This is Viewpoints for Sunday, June 17, 2018

Just the facts

The reasoning about taxes, and do not ignore taxes disguised as fees, posed by Macon-Bibb County authorities in the June 8 edition of The Telegraph, graphically explains the non-sustainable governmental operations posture in recent years as reserves has been raided, eroding to near nothing.

The Macon-Bibb County Commission’s actions relating to decisions so impacting our financial well-being cannot be explained away by words like equalization and past consolidation intent.

We Macon-Bibb County citizens continue to be woefully uninformed in a timely manner, but this does not make us stupid. The credit card debt appears to continue to be run up and come due resulting in tax increase planning, and words are not legal tender.

Macon-Bibb County, please provide to the citizens the projected financial plans and anticipated conditions for fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020 along with understandable explanations. We will all hopefully then be better informed about Macon-Bibb County’s financial condition and planning impacting citizens and county employees.

(I candidly do not anticipate revelation of a miracle, but we do have a right to be informed in a timely manner if we’re being expected to pay the bills.)

Wake up, Centerville

The Centerville citizens need to wake up fast. The projected welfare housing is going to be built if any one like it or not. The article in the paper June 10 shows it as a cut and dried issue. One clown says that there is no evidence that welfare housing brings drugs and crime. He is either a liar or so out of touch as to make it laughable.

The two used car salesmen at the last meeting are the same. Some items were left out. Where will all of these kids play? That’s right, Eagle Springs.

Some are calling us bigots and racists because we worked hard all of our lives to live in a fine neighborhood. I never made it, but friends did. No one gave them money or tax breaks. As for being racists or bigots I say that the ones who call us that are the racists and bigots, after all none of us ever said the word.

City Hall needs investigation. The development officer was just a little too chummy with Zimmerman Properties (which plans to build the complex).

The mayor was too self-righteous, and one councilman just sat there like a log.

The one councilman, Ed Armijo, who wanted to help us got a cold shoulder and was insulted by the chumps from Zimmerman.

Citizens, fight this, it is just one more step toward turning a great neighborhood into a slum.

What about turn signals?

I’ve seen where Macon-Bibb County is in the red financially and now talking about installing cameras at some red lights to “ stop accidents” and also to gain revenue, which is the real reason. There is still a law on the books about using turn signals. Very few people use them, and even fewer are ticketed for not using them. I believe not using them causes quite a few accidents.

Law enforcement should start writing tickets for this. It’ll increase revenue and enforce laws already on the books. Cameras did not work in Griffin, and they won’t work in Macon-Bibb. People there were scared of getting tickets, so they would slam on brakes at the red light as soon as it turned yellow, and the car behind them would rear end them. Apply the laws on the books.

Wait a minute

America is broke. Now we are discussing spending money to help North Korea. As I understand it, we owe $1.6 trillion. Our infrastructure is collapsing. Corruption is rampant throughout all governments. Drugs of all kinds are available like soft drinks. As interests rates rise, our capacity to meet debt payments erodes. Due to entitlements 46 million are milking us dry. The baby boomers are retiring at 10,000 a day. Many state and city balance sheets are in ruins. Birth rates are way down in the working sector. There are more jobs than we have qualified workers.

New cars sales are soaring, homes are selling well, but this just adds more debt to the more than the over a trillion in Educational debts and over whelming credit card debt.of trillions.

Apparently the debt problems are more obvious in the higher income sector than ever before. $800 car payments along with private school payments, country club dues and $6,000-plus mortgages are causing bankruptcies to raise.

A slow down and/or a recession is definitely in the cards.

To the GOP

My question is for members of the GOP: Does it not disturb you that the leader of your political party (and he is whether you want to admit it or not) is pleading the case for Russia? Where is your patriotism and sense of honor?

Not looking out for the middle class

The House Republican Study Committee budget plan calls for these changes to Social Security and Medicare:

▪  Raise the Social Security retirement age to 70.

▪  Use a “chained” Consumer Price Index to calculate Social Security Cost of Living Adjustments, which would cut benefits.

▪  Raise Medicare eligibility age to 70.

▪ Privatize Medicare to benefit huge insurance companies.

Social Security and Medicare are bulwarks of the middle class. The committee’s attacks indicate once again that Congressional Republicans are not looking out for the middle class as they claim but the wealthy and huge corporations.

If you agree with me, I suggest that you contact your Congressman. You might also join AARP, the world’s largest lobby. It’s over 35 million members are opposing these proposed changes.

Life vs. cake

Are you confused over some rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court? They have ruled on the side of a baker who turned down making a wedding cake for a gay married couple, due to gay marriage going against the baker’s religion.

In my opinion, the ruling coincides with the religion clause of the U.S. Constitution. I, too, agree with the ruling that the baker’s action is protected by the Constitution rather than a state laws. However, our Supreme Court justices ruled in favor of baker’s religious beliefs yet ruled that our government must give an illegals an abortion, killing her baby. It seems the justices do not place much value on using taxpayers’ money to kill an unborn baby, which is against thousands of taxpayers’ religious beliefs, versus a baker’s religious belief to cook for a gay couple.

Further, the famous 14th Amendment states, “nor shall any state deprive any person of life.” Thus, since an organism exists after fertilization that did not exist before, forming its own DNA, an unborn baby is indisputably human. If the unborn baby is human and we define a human as a person, the Constitution states no person can be deprived of life.

Trump and North Korea coverage

Your sole coverage of the meeting in Singapore between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is an article from the Associated Press on June 12, which included the detail that “Trump announced plans to leave early, raising questions about whether his aspirations for an ambitious outcome had been scaled back.”

You have thousands of readers in this local area who are longing for some unbiased coverage of the extensive events that are coming out of this meeting, but you have published only skeptical reports from the national press. Surely there is someone on your staff who can write unbiased coverage of the positive efforts by our government to bring lasting peace and a fruitful economy to Korea.

This story was originally published June 17, 2018 at 12:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, June 17, 2018."