Newspaper Page Text
4A
♦ SUNDAY, MARCH 6, 2005
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
No More Pork Barrel?
Glenn Richardson, speaker of the Georgia
House of Representatives, has told budget writers
not to include any pork-barrel projects.
That’s like telling a southerner to give up grits.
It may happen. But it is something we will have
to see to believe.
Richardson wants the Republicans, who have
been critics of the Democrats’ lavish pork-barrel
spending for decades, to be consistent now that
they have the power to craft the state’s budget.
In the past it has been a mid-term ritual for
Democrats to pack the budget with projects
designed to win applause and votes back home.
Nothing was too insignificant.
We here in Houston County have been benefici
aries of the legislature’s largesse as long as we
can remember.
Wasn’t Rep. Larry Walker praised and admired
for his ability to bring home the bacon for us? He
was ... and rightly so. He was one of the best at
looking out for his constituents.
Larry did it in a big way. He included minor
items in the budget, but he also was good at land
ing the big fish, too.
People praise legislators for being good at their
job. But they also expect them to bring some state
money to their home districts or face the possibil
ity of being replaced by someone who can.
It will be a new day in Georgia if pork-barrel
items are excluded from future budgets.
The jury may be out for some time on members
of the legislature if this happens. We like to
demand that our representatives spend taxpayer
dollars frugally and run efficient government, but
we expect them to bring home bacon that we con
sider essential, while we might look on it as
wasteful if someone else receives it.
It might boil down to whose ox is gored whether
efficiency and thriftiness in government spending
will receive praise or criticism if it comes to pass.
Projects that we have considered essential
recipients of state grants - small and large - may
be looking around for local financing. If that hap
pens, we will learn if the general public really
wants the legislature to craft a budget devoid of
pork and devoted only to essential state spending.
How to gain weight
Since Rex Gambill let our
readers know how he lost 70
pounds last week, I thought
I’d address the other side of
the issue this week.
Some people, after all,
might like to gain 70
pounds, and being an expert
on the subject of gaining,
losing, and gaining again, I
can offer quite a few tips.
Losing weight is a snap.
There are at least 3,000
books on the subject at any
local bookstore, not to men
tion all the really cute exer
cise clothes.
It’s gaining weight that
takes real focus and disci
pline, and even creativity. In
my family, we have been
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Charlotte Perkins
Lifestyle Editor
cperkins@evansnewspapers.com
blessed with a talent for
weight gain, but even those
without the talent can gain
Medicare will become the real cause of concern
It seems that President
Bush’s effort to change
Social Security may go down
in flames.
Opposition is mounting.
Democrats are determined
to kill his proposal. They say
Social Security is not in
trouble. Six years ago they
joined President Clinton in
saying it was. That is nei
ther here nor now. Some key
Republicans are folding.
That is important.
AARR which is nothing
more or less than a powerful
lobbying organization, has
stirred up old people against
Social Security reform even
before President Bush out
lines what he wants to do.
Any changes proposed by
President Bush will not
affect anyone 55 or older.
But old folks are easy to
scare. AARP and some
politicians have rallied the
old folks by instilling fear in
them.
So many forces are at
work, it may be impossible
to enact Social Security
reform now, despite the fact
a crisis of major proportions
looms on the horizon.
Too bad.
Gang land:
First Lady Laura Bush is
leading a new initiative “to
help America’s youth over
come the danger of gang
influence and involvement.”
With all due respect to the
first lady, this is a job best
left to law enforcement pro
fessionals willing to get
tough, get dirty and crack
heads. From the suburbs to
our national forests, savage
criminal alien gangs are
infiltrating America and lur
ing young recruits.
Compassionate conser
vatism ain’t gonna stop
them.
As many law enforcement
sources have been informing
me, native gangs such as the
Bloods and Crips have noth
ing on the recent wave of
criminal alien enterprises
settling across the heart
land. Recent enforcement
action in New York demon
strates the scope of the
problem. Last month in
New York, 41 criminal aliens
with felony convictions were
arrested by U.S.
Immigration and Customs
if they follow a few simple
rules.
Always ask for more bis-
- ■ B.
m/gm
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevans 19@cox.net
What should be of greater
concern is the looming
Medicare crisis. As I have
written many times before,
Medicare is a great program.
It does not need fixing. All
you have to do is talk to old
folks (I am one of them and
talk to many of them) and
they will tell you without
reservation that Medicare
does a great job for them.
They don’t know how they
could get along without it.
While it does not need fix
ing, Medicare faces a major
financial crisis.
According to actuaries,
Laura Bush should leave it to the pros
"r-
Michelle Malkin
Columnist
Creators Syndicate
Enforcement (ICE) agents
on a single day as part of a
joint public safety initiative
between ICE and the U.S.
Probation Office of the
Eastern District of New
York.
According to the
Department of Homeland
Security, the aliens arrested
in New York - half of whom
were here illegally - include
citizens of Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Brazil, China,
Colombia, the Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt,
Ghana, Haiti, Italy, Jamaica,
Jordan, Mexico, Niger,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia,
Trinidad, Turkey, Ukraine
and Venezuela. The opera
tion targeted criminal aliens
with prior felony convictions
for “murder, firearms traf
ficking, drug trafficking,
money laundering, racket
eering, fraud, false state
ments, receipt of stolen
property, producing false
identity documents, copy
right infringement and
other federal felonies.”
Martin D. Ficke, ICE spe
cial agent-in-charge in New
York, vowed: “These are the
criminals who turn the
American dream into a
nightmare, and they will not
be given the chance to cause
more harm.”
Send your Letters to the Editor to:
The Houston Home Journal
P.O. Box 1910 • Petty, Ga 31069 or Email: hhj@evansnewspapets.com
without really trying
cuits at Red Lobster.
Always order ranch dress
ing (which adds 400 or more
calories to any given salad
without really filling you
up).
Always have Oreos in the
house.
Fried is way better than
broiled.
Eat a really big breakfast.
Breakfast is the most impor
tant meal of the day. Put
peanut butter on your waf
fles and top them with
bacon. Have a glass of choco
late milk and you’ll be
fueled up for a grueling
morning at the computer.
Don’t forget to stoke up
again at lunch. Krystal’s
Medicare will implode by
the year 2029 unless some
thing is done to find more
money to finance the pro
gram.
This would be a real crisis
that could have profound
impact on the country and
the kind of government we
have thereafter.
It is an indication that,
whether we like it or not,
our country is on an irre
versible course toward
socialism. Or a reasonable
facsimile thereof.
About half the people in
this country today receive
support from the federal
government. By the time the
Medicare crisis arrives far
more than half will be get
ting checks fro nr the federal
government. They will vote
their pocketbooks, which
will be to keep money com
ing from the federal treas
ury when there is no mdney
left.
The government will not -
cannot - turn back the
clock. Social Security is here
to stay. Somehow by the
time this program becomes
so expensive for the people
who have jobs (two workers
A nationwide tracking sys
tem for criminal alien felons
would help this effort, but to
date no such program exists.
In Chicago, ICE agents
and local cops specializing in
gang-related activity under
took a similar operation
across Chicago’s western
suburbs targeting foreign
born members of violent
Hispanic street gangs. A
two-day campaign netted 19
criminal alien gangsters -
mostly Mexican nationals
with extensive criminal his
tories, including convictions
for drugs, aggravated
assault, firearms and theft.
Over the past five years,
ICE agents on Chicago’s
Violent Gang Task Force
have arrested more than
375 known gang members.
The most notorious crimi
nal alien gang enterprise on
the American landscape is
Mara Salvatrucha, or MS
-13, the El Salvadoran-based
syndicate engaged in mur
der, drug trafficking, and
human smuggling across
Central America and the
United States. MS-13 mem
bers, many of them juve
niles, have been implicated
in gang rapes, machete
mutilations and cop killings
on both coasts. According to
Siskiyou County Sheriff
Rick Riggins, MS-13 para
phernalia and weaponry
have been discovered deep
on federal forest land in
northern California, where
Latino gangs have estab
lished massive marijuana
growing operations.
Most recently, Ebner
Anibal Rivera Paz, the
reputed leader of MS-13’s
Honduran branch, was
nabbed in Texas last month
after escaping from his
native country, where he’s
wanted in connection with
the Christmas holiday mas
sacre of 28 people, including
new B.A. Burger will put the
pounds on while keeping
your protein level high. And
don’t forget to super-size
the fries.
Have your big meal at
night.
Always have ice cream in
the freezer in case of a mid
night anxiety attack.
Conserve energy. Why
burn up calories after you’ve
worked so hard eating
them?
Don’t just walk. Stand
there.
Don’t sit down if you can
lie down.
One of my favorite
evening calorie-conserving
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
will provide Social Security
payments for each person
receiving benefits) some
thing will be done, if it is
only a Band-Aid.
On the other hand,
Medicare is something else.
Money to help pay for
Medicare is taken out of the
paychecks of every worker.
It is not enough to sustain
the program, especially
since the nuihber of people
over 65 years of age is grow
ing so fast.
Many proposals will be
put on the table for both
programs. Raise the age of
eligibility. Increase taxes.
Perhaps something else.
We are like a runaway
train, heading for a big
wreck. Social Security is the
first hurdle. Somehow we
will jump over it. Medicare
looms as the crisis which
may change the way our
country looks at itself and
how it will live up to its obli
gations.
The year 2029 is not so far
away. It is a date that young
people should keep in mind.
And dread.
six children.
Rivera Paz’s appalling
immigration history is a
textbook example of how
criminal alien gangs exploit
our open borders. Prior to
being caught on Feb. 10 - by
Texas highway patrol offi
cers 100 miles inside the
U.S. - Rivera Paz had
waltzed in and out of the
country illegally numerous
times despite a long rap
sheet and repeated deporta
tions.
In 1993, at the age of 17,
Rivera Paz was arrested by
San Francisco police for sell
ing drugs. Weeks later, he
was arrested for auto theft
and then for assault with a
deadly weapon. According to
the Border Patrol, he has
been arrested in California
at least eight times since
2001 for crimes ranging
from passing bad checks and
using false identification to
burglary, robbery and crimi
nal conspiracy.
According to a criminal
complaint filed last month
in federal court, Rivera Paz
was deported or excluded
from the U.S. four separate
times before his final cap
ture. If not for alert Texas
highway patrolmen willing
to help enforce immigration
law, Rivera Paz would be
home free again.
The revolving door for ille
gal alien gangsters keeps
spinning. The solution lies
with increased federal-local
cooperation, aggressive
deportation and uncompro
mising immigration enforce
ment - not with warm-and
fuzzy photo ops at the first
lady’s breakfast table.
Michelle Malkin is author
of “Invasion: How America
Still Welcomes Terrorists,
Criminals, and Other
Foreign Menaces to Our
Shores” (Regnery). Malkin’s
e-mail address is
malkin@co mcast. net.
techniques is to lie flat on
my back on the sofa watch
ing Lou Dobbs, followed by
Anderson Cooper, followed
by Paula Zahn, followed by
Larry King, followed
(switching channels with
the remote) by Jon Stewart.
If you happen to lose
weight, never, never, never
get rid of your fat clothes.
That giant pair of slacks can
be just the inspiration you
need when you’re ready to
put it all back on.
And don’t get discouraged.
It’s easier than you think,
and remember this: There
are no plateaus on the road
to Lane Bryant.