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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. MARCH 26. 2009 Opinions Frankly Speaking frankgillispie671@msn.com By Frank Gillispie Would you like to attend a tea party? Would you like to attend a tea party? They are sweeping the nation. People are organizing tea parties to protest the heavy spending of the Obama administration, believing that his econom ic plans can only result in massive tax increases or runaway inflation, or both. The movement was started by a reporter on CNBC, Rick Santelli, in February, when he called for a tea party on Lake Michigan in protest of government action which he said was “promoting bad behavior” by subsi dizing "the losers’ mortgages.” Over 50 protests have already occurred across the nation, drawing some 30,000 people. There were 4,000 at a protest in Orlando and another five thousand in Cincinnati. Now over 120 cities and towns have announced plans for “tea parties" on tax day, April 15. There are currently plans in a number of Georgia cities including Atlanta, Augusta, Leesburg, Macon, Savannah and Warner Robins. You can find a nationwide list of sched uled parties at http://taxdayteaparty.com. This movement is sounding a lot like past tax protest that have greatly influenced our nation. There was, of course, the Boston Tea Party con ducted by the Sons of Liberty that helped insti gate the American Revolution. Then a major tax rebellion led to the bloodiest war ever fought on the North American continent. It was in protest of a massive tax increase known as the Morrell Tax that caused the southern states to rebel against the federal government and establish the Confederate States of America. Now this series of “tea parties” may well be the harbinger of the next great tax revolt in America. But this one will be fought in the media, on the internet and the election booths, not with guns and swords. I hope and pray that I am right about that. Due to the fact that congressional elections occur every two years, we will have a new oppor tunity to strike against President Obama’s danger ous tax and spend program in 2010. Already the battle lines are being formed. Bloggers and com ment writers on the net are urging the Republican Party to make the Democrat’s spending plan a major part of their platform. People who explore the Internet are finding a new interest in indepen dent and third party candidates among those who are blaming both major parties for the economic disaster we now face. The question is this: Will the April 15 protest be big enough and loud enough to influence the President’s spending program, or will he ignore the protest and charge ahead with his program? If he listens and modifies his programs to control the runaway spending, he may be able to keep control of his administration. If he continues on his current track, I predict that Republicans will regain control of the House of Representatives in 2010, and the Presidency in 1012. I will also predict that if the Obama administration fails as badly as I suspect it will, there will not be another Democratic president for at least 50 years. Voters of this nation will not let this kind of economic abuse stand. The only question is whether they can reverse it before terminal dam age is done. Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frankgil- lispie671 @msn.com. His website can be accessed at http.V/frankgillispie. tripod, com/ Don’t want to ride shotgun in AIG’s Lamborghini When I was pulled over for speeding some time ago, I wasn't so fond of the officer who got me. But I understood the rules and the consequence of going too fast. I knew that I couldn't exactly pay the cop some money to make the problem go away. I couldn’t call a legislator to have him eliminate traffic laws. I was upset about the fine and the increase in my insurance premium, but I rec ognized that this is part of a necessary system. Eliminate the traffic laws and you get chaos and increased danger. You’re more likely to find yourself trapped in tangled metal. Traffic laws are part of a logical, civilized society. I can’t help but think of traffic laws when I think of our current financial debacle. Wall Street wanted to speed. They didn’t want rules to slow them down on the way to major stacks of cash. Washington wanted Wall Street money, too. It’s a "your chocolate and my peanut butter" match. So Congress was glad to take the campaign contri bution payoffs and relax enforcement barriers. The philosophy of “deregula tion" is easy to espouse when the firms you’re helping help you back. There was money to be made on both sides. Forget long-term financial safety for the general public. So we ended up with some really sexy cars that could fly down the road, exotic creatures like “credit default swaps." Who knows what makes those default swaps go so fast — they are In the Meantime zach@ mainstreet news.com By Zach Mitcham certainly confusing mechanisms — but man they pack some punch. AIG was a dominant driver of these bad boys. And they sure had a lead foot. In reality, "credit default swaps" may not be as cool as a Lamborghini, but they certainly helped a lot of hedge fund managers actually sit in the driv er's seat of those super-expensive cars. According to The New York Tunes, credit default swaps are often defined as a ‘form of insurance because the seller guarantees payment to investors in case their investments go bust." O.K., so AIG was providing invest ment insurance policies through credit default swaps? Well, perhaps, but they weren't setting aside enough money to back up the claims. So "insurance” is not the right word. "They are not safe insurance in any familiar sense, however, because AIG was not required to set aside reserves in the event of a claim,” The Tunes wrote in a March 14 editorial. "That is why, when the bubble burst and defaults rose, AIG was unable to make good, provoking the bailouts." hi plain English, the lack of regula tion regarding credit default swaps meant that AIG could avoid the most basic rule of financial reliability — putting your money where your mouth is. The New York Tunes also noted that Eric Dinallo, the insurance superin tendent for New York State, estimates that “some 80 percent of the estimated $62 trillion in credit default swaps out standing in 2008 were speculative.” Um, $62 trillion? Our country’s annual Gross Domestic Product is around $15 trillion. The annual global GDP is $78 trillion. I’m no math whiz, but 80 percent of 62 is just shy of 50. OK, so are we looking at nearly $50 trillion in credit default swaps that are not backed by any collateral? That’s not insurance; that’s reckless gambling on an epic scale. But in 2000, Congress exempted credit default swaps from gaming laws. It’s like Congress decided to send the kids and the Visa with the scary uncle to Vegas. The bailouts are wildly unpopular, but in my eyes, these decisions were made back in 2000, when Congress agreed to open the door for mega com panies, such as AIG to gamble with trillions and trillions of dollars without backing those funds up with any real collateral. The bailout money — which includes $170 billion to AIG — is a stack of sandbags to a flood. It’s a huge figure indeed, but still just a tiny fraction of what’s been put on the line by Washington’s reckless deregulation and the Wall Street money grab that followed. Right now, we’re focused on the AIG bonuses, which are truly despicable, but those bonuses are just an exposed mole on a really ugly backside. This mutually beneficial money exchange between Washington and Wall Street is nothing new. It’s just that we’re paying more attention now. I do believe things will eventually get better and that there will be some real positives to come out of today’s bad. For instance, I believe we now see the need for basic rules of the game when it comes to financing. We certainly don’t want to sit shotgun anymore with the lead-footed AIG executive in the credit default swap Lamborghini. In any sane society, that irresponsible fellow gets ticketed or jailed for riding wild through the streets, endangering society. We don't expect government to encourage and facilitate reckless behavior, not on the roads, not in our markets. No, in a sane world, we expect the speeder to pay a fine to the government — not vice versa. Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal. Budget again full of borrowing, spending and shifting On March 19, the Georgia House members voted 123-49 to approve an $18.6 billion state spending plan for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. Despite a shortfall of $3 billion in state revenues because of the econom ic downturn, this budget plan is still chock full of questionable spending propped up by federal stimulus/bail out money, more bonded debt, school tax shifts and the largest property tax increase in Georgia history. In other words, the fiscal year 2010 budget is simply one more year of the fiscally irresponsible policies like those of the past six years. Because the lead ership has been unable or unwilling to implement zero-based budgeting, the misspent priorities and sweetheart contracts continue on year after year. A total of $1.4 billion worth of stimulus funding from Washington, D.C., is included in the budget. While the Speaker Richardson railed against Congress and the Administration for “spending like a drunken sailor" during the budget debate, the House Appropriations Committee Chairman acknowledged the stimulus package is bailing the state out this year and “soft ening" the blow of spending cuts. This budget fails to fund the Homeowner Tax Relief Grants, which will result in a record $400 million plus property tax increase. The elimi nation of these grants will cause an estimated $200 to $300 increase for the average Georgia homeowner on the property tax bills sent out by local governments later this year. By Alan Powell Property owners will also feel the brunt of another $197 million in QBE, basic education funding cuts to local schools, along with $112 million cut in school equalization funding, affect ing schools and taxpayers in Franklin and Madison counties, which are part of that program. But most alarming of all is that $375 million in stimulus funding replaces normal state funds for public education. My concerns and questions are: What happens in 12-18 months when the stimulus funds ran out? How much more will be cut at the state level and shifted to the local level when those federal dollars are gone next year? Another source of concern about this budget plan is the additional $1.2 billion in bonded debt. It should con cern all of us in times like these to continue borrowing and spending at such a pace. The state budget impacts everyone’s fife and pocketbook. The House budget plan now goes to the Senate, where amendments to the plan are expected. Lawmakers will likely have another opportunity to vote on the state's economic future after a conference committee works out differences between the House and Senate plans in the final days of the session. With only four legislative days remaining in the 2009 session of the General Assembly, one issue that remains up in the air is the future of Georgia’s transportation system — how it will be governed and how it will be funded. The House-approved proposal call ing for a statewide one-cent sales tax, HR 206 and HB 277, became the sub ject of controversy this week following media reports about the $25 billion worth of road projects that would be funded by the sales tax. Near the top of the list is a four-lane expansion of a rural highway in Greene County leading to the Reynolds Plantation golf resort, owned by a family well known as a major contributor in political party financing. The legislation’s author declined to identify exactly who drew up its list of road projects. But the House proposal has already been rejected by the Senate, whose regional sales tax plan for transporta tion (SR 44) has gone nowhere in the House. Meanwhile, the governor's proposal to ship the Department of Transportation Board, whose members are elected on a district basis by legis lator's, of its authority has likewise ran into problems. SB 200, which would create a State Transportation Authority with five members appointed by the governor, three by the lieutenant gov ernor and three by the House speaker, barely passed the Senate and is under going substantial changes in the House committee process. Transportation had been identified as one of the major problems for law makers to address this year. But unless something miraculous occurs between now and April 3, it appears the trans portation problem will go unsolved in the 2009 session. During the past two weeks, I have received numerous phone calls from constituents about SB 31, the Georgia Power rate increase legislation. One issue of particular concern in House District 29 is how the expansion of the Plant Vogtle nuclear facility will affect Lake Hartwell's water supply. In response to my previous column on this issue, the company issued a press statement that acknowledges the power plant expansion could actually double its consumption of water flow from the Savannah River. This con tinues to be an area of great concern, and everyone with an interest in Lake Hartwell's water levels should con tinue to follow the issue closely. Rep. Alan Powell (D-Hartwell) rep resents the 29 h District (Franklin, Hari 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 alan- powell23@hotmail.com. For more information, visitwww.alanpowell.net. The Madison County Journal (Merged with The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News, January 2006) P.O. Box 658 Hwy. 29 South Danielsville, Georgia 30633 Phone: 706-795-2567 Fax: 706-795-2765 Email: zach@mainstreetnews.com ZACH MITCHAM, Editor MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager BEN MUNRO, Reporter/Sports Editor MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher FRANK GILLISPIE, Founder of The Journal. Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year State of Georgia $38.85/year Out-of-state $44.50/ year Military personnel with APO address $42.50/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. Moving toward closing hours of legislative session With the much-anticipated “Day 30” now behind us, we are moving quickly toward the closing hours of this legislative session. Our work load may have seemed light this week compared with the number of bills we passed last week, but our pace will certainly pick up in the days ahead. This week we completed our work on the House version of the FY2010 Budget and we also began working on legislation previously adopted by the Senate. After over three hours of debate on the House floor, the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget was approved by a vote of 123-49. With current rev enues down over 15 percent, the burden to cut spending and evalu ate our state’s priorities was great er than ever. The good news is that I believe we succeeded in fund ing our top priorities, cutting out the fat, and meeting the needs of our citizens. At $18.6 billion, this budget was approximately 12.3 percent less than last year. There is no doubt in my mind that finaliz ing this budget was an exercise in fiscal discipline and restraint in the By Tom McCall face of declining state revenues. There are several elements I would like to point out about the House version: the budget as passed included funds for Georgia’s tech nical schools. Also we cut funding for “hall of fame” museums in Georgia and actually moved to privatize the Golf Hall of Fame — something we should consider for all of them. We were able to save money for the GBI crime labs, fund 23 new cars for Georgia Troopers, restore funding to hospi tals and expand community health centers. School nurses were saved and $33 million for Georgia’s statewide trauma network was included. Enrollment growth at our colleges and universities was fully funded as was enrollment growth at our secondary schools. We added additional spots in the Georgia Virtual Schools program and funded Graduation Coaches throughout the state. The bud get restores funding for RESAs and Educational Technology Training Centers (ETTC). These are resources our local schools can draw from to utilize emerg ing technologies. We also included National Board Certified teachers’ supplements. One more note on the budget. Speaker Richardson addressed the House to deliver an unhappy pre diction — if state revenues con tinue to decline as he believes they will, the General Assembly will be back in Atlanta later this year for a special session to implement further cuts in the FY2010 Budget. While I hope that our state’s econ omy will begin to turn around soon, I just don’t have a crystal ball that can tell me what the future holds. I will of course keep you up to date on our economic outlook and pass along any relevant infor mation I receive. Our conversations on food safe ty continue at the State Capitol. This week we adopted Senate Bill 80 that requires additional testing at food processing plants. Specifically, SB 80 requires food processors to report lab results that indicate any sort of contamination to the Department of Agriculture within 24 hours of receiving them. The legislation also requires the plants to keep records of the results for two years and make them available upon request by the Department of Agriculture. With only 7 legislative days left in this session, I will continue to keep you up to date on our actions as the legislative session progress es. 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.