Gallbladder: One mans brief journey into the Army Medical system (part 1 of 2)
August 30, 2009
Years ago, Tony Bennett sang of leaving his heart in San Francisco. Well, My tale of leaving my gallbladder at Winn Army Hospital in Fort Stewart, Georgia isn’t romantic but it is of importance to me and its passing wasn’t one of sorrow, sweet or otherwise. As the surgeon had stated after the surgery it was totally blocked and “rotten”. I’m frankly glad it is gone. Good riddance in my opinion.
This tale started towards the end of July when I was awakened from a sound sleep by stomach cramps. I’m not talking about your “ate a couple of green apples” kind of cramps, I’m referring to the doubling over, “shove your arm down your throat, grab an organ of choice and toss it on the fire to exorcise the demons within” type of abdominal cramps. As it lasted only half an hour or so, it was relatively easy to pass it off as an occurrence of some kind; nothing dramatic. After a couple more of these episodes it was starting to concern me, but no other symptoms were being displayed so I chalked it up to the recent purchase and consuming of those round chips in a can which coincidently had proceeded each of these events. I quit eating them. Then I had another incident followed a couple days later by the granddaddy of them. By the time the cramping had gone on for six hours, I got cleaned up, dressed and went into the emergency room with my wife.
I checked in and was promptly shown to the triage desk where my vital signs were taken. A few minutes later I was in a cubicle and the show started. Within four hours I had blood samples taken, a urine sample taken, a CT scan performed, an ultrasound performed, had an EKG taken, been put on an IV with various drugs within, been issued drugs to take home, and tentatively diagnosed with gallbladder disease. In each of these steps I was treated with courtesy, respect and caring by a various member of the ER or radiology staff. Each of these persons explained what they were doing and why and performed their duties in a professional manner while still giving me every impression they cared what they were doing and cared about me. In addition, there was a shift change shortly after my arrival. Frankly I was impressed.
I was seen the next morning by my Primary Care Provider. I arrived at the clinic 15 minutes earlier and was promptly escorted to the station where my vital signs were taken. At the time of my appointment I was called and escorted to another cubicle where I soon met my Doctor for the first time. She went over everything, performed an exam of her own and apparently agreeing with the diagnosis made an appointment with the surgeon for me. Again, everyone was super polite, efficient, professional, and friendly. I was given an appointment for the following week with my surgeon to discuss options and procedures.
During the time spent waiting for this appointment I did as much research as I could on this puny little organ with the capability to wreck such havoc and just what my options were. The subject came up among my friends and on-line friends to which the general consensus was to “go civilian”. Most of these friends had never served in the military instead relying on horror stories passed on quite apparently. Now, I have had military medical care my entire life; growing up in the military and spending a career in the Army myself and had always been rather pleased with the care I or my family had received.
The day of my appointment arrived and again I showed up 15 minutes early only to be told shortly thereafter the surgeon had been called away to an emergency surgery. The staff was up front with us and asked if anyone wanted to be rescheduled or if we would prefer to wait. They kept us informed every few minutes as to the surgeons status. When I was finally called into the surgeons office, he advised me of the findings, his conclusions and his recommendations as well as the options available. He ensured I understood everything and answered all the questions I had as well as apologizing for being called away. His staff set me up with a pre-op appointment and the surgery date. Everyone in this department also, was super polite, efficient, professional, and friendly. I had a warm and fuzzy feeling about everything when I left.
Over the next few days, the situation deteriorated. The pain became constant from the time I was awake to the time I went to sleep. The only way I was even able to sleep was due to the medications the ER had prescribed. However, I was running out of them and no way would the meds last until my surgery. So, with ten days to go before my surgery I called my surgeons staff and asked to speak to the surgeon about renewing the prescription. He called back rather surprised I was taking the medicine or even needed to. When I explained the situation he stated he would call me right back. Within minutes he called back stating I was to fast after midnight and be in the next morning for my pre-op and surgery was scheduled for the following morning after the pre-op.
I reported to the pre-op desk the next morning to be greeted by a very friendly staff who started by having me fill out a minimum number of forms after which I was placed in a waiting room for a few minutes until I was called by the first of my appointments. She briefed me was to what was going to occur and had me sign a few more papers. My next appointment was with a pretty, young private who took some blood samples and performed an EKG about as smoothly and painlessly as I have ever had done. That was followed by an interview with an incredibly friendly and outgoing anesthesiologist who asked me a gang of questions, briefed me as to the procedures which were to be used and checked me out for suitability for the laryngoscope. She also asked if I had allergies. The next step was to get a chest X-ray which was obtained in a matter of minutes. I was frankly amazed at the speed and efficiency in which the x-ray was taken. The last step was to check in with the inpatient section, I believe (although the name may be wrong). I read a few documents and signed signifying my understanding. I read the sign on the wall stating the charges regarding various medical plans. Contrary to popular belief, I as a military retiree do not have free medical care, which is in fact what I had been promised my entire career, particularly around re-enlistment time. I have medical and dental premiums that I need to pay if I want any medical care; again, contrary to all promises made to me and other retirees in the past. Again; everyone was friendly, polite, professional and caring. I was reminded during the course of this pre-op that I was to consume no food, drink, nor tobacco after midnight.
I could see the next morning was not going to get started on the right foot at all as far as my comfort went. But, after the dealings I had with each and every member of the staff I dealt with, I was left with no doubt in my retired military mind that I would receive excellent care while I was there.
(end of part 1)
2009 Sales Tax Holiday
July 29, 2009
As a reminder for parents and newcomers to the area who may not be familiar with Georgia’s school tax holiday, I am posting notice of the event:
Georgia provides for a sales tax exemption from both state and local sales taxes for certain items purchased July 30 – August 2, 2009.
During the sales tax holiday period, a sales tax exemption applies to purchases of tangible personal property in the following categories:
Articles of Clothing. The exemption applies to articles of clothing and footwear with a sales price of $100 or less per item.
Personal Computers. The single purchase of $1,500.00 or less of personal computers and personal computer related accessories for noncommercial home or personal use is exempt during the exemption period. Computer related accessories include keyboards, monitors, other peripheral devices, personal digital assistant, modems for Internet and network access and non-recreational software. Computer and computer related accessories do not include furniture, cellular telephones, any systems, devices, software, or peripherals designed or intended primarily for recreational use, purchases for a trade or business, or items leased or rented.
General School Supplies: Purchases of of general school supplies for use in a classroom or classroom related activity with a sales price of $20.00 or less per item are exempt during the exemption period. Purchases for use in a trade or business are not eligible for the exemption. The exemptions are intended for an individual’s personal use. The exemptions exclude items rented, leased, purchased by businesses, or purchased for resale. The exemptions do not apply to items sold at theme parks, entertainment complexes, hotels, restaurants, and airports.
The following are a list of items on which normal tax rules still apply:
LIST OF TAXABLE GENERAL SCHOOL SUPPLIES:
Books (except children’s books, dictionaries and thesauruses)
Briefcases
Envelopes
Janitorial Supplies
Medical Supplies
Supplies used in a Trade or Business
LIST OF TAXABLE CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR ITEMS:
Accessories (generally)
Barrettes and bobby pins
Cuff Links
Hair bows, clips, nets and bands
Handbags and Purses
Handkerchiefs
Jewelry
Key Cases
Ponytail Holders
Wallets
Watchbands
Watches
Aprons
Backpacks
Bibs
Briefcases
Cloth and Lace, Knitting Yarns and Other Fabric
Clothing and Footwear (rented or leased)
Clothing or Footwear Repair Items, such as thread, buttons, patches, heels, and soles
Coin Purses
Corsages and Boutonnieres
Cosmetic Bags
Costumes
Crib Blankets
Diaper Bags
Eyewear
Fanny Packs
Garment Bags
Goggles
Hard Hats
Insoles
Key Chains
Life Jackets and Vests
Linens (sheets, blankets, etc.)
Luggage
Makeup Bags
Paint and Dust Masks
Patterns (sewing)
Personal Flotation Devices
Protective Masks and Goggles
Receiving Blankets
Rented Clothing or Footwear
Repair of Clothing or Footwear
Safety Glasses
Shaving Kits and Bags
Shoe Inserts
Suitcases
Sunglasses
Swimming Masks
Umbrellas
Wallets
Watchbands
Water Vests (life and ski)
Wigs, Hair Extensions, Toupees and Chignons
LIST OF TAXABLE COMPUTER AND COMPUTER ACCESSORIES:
Action Games
Adventure Games
Batteries (regular)
CD/DVD (music, voice or pre-recorded)
Cellular Telephones or any other devices, including PDAs, allowing for voice communication
Computer Bags
Computer Games
Computers for Recreation (games and toys)
Controllers
Copy Machines
Digital Cameras
Game Systems and Consoles
Games
Gaming Software
Joy Sticks
LCD/Plasma Televisions
MP3 Players or accessories
Music Download Software
Notebook Backpack
Personal Digital Assistant Carrying Case
Projectors and Cases
Rented Computers or Computer Accessories
Repair of Computers or Computer Accessories
Role Playing Games
Software (games and entertainment)
Sports Games
Strategy Games
Surge Protectors
Videogames
Videogame Devices
Frequently asked questions and answers can be located at the Georgia Department of Revenue site.
Happy Fourth of July
July 4, 2009
Why do we celebrate the 4th of July?
Here are two reasons:
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records,for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise;the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners;refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations,which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence.They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America,in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War,conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
— John Hancock
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
courtesy of US History.org
and:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The remainder of the US Constitution can be read at US Constitution.net along with the amendments. It is well worth reading in these trying political times.
How is our Constitutional Republic safeguarded?
and
Have a safe and happy Fourth of July!
The Cable Company
June 28, 2009
My next door neighbor and I were sitting around talking last night when the subject of “The Cable Company” came up. He was relating some of his experiences dealing with “The Cable Company” at his last duty assignment on the West Coast and they seemed to mirror most experiences I have had when dealing with them; no matter where I have been. It seems when you are the only company in town offering a given product, you seem to have a license to conduct business pretty much however you like.
Last year I wrote a column for my blog concerning some of my experiences with The Cable Company.
I’ve just received a visit from a representative of the local cable company asking if I was interested in their services. Having “fired” them years ago, I told him no thank you, and sent him on his way. As I stood out on the front porch burning a quick one before heading back inside I got to thinking about the reasons I threw them out of my house to start with and decided I would write about it.
When I returned from Germany back in 1992 and moved into a new house, I did what most people did at that time predating satellite services and subscribed to cable TV. Right off the bat, they had to start off on the wrong foot by giving me a date almost two weeks out to come out and “turn on” the services. It was an all day affair. No, just the waiting-not the actual turn-on, that took mere minutes.
Now, I am a TV fan. Unlike many people who deny even owning a TV set, or when pushed will admit to owning one, but only watch PBS, National Geographic, and CNN, I watch TV. It is almost always on. I watch cartoons, History Channel, Food Network, HGTV, etc. But, this isn’t the point.
We had problems almost immediately with The Cable Company. When it rained, the service would disappear for hours. One time it was off for a full week. Of course I went in and complained and was told the weather created problems and I would have to live with it. Ah well, ok, then I shouldn’t have to pay for that particular week or those days when I couldn’t access the service. The nice lady told me they billed by the month, not the day. When asked why I payed more in March or April then in February, I was told it was because there were more days in those months. The nice lady failed to note the incongruity of her statement.
Later on, I saw advertisements on the TV about channels that were available, but I did not have. The ads said to contact your cable company. Excellent. I dropped by their office and asked about a couple of channels I was interested in. The nice lady said, “You can’t have them”. They were not being offered in our area. I asked why and was informed the FCC would only license The Cable Company for so many channels. OK. The government gets involved in our lives in strange ways sometimes so it was possible, so I called the number listed in the Yellow Pages and was told by the gentleman at the other end that was basically patent nonsense. I make another trip to see the nice lady and she brings me in to see the manager who spends about 15 minutes explaining something about channel banks and subscriptions to the various independent channels. The upshot was that I wasn’t going to see the channels I wanted. I decided I would live with it as they were the only game in town short of no TV and watching only VHS movies.
Fast forward again to an advertising campaign run by The Cable Company introducing a new product line; subscription radio. Armed with the brochure placed in my mail box and addressed to me personally, I went back to see the nice lady to tell her the service sounded great. Commercial free music that I actually enjoyed listening to. She said, “You can’t have it”. The town West of us (Hinesille) was getting it as was the city to the North (Savannah) of us, but our town wasn’t. Why send me the ad? Because I was a good customer.
Now, satellite service has come to town in the way of Primestar. Excellent. I subscribed and tossed the cable company out. I was real happy with Primestar and I wasn’t even put out when they were bought by Direct TV. We lived well together with the occasional outage if a storm got between my dish and the Western facing satellite. Of course here in Coastal Georgia, virtually all storms come in from the West, so certain times of the year we will have sporadic outages of a few minutes to 15 minutes.
Sometime, years later The Cable Company offers a deal; cable broadcasting of our local channels. The monthly price was very reasonable, so against my better judgment I subscribe. We actually got along quite well with this modified relationship for a few years until Direct TV received approval to broadcast local channels themselves. Eliminating duplicate service, I again canceled The Cable Company.
Fast forward to last year (2007). I open my mail one day and read a letter from an attorney working for a collection company in Tennessee informing me this company is taking me to court, on behalf of The Cable Company, for 70 odd dollars. Allegedly this is due to the non-return of some kind of equipment when I canceled my account a few years back. I call the nice lady at The Cable Company, which by now is a totally different company that I had ever dealt with and ask her if she can explain the details of the problem. She dutifully looks it up and states I failed to return some equipment. I, of course, inform her I never had said equipment only subscribing to the very basic package of the five local channels and could she please look into it. She checks with the warehouse-no records. She checks with shipping/delivery/installation-no records. As a matter of fact there are no records of this transaction anywhere except one computer entry stating “it” was never returned. She states she will look further into it, but everything would sure be easier if I would just submit a check for the stated amount. I allowed as it probably would-for them.
The following two weeks see two more letters and a couple of phone calls from the collection agency wanting to settle before the court date. I finally decided to run a bluff, knowing I never had the equipment in question. I called the collection agency and informed the gentleman at the other end of the conversations held by the nice lady and what we had come up with; ie, no records of anything. I informed him my attorney stated if they wanted to take me to court on that basis, then by all means proceed. He asked me to hold for a few minutes, then came back on the line and stated they were washing their hands of the matter and I would receive a letter in a few days stating so. I did. I then called the nice lady at The Cable Company and told her the same thing as well as telling her the collection company had dropped the issue. She asked me to hold for a few minutes and put me on with a manager (different one then before). He stated they were also dropping the “case”. I told him there was no “case”, I wanted a letter of apology and exoneration for even putting me through this, much less tossing me to the collection wolves. They did send a letter stating my invoice was clear. Thats all. No apology. No mention of the fact I never had a freaking invoice with The Cable Company. So being my normal cantankerous self with a low tolerance when dealing with stupid people and inert companies, I filed a written complaint with everyone remotely concerned with his affair; starting with The Cable Company, The City of Hinesville (The Cable Company’ location), Better Business Bureau, FCC, etc…
As an aside, I don’t even have service through The Cable Company and I still have to put up with ugly green boxes belonging to The Cable Company on my front lawn.
I hope your dealings with your local cable company are somewhat better. And I hope The Cable Company representative has better luck with the rest of this street as it really isn’t his fault he works for evil incarnate.
I hope everyone has a great weekend!
The Jobs, Opportunity, and Business Success Act of 2009
May 27, 2009
“Cracker” ; a pejorative (term of abuse or ethnic slur) term for a white person, mainly used in the Southern United States, according to Wikipedia “Cracker” has been used among African Americans like Malcolm X and Black Panther Party during the Civil rights movement and is considered an anti-white ethnic slur among African Americans. This is the term applied to supporters of Governor Sonny Perdue by columnist Bill Shipp in his column “Sonny snaps out of it” found in the Bryan County News (May 20 2009), when he referred to the Governors “disgruntled cracker followers”. (I was quoting the paper copy. The link goes to The Monticello News which carried the same column as I can’t find the column on line from the Bryan County News.)
I had stated in a previous column I did not particularly care to respond to individual columnists. In the case of Mr. Shipp I am making an exception. Every time he writes a racial slur, a cultural stereotype, or other assorted terms of abuse, I will write about it. I find it inappropriate for a syndicated columnist being carried by the Bryan County News-or any newspaper to use these stereotypes or slurs.
After six paragraphs slapping the Governor around a bit, Mr. Shipp apparently gets to the subject of the column; The Jobs, Opportunity, and Business Success Act of 2009. As the bill was favorable to business and would actually leave some tax dollars in business and consumers hands, Mr. Shipp was of course against passage of this legislation.
The six provisions in the JOBS Act are contained in two bills, HB 481 and HB 482.
1. $500 credit on unemployment tax to any business who hires someone currently on unemployment compensation for at least 60 days prior.
2. Income tax credit for any business who keeps a previously unemployed employee for 24 months.
3. Business start up holiday, exempting new startups from all state government fees to stimulate entrepreneurship.
4. Eliminate inventory tax on businesses. This requires a referendum, thus the separate bill.
5. Eliminate sales tax deposits, which are prepayments on projected sales.
6. Gradual elimination of corporate tax, beginning in 2012, complete in 2023.
In the present time of 8.5% unemployment rate and a slowly recovering economy, allowing businesses to keep some of their money and use it to hire workers and increase inventory seems like a no brainer.
Encouraging the hiring of new workers through tax credits is a super idea which would permit businesses to grow while eliminating some of the 400,000 Georgians from the unemployment rolls. Encouraging new businesses to start up and grow through the use of a tax holiday again seems like an idea which would work creating wealth and a growing business class. The inventory tax is a tax that should have disappeared a long time ago. Georgia is one of 14 states which consider a business’s inventory of goods as property and taxes it as such. A tax is again paid on this merchandise when it is sold. Item six calls for the gradual elimination of the corporate tax, which in Georgia is a flat 6% based on the corporation’s net income.
When it comes to the elimination of taxes or fees paid by any corporation or business, a point that must be considered is they pay no taxes or fees; the consumer pays them in the form of higher costs at the register. This is a hidden cost of government. The consumer is paying a large amount of taxes and is not consciously aware of it. When citizens want to increase taxes and fees on businesses and corporation; they are in effect asking to be taxed at a higher rate themselves.
H.R. 481 and 482 both passed legislation, but Governor Perdue vetoed the bills when they hit his desk. This is the cause of Mr. Shipps gloating. Mr. Shipp however fails to mention Governor Perdue said May 11 he vetoed the bill because Georgia constitutionally is required to maintain a balanced budget.
“For every dollar in decreased revenue, we must correspondingly cut expenditures,” Perdue said. “We cannot deficit spend as the federal government does, even if those deficits generate economic growth in the long term.”
He did, however, call the bill “well-meaning” in intent. If I were the Governor, I would send the bill back to be rewritten to take effect in 2010 when the budget is not halfway through a fiscal year.
Again, Mr. Shipp plays on class warfare and envy to make this bill sound as if it were written for the intent of making all the “rich people” richer. Somehow, he comes up with the figure, “richest one percent of the state’s taxpayers would receive 75% of the benefits”.
What is this one percent and how much do they pay in taxes? This latest IRS data is shown in Table 1. It shows that the top 1% of income earners now pay 40% of federal income taxes, while earning 22% of income. The top 5% pay 60% of income taxes while earning 37% of income. The bottom 50% of income earners pays only 3% of federal income taxes.
Internal Revenue Service data, 2006
Share of federal Income taxes Adjusted Gross Income
Top 1% 40% 22%
Top 5% 60% 37%
Top 10% 71% 47%
Top 25% 86% 68%
Top 50% 97% 87.5%
Bottom 50% 3% 12.5%
Furthermore, the bottom 40% of income earners pays nothing.
Why this major thrust to redistribute the wealth? To create an artificial playing field? The business owner is the person taking the risk; taking out loans, saving their money, borrowing off of relatives and credit cards to open a business and keep it running by working 12-16 hour days until it is operating reasonably smooth. The business owner is the one putting up the costs of licenses, fees, insurance, and goods. They are the ones paying the unemployment insurance, workman comp, matching social security, security bonds, etc. When a business folds, the owner is the one who loses; the employee can (sometimes with difficulty) find another job. Why does our government continue to “punish” those who succeed? The “progressive” tax code we now have which is confiscatory in nature does just that. It rewards failure and punishes success.
When elements of this tax system are questioned or an attempt is made to change the code, the Bill Shipps of this country will always be in the forefront of the fight to “sock it to the rich and business”, all the while apparently never realizing the taxes he is applauding right now are actually a regressive tax which hits the poor harder when the costs of doing business are passed on to the consumer by business.
Memorial Day
May 25, 2009
Memorial Day-the holiday observed by Americans to remember….. and honor those who have given their lives in military service to their country.
As we traditionally use this day to unofficially celebrate the start of Summer by grilling and going to the beach, let us take a few minutes at 3 pm and remember why we have this day of observance and remember the sacrifices these young men and women have made.
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
courtesy of Arlington Cemetery
President Obama has made his Memorial Day speech. I am including the link to it as he is the Commander in Chief, but I wish he cared enough to actually learn just what the purpose of Memorial Day was and he had addressed the actual holiday.
Obama: Honor Veterans This Memorial Day
A response to Mr. Shipp “editorialist”
May 7, 2009
I don’t normally respond to individual columnists, but the last column by Mr Shipp in the Bryan County News (Keep America First; 6 May-Bryan County News) has to be responded to.
The entire gist of the column seems to be “those traiterous Republicans want to jump ship now a Democrat is in office”. He first trots out as evidence a speech given by Texas Governor Rick Perry preaching secession and follows it up with our own Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine “having a team of researchers working on schemes to declare our independence and bid adios to old D.C.”. Where did he come up with this information? The first came from a speech given by the Texas Governor to a “Tea Party” rally in which he stated, “… There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that.” Governor Perry had in recent days asserted states’ rights under the 10th Amendment and denounced Washington for overstepping authority. He had said earlier in the speech, “Washington needs to hear us loud and clear,” said Perry, who wore a khaki jacket and a hunting cap. “Cut the spending, cut the taxes, shrink the government. And reread the Constitution.” Dangerous talk? No and it was hardly treasonous. And what were the remarks Oxendine had made saying he favored secession? ”If Governor, I would support legislation which puts Georgia on record as affirming our sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States and which would serve as notice and demand the federal government, as our agent, cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers. Additionally, I would support legislation which states all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.”
Again, nothing dangerous to the American way of thinking; Oxendine merely wants the Federal government to follow the constitution as does Perry.
Does he offer any further proof of his allegations? Yes. He offers as the final proof a poll conducted for a “progressive” blog called the Daily Kos which apparently stated a third of Georgians want to leave the union while 38% of Texans say the same.
QUESTION: Would you approve or disapprove of Georgia leaving the United States?
APPROVE DISAPPROVE NOT:SURE
ALL 18 76 6
MEN 21 74 5
WOMEN 15 78 7
DEMOCRATS 5 89 6
REPUBLICANS 32 63 5
INDEPENDENTS 14 79 7
QUESTION: Do you think Georgia would be better off as an independent nation or as part of the United States of America.
US IND NOT:SURE
ALL 68 27 5
MEN 54 32 4
WOMEN 72 22 6
DEMOCRATS 88 8 4
REPUBLICANS 52 43 5
INDEPENDENTS 61 33 6
Demographic
MEN 287 48%
WOMEN 313 52%
DEMOCRATS 246 41%
REPUBLICANS 258 43%
INDEPENDENTS/OTHE 96 16%
18-29 78 13%
30-44 174 29%
45-59 210 35%
60+ 138 23%
WHITE 419 69%
BLACK 168 28%
HISPANIC 12 2%
OTHER 6 1%
QUESTION: Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Rick Perry’s suggestion that Texas may need to leave the United States?
APPROVE DISAPPROVE NOT SURE
ALL 37 58 5
MEN 42 54 4
WOMEN 32 62 6
DEMOCRATS 16 80 4
REPUBLICANS 51 44 5
INDEPENDENTS 43 50 7
QUESTION: Do you think Texas would be better off as an independent nation or as part of the United States of America?
US IND NOT SURE
ALL 61 35 4
MEN 57 39 4
WOMEN 65 31 4
DEMOCRATS 82 15 3
REPUBLICANS 48 48 4
INDEPENDENTS 55 40 5
(I’m not sure where Mr Shipps statistic of 38% of Texans comes from, the printed number is 48%.)
Demographics
MEN 288 48%
WOMEN 312 52%
DEMOCRATS 199 33%
REPUBLICANS 234 39%
INDEPENDENTS/OTHER 167 28%
18-29 102 17%
30-44 204 34%
45-59 96 16%
WHITE 390 65%
BLACK 77 13%
HISPANIC 115 19%
OTHER 18 3%
Source: dKos
Of interest:
The Research 2000 Georgia Poll was conducted from April 27 through April 29, 2009. A total of 600 likely voters who vote regularly in state elections were interviewed statewide by telephone. Those interviewed were selected by the random variation of the last four digits of telephone numbers. A cross-section of exchanges was utilized in order to ensure an accurate reflection of the state. Quotas were assigned to reflect the voter registration of distribution by county.
The margin for error, according to standards customarily used by statisticians, is no more than plus or minus 4% percentage points. This means that there is a 95 percent probability that the “true” figure would fall within that range if the entire population were sampled. The margin for error is higher for any subgroup, such as for gender or party affiliation.
For those who may think Research 2000 actually lives up to their claim of being non-partisan a reader would have only to look at the company web page in which the lead story is a “hit piece” on Rush Limbaugh. In fact, their major listed client is Daily Kos. The remaining articles on their site consists mostly of Obama success polls and dismal Republican polls. So, I’m not sure they are quite as non-partisan as they claim.
For the last eight years I have listened and read far worse than this, all the while being told ”Dissent is the highest form of patriotism” which Sen Kerry falsly attributed to Thomas Jefferson. I have seen this on bumper stickers, blogs and even heard Democrat politicians spout it off when slamming President Bush and his administration. During both presidential campaigns when President Bush was running, I heard far too many entertainers threaten to move away from the country if Bush won. To my knowledge, none did. Daily, I read some of the most appalling criticism of the Bush administration. Some writers were even wishing Bush, Cheney, et al dead on a rather alarming basis. Mr Shipp has conveniently forgotten this seeming to believe for the last eight years there was absolutely no partisanship being played by the Democrats or their electorate.
Mr Shipp then plays a great finishing act with the quote “as soon as I finish this column, I think I’ll look up a Federal judge to advise me on how to round up these America haters. We ought to send most of them back where they or their forebears came from, but Ireland and Scotland probably don’t want them either.” Nice. Not even a thought of re-education camps first-just immediate expulsion? And an assumption all of the above respondents were of Irish and Scottish descent? This isn’t his first slip with bigotry and stereotyping. His last column (In wake of shooting; 29 April, Bryan County News) alluded to Southerners having AK-47s under their beds, then goes on to snidely state, “Guns are us. In the South, you’re not a man if you don’t own a gun or two or three”.
His contempt for the constitution was already apparent when he stated in the same article he didn’t expect any action to come from the Athens shooting, “…just more hot air about Second Amendment rights…”. From my readings of Mr Shipp, I get the impression that is his take on the entire constitution-just more hot air.
PFC James Champion
April 24, 2009
Thirty eight years ago a young Army Ranger Private First Class was reported missing in action while on a long range Reconnaissance mission in the A Shau Valley, Republic of South Vietnam. This is his story:
April Fools Day
April 2, 2009
1984 Never mind the Cold War; the Soviets want to initiate unfettered discussions with Americans via Usenet newsgroups. This according to a message from what appears to be a Kremlin server (kremvax.UUCP). Thus the Internet hoax is born. When Moscow’s first real Usenet site appears years later, it’s named kremvax.
1994 A proposed law will ban online sex chat and inebriated Web surfing. “Congress apparently thinks being drunk on a highway is bad no matter what kind of highway it is,” editorializes PC Computing. The bill’s supposed sponsor, Senator Ted Kennedy, is not in on the joke. After an onslaught of complaints from drunken perverts, he issues a formal denial.
1995 The hotheaded naked ice borer, a sort of mole with a searing, bony forehead, lurks under Antarctica, melting the ice beneath the butts of hapless penguins and eating them as they sink. When Discover magazine publishes its retraction, penguins everywhere breathe a collective sigh of relief.
1997 Between March 31 and April 2, the World Wide Web will be closed for cleaning. Five Japanese-built, multilingual Internet-crawling robots will remove “electronic flotsam and jetsam.” But don’t believe everything you read in an email.
1998 In accordance with a biblical passage describing the circumference-to-diameter ratio of a bowl in the Temple of Solomon (1 Kings 7:23), the Alabama legislature has voted to round the value of pi to 3.0. Well, that was the claim made by the New Mexicans for Science and Reason in their newsletter … or rather, circular.
1998 Disney has bought MIT for $6.9 billion. The School of Engineering will be renamed the School of Imagineering and the campus will move to Orlando, according to hackers who altered the MIT homepage. Hey, anything’s better than trying to work in an Athena cluster.
1999 To fund the US government’s $4 billion next-gen Internet project, millions of Internet nodes are available for an initial price of $100 each at Webnode.com. The Business Wire press release induces nearly 2,000 would-be investors to try to buy in. Another name for this April foolery was “the tech boom.”
2003 Bill Gates is dead, shot by a lone gunman at a charity event in Los Angeles. After three South Korean networks broadcast the story on local TV, ensuing panic triggers a 1.5 percent drop in the Seoul stock exchange — a value loss of $3 billion. Just another Windows-related crash.
And this collection from Business Pundit showing even business can have a sense of humor:
1. In 2002, Tesco ran a fake newspaper ad announcing the ‘whistling carrot,’ a carrot genetically modified to contain airholes on each side that caused the carrot to whistle when it finished cooking.
2. Lebanon Circle Magik Co., a studio specializing in sculptures and curios, posted a picture of what appeared to be a mummified fairy on its homepage in 2007. The site explained that the fairy had been found by pedestrian in rural Derbyshire, leading to an explosion of online speculation about whether the fairy was real. Even after owner Dan Baines revealed the hoax, people continued to believe the fairy mummy was real.
3. In 1982, the Daily Mail—a frequent April Fool’s prankster—reported that 10,000 locally manufactured bras were interfering with radio and TV broadcasts through an extremely conductive copper underwire. The metal in the underwire was normally used in fire alarms; body heat and nylon made it produce signal-disrupting static electricity.
Quote: The chief engineer of British Telecom, upon reading the article, immediately ordered that all his female laboratory employees disclose what type of bra they were wearing.
I hope your April Fools day went well and there were some light hearted moments …. and some well thought out pranks.
Speeding
March 9, 2009
At some point in time before the summer is over a child in Piercefield Forest will die or be seriously injured; and it will be preventable. It wasn’t that many years ago a child was hit and killed in this subdivision.
Speeding is prevalent everywhere, but the consequences can be severe in suburbs where the streets can appear to be empty-until a child runs out chasing a ball or a duck. There was an interesting letter to the editor in the Bryan County News this week written by Bob Dallas, the Director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety which addressed the issue of speeders. Three hundred and eighty four people were killed in 2007 due to speed related issues; more than one a day. While his letter dealt with high speed on the highways, my issue concerns those motorists who routinely speed down the suburb roads, often in excess of 40 mph. This in a 25 mph zone. I have seen cars going much faster. In fact, I have seen teens actually dragging down the road after school; apparently playing a form of chicken, as there are always cars parked alongside the road.
A few years ago, this wasn’t a major issue on my particular street as the children that moved in when the neighborhood was built had grown and moved. We now have another generation of children that have moved in. In three families alone, close to my own house there are eleven children, nine of them under the age of ten. At the South end of the street, there seems to be a small army of children that have moved in.
Anyone who has raised children knows you can teach, preach, and constantly harp on the issue of looking both ways and staying out of the streets; but when the kids are energized and chasing that ball, all common sense and wisdom fly out the window. In the spring and summer months, the streets get even more crowded with youngsters skateboarding and playing those bizarre games kids play. There are always pedestrians; kids walking to and from school or just people out enjoying a nice stroll.
Of interest to me are those speeders who have emblems or stickers on their cars proclaiming themselves to be members of organizations that claim to support the nations and communities laws; church groups, scouts, Masons, police benevolent societies of one kind or another, or actual law enforcement officers. A quick question. How do you determine just which of our laws you will choose to obey and which ones you determine are not worthy of respecting? Convenience? That seems to call for a rather interesting moral compass. How do you teach your children to respect the laws when you, as a speeder, are in violation of those laws and the kids know it? It gets even worse when you argue and lie to the officer then badmouth him while driving off. Great example for your children.
Please. Slow down. Do the speed limit.
