The Valdosta Daily Times
- — The proposed spending cuts that have been forecast by Gov. Sonny Perdue have been drastically increased by the Appropriations Committees of both the House and Senate this week.
What has caught the attention across the state, aside from Atlanta, are the drastic additional cuts proposed for higher education and cuts seemingly aimed directly at the “other” Georgia, which include chopping the 4-H program.
Apparently someone at the top has forgotten that the 4-H program and the long list of ag-related jobs on the new hit list are all directly related to the state’s largest economic engine — agriculture. But since when did Atlanta remember that their food and their furniture don’t just originate at Kroger and Ikea?
But enough picking on Atlanta, otherwise known as that giant sinkhole sucking the resources out of the rest of the state.
No, let’s focus on the real issues. Our state legislators for years have been passing laws that our state can’t pay for. The public defender’s office for one, which is in dire straits without the funding to do what the state has mandated that they must. The zero tolerance laws are filling our prisons full of criminals that many would not classify as such. And thankfully, considering the havoc that the zero tolerance laws aimed at schools has wreaked, Sen. Tim Golden is initiating legislation to put common sense back into the equation.
So if the Appropriations Committees really want to “cut the excess” as they say, then why not cut the programs that benefit the fewest, not the most? And why not reduce some of the mandates which may have been put in place during fat economic times that are now nothing more than a huge burden on the state?
Education should be protected from those who see it as the easiest route to take. Agriculture should be largely exempt, and services that protect the public should be off limits. But aren’t there many other programs that could be looked at first?
How about cutting the state’s travel budgets? Selling state planes, cars, and helicopters? Reduce the governor and legislator’s salaries. Until the ones at the top demonstrate that they are affected and sacrificing as much as the average Georgian, support for the latest round of cuts will be hard to justify.
