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Generational Theft

Hide your piggy bank, boys and girls, because the baby boom is about to break it. After spending $800 billion bailing out banks and staring at a $1.2 trillion deficit for 2009, we now want to spend another trillion on a stimulus plan. It was initially sold as massive infrastructure programs to create new jobs and improve our transportation. Yet the Boston Globe claims only 5% will go to infrastructure. Nearly all the rest goes to a laundry list of non-stimulus expenditures.

To his credit, President Obama asked the House for a clean, bipartisan bill. Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi didn’t get the memo, insisting we rush through the process without bothering with the details. Funny – isn’t that what President Bush did with that $800 billion – and aren’t we now figuring out we have no idea where most of the money went?

Democrats in Congress aren’t doing the president any favors. What should have been a slam dunk has turned into a PR nightmare (only about a third of America now support the plan).

But all that misses the point. The “new, New Deal” is a reincarnation of FDR’s bold plan to get us out of the Great Depression. Yet FDR’s own Treasury Secretary admitted the New Deal didn’t work, "We are spending more money than we have ever spent before, and it does not work. ...after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started ... and an enormous debt, to boot."

Better to follow Calvin Coolidge who ushered in the “Roaring Twenties,” John F. Kennedy who presided over “Camelot” in ‘60’s, and Ronald Reagan who gave us the “Seven Fat Years” of the‘80’s. How did they promote prosperity? Tax cuts.

But even that misses the point. Who is going to pay for these trillions of dollars of debt? Never mind the crushing Social Security and Health Care costs baby boomers will soon incur, “this can only be described as generational theft,” said Senator John McCain.  

We are literally stealing from our children, saddling our progeny with our wanton excesses.

Born Broke
“The stock market is sort of like a tracking poll in politics,” said our president. “You know, it bobs up and down day to day.”
Is he kidding? Polls are just opinions. The market is real money – your money. The nation’s retirement has been cut in half, trillions of dollars of America’s wealth has been erased, and the president is comparing that suffering to something as narcissistic as polls?
Where’s President Clinton when we need a beacon of moral clarity?
President Obama has the worst stock market performance of any new president in American history, including FDR during the Great Depression. Three trillion American dollars have been lost since his election. The Dow Jones has been halved since his nomination. It’s down a third since his election.
Yet the White House doesn’t seem to care, focusing on talk show hosts instead. They still haven’t come up with a comprehensive plan to fix the banks, and are now pretending that health care is the reason for our economy’s demise.
Who needs wealth when we can have massive debt instead? In his first few weeks in office, the president has spent more money than any man in history, yet almost none of it will fix the mess we’re in right now. We’re looking at a deficit (for this year alone) of $1.75 trillion. That’s four times the largest deficit of President Bush and twice as large a share of GDP as any deficit since WWII.
"We need earmark reform," promised the president during his campaign, "and when I'm president I will go line by line to make sure we're not spending money unwisely." Yet the stimulus bill was virtually nothing but earmarks, and the new omnibus bill has 8500 more. Sadly, 40% are from Republicans.
The numbers are staggering. President Bush foolishly spent $700 billion without knowing where half of the money went. Experts agree it had almost no effect. President Obama added $787 billion in his “stimulus” bill that the non-partisan CBO (Congressional Budget Office) estimates will cost $3.27 trillion in ten years. The omnibus bill comes in at a mere $410 billion, and now he wants to add another $634 billion nebulous “down payment” for health care - and another stimulus bill to boot.
Our country is now on target to add $3 trillion of debt in the president’s first term - a 30% increase in our overall debt of $10 trillion. At that point, every man woman and child will have almost $43,000 of debt on their shoulders. Three to one, Americans now think our children will be poorer than we are.
Our children’s children? They’ll be born broke.
Dave Belton

October 31, 2008

To the Editor:

As a service to the constituents I serve, I’d like to briefly recap the key events of our school system over the last year.

Here’s a list of some of the things we’re doing really well…

AYP: All four schools made AYP for the third straight year. This is no small feat. Only 69% of systems in GA made AYP this year.

Graduation Rates: The primary goal of high school is to graduate seniors with a meaningful diploma. MCHS does that at a higher rate than the state and the region. Last year we graduated 83% of our seniors. Georgia was at 75%. Back in 2004, we only graduated 74%. And we’ve increased our African American rates from 49% to 77% and our lower socio-economic students from 51% to 69%.

College and the Military: 71% our graduates went to college or the military. That’s remarkable. 82% of our students who applied to UGA were accepted (18 out of 22). In all, 53 students from MCHS were accepted to UGA over the past three years.

CRCT: The Primary, Elementary, and Middle Schools continue to impress, posting scores in the 90’s in almost every subject. We’ve made significant gains in the past few years and are above the state average in almost every area.

Millage Rates: We did not raise your millage rate for the third straight year (several counties around us did). Budget increases have been drastically reduced – even while giving teachers a raise.

Fiscal Responsibility: Some believe our system is “top heavy” with too many administrators. Fact is – we spend half as much as the state or the region on central administration. We also spend a greater percentage of our budget on teachers than the state or the region, and educate our students at a lower price than the state or the region. Taxpayer’s dollars are well spent at Morgan County.

New Drug Policy at MCHS: The athletic department made the courageous move of voluntarily implementing a drug testing program at MCHS. Only a handful of schools in GA do this. This bold initiative proves our commitment to rooting out drugs.

Awards: Both the Primary and Elementary Schools were designated Title One Distinguished Schools again. Dr. Joe Hutcheson received a leadership award from the Georgia Association of Middle School Principals and Dr. Mark Wilson was High School Principal of the year for the entire nation.

New Gym: The gym is completed - on time and under budget - and it looks just great. It is almost paid for (with ELOST funds) and is a superlative addition to the campus. The architect did a real nice job complementing the football field, and the volleyball and wrestling teams don’t have to go off campus to practice anymore.

Teacher’s Degrees: Two thirds of our teachers have advanced degrees. That’s above the state average.

Parent/Teacher Surveys: One of my key campaign issues, these surveys uncovered a cornucopia of information on how to improve our schools.

Communication: Already one of the core strengths of our Primary and Elementary Schools thanks to hard working people like Diane Veasley and Diane Chupp; parent involvement at the Middle School has improved leaps and bounds under the leadership of Jenifer Eckman. MCHS has also made significant improvements in communicating with parents.

Curriculum: Primary, Elementary, and Middle Schools have nearly completed the gargantuan task of transforming to the new GA curriculum. Finally – the state is testing what we’re teaching and visa versa. The Fordham Institute ranked GA’s new curriculum as the 4th best in the nation. But the highlight here is our aggressive AP and IB programs at MCHS. Half our high school has taken college-level courses. Freshmen are earning college credits! If your students want to go to college, they should be taking these courses.

New Discipline Policy at MCHS: Easily my biggest campaign issue, I’m pleased to announce that a new “culture of excellence” is firmly in place. Issues with cell phones and iPods are fixed. Cameras have been installed in schools and buses, and fights are drastically down. I see a marked improvement when I walk through the halls.

There’s always need for improvement, of course. Primary for me is the SAT. The good news is that a lot of our kids take the test. The bad news is we’re below the state average which is below the national average. More troubling is the fact that as late as 2005 we were above the state average (with the same number of kids taking the test) and striking distance from the nation’s average. I’m not going to bore you with a litany of caveats and clarifications. Truth is - we don’t teach the SAT, it isn’t part of AYP, it doesn’t really indicate future performance, and shouldn’t be used to compare schools. But it is the toughest obstacle your kid will face to get into the college of his/her choice. And since 81% of our kids expect to go to college – and it’s the greatest hurdle they’ll face to get into that college – it is that important.

If it’s important to your kids - then it’s important to me. We can and should do better. MCHS has implemented a plan for improvement and I’m confident they’ll succeed.

I end with a closing request. It’s our cadre of dedicated teachers who deserve the credit for these accomplishments. It is they who put your children first - with integrity and professionalism that use our resources wisely to produce a first class result. When you see them out in town, please thank them for the incredible job they do.

Dave Belton
Morgan County BOE Member
Buckhead, GA

I’ll admit it! I’m as mad as the rest of you. And watching the news, I too fell into the trap of blaming Bush for this debacle.
Until I did some research – something the mainstream media refuses to do.
This housing debacle was predicted – forewarned by John McCain and the Bush administration. The Clinton administration appointed Franklin Raines as the CEO of Fannie Mae. Raines intentionally loosened lending rules in order to get people into houses they couldn’t afford. Today’s crisis is caused by those risky loans.
You wouldn’t know it from what you hear in the news, but McCain was the cosponsor of a regulatory bill of Fannie and Freddie. On May 25, 2006 he said, “If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.” Pretty prophetic, wouldn’t you say?
But Senator Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, stopped Bush from regulating Fannie and Freddie. Worse, they pushed Freddie and Fannie to sell even more sub-prime loans almost up to the minute they failed.
Isn’t it a coincidence that Freddie’s and Fannie’s biggest campaign recipients are Sen. Dodd and Sen. Obama? How ‘bout the fact that same failed Franklin Raines walked away with $90 million and was advising Obama’s campaign as late as this summer? The media camps out in front of Joe the Plummer’s house, but completely ignores this crucial fact.
Don’t get me wrong. Bush should have done more. His reticence to engage the media and warn the public is baffling.
But McCain isn’t Bush. McCain was a media darling (until this race began), BECAUSE he was a Republican who stuck his finger in Bush’s eye. As a matter of fact, he’s the most bipartisan Republican to ever run for president. His hero, Republican President Teddy Roosevelt, has a respected history of regulating dangerous juggernauts like the railroad monopolies and the oil and steel trusts.
Talk about dangerous – did you hear that Obama banned an Orlando TV station because a reporter asked Biden a hard question? Is that the kind of change Obama is promising – censorship? What happened to freedom of the press? Or is the press only “free” when it’s smearing folks like Joe the Plumber? We know more about this ordinary citizen’s tax records than we do Obama’s.
And how many news stories are we going to hear about Palin’s wardrobe? The press that pretends to care about “the issues” is fixated on skirts and blouses - but gives Biden’s bizarre, apocalyptic warnings a pass. Palin didn’t buy those clothes – her favorite store is a consignment shop. But please, don’t bother the media with facts – they’re too busy leveling their sexist attacks, just like they did to Hillary.
Pundits always say the VP pick is the first important test of a candidate. Obama was faced with a no-brainer, pick Hillary and cruise to victory. Instead he blew it, picking an old, erratic hard-liner – a guy who commits verbal gaffs on an almost daily basis – a guy who said Obama wasn’t qualified to be president.
McCain is an open book. Warrior, POW, 25 year legislator with an unmatched bipartisan record. We know almost nothing about Obama. No birth certificate, no tax returns, no health records, no accomplishments.
In the end, it comes down to one thing – who do you trust? Who will stand up to special interests, tyrannical dictators of the world, and Wall Street tycoons?
No candidate – no man or woman – is perfect or unstained. But when you look at the life work of these candidates, it is abundantly clear who has the experience to lead this nation.
Dave Belton
Buckhead, GA

Republicans – the Leader in Civil Rights

Isn’t it hilarious what people want to argue about?! I write a short, 270 word letter wondering why Senator Obama didn’t ask Senator Clinton to be on his ticket. Next week I’m greeted with a 1000+ word “response” about a completely different topic - detailing each and every time Democrats helped Republicans enact important change.

Of course I’m pleased that some Democrats helped Republicans end slavery, give women and minorities the right to vote, enact civil rights reforms, and establish the park system. Only a fool would think one party could accomplish these initiatives without reaching across the aisle.

Which is a great reason to vote for John McCain.

And I applaud the author when he agrees that Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, freed the slaves. I appreciate it when he admits that after Lincoln’s assassination, Republicans gave men of all color the right to vote. I hope he would also agree that Republicans led the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 which protected minority rights during Reconstruction.

I was confused, however, when this author complained that “the last vestiges of slavery continued until the 1940’s in various parts of the south…” and then assert that Democrats tackled this problem during the presidency of FDR. I’m confused because the “last vestiges of slavery” continued almost entirely because of Democrats.

The sad, ugly “Jim Crow” era was created by Democrats. The NAACP, founded in 1909 by Republicans, organized to fight Jim Crow statutes and Democratic president Woodrow Wilson’s segregation of Federal offices.

While it is true that Lyndon Johnson finally signed the Equal Rights Act of 1964, most Democrats fought that measure for nearly a hundred years. In fact, prominent Democratic Senators Sam Ervin, Albert Gore, Sr. (yeah - the inventor of the internet’s daddy), and Robert Byrd were so opposed to the measure, they filibustered it for an amazing 54 days! In the end, 80% of Republicans voted for equal rights. Only 61% of Democrats voted yes.

Ditto the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In the Senate, 17 Democrats voted no. Only one Republican voted no.

It’s also interesting to note that it was Republican President Eisenhower who established the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, enforced the desegregation of the military and public schools in Arkansas, and appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican? The politicians who opposed his historic Civil Rights Movement were overwhelmingly Democrat. Most great African-American leaders like Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglas, and Harriet Tubman were Republican.

Regarding woman’s suffrage, Republicans seated women delegates at state conventions as early as 1870. By 1892 they were seating women at the Republican national convention where J. Ellen Foster was the first woman to address a national convention. In 1878, Susan B. Anthony convinced a Republican senator to introduce the 19th Amendment. It was defeated four times by the Democratic-controlled Senate. While it is true Woodrow Wilson was president (1913-1921) when it became law, it wasn’t until Republicans won the Senate that it finally passed in 1919. Not sure how much the Democrats helped here either.

Still, the author makes an excellent point when he says we should look beyond party affiliation to give credit where credit is due. I completely agree. That’s why if you visit my website at davebelton.com, you will see that I compliment Democrats like Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson (because of his foreign policy), FDR, JFK, Sam Nunn, Carl Vinson, Jim Marshall and Zell Miller. I also applaud local Democrats Bruce Gilbert and the late Chester Thomas. 

My point is that Republicans have a laudable legacy of civil rights reforms - both for women and minorities. It’s important to say this because Republicans rarely get credit for these achievements.

Of course Democrats have had important accomplishments. I would remind the reader, however, that most of the time – on most of the issues – it was Republicans who led on the boldest, most important ideas – especially went it comes to civil rights.

September 15, 2008

 
“A Tale of Two Women: the one McCain picked and the one Obama didn’t”
 
 
My apologies to Charles Dickens. I simply couldn’t resist.
 
One man snubbed a woman who won 18 million votes. Another chose a hockey-mom as his running mate.
 
Tell me - who advanced women’s rights? Which man saw value in a woman?
 
A year ago, Hillary was the easy, prohibitive favorite – not only to win her party, but also the White House.
 
Yet something happened along the way. The liberal media beat up the smartest woman in the world. They said she was shrill - mocked her pantsuits - even accused her of racism.
 
To her credit, Hillary has staunchly refused to attack Governor Palin - contesting only their differences on policy.
 
And I have to wonder why. Is it possible she empathizes with the embattled Governor?
 
The Clinton camp is still complaining about how sexist Hillary’s media converge was. Is she still licking those chauvinistic wounds?
 
The record is clear. Obama talks about empowering women. McCain delivered.
 
Surprised? I’m not. After all, it was Republicans who freed the slaves and gave women and minorities the right to vote. Republicans introduced affirmative action, started the national park system, and created the Environmental Protection Agency. Democrats talked about (and often opposed) these changes. Republicans made the hard decisions and delivered.
 
If Obama really wanted to be the president, he should have swallowed his enormous pride and put Hillary on his ticket. Not because of some cynical, political ploy – but because he values her.
 
McCain values Sarah – of that you can be sure. 
 
Dave Belton
Buckhead, GA