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PAGE 4A
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2008
Editor: Angela Gary
Phone: 706-367-2490
E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com
Website: www.mainstreetnews.com
Opinions
“Where the press is free and every man
able to read, all is safe.”
— Thomas Jefferson
A rude awakening
I got a letter in the mail the other day notifying me
that the monthly cost of our trash pick-up was
increasing, due to fuel costs.
I can understand that necessity, from a business
standpoint.
Still, it’s another drop in the bucket of rising costs
for all of us.
Even stamp prices are on the rise, again. Just how
many times have you found yourself tacking on a one-
cent stamp in the past few years, trying to get some use
out of the already outpriced stamps
you bought in a roll?
Prices in general are up and
climbing.
The economy is down and declin
ing, so we hear. Word has it that
2009 and 2010 will bring a stronger
recession.
I talked with an older man - he’s
in his 80s- not too long ago who
said he believes “young people” are
in for a rude awakening. It’s pos
sible, he said, another Depression,
or the likes, is before us.
Still, he pondered, it might be good for “them”
to tighten up their belts, to think about costs before
spending, to ration.
In other words, to live frugally, like our grandpar
ents and our parents did. (Um, trash pick-up wasn’t an
issue, for a very small example.)
I’m one of the semi-young people who hasn’t had to
stand in a bread line or to “make do” with rationing.
Still, I do have some very vague recollection of see
ing the long lines of cars on television during the oil
embargo of the 1970s, or perhaps even being in our
family car and waiting at the gas station. From what
I’ve read, motorists with odd-numbered tags would buy
gas on odd-numbered days and so forth.
I do remember with clarity that there was a time
when it cost me $8 — yes, $8 — to fill up my car with
gas. Now it’s closer to $50 — up $20 in just a matter
of months — and that’s low, in comparison to other,
larger vehicles.
There is some cost relativity, of course, as at that $8
time, the minimum wage was just over $3 an hour. I
would have been in high school and early college, so I
probably didn’t earn a lot more than minimum wage.
But, in retrospect....$8!
Now prices are inflated, but people’s income is not
matching pace. Health insurance is going up, cost of
living is going up, expenses in general are going up.
All different messes, but they all pile up to expensive
living.
An article about how the economy is facing that
“’70s feeling” again notes “some parallels between
today and the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the
oil-dependent U.S. economy saw double-digit infla
tion largely because of an unexpected energy shock.
Growth fell while inflation rose, creating stagflation - a
stagnant economy and high inflation.”
I can’t pretend to be an economist. I’m not sure
of the exact differences between recession and
Depression, and whether or not those terms may be
used interchangeably.
Still, I have to agree with my 80-plus friend. I
believe we will all be tightening our belts sooner than
later.
jana a.
mitcham
Jana Adams Mitcham is features editor of The
Jackson Herald, a sister publication of The Banks
County News. E-mail comments about this column to
jana@mainstreetnews.com.
The Banks County News
Founded 1968
The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher (Editorial)
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher (Advertising)
Angela Gary Editor
Chris Bridges Sports Editor
Sharon Hogan Reporter
Anelia Chambers Receptionist
Suzanne Reed Church News
Phones (all 706 area code):
Angela Gary Phone 367-2490
Angela Gary Fax 367-9355
Homer Office Phone 677-3491
Homer Office Fax 677-3263
(SCED 547160)
Published weekly by
MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.,
P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, Ga. 30549
Subscription in county $19.75
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Postmaster, send address changes to:
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Perdue, Republicans enjoy living life of luxury
O ver the last several years,
we’ve seen the politics at
our state Capitol become
more and more like the system that has
afflicted Washington, D.C., since the
Nixon administration.
Members of the Republican govern
ing majority, while certainly exhibiting
increasing acrimony among themselves,
still put the health of their partisan
majority ahead of just about any other
concern. Their focus is on building a
culture that surrounds them and their
supporters with the aura of government
authority, and sustaining their domi
nance with money and manpower.
When Gov. Perdue took office, his
then-chief of staff, Eric Tanenblatt, a
former aide to the late Republican Sen.
Paul Coverdell and close associate of
the Bush political machine, introduced
many of the trappings of political power
to the Gold Dome culture.
Gov. Perdue began to use state air
craft to fly just about everywhere,
including when he was traveling for
personal or political reasons, rather than
on official taxpayer business.
The man he appointed “inspector
general” issued an opinion justifying
the use of state aircraft, citing “security
reasons” to justify taxpayers footing
the bill for the governor’s use of state
aircraft, just as the president flies on Air
Force One whether he’s on official gov
ernment business or not. Tanenblatt also
created a system where state troopers
drive the governor’s official government
vehicle ahead of his flights to be ready
to pick him up on the runway when he
lands, just like POTUS’ armored lim
ousine.
Sonny Perdue would have nothing
of his predecessors’ habit of hitching a
ride with a local state trooper or a sup
porter. Only the official luxury SUV
would do.
We’ve also seen Republicans adding
staff to executive
and legislative
offices. Perdue
employs a chief
operating officer
and chief finan
cial officer, with
six-figure salaries
commensurate
with their lofty
titles. Republican
legislative leaders
now have func
tionaries running
around under the Gold Dome sporting
business cards that announce them as
“chief of staff” — who of course, need
a staff that they can chief. Don’t you
wonder what a legislator’s staff does
when the General Assembly adjourns in
mid-April and doesn’t return until mid-
January?
Republican constitutional officers
have followed suit — creating posi
tions like “general counsel” and
“inspector general,” even if they are
redundant with existing state govern
ment positions. Republicans may cam
paign on “smaller government,” but
now that they control the state, it’s fair
to wonder what “smaller” refers to.
Along with the expanding political
ranks of government comes an increase
in the numbers of those paid to influ
ence our representatives on behalf of
their clients. In fact, the whole system
that Gold Dome Republicans are creat
ing requires an inflation of the ranks of
political aides and the lobbyist corps.
There’s more money to be raised
if there are more lobbyists cruising
around with their meters running.
Lobbyist spending on freebies for
elected officials (up to and including
the governor, despite his “gift ban”) has
soared. Those same lobbyists know that
big donations to the GOP are expected,
and their clients dare not appear on
Democrats’ campaign finance reports.
The lobbyists need more people to
schmooze, so more aides are hired. To
close the circle, people hired in these
newly created positions ultimately
move on, so more lobbyist jobs are cre
ated to give erstwhile lackeys a place to
land. They leave the government payroll
to return as Republican lobbyists who
serve their special-interest clients by
providing access; their elected former
bosses are graced with campaign cash
and perks like trips, restaurant meals
and event tickets.
During the last six years, the revolv
ing door has been spinning faster and
faster than Linda Blair’s head in “The
Exorcist.” Tanenblatt went back to lob
bying after leaving Perdue’s employ.
Robert Highsmith, once deputy execu
tive counsel in Perdue’s office, now
collects retainers from all sorts of
special interests to lobby his former
boss. Another Perdue staff lawyer, Jud
Turner, just left to enter the world of
special-interest flacks, and the man
who replaced him came from a well-
connected lobbying operation. Perdue’s
current chief of staff, Ed Holcombe, is
a former lobbyist for Georgia Power,
and will certainly return to the lobbyist
ranks some day.
Perdue and his fellow Republicans
like to talk about how they are modern
izing state government. That appears to
be true. Unfortunately for the taxpayers
who shoulder the bill for Republican
staffs and for individuals who can’t
compete with the army of special-
interest lobbyists, updates to the Gold
Dome political scene should bring on a
case of nostalgia — and not the warm,
fuzzy kind.
You can reach Bill Shipp at P. O. Box
2520, Kennesaw, GA 30156, e-mail:
shipp1@bellsouth.net, or Web address:
billshipponline.com.
bill
shipp
Letters to the editor policy given
The Banks County News has estab
lished a policy on printing Letters to
the Editor.
We must have an original copy of
all letters that are submitted to us for
publication.
Members of our staff will not type
out or hand-write letters for people
who stop by the office and ask them
to do so.
Letters to the Editor must also be
signed with the address and phone
number of the person who wrote
them.
The address and phone number
will be for our verification purposes
only and will not be printed unless
the writer requests it. Mail to,
The Banks County News, P.O. Box
920, Homer, Ga. 30547.
E-mailed letters will be accepted,
but we must have a contact phone
number and address. Letters that are
libelous will not be printed.
Letters may also be edited to meet
space requirements. Anyone with
questions on the policy is asked to
contact editor Angela Gary at
AngieEditor@aol.com or by calling
706-367-2490.
News department contact numbers
Anyone with general story ideas,
complaints or comments about the
news department is asked to call edi
tor Angela Gary at 706-367-2490.
She can also be reached by e-mail
at AngieEditor@aol.com.
Anyone with comments, questions
or suggestions relating to the coun
ty board of commissioners, county
government, county board of educa
tion and crime and courts is asked to
contact staff reporter Chris Bridges
at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at
chris@mainstreetnews.com.
Bridges also is sports edi
tor of the paper and covers local
high school, middle school and
recreation sports.
Anyone with comments, ques
tions or suggestions relating to
Alto, Lula, Baldwin and Gillsville,
should contact Sharon Hogan at
706-367-5233 or by e-mail at
sharon@mainstreetnews.com.
Calls for information about the
church page should go to Suzanne
Reed at 706-677-3491. Church
news may also be e-mailed to
churchnews@mainstreetnews.com.
The Banks County News website
is updated each Thursday and can
be accessed on the Internet at
www.mainstreetnews.com.
How do you
honor your
father?
W hat do you get for the
man who doesn’t com
pletely realize he’s a
father?
My husband has been a great father
to our little girl — but it still doesn’t
“click” with him at times that’s a
daddy.
And it still slips his mind that I’m a
mommy, too.
Let me be clear: We know we’re
parents. It’s just when Mother’s Day
or Father’s Day roll around, we think
about our own parents. We get them
cards. We try to give them a gift or
take them out for
a special dinner.
But we have
forgotten that we,
too, are parents to
our daughter for
the special occa
sions.
On Mother’s
Day, my husband
was preparing
to take his mom
out for lunch. I
had to work later that afternoon and
couldn’t join them.
It wasn’t until later in the afternoon
that it suddenly “clicked” for my hus
band.
“Oh! Hey, babe! Happy Mother’s
Day,” he said in the middle of another
task. I was just happy that he remem
bered — and I didn’t have to say a
word to remind him about myself now
being included in Mother’s Day.
While I know that Father’s Day is
approaching this weekend, I don’t
know how to celebrate a man that’s
been a terrific daddy for his little girl.
The Census Bureau provides some
interesting information about where to
shop for Father’s Day.
I could buy a shirt or tie at one of
more than 8,685 men’s clothing stores
around the country. I could buy some
tools at one of the nation’s 14,257
hardware stores or 5,925 home cen
ters. Or, I could buy a football at one
of 23,195 sporting goods stores in the
country.
There are an estimated 64.3 million
fathers in this country, according to
the Census Bureau. About 26.5 mil
lion men are fathers who are part of
married-couple families with children
younger than 18, as of 2006.
Father’s Day started after a Spokane,
Wash., woman listened to a Mother’s
Day sermon in 1909. She wanted a
special day to honor her father, a wid
owed Civil War veteran who raised his
six children.
Spokane’s mayor selected Father’s
Day with a June celebration because
that’s when the Civil War veteran was
born.
The first presidential proclamation
honoring fathers was issued in 1966,
when President Lyndon B. Johnson
named the third Sunday in June as
Father’s Day, according to the Census
Bureau.
Father’s Day has been celebrated
every year since 1972, when President
Richard Nixon signed the public law
that made it permanent.
So, how do you honor a man that’s
been a great father? The answer to that
question shouldn’t come just one day
a year.
kerri
testement
Kerri Testement is the news editor
of The Braselton News, a sister pub
lication of The Banks County News.
E-mail comments about this column to
kerri@mainstreetnews.com.
Letters to
the Editor
Page 5A in
today’s edition