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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 12, 2009
Opinions
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Both parties gambling
on the future
“Be careful what you wish for, you might get it,” is
an often quoted saying. But it is a applicable today as
it was when it was first invented. Frequently, people
find that although things go exactly as they planned,
the results are far from what was expected.
For example, the national Democrats wished for
complete control over the federal government. They
now have it. They control both houses of Congress
and the Presidency. They can do about anything
they want to do without any support from the
Republicans.
So why are they so anxious to have Republican
support for their “stimulus” program? They can pass
the program without any Republican votes. They can
draft a plan and put it into effect totally within their
own party. One would think they would be anxious
to do just that. If they put together a plan that resourc
es the nation's economy from the present downturn,
they would get all the credit. The Republican party
would be left out in the cold, and Democrats would
rule Washington for the next 20 years if not longer.
But what if they are wrong? What if the massive
spending bill actually does more harm than good. If
it fails, the bill could easily result in an even deeper
depression, massive unemployment and runaway
inflation while leaving our children and grandchil
dren with an overwhelming load of national debt to
repay. If that is the outcome, then the Democrats will
have to take all the blame and will probably lose their
grip on power for that 20-year or longer period.
It is to protect themselves from the damage a
failure will bring that they want the Republicans to
be equally responsible for the program, and it looks
like the Republicans have figured it out. So what
we have is a massive gamble on the future of our
nation. The Democrats are gambling that the massive
spending bill will restore the economy and generate
enough tax revenue to pay the cost of the program.
Republicans are gambling that it will fail, and by fail
ing, return the power to govern back to them.
Regardless of which party wins in this big gamble,
we the people are going to lose. If the Democrats
win, they will use their power to impose the kind of
left-wing socialism that they have preached for many
years now on our nation, and we will lose more and
more of the freedoms that have made ours the great
est nation on earth. If the Republicans win, it could
result in long-term damage to our economy that will
allow India, China and possibly other nations to over
take us as world leaders and force the United States
into something near Third World status.
We need a completely different solution to our eco
nomic problems. One that will return our economy to
its primary purpose of promoting the fair and honest
exchange of goods and services among our citi
zens while blocking the concentrations of economic
power in the hands of a few "robber barons” as we
now have. Only when we allow the basic rules of
economics to operate without interference from the
greedy and power hungry few, will our problems be
solved and all of our citizens get a fair shake.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County
Journal. His e-mail address is frankgillispie671@
msn.com. His website can be accessed at http://
frankgillispie.tripod.com/
Plenty of cold
but no snow
As I am writing this article we are finally begin
ning to enjoy a much-needed warm-up from the
recent cold snap.
January featured a month that ended only slightly
below average in temperature and below average in
rainfall. The real cold snap occurred in the middle
of the month and brought low temperatures to their
coldest readings in six years.
Officially, the coldest morning (the 17th) saw
the low dip to 13 degrees, while the normally
— See “Jenkins” on 5A
The Madison
County Journal
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year
State of Georgia $38.85/year
Out-of-state $4450/year
Military personnel with APO address $4250/year
Senior rate $2 off all above rates
College student discount rate $2 off all above rates
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
County growth through a new economic lens
The recently approved Sunrise pro
posal split much of this county, just like
any other major residential development
in recent years.
Of course, the Sunrise debate was the
first real county residential conflict in a
new economic era. The credit collapse
punctured the housing bubble, which
had become the mother's milk of our
economy due to the desertion of manu
facturing.
Without home building, our nation is
now like the sleeper who wakes disori
ented in an unfamiliar room. How will
the housing market regain its feet? How
will the credit market flow again in a
more responsible way? More impor
tantly, how will we regain lost jobs? How
will we move forward to brighter days?
The owner of Madison County's lone
golf course approached county commis
sioners recently with this economic dark
ness shadowing our lives. His proposal
was the same one commissioners shot
down twice before: a tightly clustered
senior residential community of more
than 200 houses on a drastically modi
fied course, one that will be reduced from
a par 72 to a par 57 setup, with a length
of 2,605 yards from the back tees, which
is less than half the length of a typical
6,000-7,000-yard traditional setup.
This debate linked two, very separate
issues: the survival of a long-time busi
ness and the acceptance of a unique
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
residential development in the county.
The Sunrise proposal was framed
as a way to save the golf course. But
commissioners didn’t stipulate that the
golf course remain open. How could
they, anyway? Can a county government
mandate that a business owner stay in
business against his will, lest they block
the door armed with a hammer and
sickle?
Perhaps the rezoning improves the
likelihood that the course will remain
open, but given the shaky ground that so
many businesses find themselves on —
particularly golf courses — the Sunrise
residential development should really
have been considered on its own merits,
quite separately from the golf course.
But the two were linked. And honestly,
I just can’t make this development work
in my head. As a former obsessed golfer,
I can't imagine a lot of folks getting
excited about leaving the driver in the
bag to play a 2,600-yard course amid a
tightly clustered retirement community.
I can’t really imagine people buying into
the senior village without more shopping
and medical options in the immediate
area.
Like others, I wondered why the board
would vote “No” twice, then change
their minds. Of course, one new BOC
member voted in favor of the devel
opment, but the proposal would have
passed even without that vote.
One thing to consider is that a loud
choms of “No" in such a negative cli
mate is a tough thing for many to take
right now. There is a deep yearning to
be positive in the face of this economic
collapse. No one is taking risks now. No
one is lending money. No one is building
much of anything. We are drowning in
oppressive negativity. We hate it in oth
ers. We hate it in ourselves. I don't even
want to be around myself much of the
time these days. I am constantly at battle
with that ugly inner voice. I’m sure a lot
of you are, too.
So a person appears before county
leaders and offers a plan basically to
add a small city to the county. The plan
flies in the face of all of today’s news.
For some, it sounds like a promise of
a brighter county housing future, of a
recovered local market, of a way to keep
more jobs from leaving the county.
While commissioners surely weighed
the details of the Sunrise request, there
is no ignoring the large, ever-looming
negativity of the economic climate. This
was surely on their shoulders, too, just
like everyone else. In fact, who doesn’t
recognize that the pervasive negativity in
our environment is an accelerant in our
downward economic spiral?
Say what you will about the Sunrise
proposal. You may be for it. You may
be against it. But the BOC’s "Yes” vote
was, at least on a purely emotional level,
a defiant act of optimism amid a gloom-
and-doom economy. To vote “No,” the
commissioners would have taken the
negative road on the only major housing
proposal in this county in quite some
time.
Perhaps their vote was foolhardy, per
haps prescient. Only time will tell if the
light breaks through today's darkness for
a new Sunrise, and if the defiant “Yes" is
a long-term positive or negative.
But beyond Sunrise, I think any
Madison County development battles
in the near future will be viewed with
that deep need for economic optimism
churning in the gut of many. This may
or may not affect BOC votes, but in
troubled times, you can’t deny that an
optimistic "Yes” has the emotional edge
over the pessimistic “No."
Zach Mitcham is editor ofThe Madison
County Journal.
More bad news on the budget front
Bad news! Last week, members of
the General Assembly and Georgia
citizens received more bad news on
the already dismal subject of the
annual state budget.
State tax collections for January
were $262 million below where they
were for the same month last year - a
14.3 percent drop-off. As I have been
predicting for the last eight months,
this brings the state’s overall deficit
for the current fiscal year closer to $3
billion, causing an even greater chal
lenge for lawmakers to balance the
budget for the remainder of fiscal year
2009 and fiscal year 2010.
As the result of several years of
poor fiscal policies at the state level
and the current economic recession,
extraordinary action has been taken
by legislative leaders.
For the first time in my many years
in the General Assembly, both the
House of Representatives and the
Senate had voted to slow down the
legislative clock on the current ses
sion in order to provide more time to
work on the budget. Over the next six
weeks, lawmakers will be in session
only three days per week, Tuesday
through Thursday, leaving Mondays
and Fridays for committee meetings,
constituent work and fine-tuning the
budget proposals.
On March 25, the scheduled 35 th
legislative day, supposedly with a
budget finalized, we will go into
recess until the final week of June.
That would leave five days to make
any amendments to the budget that
take into account the impact on
By Alan Powell
Georgia from the federal economic
stimulus package. Some estimates
report that $5 billion or more in addi
tional federal funding for education,
Medicaid, infrastructure and other
programs would flow to Georgia from
the proposal now being debated in
Congress.
While I am glad to see our House
and Senate leaders taking this crisis
seriously and giving those of us on
the Appropriations Committee the
maximum amount of time to have all
the information we need to repair six
years of fiscal irresponsibility, at the
same time, I hope we are not simply
counting on a one-time bailout from
Washington, D.C., to fix all the state’s
problems.
The same state leaders who have
been publicly criticizing the federal
stimulus proposal now appear to be
privately begging for it and counting
on it like manna from heaven.
But simply going to the mailbox
each day in eager anticipation of a
giant federal check will, in the long
run, cause more problems than it
solves.
It would be a devastating mistake
for us not to use this extra time to roll
up our sleeves and work on curing the
systemic problems that got us here
in the first place. During econom
ic downturns in previous decades,
Georgia was able to survive because
of fiscally responsible budget prac
tices that prepared the state for rainy
days. But the past six years have seen
monumental growth in big-govem-
ment spending, bonded indebtedness
to the tune of $1 billion per year and
a near-total disregard for the average
taxpayer with continued shifts of the
tax burden to the local level.
This is not how you repair an econ
omy. Like other states in a crisis mode
at this time, we need to resist the
temptations of unnecessary spend
ing, unnecessary programs and more
tax increases disguised as “fees.”
Hopefully there will be an outpouring
of calls for a restoration of sanity to
the state budget process.
We could use this extra time to “start
from scratch" in the appropriations
process with zero-based budgeting. By
carefully examining the AOB (Annual
Operating Budget) Documents, mem
bers of the Appropriations Committee
would have a better opportunity to
scrutinize where every penny of the
state’s money has gone - to state pro
grams and privatized contracts.
We could end the smoke-and-mir-
rors and shell-game approach once
and for all and produce a state bud
get that is based on common sense
and fiscal responsibilities, delivers the
core services of state government and
respects the Georgia taxpayer.
We could preserve the state's eco
nomic future and ability to withstand
future rainy days without waiting on
Washington’s version of Santa Claus.
In action taken last week, the House
of Representatives voted unanimous
ly to approve legislation that would
make it easier for the state to keep
HOPE Scholarship funds available
for students’ book purchases and
related fees.
Current state law requires that any
time the total collection of state lot
tery revenues declines during a cal
endar year, the use of HOPE funds
for books and fees is reduced by a set
percentage.
HB 157 would modify the law to
require that lottery revenues decline
by eight percent before engaging
the “trigger” to reduce grants to stu
dents for books and fees. The lottery
reserves currently stand at $960 mil
lion, which is high enough to justify
this change and prevent deserving stu
dents from receiving their full HOPE
benefits.
The legislation now goes to the
Senate for its consideration.
Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell) rep
resents the 29 b District (Franklin,
Hart and Madison counties) in the
Georgia House of Representatives.
Contact him at 507 Coverdell Office
Building, Atlanta, GA 30334; by
phone at 404-656-0202 or by e-mail
at alanpowell23@hotmail.com. For
more infonnation, visitwww.alanpow-
ell.net.
Budget challenges seem to be getting larger
As the 2009 legislative session of
the Georgia General Assembly con
tinues, our budget challenges seem to
be getting larger and impacting more
constituencies in our state.
This week we began hearing that
January revenues would be down
again, making our work on the budget
more complicated. But we are mov
ing forward in other areas. There is a
new transportation plan on the table
and this week the House took steps to
protect portions of the HOPE scholar
ship for students and increase access to
life insurance.
Last week the House voted over
whelmingly in support House Bill 157
to protect students’ book allowance
under the HOPE scholarship. Students
now receive a $300 book allowance
but a provision in current law could see
that benefit reduced as early as 2011.
But with healthy reserves in the state
lottery program, I see no reason to
allow these cuts to take effect. House
Bill 157, heard in committee early in
the week before being approved by the
By Tom McCall
full House, changes the circumstances
that trigger the cuts so that they would
go into effect if the lottery program
ever experienced a hue funding emer
gency. This bill now moves to the state
senate for consideration.
In today’s economy, we must always
be looking for ways to help workers
provide life insurance to protect their
families in the event of a tragedy. Last
week, the House passed House Bill
80. If enacted, this bill will lower from
100 employees to two employees the
threshold requirement to purchase cor
porate-owned life insurance. Lowering
the threshold will make life insur
ance more accessible to employees of
small businesses. HB 80 must now be
approved by the State Senate.
Transportation is a hot issue again
this session. You may recall that last
session the House passed a transpor
tation bill that would have allowed
regions of our state to come together
and adopt a one-cent sales tax to pay
for regional transportation projects but
the measure died in the State Senate.
Transportation Chairman Vance
Smith has re-introduced an improved
version of that bill this year. This year’s
proposal calls for a statewide one-cent
sales tax and includes a list of specific
projects that must be funded with the
tax revenue collected. One reason I co
sponsored this legislation is because
it will generate several billion dollars
for local governments to pave and re
surface local roads.
It also has money included for local
airports. The truth is Georgia is grow
ing and we must ease congestion and
improve all modes of transportation if
we want to keep up.
As you probably continue to hear,
peanut safety concerns remain a prom
inent news item. At last count there
were 1,555 items on the recall list. I
do want to reassure you that this is a
manufacturing and processing prob
lem and not a farm product problem.
Remember that most peanut products
are safe but to be sure you don’t
have recalled items, check either food-
safety.gov or the Georgia Association
of Convenience Stores web page at
www.gacs.com At this site, even spe
cific UPC numbers can be checked.
I will continue to keep you up to date
on our actions as the legislative session
progresses. As always, if you have any
questions or concerns, please do not
hesitate to contact me at your Capitol
office at (404) 656-5115.
Rep. Tom McCall (R). Elberton, is
the District 30 member of the Georgia
House of Representatives, which
includes the southern half of Madison
County, all of Elbert County and the
eastern portion of Jackson County.
Letter to the Editor
Thanks to emergency personnel for working so hard
Dear Editor:
I and my family would like to personally thank
the EMTs, First Responders and paramedics who
came out on Monday morning, Feb. 2, in response
to my 911 call for help when my husband, Johnny
Massey, had a heart attack, and to the 911 opera
tor who kept calming me on the phone until the
EMTs arrived - within minutes of my call.
The paramedics and others worked so hard to
try to revive my husband - God bless you all.
Sincerely,
Shirley J. Massey and family