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Subject:Citizen Newsletter #269 From: Henry Citizen (hccitizen@hccitizen.net) To: hc.citizen@hccitizen.org; Date: Sat, 11 Jun 2011 15:32:52

The Citizen Newsletter

Issue # 269
June 11, 2011 The Conservative Voice of Henry County
Contact The Citizen at hc.citizen@hccitizen.org Your comments and submissions are always welcome!

In This Issue When No News, Send Rumors

News (& Rumors)& Announcements Los Angeles 2011 Big Lie #4 When Weak Tea Fails Students Get More Credit Stockbridge Mafia Still Trying Commuter Rail Cobb Taxpayers Association July 4th at Nash Farm Public Service Comm News The Citizen #268 newsletter featured Rumor has it . Henry Park & Rec Too Big To Fail. Allegations were made against a county employee so The Citizen asked for confirmation.

Your Voice

The response was immediate and complete. First was District 2 commissioner Fred Auletta, and then county manager Butch Sanders followed by Park & Rec director Tim Coley. Kudos and thanks for the dedication and concern shown by our county officials. AND, an apology goes to the county employee who had done nothing wrong. Nuff said.

Editorial / Publication Policy

STELLA LOHMANN WRITES:

Available in HTML (original) or PDF format Send email to hc.citizen@hccitizen.org The Citizen newsletter is available online at Scribd.com View online at

Governor Rick Perry will definitely shake the 2012 list of GOP
hopefuls, especially if Palin doesn't enter the race. He will be one of only 3 Governors to turn down the 2008 Stimulus monies for his state, Governors Mark Sandford of NC and Sarah Palin of Alaska were the other two. Some of those running supported the TARP bailouts. With Newt virtually out (even if he stays in)--Perry could be a game changer.

http://www.scribd.com/larry_stanley

Your Support is Appreciated

The Conservative Voice of Henry County has opened a venue for news,

Henry County News is now online

It is a 3-minute radio broadcast every weekday that can be

comment and opinion that exists nowhere else. It is because of you; a steady list of people who read and submit articles sharing ideas and principles.

downloaded easily and listened to via laptop, tablet or smartphone. It is also FREE. Go to the "Henry County News" page on Facebook and click "like" so you will be notified each weekday morning as it comes online. You can also use the FB page to pass along news tips. Thank you for your time.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Henry-County-News/213107035395940

Thank you, Monroe Roark Or visit www.hccitizen.org

New World Order Yeah, I have to go onto Facebook to learn that my son and his fiancee have returned to Turks and Caicos Islands. Sure hope they are having a good time!

Hey Henry, I recently watched the county budget hearing on the local cable station. I want to applaud Commissioner Holder on his passionate comments and his vote against the budget. It is very clear that Commissioner Holders comments came from his heart and that he, unlike the other Commissioners, sees a whole lot more than the bottom line. He sees the impact that the decisions make on employees and families. I have the utmost respect for him as a neighbor, fellow citizen and elected official. His passion and historical knowledge are a tremendous value and asset to the county and its citizens. Thank you for your support and participation

15,000+ Reads at Scribd.com and 4,100+ Subscribers

Los Angeles 2011

Smash Capitalism is a slogan the SEIU apparently endorses or at least doesnt mind marching behind. In case you think the SEIU is some peripheral out-of-the-mainstream organization: The SEIU DEVOTED $28 MILLION TO OBAMAS CAMPAIGN, making the SEIU THE ORGANIZATION THAT SPENT THE MOST TO HELP BARACK OBAMA GET ELECTED PRESIDENT. See more at www.washingtonexaminer.com Furthermore, who is Obamas favorite White House guest and one of his closest confidants? The individual who has visited the Obama White House the most: SEIU President Andy Stern, who has visited 53 times. Obama is closely linked with the SEIU. The SEIU is closely linked with communists. You do the math.

In order to have a more civil dialogue with their political opponents, the marchers made a puppet of a demonic Statue of Liberty

aligned with the Tea Bag Party.

TEA Party Patriots

Big Lie Number Four

"The intricate financial details of running the entire United States Government are so complicated that the average American just isn't capable of understanding how it works. It involves thousands upon thousands of Byzantine and interwoven variables that are so delicately balanced they can be easily disrupted by one false move, setting off a cataclysmic chain reaction of economic disasters that will cripple the world's monetary system. Handcuffing congress by not allowing us to raise the debt ceiling just shows how simplistic, unsophisticated, ill informed, and child-like you Tea Party Patriots are. Those of us in congress are far better equipped to make these kinds of decisions. So just go back to your daily lives and let us run the country." When you're standing face-to-face with a member of congress and they tell you how great they are at running the economy, it's difficult not to laugh so hard that you temporarily lose consciousness. But many of them manage to say it with a straight face. It's almost as if they honestly think they know what they're doing. To a Congressman, the thought of taking budgetary advice from average Americans who balance checkbooks, run businesses, live within the limits of their financial means, and stop spending before they run out of money is outrageous and insulting. They are the rulers after all. Who are we to question them? But deep within the subconscious mind of every Congressman is the truth. They are horribly insecure because they are in way over their heads, they have very little idea what they're doing, and they are scared to death that someone (especially their other buddies in congress) will discover that they secretly don't understand the convoluted logic. So they all pretend.

It's time to snap them out of it.

Okham's Razor is an old, widely used axiom that says when you have two competing ideas The simplest idea is usually the best. This is especially true when there's no evidence to support the more complicated idea. Let's look at how Okham's Razor applies to the debt ceiling issue. IDEA 1 (from congress): It's so complicated that we can't explain it to you, but trust us we should raise the debt ceiling. IDEA 2 (from Americans): It's incredibly simple. There's no more money. So do not raise the debt ceiling. Congress has a really, really, really bad track record when it comes to managing money. There are no examples of real life situations in which congress was prudent, frugal, and efficient. There's also no proof that congress learns from past mistakes and doesn't repeat them. Their complicated solutions haven't worked, ever. But they keep trying them. There simply is no evidence to prove that congress is qualified to make unsupervised decisions about how to handle our money. On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence that millions of Americans (the ones congressmen think are unsophisticated) successfully operate households and businesses every day and have done so for over 200 years using a very simple financial principle.

When you run out of money, stop buying stuff.

When Weak Tea Fails... Beer and Republicans Prevail

2011 Mike Church Amy Kremer is a leader in the Tea Party Express and until recently the Tea Party Express was mildly neutral on which Party it is aligned with. On Fox News Sunday [video] the veneer was stripped off and it became known that Tea Party Express was all in for the Republican Party. To be fair, Kremer has since backtracked her comments as "misunderstood" and "not what she meant to say" but that's like saying that milk comes not from cows but from Holstein cows, it is a distinction that has little meaning. Kremer also sounded very un-radical to be representing such radical expectations as the MSNBC crowd attaches to the Tea Party in general. Kremer acknowledges love for the 2 party system and rules out supporting a 3rd party candidate which tells more about her Tea Party than 400 appearances on the Glen Beck TV Show ever will. This Tea Party is more about being an actual party, supporting whatever it takes to win elections with Republican candidates and less about what principles to support in candidates to win back lost liberty and fiscal stability. Some of us have always suspected that the Tea Party would be consumed by the Republicans and would amount to little more than what the Heritage Foundation has become: mouthpieces for Big Government conservatism. In other words, Leviathan and its tyranny are ok as long as there are Republicans in charge. Well Republicans run the most powerful legislative body in North America these days: the U.S. House of Representin' so, fiscal conservatives, "how's THAT workin' out for ya?"

Students get more credit options in 2012

By Johnny Jackson
jjackson@henryherald.com

Georgia students will have more options in curricular credits toward high school graduation, in accordance with career pathway legislation that passed handily in both legislative houses of the Georgia General Assembly. House Bill 186 is designed to make the statewide high school curriculum more inclusive of career, technical and agricultural courses, according to State Rep. Steve Davis (R-McDonough). Davis co-sponsored the bill with other state lawmakers, he said, to establish broader education options for students enrolled in courses traditionally considered non-core academic study. The bill gives those courses equal standing as traditional core courses. Im excited, because it gives the student a lot more opportunity, and variations, in their educational experience within the public school system, explained Davis. Its called rigor and relevance. If its not relevant to them, it loses their interests. HB 186 requires that no later than July 1, 2012, the Department of Education shall develop, and the State Board of Education shall approve, state models and curriculum framework for focused programs of study related to agriculture, arts, architecture, business, communications, engineering, finance, government, health science, information technology, logistics, public safety, and manufacturing. Students who successfully complete a course in career, technical and agricultural education ... shall receive course credit for both the career, technical and agricultural education course, as well as for the academic core course work embedded in such course, notes the legislation, which was signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal, on May 13. Davis said the genesis of HB 186 can be traced back to last summer, when he joined several other state representatives and some state senators, on a bipartisan education study committee, which toured Georgia in a quest to uncover its various educational needs. The state representative from McDonough (Davis), and Rep. Randy Nix (R-LaGrange), co-chaired the study committee, which was commissioned by State House Education Committee Chairman Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth).

Friends, Residents and Citizens of Stockbridge:

This coming Monday evening, June 13 at 600PM, there will be an important meeting of the Stockbridge City Council. In this past weeks Working Session, City Council took initial steps to PASS AN ORDINANCE WHICH WOULD CHANGE THE POWERS OF THE MAYOR! The City is required to have 2 open votes on the matter BEFORE it becomes effective and they will be taken during BOTH the June and July 2011 meetings! A copy of said legislation is on file with the City Clerk (Ms. Vanessa Holiday) should you desire to see it in person.

Representative Steve Davis presented a letter to City Council, at the Working Session, indicating that any change in Mayoral powers would be illegal as it is the State Legislature which mandates such changes! Members of the City Council went into executive session and I have learned that City Council STILL PLANS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS ILLEGAL ACTION! APPARENTLY THE ONLY WAY THIS ILLEGAL ACTION CAN BE POTENTIALLY STOPPED IS BY US CITIZENS GETTING TOGETHER AND FILING AN INJUNCTION REGARDING THIS ISSUE. Regrettably this will require both time and money on our parts should we chose to do something about it! Please kindly let me hear your thoughts and opinions on this critical matter!!! A number of other issues were covered at the working session, however; these will not be noted in the interest of time - except for the issue of Sunday Alcohol Sales. This item was tentatively agreed upon by City Council and would allow sales of both beer, wine and distilled spirits. City Council will formally vote to place this item on the November Ballot this coming Monday evening. Respectfully, Richard Steinberg for Concerned Citizens of Stockbridge (CCS)
cityofstockbridgenews@gmail.com

YOUR VOICE

www.ProvisionProperties.com

Cemetery Research Group

www.crghenry.org All Showtimes are Thurs, Friday & Sat @ 7:30; Sunday @ 2:30; **doors open 45 minutes prior to show** For details go to: www.henryplayers.com At the Henry County Performing Arts Center 37 Lemon Street, McDonough, GA 30253 Tickets prices when purchased in advance $12 Adults, $10 Children, Senior Citizens & Students

Signature Broadcasting

Network SBN TV Were all about you! http://sbn.tv/

SAY WHAT? What is so great about commuter rail from Henry County to Macon?? Henry countians do not work in Macon; they work north of Henry, in Atlanta and beyond.

McDonough Arts 2011 events For more info contact: Debbie Withers 678/522-4020 or debwithers@gmail.com Locust Grove Mayor Lorene Lindsey has announced she will not seek reelection, after serving as mayor for more than a decade. Lindsey, 88, has been in office since she won her first mayoral race in 1999. http://www.mcdonougharts.net She was the first female mayor of Locust Grove. Being mayor, and losing Jake, gave me the opportunity to devote a lot of time to my job, she said. If I were to run for office again, I would be 93.

McDonough Matters
For

May, 2011
Newsletters are now available at
http://www.mcdonoughga.org/newsletters_media.html

RWHC Quarterly Luncheon Republican Women of Henry County

Thursday, June 16 11:30am - 1:30pm Sakura Hibachi Buffet 1001 Regency Plaza Blvd McDonough, Georgia

299 Jonesboro Road McDonough, GA 30253 (770) 954-9999 Fax: (770) 954-0182

Rick Weaver writes: Thanks to all who came out and made our "PREVIEW NIGHT" a smashing success. We couldn't have asked for a better turnout or a better group of people. We really appreciate each and every one of you The French Market & Tavern will open its doors for Lunch only this coming Saturday & Sunday, 11a-3pm June 11th & 12th. Menu to be posted shortly. Next week we plan to close on Monday (which will be our normal closing day) and resume Tuesday June 14th at 8am and be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from there on. We're so excited! Thank you for your patience while we get opened...Hopefully we'll see you then!

Commuter Rail
The question of having commuter rail as a must has never been a primary call from me. It is costly and a never ending drain on transportation dollars. The benefit of commuter rail has not been a huge success with low cost of other transportation means. Now with the Obama energy policy of $4 gasoline heading toward $5 and the clogged expressway system, alternatives are starting to outweigh the expense of driving ones own automobile. It boils down to what the actual out of pocket cost is for Henry County GA property owners. The leg from Atlanta to Griffin is estimated to cost $463 million to implement which would be paid for if the line is included in the upcoming 2012 Regional Transportation Tax list and it passes. The ongoing concern of maintaining the line is the big if and who would pay for those costs. The only objection worth noting is the cost variable. If Henry is saddled with unknown rising cost to access the transit line it may not be worth having a stop in Henry. Charles Mobley at

the Hack Line

Welcome to the CTA Report!

Now that we've had some time to recover from our disappointing, razor thin margin of loss on the 2011 SPLOST vote, it is time for us to reflect on where do we go from here. Although we lost by only 90 votes out of approximately 43,000 votes cast, we can take heart in the fact that the opposition had to outspend us 100:1 to win, or put another way, they spent $11 for each vote they received versus eleven cents for what we spent. If the election was held during a general election with higher voter turnout, there is little doubt that we would have prevailed. Later in this newsletter, we will discuss what can be done to change that so we can compete on at least a somewhat more level playing field. What we did accomplish is to develop a 100+ member organization which we can build upon to fight the tax and spend interests going forward, along with a strong coalition of like-minded fiscal conservatives, including members of the Georgia Tea Party, Americans for Prosperity, the Libertarian Party of Cobb County, and various homeowner associations. The SPLOST isn't the only issue we have an interest in, and in the meantime, this newsletter will serve to keep you abreast of our ongoing efforts to restore fiscal sanity to county and municipal government in Cobb. In order to make our organization's name more user friendly and easier for you (as well as the media) to remember, we have shortened our name from the Cobb County Taxpayers Association to the Cobb Taxpayers Association. Hence the acronym CTA Report for this newsletter. Also, we are in the process of changing our web address from the SPLOSTspecific VoteNoMarch15.com to CobbTaxpayer.com. We have transitioned most of the content from the SPLOST site to the new organization site, but we still have some design elements to complete. Once fully developed, those who log onto the old address will be automatically re-directed to the new one, and the content from the old will transfer to the new.

Upcoming Priorities T-SPLOST

As many of you know, during the July 2012 primaries, there will be a proposal on the ballot to increase our taxes, as well as the taxes of nine other metro Atlanta counties via the transportation SPLOST, or T-SPLOST. It involves a one percent sales tax increase levied on the Atlanta metro region, which includes Cobb. The proposal intends to raise $8-10 billion for transportation infrastructure over ten years. Proposed projects include a MULTI-MILLION dollar light rail system in Cobb, which the County Commission Chairman, Tim Lee, is already vigorously promoting. This single project alone will be a disaster for Cobb taxpayers, and CTA will be out front in opposition. Representatives from the Fayette County Issues Tea Party are in the process of building a regional organization to oppose the T-SPLOST, and CTA is on record as being part of this coalition, where we will focus our efforts on getting out the vote in Cobb County. We are also working with The Reason Foundation a California based free-market think tank to develop market based solutions to traffic congestion in metro Atlanta which will: Not result in a tax increase Place the cost of infrastructure improvements more directly on its users Provide REAL solutions, rather than just throwing money at the problem We realize that being opposed to the T-SPLOST just because it is a tax increase will not win the day. We must provide viable alternatives that will work.

SPLOST Legislative Efforts

CTA is also working with the Georgia Tea Party to develop a SPLOST Reform Task Force. The SPLOST, as currently configured under Georgia State Law, gives undue advantage to SPLOST proponents, making it difficult, and in some cases impossible, to defeat SPLOST referendums. To better level the playing field, CTA is in the process of identifying legislators to introduce and co-sponsor reform measures which will include the following: Require SPLOST referendums be placed on the ballot only during and in conjunction with a general election. This will solve the problem of SPLOST elections being captured by narrow special interests, and increase voter turnout (and thus greater voter accountability and transparency). It will also save taxpayers the expense of thousands of dollars in special elections. Prohibit taxpayer funded entities from contributing to SPLOST advocacy organizations. This outrageous practice was visited upon Cobb when two Community Improvement Districts (CIDs) contributed $250,000 to the pro-SPLOST Citizens for Cobb's Future, ostensibly for the purpose of educating the voters. Allow for fractional SPLOSTS of a half-cent or less. This will not only reduce the tax burden, but will force counties to focus on needs vs. wants, and avoid the spectacle of loading up on frivolous projects just for the purpose of matching revenue expectations. Require that any additional revenue from the SPLOST that is collected above projections be used for property tax relief or set aside as a rainy day fund. This money should not be allowed to go into the general fund or rolled over to finance projects in a future SPLOST. If you would like to participate in the work of this task force, please send us an e-mail at llamberton@comcast.net

The Cobb Taxpayers Association (CTA) was established in 2005 to serve as a watchdog organization over the spending and taxing policies and practices of the Cobb County government and local municipalities in the County.

The 4th of July Fireworks Festival at Nash Farm July 3 & 4, 2011 By TheDoctor The 4th of July fireworks Festival is in full swing for Nash Farm on Sunday July 3rd and Monday the 4th. The festival is being held by the Henry County Rodeo Association. It will be a lot like the event held last year at Nash Farm. There will be food, shows, games for the children, lots of great music and strolling actors from the Revolutionary Period. The Gates will open at 3 PM and the band will continue to play until at least 45 minutes after the fireworks have finished to help with the traffic. There will be posters about the event ready next week. A Facebook page is being prepared also. The Heritage Bank will have the information on their scrolling board. This should be a good event for the family to come out and attend.

Commissioner Lauren Bubba McDonald, Jr. Calls for Large Scale Solar Projects in Georgia Atlanta, June 7, 2011 Commissioner Lauren Bubba McDonald, Jr. today called on Georgia Power Company and the staff of the Georgia Public Service Commission to present to the Commission options on the expansion of large scale solar energy projects in Georgia within 30 days. Commissioner McDonald made his request during todays Commission Administrative Session. I have been and continue to look for ways to encourage the development of solar energy in the state of Georgia, McDonald said. As part of an overall portfolio mix, I believe solar energy can serve as a reliable source of clean energy and a hedge against volatility in the price of fossil fuels. As the cost of solar energy continues to decline, Georgia Power and this Commission should be prepared to move toward the inclusion of more solar energy in Georgia Powers resource mix. McDonald added that one option would be to carve out additional capacity for solar energy from the Georgia Power 2015 Request For Proposal (RFP) seeking additional electric generation capacity. He added that another option would be an amendment to Georgia Powers Renewable Action Plan that would allow for the possibility of including solar energy through a Purchased Power Agreement. (PPA)

Commissioner Tim Echols Holds Summit with Georgia Charter Bus Companies ATLANTA, June 10, 2011 Commissioner Tim Echols hosted representatives from more than two dozen charter bus transportation companies and the City of Atlanta Bureau of Taxis and Vehicles for Hire in order to explore ways to better protect Georgia consumers from illegal or rogue operators. Charter companies that operate without the proper insurance and certification not only put their passengers at risk, but they hurt legitimate businesses run by hard working families throughout our state, said Commissioner Echols. It is my hope that by building this relationship with our legitimate transportation companies we can better educate local law enforcement, school principals, fraternities, sororities, youth pastors and many others who charter buses to ensure that they are using companies who are registered with the Public Service Commission. All of us at the Commission are concerned with the safety of Georgians and are working hard each and every day to ensure that these individuals and organizations are protected.

The Citizen Newsletter is provided by Henry Citizens for Responsible Government Larry Stanley, Editor Please report broken links or other problems
Contact: hc.citizen@hccitizen.org

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