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Thursday, October 9, 2008
Voodoo, manners, Guantanamo
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thinking Right’s weekend free-for-all. Pick a topic:
I’ve long since given up the effort to deny accusations that aren’t criminal in nature. But that rule now has the Annette Kesting Exception. Accuse me of paying a voodoo “priestess” for any reason, and I categorically deny it, just as defeated Cobb Commissioner Kesting did.
The competition to fill Kesting’s seat will surely be the most mannered and polite in metro Atlanta. Democrat Woody Thompson is a gentlemanly guy; Republican Barbara Hickey owns the Etiquette School of Atlanta. Question for Hickey: For some services, is it bad form to pay by check — or merely stupid?
Swell. A federal judge in Washington orders 17 detainees at Guantanamo released into the United States. They’re Chinese Muslims, but because they’re members of a restive Muslim minority in western China, that government doesn’t want them back. Fortunately, a higher court intervened, temporarily at least. More to come?
Connect the dots. … A Friday story reports findings by the Pew Hispanic Center that illegal immigration is slowing, with 11.9 million illegals here in March, down 500,000 from a year earlier. A story five days later reports that 300 suspected illegals were arrested at a chicken processing plant near Greenville, S.C. Earlier this year, 12 supervisors were arrested, including a human resources manager indicted for filing false federal ID forms. Employers are being targeted “because the promise of employment draws illegal workers across our borders,” said Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Kenneth Smith of Atlanta. “By holding employers accountable, we are diminishing the magnet and discouraging others from breaking the law.” Admit immigrants, sure. By the boatload, even. But as legals. Breaking the law can’t be the first step.
There may be some doubt whether a new tax, amounting to $112 million, can be levied as “fees” on companies that operate HMO insurance plans in Georgia to pay for Medicaid and PeachCare, but there shouldn’t be. The answer should be no — and certainly not until the General Assembly makes that decision. All money collected in Georgia should be by act of the Legislature, should go in the General Fund — no earmarks ever — and spent based on competing needs and priorities. Fees, in this instance, ain’t fees. They’re taxes levied on one group to pay for something that’s everybody’s obligation. If the program’s badly designed, change it. But don’t hide tax increases to avoid facing the design or tax questions.
Congress has done with elections what Wall Street (and Congress) did with debt. They’ve taken something simple and straightforward, and turned it into a high-risk gamble played by arcane rules designed to enrich insiders. All of their registration “reforms” increase the likelihood of fraud and an outcome that leaves losers embittered.
Yea, right. A voter registration effort conducted by the Coalitions for the Peoples’ Agenda is described as “nonpartisan.” The same can be said of the Democratic convention in Denver, since at least one person there had probably voted for a Republican in his or her lifetime. “Nonpartisan” and “bipartisan” are abused adjectives.
A golden retriever from Atlanta that shows up months later 425 miles south in St. Petersburg is like the turtle resting on the top of a fence post.
Price-gouging gas stations prompted 1,500 complaints to the state; 150 stations are being investigated. In my area, one station tried that during the last round of gasoline shortages. Within three months it was out of business. Customers remember those who exploit them in times of difficulty. The free market regulates bad commercial behavior.
Ed Wall, the former MARTA board chairman, has been hired to help Clayton County invest its money. That’s his profession. Does it matter that he was arrested for public indecency for an alleged act involving adults? Not in this context. He has a right to get on with his life and to work for any individual, business or government that values his advice.
The General Assembly should get rid of the stupid law that requires Public Service Commissioners — statewide officials — to live in districts. It’s nothing but trouble. There’s no redeeming value whatsoever. It’s junk law.
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