Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, February 4, 2009, The Millen News
Opinions, yours and ours
The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett
B-r-r-r! It’s cold. How cold is it? These little jokes seem to
sum it up pretty good.
“It is so cold that hitchhikers are holding up pictures of
thumbs; roosters are rushing into Kentucky Fried Chicken
begging to use the pressure cooker; and when I dialed 9-1-1,
a recorded message said to phone back in the spring.”
“It’s so cold grandpa’s teeth are chattering in the glass;
politicians have their hands in their own pockets; Richard
Simmons is wearing pants; and the polar bears are buying
fur coats.”
And if that’s not cold enough, "I didn’t clean my house,
just defrosted it; you need defrosters just to have a good cry;
and the cosmetics counter in department stores are selling
cream for goose bumps.”
Monday was Groundhog Day, and the little varmint saw
his shadow, so that means that we are in for six more weeks
of winter. B-r-r-r!
We received word today from The Augusta Chronicle that
mail subscriptions will once again be available in our area.
This is great news for those of us accustomed to getting our
newspapers by mail.
Happy birthday this week to: Eddie Sherrod, Kathy
Weathersby, Glynn Bassett Sr., Jennifer Fleming, Alexandria
Lane, Nan Bowers, Thurman Kent, Kyler Pierce Cook, Megan
Frye, Marty Thompson, Brett Burke, Hank Joyner, Jeremy
Dailey, Tyler Troisi, Blais Chance, Rhett Smith, Bob Dwelle,
Burdell Frison, Carol Frison and Patricia Mincey.
Celebrating wedding anniversaries are: Mr. and Mrs. Harry
Dwelle, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Small and Mr. and Mrs. Tracy
Edenfield.
Military Active Duty List: Lance Cpl. Adam Lanier, U.S.
Marines, 8 th & I Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.; E-4 Sr.
Airman Roy Davis, U.S. Air Force, RAF Molesworth, United
Kingdom; Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Marines,
Twenty Nine Palms, CA; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal
Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines,
Camp Pendleton, CA; E5 Petty Officer 2 nd Class Eric B.
Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NSA Naples, Italy; Airman First Class
Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA;
Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Barksdale AFB, Bossier, LA;
SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood,
Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, 735th Air Mobility
Squadron Detachment 1 Commander, Richmond Royal Aus
tralian AFB, Richmond, Australia; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C.
Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty
Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps
Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S.
Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby,
R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; Jimmy Cooper, U.S.
Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta,
Persian Gulf; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,
25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th
MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Jeffrey
Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-
Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Ma
rine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune,
N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty
Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft.
Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; Arnold R. Mosley,
2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra
A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas;
and SPC Charles “C.J.” Amerson, U.S. Army, Camp Adder,
Iraq.
Letters policy
Letters to the editor of The Millen News are welcomed and
encouraged. These are pages of opinions, yours and ours.
The unsigned editorials generally appearing on the left side of
the editorial page represent the opinion of the newspaper and not
that of any one person on our staff. Personal columns represent
the opinions of the writers whose names appear on them and are
not to be considered the opinion of this newspaper, its manage
ment or owners. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the
newspaper’s readers.
The Millen News reserves the right to edit any and all portions
of a letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must
include the signature, address and phone number of the writer to
allow our staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should be lim
ited to 400 words.
The deadline for letters is Friday at 5 p.m. You can email let
ters to themillennews@yahoo.com.
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1985-1998
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Bonnie K. Taylor.
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Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor,
As you know if you ever
watch the news, the Fed (slang
for The Federal Reserve Bank)
is attempting a major power
grab these days. The financial
crisis is causing people to go
crazy. Does anyone out there
know anything about the Fed
eral Reserve? It has been around
since the first Roosevelt admin
istration, and I doubt that any
one in Jenkins County really
knows very much about it. I
could ask you to do some re
search and give you links to sites
that explain it, but I think that
very few would actually look
and try to understand. I’ll just
pass this on to you and you can
all accept it as truth—after all, if
I told you, it must be true!
The FED (Federal Reserve
Bank) is not accountable to any
one. It was created to be the Cen
tral Bank of America, but that
name was not palatable to people
before the advent of TV. Before
TV, people read and had a more
comprehensive understanding of
written language (that is a sad
commentary on modem society.)
Anyway, the Federal Reserve
was set up to be the owners of
all the property in the U.S.A.
People are wondering why
there is not help for the people
suffering from mortgage fore
closures and high interest rates.
The answer is simple and obvi
ous. The Fed owns them. They
have no interest in helping you
keep your property. Now they
are talking about buying what
they call “toxic assets” off the
books of banks so that they can
start lending again. So, who will
own your property? The Fed and
the IMF will own all of that prop
erty in the United States of
America.
Is there hope? Will there be
"Change We Can Believe In”?
Don’t count your chicks before
they hatch! The Fed is printing
money without backing and
seeking to buy up property. The
corporations are seeking more
tax cuts. The financial markets
are asking for more money. A
meager tax cut of three percent
in payroll taxes equals $3 on
each $100 you earn—what are
you going to do with that? Three
percent on billion-dollar compa
nies that adds up to millions of
dollars, and a poor person just
can’t compete with that.
Well, I have reached the 400-
word limit. Think about this, the
TV tells us that the money has
evaporated! Is that possible? Or
did someone take the money and
run?
Wayne Salter
Suburbs of Perkins
Jon Burns
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
During this week of the legislative session, several bills were
on the agenda. Although the session has just begun, we, as legis
lators, are already in full swing deciding on numerous important
pieces of legislation. Governor Sonny Perdue gave his State of
the State address two weeks ago and included his budget recom
mendations for the amended 2009 budget and the 2010 fiscal
year budget. Two major tax bills were on the calendar for debate
on Friday, only one of which was voted upon. The House passed
HB 143 on Friday, the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant legislation
(HTRG), and it has been sent to the Senate for consideration. Next
week, members of the House of Representatives will vote on HR1
which will decide the fate of Property Reassessment Caps.
In this current budget climate, what we are dealing with is the
same thing every individual family in Georgia has to deal
with. Our income is down and some tough choices and decisions
have to be made. When times get tough, we have to cut back.
Families all across Georgia are making some similar decisions
that we as lawmakers are facing with our budget. In this climate,
with such a severe economic downtown, we have to look at our
options concerning the budget and cut back on nonessential and
some essential items. It is a challenging and sometimes heart
wrenching task.
With a $2.2 billion budget deficit, the Governor had tough
choices to make in his proposal. The issue is revenue. By using
some of the money in the Revenue Shortfall Reserve (RSR), also
known as Georgia’s rainy day fund, the Governor is hoping to
get through the difficult economic times Georgians are facing. In
the Governor’s recommended 2009 Amended Budget, $187 mil
lion was used from the Midyear Adjustment Reserve and $50
million from the RSR. For the 2010 budget, $408 million was
included from the reserve.
The Governor’s proposal is the recommendations for the
budget. We are in the process of budget hearings to determine
our version of the budget, as is the Senate. Using the Governor’s
revenue estimate, set at around $19.2 billion for the rest of 2009
and $20.2 billion for fiscal year 2010, the members of the House
will decide how we believe the money in the budget should be
spent. The House and Senate will then come to an agreement on
a budget proposal to be voted on by both chambers.
The Governor’s proposal would eliminate the Homeowner’s
Property Tax Relief Grants, essentially saving the state $428
million. The problem that arises is that if it is not funded, this
amount is placed onto the property owners in Georgia, another
bill for $200-300. With many families facing dire economic times,
this could become a burden on families in our communities. The
legislature promised this money last year and the House plans on
fulfilling the promise they made to property owners. The mem
bers of the House are struggling with the idea of how to fund the
grant this year and on Friday we passed HB 143 by a 117-55
margin. This Homeowners Tax Relief Grant legislation commits
us to pay for the grant covering the 2009 budget and sets the
rules for how the grant program will be administered in the
future. This program is intended to be a mechanism to send back
surplus funds to homeowners and the legislation we passed out
lines how and when these grants will be distributed and will also
make it easier for local governments to plan their budgets.
On a lighter note, my fellow members of the state House and I
put aside our personal college football loyalties and recognized
Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson, the ACC Coach of the Year, and
Jonathan Dwyer, the ACC Player of the Year. Every good col
lege football fan should be able to put pride aside and congratu
late someone on a job well done - even if they are a rival.
Over the next 30 legislative days we will make the tough deci
sions necessary to pass a balanced budget. I hope that we will
also be able to improve education, create a statewide trauma net
work, and expand our transportation infrastructure. These are the
issues that I believe to be the most important for Georgia and its
future. But I want to know what you think. Should you have any
questions or concerns, please contact me at my Capitol office. I
look forward to hearing from you soon. My email address is
jon.bums@house.ga.gov and my office number is 404-656-5116.
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ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Monday and Friday at 7 p.m. at the Wimberly House at
521 S. Liberty St., Waynesboro. These meetings are
open and anyone can attend. AA already has...
Step Study: Tuesdays (Open Meetings) - 8:00 p.m.
Thursdays (Closed Meetings) 8:00 p.m.
at Sacred Heart Catholic Church
Hwy. 24 South Waynesboro
ALANON
Open Meeting-Monday - 8 p.m.
at Wimberly House
521 S. Liberty St., Waynesboro