and is published every Wednesday by
MainStreet Newspapers Inc. Periodical postage paid at
Commerce, Georgia 30529.
Subscription Rates Per Year: Jackson, Banks
and Madison counties, $19.75; State of Georgia,
$38.85; out-of-state, $44.50. Most rates dis
counted $2 for senior citizens.
POSTMASTER send address changes to THE COMMERCE
NEWS, P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, GA, 30549.
I'll fill in the blank after
the election. That way, everyone'll know
I supported the winner.
Vote For and
Elect
Who’s Footing The Bill For This?
A friend of mine has been
having some amazing adven
tures during the past year, and
I thought it might be time to
share some of them with you.
Once upon a time, my friend
— I'll call her Linda — was
self-employed, and of course
that meant that along with
the unpredictability of her
income, she was saddled with
the expense of paying for indi
vidual health insurance, which
kept going up. She finally
decided, somewhat reluctantly,
to supplement her income by
taking a retail sales position, to
ensure that she could pay each
month's medical insurance
premium.
To Linda's surprise (and
mind, I'll admit) she found
that she enjoyed the work and
had a real knack for it. She
liked everything from stocking
the shelves with new merchan
dise to helping the customers
make their selections, and she
appreciated having colleagues
for a change. It wasn't long
before she was Employee of
the Month. A few months later
she had that honor again, and
after that she was Regional
Employee of the Month for the
large holding company that
owned the store where she
worked. I stopped by one day
to buy something she had told
me was on sale, and I could see
right away why she was such a
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
BY SUSAN HARPER
success: she just had a nice,
easy way of making people feel
at home. She had stumbled,
quite by accident, into a whole
new area of expertise.
Alas, she also stumbled, quite
by accident, over a large pile
of clothing, which another
employee had left on the floor
in the "back room" — and
although she didn't know it at
the time, she sustained serious
injuries in that fall. Something
made her think of taking a
picture of the pile of clothing
with her cell phone, and some
wise inner voice made her go
for X-rays, even though she
thought she was probably okay.
Alas again, she wasn't.
As we all know, work-
related injuries are supposed
to be covered by Workers
Compensation. Although they
paid for the X-rays, Workers
Comp, told Linda that (a) she
was able to return to work
(even though she couldn't
walk unaided), and (b) she had
a pre-existing condition! She
was advised to hire an attorney
and file an appeal if she dis
agreed.
At this point, Linda and her
fiance got married, and her
husband's medical insurance
replaced the expensive indi
vidual policy which had been
eating up the grocery money.
This was fortunate, as she now
needed extensive surgery to
repair the damage from her
"pre-existing condition," and
intensive physical therapy to
help her recover. She had the
surgery, she had three days of
physical therapy — and then
her new medical insurance
company told her it was time
to go home. Never mind that
her doctors disagreed, or that
she couldn't walk yet.
I have no idea how Linda's
saga will end. She's a plucky
gal, and her husband is devot
ed and supportive. But her
experience is emblematic of an
abusive and indifferent attitude
abroad in the land. Workers
Comp, would rather not pay.
Insurance would rather not pay
much. "Are you sick? Hungry?
In pain?" they seem to say.
"Not our problem." I'm hoping
that it will be, come November.
Susan Harper is director of the
Commerce Public Library. She
lives in Commerce.
Some Lessons In High Finance
Charles Lamb said there
were two races of men: the
borrowers and the lenders.
But I believe the fundamental
division is between the savers
and the spenders. Savers tend
to see the world as a danger
ous, uncertain place. They
foresee the possibility of many
disasters and try to prepare for
them. (Savers are frequently
the eldest child in the family,
as I am.)
Spenders see the world as a
giant recreation park, placed
here for their entertainment.
They also have an innate belief
that someone will always be
there to take care of them.
Spenders are frequently the
youngest child in the family —
the baby.
I'm not saying that one is
better than the other, but I
believe that one of the most
delightful pleasures in life is
looking at the bank statement
and seeing the balance increase
every month. And one of the
most distressing sorrows is to
see that balance disappear.
Views
In ^ ^ \
Rotation
Sr!
BY WILLIS COOK
Experts recommend disciplin
ing yourself to save a fixed
amount each month. That is
like saying to quit cigarette
smoking, just quit. Here's
a way to save that actually
makes your life a little easier.
Whenever you write a check,
enter the correct amount in
your check register but round
the amount up to the next
whole ten-dollar amount when
you subtract it from your
balance. Say your balance is
$1,000 and you write a check
for $245.43. Enter the correct
amount, so you can identify
the check when you get your
bank statement, but subtract
$250 from your checkbook
balance, giving you a new
(indicated) balance of $750.
On average, you will save
five dollars per check, so if
you write 30 checks a month,
you will have $150 more in
your account at the end of
the month than your check
book shows. You don't see
that money (until you balance
your checkbook) so you are
not tempted to spend it. It's
like the bank slips a little extra
into your account each month.
And here's another benefit: it's
easier to keep your checkbook
neat. I don't usually try to peek
at other people's checkbooks,
but whenever I happen to see
one, I am amazed at the chaos:
scratched-out numbers, correc
tions, notations on the side —
just overall disorder. It's easier
to subtract $10 from $30. Your
checkbook will be a model of
neatness.
Here's another hint: whenever
Please Turn To Page 5A
It's Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
Make The DOE
Bureaucrats
Take The CRCT
In yet another attempt to improve
standardized test results, State
Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox
proposes that all Georgia schools
should begin in August each year.
What a novel idea.
After several years of starting in
July, Commerce will begin its 2008-
09 school year Aug. 7. It will end
May 22.
The pendulum is swinging back
toward a longer summer.
In the Jurassic Age when I attended
public schools, the year ended the
first or second week of June and kids
were off until the third or fourth
week of August. School ended last
May 16 in Commerce and a week
later in Jackson County.
Cox wants to put more summer (as
opposed to spring) in summer vaca
tion for the sake of test scores, but a
few years ago, the General Assembly,
under pressure from the state's tour
ism lobbyists, wanted to standard
ize summer vacations so Six Flags
wouldn't suffer.
Longer vacations mean more trips
to theme parks and beaches, and the
availability of cheap summer labor.
Hear the "ka-ching" of cash registers.
The prevailing educational idea at
the time, though, was that shorter
summer breaks helped student
achievement. The number of school
days stayed at 180 (no one wants
to tinker with that sacred number)
with additional days off and longer
Christmas (now known as "winter
holidays") breaks. Little Johnny
wouldn't forget so much of what he
learned, the theory went.
As a kid, I thought 180 days was
about 150 too many. When I became
a parent of two school-age children,
my perspective changed. I thought
year-round school was ideal, but
now, with no children for whom to
arrange full-time child care, call me
ambivalent.
The highlights of summer were the
Little League baseball season and our
annual family camping trip — three
weeks in August. (Today, tent camp
ing for three weeks in August sounds
like cruel and unusual punishment.)
In spite of the oppressive Florida
heat (and because there was no air
conditioning), we spent long hours
outside playing baseball and basket
ball and riding our bicycles. We had
no computers, three channels on a
black and white TV with a defunct
vertical hold and no video games.
You'd think we'd be ready for school
to start in late August.
You'd be wrong. We returned to
school with the enthusiasm of a cat
going to the veterinarian. Summer
was freedom; school was discipline —
no contest there.
Educators needed a long, long
break to regain sanity, and the hot
test time of the year was ideal since
schools had no air conditioning.
Even today, shifting a week of school
from July to May makes sense in
terms of lower utility costs.
But test scores and the No Child
Left Behind Act drive school policy,
from the curriculum to vacation
days. The state, not the local school
system, decides who's going to go to
the next grade and who won't.
Changing vacation times won't
make our kids test better. Let's give
them the summer off and make the
bureaucrats take the CRCT. Maybe
we're testing the wrong folks.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The
Commerce News. He can be reached at
mark@mainstreetnews. com.