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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 19. 2009
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Without gov’t cuts,
we face a poor future
What is that dollar in your pocket worth? There
is a lot of concern being expressed in the media
these days about the weakness of the dollar.
It is losing value, especially in the world
markets. So how do they determine what it is
worth?
The simple answer is that the dollar is worth
whatever it will buy. For example, if the price of
crude oil goes back up to $100 a barrel, which
it may, then $100 is worth one barrel of oil. But
if the dollar continue to lose value in the world
markets, that barrel of oil will cost more. If, in the
future, the price of oil goes to $200 a barrel, then
the value of the dollar will have been cut in half.
Now here is how it works. Our economy has a
certain amount of goods, services and property at
any given time. And we have a certain number of
dollars depending on the governments monetary
policy. These two figures will always balance
out. The amount of dollars will always match the
amount of goods, services and property. If the
number of dollars is increased, say by the gov
ernment spending more money than it collects in
taxes, the price of the goods, services and prop
erty will increase until the balance is restored.
That is what causes inflation.
We are currently in a financial crisis caused by
excessive government spending. Government is
spending trillions of dollars they do not have, cre
ating a vast new number of dollars. That means
that one of two things must happen. Either we
need to vastly expand our production of goods
and services to absorb all this new money, or the
price of everything we buy will have to increase
dramatically. (The amount of property, especially
land, is not likely to increase significantly.)
Inflation will help solve one of our problems,
the national debt. If we double the number of
available dollars, thus cutting the value of a dol
lar in half. Then we would be able to pay back
all that borrowed money to China, India and
our other creditors with cheep dollars. They will
not like that very much and will likely refuse to
extend credit to us in the future.
But the real sufferers will be those people on
fixed income. Those who live off of income from
saving accounts, pensions and such. They will
find themselves having to buy less and less as the
price of everything they need rapidly increases.
Their fixed dollars will not keep up with the
prices.
The massive spending programs currently
underway by our government cannot be sus
tained. They simply cannot collect enough taxes
to support these programs, which means that the
deficit will continue to grow, creating more and
more dollars without producing goods and ser
vices to balance them. Our elderly citizens will
be severely damaged by this policy by having
their fixed incomes greatly reduced in value.
And our young people will be heavily damaged
by being forced to pay off the massive debt out of
their future earnings.
Unless there is a dramatic change in our gov
ernment's spending policy, we face a very poor
future.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal. His e-mail address is frank@
frankgillispie.com. His website can be accessed
at http.VAvww.frankgiUispie.com/gillispieonline.
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.
Thankful for the good we get to report
The press is frequently criticized
for its attention to the negative. But
many fail to recognize the good
ness in genuinely looking at the
bad. Without knowledge of what's
wrong, how can people be expected
to fix things?
But on the flip side, there's also a
duty to look at the positive. Because
if you don’t know what's good in
your community, then how can you
appreciate and support it?
We have plenty of both to report
in Madison County. There are peo
ple hurting financially, people sick,
people acting dirty to each other by
stealing and stabbing, harming their
loved ones in shocking ways. These
things often make news. And it’s no
fun to gaze upon the sad or the ugly
facts, but it is necessary, too. It’s the
reality. You can’t avoid it. And it's
important that a community recog
nize its problems and act maturely
in dealing with them.
But we are fortunate to have
plenty of brightness, too. And each
week, our pages are full of accom
plishments and good deeds of local
folks. I appreciate the press releases
that end up in our mailbox or email
inbox that show people working
toward positive ends. For instance,
we have civic groups, churches,
schools, businesses and individuals
doing great things for no monetary
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach
gain. It’s now a time of the year
when many take organized action to
help the less fortunate. There are toy
drives and fund-raisers, dinners like
the Costellos' annual hot meal for
the needy on Thanksgiving. There
is a lot of sadness for sure, but there
is a strong effort from many folks
around here to combat that sadness
with generosity and joy. And it often
comes from individuals in small
ways, too. Phone calls and other
small gestures of care aren't the
stuff of news, but they are real and
they matter as much or more as the
big stuff that gets attention.
Of course, one of the truly good
things in this community that has
gotten some — but not much —
attention in this newspaper over the
years is Jubilee Partners, which is
celebrating its 30 th year of existence
in Comer this Thanksgiving.
For three decades, Jubilee has
made Madison County a welcoming
station for many of the world's most
cruelly treated people. It is a place
of refuge for those who have faced
the harshest conditions humanity
has to offer. Over 3,000 refugees
from over 30 countries have come
to Jubilee over the past 30 years,
finding kindness from people who
aren’t strangers for long.
Don Mosley, Jubilee’s direc
tor, remembers the first days on
the Comer property 30 years ago.
The horrible Jim Jones deaths in
Jonestown, Guyana, in November
1978 were fresh in people's minds.
And when a Christian community
moved in tents to a rural patch of
land in Madison County, there were
some people who shuddered at the
thought of what might happen there.
Mosley remembers the early days
of sleeping in tents on the property.
He said he and his wife, Carolyn,
gained a valuable perspective back
then, a little taste of what it's like to
live as refugees.
Of course, proof of goodness,
proof of motive and purpose is not
established in a day. And over time.
Jubilee has proved itself, not just to
Madison County, but nationally and
internationally. Conversely, Mosley
said Comer and Madison County, in
general, have shown a real gracious
spirit toward Jubilee.
It’s something that many people
want to be a part of. Though the pay
is just $15 a week, there are many
people who seek to work at Jubilee,
learning about service and fellow
ship with people from around the
world. Visiting the camp Monday, I
met staff members from Tennessee,
Indiana and Lebanon.
I had my first opportunity to speak
at length with Mosley this week.
Here is someone who has lived a
rich life, passing on the opportu
nity to carry on his father’s lucrative
business to travel the world and help
others far away and close to home.
For instance, Mosley traveled to
North Korea last week and stood
amid local farmers, finding them to
be just regular folks, as they talked
about plans for housing help. His
perspective is a little different than
what we get via television news.
And his view is a testement to the
difference between first-hand per
spective and stereotype.
Yes, there is plenty of bad to
report in this county. But there are
numerous great things, too, such as
the efforts at Jubilee. We at the paper
are fortunate enough to document
some really good things people are
doing with their lives.
And I am thankful for that.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Mitcham
The past year has brought
plenty of hard times with the
economic down turn, health
issues and other seemingly
major issues that we all face.
But there have been so many
more things to be thankful for.
Even the hardships bring bless
ings.
Two of my best blessings are
my two nephews. Jake, at age 8,
and Grayson, at age 2, bring me
so much joy every day.
Jake and I often have religious
discussions that he initiates. He
recently asked me about God’s
“voice” and how he would rec
ognize it. Another time, during a
musical show we attended, one
of the performers mentioned
being thankful for God. Jake
leaned over and whispered to
me, “That's something every
one should applaud for.” He is
wise beyond his years and often
Plenty to be thankful for
By Angela Gary
makes me think about serious
issues. It's a blessing to have
him in my life.
As for Grayson, he is such a
joy to us all with his huge smile
that is contagious. You can't help
but laugh as he claps his hand in
delight and dances around the
room. The joy of a child is one
thing that lifts your spirits and
makes you happy. Grayson is a
blessing to our family and we
cherish him.
Our family is close and my
parents, sister and brother-in-
law are all blessings to me. A
few weeks ago, my father had
another heart attack. My mother,
sister and brother-in-law and I
gathered around his hospital bed
as the doctor went over his test
results. It's wonderful to have a
close-knit family who is always
there for each other.
We have a huge poster in the
hallway of our home that says
“Thankful.” Jake and I made
it recently and hung it up. We
asked everyone in the family to
write things they are thankful for.
The things that have been writ
ten down so far include: Family,
pets, food, a home, good health,
God and Jesus. It was Jake who
wrote God and Jesus on the list.
I noticed a few days ago that he
had added Santa Claus and Mrs.
Claus to the list.
In addition to the important
things such as family and health,
I am also thankful for so many
other things. Things like sweet
tea, my mother's chocolate pie,
a warm blanket on a cold morn
ing, a car that starts, visiting
places I’ve never been before,
good friends, a job to go to
every day, enough money to get
by, cats and dogs, books, trying
new food and waking up every
day to see what adventures are
ahead.
This time of year, make more
of an effort to count our bless
ings. Let's start doing it year-
round. We all have many bless
ings in our life to thank God for
every day.
Angela Gary is editor of The
Banks County News and asso
ciate editor of The Jackson
Herald. She can be reached at
AngieEditor@aol.com.
Roy Barnes takes a major risk
In the months since he
announced he would try for
another term as governor, Roy
Barnes has been flying under
the radar of Georgia politics.
His campaign strategists
made the decision that Barnes
would be almost invisible in the
Atlanta media market. Where
candidates like John Oxendine
and Nathan Deal have been
constant sources of coverage
for TV news shows, Barnes has
mostly avoided the cameras.
The former governor instead
has been conducting an extend
ed listening tour across South
Georgia, going from town to
town for meetings with sheriffs,
courthouse officials and local
leaders so that he can talk about
the issues of most interest to the
community.
Someone in Barnes’ position
needs to do a lot of listening
and bridge-building. He irritat
ed so many different groups of
Georgians during his first term
that they ganged up in 2002
and voted Republican Sonny
Perdue into office. It wasn’t
just an embarrassing loss for an
incumbent governor — it was
the tipping point that led to the
collapse of a Democratic Party
that had ruled state government
for more than a century.
After keeping a low profile
for all those months, Barnes
popped up in front of the TV
cameras last week for a news
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
conference where he endorsed
Kasim Reed in the Atlanta may
or’s race.
This is not any old mayor’s
race, either. Atlanta’s demo
graphic trends have created a
situation where the city could
elect its first white mayor in
four decades, if Mary Norwood
defeats Reed in the Dec. 1
runoff election. This is history
in the making, which guaran
teed that news coverage of the
Barnes endorsement would be
intense.
Barnes stepped right into the
media spotlight to support Reed
and didn’t hesitate to bring up
a sensitive issue - removing
the Confederate battle emblem
from the state flag - that had
contributed to his defeat in
2002.
“In those very difficult days
when we were trying to estab
lish a flag in the state that repre
sents all of our people and was
not a divisive symbol, Kasim
Reed was there,” Bames said.
“There’s only one person that
can bring our capital city togeth
er with the state of Georgia, and
that’s Kasim Reed.”
Bames has to know that he
is exposing himself to a major
political risk when he takes
such a highly public stand in
the mayor’s race.
There is the racial issue, of
course. The political machine
built by the late Maynard
Jackson that ruled Atlanta for
so long sees that political con
trol slipping away with the
possible election of Norwood.
There have already been sev
eral racially charged remarks
from Jackson cohorts about
the “threat” of electing a white
mayor.
Bames is stepping into that
sea of racial hostility, a move
that could hurt him with some
of the people he will be try
ing to win back in 2010. By
aligning himself with the black
candidate in this mayor’s race,
Bames could turn off moder
ate white voters who otherwise
might consider supporting him
next year. He acknowledged
that when he endorsed Reed.
“I’ve contributed to a few
Republicans over the years,”
Bames said. “I’m not going to
tell you that I haven’t, because
I thought they were good and
qualified and I’ve had great
relationships with them. Let’s
quit worrying about all of the
partisan issues and get down to
folks that can actually deliver
and do things.”
If Reed loses the runoff -
and he was trailing Norwood
by nearly 10 points after the
first round of voting - Bames
leaves himself wide open to
criticism that he’s so politi
cally damaged he can’t even
affect the outcome of a mayor’s
race. That is something you’ll
hear from Democrats mnning
against Bames in the primary
and Republicans who would
face him in the general election
if he should secure the nomina
tion.
“There are some that say,
what a dumb political move,
and some that say, what a smart
political move,” Bames admit
ted. “I like Kasim Reed, I know
he’s competent, I know he’s
qualified, I know he’ll lead the
City of Atlanta well, that’s good
enough for me.”
He added this: “I’ve got to the
point in life that I’ve quit wor
rying about what other people
prognosticate and think about
things, I just do what I think’s
right.”
Tom Crawford is the editor
of Capitol Impact’s Georgia
Report, an Internet news ser
vice at www.gareport.com that
covers government and politics
in Georgia. He can be reached
at tcrawford@ capitolimpact.
net.