Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current, April 20, 2011, Image 6

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Flagpole., April 20, 2011, Image 6

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Newspaper Page TextNow Pre-Leasing Homes for Fall! Property Management 706-548-0580 www.deklerealty.com Every Saturday and Sunday "8 Dozen « Raw or Chargrilled (all day) 2 Mimosas & 3 Bloody Mar>s • nani-3pm Every Sunday IfiWCtfUNTKY SOIL DAY *12.50 All Day *2 Mimosas & *3 Bloody Marys • i2:30-3pm Every Monday $ 3 Martinis Featuring 360 Vodka $10 Red Beans & Rice STEP ONE: REPUBLICAN POLfTIClAN MAKES A MODEST PROPOSAL. LANGUAGE IS A VIRUS step four: the window of ac ceptable DEBATE IS SHIFTED EVER FURTHER TOWARD OUTRIGHT LUNACY. STEP three: LEFT-WING CRITICS ARE PORTRAYED AS NAIVE, UN REAL I Stic IDEOLOGUES. IF they HAD THEIR way, GOV ERNMENT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO PROVIDE CRADLE-TO-GRAVE PONIES And RAINBOWS! THEY ARE SO UNSERIOUS, IT IS BARELY WORTH ACKNOWLEDGING THElft EXISTENCE! STEP two: SERIOUS people APPLAUD THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE PLAN. IT'S EXTREMELY courageous.' zzzz PROCESSING THE ELDERLY INTO SNACK CRACKERS HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE THIRD RAIL Of AMERICAN POLITICS! _ Bon a none or mt SINGING 1 moo. appii 22 RALPH RODDENBERY OIO VIOSI SOW b SAII ROW BIKI RS SPECIALS All DAt * I 50 Mil I r R niOM l HI b »»BR CANS rtti scruot 1 r os! actbook V 70B-549 1OI0 * SO GAiSiCS SCHOOL rACrBOOH.COM/ALIBI BAP LIVE MUSIC Every Wednesday 6pm April 27 The soulful sounds of SHANNON & KENNY on the patio Open at 4pm Mon-Fri Open at 11am Sat & Sun - By the I>oop - 2095 S. Milledge Ave. 706-548-3359 offering: The Best from the Lowcountry LAWMAKERS SHUT IT DOWN I HI* MMIM VtILI by TOM TOMORROW Former president William Henry Harrison could have been talking about the Georgia General Assembly when he remarked: "All the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer." It would be hard to argue with Harrison's statement after reviewing the session that finally adjourned last week. On the last day of the session, the Senate and House passed bills that will give Delta Air Lines a sales tax exemption that will bring the company $20 million next year. Gulfstream Aerospace got a similar tax break worth an estimated $7 million or so. Delta reported more than $30 billion in revenues during 2010 and a net income of.$1.4 billion. Gulfstream is part of an aerospace group that pulled in more than $5 billion in revenues and $860 million in operating earnings. You could argue that they don't really need a helping hand from the state. Lawmakers also adopted a tax scheme that will funnel sales tax rev enues to developers of tourist attractions. One such group, which includes Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs), is in the process of raising $1 billion to develop a sports com plex in Bartow County. Thanks to the General Assembly, the Ehrhart group could potentially be paid as much as $250 million out of sales tax proceeds that normally would go to the state. There is another aspect of that tax break for developers that did not get much attention in media accounts. Gov. Nathan Deal will have the "sole discretion" to decide which develop ers will receive these tax breaks for building tourist attractions. You have a governor whose personal financial problems are so severe that he and his wife were trying to sell their home to pay off bank loans. There will be numerous groups of affluent developers asking that same governor to approve a tax break that could mean as much as $250 million to some of them. I trust that everyone is going to make honest and ethical decisions about this mat ter. But it really has the potential to create some awkward situations for the state's chief executive. Georgians on the lower end of the income scale did not receive quite as much generosity from our lawmakers. Until a couple of years ago, there was a three-day period in the sum mer when parents received a sales tax exemp tion on the purchase of clothes, personal computers and educational supplies for kids going back to school. That sales tax holiday cost the state about $12 million in rev enue a year and was discontinued, for budgetary reasons, after the great recession hit Georgia. Rep. Ellis Black (R-Valdosta) introduced legislation this ses sion that would have restored that sales tax holiday. It never even made it to the House floor for a vote. The General Assembly would not set aside $12 million to provide a sales tax break for the parents of school kids. It did vote to give a $20 million sales tax break to a multi-billion-dollar airline. Deal and the legislative leadership ini tially opposed attempts to make a technical change in state law that would bring in $175 million in federal funds to pay extended unemployment benefits to people who haven't been able to find a job during this economic downturn. Deal did remove his objections and legislators finally approved the tweak that will bring in the federal money, but it was a close call. Legislators also cut back the Medicaid health insurance program for low-income fami lies, reducing the state payments to physicians who treat Medicaid patients. It reminds me of the old joke about bank ers: they only lend money to people who don't need it. That could apply to our Legislature. Tom Crawford lcrawtord@gareport.com —AND THEN PROCESS THEM INTO TASTY SNACK CRACKERS! zac ■ a .a THE PROFITS FROM WHICH CAN BE USED TO FINANCE FURTHER TAX THE WEALTHY. DON’T KNOW THE "SOYLENT MEANS. PERHAPS WE COULD TAKE A MORE MODERATE APPROACH—A«l SIMPLY ABANDON THE ELDERLY IN THE PESERT TO FEND FoR THEMSELYES! THAT'S ABOUT WHAT I’D EXPECT— From A Big GOVERNMENT SOCIALIST LIKE YOU! AN OCCASIONAL LOOK AT THE WAYS IN WHICH REALLY TERRIBLE IDEAS INFECT MAINSTREAM POLITICAL DISCOURSE Mexican We invite you celebrate and us! with FoodrandiPrinklSpecialsFAIlIPayg starting Live 9pm PI at • = Party goes 1 lam til ??? Thursdays: College Night Live PI * Prink Specials 5-Ypm L. *1 Draft Beer - $ 1.99 Margaritas ' w 6 FLAGPOLE.COM APRIL 20,2011 *tT*McRP«WoaOll ...www.thismodemwoiid.com...twitter.com/tomtomorrow