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THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008
Editor: Angela Gary
Phone: 706-367-2490
E-mail: AngieEditor@aol.com
Website: www.banksnewsTODAY.com
Opinion
“Where the press is free and every tnan
able to read, all is safe.”
— Thomas Jefferson
We don't need to
be a plastic nation
The quick swipe of plastic offers such a comforting lie.
When we pay in cash, we immediately kiss that coveted
green goodbye, but the credit card offers such a beauti
ful illusion, a confirmation that
life is to be lived for today, forget
tomorrow.
Somebody will have to pick
up the bill eventually. And, yes, I
know it will probably be me, since,
of course, my name is on the card.
But that's a future me, not the me
of today. So let's splurge on the
lobster. It’s so good, especially
dipped in all that butter.
We see now that the culture
of reckless debt has infected our
nation at every level. We foolishly
bite off more than we can chew. And we’ve been promised
that the world is truly a playground for those who live in
the moment.
Credit card companies have flooded our mailboxes for
years, trying to sucker us into massive “put-it-on-my-tab”
miseries. There’s so much profit to be made off reckless
consumerism and the pileup of interest. And we’ve been
too eager to join the crippling financial arrangement. If
you really want a big flat screen, you can always find the
smiling sales guy who informs you that true happiness is
only visible in high def. Just swipe that plastic.
And standing now in a dark alley, we can see that
the bright road of American economic growth has been
too dependent in recent years on impulsive flat screen
purchases backed by plastic promises. We want so much
more than we can cover.
The housing market has also been corrupted by
unhealthy credit arrangements. Folks wanted to live
beyond their means. And they were encouraged to do
so by those who stood to profit off their misguided deci
sions.
Our government has been just as guilty. The Bush
Administration will leave office with the debt now at $10
trillion. That’s over $30,000 a person. Sadly, we owe a
fortune to China, which now has a truly troubling financial
grip on this nation.
“Would we have bailed out Fannie Mae had we not
been pressured by its Chinese investors?” asked Rudolph
Penner of the Urban Institute's Tax Policy Center in his
article, “The Debt Bomb.”
That's a valid question. We’re so reliant now on foreign
investment that we risk losing some of our autonomy.
Call me crazy, and I'm sure you will, but I don’t under
stand how the nation can afford tax cuts for anyone right
now, not with two wars going, not with a massive bailout
promised for Wall Street, not with an aging population that
will require our care, not with our debt reaching absurd
levels. How many zeros are in $10 trillion anyway?
No doubt, I need a cut. I’m feeling a horrible pinch.
Who isn't? These are tough times.
But I view our national debt as a collective credit card
bill that will surely come due. Running up more debt
means we’re just adding to the bill, ensuring that the sober
person who has to pick up the tax tab later will have an
even bigger headache. Promising the world with tax cuts
is not the fiscally responsible thing.
I think we all recognize the truth in this, but we know,
too, that political candidates can't win by expressing such
truths.
Both candidates plan to add to our debt.
“Including interest costs, Obama’s tax plan would boost
the debt by $3.5 trillion by 2018: McCain’s plan would
increase the debt by $5 trillion on top of the $2.3 trillion
increase that the Congressional Budget Office forecasts
for the next decade,” read the executive summary on
the candidate’s tax plans fom the non-partisan Urban-
Brookings Tax Policy Center.
I understand there’s truth in that old saying about hav
ing to spend money to make money. For instance, it was
a massive government expense to build an interstate net
work, but there was certainly a payoff.
Not all debt is bad, not when there is something valu
able to gain in the long run. But our accumulation of
debt in recent years has not been part of some great com
munity development, like an interstate system. No, it’s
been a crippling byproduct of live-for-today-and-forget-
tomorrow politics.
It truly hurts, but we need to recognize the deterioration
of American power that will come if we choose to ignore
our bills.
We don’t need to be a plastic nation, not as individuals,
not as a whole.
Zacli Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal,
a sister publication of The Banks County News.
The Banks County News
Founded 1968
The official legal organ of Banks County, Ga.
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher
Angela Gary Editor
Chris Bridges Sports Editor
Sharon Hogan Reporter
Anelia Chambers Receptionist
Suzanne Reed Church News
(SCED 547160)
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Periodicals postage paid at Homer, Ga. 30547
Postmaster, send address changes to:
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"I hate election years...we get
more campaign literature than candy!"
A letter for Obama
Former Sen. Sam Nunn is leading
a group of big hitters in the Atlanta
business community in a campaign
to recruit support and raise cash for
Barack Obama and the Democratic
Party. They're asking for contribu
tions of $5,000 to $30,000 from
each for the Obama Victory Fund.
Although Obama may not win
Georgia, the guys on Nunn's list are
not noted for backing losers.
A two-page letter extolling Obama
was mailed last week to an A-list of
Georgia business leaders.
In addition to Nunn and wife Colleen,
signers of the missive included international
developer Tom Cousins and his wife Ann,
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and his
wife Stephanie, high-tech entrepreneur John
Imlay and wife Mary Ellen, Atlanta Mayor
Shirley Franklin, former U.S. Ambassador to
Canada Gordon Giffin and wife Patti, media
mogul Ted Turner, big-time developer Herman
Russell and business magnate Carl Ware and
wife Mary.
The biggies wrote: “We see in Barack Obama
an uncommon ability to restore America's
credibility and moral authority and to get
others to join us in tackling serious global
problems that will determine our own well
being and security. ... We need a president
who has the temperament of a leader — a
sharp, incisive mind, a rare capacity for self-
criticism, and a willingness to hear contrary
points of view.”
The letter made no mention of GOP candi
date John McCain or his running mate Sarah
Palin.
I don’t recall a group of such prominent fig
ures putting their names on the line to support
a Democratic presidential candidate who will
almost certainly go down in flames in Georgia
even if he wins the White House.
The establishment support for Obama
may complicate another Georgia race: the
contest for U.S. Senate between incumbent
Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democratic
challenger Jim Martin.
A month ago Chambliss appeared a sure
winner. He poured millions into TV ads brag
ging about his long experience (eight years in
the House and six in the Senate).
He must have forgotten that many of his
constituents are angry at “experienced” con-
gresspersons for allowing a historic financial
collapse, which they tried to shore up by vot
ing a $700 billion injection of taxpayer money
into Wall Street banks. That move wasn't very
popular either, and so far, it hasn't worked.
As soon as Chambliss heard murmurs of
criticism, he changed strategy. He forgot his
own long record in Washington and attacked
Martin’s character, claiming Martin
was fired as state welfare director for
“a breach in public trust.” Martin, a
Democrat, was asked to leave early
in the administration of Republican
Gov. Sonny Perdue. Everybody
expected Martin to resign after his
party lost the election.
Even as Chambliss launched
his personal attack, his popularity
dipped in the media polls. National
pundits said Chambliss was in deep
trouble. “Saxby is in the fight of his
life,” said Georgia GOP Chairman
Sue Everhart. The Chambliss-Martin race
went from “bright red” on the network maps
to pink with an asterisk, meaning “leaner with
upset possible.”
Jokes about Chambliss' voting record in
the Senate also made the rounds. “Somebody
ought to buy Saxby a ten-gallon hat, so he’d
look more like a Texan.” “He votes just like
a Texan,” said one Democrat, referring to
Chambliss’ loyal support for Big Oil and Gas,
an important Texas industry. Georgia has no
oil or gas wells.
Even so, Chambliss has accepted more than
$153,000 in campaign contributions from Big
Oil and Gas. The industry has received more
than its money’s worth in return.
Consider:
Chambliss twice voted against assessing
Big Oil $29 billion to fund alternative energy
sources.
In 2005 Chambliss voted against cutting oil
imports by 40 percent over the next 20 years to
reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
Chambliss opposed measures to protect con
sumers from gouging by oil companies, espe
cially during emergencies such as Katrina.
In 2005 the senator voted against a measure
to impose a temporary windfall tax on crude
oil and to rebate the tax to the American con
sumer.
Chambliss’ Washington romance with petro
leum runs two more pages.
With a voting record like that, one might
understand why Sen. Chambliss is a favorite
of the boys who hang out at Exxon-Mobil.
In the end, our senior senator's record won’t
matter much. We’ve said it before: Saxby
looks like a senator elected by a committee
of casting directors. Poor Jim Martin looks
like a Presbyterian preacher chosen by a panel
of puritans. In a contest like that with the
star-quality candidate having more gold than
Midas, who do you think will win?
You can reach Bill Shipp at P.O. Box 2520,
Kennesaw, GA 30156, e-mail: shippl@bell-
south.net, or Web address: billshipponline.
com.
Comments on gas situation
Dear Editor:
It took a couple of hurricanes to interrupt our
gasoline supply and remind us about our over
dependence on cars. Just think how our local
economy could thrive if we had local people
working on solar panels and wind farms. A wind
farm could be up and running in just a year and
cost lots less than oil drilling or a nuclear plant,
without all that radioactive waste and spilled
oil.
If the oil companies could put their rich bank
accounts behind clean energy we could all enjoy
the results. Would a surtax on excess profits get
their attention? How about a penalty for moth
balling their refineries? How about all the royal
ties they have neglected paying for the drilling?
Isn't it amazing how suddenly gas prices
could fall? I wonder if that has anything to do
with the campaigns? Are you listening Saxby
Chambliss? Jim Martin? Paul Broun? Bobby
Saxon?
Sincerely,
Adele Kushner
Alto
Letters to the editor policy given
The Banks County News has established a
policy on printing Letters to the editor.
We must have an original copy of all
letters that are submitted to us for publica
tion.
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.
Could our
state possibly
be contested?
More items from the political
notebook as the Nov. 4 election
approaches:
•There has been more talk in recent
weeks about how close the vote will
be between
John McCain
and Barack
Obama in
Georgia early
next month.
All polls indi
cate Georgia
will remain
red and go in
McCain’s col
umn, although
it will likely be
as close as it
has been in some time. Two polls
I looked at recently had McCain
holding six and eight percent leads
respectively.
Not exactly the landslide wins
of recent presidential elections for
the Republican candidate, but not
close enough yet for the experts to
start talking about Georgia “being in
play.” It should be known that once
polls show a candidate within five
percent of the leader, then it is often
called a statistical tie and is really
considered a toss-up, but I would
still put my money on McCain at this
point in Georgia.
Early turnout of voters has been
somewhat heavy and I believe
we could see some long lines on
Tuesday, Nov. 4. It will be interest
ing to see how the voting precincts
across our state handle the expected
flood of voters in less than two
weeks.
•Georgia's Secretary of State
Karen Handel continues to use her
office as a launching board for high
er office. Speculation abounds that
she will run for Governor in 2010
and her actions in recent months
point toward that.
Handel's insistence on pushing the
voter ID law through — despite the
fact Georgia has one of the lowest
number of documented cases of voter
fraud in the nation — has political
tactic written all over it. In addition,
one has to wonder whether Handel
has some sort of personal vendetta
against Public Service Commission
candidate Jim Powell.
The Democratic candidate has
already won several court battles
against Handel over his residency
requirement to run for a seat on
the PSC. (Note, PSC candidates are
elected state-wide but must live in
a certain district. This requirement
was passed a few years back in
an attempt to keep long-time PSC
member and former chairman Mac
Barber from running again.)
Several court decisions have all
favored Powell, who as of now is on
the Nov. 4 ballot, but Handel will not
let the issue go and continues to try
and disqualify him. One has to really
wonder why as this appears to go
even beyond partisan politics.
Handel's actions in office border
on scary and remind me of another
Republican Secretary of State from
a few years ago who gained national
fame. Her name was Katherine Harris
of Florida.
•The wild-card in the U.S. Senate
race could be Libertarian Allen
Buckley.
With Democrat Jim Martin inching
closer to Republican Saxby Chambliss
in the polls with each passing day,
Buckley may very well hold the key
to whether Martin pulls the upset or
whether there is a runoff.
Buckley, who has polled as much
as 10 percent in some counts, is
expected to draw votes away from
Chambliss, as the Libertarian has
taken aim as the Republican incum
bent for his out-of-control pork barrel
habits. If enough voters who typical
ly cast their ballots for Republicans
can break that habit and move to
Buckley’s camp, it could get interest
ing in this race which at one time was
not even close.
chris
bridges
Chris Bridges is a reporter for The
Banks County News. E-mail comments
about this column to chris@mainstreet-
news.com.