Recent Opinions

Opinion: What's a Lowly Commuter to Think?

liz.flowers — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:47:17 -0700

So you live in North Fulton, and you are one of those poor drones who schleps long distances back and forth each day. Gas prices have eclipsed four dollars per gallon, and short of switching to a Vespa, you feel helpless to do anything about it.

If you watch the talking heads on news shows you are hearing from one side that we need to open up as much federal land as possible – on and offshore – to increase domestic oil reserves.

The other side says that is poppycock. They say it will take a decade or more to create new reserves, which will do nothing to help short-term prices.

Opinion - Four-Day Work Weeks:

liz.flowers — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:31:53 -0700

When I turned sixteen, I received my driver’s license the very same day. There was nothing else more important in my world than going to the DMV and obtaining my laminated ticket to freedom. No greater birthday gift was to be had. A driver’s license meant I could take myself where I wanted to go – provided, of course, I could garner permission to borrow the family car.

A driver’s license was, and remains to a large degree, a right of teenage passage. The cost of that passage was a lot less back then. Gas was about 50 cents a gallon.

Connecting the Dots

lydia.senn — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:32:32 -0700

For moment we thought Newt Gingrich had reformed. There was our ex-congressman and former Speaker o the House on C-Span agreeing with Sen. John Kerry on the need to sharply reduce our greenhouse emissions. And then he was on a public service announcement with no less than the current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the same message.

The Time For Action is Now

lydia.senn — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:18:36 -0700

President Bush recently issued an executive order to lift the prohibition on oil exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf. With this action, the executive branch’s restrictions on this exploration have been cleared away. This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress.

Tax Freedom Day Demonstrates the True Cost of American Tax Bill

lydia.senn — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:34:27 -0700

Tuesday April 22 marked the 113th day of the year, otherwise known as Tax Freedom Day. This is the day until which Americans work simply to pay their taxes in 2008. For the average American taxpayer, all earnings so far this year have gone only to meet tax obligations.

On Tax Day, Americans See the Cost of Democrats’ Big Government Agenda

lydia.senn — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:48:54 -0700

More American taxpayers will file their returns today, April 15, than any other day this tax season.

Hard-working Americans are facing the stark realization of how much their government costs.

Already stretched by rising food, energy, and medical costs, Washington’s take of the paycheck is deeply straining family budgets.

The American people are tired of being overtaxed and need leadership to provide meaningful relief. Instead, Democrats in Congress only continue to seek massive tax increases to fund a big government agenda.

No Time Like the Present to Think About Dying

lydia.senn — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:19:00 -0700

As most people will attest to in these harried times, there is little time in any given day to think about much else beyond the crisis in front of you. Making deadlines, getting the kids to all their activities and homework, trying to get ahead at the office and having some semblance of a social life means we are spending far more time than ever trying to keep all the balls in the air.

Americans surpassed the rest of the world in 1999 for the longest work hours; Japan fell to second place that year.

English in the Work Place: Common Sense

lydia.senn — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:07:38 -0700

“Common sense is not so common,” once said philosopher Voltaire. One of the greatest concerns for my constituents is the growing scarcity of common sense in government. People have begun to lose faith in Washington because even the seemingly obvious course of action too often gets bogged down with paradoxical regulations and political correctness. No greater evidence is needed than the current push by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to stifle the use of the English language in American workplaces.

Does Foxworthy Know As Much as a Fifth Grader?

lydia.senn — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:00:59 -0700

Comedian Jeff Foxworthy was talking the other night on one of the cable news channels about why he supports the Iraq occupation. Now just to back up for a moment, Foxworthy is best known for his hilarious “You know you’re a redneck…” routine. More recently he’s hosted a quiz show where adult contestants try to answer questions from a fifth grade examination. If the contestant get’s it wrong, he or she has to face the camera and accept the humiliation of admitting, “I am not smarter than a fifth grader.”

Demographic Shifts Require Thoughtful Preparedness

lydia.senn — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:50:14 -0700

It is clear that we are facing one of the greatest projected demographic shifts in our history in the coming decades. Recent statistics have shown that by 2025, 18 percent of our state’s population will be over the age of 65. This is a significant increase over the current senior citizen population of 10 percent.